Interlude: An Internet Retreat "Thought of the Day"

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.
George Washington Carver

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
HH the Dalai Lama

The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Meditation is to be aware of what is going on–in our bodies, in our feelings, in our minds, and in the world…Life is both dreadful and wonderful. To practice meditation is to be in touch with both aspects. Please do not think we have to be solemn to meditate. In fact, to meditate well, we have to smile a lot.
Thich Nhat Hanh

Spiritual awakening is the difficult process whereby the increasing realization that everything is as wrong as it can be flips suddenly into the realization that everything is as right as it can be. Or better, everything is as It as it can be.
Alan Watts

The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed.
Sebastien-Roch Nicolas Chamfort

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.
Albert Camus

A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party: there is no battle unless there be two.
Seneca

You cannot have the peace you seek until you let go of what is taking its place.
Beth Johnson

What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.
Vern McLellan

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.
Charles R. Swindoll

While God waits for His temple to be built of love, men bring stones.
Rabindranath Tagore

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand.
Mother Teresa

Eventually institutional violence will disappear, not as a result of external action, but thanks only to the calls of conscience of men who have awakened to the truth.
Leo Tolstoy

We must find our own particular way of loving the world and put our energy into it. Decide your way of loving and you will be rewarded.
Bernie Siegel

The battle to heal human evil will always begin at home. And self-purification will always be our greatest weapon.
M. Scott Peck

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton

Love doesn't just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.
Ursula K. LeGuin

The first and necessary step of grief is discovering what you have lost. The next step is discovering what is left. What is possible.
John Schneider

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.
William James

Circumstances and situations do colour life, but you have been given the mind to choose what the colour shall be.
John Homer Miller

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.
Abraham Lincoln

We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew…Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful…and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world a little more hospitable to these beautiful things.
Desmond Tutu

The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving–with passion and compassion, and humor and style, and generosity and kindness.
Maya Angelou

Dwelling on past mistakes is a waste of time. If the Ego needs to rectify a misdeed, have it do something that creates good in the present, this will certainly spawn good will for the future and create balance in your life.
Beth Johnson

What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.
Mignon McLaughlin

Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.
Mahatma Gandhi

The Sufis advise us to speak only after our words have managed to pass through three gates. At the first gate, we ask ourselves,"Are these words true?" If so, we let them pass on; If not, back they go. At the second gate, we ask, "Are they necessary?" At the last gate, we ask, "Are they kind?"
Eknath Easwaran

The only myth that's going to be worth thinking about in the immediate future is one talking about the planet–not this city, not these people, but the planet and everybody on it.
Joseph Campbell

I searched through rebellion, drugs, diets, mysticism, religions, intellectualism and much more, only to begin to find that truth is basically simple and feels good, clean and right.
Chick Corea

The truth that many people never understand until it is too late is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer.
Thomas Merton

Do not say, "I follow the one true path of the Spirit," but rather, "I have found the Spirit walking on my path," for the Spirit walks on all paths.
Khalil Gibran

At times helping happens simply in the way of things. It's not something we really think about, merely the instinctive response of an open heart. Caring is a reflex…You live, you help.
Ram Dass & Paul Gorman in How Can I Help? Stories and Reflections on Service

Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein

It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future, and insists on predicting millions of moments, thousands of days, and so drains you that you cannot live the moment at hand.
Andre Dubus

Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy.
Milton Erickson, M.D.

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles…by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.
Mark Twain

Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.
Paul Johannes Tillich

Genius is the power of lighting one's own fire.
John Foster

All emotions are pure which gather you and lift you up; that emotion is impure which seizes only one side of your being and so distorts you.
Rainer Maria Rilke

Past Thoughts of the Day from Interlude: An Internet Retreat

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.

Spiritual awakening is the difficult process whereby the increasing realization that everything is as wrong as it can be flips suddenly into the realization that everything is as right as it can be. Or better, everything is as It as it can be.

The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed.

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.

A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party: there is no battle unless there be two.

You cannot have the peace you seek until you let go of what is taking its place.

What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

While God waits for His temple to be built of love, men bring stones.

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand.

Eventually institutional violence will disappear, not as a result of external action, but thanks only to the calls of conscience of men who have awakened to the truth.

We must find our own particular way of loving the world and put our energy into it. Decide your way of loving and you will be rewarded.

The battle to heal human evil will always begin at home. And self-purification will always be our greatest weapon.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

Love doesn't just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.

The first and necessary step of grief is discovering what you have lost. The next step is discovering what is left. What is possible.

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

Circumstances and situations do colour life, but you have been given the mind to choose what the colour shall be.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving–with passion and compassion, and humor and style, and generosity and kindness.

Dwelling on past mistakes is a waste of time. If the Ego needs to rectify a misdeed, have it do something that creates good in the present, this will certainly spawn good will for the future and create balance in your life.

What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.

Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.

The Sufis advise us to speak only after our words have managed to pass through three gates. At the first gate, we ask ourselves,"Are these words true?" If so, we let them pass on; If not, back they go. At the second gate, we ask, "Are they necessary?" At the last gate, we ask, "Are they kind?"

The only myth that's going to be worth thinking about in the immediate future is one talking about the planet–not this city, not these people, but the planet and everybody on it.

I searched through rebellion, drugs, diets, mysticism, religions, intellectualism and much more, only to begin to find that truth is basically simple and feels good, clean and right.

The truth that many people never understand until it is too late is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer.

Do not say, "I follow the one true path of the Spirit," but rather, "I have found the Spirit walking on my path," for the Spirit walks on all paths.

At times helping happens simply in the way of things. It's not something we really think about, merely the instinctive response of an open heart. Caring is a reflex…You live, you help.

Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.

It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future, and insists on predicting millions of moments, thousands of days, and so drains you that you cannot live the moment at hand.

Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy.

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles…by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.

Genius is the power of lighting one's own fire.

All emotions are pure which gather you and lift you up; that emotion is impure which seizes only one side of your being and so distorts you.