When we sit in silence and begin to focus our attention inwardly, the awareness of the self is strengthened and the spiritual dimensions of the soul are revealed. When we meditate or concentrate our energies on our BEINGNESS, we return to wholeness, the oneness of who we are -- our infinite self. When we meditate, the light of unconditional love is lit within us, and it continues to grow more and more with each meditation. The more we focus on this center, the more our feelings of unconditional love evolve, and, in turn, the more we transform every aspect of our lives, we influence everyone with whom we come in contact.
~ from TALKING TO HEAVEN by James Van Praage with thanks to Ralph Hagelburger
Among all the different arts, the art of music has been especially considered divine, because it is the exact miniature of the law working through the whole universe.
~ from THE MYSTICISM OF SOUND by Hazrat Inayat Khan
The former musician, Hazrat Inayat Khan gave up the practise of music "to tune souls instead of instruments, to harmonize people instead of notes ... Music, the word we use in our everyday language, is nothing less than the picture of our Beloved ... It is because music is the picture of our Beloved that we love music."
A shah of Persia used to sit up at night for vigils and prayers. A friend who was visiting wondered at his long meditations after the whole day's work. "It is too much," he said, "you do not need so much prayer."
"Do not say so," was the answer. "You do not know. For at night I pursue God, and during the day God follows me."
When I was in Italy, Mme. Montessori told me that besides all the activities she gives to children, she encourages them to keep silence; and after a little time, they like it so much that they prefer silence to their activity. And it interested me to see a little girl of about six years of age, when the time of silence came, went and closed the windows and door, and put away all the things that she was playing with. Then she came and sat in her little chair and closed her eyes, and she did not open them for about three or four minutes. It seemed she preferred those five minutes of silence to all the playing of the whole day.
