All that glitters ---- has a value

Jan Cox mentioned, and this is a rare instance where I believe he was not the first to say this, but he said, that gold creates the market for the counterfeit.  Without there being such a thing as real gold, there would be no demand, for fake, or inflated, currency.  His point was, probably, that the existence of so many many so-called spiritual groups which are really just hero-worship, or herd mechanics,  their existence proved that the "spiritual quest" was capable of real answers, real accomplishment.  The existence of most religions then, their bizarre idea that creeds and crowd activity constitute a worthy path,  serve to  prove the reality of that quest which insists on originality -- that the teacher can only set up a situation where he helps students by pointing towards something real, something they must see for themselves, they cannot be spoon fed it, or read about it.  And so it is that the secret cannot really be spoken of, without damaging the hearer. They have to see it for themselves.  And struggle to  keep on remembering a certain reality.  But that the secret exists, the glittering proof is everywhere.

Not that you asked (revised slightly)

Someone remarked about Natasha Richardson that she had come to look so like her mother, Vanessa Redgrave. This was especially apparent the older she got, and others have noticed this fact in general, that family resemblances seem to emerge at a certain time. But this does not have to do with a loss of individuality as one ages. The fact is there never was a real individuality in appearance. All beautiful women look alike: their beauty reflects not any individuality, but rather the puppy chub of fresh hormones.

The Redneck Who Ruled the World

The redneck of course is Jan Cox. What world did he rule? I am using the phrase rule the world to point to what is called the awakened man. The world Jan ruled was the only world a man can rule, the only kingdom that is not fantasy and dreams, the only power that can be exerted with awareness of what one is doing, where the awareness is the power. He used the phrase revolutionary to describe his teaching, and was always careful to point out that external political activity was not the revolutionary activity that could engage an real man.
The revolution he pointed to was the revolution of each minute being fresh, overthrown, not mechanical. And Jan Cox was, along with Gurdjieff, the greatest figure of the last century, in that he brought mysticism out of the shadows of religion and into the marketplace of empiricism.
And to the end he pronounced the word "often" offTen.