“To believe fully and at the same moment to have doubts is not at all a contradiction: it presupposes a greater respect for truth, an awareness that truth always goes beyond any thing that can be said or done at any given moment.” Psychoanalyst Rollo May
“I must confess to you in all honesty, that for me, God is and has always been absolute mystery.” German theologian Karl Rahner
“That which does the seeing cannot be seen; that which does the hearing cannot be heard; and that which does the thinking cannot be thought.” Ancient Hindu text from The Vedas.
“Spiritual awareness is born of encounters with the mystery.” Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
“No words can describe it
No example can point to it.
Samsara does not make it worse.
Nirvana does not make it better.
It has never been born.
It has never ceased.
It has never been liberated.
It has never been deluded.
It has never existed.
It has never been nonexistent.
It has no limits at all.
It does not fall into any kind of category.”
Buddhist meditation master and poet Dudjom Rinpoche
“The highest truth cannot be put into words. Therefore the greatest teacher has nothing to say. He simply gives himself in service, and never worries.” Ancient Taoist philosopher Lao Tse
“In my dreams last night my friend, tearful, disappointed, said that I had promised that if we faced our “shadow” good things would follow. I replied, “No, I said that if we face our shadow, we will be closer to wholeness, and so we can better cope with whatever happens.” Sometimes I need to listen to my dreams.” Glenda Taylor
“Be humble, be harmless, have no pretension, be upright, forbearing…aware of the weakness in mortal nature.” Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 13.7-8.
“To know when one does not know is best. To think one knows when one does not know is a dire disease.” Taoism. Tao Te Ching 71
“The fool who knows that he is a fool is for that very reason a wise man; the fool who thinks he is wise is called a fool indeed.” Buddhism. Dhammapada 63.
“Every person has both a bad heart and a good heart. No matter how good a man seems, he has some evil. No matter how bad a man seems, there is some good about him. No man is perfect.” Native American. Mohawk saying.
“Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourself.” Christianity. Philippians 2.3.
“Whoever proclaims himself good, know, goodness approaches him not. He whose heart becomes dust at the feet of all, says Nanak, pure shall his repute be.” Sikhism. Di Granth, Gauri Sukhmani, M.5, p. 278.
“Even if all the world tells you, ‘You are righteous,’ consider yourself wicked.” Judaism. Talmud, Nidda 30b.
“Beware! Your clinging-to-ego is greater than yourself; Pay heed! Your emotions are stronger than yourself. Your vicious will is far wickeder than yourself; your habitual thought is more characteristic than yourself; your ceaseless mental activity is more frantic than yourself.” Buddhism. Milarepa.
“Mencius said,’ Only when a man will not do some things is he capable of doing great things.’” Confucianism. Mencius IV.B.8
“Happy is the person who finds fault with himself instead of finding fault with others.” Islam. Hadith
“You ought to say ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” Christianity. James 4:16.
“When man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, ‘Have you believed in God,’ or ‘Have you prayed and performed ritual acts,’ but ‘Have you dealt honorably, faithfully in all your dealings with your fellowman?” Judaism. Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
“The self is the one invincible foe when acting with the four cardinal passions: anger, pride, deceitfulness, and greed.” Jainism. Uttaradyayana Sutra 23.38
“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and shrewd in their own sight!” Judaism. Isaiah 5.21
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Christianity. 1 John 1.8.
“Nor do I absolve my own self of blame; the human soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His mercy.” Islam. Qur’an 12.53.
“If you desire to obtain help, put away pride. Even a hair of pride shuts you off, as if by a great cloud.” Shinto. Oracle of Kasuga
“If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: If I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.” Judaism. Job 9.20
“Confucius said, A faultless man I cannot hope ever to meet; the most I can hope for is to meet a man of fixed principles. Yet where all around I see Nothing pretending to be Something, Emptiness pretending to be Fullness, Penury pretending to be Affluence, even a man of fixed principles will be none too easy to find.” Confucianism. Analects 7.25
“Lo! God loves not each braggart boaster. Be modest in your bearing and subdue your voice. Lo! The harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.” Islam. Qur’an 31.18-19.
“Subdue pride by modesty, overcome hypocrisy by simplicity, and dissolve greed by contentment.” Jainism. Samanasuttam 136.
“The Lord lives in the heart of every creature. He turns them round and round upon the wheel of his Maya. Take refuge utterly in Him. By his grace you will find supreme peace, and the state which is beyond all change.” Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 18.61-62.
“Should anyone be victim of great anxiety, his body racked with maladies, beset with problems, with pleasure and pain alternating, wandering in all four directions without peace or rest—should he then contemplate the Supreme Being, peaceful shall his mind and body become. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Sri Raga, M. 5, p. 70.
“Those who see all creatures within themselves and themselves in all creatures know no fear. Those who see all creatures in themselves and themselves in all creatures know no grief. How can the multiplicity of life delude the one who sees its unity? “ Hinduism. Isha Upanishad 6-7.