eternally vigilant, and does not allow his thoughts to pass beyond the safe gates of pure perception. To him "all things are pure" because his mind is pure-He sees all objects, whether material or mental, as they are, and not as the pleasure-seeker sees them ?as objects of personal enjoyment; nor as the tempted one sees them?as sources of evil and pain. His normal sphere, however, is that of Inaction, which is perfect holiness and rest. This is a position of entire indifference to considerations of pleasure and pain, regarding all things from the standpoint of right, and not from that of enjoyment. Is, then, the sage, the sinless one, deprived of all enjoyment ? Is his life a dead monotony of inaction?inertia?
Truly, he is delivered from all those sensory excitement which the world calls "pleasure", but which conceals, as a mask, the drawn features of pain ; and, being released from the bondage of cravings and pleasures, he lives without ceasing in the divine, abidingjoy which the pleasure-seeker and the wanderer in sin can neither know nor understand; but inaction in this particular means inaction as regards sin ; inaction in the lower animal activities which, being cut off, their energy is transferred to the higher intellectual and moral activities, releasing their power, and giving them untrammelled scope and freedom.
Thus the sage avoids sin by extracting its root within himself, not allowing it to grow into attraction, to blossom into desire, and to bear the bitter fruits of sinful actions. The unwise man, however, allows the thought of pleasure to take root in his mind, where its growth, evokes sensations which are pleasant to him, and on these sensations he dwells with enjoyment, thinking in his heart, "So long as I do not commit the sinful act, I am free from sin." He does not know that his thoughts are causes the effects of which are actions, and that there is no escape from sinful acts for him who dwells in sinful thoughts.
And so the process develops in his mind and blossoms into desire, and in the final moment of
temptation (which is but the moment of opportunity brought into prominence by that desire), with the coveted object at his unreserved command, the fall of the man into sinful action is swift and certain.
3. Regeneration
Submit to naught but nobleness; rejoice
Like a strong athlete straining for the prize,
When thy full strength is tried; be not the slave
Of lusts and cravings and indulgences,
Of disappointments, miseries, and griefs,
Fears, doubts, and lamentations, but control
Thyself with calmness; master, that in thee
Which masters others, and which heretofore
Has mastered thee; let not thy passions rule,
But rule thy passions; subjugate thyself Till
passion is transmuted into peace,
And wisdom crown thee; so shalt thou attain
And, by attaining, know.
HAVING considered and examined the nature of temptation in its five interdependent stages, let us now turn to the process of regeneration, and also consider its nature, so that the reader who has already received some measure of enlightenment may be still further guided in his strenuous climbing towards the Perfect Life.
The five stages in regeneration (already enumerated) are:?1. Reflection; 2. Introspection; 3. Self-analysis; 4. Meditation; and 5. Pure Perception.
