“This latter day work is spiritual. It takes spirituality to comprehend it, to love it, to discern it. Therefore, seek the spirit in all you do. Keep it with you continually. That is our challenge.”
–Ezra Taft Benson (American Public Servant, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1953-1961 and, from 1985-1994, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1899-1994)
“When the universe is in harmony with man – the eternal, we know it as truth but we feel it as beauty.”
–Rabindranath Tagore (Indian Poet, Playwright, Essayist, Painter and, in 1913, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1861-1941)
“I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.”
–Viktor E. Frankl (Austrian Psychiatrist, 1905-1997)
“Reflect on the basic pattern of our existence. In order to do more than just barely survive, we need shelter, food, companions, friends, the esteem of others, resources, and so on; these things do not come about from ourselves alone but are all dependent on others.
Suppose one single person were to live alone in a remote and uninhabited place. No matter how strong, healthy, or educated this person were, there would be no possibility of his or her leading a happy and fulfilling existence…. Can such a person have friends? Acquire renown? Can this person become a hero if he or she wishes to become one? I think the answer to all these questions is a definite no, for all these factors come about only in relation to other fellow humans.
When you are young, healthy, and strong, you sometimes can get the feeling that you are totally independent and do not need anyone else. But this is an illusion. Even at that prime age of your life, simply because you are a human being, you need friends, don’t you? This is especially true when we become old and need to rely more and more on the help of others: this is the nature of our lives as human beings.
In at least one sense, we can say that other people are really the principal source of all our experiences of joy, happiness, and prosperity, and not only in terms of our day-to-day dealings with people. We can see that all the desirable experiences that we cherish or aspire to attain are dependent upon cooperation and interaction with others. It is an obvious fact.
Similarly, from the point of view of a Buddhist practitioner, many of the high levels of realization that you gain and the progress that you make on your spiritual journey are dependent upon cooperation and interaction with others. Furthermore, at the stage of complete enlightenment, the compassionate activities of a Buddha can come about spontaneously only in relation to other beings, for those beings are the recipients and beneficiaries of those enlightened activities.”
–The 14th Dalai Lama (a.k.a. Tenzin Gyatso, Tibetan Religious and Political Leader, 1935-)
“The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers.”
–Brian Tracy (Canadian-born American Author and Expert on Business and Personal Development, 1944-)
“The psychic experiences that may come to him on the Quest may be important preliminary phases in which some truths are passed on from the Overself in the form of mental pictures. Such a probationary period is usually filled with tests and ordeals, temptations and tribulations. In this connection, the events themselves are important to his personal life; but his reactions to them are what is important to his spiritual life.”
–Paul Brunton (a.k.a. Raphael Hurst, English Philosopher, Traveler, Spiritual Teacher and Author, 1898-1981)
“Remember that the Spirit of God permeates His glorious system, that His Life is in the leaves of the trees as well as in the hearts of human beings.”
–Flower A. Newhouse (American Christian Mystic and Spiritual Teacher, 1909-1994)
“Rediscovering the Angels and Natives of Eternity” (Flower A. Newhouse)
Today’s comment may seem a bit stern and unappealing, but he is really saying something very important. Most of us do well if we are presented with effort-based rewards: you do something well, or you go the extra mile and you get some kind of payoff.
On the other hand, there is increasing evidence that one of the problems that we face has to do with unearned rewards: people getting accolades and awards – free stuff – without doing anything much to deserve it or them. And unearned rewards can actually have some quite negative effects on personal development.
“The most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
–Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (French Historian, Educator and, as Founder of the International Olympic Committee, Considered the Father of the Modern Olympic Games, 1863-1937)
“Working with every conceivable kind of insect and animal from the protozoa upward, biologists have discovered a world of wondrously vast and orderly linkages and feedback loops between our environment and all organisms.”
–David Loye (American Psychologist, Evolutionary Systems Theorist and Author, 1925-)
“The Sphinx and the Rainbow: Brain, Mind, and Future Vision” (David Loye)
“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
–Oprah Winfrey (American Television Personality and Philanthropist, 1954-)
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