Theo. – What I can’t easily understand is the discrepancy between self–erasing, which is advocated by high spirituality, and excellence, which is attached to the personality, if not to the ego.
The Elder – Utilizing your ego and your personality in the proper way is what will bring excellence in your life.
Theo. – Surprisingly, I was expecting you to say that if I could step aside and let the Divine act, I would experience what excellence is.
The Elder – I you insist, that’s what I say … Amused, he kept silent.
Theo. – Come on!
The Elder – Now, let’s approach the issue in a different way. We are all bearers of excellence. We just need to let it be free. The Sahaj Marg practice is a means, not an end in itself. We are bearers of the divine entirety, and therefore of excellence.
Theo. – What does prevent us from achieving excellence?
The Elder – Ego … the mind … emotions …
Theo. – How does it work?
The Elder – Thanks to the energy and intelligence of the heart which binds and unifies them. All that the human beings have been endowed with is important. These elements have only to be aligned and adjusted.
Theo. – So that we may become like Tseu, who lets the Breath carry him lithely and harmoniously.
The Elder – Fluency, ‘the Flow’, or neurobiology of excellence, has been described by Professor Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi. We consider that the Flow is the ultimate, in emotional intelligence. It allows us to give our level best and go beyond our limits.
Theo. – Could you please elaborate on this particular condition?
The Elder – It has been called ‘the optimal state’, obtained by persons who live the ‘optimal experience’. M. Csikszenmihalyi talked of an autotelic personality.
Theo. – Which means?
The Elder – An autotelic person faces life enthusiastically and gets involved in whatever he or she is doing. It comes from the Greek words ‘auto’, meaning oneself, and ‘telos’, the goal. Such a person is totally involved in his or her approach.
Theo. – Could you give me one simple example of it?
The Elder – He who plays for the pleasure of it is autotelic. The one who plays only to win is exotelic.
Theo. – Well! It’s normal we should want to win when we play a game, isn’t it?
The Elder – Perhaps it is, but then you’ll feel very unhappy if ever you don’t win; you may even feel you’ve been undervalued, whereas the one who plays just for the fun of it will always feel happy, whatever the outcome.
Theo. – Could you please elaborate?
The Elder – Let’s start from your own experience. At what moment do you feel you are being fluent?
Theo. – When I am riding the right wave or when I’m pondering over a new and exciting topic. Then I cannot see the time pass. I am sort of being carried by the wave. I feel no tiredness. I feel as if I had a boundless energy.
The Elder – What is your relationship with the outside world like, when you feel that way?
Theo. – As far as surfing is concerned, when it is all gliding along very nicely; then my board, the wave and I are just one and the same thing, though I pay close attention to my surroundings. My attention is a floating one. The perception I have will cover 180°, if not 360°. I am not the only one there, on the water, so I must take in all the elements around me, while focusing on my board with utmost attention.
The Elder – What about self–awareness then?
Theo. – No time for it. I’m busy gliding.
The Elder – Do you enjoy it?
Theo. – I do, but not straight away. Well, I’m just absorbed in what I am doing. It is intensive, very intensive.
The Elder – Do you think about the next wave, about an even better one?
Theo. – If you think of anything else besides surfing, you are bound to fall.
The Elder – I saw you waiting for waves, in winter. Wasn’t it too uncomfortable?
Theo. – I wear suitable coveralls, and then I only think about catching the proper wave. So, my body follows my thought and the cold is not the problem.
The Elder – Then you are fully immersed in ‘Now’. And how do you feel when you are studying a topic you have a passion for?
Theo. – It’s rather different from surfing, because in that case I forget all about the outside world. I am totally absorbed by the subject matter.
The Elder – Does the effect compare with what you feel when reading an exciting novel?
Theo. – Not really. With a novel, I am caught up in the tension of the story. I identify with the characters. It’s better than with TV serials, but I would consider it as being time–consuming, as a sort of chewing–gum for the mind.
When I study spiritual issues or quantum physics for instance, I enter another state. I flow with the vibration issued.
The Elder – Your intelligence and your intuition are there, totally available for you. Do you derive any pleasure from it?
Theo. – Not always. It is rather satisfying, indeed, but it is not really important.
The Elder – So, it is totally absorbing and not necessarily enjoyable. Why would it be so, according to you?
Theo. – The subjects are often thorny ones and they stretch me to the limit, but not beyond what’s possible.
The Elder – Is it a challenge, then?
Theo. – It is a challenge for me. I don’t get the same feeling when taking part in a competition or in a contest, where I must win and be the best, whereas when I am studying such difficult subjects I feel totally absorbed and the challenge is only for myself.
The Elder – This is excellence. You should try and take your exams in that spirit. Then all your intellectual and intuitive resources would be at your disposal.
Theo. – How should I proceed?
The Elder – In the way high–level sportspeople do it, that is by preparing mentally and emotionally for it.
Theo. – They resort to Sophrology, I guess.
The Elder – Sophrology stems from Yoga. Heartfulness relaxation and meditation will work just as well and quickly, thanks to transmission. Through your heart and with practice, you can be very rapidly connected to universal intelligence and to intuition.
Theo. – (interested)
Could you give me some more details about it?
The Elder – First of all, you must concentrate. When you read the subject of the exam, do it as an observer. Have a try, if you please.
Theo. – But the Points 6 and 7 are very active.
The Elder – Don’t forget to integrate their energy into your heart. If you are totally relaxed, it will be easier still. Point 5 (ajna-chakra) provides energy and creativity. Point 7 gives access to the world of ideas. Ideally, all the other points of the heart should be cleaned and illuminated. When the mind is busy, Point 3, which is related to light, will shine more vividly than the other points.
Theo. – What if I know nothing about the subject?
The Elder – Then you will have been ill–prepared.
Theo. – Is not there any other means?
The Elder – Yes, but still, you should study that way. I’ll let you guess. Let’s go on to another subject now. During the four hours your exam will take, don’t hesitate to make short breaks for meditating in order to regenerate your mind and your brain.
Theo. – That’s going to look weird.
The Elder – They’ll be all busy writing their essays and anyway, meditation has become trendy these days.
Theo. – And what about the oral section?
The Elder – The principle is the same. Before being reviewed by the examiner(s), connect your heart to theirs and your brain to their brains too. It will help. Above all, don’t worry about the result. Get into an autotelic condition. Ensure that moment will be an optimal experience.
Theo. – Is that the way you would function when you were young?
The Elder – Once, I experienced a state of total panic. I could not access the data in my brain for about one hour. Then I realized I knew; that was thanks to a Maths teacher I had. He did know how to teach. So, that was the first and last time it happened to me during an exam, because I said to myself, “Never again!” After that, I surfed on top of the wave, all the more easily as I was passionate about the topics we studied.
Theo. – When I am running, there comes a moment when I forget all about being tired or suffering. It is like a second wind. Is it what you call ‘an optimal experience’?
The Elder – It is. It makes you feel as if you were flying. Every stride is perfect and perfectly adapted to the ground. You fully inhabit your body and your spirit is free.
Theo. (feeling wry)
– So, you did practice sports! When? In which one of your lives? I usually see you having your nose plunged into your books or notebooks.
The Elder – I put my heart in it, more than my nose. I make all the efforts possible to be in His Presence, whatever I am doing, regardless of my activity. For instance, I love peeling and chopping vegetables.
Theo. – Do you!
The Elder – When I was seventeen, I stayed in Findhorn, in the North of Scotland. It was the first and the last time I hitchhiked – 3200 miles! At the time, reading and living was for me like being in wonderland, thanks to books such as Spalding’s Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East. As soon as I joined the community, the man in charge assigned the paring of vegetables to me, so that I peeled mountains of onions, among other things.
After I had cried my eyes out, I would then strive to chop the vegetables as if I were a samurai in quest of the most precise, efficient and harmonious movement. I could not see time pass. Incidentally, the one in charge of cooking also taught yoga. When I was back home, my father asked me to help build a large wall of dry stones. Selecting the stones and putting them into the right place was in itself a sort of meditation. I was alone on the job, and it did not seem to go full speed. I am still pleased to see the wall now. One year later, I joined the Sahaj Marg and started meditating, but that is another story.
Theo. – It reminds me of a Sufi story: a man who, for years, seemed to have been doing nothing more than sweeping the yard in the tariqa, was designated successor by his Master, to everyone’s surprise.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s initiation