This is the first day of our 40-Day Retreat and it is a special joy to have you with us.  I am sure that we are also joined by members across different countries during this period.  So I want to welcome you all to our first day of retreat. Today I am doing the sequence differently as I am going to speak first, then we will meditate. 

Re-creating that goal and discipline 

The experience of the 40-Days in 1978 has been one that took me to a higher degree of self-awareness and hence self-transformation.  It was a gift, and the reason why I say it was a gift is because there was a lot of grace involved. I found myself very blessed.  There was a Greater Power at work within me and around me that brought about this tremendous shift in consciousness.  During these days of our retreat I would like to make that the same goal for us – the goal of shifting the consciousness, shifting the awareness.

It was an intelligent journey because I had to use my power of intellect together with the grace that was flowing to understand this journey, and in the understanding to navigate the journey.  So it was working in harmony with the Greater Power.  I had to search for knowledge and I had with me the experiences of Beings through their writings.  I had the grace of this inner power and energy.  I became very self-disciplined and I used every bit of knowledge that I could have in the journey of those 40 days.  So during these 40 days, I will like it to be the same.   The focus should be on gathering as much knowledge as we can, contemplating them so we can assimilate, understand and then put them into action in a wise manner so that we can go deeper inside, experience more grace and hence self-transformation.

Field of interaction and outcomes

If we were to take a look at life itself and what it is about, we see: first we have ourselves on this journey - our individuality or the journey of an individual self.  And we are in a cosmic field of interplay and experience, a universal field in which we have interactions. As individual beings we are endowed with intelligence and we act in an intelligent field where there are responses. And depending on the choices that we make and also our responses, we may experience various outcomes. These outcomes are in a field of duality so we may have positive outcomes or negative outcomes depending on the choices we make.  So there is individuality, there is a field of interplay and interaction. This can be called a field of all possibilities because we have many choices in the field, and in the interplay and interactions in the field we have outcomes. 

Game of life governed by laws

This field is governed by certain laws like the Law of Duality, and the Law of Cause and Effect which states that when we act we are going to get certain reactions from the field based on the quality and the intent of our actions.  The field is also called the Field of Pure Potentiality because all kinds of possibilities arise in it.

This is what we may call the Play of Life, and I use the word “play” because in this field that is governed by laws, we have many choices and each choice would give a certain outcome.  So it is as though we are in a play -in a game that is governed by rules - where we can make choices.  Sometimes, therefore, life is also called a play.

Act in an enlightened way

If we were to look at life, we will see that this is what our existence is all about.  In this existence we will see that when there is ignorance of our true potential, our true nature, ignorance of the laws of the field, and of the power of the field, the actions and the outcomes can be quite varied.  They can lead to misery and pain.  Sometimes, however, if we really act with awareness and good intentions, the outcomes are positive. Acting from ignorance in this field can result in all kinds of negative interactions.  Therefore, when interacting in this field we need to be more aware.  We need to be aware of the field, of our potential and our possibilities. 

In this journey it is extremely important that: if we want to act from the highest awareness, if we want to act wisely in this experience that every outcome will be a powerful outcome in terms of learning, growing, experiencing happiness and freedom, then we need to act wisely. We need to act from that Higher Self inside.  We need to act appropriately; to act, as it is said, in accordance with Divine Will or in harmony with the laws of the field. 

This field is also a multi-dimensional field, and as individuals in this field, we are also multi-dimensional.  There are: a subtle energy field, a physical field, a material field and a spiritual field of consciousness. So, all the interplays happen in a multi-dimensional field. Therefore, the more aware we are, the more intelligently and appropriately we can act and the better will be the outcomes.

Our goal – to shift in a space of greater awareness

This is the goal of the 40-Days - to be shifted in a space of awareness where we can become more aware of who we are, more aware of the field  or the Universe that we exist in, and more aware of how to act appropriately or harmoniously in this field.

On this first day of the 40-Days I would like to state its purpose. I will like to say that the goal would be to shift into that state of awareness where we can be more aware and act appropriately.  One may call this ‘Steps towards self-realization, self-enlightenment, self-actualization’ as that is the goal. 

During these 40-Days, therefore,  I am going to take you into the journey of:  exploring our potentiality, our identity in the field, the nature of the field and the nature of interaction in the field.  Out of this, my wish would be that we could act in a more enlightened way in this field so that we will not be disturbed by the outcomes. That we will interact in the field in such a way that every outcome will be the appropriate one – acting in accordance with Divine Will or Divine purpose.  That would be the goal.