How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Twelve, The Meaning of Satan, Devil, Serpent, Etc.

How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Twelve, The Meaning of Satan, Devil, Serpent, Etc.

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There is only One Power. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4). Then, since God alone is, the devil is not. Since God is Being, the devil is not-Being. In other words, the devil does not exist. As Judge Troward points out so lucidly in his Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning: 

"It is precisely this fact of non-existence that makes up the devil; it is that power which in appearance is, and in reality is not; in a word, it is the power of the negative."

The Eye Was Called the Devil

In the ancient Tarot teaching, the Hebrew mystics referred to the devil as Ayin, which is the 16th letter in the Hebrew alphabet and spelled oin in Hebrew. It means the eye as an instrument of sight. It also stands for mirth. The eye is concerned only with the surface appearance of things. People used to say, "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west" and "The earth is flat and does not move." Yet, science has now convinced people how faulty the eye is in this respect: 

The sun does not rise and set, the earth is not flat and the earth does not stand still. For example, science today makes it clear that we do not see anything as it really is. This is a universe of densities, frequencies and intensities. Your body is plastic, porous and pliable. It is simply composed of waves of light and of atoms and molecules swirling around at tremendous speed. Our eyes are geared to see three-dimensionally.

The Hebrew secret wisdom knew more than modern science about the illusory nature of matter, as well as the limitations of our eyes. Hence, the attribution of mirth to the letter Ayin, which means the eye. Remember, Ayin refers to what seems rather than to what is, with illusion rather than reality. This is why mirth is associated with the word devil. The real meaning of the word devil in Hebrew mysticism is the slanderer—one who tells lies about God. The eye slanders the fact because it deals only with the outside appearance of a fact.

God Upside-Down

The ancient Hebrew mystics who wrote the Bible said that the devil is God upside-down. In other words, the devil is God as He is misunderstood by ignorant and primitive people. The devil of theologians does not exist; it was created by them to account for the evil in the world. Evil, however, comes from our misunderstanding or misuse and misapplication of the One Power.

We are choosing, volitional beings and we are here to evolve and learn the laws of life and to apply them correctly. Anything misapprehended or misapplied constitutes evil. If you do not choose the good, then you will experience the negative reaction from your subconscious mind because of your wrong choice.

Man's Invention

Theologians have accounted to the populace for the presence of evil by the invention of a devil. As for the gospels (the earliest is about 300 A.D.), the word devil is not found in the earlier versions. It occurs there as a spirit of evil. In the teaching of Jesus there is no mention of the theological devil, which was later invented by the church. Further, the word translated as devil is a spirit of evil, not the spirit of evil.

He went around expelling the devils, which are negative thought-forms of hate, jealousy, hostility, resentment, vengeance, self-condemnation and self-pity. These are the devils which harass us and are created by ourselves based on the way we think and feel. These negative emotions are, certainly, spirits (feelings) of evil.

"The essence of hell," says Swedenborg, "is the desire to control another." The devils are negative, destructive thought-forms, which result in negative, destructive emotions compelling the person to act them out. Negative, destructive emotions hidden in the subconscious must have an outlet resulting in all manner of chaos and suffering.

Pain Is a Consequence

All the pain and suffering in the world are the consequence of our own thinking and misuse of the One Power, brought on by ourselves. There is no punishment dealt out by an angry God. God has nothing whatever to do with our suffering or sickness. To say that God is angry with us instead of regarding us with love and compassion is the greatest of blasphemies.

Conquering Obstacles

All of us are here to overcome obstacles, challenges, difficulties and problems, which enables us to discover the Divinity within us so that we can achieve our ends. The Greek word for devil is diabolos, one who throws across (problems and obstacles); and we are supposed to use them as stepping stones to our triumph and success. This is the way we progress and advance up the ladder of life.

The Fall of Lucifer

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isaiah 14:12). Lucifer means Light, or I AM, Which is God. God limits Himself when He becomes man. Lucifer falling from heaven is simply Spirit, God or I AM becoming matter; and our limitation is the so-called devil. The fall of Lucifer, which is the fall of God or Spirit becoming matter, really enables us to grow and release the spiritual powers within us. These challenges and difficulties in life sharpen our mental and spiritual tools, enabling us to discover our God-like powers so that we can rise, transcend and grow, thereby releasing more and more of God's qualities within us.

Truth Sets You Free

The minute you cast out from your mind the idea of any other power but the One, your false concept of God will fall from the throne of your mind; and you will realize that when you use the Power constructively, It is called God, which brings health and happiness into your life. When you use the Power negatively and ignorantly, it is called the devil, which brings misery, lack and suffering into your experience. Ignorance is also called the devil, which is a negation of life.

There Is No Death

Life, or God, cannot die, and that life is your life now. Man believes in what he calls death; therefore, he experiences what he calls death. But, as Dr. Quimby said, in 1847, death is in us; the other person has simply passed on to the next dimension and is as much alive as we are. To say that death is the will of God is most emphatically denied by the Bible, for it says that . . . him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14), or the false belief of the mass mind.

You might say that man dies and his body disintegrates. Disintegration is the breaking up of what was previously an integer or perfect whole, the separation of its component parts. Man then puts on a new fourth-dimensional body, which is rarefied and attenuated and which functions in the next dimension. You will have bodies to Infinity. You will never be without a body. It is impossible for you to conceive of yourself without a body. This foreshadows, portrays and portends that you will always have a body. Emerson says that every Spirit builds itself a house. You need a body to express the qualities of Spirit, or God.

Life Seeks Expression

The only possible motive of the All-Originating Life- Principle, which is the term used by Judge Troward for God or the Living Spirit Almighty in all of us, must be the expression of life, love, truth and beauty, which is Its nature. If man had loving thoughts and dwelled on the eternal verities, knowing and believing that his life was God's life, and really neutralized the race mind belief in death, he would not experience what the world calls physical death. Because of his meditation and prayers and because of his deep-seated conviction, the molecules of his body would oscillate at such a high frequency that he would be here, but you would not see him, no more so than you could see steam when ice is melted and heated to a certain degree. Pure steam is invisible, yet it is pure H20, though operating at a higher molecular frequency.

This is why, as your Bible tells you, Jesus disappeared in the crowd and could not be seen. He was able to dematerialize his body. Apollonius was able to do the same thing.

Satan

The word in Hebrew means to accuse. The Guide to the Perplexed by Maimonides, which is one of the great books of all time, points out that Satan is derived from sata, which means to slip, to err, to deviate from the truth, to turn aside or to miss the mark. The latter word is the meaning of sin. We sin when we fail to lead a full and happy life. Then we are truly sinning, as we have wandered away from the contemplation of God's Holy Presence.

When you give power to conditions, circumstances, events, or to other people to mar your happiness or thwart your good, you are giving power to externals and not to the First Cause, Which is Spirit, God, the Only Presence and Power. Giving power to externals, however, is establishing a secondary cause. A spiritual- minded person does not give power to the phenomenalistic world, which is an effect, and not a cause. He gives power to the Creator or Creative Power, not the effect. The only immaterial power you know is your thought. When your thoughts are God's thoughts, God's Power is with your thoughts of good.

Live and Evil

If you spell live backward, you have evil, which means that when we experience evil in our lives, we are living life backwards. In other words, we are going against the stream of life which could, if permitted, take us onward, upward and Godward.

The point is: Do not make an effect a cause. Nothing disturbs you except through your own thought. Where there is no opinion, there is no suffering. When you read about murder or crime in high places, you have no opinion about it. If you get exercised or agitated, who is suffering? You are. You decided to generate anger and hostility. In effect, you are generating mental poisons which are destructive to your physical organism. Where there is no judgment, there is no pain.

Cease passing judgment on people. Your judgment is the conclusion or verdict rendered in your mind. In simple language, it is your thought. Since thought is creative, whatever you think and feel about the other, you are creating in your own mind, body and experience. This is why Jesus tells you to stop judging people. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. . . (Matthew 7:2).

Casting Out Devils

There are millions of people in the world and in the next dimension of life who have thoughts of hate, jealousy, hostility, greed, lust, etc. When you fill your mind with the truths of God, you neutralize and obliterate all the negative patterns. You could liken the process to pouring pure, distilled water into a bottle of dirty water. The moment comes when the last drop of dirty water is removed.

That is why it is important to keep prayed up. All of us are in the great psychic sea of over four billion people, as well as those billions living in the next dimension of life. It behooves us, therefore, to align ourselves with the Infinite Presence and Power and to constantly claim that what is true of God is true of us.

Through telepathy and thought transference, all of us are part of the great psychic sea. Subjectively, we are all one. If we are negligent, apathetic, lazy, indolent and refuse to pray, we will receive the negativity of the mass mind; and then we will say, "Why did this happen to me?"

It happened because when we fail to do our own thinking, the race mind will do our thinking for us. When it reaches a point of saturation, it is, perhaps, precipitated as an accident, sickness or some other negative condition or tragedy. The jealous or envious person is open to all of the jealous and envious thoughts of others, because he or she is at the low level of vibration and the antenna of the mind is keyed in to that frequency, which magnifies the destructive pattern in the subconscious.

The law of attraction works for all. Like attracts like. Let us, therefore, follow the apostolic advice and conform to this spiritual injunction: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8).

Auto-Suggestion

The conception of a devil, satan or principle of evil receives its power solely from our own auto-suggestion of its existence and because of the amenability of our subconscious to suggestion. You create what you fear. The power of evil spirits results from the mental attitude which receives such suggestions, and the subconscious responds accordingly. The suggestions of others have no power to create the things they suggest.

The Creative Power is your own thought. The antidote to all of this is the right conception of God and His love. The Bible says, God is love. It also says,..." If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). Then you realize that . . . Perfect love casteth out fear... (I John 4:18), with the result that in your mind and heart there is no devil, but God reigns supreme in your mind. It is wonderful!

I recommend that the reader read Chapter 8 (The Devil) of Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning by Judge Thomas Troward. In this chapter I have expatiated on some of the points on which he has dwelled.

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How to use the Laws of Mind, Chapter Twelve, The Meaning of Satan, Devil, Serpent, Etc.

Dr. Joseph Murphy