Write Spirit

Ancient wisdom and modern inspiration

Archive for the ‘quotes’ Category

Quotes about non-attachment

buddha-attachment

“The root of suffering is attachment.”

– The Buddha

“You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself – without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat.”

– Bhagavad Gita

“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.”

― Matthew 6:2-4 Read On…

Quotes on Faith

faith“

“Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.”

– Rabindranath Tagore

“Faith is a passionate intuition.”

– William Wordsworth

““Faith” is a fine invention
For Gentlemen who see!
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency!”

– Emily Dickinson

“Reason is our soul’s left hand, Faith her right.”

– John Donne

“What you call faith I call the soul’s foreknowledge of the Highest Truth”

– Sri Chinmoy.

“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.”

– Blaise Pascal

“Faith can move mountains, but don’t be surprised if God hands you a shovel.”

– Author Unknown

Read On…

Quote: “Can you not see the plank in your own eye?”

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

– Matthew 7:3

This well known quote comes from the Bible. The context is

For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?

Meaning of quote

As humans we are opt to see the mistakes of others, but overlook our own mistakes. It is easier to criticise the failing of other people than it is to be aware of our own shortcomings.

In fact, if we concentrate on the weaknesses of other people, we can unconsciously invite these problems into our own nature.

Also, within the context of this parable, Jesus Christ is making us aware that those who are quick to judge – will be judged themselves. If we judge with a critical eye – that is how we will be judged ourself.

If someone does something wrong, it doesn’t mean we can never tell them. There are occasions, when we need to criticise the behaviour of other people. This teaching is aimed at those who spend their time judging and condemning others – but ignoring their own problems. Read On…

Quotes on religious unity

Selected quotes on religious and spiritual unity.

 

religion-oneness

“If we live in our oneness-heart, we will feel the essence of all religions which is the love of God. Forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, brotherhood and the feeling of oneness are the signs of a true religion.”

– Sri Chinmoy

“What is needed is a fellow feeling between the different types of religion, seeing that they all stand or fall together, a fellow feeling which springs from mutual esteem and mutual respect, and not the condescending, patronizing, niggardly expression of goodwill, unfortunately in vogue at the present time with many.”

– Swami Vivekananda, The necessity of religion

“As different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”

– Swami Vivekananda

“We try to realise the essential unity of the world with the conscious soul of man; we learn to perceive the unity held together by the one Eternal Spirit, whose power creates the earth, the sky, and the stars, and at the same time irradiates our minds with the light of a consciousness that moves and exits in unbroken continuity with the outer world.”

– Rabindranath Tagore

“Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged”

— Rumi

“Many are the names of God and infinite the forms through which He may be approached.”

– Sri Ramakrishna

Read On…

The mystery of death

emily-dickinson-death-stop

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

Emily Dickinson

The mystery of death holds both fear and fascination. On the one hand we fear death – death of the body and death of the ego; to some, death is the extinction of all that we hold dear in the world.

But, if we live not only for worldly possessions, we come to feel that maybe there is more to life than this physical being. The Seers and mystics proclaim that death is but a transition: a chance for renewal and rebirth. Death is an end for the body; but for the soul, death is merely the process of discarding its worn-out garment and moving to something higher.

 

Death is not the end
Death can never be the end.

Death is the road.
Life is the traveller.
The Soul is the Guide

Sri Chinmoy

“They will come back – come back again, as long as the red Earth rolls.
He never wasted a leaf or a tree. Do you think He would squander souls ?”

Rudyard Kipling

 

 Sri Aurobindo on death

“Death is a stair, a door, a stumbling stride
The soul must take to cross from birth to birth,
A grey defeat pregnant with victory”

– Sri Aurobindo, Savitri

To understand the perspective of a Seer poet on death, I recommend the Debate of love and death in Savitri by Sri Aurobindo. It is a beautiful and thought provoking dialogue between Savitri and death – between human mortality and the divine.

References

[1] Because I could not stop for death

[2] Quotes on Death

[3] The Sack of the Gods R.Kipling

Quotes on the Soul

“Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so.
If there is sin, this is the only sin – to say that you are weak, or others are weak.”

 Swami Vivekananda

“The soul in man is greater than his fate.”

– Sri Aurobindo, Savitri

“The soul that can
Live alone with itself
Meets God..”

– Sri Aurobindo, Savitri

“Our soul has infinite potentiality and this infinite potentiality has to be manifested here on earth. The soul came from the Supreme to manifest Him. The more the soul manifests Truth or Divinity, the greater the achievement both for the soul and for the Supreme.”

– Sri Chinmoy [1]

The body was born and it will die. But for the soul there is no death. It is like the betel-nut. When the nut is ripe it does not stick to the shell. But when it is green it is difficult to separate it from the shell. After realizing God, one does not identify oneself any more with the body. Then one knows that body and soul are two different things.

– Sri Ramakrishna [2]

“Love is the song of the soul, singing to God.”

P.Yogananda [3]

“The soul migrates from body to body. Weapons cannot cleave it, nor fire consume it, nor water drench it, nor wind dry it.”

– Bhagavad Gita [4]

Read On…