Morality and Oneness

True morality is the conduct of the spirit of oneness in our actions.

Knowledge of the Forces in Life

If we don't have knowledge of the forces* that exist, it's like getting caught up in a stream that takes us where it wants to go. But, if we do have knowledge, we can fight and resist the current and get safely to the shore of our planned destination.

*In Vedanta these forces are called the Gunas. They are sattva, rajas and tamas. These forces are discussed in our latest book, Children of Immortal Bliss.
 

Study the Word

Study of the scriptures—mystical writings in particular—is an important aspect of spiritual life. An intense, creative, engaged reflection and a searching, earnest examination of the law, the word, the universal wisdom as it may be found in scriptures, will help to illuminate us into commitment and conviction.

The study of the great perennial classics of literature like Plato, Milton, Shakespeare, Dante—the deep intuitive study of these, too, will excite us and intensify our resolve, and our practices.

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 Although the Divine is in all things, all things do not lead to the Divine.

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ONENESS: THE GOAL

The natural mind sees many; the Self-realized mind sees Oneness.
Spiritual disciplines are necessary to enable the mind to see truly.
 

Perception

                                                     With the physical eye we perceive form.
                                           With the intellectual eye we perceive concepts.
                                           With the spiritual eye, we perceive Spirit.

                                                    What we are, we perceive.
 

Dreams unreal?

Dreams seem real. Ordinary Life seems real. Which is more real? In fact, Life is more real than the world of dreams because from it we can judge and interpret dreams: but the contrary is not possible. Therefore dreams are less real.... But neither real nor unreal. They influence, and yet they pass. And Life also. It influences us but passes; it changes and as time goes on it comes to seem more and more dream-like itself.

But note: just as Life can judge Dreams ... Mystical Life can judge Ordinary Life. Therefore, Mystical Life  is higher still.

See also: Feature Article on Mystical State vs. Dream State
 

YOU ARE NOT THE MIND!

You are not the mind! Your thoughts are not you!

The Zen philosophy insists that our minds in their natural, everyday state are nothing but rubbish.

Yoga assumes that we are not our minds, that our minds are instruments belonging to the material realm―that we are masters of our minds, utilizers of our minds.

Think about this! It would appear that we, in the West, do not have a conception of our minds compatible with the mysticism of the East.

KNOWLEDGE―A NECESSITY

Without knowledge we are lost.

Without knowledge of our selves, our natures, we yield to the temptation of the moment, of moods.

Similarly, without knowledge of the nature of our metabolism, we yield to taste-habits developed aimlessly over a lifetime. With knowledge of food and our metabolism we begin to resist and eat properly.

So ... in spiritual life. When we gain knowledge of ourselves we begin to resist past conditioning and start to think and live properly.
 

WISDOM

   Wisdom requires an impersonal way of looking at things.
Wisdom is gained by experience.
Knowledge gained through experience becomes wisdom.
 

The Knowledge of Truth

When we know what the truth of our situation is, then and then alone we are free of what was binding and terrifying us. The spell breaks, the dream vanishes, the ignorance that constituted our lack of freedom―rather, our nonawareness of freedom―dissolves. But only Knowledge―the Truth―can bring it about―and the realization that we always possessed it....
                                            - Paul Hourihan, Ramakrishna and Christ, The Supermystics , 117
 

The Light of Truth

The knowledge of God, directly experienced, the experience of the Divine within, takes us beyond the realm of the oldest or latest religion, into the realm of pure Truth itself―the bright, steady, undying light that is the source of every religion and long after each one of them―however promising they were at the outset―begins to change, remains still as bright, as steady, as luminous, as undying as ever ... yesterday, and today, and forever ... the light of the Divine ... the Soul's own light ... that which we now are and one day will discover ourselves to be.

Knowledge is Power

Knowledge is power, provided we can digest it―apply it.
Knowledge gained through experience becomes wisdom.
 

  What We Do Not Use We Lose

What we do not use we lose. On any level of our life this is true. If we do not exert our faculties for spiritual progress, we lose them.

Even criminals and wicked people can teach us important truths about life―e.g. we can gain knowledge about what not to do, how not to live, by observing these people. We should not react to them but rather learn from them. The objective is knowledge.

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Be Careful What You Ask For!

We must pray for what we will never regret receiving, such as spiritual knowledge.

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The World exists for God! Not for Man.

The Difference Between Intellectual Knowledge and Spiritual Experience

"Intellectual knowledge shows us only the variety in the world. It infers that the individual is ever an isolated unit. Spiritual experience reveals to us the unity behind all this variety.... The world is not unreal, but it is unreality in disguise.

"On the intellectual plane we take a self-centered view of all things; on the spiritual plane we take a God-centered view...

"Therefore, on the spiritual plane, our religion does not consist of any articles of creed or dogmas or doctrines. These belong to the realm of the intellect. They are intellectual formulae...

"God is real and everything else is unreal."

                          - Unattributed Quotation from Dr. Paul's notes.

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Note: All "Words of Wisdom" are quotations from Paul Hourihan, unless otherwise noted.