“So many people ruin their lives in their eagerness to acquire all kinds of possessions worth far less than life itself. Have you ever thought about this? If you learned to give priority to life, if you took care to treasure and protect it and keep it in a state of perfect integrity and purity, you would have far more opportunity to fulfill all your wishes, for when life is enlightened, illuminated and intense it gives us all the rest.
You take life for granted and think you are free to do whatever you like with it, but one day, after years spent in the pursuit of your own ambitions, you will be so exhausted and disillusioned that if you weigh up all you have gained against everything you have lost you will find you have lost almost everything and gained practically nothing. People say, ‘Since I possess life, I can use it to get all the other things I want—money, pleasure, knowledge, glory, etc.,’ and they keep drawing on their reserves, until one day there is nothing left and they are forced to give up all their activities. It is senseless to behave like that, because in losing your life you lose everything. The essential thing is life itself, and you must protect, purify and strengthen it and reject whatever hampers or inhibits it, because it is thanks to life that you will obtain health, beauty, power, intelligence, love and true wealth.
So, from now on, work at beautifying, intensifying and sanctifying your life.”
~ Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov from Golden Rules for Everyday Life
This is a tiny little book written by an obscure philosopher and spiritual teacher named Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov.
Alexandra got it after one of her favorite teachers referenced him and his work. I randomly picked the book up to a random page one day (you should see all the books around our house—lol) and was IMMEDIATELY struck by the lucidity of his words.
I flipped to another page. Same effect.
Then I proceeded to “borrow” the book for the next 24 hours as I thoroughly enjoyed a full immersion in some potent wisdom. (With an asterisk-caveat that I ignored some of the more esoteric aspects of his teachings while soaking in the essence of his practical wisdom.)
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov was a Christian mystic who was born in Bulgaria in 1900 and taught in France until his death in 1986. He reminds me of some other somewhat obscure spiritual teachers like Vernon Howard (see our Notes on The Power of Your Supermind) and Sri Swami Satchidananda (see Notes on The Golden Present). I also thought of Rumi as I read the book (see Notes on Rumi Daylight) along with some old school Stoic philosophers (see that collection!).
The book has 115 micro-chapters on his “rules” for everyday living. My copy of the book is nearly entirely underlined. (So much so that I had to get Alexandra her own copy. Hah.)
I’m excited to share a few of my favorite Big Ideas we can apply to our lives TODAY so let’s jump straight in!
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