Text of the meditation
The lover of the pure life renews their mind daily. As the energetic person of business is not daunted by difficulties but studies how to overcome them, so the person of ceaseless aspiration is not crushed into submission by temptations but meditates on how to fortify their mind; for the tempter is like a coward, creeping in only at weak and unguarded points.
The tempted should study thoughtfully the nature and meaning of temptation, for until it is known it cannot be overcome. Whoever is to overcome temptation must understand how it arises in their own darkness and error, and must study, by introspection and meditation, how to disperse the darkness and replace error with truth.
A person must know themselves if they are to know truth. Self-knowledge is the handmaid of self-conquest. Engage daily in holy meditation on Truth and its attainment.
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.
