A living teaching is like a timid wild animal that you must befriend. Your practice is food, tempting it out of the shadows. This can take a long time, depending largely upon how trustworthy you are – how loyal and sincere is your practice. Eventually the animal comes and feeds on your work. Now you must be careful that you don't tame and domesticate it – turn it into an image of your pathetic self – but allow it to take you back into the wild where it can teach you about spirit.

After years of work the animal will no longer need coaxing; it will come knocking when you forget to practice.