Spiritual, Internal, energetic work operates on a gift economy: the teacher gives a gift of teaching, which creates an obligation in the student to return a gift of practice. This is not a rational process open to either choice or negotiation but a naturally binding system akin to karma. That is, when the gift is received so is a debt which must, at some point or other, be repaid, whether I like it or not, and which nags the heart insistently until it is.