– Growth – said the mas­ter – means that one is able to make good use of his own gifts, of the oppor­tun­it­ies and of the bless­ing that des­cends upon him. With this he all but reaches a super­hu­man plane, where bliss, spir­itu­al hap­pi­ness, holds sway, and human suf­fer­ing is nowhere to be found. How vast an effort does it take to reach even the first degree? And yet we are will­ing to leave it behind, because we strive for the highest level…

– For­give my shal­low and fool­ish think­ing – his dis­ciple spoke up – but do I under­stand rightly that reach­ing the super­hu­man level means leav­ing the human levels behind?

– Well, man suf­fers, super­hu­man man does not suf­fer – if we go by this dif­fer­ence, then yes, we leave behind all that is human, all that is tran­si­ent.

– I feel that you give me every oppor­tun­ity for this ascent: know­ledge, bless­ing, encour­age­ment… And yet I am wary. More than that, I am afraid! I am afraid to leave behind the human plane, human nature, the emo­tions, even suf­fer­ing itself. I feel there is some hid­den treas­ure, some great worth in human exist­ence, and in this too: that I may feel as any­one feels, that I too may live through suf­fer­ing.

– Bey­ond dis­pute, human exist­ence is an excel­lent oppor­tun­ity for growth. It is said that even the angels queue up to be born as humans. But once you have been born human, why not move on? What binds you here?

– Is it illu­sion, per­haps, that hinders me? I keep won­der­ing wheth­er human exist­ence, and with it human suf­fer­ing, has any real value? Or is all of it super­flu­ous?

– By no means super­flu­ous, for shad­ow too is the neces­sary com­pan­ion of light. But it is also true that earthly exist­ence is not final.

– What awaits us on the next level? Super­hu­man suf­fer­ing?

– Come now, do not be of little faith…

– I am drawn by what I exper­i­ence when I see oth­ers grow, by the unfold­ing of a high­er, purer nature – an invit­ing feel­ing. On the other hand, I feel this is not for me, I do not long to get there myself. I admire those who are all but super­hu­man, their example enthrals me, but some­thing here, deep with­in, will not give way… I wish to remain a simple earthly mor­tal!

– Do not worry, every­one comes up against these struggles. Obstacles are there so that you may over­come them. It is not only des­pond­ency or faint­hearted­ness that makes you say this. I know you, you are com­pas­sion­ate. You do not want to walk past the suf­fer­ing of oth­ers. Many people want to stand out, while you would rather blend in with oth­ers…

– Why am I so weak?

– Inner struggle is not weak­ness. What makes you great is not being free of doubts and inner struggles, or already know­ing everything, but, far more, know­ing your lim­its. Recog­nising your lim­its is a tre­mend­ous achieve­ment, and with it you have in fact already over­come them. A little.

– Per­haps it is rather that I am sen­ti­ment­al… Or is it only my attach­ments that bind me? Please, dis­pel my doubts, let me under­stand, let me feel more clearly what I must do!

– Provid­ence… the feel­ing of secur­ity is immensely import­ant, yet not merely the feel­ing of secur­ity, but secur­ity itself. Many people con­fuse the two. And secur­ity is always with sin­cere souls. Do not worry, some­times you find your­self in the middle of nowhere, and at other times, in the middle of nowhere, you find your­self.

– Mas­ter…

– I can only repeat to you what the sages of every age have always said: ‘Pon­der it well, and then move on.’ But if you want to stay, that is good too.