" I do not ask you
to believe, but to do.
Acquired knowledge does not become living knowledge until you have
thought about it for yourself. " (Selim Aïssel)
These words invite us to understand, reflect
on, and try out what this Teaching proposes to us.
It is necessary to practice the Teaching in order to understand it,
and to verify for ourselves so that we may be transformed.
The Essential Components of Work on
the Path...
At every moment, and in every circumstance:
I observe
myself and I practice self-remembering
in order to progressively know myself better.
I do not identify
myself with the partial difficulties I may encounter, in order
to progress toward my profound identity.
I do not manifest my negative
emotions in order to not waste my energy uselessly
and to not pollute other people.
I stop my internal
chatter, since most of the time it leads only to a
loss of energy.
I devote my attention to what is here
and now, since life is here and now.
I stop daydreaming, I am present
to my body: what I see, what I hear, how I move, and how I enter
into contact with the reality of the moment.
I accept with equanimity both
what is pleasant and what is unpleasant.
I do not judge, do not justify,
and do not manipulate, neither
myself nor other people.
I assume responsibility for
what I think, what I feel, and what I do.
I am responsible and do not
allow myself to be ruled by the "you must" or "you
ought to" that another person would like to impose on me,
while at the same time complying with the laws of the society
and country in which I am living.
I find the patience to accept
what cannot be changed, the courage
to change what can be changed, and the discernment
to know the difference between the two.
By understanding my true being, and by being present to life as
it is, I can go beyond my illusions about
myself and my lying
to other people. And only by sacrificing these illusions
is it possible for me to realise myself.