Page:The astral world, higher occult powers; (IA astralworldhighe00tiff).pdf/46

 only leads him to seek to supply those things which are really needed. The impulse belonging to the lower sphere may be characterized as lust. The idea which obtains so generally in society, that lust belongs only to animal, sensual, or sexual desires, is, therefore, erroneous.

Man may seek gratification in every plane of his being; not only in what he eats and drinks, but also in the intellectual plane. He may seek to gratify a vain curiosity. When he feels restless, he goes off searching after amusement. Time hangs heavy on his soul. There is a perishing need calling for action, and he knows not whence it comes, and he seeks to "kill" this time by amusement or otherwise. This is lusting, not in the animal sense, but in the intellectual sense. He may also lust in the moral plane. What are called friendships in the world, are distinguished by lusts. You know how the world selects its friends: it selects them according to the pleasure it expects to derive from them. Is it not so? Does not the selfish man and woman select friends with reference to the enjoyment they expect to derive from their association with them? And are they not most constant in their attention to those who are most successful in administering to their enjoyment? Look at this, each of you. Look over the list of your friends, and tell me really what is the basis of your friendship. You love your friends, you say. Why do you love them? You love to be with them. Why? You seek their society. Why? Some of your friends you love best. Tell me why it is that you love them best. You say they are the most agreeable to you, and hence you love to be