Here are the nine satanic sins. Taken from churchofsatan.com .The ethics of The church of satan . Notice the comparisons with certain spiritual paths, and I will also show some differences.
- Stupidity—The top of the list for Satanic Sins. The Cardinal Sin of Satanism. It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity.
It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable. Satanists must learn to see through the tricks and cannot afford to be stupid.
This is similiar to the concept of arhat in therevadin buddhism. Very similiar. Only buddhists believe in an afterlife. And the only way you get there is by
- Helping yourself become enlightened.
- Helping others become enlightened {the mahayanin concept of boddhisatva}
The concept of arhat is self preservation first, that of a mahayanin is the enlightenment of others. Dalai lama is a mahayanin. This explains his world view.
But an arhat would not generally be like that, he would seem to be more selfish, but really it is all just relative to his own personal evolutionary state as a being which has reincarnated many times, and is still learning.
In buddhism, karmic evolution is accounted for, therby giving sense to the reasons someone may decide to concentrate on evolving himself and forgetting about others as it were. But this does not make him a selfish individual .There is no dichotomy. It is allowed!
But also, the christian sage baltazaar said “better to be a fool with the crowd than a wise man on his own”. So the initiated can mingle for the sake of fun, even in a circle of idiots. Stupidity, as it is for satanists , is a big folly, but again it is all relative to the situation the sage finds himself in. As long as he is above it he is fine.
- Pretentiousness—Empty posturing can be most irritating and isn’t applying the cardinal rules of Lesser Magic. On equal footing with stupidity for what keeps the money in circulation these days. Everyone’s made to feel like a big shot, whether they can come up with the goods or not.
In most serious martial arts you will be taught this. The need for humility and the need to be yourself and be real to others, not decietful in any way. Unless of course you have to decieve someone for the best.
It is also something white magicians are warned about with regards to their talking about occultish knowledge and magic.
- Solipsism—Can be very dangerous for Satanists. Projecting your reactions, responses and sensibilities onto someone who is probably far less attuned than you are. It is the mistake of expecting people to give you the same consideration, courtesy and respect that you naturally give them. They won’t.
Instead, Satanists must strive to apply the dictum of “Do unto others as they do unto you.†It’s work for most of us and requires constant vigilance lest you slip into a comfortable illusion of everyone being like you.
As has been said, certain utopias would be ideal in a nation of philosophers, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, from a Machiavellian standpoint) we are far from that point.
The satanic concept of “Do unto others as they would do to you” is none other than the law of moses. An eye for an eye. Again , the initiated have the freedom to act in this way, but it is relative to the situation they find themselves in.
The Dalai lama said that when we are above good and evil, we are above sin and therfore do not create any more karmic debt for our actions. But he only repeated what so many great sages and thinkers have said before.
Therefore to the initiated of the esoteric spiritual traditions there is the freedom to use what may be percieved to be evil, but no debt for it will be incurred if the intention is correct. But it takes hard work { kung fu , chinese for hard work }to have a mind like that.
The kung fu of the mind.
To my mind , the satanic view of “do unto others as they would do unto you” can be fine, but is a bit old fashioned. And to be honest if you do do to others what they might do unto you then you may find that you really would have to lower yourself.
Therefore a difference in christ teaching for example was to remove the law of moses and put do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
But this is why the romans and Jews wished to kill him, because he was asking them to do something they found too difficult. It is the easy path to take revenge and do unto others as they do to you, harder thing it is to do to others what you would have them do.
Especially if you are a very kind, noble , and considerate person. Very hard.
- Self-deceit—It’s in the “Nine Satanic Statements†but deserves to be repeated here. Another cardinal sin. We must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves.
The only time self-deceit should be entered into is when it’s fun, and with awareness. But then, it’s not self-deceit!
Again a white magus is taught only to revere nature. Not statues or gods as such. Figures of buddha and christ etc therefore have no real significance for the true spiritualist. They are at best a centre for the attention if need be.
Self deceit is of course bad to anyone. Not just the spiritual.
- Herd Conformity—That’s obvious from a Satanic stance. It’s all right to conform to a person’s wishes, if it ultimately benefits you. But only fools follow along with the herd, letting an impersonal entity dictate to you. The key is to choose a master wisely instead of being enslaved by the whims of the many.
This is interesting. Whereas it is obviously something no self respecting spiritualist would do, to follow the herd as it were, sometimes you can if it means getting your point across.
Christ is a good example of this. He obviously knew so much more than the herd that condemned him to death, but he went along with his capture and execution to fullfill the prophecies of Isaiah. He was the lamb that had to be slaughtered.
As was martin luther king. And he also sensed this would happen. He said in his last speech " I know there are some of our sick white brothers who might have sick ideas about how to stop me and my dream , but I have been to the mountaintop ,and I dont mind, i tell you i dont mind what has to happen to me now".
Two great men, both ahead of the herd. Both shaping the herd.
- Lack of Perspective—Again, this one can lead to a lot of pain for a Satanist. You must never lose sight of who and what you are, and what a threat you can be, by your very existence. We are making history right now, every day.
Always keep the wider historical and social picture in mind. That is an important key to both Lesser and Greater Magic. See the patterns and fit things together as you want the pieces to fall into place.
Do not be swayed by herd constraints—know that you are working on another level entirely from the rest of the world.
Again the real spiritualist has this point of view. He is aware that history is being made by his presence. Buddha was aware of this, as was Guru nanak, Gandhi, martin luther king , malcolm x and alike. Not held back by the herd constraints, they boldly defied and questioned herd mentality and stupidity.
Someone on the right spiritual path is held together by their perspective, they do not lack perpective. Their vision is grand, and far reaching, beyond the ken of the layman.
- Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies—Be aware that this is one of the keys to brainwashing people into accepting something new and different, when in reality it’s something that was once widely accepted but is now presented in a new package.
We are expected to rave about the genius of the creator and forget the original. This makes for a disposable society.
As christ pointed out, the pharisees and saducees and the other hypocrites should not be followed. With their false religion and corrupt ways. He warned of the dangers of set, overly zealous and unreasonable religious opinions.
He was a fine rebel indeed. Blowing apart the world of tyranny that lay with organized religions of the time. Tyranny that continues today.
We too must follow this instinct in ourselves to despise all that leads us astray. And look down on limited religious explanations of the world.
- Counterproductive Pride—That first word is important. Pride is great up to the point you begin to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The rule of Satanism is: if it works for you, great. When it stops working for you, when you’ve painted yourself into a corner and the only way out is to say, I’m sorry, I made a mistake, I wish we could compromise somehow, then do it.
We all know the opinions of the great spiritual masters and sages where this is concerned. Forgiveness , lack of pride, mercy, charity , subdueing the ego etc.
- Lack of Aesthetics—This is the physical application of the Balance Factor. Aesthetics is important in Lesser Magic and should be cultivated.
It is obvious that no one can collect any money off classical standards of beauty and form most of the time so they are discouraged in a consumer society, but an eye for beauty, for balance, is an essential Satanic tool and must be applied for greatest magical effectiveness.
It’s not what’s supposed to be pleasing—it’s what is. Aesthetics is a personal thing, reflective of one’s own nature, but there are universally pleasing and harmonious configurations that should not be denied.
The meaning of aesthetic as an adjective may be illuminated by comparing it to anaesthetic, which is by construction an antonym. If something is anaesthetic, it tends to dull the senses or cause sleepiness. In contrast aesthetic may be thought of as anything that tends to stimulate or enliven the senses.
Oriental traditions have been marked out by westeners for this reason. Martial arts and yoga in particular. This is because the sensations one gets while training in these things is enlivening, and stimulating.
But spiritual traditions emphasize not following base tendancies. They say its these things that actually dull the mind. This is perhaps where satanism and other spiritual paths would differ. Because of the idea that one must follow their animal impulses in satanic thinking.
In other words allowing free reign to your sexual impulses, your impulse to hurt and cheat or lie on a whim. Whereas spiritual traditions would say, do not follow these impulse because they lead to ruin.
The wisdom of the sages is that time will tell. And as christ said “where there is carcass the eagles will gather”. Jesus was mentioning here that if you leave dead meat lying around , crude thoughts and impulses symbolically speaking, you will only attract eagles, or in other words, things that gnaw, scratch and peck at your mind and create unease.
This is the whole reason the hindus and buddhists created meditation, as a guard against dangerous thoughts and desires.
Look at the famous painting of lao tzu sitting on the rock meditating, with the sneaky looking tiger underneath him. This painting , very commonly seen throughout asian buddhist countries, is symbollic of a whole science of the mind.
All spiritual traditions mention the danger of avarice, capriciousness. But mention in detail how to avoid the traps of the mind that are first of all created by crude thoughts and impulses.