Non-rational creatures do not look before or after, but live in the animal eternity of a perpetual present; instinct is their animal grace and constant inspiration; and they are never tempted to live otherwise than in accord with their own animal dharma or immanent law. Thanks to his reasoning powers and to the instrument of reason, language, man (in his merely human condition) lives nostalgically, apprehensively and hopefully in the past and future as well as in the present; has no instincts ...

Like the bee gathering honey from different flowers, the wise man accepts the essence of different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions.

Some of those who use spiritual exercises make progress in the life of the spirit; others, using the same exercises, make no progress. To believe that their use either constitutes enlightenment, or guarantees it, is mere idolatry and superstition. To neglect them altogether, to refuse to find out weather and in what way they can help in the achievement of our final end, is nothing but self-opinionatedness and stubborn obscurantism.

If thou shouldst say, 'It is enough, I have reached perfection', all is lost. For it is the function of perfection to make one know one's imperfection.

I became aware of my true nature - it was an entity within myself, an entity whose feelings were balanced and calm. Between the intense highs and lows, I came to recognize this entity as the part of myself that was liked and respected, only this part would appear and disappear, like the wind on an autumn day. The balanced part of myself offered a feeling of ease and relaxation but, as soon as I tried to grasp it, it was swept away by painful memories, followed by those of lust and the desire f ...

Our conceptions always require a sense-content to work with, and as the words 'soul', 'God', 'immortality' cover no distinctive sense-content whatsoever, it follows that theoretically speaking they are words devoid of any significance. Yet strangely enough they have a definite meaning 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦. We can act 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 there were a God; feel 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 we were free; consider Nature 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 she were full of special designs; lay plans 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 we were to be immortal; and we find th ...

To enjoy the taste of all things, have no taste for anything.
To know all things, learn to know nothing.
To possess all things, resolve to possess nothing.
To be all things, be willing to be nothing.

In heroism, we feel, life's supreme mystery is hidden. We tolerate no one who has no capacity whatever for it in any direction. On the other hand, no matter what a man's frailties otherwise may be, if he be willing to risk death, and still more if he suffer it heroically, in the service he has chosen, the fact consecrates him forever. Inferior to ourselves in this or that way, if yet we cling to life, and he is able 'to fling it away like a flower' as caring nothing for it, we ...

The practical needs and experiences of religion seem to me sufficiently met by the belief that beyond each man and in a fashion continuous with him there exists a larger power which is friendly to him and his ideals. All that the facts require is that the power should be both other and larger than our conscious selves. Anything larger will do, if only it be large enough to trust for the next step. It need not be infinite, it need not be solitary. It might conceivably even be only a larger and ...

If this room is full of darkness for thousands of years, and you come in and begin to weep and wail 'Oh, the darkness', will the darkness vanish? Bring the light in, strike a match, and light comes in a moment. So what good will it do you to think all your lives 'Oh, I have done evil, I have made many mistakes'? It requires no ghost to tell us that. Bring in the light, and the evil goes in a moment. Strengthen the real nature, build up yourselves, the effulgent, the resplendent ...

Only the true man has understanding. So what is a true man? The true man of old did not fight against poverty, nor did he look for fulfilment through riches - for he had no grand plans. Therefore, he never regretted any failure, nor exulted in success. He could scale the heights without fear, plumb the depths without difficulties and go through fire without pain. This is the kind of person whose understanding has lifted him up towards the Tao.

The true man of old slept without dreaming ...

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

Valentinus's premise is that both the world and humanity are sick. The sickness of both has a common root: ignorance. That is, we ignore the authentic values of life and substitute inauthentic ones for them. We believe that we need physical things such as money, symbols of powers and prestige, physical pleasures in order to be happy or whole. Similarly, we fall in love with the ideas and abstractions of our minds. Our rigidities are always due to excessive attachment to abstract concepts a ...

The law of love cannot admit any exceptions and is only genuine when it is applied equally to foreigners, to all sectarians, and likewise to the enemies who hate us and wrong us.

The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower. To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha - which is to demean oneself.

The allegory of a physical mountain for the spiritual one that stands between each soul and its goal is an easy and natural one to make. Most people stand in sight of the spiritual mountains all their lives and never enter them, being content to listen to others who have been there and thus avoid the hardships. Some travel into the mountains accompanied by experienced guides who know the best and least dangerous routes by which they arrive at their destination. Still others, inexperienced and ...

The Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. The sky is round, the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. 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 c ...

It is hard to follow one great vision in this world of darkness and of many changing shadows. Among those shadows men get lost.

Every moment of our lives can become meditation. When you are awake, everything is meditation; when you sleep, everything is meditation; when you die, everything is meditation.

Meditation is a state of being. You can not have expectations. Each meditation is unique, a new experience. It is extremely important to let go in meditations such as inner fire. Intellectual cleverness does not work; it will only cause you to miss incredibly valuable experiences.

The whole point of doing meditation is to discover the fundamental principle of totality. The moment this experience of non-duality is reached, there is no room for heavy emotions or sentimentality. The pure, penetrative awareness cuts through relative obstacles and touches the deepest nature of human existence. At that moment of experience there is no conceptual labeling by the dualistic mind; at that moment, there is no Buddha or God, no subject or object, no heaven or hell.

It was not for the technique, the art as such, that music was learned; for the ultimate object was purification of heart, since it was said that no harmony of sound is attainable without the player's heart being in harmony with itself.

The present system of paying for every sort of service was not in vogue among the adherents of Bushido. It believed in a service which can be rendered only without money and without price. Spiritual service, be it of priest or teacher, was not to be repaid in gold or silver, not because it was valueless but because it was invaluable. Here the non-arithmetical honor-instinct of Bushido taught a truer lesson than modern Political Economy; for wages and salaries can be paid only for services whos ...

The end of all etiquette is to so cultivate your mind that even when you are quietly seared, not the roughest ruffian can dare make onset on your person. It means, in other words, that by constant exercise in correct manners, one brings all the parts and faculties of his body into perfect order and into such harmony with itself and its environment as to express the mastery of spirit over the flesh.

A truly brave man is ever serene; he is never taken by surprise; nothing ruffles the equanimity of his spirit. In the heat of battle he remains cool; in the midst of catastrophes he keeps level his mind. Earthquakes do not shake him, he laughs at storms. We admire him as truly great, who, in the menacing presence of danger or death, retains his self-possession; who, for instance, can compose a poem under impending peril, or hum a strain in the face of death. Such indulgence betraying no tremor ...

when my pain
causes my healing
my lows transform to highs
and heresy becomes faith
my soul and heart and body
were blocking my journey before
but now my body became heart
heart became soul
and the soul turned
to be the creator

pain and pain and pain
that's your best choice
don't be worried if
luck has left you alone
if you have no pain
then that's the time
to be sad and complain

in this plentiful
sea of life
with envy and greed
we steal happiness
from each other
a fish never
stores up water
a fish is finished
without the sea

in the journey of quest
you must go alone
always be eager
to face the pains
it is not heroic
to hasten for the union
it is heroic
to face the separation

I am happy
when I am sad
I am together
when fallen apart
like earth
when I am silent
I have thunder
hidden inside

whatever happens
to the world around
show me your purpose
show me your source

if there is hunger
if there is famine
show me your harvest
show me your resource

even if the world
is Godless and in chaos
show me your anchor
show me your love

if life is bitter
everywhere snakes everywhere poison
show me your garden
show me your meadow

if you van disentangle
yourself from your selfish self
all heavenly spirits
will stand ready to serve you

if you can finally hunt down
your own beastly self
you have the right
to claim Solomon's kingdom

you are that blessed soul who
belongs to the garden of paradise
is it fair to let yourself
fall apart in a shattered house

you are the bird of happiness
in the magic of existence
what a pity when you let
yourself ...

when I die
when my coffin
is being taken out
you must never think
I am missing this world

don't shed any tears
don't lament or
feel sorry
I'm not falling
into a monster's abyss

when you see
my corpse is being carried
don't cry for my leaving
I am not leaving
I'm arriving at eternal love

when you leave me
in the grave
don't say goodbye
remember a grave is
only a curtain
...

you are drunk
and I'm intoxicated
no one is around
showing us the way home

again and again
I told you
drink less
a cup or two

I know in this city
no one is sober
one is worse than the other
one is frenzied and
the other gone mad

come on my friend
step into the tavern of ruins
taste the sweetness of life
in the company of another friend

here you'll see
at every corner
someone intoxicated< ...

giving light and warmth
is the work of
good humans
pulling tricks and
shameless acts
are the work of
lowly souls
earth turns to gold
in the hands of the wise
gold turns to ash
in the hands of the wicked

With love in our hearts, we find even the most mundane things sacred and beautiful.
With love in our hearts, we become kinder and gentler, even to complete strangers.
Without love in our hearts, we find the world meaningless and random.
Without love in our hearts, we become strangers even to our family and friends.

When the mind looks outward,
It is swayed by the heavy winds of the world.
But when the mind faces inward,
We can find our center and rest in stillness.

If you keep hoping to be comforted by others,
you can feel weighed down by that need.
If you have a constant need to be heard,
nobody can meet that need to your
complete satisfaction.
Rather than always seeking comfort from others,
offer your comfort and listen to others.
In the process of helping,
you will be healed.

The more grateful we feel, the happier we become.
This is because gratitude helps us realize
we are all connected
Nobody feels like an island when feeling grateful.
Gratitude awakens us to the truth of our
interdependent nature.

Spirituality must be practiced
not just in solitude but also among people.
Open up to people around you and feel connected.
This is the true challenge of spiritual practice.

If you are sincere about reaching enlightenment,
you can learn even from a child,
or from the person who insults you on the street.
The entire world becomes your teacher.

The person leading you toward spiritual awakening
is not the one who praises you or is nice to you
Your spirituality deepens because of those
who insult you and give you a hard time.
They are your spiritual teachers in disguise.

If you wish to clear away the clouds of your thoughts,
simply keep your mind in the present.
The clouds of thought linger only in the
past or the future.
Bring your mind to the present,
and your thoughts will rest.

Schopenhauer suggests that just as your dreams are composed by an aspect of yourself of which your consciousness is unaware, so, too, your whole life is composed by the will within you. And just as people whom you will have met apparently by mere chance became leading agents in the structuring of your life, so, too, will you have served unknowingly as an agent, giving meaning to the lives of others. The whole thing gears together like one big symphony, with everything unconsciously structuring ...

The goal of your quest for knowledge of yourself is to be found at that burning point in yourself, that becoming thing in yourself, which is innocent of the goods and evils of the world as already become, and therefore desireless and fearless. That is the condition of a warrior going into battle with perfect courage. That is life in movement. That is the essence of the mysticism of war as well as of a plant growing. I think of grass - you know, every two weeks a chap comes out with a lawnmower ...

There are two ways of thinking I am God. If you think, I, here, in my physical presence and in my temporal character, am God, then you are mad and have short-circuited the experience. You are God, not in your ego, but in your deepest being, where you are at one with the non-dual transcendent.

There's the idea of the ascent of the spirit through the different centers or archetypal stages of experience. One begins with the elementary animal experiences of hunger and greed, and the of sexual zeal, and on to physical mastery of one kind or another. These are all empowering stages of experience. But then, when the center of the heart is touched, and a sense of compassion awakened with another person or creature, and you realize that you and that other are in some sense creatures of ...

The ultimate ground of being can be experienced in two senses, one as with form and the other as without and beyond form. When you experience your god as with form, there is your envisioning mind, and there is the god. There is a subject, and there is an object. But the ultimate mystical goal is to be united with one's god. With that, duality is transcended and forms disappear. There is nobody there, no god, no you. Your mind, going past all concepts, has dissolved in identification with t ...

I don't think there is any such thing as an ordinary mortal. Everybody has his own possibility of rapture in the experience of life. All he has to do is recognize it and then cultivate it and get going with it. I always feel uncomfortable when people speak about ordinary mortals because I've never met an ordinary man, woman, or child.

The Buddhist Nirvana is a center of peace. Buddhism is a psychological religion. It starts with the psychological problem of suffering: all life is sorrowful, there is, however, an escape from sorrow; the escape is Nirvana - which is a state of mind or consciousness, not a place somewhere like heaven. It is right here, in the midst of the turmoil of life. It is the state you find when you are no longer driven to live by compelling desires, fears, and social commitments, when you have found you ...

We don't have to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, will be with all the world.

The bodhisattva represents the principle of compassion, which is the healing principle that makes life possible. Life is pain, but compassion is what gives it the possibility of continuing. The bodhisattva is one who has achieved the realization of immortality yet voluntarily participates in the sorrows of the world. Voluntary participation in the world is very different from just getting born into it. That's exactly the theme of Paul's statement about Christ in his Epistle to the Phil ...

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are - if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.

The center of the world is the axis mundi, the central point, the pole around which all revolves. The central point of the world is the point where stillness and movement are together. Movement is time, but stillness is eternity. Realizing how this moment of your life is actually a moment of eternity, and experiencing the eternal aspect of what you're doing in the temporal experience - this is the mythological experience.

The problem in middle life, when the body has reached its climax of power and begins to decline, is to identify yourself not with the body, which is falling away, but with the consciousness of which it is a vehicle. This is something I learned from myths. What am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light, or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle? One of the psychological problems in growing old is the fear of death. People resist the door of death. But this body is a vehicle of conscious ...

Transcendent means that which is beyond all concepts. Time and space form the sensibilities that bound our experience. Our senses are enclosed in the field of time and space, and our minds are enclosed in a frame of the categories of thought. But the ultimate thing (which is no thing) that we are trying to get in touch with is not so enclosed. We enclose it as we try to think of it. The transcendent transcends all of these categories of thinking. Being and non-being - those are categori ...

The ultimate word in our English language for that which is transcendent is God. But then you have a concept, don't you see? You think of God as the father. Now, in religions where the god or creator is the mother, the whole world is her body. There is nowhere else. The male god is usually somewhere else. But male and female are two aspects of one principle. The division of life into sexes was a late division. Biologically, the amoeba isn't male and female. The early cells are just cel ...

God is an ambiguous word in our language because it appears to refer to something that is known. But the transcendent is unknowable and unknown. God is transcendent, finally, of anything like the name God. God is beyond names and forms. Meister Eckhart said that the ultimate and highest leave-taking is leaving God for God, leaving your notion of God for an experience of that which transcends all notions. The mystery of life is beyond all human conception. Everything we know is wi ...

All our names and images for God are masks, signifying the ultimate reality that by definition transcends language and art. A myth is a mask of God too - a metaphor for what lies behind the visible world. However the mystic traditions differ, they are in accord in calling us to a deeper awareness of the very act of living itself. The unpardonable sin is the sin of inadvertence, of not being alert, not quite awake.

All of life is meditation, most of it unintentional.