Knowing

Forget your life.

Say, “God is Great!” Get up!

You think you know what time it is.

It’s time to pray.

You’ve carved so may little figurines, too many.

Don’t knock on any random door like a beggar.

Reach your long hand out to another door,

beyond where you go on the street,

the street where everyone says “How are you?”

and no one says “How aren’t you?”

Tomorrow you’ll see what you’ve

broken and torn tonight,

thrashing in the dark.

Inside you there’s an artist

you don’t know about.

He’s not interested in how things look different

in the moonlight.

If you are here unfaithfully with us,

you’re causing terrible damage.

If you’ve opened your loving

to God’s Love,

you’re helping people you don’t know

and have never seen.

Is what I say true?

Say “Yes!” quickly,

If you know,

you’ve known it from before

the beginning of the universe.

~Mavlana Jalaladin Rumi

(1207-1273, Persian Poet and Mystic)

Boundaries

I must be myself.

I cannot break myself any longer for you.

If you can love me for what I am,

we shall be happier.

If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should.

I will not hide my tastes or aversions.

I will so trust that what is deep is holy,

that I will do strongly before the sun and moon

whatever inly rejoices me,

and the heart appoints.

If you are noble, I will love you;

if you are not, I will not hurt you and myself

by hypocritical attentions.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803 to 1882, American Poet)

Change the Energy

We’re not doomed in any way

because whatever happens,

we can begin, right now,

to do our very best.

There’s always something small

we can do to alter our habitual response,

even a little bit.

It could be taking a few conscious breaths,

or stepping back for a moment,

or walking around the block

to change the energy.

It could be anything,

as long as it interrupts the process

of escalating our suffering

in the exact same habitual way,

over and over and over.

~Pema Chodron

(1936 to pres., Buddhist Teacher)

Nature of Awe

You will recognize the practical nature of awe

when despair becomes compassion;

righteous indignation transforms

into openness and humility;

and the tendency to want to fix things

turns into a natural,

unhindered longing to respond.

~Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel

(Tibetan Buddhist teacher and translator)

Spirituality

Coming to the spiritual path

is coming to the path of love.

Spirituality is not a cold, dry subject

to be studied and memorized.

It is not a rigid meditation

in which we cut ourselves off

from people in our family and community or life.

Rather, spirituality is immersing ourselves

into the love that is our true nature,

into the love between ourselves and others,

and our loving connection with all life itself.

Spirituality is an experience of becoming love itself.

~Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

(1946 to pres., Author, Scientist,

Mystic Adept of Light and Sound Current Yoga,

Leader of Science of Spirituality and

International Movements for World Peace)

Emotional DNA

You didn’t happen in a vacuum.

Who you are came from thousands of years

of all sorts of experiences, behaviors,

thoughts, feelings, and actions

that have accumulated

and been passed down to you.

You don’t just inherit your physical DNA,

you inherit your emotional DNA.

~Judy Wilkins-Smith

(organizational, individual and family patterns expert,

systemic coach, trainer, facilitator)

Divine Messages

Why did you incarnate?

What are you learning in this life?

What are you experiencing?

What are you releasing?

The answers are what’s coming through

your intuition, as messages,

guiding you every single moment

of every single day.

In every moment,

you are receiving divine messages

to help you align with your soul’s path—

a path of spiritual evolution,

soulful meaning, and universal love.

~Ashley Wood

(Akashic records reader, intuitive, channeler)

Empathy and Compassion

Empathy that leads to compassion

is an informed compassion.

When we’re making wise choices

about what to do,

our empathy becomes more sustainable,

not only because we’re not falling into despair

and personal distress or aversion and callousness,

but also because we’re getting clear

on what to do with our compassion.

~Eve Ekman

(director of training Greater Good Science Center)

Nobly Human

We do not become less human

by purging toxins from our emotional life

but rather more nobly human.

Abandoning greed, hatred,

and delusion at every opportunity,

we are still left with a rich,

nuanced, and healthier emotional life.

~Andrew Olendzki

(Director of the Mindfulness Studies program at Lesley University)

Truth

If you cannot find the truth

right where you are,
where else do you expect to find it?

~Dogen

(1200-1253, Japanese Zen Poet)