What is the hope for those who are unable to enter the shrine of mysticism and have left the fold of religion? Are they to be abandoned to a bleak despair or a hard cynicism? Are they to become engulfed in the waters of moral wickedness? No, let them take the unseen hand of a personal saviour or spiritual guide, whether dead or alive--someone whom they believe to have attained adeptship in yoga, or sagehood in philosophy, and who has announced his intention to give his life to the enlightenment of mankind. Let him become their secret refuge. Let them ask and deserve his grace. The same help can be utilized by those who feel they cannot make the intellectual effort demanded by philosophy but wish to advance beyond the stage of ordinary mysticism in which they now rest.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 6 : Student-Teacher > # 177
