Every Part Contains the Whole
“Every part of the part contains knowledge of the whole of the Whole.”
–William Samuel (American Writer, Spiritual Seeker, Mystic and Teacher, 1924-1996)
Connecting Our Light to the World
“This work of connecting our light to the world does not need to be done through a mass movement, or by millions of people. . . .The real work is always done by a small number of individuals. What matters is the level of participation: whether we dare to make a real commitment to the work of the soul.”
–Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (English Sufi Mystic, Lineage Successor in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi Order and Author, 1953-)
“Alchemy of Light: Working with the Primal Energies of Life” (Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee)
Infinite Creativity
“The ultimate creative capacity of the brain may be, for all practical purposes, infinite.”
–George Leonard (American Aikidoist, President Emeritus of the Esalen Institute and Writer, 1923-2010)
Divine Love
“. . . divine love is not something belonging to God: it is God Himself.”
–Henri Louis Bergson (French Philosopher, 1859-1941)
Educating the Growing Soul
“Everyone has in him something divine, something his own, a chance of perfection and strength in however small a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to find it, develop it and use it. The chief aim of education should be to help the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a noble use.”
–Sri Aurobindo (a.k.a. Aurobindo Ghose, Indian Nationalist Leader, Mystic, Philosopher and Creator of Purna (Integral) Yoga, 1872-1950)
Not Confusing the Teacher and the Teaching
“Everyone’s looking for the perfect teacher, but although their teachings might be divine, teachers are all too human, and that’s something people find all too hard to accept. Don’t confuse the teacher with the lesson, the ritual with the ecstasy, the transmitter of the symbol with the symbol itself. The Tradition is linked to our encounter with the forces of life and not with the people who bring this about. But we are weak: we ask the Mother to send us guides, and all she sends are signs to the road we need to follow. Pity those who seek for shepherds, instead of longing for freedom! An encounter with superior energy is open to anyone but remains far from those who shift responsibility onto others. Our time on earth is sacred and we should celebrate every moment.”
–Paulo Coelho (Brazilian Writer, 1947-)
Living in Awe
“Making Peace With God: A Practical Guide” (Harold H. Bloomfield, Philip Goldberg)
“Evidence suggests that the original meaning of the phrase that has come down to us as ‘fear of God’ was something more like awe. And awe, wrote Abraham Joshua Heschel, ‘enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine, to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple, to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal’.”
Harold Bloomfield (American Psychiatrist and Expert on Holistic Medicine, 1944-)
Phillip Goldberg (American Spiritual Counselor, Interfaith Minister and Author)
Using Your Gifts
“God gave us faculties for our use; each of them will receive its proper reward. Then do not let us try to charm them to sleep, but permit them to do their work until divinely called to something higher.”
Saint Teresa of Ávila (a.k.a. St. Teresa de Jesus, Spanish Nun, Mystic and Author, 1515-1582)
Fractals in Nature
Here is a remarkable video that I first saw on Stuart Wilde’s highly recommended website. It’s from Nova, and well worth a few minutes of your time.
Solving the World’s Problems
“If we could sniff or swallow something that would, for five or six hours each day, abolish our solitude as individuals, atone us with our fellows in a glowing exaltation of affection and make life in all its aspects seem not only worth living, but divinely beautiful and significant, and if this heavenly, world-transfiguring drug were of such a kind that we could wake up next morning with a clear head and an undamaged constitution — then, it seems to me, all our problems (and not merely the one small problem of discovering a novel pleasure) would be wholly solved and earth would become paradise.”
–Aldous Huxley (English Novelist and Critic, 1894-1963)
