The problem is that we are in thrall to subordinate forces just as Adam and Eve were, and for which originating sin they were expelled from the Garden. In our case, these forces are fear and anger, both of which render us incapable of love. They are our emotions, they originate within us, but we project them onto other individuals, groups and nations. We need these others. For us to be good, someone has to be bad.
“Only to the white man was nature a ‘wilderness,’ and only to him was the land ‘infested’ with ‘wild’ animals and ‘savage’ people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery.” Chief Luther Standing Bear
Effort happens when the mind fights with itself, when two inimical desires feud with one another, e.g. “Do it!” “Don’t want to!” No natural process involves a descent into civil war. Politicians like to say they’re working hard. A damaged planet pleads: Stop that!
The first thing we teach our children is the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. Haven’t we learned anything? This is what got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden.
We are encouraged to follow our passion, but this betrays a misunderstanding of what passions are. The word derives from the Latin for suffer. A Sufi teaching says there are nine of them, each one disguised as a virtue.
Men's Work 