May you be truly inspired by this rendition of the illuminating booklet "Seven Steps to the Temple of Light" by Uranda. Published by The Emissaries 4th Edition 1977

Follow Julie Tara here: 

Linktree

https://linktr.ee/JulieTara

My Website

https://www.JulieTara.com

Tara Transformations

taratransformations.com/join-gaia

taratransformations.com/nikken

taratransformations.com/coaching

Your Love 

Let Your love play upon my voice and rest on my silence.

Let it pass through my heart into all my movements.

Let Your love, like stars, shine in the darkness of my sleep and dawn in my awakening.

Let it burn in the flame of my desires and flow in all currents of my own love.

Let me carry Your love in my life as a harp does its music;

and give it back to You at last with my life. 

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

Deliverance 

Deliverance is not for me in renunciation.
I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight.

You ever pour for me the fresh draft of Your wine of various colors and fragrance,
filling this earthen vessel to the brim.

My world will light its hundred different lamps
with Your flame and place them before the altar of Your temple.

No, I will never shut the doors of my senses.
The delights of sight and hearing and touch will
bear Your delight.

Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy,
and all my desires ripen into fruits of love.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

My Last Song 

Let all the strains of joy mingle in my last song – 

the joy that makes the earth flow over in the riotous excess of the grass; 

the joy that sets the twin brothers, life and death, dancing over the wide world; 

the joy that sweeps in with the tempest, shaking and waking all life with laughter; 

the joy that sits still on the open, red lotus of pain, 

and the joy that throws everything it has upon the dust, and knows not a word.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

Hold My Hand

Deliver me from my own shadows, O God,

from the wreck and confusion of my days, 

for the night is dark and Your pilgrim is blinded.

Hold my hand.

Deliver me from despair. 

Touch with Your flame the lightless lamp of my sorrow.

Waken my tired strength from its sleep.

Do not let me linger behind, counting my losses.

Let the road sing to me of the house at every step.

For the night is dark, and Your pilgrim is blinded. 

Hold my hand. 

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

Face To Face?

Day after day, O Ruler of my life, shall I stand before You face to face?
With folded hands, O Ruler of all worlds, shall I stand before You face to face?

Under Your great sky, in solitude and silence with humble heart, shall I stand before You face to face?

In this laborious world of Yours, tumultuous with toil and with struggle, among hurrying crowds, shall I stand before You face to face?

And when my work shall be done in this world, O Ruler of rulers, alone and speechless,
shall I stand before You face to face?

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

My Greetings

Comrade of the road, here are my traveler's greetings to You.

God of my broken heart, of leave-taking and loss, of the gray silence of the day fall, my greetings of the ruined house to You.

Light of the newborn morning, sun of the everlasting day, my greetings of undying hope to You.

My Guide, I am a wayfarer on an endless road, my greetings of a wanderer to You.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

Accept Me

Accept me, dear God, accept me for this while.
Let those orphaned days that passed without You be forgotten.
Only spread this little moment wide across Your lap, holding it under Your light.
I have wandered in pursuit of voices that drew me, yet led me nowhere.
Now let me sit in peace and listen to Your words in the soul of my silence.
Do not turn away Your face from my heart's dark secrets, but burn them till they are alight with Your fire.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.7-6.13

Let Us Know

Let us know that highest great lord of lords, the highest deity of deities, the master of masters,

his high power is revealed as manifold, as inherent, acting as force and knowledge.

There is no master of his in the world, no ruler of his, not even a sign of him,

He is the cause, the lord of the lords of the organs, and there is of him neither parent nor lord.

He is the one God, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the self within all beings,

watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the perceiver, the only one, free from qualities.

The wise who perceive Him dwelling within their self,

to them belongs eternal happiness and serenity, not to others,

He who knows this God as primal cause,

through Sāṁkhya (reflection) and Yoga (self-discipline),

achieves Mukti (freedom).

~ Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.7-6.13 Translated by Paul Deussen

Shvetashvatara Upanishad 2.10

In A Clean Level Spot

In a clean level spot,

free from pebbles, fire and gravel,

Delightful by its sounds,

its water and bowers,

Favourable to thought,

not offensive to the eye,

In a hidden retreat protected from the wind,

One should practice Yoga.

~ Shvetashvatara Upanishad 2.10 Translated by Paul Deussen

Shvetashvatara Upanishad 1.15-1.16

As Oil in Sesame Seeds

As oil in sesame seeds,

as butter in milk,

as water in Srota,[36]

as fire in fuel-sticks,

he finds in his own self that One (Atman), he,

who sees him through Satya (truthfulness)

and Tapas (austerity).

He sees the all pervading Atman,

as butter lying dormant in milk,

rooted in self-knowledge and self-discipline

– which is the final goal of the Upanishad,

the final goal of Upanishad.

~ Shvetashvatara Upanishad 1.15-1.16 Translated by Paul Deussen

The Soul, Like The Moon

"The soul, like the moon,

is new, and always new again.

And I have seen the ocean

continuously creating.

Since I scoured my mind

and my body, I too, Lalla,

am new, each moment new.

My teacher told me one thing,

Live in the soul.

When that was so,

I began to go naked,

and dance."

Lal Ded (Lalla) (14th Century?)

(translated by Coleman Barks)

Voices of Light

1999, edited by Aliki Barnstone

Shambhala Publications, Inc. 

The Grasp Of Your Hand

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
but to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but
for the heart to conquer it.

Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.

Grant me that I may not be a coward, feeling
Your mercy in my success alone; but let me find
the grasp of Your hand in my failure.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

Shvetashvatara Upanishad 1.1-1.2

The Teachers of Brahman 

The teachers of Brahman say:

What is the primal cause?

What is Brahman?

Wherefrom have we been born?

By what do we subsist?

and on what are we founded?

By whom regulated,

do we have our being,

ye wise men?

in the changing conditions

of joy and sorrow?

Are Time, Nature, Necessity, Chance, Basic matter, the Spirit,

the primal cause?

Can the union of these be thought of as the primal cause?

It is not that, however,

because the Self exists.

Still the Self also is not powerful enough to create joy and sorrow!

~ Shvetashvatara Upanishad 1.1-1.2, Translated by Paul Deussen

Though he has no form

"Though he has no form

my eyes saw him,

his glory is fire in my mind

that knows

his secret inner form 

invented by the soul.

What is 

beyond the mind

has no boundary.

In it our senses end.

Mukta says: Words cannot hold him

yet in him all words are."

Muktabai ( 13th Century)

(translated by Willis Barnstone)

Voices of Light

1999, edited by Aliki Barnstone

Shambhala Publications, Inc. 

Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.5 

There is One Unborn Being 

There is one unborn being (feminine), 

red, white and black,

but producing many creatures like herself,

There is one unborn being (masculine) 

who loves her and stays with her,

there is another unborn being (masculine) 

who leaves her after loving her.

~ Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.5 Translated by Paul Deussen

Shvetashvatara Upanishad 5.10 

It is Not Woman, It is Not Man

It is not woman, 

it is not man, 

nor is it neuter;

whatever body it takes, 

with that it is joined.

~ Shvetashvatara Upanishad 5.10 Translated by Paul Deussen

Worker Of The Universe 

It is only the revelation of You as the Infinite that is endlessly new and eternally beautiful in us and that gives the only meaning to our self when we feel Your rhythmic throb as soul-life, the whole world in our own souls; then are we free.

O Worker of the universe! Let the irresistible current of Your universal energy come like the impetuous south wind of spring; let it come rushing over the vast field of human life. Let our newly awakened powers cry out for unlimited fulfillment in leaf and flower and fruit.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

My Song

In my songs, I have voiced Your spring

flowers and given rhythm to Your rustling leaves.

I have sung into the hush of Your night and 

the peace of Your morning. 

The thrill of the first summer rains has passed

into my tunes and the waving of the autumn harvest.

Let not my song cease. 

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

Aphrodite of the Flowers at Knossos Coming Down from Heaven's Mountain 

"Leave Crete and come to this holy temple

where your graceful grove of apple trees

circles an altar smoking with frankincense.

Here ice water babbles through the apple branches

and roses leave shadow on the ground

and bright shaking leaves pour down profound sleep.

In our meadow where the horses graze

amid wild blossoms of the spring and 

anise shoots fill soft winds with aroma

of honey, love goddess, pour heaven's

nectar carefully into gold wineglasses

and mingle our celebration with sudden joy."

Sappho (B.630-612 BCE)

Voices of Light 

1999, edited by Aliki Barnstone

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Rig Veda 10:129

Hymn Of Creation 

There was neither non-existence nor existence then.

There was neither the realm of space

nor the sky which is beyond.

What stirred?

Where?

In whose protection?

Was there water, bottomlessly deep?

There was neither death nor immortality then.

There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day.

That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse.

Other than that there was nothing beyond.

Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning,

with no distinguishing sign, all this was water.

The life force that was covered with emptiness,

that One arose through the power of heat.

Desire came upon that One in the beginning,

that was the first seed of mind.

Poets seeking in their heart with wisdom

found the bond of existence and non-existence.

Their cord was extended across.

Was there below?

Was there above?

There were seed-placers, there were powers.

There was impulse beneath, there was giving forth above.

Who really knows?

Who will here proclaim it?

Whence was it produced?

Whence is this creation?

The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.

Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whence this creation has arisen

– perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not –

the One who looks down on it,

in the highest heaven, only He knows

or perhaps even He does not know.

Rig Veda 10:129 Tr: Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty

Eternal Father, we were locked up in you

"Eternal Father, we were locked up in you, 

in the garden under your ribs.

You drew us out of your holy mind

like a flower petaled with our soul's three powers,

and you placed the whole plant

in each power

so the plant might bear fruit in your garden,

might go to you with the fruit

you generated in her.

And you would come back to the soul

to fill her with bliss and holiness.

There the soul makes her home

like the fish in the sea

and the sea in the fish."

Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

(translated by Willis Barnstone) 

Voices of Light

1999, edited my Aliki Barnstone

Shambhala Publications, Inc. 

The Thunder and the Perfect Mind 

"I was sent out from the power 

and have come to you who study me

and am found by you who seek me.

Look at me, you who study me,

and you who hear, hear me.

You waiting for me, take me into yourselves.

Don't banish me from your vision.

Don't let hatred enter your voice against me, or let

anger enter your hearing.

In no place, in no time, be unknowing of me. Be alert.

Don't be unknowing of me."

Anonymous Gnostic Revealer (2nd - 3rd Centuries CE)

(1st verse of 3, translated by George W. McRae)

Voices of Light

1999, edited by Aliki Barnstone

Shambhala Publications, Inc

Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.23

He who has highest Bhakti (love)

of Deva (God),

just like his Deva,

so for his Guru,

To him who is high-minded,

these teachings will be illuminating.

~ Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.23 Translated by Paul Deussen

Inanna and the Holy Light

"You with your voices of light,

Lady of the essences

whom heaven and earth love,

temple friend of An,

you wear immense ornaments,

you desire the tiara of the high priestess

whose hand holds the seven essences.

O my lady, guardian of all the great essences,

you have picked them up and hang them

over your fingers.

You gather the holy essences and wear them

tightly on your breasts."

Enheduanna (CA. 2300 BCE)

Voices of Light

1999 edited by Aliki Barnstone 

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

The Violet Flame

I AM the Violet Flame

In action in me now

I AM the Violet Flame

To Light alone I bow

I AM the Violet Flame

In Mighty Cosmic Power

I AM the Light of God

Shining every hour

I AM the Violet Flame

Blazing like a Sun

I AM God's Sacred Power

Freeing Everyone

By Elizabeth Clare Prophet

Prayers, Meditations and Dynamic Decrees for Personal and World Transformations 

1962 SummitPublicationsInc.  

The Great Invocation

"From the point of Light within the Mind of God

Let light stream forth into the minds of men.

Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God

Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.

May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known

Let purpose guide the little wills of men ~

The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men

Let the Plan of Love and Light work out

And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth."

Original 1945 Version
by Alice A Bailey & Djwhal Khul

When I lived in a house 

"When I lived in a house

I heard a monk's words

and saw in those words

nirvana

the unchanging state.

I am the one

who left son and daughter,

money and grain,

cut off my hair

and set out into homelessness.

Under training 

on the straight way,

desire and hatred fell away,

along with the obsessions

of the mind

that combine with them.

After my ordination,

I remembered 

I had been born before.

The eye of heaven became clear.

The elements fo body and mind

I saw as other,

born from a cause,

subject to decay.

I have given up the obsessions

of the mind.

I am quenched and cool."

Sakula (6th-5th Centuries BCE?)

(translated by Susan Murcott)

Voices of Light

1999, edited by Aliki Barnstone

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

My Voyage

I thought that my voyage had come to its end 
at the last limit of my power, that the path before me was closed, 
that provisions were exhausted 
and the time had come to take shelter in a silent obscurity. 

But I find that Your will knows no end in me,
and when old words die out on the tongue, 
new melodies break forth from the heart; 
and where the old tracks are lost, 
new country is revealed with its wonders.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

My Polar Star

I have made You the polar star of my
existence; never again can I lose my way in the
voyage of life.

Wherever I go, You are always there to
shower Your beneficence all around me. Your face
is ever present before my mind's eyes.

If I lose sight of You even for a moment, I
almost lose my mind.

Whenever my heart is about to go astray, just
a glance of You makes it feel ashamed of itself.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

My Friend

I have come to You to take Your touch before I begin my day.

Let Your eyes rest upon my eyes for a while.

Let me take to my work the assurance of Your comradeship, my Friend.

Fill my mind with Your music to last through the desert of noise.

Let Your love's sunshine kiss the peaks of my thoughts and linger in my life's valley where the harvest ripens. 

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

Time To Sit Quietly 

I ask for a moment’s indulgence to sit by Your side.
The works that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.
Away from the sight of Your face, my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.

Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs,

and the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.

Now it is time to sit quietly, face to face with You,
and to sing dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.

This Is My Prayer

Give me the supreme courage of love, this is my prayer - the courage to speak, to do, to suffer at Your will, to leave all things or be left alone.

Strengthen me on errands of danger, honor me with pain, and help me climb to that difficult mood that sacrifices daily to You.

Give me the supreme confidence of love, this is my prayer - the confidence that belongs to life in death, to victory in defeat, to the power hidden in the frailest beauty, to that dignity in pain which accepts hurt but disdains to return it. 

Rabindranath Tagore

The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore. Selected and edited by Herbert F. Vetter. © 1997 Herbert F. Vetter. Tuttle Publishing.