heartsteps

In the name of daybreak
and the eyelids of the morning
and the wayfaring moon
and the night when it departs,

I swear I will not dishonour
my soul with hatred,
but offer myself humbly
as a guardian of nature,
as a healer of misery,
as a messenger of wonder,
as an architect of peace.

In the name of the sun and its mirrors
and the day that embraces it
and the cloud veils drawn over it
and the utmost night
and the male and the female
and the plants bursting with seed
and the crowning seasons
of the firefly and the apple,

I will honour all life -
wherever and in whatever form
it may dwell – on Earth my home,
and in the mansions of the stars.

Diane Ackerman

May every creature abound in well-being and peace.
May every living being, weak or strong, the long and the small
The short and the medium-sized, the mean and the great
May every living being, seen or unseen, those dwelling far off,
Those near by, those already born, those waiting to be born
May all attain inward peace.

Let no one deceive another
Let no one despise another in any situation
Let no one, from antipathy or hatred, wish evil to anyone at all.
Just as a mother, with her own life,
protects her only son from hurt
So within yourself foster a limitless concern
for every living creature.
Display a heart of boundless love for all the world
In all its height and depth and broad extent
Love unrestrained, without hate or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk, sit or lie
until overcome by drowsiness
Devote your mind entirely to this,
it is known as living here life divine.

The Buddha

You hunger to be touched, but deny your hunger. Allow me to love you. Permit me to teach you loving ways to treat yourself. Every hair on your head is precious to me, every inch of your skin. You are not a beast of burden. I do not intend you to work yourself to exhaustion, calling it virtue. Rest in me, my little one. Allow me to brush out your hair, to knead the sore muscles of your back. I am tender to you. Eat, sleep and refresh yourself.

When you regard your body, do so with tenderness. You are beautiful to me. You are unique and priceless. Learn to praise the beauties of your form. I have made you sturdy. I have given you health and strength. Your body is graceful to me. I am able to love an endless myriad of shapes and sizes. Do not turn a cruel eye to your body. It is the beloved vehicle for your spirit. It carries you faithfully.

Let me teach you to love yourself. Let me bathe and clothe you. You are a divine child. I find beauty in you always. It is my pleasure that you have comfort. It is my pleasure that you use your senses. I created your body for your enjoyment. Your sense of touch is sacred. Do not be cold and loveless, calling that grace. Warmth and compassion are my gifts to you. Relax and enjoy the gift of your body.

Julia Cameron

Now is the time
To climb up the mountain
And reason against habit.
Now is the time.

Now is the time
To renew the barren soil of nature
Ruined by the winds of tyranny
Now is the time.

Now is the time
To commence the litany of hope
Now is the time.

Now is the time
To give me roses, not to keep them
For my grave to come.
Give them to me while my heart beats,
Give them today
While my heart yearns for jubilee.
Now is the time…

Mzwakhe Mbuli

Why are you waiting to begin your life?
Do you think the world must care and come soliciting?
Listen to the knocking at the door of your own heart
It is only faint because you have not answered
You have fooled yourself with preparations
Time left laughing while you considered possibilities
Wake up you have slept long enough
Wake up tomorrow may be too late
When you finally dare open the door
your life will begin arriving
Cautiously at first unbelieving that the gate
So long locked against the tide
has finally been opened
Then with swells of neglected dreams
Then with waves of joyful revelation
the sea will follow
You will be swept by the full and magnificent tides
of your own longing
That no one else can give you
That no one else can claim

Judith Gass

Every truth without exception – no matter
who makes it – is from God.

If a bird got accused of singing too early
in the morning,

if a lute began to magically play on its own
in the square
and the enchanting sounds it made drove a pair of young lovers
into a wild, public display of passion,

if this lute and bird then got called before the inquisition
and their lives were literally at stake,

could not God walk up and say before the court,

“All acts of beauty are mine, all happen on behalf of love”?

And while God was there, testifying for our heart’s desires,
hopefully the judge would be astute enough
to brave a question,
that could go,

“Dear God, you say all acts of beauty are yours,
surely we can believe that. But what of all actions
we see in this world,

for is there any force in existence greater than the power
of your omnipresent hand?”

And God might have responded, “I like that question,”
adding, “May I ask you one as well?”

And then God would say,

“Have you ever been in a conversation when children
entered the room, and then you ceased speaking because your
wisdom knew you that they were not old enough
to benefit – to understand?

As exquisite is your world, most everyone in it
is spiritually young.

Spirituality is love, and love never wars with the minute, the day,
one’s self and others. Love would rather die
than maim a limb,
a wing.

Dear, anything that divides man from man,
earth from sky, light and dark, one religion from another…
O, I best keep silent, I see a child
just entered the
room”

Thomas Aquinas

Look to this day, for it is Life, the very life of Life;
In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence…
the bliss of Growth, the glory of Action, the splendour of Beauty.

For Yesterday is but a dream,
and Tomorrow only a vision;
But Today well lived makes Yesterday a dream of Happiness
and Tomorrow a vision of Hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day.
Such is the salutation to the Dawn.

Kálidása

My good wishes
for this being
I experience:

May I fulfil
my destiny
and die a well woman,

like my Beloved
who knew such fullness
of being alive
that he simply grew out
of himself, radiantly
shed his small mortality,
let the bright shell
around his being die back
into Earth so he, unimpeded,
could go on growing on
and on and on, and
let the growing on of God
inhabit that being
that once was alone
in its flesh and
now is all One.

Alla Renee Bozarth

“You are the light of the world.” Do not hide your spirituality in your feelings or your emotions. There is power in the spirit. Live this power and give personal expression to everything that the spirit may contain. Then you will demonstrate to the world that the way of the spirit is the true way. When you are lifted up, hundreds and even thousands will come and go where you are going. Therefore, let the full glory of the spirit shine in your life; let power from on high manifest itself in everything that you may think or say or do, and great shall be your reward, both in this world and in the world to come. The spiritual life deprives you of nothing that has real worth and gives you more and more of everything that has high worth.

“Agree with thine adversary quickly.” There is a spiritual side to everything; enter into harmony with this spiritual side and the discord that seems to exist on the personal side will disappear. Forget those elements that are at variance and think only of those states that are perfectly at one with each other. You can easily find them; we find everything we seek, and whoever goes out to find harmony will discover that there is more harmony in the world than anything else, excepting life itself.

Christian Larson

When your brother attacks you, realize that he is not feeling loved. If he felt love, he would not attack you. Do not react to his attack. Find a way to remind him that he is loved.

Do this again and again.

Here is a simple walking meditation.

One day, when you are feeling cheerful, go out into your community and when you see someone who is sad or angry, find a simple way to remind him that he is loved. Give him a smile, a flower, a balloon, a sandwich or a cup of coffee. Sing him a song or recite a poem. Say: “This is just for you. Please have a nice day.”

Another time, when you are feeling depressed, do the same thing. Do this again and again. You will be amazed at the results. There is nothing more ecstatic than reminding others and yourself that you are loved.

Remember, no one can give love if he does not feel loved. Therefore you have only one responsibility: feel the love that is there in your heart. And help others to feel it too. Can you imagine a world in which each person understood that his only responsibility was to give and receive love?

Paul Ferrini