What do we do with evil?

I was in a used bookstore this afternoon and came across a copy of "The Life of Milarepa." Milarepa was a Tibetan yogin and poet in the eleventh-century and is one of the most fascinating and seminal characters to be found in Tibetan Buddhism. The story goes that when Milarepa was seven his father became ill and left instructions with relatives to manage the young boy's sizable inheritance after he died. But the moment the father passed away, the relatives stole all the money and property, leaving Milarepa and his mother in absolute poverty. In order to exact revenge, Milarepa's mother sends him to powerful mystics in order to learn the ancient art of destructive spells. He learns well, and to begin the cycle of revenge he kills all the guests at the relatives' son's wedding. Then he destroys the crops of cruel and unsympathetic neighbors with devastating hailstorms.

Milarepa soon begins to regret all the destruction and sorrow that he has perpetuated. He seeks out a teacher to show him the way to atonement and enlightenment. He finds a teacher, Marpa, who knows that Milarepa has done such despicable deeds that his training must be equally arduous. Before he will accept Milarepa as a student, he sets up a series of tests that include building a huge tower by hand. When Milarepa sets the last stone, Marpa admonishes him for his lack of devotion and has him tear the tower down and start over!

Reading this story got me to thinking: none of this is new. Similar injustices happen to people every day, and revenge is meted out today in very un-mystical ways. How do we get rid of a tyrant in the 21st century? Kill 30,000 to 100,000 Iraqis (does the exact number really matter?). How much have we really learned since the eleventh century? What exactly do we do with evil? I'm convinced that evil is absolutely necessary in life. Without it, we would have no yardstick to measure our goodness and our capacity for compassion. As human beings have the capacity to kill 3,000 people in an absolutely evil terrorist act, we also have the capacity to commit compassionate acts that save equal numbers of people. The power lies within each one of us as human beings to make the right choices for ourselves. Without exception, we all have the capacity within us to be terrorists, and to be saints.

By the way, after Milarepa achieved enlightenment, he forgave his relatives.