Freedom Starts With Your Concepts of Yourself
“To understand a free individual we must take in those concepts by which he determines himself.”
–Rudolf Steiner (Croatian-born Austrian Mystic, Occultist, Social Philosopher, Architect and Founder of Anthroposophy, 1861-1925)
This important observation is from The Philosophy of Freedom. If you are not so familiar with Rudolf Steiner’s work, it’s good to know that this book is also known by two other titles: The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity (1921) and Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path (1995). They are all the same work, but if you really study all three you will find that there are differences in the translations of each of them.
When You Finally Find Yourself
“When the ‘I am’ is discovered – and every enlightened tradition has said this – we find ourselves and we find God. Look for yourself, and you’ll find your creator.”
–Carlos Warter (Chilean-born Psychiatrist, Author and Lecturer, 1950-)
“Who Do You Think You Are? The Healing Power of Your Sacred Self” (Carlos Warter)
Before You Try to Meditate
Anyone who has taught any form of meditation, t’ai chi ch’uan or one of the many other spiritual paths knows that this is absolutely true:
“All too often the mistaken belief that enough sincere practice of prayer or meditation is all that is needed to transform their lives has prevented teachers and students from making use of the helpful teachings of Western psychology. In an unfortunate way, many students of Eastern and Western spirituality have been led to believe that if they experience difficulties, it is simply because they haven’t practiced long enough or somehow have not been practicing according to the teachings. . . .
In truth, the need to deal with our personal emotional problems is the rule in spiritual practice rather than the exception. At least half of the students at our annual three-month retreat find themselves unable to do traditional Insight Meditation because they encounter so much unresolved grief, fear, and wounding and unfinished developmental business from the past that this becomes their meditation.”
–Jack Kornfield (American Meditation Teacher in the Theravadan Buddhist Tradition, 1945-)
We Are All Being Challenged to Grow
“This new mind awaits us in this next stage of our evolutionary journey. We are being challenged by the forces of history to grow into this mind, to mutate, as it were, in order for our species to survive. Jesus had the new mind, called in him the Christ Mind, as did Buddha and others. It is the mind when it is overshadowed by God, our mind when it has become one with His, when we have touched the heavenly light and been permanently altered by it. This state of enlightenment is the exaltation of our existence, the uplifting of our human consciousness to such a high place that we manifest, at last, as the children of God we truly are.”
–Marianne Williamson (American Author, Unity Church Minister and Lecturer on Spirituality, 1952-)
“The Gift of Change: Spiritual Guidance for Living Your Best Life” (Marianne Williamson)
Finding Your Gifts
“Figuring out our gifts in life is part of our journey to becoming enlightened human beings.”
–Allison DuBois (American Writer and Psychic, 1972-)
The Only Real Revolution
“The only real revolution is in the enlightenment of the mind and the improvement of character, the only real emancipation is individual, and the only real revolutionaries are philosophers and saints.”
–Will Durant (American Historian, 1885-1981)
The Feeling of Enlightenment
“It is not easy to convey, unless one has experienced it, the dramatic feeling of sudden enlightenment that floods the mind when the right idea finally clinches into place.”
–Francis Crick (a.k.a. Francis Harry Compton Crick, English Molecular Biologist, Biophysicist, Neuroscientist, and, in 1962, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1916-2004)
“What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery” (Francis Crick)
The First Characteristic of a Saint
“The first characteristic of a Saint is that he is calm and tranquil, and bears like a diamond the buffets of misfortune.”
–Sant Tukaram (a.k.a. Shri Tukaram, a.k.a. Tuka, Indian Teacher and Poet, c.1598-1650)
The Eternal Dance
“It is this Eternal Dance that is always, at every moment, creating, destroying, and recreating all things; all things in all worlds and at every subtle level of all known and unknown universes are the constantly changing and evolving expressions of this secret lightning-dance, this vast blissful ecstatic dance, the Dance of the Sacred Marriage between the “masculine” and “feminine” poles and powers of the Godhead…”
–Andrew Harvey (Indian-born English Philosopher, 1952-)
“Enlightenment for Everyone: A Practical Guide to Realizing Your True Nature” (Paul Ferrini)
Your Inner Light
“On this point of the Light phenomenon, the Russian Orthodox Church writer Bishop Brianchaninov explains that it is a spiritual light which is seen inwardly but that it may also be seen physically at times. He considers it identical with the Holy Spirit, and that it reveals the reality of that Spirit while sanctifying the person.”
–Paul Brunton (a.k.a. Raphael Hurst, English Philosopher, Traveler, Spiritual Teacher and Author, 1898-1981)
