HOW TO OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS - 5
In the Gita, Sri Krishna gives us the mechanics of desire. Desire is man’s deadliest foe: and how does it work?
In answer to this question, Sri Krishna says: "Arjuna, desire, kama, lust enters through the outer gates of the senses and captures the fort of the mind and then invades the region of determination and will."
Therefore, if you are wise, if you wish to overcome temptation, if you wish to live a pure, peaceful, happy life, a life of freedom and fulfillment, you must guard the gates. Each sensation of pleasure should be to you a warning. Watchman! Let not the enemy in! When kama, lust leads the senses; the mind and the reason, the man goes swiftly down the path of decline.
Goethe was a great man. He was, perhaps, the greatest poet the world produced during the nineteenth century. But when kama, lust darkened his senses, he ran after girls in restlessness. Nelson was a great general who won many victories on the battlefield: he could not gain victory over desire. In the face of kama, lust, he crumbled. Nelson lived with the wife of another man. Shelly was a man of poetic genius; but his poetic intuitions were darkened by lust, and Shelly, leaving his wife, married another woman and the first wife committed suicide.
I could go on and on, but my time has travelled fast, and the question still remains: How to overcome temptations? What may we do to overcome this which is, perhaps, the greatest foe of man, man’s arch enemy, desire?
What may we do to overcome temptations? And so let me pass on you some practical suggestions, which I have found helpful in overcoming temptations. If I have time, I would wish to pass on to you thirteen practical suggestions. It is not necessary that all the thirteen suggestions be put into practice at once and the same time. It is enough if you pick up one of them and try to live up to it: you will be benefitted greatly.
Practical Suggestion number one:
In the Gita, Sri Krishna gives us the mechanics of desire. Desire is man’s deadliest foe: and how does it work?
In answer to this question, Sri Krishna says: "Arjuna, desire, kama, lust enters through the outer gates of the senses and captures the fort of the mind and then invades the region of determination and will."
Therefore, if you are wise, if you wish to overcome temptation, if you wish to live a pure, peaceful, happy life, a life of freedom and fulfillment, you must guard the gates. Each sensation of pleasure should be to you a warning. Watchman! Let not the enemy in! When kama, lust leads the senses; the mind and the reason, the man goes swiftly down the path of decline.
Goethe was a great man. He was, perhaps, the greatest poet the world produced during the nineteenth century. But when kama, lust darkened his senses, he ran after girls in restlessness. Nelson was a great general who won many victories on the battlefield: he could not gain victory over desire. In the face of kama, lust, he crumbled. Nelson lived with the wife of another man. Shelly was a man of poetic genius; but his poetic intuitions were darkened by lust, and Shelly, leaving his wife, married another woman and the first wife committed suicide.
I could go on and on, but my time has travelled fast, and the question still remains: How to overcome temptations? What may we do to overcome this which is, perhaps, the greatest foe of man, man’s arch enemy, desire?
What may we do to overcome temptations? And so let me pass on you some practical suggestions, which I have found helpful in overcoming temptations. If I have time, I would wish to pass on to you thirteen practical suggestions. It is not necessary that all the thirteen suggestions be put into practice at once and the same time. It is enough if you pick up one of them and try to live up to it: you will be benefitted greatly.
Practical Suggestion number one:
What is it? Temptations are of various types
.
There is the temptation to gratify the senses;
there is the temptation to steal what belongs to another;
there is the temptation to drink, to smoke, to take drugs;
there is the temptation to overcome or eat forbidden food or violence;
there is the temptation to send out thoughts of ill will to others;
there is the temptation to speak harsh words or to indulge in lie;
there is the temptation to gossip, to spread scandals against others;
there is the temptation to waste time in playing cards or other frivolities;
there is the temptation to accept bribes, to indulge in unlawful profiteering, to make money by means fair or foul,
there is the temptation to evade payment of taxes.
There are a hundred and one other temptations. To be able to overcome any type of temptation, you must be ready and willing to turn a new leaf. You must decide once and for all that you will never, never fall into sin again.
Of St. Augustine, it is said that when awakening came to him, he prayed to God to be led into a new life, to be kept away from a life of sinfulness. And then he added; "O God, but not yet!" That is, he wanted to indulge in sin just one more time, before turning a new leaf. It is said that most people who flee from temptation usually leave a forwarding address.
If I wish to overcome temptation, I must be ready and willing to wash my hands off it right now and here, and I must be willing to make any sacrifice for it. No price is too heavy to receive entry into the new life.
I read of a wealthy man, the master of a big estate in England, who was on his deathbed. His thoughts turned to God. He had a servant, named Jim, who was a devotee of the Lord. To Jim the Master said: "Jim I am dying. I do not know what will happen to me after death. What can I do to earn Heaven?"
The wise old servant knew the pride of his master and he said: "Sir, if you want to earn heaven, you must humble yourself. You should be ready to go to the pigsty, get on your knees in the mud and say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
The master said: "I could not possibly do that. What would the neighbours and servants think?"
A week passed by, and again he spoke to the servant: "Jim, what did you say to do to earn heaven?"
The old servant replied: "Sir, you should be ready to go to the pigsty."
The master said: I have been thinking it over, Jim, and I am ready to go."
The servant then said: "Master, you do not really have to go to the pigsty. You just have to be willing."
This willingness to become new, to renounce the old life of sinfulness and pride, is very important. We must humble ourselves, we must make a clear confession of everything before God or a God-man. When our heart becomes contrite and lowly, the way for us is opened to the Kingdom of Heaven. The prayer of the Sikh Guru is so moving:
"Infinite are my sins, O Lord, as are the drops of water in an ocean. Have mercy on me and take this sinking stone to the other shore."
(To be continued; Author: Sri. J.P. Vaswani)
