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Sunday, 19 May 2013

JAMES ALLEN: ABOVE LIFE'S TURMOIL

2013-16  James Allen: Above Life's Turmoil



The lessons I learnt from James Allen's "Above Life's Turmoil" :

We cannot alter external things,
nor shape other people to our liking,
nor mould the world to our wishes.
But we can alter our desires, passions, thoughts,
we can shape our liking to other people, and
we can mould the inner world of our own mind
in accordance with wisdom, and
so reconcile it to the outer world of men and things
.

The turmoil of the world, we cannot avoid.
But the disturbances of mind, we can overcome.
The duties and difficulties of life claim our attention.
But we can rise above all anxiety concerning them.

Surrounded by noise, we can yet have a quiet mind.
Involved in responsibilities, the heart can be at rest.
In the midst of strife, we can know the abiding peace.

True Happiness

He who is daily living in goodwill, and does not depart from happiness, is day by day increasing the sum of the world's happiness. He who has not learnt how to be gentle, or giving, loving and happy,  has learnt very little, great though his book-learning and profound his acquaintance with the scriptures, for it is in the process of becoming gentle, pure, and happy that the deep, real and enduring lessons of life are learnt.


Despondency, irritability, anxiety, complaining, condemning and grumbling - all these are mind-diseases; they are the indications of a wrong mental condition, and those who suffer therefrom would do well to remedy their thinking and conduct. It is our cheerfulness and happiness that are needed. We can give nothing better to the world than beauty of life and character; this is enduring, real, and it includes all joy and blessedness.

Cease to dwell pessimistically upon the wrongs around you; dwell no more in complaints about, and revolt against, the evil in others, and commence to live free from all wrong and evil yourself.

If you would have others true, be true; if you would have the world emancipated from misery and sin, emancipate yourself; if you would have your home and your surroundings happy, be happy. You can transform everything around you if you will transform yourself!

I learnt the art of living from James Allen.   Why not you , too?

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