October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

Realize that we are truly one. We may be different in our cultures, color, beliefs, sizes, shapes, morals, and education, but we have the same feelings of wanting to be loved, accepted, and safe. We want our families and children to be healthy and safe and happy. We all need love in our lives.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

Realize that each soul is related to you.
When you recognize that everyone is part of you,
you will find that you cannot
withdraw from one another.

~ by Elsie Morgan
Elsie Morgan oneness

The universe holds its breath as we choose, instant by instant, which pathway to follow; for the universe, the very essence of life itself, is highly conscious. Every act, thought, and choice adds to a permanent mosaic; our decisions ripple through the universe of consciousness to affect the lives of all. Lest this idea be considered merely mystical or fanciful, let's remember that fundamental tenet of the new theoretical physics: Everything in the universe is interconnected, one with everything else. . . . There are no secrets; nothing is hidden, nor can it be. Our spirits stand naked in time for all to see -- everyone's life, finally, is accountable to the universe.

~ from POWER VS FORCE by David Hawkins
David Hawkins Power Vs Force oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

It does not matter what name you attach to it, but your consciousness must ascend to the point through which you view the universe with your God-centered nature. The feeling accompanying this experience is that of complete oneness with the Universal Whole. One merges into a euphoria of absolute unity with all life . . .

~ by Peace Pilgrim
Peace Pilgrim oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

Great masters live well, not for anticipated personal gain, but for the love of God. Their lives are full of selfless service because they understand that we are all One. It is time for us to perceive ourselves as spiritual beings with physical experiences rather than as physical beings with spiritual experiences.
 

~ from GRACEFUL EXITS by Sushila Blackman
Sushila Blackman Graceful Exits oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

Survival is the second law of life.
The first is that we are all one.

~ by Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

He drew a circle that shut me out -- heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: we drew a circle that took them in

~ by Edwin Markham
Edwin Markham oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

A single Spirit fills infinity. It is that of God, whom nothing limits or divides, who is everywhere entire and nowhere confined

~ by Eliphas Levi
Eliphas Levi oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

True meditation is about waking up from the dream of separation to the truth of unity . . . awakening to the realization of what you and everything actually is, the oneness of all. To perceive everything as one is not an altered state of consciousness; it's an unaltered state of consciousness, the natural state of consciousness. Enlightenment is the natural state, the innocent state which is uncontaminated by control or manipulation of mind. We wake up by allowing ourselves to rest in the natural state from the very beginning . . . by "allowing everything to be as it is."

~ from TRUE MEDITATION by Adyashanti
Adyashanti True Meditation oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

This will be my solitude, to be separated from myself so that I am able to love You alone, to love You so much that I no longer realize I am loving anything. I no longer desire to be myself, but to find myself transformed in You, so that there is no "myself" but only Yourself. That is when I will be what You have willed to make me from all eternity: not myself, but Love.

~ by Thomas Merton in "Dialogue with Silence"
Thomas Merton Dialogue With Silence oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

We invent nothing. We borrow and recreate. We uncover and discover. All has been given. . . . We have only to open our eyes and hearts to become one with that which is.

~ by Henry Miller
Henry Miller oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

The mere idea of oneness is not the same as the experience of oneness. The actual experience makes all the difference.

~ by Susan Sims Smith
Susan Sims Smith oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

Through our willingness to be the one we are, we become one with everything.

~ Gunilla Norris
Gunilla Norris oneness
October 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 9)

Indivisible oneness is the creative energy that turns a seed into a maple tree, or a watermelon or a human being or anything else that's alive. It's invisible, omnipresent, and absolutely indivisible. We can't divide oneness. Meditation offers us the closest experience we can have of rejoining our Source and being in the oneness at the same time that we're embodied. This means we have to tame our ego.
 

~ by Wayne Dyer in Peak Vitality
Wayne Dyer Peak Vitality oneness
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)
Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time.
~ Meister Eckhart
Meister Eckhart time
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)
Take time to play . . . it is the secret of youth. Take time for friendship . . . it strengthens the spirit. Take time to think . . . it is the source of power. Take time to dream . . . it hitches the soul to the stars. Take time.
~ source unknown
Unknown time
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)

The end of time will not come like people think. Time will end in Light because it began in darkness. Time will end when humanity accepts eternity as its home . . . when people understand the true meaning of peace so they can choose love over fear.

~ from EMISSARY OF LIGHT by James F. Twyman
James F. Twyman Emissary Of Light time Buy on Amazon
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)

What a gift is the recognition of our multiple streams of time! Most of us have had some experience of breaking out of the monochronic monotony of one-thing-afteranother. Time flies; time crawls or stands still. We regularly experience the
spectrum of party time, hanging out time, condensed time, wasting time, scheduled time, falling in love time, anxiety time, creative time, borning time, dying time, meditation time, timeless time. Ecstasy and terror have their own temporal cadences, and in high creative moments as well as in mystical experience, the categories of time are strained by the tension of eternity.

~ from A MYTHIC LIFE by Jean Houston
Jean Houston A Mythic Life time Buy on Amazon
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)
The things of time are in connivance with eternity. There is a greater comfort in the substance of silence than in the answer to a question. Eternity is in the present. Eternity is in the palm of the hand. Eternity is a seed of fire whose sudden roots break barriers that keep my heart from being an abyss.
~ by Thomas Merton in "Dialogue with Silence"
Thomas Merton Dialogue With Silence time
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)
The Navajo teach their children that every morning when the sun comes up, it's a brand new sun. It's born each morning, it lives for the duration of one day, and in the evening it passes on, never to return again. As soon as the children are old enough to understand, the adults take them out at dawn and they say, "The sun has only one day. You must live this day in a good way, so that the sun won't have wasted precious time." Acknowledging the preciousness of each day is a good way to live, a good way to reconnect with our basic joy.
~ from AWAKENING LOVING-KINDNESS by Pema Chodron
Pema Chodron Awakening Loving-kindness time Buy on Amazon
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)
As a river flows in ideal sequence May your love discover time is presence.
~ John O'Donohue
John O'Donohue time
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)

How many oceans have vanished in sand, how much sand has been prayed hard in the stone, how much time has been wept away in the singing horn of the seashells, how much mortal abandonment in the fishes' pearl eyes, how many morning trumpets in the coral, how many star patterns in crystal, how much seed of laughter in the gulls' throat, how many threads of longing for home have been traversed on the nightly course of the constellations, how much fertile earth for the root of the word: You -- behind all the crashing patterns of the secrets You --

~ from O THE CHIMNEYS by Nelly Sachs
Nelly Sachs O The Chimneys time
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)
The present moment is where life can be found, and if you don't arrive there you miss your appointment with life. You don't have to run anymore. Breathing in, we say, "I have arrived." Breathing out, we say, "I am home." This is a very strong practice, a very deep practice.
~ from THE PRESENT MOMENT by Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh The Present Moment time
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)
Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness, And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today's dream. And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.
~ from THE PROPHET by Kahlil Gibran
Kahlil Gibran The Prophet time Buy on Amazon
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)
Time is an illusion of this earth life.
~ Peace Pilgrim
Peace Pilgrim time
September 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 8)

Sabbath time. Sabbatical time. Jubilee time. Time to rest, to delight in what is given, to breathe in the beauty. Time to be fallow, to heal wounds, forgive, regenerate. Time to restore the world to its primal pattern. Time to anticipate a new world in which justice, mercy, and peace truly flourish. Time that anticipates the end and fullness of all time when tears, mourning, and death itself will yield to the bountiful, blooming garden of God’s own time.

~ from RESTING REAPING TIMES by Wendy M. Wright
Wendy M. Wright Resting Reaping Times time
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
~ by Marianne Williams
Marianne Williams freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
Everything can be taken from an individual, but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.
~ by Victor Frankel
Victor Frankel freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
"I" is the first pronoun. The second pronoun is "am." When you realize "I am," you become free. This is called "Being." Not doing this or being that. Just plain Being. I AM.
~ from SILENCE OF THE HEART by Robert Adams
Robert Adams Silence Of The Heart freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
Once you start to see through the myth of status, possessions, and unlimited consumption as a path to happiness, you'll find that you have all kinds of freedom and time. It's like a deal you can make with the universe: I'll give up greed for freedom. Then you can start putting your time to good use.
~ from NOTHING TO LOSE BUT OUR ILLUSIONS by David Edwards
David Edwards Nothing To Lose But Our Illusions freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)

You are free before the sun of the day,
and free before the stars of the night:
And you are free when there is no sun
and no moon and no star.
You are ever free when you close
your eyes upon all that is.

~ from LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND by Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran Love Letters In The Sand freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
If you are not only to taste freedom but to be freedom, you have to have an absolute fidelity to Truth, and you have to be wedded to this fidelity forever. If freedom is going to be a living and ongoing experience, the human part of you has to keep fidelity with Truth and be committed to living in that Truth. As soon as you break your fidelity to Truth, you kick yourself out of the freedom of Truth.
~ from EMPTY DANCING by Adyashanti
Adyashanti Empty Dancing freedom Buy on Amazon
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)

There is no protection against adversity.
There are no guarantees.
What you have is yourself, made
in the image of something very great,
the Greatest thing.
You have yourself, and
the particular circumstances of your life.
What you create
is your measure of love.
What you create
is up to you.
We choose what we will risk.
But only the freedom that drives the risk matters.

~ from A NEW SET OF EYES by Paula D'Arcy
Paula D'Arcy A New Set Of Eyes freedom Buy on Amazon
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
The true experience of freedom is having the most important thing in the world without owning it.
~ by Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
This is guilt, if anything is guilt: not to multiply a loved one's freedom by all the freedom we can find in ourselves. We have, in loving, only this one task: to let each other go. For holding on is easy for us, nothing we need learn.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke in DEAR FRIEND by Eric Torgersen
Rainer Maria Rilke, Eric Torgersen freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)

Attachment is the loss of freedom . . .
Non-attachment is freedom . . .
Our destiny is to be free.

~ by Maitreya
Maitreya freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
Play is our contact with our love for life. It brings us back into our joy at being alive and shows us where our freedom is. Play moves us out of our fixed mindsets: it offers freedom from the tyranny of habit, freedom from the mundane and ordinary, from the rational and need to know and be in control. It's freedom from rigid identification with race, class, gender, and even species.
~ by Gwen Gordon in "EarthLight" - Vol. 13, No. 3
Gwen Gordon Earthlight freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
Often I advised parents that their children needed time to think, to just be -- picking flowers, fishing (for crabs) or admiring glorious sunsets, painting their own images in the firmament as they watch the clouds race by. Little ones are so receptive and thrive on these enriching experiences. Respect for life and every living creature can be instilled into their hearts. All the while I had been giving this good advice, I had been starving my own needy soul with a diet of too much hard work. Taking time to relax is important in our search for freedom: it’s one of the easiest and most delightful ways to feel in touch with the intelligence of the cosmos.
~ from THE VOICE OF SILENCE by Oonagh Shanley
Oonagh Shanley The Voice Of Silence freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
Being authentic is the only pathway to the deepest form of freedom. It means opening to Spirit, mustering courage to move through the challenging process of our life's conditioning. We may encounter surprises and ultimately experience astounding revelations when we uphold our vision to live authentically. Returning to my authentic self, I find freedom.
~ by Regina J. Dekker
Regina J. Dekker freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
Being authentic is the only pathway to the deepest form of freedom. It means opening to Spirit, mustering courage to move through the challenging process of our life's conditioning. We may encounter surprises and ultimately experience astounding revelations when we uphold our vision to live authentically. Returning to my authentic self, I find freedom.
~ by Regina J. Dekker
Regina J. Dekker freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
The world is filled with the Absolute. To see this is to be made free.
~ by Teilhard de Chardin
Teilhard de Chardin freedom
July/August 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7)
When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. . . . A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom. Where true inner freedom is, there God is.
~ Henry Nouwen, thanks to James Dolson
Henry Nouwen freedom
June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

As I read the prayer I began to sense something amazing. I could hear music, as if someone were playing an instrument in the next room. Then I realized that I wasn't hearing the music with my ears, but with my heart. It was prayer. The prayer was singing itself to me. I picked up my guitar and played along. The music was beautiful, and it continued until I finished the entire song . . . When it was over I realized I had just received an amazing gift. I also knew that one is never given a gift of this magnitude unless one is meant to share it.

~ from THE SECRET OF THE BELOVED DISCIPLE by James Twyman
James Twyman The Secret Of The Beloved Disciple music
June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Music is a universal language
Taking our differences away.
And when we stand together singing,
We are all the same.

We will sing a song for every season.
We will sing a simple song of peace.
Dona nobis, dona nobis pacem.
Grant us peace, grant us peace

~ by Jerry Estes
Jerry Estes music
June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

We have lost sight of the original harmony: If you could hear the sound that is produced by the sunflower as it keeps on turning its head toward the sun, the friction between the flower and air, and if you could hear the sound produced by the galaxies, you would hear the symphony of the spheres; and you would realize that this symphony is based upon a basic harmony, the harmony of the spheres.

~ by Proclus (c. 410-485)
Proclus music
June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Two years ago, I heard about a singing class "for people who think they can't." That described me. I mustered my courage, signed up, and found that with proper instruction, I can sing decently! Every week, the deep breathing exercises inspire me; the songs I sing make me and those around me smile. I now understand what I once read: The Australian aborigines say the world was sung into existence.

~ by Linda Tagliaferro in "Spirituality and Health," July/August 2004
Linda Tagliaferro Spirituality And Health music
June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

All one's life is music, if one touches the notes rightly and in time.

~ John Ruskin
John Ruskin music
June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)
Next I saw the most lucid air, in which I heard . . . in a marvelous way many kinds of musicians praising the joys of the heavenly citizens . . . And their sound was like the voice of a multitude, making music in harmony.
~ Hildegard of Bingen
Hildegard of Bingen music
June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)
For some birds, songs are learned by listening to their parents and neighbors during the first year. For other birds, songs are hardwired -- the music is scored in their brains from the beginning. For mockingbirds, singing is a lifetime of choir practice and talent shows, picking up new tunes and modifying old ones.
~ from NATURE A DAY AT A TIME by Cathie Katz
Cathie Katz Nature A Day At A Time music
June 2010 (Vol. XXIII, No. 6)

Sometimes the bird turns away. Sometimes it does not open its mouth to sing. Sometimes it is afraid of the dark. But when it forgets it is afraid and opens its mouth to sing, it fills the world with light.

~ by Deena Metzger
Deena Metzger music