Assorted Wisdom
”To be happy, do not add to your possessions, but subtract from your desires.”
”The journey of humanity is the journey from ignorance to enlightenment. If we choose to engage, we will fulfill our part in the universe.”
"The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit." -Nelson Henderson-
"Matter is fluid and flows like a stream, constantly changing from one thing to another... Know ye that which is formed is truely formless, having form only to thine eyes... Know I now the formless is all there is of form"
-Thoth-
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."
-Jimi Hendrix-
”Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.”
”Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.”
”It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
“The only wealth is life.”
“The only thing in life achieved without effort is failure.”
"When you see a man of worth, think of how you may emulate him. When you see one who is unworthy, examine yourself."
-Confucius-
"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."
-Chinese Proverb-
“The weak are incapable of forgiveness, that is an attribute of the strong..."
”The journey of humanity is the journey from ignorance to enlightenment. If we choose to engage, we will fulfill our part in the universe.”
"The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit." -Nelson Henderson-
"Matter is fluid and flows like a stream, constantly changing from one thing to another... Know ye that which is formed is truely formless, having form only to thine eyes... Know I now the formless is all there is of form"
-Thoth-
”Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different.”
”Happiness is intrinsic. It's an internal thing. When you build itinto yourself, no external circumstances can take it away.”
”Everyone is responsible for their own happiness. You must search deep within to realize you were never without. For all comes from within.”
"Anger is the most impotent of passions. It affects nothing it touches and hurts the one who is possessed by it more than the one against whom it is directed."
-Claredon-
“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
"Your key to freedom lies in your power to control your thoughts."
-Tim Conner-
”Ninety percent of the friction of daily life is caused by the wrong tone of voice.”
”Time is Nature's way of preventing everything from happening all at once.”
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
-Albert Einstein-
"Life can only take place in the present moment. If we lose the present moment, we lose life." -The Buddha-
"Past and future are in the mind only - I am now." -Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj-
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." -The Dalai Lama-
"If you as an individual no longer found an identity from your thoughts,
then you would break free of time and enter the sweetness and clarity of the timeless."
-Bernie Prior-
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -Marcel Proust-
"What you are looking for is what is looking." -St. Francis of Assisi
"Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny--he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally--you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you."
-Osho-
"Nonviolence is the supreme law of life."
"Life is a bridge. Cross it, but build no house on it."
-Native American Proverbs-
"It is the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive."
-C.W. Leadbeater-
"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes-
"There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being - to help someone to succeed."
-Alan Loy McGinnus-
"Soon the child's clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor of the ego. Not until years later does an instinct come that a vital sense of mystery has been withdrawn. The sun glints through the pines, and the heart is pierced in a moment of beauty and strange pain, like a memory of paradise. After that day, we become seekers." -Peter Matthiessen-
"Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war."
-Albert Einstein-
"The only devils in this world are those running around inside our own
hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought." -Gandhi-
"Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
"A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for." -William Shedd-
”TAT: Is God then in matter, 0 father?
HERMES: Where could matter be placed if
it existed apart from God [who is infinite]? Would it not be but a
confused mass, unless it were ordered? And if it is ordered, by whom
is it ordered? The energies which operate in it are parts of God.
Whether you speak of matter or bodies or substance, know that all
these are the energy of God, of the God who is all. In the All there
is nothing which is not God. Adore this teaching, my child, and hold
it sacred.
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"Hermes: Behold an infant's soul, my son, that is not yet cut off,
because its body is still small and not as yet come unto its full bulk.
Tat: How?
Hermes: A thing of beauty altogether is [such a soul] to see, not yet befouled by body's passions, still all but hanging from the Cosmic Soul! But when the body grows in bulk and draweth down the soul into its mass, then doth the soul cut off itself and bring upon itself forgetfulness, and no more shareth in the Beautiful and the Good. And this forgetfulness becometh vice. the soul's vice is ignorance. For that the soul who hath no knowledge of the things that are, or knowledge of their nature, or of Good, is blinded by the body's passions and tossed about. This wretched soul, not knowing what he is, becomes the slave of bodies of strange form in sorry plight, bearing the body as a load; not as the ruler, but the ruled. This [ignorance] is the soul's vice...
The Greatest Evil amongst men is ignorance of God."
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"Look thee above or look thee below, the
same shall ye find. For all is but part of the Oneness that is at the
Source of the Law." -Thoth-
50. Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by its own accord, established [itself], and appeared in their image [mind].'
-The Gospel of Thomas-
"Think not that man is earth-born, though come from the earth he may be. Man is a light-born spirit. But, without knowing, he can never be free." -Thoth-
"God is Maker of all things, and in His making, He maketh all [at last] like to Himself...keeping them within itself, may make all manifest, and [then] dissolving them, make them all new again; and thus, like a Good Gardener of Life, things that have been dissolved, it taketh to itself, and giveth them renewal once again... There is no thing to which it gives not life; but taking all unto itself it makes them live, and is at the same time the Place of Life and its Creator. "
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule... Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace." -The Buddha-
"He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind." -The Buddha-
"No One of Existing Things doth Perish, but Men in Error Speak of Their Changes as Destructions and as Deaths... The "restoration" of bodies on the earth is thus their composition, whereas their dissolution restores them to those bodies which can never be dissolved, that is to say, which know no death. Privation, thus, of sense is brought about, not loss of bodies. " -The Corpus Hermeticum-
(33) Jesus said, "Preach from your housetops that which you will hear in your ear. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, but rather he sets it on a lampstand so
that everyone who enters and leaves will see its light."
(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
-The Gospel of Thomas-
"All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today." -Indian Proverb-
"Contemplate through Me [the Divine Mind], the world and consider its beauty. See that all things are full of light. See the earth, settled in the midst of all, the great nurse who nourishes all earthly creatures, All is full of Soul, and all beings are in movement. Who has created these things? The one God, for God is one. You see that the world is always one, the Sun, one; the moon, one; the divine activity, one; God, too, is one. And since all is living, and Life is also one, God is certainly one. It is by the action of God that all things come into being. All that is, He contains within Himself like thoughts: the world, Himself, the All. Therefore, unless you make yourself equal to God, you cannot understand God; for like is not intelligible save to the like. Make yourself grow to a greatness beyond measure; by a leap [of intellect], free yourself from the body; raise yourself above all time, become Eternity; then you will understand God. Believe that nothing is impossible for you; think yourself immortal and capable of understanding all, all arts, all sciences, the nature of every living being. Mount higher than the highest height; descend lower
than the lowest depth. Draw into yourself all sensations of everything
created, fire and water, the dry and the moist, imagining that you are
everywhere, on earth, in the sea, in the sky; that you are not yet born, in the maternal womb, adolescent, old, dead, beyond death. If you embrace in your thought all things at once-all times, places,
substances, qualities, quantities-you may understand God... Say
no longer that God is invisible. Do not speak thus, for what is more
manifest than God? He has created all only that you may see it through
the beings. For that is the miraculous power of God, to show Himself
through all beings. For nothing is invisible, not even the incorporeal.
The intellect makes itself visible in the act of thinking; God makes
Himself visible in the act of creating."
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." -Albert Einstein-
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi-
"Wise people walk on regardless of what happens to them. Wise people do not babble on about their desires. Whether touched by happiness or by sorrow, the wise never appear elated or depressed." -The Buddha-
"The key to worlds within thee are found only within. For man is the gateway of mystery and the key that is One with the One." -Thoth-
"The world, indeed, is like a dream and: the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze." -The Buddha-
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world." -The Buddha-
"Know ye not, O man, of your heritage? Know ye not ye are truly the Light? Sun of the Great Sun." -Thoth-
"All that exists comes forth from the LIGHT, and the LIGHT comes forth
from the ALL."
-Thoth-
"Light is life, for without the great Light nothing can ever exist. Know ye, that in all formed matter, the heart of Light always exists Aye, even though bound in the darkness, inherent Light always exists."
-Thoth-
"Know, O man, thou art complex, a being of earth and of fire. Let thy flame shine out brightly. Be thou only the fire."
-Thoth-
"Ye are son of the GREAT LIGHT Remember and ye shall be free."
-Thoth-
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him." -The Buddha-
”Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung-
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded." -Ralph Waldo Emerson-
"We are evolving from five-sensory humans into multi-sensory humans.... The perceptions of the multi-sensory human extend beyond physical reality to the larger dynamical systems of which our physical reality is a part... "
"As we become multi-sensory, we move beyond the limitations of the five senses and we now are evolving to a different mechanism in the exploration of physical reality."
-Gary Zukav-
"In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves."
-The Buddha-
"Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten."
-The Buddha-
"Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace."
-The Buddha-
"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."
-The Buddha-
"When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear."
-Buddha-
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." -Buddha-
"Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice." -Will Durant-
"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these."
-George Washington Carver-
"Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-
"The laws of nature are written deep in the folds and faults of the earth. By encouraging men to learn those laws one can lead them further to a knowledge of the author of all laws."
-John Joseph Lynch-
"The human emotional system can be broken down into roughly two elements: fear and love. Love is of the soul. Fear is of the personality." -Gary Zukav-
"Children smile 400 times a day on average... adults 15 times. Children laugh 150 times a day... adults 6 times per day. Children play between 4-6 hours a day... adults only 20 minutes a day. What's happened?" -Robert Holden-
”There once was a man who climbed up to a mountain top and reached up to God. He stretched his arms to the cosmos and cried, "Fill me full of light! I'm ready, I'm waiting!" The voice of God answered him and said, "I'm always filling you with light, but you keep leaking!"
"The many passing 'physical bodies' are nothing more than the individual fibers of a 'cocoon', collectively spinning through time to 'contain' the mighty sleeping spirit deep within. Waiting to awaken; to take flight... Just as the butterflies do."
-John Carnagey-
"Even if you have not awakened, if you realize that your perceptions and activities are all like dreams and you view them with detachment, not giving rise to grasping and rejecting discrimination, then this is virtually tantamount to awakening from the dream."
-Muso Kokushi-
"Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed." -The Buddha-
"While it is true that The ALL is ALL, it is equally as true that The ALL is within ALL."
-The Kybalion-
"The source, limit, and constitution of all things is God."
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." -Max Ehrmann
"We live in illusion and the appearance of 'things'. There is a
reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you
are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything." -The Buddha-
"Hard is the pathway that leads to the WISDOM, hard is the pathway
that leads to the LIGHT. Many shall ye find, the stones in your pathway: many the mountains to climb toward the LIGHT." -Thoth-
"God sleeps in the rocks, stirs in the plants, dreams in the animals, and finaly awakens in man." -Famous Vedic Quote-
"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of." -Confucius-
”If you cannot find happiness along the road, You will not find it
at the end of the road.”
"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." -The Buddha-
"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges."
"Thy bodies are nothing but planets revolving around their central
suns." -Thoth-
”Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.”
"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God." -A Course in Miracles-
"Man learns through experience, and the spiritual path is full of different kinds of experiences. He will encounter many difficulties and obstacles, and they are the very experiences he needs to encourage and complete the cleansing process." -Sai Baba-
"In order to experience everyday spirituality, we need to remember that we are spiritual beings spending some time in a human body."
-Barbara de Angelis-
"When one realizes one is asleep, at that moment one is already half-awake." -P. D. Ouspensky-
"Reverence is an attitude of honoring life. Reverence automatically brings forth patience. Reverence permits non-judgemental justice. Reverence is a perception of the soul." -Gary Zukav-"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change." -The Buddha
"You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself." "There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: 1.) not going all the way; and 2.) not starting." -The Buddha-
"You only lose what you cling to." -The Buddha-
"Wherever there is light, there is shadow; wherever there is length, there is shortness; wherever there is white, there is black." -The Buddha-
"Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes."
-The Buddha-
"To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent." -Buddha-
"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts..." -William Shakespeare-
"Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but religiously follows the new." -Henry David Thoreau-
"We are ignorant of the Beyond because this ignorance is the condition of our own life. Just as ice cannot know fire except by melting and vanishing." -Jules Renard-
"Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something."
-unknown author-
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.-
"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving."- Lao Tzu
"We are disturbed not by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens."
-Epictetus-
"Even as water carves monuments of stone, so do our thoughts shape our character."
-Hugh B. Brown-
"No brain is stronger than its weakest think." -Thomas L Masson-
”The journey of humanity is the journey from ignorance to enlightenment. If we choose to engage, we will fulfill our part in the universe.”
"The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit." -Nelson Henderson-
"Matter is fluid and flows like a stream, constantly changing from one thing to another... Know ye that which is formed is truely formless, having form only to thine eyes... Know I now the formless is all there is of form"
-Thoth-
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."
-Jimi Hendrix-
”Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.”
”Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.”
”It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
“The only wealth is life.”
“The only thing in life achieved without effort is failure.”
"When you see a man of worth, think of how you may emulate him. When you see one who is unworthy, examine yourself."
-Confucius-
"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."
-Chinese Proverb-
“The weak are incapable of forgiveness, that is an attribute of the strong..."
”The journey of humanity is the journey from ignorance to enlightenment. If we choose to engage, we will fulfill our part in the universe.”
"The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit." -Nelson Henderson-
"Matter is fluid and flows like a stream, constantly changing from one thing to another... Know ye that which is formed is truely formless, having form only to thine eyes... Know I now the formless is all there is of form"
-Thoth-
”Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different.”
”Happiness is intrinsic. It's an internal thing. When you build itinto yourself, no external circumstances can take it away.”
”Everyone is responsible for their own happiness. You must search deep within to realize you were never without. For all comes from within.”
"Anger is the most impotent of passions. It affects nothing it touches and hurts the one who is possessed by it more than the one against whom it is directed."
-Claredon-
“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
"Your key to freedom lies in your power to control your thoughts."
-Tim Conner-
”Ninety percent of the friction of daily life is caused by the wrong tone of voice.”
”Time is Nature's way of preventing everything from happening all at once.”
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
-Albert Einstein-
"Life can only take place in the present moment. If we lose the present moment, we lose life." -The Buddha-
"Past and future are in the mind only - I am now." -Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj-
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." -The Dalai Lama-
"If you as an individual no longer found an identity from your thoughts,
then you would break free of time and enter the sweetness and clarity of the timeless."
-Bernie Prior-
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -Marcel Proust-
"What you are looking for is what is looking." -St. Francis of Assisi
"Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny--he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally--you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you."
-Osho-
"Nonviolence is the supreme law of life."
"Life is a bridge. Cross it, but build no house on it."
-Native American Proverbs-
"It is the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive."
-C.W. Leadbeater-
"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes-
"There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being - to help someone to succeed."
-Alan Loy McGinnus-
"Soon the child's clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor of the ego. Not until years later does an instinct come that a vital sense of mystery has been withdrawn. The sun glints through the pines, and the heart is pierced in a moment of beauty and strange pain, like a memory of paradise. After that day, we become seekers." -Peter Matthiessen-
"Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war."
-Albert Einstein-
"The only devils in this world are those running around inside our own
hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought." -Gandhi-
"Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
"A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for." -William Shedd-
”TAT: Is God then in matter, 0 father?
HERMES: Where could matter be placed if
it existed apart from God [who is infinite]? Would it not be but a
confused mass, unless it were ordered? And if it is ordered, by whom
is it ordered? The energies which operate in it are parts of God.
Whether you speak of matter or bodies or substance, know that all
these are the energy of God, of the God who is all. In the All there
is nothing which is not God. Adore this teaching, my child, and hold
it sacred.
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"Hermes: Behold an infant's soul, my son, that is not yet cut off,
because its body is still small and not as yet come unto its full bulk.
Tat: How?
Hermes: A thing of beauty altogether is [such a soul] to see, not yet befouled by body's passions, still all but hanging from the Cosmic Soul! But when the body grows in bulk and draweth down the soul into its mass, then doth the soul cut off itself and bring upon itself forgetfulness, and no more shareth in the Beautiful and the Good. And this forgetfulness becometh vice. the soul's vice is ignorance. For that the soul who hath no knowledge of the things that are, or knowledge of their nature, or of Good, is blinded by the body's passions and tossed about. This wretched soul, not knowing what he is, becomes the slave of bodies of strange form in sorry plight, bearing the body as a load; not as the ruler, but the ruled. This [ignorance] is the soul's vice...
The Greatest Evil amongst men is ignorance of God."
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"Look thee above or look thee below, the
same shall ye find. For all is but part of the Oneness that is at the
Source of the Law." -Thoth-
50. Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by its own accord, established [itself], and appeared in their image [mind].'
-The Gospel of Thomas-
"Think not that man is earth-born, though come from the earth he may be. Man is a light-born spirit. But, without knowing, he can never be free." -Thoth-
"God is Maker of all things, and in His making, He maketh all [at last] like to Himself...keeping them within itself, may make all manifest, and [then] dissolving them, make them all new again; and thus, like a Good Gardener of Life, things that have been dissolved, it taketh to itself, and giveth them renewal once again... There is no thing to which it gives not life; but taking all unto itself it makes them live, and is at the same time the Place of Life and its Creator. "
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule... Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace." -The Buddha-
"He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind." -The Buddha-
"No One of Existing Things doth Perish, but Men in Error Speak of Their Changes as Destructions and as Deaths... The "restoration" of bodies on the earth is thus their composition, whereas their dissolution restores them to those bodies which can never be dissolved, that is to say, which know no death. Privation, thus, of sense is brought about, not loss of bodies. " -The Corpus Hermeticum-
(33) Jesus said, "Preach from your housetops that which you will hear in your ear. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, but rather he sets it on a lampstand so
that everyone who enters and leaves will see its light."
(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
-The Gospel of Thomas-
"All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today." -Indian Proverb-
"Contemplate through Me [the Divine Mind], the world and consider its beauty. See that all things are full of light. See the earth, settled in the midst of all, the great nurse who nourishes all earthly creatures, All is full of Soul, and all beings are in movement. Who has created these things? The one God, for God is one. You see that the world is always one, the Sun, one; the moon, one; the divine activity, one; God, too, is one. And since all is living, and Life is also one, God is certainly one. It is by the action of God that all things come into being. All that is, He contains within Himself like thoughts: the world, Himself, the All. Therefore, unless you make yourself equal to God, you cannot understand God; for like is not intelligible save to the like. Make yourself grow to a greatness beyond measure; by a leap [of intellect], free yourself from the body; raise yourself above all time, become Eternity; then you will understand God. Believe that nothing is impossible for you; think yourself immortal and capable of understanding all, all arts, all sciences, the nature of every living being. Mount higher than the highest height; descend lower
than the lowest depth. Draw into yourself all sensations of everything
created, fire and water, the dry and the moist, imagining that you are
everywhere, on earth, in the sea, in the sky; that you are not yet born, in the maternal womb, adolescent, old, dead, beyond death. If you embrace in your thought all things at once-all times, places,
substances, qualities, quantities-you may understand God... Say
no longer that God is invisible. Do not speak thus, for what is more
manifest than God? He has created all only that you may see it through
the beings. For that is the miraculous power of God, to show Himself
through all beings. For nothing is invisible, not even the incorporeal.
The intellect makes itself visible in the act of thinking; God makes
Himself visible in the act of creating."
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." -Albert Einstein-
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi-
"Wise people walk on regardless of what happens to them. Wise people do not babble on about their desires. Whether touched by happiness or by sorrow, the wise never appear elated or depressed." -The Buddha-
"The key to worlds within thee are found only within. For man is the gateway of mystery and the key that is One with the One." -Thoth-
"The world, indeed, is like a dream and: the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze." -The Buddha-
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world." -The Buddha-
"Know ye not, O man, of your heritage? Know ye not ye are truly the Light? Sun of the Great Sun." -Thoth-
"All that exists comes forth from the LIGHT, and the LIGHT comes forth
from the ALL."
-Thoth-
"Light is life, for without the great Light nothing can ever exist. Know ye, that in all formed matter, the heart of Light always exists Aye, even though bound in the darkness, inherent Light always exists."
-Thoth-
"Know, O man, thou art complex, a being of earth and of fire. Let thy flame shine out brightly. Be thou only the fire."
-Thoth-
"Ye are son of the GREAT LIGHT Remember and ye shall be free."
-Thoth-
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him." -The Buddha-
”Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung-
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded." -Ralph Waldo Emerson-
"We are evolving from five-sensory humans into multi-sensory humans.... The perceptions of the multi-sensory human extend beyond physical reality to the larger dynamical systems of which our physical reality is a part... "
"As we become multi-sensory, we move beyond the limitations of the five senses and we now are evolving to a different mechanism in the exploration of physical reality."
-Gary Zukav-
"In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves."
-The Buddha-
"Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten."
-The Buddha-
"Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace."
-The Buddha-
"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."
-The Buddha-
"When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear."
-Buddha-
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." -Buddha-
"Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice." -Will Durant-
"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these."
-George Washington Carver-
"Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-
"The laws of nature are written deep in the folds and faults of the earth. By encouraging men to learn those laws one can lead them further to a knowledge of the author of all laws."
-John Joseph Lynch-
"The human emotional system can be broken down into roughly two elements: fear and love. Love is of the soul. Fear is of the personality." -Gary Zukav-
"Children smile 400 times a day on average... adults 15 times. Children laugh 150 times a day... adults 6 times per day. Children play between 4-6 hours a day... adults only 20 minutes a day. What's happened?" -Robert Holden-
”There once was a man who climbed up to a mountain top and reached up to God. He stretched his arms to the cosmos and cried, "Fill me full of light! I'm ready, I'm waiting!" The voice of God answered him and said, "I'm always filling you with light, but you keep leaking!"
"The many passing 'physical bodies' are nothing more than the individual fibers of a 'cocoon', collectively spinning through time to 'contain' the mighty sleeping spirit deep within. Waiting to awaken; to take flight... Just as the butterflies do."
-John Carnagey-
"Even if you have not awakened, if you realize that your perceptions and activities are all like dreams and you view them with detachment, not giving rise to grasping and rejecting discrimination, then this is virtually tantamount to awakening from the dream."
-Muso Kokushi-
"Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed." -The Buddha-
"While it is true that The ALL is ALL, it is equally as true that The ALL is within ALL."
-The Kybalion-
"The source, limit, and constitution of all things is God."
-The Corpus Hermeticum-
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." -Max Ehrmann
"We live in illusion and the appearance of 'things'. There is a
reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you
are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything." -The Buddha-
"Hard is the pathway that leads to the WISDOM, hard is the pathway
that leads to the LIGHT. Many shall ye find, the stones in your pathway: many the mountains to climb toward the LIGHT." -Thoth-
"God sleeps in the rocks, stirs in the plants, dreams in the animals, and finaly awakens in man." -Famous Vedic Quote-
"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of." -Confucius-
”If you cannot find happiness along the road, You will not find it
at the end of the road.”
"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." -The Buddha-
"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges."
"Thy bodies are nothing but planets revolving around their central
suns." -Thoth-
”Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.”
"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God." -A Course in Miracles-
"Man learns through experience, and the spiritual path is full of different kinds of experiences. He will encounter many difficulties and obstacles, and they are the very experiences he needs to encourage and complete the cleansing process." -Sai Baba-
"In order to experience everyday spirituality, we need to remember that we are spiritual beings spending some time in a human body."
-Barbara de Angelis-
"When one realizes one is asleep, at that moment one is already half-awake." -P. D. Ouspensky-
"Reverence is an attitude of honoring life. Reverence automatically brings forth patience. Reverence permits non-judgemental justice. Reverence is a perception of the soul." -Gary Zukav-"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change." -The Buddha
"You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself." "There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: 1.) not going all the way; and 2.) not starting." -The Buddha-
"You only lose what you cling to." -The Buddha-
"Wherever there is light, there is shadow; wherever there is length, there is shortness; wherever there is white, there is black." -The Buddha-
"Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes."
-The Buddha-
"To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent." -Buddha-
"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts..." -William Shakespeare-
"Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but religiously follows the new." -Henry David Thoreau-
"We are ignorant of the Beyond because this ignorance is the condition of our own life. Just as ice cannot know fire except by melting and vanishing." -Jules Renard-
"Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something."
-unknown author-
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.-
"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving."- Lao Tzu
"We are disturbed not by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens."
-Epictetus-
"Even as water carves monuments of stone, so do our thoughts shape our character."
-Hugh B. Brown-
"No brain is stronger than its weakest think." -Thomas L Masson-
Western Stories
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."
William Arthur Ward once said,
"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems - not people;
to focus your energies on answers - not excuses."
This is a story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move.
"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the Sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the Sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be over matched. Concerned that the boy might
get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the Sensei intervened. "No," the Sensei insisted, "Let him
continue." Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and Sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?" "You won for two reasons," the Sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."
The boy's greatest weakness had become his greatest strength.
A penguin can not fly... This is its weakness... Yet it is one of the only birds that can swim and hunt underwater...
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was
blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table.
But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating
difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped
the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about Grandfather," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor". So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed their dinners together.Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.The four-year-old watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when you get old." The four year old smiled and went back to work.
The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his
wife open a package. What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The
chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to
me. I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for
her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
-We must stop averting our eyes and awareness from our brothers and sisters desperate needs in poverty and wartorn nations worldwide. They need our collective help. What seems like the small problems of only a few can expand to cause greater consequences to a wider circle down the road. All actions or "lack" of them have there consequences. Doing "nothing" is an action despite its nature, it will reap its reaction. Small actions will always triumph over complacency. No positive action is to small to not carry out... Do what you can, always...
A group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noticed that one quiet student hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make
up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are:
1. to see
2. to hear
3. to touch
4. to taste
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love."
The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous!
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly, that he brought home. One
day a small opening appeared he sat and watched the butterfly for
several hours. It struggled to force its body through that little hole.
Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had
gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but, it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly, he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and the body would contract. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly. The man acted with well-intentioned kindness but he didn't understand the consequences. The restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening, were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes
struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go
through life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not
be as strong as we could have been and we could never fly So the next time you are faced with an obstacle, a challenge, or a problem, remember the butterfly. Struggle a little - then fly!
"A diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” -Chinese Proverb-
As the sun rose, a dew drop became aware of its surroundings. There it sat on a leaf, catching the sunlight and throwing it back out. Proud of its simple beauty, it was very content. Around it were other dew drops, some on the same leaf and some on other leaves round about. The dew drop was sure that it was the best, the most special dew drop of them all.
Ah, it was good to be a dew drop.
The wind rose and the plant began to shake, tipping the leaf. Terror gripped the dew drop as gravity pulled it towards the edge of the leaf, towards the unknown. Why? Why was this happening? Things were comfortable. Things were safe. Why did they have to change? Why? Why?
The dew drop reached the edge of the leaf. It was terrified, certain that it would be smashed into a thousand pieces below, sure that this was the end. The day had only just begun and the end had come so quickly. It seemed so unfair. It seemed so meaningless. It tried desperately to do whatever it could to cling to the leaf, but it was no use.
Finally, it let go, surrendering to the pull of gravity. Down, down it fell. Below there seemed to be a mirror. A reflection of itself seemed to be coming up to meet the dew drop. Closer and closer they came together until finally...
And then the fear transformed into deep joy as the tiny dew drop merged with the vastness that was the pond. Now the dew drop was no more, but it was not destroyed.
It had become one with the whole.
-Peter Hughes-
An old man sat outside the walls of a great city. When travelers approached, they would ask the old man, "What kind of people live in this city?" The old man would answer, "What kind of people live in the place where you came from?" If the travelers answered, "Only bad people live in the place where we came from," the old man would reply, "Continue on; you will find only bad people here." But if the travelers answered, "Good people live in the place where we came from," then the old man would say, "Enter, for here too, you will find only good people."
-A Yiddish Folk Tale-
-A Simple Gesture- A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and run down and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out he would not say hello to neighbors or passers by but simply just glare at them. The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy's parents told him to stay away from the house, a lot of the other neighborhood children were told the same from their parents.
The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy's parents told him to stay away from the house, a lot of the other neighborhood children were told the same from their parents.
As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened. " What do you want?" the old man said. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota to meet for school with selling the magazines.
"Uh, sir, I uh am selling these magazines and uh I was wondering if you
would like to buy one." The old man just stared at the boy. The boy
could see inside the old man's house and saw that he had dog figurines
on the fireplace mantle. "Do you collect dogs?" the little boy asked.
"Yes, I have many collectibles in my house, they are my family here,
they are all I have." The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed
that he was a very lonely soul. "Well, I do have a magazine here for
collectors, it is perfect for you, I also have one about dogs since you
like dogs so much." The old man was ready to close the door on the boy
and said, "No boy, I don't need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye."
The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the
sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the big house
that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figure that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family. The boy headed back down to the old man's house with the figurine. He knocked on the door again and this time the old man came right to the door. "Boy, I thought I told you no magazines."
"No, sir I know that, I wanted to bring you a gift." The boy handed him the figurine and the old man's face lit up. "It is a Golden Retriever, I have one at home, this one is for you." The old man was simply stunned; no one had ever given him such a gift and shown him so much kindness. "Boy, you have a big heart, why are you doing this?" The boy smiled at the man and said, "Because you like dogs."
From that day on the old man started coming out of the house and
acknowledging people. He and the boy became friends; the boy even
brought his dog to see the man weekly.
This simple gesture changed both of their lives forever.
-Jackie Sagner-
William Arthur Ward once said,
"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems - not people;
to focus your energies on answers - not excuses."
This is a story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move.
"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the Sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the Sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be over matched. Concerned that the boy might
get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the Sensei intervened. "No," the Sensei insisted, "Let him
continue." Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and Sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?" "You won for two reasons," the Sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."
The boy's greatest weakness had become his greatest strength.
A penguin can not fly... This is its weakness... Yet it is one of the only birds that can swim and hunt underwater...
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was
blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table.
But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating
difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped
the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about Grandfather," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor". So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed their dinners together.Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.The four-year-old watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when you get old." The four year old smiled and went back to work.
The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his
wife open a package. What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The
chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to
me. I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for
her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
-We must stop averting our eyes and awareness from our brothers and sisters desperate needs in poverty and wartorn nations worldwide. They need our collective help. What seems like the small problems of only a few can expand to cause greater consequences to a wider circle down the road. All actions or "lack" of them have there consequences. Doing "nothing" is an action despite its nature, it will reap its reaction. Small actions will always triumph over complacency. No positive action is to small to not carry out... Do what you can, always...
A group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noticed that one quiet student hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make
up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are:
1. to see
2. to hear
3. to touch
4. to taste
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love."
The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous!
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly, that he brought home. One
day a small opening appeared he sat and watched the butterfly for
several hours. It struggled to force its body through that little hole.
Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had
gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but, it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly, he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and the body would contract. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly. The man acted with well-intentioned kindness but he didn't understand the consequences. The restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening, were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes
struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go
through life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not
be as strong as we could have been and we could never fly So the next time you are faced with an obstacle, a challenge, or a problem, remember the butterfly. Struggle a little - then fly!
"A diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” -Chinese Proverb-
As the sun rose, a dew drop became aware of its surroundings. There it sat on a leaf, catching the sunlight and throwing it back out. Proud of its simple beauty, it was very content. Around it were other dew drops, some on the same leaf and some on other leaves round about. The dew drop was sure that it was the best, the most special dew drop of them all.
Ah, it was good to be a dew drop.
The wind rose and the plant began to shake, tipping the leaf. Terror gripped the dew drop as gravity pulled it towards the edge of the leaf, towards the unknown. Why? Why was this happening? Things were comfortable. Things were safe. Why did they have to change? Why? Why?
The dew drop reached the edge of the leaf. It was terrified, certain that it would be smashed into a thousand pieces below, sure that this was the end. The day had only just begun and the end had come so quickly. It seemed so unfair. It seemed so meaningless. It tried desperately to do whatever it could to cling to the leaf, but it was no use.
Finally, it let go, surrendering to the pull of gravity. Down, down it fell. Below there seemed to be a mirror. A reflection of itself seemed to be coming up to meet the dew drop. Closer and closer they came together until finally...
And then the fear transformed into deep joy as the tiny dew drop merged with the vastness that was the pond. Now the dew drop was no more, but it was not destroyed.
It had become one with the whole.
-Peter Hughes-
An old man sat outside the walls of a great city. When travelers approached, they would ask the old man, "What kind of people live in this city?" The old man would answer, "What kind of people live in the place where you came from?" If the travelers answered, "Only bad people live in the place where we came from," the old man would reply, "Continue on; you will find only bad people here." But if the travelers answered, "Good people live in the place where we came from," then the old man would say, "Enter, for here too, you will find only good people."
-A Yiddish Folk Tale-
-A Simple Gesture- A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and run down and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out he would not say hello to neighbors or passers by but simply just glare at them. The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy's parents told him to stay away from the house, a lot of the other neighborhood children were told the same from their parents.
The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy's parents told him to stay away from the house, a lot of the other neighborhood children were told the same from their parents.
As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened. " What do you want?" the old man said. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota to meet for school with selling the magazines.
"Uh, sir, I uh am selling these magazines and uh I was wondering if you
would like to buy one." The old man just stared at the boy. The boy
could see inside the old man's house and saw that he had dog figurines
on the fireplace mantle. "Do you collect dogs?" the little boy asked.
"Yes, I have many collectibles in my house, they are my family here,
they are all I have." The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed
that he was a very lonely soul. "Well, I do have a magazine here for
collectors, it is perfect for you, I also have one about dogs since you
like dogs so much." The old man was ready to close the door on the boy
and said, "No boy, I don't need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye."
The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the
sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the big house
that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figure that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family. The boy headed back down to the old man's house with the figurine. He knocked on the door again and this time the old man came right to the door. "Boy, I thought I told you no magazines."
"No, sir I know that, I wanted to bring you a gift." The boy handed him the figurine and the old man's face lit up. "It is a Golden Retriever, I have one at home, this one is for you." The old man was simply stunned; no one had ever given him such a gift and shown him so much kindness. "Boy, you have a big heart, why are you doing this?" The boy smiled at the man and said, "Because you like dogs."
From that day on the old man started coming out of the house and
acknowledging people. He and the boy became friends; the boy even
brought his dog to see the man weekly.
This simple gesture changed both of their lives forever.
-Jackie Sagner-
