Joseph Campbell. Tysyacheletii hero (№ 450685)

The agony of overcoming one's own limitations is the agony of spiritual growth. Art, literature, philosophy and the ascetic disciplines are the tools to help the individual overcome his limitations and step into the endless realms of knowledge. Crossing threshold after threshold, overcoming dragon after dragon, he comprehends the greatness of the deity, which he asks to fulfill his cherished desire, he grows and spreads, acquiring cosmic proportions. And then, finally, the mind breaks through the limiting sphere of the cosmos to a consciousness that transcends all perceptions of form - all symbols, all gods - to the realization of the inevitable emptiness.