Seasons of the Soul

Food for Thought

 

 

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.

~J. R. R. Tolkien 

Quotable Quotes

Tielhard de Chardin, the French Roman Catholic philosopher, said, “Some day, after we have mastered the wind, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of Love. Then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.”

 

If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem.   --J. Krishnamurti

 

Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.    --Albert Einstein

 

Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living. --Anais Nin

Thoughts To Ponder

 

"Let's choose today to quench our thirst for the 'good life' we think others lead by acknowledging the good that already exists in our lives. We can then offer the universe the gift of our grateful hearts."

~Sarah Ban Breathnach
Author of Simple Abundance

 

One may defeat  thousand obstacles and adversaries yet he who defeats the enemies within is the noblest victor.  Shaky Amuni

 

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. --Buddha

The Mark of Advancing Civilization

One day there was a news piece about a tortoise in Australia that had lost its hind legs. The zoo keepers created an innovative solution by putting rollers on a panel and attaching it with straps to the tortoise so that it is able to navigate without difficulty using the wheels as its surrogate legs and feet.

Stories emerging where humans seek to assist animals through compassion rather than viewing them as things to be used is an indicator of an advancement in civilization. It brought me back to the whole idea of our growth as humanity.

We see that the exclusive attitude of one being mighty and the rest being less than set up original hierarchal patterns. The need for a leader often set the ground rules. Would it be might or wisdom that led? So the tolerance level first was for those who were the strongest. Any man who was not dominant in nature was considered week and inferior. The next stage was an acceptance of all men being equal. This of course only referred to the group who saw itself as being the one that counted, so it was in reference to one’s own tribe or community. Then the acceptance of others expanded to men of different rank and status in social standing. Then women were incorporated, then men and women of different color or ethnic background. Then came a thawing in religious tolerance (to a point), and to people with different opinions (to a point), and those who had been disenfranchised (the disabled, indigent, elderly).

The key to our place in historical context is the range of our inclusion of all life. The point being that we move from self and self interest to expanding our circle of intimates until we are able to embrace ALL of life and each of life’s elements as being part of us. When we are able to relate to others with compassion and empathy rather than rigid judgments and unconscious acts of exclusion, we fulfill human potential, which is what we have embedded in our DNA, waiting for our recognition and acceptance.

Life is a thread that weaves us all in manifest time through consciousness, and our task and opportunity is to widen the circle we perceive as acceptable to embrace every thing, living or not. As we do, we are immeasurably blessed because the curse of fixedness dissolves into a fluid motion of invitation whereby we can all dance together as equals, sharing the glory of contributing to the entire fabric so that the thread that binds us creates a holy tapestry that is merged in love.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition 2008

Quotable Quotes

 

“Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them."

~Leo Tolstoy

The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.

-Norman Vincent Peale

 

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world

~John Milton

Quotable Quotes

"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the ways of
truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and
murderers and, for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end
they always fall. Think of it...always."
-Mahatma Ghandi

 

 

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
~Steve Jobs, CEO Apple Computer

 

Quotable Quotes

 

Each one sees what he carries in his heart. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

"A human always acts and feels and performs in accordance with what
he imagines to be true about himself and his environment."
~Maxwell Maltz, Author of Psycho-Cybernetics

 

Those who think they are too small to make a big difference,  have never been in bed with a mosquito.   ~ The Dalai Lama

Quotable Quotes

Slight not what is near though aiming at what is far.
-- Euripides

 

A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.

~Anonymous

 

I am only one; but still I am one.    

I cannot do everything, but still I can do something: I will not refuse to do the something I can do.   

~ Helen Keller

 

The web of life is woven with   

dewdrops of grace—our challenge is to recognize them.

~K.J.

 

You see things; and you say, “Why?”  But I dream things that never were; and I say, “Why not?”

~George Bernard Shaw

 

He is a man of  sense who does not grieve for what he has not,   

 but rejoices in what he has.  

 ~Epictetus

To Know the Tao

 

To know Tao meditate and still the mind.

Knowledge comes with perseverance.

The Way is neither full nor empty;

a modest and quiet nature understands this.

The empty vessel, the uncarved block; nothing is more mysterious.

When enlightenment arrives, don't talk too much about it;

just live it in your own way.

With humility and depth, rewards come naturally.

The fragrance of blossoms soon passes;

the ripeness of fruit is gone in a twinkling.

Our time in the world is so short, better to avoid regret:

Miss no opportunity to savor the ineffable.

Like a golden beacon signaling on a moonless night,

Tao guides our passage through this transitory realm.

In moments of darkness and pain, remember all is cyclical.

Sit quietly behind your wooden door:

Spring will come again.

~Loy Ching Yuen

 

Quotable Quotes

A pessimist sees only the
dark side of the clouds, and
mopes; a philosopher sees both
sides, and shrugs; an optimist
doesn't see the clouds at all -- he's
walking on them.

~Leonard Louis Levinson

The greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising up every
time we fall.

-- Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher

Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I
have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly
as possible before handing it on to future generations.

-- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish Playwright