Surrounded By Mystery
“The highest knowledge is to know that we are surrounded by mystery. Neither knowledge nor hope for the future can be the pivot of our life or determine its direction. It is intended to be solely determined by our allowing ourselves to be gripped by the ethical God, who reveals Himself in us, and by our yielding our will to His.”
–Albert Schweitzer (Alsatian-born Theologian, Philosopher, Mission Doctor and, in 1952, Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1875-1965)
Recognizing Scientific Prejudice
“No matter how honest scientists think they are, they are still influenced by various unconscious assumptions that prevent them from attaining true objectivity. Expressed in a sentence, Fort’s principle goes something like this: People with a psychological need to believe in marvels are no more prejudiced and gullible than people with a psychological need not to believe in marvels.”
–Colin Wilson (English Novelist and Writer on Philosophy, Sociology and the Occult, 1931-)
“Mysteries: An Investigation into the Occult, the Paranormal and the Supernatural” (Colin Wilson)
Every Soul if Sacred
“For God, every soul is sacred and blessed and always God’s child; the soul may forget its home and inheritance and identity, but God never forgets and acts in thousands of secret and overt ways to remind the soul of its real nature.”
–Andrew Harvey (Indian-born English Philosopher, 1952-)
A Single Undivided Whole
“Ultimately, the entire universe has to be understood as a single undivided whole.”
–David Bohm (American-born Theoretical Physicist and Philosopher, 1917-1992)
“RC Series Bundle: Wholeness and the Implicate Order” (David Bohm)
Wind and Lightning
This is something worth thinking about!
“The Chinese, who know more about wisdom than any other race, designate the wise by a combination of the ideographs for wind and lightning.”
(Hermann Keyserling Estonian-born German Philosopher, 1880-1946)
Your Traveling Consciousness
“Your consciousness can travel at the speed of slow trains, it can travel at the speed of Light, and it can travel even faster. Hence, time and space are functions of consciousness. Consciousness is out of the scope of time and space…”
–Peter Konstantinov Deunov (a.k.a. Master Beinsa Douno, Bulgarian Spiritual Master and Founder of a School of Esoteric Christianity, 1864-1944)
{Youth Esoteric Class, year 1, lecture 13, Contradictions in Life, 24 May 1922}
Not Just a Goal, But Also Content
“Every healthy person must have a goal in life and that life must have content.”
–Hermann Hesse (German-born Swiss Novelist, Poet and, in 1946, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1877-1962)
A Candle or a Fire?
“When you light a candle, the slightest breeze can extinguish its tiny flame. But if you light a brazier, the most violent winds will only fuel it.
And what about you? If you are only a tiny flame, the slightest breeze will blow you out. But if you are a brazier, the stronger the wind blows, the stronger your fire will grow.
Yes, if you are small, frail and sickly, if you are not yet strong, the slightest challenge can flatten you. But if you are sturdy and resilient, all difficulties will only increase your dynamism, your willpower and your love.
How often we have seen this! When the weak are the slightest bit contradicted or challenged, they become discouraged, give up and give in, while the strong are inspired and become even more determined to carry on and brave all obstacles.
Well now, don’t ask me which of these you are. You can find this out for yourself: if the least difficulty in life brings you to a halt, you are still only a candle flame.”
–Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov (Bulgarian Spiritual Master, 1900-1986)
An Eloquent Silence
It is hard to over-estimate the importance of learning when and where to be silent. And I say that as a once well-known chatterbox!
“There is an eloquent silence: it serves sometimes to approve, sometimes to condemn; there is a mocking silence; there is a respectful silence.”
–François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (French Writer and Moralist, 1613-1680)
Natural Knowledge
“Natural knowledge is that which the soul can acquire through the use of its natural faculties and powers when investigating creation and the cause of creation — in so far, of course, as this is possible for a soul bound to matter…
Supranatural knowledge, on the other hand, is that which enters the intellect in a manner transcending its own means and power; that is to say, the intelligible objects that constitute such knowledge surpass the capacity of an intellect joined to a body, so that a knowledge of them pertains naturally only to an intellect which is free from the body.
Such knowledge is infused by God alone when He finds an intellect purified of all material attachment and inspired by divine love.”
–St. Theodoros, the Great Ascetic (a.k.a. Theodore of Edessa, Monk in the Monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem and Bishop of Edessa in Syria, Ninth Century)
Theoretikon: “Philokalia Vol. 2”, pp. 39-40
“The Philokalia Vol 2: 002” (G.E.H. Palmer, Kallistos Timothy Ware, Philip Sherrard)
