THE UNFOLDING SELF: VARIETIES OF TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE
Ralph Metzner
|
|
| 1 |
"We have an eye of contemplation, which sees with higher or spiritual light the ultimate reality of oneness."
|
|
| 2 |
"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)."
|
|
| 3 |
"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."
|
|
| 4 |
"The alchemists were concerned with nature as a living, divinely infused interrelated totality."
|
|
| 5 |
"The language of symbols is common human language. It is the language we still use and understand – in dreams, in poetry and art, in the visions and voices that tell us of the sacred and the mystery."
|
|
| 6 |
"Those who are asleep live each in a private world; those who are awake live in the one Great World." Herakleitos, ancient Greek sage
|
|
| 7 |
"As we penetrate into matter, nature does not show us any isolated building blocks, but rather appears as a complicated web of relations between the various parts of the whole." Fritjof Capra, 'The Tao of Physics'
|
|
| 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 |
"A mandala represents the whole, unified field of consciousness."
|
|
| 10 |
"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."
|
|
| 11 |
"The true origin, root, and source of our life is the One Spirit."
|
|
| 12 |
"From the many to the one, from duality to unity – the direction of growth and evolution is toward integration, toward oneness."
|
|
| 13 |
"We fulfill our destiny by exercising our free will."
|
|
| 14 |
"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."
|
|
| 15 |
"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'
|
|
| 16 |
"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.'"
|
|
| 17 |
"A ray of clear light travels throughout all creation."
|
|
| 18 |
"The eye or voice of conscience…is the eye of the Self within."
|
|
| 19 |
"The individual and the world are linked by a relationship of micro-macro-correspondence."
|
|
| 20 |
"The evolutionary transformation of society and of humanity must take place first in the individual, and the transformation of the individual requires a turning inward, toward self – not in narcissistic self-absorption but in aware self-confrontation."
|
|
| 21 |
"Divinity is the fire of life within every being."
|
|
| 22 |
"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."
|
|
| 23 |
"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'
|
|
| 24 |
"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."
|
|
| 25 |
"The mandala is the central symbol of individuation, integration, or wholeness. One could say that a key component of the transformation of vision in psychospiritual development is the perceiving of the visual field as a kind of mandala. American Indian vision seekers have reported that they see the 'circle of the Sky' touch the 'circle of the Earth', forming one great hoop…it is Buckminster Fuller's sphere of 'omnidirectional awareness', moving always with us."
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
