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YOGA
399
passions and desires which is intended by the doctrine, not their free indulgence in the guise of religion.
In dealing with this subject, it is worth while to: understand the truth about sensual enjoyment. The question is: is the sense of enjoyment in the objects of senses, or in the mind ? In different words, is the sensation of pleasure or pain one experiences in connection with the sense-objects in the mind, or outside it?
Now, if the sense of enjoyment, or suffering, i.e., pleasure and pain, were the property of objects, it is obvious that every one would be affected by them in one and the same manner; but it is well-known that all persons are not affected by the same object alike. The most delicious food tastes insipid on a full stomach, and bitter and repugnant in disease ; while hunger acts as a sauce to an indifferently cooked dish. "Tastes differ," is a very old saying, but its validity is not impaired by its age. If 'taste' were a property of food, there would be no differences in its enjoyment among men. But, since all persons do not enjoy the same article of food in the same way, it follows that taste is not in the food, but in the attitude of mind towards it. What is true of the enjoyment of pleasure or pain with reference to the sense of taste, is also true of all other forms of sensual enjoyment. Out of one and the same object different persons derive different experiences of pleasure and pain. One man esteems a beautiful woman with the reverent love of a dutiful son, another looks upon her as a daughter, a third loves her as his wife, while a fourth, fascinated by her charms, entertains thoughts of lust for her. Obviously, then, the pleasure each of
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