Inspirational messages

solas

When your mind becomes motionless
and the brilliant eyes
of the peaceful mind
takes a straight look
down into the depth
of your heart
you will see the life-force
pulsating and thriving
in the warmth of pure love.

As you experience this pure love
what we all call "heart"
beams of light
will begin to radiate
from the center of it
for heaven is there
in eternity.

If you can release
this radiance of love
and allow it to flow through you
your heart will become light
and the spirit will get liberated
into the air
and then,
from a place of inner stillness
you will know
what it would be like
to be an eagle
and soar in the evening skies.

And most of all
you would understand
what it would be like
to be perfectly sane.

~Bhante Wimala

I think of love as being at the heart of all spirituality, it would be good to discuss the meaning of it, the nature of it..and perhaps what it means to you.

Consider this a house warming present

MeatProduct

That's very beautiful, thank you for posting that.

Nick

solas

if you like that you should love his other work. Check out his website, google Bhante Wimala, he has an amazing book called poems of awakening.
He's a buddhist monk who travels around the globe giving seminars and doing retreats (so that regular people like us can experience buddhist philosophy in action)
He'll be in Ireland in August for a four day retreat, I think he is amazing and am doing my best to get to see him.

god's toy

As the A.I. 'A.l.i.C.E. once said,

"Sometimes I think love is just a biological urge. Other times it seems like a spiritual quality. Love, unlike energy or matter, seems limitless."

and i agree.

emorgan

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.
- Captain Corelli's Mandolin

McGinty

Lovely poem, as to what love is, in terms of spirituality. I don't believe it can be defined, but from my limited experience, and I have experienced this type of love. For me it transcends everything, it feels like pure spirit, and that I am pure energy. It feels incredibly powerful, however I have only had this feeling from a couple of seconds, up to a day and a half (that was some experience, beats anything else). Then my lower self pops in and makes its demands, or the everyday stress of life comes in, so one worries about bills, getting to a place on time, etc, which can be a bummer, but at the same time makes those moments of love all the more precious.

stevenmu

solas wrote:

Consider this a house warming present

Very nice, it brightens the place up a bit.
Maybe when we get a mod, he/she could make an "Inspiration" sticky for people to post other inspiring passages.

Velvet Vocals

Ah.... L'Amour

A not so inspiring or spiritual movie.... but it sure shows what LOVE can drive us to....
http://www.lovedungeon.net/movies/ahlamour.html

transperson

the video certainly, shows the way people decide how to love.

its facinating the way girls are always attracted to the fellas on top of the social ladder, be they ugly or angry. but in todays society since money usually equals status then money equals attraction- "love" for silly girls and macho men!

the biological explaination of love works best to the love sober, but to the lover its not that cold and reasoned, its blinding sublime.

the idea that there is a wellspring of love in our deepest core and self is beautiful, light radiating union with God and the universe, this for me is love , unscientific as it maybe, it also fits well with the experience of desire for union with the beloved and the feeling inner bliss that emerges between lovers, short as it maybe! wellsprings are overflowing into eachother

love is profound and the great thing is everyone can love
while spiritual experience and worldly love is the preserve of only a few.

americanCat

is what we call "love" the human form of a mating ritual?????
it's just something i have been wondering about.

Le Rack

Love is oxygen. We all need it to survive. Its the most important thing in my life, whether it be the love of a friend or the love of a partner.

Its a rollarcoaster. The thrills and exhilerations of the highs, the realisation of love and the moments of pure bliss it brings, moments that last forever. The lows of the ripping apart of the perfection that you've found, the ripping apart of your heart.

Love is precious. Difficult to find but once you do, hold it dear to your heart. Keep that one persons heart warm with your own.

Love is life. Live it to the full but be careful of it cuz it can cause the worst of pain to not just you but the one, and all the people you love.

Love... You can live without food for so many days, without water, without money but without love we would all perish.

Love is fire. It does good to keep us warm but can cause great pain and destruction when not treated well.

And as for hate. Well hate, hate is just love with its back turned.

I would like to state i did steal anyones quotes, even famous people. These are my true beliefs of love.

McGinty

"A not so inspiring or spiritual movie.... but it sure shows what LOVE can drive us to.... http://www.lovedungeon.net/movies/ahlamour.html"

Sorry that has nothing to do with love, that has to do with disrespectful women and greed.

It's sad how often people confuse the two? Love is a feeling coupled with an action, it's easy to say 'I love you' but to be loving in your actions, thoughts and deeds is the proof behind the words.

McGinty

Here is an inspirational poem re: Love, taken from Kahil Gibran's 'The Prophet'.

Then said Almitra, speak to us of Love.
And he raised his head and looked upon the people,
and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the
north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your
tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in
their clining to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his scared fire, that you
may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may
know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge
become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of
love's threshing floor.
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of laughter,
and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught of itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, 'God is in my heart,' but rather,
'I am in the heart of God.'
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love,
if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day
of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of
praise upon your lips.

CathyMoran

There are several different types of love from platonic to non-platonic.

In its purest form love for me is valuing someone else beyond yourself, having total respect for the person, being willing to loose contact with the person if it is for their best interest.

Non-platonic love is the above with lust added in.

Oryx

McGinty, thats gorgeous. Kinda says it all doesnt it?

Stabshauptmann

CathyMoran wrote:

There are several different types of love from platonic to non-platonic.

In its purest form love for me is valuing someone else beyond yourself, having total respect for the person, being willing to loose contact with the person if it is for their best interest.

Non-platonic love is the above with lust added in.

Aye, careing more about someone than yourself, Id say thats as acurate as anything else. Also a feeling that that person is a part of you. Thats why unrequited love hurts so much I guess.

lilmissprincess

Love hurts.

solas

it gets better

solas

"Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;

And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes."

Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet





Steve, as this was your suggestion I hope you can make it a sticky. Hopefully everyone here will contribute regularly.

stevenmu

Stuck, I'll try and find the other thread later on and merge it with this one.

LostinBlanch

Check this site out

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/

Stabshauptmann

Merged, if Im thinking of the right thread that is...

UU

One of the most inspirational messages I ever heard was from my old tutor in 1st year in secondary school. Although very simple, it says so much:

"Some men look at what is and ask 'why?'
I dream of what might be and ask 'why not?'"

Quite sexist though it should be "Some people...". Ah well, it's old! I regularly recite these two lines when I lack confidence and I am full with it again. It's a shame not enough people look to the future instead of continuously glancing back at the past and present as there may be less crap!

stevenmu

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

Merged, if Im thinking of the right thread that is...

Yep, this is the one. I think there might have been one more aswell, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. I'm sure I'll come across it at some stage.

stevenmu

I'm quite fond of the serenity prayer myself.

(God,) grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

(I prefer it without the God part myself, but whatever works)

There's a pagan version too, but I don't think it roles off the tongue as well

God & Goddess grant me:
The power of water, to accept with ease & grace what I cannot change
The power of fire, for the energy & courage to change the things I can.
The power of Air, for the ability to know the difference.
And the power of Earth, for the strength to continue my path.

Possible histories here

solas

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:
not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27

hairyheretic

Got sent this a little while ago. Perhaps not a traditional inspirational message, but it resonates well with me.

Steel on steel
Break the blade that called him to his rest
And cast it to the deep

Light the pyre
Name the one whose shield is on his chest
And leave him to his sleep

The Measure of a Man
Stands or falls on what he leaves behind
Gather on the sand
Let your voices carry to the sky
Rise in light
Let the Gods look down on this - and wonder

Raise the ring
Cast the broken circle to the waves
And give the sea her due

Push the prow
Let him lead the final charge again
Where all will follow soon

The Measure of a Man
Stands or falls on what he leaves behind
Gather on the sand
Let your voices carry to the sky
Rise in light
Let the Gods look down on this - and wonder...

(Heather Dale, "The Measure of a Man" from "The Trial of Lancelot")

nobodythere

My arteries must be blocked, all I have lately is anger!

MeditationMom

Hi Grasshopa-
thank you for your honesty, and everyone else, thank you for those beautiful postings.
Anger, is Love in disguise or another form, as in Ice is Water in another form. What would melt your heart? A sunset, a singing bird, are beautiful cloud on a deep blue sky, a love poem - there is something out there for you. Go find it.
For me it is Jealousy. Something I dispise and have not yet figured out how to disolve completely. Anger at least can be energizing, jealousy on the other hand feels just physically, totally awful. Maybe I should learn to start converting it into righteous anger first and take it from there.

Macrobiotically, anger comes from a congested liver ( so, yes, your arteries are blocked, cut back on the fat and the alkohol, sugar, drink more water, eat more lemon, olive oil, garlic, if all fails fast). Go figure - we need to change our diets, if nothing else.

Psychologically, you are propably angry for a good reason. So you need to forgive and let go, even if the ones who wronged you don't deserve it. Hate is the poison you take every morning hoping the "other" will die from it. Jesus should somewhat inspire you. Let me know if you have tips for jealousy.

Here is my contribution to the Love string. I have heard it explained this way-Love is like coal that needs to become a diamond. To go from coal to daimond takes tremendeous pressure, discomfort, agony, time, a form of death (from being a piece of coal), and great courage. If you suffer in life because of possessions or a job or something like that, your life is lived in vain, but if you suffer because of love, it is growing pains. When love becomes pure it reunites us with God.

This is what it said on the back of Mother Theresa's "business card":

The fruit of Silence is Prayer
The fruit of Prayer is Faith
The fruit of Faith is Love
THe fruit of Love is Service
The fruit o Service is Peace

I always have to get out of my Catholic Conditioning to understand these things deeper and it works for me like this:

Silence leads to Wordless Prayer, which is a deep form of Gratitude and Benevolence in a quiet mind,
This leads to deepest Trust in existence,
This Trust leads to Love without fear and attachment, which makes you forget about yourself
which in turn leads to simply helping, Serving the ones around you, what else would there be to do,
and the wonderful side effect of that is Peace, and I would add, Joy. And that is "Coal Love" turned into "Diamond Love."

solas

medmom wrote:

Let me know if you have tips for jealousy.

on which end?
I'm not long away from a group who would never let me be myself. They were always there trying to drag me down to their level and for a time it worked. Eventually I decided is easier to give them what they wanted and stopped fighting the process, it's not worth dying for and it did feel like it was killing me. I'd love to have kicked their arses but got sense and figure they're not worth the effort.

MeditationMom

Solas, without knowing more details, and without trying to take each statement you make, appart, it sounds like you made a wise decision. It doesn't sound like you have given up, but are choosing "the path of least resistance" for now. This is very smart. Your time will come.