This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; my philosophy is kindness.
~ Dalai Lama
Asian Lotus –photo by Seagull J, bigstockphoto.com
We live in a creative Universe that is itself a work of cosmic art. Nature is more like a flowing living symphony than a material “thing.” And everything is connected, everything is energy… Mystical traditions and individuals have been expressing this understanding for centuries. Life is sacred, life is art.
Be mindful. See the beauty that exists everywhere, the creative mystery that we are. Be aware of your presence and connection to everything.
Know that behind your social persona and cultural identity you are the child of a Creative Cosmos.
~Christopher Chase, The Art of Systems Thinking
Nepal Jungle – photo by Quickshooting, bigstockphoto.com
Today I will practice the spiritually subversive act of smiling. I will face reality. I will recognize the depth of the problems around me and within me. I will understand how serious these problems are and I will engage with them as such. But then I will smile. Even in the heart of all the problems of the world, I will smile. And by so doing I will embody the subversive nature of spirituality. The smile has its own sacred reality. Life in the midst of death, joy in the midst of sorrow, hope in the midst of chaos. I will seek to embody that to the world, to all those who need it so desperately. Today I will smile.
~ Steven Charleston
Sunrise, Monument Valley – photo by SeanPavonePhoto, bigstockphoto.com
The whole of planet Earth
Is a sacred site.
All people are the chosen people,
And the purpose of our lives is a spiritual one.
May we care for each other,
And for the earth, for everything
Relates to everything else.
Feeling this oneness,
May we radiate the light of love
And kindness that all may live in unity and peace.
~ Teach Only Love, Facebook
Iguazu Falls – photo by dabidy, bigstockphoto.com
Every being has its own voice. Every being enters into communion with other beings. This capacity for relatedness, for presence to other beings, for spontaneity in action, is a capacity possessed by every mode of being throughout the entire universe. So too every being has rights to be recognized and revered…
~ Thomas Berry
Songbird and Lichen – photo by Yommy, bigstockphoto.com
She asks me to kill the spider.
Instead, I get the most
peaceful weapons I can find.
I take a cup and a napkin.
I catch the spider, put it outside
and allow it to walk away.
If I am ever caught in the wrong place
at the wrong time, just being alive
and not bothering anyone,
I hope I am greeted
with the same kind
of mercy.
~ Rudy Francisco
Flax Flowers – photo by danilphotos, bigstockphoto.com
Underground, mycorrhizal fungi are crucial trading
partners. Trees crave the nutrients they offer. Fungi
gobble up the carbon that trees provide in return.
To understand this kingdom, fungi aficionados argue, is
to see the natural world differently — less as a collection
of individual species, with humans dominating them all,
and more as a web of organisms dealing with crises
together.
~ New York Times, “Unearthing the Secret Superpowers of Fungus”
Amanita Muscaria – photo by Amanita Muscaria 3 vliegenzwammen, Wikipedia Commons
There is a different dream that is emerging, a worldview that acknowledges the interconnectedness of all living things, where often, one of the most important roles a human being has is to act as caretaker of the environment and protector of the natural systems that give us life…
Waking up from the trance of separateness creates powerful new possibilities for the future. It is in this spirit of hope that we can come together to nurture a different dream for the world, one that, “brings forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling socially just human presence on this planet.
~ Alexis Lassman
Inside a Giant Redwood – photo by aLunaBlue, bigstockphoto.com