posted June 24, 2007 06:48 PM              

That quote is fantastic!

Long Live Determinism!!!

posted June 24, 2007 08:55 PM            

Are you fond of Hazrat Inayat Khan`s Work?

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What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted June 25, 2007 05:33 PM            

Hazrat Inayat Khan`s work is a wonderful start to sufi insights!

Indries Shah is always best balanced by reading his brother Omar Ali Shah. When one see`s the best of non religious sufism with religious sufism, the mind and heart has a more complete balance. My belief anyhow

Now my rant.

To start descipleship, one must first have clarity on what need is vs. desire. When this is clear obediance/discipleship is no longer a painful effort but an effort of joy.
Again when one has clarity on need, they are too full of praise and thanks to their Lord to sit about self loathing and wishing.

You have said to me "you sound/seem harsh". Well, that harshness is tempered with Love and Certitude. Certitude that my Lord will carry me through any fire this earth school has to offer. Harsh because it takes discipleship, obediance and a straight path to arrive to this place of peace. My Certitude is not bendable and I will appear harsh to someone taking a different path. ......But really, I am an Aquarian pussycat

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted June 25, 2007 06:39 PM              

quote:

---

To start discipleship, one must first have clarity on what need is vs. desire. When this is clear obediance/discipleship is no longer a painful effort but an effort of joy.

---

posted June 25, 2007 08:14 PM            

For seldom do we realize
the importance of small deeds
Or to what degree of greatness
unnoticed kindness leads

For if everybody brightened up
the spot on which they're standing
By being more considerate
and a little less demanding

This changing world would very soon
eclipse the evening star,
If everybody brightened up
the corner where they are.

The first quote written in my quote book.
From a greeting card! Probably Helen Steiner Rice

If you go looking for power, instead of using the Force (Holy Spirit) to guide you, you might end up as Vader.

A Jedi's strength
flows from the Force. But beware
of the dark side. Anger... fear...
aggression. The dark side of
the Force are they.
Easily they flow, quick to join
you in a fight. If once you
start down the dark path, forever
will it dominate your destiny,
consume you it will, as it did
Obi-Wan's apprentice.

LUKE
Vader.
Is the dark side stronger?

YODA
No... no... no. Quicker, easier,
more seductive.

LUKE
But how am I to know the good side
from the bad?

YODA
You will know. When you are calm,
at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses
the Force for knowledge and
defense, never for attack.

LUKE
But tell me why I can't...

posted June 25, 2007 08:17 PM            

He turns to see a huge, dead, black tree, its base surrounded by a few
feet of water. Giant, twisted roots form a dark and sinister cave on
one side. Luke stares at the tree, trembling.

LUKE
There's something not right here.

Yoda sits on a large root, poking his Gimer Stick into the dirt.

LUKE
I feel cold, death.

YODA
That place... is strong with the
dark side of the Force. A domain
of evil it is. In you must go.

LUKE
What's in there?

posted June 25, 2007 08:20 PM            

Luke's face is upside-down and showing enormous strain. He stands on
his hands, with Yoda perched on his feet. Opposite Luke and Yoda are
two rocks the size of bowling balls. Luke stares at the rocks and
concentrates. One of the rocks lifts from the ground and floats up to
rest on the other.

YODA
Use the Force. Yes...

Yoda taps Luke's leg. Quickly, Luke lifts one hand from the ground.
His body wavers, but he maintains his balance. Artoo, standing nearby,
is whistling and beeping frantically.

YODA
Now... the stone. Feel it.

Luke concentrates on trying to lift the top rock. It rises a few feet,
shaking under the strain. But, distracted by Artoo's frantic beeping,
Luke loses his balance and finally collapses. Yoda jumps clear.

YODA
Concentrate!

Annoyed at the disturbance, Luke looks over at Artoo, who is rocking
urgently back and forth in front of him.

Artoo waddles closer to Luke, chirping wildly, then scoots over the
edge of the swamp. Catching on, Luke rushes to the water's edge. The
X-wing fighter has sunk, and only the tip of its nose shows above the
lake's surface.

LUKE
Oh, no. We'll never get it out
now.

Yoda stamps his foot in irritation.

YODA
So certain are you. Always with
you it cannot be done. Hear you
nothing that I say?

Luke looks uncertainly out at the ship.

LUKE
Master, moving stones around is
one thing. This is totally
different.

YODA
No! No different! Only different
in your mind. You must unlearn
what you have learned.

LUKE
(focusing, quietly)
All right, I'll give it a try.

YODA
No! Try not. Do. Or do not.
There is no try.

Luke closes his eyes and concentrates on thinking the ship out.

Slowly, the X-wing's nose begins to rise above the water. It hovers
for a moment and then slides back, disappearing once again.

LUKE
(panting heavily)
I can't. It's too big.

YODA
Size matters not. Look at me.
Judge me by my size, do you?
Hm? Mmmm.

Luke shakes his head.

YODA
And well you should not. For my
ally is the Force. And a powerful
ally it is. Life creates it, makes
it grow. Its energy surrounds us
and binds us. Luminous beings
are we...
(Yoda pinches
Luke's shoulder)
... not this crude matter.
(a sweeping gesture)
You must feel the Force around you.
(gesturing)
Here, between you... me... the
tree... the rock... everywhere!
Yes, even between this land and
that ship!

LUKE
(discouraged)
You want the impossible.

Quietly Yoda turns toward the X-wing fighter. With his eyes closed and
his head bowed, he raises his arm and points at the ship.

Soon, the fighter rises above the water and moves forward as Artoo
beeps in terror and scoots away.

The entire X-wing moves majestically, surely, toward the shore. Yoda
stands on a tree root and guides the fighter carefully down toward the
beach.

Luke stares in astonishment as the fighter settles down onto the shore.
He walks toward Yoda.

LUKE
I don't... I don't believe it.

YODA
That is why you fail.

posted June 25, 2007 09:11 PM              

"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man."

- Samuel Johnson

posted June 26, 2007 03:32 PM            

"You yourself are time- your body, your mind, the objects around you. Plunge into the river of time and swim, instead of standing on the banks and noting the course of the currents."
~Philip Kapleau

"Adversity not only draws people together but also brings forth that beautiful inward friendship, just as the cold winter forms ice-figures on the windowpanes, which the warmth of the sun effaces."
~Soren Kierkegaard

"The sun is high in the sky, shining on everything. Why is it blocked by a cloud? Everyone has a shadow, with us always. Why can't you step on it? The whole world is a pit of fire. What state of mind can you attain to avoid being burned?"
~Kao-Feng

"I've stopped thinking all the time of what happened yesterday. And stopped asking myself what's going to happen tomorrow. What's happening today, this minute, that's what I care about. I say: What are you doign at this moment, Zorba? ... I'm kissing a woman. Well, kiss her well, Zorba! And forget all the rest while you're doing it; there's nothing else on earth, only you and her!"
~Nikos Kazantzakis

posted June 26, 2007 03:35 PM            

"The important point of spiritual practice is not to try to escape your life, but to face it- exactly and completely."
~Dainin Katagiri

"Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win."
~Johnathan Kozol

"Please subdue the anguish of your soul. Nobody is destined only to happiness or to pain. The wheel of life takes me up and down by turn."
~Kalidasa

posted June 26, 2007 03:40 PM            

"To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions."
~Sam Keen

"Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success."
~Charles F. Kettering

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows."
~Helen Keller

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."
~Helen Keller

"Do not consciously seek enlightenment."
~Muso Kokushi

"The higher the truth, the simpler it is."
~Abraham Isaac Kook

posted June 26, 2007 10:27 PM            

Is that a scent of Scorp jealousy in the air

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted June 27, 2007 03:05 PM              

~ Valerian

posted June 27, 2007 03:28 PM              

~ Claire Davies

posted June 27, 2007 03:57 PM            

The interconnectedness of All is an expression of the singularity embodied in the notion of God. Every fallen tear or shed blood rips the fabric of existence. In this great Unity, the pain of one is the pain of all, the salvation of one is the salvation of all. Likewise, the defilement of Nature is the defilement of all Earth.

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted June 28, 2007 01:21 PM            

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted July 09, 2007 02:53 PM              

He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour:
but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.
Proverbs 11:12

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes:
but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
Proverbs 12:15

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge:
but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
Proverbs 15:14

Let us search and try our ways,
and turn again to the Lord.
Lamentations 3:40