Daily meditation, July 7th: James Allen

By self-enlightenment is Perfect Freedom found.

JULY SEVENTH

THERE is no bondage in the Heavenly Life. There is Perfect Freedom. This is its great glory. This Supreme Freedom is gained only by obedience. He who obeys the Highest co-operates with the Highest, and so masters every force within himself and every condition without. A man may choose the lower and neglect the Higher, but the Higher is never overcome by the lower: herein lies the revelation of Freedom. Let a man choose the Higher and abandon the lower; he shall then establish himself as an overcomer, and shall realise Perfect Freedom.

To give the reins to inclination is the only slavery; to conquer oneself is the only freedom. The slave to self loves his chains, and will not have one of them broken for fear he would be depriving himself of some cherished delight. He thus defeats and enslaves himself.

The Land of Perfect Freedom lies through the Gate of Knowledge.

Daily meditation, July 6th: James Allen

To know Love is to know that there is no harmful power in the whole universe.

JULY SIXTH

IF a man would know Love, and partake of its undying bliss, he must practise it in his heart; he must become Love. He who always acts from the Spirit of Love is never deserted, is never left in a dilemma or difficulty, for Love (impersonal Love) is both Knowledge and Power. He who has learned how to Love has learned how to master every difficulty, how to transmute every failure into success, how to clothe every event and condition in garments of blessedness and beauty.

The way to Love is by self-mastery, and, travelling that way, a man builds himself up in Knowledge as he proceeds. Arriving at Love, he enters into full possession of body and mind, by right of the divine Power which he has earned. " Perfect Love casteth out fear."

Perfect Love is perfect Harmlessness. And he who has destroyed in himself all thoughts of harm, and all desire to harm, receives the universal protection.

Daily meditation, July 5th: James Allen

The universe is preserved because Love is at the Heart of it.

JULY FIFTH

THE Children of Light who abide in the Kingdom of Heaven see the universe, and all that it contains, as the manifestation of one Law—the Law of Love. They see Love as the moulding, sustaining, protecting, and perfecting Power immanent in all things animate and inanimate. To them Love is not merely and only a rule of life, it is the Law of life, it is Life itself.

Knowing this, they order their whole life in accordance with Love, not regarding their own personality. By thus practising obedience to the Highest, to divine Love, they become conscious partakers of the power of Love, and so arrive at perfect Freedom as Masters of Destiny. Love is Perfect Harmony, pure bliss, and contains, therefore, no element of suffering. Let a man think no thought and do no act that is not in accordance with pure Love, and suffering shall no more trouble him.

Love is the only preserving power.

Daily meditation, July 4th: James Allen

How can he fear any who wrongs none?

JULY FOURTH

THE righteous man is invincible. No enemy can possibly overcome or confound him; and he needs no other protection than that of his own integrity and holiness. As it is impossible for evil to overcome Good, so the righteous man can never be brought low by the unrighteous. Slander, envy, hatred, malice can never reach him, nor cause him any suffering, and those who try to injure him only succeed ultimately in bringing ignominy upon themselves.

The righteous man having nothing to hide, committing no acts which require stealth, and harbouring no thoughts and desires which he would not like Others to know, is fearless and unashamed. His step is firm, his body upright, and his speech direct and without ambiguity. He looks everybody in the face. How can he be ashamed before any who deceives none ?

Ceasing from all wrong you can never be wronged; ceasing from all deceit you can never be deceived.

Daily meditation, July 3rd: James Allen

Nothing is hidden from him who overcomes himself.

JULY THIRD

INTO the cause of causes shalt thou penetrate, and lifting, one after another, every veil of illusion, shalt reach at last the inmost Heart of Being. Thus becoming one with Life, thou shalt know all life, and, seeing into causes, and knowing realities, thou shalt be no more anxious about thyself, and others, and the world, but shalt see that all things that are, are engines of the Great Law. Canopied with gentleness, thou shalt bless where others curse ; love where others hate ; forgive where others condemn ; yield where others strive ; give up where others grasp ; lose where others gain. And in their strength they shall be weak ; and in thy weakness thou shalt be strong ; yea, thou shalt mightily prevail. " Therefore, when Heaven would save a man, it enfolds him with gentleness."

He that hath not unbroken gentleness hath not Truth.

Daily meditation, July 2nd: James Allen

The might of meekness !

JULY SECOND

THE man who conquers another by force is strong; the man who conquers himself by Meekness is mighty. He who conquers another by force will himself likewise be conquered; he who conquers himself by Meekness will never be overthrown, for the human cannot overcome the divine. The meek man is triumphant in defeat. Socrates lives the more by being put to death; in the crucified Jesus the risen Christ is revealed; and Stephen, in receiving his stoning, defies the hurting power of stones. That which is real cannot be destroyed, but only that which is unreal. When a man finds that within him which is real, which is constant, abiding, changeless, and eternal, he enters into that Reality, and becomes meek. All the powers of darkness will come against him, but they will do him no hurt, and will at last depart from him.

Meekness is a divine quality, and as such is all powerful.

Daily meditation, July 1st: James Allen

Wisdom is the aim of every philosophy.

JULY FIRST

IN whatever condition a man finds himself, he can always find the True; and he can find it only by so utilising his present condition as to become strong and wise. The effeminate hankering after rewards, and the craven fear of punishment, let them be put away for ever, and let a man joyfully bend himself to the faithful performance of all his duties, forgetting himself and his worthless pleasures, and living strong and pure and self-contained; so shall he surely find the Unfailing Wisdom, the God-like Patience and Strength. " The situation that has not its Duty, its Ideal, was never yet occupied by man." All that is beautiful and blessed is in thyself, not in thy neighbour’s wealth. Thou art poor? Thou art poor indeed if thou art not stronger than thy poverty! Thou hast suffered calamities ? Tell me, wilt thou cure calamity by adding anxiety to it ? There is no evil but will vanish if thou wilt wisely meet it.

Canst thou mend a broken vase by weeping over it?

Daily meditation, June 30th: James Allen

Seers of the Cosmos do not mourn over the scheme of things.

JUNE THIRTIETH

SEERS of the Cosmos see the universe as a perfect whole, and not as an imperfect jumble of parts. The Great Teachers are men of abiding joy and heavenly peace.

The blind captive of unholy desire may cry: " Ah ! Love, could you and I with Him conspire To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire, Would we not shatter it to bits, and then Remould it nearer to the heart’s desire ?" This is the wish of the voluptuary, the wish to enjoy unlawful pleasures to any extent, and not reap any painful consequences. It is such men who regard the universe as a "sorry scheme of things." They want the universe to bend to their will and desire ; want lawlessness, not law ; but the wise man bends his will and subjects his desires to the Divine Order, and he sees the universe as the glorious perfection of an infinitude of parts.

To perceive it, is the beatific vision; to know it, is the beatific bliss.

Daily meditation, June 29th: James Allen

The law which punishes us is the law which preserves us.

JUNE TWENTY - NINTH

WHEN in their ignorance men would destroy themselves, its everlasting arms are thrown about them in loving, albeit sometimes painful, protection.

Every pain we suffer brings us nearer to the knowledge of the Divine Wisdom. Every blessedness we enjoy speaks to us of the perfection of the Great Law, and of the fullness of bliss that shall be man’s when he has come to his heritage of divine knowledge. We progress by learning, and we learn, up to a certain point, by suffering. When the heart is mellowed by love, the Law of love is perceived in all its wonderful kindness; when wisdom is acquired, peace is assured.

We cannot alter the law of things, which is of sublime perfection, but we can alter ourselves so as to comprehend more and more of that perfection, and make its grandeur ours.

To wish to bring down the perfect to the imperfect is the crown of folly, but to strive to bring the imperfect up to the perfect is the height of wisdom.

Daily meditation, June 28th: James Allen

The silent, calm people will manifest a more enduring form of success than those who are noisy and restless.

JUNE TWENTY - EIGHT

WHEN a man exchanges coppers for silver, and silver for gold, he does not thereby give up the use of money; he exchanges a heavy mass for one that is lighter and smaller but more valuable. So when a man exchanges hurry for deliberation, and deliberation for calmness, he does not give up effort, he merely exchanges a diffusive and more or less ineffective energy for a more highly concentrated, effective, and valuable form.

Yet even the crudest forms of effort are necessary at first, for without them to begin with the higher forms could not be acquired. The child must crawl before it can walk; it must babble before it can talk; it must talk before it can compose. Man begins in weakness and ends in strength, but from beginning to end he advances by the efforts he makes, by the exertion he puts forth.

The root of success is in character.

Daily meditation, June 27th: James Allen

In order to achieve the higher forms of success, a man must give up anxiety, hurry, and fussiness.

JUNE TWENTY - SEVENTH

PRESSING forward persistently along a given way is sure to lead to a destination that is definitely associated with that way. Frequent going aside, or turning back, will render effort fruitless ; no destination will he reached ; success will remain afar off.

Effort, and the more effort, and then effort again, is the keynote of success.

As the simple old saying has it: " If at first you don’t succeed, Try again." All the precepts of successful business men are precepts of doing ; all the precepts of the wise teachers are precepts of doing. To cease to do is to cease to be of any use in the economy of life. Doing means effort, exertion.

Transmute the energy that wears and breaks down into that deeper and less obtrusive kind that preserves and builds up.

Daily meditation, June 26th: James Allen

A listless mind could not achieve any kind of success.

JUNE TWENT Y - SIXTH

SUCCESS is rooted in a subtle mental brooding along a given line. It subsists in an individual characteristic, or combination of characteristics, and not in a particular circumstance, or set of circumstances. The circumstances appear, it is true, and form part of the success, but these would be useless without the mind that can penetrate and utilise them.

At the root of every success there is some form of well-husbanded and welldirected energy. There has been some persistent brooding of the mind upon a project. Success is like a flower: it may appear more or less suddenly, but it is the finished product of a long series of efforts, of preparatory stages.

Men see the success, but the preparation for it, the innumerable mental processes that led up to it, are hidden from them.

Without exertion nothing can be accomplished.

Daily meditation, June 25th: James Allen

Stimulate the mind to watchfulness and reflection.

JUNE TWENTY - FIFTH

IT will be seen that the first step in the discipline of the mind is the overcoming of indolence. This is the easiest step, and until it is perfectly accomplished the other steps cannot be taken. The clinging to indolence constitutes a complete barrier to the Path of Truth. Indolence consists in giving the body more ease and sleep than it requires, in procrastinating, and in shirking and neglecting those things which should receive immediate attention. This condition of laziness must be overcome by rousing up the body at an early hour, giving it just the amount of sleep it requires for complete recuperation, and by doing, promptly and vigorously, every task and duty, no matter how small, as it comes along.

The heart must be purified of sensual and gustatory lust.

Daily meditation, 24th June: James Allen

Learn the lessons of Virtue, and thus build up in the strength of knowledge, destroying ignorance and the ills of life.

JUNE TWENTY - FOURTH

WHERE Love is, God is, and where Goodness lives There Christ abides; and he who daily strives against self and selfishness, shaping his mind For Truth and Purity, shall surely find The Master’s presence in his inmost heart. God shall be one with him (and not apart) Who overcomes himself, and makes his life Godlike and holy; banishing all strife far from him; letting hate and anger die, and greed and pride and fleshly lusts that lie to God and Goodness: great shall be his Peace, Happy and everlasting his release from pain and sorrow who doth conquer sin. To the pure heart comes God and dwells therein: He only who the Path of Good hath trod Hath found the Life that’s "hid with Christ in God."

" Make pure thy heart, and thou wilt make thy life rich, sweet, and beautiful, unmarred by strife."

Daily meditation, June 23rd: James Allen

Truth can only be arrived at by daily and hourly doing the lessons of Virtue.

JUNE TWENTY - THIRD

IN a properly governed household the child is first taught to be obedient, and to conduct itself properly under all circumstances. The child is not even told why it must do this, but is commanded to do it, and only after it has so far succeeded in doing what is right and proper is it told why it should do it.

No father would attempt to teach his child the principles of ethics before exacting from it the practice of filial duty and social virtue.

Virtue can only be known by doing, and the knowledge of Truth can only be arrived at by perfecting oneself in the practice of Virtue; and to be complete in the practice and acquisition of Virtue is to be complete in the knowledge of Truth.

Undaunted by failure, and made stronger by difficulties.

Daily meditation, June 22nd: James Allen

Spiritual Principles can only be acquired after long discipline in the pursuit and practice of Virtue.

June Twenty-Second

THE schoolmaster never attempts to teach his pupils the abstract principles of mathematics at the commencement; he knows that by such a method teaching would be vain, and learning impossible. He first places before them a very simple sum, and, having explained it, leaves them to do it. When, after repeated failures and ever-renewed effort, they have succeeded in doing it correctly, a more difficult task is set them, and then another and another; and not until the pupils have, through many years of diligent application, mastered all the lessons in arithmetic does he attempt to unfold to them the underlying mathematical principles.

Thus practice ever precedes knowledge even in the ordinary things of the world, and in spiritual things, in the living of the higher life, this law is rigid in its exactions.

Daily meditation, June 21st: James Allen

Realise the Light that never fades.

JUNE TWENTY - FIRST

IF, O reader ! You would realise the Joy that never ends, and the tranquillity that cannot be disturbed; if you would leave behind for ever your sins, your sorrow, your anxieties, and perplexities; if, I say, you would partake of this salvation, this supremely glorious Life, then conquer yourself. Bring every thought, every impulse, every desire into perfect obedience to the divine power resident within you. There is no other way to peace but this ; and if you refuse to walk it, your much praying and your strict adherence to ritual will be fruitless and unavailing, and neither gods nor angels can help you.

Only to him that overcometh is given the white stone of the regenerate life, on which is written the New and Ineffable Name.

The holy place within you is your real and eternal self : it is the divine within you.

Daily meditation, June 20th: James Allen

Hatred severs human lives, fosters persecution, and hurls nations into ruthless war.

June Twentieth

MEN cry peace ! Peace ! Where there is no peace, but, on the contrary, discord, disquietude, and strife. Apart from that wisdom which is inseparable from self-renunciation, there can be no real and abiding peace.

The peace which results from social comfort, passing gratification, or worldly victory is transitory in its nature, and is burnt up in the heat of fiery trial. Only the Peace of Heaven endures through all trial, and only the selfless heart can know the Peace of Heaven.

Holiness alone is undying peace. Self-control leads to it, and the ever increasing Light of Wisdom guides the pilgrim on his way. It is partaken of in a measure as soon as the path of virtue is entered upon, but it is only realised in its fullness when self disappears in the consummation of a stainless life.

This inward peace, this silence, this harmony, this love is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Daily meditation, June 19th: James Allen

In the external universe there is ceaseless turmoil, change, and unrest; at the heart of all things there is undisturbed repose ; in this deep silence dwelleth the Eternal.

JUNE NINETEENTH

AS there are depths in the ocean which the fiercest storm cannot reach, so there are silent, holy depths in the heart of man which the storms of sin and sorrow can never disturb. To reach this silence and to live consciously in it is peace.

Discord is rife in the outward world, but unbroken harmony holds sway at the heart of the universe. The human soul reaches blindly toward the harmony of the sinless state, and to reach this state and to live consciously in it is peace. Come away, for a while, from external things, from the pleasure of the senses, from the arguments of the intellect, from the noise and the excitements of the world, and withdraw yourself into the inmost chamber of your heart, and there, free from the sacrilegious intrusion of all selfish desires, you will find a holy calm, a blissful repose ; the faultless eye of Truth will open within you, and you will see things as they really are.

Become as little children.

Daily meditation, June 18th: James Allen

Where duties, howsoever humble, are done without self-interest, and with joyful sacrifice, there is true service and enduring work.

JUNE EIGHTEENTH

IT is given to the world to learn one great and divine lesson—-the lesson of absolute unselfishness. The saints, sages, and saviours of all time are they who have submitted themselves to this task, and have learned and lived it.

All the scriptures of the world are framed to teach this one lesson, all the great teachers reiterate it. It is too simple for the world which, scorning it, stumbles along in the complex ways of selfishness.

To search for this righteousness is to walk the Way of Truth and Peace, and he who enters this Way will soon perceive that Immortality which is independent of birth and death, and will realise that in the divine economy of the universe the humblest effort is not lost. The world will not have finished its long journey until every soul has entered into the blissful realisation of its own divinity.

A pure heart is the end of all religion and the beginning of divinity.