“Quite unexpectedly, it can happen that you suddenly feel flooded with light, that all of a sudden you are being projected upward, all the way to your higher self. You are dazzled by this beauty and immensity, and it feels as though from this moment on nothing could bring you down from these heights. Unfortunately, this doesn’t last. You have to pick up the threads of your everyday life, with its same worries, its same temptations, its same weaknesses. You feel cut off from your higher self, like a fragment cast aside, rejected. Some time later, you again feel enlightened, illumined, but once again it doesn’t last long, and you begin to feel discouraged.
No, you must not allow yourself to be discouraged by the fluctuations in your consciousness. If you persevere in your spiritual work, one day, after all the highs and lows, the light that comes to visit you will no longer leave you. You will have crossed to the other shore, and you will be saved forever.”
“People think they can solve their problems by moving to somewhere else. In fact, they are like the baby birds that said to their mother one day, ‘Our nest has become so dirty! We cannot stay here any longer! Let’s go and live somewhere different, in another nest.’ ‘Very well,’ replied the mother bird. ‘I understand your disgust; we can change nests. But won’t you be taking your little bottoms with you?’
When the earth starts seeming uninhabitable, humans dream of paradise. But if they were allowed to enter paradise, with their hearts and minds full of impurities, they would soon turn it into a repulsive place. If they were pure, wherever they went they would take paradise with them. So, each time they are tempted to complain about external conditions, they should begin by looking to see whether something inside them needs to be changed first.”
Are you looking for happiness? Then, you must love, for only love brings happiness. Yes, love, not science and not even philosophy. Those who know a lot, who reflect a great deal, are not necessarily happy, for what they find is not always uplifting. Whereas, those whose hearts are full of love, even if they don’t know a great deal, are much happier. Why? Because God placed happiness in the heart, not in the intellect.
Science and knowledge cannot bring us happiness: they prepare the way, they shed light on it, give direction, but they are not able to make us happy. You will say, ‘But so many people have had unhappy, even tragic, experiences of love!’ Yes, because they didn’t know where to look for love or how to love. If you want to be truly happy, learn to love.”
Thursday, October 6, 2011
“Whatever the wise may tell them, human beings want to experience things for themselves, and they do just that. Some time later, when they have been badly treated and disappointed by life, they finally understand and then want others to benefit from their newly found knowledge. But why should others listen to them? They too want to have their own experiences. And that is why the wisdom some people have gained by a great deal of effort is so rarely of benefit to others.
Humans have to be thoroughly stung and bitten by life before they will admit that what the wise say is true. And then they in turn become wise. But there are very few who will seek to benefit from their wisdom. This explains why each new generation repeats the errors of the previous one. This is true for individuals and also for societies. Who really wants to learn the lessons of history?”
However we have lived our life, whatever mistakes we have made, when the time comes for us to leave this earth, each of us can at least endeavour to do so in a spirit of peace and harmony, reconciled with all beings, and particularly with God. In the Christian religion, this is the meaning of extreme unction.
Extreme unction, the sacrament a priest administers to the dying, is based on true knowledge: a person’s inner state during their last moments determines the path they will follow in the next world. It also plays an important role in their next incarnation and therefore their long-term future. This sacrament is simply a way of allowing us to leave the earth in the best possible conditions, but like all sacraments the ritual itself is not absolutely essential. It is meant to help those who receive it, but we can all live our last moments in the light without receiving this sacrament.”
Because people lack a knowledge of the human structure, living in endless joy seems like an impossibility. Beyond the physical, astral and mental bodies, we have three further, higher bodies: the causal, buddhic and atmic. These three bodies bring us into relationship with the divine world, and if we manage to develop them, even our cares and sorrows can no longer alter or obscure what we are experiencing in the regions of light.
This is why we must try each day, through our thoughts, feelings and actions, as well as through meditation and prayer, to maintain our connection with the divine world, so we can continue to live in our soul and spirit. And our soul and spirit inspire in us quite a different way of seeing and feeling. When they speak within us, so many troubles fade away, so much suffering too!… and they are even transformed into peace, wisdom and an understanding of the meaning of life.”
“To walk around with your cares and woes written all over you shows a lack of love; it places a burden on others. Don’t you think the world is sad enough already? Why add your own sadness?
Of course, life gives us cause for sadness and discouragement every day. It is impossible not to feel that way, but why show it? You will say, ‘But how can we not show what we are feeling?’ When you meet someone, can you not make the effort to find some topic of conversation or even an amusing anecdote that would do them good? Laugh together! By doing them some good, you will be doing yourself good too, for what they are feeling will come back to you. That’s right; this is another example of the law of the echo, which I have so often mentioned in connection with its application to spiritual life. “
