The Great Self in Control

Who is the self that controls and what is that which is controlled? Again, the Hindus teach us:

“Upraise the self by the self; do not sink the self. For the self is the friend of the self, and even the self is the enemy of the self.”--- Bhagavad Gita.

Raise, uplift, or “upraise” the self by the self, that is, self-control is control of the self ‘by the Self. Divinity says, “I control myself.” The Self that controls is God in the Highest, and the self that is being controlled is that appearance which is called ourselves, but which is, only the shadow or the reflection of the Great Self.

There is no one that should control you but yourself, and, in truth, there has never been any one controlling you but yourself. If you think that others have controlled you, there is something that has consented’to it within you; that is, blindly and weakly consented because there was, to your ignorance, no way out of it, or else you have knowingly consented at the time, even though you afterwards desired to recall your consent.

Therefore, begin with yourself and speak the truth: “I am the one, that controls myself. I am the only one that controls myself.”

Soon you will prove that you can no longer ascribe things in your life to anything or anybody outside yourself. Declare, “I am my own Master and I rule myself,” and be delivered from the apparent influence of circumstances and people and other outside things.