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Moderation is a Prerequisite to be Spiritual
One of the essentials in the making of a man engaged in spiritual pursuit
is moderation. It is a very wide term and covers every phase of human
activity. It means balance in all senses and faculties, nothing more
or less than what is naturally required at the time for any specific
purpose without its slightest impression on the mind. Generally, today,
we find moderation disturbed in almost all cases. The reason mainly
is that we attach undue importance to whatever thing comes to our view
and we strengthen it by the force of our thought with the result that
it grows stronger over all others. We cultivate this habit and apply
it to different things with varying intensity. The result that follows
is nothing but disturbance and mental conflict and it is the root cause
of all our troubles and miseries.
Realization is not possible unless moderation and balance are restored.
It corresponds closely with the very real thing which existed at the
time of creation, when everything was in a perfectly balanced state.
Now after the lapse of time, degeneration crept in. Our senses and faculties
lost the balance and everything went into disorder. What we have to
do now is to control our senses and faculties in order to restore moderation
in them. To cultivate moderation we have to pay special attention to
external ways of life too, e.g., gentle and polite language, courteous
dealing, sympathy and love with fellow beings, reverence to elders,
unrevengeful nature and so on. These habits are greatly helpful in our
making. Moderation is a characteristic of nature. If we gain
complete moderation we are in a way in conformity with nature and it
is the very essence of spirituality.
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