Text of the meditation
The spirit is strengthened and renewed by meditation upon spiritual things. A person must pass through three Gateways of Surrender. The first is the Surrender of Desire; the second is the Surrender of Opinion; the third is the Surrender of Self. Entering into meditation, they will begin to examine their desires, tracing them out in their mind, and following up their effects in their life and upon their character; and they will quickly perceive that, without the renunciation of desire, a person remains a slave both to themselves and to their surroundings and circumstances.
Having discovered this, they enter the first Gate, that of the Surrender of Desire. Passing through this Gate, they adopt a process of self-discipline which is the first step in the purification of the soul. The lamp of faith must be continually fed and assiduously trimmed.
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.