The Conditions of Discipleship

5. And here, again, we have hinted at the fifth condition: firmness in the carrying out of any resolution when once it has been made. Nothing should induce the disciple to deviate from any such resolution when once it has been made, save only the perception that he has made a mistake. Every resolution is a force, and even if such force does not produce immediate effect on the point at which it was directed, nevertheless it works in its own way. Success is only of great importance when an action arises from desire, but all actions which are rooted in desire are worthless in relation to the higher worlds. There the love expended on an action is alone of importance. In this love, all that impels the student to perform an action ought to be implanted. Thus he will never grow weary of again and again carrying out in action some resolution, even though he has repeatedly failed. And in this way he arrives at the condition in which he does not first wait for the external effect of his actions, but is contented with the doing of them. He will learn to sacrifice for the world his actions, nay, more, his whole being, without caring at all how it may receive his sacrifice. He who wishes to become a disciple must declare himself ready for a sacrifice, an offering, such as this.