During visits to Instituto Alef, students frequently ask the Director certain questions :
Q : What is the name of this Path you are Teaching?
A : It really doesn’t have a set name.
Q : If it did have a name, what would it be?
A : It could be called the Path of Peace. “Peace” is an attribute of Reality in which everything one needs to progress Spiritually can be found.
In many spiritual paths and in the major religions, “Peace” is mentioned frequently, but it would seem those listening don’t understand the meaning of Peace, nor value it as a state which can be acquired and preserved for the benefit and inner development of the individual.
To say to a person : “Peace be with You”, is in truth desiring something extremely valuable for someone, and if said with true Intention, it will be very positive.
I often remember a verse of St. Francis of Assisi that says: Where there is Faith, there is Love and Where there is Love, there is Peace and Where there is Peace, God is and Where God is, nothing is lacking.
This small verse can be nearly unnoticed, by most persons, because they are not listening to the CONTENT.
It is extremely fortunate for a human being to lack nothing.
Q : If Peace is so important, how can one attain it?
A : All of the activities and tasks prescribed for students from the beginning, until the completion of their studies in the Institute, are directed among other things, towards the attainment of a permanent state of Inner Peace. Only having attained this state, in a simple and deliberate manner, may one continue with further higher development, while at the same time thriving in today’s fast and changing world, continually becoming more alert, perceptive and productive.
This state of Peace does not mean to be incapable of reacting to the dilemmas, needs and demands placed upon one living in today’s world. A human being has to be able to play a role, any role necessary, in order to be productive in today’s world. The simple ability to be unaffected, without reactions to life, is not the state of Peace we are talking about.
Q : What is the most valuable characteristic a student can have, who truly wants to attain this state of Peace, and pursue the Spiritual development, you are describing?
A : It is most important for one beginning on the Path of Spiritual development, to decide in his Heart, that this state of Peace and this inner development is what he or she truly needs to obtain, in such a way that this Intention becomes the force and foundation upon which his or her Path is built. One who is without inner objectives or Intention cannot advance in the Spiritual world, just as one in the everyday world can’t advance without well-defined objectives. To try to progress spiritually, without Intention would be like trying to cross the ocean in a ship without a rudder.
Q : Is it truly possible for a human being to obtain a higher state of consciousness in a short time?
A : The student must form a strong and dynamic nucleus of inner life to achieve this development. With true need and self-affection, and given the adequate technology, man and woman can achieve the State of Perfected Being. This state is unique, since it is only perfect for that person, yet it will be similar to the state experienced by others who have perfected their Being.
For example, those who have achieved an extensive development of being will have developed similar faculties to Serve, to Love, to Perceive, of Attention, Intention, etc., although this will be expressed in each individual many different ways.
There is a common and central denominator in all true Inner Paths of Spiritual Perfection which have existed on the planet, as well as different areas of specialization developed by real Schools, in accordance with time, place and the people involved.
There are ways to unite the criteria of people, rather than having the tendency to separate them, whether for being involved in different contexts, or other similar reasons. When the leaders of certain groups permit and promote separation and fanaticism in their students, while not contributing those elements, such as Perception and Universality, to develop knowledge, the followers become very closed to impacts, both positive and negative.
When presented with the superficial and sectarian reasons that foster fanaticism, human contexts with little development or time of study can be mistaken for true knowledge. This can be prevented when there is access to Knowledge and Universality.
The common denominator in all true Paths of inner development, is the ability to contribute the necessary energy, guidance and technology to the sincere student, to maintain a growing development of his being, based on the use of frequencies or sounds that serve to promote and strengthen the development in a harmonious way, leading to a state of being in permanent contact with Reality.
Q : What is that, which you call Reality?
A : Reality or The Totality can be described in many different ways. One way would be to say that it is that context of Peace in which positive energy permits a very high quality of life, making it possible for the individual to prosper in all directions: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Through this prosperity, the human being may then live a full life of well being, with the capacity to serve other human beings, so they in turn may achieve inner development.
Q : What would you like most, to see achieved in our present society?
A : I would like very much to see children taught to be inwardly happy, to be attentive to all that which is useful for the development of their Spiritual Being and at the same time taught to be physically, emotionally and mentally capable.
Presently, children, unknowingly, are taught to value everything external, without any notion of this Inner Peace, through which a human being can achieve all levels of productive life.