The spiritual life

The Use of Evil. 209

isnotpleasant,butit isnotanevil; itisdesir-

ableandnotundesirable,foritisaconditionof

gaining perfection, and v^^ithout it perfection

cannot be. Andwhy? Forthisreason: that

development must become conscious, that is,

theremustbeagradualdevelopmentofthought

w^ithin us. But by what process can this be

secured? When we go outward towards an

object which attracts us we at first seek only

satisfaction. But in the external there is no

permanent satisfaction; in the external which

attracts the deluded Soul of man there is

nothingthat can give permanent satisfactionto

theSoul. The Soul has beencompared to a

charioteer, standinginthe chariot of the body,

and using the mind as the reins to curb the

horsesofthesenses; whenthegallopinghorses

ofthesensescarrytheSoulawaytotheobjects

of desire,howshall the Soul learn that these

objects are not trulydesirable? Howshall it

lose the desire which goes out to thesethings

which can never satisfy? And how shall it

learntoturninwardtothecentre,and seekfor

Brahman alone? It can onlybe led to turn

towardsitsdesireswhenitfindsthateverything

whichisnot Brahman passes away,and inthe

passingawaygivespain. Youdesirethegrati-

ficationofthesenses. Howshallthatdesirebe