It was a lack of circumspection that had him expelled from the spiritual studies group.
In hindsight, the pupil could easily see that the rather unpleasant outcome had been on the cards from day one. To say that his tutor in esoteric studies was pompous would be a gross understatement. His attitude towards the small group of pupils, and this particular boy especially, was that such philosophical doctrines were only understood by a select few and the tutor was one of them. He was fond of saying that his high level of knowledge pertaining to such matters, and his ability to grasp them was due to him being able to make regular visits to some figure he referred to as the Great Master. It seems that none of the other boys had wondered who that person actually was, or how the tutor was able to catch up with him so often, because he was continually quoting him.
This had been the case until the boy in question approached the tutor in order to seek clarification. It was during the man’s explanation of where so much knowledge and wisdom came from that the boy had fast growing doubts about whether the man had lost a great number of his marbles.
He was told that every night he went to bed, he would visit the master and gain more pearls of wisdom. He only had to think the thought, ‘I am going to visit the master’, over and over a few times just before he fell asleep. He told all this to the boy with a great deal of pride and satisfaction. The boy was truly fascinated with the idea. So, it came to pass that in bed that night the young student, wanting to experience this phenomenon for himself, went through this strange ritual just prior to losing consciousness.
In the morning he woke with vivid scenes of actually meeting the Great Master and having a long discussion with him about how man had struggled with the search for knowledge. How for so long philosophers had been tussling with the fundamental questions of what is right and what is wrong, the true nature of reality and the vexing question of life’s actual meaning and what we are all doing here. It was a wonderful experience and a most instructive conversation. He couldn’t wait to tell his tutor!
The next morning, with great enthusiasm, the boy told his tutor all about it. However, his tutor seemed a little apprehensive when he asked whether the master had mention him. The boy said that he had naturally told the master about his studies and his tutor.
Needless to say, this was when the element of caution should have been used. As it was, the boy’s future studies were radically disrupted when he told his tutor that the master had never heard of him.