Sexual purity, for a person who has made a commitment to remain celibate, means avoiding all forms of sexual activity. When joyfully taken on and maintained, this vow grants extraordinary energy and mental clarity. For others, sexual purity means to strictly honor the bond between two other people who are in a committed relationship.

Avoiding possessiveness begins with making a determined effort to live simply. It also extends to recognizing and trying to stop our very common, very unfortunate feelings of displeasure when others get something nice, or our strange sense of satisfaction over others' problems.

These different forms of self-control are not an effort by some organization somewhere to keep us from having fun. The world is a messed-up place. The ultimate form of self-control is to stop thinking that this is someone else's fault: we create it with our own seeds. Avoiding actions that make bad seeds and a bad world is simply a smart thing for us to do.

It's not at all a matter of what religion or race or nation we belong to. Wise people throughout the history of our planet, in every country, have recognized that controlling ourselves is what truly sets us free.