Control of your actions, keep guard over matters of the soul.

 

34. Control of your actions. One of the teachings of all the religions of God is that man is to have control over his own self and to keep guard over his own soul. This is one of the things that sets those followers of religion apart from the rest of the world, because it is the law of God that controls their actions and not just the law of mankind: When we keep reign over our actions the world runs more smoothly and when we keep reign over our own soul our spirit grows more steadfast in the works of God and we come closer to being more like our Creator; which is an important factor in God’s training of us.  JUDAISM: Proverbs: 16:32 “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” Proverbs: 25:28 “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”  CHRISTIANITY: 1 Corinthians: 7:37 “He that standeth steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will.” 15:58 “always abounding in the work of The Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in The Lord.” Colossians: 3:15 “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts,” 1 Timothy: 3:5 “For if a man know not how to rule his own house, (himself) how shall he take care of the church of God?”

 ISLAM: “Allah (God) has further ordered you to keep your desires under control, to keep yourself under restraint: when extravagant and inordinate yearnings and cravings try to drive you towards vice and wickedness, because usually your ‘self’ tries to incite and drag you towards infamy and damnation unless The Merciful Lord comes to your help.”

(Islam, Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)

 17. “Those who show patience, firmness and self-control; who are true (in word and deed); who worship devoutly; who spend (in the way of Allah); and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning.” 107. “whose faces will be (lit with) white, they will be in (the light of) Allah’s Mercy; therein to dwell (for ever).”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   3)

 ZOROASTRIANISM: 18. “Purity is for man, next to life, the, greatest good, that purity, O Zarathushtra, that is in the Religion of Mazda (God) for him who cleanses his own self with good thoughts, words, and deeds.” “Make thy own self pure, O righteous man! any one in the world here below can win purity for his own self, namely, when he cleanses his own self with good thoughts, words, and deeds.” 21. “By Piety the man becomes Holy. Such person advances Right through his thinking, his words, his action, his Self. By Good Thought Mazda Ahura will give the Dominion. For this good Destiny I long.”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Vendidad 10 and Yasna 51)

 “In this base world, O men and women, know self control to be the true rescue. Indulgence in vice leads to the utter ruin of the soul. Evil thoughts tarnish the holiness. Thus they kill the moral life.” “Self control is the foundation of moral life.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 818 and 820)

 Denkard. Zoroaster, “Be it known that, the ruler over a man’s soul is his own pure conscience (heart). And the ruler over his conscience is his intellect which distinguishes good from evil. And (they) must be careful to walk in (the paths of) virtue.” “Be it known that he is to be held as taking care of his soul who preserves his thoughts, words, hands, mouth, and backbone, from evil.”

 HINDUISM: “That man alone is wise Who keeps the mastery of himself!” “Since the will governed sets the soul at peace. The soul of the ungoverned is not his, Govern thy heart! Constrain the entangled sense! Resist the false, soft sinfulness which saps Knowledge and judgment! Yea, the world is strong But what discerns it stronger, and the mind Strongest; and high over all the ruling Soul.”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 2 and 3)

 12. “He who desires happiness must strive after a perfectly contented disposition and control himself; for happiness has contentment for its root, the root of unhappiness is the contrary (disposition)”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 4)

 BUDDHISM: 3. “It is good to control the mind, which is difficult to restrain, fickle, and wandering. A tamed mind brings happiness. Let the wise guard their thoughts, a well-directed mind will do us greater service.”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))

 12. “Self is the master of self; who else could be the master? With self well-controlled a person finds a master such as few can find.” 8. “If a person were to conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand people, if another conquers oneself, that one is the greatest conqueror.” 8. “Conquering oneself is better than conquering other people;”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))

 “They have learned to discipline themselves in the patient acceptance. Charity can no longer be expressed in the giving of impersonal gifts but will call for the more costly gifts of sympathy and understanding; good behavior will call for something more than outward conformity to the five precepts because in the light of the Paramitas they must practice humility, simplicity, restraint and self-giving. Patience will call for something more than forbearance with external circumstances and the temperaments of other people: it will now call for patience with one’s self. Zeal will call for something more than industry and outward show of earnestness: it will call for more self-control in the task of following the Noble Path and in manifestating the Dharma in one’s own life.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 “In meditation; one’s mind should be concentrated at all times, whether sitting, standing, moving, working; one should constantly discipline himself to that end. Gradually entering into the state of Samadhi, he will transcend all hindrances and become strengthened in faith, a faith that will be immovable.” (Buddha, Diamond Sutra)

“Mahamati, you and all the Bodhisattvas should discipline yourselves in the realization and patient acceptance.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 SABEANISM: “We have purified our hands in Kušta (truth) And our lips in faith. We have uttered words of radiance And were absorbed in thoughts of light. Great is the strength of Life; Abounding the glory of The Mighty (Life, God)! Honour resteth upon the ‘uthras who sit in glory. This is prayer and praise which came to them from The great place of Light and the everlasting Abode.” “The life of my Self I found, Yea, Life! lo, Life! Life hath triumphed over this world,” (and over) the life of Self. The building that life buildeth will never come to naught,” with consciousness under control. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 30, 102 and 115)

 “It will be given. Day by day, hour by hour (assistance), behold us Who stand in Thy name and are upheld by (calling on) Thy name.” “In the name of The Great Life (Haiyi/God)! May my thought, my knowledge and my understanding Enlighten me.” “(Let) our petition, our prayer and our submission Rise up before Thee, Manda-d-Hiia! That which we have done forgive us, And that which we do, forgive us.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 75, 76 and 78) “Look upon me with Your eyes and pity me in Your heart! Support me with Your strength, clothe me with Your glory, cover me with Your light. Cut me not off from Yourself! And put far from me fear, dread and terror,” and help me to keep reign over my own soul. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 410)

 BABI RELIGION: “I exhorted him to be patient and to (conceal/control) his emotions.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 308)

BAHA’I FAITH: “How wonderful it is! How powerful the spirit of man, while his body is so weak! If the susceptibilities of the spirit control him, there is no created being more heroic, more undaunted than man; but if physical forces dominate, you cannot find a more cowardly or fearful object because the body is so weak and incapable. Therefore, it is divinely intended that the spiritual susceptibilities of man should gain precedence and overrule his physical forces. In this way he becomes fitted to dominate the human world by his nobility and stand forth fearless and free, endowed with the attributes of eternal life.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 264)

“That which beseemeth man is submission unto such restraints as will protect him from his own ignorance, and guard him against the harm of the mischief-maker.” “The master-key of self-mastery is self-forgetfulness. The road to the palace of life is through the path of renunciation.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 335 and Baha’i Scriptures)

“Make ye then a mighty effort, that the purity and sanctity which, above all else, are cherished by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, shall distinguish the people of Baha; that in every kind of excellence the people of God shall surpass all other human beings; that both outwardly and inwardly they shall prove superior to the rest; that for purity, immaculacy, refinement, and the preservation of health, they shall be leaders in the vanguard of those who know. And that by their freedom from enslavement, their knowledge, their self-control, they shall be first among the pure, the free and the wise.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 150)