Issac of Nineveh

In this passage i think my favorite quote would have to be,

"When we trust God with our whole heart, we don't fill our prayers with 'Give me this' or 'Take this from me.' We don't even think of ourselves when we pray."

If i think about the things that i pray about daily i know i truly ask alot from God. This makes a good point that if you trust God with your whole heart it would not be necessary to ask him for all that we do, or having him fix things that are broken.

Also, i really like the part about the truly humble man. " A truly humble man has no desire to be known or admired by others, but wishes to plunge from himself into himself, to become nothing, as if he had never been born."

Bakhya Ibn Pakuda

"The theory is simple; but the practice is difficult; then the practice itself becomes simple."

Stephen Mitchell has a great intro to this passage. I have always wanted to learn to play the piano. When watching my uncle play it just seems so effortless. It is the same with other talents whether it is sports, playing an insterment or just a hobby.

"The Master makes everything seem easy; but she has put an immense effort into achieving this effortlessness. "

Hugh Of St. Victor

The entire time i was reading this passage the one line that stuck in my head was,

"in spiritual matters, when something is called 'the highest,' this doesn't mean that it is located about the top of the heavens, but rather that it is the inmost or most intimate of all.  Thus, to ascent to god is to enter oneself..."  

So i read this part a few times and the whole time i kept thinking of the song we used to always sing in church growing up, "Glory to God In the Highest."  it all made sense to me now i was always thinking that we were singing that he was the most high like in heaven...haha not at all.  i was wrong just thought i would share that point.  i get it now. 

Symeon The New Theologian

In this passage from Symeon the New Theologian it had some similar points from when we where studying Buddhism.  On of the teachings was always to have a clear mind in order to reach enlightenment.  "Our mind is pure and simple.  When it is emptied of thought, it enters the pure and simple light of God,  and finds nothing but the light."  In the class presentations today someone was talking about the mandalas which we discussed was, in some form,  incorporated  in most every religion.  These are intended if i remember correctly to help clear your mind.  So this passage relates to many religions in that case.  Emptying or clearing your mind is something to strive to achieve.  A pure mind is able to reach God.  

Abu Sa'Id Ibn Alb'l- Khayr

I really liked the quote in this passage, "You are freed from your own desires when God frees you."  This reminds me of our lectures when we talked about desires when they are no longer needed then you can have them.  This passage also i was having a hard time with.  Today is just not a blogging kind of day.  My mind is wondering and i cant seem to put anything into words.

Huang-Po

Today i am having a really hard time with all of these passages.  I have read them all a few times and i just cant seem to find anything that i want to blog on The one part i really enjoyed in the passage by Huang-Po was, "When you prevent the rise of conceptual thinking, you will be a free man, and this just means you will realize that the Buddha has always existed in your own mind." I think that i enjoyed that part because he talks about how Buddha has always existed in your own mind.  You just need to drop all the extras and become a free man to recognized Buddha.  

Albert Einstein

Parts of this passage were not fully clear to me. But i think my favorite part would have to me the ending where he says, "Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature." I think that this is a lesson that every religion has in common. If you look up the definition of compassion is says, " sympathy for the suffering of others, often including a desire to help." This is incorperated somehow in almost every religion we have studied. The desire to help others that are less fortunate than ourselves. My point is that every religon, in some form or another, has this same message about compassion and helping.

Novalis

This is another passage where the simplicity of it caught my attention. I thing one of my favorite quotes in this passage is the last one, "When you understand how to love one thing-then you also understand how to best love everything." I agree with this quote completely. When you finally understand how to love yourself only then can you love the world around you. Another quote that i really liked in this passage was, "We are close to waking up when we dream that we are dreaming." This just reminds me of those nights when you have a long dream and when you start to wake up your dream becomes less real and more like a dream. Then you wake up and realize that you were dreaming.

Maximus of Tyre

"God himself, the father and fashioner of all that is, older that the sun or the sky, greater than time and eternity and all the flow of being, is unnamable by and lawgiver, Unutterable by and voice, not to be seen by an eye." What i got from this passage is that everyone has their own view on who God is. Nobody can tell you who God is it is your own belief or interpretation. We all worship and celebrate God in different ways. Nobody is right or wrong. We all pass judgement on each others religion or beliefs which we shouldn't do. Everyone has their own image of God.

Heraclitus

I decided to write about Heraclitus because i love the simplicity of it. Some of my favorite lines are:
"The sun is new every day." Which i took as everyday you start fresh leave the past in the past and enjoy each new day for what it could be.
"You can't step twice into the same river." This one was a little less clear be i interpreted it as is that you can't make the same mistake twice, or have the same experience twice. You learn from you mistakes and after you have experienced something once you can never experience it for the first time again.
"To men, some things are good and some are bad. But to God, all things are good and beautiful and just." To me this one is quite clear God does not view things as good and bad as we do everything is meant to be, or a learning experience.

Dhu'l-nun Al-misri

I think that this passage had some of my favorite messages. My favorite would have to be, "If anyone joins you in my name, show friendship; if he goes astray, search for him." I think that this shows the bond between people who share the same beliefs as brothers and sisters. Just like in my church everyone who joins you at mass and prays with you i believe shares a strong connection.
Another part i really found interesting was about the saints. "The saints are those whom God has invested with the radiance of his love and aborned with the mantle of his grace; he set the crown of his joy upon their heads, and he put love for them into the hearts of his creatures." I dont know why i love that so much. I just do.

Muhammad

In Muhammad's passage I could definatly see the relationships between Islam and Christianity. One of the parts that stands out to me is how he talks about the kingdom of heaven which was Jesus's main message. He also talks about the earth being created in six days which is what Christians also believe. In class we talked about how Muhammad believed in both Christian and Jewish tradition. This passage truly shows this.
"Whoever knows himself knows God." This is one of my favorite lines in this passage and it brings me back to other religions that we have studied. You can not truly know God unless you know who you are first.
"Do not despise the world, for the world too is God." To me this means that despising the world is despising not only God but all that he created. Over all i think that Muhammad had some wonderful messages to share.

The Gospel of Thomas

"Jesus said, 'If your teachers say to you, 'Look, the kingdom is in heaven,' then the birds will get there before you. But the kingdom is inside you, and it is ourside you. If you know yourselves, then you will be known; and you will know that you are the sons of the living Father." I didn't really understand this until class today. What Jesus is saying is that if you look to the sky and think of heaven the idea is harder to grasp. The kingdom is inside you and outside you. You can't say the kingdom of god or the kingdom of heaven is there because it is everywhere.

Jesus of Nazareth

In the passage from Jesus of Nazareth i loved the part where he talks about, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you , so that you may be children of your father in heaven: for he makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and to the unjust." I think i like this part because i believe that God puts these obstacles infront of us like people mistreating us or doing harm to us because it makes us stronger. Forgiveness and love, especially to those who do us harm is one of the hardest lessons to learn. If you can do these things "you may be children of your father in heaven.
I also love the part where Jesus says "Ask, and it will bwe given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, recieves; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

Pai-Chang

I love this because it is really short and sweet. Alot of these blogs have alot of extra stuff packed in them that confuses the heck out of me and is really hard to understand. Not this one. This talks about how enlightenment doesnt change the person that you are it just makes you life simpler. Enlightenment lets go of unreality and delusion and when you have it hold on to it because your life will be much better and simpler when you have reached enlightenment. But basically i think the point of this passage is that enlightenment doesnt change you it just betters you.

Hui-Hai

I think this was my favorite reading of this section. I think my favorite part is when he quoted Ma-tzu, "Your own tresure house already contains everything you need. Why don't you use it freely, instead of chasing after something outside yourself?" I love this because he talks to the monks about just being men unattached to all things. He ask the monks instead of trying so hard to have an empty mind and reaching enlightenment, just live life. To me he is saying that you dont have to spend your life trying to reach these impossable things you can just live your life and have your faith without devoting all aspects of your life to finding enlightenment.
Also i like the part where he says, "All you have to do is look into your own mind; then the marvelous reality will manifest itself at all times...Don't search at all. In otherwords, is that stop looking for what you already have, what is already inside your own mind.

Shunryu Suzuki

"Our 'original mind' includes everything within itself. It is always rich and sufficient within itself. You should not lose your self-sufficient state of mind. This does not mean a closed mind, but actually and empty mind and a ready mind. If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few." Wow... i love this. I love how it talks about how to have a clear and ready mind not a closed mind. Its true if your mind is empty or not filled with worries or bad thoughts or any thoughts for that matter it is ready and open to everything. Thats how you really learn and experience things. I also really like how it talks about how there are many possibilities for a beginner's mind.

The Buddha

I might just have to say that this was my passage was my favorite of all so far. "As a mother at the risk of her life watches over her only child, so let everyone cultivate a boundlessly compassionate mind toward all beings. I love this. This i believe sends the message of loving everyone the same even strangers. To me this sends kind of the same message as in last weeks blogs of Schmelke of Nicholsburg. The part about "Love your neighbor like something which you yourself are. For all souls are one." These two parts where very similar to me and i love the message that they put out.

Also i love the part about when you realize that something is bad for you give it up and when something is good for you do it. It just makes sense. Why do we continue to do things that dont make us happy. If we just stuck with the stuff that were good for us life would be alot better and simpler wouldnt it?

Philo

I dont really know what to say about this. I really enjoyed it because it was very positive and uplifting. I really agreed witht the message that was projected in this passage. What i got from it is God takes something ordinary or lifeless and turns it into something beautiful and perfect. To me this just talks about how God sees beauty in all things. My favorite part of this was definatly that "God loves to give, and freely bestows good things on all people, even the imperfect, inviting them to participate in virture and to love it..." This was just a very positive and optamistic way to look at the world and all Gods gifts that we take for granted and i really left this reading with a smile on my face.

Shmelke of Nikolsburg

The Shmelke of Nikolsburg i thought what a really great passage. It goes over one of the first lessons that you learn as a child. When we are kids we are always told to treat others how you would want them to treat you and i believe that that goes hand in hand with the message in this passage. "Love your neighbor like something which you yourself are. For all souls are one. To me this means that the mistakes people make or hurt that people may cause you, you yourself may have done the same in the past. I really like the part where it talkes about if your hand makes a mistake do you punish it but then you just cause yourself more pain. Which i think means instead of just moving on from the pain people just make it worse by trying to make it better. I really enjoyed this passage alot.

Ramana Maharshi

I loved the part about being happy. "If the mind is happy, not only the body but the whole world will be happy. So one must find out how to become happy oneself. Wanting to reform the world without discovering one's true self is like trying to cover the whole world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes." I think what the first part of this quote is about is that you cannot make anyone else happy if you yourself are not happy first. This makes perfect sense and i love it. Life is what you make it if you are happy life will be a happier place. The part about covering the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking i could not help but laugh. Because we make things so much more complex than they need to be. Just wear shoes!!!

The Upanishads

I really enjoyed this reading alot it definatly made me think. At the beginning i was extremely confused. As i kept reading it began to come together. I think the whole reading was about how God is everywhere and in everyone. God is in every aspect of your life even in thought. I really like the line, " Those who realize that God cannot be known, truly know; those who claim that they know, know nothing. The ignorant think that God can be grasped by the mind; the wise know It beyond knowledge." God cannot be known. He can not be seen, or touched but he is there. This is the point i believe The Upanishads are trying to get across. "If you think that you know God, you know very little."

Chief Seattle

When reading Chief Seattle's speech i couldn't even imagin being in his shoes. He talks about how how once his "people covered this land like a flood-tide moving with the wind across the shell-littered flats. But that time is gone, and with it the greatness of tribes now almost forgotten." Wow... He also talks about how God has forgotten about his red children and leads his white children like a father leading this son. Not only is he talking about losing his land and being forgotten by the white people but also by God. How lonely that must have felt and then been asked to take a deal to only live on a designated part of the land where the white people tell them to go. I think that something that really stood out to me was that he was accepting of the deal with only one condition. "We will never be denied the right to visit, at any time, the graves of our fathers and our friends." That line is what really hit home for me. He talks about how his people love the land and will not leave when they pass on but stay around. I really liked the messages that Chief Seattle sent in his speech but I couldnt help but feel sad for him and his people.

Sa-go-ye-wat-ha

“We are told that your religion was given to your forefathers and has been handed down, father to son. We also have a religion which was given to our forefathers and has been handed down to us, their children.” When reading Sa-go-ye-wat-ha’s speech these two lines really stuck in my mind. This really is true, we believe what our parents and grandparents have passed down to us whether others believe its true of false it does not matter. Nobody should be pushed into a religion or belief because you believe it is true of because someone tells them that their religion is untrue. What makes Sa-go-ye-wat-ha’s religion any less accurate than the missionary’s or mine. People like this Christian minister are who push people away from religion not draw people in. Sa-go-ye-wat-ha tells the Christian minister at the end of his speech, “We do not want to destroy your religion or take it from you. We only want to enjoy our own.”
I really enjoyed Sa-go-ye-wat-ha’s speech. It really gets me excited and ready for this class and all that we will learn and discuss.