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XIV. TRANSMUTATION OF THE MIND (3)
When a child is born, its first contact is with the material world. Our whole life is based upon materiality; it cannot be adequately explained without reference to matter. Food, water, clothes, shelter, all visible things, all serviceable articles which we use. Gradually man becomes materialistic. He is so deeply attached to matter as to lose sight of consciousness altogether. Matter is visible; consciousness is not. The utility of matter is obvious; the utility of consciousness is only comparative. It is natural to be attracted by matter. Indeed, material objects constitute the prime centres of our attention. This has also created an impediment. Our aim is to bring about a change of heart. That aim becomes somewhat blurred. We want that man's heart should change and that there should be revolution in the psyche. We want all violence to come to an end, all aggressive feelings to dissolve, no mischief whatsoever, no untruth, only the authentic; no stealing, no robbery, no selfish hoarding, only chastity and purity. We want all that. All men, irrespective of their communal affiliations, want that. The social reformers also want that. Nobody wants exploitation, untruth or dishonesty to prevail. Social ethics demand it. No civilization can progress on the basis of violence, rioting, aggression and plunder, pilferage and dishonesty. Freedom from all these evils can alone form the basis of a truly civilized, cultured and progressive society. All religious values are social values too. They are also spiritual. But we do not see them flourishing. People are not very much interested in them. We are trying to find out why.
Why modern man is not interested in truth and honesty is because he is much more interested in material objects. If the two were balanced-interest in matter and interest in spirit, interest in the outer and the inner, there would be no chaos in society; there would be no disorder, corruption and immorality then. But the imbalance is there and it is there because of man's preoccupation with material things. Too much attachment to anything creates disequilibrium. The biggest impediment to spiritual progress is man's fascination with materialism, with the outer. In the language of spirituality it is called "attachment". Man of course desires change. He also wants to get rid of his preoccupation with material objects. But the path of desire is a strange one. There is the tradition, now part of every religion, that the root of attachment lies
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