Himalayan Series -—X XIX. IN THE. .HOURS OF - - MEDITATION. - - BY A DISCIPLE. SECOND EDITION ADVAITA ASHRAMA MAYAVATI, HIMALAYAS. 1921 All rights reserved. VEDANTA SOCIETY, #963 WEBSTER STREET SON FRANCISARQ calIN THE HOURS OF MEDITATION THERE are hours when one forgets the world. There are hours when one approaches that region of blessedness in which the soul is Self-contained and in the presence of the Highest. Then is silenced all clamouring of desire ; all sound of sense is stilled. Only God JS. There is no holier sanctuary than a purified mind, a mind concentrated upon God. There is no more sacred place than the region of peace into which the mind enters when it becomes fixed in the Lord. No more sweet-odorous and holy incense is there than the rising of thought unto God.2 IN THE HOURS OF MEDITATION Purity, bliss, blessedness, peace! Purity, bliss, blessedness, peace! These make up the atmosphere of the state of meditation. The spiritual consciousness dawns in these silent, sacred hours. The soul is close to its source. The streamlet of personality expands in these hours, becom- ing a mighty, swift-moving river, flowing in the direction of that true and permanent individuality which is the Oceanic Consciousness of God. And this is one and only. In the hours of meditation the soul draws from On High those true qualifica- tions which are of its nature—tfearlessness, the sense of reality, the sense of death- lessness. Draw. within thy Self, O soul! Seek thou the silent hour with truth. Know thou thy Self to be of the substance of truth, the substance of divinity! Verily within the heart doth God. dwell !