Quotes about Awakening

Thank God our time is now
when wrong comes up to meet us everywhere
never to leave us till we take, the greatest stride of the soul
man ever took.
affairs are now soul size
the enterprise is exploration unto God.
Where are you making for?
It takes so many thousand years to wake.
But will you wake for pity's sake?

When we have many things within ourselves which are neither known nor accepted, then such things complicate our lives horrifyingly, and in fact provoke all sorts of situations which could be avoided through knowledge of ourselves.

Dreams come true when you wake up in them...

Do not be careless.  Pray as much as you can - more frequently and more fervantly.  Prod yourself - force yourself to do so, for the Kingdom of God is taken by force.  You will never attain it without forcing yourself.

Saint Innocent of Alaska

I stood in the midst of the world, and incarnate I appeared to
them. I found them all drunk, I found none among them athirst. And my soul was grieved for the sons of men, for they are blind in their hearts and do not see that empty they have come into the world and that empty they are destined to come forth again from the world. However, now they are drunk--when they have shaken off their wine, then shall they rethink. 

Do not seek fame. Do not make plans. Do not be absorbed by activities. Do not think that you know. Be aware of all that is and dwell in the infinite. Wander where there is no path. Be all that heaven gave you, but act as though you have received nothing. Be empty, that is all.

An hour reflecting on one's own non-existence is better than a year of religious devotions with the thought that one exists.

Human consciousness is now being drawn inexorably toward the same issues, the gaze of collective attention focused like never before.

The human drama is reaching its denouement. The great unveiling is approaching, a time when the power structures of the world begin to crumble and people of the heart sing out a new truth. Many voices are joining the chorus, many feet are walking the path, many minds are dreaming possibilities for a magnificent future. For beneath the crises that are looming at every level of civilization, the global heart is awakening, beating out the rhythm of a new and glorious dance, calling us to a better way of living.

In transmitting the dharma, there is neither explanation nor teaching; there is neighter hearing nor attainment. Since explanations never really explains, nor are they able to teach, why talk about it? Since listening isn't really hearing or attaining anything, then why listen? But say, since it cannot be explained or heard, how can you enter the Way?

But down the bagagge, take of the blinders, and see for yourself that this very place is the valley of the endless spring, this very body is the body of the universe. At such a time, who is it who can accompany this?

"He who follows properly the spiritual pathway begins to see in himself more and more sins, until finally he sees himself completely immersed in sin.  Through his spiritual eyes he perceives his leprous soul.  He feels with his whole heart that he is dirt and filth, that he is unworthy even to call out the name of God.  Like the publican, unable to raise his eyes, he cries out with pain of heart: 'God have mercy on me the sinner.'  When a person maintains his soul in such a spiritual state for a long time, he finally emerges from it absolved, like the publican."

Abbot Nikon

You cannot be present in an abstract way. Presence is not about disappearing into nothingness. You can only be present with something that is actually here.

If you can see it, hear it, feel it, taste it, touch it, or smell it, you can be present with it. It is of the present moment, and so it brings to you the opportunity to be present with it.

It is not until you awaken and become fully present that you will realize that you have not been present. It is not until you awaken that you will realize you have been asleep, dreaming that you are awake.

Listen!  God, Himself says, 'Call upon Me in the time of trouble so that I will hear thee and thou will praise Me'.  Afflictions confirm us in our faith, and teach us to set worldly glory at naught.  Believe firmly that no suffering or sorrow can visit us --- not a hair of our heads can fall --- with out God intending it.  Although we are always inclined to put down our misfortunes to the ill will or stupidity of other men, these are in reality, only tools in the hand of God; tools used to fashion our salvation.  Therefore take heart and pray to our Lord Who is always at work for our salvation, using to this end both what we call happiness and what we call sorrow.

You get lost because you think there is somewhere to go. If you give up believing in a goal or a destination, then you cannot get lost. In the present moment, there is no destination.

If you fully awaken, you will not know yourself. Understand this, and you will understand all.

Wanting others to love you, you give away your heart. Wanting others to see you, you give away your eyes.

The only way out is in.

Do not seek the answers. Let the answers find you.

But the adult is not the highest stage of development. The end of the cycle is that of the independent, clear-minded, all-seeing Child. That is the level known as wisdom. When the Tao te Ching and other wise books say things like, "Return to the beginning; become a child again" that's what they are referring to. Why do the enlightened seem filled with light and happiness like children? Why do they sometimes even look and talk like children? Because they are. The wise are Children Who Know. Their minds have been emptied of the countless minute somethings of small learning and filled with the great wisdom of the Great Nothing, the Way of the Universe.

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.

You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.

You're the only one who knows when you're using things to protect yourself and keep your ego together and when you're opening and letting things fall apart, letting the world come as it is - working with it rather than struggling against it. You're the only one who knows.

Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.

Before we can become who we really are, we must become conscious of the fact that the person who we think we are, here and now, is at best an impostor and a stranger.

The search is what everyone would undertake if he were not stuck in the everydayness of his own life. To be aware of the possibilities of the search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair.

Somewhere along the journey of remembering who we really are, we may find ourselves in a very uncomfortable space, a void in which we realize that we haven't totally let go of our old beliefs, and on the other hand we have yet to fully plug into the new truths we have discovered. This awkward "place of mind" can bring on an internal crisis of uncertainty, instability, confusion, frustration, and a most unspeakable despair as the "dark night" sets in and makes its presence felt.

Enlightenment is finding that there is nothing to find. Enlightenment is to come to know that there is nowhere to go. Enlightenment is the understanding that this is all, that this is perfect, that this is it. Enlightenment is not an achievement, it is an understanding that there is nothing to achieve, nowhere to go. You are already there -- you have never been away. You cannot be away from there. God has never been missed. Maybe you have forgotten, that's all. Maybe you have fallen asleep, that's all.

Listen to what your higher wisdom has to say about how you can deepen your participation in the global shift--through personal healing, changing your worldview, or finding ways to help others and the environment. This is how you can both heal yourself and help humanity. At their deepest level, the two are joined and ready to awaken to a new world.