Becoming A Saint
“You will not become a saint through other people’s sins.”
–Anton Chekhov (Russian Playwright and Author, 1860-1904)
Saints
“Saints are the great teachers of the loving-kindness and fascination with God.”
–Evelyn Underhill (English Mystic, Poet, Writer and Spiritual Counselor, 1875-1941)
Life Mastery
“The creed of the true saint is to make the best of life, and make the most of it.”
–Edwin Hubbell Chapin (American Clergyman and Writer, 1814-1880)
Using the Gifts From the Source
“Whatever the Source is, however it is named or imagined, the truth is the same: Our gifts are donated from that originating point. Each interpretive system of spiritual and mystical culture understands this. The crucial point in life is to use these gifts wisely: not to squander them, but to commit them to the benefit of the whole community of life.”
–Wayne Teasdale (American Catholic Monk and Proponent of Interfaith Dialogue, 1945-2004)
“The Mystic Hours: A Daybook of Inspirational Wisdom and Devotion” (Wayne Teasdale)
Climbing the Mountain On the Shoulders of the Teacher
“Often nothing keeps the pupil on the move but his faith in his teacher, whose mastery is now beginning to dawn on him …. How far the pupil will go is not the concern of the teacher and master. Hardly has he shown him the right way when he must let him go on alone. There is only one thing more he can do to help him endure his loneliness: he turns him away from himself, from the Master, by exhorting him to go further than he himself has done, and to “climb on the shoulders of his teacher.”
–Eugen Herrigel (German Philosopher and Daishakyôdô Practitioner, 1884-1955)
Masters and Messengers
“We must make a difference between the Messenger, who is sent to communicate a teaching through writing or speech, and the Master, who comes to embody the teaching and who alone possesses the power to bless others with his Grace.
This difference is not so clearly understood among the yogis as it is among the lamas and Sufis, a lack which leads to confused ideas and unjustified customs.”
–Paul Brunton (a.k.a. Raphael Hurst, English Philosopher, Traveler, Spiritual Teacher and Author, 1898-1981)
Dancing On The Edge of Time
“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.”
–Rabindranath Tagore (Indian Poet, Playwright, Essayist, Painter and, in 1913, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1861-1941)
Wind of the Spirit
“The great sages and seers, the masters of wisdom and compassion, belong to no race, and especially to no creed. They are the children of the spirit, whose familiar thought is truth itself; and hence their sympathies are universal. They need no frontiers of race, of caste, of creed, of color. They are truth-seekers, truth-teachers…. For truth has no age. It never was born, it never has not been. It is timeless because universal. Its appeal is to the hearts and minds of all.”
–Gottfried de Purucker (American Writer, Philosopher, Lecturer, and, from 1929-1942, Leader of the Theosophical Society, 1874-1942)
Mastery – Sri Madhava Ashish
Here is a fine comment from a Sri Madhava Ashish – a.k.a. Alexander Phipps, a British-born Hindu mystic, writer and teacher who lived from 1920-1997.
“The Master is one with the spirit. He exemplifies the final attainment. He is what is as yet only a partially realized potential in your own being. You can “recognize” him only to the extent that you can feel the responses in your essence when like answers to like.”
Sri Madhava published some very fine books, that are definitely not for the beginner. But for someone truly interested in the spiritual path, they are well worth the effort:
“Man, the Measure of All Things” (Sri Krishna Prem, Sri Madhava Ashish)
“Man, Son of Man” (Sri Madhava Ashish)
“An Open Window:Dream as Everyman’s Guide to the Spirit” (Sri Madhava Ashish)
