Why Do We Do Bad Things?
By Lena Iwasaki
What is fallen nature? To put it simply, fallen nature is a term used in the Divine Principle, the core teachings of the Unificaitonist faith, to describe the habits and tendencies to commit wrongdoings. Sometimes we feel it is our inborn nature to hurt people, to lie, to cheat, to steal, to spread gossip. The Divine Principle states that God did not create human beings with fallen nature. It comes from the actions of our first ancestors when they turned away from God and His guidance. He created us with an Original Mind that is good. Awareness of even small habits that contribute to our fallen nature is the first step in stopping ourselves from committing them.
“Whenever [evil] desires are sated, we feel unrest in our consience and agony in our heart.”
Jealousy, the Thief of Joy
“Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind” is what Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, says about jealousy. Let’s face it. Deep inside, we already know comparing ourselves and being envious only brings us misery, yet we all struggle not to compare our lives to others. Envy does nothing but imprison us in our thoughts and doubts. When we begin to obsess over what others have and compare it with what we don’t have, it begins the cycle of acting against our original mind. The core teachings of the Divine Principle call these the four characteristics of fallen nature.
“Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind”
Failure to See From God’s Perspective
This envy is the first characteristic of fallen nature described in the Divine Principle as the “failure to see from God’s perspective.” The Divine Principle says, “The Archangel’s [Lucifer] fall was his failure to love Adam with the same heart and perspective as God; instead he felt jealous of Adam. This led him to tempt Eve.” (Moon 73) The Archangel, being in the position to guide Adam and Eve, was jealous of their position to inherit everything God created as God’s beloved children. We may not be able to fully comprehend something that happened so long ago at the beginning of human history. However, it is undeniable that we may have all experienced resentment towards someone who undeservingly received things we desire in life.
There is an old Korean folk story about jealousy between two brothers. The older brother, Nolbu, was the king of his family and will one day inherit the family fortune. The younger brother, Hungbu, by contrast, was humble, quiet, and shy. He did everything in the shadow of his elder brother. One day, Hungbu finds an injured sparrow and secretly nurses it back to health. The sparrow returns his kindness by giving him seeds. The seeds then grew gourds filled with gold coins which grew the family fortune making Hungbu the wealthiest man in town. Seeing that Hungbu was getting so much recognition and heavenly fortune, the jealous elder brother tries to do the same thing by breaking the legs of a healthy sparrow and nursing it back to health. Punishing Nolbu for this heinous crime, the sparrow returns the act by giving Nolbu seeds filled with goblins.
In this story, The elder brother blinded with jealousy could not see that his younger brother had only pure intentions to nurse the sparrow and thus was rewarded. He only grew the family fortune and their parents. Perhaps you can relate to Nolbu when you try so hard to be someone you are not by desperately clinging to looks, position, and materialism. Acting on jealousy blinds us to the blessings we may already have.
Leaving Your Proper Position
The second characteristic of fallen nature is “leaving your proper position.” It’s not about stealing someone’s place in line at the grocery store. More than leaving any physical position, the Divine Principle describes it as leaving your place of responsibility. Not thinking of who or what it may hurt to “step beyond the bounds of what is right and overreach themselves” is fallen nature (Moon 73).
“People must be awakened from their ignorance and must preserve the environment well. We must save the dying land and oceans…We should feel true ownership just as God does and become one in all respects, cooperating with one another to fulfill this work.”
A modern example is today’s environmental crisis. For decades, human beings have been contributing irresponsibly to deforestation, fossil fuel production, weak policies, and pollution. We have left the position to take care of Mother Nature long ago, and we wait around until an extraordinary and miraculous invention can save it.
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, also known as the Mother of Peace, in her recent messages urges, “People must be awakened from their ignorance and must preserve the environment well. We must save the dying land and oceans…We should feel true ownership just as God does and become one in all respects, cooperating with one another to fulfill this work.” (Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, 2024). Taking responsibility sometimes feels like a big burden on our shoulders and we desperately seek someone else to blame. However, it is noticing small moments like these where we can choose to think otherwise that God blessed humanity with the biggest gift of taking care of this beautiful world.
Reversal of Dominion
Dominion sounds like a rather harsh word synonymous with “dictate” or “command.” However, in the Divine Principle the word “dominion” is referred to as the responsibility of human beings to take care of God’s creation. Think of it more as stewardship. God created everything in nature for human beings and to one day entrust us with its care.
The reversal of dominion, the third characteristic of fallen nature, can be seen in the bible when the Archangel tricks Adam and Eve into obeying his directions instead of God. This can be compared to a usurper forcibly taking over a country, land, or people. We can even see this in the microcosms of our society. You may have experienced viewing a particular leader as incapable; maybe a teacher, guide, or boss. Regardless of someone’s capabilities, does that give us the right to act as an usurper as well?
Wrongdoing Loves Company
The last characteristic of fallen nature is “multiplying evil.” Imagine little evil minions, but not the cute kind. We have all at one point taken it upon ourselves to share the burden of a mistake with the people around us. When you do something wrong, it feels better to have someone do it with you. Why? Because fallen nature taught us that we don’t like to shoulder the blame alone. The bully at school has people around him because he feels more powerful in a group. Even gossiping is a form of fallen nature. We spread seemingly light jokes, dirt, lies, and private information about others in the hopes that we feel more connected to the people around us or better about ourselves by comparison. However, we are unknowingly sharing little evil minions with our friends.
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
See From God’s Perspective
Fallen nature is not always obvious. It can be in the smallest, everyday interactions that seem innocent. This is not to say we should give up. On the contrary, we should be even more aware of the things we say, do, and think. As philosopher Carl Jung said, “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” One of the greatest steps we can take is to be aware of our seemingly innocuous acts that could be reinforcing our fallen nature, and to try to act from God’s perspective rather than our own.