As students on the Path, we often fail to realise just how far we have progressed in our journey on the path of perfection.

All too often, we fail to realise just how great a change has taken place in our consciousness.

This is because we judge ourselves from a personal standpoint, in terms of the future, in terms of what we have yet to accomplish, in terms of what we have yet to overcome.

Such an assessment is rarely objective or detached, and our own evaluation of our progress may be wholly incomplete and inaccurate.

Further, as has often been stated, that one word of encouragement that we have given another, that one kind smile we have extended, that one thoughtful act we have done, that one ray of hope we have generated may be the very thing that sets into motion an entire series of events in a person’s life which sets him or her on the road to self-mastery.

Naturally, we consciously endeavour to improve—to refine and perfect our personality, to build a bridge between the objective and the subconscious, to have a conscious realisation of our unity with all things and of the Divine Consciousness within us.

This is our real nature, our true state of being, our first estate.

One of the first things we must do to attain this oneness is to truly learn to love ourselves.

Each of us is a beautiful expression of Cosmic Love.

No matter that there is still much work that has to be done. No matter that there is still a change that must take place in our consciousness. Each of us, even as we are at this very moment, is expressing the wonderful nature of the Cosmic itself.

The Love Within

This is not egoism, or a form of flattery or self-deception.

It is a realisation of the fact that, before we can merge with the totality of the Universal, we must first have a realisation of that Divine Love and perfection within us.

We must first love ourselves.

No guilt, no hangups. No fretting over what isn’t. Just a realisation of what is: that we are a part of Universal Love, that we are worthy of love, and that we are lovable.

It is helpful to note that one of the obstacles that holds us back in this attainment and in our forward progress is the emotion of fear.

It is one of the most insidious and enslaving of emotions. And yet, what do we fear? We fear failure. We fear the unknown. We fear new and unfamiliar circumstances. All of these fears bind us.

They shackle us.

They chain us down and keep us from accomplishing our goals and, in some cases, from accomplishing anything worthwhile at all.

But, as students on the Path, we know that fear can be erased.

Fear of failing is erased by succeeding. Fear of the unknown is eradicated when something becomes known to us and understandable to us.

Fear of a new experience is obliterated by facing that experience and by undergoing new experiences. Thus, we gain not only new experience, but new knowledge. The unknown then becomes the known and failure becomes success.

Sometimes, we become discouraged because we attempt to do the impossible, too much at one time; we bite off too big a chunk, so to speak. Discouraged, we frequently stop trying to succeed or to accomplish anything at all.

This must be avoided.

We must continue to strive in areas where we can gain some leeway. To quote from one of the books published by the Rosicrucian Order, Cares That Infest:

“We must not let the things we can’t do, keep us from doing the things we can.”

Our Noble Attempts . . .

Further, we have within us talents and abilities we haven’t dreamed of, and we continually accomplish more good than that of which we are aware.

We are, all too often, our own worst critics.

We feel that if we have failed in something for the time being, nothing has been accomplished.

What we do not realise is that our very act of striving, our efforts, our noble attempts are a force which radiates outward and which gives strength and hope to people around us and elsewhere who are inspired by our efforts.

Each time we pick ourselves up and try again, we generate a help to those who, perhaps, do not have the strength to try again, or who do not have the determination that we have.

The power that is established by our striving affects the entire universe for better just as a stone plunging into a pond cannot do other than, through the ripples that it causes, affect the entire pond.

So, even if we do not accomplish all that we wish, we become a constructive force in the universe just by being ourselves.

In addition to this, each of us is important. Each of us is special.

We each possess a talent which we can do perhaps better than anyone else and which harmonises beautifully in the scheme of things. We each have something to contribute. Our very presence is important.

Each of us would be sorely missed if we were not here.

We are admonished to be aware of the Sacred Light which we carry, and we do carry this Light.

Fear prevents it from radiating.

To radiate Light does not require trauma and tribulation, only a bit of effort—effort which will establish a pattern that will ensure future happiness. After all, we are meant to overcome and master all of the situations which presently cause us fear.

We may be, as individuals, only individual drops in the great blue Cosmic Sea, but some of the drops sparkle. Some of them do indeed sparkle.

As we allow ourselves to be ourselves, to realise our Divine Nature, to sparkle, we add to the power and force of the Cosmos itself.

We add luster and motion to the beauty of a boundless sea. A sea without sparkle and motion is stagnant, bland, dull, lifeless.

Your particular sparkle is exactly what is needed.

We must remember that the good we can accomplish is virtually unlimited. Our bit of striving, our smile, our kindness, our perseverance can uplift, in degrees, all of humanity.

Whenever we attempt the noble, we have the support of the entire cosmic and there is no fearful condition which will not yield to our efforts.

An old Rosicrucian dictum states:

“If you dare to do, you will be given the power to do.”

Finally, our individual efforts and sparkle add not only our contribution, they increase the beauty, the brilliance and grandeur, of an already magnificent and infinite Cosmic Ocean.

 

 

Adaptation of Realising Our Divine Nature by Dennis Kwiatkowski, Rosicrucian Digest December 1986