Page:Hatha yoga - or the yogi philosophy of physical well-being, with numberous excercises.djvu/57

Rh an intelligent description of an odor to one born without the sense of smell.

To one who has emancipated himself from the thrall of appetite, the respective sensations of Hunger and Appetite are quite different and readily distinguished one from the other, and the mind of such a one readily grasps the precise meaning of each term. But to the ordinary "civilized" man "Hunger" means the source of appetite and "Appetite" the result of hunger. Both words are misused. We must illustrate this by familiar examples.

Let us take Thirst, for instance. All of us know the sensation of a good, natural thirst, which calls for a draught of cool water. It is felt in the mouth and throat, and can be satisfied only with that which Nature intended for it—cool water. Now, this natural thirst is akin to natural Hunger.

How different is this natural thirst from the craving which one acquires for sweetened, flavored soda-water, ice-cream soda, ginger ale, "pop," "soft drinks," etc., etc. And how different from the thirst (?) which one feels for beer, alcoholic liquors, etc., after the taste has once been acquired. Do you begin to see what we mean?

We hear people say that they are "so thirsty" for a glass of soda-water; or others say that they are "thirsty" for a drink of whisky. Now, if these people were really thirsty, or, in other words, if Nature was really calling for fluids, pure water would be just what they would first seek for, and pure water would be the thing which would best gratify the thirst. But, no! water will not