Text of the meditation
A thought constantly repeated at last becomes a fixed habit. It is in the nature of the mind to acquire knowledge by the repetition of its experiences. A thought that is very difficult, at first, to hold and dwell upon at last becomes, by constantly being held in the mind, a natural and habitual condition.
Just as a boy, when beginning to learn a trade, cannot even handle his tools aright, much less use them correctly, but after long repetition and practice uses them with perfect ease and consummate skill, so a state of mind that at first seems impossible to realise is, by perseverance and practice, at last acquired and built into the character as a natural and spontaneous condition.
In this power of the mind to form and reform its habits and conditions is contained the basis of human salvation, and the open door to perfect liberty through the mastery of self. When the heart is pure, all outward things are pure.
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.
