"In [the new spiritual movement leader Konstantin] Rudnev’s framework, suffering is “educational” only insofar as it is transformed into awareness, humility, and responsibility: progress is ultimately measured not by extreme experiences but by a person’s capacity to cultivate compassion. The point, then, is not to seek suffering, but to metabolize what life inevitably brings. Progress is not measured by mystical experiences but by the ability to spread compassion. In the [Ashram Shambhala spiritual] movement’s moral framework, a person is truly happy only when she wants to bring happiness to someone else—a simple idea that serves as both an ethical principle and a spiritual measure."