‘For once full of light…’

January 27, 2018

I begin to realize that in inquiring about my own origin and goal, I am inquiring about something other than myself. In this very realization I begin to recognize the origin and goal of the world.

-Martin Buber

“Meditation or contemplation helps us to know how to find the spots of spiritual stasis on which we can rest. There is deep satisfaction and sometimes a safe port in life’s storms to be found, even in the simplest of spiritual practices.

We believe that all things have consciousness: mineral, animal, plant, human and Divine. We believe that that consciousness is everlasting and immortal and that it is constantly expanding and evolving. We believe that the perfection of being is within us and that we can experience it to the degree that we are conscious of it. The ultimate goal and purpose of life is to discover and manifest freedom in everything, and everyone can attain this.

We trust in the unity of all life, and that everything in this Intelligence is unfolding back to where it originated, which is spirit Itself.”

-Science of Mind

“After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, love, and so on — have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear — what remains? Nature remains.”

-Walt Whitman

“In loving ourselves, we love the world. For just as fire, rock, and water are all made up of molecules, everything, including you and me, is connected by a small piece of the beginning.

In this way, I’ve learned that loving yourself requires a courage unlike any other. It requires us to believe in and stay loyal to something no one else can see that keeps us in the world—our own self-worth.

All the great moments of conception—the birth of mountains, of trees, of fish, of prophets, and the truth of relationships that last—all begin where no one can see, and it is our job not to extinguish what is so beautifully begun. For once full of light, everything is safely on its way—not pain-free, but unencumbered.

I realize—make real before me—that this moment, whatever it might be, is a fine moment to live and a fine moment to die.”

-Mark Nepo