Daily Meditation: Friday, June 7, 1996
Take a pair of scales and weigh all you gain and all you …
Take a pair of scales and weigh all you gain and all you lose when you indulge in your desires, and you will discover that the losses are immense and the gain almost nothing. It is not worthwhile, therefore, to sacrifice so much precious energy on pleasurable sensations, since they fade away and are forgotten – what we ate yesterday is of no use today. And if you base your life on such pleasures, you are laying the groundwork for a future of poverty. Whereas if you make an effort to refuse certain pleasures, you suffer for a moment, of course, but you set the stage for a splendid future. You lose out on some pleasurable feelings, but in the future you gain. Those who do not reflect say: ‘As long as I have pleasure, I am happy.' Yes, but they no longer have a future. Take an alcoholic or a gambler, for example: their addiction demands immediate gratification – the sensations the alcohol and the gambling give them. But as soon as they stop drinking or gambling, how will they feel? And what awaits them?
Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov
