Complete Collection

by James Allen

Liberty The unwise say, " Our sufferings are unjust, Our pains and woes rise from the scattered dust Of sinful ancestors ; we are not free ; Our fathers robbed us of our liberty By what they did ; and we are weak and frail Because they erred; they fell, and we must fail. " Our drunkenness comes from their love of wine ; Our lusts their revels made ; and we divine Our manifold diseases by the ways In which they walked; and as they trod the maze Made by their feet, so we must likewise tread, For we are bound and driven by the dead." Thy sins are thine, O man ! and from thy deeds Thy life, with all its weal and woe, proceeds ; By self, and not by others, thou art bound ; In thine own will and heart the root is found Of all thy lack of peace; ope thou thine eyes, Leave the dead past, and look within ; be wise. Make pure thy heart, and thou wilt make thy life Rich, sweet, and beautiful, unmarred by strife ; Guard well thy mind, and, noble, strong, and free, Nothing shall harm, disturb or conquer thee ; For all thy foes are in thy heart and mind ; There also thy salvation thou wilt find. Mind is the Master-power that moulds and makes. And Man is Mind and evermore he takes The Tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills :— He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass ; Environment is but his looking-glass. In his own heart he fosters dark desires, Or strives for good, or loftily aspires ; In his own life he reaps what he has sown, Or pa...

To-morrow and to-day In the dark land of To-morrow I dwelt with pain and sorrow, And I sighed for joys and blessings that escaped me as I ran ; And the darkness gathered round me, For the morrow ever found me Living in "What I ought to do," and not in what I can. And I sought for loving-kindness In the dim, dark haunts of blindness ; In the lightless caves of self I searched for blessedness and rest; And I reached out hands appealing, Sadly groped for light and healing, Striving for " what I want to have, " not what is true and best. Then I found that selfish hoping, Darkly seeking, blindly groping In vain wishing and regretting chased life’s glory frommy brow; So I ceased from selfish fretting, Turned to Love, and, self-forgetting, Left " what I hope to get and keep," for what I will be now. So I fled from self and sorrow, Left the dark land of To-morrow, And thought of what kind deeds to do, what loving words to say; And the light of peace and gladness Chased away the clouds of sadness, For I lost the past and future in the bright world of To-day.

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. In the darkness of the night-time. In the starless gloom of midnight; Shining Herald of the coming Of the kingdom of the righteous: Teller of the mystic story Of the lowly birth of Godhead In the stable of the passions, In the manger of the mind-soul ; Silent singer of the secret Of compassion deep and holy To the heart with sorrow burdened, To the soul with waiting weary:— Star of all-surpassing brightness, Thou again dost deck the midnight ; Thou again dost cheer the wise ones Watching in the creedal darkness, Weary of the endless battle With the grinding blades of error ; Tired of lifeless, useless idols, Of the dead forms of religions ; Spent with watching for thy shining ; Thou hast ended their despairing; Thou hast lighted up their pathway ; Thou hast brought again the old Truths To the hearts of all thy Watchers ; To the souls of them that love thee Thou dust speak of Joy and Gladness, Of the Peace that endeth sorrow. Blessed are they that can see thee, Weary wanderers in the Night-time ; Blessed they who feel the throbbing, In their bosoms feel the pulsing Of a deep Love stirred within them By the great power of thy shining. Let us learn thy lesson truly ; Learn it faithfully and humbly; Learn it meekly, wisely, gladly, Ancient star of holy Vishnu, Light of Krishna, Buddha, Jesus.

Would you scale the highest heaven Would you scale the highest heaven, Would you pierce the lowest hell,— Live in dreams of constant beauty, Or in basest thinkings dwell. For your thoughts are heaven above you, And your thoughts are hell below ; Bliss is not, except in thinking, Torment naught but thought can know. Worlds would vanish but for thinking ; Glory is not but in dreams ; And the Drama of the ages From the Thought Eternal streams. Dignity and shame and sorrow, Pain and anguish, love and hate Are but maskings of the mighty Pulsing Thought that governs Fate. As the colours of the rainbow Make the one uncoloured beam, So the universal changes Make the One Eternal Dream. And the Dream is all within you, And the Dreamer waileth long For the Morning to awake him To the living thought and strong. That shall make the ideal real, Make to vanish dreams of hell In the highest, holiest heaven Where the pure and perfect dwell. Evil is the thought that thinks it ; Good, the thought that makes it so ; Light and darkness, sin and pureness Likewise out of thinking grow. Dwell in thought upon the Grandest, And the Grandest you shall see; Fix your mind upon the Highest, And the Highest you shall be.

Yashas Lo, in the night, when all the world was sleeping, Yashas, the noble and aspiring youth, Pondering upon the world’s great sorrow, weeping, Searched for the holy pathway unto Truth. " I search in vain," said he, " and will betake me Unto the Blessed One, and seek release ; Healer of sorrow, he perchance will make me Partaker in his deep, Nirvanic peace." Then came the youth, with footsteps fast and faster, Unto the Blessed Teacher of mankind, And, weeping, fell before the Holy Master, Saying, "Great Lord, I seek and cannot find. How great is my distress and tribulation ! Thou knowest all my sorrow and my pain ; Give me the holy balm of thy salvation, Let me depart not from thy side again." The Blessed One, seeing his perturbation, Spake softly thus unto the gentle youth " Lo, here is no distress, no tabulation ; Come unto Me, and I will show you Truth The Truth will bring you joy, dispelling sadness, And as the night before the light of day Flees and departs, e’en so your rising gladness Sorrow and pain and care will chase away." Then spake He of things pure and high and holy Giving full freely of His wisdom’s store, And Yashas, listening, rapt, all meek and’lowly Drank deeply of the Master’s wondrous lore ; And lo! the cooling breath of Wisdom o’er him Stole softly, fanning all his care to rest ; Sorrow departed, and Compassion bore him Unto the Path the Master’s feet had prest.

Self-sacrifice Great glory crowns the heights of hope by arduous struggle won; Bright honour rounds the hoary head that mighty works hath done ; Fair riches come to him who strives in ways of golden gain, And fame enshrines his name who works with genius-glowing brain: But greater glory waits for him who, in the bloodless strife ’Gainst self and wrong, adopts, in love, the sacrificial life; And brighter honour rounds the brow of him who, ’mid the scorns Of blind idolaters of self, accepts the crown of thorns ; And fairer, purer riches come to him greatly strives To walk in ways of love and truth to sweeten human lives ; And he who serveth well mankind exchanges fleeting fame For Light eternal, Joy and Peace, and robes of heavenly flame.

I, truth, am thy redeemer I, Truth, am thy Redeemer, come to Me; Lay down thy sin and pain wild unrest; And I will calm thy spirit’s stormy sea, Pouring the oil of peace upon thy breast: Friendless and lone—lo, I abide with thee. Defeated and deserted, cast away ; What refuge hast thou? Whither canst thou fly? Upon My changeless breast thy burdens lay; I am thy certain refuge, even I: All things are passing ; I alone can stay. Lo I, the Great Forsaken, am the Friend Of the forsaken; I, whom men despise, The weak, the helpless, and despised defend ; I gladden aching hearts and weeping eyes: Rest thou in Me, I am thy sorrow’s end. Lovers and friends and wealth, pleasures and fame— These fail and change, and pass into decay ; But my Love does not change ; and in thy blame I blame thee not, nor turn My face away : In My calm bosom hide thy sin and shame.

The righteous man No harmful shaft can reach the righteous man, Standing erect amid the storms of hate, Defying hurt and injury and ban, Surrounded by the trembling slaves of Fate. Majestic in the strength of silent power, Serene he stands, nor changes not nor turns ; Patient and firm in suffering’s darkest hour, Time bends to him, and death and doom he spurns. Wrath’s lurid lightnings round about him play, And hell’s deep thunders roll about his head ; Yet heeds he not, for him they cannot slay Who stands whence earth and time and space are fled. Sheltered by deathless love, what fear hath he? Armoured in changeless Truth, what can he know Of loss and gain? Knowing eternity, He moves not whilst the shadows come and go. Call him immortal, call him Truth and Light And splendour of prophetic majesty Who bideth thus amid the powers of Night, Clothed with the glory of divinity.

Choice The will to evil and the will to Good Are both within thee: which wilt thou employ? Thou knowest what is right and what is wrong; Which wilt thou love and foster? which destroy? Thou art the chooser of thy thoughts and deeds; Thou art the maker of thine inward state ; The power is thine to be what thou wilt be; Thou buildest Truth and Love, or lies and hate. If thou dost choose the evil, loving self, Thy cries and prayers for Good shall all be vain; Thy thought and act bringeth thee good or ill ; Deep in thy heart thou makest joy and pain. As thou pursuest Good, striving to make Evil depart, thou shalt rejoice and say,— " Lo! Light and Love and Peace attend on me; Truth fadeth not, and Good abounds away." Choose as thou wilt thy thoughts and words and deeds, And as thou choosest so shall be thy life; The will to Good shall bring thee Joy and Peace, The will to evil, wretchedness and strife.

Truth triumphant There is no height to which thou canst not climb; There is no grandeur that thou may’st not view, If thou wilt reach beyond the things of Time, Unto the Pure, the Beautiful, the True. There is no saintly vision, no glad sight Of seer, nor no dream of holy sage But may be thine ; nay, is thy heavenly right, If thou wilt claim thy regal appanage. There is no sin but thou may’st overthrow; There is no vileness that, octopus-like, Binds thee its victim, but thou soon canst know The way and weapon thy strong foe to strike. Thou art not framed for sin and grief and shame; Thou art not bent to grovel in the mire; But thou art made erect, and given a name, Hast hands to reach, and spirit to aspire. Glory and strength and triumph — these are thine; Rise up, and conquer every inward foe ; Behold the heavens, how radiantly they shine ! Stand up and strike, O conqueror of woe!

O thou who would’st teach! O thou who would’st teach men of Truth! Hast thou passed through the desert of doubt? Art thou purged by the fires of sorrow? hath ruth The fiends of opinion cast out Of thy human heart ? Is thy soul so fair That no false thought can ever harbour there ? O thou who would’st teach men of Love ! Hast thou passed through the place of despair ? Hast thou wept through the dark night of grief? does it move (Now freed from its sorrow and care) Thy human heart to pitying gentleness, Looking on wrong, and hate, and ceaseless stress ? O thou who would’st teach men of Peace! Hast thou crossed the wide ocean of strife? Hast thou found on the Shores of the Silence, release From all the wild unrest of life? From thy human heart hath all striving gone, Leaving but Truth, and Love, and Peace alone?

If thou would’st right the world If thou would’st right theworld, And banish all its evils and its woes, Make its wild places bloom, And its drear deserts blossom as the rose,— Then right thyself. If thou would’st turn the world From its long, lone captivity in sin, Restore all broken hearts, Slay grief, and let sweet consolation in, — Turn thou thyself. It thou would’st cure the world Of its long sickness, end its grief and pain, Bring in all-healing Joy, And give to the afflicted rest again,— Then cure thyself. If thou would’st wake the world Out of its dream of death and dark’ning strife, Bring it to Love and Peace, And Light and brightness of immortal Life,— Wake thou thyself.

What of the night? What of the night, O Watchman ! see’st thou yet The glimmering dawn upon the mountain heights The golden Herald of the Light of lights, Are his fair feet upon the hilltops set ? Cometh he yet to chase away the gloom, And with it all the demons of the Night? Strike yet his darting rays upon thy sight? Hear’st thou his voice, the sound of error’s doom? The Morning cometh, lover of the Light; E’en now He gilds with gold the mountain’s brow, Dimly I see the path whereon e’en now His shining feet are set toward the Night. Darkness shall pass away, and all the things That love the darkness, and that hate the Light Shall disappear for ever with the Night: Rejoice! for thus the speeding Herald sings.

Knowledge We find the Good by being good, the True By being true, the Real by dissolving Our fond illusions, thereby piercing through Shadow, and knowing substance. By resolving, We can attain, and by attaining, know ; And, knowing, who shall cause us grief or harm? What trembling victim of the world’s vain show Shall pierce the armoured heart, or foil the arm Of him whose Shield is Wisdom? What event, What circumstance, what mutability Can shake the Changeless? And whoso hath blent His life with Changeless Good, stands steadfastly In Knowledge, fearing nothing, hating naught; His heart and mind Love-fashioned, Wisdom-wrought.

Man divine Man is superior to sin and shame, Evil and error he will yet dethrone, The beasts within he will o’ercome and tame, The brute will pass, the Angel wtll be known ; Yea, even now the Man divine appears, Crowned with conquest, victor o’er all fears. Hail to thee, Man divine ! the conqueror Of sin and shame and sorrow; no more weak, Wormlike and grovelling art thou ; no, nor Wilt thou again bow down to things that wreak Scourgings and death upon thee; thou dost rise Triumphant in thy strength ; good, pure, and wise.

Patience Why this fierce struggle to achieve thine ends ? This selfish argument ? This fire which lends Heat to resentment, ashes to remorse? Canst thou bend Truth and Nature to thy will ? Bend thou, and work and wait; be strong and still ; Soft growth is stronger than vehement force. Be as a flower, content to be, to grow In sweetness day by day; content to know The hidden blessing in the seeming curse ; A child of Love, unargumentative; Content to be and know — as thou dost live— The simple secret of the Universe.

When I am pure When I am pure I shall have solved the mystery of life, I shall be sure, When I am free from hatred, lust, and strife, I am in Truth, and Truth abides in me. I shall be safe and sane and wholly free When I am pure.

Immortality He shall not die who seeks the Way of Truth ; He shall not see the corruption who doth walk With stainless feet the Path of Purity ; He shall not wander in dark worlds of woe Who finds the Gate of Good and enters there, For he shall taste of immortality While feasting at the table of his Lord.