– Could
you please tell me more about the esoteric symbol?, asked Theophyl
the Younger.
The esoteric symbol. |
– What
about your
interpretation?
– I
can try, if you want:
The
most important feature in this symbol is the point of light in its
centre. It represents the only goal, in our Sahaj Marg meditation.
The divine energy flows from that Centre.
When our spiritual Guide has connected us to it, the divine Source of
energy fuels us constantly. The source also paves the way towards
Itself and helps us progress through the various regions of our
being.
The
point of light is what attracts us, like moths round a flame, and
once we have reached it, we fall into a divine dimension.
The
central point is the One, the Unique. It gives us an objective to be
aimed at, but the target is the Zero, where it comes from, and that
is what we want to reach.
– Do
you mean that we aim at the ONE, and that once we have reached it, we
fall into Zero, what you call the divine dimension?
–Now,
the Zero may be reached with the help of a spiritual guide, who is
the boatman, the one who knows the place of our destination. All
mystics aim or have aimed at uniting with God, the One and only God.
Some
of them, Babuji for instance, ended plunging into the Zero, the
Centre.
-
How can we do it?, asked Theophyl the Younger, rather perplexed.
– It
is practically impossible without the help of a Master who has
already gone through it. It is like in Japanese archery, where you
shoot to the Centre, i.e. the One.
You
close your eyes and go beyond the One.
You
shoot to meet Infinity.
The
target fades away.
Then
you have met the Centre of the target, the Zero.
– I'm
not sure I've really understood. Can you say it again, please?
– First
you start with trying to be one with God. Then you erase the One,
where you still existed, and now you are in God.
You
still have to erase your idea of God.
Then
you can perceive His essence, you are in His essence.
Now
you also have to erase His essence and become 'the
essence of His essence'.
That
is what I call the Zero.
When
you aim at the Centre, you reach the Infinite
– Then
why do I need a symbol?
– The
symbol is the target, the means. It is just like a viewfinder for the
Infinite. .
It
is at once real and virtual.
You
stand firm on the earth.
You
go to the centre of the first star, then to the centre of the second
star, and that's it.
The five points of the heart. |
Theophyl
the elder continues,
– The
Centre radiates
that attracting energy. It is our source, but it is also the source
of all lives existing in the Creation. It emits a powerful current
and, as the salmons do, we have to swim upstream. The nearer the
Centre we get, the more powerful the current becomes. Babuj used to
say that it is almost impossible for a soul to proceed in the
so-called 'central' region.
– How
should we do it? Is there a means?
– The
secret is: simplicity and balance.
Babuji
said: "God is simple and can be achieved by simple means."
Therefore, we have to become simple.
– How
to do it?
– Through
cleaning.
The
first star corresponds to the initiation of the being within the
sphere of manifestation called the heart region.
When the 5 points have been cleaned and purified, the being is
absorbed into the star centre, and a quantum leap will plunge it into
a cosmic dimension. There the being is no longer submitted to
terrestrial gravity. He is now subject to the gravitational pull of
the sun.
– Do
you mean that it compares with the spaceship which, having got free
from the terrestrial gravity through a successful taking off, flies
to the sun that is attracting it?
– The
metaphor is very nice indeed.
Then
the work goes on through the second star and its five points. After
these have been purified and illuminated in their turn, the soul is
absorbed by the centre of that second star, by the centre of the sun
and a quantum leap takes it to the supra cosmic region.
– If
I have understood it correctly, the first initiation was terrestrial,
via the star of the heart, then it was solar in the second cosmic
star, reaching for a second level of depth. And this what you had meexperiment when you touched my heart and the crown of my head
simultaneously.
– Exactly.
The points of the spiritual yatra. |
The
God to which they are united now is the creator, who stands in the
centre of the first star, of the second star, and who is the very
centre, materialized by the luminous point. The three levels are all
present in the heart of man. That is the reason why we have to plunge
deep in our hearts, right to the core. It implies three successive
steps. There are moments when we are totally absorbed in meditation
and lose consciousness of our own existence, immerged as we are into
our profundity. We call it "samadhi". They stand for some
approaches of the Divine in us. Afterwards, we emerge from that state
of samadhi and resume the course of our lives. We gradually forget
that profundity, until the day when a part of the self stays at a
greater depth whereas the other part surfaces. That is what Babuji
called the "sahaj-samadhi" or "natural samadhi":
you are both fully present to your daily life and fully present to
the Divine, fully absorbed in Him.
– Usually,
that is when you announce that there is a more direct, a simpler way
than the one you have just been revealing to me.
– Quite
right. It is the way of Love. The being can follow it easily. What
this human heart and its 6 rays represent is the way of the heart.
The stars stand for the two levels of a great love, the central point
being the point of Ultimate love,
the purest and the most sublime love.
– Does
regular practice open the way to love?
– No,
it only makes us ready for it. Love is a mystery that reveals itself
to man whenever and however it wants. It is a grace that no one can
predict. Love depends only on itself. It has its own laws and it is
lawless. That is what Christ, Buddha and the Masters have manifested
and shown to men on our Earth.
-
If you agree, I'm going to have you experiment a state I myself was
gratified with a day when I was in the Himalayas with my guide
Chariji.
The
young man gets ready for it immediately.
– Close
your eyes slowly, plunge deep into your heart and tell me what you
can feel, the elder man whispers.
Keeping
his eyes closed, Theophyl the Younger answers him after a long period
of silence:
– Love,
in one dimension, then in another one, and another one, still another
one, etc., and it goes on infinitely, as if it must never stop. I
thought there were only three levels, weren't there?
– It
is only a symbol, however true and beautiful it may be. Love has no
limit, it is infinite, it is Infinity.
Let's
pursue the experience, will you?
Remember
the best moment of love you've ever lived and make it yours.
Feel
its effects in the whole of your inner space, then, erase the memory
of it.
What
is left is the essence of that love. Feel it very acutely.
Erase
that feeling: now you have the essence of the essence of love.
What
words could describe these three stages?
– An
intense feeling of joy and enthusiasm during the first stage, then a
restful and infinite feeling of peace during the second stage, and
finally nothingness, a sort of emptiness during the last stage. But
such an unutterable nothingness, I wish I would never be parted from
it!
– That
is what comes the nearest to the so-called divine simplicity.
– The
other day, you mentioned the 6 rays, but you didn't tell me what they
really represent. Why?, asks Theophyl the Younger.
Theophyl
the Elder hesitates for a while.
– In
fact, I'm not sure I quite understand it myself. H. told me she
thought they evoked the 6 days of the creation, God having rested on
the seventh day.
– And
you, how would you explain it?
– I
think we can obviously draw a parallel with the 6 days of the
creation represented by the 6 days in the week and the 6 planets
associated to them: the Moon for Monday, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury
for Wednesday, Jupiter for Thursday, Venus for Friday and Saturn for
Saturday. As for Sunday (God's day), we have the Sun, the central
point of light. The Sun is at the centre of the 6 rays, of the 6
planets orbiting the sun. This is the physical sun, the Heavenly
body, which is the spiritual sun too, at the centre of the 5 elements
of the heart. It is also the divine sun, at the centre of the 5
cosmic elements and, finally, it is the Centre itself, at the centre
of Nothingness, which is called the Ultimate, or God.
Restfulness,
stillness, would represent that nothingness which is the mark of God,
i.e. the Centre.
– At
its simplest, how would you express it?
– According
to me, this symbol represent the progress of Love in all the planes
of the being; human love, then spiritual love, followed by a cosmic
or universal love, and finally, a divine, sublime love.
Theophyl
the Elder goes silent; he closes his eyes and plunges into that
unique love.
Used
to such long silent pauses, the young man suddenly closes his eyes in
his turn and joins him in meditation.
Then
they both immerse themselves in the simplicity of pure love.
Theophyl
the Elder
Extract
from « Dialogs with Theophil the Elder »
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