On Mestre Gabriel’s birthday, the gift is ours

| February 10, 2021.

Cristina da Luz*

Our thoughts don’t stop, forever making choices. And if this continuous movement is at the heart of human life, what do we need in order to be happier and to make better, higher quality choices?

For almost 60 years, some thousands of people have been making increasingly better choices, receiving good orientation from the Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal. It’s a place where spiritual values are at the core, where beneficence must begin within each person, where unity is an objective for everyone and where a sacred Tea, which comes from Nature, helps us to recognize Nature itself as well as to come to know ourselves, through mental concentration. We mirror the life practice and teachings of a man who, if he were still incarnate, would have turned 99 years old today, February 10^th, 2021. A man without fanaticism or impositions, simple and firm in his own word. The name of this man is José Gabriel da Costa, Mestre Gabriel.

In these rapidly changing times and with the obvious challenges that Humanity faces, the symbol of this Mestre’s work is the straightforward answer we need: Light, Peace and Love. Those who arrive looking for answers will find these words in each Núcleo of the União do Vegetal – both written in a visible place in a large, clean and welcoming salon, as well as in the doctrine left by Mestre Gabriel. The responsibility for passing the teachings on with integrity remains with the Mestres trained within the Center. Practicing these teachings and realizing how true they are is each person’s responsibility.

We are men and women who wish to be responsible for our own spiritual development, receiving clear guidance within an environment where we seek to keep Mestre Gabriel’s word fulfilled. A man who dedicated his life to carrying out this work, and we are the witnesses to the results of this work. Our families are here, our children are here, our grandchildren are here, we make friends here, and we are present in society interacting in the best possible way. Nothing is easy, nor is it difficult – each one of us makes our choices and sets the tone according to our own understanding and according to that which we want.

It is the orientation we receive in the União do Vegetal that makes it possible for us to make choices with more awareness, the result of having a conscious guide. To him, our most sincere recognition.

Our Guide

At the sound of a church bell in Coração de Maria (Heart of Mary),
Which is so great, and yet is also a small town in Bahia,
On February 10^th, 99 years ago, Mestre Gabriel was born.
In the full shining light of midday,
The light, manifests, in a baby boy – how did it fit in him?
Echoes of a peace from many eras ago … Yes, God knew.
From nothing, everything would appear,
With love a Work would grow.
The União, with simplicity, he would build.
The spinning thread weaves to and fro…
On the eve of one hundred years, this baby boy is ever more our guide.

*Cristina da Luz is a member of the Body of Counsel of Núcleo Pupuramanta (Rio de Janeiro-RJ) and the Coordinator of the Department of Memory and Communication (DMC) in the 5^th Region of the UDV.