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One should lift oneself by one's own efforts and should not degrade
oneself; for one's own self is one's friend, one's own self is one's
enemy. One's own self is the friend of the soul by whom the lower self
consisting of the mind, senses and body has been conquered; even so the
very self of him who has not conquered his lower self behaves
antagonistically like an enemy. The Supreme Spirit is rooted in the
knowledge of the self-controlled man whose mind is perfectly serene in
the midst of pairs of opposites, such as cold and heat, joy and sorrow,
and honour and ignominy. A person whose mind is sated with the Knowledge
of Nirguna Brahma and Knowledge of manifest Divinity, who is unmoved
under all circumstances, whose senses are completely mastered, and to
whom earth, stone and gold are all alike, is spoken of as a God-realized
soul. He who looks upon well-wishers and neutrals as well as mediators,
friends and foes, relatives and objects of hatred, the virtuous and the
sinful with the same eye, stands supreme. A person who is united in
identity with the all-pervading, infinite consciousness and sees unity
every where, beholds the Self present in all beings and all beings as
assumed in the Self.
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