How much does spiritual level provide a protective sheath against ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.)?
Ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) trouble us for a number of reasons which have been explained in the article on ‘What is the objective of ghosts’. They can affect us in many ways materially, psychologically and spiritually.
(Please read the article on Examples of superficial causes and spiritual root causes of problems in our lives.)
To remedy a problem in our lives that is caused by a ghost (i.e. a spiritual cause) we need a spiritual remedy. Practicing Spirituality and the resultant rise in our spiritual level is the key factor that protects and insulates us from the onslaught of an attack by ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies etc.) The principle here is that whoever is stronger spiritually, wins.
(Please read the article on What is spiritual level?)
Let’s look at a few variations in how this principle works practically:
- Our first example is a person who through spiritual practice has achieved the 40% spiritual level. If a common ghost at 25% spiritual level attacks him, the effect of the attack on him would be very limited or negligible. Please see the diagram below.
Ghosts can have very high spiritual levels, e.g. some sorcerors from the 6-7 regions of Hell have a very high spiritual level like 80-90%. Those persons who have done lot of spiritual practice consistently in many births but have committed a grave sin or developed high ego go to these regions of hell as ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies). However by virtue of their past spiritual practice, they have a high spiritual level and hence high spiritual power.
- However suppose the Common ghost (at 25% spiritual level) is acting on the orders of more powerful ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) such as a subtle-sorcerer (māntrik) from the lower regions of Hell (Pātāl), the situation could change adversely for the same person mentioned above (at 40% spiritual level). Subtle-sorcerers use common ghosts to carry out tasks and they also give them the requisite black energy to trouble a person at a higher spiritual level than the common ghost.
Note: In case of the regions of hell, the lower the region, the higher the severity of negativity. For example, the seventh region of Hell lies lower than the first six regions and hosts ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) of highest spiritual power, that is, with the highest black energy levels.
- Even people who are at the high spiritual level of a Saint are open to an attack by ghosts of a higher level. Here the ghosts cannot affect a Saint’s mind and intellect as they have merged to varying degrees with God; so they target the Saint’s physical body. Saints have been known to experience severe physical distress like bleeding or loss of vital energy (Prāṇa-shakti) as a result of distress caused by higher level ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.)
- Seekers engaged in spiritual practice for the sake of society are especially at risk of being attacked by ghosts as compared to those doing only individual spiritual practice. The reason why ghosts attack seekers of God is given in ‘What is the objective of ghosts’. Seekers who serve God by trying to spread Spirituality as a part of their spiritual practice for the sake of society come under God’s protective umbrella to a greater extent and get His grace in being protected from ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.)
The following table shows the details of distress experienced by a person due to attacks from ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) in relation to their spiritual level and type of spiritual practice.
From the above table we can see that:
- With increasing spiritual level, the person is attacked by higher level ghosts. This is because he is impervious to attacks by ghosts of a spiritual level less than 10% of his own spiritual level. For example, a person at 40% spiritual level is unaffected by an attack by a ghost of spiritual level less than 30%.
- The distress by ghosts suffered by persons at a lower spiritual level is predominantly due to the subtle-bodies of their ancestors. This is especially so about persons doing individual spiritual practice.
Footnotes:
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This column shows the subtle-region or plane of existence from where the ghosts come from. It can either be from the Nether region (Bhuvarlok) or one of the seven regions of Hell. The numbers in the column refer to the region of Hell. The lower the region of Hell such as six and seven, the more powerful the ghost (demon, devil, negative energy, etc.).
The entire universe is made up of fourteen regions or planes (lokas) of existence, comprising seven positive and seven negative planes. Earth is the only physical plane while all the other planes are subtle in nature. Heaven is just one of the positive planes we can go after death.
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Even though most ancestors reside in the nether world, we have differentiated ‘ancestors’ from ‘ghosts of the Nether region’ in the chart. The term Nether is used here to mean that the attack is by a ghost in the Nether region, that is not an ancestor of the person.
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Persons who take up the spread of Spirituality as a part of their spiritual practice are attacked with more intensity by ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) but they also get added protection. On the other hand, the attack is reduced on people doing individual spiritual practice after the spiritual level of 70% as ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) do not waste their energy on them, as they become assured that these people are only doing individual spiritual practice. People who mind their own business and do spiritual practice only for their own sake do not constitute a threat to ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.). On the other hand people spreading Spirituality help raise the sāttviktā in society. This is a direct threat to the ghost’s way of life as they are Raja and Tama predominant and cannot tolerate sattvikta.
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This column refers to the severity of distress faced by the person on account of being attacked by a ghost. The severity of distress is on a scale of 0 to 100% where 100% means death of the person.
God’s protection received is about 10% and 20% more than the strength of the attack by the ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) by people doing individual spiritual practice and those doing spiritual practice for the sake of society respectively. God’s protection is uniform for all, but those with higher spiritual levels and those doing spiritual practice for the sake of society due to their lesser egos are able to receive it more.
This does not mean that a person is totally unaffected as God’s protection is more. What is meant by God’s protection is:
- Making the attack less troublesome for the person, i.e. the person is able to endure the distress.
- Saving the life of the person.
- In the case of people doing spiritual practice for the sake of society, imparting spiritual energy as they need more spiritual energy for spreading Spirituality. This is one of the reasons why protection is more for persons doing spiritual practice to spread Spirituality in society, the other being that the attacks are more severe.
People not doing spiritual practice are unable to receive required protection from God. The reason for this is that there is a lot of ego around their soul. As a result, protection received is less than the attack from the ghost. Due to this ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) can create havoc in these people’s life at a physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual level.
