The knowledge of all the Sages culminates in the realisation that they do not know.
There has been a single Master of Woe in each cycle, protecting others under his charge. On the path of asceticism, a considerable amount of prolonged exercises is a necessary preliminary to initial success, which, too, is doubtful. On the other hand, he who is trained on the Path of Woe has for his first stage the Purity of Devotion....
Be of good cheer, in spite of thy lack of devotion and the heavy weight of thy sins. "Never despair of the Divine Grace"—it affords protection to all sinners. Poor as thou art at present, do not be dejected: "The Lord has created a beautiful form for thee," and "made Man after His image."—Letter 85.
Self-Toleration.
He who is on good terms with the self is dead, though apparently living; he whose life is in God is really living, though apparently dead. Death is not of the body alone: the inner man may die in the same way as the outer. Men are perishing in the sea of desires. Their Saviours are the Prophets who help them to cross the sea of desires and merge in the Divine Unity.... The ungodly live in the form only and are dead in the spirit, since true life consists in human nature responding to the Divine Life. On the other hand, "Those who have sacrificed themselves on the Path of God are not to be considered as dead, but as living with their Lord." ...
"The Divine treasury is too full of prayers already. Put in a grain of humble devotion if you can."—Letter 86.
Hidden Differences of Stages.
Men differ, in the gradations of their progress, as heaven from hell, though they are so similar in their outer forms. All men—whether in the past, the present or the future—are the centres of mysteries. Each body treasures a Divine Secret; each Heart feels impelled to the Path; each Soul radiates a glory unfathomable by human and angelic intelligences.... The best and holiest men had an obscure life.