Religion-jugglery and God-discovery

1.

> Only a Christ could have conceived a Christ.

> — Joseph Parker: Ecce Deus Swami Vivekananda once said that only another Vivekananda could have realised what this Vivekananda had done. Napoleon also said something in this vein. Alas, I too sail in their boat when I bury my head, with ceaselessly brooding disappointments, inside my palms.

2.

> In order to see Christianity, one must forget almost all the Christians.

> — Henri Frédéric Amiel: Journal If there is an iota of truth in this conviction-statement, then all the Christians in the world must needs muster together to defend themselves.

3.

> Saints are made but Christians are born.

> — George E. Failing: The Wesleyan Methodist I wish to say that unreality is made but reality is born.

4.

> True Christianity is love in action.

> — David O. McKay True Hinduism is surrender of action. True spirituality is the pendulum between the heart's tears and the soul's smiles.

5.

> Jesus cannot be our Saviour unless he is first our Lord.

> — Hugh C. Burr He who said, "I and my Father are one," definitely had become our Lord before He became our Saviour.

6.

> If ever man was God or God man, Jesus Christ was both.

> — Lord Byron Lovingly and devotedly, I have something to add: man the God was made of streaming tears; God the man was made of blossoming Smiles.

7.

> He changed sunset into sunrise.

> — Clement of Alexandria Our ignorance-flooded mind can easily reverse the course!

8.

> Jesus is the most perfect of all men that have yet appeared.

> — Ralph Waldo Emerson Fortunately, the disciples of all Masters have the same universal experience.

9.

> It is good to be charitable — but to whom?

> — Jean de La Fontaine: Fables, VI Indeed, to God the needy in all human beings, with no exception.

10.

> Art is the Tree of Life. Science is the Tree of Death. God is Jesus.

> — William Blake True, absolutely true. Also, something more to add: God is God-Appointment, God is God-Enlightenment and God is God-Fulfilment.

11.

> Christianity is a battle — not a dream.

> — Wendell Phillips My divinity is a reality-beauty-dream and a reality-beauty-fragrance, and not a battlefield-reality.

12.

> Christians have been the most intolerant of all men.

> — Voltaire: Philosophical Dictionary Voltaire, O mighty controversy-confusion-mind, your mind's Himalayan bravery and your life's weakness-slavery shall forever remain inseparable.

13.

> Christmas is not a date. It is a state of mind.

> — Mary Ellen Chase: New York Times Absolutely true. Just a little to add: Christmas is humanity's dream-preparation-beauty and Divinity's Reality-Perfection-Fragrance.

14.

> The Church has many critics but no rivals.

> — Anonymous Likewise, humanity's God-worshipping heart-shrine has innumerable critics, but no rivals worth mentioning.

15.

> He cannot have God for his father who refuses to have the Church for his mother.

> — St. Augustine: De Symbolo St. Augustine, my heart believes in you implicitly. Therefore I am so happy that I shall never lose my parents.

16.

> A church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.

> — Emil Brunner: The Westminster Press A church exists by God-remembering as a fire exists by self-sacrificing.

17.

> All atheists are rascals, and all rascals are atheists.

> — August Strindberg: Zones of the Spirit All atheists are incomplete God-preparations, and all incomplete God-preparations are atheists.

18.

> What a man accomplishes depends on what he believes.

> — Bankers Bulletin I believed God was only mine, but my accomplishment has far surpassed my belief. Now I see that God is for all.

19.

> In the matter of belief, we are all extreme conservatives.

> — William James: Pragmatism In the matter of self-styled faith, we are all exorbitantly creative.

20.

> Adversity reminds men of religion.

> — Livy: Annales, V, 51 Adversity reminds men of their crying heart-beauty and, at the same time, of their smiling soul-fragrance.

21.

> I have chosen Thee in the furnace of affliction.

> — Old Testament: Isaiah 48:10 Many choose God after the volcano-explosion of their vital.

22.

> He who is in evil is also in the punishment of evil.

> — Emmanuel Swedenborg Punishment is the beginning of enlightenment.

23.

> Help yourself and Heaven will help you.

> — Jean de La Fontaine: Fables Poor me! In my case, Heaven is dying to help me, but my stupidity is preventing me from accepting Heaven's help.

24.

> God is always on the side of the big battalions.

> — Napoleon Bonaparte The battalions are just an expression of God's earthly Power; but His Heavenly Power is Illumination.

25.

> I am glad that he thanks God for anything.

> — Samuel Johnson I am glad that I need God in everything and for everything.

26.

> Be good and leave the rest to Heaven.

> — William Combe: Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque I may not be good. I may be bad in everything that I say and do. Yet I have left my very existence with Heaven for its use.

27.

> Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another.

> — Jean Paul Richter Humanity is never so beautiful as when it offers a gratitude-heart-smile to God.

28.

> What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.

> — Aristotle What is a friend? The beauty and fragrance of interdependence.

29.

> He who has no friend has God.

> — Egyptian Proverb Although I have found God as my only Friend, He tells me that I shall remain incomplete unless I find Him in everybody else.

30.

> God is no respecter of persons.

> New Testament: Acts 10:34 True, God is no respecter of persons. It is equally true that God is a perfect slave to His supremely chosen instruments.

31.

> I fear God, and next to God I chiefly fear him who fears Him not.

> — Saadi I fear God, and next to God I fear the person who, on the spur of the moment, tells me that he and his inner life and outer life will depend entirely on me.

32.

> If God is not in us, He never existed.

> — Voltaire: La Loi Naturelle: Exordium God did exist before, but we did not have the vision-eye to see Him. God does exist now, but we do not have the aspiration-heart to feel Him.

33.

> Desire nothing for yourself which you do not desire for others.

> — Spinoza: Ethica IV When I cry for God the Creator, He comes to me as God the creation as well. He fulfils Himself as the One in the many.

34.

> Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.

> — Aristotle My mind obeys God from fear. My heart obeys God from love. I obey God from my inseparable oneness-discovery.

35.

> Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.

> — Napoleon Bonaparte May God's Empire be founded inside my soul-smiles and my heart-tears.

36.

> God is great, and therefore He will be sought; He is good, and therefore He will be found.

> — Anonymous When I seek God's Greatness, He gives me His majestic Smile. When I find God's Goodness, He asks me to be His Eternity-Infinity's Partner.

37.

> Even God cannot change the past.

> — Agathon Not because He cannot, but because He does not want to change the past, for it is unnecessary. Our Goal is the Golden Shore and not the ocean-dangers.

38.

> The opposite of joy is not sorrow. It is unbelief.

> — Leslie D. Weatherhead: This Is the Victory To me, the opposite of joy is unwillingness.

39.

> My Bible tells me how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.

> — J.R. Cohu: The Bible and Modern Thought, V The outer Bible tells us how to go to Heaven. The inner Bible shows us how to bring the Kingdom of Heaven down.

40.

> Conscience is God's presence in man.

> — Emmanuel Swedenborg Division is God's absence from man.

41.

> The cross is the ladder of heaven.

> — Thomas Draxe: Biblioth, Scholas The cross is the Heaven-ascending ladder. The non-acceptance of God's Will is the abysmal abyss-descending ladder.

42.

> A man, asked to explain what God is, replied, 'I know if I'm not asked.'

> — Anonymous God Himself has asked me not to explain Him but to entertain Him.

43.

> Nothing can happen more beautiful than death.

> — Walt Whitman: Starting from Paumanok Death does not think so. Death thinks that death is all-powerful.

44.

> Who knows most, doubts most.

> — Robert Browning He who doubts most, fractures all his limbs most.

45.

> God is where He was.

> — English Proverb God's Compassion-Eye and God's Forgiveness-Heart are where they were before.

46.

> If God loved you as much as you love Him, where would you be?

> — Anonymous I am all ready to answer this question, but God wants me to keep my mouth sealed. Never mind, since I am always a God-disobedient creature. If God loved me as much as I love Him, then I would be playing, singing and dancing inside my totally isolated mind-jungle.

47.

> God save me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.

> — English Proverb God has saved me from my friends. God has even saved me from my enemies. But, alas, He has not saved me from myself, so far.

48.

> Some people complain because God put thorns on roses, while others praise Him for putting roses among thorns.

> — Anonymous I praise God for both the thorns and the roses, because I clearly see and feel that thorns are my God-preparation-journey and roses are my God-satisfaction-goal.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Religion-jugglery and God-discovery, Agni Press, 2000
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/rgd