“Does Satan Really Exist?” (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does Satan really exist?“

Satan is the human egoistic force, i.e., the desire to enjoy at the expense of others, which comprises the nature of each and every person.

The wisdom of Kabbalah says a lot about this force in books such as the Torah and The Zohar. For instance, the word “Satan” connects to the same root as the Hebrew word “Soteh,” which means “deviation,” and “Masit,” which means “incitement.” It is a force that diverts a person from the correct path—one of positively connecting to others in mutual love and bestowal.

This force called “Satan” is rooted in every single person, and it is impossible to rid ourselves of it. The human ego has many different manifestations, but specifically the one that diverts us from positive connection among each other is called “Satan.”

In order to become freed from its control over us, we need to actively engage in our society by building positive connections upon it.

This force will always exist and will constantly generate discord between us. Yet, when we achieve a positively unified state, then all the satanic forms that held us back will be added to our efforts to positively connect, and will then serve to increase the positive force of connection between us.

Precisely due to the human ego’s constantly running motor that tries to manipulate us at every moment, making us want to detach from each other instead of connecting, and sinking us deeper and deeper into ourselves instead of applying efforts to exit ourselves and connect with others, then thanks to this ego, we will eventually get sick of it, a state called “the recognition of evil,” and will then readily force ourselves to come closer to each other.

At that time, Satan will become a positive force. It is ultimately what will help us reach an understanding of our need to connect and the correct form that our connection needs to acquire.