The concept of devils mostly is frowned on by secular society but at its core people get the meaning. For example it is said that inside every human is a sleeping devil. Inside every home is a sleeping devil. In Buddhist-run China a few hundred years before the Industrial Revolution the Chinese had the technology to industrialise. The Buddhist leaders said that industrialising would unleash terrible demons. 

People would say today that they were being superstitious and that demons don’t exist. When you look at it practically rather than through the lens of religion were they wrong? When you don’t know yourself and are naive you can wake the demon up inside you. Yeah sure you say, that is superstition. Just go now light the pipe inhale the vapour and you may not believe in demons but they have awoken in you.

The shining light of secular culture has crushed the superstition of old. You can see it that way as Western culture was terribly backwards in the ‘dark ages’. Yet keep going back further and think of the complex mathematics of ancient civilisations. Yes the light of civilisation is complex but with light is fire and with fire there is war. War now is even scarier than before. What I want to get at really is the devils and demons haven’t just disappeared. It is the human condition that doesn’t really change.

So if you think of lighting the pipe or sculling the spirits, remember the devil inside you. Let it sleep. The demons are too powerful, you don’t want to bother them. So if you don’t want to be superstitious because this isn’t about that anyway at the least be cautious. Be wary of things that can get the better of you. Be mindful of your humanity. Remember how fragile you are. I am not religious but I have knowledge. You also intuitively know. If you realise that the whole universe and cosmology however you describe it is part of the fabric of humanity you may avoid waking the demons.