Mystics say that when we begin our spiritual path, we want to speak often with God -- and we wind up not listening to what He has to say to us.

The master says:

"Relax a bit.  It is not easy.  We have a natural need always to do the right thing, and we think we can do that if we work unceasingly.

"It is important to try, to fall, to get up and try again.  But let us allow God to help.  In the middle of a great effort, let us look at ourselves, allow Him to reveal himself and guide us.

"Let us sometimes allow Him to take us onto his lap."

A padre at the monastery at Sceta was sought out by a young man who wanted to follow the spiritual path.

"For a period of a year, pay money to whoever attacks you," said the padre.

For twelve months, the young man made payment whenever he was attacked.  At the end of the year, he went back to the padre to learn what the next step was.

"Go into the city and buy food for me," the padre said.

As soon as the man left, the padre disguised himself as a beggar, and using a short cut that he knew, went to the gates of the city.  When the man approached, the padre began to insult him.

"This is great!" said the man to the false beggar.  "For an entire year, I had to pay anyone who insulted me, and now I can be attacked for free, without spending a cent."

Hearing that, the padre took off his disguise.  "You are ready for the next step, because you have learned to laugh in the face of your problems," he said.

The wanderer was walking with two of his friends through the streets of New York.  Suddenly, in the midst of a casual conversation, the other two began to argue, almost attacking each other.

Later -- when things had calmed down -- they were sitting in a bar.  One of them apologized to the other.

"I've noticed that it's very easy to be hurtful to those you know," he said.  "If you were a stranger, I would have controlled myself much more.  But because we are friends -- and you know me better than anyone does -- I wound up being much more aggressive.  That'
>human nature."

Maybe it is human nature.  But we should fight against it.

There are moments when we would very much like to help someone, but there is nothing we can do.  Either the circumstances do not allow us to offer help, or the person is not receptive to any expression of relatedness and support.

The master says:

"There is always love.  Even at those times when we feel most useless, we can still love -- without expectation of reward, change or thanks.

"If we are able to act in that way, the energy of love begins to transform the Universe around us.  When this energy appears, it is always able to do its work.

Fifteen years ago, during a period of profound rejection of faith, the wanderer was with his wife and a friend in Rio de Janeiro.  As they were having a drink together, an old buddy with whom the wanderer had shared the craziness of the 60s and 70s came into the bar.

"What are you doing now?" the wanderer asked.

"I'm a priest." his friend said.

As they left the place, the wanderer pointed at a child sleeping on the sidewalk.

"See how concerned Jesus is with the world?" he said.

"Of course I see," said the priest.  "He placed that child right in front of you to make sure that you saw him, so that you could do something."

A group of Jewish wise men met in order to try to create the shortest Constitution in the world.  The rule for the meeting was that if -- within the time span that he could balance himself on one foot -- one of them could define the laws that should govern man, he would be regarded as the wisest of them.

"May God punish the criminals," said one. 

The others argued that this wasn't a law, but a threat.  The phrase wasn't accepted.

At this point, the rabbi Hillel joined the meeting.  Placing himself on one foot, he said:

"Do not do unto others anything you would not want him to do unto you.  This is the Law.  All the rest is judicial commentary."

So the rabbi Hillel was considered the wisest of them.

The writer, George Bernard Shaw noticed a huge block of
>one in the living room of a friend, the sculptor, J. Epstein.  "What are you going to do with that stone?" Shaw asked.

"I don't know yet.  I'm thinking about it," Epstein answered.

Shaw was surprised: "You mean you plan your own inspiration?  Don't you think an artist has to be free to change his mind when he wants to?"

"That only works when -- after changing your mind -- all you have to do ball up a piece of paper that weights five grams.  But, when you are dealing with four tons, you have to think differently," Epstein said.



The master says:

"Each of us knows the best way to do his work.  Only the person confronted with the task knows what problems are involved."

Brother John was thinking: "I need to be like the angels.  They do nothing but contemplate the glory of God."  And that night, he left the monastery at Sceta and went into the desert.

A week later he returned to the monastery.  The brother at the gate heard him knock, and asked who it was.

"It's Brother John.  I'm hungry."

"That cannot be," said the brother.  "Brother John is in the desert, transforming himself into an angel.  He no longer feels hunger, and no longer has to work to support himself."

"Forgive my pride," said Brother John.  "Angels are helpful to man.  That is their work, and that is why they contemplate the glory of God.  I can contemplate the same glory in doing my daily work."

With those words of humility, the brother opened the gate.

Of all the powerful arms of destruction that man has been able to invent, the most terrible -- and most cowardly -- is the word.

Fists and firearms at least leave some blood remaining.  Bombs destroy houses and streets.  Poisons can be detected.

The master says:

"The word can destroy without leaving a clue.  Children are conditioned for years by their parents, men are impiously criticized, women are systematically massacred by the words of their husbands.  The faithful are kept far away from religion by those who regard themselves as the interpreters of the voice of God.

"Verify
>hether you are making use of this weapon.  See whether others are using this weapon on you.  And prevent either of those from continuing."

A legend of the desert tells the story of a man who wanted to move to another oasis, and began to load up his camel.  He piled on his rugs, his cooking utensils, his trunks of clothes -- and the animal accepted it all.  As they were leaving, the man remembered a beautiful blue feather his father had given him.

He retrieved it and placed it on the camel's back.  With that, the animal collapsed of the weight and died.

"My camel couldn't even bear the weight of a feather," the man must have thought.

Sometimes we think the same of others -- without understanding that our little joke may have been the drop that caused the goblet of suffering to overflow.