True Love

"True love is superior not only to sexual attraction, but to sentiment as well. Yes, true love is not a feeling, but a state of consciousness. Sexual attraction has to do with vibrations, with fluids; it depends on elements that are purely physical and is therefore subject to change. Feeling is already superior to attraction because it may be inspired by elements of a moral, intellectual, and spiritual nature, but feeling is also variable: one day we love, the next day we no longer love. Whereas love that is lived as a state of consciousness is situated well beyond circumstances and people. It is the state of a being who is so pure, who has developed such self-mastery that he has succeeded in attaining the sublime regions of divine love. As a result, love dwells within him and, whatever his activities, he disposes of this love for the benefit of all others."

Until men and women rediscover the meaning of the sublimation of the sexual force, they will be disappointed with their love experiences. When they feel an attraction, a mutual desire, why do they immediately want to satisfy it? Why do they not try to acquire the control that could make them superior beings? Of course it is difficult, but if they start to get into the habit of mastering themselves, they will gradually be able to use this urge to release within themselves forces of a subtler nature. Thanks to these forces, they will be able to make wonderful discoveries and improve themselves! Yes, improve themselves, for what people feel is a very beneficial impulse, only they must learn how to use it. Therefore, as far as possible, they should be content to marvel at each other while giving thanks to the divine Mother and celestial Father for the energy given to them. They will thus experience states of consciousness of great poetry and elevation, and life will seem so much richer and more beautiful.

Love can be compared to a tree with its roots, trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit. Sexuality represents the roots of love, and these roots are planted deep in human nature. They cannot be torn out. In any case, there should be no question of trying to tear them out for they are indispensable, just as the roots of a tree are indispensable. The only thing is that you have to go beyond and above this level. You must not be content to live in the roots, for love is also the trunk and the branches, the flowers and the fruits. The flowers and fruits of love are sacrifice. Once you know this, all that remains is to care for this tree of love. Learn to cultivate it, to water it and protect it from the ravages of insects or storms. You will learn too that you must never try to cut off its roots, for even the most spiritual love receives its impetus from sexual energy. It is when you taste the fruits of the tree of love that you will understand that they are the fruits of immortality, the fruits of eternal life.

"In order to know love, to feel love, to live love and to give love, we must work toward the harmonious development of our intellect, our heart and our will. True love is a state of consciousness, the highest that a human being can attain. It is divine consciousness in all its plenitude. Those who are touched by this love, even for an instant, feel as if they have been struck by lightning. What they receive is so beautiful, so sublime, that they almost cannot bear it, but it is this love which enlightens them – which vivifies and reawakens them. This state of consciousness bears no relation to what we generally call love, which is often nothing more than a confusion of emotions. True love involves our entire being."

"The wood we use to make a fire is said to be dead: branches that are lifeless, black, twisted and devoid of all beauty. But once they are on fire, how bright and splendid they are! These branches which otherwise would have remained abandoned and useless somewhere are transformed by the fire into light, heat and energy.

You may say: ‘Yes, of course, we’ve seen this. But how do these dead branches concern us?’ They concern you because symbolically they exist in you as well. Within yourself, you too have accumulated piles of dead wood which are just waiting to be burned. All egotistical and passionate tendencies, all manifestations of the lower nature are like dead wood. Burn them in the fire of the spirit, in the fire of divine love, and they too will produce light, heat and life."

"How fragile a candle flame is! The slightest breeze can extinguish it. But if you feed this flame, right away every breeze and gust of wind will only increase its power. From this image you should understand that if you are weak, the least event in life will extinguish your flame, that is to say, your hopes, your inspirations, and your divine impulses. But if you are strong, your flame will become a furnace, and all difficulties and obstacles will only serve to fuel it. To the extent that small things get you down, your flame is very feeble, and you must gather more branches to feed it. You will say: 'But what branches? I don't have any!' What do you mean, you have no branches? Sacrifice all the old wood that has accumulated within you, your instincts and your inferior desires, and throw them into the fire of divine love. Not only will you be rid of them, but never again will anything or anyone be able to extinguish this fire burning within you."

"In many traditions, the universe is represented as a mountain, on the summit of which the Divinity has his dwelling, inaccessible and inviolate. The Greeks situated their gods on the top of Mount Olympus, and Moses spoke to God on Mount Horeb. Initiates have always made use of this symbol of the summit, even in countries where there were no high mountains.

The quest for the summit is the most important and most meaningful endeavor a human being can undertake. It means he is conscious that the forces and virtues brought together in him by the Creator can lead him beyond all earthly realizations. In the Cabbalah, the Tree of Life can be compared to a mountain whose summit is the sephirah Kether, the all powerful, the all-knowing, divine love. To reach this summit, great qualities are necessary: tenacity, willpower, stability, intelligence, daring and, above all, an irresistible desire for light and purity. These qualities are represented by the other sephiroth, from Malkuth to Chokmah."

"Love the Creator, the One who is the origin of all life, and you will feel him manifesting in every creature. It is he, the One, whom you will love in others, and only he can fulfil the longings of your heart and soul. So many men and women, famous throughout history for their amorous adventures and conquests, have had tragic destinies precisely because they did not understand this truth.

The beings of flesh and blood you claim to love or to be looking for are only intermediaries, conductors meant to transmit divine energies. If you wish to continue to love them, think of restoring contact every day with the world above. You don’t need to worry about who you will love or who you wish to be loved by. First love God and he will appear to you; he will smile at you and fill you with joy through his creatures. You will love them and be loved by them, because it will be the Deity dwelling within them that you will love, and they will also discover him through you."

"Whatever you may say, it is your behaviour which proves whether or not you have faith. By your behaviour you demonstrate whether your faith is sustained by your love, your intelligence, your knowledge and your willpower. To believe in God is to know one is a son or daughter of God, and to strive to live in accordance with this relationship. A child of God knows not only that he is heir to the qualities and powers of his heavenly Father and Mother, but that he must do everything possible to develop them and thus become master of his destiny. Every action that is not inspired by true wisdom and love produces toxic matter in a human being which prevents the manifestation of his divinity. One who knows that God is his Father has only to clear and purify the space between this Father and himself. "

The most important thing for you should be the work we do together for the good of humanity: the efforts we make to manifest divine love. Thanks to this work, which will never end, you will be on the road to perfection. Of course, you will say that obstacles prevent you from giving it priority in your life. Why such obstacles? Because you do not think correctly, you do not know how to direct all your activities towards a specific goal. You dissipate your efforts left and right while thinking that, one day, miraculously, you will find happiness. No, you will find it the day you understand that only this work can bring you true happiness and fulfillment, then everything will start to develop, blossom and flow within you.

When humans discovered that fire and water working together produced a force they could harness, they made great advances in the technical realm. But they have yet to discover what is most essential: how to work with water and fire in the spiritual realm. Water and fire are symbols of the heart and mind, of feeling and thought. The heart, like water, is feminine, and the mind, like fire, is masculine. As long as people do not learn to work with their heart and mind they will remain ‘celibate’, unproductive. The heart goes in one direction and the mind in another, and such disunity cannot produce a child, in other words, force. When you act in any domain, you must have a good knowledge of these two principles: fire and water, the emissive aspect and the receptive aspect. In the divine world, wisdom represents fire and love represents water. Love and wisdom give birth to truth in the world, which is the birth of a new consciousness, the birth of the Christ.

Countries believe they can solve problems with their neighbours and ensure their safety by perfecting weapons which are more and more deadly, until one day they will destroy the whole earth. Because, with this approach, the more time passes, the more complicated things become. As long as human beings do not choose to solve their problems with spiritual force, with the power of divine love, nothing will ever be resolved. Therefore, whatever your situation and station in life may be, from this day forward you at least must try to resolve any problems with your parents, your friends or your enemies by expressing love and kindness. By doing so, you will activate a law which will require them sooner or later to respond in the same way. Yes, this is the power of provocation! As long as you do not understand how to resolve problems, you unfailingly provoke the negative side in others, which in turn waits until you drop your guard and comes back to attack you. Study history and you will see that this has always been the case.

"Human beings cannot be happy by attaching themselves exclusively to one man or one woman. No, a man needs to love all women and a woman needs to love all men. But understand me well: I am not justifying debauchery and unfaithfulness. You must be faithful. But you have to know that a single man or woman will never be able to give your soul and spirit everything they long for; and you, yourself, cannot give everything either to any man or woman. This is why a man and a woman who love each other must live together, work together, stay faithful to each other, but must let the partner be free to love the whole world. Yes, they can love each other, stay together and not separate, but they should broaden their notion of love: their love will last only on this condition."

There will always be attraction and love between men and women, but until they learn how to think of each other and what to look for in each other, there will always be disappointment and suffering as well. Initiatic Science teaches us to discover in every being the principle which animates him or her. A man must try to discover in the woman he loves the eternal feminine principle, the divine Mother. And because the divine Mother is so rich in colour, fragrance, form and movement, he will never exhaust these riches in his heart and soul. Conversely, a woman must learn to see the eternal masculine principle, the heavenly Father, in the man she loves, and in doing so she will commune with his wisdom, power and grandeur. If you want to preserve your love, do not dwell on the woman or man you love, but go beyond this being, and seek the divine.

The history of Christendom is full of accounts describing the suffering of saints and mystics who discovered that this compelling force that carried them towards the Lord did not make them into disincarnated beings. On the contrary, the more their soul became inflamed with the fire of divine love, the more their sexual force tormented them, and they were unhappy, they struggled, and some even went so far as to believe they were possessed by the devil. No, the devil has nothing to do with this. It is simply a question of knowing the laws that govern human nature, and one of these laws is that when a certain mechanism is activated in the higher part of a being, another mechanism is automatically activated in their lower part. Indeed, there are so many things you need to know to avoid being misled. When you know what reactions can occur after fervent prayer, ecstasy, or fusion with the Deity, you can at least be on your guard. And initiatic science also teaches that there are ways of directing this force and so, thanks to it, achieve the greatest spiritual realizations.

"The aim of spiritual life is to lead us to a higher state of consciousness we call divine love. For, true love, the kind that draws us closer to God, is a state of consciousness. It is impossible to describe it, nor can it be explained to those who are not ready to experience it; all we can do is try to lead them to it gradually.

Those who attain this state of consciousness feel inwardly linked to the whole universe. They are then like an instrument, the cords of which vibrate in unison with all that exists. They are inhabited by a deep sense of peace, and above all they feel immense benevolence towards all beings. They do not know why they feel so well-disposed towards them. They simply sense that these feelings have entered their heart and soul, causing them to behave with kindness and understanding, and that they are connecting with the deep essence of creation."

From the moment we perform an act we inevitably release certain forces, which in turn will inevitably produce certain results. It is this concept of cause and effect that is contained in the word ‘karma'. This word has subsequently taken on the meaning of payment for a transgression committed. In reality it could be said that karma (in this second sense of the word) occurs each time an act is not fully inspired by divine wisdom and love, which is the case most of the time. But human beings experiment and have to practise. These experiments are somewhat crude and clumsy, but this is not important. They must correct themselves, put right their mistakes, and of course in order to obtain these results they struggle and suffer. You will say: ‘But surely it is better not to do anything, if by acting we inevitably make mistakes and will have to suffer to put them right.' No, you must act. Obviously you will suffer, but you will also learn, you will evolve, and then one day you will suffer no longer. When you will have learnt to act correctly, when all your actions, all your words are inspired by goodness, purity, and total lack of self-interest, they will not induce karma, but will attract beneficial consequences. And this is referred to as ‘dharma'.