Thoughts of Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

在彩油總部的藏書裡發現一本小冊子,裡面有些東西很值得和大家分享
作者是Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov (1900-1986)法國哲學及靈性導師

Wisdom
if you don't know yourself well, if you have no clear perception of your own virtues and vices, you own strengths and seaknesses, you will never succeed in life and you will never be able to live in harmony with others and, consequently, your life will be full of complications, quarrels and misunderstandings.
if fact if would be no exaggeration to say that every anomaly, every disaster or negative event in the world is due to people's lack of self-knowledge. To know oneself and all that one represents... this is where people fail so miserably and make so many grave and dangerour mistakes. All your undertakings and all your contracts or associations with others will be in danger if they are not based on a clear understanding of your own character. This is the beginning of wisdom: to know oneself.

Problems
you cannot prevent unpleasant or even tragic events from occurring, but you can find your own remedy for them in advance by preparing the inner conditions that will enable you to face up to them. Winter is a difficult period, but if you have what you need to keep warm, you will survive. And it is the same in the inner life: you msut be conscious of what is going on within you. Inevitably, at certain moment, you will be assailed by dark spectres and painful sensations; the chaos in the world is such that we cannot avoid occasional repercussions.
The question is not how to change the world we live in -that is impossible- but how to improve our own inner conditions. We cannot transform the world, only God can do that; that is His work and no one will blame us if we don't do it. But there is one thing we can do, one task we have been given: to transform just one creature in the world: ourselves.

Alchemy
You would all like your lives to be smooth and agreeable, with no major problems or discomfort. But you would do much better to try, instead, to understand why so many obstacles exist in nature and in your lives. Suppose you wanted to enjoy a breath of pure air and a glorious view from the top of a mountain: if the path that led to the summit were absolutely smooth, you would be incapable of climbing up, you would simply slip back and fall down the mountainside.
That is what happens to those whose life is too easy, who live in comfort and ease: they slip lower and until they lose health, fortune and happiness. You, who want to climb the slopes of spiritual mountains, therefore, don't wish for a smooth path; learn to be grateful for the rough patches; get a firm foothold on them and climb up to the light.
**這段好有孟子所說的：「天將降大任於斯人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行拂亂其所為，所以動心忍性，增益其所不能。」 意味