– If you fight against something, you will have a great many enemies – said the master, for he knew that now his disciple was listening, that now perhaps he could share important things with him. – True, the opposing camp keeps you company too, but still… If, however, you strive for something, perhaps fewer people will gather around you, and yet you will get further. For you will have fewer enemies too.
– That seems harder! I move more easily against something, for when there is resistance I can square up to it. To strive for something – that seems somehow harder to grasp.
– I agree, but you see, every phenomenon has its low and its high point of alignment. The low alignment of passion is violence, its higher alignment is enthusiasm. Passion usually rouses us against something, enthusiasm carries us towards something. That is the difference.
– I see… – said the disciple, and withdrew deep into himself.
– I do not wish to teach you elementary things. There is no end to information, facts and opinions, and in any case the research is yours to carry out. I want to put the formula for the solution into your hands, so that you can find your bearings at any point in your studies!
– I feel I am lost already… There are still so many whys…
– I have told you before that for the spiritual man why? is not a relevant question. Ask this instead: how?
– How can I be fired with enthusiasm for something, and not rail against something? – this time he asked the right question, and he knew well that his master liked this.
– If you are only strong but lack humility, that easily turns into violence. Step beyond these instinct-urges. This is the body, but you are a soul, an eternal spark from the eternal fire. Strive to live and judge more and more by your soul, and less and less by the body.
– You have told me a thousand times to become an obedient instrument, but how am I to do it?
– Without self-sacrificing inner work there are no serious results. Do not settle for dazzle; what you need is clear sight. Cheap people want cheap salvation…
– Where shall I begin?
– Think! And do not merely imagine and ponder, but see, know! Where there is a body, there is space, is that not so? You move in space, and outer space and inner space exist, each implying the other. The body is bound up with space, because it is space that gives it room. You must make your thoughts light, light as a tuft of cotton, light as a speck of dust, or a particle of matter! When you are able to master the bond between your body and space through these light thoughts, you yourself will become feather-light.
– Feather-light? – asked the disciple, astonished.
– Yes, feather-light. With this feather-light thought, the great ones can cross water dry-shod, or even travel on rays of light.
– And is this not low alignment, is this not dazzle? It seems like magic to me…
– It is dazzle when it comes from one who strives for it. Without humility all power is mere display. You are right that one who truly possesses the lightness of thought no longer craves an audience. If the display of walking on water is the low alignment of lightness of thought, then its high alignment is the ability to roam freely through the spheres of the world.
– Freedom? You taught me that freedom is independence.
– I still think so today. Do not fight against limits, strive instead, with light thought, for freedom, be independent! Remember, knowledge won through awakening brings eternal life. Think in this way, meditate thus! Through the Soul you become strong, and through knowledge immortal.