New Morning – A New Year’s Poem by Master of Yoga Dr. George King

Happy New Year!

In this post we wanted to share with you a New Year’s poem written by Master of Yoga Dr. George King, as well as his own commentary on its true meaning.

This poem can be interpreted as a very concise manual for how to live i.e. what we each can do to make ourselves better, wiser people, and be an inspiration to others: 

• Know yourself
• Know God
• Be of service

We wish every one of you greater inspiration, spiritual determination and joy in the New Year!

New Morning

By Dr. George King

I saw a fresh Moon rise on Resolution’s morn, 

To sweep in soundless curve,

O’er sphere where many a deed

Was cast as yesterday’s wrong.

Rung out by bell—cold as Luna’s face, 

A ghostly memory put aside;

When oft-bitten fingers of old Time 

Did hang a new and hopeful date,

O’er mantle and as ever lingered there, 

To watch the new-born babes at play.

Promises, which like turning dates would change 

To canting spectres, chained by sloth

In Reform’s little used cell.

Oh! Would that we on such a time 

Did stand and reflect—true reflection. 

Stripped naked down to very soul

Of body’s garments of deceit.

And then and there did make a vow 

To change these pompous robes,

For Realities’ clouded mystic dress— 

Full open to he who open is!

And fill time’s glass with rendered joy 

Replacing Prosperity’s wish—by Service. 

Hand’s grip—by unselfish support.

And herald in the type of Morn

As dreamed an Infant—near two thousand years ago! 

Dr. King’s commentary:

(NB: Extracts from the poem appear in bold.)

“This poem was written about the ritual commonly adopted by people in the West on New Year’s Eve. It is a straightforward poem which tries to let us see ourselves as we really are rather than as we hope we are.

“It is no use trying to transmute hypocrisy in your life unless you will admit that you are in some ways hypocritical and in some respects I think we all are. You can never put a thing right unless you see that it is wrong in the first place and, although this sounds really obvious, it is surprising how many people are afraid to do this.

“The poem begins by telling of the promises and resolutions which are often made on a New Year’s Eve as is the custom but which are very soon forgotten. We have all before now made many good New Year’s resolutions and have forgotten them before the middle of January. This is characteristic of mankind on Earth. When man is no longer like this, he will become a better person—and the purpose of life is to study how we can make ourselves better people.

“I will now amplify some of the sentences of this poem so that they may be better understood. For instance:

“Promises which like turning dates would change 

To canting spectres chained by sloth

In Reform’s little used cell.”

“How little is this cell used. A lot of us believe in reform in our own lives and in our own thinking, and yet we are frightened to reform ourselves. There is a kind of blockage which stops us from doing this. We express beliefs in many things, but when it really comes to the point, we are afraid to apply them in our own lives for fear they may appear too unorthodox. It is like the promises which are made especially at New Year, with probably the best intentions in the world. They become just “canting spectres”, intangible things that do not really exist yet make a noise, like a spectre or a noisy ghost. We should be careful of giving out promises and yet never making them tangible by living up to them. Not only are we contravening an Occult Law by giving a declaration to do something or change in a certain way, but we are breaking down the whole of our character by making a promise and not living up to it. We let ourselves down as well as other people.

“The most difficult discipline is self-discipline. There are many people who will take orders, but a lot of these people are still not capable of self-discipline. When you can exercise a certain degree of self-discipline you are then able to take orders, not only from people you respect on Earth, but also from the Higher Forces. You can then know what childishness so-called free will is and can easily give this up. The greatest people on this Earth are not those who exercise their free will and run amok among civilization—but the people who have controlled free will. The people whom mankind will be awakened to remember, are those who have been given a particular assignment for the benefit of mankind and have devoted their lives to it—especially if that assignment has been dictated by Higher Forces. The memory of those who have not devoted their lives to such an assignment will pass into nothingness.

“There are times, of course, when we will hurt others by acting on our resolution. We do not want to hurt others unless we have to, and then we may have to. The whole suggestion in this sentence is that if we do make a promise then we must not let it become just a “canting spectre”, roaming way back in a cavern, which exists only as a mental facet of ourselves, but make it real and make it live. Even a little thing is important, for the big things in life are made up of thousands of little things. A house is made of many small pieces of material.

“Oh! Would that we on such a time 

Did stand and reflect—true reflection. 

Stripped naked down to very soul

Of body’s garments of deceit.”

“We should all analyse ourselves. You do not have to go to a church and sit in a little box in order to confess—it is far better for a person to confess to himself—or in other words, analyze himself. I do not mean in the way the psychologists might do it, but a careful, correctly done self-analysis can be very beneficial to us all. We can all learn a lot from this and each and every man can improve himself in this way. The basic materialist can see the folly of his alleged practicality and can then make more definite steps onwards. The yoga student can, in the same way, make more definite steps onwards through evolution by careful analysis, by strict self-discipline, by absolute unbendable resolution and by sticking to those resolutions that he has made—whether they are to the world or to himself. Actually, it is impossible for you to make a resolution in secret. It is not possible to think without some other Intelligence knowing about that thought. There is no such thing in life as privacy.

“And then and there did make a vow 

To change these pompous robes,

For Realities’ clouded mystic dress— 

Full open to he who open is!”

“You can, from the results of your analysis, change your basic faults and thus take a greater step forward so that you can study the realms of Truth and that which is real. Reality is not that which we can see or feel or touch, not even with our psychic senses, it is above all these things and behind all these things. The world around us is unreal. Our bodies and minds are unreal. The great Reality is the Everlasting Truth which is behind all these things and the greatest Reality is—God. In fact, you could say the Supreme is the only Reality and the only thing Which does not change. What does not change? GOD. All else changes. The manifestations of God do change, but not the God Itself—not the very Heart, the very Essence, not the Core of the Supreme Architect of all things, the One that is the only Unchangeability in the whole of manifestation.

“We have to begin to search for our path back to This. We have to be like a flame pointing upwards towards our Source from which we came—towards the Godhead. The poet is trying to encourage men to do just this; to realize that they have a Divine Home and that they are not lost or alone in the Universe. Everything around them with the exception of one single thing—the Spark of God within—is unreal, is illusion, and susceptible to the ravages and changes of time. The Spark of God within remains pure throughout all things and all time and is above all things and all time. So, after careful examination of yourself, make a firm declaration to search for the real, lasting Truth in all things, in the everyday things as well as the higher things.

“And fill time’s glass with rendered joy.”

“Rendered to oneself? No, to another, of course. You render that thing which you are to give to another as an artist makes a rendering of something which others will look at.

“Replacing Prosperity’s wish—by Service.”

“Replacing the hypocrisy of good wishes, for the good wishes of basic man are often little more than words. “Good morning, and how are you?” and before you have time to answer, he is thinking of something else. Often there is no sincerity in such a wish; it is just hypocritical tinsel which he has put over life. It would be far better to give no greeting at all.

“There are many people who, if you mention to them Service to another, will run away in horror with their hands high in the air, but there are others, thank God, who are giving Service to others in many ways. These are the great ones. So, instead of just clasping the hand of your fellow man, offer him true support where needed.

“And herald in the type of Morn

As dreamed an Infant—near two thousand years ago!”

“Actually the dream was not made by the infant, but before the infant became an infant. Jesus knew His Mission before He came to Earth, and the greater and most important part of this He accomplished. The other part of the Mission will be successful—despite the Christians—not because of them, but despite the indoctrinated orthodox Christians who have been filled with the strange untruth which I term “Churchianity”. So the dream was in the Infant. It had lived before and therefore was living still. In other words, “As dreamed an Infant”.

“Therefore, fashion your life according to the life of Jesus—this Man who had dreamed, who had visualized His Mission, Who had visualized the success of this Mission and who worked hard to carry this out. If we all do this then next New Year’s Day we will be better people than we are now.

“When I wrote this poem, “New Morning”, in 1957, many people did not understand it so I have now given you just a little idea of what I meant so that you might think about these things.

“Remember—do not be afraid to live your beliefs or to let other people see you are living your beliefs, for it makes no difference what others think—and help to bring to mankind a beautifully Spiritual New Morning.”

Taken from Newsletter Volume 13, Issues No. 25 and 26, December 1974