For, if, for no other reason, the beauteous writing, prosaic or poetic, of many of our most revered and cherished works are at once literary gems and wisdom, of mundane to mystical, is it not this truth they all have in common; and, therefore, all of humanity shares in common? Where to start, Rumi, Milarepa, Thomas Merton's translations, especially of Chuang-Tzu, the Sermon on the Mount, et al, are so inspiring and lyrical, that we could surely believe they weren't penned by mortal hand. Here's a few less commonly cited :)"If there was something in the airIf there was something in the windIf there was something in the trees or bushesThat could be pronounced and once was overheard by animals,Let this Sacred Knowledge be returned to us again.Artharvaveda (VII, 66) as quoted in Entering the Circle""Discipline is the art of feeling awe.Carlos Castenenda""Do not rush to answers, let the questions be questions until the answers are revealed.Martha Graham""To walk in seasons is to question,A flower is opening.Basho"And, if I may be so bold, one of mine:claritySword that cuts all ways,Without, for, there's no cutting;And a pointless point.jmn"Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty....Go, go, go, said the bird, human kindCannot bear very much reality.And yet there is that other dimension altogetherin the very fact of consciousness itself:To be conscious is not to be in time.... Except for the point, the still point,There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where,And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.I will say to my soul, Be still, and let the dark come upon you,Which shall be the darkness of God.The inner freedom from the practical desire,The release from action and suffering, release from the innerAnd outer compulsion, yet surroundedBy a grace of sense, a white light still and moving ...And what the dead had no speech for, when living,They can tell you, being dead: the communicationOf the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.T.S. Eliot's poetic opus, the cycle called "Four Quartets""The Native Mind tends to view wisdom and environmental ethics asdiscernible in the very structure and organization of the naturalworld rather than as the lofty product of human reason far removedfrom nature. The Native Mind tends to view the universe as thedynamic interplay of elusive and ever-changing natural forces, not asa vast array of static physical objects. It tends to see the entirenatural world as somehow alive and animated by a single, unifyinglife force, whatever its local Native name. It does not reduce theuniverse to progressively smaller conceptual bits and pieces. Ittends to view time as circular (or as a coil-like fusion of circleand line), as characterized by natural cycles that sustain all life,and as facing humankind with recurrent moral crises-rather than as anunwavering linear escalator of "human progress". It tends to acceptwithout undue anxiety the probability that nature will always possessunfathomable mysteries. It does not presume that the cosmos iscompletely decipherable to the rational human mind. It tends to viewhuman thought, feelings, and communication as inextricablyintertwined with events and processes in the universe rather than asapart from them. Indeed, words themselves are considered spirituallypotent, generative, and somehow engaged in thecontinuum of the cosmos, not neutral and disengaged from it. Thevocabulary of Native knowledge is inherently gentle and accommodatingtoward nature rather than aggressive and manipulative. The NativeMind tends to emphasize celebration of and participation in theorderly designs of nature instead of rationally "dissecting" theworld. It tends to honor as its most esteemed elders thoseindividuals who have experienced a profound andcompassionate reconciliation of outer- and inner-directed knowledge,rather than virtually anyone who has made material achievement orsimply survived to chronological old age. It tends to reveal aprofound sense of empathy and kinship with other forms of life,rather than a sense of separateness from them or superiority overthem. Each species is seen as richly endowed with its own singulararray of gifts and powers, rather than as somehowpathetically limited compared with human beings. Finally, it tends toview the proper human relationship with nature as a continuousdialogue (that is, a two-way,horizontal communication between Homo sapiens and other elements ofthe cosmos) rather than as a monologue (a one-way, verticalimperative).David Suzuki"“The basis of all relations, including with self, and all studies, including activism and advocacy, are also environmental, spiritual…” jmn"Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined persuading yourself a god inspires you. Believe nothing on the authority of your masters or priests. After examination believe that which you yourself have tested and found to bereasonable and conform your conduct thereto." ~ The Buddha"With sincerity and earnestness one can realize God through all religions. The Vaishnavas will realize God, and so will the Saktas, the Vedantists, and the Brahmos. The Mussalmans and Christians will realize Him to. All will certainly realize God if they are earnest and sincere." ~ Ramakrishna, `The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'"In my humble opinion, non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.", “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. ~ Mahatma Gandhi"What is life? It is a flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." ~ Crowfoot"The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds." ~ A KNOT, by R.D. Laing"Take care of everyone and abandon no one. Take care of everything and abandon nothing." ~ Lao Tzu~ E F Schumacher says." Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful"."What can be explained is not poetry." ~ WB YEATS"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, effects all indirectly." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr."Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission, to be of service to them whenever they require it."~ St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals."Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." ~ Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)"If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing. If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself." ~ Lao Tzu"Peace is the only battle worth waging." ~ Albert Camus"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people."~ Howard Zinn"How smooth must be the language of the whites, when they can make right look like wrong, and wrong like right."~ From Black Hawk (Makataimeshekiakiak) (1767-1838) Sauk war chief"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."~ Ralph Waldo Emerson"If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; ifyou want to know your future, look into your present action." ~ Padmisambha"Yesterday is a dream, tomorrow but a vision. But today well lived makesevery yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.Look well, therefore to this day." ~ Sanskrit Proverb"Don't ask the Lord to guide your footsteps unless you are willing to moveyour feet." ~ Christian proverb\\"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."~ Confucius"People usually fail when they are on the verge of success. So give as much care to the end as to the beginning." ~ Lao Tzu"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." ~ Seneca"For the sake of the rose the thorn is watered too." ~ Africa"As a great fish swims between the banks of a river as it likes, so does the shining Self move between the states of dreaming and waking." ~ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad"When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion."~ Ethiopian Proverb, Courtesy of Strider, via Inez Matus"To find yourself, think for yourself." ~ Socrates"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~ Aristotle"Skill to do comes of doing." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson"Water always finds a way out." ~ Cameroon"Leap, and the net will appear." ~ Julie Cameron~ Lao-Tzu, "A journey of a 1000 miles begins with the first step.""Know thyself." ~ Socrates"Few men have enough virtue to withstand the highest bidder." ~ George Washington"You can't dismantle the man's house with the man's tools." ~ Audre Lourde"If a thousand [people] were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them and enable the state to commit violence and shed innocent blood." ~ Henry David Thoreau~ Jean Baptiste Dubos (1670-1742) :) "The principal aim of painting is to touch us. A work that touches us deeply must be excellent on the whole. For the same reason, the work that touches us not at all and that does not engage us is worthless; and if a critical examination finds nothing that breaks the rules to reprove, the reason is that a workcan be bad without breaking the rules as work that breaks the rules in many ways can be excellent.""If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything; If you don't ‘turn on’ politics, politics will turn on you." ~ Ralph Nader"To walk in seasons is to question. A flower is opening. ~ Basho""Abhaya, fearlessness, is most important for an individual and a country."~ Mahatma Gandhi"Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen." ~ Leonardo da Vinci"It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness" ~ Emily Dickinson"Nature is an instructive and impartial teacher, spreading no crude opinions, and flattering none; she will be neither radical nor conservative." ~ Henry David Thoreau"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us." ~ Emerson"All it takes for evil to rule a land is for good men to remain silent." ~ Daniel Webster"The seeing is not reflecting on an object as if the seer had nothing to do with it. The seeing, on the contrary, brings the seer and the object seen together, not in mere identification but the becoming conscious of itself, or rather its working. The seeing is an active deed, involving the dynamic concept of self-being; that is of the Mind." ~ Suzuki~ Thomas Merton's Journals :)"..the creative power of our liberty is perhaps.. A non-destructiveness. If we can accept creation we concur in creating because we have the 'power' to destroy. Our power to create is a power to consent in creation....Our power to destroy seems more ours (and it is so) and more of a power. What is happening now is that we concentrate more and more on the power that is a rejection. Yet paradoxically, to have the power to destroy and not destroy is to 'make'.........The problem is for people to see that the power to nurture and preserve......is the only true power, and does not appear as power. Whereas what appears as power, the power to destroy, is not power but self-defeat. Strangely, this power is regarded as the one great reality in our world....""The price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance.""Those who surrender Liberty, to get temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." ~ Benjamin Franklin"O Beloved of hearts, I beseech only You. Have pity this day on those who turn to You. My Hope, my Rest, my Delight, this heart can love none other but You."~ Rabi'a, "Rabi'a the Mystic""Our peace of mind increases in spite of suffering; we become braver and more enterprising; we understand more clearly the difference between what is everlasting and what is not; we learn how to distinguish between what is our duty and what is not. Our pride melts away and we become humble. Our worldly attachments diminish and, likewise, the evil within us diminishes from day to day." ~ Mahatma Gandhi"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr."You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt"When we are ignorant we live in His prison; when we become prudent we live in His palace; when we fall asleep we become intoxicated; when we are awakened we are in His hands." ~ Rumi, "Mathnawi""The fairest graciousness, they say, is a kindly look. Wherever it thrives, the whole world flourishes." ~ Tirukkural 58:571"Let a smile be your ambassador." ~ anon."Compassion is the willingness to play in the field of dreams even though you are awake." ~ Matthew Flickstein, "Swallowing the River Ganges""If we divide into two camps--even into violent and the nonviolent--and stand in one camp while attacking the other, the world will never have peace. We will always blame and condemn those we feel are responsible for wars and social injustice, without recognizing the degree of violence within ourselves. We must work on ourselves and also withthose we condemn if we want to have a real impact."~ Ayya Khema, "Be An Island""We never know the worth of water till the well is dry." ~ France"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards"~ Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard"Compassion is the chief law of human existence." ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky"As for those who seek the transcendental Reality, without name, without form, contemplating the Unmanifested, beyond the reach of thought and of feeling, with their senses subdued and mind serene and striving for the good of all beings, they too will verily come unto me." ~ Bhagavad Gita, 12:3-4"It is the theory that decides what we can observe." ~ Albert Einstein"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the people who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set ofcircumstances, to choose one's own way." ~ Viktor Frankl (1905-1997)"When we have chosen the vocation in which burdens cannot overwhelm, then we experience no meagre limited egotistic joy, but our deeds go on forever and when we die the tears of noble men will fall on our ashes." ~ Karl Marx"The Master said, "A man who is not humane, what can he have to dowith ritual?"" ~ Confucianism, Analects 3.3."There was undoubtedly much in primitive Christianity to appeal to the Indians, and Jesus' hard sayings to the rich, and about the rich were entirely comprehensible to us. Yet, the religion that we heard preached in churches and saw practiced by congregations, with its element of display and self-aggrandizement, its active proselytism, and its open contempt of all religions but its own, was for a long time extremely repellent."~ Ohiyesa, Charles Alexander Eastman, `The Soul Of An Indian'.“All people, as all life, are threads in the whole of the fabric of life, which will always need mending; yet, "we" can't allow it to be torn asunder". ~ james m nordlundThurgood Marshall ~ "By recognizing the humanity in our fellow human being, we pay ourself the highest tribute"."Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage." ~ Lao-Tzu"Never borrow for what you don't need. Never think you need what you have to borrow for. ~ Irish Proverb""We're not human beings having a spiritual experience, we're spiritual beings having a human experience." - Wayne Dyer (supposedly)Well, thanx, for a great read. "Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen." ~ Leonardo da Vinci. Enjoy a festive eve' as you can. Lest "we" forget, if you don't exercise responsibility, its Siamese twin sister, freedom, will wither, like a muscle, as well. Sadly, now, it first needs to be exorcized before its exercised. Viva la evolution!Matutinally Yours,james m nordlund reality (aja)Music is life's song accompanying the abundance of joy's Spring. For those interested: "of or pertaining to the morning, day: relating to or happening in the morning or in the early part of the day (formal), (Mid-16th century, from late Latin matutinalis, from Matuta, goddess of the dawn.)". I look forward to hearing from you. Copy, share, as you will. Au revoir.
Ottawa International Poets and Writers for human Rights (OIPWHR)
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