The true meaning of "showing the other cheek"

Improvised conference
given by Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov in 1963

It says in the Gospel, “Whoever slaps you on your

right cheek, turn the other to him also”. I sincerely
hope that Christians who hear what I am going to
say about this phrase will forgive me, for it is far
beyond anything they could imagine. Let me
assure them, at once, that the future will prove
that my interpretation of it is the right one.

Certain moral precepts which were valid in the past

are no longer right or useful for the present or the
future. Jesus' words do not mean that we must
always be passive in the face of insults an ill-
treatment. He was not telling us always to accept
and submit to violence and put up with torment
and, in the long run, allow ourselves to be wiped
out. It is true that this is how these words have
often been interpreted, but I shall show you that
that is not what he meant. Of course, if one does
not possess the light, there is only one solution: to
submit passively and allow others to destroy you.
But that is a code of behavior for the weak and
ignorant and it must not last for ever. It has never
been decreed that spiritualists, the wise, Initiates
and sons of God, should be perpetually oppressed,
enslaved, ill-treated and put to death, while idiots
and criminals prosper. For the time being this is
still the situation, because men have lost the divine
spark, they have lost the strength that comes from
the sun, they have lost all fire, warmth, light and
life and, because they have lost all this they will
necessarily be beaten and ill-treated.

It has also been said,”You are the salt of the earth;

but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be
seasonned? It is then good for nothing but to be
thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” So,
there it is: if you lose your flavour you will be
trampled on by men until you find it again. The
Gospels do not say that you must be trampled
underfoot for ever, but when you deserted God you
lost all your powers and, now, you are an easy prey
for the violent and corrupt.

At the time of Jesus, men needed to develop

certain qualities and virtues which had never been
emphasized before that; qualities such as
indulgence, forgiveness and mercifulness. At the
time, the code was one of justice, an eye for an
eye, a tooth for a tooth. The new moral code that
Chrsit introduced was designed to encourage men
to cultivate the qualities of the heart. Instead of
reacting to others with such crude weapons as
stones or knives or the sword, they had to learn to
respond with nobler, more loftly means; with
humility, love, patience and magnanimity. This is
what Christ meant. But he was speaking to the
men and women of his day and age, and what he
said to them is not necessarily valid for the rest of
time. He is telling us, now, that there is a better
way: “When you are the victim of an injustice, you
must respond with such intelligence, such strength
of character, such understanding, light and
warmth, that your enemy is completely bowled
over, blinded and thunderstruck. Yes,
thunderstruck; that is to say, transformed. Not
annihilated, not killed, but regenerated. Instead of
killing your enemy you give him life by leading him
closer to God. If you are capable of doing this, you
are a true hero, a true son of God.”

Why should we always let our enemies massacre

us and crow over us? We must not kill or hurt
anyone, we all know that, but that is no reason why
we should be the eternal underdog. We have to
learn to defend ourselves by becoming like the sun
and shining so brightly that even if people try to
attack us with senseless cruelty, they will be
dazzled and blinded. In this way you blind your
enemies and then you open their eyes, just as
Christ opened Saul's eyes when he was on his way
to Damascus, bent on massacring the Christians.
One ray of light and he fell blinded to the ground.
And Saul became Paul. If you could blind people in
this way, for just a few moments, and then heal
them again, do you think that they would still be
determined to persecute you? The new philosophy
does not teach us to remain weak and at the mercy
of cruel and violent people; it teaches us to
become like the sun so that our enemies cannot
touch or soil us and, if they approach us, they will
melt like wax.

If human beings do not possess the power to use

light in this way, it is simply because it has never
occured to them. They have embraced a mindless
philosophy of weakness and impotence on the
pretext that they are supposed to turn the other
cheek. Well, you can turn as many cheeks as you
like, it will not do you any good and you will not
change your enemies that way. They will continue
to slap your face and, in the long run, to
assassinate you. You are just going to have to
understand the question differently. The “other
cheek” is the other side, the other aspect of
yourself, the side of spirit, the side of power and
light. Jesus showed this other side to his
tormentors. Hiw whole attitude proclaimed it: “You
can imprison my physical body, you can even
crucify it, but I'll show you the other side of my
being, the indestructable, divine side. Strike me, if
you like, but within three days I shall rebuild my
temple.” And he kept his word: he showed his
other side with the result that the whole world was
revolutionized. He showed the divine side of his
being, not the earthly side, and he rose from the
dead!

Christians and spiritualists in general still have a lot

to learn and understand. Instead of always allowing
themselves to be overwhelmed by the powers of
darkness or by materialistic philosophies, they
must learn to unite. They have a habit of saying,
“Amen. Amen. So be it”, and accepting whatever is
flung at them. But it is time to stand together, now,
for they have it in their power to transfrom the
world and restore the Kingdom of God on earth.
The time for saying that Jesus teaches us to turn
the other cheek and let ourselves be martyred is
over. This may have been acceptable in the past,
because people could not do otherwise, they were
not sufficiently advanced to hit back with sublime,
divine weapons. But that is no longer true today.
Today we have the possibility of manifesting the
power of the spirit through our knowledge and
love, through our gestures and the whole of our
behavior. This is where true strength lies. Why
should we forever try to show that we are true
Christians by being weak and spineless and
cowardly? If that were the Christian ideal I should
be the first to say that the world will never be rid of
evil if we have to rely on a bunch of weaklings like
that! We have to be strong an mighty, dynamic,
active, impetuous, even violent – although,
obviously, not with the violence of the physical
plane. If Christianity is not properly understood it is
worthless. True Christianity teaches us to be well
armed, but with other arms and, when we are
attacked, to show that other side, the side that is
well armed, not the puny, impotent side. Until now
no one has ever explained what that “other side”
was.

Many of the things that were not well understood in

the past will be better understood, today, and
other entirely new things will have to be learned,
for nothing is ever stagnant; everything changes
and evolves. Jesus himself demonstrated this very
clearly in teaching a new morality which was not
that of Moses. The Gospels relate how, on several
occasions, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was
said to those of old... But I say to you...” Let met
give you some examples of this: “You have heard
that it was said to those of old, “Thou shalt not
kill”, and whoever kills shall be in danger of the
judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry
with his brother without a cause shall be in danger
of the judgment”; “You have heard that it was said
to those of old, “You shall not commit adultery.”
But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to
lust for her has already committed adultery with
her in his heart”; “Again you have heard that it was
said to those of old, “You shall not swear falsely,
but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.” But I say
to you, do not swear at all”, and, finally, “You have
heard that it was said, “You shall love your
neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you,
love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do
good to those that hate you, and pray for those
who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you
may be sons of your Father in Heaven”.

It is obvious, from these passages, that the moral

law thaught by Jesus was no longer that of Moses.
So why should there not be another, even more
perfect moral law today? Christians will be
scandalized by this suggestion because they
consider that Jesus thaught a definitive doctrine:
there is nothing more to be said. And what if Chrsit
himself came and added some new notions? Can
Christians deny him the right to do that? After all,
everything has to grow and evolve. The laggards
and all those who are too set in their ways, will be
left behind. We are in favour of evolution, of
something even more sublime, of the new life, the
new religion which will be known throughout the
length and breadth of the world, the true religion of
Christ which has never yet been put into practice.

As long as men were still primitive, what could they

be expected to understand? Before anything else,
they needed to learn justice, and Moses was sent
to teach them justice. Later on, Jesus was sent to
teach love and forgiveness. But why stop there?
That is not all there is. Forgiveness cannot solve all
our problems. If someone tries to trash you, is
there a law against you being stronger than he is?
Why shouldn't you grab him by the leg and hold
him up in the air, saying, “Do you want me to
break every bone in your body?” Not that you
would do it, of course. On the contrary, very gently,
you would put him back on his feet again. Wouldn't
that be much better?

What kind of Christianity is it that obliges you to be

constantly ill-treated and massacred? I cannot
accept that. You must be stronger than your
enemy. So strong that the slightest gesture, a
glance, a divine vibration flowing through you is
enough to make him realize that you are far
superior to him. And, when he feels so small, he
will beg you to spare his life. “Very well, my
friend”, you reply; “You're beginning to
understand?” And as soon as you put him down, he
will take to his heels and leave you in peace. Tell
me frankly: wouldn't it be far better to be strong
enough to react like that? I assure you it would. But
no one has ever dared to envisage the possibility.
The very idea seems far too ambitious, and that is
exactly what I am interested in: giving you this
ambition. How long it will take you to achieve such
strength is another matter, but you can, at least,
cultivate the desire to do so. You will never do
anything worthwhile in the world if you are always
passive, conciliatory, meek and vulnerable – wishy-
washy.

There will be no more martyrs in the future. The

martyrs of the past have already made the
contribution that was required of them. They have
fulfilled their mission. Besides, the main reason for
their martyrdom was to allow them to pay off their
debts and make good their past misdeeds more
rapidly. Now that they have done that, why should
they be martyred all over again? In the future,
some beings will be so strong that when they know
that someone is planning to injure them they will
be able to put him to sleep at a distance, before he
can get close enough to do them any harm. You
will say, “That's a bit far-fetched, isn't it? You're
going too far.” Not a bit of it. On the contrary, the
time has come to lead human beings very, very
far. At the moment they are in a dead-end street.

If you think that what I am saying is too much for

you, very well, stay where you are. Others have
more heroic ambitions. They want to be strong,
powerful and full of light. They have no desire to be
eternally victimized by the powers of darkness.
When people like that are attacked they put up a
fight. They know that they are not obligated to
submit passively until they go under, on the theory
that their destruction is “the will of God”. When
Christians are stupidly submissive the powers of
darkness smack their lips in gleeful anticipation of
a feast. “Oho”, they say: “these Christians are
tasty mosels. So juicy and tender! Let's make a
dainty dish of them.” In other words, by their
attitude, Christians actually serve themselves up
as a choice dish for the powers of darkness.
Sometimes one gets the impression that that is
their only goal in life. Well, if they really want it
that way, I have no objections. Let them go ahead
and nourish the powers of darkness, but a true
Christian defends himself by projecting a protective
screen of light when he is threatened by forces of
darkness. That is the reaction of a true Christian.

Some of you may think, “But we are not supposed

to fight. It is written that we shouldn't try to
contend with evil.” It is absolutely true, of course,
that you should never try to battle with evil on it's
own home ground because it is far too powerful
there, and you would inevitably get the worse of it.
But move to a higher plane; get above your
adversary and, from your vantage point, hurl
rockets and bolts of fire at it. You will soon see it
turn tail and run. Man has an impregnable inner
fortress, the fortress of light, armed with cannons
and machine-guns that spit fire. What is to prevent
you from turning the full force of that weaponry on
your enemy and bombarding him with light? You
will not kill or even injure anyone that way. On the
contrary, you will transform them for the better.
Aren't you perfectly within your rights in doing
this? But people think that they have to behave “in
a Christian manner” and, for them, that means
letting themselves be martyred without reacting in
any way. But the only thing that we are told in this
respect is not to use the same weapons or react in
the same way as the enemy.

Why assassinate someone who is trying to

assassinate you? Paralyze him, blind him, put him
to sleep, if you like, but get him to change his
mind. There are some comic sketches based on
this idea: we see someone plotting all kinds of
dastardly deeds against a whole family, then along
come a neighbour who talks so much nonsense,
asks for so many stupid questions and makes so
many impossible suggestions that the villain is
completely bemused and disharmed. All that
nonsense concealed the fact that the neighbour
was really far more intelligent than the villain. So,
you must defend yourselves. Not with the same
arms, of course, with other, far more potent
weapons which no one ever thinks of using
because they do not really beleive in their efficacy.
In fact, most people have no inkling that they exist.

Christians will never get out of the morass thay are

in if they do not learn to work with divine methods.
The very fact that they neglect the sun and
attribute no spiritual value to it, proves that they
have not got the means they need to overcome
evil. But once they realize that they have disdained
and neglected the sun, they will humble
themselves and the sun will forgive them and,
when that day comes, they will be all-powerful and
the reign of evil will be over and done with. As long
as Christians refuse to recognize that the sun is a
gateway to God, they will always be weak. They
can pray as much as they like and fill their
churches with the smoke of incense, but that will
never put anything right; the world will still be
devastated by catastrophes, and disorder and
chaos will continue to reign. But the day they
recognize that the sun is the visibal image of God
in the physical plane, and a doorway that gives
them direct access to Him, it will be much easier
for them to reach Him.

There is no doubt about it: the future belongs to

the bold, to those who fight and work according to
the laws of their divine nature. It is they who will
have the last word. You must not beleive that, just
because things were thus and so in the past, they
are going to be like that forever.

Now, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, in

Bulgaria, there was a young schoolteacher. He was
not very big or strong, but he was an intelligent,
sensible young man. One day he was with some
friends in the village square and one of them, a
big, hulking fellow who was not very bright, did not
agree with something the schoolteacher said and
started to argue with him. When the schoolteacher
began to get the better of him with his intelligent
arguments, the colossus lost his temper and let fly:
one, two, and our hero was flat on his back! Of
course, the others laughed and applauded the
winner. After all, he was a real heavyweight, and
physical prowess is always much admired. The
poor young teacher went slowly and sadly home,
the laughter and jeers of his friends ringing in his
ears. But then, wonder or wonders, when he got
home he found that his cow had calved and there
was a lovely little calf in the meadow. He bent over
and stroked it and then picked it up in his arms and
hugged it, forgetting all about his recent
humiliation. The next morning, and every morning
after that, he would go up and pick up the calf and
pet it.

This went on for several months. The calf was

rapidly growing into a full-sized bullock but the
schoolteacher never noticed. He just went on
picking it up. Then, one day, he suddenly realized
that his muscles had developed enormously and he
decided to go down and join his friends in the
village square, once again. When he got there,
there was the bully who had knocked him out,
bragging and preening himself, as usual. Going up
to him, our hero asked him, “Do you remember
me?” “I'll say I do”, said the bully; “You're the little
chap I knocked out.” Without a word, the
schoolteacher stooped, grabbed him by the leg and
held him up, at arm's length, over his head. “Make
your peace with God”, he said; “Because I'm going
to throw you to the ground and smash you to
smithereens!” Well, of course, the big bully started
to whimper and beg for mercy: “Forgive me,
forgive me. I'm sorry I hit you. Don't kill me.” “Very
well”, said the teacher; “As long as you're sorry...”
and put him gently down on the ground,
whereupon the bully took to his heels and ran. All
the other young men laughed and cheered and the
teacher went home feeling very pleased and proud
of himself: a true hero! So you see, you must never
let yourselves be vanquished and trodden
underfoot because you will not help others to be
any better that way. They will just go on bullying
you and misusing their strength. If you are too
meek and mild, people think, “Aha, there's
someone who won't fight back. Let's take
advantage of him.”

The Lord asks strength, intelligence, light and

power of His servants. If you want to conquer your
difficulties, your enemies, therefore, you have to
build up your strength. See if you cannot find a
little calf somewhere – in your head, perhaps – and
practise picking it up every day. You will soon be so
strong, and so luminous and powerful, that you will
be capable of picking up your enemies and holding
them up in the air, telling them, “Make your act of
contrition; I'm going to smash you to smithereens!”
You will not kill them, of course; you will not even
hurt them, so you will have nothing on your
conscience. This is the true philosophy: instead of
killing someone you help him and give him a
chance to become wiser, more reasonable and
better behaved. In other words you teach him
something extremely important.

Don't try to hide behind weakness. Weakness will

not save you and nor will stupidity nor indolence.
You must meditate, search and practise and, one
day, when you are as bright and as hot as the sun
you will be invulnerable for, after all, can anyone
touch the sun without burning himself? Ill-wishers
will steer clear of you because – symbolicly
speaking – you will be aflame, a fiery furnace. In
the face of true spiritual strength, everyone is
obliged to lay down their arms.

You will say, “Yes, but if I turn the other cheek, my

enemy will be ashamed and beg me to forgive
him”. Don't you beleive it. He will not repent; he is
more likely to treat you worse than ever. No, you
would do much better to follow the example of that
young schoolteacher who picked up his calf every
day. As an example, it is unique, you could find
none better. Day and night, for years on end, you
must practise and grow stronger and stronger until,
one fine day, you seek your enemies, saying, “Do
you recongnize me? You'd better look out because
you're in for a surprise!” And, at the sight of your
strength and the light radiating from you, they will
realize that while they were resting on their
laureals, you have been in training and have
become invincible.

Take an example from mothers; they know what to

do. When a child is disobedient and does exactly
the opposite of what she tells him, she shows him
the “other cheek”. That is to say, she begins by
reasoning with him and perhaps, even, sheds a few
tears. But if the child still refuses to obey she gives
him a taste of the slipper, and he instantly
understands and obeys. She does not kill him, but
by showing him the “other side”, the side of
stength, she teaches him a lesson. Instinctively,
she reacts divinely.

There are two sides (in fact, there are three or four
or, even, ten, but to make things simpler, let's just
say that there are two), gentleness and strength,
and it is important to know when and how to use
them. Very often, when you are feeling depressed,
worried or discouraged, it is because undesirable
spirits are tormenting you, attacking you like a
swarm of wasps, mosquitos or snakes. Is this the
time for gentleness? Should you let them invade
you and feed on you without a word of protest? On
the contrary, it is time to show the other side, the
side of strength. With words and gestures, you
must show your strength and light and, in this way,
teach them a much-needed lesson. And you can do
this every single day. Why sit there suffering and
feeling sorry for yourself? Show the other side,
show you strength, your will-power. Get up and
chase these entities away; don't allow thoughts
and feelings that torment you and sap all your
energies to drag on and on.

It all this clear, now? It goes against the traditional

ideas, I know, but that dosen't matter. The
important thing is that it is useful. And it works!
You must adopt ideas and methods that work
instead of clinging indefinitly to attitudes that are
totally ineffective. To begin with, these new notions
may shock you but, if you want to become stronger
and stronger, always stronger, but without
violence, without killing or destroying, you will be
obliged to accept them. You can be strong,
invincibly strong, thanks to the light.

Thus, each one of you must begin training and

practising in order to be strong. You can only do it
with practice. When war breaks out and you have
to give battle to the powers of darkness, will you
be ready? Start by trying to overcome the minor
enemies within. Put them to rout. Stop giving in to
them on the pretext that you are a Christian and
don't beleive in violence. A strange kind of
Christian, indeed! Don't you know that Christians
are knights-errant? They are fighters, Christ's
soldiers, and they must be well armed. Why do you
suppose that so many Orders of knights were
created in the Middle Ages? Simply because a true
Christian is just the opposite of a meek and timid
individual. He is a soldier, and his arms are light
and the power of spirit.

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

The Bonfin, France, September 12, 1963
Cosmic Moral Law, Complete Works, © Prosveta
Editions

Prosveta - books of Omraam Mikha・ A・anhov

The true meaning of "showing the other cheek" -
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov