Settle com­fort­ably, sit­ting on the ground, neither too loose nor too tense. Let your legs give you firm sup­port, and if ten­sion draws your shoulders up, relax your pos­ture. Release, release, release… Close your eyes, and so the world ceases without and opens with­in…

Calm your breath­ing, quieten your thoughts. Let their flit­ting sub­side, and become aware first of your imme­di­ate sur­round­ings, the ground, the air, your muscles and your pos­i­tion, then, one by one, of the ele­ments of the uni­verse: earth, fire, water, air and the subtle essence, as the world embraces you, gives you a safe home and sets you a good example. Widen your vis­tas, even to infin­ity:

Earthly bal­ance! Spir­itu­al peace! Heav­enly dew! Divine bless­ing!

You are part of the uni­verse, you are with­in the world and the world is with­in you. If there is peace in you, peace comes about in the world as well. And if you see dis­cord out­side, tend your inner peace even then, tend it then most of all. If there is peace among the ele­ments, there will be peace among people too.

Now touch the ground…

Earth

Moth­er Earth, you are wit­ness to the deeds of Man. The great ones pledge them­selves to the Truth by touch­ing the earth. I too touch the earth, to find sup­port and to pledge myself to the divine truth.

Walk on in your mind, and before you is a well.

Water

Look into it; in the depths of the well is your reflec­tion, and over your shoulder your ancest­ors too gaze into the mir­ror of the well. Face your­self, see the poten­tial with­in you, and become aware of the gen­er­a­tions who walked before you and of those yet to come.

Now draw near to the laid fire!

Fire

Life – energy. With­in you is the spark of the soul, and as long as the body is alive, its warmth radi­ates out. In the heav­ens is the divine light. Between the fire that dwells in you and the heav­enly light, the sac­ri­fi­cial fire is the link. Engrave it on your heart: soul-fire – sac­ri­fi­cial fire – Sun-fire…

Now turn your atten­tion to your breath­ing!

Air

Breathe calmly and deeply, and simply fol­low the flow of the air. Feel how, between your eye­brows, the life force streams in, creeps the length of your spine and spreads through your whole body. With your calm breath­ing, your thoughts grow calm as well.

Notice the space of the uni­verse, the all-per­vad­ing sub­tlety of the ether!

Ether

The world is infin­itely large, your heart infin­itely small. Both the great uni­verse and the tiny nook in the heart are per­meated and bound togeth­er by the sub­tlety of the ether. Spir­itu­al devel­op­ment is growth… The little nook deep in your heart – strive to fit the whole uni­verse with­in it.

You feel it: your heart­beat has changed, your thoughts have grown quiet, your breath­ing has calmed. You have not even moved from where you sit, and yet you have trav­elled the uni­verse. Fully feel and carry with you the uphold­ing strength of the earth, the cleans­ing pur­ity of the water, the glow­ing blaze of the fire, the free flow of the air, and the sub­tlety of the ether. Do not be the only one with them: they are with you too.