The Dynamics of Spiritual Advancement
SPIRITUAL advancement begins when there is a radical change in the outlook of the worldly man. The worldly man lives mostly for the body, and even in those pursuits which do not seem to have direct reference to the body, in the last analysis the ultimate motive power is to be found in the desires connected with the body. Subjugation of body for higher life For example, he lives to eat; he does not eat to live. He has not yet discovered any purpose clearly transcending the body, so the body and its comforts become the centre of all his pursuits. But when he discovers a value in which the soul is predominant, the body is at once relegated to the background. The maintenance of the body now becomes for him merely instrumental for the realisation of a higher purpose. His body, which had formerly been a hindrance to true spiritual life, becomes an instrument for the release of higher life. At this stage man attends to his bodily needs with no special feeling of self-identification, but like the driver of a railway engine who fills it with coal and water so that it may be kept going.
The very beginning of spiritual advancement is conditioned by quest for that goal for which man lives—the goal for which he unconsciously loves and hates, and for