"Silently and unobserved, the Spirit will breathe upon us if we reflect, if we wait for it in stillness day by day. ... It steals into our consciousness when we think deeply, to guide, to strengthen, to heal, to encourage. The great secret of life is to know how, in our own way, to be receptive to it, how to read the message of its inner whispering. The sure method of growing strong in realization, of its nearness is to believe it will come if we listen, to trust it in moments of doubt as the lost hunter trusts his horse in the forest, to have an ideal outlook, and then renew our realization day by day, ever remembering that, as this Spirit is the only Reality, the one power, the one love, we live in it, and with it, and there is naught to separate us from its ever-watchful care, its ever-loving presence."

- H. W. Dresser.

"As a piece (of gold or silver) covered with earth, when cleansed, shines like light, so the embodied soul, when beholding the true nature of the soul (of itself), becomes one, obtains its true end, and every pain ceases.

"When, absorbed in this concentration (the Yogi) sees by the true nature of his own self, which manifests like a light, the true nature of Brahma, which is not born, eternal and free from all effects of nature (or, as S'ankra explains 'tattwa,' from the effects of ignorance), he gets released from all bonds.

"To God who is in the fire, who is in the water, who entered the universe, who is in the annual herbs, and who is in the regents of the forest (the trees), to this God be reverence, to Him be reverence."

- The Upanishads.

We begin in our earliest childhood to pray, and there is an unceasing, an unending prayer continuing on all through our earthly existence. At times the prayer is a fervent, deep, outreaching of heart and mind and then again it has to do with the most trivial things in life. Why do we pray? Is the great Universal Spirit in any way benefited or uplifted through our prayers? Is God moved to change from a state of displeasure to one of forgiveness because of our prayer? Is natural law set aside because of any supplication on the part of man to the Father of All? No, none of these things come to pass. The laws of God are universal and unchanging.

Why do we pray? Because it is a vital necessity to the life of man. Prayer is desire; desire enters into everything in life, so that life is an unceasing prayer. Desire relates us to whatever we desire whether it be material things, mental attainments or spiritual understanding. Desire may be superficial and transitory and little return come from such desire. A life that is filled with such desires is never able to express anything that is great or wonderful, but is filled with trivial results, showing that one can not express anything that is greater or higher than the ideals that exist in the mind. When you see great things accomplished by any one, know that it is in answer to prayer; that only the great desire can bring the great result. This applies not only to some things, but to everything in life. Our lives, whatever they may be, are the true expression of our prayers. We should know that our false as well as our true desires are alike exprest; each desire as a seed carrying within itself, its own fruition, each bringing its own punishment or reward. If we could all realize the truth of this, what a difference it would make in our prayers. If we knew that a true desire always related us to the good and the true, ever becoming the seed for greater and more perfect expression, or if we realized that our false desires, not only brought about the loss of mental and physical energy, but also brought into our lives unpleasant and disagreeable things, we would try to shape our desires in order to have them conform to the true requirements of the law of desire and its fulfilment.

A great many people will argue that the disappointments, failures and disagreeable things which come to them are not the things for which they have prayed, not the things which they have desired, and therefore that there can be no such law. The law exists and the law acts, regardless of what they think, and whatever has come into their lives has come because of this action of law. In the Bible we read of one who said, "The thing I feared has come upon me." Through allowing the mind to dwell upon that which we fear in life, we tend to establish a relationship between ourselves and the thing feared. We may desire the reverse of the things feared, but the fear being the stronger, tends to pervert the desire. One may have a good desire; but if the mind is filled with doubt concerning its fulfilment, it is as tho he were reaching out, through his desire, to lay hold with one hand, while through his doubt pushing away with the other. All true fulfilment of desire comes through the at-one-ment of heart and mind: such condition expressing itself outwardly in action, must eventually bring about the realization of each and every desire. One becomes a magnet to attract to himself everything that soul, mind or body may require, because he is at-one with the eternal laws of life. His demand must bring to him the perfect supply: it is what the Master meant when He said, "Whatsoever ye ask believing, ye shall receive." He showed, too, plainly that the Father had only good gifts for His children, that He was more willing to give than his children were to ask or receive. If, then, any good thing seems to be withheld from us, let us know that it is withheld, not because the Father is unwilling that we should have it, but because in some way we prevent ourselves from receiving. If we could understand the full truth contained in this, we would cease to think that the objects of our desire were withheld from us because of any cause or fault that lay outside of ourselves, and would place the responsibility where it belonged. It may be hard for us to become accustomed to the thought that we are quite as responsible for all our failures as for all our successes. The unstable mind, the transitory or shifting desires, the passing effort are all states of our own consciousness, and if the outer results of these inner states are unsatisfactory, let us know that they can only be changed as a more permanent and abiding state of consciousness displaces the old.

Prayer is the effort of one's mind to adjust to both inner and outer life. If the right adjustment is brought to pass within, then the outer adjustment is an effort which is both natural and easy. On every plane of being, from the plane of the purely sense-desire to the plane of the highest spiritual-desire, we can have true prayer; prayer varying in degree but not in kind; and with all such true prayer, from lowest to highest will come the perfect fulfilment. If in simpleness and directness of mind, one desires everything necessary to his physical well-being and is willing to work to see his desires take form, to such a man, who is neither envious nor covetous of another's possessions, will come the full outer reward of his inner desire. On the spiritual plane, when one is using the gifts of which he is already, possest and desires increased power in order that he may not only enrich his own life, but the lives of others, his prayer will of a certainty be answered. When any strong true desire enters the mind, let us know that it is the starting-point, the foundation of its ultimate realization - that we should hold to it with a persistent perseverance, having no doubt but that its ultimate fulfilment is absolutely certain, and while we might not be able to determine the way or the time, or even how it is going to come, we should know beyond all question that it is on its way to us, and that the only thing that could hinder its coming would be our own doubts or fears, our own mental or physical inaction - that it is being just as surely attracted to us as the steel is attracted by the magnet. The size and the strength of the magnet determines the size and the weight of the steel. If the magnet be weak and inefficient, only the small particles will be attracted and held by it. If the magnet be strong and large, it will attract in proportion to its strength. The deeper and the more abiding ideals are, the more powerful they become. It is always the increased power in life which brings more quickly the realization or expression of desire. There was a much more intense desire, reenforced by faith, in the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' garments than in the man who had been born blind, for whom Jesus spat upon the earth, making a salve with which to anoint his eyes, telling him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. In one there was the instant response, the other required both time and form in order to be healed. Jesus was able to perceive the limitations of the understanding of the different people who came to him to be healed. He was the physician who understood every case and who knew how to apply the law to fit every requirement.

Very few people have thought that their desires, whether true or false, have had much, if anything, to do with their physical well-being, and yet there is no question but that desire formed in mind begins at once its beneficial or harmful action. The false desires produce an almost instantaneous effect upon one's breathing; through it new combinations of the elements of the body are affected. Where before existed only health-giving products, poisonous substances are generated, and with each added false desire the whole life - the blood - becomes poisoned, and physical disintegration ensues. This is not a mere theory but an actual fact. Each true desire becomes a vitalizing energy in the life of the body, to restore, to reform, to build up. The breath becomes rhythmic and strong in action, denoting the true self-control. The food taken into the body is both thoroughly digested and assimilated; in fact, the whole action of true desire is to strengthen and renew the physical organism. Not that I mean there is no further action, because no one can tell how far-reaching true desire is. No one can tell how many other minds are affected by the true desire that has its inception in the life of some one person. It goes out to strengthen, to quicken and renew the minds and bodies of many people, blessing and doing good to all. We should learn to make life a truly directed, unceasing prayer. In the following meditations, I have no thought of giving any new form to prayer; but would suggest that the reader, by allowing his mind to dwell upon the thoughts contained in the meditations, may find that they serve to call out new thoughts and desires which may mean far more to him than the written meditations. They are given, then, with the object rather that they may become a means to the calling out of one's inmost thoughts and feelings than to serve as any definite form of prayer or mental treatment. They will appeal to each mind according to its needs; they will help only as one leaves the written word and is able to enter into the "spirit" of the word. If one, after reading a meditation, closes his eyes and ears to the outer world and meditates in the spirit, he shall better understand why I have given in this book these brief meditations or prayers.