THE UNFOLDING SELF: VARIETIES OF TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE
Ralph Metzner
|
|
| 1 |
"A mandala represents the whole, unified field of consciousness."
|
|
| 2 |
"Those who are asleep live each in a private world; those who are awake live in the one Great World." Herakleitos, ancient Greek sage
|
|
| 3 |
"Pilgrimages by groups of people to holy places – whether Chaucer's rowdy band of travelers on the road to Canterbury, devout Christian monks on the way to Jerusalem, or Muslim caravans on the road to Mecca – all share the same purpose: travelers seeking God, seeking to find the Self."
|
|
| 4 |
"I live my life in growing orbits, which move out over the things of the world…I am circling around God, around the ancient tower, and I have been circling for a thousand years." Rainer Maria Rilke, 'Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke'
|
|
| 5 |
"By going to my center, my central axis, I can experience the central axis, pole, or pillar of the world – the cosmic hub, the navel of the world (omphalos)."
|
|
| 6 |
"Ancient sacred texts refer to the intelligence of the heart, the eye of the heart. This is the heart center, where we see with the feeling light of love."
|
|
| 7 |
"We fulfill our destiny by exercising our free will."
|
|
| 8 |
"Each human being is, in essence, a divine spirit of pure light. This light can come 'down' or 'through', into mind and body, into outward expression and manifestation."
|
|
| 9 |
"Humanity is truly at an evolutionary choice point: we know in our hearts that either we are going to have to grow up very fast, change ourselves in radical ways, or we will destroy major portions of the biosphere and perhaps ourselves as well. We have a desperate need for greater awareness of our own inner dynamics and processes if we are going to survive the present global crisis."
|
|
| 10 |
"We may transcend a sense of separateness by meditating on the perception of oneness."
|
|
| 11 |
"Whether we speak of union with God or with the Tao, of cosmic consciousness or of wholeness, there is a common core here in all of us. We are one in this – further, we are interconnected with the natural world and the cosmos in which we live."
|
|
| 12 |
"The Inner Self abides always in the heart…One should draw him out, as one may the wind from the reed. Him one should know as the pure, the immortal." Katha Upanishad
|
|
| 13 |
"Archetypal images are found in virtually all cultures and during all ages, thus representing a kind of universal language."
|
|
| 14 |
"Divinity is the fire of life within every being."
|
|
| 15 |
"With some variations in language and emphasis, the essential human process of evolutionary growth is described in similar terms in all major cultures and sacred traditions the world over."
|
|
| 16 |
"Evolution, or order of process, is more than just a paradigm for the biological domain; it is a view of how a totality that hangs together in all of its interactive processes moves. This dynamic totality spans a vast spectrum from the subatomic processes to social and further on to noetic (mental and psychic) processes." Erich Jantsch, 'Evolution and Consciousness: Human Systems in Transition'
|
|
| 17 |
"Modern scientists have concluded that all phenomena are interrelated in complex networks of energy transformation. Teilhard deChardin's concept of the noosphere, a network of thought ecompassing the planet, is one such idea. The notion of networks of individuals who share a common interest and provide information and support to one another has enormous potential for furthering individual and social transformation."
|
|
| 18 |
"God stands in the same relationship to the universe as Self stands to the body and personality…in the words of one of the aphorisms of the Gurdjieff student A. R. Orage; 'God is the I of the universe.'"
|
|
| 19 |
"The alchemists were concerned with nature as a living, divinely infused interrelated totality."
|
|
| 20 |
"The true origin, root, and source of our life is the One Spirit."
|
|
| 21 |
"We are not the victims or the effects of uncontrollable external circumstances: the journey of transformation is within us. Therefore, we choose the destination."
|
|
| 22 |
"The tree of life symbolizes the interdimensional central axis, with its energy centers and branching channels, that is our connection with the realms of spirit and hence immortal life."
|
|
| 23 |
"The human psyche is purified, transformed and loved by the fire of God, with which it becomes increasingly unified."
|
|
| 24 |
"The atom is, in many ways, seen to behave as much like a wave as a particle. It can perhaps best be regarded as a poorly defined cloud, dependednt for its particular form on the whole environment, including the observing instrument…Both observer and observed are merging and interpenetrating aspects of one whole reality, which is indivisible." Fritjof Capra, 'The Tao of Physics'
|
|
| 25 |
"The individual and the world are linked by a relationship of micro-macro-correspondence."
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
