respite-in-god

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It has been years since I last prayed. How angry is He at me?

he only misses hearing from you

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it literally all starts with forgiving yourself there’s no way around it

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HOW TO GET RID OF DOUBT, UNCERTAINTY & DEPRESSION:

TAKE THOSE DEPRESSING THOUGHTS BACK TO ITS SOURCE & THEY DIE OF INACTION; TEAR EVERYTHING AWAY UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING BUT THE SOURCE LEFT, LIVE ONLY IN THIS MOMENT OF NOW (AWARENESS) ~

'Doubt or uncertainty is for the mind or intellect and has no place in that perfection of realisation.

Pride of learning and desire for appreciation are condemned, not for the learning itself. Education and learning lead to the search for truth; and humility is good.

'Devotee : Then is all our intellectual progress worth nothing?

Maharshi: Whose intellect is progressing? Find out.

Devotee : What are the hindrances to the realisation of Reality?

Maharshi: Memory, chiefly, habits of thought and accumulated tendencies.

Devotee : How to get rid of these hindrances?

Maharshi : Find out the Self through meditation in this manner. Trace every thought back to its origin which is the mind; never allow thought to go on, if it does, it will be unending; take it back to its source which is mind, and they (thoughts and mind) will die of inaction, for the mind only exists by thought, take away thought and there is no mind. As each doubt and depression arises ask yourself, "Who is it that doubts? Who is it that is depressed?" Tear everything away until there is nothing but the source left. Live only in the present (this one moment).

Devotee: How can I progress?

Maharshi: Why go on pruning the ego? That is just what it wants - to be the centre of attraction!'

Talks with Sri Ramana

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forgive the version of you that didn’t know any better

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Source details and larger version.

Here are collected the best lions I’ve encountered in my research to date.

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"If you want to really experience a kind of internal freedom where you're connected but not dependent, you have to give the entire world —meaning every single human being in the entire world-you have to give them the freedom to be exactly as they are, think exactly what they think, judge you exactly the way they will. You have to release the whole universe to be what it is. And guess what? You're releasing it from you."

~ Adyashanti

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It's understandable to feel dread about the sheer amount of misinformation going around at light speed, and that it feels like everyone is living in their own separate universes, or "phantasms;" sets of beliefs that shape their reality. And that maybe, maybe-- if we tackle the lies and try to get as many people as possible on the same page about what's true and what's not, and we just explain more and better, more and better, we can find some sort of stability and trust.

But due to the human condition, it's impossible for one person to have all the facts, much less everybody to have them. But being Right and Correct about facts is not what actually matters. Is astrology real? Did Bush do 9/11? Whose religion is "correct?" Will crypto change the world? Are there hidden messages in Beatles songs? Are we descended from apes or aliens?

None of it matters.

The only thing that DOES matter towards guiding every decision is: Does it come from love, or not?

Who cares if Jesus was divinely born, or even a real person. Do his teachings reflect love? That's all that matters. Are you acting out of love when you follow his word, or Muhammad's word, or Optimus Prime's word, or your own word? That's all that matters.

The sticking point is when we can't distinguish what's love and what's not. In order to do that, we need to learn that we only WANT love, and nothing else. If we still think anything else might make us happy-- attack, judgement, feeling superior, material gain, and all other expressions of fear -- then we are vulnerable to making misguided decisions.

A rule of thumb to determine if something is based in love is this: Love is about Oneness, and only separate things can attack and hate each other. Love refutes the illusion of separation and asserts there is only One, and is therefore incapable of attack, because it would only ever attack itself. For example, helping others with nothing expected in return is an act of love because it reaffirms that we are One, and to help one part is to help the whole. Any actions that do not align with Oneness are not based in love, and will lead to fear and loss of peace, guaranteed.

Be aware of your own motivations, and don't bother fighting with people over what meaningless belief is more true than another meaningless belief. Only love can lead to peace of mind and clarity, no matter what form it comes in.

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But when you come before God, all your knowledge and all your beauty amount to nothing, all the values that count in the world are nothing.

-Carl Jung, Visions

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I am so forgiving. None of these other stupid unrepentant bitches could be as gracious as me.

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When a bell is struck it rings, when a drum is beaten it resounds. This is because they are solid outside and empty within. It is because they have nothing inside that they are able to ring and resound.

What I realize as I observe this, is the Tao of true emptiness and ineffable existence.

True emptiness is like the inner openness of a bell or a drum; ineffable existence is like the sounding of a bell or a drum when struck. If people can keep this true emptiness as their essence, and utilize this ineffable existence as their function, ever serene yet ever responsive, ever responsive yet ever serene, tranquil and unstirring yet sensitive and effective, sensitive and effective yet tranquil and unstirring, empty yet not empty, not empty yet empty, aware and efficient, lively and active, refining everything in the great furnace of Creation, then when the dirt is gone the mirror is clear, when the clouds disperse the moon appears; revealing the indestructible body of reality, they transcend yin and yang and Creation, and merge with the eternity of space.

Liu Yiming

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“The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.”

— Dorothy Day

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God, Father, I ask, in these times of chaos, let people rediscover your Love. Let them find you. Let those who can help, help, and grant them protection as they do.

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Since all is empty, all is possible.

Just as it is known

That an image of one's face is seen Depending on a mirror

But does not really exist as a face, So the conception of "|" exists Dependent on mind and body, But like the image of a face

The "I" does not at all exist as its own reality.

All philosophies are mental fabrications. There has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things.

I am not, I will not be.

I have not, I will not have.

This frightens all children, And kills fear in the wise.

The victorious ones have said

That emptiness is the relinquishing of all views.

For whomever emptiness is a view, That one has achieved nothing.

The whole world is cause and effect; excluding this, there is no sentient being. from factors which are empty, empty factors originate; those who impute origination to even very subtle entities are unwise and have not seen the meaning of conditioned origination; there is nothing to be denied and nothing to be affirmed. see the real correctly, for he who sees the real correctly is released.

Whatever is dependently co-arisen

That is explained to be emptiness.

That, being a dependent designation

Is itself the Middle Way.

Nagarjuna, Excerpts from The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika and Verse Four of Heart of the Middle Way

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Give others a chance to give YOU a chance.

We commonly bemoan when people seem to judge us badly on first impression, and we say, "They didn't even give me a chance!" But did you meet them already doubting they would give you a chance? In which case, you assumed hostility of them first, and thus did not give THEM a chance to show otherwise. This is projection. You receive what you give: Extend trust to receive it. If you don't know what you've been asking for, just observe what you've been given: Conflict or peace? The choice is simple

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Gratitude is such a powerful emotion... No wonder the ego tries to suppress it so forcefully. A teeny grain of gratitude fills up the entire sky the instant it's welcomed into your mind. Sources of gratitude can never be depleted, and recognizing this, gratitude becomes an indestructible force: All your possessions can be stolen and lost but nothing can take your gratitude from you, if you choose. Let your thoughts become a constant hum of gratefulness, blessing everything you see.

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resacralization — the process of restoring spiritual meaning or reviving religion in various areas of life and thought. sometimes described as the alter ego of secularization