Robert the Bruce was a king of Scotland whose kingdom was taken away by his enemies. Bruce fought hard and tried to win back his kingdom but didn't succeed. In despair he was hiding away in a cave when he saw a spider spinning a web. The spider tried thirteen times to spin a line from one end of the cave to the other but failed every time. As the king watched with growing interest, the spider succeeded the fourteenth time. This was a lesson for the king, who was about to give up his struggle. He decided to try again and this time he succeeded, thanks to the tiny spider!

Reprinted with permission from the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, from the Teachers' Guide for Value-based Spiritual Education. Curriculum for Classes I to X, 2000, Sahaj Marg Research and Training Institute of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Chennai, India. For information contact Santosh Khanjee, Secretary of International Affairs at info@srcm.org.

Q: What is your attitude to success and failure? Do you give up easily, or do you keep trying until you reach a particular goal?

Q: One approach to this question is to do things without thought of the results, without worrying about success or failure - just to do the necessary work. Do you think this attitude could be helpful? Think of examples in your own life.

Q: Does failure teach us anything, or give us anything? What have you learnt from different successes and failures in your life, or from the successes and failures of others who are close to you, like your family?

Q: Write a story or play either on your own or as a group, describing a situation in which the main characters learn from failure, rise above it, and keep going towards a goal.

A good novel to read about the ups and downs on the journey towards a goal is "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. It is a wonderful adventure story, describing many of the principles and attitudes necessary for spiritual growth as well as the failures and successes in material life that accompany the journey.

Maxim Three: "Fix your Goal, which should be complete oneness with God. Rest not till the ideal is achieved."
Think about how worldly success and failure can help us to develop the ability to reach goals, even the highest spiritual goal.

O, Master!
Thou art the real goal of human life,
We are yet but slaves of wishes
Putting bar to our advancement,
Thou art the only God and power
To bring us up to that stage.