Actualizing the Experience of God
“The purpose is to have a ‘real’ experience of Divinity embedded within us, so that we can take up residence in the heart, become a Citizen of Source, merge into an experience of something Eternal, and access Christ / Buddha / Melchizedek / Divine Mother / God Consciousness within us in a deeply revealing real way. It is time to actualize the God Experience that we talk about, teach about, and believe we know about. It is time to study just how far that knowledge goes inside of us.”
–Wistancia Stone (American Psychic and Author)
Truth Is Within Ourselves
Here are a few lines from a favorite poem about the Eternal Quest:
“Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise
From outward things, whate’er you may believe.
There is an inmost center in us all,
Where truth abides in fullness; and around,
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in,
This perfect, clear perception—which is truth.
A baffling and perverting carnal mesh
Binds it, and makes all error: and, to KNOW,
Rather consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light
Supposed to be without.”
–Robert Browning (English Poet, 1812-1889)
“The Paracelsus of Robert Browning” (Robert Browning, Christina Pollock Denison)
Wise Words On The Quest
“The teaching that the Quest cannot and should not be separated from life in the world is a sound one.
Therefore, it is part of philosophy and is not some eccentric enterprise to be undertaken by those who wish to escape from the world, or who, being unable to escape, consider themselves as belonging to a class apart from others in their environment – superior to them, different from them, and holier than them.
They also come to consider the Quest as an artificial system of living, devoid of spontaneity and naturalness – something to be labored at by making themselves abnormal and inhuman. One of the consequences of this attitude is that they tend to overlook their everyday responsibilities and thus get into difficulties. Philosophy has consistently opposed this tendency.
Unfortunately, in the reaction from it, there has arisen a fresh confusion in the minds of another group of students who do not understand the beautiful and adequate balance which true philosophy advocates. These students, swayed by such teachers as Krishnamurti, become so enthused by the notion of making spiritual progress through learning from experiences and action alone that they follow Krishnamurti’s advice and throw away prayer, meditation, and moral striving, as well as study under personal teachers. This limits them to a one-sided progress and therefore an unbalanced one.
Total truth can only be got by a total approach; as Light on the Path points out, each of these forms of approach is but one of the steps and all steps are needed to reach the goal.
The whole of his being must be involved in the effort if the whole of truth is to be found. Otherwise the result will be emotional alone, or intellectual alone, or adulterated with egoistic ideas and feelings.”
–Paul Brunton (a.k.a. Raphael Hurst, English Philosopher, Traveler, Spiritual Teacher and Author, 1898-1981)
Purity and Truth
“Purity is the soul of my strength. Truth is the source of my power. God is my life, and I have no existence apart from Him. His Consciousness is my Light. His all-sustaining and all-creative Beauty constitutes my joy. Prayer is my breath and meditation forms the bread of my Life. All humanity is my family. The Forces of Nature are my Friends. The Godhead in all of you is the object of my adoration.”
—Swami Omkarananda (Indian Mystic and Spiritual Teacher, 1929-)
The Beloved of the Soul
“We remember, if only as a dream, Sun Self, Sea Self, Unitive Being, the Beloved of the soul. And we cry to dream again….it is time for the rebirth of the spirit. However unlikely it may seem, we are to be the midwives of God.”
–Jean Houston (American Scholar, Researcher and Author on Human Potentialities, 1937-)
“The Search for the Beloved: Journeys in Mythology and Sacred Psychology” (Jean Houston)
Work On Yourself and You Work On The World
“We work on ourselves then, in order to help others. And we help others as a vehicle for working on ourselves.”
–Ram Dass (a.k.a. Richard Alpert, American Spiritual Teacher, Author and Lecturer, 1931-)
Necessary Steps on the Path
“When the aspirant can grow to love his neighbors for their struggles and faults, and utterly abstain from any critical feeling, then ‘will all things be added unto him.’ There will be no barriers to prevent it. Like attracts like, and his own honesty and charity will inevitably draw to him as to a magnet all that is good.”
–Vera Stanley Alder (English Painter and Mystic, 1898-1984)
Following Your Path
“Man improves himself as he follows his path; if he stands still, waiting to improve before he makes a decision, he’ll never move.”
–Paulo Coelho (Brazilian Writer, 1947-)
Are You Meant For the Path?
I constantly meet people who tell me that they want to follow a spiritual path, but then begin to flounder when I ask them “Why?” or “What are you going to commit to doing on your Path?”
This a a fine expression about the Path by the close spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo.
“What do you want the Yoga for? To get power? To attain to peace and calm? To serve humanity? None of these motives is sufficient to show that you are meant for the Path.
The question you are to answer is this: Do you want the Yoga for the sake of the Divine? Is the Divine the supreme fact of your life, so much so that it is simply impossible for you to do without it? Do you feel that your very raison d’etre is the Divine and without it there is no meaning in your existence? If so, then only can it be said that you have a call for the Path.
This is the first thing necessary – aspiration for the Divine.
The next thing you have to do is to tend it, to keep it always alert and awake and living. And for that what is required is concentration – concentration upon the Divine with a view to an integral and absolute consecration to its Will and Purpose. Concentrate in the heart. Enter into it; go within and deep and far, as far as you can. Gather all the strings of your consciousness that are spread abroad, roll them up and take a plunge and sink down.
A fire is burning there, in the deep quietude of the heart. It is the divinity in you – your true being. Hear its voice, follow its dictates.”
–The Mother of Pondicherry (a.k.a. Mirra Alfassa, French-born Indian Spiritual Teacher, 1878-1973)
Signals of the Truth
“When intuition points to something unwelcome to the ego, the intellect looks for and usually finds an excuse to reject it. A man who really and sincerely wants to find the Truth should be on the lookout for hints, clues, and signs which would be useful to his Quest, for they constitute the response from the Overself to his aspiration. The Overself can furnish him with the Truth and puts these signals in his way.”
–Paul Brunton (a.k.a. Raphael Hurst, English Philosopher, Traveler, Spiritual Teacher and Author, 1898-1981)
