Day by day
What is the purpose of this Long Path inner work upon himself? It is to clear a way for the inflow of grace, even to the most hidden parts of his character.
15.23.4.46Listen 1 Jun 2021On the Short Path he does little to free himself from a weakness, a desire, or a passion. It goes, falls away of its own accord, if he looks to the Higher Self rather than to the management of his own ego for salvation. It is in this spontaneous way, too, that the attitude of detachment begins to appear in his character and little by little—but sometimes swiftly—becomes established…
15.23.1.168, ExcerptListen 2 Jun 2021It is more than a short respite from personal troubles, more than a white magic which leads him away from a hard and crazy world: it is a return to the source of Life.
3.3.1.129Listen 3 Jun 2021At the very moment that any problem produces thoughts of despondency, turn that problem over to the higher power again, and try to remain inwardly calm.
9.13.2.298Listen 4 Jun 2021They will one day feel mercy for the animals and desist from the custom of slaughtering, cooking, and eating them. Of course, the slaughter is done indirectly, by others acting on their behalf. But some of the guilt remains.
4.5.3.128Listen 5 Jun 2021Humanity still clings much too strongly to its egoism in most matters, despite the tuition of war crisis and upheaval; this is the very standpoint which must be abandoned, or at least markedly modified, if humanity is not to pass through further large-scale suffering. And this in turn must itself be the fruit of an awakening to the higher purpose of earthly life …
9.13.4.210, ExcerptListen 6 Jun 2021The spiritual emblem combining a circle and some other form stands for reconciliation of the Overself and the ego, for integration of man’s higher and lower nature.
4.4.5.56Listen 7 Jun 2021Those who feel an emptiness in their hearts despite worldly attainments and possessions may be unconsciously yearning for the Overself.
2.1.2.28Listen 8 Jun 2021The quest of truth by a mind deformed by hate, anger, bias, bitterness, or greed, or deficient in concentration, calmness, or aspiration must end in a failure … This is why the Long Path is needed.
3.2.1.59, ExcerptListen 9 Jun 2021The amount of energy he pours into sustaining the ego and holding to illusions to his own detriment could just as well be poured into sustaining a quest of the Overself to his own gain.
6.8.4.165Listen 10 Jun 2021… a man who has practised meditation all his life and apparently got no results, may very likely be given the reward at the moment of death.
3.2.3.178, ExcerptListen 11 Jun 2021When he is so sunk in abstraction that he does not notice even the presence of another person, his meditation has gone as deep as it ought to.
4.4.4.85Listen 12 Jun 2021We may know when we have entered into the awareness of the Self, for in that moment we shall have gone out of the awareness of the world. The spiritual records which have been left behind by the great mystics, and which evidence this rarer experience of the race, all testify to this.
15.23.7.318Listen 13 Jun 2021Creative Meditation Exercise: He may think of probable meetings during the next day, if he is practising at night, or of the coming day if at morn, of events that are likely to happen then, and of places where he may have to go. Alongside of that he may imagine how he ought to conduct himself, how to think and talk under those circumstances. And always, if the exercise is to prove its worth, he should take the standpoint of his better, nobler, wiser self, of the Overself.
4.4.4.229Listen 14 Jun 2021… it may be said that the Short Path develops inspiration and evokes intuition.
15.23.1.151, ExcerptListen 15 Jun 2021… he sees himself dwelling and acting in the Overself, and therefore without his specific sins and faults. He regards them as non-existent and drops anxiety or concern about them. He does this as much as he can from morning to night and this fulfils Jesus’ injunction to “pray without ceasing” in a deeper and philosophical sense.
15.23.6.129, ExcerptListen 16 Jun 2021Breathing exercises should never be pushed to excess, for then they may become very dangerous. It is safer to underpractise them than to overdo them.
4.5.6.47Listen 17 Jun 2021In the absence of a master let him follow a lone path, welcoming whatever he can learn from competent authorities but attaching himself to none.
2.1.3.281Listen 18 Jun 2021… he is showing quarrelsomeness, or trying to conquer it; he is losing himself in the day’s activity, or saving himself from it in a half-hour retreat. He is letting negative thoughts or feelings stay in his heart, or trying to drive them out of it. He is practising a larger relationship and a kindlier attitude toward those he encounters in his day-to-day business, or he is failing to recognize why they—and not others who are quite different—have been put into his path by the Infinite Intelligence. His environment is really a testing-place and a disciplinary school…
2.1.5.285, ExcerptListen 19 Jun 2021He who thinks only of the obstacles in his way will never attain the goal. It is necessary to meditate on, and work to develop, positive qualities which will make progress possible.
3.2.2.40Listen 20 Jun 2021He does not have to enter into formal meditation to find his soul. It is an ever-present reality for him, not merely an intellectual conception or emotional belief.
16.25.2.150Listen 21 Jun 2021If man walks upright, and most of the animals do not, it is because this upright posture is symbolic of his gradual progression into ruling his animal body and animal nature.
16.26.4.48Listen 22 Jun 2021Although its promises and experiences may not appear glamorous in a worldly sense, the Quest reveals itself to be the best of all possible ways of living.
2.1.5.417Listen 23 Jun 2021The freedom he feels in such moments and the consolation he gets from them are indications of the value of the distant goal itself.
14.22.4.100Listen 24 Jun 2021All efforts that take him outside of himself are only halting and temporary concessions to human weakness. The soul being inside of himself, he must in the end turn within.
2.1.3.105Listen 25 Jun 2021The more he practises this inward calm, the less he shows concern about outward situations. If this seems to lead to a kind of casualness, it actually leads to inner peace.
15.24.2.154Listen 26 Jun 2021When the energies have run out, and the advance of years must be measured sadly; when a man knows at last what he ought to have done, it is too late. This is why another chance, another birth on earth is needed.
6.9.2.137Listen 27 Jun 2021The paradox is perfect: when he is most empty of petty ends, the shining glimpse reveals itself.
14.22.5.62Listen 28 Jun 2021Attaining to our manhood is good chiefly as it provides us with the chance, during subsequent years, of attaining to our higher selfhood.
16.26.4.93Listen 29 Jun 2021The earth will continue to turn on its axis, with or without him. He is not so important as he thinks.
3.3.1.13Listen 30 Jun 2021
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