Istopadesa The Golden Discourse

Author(s): Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp

Page 40

Verse 6
suffering and pain. Pleasure and pain are two sides of a coin; neither can be had alone by itself, and the latter being mostly the lot of living beings in the world.
Man alone, of all beings in the world, is endowed with the capacity, and enjoys the opportunity, to think of his destiny. He alone has the power of shaping his future, for weal or woe, as he pleases. But this capacity is hopelessly crippled by his wrong desires - the sensual desires. The greatest defect of materialism is that it prevents man from the realization of his divine nature by unduly developing the sensual side of life.
If sense-gratification be the only form of enjoyment to be found in Nature, perfection in happiness cannot be thought of in connection with the soul. Fortunately, however, there is another kind of joy which is possible for living beings. This consists in the natural 'pulsation' of pure delight, which becomes an inseparable companion of the soul the moment the individual establishes himself fully in own pure Self.
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