Introduction
The common idea of the Devil is that the Devil is some kind
of an entity, usually male, that has become the head of all evil or is even the
source of it, occupies a throne and dwells in the inferior regions of the Earth,
namely hell and from there fights against God and the forces of good for the control
over human beings and the world.
In summary popular belief has it, that the devil is an
external entity that tempts us and tries to lure us into his snare to capture and
enslave our soul in evil. Very rare would it occur to us that this belief of
the devil being outside or external to us is something that is mistaken and the
Devil is really inside of us.
Devil Inside
In some ways we do believe that we have a devil inside, because
we know ourselves to some extent and we know that we have a very dark side and
for that reason we say that the devil is inside. Even Michael Hutchence of INXS
wrote that song: “Devil Inside” perhaps in recognition of this point that we
all have some inner darkness and this could be the Devil, but Gnosis says that
the devil inside is actually something different.
However, this is not really the point, even though it is
getting closer. The actual point is that this darkness is due to the essence
having been fragmented and conditioning and the then the fragmented
consciousness having fallen asleep. But the devil inside is different to this.
The devil is actually a part of ourselves that each one of us carries inside of
ourselves.
The devil inside is a reflection of our interior Divinity,
or the shadow of our interior Divinity, where the Devil that we have inside of
us is there polarised in the ego or darkness so as to train us, tempt us and
help us to ascend spiritually. In people who are not working to cultivate their
spiritual virtues etc. and ascend spiritually the Devil inside of them is black
and works, if they want to become degenerated, to become more degenerated etc.
etc.
How the Devil Inside is Transformed as we Work
It has been known by many initiates of the past that the
Devil was inside of us and was a reflection of our own interior Divinity. And
as we have the ego the Devil inside of us is polarised with darkness so as to
help those who want to work to lift their lift of Being. As we eliminate the
ego we whiten the Devil inside and make him whiter and whiter until he is free
and becomes and Archangel. So then the Devil has the trident because the
trident tells us that the devil is inside and typically he, is a reflection of
our Being the inner Trinity, the Father,, the Son and the Holy Spirit inside of
is.
Legend of Lucifer
Very briefly the commonly known version of eh legend of
Lucifer is that, Lucifer was an marvellous angel who sat at the right hand of
God and fell and then became the Devil. Well true, but true in the sense of our
interior panorama. When we fell from Divinity our interior Lucifer fell with us
and this part of our interior Divinity who was at the right hand of our Being
when we were with our God (our Real Being). As we are fallen our Lucifer is
fallen to into the ego and his function is when we start to raise ourselves up
out of the mud of the Earth he will help us but using the left hand instead of the
right.
Lucifer means bringer of light and that is precisely what he
does, he brings light to us when we work on ourselves trying to conquer his
temptations. That is his true function in us. How could a Devil outside of us,
who just tries to enslave us bring us light, once again the popular belief in
its depth does not really make sense.
Conclusion
True there does exist evil entities in this world and in the
worlds that we can not see, touch and feel from here within the physical world.
There are certainly even orders and hierarchies among the entities that
personify evil. There is even a boss of them all and sure they do try to bring human
beings into evil and they work to promote evil in the world, however as a
someone that is equal to God or can rival God, that is going too far. Even
these characters of evil are not beyond the Divine Law and can not escape it
either. The Divine Law governs them, regulates them and will later submit them.
End (297).
In this ritualistic drama--possibly derived from the Egyptians--Adam, banished from the Garden of Eden, represents man philosophically exiled from the sphere of Truth. Through ignorance man falls; through wisdom he redeems himself. The Garden of Eden represents the House of the Mysteries (see The Vision of Enoch) in the midst of which grew both the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
ReplyDeleteMan, the banished Adam, seeks to pass from the outer court of the Sanctuary (the exterior universe) into the sanctum sanctorum, but before him rises a vast creature armed with a flashing sword that, moving slowly but continually, sweeps clear a wide circle, and through this "Ring Pass Not" the Adamic man cannot break.
The cherubim address the seeker thus: "Man, thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return. Thou wert fashioned by the Builder of Forms; thou belongest to the sphere of form, and the breath that was breathed into thy soul was the breath of form and like a flame it shall flicker out. More than thou art thou canst not be. Thou art a denizen of the outer world and it is forbidden thee to enter this inner place."
And the Adam replies: "Many times have I stood within this courtyard and begged admission to my Father's house and thou hast refused it me and sent me back to wander in darkness. True it is that I was fashioned out of the dirt and that my Maker could not confer upon me the boon of immortality. But no more shalt thou send me away; for, wandering in the darkness, I have discovered that the Almighty hath decreed my salvation because He hath sent out of the most hidden Mystery His Only Begotten who didst take upon Himself the world fashioned by the Demiurgus. Upon the elements of that world was He crucified and from Him hath poured forth the blood of my salvation. And God, entering into His creation, hath quickened it and established therein a road that leadeth to Himself. While my Maker could not give me immortality, immortality was inherent in the very dust of which I was composed, for before the world was fabricated and before the Demiurgus became the Regent of Nature the Eternal Life had impressed itself upon the face of Cosmos. This is its sign--the Cross. Do you now deny me entrance, I who have at last learned the mystery of myself?"
And the voice replies: "He who is aware, IS! Behold!"
Gazing about him, Adam finds himself in a radiant place, in the midst of which stands a tree with flashing jewels for fruit and entwined about its trunk a flaming, winged serpent crowned with a diadem of stars. It was the voice of the serpent that had spoken.
Delete"Who art thou?" demands the Adam.
"I," the serpent answers, "am Satan who was stoned; I am the Adversary--the Lord who is against you, the one who pleads for your destruction before the Eternal Tribunal. I was your enemy upon the day that you were formed; I have led you into temptation; I have delivered you into the hands of evil; I have maligned you; I have striven ever to achieve your undoing. I am the guardian of the Tree of Knowledge and I have sworn that none whom I can lead astray shall partake of its fruits."
The Adam replies: "For uncounted ages have I been thy servant. In my ignorance I listened to thy words and they led me into paths of sorrow. Thou hast placed in my mind dreams of power, and when I struggled to realize those dreams they brought me naught but pain. Thou hast sowed in me the seeds of desire, and when I lusted after the things of the flesh agony was my only recompense. Thou hast sent me false prophets and false reasoning, and when I strove to grasp the magnitude of Truth I found thy laws were false and only dismay rewarded my strivings. I am done with thee forever, O artful Spirit! I have tired of thy world of illusions. No longer will I labor in thy vineyards of iniquity. Get thee behind me, rempter, and the host of thy temptations. There is no happiness, no peace, no good, no future in the doctrines of selfishness, hate, and passion preached by thee. All these things do I cast aside. Renounced is thy rule forever!"
And the serpent makes answer: "Behold, O Adam, the nature of thy Adversary!" The serpent disappears in a blinding sunburst of radiance and in its place stands an angel resplendent in shining, golden garments with great scarlet wings that spread from one corner of the heavens to the other. Dismayed and awestruck, the Adam falls before the divine creature.
"I am the Lord who is against thee and thus accomplishes thy salvation, " continues the voice. "Thou hast hated me, but through the ages yet to be thou shalt bless me, for I have led thee our of the sphere of the Demiurgus; I have turned thee against the illusion of worldliness; I have weaned thee of desire; I have awakened in thy soul the immortality of which I myself partake. Follow me, O Adam, for I am the Way, the Life, and the Truth!"
Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages