Maturity

"How can beginners fully evaluate what needs to be improved in their development? They may realize that they are not doing very well. They may know that they are not very accomplished, for they are constantly coming up against their disabilities and making many gross errors. However, to refine and perfect their study requires a mature approach. Gaining a mature approach requires time and energy and will be the result of their sharing themselves with those who are more advanced who can teach them these evaluative skills and give them a greater sensitivity."

"When you have become honest and objective with yourself, then you will have reached a state of maturity in your evaluation. This is a great accomplishment in and of itself and will take a long time to achieve. However, its rewards are so great, so valuable and so lasting that there is nothing else in the world that can compare with it."

Maturity in Greater Community

"Nations in your region of space have security forces and can amass together a great military power, but this is only for the mutual defense of their trading networks. They have realized that they cannot overwhelm each other by force, and so they seek to influence each other through persuasion and thought. This represents a more mature use of power in the universe and a new threshold of learning for humanity."

Metaphors

"If you are learning to play the piano, in order to evaluate yourself correctly, you must become fairly advanced in your study. You must be able to see clearly what is correct and what is not correct. This will be based largely upon your experience with an instructor who has taught you these evaluative skills. This will be based upon your own failures in performance and in practice, which have shown you where you need to improve. Eventually, you will be able to hear the errors yourself and see where the improvement needs to be made." ... "A student of piano must listen to many other students' attempts to play in order to gain a more critical ear and a deeper sensitivity to what is harmonious and to what is not, to what is effective and to what is not. This refines their awareness and sensitivity."