His heart is pure, that is, outside of the multiple. Durckheim was uncommonly intransigent on this point, though with that indescribable love which so characterized him. But once the disciple had reached the best part of himself, the master gave him his freedom. Amateurism leads nowhere and, as with every master, Durckheim did not waste his time with lazy souls. On the other hand, he who accepted the rigors of a discipline could submit himself completely to him.
Obedience is the core of all spiritual life, it alone can overcome the craftiness of our ego.
The exercises, always taken up again, cease to be painful and boring, for they become the very presence of the spirit of the master, to which one submits oneself in love. In other words, exercises are a relationship and that is precisely where all that we had acquired before the encounter with the master now enters into a new light. We can now practice the same exercises in a radically new way. This is the purpose of true initiation. Durckheim used no power over others, and his exceptional authority came entirely from his radiance.