How hard it is to believe in eternal life and in divine values when earthly limits bind our attention. It is in the nature of illusion to busy man with all manner of needless things, to divert his thoughts, to cast into oblivion what ought to be remembered, and to remind him of what were better forgotten. One of man's traits is that he systematically ruins himself, for he knows what is good and right and yet does not practise it, and he knows, too, what ought to be avoided and yet does not keep it out of his life. In a crazed euphoria we strive to survive our own lives, but there is consolation…
The world is manifold: parallel realities exist within the great Reality, and the level at which you join this intricate fabric of reality will define your life. If you connect to illusion, the mirage will define you, and if to the all-pervading World Spirit, omniscience will be yours. On the plane of the existence-principle you experience the unity of the universe; on the plane of higher divine awareness, omniscience; and, connecting to the compassionate God who abounds in personal qualities, you may experience universal divine grace and love.
Almost everything in the world is transient. What does the wind bring, and what does the water carry away? Falling apart is the way of the world, holding together the task of those who live in it. If we do nothing, decay will run its course, but final enlightenment hardly will. What in the world is not transient is the world's mystical nature. The world does not rest in itself but points to something, and to that extent it is more than itself. The world is a secret, in places distorted reflection of the supernatural original, and the primal image is mirrored in everything. Even the smallest phenomenon of the universe betrays the source; even the last miracle speaks of the first miracle.
For this very reason, one bad experience cannot call into question the existence of pure ideals. One rainy day does not mean the end of sunshine. Do not deny the dualities – joy and sorrow, good and evil, light and shadow – on the plane of practical experience, but rather try to transcend them with spiritual strength and the momentum of enlightenment. For darkness can be overcome.
Just as wiping away the dust does not create brilliance in a gem, for light is its natural property, which becomes manifest again once it has been cleaned, so too the consciousness of the soul shines forth anew when it is freed from its faults. When one digs deep into the earth, water may be drawn from the well, but the digging does not create the water; and likewise the consciousness of the soul becomes manifest as soon as the layers of ignorance covering it are peeled away, just as, when the earth is scraped away, the water of the spring bursts to the surface with natural force. When the shortcomings that cover consciousness cease, the soul's inherent qualities burst to the surface again; they do not come into being then, for they are the eternal qualities of the soul.
He who doubts – is not liberated; if doubt clouds a man's consciousness, the gate of perfection does not open to him. The cart runs on two wheels: human effort and divine grace. We must trust that where human strength ends, control passes to divine grace. Primal trust is the opposite of the spirit of doubt. Everything can be doubted, and trusted too. Perhaps both attitudes deceive, for each paints a picture a little different from what is real, but while trust paints one slightly more flattering than reality, distrust paints one far darker. If you can place enough trust in life to believe that beyond the visible there is an invisible world, governed not by competition but by providence, you have already taken the first step towards perfection. From distrust one must journey all the way to the realm of love. Attaining perfection is by no means impossible. One need only strive: in this lies the great secret.