Mirabai, poet-saint of India, 1498-1550
I know a cure for sadness:
Let your hands touch something that
makes your eyes
smile.
I bet there are a hundred objects close by
that can do that.
Look at
beauty’s gift to us -
her power is so great she enlivens
the earth, the sky, our
soul.
Mirabai
Fire has a love for itself -
It wants to keep burning.
It is like a woman
Who is at last making love
To the person she most desires.
Find a Master who is like the Sun.
Go to His house
in the middle of the night.
Smash a window.
Act like a great burglar -
Jump in.
Now,
Gather all your courage -
Throw yourself into His bed!
He will probably kill you.
Fantastic -
That’s the whole idea!
Hafiz
Francis of Assisi portrait by Nikosz Kazantzakisz
So
precious
is a person’s faith in God.
so precious;
never should we harm
that.
Because
He gave birth
to all
religions.
Francis of Assisi
We are living in a world of continual change, a world in which thought, thing, and experience are all in a constant state of flux. It is the very nature of the universe that there should be continual change and variation. It is a living world, the creation of a living creative Intelligence, not a static world created by a God now dead or departed who has left it to decay. No. It is vital and alive. The Mind that created it is not apart from it, but is always active in and through it.
But behind that which changes, behind that which causes the change, we have found that there is something stable and changeless, something eternal upon which all external events depend for their very existence. Behind the endless process of change and the infinite variety of experience and expression there is That which does not change.
We should never be afraid of change, never fearful of what will come. Instead we should bring to bear on each new event the influence of the creative nature of our thought—an influence that is founded on an inward calm, a sense of certainty and peace, which will reflect itself in the changing scene of our everyday lives.
As we look for and discover the nature of the Infinite which does not change, we find that we develop a complete trust in Its integrity. We are again reminded of Einstein’s remark that “God does not play dice with the cosmos.” And we then come to possess a feeling of security which is enhanced by the knowledge that each of us has a personal and intimate relationship with the Infinite. It is from this inward basis of certainty—this sense and awareness of our relationship to God, who is changeless but from whom flow infinite expressions—that all our thoughts should flow.
In our daily living we encounter infinite variety in all things. But behind the expression there is a pattern or form which is the foundation. There is a unity, but not a uniformity, that exists between all similar expressions, a unity that resides in the ultimate creative nature of the Universe, a unity that allows freedom of individual expression.
An obvious lesson can be learned if we look at ourselves, our families, our friends. We discover that we are all human beings, all pretty much the same. A head, two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth, a body, arms, and legs. And as we look farther afield at the entire human race, we find some races are tall, others short—some white, others black, yellow, or red. But behind every person, every race, there is the basic pattern, a pattern that is individually expressed. If there were not the possibility of variation of expression, life could never have developed its infinite variety. And if there had not been a basic pattern behind the development of humankind, there never would have been any way for it to develop.
One of the most amazing events in the development of humankind into its present physical form occurred in the early stages of its existence. According to anthropologist Loren Eiseley, humans at that time, in physical structure and general appearance, gave evidence of the people to come. The pattern existed. But through infinite changes and variations, a fuller and more perfect expression occurred. Then an amazing thing happened. For no reason that scientists have been able to determine, humans developed an enlarged brain—a brain far beyond the capacity needed for the containment of cells necessary for the operation of the senses for survival and the automatic functioning of the physical body. Without any previous indication, without any comparable thing occurring elsewhere in any living thing, humans suddenly (in terms of geological time) possessed a brain that was capable of functioning far beyond any demands that could ever be made on it by the physical body. It was an elaborate instrument that was capable of being a channel for thought, creative thought.
Why did it appear? What caused it to appear? What was its purpose? There is no academic answer forthcoming through the strict limitations science places upon itself. But those who have devoted their lives to science sometimes step outside their laboratories, for a moment turn aside from their microscopes, and say what they think.
Some scientists say that with the advent of this unpredictable development in humankind, something new appears to have been injected into God’s creation. Something different had been brought into creation by the Mind behind all creation—a unique expression of Itself. Thus we were freed from many of the instinctive limitations of our physical bodies. We were aware of ourselves! We could think! Infinite Mind is the only thing that can be ascertained to have thought, consciousness, and intelligence, and now It established for Itself, in and through humankind, a means of awareness, creativeness, and consciousness of what It had created. With the development of the larger brain in humans, Mind came forth anew into Its creation, ushering in a whole new era, the future of which we but little realize. We now need to learn to free ourselves from the complete domination of the instinctive functioning of the nervous system, although it serves our physical body well and has brought it to the high degree of perfection which it now exhibits.
The physical body has always faced a threat in one of two ways: either to fight or to escape through flight. This same instinctive reaction is of value to us today, but we need to place a limitation on its action. We deal largely with ideas in our daily lives, and when we encounter one we do not like, our bodies are whipped up to engage in combat or prepared for flight. Even though the body is never able actually to do anything about either fighting or fleeing from an idea, the resulting wear and tear are most disastrous.
We now need to discover that new thing which resides within us and is ever seeking fuller expression through us, and we shall find that it is the individualization in us of the infinite conscious creative Intelligence.
We generally seem to resist change, even that which is better for us. We also appear to resist being what we really are. We need to learn carefully and surely to permit ourselves to accept the fuller expression of the Mind that is within us. Against this there must be no resistance. For in Its creative flow through us rests our entire future—the greater person we may be and the richer life we desire to enjoy.
When we establish within our thought a nonresistance to that Power which is greater than we are, we are at the same time accepting within ourselves a stability that is the stability of the universe. We find ourselves secure, for we know that we are part of That which causes change but is never affected by any of the changes. As we gradually attain this sense of security, we will find that we view the changes occurring about us in a proper perspective. We will have stopped letting ourselves be blown about like straws in the wind or tossed helplessly about in a turbulent sea whose waves are doubt and fear and anxiety.
We may liken ourselves to the atom, whose center or nucleus is relatively stable. Around it revolve the electrons in orderly, harmonious orbits. In much the same way, once we discover the stable center that resides within us, all our experiences will revolve around us in an orderly way. Once our consciousness becomes stabilized through security founded on a conviction of the nature of God, and we come to have an inner awareness that the Creative Intelligence of the universe resides at the center of us, then will our experiences take on a pattern of harmony—a natural outflowing of our inner security.
Ernest Holmes
The sage is illumined
by an inner light
glowing the awareness
of the Tao,
Knowing giving
is the same as receiving,
and truth teaching
is the job of living,
In raising collective consciousness
to new levels of conduct
where compassion is spread impartially,
all inclusively, spontaneously,
to cover all possible scenarios,
Realizing the bad man is but
the good man’s opportunity
to do love’s duty,
instructing while conveying respect,
without judging,
One thought,
one action
at a time,
making the universe
a better place.
Gordon Neumann
"Plague Doctor" by Graham Corcoran
What a cruel act to be untruthful.
Earthquakes happen in the heart that hears sounds
that are amiss.
Havoc is created in the mind that can no longer trust someone
once loved, and schisms devour alliances
that help support
our life.
Words can enrich and be wonderful spices mixed into days
we imbibe with all our senses.
There are fields in the soul – lush organic meadows, though sounds
and words that fall there
can be, at times, a
poison.
A plague is spread by one
who cannot tell
the truth.
Meister Eckhart
Once the wrongdoer has confessed and the victim has forgiven, it does not mean that is the end of the process. Most frequently, the wrong has affected the victim in tangible, material ways. Apartheid provided the whites with enormous benefits and privileges, leaving its victims deprived and exploited. If someone steals my pen and then asks me to forgive him, unless he returns my pen the sincerity of his contrition and confession will be considered nil. Confession, forgiveness, and reparation, wherever feasible, form part of a continuum.
We have had a jurisprudence, a penology in Africa that was not retributive but restorative. In the traditional setting, when people quarreled the main intention was not to punish the miscreant but to restore good relations. For Africa is concerned, or has traditionally been concerned, about the wholeness of relationship. That is something we need in our world, a world that is polarized, a world that is fragmented, a world that destroys people. It is also something we need in our families and friendships, for restoration heals and makes whole while retribution only wounds and divides us from one another.
Only together, hand in hand, as God’s family and not as one another’s enemy, can we ever hope to end the vicious cycle of revenge and retribution. This is the only hope for us and for making God’s dream a reality. Because God truly only has us.
Desmond Tutu
“God is the shadow of man,” was commented upon by the Baal Shem as follows: just as a shadow follows the gestures and motions of the body, God follows those of the soul. If a man is charitable, God will be charitable too. The name of man’s secret is God, and the name of God’s secret is none other than the one invented by man: love. Who loves, loves God. And what is love if not a creative act, in which two beings fuse into a single consciousness scarred and healed a thousand times? Love’s mystery resides in oneness, and so does God’s. “Whatever is above is also down below.” Between the present concrete world and the other, the one to come, there is a link between source and reflection. God does not oppose humanity, and man, though vulnerable and ephemeral, can attain immortality in the passing moment. In man’s universe, everything is connected because nothing is without meaning.
Elie Wiesel
All of us are only one living being, and we come from the same place. There is no difference between any of us; we are the same. You can look at your hand and see that there are five fingers. If you focus your eyes on one finger at a time, you might believe that they are different, but it’s only one hand. It’s the same thing with humanity. There is only one living being, and that being is a force that is moving each of us like a finger on a hand. But all of the fingers belong to one hand. Humans share the same spirit; we share the same soul. There is no difference between me and you – not in my eyes. I know that I am you, and I have no doubt at all because I can see that way.
Don Miguel Ruiz