Silence is a directed stillness, which receives rather than acts.
Understand -- through the stillness,
Act -- out of the stillness,
Conquer -- in the stillness.
In order for the eye to perceive color, it must divest itself of all colors.
In the Middle Ages people were well aware of the inexhaustible power that arises simply from sitting still... The inner quiet which arises when the body is motionless and in its best possible form can become the source of transcendental experience. By emptying ourselves of all those matters that normally occupy us, we become receptive to Greater Being. True enlightenment has the effect of so fundamentally affecting and shaking the whole person that they themselves, as well as their total physical existence in the world, is completely transformed.
In the tempestuous ocean of time and toil there are islands of stillness where humans may enter the harbor and reclaim their dignity. The sabbath is a designated day -- also a state of mind -- a time of detachment from things, instruments, practical affairs and the hurly-burly of life's struggles. In the sabbath state-of-mind we can seek attachment to the spirit, recapturing the goodness of our essential being.
Breathing is one internal function that the conscious mind can control with comparative ease. The effect of controlled breathing is almost like communication with all conscious parts of one's being saying to them, "Simmer down and listen; there is something beyond the turmoil". It is communication in action that often works when words merely go in one ear and out the other, not even changing the cognitive mind. In essence, the effect is to turn all the elements of our will toward stillness and waiting.
A stillness descended upon the room, and in the heart of that stillness was something beyond the power of mere language to describe. I felt we were being given a glimpse of the underlying unity of all things, and that this harmony -- though no metaphor was adequate to describe that singing silence -- was enfolding us so that we were wholly in tune not only with one another, but with a healing presence at the very centre of our being.
The moment passed, but I thought of the disciples on the road to Emmaus and how they had recognized the stranger in the breaking of the bread.
In the rhythm of each day, may you find silence amidst speech, stillness amidst action, and peace amidst creativity.
We have heard it said that the eyes are the windows of the soul, and the soul is very present in children... We have all been children, and we all have memories of our childhood: those experiences of the emotional body which are palpable and still radiating from us. Those experiences have consolidated and crystallized the imprints upon which act as our frame of reference for who we are, and what we are allowed in our life today. When we make contact with that inner child, we are able to shift from the emotional body's experience to the deeper, more profound love of our cosmic self. The child reminds us that God laughs.
Through the mystery of inner work, darkness is turned into light. The chaos and confusion of our unconscious gradually and miraculously reveal a higher center of consciousness which is none other than our innermost essence, "the face we had before we were born". This is the Self, the Divine Child, which was always present within us, but hidden beneath layers of ego and conditioning.
The child is the creation of that ecstatic, stainless, motiveless pure love. It is that pure love in the heart and soul that give birth to the Divine Child. It is that pure love that leads the soul right into the heart of the godhead.
God is directly present in the person who has the pure heart of a child and who laughs and cries and dances and sings in divine ecstasy.
How great is the difference between the secret friend and the child. For the friend makes only loving, living, but reasoned ascents toward God, but the child presses on to lose his or her own life upon the summits in that simplicity which does not know itself. When we transcend ourselves and become in our ascent toward God so simple that the bare, supreme love can lay hold on us, then we cease, and we and all our self will die in God. In death we become the hidden children of God and find a new life within us.
I envision a world where children are born to loving parents who want and cherish them, who recognize their pure and divine nature; where women and men are respected and honored as equals and cultures are based on the ecstatic experience, creative expression, exploration and protection of the interconnectedness of all life ... where the values of love, affection, compassion prevail, nurturing all beings... It is possible to create a realized world -- a pure land -- but we must all return to our primordial nature. That is the pilgrimage we are all on. It is the sacred space from which all sacred places are born.
Some centuries ago Joachim of Flores prophesied that there would be in the future a new age that would be the Age of the Holy Spirit. This is Sophia's age, in which She declares: Omnia coniungo ("I unite all things"). Sophia the God-bearer, becomes the "inner mother to the Divine Child, the incarnating Self within us", enabling us to be born again, through the Spirit, in the world. And in this new world, Sophia helps us to see in the geometrical forms of Nature, the natural shapes of the human soul.
If children are to keep alive their inborn sense of wonder, they need the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with them the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. For those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
In every adult there lurks a child --
and eternal child,
something that is always becoming,
is never completed,
and calls for unceasing care,
attention and education.
That is part of the human personality
which wants to develop and
become whole.
The spirit of childhood is a spirit of simplicity and joy that goes together with the greatest intelligence and the most advanced knowledge. Here more than anywhere else the law of contrasts holds: one must be great to be secure enough to be truly childlike -- just as one must be strong to be infinitely gentle, and wise in order to permit oneself to be foolish. Spiritual childhood is a matter of trust and self-surrender into God's hands.
There is a child that exists in all of us. For some, this little boy or girl is buried alive under years of pain and abuse. As we uncover the child spirit, we experience the emotions, the thoughts and even the behaviors that have been repressed for decades. Unless at some point we are able to embrace our inner child at whatever age and stage it shows itself to us, we will re-enact childhood events in some very destructive and unconscious ways. Yet through this courageous work we find the pathway to joy, serenity and wholeness.
Childhood is the foundation stone upon which stands the whole life structure.The seed sown in childhood blossoms into the tree of life.
Those who have the humility of a child may find again the key to reverence for, and kinship with, all of life.
The peacemakers are called children of God, because that is precisely what they are: the conscious offspring of the Creator. The peacemakers are men and women who have adventured down the avenues of healing and caught the current of their divine identity. The children of God share the spirits and purposes of God. The peacemakers have internalized the seven steps to wholeness outlined in the Beatitudes: they recognized their weaknesses; they long for what they need to change; they are gentle, unpretentious and nonviolent; they pursue right livelihood; they have compassion for others; their motivation is pure; they offer unconditional love to all.
Since the more we learn,
Let the Child return
And wisdom grow.
Forgiveness is a miracle of grace whereby the offense no longer separates. ... It means that we will no longer use the offense to drive a wedge between us, hurting and injuring one another. Forgiveness means that the power of love that holds us together is greater than the power of the offense that separates us. That is forgiveness. In forgiveness we are releasing our offenders so that they are no longer bound to us ... freeing them to receive God's grace.
True forgiveness blesses all and begins in the heart of the individual. As we give ourselves and others truly righteous thoughts for all inharmonious ones, we are making ready the harvest of a great spiritual feast which is certain to follow the seedtime. Forgiveness has two-fold mission. It frees both the erring and loving one, for back of the application of forgiveness is a deep, radiant love, a love founded on principle, a love that desires to give for the joy of giving with no thought of reward.
Every time you forgive, you dissolve a condition you have placed on your own capacity to love. Every time you forgive, love is awakened in you more deeply and your capacity to extend love is increased. That is the nature of the journey.
Bless all you've been, bless who you are now, bless who you are becoming, and then, as after forgiveness, let go...
Forgiveness means that I am willing to forgive the other person for not being God -- for not fulfilling all my needs. I, too, must ask forgiveness for not being able to fulfill other people's needs. Our heart -- the center of our being -- is part of God. Thus our heart longs for satisfaction and total communion... But since we want so much and we get only a part of what we want, we have to keep on forgiving people for not giving us all we want. The interesting thing is that when you can forgive people for not being God, then you can celebrate that they are a reflection of God.
We hunger to be known and understood. We hunger to be loved. We hunger to be at peace inside our own skins. We hunger not just to be fed these things but, often without realizing it, hunger to feed each other these things because they too are starving for them. We hunger not just to be loved but to love, not just to be forgiven but to forgive, not just to be known and understood, but to know and understand each other to the point of seeing that in the last analysis we all have the same good times, the same bad times, and that for that very reason there is no such thing in the world as anyone who is really a stranger.
Forgiving, truly and deeply forgiving, sets in motion mighty waves of love that flow down from the very gates of heaven, washing and making clean everything in its path. When this happens, everything is made new, and the shadows of pain and confusion are illuminated with understanding.
Recent studies have validated the brain/earth relationship through magnetics. Ancient texts tell us that the body seeks a harmonic balance with the earth. This balance is the goal of the life experience, and may be consciously regulated through non-polarized thoughts of forgiveness and feelings of compassion.
When I feel betrayed by someone, instead of sulking, clinging to my resentment and playing the role of victim, I am challenged to strengthen my soul through forgiveness. By forgiving the person who hurt me, I strengthen my soul... And each time we are called upon to forgive, we nourish our souls and learn more about who we are and what we have to share in this world.
True forgiveness always has a sacrificial character. It can never have a passive character. For we do not simply make a decision to "forget" the wrong or injustice that has been perpetrated upon us but, in addition, we take upon ourselves an inner obligation to MAKE AMENDS for the objective harm which evil action has wrought not only upon us but also upon the world. In true forgiveness we willingly, out of complete inner freedom, take upon ourselves an inner obligation to give the world as much compassion, love, and goodness as the evil action has objectively taken away from it.
When two persons want reconciliation through forgiveness, the whole cosmos is involved, and the energy springing from forgiveness is released for other forms of service. Forgiveness makes possible a deeper communion than that which existed before. One can begin to see another reason why forgiveness is important. Its importance is on the scale of evolution and it springs from the Creator of evolution. It invariably releases love, and love is the energy of creation.
To live without forgiveness is to live separated from the sacred and from the most basic instincts of our heart. To live with forgiveness is to reveal in each moment the beauty and value of life. To live with forgiveness is to choose in each moment an active role in creating relationships, organizations, communities, and a world that works for everyone.
Faithful creator, You are the source and resource of all purposed and created life. In an attitude of gratitude I accept your encouragement to learn what it means to be authentically human and make peace with my own humanity, so that I can accept a sacredness of other beings. With thanksgiving I accept the spiritual, ethical and moral responsibility for my own inner healing and joy. I embrace the mystery of healthy loving relationships as I learn to be an agent of change, reason and tenderness upon the earth that is an outpouring of your love for all life. I accept your help so that I may learn to live honorably in covenant community, lifting my voice in care, over criticism. Amen.
Making peace with ourselves means accessing inner peace that can be cultivated and extended to others. Authentic inner peace does not mean living in isolation, but discovering our own true nature and living in harmony with other people and the environment.
Each of us contributes to tomorrow by our thoughts, word and deed. Coming to peace in ourselves, forgiving our relatives and ourselves for what should have been, what could have been, and accepting who we are -- this is a primary step upon the Beauty Path. Casting our patterns of attachment and expectation enables us to act in the now. Once we make that step, we ever walk in the way of beauty.
The highest form of intervention that an individual may offer within a given situation, is not to ask for something to be, rather to become that which is desired. If peace is THE DESIRED REALITY within the global matrix, peace must BECOME THE REALITY within the local matrix of your experience. You must BECOME THAT PEACE.
Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth,
Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust,
Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace,
Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe.
The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.
"Peace is not the absence of war." Spinoza said it, but it is mindlessly quoted out of context, for he added, "It is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice."
Enlightenment, peace, and joy will not be granted by someone else. The well is within us, and if we dig deeply enough in the present moment, the water will spring forth. We must go back to the present moment in order to be really alive... You will be able to make a breakthrough and discover joy and peace right in the present moment, inside of yourself and all around you.
We need a deep mystical awakening the likes of which the planet has never witnessed before -- a mystical awakening that is truly planetary, that draws out the wisdom and the mystic, the player and the justice maker from the wisdom traditions of all religions and cultures. Such a mystical awakening would surely birth that "peace on earth" for which creation longs. ... Peace ON earth cannot happen without peace WITH the earth and peace among all earth creatures.
Peace is all around us -- in the world, in nature and within us -- in our bodies and our spirits. Once we learn to touch this peace, we will be healed and transformed.
Every loving thought we think is a powerful key to the kingdom. Through prayer, meditation, and the silence of a profound holiness, we focus our dispersed and irresponsible thought forms. We thus take up the challenge to redirect world history. We must relinquish our passive observation of the world outside; we can open the door to the world we really want. In understanding ourselves, we come to understand the world. In allowing ourselves to heal, we become the healers of the world. In praying for peace, we become bringers of peace. Thus we actualize the power within us to remedy the soul wounds of humanity.
A legend: In the beginning of the world the divine light was held in primeval vessels. But somehow no one knows how the vessels were shattered, and discord and confusion spread everywhere. The great task for human beings is to repair the ancient vessels, to gather together the sacred light, to call home all those who have been lost or in exile, to heal the separation and bring peace to the world.
If you give your life as a prayer, you intensify the prayer beyond all measure. To attain inner peace you must actually give your life, not just your possessions. When you at last give your life bringing into alignment your beliefs and the way you live, then, and only then, can you begin to find inner peace.
Drop They still dews of quietness
Til all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Thy peace.
Silence is our deepest nature,
our home, our common ground,
our peace.
Silence reveals.
Silence heals.
I weave a silence on my lips
I weave a silence into my mind
I weave a silence within my heart
I close my ears to distractions
I close my eyes to attractions
I close my heart to temptations.
Calm me, O God, as You stilled the storm
Still me, O God, keep me from harm
Let all tumult within me cease
Enfold me, O God, in your peace.
Guild members, we are told, would begin their day with the master in prayer to the guild's patron saint before turning to the work, and prayers of one kind or another punctuated the whole day. ... Oh, for the ordered structure of the guild workshop! The strong clear voice "re-minding" me, in the real sense of that word, to return to the silence.