The greatest trick the devil ever played...

So it's been said that "The Greatest trick the devil ever played was to convince the world that he didn't exist." (re: "The Usual Suspects" 1994)

So what does this mean exactly? I interpret this as someone can be whatever they want to be, as long as they are continually deceiving you, and making you believe that they are not what they appear.

Deception. A nasty little word, with such a powerful meaning, and derived from the root 'deceive':

de⋅ceive 
1. to mislead by a false appearance or statement; delude: They deceived the enemy by disguising the destroyer as a freighter.
2. to be unfaithful to (one's spouse or lover).
3. Archaic. to while away (time).–verb (used without object)
4. to mislead or falsely persuade others; practice deceit: an engaging manner that easily deceives.

In short... Liar. We all have known people like this in our lives... or at least that's the perception. We all have the same retort though when we run into these people... "Karma will get even with them in the long run", or "Someday they will get the same in return".

Does it happen? Does Karma really exist? Do these people who quote these statements really know what they are saying?

Karma is defined as a person being rewarded or punished for good or bad deeds in the next incarnation, and comes from Hinduism or Buddhism.

KARMA: Theosophy. the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person's deeds in the previous incarnation.

Read that again people... in the NEXT incarnation. So if you believe in Karma, and expect that the person who treats old people and puppies poorly is going to get what's coming to them... don't wait on it, because you won't see it happen in your lifetime.

The fact is that you can do whatever you want in this lifetime, and according to Karma, you won't need to pay for it until the next one. Isn't that a chance that we would all be willing to take? That's like the bank manager telling you that you can have a $1 million dollar loan, and you may, or may not have to pay it back in your next lifetime. Oh, and the catch... in your next lifetime, you won't remember that you took out the loan, or what it was for, or what you spent it on.

Where do I sign up? I'll take those odds.

So back to the people that we know who deceive. They lie, they cheat, and there are many other less than admirable qualities we see in them, and they seem to get everything they want, without ever having to pay for it in the end.

I know one such person. She's beautiful, smart, funny, personable, charismatic, and the list goes on. What's the problem with her then you ask? All the qualities that she has, are also her biggest flaws. These qualities allow her to get whatever she wants, when she wants, at no cost to her.

Men flock to her and give her all the attention she could ever want. (I know, I was one of them). She is free to deceive, and lie, and omit things in order to keep getting what she wants, when she wants... and doesn't seem to ever have to pay the price for it. Again, Karma may exist, but no payment, and no interest charge until the next lifetime... so why wouldn't you.

So here is my issue. Good for you... you can lie to people, you can deceive people, you can omit the essential parts of any story that you want to, because after all... omission of the truth is not the same as lying right? If you don't actually tell people things, nobody can say that you lied to them... can they? Where is your issue... you ask? Here it is... It bothers me that people have to lie to those that they have called acquaintance, friend, lover, partner etc... I don't understand what has happened to truth and honour. I thought that if you cared about someone, you didn't lie to them... maybe I was just brought up with better morals and values. (Thanks Mom and Dad).

I think that the part that really makes my blood boil though is not the act of lying... but the way in which these people do it, and the fact that they think the rest of us are truly that stupid, or ignorant as to not know what is happening, or what they are doing. You see, when you put your life out there for people to see... guess what, they actually see it. So when you make comments, or statements and they incite questions... which you have to lie to cover, or avoid altogether so that you don't have to once again lie... it's very apparent. You don't fool anyone... and the worst part is that your "closest friends" (if you can call them that... because they are apparently lying to you) also see what you're doing.

So in the end... the only person that you're fooling is yourself into believing that you are getting away with something, and that your friends and family members are really that much "more stupider" than you.

However... good for you... if the definition of Karma is appropriate.. you won't have to pay back that debt for a long time.

So do I live with the theory that "the greatest trick the devil ever played is convincing the world he didn't exist"? No, not at all... I think the devil is only fooling themselves into believing that they've tricked everyone...

I prefer to follow "Better the devil you know... than the devil you don't".