From Aivanhov on "Know Thyself"

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Know Thyself

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Disclaimer: the sage refers to men and women equally.



From the writings of the Sage.



Man, know thyself. Very few men have ever understood the true meaning of this formula that was once inscribed over the entrance to the temple of Delphi. Who or what is this ‘self’ that we must know? ‘Why, that’s easy,’ you will say, ‘We have to know our own character, our own strengths and weaknesses.’

But that is not what this maxim is about. True, a knowledge of our own strengths and weaknesses is necessary but it is not enough. To know oneself is to know the different bodies of which one is constituted (physical, etheric, astral, mental, causal, buddhic and atmic) and the needs of each of these bodies. But human beings know nothing about all this. They all realize that they have certain virtues and vices. They say, ‘I know myself only too well!’ But they are deluding themselves; they know nothing of the being who lives deep within them. They know nothing of his desires, his needs or his aspirations or of what makes him suffer. They don’t know who their ‘self’ is; they think that it is their physical body and spend their time giving that body food, clothes, jewellery, comfort and pleasures without realizing that their true self is asking for something quite different. The satisfaction of their purely physical, material needs has never made human beings any happier or more contented. It is only when they begin to know themselves as they are on a higher plane that they become capable of living in true splendour.

Self-knowledge is the key

If the initiates of old laid so much emphasis on the necessity for man to know himself it was because this knowledge is the key that opens up great possibilities for making progress and achieving success. As long as we are ignorant of the needs of our higher self we continue to give everything to our physical body which becomes glutted and overfed whereas our soul and spirit suffocate and die of hunger and thirst.

But how can you expect people who don’t even believe in the existence of their other, subtler bodies to do anything about nourishing or strengthening them? It is amazing to see the situation of so many people – even those who are highly cultivated: they take great pride in their university degrees and all their culture and erudition, and yet they are constantly in a state of inner torment and anxiety. Isn’t this proof enough that something has gone very wrong with their lives? When someone is as ignorant as that he would do better not to be so pleased with himself.

The serpent with its tail in its mouth‘Know thyself’.

All science and all wisdom lie in knowing oneself, in finding oneself, in the fusion of one’s lower self with one’s higher self. The symbol of the initiate who has succeeded in finding himself is the serpent with its tail in its mouth. In the ordinary way a serpent forms a straight or wavy line, and a line is finite, limited. But the serpent with its tail in its mouth forms a circle and a circle represents the infinite, the limitless, the eternal. He who succeeds in becoming a circle enters a world without limitations where ‘above’ and ‘below’ are no longer separated, because all the powers and all the riches and virtues of the true, higher self have been infused into the lower self. The higher and the lower become one and man becomes a divinity.

Reconnecting with the higher Self

Since our physical body – and even our astral and mental bodies – represent only a very small part of ourselves, we must try to get to know the other, far greater part, which is so far away, so far above us. This higher part of ourselves has its own life, which is quite different and often in direct contradiction to the life we live on earth. Suppose you do something really wrong; why does that other pole of your being let you do it? It may be far away but it is still attached to you; it knew that you would regret your actions and have to suffer for them, and yet it did nothing to intervene or prevent you from making a fool of yourself. Why not? Sometimes in fact it seems that it is that other pole of your being that drives you to do wrong. What a mystery this is! It has allowed you to stray and make mistakes – for nothing ever happens without its knowledge and consent – and now that you are suffering the consequences and up to your neck in boiling oil it is away somewhere, on a cloud of beatitude without a thought for your distress!

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Metamorphosis

It would take too long to explain the reason for this. Let’s just say that there are ways for a disciple to reach and get to know his higher self and become one with it. And once he has achieved this all weakness, darkness and suffering disappear from his life and other forces are set in motion. The phenomenon is very similar to the phenomenon of metamorphosis of a caterpillar. A caterpillar wraps itself up in a cocoon and shortly after a different being appears: a beautiful, dainty, brilliantly coloured butterfly.

Nature has placed many such signs throughout creation so that disciples may learn from them and understand the transformations that they too must undergo. Human beings have a very high opinion of themselves, but in reality they are like ugly, lumpy little caterpillars that spend their time doing all kinds of damage by devouring the leaves of plants and trees. But once a caterpillar decides to withdraw into itself to reflect, meditate and renounce some of its baser tendencies, it triggers new forces within itself and the butterfly that soon emerges no longer destroys the leaves but feeds instead on the nectar of flowers.

Resurrection

A butterfly is a symbol of a soul that has escaped from all that bound and limited it, and this is resurrection, true resurrection. You must not think that the resurrection that the Bible talks about applies to the physical body. There is no resurrection of the physical body; there is only the quickening of a spiritual element that lay dormant within that body and that is now ready to awaken and blossom.

All this means of course that a disciple must not concentrate on what he is here below, for it is not very glorious; he must concentrate on becoming what he is on high. And in order to achieve this, in order to get all those energies, all that power and strength and beauty, to descend to his level, there is something specific he must do: he must raise himself to a great height to the level of his higher self, and implore it to change him. This is something that only our higher self can do, but it will not do it unless it is asked. Don’t delude yourself; if you don’t ask your higher self to help you it will do nothing; it will leave you to suffer and be miserable.

The screen of consciousness

Since our whole being is reflected on the screen of our consciousness, the reflection of our higher self is also there, however faint, and it is this reflection that makes it possible for us to be united to our self, our true self. Man is a fragile, puny little being, but if he is enlightened, if he has someone to instruct him, he is capable of making his cry for help heard on a very high level. I have never fully explained this to you before, but you can now understand how the screen of your consciousness makes it possible for you to know yourself. It is only a reflection and yet it contains the quintessence of your being; even though it is only your reflection, it is part of you.

Even though what a disciple sees on the screen of his consciousness is no more than a reflection of his true self, if he works to make contact and get to know that self, his consciousness begins to expand until one day he feels that his being is as vast as the universe itself, that he is the cosmic being, that he dwells in eternity.

‘I am That’

The sages of India have a mystical formula that is very profound. It is ‘I am That’, and it means ‘I have no separate, independent existence. I exist simply as His reflection. In discovering myself I shall be discovering Him, That which created me. I myself am an illusion, a non-being. Only That is a reality.’

Yes, God amused himself by scattering himself among his creatures. In reality though we should say that there are no creatures, nothing exists but God, for that is the truth. All creatures and the whole of creation are simply thoughts in the mind of God. We are going to have to pass through many different stages of course before we discover this for ourselves. To find one’s Self is a tremendous task. There are times when you suddenly feel flooded with light as though you had been catapulted onto the level of superconsciousness and you are overawed and dazzled by the immensity and the beauty of what you perceive. Unfortunately though this perception does not last and you find yourself back again in the daily routine with all your old worries and weaknesses. Once again you feel cut off from the Godhead and from your higher self; like a piece of flotsam drifting in the void. And then again a new light, a new illumination comes to you, but this too does not last long. And these ups and downs go on until one day at last light fills your being and never leaves you again. You have crossed to the other side; you are safe once and for all.

We can become angels

My dear brothers and sisters, even if you have not fully understood what I have been telling you, try to accept it, for I have verified so many things for myself and I am impatient to share them with you. Trust me and persevere even if you cannot see any results. Imitate the caterpillar which enters into itself and becomes a chrysalis. The example of the caterpillar which turns into a butterfly shows that even the most inferior beings possess amazing possibilities and can become butterflies – that is to say, angels. You must die to your life as a caterpillar and live the life of a butterfly. This is why Jesus said, ‘Except you die you shall not live’. Yes, you have to die to your lower life so as to live the divine life.

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Learning to Read and Write

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov




Human beings learn to read and write in all the languages of the world, except the language of Nature. And yet it is the only one worth knowing.

For an Initiate, to read means to be able to decipher the subtle, secret dimensions of objects and of all living creatures, to interpret the signs and symbols traced by Cosmic Intelligence on every page of the great Book of the Universe. And to write is to put one's mark on that book, to act upon minerals and plants, animals and men, by the magic power of one's spirit. So it is not only on paper that we have to learn to read and write, but in all regions of the universe.

Wherever you tread, whatever you touch, you leave behind you a trace, an imprint which may be beneficial or it may be harmful. Some people are so full of venom that, as the saying goes, ‘the grass will never grow again where they have trod': this is no exaggeration. There are others, on the contrary, who are so bent on helping and liberating their fellow human beings, on bringing life, light and warmth to all creatures, that they leave imprints of great power for good which influence all those who come after them.

Knowing the existence and the potency of these phenomena, I have conducted many an interesting experiment. Whenever I travel on the seas and oceans of the world, for instance, I make contact with the powers which govern these regions, imploring them to be favourable to all those who sail across their waters or bathe along their beaches and to give them the graces of brotherliness and divine light. I write out certain formulae and throw the messages into the sea, and as the creatures of these regions are very advanced, very highly conscious and sensitive beings, I know that my messages are well received and acted upon. We are all capable of changing things in the world but if we want to understand how to set about it, we have to be conscious of the more subtle dimensions of matter.

So, wherever you go, think of doing something positive by your power of thought, for when you do so the thousands of intelligent creatures who surround you will be aware of it. You may say, ‘But I can't see these creatures.’ That is no argument; they do exist. And if you learn to work with the invisible, subtler dimensions of reality you will be capable of producing wonderful changes for the better throughout the entire world. This law is as true as any of the laws of physics and chemistry. The room in which you live, its walls and all the furniture and other objects in it, bear fluidic traces of your presence, and if a highly sensitive medium were to come and see you and touch some object in your room, he would be able to feel and describe to you, in detail, all that has ever occurred in that room.

Even with a single hair from your head a clairvoyant can give you a detailed description of your character and health, your vices and virtues. How is it possible that all this can be recorded in one hair? Well, it is. That is all I can say. But people with such astonishing gifts of mediumship are very rare nowadays. In the past, magicians prepared extremely powerful talismans, thanks to their understanding of these influences. But over the course of centuries human beings have more and more lost touch with the invisible world.
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Once you have understood this law, that everything you do, think, say or feel is recorded, then you must take care to utter only words of prayer and good wishes wherever you go. ‘May all who come this way be touched by the forces of light, kindness and brotherliness. May their lives be transformed.’ Why not get into the habit of pronouncing blessings like this along your way? Suppose you go for a stroll in the woods, for instance, why not pray that all those who go through those woods in the future become better people, children of God, working for peace?

You will probably tell me that no one has ever talked to you about this kind of thing before. But why should you need anyone to tell you? When you have a baby of your own, or someone you love very much, do you need anyone to suggest that you wish him all kinds of blessings? No, you do so spontaneously because it comes from the heart, your feelings urge you to express certain wishes and pronounce certain words. So why not do the same, spontaneously, for the whole world? Look at how people behave when they travel: either they do nothing but amuse themselves or they are bored to tears. Wouldn't it be splendid if they learned to work mentally so as to be able to help all the people living in the areas they are travelling through, and all future travellers?

Now, some of you may ask, ‘But do we have any right to go about influencing Nature and leaving our imprints on it?’ What a question! Has anyone ever questioned the rose's right to perfume the air? Of course you have the right to act upon and influence the whole of Nature, but on one condition: that you leave only beneficial, luminous imprints wherever you go, so that people who come that way after you, may receive particles that will help them to think better, to feel better, to act better.

Similarly, if you travel by ship on a lake, the sea or a river, you can write a note and address it to the entity who has dominion over the waters. Your prayer will receive attention and thousands of creatures will set to work to answer it. Anybody can do this, anyone can formulate prayers for the world, but only someone who is very advanced will get great results. His prayers will be answered because of his light and purity, because of his great worth. Your work in the invisible world will get results in proportion to your preparedness; it will be productive if it is backed up by qualities and virtues. And this holds good for what concerns talismans, also. Many people buy and wear a talisman under the illusion that it will automatically bring them success in all their undertakings. Not so! Even a talisman prepared especially for you by a great magician will not help you for long unless you, yourself, put life into it and nourish it with your thoughts and feelings and the purity of your life. Otherwise, after a while, it will simply lose all its power and die. No talisman can be made to last eternally. Its life depends on the person who wears it.

You must get into the habit, therefore, of saying and even of writing words of blessing. When we are together you have often seen me writing something on a piece of paper. Today, for the first time, I shall tell you what I write: it is a prayer, ‘May Thy name, O Lord, be blessed and hallowed for all eternity.’ And why, you may wonder, do I do this? I do it because it does me good. And you can do the same, all day long: think of blessing God's name, say it out loud or write it down. Of course, God's name is already blessed by the angels. What you do will not add very much to the holiness of God's name! But it will do you a power of good and others, too, for the sacred words will purify the atmosphere around them. And if you are wondering whether this can make any lasting impression, the answer is that it all depends on the intensity of your thought and the firmness of your will.

From The Living Book of Nature by Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov,

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Looking into the Invisible

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov




Have you ever thought about the fact that we can only see the people and things around us if they are lit by rays of light falling on them?

The sun has sometimes been called ‘the lamp of the universe’, and this expresses the idea that it is thanks to the light of the sun that the world is illuminated and that, as a result, man can see the things around him. And when we are no longer illuminated by the sun, we need other sources of light: electric bulbs, candles, flashlights, floodlights, etc.

Objects are visible, therefore, only when light falls on them and lights them up; this law is valid in the physical world and also in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world, however, there are no lamps for us to switch on as we switch on the light on the stairs or in our bedroom; if we want to see something, it is we who have to shed light from ourselves. This is why so few people are capable of seeing anything on the spiritual plane: they expect things to be lit up for them. They don’t know how to project the rays of light that would enable them to see. As a matter of fact, everything that exists on the subtle planes – astral, mental, causal, etc. – actually reflects rays of light, but of a kind that cannot be seen by our physical eyes. This is why we have to develop our subtle organs and switch on our inner lamps, so that we may project beams of light onto the surface of beings and objects and make them visible.

Intuition
There are several different kinds of vision to which we give different names depending on the plane on which they apply. On the highest level is the vision of the spirit; that which we call intuition. This is not a material form of vision, of course; very often, in fact, a person is unaware that he is actually seeing something. When someone suddenly receives the revelation of a higher, divine truth, it means that he has projected rays of light from himself and that these rays have reached to a great distance and a great height and enable him to see some laws or correspondences, some of the structures of the universe. It is the light of the spirit that lights up the divine reality and makes it possible for man to understand it.

Feeling
On another level, vision goes by the name of sensation, for sensation is also the result of a kind of light that man projects onto objects and living creatures. When you feel things, you vibrate in unison with them, you are conscious of their existence and of their closeness; it is as though you were seeing them.

Seeing
And, finally, there is a third kind of vision which consists in an awareness of glimmers of light, colours, objects and entities coming and going on the etheric and astral planes. Generally speaking, though, those who see these things don’t understand what they are seeing and don’t know how to interpret them without help. If they do venture to interpret them themselves, they are often wrong. This kind of sight is not very useful, therefore; in fact, it can often impede a person’s evolution.

There are different degrees of sight, therefore. The highest degree is that of intuition which is both an understanding and a sensation of the divine world, and it is on this level that we should begin. Once armed with this higher degree of understanding and sensation we can move back to the vision of the etheric and astral planes and begin to explore and study them.

A safer method of development
As a matter of fact, there are two schools of thought in this connection: one of them teaches people to begin by developing clairvoyance on the lower levels and, gradually, to work up to the vision of Heavenly reality; the other teaches that we should begin by focusing on the First Cause, the Source of Life, God Himself, and only later descend to the material level. In my opinion, it is the second method that is preferable. There is less risk involved because, when your mind and heart are focused on the Lord, it is He Who gives you the knowledge of all the different levels of the universe and makes it possible for you to work in them without danger. In these conditions, even if you want to investigate Hell and the spirits that inhabit it, God will show it to you and keep you under His protection.

The descent into ‘Hell’ You will ask, ‘Why do you talk about investigating Hell?’ Because the great Initiates are obliged to descend into Hell before they can reach the peak of their evolution. If they tried to avoid Hell from fear of the dangers it involved, something would be lacking to them; their knowledge of creation would be incomplete. Of course, before attempting to go down into the depths, they must have previously developed the indispensable qualities of knowledge, strength and self-dominance, and, above all, they must be protected by a very powerful aura. The spirits of a lower order, even devils, tremble at the approach of an Initiate because they sense that he possesses fire, that he has thunderbolts at his command. This is why they keep well away from him when he explores their regions and receives the revelation of the nature of evil and all its different manifestations, the laws of karma and the punishments inflicted on those who transgress divine Law. Jesus himself descended into Hell and set free many souls.

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The ‘back door’ and its perils

Those who attempt to cultivate clairvoyance by beginning on the lower levels sometimes use drugs in order to stimulate certain psychic centres, and this is highly dangerous. In the first place, because these drugs attack the nervous system and, secondly, because the creatures that inhabit the etheric and astral planes don’t like to be watched by human beings and are often very hostile to those who disturb them; they do everything they can to mislead and torment them and force them to retreat. Thousands of men and women have fallen prey to the smattering of knowledge they have found in books. Those who attempt to delve into these regions before having developed effective weapons of defence in the form of light and self-dominance are not only in danger from hostile powers, but their evolution is retarded.

A true Initiate knows that, if he works tirelessly to purify himself and to cultivate wisdom, love and self-mastery, he will eventually reach the summit. And, once he reaches the summit, the matter of his being is so pure that it becomes impregnated with the very quintessence of the Universal Soul, the quintessence on which every phenomenon in the universe is recorded. This is how, once he has reached this level, he has the power to see and feel whatever he wants to know. Thus, his work earns him not only great powers but, also, clairvoyance.

As a matter of fact, it is easy to see that the clairvoyance of mediums is generally more or less restricted to the astral plane; it does not have the power to penetrate the mysteries of the universe. If you ask a medium to rise to a very high level in order to answer questions of a spiritual, cosmic order, more often than not he will be incapable of doing so. But is a gift of clairvoyance that is incapable of raising human beings to a higher plane of any interest to a true spiritualist? No, it is not, and this is why he pays no attention to it; in fact, he goes through the regions of the astral world with his eyes closed.

Try to understand what I am saying, for this is a serious matter: before putting yourself in danger by launching into all kinds of psychic experiments, you must make a sustained effort to acquire self-mastery and learn to keep a guard on your desires and aspirations. Only in this way can you be sure that, even in a dangerous situation, you will be able to defend yourself. But if you do nothing to exert yourself, you will always be vulnerable; there will be nothing left for you but to weep and wail in distress and go round lamenting your misfortunes! I constantly receive letters from people who tell me that they are pursued by monsters, that their life is a veritable Hell, and, naturally, they all wonder why they are persecuted in this way. The answer is simple: by attempting to enter the astral world for motives that were less than noble – curiosity or greed, for instance – they have attracted the attentions of entities that really do drag them into Hell, for that is what Hell is: the lower astral world.

Let your roots be in the heavens....
A disciple in the Divine School is taught that his first concern must be to ensure that his roots are strong, otherwise he will be at the mercy of earthquakes, tornadoes and cyclones. But man’s true roots are in Heaven, this is why he must begin by establishing a strong relationship with his Creator, with the pure light of Heaven, so as to sink his roots deep into the divine world. In this way, when he goes down to explore the other regions, he will be so strongly attached to Heaven, that no hostile force will be capable of shaking him. This is the only thing that is essential: to be deeply rooted in Heaven.

Begin, therefore, by developing your potential in the realm of the soul and spirit. Subsequently, it will be quite safe for you to descend onto the astral plane and get to know nature spirits and the entities working on that level; even those that dislike being watched will be powerless to harm you because they will recognize that you are a formidable power. Not only will they not dare to oppose you, but they will begin to obey you and, thanks to their help, you will be able to do some really substantial spiritual work.

We must project the light by which we see
As I have said, it is you yourselves, thanks to the quality of your spiritual life, who must project the light that will enable you to see the creatures and objects of the invisible world. If that light is obscured by your inferior thoughts and feelings, you will never see anything but what corresponds to those thoughts and feelings. The gift of clairvoyance is given to each one in proportion to his degree of evolution. If you are still mired in the lower reaches of the astral plane, the only creatures you will ever see will be those who are at home in those regions – creatures swarming like maggots, monsters devouring each other, wild beasts tearing at each other with tooth and claw – and you will know nothing but suffering.

Don’t imagine that, just because a man or woman possesses mediumistic capacities, he automatically has access to all regions of the invisible world. Not at all: there are different degrees of clairvoyance which correspond to the degree of purity that a clairvoyant has attained: the greater his purity, the more he can see in the Heavenly regions. This is why it is not at all desirable to become clairvoyant if one is not pure and capable of self-mastery.

Purification – the first prerequisite
If you really desire to communicate with Heavenly entities and gaze on the splendour of the Godhead, you must purify yourselves, broaden the scope of your consciousness and work for the highest ideal: universal brotherhood amongst men, the Kingdom of God on earth. In doing this, your emanations will become purer and your vibrations subtler, and not only will the spirits of light allow you to come close to them, they will come and visit you, for they will find nourishment in you.

Rise to the level of your higher Self
You can develop true clairvoyance only by rising to the peak of your own being, your higher Self. Make the effort, every day, to rise to the level of your higher Self, to identify with it and, from there, to look down at the universe. As your higher Self is capable of penetrating and knowing everything, little by little, much of what you have understood without realizing it will begin to filter into your consciousness and you will be dazzled by all things that, all of a sudden, you feel capable of seeing and understanding. The best kind of vision is that of the eyes of the spirit. To begin with, of course, you may have the impression that you will never manage to see or understand anything, but you will be laying the groundwork for true clairvoyance.

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Water: the Matrix of Life

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov




Water is the vital fluid of the earth. Rivers and streams represent the arteries and veins of the earth, the lakes represent its plexuses, and so on.

Like blood, water is a priceless, indispensable element which nourishes and brings life to all creatures - rocks, plants, animals and humans. Even crystals need water in order to be formed; crystals and precious stones can exist only if a few particles of water are present in their composition. Without this water they crumble into dust. It is the water that gives gems their hardness, their colour and their translucent character. And vegetation, which has its roots buried in the soil, is the etheric body of the earth. Yes, trees are the earth's etheric body, and water is the fluid that sustains the life of this body. Flowers, trees and plants fashion and vivify the earth through the medium of water.

If you want to penetrate the secrets of nature you must try to understand the importance of water. You must meditate on what it means, on its properties and its power, on all that is concealed within it. You should feel reverence for it as a manifestation of the feminine principle, of the sublime Mother who enfolds us in her purity and light.

Inner transformation
It is time you began to understand the important part that water plays in nature and made up your minds to work with it in order to transform your inner life. It is all very well to enjoy walking beside a river or a waterfall, to appreciate a drink of fresh spring water, or go for a swim in a lake or in the sea, but you are not really working when you do that. You will never produce the slightest change in your inner life unless and until you learn to communicate with water, until you begin to talk to it and make friends with it.

Making friends with water
The first condition that has to be fulfilled if you want to make friends with water is to approach it with respect. You must realize that water is the home of many pure and beautiful entities who will not look kindly on you if you fail to show some love and consideration for them. If you want to go for a swim for instance, especially if it is in a lake, you must not do so carelessly; you must take the trouble to put yourself in a suitable frame of mind. Start by asking the entities that live in that water for their permission to bathe in it, because when you do so it is as though you were washing away your impurities in the water in which they live, and as you can understand, this could be very disagreeable for them. Be careful and considerate therefore.

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However, as you may not often have the opportunity to practise making contact with water in a natural setting, it is still possible to do so at home. You only need a cup or bowl of water, for even such a tiny quantity can represent all the waters of the earth. Symbolically, magically, a single drop of water is enough to establish a link between yourself and all the rivers and oceans of the world. Take your bowl of water therefore, concentrate on it and speak to it so that it becomes even more vibrant and full of life. Tell it how beautiful it is, how much you admire it and how grateful you would be if it would give you some of its purity and transparency. Then you can touch it and pour it over your hands, for instance, with the thought that you are communicating with its etheric body and absorbing its vibrations, that it is impregnating your whole being.

Or you can dip your hands in the water and conjure up a picture of a lake of pure, crystal-clear water high up in the mountains; you can see yourself bathing in that water and receiving its freshness and purity into yourself. If you do this with the consciousness of doing something sacred you will feel your being vibrating in harmony with the whole of nature; you will feel that you are lighter and purer, that even your brain functions more efficiently. Yes, such an exercise can effect tremendous changes, on condition, of course, that the most potent factor, your conscious mind, is focused on what you are doing. Thanks to your powers of thought you can use everything that God has created to help you become better, purer, stronger and more intelligent.

Repeat exercises of this kind often. Gaze at some water in a crystal bowl, touch it lovingly, feel its coolness and softness, contemplate its transparency – all this may seem pointless and insignificant, but it is not; and since, of the four elements, water is the one that mingles most closely with our own organism, by drinking it we can communicate with the pure forces of the universe and absorb the elements it contains. If you want to do this, of course, you must not gulp it down, you must sip it slowly, remembering that you are imbibing the blood of nature, the sap that is food and drink for all creatures.

The mother of life
Only someone who has fainted from thirst in the desert can really understand what water is. Water is the mother of life and we owe it respect, gratitude and love. At the marriage feast of Cana Jesus transformed water into wine, that is to say, into blood, into life. When you drink some water you should remember that this water will be transformed into life-giving blood within your body. Meditate at length on this idea and ask the water that nurtures all creatures to reveal the secrets of eternal life to you.

From The Mysteries of Fire and Water by Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov,

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Working with Light

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov


You must continually seek the light and concentrate on it.

Eat and drink light! Attach more importance to light than to any other treasure on earth.

As soon as you have a free moment, close your eyes and fix your mind on the image of the light that pervades all things: the source of all blessings.

While you are waiting for a train, or for an appointment with the dentist, instead of reading the rubbish you find in magazines, spend a few minutes thinking of light.

When you are out on the street, stop in front of a shop window for a few moments as though you were looking at the goods on display, and concentrate for a few seconds while you light your inner lamps. When you go on your way again you will feel refreshed and cleansed.

This exercise can be used in all circumstances: if you are cooking, writing letters, washing, dressing, or undressing, you can always take a few seconds to picture in your mind the light that bathes the whole universe. Many clairvoyants have actually seen it; they have seen that all creatures, all objects, down to the very stones of the earth, are not only bathed in light, they emanate light.

Concentrate on light as though your life depended on it!!!

(SL: Light is Life)

When we are meditating together in silence, put all your cares to one side and concentrate on light as though everything, even your very life, depended on it. Imagine that you are living your last moments, that you are about to leave the world and that you must cling to light, for it is the only thing that can save you. Light! Nothing else matters.

Picture it white and brilliantly incandescent, and join your voice to that of the initiates, who declare, ‘I am a particle of particles of the incandescent soul.’ You can also conjure up a vision of purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, or red light; but it is preferable to work with white light, for white light combines the qualities of all the other colours in one. White light contains the omnipotence of purple, the peace and truth of blue, the wealth and eternal youth of green, the wisdom and knowledge of yellow, the health, vigour and vitality of orange, the activity and dynamic energy of red. But it is white light that is primordial.

When you are capable of being totally focused on light, when you begin to sense it as a vibrant, throbbing, quivering ocean of peace, happiness, and joy, then you will also begin to perceive it as perfume and as music – the cosmic music which we call the music of the spheres, the song of the universe.

There is no more worthy, more glorious, or more potent work than this work with light. If you really want to devote yourself to something truly great and noble, this is it; there is none other.

The light that pacifies and heals
When your soul is overshadowed by grief, difficulty, or doubt, go and talk to the light about it. Say, ‘O Light, you who are the most intelligent of all beings, enter into me and bring light to my heart and mind.' And the light will come to you and make everything bright and clear.

If you want to help those who are in difficulty, send them rays of light, imagine that they are being penetrated through and through by those rays.

And if you are in pain, call on light to come and heal you; imagine rays of light of different colours streaming from your fingers to the painful spot, and before long you will feel the pain easing.

to be continued

[Sharing Lights]

The elixir of everlasting life is condensed light.

The light that protects
If you want to protect yourself against someone who uses violence and tries to impose certain limits on you, wrap yourself – and your aggressor – in light, and they will be unable to carry out their evil designs.

If you have to be out alone at night and are afraid of being attacked, call on the light to walk beside you, and it will come and keep you company and protect you. (Obviously, you must be sensible and not expose yourself to danger unnecessarily or thoughtlessly in the belief that heaven has nothing better to do than to watch over whatever you do!) It is not the criminals themselves who sense the presence of light; it is the evil spirits that accompany them who are terrified by it and urge them to keep away from you.

The light that brings harmony and love
If you want your family to live in harmony, picture your house bathed in light. If you want your friends to be pleased to see you when you go to visit them, concentrate for a few moments before you go into their house, and send some light in ahead of you. Most people go and see their friends when they are depressed, irritable, or worried and want to be cheered up. This is a sure way to lose their friendship!

If you want to win people's love, you must realize that the only way is to use light. All other means – money, seduction, or violence – are forbidden. The only means acceptable to heaven (and also the only truly effective means) are to send them gifts of spiritual light, to surround them with light. If you want someone to think of you and love you, therefore, send them light, and when their soul receives these beneficial waves, it will appreciate you more and more and begin to take an interest in you.


A collective exercise with light
Concentrate and imagine that you are all enveloped in a brilliant sheath of light that radiates with such splendour that our gathering forms an immense sun, a sun capable of lighting up the whole world. Each one of you should feel like a luminous sun, pulsing and shimmering with light and sending out rays that join and mingle with the light from all the others to form a single gigantic sun.

Then introduce this sun into your heart and mind and contemplate the multi-coloured rays flowing from it. While you are doing this exercise, forget everything else and, all together, concentrate on radiating light for the whole world.

Light, the image of God
Imagine a dazzling light in which everything – suns, angels and archangels – throb and vibrate as though they were fused into one infinite ocean. This ocean of light into which all forms melt and blend is the true image of God.

From A New Earth by Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov