I will elevate the spirit over the flesh, Ahura Mazda

Human being, the blend of flesh and spirit, the climax of creation, is thy greatest wonder upon earth, Ahura Mazda. The glutton feasts his body, when he starves his soul. Wasted is his life, when he eats and drinks and plays and sleeps and indulges in pleasures that but fade. Great is the danger of dissipation that he sees not.

Mankind will require ages before it can attain the highest ideal of life that the religions of the world put before it. Life loses its significance and becomes meaningless if in the end its destination is dust. Short is man's life. The days slip into months and months into years. Life lasts but a moment and man should make the best use of the moment.

When man feasts and makes merry with the gaiety of spirit, the surfeit of food and pleasures palls upon his senses. He dissipates his energy and allows it to run to waste. A great gulf yawns under his feet and engulfs him into an impenetrable abyss. Alas and alas for his folly.

Life is not all rooted in the flesh. It is not just flesh. Life is spirit. Life's supreme satisfaction lies in the life of the spirit and not of the flesh. When life is not anchored in spiritual values, when it has no accumulated spiritual riches, it is poor in spite of its hoarded wealth or garnered knowledge.

Help me, my lord, to perfect my moral and spiritual nature by means of strict discipline of the sensual appetites. When I am aimlessly drifting from good age-old moorings, lead me to a safe anchorage in the world of spirit. Help me to bridle and subdue the lusts of the flesh. Let me not do what ill befits me.

I will not make my mind spiritually sterile. I will not make my heart spiritually destitute. I will not let my life be spiritual bareness. I will think and think deeply about the life of the spirit. Even in the midst of the clatter and clamor of this materialistic age, I will strive to live by spiritual values. I will remember that life of continence is better than life of self-indulgence. I will trust and follow my higher nature. I will live the life of flesh well, that I may live of spirit better. With a pure mind and a clean heart, I will live a saintly and godly life. I will live an ideal life that will not be self-centered, but God-centered, Ahura Mazda.

This page was last updated on Tuesday, August 01, 2000.