MUZAKRA – 8

Confusion of Sentiments

SOUL: I don’t like to be harassed, Lord. I don’t like to be criticized. I like to

praised and appreciated.

SELF: Of course you do. All conditioned souls do. But it is more important to
be right than to be honoured.

SOUL: Why do You make everything so hard, Lord?

SELF: It really isn’t, though it appears that way because of your conditioning.
Still, some things are a great aid to the formation of proper judgment, while others place
great obstacles in the way.

Difficulty in arriving at a proper view of life occurs when you have a superficial
or incorrect notion of love and hate, of things to be liked and things disliked. This is
usually due to hasty judgments made by the false ego, your illusioned identity that thinks
he is the mind.

Since minds are easily blinded by passion, it is highly unlikely that a person of
uncontrolled sentiments will see things as they are. It is therefore unlikely that he will be
able to make a correct decision. Thus, if you sincerely desire to protect yourself against
such false, illusion-impelled actions, you must be free of the big illusion:
misidentification with the mind. Such purified vision is possible only if you carefully
protect your heart from inordinate material affections.

SOUL: How should I do that, Lord?

SELF: When an object or an idea presents itself to the mind, let the Law of God
weigh its merits with proper deliberation before the mind is allowed to embrace, if
acceptable, or to reject, if not.

As long as the mind remains unattached – that is, unbiased by the sentiments or–
it can readily distinguish between the good and the bad, between truth and falsehood, and
even between real evil masquerading as good and real good wrapped in an appearance of
austerity and difficulty. However, as soon as the mind is convinced to either love or hate
an object, the mind can no longer form a true estimate of it. The affections, conditioned
by the mind, then invent the necessary reasons to support the mind’s decision. This,
Milton says:

The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heaven
 In such a distorted and confusing atmosphere, the mind is plunged deeper and
deeper into illusion, constantly reinforced by the sentiments, which is now convinced that
good is evil and evil good. Therefore, the affections of the mind must be ever pure and
unbiased. This is possible only when the senses are fully disciplined and controlled by an
enlightened heart.

SOUL: But how can the mind be enlightened before the heart is enlightened?

SELF: Very good, My beloved. Now you are using your mind correctly. That
is what human life is for. It is not for living like an animal – simply eating, sleeping,
defending, and mating. To teach you this, I have given a guide for your heart: the
spiritual master. Follow him, and you will be the most enlightened of men.

This advice concerning the proper guidance for your mind often has to be
followed more carefully in regard to things that are apparently good than in those which
are obviously not. Half-truth is more dangerous than error because there is more danger
of deception. One may even feel spiritual or blissful from the false enthusiasm
engendered thereby. So, be careful. Do nothing rash, but in everything know the
instructions of your spiritual master, either by direct consultation, or by knowing what the
previous holy teachers have said and what is written in the Holy Scriptures. In this way,
you will make no mistakes.