Lucifer Morningstar. That’s the name of the devil according to the Bible. I learned this from watching a comedy/thriller TV show eponymously called, wait for it, yes, Lucifer! He’s the fallen angel, and is condemned to a life in hell. But that would be quite boring by Hollywood standards, and so they make Lucy as he’s called, take a vacation and come spend some time in Los Angeles.
One scene was especially poignant. A street performer dons the guise of one possessed by the devil, and says several supportive maniacal things to beef up his character. As he prances around to show proof of him being under the control of the ruler of hell, the real devil (dressed as a normal human of course) shows up. A quick demon-face reveal to this street performer by Lucy leads the performer to expectedly freak out to another level. Little did he expect to host the real devil at his performance, despite putting on an act for all his life! He proceeds to scream further about the devil, but the onlookers are unable to distinguish the performance from the real. What all stuff Hollywood comes up with š
The point for me, is that there are so many people around us doing all sorts of outward actions. Some will chant, some will meditate, some will speak of mystic experiences, some will have saints come to them in their dreams and so on and so forth. Do these things matter? Not in the least. And no it is not me who’s saying it. Every spiritually realized soul and scripture eventually says the same thing, i.e. Do not worry or pay attention to outward gimmicks / experiences / performances. The real spiritual transformation only happens deep within oneself.