How to Deal with Malicious Intent

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” This proverb can also be interpreted more freely: people with bad intentions often hide their true motives behind smiles, sweet words, praise, charm, and apparent kindness. They smile to your face while holding a dagger behind their back. This is not meant to frighten you, but it is always wise to stay aware and vigilant.

In today’s global, multidimensional crisis, many people try to soothe the pain of economic hardship by indulging in beauty that offers immediate sensory pleasure. That beauty is often artificial and does not always reflect reality. For example, we are usually more drawn to someone who speaks eloquently than to someone who is reserved, even if the latter is more genuine.

Most of us have experienced the bitter irony of being deceived by someone we considered close: a friend, a trusted colleague, or a confidant. As one of my friends once said, nothing compares to the pain of being stabbed in the back by someone you trusted. However, seeking revenge or wishing hell upon them does nothing to ease the disappointment. 

Illustration: Mulyoagung, Dau, Malang. 

Keeping the Mind Clean

Kendedes Swimming Pool in Singosari, Malang, is where my children practically grew up. One day I noticed a banner encouraging visitors to maintain cleanliness hanging near a shrine area on the western side of the complex, a place that is also a little-known historical site.

For followers of the Indigenous Siberian Faith, keeping the mind clean is just as important as maintaining personal hygiene and caring for the environment. In the harsh Siberian climate, survival depends on cooperation. If even one member harbors jealousy, resentment, anger, greed, or other destructive emotions, the entire community may suffer.

Because mental cleanliness is a personal responsibility, believers are expected to remain aware of their own emotional state. The first signs of malicious intent are seen as evidence that the soul is weakening. When such thoughts arise, they symbolically sacrifice a small offering by putting it into a fire.

The offering represents negative emotions, which are destroyed before they have the chance to grow into harmful intentions. Siberian Indigenous Faith children are taught to eliminate unkind thoughts as early as possible because recurring malicious intent is regarded as a sign of a spiritually unhealthy mind.

Malicious Intent Is 'Normal'

Every human being has experienced malicious thoughts at some point, myself included. Sometimes they are trivial, such as planning to arrive late for school or work, or pretending to forget to return a borrowed book we enjoyed.

Not everyone is strong enough to face today's global challenges with patience and perseverance. Some choose shortcuts to achieve their ambitions because they no longer believe that their community can help ease their suffering.

So we should not be overly shocked when we discover a friend's bad intentions. Such behavior reflects an imbalance within that person. Ultimately, only they can correct it by changing those negative tendencies before they become self-destructive.

My advice is simple: wasting time nursing resentment over people like this serves no purpose. We each have only twenty-four hours in a day. (dswas).