Daily Meditation: Saturday, February 22, 2025

Symbolism - to help people understand that they are leading an unhealthy life

02/22/2025

Suppose I walk into a house in the middle of winter where everything is closed, the doors and windows are tightly shut. The air is foul-smelling because to save fuel, the animals have also been allowed in: the cat, the dog, the horse and even the pig! The inhabitants are completely befuddled from living in this atmosphere. What should I do? If I were to explain to them that they are leading an unhealthy life, there would be endless discussion, and I would be wasting my time. So I take a different approach and invite them to come out for a walk with me. We walk in the fresh air for a half hour, or an hour, and then return. As soon as they open the door, it is they who exclaim loudly and ask themselves how they could possibly have lived in such an atmosphere, that is to say—since all this is symbolic—with such a philosophy, with such points of view. Without any explanation from me, they themselves understand, because they immediately feel the difference, they make the comparison. Perhaps when they went out, they did not fully realize how marvellous it was to breathe fresh air, but on their return when they suffocated, then they understood!*