The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Quote for today

Evangelical Universalism
#193

ST JOHN OF THE CROSS
(1542-1591)

To reach satisfaction in all
Desire its possession in nothing,
To come to the knowledge of all
Desire the knowledge of nothing.
To come to possess all
Desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all
Desire to be nothing.
To come to the pleasure you have not
You must go by a way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not
You must go by a way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not
You must go by a way in which you possess not.
To come to be what you are not
You must go by a way in which you are not.
When you turn toward something
You cease to cast yourself upon the all,
For to go from the all to the all
You must possess it without wanting anything.
In this nakedness the spirit finds its rest,
for when it covets nothing
nothing raises it up and nothing weighs it down,
because it stands in the centre of its humility.

#194

“The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.”-Phillips Brooks-

#195

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” -Oswald Chambers-

#196

“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”-- Sir Ken Robinson

#197

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. ~~ Eccl. 1:9

#198

“Life isn’t about having, it’s about being. You could surround yourself with all that money can buy, and you’d still be as miserable as a human can be. I know people with perfect bodies who don’t have half the happiness I’ve found. On my journeys I’ve seen more joy in the slums of Mumbai and the orphanages of Africa than in wealthy gated communities and on sprawling estates worth millions. Why is that? You’ll find contentment when your talents and passion are completely engaged, in full force. Recognise instant self-gratification for what it is. Resist the temptation to grab for material objects like the perfect house, the coolest clothes or the hottest car. The if I just had X, I would be happy syndrome is a mass delusion. When you look for happiness in mere objects, they are never enough. Look around. Look within.” -― Nick Vujicic-

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#199

We make great contributions not because we are separate and special but because we are so intimately connected to our world and thus able to embody empathy and compassion for all living beings. ~~ Sandy Boucher - a writer, teacher, and editor who leads Buddhist retreats in California and the Pacific Northwest. Her latest book is She Appears! Encounters with Kwan Yin Goddess of Compassion .

#200

I always stress the need for Mindfulness as the sadhana (practice) that should go on during the waking hours. 6 or 7 hours of sleep is essential to allow the body to recuperate. Take it easy, just become increasingly mindful of the small little chores of daily life, and see that instead of any stress you are in a state of relaxation. Evoke the relaxation response where there is a possibility of a stress response. That is a wonderful practice for you all.~~Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari

"How would your life be different if… You stopped allowing other people to dilute or poison your day with their words or opinions? Let today be the day… You stand strong in the truth of your beauty and journey through your day without attachment to the validation of others."-- Steve Maraboli

#201

Is there a contradiction somewhere there? :joy:

#202

“Pain is Pain. Broken is Broken. FEAR is the Biggest Disability of all. And will PARALYZE you More Than Being in a Wheelchair.” - Nick Vujicic-

#203
#204

Dissolving the Ego in Meditation

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Ego

While the ego works tirelessly to feed itself, the soul can ‘be’ to embrace itself. Meditation is a great way to ‘let go’ of the world around you. Meditation is the practice of turning inwards to the force that lies within.

It is a tool that every human being has the ability to do, yet so few practice it. Why is that? It’s probably because the ego races the brain, and that most of peoples views of meditation are distorted.

The mind may interpret meditation as something that ‘ weird people ‘ do, or people who need ‘ calming down ‘, or ‘those who do not fit in’. You may have heard how people say “ I’m too busy to meditate ” or “ I don’t need to meditate “. Firstly, there’s a quote by Ajahn Chah, that goes like this: “ If you have time to breathe, you have time to meditate. “, which is completely true.

“ You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes a day – unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour “.

Believe it or not, meditation actually frees up more time for you because it enables you to see beyond your conditioning by using the contemplative eye, that is the eye of observation and awareness. It frees your mind to do plenty of other things. Your days will become more enjoyable. To respond to the second statement of “ I don’t need to meditate “; meditation does not provide a need.

Meditation is the art of returning to your true-self. There is no need involved in this. Arguably, one could argue that it takes more strength to meditate than it does to lift heavy weights in the gym. After all, it must take willpower and resilience to ‘be still’, and observe the mind without judgement, in such a frantic world. Don’t confuse ‘being still’, with sitting still. Sitting still means doing nothing, whereas ‘being still’ implies the withdrawal and retreat to the center of your soul.

One more point that needs to be stressed is how the human brain perceives things. The mind cannot comprehend certain events or circumstances, so it will form its own picture, alienating those who do different things. This picture is generated on the basis of past events and experiences, all of which make up the ‘conditioned mind’.

The ego in the mind makes people believe that some things in life should never be explored. This is a limitation. People are imprisoned by their thoughts. Nobody can tell you what meditation exactly is, nor what you will feel when doing it. You must do it yourself, before drawing a conclusion. If you cannot reach the peak of the mountain and see all of what surrounds you, then your opinion is invalid .

Eternal Peace

Ego destroys the present moment. How do you let go of ego? Well, the answer lies within. You simply don’t. Being aware of the ego automatically dampens it down, slowing its momentum, and eventually destroying it. You can manually shift the gears in your brain from automatic ‘doing’ mode to conscious ‘being’ mode. That being said, don’t over-think ego. Be still. Be aware. The ego will get bored… And eventually leave too. I bet you have all heard of the phrase ‘a need for a need’? A hidden dissatisfaction of some sort. You ‘want’ something yet you are confused as to what you ‘want’. Maybe this dissatisfaction arises as a result of neglecting the soul?

Once the ego crumbles, your soul will be revealed. So what is the opposite of the ego? Peace. Wisdom. Love. Unity. All of these will arise. If you do not let go of ego, then life will be extremely difficult, and suffering may come (although that may be necessary for you to awaken to your true self). Realize that the present moment is all there ever is, even now, right now, this is a moment of your life that you should cherish. Smile! This realization will empower your inner being and nourish your soul with freedom and prosperity.

Letting go of ego, learning to ground yourself in the ‘here’ and ‘now’, and turning inwards to the deepest-most-inner-depths of your soul, will ultimately, lead to inner peace, and provide a great sense of worth. What a great revelation it is to know that the happiness you had been ‘wanting’ for so long, is actually inside of you. Start appreciating everything in life, even the moments that you think are ‘little’, and don’t take anything for granted. Discover your indwelling spirit that lies within.

Written by Sam Tabibzadeh

#205

In order to reach union with the Divine
it is necessary to leave the intellect behind.
One must let go of things and empty oneself
of everything in order to make room for
the flood of Divine illumination.

St John of the Cross

#206

“Man can certainly flee from God… but he cannot escape him. He can certainly hate God and be hateful to God, but he cannot change into its opposite the eternal love of God which triumphs even in his hate.” - Karl Barth-

#207

The more we live in our head the more we become judgmental and egocentric. There are stories of hard headed persons who suddenly saw light and were brought to their heart and they changed forever. When we learn to see the world through our heart we feel love and forgiveness, compassion and empathy. Then the head works in the light of the heart. It is a transformation. This change alone can heal you and make you a man of wisdom and humility. Unaffected by worldly pains you live in the light of your soul, in the heaven of your spirit.
Light! There is only Light! That is love.
~~Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari

“Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories.”-- Mrs. Jones

#208

“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” -Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

“And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” -C.S. Lewis-

#209

“Nothing," says the late General GORDON , "can be more abject and miserable than the usual conception of God *** Imagine to yourself what pleasure it would be to Him to burn us, or to torture us. Can we believe any human being capable of creating us for such a purpose? We credit God with attributes which are utterly hateful to the meanest of men *** I say that Christian Pharisees deny Christ *** A hard, cruel set they are, from high to low. When one thinks of the real agony one has gone through in consequence of false teaching, it makes human nature angry with the teachers who have added to the bitterness of life.” - Thomas Allin, (Christ Triumphant)-

#210

“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”

– Fyodor Dostoevsky

#211

“Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.” - A. W. Tozer-

#212

“The happiest people I have known have been those who gave themselves no concern about their own souls but did their uttermost to mitigate the miseries of others.”-- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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