Only efforts give permanent results

"The idea many people have of spiritual life is that they will meet a magus, an initiate, who will lay their hand on them or reveal amazing secrets to them, thanks to which they will be instantly transformed. This is unfortunate, and this is not how things happen. People can only be transformed through diligent, daily work on themselves.

If someone tells you, ‘Take this magic formula, this talisman, and you will be healthy (if you are ill), at peace (if you are anxious), strong (if you are weak)’, well, understand these are the lies of someone who wants to deceive you. On the other hand, a true initiate will tell you: ‘My children, everything is possible, but only if you make an effort; and then what you obtain will be so stable that no one will ever be able to take it away from you’. Besides, you must also know that whatever you obtain through magical processes - and it’s true, some are quite effective - can never be permanent; a short while later we may lose everything we thought we possessed. We retain only what we have obtained from within through personal effort. This is an absolute law."