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Chapter 12: Radical ChangeAs long as a person persists in the error of believing himself to be one, unique, individual, it is evident that radical change will be more than impossible.
The very fact that esoteric work begins with rigorous observation of oneself is indicating to us a multiplicity of psychological factors, “I’s”, or undesirable elements, that it is urgent to eliminate, eradicate from our interior. Without question, it would in no way be possible to eliminate unknown errors. |
It is urgent to observe previously that which we want to separate from our psyche.
This type of work is not external, but internal. Those who think that some book of etiquette, or external and superficial code of ethics can lead to success are in fact, totally mistaken.
The concrete and definitive fact that the intimate work begins with attention concentrated on the full observation of oneself is more than sufficient reason to demonstrate that this work demands a very particular and personal effort from each one of us.
Speaking frankly and to the point, we emphatically affirm the following: No other human being can do this work for us.
No change whatsoever is possible within our psyche, without direct observation of that whole sum of subjective factors that we carry within.
To take as accepted this multiplicity of errors, rejecting the need for study and direct observation of them, indicates in fact, an evasion or excuse, an escape from oneself, a form of self-deceit.
Only through the rigorous effort of judicious observation of oneself, without excuses of any kind, can we really demonstrate that we are not “one” but “many.”
To admit the plurality of the “I” and to prove it through rigorous observation are two different things.
Someone can accept the doctrine of the many “I’s”, without ever having witnessed it. This latter is only possible by observing oneself carefully.
To shun the work of intimate observation, to look for excuses, is an unmistakable sign of degeneration.
As long as a man sustains the illusion that he is always one and the same person, he cannot change, and obviously, the object of this work is precisely the achievement of a gradual change in our interior life.
Radical transformation is a definite possibility which is normally lost when one does not work on oneself.
The starting point of the radical change remains hidden as long as a person continues to believe he is one.
Those who reject the doctrine of the many “I’s”, clearly demonstrate that they have never seriously self-observed.
The rigorous observation of oneself, without excuses of any kind, permits one to verify for oneself the crude reality that we are not “one,” but “many.”
In the world of subjective opinions, diverse pseudo esoteric or pseudo-occult theories always serve as a passage of escape from ourselves.
The illusion that a person is always one and the same is unquestionably a stumbling block to self-observation.
Someone can say, “I know that I am not one but many. Gnosis taught me that.” Such an affirmation, though it may be very sincere, is obviously something merely external and superficial if there is not a fully lived experience of this aspect of the doctrine.
To prove, to experience, and to comprehend, is what is fundamental. Only thus is it possible to work consciously to achieve a radical change.
To affirm is one thing and to comprehend, another. When someone says, “I comprehend that I am not one, but many,” if his comprehension is genuine, and not merely the insubstantial verbiage of ambiguous chatter, this indicates, signals, reveals the complete verification of the doctrine of the many “I’s”.
Knowledge and comprehension are different. The former is of the mind, and the latter, of the heart.
Mere knowledge of the doctrine of the many “I’s” serves no purpose. Unfortunately, in the times in which we live, knowledge has been elevated far above comprehension because the poor intellectual animal mistakenly called man, has exclusively developed the aspect of knowledge, lamentably forgetting the corresponding aspect of Being.
To know the doctrine of the many “I’s”, and to comprehend it is fundamental for any true radical change.
When a man begins to carefully observe himself, from the viewpoint of being not one but many, he has obviously initiated serious work on his interior nature.
This type of work is not external, but internal. Those who think that some book of etiquette, or external and superficial code of ethics can lead to success are in fact, totally mistaken.
The concrete and definitive fact that the intimate work begins with attention concentrated on the full observation of oneself is more than sufficient reason to demonstrate that this work demands a very particular and personal effort from each one of us.
Speaking frankly and to the point, we emphatically affirm the following: No other human being can do this work for us.
No change whatsoever is possible within our psyche, without direct observation of that whole sum of subjective factors that we carry within.
To take as accepted this multiplicity of errors, rejecting the need for study and direct observation of them, indicates in fact, an evasion or excuse, an escape from oneself, a form of self-deceit.
Only through the rigorous effort of judicious observation of oneself, without excuses of any kind, can we really demonstrate that we are not “one” but “many.”
To admit the plurality of the “I” and to prove it through rigorous observation are two different things.
Someone can accept the doctrine of the many “I’s”, without ever having witnessed it. This latter is only possible by observing oneself carefully.
To shun the work of intimate observation, to look for excuses, is an unmistakable sign of degeneration.
As long as a man sustains the illusion that he is always one and the same person, he cannot change, and obviously, the object of this work is precisely the achievement of a gradual change in our interior life.
Radical transformation is a definite possibility which is normally lost when one does not work on oneself.
The starting point of the radical change remains hidden as long as a person continues to believe he is one.
Those who reject the doctrine of the many “I’s”, clearly demonstrate that they have never seriously self-observed.
The rigorous observation of oneself, without excuses of any kind, permits one to verify for oneself the crude reality that we are not “one,” but “many.”
In the world of subjective opinions, diverse pseudo esoteric or pseudo-occult theories always serve as a passage of escape from ourselves.
The illusion that a person is always one and the same is unquestionably a stumbling block to self-observation.
Someone can say, “I know that I am not one but many. Gnosis taught me that.” Such an affirmation, though it may be very sincere, is obviously something merely external and superficial if there is not a fully lived experience of this aspect of the doctrine.
To prove, to experience, and to comprehend, is what is fundamental. Only thus is it possible to work consciously to achieve a radical change.
To affirm is one thing and to comprehend, another. When someone says, “I comprehend that I am not one, but many,” if his comprehension is genuine, and not merely the insubstantial verbiage of ambiguous chatter, this indicates, signals, reveals the complete verification of the doctrine of the many “I’s”.
Knowledge and comprehension are different. The former is of the mind, and the latter, of the heart.
Mere knowledge of the doctrine of the many “I’s” serves no purpose. Unfortunately, in the times in which we live, knowledge has been elevated far above comprehension because the poor intellectual animal mistakenly called man, has exclusively developed the aspect of knowledge, lamentably forgetting the corresponding aspect of Being.
To know the doctrine of the many “I’s”, and to comprehend it is fundamental for any true radical change.
When a man begins to carefully observe himself, from the viewpoint of being not one but many, he has obviously initiated serious work on his interior nature.
