I thought I’d share the account of an incident which happened a couple of nights ago: I was feeling a little lonely, so I thought I’d call an old friend of mine, Satan. I asked if he was free and whether he would like to join me for dinner at my place. I suggested that we could have something hot and spicy, perhaps pizza loaded with dragon’s breath peppers. For dessert, I promised that we’d have baked alaska flambé. You’re probably getting the picture–it was to be a theme menu. A couple of hours later, the doorbell sizzled and guess who showed up? Art, it was Art!

***

The point of this article harkens to the old story of each of us having an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. The angel refers to our higher Self, Awareness, which is Being and Knowing. It is What we truly are. The devil refers to the lower self, the psychological “me,” which is frequently mistaken as our true identity. It’s not. It is a fictional self-centered little “i” that comes in a wide variety of types. Some are nice, with a little bit of an edge; some are not so nice, but do their best to conceal that fact. At their core, all false selves are ultimately self-centered and, in varying degrees, selfish. The problem with the false self is that it often makes our life a living hell, in one way or another. For instance: With the promise of future happiness, the false self attempts to convince us to spend our life chasing persons, possessions, wealth, and achievement (so-called success) like a crazed donkey chasing a carrot! The false self, which expresses lower forms of consciousness such as greed, shame, anger, hatred, and selfishness, is the antithesis of true Self.

Our true Self is timeless and eternal. It is not of this apparently physical world. It is Life without beginning or end–the alpha and omega of all that ever was, is, and shall be. The devil self arises and develops when the body-mind appears in the world. It is a conceptual self only, formed from repetitive thoughts and perceptions. Because it was born, it is subject to death; for all that comes into form must fall out of form. To believe it is conscious is an error. It is not. Only Consciousness is Conscious. The key is to recognize What we truly are before the body-mind makes its exit. Collectively, the false selves make up “the devil,” that scary figure often depicted in various doctrines. It’s not an entity unto itself (for there is no opposite to our true Self, which is Consciousness, aka God), but it can certainly seem so. It’s in everyone’s best interest to recognize true Self as soon as possible. So…back to Art, at the door:

***

“How have you been?” I asked, with a fake smile pasted on my face. “Oh, good,” said Art, extending his hand to shake mine. I feigned having greasy fingers from food preparation to avoid shaking his hand. Little Satan boy Art seemed to accept my lame excuse. Trust me, once you’ve given up the devil in you, you don’t want to invite him or her back into your life. A moment later, I told Art that I saw a ten dollar note lying on the floor behind him. As quick as you can say “Beelzebub is bonkers,” he spun around to pick it up, and I closed the door and bolted the lock. Amidst his incessant knocks, I whispered, “Nobody home.” I’m having the locks changed tomorrow.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2021 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. May it help you in your spiritual journey. 🙏🙏

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