In this section we will regularly present texts from all horizons which we hope will help those who are on a spiritual path to progress and to broaden their perspective on what constitutes spirituality which many people tend to encompass in rather narrow limits.
We want all readers to feel welcome and included, and while in these texts we will use “God“ whenever an author chooses that term, we should like to point out that there are many, many different names and attributes for deity: divine or cosmic Love, Creator, Source, Infinite Mind, Allah, Buddha, Jehovah, Great Spirit, It, Universe, Principle, Father-Mother, etc. etc. So please choose what best resonates with you!
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest — a kind…
My friend Ibrahima was a rather special man. Not many school directors in his part of the world (Mali) would decide to become peasants. But such a man was my friend. While I lived in Africa I used to go and visit him occasionally when I felt the need to get in touch with the…
Rev. Bill McDonald I have given much thought and time to contemplate that very question ever since I was a child facing death in the hospital at eight years of age. I had “died” in my hospital bed all alone and unmonitored by medical staff in an isolation ward. In those moments of “death”, I…
Real Love does not change. It exists independently of the form through which it expresses. The Source of this eternal, omnipresent, formless Love is within you. This is where your faith must be placed, for this love is as certain as anything you will ever know. And once it is firmly established in your heart,…
Tenzin Gyatso; The Fourteenth Dalai Lama The purpose of life I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affect this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire…
By Tosha Silver, from her book Change Me Prayers Divine Beloved, Change Me into someone who can give with complete ease and abundance, knowing You are the unlimited Source of All. Let me be an easy open conduit for Your prosperity. Let me trust that all of my own needs are always met in amazing…
Where you come from doesn’t matter. Where you are going is not important either. Look inward, see what you have become and decide whether you like what you see or whether you want to change anything. Whether you were born in the Senegal deserts, within a poverty-stricken family in a small Italian village, or in…
To listen is possibly the most beautiful gift we can offer anyone. In a way it is to tell that person: “You are important to me, you are interesting, I am glad you are here. I am here for you; I am touched by who you are and what you are saying.” To listen is…
May I learn to discern the perfect plan behind all events of my life. May I see that every single thing that happens in my life is a gift from Providence to enable me to grow and flourish and expand. https://pierrepradervand.com/365-blessings-to-heal-myself-and-the-world/ Some stages in life seem particularly difficult. When we do not find solutions, when all seems to go awry,…
We live in a time of danger. There could never be enough soldiers or police on earth to keep everyone safe and secure. We are in a global crisis in many respects. Never before has the world been in greater need of Love Lights, like you, to shine and bring forth a new age of…
In this life, in any given moment, in one way or another (and more or less as you imagined), you will receive what you asked for… Do not doubt it. As a result, learn how to monitor your requests because nothing that was designed or created here below can satisfy your soul except the Creator…
By Madisyn Taylor Our Comment: In a recent blog (https://gentleartofblessing.org/an-infinitely-friendly-universe/) Pierre wrote of his deep conviction (shared by many thinkers and mystics) that the universe is governed by a loving, benevolent intelligence. Thus, all challenges we personally face in this human existence are teaching tools that force us to progress on our spiritual path especially if…
by Paul Ferrini Father/Mother God: Help me to feel my oneness with you and my equality with my brothers and sisters. Help me to recognize my judgments and to look within for correction. Help me to give up shame and blame and to learn from my errors so that I do not repeat them. Help…
Excerpts from an article by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee Unity holds the essential vision that we are one living, interconnected ecosystem—a living Earth that supports and nourishes all of its inhabitants. If we acknowledge and honor this simple reality, we can begin to participate in the vital work of healing our fractured and divisive world and embrace a…
Excerpts from the writings of Yogananda Happiness is not dependent on external circumstances; rather, it is to be found in the simpler joys of life, and most of all in the ever-new bliss of deep meditation…. Be happy by clinging to the simple, true, and lasting soul-joys. They come by deep thinking, introspection, spiritual inspiration,…
(Fr Richard Rohr’s Meditation for Friday, October 12, 2018) Our note: if the word God does not resonate with you, change it to one of the many other names for deity – Cosmic Love, Great Spirit, Infinite, Divine, Allah, etc. etc. “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues,…
Whatever religion you were taught, however you were raised, whichever way you understood your teachers, you will grasp and understand this message. It not sufficient to believe this message, one also must live it. The essence of universal religion is peace and goodness encompassing love and kindness towards all creatures on earth. The time has…
Excerpts from The Dynamic Laws of Prayer, Caroline Ponder In the silence, when your conscious mind becomes quiet, then the subconscious phase of the mind, which is the seat of memory and feeling, is free to function, revealing fresh inspiration and new ideas … The silence is the workshop of God. The silence is the…
Enjoy these two short meditations by Eileen Caddy, co-founder of The Findhorn Community in Scotland, from Opening Doors Within Give thanks for everything you have, for everything you received, and for everything you are going to receive. In fact, never cease to give thanks for it is a positive attitude towards life, and the very…
Just in time for Thanksgiving, here is a blessing from Pierre’s new book https://pierrepradervand.com/365-blessings-to-heal-myself-and-the-world/ As my basic text on blessing states, blessing and gratitude are in a sense the two sides of the same coin. When you bless a situation or a person, you are also saying thank you to the universe for a given…
Spiritual development does not happen in stages. You are a spiritual being here and now. Don’t lock yourself in notions of plans, levels, stages. Don’t cherish what are only false limitations. You are the Self – be that. To think that you have to discover your own Self is silly. What is there to find?…
Close your eyes and feel the whole universe filled with sound. Feel as if every sound is moving toward you and you are the center. This feeling that you are the center will give you a very deep peace. The whole universe becomes the circumference and you are the center, and everything is moving toward…
by an Unknown Confederate soldier I asked for strength that I might achieve; I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was…
“In the whirl and swirl of our modern world, I bless myself in my ability to step aside, stop, and enjoy the greatest gift of all: the infinite simplicity and riches of Your Presence…. “I bless my fellow humans that they may discover the healing peace of uncluttered lives, the healing simplicity of an existence…
Pierre Pradervand There are ways out of the trap of depression—ways that avoid the slippery road of becoming heavily dependent on drugs. I found such a way, and it taught me some of the most useful lessons I’ve learned in my life. In the 1980s, I started having extreme attacks of depression. They were accompanied by…
“May I follow at all times my highest sense of what is right, whatever the cost and however lonely the path, or however loud the mockery of the Pharisees. “May I express the integrity that always speaks truth to power, as the old Quaker saying goes, when silence might better serve our interests, and which…
From Holy Rascals by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, with permission Walk into an ice cream shop and order a scoop of ice cream. The clerk will ask which flavor ice cream you prefer, but you don’t want a flavor, you want ice cream. The clerk is stymied. Of all the flavors on the menu, “ice cream”…
A message written or spoken and sent from the heart but received with the mind, will likely be not understood, or completely misinterpreted. They don’t speak the same language. We don’t need more talking heads on the planet right now. We each have a divinely renewable resource that needs to be accessed. It is called…
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (our translation) “To die is to move into a more beautiful home. It is simply to abandon one’s physical body just as the butterfly slips out of its cocoon.” These are the words that Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross often used at her patients’ bedsides. “Most people think of their living conditions as difficult, their…
By Pierre Pradervand One of the more amazing and beautiful aspects of internet is that it is becoming the most powerful tool ever to spread ideas instantaneously worldwide, including a growing sense of one world consciousness and our oneness with all life. Little by little, it is assisting us go beyond the old, tired dualistic…
“As I stand in front of a mirror, may I stand in awe of the amazing beauty that looks at me, the immense kindness, the caring, the goodness and so many other qualities that are simply awaiting my acknowledgment.” PP from https://pierrepradervand.com/365-blessings-to-heal-myself-and-the-world “The healthy love of oneself is a great religious value. The person who…
By Pierre Pradervand ~ “I bless myself sincerely and joyfully for being the utterly beautiful divine creature I am, at one with the Source of infinite Love. … I bless myself as Spirit’s manifestation of glorious liberty, total freedom and unlimited innocence – and this is true of all humanity.” From my new book, 365…
Jack Kornfield ~ Wise intention and skillful service need to be nourished by periods of quiet and prayer. Every great tradition includes some from of the Sabbath. In the West we inherited the blessing of the Christian and Jewish Sabbath. Muslims have Friday as their holy day, and likewise Hindus and Buddhists renew their vows…
A simple meditation to start your day There is a brief text which is one of the most universal, ecumenical texts in the world spiritual literature. Be you a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jew, follower of shamanist practices, this text speaks to any open heart. The reason is that it is pure poetry, being composed…
This is the text of an astonishing oath given to an audience of 9000 dignitaries of all races in 324 B.C. It is just as relevant to our times! “It is my wish, now that wars are coming to an end, that you should all be happy in peace. From now on, let all mortals…
from Our Spiritual Resources by Joel S. Goldsmith, slightly modified and abridged “With a new view of the world supporting a new consciousness, we could transcend the quagmire of the current crisis and set out on the path we were meant to follow a path of cooperation and harmony, leading to the flourishing of one…
“We’re reaching a fork in the road; two paths are diverging on planet Earth, and the one we choose will make all the difference for the life of the planet. Shall we continue our medieval religious practices in a medieval paradigm and mechanistic culture and undergo extinction? Or shall we wake up to this dynamic,…
You have lighted me, and you are looking at me, dreaming. Perhaps you are happy to have me. In any case, I am happy to be lit. If I don’t burn, I shall be like the others, left in a box where I have no purpose. My reason for being is fulfilled only when I…
by Doris Peel, an American poetess (Appeared in the Christian Science Monitor of Dec. 31, 1960) Daily I am His delight Daily He rejoices in His handiwork – All fresh, all bright All wrought from elemental light To be what He beholds as me. His song sung out in world this day ! His theme…
A story about compassion to share with children! She was the poorest little girl in the entire world. She owned nothing, not even a rag doll, not even pictures. She only had one single dress and when her mother washed it, she had to remain in bed while in dried. One evening, the mother was…
