#texts

In the broader spiritual realities, no rites or rituals are necessary to know God. NONE. Any religion that insists you can come to intimate knowledge of the Divine by any means other than stillness, self-awareness, and unity with consciousness is deceptive. So-called holy texts are about religion, not necessarily about God. They are really owners manuals for faith traditions. I am not denouncing them altogether, as I love the Bible and have studied it reverently all my life. But I don't view the Bible as the inspired word OF God as much as the inspired word of men ABOUT God, as they perceive God through their often jaded, human perspectives. Again, I respect these so-called sacred writings. I would just like to see them read and placed in their proper, less idolatrous, place. ↗

— Carlton D. Pearson

#faith

Every organized religion holds that certain behaviors, rituals, personalities, places, and/or books are sacred. These organized teachings are proper in their own place, but they are mere options for the one infused with devotion. To such a one, God is direct and spontaneous, providing him with an immediate source of guidance and direction. His relationship with God is not mediated through anyone or anything. (104) ↗

— Prem Prakash

#devotion #god #personality #religion #rituals

We don’t exhaust the Bible even after reading it hundreds of times. Each time we read it we see it in a new light. That is the greatness of the holy scriptures. They are that way because they were created by holy prophets who experienced the truth. Each time we read these works we elevate ourselves to see a little more. (81) ↗

— Swami Satchidananda

#sacred-texts #scriptures #study #truth #yoga

Many, many composers have only found their way to a certain form, through familiarizing themselves with texts. ↗

— Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

#composers #form #found #many #only

Where's your church?" "We're standing in it." "But this is a bookstore and it's a Friday." "Yes, but you might also choose to see it as a cathedral of the human spirit-a storehouse consecrated to the full spectrum of human experience. Just about every idea we've ever had is in here somewhere. A place containing great thinking is a sacred space. ↗

— Forrest Church

#book-lover #books #bookstore #faith #hope

It's very important to always put things in their historical contexts. It teaches important lessons about the country in question. ↗

— Warren Christopher

#always #contexts #country #historical #important

I usually say Latina, Mexican-American or American Mexican, and in certain contexts, Chicana, depending on whether my audience understands the term or not. ↗

— Sandra Cisneros

#audience #certain #contexts #depending #i

Spiritual literature can be a great aid to an aspirant, or it can be a terrible hindrance. If it is used to inspire practice, motivate compassion, ad nourish devotion, it serves a very valuable purpose. If scriptural study is used for mere intellectual understanding, for pride of accomplishment, or as a substitute for actual practice, then one is taking in too much mental food, which is sure to result in intellectual indigestion. (152) ↗

— Prem Prakash

#compassion #devotion #inspiration #intellectual #knowledge

Playwrights have texts, composers have scores, painters and sculptors have the residue of those activities, and dance is traditionally an ephemeral, effervescent, here-today-gone-tomorrow kind of thing. ↗

— Twyla Tharp

#composers #dance #ephemeral #kind #painters

Some of the poetic writers who insert passages of realism in their texts have no underlying philosophy to uphold them, and revert to realism. ↗

— Marguerite Young

#passages #philosophy #poetic #realism #revert