BEAUTY can be found in birth and also in dying. If we know how to live, we will also know how to die. Living in beauty means dying in beauty. The deepest way to be alive and the deepest way to die are the same -- doing so in harmony with everyone and everything, in the true spirit of interbeing. The moment we do this, ideas of self and nonself, life and death, vanish, and we experience joy, equanimity and non-fear.
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
Wisdom means "to see" or "to know". It does not mean knowing facts or having an opinion. Wisdom is uncovered by being present enough to perceive the essence of your whole experience. This wisdom will help you attend to what matters in your life and understand the meaning of your life's changes. The practice of moment-to-moment PRESENCE is key. Seeing essence; knowing wholeness.
Wisdom consists in doing the next thing you have to do, doing it with your whole heart and finding delight in doing it. And the DELIGHT is the sense of the sacred.
May you be blessed abundantly this summer season, dear friends! May you open your hearts to nurture your soul in silence each day; for WISDOM flows from the Heart of Divine Love to all who are receptive ... and the world is sorely in need of more Wisdom.
Little by little, from a deep level, the Spirit of Wisdom is showing herself. Sophia dwells in the hearts of those who seek new dreams and hope for a more wholesome world: the Dorothy Days, the Martin Luther Kings, the Archbishop Romeros ... [there are so many now!]. Sophia rejoices in the visionaries and the peace-makers. She fills them. In a world which is hungry, tired and seeking, God's presence is shown in Sophia through people who are to experience, in our insecure world, God's wholesome vision and dream for the human race, born of both the masculine and the feminine Holy Energies.
GREETINGS, dear friends! Have you thanked your angel recently? In our silences, may we ask to awaken to the angelic presences who protect and guide us throughout our lives, who delight in our conscious choice to learn to companion with them daily in the Service of Love.
When we call upon angels to be with us, we tap into an infinite resource of good will. It is as if we plug into the magnetic core of the earth to keep ourselves centered. Archangels represent the God-center of the universe; they draw nourishment from Its infinite supply. The only impediments to connecting with this energy are doubt and cynicism. If we can recognize these as they arise in our minds and find appropriate cubby holes in which to keep them in reserve for the times when they are useful, we can instantly benefit from the sense of angelic presence.
Angels show their love for God through their service of other creatures, just as we are enjoined to show our love for God by serving one another. Angels make God's goodness concrete, both in this life and in the life to come.
~ from THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE COMPLETE by George Maloney
