The Guru Is Not Superman
The popular idea of magic is the dream of the comic books–Clark Kent transforming himself into Superman. But a guru will not turn you upside down or suspend you in the air. Nor does he have a mystical power to watch you being old and infantile at the same time. Nor does he have the power to turn you into a reptile to confess your sins to him and then, having confessed, turn you back into a human.
People would like to have such power, of course! It would be a tremendous thrill. However, we have been reading too many comic books. Mystical power can only be expressed through an extraordinarily direct relationship with what is happening with reality. Without a sense of compassion, nothing can take place. We cannot conquer the world if we desire victory over something. We must have the sense of our relatedness with the world.
From The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation, pp. 136 to 137.
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