THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
Annie Besant
The author demonstrates that the spiritual path is primarily a matter of devotion to love of humanity, coupled with a realization that the Divine One is present everywhere.
|
|
1 |
"There is but one life, without beginning and without ending."
|
|
2 |
"According to an old Eastern book, 'the man who sees the One Self in everything, and all things in the Self, he sees, verily, he sees.' All else is blindness. The sense of separation, while necessary for evolution, is fundamentally a mistake. The separateness is only like the branch that grows out of a trunk, the unity of the life of the tree passes into every branch and makes them all a oneness."
|
|
3 |
"God is always an artist. There is nothing, however small, no animal seen only in the microscope that is not perfect in its beauty. The more closely you examine it, the more exquisite does it become. With minute diatoms that you can only see through the microscope, every minute shell is sculptured with patterns geometrically perfect – for whom? For the satisfaction of that sense of perfection, which is one of the divine elements in God and humans alike."
|
|
4 |
"The beatific vision is the sight of the one life in everything, and all things as expressions of that life."
|
|
5 |
"Be glad in the darkness as well as in the light, by the sure faith in – though not yet the vision of – that Flame which burns ever within, That from the light of which we can never be separated, for it is in truth our very Self."
|
|
6 |
"All Nature is one. The expression of the one Divine Will is Nature."
|
|
7 |
"If God is all-pervading and everywhere, Divinity must be in the marketplace as much as in the desert, in the bank as much as in the jungle, in the court of law as much as in the solitary mountain."
|
|
8 |
"The world is the thought of God, the expression of the Divine Mind."
|
|
9 |
"The very heart of the universe is love."
|
|
10 |
"Whether we read the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, or the New Testament, we find ourselves in exactly the same atmosphere as regards the meaning and nature of the spiritual life: it is that which knows the oneness."
|
|
11 |
"The way to tread the Path that leads to the Place of Peace is to endeavor to identify our consciousness with the True Self, to see as it sees, to judge as it judges."
|
|
12 |
"The many are but rays of the One, manifested centers of consciousness, channels of the One, each in its own measure."
|
|
13 |
"No effort for human good is wasted, no good work fails. The form in which the work is embodied may crumble, but the life remains."
|
|
14 |
"While the consciousness identifies itself with forms, it appears to be multiple; when it identifies itself as life, it stands forth as one."
|
|
15 |
"As we think, thoughts go out to mold the thoughts and lives of others. As we think thoughts of love and gentleness, the whole reservoir of love in the world is filled to overflowing. As we contribute to this, so we contribute to forming public opinion that molds humanity's ideas more than we dream. Everyone has a share in this."
|
|
16 |
"We are brothers and sisters in our bodies by the interactions of physical molecules. We are brothers and sisters in our minds by that interaction of mental images and mental pictures with which every one of us is constantly affecting others. We are brothers and sisters in our spirits, above all."
|
|
17 |
"All of us, if we only think of it, are at work to carve our own life into a perfect image, the image of the Divine manifest in humanity."
|
|
18 |
"Expansion of consciousness is the hallmark of human evolution. As consciousness expands, taking more and more within its limits, humankind thus rising will increase in power, wisdom and love."
|
|
19 |
"Only as we serve and love those around us will the eyes of the Spirit begin to open."
|
|
20 |
"The basis of all emotions on the side of progress is love, and this is the power we must cultivate."
|
|
21 |
"Humans, as well as all other parts of the universe, live and move and have their being in the One."
|
|
22 |
"Our essential nature is divine, and the effort to realize it helps its growth and manifestation. Pure, passionless, peaceful, it is 'the Star that shines within,' and that Star is our Self."
|
|
23 |
"Out of the One Eternal Source of Life – the Self of all – come the various sparks that are spiritual Intelligences in every grade of evolution."
|
|
24 |
"As salt in water, as butter in milk, the One Life is in all, invisible to the eye but immanent in everything."
|
|
25 |
"There is no separateness in the universe, but only the appearance of separation. The One without a second who alone exists, who is the one Reality, THAT is the Self of each, the One Life."
|
|
|
Randomize this reference |
New random category
Add a comment
Reference and bibliography |
All quotes, by category
We are gathering together the primary insights of spirituality and bringing them together into one place.
This archive contains 11,754 quotes, taken from 635 references,
organized in terms of 39 primary categories. Quotes are randomized and appear in a different way at every click.
Explore the navigation options to review these insights.
We include
- All major spiritual and religious traditions, from all cultures, and all historical epochs
- Major psychologists, philosophers, writers, scholars and leading religious personalities
- Sources in classical religion as well as voices from new consciousness, esotericism and mysticism
- Choices are guided by the spirit of oneness, love, kindness, inclusion and community
|
|
|