“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. Our hope for creative living lies in our ability to reestablish the spiritual needs of our lives in personal character and social justice. Without this spiritual and moral reawakening we shall destroy ourselves in the misuse of our own instruments.”
–Rev. Martin Luther King Jr
In these times such as these, when we are told and in some cases warned by some leaders in power to not to publicly voice or raise concerns regarding circumstances at play in our world, it is more important than ever to know when to find the courage and caring we need to take a stand, let our voices be heard, and encourage others to do the same.
“We appeal to all the inhabitants of this planet. Each cannot be changed for the better unless the consciousness of individuals is changed. We pledge to work for such transformation in individual and collective consciousness, for the awakening of our spiritual powers through reflection, meditation, prayer, or positive thinking, for a conversion of the heart. Together we can move mountains. Without a willingness of taking risks and a readiness to sacrifice there can be no fundamental change in our situation. Therefore we commit ourselves to a common global ethic, to better mutual understanding, and to socially beneficial, peace-fostering, and Earth-friendly ways of life.”
From “Toward a Global Ethic”, an interfaith declaration signed by over 200 delegates of the 1993 Parliament of World’s Religions.
“One of the lessons I learned and something that I use a lot now is how to survive a storm. I nearly died up there, in the worst winter storms recorded in the history of California. The trees taught me that the way to make it through the storms (and the storms of life) is to stay rooted and centered but not rigid. The trees and branches that try too hard to stand strong and straight are the ones that break. The only ones that make it through are the ones that know to bend and flow and let go. So, I’ve been using that now in my life. I use it when I’m being barraged…I just bend and flow when I see the wind coming; I loosen up and get ready to get blown, and then I kind of flex back into place. And I’m ready to get up the next morning and do it all over again.”
— Excerpted from “Global Uprising: Confronting the Tyrannies of the 21st Century” ed. Welton and Worlf See info at (newsociety.com). Watch also for a documentary about her titled “Butterfly.”
“But how are you supposed to be unafraid when you only rarely reach your sanctuary get trapped outside in life rising up, and knock yourself numb against its obstacles? This is why I long so impatiently to get to work, to begin my workday, because life can become art only once it has become work. I know I cannot extricate my life from the fates with which it has grown intertwined, but I have to find the strength to lift life in its entireity, exactly the way it is and including everything, into calmness, into solitude, into the quiet of profound labor.”
– Rilke
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe in anything because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers or elders.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live to it.”
– The Buddha, in the Kalama Sutra
