(61) Just in this manner, and no other, thou sittest, when thou art in the pleasures of the flesh; if thou wilt not fight, thou canst not look for any victory, but thou wilt be murdered in thy soft bed of down. For man has a continual host or army before him, which fight with him continually; if he will not defend himself, then he is taken captive and slain.

(8) I am standing by? If I in my pride will not do it, better it is that my pride perish. The very crow becomes a Garuda when he lights upon a dead lizard; if my spirit is feeble, the least occasion of sin will overcome me. To him who is palsied by a faint heart occasions of sin come abundantly; but he who has a noble pride ever alert is unconquerable even by great temptations. Then with firm spirit I will undo the occasions of undoing; if I should be conquered by them, my ambition to conquer the threefold world would be a jest. I will conquer all; none shall conquer me. This is the pride that I will bear, for I am the son of the Conqueror-Lions. Creatures who are overcome by arrogance bear the title of misery, not of pride; he that is proud falls not into the power of the foe, but they are slaves to the foe Arrogance. Through arrogance they are brought into evil estate, and even in human birth lose their joys, eating the bread of others, slaves, fools, uncomely, wasted away; despised on all sides are the wretches stiff in arrogance; if they are ranked with the proud, say, who are the miserable? Proud, victorious, heroic are they who set their pride on conquest of the foe Arrogance, who overthrow him in all his might, and freely show to the world the fruit of their conquest.

(84) Just so 'tis your idea of your terrible foe O Moses, thy revelations shed glory on the mount, Be not too proud, but know that you must first endure The idea of the Truth, and thence come to the reality. No one is frightened by the mere idea of fighting, For "no courage is needed before fighting begins." In the mere idea of fighting a coward can imagine The pictures of Rustam on the wall of a bath Are similar to a coward's ideas of fighting. But when these ideas are tested by actual sight,

(3) God one day said to Moses in secret: 'Go and get a word of advice from Satan.' So Moses went to visit Iblis and when he came to him asked him for a word of advice. 'Always remember,' said Iblis, 'this simple axiom: never say "I", so that you never may become like me.'

So long as there remains in you a little of self-love you will partake of infidelity. Indolence is a barrier to the spiritual way; but if you succeed in crossing this barrier a hundred 'I's' will break their heads in a moment.

Everyone sees your vanity and self-pride, your resentment, envy, and anger, but you yourself do not see them. There is a corner of your being full of dragons, and by negligence you are delivered up to them; and you pet them and cherish them night and day. So, if you are aware of your inner state, why do you remain so listless!

(10) But when his strength fails, he will withdraw from his work; and if it be happily ended, he will leave it, in eagerness for more and more tasks. He will guard himself against the blows of the Passions, and deal stout blows against the Passions, as though fighting with the sword against a skilful foe. As one in fear swiftly takes up again a fallen sword, so he will take up the fallen sword of remembrance, bethinking himself of hell.

(58) Do not pierce yourself with the sword of sin. Do not burn yourself, O wretched one, with the fire of lust. Do not surrender yourself to barbarians like a prisoner, nor to savage beasts which want to trample upon you. For they are as lions which roar very loudly. Be not dead lest they trample upon you. You shall be man! It is possible for you through reasoning to conquer them.

(19) Wouldst thou fight against the wrath of God? Then thou must put on the helmet of obedience and of love, otherwise thou wilt not break through; and if thou dost not break through, then thou fightest in vain, and remainest to be a servant or minister of the devil, in one way as well as in another.

(6) And if you do these things, O my son, you will be victorious over all your enemies, and they will not be able to wage war against you, neither will they be able to resist, nor will they be able to get in your way. For if you find these, you will despise them as deniers of truth. They will speak to you, cajoling you and enticing (you), not because they are afraid of you, but because they are afraid of those who dwell within you, namely, the guardians of the divinity and the teaching.

(78) "And thy [heart hath prompted] thee to call to battle

(4) Ah, when I vowed to deliver all beings within the bounds of space in its ten points from the Passions, I myself had not won deliverance from the Passions. Knowing not my now measure, I spoke like a madman. Then I will never turn back from smiting the Passions. I will grapple with them, will wrathfully make war on them all except the passion that makes for the destruction of the Passions. Though my bowels ooze out and my head fall off, I will nowise abase myself before my foes the Passions. An enemy, though driven away, may establish himself in another spot, whence he may return with gathered powers; but such is not the way of the enemy Passion. Where can this dweller in my spirit go when I cast him out; where can he stand, to labour for my destruction? It is only that I — fool that I am — make no effort; the miserable Passions are to be overcome by the vision of wisdom. The Passions lie not in the objects of sense, nor in the sense-organs, nor between them, nor elsewhere; where do they lie? And yet they disturb the whole world! They are but a phantom. Then cast away thy heart's terror, and labour for wisdom; why shouldst thou vainly torture thyself in hell? Thus resolved, I will strive to fulfil the rule as it has been taught; how should he who needs medicine find healing, if he depart from the physician's command?

(27) Thou must renounce the devil and the world, if thou wilt enter into this fight, else thou wilt not overcome: But if thou overcomest not, then let my book alone, and meddle not with it, but stick to thy old matters, else thou wilt receive but evil wages for thy pains: Be not deceived, God will not be mocked.[Gal vi. 7.]

(202) That you plead not compulsion, and so err (like Iblis). How long will you climb into that tree of compulsion? How long cast out of sight your own freewill? How long, like Iblis and his evil crew, Throw the blame of your own sins upon God? How were you compelled to sin when you took such pleasure And pride in engaging in those sins? Does a man feel such pleasure in acting on compulsion As he exhibits when committing wrong actions? You battle like twenty men against those

(104) One's own self conquered is better than all other people; not even a god, a Gandharva, not Mâra with Brahman could change into defeat the victory of a man who has vanquished himself, and always lives under restraint.

(11) Rend not thy plumage off, but avert thy heart from it Were there no hostility, that war would be impossible. lladst thou no lust, obedience to the law could not be. Where no antagonist, what need is there of armies? Ah! make not thyself an eunuch, not a monk, Without lust denial of lust is impossible God says, "Expend;" wherefore earn money. Since expenditure is impossible without previous gain? Although the passage contains only the word "Expend," Read "Acquire first, and then expend."

(1) Abolish every childish time of life, acquire for yourself strength of mind and soul, and intensify the struggle against every folly of the passions of love and base wickedness, and love of praise, and fondness of contention, and tiresome jealousy and wrath, and anger and the desire of avarice. Guard your (pl.) camp and weapons and spears. Arm yourself and all the soldiers, which are the words, and the commanders, which are the counsels, and your mind as a guiding principle.

(40) Knowing that this body is (fragile) like a jar, and making this thought firm like a fortress, one should attack Mâra (the tempter) with the weapon of knowledge, one should watch him when conquered, and should never rest.

(20) What good will thy knowledge do thee, if thou wilt not strive and fight therein? It is just as if one knew of a great treasure, and would not go for it; but, though he knoweth he might have it, would rather starve for hunger in the bare knowing of it.

(1) Do not even think of doing what ought not to be done.

Choose rather to be strong in soul than in body.

(27) The Bodhisattva “Majestic Blossom” said: “The ego and its objective are a duality, (but) if the underlying nature of the ego is looked into, this duality vanishes. If duality is cast away there will be no consciousness, and freedom from consciousness is initiation into the non-dual Dharma.”

(91) Which say, "See me a man destined to the fire; I am a part of the fire, and go to join my whole; Not a light, so that I should join the Source of light." Kill thine own lust and give life to the world; It has killed its lord, reduce it to servitude. That claimant of the cow is thy lust; Beware! That slayer of the cow is thy reason; Go! Reason is a poor captive, and ever cries to God On what depends its getting meat without toiling?