Controlling the senses gives the mind a break and stops it from being bombarded by impressions; we can cease being controlled by impressions, whether good or bad. The deep rest that comes from gaining control of the senses serves as food for the mind, food that will sustain us in our efforts to attain higher levels of spiritual practice.

To put this another way, overcoming the power of the senses is accomplished by bringing actions and speech under control, which is called "ethics"; bringing the mind under control is called "concentration "; and using a trained mind to attain deep, difficult truths and understand them with clarity is called "wisdom" - a wisdom that is able to channel the senses in a proper direction only.

According to Buddhism, we overcome the power of the senses by abstaining from evil and performing good deeds instead. After this, we try to find a way to purity the mind and keep it free from the root causes of depression, revealing the easily and not - so - easily seen - including all bad habits that serve as a catalyst in the incessant formation of bad habits.

The study of the principles of the Dhamma is a major factor in controlling and overcoming the senses; as the senses are overcome, increasing tranquility and realization are experienced. Tranquility comes from stilling the senses; realization of the truth comes from opening the curtain of sense - related frustration that has obstructed your view for so long.

In Summary, the study of the principles of the Dhamma helps us to know that we should practice the Dhamma for the good of our Dhamma-body, otherwise one-half of our being will be dead. Once we know these principles well enough, we nourish the mind with knowledge, and this becomes a foundation for spiritual practice; these principles constitute proper views, the light of the dawn in the initial stages of our practice.

As children, our melancholy hardly ever surfaced because we had people looking after us and we were not yet fully grown and able to experience the full force of all our senses. As soon as we are fully developed, melancholia arises more frequently because we are out of balance - the body has developed, but the development of our Dhamma-body has not kept pace with it.

Studying the principles of Dhamma helps us to gradually come to realization that if we nourish only our physical being, we are fattening up only one aspect of our lives. While the other aspect - the mind - remains malnourished. The end result is that the body is the picture of health, while the mind is foggy, melancholic, and thin.

Studying the principles of the Dhamma help us to first realize that we have two facts to our body; the bodily form and the Dhamma body. Our body develops due to our parents care-we grow due to a number of factors, such as vegetables, proteins, and other nourishment - but the Dhamma-body concern the overall health of our physical form, our speech, and our mind. Both of these aspects of our being are the foundations of freedom; they sustain and nourish all kinds of growth.

Mere babes cannot think for themselves about these matters. Only the study of Dhamma can help us initially. The study of the Dhamma as a discipline of knowledge is one of the basic foods for the mind; the second step involves digesting this knowledge for yourself; and then the attainment of joy and tranquillity follows.

Whenever a person lacks spiritual sustenance, even at a basic level, he cannot thrive well enough to be able to see or maintain any ideals pertaining to spiritual happiness. Life is gloomy and sorrowful without completely knowing why.

All of the lower instincts invite us to ascend the throne and proclaim the desires of the mind; thus overcome by the lower instincts, the normal state of mind, or what we can call our higher nature, cannot manifest.

The mind loses all possibility of tranquillity when its stupid owner gets involved in materialism, which poisons the mind. The truly tranquil mind cannot come into being because its owner has neglected to nurture it with the special food it requires.

It is difficult to see the way to freedom from materialism, because normally no one wants to think that he has become a slave to materialism. There are many people consuming and using material goods to raise their status and impress friends; they believe that they are the masters of these goods and that they are already free of them.

The body demands worldly food; the mind requires the food of the Dhamma. Those who see the mind as foremost, as the coordinating faculty of the body, consume with moderation for the basic sustenance of their physical being. Aside from this, their time is spent in search of spiritual food.

Since the world deals with materialism and the Dhamma deals with freedom from materialism, the two can never be the quite same. It is this freedom from materialism that provides spiritual nourishment.

A Buddhist who impedes the progress of others is more dangerous than any non - Buddhist When the dark ages come up on us, only the true Buddhists will survive due to the merits of their search for spiritual sustenance.

True Buddhists must maintain that the body resides in the mind and that spiritual nourishment is more important than physical sustenance; they must care about all doctrines that advocate a spiritual quest. Practicing Buddhism by means of lip service or rituals does not make you a Buddhist. True Buddhists will not become materialistic nor overly nationalistic.

As long as Buddhists still care about the quest for spiritual happiness, we can say that the family line of the Buddha will remain unbroken. This spiritual quest will function like a plumb, giving direction and remaining poised for its own safety and that of the world - even though there are others who detest those on the spiritual path.

When the world discards the quest for spiritual sustenance and progressively seeks more and more physical pleasure, as people are doing today, Lord Buddha cannot be of any help.

Lord Buddha was the foremost leader of a community of people in search of spiritual happiness in a bygone era. He is known as the "Great One," and he has become a refuge to people in later times because of the power of the Dhamma.