The more perfect the spirit, the more infallibly it understands the deep suffering of earthly life. And yet I myself speak again and again about joy, the joy that lies in the realization of the far-off worlds. . . .
What does the misery of earthly life amount to when the far-off worlds have become real to us? Make haste to realize the path to the far-off worlds. Only this broadening of the understanding of life will provide your spirit with the foundation of the path of joy. Otherwise, about what can one rejoice? About the inevitability of reincarnation? When one lacks vision of the future, however, incarnations are only fragmentary pages from the book of life. Animal reasoning does not need perception of the future, but man’s will to knowledge impels him to understand the change of lives. Only by such thinking does man receive the right to joy, and by striving he can approach cooperation with the far-off worlds. Not by gazing at the sky, but through daily life will man multiply life’s riches and discover the meaning and relative value of many daily events. (AY (opens in new tab), 152)