Daily Meditation: Wednesday, February 2, 2005

Flame - to be kept alive within us

02/02/2005

What is the purpose of burning candles in churches? If it were only for their light, electricity would do, and it would be more practical. In fact, this ritual has a profound meaning when the believer understands that, just as the wax is burned to keep the flame alight, he too must burn a substance within himself in order to maintain his inner light, and so that his prayers are heard and granted by the Divinity. How can we keep the flame alight within ourselves? By sacrificing all our inner animals, of which there is certainly no shortage! On the astral plane, we not only house sheep, oxen, bulls and goats, but also wolves, foxes, tigers, serpents, scorpions and spiders… Yes, a whole menagerie, a zoo, a primeval forest! So many dangerous animals exist in man in the form of weaknesses, vices and destructive tendencies. It is these we must sacrifice in order to fuel our inner light.