The Ladder of Devotion

What is the way to the Lord for someone whose mind will not stay? These verses of the twelfth chapter answer that question. The Lord first gives the highest way: mind and intellect both fixed in Him. Then, three times, He says that if this cannot be done, one may do this: practise returning to Him, work for Him, and finally give up the fruit of action. Each step carries a promise of its own, and peace follows at once on giving up the fruit.

This topic is the ninth stop on The Path of Devotion. The step before it, Even the Worst Offender, shows that turning to the Lord is never too late; these verses show how to walk once one has turned. There are three ways to read it. The simple reading begins with one person's situation, the detailed reading takes the seven verses in order, and the deeper reading goes into the hard questions and the streams of commentators.