Two-Fold Effect

Two-Fold Effect
The early delight in the quest can have a two-fold effect:

1. People who experience the initial delights sometimes believe the phenomena they've experienced indicate they're enlightened. Yet such "aspirants" will likely be somewhere else, practicing sword fighting or mountain climbing by next year. They often feel they've received in a few months what people generally have to labor years for and, now that they've gained "the illumination" or know what's what, there are other more interesting and exciting fields to move into.

2. The early and usually joyous beginning of the quest prepares one for the greater joys and challenges ahead. Work and effort will be required. An intensity will be necessary in order to transform old habits into refined tendencies and attributes of character necessary to actually experience the higher consciousness and ultimately abide in it. If the beginning of the path is to be more than an adolescent romance or crush, the forward momentum will have to be maintained. Higher consciousness requires those who want more than early thrills to begin — in however much delight — a very serious undertaking: You must now determine the best path for your fulfillment in higher consciousness.