The Lure of the Devil, the Lure of God

The devil of this note is not that guy with horns but mere symbolism for all those things in the universe that keeps our souls, our inner selves, from growing but rather pulls it down into miserable and less evolved states. God on the other hand is also not a guy with a spotless and shining white robe (or cute pretty colors) surrounded by angels singing - holy, holy, holy,  but as in the rest of this blog is recognized as the Almighty universal consciousness and power of infinite extent of which everything in the universe is a part (including the less evolved parts). However, for convenience if one wished to give a picture to these things, one may do so.

Developed from image at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VonSatanicBloodAngel.jpg

Whereas it seems that the Almighty wishes all beings to evolve and become just as evolved as the most evolved part of the universe, the job of the devil is to do precisely the reverse. The lure the devil uses is sex, money, power, fame and success etc. The Lure of God on the other hand is peace and happiness produced through things like love, compassion, truth and simplicity. Understandably most tend to fall for the first because gratification on that path is quick whereas peace and happiness is a bit abstract.

However the end result of continued pursuit and indulgence on the path of the devil after an initial gratification is misery and a sinking of the soul. Sickness and health issues are often a byproduct. When a soul suffers from this misery it remembers God and attempts to switch sides. Eventually peace is restored through this switch as a prerequisite to happiness. However, the lure of the devil is very tempting and the taste of what he offered persists; therefore it is common for souls to revert back to the devil as soon as they have found their feet on the ground again. This essentially is the story of living souls in their journey through many life times in the universe. Through all these ups and downs, a soul tends to acquire wisdom and then eventually goes for God out of wisdom and not just an escape from suffering. On that path a soul is more likely to stick longer on the path of peace and happiness (a soul that came to the fold merely because of suffering would tend to leave just as soon as the suffering is lifted), the end result of which is bliss . A soul that has experienced this divine bliss then loses the taste for the stuff the devil has to offer. Such a rare soul then becomes a candidate for eternal bliss and liberation or Nirvana as Buddha called it. In spiritual history there are stories of the devil trying to lure the mightiest such as Buddha, Jesus and many others away with promises of lust, wealth and earthly kingdoms but they had then become embedded in infinite beauty and evolved enough to brush it aside.

It is not that those who pursue a godly path are deprived of money or anything else that is required for them to conduct their lives with ease. How can a starving homeless person be happy? However whatever are the needs and requirements of such persons is arranged for them by the Universal Intelligence with utmost of ease. There have been cases of kings and queens on a saintly mission that have been provided with kingdoms, if that be their mission, according to their personalities. Many humans do not realize that fortunes of humans vary far more than abilities and efforts of humans. Such vast differences are produced by doings of the Universe and while some humans with exceptional wealth may call themselves lucky or assign it to their destiny, some with bloated egos assign it to their exceptional smartness, but there are some who see the hand of God in all this. There can be no smartness that is so many times larger than others that has made it possible for a less than hundred humans of the planet to own wealth equal to half the humans on the planet (See an older post for that). If it were so, the brains of these hundred would have exploded by now. What happens to us eventually is more the result of universal forces rather than our own doings. All it requires is faith on the part of those pursuing a Godly path that their needs shall be met by the Universe without them having to worry about it or compromise their chosen path in any way. 

Some months ago I came across an article by a well known modern preacher (name withheld) who had written an article on how to become successful on linked-in. It is a popular modern subject. As a comment to the article, I asked- Why not be happy instead? I never heard from him since.

An introspective thinker will no doubt inquire: If there is an Almighty God in the Universe, why has he allowed the devil to flourish? The answer is where there is light there must be darkness, where there is lumps of mud and turds, there are flowers and butterflies. Creation is born of pairs of opposites.