Quotes Tagged "spiritual-path"

Love is proved the moment you let go of someone because they need you to.

We are all butterflies. Earth is our chrysalis.

Everyone is a 'spiritual student' doing 'spiritual work' because everyone is here and has to cope, one way or another, with life. The difference is that an aware person learns from their pain and they eventually create a happy life. An unaware person also has pain. However, as they do not know (or do not want to know) how to help themselves, they learn little or nothing from their pain. Thus their journey to happiness is long and indirect.

All things bleed together.

There are two paths for anyone who is seeking to learn that which is kept hidden. One is to initiate into a society, secret or not, with traditions that are well-established. The other is to seek one’s own path and to forge the way by trial and error. Either choice is dangerous. In order to master the mysteries of the universe, one must bridge heaven and earth. The bridge is a world in itself.

A dream is not what it seems. A dream cannot be bottled and sold. You cannot stake out the boundaries of a dream. You cannot record its title in your name. No photos can be taken of the dream world. And yet it is real.

Although simple, peace is a highly evolved state of consciousness. It cannot live side-by-side with the ego. We choose one or the other. Peace is the predominant quality of spiritual advancement. The unassuming quality of peace wins the day when it comes to the soul’s progression. To choose peace means that we give up the rantings and ravings, demands and hurts, wants and cravings of the personal mind. The personal self feeds off injustices, imagined injustices, complaining, conflict, excitement, drama, and all the goings-on of normal human life. At some point, when we have suffered enough or have enough wisdom, we tire of the whole thing. We sincerely prefer peace.

No one has to be a martyr. On the contrary, everyone should be entirely selfish; not selfish in the normal sense of the word but selfish in the way of knowing that the spiritual path means we value everything which adds to our own well-being. When we love, we live with connectedness. When we forgive, we feel stress-free. When we create, we live with inspiration. When we follow our inner direction, we feel alive. Is that even a choice?

It becomes apparent that it would be impossible to feel alone as we are intimately connected to a thriving life-force.

It is our deepest hurts which have the power to help and heal us. What else carries an internal fire big enough to force us forwards? What else has the momentum to wake us up? What else has enough pain to make us long for something better? What else will drive us into the waiting arms of that beautiful, invisible life-force which yearns to help us? What else will teach us to feel the love which has no betrayal; the love which seeks only good?

There are two Sanskrit words that are used for 'path': marga, which also carries the sense of 'way, method or means' and upaya, that by which one reaches one's aim. In reality, it must be the case that we are already who we really are. Who else could we be? It is the illusory ego that believes that we are in some way limited and that wants to become eternally happy. Whilst this state of affairs continues, the search is doomed to failure. Paths and practices are therefore needed not in order that we may find something new but in order that we may uncover what is already here now. The reason why different paths are needed is that minds, bodies and egos function differently. All paths aim effectively to remove the obscuring effect of this ego. This can be done through the practices of devotion and surrender to a God, for example, in the case of bhakti yoga. It can also be achieved in simple day to day life of working, at whatever may be our particular job, by doing the work for its own sake and giving up any claim to the results, in the case of karma yoga. And it can be achieved by enquiry and reason, using the mind and intellect to appreciate the truth of the non-existence of the ego, in the case of jnana yoga.

What have you got to lose? What are you hanging onto? Trust. You have not come this far to turn back now. You are almost there. Have faith.

The Spirit is as much a jealous lover as the ego. Both guard their path with an uncompromising passion but for very different reasons.

The desert still has a memory of water. And that memory is a living thing. It is infused into the sand. It is part of its essence.

Spiritual progress is inevitably accompanied by better human circumstances, in one way or another.

If one can remember that one is here for something more than fragile dreams then one will have passed the first, pivotal test.

All love is good, and all love leads to the same place.

On the spiritual path, the purpose of my relationship is to wake up and get to know ourselves and our lover, thoroughly, without judgment or pride. On the spiritual path, we enter into a shared union where we cherish and give to each other, expanding our ability to love unconditionally. We would also accept that the process an be awkward, unpredictable, challenging, and surprising.

Contrary to popular opinion, the primary goal of relationships is not to make us happy. Relationships make us grow. That growth will, with time, naturally increase our happiness. Growth has a price, and that’s the bit we don’t like paying. It ranges from uncomfortable to downright tortuous depending on the issue, how deeply seated it is, how much work we have previously done on it, how resistant we are to working on it, and how much painful emotion is already attached to the issue from past experiences. At any price, it’s still a bargain.

If we are afraid of the pain of grief, we will be afraid of confrontation. We may not leave relationships that should be left for fear of grief. We may be reluctant to enter into relationships that should be entered into for fear of them not working and the consequent suffering. Love, surprisingly, helps to heal the loss of love. Not the soppy love of romantics. Not the self-seeking love of infatuated would-be lovers. Not weak, needy love, but real love. It says, “No matter what, I will do what is best for you, me, my child, my friend, and those I dedicate my love to. If that is painful, I will still choose it.