Spiritual Experiences
“All spiritual experiences are sensations in the body. They are simply a graded series of sensations, beginning with the solidity of earth and passing gradually, in full consciousness, through liquidness and the emanation of heat to that of a total vibration before reaching the Void.”
–Sri Anirvan (a.k.a. Narendra Chandra Dhar, Bengali Monk, Vedic Scholar, Philosopher and Writer, 1896-1978)
The True Value of Things
“The height of ability consists in a thorough knowledge of the real value of things, and of the genius of the age in which we live.”
–François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (French Writer and Moralist, 1613-1680)
The World In A Grain of Sand
“To see a world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.”
–William Blake (English Poet, Painter and Mystic, 1757-1827)
The Journey Inwards
“The longest journey is the journey inwards. Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest for the source of his being.”
–Dag Hammarskjöld (Swedish Statesman, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1953-1961, and, in 1961, Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1905-1961)
Sensing the Fabric of Life
“The shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and sea there has been this place of the meeting of land and water. Yet it is a world that keeps alive the sense of continuing creation and of the relentless drive of life. Each time I enter it, I gain some new awareness of its beauty and its deeper meanings, sensing that intricate fabric of life by which one creature is linked with another, and each with its surroundings.”
–Rachel Carson (American Biologist and Writer, 1907-1964)
Supra-Logic
“Intuition is the supra-logic that cuts out all the routine processes of thought and leaps straight from the problem to the answer.”
–Robert Ranke Graves (English Poet, Critic, Historian, Mythographer and Novelist, 1895-1985)
Moving Beyond False Dualities
“When I gained the unshakable belief that there is no death, that all life is indivisible, that the here and hereafter are one, that time and eternity are inseparable, that this is one unobstructed universe, then I found the most satisfying and convincing philosophy of my entire life.”
–Norman Vincent Peale (American Cleric, Writer and Self-help Expert, 1898-1993)
Developing Fully
“There is no conflict between inner development and contributing to the larger good of humanity; in fact, an individual can develop fully only if he or she takes part in a larger work of this kind.”
–Richard Smoley (American Philosopher, Editor and Writer, 1956-)
Miracles
“Miracles do not happen in contradiction of nature, but in contradiction of what we know about nature.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo (Numidian-born Theologian, A.D.354-430)
Still true, seventeen hundred years later.
(Numidia, by the way was in North Africa, and the city of Hippo was in modern day Algeria, not too far along the coast from modern Tunisia and Libya. So next time you are on a quiz show… 🙂
Getting Up When You Fall
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fall.”
–Confucius (Chinese Philosopher, 551-479 B.C.)
