A Calendar of Wisdom

If a person has problems, there can be only one root cause: lack of faith. The same is true within human societies as a whole.

The greatest joy, according to the works of Francis Assisi, is that you can endure everything, you can even suffer slander and physical pain, and at the end you are able to feel no animosity toward these sufferings, but you feel joy, because you have faith; such joy cannot be destroyed, either by evil people or by your own suffering.

The quality of a really virtuous person is to be unknown, to people, or to be misunderstood by people, but not to be disappointed by this.

When they blame you and scold you and discuss you, then you should rejoice; when they praise you and admire you, then you should be sad.

Libel and a false reputation which you can destroy is the best school of goodness.

The blaming and criticism of other people is bad. But at the same time it is understandable, and it is valuable as the only test of your love for God and your neighbor.

One cannot say that the understanding of the divine essence of your soul gives you power, for this understanding raises you to that level which transcends any notions of force or weakness and therefore of power.

Heaven is closer to those people who purify their souls. Those who have only the knowledge received by our five senses do not know the essence of things. The real knowledge is the understanding that there is a higher spiritual force.

People may ask you, “Why do you know God?” You should respond, “Because he is in my heart.” Look at the essence of life, not with the eyes in your head, but with the eyes of your heart. Can you know yourself, if you do not know God? The real understanding of yourself is the understanding of God.

Who can harm you, who can be more powerful than you, if you are united with God? And can do this.

The foundation of all faiths is the same.

It only seems that people are busy with trade, with making agreements, negotiations and wars, science and the arts. There is in fact only one thing which people do; this is to search for the understanding of the moral law by which they live. And this understanding is not only the most important but the only real concern for all humankind.

A Wiseman was asked, “Is there a single word which you can follow throughout all your life?” And the wise man answered, “There is such a word. This is shu.” And the meaning of this word is, “If we do not want certain things to be done to us, we should not do such things to others.”

You should behave in such a way that you can say to everybody, “Behave as I do.”

The really true and unchanging law, that law which gives us true direction and which forbids us to do bad things, is the intellect of a higher, superior being.

When you clash with other people, remember the law of reciprocity. You should do to others those things which you want done to you. This should become your way of life.

For a person, for an animal, indeed for any living being, there is neither logic nor meaning in the word “freedom” because all our lives are limited by many constraints. And yet if a person understands himself as a spiritual being, he cannot even speak about not being free: the idea of not being free cannot be applied to the notions of intellect, conscience, and love.

Remember that your understanding of your inner self holds the meaning of your life, and it makes you free if you do not force it to serve your flesh. The human soul which is enlightened by understanding and freed from passions, and lit with divine light, stands on a firm foundation.

Evil does not exist in material nature by itself, but evil exists for every person who understands goodness, and who has the freedom of choice between good and bad.

We understand very clearly that to be a person with high morals is to be a person with a liberated soul. Those who are disappointed or concerned or afraid, or who are involved in passions, cannot free their souls.

People who deny freedom remind me of blind people who deny colors. They do not know the nature of freedom.

In order to live in goodness, try doing it.

You should celebrate each new day with a good action, a good deed. This is the best way to start a new day.

Nobody has any idea about what goodness is, until they start doing it.

God’s love will go from heaven to those who give to the poor. A double blessing will go to those who, while doing this, meet the poor and tenderly say “good-bye” to them.

When you do a good deed, be grateful that you have had the chance to do it.

You must know firmly and feel deeply that you should dedicate every day to the good of your fellows, doing everything you can for them. You have to do it and not talk about it.

If you cannot teach yourself to seek possibilities for doing good and to do good at every possible occasion, then at least do not miss a chance to do good.

The greatest changes in the world are made slowly and gradually, not with eruptions and revolutions. The same things happen in one’s spiritual life.

All great thoughts are living thoughts, and they can grow and be changed. And they change and grow as a tree, and not as a cloud.