Now that you have challenged the would-be customer in an Initial Encounter, drive home the bait. Display all the unusual and exciting activities of your Programme. But give her only a tantalizing nibble, never satiate his curiosity or greed. In the first session, display a particularly flamboyant technique or have one of your many disciples read a captivating passage from your Writings. ¹

Not too much, just a taste.

      Then in a deliberately solemn air, explain slowly and methodically to the would-be customers that your Teaching Programme is new and different from any they could have encountered. In fact your Way of Teaching, you explain, is diametrically opposite in Essence from any previous approach.

      Whereas most teachers encourage persons to study with them and try to prove the benefits of their teaching, you are duty-bound to discourage people and are obligated to point out the possible difficulties the student will face. You must discourage, you explain, because So Few have any real chance of success in this Most Demanding of all possible Ways.

      You must not offer False Hope, you solemnly announce (making it clear by your inflection and innuendo which words are capitalized or underlined). And instead of the customer getting immediate pleasure and quick results, your Way succeeds only if the student applies herself to a demanding, long-term regimen of study and self-discipline.

      "So I don't encourage anyone to apply for admittance into the Programme," you state in a studied, serious tone, "Few are Chosen and the Gate is Narrow."

      Hardly any would-be customer can withstand such a subtly indirect challenge. You have piqued his curiosity and self-esteem beyond her control.

      Now for the clincher. Once they have insisted on applying to be admitted - despite your protestations - then tell them there is one Quintessential Requirement that you feel quite sure they cannot meet. To their insistence on hearing this qualification, you then gravely state:

"This Way requires an almost super-human Mood. An Insatiable Hunger for the Way that one in a million can create in themselves and sustain. Yet without it, no one can hope to Attain."

      Stop there to let the prospective customer feel the full impact. He will wonder if you are going to continue. Just as she is beginning to remember that you haven't stated the Supreme Qualification, do so.

"The student applying for admittance into this Programme," you announce, ponderously, "must - Absolutely Must - understand that everything she is given to do is a Privilege. The word Privilege is the Key. That is the Key - the word Privilege."

      Repeat the phrase several times, in keeping with Magic Formula Number Five: Repetition is the Essence of Pedantry. ²

     Explain that most Ways of Enlightenment make demands on the initiate, while your Way asks nothing. It does not seek people, people must seek It. It does not require anything - as though it needed people studying It or obeying It. The student is Allowed the Privilege of doing certain tasks to Prove his acceptability to this Way.

     Remain silent for a time to let all this sink in. The would-be customer will probably be provoked and nauseated by this haughty air of yours; she'll want to do combat with you. He will meekly or brazenly express her disfavor or hatred of your attitude. She may use such terms as "spiritual chauvinist," "imperiousness," or "bigot." Remain unruffled. Admit that this Way ³ is unashamedly Next to Impossible.

     And then (the coup de grace) point out that their very response to your explanation of the Way indicates almost certainly that they do not have the proper attitude to be able to succeed in this Way. They are arguing that the Way takes Itself too seriously or gives the impression of thinking too highly of Itself, as if it were The Final Answer. Reply instantly: "Yes! Exactly! Unashamedly this Way does see Itself in those terms. And It does not encourage anyone who cannot approach it as a Rare Privilege."

      A good dose of silence and the customer is usually half way to making the first payment. They will ask how they can start. Correct them. Remind them that they are applying for admittance into a Disciplined Programme Of Study, and that everything must be seen as A Privilege. When they repeat this after you correctly, then tell them about the Screening and Testing.

      Construct a pre-arranged system of Screening and Testing through which the prospective customer must pass. It matters little what you demand. Again, however, Not Too Much and Not Too Little: Magic Formula Number Six. I suggest you have the applicants (impress on them that they are now "applicants") read a mystifying book on magic, quantum mechanics, or the free market system and tell them they will next be given a test over the book. Quickly, however, assure them that the test is not too difficult; you've just put on quite a load, now take off part of it to show your Kind Nature.

      Nine and one-half prospective customers out of ten cannot escape the Challenge and Agitation of this approach.

      Give them a definite, limited amount of time to read the book and take the test - you don't want to lose them. However, even the day or two this will take is a Dangerous Period, because today's disciple/student is a confused jumble of phantasy and conditioning, with an attention span of about one-half second. So during this time, send him a brochure on your Programme and have one of your students/disciples phone her at least three times each day. You'll lose a few in this Screening and Testing period, but those who come through the ordeal will be hoodwinked for good (at least for a fairly extensive time, say a month or so).

      Have your disciples give the test to the "applicant" and whatever she does, tell her that he has shown the initial capability to be allowed into the status of an Initiate. ⁴

¹ You, or better, your disciples, must frequently and regularly make some passing reference to your Writings, giving the distinct impression that they are Extensive.

² For the essence behind this magic formula I must thank the world-renowned expert on Taoist symbolism in don Quixote's windmill, Stephen Petty.

³ Speak in the third person as much as possible, especially when the customer gets personal. His rebuttal must then fight Something - not you.

⁴ Terms such as Applicant and Initiate, indicating the customer's status, are essential in giving him a sense of her lowly position and the necessity for a long-term Effort.