You will not grieve if a friend should die or forsake you. Your love for your friend should be grounded in Me, and for My sake you should love whoever seems to be good and is very dear to you in this life. Without Me friendship has no strength and cannot endure. Love which I do not bind is neither true nor pure.
By Thomas a Kempis
Real happiness is within you. It is in the Self. It is subjective. It manifests when the mind is concentrated. When the Senses are withdrawn from the objects outside, when you become desireless and thoughtless, bliss begins to dawn, spiritual happiness and joy begins to thrill.
By Sri Swami Sivananda
SONG OF THE SOUL AND THE BRIDEGROOM
STANZA 27, 28, 32, 35 & 36
By St. John of the Cross
There He gave me His breasts,
There He taught me the science full of sweetness.
And there I gave to Him
Myself without reserve;
There I promised to be His bride.
My soul is occupied,
And all my substance in His service;
Now I guard no flock,
Nor have I any other employment:
My sole occupation is love.
When You regarded me,
Yours eyes imprinted in me Your grace:
For this You loved me again,
And thereby my eyes merited
To adore what in You they saw.
In solitude she lived,
And in solitude built her nest;
And in solitude, alone
Has the Beloved guided her,
In solitude also wounded with love.
Let us rejoice, O my Beloved,
Let us go forth to see ourselves in Your beauty,
To the mountain and the hill,
Where the pure water flows:
Let us enter into the heart of the thicket.
Peace, Love, Grace & Bliss!
BOOKS
- The Bible
- The Bhagavad Gita
- The Imitation of Jesus Christ
By Thomas a Kempis
- Dark Night of the Soul
- The Living Flame Of Love
- The Ascent of Mount Carmel
- Spiritual Canticle
By St John of the Cross
- Interior Castle
- Way of Perfection
By St Teresa of Avila
- Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart
- The Great Didactic (Didactica Magna)
By John Amos Comenius
- Gleanings of a Mystic
- Mysteries of the Great Operas
- Teachings of an Initiate
- Ancient and Modern Initiation
- Freemasonry and Catholicism
- The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception
By Max Heindel
- Life and Teachings of Lord Jesus
- How to Cultivate Virtues and Eradicate Vices
- Sure Ways for Success in Life and God-realisation
- Kingly Science Kingly Secret
- The Bhagavad Gita
- Thought Power
- Mind - Its Mysteries and Control
- Lives of Saints
By Swami Sivananda
- The Sermon on the Mount
- The Ten Commandments
- Power Through Constructive Thinking
By Emmet Fox
- Opening Doors Within
By Eileen Caddy
- I want to see God
- Where the Spirit Breathes: Prayer and Action
- Je veux voir Dieu (in French)
By Father Marie Eugène (de l’Enfant Jesus)
- Love and Sexuality
- L'amour et la sexualité (in French)
- Au Commencement était le verbe
- Les lois de la morale cosmique
By Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
By Dale Carnegie
- The Secret Doctrine
- The Voice of the Silence
By H. P. Blavatsky
- Initiation, Human and Solar
- A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
- A Treatise on White Magic
- Discipleship in the New Age
- Problems of Humanity
- A Compilation on Sex
By Alice Bailey (and Djwhal Khul)
HOBBIES
Spirituality, Music, Internet, Accounting
The Dark Night of the Soul
By Saint John of the Cross
Book ONE - Chapter 1
1. Souls begin to enter this dark night when God, gradually drawing them out of the state of beginners (those who practice meditation on the spiritual road), begins to place them in the state of proficients (those who are already contemplatives), so that by passing through this state they might reach that of the perfect, which is the divine union of the soul with God. We should first mention here some characteristics of beginners, for the sake of a better explanation and understanding of the nature of this night and of God's motive for placing the soul in it. Although our treatment of these things will be as brief as possible, it will help beginners understand the feebleness of their state and take courage and desire that God place them in this night where the soul is strengthened in virtue and fortified for the inestimable delights of the love of God. And, although we will be delayed for a moment, it will be for no longer than our discussion of this dark night requires.
2. It should be known, then, that God nurtures and caresses the soul, after it has been resolutely converted to his service, like a loving mother who warms her child with the heat of her bosom, nurses it with good milk and tender food, and carries and caresses it in her arms. But as the child grows older, the mother withholds her caresses and hides her tender love; she rubs bitter aloes on her sweet breast and sets the child down from her arms, letting it walk on its own feet so that it may put aside the habits of childhood and grow accustomed to greater and more important things. The grace of God acts just as a loving mother by re-engendering in the soul new enthusiasm and fervor in the service of God. With no effort on the soul's part, this grace causes it to taste sweet and delectable milk and to experience intense satisfaction in the performance of spiritual exercises, because God is handing the breast of his tender love to the soul, just as if it were a delicate child [1 Pt. 2:2-3].1
3. The soul finds its joy, therefore, in spending lengthy periods at prayer, perhaps even entire nights; its penances are pleasures; its fasts, happiness; and the sacraments and spiritual conversations are its consolations. Although spiritual persons do practice these exercises with great profit and persistence, and are very careful about them, spiritually speaking, they conduct themselves in a very weak and imperfect manner. Since their motivation in their spiritual works and exercises is the consolation and satisfaction they experience in them, and since they have not been conditioned by the arduous struggle of practicing virtue, they possess many faults and imperfections in the discharge of their spiritual activities. Assuredly, since everyone's actions are in direct conformity with the habit of perfection that has been acquired, and since these persons have not had time to acquire those firm habits, their work must of necessity be feeble, like that of weak children. For a clearer understanding of this and of how truly imperfect beginners are, insofar as they practice virtue readily because of the satisfaction attached to it, we will describe, using the seven capital vices as our basis, some of the numerous imperfections beginners commit. Thus we will clearly see how very similar their deeds are to those of children. The benefits of the dark night will become evident, since it cleanses and purifies the soul of all these imperfections.
From: THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD, revised edition (1991).
Copyright 1991 ICS Publications. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is included.
http://www.karmel.at/ics/john/dn_2.html
Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.
By Mahatma Gandhi
Persistent effort in any one direction overcomes all obstacles. No obstacle can withstand the assault of persistent effort.
Persistence overcomes all obstacles and ultimately reaches its goal. Whatever it is you are pursuing, you will get it with persistent effort.
By Swami Chidananda
Have firm trust in God, and all conditions will correct themselves. They come and then they go when you do not respond to them. You do not allow them to hold onto you, because you have made yourself a centre of faith and fearlessness.
It is an insult to God to think that you are good for nothing. Maybe your goodness is temporarily covered up, but it is in fact there. If you think that you have got the potential for everything beautiful, then you will become that. Think like God, and you will become like God.
Sometimes taps go out of order and cannot be completely closed, and the faucet keeps dripping on the granite stone, and a hole is made in the stone just from the accumulated effect of these drops of water!
Persistent effort in your spiritual life will bring forth illumination where it might not have been before.
Death approached one here and another there and informed them that it was time for them to depart from the world. Oh, what a joy, what a rapture was his who received this message! They submitted to all kinds of pain, even the sword, fire, pincers, or any other torture, only that it might come sooner, only to hasten the time of their deliverance. Then each fell alseep peacefully, quietly, and gladly.
Watching what was to follow, I observed that the angels, according to God's command, found for each of them a spot where his body is to have its little resting chamber. When the body is placed there by friends or enemies, or even by the angels themselves, the latter guard the tomb so that the bodies of the saints are secure from Satan lest the least grain of dust should be lost. Other angels, meanwhile, taking the soul, convey it up in splendor and with wonderful raptures. When I gazed after them (adjusting my glasses), I perceived there glory ineffable.
~ Comenius
When a great saint dies, it is a conscious act. His body dies but his soul-forces remains. It is hard to understand unless you visit his shrine (place of worship). The pure essence of the man is there, ringing in the atmosphere and saturating the walls.
He is not dead in any spiritual sense. That is the important thing to understand. The essence of a holy man is the level of the energy working in him. The higher the energy, the nearer he is to God. The energy remains after his body disappears.
If a saint died, you might be upset. But if the love and inspiration that you find in him were still available, then it wouldn’t really matter.
RUDI
~ John Mann
Turn your eyes upon yourself and look at yourself inwardly. You will find your Master; He will not fail you: indeed, the less outward comfort you have, the [much] greater the joy He will give you. He is full of compassion and never fails those who are afflicted and out of favour if they trust in Him alone.
Way of perfection
Saint Teresa of Avila
I knew perfectly well that I had a soul, but I did not understand what that soul merited, or Who dwelt within it, until I closed my eyes to the vanities of this world in order to see it. I think, if I had understood then, as I do now, how this great King really dwells within this little palace of my soul, I should not have left Him alone so often, but should have stayed with Him and never have allowed His dwelling-place to get so dirty. How wonderful it is that He Whose greatness could fill a thousand worlds, and very many more, should confine Himself within so small a space. And, as He refuses to force our will, He takes what we give Him but does not give Himself wholly until He sees that we are giving ourselves wholly to Him.
Way of perfection
Saint Teresa of Avila
« The goal of the spiritual life is to get to know this state of higher consciousness called "divine love." This state of mind cannot be described or explained to someone who is not ready to live it; all that can be done is to try gradually to lead him there. This state of mind allows man to feel himself linked inwardly to the whole universe; he is then like an instrument whose strings vibrate in unison with all that exists, he feels a deep peace and, above all, a tremendous kindness toward all beings. He does not know where these good dispositions come from, he just feels that they have invaded his whole being and that they drive him to express himself with love and comprehension. Nature and human beings appear to him in a new light, and he feels that this is true happiness. »
