To love and to be loved

For me the life of the Buddha is also a great proof of generosity, actually the life of all the masters, but that moment when the Buddha comprehends what his yearning for freedom means. He wakes up to the illusory nature and in the middle of the night, while everybody is asleep, he leaves his wife and his newborn child and his parents and his kingdom and leaves before dawn. I know that for many people, it may seem like selfishness. Because if the Buddha did it, we say, “Ah, the Buddha did such a wonderful thing 2,600 years ago!” Yet if our neighbor were to do it, we would think something different because we know our neighbor.

But from the point of view of the benefit of all beings, what was better? Well, it was that practice of generosity of the one who gives everything but giving everything means first to have given many things, many small things and in generosity as in all things, we learn to develop it intelligently. So that one day, their Being, in this incarnation or in another, gives them enough yearning so that they can give everything because they know that this is what they have to do in that existence.

Then of course it is already a great generosity because it is to renounce completely to what is their personal desire, not only from the selfish point of view, but the natural desire that all human beings have to seek happiness, to seek a serene life, to seek a peaceful life, to be able to be happy, so generosity has many levels.

From the life of the great Masters, we are descending little by little and each one of us is finding the degree of generosity we have, that’s within our reach, at this level of Being. Because it’s not that I compare my generosity with yours or that you compare your generosity among yourselves, generosity cannot be compared, because it has to do with each initiate’s level of Being.

What is an important example of generosity for me? Well, the attitude of the Solar Logos. The Solar Logos sacrifices himself and does it for all beings. The nature of the Sun is to give life, while it is consumed in order for that life to be able to grow and develop in abundance. Yet with one characteristic, which is that the Solar Logos gives life, light, energy, love, it gives all these faculties without discriminating. It’s not that the Sun gives it for those who think in this way, or only for those who work for solar ideas, or only for those who are of a certain age group, or only for those who live in a certain region. The Solar Logos gives of itself and gives itself every day and then each one of us receives those gifts that the Solar Logos gives in abundance, according to our particularity. A pear tree receives according to its needs and gives its fruit, which are pears. An apple tree receives according to its generosity and its capacity, and therefore the apples are the generosity of the apple tree; this’s the way it is with all living creatures.

The only ones that introduce an element of distortion (by the fact of having the psychic aggregates, the ego that conditions the consciousness) are human beings because the consciousness is conditioned by selfishness. Selfishness leads us to attachment and the antidote for attachment is generosity, because what does attachment consist of? Well, attachment consists of clinging to things because of the fear of losing them. Many times, we ignore that attachment itself and clinging kills the things we love and makes those things we cling to lose the very reason we were clinging to them in the first place. Because, by doing it with so much desire, we kill what was a natural, beautiful relationship; a free, oxygenated, spontaneous relationship, and that’s the human being’s problem.

What do human beings long for? The Master says it so beautifully in his chapter on “Generosity”: to love and to be loved. Why is this so difficult for human beings? Well, because of attachment, which prevents generosity from being expressed.

Generosity is not only about giving. Generosity is an attitude you must first have towards yourself. Many people can be generous with food, they can be generous with money, they can be generous with affection, they can be generous with so many things, but nevertheless they are greedy towards their own Being. They do not dedicate time, energy, space, dedication to their own Being. If you are not generous with your own Being, you prevent that energy that descends through you to reach other beings.

Therefore, even if you are generous, your generosity is conditioned by your psychic aggregates and it’s almost inevitable that you’ll ask for a price for your generosity. Even if you do not say it verbally, even if it’s not a physical price, even if it doesn’t have to do with material matters, but logically you will want to be treated in a certain way. You will want that person to have a series of details or priorities for you. Or you’ll want those circumstances to return to you what you are expecting because in reality, it was not generosity at all, but rather an investment, an investment to obtain a result.

Pure generosity is very difficult to find because it indicates an awakened consciousness. Normally generosity is accompanied by selfish interest that for the majority of human beings (especially if they don’t work on themselves) goes unnoticed because it’s true that one is giving so much. But it’s also true that we expect certain things in return and when we do not get them, logically, the question arises as to whether or not to continue giving.

However, the Solar Logos does not do this, the Solar Logos continues giving and giving and we each take from him what is within our capacity to be able to process. Ideally, this energy that comes from the Logos should be received, used, transformed, and also offered. Offered in what form? Well, in the form in which each of us can relate to others. It can be offered as a beautiful poem, it can be offered as beautiful music, but it can also be offered as an attitude. It can be offered as a smile, it can be offered in so many different ways because that is the way love expands in the world. Being generous is in so many areas of life.

“Effects are changed and causes are modified with generosity”

First, I repeat, in our relationship with the Being, which is something that for most people goes unnoticed. Now we are in a situation where many of the things we usually do are limited, but there are few people who are taking advantage of that limitation to grow internally in their relationship with the Being. As Master Samael says, effects are changed and causes are modified with generosity.

Generosity allows us to enter into a current where values increase and that allows us to connect on the same wavelength with people, with teachings, which is where those values can still grow and multiply more. The Buddhist tradition says that generosity grants us perfect human rebirth (which isn’t “perfect”) but it gives you the opportunity to be able to know the teachings.

To have a human physical body now that’s more or less healthy is a great privilege to which thousands of beings aspire. To be able to have a physical body, with its three brains, with its five centers, with the opportunity that a human physical body offers is unlike any other vehicle to be able to realize the reason of being of existence. Because minerals, plants, animals, instinctively know the reason of being of their existence but they cannot be realized. To be realized they first have to go through the human experience in order to develop the complete knowledge of themselves. Without generosity, it’s very difficult to be able to have a suitable physical body.

The Buddhist texts explain it in a very graphic way. Generosity means: to let go, to flow, to let things go, to let them come and go, to let them arrive and leave. When there is attachment, we cut it. We do it out of fear. We are afraid of losing what we have at this moment, and we believe that we are going to keep it by force through clinging psychologically, emotionally, mentally, even if it pertains to people.

We do everything possible, psychological blackmail, whatever it takes, to continue having that nourishment that we received from them, but that makes us tighten our grip. According to some Buddhist texts, if we continue over time to tighten our grip, to not let go, we end up becoming (the text is literal) hungry ghosts. Why? Well, because it’s a desire that’s never satiated and it’s never satiated because it cannot be satiated because you cannot be the owner of another person.

To begin with, you are not the owner of your physical body, your physical body is a vehicle. The concept of “I do what I want with my body” is false, because your body does not belong to you. It’s a vehicle, like your consciousness, intended for the Being’s expression. If it belongs to someone it’s to the Intimate, the Being. Have you asked what he wants to do with it?

Do you want to be in harmony (which is the principle of generosity) that allows things to flow naturally from the Being through you and to other beings? But when that’s cut off, then one clings and that means that if you continue with that attitude for a long time, you will lose the opportunity to have a physical body as a human being. But if you already have a physical body and live as a human being, it’s even more difficult to find the teaching of liberation, because you need values and all this depends on your generosity.

But what does generosity mean? That I now give all my goods to the Church so that I have a corner in Heaven when I die? I think we all understand that we are not talking about that. Generosity is your attitude toward the people around you. Well, first with your own Being, then with your physical body, then with all the people around you. Generosity is an attitude at work, generosity is an attitude in the supermarket queue, generosity is a way of going into the bank, generosity is a way of walking down the street when it’s raining and you can do it in a selfish way or in a generous way, or when it is not raining. It’s a way of sitting on the train, of sitting on the bus, it’s a way of eating, of preparing food, it’s a way of shopping.

What does generosity have to do with everything we are living? Well, everything. If people are generous, even if there are difficulties, they will buy what’s necessary, but if people are attached, clinging, afraid, they hoard; then many people who are in need will not have anything.

It’s due to a lack of generosity that people have to throw themselves into the sea to risk their lives to get here. If they had another option, would they do that? They wouldn’t do it. Let’s be smart, if we are not smart we will not be able to live pigeonholed in an ivory tower, while everyone else is trying to jump into the tower, that’s not going to work. Through generosity we have to find a way to take that giant leap, little by little, gradually, to be balanced. I am not saying that everyone has to live as we live in Europe, but we will have to try to compensate a little bit because if not, there’s no barrier, there’s no border.

What can stop a person who is willing to risk his life? Today you stop them, but tomorrow they will look for another way. So, generosity does not mean giving money and giving money to everyone who arrives and picking them all up and giving them money, because then problems will start here. What I want to say is that if we don’t forget the principle of generosity, first with ourselves and then with others, it is impossible to not have conflicts and inequalities at the family level, at the social level, and the planetary level.

But there’s another generosity that’s just as important as this one and the Master says it this way, “If a husband was generous, if his wife was generous, their home would be a paradise.” Generous in what? The Master says, “In forgiving,” in not remembering all the insults, all the grievances, not always carrying that whole list with us, not being full of resentments, not being full of conflicts that have not yet been resolved, not always reminding the other of what they did wrong, what they did wrong yesterday, and the day before that. And not always reminding the other of what I have done, it’s your turn, etc. In other words, we need generosity but generosity in our daily life, starting with ourselves learning through the inner work and the death of the ego to forgive ourselves.

Then we need the inner work to learn to forgive the people closest to us who are usually the ones we make life impossible for the most because everyone has to see things the way we see them. And why should that be so? Of course, we have the right to see things our way, but if seeing things our way is going to mean that our life is always full of conflicts, is it worth it? Well, we will have to find a way to be in harmony with ourselves and at the same time in harmony with others. And that way exists, and it is called the inner work, or to put it another way: death of the ego.

If you also do that with your neighbors and with the people you work with and with your clients and in everything, well, you are not only developing tremendous values within yourself, but you are ceasing to be a problem wherever you are. Is there a greater generosity than that?

There is no greater generosity than the three factors. Be generous in dying in yourself, be generous in transmuting your creative energy, be generous in loving others. What more can you ask for? And be generous in forgiving, be generous in forgiving, now, wisely. Don’t become somebody else’s doormat, we are not talking about that. And don’t do anything you can to please, we are not talking about that.

As someone said the other day, “I consider,” he said, “that I have to let go, relax, and accept.” Well, I told him, as a principle it’s fine, but there’s only one thing missing. Well sorry, the person also spoke at the end about the Being. As a principle it’s fine, but I am going to emphasize the last thing you said, “in the Being.” That’s where the key to what you should accept and what you should reject is because if not, you run the risk of letting everyone do as they want with you and that cannot be.

You must know where the limit of generosity is. Where is it, how are you going to know? With wisdom. How are you going to obtain wisdom? With concentration. How are you going to have concentration? With enthusiasm. How are you going to have enthusiasm? With patience. How are you going to have patience? With ethical behavior. And how are you going to have ethical behavior? Well, you are going to find it with your generosity.

We cannot pretend when we begin to work on ourselves, that our generosity is like that of Jesus because his generosity is born from a level of consciousness that we cannot even suspect. That’s why so many times it’s difficult to comprehend the actions of the masters as we don’t know very well if what they are doing is correct or not.

I don’t think they would have been very happy in the Buddha’s village the next morning when they woke up. His father who wanted him to be his heir, the mother who wanted him there, the wife who had just had a child with him, and the child who was just born and was left without a father because he thought of going to do what? To become enlightened. That’s very selfish. How does that sit with us, is it selfish or is it generous? Because the Master had to make decisions in his own way, similarly, as it happens to all of us.

You cannot make an omelet if you don’t have eggs, and if you want to be in everyone’s good books you won’t do anything at all, nothing. So, it’s fine to accept, but if it comes from the Being. Because there are things that cannot be accepted because later on they will cause you harm in your relationship with the Being which is worse than if you had stood up. So, who has to tell you when to start and when to stop? Do you always have to look for someone to tell you? No.

So I remember once (the place doesn’t matter) a person who had a wife and children but he had fallen in love with someone else. And so he said that his wife did not accompany him on the path of the realization and this girl was going to accompany him. And he knew that there were masters who had made decisions like that. I told him, yes, there are, but once they made them, they dedicated their whole life to the Work. “Are you going to do that?”

“No, no, I’m going to continue with my company.” In other words, what you want is, well, as they say in my town, to exchange a 40-year-old for a 20-year-old (laughs), and you’ve made up an esoteric story about the one next to you, which has nothing to do with reality; it only exists in your mind. It’s not that you’re going to dedicate everything to the Work.

I mean! It’s not that we have to tell anyone what to do, but if a person comes to consult you, he has the right to listen to you. And so we said, “Are you going to dedicate your whole life to the Work, are you going to make a complete sacrifice for all beings? Are you not going to care where you go, are you not going to care about going hungry, are you not going to care about going through misery, are you not going to care about any of that?”

“No, no, no, no, I have my company, I will continue with my company.” So, this story you are telling us, you want to compare yourself with the Masters only in the part that interests you, and not all the other parts. Because there are neither good things nor bad things, there are only prices to pay in life and everything you do has a price.

If you are going to make a move like the Buddha’s, you better get enlightened, because if not, everything you have made to suffer will come back to you and you will end up blaming the guru who passed by and told you to wake up! But it was not the guru’s fault. Why did you follow the guru? Aren’t you a human being, an adult, with the capacity to be able to think and make decisions? But everybody wants to look for someone to blame. That’s not generosity, generosity is being honest with what you are, an adult person who makes his own decisions.

So, I found that question very interesting because, from each person’s point of view, the lives of the masters themselves can be criticized in many ways. Well, I have already told you what a worker in my parents’ bakery said, “Joseph would be in the carpenter’s shop saying these six chairs and the bench have to go out on Monday and he (speaking about Jesus) is preaching.”

In other words, he thought Jesus would have done much better working in the carpenter’s shop. Wouldn’t he have been a good carpenter? Well, it was his way of thinking, and they all agreed. It’s not that there was one who…, well in fact my father said, “Saints, I don’t want saints in my house, saints should be in other people’s houses.”

Here generosity can even be seen as selfishness if one does not have an active consciousness and does not have an awakened consciousness and vice versa. For a person with a sleeping consciousness, it’s very easy to hide the most selfish interest behind generosity.

It’s not easy to discover true generosity in oneself and others because there is a lot of false generosity that appears to be so but behind it, there’s a vested interest. How do you know where the interest is and where it isn’t? You have to wake up. So generosity is important, essential as a fundamental part of our inner work, of our relationship with ourselves and our relationship with others. Generosity leads to cooperation, it leads to altruism and that’s supposed to be the gospel of the Age of Aquarius, that we have to put an end to competition, to this terrible struggle of one against the other, to this selfishness, to this interest for everything, everything has to be done out of interest.

This company that calls you a thousand times until you sign but once you’ve signed you can’t find a single person to be able to make a claim. Deep down it is lust. It’s the conqueror who tells a thousand stories only until he has been satisfied and once he has been satisfied, he then disappears. He no longer answers the phone, you no longer know where he is, he no longer has time, he no longer calls me, in other words, he got what he wanted. He was very generous, he gave you suits, he gave you trips, he gave you dinners, he gave you the best of his conversation, of his presence, his beauty, until he got what he wanted. That is not generosity. So, we need true generosity, to change the causes and effects, not to worry so much about our circumstances and try to open our eyes to give a hand to those who are worse off than us. That is important.

Let’s open our eyes, as a friend of ours did who had to return to the city where she came from due to circumstances and could not continue with her Gnostic mission. What did she do? Well, she asked herself, “Where can I help?” She searched for a place where nobody wanted to go as a volunteer. She went to volunteer with children with brain problems and she was there for a while. Well, without getting paid or anything, as a volunteer, living with her parents. Then her life changed and again she took up the mission. She met someone, got married, and one night in her astral body, she encountered Master Samael. And the Master said to her, “Do you know why you came back to the path?” She said, “No, Master.” And he told her, “Because of the work you did with the children.” The children made the difference. She could have stayed at home there to lick her wounds, but she didn’t, she looked for someone to help. There is always someone to talk to, there is always someone to console, there is always someone who is worse off than us, at all levels. If we enter into that current, we will modify the causes and effects and our own generosity will transform us completely and we will stop looking for happiness. Happiness is only sought by those who do not practice generosity.

Those who practice generosity do not have time to look for happiness, nor to ask themselves if they are happy or not. They only try to comfort the neighbor, the one who cries, the one who is worse off and without realizing it they are happy. But if they ask themselves, then they will always lack something, because that is how we human beings are. We always lack something, look at everything you have at home, there is always something we’re missing. But for this, we must overcome fear.

A Wise Person