Esoteric traditions say we all have the capacity for perfection, for self-transcendence. Perfection is not only our birthright but part of our duty to God and the universe. By this view, the "something wrong" that nags us in our daily lives arises from a failure to perfect ourselves in this way. It's not that we're missing some piece of information, but that we've forgotten how to "know" the visible and invisible worlds in a deeper, more immediate fashion. As a result we feel cut off from a larger life, and the world seems to suffer with us, growing colder, more sterile, more estranged.
— Richard Smoley, Jay Kinney, Hidden Wisdom