Text of the meditation
It is by the eradication of the inward errors and impurities alone that a knowledge of Truth can be gained. There is no other way to wisdom and peace. The peace that passes understanding is a peace that no event or circumstance can shake or mar, because it is not merely a passing calm between two storms, but an abiding peace that is born of knowledge.
People do not have this peace because they do not understand, because they do not know; and they do not understand and know because they are blinded and rendered ignorant by their own errors and impurities; and while they are unwilling to give these up, they cannot but remain entirely ignorant of impersonal Principles.
While a person loves their lusts, they cannot love wisdom.
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.
