Transformation
God gives us the gift of transformation
Have we truly transformed ourselves, and what remains in us that is essential for us to transform?
The most painful area for man is to reach the barrier, the place where the ego meets the soul, to then move together towards a common goal: transformation happens at that moment.
Illness has been necessary for mankind, that is, illness or all moral, psychological or physical suffering. This pause in the bustle of social life is a plus for humans, if they are willing to understand that stopping is not meant to make them suffer but rather to make them reflect on their state and have an awareness of who they are and mostly of who they were.
When sick we can no longer act or behave as others do, and we become dependent. Through illness God allows us to glimpse humility. We must accept suffering and being dependant on others. We need to accept that others will give us help.
All the great people in this world, once immobilized in bed for days or weeks, become aware of all of their illusions and false values. If we tried to understand the journey of the Saints of the liturgical calendar, we would notice that they became aware of the true values of life through illness, by seeing what is ridiculous in the direction of their life.
To attain transformation we have to first be aware of this. What does it mean to transform oneself? All of your questions circle around the truth but you aren't quite there, because you say: “Is it a gift from God?” No. God gives us the gift before the transformation. He gave it to us at birth. And what did we do with this consciousness? We forgot it, we hid it. We depend on our own devices: our intelligence, willpower and knowledge.
As soon as illness is present, we realize that neither knowledge, nor willpower nor intelligence can eliminate what we wish to eliminate: the smallest and the most subtle things in our lives, such as our faults, flaws – and actually our doubts. Why can't we manage to get rid of them? Because we apply our willpower.
Early in the group, you can hear a registration which talks about the origin of transformation: “The Ego and the Soul”. If we forget, then we do not understand what transformation is: the ego is to the devil what the soul is to God. This does not mean that the ego is the devil. But through the ego the devil shows us his facets and attracts us to false realities and lights.
We constantly struggle and battle with this ego, which is part of our intelligence, and the soul, which is part of the intelligence of the heart. Yet the same intelligence guides both. But for man, what is most painful is to reach the barrier, the place where the ego meets the soul, and then move together towards a common goal: transformation takes place.
To reach what we are looking for, we must transform what we have to transform: our faults, flaws, doubts, despair, stress, but also our mental, moral or physical fatigue. This fatigue is due to an incapacity to attain what we desire.
From the moment that he has encountered God, from the very instant where he caught a glimpse of Him, a human being has but one wish: to transform himself. He knows that all of his suffering comes from transformation that is not happening. When we do transform ourselves, we overcome a hurdle. The ego and soul link up into one entity. Man transforms himself because he “is”. He becomes what God wants, that is, the being from the start of his life on earth. There is no more battle, no more attraction.
In human life today, we must fight many things. At work, we must always be at the top. We have to dazzle our neighbours. Competition obliges us to be always ready to provide on demand. Our intellect is severely put to the test, and for this, we apply our full willpower. But we forget one thing: nothing can be done without God. And one day, after being pushed to the limit, we crack. Illness is there to tell us: “Stop! You are going the wrong way. Think. That is not the direction of your life. There is value other than what you believe.”
Transformation, peace and harmony only happen when a union lies within us. Harmony exists only when the ego and the soul are united together to form but a single action, a single light. This is far from willpower, which is but an illusion.
On this subject, I am asked: “Why did God wait two thousand years before sending his son?” And I answer: “Are two thousand years enough?” Man started to glimpse the invisible only one hundred years ago, and science is making important discoveries in physics. Man has discovered photography, the telephone – therefore the invisible. To go up into space, he has used physics, quantum physics and nuclear physics. This is but a beginning! Man is barely arriving at what God has been asking for a long time. Evolution is slow. Man takes time to transform because of fundamental errors. He doesn't travel on the path to truth. How can you then expect him to find his way?