Lifting the veil

Letter to a student

There is a beautiful poem by HD in which she says

...lift
the veil,
dividing me from me,
and heal the
scars
my searing helmet made,
and lure me forth
radiant,
unafraid
as the immortals...

Here she distinguishes three processes:
1. Lifting the veil
2. Healing the scars
3. Being lured forwards into the divine.
These three processes are all necessary for spiritual progress.

When you talk about your improved confidence (in relation to a higher education) or feelings of delight & revelation (in relation to the Sword Form) I think that you are talking about the first stage above - parts of yourself are being revealed to you - you feel more complete etc.
However, the other two processes must be engaged as well for there to be real progress.
Otherwise the confidence, delight & revelation themselves become veils.
The second stage would be the practice (doing one's Tai Chi daily under correct tutelage, for example).
The third stage is more mysterious & is a matter of leaping into the abysses that open up before you at certain times in your spiritual work.
This requires one not to take the easy step of either turning back (becoming a coward), or turning aside into certainty & opinion (becoming an expert - a fossil - what JK calls avoidance).
It requires Yielding.
It also requires qualified instruction.