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SELF-RESTRAINT V. SELF-INDULGENCE : M. K.
Gandhi
Published by
: Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, India
Pages :
211 + 8
Price
: INR 50/-
ISBN-81-7229-1208-5.
About the Book:
That the first edition was sold out
practically within a week of its publication is a matter of joy to
me. The correspondence that the series of articles collected in this
volume has given rise to shows the need of such a publication. May
those who have not made self-indulgence a religion, but who are
struggling to regain lost self-control which should, under normal
conditions be our natural state, find some help from a perusal of
these pages. For their guidance the following instructions may prove
needful:
Remember if you are
married, your wife is your friend, companion and co-worker, not an
instrument of sexual enjoyment.
Self-control is the law of
your being. Therefore, the sexual act can be performed only when
both desire it, and that too subject to rules which in their
lucidity both may have agreed upon.
If you are unmarried you
owe it to yourself, to society and to your future partner to keep
yourself pure. If you cultivate this sense of loyalty, you will find
it an infallible protection against all temptation.
Think always of that Unseen
Power which, though we may never see, we all feel within us as
watching and noting every impure thought, and you will find that
Power ever helping you.
Laws governing a life of
self-restraint must be necessarily different from a life of
self-indulgence. Therefore you will regulate your society, your
reading, your haunts of recreation and your food.
You will seek the society
of the good and the pure.
You will resolutely refrain
from reading passion-breeding novels and magazines and read the
works that sustain humanity. You will make one book your constant
companion for reference and guidance.
You will avoid theaters and
cinemas. Recreation is where you may not dissipate yourself but
recreate yourself. You will, therefore, attend bhajan-mandalis where
the words uplift the soul. |