Nature

“The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies.”

Baha’i Faith

What’s Funny? What it says about You.

“Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.”  Goethe

Belief in God & Happiness

“He who does not worship God cannot be happy even in this world.  What, then, can he expect from any other?”  Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita

The Most Important Law

According to Jesus:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Fame

“Fame is proof that people are gullible.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

For God’s Sake

“A man with a terrible voice was reciting the Qu’ran.  A religious man who was passing by said: ‘What is your salary?’

‘Nothing,’ the reciter said.

‘Why do you then give yourself all this trouble?’

‘No trouble.  I do it for God’s sake.’

‘For God’s sake don’t do it!’   from Sa’di

Wisdom

“To neglect wisdom will lead to failure in life.  The teachings of all religions should center here, for without wisdom there is no reason.  This truth is not for the hermit alone; it concerns every human being, priest and layman alike.”  Buddha

Thus spoke Zoroaster

“In the Name of God.  I praise good thoughts, good words, and good deeds and those that are to be thought, spoken, and done. I do accept all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. I do renounce all evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.”  Zoroaster, Avesta 1:4

What Remains?

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overchanged with surfeiting (indulgence of the appetite or senses), and drunkeness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” Jesus, g. St. Luke

Solitude

“It is when a man is alone, away from the influence of other men and their acts, that he can work on himself.  It is in solitude that he must correct his thoughts, driving out the bad and stimulating the good.”  Leo Tolstoy

Oneness of the Soul

“Know ye why We have created you all from the same dust?  That no one should exalt himself over the other.  Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created.  Since we have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest Such is My cousel to you, O concourse of light!  Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.” from the scriptures of the Baha’i Faith

A Serene Spirit

“A serene spirit accepts pleasure and pain with an even mind, and is unmoved by either.  He alone is worthy of immprtality.”  Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita

Self Knowledge

“A bumptious man dismissed a dervish by shouting at him: ‘Nobody knows you here.’

‘But I know myself,’ the dervish replied.  ‘How sad it would be if the reverse were true.’ “  Rumi

True Faith

“True faith is not a fruit of security, it is the ability to blend mortal fragility with the inner strength of the spirit.  It does not shift with the changing shade of one’s thought.”  Helen Keller

A Pure Heart

“A pure heart is as a mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of love and severence from all save God, that the true sun may shine within it and the eternal morning dawn.”  Baha’i Scripture