As we discovered in Chapter Six, man, like his lower cousins, is born with certain ingrained instincts. The art of Health and Happiness is to learn to live life in harmony with these instincts to the extent that they are to our benefit. We realize that there may be times when it is to the best interests of men and women to attempt to override these instincts, but that this should be done with the greatest of caution and only after careful analysis. This chapter will deal with this fascinating subject in greater detail, showing some of the results of ill-advised attempts to set these natural instincts aside.
The normal, healthy individual in the prime of life is blessed with all the desires that are naturally a part of man. These longings are manifold and embrace every department of physical and mental inclination. Some of them have to do with natural instincts, while others may concern the possessions that are essential if life is to be worth living. Each person is a law unto him- or herself, and the cravings and aspirations of each individual vary to a greater or lesser degree.
It is not desirable that man should give free rein to his
every appetite, and it is frequently true that very different,
even possibly conflicting, desires throb in the human heart at
the same moment. In such instances, it becomes a matter of choice
and wise selection rather than of repression that is needed to
be in harmony with the Divine Law. To suppress a physical hunger
merely results in another craving taking its place, and this may
be less beneficial to the entire being than the first(1) and from
this action vice is often born.
----------------------------------------------
(1) This is actually a rule in human psychology. The body will
always choose the least harmful outlet under any circumstances.
If we attempt to remove an adverse outlet (say by hypnosis) without
first correcting the cause, the patient will eventually manifest
the next least harmful outlet - one always less socially acceptable
than the one removed.
----------------------------------------------
All normal desire may be compared to a spring or stream of water. If the channel of the spring is unimpeded, the water remains clear and pure, but of the constant flow and resultant circulation is obstructed, the water becomes stagnant and poisonous. Likewise, this is true with human passions; suppress them and they will soon form foul pools within the body of man, and mind and Soul become poisoned thereby. A repressed desire becomes a murky pool of poison which gives birth to vice. For this reason, if for no other, negative doctrines that inculcate the suppression of natural instincts do untold harm.
All doctrines, whether religious or philosophical, that attempt to teach that earthly or material aspirations are destructive, that one can gain eternal life only through restraining these natural instincts, are ruinous. Those who accept such teachings first of all become inert, wanting nothing, having little incentive to useful or constructive activity. Eventually this repressive philosophy degenerates into a vice that poisons all nobility in the human heart. Life is activity and the constant effort to bring greater joy and peace into the world. As this is done, the very nature of the Divine Law will shower success and affluence on those who so employ their time. Only those who do nothing of constructive value with their lives are able to prevent the Divine Law from blessing them in this life.
The Path to Health, Strength and Happiness is by the way of responsibility; it is Nature's way of making constructive use of the manifold desires that spring up in the human breast. This Path is both noble and Divine and will gradually lead to Manhood, Health, Happiness and Success. This Path to power is not strewn with human wrecks, not is it marked by those who have cast aside their glorious strength and become lepers of morality through the suppression or perversion of their natural impulses. This is the method pursued by those who have selected one supreme aspiration and longing from among the multitude of others, being willing to bend all their energies toward the realization of this one chosen temporal goal. This is a procedure in harmony with the Biblical admonition to "let thine eye be single."
This method, the selection of one supreme ambition, desire or goal as the predominating force in one's life, does not require the suppression of all other and lesser cravings to act or become. On the contrary, these are transmuted into the one great aspiration and find satisfaction in its accomplishment. All the other impulses to action are used, transmuted, changed in the task of realizing the superior creation. This is natural, normal development. Through it man reaches true manhood. It is the royal road from weakness to strength, from beggary to success, from personality to conscious Individuality. Of a truth, there are many paths leading to realization, but that of effort, of responsibility and of service is the only safe on to pursue. All the others may offer short-term gains, but usually with long-term regrets. The individual who is morally or physically weak will find it a difficult road to travel. It will not allow him the ease and lack of responsibility of a life of idleness and indecision, but once well along the way, his former weaknesses will give way to strength, and he will enter the fight with greater zeal with each new conquest. Nature will cause him to feel that he is in the right, that he is using his creative energy correctly, eventually bringing him success if he continues faithful to the right.
The assertion of energy and positiveness is at first difficult
for the physically weak. They have not yet developed the strength
to cope with conditions and therefore are unable to manifest good
results. However, if faithful, every trial, every test, even every
failure will be an incentive to try again, until in a short time
appreciable progress is clearly visible and the force required
for decisive action has accumulated. This is the Law of
success under the Divine Law. Each new trial following a failure
is easier than was the first effort, and like others before him,
he who continues to try begins to realize the Success, Health
and Happiness are given only to those who have overcome both weakness
and inertia. As his strength increases and victory is assured,
he comes to realize the value of both success and failure, knowing
now that the only individuals who fail under the Divine Law are
those who give up too soon and those who never tried in the first
place.
The suppression or perversion of the natural desires in man, which cause a stagnation of his forces and give birth to various vices, gradually bring many deluded creatures to the stage of existence where they are weary of all that the normal and healthy consider necessary to make life worth living. To them the Earth becomes an undesirable place in which to live, and even the possibility of a future state of heavenly bliss gradually loses its charm as the depression grows even deeper. The constant repression of normal longings, the craving for earthly pleasure and enjoyment will also, ironically, destroy their counter part - the desire for bliss and happiness in a future Heaven. As previously mentioned, restraint of the incentive for action creates a deadly poison that inoculates not merely the body, but the mind, heart and Soul as well. It quenches the fires of the aspiring Soul, destroys the creative energy of the mind, degenerates both manhood and womanhood until there is little left of the human being except a diseased body and a depressed mind.
No Real Joy Without the Potential for Sorrow
There is no denying the fact that all who possess the capability for joy likewise are subject to its companion - sorrow, that those who can deeply love are equally able to suffer and that there is more of sorrow and suffering in the life of most humans than there is of pleasure and happiness. All this is acknowledged, but who is so weak as to be willing to forfeit success for fear of the possibility of loss; who is willing to pass up a great love because it may bring pain and sorrow if it is eventually lost; what normal and healthy person would refuse to accept the pleasures of a true and fulfilling love merely because of the possibility of being forced to relinquish them either through death or divorce?
Admittedly, multitudes may shun a harmless joy because a possible sorrow may follow. But the true man, the man of strength and vibrancy, he who would garner Immortal Life, will quickly and joyfully accept the innocent blessings of today and refuse to borrow trouble for tomorrow. He has known joy, is seeking greater lawful pleasure and will continue in his search, realizing full well that sorrow may come, but that it cannot last forever and that the delight he has once known will recur if he is faithful to the Divine Law and the Great Work.
Sorrow and suffering, like their companions pleasure and happiness, are for a purpose. Through them, when borne with fortitude and in the proper spirit, come strength, experience, knowledge and compassion. They are but our due from past indebtedness, and he who shrinks from experience and the inception of wisdom is not a full man - only a weakling. The dedicated student of the Great work accepts situations that test his strength. He is willing to endure any condition that might be an advantage to him, even though initially it brings pain - for in agony is born wisdom. This truly spiritual student does not hide himself in seclusion, thus avoiding a disagreeable experience. On the contrary, he marks a path to be trod and like an aggressive army general presses forward no matter what the consequences. To such a one, life itself is an educational experience, a school, and any attempt to evade, to shun responsibility results in being forced to return again and again to the same grade, until the character is well-molded and the destiny of existence is fulfilled.
Man born of woman, blessed with natural instincts, normal physical and mental strength, is a world of desire. In every aspiration a potential power awaits development and a constructive outlet. The longing in itself is the proof of energies sufficient to overcome all obstacles. If man fails in accomplishing all he contemplates, it is because he has in some manner abused the talents with which God endowed him.
We are all born with certain talents that we have developed in past incarnations. If the student does not allow his mind to become poisoned with false and destructive doctrines, he will, through the incentive of his finer nature, strengthen and bring into manifestation these energies and potentials. As the initial desires are realized, aspiration for greater achievements will take their place. If he continues faithful to himself and the Great Work, he will also execute these, pressing ever forward toward greater effort to be worthy of having been created in the image of the Father. Through every effort he gains in manhood, a preview of Godhood and thereby finds the Path to Health and Happiness.
On the other hand, the man born with normal desires and the energy to fulfillment who does not bring into manifestation the ideals implanted in his heart by the Creator, either because of indifference or through inoculation with a negative philosophy, is like the one in the Biblical parable who buried his talent for fear of losing it and then charged the giver with being a "hard master." such are not true students of the Great Work. Manhood is not really a part of them. They are weaklings full of fear, a disappointment to their creator and to all those who work to improve mankind. These nullify the will of the Father, rob themselves of their lawful inheritance and because of their son of omission, are only a little less guilty than the strong who exploit the weak and undefended. Neither of the two will find Health and Happiness easy to achieve.
Dangers Along the Path
Undoubtedly it is true that the Creator, who is a continual worker and obedient to His own Laws. The basic Laws were first given man by Moses and then were humanized by the Nazarene. They are so clear and comprehensible that no one can justly claim to misunderstand them. Did not Jesus assure us, "with what measure ye mite, it shall be measured to your again."? Do we not have the Golden Rule, "Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:"___Matthew 7:12. If we do our best to follow the Laws we know, we shall ultimately become aware of all others as we are worthy to understand and use them.
The first requisite of life is health and strength. If one does not possess these it is his duty to do all he can to gain them; they are within the reach of all, merely necessitating obedience to the clearly indicated laws of Nature and God. These Laws, as presented in this book, are plain, simple and readily observable. Simplicity in all things is the key that leads to Health, Strength and Happiness.
As the student of the Great Work nears Mastership, as he attains manhood's (or womanhood's) true estate, he approaches a danger line. It is a fact well-known to all who have traveled the Path that a sense of self-sufficiency and individual independence is attended by a danger peculiar to itself, as is the possession of every other potent force. Thus, this stage of development demands careful watchfulness. Even though it may be possible for one to live comparatively to himself with the possibility of full satisfaction of all his needs, yet the Great Law inculcates the standard that as one attains the higher consciousness, so much greater becomes his duty to associate with all of mankind, openly and freely offering his service, pointing the way to others to the exalted life that he found. Though it may not be necessary for such to be in active association with the multitudes, it is nevertheless essential for him to form a bond of unity and to work with those of like thought and interest. When individualists from a bond and become united, greater power for good results is achieved and greater Health and Happiness is assured. We nullify the light that should shine forth and defeat the end and aim of Conscious Individuality if we seek such individuality and power in a desire to be free from others and thus sever our responsibility in the world of action from those whose inclinations are foreign to ours. In a short time this isolation and separateness would result in destroying the self-mastery gained through our previous trials and tribulations.
Every power, energy or potency that is allowed to lie dormant through nonuse quickly degenerates and becomes inert, having little strength or force when put to the test. The animal that hibernates, living on its own fat and strength, is weak and lean by the time Spring arrives. So do the Mystic forces become enervated and devitalized in those who refuse to continually employ this energy to the benefit of humanity. A potency, an energy or faculty once developed must be constantly exercised to be maintained at its maximum. If it remains inert too long, all its strength is lost, and it returns to its embryonic state. In this state it is far more difficult to arouse than in the very beginning.
The experience of the ordinary human being illustrates this principle: Entering the world with impotency and without self-volition, the child grows into strength, power and beauty. But through ignorance of the Divine Law when reaching the height of development, he begins to weaken and decline, until at the end he is no stronger than at the beginning of earth life. Most humans have considered this process of strength and power building in youth and then its gradual decline as we age the natural order of existence, simply because of the false philosophy - the race belief - that this is the inheritance of man.
Despite this experience - and contrary to it - we have been
taught that man is a prototype of God, with His power in a potential
state, though in lesser degree. But do we really believe this
to be true? Do we not fail to constantly bear in mind that He
was centuries ago; that he has in no wise declined in power or
creative ability? Is it not therefore highly inconsistent for
man, made in the likeness of the Creator, to develop power and
creative ability and then begin a steady decline until complete
impotency is reached? All this is the direct result of false,
destructive, negative philosophical and religious teachings, an
utterly false race belief in the naturalness of weakness, decline
and loss of power, and contrary to the doctrine of the New Renaissance,
which teaches a constant and never-ending development of energy
and the Divine Right to inheritance of Health and Happiness.
|Top|