We either get success or lessons. If we learn our lessons successfully, we get both.
Ascetic spirituality is a symptom of the very disease which it intends to cure.
It's not the meaning of life we seek but our aliveness. Once we have that, the meaning of life is obvious.
The Presence of the demon keeps the chakra from doing its job, but that challenge also forces us to bring more awareness to that job, so eventually we can do it better.
Like a garden that is carefully tended, the rewards are well worth the effort.
As you transform yourself, you transform the world.