Taking Action
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough we must do.”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet, Playwright and Philosopher, 1749-1832)
Activity and Contemplation
“Those who are more adapted to the active life can prepare themselves for contemplation in the practice of the active life, while those who are more adapted to the contemplative life can take upon themselves the works of the active life so as to become yet more apt for contemplation.”
–Saint Thomas Aquinas (Italian Dominican Friar, Theologian and Philosopher, 1225-1274)
“Introduction To Saint Thomas Aquinas” (Thomas Aquinas, Anton C. Pegis)
To Love Is To Know and To Act
“When mystics use the word love, they use it very carefully, in the deeply spiritual sense, where to love is to know; to love is to act. If you really love, from the depths of your Consciousness, that love gives you a native wisdom. You perceive the needs of others intuitively and clearly, with detachment from any personal desires; and you know how to act creatively to meet those needs, dexterously surmounting any obstacle that comes in the way. Such is the immense, driving power of love.”
–Eknath Easwaran (Indian-American Spiritual Teacher, Professor and Author, 1910-1999)
Understanding Who You Are. And Doing Something About It
“We look at some people as if they were special, gifted, divine. Nobody is special and gifted and divine. No more than you are, no more than I am. The only difference, the very only one, is that they have begun to understand what they really are and have begun to practice it.”
–Richard Bach (American Writer, 1936-)
Carpe Diem!
“Why must conversions always come so late? Why do people always apologize to corpses?”
–David Brin (American Writer and Former Physics Professor and NASA Consultant, 1950- )
Taking Action
Carlos Castaneda was always a controversial figure. Countless people have tried either to prove or disprove his authenticity, but there’s also no doubt that he gave voice to some important insights.
“A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting.”
–Carlos Castaneda (Peruvian-born American Anthropologist and Author, c. 1925-1998)
Don’t Ignore Wrongs Done to Others
“To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.”
–Saint Thomas Aquinas (Italian Dominican Friar, Theologian and Philosopher, 1225-1274)
Focus + Will = Action
“For purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy of will.”
–Henri-Frédéric Amiel (Swiss Philosopher, Writer and Poet, 1821-1881)
“Amiel’s Journal: The Journal Intime of Henri-Frédéric Amiel” (Henri Frédéric Amiel)
Moving Toward Mastery
“The inactive man does not do his duty to his Creator or to the society that maintains him. The recluse who devotes his entire life to sincere effort in meditation fulfills part of his duty by trying to find and love God, and thus spiritualize his own life. To improve oneself is to help society by the example of virtue and by making at least one of its members good! But the yogi (monastic or householder) who does his duty to God, and also to the world through some form of uplifting service, is the most highly evolved type of being. He becomes a master (asiddha) when by such dutiful action he attains the supreme inactive state (nirvikalpa God-union), which is free from karmic effects of actions and is filled with the bliss of Spirit.”
–Paramahansa Yogananda (Indian Spiritual Teacher and, in 1920, Founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship, 1893-1952)
“God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita” (Paramahansa Yogananda)
Working On Yourself. And Your Legacy
“Even if no one appreciates the efforts you make to perfect yourself, don’t let that discourage you; you are making these efforts for yourself, not for other people. You will keep all the spiritual riches you are now amassing when you come back to earth. In what form? In the form of more favorable conditions, which heaven will give you for your spiritual development. If you see you are still not able to acquire a particular quality, or conquer a particular fault, or overcome a bad habit, tell yourself frankly, ‘It’s because I didn’t make the efforts I should have in the past, and now everything is difficult.’ That’s what you must tell yourself, and then you must get to work at once. Yes, even if you only have a year to live, a single year, you should make a start, for in that short time considerable changes would take place.”
–Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov (Bulgarian Spiritual Master, 1900-1986)
