June 1994 (Vol. VII, No. 6)

"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?"

God is a singing sound in the heart of silence

I woke up from a dream several years ago and wrote the words, "God is a singing sound in the heart of silence." ... Silence is not an absence. It is a presence. Listen to the bird. Its sound comes from and returns to silence. Trees are surrounded by silence. They grow from silence. All things in nature are children of silence... At the core of my being there is an open road, and three words to guide me, TRUSTING/BREATHING/ATTENDING. Trusting that the universe is a friendly place. Breathing from the deepest part of myself. Attending to the process of becoming. These three guiding words of wisdom call me to travel the open road. To attend, breathe and trust in the heart of silence. To listen for the singing sound of God.

~ from "In the Heart of Silence" by Kalichi
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If you sing from deep within you, transformation happens

When I sing I feel ecstatic, as if in communion with God. Maybe, when I sing, that's when I feel and experience it most in my life -- that lack of separation from God... I think that a song, if you allow it into your heart, can remind you that you are whole, that you are not just a fragment, but everything. If people sing, if they let themselves really sing, they can feel that inside... No matter who you are, if you sing from deep within you, transformation happens. A song, whether you are singing or listening, can let your heart open to the spiritual world.

~ Susan Osborn
Susan Osborn music

Music is always in the air

Music is always in the air, particularly at night, for nature (being born of it) is necessarily more sensitive at night to the beautiful.

~ Hargrave Jennings
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In the new creation souls will sing together like this

Late that afternoon I listened to Thomas Tallis's SPEM IN ALIUM, a motet written in the 16th century for forty voice, forty separate parts... I was sitting in my chair looking at Ma's photograph as I listened. At once, as the music began, the photograph started to emit great waves of Light. The Light possessed my mind and body, and I heard the music not without me but within my heart.

Her voice: In my stillness all the voices of the world rise in ecstasy. In my silence all the voices of the world are reconciled.

Each voice in the sublime motet sang in perfectly lucid ecstatic harmony with every other voice, forming endlessly changing transforming masses of illumined ripe sound.

In the new creation souls will sing together like this.

I heard spiral after spiral of ascending glorious sound rise calmly, with a passion at once detached and supremely intense, from its bed of Silence, rise, commingle in bliss, and finally culminate in the vast prolonged cry of Light on Light at the end of the work, a cry that does not end but seems to reverberate throughout the cosmos forever.

~ from HIDDEN JOURNEY: A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING by Andrew Harvey
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The spirit alone truly lives in the artists' incessant creative activity

Dr. Eaglefield Hull describes Scriabin's attitude to music: His first symphony is a "Hymn to Art" and joins hands with Beethoven's Ninth. His third, the "Divine Poem", expresses the spirit's liberation from its earthly trammels and the consequent free expression of purified personality; while his "Poem of Ecstasy" voices the highest of all joys -- that of creative work. He held that in the artists' incessant creative activity, the constant progression towards the ideal, the spirit alone truly lives.

~ Dr. Eaglefield Hull
Dr. Eaglefield Hull music

My musical productions came into existence through understanding and pain

My musical productions came into existence through understanding and pain. Those which pain has brought forth seem to please the world most ... (out of pain comes new birth ... new life).

~ Schubert
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We know that we are part of this grand orchestra

Within this life we live and have our being; this is the power, the wisdom and the love in which we are encompassed. And yet bodily we remain in shadow because we are clothed in the darkness of the earth. But no one need ever remain a prisoner; it only requires the will to aspire and so to know the wisdom of the divine -- and the prisoner is free! And so we ascend in spirit, and being raised, we then step forth into a life heavenly in its beauty and are encompassed by a heavenly concourse... We may become conscious of music -- delicate, gentle, sweet music beyond all description -- which may swell in grand crescendo to embrace the great universal music of all creation. And we know that we are part of this grand orchestra.

~ from SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT 4 by White Eagle
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Why does a bird sing?

A bird does not sing because it has an answer.It sings because it has a song.
~ Chinese Proverb
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May 1994 (Vol. VII, No. 5)

\GREETINGS and BLESSINGS be with you, friends, in this season of seed-sowing! ... a reminder to ask ourselves how we are cultivating the inner soil of our hearts to prepare for renewal and new growth.

True partnership between divine and human realms becomes possible

Mystics and contemplatives offer a perspective on resurrection that seems to mirror their own experiences of illumination and unity. They tell us that perhaps regeneration is effected through a profound state of self-reflection, possible only to those who have become transparent to transcendence and are coded by that experience with a quality of eternity that does not, cannot, die with death. This implies that a new order has been created within spirit, within nature, within the soul, within the meaning and matter of history. Here we move out beyond miracle into the heart of mystery, and consciousness grows into the capacity for co-creation with God. The world turns a corner, and true partnership between divine and human realms becomes possible.

~ from GODSEED by Jean Houston
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To become proficient in the discipline of contemplation, we must be willing to live in the midst of paradox

To become proficient in the discipline of contemplation, we must be willing to live in the midst of paradox. For we can only know the Mystery by letting go of knowing, and by putting aside our reason, our thinking, our too quick words. We must sit still, doing nothing at all. We must wait, allowing things to reveal themselves to us, and seek by allowing ourselves to be sought. In contemplation we must take Thou in by allowing ourselves to be taken in. By doing these things, we will gradually become "modern" contemplatives and find ourselves living at the still point of the turning world.

~ from DANCE OF THE SPIRIT by Maria Harris
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What is offered to the seeker of today is the same as it was before

What is offered to the seeker of today is the same as it was before. The same luminous inner light, the same fathomless tranquility, that same drink which deeply quenches, that explosive, boundless love from the source of Love beyond, that same handhold with hundreds of thousands of messengers of light, that same blessed transmission being extended from the unfailing generosity of God. The ante remains as it has always been: the surrender of everything entirely, including one's very self. What is at stake, however, is greater than ever before. If you have understood this invitation my friends, if your heart has heard the calling of a traveler just like you, then take heed now and make haste as the saints have urged.

~ from THE WRITING ON THE WATER by Muhyiddin Shakoor
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Wherever the Word is to be heard, it must occur in the stillness and in silence

Wherever the Word is to be heard, it must occur in the stillness and in silence... There we can hear it and understand it correctly, in that state of unknowing. Where we know nothing, it becomes apparent and reveals Itself... People should be as free of their own knowledge as when they were not yet, letting God accomplish what God wills ... standing empty.

~ from THE ETERNAL YEAR by Karl Rahner
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Only then could I welcome the One whose fire I had long sought

I wanted it. Desired it greatly. Yearned for its coming. But when it did come, I fought, resisted, ran, hid away. I said, "Go home!" I didn't know the fire of God could be more than a gentle glow or a cozy consolation. I didn't know it could come in as a blaze ... a wildfire uncontrolled, searing my soul, chasing my old ways, smoking them out. Only when I stopped running, gave up the chase, surrendered, did I know the fire's flaming as consolation and joy. Only then could I welcome the One whose fire I had long sought.

~ from MAY I HAVE THIS DANCE? by Joyce Rupp
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If you would know deeper dimensions of yourself

If you would know deeper dimensions of yourself and the Divine, my friend, befriend the Silence.

~ Jerry Wright
Jerry Wright stillness

Are we standing now, quietly, in the new life?

I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing. And nothing happens! Nothing ...
Silence ... Waves ...
Nothing happens? Or has everything happened,
and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life?

~ Juan Ramon Jimenez, trans. by Robert Bly
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In the emptying that silence is

The Great Mystery will draw closer and begin to reveal some of her secrets in silence. We hope, in the emptying that silence is, to discover a way of being present to what happens and to what is. To be totally open to apprehend the full impact of each moment and each encounter, the heart must be set free from all prejudices, pre-conceptions and expectations. The silence at the center of our reflections here is for emptying and for letting go of the images and knowledge that obscure the vision of our hearts and our ability to truly hear.

~ from YEAR OF THE HEART by Daniel J. O'Leary
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Conversation is the ultimate experience of being in love.

Conversation is the ultimate experience of being in love. It involves self-surrender to the heart of mystery, to an uncomprehended "Who", given in a mystical way. The shift in our attention from all finite loves and hates, whether interpersonal, familial or philanthropic to concern for the Transcendent Other, available in the unmediated experience of love and awe, occurs first in that incarnate meaning that we are. We discover by God's gracious love, we are a meaningful word already spoken, a beloved whose very being is the expression of God's turning toward us. In essence, our conversion toward God is the created effect of divine love. We could not pray if God was not already invested in our hearts and mind.

~ from THE DESIRES OF THE HEART by Bernard Lonergan
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The heart knows what the tongue will never utter

The heart knows what the tongue
will never utter
and what the ears can never hear.

~ Kahlil Gibran
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Place your MIND before the mirror of eternity

Place your MIND before the mirror of eternity!
Place your SOUL in the brilliance of glory!
Place your HEART in the figure of the divine substance!

And transform your entire being in the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation.

~ St. Clare of Assisi
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Only by learning silence

Only by learning silence, solitude, and emptying can you find the place where the roots of all living things are tied together.

Unknown
Unknown stillness

April 1994 (Vol. VII, No. 4)

SPRING GREETINGS, friends. May blessings of life and love, healing and beauty, grace you lives ... may harmony flow that flowers may unfold and blossom within your inner beings! For "the currents of life in humanity and nature are always in accord unless humanity disturbs the harmony." (C. Heline)

God is the friend of silence

God is the friend of silence. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grow in silence; see the stars, the moon, the sun, how they move in silence... The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. We need silence to be able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us. All our words will be useless unless they come from within.

~ from SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD by Malcolm Muggeridge
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My first remembered experience of the numinous

My first remembered experience of the numinous occurred when I was barely three... The sun was shining, and as I walked along the dusty lane I became acutely aware of the things around me. I noticed a group of dandelions on my left at the base of a stone wall. Most of them were in full bloom, their golden heads irradiated by the sun, and suddenly I was overcome by an extraordinary feeling of wonder and joy. It was as if I was part of the flowers, and stones and dusty earth. I could feel the dandelions pulsating in the sunlight, and a timeless unity with all life.

~ from THE ORIGINAL VISION by Edward Robinson
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Many of us need the wilderness

Many of us need the wilderness as a place to listen to the quiet, to feel at home with ancient rhythms that are absent in city life, to know the pulse of a river, the riffle of the wind, the rataplan of rain on the slickrock.

~ from WIND IN THE ROCK by Ann H. Zwinger
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As long as it talks, I am going to listen

What a thing it is to sit absolutely alone, in the forest, at night, cherished by this wonderful, intelligible, perfectly innocent speech, the most comforting speech in the world, the talk that rain makes by itself all over the ridges, and the talk of the watercourses everywhere in the hollows! Nobody started it, nobody is going to stop it. It will talk as long as it wants, this rain. As long as it talks, I am going to listen.

~ Thomas Merton
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We can only start to grow in being when we take time to be still

We can only start to grow in being when we take time to be still, even if it is only a few minutes each day, and open ourselves to God, like a flower opening its pedals to the sun, and receiving the strengthening rays of light. With continual practice, we can actually know that the spirit of Divine Love -- the Love of the omniscient creator of the entire universe -- is in us. ... Being still and experiencing the presence of God is the most important thing we can possibly do; for in this state of passivity we receive directive and strength for the day's action.

~ from GROWTH INTO BEING by Margaret Holmes
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We are earth of this earth, and we are bone of this bone

Spirit that hears each one of us,
hears all that is --
Listens, listens, hears us out --
inspire us now!
Our own pulse beats in every
stranger's throat.
And also within the flowered ground
beneath our feet.
We can hear it in water, in wood, and
even in stone.
We are earth of this earth, and
we are bone of this bone.
This is a prayer I sing, for we
have forgotten this and so
the earth is perishing.

~ Barbara Deming
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How we teach

We teach by our BEing.
~ Unknown
Unknown nature

Optical delusion of our consciousness

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe", a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

~ from IDEAS AND OPINIONS by Albert Einstein
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There are three walls that divide us from one another

There are three walls that divide us from one another and from the realization of Unity for which we yearn... These are the walls of envy, resentment and pride... Everything is reaching towards the light, and just as the trees and the beautiful flowers seek out the light, so does Beauty herself seek out the light within us. As long as Beauty is covered by these walls, She cannot be one with the Light who created Her in the first place... When you can watch and observe and be honest about the sense of separation that we all feel, you will come closer to the walls. And then, gently, you can reach out to each stone and brick that needs to be removed ... stones and bricks that can be washed and transformed in love.

~ from REASON IS POWERLESS IN THE EXPRESSION OF LOVE by Reshad Feild
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Everything was God, holy

George Leonard in THE SILENT PULSE shares the sense of unity and harmony with the planet that a young man of seventeen experienced:

"Even though physically separate, I knew a tree, grains of sand, sea, flying birds. Everything was God, holy; as God is total, so the driftwood branch was holy. This must be the stuff religion is made of. Never before or after have I felt so alive."

~ from THE SILENT PULSE by George Leonard
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Spirituality is that quality of being

Spirituality is that quality of being that expresses the bonding of all living and non-living things into an evolutionary unity.

~ from MIND OF OUR MOTHER by Bob Samples
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The direct experience of silence, stillness, solitude, simplicity, ceremony and vision

The wisdom of the peoples of elder cultures can make an important contribution to the post-modern world, one that we must begin to accept as the crisis of self, society and the environment deepens. This wisdom cannot be told, but it is to be found by each of us in the direct experience of silence, stillness, solitude, simplicity, ceremony and vision.

~ Sogyal Rinpoche
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All of nature is in us

All of nature is in us, all of us is in nature,
This is as it should be.

~ Lame Deer
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March 1994 (Vol. VII, No. 3)

MAY JOY BE WITH YOU, friends, as we move from the dark days of winter toward the spring-light! Even in joy, we know that:

Deeply spiritual persons experience the suffering in the world as their own suffering

Deeply spiritual persons experience the suffering in the world as their own suffering. Their skin is like a dividing membrane through which events flow into each other. But they do not let it overtake them and destroy their spirit, their ability to choose life. To live deeply in the spirit is to be able to see beyond the immediate evidence of brokenness. It is to seek the not yet, but possible future. To live deeply in the spirit is to find the courage to create in the midst of darkness.

~ from "Toward a Global Spirituality" by Patricia Mischo in the "Whole Earth Papers"
Patricia Mischo Whole Earth Papers surrender

Prayer is naught else but a yearning of the soul

Prayer is naught else but a yearning of the soul... When it is practiced with the whole heart, it has great power. It makes a sour heart sweet, a sad heart merry, a poor heart rich, a foolish heart wise, a timid heart courageous, a sick heart well, a blind heart full of vision, a cold heart ardent. For it draws down the great God into the little heart; it drives the hungry soul up to the plentitude of God; it brings together these two lovers, God and the soul, in a wondrous place where they speak much of love.

~ Mechthild of Magdeburg in THE HIDDEN TRADITION by Lavinia Byrne
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My way is all of trust and love

My way is all of trust and love; I do not understand souls who are afraid of so loving a Friend.
~ Unknown
Unknown surrender

Don't talk and don't run

An inner city priest went to the home of a poor old lady in the parish. She was dying. When the priest came to her side, she said, "Don't talk and don't run." She seemed to want to die fully appreciative of her life in God, which was too deep for any consoling words at that point. And she wanted to die appreciative of the human community that incarnates God's presence on this plane of existence, which was too deep for words but not for silent, prayerful human presence. That is contemplative dying.

...We can approach all of the myriad little ego deaths, all the ways we don't get what we want (as opposed to what we need) in our lives, in the same way as that woman faced physical death... We need to leave room for the silence that can free the wonder, as well as for words.

~ from LIVING IN THE PRESENCE by
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So long as we do not die to ourselves

So long as we do not die to ourselves, and so long as we are identified with someone or something, we shall never be free. The spiritual way is not for those wrapped up in exterior life.

~ S. Attar
S. Attar surrender

Letting go is never easy

Letting go is never easy. The desire to have, to hold, to possess and to control is part of our nature. But the more powerful part yearns to learn the lesson of growth and openness; to enter the mystery of secret loving without desiring, to live in emptiness and stillness and therefore in a state of receptivity and readiness so that the quality of our being and "our being present to" are all that matter.

~ from YEAR OF THE HEART by Daniel J. O'Leary
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I return to God

I come from God,
I belong to God,
I return to God.

~ Ignatius thanks to Mary Ward
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God's grace cannot be found

God's grace cannot be found in the sense that lost property is found ... It can only be found in seeking God and surrendering ourselves in self-abandoning love, unconditionally and forever. We should continue to ask ourselves as we go through life whether we feel that we are being granted this favor of living by dying to ourselves.

~ Karl Rahner in FIRE AND LIGHT by William M. Thompson
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Surrendere

Surrender is not an abandonment of ourselves in the face of difficulty, nor is surrender synonymous with submission, we yield ourselves to God freely, not under coercion. Surrender is not resignation. It is an invitation to be ourselves more fully... Surrender is not so much a giving up as it is an OPENING up. It is a dynamic living and striving in the face of the unknown. When we surrender in faith, we enter into the power of God, into the realm of all possibility. We open ourselves to new perspectives, thoughts and dimensions of life yet to be explored. We do not give ourselves in the sense of extinguishing ourselves. Instead, the little lick of light we are joins with the holy flaming that is God. We are brought more fully into ourselves and at the same time brought into that fullness which is greater than all that is.

~ by Jean M. Blomquiest in "Weavings" (July/August '91)
Jean M. Blomquiest Weavings surrender

Contemplation and deep self-forgetfulness

Direct experience suggests that contemplation and deep self-forgetfulness draw us into God, in whom we have our life and being. This magnetic, purifying silence has healing power: it fuses time -- brings past, present and future to a single still and perfect point. Here healing (what we call a miracle) is automatic. This stillpoint is love, and only love heals.

~ from A WAY WITHOUT WORDS by Marsha Sinetar
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It is the nature of a word to reveal what is hidden

It is the nature of a word to reveal what is hidden. The word that is hidden still sparkles in the darkness and whispers in the silence. It entices us to pursue it, to yearn and sigh after it. For it wishes to reveal to us something about God.

~ Meister Eckhart
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The soul lives there

The soul lives there in the silent Breath.
~ Rumi
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Only passing through

There is an old story about a famous rabbi living in Europe who was visited one day by a man who had traveled by ship from New York to see him. The man came to the great rabbi's dwelling, a large house, and was directed to the rabbi's room, which was in the attic. He entered to find the master living in a room with a bed, a chair, and a few books. The man had expected more. After greetings, he asked, "Rabbi, where are your things?”

The rabbi asked in return, "Well, where are yours?"

The visitor replied, "But, Rabbi, I"m only passing through."

And the master answered, "So am I, so am I."

~ Unknown
Unknown surrender

February 1994 (Vol. VII, No. 2)

BLESSINGS BE WITH YOU, dear friends! And may all your visions be of and through Love ...

Vision, like love, takes no planning, for it just happens

I remembered what Grandfather had once said to me,

Vision, like love, takes no planning, for it just happens. It is directed by the Creator and made manifest by creation. Take no care as to how you will live your Vision or how you will find your love. For the Creator has planned all these things, and the way will become clear to your heart. You have been given a choice, but if you listen to your heart, there needs to be no choice. Your path is your heart, and all that you need do is follow it. I have found that the grave mistakes that take place in life are made when a person does not follow their heart. When the heart is ignored, life becomes complicated and distorted, but when the heart is followed, we touch the Creator. Logic and reason are poor alternatives to a life full of love and Vision.

~ from THE QUEST by Tom Brown, Jr.
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The nature of God Is to love and be loved

Quiet the mind
Be still
And watch the breath of God
Rise and fall
In all things.
Allow God's breath
To be your breath;
Allow God's nature
To be your nature.

The nature of God
Is to love and be loved;
Your desire to love creates intention,
Intention focuses attention,
Attention illuminates understanding,
Understanding manifests forgiveness,
Forgiveness is the fountainhead of Love.

Intend to be Love
And know death for what it is:
The inbreath of God.

~ from THE TAO OF HEALING by Haven Trevino
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Let us not be led into the world of attraction

Let us not be led into the world of attraction. "Falling in love" means coming into Love, coming into Being, and then falling into this world. We cannot come to Love through attraction, the temptation that is with us each moment of our lives. Yet if we come into Love, then we see the whole world as a world of Beauty. The purpose of Love is Beauty. Lead us not into forgetfulness of the object of our search. Let us not be led astray by the unleashed forces of attraction. Is not the object of our search Thyself? Is not the cause of all creation Love itself? And, is not Thy yearning greater than ours can ever be for Thee?

~ from REASON IS POWERLESS IN THE EXPRESSION OF LOVE by Reshad Feild
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Love transforms

Love transforms.
Love makes empty hearts overflow.
This happens even more
when we have to struggle through
without assistance,
all unready
for the play
of Love.

~ Mechtild of Magdeburg
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Most people resist being loved

It is true, though strange to say, that most people resist being loved. But God is persistent. God is patient and does not give up. God leaves ninety-nine sheep in the fold and goes after the one that is lost until he finds it and brings it back. God sweeps the house clean and searches for the lost coin until she finds it. People who have been hurt are very distrustful; they cannot easily believe that someone loves them unconditionally... All this comes of not understanding the nature of unconditional, creative love, that it is addressed to the true self which transcends all the descriptions... God never gives up, but pursues people forever, hoping to convince them that they are unconditionally loved. This is GOD'S "radical optimism!"

~ from RADICAL OPTIMISM: ROOTING OURSELVES IN REALITY by Beatrice Bruteau
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We must make certain that our path is connected with our heart

In undertaking a spiritual life, what matters is simple: WE MUST MAKE CERTAIN THAT OUR PATH IS CONNECTED WITH OUR HEART... Even the most exalted states and the most exceptional spiritual accomplishments are unimportant if we cannot be happy in the most basic and ordinary ways, if we cannot touch one another and the life we have been given with our hearts... When we ask, "Am I following a path with heart?" we discover that no one can define for us exactly what our path should be. Instead, we must allow the mystery and beauty of this question to resonate within our being. Then somewhere within us an answer will come and understanding will arise. If we are still and listen deeply, even for a moment, we will know if we are following a path with heart.

~ from A PATH WITH HEART by Jack Kornfield
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When a mind is awakened to the truth of its identity, Its creative enactment is always loving

When a mind is awakened to the truth of its identity,
Its creative enactment is always loving.
Its creations image what Love is, providing an opportunity
for minds inhering in the bondage of illusion
To witness the image of what alone is Real.
When Love made visible is witnessed,
it can be recognized, and a movement toward
enlightenment is made without effort...
All minds are channels of Love, to the degree that they
choose to be Awake.
The minds of humankind are intoxicated with love.
They long for love because the Truth of who they are,
and what alone is Real, is necessarily within them.

~ from THE JESHUA LETTERS: A JOURNEY OF AWAKENING by Marc Hammer with thanks to Mary Lou Evans
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Be swift to love

Oh, be swift to love,
Make haste to be kind,
do not delay.
The golden moments fly!

~ Henry W. Longfellow thanks to Dolores Ross
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I only know I walk like someone Beheld beloved and known

I'm listening yet I don't know
If what I hear is silence
Or God.

I'm listening but I can't tell
If I hear the plain of emptiness echoing
Or a keen consciousness that
At the bounds of the universe
Deciphers and watches me.

I only know I walk like someone
Beheld beloved and known
And because of this I put into my every movement
Solemnity and risk.

~ Sophia de Mello Breyner
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The binding energy of the universe

LOVE is the binding energy of the universe ...
~ Unknown
Unknown love

January 1994 (Vol. VII, No. 1)

Greetings and blessings, friends! May PEACE BE WITH YOU in this season of quiet dormancy, this season of awaiting new growth in a new year. For, as we:

Learn how to wait,

Learn how to wait, how to be silent, how to befriend the dark ... thus, do we prepare to be creative. There is a waiting, a silence and a darkness in all birthing. Heart's winter is already a filling womb... For the font of inspiration and newness to keep welling up within us, old wounds and our shadow side must be encountered and owned. So that creative love may flow in and out, each heart, one day, must be broken.

~ from YEAR OF THE HEART by Daniel J. O'Leary
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Keeping myself ready to hear the voice when it comes out of silence

One morning, as a fire flamed back of a handsome eighteenth-century glass screen, I looked for the silence underneath the explosions of the fire... By now I was adept at finding the silence wherever it was. As I settled into it this morning, letting it fill my ears, mind and being, I heard the words: "I'll never abandon you, no matter what you do." ... Once I heard it, I learned to go and find, first the silence and then to wait for the voice. It comes OUT of the silence. It doesn't always come. But somehow I know it will again. And this knowledge has changed my existence. What I have to do, I now understand, is keep myself ready to hear it when it does.

~ from A PAUL GRIFFITHS READER
Paul Griffiths A Paul Griffiths Reader silence

Silence is where we learn to listen

Silence is where we learn to listen, where we learn to see. Holding silence, being held by stillness, people go alone to the wilderness "to stop and see", to renew their vision, to enter the mind ground, to hear the truth, to return to the knowledge of the extensiveness of self and the truth of no self. One seeks solitude to know relatedness. There the unknown, the unarticulated, the unpredictable, the uncontrollable appear as protectors of the present.

~ from THE FRUITFUL DARKNESS by Joan Halifax
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No wider than the heart is wide

The world stands out on either side.
No wider than the heart is wide.
Above the earth is stretched the sky
No higher than the soul is high.

~ from "Renascence" by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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As I befriend the silent darkness within me

As I experience God as the source of my life, a longing wells up within me, a longing to grow older together with the living fountain of my life. Upon entering into myself, I find God. By coming to discover my original self, I come to God. As I befriend the silent darkness within me, I become more open to the hidden and mysterious dimension of myself. There, as I rest in the darkness, I uncover myself as a gift from God. I need to take up that gift and walk gently and compassionately with the sacredness that I am...I need to care for the precious gift that I am, preserve it, and hallow the ground from which it springs.

~ from "Originality, Ordinary Intimacy and the Spiritual Life" by Vincent M. Bilotta III in "Studies in Formative Spirituality"
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The firefly flickers of God's grace are enough to embrace the unknown

The firefly flickers of God's grace are enough to embrace the unknown. A surge of powerful surrender takes over all my looking back, and ever so gently and hopefully I risk the road of another new year.

~ from MAY I HAVE THIS DANCE? by Joyce Rupp
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Without silence

Without silence, the inward stillness in which God educates and molds us is impossible!
~ Evelyn Underhill
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The chasm between being alone and loneliness is deep

The chasm between being alone and loneliness is deep. The way you begin to be alone and at peace without being lonely is to know that you are with your best friend. When you are at peace with yourself and love yourself, you can never be lonely. Only when you learn to love yourself, can you love another. You must find that love for yourself before you can touch the purity of aloneness. Love of self, without being selfish, will not allow loneliness to exist. Love of self also creates a love for everything else and brings us closer to the Sacred Oneness.

~ from GRANDFATHER by Tom Brown, Jr.
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I surround myself with silence

I surround myself with silence. The silence is within me, permeates my house, reaches beyond the surfaces of the outer walls and into the bordering woods. It is one silence, continuous from within me, outward in all directions: above, beneath, forward, rearward, sideward. In the silence I listen, I watch, I sense, I attend, I observe. I require this silence. I search it out. The finely drawn treble song of a white-throated sparrow is part of it. Invasions of it by the noise of engines are a torment to me. This is my solitude.

~ from THE STATIONS OF SOLITUDE by Alice Koller
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Where sacred silence sings

Winter mysteries whispered into invisible doorways
to holy blackness,
They silently fled over white landscapes
Like a dancing child cloud drifting with music.

Poetry awakened while snowflakes played in the
fearful twilight,
White notes striking the deepening silence graced all,
Yet dead ears forgot the path to song.

Now, light and dark embrace in our homeland
Where sacred silence sings ...

~ Richard Bachtold
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In secret, silent, still

Quiet the trees; quiet the creepers all.
In the sky's tranquil lap burns the sun's ray.
In my heart's temple doth the silence fall,
Worshipping Thee, Thou, Silent Majestic. Thou
Replenishest this tranquil heart. O Thou
Eternal, Absolute, with silence fill
Me and with song, in secret, silent, still.

~ C.R. Das
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December 1993 (Vol. VI, No. 11)

BLESSINGS and ALL GOOD WISHES, dear friends! May each one of us radiate from the silence the gifts of wisdom, love, goodness, light and joy. May we recognize that in this, the busiest and noisiest of seasons, we are invited to ever deepening times of silence and solitude to ponder the Mystery of Love born anew in our hearts.

In the eternal birth that occurs in the core and innermost regions of the soul

In the eternal birth that occurs in the core and innermost regions of the soul, God covers the soul with light, whereby the light grows so great in the core of our being, that it overflows into the faculties of the soul and into the outer person.

~ Meister Eckhart
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The encounter with God, the experience of the absolute

The encounter with God, the experience of the absolute, is a principle at work in ourselves... This awakening to the brightness of the inner light is a necessary step in the full spiritual development of the person, of EVERY person, a step in which the transcendental sense awakens, the inner eye opens, and reality is finally encountered. It is a breaking forth from the constricting shell of ego-consciousness, an opening to the breadth and fullness of life found in cosmic consciousness.

~ from LIVING IN THE NEW CONSCIOUSNESS by Hugo Enomuja-Lasalle
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How, then, was Love manifested to the world?

How, then, was Love manifested to the world? A star shone in heaven beyond the stars, and its light was unspeakable, and its newness caused astonishment, and all the other stars, with the sun and moon, gathered in chorus round this star.

~ from THE RELUCTANT PROPHET by James Kirsch
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From the heart of me that is the Heart of God

From the heart of me that is the Heart of God
Love streams forth to all my worlds,
And I am One.

From the Light we share within the Mind of God
Love streams forth to all our worlds,
And we are One.

From the All in all that is the Life of God
Love streams forth -- God's plan made real --
And all are one.

With God as our Beloved,
We are the Plan on earth.

~ words to "The Love Affirmation" by David Spangler
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The restless hollowness which surfaces into our consciousness when we reflect in silence

The restless hollowness which surfaces into our consciousness when we reflect in silence is already the nearness of God, who is like the pure light which, spread over everything, hides itself by making everything else visible in the silent lowliness of its being. The Incarnation urges us, in the experience of solitude, to trust the nearness -- it is not emptiness; to let go and then we will find; to give up and then we will be rich.

~ Karl Rahner
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Blessed are the men and women who are planted on your earth

Blessed are the men and women
who are planted on your earth,
in your garden,
who grow as your trees and flowers grow,
who transform their darkness to light.

Their roots plunge into darkness;
their faces turn toward the light.

~ from SONG OF SOLOMON Trans. by Stephen Mitchell
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Hide in the human heart

It was said that God once sought advice from a Master. "I want to play a game of hide-and-seek with humankind. I've asked the angels what the best place would be. Some said in the depth of the ocean. Others said the top of the highest mountain. Still others, the far side of the moon or a distant star. What do you suggest?"

Said the Master, "Hide in the human heart. That's the last place they will think of!"

~ a Chinese proverb
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The person who sits is more ready to bring forth clear things

The person who sits is more ready to bring forth clear things than someone who walks or stands. Sitting means peace. Thus we sit, which is bowing in humility among all creatures. Then the individual comes to a quiet peace reaching this peace in light. The light is given in the silence wherein one sits and dwells.

~ Meister Eckhart
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With True Love, there is always a childlike sense of wonder

With True Love, there is always a childlike sense of wonder and an appreciation for the Mystery of life that is beyond our human comprehension.

~ from OUT OF DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT by Gerald G. Jampolsky
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Open your hearts, oh woman and man!

Open your hearts, oh woman and man!
Now let your great and wise and powerful be as the poor
and foolish little ones:

unembarrassed to receive the incredible Gift,
and not knotted in guilt over your lack of worth,
and not struggling to "earn" what cannot be deserved,
but just simply, joyfully accepting of all
that is given so humbly and gladly in Love.

~ from ENCOUNTERS AT BETHLEHEM by Jean J. Andersen
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If in your heart you make a manger for Love's birth

If in your heart you make
a manger for Love's birth,
Then God will once again
become a child on earth.

~ "It Depends On You" by Angelus Silesius
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O hidden Life, vibrant in every atom

O hidden Life, vibrant in every atom,
O hidden Light, shining in every creature.
O hidden Love, embracing all in oneness,
May all who feel themselves as one with Thee,
Know they are therefore one with every other.

~ Besant
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Deep in the darkness of a silent night

Deep in the darkness of a silent night and quietly in the secret of your soul, the Mystery of God continues to be born.

~ Doris Klein
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There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth

There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond us all, beyond the heavens, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in our hearts.

~ Chandogya
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November 1993 (Vol. VI, No. 10)

GREETINGS, friends ... May the blessings of inner peace, quiet joy, wonder and gratitude abound in each of your lives! And let us pray that these blessings radiate out to wherever they are most needed.

To pray is to regain a sense of the Mystery that animates all beings

To pray is to regain a sense of the Mystery that animates all beings. The Divine margin in all attainments. Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living. It is all we can offer in return for the Mystery by which we live. Who is worthy to be present to the constant unfolding of time amidst the meditation of mountains, the humility of flowers, wiser than all alphabets ... clouds that die constantly for the sake of God's glory. We are hating, hunting, hurting. Suddenly we feel ashamed of all our clashes and complaint in the face of the tacit glory in nature. It is so embarrassing to live. How strange we are in the world and how presumptuous our doings. Only one response can maintain us: GRATEFULNESS for witnessing the wonder; for the gift to our unearned right to live ... to adore ... to fulfill. It is GRATEFULNESS which makes the soul great.

~ from I ASKED FOR WONDER by Abraham Heschel with thanks to Kathy Harkins
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Take, O take, has now become my cry

Time after I came to your gate with raised hands asking for more yet more. You gave and gave, now in slow measure, now in sudden excess. I took some, and some things I let drop; some lay heavy on my hands; some I made into playthings and broke them when tired; till the wrecks and hoard of gifts grew immense, hiding You, and the ceaseless expectations wore my heart out.

Take, O take, has now become my cry. Shatter all from the beggar's bowl. Put out this lamp of the importunate watcher; hold my hands, raise me from the still-gathering heap of your gifts into the bare infinity of your uncrowded presence.

~ Rabindranath Tagore thanks to Mary Novotny
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Gratitude begets gratitude

GRATITUDE is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are not an "accident", but a divine choice. It is important to realize how often we have had chances to be grateful and have not used them. When someone is kind to us, when an event turns out well, when a problem is solved, a relationship restored, a wound healed, these are very concrete reasons to offer thanks... When we keep claiming the light, we will find ourselves becoming more and more radiant. What fascinates me so much is that every time we decide to be grateful, it will be easier to see new things to be grateful for. Gratitude begets gratitude, just as love begets love.

~ from BECOMING THE BELOVED by Henri J.M. Nouwen
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You will hardly believe your ear

You will hardly believe your ear, since,
as You know, I like to divide my time equally
between feeling sorry for myself,
and asking You to make things better for me.

But just this once, I'd like to thank You for
all those things, beginning with the gift
of life itself, You have showered on me for
no earthly reason that I can see,
except that inexplicably in the face of
selfishness and ingratitude of monumental
proportions and endurance,
You love me.

~ from THE THOMAS MORE BIBLE PRAYER BOOK with thanks to Dolores Ross
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The story of a saint is always a love story

The story of a saint is always a love story. It is a story of a God who loves, and of the beloved who learns how to reciprocate and share that "harsh and dreadful love". It is a story that includes misunderstanding, deception, betrayal, concealment, reversal, and revelation of character. It is, if the saints are to be trusted, our story. But to be a saint is not to be a solitary lover. It is to enter into deeper community with everyone and everything that exists.

~ from MAKING SAINTS by Kenneth L. Woodward
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Appreciation is a natural gift

Appreciation is a natural gift. It is meant to lead us to God ... Appreciation naturally appears the moment our self-concern is relinquished. It cannot be possessed and it cannot be earned; it simply IS, a free gift, available everywhere. Life is known then more as art than task. The greatest task becomes our work to help others realize such wonder. The wonder is so great that we are in danger of overfascination. We easily become focused on the gifts as an end in themselves; they do not always lead us to the Giver. We subtly become attached to the felt beauty and miss not only the initial invitation to thanksgiving, but the yet deeper invitation: to release ourselves to God as we are enabled and let rise that full quality of awareness that is beyond felt beauty, beyond self-reflective appreciation.

~ from LIVING IN THE PRESENCE: DISCIPLINES FOR THE SPIRITUAL HEART by Tilden Edwards
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Benediction is a formative experience

Benediction is a formative experience, whether we bless others or receive a blessing from them. It comes in the form of an inner or outer word or gesture arising from a loving heart. In blessing we express gratitude to God for the divine inherent in other persons. We ask God in effect to bring this form to its fullness.

~ from CELEBRATING THE SINGLE LIFE by Susan A. Muto
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As we slow down we come to realize that we are persons called in time and space

As we slow down we come to realize that we are persons called in time and space TO BE freely and fully human and that therein is our sanctity. We see that an individual life is a GIFT entrusted to us freely and generously by God. When I struggle to live a life of affirmation, I must ultimately let go of trying to control all the variables of existence and surrender in faith to the freeing power of the providential plan. This only happens when I emphasize in my day-to-day life the time and place TO BE alone, TO BE with friends, TO BE with other workers and TO BE with God.

~ from HAPPY ARE YOU WHO AFFIRM by Thomas A. Kane
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Gratitude is a memory of the heart

GRATITUDE is a memory of the heart. Whatever goodness the heart receives, the heart never forgets.

~ Cerita
Cerita gratitude

Practice random kindness

Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty ...
~ Anne Herbert
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The essence of prayer

The essence of prayer is thanksgiving.
~ Nan Merrill
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All we have

All we have
All we are
From All That Is,
A gift.

One without wonder
Will not see It
While the eyes of the grateful
Will reflect It.

~ Tao of Healing by Haven Trevino
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