Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.
~ Thomas Merton
Lotus – photo by Ange DiBenedetto
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
~ Albert Schweitzer
Autumn Magic – photo by 138124277, bigstockphoto.com
Would that begin to heal the wound? If we were to see not just the half of the tree that towers above the ground but the half that lives beneath it. If we were to see that great complex of roots connected to all of the other trees in the woodland by networks of mycelium that act almost as a neural network, connecting up communities of living beings, sending and receiving signals. If we were to see this network, this community, as alive, as in some way aware. If we were to understand that when we tug on one leaf it is connected to everything else in the world.
If we saw trees as living, connected, aware—would we change our ways in relation to them, and would that change us?
~ Paul Kingsnorth
Forest Trail with Old Tree – photo by Ryan Tang Photot, bigstockphoto.com
The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.
~ bell hooks
White Lotus – photo by IamDeer, bigstockphoto.com
We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
~ Paulo Coelho
Icelandic Magic – photo by Ragnhildur Jonsdottir
The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the Universe and all its powers, and that at the center of the Universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.
~ Black Elk
Full Moon over Monument Valley, AZ – photo by tobkatrina, bigstockphoto.com
Kindness is what the human heart is made of. It gives us the wisdom, strength, and perseverance to face our most vulnerable and difficult life moment. And it guides us in uncovering the bottomless depths of our love, our compassion, and our most genuine dreams and intentions.
~ Amanda Gilbert, Kindness Now
Autumn Colors – photo by Maggiori Images, bigstockphoto.com
Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren’t any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life’s challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.
~ R. Buckminster Fuller
Cotton Flower Blossom – photo by Jay Pierstorff, bigstockphoto.com
Everyone you meet in your life—even total strangers—is already intimately connected to you. The idea that we are all separate and distinct beings is nothing but an illusion. We are all parts of a larger whole, like individual cells in a body.
~ Steve Pavlina
Hot Water Pond, Ouynuma Pond, Jigokudani, Noboribetsu, Hokkaido, Japan – photo by Niels Vos, bigstockphoto.com
We are all part of the living being we call the Earth, ancient beyond our understanding, and yet we have forgotten the simple truth that the ground we walk on is sacred, as is the air we breathe, the water we drink. We have lost touch with the essential oneness that embraces all of life and its interconnected nature. All indigenous peoples and most civilizations before ours understood and lived this essential reality, when everyday life nourished the soul as well as the body. If we are to have real care for our home we need to remember the “Original Instructions” given to the First Peoples – how to get along with all of creation.
~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Morning Light, Garden of the Gods, Colorado – photo by pilgrims49, bigstockphoto.com
For thousands of years it has been known that everything that exists in this world is alive and has a spirit.
We are connected to a web of life that reflects the impact of the behavior of all that is alive. We can speak to the spirit of the trees, plants, rocks, rivers, animals, birds, insects, and reptiles and perceive their divine nature. As everything that exists is alive, each being also recognizes the divine in us. The earth is alive and is a sacred being. It is time for us to align with the heartbeat of the earth.
~ Sandra Ingerman
Autumn Mountain Forest – photo by olmez15, bigstockphoto.com
If we are to help heal the world we need to remember that it is a sacred place. Our actions need to be positive statements, reminders that even in the worst times there is a world worth struggling for.
~ Ram Dass
Autumn Sunrise, Geisler Mountain Group, Dolomite Alps, Italy – photo by valio84sl, bigstockphoto.com
Well, the singularity that people don’t realize, or most people don’t realize is that we are descendants of fungi. We were born from fungi 650 million years ago, fungi gave birth to animals.
~ Paul Stamets
Bioluminescent Fungi – photo by Noah Siegel (Amanita virosa), from wikipedia.com.jpg
We must have the courage to live with paradox. The strength to hold the tension of not knowing the answers and the willingness to listen to our inner wisdom and the inner wisdom of the planet which begs for change.
~ Maureen Murdock
Central Park Autumn – photo by Devadana Sanctuary
Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.
~ Hermann Hesse
Grand Teton National Park – photo by Terra Tirapelli
