We’re going to talk about issues related to our moods, our ideas, emotions, etc. The Esoteric Path is narrow, constricted, and difficult. We normally live in a world of sensory experiences, which is the Physical World. Through external sensory perceptions, we form our concepts of content, with which we reason. Reasoning and the Sensory Perceptions Thus, the reasoning we normally use is based solely on sensory assemblies. Given that these assemblies are its foundation, it is obvious that this type of reasoning is conditioned precisely by them. Reason, therefore, is subjective and hypothetical from every point of view, since it is based on the information our senses provide. And so, if we form concepts of content from these sensory perceptions, and then distribute these concepts in one way or another, they give us ordinary, formal logical reasoning. Do you really believe that this type of reasoning (based solely on external sensory perceptions) could allow us to verify reality? If the concepts of content have been developed precisely from the data provided by our physical senses, it is obvious that such concepts of content cannot transcend the mystical-sensory realm. We will now explain why ordinary reasoning is called “subjective reasoning.” What could Subjective Reasoning possibly know about Reality, about Truth, about God, about life beyond the grave, about what exists beyond the world of the senses, about what lies beyond death? Obviously, this reasoning, based solely on content concepts developed from the data provided by our physical senses, can only operate within its own limitations. It can only be processed within the realm of the mystical-sensory; it could never transcend the concepts of content through which it was formed. So, how can we reach the EXPERIENCE OF REALITY and TRUTH? There are various techniques in MEDITATION, etc., but above all, it requires possessing what is called “Faith.” Faith and Meditation lead us to Enlightenment Orthodox dogma teaches that “faith is belief in what we do not see.” This kind of Orthodox faith is not authentic faith. Faith, in itself, is a solar power. But how do we attain such power? Therein lies the problem… Is it possible to attain Faith? The Physical Senses cannot provide it; they will provide us with data with which (I repeat) we will develop our concepts of content, which are so fundamental to reasoning, up to a point! But that Solar-type Faith, the one that goes beyond simple Subjective Reasoning, the one that has such extraordinary power as to move mountains, the one that combined with Meditation leads us to Enlightenment, is not possible to obtain with the simple reports that the Physical Senses give us. Some ask for faith, they cry out for faith. It’s good to pray, but as the saying goes, “Pray to God, but keep hammering away”… So, what to do? Truly, to attain faith, above all, you have to create it; faith is not something that can be achieved empirically. I repeat: YOU HAVE TO CREATE IT. And how is it created? Through STUDY and EXPERIENCE. It is obvious that through study and Direct Experience, by means of the technique of Meditation, we will come to COMPREHEND, and from that Comprehension comes, spontaneously, that which is called “Faith.” Comprehension, in itself, does not belong to the Mind; it is an exclusive property of the THIRD LOGOS, of LORD SHIVA, of BINAH (the Great Sephiroth, one of the Three Supreme Sephiroth), of the Holy Spirit… If we are experiencing through meditation, if we are studying something—some transcendental subject—if we strive to comprehend it, it is obvious that the first thing we will have is the mystical experience (as a result of study and meditation); then comes comprehension, that spark of light given to us by the Third Logos. He comes to our aid to give us comprehension, and from such comprehension comes faith. Comprehension (I repeat, so that I am clearly understood) is based on the Third Logos, and from this comprehension comes Faith. Therefore, if Comprehension is based on the Third Logos and from this comprehension comes Faith, then obviously the very root of Faith is in the Third Logos, that is, in the Holy Spirit. The many Degrees on the Path of Initiation But in acquiring faith, there are degrees and degrees, scales and scales, systems and systems. Obviously, my dear brothers, when I refer to “systems and systems,” I am referring to hierarchical matters: Solar Systems, Worlds, Universes, Atomic Systems, etc. As for the practical means or system for achieving faith, it is none other than the one I have already mentioned… I emphasize the idea that there are degrees and degrees, because knowledge is multiple, multifaceted. For example: Suppose we are ignorant of the Law of Eternal Return; we are informed, but we know nothing. What should we do? How can we come to have faith in this Law? We must first study the Doctrine of the Eternal Return of all things. Through intellectual understanding, we will come to know that the stars return to their starting point after many years; that the atoms within the molecule always return to their original starting point; that the Sun has an elliptical orbit, returning south and then north each year… Through this understanding, we will be able to know that days and nights, seasons, and ages return… We will also learn, through this information, that the Law of Eternal Return allows us to come back, to be reborn, to have a new body after we have lost the one we have. That much is obvious, but that’s where it ends! We need something more: We need to REMEMBER OUR PAST LIVES, that’s obvious. As long as we don’t have the memory of our previous lives, we can’t say we know, no! We’ll have the theory accumulated in the mind, but that’s not true KNOWLEDGE. So, what should we do? First of all, we need to investigate; there are systems for remembering past lives. Gautama, the Buddha, taught the method of RETROSPECTION, and it is wonderful. But how could we come to have faith, for example, in the method taught by Gautama the Buddha? There is only one way. How? First, study; second, practice. From study and practice comes understanding; then, as a result, faith arises; and with faith, we will successfully practice the retrospective exercise. The Practice The exercise is easy and simple: Begin lying in bed, with your body relaxed. You must remember, concentrate on the last events of the day, the ones before that, the ones before that; and thus, in retrospect, recall, relive all the incidents of the day. We will then proceed with the incidents of the previous day, also in retrospect. Then we will continue trying to remember what we did on the day before last; and so, with that process, we will try to remember the last 15 days of our life, the penultimate 15 days, everything we did in the past month and the month before last, and what we did in a year and in 10 and in 20 years. We will strive to remember all the events of life, always in retrospect. When we reach the first five years of childhood, the problem arises: How can we remember the events of our lives when we were four, three, two, one years old? How? We have no choice but to COMBINE MEDITATION WITH SLEEP: In moments when we feel predisposed to sleep, we will practice the exercise, trying to meticulously recall all the incidents of our lives when we were four, three, two, one… The memories will emerge in flashes, like lightning, like bursts of light, etc… Those first flashes (memories of early childhood) resulting, first, from having known the practice, the study; second, from having practiced the retrospective exercise, those memories or those flashes, those visions, let’s say, of a lightning-like type, will give us Faith in the exercise (a Solar-type Faith), and the more we remember the occurrences of early childhood, the more Faith will increase. And when we have remembered our entire life, up to the very moment of birth, then we can make the leap to the last moment (to the last moment of the previous life). If we can remember it, if we can picture ourselves surrounded by our family in our final moments, then our faith will be rekindled, it will be even stronger. We will say: “What an extraordinary exercise, I am happy with this practice!” And as we continue our retrospective exercise, we will recall the final years of our past existence, the penultimate years, the years before the penultimate, our youth, our adolescence, our childhood, the moment we were born in our past existence. When we achieve this, we will possess an unwavering, solar-type Faith, unshakeable. Someone might come and tell us that “this exercise is useless,” and we would laugh at them. The greatest reasoner might come and try to destroy us, and we would laugh at them (we would be sustained by Faith, the product of STUDY and EXPERIENCE). Then we would say, “I know the Law of the Eternal Return of all things,” but we would no longer say it in a merely empirical, intellectual, or reasoned way; rather, we would speak it with firsthand knowledge. We could say, “I have returned, and here I am!”; and we would speak it with such certainty that we would move many. Thus, we would have acquired Faith through the retrospective exercise. This procedure, taught by Gautama Buddha Shakyamuni, allows us to remember all our previous existences; it is a marvelous exercise. But it is one thing for you to hear a statement, an explanation, and another thing entirely to put it into practice. When you hear the discourse on such an exercise, you receive INFORMATION; you are, in fact, STUDYING. But when you practice, you are PRACTICING; and from study and practice comes comprehension; and as a result of comprehension, Faith. This comprehension is given to us by the Third Logos; and it is Faith, the definitive result of experience, verification, and comprehension. So, brother