The stage of assimilation is most necessary; very few can imagine how long it takes for the spirit to assimilate knowledge of truth. One assimilates it by the power of contemplation, by pondering over the subjects that one hears, by practicing the teachings in one's life, by looking at the world from the point of view which has been told, and by observing one thing in its thousand different positions. Many, before assimilating the knowledge, wish to reason with it, discuss it, justify it, and see how it fits in with their own preconceived ideas. In this way they disturb the digestive fire of the spirit, for as the mechanism of the body is always working to help assimilate food, so the spirit is constantly working to assimilate all that one learns through life.