Demons are Your Friends

Long ago, I took an oath. Part of that oath was that I will view every encounter, every event in my life as a direct communication between G-d and my soul. I have made every effort to do that. Though, I haven't always understood the message.

One of the conclusions I have drawn is that everything in my life is a spiritual learning experience. That isn't a big a deal, as many others have reached that obvious conclusion. The trick is actually learning from as many events as you can. When you learn spiritual lessons from those events, you embody a greater amount of spirituality. This is no different from learning everything you can about your financial life. A middle class person with a financial focus can become quiet secure financially.

Demons are f---ed up little creatures with lots of power. They circle your life creating all sorts of havoc. They may interfere with relationships, self-esteem, the gain of knowledge, finances and the like. The upside is that any one demon interferes with the same category of event. One demon may mess with you at work, in your family life, and social situations but when you figure out it is only one demon, you may realize he is messing with your ability to communicate. Bam! You suddenly learn a lot about communication. To learn about communication, you have to know how things are being heard. To know that, you have to understand who is listening etc. The wealth of knowledge just from understanding the nature of one's demon is huge.

The spiritually-minded learn from life. Demons are your friends because they give you that opportunity to learn. They make the situation so obvious that you have to do something about it. Denial is not an option.

Now, if you are unwilling to learn in this life or do not learn lessons that way, then demons are nasty little creatures and if you feel negatively towards them, I totally understand.

On a related note...

Your demons can literally show up as your friends or other people in your life. Major General Dana Pittard's command had a declining suicide rate while the rest of the army's was climbing. He attributed this to his command's emphasis on obtaining treatment, without repercussion. In an interview on NPR, I heard him say that if your squad leader is old school and tells you to suck it up and get over it then to you, he IS THE ARMY.

Stop and think about that for a moment. One person at the proper junction point can BE over half a million people*, at least as far as you are concerned.

I have had a couple of such experiences. One was a person that kept a secret from me regarding the fallout of the very bad thing. Thoughts about that one incident prevented me from moving forward. This person was so high on my list of 'spiritual people' that I thought the secret had meaning and insight for my spiritual life. My intense drive for spiritual growth hit this barrier and drove me batty, crazy; I was nuttier than a fruitcake and mentally as busy as a hole-plugger in a Swiss cheese factory.

At the same time, I was making all sorts of progress spiritually but that one thing was a ring pass not, he was the demon** guardian of one threshold. Long time readers will remember the angst I spewed forth on these pages about that.  Eventually, I learned the secret or at least what he told others. At first I was angry, very angry. The 'secret' was a myth. It never happened. It was so full of amateurish bullshit that anyone that was there knew it was a lie. The secret was the equivalent of asking "What is in my pocket," when one's pocket is empty. The relief was immense. I had allowed myself to be held back by a lie. A lie. A LIE. That  is what demons do.

The power of a demon is that it is a barrier to your expansion. It has no other abilities. NONE. ZERO. Getting past that lie and being myself has released me into an entirely new world -- of my own creation.

Earlier, I said that understanding the nature of the one's demon has huge ramifications. Understanding how my friend used that lie for himself with others was a moment of great insight as well. I suddenly learned that people act in accordance with their spirit up to their capacity for its manifestation. At that point, their issues arise, their barrier, their demon. There is almost never any harm intended (unless harming others is the issue). Once I looked at behaviors as an expression of spirit and capacity, I gained a much greater understanding for and respect of my fellow humans.

This in turn lead to a level of clarity. I have run into some folks on Facebook from my past.*** Instead of buying into people baiting me, I let their issues pass on by. As such, I have named their demons.

• I am insecure (Therefore I will try to get you to behave badly as that makes me feel better by comparison)
• I will help you (To prove that I will cause or exacerbate an existing issue and then 'be there for you')
• I do not understand (Therefore, you are bad.)****

The hidden internal dream dialogue for these people is, I have achieved, I am giving (or altrustic) and I know. Each of these has a life or behavioral manifestation: belittling others; spending time with needy people; the rejection of ideas not immediately compatible with one's own.

It should be noted that the persons I am referring to would not see themselves this way. This are how their issues manifest as a demon TO ME. Even were I to be 100% accurate in their universe, which I am not, everyone is bigger and better than their demons. Demons are just barriers to expansion. For me, encountering these demons brought on feelings of insecurity and/or anger.

Sometime last week I encountered one of these demons in the form of a former friend on Facebook throwing up a version of 'the secret'. The demon had no power at all. In fact, I didn't realize I encountered it for three or four days. I have surpassed those demons and this leaves me feeling great compassion for those still wrestling with them.  I know the pain of dealing with such nasty creatures. Do not interpret that as pity.

If you'll excuse me now, I have to go deal with the demons I still have to face. They are mine and they are legion.

* As of 2011 there were 565,000 active in the army, per http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004598.html

** By demon I mean my demon not that this person is a demon in any particular sense of the word or is a negative to any other human being on the planet.

*** If people didn't like old Robert, I totally get it.

**** In order to see these things, I must have or had that demon within me as well to a lesser or greater extent.

Note: You cannot write on some topics without someone perceiving you as an arrogant twit. That is why most bloggers avoid these things. If that is you, ask yourself, is the demon Arrogance mine or yours? A DEEPLY introspective look at such questions will yield you fruit no matter the conclusion.