The Soul’s choice and a mastered ego, part 1, the Soul at the Earth school
The Soul’s choice and a mastered ego, part 2, how to tame one’s ego
The Soul’s choice and a mastered ego, part 3, releasing space within one self
The Soul’s choice and a mastered ego, part 1, the Soul at the Earth school
Theophile the Younger asks the Elder about character.
– I have a recurrent difficulty and I don’t know how to overcome it in order to improve. As you asked me to do, most of the time I try hard to behave in accordance with my heart, and yet I still respond far too quickly, mentally, affectionately and emotionally, to events or to people. I’m often aware of it afterwards, probably due to a lack of consciousness on the very moment. Is not cleaning sufficient, or does it mean that I don’t do it properly?
The Elder – Cleaning removes your samskaras (the impressions and complexities accumulated at the level of our subtle being), but it won’t have much impact on the ego and its inherent or acquired tendencies.
Theo. – What are these tendencies and where do they come from?
The Elder – As I told you, before incarnating the soul chooses its destiny with all it implies. Thus it determines the place and times where it will be reborn, as well as the parents and lineage that will host it. The individual soul will then create a personality adapted to the life-mission it has defined before being incarnated.
Theo. – I can imagine each incarnation has its particular purpose according to its own evolution.
The Elder – That’s it. Earth is a school. The spiritual maturity of your soul and the lessons to be learnt will have a direct impact on the ups and downs of your life. Several lifetimes will often be necessary for you to learn a lesson. Just think that the Vedas say a soul’s cycle is four million eight hundred thousand lifetimes!
Theo. – So the work of those who are researching on their past lifetimes is not over yet!
The Elder – Such a research is quite useless since we already are a synthesis of all that we have been during our past lives.
Theo. – Why do we have to forget our previous incarnations?
The Elder – So as not to be overladen with the weight such a memory would represent.
Theo. – Can the Masters of Wisdom work on our past lives?
The Elder – Yes, they can. They have the ability to read what is barring a person’s evolution and to remove it. They cleanse the causal body (the soul’s body). They know when and how to work appropriately.
Theo. – But how do we build a personality then?
The Elder – Our soul draws on the data bank stored in our causal body to find the materials needed for building a new personality. These materials are in the form of seeds or of samskaras. Thus the personality the soul builds is adapted and in accordance with its proper life lesson, with its destiny.
Theo. – It looks very much like human fecundation that draws on genetic materials, on the parents’ DNA profiles.
The Elder – In fact, the DNA is a materialized reflection of the samskaras. Everything happens for a reason: at the moment of impregnation the genetic materials resonate with the material the soul’s body provides.
Theo. – Could we consider that the sires are two magnetic fields holding the genetic or samskaric materials that would attract the suitable soul and give it an opportunity to build a personality endowed with the three bodies and five envelopes you have already mentioned to me?
The Elder – That’s a good summary. Now you can understand why we say that the soul shoulders a personality, like the garment that will give it the possibility to live a human experience properly tailored. It is essential to know that, before incarnating, the soul chooses the exact place and moment for it, as well as the moment for its departure from the Earth.
Theo. – But what if we die of an accident or of a disease?
The Elder – The soul leaves the body when the course of its life has been completed, so a disease or an accident are only used for the purpose. As far as I know, suicide only does not answer the rule.
Theo. – That must be the reason why almost every religion opposes suicide and euthanasia.
The Elder – Very probably, but we won’t deal with that issue right now.
Theo. – Then, if we were aware of it, we shouldn’t fear death anymore. In fact, we only leave a body and its personality, just as we leave old clothes that have been useful and have achieved their purpose. I like the idea but we are getting away from the original issue.
The Elder – Not at all! In fact, we are coming right to the point. Once incarnated, the person is free to take his/her own decisions and act accordingly. These come either from a purified and connected heart, or from our egotistical tendencies. The ego is made of such tendencies and it feeds on its samskaras. Our tendencies are the bed of the river and our samskaras are the water flowing in that bed. Our aim therefore is to clean the river dry so that it won’t be nourished by impressions anymore; yet tendencies are still there and the ego can play with them.
Theo. – How can we work on that ego?
The Elder – It requires s a long training, I know, so that we may be constantly in touch with the heart vibration and be absorbed in it.
Theo. – I have seen Daaji. He always gives the impression he is meditating though he keeps his eyes open. At times, he is so deeply absorbed in the Divine that I nearly feel he is going to close them. His voice seems to come directly from the heart. His lips hardly move. So he gives the impression that “That” is talking, not him. At first, I found it strange, but his words are so true, so compelling! He can be at once deep into his heart and yet fully together with us.
The Elder – That is what we call sahaj-samadhi. I noticed it in Chariji too. We had the impression his left eye was oriented toward his heart, whereas his right eye was oriented towards us. He had to tell me that Babuji was also like that. It is the highest divine condition a living spiritual Master can achieve. He is completely absorbed into the Divine. He has totally surrendered to the Divine, though he is fully present for this life and for the people around him.
Theo. – That’s very mysterious and I wonder how we can achieve it.
The Elder – It is the fruit of many long years of spiritual practice under the guidance of a competent guide.
Theo. – That is not very encouraging. For you, our elders, ten years are a short instant, but for us, the younger and impatient ones, two years look like an eternity!
The Elder – You can always use your joker, the quickest way…
Theo. – Love, of course! But I can’t be permanently immerged in it, hence my question.
The Elder – Nobody can master an art without working hard. Even virtuosi work hard and constantly under the guidance of a master in their art. So, imagine what Self-control means!
Theo. – As far as I understand, it is only the Self that can control the ego and not the reverse.
The Elder – I know only three methods for harmonizing the ego: two of them consist in using love – the food for the soul -, in order to subdue the ego. Let’s have a try, will you?
The Soul’s choice and a mastered ego, part 2, how to tame one’s ego
The Elder – I know of only three ways to approach the ego and harmonize it. The two first ways use love, the food for the soul, to subdue the ego. Let us have a try, will you?
Theophile the Elder absorbs himself in a radiant love that comes directly into contact with Theophile’s soul. The young man immediately feels he is being carried away by love. He enters an ecstatic state. It is pure bliss. He gives thanks and receives that grace which seems to flow down over him from the highest spheres of the Being.
The Elder – Now tell me how you feel and, above all, the way you perceive your ego.
Theo. – I mainly feel like keeping silent to savor the divine state you transmitted to me. I am literally thrilled. My ego is in a perfect communion with my soul. It is happy, peaceful and grateful. It does not even know it has been subdued and even if it did know, it wouldn’t mind. Love prevails and it s asking for more and more. Is this what we call ‘Paradise Lost’?
The Elder – The consciousness you have of the Being’s love shows the true nature of the soul, which some people will call God. Then the ego feels fully reverent.
Theo. – I insist; it is short-lived!
The Elder – Such fragrances of the Ultimate are called an approach. We perceive the goal of human life and it gives us the strength to go ahead toward Him in spite of all the trials we have to go through during our existence. I promise you that, one day that sublime state will be permanent. Meanwhile, I am going to help you perceive the ego just as it was when God gave it to us.
Theo. – Is that what you called squaring the circle? (Cf. the diagram of a circle within a square).
The Elder – We can do it again, if you want. Now, we shall approach it via ‘Chit’, consciousness, and use the observer it promotes.
Lead your thought towards the light. Let yourself be drawn in by it.
At the second level of the heart, you get in touch with your universal mind, which is said to be the cosmic mind. This is the place where the observer is truly himself, is cosmic. Do not let yourself be absorbed into the heart Centre.Theo. – Resisting the attraction of the Centre is not easy. You just feel like being lost in it forever.
The Elder – I know. Now, look at your ego and tell me what you can feel.
Theo. – It is now at the base of my being, calm;, quiet, in tune with itself and everything around.
The Elder – Contrarily to the soul, it is dense, incarnated. Can you tell me in what condition you have the feeling it is?
Theo. – It is ready for acting as soon as consciousness will have told it where it should go and what it should do.
The Elder – You have reached the two levels where the ego stands at its right place. No constraints; there, so it is happy. This is the real state of humility, where the ego is prepared for receiving and carrying out the divine instructions through its soul.
Theo. – I would have imagined the Divine instructions to be more imperative, somewhat like Moses’ Ten Commandments, written on tablets in letters of fire, but it is quite different. It is very soft, extremely subtle and delicate.
The Elder – That is why we must maintain silence within ourselves, because God whispers and suggests, more that He orders. God imposes nothing. He is all love and He respects our free will.
Theo. – And since we love Him, we only want to obey Him, don’t we?
The Elder – In absolute terms, yes, but in practice we resist Him as much as we can.
Theo. – That is when the ego becomes represented as a perfect ass, isn’t it?
The Elder – Well, it is. So, see all the work that remains to be done. I’m going to offer you a third technique. Chariji spoke about it in December 2010, but it was transmitted to the world over by Dr Hew Len: Ho’oponopono. The method is very simple. It is based on the fact that we carry the Universe within us and must free it of all that we have stored in it.
Theo. – So as to reach zero … , to reach infinity?
The Elder – Yes, indeed! And above all to liberate the infinite love the Divine has for all the living beings in His creation.
Theo. – That’s nothing new!
The Elder – What is new, and is proposed here, is to erase all the so-called ‘inappropriate memories’.
Theo. – How is it different from ‘cleaning’ and from impressions (samskaras)?
The Elder – We clean the impression, but the mental and emotional memory of it remains within us and that is how we restock our samskaras. All the work has to be done again. Babuji used to say: “My associates are stronger than me because they create more impressions than I can remove.”
Theo. – What should we do, then?
The Elder – When you are touched by something or by someone and respond, it means that within you an item, a memory is resonating, but you can erase it in the following way: without paying any attention to whom or what has provoked your reaction (they are to be considered as mirrors of the unconscious), you just say to yourself:
I’m sorry
Forgive me
Thank you
I love you
Theo. – Is that all?
The Elder – That’s all, and it is very efficient. Let us take an example, if you want. Choose something that affects you deeply.
Theo. – The extreme violence in the world and in our daily lives.
The Elder – What Ho’oponopono says is that you are going to delete the item ‘violence’ that is within you. You can rarely change the others, so you’d better work on yourself, particularly when violence and anger are concerned. They are endemic failings. Many people think that anger can sometimes be justified and other people think they can’t be. Just remember Ramakrisna’s words concerning the sage and the snake . Do the practice with your heart, sincerely, really meaning what you are going to say.
Then Theo slowly repeats aloud:
– I’m sorry, forgive me, thank you, I love you.
The Elder – You can repeat it as often as necessary, until you don’t react anymore to the anger that is within you or outside.
Theo keeps silent for a long moment, then he says:
– It is not that easy. First, I thought of the others’ violence, then I ignored it, I forgot all about it, and then I was in peace. Do you really think that the fact of erasing the roots of violence and anger in me could have any influence on the world?
Theophile the Elder remains silent. After a long while, he says:
I’m going to tell you a story.
– In Ancient China, the disordered Empire was being disturbed by riots and ravaged by Mongol attacks. The harvest would be so bad that starvation was impending. Seeing that none of his ministers could solve these problems, the emperor finally decided to resort to a Taoist master. He appointed him Prime minister and ordered him to solve all the Empire problems. A year later, the Middle Kingdom had regained prosperity and harmony.
Then the Emperor asked the Taoist master: “Why did you need so much time to restore law and order?” The monk answered: “Because it took quite a long time to restore peace within myself.”
Amused, Theophile the Younger says:
– I see! So I have to choose between silence and a puzzling tale!
The Elder – Above all, you have the choice to experiment and appreciate the effects of the method. Let us meet again next week shall we?
As agreed, the two friends meet a few days later.
The Elder – So, how was your week?
Theo. – It was a bit hectic. Reasoning played its tricks on me. I kept being outward-looking. I discussed violence, or anger and its causes and effects. I felt horrified, I railed against it, I rebelled. My ego was very active all the time. It was frustrated. From time to time, I managed to practice the exercise and I noticed that, in fact, it is mainly a non-mental one, something you had not told me, by the way!
The Elder – Now you know, the Elder says jokingly.
Theo. – There were moments when the very idea of anger would disappear. Then I was in peace and I could feel love was free to flow.
The Elder keeps silent.
Theo. – Isn’t it rather egocentric?
The Elder still says nothing.
Theo. – Finally, when love is free to flow, it does what it should do, doesn’t it?
The Elder nods:
– When you are in such a condition and you approach the world, you act quite differently. You are in presence of the Divine who blows on the creation network.
Theo. – Can you explain me, please?
The Elder – Understanding comes from the shamanic psychology of the Hawalian Islands.
“Sorry” is for the boy in you. It is the unconscious in you. It suffers from that flawed memory which operates within it.
“Forgive me”, is your conscious part, your mind; it is like the young boy’s mother, who wants her child to be spared all that suffering. So she turns towards the father, the supra-conscious, who will intercede with the Divine so that all memories and data may be erased.
“Thank you”, for having updated that flawed memory within me, and for having allowed it to be erased by exposing it to the Divine. The original vacuum is restored, which allows the Breath, the Verb, to flow freely within you.
“I love you” is for the young boy within: love is now liberated within your self, and it can operate in the whole creation you bear.
Theo. – So, by being freed from my flawed memories, I contribute to restore the original infinite zero in the whole creation…
The Elder – When you are in a state of love and look at the situation or the person you are confronted with, then you can act or pray appropriately. You are in the benevolent neutrality that Taoists care so much for. You are in peace, in harmony.
Theo. – My intention merges with the Breath and the Divine plan, the young man concludes, quite impressed.
The Elder smiles when he sees his young friend’s enthusiasm and innocence.
– Yes, probably… whenever child, mother, father and the Divine are in unison, he whispers, his eyes half-closed.
Le sage et le serpent
Personne n’osait passer dans un chemin où un serpent venimeux avait élu domicile. Un mahatma ayant un jour suivi cette route, des enfants qui gardaient les troupeaux se précipitèrent pour l’avertir. « Je vous remercie, mes enfants, répondit le sage, mais je n’ai pas de crainte. D’ailleurs je connais des mantra qui me protégeront contre toute attaque. » Et il continua d’avancer. Brusquement le cobra se dressa contre lui. Mais en approchant du saint homme il se sentit soudain pénétré de la douceur du yogin. Le sage, voyant le serpent, prononça une formule magique et le serpent s’écroula à ses pieds. Alors le sage lui demanda : « Mon ami, as-tu l’intention de me mordre ? » Le serpent stupéfait ne répondit rien. « Voyons, dit le mahatma, pourquoi fais-tu ainsi du mal à d’autres créatures ? Je vais te donner une formule sacrée que tu répéteras constamment. Ainsi tu apprendras à aimer Dieu. Et en même temps tu perdras tout désir de faire le mal. » Et il lui murmura la formule à l’oreille. Le serpent s’inclina en signe d’assentiment, puis rentra dans son trou pour y vivre d’innocence et de pureté, sans avoir jamais plus le désir de blesser un être vivant. Au bout de quelques jours les enfants du village voisin s’aperçurent de ce changement d’attitude, et, pensant que le serpent avait perdu son venin, ils se mirent à le tourmenter, à lui jeter des pierres et à le traîner sur les cailloux. Le serpent, grièvement blessé, se laissa faire et alla se cacher dans son trou.
A quelque temps de là, le sage repassa par ce chemin et chercha le serpent mais en vain. Les enfants lui dirent que l’animal était mort, mais il ne put pas les croire. Il savait en effet que le nom de Dieu a une telle puissance qu’on ne saurait en aucun cas mourir avant d’avoir résolu le problème de la vie, c’est-à-dire avant d’avoir réalisé Dieu. Il continua donc d’appeler le cobra. Finalement, celui-ci, qui était presque réduit à l’état de squelette, sortit de son trou et s’inclina devant son maître.
– Comment vas-tu, demanda le sage ?
– Fort bien, Seigneur, merci ; par la grâce de Dieu tout va bien.
– Mais pourquoi es-tu dans cet état ?
– Conformément à tes instructions je cherche à ne plus faire de mal à aucune créature ; Je me nourris maintenant de feuilles. C’est pourquoi j’ai un peu maigri.
– Ce n’est pas le changement de régime qui a suffi â te mettre dans cet état. Il doit y avoir autre chose. Réfléchis un peu !
– Ah ! Oui ! Je me rappelle. Les petits bergers ont été un peu durs pour moi un jour. Ils m’ont pris par la queue et m’ont fait tournoyer, me frappant contre des pierres. Les pauvres petits ne savaient pas que je ne les mordrais plus !
Le sage répondit en souriant : « Pauvre ami, je t’ai recommandé de ne mordre personne, mais je ne t’ai pas défendu de siffler pour éloigner les persécuteurs et les tenir en respect. »
De même, vous qui vivez dans le monde ne blessez personne, mais ne laissez non plus personne vous molester.
Paroles de RAMAKRISHNA
The Soul’s choice and a mastered ego, part 3, releasing space within one self
Theo – In the Ho’oponopono practice, we ask for being forgiven, but are we guilty of anything?
The Elder – No, we aren’t, but we are totally responsible for our perception and appreciation of all that surrounds us. In that way we can say that the outer world becomes our inner world.
Theo. – I understand, but I find it difficult to accept.
The Elder – Let us take an example: Imagine you are looking at a girl and you think she is pretty. You like her. So it means that everybody should feel the same, which is not the case.
Theo. – Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
The Elder – And so is ugliness, any form of it.
Theo. – It will take time for me to assimilate the idea.
The Elder – Just practice “sorry, forgive me, thank you, I love you”, and see the difference. Let us have a try, shall we? You have a particular idea of what I am, haven’t you? Then, you are projecting your understanding of my character, i.e. of what you are yourself. What can you really see?
Theophile the Younger laughs and says:
– Well! You are not that ugly!
The Elder smiles and keeps silent.
Then the young man closes his eyes and he interiorizes in order to practice Ho’oponopono.
First, he addresses the child within him. His mind gets unsteady and tries to argue: “I have not got any problem with the Elder; he is my friend, my mentor, my guru.” Then, Theo. ignores these thoughts, connects himself to his inner light and starts saying with considerable subtlety:
Sorry …
Forgive me …
Thank you …
I love you …
Soon, the Ancient asks:
– How do you feel about the exercise?
Theo. – It is close to praying, when I reached “I love you”, the feeling was the same as when I am silently meditating on the heart. It was the same condition… Besides, I forgot all about you during the exercise!
The Elder – Excellent! You were erasing the inner image or idea you had of me because it does not concern me at all.
Theo. – Do you mean that I have cleaned the mirror in which I was looking at myself?
The Elder – That’ is a nice way to speak about projections. You have indeed freed your inner space from these so-called ‘flawed data’.
Theo. – Now I can see you as … how should I explain, it is rather as a sort of vibratory feeling, or …
The Elder – Don’t say anything. Why should you try and perceive or define me?
Theo. – T thought it was the objective.
The Elder – The objective is to keep your mind free, and to keep it permanently connected with the Source from your heart, with the Heart’s intelligence.
Theo. – I see. But can we do it on a daily basis, at every moment?
The Elder – Of course we can! It helps develop the heart’s spontaneity. Thus each instant is made anew, life is full of nice surprises, and nothing is stereotyped anymore. You can live, now.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s initiation