Text of the meditation
Whoever will control themselves will put an end to all their sufferings. Blessed is that day, and not to be forgotten, when a person discovers that they are their own undoer and their own saviour. Within themselves is the cause of all their suffering and lack of knowledge, and within also is the source of all peace, enlightenment and Godliness.
Selfish thoughts, impure desires, and acts not shaped by Truth are the baneful seeds from which all suffering springs; while selfless thoughts, pure aspirations and the sweet acts of Truth are the seeds from which all blessedness grows. Whoever will deny themselves will find the holy place where calmness lives.
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.
