Truth is meant to lead those who search for it to mastery. As the saying goes, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all".

"And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free" (John 8:32), says Jesus in another situation.

Here is the point we all need to see, and to see clearly: there is nothing more practical than the Truth. It can, and should be demonstrated as deliverance from everything which ties us, restricts us, and puts us down. Once the Truth is found, it brings great dividends to each seeker.

Some people dismiss spirituality, because they treat it as a nice amusement, a luxury that we may afford once our major problems are solved. Their position is understandable, because many of so-called spiritual or religious theories cannot do much for an individual. But it is not the case with the Truth. Truth is meant to set people free, and to do it effectively.

When we are free, we live in harmony with the Truth, even we do it unconsciously.

When we are enslaved, we are living out of harmony with the Truth, even if we think highly of our spiritual achievements.

Such an understanding gives us a basis for wise discernment. When a person comes to us and presents us a comprehensive and nice-sounding theory of how life works, but he(she) is not free from such burdens as guilt, fear, resentment, addiction, sickness, poverty, dependency, and many others, we have all the reasons to doubt whether his(her) words describe the reality accurately.

"You shall know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16), said Jesus of a certain category of people that He labeled as "false prophets". He knew that it is easy for those who delivered themselves from a bondage of traditional beliefs, to be lost in vain and fruitless intellectual speculations. As we look for fruits in ourselves and in others who present themselves as spiritual teachers and guides, we will be able to avoid this trap.

"There is no such thing as undemonstrated understanding. As within, so without; as without, so within. If you wish to know how you really stand spiritually, look about you at your environment, beginning with your body. There can be nothing in the soul that is not demonstrated sooner or later in the outer, and there can be nothing in the outer which does not find some correspondence in the inner", writes Emmet Fox.

Truth is meant to set us free from burdens - but if it is so, what did Jesus mean by saying, "Take My yoke on you... For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:29,30)?

I believe, He was talking about "a yoke" of awareness and responsibility.

The strange paradox is, some people shun responsibility and awareness. They prefer to carry a heavy burden of guilt, shame, fear, and even poverty and sickness, rather than growing in self-knowledge and self-expression. They are afraid to be fully themselves. They prefer to stay in the valley of suffering - with others - because it is cold and lonely at the top. Such is their choice, and, perhaps, there is nothing we can do to wake them up from their mental sleep, until the time of awakening will come.

It is wise enough for spiritual seekers to mind their own business, and to strive for mastery and freedom in their own lives. When the level of mastery is reached, a person becomes "a light to the world" - through the power of his (her) example. Those who have their eyes opened, will see that light.