Wisdom Vault — onlinknow.co.za

to him- self and to his surroundings and circum- stances. Having discovered this, the first Gate, that of the Surrender of Desire, is THE FINDING OF A PRINCIPLE 45 entered. Passing through this Gate, he adopts a process of self-discipline which is the first step in the purification of the soul.

Hitherto he has lived as a slavish beast; eating, drinking, sleeping, and pur- suing enjoyment at the beck and call of his lower impulses; blindly following and grati- fying his inclinations without method, not questioning his conduct, and having no fixed centre from which to regulate his character and his life.

Now, however, he begins to live as a man; he curbs his inclinations, controls his passions, and steadies his mind in the practice of virtue. He ceases to pursue enjoyment, but follows the dictates of his reason, and regulates his conduct in accord- ance with the demands of an ideal.

With the introduction of this regulating factor in his life, he perceives at once that certain habits must be abandoned. He begins to select his food, and to have his meals at stated periods, no longer eating at any time that the sight of food tempts his inclination.

He reduces the number of meals each day, and also the quantity of food eaten. He 46 ENTERING THE KINGDOM no longer goes to bed, by day or night, to indulge in pleasurable indolence, but rather to give his body the rest it needs; he therefore regulates his hours of sleep, rising early, and never encouraging the animal desire to indulge in dreamy indolence after waking.

Such food and drink as is particularly asso- ciated with gluttony, cruelty, and animal- ism he will dispense with altogether, select- ing the mild and refreshing sustenance which Nature provides in such rich profusion. These preliminary steps will be at once adopted; and as the path of self-govern- ment and self-examination is pursued, a clearer and ever clearer perception of the nature, meaning, and effects of desire will be developed, until it is seen that the mere regulation of one's desires is altogether inadequate and insufficient, and that the desires themselves must be abandoned, must be allowed to fall out of the mind and to have no part in the character and life.

It is at this point that the soul of the seeker enters the dark Valley of Temptation; for these desires will not die without a THE FINDING OF A PRINCIPLE 47 struggle and many a fierce effort to re-assert the power and authority with which they have hitherto been invested.

Here the lamp of faith must be con- stantly fed and assiduously trimmed, for all the light it can radiate will be required to guide and encourage the traveller in the dense gloom of this dark Valley. At first his desires, like so many wild beasts, will clamor loudly for gratification.

Fail- ing in that, they will then tempt him to struggle with them that they may over- throw him. And this last temptation is greater and more difficult to overcome than the first, for the desires will not be stilled until they are utterly ignored; until they are left unheeded, unconditionally abandoned, and allowed to perish for want of food.

In passing through this Valley, the searcher will develop certain powers necessary to his further advancement; and these powers are: self-control, self- reliance, fearlessness, and independence of thought. Here also he will have to pass through ridicule and mockery and false E.K.-4] 48 ENTERING THE KINGDOM accusation; so much so, that some of his best friends, yea, even those whom he most unselfishly loves, will accuse him of folly and inconsistency, and will do all they can to argue him back to the life of animal indulgence, self-seeking, and petty personal strife.