Compiled by Bob Fergeson
“Meditation is the destruction of the sense of ‘self.’ This self has been created by the mind through ignorance, a sort of learned hypnosis, and can be destroyed by the very act of staring it in the face. This is better described as the act of observing ourselves.” – Bob Fergeson
“Awakening is not quite pleasant. One suffers and also is so very glad. You feel you are at last doing what you wanted, but had forgotten.” – Maurice Nicoll
“Usually we are watching the environment and trying to influence it by thinking about it. It doesn’t work but that’s what we DO. And then wonder why we are always tired.” – Vicki Woodyard
“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.”
“Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.”
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.”
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung
“I found that by far the most difficult thing, to begin with, was to realize that ‘feeling’ is just another form of perception.”
“When a poet receives ‘intimations of immortality’ from the sight of mountains, he knows perfectly well that the mountains are not really ‘cloud-capped gods’. He knows that his own mind is adding their majesty to them – or rather, is seeing them as a symbol of the hidden majesty of his own mind. Their greatness and aloofness remind him of his own greatness and aloofness.” – Colin Wilson
“The fear of death is nearly always greatest in those that have lived an unfulfilled life or not realized their full potential.” – Edward Traversa
On the wild within: “An uncultivated quality of attention that has within it no intention for anything to be other than what it is; an awareness that is the stillness of our innermost being.” – Paul Rezendes
“Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence into a soul? Love is my religion and I could die for that. I could die for you.” – John Keats
“If you are willing to realize that you cannot create your own virtues or changes; if you are willing to feel the pain of emptiness, helplessness, and inadequacy; if you are willing to wait, knowing that of yourself you can do nothing – then you will be facing Reality correctly.” – Roy Masters
“You become mature when you become the authority for your own life.” – Joseph Campbell