If control is purely mechanical and aimless, it defeats its own purpose, which is to make possible the free and unconditioned functioning of the mind.
Control that has true spiritual value does not consist in the mechanical repression of thoughts and desires, but is the natural restraint exercised by perception of positive values discovered during the process of experience. True control is therefore not merely negative.
When some positive values come within the focus of consciousness, their claims for being expressed in life generate mental responses that ultimately remove all the tendencies obstructing a free and full expression of those values.
Thus the tendencies for lust, greed, and anger are removed through an appreciative recognition of the value of a life of purity, generosity, and kindness.
-Discourses 7th Ed., p50