The boy was walking to buy bread when the mayor of the city crossed the street.
‘The reason he is so powerful, is because, he’s made a pact with the devil,’ a very devout woman in the street told the boy.
Some time later, when travelling to another town, the boy saw a beautiful corn field. He asked who the owner was.
‘All this land belongs to the same man. I’d say the Devil had a hand in that.’ – answered one of the villagers.
At this very moment, a beautiful woman walked past the boy. A priest also saw her and said aloud:
‘That woman is in the services of Satan!’
From then on, the boy decided to seek the Devil out. One day he managed to see him face to face.
‘They say you can make people powerful, rich, and beautiful.’
‘To be totally honest, this is not true’ replied the Devil.
‘You have just been listening to the views of those who are trying to promote me.’
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I need to get better at typing.
ride = I meant RID
It’s the ‘other’ speaking in those people. If one wants to change, they would find a way how to get ride of it. Then they will see things in a much different light.
In the light of love.
Liina
I agree with Monika … anyone can see and feel in everything whatever he like either God or Devil.
Oh well; ok all the good things are given by the devil…..but as long as its used in the services of God…!!
I’m confused as to how easily people express the thoughts with depth greater than that of the ocean in few simple words. Walla! I liked it… :)
I´d also say is Sympathy…what else, might be? :)
Namaste,
I find it amusing that all the blessings are said to be from the “evil one” instead of being celebrated merely because they are gifts to others and not to the speaker. Jealousy I presume. Such is humanity, I fear.
Love to you
Never go by gossip is my motto. Gossip is the root of much evil out there. Jealousy is evil too.
Loving and being happy with my life is what keeps me going. Trusting in His ways keeps me safe even if the Devil is at “Arm’s reach” so very often – I am glad that God is on my side and warns me and makes me steer clear – if I do listen. :-) thanks for sharing this very poignant story! Love it
Thank you, Daniela. I agree that “Gossip is the root of much evil” and George Harrison says: “Gossip is the devil’s radio.”! Jealousy is also the source of much evil and can destroy people and relationships.
Love, Theresa
The words “the devil” “God” and “life” are all interchangeable. Denying either one of them exists would be like denying YOU exist.
When a thought is thought, a story is told or a statement is made that you don’t comprehend, interchange the words to gain a FAR BROADER UNDERSTANDING than what you would have experienced through a limiting filter.
mmm, honesty is not a virtue I attribute to the devil, but perhaps he was promoting God…
:) I believe strongly that it is us who give power to satan. He is himself too weak & rejected by the LORD himself. People give him the power to rule, giving themselves in for their insecurities and heeds.
LOL, nice :D
When you find love in your heart with pure light of knowledge, you can feel and live with God everyday…
Evil is a lack of good.
I completely agree with you, Lubos.
I love the message that I got from this story: Commonly, people find it easier to believe that strong, wealthy and successful people have acheived these things through “bad” dealings or by taking advantage of others.
I firmly believe that when the majority of people feel that way toward others, they truly are the ones blinded by the “Devil” (or ego, as I like to call it). I am a blessed person because I feel God everywhere, everyday!
Love to You All! (even you “evil” ones LOL)
I love it! It’s so true. It shows the jealousy of those who don’t believe that they can achieve happy life, so they spite all the people with good fortune. So insightful, thank you!!!
The devil is a God shaped hole. Nothing more. There are whole industries built on promoting emptiness. I like this parable. thanks Paulo.
but who would believe the devil anyway!
Everyone has a Devil within them, hate promotes Devil within us, so let’s love….
Reminds me of Sufi stories.
i exactly sympathize the boy..it is important not to be influenced by these people..perticullary when you live in a society in wich most of people -conscously or unconscously- are promoting Devil!
hi every body,thank for your beautiful comments-specially NIKITA- i really enjoy it.paulo’s books constitute a big part in my life,so i
came to this blog..but now i like here not only for paulo’s writing,but also for reading your ideas.
Tarek, i think there’s no devil,it’s the darkness in the nature of people who never illuminated their essence..
…so, priests are good promoters when they see beautiful women?
Gogu my friend told me one day when his mother in low passed near us and asked him who is that loser( she talked about me): You see her? She hasn’t made a pact with the Devil. She is Him. Is he a promoter too?
Martin Luther said: “Even the devil is God’s devil.”
after all, he’s a man of wealth and taste…
Yeah…
Sympathy…
;-)
What/who is the Devil?
I am happy you raise this point, as I must admit that I am confused! I think that EVIL is in the WORLD and is in US, but I have problems with calling the Devil a ‘person’!
Is the human entrapped because s/he looks at circumstantial evidence? Is face value such a dirty phrase?
The things we say are the things we know. The things we know are the things we are. Therefore, when judging others, we judge the self – when judging self we judge the world. Eastern practices refer to it as projection – we project self around us, especially on things we tend to dislike or hate. Realistically, we dislike and hate our inner-most desires. Love turns to hate.
UN PEDACITO DEL INFIERNO
El niño se dirigía a comprar el pan, cuando el alcalde de la ciudad, cruzó la calle.
“La razón por la que es tan poderoso, es porque, él ha hecho pacto con el diablo,” una mujer muy devota en la calle le dijo al muchacho, y él estaba intrigado.
Algún tiempo después, cuando se viaja a otra ciudad, el niño vio un hermoso campo de maíz. Preguntó quién era el propietario tan pronto como llegó a su destino
“Toda esta tierra pertenece a la misma persona. Yo diría que el diablo tuvo que ver en eso “. – Contestó uno de los aldeanos.
Ese mismo día, una bella mujer pasó al niño. Un sacerdote también la vio y le dijo en voz alta:
“Esa mujer es en los servicios de Satanás!”
A partir de entonces, el muchacho decide buscar al diablo. Un día se las arregló para verlo cara a cara.
“Ellos dicen que usted puede hacer que la gente poderosa, rica y hermosa.
“Para ser totalmente honesto, esto no es cierto-respondió el diablo. “Usted ha estado escuchando las opiniones de aquellos que están tratando de promover mí.
Funny how some people preach more about the bad in life vs the good
Look the TV-shows. The bad is more interesting.
As I wrote once in WOL community,
“If you seek for evil in people, you are going to find it for sure” Abraham Lincoln.
What a great story! So insightful. Thanks.
unless the envy evolved into inspiration, the boys will hear lots of satanic promotion.
You can not imagine the promotion I get! LOL
I LOVE that story and is -oH!- SO TRUE! Usually the ones that are trying to teach you modesty are the ones that only have the evil in their hearts and are trying to cover it by showing the others the bad things that surround them.They are not being honest but they are hypocrites.
I like it, and why can’t be devil be honest.
Here is perfect saying for this story:
“No one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand.”
-Bertolt Brecht
Well, it’s really hard to remove the influence of other people, especially those who think they are “good” but in reality, it’s the other way around. I think they are just insecure and envy the success of others. It’s easy to see the wrong of others, than seeing it in ourselves.hanks for this post. I’m enlightened. Let me say, I’m one of those who envy other people. :) I hope many people have helped by this. :)
Love,
reia :)
Too often we doubt our own abilities, so when we see others attain succes, we automatically believe it was by some form of trickery and not due to their own merits and/or hard work.
AH ! The growing pains !
Jessica, you’re right!!!! You write about that very reasonable!!! Sorry for my english but I am Italian……I am always positive!!!! There poor bad people and rich good people. This isn’t depend on their money. Love is the most important thing on Earth. But money can help everyone if we use it with our heart. Love 4ver1!!!!!!!!! Sara
thats weird how can a devil be honest? totally honest to be correct.. nice point though. the fact that the people are promoting the devil is actually justified by their envy
It is not what we have.
It is not even so much why we have it.
It is what we do with what we have.
What good is the power to heal, if you do not share it?
What good is the power to make people smile, if you keep it to youself?
By nature we tend to believe none can do better than us unless they are doing something against the law. It is hard to believe that someone is successful because he/she is putting his/her heart into it, as it is more comfortable to think they are doing something wrong. Besides that allow us to keep excusing ourselves from trying something else.
The devil is our fear to change and follow our dreams, we become prisoners of our safety, and then envy anyone who has broken free.
It is easier to see the devil on our neighbors that seeing it on us.
loveNlight
Gabi
Dear Gabriela, your post caught my attention. “By nature …”, by nature I always thought the others were much better than me. My education has persuaded me. Years ago, I spent much time to stun me. Much work, many friends, many occupations, too. One day I decided to move. It was after that I knew the difference between the verbs “dizzy” and “move”. It’s our heart which gives us pace and our mind who writes the musical notes :)
Light & Love,
Nice story!
It makes me laugh, cause often people who suppose to be “on God’s side”, are only looking for his/her personal power.
And all in the name of God.
So, in the end, they work for the enemy.
Love.
Chris
Some of the least Christian people I know, are Christians
And some of the most, are not
Absolutely
We live in the world that is ruled by the devil! Now it is time to stop and think how we live who is our friend!
I think we should strive to recognise the presence of good and evil in our lives and not be swayed by others’ opinions (the promoters)
“He who does not see the angels and devils in the beauty and malice of life will be far removed from knowledge, and his spirit will be empty of affection.” Khalil Gibran
Dear Theresa…While reading Paulo’s story, I thought of Gibran…what would he say? And you shared this gem.
Love, Jane : )
Soooo true! It seems that jelousy makes people make compacts with devil.
Love to all…
I’m the face of God as the Devil’s face. It’s more easy for my self-esteem to honor me with good deeds that disappoint me because of acts down or petty thoughts. In order not to find myself facing this unpleasant feeling and well hung, I must move. If I put a little too long to understand, the life itself will do … a little kick to …. hop … one small step for humankind and one giant leap for me ! It hurts … but it does! :))
Light & Love,
Oh beloved boy and detestful Devil!
Not the outside is deceisive, but the inside.
“You will discern a man by his acting.”
We have to try to see the essence.
Agree with you :)
Oh, is that true? Blog alive again? I am dreaming?Dont wake me .
About the story, good point.
I remember that Niccolo Paganini was said that was helped by the Devil, thats why he was playing the violin in such beautiful way. I guess was not that way, and the story about the boy is speaking for the case.
I think the source of creation and of beauty is Divine, and not hellish.
Love
Alexandra
que dificil es mantener la balanza del bien y del mal,en la vida cuando todo lo que sentimos es codicia.felicidades por los seres que saben donde van las almas.
Happy Valentine to everybody!
May LOVE bless and restores everything in your life.
“True love is an act of total surrender.” Paulo Coelho from By the river Piedra I sat down and wept.
“To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.” Paulo Coelho
” We suffer because we feel we are giving more than we receive. We suffer because our love is going unrecognized. We suffer because we are unable to impose our own rules. But ultimately there is no good reason for our suffering, for in every love lies the seed of our growth. The more we love the closer we come to the spiritual experience.” Paulo Coelho.
“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it’s what you are expected to give- which is everything.” Anonymous.
“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” Henry Drummond.
It is God who grants people power, money and beauty. Thinking otherwise is blasphemous. Everything good that happens to people comes from God. When it seems evil it is just good in disguise. Evil either comes from yourself or from the devil.
And for those who try to promote the devil, Jesus said that making a good deed appear as evil is the worst of all sins, never to be forgiven.
Replace the devil by God in this story and it will become still more thought-provoking.
Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that YE ARE GODS: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed. 41:23
Jesus also said ye are gods.
ALL things come from God. Not just the good things. It would be foolish to assume that only the good things come from Him and the bad is only the doing of ourselves. Like the story of Job, if you’re willing to accept the good things from God, you must also be ready to accept the bad!
The Devil has only a limited power over what happens in the lives of people. God is the one behind the steering wheel.
You are quite right, Annie!
Let’s hope the promoters get it, and that the POWER of LOVE will overcome the POWER of EVIL !!!
So true Annie! :)
I undoubtedly agree with you.. there’s no highest power than LOVE..
Agree with you Annie.
Love, Jane : )
Thank you Annie, for sharing this quote. Love it!!
Love and GraDitude to you, Jane : )