The perception of past time is constantly altered. If, at a given moment T – in the present – we can say that we are relatively objective about what is happening to us, the passage of time inevitably alters that objectivity, under the combined effect of feelings and memory.
Memory is like that grain of sand stuck in the oyster’s mouth. At first, it is an annoyance and an intruder we want to get rid of, but over time, we apply love to it so that it becomes part of us. Through the passage of time, the grain of sand becomes that nacreous pearl that has endured uninterrupted cycles of coating, so much so that this pearl seems to be an integral part of the oyster. Moreover, it is hard to imagine an oyster without its pearl, and the whole value of an oyster lies above all in the latter – namely, something that was foreign to it and even a source of suffering at the start. Is there not some wisdom to be drawn from this image? Life experiences that have wounded us, sometimes to the point of bruising us, can be reappropriated by ourselves. A painful childhood memory can turn into a pearl of wisdom, something that gives us our worth because we have known how to put our love and perhaps our faith into it – that is, trust crystallised through time. The memory that once seemed like a handicap then becomes a strength, a shield that can even serve as a blunt instrument to face future trials.
Because love can project itself into the three dimensions of time – the present, the past and the future – nothing is static; we are in constant motion, and the past, however surprising it may seem, is itself in motion.
What makes a human being strong is the ability to project love. In itself, to be great, one must be capable of making one’s love grow and projecting it as far as possible. Those who have lastingly marked their era with their spiritual imprint are perhaps those who succeeded in projecting this accumulated or hoarded love through a retrospective exercise – one that imprints the memories gathered over time. We are beings of light in the making, and the past can become that nacreous pearl through love, driven by the need to make peace with what we have been or done. Life is a path that can be traversed several times. As mentioned at the beginning, a present moment can be lived thousands of times depending on whether or not it was a source of strong emotions, be they good or bad. The more we travel the path backwards to pour love into it, the more radiant the road ahead becomes.
The best way to move forward is to make peace with your past so that it becomes the solid foundations of the present, itself the springboard for a flourishing future. If you feel tortuous emotions when you think about certain periods of your life, you actually have a precious material with which to create the pearls of your wisdom. Now all you have to do is draw from your heart and your soul to transform these pains into nuggets of knowledge, these frustrations into faith, this sadness into trust, and this burden into a winged chariot.
Awakening is nothing more nor less than a drawing closer to the truth. To progress on the path of self-knowledge, one must illuminate one’s way with the light that is forgiveness, kindness and love. Being in a state of awakening is nothing more nor less than the consequence of having erased the ignorance in which one was immersed. To get one’s head out of this murky water, it is necessary to fight one’s darkness with everything that can evoke light, because no one else can do it for you. To set this dynamic in motion, one must kindle this “fire” every day, notably through prayer. Since the world is largely governed by the intellect, we forget the powers of the heart and the benefits that prayer can bring to the transformation of our existence. To initiate a change, it is appropriate to set in motion this machine that is the heart. Through prayer, however small, you will be able to trigger a new dynamic that will have a long-term domino effect.
Some of the conflicts we failed to avoid are the result of a lack of knowledge, or in other words, ignorance. It is only later that we learn that our behaviour was unjustified and that we were wrong. Learning from one’s own mistakes is slow and painful, but sometimes it is the only way to learn.
Some popular wisdom has difficulty making itself heard by the general public. Everyone has heard at least once that it is not good to get angry. Some cultures are built around this prohibition (e.g., certain Asian cultures). Yet, in practice, if we look around us, many people easily give in to anger. However, experience shows us that anger is often regretted, even if there are cases where it is recommended, for example when your survival is at stake. Anger can be a valuable ally to show your lack of fear or to mobilise all your strength to face danger. Experience shows that anger generally only makes things worse in most cases. We are far from living in the Palaeolithic era, when one had to show that one was fearless in the face of wild beasts. Today, it can be said that social norms require us to be reasonable and of good faith, which generally allows us to resolve potential conflicts or misunderstandings. The systematic use of force through the prism of anger exposes our will to dominate, often unjust, which unfortunately is still tolerated in some societies. Even if the individual may get the upper hand, this systematic recourse betrays a weakness of character and a lack of intelligence. Anger should only be used as a last resort, when all diplomatic means have been tried and when imminent danger is present.
Why is light the symbol of spirituality? Because it illuminates and dispels darkness, itself a symbol of ignorance and the torments that traverse the human soul. It is only through this means that we can overcome our lower nature, and this implies daily work and a quest for esoteric knowledge. This necessarily implies neglecting, for a certain period, certain aspects of life in order to achieve a certain degree of success and deepening. He or she who decides to go towards a deepening of their divine nature must put aside certain material or hedonistic quests. Light must be pursued without interference and with genuine sustained concentration, as with all human vocations.
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