THE MENTAL BODY

life-resources. It demands their spare time, and gets it. Then they scamp and n^lect their work in order to satisfy it with more spare time. They jettison one responsibility after another. They carry it about with them, and cannot shake it off.

So if thou seekest îame or ease or pleasure or aught for thysdf , the image of that thing which thou seekest will corne and ding to thee— and thou vdlt hâve to carry it about ;

And the images and powers which thou hast evoked wiUgather round andform for thee anewbody — clamouring for sustenance and satis&u^tion ;

And if thou art not able to discard this image now, thou wilt not be able to discard that body then ; but vdlt hâve to carry it about.

Bewaie then lest it become thy grave and thy prison— instead of thy winged abode and palace of joy.^

The body may be a prison-house, or it may be a palace of joy, and it is mastery which makes the différence.

To many, the flesh-body is a prison-house ; it stands for a taskmastership ; it is an awkward companion, an embarrassing fellow. For others, it is a great joy, a most engaging comrade, ever introducing them to a fresh and beautiful world, a faithful servant ever providing them with keen pleasures and rare delights ; it is as wings to the sonl ; and vsdthin its pure ordered chambers it gathers for them of the health, the beauty, the radiance that is abroad throughout the world.