212 TheSpiritual Life.
warning from the Soul,then it is madness to
disregard it and gratify desire in its despite.
Full gratification of desirebelongs tothe stage
wheretheouterattractionisyieldedtowithout
a pause,without a doubt,without a question,
and isfollowed byno regret,byno shame,by
noremorse. Therisingof anyquestionin the
mind as to the propriety or the wisdom of
gratifying the desire, shews that the memory
oftheSoulcontainsarecordofsufferingfollow-
ingonsimilargratificationinthepast;otherwise
no question could arise. If the man yields,
againstthewarning,thepainofremorsewillbe
addedtothepainofsatiety,andthusonlypro-
gressive lessons are learned; until at last he
realisesthat hiswisdom liesin refusingto pur-
chasefuturepainbytemporarypleasure. And
then he begins to starve out the desires by
refusalto feed them,while bydwellingonthe
pains that gratification brings he cuts at their
rootwiththeaxeofknowledge,wroughtoutof
experience. Allaveragemen,allbutthelowest
andmostbrutish, have reachedthe stagewhen
the voice of conscience is heard, and should
therefore begin to consciously co-operate with
theupwardtendencyoutofthemireofmateri-
alityintothespirituallife.
Howthencanwebreak ourbonds? The
