Page 99 - https://ia800806.us.archive.org/12/items/mwk-eng-book/Leading-a-Spiritual-Life.pdf

Noble Personality

We must extract nourishment for our development from all
things and situations, including negative and unwanted ones,
for we can learn much from these, too.

tree is a physical illustration of the spiritual life.
A Its story is a unique one. It begins from a small
seed, and then it grows and grows, until it becomes a
full-fledged tree. How does this miracle take place? It
is due to an inner capacity of the tree, which enables it
to take food from everything: from soil, water, air, and
sunlight.
A seed is quite small, less than half-an-inch perhaps,
but when it grows, it becomes a large tree, sometimes
over a hundred feet tall. Man, also initially a seed,
has likewise great potential and when he grows up, he
becomes like a giant; a superman. When he is born, he
already possesses all the great human qualities, but all
these are in terms not of actuality but of potential. It is
for man himself to turn this potential into actuality.

But there is a difference here. A seed grows
automatically, following the law of nature. Man,
however, is required to develop his personality by his
own efforts. This requires conscious planning. Man

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