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O victorious power of divine Love, Thou art the sovereign Master of this universe, Thou art its creator and its saviour, Thou hast permitted it to emerge from chaos, and now Thou leadest it to its eternal goal. There is not a thing so humble but in it I see Thee resplendent, not a being apparently so hostile to Thy will but I feel Thee live in it and act and radiate. O my sweet Master, essence of this love, I am Thy heart, and the torrents of Thy love pass through the entirety of my being and flow out to awaken Thy love in all things or rather to awaken all things to the consciousness of Thy love which animates all. All those who do not recognise Thee, all those who do not know Thee, all those who try to turn away from Thy sweet and divine law, I take into my arms of love, I cradle them in my heart of love and offer them to Thy divine flames, so that penetrated by Thy miraculous effluence, they may be converted in Thy beatitude. O Love, resplendent Love, Thou penetratest, Thou transfigurest all. Page – 161
In a silent contemplation, in a mute adoration, uniting myself with all this dark and painful substance, I hail Thee, O Lord, as the divine saviour; I bless Thy love as the supreme liberator, I offer thanks for its countless boons, and I give myself fully to Thee so that Thou mayst complete Thy work of perfectioning. Then identifying myself with Thy love, I am nothing but Thy inexhaustible love; I penetrate all things; living within the heart of each atom I kindle therein the fire which purifies and transfigures, the fire that never burns out, the messenger flame of Thy beatitudes, realiser of all perfections. Then this very love grows silently contemplative, and turning to Thee, O unknowable Splendour, awaits in ecstasy Thy New Manifestation… Page – 162
Now that the whole being is more and more deeply plunged into material activity, into the physical realisation which includes such a multitude of details to be thought of and regulated, I call to Thee, O Lord, so that my consciousness, turned thus outwards, may constantly keep this communion with Thee, which is the source of all peace, all strength, all bliss. O my sweet Master, accomplish all the work Thyself through this individual being in its integrality. Or rather, do not let anything in this individual being forget at any moment that it is only an instrument, an illusion made real for Thy intervention in it, and that Thou alone art and actest. Oh, the benediction of Thy immutable Presence… Page – 163
O Thou who triumphest over all obstacles, Thou shalt be in us the victory over all that would be an obstacle to the accomplishment of Thy divine law. Thou wilt dispel the darkness of ignorance and the black smoke of egoistic ill-will; Thou wilt dissolve all wrong suggestions and strengthen in us a pure and clear vision and the perspicacity which does not let itself be deceived by disruptive thoughts and conflicting wills for disorder. O my sweet Master, Thy infinite love is the reality of our being; who can struggle against its all-powerful action? It penetrates everything, it passes through every obstacle, whether it be the inertia of a heavy ignorance or the resistance of an uncomprehending ill-will. O my sweet Master, through and by this love, Thou shinest resplendent in all things, and this splendour of Thine, ever-increasing in its force, shall radiate its action over all the earth and become perceptible to every consciousness. Who can resist Thy divine power? Thou art the sole and supreme Reality. My being is ingathered in a mute adoration and everything disappears that is not Thou. Page – 164
Lord, I am before Thee like an offering aflame in the blazing fire of the divine union…. And what is thus before Thee is all the stones of this house and all it contains, all those who cross its threshold and all who see it, all who are connected with it in any way and from one to another the whole earth. From this centre, this burning hearth which is now and shall be more and more permeated with Thy light and with Thy love, Thy forces will radiate over all the earth, visibly and invisibly in the hearts of all and in their thoughts… Such is the assurance Thou givest me in answer to my aspiration for Thee. An immense wave of love descends over all things and penetrates all things. Peace, peace upon all the earth, victory, plenitude, wonder… O beloved children, unhappy and ignorant, O thou, rebellious and violent Nature, open your hearts, calm your forces, for here comes the sweet omnipotence of Love, here is the pure radiance of the light that penetrates you. This human hour, this earthly hour is beautiful over all other hours. Let each and all know it and rejoice in the plenitude that is given. O sorrowful hearts and careworn brows, foolish obscurity and ignorant ill-will, let your anguish be calmed and effaced. Lo, the splendour of the new word arrives: “Here am I.” Page – 165
Every morning, O Lord, an innumerable salutation rises towards Thee, a salutation from all the states of being and from all the multitude of their elements. And it is a daily consecration of all things to the All, a call from ignorance and egoism to Thy light and love. And Thy answer comes constant and is integrally perceived: All is light, all is love, ignorance and egoism are but vain phantoms, they can be dissolved. And over all things spreads Thy sovereign peace, Thy fecund calmness. Page – 166
O My sweet Master, eternal splendour, I can only unite with Thee in silence and peace, saying that Thy Will may be done in every detail as in the whole. Take possession of Thy kingdom, master all that revolts against Thee, heal the souls who do not know Thee and the intellects that do not want to submit and be consecrated to Thee. Awaken our slumbering energies, stimulate our courage, enlighten us, O Lord, show us the Way. My heart is overflowing with a sovereign peace, my thought is calm and silent. At the core of all that is, of all that will be, of all that is not, is Thy divine and unchanging smile. Page – 167
First of all, knowledge must be conquered, that is, one must learn to know Thee, to be united with Thee, and all means are good and may be used to attain this goal. But it would be a great mistake to believe that all is done when this goal is attained. All is done in principle, the victory is gained in theory, and those whose motive is only an egoistic aspiration for their own salvation may feel satisfied and live only in and for this communion, without caring at all for Thy manifestation. But those whom Thou hast appointed as Thy representatives upon earth cannot rest content with the result so obtained. To know Thee first and before all else, yes; but once Thy knowledge is acquired there remains all the work of Thy manifestation; and then there intervene the quality, force, complexity and perfection of this manifestation. Very often those who have known Thee, dazzled and rapt in ecstasy by this knowledge, have been content to see Thee for themselves and express Thee somehow or other in their outermost being. He who wants to be perfect in Thy manifestation cannot be satisfied with that; he must manifest Thee on all the planes, in all the states of being and thus turn the knowledge he has acquired to the best account for the whole universe. Before the immensity of this programme, the entire being exults and sings a hymn of gladness to Thee. Page – 168 All nature in full conscious activity, all vibrant with Thy sovereign forces, responds to their inspiration and wants to be illumined and transfigured by them… Thou art the Master of the world, the sole Reality. Page – 169
It is a veritable work of creation we have to do: to create activities, new modes of being so that this Force, unknown to the earth till today, may manifest in its plenitude. To this travail I am consecrated, O Lord, for this is what Thou wantest of me. But since Thou hast appointed me for this work, Thou must give me the means, that is, the knowledge necessary for its realisation. We shall unite our efforts: the entire individual being will concentrate in a constant call for the knowledge of the mode of manifestation of this Force, and Thou, supreme centre of the being, Thou wilt emanate the Force fully so that it may penetrate, transfigure and overcome all obstacles. It is a pact Thou hast signed with the worlds of individual life. Thou hast made a promise, Thou hast sent into these worlds those who can and that which can fulfil this promise. This now demands Thy integral help so that what has been promised may be realised. In us must take place the union of the two wills and two currents, so that from their contact may spring forth the illuminating spark. And since this must be done, this will be done. Page – 170
“Lie cradled in my heart and do not worry: what has to be done will be done. And it is just when thou doest it unknowingly that it is done best”… I am in Thy heart, Lord, and nothing can take me away from it. And it is from the unfathomable depths of this heart, in the smiling peace of its beatitude, that I look at all the outer forms of Thy manifestation struggling and endeavouring to understand Thee better, manifest Thee better. If the hour has come, as Thou lettest me know, for the new forms of Thy realisation, these forms will inevitably be born. Something in the being senses it but does not yet know; so it makes an effort to adapt itself, to prove equal to what Thou askest of it. But what is conscious of Thee and lives in Thy force knows that this new form is only an infinitesimal progress in the infinite progression of Thy manifestation, and looks at every form with the serenity of eternal plenitude. And in this serenity is the very omnipotence of realisation. One must know how to soar in an immutable confidence; in the sure flight is perfect knowledge. Page – 171
Like a sun Thy splendour descends upon the earth and Thy rays will illumine the world. All those elements which are pure enough, plastic enough, sufficiently receptive to manifest the very splendour of the central fire-nucleus are grouping themselves together. This grouping is not arbitrary and does not depend on the will or aspiration of one element or another, it depends on what it is, it is independent of any individual decision. Thy splendour wants to radiate; what is capable of manifesting it manifests it, and these elements gather together to reconstitute as perfectly as possible in this world of division the divine Centre which has to be manifested. In the wonder of this contemplation all the cells of the being exult; and, seeing That which Is, the integral substance passes into an ecstasy. How can this substance be now distinguished from Thyself? It is Thou – completely, entirely, intensely – in a perfect identification, Thou. Page – 172
All that has been conceived and realised so far is mediocre, banal, insufficient beside what ought to be. The perfections of the past no longer have any force now. A new puissance is needed to transform the new powers and to subject them to Thy divine will. “Ask and this shall be”, is Thy constant answer. And now, O Lord, Thou must create in this being a constant aspiration, uninterrupted, intense, passionate, in an immutable serenity. Silence, peace are there: there must also be the persistence of the intensity. Oh, Thy heart sings a halleluiah of gladness as if what Thou willest were on the way to its fulfilment…. Destroy all these elements, that from their ashes may emerge new elements adapted to the new manifestation. Oh, the immensity of Thy luminous Peace! Oh, the omnipotence of Thy sovereign Love! And beyond all that we can imagine, the ineffable splendour of what we feel to be coming. Give us the Thought, give us the Word, give us the Force. Enter the arena of the world, O new-born Unknown One! Page – 173
Always the same Will is at work. The Force is there awaiting the possibility to manifest: we must discover the new form which will make the new manifestation possible. And Thou, only Thou, O Lord, can grant us this knowledge. It is for us with our whole being to make the effort, to ask, to aspire. But it is for Thee to answer with the Illumination, the Knowledge and the Power. Oh, the canticle of joy of Thy victorious Presence… Page – 174
Fill our hearts with the delight of Thy love. Flood our minds with the splendour of Thy light. Grant that we may effectuate Thy Victory! Page – 175
Thou must accomplish the work of transfiguration, Thou must teach us the path to be followed and Thou must give us the power to follow it to the very end…. O Thou source of all love and all light, Thou whom we cannot know in Thyself but can manifest ever more completely and perfectly, Thou whom we cannot conceive but can approach in profound silence, to complete Thy incommensurable boons Thou must come to our help until we have gained Thy victory…. Let that true love be born which soothes all suffering; establish that immutable peace wherein resides true power; give us the sovereign knowledge which dispels all darkness…. From the infinite depths to this most external body, in its smallest elements, Thou dost move and live and vibrate and set all in motion, and the whole being is now only a single block, infinitely multiple yet absolutely coherent, animated by one tremendous vibration: Thou. Page – 176
To be at once a passive and perfectly pure mirror, turned simultaneously without and within, to the results of the manifestation and the sources of this manifestation, so that the consequences may be placed before the guiding will, and to be also the realising activity of that will, this, more or less, is what a human being ought to be…. To combine these two attitudes of passive receptivity and realising activity is precisely the most difficult of all things. And that is what Thou expectest of us, O Lord, and as Thou dost expect it of us, there is no doubt that Thou wilt give us the means of realising it. For what must be will be, more splendidly yet than we can imagine. Oh, may Thy love grow wider and wider in the manifestation, ever more sublime, ever deeper, ever vaster…. Page – 177
What has to be will be, what has to be done will be done…. What a calm assurance Thou hast put into my being, O Lord. Who or what will manifest Thee? Who can say it yet?… In all things that strive towards a new, ever higher and completer expression, Thou art present. But the centre of the light is still not manifested, for the centre of manifestation is not yet perfectly adapted. O divine Master, that which has to be will be and it will perhaps be very different from what all expect…. But how is it possible to express certain silent secrets? The force is here; in it is the self. When and how will this force spring forth? When Thou findest the instrument ready. Oh, the sweetness of Thy calm assurance, the power of Thy Peace!… Page – 178
Thou art the sovereign power of transformation, why shouldst Thou not act on all who are brought into contact with Thee through our mediation? We lack faith in Thy power: always we think that men should in their conscious thought want this integral transformation for it to come about; we forget that it is Thou who willest in them and that Thou canst will in such a way that all their being is illumined by it…. We doubt Thy power, O Lord, and thus become bad intermediaries for it and veil the major part of its transforming force. Oh, give us the faith which we lack; give us the certitude of detail which is wanting in us. Deliver us from the ordinary way of thinking and judging; grant that we may live in the consciousness of Thy infinite love and see it at work at every moment and that by our consciousness of it we may bring it into touch with the most material states of being…. O Lord, deliver us from all ignorance, give us true faith. Page – 179
From the point of view of the manifestation, the work to be carried forward upon earth, a hierarchy is needed – but in this world which is still in disorder, can it be established unarbitrarily, that is, in perfect conformity with Thy law?… The witness being, calm, indifferent, smiling, looks upon the play, the comedy which is unfolding itself, and awaits circumstances with serenity, knowing that they are nothing but a very imperfect translation of what should be. But the religious being turns to Thee, O Lord, in a great aspiration of love, and implores Thy help so that it may be the best that shall be realised, so that as many obstacles as possible may be overcome, all possible obscurities dispelled, all possible egoistic ill-will vanquished. It is not the best possible in circumstances of the present disorder which must happen – for that always happens – it is these circumstances themselves which, through a greater effort than ever yet was made, must be transfigured, so that a “best”, new in quality, new in quantity, an altogether exceptional “best” may be manifested. So let it be.
It is always wrong to want to evaluate the future or even to foresee it by the thought we have about it, for this thought is the present, it is in its very impersonality the translation of present relations which are Page – 180 necessarily not the future relations between all the elements of the terrestrial problem. Deducing future circumstances from present ones is a mental activity of the nature of reasoning, even if the deduction takes place in the subconscient and is translated in the being into the form of intuition; but reasoning is a human faculty, that is, it is individual; its inspirations do not come from the infinite, the unlimited, the Divine. It is only in the Omniscience, only when one is at once What knows, what is to be known and the power of knowing that one can become conscious of all relations, past, present and future; but in this state there is no longer a past, present or future, all is eternally. The order of manifestation of all these relations does not solely depend upon the supreme impulsion, the divine Law, it depends also upon the resistance put up against this law by the most external world; from the combination of the two there comes forth the manifestation and so far as it is at present possible for me to know, this combination is in a way undetermined. This is what makes the play, the unexpectedness of the play. Page – 181
What wisdom is there in wanting to be like this or like that? Why torment oneself thus? Art Thou not the supreme worker? Is it not our duty to be Thy docile instruments and, when Thou puttest the instrument aside for a time, will it complain that Thou abandonest it because Thou dost not make it work? Will it not be able to enjoy calm and repose after having enjoyed activity and struggle? One must be always vigilant, attentive to the least call, so as not to be asleep or inert when Thou givest the signal for action, whether with the mind, the feelings or the body; but one must not confuse this constant state of expectation and devoted goodwill with an anxious and uneasy agitation, a fear of not being this or that and of displeasing Thee, that is, of not conforming with what Thou expectest of us. Thy heart is the supreme shelter, that wherein all care is soothed. Oh, leave it wide open, this heart, so that all those who are tormented may find there a sovereign refuge!… Pierce this darkness, let light flash forth; Still this tumult, establish peace; Calm this violence, let love reign; Become the warrior, triumphant over obstacles; Win the victory. Page – 182
Hail to Thee, O Lord, Master of the world. Give us the power to do the work without being attached to it and to develop the capacities of individual manifestation without living in the illusion of personality. Strengthen our vision of reality; make firm our perception of unity; deliver us from all ignorance, all darkness. We do not ask for the perfection of the instrument, knowing that in the world of relativities all perfection is relative: this instrument, fashioned for action in this world, must, in order to be able to act, belong to this world; but the consciousness that animates it should be identified with Thine, it should be the universal and eternal consciousness animating the varied multitude of bodies. O Lord, grant that we may rise above the ordinary forms of manifestation so that Thou mayst find the tools necessary for Thy new manifestation. Do not let us lose sight of the goal; grant that we may always be united with Thy force, the force which the earth does not yet know and which Thou hast given us the mission to reveal to it. In a deep meditation, all the states of manifestation consecrate themselves to Thy manifestation. Page – 183
My being is happy with what Thou givest it; what Thou wantest from it, it will do, without weakness, without vain modesty and without futile ambition. What does it matter which place one occupies, what mission Thou entrustest?… Does not all lie in the fact of being entirely Thine, as perfectly as one can be, without the least care of any kind? In this deep and steadfast confidence that Thy work will be done and that Thou hast created and appointed those who have to accomplish it, why strain one’s energy uselessly and want what is already realised? Thou hast given me, O Lord, the sovereign peace of this confidence; Thou hast granted me the incomparable boon of living in Thy love, by Thy love, of being Thy love ever more and more; and in this love is complete and unchanging beatitude. I address but one prayer to Thee, which I know to be granted in advance: Always increase the number of elements, atoms or universes, capable of living integrally in and by Thy love. Peace, peace upon all the earth…. Page – 184
All Nature hails Thee, O Lord, and with arms lifted and hands outstretched she implores Thee. Not that she doubts Thy infinite generosity and thinks she must ask in order to have; but that is her way of bowing to Thee and giving herself to Thee, for is this giving anything else than being ready to receive? She delights in thus offering a prayer to Thee though she knows that this prayer is superfluous. But it is an ardent and happy adoration. And the feeling of devotion is thus satisfied without in any way hurting the intellectual consciousness which knows Thee to be one with everything and present in everything. But all the veils must vanish and the light become complete in all hearts. O Lord, in spite of the work, in it, give us that perfect calm of the spirit which makes possible the divine identification, the integral knowledge. My love for Thee, O Lord, is Thyself and yet my love bows down before Thee in deep devotion. Page – 185
Give joy, peace and happiness to them all…. If they suffer, illumine their suffering and make it a means of transfiguration; grant them the beatitude of Thy love and the peace of Thy unity; may their hearts feel vibrating within them Thy eternal Presence. They are all in me, O Lord, I am in them all, and since instead of an “I”, there is now only Thy sovereign love, they are all in Thy love and will be transfigured by it. O Lord, my sweet Master, unknowable splendour, give them joy, peace, beatitude. Page – 186
Each activity in its own field accomplishing its particular mission, without disorder, without confusion, one enveloping the other, and all graded hierarchically around a single centre: Thy will…. What is most lacking in all beings is clarity and order; each element, each state of being, instead of fulfilling its function in harmony with all the others, wants to be the whole in itself, perfectly autonomous and independent. And there lies the ignorant error of all the universe, a global error repeated in millions and millions of forms. But under the pretext that these activities are separate and in disorder, to want to suppress them so as to let only Thy single Will subsist, which in its solitude would no longer have any reason to exist, would be an undertaking as absurd as it is unrealisable. It is easier, indeed, to suppress than to organise; but harmonious order is a realisation far superior to suppression. And even if the final aim were a return to Non-Being, the return would seem possible to me only through a highest perfection of the being…. O my sweet Master, grant to them that they may feel Thy infinite tenderness and in the calm repose that it brings, be able to see and realise the supreme order of Thy law. Let Thy will which is all love manifest, let Thy peace manifest. Page – 187 |