Temptation, as defined by Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, is a “strong desire”
It is inescapable to all.
Temptation is what is commonly referred to as the beckoning of forbidden fruit.
It is a siren whose gentle song invites one to yield.
The call of such speedily hastens many to their demise.
” He never more returns, that his wife and little children may stand at his side rejoicing, but the sirens beguile him with their clear-toned song, as they sit in a meadow, and about them is a great heap of bones of moldering men…” – Colavito
Vice’s grip is firm.
It is only the wise and the awakened that can withstand.
Withstanding Temptation
- One must first have the desire to withstand
“No evil dooms us hopelessly except the evil we love, and desire to continue in and make no effort to escape from. ”
― George Eliot,
2. Secondarily, one must be knowledgeable of his or her vices, and how to best avoid them.
It is knowledge, which cements our resolve and determination.
Knowing how to do something makes it is that much easier to act.
Temptation is not an external force but an internal one.
“if you are tempted, then, know that you tempted yourself.” (Allen p. 100)
“The things that tempt us do not come from external persuasions…they originate from our very own hearts. They’re conceived there, entertained by our thoughts and then acted upon. Our hearts need daily scrubbings and consistent discipline to battle against its baleful wishes. Knowing and shedding light upon our heart’s darkness with honest accountability is a good first step towards an untainted ticker!” ~Jason Versey.
It is a root growing in an untended garden. Without proper attention, those roots strangle the good produce.
If it is internal how does it get there?
Temptation springs from an unfiltered flow of information, unchecked patterns of thinking, and errant behaviors, which gives way to unrestrained lust and desires.
Lao-Tze said it best.
Our minds are the resting place for our thoughts.
We become our best selves when we guard our minds.
In the mind lies the fertile soil where ideas are given root. Certain ideas, derived from unprincipled sources, that burrow into our subconscious mind, can eventually poison action.
Letting just any old idea (seedlings) rest in one’s minds without properly checking it, or filtering it, can eventually lend to its growth a full-blown ideology. That ideology in turns become a measure by which action is taken. Thus, the field of the mind which was once a beautiful garden becomes full of full-grown weeds
These weeds choke out the rational mind once fed. This is what leads to vulnerability to temptation.
In a state of starvation and neglect is when cravings reach their apex. These ideas induce cravings that are profound and powerful, urging us to satisfy the cravings. The idea that particular stimuli, product, person, or thing will satisfy or meet a need has a way of burrowing itself deep within the subconscious of our minds.
“…. What you don’t know about won’t tempt you.” ― Margaret Atwood
Example
You hear an ad stating a particular product will make you beautiful. The media enhances this by showing you that other beautiful and desirable people (celebrities) use this product.
The seed of beauty by enhancement has been placed into your mind. Your mind has received the message that beautification comes as a result of external enhancement. Your mind begins to make connections. You begin to ponder whether beauty and higher self-esteem are indeed predicated on external enhancement.
Continuing to permit the influx of such stimuli unfiltered and unchecked results in a strengthening of this idea. This is creating a desire in you. The desire to try products to enhance your beauty grows. The more you become bombarded by these stimuli the greater the cravings grow and the deeper the idea becomes rooted.
Remember, most are tempted at their weakest point.
It is likely on the day that you don’t feel your prettiest that your mind will attempt to conjure up a solution to your current malady in order to return your body to a normal healthy state (homeostasis).
Thus the axiom, what is in you will come out.
All of those seedlings which have taken root, been watered, and grown will bring forth their fruit.
It is very likely that you will feel compelled to invest in an external agent for beauty enhancement, especially when you are in reach of it.
At this point, the only way to combat the temptation is to flee until you can restore rationality. If you are too weak, you will succumb because there is nothing within to resist the craving (weakness).
Okay so how do I overcome this?
In overcoming temptation, You can only act on what you know.\
The strength of the roots will determine the strength of one’s resolve.
“We can become victorious over all temptation by releasing those ideas from our hearts and minds, for as we purify our heart, temptation ceases. When an idea has been released from the heart, the object that formerly appealed to it can no longer do so but instead lies there powerless with nothing left in us that responds to it.” (Allen, p.100)
The yielding to temptation is a symptom of an uncontrolled mental state.
Through separation from your source.
Through lack of due diligence of your heart and mind.
Through lack of self-care and attentiveness to those things that defile consciousness and goodness.
It is the result of planting seeds of avarice, lust, hatred, or malice, and indulgence and giving these seeds nourishment that they may take root.
“These ideas may lie dormant for a long time, and we may think we’ve gotten rid of them, when suddenly, in the presence of a person or object, the craving wakes up and demands immediate gratification. This is the mental state we call temptation.” (Allen p.99)
IT profit none to remove the rosebud once it is in full bloom, one must rather extract the root.
“A man may beat down the bitter fruit from an evil tree until he is weary; while the root abides in strength and vigour, the beating down of the present fruit will not hinder it from bringing forth more. This is the folly of some men; they set themselves with all earnestness and diligence against the appearing eruption of lust, but, leaving the principle and root untouched, perhaps un-searched out, they make but little or no progress in this work of mortification.”
― John Owen,
Once the Root is Removed then what?
Guard your mind
Guard your heart
Be careful little ear what you hear
Be careful little eyes what you see
It is what goes in a man, that fills him up until it overflows
“Like a drop of ink in water, the urge rushed to the surface and then slowly spread out and thinned until I was made slightly darker by it.”
― Brielle A. Marino, THE LAST EVE
It is what comes out that defiles.
“Temptation, with all its dark torments, can be overcome here and now. But finding oneself in the dark can only be remedied by turning on the light of wisdom and fully understanding the source, nature, and meaning of temptation. Only then can it finally be dissolved and our souls rest from their long travail. For the truly enlightened soul is proof against all temptation; as long as ignorance remains, no amount of praying, candle lighting, or other kinds of spiritual observances will bring peace. “- James Allen
Allen, James. As We Think So We Are. New York. Atria Books.
Colavito, Jason. 2014. The Sirens. http://www.argonauts-book.com/the-sirens.html
Inspiraelevation 