This is not going to be a comprehensive analysis. There are a lot of really weird dark things happening in the earth realm and some things really seem to make no sense at all. We may have heard that the word apocalypse means “unveiling”. It seems we are seeing things now that have probably always existed. This is ultimately a very good thing, even though it’s painful. The light of awareness is the healing we came here for. I want to share some hopefully helpful points of view from a yogic lens.
When I hear demons discussed it is often from a victim mentality, like the person has no role in their experience. I think this is a clever ruse. If you don’t take ownership for your role in co-creating your life, then you lose. You lose your power and your ability to take the reigns and make amends and better choices. So, it serves the dark side to make you think you are a victim of your life and the perceived demons of others. Inside you is a light so powerful that if you knew about it and operated at your full wattage - every single thing in your world would illuminate and transform for the better.
The thing about demons is that they are opportunistic. You have to let them in. They can’t let themselves in. The door gets left open carelessly, because we are not taught that every word and action we create has a vibration which creates a resonance. Over time this creates a energy field we perceive through as our reality. This energy field has a general bandwidth that we operate inside of. Think of an electromagnetic spectrum chart. There are so many kinds of realities on display! You can think of this as a kind of metaphor; the running sum total of all our words and actions determine where we reside on the frequency spectrum.
Demons are actually apart of a realm, which I like to think of as a “bad neighborhood”. Really consider the electromagnetic spectrum as a map of realms, and that chart represents only the small portion of reality that humans have decoded so far. The demon realm can only operate on a small portion of the field, similar to how say microwave radiation only exists when the waves are at a certain length . When you are inside their portion of the landscape though, it looks like the whole world. You get tricked in to thinking that their world is “reality”.
Hopefully this is starting to give some context to the demon subject. I actually don’t think it’s helpful to dwell on demons at all. I really only have one main point left to make about them which is this; don’t interlock. This applies to the problematic, miserable, and nasty thoughts in our heads as well as the ways in which these kinds of energies show up as other people and events. The villains in our lives can really eat up a lot of our life force, if we let them. Don’t give them any more time, energy or credit than absolutely necessary.
We all have our personal challenges. The thing is, if you are focusing on the demons, you are focusing on the wrong thing. Human minds are magnifying glasses. Your aura makes whatever you focus on, bigger, and then you end up attracting and experiencing more of whatever that vibration is. When I say don’t interlock, it means this; do not give the perceived demons of others or the ones in your own mind any extra energy! Take care of business and then move on with your life. Too many people get in to victim / rescuer / perpetrator triangle and just loop there indefinitely. You are the creator of your perception of reality: your story. If you are reading this it means you are one of the most prosperous and blessed people who have ever lived. Lock in to that frequency and re-write the script of your life. Victory is a mantra! Use it.
This brings me to my next subject: evil. I want to discuss evil from a yogic and individual empowerment perspective.
The 5 Tattvas and the 5 Evils.
Yogic philosophy teaches that the tattvas are stages of separation we know overall as maya. Maya is a process that gives the illusion of separateness1 . Again, the electromagnetic spectrum chart is a helpful metaphor here as well. There are actually 31 tattvas that go from the universal oneness to the idea of individual physical atoms. The last 5 tattvas are the most dense and also the 5 elements that make up the earth realm: Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The yogis have a very interesting way of explaining how it is the tattvas themselves which hold the two polarities of “evil” and “good”. Instead of these titles however, the yogis describe them as projections and qualities. I like this word projection, because it describes the actual function of the human energy field. You can actually magnify different streams of energy and focus the beam, just like a movie projector. Anyway, the tattvas come with negative and positive qualities baked in from the jump, which makes sense because the earth is a realm of duality. The beautiful part is that we get to choose what we want to emphasize. The range of qualities the tattvas express is called the gunas. Below is a definition and breakdown of each.
Gunas
The gunas are three qualities of matter, being and behavior present in all things in different proportions. They relate to our inherent angelic (sattvic), human (rajasic) and beast (tamasic) natures. Humans have a unique ability to consciously alter the levels of the gunas in the body and mind.2
Sattva
Balance, Harmony, Clarity, Consciousness
Rajas
Action, Passion, Desire, Energy
Tamas
Illusion, Stagnation, Dullness, Confusion
Each guna has its place and proper proportion for each situation. For example, tamas is not all bad, tamas can give a slower, grounded energy to life. As yogis we can observe, adjust and use each guna for our benefit.
Tattvas
The five tattvas are the five elements in the body and their interplay creates everything on earth. Each tattva relates to a guna or combination of gunas, as well as a sense perception. Tattvas relate to five ‘projections’ which we would consider negative aspects but can be channeled towards the positive. 3 Balanced tattvas create an energetic shield of protection4 in the human energy system. Meditation, mantra and pranayam practice can all help to balance the tattvas, especially the mantra Sat Nam and its primal sound counterpart - Sa Ta Na Ma.
Earth - Pritvi Tattva
Tamas guna and the sense of smell
Negative Projection: Greed (lobh)
Positive Qualities: Generosity, Stability, Forgiveness
Water - Apas Tattva
Rajas and tamas gunas and the sense of taste
Negative Projection: Lust (kam)
Positive Qualities: Compassion, Purity, Flow
Fire - Agni Tattva
Rajas guna and the sense of sight
Negative Projection: Anger (krodh)
Positive Qualities: Radiance, Illumination, Warmth
Air - Vayu Tattva
Sattva and rajas gunas and the sense of touch
Negative Projection: Attachment (moh)
Positive Qualities: Neutrality, Flexibility, Freedom
Ether - Akasha Tattva
Sattva guna and the sense of hearing
Negative Projection: Pride (ahangkar)
Positive Qualities: Subtlety, Unity, Interconnectedness
Sikh philosophy calls the 5 negative projections of the tattvas the 5 thieves or the 5 evils. They are considered thieves because they steal the good sense of the human and destroy lives when unchecked. I think understanding how the tattvas themselves hold the polarites of life is an incredibly empowered perspective. Instead of focusing on the wrongdoings of others and their perceived demons, we can take all that energy and use it in our own life. We can reroute the negative projections in ourselves to their positive qualities. This is a moment by moment practice and indeed, WHY we practice in the first place. We want to activate and magnify the positive polarity in every situation. Please note: we need to handle the negative, we do not ignore the problems we are facing. But we can be like martial artists, where we use the enemies energy and turn it around to create more of what we want. We can take the fire of the rage and use it to create more light and warmth. There is a way to find benefit in every single challenge. Some times the silver lining is so slim, but we know it is there and can be magnified. Let’s use our tools and get to work finding it.
This is a photo I found on the internet. Hurricanes are not evil or demonic but they are an expression of the polarity of the tattvas.
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1 The Aquarian Teacher Manual by Yogi Bhajan pg 210
2 Yogabasics.com/learn/the-3-gunas-of-nature
3 The Aquarian Teacher Manual by Yogi Bhajan pg 211
4 Harijiwan, Parapsychology of Moving Thoughtforms
there is so much overlap with the mystical qabalah.