Daily meditation, Apr. 12th: James Allen

Force and strife work upon the passions and fears, but love and peace reach and reform the heart.

April Twelfth

HE who is overcome by force is not thereby overcome in his heart: he may be a greater enemy than before; but he who is overcome by the spirit of peace is thereby changed at heart. He that was an enemy has become a friend.

The pure-hearted and wise have peace in their hearts; it enters into their actions; they apply it in their lives. It is more powerful than strife; it conquers where force would fail. Its wings shield the righteous. Under its protection, the harmless are not harmed. It affords a secure shelter from the heat of selfish struggle. It is a refuge for the defeated, a tent for the lost, and a temple for the pure.

When, divine good is practised, life is bliss. Bliss is the normal condition of the good man.

Daily meditation, Apr. 11th: James Allen

He is bravo who conquers another: but he who conquers himself is supremely noble.

APRIL ELEVENTH

BY the way of self-conquest is the Perfect Peace achieved. Man cannot understand it, cannot approach it, until he sees the supreme necessity of turning away from the fierce fighting of things without, and entering upon the noble warfare against evils within. He is already on the Saintly Way who has realised that the enemy of the world is within, and not without; that his own ungoverned thoughts are the source of confusion and strife; that his own unchastened desires are the violaters of his peace, and of the peace of the world.

If a man has conquered lust and anger, hatred and pride, selfishness and greed, he has conquered the world.

He who is victorious over another may in turn be defeated ; but he who overcomes himself will never be subdued.