Creative Comprehension

Being and Knowing must mutually balance each other in order to establish the flame of understanding in our psyche.

When knowing is greater than being, it causes intellectual confusion of all kinds.

If being is greater than knowing, it can lead to cases as serious as the stupid saint.

In the realm of practical life, it is advisable to self-observe with the purpose of self-discovery.

It is precisely practical life that is the psychological gymnasium through which we can discover our defects.

In a state of alert perception, alert to novelty, we can verify directly that hidden defects spontaneously surface.

It is clear that a discovered defect must be consciously worked on with the purpose of separating it from our psyche.

Above all, we must not identify with any ego-defect if we really wish to eliminate it.

If, standing on a board, we wish to lift it to place it against a wall, this would not be possible if we continued to stand on it.

Obviously, we must begin by separating the board from ourselves, withdrawing from it, and then with our hands lift the board and place it against the wall.

Similarly, we must not identify with any psychic aggregate if we truly wish to separate it from our psyche.

When one identifies with this or that ego, in fact, one strengthens it instead of disintegrating it.

Suppose that any ego of lust takes over the reels we have in the intellectual centre to project scenes of lasciviousness and sexual morbidity onto the screen of the mind, if we identify with such passionate images, undoubtedly that lustful ego will be strengthened tremendously.

But if we, instead of identifying with that entity, separate it from our psyche, considering it as an intrusive demon, obviously creative understanding will have arisen in our intimacy.

Later we could indulge in analytically judging such an aggregate with the purpose of becoming fully aware of it.

The serious thing about people is precisely identification, and this is regrettable.

If people knew the doctrine of the many, if they truly understood that not even their own life belongs to them, then they would not commit the error of identification.

Scenes of anger, images of jealousy, etc., in the realm of practical life are useful when we are in constant psychological self-observation.

Then we find that neither our thoughts, nor our desires, nor our actions belong to us.

Unquestionably, multiple egos intervene as intruders of ill omen to put thoughts in our minds and emotions in our hearts and actions of any kind in our motor centre.

It is regrettable that we are not masters of ourselves, that various psychological entities do with us whatever they please.

Unfortunately, we do not even remotely suspect what is happening to us and we act as simple puppets controlled by invisible threads.

The worst thing about all this is that instead of fighting to become independent from all these secret tyrants, we make the mistake of invigorating them, and this happens when we identify.

Any street scene, any family drama, any silly quarrel between spouses, is undoubtedly due to this or that ego, and this is something that we must never ignore.

Practical life is the psychological mirror where we can see ourselves as we are.

But above all, we must understand the need to see ourselves, the need to change radically, only then will we feel like really observing ourselves.

He who is content with the state in which he lives, the fool, the backward, the negligent, will never feel the desire to see himself, he will love himself too much and will in no way be willing to review his conduct and his way of being.

Clearly, we will say that in some comedies, dramas and tragedies of practical life, several egos intervene that it is necessary to understand.

In any scene of passionate jealousy, egos of lust, anger, pride, jealousy, etc., etc., etc., come into play, which must later be judged analytically, each separately, in order to understand them fully with the evident purpose of disintegrating them completely.

Understanding is very elastic, therefore we need to delve deeper and deeper; what we understand today in one way, we will understand better tomorrow.

Looking at things from this angle, we can verify for ourselves how useful the various circumstances of life are when we truly use them as a mirror for self-discovery.

In no way would we ever try to affirm that the dramas, comedies and tragedies of practical life are always beautiful and perfect, such an affirmation would be absurd.

However, as absurd as the various situations of existence may be, they are wonderful as a psychological gymnasium.

The work related to the dissolution of the various elements that constitute the self is frightfully difficult.

Among the cadences of verse, crime is also hidden. Among the delicious perfume of the temples, crime is hidden.

Crime sometimes becomes so refined that it is confused with holiness, and so cruel that it comes to resemble sweetness.

Crime dresses in the toga of the judge, in the tunic of the Master, in the garb of the beggar, in the suit of the gentleman and even in the tunic of Christ.

Understanding is fundamental, but in the work of dissolving psychic aggregates, it is not everything, as we will see in the following chapter.

It is urgent, unavoidable, to become aware of each Ego in order to separate it from our Psyche, but that is not all, something more is missing, see chapter sixteen.