Words of Mystics
Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not look for allies in life’s battlefield
but to my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
~ Rabindranath Tagore ~
I tell you, there is nothing that exists in the world except the light of the Infinite One, blessed be He, concealed within all things. Even a speck of dust is pervaded by divinity. Therefore, someone who gazes with their mind’s eye and a piercing glance on everything that they see – at their inside and their inner vitality, not their surface and outside alone – will not see anything other than the divine power that enlivens them and brings them into being and keeps them in existence, every moment and every second.
~ Baal Shem Tov ~
Empty yourself,
So that you may be filled.
Learn not to love
So that you may learn how to love.
Draw back
So that you may be approached.
~ St Augustine of Hippo ~
The Lord is immanent in all, as fragrance is inherent in flowers and fluidity in water. I am now freed from the host of my feverish passions by the downfall of the demon of ignorance and the disappearance of the goblin of my egoism.
The falcon of my ignorance has flown from the cage of my body, I know not whither, breaking the cord of desires by which its feet were fast bound. I marvel to think what I have been all this time, bound by my egoism in the chains of my personality.
Like an extinguished fire, my mind is set at rest and released from the cares of the world. I am now freed from my affections and passions and the attractions of the world, and also from my craving for them.
Through the disappearance of my inner darkness, and by the sight of the one great God in me and all, I have crossed the impassable ocean of dangers and difficulties, and surmounted the intolerable evils of transmigration.
OMOMOM
~ The World within the Mind ~
The seed which is to grow
must lose itself as seed:
and they that creep
may graduate through
chrysalis to wings.
Wilt thou then, O mortal,
cling to husks which
falsely seem to you
the Self?
~ Wu Ming Fu ~
A tablet has to be wiped clean before it can be written upon again. One heart cannot contain two things. If it is filled with the appearance of the senses, it is rare that it will know the meaning of “Allah,” even if it repeated “Allah” a thousand times. But say “Allah” once with the heart empty of everything that is not God, and you will find a bliss beyond the tongue to tell.
~ Ahmad Lbn Ata Allah ~
I am aware of something in myself whose shine is my reason. I see clearly that something is there, but what it is I cannot understand. But it seems to me that, if I could grasp it, I should know all truth.
~ Anon. ~
On the way to God the difficulties
feel like being ground by a millstone,
like night coming at noon, like
lightening through the clouds.
But don’t worry!
what must come, comes.
Face everything with love,
as your mind dissolves in God.
~ Lal Ded ~
Yes, God. Yes, God. Yes, yes and always yes.
~ Nicholas De Cusa ~
The spiritual life is the real life; all else is illusion and deception. Only those who are attached to God alone are truly free. Only those who live up to the highest Light live in harmony. All who act upon their highest motivations become a power for good. It is not important that others be noticeably affected; results should never be sought or desired. Know that every right thing you do – every good word you say – every positive thought you think – has good effect.
~ Peace Pilgrim ~
This is It
and I am It
and you are It
and so is That
and he is It
and she is It
and it is It
and that is That.
~ James Broughton & Joel Andrews ~
They who humble themselves shall be saved.
They who bend shall be made straight.
They who empty themselves shall be filled.
~ Lao-tzu ~
Cleanse your own heart, cast out from your mind pain, fear, envy, ill will, avarice, cowardice and passion uncontrolled. These things you cannot cast out unless you look to God alone; on Him set your thoughts, and consecrate yourself to his commands. If you wish for anything else, you will forever be seeking peace outside you and never actually be at peace; for you seek it where it is not, and refuse to seek it where it is.
~ Epictetus ~
The Self is all knowing,
it is all-understanding,
and to it belongs all glory.
It is pure consciousness,
dwelling in the heart of all,
in the divine citadel of Brahma.
Dwelling deep within,
it manifests as mind,
Silently directing the body and the senses.
The wise behold this Self,
blissful and immortal,
shining forth through everything.
When it is seen to be
both the higher and the lower,
all doubts and uncertainties dissolve.
The knot of the heart is loosened.
One is no longer bound to action or its fruits.
~ Mundaka Upanishad ~
To know when to stop,
To know when you can get no further
By your own action,
That is the right beginning.
~ Chuang-tzu ~
When a person completely casts off all the desires of the mind, their Self finding satisfaction in Itself alone, then they are called a person of steady wisdom. They who are not perturbed by adversity, who do not long for happiness, who are free from attachment, fear and wrath are called munis of steady wisdom. The person who lives completely free from desires, without longing, devoid of the sense of “I” and “mine,” attains peace.
~ Bhagavad Gita ~
The man of Tao
remains unknown.
Perfect virtue
produces nothing.
No-self
is True-Self
and the greatest man is nobody.
~ Chuang-tzu ~
Watching the moon
at midnight,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out.
~ Izumi Shikibu ~
I do not call it his sign,
I do not call it becoming one with his sign.
I do not call it union,
I do not call it harmony with union.
I do not say something has happened,
I do not say nothing has happened.
I will not name it you,
I will not name it I.
Now that the White Jasmine Lord is myself
What use for words at all?
~ Mahadeviyakka ~
What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul and God are appearances in it like silver in mother-of-pearl.
The Self is that where there is absolutely no “I” thought. This is called silence. The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is “I”; the Self itself is God.
~ Ramana Maharshi ~
When you are no longer resisting present experience, you no longer have a motive to separate yourself from it. The world and the Self return as one single experience. To no longer resist the present is to see that there is nothing but the present – no beginning, no end, nothing behind, nothing in front. Even what appears as a resistance to Brahman is actually a movement towards Brahman. There never was, nor will there ever be, any time other than now.
~ Ken Wilbur ~
A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet. As the sun rising makes the world active, so does Self-awareness effect changes in the mind. In the light of calm, steady Self-awareness, inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part.
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj ~
I neither follow the Way nor depart from it. I neither worship the Buddha nor have contempt for Him. I neither sit long hours nor sit idle. I neither eat one meal a day nor am I greedy for more. I desire nothing and that is what I call the Way.
~ Vasubandhu ~
Never to have seen the Truth is better than to have seen it and not acted upon it.
~ Anonymous ~
To attain inner peace you must actually give your life, not just your possessions. When you at last give your life – bringing into alignment your beliefs and the way you live – then, and only then, can you begin to find inner peace.
~ Peace Pilgrim ~
The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth
then hold no opinions for or against anything.
Do not remain in the dualistic state.
Avoid such pursuits carefully.
If there is even a trace
of this and that, of right and wrong,
the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion.
Although all dualities come from the One,
do not be attached to even this One. Just let
things be in their own way, and there will be
neither coming nor going.
For the unified mind, in accord with the Way,
all self-centered striving ceases.
Words!
The Way is beyond language,
for in it there is
no yesterday
no tomorrow
no today.
~ Seng-Ts’an ~
Know me to be that Self who is everything and everywhere at all times, who is eternal, steady, the All, the nonexistent and the existent. Have no doubt.
~ Avadhuta Git ~