Get up in the morning and put it on;
keep putting it on all day.
In each new context, with every chance,
lift your mind above the fray
and put on your cloak of quietness.
Set your mind to be
a witness of your experience,
not fighting reality,
not straining to make things go your way,
not expecting anything,
but taking and holding with open hands
whatever the moments bring.
Set your mind to talk less,
giving yourself the space
to reflect and choose your words with care,
connected to your home base—
your own direct experience—
your feelings, wants, and views,
which are shaped by all you’ve been through
and uniquely yours to use.
Thus self-connected, you can choose
each thing you say and do
from your deepest, wisest center,
not the moment’s pressures on you.
Ego and impulse thus restrained,
the stillness of early dawn
is yours through the cloak of quietness.
So, my soul, keep putting it on.
