us though as vitally related to it, stands Being Itself, infinite, unthwarted, eternal" (Smith 47).
The self is many-layered, but there is also an important element --- realization, or consciousness --- with which the self is understood or seen by a higher self. In other words, the self can exist in ignorance, or it can exist in consciousness. As long as the self exists in the darkness of ignorance, that self will be in a state of suffering. The coming of consciousness will bring the self the possibility of liberation.
The surface self is the self which forever seeks gratification in the realm of the senses, believing that satisfaction of those senses will bring happiness. However, that satisfaction proves to be very short-lived, and suffering immediately follows, which must be then fed with more seeking and more short-lived satisfaction.
The self can begin to be released from this cycle of suffering and illusion only by self-realization. The consciousness of the person who lives on the surface of the self will be a dim light at best, and there will be no awareness on the part of that person with respect to the deepest level of the self, where the self of the person is united with the Self of the Universe, or with the consciousness of God.
When the Hindus speak of self-control, they emphasize the importance of first becoming aware of what that self is. If the individual does not realize that he is being drawn willy-nilly to-and-fro according to the rampant and wayward desires of the senses, then he will never be liberated from those forces and can never approach the peace of the deeper self.
As we read in Prabhupada, "the symptoms of the self-realized person are given herein. The first symptom is that he is not illusioned by the false identification of the body with his true self. He knows perfectly well that he is not this body, but is the fragmental portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead ....
He i...