'The only way to master your instinctive impulses is to have a love for a high ideal. And what is a high ideal? It is a longing for beauty, the spiritual beauty that is purity, light and harmony. When you contemplate this beauty, you naturally and spontaneously turn away from all that is unhealthy, dark and chaotic. Your love of beauty is a protection; it is like a garment that you want to keep clean. What do you do when you are wearing beautiful clothes that you particularly like? You do not engage in activities in which you would run the risk of tearing or soiling them. You instinctively pay attention to your gestures and look where you sit. Well, in the same way, if you make up your mind to develop your taste for the world of beauty and try to draw closer to it, you will feel as though a subtle garment were gradually being woven around you, and in wanting to protect it, you will be protecting yourself.'

21 March Silence, peace and harmony are expressions of the same reality. Do not believe that silence is empty and mute – no, silence is alive, vibrant and it speaks, it sings. But we can hear it only once the big bass drums stop beating within us. Thanks to contemplation, prayer and meditation, we will one day be able to hear the voice of silence. Once all the chaotic forces have finally subsided, silence will draw near, spread out and wrap us in its splendid cloak. A clarity will come over us and we will suddenly sense that something very powerful reigns above us and governs us: this silence from which the universe emerged and to which it will one day return. Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

Example: 22 January.

Each human being can be compared to a drop of water, and each drop of water falls exactly where Cosmic Intelligence intended it to fall so as to accomplish its task. Each drop has to sacrifice itself in one way or another, by quenching the thirsty, refreshing those who are hot, washing those who are dirty after a day’s work, watering the seeds in the fields, and so on. Yes, the sacrifices demanded of water are many – it is used to make bread, cook food and even to dissolve poison – and it must never rebel against what is asked of it; it must always accept. When it has fulfilled its mission, it can return to the heavens and become transparent again. The same is true of human beings. Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

Daily Meditations