To show an interest in and an understanding of the various forms of spirituality is perfectly acceptable. What is dangerous, however, is to dissipate oneself, to fail to choose one method of inner work in which to engage oneself. The question is not whether we should be Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, or nothing at all. The point – and it concerns each one of us, whether we believe or not – is to settle on a few essential spiritual truths and put them into practice. Spirituality is not an optional realm that we can choose or not, as we do with other disciplines such as languages, art, sports, and so on. Given the structure of the human being, spirituality is a vital necessity for him. As long as he is not conscious of this necessity, he throws himself into activities that are absurd and dangerous, both for himself and for others. His structure is such that he needs to find nourishment for his soul and his spirit.

Do not let a single day go by without uniting with heaven, without meditating, praying. For nothing is more important and beneficial for you than to acquire a taste for spiritual activities. Stop for a few minutes, many times a day, and try to find within yourself a center of equilibrium, your divine center. You will then begin to feel that, in all circumstances of life, you have within you an eternal and indestructible element. And even if it does not pay off on the material plane, you become inwardly freer, stronger and very confident... you are above the events of your life. This spiritual work is the sole richness, the sole possession that is truly yours. Everything else can be taken away from you: only your work is yours forever.

Those who decide to undertake a spiritual work must understand that this work involves an extremely subtle matter which eludes all our usual means of investigation. But the results that can be obtained on the spiritual plane are as real as those that can be obtained on the physical plane. In the same way that it is real on the physical plane to saw wood or make soup, it is real on the spiritual plane to activate forces, direct currents and enlighten peoples’ consciousness. Sooner or later the results will appear, but first they are produced on the subtle planes. Those who do not understand these laws want to see immediate, concrete results of their inner work. When it appears that nothing is happening, they are disappointed, and this disappointment can lead them to destroy what they have already created. But now that you understand, you will not be discouraged.

The masculine and feminine principles, which are the principles of spirit and matter, originate in the celestial regions on high, but they manifest and are operative on all planes, including the physical, and on every level of the physical, for their polarity manifests in every realm. You yourselves, when you work, are the spirit working on matter. And this is true not only when you are making something or simply preparing a meal, but your spiritual activity is also a work of the spirit on matter. As soon as you become aware that something within yourself needs to be improved and you make up your mind to work at it, you are polarized.  There is you and there is the matter on which you are working. Spiritual work requires, first of all, that we know how to distinguish between the self and the non-self. This means that we need to distance ourselves from what we usually think of as ourself, but which is not really our self, and become closer to that which is truly our self: our divine Self. It at this point that the true work of the spirit on matter begins: the work of our own spirit on our own natter