Have your ever seen the sea, its dark blue water, its waves that constantly leap forward and its considerable depth. Even the deep sea is bounded and restrained by its sandy beaches. It is as if the sandy seashore is a line of limitation or restraint for the sea! Even so, when there is a tsunami, the waves of the sea become ferocious and cross the line of restraint. Consequently, many coastal villages and small towns get submerged and devastated. Man’s mind is also very deep like the sea. Several passionate emotions keep on arising in man’s mind like the waves in a sea. These emotions can assume a frightening form and ruin the life of an ordinary person if something adverse happens in his life. However, Spiritual-Science can help and save us from self-destruction if we adhere to the Line of Restraint or Laxmanresha that it has postulated in the course of its research on ‘mind’.

When H. H. Bhanudas began research on mind, He realised that the human mind and passions have a remarkable bearing on human life. Now these passions can be considered to be drawbacks or taints of the mind. Hindu philosophy recognizes the following six passions: lust, anger, greed, temptation, egoism and jealousy. According to this philosophy, a man can’t make any spiritual progress unless he gets rid of these six passions. According to Spiritual-Science, however, household life and pursuit of a vocation are impossible without these six passions. These passions are very essential for persons who are householders or pursuing a vocation. So, while Spiritual-Science never asks that these passions be abandoned or renounced, it says emphatically that overindulgence in these passions should be avoided. And thus in 1990, Spiritual-Science put forth the Line of Restraint or Laxmanresha for the passions.

Jealousy – Envy is permitted. For instance, if your friend buys a bungalow at a popular hill station like say Ooty, you may tell him, “I envy you.” Such envy has a feeling of admiration. At the same time, any regret over your not having such a bungalow doesn’t bother you. However, if you begin to hate your friend, he may be happily unaware of your feelings even as you fret and fume and thereby lose your peace of mind.

Egoism – Pride is essential and every person should be proud of his or her family, country, profession, etc. in absence of which the society will be lustreless. However, arrogance should be avoided since it smacks of haughtiness. An arrogant person considers others to be contemptible and hurts many people. Those hurt in such a manner are not likely to miss any opportunity to retort and retaliate and thereby cause mental agony to the arrogant person as well.

Temptation – Having an attraction for anything is basically temptation while attachment for something is also temptation. There is nothing wrong in having an attraction for something. For instance, attraction for music, literature, beauty, nature and such things is necessary as it helps to keep us cheerful. Otherwise, life will become dull. Attachment is, however, an extreme form of temptation. Attachment means feeling intensely that you must have something that you like. There is mental agony if you don’t get it. Your peace of mind is disturbed.

Greed – Without earning money, it is difficult to run one’s household. So earning a living is the permitted form of greed. Therefore, earning sincerely and to the best of one’s physical and intellectual capabilities is permitted. However, a craving to earn money and accumulate wealth by irregular or unfair means is avarice and can cause both physical and mental agony.

Anger – There are occasions when it is necessary to get angry at another person for his or her benefit. For instance, you may have to occasionally scold your children for disciplining them or reprimand you subordinates in your office who tend to shirk their assigned work. However, rage is bad because when we get enraged we lose control of ourselves and harm others as well as ourselves. Therefore, rage should be avoided.

Lust – Even today, talking openly about sex is taboo in almost every Indian household. This passion brings together two individuals – a man and a woman - in an intimate, sexual relationship which is very essential for progeny. Therefore, all the religions have accorded their approval for the institution of marriage. However, if sex is physically or mentally stressful to one of the partners - whether husband or wife – and he or she is forced or coerced by the other into the act, then it is not sexual enjoyment but rape. Thus, obsession with sex is prohibited since a person so obsessed gets tormented and loses his peace of mind.

To sum up, the prohibited passions cause mental agony. On the other hand, the permitted passions, if limited to one’s actual needs, do not disturb one’s peace of mind. This was realised in the course of this research on ‘mind’. This Line of Restraint between passions is thus an important gift from Spiritual-Science to all human beings and especially to those who have the responsibility of running a household or earning one’s livelihood.