Theo. – How is it that you have never been afraid of death?
The Elder – I don’t know. It was just the way I felt.
Theo. – You must have thought about it, though?
The Elder – For me, death is a fact, just like the fact that God exists. I believe it. It is by no means to my credit. You could as well ask me: “Do you believe oxygen exists?”
Theo. – It is all a question of Faith then, isn’t it?
The Elder – It not even that. It is just a fact; it is obvious.
Theo. – Then why do you have to seek the Divine? What does your lifelong quest for God mean then?
The Elder – Today, I’d rather say that God was looking for His own Self, and that He found It back.
Theo. – Don’t you find it strange?
The Elder – It is. But how could I explain it? God is Self-seeking in each one of His creatures, and He is bound to find His Self back.
Theo. – There is nothing special there, then, isn’t there?
The Elder – It is an all-pervasive divine process.
Theo. – And what does His creature feel once He found Himself within it?
The Elder – It is like a supernova explosion, though there is no exploding. Only an eternal Silence remains, which holds all life and bliss.
Theo. – Is it the ‘All-Nothing’, the Infinite Zero you evoke time and time again?
The Elder – There are no proper words to describe it. Let’s resort to our usual process, if you please.
Immediately, Theo put himself in a position to receive by quietly closing his eyes. As his breathing calmed down, he plunged into meditation under the soothing guidance of the Elder’s soft voice:
Imagine the supernova is happily exploding within your self … Silence …
Remove it … Silence …
It remains the simple Presence … Silence …
Remove the Presence and the sweet bliss it generates … Silence …
What is left could be your so-called Infinite Zero …
Remove it too… Silence …
This is the most sensuous perception of God a human being can have.
After a moment of silence, Theo asked:
– So, we can erase the Infinite, just like that!
The Elder (amused):
– We certainly can!
Theo. – Now let’s come back to the Death issue. What was your response when you had to face such a possibility in 2007? Hearing of your disease and of your possible ensuing death must have been a real shock for you.
The Elder – It made no difference to me, do not doubt it. When my doctor and friend announced the diagnosis, I just thought: “Well! I probably won’t see my sixtieth birthday”. But within me, it was all perfectly balanced. I didn’t mind being either here or beyond. I enjoyed being with my family down here, but the brighter world was also ‘my home’. Sooner or later, we have to die, which comes as no surprise. Then, why shouldn’t we integrate the fact and live a full life, while realizing our destiny?
Theo. – I can’t understand very well what you really mean.
The Elder – When you live through your soul, the atman, death is no longer the matter. You just contemplate the end of the precious vehicle your shining soul had borrowed for a while.
Theo. – Aren’t you attached to life?
The Elder – I like life very much, and I appreciate it all the more as I have danced with death for a moment. Life is a precious gift God bestows on a human being for him or her to realize fantastic deeds.
Theo. – What happens later, in the other dimensions?
The Elder – You’ll see for yourself when the time has come.
Then the Elder kept quiet for a long moment. Theo knew it was best not to insist further and he decided to approach the topic in a different manner:
– What should I do in order to no longer be afraid of death?
The Elder – Know yourself, discriminate what is ephemeral, bound to personality, and bear no attachment to it. Identify yourself to what belongs to your eternity, which is in fact the being’s permanent reality.
Theo. – What we call Atman, I guess?
The Elder – Exactly! You pay your soul a visit every time you meditate deep into your heart. You only have to sustain that condition, to raise it to the surface of your being and live your daily life with intensity.
Theo. – Then why are people afraid of death?
The Elder – It’s a natural fear. It is due to the survival instinct which is included in the program all mammals have inherited. It is the same thing for our natural instinct to protect the smaller ones, who are so fragile and fall easy prey to their predators.
Theo. – Do you mean that the Prakriti (Nature)’s laws are responsible for that fear? So, Nature has not made life easy for us, has it?
The Elder – For human beings only, because it is not the case for animals. Gazelles, for instance, are on the lookout only when the lion is hunting. Then they know that their lives are at risk, and fear bids them to make a start and have a chance to escape. But the rest of the time, they just graze quietly a few metres away from their predator. They know. Animals will fully live their lives in the present moment, whereas men tend to be trapped in their past lives and constantly plan for the future.
Theo. – They forget the present. Is that the reason why we meditate? Is it to fully live and savour the moment?
The Elder – The eternal present, which gives you access to the inner Infinite and to a sublime Love.
Theo. – Then, could we say that man has corrupted his own self?
The Elder – I’d rather see it differently; let’s say that man has been endowed with consciousness. Primitive human beings first developed a consciousness of themselves in order to satisfy their basic needs. Then, they became able to conceptualize life, their lives. So they became aware of their capacities, which would soon – or sometimes much too late – lead them to reaching a higher consciousness.
Theo. – But man is also the first of all predators down here!
The Elder – The problem is not his being a predator; the problem raised is that man disturbs the Nature’s balance and harmony. Human beings are not properly attuned with either Nature or with their own natures.
Theo. – What are the consequences?
The Elder – Destruction and misery for themselves and for their environment.
Theo. – Hence the need for ecology.
The Elder – Ecology is a first step. But above all we should develop an inner ecology and gain access to a higher level of consciousness.
Theo. – Animists and Shamans are in tune with Nature. Whenever they have to take an animal’s life, they do it as if they were making a sacrifice and they thank the sacrificed animal for the gift of its life. They kill only for the sake of eating.
Theo. – Men have forgotten a lot. Their frantic egocentricity has cut them off from Nature’s higher powers, as well as from other elemental powers.
Theo. – Do you mean the Devas, the Elves and any other spirits present in Nature?
The Elder – I particularly think of the so-called cosmic higher forces ruling this universe, but I won’t give them any name.
Theo. – Do you think of the angelic hierarchies, of the Masters or of the Devas?
The Elder – That’s the way they can also be called.
Theo. – Then why Did God have to create a world such as ours?
The Elder – God has created a world for us, for the best of our abilities, and He has endowed us with a free will. What you see is what we have done with that world, a world that can be turned into either hell or paradise. It all depends on us.
Theo. – What is man lacking?
The Elder – Awareness of the heart. If only ten per cent, or even one per cent of the human population were aware of their hearts, the Earth would be quite different.
Hearing his mentor’s statement made Theophile the Younger remain pensive and silent:
– So, we have to pray for humankind to awaken and finally become Love, he whispered woefully.
– It will come. God is infinitely patient, the old sage said to reassure him.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s Initiation