When you're going through a difficult time, say to yourself: ‘I’m suffering, I’m ill, I feel persecuted. Yes, but this is an illusion ...

"Sages and initiates tell us that we are merely travelling through a world of appearances, that life is a dream from which we will one day awaken. This is yet another idea you must try to work with. When you are going through a difficult time, for example, say to yourself: ‘I’m suffering, I’m ill, I feel persecuted. Yes, but this is an illusion. I’m dreaming, and when I wake up, there will be no trace of it.’ Or: ‘These tests have nothing to do with me. I don’t know who they’re happening to… perhaps to someone who looks like me, but in any case not to me. I am outside all of this, I am spirit, I am invulnerable, and I can watch what is happening merely as a spectator.’ Yes, you will only truly progress in the spiritual life when you know how to recognize what is real."