The most gifted people in the world are successful
only because they have practised several hours a day,
every day, often since childhood,
in order to develop their talents.
Work and work alone brings results,
and this is even truer for the spiritual life than for all other realms.
Why?
Because the spiritual life is inseparable from the whole of existence.
Consider a musician, for example:
even though he is a genius, music does not take up his whole life.
He can cultivate his gifts,
while at the same time succumbing habitually
to uncontrolled passions and leading a chaotic, unbalanced life.
The same applies to writers, painters, and so on.
It is thus easier to cultivate a gift,
whatever it may be, than to tackle our psychic weaknesses and faults.
It is because the spiritual life requires constant work, day and night,
that there are so few candidates!
The secret of spiritual life
is to climb as high as you can and stay there.
