The Messenger - Inspirational Quotes

Gathering in community
with likeminded people
is one of the
most important ingredients
in fostering
and sustaining personal
and spiritual growth.
––Thich Nhah Hanh

One’s own thought
is one’s world.
What a person thinks
is what he becomes.
That is the eternal mystery.
––The Upanishads

To affect the quality of the day,
that is the highest of arts.
Every man is tasked
to make his life,
even in its details,
worthy of the contemplation
of his most elevated
and critical hour.
––Henry DavidThoreau

Borrow the Beloved’s eyes.
Look through them
and you’ll see
the Beloved’s face everywhere.
No tiredness,
no jaded boredom...
things you have hated
will become helpers.
––Jalaluddin Rumi,
translated by Coleman Barks,
We Are Three

Don’t limit a child
to your own learning,
for he was born
in another time.
––Rabindranath Tagore

The sin of inadvertence,
not being alert, not quite awake,
is the sin of missing
the moment of life—
live with unremitting awareness.
––Joseph Campbell

We must learn to reawaken
and keep ourselves awake...by
an infinite expectation of the dawn,
which does not forsake us in our
soundest sleep. I know of
no more encouraging fact than
the unquestionable ability
of man to elevate his life by a
conscious endeavor.
––Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Patience means
not retaliating
with anger for anger,
or harm for harm,
and voluntarily
bearing up under difficulties
in order to progress
on the path of
spiritual awakening...
How do we slow down
our conditioned,
knee-jerk reactions
while speeding up and
sharpening our conscious,
mindful, moment-to-moment awareness?
How do we broaden the gap
between stimulus and response
so we have time
to give the situation a proper
amount of consideration?
This takes clarity, resolve,
meditation, and practice.
––Surya Das,
Buddha Is as Buddha Does

Imaginary Kisses come
from behind me and
land gently on my neck.
I fall into a cloud of pink
and a group of very large fairies
carry me off
to a dark green forest.
One of them touches my head
and I remember who I am.
I look into her eyes
and I can see myself,
untouched by my experiences.
––Elise Lebec,
Possible Dreams CD
www.eliselebec.com

Falling

It’s been ages
since I last touched you.
Four weeks
by the calendar in this reality,
A lifetime where I live.
I feel you drifting away,
Leaving an ever increasing chasm
in my heart.
I tossed a stone in that deep hole
the other day;
It still hasn’t struck bottom.
© 1994 Brett Stephenson