Close your eyes and picture, in the depths of your heart, a most beautiful child, four or five years old – more beautiful, far more beautiful, more radiant than any child you have ever seen.

This child does not speak, but only smiles, smiles through its eyes and with its whole being. To see this child is to be enveloped in a wave of smile, to become a thrill of pure smile.

This child is breathing, blissful divinity – beauty incarnate, purity incarnate, simplicity, sweetness, charm and innocence incarnate, perfect beyond imagination. You simply cannot take your eyes off him or her. Your heart is all love, concern and affection; you are drawn only to protect, support and attend to this child. All you long for is for the child to be happy, pure and free. In the child’s smile is your complete joy and fulfilment.

This child is your soul.

After some time, somehow you become distracted and find yourself thinking of some mundane thing.

The child’s smile is gone.

The child is gone.

Shattered, you cry, you lament, you are all anguish and remorse …

Silently, slowly, from a clearing mist, your divine child reappears, its stern face peering straight into you.

Never again will you neglect your divine child.

Just as we feed our body every day in response to the body’s hunger, so we must feed our divine soul-child every day with our heart’s love and concern. To feed our soul, we only need to love, admire and adore it with all our heart. This requires a clear mind and sure focus: in other words, it requires meditation. Meditation invokes our soul by clearing space in our consciousness, allowing our soul in silent stillness to shine and smile through our heart, mind and life.