Remembering That the
Universal
Law Lives in Us,
And Around Us
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
It doesn’t matter
whether you are at home, in a library or on the streets. Imagine, right now,
that you stand before a divine presence.
What would you think, if you knew that a great
spiritual intelligence, of infinite wisdom, is at your side? What would your
attitude be if you perceived that a holy and wise being, a teacher of mankind,
observes in this exact moment your emotions and thoughts? Would you feel
ashamed? Would you be proud, or overwhelmed by emotion? Calm or anxious?
Whatever our answers are to the above questions, they constitute
no mere exercise in imagination. Each human being is, indeed, always in the
presence of the divine world and the highest principle of the universe. Even if
he has a chronic tendency to forget the fact.
Many are so used to the idea that the divine world is
something distant that they think the great sages and teachers of mankind are
beyond their reach. This, of course, stimulates laziness and tranquilizes those
who are attached to routine. Based on this opinion they think they can insist
on the same mistakes without being disturbed by the uncomfortable realization
that a much bigger consciousness observes them, records whatever they do and
tries to lead them along the good path. Nothing occurs without being recorded,
for our debit or credit.
If the divine energy and the supreme universal principle
are everywhere, how could they possibly not be also in my own soul, and by my
side, like my masters, protectors and counsellors? The spiritual journey is about the challenge to consciously perceive the presence of sacred energies at each
moment of our lives.
The difficulties are more apparent than real. They
emerge from the hypnotic effect that the external world exerts over our
consciousness, and from our excessive worrying about ourselves. The philosophy
of the Kleshas, in the Raja Yoga
tradition, explains it well: first, spiritual ignorance (Avidya) causes the impression that we are a “self” existing
separate from life around us. This sensation is named Asmita. Then selfishness makes us prisoners to the basic emotions
of attraction and rejection. These are the two arms of a “desire to live” that
is spiritually blind (Abhinivesha).
However, with the birth of new values and the crisis
of dogmatic religiosity, the obstacles to spiritual liberation have been losing
strength. Millions of people are getting tired of the old ostrich’s posture and
stop burying their heads in the sands of blind belief or selfish thoughts, in
an attempt to avoid seeing the immense and bright sky under the sun of
brotherhood.
Each individual who raises his consciousness becomes
aware of his condition as a planetary citizen, and can better recognize a
divine presence in human lives. The practice of austerity, altruism,
contemplation and common sense is a way to simplify our inner life, to liberate
our consciousness from smaller issues, and open room to a direct experience of
sacredness.
As one mentally looks at the anxious multitudes moving
in the streets of modern cities, it is not difficult to recognize the divine
presence in them. Hundreds of thousands of people hurry up all day long, aiming
at short term material goals. They may go to and fro, yet they lack a real
sense of individual purpose. Human noise is the noise of life. In any
situation, people look for what seems to be good in their view, and they help
one another in the struggle. The sum of human conflicts is less important than
the unceasing mutual help which defines us as “social animals”.
The very act of living in society implies an attitude
of cooperation and common work. Envy, competition, and violence are lesser
episodes in the life of the noisy Brotherhood of Mankind, whose survival
depends on love. There is in each person an inner light that is eternal. The
millions of small generous actions which constitute daily life in our
civilization silently express a sacred feeling of unconditional respect for
life.
To think of the Law of Universal Equilibrium is enough
to heal our psychological wounds. The injustices one may have suffered lose
their importance, and one’s heart is filled with a sense of peace. For
thousands of years the act of remembering the divine presence has been a
spiritual practice, and everyone can adapt it any time to his or her own
specific reality. More than five centuries before the Christian Era, the
technique was used in ancient Greece when Pythagoras gave impetus to Western
esoteric tradition. The fact is well registered, and Sextus, the Pythagorean,
wrote:
“In all your actions place God [the Universal Law] before your eyes. Invoke God [the Law] as a witness to whatever you
do.” [1]
On the other hand, Sextus also warned:
“You will not be concealed from divinity when you act
unjustly, nor even when you think of doing so. Neither do nor even think of
that which you are not willing God should know.” [2]
Democrates said:
“He who believes
that Divinity beholds all things, will not sin either secretly or openly.”[3]
And a third
Pythagorean sage, Demophilus, taught thus about the practice of the Presence:
“If you are always
careful to remember that in whatever place either your soul or body
accomplishes any deed, Divinity is present as an inspector of your conduct; in
all your words and actions you will venerate the presence of an inspector from
whom nothing can be concealed, and will, at the same time, possess Divinity as
an intimate associate.”[4]
The technique was
later adopted by the Christian tradition. This is one example among others of
the widely unknown fact that the Pythagorean wisdom has exerted a strong
influence over the higher aspects of Christianity. The essenes and
neoplatonists, which are associated to the origins of Christianism, were up to
a certain extent the heirs of Pythagorean tradition.
Regarding the
practice of divine presence, one of the most inspiring among the personal
examples I know belongs to the Christian world, and took place in the 17th
century.
Nicholas Herman of
Lorraine or “Brother Lawrence” was born in France in 1611 and had humble
origins. When he was 18 years old, he
had an experience of spiritual enlightenment which transformed his life. During
a typical day of European winter, Nicholas observed with a feeling of love a half-dead,
leafless tree suffering from the constant snow, and thought of the new life which
springtime would soon bring to his friend. He was taken by an irresistible
experience of love for the divinity, and of direct knowledge of It. From that
moment on, Nicholas lived every situation in life “as if he were in the
presence of God”.
It is not our
priority here to discuss the concept of “God”. In the text “A Psychoanalysis of
Religions”[5] we have seen that the
idea of an authoritarian God who makes decisions according to whimsical wishes
is a childish fancy. Some of the main religions of humanity - like Taoism and
Buddhism - do not work with the concept of God.
However, esoteric
philosophy knows and teaches how to know the divine world and the law of the
universe. The mistake of Western religiosity lies in believing in a singular almighty
god separated from the rest of the universe who makes piecemeal decisions
without being responsible for their consequences. It is from such a conception
of God that dogmatic religions emerge to legitimize wars and social injustice. A
Master of the Wisdom wrote about the theological fabrication:
“The fact is your
western philosophical conceptions are monarchical; ours democratic. You are
only able to think of the universe as governed by a king, while we know it to
be a republic in which the aggregate indwelling intelligence rules.” [6]
Esoteric philosophy
denies the existence of a personal or “almighty” God. Based on the direct experience of Mahatmas, it
states that there is a divine world with many different cosmic intelligences,
which are dynamic, living in eternal movement.
In practice, if not
in theory, the concept of God experienced by the Christian mystics - Francis of Assis and John of the Cross among
them - is broadly compatible with esoteric wisdom. “God”, for the mystic, is
but the name of the universal law of harmony, the cosmic intelligence, the
supreme and indescribable principle. Even when they pray to a God and call him
“Lord”, mystics are evoking basically Unlimited Love and Wisdom, the divine
principle dwelling in all things and in every being alike, which is also the
center of peace eternally present in human hearts.
In this context,
the personification of the idea of deity, falsely identifying the deity and the
teacher, is a fact of lesser importance. It could be acceptable as a metaphor,
a symbolic image, a poetical expression serving as a bridge between the human
and the divine worlds and attempting to humanize that which is supreme. The
problem gets much worse, however, when priestly and ritualistic bureaucracies
are built on the basis of the imaginary existence of a personal god who must be
celebrated from a utilitarian point of view, so that the believer will hope to obtain
personal favors from him.
Mystics from
different religions admit the direct experience of sacredness is beyond words.
Their sense of inner unity with the divine world corresponds to the higher
states of consciousness mentioned in Raja Yoga and other Eastern traditions.
The perception of
the divine presence did not leave Nicholas, the Brother Lawrence, any longer. It became part of his life. However, the
consciousness of a mystic often finds it difficult to adapt itself to the world
of “practical” things, and he cannot easily adapt the external world to the
universal love he lives in his heart. Young Nicholas had to be a soldier. He later
worked as the servant of a rich family in France. His contemplative nature did
not remain unnoticed, and had unpleasant consequences. He was a bungler: being absent-minded,
he broke by accident a number of domestic objects belonging to his masters.
At the age of 55, Brother
Lawrence joined the Carmelite Order in Paris as a lay brother and became a
cook. One of his religious superiors, M. Beaufort, took notes on his life, got
them together with a few letters written by the mystic and published them as a
small volume. [7]
Lawrence felt that human
beings must create a sense of the divine presence by mentally talking to it all
the time. He considered it shameful to stop talking to sacredness in one’s
mind, in order to think of personal trifles. [8] However, the divine presence according to him is not an occasion
to ask for personal favors; its right practice helps us instead to get rid of
short term human worries. That humble cook who had no religious instruction
could directly live the mystic experience, and felt no inclination to make
theoretical discourses on it.
Each time Lawrence
faced a difficulty and challenge, or needed to practice a virtue, he prayed and
said:
“Lord, I cannot do
this unless Thou enablest me”. [9]
He then received
strength enough. The idea of a Lord was from an esoteric point of view the
personification of his own Buddhic consciousness and his spiritual soul.
“…Knowing only by
the [Buddhic] light of faith that God was present, he contented himself with
directing all his actions to Him” [10],
and thus wasted no thoughts in personal expectations. The word “faith” here
means confidence in the Law and in the fact that there is a divinity present in
all things and in each of us. Such a confidence results from goodness. The only
object of Lawrence was not to offend the divine will [11], id est, the
universal Law.
Esoteric tradition
says that the truth-seeker gradually learns along the path how to unite his
small individual will to the greater will of the divine world, establishing a
magnetic syntony with it through the purity of his heart and mind. Because of this, he becomes an outpost of the
divine consciousness in the world.
Brother Lawrence
accumulated such an experience in asking for divine help at every moment that,
when he had a practical task to perform, he did not have to think of it in
anticipation. As the time came to perform his duty, he found in the deity, like
in a clear mirror, the vision of what was correct to do.[12] Just before starting an external work he prayed:
“O my God, since
Thou art with me, and I must now, in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind
to these outward things, I beseech Thee to grant me the grace to continue in
Thy presence, and to this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance, receive
all my works, and possess all my affections.”[13]
After the task was
performed, he used another Pythagorean technique: the practice of revising
one’s actions. Brother Lawrence’s life spontaneously belonged to the Pythagorean
tradition, without ceasing to be Christian.
“When he had
finished he examined himself how he had discharged his duty”, writes M. Beaufort; “if he found well, he returned
thanks to God; if otherwise, he asked pardon; and without being discouraged he
set his mind right again, and continued his exercise” of the divine presence. Lawrence
died in 1691, at 80 years of age, after teaching many individuals how to attain
a direct experience of contact with sacredness.
Some might think the
practice of divine presence is mainly devotional. In fact, it constitutes a
central part of esoteric philosophy. It belongs to the Pythagorean tradition
and is taught by various Eastern disciplines including Jnana Yoga, the yoga of
the contemplation of universal truth, and Raja Yoga, whose main goals include the
strengthening of individual self-knowledge and self-responsibility.
“…Man is the microcosm”,
Helena Blavatsky wrote. “As he is so, then all the Hierarchies of the Heavens exist
within him. But in truth there is neither Macrocosm nor Microcosm but ONE
EXISTENCE. ‘As is the inner, so is the outer; as is the great, so is the small;
as it is above, so it is below; there is but One Life and Law’.” [14]
In the Diagram of
Meditation which H. P. Blavatsky transmitted to one of her disciples in
1887-1888, she recommends a practical way to strengthen the connection and the identity
between each individual and the boundless universe:
“First conceive of UNITY by Expansion in space
and infinite in Time. (Either with or without self-identification.) Then
meditate logically and consistently on this in reference to states of
consciousness.”
In the same Diagram
one finds a formula to practice self-identification with unlimited space and
time. It consists in slowly and repeatedly meditating in the following words: “I
am all Space and Time.” Blavatsky proceeds:
“Then
the normal state of our consciousness must be moulded by the perpetual Presence
in imagination in all Space and Time. From this originates a substratum of
memory which does not cease in dreaming or waking.” [15]
Such
an exercise is essentially the same as the practice of divine presence.
In
“The Secret Doctrine”, Blavatsky wrote:
“The
ever unknowable and incognizable Karana
alone, the Causeless Cause of all
causes, should have its shrine and altar on the holy and ever untrodden ground
of our heart - invisible, intangible,
unmentioned, save through ‘the still small voice’ of our spiritual
consciousness. Those who worship before it, ought to do so in the silence and
the sanctified solitude of their Souls; making their spirit the sole mediator
between them and the Universal Spirit,
their good actions the only priests, and their sinful intentions the only
visible and objective sacrificial victims to the Presence.” [16]
Since boundless
divinity and unlimited space-time are present everywhere, including ourselves, the
challenge ahead is to make a conscious contact with them and listen to them in
wordless ways.
Roman emperor
Marcus Aurelius, the neostoic philosopher, wrote about the divine presence in
the heart of honest men. He said that one ought “not to defile the divinity
which is planted in his breast, not disturb it by a crowd of images, but to
preserve it tranquil, following it obediently as a god, neither saying anything
contrary to the truth, nor doing anything contrary to justice.” [17]
Esoteric philosophy
teaches that as long as we cannot find the sacred light within us, it will be
useless to search for it outside. One of the most beautiful aspects of
spiritual path consists in being aware of this subtle presence. Socrates teaches
in one of the Dialogues of Plato:
“…The mind of the philosopher
alone has wings; and this is just, for he is always, according to the measure
of his abilities, clinging in recollection to those things in which God abides,
and in beholding which He is what He is. And he who employs aright these memories
is ever being initiated into perfect mysteries and alone becomes truly perfect.
But, as he forgets earthly interests and is rapt in the divine, the vulgar deem
him mad, and rebuke him; they do not see that he is inspired.” [18]
And according to
the New Testament, Paul says in Corinthians, 1, 3: 16-17:
“Know you not that you
are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (…) For the
temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”
Can we live consciously immersed in the divine presence?
Every human being has moments of sacred inspiration. One undergoes experiences
of mystical elevation and spiritual strength as time passes by. During these
moments, one forgets the short-term interests of his lower self, attains a
different and “magic” state of mind and sees a much deeper meaning in his life.
And this may be not
enough.
Instead of receiving short visits from time to time of
higher states of consciousness, some individuals prefer to live permanently in
the presence of true wisdom and intuition, and abandon those behavior patterns
which produce suffering or anxiety. A classical book in Christian Mysticism,
“The Imitation of Christ”, says:
“If only you had just once been perfectly united with
Christ, or had a small taste of his love, you would forget all about your own
comfort and welcome the enmity of others. To love Christ is to know how little
one deserves to be loved. A person who loves Christ, also loves truth. Such a
one has a well-developed spiritual life and is in charge of his emotions and
appetites. Such a one can turn to God at any moment and, by rising above
himself, be filled with spiritual peace.”
According to “Imitation”, “blessed are the ears that
can catch divine whisperings but ignore world murmurings”. Truth speaks to us “without the need for
words”. [19]
It is not possible
to totally separate oneself from divinity, for the sacred world is part of our
essence. Jorge Luis Borges wrote that we try to escape from cosmic
consciousness because, if we would look into it too close, it would annihilate
us. In fact, as we contemplate universal
truth, our small superficial view of life disappears. The feeling we experience
is then at the same time one of happiness through the perception of infinite
life, and one of pain, for the loss of that psychological world which is made
of attachments.
Divine inspiration
can be attained any time. We all have access to spiritual light. We were born
in it and are still guided by it. However, it is not necessarily easy to
recognize its presence.
The book “Taoist
Meditation”, a compilation made by Thomas Cleary, says:
“The spiritual
light of basic nature has no creation or destruction, no increase or decrease.
Even though it be tightly covered for a long time, one flash of the spiritual
light can extinguish a thousand evils and give birth to ten thousand virtues. As
long as you keep the spiritual light always present, how are you different from
sages? Some ask how to keep the spiritual light always present. It seems
essential to be respectful. Only by respecting it can the spiritual light be
kept always present. Carefulness and caution are certainly respect;
industriousness is also respect. When you are respectful, you do not entertain
fantasies, you do not slip into oblivion, and you do not dwell in fullness. This seem to be essential to presence of mind,
guidelines for self-cultivation.” [20]
Awareness of the
divine presence requires preparation. The main condition is a gradual but
irreversible renunciation to selfish actions and thoughts. The spiritual path
shows the uselessness of egotistical goals, and it teaches at the same time how
to be confident about life. The truth-seeker gives up superficial self-esteem in
the same moment and rhythm as he makes direct contact with the divine essence
in his heart. He leaves personal pride aside as he feels a serene respect for
the divine life within himself. The final abandonment of all self-centred
feelings coincides with supreme spiritual enlightenment. And the absence of
worry about oneself does not mean the individual will be careless while
crossing the street, or that he will not reasonably protect his physical health.
The sage lives in the cosmos and uses the necessary common sense in daily life.
A truth-seeker must
know that, in order to make room in his life to the practice of divine
presence, he has to eliminate personal complications one by one.
An ancient Taoist
treatise says:
“…Nothing is better
for people who cultivate the Way than to resolutely simplify things. Discern
whether they are inessential or essential, assess whether they are trivial or
serious, distinguish whether to eliminate them or take to them. Whatever is not
essential and not serious should be abandoned. (….) Those who arrive at the
truth of life do not strive for anything that has nothing to do with life.
(….) Possessions have an injurious
energy, which hurts people when it builds up. Even if you have few possessions,
you will still worry about them; how much the more when you have a lot!”[21]
Many would like to know more about divine
intelligences; few take objective steps to live in communion with Them.
In order to start gaining experience in the practice
of divine presence, there are at least three possibilities.
* First, we can meditate
upon and constantly remember one of the great teachers of mankind, like Buddha,
Pythagoras, Jesus or Francis of Assisi, among others. The basic condition is that the chosen sage
must be a deep source of inspiration for us. One must be vigilant and make sure
that the voluntary personification of
the practice does not make it narrow, and does not allow it to become a sort of
“imaginary personal devotion”. From the practical point of view, the teachers
of humanity are but mirrors reflecting our sacred potentialities.
* Second, one can
firmly visualize one’s own immortal soul. It is always next to us. It guides and
protects us, and its substance is pure spirituality. This practice elevates us while keeping our
feet firmly on the ground. Our own higher self, which is impersonal,
constitutes in fact the great bridge between our conscious, thinking
personality and the divine world.
* A third
possibility is to visualize the eternal time and infinite space, perceiving
that we are part of such unlimited space-time. This exercise can be done as
proposed by Helena Blavatsky in her Diagram of Meditation. Its effects are extremely beneficial and
include inner calm, detachment and full attention.
Once the choice is made, and the procedure defined as
to how we will visualize the divine presence, the second step is to remember of
the presence in every possible moment of the daily life, and to act in
accordance with it. Whenever our mind has a moment of liberty, instead of getting
distracted with any object we should remember the divine presence in our heart
and mind, or next to us.
Such a visualization opens horizons. That which is
really divine is beyond all form and any thought, but the practice of divine
presence is a way to awaken our consciousness to the continuous perception of
the sacred and infinite life of which we are part.
The act of living as if we were in the silent presence
of a great being and remembering that we are immersed in Universal Law has
potentially revolutionary effects. Through it we may have access to inspiration
coming from higher forms of intelligence.
Followers of different religions practice the
remembrance of divine presence. In fact, every prayer presupposes a dialogue
between the mortal world and a divine presence. As you pray, talking to a divine
being, your spiritual soul is involved in the process and you can feel a higher
presence. The possibility exists that this non-verbal dialogue becomes
continuous. If you make of your whole life a prayer, you will remember at every
moment that a divinity observes your thoughts, feelings and actions; and you
will be able to make commitments with your source of inspiration. Indian poet
Rabindranath Tagore wrote, in a text dedicated to the supreme universal
principle:
“Life of my life, I
shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch is upon all
my limbs. I shall ever to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing that
thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind. I shall ever try to drive all evils away from
my heart and keep my love in flower, knowing that thou has thy seat in the
inmost shrine of my heart. And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my
actions, knowing it is thy power gives me strength to act.” [22]
As other
independent thinkers, Tagore challenged ritualistic dogmas. He raised an
important point: because we can have direct access to the divine presence, the
temples of religious bureaucracies have no real importance.
Tagore wrote:
“Leave this
chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this
lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy
God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground
and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in
shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even
like him come down on the dusty soil!” [23]
According to esoteric
philosophy, it is not in the routine of ceremonial procedures that one can find
the most authentic of divine energies. Writing in the 15th century, Indian poet
and sage Kabir ascribed a few lines to God in one of his poems, and made the
divine presence say to its seeker:
“O Servant, where
dost thou seek Me? Lo! I am beside thee. I am neither in temple nor in mosque:
I am neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash: Neither am I in rites or ceremonies, nor
in Yoga and renunciation. If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me:
thou shalt meet Me in a moment of time.” [24]
Mother Teresa of
Calcutta (1910-1997) was another practitioner of the divine presence. She
taught the mystical exercise with these words:
“We need to find
God and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. We cannot place
ourselves directly in God’s presence without imposing upon ourselves interior
and exterior silence. That is why we must accustom ourselves to stillness of
the soul, of the eyes, of the tongue. There is no life of prayer without
silence. (…) Then you can hear God everywhere: in the closing of the door, in
the person who needs you, in the birds that sing, in the flowers, the animals -
that silence which is wonder and praise. The contemplatives and ascetics of all
ages and religions have sought God in the silence and solitude of the desert,
forest, and mountain.”[25]
The divine presence
can be experienced while observing a plant as its leaves are touched by the
wind. It may be seen in the eyes of a poor child; in any anonymous action of
selfless help; or in the joy of a dog wagging its tail as a way of expressing
friendly feelings. It is also in the brightness of stars and in the progress of
galaxies through sky. It enables us to love and awakens in us a natural need to
have respect for truth and justice.
The divine presence
is the center of peace in our hearts. It constitutes the source of inspiration
for our mankind to build in the near future a civilization of brotherhood. The silent
and secret Presence makes us search for happiness.
NOTES:
[1] “The Golden Verses
of Pythagoras and Other Pythagorean Fragments”, fragments selected by Florence
M. Firth, Kessinger Publishing Co., Montana, EUA. See p. 48 (items 58 and 67).
[2] “The Golden Verses
of Pythagoras and Other Pythagorean Fragments”, fragments selected by Florence
M. Firth, see p. 45 (items 17 and 22).
[3] “The Golden Verses
of Pythagoras and Other Pythagorean Fragments”, p. 21, paragraph 79.
[4] “The Golden Verses
of Pythagoras and Other Pythagorean Fragments”, p. 25, paragraph 13.
[5] The article “A
Psychoanalysis of Religions” is available at our associated websites. In
Portuguese language, its title is “A Psicanálise das Religiões” and it is
chapter 11 of the book “Três Caminhos Para a Paz Interior”, Ed. Teosófica,
Brasília, 2002.
[6] “The Letters of H.
P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett”, TUP, Pasadena, USA, Appendix II, Cosmological
Notes, Item 22, p. 382. These Notes are
also published in “The Mahatma Letters”, Chronological Edition, TPH,
Philippines.
[7] “The Practice of
the Presence of God”, Conversations and Letters of Brother Lawrence, Oneworld
Publications, UK/USA, 1993, 79 pp.
[8] “The Practice of the Presence of God”, p. 4.
[9] “The Practice of the Presence of God”, p. 9.
[10] See p. 11.
[11] See p. 13.
[12] Page 15.
[13] Pages 24-25.
[14] “The ‘Secret
Doctrine’ and its Study”, H.P. Blavatsky, Notes taken by P. G. Bowen, Theosophy
Co., Los Angeles, a 6-page pamphlet, see pp. 4-5.
[15] “Diagram of
Meditation”, in “The Inner Group Teachings of H.P. Blavatsky”, a volume
compiled by H. Spierenburg, Point Loma Publications, 1985, San Diego,
California, USA, see p. 130.
[16] “The Secret
Doctrine”, Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, volume I, p. 280.
[17] “Meditations”,
Marcus Aurelius, in Encyclopaedia Britannica Great Books,
Lucretius-Epictetus-Marcus Aurelius, Book III, item 16, pp. 262-263.
[18] Plato in “Phaedrus”,
[249], Encyclopaedia Britannica Great Books, “The Dialogues of Plato”, 1952, p.
126.
[19] “The Imitation of
Christ”, Thomas À Kempis, Translated by P. G. Zomberg, Dunstan Press, USA,
1984, 250 pp., see p. 55. On the divine voice, see the opening paragraphs of
the Book Three (pp. 85-86). On this work
by Thomas À Kempis, see the article “The Imitation of Christ”, by Carlos
Cardoso Aveline, at our associated websites.
[20] “Taoist
Meditation”, translated by Thomas Cleary, Shambhala, 2000, 130 pp., see p. 62.
[21] “Taoist
Meditation”, translated by Thomas Cleary, Shambhala, 2000, 130 pp., see pp. 87-88.
[22] “Gitanjali”,
Rabindranath Tagore, Macmillan India, 1994, first edition 1913, 72 pp., see
text IV, p. 3.
[23] “Gitanjali”,
Macmillan India, 1994, text XI, pp. 6-7.
[24] “One Hundred Poems
of Kabir”, translation into English by Rabindranath Tagore, Macmillan and Co.,
London/Calcutta, 1954. See p. 01.
[25] “Everything Starts
from Prayer”, Mother Teresa, Selected and Arranged by Anthony Stern, M.D.,
White Cloud Press, Oregon, USA, 141 pp., see pp. 18-22.
000
The above article
is translated from Chapter 18 of the book “Três
Caminhos Para a Paz Interior”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline, Ed. Teosófica,
Brasília, 2002, 191 pages. See pp. 161-177.
The chapter is entitled “A Prática da Presença Divina”.
000
In September 2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the
esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to form the Independent Lodge of Theosophists, whose
priorities include the building of a better future in the different dimensions
of life.
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