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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE,
and body, including the articulation of sounds and words, i e., speech.
The first great law of interaction between spirit and matter, accordingly, may be laid down as follows : all actions of embodied living beings, whether mental, or physical, including speech, are accompanied by an influx of matter towards the soul.
As pointed out in the introduction to the Householder's Dharma, our first law of interaction only concerns the process of influx which accompanies every action ; it has no concern with the further question whether an impression be made on the soul, since that depends on the question whether it be attentive to the incoming stimulus. It must have happened within the experience of every one of us that we have failed to notice the taste of viands put before us whenever attention has been deeply engrossed elsewhere. The physiology of taste indicates that while the bulk of food passes into the stomach through the gullet, some particles of its relish reach the soul through the glands of taste and the nerves connected with them, enabling it to 'feel' and enjoy the relish of each morsel. But these relish particles must be there all the same whether the soul attend to them or not. It would follow from this that taste is an affection of the ego which results from a more intimate contact with the particles of matter than mere co-existence, or coming together, in a place, and that attention acts as the band-maid of the soul who ushers afferent stimuli into the presence of her mistress. Moreover, since attention always implies interest, whether it indicate the merest wish to know or the most passionate
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