Daily Meditation: Saturday, April 27, 1996

A symbol can be compared to a seed we plant, which one day …

04/27/1996

A symbol can be compared to a seed we plant, which one day becomes an immense tree. As with a seed, the initiate plants each symbol in his head and waters it regularly. The tree appears and grows, and the initiate rejoices; he works in the shade of this tree, harvests its fruit, and replants its seeds, and everything begins anew. The world of symbols is a living world. Just as the seed contains the potential of the whole tree, a symbol synthesizes an entire realm of knowledge. If you were to pose the question: ‘But what is the use of a symbol?' I would ask you: ‘And what is the use of a seed?' By working with ten or so symbols, you possess knowledge in its entirety. It is impossible to carry all the books of humanity everywhere you go, but with a few symbols in your head this becomes possible, because all books are summarised in a few symbols. But in order to discover these symbols and to understand their contents, you must not think of them as abstractions: you must live them.