– Peace is the result of a deep understanding and clear-sightedness
Peace is not a condition that can be attained by external, mechanical means. If you seek peace and, at the same time, continue to live in a murky, turbulent inner climate, you will never find it. Peace is a result, a consequence of something else; it indicates a state of perfect balance and harmony between all of man’s internal and external functions and activities. Consequently, if we want to work for peace we must know the means and methods to use, and this is the science explained in my teaching.
While you understand only the lower nature of mankind you can truthfully say that they are wild beasts. But you must look deeper and recognize the divinity hidden within, then you will see that the wild beasts can be made to give way to Angels. Human beings have lived on the level of their selfish instincts and passions for too long and, naturally, this has not left much room for manifestations of magnanimity, nobility and generosity. It is true that there are wild beasts in man; you only have to scratch the surface or deprive them of something and you will see how promptly they strike back if they have made no effort to be nobler or more enlightened. But as soon as they begin to control and spiritualize themselves they are capable of rising above such small-mindedness.
Initiatic Science explains the work to be done through the concepts of harmony and brotherhood. Everybody knows that the human body is composed of a number of separate but interdependent organs and although each organ has its own particular function they all have to work in harmony with each other, otherwise the result is disorder or – to put it in musical terms – dissonance. Humans can only be healthy and in peace if each of their organs does its work disinterestedly and selflessly, for the good of the whole. But that kind of peace and health is purely physical.
You can only know peace when all your cells vibrate in unison with a sublime, disinterested ideal. Sages tell us the truth therefore, when they say that you will not know peace until every one of your cells, every fibre of your being, is steeped in thoughts of love, that is, in mercy, generosity, forgiveness and selflessness. This is the only way to attain peace. If you still hold a grudge against your neighbour, if you cannot find it in your heart to forgive him, and keep trying to devise some way of gaining revenge, or if someone owes you money and you keep brooding about when he is going to pay it back, you will never know peace, because these preoccupations are too personal, too ego-centric.
When it comes to peace of the soul and spirit, we have to go much higher: all the different elements which go to make up that other whole, our psychic organism, must also vibrate in unison, selflessly, impartially and without friction, just like the organs of the physical body. Peace, therefore, is a higher state of consciousness and, as our state of consciousness depends to a great extent on the health of our physical body, as the least little problem on the physical plane finds an echo on the psychic plane, the physical and psychic organisms must be in harmony with each other before we can know true peace.
Peace, as I have already said, is a result. When all the instruments in an orchestra are perfectly tuned to the same pitch, when all the musicians have already practised under their conductor whom they have come to know, love and obey, then they can produce extraordinarily harmonious music. And in a human being, peace is this harmony, this perfect accord that reigns amongst all the various elements, forces, functions, thoughts, feelings and acts.
It is the result of the harmony that reigns amongst all the elements that go to make up a human being: spirit, soul, intellect, heart, will and physical body. And if peace is so rare and difficult to attain it is precisely because these different elements are so rarely in harmony. A person may have wisdom and a lucid mind and, at the same time, harbour base feelings in their heart which drive them to acts of folly. Or they may be animated by the most noble intentions and yet suffer from a paralysis of the will. In such conditions how can they be at peace within themselves? Peace is the ultimate acquisition. When, after much suffering and many battles, defeats and victories, a man’s divine nature finally triumphs over all the insurrection and tumult of his lower nature, then he can obtain peace.
Peace, therefore, is the result of a deep understanding and clear-sightedness about the different elements which nourish man on every level of their being. But, as I have just said, knowledge is not enough: a person must also be extremely vigilant and strong-minded if they are to stave off every element liable to do them harm. If the Initiates always insist so much on the importance of purity, it is because they know very well that even the slightest impurity, whether in their physical body or in their thoughts or feelings, robs them immediately of their peace.
To be continued…
This topic is covered in other articles:
http://with-omraam.com/fr/we-attract-the-leaders-we-deserve/
Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov
Complete Works Vol. 6, Harmony
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