3 keys to making the right decisions or how to live with discernment

Before developing this subject, I would like to share with you a little story called "the clothes of the old wise man".

"A Sovereign, having heard of the great wisdom of an old man, invited him to dinner out of curiosity.

But the day before, the wise man came to the palace dressed as a beggar. And no one paid any attention to him. When he entered, he did not even have time to reach the dining room, when the King's guards rushed before him. And so that he should not defile the royal floor any further, they led him to the kitchen where he was offered some leftover food, including rice. The wise old man ate and left the place afterwards, without saying a word.

The next day he returned to the king's house, this time dressed in his best clothes, and they hurried to seat him in the place of honour near the king. But as soon as the servants brought the dishes, the wise man's reaction surprised everyone: he took the food in his hands and put it in his pockets

The King was annoyed, but said nothing. As soon as the last course was brought in, the wise man took a full handful of rice and spread it gently on his beautiful kaftan (tunic on the right), saying to him:

- Here is my kaftan, it's for you!

Astonished, the King called out to him at once:

- But...! Have you gone mad, you who are said to be so wise?

After a brief silence, the old man replied:

- Majesty! Yesterday I came here in my beggar's clothes and they gave me the scraps as if I were a dog... Today, I arrive richly dressed and they honour me! It is therefore my kaftan that is invited... It is therefore normal that it is he who feeds himself...!"


This story is anecdotal but it speaks so much about us, about the world around us where deceptive appearances are so much easier to look at because they are so much more complacent.

It is sometimes difficult to question oneself, it requires efforts, sometimes well beyond what one could accept.

I remember a saying: "the easier it is at the beginning, the more complicated it is afterwards". This is a wise saying that has stayed with me because it is so full of truth and wisdom.

To live with discernment is a necessity

The outside world constantly presents us with situations, images, sounds, emotions, choices, problems to solve, and decisions to make. If we do not master the art of discernment, we can become servants of any forces, worlds, intelligences that are not necessarily welcome and do not lead us to happiness, fulfillment, serenity, the high goal of our soul

The wisdom of living with discernment is an art of living with awareness, being strong enough to see in the subtle the forces, the spirits, the intelligences that are behind a state of mind, an emotion, an image, a reaction, a gesture, a word, a being that comes towards you. It is also the ability to let or not let these influences enter inside oneself, to make the right choices to keep oneself in balance, in inner harmony

The man who knows how to live with discernment is a being equipped, strong, who stands in dignity, a nobility. In all circumstances, he can remain vigilant, be an observer, make his choices consciously, act from his own inner center, from his own aspirations, from what he believes to be just, good and true.

We live in a world where everything pushes us to lose our discernment, so great and powerful are the solicitations of the outside world, so many choices are available and above all, so accustomed have we been to accept everything, to welcome everything, whether it be thoughts, concepts, images, information, music, food, ways of working, the authority of teachers, governments..

It is essential to recover a form of inner authority and nobility, the strength to become free individuals again, acting from our own ray and making the beauty of what animates us appear in pure truth, in the depths of our being. If we really want to walk on the path of the Light, we must be able to regain the dignity of making our own choices, not only with regard to the acts and decisions of our life, but also with regard to the subtle influences, the states of mind, the thoughts, the emotions that we accept, what we want or not to let act through our being

To live with discernment is a necessity, a strength and a protection in order not to be impregnated by undesirable influences, to know how to choose at any moment and to take back the rudder of our life.

The 3 keys to cultivate discernment

1- Look at things as they are.

How to know if a word, if a gesture, if an act is true is right?

It is so easy to be manipulated in today's world. And it is true that some people are masters of illusion, manipulation and lies.

St. Matthew said: " By the fruit of the tree you know it ".

This means that it is in his actions that we know if a man/woman is good or bad. And by focusing only on actions, on reality, we push the door of illusion and the veil of appearances.

And so, instead of focusing on beautiful words, on seemingly beautiful gestures, look at their consequences, look at their fruits. Look at what is really behind it. Not what you want to see, but the things as they really are.

This is a big key.

Because when you are not born with this virtue, and when you don't have the organs inside you to make the right decisions, you have to focus on the facts and nothing else. Just look at whether these facts are good and right, and what they generate.

2- Accept to question yourself

To be able to live with discernment, you must be willing to educate yourself, to accept that you have often let yourself be impregnated unconsciously by beings and worlds, to accept to see them, to recognize that you are not necessarily the master of your life when you think, feel, speak or act

Questioning yourself is often not an easy thing to do. You may be in denial of the truth/reality for several reasons:

- it requires efforts and you are not ready to make them

- it touches too deeply your concepts, your beliefs, your education

- you cling to illusions and ideals

Denial is the attitude of refusal to take into account a part of reality, experienced as unacceptable by the individual. In psychoanalysis it is a defense mechanism, by which the subject refuses to recognize the reality of a perception felt as threatening and/or traumatic.