Love and Change, a matter of knowledge — Spotify from the CEC Library

I would like to know whether you could speak a little about love. Do you think that this should be our goal in life and that we would then be fulfilled? I have always sought many things in my life, but I have never defined anything concrete to achieve. When I once heard you speak about the subject, I had the clear feeling that this choice would be the most sensible. The only thing in all of this is that I believe many of us do not know what love truly is. That is why I would like you to explain a little more.

Let us discuss the listener's question. I think that we arrange many palliatives for our lives. When we are suffering, we do not want to resolve it; this is what we human beings always do. We want a palliative, some relief, and then the suffering returns; we then arrange another palliative and continue this way. To resolve our suffering, each person's effort must be introduced into life, grounded in knowledge. This knowledge, which frees us from dependencies, must be clear, objective, and applicable to daily life. Personally, I see that one of the things that hinders human beings is individual and group emotional processes, which truly make life difficult. Whether you want to or not, if you reflect a little, you will realize that this is true.

What do I do? When we speak of emotional processes, we are referring to the instinctive part of the human being, to the responses that do not resolve our lives because they are only reactions to the environment, the situation, our thoughts, or another person; they are emotions. It may seem that no good emotion exists, but it does. What I mean is that these responses are instinctive. Love, however, is not an instinctive response; it is something developed, a matter of continuity and, above all, of understanding things.

Most of us truly do not know what love is. I think that a very small percentage of Earth's population knows love, because to know what love is, one must be love. One cannot carry anger, resentment, envy, exaltation, depression, or any kind of pathology that prevents a human being from exercising their fullness and exteriorizing very good things toward others. Very good things begin by learning to share the environment. This is when you relate to and see the other person. I always speak about Francis of Assisi because the construction he undertook in 1200 was a superhuman effort. He truly resisted everything imaginable. Why? Precisely because he was love.

People may even take possession of him and turn him into a saint, but I can say with all the conviction of my soul that Francis of Assisi never wanted to be a saint; he only wanted to practice love. He had a highly advanced consciousness, could do things that would have seemed like miracles at the time but that I view as the result of extensive knowledge, and possessed real abilities. However, when living with people who carry many emotional charges, one must be very skillful, which can cause suffering. It is not possible to move through environments where emotions are exacerbated and people are dazed.

That is not love. If you want to know love, you will have to go to a place where absolute tranquility enables you to see what internal and external stability is. If one day you can go to Assisi and visit the monastery of St. Damian, you will see how Francis built it. He did not build it to say that he was an engineer or architect; when he did so, he was certainly setting an example for people. You will observe tiny stones, very small, medium, and large stones, laid one on top of another with great precision. He did everything by hand, without using the small trowel we use today, and people gradually joined him and helped.

If he has endured throughout all this time, we say: let us pray, let us ask Francis. There was no marketing, television, or radio. So he truly took on something that I consider extremely important in our lives: giving up everything we are. I do not think this is easy if you are to know love. Think about it. Are you going to say that you cannot love one person? I think it is difficult to love only one person because love is not so restricted. That is passion, that is neediness, it can be many things, but love is something that transcends everything. It is not connected to someone specific, but to what you are. Therefore, if you want to speak about love, you will need a great deal of knowledge.

Sometimes I think that everything our beloved Master Jesus suffered was in vain. Everywhere we look, there is only misfortune. People do not learn to love one another, do not forgive, have no mercy, and have no compassion. In your opinion, would there be another path to follow beyond the one our Lord followed to guide humanity, something that would definitively lead us to follow a better path?

The listener raises a very serious issue and places the responsibility of providing an answer on me. You are speaking about Jesus, the effort he made, and everything else. I believe that everyone who came here to carry out some work will always accomplish a little. It is not possible to make drastic changes in humanity. Earth's vast population is truly very primitive. Therefore, if you want to understand the composition of the human being better, you will discover that 80% of the population is in such a primitive condition that it will be unable to see very much.

What they will be able to do is repeat the things they are taught, but they do not have the capacity for understanding. I include myself in everything I am saying; do not think that I regard myself as superior. I have a long path to travel. I am making an effort; it is important for us to make an effort and learn more and more, putting it into practice, because otherwise life has no meaning. I do not want to reach the last day of my life and say that I did nothing. That is why I am investing myself in doing something that other people can make use of.

I do not expect to be the guru or the master. It is important for people to learn a great deal, grow, free themselves, and continue the work. I think this work must continue. I do not consider myself the most important because I founded the Center for Studies of Consciousness (CEC). I am someone who is beginning something that I would like to continue, grounded in real and true knowledge and in research. I encourage everyone to learn more and more, to study, and to seek.

Sometimes, when speaking with someone, I say that if you are only 50 years old, you are still young; in fact, you must have been on this Earth for about 100,000 or 50,000 years. That is why one must study and make an effort. When we speak about the work Christ carried out, many people have already emerged who devote themselves to this effort. I do not believe that a definitive solution exists, but we can seek a better path.

We will need to make the entire population of Earth evolve. What you are saying is very good, but we are working here. I view this as important because every small contribution helps. Other people are making an effort in this direction. I do not think that a single person can resolve this issue. It is a path; the path is made by walking, and this walking is an evolution that is not so fast and cannot change from one day to the next. Let us continue working.

Look at yourself. Stand in front of a mirror, observe carefully, and ask—you can think it, if you wish: "What am I doing to become a better person?" We are doing something to improve when we begin to review our emotional structure. The human emotional structure is very primitive; we still justify things that have no reason at all. If you become angry and someone asks, "But did you become angry?" you reply, "But everyone does." In this way, you have already justified it.

Let us speak about love. I love: my boyfriend, my wife, everything... I still do not see that we have the competence for this. We need to travel further to reach certain things at the level of love. Love is a very broad concept; it requires first alleviating all internal conflicts and the ego. Some people have such a large ego that they cannot see the other person: they think they know more, believe they are in charge, and do not let the other person speak. This demonstrates hardness; it is very hard.

Go somewhere and find someone who is invading the space, speaking more loudly than everyone else, and thinking they know everything. An ego of this kind needs to be polished because the person truly needs to improve. They need to listen to the other person. To listen to the other person, you first need to listen to yourself. It is not so simple. This is individual work connected to our emotional processes; knowledge is necessary to carry it out. It is not enough to say that you will improve; you must define what will be improved. Let us address the items: take two blank sheets of paper; on the first, write down your negative characteristics and, on the second, your positive characteristics.