“La tristeza del bien ajeno,
y más del bien de un hermano,
es el pecado que Dios
reprende principalmente”.
San Agustín
La ciudad de Dios, XV, 7, 1.
Hace más de cuatro décadas, en una visita que hiciera a Cintio Vitier en su cubículo-celda de la Biblioteca Nacional, este me dijo, no recuerdo a propósito de qué asunto: “Unamuno decía que el mal nacional de España es la envidia, en cambio, el de Cuba es el resentimiento”. Por entonces, yo era casi un adolescente y no reflexioné demasiado sobre la frase, mas, por algún motivo, no la olvidé. Solo ahora, más cerca del fin de mi vida que de sus comienzos, vuelvo sobre las razones que asistían al autor de Niebla y al de Lo cubano en la poesía, a propósito de haber hallado en las páginas de Orígenes un ensayo de María Zambrano titulado “Los males sagrados: la envidia”.
El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica define a la envidia como “la tristeza experimentada ante el bien del prójimo y el deseo desordenado de poseerlo, aunque sea en forma indebida” (CEC, 2539). Es uno de los pecados capitales, que san Agustín consideró “el pecado diabólico por excelencia” quizá porque tenía presente el libro de la Sabiduría que afirma que “la muerte entró en el mundo por la envidia del Diablo y sus seguidores tienen que sufrirla” (Sab 2, 24). La Sagrada Escritura está llena de ejemplos impresionantes: por envidia Caín dio muerte a su hermano Abel (Gn 4, 2-12), por envidia los hermanos del visionario José lo arrojaron a un pozo seco y después lo vendieron como esclavo (Gn 37, 1-28), por envidia el hombre rico de la parábola del profeta Natán robó al pobre su única oveja (2S 12, 1-4).
Como una enfermedad viral, la envidia se esparce por el mundo. Lo mismo toca a las puertas de los hogares, de las oficinas –altas o bajas– que se introduce en las instituciones intelectuales y hasta en las religiosas. En algunas personas no es una falta puntual, sino se convierte en un modo de vivir y ver el mundo. Cuando la envidia se hace cultura entonces deviene en su expresión más arraigada, el resentimiento.
Unamuno sabía de esto desde su infancia. Tenía un hermano mayor, solterón, amargado, que vio siempre con ojeriza los triunfos de Miguel. Se dice que hacia el final de su vida llegó a colgarse al cuello un cartel que decía: “¡No venga usted a hablarme de mi hermano!”. Eso lo ayudó a forjar una novela como Abel Sánchez, donde el drama de Caín y Abel se convierte en el de Joaquín y Abel. Ese Joaquín Monegro puede confesar en el relato que: “Empecé a odiar a Abel con toda mi alma –nos dice– y a proponerme a la vez ocultar ese odio, abonarlo, criarlo, cuidarlo en lo recóndito de las entrañas de mi alma. [Así] nací al infierno de mi vida”. De Unamuno, envidiado y difamado por conservadores y socialistas, contra los que él lanzó anatemas sin piedad, escribió su compatriota Gregorio Marañón que se le debían “las páginas más profundas sobre la pasión del resentimiento, morbo insinuante y letal de la vida española”.
Zambrano entregó en 1946 a Orígenes un fragmento reflexivo sobre este mal, que luego, revisado, incluiría en su libro El hombre y lo divino (1955).1 La filósofa andaluza hace gala de sus conocimientos de las culturas clásicas, de su sintonía con el pensamiento de san Agustín y de su cercanía con algunas aristas de pensadores como Unamuno y Ortega y Gasset y, con agudeza, entra en las oscuras interioridades del envidioso para descubrir ese proceso en que la imagen del prójimo se desfigura y se aleja para convertirse en “el otro”.
Hace años vi un grabado medieval que representaba a una especie de monstruo de remota apariencia humana, que sostenía en sus brazos una serpiente y esta le devoraba el corazón. Era el símbolo de la envidia. El peligroso reptil encuentra siempre pretextos para deslizarse hacia el órgano vital, lo mismo se vale de las diferencias económicas, de las reales o supuestas ventajas que algunos poseen, de los éxitos que obtienen ciertos deportistas, artistas, científicos o emprendedores y hasta de la felicidad familiar. Su mordisco inocula a toda una turba de resentidos, ya para siempre tristes por la alegría ajena, y dispuestos a dañarla para intentar saciar el ardor de sus frustraciones.
Un país donde proliferan los envidiosos mal podrá engendrar un hombre nuevo, por el contrario, será semejante a un infierno terrestre. Las páginas de María deberían ponerse junto a la homilía del Papa Francisco, pronunciada en la Casa Santa Marta, el 21 de enero de 2016, en la festividad de Santa Inés, virgen y mártir, en el empeño de examinarnos y procurar desarraigar de nuestro ámbito un mal que conduce a la violencia y a la muerte espiritual:
“En el corazón, los celos o la envidia crecen como mala hierba: crece y no deja crecer la hierba buena. Todo lo que le parece que le hace sombra, le hace mal. ¡Nunca está en paz! ¡Es un corazón atormentado, un corazón feo! Además, el corazón envidioso –como escuchamos aquí– lleva a matar, a la muerte. Y la Escritura lo dice claro: por la envidia del diablo, entró la muerte en el mundo.
[…]
”Y yo, pensando y reflexionando sobre este pasaje de la Escritura, me invito a mí mismo y a todos a buscar si en mi corazón hay algo de celos, algo de envidia, que siempre lleva a la muerte y no me hace feliz. Porque esta enfermedad nos lleva a ver lo bueno que hay en el otro como si estuviera en tu contra. ¡Y éste es un pecado feo! Es el comienzo de tantas, tantas criminalidades. Pidamos al Señor que nos dé la gracia de no abrir el corazón a los celos, de no abrir el corazón a las envidias, porque estas cosas llevan siempre a la muerte.
[…]
”La envidia –según la interpretación de Pilatos, que era muy inteligente, ¡pero cobarde!– es la que llevó a la muerte a Jesús. El instrumento, el último instrumento. Se lo habían entregado por envidia. Pidamos también al Señor la gracia de no entregar nunca, por envidia, a un hermano a la muerte, a una hermana de la parroquia, de la comunidad, tampoco a un vecino del barrio: cada uno tiene sus pecados, cada uno tiene sus virtudes. Son propias de cada uno. Ver el bien y no matar con los chismes, por envidia o por celos”.
Nota
1 En este libro aparece en la sección tercera, titulada “Los procesos de lo divino”, el texto “El infierno terrestre: la envidia”; su primera parte es la que apareció en Orígenes, a ella se agrega una segunda, denominada “El infierno terrestre: la sombra”.
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