‘Will-o’-the-Wisps’

– Learn to recognise true spiritual light
If you imagine that you are going to lose your light by working physically, then it would be better to lose it, because what you lose will not be true light. True light cannot be lost by working; on the contrary, if you work, the light will never abandon you. It is when you work, in fact, that you begin to understand things better and make new discoveries, not when you idle away your time.

Lovers generate heat through movement
It is the fire, this evening that inspired me to talk about this. Today, striking a match is easier than rubbing sticks together, but the principle of movement is the same; we have not been able to do away with that. And I will go much further still, and say that lovers also generate heat through movement and that the heat they produce is transformed into ideas, thoughts, plans, and so on. So, as you see, there is a whole philosophy involved here.

How can you produce movement if you do not work on the physical plane? You cannot! As for light, it hardly comes into it at all. Oh, of course, you will always find some kind of light, the phosphorescence of will-o’-the-wisps, for example. But phosphorescence is not true light, it is produced by the decomposition of matter.

Do not trust every kind of light
And the light of the astral plane is not true light, either; many mystics and occultists are led seriously astray because they take this illusory astral light for true light. You must not trust every kind of light. People sometimes tell me about a man or woman they have met whose eyes shone with an extraordinary, fascinating brilliance. Yes, but you would be well advised to distrust someone whose eyes shine too brightly.

The eyes of a serpent are very bright and shiny, too, but they shine with an astral light. All those who have an intense astral life have this look, and those who succumb to its fascination are robbed of all their strength. It takes much study to be capable of recognizing true spiritual light, for it is soft and gentle; it is not bright and glittering.

True light is related to true love; true love is related to true will, and the will manifests itself in physical movement. The slightest gesture you make on the physical plane is a manifestation of the will. If a person’s activities on the physical plane are orderly and their gestures harmonious and graceful, their will is strengthened and they will achieve self-mastery.

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

From a lecture given at The Bonfin, August 4, 1965

To be continued…

Complete Works Volume 18, Jnana Yoga Vol 2
Chapter 2, Spiritual Work