Confirms my thesis that Christians are the most fascinated by all things dark, evil, and satanic. This, i believe, is something that runs in the blood of man, as it is a rather old preoccupation, going at least back to Zoroastrianism in ancient Persia, and more recently Manichaeism. The most i ever heard about demons was when i ran in bible-centric circles who saw themselves on the cutting edge of any movement of god in the earth. Imagine knowing so much about demons that now, you have a barometer on how much fear they are feeling on any given Sunday. Ironically, this group knows the most about what demons think, and also what god thinks on any given Sunday. This is basically doom porn, which explains the popularity of the anonymous "book of revelations". This fascination runs too in the blood of Islam where it's ill effects are most obvious. All i know is that Christians are willing to say the most outlandishly insulting things about a Good god, without any fear whatsoever. They say, for example, that god killed his Good son, the only one he had, in order to salvage the lives of all the evil sons of the devil, and bring them into his kingdom where he forces his Good son, who actually did not die, to live with the evil doers. They've been saying this for centuries, without any fear whatsoever of the consequences. Maybe there is a reason they know so much about what demons think and feel?
For a better understanding of this fascination with all things dark, evil and satanic, we would do well to look at the concept of Dualism in cosmology. But to summarize, through my own lens: Anyone who holds this world to be real, and created, will try to understand how or why evil "exists" and/or "happens". Various explanations permeate most any kind of religion which assumes that this world is any kind of divinely sanctioned establishment. Christianity explains it like this, for example: A good god created a good world (besides the world he must have occupied before) and seeded it with a good person (two good persons). One or both of the good seeds went bad, allowing this world to become "fair game" (using Scientology terminology) for the rape and pillage of demons. But there were no demons, and, what are demons anyway? Demons were then dumped into this world, out of gods good world, where they are allowed to harrass the offspring of the people who went bad, not long after they were deposited in a world that had been declared to be "good" by the good god. What are demons? Well they used to be good but then they went bad and were kicked out of gods really good world to gods recently created "good" world which had pretty quickly gone "bad". So as you can see, you can go crazy trying to explain exactly how both good and evil seem to co-exist in one world. Non-dualism, on the other hand, is an extremely rare lens to see through, as it challenges what our eyes and ears tell us is "true", including the phenomenon of evil, or the personification of evil, which we call "demons".
One way to think about demons, for a better foundation to stand on, is to think of this world as "hell". Basically, hell is where demons live, from the very inception of the domain. The first entities to populate hell were not necessarily "bad" or "evil". Arguably all the occupants of hell start out as good as "angels". Over time, these angels turn into demons, if you'll allow me to explain. The problem with hell, no matter how well intentioned it starts out, is it is not founded upon truth. Rather, hell is founded upon faith. Specifically, it is founded upon faith in what a mind wishes were true, regardless of where reality stands upon any given issue. This faith requires a prerequisite ignorance of what issues, what circumstances reality stands upon. It's from this ignorance from which all subsequent "evil" flows from. Ignorance is one of the three poisons made famous by Buddha, who was a prince in India who set out to become wise. Arguably, this ignorance started out with good intentions. The problem with the ignorance of reality is that it sends a sentient being out into the "unknown" which becomes a long "journey" as the mind becomes "lost" in its own fantasies about reality. While a mind is "lost", it begins to have experiences. It begins to experience what seem to be other minds, each of whom is also lost. No matter how "good" these minds start out, they will eventually clash into each other's domain, as each seeks out his version of "reality", and wishes it to be "true". Here, then, are the beginnings of "demons". The more interactions each mind has with other minds seeking their own version of reality, the more opportunities happen for misunderstandings, irritations, and eventually outright harms to be experienced. Harms, in turn, call for retribution and vengeance. As you might guess, the general trajectory of what started as a good intention to explore into the unknown (unreality) becomes a steady trajectory downward. At the bottom, a mind will have gone completely insane and will have heated up into a blazing hot anger, happy only to dispense with collective punishment upon any unfortunate wanderer who wanders into its domain (its little area of fantasy). So hot, so insane will these minds become they will seek to leap from one domain into another, beyond boundaries, just to inflict its version of insanity upon any mind that has not yet gone completely mad. As such, hell is a demon manufacturing factory. If you stay in this factory long enough, seeking your own version of reality, you'll have enough experiences to transform your mind into a totally insane thing driven by vengeance. People, as such, are on a slippery slope, which will eventually deliver everyone, equally, to the bottom. On this slope there are "good" people, and also Muslims, near the bottom. Everybody is gradually going absolutely batshit bonkers. In the chaos, yes, there is an experience, or a phenomenon that suggests disparate, disembodies spirits leap from one domain to another to harass the embodied, even to disposes the embodied and commandeer their bodies. But as said, these are experiences and phenomenon which only boil over in the land of faith, where each mind is seeking its own version of reality. In other words, none of these experiences or phenomenon are actually real. They are only "real" (enough) to those whose minds believe in them. Lost minds appeal to many mental tricks to relieve themselves of the persistent harassment of one lost mind upon another. Eventually lost minds realize that the most potent, most lasting remedy is a direct appeal to reality itself. That is, only reality is strong enough to cast out the effects of a mind lost in its own unreality, of a mind which has been disposed of its original reality, with a completely other version of reality, which has seized upon it as if with a strong grip. While a mind is so seized, it will not have much of an appetite for reality itself. As such, it will seem not strong enough to even appeal to reality for its cleansing effects upon a mind that has gone insane with delusions. "Go to hell" means: If you think the way you've always thought, you'll keep getting what you'll always got. Not only that, one's experiences and phenomenon may get gradually worse until the mind reaches rock bottom. In a world gone mad, Jesus Christ is a potent name which may sometimes invoke temporary relief from the worse of clashes with minds gone mad. But until the name is understood as a symbol of reality does one have a chance to experience more permanent plateaus of relief from the riff raff. Jesus had an effect because he saw himself as Reality itself ("the Truth") and saw these phenomena as mere challenges to his True Self. Until Christians humble themselves enough to see themselves the same way Jesus saw his Self, they will have persistent problems with the worse of the mental riff raff that plague the domain of faith/imagination. Unreality may only be overcome by Reality itself. Non duality says that only the Real exists, and only the Real is actually Good. In this way, the unreal must cease and desist (disappear, flee) from one's experience of one's Self, upon actual acceptance of one's Self as Reality. Memorizing the parable of the "prodigal son" can help re-orient one's mind toward the acceptance of the idea that one has come to have these terrible experiences due to a voluntary, and rash self-removal from ones original living conditions. Once one is willing to interpret those original conditions as "reality", one may begin to understand what the problem is, and hence, what the solution is. The solution, as such (borrowing still from the parable), is a voluntary return to reality, which in turn restores ones sanity...at which point "demons" and pigs, and pig pens are no longer an issue. This has to be understood as a return to ones Self, to have any lasting effect, as it had on Jesus' own experience. This interpretation is absolutely rejected by anyone calling themselves Christian. Indeed, they would almost rather writhe on the floor than to accept this interpretation of the parable of the prodigal son for themselves. They would rather gnash their teeth, and argue extensively, and write volumes of books, just to avoid accepting this interpretation of "Christ" for themselves. This rejection can get so bad that, depending on which century, or which city a Christian may catch your body in, they may well be tempted to burn it, alive, on display, in the center of the city. In general, Christians, so-called, do not yet have an appetite for all things real, all things true, all things Christ, all things Self. The attractions found within the domain of the prodigal son's "foreign land" still grip their attention, as if gripped by a demon whose only task, to succeed, is to distract.
Yes, this includes you and i, or at least our personas, if these personas are our prime experience in a world which includes any kind of ignorance, or stupidity, or problems which can devolve into any kind of pain. But i would rather perceive where, exactly, in hell my persona is located, than to be totally lost in the dark, as are those self-identifying as Christian. A persona is not a Self, certainly not the True Self, which has no location in hell at all. The persistence of the experience merely means there is some more "work" to be done, which mainly involves the acceptance of reality as is, as a Living Being, without alterations made by an ignorant imagination fueled by faith. The solution requires a refocus of attention.
Most Christians aren't really living the definition of Christianity these days , it actually takes quite a bit of work. How would a demon operate? It can only operate in the thought, feeling and willing faculties. A Christians starting point according to the bible is to be self observant . Most can't even do this.
Christianity, full of superstitious nonsense. "God's Word" which is not gods word is twisted, manipulated and made sexy to captivate idle minds. Full of wondrous miracles bs stories. When one asks for proof of their claptrap, you won't get proof, rather Christians run and hide hide beneath the "faith" excuse.