When considering our relationship with ourselves, it’s essential to recognize both our potential for great positive change and our capacity for self-sabotage. While no one else can bring about personal transformation unless we take and sustain the initiative, even divine assistance requires our effort. As the saying goes, “God helps those who help themselves.”
At the same time, we must acknowledge that dark forces within us can manifest unexpectedly and cause severe self-damage. A single moment of self-sabotage can have repercussions lasting decades. This awareness fosters a healthy fear of ourselves, which is crucial for guarding against lower impulses. However, this fear should not degenerate into a perpetually negative view of ourselves.
While there is much within us that can go wrong, there is also much within us that is profoundly right. At our core, we are spiritual beings, eternal parts of the Supreme Being, who is all-pure and all-potent. The divinity within us—a spark of God—remains indestructible, irrespective of what the world or we ourselves do. This divine core is the basis of our perennial hope and potential for redemption.
The soul’s potential for transformation and redemption is indestructible. By focusing on this reality, we can cultivate the healthiest relationship with ourselves: one that balances a healthy fear of our darker tendencies with a stronger, healthier hope in our divine potential. The Bhagavad-Gita (6.5) encapsulates this balance by urging us to elevate ourselves and not degrade ourselves with our own actions.
Summary:
- A healthy fear of ourselves arises from the recognition that dark forces within us can lead to self-sabotage if left unchecked.
- An even stronger hope in ourselves stems from our divine core, which connects us to the all-pure and all-potent Supreme Being, ensuring our potential for transformation and redemption.
- By balancing this fear and hope, we can cultivate the healthiest possible relationship with ourselves, fostering self-elevation and guarding against self-degradation.
Think it over:
- Reflect on an incident of self-sabotage that helped you develop a healthy fear of your darker tendencies.
- Recall an occasion when you acted better than your conditioned tendencies. How does this highlight your inalienable divine potential?
- Consider steps you can take to develop the most optimally healthy relationship with yourself.
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06.05 One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.
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