Whatever Happened to the Devil?

This may seem like an odd subject for this blog, but given the state of conflict in the world, it is very relevant.  Read on and see why.

There is no question that the Devil has gone missing in most religious teaching.  It's a common observation.  The only explanation I've seen is that modern man is not receptive to talk about demons and squirms when the subject matter is raised.  Instead, in modern theology and preaching, the emphasis is on doing good, on following the word of God.  There is little mention of the Devil's influence in people's lives.

Yet given the seemingly endemic nature of conflict and violence in the world, whether in the home or between nations, we have dismissed the Devil from spiritually-correct discussion at our peril.  Anyone with an open mind can observe the Devil at work everywhere around us; the devil is alive and well.

Why do people squirm when someone talks about the Devil?  Is it really because they are modern and don't believe this talk about supernatural or dark forces?  Given the odd things that modern man believes in, I doubt this is the case.  I think it's more likely that they have had experience with dark forces and they squirm because they are in denial and don't want to admit that that is what they have had contact with.

Before going any further, I should make clear what I am talking about when I used the word "Devil."  Just like when I talk about God, I am talking about the divinity within us, not the bearded guy in the sky who controls everything (see my post, "God Is Not Dead, We Just Look for God in the Wrong Places"), when I talk about the Devil, I am talking about the devil within us, not the being with the pointed tail.

In my previous writing, I have said that man's insecurity is behind all violence and conflict in the world, whether in the home or between nations.  How does that square with what I'm saying now?

There are two things to distinguish:  the devil influencing people and someone becoming the devil incarnate, a dark force.  When someone reacts to something with insecurity, that is certainly not the guidance of God, but it is the guidance of the Devil because insecurity makes man weak, and weakness is fertile ground for the Devil.  So to say that insecurity is the cause of all violence and conflict in the world is the same as saying that the devil is the cause; the devil can only work through man.

In the other case—when someone becomes the devil incarnate, a dark force—he or she has sold his soul to the devil.  This person is no longer human.  He is a fallen man who lives his hell on earth.  He rejoices in torturing people, in causing them to suffer.  Such a person is not acting out of insecurity but out of malevolence.  And unfortunately, it has been my experience that such dark forces are around in large numbers.

When I talk to people about my experience of dark forces, their eyes typically glaze over and view me like a kook.  Most often if they know the person, they defend him as a good person.  The devil is a master con man; he has turned such people into enablers by convincing them that the person is good. If they don't know him or her, they say that maybe the person does bad things but they're not the Devil or a dark force.  That doesn't exist in their world view.

The religious establishments have done their flock, man, a disservice by catering to this "modern" sensibility regarding the Devil because the Devil or dark force is very real and without question is the force that tempts people to do bad or inhumane things to others. We see this truth even in cartoons that show an angel sitting on one shoulder given a person advice while the devil is sitting on the other shoulder trying to convince the person to do something bad or mischievous.

There is too much emphasis on supporting/growing the religious establishment, and thus of not doing things that upset the flock and turn them away,  The role of religion is to set man on the right path—both for himself and those around him—to lead him away from the devil, from the emotions, fears, and anxieties of his ego-mind.  Man has never wanted to hear such preaching, but it is necessary.  That is the role of religion.

In many posts, I have talked about the inhumanity of man and how to get man back on the right track ... the track to humanity.  The suggestions I have made in those posts all have merit.  But we will not be able to achieve any of those spiritual goals if we are not willing to recognize that the Devil is in our presence and he does not wish us well.  

I have written that the ego-mind is the source of our emotions, fears, and anxieties, which is the truth. But behind our psychological reflexes is the Devil.  That is why it is so hard for us to get past what our ego-mind tells us to do.

Here again, we must go back to the future.  We must go back to an understanding that there are forces at work in the universe which are supernatural.  We are not the all-powerful, independent person that we want to think man is.  Our only way back to peace and happiness is to realize that we cannot be in control of our destiny unless we stand up to the Devil.  Flip Wilson may have gotten a laugh when his character, Ernestine, said, "The Devil made me do it!"  But it is no laughing matter. 

Ever Wonder Why the World Is the Way It Is?

We live in a dysfunctional world.  Violence and conflict are all around us … within ourselves, within families, within societies, between nations.  How often do I hear people asking, “Why?”

The typical answer is some version of, “That’s just life,” or “It’s human nature.”  But that’s too easy and facile an answer.  The truth is more complicated and enlightening.  While it’s true that it is the way it is, it is not human nature; it’s human development.  That means it’s not inevitable; people can change.  We have a choice.

All religions depict life as a constant struggle between light and darkness.  In former times, that fight was often spoken of as being between God and the Devil. 

These days one hears little about the Devil for the same reason that most people don’t talk much about God.  The existence of these deities as external forces that control our lives, to whom we can on the one hand pray for deliverance or on the other bargain with for what we desire, just flies in the face of both our life experience and scientific knowledge.  Many have thus lost their belief in the God of our forefathers, if not declaring God dead.

But another concept of God is very much alive for those who walk the path of spirituality/mysticism … whether it’s Buddhism, Hinduism, Jewish Kabbalah, Islamic Sufism, or Christian Gnosticism.  Their truth is that the Buddha/God essence is within each of us from the moment of our birth and remains there throughout our life.  

But that divine essence becomes hidden from us over the years, buried by successive layers of our ego-mind’s reaction to life’s experiences.  We become wounded by those experiences.  We become lost to our true selves.  And so we walk the path to reconnect, to rediscover our true selves.  Our salvation comes from within us, not from some outside force.  And so the eternal struggle is seen as being between our heart/soul and our ego-mind.

While we learn that the Buddha was tempted by Mara, the Buddhist equivalent of the Devil, I have never, I believe, heard the Devil mentioned when speaking of the challenge of healing ourselves, of ending our suffering. The reference is rather to freeing ourselves from the control of our ego-mind, it being the true source of our suffering, not the events we experience.  As the Buddha said, to free ourselves of the conceit “I am” is the ultimate freedom.

Recently, however, I felt the presence of the Devil.  I was having dinner with a friend who knows he has to limit his consumption of alcohol.  But he said he wanted a second glass of wine that night.  And that after dinner he wanted to go to some bars and have a beer like he does when he travels with other friends of his.  Knowing I would disapprove and say “no,” the expression on his face when he talked was a mocking one, sly.  I was aware of the strangeness of it at the moment, but I didn’t recognize it.  Only when I meditated the next morning, did I realize that I had been in the presence of the Devil.

I now understand that just as in some religions the Devil is thought to be a fallen angel,  in Buddhism, as well as the mystic traditions, the Devil can be equated with our ego-mind, which is our internal fallen angel/Buddha/God nature.  We have become so wounded repeatedly over the years that the ego-mind has no trust, no faith, and is consumed by fear; it has become cynical about the world around us.  It has overpowered our true self to “protect” us; we are in its control.  And so the Devil, our own Devil, is inside each of us; it is the nature of our ego-mind.

Ernestine, the Flip Wilson drag character, used to say, “The Devil made me do it!” In comic strips, a person was sometimes portrayed with an angel sitting on one shoulder whispering in his ear and the Devil sitting on the other doing the same, being confused by the competing advice; a graphic depiction of our internal Devil as well as our internal God-essence.   We have all experienced that.  So the concept is not foreign to our culture or experience.

I have written in previous posts how all the conflict and violence in the world, whether in the home, workplace, society or between nations is a result of the insecurity that man acquires from his life experiences.  (See my posts, “The Root of All Abuse and Violence - Insecurity” and “Insecurity as the Cause of Social Conflict and International War.”)  

That the ego-mind is not only filled with the fear, anxiety and self-centeredness (and often aggression) caused by insecurity but through continued wounding has acquired the lack of faith, trust, and cynicism of the Devil makes the dysfunction we observe all that more intractable.  And it explains the specter of evil that we see in all corners of the world.

This is why the world is the way it is.  It’s not because people are bad … there is no such thing as a bad person, just people who do bad things … or that humans are flawed.  It’s because our life experience has made us insecure and our ego-minds have reacted in a way which makes us a threat to our own well-being and the well-being of those around us.  The greater our insecurity, the more of a threat we become.  At some point we become the Devil incarnate.

If one wants to save the world from itself, this insight offers a possible agent of change.  It may not only be very helpful in a practical way for those already struggling to free themselves from the control of their ego-mind, the control of their emotions and perceptions, it may encourage more people, both leaders and followers, to enter upon that path.

How?  We very much identify with our ego-mind.  Its feelings and perceptions are all we’ve known our entire life.  Even for those who walk the path of the spiritual/mystic traditions, while we come to learn that our feelings and perceptions are the cause of our suffering and are not a reflection of our true selves, the power of these feelings are often barely diminished because we find it hard to deeply disown them.  So powerful is the ego-mind.  

When push comes to shove, we always return to the perspective of our wounded self, our ego-mind.  We have not purged ourselves from its grip.  The roots in our self-perception go too deep.

Identifying the ego-mind with the Devil may be very helpful because that image does not conjure up “I.”  It conjures up instead trickery, deceit, doing something against one’s best interest, evil … which is in truth how the ego-mind operates and controls us.  

Most people, regardless their status in life, regardless their lack of spirituality, would not I believe want to self-identify with the Devil.  It thus may well open the door at least a crack to the light of their heart.  And encourage people to at least ponder walking the path in order to find the way to disown their ego-mind and say “no” to its guidance, thereby freeing themselves from its control and finding inner peace and happiness.

Each soul saved makes for a better world.  Religions have always taught that.  But now salvation rests with the individual, what he chooses to do with his life.  Whether he chooses light or darkness, peace or suffering, not with his belief in a God external to himself.  This spirituality is of the present moment.   Its reward is here and now in a life of peace and happiness, not a Heaven to be experienced after death.