Spiritwalk Thought for Today

Archive/November 1998

November 1, 1998

Let me not be tied down to property or praise and I shall be free.

Free from the nagging ache of envy.

Free from the hurts of resentment.

Free to love all and forgive all.

Free to do and say what is right, regardless of the unpopularity.

Free to wander everywhere as inspiration guides me.

~ Saint Francis of Assisi

November 2, 1998


Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire.
Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret
that human poetry and belief have to impart:
The salvation of man is through love and in love…

In a position of utter desolation,
when man cannot express himself in positive action,
when his only achievement may consist in
enduring his suffering in the right way ~
an honorable way ~
in such a position man can, through loving contemplation
of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.
For the first time in my life I was able
to understand the meaning of the words,
“The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.”

~ Victor E. Frankl

November 3, 1998

If you can find the God inside of yourself,

you can find the God inside everybody.

~ Stephen Levine

November 4, 1998

The most empowering relationships are those

in which each partner lifts the other to a higher

possession of their own being.

~ Teilhard de Chardin

November 5, 1998

To undertake a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulties
but to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully,
to bring them to the transformative power of our heart.

~ Jack Kornfield

November 6, 1998

Joy is a return to the deep harmony of body, mind and spirit
that was yours at birth and can be yours again.
That openness to love,
that capacity for wholeness with the world around you,
is still within you.

~ Deepak Chopra

November 9, 1998

I began to understand
that the promises of the world
are for the most part phantoms,
and that to have faith in oneself
and become something of worth and value
is the best and safest course.

~ Michelangelo

November 10, 1998

The greatest enemy of the modern world is boredom.
Despite all appearances, mankind is bored.
We no longer know what to do with ourselves.
Hence…the disorderly turmoil of individuality
Pursuing conflicts and egotistical aims.

~ Teilhard de Chardin

 

November 11, 1998

 

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,

wherein the Great Spirit dwells, and this is the Eye.

This is the Eye of the Great Spirit

by which he sees all things,

and through which we see him.

If the heart is not pure,

the Great Spirit cannot be seen.

 

~ Black Elk

November 13, 1998

In the march toward Truth,
anger, selfishness, hatred, naturally give way,
for otherwise Truth would be impossible to attain.
A man who is swayed by negative emotions
may have good enough intentions,
may be truthful in word,
but he will never find the Truth.

~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

November 14, 1998

Above all things, love yourself.

~ Pythagoras

November 15, 1998

The thing always happens that you really believe in
and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
And I think nothing will happen
until you thoroughly and deeply believe in it.

~ Frank Lloyd Wright

November 16, 1998

We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned,
So as to have the life that is waiting for us.

~ Joseph Campbell

November 17, 1998

[As the Buddha was dying,
Ananda asked who would be their teacher after death.
He replied to his disciple…]

Be lamps unto yourselves.
Be refuges unto yourselves.
Take yourself no external refuge.
Hold fast to the truth as a lamp.
Hold fast to the truth as a refuge.
Look not for a refuge in anyone besides yourselves.
And those, Ananda who either now or after I am dead,
Shall be a lamp unto themselves,
Shall betake themselves as no external refuge,
But holding fast to the truth as their lamp,
Holding fast to the truth as their refuge,
Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves,
It is they who shall reach to the very topmost height;
But they must be anxious to learn.

Buddha,
Quoted in Joseph Goldstein, The Experience of Insight

November 18, 1998

Right relationship means right relationship with the elements,
the land, the sacred directions…
The seed of pure mind is within all people.
It is always there. It is not made impure.
Our actions may be impure and set up a stream of reactions,
but always we can come again to the seed of pure mind and right relationship…
it is time now for people to choose.
The first step is to see the power of your own consciousness…
The common kernel is care for all beings, good relationship,
cycles of reciprocity, generosity, giving of oneself,
being an empty bowl so you can know what is.

~ Dhyani Ywahoo

November 19, 1998

To move strongly into your life’s work:
Open to that which sustains you,
Stand upon your integrity,
Honor your body, your feelings and your dreams.
Commit to a direction and connect to the communities
that resonate with your deepest sense of who you are.
Your work will unfold as your unique contribution to the world.

~ Rick Jarow

November 20, 1998

To be empty, completely empty, is not a fearsome thing;
It is absolutely essential for the mind to be unoccupied;
to be empty, unenforced, for then only,
it can move into unknown depths.

~ Jiddhu Krishnamurti

November 21, 1998

Stillness within finds stillness without
as the framework through which all activity occurs.
Breathe deep and full.
Relax always.
Grace unfolds from within
to dance about in joyous recognition.

~ Rob Campbell

More from Rob @ www.aloha.com/~wolf

November 22, 1998

Though we can’t always see it at the time,
if we look upon events with some perspective,
we see things always happen for our best interests.
We are always being guided in a way
better than we know ourselves.

~ Swami Satchidananda

November 23, 1998

I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy.
From the very core of our being, we desire contentment.
In my own limited experience I have found
that the more we care for the happiness of others,
the greater is our own sense of well-being.
Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others
automatically puts the mind at ease.
It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have
and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter.
It is the principal source of success in life.
Since we are not solely material creatures,
it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone.
The key is to develop inner peace.

~ Dalai Lama

November 26, 1998

Let us adore God with thanksgiving

for words of gratitude

are the only offering God accepts.

~ Hermes

November 27, 1998

God’s beauty is expressed
whenever man of earth so desires to seek for it.
It shall not be difficult for man to behold beauty,
when he beholds the beauty of God within his own consciousness…
Beauty is everywhere to he or she who would behold it.
When God reigns supreme in the consciousness of man,
the tiniest blade of grass speaks of God’s beauty…

~ Frater Achad

November 28, 1998

Before embarking
on important undertakings,
sit quietly,
calm your senses and thoughts,
and meditate deeply.
You will then be guided
by the great creative power of spirit.

~ Paramahansa Yogananda

November 29, 1998

Meditation is not a matter of trying
to achieve ecstasy, spiritual bliss or tranquility,
nor is it attempting to be a better person.
It is simply the creation of a space
in which we are able to expose and undo
our neurotic games, our self deceptions,
our hidden fears and hopes.

~ Chogyam Trungpa

November 30, 1998

The outward work can never be small if the inward one is great,
and the outward work can never be great if the inward is small or of little worth…
All works are surely dead if anything from the outside compels you to work.
Even if it were God himself compelling you

to work from the outside, your works would be dead.
If your works are to live, then God must work from the inside,
from the inner most region of the soul ~ then they will really live.
There is your life and there alone you live and your works live.

~ Meister Eckhart

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