The master says:

"The ancient masters were accustomed to creating "personages" to help their disciples to deal with the darker side of their personality.  Many of the stories about the creation of such personages have become well-known fairy tales.

"The process is simple: you have only to place your anxieties, fears and disappointments within an invisible being who stands at your left side.  He functions as a "villain" in your life, suggesting attitudes that you would not like to adopt -- but wind up doing so.  Once that personage is created, it is easier to reject his advice.

"It's extremely simple.  And that's why it works so well."

"How can I know what is the best way to act in my life?" a disciple asked his master.

The master asked that the disciple build a table.  When the table was almost finished -- needing only the nails driven into the top -- the master approached the disciple.

The disciple was driving the nails with three precise strokes.  One nail, though, was more difficult, and the disciple had to hit it one more time.  The fourth blow drove it too deep, and the wood was scarred.

"Your hand was used to three blows the hammer," the master said.  "When any action becomes habitual, it loses its meaning; and it may wind up causing damage."

"Every action is your action, and there is only one secret: never let the habit take command of your movements."

Near the city of Soria, in Spain, there is an ancient hermitage carved into the rocks.  Some years ago a man who abandoned everything to dedicate himself to contemplation lived there.

The wanderer is trying to find the place one autumn afternoon, and, when he does, he is received with total cordiality.

After sharing a piece of bread, the hermit asked that the wanderer go with him to a small stream nearby to collect some edible mushrooms.

As they walk, a boy approaches them.

"Holy man," he says, "I have been told that, in order to achieve enlightenment, we should avoid eating meat.  Is that true?"

"Accept with joy everything that life offers you," the man answered.  "Do not commit sins against the spirit, but do not blaspheme the earth's generosity."

The master says:

"If your journey is difficult, listen to your heart.  Try to be as honest as possible with yourself, and see whether you are really following your path and paying the price for your dreams.

"If you do this, and nevertheless your life is hard, the moment comes when it is right to complain.  But do it with respect, as a child complains to a parent.  But do not fail to ask for more attention and help.  God is Father and Mother, and parents always want the best for their children.  It may be that the learning process is being pushed too hard, and it costs nothing to request a pause, some affection.

"But never exaggerate.  Job complained at the proper time, and his belongings were returned to him.  Al Afid complained too much, and God stopped listening."

A pious man found himself suddenly deprived of all of his wealth.  Knowing that God would help him no matter what, he began to pray:

"Lord, please let me win the lottery," he asked.

He prayed for years and years, but was still poor.  One day he died, and -- since he was a very pious man, he went straight to heaven.

When he arrived there, he refused to enter.  He said that he had lived his entire life according to his religious teachings, and that God had never allowed him to win the lottery.  "Everything You promised me was a lie," the man said, disgusted.

"I was always ready to help you win," the Lord responded.  "But, no matter how much I wanted to do so, you never bought a lottery ticket."

An aged Chinese wise man was walking through a field of snow, when he came upon a woman weeping.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"Because I'm thinking about my life, my youth, the beauty that I saw in the mirror and the men I loved.  God is cruel to have given the ability to remember.  He knew that I would remember the spring of my life, and cry."

The wise man stood there in the field of snow, staring at a fixed point and contemplating.  At a certain point, the woman stopped crying:

"What do you see there?" she asked.

"A field of roses," answered the wise man.  "God was generous with me when he gave me the ability to remember.  He knew that in winter, I could always remember spring -- and smile."

The master says:

"One's personal destiny is not as simple as it appears.  Not at all.  It may even call for some sort of dangerous action.  When we want something, we put into motion some powerful energies, and we are no longer able to conceal from ourselves the true meaning of our life.  When we want something, we make a choice and we pay a price.

"To follow one's dream carries a price.  It may demand that we give up old habits, it may create problems for us, and it may bring disappointment.

"But, no matter how high the price, it is never so high as
>at we pay for not having lived out our personal destiny.  Because one day we will look back and see everything we have done, and hear our own heart say: 'I wasted my life.'

"Believe me, that is the worst phrase you can ever hear."

The Cistercian father Marcos Garcia said:

"Sometimes God takes back a certain blessing in order to help the person understand it better.  God knows up to what point he can test a soul -- and he never goes beyond that point.

"At such times, we never say: 'God has abandoned me.'  If the Lord imposes a demanding test upon us, he always provides us with a sufficient number of graces -- probably more than sufficient -- to meet the test.

"When we feel far from His presence, we should ask ourselves: 'Do we understand how to make use of what he has placed in our path?'"

Sometimes days or weeks pass without our having received a gesture of affection from anyone.  Such periods are difficult; when human kindness seems to have disappeared, and life seems to be simply a matter of survival.

The master says:

"We must examine our own fireplace.  We must place more kindling, and try to illuminate the dark room that our life has become.  When we hear our fire crackling and the burning wood snapping, and when we read the stories the flames are telling, hope returns to us.

""If we are capable of loving, we will also be capable of being loved.  It is only a matter of time."

At a luncheon, a person broke his glass.  Another person said, "That's a sign of good luck."

Everyone at the table knew of the belief.

But a rabbi who was there asked: "Why is that a sign of good luck?"

"I don't know," said the wanderer's wife.  "Perhaps it's an ancient way of preventing the guest from feeling bad."

"No, that's not the explanation," the rabbi said.  "Certain Jewish traditions have it that every man has a certain quota of luck, which he uses up over the course of his life.  One can make that quota pay interest if he uses his luck only for things he really needs -- or he can use his luck in a wasteful fashion.

"We Jews also say 'Good luck' when someone breaks a glass.  But it means, 'It's good that you didn't use up any of your luck trying to keep the glass from breaking.  Now, you can use it for more important things.'"