There is too much crap about today - especially in the field of inner growth. The most fundamental principle in the development of our spirit, is maturity. This, amongst other things, implies depth, balance and sobriety. Such qualities are not so easy to acquire. We only hide in stupidity if we ignore the role of suffering; and patient endurance of long periods of unexciting plainness or discomfort. The overriding vehicle of spiritual growth is the vast almost endless block of insignificant actions we perform throughout our lives: look to the small things.

       In practice we usually don’t have the energy to harness this enormous resource, so we require a comprehensive strategy to support our earnest but feeble intentions. This strategy must cover all aspects of our life, so that like the theory of magnetism- all the parts of our life line up in the same direction.

       This strategy must engage both sides of our being. On the one side it must be practical, detailed and obvious. On the other side it must speak the language of mystery and intuition.

       It is important to grasp that we are not the person we think we are. We do not have the control over our lives that we commonly assume for ourselves. At least, we may have moments of clarity – then follow long periods of ‘submergence’. During those periods of clarity we can make a few decisions, through which we attempt to influence the quality and direction of our lives. But the force of our lives is a momentum set in motion by the indescribably endless influence of others upon us. We have forgotten the eternity of the earliest part of our lives, in which we absorbed the force of life of those about us. Against this, our own individuality is almost completely powerless. (What we perceive as individuality in those about us, is due to the summation of a vast array of known and unknown forces – different for each of us – but other than our true self.) The profound humiliation of this realization is what causes most of us to capitulate before the dictate of the world, and resort to pretending to be unique individuals. We leave our true selves buried deep in the future.

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