A Calendar of Wisdom

In order to fulfill the law of God as we understand it, a joint effort must be made by many people. Then, maybe slowly, we will move to an understanding of this divine law.

God’s kingdom is the fulfillment among mankind of God’s will, according to the measure in which it is revealed to us.

In the life of the world, thousands of years look like one year. Therefore, we should work hard at the fulfillment of eternity, and we should wait for the day when religion will enlighten this world completely.

The kingdom of God on earth is the final purpose and desire of humankind.

In religious services we should understand, not the rituals, not unnatural things which can be performed only by a priest; in religion, we should understand love for God and for our neighbor.

The kingdom of God is inside us; therefore look for the kingdom of God inside you and the rest will take care of itself, in the best possible way.

My material life is subject to suffering and death, and no effort of mine can release me from suffering or death. My spiritual life is subject neither to suffering nor death. Therefore, salvation from suffering and death lies in only one thing: in the transfer of my conscious “self” from the material to the spiritual.

The way to understand this world is to understand your inner self. With the help of love, and by virtue of the love of others, we understand other beings: people, animals, plants, stones, heavenly bodies; and we understand the attitudes of these beings to themselves; and these attitudes create the whole world as we know it. The way to understanding is based on love, on unification with all other creatures in the world.

The essence of love of God is in the desire of the soul for its creator, for unity with this higher light.

This eternal beginning in you has always existed, it exists now, and it will always exist: its time will never end.

That which we understand as the happiness or unhappiness of our animal “self” depends on the highest spiritual will.

Nothing can support idleness better than empty chatter. People would be better to keep silent and not speak the boring, empty things they routinely say to entertain themselves. How can they endure it?

The person who speaks much will seldom fulfill all his words in his actions. A wise person is always wary lest his words surpass his actions.

First think, then speak. Stop when told “enough. ” A person is higher than an animal because of his ability to speak, but he is lower than an animal if he cannot properly use this ability.

Those people speak most who do not have much to say.

If you want to stop a person from an action, ask him to speak more on the topic. The more people speak, the less desire they have to act.

The less you speak, the more you will work.

The foundation of ancient societies was violence. The basis of our contemporary society is wise concord, the negation of violence.

He who is really skillful in communicating with people is usually a humble and quiet person. This is called the virtue of nonresistance. This is called harmony with Heaven.

Some people think that it is impossible to rule other people without violence. And so they do to people as other people do with horses, when they blind their eyes so that they will more obediently walk in a circle.

For what purpose is a man’s intellect if you are going to influence him only with violence?

In all cases, when people use violence, you should try to convince them not to. You should try to apply wise, convincing arguments, appealing not to the everyday world, but to their higher spiritual understanding. Then, when you succeed, you will have the complete satisfaction of your conscience.

People believe in eternal life because they believe that life’s beginning is spiritual, and therefore eternal.

In our soul is the sign of eternity.

Our biggest desire is to live forever. But when we are freed from this body, we will not wish to come back. Is there such a child who, once born, would like to return to the womb of his mother? Is there a man who, freed from prison, would like to return to it? In the same way, a person should not be afraid about the future liberation from his body, if he is not connected too closely with this material life.

A person is not afraid to die only after he understands that he was never born, that he always existed, exists at present, and will always exist. A person will believe in his eternity when he understands that his life is not a wave, a period of time, but the eternal movement which is manifested in this life only as a wave.

Those who believe that their life has not begun with their birth and will not end with death find it much easier to live a good life tha)i those who do not understand or believe this.

Really true, good, and great things are always simple.

The language of truth is always simple.

Very often the simplest and least educated people can easily and unconsciously understand the meaning of life while the most scholarly people lack this ability, because they have been too educated to understand the simple things that are basic to all people.