The reason few people seek God in earnest as do the saints is that millions believe they cannot do without evil, misery-producing pleasures. They are addicted, as is the alcoholic toward health-killing drink. But these very persons, if they were to form good habits, would say:"We cannot do without the pleasure and peace of meditation. We become miserable now if we had to mingle in our old environments."
Those who cling to their materialistic nature fail to understand why the pleasure-producing senses are inimical to the joy of the Spirit. "Why," they ask, "were the senses given to man if he is not to enjoy them?" (This query is supposed to completely "floor" the ascetic!)
The metaphysical reason for self-control is nothing but a spiritual business proposition calculated to bring the greatest happiness to man. Just as one must invest a certain sum of money in order to reap a greater gain, so the devotee forgoes indulgence in materialistic pleasures for the sake of gaining the pure joy of Spirit found in meditation.
Man is the image of God: within himself, as the tree is hidden in the seed, is the latent unmanifested bliss of the Spirit. As roasted seeds do not germinate, so when the seeds of consciousness is scorched by flames of material desires. The innate tree of Divine Happiness never has a chance to sprout.
Therefore, self-control is not self-torture, but leads instead to soul happiness. By withdrawing the mind from indulgence in lower kinds of paltry pleasures of the senses, man enters a vast kingdom of unending joy. It is the arrant chicanery of the malevolent ego that tells man otherwise.
-Paramahansa Yogananda
God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita
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