The true reality, the only reality is your higher Self. The rest - what you consider to be reality - is an illusion, a lie

As long as man is content with the image of what he is now, he is held back in the lower degrees of evolution, for this mediocre, mundane image influences and limits him. He must work to form a much more beautiful, nobler and more luminous image of himself, because that image, in turn, will influence him; it will produce other vibrations and arouse other spirits in him. He will want to resemble this image and will thus make progress; otherwise he will stagnate and never know his own reality.

You will say, 'But what reality? It's what I am here and now that is real?' No, this reality is not the true reality. The true reality, the only reality is your higher Self. The rest - what you consider to be reality - is an illusion, a lie. That is why you must look for your higher self, your divine self, which is the only reality, and try to identify with it.

Every day we must struggle with our own darkness, our own sluggishness. Yes, we must struggle every day. You will say: ‘But how long will this go on?' As long as a human being incarnates on earth, he will have to take on a body and, because this body is by nature heavy and coarse, it cannot escape the grip of matter. Only when he finally cuts his connections to the earth at the end of his evolution will he escape this crushing weight and darkness. But as long as human beings are on earth, they must be under no illusion; they cannot escape it. The only exception is the true spiritualist, who is conscious, struggles and clings to God, to the light, to love, to hope and to faith. He prays, he meditates, and more and more often he succeeds in freeing himself inwardly from this weight.

There is a lot more to the subject of optimism and pessimism than people generally think. Only those who seek spiritual riches can be truly optimistic, whereas those who focus on material riches and are at first full of hope will sooner or later have to give up their illusions. Optimism and pessimism imply two philosophies of life. Pessimists see no further than the petty earthly things, while optimists open their soul to the vast expanses of heaven, knowing that humans are destined one day to return to their heavenly homeland. On the way to this homeland, they will of course meet evil in all its forms, they will suffer, they will doubt others and themselves, and they will lose courage. But even during the worst times they will not founder, because there is a truth etched in their heart and soul: that God created them in his image and that this image holds the potential for all riches and every victory.