The last in the list of the fruits of the Spirit that St.
Paul gives us is self-control.
And it's interesting that it comes immediately after gentleness.
It's as if to remind us that self-control is a necessary aspect of human character,
Of living well with other people,
Of being able to move forward and achieve certain objectives in life.
We need self-control,
Self-discipline.
But very often we think of self-control as some kind of force or violence we have to apply to ourselves.
Now,
Self-control means that you may deny yourself an immediate gratification,
Or you may decide that there is something in your life that you need to change,
And changing is always difficult.
So it's not that it doesn't require some effort,
Some will,
But it's not violent,
It's not the use of force against ourselves.
That would be a false asceticism,
A false spiritual discipline.
So self-control then,
What is it?
I think it's the ability to see how we truly are,
And where there is a gap between how we truly are,
Our true nature,
And how we act,
Or how we think,
Or the patterns that have developed and that overlay our true nature,
Get in the way of our true self.
It's being aware of that gap between our true self and our ego self,
If you like,
And recognizing that makes it much easier then to do what is necessary,
To follow the discipline necessary,
To re-harmonize,
To reintegrate our true self with our daily life.
That's one of the fruits of meditation,
That the inner and the outer become harmonized,
And that requires monitoring or maintenance and upkeep,
And that's where the twice-daily meditation is really important.
An important part of self-control in all aspects of life is this contemplative discipline that we are building into our daily lives through the morning and evening meditation.
So let's meditate again now.
Sit still and upright,
Relaxed and alert.
Close our eyes and open our heart as we begin to repeat our word gently and faithfully.
MA-RA-NA-TA M-A-R-A-NA-TA M-A-R-A-NA-TA M-A-R-A-NA-TA M-A-R-A-NA-TA M-A-R-A-NA-TA M-A-R-A-NA-TA M-A-R-A-NA-TA M-A-R-A-NA-TA you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you Let's conclude with another reading from the Centogio Upanishad.
As great as the infinite space beyond is the space within the lotus of the heart.
Both heaven and earth are contained in that inner space,
Both fire and air,
Sun and moon,
Lightning and stars.
Whether we know it in this world or not,
Or that we don't know it,
Everything is contained in that inner space.
