Text of the meditation
Whoever ceases to be passion's slave becomes a master builder in the Temple of Destiny. A person begins to develop power when, checking their impulses and selfish inclinations, they fall back upon the higher and calmer consciousness within them, and begin to steady themselves upon a principle.
The realisation of unchanging principles in consciousness is at once the source and secret of the highest power. When, after much searching and suffering and sacrificing, the light of an eternal principle dawns upon the soul, a divine calm ensues and joy unspeakable gladdens the heart.
Whoever has realised such a principle ceases to wander, and remains poised and self-possessed. Only that work endures which is built upon an indestructible principle.
James Allen (1864–1912), Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) – public-domain text, gently modernised.
The original 1913 text is in the public domain.
