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PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
Why should you be enticed by materials of the world ? They are your deadly enemies, great enemies. They have kept you wandering from birth to birth, they have earned for you infinite number of miseries still you are not fed up with them.
Attachment for sensual pleasures swells by enjoyment and extinguishes itself by non-enjoyment or abstinence. Such attachment is compared with fire by the authors of Holy scriptures. With the offering of clarified butter in the form of sensual enjoyment, the fire of passion burns more ablaze. To extinguish this fire one should pour cold water in the form of aversion for worldly affairs. Such aversion brings about real moral courage and that is why all great men have strongly preached the importance of aversion for worldly affairs with emphasis. Be assured that salvation of soul is imminent when attachment for material objects is dissolved. Salvation or emancipation means highest bliss, happiness unparalleled, indescribable happiness. All the latent reservoirs of highest happiness become manifested then. When spiritual joy is realised all ailments, miseries, troubles and problems disappear as the owls conceal their faces when the sun rises. But you have no correct impressions on your mind about the emancipation or the happiness derived on emancipation and this is the reason why you have confounding ideas about emancipation and happiness as described above.
A SHEPHERD AND A SCHOLAR
Once upon a time a scholar approached a shepherd when he was smoking a pipe. The scholar said to the shepherd, "Friend, do not remain idle. Practise some religious rites."
The shepherd replied, "What is religion? What benefit one derives by practising religious rites ?"
The scholar said, "Religious acts mean good acts. Such acts lead to emancipation.” The shepherd hardly knew what is emancipation. He asked whether a smoking pipe is available there in emancipation. The scholar replied, “No, smoking pipe is not available there but there is lot of happiness."
The shepherd said, "Friend, such emancipation is useless for me as I cannot stay for a moment without a pipe."
