Rise up during misfortune

When people get a big blow in their life, some misfortune (what men call “misfortune”, there are people who do have misfortunes), the first thing they try to do is to forget it – as though one did not forget quickly enough! And to forget, they do anything whatsoever. When there is something painful, they want to distract themselves – what they call distraction, that is, doing stupid things, that is to say, going down in their consciousness, going down a little instead of rising up….

Has something extremely painful happened to you, something very grievous? Do not become stupefied, do not seek forgetfulness, do not go down into the inconscience; you must go to the end and find the light that is behind, the truth, the force and the joy; and for that you must be strong and refuse to slide down.

Ref: Questions and Answers 1953