Evolution of love

The Way to Self-Knowledge

Begin your practice and reform
With firm resolve and trust in God,
Have no desire to take by storm
The gate to heaven or ride roughshod.

The morning hours before sunrise,
While most of us are still asleep,
Provide the best time for the wise
To engage in meditation deep.

Start with shorter spans of time,
Say fifteen minutes and no more,
Evoke an image most sublime,
Of Godhead or the other Shore,

And keep your mind immovably fixed
On this auspicious picture till
You can keep it, pure and unmixed,
With modest efforts of your will.

But do not fret nor lose your heart
Should mind your gentle press resist,
With calm composure make a start
Again and, in this way, persist.

Sit cross-legged, with your back erect,
Using a posture which is good,
Convenient, easy to effect
And helpful to a peaceful mood.

Have no fear that the mental state
To be imagined is not known
To you. Persist and soon or late
The doorway open will be thrown.

It is an error to suppose,
That 'tis our will that moulds the brain,
Or how we sit or keep our pose,
Or how we for this Kingdom train.

All that is needed from our part
Is truth, devotion, self-reform,
Love, humbleness, a feeling heart
And to this rule we must conform.

The rest is done by Laws Divine,
Where human will can have no hand,
Here it is futile to opine,
For all now happens by command.

That is why religious lore
Has been held sacred all along,
For here we touch the other Shore,
Where intellect can guide us wrong.