Whenever your inner life is clouded, your influence is blocked, friend. When you are fearful, you will be attacked; when you shut out mysteries with dogma, room for new insight is eliminated. When you vacillate in upholding your principles, you will be tested. When you are firm and strong, the power of inner truth breaks through even the most obdurate minds.
It is possible for you to influence even the most stubborn, difficult people or circumstances through the power of universal truth, to which all things naturally respond. This is not simply through common interest, sympathy, empathy, or some esoteric bond, but through your awareness of a universal spirit which transcends cultural differences and personal values, and which is in everything and everyone. Some part of you, friend, is aware of this universal force of truth. Here the emphasis is on cultivating this inner resource, and using it to bind others to a common purpose.
