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Speaker 1: Temptation. I know that sorrow follows passion, know that grief

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and emptiness and heartache weight upon all earthly joys. So

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I am sad. Yet truth must be and being can

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be found. And though I am in sorrow this I

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know I shall be glad when I have found the truth.

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The only external tempters of man are the objects of sensation. These, however,

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are powerless in themselves unless they are reflected in his

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mind as desirable objects to possess. His only enemy, therefore,

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is his coveting of the objects of sensation. By ceasing

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to covet objects of sensation, temptation and the painful fighting

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against impure desires pass away. This ceasing to covet objects

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of sensation is called the relinquishing of desire. It is

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the renunciation of the inner defilement, by which a man

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ceases to be the slave of outward things and becomes

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their master. Temptation is a growth, a process more or

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less slow, the duration of which can be measured by

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the sage who has gained accurate knowledge of the nature

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of his thoughts and acts in the laws governing them,

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by virtue of having subjected himself to a long course

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of training in mental discipline and self control. It has

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five stages which can be clearly defined and their development

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traced with precision. But the man who has still immersed

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in temptation has as yet little or no knowledge of

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the nature of his thoughts and acts in the laws

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governing them. He has lived so long in outward things,

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in the objects of sensation, and has given so little

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time to introspection and the cleansing of his heart, that

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he lives in almost total ignorance of the real nature

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of his life and acts which he thinks and commits

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every day. To him, temptation seems to be instantaneous, and

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his powerlessness to combat the sudden and apparently unaccountable onslaught

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causes him to regard it as a mystery, and mystery

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being the mother of superstition. He may and usually does,

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fall back upon some speculative belief to account for his trouble,

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such as the belief in an invisible, evil being or

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power outside himself who suddenly and without warning attacks and

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torments him. Such a superstition renders him more powerless still,

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for he has sufficient knowledge to understand that he cannot

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hope to successfully cope with a being more powerful than himself,

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and of whose whereabouts and tactics he is altogether unacquainted.

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And so he introduces other beliefs and superstitions which his

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dilemma seems to necessitate, until at last, in addition to

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all his sins and sufferings, he becomes burdened with a

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mass of supernatural beliefs which engross his attention and take

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him farther and farther away from the real cause of

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his difficulty. Meantime, he continues to be tempted and to fall,

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and must do so by self subjugation and self purification,

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until he has acquired the ability to trace the relation

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between cause and effect in his spiritual nature. When with

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purified and enlightened vision, he will see that the moment

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of temptation is but the fulfillment of those impure desires

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which he secretly harbours in his own heart, and later

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with a still purer heart, and when he has gained

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sufficient control over his wandering thoughts to be able to

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analyze and understand them, he will see that the actual

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moment of temptation itself has its inception, its growth, and

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its fruition. What then, are the stages in temptation, and

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how is the process of temptation born in the mind?

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How does it grow and bear its bitter fruit. The

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stages are five and are as follows. One perception, two cogitation,

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three conception, four attraction, and five desire. The first stage

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is that in which objects of sensation are perceived as objects.

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This is pure perception and is without sin or defilement.

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The second stage is that in which objects of sensation

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are considered as objects of personal pleasure. This is a

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brooding of the mind upon objects with an undefined groping

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for pleasurable sensation, and is the beginning of defilement and sin.

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In the third state, objects of sensation are conceived as

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objects of pleasure. In this stage, the objects are associated

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with certain pleasurable sensations, and these sensations are conceived and

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called up vividly in the mind. In the fourth stage,

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objects of sensation are perceived as objects of pleasure. At

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this stage, the pleasure as connected with the object is

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distinctly defined. Yet there is a confusion of pleasure an object,

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so that the two appear is one, and a wish

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to possess the object arises in the mind. There is

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also a going out of the mind towards the object.

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The fifth and last stage is an intense desire, a

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coveting and lusting to possess the object in order to

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experience the pleasure and gratification which it will afford. With

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every repetition in the mind of the first four stages,

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this desire is added to as fuel is added to fire,

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and it increases in intensity and ardor until at last

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the whole being is afflamed with a burning passion which

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is blind to everything but its own immediate pleasure and gratification.

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And when this painful fruition of thought is reached, a

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man is said to be tempted. There is still a

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further stage of action, which is merely the doing of

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the thing desired, The outworking of the sin already committed

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in the mind. From desire to action is but a

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short step. The following table will better enable the mind

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of the reader to grasp the process and principle involved.

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One perception objects of sensation perceived as such, two cogitation

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objects of sensation considered as a source of pleasure. Three

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conception objects of sensation received as a fording pleasure. Four

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attraction objects of sensation perceived as pleasurable in possession five

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desire objects of sensation coveted as such desired for personal

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delight and pleasure. Every time a man is tempted, he

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passes from inaction through all the five stages in succession,

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and his fall is passing on into action. The process

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varies greatly in duration according to the nature of the

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temptation and the character of the tempted, But after much

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yielding in many falls, the mind becomes so familiar with

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the transition that it passes through all the stages with

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such rapidity as to make the temptation appear as an instantaneous,

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indivisible experience. The sage, however, never loses sight of the

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duration of time occupied in the process of temptation, but

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watches its growth in transition. And just as the scientist

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can measure the time occupied in the transition of sensation

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from the brain to the bodily extremities, or from the

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extremities to the brain, which ordinarily appears not to occupy duration,

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so the sage measures, though by a different method, the

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passage from pure perception to inflame desire in a sudden

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experience of temptation. The knowledge of the nature of temptation

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destroys its power, or rather its apparent power, for power

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exists in holiness only. Ignorance is at the root of

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all sin, and it fades away when knowledge is admitted

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into the mind. Just as darkness and the effects of

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darkness disappear when light is introduced, so sin in its

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effects are dispersed when knowledge of one's spiritual nature is

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acquired and embraced. How then does the sage avoid sin

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and remain in peace? Knowing the nature of sinful acts,

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how they are the result of temptation, Knowing also the

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nature of temptation, how it is the end and fruition

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of a particular train of thought, he cuts off that

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train of thought at its commencement, not allowing his mind

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to go out into the world of sensation, which is

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the world of pain and sorrow. He stands over his

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mind eternally vigilant, and does not allow his thoughts to

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pass beyond the safe gates of pure perception. To him,

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all things are pure, because his mind is pure. He

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sees all objects, whether material or mental, as they are,

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and not as the pleasure seek or sees them as

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objects of personal enjoyment, nor as the tempted one sees

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them as sources of evil and pain. His normal sphere, however,

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is that of in action, which is perfect, holiness and rest.

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This is a position of entire indifference to considerations of

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pleasure and pain, regarding all things from the standpoint of right,

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and not from that of enjoyment. Is then the sage,

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the sinless one, deprived of all enjoyment, is his life

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a dead monotony of inaction inertia. Truly, he is delivered

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from all those sensory excitements which the world calls pleasure,

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but which conceals as a mask the drawn features of pain,

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and being released from the bondage of cravings and pleasures,

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he lives without ceasing in the divine abiding joy, which

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the pleasure seeker and the wanderer in sin can neither

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know nor understand. But in action in this particular means

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in action as regards sin, in action in the lower

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animal activities, which, being cut off their energy, is transferred

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to the higher intellectual and moral activities, releasing their power

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and giving them untrammeled scope and freedom. Thus the sage

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avoids sin by extracting its root from himself, not allowing

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it to grow into attraction, to blossom into desire, and

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to bear the bitter fruits of sinful actions. The unwise man, however,

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allows the thought of pleasure to take root in his mind,

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where its growth evokes sensations which are pleasant to him.

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And on these sensations he dwells with enjoyment, thinking in

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his heart, so long as I do not commit the

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sinful act, I am free from sin. He does not

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know that his thoughts are causes the effects of which

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are actions, and there is no escape from sinful acts

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for him who dwells in sinful thoughts. And so the

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process develops in his mind and blossoms into desire, And

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in the final moment of temptation, which is but the

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moment of opportunity, brought into prominence by that desire, with

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the coveted object at his unreserved command, the fall of

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the man into sinful action is swift and certain,