The world is not decided by action alone. It is decided more by consciousness and spirit; they are the secret sources of all action and behavior.
The spirit of a time is an incredibly subtle, yet hugely powerful force. And it is comprised of the mentality and spirit of all individuals together.
Therefore, the way you look at things is not simply a private matter. Your outlook actually and concretely affects what goes on.
When you give in to helplessness, you collude with despair and add to it.
When you take back your power and choose to see the possibilities for healing and transformation, your creativity awakens and flows to become an active force of renewal and encouragement in the world.
In this way, even in your own hidden life, you can become a powerful agent of transformation.
~ John O’Donohue
Autumn Aspens Near Pike’s Peak, CO – photo by bcoulter, bigstockphoto.com
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Earth – photo from NASA
It appears that [for trees] nutrient exchange and helping neighbors in times of need is the rule, and this leads to the conclusion that forests are superorganisms with interconnections much like ant colonies.
~ Peter Wohlleben
Baobob Trees, Madagascar – photo by Dudarev Mikhail, bigstockphoto.com
Individuality is only possible if it unfolds from wholeness… Indeed, the attempt to live according to the notion that the fragments are really separate is, in essence, what has led to the growing series of extremely urgent crises that is confronting us today.
~David Bohm
Sunrise, Smith Rock State Park, OR – photo by aiisha, bigstockphoto.com
While it might seem that increased compassion would become a source of discomfort, it is actually soothing, like the soft ripples of current created when you drop a pebble into a lake. Ever-widening, the ripples steadily become larger circles, expanding until the energy from them disperses. Eventually, the movement that began in response to the pebble appears as water lapping on some distant shore. Compassion has a similar capacity: it expands as far as we are willing to allow it, creating ever-widening circles of awareness within and between individuals.
~ Nancy Napier, “Sacred Practices for Conscious Living, 2nd Edition”
Adriatic Sea, Croatia – photo by ZoomTeam, bigstockphoto.com
Our task must be to free ourselves…by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
~ Albert Einstein
Sedona, AZ – photo by ftlaudgirl, bigstockphoto.com
One of the most beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own. There are times of great uncertainty in every life. Left alone at such a time, you feel dishevelment and confusion like gravity. When a friend comes with words of encouragement, a light and lightness visit you and you begin to find the stairs and the door out of the dark. The sense of encouragement you feel from the friend is not simply her words or gestures; it is rather her whole presence enfolding you and helping you find the concealed door. The encouraging presence manages to understand you and put herself in your shoes. There is no judgment but words of relief and release.
~ John O’Donohue
White Lotus – photo by Pixel B, bigstockphoto.com
…deep ecologists seek to emphasize that all living beings should be permitted, whenever possible, to purse their own evolutionary destinies. In contrast to anthropocentrism, in which things have value only insofar as they are useful for promoting human ends…ecocentrism calls on people to respect individual beings and the ecosystem in which they arise.
~ M. C. Zimmerman
Morning Sun, Bryce Canyon National Park – photo by Fyletto, bigstockphoto.com
It’s almost impossible to be ‘healthy’ if you define it as a relationship with yourself without acknowledging that you’re part of a larger ‘culture’ including both the human and nonhuman.
~ Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Impala, Kruger National Park, South Africa – photo by Paco Como, bigstockphoto.com
Slightly modifying [Rupert] Sheldrake’s theory [of morphic fields and morphic resonance]…[Christopher] Bache maintains that the species mind, as one layer of a vast cosmic intelligence he calls “Sacred Mind,” contains within it not just the species memory but also inherent creative capacities of enormous scope.
~ David Nicole
Iguazu Falls, Argentina – photo by MichalKnitl, bigstockphoto.com
I saw a statistic the other day that said around 50% of the people in Iceland believe in fairies. I am very proud of Iceland. Like the descendants of the Vikings, my people also have a tradition of small beings who live in the forests and along the streams. There are Native American versions of leprechauns all across this land. Which is fine by me because in my universe there is lots of room for all kinds of sprites and spirits, tricksters and angels, coyotes and ravens. The world I live in I share with a host of wise and wonderful creatures. How dull life would be without them. If this sounds a little strange to you then let me encourage you to open your heart up to the playful side of spirituality. Don’t get too stuck in reality. Come over to the other 50%, those of us who believe a little whimsy is good for the soul.
~ Steven Charleston
Elf Garden, Iceland – photo by Ragnhildur Jonsdottir
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
~ Albert Einstein
Tropical Rainforest, Malaysia – photo by szefei, bigstockphoto.com
Divine wholeness is waiting to be lived. It includes every cell of creation, the wisdom within every plant and animal, the flow of the tides and the movement of the stars.
It is deep instinctual knowing about how the world works as a living, breathing, spiritual being. And it is very practical. This is not idealistic spiritual theory but a knowing that belongs to the basic principles of life: everything is sacred and can live in harmony and balance. In this balance the real needs of life are met, even though many of our self induced desires and addictions will have to be sacrificed. The world is not here to give us what we want: the world is an expression of divine love that needs us to help it to realize its full potential.
~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, “Including the Earth in Our Prayer”
Huangshan Mountains, South China – photo by margoria, bigstockphoto.com
Spirits are everywhere, and as we acknowledge their presence and honor and bless them—seeking counsel, support, and appropriate outcomes—we become more fully human; we help manifest the interconnectedness of everything; and we contribute to harmony, true being, and right action.
~ Claude Poncelet, The Shaman Within
Scottish Highlands on A Rainy Day – photo by Alice D, bigstockphoto.com
We can give gifts of presence to each other, but first we need to see each other… We need to not let others be invisible in our presence. When this happens, blessings flow… and the world becomes a bit nicer, a bit more conscious, a bit more loved and loving.
~ David Spangler
Grand Teton Mountains at Sunrise – photio by haveseen, bigstockphoto.com
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