1
00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:06,960
Temptation. Aspiration can carry a man
into heaven, but to remain there he

2
00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:12,199
must learn to conform his entire mind
to the heavenly conditions. To this end,

3
00:00:12,519 --> 00:00:18,600
temptation works. Temptation is the reversion
in thought from purity to passion.

4
00:00:19,399 --> 00:00:25,719
It is going back from aspiration to
desire. It threatens aspiration until the point

5
00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:30,640
is reached where desire is quenched in
the waters of pure knowledge and calm thought.

6
00:00:31,519 --> 00:00:36,799
In the early stages of aspiration,
Temptation is subtle and powerful, and

7
00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:41,079
is regarded as an enemy. But
it is only an enemy in the sense

8
00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:45,600
that the one tempted is his own
enemy, in the sense that it is

9
00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,799
the revealer of weakness and impurity.
It is a friend, a necessary factor

10
00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:57,240
in spiritual training. It is indeed
an accompaniment of the effort to overcome evil

11
00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:02,520
and apprehend good. To be success
ustfully conquered, the evil in a man

12
00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,959
must come to the surface and present
itself. And it is in temptation that

13
00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:12,040
the evil hidden in the heart stands
revealed and exposed. That which temptation appeals

14
00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:18,879
to and arouses is unconquered. Desire
and temptation will again and again assail a

15
00:01:18,879 --> 00:01:23,760
man until he has lifted himself above
the lusting impulses. Temptation is an appeal

16
00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:30,640
to the impure. That which is
pure cannot be subject to temptation. Temptation

17
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:36,079
waylays the man of aspiration until he
touches the rein of the divine consciousness,

18
00:01:36,879 --> 00:01:41,599
and beyond that border, temptation cannot
follow him. It is when a man

19
00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:47,280
begins to aspire that he begins to
be tempted. Aspiration rouses up all the

20
00:01:47,359 --> 00:01:52,280
latent good and evil in order that
the man may be fully revealed to himself.

21
00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,480
For a man cannot overcome himself unless
he fully knows himself. It can

22
00:01:57,519 --> 00:02:01,920
scarcely be said of the merely animal
man that he is tempted, for the

23
00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:07,480
very presence of temptation means that there
is a striving for a pure state.

24
00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:13,520
Animal desire and gratification is the normal
condition of the man who has not yet

25
00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:19,680
risen into aspiration. He wishes for
nothing more, nothing better than his sensual

26
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:25,319
enjoyments, and this for the present
satisfied. Such a man cannot be tempted

27
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:30,719
to fall, for he has not
yet risen. The presence of aspiration signifies

28
00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:37,280
that a man has taken one step
at least upward, and is therefore capable

29
00:02:37,319 --> 00:02:43,560
of being drawn back. This backward
attraction is called temptation. The allurements of

30
00:02:43,599 --> 00:02:49,680
temptation subsist in the impure thoughts and
downward desires of the heart. The object

31
00:02:49,719 --> 00:02:53,879
of temptation is powerless to attract when
the heart no longer lusts for it.

32
00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:59,719
The stronghold of temptation is within a
man, not without. An intel a

33
00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,960
man and realizes this, the period
of temptation will be prolonged. While a

34
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,400
man continues to run away from outward
objects and tell the delusion that temptation subsists

35
00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:15,360
entirely in them, and does not
attack and purge away his impure imaginings,

36
00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:21,479
his temptations will increase, and his
falls will be many and grievous. When

37
00:03:21,479 --> 00:03:25,120
a man clearly perceives that the evil
is within and not without, then his

38
00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:30,719
progress will be rapid, his temptations
will decrease, and the final overcoming of

39
00:03:30,759 --> 00:03:36,919
all temptation will be well within the
range of his spiritual vision. Temptation is

40
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,680
torment. It is not an abiding
condition, but is a passage from the

41
00:03:40,719 --> 00:03:46,719
lower condition to the higher. The
fullness and perfection of life is bliss,

42
00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:53,159
not torment. Temptation accompanies weakness and
defeat, but a man is destined for

43
00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:58,520
strength and victory. The presence of
torment is the signal to rise and conquer.

44
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,360
Persistence in ever renewed aspiration does not
allow himself to think that temptation cannot

45
00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:11,479
be overcome. He is determined to
be the master of himself. Resignation to

46
00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,600
evil is an acknowledgment of defeat.
It signifies that the battle against self is

47
00:04:15,639 --> 00:04:21,279
abandoned, that good is denied,
that evil is made supreme. As the

48
00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:27,279
energetic man of business is not daunted
by difficulties, but studies how to overcome

49
00:04:27,319 --> 00:04:32,240
them. So the man of ceaseless
aspiration is not crushed into submission by temptations,

50
00:04:33,079 --> 00:04:38,720
but meditates how he may fortify his
mind. For the tempter is like

51
00:04:38,759 --> 00:04:44,360
a coward. He only creeps in
at weak and unguarded points. The tempted

52
00:04:44,399 --> 00:04:48,600
one should study thoughtfully the nature and
meaning of temptation, for until it is

53
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:54,920
known, it cannot be overcome.
A wise general, before attacking the opposing

54
00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:00,959
force, studies the tactics of his
enemy. Likewise, he who is to

55
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,800
overcome temptation must understand how it arises
in his own darkness and error, and

56
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:13,959
must study, by introspection and meditation
how to disperse the darkness and supplement the

57
00:05:14,079 --> 00:05:18,199
error by truth. The stronger a
man's passions, the fiercer will be his

58
00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:25,319
temptations, The deeper his selfishness,
the more subtle his temptations, the more

59
00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:30,720
pronounced his vanity, the more flattering
and deceptive his temptations. A man must

60
00:05:30,759 --> 00:05:34,759
know himself if he is to know
the truth. He must not shrink away

61
00:05:34,759 --> 00:05:41,560
from any revelation which will expose his
error. On the contrary, he must

62
00:05:41,639 --> 00:05:46,120
welcome such revelations as it aids to
that self knowledge, which is the handmaid

63
00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:51,639
of self conquest. The man who
cannot endure to have his errors and shortcomings

64
00:05:51,639 --> 00:05:56,720
brought to the surface and made known, but tries to hide them, is

65
00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,480
unfit to walk the highway of truth. He is not properly equipped to battle

66
00:06:00,519 --> 00:06:08,160
with and overcome temptation. He who
cannot fearlessly face his lower nature cannot climb

67
00:06:08,199 --> 00:06:13,720
the rugged heights of renunciation. Let
the tempted one know this, that he

68
00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:18,279
himself is both tempter and tempted,
That all his enemies are within, that

69
00:06:18,319 --> 00:06:25,399
the flatterers which seduce, the taunts
which stab and the flames which burn all

70
00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:30,199
spring from that inner region of ignorance
and error in which he has hitherto lived.

71
00:06:30,399 --> 00:06:35,600
Knowing this, let him be assured
of complete victory over evil. When

72
00:06:35,639 --> 00:06:41,720
he is sorely tempted. Let him
not mourn therefore, but let him rejoice

73
00:06:41,759 --> 00:06:46,240
in that his strength is tried and
his weakness is exposed. For he who

74
00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:50,639
truly knows and humbly acknowledges his weaknesses
will not be slow in setting about the

75
00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:57,399
acquisition of strength. Foolish men blame
others for their lapses and sins, But

76
00:06:57,519 --> 00:07:02,399
let the truth lover blame only himself. Let him acknowledge his complete responsibility for

77
00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:08,600
his own conduct, and not say
when he falls this thing or such and

78
00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:14,519
such a circumstance or that man was
to blame. For The most which others

79
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,040
can do is to afford an opportunity
for our own good or evil to manifest

80
00:07:18,079 --> 00:07:25,160
itself. They cannot make us good
or evil. Temptation is at first sore,

81
00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:30,879
grievous and hard to be borne,
and subtle and persistent is the assailant.

82
00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,800
But if the tempted one is firm
and courageous and does not give way,

83
00:07:35,439 --> 00:07:40,920
he will gradually subdue his spiritual enemy, and will finally triumph in the

84
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,519
knowledge of good. The adverse one
is compounded of a man's own lust,

85
00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,160
selfishness, and pride. When these
are put away, evil is seen to

86
00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:55,399
be naught and good is revealed in
all victorious splendor.