Sympathetic Consideration for Demons

(continued from Beauty Is Man-made)

“Men, animals, ghosts, demons— all deserve sympathetic consideration.  Formed from the great Tao, Matrix of the Universe, all are equally necessary to nature’s purposes.  If we destroy any being without good cause, how can we expect our fellows to treat us less belligerently?  Let live, leave well enough alone, abstain from exaggerated reactions and one may be sure of remaining on good terms with all the hosts of heaven, earth, and hell.  Even corpse-devouring demons are capable of gratitude.” — John Blofeld.

In a previous post, Beauty Is Man-made, I tentatively indicated the possibility that we could attempt to view extraterrestrials in a kindly light even though they deviate quite a bit outside our normal standard of beauty.  But this post goes beyond that.

Waaaaay beyond that.

I’m talking about sympathetic consideration of freaking Corpse-devouring demons–beings of interdimensional substances that make the ETs look positively warm and fuzzy!

I’m talking ’bout fangs dripping with gore and half-eaten human flesh, eyes driven mad by relentless hunger and thirst, deadly claws outstretched and reaching, ready to rip your face off.

It is the stuff of a Taobabe’s nightmare, and to be honest, I have faced off with these terrifying beings in my dreamstate before, so I know how scary they can be!  How could such creatures possibly be included within the realm of a taobabe’s sympathetic kindness?

I say this, fully aware that there are beings who act demonic, but are not demons at all.  I am not talking about some insane, face-eating, bath-salt addict, with super-human strength.

This post is about demons, not run-of-the-mill humans acting out in all sorts of evil ways.

This post is also about our knee-jerk reaction regarding demons.  We assume they are automatically evil because they look different and terrifying (to us) and are not necessarily human-centric in their thoughts or actions.

This is nothing new.  Throughout history, any groups of humans who exhibited the slightest tinge of diversity, be they physical, ideological, or spiritual, were almost certain to be shunned, or worse yet, persecuted by those who sought separation, subjugation, or even annihilation of these groups of divergent humans.

This is malevolent human-to-human interaction.  We haven’t even touched upon the interaction between us and a different race of beings, those who looked VERY different–grotesquely different–demonically different.  Any heinous action would, without a doubt, be far worse if the situation involved beings that are not even human.

But we cannot exclude the very real possibility that there are those beings that may look demonish, especially when compared to ye olde regular human beans (like me), but can hardly be considered demonic in thoughts and deeds.

In fact, they may be downright monkish!

They may, in fact, even be aiding and assisting humankind from behind the curtains, and they most likely would try to remain behind the curtains because they know how we humans would react to their physical differences.

I shudder to think what we would do to them, given half the chance, if our humanistic tendencies devolve into the level of unthinking beasts.

To be fair, we’ve been told all our lives, by the Powers That Be, that demons were horrifying and loathsome in their evilness.  Absent any other indication, we have no reason to doubt this information.

However, before we close the book on this subject and throw it into the sacred box which holds THINGS THAT ARE AXIOMATIC ABSOLUTE TRUTHS, please allow me a few minutes to point out some peculiar truths which must be examined before we turn off the lights on this whole subject matter.

A demon doesn’t have to look horrifying to be a real demon.

Just as no taobabe worth her salt is ever going to leave the house looking like something the cat dragged in, no demon worth his weight in bon-bons will be caught dead without his glamour holo-waves firmly attached and engaged.

It’s not shape-shifting, folks.  Haven’t you heard?  It’s HBI (holographic body illusion).  Body holograms will be all the rage in the near future, once some technological kinks get resolved (or released, whichever comes first).

With the technology of HBI in their proverbial back pocket, I can almost guarantee that any run-of-the-mill demon you are going to meet on the street is going to be smokin’ hot.  After all, why look bad when you can look badass?  Isn’t it always better to be HOT than NOT, especially if it’s as easy as turning on a switch and casting a simple glamour spell?

But as I pointed out in one of my earlier postings, Beauty Is Man-made, there is a definite look that one must have in order to be considered HOT.  Deviate from this fashion-driven, era-specified look and you are suddenly not so hot.  The beauty queen of a few thousand years ago would be considered on the fat and homely side today.  Ditto for the handsome hunk of yesteryear, who would today, be hairy and smelly and a bit of a chauvinistic pig.

Of course, going down this thought path requires that I ask another question.  What if the image of beauty that we humans are partial to is really not all that pretty to a demon?

What if female demons really ship someone who looks more like this?

Bear up with me here.

What if that image above causes female demons to swoon and go weak at the knees, but to keep from frightening the humans, demons have to go about the human world, transformed into something like this guy below, even though the female demons are hella turned off by this image, thinking it weak and soft, and rather on the fragile side?

And of course, the male demons be like:

You know that ain’t the real me.  I’m just wearing my work uniform, babe.  Off the clock and I’m back to my hunky demon self again.  Just you wait.

Well, you know, beauty is as beauty does, which brings me to the next truth.

A demon doesn’t have to act with evil intent to be a real demon.

The other truth to consider is:  Evil is as evil does.

One can be physically beautiful and yet, do horrifying things to others.  In the same vein, one can be horrifying to look at, but possess a truly compassionate heart.  There is no way to tell until enough observational time has been given to deduce the demon’s inclinations.

Look, I am not asking for us to automatically feel the sympathy.  In fact, be vigilant, and be aware.  Not everything is roses and skittles out there, but that’s true even amongst us humans.  I am simply asking that we give enough time to make that judgement call on the evilness (or lack thereof) of a being that is of the demonic persuasion.

Not every demon out there has benign intents, but then again, not every demon is out to get you.  Before we condemn them on sight, I am saying we should at least extend the same courtesy we would give a fellow human being and give them a chance to prove their benignity.

We owe them at least this much, if we consider ourselves Taoists.

Virtue is not just another pretty word

So, we have to ask ourselves, where in hell does it say Taoists need to show kindness to demons?

Hasn’t Taoist priests been fighting with demons for thousands of years?  Haven’t demons wreaked havoc within human realm for time immemorial?

It’s all documented in ancient scriptures, writings, stories, myths, legends, the endless fights between Taoists and demons.

The conflict is not what’s in question here.  The crux of the situation is ENDING the conflict.

Let’s see what Lao Tzu says about this.

In chapter 51, he says, and I quote:

Tao produces them
Virtue raises them
Things shape them
Forces perfect them

Therefore all things respect the Tao and value virtue
The respect for Tao, the value of virtue
Not due to command but to constant nature

Thus Tao produces them
Virtue raises them
Grows them, educates them
Nurtures them, protects them

Produces but does not possess
Acts but does not flaunt
Nurtures but does not dominate
This is called Mystic Virtue

According to Derek Lin’s translation, Them refers to all living things.  This would have to include demons too.  They are just as alive as we are.  Virtue means the inherent power in everything.

All living things grow and develop by virtue of the life force within them.  Therefore, their virtue is their inherent power to live–an essential part of the Tao. ~ Derek Lin [1]

If we are walking around, all proud of the fact that we are part of the Tao, and the Tao flows through us, and we are divine, and we’re da shiz…well, guess what, them demons are all that too, and a bag of chips!

The same life force surrounds them and lives within them as it does us.  We are all connected via the Tao, which means demons are a part of us, just as much as we are a part of them.

As uncomfortable as this may sound, there’s no getting around it.

Demons are there for a reason.  Maybe their reason is to create chaos so we can have the lessons we need to grow.  Maybe they are there to assist our growth in more benign fashion.  We don’t know.  We have to take it, case by case, person by person.  Demon by demon.  We have to remember that they also have the light within them.

See the light in others and treat them as if that is all you see.  ~Wayne Dyer  

And about that corpse-devouring demon I spoke about at the start of this post, what if–stay with me here–what if it was created by the Universe to be carrion eaters like vultures and eagles and hyenas, or bottom-feeders like crab and catfish?

What if they were specifically used to clear out the crap and junk of dead material?  We don’t have a special hatred of wild turkeys or catfish.  Why then would we be so horrified of a corpse-eating demon?

In any case, this is the next set of lessons we need to absorb.  Not only do we have to extend our love to include all humans and life forms within this density, we also have to extend the same love and goodwill to beings of other densities.

Even if those beings look like demons.

…

[1]  Tao Te Ching