Thief of Time - React Mandela

He took a deep breath. 'And in the hall of the Mandala he saw the patterns in the chaos.'

'You let a neophyte see the Mandala?' said chief acolyte Rinpo, horrified.

'If you want to see if someone can swim, push him in the river,' said Lu-Tze, shrugging. 'What other way is there?'

'But to look at it without the proper training-'

'He saw the patterns,' said Lu-Tze. 'And reacted to the Mandala.' He did not add: and the Mandala reacted to him. He wanted to think about that. When you look into the abyss, it's not supposed to wave back.

***

The Thief of Time - p69