In the theme of "The Veil of Ahehia"—the effect of which is *enjoyment*—we learn to love the divine manifestation in all its aspects, without rejecting anything. What does it mean to "enjoy"? In the common sense, it means to possess something, to have a taste for something, to delight in, or to take pleasure in. Enjoyment is pleasure, joy; it is a movement of the spirit that manifests through clearly recognizable signs. It is also generally associated with the beautiful, with pleasure, and with that which is attractive.
And here, we encounter the "pairs of opposites." Who decides what is pleasant and what is not? What is beautiful versus what is ugly? What is pleasurable versus what is unpleasant? Let us recall the image of the dragon, which conceals the enigma of human knowledge—the enigma of the pairs of opposites. Our pilgrimage, beginning with the awakening of our vocation, has led us through various stages.
In the stage commonly called the "purgative" phase, we adopted a new description of reality; we learned to feel a sense of desolation regarding our own ignorance, and we developed the capacity to categorize our potential actions in terms of good and evil—acting accordingly. The stage involving the purification of the will taught us the wise use of our energy, as well as how to nourish our will with the power of love and truth.
The "illuminative" stage begins with "The Golden Temple," where we learn that our true solace lies in loving without measure—in embracing life and offering ourselves to the service of all souls. But what does it mean to embrace life and offer ourselves to the service of souls?
To be able to offer our life, we must first possess it—we must become its masters and truly claim it. To be able to offer ourselves, we must first set ourselves free.
On one hand, we know what liberation is *not*: neither materialism, nor idealism, nor dogmatism will lead us to freedom. On the other hand, it also tells us how to find liberation: by being what we are—human beings with an infinite array of possibilities. What are these possibilities? How can we discover new fields of possibilities—not merely in a quantitative sense, but qualitatively as well?
On one hand, we operate within our waking consciousness, while on the other, we are profoundly influenced by our unconscious—even during our waking hours. We also participate in the realms of mineral, vegetal, animal, and spiritual existence. It is within our consciousness that the great alchemy of all these levels takes place, and it is here that our development unfolds. The realm of our consciousness reaches out to the cosmos, as well as toward a Substantial Union with the Divine Mother.
Through a disciplined life and mystical experiences rooted in self-renunciation, we empower this alchemy and embrace the development of consciousness as a supreme endeavor to assist humanity. Our love for the divine manifestation and our apostolate of service to souls flourish at this level.
It is not our task to compulsively change the world from the outside; rather, our task is to expand our own state of consciousness—to bring about change from within. This process is slow, arduous, and demands our total commitment. Yet, it is this that yields lasting fruit. And our mission is to share this gift with all of humanity. To this end, we commit ourselves entirely to the arduous task of purifying both our means and our ends. Self-deception, infatuation, impatience, and rationalizations can cause us to lose the efforts of an entire lifetime—unless we learn to draw instruction from them, gaining insight into ourselves and—each time they arise, however minuscule they may seem—placing them at the feet of the Divine Mother.
The Veil of Ahehia is a symbol of Spiritual Wisdom. No matter how vast one’s knowledge may be, it never encompasses the whole of reality; thus, spiritual wisdom always leaves room for the possibility of a broader understanding—it includes the potential knowledge that will become manifest through our own development.
When we grasp the limitations of the knowledge that reaches us from the outside, we also come to understand the need to reach the very essence of knowing. This openness reveals that our habitual state of consciousness is a very small world when compared to the world in which we actually live. Attaining substantial wisdom means entering into this dynamic state: every piece of knowledge we integrate represents a death to our previous state of consciousness and a birth into a new field of possibilities. Accepting the limitations of what we know and perceive is what opens our consciousness to grasp the vastness of reality.
For this reason, descending into the realm of death symbolizes the experiences we must undergo before we can be born into a new life of union with the Divine. Death on one level is the prerequisite for life on a higher level.
And here, we encounter the "pairs of opposites." Who decides what is pleasant and what is not? What is beautiful versus what is ugly? What is pleasurable versus what is unpleasant? Let us recall the image of the dragon, which conceals the enigma of human knowledge—the enigma of the pairs of opposites. Our pilgrimage, beginning with the awakening of our vocation, has led us through various stages.
In the stage commonly called the "purgative" phase, we adopted a new description of reality; we learned to feel a sense of desolation regarding our own ignorance, and we developed the capacity to categorize our potential actions in terms of good and evil—acting accordingly. The stage involving the purification of the will taught us the wise use of our energy, as well as how to nourish our will with the power of love and truth.
The "illuminative" stage begins with "The Golden Temple," where we learn that our true solace lies in loving without measure—in embracing life and offering ourselves to the service of all souls. But what does it mean to embrace life and offer ourselves to the service of souls?
To be able to offer our life, we must first possess it—we must become its masters and truly claim it. To be able to offer ourselves, we must first set ourselves free.
On one hand, we know what liberation is *not*: neither materialism, nor idealism, nor dogmatism will lead us to freedom. On the other hand, it also tells us how to find liberation: by being what we are—human beings with an infinite array of possibilities. What are these possibilities? How can we discover new fields of possibilities—not merely in a quantitative sense, but qualitatively as well?
On one hand, we operate within our waking consciousness, while on the other, we are profoundly influenced by our unconscious—even during our waking hours. We also participate in the realms of mineral, vegetal, animal, and spiritual existence. It is within our consciousness that the great alchemy of all these levels takes place, and it is here that our development unfolds. The realm of our consciousness reaches out to the cosmos, as well as toward a Substantial Union with the Divine Mother.
Through a disciplined life and mystical experiences rooted in self-renunciation, we empower this alchemy and embrace the development of consciousness as a supreme endeavor to assist humanity. Our love for the divine manifestation and our apostolate of service to souls flourish at this level.
It is not our task to compulsively change the world from the outside; rather, our task is to expand our own state of consciousness—to bring about change from within. This process is slow, arduous, and demands our total commitment. Yet, it is this that yields lasting fruit. And our mission is to share this gift with all of humanity. To this end, we commit ourselves entirely to the arduous task of purifying both our means and our ends. Self-deception, infatuation, impatience, and rationalizations can cause us to lose the efforts of an entire lifetime—unless we learn to draw instruction from them, gaining insight into ourselves and—each time they arise, however minuscule they may seem—placing them at the feet of the Divine Mother.
The Veil of Ahehia is a symbol of Spiritual Wisdom. No matter how vast one’s knowledge may be, it never encompasses the whole of reality; thus, spiritual wisdom always leaves room for the possibility of a broader understanding—it includes the potential knowledge that will become manifest through our own development.
When we grasp the limitations of the knowledge that reaches us from the outside, we also come to understand the need to reach the very essence of knowing. This openness reveals that our habitual state of consciousness is a very small world when compared to the world in which we actually live. Attaining substantial wisdom means entering into this dynamic state: every piece of knowledge we integrate represents a death to our previous state of consciousness and a birth into a new field of possibilities. Accepting the limitations of what we know and perceive is what opens our consciousness to grasp the vastness of reality.
For this reason, descending into the realm of death symbolizes the experiences we must undergo before we can be born into a new life of union with the Divine. Death on one level is the prerequisite for life on a higher level.