211 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext
211 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext
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SELF-CONTROL
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Self-control is necessary for any spiritual progress. Unruly
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thoughts, attractions of the senses, lustful desires, anger, covetousness,
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and avarice constantly arise in the mind of the person who has no mental
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discipline; and these impel him to do evil deeds. If a person cannot
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direct his thoughts, desires, and actions according to his own will, how
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can he possibly direct his soul to God and keep his life on the path of
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truth? Unless the higher mind is strengthened and given the will power to
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master the impulses of the flesh mind, there will be little room for God
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to dwell with that mind. Thus, central to the religious life is
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self-control.
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The passages in this section feature two nearly universal metaphors
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employed to describe self-control: military conquest and the horse and
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rider. More relevant passages are gathered under the topics Restraint, pp.
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917-21, and Subdue Desires, pp. 925-32.
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Irrigators lead the waters. Fletchers bend the shafts. Carpenters bend
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wood. The virtuous control themselves.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 80 and 145
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With the conquest of my mind, I have conquered the whole world.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji 28, M.1, p. 6
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Dhammapada 80: Self-control is as necessary to the inner life as skill in
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shaping wood, metal, or water is required for good industry. Spiritual
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training is the counterpart to learning a secular trade; cf. Guide to the
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Bodhisattva's Way of Life 4.40, p. 744. For the comparisons to the
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physical training of an athlete, see 1 Timothy 4.7-8, p. 716; 1
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Corinthians 9.24-27, p. 745. Japuji 28, M.1: Cf. Shalot Sehskriti, M.5,
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p. 1055; Bhagavad Gita 6.5-6, p. 680.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Though one should conquer a million men on the battlefield, yet he,
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indeed, is the noblest victor who has conquered himself.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 103
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Though a man should conquer thousands and thousands of valiant
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foes, greater will be his victory if he conquers nobody but himself.
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Fight with yourself; why fight with external foes? He who conquers
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himself through himself will obtain happiness....
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Difficult to conquer is oneself; but when that is conquered,
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everything is conquered.
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Jainism. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 9.34-36
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Before you desire to control the universe, you must first be able to
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completely control yourself.
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Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 11-22-70
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He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
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and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
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Judaism and Christianity. Proverbs 16.32
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Who is strong? He who controls his passions.
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Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 4.1
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Abu Huraira reported God's Messenger as saying, "The strong man is not the
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good wrestler; the strong man is only he who controls himself when he is
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angry."
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Islam. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim
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That man is disciplined and happy
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who can prevail over the turmoil
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That springs from desire and anger,
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here on earth, before he leaves his body.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 5.23
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The Prophet declared, "We have returned from the lesser holy war (al jihad
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al-asghar) to the greater holy war (al jihad al-akbar)." They asked, "O
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Prophet of God, which is the greater war?" He replied, "Struggle against
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the lower self."
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Islam. Hadith
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Dhammapada 103: Cf. Dhammapada 42, p. 392; Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way
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of Life 4.28-35, p. 392. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 9.34-36: Cf. Acarangasutra
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2.78, p. 926; Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 43, p. 407. Sun
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Myung Moon, 11-22-70: 'To control the universe,' that is, to have any
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good influence over the affairs of the world, first one's self control
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should be perfect. Proverbs 16.32: Cf. 1 Peter 2.11, p. 926. Abot 4.1:
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The verse goes on to quote Proverbs 16.32, above. Cf. Berakot 5a, p. 926.
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Bhagavad Gita 5.23: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 3.41, p. 417; 6.5-6, p. 680.
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Hadith: This is an important Sufi tradition. The 'lesser jihad' is jihad
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in the ordinary sense: the war against external foes. The 'greater jihad'
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is the spiritual war, whose battleground is the soul.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Attack the evil that is within yourself; do not attack the evil that is in
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others.
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Confucianism. Analects 12.21
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He who knows others is wise;
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He who knows himself is enlightened.
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He who conquers others has physical strength;
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He who conquers himself is strong.
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Taoism. Tao Te Ching 33
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It is true that the mind is restless and difficult to control. But it can
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be conquered, Arjuna, through regular practice and detachment. Those who
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lack self-control will find it difficult to progress in meditation; but
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those who are self-controlled, striving earnestly through the right means,
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will attain the goal.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 6.35-36
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The flickering, fickle mind, difficult to guard, difficult to control--the
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wise person straightens it as a fletcher straightens an arrow.
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Like a fish that is drawn from its watery abode and thrown upon land, even
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so does this mind flutter. Hence should the realm of the passions be
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shunned.
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The mind is hard to check, swift, flits wherever it lists: to control it
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is good. A controlled mind is conducive to happiness.
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The mind is very hard to perceive, extremely subtle, flits wherever it
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lists. Let the wise person guard it; a guarded mind is conducive to
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happiness.
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Faring far, wandering alone, bodiless, lying in a cave, is the mind.
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Those who subdue it are freed from the bonds of Mara.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 33-37
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Man makes a harness for his beast; all the more should he make one for the
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beast within himself, his evil desire.
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Judaism. Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 10.1
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Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
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which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
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else it will not keep with you.
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Judaism and Christianity. Psalm 32.9
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Analects 12.21: Cf. Analects 12.1, p. 547; 2.2, p. 926; 5.21-23, p. 199;
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16.7, p. 928. Bhagavad Gita 6.35-36: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 6.10-27, pp. 843f.
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Dhammapada 33-37: Cf. Dhammapada 25, p. 715; Guide to the Bodhisattva's
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Way of Life 4.28-35, p. 392.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Excellent are trained mules, so are thoroughbred horses of Sindh and noble
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tusked elephants; but far better is he who has trained himself.
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Formerly this mind went wandering where it liked, as it wished and as it
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listed. Today with attentiveness I shall completely hold it in check, as
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a mahout controls an elephant in must.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 322, 326
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Know that the Self is the rider, and the body the chariot; that the
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intellect is the charioteer, and the mind the reins.
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The senses, say the wise, are the horses; the roads they travel are
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the mazes of desire....
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When a man lacks discrimination and his mind is uncontrolled, his
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senses are unmanageable, like the restive horses of a charioteer. But
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when a man has discrimination and his mind is controlled, his senses, like
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the well-broken horses of a charioteer, lightly obey the rein.
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Hinduism. Katha Upanishad 1.3.3-6
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Dhammapada 322, 326: Cf. Dhammapada 94, p. 230; 380, p. 679. Katha
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Upanishad 1.3.3-6: Cf. Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.9, pp. 842f.
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