It is important to realize that the Source, which gives us the direction of our development, must be not internal, but external. Everything inside us is not our guiding force, but our potential, given to us by Nature, as a multitude of forces and opportunities awaiting us to master them. Our potential is, however, confined by standardized schooling, which made us erroneously believe that the leading force of our development lies inside us, that we ourselves are this force. It is not true.

What we are inside, is a human Entity at a certain level of development with respect to the highest Source — our stem upon which we descend from. If we continue to believe we can unfold on our own, from inside of ourselves, relying only on our own power, we will be in no way different from the majority of people around us, who are hoping for a miracle of self-propulsion in their self-development. They never progress in this. This is the main delusion of the majority of our standardized fellow citizens, subjected to decades of averaging external influence, who believe that they are capable of breaking away from their built-in chains, entirely through the use of their inner potential. People say there is no harm in dreaming. In this case there is, as we run the risk of remaining in the Incubator for the rest of our lives.

So, what external Source do we need to put ourselves under, so that we can start to unleash our inner potential, which will begin to unfurl due to, in the direction of, and as a result of this influence?

Placing ourselves under the Sun or rain does not suffice, for we are Humans, not plants.

Can books or the Web help us? — No, for they do not meet the absolutely essential condition that the Source must be unidirectional. Information from books and Internet sprouts from a multitude of origins.

Can we perhaps call on the concept of God as the unidirectional Source of human development? Possible is everything. Except that God is an inner image and hope, rather than a specific power above us. Appealing to the notion of God is no different from the hope of the majority, who believe they can take the path of self-development and break the chains of standard social programming. We cannot take a chance in this matter, enwrapped in fantasies about our spiritual strength, and believing that God would not leave us.

What can be this external, and very specific source of human development? That can only be another Human.

You cannot subordinate yourself to anything else in your evolution, other than another Man — a man with a capital M.

In Russian, “man” by its inherent virtue and original etymological meaning is, “a being whose face is turned up”, literally a Face-Up-Man (Russian Человек = чело вверх). He has already been initiated, and developed his potential given by Nature, following his own superior or the utmost Source itself, which is above him. Such a Man is equivalent to our own father, one that would have been our father in a natural family, with his natural functions and purposes towards us. Since our own biological fathers did not function as our Superior, as a Source for our development, the only option left to us, is to find such a Man. Another (i.e. external to ourselves) Man, who does possess power we could only dream of, whom we can nominate as our father, and by subordination, to whom we can find the Source of unidirectional, real, live, and powerful influence. Even if someone strives to the mundane task of becoming rich, he or she ought to subordinate to another Man who is already rich himself. To become wiser — subordinate to a Man who is much wiser than we are, and adopt his knowledge and wisdom, which emanates from him.

It is natural when a mother feeds a child with everything essential for it’s body. Similarly natural is when a father transfers to his child his Will and Spirit of his ancestors, which he received, in turn, from his own father.

However, if this continuity has been disrupted and there was no father functioning as the unidirectional Source to reveal our natural potential, we, as soon as we awaken, can subordinate ourselves to a Superior Man, whom we accept as our Source.

The Superior can function with respect to us, either as a Master, a Leader, or a Teacher.

The Master teaches us the vocation he is skilled in, and transfers to us his skills that he mastered.  The Leader reveals to us powerful goals, and helps us to focus ourselves and develop our natural potential to achieve those goals. The Teacher makes us aware of the main direction for our development, and clarifies the meaning of principles that will serve as road signs in our life.

To subordinate yourself to a Master means to become his apprentice. To subordinate yourself to a Leader means to become his servant. To subordinate yourself to a Teacher means to become his disciple. It is utterly important to discern these roles, in order to stay adequate in life. To “serve” a Master or a Teacher is not a correct word. For a Master one should become his apprentice. Serving him would be inadequate. Do not bother him with irrelevant questions either, so just follow what he does in his vocation, craft, or trade. It follows then that you do not offer any service to the Teacher, and you do not become his apprentice, for the Teacher will not give you any specific orders, but will be waiting for your questions instead. Likewise, you do not become an apprentice with a Leader, nor ask him questions, for you need to follow his verdicts and perform service to him accordingly.