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I like to experience the universe as one harmonious whole. Every cell has life. Matter, too, has life; it is energy solidified. The tree outside is life… The whole of nature is life… The basic laws of the universe are simple, but because our senses are limited, we can’t grasp them. There is a pattern in creation.
~ Albert Einstein
Spring Tulips – photo by sun ok, bigstockphoto.com
Anything that is considered spiritual or metaphysical is generally just the physics that we do not yet understand.
~ Nassim Haramein
Mysterious Forest, New Zealand – photo by DmitryP, bigstockphoto.com
You will learn a lot about yourself if you stretch in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery. Be a warrior for love.
~ Cheryl Strayed
Volcano Agung, Bali – photo by BaliPhotos, bigstockphoto.com
This world, in which we are born and take our being, is alive. It is not our supply house and sewer; it is our larger body. The intelligence that evolved us from stardust and interconnects us with all beings is sufficient for the healing of our Earth community, if we but align with that purpose. We are as intrinsic to our living world as the rivers and trees, woven of the same intricate flows of matter/energy and mind.
~ Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone
Geyser, Yellowstone National Park – photo by Virrage Images, bigstockphoto.com
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
Sunset, Retezat National Park, Romania – photo by Mikadun, bigstockphoto.com
Gratitude is like breathing in – letting ourselves be touched by the goodness in others and in our world. Generosity is like breathing out – sensing our mutual belonging and offering our care.
~ Tara Brach
Lotus Flowers – photo by photirung, bigstockphoto.com
Fungi made the world as we know it. As some of the first life forms on the planet, they consumed minerals locked in rocks, creating what we now know as soil. Without them, there would be no plants on land, and therefore, no animals. No us.
~ New York Times, “Unearthing the Secret Superpowers of Fungus”
Reshi Mushrooms, Borneo – photo by M51, bigstockphoto.com
Earth is not a platform for human life. It’s a living being. We’re not on it but a part of it. Its health is our health.
~ Thomas Moore
Sopoaga Falls, Samoa – photo by Misa Mazurkova, bigstockphoto.com
With a cosmology of a living universe, a shining miracle exists everywhere. There are no empty places in the world. Everywhere there is life, both visible and invisible. All of reality is infused with a vital presence and this creates a profound relatedness among all things.
~ Duane Elgin
Seascape, Norway – photo by Taiga, bigstockphoto.com
There is a world behind this world. The old cultures used to be in constant conversation with it through the sacred practices of storytelling, dreaming, ceremony, and song. They invited the Otherworld to visit them, to transmit its wisdom to them, so that they might be guided by an ancient momentum.
~ Toko-pa Turner
Elf Garden, Iceland – photo by Ragnhildur Jonsdottir
Sometimes, if I’m feeling woe is me, or woe is the world, I go outside. I find reason for hope. There are miracles all around us. You see little flowers popping up where it seems so unlikely. You can get so tangled up and so focused on things that surround us every day that you forget that life is a miracle.
~ Sylvia Earle
Flowers in Olive Grove, Sicily – photo by Leonid Tit, bigstockphoto.com
Dr. Beatrice Bruteau asks the right question: “How big is your we?” Can we expand our vision of community beyond our own skin, family, race, tribe, culture, country, and species? Spiritual life is more than what we believe, it also includes how we relate. Who is included in the we and who is not? That is both a spiritual and a political question. How we answer it will likely determine our future.
~ Jim Wallis
Spring Blossoms – photo by Kateryna Ovcharenko, 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 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.
~ Radha Sahar
Sunset, Mt. Tibrogargan, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia – photo by Martin Valigursky, bigstockphoto.com
We should never underestimate the power of kindness to positively affect our world. Simple kindness is a powerful spiritual force. If we had more of it in the world, we could transform society into a manifestation of compassion, and that would truly be a blessing!
~ David Spangler
Cosmos Flowers – photo by kamill, bigstockphoto.com
Seeing beyond our filters—our accumulated knowledge and beliefs—does not always come naturally. We have spent years growing attached to them in various degrees, and they feel safe. Whatever we become attached to can begin to shape our future experiences and limit our perception of what exists outside our vocabulary. Like blinders on a horse, our attached beliefs limit our vision, and this in turn limits our perceived direction in life. The stronger our level of attachment, the less we can see.
~ don Miguel Ruiz Jr
False Kiva and Milky Way, Canyonlands National Park, UT – photo by Kris Wiktor, bigstockphoto.com
