5. Kill out desire for sensation.

Learn from sensation and observe it,
because only so can you commence
the science of self-knowledge,
and plant your foot
on the first step of the ladder.

6. Kill out the hunger for growth.

Grow as the flower grows,
unconsciously, but eagerly anxious
to open its soul to the air.
So must you press forward
to open your soul to the eternal.
But it must be the eternal
that draws forth your strength and beauty,
not desire of growth.
For in the one case
you develop in the luxuriance of purity;
in the other
you harden by the forcible passion
for personal stature.

Bliss is very subtle. The voice of the divine is a whisper. Only those who have freed themselves from the pull of useless voices, who are no longer attracted by them, can hear it – but we live in the noisy crowd. The flavor of the divine is very subtle, only those whose capacity to taste has not been destroyed by running after stimulation will be able to experience it.

But all our senses are restless for stimulation. And the law of the senses is that the more stimulation they are given, the more their need for excitement increases. It is just like a man who drinks one glass of wine today and becomes unconscious; tomorrow he will need two glasses – one will not be enough. He has developed the capacity to absorb one glass of wine, so now one will not be enough to create the same effect. Tomorrow two glasses will be needed, and the day after tomorrow even two will not be enough. The body will be able to absorb their effect, so now three glasses will be needed. And a time may also come when wine becomes just like water and doesn’t affect him at all. Then more intoxicating poisons will be needed.

In Assam there is still a small Tantric sect which keeps a pet snake. Other types of poison no longer create intoxication in these people, only if the snake bites them on their tongues is there some degree of intoxication.

Slowly slowly, in this mad race for stimulation we lose all sensitivity. The stronger the stimulants we use, the more the capacity of the senses to feel and experience decreases – in the same proportion. Then more and yet more stimulation is needed, and there is no end to it. Finally, the senses are completely numb.