While Eastern religious and philosophical systems are set up to search for a person’s harmony with himself and the environment at every moment of time, Western tradition insists on the importance of recognizing the gap between what is desired and what has been achieved, the task of the Western magician was not abstract “self-improvement”, but the struggle for the authenticity of one’s being, the struggle for one’s right to realize one’s will

From this point of view, the path of the magician has never been a search for reducing resistance; on the contrary, it could often seem like “breaking through a wall with your forehead,” but it is the desire to be oneself, the affirmation of this self, even in spite of the whole world, that has always been a characteristic feature of the tradition of the Western path, therefore the most important task is awareness of your limitations, identifying them and further overcoming them

It may seem that constant concentration on what one does not have can develop an inferiority complex, but the cornerstone task for the magician is to face his limitations and perceive them not as a reason for regret, but as a challenge to battle, as a stimulus to action, aimed at overcoming these limitations

For a student following the Western path, the teacher's constant attention to his shortcomings is an exhausting burden that very few can bear, but it is the teacher's uncompromisingness, his refusal to recognize the lack of progress as "little progress", the lack of harmony as "movement towards happiness" and the lack of strength - “manifestation of peacefulness” is a guarantee of success