‘Satan’
The wrong end of the religious stick.

Why are religious people so troubled?
Because the closer we get, the more the temptation of pride.

Satan: “Hebrew: ‫שָּׂטָן‬‎‎ satan, meaning “enemy” or “adversary”; Arabic: ‫شيطان‬‎‎ shaitan, meaning; “astray”, “distant”, or sometimes “devil”) is a figure appearing in the texts of the Abrahamic religions who brings evil and temptation, and is known as the deceiver who leads humanity astray. Some religious groups teach that Satan originated as an angel who fell because of excessive pride, seducing humanity into the ways of falsehood and sin, and who has power in the fallen world.”

Satan doesn’t want us to wake up. We’re not referring to an external devil – a fantasy; rather, we are talking about our own mind. From a Buddhist point of view, demonic activity is our own likes and dislikes, reacting to the likes and dislikes of others. We won’t wake up because we don’t want to let go of the pride we have in our dream.

Demonic: “an evil spirit who possesses a person and acts as a tormentor in hell.”

We become demonic when we consider ourselves first. There are no evil spirits. It’s us: we are the fallen angels. We took the teachings to puff ourselves up with excessive pride, and we then try to seduce others.

Not only is it, “Oh my God, I’m God!”
It’s also, “Oh my God, I’m The Devil!”
😀

While we haven’t tamed our mind, we will be in constant torment. It’s easy to see this in the world, where people are either traumatised or seduced, and live in hell. But this hell can be flipped into heaven at any moment. By virtue of one, the other is known.

We have been led to believe that hell is a place where the bad go, and where the devil awaits – but of course, we aren’t bad, so we don’t have to worry 😉 Oh really? Hell is very seductive. It is our own minds that torment us, and that is hell. People even cherish their dislikes. The external demons are merely the hell of others. This hell just a mistaken view of reality: we could call the devil ‘drivel’ because it doesn’t make any sense!

As we clarity our understanding, everything simplifies and becomes more personal, in the way of direct experience. And this can be excruciating – intensely painful and tormenting. The torment is a glaring obstacle on our path; it is a cross road – or even the final step!

Obstacles appear more frequently. Why is this? 1. We notice more; our intensity has increased and we are more aware. 2. We are more prone to attack by others because we seem different.

This is why we need spiritual support, so we do not go astray, self indulgencing in our abilities, which will destroy our progress. “Pride goes before a fall”!

The more we are inspired, the more we supplicate, and the more the blessings, the more the…magic. And that is seductive! We become seduced by siddhis.

Satan – or Mara – is not all bad. It cannot help itself, and it is no longer an enemy. In fact, it is our helper, especially at the final step; just before the Buddha attained enlightenment, he was attacked by fear (torment) and desire (seduction).