Friday, June 5, 1998

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:

The Soul that rises with us, our life's star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home.

~ Henry Wordsworth,

Intimations of Immortality

Saturday, June 6, 1998

Why do you hasten to remove anything which hurts your eye,

while if something affects your soul you postpone the cure until next year.

~ Horace

Sunday, June 7, 1998

When the human organism is discharging its negative experience efficiently,

the mind is empty of past or future concerns;

there is no worry, anticipation, or regret.

This means that the mind is left open to Being,

the simplest state of awareness.

~ Deepak Chopra

Monday, June 8, 1998

We do not receive wisdom,

we must discover it for ourselves,

after a journey through the wilderness

which no one else can make for us,

which no one can spare us,

for our wisdom is the point of view

from which we come at last to regard the world.

~ Marcel Proust

Tuesday, June 9, 1998

There is a principle which is the basis of all things,

which all speech aims to say,

and all action to evolve,

a simple, quiet, undescribed, undescribable presence,

dwelling peacefully in us,

our rightful lord:

we are not to do, but to let do;

not to work, but be worked upon;

and to this homage there is a consent of all thoughtful

and just men in all ages and conditions.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, June 10, 1998

God expects but one thing of you,

and that is that you should come out of yourself

in so far as you are a created being

and let God be God in you.

~ Meister Eckhart

Thursday, June 11, 1998

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;

What is essential is invisible to the eye.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Friday, June 12, 1998

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances:

If there is any reaction, both are transformed.

~ C.G. Jung

Saturday, June 13, 1998

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.

I awoke and saw that life was service.

I acted and behold, service was joy.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Sunday, June 14, 1998

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters

Compared with what lies within us.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, June 15, 1998

As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves

and are truly ourselves only when transcending ourselves.

~ Huston Smith

Tuesday, June 16, 1998

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes,

But in having new eyes.

~ Marcel Proust

Wednesday, June 17, 1998

Better stop short than to fill to the brim.

Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.

Amass a tore of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.

Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.,

Retire when the work is done.

This is the way of heaven.

~ Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Thursday, June 18, 1998

When you live in the shadow of insanity,

the appearance of another mind

that thinks and talks as yours does

is something close to a blessed event.

~ R. Pirsig

Friday, June 19, 1998

As is the inner, so is the outer;

As is the great, so is the small;

As it is above, so it is below;

There is but One Life and Law;

And he that worketh it is ONE.

Nothing is inner, nothing is outer;

Nothing is great, nothing is small;

Nothing is high, nothing is low, in the Divine Economy.

~ Hermetic Axiom

Saturday, June 20, 1998

To be surprised, to wonder,

Is to begin to understand.

~ Jose’ Ortega y Gasset

Sunday, June 21, 1998

To seek freedom is the only driving force I know.

Freedom to fly off into that infinity out there.

Freedom to dissolve; to lift off; to be like the flame of a candle,

which, in spite of being up against the light of a billion stars, remains intact,

because it never pretended to be more than what it is: a mere candle."

~ don Juan,

    from The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda

Monday, June 22, 1998

We live our lives entirely inside an illusion—

a virtual reality far more convincing than any yet created by computer.

So mesmerized are we by it that we find the greatest difficulty

in imagining that the world could be any other way.

~ David Darling, Astronomer, Writer

Tuesday, June 23, 1998

First keep the peace within yourself,

then you can also bring peace to others.

~  Thomas a` Kempis

Wednesday, June 24, 1998

The love of God, unutterable and perfect,

     flows into a pure soul the way that light

     rushes into a transparent object.

The more love that it finds, the more it gives itself;

     so that, as we grow clear and open,

     the more complete the joy of heaven is.

And the more souls who resonate together,

     the greater the intensity of their love,

     and, mirror-like, each soul reflects the other.

~ Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

   Purgatorio xv, 67-75

Thursday, June 25, 1998

 If a man carefully examine his thoughts

he will be surprised to find how much he lives in the future.

His well being is always ahead.

Such a creature is probably immortal.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday, June 26, 1998

Strengthened by desire and hope,

Burdened by anxiety and fear,

Beset by temptations and guarded by spiritual powers,

[the seeker] pursues his way along the Path of Life,

seeking ever a "better country."

~ Samuel Clagget Chew

Saturday, June 27, 1998

Same thought, different voices

There is no room for God in him who is full of himself.

~ Hasidic Saying

God, whose love and joy are present everywhere,

Can’t come to visit you unless you aren’t there.

~ Angelus Silesius

Separate yourself from all twoness.

Be one on one, one with one, one from one.

~ Meister Eckhart

When I do not know who I am, I serve you.

When I know who I am, I am you.

~ Indian proverb

Sunday, June 28, 1998

Holy Spirit,

Giving life to all life,

Moving all creatures,

Root of all things,

Washing them clean,

Wiping out their mistakes,

Healing their wounds,

You are our true life,

Luminous, wonderful,

Awakening the heart from its ancient sleep.

~  Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)

Monday, June 29, 1998

Empty your mind of all thoughts.

Let your heart be at peace.

Watch the turmoil of beings,

But contemplate their return.

Each separate being in the universe

returns to the common source.

Returning to the source is serenity.

If you don’t realize the source,

you stumble in confusion and sorrow.

When you realize where you come from,

you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused,

kindhearted as a grandmother,

dignified as a king,

Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,

you can deal with whatever life brings you,

and when death comes, you are ready.

~ Lao Tzu

Tuesday, June 30, 1998

The heavens declare God’s glory

    and the magnificence of what made them.

Each new dawn is a miracle;

    each new sky fills with beauty.

Their testimony speaks to the whole world

    and reaches to the ends of the earth.

In them is a path for the sun,

    who steps forth handsome as a bridegroom

    and rejoices like an athlete as he runs.

He starts at one end of the heavens

    and circles to the other end,

    and nothing can hide from his heat.

God’s universe is perfect,

    awing the mind.

God’s truth is subtle,

    baffling the intellect.

God’s law is complete,

    quickening the breath.

God’s compassion is fathomless,

    refreshing the soul.

God’s justice is absolute,

    lighting up the eyes.

God’s love is radiant,

    rejoicing the heart,

    more precious than the finest gold,

    sweeter than honey from the comb.

Help me to be aware of my selfishness,

    but without undue shame or self-judgement.

Let me always feel you present,

    in every atom of my life.

Let me keep surrendering my self

    until I am utterly transparent.

Let my words be rooted in honesty

    and my thoughts be lost in your light.

Unnamable God, my essence, my origin,

my life-blood, my home.

~ translated by Stephen Mitchell

[Next July 1998 or return to Thoughts Archive]