Darkness and Light

As a generation who grew up watching a great bunch of movies, especially from Hollywood, we have been indoctrinated with the concept of the constant struggle between darkness and light. Our protagonist, or in Indian terms hero, brave and valiant as he is, constantly pushes back against the antagonist or villain who is hell-bent upon perpetrating darkness and evil unto the world. Or those of you who come from semi-urban Indian families without a cable connection would have witnessed the virtuous Shaktimaan, an embodiment of the struggle of the Suryanshi cult against the ever villainous Tamaraaj Kilmish (the lord of darkness) with his cringy dialogue of अँधेरा कायम रहे (the darkness shall prevail). And we have come to believe that there is an evil force out there that is actively pushing against all the good in the world, trying to usher in an age of darkness much like the dark elves of Thor or Orcs in the Lord of the Rings. The idea has its roots in the western theological belief in the existence of a Satan, a Lucifer, a fallen son of God who is inviting, luring, and manipulating the world into an ungodly sinful existence, an age of darkness if you may.

The above concept uses the notion of darkness tremendously. It uses darkness as an entity in itself, a force to be reckoned with. But what exactly is darkness or evil? I draw your attention to the beliefs of eastern or, more specifically, Indian theology and our usual companion, Science. In Indian theology, there is no supervillain, a force of evil, or an ever-pervasive perpetrator of darkness. In scientific terms as well, darkness is not an entity unto itself. It is just the absence or scarcity of light or photons. Darkness or evil is not a force, power, or entity. It is quite the opposite of that, or in more precise terms, an absence. Darkness is just the vacuum that represents the absence of light. There can not be a competition between light and darkness. Darkness is not, will not, and cannot push against the light. The mere existence of light is the annihilation of darkness.

Similarly, I believe that evil is not an entity unto itself. It is just the vacuum representing the absence of virtue and goodness. The mere presence of goodness and virtue is enough to defeat any evil. Evil will not and cannot push back; it is merely a vacuum. It perpetuates only in the absence of virtue and silence of those who practice it.