A spiritual journey does require discipline but also a measure of gentleness. When one meets brick walls of resistance, harsh fighting or abruptly turning away rarely work to get one beyond them. Those brick walls do not budge or simply disappear! Often the only recourse is to gently and calmly dismantle that which appears, taking the time to learn what they mean and why they are there, learning what it means to be kind and compassionate one brick at a time. For how can one become a compassionate being, a universal goal of the spiritual life, if one cannot be compassionate with the self? All lessons begin and end with the self. Practice gentle compassion today, both within and without.