themselves less in indulging, in other words, they do not allow
themselves to be absorbed and enslaved by other people so easily.
They expect less in exchange for the love that they give. They are
more open to perceiving the love of others towards them, and more
open to giving the love that they have inside to others. Negative
circumstances affect them less and they are more appreciative and
enjoy positive circumstances more.
So what is it that marks the transition between the proud stage and the
following one of arrogance in order to consider it as two different
stages?
The proud are able to give and to receive love but they are held back
from both things through fear of suffering and for this reason they
create an anti-feelings armour-plating around themselves. That anti-
feelings armour plating is pride. The almost complete elimination of
that armour marks the transition to the following stage.
Well, it appears that we are coming to the end of the path towards
unconditional love, aren't we?
Not yet. The fact that these spirits have freed themselves considerably
from their repressions, their fears, and that they cope better with
certain negative attitudes such as ingratitude, does not mean that
they have completely overcome this. The spirit that has overcome
pride still has to surpass a form of subtler egoism, an advanced pride:
arrogance.
Could you explain what arrogance is and what characterises it?
Arrogance is the lack of humility, an excess of what you wrongly call
“self-love”. The two main pending subjects that remain for the spirit to
overcome in this stage are lack of humility and attachment, or
difficulty in sharing the love of loved ones. Spirits in the arrogant stage,
feel very sure of themselves, that they do not need others, that they
are self-sufficient in everything. Although they are usually willing to help
others, they rarely request help for themselves, although they really
need it, because their defect makes them think that to request help is
a sign of weakness. For this reason they conceal themselves in front of
others. They usually hide their needs, their weaknesses, their defects,
their low morale, so that nobody notices them as they are, so that
nobody says to them, “is something the matter with you, do you need
help?” And if somebody notices something they become nervous and
get upset because it is difficult for them to admit that they are not self-
sufficient. In other words, they express distrust, anger and haughtiness.
Although the arrogant are less susceptible than the proud and feel less