Page:The astral world, higher occult powers; (IA astralworldhighe00tiff).pdf/53

 If those of you who love the opera, the theater, etc., will go forth and tread these streets, and find out the objects of need—those worthy of aid—and visit them, and administer to their comfort, you will no longer feel the need of theaters, routs, and balls; and you will find greater satisfaction in such a course than these amusements can afford. Try the experiment, and I will guarantee you will be successful. That this city, like all great cities, is pursuing after pleasure, as the paramount object to be attained, is because their souls are hungering and thirsting after that food necessary to build them up into the stature of perfect men and women. This makes time seem cruel, and hang heavy upon them; and, like the victim who seeks to drown his sorrow in the cup, they seek to fill up the long hours in dissipation. To return to my subject.

This sphere of lust, I say, then, does not arise from the body, nor from the influence of the body on the soul. It arises from our neglect of our spiritual needs. This lust, this desire proclaims a divine life within, which demands activity corresponding to our real natures; and we can never get peace and happiness until those real demands of our natures are supplied. I appeal to all pleasure-seekers whether this is not true. You have heard it argued whether there be more pleasure in anticipation than in participation. The world's pleasures are always in the future, never in the present. The man or the woman of the world is never satisfied with present conditions or present attainments. Why not? Because the man and the woman of the world are not attending to the present needs of the spiritual nature. The finite man