1997: Presentation by Lorne Gould
Photograph taken by Lorne Gould in Afghanistan, 1972
I'd like to acknowledge that in this presentation, I have freely borrowed (and mixed with my own words) passages and phrases from many sources, including the Book of Genesis, the Song of Songs, the Ramayana, the Bhagavad Gita, and The Way of the Pilgrim, as well as the words of Saint Benedict, Paul of Tarsus, Dogen Zengi, Vivekananda, and Rabindranath Tagore.
All human beings are the product of their experiences. The lifestyles and cultures of this world that have been added to our own personal store of experience profoundly change who we are, and for this we should always be grateful. There is a wealth of both joy and suffering on this planet, and we should always remember that the good and evil in this world are born from our own actions and expectations. There is no evil in the life of one who holds the sun in their heart.
When you study the ways of other people, you learn about yourself. To look at yourself is to open yourself to the mysterious metabolism of Emanation, for your presence creates it.
To study yourself is to go beyond yourself. To go beyond yourself is to be enlightened by all things. To be enlightened by all things is to free your body and mind, and to free the bodies and minds of others. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.......
To look at what exists is to look at absolute Mystery. But often the beauty of this mystery is forgotten in the struggles of life.
Though you are asleep in Duration, you perceive your heartbeats and the world's heartbeats in identical discontinuity; that of living and dying Breath. You live and die: live dying, die living.
Always remember that your life creates Breath, like peace descending; and Breath creates you. Breath restores you to your exact self. Breath is conceived in the flower buds; it is welcomed by the songs of time. The intemporal and the temporal are two Breaths in one.
Be like the Armies of Breath who transcend the Heavenly Hosts. Never forget that, no matter who you are, you are not just an insignificant individual; you are an essential, immortal part of God.
And remember that the strength of compassion will always overcome the power of hatred. Heaven arms with love those it would not see destroyed. And for everyone, the ultimate source of love is the implicit connection between their basic nature and the infinity of the universe.
Everywhere, wherever you may find yourself, you can set up an altar to God in your mind. By creating joy in the world through your actions, you create a priceless offering for that altar which honours and enhances the whole world.
God respects you when you work, but he loves you when you sing.
Human actions also have the potential to create suffering and misery in this world. We all must strive to do what we can to overcome this potential for destruction.
Before the day leads you to an irreversible event, be, my love, the indeterminate freshness of your universal home.
You are the vision where time and timelessness meet, to be prized as a multitude that springs from eternity.
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things. Never are you nearer the light than when the darkness is deepest.
And God Said, "Behold I have given you every plant yielding seed which is on the face of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food"
It is now time for us to rise from sleep.....
You have found unity again.
The beginning and the end are one.
Kill therefore with the sword of wisdom the doubt born of ignorance that lies in thy heart.
Be one in self-harmony, in Yoga, and arise, great warrior, arise!
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