Self-Development and the Way to Power | Page 6

law and in it you can have scope
for all the energy and activity and intensity of life you long for, with all
the element of chance which you find so attractive." And when the
young man has had his fling there and tires of it then something else
can be attempted. But to try to crush desire and curb the outrushing life
is both foolish and impossible. We can only direct it.

There are, of course, certain gross desires that must be gotten rid of by
the most direct and least objectionable method, and when one really
desires to be free from a given vice or moral weakness and sets
earnestly and intelligently about it his release is not so difficult as the
complete tyranny of most vices would lead one to suppose. There is a
process by which any of us may be free if we will take the trouble to
patiently put it into practice. This method will apply to any desire from
which we wish to be released. For example, let us take the person who
has a settled desire for alcoholic stimulants but really wishes to be rid
of it forever. Many people who are thus afflicted to the point where
they occasionally become intoxicated feel, when they recover their
normal condition, that no price would be too great to pay for freedom
from this humiliating habit. As a rule such a man tries to close his eyes
to his shame and forget it, promising himself that he will be stronger
when the temptation again assails him. But it is just this putting it aside,
this casting it out of his mind, that perpetuates his weakness. He
instinctively shrinks from dwelling upon the thought of whither he is
drifting. So he puts the unpleasant subject aside altogether and when
the inner desire asserts itself again he finds himself precisely as
helpless as before.
Now, his certain method of escape from this tyranny of desire is to turn
his mind resolutely to an examination of the whole question. Let him
look the facts in the face, however humiliating they may be. He should
call his imagination to his assistance. It should be used to picture to
himself his future if he does not succeed in breaking up the unfortunate
slavery of the desire nature. He should think of the fact that as he grows
older the situation grows worse. He should picture himself as the
helpless, repulsive sot, with feeble body and weakening mind, and
reflect upon the humiliation he must endure, the poverty he must face,
and the physical and mental pain he must bear in the future if he now
fails to break the desire ties that bind him. This creates in him a feeling
of repulsion toward the cause of it all; and if he continues to think daily
upon this hideous picture of what he is slowly drifting toward--if he
daily regards it all with a feeling of slight repulsion--then even within a
month or two he will find that his desire for drink is slowly fading out.

This is as true of all other desires that enslave us. The desire for
alcoholic stimulants merely illustrates the principle involved. Any
desire from which one wishes to be free may be escaped by the same
method. But one who would free himself from the desire-nature should
not make the mistake of creating a feeling of intense hostility toward
the thing he seeks to escape; for hatred is also a tie. He should merely
reach a position of complete indifference. He should think of it not with
settled hostility, but with slight repulsion; and if he does that daily,
mentally dwelling upon the pain and humiliation it causes, he will find
the ties loosening, the desire weakening.
Desire is a force that may be beneficial or detrimental, according to its
use. As we may eradicate a desire so may we create a desire. How, then,
may one who seeks the highest self-development use desire, this
propulsive force of nature, to help himself forward? He should desire
spiritual progress most earnestly, for without such desire he cannot
succeed. Therefore if the aspirant does not have the ardent desire for
spiritual illumination he must create it. To accomplish this let him
again call imagination to his assistance. Let him picture himself as
having his power for usefulness many times multiplied by occult
development. He should think of himself as possessing the inner sight
that enables him to understand the difficulties of others and to
comprehend their sorrows. He should daily think of the fact that this
would so broaden and quicken his sympathies that he would be
enormously more useful in the world than he can now possibly be and
that he could become a source of happiness