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Please remember always to be grateful, for gratitude is a great antidote to misfortune. Life overflows with abundance and yet all too often we hardly notice it and fail to give thanks. This is the greatest tragedy for mankind, but every individual still has the power to make a difference to the world through integrity and courage.

If Life has taught me anything, it is that our conscious existence is fleeting and supremely precious – never to be taken for granted. Love created us and will never abandon what It has made. Trusting in this realisation, we must never, ever give up hope.

Above all, I trust in this love, but I frequently reflect also that Truth can never be grasped and that there is no neat formula by which finally it may be known or described. It is the one ineffable living Reality – and everyone is already an expression of That, moment by moment. Enlightenment does not need to be attained – our true nature as consciousness only needs to be recognised.

Look deeply with the eyes of love and you will clearly see the hidden beauty at the heart of creation, perceiving it in the midst of human cruely and conflict no less than in the marvels and sometimes destructive power of Nature.

How inscrutable this beauty is, for it speaks a secret language we cannot yet discern adequately. Stay silent and ponder then in the face of the unimaginable suffering of the world. Such deep reflection will yield a sense of profound peace and equanimity.

Love is never absent, but it often seems veiled – and this too is an inconceivable mystery, which cannot be apprehended without humility. So let us refrain from judgement when tempted to flinch before the hard face of Reality. Instead let us remain calm and show forbearance rather than being disconcerted by the continual buffeting of daily life. We need to accept that a degree of sometimes unbearable discomfort belongs to the privilege of physical embodiment.

Perceiving the inescapable duality of all created things, we can then more easily allow pain along with pleasure – and beauty together with ugliness. We can learn to see all separate appearances as distinct but cohesive within the all-embracing light of Oneness and sense the stable reality of our existence rooted in the silent background of Being.

Acceptance is surrender to Life and this brings joy, not the sorrow which is so often evident as the bitter harvest of resistance. When we endeavour to accept our difficulties with as much dignity and goodwill as we can muster, those very impediments become creative opportunities – and the sting of pain eases.

Hardship accepted with good grace ennobles us in the radiance of fortitude. You will marvel to witness how great courage can emerge from the ashes of considerable loss. Finally you will no longer fear stern challenges and at last you will glimpse what it means to be fully human. Genuine compassion will arise within us all as we embrace the suffering of the world with fresh understanding.

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Philip Pegler is an English antiquarian bookseller and mystical writer, whose distinctive approach owes as much to Eastern spirituality as it does to his Christian heritage. Born in 1947 into a prosperous family prominent in the fashionable world of London publishing between the wars, Philip grew up sheltered by privilege and immersed in the world of books. Then at the age of seventeen he was strongly drawn to the profound teachings of the great twentieth-century Hindu sage, Ramana Maharshi and a few years later his life changed irrevocably as he abandoned a promising journalistic career to follow the quest for Truth in India.

Philip was to spend many months after 1970 staying at Ramana's peaceful ashram at the foot of the sacred mountain, Arunachala in Tamil Nadu, but also during that period, he travelled widely elsewhere in India and had 'darshan' of many illustrious spiritual figures including the saintly Anandamayi Ma as well as the Mother of Sri Aurobindo's ashram in Pondicherry.

Since his return to England in 1974, Philip has studied with, and been influenced by, several notable spiritual teachers in the Buddhist, Sufi and Christian mystical tradition, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Irina Tweedie and the Anglican priest, Martin Israel. Contemporary teachers of non-duality - including Francis Lucille, Sailor Bob Adamson, John Wheeler and Jeff Foster - have also contributed a great deal to his understanding in recent years.

Philip has written numerous book reviews and spiritual articles since 1972, but only recently has he seen the publication of his first book, Hidden Beauty of the Commonplace, which is a biographical study of an old friend and close mentor - the fine English mystical poet, Clare Cameron, who was born in London in 1896.

For more information, please visit hiddenbeautyoflife.com

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  1. […] Love is never absent, but it often seems veiled – and this too is an inconceivable mystery, which cannot be apprehended without humility. So let us refrain from judgement when tempted to flinch before the hard face of Reality. Instead let us remain calm and show forbearance rather than being disconcerted by the continual buffeting of daily life. We need to accept that a degree of sometimes unbearable discomfort belongs to the privilege of physical embodiment….Continue reading at InspireMeToday.com. […]

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