1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,200
Speaker 1: Passion, the pathway of the saints and sages, the road

2
00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,439
of the wise and the pure, the highway along which

3
00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:12,119
the saviors have trod, and which all saviors to come

4
00:00:12,199 --> 00:00:16,519
will walk. Such is the subject of this book. Such

5
00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,760
is the high and holy theme which the author briefly

6
00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:23,960
expounds in these pages. Passion is the lowest level of

7
00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:29,160
human life. None can descend lower. In its chilling swamps

8
00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,560
and concealing darkness, creep and crawl the creatures of the

9
00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:52,119
sunless world lust, hatred, anger, covetuousness, pride, vanity, greed, revenge, envy, backbiting, lying, theft, deceit, treachery, cruelty, suspicion, jealousy.

10
00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,840
Such are the brute forces, in blind, unreasoning impulses that

11
00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,679
inhabit the underworld of passion and rome, devouring and devoured.

12
00:01:03,119 --> 00:01:06,840
In the rank, primeval jungles of the human mind, there

13
00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:11,439
also dwell the dark shapes of remorse, pain and suffering,

14
00:01:12,239 --> 00:01:17,159
and the drooping forms of grief, sorrow, and lamentation. In

15
00:01:17,239 --> 00:01:20,920
this dark world, the unwise live and die, not knowing

16
00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,079
the peace of purity, nor the joy of that divine

17
00:01:24,159 --> 00:01:28,319
light which forever shines above them and for them. Yet

18
00:01:28,359 --> 00:01:30,959
it shines in vain so long as it falls on

19
00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,560
the unseeing eyes, which look not up, but are ever

20
00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,959
bent earthward. Flesh word, but the wise look up. They

21
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,799
are not satisfied with this passion world. They bend their

22
00:01:43,799 --> 00:01:47,079
steps towards the upper world of peace, the light and

23
00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,480
the glory of which they behold, at first far off,

24
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,560
but nearer, and with ever increasing splendor. As they ascend.

25
00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,760
None can fall lower than passion, but all can rise higher.

26
00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:05,079
In that lowest place where further descent is impossible, All

27
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,719
who move forward must ascend. The ascending pathway is always

28
00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:14,240
at hand, near and easily accessible. It is the way

29
00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,439
of self conquest. He has already entered into it, who

30
00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,520
has begun to say nay to his selfishness, Who has

31
00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,520
begun to discipline his desires, and to control and command

32
00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,360
the unruly elements of his mind. Passion is the arc

33
00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:35,280
enemy of mankind, the slayer of happiness, the opposite and

34
00:02:35,479 --> 00:02:40,240
enemy of peace. From it precedes all that defiles and destroys.

35
00:02:41,039 --> 00:02:44,280
It is the source of misery and the promulgator of

36
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,800
mischief and disaster. The inner world of selfishness is rooted

37
00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:54,840
in ignorance. Ignorance of divine law, of divine goodness, ignorance

38
00:02:54,879 --> 00:02:59,319
of the pure way and the peaceful path. Passion is dark,

39
00:02:59,719 --> 00:03:04,319
and it thrives and flourishes and spiritual darkness. It cannot

40
00:03:04,439 --> 00:03:08,400
enter the regions of spiritual light in the enlightened mind.

41
00:03:08,439 --> 00:03:12,360
The darkness of ignorance is destroyed. In the pure heart,

42
00:03:12,439 --> 00:03:16,639
there is no place for passion. Passion in all its forms,

43
00:03:16,719 --> 00:03:21,960
is a mental thirst, a fever, a torturing unrest. As

44
00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,759
a fire consumes a magnificent building, reducing it to a

45
00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,680
heap of unsightly ashes. So are men consumed by the

46
00:03:29,719 --> 00:03:34,919
flames of passions, and their deeds and works fall and perish.

47
00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,800
If one would find peace, he must come out of passion.

48
00:03:39,759 --> 00:03:43,680
The wise man subdues his passions. The foolish man is

49
00:03:43,719 --> 00:03:48,120
subdued by them. The seeker for wisdom begins by turning

50
00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:51,960
his back on folly. The lover of peace enters the

51
00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,680
way which leads there too, And with every step he takes,

52
00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,639
he leaves further below and behind him the dark dwelling

53
00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:04,280
place of passion and despair. The first step towards the

54
00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:07,919
heights of wisdom and peace is to understand the darkness

55
00:04:07,919 --> 00:04:12,240
and misery of selfishness, and when that is understood, the

56
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,879
overcoming of it, the coming out of it will follow.

57
00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:21,959
Selfishness or passion not only subsists in the gross forms

58
00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:26,800
of greed and glaringly ungoverned conditions of the mind. It

59
00:04:26,879 --> 00:04:30,959
informs also every hidden thought which is subtly connected with

60
00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,439
the assumption and glorification of one's self. It is most

61
00:04:35,439 --> 00:04:38,519
deceiving and subtle when it prompts one to dwell upon

62
00:04:38,519 --> 00:04:42,160
the selfishness in others, to accuse them of it, and

63
00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,120
to talk about it. The man who continually dwells upon

64
00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:50,759
the selfishness and others will not thus overcome his own selfishness.

65
00:04:51,759 --> 00:04:54,600
Not by accusing others do we come out of selfishness,

66
00:04:55,319 --> 00:04:59,759
but by purifying ourselves. The way from passion to peace

67
00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:03,920
is not by hurling painful charges against others, but by

68
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,519
overcoming one's self. By eagerly striving to subdue the selfishness

69
00:05:09,519 --> 00:05:14,800
of others, we remain passion bound. By patiently overcoming our

70
00:05:14,879 --> 00:05:19,680
own selfishness, we ascend to freedom. Only he who has

71
00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,360
conquered himself can subdue others, And he subdues them not

72
00:05:24,439 --> 00:05:29,519
by passion but by love. The foolish man accuses others

73
00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:34,319
and justifies himself, but he who is becoming wise justifies

74
00:05:34,399 --> 00:05:39,040
others and accuses himself. The way from passion to peace

75
00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,399
is not in the outer world of people. It is

76
00:05:42,439 --> 00:05:46,120
in the inner world of thoughts. It does not consist

77
00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,240
in altering the deeds of others. It consists in perfecting

78
00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:55,439
one's own deeds. Frequently, the man of passion is most

79
00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,920
eager to put others right, but the man of wisdom

80
00:05:58,959 --> 00:06:03,480
puts himself right. If one is anxious to reform the world,

81
00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,399
let him begin by reforming himself. The reformation of self

82
00:06:08,439 --> 00:06:11,519
does not end with the elimination of the sensual elements.

83
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,839
Only that is its beginning. It ends only when every

84
00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:20,120
vain thought and selfish aim is overcome. Short of perfect

85
00:06:20,199 --> 00:06:23,600
purity and wisdom, there is still some form of self

86
00:06:23,639 --> 00:06:28,399
slavery or folly which needs to be conquered. Passion is

87
00:06:28,439 --> 00:06:31,600
at the base of the structure of life. Peace is

88
00:06:31,639 --> 00:06:35,480
at its crown and summit. Without passion to begin with,

89
00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,560
there would be no power to work with and no

90
00:06:38,639 --> 00:06:44,519
achievement to end with. Passion represents power, but power misdirected,

91
00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:50,720
power producing hurt instead of happiness. Its forces. While instruments

92
00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,480
of destruction in the hands of the foolish, are instruments

93
00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,680
of preservation in the hands of the wise. When curbed

94
00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:05,240
and concentrated and beneficially directed, they represent working energy. Passion

95
00:07:05,319 --> 00:07:08,480
is the flaming sword which guards the gates of paradise.

96
00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,279
It shuts out and destroys the foolish, it admits and

97
00:07:13,399 --> 00:07:17,560
preserves the wise. He is the foolish man who does

98
00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,839
not know the extent of his own ignorance, who is

99
00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,000
the slave of thoughts of self, who obeys the impulses

100
00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,600
of passion. He is the wise man, who knows his

101
00:07:28,639 --> 00:07:33,879
own ignorance, who understands the emptiness of selfish thoughts, who

102
00:07:33,959 --> 00:07:38,959
masters the impulses of passion. The fool descends into deeper

103
00:07:38,959 --> 00:07:42,879
and deeper ignorance. The wise man ascends into higher and

104
00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:49,279
higher knowledge. The fool desires, suffers, and dies. The wise

105
00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:56,000
man aspires, rejoices, and lives with mind intent on wisdom

106
00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:00,120
and mental gaze raised upward. The spiritual warrior p re

107
00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,879
sieves the upward way and fixes his attention upon the

108
00:08:03,959 --> 00:08:04,879
heights of peace.