Inner stillness is perhaps our greatest ally. Gandhi once wrote that silence brings "the highest potency and is self-acting power." Prayer, meditation, reading scripture (which is, to me, alive with silence, embedded with sacred codes about our deepest mind) -- even quiet walks -- become healing acts. These quiet the world's noises and provide clues about who we are and our healthiest directions.
~ from TO BUILD THE LIFE YOU WANT, CREATE THE WORK YOU LOVE by Marsha Sinetar
There is a Wisdom that arises--sometimes gracefully, sometimes gently, sometimes awkwardly, sometimes fiercely, but it will arise to save us if we let it, and it rises from WITHIN us, like the force that drives green shoots to break the winter ground, it will arise and drive us into a great blossoming like a pear tree, into flowering, into fragrance, fruit and song ... in that part of ourselves that can never be defiled, defeated or destroyed, but that comes back to life, time and time again, that lives--always--that does not die.
Wisdom is the art of balancing the known with the unknown, the suffering with the joy; it is a way of linking the whole of life together in a new and deeper unity ... Wisdom is the art of living in rhythm with your soul, your life, and the divine.
There came upon me an overshadowing bright cloud, and in the midst of it a Figure of a Woman, most richly adorned with transparent gold, her hair hanging down, and her face as terrible as crystal for brightness, but her countenance was sweet and mild. At this sight I was somewhat amazed, but immediately a Voice came saying, "Behold, I am God's eternal Virgin, Wisdom, whom thou hast been enquiring after. I am to unseal the Treasures of God's deep wisdom unto thee."
Wisdom is a living stream, not an icon preserved in a museum. Only when we find the spring of wisdom in our own life can it flow to future generations.
What is my word, what is human wisdom but a noise that reaches the outer ear? But from that ear to the heart lies a road that only God can travel. Blessed are you who do not put your trust in the noise of your own words, even though they come wrapped in great human wisdom.
In the pouring forth of wisdom all things have their being; wisdom in my shining, wisdom beyond me shining. All things are branches of the Tree of wisdom wisdom in me growing, wisdom beyond me growing. In the circle of being all things share a blessing; wisdom in me turning, wisdom beyond me turning.
Wisdom replaces ignorance in our minds when we realize that happiness does not lie in the accumulation of more and more pleasant feelings, that gratifying craving does not bring us a feeling of wholeness or completion. It simply leads to more craving and more aversion. When we realize in our own experience that happiness comes not from reaching out but from letting go, not from seeking pleasurable experience but from opening up in the moment to what is true, this transformation of understanding then frees the energy of compassion within us. Our minds are no longer bound up in pushing away pain or holding on to pleasure. Compassion becomes the natural response of an open heart.
~ SEEKING THE HEART OF WISDOM by Joseph Goldstein & Jack Kornfield
Innocence is precious and powerful: not to be confused with ignorance, it is a Divine protection against the negative forces of life. We grow wise by stages and often a whole lifetime of experience is necessary to gain wisdom. "Wisdom is glorious," said Solomon, "and never fadeth away."
~ from THE VOICE OF SILENCE by Oonagh Shanley-Toffolo
