Are you possessed by an evil spirit?
The title may surprise or confuse you!! But let us examine it with an open mind.
As per the Marriam-Webster Dictionary, ‘’possessed’’ means controlled by a usually evil
spirit.
In order to understand fully what is possession of a person by an evil spirit, better you may
recall certain movies which depict characters fully possessed by evil spirits. When
possessed, one’s thoughts, feelings and behavior will be fully controlled by the evil spirit.
The original individual does not have any thoughts, feelings or behavior of his own or
control on himself. There are different stories and movies of people possessed by evil
spirits. Usual nature of an evil spirit possessed by a person that comes to our mind will have
the following nature.
It wants to control the person fully in aspects of life.
It will always try and strategize to create negative thoughts in the mind of person
which causes conflicts thereby negative emotions or mental pain like anger, worry,
stress, sadness, anxiety etc.,
It keeps the person always either in the past miseries or in the future anxieties so
that he remains in a state of mental pain always.
It makes the person to react with negative emotions like anger, worry, stress,
sadness, anxiety etc., to every situation.
It wants conflict with people, situations always so that it ensures mental pain always.
It always has some kind of fear including fear of being detected or identified; in order
to avoid it, it will use all the intelligence of the person to fully control him, and
ensures that the person does not independently think or feel or behave; and does
not do anything effectively to understand the existence and control of the evil spirit
and to get freedom from it. It does not allow the person to understand his original
nature of good and positive qualities and emotions and enjoy life and evil spirit
convinces the person that the nature of evil spirit is the nature of the person himself.
It wants to gradually cause many illnesses on the body and mind and the whole life
of the person will be in misery till the end of his life.
Now just see how miserable the life is of such persons who are possessed by the evil
spirits.
You may sympathize with such persons but you do not realize that you are also in the same
situation.
It may be surprising to know that you are also possessed by an evil spirit!!! Difficult to
agree? But it is a fact. Only point is that the extent and intensity of strength and control of
the evil spirit vary from person to person!! The name of the evil spirit referred to in the
spiritual science context is ‘’ego mind’’.
The problem is that since the term “ego’’ is widely used in common parlance in different
contexts, most people attribute different meanings to it and fail to understand the real
meaning of it in the context of spiritual science. In order to become aware of the meaning
and nature of the ego mind in its fullest extent, a careful reading with an open mind of the
above nature of evil spirit will help.
Still there is another problem, while listening or reading the subject about the ego, ego itself
is listening and interpreting it!!! So it will not allow the person to understand the ego in
proper perspective and allow it to be identified or caught; so ego plays various tricks and
lame excuses not to make the person fully understand it in the right perspective and register
in his mind; and ego even erases such learning from the memory. That is why many people
resist change, find excuses to do meditations or spiritual training or practices leading to
positive change or transformation.
One of the greatest contributions of spiritual science is the revelation about the existence of
the ego mind as a separate living entity in an individual.
Spiritual science has clearly identified and explained about the existence and operation of
the ego mind which helped many to be liberated from the clutches of the ego.
Ancient spiritual gurus and teachings had clear awareness about the existence of the ego
mind as a separate living entity and its control on individuals and the purpose many of
spiritual teachings were aimed at making aware of it and liberate people from the control of
ego. I believe, the main message of Bhagvat Geeta is same-do not emotionally react (ego
mode) to situations, be rational (true self mode) in discharge of duties and responsibilities-
do karma. It was the challenge of enlightened religious gurus to teach about the influence of
the ego mind on people because teachings were listened to and interpreted by the ego
itself; then one can imagine its outcome. The ego does not allow a person to understand in
right sense and block or resist proper learning .Hence spiritual gurus usually used similes
and stories like the concept of Satan or evil spirit etc., to teach about the influence of ego to
people so that essence of teachings is indirectly registered in the minds of the people
without being manipulated by the ego.
I believe, concept of Satan, devil or evil spirit in different religious teachings and scriptures,
is mentioned to make the people aware of the existence and operation of the ego mind as a
separate entity.
As almost all are controlled by the ego mind, but in different degrees and intensity, it is
considered as ‘normal’. In this context, people who are able to pretend or act as
independent persons(free of ego mind) and carry out duties and responsibilities in personal
life or official life are considered normal people; and those who are not able to act out as
normal are considered mentally sick persons. But the difference is subtle and thin.
Ego mind is the dark side or unconscious mind which creates a false image of the person
and believes it as the true image of the person and this mind controls thoughts, emotions
and behavior of the person.
Psychology also recognized this phenomenon of human psyche and different schools of
psychology described it in different languages. T.A. called it a ‘’child mind’’, Freud the ‘’id”.
Collective unconscious is a term of analytical psychology, coined by Carl Jung- part of the
unconscious mind, expressed in humanity and all life forms with nervous systems, and
describes how the structure of the psyche autonomously organizes experience. Jung
distinguished the collective unconscious from the personal unconscious, in that the personal
unconscious is a personal reservoir of experience unique to each individual. Freud called
“archaic remnants” – mental forms whose presence cannot be explained by anything in the
individual’s own life and which seem to be aboriginal, innate, and inherited shapes of the
human mind. The unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and
memories that are outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of the
unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict.
According to Freud, the unconscious continues to influence our behavior and experience,
even though we are unaware of these underlying influences.
Einstein realized the influence of ego well. Hence he said….”the true value of a human
can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from self” (false self or
ego). The purpose of this passage is to help readers understand the existence of ego as a
living entity and its influence in life. Awareness of it is the beginning of the process of
positive change and transformation, accessing and awakening the true self or spirit or
essence of people for which there are many means available including the Mind
Engineering process.