"Whenever we remember ourselves in the mechanical sense by remembering our miseries and suffering, we are like Lot's wife." Maurice Nicoll ”No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke IX, 62.) “The tendency in the...
“Attention in the heart, in the great tradition of Orthodox Hesychasm, praying from the heart.” Cynthia Bourgeault. “The unique characteristics of Centering Prayer, which can be felt as a distinct shift, a distinct, subtle, energetic transformation, I relate that...
“We don't distinguish clearly enough in our parlance today between sensing, emotion and feeling." Cynthia Bourgeault “We have to get a little bit clearer about the difference between emotion and feeling, and what feeling really is, and how feeling is related to...
Practice inner separation from life in order to see higher truths “As regards this isolation from life that I spoke about, Mr. Ospensky used to say that there are four things that help above all others to isolate us from the influences of life which tend to drag us...
Sit in your aliveness, consciously steward your atmosphere, being in the present. “Taking responsibility for our whole self and stewarding our atmosphere. This means we are responsible for our personality, egoic operating system, mental, emotional, spiritual, and...
The term Deputy-Steward in Maurice Nicoll’s writings describes a crucial stage in the development of states of consciousness. “You can be the same person every day if you like, or you can wish to be different. You can go on submitting to negative emotions,...
The whole matter of waking up from spiritual slumber begins with meditation. “How many times is this said in the Gospels: ‘Awake, watch, sleep not!’ But people do not understand it or they think it is a metaphor whereas it is literally true. If people awakened from...
“The real goal in mature spiritual practice is not to replace negativity with positivity, but to develop an impartiality." Cynthia Bourgeault “Don’t correct back to positivity if what you want is equanimity” Cynthia Bourgeault “The creating sun in myself, the...
The essential meaning of the parable of the Unjust Steward is that if a person fails in their highest purpose, they must return to what they can know and understand. “The Parable of the Unjust Steward is about a man who fails but who acts in a way that is commended....
The Gurdjieff Law of Three in the Trisagion Hymn. Agios O Theos (O Holy God), Agios ischyros (Holy, Strong), Agios athanatos, eleison imas (Holy, Immortal, have mercy on us) “What if Holy God is first force, Holy the Firm is Holy denying Second Force, and Holy the...
The Beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “The key to this fourth beatitude lies in understanding what the word righteousness means. To our post-Puritan, post-Victorian ears, righteousness is a synonym for...