What would cause a person to behave so violently and what is going on in the world that makes these events so disturbingly frequent?  There are two aspects contributing to this particular event. These two may play a role in other events or they may be slightly different. Here let us examine these aspects to better understand what happened.

Aspect One

Faculty and classmates who knew Cho have described him as quiet, a loner, someone who never made eye contact, someone with violent fantasies who stalked women, a young man who was angry at the rich, and who seemed disturbed and mean. He came to the United States when he was eight years old so he was not a newly transplanted person. The characteristics ascribed to him describe an infant soul, a survival oriented human being overwhelmed by the complexity of an advanced culture he was sorely unprepared to cope with. This is not to say that all infant souls are mean or violent or destructive. With proper supervision, greater structure, and a simpler environment many infant souls fare quite well in the world. Jungle environments or tribal situations in rural environments where food is plentiful and life is basic are the places they are happiest. These locations are like nurseries allowing them to get used to being physical and surviving.

Infant souls are by nature fearful because they lack experience. They are survival oriented so they tend to be suspicious of anything they don’t know about, just as many animals are somewhat paranoid until they know they are safe. If an infant soul is  very fearful they will make no eye contact. This is one of the primary characteristics of an infant soul, a telltale sign. In addition they display no empathy, not being able to put themselves into another’s shoes. That is too sophisticated for them, nor do they have a developed conscience. On the other hand they can be very intelligent and can understand math and other abstract concepts. They just don’t know how to be with people very well.

Infant souls resort to violence when they are very afraid. Their perspective is “me and not me” just like an infant so “not me” is fair game to get rid of if it is threatening in any way. Strictly speaking this cannot be classified as mental illness. It is normal for an infant soul and this is what many people do not understand. The general public and even professionals assume that there is something wrong with a person who behaves in this manner. The fact is there is nothing wrong with them other than that they have not been supervised properly. If you let a grizzly roam the streets it will eventually attack someone because that is in its nature.

So Cho was like an infant surrounded by much older kids and adults. He could not cope at their level so he reacted from his level. Get rid of what frightens me. Get rid of himself too if that frightened him which it obviously did. He felt out of control and tried desperately to get control in his own fashion.

Not all serial killers are infant souls. Sometimes they are older in soul age but delusional or crazy. Sometimes they commit crimes of passion or are carried away by the moment. Therefore you must look closely at the characteristics displayed by the killer to understand where they are coming from. Cho was clearly an infant soul. He stalked women as an animal would in the jungle. He could not communicate with other people well and this was not because he was Korean by origin. He did not feel he could compete socially but he did have drives toward mating and so on. So hopefully you get the picture.

Aspect Two 

Times are heating up. The world is rapidly destabilizing as many different predictions have foretold it would at this time. The world is overcrowded, the future is in jeopardy, many structures are crumbling, technology is advancing at breakneck speed, products are proliferating, life is getting more complicated, the environment is stressed, resources are drying up, the climate is changing, and information is flooding from every media source. The world is even becoming overwhelming for those who are stable and mature. As this course of events plays itself out over the next several years more and more people will snap in various ways. Some people become very anxious while many drop into depression and head for medication in droves. Some people get sick and die quickly while others find their marriages and partnerships under terrible strain. Drugs and guns are everywhere allowing people easy escape in one way or another. The youngest souls are the least adaptable, the least flexible, and the least prepared and when they find themselves in a highly complex culture they simply can’t cope. They snap like Cho. Now roughly five percent of the world's population is in the infant soul category. Five percent of six and one half billion people is, well you do the math. That is still a lot of infant souls that can get into trouble when they leave the nursery and get out into the complex world with all its weapons and technology. As long as the advanced cultures of the world refuse to acknowledge soul age as a factor, the more disasters like Virginia Tech can be expected.

Now lest you find this article discouraging, keep in mind that while all hell may be breaking lose in many fronts, it is also a time of extraordinary opportunity. Breakthroughs of every kind are occurring and imminent. There is mass spiritual awakening and opportunity to make substantial changes and advancement in consciousness at this time. So as in all troubles there is a silver lining and potential for major transformation on the planet.

What about the victims?

From the point of view of family, friends, and community this event is experienced as an unmitigated disaster. We live in an impermanent world and change can happen at any time. To the degree that people love each other and are attached to one another there is terrible grief and loss in the aftermath of such an event. At the level of personality there is victimization and what feels like no choice. This is because the personality is a pawn in the game of life. Yet in this challenging world there truly are no victims because at the essence level everything is a choice. No one dies in a disaster without giving agreement, again, at the essence level, something that is beneath the consciousness of the daily personality. Nevertheless there will often be certain telltale signs that in retrospect demonstrate that the person somehow knew they were going to leave imminently.

People often sacrifice themselves in these events for many personal reasons. They often feel that through their sudden death they can perform a great service to those left behind. They know that people around them will suffer but in the long run may change their lives for the better because of it. This was the case for all those who sacrificed themselves in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and in the Oklahoma bombing.

Each person may have very personal reasons as well, ones that can only be understood by themselves at the deepest levels. So instead of becoming disillusioned or cynical or allowing tragedy to destroy your faith it is best to simply state the truth. The truth often is, “I don’t know yet why this happened. I believe there may be deeper meaning but I can’t see that yet. So I will accept it and I will do what I can to prevent such events in the future. The way I can do that is to live peacefully and in absolute awareness. I am not going to go into fear and I am not going to become angry because that serves no purpose. Taking this as a reminder I am going to live my life as if today were my last day.”

Take Heart, Jose Stevens