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try to get help before the final stages of this. repent of pride and repent of the lifestyle of humanism and witchcraft, yoga and agreements with the spirit of death.

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Originally posted by Phil:
Sorry if you've felt discounted at times, Stephen, as that hasn't been the intent, as I hope you know. It's clarifying that you qualify your remarks to mean a connection between higher consciousness and occult evil. I can see that, only, as w.c. noted, I think the vulnerability to evil isn't so much related to higher consciousness per se as to other factors. E.g., in your own case, as I recall, it was your exposure to the services of a new age psychic that wounded you; in Shasha's, involvement with Easternish disciplines. I take these struggles and the possibility of evil spirit ensnarements seriously, and I do believe this to be one of the pitfalls of seeking higher consciousness, enlightenment, etc. apart from an explicit religious context -- preferably a Christian one. Even if there were no evil spirits to complicate things, our metaphysical woundedness (from the Fall) is such that it's extremely difficult to sustain peace and balance in higher consciousness apart from the stabilizing influence of Christ and the Spirit. That's why I've never, ever encouraged anyone to seek kundalini awakening or opening the higher chakras as ends in themselves. Unfortunately, many have done so, almost always with good intentions, hoping to be more "awake" or at one with everything. Such experiences are sometimes realized for awhile, but almost always with negative consequences, none the least of which can be this vulnerability to evil spirit.

All that said, I do believe that a great deal of what is attributed to the influence of evil spirit can often be explained in psychological terms. It also seems to me that there's a widespread tendency to view the actors on one's personal stage to be God, Ego and Satan, with little consideration being given to the unconscious. Jim Arraj has written about this in many essays on innerexplorations.com.
- E.g. http://innerexplorations.com/chtheomortext/lack.htm

So, it's a complicated topic, and need not be a matter of either/or with respect to human/diabolical influences unto evil. Catholicism has a long, deeply-considered tradition of sorting this out, with specific criteria to indicate diabolical possession (one wonders whether the current Vatican exorcist makes much use of this). Between possession and complete freedom, there are many possibilities, including harassments of all kinds. I think it's quite possible, for example, that ordinary human anger is often amplified through the influence of evil spirits, who can read the human energy field, including the thoughts we're irresponsibly "broadcasting" out into the universe. Spirits can communicate telepathically with us, introducing negative thoughts into our own field of consciousness, stirring things up more than we'd be doing on our own. I don't think "the devil makes us do it" is a good excuse for our bad behavior, but it surely diminishes our freedom to act lovingly. What I do believe the devil seeks most is to ruin relationships, and there are innumerable ways to do this apart from involvement in the occult, which has its own peculiar dangers, to be sure.

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Originally posted by aviela:
Adyashanti on Awakening -
I just watched this video of Adyashanti and he talks about Kundalini experience and voices.
And he clarifies that the voice he heard was not from what he called his "superego" which would be a critical voice.....and I sometimes think the negative voices that are mentioned here and attributed to demons etc may be coming from the unconscious mind....self criticisms, self judgement, criticisms, etc.
Just thought to share.