In the search for knowledge especially spiritual knowledge, everyone wants the good stuff, high quality, the real meat of knowledge, but so few are willing to pay for it, and they just do not discover how to pay. And in addition they move and walk from school to school, teacher to teacher always feeling disappointed and unhappy by inadequate teachers.

“Another worthless empty teacher of just filler. When can i find a real quality teacher who teaches the real stuff that can feed my hunger to learn and grow. Aren’t there any good teachers out there?

The answer to those who search and are disappointed, left with these types of questions, is… Empty wishes bring empty results.

Before we go further, let us also make it clear that there are more false teachers than good ones, and so normally the impression that the teacher is inadequate is correct authors a course in miracles. The problem is that whenever a finder finds a good teacher, they miss out on his value because of the reasons we will discuss here. Instead they seek false teachers who put on a good show.

You get what you pay for. It is that simple yet somehow the truth of this statement is not obvious to the majority of people. First we should clarify that payment could be money but it may also be other items or personal compromise. You may pay with giving up some pleasure or perhaps give up some hours of sleep. You may give your services and skills without recompense. You may also give the most precious thing, true devotion.

True devotion is most important and yet very rare. It goes in combination with other designs of payment but the paradox of true devotion is that it looks like it is towards another person or group yet in reality it is devotion to yourself.

True devotion ignites you to do anything required for who you are specialized in, that is the outward action and appearance. However, all your searching is really because theoretically you are specialized in your own growth and improvement of your life condition. Here we find the reason people fail in their search, they lack devotion.

Devotion to a good teacher is devotion to your Self. It is very difficult to be familiar with this and to be self motivated. Having a teacher to whom you can be devoted is critical to spiritual progress. Because there are so few good teachers or people who deserve true devotion it is difficult for the finder to be devoted enough that they can break after dark ego barrier that prevents them from learning. That is the problem the true person faces, not just finding, but alternatively accepting when they find.

If you are not genuinely specialized in your own self, then you’ll never do or give the required steps to get what you want. This is perfectly logical. It takes great devotion to get motivated. If you are not devoted, then you will not have the motivation to work as hard as you must. It is clear, without true devotion, we will not find the necessary energy to detox our lesser ego because we doubt that we will ever be successful.

Devotion stems from faith. Faith that the object of devotion will deliver what the devotee tries.

Now let us look at the reason for payment in other designs than devotion. Everything has a cost. That cost could be money or time for example. Not a single thing truly free, even if given freely, everything has a cost. Even if there is no exchange of material goods the cost is still the time and effort it takes to show and to learn. The word; ‘Time is money’ communicates that truth.

Everyone wants things of value and if the BMW dealer has a valuable car he will enjoyably give it to you for enough money without any concern about how you treat your car. Your car has a set value and you paid it and now can destroy or ignore the car.

However spiritual knowledge is not similar. Knowledge has an unlimited value as it alone is the only thing that can transform a person. But knowledge comes with the highest price tag.

Certain knowledge takes decades of effort, compromise and suffering to acquire yet when a person of knowledge is available, people find a way to think that the information should be given freely without cost or any demands.

This is the attitude of the fool who never finds out or changes. If it took someone twenty years of devoted effort enduring great challenges to become what he is, then how is it logical which he could give it away freely? What thing that came at such a high cost to at least one could or should be fond of another without cost?

The cost is the students devotion to own goal. How much effort the student puts in versus how much the student expects everything to be handed to them without their effort of even asking or pursuing the information they seek, really wants to working on the exercises to gain the value. The reason the cost must be paid is that if the holder of the knowledge gave the real secrets out so easily they would not be valued and his life would be wasted. The old saying; ‘Don’t throw pearls to swine’ speaks of this.

Anything of great value must be earned in order for it to be appreciated and a duration of effort into acquiring something gives it great value. Wisdom exists, albeit rare, but will not be given unless the finder is worthy of deploying it wisely and cherishing it as the precious gem it is.

If there is no giving equal in porportion to the value received, there is no gratitude. If there is no gratitude, then the tilbyder will not give twice, if even once.

You must prove you are worthy by first accepting the particular of life and supporting the school and teacher so a building can be maintained to meet in for example. Then show your devotion from your forfeit. If that means working longer and harder to make the money to give to the school, so be it. This is the most common and easiest method because the others are forfeit such as starting a fast, all night vigils, cleaning the ego and many other personal challenges that are far more difficult to endure.

Hanging out to earn money is the easiest to bear as it is a satisfactory part of life, unlike going without food for 30 days or sleep for 3 days and nights. The work to make more money means sacrificing your playtime. That is hard enough for some people and a good beginning to overcoming the weak ego which in the long run will benefit the finder often, giving you the potency of character to endure difficulty with ease, including fasts and vigils.

To have a strong healthy body you compromise time and pain to exercise. For good quality food you compromise paying a higher price. To have money you compromise your time so you can have a nice home and possessions or the freedom to get information.

Everything has a cost and the cost is a compromise, and only through compromise can we get things of value or value the things we get.

Everything requires compromise. True devotion makes compromise a joy.

Make your choice of how you will prove yourself worthy and show that to your own higher self. Persuade God or whatever higher power you feel in that you are serious and prepared to do whatever needs doing to protect and expend yourself to making the most out of the knowledge you seek. Then if you submit yourself and prove your devotion you may find a teacher or place where you will find what you seek.

Always think about what it took for someone else to get what bigger that you seek then show your respect and stay prepared to pay ten times that.

Devotion is respect. Respect for others is in direct proportion to respect for yourself. If you do not respect yourself or others then you will not respect the information you seek and it will be wasted you. That compatible the teacher having wasted his life getting that knowledge and anyone with great knowledge is too wise to turn his life to waste.

You’ll never get anything without effort and the results are equal in porportion to your effort.

When you ask to be given, think about what it is you want, how hard it is to get it, how lucky you are to find someone who has what you seek and that they are willing to share it with you. Then imagine how much time and effort see your face saved you because they can give it to you rather than you endangering 20 or 30 years searching and possibly not finding. You should find true gratitude in your heart if you objectively see what was given by the teacher to get what you now can receive with ease.

When your mind thinks in this way, it sees great value in things of great value. In this way, devotion, gratitude and respect come naturally from your heart, which is being filtered in this very process. As your heart is cleaned out through your devotion to your teacher, you will begin to know many other things. Your Being changes, and you will arise in your personal trend.

But if you are not willing to include the effort, to find a work to earn the money to support the continuation of the source of knowledge, then how do you expect it to be there. Your devotion is your ability to pay the cost, financially and above all, the cost of sacrificing your ego, your selfish desires for fun and games, for pleasures and luxuries, for excessive hours in sleep. Pay with your efforts by working on yourself, practice devotedly the things you have been taught and give them the value they deserve. As you do this, you will find even the simplest acts provides fortunes of benefits.

The heart is heavy with selfish thoughts that weigh it down to earth and fog up its vision. True devotion, gratitude and respect turn the corian mountain to dust which is impressed in a snap of love.