Wisdom and Growth through Pursuit of Beauty and Truth

Enough. These few words are enough. If not these words, this breath. If not this breath, this sitting here. This opening to the life We have refused again and again Until now. Until now. By: David Whyte

Sit down wherever you are And listen to the wind singing in your veins.  Feel the love, the longing, the fear in your bones.  Open your heart to who you are, right now,  Not who you would like to be,  Not the saint you are striving to become,  But the being right here before you, inside you, around you.  All of you is holy.  You are already more and less  Than whatever you can know.  Breathe out,  Touch in,  Let go.

If you would grow to your best self Be patient, not demanding Accepting, not condemning Nurturing, not withholding Self-marveling, not belittling Gently guiding, not pushing and punishing For you are more sensitive than you know Mankind is as tough as war yet delicate as flowers We can endure agonies but we open fully only to warmth and light And our need to grow Is as fragile as a fragrance dispersed by storms of will To return only when those storm are still So, accept, respect, and attend your sensitivity A flower cannot be opened with a hammer. By: Daniel F. Mead

How did the rose Ever open its heart And give to this world All its beauty? It felt the encouragement of light Against its being, Otherwise, We all remain Too frightened By: Hafiz

Now is the time to know That all that you do is sacred. Now, why not consider A lasting truce with yourself and God? Now is the time to understand That all your ideas of right and wrong Were just a child's training wheels To be laid aside When you can finally live with veracity And love. Now is the time for the world to know That every thought and action is sacred. That this is the time For you to compute the impossibility That there is anything But Grace. -Hafez

We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us, that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet. By W.B. Yeats

Every Child Has known God, Not the God of names, Not the God of Don'ts Not the God who ever does anything weird But the God who only knows four words And keeps repeating them, saying: "Come dance with Me" Come Dance By: Hafiz

This being human is a guest house.  Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent  as a guide from beyond. -Rumi

So whenever we wander off, we gently encourage ourselves to "stay" and settle down. Are we experiencing restlessness? Stay! Discursive mind? Stay! Are fear and loathing out of control? Stay! Aching knees and throbbing back? Stay! What's for lunch? Stay! What am I doing here? Stay! I can't stand this another minute! Stay! That is how to cultivate steadfastness. By: Pema Chodron

Those who will not slip beneath the still surface of the well of grief turning downward through its black water to the place we cannot breathe will never know the source from which we drink, the secret water, cold and clear, nor find in the darkness glimmering the small round coins thrown away by those who wished for something else. - David Whyte

Opening to my loss, I gain the embrace of the universe; Surrendering into emptiness, I find fullness without end. Each condition I flee from pursues me, Each condition I welcome transforms me And becomes itself transformed Into its radiant jewel-like essence. I bow to the one who has made it so, Who has crafted this Master Game; To play it is purest delight - To honor its form, true devotion. By: Jennifer Paine Welwood

We have not come here to take prisoners But to surrender ever more deeply To freedom and joy. We have not come into this exquisite world to hold ourselves hostage from love. -Hafez

Try corralling a lightning bolt, containing a tornado.  Dam a stream and it will create a new channel.  Resist, and the tide will sweep you off your feet. Allow, and grace will carry you to higher ground.  -Danna Faulds

Admit something: Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.”  Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise  Someone would call the cops.  Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect. Why not become the one who lives with a Full moon in each eye that is always saying, With that sweet moon language, what every other eye in This world is dying to hear? -Hafez

Through all the antics of distinctness from others, or not-really-there-ness, I remain No matter what my disguise— Genius, idiot, gloriousness, scum— Underneath, it’s still just me, still here, Still warm and breathing and human With another chance simply to say hi, and recognize my tenderness And be just a little bit kind to  this  one as well, Because she counts, too. -Anne Villalobos

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing. You must wake up with sorrow. You must speak to it till your voice catches the thread of all sorrows and you see the size of the cloth. Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore, only kindness that ties your shoes and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread, only kindness that raises its head from the crowd of the world to say It is I you have been looking for, and then goes with you everywhere like a shadow or a friend. -Naomi Shihab Nye

“When the light has risen within a human being, all your scriptures are like a tank full of water when the flood has come.” -Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading in the same direction, so it doesn’t matter which path you take. The only one wasting time is the one who runs around the mountain, telling everyone that his or her path is wrong. -Hindu proverb

We are all prisoners, but some of us are in cells with windows and some without. -Kahlil Gibran

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. -Kahlil Gibran

To belittle, you have to be little. -Kahlil Gibran

Love that is washed by tears will remain eternally pure and faithful. -Kahlil Gibran

In friendship or in love, the two side by side raise hands together to find what one cannot reach alone. -Kahlil Gibran

We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side. -Kahlil Gibran

One day you will ask me, "Which is more important? My life or yours?" I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life. -Gibran

Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking. -Kahlil Gibran

Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content with our everyday life. -Kahlil Gibran

Sadness is but a wall between two gardens. -Kahlil Gibran

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward -Kahlil Gibran

Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' -Gibran

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them. -Kahlil Gibran