#soulmaking

[eyeoftheheart]

Dead Poets Society (1989) dir. Peter Weir

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

[eyeoftheheart]

“Do what thy manhood bids thee to, From none but self expect applause: He noblest lives and noblest dies Who makes and keeps his self-made laws.”

~ Sir Richard Francis Burton, Kasidah VIII, 9

[eyeoftheheart]

“A very important moment in the work on oneself is when a man begins to distinguish between his personality and his essence. A man's real I, his individuality, can grow only from his essence. It can be said that a man's individuality is his essence, grown up, mature. But in order to enable essence to grow up, it is first of all necessary to weaken the constant pressure of personality upon it, because the obstacles to the growth of essence are contained in personality.”

~ Gurdjieff in "In Search of the Miraculous" - P.D. Ouspensky, p.163

[eyeoftheheart]

“Don't wait for it," I said. "Create a world, your world. Alone. Stand alone. Create. And then the love will come to you, then it comes to you. It was only when I wrote my first book that the world I wanted to live in opened to me.”

― Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin Volume 1 1931-1934

[eyeoftheheart]

“The idea is, you know, you live from moment to moment...this moment decides the next step. You shouldn’t be five steps ahead, only the very next one. And if you can keep to that, you’re always alright. You see, but people are thinking too far ahead...you know what I mean? Think only what’s right there. Do only what’s right under your nose to do. You know? It’s such a simple thing and people can’t do it, you know."

— Henry Miller

(From Robert Snyder's "The Henry Miller Odyssey.")

[eyeoftheheart]

“The Sun” (1911) by Edvard Munch

“As you develop more understanding of your Self, you will discover that its positive qualities are bound to conquer all that is negative. There is a boundless ocean of peace and harmony within you. There is boundless light within you, and when you open the window of your soul to that light, the darkness will automatically vanish. This window has become a little rusty, so it will take some time to open. But no matter how long it takes, you must have patience. No matter how many times your mind may falter in this project, you must keep ignoring the negative. Negativity is just a ghost; it is only an illusion. The reality is the supremely positive presence of God within you.” (p. 21-22)

~ The Art of Positive Thinking by Swami Jyotirmayananda

[eyeoftheheart]

Ouspensky clearly indicates that all real initiation is self-initiation:

“Systems and schools can indicate methods and ways, but no system or school whatever can do for a man the work he must do himself. Inner growth—a change of being—depends entirely upon the work a man must do on himself.”

[eyeoftheheart]

“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”

― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Heaven is to sit in my garden at midnight, beneath a breathtakingly beautiful sky full of stars, while Rick Rubin reads from his wonderful book The Creative Act. In such moments of tenderness and pure awareness, the infinity of the soul and communion with God feel near. All is One, and I fall in love with everything, beholding the presence of the Beloved deep within me and all around me.

"Wherever you turn, there is the Face of God." — Quran 2:115 (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 115)