CORE DECOR

Interior Designing for Your Mind, Body and Soul

It is urgent to understand that the Soul is the most divine manifestation within the human being. The Soul is the Consciousness, Buddhata, the Essence, the Divine Spark, the Nous Atom But we do not have a complete soul, we have a fractionated soul. Although it is very small, a fraction of ourselves, still we have a part which is not ego. Yes, we are living in a world where people are full of self images. A world of forms based on masks and false personalities. People are negative, we are negative too. But at least we know our negativities and we are in the process of knowing ourselves further, but the other people have no psychological training. That is why, we and not they have any possibility of changing ourselves. Of improving our lot. Moreover, blaming others for our lot is not going to help us in any way. People are like that, they want to be like that and they will be like that. It is us who have to change. And by changing ourselves we change our circumstances as well. So Venerable Master Samael Aun Weor said, The scenes of existence can be modified. One creates his own circumstances. Thus, it is imperative that it is in our hands to generate positive or negative situations or circumstances around us. So, lets talk about the Values which as a whole form the Soul. About the Values of the Soul, the Virtues, about that which we must cultivate in our interiors, about that which make us inwardly beautiful, about that which make us magnetic and charismatic, that make us needed and valued by others.

What are the values of the soul?

The soul is built with a group of virtues and spiritual principles. If the virtues and spiritual principles are not developed, man will only have a spark, an essence but not a soul. The principal values of the soul are love, the conscious will, the sincerity, innocence, fraternity, humility, comprehension, conscience faith, the capacity of doing, chastity, charity, veracity, having consciousness of the things we do, dignity, altruism, constancy, tenacity, dynamism, prudence, inspiration, conscious imagination, intuition, concentration, obedience, patience and quickness, fidelity in all senses thoughts, words and actions, order, happiness, peace, joy, felicity, beauty and many more.

What are the moral values?

They are the values that have a Divine acceptation responsibility, the correct way of earning, dressing well, knowing how to live, being grateful, being respectful, being clean, knowing how to eat, knowing the good customs, the good habits, the good use of mind and superior logic, knowing how to use the matter not being victim of it. A person that has good moral values is just, has order, discipline, precision, adaptability for the circumstances, patience, diligence. The values of the soul are those ones that are born from the bottom, they are properties of the spark, of the soul. As each defect is eliminated a virtue takes its place. They are essential parts of the Being. What are the moral values? E.g. a person who has a good level of being, a good education, living in a good ambience or being son of parents with philosophical knowledge all of this could lead us to develop the moral values. They are part of the education, of a way of living. These moral values could be acquired by a person even if he is not in Gnosis. Sometimes we see a person who gives us a good example. Moral values indicate a good level of being. But what could happen to that person? Having a horizontal life with those moral values but never worrying for the Revolution of the Consciousness! However, we in Gnosis have a duty of creating these moral values as they are part of the level of the Being. There exist the false moral values. The false moral values are the result of the false society,

bad customs, modern culture, bad ambience, bad use of personality, material attachments, the false diplomacy which is hypocrisy, the modern extravagance, fashions, intellectualism and the inferior logic. The vices spread by the society alcoholism, cigars, medicines that are against the health, aggressive sports, the appearances, drugs, prostitution, lesbianism, homosexuality, heavy metal music, social imbalances etc. These are the false moral values. The first step of a student in the Ist and IInd levels should be to finish all the false moral values. And in the IIIrd level The Core Dcor we have to develop true moral values.And we have to learn how to create a human consciousness. A good citizen with moral values, with responsibility in life, to live in a good ambience, swadharma fulfilling his social, material and familiar duties etc. This is the human consciousness. This is part of a material man with inner will connected with the Earth. Sometimes because a Gnostic student is looking for the Spirit loses the correct balance by losing the human consciousness. You have to pay the rent of the house in time, to send your children to school to give them good education and clothes, to pay your taxes, taking care of the house and the children. A good son that has human consciousness helps his parents. A man with dignity in society. We see many people with good moral values. They fulfill their duties with the planet, their family and the society. Like this we create a marvelous society. But the danger is that if there is no Revolution of the Consciousness, there would be only a human consciousness and they will have to pass through the involution after completing their 108 human lives. However, as Gnostics, we can never lose the human consciousness. A student who comes to Gnosis needs to get this right. Never think that if you are on the path of the development of the soul you will be able to jump suddenly developing values without first developing the human consciousness. We should not create a utopia of Gnosis. You have to work to feed your children, to support your family. If you have parents, learn how to be a good son with human consciousness. You have to learn to be responsible with human consciousness to fulfill your social duties. Never saying, feeling or thinking that since I am on the Divine Path, I cannot pay my rent or I cannot fulfill my social duties.

What is the Divine Consciousness?

A person with Divine Consciousness is the one who practices Gnosis. A man who is dedicated to Meditation, an Alchemist, who eliminates his egos, who has responsibility with the Inner Father, Divine Mother, Guru and Superior Masters. They are the ones who help him with his payments of Karma. This is the Spiritual Man. This man corresponds to the Cosmos. While a man with only the human consciousness corresponds to the earth, a man with Divine Consciousness always follows the Will of God. If you create Divine Consciousness, it would be great, but without creating human consciousness it would be nothing. That way we would be living a bad name of Gnosis, of our Spiritual Organization and Guru. That is why the Human Consciousness and the Divine Consciousness are inseparable.

What is the Group Consciousness?

Practically speaking, when we create group consciousness, we create fraternity within our heart. Lets not forget that, As is above, so is below Kant. To begin to create the group consciousness, we need to create comprehension and love for the terrestrial things and the Cosmos. In the same way that all planets, Suns, solar systems work in co-ordination and perfect order, we have to create here on Earth, this group consciousness. Lets remember that the Great Cosmic Will is the Love to the mankind. When we want to belong to a gro up it is necessary to think about the others. In the end times, in those critical moments we will need this group consciousness, not acting like animals. The Cosmic Beings will come at that time to look for persons with group consciousness to create a new race because a selfish person cannot be a part of the new race. Thats why we look for students who do not think all the time about themselves, but for others too, the students who have group consciousness. Love is to treat all without any difference or discrimination. But sometimes it becomes necessary to separate some from others for not letting them contaminate the others, that is also conscious love, learn to comprehend.

As we know, there are seven vices, 7 capital egos which we must transmute into the corresponding values of the soul. As we work on each ego and we kill it, its place is taken by the corresponding virtue: 1. 2. 3. 4. The Solar Pride - into Faith, into Gratitude, into Respect, into Humility. The Lunar Greed - into Altruism, into Generosity. The Venusian Lust - into Chastity. The Martian Anger - into Nobility, into Love.

5. The Mercurian Laziness - into Diligence, into Constancy of Aim & Effort, into Conscious Will. 6. 7. The Saturnian Gluttony - into Temperance. The Jovian Envy - into Happiness for the wellbeing of others.

Let us talk about some of these Values of the Soul. And understand that as the egos are interlinked with each other, so are the virtues.

I. humility
Its so difficult to find this precious faculty of the Soul even in the noblest of our thoughts. In these times, when pride is considered a virtue, the humility is considered as a weakness. How often do we hear a father exclaiming, I am so proud that my son got 1st rank in his class, or a contestant at a competition pounding his chest after winning the competition that how proud he is to win that competition. Christ said, The meek shall inherit the Earth. By meek he didnt mean weak, but humble. Humility is not weakness. It is strength. Pride is weakness, which makes people fall. So many people after doing well in their field become so proud that we find them unbearable. Then they fall terribly. History is witness. While the humble grass survives the most terrible storms, the big tall proud trees fall with a thud. Self honesty makes big head small. -- MCKS In our life, we start from one fundamental principle, and this is our great self-love. We love our body and with any pain or physical illness we collapse. We love our vanity and suffer terribly when somebody calls us fat, ugly or old.

We love our mind and we believe that we are intelligent, infallible, capable; and when somebody dares to tell us that we are a fool, that we do not use more than a mere three per cent of our intelligence, we feel terribly offended, low, resentful, embittered or rebellious. We love our pleasures and when nobody feeds them, we think that life has no joy or motivation.

We adore our egos, when somebody goes against them, we feel we are dying, we explode

with rage and shock those around us. Or we become arrogant, without feelings or joy, and allow the yearnings of our soul to die and any remains of internal beauty to disappear, etc., etc. Self-love is such that we could go on giving endless examples. Thus, while we keep on adoring ourselves, it is very difficult to create authentic humility. In the long journey through this knowledge, we have known many people who have come to these studies with a lot of enthusiasm. There have been miracles, changes in people and families which have been at the brink of disaster. Perfect. However, when the time came for them to work on themselves against pride and selflove. Till this point the good intentions lasted, but afterwards the enthusiasm fell and the result was ingratitude. Humility is simplicity, naturalness, which communicates what it feels without obstacles. It is a state of the soul that is happy in the place designated, without waiting for appraisal or condemnation, or affirmation, or reprimand. A humble person has no fear, because that person is as docile as a domestic deer. It is inoffensive, it is love.

II. RESPECT
If a man respects himself, he respect others. Having respect for others is difficult if you have no respect for yourself. How does a man respect himself? This above all: to thine own self be true A man who is neat in all aspects of his intimate life, such as his thoughts, his feelings, his states, etc. This makes him inwardly and outwardly respectable and he will therefore be able to communicate this same respect to others. Respect is basic and important. How can we think that an individual who has no respect for his fellow men in any way, who is rude, assuming, who ignores even the simplest pleasantries hello, greetings and thank you; can have something as deep as the values of the soul. An individual who is proud, arrogant, full of complexes and insecurities it is because of those same complexes that he is disrespectful. Lets be simple, learning from those who set a good example with values such as respect, gratitude, humility, dignity, etc. If we look at this modern age, we people, especially the youth have become so cynical, we respect nobody. We do not respect our parents, we do not respect our teachers, we do not respect Divine things, we do not respect the sacred places. And all because we have no self-respect. Among the most common problems which trouble newly-wed couples is the lack of respect which comes after engagement and honeymoon. They begin to lose respect for each other by expressing anger, being dirty, having bad habits, using bad language, even committing adultery or setting a bad example to their children. This is the cause of resentments, bitterness, divorce and premature and unhappy old age And disrespect leads us to become ungrateful

III. GRATITUDE
Nowadays, we take things for granted. We take our parents for granted. We take our friends for granted. We take our girlfriends or wives for granted. We take God for granted. We take our spiritual guru for granted.

We have become so thankless. There is no feeling of real gratitude in us. If a person has helped us in a big way, we show respect and gratitude to that person on one level, but if that person even for one moment does something or says something that offends our pride in anyway, all that respect and gratitude goes out of the window in that very instant and we become ungrateful. Our self-sufficiency is terrible. Although we cannot live without the help of others even for a single moment, yet we still have nothing and nobody to be grateful to. Even the municipal corporation employee who takes our garbage or sweeps the roads is doing us such service, the electricians from the power company who lie awake the whole night so that we can sleep peacefully, our family which provides support, love and care, God who has given us life, the spiritual teacher who gives us spiritual birth.

IV. FAITH
Faith moves mountains With humility, respect and gratitude comes Faith. We have to learn to have Faith. Faith in the Divine. If a man has true faith in his Divine Mother, in his Inner Parents, in the Masters of Wisdom, he will always be heard. Why? Because he begs with faith, asks with faith, with the Force of Faith and with Love and Strength in his faith. And so, that emanation, that vibration from his Essence, from his Consciousness, resounds in the cosmic planes and he is heard. In order to triumph in everything, both human and divine, we must always have a positive mind, an optimistic spirit and a soul full of Faith.

V. Loving Kindness and Non- Injury

This virtue of loving kindness is related to Heart. This virtue implies that we should be loving and kind towards all. This does not mean showing loving affection only superficially like modern day politicians and bollywood actors because what they show is just a mask. Outside they show false affection and inside they harbor resentments and plot against those very people. The real loving kindness comes from heart, when we think about the plight of other people and help them to the best of our abilities. If we only think about ourselves and feel lucky that we are not in any of the adverse situations that our other fellow beings are going through then we are not at all following this virtue. Only if you can feel the pain of other peoples suffering thats true loving kindness. And not only feel, when we put that feeling into action. It is necessary to love and be loved, but to the disgrace of this world, people do not love nor are they loved. Love is something unknown to people; regrettably, they easily mistake passion and fear for love. If people were capable of loving and being loved, then wars would be impossible on the face of the Earth. Many marriagesthat could be truly happyare disgracefully unhappy, due to old resentments accumulated within the memory. If spouses had loving kindness, they would forget their painful past and would live in plenitude, filled with true happiness. The mind kills love, destroys it. As well, experiences, old discussions, past jealousy, all of this accumulation of the memory destroys love. Love and resentments are incompatible atomic substances. Thus, resentments of any kind cannot exist within love. Love is eternal forgiveness. Love exists within those who feel true anguish for the suffering of their friends and enemies. True love exists in those who work with all of their heart for the wellbeing of the humble, of the poor, of the needy. Non- Injury means Ahimsa. This virtue is related to lord Vishnu/ Christ. Non injury

should be towards others as well for oneself. If we carry self hatred then we are injuring ourselves. This non violence should be followed at all the levels- body, emotions as well mind. When a person mentally abuses or curses someone thats also violence at the level of mind. Thinking negatively about someone is also a form of violence and injury. Calumny or to speak behind someones back in a disrespectful or critical way is also violence towards that person. To even harbor negative feelings or negative thoughts for people is violence. Mahatma Gandhi is a wonderful example of this virtue. He never spoke anything against Britishers, he criticized their wrong policies but he never harbored any negative feelings or negative thoughts for them as he was a true follower of this virtue of non-ahimsa.

VI. Constancy of Aim and Effort

This virtue is related to the Will of God- related to Lord Shiva. Whatever path we choose, if that path is right, then we should stick to that path and not get deviated because of the problems which come in the way. People who keep on changing their goals never succeed in life as their in no constancy of Aim. You can see around and you will find lot of people who keep on changing their goals under the influence of their peers and family and such people can never succeed in their life as they have no fixed aim. In some circumstances even if the aim is constant then the constancy of effort is lacking. If no effort is being put then nothing can be achieved. You need to use your will to overcome any obstacle which comes in the path of your goal, no matter whatever aspect of life that goal is related to. There is no alternative path in life which can be easy; as the only easy path in life is that of degeneration as you dont need to put any effort to degenerate. Stop putting any effort to improve and you will easily degenerate. But to succeed and develop will, you have to follow Constancy of Aim and Effort. This is the Mantra of all successful people. This virtue is connected to the virtue of Conscious Will.

VII. Conscious Will

In order to understand the necessity of developing this beautiful gem inside, we need to reflect upon the following: It follows that if an individuals anger in any moment has the will to attack another person or hit him, to cause evil, to take revenge. Or if lust has the will to do what it wants, to fornicate or commit adultery Or if pride has the will to do many things to praise his own image, to be admired, then pride will grow larger. which means that the ego has seized the Will of the Soul, the Will of the Essence. We have to be more intelligent than the ego and to steal the negative will from our pride and to transform it into Humility. Then that same will of the ego will be transformed into a virtue of the soul , in other words, into the virtue of humility, simplicity. Not an apparent humility, nor false simplicity coming from false humilitybecause when it is false, as well as unnatural, it is stronger and more dangerous than pride itself. In order to be able to transmit humility on the outside, we must be humble on the inside. This is not apparent simplicity where dressed in rags, inside one is proud of being humble. In order to generate new circumstances in ones life, it is very important to acquire Conscious Will. A Creative Will, in order to create within us those values that we are lacking. In order to fight against all the temptations that exist around us which want to make us fall, we need a tremendous Force of Will. This virtue is developed first of all in our voluntary deeds when we master laziness and offer our help to those who need it.

However, the genuine will is created from the internal strength; it is forged in the difficult circumstances, in difficult moments in the psychological gymnasium of life. In the difficulties and crisis is when we learn to master and overpower our incapacities, defeatism and failures. This marvelous metal (Sword is the symbol of will) is forged by the iron will of the alchemy and sexual transmutation, there is where true men and women are forged. A rose is admired because of the courage needed to be born among the thorns to give us the fragrance of its petals. Thus, when a man excels himself he is worthy of admiration and both mortals and Divine witness his triumph.

VIII. Generosity and Non- stealing

This virtue is the secret of prosperity and abundance. This is the secret behind the richness of many people. When one gives from heart then only one can develop this virtue of generosity. Generosity can mean lot of things- to give someone a sound advice in the time of need is also being generous, to give money to the needy, to teach someone who needs education, to give any help etc. As per the law of karma whatever we want we should give. Like, If you lack money, u should give money to the needy. If you lack love, give love to others. If you lack respect, give respect to others. People who dont understand this law they keep on complaining about their misfortune. They keep on complaining that people dont love them or nobody cares for them, what they dont ask themselves is that how much do they care for others or how much do they give love to others? As whatever you give comes back to you many many folds as per the law of karma. Authentic generosity, true sympathy, and love exist when we help someone with all of our heart; when in a natural and spontaneous manner without anyone demanding it from us we take care of a tree and water the flowers of a garden. Regrettably, people do not have true generosity towards the world; they are only concerned with their own selfish gains, longings, success, knowledge, experiences, sufferings, pleasures, etc. Moreover, many people exist in this world who only possess a false generosity. False generosity exists in that sly politician, in that cunning electoral wolf who squanders money with the egotistical goal of obtaining power, prestige, position, wealth, etc. Therefore, we must not mistake a dog for a wolf, since true generosity is absolutely disinterested, yet this can easily be mistaken for the selfish and false generosity of thos e cunning political wolfs, those capitalist crooks, those lechers who covet women, etc. We must be generous from our very heart, since true generosity is not of the mind; authentic generosity is the perfume of the heart. If people were to have generosity, they would forget all those resentments accumulated within their memory, as well as all the painful experiences of many yesterdays; thus, they would learn how to live from moment to moment, always happy, always generous, and filled with true sincerity. Non stealing- Stealing does not always mean stealing something physically. If you take credit for someone else work thats also stealing. Stealing somebodys share of love and affection like on seeing a loving husband and wife if one feels envious of their loving relationship and starts fascinating that instead of the husband or wife they are receiving that love then thats also stealing. This kind of mental fascination is stealing and this envious feeling is an injury to that couple. Another example of this stealing of love and affection can be commonly seen amongst siblings. One of the siblings tries to grab all the attention of his/ her parents and by doing this deprives the other child of his share of love and care.

IX. Honesty and Non- lying

This virtue is related to Lord Brahma, with the Father. The word Satchitananda includes all the three gods of Indian mythology- Sat means Brahma, Chit means Shiva, Ananda means Vishnu. Honesty means not only being truthful to others but also to ourselves. Self honesty is the most important thing. Never lie to yourself. Self image is the biggest lie to oneself and to others. Personality is for the external world and not for oneself. One should never lie to oneself. We must be sincere in everything. Sincerity is living with the truth. Truth is Love. Truth is Freedom. Truth is Essence in itself. Well, how can we be sincere? First with oneself. If we are sincere with ourselves, we will be sincere with others and learn to recognize ourselves as we r eally are. I am like this, I have to change. Hypocrisy in Gnosis is a grave crime, because one of the foundations upon which this Teaching is supported is Fidelity. If we enter this path, above all we need to be faithful to the Teaching, to what we are learning, to what is being given to us and faithful to the people who surround us. If we start by being faithful to ourselves, sincere, then we will develop this virtue with our family, with the beings who surround us in society, in friendship but what is even better, is to be faithful to the principles (the Dharma) and to our Inner Divinity. We have to develop Sincerity What is the main problem of someone who suffers from envy? It is the lack of Sincerity. His envy is the secret trigger of action. When he envies something and cannot get it, then he can fall into a lack of sincerity with himself and with others by trying to show something that he is not: in his feelings, his deeds, in the material Above all, we have to recognize that this is my level. I need to be sincere with myself and to recognize that because of my past actions and thoughts I am what I am now, and by envying whatever my neighbor, my friend, my brother, my sister, my teacher, etc., have, I wont get it. I have what I deserve for now. But the future is in my own hands. In order to deserve and get what I envy or what I yearn, I will have to make right efforts. I have to be more creative. I have to surpass my present circumstances. And to transcend the external events which surround me, I have to make the balance of the scales in my favor. Which is only possible through doing positive karmas. Not by envying others, but by enjoying the happiness of others. That is the only way to achieve what one longs for, and even if it is still not achieved, then to be tranquil, it is all right. Also we have to understand as a founding principle that the sincerity of the Soul (not from the Ego) is that virtue which brings us nearer to god the Father because he is the Truth. Many people say, I ask for so much help from God the Father and yet I do not feel his help. I feel in darkness, abandoned, I am alone. Perhaps, he is abandoned. But the question is how does this person behave from day to day? In his life, is he truthful? In his deeds? Or does he lie continuously? Whoever steals, also lies; whoever criticizes, lies; whoever slanders, lies; one lies to gain peoples admiration; one lies for many reasons; one lies because of fear and this is the cause of most lies. How can somebody who lies for whatever reason, out of fear, or shrewdness, or to draw attention to himself or by stealing, is going to be helped by the father? No, the fruits of lies do not last. In the short term, lies may give results but in the long term, one suffers without knowing why. Why? Because the Father abandons the one who lies. If the first thing the Father demands is Truth, Sincerity and Honesty; and that prerequisite is not met, the Father abandons that child. If you lie every day, how can you ask help from your

Father? When we lie, we distance ourselves from the Eternal Truth because lies contain cowardice, fears, thefts, intrigues, dishonesty, pride (which is afraid to lose the image), etc A lie generates many problems. It would be great to have enough force of will to be able to observe oneself when the mind starts to deceive us and to get through that difficult moment by facing it with the truth. This is when the coward and liar of old, starts to disintegrate and a new man is created, freer from his psychological bonds. However be very careful when speaking the truth, lest the ego of rebellion will use the truth to hurt other peoples feelings. To work with the truth, it is vital to develop Intelligence and Love. Always remember that loving kindness precedes over honesty as higher dharma overrules the lower dharma. For example, to save one innocent persons life, if you have to lie then its alright.

X. Moderation/Temperance and Non excessiveness

Too much of anything is bad whether its food, sex, exercise, rest or anything for that matter. If you dont exercise at all or you exercise too much, both are bad. Balance is the key. Even if one practices one virtue excessively in comparison to the other four then also its a form of excessiveness. Lets say one gives away all his money in charity to poor people and his family is left in poverty then this is not the right way to follow the virtue of generosity. This is excessiveness. And people who dont follow this law of balance suffer in the fourth infernal circle of hell. Success in Yoga is not for him who eats too much or too little; nor for him who sleeps too much or too little..To him who is temperate in eating and in sleep and wakefulness, Yoga becomes a destroyer of misery. - Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita VI-16, 18 So go ahead and reflect on the true values of the soul this whole week. And in the coming weeks, we will study in more details some of these values of the soul, the real gems and adornments of the soul. Core