greater than sin — that is, pride and hypocrisy." Seeing God The next "gate", entitled Shaar Heshbon HaNefesh, Gate of Self-Examination, contains an exhortation to take as serious view as possible of life, its obligations and opportunities for the soul's perfection, in order to attain to a state of purity in which is unfolded the higher faculty of the soul, which beholds the deeper mysteries of God, the sublime wisdom and beauty of a higher world inaccessible to other men. Bahya devotes Shaar HaPerishut, Gate of Seclusion from the World, to the relation of true religiousness to asceticism. Some amount of abstinence is, according to Bahya, a necessary discipline to curb man's passion and to turn the soul toward its higher destiny. Still, human life requires the cultivation of a world which God has formed to be inhabited, and the perpetuation of the race. As such, asceticism can only be the virtue of a few who stand forth as exemplars. An ascetic life There are different modes of seclusion from the world. Some, in order to lead a life devoted to the higher world, flee this world altogether, and live as hermits, contrary to the design of the Creator. Others retire from the world's turmoil and live a secluded life in their own homes. A third class, which comes nearest to the precepts of Jewish law, participates in the world's struggles and pursuits, but leads a life of abstinence and moderation, regarding this world as a preparation for a higher one. According to Bahya, the object of religious practise is the exercise of self-control, the curbing of passion, and the placing at the service of the Most High of all personal possessions and of all the organs of life. Love of God The aim of ethical self-discipline is the love of God, which forms the contents of the tenth and last section of the work, Shaar Ahavat Elohim, The Gate of the Love of God. This is explained as the longing of the soul, amid all the attractions and enjoyments that bind it to the earth, for the fountain of its life, in which it alone finds joy and peace, even though the greatest pains and suffering be imposed on it. Those that are imbued with this love find easy every sacrifice they are asked to make for their God; and no selfish motive mars the purity of their love.