“…the celestial tree of love…”

I think we all have known the feeling that we finally understand love.

I think we all have known the feeling that we’ll never understand love.

I think most folks have had periods when they’ve oscillated between these states—sometimes within hours or minutes of each other…

My personal experience is that the only reliable and fertile understanding of love is what our highest spiritual traditions have bestowed.

Today’s Excerpts:

O SON OF LOVE! Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights above and from the celestial tree of love. Take thou one pace and with the next advance into the immortal realm and enter the pavilion of eternity. Give ear then to that which hath been revealed by the pen of glory.

Bahá’u’lláh: The Hidden Words, Persian #7

The essence of love is for man to turn his heart to the Beloved One, and sever himself from all else but Him, and desire naught save that which is the desire of his Lord.

Bahá’u’lláh: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, “Asl-i-Kullu’l-Khayr” or “Words of Wisdom”, p. 155

Be most loving one to another. Burn away, wholly for the sake of the Well-Beloved, the veil of self with the flame of the undying Fire, and with faces joyous and beaming with light, associate with your neighbor.

Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection CXLVII, p. 316

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~ Unleash The Life Within ~
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Prayer . . .

A brief exploration of prayer from a few of the world’s religions and spiritual traditions:

“Beware lest ye harm any soul, or make any heart to sorrow; lest ye wound any man with your words, be he known to you or a stranger, be he friend or foe. Pray ye for all; ask ye that all be blessed, all be forgiven.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 73

“Then said I, Abraham prayed first for the Sodomites, and
Moses for the fathers that sinned in the wilderness…”

Deuterocanonical Apocrypha, Esdras 2 (Ezra 4)

“The bird of God, who at the portal sits?
Behoves so long that Heaven first bear me round
Without its limits, as in life it bore;
Because I, to the end, repentant sighs
Delay’d; if prayer do not aid me first,
That riseth up from heart which lives in grace.
What other kind avails, not heard in Heaven?”

Divine Comedy of Dante (Henry Cary tr), Purgatory Canto  4

“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.”

King James Bible, Acts 8:22

“It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.”

LDS (Mormon), The Pearl of Great Price

“She can hardly conceive of a person in full spiritual health whose life is not one of prayer.”

St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel

“An offering, consisting of muttered prayers, is ten times more efficacious than a sacrifice performed according to the rules (of the Veda); a (prayer) which is inaudible (to others) surpasses it a hundred times, and the mental (recitation of sacred texts) a thousand times.”

Hindu, Laws of Manu – 85

“O ye who believe! seek help with patience and with prayer, for God is with the patient.”

The Qur’an (Rodwell tr), Sura   2 – The Cow

“LORD, in trouble have they sought Thee, silently they poured out a prayer when Thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been at Thy presence, O LORD.”

Nev’im (Prophets), Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 26,16-17

“Now, being equipped with this lofty Morality, equipped with this noble Control of the Senses, and filled with this noble Attentiveness and Clear Consciousness, he chooses a secluded dwelling in the forest, at the foot of a tree, on a mountain, in a cleft, in a rock cave, on a burial ground, on a woody table-land, in the open air, or on a heap of straw. Having returned from his alms-round, after the meal, he sits himself down with legs crossed, body erect, with attentiveness fixed before him.”

The Eightfold Path, Buddha,  the Word

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~ Unleash The Life Within ~
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Mercy . . .

Just a brief exploration of mercy from a few of the world’s religions and spiritual traditions:

Mercy is what we get when faults are overlooked.

That which Allah openeth unto mankind of mercy none can withhold it; and that which He withholdeth none can release thereafter. He is the Mighty, the Wise.
The Qur’an (Pickthall tr), Sura 35 – The Creator

Justice itself can be a Mercy.

God, however, as has been pointed out in the very beginning of these pages, does not only punish the wrongdoings of His children. He chastises because He is just, and He chastens because He loves. Having chastened them, He cannot, in His great mercy, leave them to their fate. Indeed, by the very act of chastening them He prepares them for the mission for which He has created them. “My calamity is My providence,” He, by the mouth of Bahá’u’lláh, has assured them, “outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy.”
Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 115

Sometimes, humans use apparent mercy to entrap others.

Therefore, the truly great man does not injure others and does not credit himself with charity and mercy.
Tao, Chuangtse (Lin Yutang tr)

We certainly could use more human mercy in our world !

Bounty waits on squalid hunger, gifts dispel the suppliant’s fear,
Gold revives the poor and lowly, mercy wipes the mourner’s tear,
Tender care relieves the stricken by the gracious king’s command,
Charity with loving sweetness spreads her smile o’er all the land!
Hindu, Mababharata (R. Dutt, abridged tr)

It’s our duty as spiritual beings to be merciful.

This is the hour when ye must associate with all the earth’s peoples in extreme kindliness and love, and be to them the signs and tokens of God’s great mercy. Ye must become the very soul of the world, the living spirit in the body of the children of men.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 20

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~ Unleash The Life Within ~
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Fighting War With NonViolence

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“It is my hope that this standard of the oneness of the world of humanity may be upraised with the utmost solidity so that the Orient and Occident may become perfectly reconciled and attain complete intercommunication, the hearts of the East and West become united and attracted, real union become unveiled, the light of guidance shine, divine effulgences be seen day by day so that the world of humanity may find complete tranquillity, the eternal happiness of man become evident and the hearts of the people of the world be as mirrors in which the rays of the Sun of Reality may be reflected. Consequently, it is my request that you should strive so that the light of reality may shine and the everlasting felicity of the world of man become apparent.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 12

Do you feel like world peace is a fantasy? Here’s an excerpt from the article, Has Your Town Declared Peace Yet?, from a site named YES!, back in April of 2006:

“…citizens in 32 Wisconsin cities, towns, and villages had cast ballots for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Voters in tiny villages in the North Woods and the Door Peninsula, in the regional urban centers of Madison and La Crosse, and in the small cities that are the heart of the Badger State, sent a clear message.”

If you read that with a bit of skepticism because they “declared” peace in 2006 and the war is still raging, realize that each and every attempt to Wage Peace does add up. Also, the more individuals do take action, the faster the sum of all actions will bring Global Peace…

Waging Peace is not a new concept and the power of nonviolence is a Force More Powerful than the hate and rancor of violence. One of the big reasons there’s still war is simply because not enough people are waging peace…

And, just to add to your understanding that you can Wage Peace, check out this excerpt from Peace Brigades International:

“PBI is an international NGO that has been promoting nonviolence and protecting human rights since 1981. The founders of PBI shared a profound conviction that ordinary people can take action to stop war and human rights violations even when their governments cannot or will not.”

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~ Unleash The Life Within ~
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