Substitutes for Unity: The Root of All Evil

Brenda Leahy
May 13
3 min read

Sai Maa teaches that there are only two fundamental energies on this planet: Love and Fear. This teaching has been foundational in my spiritual evolution. It’s become a touchstone for my spiritual transformation and a deeper understanding of the structures of our civilization, like sin and evil.

Over time, I've come to define them this way:

Sin – to act from fear-based emotions or thoughts.

Evil – to propagate fear.

It's that simple. When we let fear guide our actions, we sin. When we amplify fear in others—whether consciously or unconsciously—we commit evil. Sometimes it’s an intentional act. Other times, it’s the byproduct of ignorance, of not knowing another way.

But what causes us to act from fear in the first place? We act from fear when we feel separate.

The root of all evil is the attempt to fill the aching void left by our lost connection to Unity Consciousness. In this place of disconnection, we reach for substitutes of connection: nation, race, global brands, pop culture, sports teams, and celebrity worship. These collective identities offer us a sense of belonging. They help us feel less alone. And sometimes, they even open the heart. There is joy in group experiences, like a stadium full of people all singing in unison.

These substitutes aren’t inherently bad. Perhaps they’ve even served us—keeping the memory of unity flickering in the collective psyche. But we must be honest with ourselves: they are not the true connection our souls long for. They are shadows of the Oneness.

The Habit of Other-ing

These shadows become a source of sin and evil, when we invest our safety in these substitutes. Then anything that doesn’t match our adopted identity threatens us. It shakes the fragile foundation we’ve built. And so, we begin to other. We reject what doesn’t comply. We criticize, exclude, or try to eliminate what challenges our version of truth. This process becomes false protection when we cling to these identities so we won’t feel alone.

These structures of belonging require rules. Shared beliefs. Accepted behaviors. And when those are broken, it feels like betrayal. So we police our behavior, in ourselves and others. We uphold the rules because they keep the illusion of connection alive. This fear of losing the illusion colors our thoughts and actions, sin. It causes us to externalize those fears on others, evil.

But these forms are temporary. And blessedly fragile.

The Return of Unity

Something is shifting. True connection—connection to Consciousness—is returning. The fog is lifting. Unity is becoming available again, not as an idea, but as a lived reality. We can let the substitutes dissolve. We can remember who we are. To remember Love. Our thoughts and actions become love-based, the end of sin. We treat others based on that knowledge of Love, the end of evil.

It sounds simple: when we remember unity, evil ends. But that feels remote and daunting. I ask myself, "How do I get the world to remember unity?" Answer: I don’t. I remember unity myself and end evil and sin in me.