Letter # 74: "Where's the Devil?"

“The devil hath power,
To assume a pleasing shape.”
Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2.
William Shakespeare ( 1564-1616). the greatest English dramatist.
My last Letter was on slander. Slander is the Devil. The evidence is in the linguistic roots of the word “devil”. It comes from the Gk. diabolos "accuser, slanderer"; which in turn comes from diaballein "to slander, attack," "throw across," from dia- "across, through" + ballein "to throw."
The Devil of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition made his debut in the Garden of Eden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_eden). Eden means delight in Hebrew. According to some historians, this garden of delight was in Mesopotamia, now known as Iraq. After his appearance in the Garden, the Devil headed west, along with Adam and Eve, after they were evicted. Westward ho, and all along the way, the Devil tempted more and more of the "descendants of innocent” to eat the “apple” of knowledge, and thus move further and further away from God. The Devil's “temptation” continues, even to this day. That delicious “apple’ is inexhaustible; and we eat ever larger chunks of it, for our appetite for knowledge is insatiable. Indeed, we seem to have developed an “eating disorder” of knowledge.
In the Hebrew schema, the angel who holds the title Satan, which means adversary, is a actually a servant of God. In God’s heavenly court, Satan is given the job to test humankind. And, he certainly did a good job with Job.
In the east, in the Vedic schema, it is the thoughts and behaviours that determine whether a person has either a demoniac or a divine nature. Of the many ultimates in villainy are Ravana, and Kal (pronounced as in skull; see Letter # 50). Ravana was a great king, who ruled ancient Sri Lanka. He was invulnerable, wealthy, knowledgeable, and proud. Only Lord Rama, a human incarnation of the Supreme Lord, would defeat Ravana, and did.
Lord Krishna states, “Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance – these qualities belong to those of the demoniac nature, O son of Partha.” BG 16:4
Guru Nanak teaches that when man turns his face to God, he has a divine nature (gurmukh); and when he turns his face to himself (manmukh) he suffers in the restlessnes of the mind: “Bharme bhula dah-dis dhavai; Nimakh mah(i) char kunt phir avai”, which stanza is rendered into English as: “Misled by duality, the mind runs in ten directions; In the twinkling of an eye, the mind turns back after wandering the four corners (by the grace of the Guru).” SS Asht 11.2 p 115.

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God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

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Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2008
References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" as translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN 0-89213-268-X; The Srimad Bhagavatum as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN0-89213-259-0; "I Am That. Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.