My dear Lord, temptations sometimes enter my consciousness unsolicited, triggered by something I perceive externally or remember internally. Whenever possible, help me neglect and reject them entirely. But sometimes a tempting stimulus may come as part of a package—my service may require me to perceive or engage with it. At such times, let me be in its presence without succumbing to its influence.
O all-perceiving Lord, help me distinguish between entertaining temptation and embracing it. Just as necessity or courtesy may require me to entertain an uninvited visitor briefly, let me engage with temptation only when necessary and only as much as necessary. Help me maintain a healthy distance—politely when possible, firmly when necessary.
O almighty Lord, let me neither embrace temptation personally nor employ it for pleasure. Protect me from imagining that I can make temptation work for me without eventually being made to work for it. Help me remember that the very temptation I think I can employ now as a servant may eventually employ me as its slave.
O beloved Lord, may I give temptation no greater place in my consciousness than circumstances require and give you an ever-greater place in my consciousness in all circumstances.
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02.60 The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.
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