Religious Thought 187

The one original transcendent Shakti, the Mother stands above all the worlds and bears in her eternal consciousness the Supreme Divine. Alone, she harbors the absolute Power and the ineffable Presence; containing or calling the Truths that have to be manifested, she brings them down from the Mystery in which they were hidden into the light of her infinite consciousness and gives them a form of force in her omnipotent power and her boundless life and a body in the universe.

- Sri Aurobindo

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Within the framework of the Buddhist Path, reflecting on suffering has tremendous importance because by realizing the nature of suffering, you will develop greater resolve to put an end to the causes of suffering and the unwholesome deeds which lead to suffering. And it will increase your enthusiasm for engaging in the wholesome actions and deeds which lead to happiness and joy.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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People sometimes justify their obsession with cleanliness on religious grounds; but true religion is not concerned with outward purity.

- Razi, "Kitab al-Muluki"

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To be truly Christian means to see Christ everywhere, to know Him as all in all.

- Madeleine L'Engle, "Walking on Water"

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Any plan formulated in a hurry is foolish.

- Rashi, Commentary on Job

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Religious Thought 186

Whatever he does is without purpose. His senses have been stilled. His eyes are empty. He is without desire or aversion. For him the waters of the world Have all dried up!

- Ashtavakra Gita 17:9

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Many people are afraid to empty their minds lest they may plunge into the Void. They do not know that their own Mind is the Void. The ignorant eschew phenomena but not thought; the wise eschew thought but not phenomena.

- Huang Po, Zen Teaching of Huang Po

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If you wish for light, be ready to receive light. Nourish your ego and be deprived of light. If you wish to find a way out of this prison, do not turn away; bow down in worship and draw near.

- Rumi

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Every perfect life is a parable invented by God.

- Simone Weil

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A half-truth is a whole lie.

- Yiddish proverb

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Religious Thought 185

"When a person is sleeping soundly, free from dreams, with a still mind, that is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme."

- Chandogya Upanishad

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I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with belief in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another--an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of meta-physical or philosophical reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or hell. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prayers and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit--such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring happiness to both self and others.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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There are two kinds of speeches and two kinds of silences. Speech is either truth or a falsification, and silence is either fruition or heedlessness. If one speaks the truth, his words are better than his silence, but he who invents falsifications, his silence is better than his speech.

- Al-Hujwiri, "The Kashf al-Mahjub"

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The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came...Anticipate your battles; fight them on your knees before temptation comes, and you will always have victory.

- R.A. Torrey

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There is a definite connection between being funny and being Jewish. The toughest room I ever played was my mother's kitchen.

- Richard Belzer

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Religious Thought 184

Mind is consciousness which has put on limitations. You are originally unlimited and perfect. Later you take on limitations and become the mind.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi

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Winning gives birth to hostility. Losing, one lies down in pain. The calmed lie down with ease, having set winning & losing aside.

- Dhammapada, 15, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

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Live in this world like a stranger, a wayfarer, and deem yourselves as dwellers of the graves.

- Hadith The Prophet Muhammad (SAW), as reported by Ibn Umar

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Joy is the true gift of Christmas, not the expensive gifts that call for time and money....Let us pray that this presence of the liberating joy of God shines forth in our lives.

- Pope Benedict XVI

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Hanukkah has always been a celebration of Judaism in the midst of pressure to let go of Jewish uniqueness.

- Cantor Ari Priven

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Religious Thought 170

It is both near and far, both within and without every creature; it moves and is unmoving. In its subtlety it is beyond comprehension. It is invisible, yet appears divided in separate creatures. Know it to be the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer. Dwelling in every heart, it is beyond darkness. It is called the light of the lights, the object and goal of knowledge, and knowledge itself.

- Bhagavad Gita 13:15-17

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When there is grasping, the grasper Comes into existence. If he did not grasp, Then being freed, he would not come into existence.

- Nagarjuna, "Mulamadhyamaka-Karika"

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Both infidelity and faith upon his path run apace, united in their praise confess that "He is One without likeness."

- Sanai: "Hadiqat al-haqiqa"

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We shall have all eternity in which to celebrate our victories, but we have only one swift hour before the sunset in which to win them.

- Robert Moffat

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True divine religion needs neither arms nor fingers for its use; it is all spirit and heart.

- Moses Mendelssohn

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Religious Thought 169

Inwardly be free of all hopes and desires, but outwardly do what needs to be done. Without hopes in your heart, live as if you were full of hopes. Live with your heart now cool and now warm, just like everyone else. Inwardly give up the idea "I am the doer," yet outwardly engage in all activities. This is how to live in the world, completely free from the least trace of ego.

- Maharamayana

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If you don't understand the Way as it meets your eyes, how can you know the Path as you walk?

- Shih-t'ou

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Seek a true friend, for a friend seeks the benefit of a friend, Do good to the people for the sake of God or for the peace of your own soul that you may always see what is pure and save your heart from the darkness of hate.

- Rumi

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Despise no man: many pearls are found in a poor man's tunic.

- Eliezer b. Isaac, Orhot Hayyim

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Religious Thought 168

Instill in me abundantly that fragrance, O Mother Earth, which emanates from you and from your plants and waters, that sweet perfume that all celestial beings are wont to emit, and let no enemy ever wish us ill!

- Rig Veda

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Internal peace is an essential first step to achieving peace in the world. How do you cultivate it? It's very simple. In the first place by realizing clearly that all mankind is one, that human beings in every country are members of one and the same family.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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When Muhammad reached the Grand Mosque, most of the population was at the entrance, eager to look at him. As he went in, he threw the end of his cloak over his left shoulder, leaving his right arm free. He declared, "May God have mercy on the man who today shows the people he is strong." Then he walked round the Kaba, kissing each side, and finally kissing the black stone. After a short pause he trotted round the Kaba three times, and walked around it a further three times.

- Ibn Ishaq, "The Life of Muhammad"

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Why did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.

- C.S. Lewis

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Provoke not one of another belief.

- Asher b. Yehiel, "Hanhaga"

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Religious Thought 167

To those who have conquered themselves, the will is a friend. But it is the enemy of those who have not found the Self within them.

- Bhagavad Gita 6:6

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Real love is not based on attachment, but on altruism. In this case, your compassion will remain as a humane response to suffering as long as beings continue to suffer.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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You must turn your intelligence into ignorance; you must become mad. Whenever you see something that may yield material profit, flee from it. Curse anyone who praises you. Lend your wealth to the poor and the feckless. Abandon the security of your home, and live in places of danger. Throw away your reputation, and embrace dishonor and disgrace. I shall test my intellect to the limit; and then I shall make myself mad.

- Rumi

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To God, our journey is as important as our destinations.

- Beth Moore

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One who says, "Let good people [and only good people] bless You," is considered to have spoken heresy.

- Mishna Megillah 4:9

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Religious Thought 166

Here our selfless desires are hidden by selfish ones. They are real, but they are covered by what is false. Therefore whoever of our own departs from this life, not one can ever be brought back before our eyes. But all those we love, alive or departed, and all things we desire but do not have, are found when we enter that space within the heart; for there abide all desires that are true, though covered by what is false.

- Chandogya Upanishad

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Desires achieved increase thirst like salt water.

- Milarepa, "Drinking the Mountain Stream"

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If you are destined for good fortune you will be blessed; if afflictions have been ordained, no matter where you hide they will seek you out. Submit therefore before the will of God; be grateful in well-being and endure adversity with fortitude that His light may radiate within your being.

- Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani, "Futhul Ghaib"

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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

- Matthew 5:6 (Revised Standard Version)

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When you pray, remove from your heart all worldly concerns.

- Nahmanides, letter to his son Nahman, 1268

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Religious Thought 165

When we are firmly established in nonviolence, all beings around us cease to feel hostility. When we are firmly established in truthfulness, action accomplishes its desired end. When we are firmly established in integrity, all riches present themselves freely. When we are firmly established in chastity, subtle potency is generated. When we are established in nonattachment, the nature and purpose of existence is understood.

- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2: 35-39

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Whenever you hear that someone else has been successful, rejoice. Always practice rejoicing for others--whether your friend or your enemy. If you cannot practice rejoicing, no matter how long you live, you will not be happy.

- Lama Zopa Rinpoche, "Transforming Problems Into Happiness"

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The Prophet once drew a line and said, "This is the path of faith." Then he drew several lines on either side and said, "On these lines you may encounter the devil. But this path of mine is the straight path. So follow it."

- Hadith Reported by Abd'Allah bin Mas'ud

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If we cannot believe God when circumstances seem be against us, we do not believe Him at all.

- C.H. Spurgeon

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It is in the deed that God reveals himself in life.

- Leo Baeck, "Essence of Judaism"

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Religious Thought 164

Through ignorance I once imagined I was bound. But I am pure awareness. I live beyond all distinctions, In unbroken meditation.

- Ashtavakra Gita 2:17

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Cut down The forest of desire, Not the forest of trees. From the forest of desire Come danger & fear. Having cut down this forest & its underbrush, monks, be deforested.

- Dhammapada, 20, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

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God is knowledge; he is knowing; and he is being known. Since God has knowledge of his own essence, and since God is one, it follows that the essence of God is knowledge. And knowledge means that he knows himself, and is known by himself.

- Ibn Sina, al-Risalat al-Arshiya

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A life of faithenables us to see God in everything and it holds the mind in a state of readiness for whatever may be His will.

- Francois Fenelon

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There is something higher than modernity, and that is eternity.

- Solomon Schechter, in "Menorah Journal," 1924

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Religious Thought 163

Never fear that old age will invade that city; never fear that this inner treasure of all reality will wither and decay. This knows no age when the body ages; this knows no dying when the body dies. This is the real city of Brahman; this is the Self, free from old age, from death and grief, hunger and thirst. In the Self all desires are fulfilled.

- Chandogya Upanishad

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If you don't understand the Way as it meets your eyes, how can you know the Path as you walk?

- Shih-t'ou

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Those admitted to Paradise shall experience true bliss. Never shall they know want, nor will they suffer old age.

- Hadith The Prophet Muhammad (SAW), as reported by Abu Hurairah

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When someone is driven by love in any way, he or she is driven by Christ.

- Eberhard Arnold

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Get into the habit of dancing. It will displace depression and dispel hardship.

- Rabbi Nahman of Breslov

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Religious Thought 162

This awakening you have known comes not Through logic and scholarship, but from Close association with a realized teacher. Wise are you, Nachiketa, because you seek The Self eternal. May we have more Seekers like you!

- Katha Upanishad

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Happiness cannot come from hatred or anger. Nobody can say, "Today I am happy because this morning I was very angry." On the contrary, people feel uneasy and sad and say, "Today I am not happy because I lost my temper this morning." Through kindness, whether at our own level or at the national and international level, through mutual understanding and through mutual respect, we will get peace, we will get happiness, and we will get genuine satisfaction.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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The Prophet once drew a line and said, "This is the path of faith." Then he drew several lines on either side and said, "On these lines you may encounter the devil. But this path of mine is the straight path. So follow it."

- Hadith Reported by Abd'Allah bin Mas'ud

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I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system though which God speaks to us every hour; if we still only tune in.

- George Washington Carver

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It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

- Psalm 118:8

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Religious Thought 161

Due to having faith one relies on the practices, Due to having wisdom one truly knows. Of these two wisdom is the chief, Faith is the prerequisite.

- Nagarjuna, "Precious Garland 5"

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Blessed are they who, through an illumined Teacher, attain to Self-realization. The truth of the Self cannot come through one Who has not realized that he is the Self. The intellect cannot reveal the Self, Beyond its duality of the subject And object. They who see themselves in all And all in them help others through spiritual Osmosis to realize the Self themselves.

- Katha Upanishad

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In the hour of grief you turn to Him; when grief departs you transgress. In adversity you moan entreating Him; when ease returns you turn away. Those who know God remain steady, but those who doubt exult at times and become despondent at others.

- Rumi

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With all things, it is always what comes to us from outside, freely and by surprise as a gift from heaven, without our having sought it, that brings us pure joy.

- Simone Weil

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The world is new to us every morning--this is the Holy One's gift and every person should believe he is reborn each day.

- Baal Shem Tov

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Religious Thought 160

Those who live in accordance with these divine laws without complaining, firmly established in faith, are released from karma. Those who violate these laws, criticizing and complaining, are utterly deluded, and are the cause of their own suffering.

- Bhagavad Gita 3:31-32

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The good shine from afar Like the snowy Himalayas. The bad don't appear Even when near, Like arrows shot into the night.

- Dhammapada 21, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

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I realized what was hidden within me and conversed with You in secret. Though we were united, we still were apart. Though awe hid You from my searching eyes, ecstasy brought You close to my innermost being.

- Al-Hujwiri, "The Kashf al-Mahjub"

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Remember, sinner, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you -- it is Christ.

- C.H. Spurgeon

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There is no reward for following the commandments in this world.

- Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 39b

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Religious Thought 159

Evil deeds dreaded by the soul will not afflict The compassionate who foster and protect all life. This wide and wind-swept fertile earth is witness to the truth That misery is not for men who keep compassion.

- Tirukkural 25: 244-245

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When you are completely clear, there is no subjective distortion; when you are completely pure, there is true perception. But even if you are thus through and through, this is still now the transcendental key. When the wind and waves have died out, the ocean of mind is as is; when you get to the bottom of the ocean of mind, for the first time you see the black pearl.

- Tzu-te

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What I fear most for my people are the hypocrites, who talk wisely, yet act unjustly.

- Hadith The Prophet Muhammad (SAW), as reported by Umar bin al-Khattab

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By the time the average Christian gets his temperature up to normal, everybody thinks he has a fever!

- Watchman Nee

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When a father gives to his son, both laugh. When a son gives to his father, both cry.

- Yiddish proverb

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Religious Thought 157

Only those who are pure and self-controlled can find ths world of Brahman. That world is theirs alone. In that world, in all worlds, they live in perfect freedom.

- Chandogya Upanishad

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Not by harming life Does one become noble. One is termed noble For being gentle To all living things.

- Dhammapada, 19, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

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Since reason is our most precious gift from God, we should do nothing to reduce its status or degrade it. Since reason should govern our conduct, we should allow nothing to govern it. Since reason is the sovereign over all human facilities, it should not be made subject to any other faculty.

- Razi, "Kitab al-Muluki"

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It's never too late to start doing what is right.

- Charles Swindoll

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If one is honest in his business dealings and people esteem him, it is accounted to him as though he had fulfilled the whole Torah.

- Mekhilta, Vayessa, Chapter 1

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Religious Thought 156

Self-important, obstinate, swept away by the pride of wealth, they ostentatiously perform sacrifices without any regard for their purpose. Egotistical, violent, arrogant, lustful, angry, envious of everyone, they abuse my presence within their own bodies and in the bodies of others.

- Bhagavad Gita 16:1318

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Living in forests far away from other people is not true seclusion. True seclusion is to be free from the power of likes and dislikes. It is also to be free from the mental attitude that one must be special because one is treading the path. Those who remove themselves to far forests often feel superior to others. They think that because they are solitary they are being guided in a special way and that those who live an ordinary life can never have that experience. But that is conceit and is not help to others. The true recluse is one who is available to others, helping them with affectionate speech and personal example.

- Prajnaparamita

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Being observant of God is an act of devotion towards God. Sleep is an act of God drawing us near. That which is conferred upon us by God without our choice is positively superior to that which we send to Him. Sleep therefore is a wonderful gift of God bestowed upon His creatures.

- Junyayd, "The Kashf al-Mahjub"

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Let God's promises shine on your problems.

- Corrie ten Boom

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Pray as if everything depended on God; act as if everything depended on you.

- "Gates of Prayer," the Reform prayer book

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Religious Thought 155

 

Longing is like the rosy dawn. After the dawn out comes the sun. Longing is followed by the vision of God.

- Ramakrishna

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It is not proper to watch other people. This will not help your practice. If you are annoyed, watch the annoyance in your own mind. If others' discipline is bad or they are not good monks, this is not for you to judge. You will not discover widsom watching others. Monks' discipline is a tool to use for your own meditation. It is not a weapon to use to criticize or find fault. No one can do your practice for you, nor can you do practice for anyone else. Just be mindful of your own doings. This is the way to practice.

- Ajahn Chah, "Bodhinyana"

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I am the Word of God living through His Essence. I am the Food of the soul, the Spirit of purity. I am the Fountain of the Water of Life. I deliver the lovers of God from death. If your greed had not raised such a stench, God would have poured a remedy of water on your graves. I accept the warning of the Sage; I will not allow my heart to be sickened by ridicule.

- Rumi

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We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because is works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.

- C.S. Lewis

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He who has nothing --in front, behind, in between-- the one with nothing who clings to no thing: he's what I call a brahmin.

- Dhammapada 421-2, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

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Religious Thought 154

Approach someone who has realized the purpose of life and question him with reverence and devotion; he will instruct you in this wisdom. Once you attain it, you will never again be deluded. You will see all creatures in the Self, and all in me.

- Bhagavad Gita 4:34-35

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Do not choose bad friends. Do not choose persons of low habits. Select good friends. Be discriminating. Choose the best.

- Dhammapada 78

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Since reason is our most precious gift from God, we should do nothing to reduce its status or degrade it. Since reason should govern our conduct, we should allow nothing to govern it. Since reason is the sovereign over all human facilities, it should not be made subject to any other faculty.

- Razi, "Kitab al-Muluki"

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Beauty is the gift of God.

- Aristotle

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If you must, sin privately, but profane not the Name publicly.

- Hanina b. Hama, Talmud: Kiddushin

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