Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of GoldTheosophy / New ThoughtMystical / EsotericEnglishShareLight on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 35Project Gutenberg #14599 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableProject Gutenberg #14599LanguageEnglishEspañol‹Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 6Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 7Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 9Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 10Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 11Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 14Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 15Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 17Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 18Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 19Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 21Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 24Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 25Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 28Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 29Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 32Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 34Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 35Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 36Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 38Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 39Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 41Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 42Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 44Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 45Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 47Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 48Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 49Light on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 50›Part Of Our Existence. Sensation, As We ObtainLight on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 35ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1it through the physical body, affords us all that induces us to live in that shape. It is inconceivable that any man would care to take the trouble of breathing, unless the act brought with it a sense of satisfaction. So it is with every deed of every instant of our life. We live because it is pleasant even to have the sensation of pain. It is sensation we desire, else we would with one accord taste of the deep waters of oblivion, and the human race would become extinct. If this is the case in the physical life, it is evidently the case with the life of the emotions,--the imagination, the sensibilities, all those fine and delicate formations which, with the marvellous recording mechanism of the brain, make up the inner or subtile man. Sensation is that which makes their pleasure; an infinite series of sensations is life to them. Destroy the sensation which makes them wish to persevere in the experiment of living, and there is nothing left. Therefore the man who attempts to obliterate the sense of pain, and who proposes to maintain an equal state whether he is pleased or hurt, strikes at the very root of life, and destroys the object of his own existence. And that must apply, so far as our present reasoning or intuitive powers can show us, to every state, even to that of the Oriental's longed-for Nirvana. 2This condition can only be one of infinitely subtiler and more exquisite sensation, if it is a state at all, and not annihilation; and according to the experience of life from which we are at present able to judge, increased subtility of sensation means increased vividness,--as, for instance, a man of sensibility and imagination feels more in consequence of the unfaithfulness or faithfulness of a friend than can a man of even the grossest physical nature feel through the medium of the senses. Thus it is clear that the philosopher who refuses to feel, leaves himself no place to retreat to, not even the distant and unattainable Nirvanic goal. He can only deny himself his heritage of life, which is in other words the right of sensation. If he chooses to sacrifice that which makes him man, he must be content with mere idleness of consciousness,--a condition compared to which the oyster's is a life of excitement. 3But no man is able to accomplish such a feat. The fact of his continued existence proves plainly that he still desires sensation, and desires it in such positive and active form that the desire must be gratified in physical life. It would seem more practical not to deceive one's self by the sham of stoicism, not to attempt renunciation of that with which nothing would induce one to part. Would it not be a bolder policy, a more promising mode of solving the great enigma of existence, to grasp it, to take hold firmly and to demand of it the mystery of itself? If men will but pause and consider what lessons they have learned from pleasure and pain, much might be guessed of that strange thing which causes these effects. But men are prone to turn away hastily from self-study, or from any close analysis of human nature. Yet there must be a science of life as intelligible as any of the methods of the schools. The science is unknown, it is true, and its existence is merely guessed, merely hinted at, by one or two of our more advanced thinkers. The development of a science is only the discovery of what is already in existence; and chemistry is as magical and incredible now to the ploughboy as the science of life is to the man of ordinary perceptions. 4Yet there may be, and there must be, a seer who perceives the growth of the new knowledge as the earliest dabblers in the experiments of the laboratory saw the system of knowledge now attained evolving itself out of nature for man's use and benefit. 5Doubtless many more would experiment in suicide, as many now do, in order to escape from the burden of life, if they could be convinced that in that manner oblivion might be found. But he who hesitates before drinking the poison from the fear of only inviting change of mode of existence, and perhaps a more active form of misery, is a man of more knowledge than the rash souls who fling themselves wildly on the unknown, trusting to its kindliness. The waters of oblivion are something very different from the waters of death, and the human race cannot become extinct by means of death while the law of birth still operates. Man returns to physical life as the drunkard returns to the flagon of wine,--he knows not why, except that he desires the sensation the sensation produced by wine. The true waters of oblivion lie far behind our consciousness, and can only be reached by ceasing to exist in that consciousness,--by ceasing to exert the will which makes us full of senses and sensibilities. 6Why does not the creature man return into that great womb of silence whence he came, and remain in peace, as the unborn child is at peace before the impetus of life has reached it? He does not do so because he hungers for pleasure and pain, joy and grief, anger and love. The unfortunate man will maintain that he has no desire for life; and yet he proves his words false by living. None can compel him to live; the galley-slave may be chained to his oar, but his life cannot be chained to his body. The superb mechanism of the human body is as useless as an engine whose fires are not lit, if the will to live ceases,--that will which we maintain resolutely and without pause, and which enables us to perform the tasks which otherwise would fill us with dismay, as, for instance, the momently drawing in and giving out of the breath. Such herculean efforts as this we carry on without complaint, and indeed with pleasure, in order that we may exist in the midst of innumerable sensations. ‹Previous chapterLight on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 34Next chapterLight on the Path; with Through the Gates of Gold 36›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the USA