Quote of the Week 28 - A Heart of Wisdom

"Teach us to count our days, then we shall acquire a heart of wisdom."
Psalm 90

Quote of the Week 27 - Tao Te Ching

The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.
Tao Te Ching

Quote of the Week 26 - True Worship, Imageless Prayer

"When one is truly worshipping God, he has no image in his mind. True worship of God is without any picture in the mind or notions in mind about the appearance or nature of God. To truly worship God without images is the Esoteric meaning behind the command – ‘thou shalt have no other images before me.’ God is an imageless prayer for man."
Source Forgotten

Quote of the Week 25 - Jewish Shamanism

"…the Jewish shamanic tradition …emphasizes the sacredness of the earth, and that all organisms, even stars and planets, are imbued by the Creator with a divine consciousness. Every blade of grass is empowered by a spirit being. All trees speak to one another, and all rocks and plants have healing powers that can be accessed through their spirits."
"Jewish Shamanism is …about a way of thinking, a way of being in the world, a way of consciousness that perceives magic in the ordinary, miracle in the "natural course of events." Where most people will be awestruck at the sight of a passing comet, the Jewish shaman will be awestruck at the sight of a fallen leaf."
From Magic of the Ordinary, Recovering the Shamanic in Judaism, by Rabbi Gershon Winkler

Quote of the Week 24 - Every Form

"The best form in which to worship God is every form".
Neem Karoli Baba
"Which aspect of God do you prefer, the personal or the impersonal?"
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa

Quote of the Week 23 - Selfless Love and Self Preservation

The most powerful force in existence is the power of selfless love.
The second most powerful force in existence is the power of self-preservation.
In between these two stands the ego, the sense of separate self.
When ego focuses on the power of selfless love, it moves towards sainthood; you’re part of the solution and all is well.
When ego focuses on the power of self-preservation, it moves away from sainthood; you’re part of the problem and all hell breaks loose.

Steven J. Gold

Quote of the Week 22 - The Purpose of Spiritual Practice

Many spiritual aspirants have a misconception that the purpose of spiritual practice is just to achieve divine bliss, divine ecstasy and divine oneness.
These are just partial benefits. The purpose of spiritual practices is to accelerate the evolutionary development of the soul so that the person can be of greater service to mankind and the planet Earth.
From The Origin of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga by Master Choa Kok Sui

Quote of the Week 21 - How the Soul Leaves the Body

Different methods of how the soul leaves the body either when the body is asleep or when the person is meditating:

The first method is the Roll-over Technique. When the body is sleeping, the soul simply rolls over and out of the body.

The second technique is the Swinging or Pendulum Technique. The soul swings to the left and then swings to the right until it swings out of the body.

The third technique is the Inner Sound Technique. The inner sound becomes extremely loud and the inner consciousness is pulled out of the body through the sound, by listening to the inner sound. The sound is like a very loud buzzing sound, louder than the sound of a jet plane engine.

The fourth technique is the Spiraling Technique. The soul just simply spirals out of the body. The Inner Sound Technique is usually accompanied by the Spiraling Technique.

From The Origin of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga by Master Choa Kok Sui

Quote of the Week 20 - The Existence of God

"The existence of God is self-evident."
Master Choa Kok Sui

Quote of the Week 19 - For Free

"Every one who is thirsty, come and drink. He who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good. Let your soul delight in abundance." Isaiah 55:1-3

This very clearly contains a message that biblical words are often used figuratively and not literally. Obviously, the thirst and hunger referenced here is not on the physical level, and the satisfaction of these desires is likewise to be fulfilled other than on the physical level, and for free, or for a price that everyone can afford, with assets that everyone has available to them. The key is to "listen carefully" in order to partake of the abundance available on the level of the soul, an obvious reference to meditation on the inner sound, the "still, small voice within" (which phrase is contained in another portion of the Prophets).

Quote of the Week 18 - Wrapped in a Holy Flame

Reb Yitzhak of Berditchev, at the bedtime Sh’ma, would look back on his day and say that he was sorry for what he did not do right and that tomorrow he would do better. Then he chided himself, saying, "But Levi Yitzhak, you said the same thing yesterday!" Then he would say, - "Yes, but today I mean it."

Reb Meir’l Premishlaner: "Whoever is attached to ‘Above’ will not falter and fall below."

From Wrapped in a Holy Flame, Teachings and Tales of the Hasidic Masters, by Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi

Quote of the Week 17 - Instant Samadhi

"People often come to me for instant knowledge, instant samadhi. They say, "I do not want to do anything. Please, Swamiji, give me ashir-vada (blessing) [may also be a request for shaktipat initiation]." Let me assure you that samadhi is not something that dawns all of a sudden. There is nothing like instant samadhi or instant enlightenment. Many of you think that a guru comes and blesses you and you are in samadhi. This never happens. Many people would like to be enlightened in a second’s time without having to do any preparation. If someone has the power to awaken the dormant power of shakti, the primal force of kundalini, how are you going to handle it if you are not prepared? In the path of sadhana [spiritual work], preparation is very necessary. Preparation does not mean making any physical effort. Preparation means becoming aware of another level of consciousness."
"Consciousness does not dawn all of a sudden without sincere efforts. If you are tired of efforts and if you do not know what to do next, then grace dawns. The greatest power in the world is the divine power of grace. This happens when you are prepared, when you have done your duties properly, and you have completed all the preliminaries. Grace comes and fills the gap you find in human life…That grace comes when you use all your human efforts. That is called the ascending force [human effort; grace is the descending force]. When you are tired and you do not find the way, you say, Now I cannot do anything. I have used all of my resources – my body, with all my little power; my breath; and my limited mind. Now I have reached a plateau. There dawns that wisdom that helps you, that leads you to the other shore of life."
"There is something called shakti-pata that a teacher gives. It is not the mass hypnosis that people use for a gimmick. A guru can give shakti-pata to his prepared disciples. The ascending force comes when they have prepared themselves, utilizing all human potentials. Finally he touches them. What is his touch? The descending force or grace. It is possible, but you have to prepare yourself."
From Samadhi, the Highest State of Wisdom, by Swami Rama

Quote of the Week 16 - Silence Is Praise

From Psalm 65:
"To You, silence is praise" [annotation: The praises of infinite God can never be exhausted. Silence is His most eloquent praise, since elaboration must leave glaring omissions (Rashi)]
"Your paths drip with abundance. They drip onto desert pastures and the hills gird themselves with joy. The meadows don sheep and the valleys cloak themselves with fodder, they shout joyfully, they even sing!"