Inspirational Ideals — Robert Bayer [editor] — (2020) — [155 pages] by Robert Bayer

Inspirational Ideals Robert Bayer (Editor) (2020)

Contents

Eastern Paths

Western Religion

Writers

[page 4]

[page 11]

[page 18]

Philosophers [page 28]

Scientists

[page 32]

Native Americans

[page 36]

Leaders

[page 49]

Artists

[page 61]

Visionaries

[page 70]

Spiritualists

Mystics

[page 88]

[page 101]

Poets

[page 122]

Angels

[page 139]

Eastern Paths

Each man must start with himself, within himself by slowly forging his chi, the bond between the finite and the infinite, the inner essence of his spirit, and the limitless power of the universe.

Only thus can you conquer the power and the presence of evil. (Kung

Fu)

The whole of planet Earth is a sacred site. All people are the chosen people, and the purpose of our lives is a spiritual one. May we care for each other, and for the earth, for everything relates to everything else. Feeling this oneness, may we radiate the light of love and kindness that all may live in unity and peace. (Radha Sahar)

Being love, rather than giving or taking love, is the only thing that provides stability. (Ram Dass)

The Path of Renunciation can be a clearer sign of exhilaration and confidence in life's high calling than any moment of indulgence. In this category falls discipline of every form; the sacrifice of a trivial now for a momentous then, the turning away from an easy this, toward a beckoning yet-to-be. (Hindu Principle)

All that is not given is lost. (Hasari Pal) 4

Of a certainty the man who can see all creatures in himself, himself in all creatures, knows no sorrow.

(Esha Upanishad)

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. (Dhammapada)

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. (Pantanjali)

Without love, the acquisition of knowledge only increases confusion and leads to self-destruction. (Krishnamurti)

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

(Kahil

Gibran)

However innumerable persons there are, I vow to save them; however inexhaustible the passions are, I vow to control them;

however immeasurable the virtues are, I vow

to master them; however incomparable the way of enlightenment is, I vow to attain it. (Bodhisattva)

I seek not so much to know the answers, but to ask the right questions. (Shao-lin proverb)

Act without doing, work without effort.

I and all things in the universe are one.

(Tao Te Ching)

(Chuang Tzu)

The Tao is always present and always available... If you are willing to be lived by it, you 5

will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things. (The Hua Hu Ching)

To practice virtue is to selflessly offer assistance to others, giving without limitation one's time, abilities, and possessions in service, whenever and wherever needed, without prejudice concerning the identity of those in need. (The Hua Hu Ching) When the way comes to an end, then change â&#x20AC;&#x201D; having changed, you pass through. (I Ching)

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. (Confucius)

The more you think of worldly things, the more you will be attached to them. (Ramakrishna)

Doubt everything. Find your own light.

(Guatama Buddha)

Do not believe anything because it is said by an authority, or if it is said to come from angels, or from Gods, or from an inspired source. Believe it only if you have explored it in your own heart and mind and body and found it to be true. (Guatama Buddha)

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely like a good bonfire; leaving no trace of yourself. (Shunryu Suzuki)

Look within! ... The secret is inside you. (Hui-Neng)

The highest form of wisdom is kindness. (The Talmud)

The essence of the First Absolute Light, God, gives constant illumination, whereby it is manifested and it brings all things into existence, giving life to them by its rays. Everything in the world is derived from the Light of His Essence; all beauty and perfection are the gift of His Bounty; and to attain fully to this illumination is salvation. 6

(Sohrawardi)

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

(Rumi)

The heart is nothing but the Sea of Light ... the place of the vision of God. (Rumi)

Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.

The forms may change, yet the

essence remains the same. Every wonderful sight will vanish, every sweet word will fade, but do not be disheartened.

The source they come from is eternal, growing,

branching out, giving new life and new joy.

Why do you weep?

The source is within

you and this whole world is springing up from it. (Rumi)

Dive deep, O mind into the ocean of Divine Beauty. instant after instant.

You will discover a new gem

(Sri Ramakrishna)

There is no path to peace.

Peace is the path.

(Mahatma Gandhi)

It seems to me clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime. (Mahatma Gandhi)

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

(Mahatma

Gandhi)

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. (Mahatma Gandhi)

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. (Mahatma Gandhi)

The Seven Dangers To Human Virtue: 1. Wealth without work. conscience.

3. Knowledge without character.

4. Business without ethics.

Science without humanity. 6. Religion without sacrifice. (Mahatma Gandhi) 7

2. Pleasure without 5.

7. Politics without principle.

Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even such a small creature as I finds an intimate place in their midst. Therefore that which extends throughout the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature. All people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions.

(Cheng Tsai)

You are what your deep driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. will is, so is your deed.

As your deed is, so is your destiny.

As your

(Brihadaranyaka

Upanishad)

Wherever I go, with whomever I go may I see myself as less than all others, and from the depth of my heart may I consider them supremely precious. (Dalai Lama)

May I examine my mind in all actions and as soon as a negative state occurs, since it endangers myself and others, may I firmly face and avert it. (Dalai Lama)

If you contribute to other peoples' happiness, you will find the true goal, the true meaning of life. (Dalai Lama)

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they are not on your road, does not mean they are lost. (Dalai Lama)

That fire which is the means of attaining the infinite worlds, and is also their foundation, is hidden in the sacred place of the heart.

(Kath Upanishad, Part I)

May Peace Prevail on Earth. (Masahisa Goi, World Peace Prayer)

Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect any praise or reward. If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom. Your struggles with the world will have come to an end.

(Achaan Chah) 8

Send Thy peace O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting, that our souls may radiate peace.

Send Thy peace O Lord, that we may think, act and speak harmoniously. Send

Thy peace O Lord, that we may be contented and thankful for Thy bountiful gifts. Send Thy peace O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife, we may enjoy Thy bliss. Send Thy peace O Lord, that we may endure all, tolerate all, in the thought of Thy grace and mercy. Send Thy peace O Lord, that our lives may become a Divine vision and in Thy light, all darkness may vanish. Send Thy peace O Lord, our Father and Mother, that we Thy children on Earth may all unite in one family. (Pir-o-murshid Inayat Khan, Prayer for Peace)

O Thou kind Lord! O Thou Who art generous and merciful! We are the servants of Thy threshold and are gathered beneath the sheltering shadow of Thy divine unity. The sun of Thy mercy is shining upon all, and the clouds of Thy bounty shower upon all. Thy gifts encompass all, Thy loving providence sustains all, Thy protection overshadows all, and the glances of Thy favor are cast upon all. O Lord! Grant Thine infinite bestowals, and let the light of Thy guidance shine. Illumine the eyes, gladden the hearts with abiding joy. Confer a new spirit upon all people and bestow upon them eternal life. Unlock the gates of true understanding and let the light of faith shine resplendent. Gather all people beneath the shadow of Thy bounty and cause them to unite in harmony, so that they may become as the rays of one sun, as the waves of one ocean, and as the fruit of one tree. May they be refreshed by the same breeze. May they receive illumination from the same source of light. Thou art the Giver, the Merciful, the Omnipotent (Abdu'l-baha, Baha'i prayers)

I'm not interested in being a "lover." I'm interested in only being love. We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with one another. The most important aspect of love is not in giving or the receiving: it's in the being. When I need love from others, or need to give love to others, I'm caught in an unstable situation. Being in love, rather than giving or taking love, is the only thing that provides stability. Being in love means seeing the Beloved all around me. (Ram Dass) 9

Western Religion

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the Will of God, what is good and beautiful and perfect. (St. Paul)

Blessed are the men and women, whom are planted on Your earth, in Your garden; Who grow as your trees and flowers grow, Who transform their darkness into light. Their roots plunge into darkness, With faces that turn towards the light. All those who love You are beautiful; They overflow with Your Presence, so that they can do nothing but good. All men, all women are welcome here; All they need do is enter.

(King

Solomon)

Have we not one Father? Hath not One God created all? (Malachi)

But they that trust in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not falter. (Isaiah).

Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be 11

opened unto you. (Jesus)

I tell you this truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord our God is one.

(Jesus)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your

soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Jesus)

Blessed are the poor, for in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn in sorrow, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will

inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the

pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons and daughters of God. theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who suffer from persecution, for (Jesus)

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.

If anyone serves, he should do it with the

strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised.

(Apostle Peter)

Let everything you do be done in love. (Apostle Paul)

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love. I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not

envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not 12

easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices

with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

greatest of these is love.

God is love.

But the

(Apostle Paul)

Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him. (Apostle John)

Lord make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is darkness, light;

where there is despair, hope;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in

pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. (St. Francis of Assisi)

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. (Mother Teresa)

Give that child to me. I want it. I will care for it. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child. (Mother Teresa)

Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use violence to get what they want. (Mother Teresa)

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish. (Mother Teresa)

Let us not use guns and bombs to overcome the world. Let us use Love and Compassion. Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t really want to smile at; do it for peace. (Mother Teresa) 13

I alone canâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. (Mother Teresa)

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and ALWAYS start with the person nearest to you. (Mother Teresa)

Hearts that are open to the love that is God, feel loved in loving and served in serving. (Edward Gloeggler)

The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love.

And on that day, for the second time in

the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire. (Tielhard de Chardin)

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

(Dr. Robert Schuller)

No one can see the divine things as long as he mixes himself or mingles with temporal things, that is anything less than God.

(Marguerite Porete)

Paradise is nothing other than to see God only.

(Marguerite Porete)

God is not so much concerned with our works as with the spirit with which we perform them all and that we should love him in all things. They for whom God is not enough are greedy. The reward for all your works should be that they are known to God and that you seek God in them. Let this always be enough for you. The more purely and simply you seek him, the more effectively all your works will atone for your sins.

(Meister

Eckhart)

All that man has here in multiplicity is intrinsically One. Here all blades of grass, wood and stone, all things are One. This is the deepest depth. And thereby am I completely captivated. (Meister Eckhart) 14

Fire transforms all things it touches into its own nature.

The wood does not change

the fire into itself, but the fire changes the wood into itself. In the same way we are transformed into God so that we may know him as he is. one.

God and I are one in this work; he acts and I become.

Acting and becoming are (Mesiter Eckhart)

I suppose what makes me most glad is that we all recognize each other in this metaphysical space of silence and happening, and get some sense, for a moment, that we are full of paradise without knowing it. (Thomas Merton)

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (King David)

Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

(St. John the Apostle)

I am the Light of the World; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life.

(St. John the Apostle)

Let nothing disturb thee, Nothing affright thee; All things are passing, God never changeth; Patient endurance Attaineth to all things; Who God possesseth In nothing is wanting, Alone God sufficeth. (St. Theresa of Avila)

Because we have heard and because faith tells us so, we know we have souls.

But

we seldom consider the precious things that can be found in this soul, or who dwells within it, or its highest value.

(St. Theresa of Avila)

Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious. (St. Thomas Aquinas)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of 15

men.

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

(Apostle John)

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there shall Thy Hand lead me, and Thy Right Hand shall hold me. (King David)

They deceive themselves who believe that union with God consists in ecstasies or raptures, and in the enjoyment of Him. For it consists in nothing except the surrender and subjection of our will - with our thoughts, words and actions - to the will of God.... (St. Teresa of Avila)

May today there be peace within. May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.... May you be content knowing you are a child of God.... Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you. (St. Theresa of Avila)

"There is a practice that is most powerful in keeping us united with God. That practice is the constant recollection of His presence." (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

In all the events of life, you must recognize the divine will. Adore and bless it, especially in the things which are the hardest for you. 16

(St. Padre Pio)

Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes â&#x201D;&#x20AC; crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure â&#x201D;&#x20AC; reach the light of day. (Sophie Scholl of the White Rose-German dissident, decapitated by the Nazis, February 22, 1943)

Writers

Everyone has the right to make his own decisions, but none has the right to force his decision on others. (Ayn Rand)

You hold in your hand an invitation: to remember the transforming power of forgiveness and loving kindness. To remember that no matter where you are and what you face, within your heart peace is possible. (Jack Kornfield). There is a placed called â&#x20AC;&#x2014;heavenâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; where the good here unfinished is completed; and where the stories unwritten, and the hopes unfulfilled, are continued. We may laugh together yet. (JRR Tolkien)

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. (George Orwell)

Let them keep their heaven. When I die, I want to be buried in Middle Earth. (George R.R. Martin) 18

Things done are won; joy's soul is in the doing. You see things and say, ―Why?‖

(William Shakespeare)

But I dream things that never were; and I say,

"Why not?‖ (George Bernard Shaw) We‘re all human, aren‘t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving. (J.K. Rowling)

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven. (John Milton)

Love is ever the beginning of knowledge as fire is of light.

(Thomas Carlyle)

Vision is the art of seeing the invisible. (Jonathan Swift)

All that have meant good work with their whole hearts have done good work. (Robert Louis Stevenson)

I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections, and the truth of imagination.

(John Keats)

It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you are.

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

(e.e. cummings)

(Gerald Manley Hopkins)

Do the thing and you will have the Power. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Within us is the soul of the whole, the wise silence, the universal beauty, the eternal One. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) 19

We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds ... A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE. And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object, are one. We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

We live in Succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime, within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal One. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. (Henry David Thoreau)

I see, smell, taste, hear, feel, that everlasting something to which we are allied, at once our maker, our abode, our destiny, our very selves, the one historic truth, the most remarkable fact which can become the distinct and uninvited subject of our thought, the actual glory of the universe; the only fact which a human being cannot avoid recognizing, or in some way forget or dispense with. (Henry David Thoreau)

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us, are tiny matters to what lives within us. (Henry David Thoreau)

If you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams, and endeavor to live the life 20

you have imagined, you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. You will pass an invisible boundary: new, universal and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within you and you will live with the license of a higher order of beings. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundation under them.

(Henry David Thoreau)

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, every cubic inch of space is a miracle.

(Walt Whitman)

Do not look back in anger, or forward in fear, but around in awareness.

(James

Thurber)

The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up. (Mark Twain)

Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. (Mark Twain) Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn‘t do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. (Mark Twain)

There are more things wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.

(Alfred Lord

Tennyson) Ah, but a man‘s reach should exceed his grasp - or what's a heaven for? (Robert Browning)

If ever two were one, then surely we.

(Anne Bradstreet)

That best portion of a good man‘s life: his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.

(William Wordsworth) 21

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms. (Muriel Ruckeyser) Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a point which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.

(Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on the earth. I hold myself supremely blest â&#x20AC;&#x201D; blest beyond what language can express.

(Charlotte Bronte)

We shall not cease from exploration; and the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time. (T.S. Eliot)

Our five continents are caught in a whirlwind.

But it is during such trials that the

highest gifts of the human spirit are manifested. If we perish and lose this world, the fault will be ours alone.

(Alexander Solzhenitsyn)

A person is a person no matter how small. (Dr. Seuss)

Nothing splendid was ever created in cold blood. Heat is required to forge anything. Every great accomplishment is the story of a flaming heart. (Arnold H. Glasgow)

Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built. (James Allen)

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark burn out in a brilliant blaze than it be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. (Jack London)

Political language ... is designed to makes lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. (George Orwell) 22

One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. (André Gide)

Passionate people embrace what they love and never give up. (Danielle Kennedy)

God is so omnipresent...God is an angel in an angel, and a stone in a stone, and a straw in a straw. (John Donne) What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

We are here on Earth to do good for others. What the others are here for, I do not know. (W. H. Auden)

Life is too important to be taken seriously. (Oscar Wilde)

A sure way for one to lift himself up is by helping to lift someone else up (Booker T. Washington)

If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is -infinite. (William Blake) Fill Your Life With Love.

I don‘t know anyone who doesn‘t want a life filled with love.

In order for this to happen, the effort must start within us. Rather than waiting for other people to provide the love we desire, we must be a vision and source of love.

must tap into our own loving-kindness in order to set an example for others to follow suit. It has been said that ‗the shortest distance between two points is an intention.‘ This is certainly true with regard to a life filled with love.

The starting point or

foundation of a life filled with love is the desire and commitment to be a source of love. Our attitude, choices, acts of kindness, and willingness to be the first to reach out will take us toward this goal.

The next time you find yourself frustrated at the lack of love 23

in your own life or at the lack of love in the world, try an experiment.

Forget about the

world and other people for a few minutes. Instead, look into your own heart. Can you become a source of greater love? Can you think loving thoughts for yourself and others?

Can you extend these loving thoughts outward toward the rest of the

world—even to people whom you feel don‘t deserve it? By opening your heart to the possibility of greater love, and by making yourself a source of love as a top priority, you will be taking an important step in getting the love you desire. You‘ll also discover something truly remarkable.

The more love you give, the more you will receive.

you put more emphasis on being a loving person, which is something you can control—and less emphasis on receiving love, which is something you can‘t control—you‘ll find that you have plenty of love in your life. Soon you‘ll discover one of the greatest secrets in the world:

Love is its own reward.

(Richard Carlson)

Wherever you are in this moment, is exactly where you are supposed to be, no matter how things may seem to appear.

And when you know you are doing your very best

within the circumstances of your existence, applaud yourself. yourself ... and forgive everyone else.

And above all, forgive

There is no prescribed WAY for everyone ...

there is just your WAY for NOW — until you choose another. And there is no one to compare yourself to, and no one to compete with — there never was!

And when you

awaken to who and what you are, everyone else awakens to who and what you are ... without a word spoken. And sometimes it takes a great effort to discover that life was MEANT to be a challenge. And what we wouldn't give to know that it's OK to not feel OK ...And to know that is OK to feel powerful, magnificent, deserving and one-of-a-kind. And how would it be to know that when life doesn't seem to be working, it is still working as it should.

And when you release what needs to be free, YOU are freed in the

process. When you know that you are not your job or your car, your grades or your children' s grades, your color, your degree or your spouse's degree, your age, your titles or your families titles, your body, your possessions or your parents' possessions — Congratulations! And behind everything is your need for love. How much love are you willing to accept from others? And how much love are you willing to give? And do you love yourself enough to ask for what you need? And the only infallible, illimitable, 24

unlimited power that heals without question - is LOVE.

There is a peaceful place

inside that welcomes you ... a space so safe, so still, that there is no forward or backward - only the eternal flow of the present moment ... truth of your Being resides, and appreciate who you are.

Enter this place where the (Rusty Berkus)

―Each of us is in truth an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom,‖ Jonathon would say in the evenings on the beach,‖ and precision flying is a step upward expressing our real nature.

Everything that limits us we have to put aside.

That‘s

why all this high-speed practice, and low-speed, and aerobatics ... ― (Richard Bach, Jonathon Livingston Seagull) ―To begin with, he said heavily, ―you‘ve got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull, and your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than your thought itself.‖ (Richard Bach, Jonathon Livingston Seagull)

By meditation you will find that your Quest has two faces: personal will and divine will. When you align your personal will to the divine will you are attuned to the spiritual world. (Rowena Pattee Kryder)

I AM there.

Do you need me? I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you

see by. You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel Me, yet I

am the power at work in your hands. I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.

I am at work, though you do not recognize My works. I am not strange visions.

I am not mysteries. Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as feeling and a faith. Yet I am there. Yet I hear.

Yet I answer. When

you need Me, I am there. Even if you deny Me, I am there. Even when you feel most alone, I am there. Even in your fears, I am there. Even in your pain, I am there. I am there when you pray and when you do not. I am in you, and you are in Me. Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me;

only in your mind are the mists of "yours",

"mine‖ Yet only with your mind can you know Me, experience Me. 25

Empty your heart

of empty fears. When you get yourself out of the way, it is easy to see Me, hear Me, feel Me. You can do much of yourself, but so much more with Me.

I can do all. And I AM

in all Though you may not see the good, good is there. because I am there. I am there because I have to be, because I am. Only in Me does the world have meaning; only in Me does the world take form, only because of Me does the world go forward. I am the law on which the movement of the stars is founded, the life from which living cells do grow.

I am the love that is the law's fulfilling. am assurance. I am peace. I am

oneness. I am the law that you can live by.

I am the love that you can cling to. am your

assurance. I am your peace. I am one with you. I am. Although you fail to find Me, I do not fail you. Although your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you. You are loved. I am there. (James Dillet Freeman)

I shall persevere in spite of everything, and find my own way through it all, and swallow my tears.

(Anne Frank)

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same. (Anne Frank)

In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.

(Anne Frank)

Because everything we do and everything we are is in jeopardy, and because the peril is immediate and unremitting, every person is the right person to act and every moment is the right moment to begin.

(Jonathan Schell)

Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him. (Booker T. Washington)

You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream. (C.S. Lewis)

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slums because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (C.S. Lewis)

Study the Light; attempt the high; seek out The Soul's bright path." (Phillip James Bailey)

To be strong and true; to be generous in praise and appreciation of others; to impute worthy motives! Even to enemies; to give without expectation or return; to practice humility, tolerance and self-restraint; to make the best use of time and opportunity to keep the mind pure and the judgment charitable, to extend intelligent sympathy to those in distress; to cultivate quietness and non resistance; to seek truth and righteousness; to work, love, pray and serve daily, to aspire greatly, labor cheerfully, and take the Creator at His word, this is to travel heavenward.

(Grenville Kleiser.)

Philosophers

Do not move in order to touch me, for I am stillness itself. Do not be drawn in many directions in order to hold me; I am unity itself. (Marcillo Ficino)

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. power in it.

Boldness has genius, magic and

Begin it now. (Johann Wolfgang Goethe)

By thought, I embrace the universal. (Blaise Pascal)

I think, therefore I am.

(RenĂŠ Descartes)

Paradise is where I am. (FranĂ§ois Voltaire)

Argumentation cannot suffice for the discovery of anew work, since the subtlety of nature is greater many times than the subtlety of argument. (Francis Bacon)

To find yourself, think for yourself.

(Socrates)

What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.

(Aristotle)

In everything natural, there is something marvelous. (Aristotle) 28

Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb. (Pythagoras)

God is the Universal Spirit that diffuses itself over all nature. All beings receive their life from Him. There is but one only God, who is not, as some are apt to imagine, seated above the world, beyond the orb of the universe; but being Himself all in all, He sees all the beings that fill His immensity, the only principle the light of heaven, the father of all. He produces everything. He orders and disposes of all things. He is the reason, the life and motion of all things. (Pythagoras)

Our life is what our thoughts make of it.

(Marcus Aurelius)

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

(Marcus

Aurelius)

Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe - the starry heavens above me, and the moral law within me.

Uttering a true sentence changes the world.

It takes a whole village to raise a child.

(Immanuel Kant)

(Ludwig Wittgenstein)

(African proverb)

You will see with clear vision only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outward, dreams; who looks inward, awakens. (Carl Jung)

Somewhere there was once a Flower, a Stone, a Crystal, a Queen, a King, a Palace, a Lover and his Beloved, and this was long ago, on an Island somewhere in the ocean 5,000 years Self.

ago....Such is Love, the Mystic Flower of the Soul. This is the Center, the

(Carl Jung) 29

Love is an active power in man; a power which breaks through the walls which separate man from his fellow men, which unites him with others; love makes him overcome the sense of isolation and separateness, yet it permits him to be himself, to retain his integrity.

In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two.

(Erich Fromm)

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

To obtain a vision of Beauty and Divinity, each man should begin by making himself beautiful and divine.

(Plotinus)

It is obvious that invention or discovery, be it in mathematics or anywhere else, takes place by combining ideas. (Jacques Hadamard.)

All things are for the sake of good and the good is the cause of everything beautiful. (Plato)

There is a celestial mind-force, a great sympathetic force which is life itself, of which everything is composed." (John Keely)

I firmly believe that everything in the universe is interconnected, that knowledge is one. (Isaac Asimov)

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real 30

possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. (Max Erhamm, Desiderata)

Scientists

Many have insisted that the imaginative process is different in art and science ... On the contrary, the creative act of the mind is alike in both cases.

(Dr. R.W. Gerard)

Our discipline is the unknown; the mind has a window toward infinity.

(Sidney Parnes)

The mere formulation of a problem is often far more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science. (Albert Einstein)

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. true art and science.

(Albert Einstein)

It is the source of all

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. (Albert Einstein)

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

(Albert Einstein)

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It will have to transcend a personal God and avoid dogma and theology.

Encompassing both the natural and the spiritual,

it will have to be based on religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, considered as a meaningful entity. (Albert Einstein)

The harmony of natural law . . . reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.

(Albert Einstein)

The ability to relate and connect, sometimes in odd and yet in striking fashion, lies at the heart of any creative use of the mind, no matter in what field or discipline.

(George

J. Seidel)

Nothing in life is to be feared.

It is only to be understood.

If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed.

(Marie Dune)

But we are more than logical.

We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work. (Jacques Cousteau)

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

(Carl Sagan) 33

For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions. (Charles Darwin)

I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect had intended for us to forgo their use. (Galileo Galilei)

The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.

(Empedocles)

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. (Thomas Edison)

I know this world is ruled by infinite intelligence.

Everything that surrounds us . . .

everything that exists . . . proves that there are infinite laws behind it. There can be no denying this fact. It is mathematical in its precision.â&#x20AC;&#x2013;

(Thomas Edison)

What we now want is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth, and the elimination of egoism and pride which is always prone to plunge the world into primeval barbarism and strife... Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment...'' (Nikola Tesla)

Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. (Margaret Meade)

Native Americans

We all have sacred places within ourselves and wherever we might be. (Mona Polacca, Hopi/Tewa/Havasupai)

We hold our focus as a shield against all darkness. Be watchful of thy purpose. In silence your lives will speak your truth. (Algonquin)

You have been given four things: Wisdom, Knowledge, Power, and Gift. These things that I am telling you may take years to digest in your minds before they begin to make sense. You must honor these four blessings by having good thoughts, good words, showing kindness to others. When you do this, you will begin to understand what I am talking about." (Wallace Black Elk, Sicangu Lakota Spiritual Elder) 36

My people understand that you children are sacred. You are precious. You are our future. Your elders, parents, and teachers need to teach you well so that you can help them when they are old. Listen to what they are teaching you so you will know what to do when you are in charge. (Wallace Black Elk)

You are part of everything! You are part of the fire, you are part of the water, you are part of the green, you are part of the stars, and you are related to everything. You are related to the stones, to the trees, to the fish, to the creepy-crawlers, to the ones that fly, to the ones that walk on all fours, and to the ones that walk on two legs. Everything is sacred and, therefore, you are sacred too. That's what we mean when we say, Mitakuye oyasin. (Wallace Black Elk, Sicangu Lakota Spiritual Elder)

We sang the songs that carried in their melodies all the sounds of Nature - the running waters, the sighing of the winds, and the calls of the animals. Teach these to your children, that they may come to love nature, as we love it!

(Grand Council Fire of

American Indians)

Everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence. (Mourning Dove, Salish Tribe)

Every step you take should be a prayer. And if every step you take is a prayer, then you will always be walking in a sacred manner. (Oglala Sioux) Actually throughout the Native American's life, the circle is one of the most mystical symbols. Knowledge of the circle allowed the Native Americans to develop a deeper understanding of human consciousness and their environment. The concept of the aspects of initially described was laid out on a circle with coordinate points. The circle was used in many teachings as we described earlier with the feather. The circle is considered as the Total Universe and can be understood as the mirror in which man‘s consciousness is reflected. The old teachers would say, ―The Universe is the Mirror of the People; each person is a mirror of every other person.‖ Thus each idea, and person, can be seen as a mirror, giving man the opportunity to discover himself, if he is willing to 37

see his own reflection. (Dr. Ron Anjar)

You have noticed that everything as Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round...

The

Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves... (Black Elk, Oglala Sioux)

The True Peace. The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka (the Great Spirit), and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men. (Black Elk, Oglala Sioux & Spiritual Leader)

May the stars carry your sadness away.

May the flowers fill your hearts with beauty.

May hope forever wipe away your tears. And above all, may silence make you strong. (Chief Dan George)

The real world is behind this one, and everything we see here is something like a shadow from that world.

(Black Elk, Sioux)

Civilization has taught us to eat with a fork, but even now if nobody is around we use our fingers. (Will Rogers, Cherokee)

Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. (Plains Indian proverb)

A movement dies when it becomes acceptable.

(Mary Crow Dog, Lakota Sioux)

Put your feet down with pollen. Put your hands down with pollen. Put your head down with pollen.

Then your feet are pollen; your hands are pollen; your body is

pollen; your mind is pollen; your voice is pollen.

The trail is beautiful.

Be still.

(Navajo Tribe)

This we know ... The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. things are connected like the blood which unites one family.

All

Man did not weave the

web of life; he is merely a strand on it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

(Chief Seattle)

Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, and beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger ... Show respect to all people and bow to no one. (Chief Seattle, Nez Perce)

Take only memories leave nothing but footprints. (Chief Seattle, Duwamish-Suquamish) Everything is laid out for you.

Your path is straight ahead of you. Sometimes itâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s

invisible but it's there. You may not know where it's going, but you still have to follow that path. It's the path to the Creator.

That's the only path there is.

(Tadodaho Chief

Leon Shenandoah, Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy)

We must raise leaders of peace. We must unite the religions of the world as the spiritual force strong enough to prevail in peace. We are the spiritual energy that is thousands of times stronger than nuclear energy. 39

Our energy is the combined will of

all people with the spirit of the Natural World, to be of one body, one heart, and one mind for peace.

(Tadodaho Chief Leon Shenandoah, Six Nations Iroquois

Confederacy)

Thanksgiving. We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us. We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water. We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases. We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone. We return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye. Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in Whom is embodied all goodness, and Who directs all things for the good of Her children. (Iroquois Prayer)

O Great Spirit, whose Voice I hear in the winds, and whose Breath gives life to the world; hear me. I am come before you, one of your many children. I am small and weak; I need your strength and wisdom. ever behold, the red and purple sunset. made.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes Make my hands respect the things You have

My ears sharp to hear your Voice. Make me wise, that I may know the lesson

you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

Make me ever ready to come to you with

clean hands and straight eyes; so when life fades as a fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.

(Chief Yellowlock)

The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of men when they realize their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere; it is within each of us.

(Black Elk; Sioux)

Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song; and all about you will be beauty. (Navajo song)

The truest and greatest power is the strength of Peace...because Peace is the Will of The Great Spirit... (Banyacya, Hopi) 40

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. (Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator)

I am blind and do not see the things of this world; but when the light comes from Above, it enlightens my Heart and I can see, for the Eye of my Heart sees everything: and through this vision I can help my people. The heart is a sanctuary at the Center of which there is a little space, where the Great Spirit dwells, and this is the Eye.

This is

the Eye of Wakatanka by which He sees all things, and through which we see Him. (Black Elk; Sioux)

With beauty before me, I walk. With beauty behind me, I walk. With beauty above me, I walk. With beauty below me, I walk. From the East, beauty has been restored. From the South, beauty has been restored. From the West, beauty has been restored. From the North, beauty has been restored. From the zenith in the sky, beauty has been restored. From the nadir of the earth, beauty has been restored. From all around me, beauty has been restored. (Navajo prayer)

There are no chosen, only those who choose.

(Dik Darnell, Lakota Sioux Medicine

Man)

Gather yourselves ... All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner. (Hopi Elders)

Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I say the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy... 41

But anywhere is the center of the world. (Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux)

One does not sell the land people walk on. (Crazy Horse; Sioux)

I was hostile to the white man...We preferred hunting to a life of idleness on our reservations. At times we did not get enough to eat and we were not allowed to hunt. All we wanted was peace and to be let alone. Soldiers came...in the winter and destroyed our villages. Then Long Hair (Custer) came...They said we massacred him, but he would have done the same to us. Our first impulse was to escape...but we were so hemmed in we had to fight. After that I lived in peace, but the government would not let me alone. I was not allowed to remain quiet. I was tired of fighting...They tried to confine me and a soldier ran his bayonet into me. I have spoken. (Crazy Horse; Sioux)

There are many things to be shared with the Four Colors of humanity in our common destiny as one with our Mother the Earth. It is this sharing that must be considered with great care by the Elders and the medicine people who carry the Sacred Trusts, so that no harm may come to people through ignorance and misuse of these powerful forces. (Resolution of the Fifth Annual Meetings of the Traditional Elders Circle, 1980)

We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees. (Qwatsinas: Hereditary Chief Edward Moody, Nuxalk Nation)

In early days we were close to nature. We judged time, weather conditions, and many things by the elementsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the good earth, the blue sky, the flying of geese, and the changing winds. We looked to these for guidance and answers. Our prayers and thanksgiving were said to the four windsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to the East, from whence the new day was born; to the South, which sent the warm breeze which gave a feeling of comfort; to the West, which ended the day and brought rest; and to the North, the Mother of winter whose sharp air awakened a time of preparation for the long days ahead. We lived by God's hand through nature and evaluated the changing winds to tell us or warn us of 42

what was ahead. Today we are again evaluating the changing winds. May we be strong in spirit and equal to our Fathers of another day in reading the signs accurately and interpreting them wisely. May Wah-Kon-Tah, the Great Spirit, look down upon us, guide us, inspire us, and give us courage and wisdom. Above all, may He look down upon us and be pleased. (Unknown Speaker addressing the National Congress of American Indians in the mid 1960's)

I will follow the white man's trail. I will make him my friend, but I will not bend my back to his burdens. I will be cunning as a coyote. I will ask him to help me understand his ways, then I will prepare the way for my children, and their children. The Great Spirit has shown me - a day will come when they will outrun the white man in his own shoes. Listen to all the teachers in the woods. Watch the trees, the animals and all the living things--you'll learn more from them than books. (Many Horses)

For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must assume responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count, since you are going to be here for only a short

while; in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it. (Don

Juan Matus; Yaqui)

If one is to succeed in anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.

(Don Juan Matus; Yaqui)

This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you. Before you embark on any path ask 43

the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.

(Don Juan Matus; Yaqui)

Once you decide something put all your petty fears away. Your decision should vanquish them. I will tell you time and time again, the most effective way to live is as a warrior. Worry and think before you make any decision, but once you make it, be on your way free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting you. That's the warrior's way. In order to become a man of knowledge one must be a warrior. One must strive without giving up, without a complaint, without flinching, until one sees , only to realize then that nothing matters. You're too concerned with liking people or with being liked yourself. A man of knowledge likes, that's all. He likes whatever or whoever he wants, but he uses his controlled folly to be unconcerned about it. (Don Juan Matus; Yaqui)

You must stop talking to yourself. Every one of us does that. We carry on an internal talk. We talk about our world. In fact we maintain our world with our internal talk. Whenever we finish talking to ourselves the world is always as it should be. We renew it, we kindle it with life, we uphold it with our internal talk. Not only that, but we also choose our paths as we talk to ourselves. Thus we repeat the same choices over and over until the day we die, because we keep on repeating the same internal talk over and over until the day we die.

A warrior is aware of this and strives to stop his talking. This is the last

point you have to know if you want to live like a warrior. First of all you must use your ears to take some of the burden from your eyes. We have been using our eyes to judge the world since the time we were born. We talk to others and to ourselves mainly about what we see. A warrior is aware of that and listens to the world; he listens to the sounds of the world. He is aware that the world will change as soon as he stops talking to himself and he must be prepared for that monumental jolt. The world is such-and-such or so-and-so only because we tell ourselves that that is the way it is. If we stop telling 44

ourselves that the world is so-and-so, the world will stop being so-and-so. You must start slowly to undo the world.

The worms, the birds, the trees, all of them can tell us

unimaginable things if only one could have the speed to grasp their message. (Don Juan Matus; Yaqui)

Do right always. It will give you satisfaction in life. (Tatanga Mani)

The earth and myself are of one mind. (Wovoka, Paiute)

When the earth is dying there shall arise a new tribe of all colours and all creeds. This tribe shall be called The Warriors of the Rainbow and it will put its faith in actions not words. (Hopi)

The Circle has healing power. In the Circle, we are all equal. When in the Circle, no one is in front of you. No one is behind you. No one is above you. No one is below you. The Sacred Circle is designed to create unity. The Hoop of Life is also a circle. On this hoop there is a place for every species, every race, every tree and every plant. It is this completeness of Life that must be respected in order to bring about health on this planet. (Joe Coyhis, Stockbridge-Munsee)

Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood is ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence ... What are the fruits of silence? They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character. (Dave Chief, Oglala Lakota)

Civilized people depend too much on man-made pages. I turn to the Great Spirit's book which is the whole of his creation. (Ohiyesa, Santee Sioux)

Day and night cannot dwell together. Your religion was written on tables of stone, ours as written on our hearts. (Tecumseh, Shawnee) 45

The Great Heavenly Father, who will look down upon us, will give all the tribes his blessing, that we may go forth in peace, and live in peace all our days, and that He will look down upon our children and finally lift us far above this earth: and that our Heavenly Father will look upon our children as His children, that all the tribes may be His children, and as we shake hands to-day upon this broad plain, we may forever live in peace. (Red Cloud; Marpiya-Luta Oglala)

Knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library and its books were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks and the birds and animals that shared, alike with us, the storms and blessings of the earth. We learn to do what only the student of nature ever learns, and that is to feel beauty. We never rail at the storms, the furious winds, the biting frosts and snows. To do so intensifies human futility, so whatever comes we should adjust ourselves by more effort and energy if necessary, but without complaint. Bright days and dark days are both expressions of the Great Mystery, and the Indian reveled in being close the Great Holiness. (Chief Luther Standing Bear Oglala)

We cannot all sit on the same side of the Fire. A Council Fire forms a circle, not a line or a square. When we move to the side, we still sit at the Fire with our Brothers and Sisters, but as we move away from one we move toward another. The circle, like the Dream Hoop, brings us ever back to where we start. Any time words of respect and love are spoken, they will return as given. A harsh word runs forever in the circle, eventually vanishing from the wear against itself. Love settles within the Circle, embracing it and thereby lasting forever, turning within itself. The Medicine Wheel is the circle of life (sometimes referred to as the Scared Hoop) Starting with birth and continuing through out our lives until death, when we have gone full circle. The Medicine wheel has four Direction, each direction offering its own lessons, color, and animal guide. There are to paths shown which cross in the center, at which point for me is the heart. (for when you work from your heart, you can reach all directions.) The path from East to West is the path of spirits, (the Blue Road) the path from South to North is our physical Walk (the Red Road ). (Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux) 46

The elders have sent me to tell you that now is like a rushing river, and this will be experienced in many different ways. There are those who would hold onto the shore... there is no shore. The shore is crumbling. Push off into the middle of the river. Keep your head above the water, look around to see who else is in the river with you, and celebrate. (Choquash)

Walk in peace. Be undisturbed and unperturbed: all is in God's plan. Never doubt this. Bring God into your life, and you will see miracles. (White Eagle)

When your tasks seem a little heavy and over-whelming remember just to do one thing at a time quietly, and leave the rest because the rest is not your job. What you cannot get through you must hand back to God, and God will work it out for you. (White Eagle)

When you are in doubt, be still, and wait. When doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage. So long as mists envelop you, be still. Be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists ... as it surely will. Then act with courage. (White Eagle)

O our Father, the Sky, hear us and make us strong. O our Mother, the Earth, hear us and give us support. O Spirit of the East, send us your Wisdom. O Spirit of the South, may we tread your path. O Spirit of the West, may we always be ready for the long journey. O Spirit of the North, purify us with your cleansing winds. (American Canadian Sioux)

Our Instructions are very simpleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to respect the Earth and each other, to respect life itself. That's our first Commandment, the first line of our Gospel. Respect is our Lawâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;respect for God's Creation, for all the living beings of this Earth, for our mother the Earth herself. We can't harm the Earth or the water because we respect their place in the world. We could never kill all the buffalo because that shows no respect for why the buffalo are here. You need to respect the animal you kill. It's following God's Instructions. You must respect other people's dreams. Respect their dreams and they'll 47

respect your dreams. We need to have respect even for those not yet born, for the generations to come. They have their rights, too. We must respect them. That is our religion and our Law. That is our Way. Those are our Instructions. We Indians haven't forgotten them and we never will. (Chief Noble Red Man)

For us, warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior, for us, is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others. His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity. (Chief Sitting Bull)

Leaders

IQ TEST: Crime, drugs, illegals--flooding into the country.

Do you shut down: (a) The

border, or (b) The federal gov't? OK, pencils down. (Ann Coulter)

The fundamental question of our time is whether we have the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it? (President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump)

Here, in this dark jail where they force me to live, I will be resisting until the freedom of my people is obtained. (Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet)

That Obama is now acting in concert with the Castro‘s weakens the democratic spirit of the U.S. before the world and for Cubans as well. There is an intellectual awakening taking place in Cuba that goes beyond economic necessities and many interpret Obama‘s warm embrace with the tyrant as a sign that the U.S. has abandoned a people in search of liberty. […] Liberty is not a political issue, it is a moral issue…‖ (Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet)

The Progressives, as Marxists like to call themselves, have had it pretty much their way for a hundred years now. Wilson's era brought us the Federal Reserve and the IRS, and 49

took state representation away from the Senate. Franklin Roosevelt's era brought us the welfare state, "rule by commerce clause", big unions and the military-industrial alliance. Since then we've seen the War On Poverty, which we lost, the War On Drugsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or Prohibition II which we're also losing in the same way we lost Prohibition I, a debt-backed dollar and a huge, ever more coercive and entrenched government with an unhealthy liking for crisis, reckless spending, police-state methods, unconscionable corruption and seventy years of undeclared wars. (Ol' Remus)

Liberty is not a means to a political end. It is itself the highest political end. (Lord Acton)

We must live in the truth, said the dissidents under Communist rule, because the truth will set us free. Truth and freedom are inextricably connected. We must speak the truth because otherwise we shall lose our freedom. (Geert Wilders) I want you to honestly search the world and find for me any country, society, where the redistribution of wealth, punishing the achievers, has resulted in you getting what they have. I'm here to tell you, it never does. (Rush Limbaugh) Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t worry about what other people think about you. (Rush Limbaugh)

Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves. (Winston Churchill)

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism 50

deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property—either as a child, a wife, or a concubine—must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die. But the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science—the science against which it had vainly struggled—the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.

Islam: No stronger retrograde force exists in the

world (Winston Churchill) ―How dreadful are the curses which Muhammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful, fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of it‘s dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property –either as a child, a wife or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Muhammedanism is a militant and proselytising faith. It has already spread throughout central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.‖ (Winston Churchill) A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in 51

every difficulty.

(Sir Winston Churchill)

When a president lies to the American people and is part of a cover up, he cannot continue to govern! (Mike Huckabee)

The parallel between Benghazi and the IRS story is amazing. Lying then lying about lying. Then hiding from the fact they are lying. Then seeking to apologize for lies they claim they didn‘t tell. This pattern of is a culture of big government who believes it is more important than the American people. (Newt Gingrich) Welfare‘s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence. (Ronald Reagan) I‘ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born (Ronald Reagan)

I still have a dream, because, you know, you can't give up in life. Never lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you to go on in spite of all. And so today I still have a dream. (Martin Luther King, Jr.) How can the ―Dream‖ survive if we murder the children? Every aborted baby is like a slave in the womb of his or her mother. The mother decides his or her fate.

(Martin

Luther King, Jr.)

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don‘t have to have a college degree to serve. You don‘t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don‘t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don‘t have to know Einstein‘s theory of relativity to serve. You don‘t have to know the second theory 52

of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. (Martin Luther King)

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

(Martin

Luther King) Lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s most urgent question is, â&#x20AC;&#x2022;What are you doing for others?â&#x20AC;&#x2013; (Martin Luther King)

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others. (Martin Luther King)

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. (Martin Luther King)

Now I say to you in conclusion, life is hard, at times as hard as crucible steel. (Mmm) It has its bleak and difficult moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flood. (Yeah) Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. (Yeah) But if one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him, (Yeah. Well) and that God is able (Yeah) to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace. (Mmm)

(Martin Luther King)

Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.

Talent will not; nothing is

more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. (Calvin Coolidge)

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. (Theodore Roosevelt) 53

One man with courage makes a majority.

(Andrew Jackson)

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

(William Jennings Bryan)

I expect to pass through this life but once.

If therefore, there be any kindness I can

show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. (William Penn)

Concepts such as truth, justice, compassion are often the only bulwarks which stand against ruthless power.

(Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)

People who are spiritually developed do not think of others in terms of their differences, but in terms of what they have in common. That is why a spiritually developed person is full of compassion: because he can think of every other human being as the same sort of person as he is, basically, with hopes and fears. He can feel a lot of compassion for others. (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)

To some it's a strange or outdated idea, but I do believe there is such a thing as a human spirit. There is a spiritual dimension to man which should be nurtured.

(Daw

Aung San Suu Kyi)

Sweeter even than to have had the joy of children of my own has it been for me to help bring about a better state of things for mothers generally, so that their unborn little ones could not be willed away from them. (Susan B. Anthony)

When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged. (Maddie H. Brinckerhoff) 54

I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. (Abraham Lincoln)

Surely God would not have created such a being as man ... to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.

(Abraham Lincoln)

Abortion is an atrocity. Those who practice or praise it are either damn idiots, misguided fools, or treacherous devils.

(Christopher Titus)

Look at the first faint gleam of life, the life of the embryo, the commencement of human existence. We see a tiny cell, so small it may be easily overlooked; the anatomist may examine it with scapel or microscope, and what does he discover? Nothing but a delicate, transparent membrane, containing one drop of clear water; the chemist may analyze it with the most scrupulous care, and find nothing but the trace of some simple salts. And yet there is in that same germ cell something wonderful – life – it is a living cell; it contains a power progressive growth, according to laws, according, towards a definite type, that we can only regard with reverent admiration. Leave it in its natural home, tended by the rich life of the healthy maternal organism, and it will grow steadily into the human type; in no other by any possibility. Little by little the faint specks will appear in the enlarging cell, which marked the head, the trunk, the budding extremities; tiny channels will groove themselves in every direction, red particles of inconceivable minuteness will appear in them – they move, they tend towards one central spot, were little channel has enlarged, has assumed a special form, has already begun to palpitate; finally the living blood in the small arteries joins that in the heart, and the circulation is established. From every delicate incomplete part, minute nerve threads shoot forth, they tend invariably towards their centres. They join the brain, spinal marrow, the ganglia. The nervous system is formed. The cell rapidly enlarges, it attaches to the maternal organism become more powerful… The human type is surely attained, and after a brief period of consolidation the young existence, created from that simple cell, will awake to further development of independent life.‖(Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell) 55

There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. (George Washington)

We hold these truths self-evident, that all persons are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

(The Declaration of Independence)

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t be in a hurry to condemn because he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t do what you do or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t know what you know today.

(Malcolm

Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.

(Malcolm X)

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another. (Nelson Mandela)

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to

make manifest the glory of god that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

(Nelson Mandela )

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership. (Nelson Mandela) 56

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. (Nelson Mandela)

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people, I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

(Nelson

Mandela)

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

(Nelson Mandela)

If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.

(Nelson

Mandela)

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

ask what you

can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

(John F. Kennedy)

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.

(John F.

Kennedy)

A tax cut means higher family income and higher business profits and a balanced federal budget. Every taxpayer and his family will have more money left over after taxes for a new car, a new home, new conveniences, education and investment. Every 57

businessman can keep a higher percentage of his profits in his cash register or put it to work expanding or improving his business, and as the national income grows, the federal government will ultimately end up with more revenues. (John F. Kennedy)

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black. (Robert Kennedy)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

(Thomas Jefferson)

I have sworn upon the Altar of God ... Eternal Hostility against every form of Tyranny over the mind of man. (Thomas Jefferson)

When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil. (Thomas Jefferson)

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.

(Thomas Jefferson)

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. (Edmund Burke)

There has never been a good war or a bad peace. (Benjamin Franklin)

The 21st century can deliver improved quality of life for everyone, and more hope for the future. It can be a world where the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity; where stewardship of nature, the preservation of wilderness and the creation of 58

sanctuaries are paramount; where pollution is eliminated, and where food is safe and water and air are clean. (Peter Melchett, Executive Director, U.K. Greenpeace)

So much is on the brink of happening in the coming decades. Technologies that have been inching their way forward, virtually unnoticed, over the past few years are now ready to explode into mainstream life - making possible the new clean energy economy that so many people want which governments have lacked the imagination to support. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s an exciting time, because the positive changes will happen if we make them. (Greenpeace)

The natural world is the only word of God. It alone was created by him, without assistance or interference. Only observation of nature could give a true picture of what God was like.

The creation we behold is the real word of God in which we cannot be

deceived. It proclaims his power and demonstrates his wisdom. It manifests its goodness and beneficence. (Thomas Paine)

If what you seek is Truth, then there is one thing you must have above all else....an unremitting readiness to admit you may be wrong.

(Thomas Paine)

My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. (Thomas Paine)

These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country: but he that stands it Now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:-- Tis dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven know how to put a proper price upon its goods: and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. (Thomas Paine)

You will do me the justice to remember that I have always supported the right of every 59

man to his opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine.

(Thomas Paine)

Artists

I can‘t imagine why people are afraid of new ideas. I‘m afraid of old ones. (John Cage) It‘s alright all of us all living saying ‗oh well there‘s enough of us so we won‘t have anymore, don‘t let anybody else live.‘ I don‘t believe in that. (John Lennon) Everything negative — pressure, challenges — is all an opportunity for me to rise. (Kobe Bryant)

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. (Yoda)

Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. (Vince Lombardi) 61

I'm not going to change who I am just because people think it's weird. (Daniel Norris)

Why do we close our eyes when we pray, cry, kiss, or dream? Because the most beautiful things in life are not seen but felt by the heart. (Denziel Washington)

I honor the beauty all around me by reveling in it and shining my enjoyment outward to others, setting an example and allowing my world to reflect peace, joy, love, abundance, and freedom in all directions. I allow my unique Divine harmonious power to flow through me to bless all that is. I request and accept beautiful surprises/ gifts from the Universe … I am filled with gratitude. (C.M. Brown)

The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Do you understand? (Captain Jack Sparrow) My teammates . . . are the ones who count. They‘re the ones who are making me. I don‘t make them. If I was making myself, I‘d be striking out everybody. If they don‘t play well behind me, I‘m not even here. I can‘t believe what these guys are doing for me. I feel so good. I don‘t know how to say thanks. (Mark Fidrych)

I would just hold my middle finger in the air and say a big F you to everyone who has ever said that to me (―Why do you only win at the nationals and fail so badly on the international stage?‖) because they have never stood in my shoes. They‘ve never had to do what I had to do. Nobody has to stand center ice before a million people and put an entire career on the line for eight minutes of their life when they‘ve been doing it for 20-some years. And if you don‘t think that that‘s not hard, you‘re a damn idiot. So some people can handle it better than others, but everyone has that mental struggle, everyone goes through the same doubts. I am not alone. They just come at different times and different moments. Some people have their moment at the Olympics, and some have theirs at the national championships. I‘m proud to be standing here. I‘m a four-time national champion and a two-time Olympian, and no one can take that away from me. So whatever people have to say about me, that‘s their own problem because 62

I‘m freaking proud of what I‘ve done and I‘m not going to apologize for any of it. (Jeremy Abbott)

The fight for the right to life is not the cause of a special few, but the cause of every man, woman and child who cares not only about his or her own family, but the whole family of man. (Dr. Mildred Jefferson)

Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer; since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment ... Go some distance away because the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and a lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen. (Leonardo da Vinci)

President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people (Clint Eastwood). I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn‘t say in any other way — things that I had no words for.

(Georgia O‘Keeffe)

In this great and wondrous universe the bounty of flowers reflect our truest essence. Humanity, then, is a living rainbow of nature's diversity, and each one of us is perfectly unique. (Georgia O‘Keeffe)

Know it share it spread it live it!! Only truth, logic & commonsense can save America. Stop the America-hating commies. Stop the America-hating socialists. Stop the America-hating liberals. Stop the America-hating democrats. Stop the America-hating fakenews media. Stop the America-hating rinos. Drain the damn swamp. Build the damn wall! (Ted Nugent) ―Ecstasy‖ is the accurate term for the level of intensity of consciousness which occurs in the creative art ... It involves acting as a total person, with subconscious and 63

unconscious levels acting in some form of unity with conscious levels.

(Rollo May)

I am still learning. (Michelangelo)

Computers are useless.

Every child is an artist.

They only give you answers. (Pablo Picasso)

The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

(Picasso)

And life is what we make it, always has been, always will be. (Grandma Moses)

Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius.

Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. (Wolfgang Amadeous Mozart)

Must it be? It must be! (Ludwig Van Beethoven)

All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love, love is all you need. (John Lennon) It‘s alright all of us all living saying ‗oh well there‘s enough of us so we won‘t have anymore, don‘t let anybody else live.‘ I don‘t believe in that. (John Lennon) When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system‘s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they‘ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don‘t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.‖ (John Lennon)

Enthusiasm is the key not only to the achievement of great things but to the accomplishment of anything worthwhile. (Samuel Goldwyn) You grow up the day you have the first real laugh — at yourself. (Ethel Barrymore) 64

You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality.

(Walt Disney)

Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look a it right. (Jerry Garcia) He studies a single blade of grass. But this blade of grass leads him to draw every plant and then the seasons, then the wide aspects of the countryside, then animals, then the human figure.

So he passes his life, and life is too short to do the whole.

(Vincent Van Gogh)

The best way to know God is to love many things. (Vincent van Gogh)

Without deviation, progress is not possible. (Frank Zappa) I don‘t know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone. (Bill Cosby) Don‘t you ever consider giving up — you‘ll do fine. (Ace of Base)

I can measure my life by the moments when art transformed me.... (Juleo Mateo)

Not by a battle of skills; but by will.

(Isiah Thomas)

I was a competitor. I competed hard as a player and a coach. That‘s never going to change. I always walked onto the basketball court determined I am not going to lose. (Bill Laimbeer)

This is our time. We believe we are the best basketball team out there. We have a very talented group, and they have to want to go out there and just take the championship. 65

But we have to choose to go out there and take the game, choose to take it over and prove to the world that this is best basketball club in the world. (Bill Laimbeer)

Many, many times, the kids with the less talent become the better athletes because they‘re more dedicated to achieving their full potential. (Red Auerbach) Defense is just hard work. There will be nights when your shots don‘t fall, but you can play good defense every night.

(Red Auerbach)

Opponents will always find your weakness and it doesn‘t take long. Weaknesses stand out like a neon sign. So don‘t just practice your strengths. Practice your weaknesses. (Magic Johnson) Our goal is not to win. It‘s to play together and to play hard. Then, winning takes care of itself. (Mike Krzyzewski) It‘s amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit. (John Wooden) If you go out with one focus in mind, to contribute to the team‘s success, individual accolades will take care of themselves.

(Michael Jordan)

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. (Michael Jordan)

Leadership is diving after loose balls.

(Larry Bird)

Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. Rebounds win championships. (Pat Summitt) 66

All great players are self-motivated.

(Kevin McHale)

Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

(Rudy Tomjanovich)

I love Michael. I‘m a Michael Jordan fan, like everyone else. I just don‘t think he‘s the greatest player ever. I think the greatest player I ever played against was Magic Johnson. Next was Larry Bird. Then Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The hardest guy I ever had to guard? Hakeem Olajuwon. …. The greatest player I ever played with? I played with Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen …. Isiah Thomas is the greatest player I‘ve ever played with. (John Salley)

Sooner or later you're going to realize, just as I did, there's a difference between knowing the path...and walking it.

Choice, the problem is choice.

(Morpheus [Matrix])

(Neo [Matrix])

I only need to find the gift that the universe set me up with and then use that gift for other people along their spiritual path, that is what love seems like to me. Love seems like lifting others up so that they can see their true potential here on earth and then find that joy and then share that love and excitement with those that have not found it yet. (Karen)

Inspiration is for me that mysterious state in which the entire world seems to form a vast harmony, when every sentiment, every thought re-echoes within me, when my whole body shivers and my hair stands on end. (Beethoven).

If there is anything in the world that is spiritual, if there is anything that exists which is Heaven-Born, it is most certainly kindness. In all the usages of mankind, in every path which mortals walk, this great element of love is so much, so deeply, so very sorely needed. We visit very frequently the schools and institutions of learning in your world and then we read the titles of their principles, and basic foundation very clearly indeed; 67

and we discern that all their efforts in these directions are in the main entirely wrong! The whole system of education in your public schools of learning, is based upon error, so how can the coming generation be right when the first privileges they absorbed in school were almost all wrong? What a monstrous unkindness this is, and what a serious mistake, those who have the power to change it all have made! The law of love and all branches of natural study should be taught and applied in your schools right along with the common branches of general school routine! But instead of this, the child's brain is cramped at an early age with all means of stuff and pure rubbish which he never will be able to use in his short span of years on the material side, nor either in the Spirit Realms! And thus all the laws of love, charity and kindness are forgotten or crowded aside for there is no time for so much reality on the earth side. What the mortals seem to desire for their young is simply the show, and fine glitter of perishable things and which are flaunted with great pride today, but tomorrow are cast aside for the great spiritual awakening, when God calls his own! Oh, how many souls go into darkness because those with whom, they lived on earth could not be kind enough to show them e'er the hand of death snatched them from earth, the better and the true way! Oh, the biting cold that will creep into a heart when the real milk of human kindness leaks out! We are making a great struggle and a real battle against the unkindness existing on your side of life. (John Ruskin)

Kindness is the living element in man which is the building power of all his better nature, and when refined and cultivated, is the perfect grace of the spirit! Be kind in little things! Attune your voices each day of your lives to speak in the soft cadence that only kindness knows. You will soon find that this practice will bring you many friends much happiness and love abounding! Be kind for the very love of it and not because you believe it to be a conventional fashion! Be merciful and kind to those who walk lowlier paths than yours, for really you never know when all that you possess financially may be swept away, and you might suddenly find yourselves where your brothers are! But if you possess the rich heritage which only the soul development can bestow, and if you fan that blessed flame of the life of the inner self, then have no fear, for no man can steal it, or take it away! Dear ones, the first lesson of soul unfoldment is centered in the 68

four tiny words and their execution, "Be kind to others!" How many beautiful things have come to mortals through their simply being kind! And you never know when you execute a kind act to a suffering sister or brother, what returns may come in after years! And if you surely do these things, with the faith born of love, and expect no recompense, then shall your cup of joy be full indeed! Oh, how many, many millions of earth's people have suffered for want of this sweet thing, kindness, when there was no need of this suffering, and only the selfishness of the fellowmen, breathing and living the life of wrong and error! Kindness is long suffering and of patience! It is humble and eternally forgiving! It is the last link which must be found before earth's multitudes will join together in one everlasting brotherhood! (John Ruskin)

Visionaries

If you care a great deal for your lower nature, you care for that which is not your own, but which has merely been borrowed from nature. While you enjoy its possession, you merely create an illusion. Your terrestrial nature is not more an essential part of yourself than the clothes you wear. Your true self is your character; if you lose the purity and strength of your character, you lose all that You really possess. (Oswald Murray)

All young minds should be given the freedom to enjoy every imaginable form of enjoyment that can be found, provided such enjoyments are wholesome. And here we should remember that those young people who stay at home ignorant of the world are not any better in character than those who go out to enjoy the best that is living and moving in the world. And as to mental power they are much weaker than those who have come in contact with the movements of life and thought in all its phases. Moral purity does not come from keeping the mind in a state of inaction, nor does goodness come from the absence of desire. The best way to make the mind pure and the character strong is to give the person so much rich and wholesome experience that he will not care for that which is inferior or perverted. No normal mind will care for the lesser after he has gained possession of the greater. And those minds that are not normal do not need ethics, they need a physician. An abundance of wholesome and 70

most interesting enjoyment may be found anywhere, and the supply will increase with the demand. It is possible for any person to go out and come in contact with the world without going wrong, and the experience is invaluable, not only in a practical way but also in a way that touches the very cause of everything that has worth in the being of man. The more constructive experience that a person passes through the larger will the mind become and the more substantial will everything become that is active in his nature. An abundance of rich experience will invariably be followed by a larger subconscious life and this will add remarkably to the power and capacity of every talent and faculty. Such experience will also tend to give every force in the system the proper direction and thus prevent the waste of energy. The more experience we seek the better, provided that experience is sought for the purpose of awakening the larger and the better that is latent within us. And since experience in some form is absolutely necessary to the promotion of this awakening, the art of securing experience becomes a fine art, in fact one of the finest and most important in the world. (Christian D. Larson)

Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.

(Henry Ford)

My sister ...I don't know. I try to care, but it is hard for me to find empathy for her. I feel that I went down a much harder road and was able to find the path to recovery. She is too angry, too aligned with the Dark Side to grow. She has exhausted herself by dragging her past with her into the present. She should have let it all go a long time ago. Life sucked for all of us back then, but as I've grown the past few years I've learned that mankind has almost ALWAYS had it much much harder than we have it and to obsess over the past at the expense of the present will almost always lead to disaster. To complain about our problems today when we have it so GOOD is, quite honestly, embarrassing. My sister has to look deep within herself and discover herself, her true self. Her id? Her Spirit? I don't know what it's called, I just know that when I was at my absolute worst, when I felt like my life was really over, something deep down inside of me came alive and it carried me to where I am today. All I had to do was admit to myself that I had made some mistakes, that everyone makes mistakes, and that it was time to move on. There is so much out there that we cannot control. It would drive a person mad 71

to attempt it, and I think that this is the root cause of my sister's failures. She has to look in the mirror and discover that thing about herself that is worth fighting for. No one can give it to her, no one can provide it for her, SHE has to do the work required. I think bad horrible shitty things happen so that the survivors can use it as a motive to improve their lives. We cannot let chaos and evil undo us. We must take adversity and forge it into a stronger, better us. (Kris Anton)

Nothing splendid was ever achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances.

(Bruce Barton)

Courage is the price life extracts for granting peace. (Amelia Earhart)

Realize that you cannot help a soul unless that soul really wants help and is ready to be helped. I tell you to send that soul nothing but Love and more Love. but be there when that soul turns for help.

Be still and wait,

(Eileen Caddy)

We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success;

we often discover what

will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.

(Samuel Smiles)

We hurry through the so-called boring things in order to attend that which we deem more important, more interesting.

Perhaps the final freedom will be a recognition that

everything in every moment is ‗essential‘ and that nothing at all is ‗important‘.

(Helen

M. Luke) People say that what we‘re all seeking is the meaning for life ... I think that what we‘re really seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive.

I will act now.

(Joseph Campbell)

(Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World) 72

The impossible is possible when people align with you. When you do things with people, not against them, the amazing resources of the Higher Self within are mobilized. (Gita Bellin)

Meaning doesn't lie in things. that aren't love â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

the money, the car, the house, the prestige â&#x20AC;&#x201D; we are loving things

that can't love us back. they're bad. earth.

Meaning lies in us. When we attach value to things

Material things, of themselves, mean nothing. It's not that

It's that they're nothing. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on

To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the

meaning of life.

(Marianne Williamson)

When you affirm your own rightness in the universe, then you cooperate with others easily and automatically as part of your own nature.

You, being yourself, help others

be themselves. Because you recognize your own uniqueness you will not need to dominate others, nor cringe before them.

(Jane Roberts)

Take someone into your heart so that you may heal and be healed.

(Steve Levine)

I believe that people's thinking and feeling can be changed only by seeing the beauty of all tiny creatures in this world ... like flowers which stand in bloom. (Dr. Rainer Jonas)

For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe.

(Larry Eisenberg)

Why do some people always see beautiful skies and grass and lovely flowers and incredible human beings, while others are hard-pressed to find anything, anyplace or anyone that is beautiful? (Leo Buscaglia)

Whether we are battling personal demons or global ills, we need both the toughness to see problems for what they are and the faith to imagine that we can have an impact on them. (Marian Sandmaier) 73

Just you have power over yourself, circumstance has no power over you. Your inner weather is at your command. (Olga Rosmanith)

I'm O.K., you're O.K.

(Harris Thomas Anthony)

Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire ... Then when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but an unique event in itself.

(Robert M. Pirsig)

We believe that we are hurt when we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t receive love.

But that is not what hurts us.

Our pain comes when we do not give love. We were born to love.

The truth is that

our well-being is dependent on our giving love. Just keep putting your love out there. (Alan Cohen)

I will persist until I succeed. I was not delivered into this world in defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I will persist until I succeed. (Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World)

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, or even touched; they must be felt with the heart. (Helen Keller)

(Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.

(Helen Keller)

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

(Helen Keller)

It is not attained

(Helen Keller)

I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the colour and fragrance of a flower â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence. 74

(Helen Keller)

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. (John Muir)

Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better. (Emile Coue)

There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.

The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will

have sought and found how to serve.

(Albert Schweitzer)

Grow into your ideals so that life cannot rob you of them. (Albert Schweitzer)

The deeper we look into nature, the more we recognize that it is full of life, and the more profoundly we know that all life is a secret and that we are united with all life that is in nature. Man can no longer live for himself alone. We realize that all life is valuable, and that we are united to all this life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship to the universe.

(Albert Schweitzer)

The only way out of today's misery is for people to become worthy of each other's trust. (Albert Schweitzer)

Don't tell them how to do it. Show them how to do it, and don't say a word. If you tell them, they'll watch your lips move.

If you show them, they'll want to do it themselves.

(Marie Montessori)

Love is the measure.

(Dorothy Day)

Let us be fools for Christ. Let us act our vision, even if we shall almost surely fail, for what the world calls failure is often, from a Christian standpoint, success. (Dorothy Day)

I have been asked to express myself on these matters, especially since there has been a pamphlet published in England by the Quakers which is said to condone pre-marriage 75

sexual intercourse if the parties are responsible. My reaction to this is that of a woman who must think in terms of the family, the need of the child to have both mother and father, who believes strongly that the home is the unit of society. (Dorothy Day)

On the other hand, the act of sex in its right order in the love life of the individual has been used in Old and New Testament as the symbol of the love between God and Man. Sexual love in its intensity makes all things new and one sees the other as God sees him. And this is not illusion. In those joyful days when one is purified by this single heartedness, this purity of vision, one truly sees the essence of the other, and this mating of flesh and spirit, the whole man and the whole woman, is the only way we know what the term â&#x20AC;&#x2022;beatific visionâ&#x20AC;&#x2013; means. It is the foretaste we have of heaven and all other joys of the natural world are intensified by it, hearing, seeing, knowing. (Dorothy Day)

You are not separate from your fellow humans, and you cannot find harmony for yourself alone.

You can only find harmony when you realize the oneness of all and

work for the good of all.

(Peace Pilgrim)

The spiritual life is the real life - all else is illusion and deception. Only those who are attached to God alone are truly free. Only those who live up to the highest light they have find their lives in harmony. Those who act on their highest motivations become a power for good. It is not important that others be noticeably affected. Results should never be sought or desired. Know that every right thing you do - every good thing you say - every positive thought you think- has good effect. (Peace Pilgrim)

YOU CAN KNOW GOD: There is a power greater than ourselves which manifests itself within us as well as everywhere else in the universe. This I call God. Do you know what it is to know God - to have God's constant guidance - a constant awareness of God's presence? To know God is to reflect love toward all people and all creations. To know God is to feel peace within - a calmness, a serenity, an unshakeableness which enables you to face any situation. To know God is to be so filled with joy that it bubbles over and 76

goes forth to bless the world. I have only one desire now - to do God's will for me - there is no conflict. When God guides me to walk a pilgrimage I do it gladly. When God guides me to do other things I do them just as gladly. If what I do brings criticism upon me I take it with head unbowed. If what I do brings me praise, I pass it immediately along to God, for I am only the little instrument through which God does the work. When God guides me to do something I am given strength, I am given supply, I am shown the way, I am given the words to speak. Whether the path is easy or hard I walk in the light of God's love and peace and joy, and I turn to God with psalms of thanksgiving and praise. This it is to know God. And knowing God is not reserved for the great ones. It is for little folks like you and me. God is always seeking you - every one of you. You can find God if you will only seek - by obeying divine laws, by loving people, by relinquishing self-will, attachments, negative thoughts and feelings. And when you find God it will be in the stillness. You will find God within. (Peace Pilgrim)

You can visualize God's light each day and send it to someone who needs help. Your divine nature must reach out and touch the divine nature of another. Within you is the light of the world, it must be shared with the world. Visualize a golden light within you and spread it out. First to those about you â&#x20AC;&#x201C; your circle of friends and relatives -- and then gradually to the world. Keep on visualizing God's golden light surrounding our earth.

(Peace Pilgrim)

BLESSED are they who give without expecting even thanks in return, for they shall be abundantly rewarded. BLESSED are they who translate every good thing they know into action - even higher truths shall be revealed to them. BLESSED are they who do God's will without asking to see results, for great shall be their recompense. BLESSED are they who love and trust their fellow human beings, for they shall reach the good in people and receive a loving response. BLESSED are they who have seen reality, for they know that not the garment of clay but that which activates the garment of clay is real and indestructible. BLESSED are they who see the change we call death as a liberation from the limitations of this earth-life, for they shall rejoice with their loved ones who make the glorious transition. BLESSED are they who after dedicating their lives 77

and thereby receiving a blessing have the courage and faith to surmount the difficulties of the path ahead, for they shall receive a second blessing. BLESSED are they who advance toward the spiritual path without the selfish motive of seeking inner peace, for they shall find it. (Peace Pilgrim)

Although others may feel sorry for you, never feel sorry for yourself - it has a deadly effect on spiritual well-being. Recognize all problems, no matter how difficult, as opportunities for spiritual growth, and make the most of these opportunities. (Peace Pilgrim)

For Light I go directly to the Source of Light, not to any of the reflections. Also I make it possible for more Light to come to me by living up to the highest Light I have. You cannot mistake Light coming from the Source, for it comes with complete understanding so that you can explain and discuss it.

(Peace Pilgrim)

When I was a senior in high school I began to make my search for God, but all my efforts were in an outward direction. I went about inquiring, ―What is God? What is God?‖ I was most inquisitive and I asked many questions of many people, but I never received any answers! However, I was not about to give up. Intellectually I could not find God on the outside, so I tried another approach. I took a long walk with my dog and pondered deeply upon the question. Then I went to bed and slept over it. And in the morning I had my answer from the inside, through a still small voice. Now my high school answer was a very simple answer—that we human beings just lump together everything in the universe which is beyond the capacity of all of us, and to all those things together some of us give the name God. Well, that set me on a search. And the first thing I did was to look at a tree, and I said, there’s one. All of us working together couldn‘t create that one tree, and even if it looked like a tree it wouldn‘t grow. There is a creative force beyond us. And then I looked at my beloved stars at night and there’s another. There‘s a sustaining power that keeps planets in their orbit. I watched all the changes taking place in the universe. At that time they were trying to keep a lighthouse from washing into the sea. They finally moved it inland and said they had saved it. But I 78

noticed all these changes and I said, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another. There is something motivating towards constant change in the universe. When I reached confirmation from within I knew beyond all doubt that I had touched my highest light. Intellectually I touched God many times as truth and emotionally I touched God as love. I touched God as goodness. I touched God as kindness. It came to me that God is a creative force, a motivating power, an over-all intelligence, an ever-present, all pervading spiritâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which binds everything in the universe together and gives life to everything. That brought God close. I could not be where God is not. You are within God. God is within you.

(Peace

Pilgrim)

I am asking you, as readers of Spirit Fruit, to cease following self and his desires; cease trusting to his effort, his power; and trust to the power of Universal Life which is in you and ready to act wisely thru you, if you will only be true to it in Faith. You are certainly weary enough with self-effort. You cannot possibly make a greater fool of yourself by trusting to Spirit, than you have made in trying to serve yourself. Then why not let the Life that created you have free access to all you are, and trust It to obey Its law in you? You have not found what that good and perfect will of Spirit is concerning your body, because you have not made of the body a living sacrifice. You do not know what the purpose of Spirit concerning the mind is, because you have not given your mind to Spirit. You do not know what your entire nature is intended for, because you have not surrendered it to the Spirit that made it. It is to get you to have Faith in the Living Spirit, whose intention it is to live thru you, that I write of the experiences I have passed thru. (Jacob Beilhart)

I possess nothing in my name, yet I could not possess more of the things I desire if I were the only king of earth and heaven. Love, pure Love, free from jealousy, is mine. Faith, a Faith that knows no doubt, is given me by many. Yes; mothers, brothers, sisters, lovers, and children. All are mine in profusion. Oh, did you only know the power there is in honest hearts loving you, because of the qualities that are alive in you! If you only knew the power there is in having a Faith in your loyalty to Spirit Universal, a Faith that does not question! If you only knew the joy that is mine because I have given the heart 79

of Universal Love the right to beat in my breast! The Wisdom of Universal Life the right to pass thru my brain! The Faith of Universal Spirit to have an abiding place in my consciousness! To get you to become partakers of all the bounties that has prepared for us all, is the object I have in thus giving you my past experiences. What I know of God or Life is what I experienced in His nature in me. I have no intellectual conception of God. I need none. I know there is a Father-Nature that loves to provide, and that this Father-Nature takes into consideration every necessity of all that He has created, for it is a part of Himself. I seemed to know that the Life that IS had a will or way of expression; and if the human consciousness only submitted to the experiences that naturally come to it, it would undergo a change and be born into a new Life; or the Universal unselfish Life would enter when self-interests were wholly crucified. I also realized that so long as men would use the power that they could get by effort, and assert their personal rights, they would build up and retain this separate consciousness, and be in bondage to its desires; and if this self-interest and self-desire remained, we could not sense the desire of the Universal Consciousness or act in accord with the Divine Will, and hence could not experience the joy of being in harmony with the Universe where Love is the propelling power that produces all action. (Jacob Beilhart)

I could see that I was being systematically taught by practical living. That instead of seeking an understanding intellectually, and learning the laws of Life by studying them or trying to obtain a mental conception of them, as so many have done, I could look at my daily experiences and see these laws in full action. The things of the Kingdom were coming down to earth. The ideals and theories that others held in mind were real things that were being lived in me. I did not plan any of these things. I simply Let Go and seemed to know within myself that Spirit had a purpose in all things. I took everything as coming from Spirit, regardless as to who or what was used as the instrument to bring it to me. In this way I found God. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." The ordinary meaning of the word pure might not apply to me, but I had a "single eye;" I had but one purpose; I served but one Master. We hear many say they do not live their ideal life, but that they do the best they can. There is no reason why you cannot live your highest ideal each moment. Do your full duty as you see it. The reason that men 80

fall short of this is because they are attempting to serve two masters. They do not give themselves entirely up to their highest conception. (Jacob Beilhart)

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." If you set your whole heart on the side of Spirit, you will rejoice in seeing that part of you succeed, and you will rejoice in the suffering caused by the removing of the self-desires, even though the suffering is great. I have suffered nothing in the sense that things have gone contrary to my desires. Why? Because the one thing I did was to see that my will was to have the Will of the Universal Life fulfilled regardless of any pain or suffering to my separate self. And I have had my way in all things. Oh! Do you not know the joy of willingly giving up all that self holds dear? Do you suffer the removal of things against your will? If you do you are taking the hard road. You can never find by that attitude what the love of Spirit is for you; you cannot receive the inflow of the Will of Spirit or rejoice in Its success. (Jacob Beilhart)

I have no way of my own, no personal interests; for the life I am, is equally interested in all things, and is not centred anywhere. (Jacob Beilhart)

It is the one who has come into the realization of their own true self who carries this power with them and who radiates it wherever they go, the one who, as we say, has found their center. And in all the great universe there is but one center, the Infinite Power that is working in and through all. The one who then has found their center is the one who has come into the realization of their oneness with this Infinite Power, the one who recognizes themselves as a spiritual being, for God is spirit. (Ralph Waldo Trine) To be observed today, or in part; to be changed tomorrow -- or abandoned -- if the light is better. To Live to our highest in all things that pertain to us; To lend a hand as best we can to all others for this same end; To aid in righting the wrongs that cross our path by pointing the wrong-doer to a better way, and thus aid him in becoming a power for good; To remain in nature always sweet and simple and humble, and therefore strong; To open ourselves fully and to keep ourselves pure and clean as fit channels for the Divine Power to work through us; To turn toward and keep our faces always to the light; 81

To do our own thinking, listening quietly to the opinions of others, and to be sufficiently men and women to act always upon our own convictions; To do our duty as we see it, regardless of the opinions of others, seeming gain or loss, temporary blame or praise; To play the part of neither knave nor fool by attempting to judge another, but to give that same time to living more worthily ourselves; To get up immediately when we stumble, face again to the light, and travel on without wasting even a moment in regret; To love all things and to stand in awe or fear of nothing save our own wrong-doing; To recognize the good lying at the heart of all people, of all things, waiting for expression, all in its own good way and time; To love the fields and the wild flowers, the stars, the far-open sea, the soft, warm earth, and to live much with them alone, but to love struggling and weary men and women and every pulsing living creature better; To strive always to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. In brief -- to be honest, to be fearless, to be just, to be kind. This will make our part in life's great and as yet not fully understood play truly glorious, and we need then stand in fear of nothing -- life nor death; for death is life. Or, rather, it is the quick transition to life in another form; the putting off of the old coat and the putting on of a new; a passing not from light to darkness but from light to light, according as we have lived here; a taking up of life in another form just where we leave it off here; a part in life not to be shunned or dreaded or feared, but to be welcomed with a glad and ready smile when it comes in its own good way and time. (Ralph Waldo Trine)

Infinite Spirit of Nature, thou that pervadeth the universe of matter, quickening into life and being all forms of beauty radiating in the sunlight, blossoming in the flowers, filling the air with melody in the song of birds and the murmur of brooks; thou that art everywhere and all things in the pains of motherhood, in helpless infancy, in the joy and gladness of youth, in the struggles and trials of manhood, in the bowed form and feeble step of old age, in the sinking pulse of death; thou that holdest the universe in thy keeping, and in the mighty sweep of suns and constellations, filleth immensity with glory may we not feel that we are a part of thee, and realize that thy infinite purpose in us is that we may become like unto thee in all symmetry and beauty of spirit, in all nobility of character, in all grandeur of goodness. May thy ministering spirits from the shining 82

shores of immortal life, touch all hearts with a tender sympathy for those that suffer, and kindle anew in each soul a firmer purpose to subdue all the lesser good in the undeveloped nature, and to rise to the higher planes of being, where all is honor, and purity, and true manliness of soul. And thus we will ever pray. (JJ Owen)

The mole burrowing in the dark earth, the thistle down floating on the summer breeze, the rootlet of the plant groping for moisture and nutrition, all are moved by a divine energy, the same that called the world into existence, and bespangled the infinite spaces of ether with star gems. (JJ Owen)

It has no fabric, only understanding. It has no membership, save those who know they belong.It has no rivals, because it is non-competitive. It has no ambition, it seeks only to serve.It has no boundaries, for nationalisms are unloving. It is not of itself, because it seeks to enrich all groups and religions. It has no secret, no arcanum, no initiation save that of true understanding of the power of love and that, if we want it to be so, the world will change, but only if we change ourselves first. It acknowledges all great teachers of all ages who have shown the truth of love.

Its participants will practice the

truth of love in all their being. It seeks not to teach but to be, and in being, to enrich. It recognizes the whole planet as a Being of which we are all a part. It recognizes that the time has come for the supreme transmutation, the ultimate alchemical act of conscious change of the world-ego into a voluntary return to the Whole. It does not proclaim itself with a loud voice, but in the subtle realms of loving. It salutes all those in the past who have blazed the path and have paid the price. Its members shall know each other by their deeds and being, and by their eyes, and by no other outward sign save the fraternal embrace. Its members will dedicate their lives to the silent loving of their neighbor and environment and the planet, while carrying out their task, however exalted or humble. It recognizes the supremacy of the Great Idea which may only be accomplished if the human race practices love. It has no reward to offer either here or in the hereafter save that of the ineffable joy of being and loving. Its members shall seek to advance the cause of understanding, doing good by stealth, and teaching only by example. Its members shall heal their neighbors, their community and our planet. Its 83

members shall know no fear and feel no shame, and their knowledge shall prevail over all odds. All those who belong, belong to the church of love. (The Cartharsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Church of Love)

Instead of thinking of the people whom you have believed to be evil and an undesirable influence, think of the goodness of God in the life of all His children. Think of God as everywhere-present light, love, peace, power, and life. Think of all men, all women, all children as abiding in God's presence and expressing God's qualities. As you do this, you will touch the reality of individuals, and you will invite only the best from them. Spirit will respond as you expect it to, for the Spirit of God is in every person. Some persons have not yet wakened to this realization; but as you declare the Truth for them and expect it to express through them toward you, you will receive only loving and considerate treatment from them. As you read these explanations of the way in which a soul may lay hold of its inheritance from God and exercise its God-given freedom in the endeavor to develop and use its powers, pray for more light to enable you to see how precious these individuals are and how important it is that we all have freedom to correct our mistakes. The best way to help your brother is to pray for him to be spiritually illumined. Then if he has come to a place in his soul development where he is ready to accept Truth, he will have the understanding and desire to seek the indwelling Spirit. (Myrtle Fillmore)

May you always feel loved. May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand. May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced, give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with optimism and courage. Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there even when you feel most alone. May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace. May a kind word, a reassuring touch, a warm smile, be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them. Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending. Teach love to those who know hate, and let that love embrace you as you go into the world. May the teachings of those you admire become part of you, so that you may call upon them. Remember, those whose 84

lives you have touched and who have touched yours are always a part of you, even if the encounters were less than you would have wished. May you not become too concerned with material matters, but instead place immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart. Find time in each day to see the beauty and love in the world around you. Realize that each person has limitless abilities, but each of us is different in our own way. What you may feel you lack in one regard may be more than compensated for in another. What you feel you lack in the present may become one of your strengths in the future. May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility. Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience. May you find enough inner strength to determine your own worth by yourself, and not be dependent on another's judgments of your accomplishments. May you always feel loved. (Anonymous)

Sincerity and Intensity of Efforts Is What Counts. Spiritual Consciousness lies in the sincere internal effort to go upstream toward real lasting happiness. Many people say that they are following a righteous course, but very few are really making a sincere effort. It isn't demanded of you that you become an angel all at once. Since only the Absolute is perfect, we can say that before GOD even the best angel is a sinner. But saints are sinners who do not give up. No matter what your difficulties, if you do not give up, you are making progress in your struggle against the stream. To struggle is to win the favor of GOD. You must make that supreme effort. Do not idly let life float you down the stream. You can't fool God, because He sees your thoughts. He won't measure how long you have worked for spiritual attainment; it is your intensity that counts. No matter how many incarnations of bad karma you might have, if your devotion and sincerity are deep enough to bring into your consciousness the light of GOD, all darkness of the evil of incarnations will be burned away. So no matter if your sins are as deep as the Atlantic Ocean, make constant mental effort to become good. Never think of yourself as a sinner, because sin and ignorance are only mortal nightmares. When we will awaken in GOD, we will find that we â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the soul, the pure consciousness â&#x20AC;&#x201D; never did anything wrong. Untainted by mortal experiences, we are and ever have been the sons of GOD. We are like gold in the mud: when the mud of ignorance has been cleansed away, the shining gold of the soul, made in God's image, is seen within. Spiritual consciousness 85

comes from a firm mental resolve. No matter how others are behaving around you or toward you, you yourself have to be good. The greatest enemy of yourself is yourself. You procrastinate about being good. You have to take control of your behavior and consciousness. Do the things you know you should do and don't do anything that is contrary to spiritual consciousness. Love4all. (Rajat)

We pray to the great Spiritual Power in which we live and move and have our being. We pray that we may at all times keep our minds open to new ideas and shun dogma; that we may grow in our understanding of the nature of all living beings and our connectedness with the natural world; that we may become ever more filled with generosity of spirit and true compassion and love for all life; that we may strive to heal the hurts that we have inflicted on nature and control our greed for material things, knowing that our actions are harming our natural world and the future of our children; that we may value each and every human being for who he is, for who she is, reaching to the spirit that is within, knowing the power of each individual to change the world. We pray for social justice, for the alleviation of the crippling poverty that condemns millions of people around the world to lives of misery â&#x20AC;&#x201D; hungry, sick, and utterly without hope. We pray for the children who are starving, who are condemned to homelessness, slave labor, and prostitution, and especially for those forced to fight, to kill and torture even members of their own family. We pray for the victims of violence and war, for those wounded in body and for those wounded in mind. We pray for the multitudes of refugees, forced from their homes to alien places through war or through the utter destruction of their environment. We pray for suffering animals everywhere, for an end to the pain caused by scientific experimentation, intensive farming, fur farming, shooting, trapping, training for entertainment, abusive pet owners, and all other forms of exploitation such as overloading and overworking pack animals, bull fighting, badger baiting, dog and cock fighting and so many more. We pray for an end to cruelty, whether to humans or other animals, for an end to bullying, and torture in all its forms. We pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving and the strength we gain in loving; that we may learn to take nothing for granted in this life; that we may learn to see and understand with our hearts; that we may learn to rejoice in our being. 86

We pray for these things with humility;

We pray because of the hope that is within us,

and because of a faith in the ultimate triumph of the human spirit; We pray because of our love for Creation, and because of our trust in God. We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world. (Dr. Jane Goodall)

Spiritualists

Infinite and Guiding Spirit of the Universe, we ask not that we be rich, famous, powerful or even good, but let us, O Eternal One, Be RADIANT! Radiant with health, with life, and with love.

May we ever radiate cheerfulness, calm courage, and good will.

us live without hate, jealousy, envy and fear.

Let

May we ever be simple, honest, frank,

clean in body, clean in mind, and may we say, ―I don‘t know‖ if it be so, and to meet all men on an absolute equality; enable us to face any obstacle, and to meet any difficulty unafraid. We pray that others, too, may live by their Highest Light, If we can help them, let us do it wholeheartedly by giving them a chance to help themselves; and if we can Uplift and Inspire others, let it be by example and by suggestion, rather than by injunction and dictation. Bless all who enter the portals of this Temple seeking knowledge of Thy Ways with man. May each and every Soul find the true path that leads to everlasting Peace and Happiness, here and now! May everyone find joy in the Great Work they have undertaken, and may this work be a continual blessing to all. We humbly ask as our rightful heritage. AMEN. (Reverend F. W. Ackerman)

Thoughts are magnetic, and thoughts have a frequency. As you think thoughts, they are sent out into the Universe, and they magnetically attract all like things that are on the same frequency. Everything sent out returns to the source - you. (Rhonda Byrne) 88

The task is challenging at times. There are times frequently when it is impossible to keep the thought forms positive, with frequent adverse events on the earth plane, but having access to spiritual knowledge brings with it a responsibility to disseminate the knowledge, which is generally a little thankless, and in the case of the established churches and the scientist, although there are signs of change, there is still an overall hostility. (Peter Sharpe)

Modern Spiritualism will grow, and deepen, and broaden, and strengthen, until all false creeds and dogmas shall be swept from the earth -- when faith shall be buried in knowledge, when war shall be known no more, when universal brotherhood shall prevail to bless mankind.

(Cora L.V. Richmond)

The brightest jewel set in the crown of true man and womanhood is the bright and precious gem that causes its wearer to possess a heart of pure gold, feelings ever tender toward all the world, and a nature ever unswerving and faithful to a friend, a jewel that works wonders for its wearer and owner and its name is friendship! Of all the qualities possessed by mankind, friendship is one of the greatest! The strong iron band that being beaten and welded together, through the toils privations, joys and sorrows of years, and wielding in its completion that magic sĂŠance, which stands always open between friend and friend is really one of the entrances-ways to Paradise! The bells of heaven ring in glad peals of pure joy when the angels witness the loyal truth of two souls vibrating in the chain of sweet friendship! (George Sand)

Thankfulness, thankfulness, thankfulness. I desire to impress upon you the great need for this attitude of mind continually. I would have you thankful at all times, not only when things go well, but when things are seemingly in confusion. At this moment give thanks that through Divine Power harmony may again be restored. This will enable us to help you to straighten out your own tangles of thought and feeling, and the disturbance caused by them in your immediate surroundings. To give thanks at all times is not only a passport to serener conditions, but acts as a talisman, transforming the soul itself. Outer shadows would speedily disperse before the light of this quality wedded to faith. 89

Very seldom do we perceive the two united in any degree of intensity. Human souls are fitful in their expressions of these most beautiful characteristics. Angel. (Mary Bruce Wallace)

The only road to success is through the attainment of a calm and joyous mind. A calm and joyous mind, free from worry and care, is the golden key that unlocks the doors of infinite possibilities, as an Angel. (Mary Bruce Wallace)

Search your hearts. Purify your minds. Have supreme faith. Do not falter. Sanctify your every thought. Open your souls to receive God's greatest gift: Love Omnipotent!" Angel. (Mary Bruce Wallace)

In the beginning the Universe was one boundless, indefinable, and unimaginable ocean of Liquid Fire. The most vigorous and ambitious imagination is not capable of forming an adequate conception of the height and depth and length and breadth thereof. There was one vast expanse of liquid substance. It was without bounds - inconceivable - and with qualities and essences incomprehensible. This was the original condition of Matter. It was without forms, for it was but one Form. It had no motions, but it was an eternity of Motion. It was without parts, for it was a Whole. Particles did not exist, but the Whole was as one Particle. There were not suns, but it was one eternal Sun. It had no beginning and it was without end. It had not length, for it was a Vortex of one Eternity. It had not circles, for it was one infinite Circle. It had not disconnected power, but it was the very essence of all Power. Its inconceivable magnitude and constitution were such as not to develop forces, but Omnipotent Power. Matter and Power were existing as a Whole, inseparable. The Matter contained the substance to produce all suns, all worlds, and systems of worlds, throughout the immensity of Space. It contained the qualities to produce all things that are existing upon each of those worlds. The Power contained 90

Wisdom, and Goodness, Justice, Mercy and Truth. It contained the original and essential Principle that is displayed throughout immensity of Space, controlling worlds and systems of worlds, and producing Motion, Life, Sensation and Intelligence, to be impartially disseminated upon their surfaces as ultimates.

(Andrew Jackson Davis)

Spontaneous and profound Questions are living representatives of internal Desires; but to obtain and enjoy those pure and beautiful responses, which are intrinsically elevating and eternal, the Inquirer should consult not superficial and popular Authorities, but the everlasting and unchangeable teachings of Nature, Reason, and Intuition. There is an omnipotent, purifying. and fraternizing Principle permeating and pervading the Natural, Spiritual, and Celestial Departments of GOD's Universal Temple-a principle, which unites atoms and planets into one stupendous System; which unfolds spirits and angels as immortal Flowers; which endows the Divine Mind with eternal Power and Loveliness; and which is the divinely-inherited Treasure of the human soul- and this principle is called, THE GREAT HARMONIA. (Andrew Jackson Davis)

To the great centre of intelligence; to the positive sphere of thought; to that Focus of life, light, and being, from which proceeds, and to which returns, all knowledge and power; to the spiritual Sun of the Universe I go to receive my instructions. (Andrew Jackson Davis)

True religion is derived from Nature. Miracles innumerable are incessantly performed by Nature to attest the divinity of her mission. Stars in the sky, and the grass beneath, are her signs and wonders. heart.

And truth is the golden door of entrance to the human

(Andrew Jackson Davis)

Where Nature is, there is no man-made theology.

Where there is a true child of

Nature, there is no creed, no falsehood, no hypocrisy. perpetually young.

The children of Nature are

(Andrew Jackson Davis)

The human mind is like a lake of living water. Its encompassing margin is the human 91

body. senses.

The streams and virulets, that flow in from the surrounding country, are the The fruitful trees and flowering plants upon its margin are the external objects

of attraction.

When there is no atmospheric agitation, there are no wavesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;no

thoughtsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the lake slumbers in dreamless tranquility; but let one breath of wind (sensation) stir the overhanging foliage, and instantly the rivulets throb and the lake vibrates with wavy commotion.

(Andrew Jackson Davis)

The mission of thought is to agitate, enlighten, and purify the soul. prosecuted throughout countless spheres of spiritual progression.

This work is

The influence of

pure thought is like the breath of heaven upon flowers; while low thoughts fall like the vapors of pestilence.

They blast the beautiful, like shafts of lightning.

(Andrew

Jackson Davis)

It is our present impression that the Universe is intrinsically, vitally, organically unchangeable and orderly throughout.

The omnipotent attraction of the central Soul is

irresistible, and unto it the humblest as well as the mightiest beings instinctively yield all power and praise.

All ends are involved in all beginnings, and nothing hangs loose

over the abyss of uncertainty.

The minutest consummation of things is secured by the

irrefutable logic of unchangeable laws.

The sublime harmony of the universe is not

jeopardized by the presence of unfriendly accidents or by chaotic possibilities. The attributes of the central Soul are illimitable.

They sweep with omnipotent force through

the stupendous machinery of this beautiful and harmonious system of Cause and Effect. And the unerring lines and the fixed courses of the interwoven series of mutual dependencies are sufficiently perfect to comprehend and accomplish the least with the greatest of ends.

(Andrew Jackson Davis)

There is but one road to victory in this direction, and even such conquest will be partial, so that you will conclude that thought is uncontrollable. concentration of mind.

The straight road is

This habit is favorable to self-control.

Davis) 92

(Andrew Jackson

In brief, then, the human structure is trifold instead of dual, and there is as much difference between ―soul‖ and ―spirit‖ as there is between the body and the soul.

The

―soul‖ is compounded of all the motive forces, life-principles, and sensational elements which may be found, to a greater or lesser degree of perfection, in all the lower organizations of matter. But the ―spirit‖ is the divine part—the essence of all motion, the master of all life, the lord of all sensations, and the immortalizing crown of all intelligence in man.

―Spirit‖ is the fountain of every sublime Aspiration—the flower of

immortal fragrance in the middle of the heart of man‘s life—the indwelling ―image and likeness‖ of whatsoever is holy, beautiful, lovely and eternal.

―Spirit‖ is the source of

Love and Wisdom—‖soul‖ is the source of passion and knowledge. the outer body—‖spirit‖ is the life of the soul.

―Soul‖ is the life of

After physical death, the soul or life of the

natural body becomes the form or ―body‖ of the eternal SPIRIT; and hence, in the Spirit Land, the spirit is surrounded by the physical imperfections of the ―soul.‖ But the soul (or the spirit body) is ultimately purified by the ―spirit,‖ which is King.

(Andrew Jackson

Davis) Natural Religion is the opposite of that which is fictitious or ―supernatural.‖ It is the doctrine of Truth, Justice, Righteousness, as taught by the harmony, equilibrium, and happiness of the universe.

It is impossible to get any broad estimate of Truth from a

superficial study of any one branch of geography, astronomy, or science, as such branch is presented by the routine system of a modern school or academy.

If you

would learn of Truth—exact, never-varying, beautiful, stern, and perfect—examine the laws of planetary motion, the principles of cause and effect in all things, and the adorable proportions of bodies in their respective spheres. Justice, right, and love, and the beauty of holiness are lessons breathed from the constitution and adaptation of every natural object.

Search the sacred volume of Nature through.

Let its divine

lessons burn their glories into your heart. Life and joy supreme—transporting life and enrapturing joy—come to the pure in heart.

The spirit of Nature, and the precious

presence of the Father, will burn in every bush of roses. In tree, in bird, in sky, in star, in your parents, in everything human, behold the Love, and Will, and Wisdom of Deity. (Andrew Jackson Davis) 93

The whole world is moving toward redemption.

The distracted nations, under the

blessings of higher spheres, shall be delivered from the bondage of stupendous ignorance; they shall be gathered together ―into the glorious liberty‖ of the children of eternal truth and good. divine Love.

And all this will be accomplished through the pure wisdom of

It is the only omnipotent spirit.

(Andrew Jackson Davis)

The law of true wedlock is written in matter and in man. It is sublime in its process, and divine in its revelations of truth. The male and female principles, or positives and negatives, exist and govern everywhere. The nuptial law, of which these opposites are expressions, most explicitly declares that, to the ends of happiness and harmonious offspring, opposite temperaments should marry, but only when there is a similarity of capacity and development. That is to say: The social, moral, intellectual endowments, attainments, and tastes of the parties, should bear some considerable likeness to each other, and yet the temperaments (except the centrals) may and should be almost exactly opposite. So, therefore, while rapid and torpid, hot and cold, acid and alkaline temperaments will favorably affect each other in marriage and result in true parentage, the effect would be exactly otherwise if the unlikeness extended into social and intellectual capacities and dispositions.

It will not answer to marry a foolish man to an

intelligent woman, nor a combative to a gentle nature, nor a beast to an angel, for misery and diseased offspring would ensue.

(Andrew Jackson Davis)

The philosophy of human life and death is very simple, and ―he who runs‖ may read it, if he hath only eyes to see and a heart to understand. We do not teach that men disgorge their incongruities and moral imperfections when they ―shuffle off the mortal coil;‖ we do not affirm that death transforms all men, nor any man, ―in the twinkling of an eye,‖ into a pure and harmonious angel of light; we do not say that there will be no necessity for intellectual labor and moral struggling to attain higher conditions after death;

we do

not inculcate that all are equally beautiful, and happy, and progressed, in the Summer-Land; but this— the effects and consequences of an evil earth-life do continue, in more or less active force , beyond the grave. Or take the habitual drunkard and 94

libertine.

Now, it cannot be shown that a man‘s innermost—the divine SPIRIT—was

ever moved toward intemperance and sexual intercourse.

In truth, the SPIRIT is

always the accusing and condemning ―Voice‖—the angel of light within, who would lead the man out of his darkness and disgrace—the interior source of ‖ideas,‖ of hope, of conscience, of justice, of truth, of immortality. and abandonment?

Whence, then, his desire for intoxication

We answer: From that middle nature—the battle-field of all

discord and passion—the ―soul,‖ which is between the outmost body and the inmost spirit. In common with the animals, each man has a ―soul‖—a playground of, as yet, unorganized elements and the imponderable principles. From that source, and from no other, spring forth all the desires and passions which disgrace humanity and turn our beautiful earth into ―the lowest hell.‖ (Andrew Jackson Davis)

The conjugal sanctities of a human spirit are the holiest of all interior sensibilities. They are the finest, and highest, and most confiding. The filaments of every other affection

center

the

marriage-love

the

soul.

Salvation

damnation—contentment or desperation—hang upon the delicate thread of the conjugal relation. It is the root of all the exquisitely fine fibers of life and progress. (Andrew Jackson Davis)

The power whereby the human mind perceives Truth, as a principle of the Universe, is the same as the power to personate and embody it. The power to conceive or feel a principle is identical with the power to put it in practice. .... The Will is never paralyzed when the soul is fully inspired with the divinity and majesty of a Principle. weak when left to grope their way through the wilderness of circumstances.

Men are ―Doing

your best under the circumstances‖ is the same as putting yourself under their arbitrary jurisdiction. But acting from an inherent love of Principle—let consequences be what they may—is ascending the throne of the Heavenly King.

The power to embody a

truth is commensurate with he mind‘s ability to be inspired by its spirit. An uninspired soul is naturally disobedient.

Poets and prophets fall only when not inspired by

principle. (Andrew Jackson Davis) 95

By actual experience, spirits communicate with the sons of men. Every one, disposed to be in harmony with these principles, is a builder of the temple of progressive redemption. We have but little to do with the past; only so far as it sheddeth instruction. The past is fixed eternally; no man can alter it.

No praying, no preaching, no spiritual

device, can possibly erase an action or efface the history of an institution.

The great

point is, to live from this hour in reference to the symmetrical erection of the Spiritual Temple. (Andrew Jackson Davis)

The interior clairvoyant senses can gaze upon the higher worlds, and reveal new worlds within the one we at present dwell upon.

These senses address man‘s inward sources

of knowledge; they speak to his Intuition and Reason.

As the microscopic and

telescopic worlds are hidden, in their prismatic splendors and awful magnititudes, from the powers and penetrations of man‘s corporeal senses; so, from the same limited vision, are concealed the stupendous magnificence of the spiritual universe, and the kindling skies and indescribably beauties of the eternal spheres.

But, to the interior

senses, all these worlds are visible. Men, and things, and planets, and angels, and future existence, and the vital laws of Father-God--all, appear in that consistent order and philosophic precision which distinguish the truth from the dark chaos of mythic Theology.

To the interior senses, the changes of Mother-Nature are indications of the

ceaseless operations of unchangeable principles--steps from lower to higher--from matter to spirit. A birth, a fleeting existence, a death--these are manifestations of the beautiful Laws of progression and development.

(Andrew Jackson Davis)

The great lesson which I would have enstamped on men‘s souls is, that the harmonial formation of character—in harmony with the principles of Universal Love and Distributive Justice—is the only security against temporal unhappiness and future disturbances. … Progression is made by a reasonable belief in progress. Harmony of character and loveliness of disposition unfold gradually from unwavering efforts to acquire them.

May such faith and such efforts be our crown and adornments—for

they are at once the causes and effects of fraternal harmony and personal happiness. (Andrew Jackson Davis) 96

Truth will consume all error and artificial theology, whose power is weakened, and whose corruptions are revealed, by the divine light of Natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s manifestations. (Andrew Jackson Davis)

Under all circumstances keep an even mind. (Andrew Jackson Davis)

Vast spiritual powers are waiting to be poured forth. Create vessels for this purpose. Make yourself a vessel that you may receive the gift of the spirit. I would close by repeating what he says with reference to love, which, in my opinion, seals the whole experience with the stamp of truth. If you would dwell in peace, learn to love deeply. Never cease loving. Love God by pouring yourself away. Love your fellows by giving them all you possess of light and truth. Love LOVE for her own blessed sake. Such love will bring you nearer heaven.

(Private Dowding)

Miss Fay, in 1856, in the presence of the Hon. Joshua R. Giddings and Stephen Dudley, Esq., in New York, exclaimed as follows: "I behold a sea of light extending everywhere, a never fading light. It is not of the sun or moon, or stars; oh, that I had the power to describe it! I must call it a divine light. It will never grow dim. I see no limit, but only an immensity of light. The sun fades beside it. The source appears like light creating light. (Edwin D. Babbitt)

Light reveals the glories of the external world and yet is the most glorious of them all. It gives beauty, reveals beauty and is itself most beautiful. It is the analyzer, the truth-teller and the exposer of shams, for it shows things as they are. Its infinite streams measure off the universe and flow into our telescopes from stars which are quintillions of miles distant. On the other hand it descends to objects inconceivably small, and reveals through the microscope objects fifty millions of times less than can be seen by the naked eye. Like all other fine forces, its movement is wonderfully soft, yet penetrating and powerful. Without its vivifying influence, vegetable, animal, and human 97

life must immediately perish from the earth, and general ruin take place. We shall do well, then, to consider this potential and beautiful principle of light and its component colors, for the more deeply we penetrate into its inner laws, the more will it present itself as a marvelous storehouse of power to vitalize, heal, refine, and delight mankind. (Edwin D. Babbitt)

Knowledge not lived is sin. (Edgar Cayce) Bring a smile to every face you meet today â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if you try hard enough, you will succeed (Aart Bosman)

See that your own life is pure, that your motives are unselfish, that your souls are full of love and charity for all humanity. Never lose an opportunity of saying a kind word, or reaching out a helping hand to any unfortunate struggling in the depths of despair, even though his own wrong-doing may have been the cause of his desolation and distress (Julia Schlesinger)

May we just give you our blessing and ask you to keep faith, to keep your trust. To look for the good and not the bad. To give love wherever you can possibly give it. Never mind what other people say. Never mind whether the circumstances go against you. Never mind the obstacles that you come up against. If you give LOVE with all your hearts then you will have achieved what you came to the Earth to do. And when you leave it behind you will find that you can look into Spirit and you can say I have done what I could. Goodnight and God bless you all. (Angelic Message channeled through Lucy Hale)

Every created thing is in itself inanimate and dead, but it is animated and caused to live by this, that the Divine is in it and that it exists in and from the Divine. The universal end of creation is that there should be an external union of the Creator with the created universe; and this would not be possible unless there were beings in whom His Divine might be present as if in itself; thus in whom it might dwell and abide. To be His abode, 98

they must receive His love and wisdom by a power which seems to be their own; thus, must lift themselves up to the Creator as if by their own power, and unite themselves with Him. Without this mutual action, no union would be possible. Every one who duly considers the matter may know that the body does not think, because it is material, but the soul, because it is spiritual. All the rational life, therefore, which appears in the body belongs to the spirit, for the matter of the body is annexed, and, as it were, joined to the spirit, in order that the latter may live and perform uses in the natural world. . . . Since everything which lives in the body, and acts and feels by virtue of that life, belongs to the spirit alone, it follows that the spirit is the real man; or, what comes to the same thing, man himself is a spirit, in a form similar to that of his body. (Emanuel Swedenborg)

Now is the accepted time.

God's time for my demonstration is NOW. The time God

wants me to be healed is NOW. The time God wants me to be prosperous is NOW. The time God wants love in my life is NOW.

The time God wants me to raise my

consciousness is NOW. The time God wants me to be in my True Place is NOW. There is nothing to wait for except the change of my own consciousness. (Emmet Fox)

Now I speak The Word. God is Infinite Life. God is Boundless Love. God is Infinite Intelligence. God is Unfathomable Wisdom. God is Unspeakable Beauty.

God is

Unchanging Principle of Perfect Good. God is the Soul of man. I am the image and likeness of God, and I have the power of the Word. When I speak the Word, it goes forth and cannot return void.

It accomplishes the thing whereunto I send it. That word

goes forth charged with the power of God. Now I speak the Word. I invoke the power of the Healing Christ, and I say that the full power of God is now awakened in me, filling my soul with peace and life and joy.

God is Light, and that Light fills my soul.

(Emmet Fox)

There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer, no disease that enough love will not heal; no door that enough love will not open; no gulf that enough love will not bridge; no wall that enough love will not throw down; no sin that enough love will not redeem...it 99

makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble; how hopeless the outlook; how muddled the tangle; how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. If only you could love enough you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world. (Emmet Fox)

And with that Love, like Arty tells me, we will go in leaps and bounds in the next phase of learning in the afterlife. This life is nothing, not even a nano second, compared to our eternal future in progress. Here, we just learn to have selfless love. It never was all that complicated. That seems to be what Father wants me to know, so I pass it along. He also seems to tell me that if we are unhappy, banging our heads against the wall of uncertainty and bewilderment, and beating ourselves up a lot, then we're doing something wrong. Life is to have joy, not just in those things that delight us, but even in the face of trial and daily challenges, the love of the Father in us, and learning that this love pulls us through the dark times, can also be a joy, if based on faith and belief that we're on the right track and then that "calling and election" is a sure thing, and what is there more to have to look forward to, than the home we are building for ourselves in the eternities. You asked about an Oahspean heaven? There is one. You can begin the building of your own home there, right now, nailing it all together with unconditional love. I can't say enough about that POWER. (Dolly)

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Mystics

When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives. (Louise L. Hay)

The spiritual body is instantly responsive to your imagination. In other words, it is far more fluid than your corporeal body. OAHSPE tells us that we build spiritual things of spiritual substance. We do this with the imagination or faculty of visualization. Herein lies the answer to spiritual healing and to healing brought about by auto suggestion, affirmation, prayer, hypnotism; etc. By such methods a thought form is created by the imagination, not of the body as it is, but as we desire it to be. The spirit body conforms to the new pattern set for it by either YOU or the healer (your soul or the healer's soul) and, IF YOU WILL MAINTAIN THE THOUGHT FORM OF THE NEW CONDITION, AND NOT DESTROY IT BY THINKING OF YOURSELF AS ILL, AGED, UNHAPPY OR WHAT EVER CONDITION IT WAS YOU WERE SEEKING TO CORRECT, the corporeal body will tend to conform to the new condition of the spirit created in your imagination. (The Essenes of Kosmon)

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When we finally give up the struggle to find fulfillment ―out there,‖ we have nowhere to go but within. It is at this moment of total surrender that a new light begins to dawn. (Shakti Gawain)

I am a channel for the creative power of the universe. (Shakti Gawain)

O Thou glorious Source of all life, light and love, our Lord God almighty! from whose heart the Ray of Spirit in each mortal is sprung! let the realization of our oneness in Thee descend upon our hearts as heavenly dew, refreshing our souls! May the love of God and the fellowship of all mankind—without regard to race, creed or condition—so fill our hearts and minds that each will gladly unite his forces for the attainment of peace, fellowship and co-operation among men. May all persons and classes and nations cease their conflicts, and unselfishly strive for peace and good-will, that world peace may speedily be attained. Let the calm of Thy eternal peace, which passeth all intellectual understanding, envelop us with its divine serenity. May it quiet the turmoil of our minds, and the conflict of our desires, dissolve our fears, and reveal to us the essential brotherhood of all mankind. Thus shall the power of Thy loving Spirit bring victory over all opposition to the establishment of Thy peace on earth, and good-will among mankind. Amen. (F. Homer Curtiss) We all have a divine mission on earth. Let that mission be to inspire love and embrace the light within. Let that mission be to have peace in our hearts as we create heaven on earth. Let that mission be to seek empowerment through transformation and to breathe joy into everything we do. If we allow these things to be our mission the golden light of the sun will shine on our souls and change our world forever.

(Micheal Teal)

Unless you are living for your soul, you have not learned to live; the great meaning and purpose of life are to you as a book that has not been opened. You are conscious in only the lowest and dreariest zone of your consciousness. All the blissful pleasures of the higher states of thought and feeling in your being, the joyous mingling of the positive 102

and negative attributes of your spiritual nature, are hidden from you. The doors of heaven, through which streams the light of eternal consciousness, seem closed, and you seek for pleasure and peace where none are to be found. Turn to the Light that never fails, to the Love that is longing to enfold you in conscious bliss; turn from your idols of flesh, which intoxicate the mind and destroy the body; turn to the Creator! If you will worship the Eternal Presence with the same untiring zeal with which you sought transient things, you will be rewarded with the Infiniteâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s unchanging Love, and your soul will awaken to immortal Life. Then, with your help, it will purify and glorify the sacred centers in your body and teach you the secret of spiritual alchemy, whereby the conserved forces of your body pass through a transmutation that refines them into a substance necessary to the soul in the expression of the Word of Power. This knowledge will be useless to you unless you have proven your sincerity by overcoming the selfish and mortal desires that hold you back, and by conquering all attractions that would draw you from your devotion to your divine purpose of making the Ever-Present Spirit manifest in your life. For without absolute purity of life, the soul, which is born from the immaculate purity of the divine nature, cannot keep in correspondence with the flesh, because of the partition created by unprogressive thoughts and feelings. But when your will, coupled with the awakened will of your soul, has gained complete dominion over the desires of the flesh, your soul will express through your pure, true thought, and flood the seven sacred centers in your body with its soul consciousness. (Walter DeVoe)

On awakening, bless this day, for it is already full of unseen good which your blessings will call forth; for to bless is to acknowledge the unlimited good that is embedded in the very texture of the universe and awaiting each and all. On passing people in the street, on the bus, in places of work and play, bless them. The peace of your blessing will accompany them on their way and the aura of its gentle fragrance will be a light to their path. Above all, don't forget to bless the utterly beautiful person YOU are! (Pierre Pradervand)

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Amid all the mysteries by which we are surrounded, nothing is more certain than that we are ever in the presence of an Infinite and Eternal Energy from which all things proceed. (Herbert Spender)

The soul is a spiritual being, with its home in heavenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the heaven that is within us, even while it is in the body. (William Ralph Inge)

In this, the Kosmon era, the Earth will travel its circuit in its Galactic roadway encountering a stronger, more subtle and refined light of higher frequency and intensity. Those who adhere to our Creator's suggestions, will and Ever Presence, becoming purer in body and spirit, will grow, prosper and flourish into time's future. Those who remain in their darkness will be unable to survive and be lost from the face of the Earth. So is it the plan of the future generations of Mankind on this planet. The Garden Continues. (Steven York)

Love is the wondrous power that is the being of all life, the center of all activity. Although the world does not know love, it is yet ruling her forces day by day. As you of the earth look out on the broad expanse of earth's treasures, do you behold what is there? An illimitable blessedness of possessions all for man's great use, and planted there by the hand of God for man's use and his manifold benefits. What caused and what causes God to bestow upon his people such abundance? The one answer is His marvelous and unchangeable love. So when the refreshing shower of spring falls on the fevered earth, and all the limp and famishing flowers hold up their heads once more, just remember that love was nestling close in the raindrops and cooling and kissing the flowers out again. When once you know that love exists everywhere in the universe, in earth and in Heaven, then will you come to understand how wonderful is God, for God is love! And love is not a selfish attachment one for another; but it is a strength, a power that is ever present, ever powerful to suffer long and be kind! To sacrifice and be constant, to forbear and wait, to smile and hide the sorrow, to forgive, to shelter and to give life! Love is the powerful and mighty force controlling the elements. Watch the wonder-working storm, the brilliant lightning as she darts her fiery arms across the 104

black-breasted Heavens! How she curves and circles her love-light body and winding her diamond glinted arms about the waiting skies as she fondles and adores the wonderful Heavens. (William W. Abner)

To be observed today, to be changed tomorrow, or abandoned, according to tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s light. To live to our highest in all things that pertain to us, and to lend a hand as best we can to all others for this same end. To aid in righting the wrongs that cross our path by pointing the wrong-doer to a better way, and thus aid him in becoming a power for good. To turn toward and to keep our faces always to the light, knowing that we are then always safe, and that we shall travel with joy the open road. To love the fields and the wild flowers, the stars, the far-open sea, the soft, warm earth, and to live much with them alone; but to love struggling and weary men and women and every pulsing, living creature better. To do our own thinking, listening quietly to the opinions of others, but to be sufficiently men and women to act always upon our own convictions. To do our duty as we see it, regardless of the opinions of others-seeming gain or loss, temporary blame or praise. To remain in nature always sweet and simple and humble and therefore strong. To play the part of neither fool nor knave by attempting to judge another, but to give that same time to living more worthily ourselves. To get up immediately when we stumble, face again to the light, and travel on without wasting even a moment in regret. To love and to hold due reverence for all people and all things, but to stand in awe or fear of nothing save our own wrong doing. To recognize the good lying at the heart of all people, of all things, waiting for expression all in its own good way and time. To know that it is the middle ground that brings pleasure and satisfaction, and that excesses have to be paid for always with heavy and sometimes with frightful costs. To know that work, occupation, something definite and useful to do, is one of the established conditions of happiness in life. To realize always clearly that thoughts are forces, that like creates like and like attracts like, and that to determine one's thinking therefore is to determine his life. To take and to live always in the attitude of mind that compels gladness, looking for and thus drawing to us continually the best in all people and all things, being thereby the creators of our own good fortunes. To know that the ever-conscious realization of the essential oneness of each life with the Divine Life is 105

the Greatest of all knowledge, and that to open ourselves as opportune channels for the Divine Power to work in and through us is the open door to the highest attainment, and to the best there is in life. In brief â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to be honest, to be fearless, to be just, joyous, kind. This will make our part in life's great and as yet not fully understood play one of greatest glory, and we need then stand in fear of nothingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;life nor death; for death is life. Or rather, it is the quick transition to life in another form; the putting off of the old coat and the putting on of the new; a passing not from light to darkness, but from light to light according as we have lived here; a taking up of life in another form where we leave it off here; a part in life not to be shunned or dreaded or feared, but to be welcomed with a glad and ready smile when it comes in its own good way and time. (Ralph Waldo Trine)

Follow the vision of the soul. Be true to your ideals no matter what may happen now. Then things will take a turn and the very things you wanted to happen will happen. The ideal has a positive drawing power towards the higher, the greater, and the superior. Whoever gives his attention constantly to the ideal, therefore, will steadily rise in the scale. Take things as they are today and proceed at once to make them better. (Christian D. Larson)

The dark see darkness but those filled with Light see only Light in the making.

(Loni

Todd)

I no longer try to change outer things.

They are simply a reflection. I change my

inner perception and the outer reveals the beauty so long obscured by my own attitude. I concentrate on my inner vision and find my outer view transformed. I find myself attuned to the grandeur of life and in unison with the perfect order of the universe. (Daily Word)

Everything on Earth is transitory.

Yes, give your prayers in whatever situation you are

called to do so, and surround the situation with Light, but then let go. Remember the song that says:

For everything there is a Season unto Heaven. 106

Follow your inner

promptings if you are called to action, but be sure to check in deeply first. Whatever is happening in your world is part of a larger unfolding. at times.

It may seem chaotic and unfair

Remember souls that leave Earth are carrying on their work in the higher

realms, if they are souls of light.

Raising One's Vibration:

(Sunny Holmes)

You are who you are ... Your strength is your Spirit / Soul /

Inspiration —Raising One's Vibration—Music, sounds, Light, color, beauty, the colors of the Rainbow. All these things raise one's energy field vibration, quickens, enlivens. Each of you has your own unique combination/formula that works for you.

Continue to

use what you know lifts, expands, and brings more Divine Love into your Field. If you feel limited, don't self-judge.

There is plenty available is your sphere and it will

broaden as you utilize what raises and expands your energy field. Remember: The beauty and perfection of a spring flower. The vibrant greens of spring. Immerse yourselves in the beauteous imagery, and the sounds that stir your heart and soul. Desire to share and recreate the beauty of the inspiration through the means that are uniquely your Gifts, and the tools will manifest.

Start expressing and creating with

what's available now and greater means will be yours to offer. That which touches and opens the Heart is Key. Blessed be.

(Sunny Holmes)

A Candle Aflame: Through the muck and mire of a mortal's personal concerns and worries,

a Light shines.

And that Light is Eternal and at Peace.

It sees the Bigger

Picture and knows one's part in it. It is the Creator's Flame, Eternal ever burning. Earth Life's cares and worries and challenges can obscure it from One's immediate perception.

A candle flame is a good reminder of the Eternal Light within. Know and

feel your Oneness especially with those with whom you are aligned in Spirit, who share your intentions and are pure of heart.

You help each other's candles burn brighter.

Focus on this rather than apparent differences.

You are colors of a magnificent

rainbow, facets on a Diamond ... Roses in the snow … emerging and sweet smelling. You are the Creator's Expression.

Allow Him / Her to shine through you. Amen.

(Sunny Holmes) 107

On the Solstice:

Remember â&#x20AC;Ś You are Divine â&#x20AC;Ś Your Soul is One with the Creator's

Light. What is happening right now on your plane and with you as individuals is like a birthing.

Through all you Light-bearers the New Age, or Kosmon, is being born.

feel full with something that wants to move. are resistances.

You

It feels like there are blockages. There

There are labor pains. We your guides are your Midwives and we

are here to support and assist. let go of its hold on Earth.

Remember we are here. The Darkness doesn't want to

It has planted its seeds in you since birth, wanting you to

stumble and fall and be filled with doubts and fears and forget what you are here for. But all this struggle has caused you to grow stronger as a soul as long as your keep your purpose clearly in front of you, and inside of you. Like a seedling plant pushing up through soil and rocks you push up toward the Light and grow in strength and endurance as you keep affirming your resolve to Rise and Bloom and fulfill your true Gift to your planet and humanity. At this time of the year when mortals are focusing on material gifts, remember your true gift is becoming all that you were meant to be and assisting in this transition to the New World that awaits. (Sunny Holmes)

The Celestial Season: Feel the richness and depth of the Season that is with you, presently that of the Samhain and on into the Winter Solstice. veils between the worlds are thin at this time.

Most of you know the

And the opportunity to delve deep into

consciousness on many levels. Don't shrink from some of the more uncomfortable feelings that may emerge for now is an opportune time for 'hidden debris' so to speak to become known and felt. As the seasonal cycle is powerful so is the Greater Cycle of change and transformation for you and your world, as your world enters Kosmon and the needed cleansings and readjustments are occurring.

The Dark Forces that have

been in control for so long on your planet are being exposed for what they are and are losing power through being recognized by those committed to the Light. Please remember during this Celestial Season that music unlocks doors in subconscious memory and 'greases the wheels' so to speak, allowing feeling and energy to flow. Send loving blessings to All who've been a part of your life, past and present.

Listen

to and follow your soul call. Your soul is joining with others you have shared this Journey with.

Cast aside the differences and rise in Unison. (Sunny Holmes) 108

We have no right to endeavour to influence other people by the use of our inner forces, even if our object is their good. Each soul has the right to live its life in its own way, and to choose for itself either good or evil. That is the object of life, so that each evolving soul should learn wisdom through the lessons learnt as a result of its own mistakes. Far worse is it if others are coerced, not in order to help them, but to defraud them or to make them buy goods they do not require, or sign agreements they would not otherwise put their name to. One who misuses his mental and spiritual powers literally smashes his life up. He works against the laws of life and the universe, and encompasses his own ruin. (Thomas Hamblin)

The night of sense-consciousness is past, and I wake to the spiritual day - the eternal Now. In the light of God I see my self anew. The shadows of the night are gone, and I am free from suffering, disease, and death. I am filled now with health, strength, and joy unspeakable. There is no room in me for any unlikeness to the Infinite One, for that One vibrates in every part of my being from least to greatest, and fills me with pulsating, invigorating, deathless life. I rise from the passivity of the night to the activity of the day, in which I work the works of him that sent me. I wash away the last remnants of clinging mortality from before my Vision and I see only the Son of God. I cleanse my body from the impurity of false thought, and open every pore to the inflowing Divine Energy and Infinite Love, whose offspring I am. I feel within me their uplifting power. I clothe myself with garments of light, woven in the loom of life by the ministering angels who show me his will. They are with me now, they never leave me, and I will not forsake them. I put from me all desire which could make me unworthy to wear the robe of righteousness, and their hands shall bear me above all temptation. I descend the stairs which lead from the upper chamber of recognition of my God-Likeness to the lower room of experience, where I must manifest that relation to the world. I eat the food which is the bread from on high, that certain and sure supply which is mine as a child of God. I draw from the great storehouse that which I need in my work of the day. I feed upon the Word, the true Thought. I assimilate it, I embody it, it works in me and through me and naught can oppose or conquer it. It is being made flesh, it is being made my flesh, and in my flesh I 109

shall see God. In my flesh I shall manifest God. There is nothing to fear, for Love is in all, through all, and over all. I give myself this day to my fellow-men for any and all service that shall show them their true selves. In me and in them is no evil, no misery, no crime. I see only the divine which is awaiting the Word to come forth, and this divine I call forth by the power of the Word. This Word is my word, and my every breath is a benediction a message of good-will toward all men - for the Love which is God speaks in my word. The Father and I are in unity, and through me He comes to His own. Awakened, cleansed, clothed, and fed, I stand in the Now, and I know the Forever. I stand upon the Infinite, I look upon the finite, I feel the eternal, I breathe in the Absolute. I am that I am. With me is the everlasting Peace. (Ursula N Gestefeld)

It is good to have an end to a journey, but it is the journey that matters, in the end. (Ursula Le Guin)

My sky and My earth cannot contain Me but I AM contained entirely in the heart of he who adores Me.

(Hadith)

The only way to pass any test is to take the test.

All tests on every level are always

repeated one way or another until you pass. (Aborigine Spirit)

The trivialities of every day, the disappointments and the petty annoyances and the hurts you allow yourselves to receive from daily life, are all very small; yourselves allow them to seem very big. being upon the love of God.

but you

Let them recede, concentrate your whole

(The Quiet Mind)

I believe in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. This One manifests itself in and through all creation, but is not absorbed by its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God. I believe in the incarnation of the Spirit in all, and that we are all incarnations of the One Spirit. I believe in the eternality, the immortality, and the continuity of the individual soul, forever and ever 110

expanding. I believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is within me and that I experience this Kingdom to the degree that I become conscious of it. I believe the ultimate goal of life to be a complete emancipation from all discord of every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all. I believe in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is one God. I believe that God is personal to all who feel this indwelling Presence. I believe in the direct revelation of Truth through my intuitive and spiritual nature, and that anyone may become a revealer of Truth who lives in close contact with the Indwelling God. I believe that the Universal Spirit which is God, operates through a Universal Mind, which is the Law of God; and that I am surrounded by this Creative Mind which receives the direct impress of my thought and acts upon it. I believe in the healing of the sick through the power of the Mind. I believe in the control of conditions through the power of the Mind. I believe in the eternal Goodness, the eternal Loving-Kindness and the eternal Givingness of Life to all. I believe in my own soul, my own spirit, and my own destiny; for I understand that the life I live is God. (Ernest Holmes)

We should not attempt to hold onto things, life is forever changing and so must we. (Ken Mills)

Promise Yourself :To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile. To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. (Christian D. Larson)

111

As flame ascends As bodies to their proper center move, As the poised ocean to th' attractive moon, Obedient swells, and every winding stream Devolves its searching waters to the main; So all things which have life aspire to God. The Sun of Being, boundless, unimpaired, Center of all souls! Nor does the voice Of faithful Nature cease to prompt their steps Aright; nor is the care of Heaven withheld, From granting to the task proportioned means; That, in their stations, all may persevere To climb th' ascent of being, and approach Forever nearer to the Life Divine. (Akensine)

An essential aspect of the Mystic Path is developing the ability to experience the Higher Spiritual Realms. Each seeker discovers for their self the means whereby they gain an awareness of, and a participation in the spiritual realms. One of the most rewarding aspects of the mystical experience is communing with other souls seeking--or having found--higher understanding: those in physical existence and those beyond. Kindred souls commune not only psychically as souls but also through their inspired artistic creations: writings, art, and shared acts of kindness. (Norman D. Livergood)

Listen! You have now and always have had, through this power of thinking, dominion over all the kingdoms of the earth. If you but know it, you have now, this moment, only to Think and SPEAK THE WORD, - realizing your power, and that I, God, your Omniscient, Omnipotent Self, will bring about the results, and the waiting consciousness of the invisible cells of all matter upon which your will and attention become focused, - which waiting consciousness is My consciousness, remember, - will begin immediately to obey and do exactly according to the image or plans you have prepared by your thinking.

Therefore, think no more you are separated from me, and 112

abide with me in the Celestial Realm of the Eternal where all power, all wisdom, and all love, LIVE, but await expression through you. your heart, so is it with you.

To think is to create. As you feel in

(The Impersonal Life)

We all need to remember that our work is Jehovih‘s work, and that it has power beyond our comprehension. (Alfred Holmes)

I want more than anything else to increase my awareness of The Creator‘s Presence and Power and by my oneness with Him.

I want to purify myself of everything that

stands in the way of soul expression. I know that I have no control over what happens in the world, and no control over what other people think or do; but I have control over myself — with the help of Jehovih‘s angels. I believe this is the area where I can do the most good — that is, in abnegating self and making myself over into a better human being. At one time in the past, I thought that I might accomplish something for humanity through words.

But now I see that my mission doesn‘t lie in this direction. In

fact, I am not sure just what it is or where it lies. I only know that I have to try to live up to my highest light day to day. (Alfred Holmes)

Because it does seem that if men do learn to take a stand when they make demands from their wives, this inherent natural tendency to yield to the stronger focus within a framework will seem to become a common place adjustment. But if the opposite partner is not able to yield their ways of being an individual with a view towards creating a sacred kind of space where the promise of future life (in the symbolic form of a new child) can be achieved without all the control issues and power struggles-----then I can see how this would lead to battles and decisions to quit while the quitting is good. And forever lose that potential which may have been bound within the framework of sacred and spiritual and physical love which attracts so many of us. But for which we have lost our traditional concepts of what it means to "give & receive", or "advance & submit" as higher inspirational ways that a loving creator may want us to proceed throughout our lives without all the petty squabbles and portrayals of a wounded nature that feeds into so much of what people see when they experience a couple fighting in public. (Mike 113

Mannon)

But like I am trying to explain-------most people stop at the knowledge of good and evil because this yields answers for them which explain the impact of these unseen influences in our lives that we can't get a physical or solid handle on and control or manipulate more to our liking. And we grow our cultures and societies with an awareness of Gods and Demons battling for our souls. Which is why I feel that channeled materials like the Oahspe offers, gives us more opportunities to develop trust and faith and other aspects of our characters which may not be able to manifest for us the deeper mystery understandings of how and why we feel like we are intimately connected to whatever the character traits of whatever god we believe in also applies to our lives and our ways of making sense and understanding all these "good and bad" & " physical and spiritual" impulses we feel as being part of our lives. (Mike Mannon)

I am seeing the value in not expressing an opinion. (Mike Mannon)

We sing praises to Thee Great All, and thank you for Life and understanding. We cherish Love as it is an expression of you, We cherish Life as the manifestation of you. (Peter Hartgen)

Whenever one person or group of persons does something good, such service in truth helps all persons because we are all in truth one harmonious whole. (Bob Sullivan)

As Faithists, do we not take great joy in knowing that He, our Father, is with us at all times.

His Hand ever reaching towards us, to help, His children, in their resurrection.

He is ever with us. (Bob Sullivan)

My understanding as to when we would worship the Creator, regardless of moon cycles and other phenomena is based on what it says in Oahspe. The message I received from Oahspe is we are all expressions of our Creator and by giving full expression to the talents he gave to us and use them to pour out our highest light in any service to 114

those who need it, to lift others up is the best worship we can offer to our Creator, and since the Creator is Ever Present ... our actions and deeds are our prayers. (Mary Janse)

My life is based on the Golden Glory that is speaking within each of us. (Mary Lili Borough)

On seeing life as it is, daily, in seen or unseen realities: The Beauty and Goodness I see in each of you, Dear Ones, should never fade away, but grow and grow forever.

It is

the Essence (Es Sense) of the Eternal Presence within your Soul. PEACE! For FAITH and progress we need the Whole Truth, and though it be ugly, be sad, we must face it before we can soar upward … (Erma Jean Lee)

The Father‘s Light surrounds us, The Father‘s Light enfolds us, The Father‘s Light protects and heals us, His Ever Presence is our guide. Wherever I may lay my head, Wherever I may make my bed, My very heart and soul are His, Where ere I am, He is.

(Belle Sundgren)

George Morley, who was hierophant of the British Church of Kosmon at Surrey, England, once said in a lecture: Today, with all our civilization and learning, we have no higher conception of the Great Architect of the Universe and the brotherhood of man than had they of the ancient world. The grand philosophies we have built have toppled to the ground, and we are left like a rudderless boat upon the troubled sea of speculation. In many cases the result has been to extinguish faith altogether and drive men into a kind of fatalistic and selfish materialism. (George Morley)

Happiness is equivalent to moving into Oneness with the Divine. (Joan Greer) 115

It is time to step up and be counted as a Faithist. Things are not as they seem in the world, and Faithists must now come together and join in the great work ahead of World Redemption. The world is in need. It is not to a great fanfare, but to the quite resolve to join in helping others that you are now called. There are opportunities all about you, in your Faithist Community and in the world at large. Find something, some way, someone, and help as best you can. You are responsible to give what you can give, do what you can do. Help in the ways that you can help. (Joan Greer)

Underlying all life, is the power that holds everything togetherâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Great Spirit of ALL LIFE, The Keynote of Harmony in all situations, to which we can attune ourselves at all times and places. attunement.

Our aim should be to constitutionally grow in this wonderful

(Rosemary Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Dea)

Remember; all wrongs shall be made aright in time and in the way of the Great Spirit. (Spirit Dove)

The Powers of Our Minds: Nurturing the powers of our minds is an ongoing process. It can only be accomplished through discipline and practice. An individual should accept that unique power and not be afraid. The mind has the ability to soar into the deepest parts of the universe and experience its transcendent beauty. The powerful mind has a thirst for imagery and colors. With training, the ability to accept only positive pictures with the scenes we paint in our mind comes with disciplining the powerful mind to stay focused. It is well to remember that thoughts with emotion attract like and similar thoughts. Training the mind to accept only the most constructive positive thoughts is a lifetime of learning and discipline so one may not stray down the wrong path into darkness. As mere mortals we must constantly be vigilant in staying tuned to our thought processes. The energy each one of us generates attracts like energy whether it is positive or negative. An individual's thoughts are very powerful and those thoughts 116

are projected for everyone to see. Whether that individual is living in a dreary situation or a beautiful colorful mansion on a high hill surrounded by breath taking scenery, the energy of what we see in our thoughts is manifested in our mortal life. We must all become aware of the power of the mind is for us to generate only the most positive, constructive, and colorful images that we can garner from our beautiful mind. The power you hold is also as great as the emotion used for your request. (Susan Griffin)

From the star of Light within the mind of God, Let Light stream forth into the minds of all children. Let Light shine over the world. From the circle of Love within the Heart of God, Let Love flow forth into the hearts of all children. Let Love bless the world. From the center of Divine Will within the Soul of God, Let Divine Will guide the wills of all children. Let Divine Will inspire the world.

(The Great Invocation)

You must not let your phantom goods possess you so completely that they are bound to suffocate all higher longings of your soul; longings which could still awaken the spiritual energies you need if you would finally dispel the clouds which hide your real self, your soul, the Presence of God.

(Bô Yin Râ)

Every soul that lives on earth with you today, and all who shall live after you in ages yet to come, will have to learn the art of asking their own questions. (Bô Yin Râ)

Many a person could forge himself a happier and better fate if only he would, from the first, consistently refuse to make the least concession to the impulse driving him toward evil, as soon as he perceives that inclination even faintly in his mind. (Bô Yin Râ)

There is hope that by the lapse of time, and after my extinction here on Earth, my writings will be more valued than during my lifetime. 117

(Nostradamus)

We should believe that God is the invisible partner in our lives and affirm that divine love goes before us and prepares the way.

We should permit ourselves to be guided,

for there is something within us, deep at the center of our being, which knows what we ought to do and how we ought to do it.

(Science of Mind)

It is the hour of healing in the Temple. Beloved, stay by me, and let us heal the world together.

For out of Love, grows peace, and out of peace, creation, and creation,

beauty; now and always.

(Ruth St. Denis)

I am free from all destructive forces and thoughts, all selfishness and greed. I am now preparing my mind, body and soul for the coming of high spiritual forces which are harmonious with love, the Ever-Present Spirit of All Life, Jehovih, so that I may become attuned to thee. Thy Light.

Unfold within me thine attributes, O Father, that I may manifest forth

(Leland Barton)

The secret of everything â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Everything Is Mental. All talent, skill, power, speed, ability is mental. Nothing is impossible. Anything is possible. There is nothing you cannot Be, Do or Have. You can Be, Do and Have anything you want as long as you have the mind for it. You create your own reality and everything in it with your beliefs, your will, your desires and intentions. Think confidence and you manifest confidence. Think anything and you manifest that thing. Everything is Mind. Mind is Everything. The Universe is Mind. Mind Controls Everything. Mind is Reality. Reality is Mind. The Master of Mind is Master of Everything. (Enoch Tan)

Think of all the wonderful discoveries and inventions of the last sixty yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all thought out of that great universal reservoir; and eye hath not seen nor ear heard the glories that yet await us in the great superconscious realm. (Bruce MacLelland)

118

WHAT do you think about the very first thing in the morning? Your thoughts during the first half-hour of the morning will greatly influence the entire day. You may not realize this, but it is nevertheless a fact. If you set out with worry, and depression, and bitterness of soul toward fate or man, you are giving the keynote to a day of discords and misfortunes. If you think peace, hope and happiness, you are sounding a note of harmony and success. The result may not be felt at once, but it will not fail to make itself evident eventually. Control your morning thoughts. You can do it. The first moment on waking, no matter what your mood, say to yourself: "I will get all the comfort and pleasure possible out of this day, and I will do something to add to the measure of the world's happiness or well-being. I will control myself when tempted to be irritable or unhappy, I will look for the bright side of every event." Once you say these things over to yourself in a calm, earnest way, you will begin to feel more cheerful. The worries and troubles of the coming day will seem less colossal. Then say: "I shall be given help to meet anything that comes today. Everything will be for the best. I shall succeed in whatever I undertake. I cannot fail." Do not let it discourage you if the moment you leave your room you encounter a trouble or a disaster. This usually happens. When we make any boast, spiritually or physically, we are put to the test. The occult forces about us are not unlike human beings. When a schoolboy boasts of his strength, and says he can "lick any boy in school," he generally gets a chance to prove it. When we declare we are brave enough to overcome any fate, we find our strength put to the test at once. But that is all right. Prove your words to be true. Regard the troubles and cares you encounter as the "punching bags" of fate, given you to develop your spiritual muscle. Go at them with courage and keep to your morning resolve. By and by the troubles will lessen, and you will find yourself master of Circumstances. (Ella Wilcox Wheeler)

Wheneverâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;by deliberate thoughtâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;we move an arm or a leg of our bodies, we introduce a purely non-physical power into the physical universe--the power of mind. The brain is the physical instrument of the mind, but mind itself is unphysical, inexplicable, unfathomable, fantastically mysterious. Mind is the reality behind Life. Mind causes the heart to beat, the lungs to breath, the eye to see. Mind is of the spirit. 119

This is as true of animal life as it is of human life. Furthermore, Mind is the reality behind inorganic life as much as behind organic life. The universe operates by the power of mind. THE CENTRAL MIND we name the Creator, the All Father, the All Person. Of Him we are a part. Because we have creativeness and awareness and personality and conscience and self-knowledge we are closer to Him than is animal life, than organic life. We are His instruments. Jehovih doeth His will through angels and the souls of men. By force and power of their minds, derived from the power of the Central Mind, do the high-raised souls create the vortices of suns and stars and planets and galactic universes. Think not that these worlds are ruled by chance and haphazard. All is planned to the ultimate detail. In these stupendous operations the angels serve thousands, and tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands, and millions of years in apprenticeship and study and travel and experience. And yet the physical worlds are but a corner of the real universe. (Augustus Cahill)

When we—you and I—willingly and joyfully decide to do right in the eyes of the Almighty, as a personal sacrifice and a worshipful service to our Creator, even though it is the hardest and narrowest road to take, then Jehovih‘s Kingdom is slowly beginning to grow on earth. (Greta James)

If you are one of those who are praying for, and looking forward to, a happier world beyond the grave, here is a message of gladness for you, you may enter into and realize that happy world now; it fills the whole universe, and it is within you, waiting for you to find, acknowledge, and possess. Said one who knew the inner laws of Being, ―When men shall say Io here, or Io there, go not after them; the kingdom of God is within you.‖ What you have to do is to believe this, simply believe it with a mind unshadowed by doubt, and then meditate upon it till you understand it. You will then begin to purify and to build your inner world, and as you proceed, passing from revelation to revelation, from realization to realization, you will discover the utter powerlessness of outward things beside the magic potency of a self-governed soul. (James Allen) 120

121

Poets

Father, Mother, God, Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days. For then we have you to lean upon. Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days, for then we can share that which we have with those who have less. And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days, for then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends. For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak. For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness. For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them 122

in the river of your healing. For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company. For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope. Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need mostâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Peace. (Maya Angelou)

I am in the place where God shines through For God and I are one, not two No need for me to fear, or fret, or plan God wants me to be who and where I am. So, if I stay relaxed and free God will carry out His plans through me. Author Unknown

I traveled the banks of the River of Jordan To find where it flows to the sea. I looked in the eyes of the cold and the hungry And I saw I was looking at me. I wanted to know if life had a purpose And what it all means in the end. In the silence I listened to voices inside me And they told me again and again. The is only one river. There is only one sea. And it flows through you, and it flows through me. There is only one people. We are one and the same. 123

We are all one spirit. We are all one name. We are the father, mother, daughter and son. From the dawn of creation, we are one. We are one. Every blade of grass on the mountain Every drop in the sea Every cry of a newborn baby Every prayer to be free Every hope at the end of a rainbow Every song ever sung Is a part of the family of woman and man And that means everyone. We are only one river. We are only one sea. And it flows through you, and it flows through me. We are only one people. We are one and the same. We are all one spirit. We are all one name. We are the father, mother, daughter and son From the dawn of creation, we are one. We are one. (Peter, Paul, and Mary)

What if you slept, and what if in your sleep you dreamed, and what if in your dream you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower, and what if when you awoke you had the flower in your hand? Ah, what then? (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits, Take care of your garden, And keep out the weeds, Fill it with sunshine, Kind words and deeds. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) 124

From delusion lead me to truth From darkness lead me to light From death lead me to immortality. He who knows both knowledge and action, with action overcomes death and with knowledge reaches immortality. In him are woven the sky and the earth and all the regions of the air, and in him rest the mind and all the powers of life. Know him as the ONE and leave aside all other words. He is the bridge of immortality.

Beyond the senses is the mind, and beyond the mind is reason, its essence. Beyond reason is the Spirit in man, and beyond this is the Spirit of the Universe, the evolver of all.

When the five senses and the mind are still, and reason itself rests in silence, then begins the Path supreme.

And when he is seen in his immanence and transcendence, then the ties that have bound the heart are unloosened, the doubts of the mind vanish, and the law of Karma works no more.

(Neodammerung)

125

If thou would‘st right the world, And banish all its evils and its woes, Make its wild places bloom, And its drear deserts blossom as the rose,Then right thyself. If thou would‘st turn the world From its long, lone captivity in sin, Restore all broken hearts, Slay grief, and let sweet consolation in,Turn thou thyself. If thou would‘st cure the world Of its long sickness, end its grief and pain; Bring in all-healing joy, And give to the afflicted rest again,Then cure thyself. If thou would‘st wake the world Out of its dream of death and dark‘ning strife, Bring it to Love and Peace, And Light and brightness of immortal Life,Wake thou thyself.

(James Allen)

Would that I perfect my shining star: burning bright for all to see, This life in me's a mirror for thee. And countless waves of wonder help to spin the wheel we make.

(Mike Mangum)

126

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by frost.

(J. R. R. Tolkien)

The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.

(J.R.R. Tolkien)

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

(Dylan Thomas)

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be. The last of life, for which the first was made.

(Robert Browning)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breath and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

(Elizabeth Barrett Browning) 127

Love me sweet with all thou art Feeling, thinking, seeing; Love me in the Lightest part, Love me in full Being.

(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, And men below, and saints above: For love is heaven, and heaven is love.

(Sir Walter Scott)

Let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations. Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect. Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows. Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken. Let it burn away the fog so that we can see each other clearly. So that we can see beyond labels, beyond accents, gender or skin color. Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness. So that we can share the joys and feel the sorrows of our neighbors. And let the light of the sun be so strong that we will see all people as our neighbors. 128

Let the earth, nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to surround us with beauty. And let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to heaven. Amen.

(Rabbi Harold Kushner)

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

(Robert Frost)

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

(Robert Frost)

To see a world in a grain of sand, And heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.

(William Blake)

If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is â&#x20AC;&#x201C; infinite. (William Blake)

All we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream.

(Edgar Allan Poe) 129

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee - And reverie. The reverie alone will do, if bees are few.

(Emily Dickinson)

I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethro‘ Gleams that untravell‘d world, whose margins fades For ever when I move.

(Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Tho‘ much is taken, much abides; and tho‘ We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of herioc hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

(Alfred Lord Tennyson)

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help little men by tearing down big men. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence. And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do 130

for themselves. (William J.H. Boetcker)

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.

(Ralph Vaull Starr)

Life, like a dome of many-colored glass, Stains the white radiance of eternity.

(Percy Bysshe Shelley)

Love...Embracing Tao, you become embraced. Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn. Clearing your vision, you become clear. Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial. Opening your heart, you become accepted. Accepting the World, you embrace Tao. Bearing and nurturing, Creating but not owning, Giving without demanding, Controlling without authority, This is love. (Lao Tzu)

I was born to catch dragons in their dens And pick flowers To tell tales and laugh away the morning To drift and dream like a lazy stream And walk barefoot across sunshine days.

(James Kavanaugh)

If I could take your troubles I would toss them into the sea, But all these things I'm finding Are impossible for me. I cannot build a mountain 131

Or catch a rainbow fair, But let me be what I know best, A friend that is always there.

(Khahlil Gibran)

We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world forever, it seems.

(Arthur O'Shaughnessy)

To dream the impossible dream, To fight the unbeatable foe, To bear the unbearable sorrow, To run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong, To love pure and chaste from afar, To try when your arms are too weary, To reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest, to follow that star, No matter how hopeless, no matter how far. To fight for the right without question or pause; To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause.

The summit of the mountain, The thunder of the sky, The rhythm of the sea, 132

(Jim Darion)

Speaks to me, And my heart soars.

(Dan George)

The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man‘s smudge and shares man‘s smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

(Gerard Manley Hopkins)

And for all this nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, Morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs — Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

There was a time when meadow, grove, And stream, The earth, and every common sight, To me did seem Apparelled in celestial light, The glory and the freshness of a dream. (William Wordsworth)

Deep peace of the Running Wave to you. Deep peace of the Flowing Air to you. 133

(Gerard Manley Hopkins)

Deep peace of the Quiet Earth to you. Deep peace of the Shining Stars to you. Deep peace of the Gentle Night to you. Deep peace of the Brilliant Sun to you. Moon and Stars pour their healing light on you. Deep peace to you. (A Gaelic Blessing) Mine — by the Right of the White Election! Mine — by the Royal Seal! Mine — by the Sign in the Scarlet Prison — Bars — cannot conceal! Mine —- here — in Vision — and in Veto! Mine — by the Grave‘s Repeal — Delirious Charter! Mine — long as Ages steal.

(Emily Dickinson)

Beneath the rose the desert grows, Beneath the desert grows the sea: How fathom that clear profundity, End of all shadows and their source, Blazing on which are spun The Pole Star and the Sun.

(Lewis Thompson)

Time there hath been when only God was All, And it shall be again.

The hour is nam‘d

When seraph, cherub, angel, saint, man, fiend, Made pure, and unbelievably uplift Above their present state, drawn up to God Like dew into the air, shall All be heav‘n; All souls shall be in God, and shall be God, 134

And nothing but God be. (Phillip Bailey)

If ye lay bound upon the wheel of change, And no way were of breaking from the chain, The Heart of boundless being is a curse, The Soul of Things fell Pain.

Ye are not bound! The Soul of Things is sweet, The Heart of Being is celestial Rest;

Stronger than woe is will: that which was Good Doth pass to Betterâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Best.

Before beginning, and without an end, As space eternal and as surety sure, Is fixed a Power divine which moves to good, Only its laws endure.

(Sir Edwin Arnold)

One song can spark a moment, One flower can wake the dream. One tree can start a forest, One bird can herald spring. One smile begins a friendship, One handclasp lifts a soul. One star can guide a ship at sea, One word can frame the goal. One vote can change a nation, One sunbeam lights a room. One candle wipes out the darkness, One laugh will conquer gloom. 135

One step must start each journey, One word must start each prayer. One hope will raise our spirits, One touch can show you care. One voice can speak with wisdom, One heart can know whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s true, One life can make the difference, You see, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s up to you! (anonymous)

I will walk the path of beauty, Light forever shining. Healing power of love flow through me To the hearts of humankind.

It is time to live in peace, Mind and hearts wide open; Piercing through the veil of darkness To the light of heaven.

Time to lay aside the judgment Of each other's duty. In the walk that we must make, May we find the path of beauty.

Oh, we must learn to live in peace, Selfless love's compassion; Looking only for the goodness In each other's actions.

May you walk the path of beauty, 136

Light forever shining. Healing power of love is flowing Through the hearts of humankind. (Dik Darnell)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!-and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s much Liberty, How I wish I were one, To live as free as the passing wind, There above all natural creations In flight far and beautiful, Stretched like a falling leaf With the heavens a few miles off. She takes a step above us â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Yes. 137

That‘s why I really would like to be In her place, a place of absolute security And earthly dominion; To look down on all the earthly beauties And make a home anywhere, anytime. I wish I really were in her place; Free like the passing wind, Just below the heavenly clouds. (Edison Nwufor)

詩人 138

Angels

See everything you do, no matter how ordinary or repetitive, as a way to honor our Creator for giving us life.

(Kagiso)

Remember, there is always love in the world.

(Kagiso)

The only real failure is to give up on yourself or on others.

(Kagiso)

All our hopes and dreams â&#x20AC;Ś shall be fulfilled. (Kagiso) It is not so much what you choose to do that is important, but what you do with your choice. (Kagiso)

Just 1 person is just as valuable and beautiful as all of creation.

(Kagiso)

If Native Americans are NOT living the true spirituality of from their traditions, this does not mean Native American Spirituality is at fault, no more than when Faithsts do NOT live the true spirituality of Oahspe. The question before us is not WHO is NOT living up to their highest spiritual light; the question is what is the highest light that we can discover â&#x20AC;Ś and how can we personally live up to what we discover. (Kagiso) 139

Why do people choose any kind of darkness? They have taught themselves to enjoy it and until they teach themselves to NOT enjoy it, they will not stop doing it. People are in their hell not against their own will but because they enjoy and value particular kinds of darkness. Darkness is darkness because anyone who partakes of a tetract, becomes so entwined in it, so that they push away all that is good more and more, so that the truth or light cannot easily reach them without divine help via angels or angelic people. I have noticed this in myself for various kinds of darkness even as a mortal. The battle for soul mastery goes on and on, as the Creator intended. We need to always remind ourselves of how many good people there are. Let us help one another to value the virtues of light so that we may value higher heavens above all else. The Creator is the first and the last thought on all of this. (Kagiso)

One difficult aspect about Oahspe is that it demands so much of those who read it, to learn how to free yourself and to open yourself up and become fit company for the angels. Some like you, achieve this because they can put self and self-aggrandizement aside. Others, simply look for Oahspe as a way to glorify themselves while avoiding making the sacrifices necessary for arising in spiritual character and direction. Those who cannot give up the selfishness, find ways to kind of hide and made chains out ideas from Oahspe that are the opposite of what Oahspe truly means. (Kagiso)

The mastery of self (or losing of self) is a process, and there is no instant transformation. It can be expedited by taking on great tasks of service but one's heart must be into it. It is possible that as society breaks down, we and others will be thrust into or acquire new resolution in accepting the challenges of starting new communities of the new age. Though such motivations are worthy in themselves, the members of new communities that succeed will not simply seek to form them for their own happiness and feelings of communal oneness. They will do so because they truly care about helping abandoned children and families without any homes, and about the spiritual welfare of our world as a whole. As our societies fall apart, there will be more and more orphans and homeless 140

families who will be in greater and greater need. There is no question that many of those who succeed will predominantly include those who have never even heard of the book Oahspe so all of us should put away any kind of feeling of superiority over having read Oahspe or being the chosen ones for the new communities. It is more than possible though, that those with an understanding of the essential principles Oahspe teaches, becoming interpreters and workers of the All Voice without a written formula, will be able to help greatly with the spiritual focus of each community. In the meantime, all of us have to search our hearts and lives and decide what to do in systematic preparation in terms of organization and resources, but even more so, how we can purify our hearts and minds, and of how we can be of service to others within our reach regardless of whether it directly involves new community work. As we succeed in these areas, and even the smallest of steps matter, we will be led to the next stages of spiritual work. May the Creator within be The Voice we listen and respond to each hour of our life. (Kagiso)

And yet I knew that he was sending out to me, as to us all, thoughts of encouragement, of good hope, of kindness in the very highest degree, that made me feel that I must never, never despair of attaining to the highest spiritual realm, and that there was good and useful work ready for me to do in the service of man, and that in the doing thereof I would have the whole of the spiritual realms behind me — as they are behind every single soul who works in the service of man. (Life in the World Unseen) To visit the lower realms it is necessary to have — for one‘s own protection — certain powers and symbols, ...

(Life in the World Unseen)

... the power of thought is almost unlimited in the spirit world, and that the greater the power of any particular effort or concentration of the thought, the greater the results. (Life in the World Unseen)

Imagine yourself in a world where no one works for a living but where everyone works for the sheer joy of doing something that will be of service to others. 141

Just imagine

that, and you will begin to understand something of the life in the spirit lands.

(Life in

the World Unseen)

A message would be sent to the Brotherhood that help was required to assist some struggling mortal or unhappy spirit, and such one of the brothers as was thought to be most fit would be sent to help. Such a one of us would be sent as had in his own earth life yielded to a similar temptation, and had suffered all the bitter consequences and remorse for his sin. Often the man or woman to be helped had unconsciously sent out an aspiration for help and strength to resist temptation, and that of itself was a prayer, which would be heard in the spirit world as a cry from earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s children that appealed to all in the spirit world who had been themselves earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s sons and daughters; or it might be that some spirit to whom the struggling one was very dear would seek for help on their behalf and would thus appeal to us to come to their aid. Our task would be to follow and control the mortal we desired to help till the temptation had been overcome. We would identify ourselves so closely with the mortal that for a time we actually shared his life, his thoughts, everything, and during this dual state of existence we ourselves often suffered most keenly, both from our anxiety for the man whose thoughts became almost as our own, and from the fact that his anxieties were as ours, while in thus going over again a chapter in our past lives we endured all sorrow, remorse and bitterness of the past time. He on his side felt, though not in so keen a degree, the sorrowful state of our mind, and where the control was very complete and the mortal highly sensitive, he would often fancy that things which we had done must have been done by himself, either in some former forgotten stage of existence, or else seen in some vivid dream they could scarcely recall. (Wanderer in the Spirit Lands)

All are free in the spirit world. lead them.

All must follow only where their own wishes and desires

If you study to cultivate the higher desires â&#x20AC;&#x201D; means will be given you to

attain them, and you will be strengthened with such help and strength as you may need. Learn the power of prayer, now, for all things come by earnest prayer, whether you are conscious that you pray or not.

For good or for evil , your desires are as prayers and

call around you good or evil powers to answer them for you. 142

(Wanderer in the Spirit

Lands)

Knowledge, guidance and help will always be given, but only in such a manner as will not interfere with man‘s free will, and only such knowledge as he himself desires; nothing will ever be forced upon him by the spirit world.

Life is in all things, and God is the central Life of All.

(Wanderer in the Spirit Lands)

Spirit guides constitute one of the grandest orders in the whole organization and administration of the spirit world.

They inhabit a realm of their own, and they‘ have all

lived for many centuries in the spirit world.

They are drawn from every nationality that

exists upon the earth-plane, and they function regardless of nationality.

A great many

of them are drawn from eastern countries, and from North American Indians, too, because it has always been the case that dwellers in those regions of the earth world were, and are, already possessed of psychic gifts themselves, and were therefore aware of the inter-relationship of our two worlds. The principal guide is chosen for each individual on the earth-plane in conformity with a fixed plan.

Most guides are

temperamentally similar to their charges in the latters‘ finer natures, but what is most important is that the guides understand and are in sympathy with their charges‘ failings. Many of them, indeed, had the same failings when they were incarnate, and among other useful services they try to help their charges overcome those failings and weaknesses. A great number of those who practice communication with the spirit world have already met their spirit guides and are in close touch with them.

And fortunate,

indeed, they are. The guides, too, are never happier than when they have established a direct link with those whose lives they are helping to direct. It would be safe to say that by far the greater number of spirit guides carry on their work all but unknown to those whom they serve, and their task is so much the heavier and more difficult. But there are still others whose lives upon earth render it practically impossible for their guides to approach within any reasonable distance of them.

It naturally saddens them

to see the mistakes and follies into which their charges are plunging themselves, and to be obliged to stand aloof because of the thick wall of material impenetrability which they 143

have built up round themselves.

Such souls, when they at last arrive in the spirit

world, awake to a full realization of what they have thus missed during their earth lives. In such cases the guidesâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; work will not be entirely in vain, for even in the worst souls there comes an occasion, however transient, when the conscience speaks, and it is usually the spirit guide who has implanted the better thought within the brain.

(Life in

the World Unseen)

Few people yet in their earthly envelopes understand that spirits can, and very often do, take such complete possession of the bodies of mortal men and women that, for the time, it is as though that earth body belonged to the disembodied and not the embodied spirit. Many cases of so-called temporary madness are due to the controlling power of very low spirits of evil desires or frivolous minds, who are, through the weakness of will or other causes, put into complete rapport with the embodied spirit whose body they seek to use.

Amongst many ancient races this fact was acknowledged and studied as

well as many branches of occult sciences which we of the nineteenth century have grown too wise, forsooth, to look into, even to discover, if we can, those germs of truth with which all ages have been blessed and which are worth disinterring from the mass of rubbish in which succeeding generations of men have buried them. (Wanderer in the Spirit Lands)

Ah! How many, many poor spirits would in crowds to those meetings (sĂŠances), hoping for the chance that they, too, might be able to show themselves and win some recognitionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;see again someone who was glad to know that they still lived and could return; and how many were always certain to go away sad and disappointed because there were so many and only a certain amount of power, and those who were nearest and dearest were naturally granted a preference.

The spirit world is full of lonely souls,

all eager to return and show that they still live, still think of those whom they have left, still feel an interest in their struggles, and are as ready and often more able to advise and help than when they were on earth, were they not shut out by the barriers of the flesh. I have seen so many, so very many spirits hanging about the earth plane when they might have gone to some bright sphere, but would not, because of their affection 144

for some beloved ones left to struggle with the trials of earth, and grieving hang about them, hoping for some chance which would make the mortal conscious of their presence and their constant love.

Could these but communicate as do friends on

earth when one has to go to a distant country and leave the other behind, there would not be such hopelessness of sorrow as I have often seen; and although years and the ministrations of the comforting angles will soften the grief of most mortals, yet would it not be a happier state for both mortals and spirits could they but still hold sweet communion together as of yore? (Wanderer in the Spirit Lands)

My vision of the earth and its surroundings faded away, and in its stead I beheld one lone star shining above me with a pure silver light. And its ray fell like a thin thread of silver upon the earth and upon the spot where my beloved dwelt. Ahrinziman said to me: Behold the star of her earthly destiny, how clear and pure it shines and know, oh! beloved pupil, that for each soul born upon earth there shines in the spiritual heavens such a star whose path is marked out when the soul is born; a path it must follow to the end, unless by an act of suicide it sever the thread of the earthly life and by thus transgressing a law of nature, plunge itself into great sorrow and suffering.

―Do you

mean that the fate of every soul is fixed, and that we are but straws floating on the stream of our destiny?‖ ―Not quite. The great events of the earth life are fixed; they will inevitably be encountered at certain periods of the earthly existence, and they are such events as those wise guardians of the angelic spheres deem to be calculated to develop and educate that soul—whether they shall be the turning point for good or ill, for happiness or for sorrow—rests with the soul itself, and this is the prerogative of our free will, without which we would be but puppets, irresponsible for our acts and worthy of neither reward nor punishment for them.

But to return to that star—note that while

the mortal follows the destined path with earnest endeavor to do right in all things, while the soul is pure and the thoughts unselfish, then does that star shine with clear unsullied ray, and light that pathway of the soul. soul and is the reflection of its purity.

The light of this star comes from the

If, then, the soul cease to be pure, if it develop its

lower instead of its higher attributes, the star of that soul‘s destiny will grow pale and faint, the light flickering like some will-o‘-the-wisp hovering over a dark morass; no 145

longer will it shine as a clear beacon of the soul; and at last, if the soul become very evil, the light of the star will die out and expire, to shine no more upon its earthly path.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; (Wanderer in the Spirit Lands)

These earth-bound spirits retain much of their earthly passion and propensity. The cravings of the body are not extinct, though the power to gratify them is withdrawn. The drunkard retains his old thirst, but exaggerated; aggravated by the impossibility of slacking it. It burns within him, the unquenched desire, and urges him to frequent the haunts of his old vices, and to drive wretches like himself to further degradation. In them he lives again his old life, and drinks in satisfaction, grim and devilish, from the excesses which he causes them to commit. And so his vice perpetuates itself, and swells the crop of sin and sorrow. The besotted wretch, goaded on by agencies he cannot see, sinks deeper and deeper into the mire. His innocent wife and babe starve and weep in silent agony, and near them hovers, and over them broods, the guardian angel who has no power to reach the sodden wretch who mars their lives and breaks their hearts. This we shadow forth to you when we tell you that the earthbound spirit lives again its life of excess of those whom it is enabled to drive to ruin. The remedy is slow, for such vices perpetuate themselves. It can only be found in the moral and material elevation of the race; in the gradual growth of purer and truer knowledge; in advanced education, in its widest and truest sense. (Spirit Teachings)

The religion which we teach is one of acts and habits, not of words and fitful faith. We teach religion of body and religion of soul; a religion pure, progressive, and true; one that aims at no finality, but leads its votary higher and higher through the ages, until the dross of earth is purged away, the spiritual nature is refined and sublimated, and the perfected spiritâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;perfected through suffering and toil and experienceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is presented in glorified purity before the very footstool of its God. In this religion you will find no place for sloth and carelessness. The note of spirit-teaching is earnestness and zeal. In it you will find no shirking of the consequences of acts. Such shirking is impossible. Sin carries with it its own punishment. Nor will you find a convenient substitute on whose 146

shoulders you may bind the burdens which you have prepared. Your own back must bear them, and your own spirit groan under their weight. Neither will you find encouragement to live a life of animal sensuality and brutish selfishness, in the hope that an orthodox belief will hide your debased life, and that faith will throw a veil over impurity. You will find the creed taught by us is that acts and habits are of more moment than creeds and faith; and you will discover that that flimsy veil is rent aside with stern hand, leaving the foul life laid bare, and the poor spirit naked and open to the eye of all who gaze upon it. Nor will you find any hope that after all you may get a cheap reprieveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that God is merciful, and will not be severe to mark your sins. Those human imaginings pale in the light of truth. You will gain mercy when you have deserved it; or rather, repentance and amendment, purity and sincerity, truth and progress will bring their own reward. You will not then require either mercy or pity.

This is the religion of

body and spirit which we proclaim. It is of God, and the days draw nigh when man shall know it. (Spirit Teachings)

The true philanthropist, the man who has the benefit and progress of his fellows most at heart, is the true man, the true child of the Almighty Father, who is the great Philanthropist. The true philanthropist is he who grows likest God every hour. He is enlarging by constant exercise the sympathies which are eternal and undying, and in the perpetual exercise of which man finds increasing happiness. The philanthropist and the philosopher, the man who loves mankind, and the man who loves knowledge for its own sake, these are God's jewels of priceless value, and of boundless promise. The one, fettered by no restrictions of race or place, of creed or name, embraces in his loving heart the whole brotherhood of humanity. He loves them as friends, as brethren. He asks not what are their opinions, he only sees their wants, and in ministering to them progressive knowledge he is blest. This is the true philanthropist, though frequently the counterfeit, who loves those who think with him, and will help those who fawn on him, and give alms, so the generous deed be well known, robs the fair name of philanthropy of that all embracing beneficence which is the true mark. The other, the philosopher, hampered by no theories of what ought to be, and what therefore must beâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;bound by no subservience to sectarian opinion, to the dogmas of a special school, free from 147

prejudice, receptive of truth, whatever that truth may be, so it be provenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;he seeks into the mysteries of Divine wisdom, and, searching, finds his happiness. He need have no fear of exhausting the treasures, they are without end. His joy throughout life shall be to gather ever richer stores of knowledge, truer ideas of God. The union of those twoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the philanthropist and the philosopherâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;makes the perfect man. Those who unite the two, progress further than spirits who progress alone.

(Spirit Teachings)

So long as man is a physical being, physical acts will be of importance. It is because we have no fear that sufficient importance will not be attached to them that we have not dwelt on this side of the question. We are concerned rather with spirit, and with the hidden spring, by which, if it be working aright, the external acts will be duly done. We carry throughout the principle on which we have always dealt with you, of referring you back to that which is your true self, and of urging you to consider all you do as the outcome and external manifestation of an internal spirit, which, when you leave this 148

sphere, will determine your future condition of existence. This is the true wisdom; and in so far as you recognize the spirit that animates everything, that is the soul of all, the life and reality which underlies Nature and Humanity, in all their several manifestations, are you actuated by true wisdom. This being the duty of man in such sort as we are now able to put it before you, we have now to deal with the results of the discharge of that duty, or its neglect. He who fulfills it according to his ability, with honesty and sincerity of purpose, and with a single desire to discharge it aright, earns his legitimate reward in happiness and progress. We say progress, because man is apt to lose sight of this enduring fact, that in progress man's spirit finds its truest happiness. Content is, in the pure soul, only retrospective. It cannot rest in that which is past; at best it views the achievements of the bygone days only as incentives to further progress. Its attitude to the past is one of content, to the future, of hope and expectation of further development. That soul which shall slumber in satisfaction, and fancy that it has achieved its goal, is deluded, and in peril of retrogression. The true attitude of the spirit is one of striving earnestly in the hope of reaching a higher position than that which it has attained. In perpetually progressing it finds its truest happiness. There is no finality; none, none, none!

(Spirit Teachings)

Stand tall before your Creator! Apologize not for your being! As long as you are striving for the Higher Light, apologize not for your actions, your thoughts or expressions.

Let your will be as indomitable as that of the angels, so you may have

the strength to accomplish in the face of great adversity.

For Faith alone will not

suffice when the opposition is unyielding. But most of all, respect yourself and your worth, for you are as much the angel draped in white and gold as I am.

For as radiant

and awesome as I may appear to you now, yet I am merely a reflection of what you will be when your personality, faith, will, and crystallized sufficiently.

and most especially self-respect, have grown

Take control of yourself and your destiny or you are no

more than a boat without a rudder.

(Radiance)

It is strength of will emerging from strength of personality that places the driving force behind any goal or task, and a strong will can only come from one who respects his 149

person and sees his value as an individual.

(Radiance)

The person who can speak from one's own Divine center and speak truth, can marshal life, strength and force of all the atoms in the cosmos, separate or organized, for they are all working from the law of love and serve the truth of love when it is manifest. (Radiance)

If the sincere student would seek to apply himself, to comprehend his Creator to the fullness of his ability, trying to live his life in harmony with the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Light from within, ever seeking to learn and practice the Highest Light and Greatest Good, he will never find a single doorway to the higher heavens closed to him.

If he will apply himself with

loving kindness to minister to his brothers and sisters who are less fortunate than himself, being strong and courageous to carry any burden imposed upon him, he will ever find greater wisdom and understanding brought to him through eternity. (Radiance)

We are a blessing; love is our power. (Radiance)

Our object, here and now, O Jehovih, is to commune with Thee, to cultivate a stronger awareness of Thy Presence, and to help open the channels for Thy Light, Love, and Power to come into the world. Words of praise, faith, and thanks to Thee are an important beginning.

If we have a personal task, it is more to upraise ourselves, than

to change those around us, let alone the world; if we do our part, Thou will lead all to further life and progress and happiness.

(Radiance)

The Infinite Being with Whom we are one is love.

Love is the highest concept of what

life is about. Without love, there is nothing but illusion. With love, there is all of reality to be realized and enjoyed. as the essence of being.

The greatest messiahs and philosophers have taught love You and I are essentially love. When we awaken to this

realization, devoting our lives to the practice of love, we have attained to a likeness with the All Highest.

Nothing can then discourage or defeat us. Everything will work to 150

further our enlightenment forever.

Perseverance in the practice of love for the Divine

Presence in all souls and all life will free us from bondage and limitation and all the causes of suffering. In the practice of love, we are not alone. We have the constant backing of a host of angelic workers serving the Almighty.

(Radiance)

Minds centered upon the cares of the world and busy with the small duties of life, need to be opened by study and contemplation to the grandeur of the great Creator, whose marvelous Presence is manifest in all the laws and forms of the universe. Students should seek that instruction which opens the mind to the mighty Spirit of Life.

This is

necessary, that the mind may receive new life and the power to manifest life in endless abundance. (Healing Currents)

The truth reveals the Life which was always here but which we did not recognize. It is our recognition that opens up our minds to receive Its blessings.

Recognition grows

into faith, and faith builds up the mental forces that polarize life. (Healing Currents)

We know that if we seek first the Ever-Present Power within us, and not our own power, all things will be possible. (Healing Currents)

You see the beauty of the Divine Truth, and now you desire to build the temple of your mind after its pattern.

You desire to manifest the truth that you now understand.

â&#x20AC;&#x2022;Faith is the substance of things hoped for.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; Faith is a mental energy that you can cultivate.

Every time you think a thought of truth you are adding one more word of

faith to the mental energy that is building up your spiritual body.

Every time you

make a strong affirmation of the strength, health and prosperity which are inherent attributes of your soul, you are formulating the quality of mental energy that your soul can use to come into strong, perfect manifestation. (Healing Currents)

I am in the midst of the Almighty Forces of the Creator that are all working for my good. All are working for my prosperity.

I will with all the power of my mind and soul that all

my affairs shall quickly arrange themselves for the demonstration of my prosperity. 151

Love and justice reign supreme in all my world.

All is Good. The Ever-Present All

Good protects, sustains and prospers me, now and at all times. I recognize only the good in all beings.

My faith is grounded and unalterably fixed in the Good, and thus

my faith will conquer every belief of evil, and I will by my true faith hold myself in unity with the powerful Mind of the I AM.

(Healing Currents)

Purity in thought, word, and deed is absolutely essential to any degree of health or spiritual power.

(Healing Currents)

Do you desire health from the Creator, permanent health, which will bring to you the ever-increasing joy of conscious growth in spiritual dominion? Then you must develop the conditions of mind that will facilitate the influx of the Vitality of Eternity.

The

Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Universal Mind is the life and mind of all things, but this power within you, which brings health and peace in its tender ministrations, abides in the more refined states of the Universal Mind. Only those who purify and refine their thoughts and feelings will enjoy the blessed realization of the All Perfect Ever-Presence.

(Healing

Currents)

The greatest wisdom and the mightiest love are realized and expressed by the holiest angels and archangels of Heaven. When the emanations from the angelic sphere combine with those of the awakened soul, the healing power is strongest, because the emanations from the angels are so imbued with universal love and sympathy that their curative potency is enhanced thereby.

The Ever-Presence is organized in the angelic

souls of Heaven, and through these angels, who once lived and suffered as mortals, this Beneficent Spirit is directed in sympathy and compassion to the healing and uplifting of mortals, wherever they can find an open door. (Healing Currents)

We may have a wonderful mental power, and preach the highest truth, but the power that harmonizes and heals is ours only when our minds have entered the pure ocean of bliss and been magnetized by contact with the positive pole of Divinity.

Then are we

endowed for the time being with the power of the Cause of causes, and all causes 152

respond to the one who realizes this mastery.

Again and again must one retire from

the world and overcome the conflicting vibrations of the world-mind, for the soul is constantly in need of the Omnipotent Power that abides with our Creator. (Healing Currents)

As we walk through the park or in the woods, we should know that the contact of our feet with the ground is giving us the magnetic vitality of Mother Nature.

The air is filled

with invigorating vitality; the sun is pouring its mighty life into our being; and the beauty and grace of the Creator manifest in all outdoors are giving us a magnetic, mental, and soul treatment that turns our minds to Infinite Life and Health. We are healed because it is the Presence of the Creator that we recognize.

Let us contemplate the beauty and

power of the Ever-Present that is All in All, and we will be harmonized by Its mighty continuity and feel the thrill of the Divine Consciousness pervading our natures. We will grow like that which we study.

(Healing Currents)

There is latent, now, in each individual soul, a power of divinity capable of transforming the whole body into health and perfection.

This power, which is the Spirit of the

Almighty, may be expressed through positive affirmations of truth forming thoughts of recognition which embody in mental form its divine potency.

Through faith this spirit

manifests its power; and faith may be cultivated and developed by affirmations of truth relating to the goodness and wisdom and perfection of this Power. We may affirm the presence of Almighty health and strength until we feel the glowing Power infusing our thoughts and tingling with joyous life through every cell of the body.

It is by affirmation

of the truth that we build the spiritual temple of faith through which the Creator comes into manifest expression in our being. As we develop this potency of the spiritual word, and tune our natures to the keynote of the divine life of love and service, we shall gain the consciousness of the actual presence of the Creator, and become so alive with Infinite grace and harmony that the All One will live in every part of us, and we shall begin to realize in some degree the miraculous power of that All Presence within. (Healing Currents) 153

Open your mind and the path will too. (Circle of Light)

The heart of him who truly loves is a paradise on earth: he has God in himself, for God is love. We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart. Love is an image of God, and not a lifeless image, but the living essence of the divine nature which beams full of goodness. The days grow shorter, the nights grow longer, the headstones thicken along the way: and life grows sadder, but love grows stronger for those who walk with us day by day. Love . . . . . . is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same. Love looks through a telescope; envy through a microscope. All loves should be simply stepping-stones to the love of God. So it was with me: and blessed be His name for His great goodness and mercy. Love is to the moral nature what the sun is to the earth. The accents of love are all that is left of the language of paradise. To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another. Stimulate the heart of love and the mind early to be accurate, and all other virtues will rise of their own accord, and all vices will be thrown out. True love is eternal, infinite and always like itself.

It is equal and pure, without violent

demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart. Love, and you shall be loved. — All love is mathematically just, as much as the two sides of an algebraic equation. In peace, love tunes the shepherd‘s reed; in war he mounts the warrior‘s steed; in halls, in gay attire is seen; in hamlets, dances on the green. Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, and the men below, and saints above: for love is heaven, and heaven is love.

Love is the purification of the heart from self; it

strengthens and ennobles the character, gives higher motives and a nobler aim to every action of life, and makes both man and woman strong, noble, and courageous. The power to love truly and devotedly is the noblest gift with which a human being can be endowed; but it is a sacred fire that must not be burned to idols. It is the duty of men to love even those who injure them.

If there is anything better than to be loved, it is

loving. If there be one thing pure, where all beside is sullied, and that can endure when everything else passes away—if aught surpassing human deed or word, or thought, it is a mother‘s love. Divine love is a sacred flower, which in its early bud is happiness, and 154

in its full bloom is heaven. Love is indeed heaven upon earth since heaven above would not be heaven without it. Humble love, and not proud science, keeps the door of heaven.. Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest night of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart of life, and prophetic of eternal good. (Edmond Szekely)

155