Master, spiritual

His disciples’ best friend

May 2nd 2013
People usually seek to have friends who are pleasant and who pander to their tastes and instincts. But those who tell them how to make progress, how to surpass themselves – oh my goodness, they are to be avoided! And yet, there is no greater friend than a spiritual Master, for he represents the head, which knows which direction to go in. Of course, the head does not simply provide pleasant feelings, but from time to time when the disciple is suffocating or drowning, when they no longer know what is happening to them, they at last decide to turn to it to get their breath back and find their way again… The sad thing is that it does not last, and they go back to sloshing around in swamps. So what is the Master to do? He has provided arguments and methods, and if the disciples do not take them up, life will have to teach them. And life will show no consideration; it will bludgeon them! This thought saddens the Master, of course, but what can he do? He knows only that he is his disciples’ best friend in life or in death, a friend such as they will find nowhere else. Once they understand him, nothing and no one will be able to stop their progress towards light and freedom.