WORLD RELIGIOUS QUOTES

Buddha Law's beauty
Shining so gloriously
In a leaf's dewdrop.

There is no such thing
In the cherry blossom's shade
As strangers in heart.

Simply by being
I'm free here with everything
In silent snow-fall.

--Kobayashi Issa

Blessed are the man and the woman
who have grown beyond their greed
and have put an end to their hatred
and no longer nourish illusions.
But they delight in the way things are
and keep their hearts open, day and night.
They are like trees planted near flowing rivers,
which bear fruit when they are ready.
Their leaves will not fall or wither.
Everything they do will succeed.

--Psalm 1, 8th-3rd c. B.C. (Stephen Mitchell, trans.)

The reality that is presented to us and in us:
call it Being... Silence.
And the simple fact that by being attentive,
by learning to listen
(or recovering the natural capacity to listen)
we find ourself engulfed in such happiness
that it cannot be explained:
the happiness of being at one with everything
in that hidden ground of Love
for which there can be no explanations....

May we all grow in grace and peace,
and not neglect the silence that is printed
in the centre of our being.
It will not fail us.

-- Thomas Merton

a)

There is one Being
Truth is its name
Creator of all
Without fear
Without emnity
Timeless in form
Unborn
Self-existent
Discovered through
the gift of the enlightener.

--the Mul Mantra,
Sikhism's most fundamental belief

*****

b)

Those who hear the Divine,
who take on as their own and nurture
love in their hearts,
Cleanse themselves by bathing at the sacred fount
which is within.

-- Guru Nanak, 1469-1539

*****

c)

The same Reality is the creator and preserver of all;
Know no distinctions between them.
The monastery and the mosque are the same;
So is the Hindu worship and the Muslim prayer.
Humans are all one!

Only they who love find Ultimate Reality.

--Gobind Singh, 1675-1708,
the 10th and last Sikh Guru

*****

d)

They who worship the One with adoring love
and who thirst for the One's True Love,
Prayerfully crying out-- They discover peace,
for in their hearts lives love.

--the _Guru Granth_,
the Sikh holy scripture

--a, b, c & d, above are from the Sikh religion

I think what we're all seeking is an experience of being fully alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. That's what it's all about finally, and that's what myths can help us find within ourselves. Myths are clues... The images of myth are reflections of the spiritual potentialities of every one of us. Through contemplating these, we evoke their powers in our own lives.

One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is that moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light.

If you follow our bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is suddenly the one you are living. Wherever you are-- if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.

-- Joseph Campbell, 1904-1987

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him all creatures here below!
Praise Him above, all heavenly hosts,
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

--traditional Christian doxology

Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, if You please!
I'll be satisfied as long
As I walk, dear Lord, close to Thee!

I am weak but Thou art strong,
Jesus keep me from all wrong--
I'll be satisfied as long
As I walk, dear Lord, close to Thee!

--traditional Christian spiritual

[ WRQ INDEX ] [ PREV ] [ NEXT ]