"The self". The innermost part of you waiting to be discovered. The part of you which knows more, feels more, sees more, desires more then your ego possibly could. The part of you which speaks when you are involved in soul searching. The intuitive voice that tries to speak at night when you are winding down.

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Chapter Twelve -- The Self

  1. If one holds oneself dear, one should
    diligently watch oneself. Let the wise person keep
    vigil during any of the three watches of the night.
  2. One should first establish oneself in what
    is proper; then only should one instruct others.
    Thus the wise person will not be reproached.
  3. One should do what one teaches others
    to do; if one would train others, one should be
    well-controlled oneself. Difficult, indeed is
    self-control.
  4. One truly is the protector of oneself,
    who else could the protector be? With oneself
    fully controlled one gains a mastery
    which is hard to gain.
  5. The evil a witless person does by oneself,
    born of oneself and produced by oneself, grinds
    one as a diamond grinds a hard gem.
  6. Just as a jungle creeper strangles the tree
    on which it grows, even so a person who is exceedingly
    depraved harms oneself as an enemy might wish.
  7. Easy to do are things that are bad and
    harmful to oneself, but exceedingly difficult to
    do are things that are good and beneficial.
  8. Whoever, on account of perverted views,
    reviles the Teaching of the Arahats, the Noble Ones of righteous life--that fool, like the bamboo,
    produces fruits only for self-destruction.
  9. By oneself is evil done, by oneself is
    one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone, by
    oneself is one purified. Purity and impurity depend
    on oneself--no one can purify another.
  10. Let one not neglect one's own welfare for
    the sake of another, however great. Clearly understanding
    one's own welfare, let one be intent upon the good.

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