ogn2004

More on Ramakrishna can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna

#335. 2008/01/20.

There is no reason why our thoughts about Scripture or dogma or Christian tradition should issue from our heads in the form of scientific analysis. Our aim should be to have the mind of Christ. Paul prayed for his readers that Christ be formed in them, that they should put on Christ, that they should walk in Christ, that they should die and rise again in Christ. That is simple, not a complicated program. Yet here we are, followers of Christ, forever speculating, questioning, splitting up, analyzing, codifying, labeling and card-indexing. If our prayer life were operating properly, we would be inclined to unity.

Hubert Van Zeller, The Current of Spirituality, P.168.

More on Hubert Van Zeller can be found at: http://www.librarything.com/author/zellerhubertvan

#336. 2008/01/27.

Sharing in God's life through faith, causes us to become "a new person;" we obtain a new comprehension of reality, a new perception of God as well as a new perception of the temporal reality around us. (...). We notice His presence and work within ourselves as well as in the world of nature and history. (...) Faith is a virtue, which allows us to be in touch with God (...). Faith is a sharing in God's thinking. (...) Faith allows us to think as God does, not only about ourselves but also about everything we come in contact with. (...)

Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, P.23-4.

Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer (born 1931), Polish priest and theologian, professor of the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw. His book - "The Gift of Faith" - translated into 27 languages, prompted in 1985 the creation of the Families of Nazareth Movement. This movement, which spread to over 10 countries, seeks to protect family and family values.

#337. 2008/02/03.

People who are really humble, (...) - have about themselves an air of self-containment and self-control. There's no hautiness, no distance, no sarcasm, no put downs, no aires of importance or disdain. The ability to deal with both their own limitations and the limitations of others, the recognition that God is in life and that they are not in charge of the universe brings serenity and hope, inner peace and real energy. Humble people walk comfortably in every group. No one is either too beneath them or too above them for their own sense of well-being. They are who they are, people with as much to give as to get, and they know it. And because they are at ease with themselves, they can afford to be open with others. (...)

Joan Chittester, "Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today," PP. 64-5.

More on Joan Chittister (b.1936), a Benedictine abbess, popular lecturer and prolific spirituality writer, can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Chittister

#338. 2008/02/10.

There are ten temples here at Herakhan. They are symbols. They show us that the body is a temple with ten senses, and we must install God in our hearts within this temple. This body is a moving temple of the Lord. He wants us to make this temple so beautiful that wherever it goes, people would like to worship, have great reverence for it, and try to gain knowledge from it.

Haidakhan Bababji. "Teachings of Babaji," P.21.

More on Haidakhan Babaji (1970-1984), can be found at: http://www.babajiashram.org/hua/About-baba.html

#339. 2008/02/17.

They have experienced only one way of living - their own - and can imagine no other. Besides, when I recall the ways I have failed through ignorance, I feel I should have a kindly tolerance for others.

The Cloud of Unknowing, P.74.

More on the Cloud of Unknowing, can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_of_Unknowing

#340. 2008/02/24.

After supper tonight Athos was clothed in clouds and a rainbow reached to the end of the peninsula, as a setting sun bathed all in warm light and a full moon shone above the clouds. There is a small chapel of the Transfiguration atop the Mountain. Father Dionysios tells me it must be rebuilt every year for the feast because lightning destroys it. That is easy to believe. It is fascinating here to see a sky full of stars and yet flashes of lightning as the clouds from the west bump the high peaks. "Holy Transfiguration" is the right titular for such a chapel and for the heart of monasticism. We, unlike Peter, have been allowed to build a tent and are invited to dwell as fully as we can in the Divine Cloud. (...)

M. Basil Pennington. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co. P.28.

More on Basil Pennington can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Pennington

More on Mount Athos can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Athos

#341. 2008/03/02.

(...) There is a seaside village of "Baskala" where sinful people bereft of Vedic virtue reside. They are wicked debauchees with deceptive means of livelihood, atheists, farmers bearing weapons and adulterous rogues. They know not anything about true knowledge, detachment or true virtue. They are brutish in their mental make-up and take a great deal of interest in listening to evil gossip and slander. People of different castes are equally roguish never paying attention to their duties. Always drawn to worldly pleasures they have engrossed in one evil action or another. All the women too are equally crooked, whorish and sinful. Evil-tempered, loose in morals they are devoid of good behavior and disciplined life. (...)

Repentance is the only way of acquittance for all sinners. (...) Purity can be realised by repentance alone. (...) The mental purity that one derives on hearing the story of Sivapurana cannot be gained by any other means. As a mirror becomes free from dirt on being wiped out with a cloth, so is the mind undoubtedly purified by listening to this story. Accompanied by Amba, Siva stays in the minds of pure men. The sanctified soul thereupon attains the region of Siva and Amba.

(...) A person who listens to the story in this birth though he be unable to meditate, realises the same in the next birth after which he reaches the goal of Siva. Many repentent sinners have meditated upon Siva after hearing this story and have achieved salvation. Listening to the story of Siva is the cause of beatitude for all men. Properly entertained, it dispels the ailment of worldly bondage.

The Glory of Shivapurana. [In:] Sivapurana, Vol.I, Part I. Delhi, Varanasi, Patna.: Motilal Banarsidass. P.10,14,15.

More on Sivapurana can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivapurana

More on Mahashivaratri can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahashivaratri

#342. 2008/03/09.

Powerful currents of life-energy emanate from a Saint and surcharge the surrounding atmosphere (...) The mere presence of a Saint awakens souls and redeems them (...). Rays of purity constantly radiate from him. He is full of wonderful light and kindness. He has an indescribable influence on others. He has magnetic attraction. By his words, which are full of mystical meaning, he pulls the souls upwards. He produces an experience of bliss which defies description (...). There is peace and evenness within a perfect Master. As a result of being in his company, a current of bliss runs through us. We feel happy on meeting him. All our doubts are removed and we feel certain that out ultimate destination will be attained (...). The perfect Master is an incarnation of the Lord. Just as the Lord communicates his teachings to the Saints without the agency of speech, similarly the Saints impart their messages to their disciples by means of internal experiences, and without the use of speech.

Maharaj Sawan Singh, Philosophy of the Masters, quoted after: Miriam Bokser Caravella, The Holy Name. P.185.

More on Maharaj Sawan Singh can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Sawan_Singh

#343. 2008/03/16.

O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly the most honored of you in God's sight is the greatest of you in piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware.

Quran 49:13

More on Quran can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran

#344. 2008/03/23.

One conquers death by love - not by one's own heroic virtuousness, but by sharing in that love with which Christ accepted death on the Cross.

Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, P.234.

More on Thomas Merton can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton

#345. 2008/03/30.

Jesus, lover of human salvation, draw all souls to the divine life. May greatness of Your mercy be praised here on earth and in eternity. O great lover of souls, who in Your boundless compassion opened the salutary fountains of mercy so that weak souls may be fortified in this life's pilgrimage, Your mercy runs through our life like a golden thread and maintains in good order the contact of our being with God. For He does not need anything to make Him happy; so everything is solely the work of His mercy.

Faustina Kowalska, The Diary, 1466.

More on Faustina Kowalska can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faustina_Kowalska

#346. 2008/04/05.

In a country as hot as India, a person really requires very few essentials in order to live: one vegetarian meal a day, bread rice, vegetables and lentils, two pieces of clothing to wear, a mat, a blanket, a lota, a water container - just enough to fulfil our bodily requirements. In fact, we don't have a bathroom, shower or toilet here but have to go down to the river to wash, and for everything else we squat among the stones. Cooking takes place outside on an open fire and we sleep on the floor, tucked up on a mat in any place we can find. There is no need for shoes, for it is better to walk barefoot, nor a suitcase because it is sufficient to wrap one's clothes up in a bundle. Mother India is a great teacher of simplicity. (...)

Probably the original message of every religion is common to all, the meaning so simple and straightforward, but our sophisticated minds complicate everything, especially in theWestern world. Our civilization, the one of blind materialism, of violence and of overpowering others through war, lacks discrimination. Here in the Indian jungle, I have found a corner of the world where peace and human love exist; it is real, lived every day, a spark of light.

Gaura Devi (2001). Fire of Transformation. My life with Babaji. West Leigh, Crediton, Devon, UK: Nymet Press. P. 74, 85.

More on Gaura Devi can be found at: http://www.nymetpress.co.uk/

#347. 2008/04/13.

I've set my shelter
    with you in my awe and fear
        and in despair
established your name as a fortress;
    I looked to the right
and left and no one was near-
        and into your hands
I committed my loneness ...

The Hour of Song by Gabirol (11th Century). Quoted after: Cole, Peter (Trans.) (2001). Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol. Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press. P.117.

More on Gabirol can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabirol

#348. 2008/04/20.

Distress reminds the wise of God, but crushes those who forget Him.

St. Mark the Ascetic (4th Century C.E.), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.114.

More on St. Mark the Ascetic can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Eremita

349. 2008/04/27.

On the day of the execution Sir Thomas More changed into his best clothes (...). He was then brought out of the Tower (...). Before he walked onto the scaffold, the mood was sombre and difficult to endure. (...) Thomas More then said to the officer in charge of the execution who was also deadly serious: "I pray you, Mr. Lieutenant, see me safely up, and as for coming down let me shift to myself." (W.Roper&N.Harpsfield, Lives of Saint Thomas More, London, New York, 1963, p.50).

St. Thomas More (1478-1535), quoted in: Dajczer,T (2001) The Gift of Faith., P.102.

More on St. Thomas More can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Thomas_More

350. 2008/05/04.

After becoming an ascetic, Rishabhdev took the vow of total silence and started wandering accompanied by other ascetics. When, after his penance, he went out to beg for food, he did not get anything to eat. The common people of that age were ignorant about the practice of giving food as alms. They did not even appreciate the need to do so. Whenever Rishabhdev approached them, they offered him respect and valuable gifts as they would to a king. Rishabhdev would then proceed ahead without accepting anything. (...) After one entire year of wandering from place to place and doing harsh spiritual practices without touching any food or water Rishabhdev decided to beg food once again. He came to Hastinapur town.

(...) When Shreyans saw approaching Rishabhdev, he rushed to welcome his great grandfather. After bowing down at the great ascetics feet when Shreyans looked at Rishabhdev’s face he could not shift his gaze. He went into a state of meditative thoughts and suddenly he acquired Jati-smaran Jnan, the knowledge that opens up memories of the past births. (...). He realized that Bhagavan Rishabhdev had been wandering around without food or water due to the prevailing ignorance of the people regarding ascetic norms.

With due reverence he requested Rishabhdev, "Prabhu! I am honored by your presence. I have just received 108 pitchers full of fresh sugar-cane juice that are pure and suitable for you in all respects. Kindly accept the juice and break your fast." Rishabhdev extended his cupped palms and Shreyans poured the sugar-cane juice from a pitcher. Rishabhdev broke his fast and the skies reverberated with the sound of divine drums and divine applaud, "Hail the alms giving!" (...) This was the beginning of the tradition of religious charity and alms giving. In memory of this incident, the third day of the bright half of the month of Vaishakh is celebrated as Akshay Tritiya festival.

Quoted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Rishabha

More on Lord Rishaba can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Rishabha

#351. 2008/05/11.

Let heaven and earth serve as my witness that whether it be man or woman, a Cuthite or an Israelite, male or female slave - the holy spirit rests upon each of them, to the extent that their behavior merits it.

Rabbi Chaim Vital, a Jewish mystic of the XVI-th century. Quoted after: Miriam Bokser Caravella, The Holy Name. P.74.

More on Rabbi Chaim Vital can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayyim_ben_Joseph_Vital