April Thoughts: James Allen

A man has no character, no soul, no life, apart from his thoughts and deeds.

There is a larger, higher, nobler, diviner life than that of sinning and suffering.

Man is; and as he thinks, so he is.

To live is to think and act, and to think and act is to change.

Man as mind is subject to change. He is not something

“made” and finally completed, but has within him

the capacity for progress.

Man’s being is modified by every thought he thinks.

Every experience affects his character.

Only the choosing of wise thoughts, and, necessarily the doing of wise deeds, leads to wisdom.

Thought determines character, condition, knowledge.

 

Having clothed himself with humility, the first questions a man asks himself are:—

“How am I acting towards others?
“What am I doing to others?”
“How am I thinking of others?”
“Are my thoughts of, and acts towards others prompted by unselfish love?”

As a man, in the silence of his soul, asks himself these searching questions, he will unerringly see where he has hitherto failed.

Law cannot be partial. It is an unvarying mode of action, disobeying which, we are hurt; obeying, we are made happy.

Indeed, the supreme law is the principle of eternal kindness, faultless in working, and infinite in application. It is none other than that

“Eternal Love, forever full,

   For ever flowing free,”

of which the Christian sings; and the “Boundless Compassion” of Buddhistic precept and poetry.

Every pain we suffer brings us nearer to the knowledge of the Divine Wisdom.

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

The wise man bends his will and subjects his desire to the Divine Order.

Rise above the allurements of sin, and enter the Divine Consciousness, the Transcendent Life.

As passion is the keynote of the self-life, so serenity is the keynote of the transcendent life.

When Perfect Good is realized and known, then calm vision is acquired.

Universal Good is seen.

Evil is an experience, and not a power.

The transcendent man is he who is above and beyond the dominion of self; he has transcended evil.

Whatsoever happens to the good man cannot cause him perplexity or sorrow, for he knows its cause and issue.

The strong traveler on the highroad of truth knows no such thing as resignation to evil; he knows only obedience to good.

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

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

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

When divine good is practised, life is bliss.

Bliss is the normal condition of the good man.

He who has realized the Love that is divine has become a new man.

 “Ye suffer from yourselves, none else compels,

   None other holds ye that ye live and die.”

To the divinely wise, knowledge and Love are one and inseparable.

The world does not understand the Love that is selfless because it is engrossed in the pursuit of its own pleasures.

It is toward the complete realization of this divine Love that the whole world is moving.

He who purifies his own heart is the world’s greatest benefactor.

Let men and women take this course, and lo! the Golden Age is at hand.

Only the pure in heart see God.

Enter into the New Birth, and the Love that does not die will be awakened within you, and you will be at peace.

This is the realization of selfless Love.

Rejoice! for the morning has dawned: the Truth has awakened us.

How beautiful is Truth!

How glorious is the realm of reality!

How ineffable is the bliss of Holiness!

Abandon error for Truth, and illusion for Reality.

Truth is the Light of the universe, the day of the mind.

Sympathy given can never be waste.

One aspect of sympathy is that of pity—pity for the distressed or pain stricken, with a desire to alleviate or help them in their sufferings. The world needs more of this divine quality.

“For pity makes the world soft to the weak, and noble for the strong.”

Another form of sympathy is that of rejoicing with others who are more successful than ourselves, and though their success were our own.

The Knowledge of Truth is an abiding consolation.

Truth removes the sting from affliction, and disperses the clouds of trouble.

He who clings to his delusions, loving self and sin, cannot find the Truth.

I am strengthened and comforted, having found refuge in Truth.

A pure heart and a blameless life avail.

They are filled with joy and peace.

There is a straight way and a quiet rest.

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs.

Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so when you perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it.

Be glad and not sorrowful, all ye who love Truth!

For your sorrows shall pass away, like the mists of the morning.

DISCIPLE: Teacher of teachers, instruct Thou me.

Master: Ask, and I will answer.

Disciple: I have read much, but am ignorant still; I have studied the doctrines of the schools, but have not become wise thereby; I know the scriptures by heart, but peace is hidden from me. Point out to me, O Master! the way of knowledge. Reveal to me the highway of divine wisdom; lead Thou Thy child into the path of peace.

Master: The way of knowledge, O Disciple! is by searching the heart; the highway of wisdom is by the practice of righteousness; and by a sinless life is found the way of peace.

Behold where Love Eternal rests concealed!

(The deathless Love that seemed so far away!)

E’en in the lowly heart; it stands revealed

To him who lives the sinless life today.

Great is the conquest which thou hast entered upon, even the mighty conquest of thyself; be faithful and thou shalt overcome.

DISCIPLE: Lead me, O Master! For my darkness is very great! Will the darkness lift, O Master? Will trial end in victory, and will there be an end to my many sorrows ?

Master: When thy heart is pure the darkness will disappear. When thy mind is freed from passion, thou wilt reach the end of trial, and when the thought of self-preservation is yielded up, there will be no more cause for sorrow. Thou art now upon the way of discipline and purification; all my disciples must walk that way. Before thou canst enter the white light of knowledge, before thou canst behold the full glory of Truth, all thy impurities must be purged away, thy delusions all dispelled, and thy mind fortified with endurance. Relax not thy faith in Truth; forget not that Truth is eternally supreme; remember that I, the Lord of Truth, am watching over thee.

Be faithful, and endure, and I will teach thee all things.

Blessed is he who obeys the Truth, he shall not remain comfortless.

DISCIPLE: What are the greater and the lesser powers?

Master: Hear me again, O Disciple! Walking faithfully the path of discipline and purification, not abandoning it, but submitting to its austerities, thou wilt acquire the three lesser powers of discipleship; thou wilt also receive the three greater powers. And the greater and the lesser powers will render thee invincible. Self-control, Self-reliance, and Watchfulness—these are the three lesser powers. Steadfastness, Patience, Gentleness—these are the three greater powers. When thy mind is well-controlled, and in thy keeping; when thou reliest upon no external aid, but upon Truth alone; and when thou art ceaselessly watchful over thy thoughts and actions then thou wilt approach the Supreme Light.

Thy darkness will pass away forever, and joy and light will wait upon thy footsteps.

Be strenuous in effort, patient in endurance, strong in resolution.

Hold fast to love, and let it shape thy doing.

Instruct me in the doing which is according to the Eternal, so that I may be watchful, and fail not.

Be thoughtful and wise, strong and kindhearted.

See to it that you rise by steady climbing, and you will never fall.

Be watchful, that no thought of self creep in again and stain thee.

Open thine eyes to the Eternal Light.

Knowledge is for him who seeks;

Wisdom crowneth him who strives;

Peace in sinless silence speaks:

All things perish, Truth survives.

INCREASE thy strength and self-reliance; make

The specters of thy mind obey thy will;

See thou command thyself, nor let no mood,

No subtle passion nor no swift desire

Hurl thee to baseness; but, shouldst thou be hurled,

Rise, and regain thy manhood, taking gain

Of lowliness and wisdom from thy fall.

Strive ever for the mastery of thy mind,

And glean some good from every circumstance

That shall confront thee; make thy store of strength

Richer for ills encountered and overcome.

Submit to naught but nobleness; rejoice

Like a strong athlete straining for the prize,

When thy full strength is tried.

Follow where Virtue leads High and still higher;

Listen where Pureness pleads,

Quench not her fire.

Lo! he shall see Reality,

Who cometh upward, Cleansed from all desire.

Deliverance shall him entrance who strives with sins and sorrows, tears and pains, Till he attains.

BE not the slave

Of lusts and cravings and indulgences,

Of disappointments, miseries, and griefs,

Fears, doubts, and lamentations, but control

Thyself with calmness: master that in thee

Which masters others, and which heretofore

Has mastered thee: let not thy passions rule,

But rule thy passions; subjugate thyself

Till passion is transmuted into peace,

And wisdom crown thee; so shalt thou attain

And, by attaining, know.

Look thou within. Lo! In the midst of change

Abides the Changeless; at the heart of strife

The Perfect Peace reposes. At the root

Of all the restless striving of the world

Is passion. Whoso follows passion findeth pain,

But whoso conquers passion findeth peace.

I am ignorant, yet strive to know; nor will I cease to strive till I attain.

Book of Meditations

&

Thoughts for the Day

For Every Day in the Year

A combination of two books: 'Morning and Evening Thoughts' by James Allen, published 1909 and 'James Allen's Book of Meditations' published 1913.