Spring is a time when nature comes alive again and the dormancy of winter is brought to life by the growing light and warm of the sun. The life force of nature is pushing plants and trees to break through the earth and grow towards the light and the fulfilment of their purpose. It is also a call for us to work with these currents and bring new life to our tired and worn our cells. Concentrating and meditating on the sun at sunrise is an invaluable method to link with the source of life, light and warmth so the divine seeds within can grow, blossom and bear fruit.
“This period of the spring equinox is extremely important for initiates, for they know how to put it to good use in their work of purification and regeneration. Yes, for it is not enough to rejoice in the fact that the birds are singing, the flowers are pushing up from the ground and people are feeling a little happier than usual. There is important work to be done, a work of renewal. When you attend the sunrise in the mornings, this is the only thought you should have in your head: renewal. Put aside everything else, everything that is old, dusty and worn-out, and concentrate on the new life, and in doing so you will be in touch with this tremendous current of life surging from the heart of the universe.”
We are seeds planted in a spiritual soil, and under the influence of the sun’s rays we can produce such exquisite colours and scents that even divine entities will be entranced. What is a flower, after all? It cannot sing or dance or play the violin, and yet singers and dancers and musicians go into ecstasies over it. So if we too can become like the flowers, why shouldn’t divine entities, which are far superior to us, come and marvel at our beauty? They will exclaim, ‘Oh, look. What a lovely flower!’ and then they will care for us and help us to become even purer, more luminous and more sweetly scented.
Easter and resurrection
Easter is always celebrated in springtime and Christ’s passion and resurrection shows us the new life that is possible to live. In order to receive this new life of the spirit we have to die before we can resurrect and be reborn. This is not a physical death but the replacement of our lower nature, with all its habit’s and self interest, with our true selves, our higher nature – the soul and spirit.
‘Unless you die you will not live’, said Jesus. The notion of resurrection is necessarily linked to that of death and disintegration. As long as the grain refuses to die it is preventing the life-force buried deep within it from manifesting. And in humans, it is the lower nature that has to die in order to make room for the Spirit, the divine Principle, and give it the freedom to act and transform everything.
The secret of the resurrection is staring us in the face, in the whole of nature. It is just waiting for us to understand and make up our minds to die consciously so that the ‘new man’ or ‘new woman’ can emerge from us.’
‘Unless you die you will not live’
What can we do to facilitate this process in our spiritual work? Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanov always gives practical spiritual methods to help us. He suggests we ask and imagine that the infinite God enters into us and that we merge into the universal soul. In this way, little by little, our true spiritual nature takes over and we live again ‘with Gods own life’
“To die means to empty yourself and melt into the infinite so that the Lord can come and take your place and reign within you. To die means that you no longer cling to your own existence, that you want to disappear, but on one condition: that God himself will take your place. And if you really insist he will be forced to give in, because you will be using powers of the same nature as his own.
Imagine yourself going up and up to a great height, and as you rise you spread out into infinite space and dissolve inthe universal Soul and disappear without any fear or anxiety. Even if it feels as if you have lost all awareness of yourself, there is no need to worry. And as you are dissolving into space, imagine that the divine spirit is descending upon you, coming to live in you and work in you; that it is this spirit that speaks and acts and is expressed through you. There is no need to worry about what will become of you; you will always be you. Although you are no longer yourself, you will lose nothing of your true identity.
No religion is more exalted than sacrifice, than being ready to die in order to live, in order to live with a life other than your own, in order to live with God’s own life. You were willing to dissolve and disappear, and not only have you not disappeared but you find yourself.”
All quotes are taken from the book:
Christmas and Easter in the Initiatic Tradition Izvor collection – P0209AN
Related content: Christmas in the Initiatic Tradition
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