What is the purpose of the devil?

It appears to me that I have an accumulated inheritance of secret devils, among which stand out prominently a hasty temper—a sharp tongue—intellectual pride—lascivious thoughts.

Hold the thought persistently in mind that the devils you speak of are the children of your own creation, not mere characteristics, but really created entities upon the mental and astral planes—entities, which you through many lives have created. 

Being your very own, you must master them. 

But mastery does not mean annihilation—

All that is has within it a germ of good, as well as evil, and this germ is expressed according to the use that is made of it.

In fact, evil is but the shadow of good. 

It is the work—the first step—of every earnest seeker after freedom to take stock of just what he has created out of the God-power of creative force given him in the beginning as his most precious possession.

When you have taken such stock, realise that these things are yours to use—the weapons with which you must fight—the forces and materials out of which you must build up your immortal habitation. 

Realise that nothing once created can ever thereafter cease to be—also, that the redemption of all through the power of The Christ must be accomplished. 

It is this that gives true individuality to each one, for while all are one, yet each makes an individual expression of the One Life by creating through the power of his lifeforce. 

Since all your creations must be redeemed by their creator, all sorts of experiences are garnered and stored up for the One Life.

A hasty temper is like a fire—put it in a furnace and it will generate steam—or force that will run machinery and accomplish great work for the world. 

A sharp tongue controlled will be a weapon that can fearlessly cut the evil from the good—its ruler is love.

Intellectual pride is a dangerous master, but a wonderfully efficient servant. 

Wed it to humility and let love bless the union. 

Lascivious thoughts are astral lust-bodies created by the misapplication of the physical creative fluid—

Remember that that fluid always creates if not upon the physical plane, then upon the astral, following out the desires and lusts of the creator. 

Learn the holiness and sacredness of the sex-forces—

Send out thoughts of love and purity that will conquer and transmute these creatures of lust, and take their place as helpers rather than hinderers.

Keep on praying, but consciously assert your power through your divine heritage to hold all your devils subject to you. 

Chain them—

Put them to work under the lash of your purified will until they can be transmuted and redeemed by you through the power of The Christ.

Letters from the Teacher