“The second meditation is the meditation of pity, in which you think of all beings in distress, vividly representing in your imagination their sorrows and anxieties so as to arouse a deep compassion for them in your soul.

“The third meditation is the meditation of joy, in which you think of the prosperity of others, and rejoice with their rejoicings.

“The fourth meditation is the meditation of impurity, in which you consider the evil consequences of corruption, the effects of sin and diseases.  How trivial often the pleasure of the moment, and how fatal its consequences.

“The fifth meditation is the meditation on serenity, in which you rise above love and hate, tyranny and oppression, wealth and want, and regard your own fate with impartial calmness and perfect tranquillity.”

By engaging in these meditations the disciples of the Buddha arrived at a knowledge of the Truth.  But whether you engage in these particular meditations or not matters little so long as your object is Truth, so long as you hunger and thirst for that righteousness which is a holy heart and a blameless life.  In your meditations, therefore, let your heart grow and expand with ever-broadening love, until, freed from all hatred, and passion, and condemnation, it embraces the whole universe with thoughtful tenderness.  As the flower opens its petals to receive the morning light, so open your soul more and more to the glorious light of Truth.  Soar upward upon the wings of aspiration; be fearless, and believe in the loftiest possibilities.  Believe that a life of absolute meekness is possible; believe that a life of stainless purity is possible; believe that a life of perfect holiness is possible; believe that the realization of the highest truth is possible.  He who so believes, climbs rapidly the heavenly hills, whilst the unbelievers continue to grope darkly and painfully in the fog-bound valleys.

So believing, so aspiring, so meditating, divinely sweet and beautiful will be your spiritual experiences, and glorious the revelations that will enrapture your inward vision.  As you realize the divine Love, the divine Justice, the divine Purity, the Perfect Law of Good, or God, great will be your bliss and deep your peace.  Old things will pass away, and all things will become new.  The veil of the material universe, so dense and impenetrable to the eye of error, so thin and gauzy to the eye of Truth, will be lifted and the spiritual universe will be revealed.  Time will cease, and you will live only in Eternity.  Change and mortality will no more cause you anxiety and sorrow, for you will become established in the unchangeable, and will dwell in the very heart of immortality.

STAR OF WISDOM

    Star that of the birth of Vishnu,
    Birth of Krishna, Buddha, Jesus,
    Told the wise ones, Heavenward looking,
    Waiting, watching for thy gleaming