I would say: a) the voluntary death scenario (all death is voluntary, mankind is voluntary), b)the cross scenario (the status quo, represents all suffering) , d)the "resurrection" scenario (awakening from status quo) d)the parable of the prodigal son (the entire story of all mankind, beginning to end, including Jesus) e)the "lords supper" (destroying one reality, "Christ", for many imaginations, for mankind) f)changing the meaning of death to "sleep", raising a girl from dead/sleep g)baptism (when man - and man's world - is washed away, all that is left standing is Christ/reality). If these can be interpreted rightly, one is well on their way to the experience of the so called resurrection. There can only be one reason for not interpreting the parables rightly. It means the interpreter is still invested in the status quo, still valuing the very basic principles that make the material worlds turn. Given that bias, the interpreter will never make the mental/psychological leap necessary to grasp anything Jesus meant. I surprise Christians by insisting that everything Jesus said and did was a parable, including the cross/resurrection scenario. Actions and miracles were parables too. As such, he was indeed a teacher for the students who are ready. Actions may be called parodies. The most important parody to understand is how Jesus represented life/truth itself, which i call "reality", but sometimes call "Christ". While no man can be the one reality, one man can represent, through parody, the one invisible reality that no eye has ever seen. As all words and actions were parables, there is nothing executive about the shedding of any quality or quantity of blood. Again, as a parody, the shedding of blood represents the killing of reality, by stealing it's essence from it. By appropriating that essence (drinking the blood), man seems to exist, but never goes beyond an "appearance" (an image). So what exactly is man's relationship to Christ? It can be described by taking one loaf of bread, and destroying it into pieces. As such, man's relationship to Christ/reality is a converse relationship, much the way the sun and the moon have a converse relationship. You can have the pieces, or you can have the one loaf, but you cannot have both. Continuing this theme: To provide for man (to make man), you must destroy Christ first (break the bread). Conversely, to restore Christ, you must wash man (and man's world) away. This is the meaning of baptism. Man represents dirt on the body of Christ, so-to-speak. Mankind is completely unnecessary and unwanted inasmuch as it makes Christ "unclean". So, Jesus, depending on his actions, represented either Christ (the entire reality), or all mankind (the entire unreality, the material worlds). While on the cross, Jesus represented all mankind, and what the existence of mankind does to the reality of Christ (remember the converse relationship). If you can understand this, then a surprising fact jumps out: man is actually a substitute for reality (Christ)...not the other way around. While man substitutes for Christ, man will suffer. The universal symbol of man's suffering is the cross scenario, but could include any traditional death scenario. The roots of man's suffering: Man is the voluntary (remember, death is voluntary) product of an imaginative process. As such, man is an image. An image is an appearance. An appearance is a matter of perception. Perception is a function of faith. Faith is a function of imagination. As such, man is an unreal manifestation that puts itself out as reality (as existing). This is man's domain. Man abides in a domain (imagination) which has a converse relationship to the domain of Christ (reality). As such, man's domain is at war with the domain of Christ. You can have reality (Christ), or you can have an imaginative world full of men, but you cannot have both. As man voluntarily perpetuates participation within man's domain, main remains at war with reality (flesh against spirit). When man claims for himself titles such as "life", he is actually usurping the qualities of reality (Christ). If the domain of imagination is against reality, then man is in danger so long as man continues to usurp the titles/conditions/qualities of Christ. The prime conditions that man "steals" from Christ are: life, existence, reality. Taking these qualities upon himself (sitting upon the throne of god, so-to-speak), man functionally substitutes for Christ (takes Christ's place, mocks Christ, pretends to be Christ). While man substitutes for Christ, man will suffer, because the entire world of imagination is against reality. Man's problem is that while reality itself cannot be harmed, man can indeed be harmed, as the non-real entity that he is. In the domain of imagination, existence itself is cause for attack and destruction. Everything that imagination would do to Christ (if it only could) it does to man, Christ's substitute. There, then, is the full interpretation of the cross scenario, in which Jesus represented the fate of all mankind, while mankind maintains the status quo. It is not a threat. It is simply a graphic picture of all past, present, and future sufferings of man. In addition, the death of any man, in any scenario, represents the so-called "death of Christ". To reiterate something i've said elsewhere, the life of man is the death of Christ (converse relationship). Further, the so-called "death" of man is a parable/parody of the death of Christ. Imagination demands the death of Christ as it must defend itself against reality. But man, as Christ's substitute, is the only reachable target of the demands of imagination. Consequently, man dies, but Christ, untouchable by imagination, remains unchanged, unharmed. The resurrection is a miraculous parody of what happens when man abandons the domain of imagination, and it's "laws". It is not man that resurrects. It is only Christ that resurrects, just as it is only Christ left standing after baptism. Therefore, the only way to participate is to abandon one's identity as "man" (or anything else), and identify with Christ, as Christ. While Christians reject this notion, they will continue to not participate, and misguide anyone truly seeking the meaning of the parables. There is no punishment for non participation (in the resurrection) other than the status quo. As it has been said, those who do not believe "are condemned already". Once it is understood that this is hell, you can see the status of condemnation (man's entire condition). While Christians continue to hold on to their lives (as mankind, or anything else), they continue to not follow the example of Jesus, who did embrace his identity as Christ/reality/life/truth. To regain that status, he did sacrifice any other identity. By insisting that Christ can be a hybrid existing in both worlds ignores the meaning of all his parables and examples. Only a man, still holding onto manhood, would insist that Jesus took a body with him to his original state of being. The confusion perhaps arises because as one man, Jesus represented all men; and as one man, represented the entirety of reality (heaven, Christ, everything). This is not a hybrid, but simply a method of teaching, by way of parable/parody. Christians have yet to realize that by representing all men, all men are able to follow his path to his original state of being, arriving as one reality colloquially called "Christ". The parable of the prodigal son is not the story of any man, or of any tribe among men, or any other subgroup of man. Rather, it is Jesus' own story of his own odyssey from life, to "death" (remember, a live man is a dead Christ), to life again. The story of the prodigal is the story of leaving, suffering, and returning again. As representative, this also represents the history of all mankind. Understood this way, the genesis of mankind cannot be what the Jews were told through traditional stories of genesis. The genesis of man must be the same genesis as Jesus. If the genesis is the same, and the intervening circumstances are the same, then the destiny must also be the same. Again, there can only be one motivation for rejecting this interpretation of the parable. All other genesis stories are a way to maintain distance from the original state of being, maintain a wandering existence, and refuse the right of return. Graham will be born again, but not exactly as he was expecting. Graham will remain within the domain of the prodigal son, which is the domain of reincarnation...and re-re-incarnation...ad infinitum...ad nauseum. Yes, he will get his wish to be incarnated again. But he will be born to die, just as all incarnations are born to die. Graham has misled the sheep. The "punishment" (depends on your point of view) is the status quo. Reincarnation is part of the status quo...is how man's suffering is perpetuated...until man decides to participate in the voluntary (free) nature of Christ. Hell is not a punishment; it is what you get when you attempt to destroy Christ, through your imagination, in favor of your own reality. It's important to remember that both death, and a rejection of death, are voluntary (a choice). Nobody forced the prodigal son to leave home. The prodigal son represents a "parody" of Christ. As a parody, the prodigal son represents all mankind, and all man's material worlds. Functioning as a parody (parable), Jesus functioned as all mankind. Understood by mankind, man, and man's world, will come to an end. The term "Christ" is a misnomer, to the extent it has been misunderstood. Jesus did not go around calling himself Christ, as reality has no name. The term "Christ" substitutes for the actual reality, personified (as if it had a name). It does not matter what it is called, so long as the parables are understood: The reality is the self. Once understood, a mind is ready for the experience. The experience itself has no words to describe, let alone a name to describe it. I can assure you, Jesus was not the Jewish notion of Messiah, and rejected that notion himself. At best, he could represent a parody of a Messiah, representing some vague notion of "salvation". But i assure you, the salvation Jesus spoke of is not what man wants, while man participates in man's domain.
Two more questions, trying to fully understand your pov, has mankind (this reality) always existed, or is it created meaning there is/was a "heavenly" or higher plain of reality/existence prior. And who/what is Satan?
To be exact, mankind still does not exist. Actual existence is the sovereign domain of Christ...a quality that belongs only to Christ. So the question would be, when did man first seem to appear (as an image in perception)? Man would appear if or when Christ would use an aspect of mind-power to go beyond reality, to consider whether or not there is more to Christ. As you can see i interchange the terms Christ and reality often to make the point that they are the same thing. However, Christ can be thought of as reality personified, as if it was a single being that was aware of itself. Knowing itself, it knows everything to the extent that it is all there is (is everything that can/does exist, is "all in all"). So i would not say there are levels of reality, only one reality to be known by itself. I would say the reality is spiritual, meaning, there are no separations which appear as shapes and sizes (form). There would be no locations within it, no distances, no roads leading anywhere, and no other reality. As far as "creation", the only valid creation would be some kind of reproduction...the producing of an exact copy of the original. In theory, this would produce more than one, representing some kind of increase. However, if the creation is exactly the same, it can be argued that there is still only "one" reality. Imo, this mode of creation is constant. If constant, then Christ is constantly increasing, so-to-speak, and yet, remains one. For the creation to be exactly the same, the creator would have to "give" the creation "everything". Any kind of withholding would cause a difference between the beings. By giving everything, by sharing maximal generosity, Christ guarantees to produce an equal, insuring that equality remains an unchanged quality of Christ reality. Given this backdrop, it may then be possible to speak of the concepts of "Father" and "Son". In this scenario, the only difference would be that one preceded the other in the order of creation. If/when the created Son creates, that Son then becomes a "Father" also. At that point, they would both be Fathers, again, insuring that equality reigns in the kingdom, so-to-speak. In this way, all are Sons, and all are Fathers as equals. This is just a manner of speaking, to make a point by way of parable, as there are no genders. I might argue that each Father only creates one Son, there being no need for more, since there would be no difference between Sons. If one Father creates five times, and another Father creates two times, then they are no longer the same...no longer equals. The only aspect that is unique is that each Father creates, if only once. Once is enough to create maximum joy, as well as maximum equality. Creation, sharing, and giving are synonymous. This is the "inheritance" aspect of the parable of the prodigal son. In the creation process, the son is given everything. This can only happen within a spiritual milieu. Spiritual values/qualities are 100% shareable. The giver does not sacrifice anything. Nothing has to die for something else to live. Nobody has to be dumb for anybody to be smart. Spiritual value can be compared to knowledge. The giver of knowledge can keep the knowledge (does not need to become ignorant). In creation, the creator (Father) gives the totality of all knowledge to the created (Son). In giving everything to the Son, the Son becomes "everything". To know everything, then, is to "know thyself". Mankind is not a creation because it is not a sharing or a giving. Mankind is part of a process of withholding. The first clue is man does not know...anything. So it's clear that knowledge has been withheld. Man does not know who he is...does not "know thyself". I argue that knowledge is an all or nothing proposition. So i would say man has not really been given anything, at least not anything of value. By describing the creation process first, and by emphasizing the quality of equality, then by comparison, it should be clear that man comes from a foreign/alien paternity of conception that i would not call "creation". To come up with a word, we might say that man is "made". To the question, who/what is Satan, we would have to ask, what makes man? So far i have revealed that man is made by something that does not give everything in it's reproduction process. And by not giving everything, it doesn't really give anything of value at all. So whatever makes man, it is very different from any "Father" or "Son" in the known kingdom. What/who could possibly be different? I would argue that if it is different, it does not truly exist. So i would argue that man's maker does not truly exist. In this way, man, and man's maker are equals within their domain. It is this domain that may be split into different levels of fantasy. Each level of fantasy is called "reality", to borrow (steal) from the qualities of Christ. With this background, it is very difficult to pinpoint any one persona that could be called "the devil", or to even further personify it with a name. But it is the domain of names, as the domain of Christ has no names. Names derive from differences, primarily differences between beings. As emphasized, there are no differences between beings in reality. Difficult even to describe (hard to describe things that don't exist), i often say the devil is "that which is difficult". In reality, nothing is difficult, neither living, nor creating. But in the devil's domain, everything is difficult. Most difficult is dealing with concepts that are not true/real. Since nothing in the devil's domain is true, everything is difficult. A parable, which personifies the devil, is the famous "prodigal son". I argue that whatever the prodigal son is, that is both man's maker, as well as the made making (man and man's world). The domain of the infamous prodigal son is considered "foreign"...something alien to the reality of the original domain. I argue that this is the domain of fantasy/imagination. The devil, in my pov, is the mental trick that gives rise to the very concept of fantasy/imagination, as well as the entire contents of what has been imagined. While i call this "hell", the legions of hell call it "the universe", or, "the world", or worse, "creation". There is a black magic grimoire out there that admits that man is made "in the image" of it's maker. I translate that to mean man is an image, a product of imagination. Made like it's maker, man's maker is also an image, a product of imagination. I would argue that this is the best meaning of idolatry. Both man, and man's maker, are idols. Idolatry is about reshaping the gods, so-to-speak, to whatever you wish to see or experience. By reshaping the gods, i mean reshaping the one reality, Christ, into something it is not, base upon a series of wishes (fantasy/imagination). Suppose for example, reality was solid gold. Idolatry is about taking that gold and reshaping it into ____ (fill in the blank void). Imagination takes reality, and, bending it over a forge, hammers away until it forces reality to conform to a concept. The basic material is still the same (gold for example), but the results can be frightening. In the famous parable of the prodigal son, the son first asks for his inheritance, before leaving with it. As i've argued before, this inheritance is quite comprehensive, up to, and including all knowledge, and all power. The only other place to go, other than reality, is into fantasy by way of imagination. There, in the domain of all that can be imagined, the prodigal son "squanders" his inheritance. Let's unpack this. Squandering can only happen in a world of sacrifice. In a world of sacrifice, if you give power away, you cannot retain that power. By contrast, in reality, anything of value that can be given, is also retained (power is not diminished). Augmenting the parable, i would argue that the first thing the prodigal son does with his inheritance is he goes to the proverbial money-changer, whereby he changes the power of knowledge into what i call the power of faith. This feat requires mental tricks. Shenanigans. Whatever it requires, it's difficult to describe, because none of it is true. Rather devilish. This proverbial money-changer has somehow taken up abode within the "temple of God". For anyone's information, all temples are parables symbolizing the mind of Christ. This is dirty business that destroys the temple by destroying the value of reality, and exchanging it for things that have no value (things that faith can produce). Whatever faith can produce, it has no value. Yet, the prodigal son exchanges his knowledge for enough faith to produce an entirely new world order. Now, with no knowledge, and with all the faith in the whole new world, the prodigal son begins to squander his inheritance. He spends some on the big bang. He spends some on the galaxies. He spends some on stars, and some on planets, and some on wandering nomads with no orbit (shooting stars with no home). He spends some on seas, some on trees, some on bees. Running low on resources, he doubles down on one last big spending spree, and invests in mankind. Investing in mankind, the prodigal son becomes man. Not one man. Not two. Not a man and a woman, but all mankind. At this point the inheritance is "spent", and existence becomes more and more difficult. As stated before, this is Jesus' own history. As such, his history is also the entire history of mankind. As the prodigal son, he is whatever mankind is. This revelation is the basis of his novel new concepts such as, "love thy neighbor as they self", and, "do unto others as you would have others do unto you". As a person, the "devil" is whatever tempts you to continue on this same path, within the domain of imagination. At this point, the devil's prime method of self-preservation is distraction. After all, the game begins as a mental trick, and can only continue as a mental trick. While the tricks prevail, the devil abides within the mind of Christ (the temple of God), destroying it's grandeur with the devil's own grandiosity. Jesus is famous for expelling the proverbial money changers from the temple and exorcising demons from personal space. These actions, whether they happened or not, are parables/parodies. What Jesus did do was he cleared his mind of fantasy and imagination, and accepted only knowledge, primarily the knowledge of self. With self-knowledge, Jesus exchanged the squandered value of faith for "all power in heaven or earth" so-to-speak. With this power he was able to discern what he really was, and differentiate that from what he appeared to be (man). With self-knowledge, Jesus rebuilt the destroyed temple of his mind. With a healthy mind, Jesus was able to see beyond appearances. This is the foundation of forgiveness. It's arguable that when Jesus looked beyond (overlooked) man, he did not see man at all, but rather, "Christ", or what i call the Reality. Let me now try to wrap this up in summary. I will just make a series of connected statements: If you've been following this train of thought, it becomes apparent that the stars, planets, seas, bees, trees and people are "the devils workshop". The devil operates in an idle mind, or a mind that is not taking care to keep itself clean and orderly. A wandering mind, caught up in a fantasy world or a "day dream" will produce images. These images can fill up the whole mind, take over, and possess the mind. As a rule of thumb, if you can see mankind, your mind is possessed. Functionally, the mind is distracted. It is captivated by what it "sees", and held captive so long as it can see images. Those images are "idols" that take reality, and by turning and twisting it beyond recognition, destroy the mind and the reality. By forgiving the insult those images offer to the reality, a mind can gradually be cleansed and dispossess of "the devil". But it is only the mind of Christ that has the power to overcome the difficult distractions of the devil. By that i mean it is only Jesus' brand of self-knowledge that has the power to overcome the grandiosity of the devil's machinations. It is cultivated by a process of "forgiveness". Forgiveness. As stated before, man is not the product of a giving, but rather the result of a taking. As such, man is not a creation but rather a making through a process of subtraction. Technically, everyone has been robbed. Mankind has been robbed of it's reality, in exchange for nothing of real value. Forgiveness is about giving back what has been taken away, to the extent that i may be involved in the stealing process. As mentioned, the prodigal son "became man". As such, every man is involved in identity theft, having taken the identity of Christ, and exchanged it for millions of other identities, all worthless. When Jesus decided to see himself as Christ, he forgave himself. When he decided to see others as he would see himself, he forgave others. This could be a process. I would call this process "baptism". When he emerged from this process of mental cleansing, he saw only Christ, everywhere, always, as Christ. What Christians don't want to know is, Christ cannot see mankind. With a clear mind, Christ does not see anything that does not exist. No images, no appearances, no perceptions. No forms, no shapes, no sizes. No problems. Christ only knows what is, and only what is. This only thing that is, is Christ. The "eyes of Christ" cannot see suns, planets, seas, trees and bees. These appear only within a strange stretch of imagination, imagination itself highly suspect. In this way, everything (the proverbial inheritance) is given back...to Christ. All of the taking, all of the stealing was from Christ. Christ's loss was man's gain. Unlike man, Christ does not take anything from anybody. For this reason it is man who must voluntarily let go of what he thinks he has gained (life, existence, reality, special status). In giving up what he has gained, man must give up his entire world (the domain of faith), indeed, his entire "life" so-called. This is where Christians are not motivated enough to understand the full implications. Understanding the implications, Jesus did give up his own so-called "life" as a "man" and invited all others to follow the same example. This was not done "on the cross" so-to-speak. Jesus "died" long before he volunteered for a traditional death scenario at the hands of a Roman ruler. Jesus' identity was exchanged (he died) during his own baptismal process, which is the process of washing one's mind of faith, fantasy and imagination. Unwilling to live by faith, fantasy and imagination, Jesus was unable to live as a man, and eventually disappeared. Disappearance. Man appears only to a faith-filled mind. When the faith is gone, so vanishes all appearances of images. Anything founded upon faith also disappears. That would be man's whole world...all levels of man's worlds. As such, the devil, whatever it is, also disappears, gone from its entrenchment within the mind of Christ, dispossessed of what it had taken by the force of distraction. Un-distracted, undisturbed, with mind devoted only to reality (Christ), there is no such thing as a devil or it's domain. If the devil is all that is difficult, there are no more problems, once it has vanished.
This is incorrect. There was, for example, the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, where over 300,000 French people were killed, mostly for being religious. It is also an imbalanced argument to accuse a religion of wrongdoing because someone , some group who is Christian/Muslim/Wiccan, etc. committed acts of murder, yet atheists routinely do this. If so, then the greatest murderers in history must be associated with atheism - because Stalin and Mao were both atheists. It's simply absurd to separate these horrible lunatics from their strong atheist philosophies, then vilify the religion's taken up by murderers who happen to be religious. I am an atheist (and a Buddhist) - I do NOT believe in God, or any truly existent divine entity. I object to flawed and imbalanced atheist arguments. These are the very people who espouse reason above all else and yet have very little comprehension of logical fallacies in constructing their arguments.
Religion is supposed to be there to HELP and MOTIVATE people to act good to one another within a certain defined means of what is considered "good" which is what you call "weird and strange and unnecessarily complex with their lives and values and ideals". The problem is religion is often being abused and manipulated for other ulterior motives. That is NOT religion's fault. In the hands of an abuser and manipulator, ANYTHING as innocent as air can be used to result in harm. Are you going to stop breathing?
We have seen the effect of broken families and the lack of values are having on our more recent generations. Look at drug use rates, lack of work ethic, school shootings, and all the lying. For these reasons, members of most religeous groups seem to have their s**t together more than the general population, gay pedophile priests excepted.
In this addendum, i will try to go beyond generalities and trace the origins of "the devil" (by any name) to a more specific mental process. It helps to have a grasp of the original qualities of reality that have existed forever. If we give that reality a name, we could call it "Christ", even though it doesn't have a name. This associates that reality with Jesus' brand of self-knowledge. Setting up the scenario in which something like a devil can emerge, we have to assume Christ has full knowledge of self. If that self is the totality of everything that exists, then the knowledge is total. Christ knows all, being all, so-to-speak. Knowing all, there is no room for faith or questions in this reality. I argue that the emergence of a "devil" arises from a question. I would narrow that question down to one singular question: Who am I? The devil is the question, as well as the [false] answer to the question. A false answer leads to more questions, and ultimately, confusion. As all true knowledge is self knowledge, any question will be about the self...first and foremost. This is not a serious question for Christ, for a reality that knows itself completely. However, if taken seriously, if given any attention, what starts as a joke can take on a life of it's own, so-to-speak. Give the devil and inch, it will take a mile. So far, the devil is a question that demands attention. Given any attention at all, it will tend to pull the power of the mind of Christ toward it, drawing it in. From there, curiosity takes over. The question is loaded with implications, the main implication being: Is there more to who i am than i know? If this question is not answered with the totality of self-knowledge, then it must be answered from a point of view that goes beyond knowledge. I've argued already that beyond knowledge, there can only be a substitute for knowledge that i call "faith". At it's core, faith is demanding (the genesis of force). Faith get's busy answering the question...in the negative. Meaning, it intends to explore the possibility of another self, to see if any unknown additions to the original self can apply (be real). The genesis of faith is also the genesis of a phenomenon called "ignorance". To answer the question, the mind of Christ has to play tricks on itself, to somehow mask it's total knowledge. It has to manufacture a dumbed-down brand of stupidity. This can be likened to going to sleep, and losing consciousness (awareness). Thereafter, the mind begins to explore the possibility as in a dream. It should be easy for any man to understand that a dream state of mind, and a wake state of mind are mutually exclusive. One can be asleep, or awake, but not both at the same time. Likewise, it should be easy for any man to understand that dreams are not real, and problems can arise when a mind cannot tell the difference. Given a powerful enough mind, it could be easy to become confused. The devil can be likened to whatever is motivating the sleep (ignorant) state of mind. But now i've pinpointed what is happening in the sleep-state: some aspect of mind is exploring an additional self...another self...a different self...ideally a more perfect self. As it is always about self (who am i?) everything that imagination can produce is self-centric, manufacturing a new identity. As various identities (images) roll off the production line, they are all different, each one adding to the possibility of a greater self. Taken together, all the legions of identities constitute one, new, identity. As new identities are minted, a process of subtraction must be applied to make them all different from each other. The trend is downward, so-to-speak, and toward a material existence (down to earth). The reason the trend is downward is because this mental exercise begins at the highest possible perfection, which includes the ownership of everything. In order to explore differences, faith must begin taking away (subtracting) from the original perfection. This is why the devil's process is compatible to theft, specifically identity theft. As the theft progresses, there comes the phenomenon of a material world (matter). A material world is necessary to manifest the differences, to make the different shapes and sizes, etc. A material world moves the identities from mental concept to what it then calls "reality" (a material appearance). In this way, the devil is "thrown down to earth". The devil might be described as the first iteration of the new perfection, by way of subtraction. No longer equal, the devil is something more, something maybe even better because it has more. What it now has, that the original perfection does not have, is a unique status, unlike any other status. I call this "special status". It's according to this design (special status) that the devil produces it's offspring, each one given special status, by way of subtraction. Eyeballs, unknown in the original perfection, are designed to see only what the devil produces. As such, a man can look around and see what faith has wrought. What man is seeing is a "self"...the answer to the question, 'who am i?'. It's the wrong answer, but it satisfies the legions of hell. Everyone in hell has gained something that not even Christ has ever had: special status (implemented by differences through subtraction). For example, compared to a monkey, man is special. There might not be any difference between the man and the monkey except half the monkey's brain has been subtracted. Likewise, anything that is different (special) from anything else is the product of subtraction, beginning with the subtraction of knowledge. The monkey is special too, being different from birds, whose bird brains are even smaller. In theory, rocks don't have a brain at all. They too are special. If any man becomes weary of the weight of special status and it's effects, he can reverse the process by asking, again, the same question: Who am I? Any answer that perpetuates the status quo (special status) will prolong man's stay in hell. The right answer will invoke an awakening process (the resurrection). Arguably, Jesus was the first to answer the question rightly. It is his brand of self-knowledge that answers the question rightly. Once the question is answered rightly, there are no more questions, only knowledge, which states: I am. Or, to put it in Billy Graham terms, "Christ is the answer!" (without explaining what the original question was). Answered rightly, the false self disappears, back to the void from which it came...along with it's difficulties/problems. That is the resurrection. People don't realize how much of their mental faculties are distracted by the demands of the problems generated by the false self (the "world"). Pay attention! This is the key. Everything in the domain of the devil is demanding to be paid with attention (mental focus). It feeds on this focus. Meditation is about taking the focus off the "external" manifestation of the devils faith. When the mind is put to rest, it tends to return to it's origins. Prolonged meditation training brings the mind back to the mind of Christ with full attention. Giving full attention to Christ, there are no more questions, and the world(s) built upon those questions are vanished, never to be seen again. As long as the material worlds are given the qualities of Christ, such as existence, everything, life and reality, they will continue to "sit upon the throne of god". Man is very much implicated in this usurpation to the extent that man's condition is voluntary.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Luke 10:8 The word Satan/Satanas is a proper masculine noun with roots both Aramaic and Hebrew. Jesus here is referring to an actual entity.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Jesus speaking) Matthew 24:14 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c] 20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (the apostle Paul) I Cor. 1:18-25
As I understand, Satan was at one time, one of, if not the most powerful of all God's angels, and rebelled against God in his pride and arrogance, and was cast out of heaven along with other angels that joined in his rebellion. Isaiah 14:11-13 King James Version (KJV) 11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: