V — Detachment and renunciation
290
A spiritual seeker must know that austerity is an abnormality inasmuch as it is a disturbance of the natural balance of forces in the different parts of our consciousness. Austerity does not give self-mastery. In true detachment is the real self-mastery. Just as earth has temptations for an ordinary man, so Heaven has temptations for an advanced seeker.
Sri Chinmoy, Beyond Within — A collection of writings 1964-1974, Agni Press, 1975