The books describe the path far ahead, long after the first steps of this book. At a certain point, they say, two roads open.

The first is called the spiral road. It is long and gentle. Those who take it rise slowly, resting for long ages in states of happiness between each stage of the work. Nothing is wrong with it. It is a real path to the light.

The second is the direct road. Those who take it give up those rests. They stay close to suffering humanity and keep working for others, life after life, until the end of the work. The books call it harder, and greater.

You do not need to choose now. You may never meet this choice in the form the books describe. But its seed is already here, in every small decision between your own comfort and someone else’s need.

Each time you stay with a friend who is struggling instead of going home to rest, you take a small step on the direct road. Each time you choose your own ease over another’s real need, you lean the other way. Both are human. Notice which way you lean.