Here the tradition says something that surprises many people. You cannot remove a self by yourself.

The personality cannot do it. It is too small, and it is part of the problem. The mind cannot do it either. It can understand a self, but understanding alone leaves the self in place, only quieter for a while. Something stronger is needed.

The books teach that in the depths of every person’s own being there is a feminine power they call the Divine Mother. She is not a statue or a belief. She is part of you, deeper than your personality, with the strength to remove what you have understood. The books add that her help grows with the energy you keep, which is the subject of Part III. Many traditions have known her under some name: Isis in Egypt, Tonantzin among the Aztecs, Mary in Christianity.

If this language does not fit you yet, that is fine. You can turn toward God, or toward the deepest and truest part of yourself, in whatever way is real for you. What matters is that you ask sincerely, trusting that it can be done, and that you do not try to do it with willpower.

Ask in two places. In quiet, after you have understood a self, as the end of the meditation on page 30. And in the street, in the very moment you catch a self rising: a few silent words, and let it be taken.

Nothing dramatic needs to happen. A self usually ends slowly, over many requests. One day you notice that the old scene arrives, and the actor does not.