I write this on Easter Friday. I reflect on the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I reflect on his deep compassion, humility, and grace. I reflect on his wonderful quality of forgiveness. I reflect on his instructions in the Bible.
Specifically, I reflect on this prayer of Jesus Christ, while he was being crucified, and the men in charge of this ghastly deed were gambling to divide his clothes amongst themselves… “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”.
One of my spiritual master’s favourite prayers is “not my will, but thine, be done.”.
Jesus is the Son of God, and we are all meant to be sons and daughters of God.
In the Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, there is the idea of Satan.
Wikipedia says this about Satan… “”Satan, also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the yetzer hara, or “evil inclination”. In Christianity and Islam, he is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God, who nevertheless allows him temporary power over the fallen world and a host of demons. In the Quran, Shaitan, also known as Iblis, is an entity made of fire who was cast out of Heaven because he refused to bow before the newly created Adam and incites humans to sin by infecting their minds with waswās (“evil suggestions”).
The most accurate Abrahamic idea about the concept of Satan is the one accepted in Judaism.
However, too many people around the world actually believe that Satan is some sort of a competitor to God. This is quite foolish.
Christians routinely denounce anyone who does not accept their particular sectarian view of God and His creation as “Satanic”. One intelligent agnostic lady, after asking uncomfortable questions sincerely, was labeled by some Christians as Satan!
It is not that asking questions and being inquisitive is bad! When one does not know things as they are, then one feels threatened by any question or idea that is not covered in one’s limited understanding.
But rest assured, God has absolutely NO competition!
God is known as “asamaurdhva” which is a combination or “asama” and “urdhva” which means He who has neither equal nor superior.
In the Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, describes His own opulences in great detail. But even Krishna acknowledges that it is impossible for us to understand all of His opulences because they are limitless.
अथवा बहुनैतेन किं ज्ञातेन तवार्जुन ।
विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत् ॥ ४२ ॥atha vā bahunaitena
kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna
viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam
ekāṁśena sthito jagatBut what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/42/
Then why does this idea of Satan exist?
It is tempting to blame some other personality for all the ills in the world, all the troubles we face. It is quite convenient to concoct the idea that somehow Satan is the cause of our ills.
But really, we have to look inward, and look at ourselves.
কৃষ্ণ ভুলি’ সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসার-দুঃখ ॥ ১১৭ ॥kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha
ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha“Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy [māyā] gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/madhya/20/117/
It is us, with our own free will, who have chosen to turn away from God. It is not that someone else has incited or influenced us, it is our own individual personal decision.
When we decide to turn towards God again, and gradually purify our consciousness, we will see that God has absolutely no competitors.
The closest parallel from the Vedic tradition to the idea of Satan is “Maya”.
Maya is the illusory energy of God. And this energy does not affect anyone who is turned towards God in every thought, word, and deed. In fact, the very same Maya, who is acting as “Mahamaya” in the illusory aspect, now transforms into “Yogamaya”, or one who is diligently engaged in connecting the living entity and God’s energies in harmony with God.
The energy of the Lord called avidyā is the bewildering factor of the conditioned souls. The material nature is called avidyā, or ignorance, but to the devotees of the Lord engaged in pure devotional service, this energy becomes vidyā, or pure knowledge. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. The energy of the Lord transforms from mahā-māyā to yoga-māyā and appears to pure devotees in her real feature. The material nature therefore appears to function in three phases: as the creative principle of the material world, as ignorance and as knowledge.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/10/17/
But Maya is not any kind of competitor… she is a most dear servitor of God…
sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā
chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā
icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmihttps://vedabase.io/en/library/bs/5/44/
The external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.
So, dear souls, there is absolutely no one else holding us back from an eternity in full knowledge and bliss, except ourselves. Questions?
Freedom through Genuine Spiritual Progress 