The self of which you speak, whether it is the great self or the small self, is only a concept that does not correspond to any reality.

How can a troubled mind Understand the way? If a man is disturbed He will never be filled with knowledge. An untroubled mind, No longer seeking to consider What is right and what is wrong, A mind beyond judgements, Watches and understands. Know that the body is a fragile jar, And make a castle of your mind. In every trial Let understanding fight for you To defend what you have won.

Yet the Teaching is simple. Do what is right. Be pure. At the end of the way is freedom.

From craving arises sorrow, from craving arises fear, but he who is freed from craving has no sorrow and certainly no fear.

If a man going down into a river, swollen and swiftly flowing, is carried away by the current - how can he help others across?

Mind is everything. What we think, we become.

But ...meat eating in any form, in any manner, and in any place is unconditionally and once and for all prohibited ...Meat eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, I will not permit.