Others

Think of them for your own pleasure, just as the sun does

September 4th 2024

Morality and religion preach that we should forget ourselves and think only of others. This is wonderful, but is it really possible? Ask the sun what it thinks. ‘O sun, you who give light and warmth and life to all creatures, do you really think only of them?’ And the sun will reply, ‘No, of course not! I think only of myself. If I pour out my blessings on all creatures, it is because I want to. That is what I enjoy doing. And this is why I do not wonder endlessly if they deserve all these gifts. I don’t care one way or the other. I leave them free and in peace, and continue to illuminate and warm them, because it gives me pleasure to do so.’
So you see, even the sun agrees that the need to think of oneself never disappears, it just takes on different forms, depending on the degree of evolution of the beings concerned. We must take care of others, yes, but for our own satisfaction, for our own development. It is impossible to forget oneself, to renounce oneself entirely. What we should do is think of ourselves in a new way, until that way becomes as altruistic and as generous as that of the sun.*
* Related reading:

As early as 1937, the author had predicted that in the future, humanity would no longer use wood, coal or oil to produce energy, but that it would use only the sun's rays. In the future, he said, "it is thanks to the sun's energy that we will light up, heat ourselves, travel.... We will even...