What is the meaning of Jesus casting out devils? - Part 1

November 30, 2009

The respected Benedictine monk and author Father Bede Griffiths of Shantivanam

Ashram in south India compared the 'asuras' mentioned in Hindu scriptures to the

demons and evil spirits mentioned in the Christian Bible. He wrote in 'The

Marriage of East and West' (London: Collins, 1982): " It cannot be too strongly

affirmed that these are real powers which act on the unconscious...that is, on

the lower levels of consciousness, bringing man into subjection to the powers of

nature. The fact that modern man does not recognize them is one of the many

signs that he is under their power; only when they are recognized can they be

overcome. "

What is the meaning of Jesus casting out devils?

And there was a man in the synagogue possessed by the spirit of an unclean

demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, " Ha! What do we have to do with you,

Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One

of God! " And Jesus rebuked him, saying, " Be quiet and come out of him! " And when

the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without doing

him any harm. And amazement came upon them all, and they began discussing with

one another saying, " What is this message? For with authority and power he

commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. " (Luke 4:33-36)

(p.396) In modern times many people scoff at the idea of anybody being possessed

by an unclean devil. They dismiss such assertions as a myth or superstition--and

no doubt there are many quasi-superstitious outgrowths in beliefs and practices.

In the olden days of superstition and candle light, devils seemed to be

plentiful; but now, in the electrical age, the evil spirits appear to be scared

away. However, psychiatrists can tell of the many cases of mental obsessions by

fixed ideas, little knowing that some patients may indeed be suffering from

actual possession by unclean spirits. Real cases of possession may be

misdiagnosed as brain-derangement, or as a state of hallucination, or as spells

of hysteria. On the other hand, many psychological cases have been erroneously

described as spirit possession by credulous spiritualists. Actual cases of

spirit possession, while true, are relatively rare; more common is mental

obsession caused by the evil forces of delusion.[1] Whatever the cause, physical

and mental and spiritual healing are possible when one, like Jesus, can employ

divine power to cast out devils and the forces of evil from the threefold nature

of man.

(p.397) The human body and mind, being products of Nature, individualized from

Spirit by cosmic delusion, are subject to various kinds of mortal diseases.

Jesus, as a true minister of Self-realization, the perfection of the real Self

or soul, not only knew how to win people away from satanic ignorance and bring

them into divine vibrations by his words of wisdom, but he knew also how to heal

them of their diverse kinds of maladies. While preaching in the synagogue (a

place where people usually go for their souls to be healed by the salve of

inspiring sermons), Jesus encountered a man possessed by an unclean devil.

Forthwith Jesus healed this stricken victim.

There is nothing mysterious about devils or disembodied evil spirits except in

the ignorance of people who have not studied their characteristics. Many

scientific secrets that formerly lay hidden in nature are now commonplace

matters. Someday, when people will be more spiritually advanced they will

understand the mysteries of life and death and the nature of disincarnate souls

that have gone into the unknown.

By long successful practice of meditation, a devotee can transfer his will and

attention beyond the portals of the conscious and the subconscious minds into

the superconscious. When he can go deeper and project his concentration

consciously from superconsciousness felt within his body into the light of

Christ Intelligence hidden beyond the state of wakefulness, dreams,

subconsciousness, and superconsciousness, he can then behold the vast astral

universe of luminous vibratory planets and vibratory spheres peopled with

millions of disincarnate souls.

The inhabitants of the astral world are garbed in forms made of energy and

light, and are confined to higher or lower astral spheres according to their

karma. There are, however, a few astral beings known as " tramp souls. " They are

earthbound because of strong material urges and attachments. They roam in the

ether, desirous of reentering a physical form to satisfy their need for sense

enjoyments. Such beings are usually harmless, invisible " ghosts, " and have no

power to affect the ordinary person. However, tramp souls do occasionally take

possession of someone's body and mind, but only such vulnerable persons who are

mentally unstable or have weakened their mind by keeping it often blank or

unthinking [i.e., in an unthinking/unaware state]. (p.398) Owing to their mental

emptiness, and karmic attraction, they unwittingly invite the advent of vagrant

spirits within their bodies. If one leaves his car unlocked with the key in the

ignition, any uncouth character may get in and drive off. Tramp souls, having

lost their own physical-body vehicle to which they were inordinately attached,

are on the watch for such unattended conveyances.

Unclean devils, cited in the cases of possession that Jesus exorcised, are those

astral beings among tramp souls who on earth were murderers, robbers, and other

criminals, drunkards and licentious persons, and especially vicious and

treacherous beings, who did not cleanse themselves of their evil propensities

before death. Even the greatest sinner, if he cleans his subconscious mind and

memory by contacting the superconsciousness in meditation before death, does not

carry his unpurged wickedness into a sphere beyond death. But those persons who

leave their physical bodies in a state of sin, as also those who ruthlessly and

foolishly commit suicide, are considered unclean souls in the astral world. They

roam in the lower astral spheres, imprisoned in their astral and causal bodies,

finding no rest, and either hating to be reborn on the earth or grieving for the

loss of their physical incarnation. These forlorn souls have to wander about in

the ether until some of the karmic effects of their bad actions are worn out

through the operation of the divine law. The devilish spirits among them are

very unscrupulous, even as they were during earth life.

Satan, the Cosmic Evil Intelligence, has his satellites in disreputable persons

who have lost in the moral and spiritual battle, working through these decadent

beings not only on earth while they are living but also in their afterlife

astral existence. As evil-possessed persons do mischief on earth, so these

Satan-obsessed astral beings continue their mischief in the astral world as well

as in the physical world as tramp souls. They seek out persons with similar

karma potentials, attracted by their negative vibrations. They intelligently

possess and punish such earthly human beings during the term of their own astral

punishment determined by their specific transgressions in worldly life.

Characteristics of souls in the after-death realm

Why should it be considered amazing that such disembodied evil spirits reside on

the other side of life when devils and devilish persons exist right on this side

of life? If souls are immortal, then, according to the law of cause and effect,

it is logical to expect that when a devilish person sheds the mortal coil and

passes through the door of the mortal change called " death, " into the afterlife,

he does not become an angel, but continues to be a devil. Only a soul who has

been angelic on earth can continue to be so after crossing the gulf of death,

entering not the dark astral spheres but the finer atmosphere of Heaven.

The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within

You) Volume 1, Discourse 24, pg. 395-399

Paramahansa Yogananda

Printed in the United States of America 1434-J881

ISBN-13:978-0-87612-557-1

ISBN-10:0-87612-557-7

Notes:

[1]] One of the fathers of modern psychology, Professor William James of

Harvard, wrote: " The refusal of modern 'enlightenment' to treat 'possession' as

an hypothesis to be spoken of as even possible, in spite of the massive human

tradition based on concrete evidence in its favor, has always seemed to me a

curious example of the power of fashion in things scientific. That the

demon-theory will again have its innings is to my mind absolutely certain. One

has to be 'scientific' indeed to be blind and ignorant enough to suspect no such

possibility. "