Читать книгу The Astral World—Higher Occult Powers. Clairvoyance, Spiritism, Mediumship, and Spirit-Healing Fully Explained онлайн

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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 with them. Is that the highest basis? If so, when they cease to administer to your gratification, what relation will you hold to them then? It is said that “prosperity makes friends, and adversity tries them.” They can make it pleasant for us when they are with us, and in prosperity; but when adversity comes, their position is not quite high enough for us; and we prefer those differently conditioned. This remark is in accordance with the statement, that the friendship of the world is based upon the principle of gratifying ourselves. In making your morning calls, you sometimes visit your friends from a sense of duty; and are influenced by the fear that they will find fault with you if you follow your feelings in the matter, and go where you will derive the greatest amount of pleasure.