I am the Light that is above them all;I am the All;
the All came forth from Me;
and the All attains to Me.
Cleave a piece of wood, I am there;
Lift up any stone and you will find Me there. --Jesus, as related in the Gospel of Thomas
Human life consists in three great drives--urges, desires, and lures. Strong character, commanding personality, is only acquired by converting the natural urge of life into the social art of living, by transforming present desires into those higher longings which are capable of lasting attainment, while the commonplace lure of existence must be transferred from one's conventional and established ideas to the higher realms of unexplored ideas and undiscovered ideals.
--Jesus, as related in The Urantia Bookpublished by The Urantia Foundation, Chicago, IL
By hearkening to the Nameman dives deep into an ocean of virtues;
by hearkening to the Name
the disciple becomes an apostle.
By hearkening to the Name
the blind man sees the way;
by hearkening to the Name
impassible streams are forded. --Guru Nanak, 1469-1539
From that which we fear, oh Lord, make us fearless.Oh Bounteous One, assist us with Your aid;
Drive far the malevolent, the foeman... May fearlessness surround us
above and below!
May we be without fear
of friend or foe!
May we be without fear
of the known and the unknown!... Let all the world be my friend! --from the Hindu Vedas
a)
My daily affairs are quite ordinary;but I'm in harmony with them.
I don't hold on to anything, don't completely reject anything either;
nowhere an obstacle or conflict.
Who cares about wealth and honor?
Even the poorest thing shines.
My inner strength and spiritual activity?
:drawing water and carrying wood. ***** b) When the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace.
Nothing absolutely real, nothing completely absent.
Not holding on to reality,
not getting stuck in the void,
you are neither holy nor wise, just
an ordinary fellow who has completed his work. ***** c) Layman P'ang was sitting in his thatched cottage one day. "Difficult, difficult," he said; "like trying to scatter
ten measures of sesame seed over a tree." "Easy, easy", Mrs. P'ang said; "like touching your feet
to the ground when you get out of bed." "Neither difficult nor easy," said Ling-chao,
"on the hundred grass tips, the great Masters' meaning." ***** --P'ang Yun, or Layman P'ang, 740-808 (a &b);
P'ang Yun, his wife and his daughter Ling-chao (c).
Unquestionably there must be agreement between true religion and science.
If an issue be found contrary to reason, full faith and reasonable belief
in it are impossible, and there is no outcome but wavering and vacillation.
Religion and science are the two wings upon which man's intelligence can
soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not
possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the wing
of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition,
while on the other hand, with science alone he would also make no progress,
but fall into the despairing slough of materialism. All religions of the
present day have fallen into superstitious practices, out of harmony alike
with both the true principles of the teaching they represent and with the
scientific discoveries of the time.
When religion, shorn of its superstitions, traditions, and unintelligent
dogmas, shows its unanimity with science, then will there be a great
unifying, cleansing force in the world which will sweep before it all wars,
disagreements, discords and struggles-- and then will mankind be united in
the power of the Love of God.
--'Abdu'l-Baha, 1844-1921
In the beginning was the Tao.All things issue from it;
All things return to it. To find the Origin,
trace back the manifestations;
When you recognize the children
and find the Mother,
you will be free of sorrow. If you close your mind in judgements
or traffic with desires,
your heart will be troubled.
If you keep your mind from judging
and aren't led by your senses,
your heart will find peace. Seeing through darkness is clarity.
Knowing how to yield is strength.
Use your own light
and return to the Source of light.
This is called practicing eternity. --Lao Tzu, 6th c. BC
Earth teaches me stillnessas the grasses are stilled with light. Earth teaches me suffering
as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teaches me humility
as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teaches me caring
as the mother who secures her young.
Earth teaches me courage
as the tree that stands all alone.
Earth teaches me limitation
as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teaches me freedom
as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teaches me resignation
as the leaves that die in the Autumn. Earth, teach me regeneration
as the seed which arises in Spring.
Earth, teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth, teach me to remember kindness
as dry fields weep with rain. --Ute (Native American Indian) prayer
The fruit of silence is prayer,The fruit of prayer is faith,
The fruit of faith is love, and
The fruit of love is silence. --Mother Teresa
Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.
What we need is to love without getting tired.
How does a lamp burn? The continuous input of small drops of oil. If
the drops of oil run out, the light of the lamp will cease, and the
Bridegroom will say, "I do not know you".
My daughters, what are these drops of oil in our lamps? They are the
small things of daily life: faithfulness, punctuality, small words of
kindness, a thought for others, our way of being silent, of looking, of
speaking, and of acting. These are the true drops of love...
Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
--Mother Teresa
We may wonder, whom can I love and serve?Where is the face of God to whom I can pray?
The answer is simple: That naked one. That lonely one.
That unwanted one who is my brother and my sister.
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten
that we belong to each other. --Mother Teresa
We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in
heaven with Him at this very moment. But being happy with Him now means:
Loving as He loves,Helping as He helps,
Giving as He gives,
Serving as He serves,
Rescuing as He rescues,
Being with Him twenty-four hours a day,
Touching Him in even His distressing disquises. --Mother Teresa [ WRQ INDEX ] [ PREV ] [ NEXT ]