Quotations Dictionary

Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven

Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots, of angels.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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While we are sleeping, angels have conversations with our souls.

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Angels encourage everyone in the right direction...up.

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Buddhist Quotes: Where Does Wisdom Dwell?

The king said: 'Venerable Nagasena, where does wisdom dwell?'

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(See also: Buddhism Archives, Buddhist Quotes, Inspirational Quotes, Love Quotes, Friendship Quotes, Life Quotes)

Read more here: » Buddhist Quotes: Where Does Wisdom Dwell?

Chaldean Book of Numbers An ancient Chaldean work no longer popularly extant.

"A work which contains all that is found in the Zohar of Simeon Ben-Jochai, and much more. It must be the older by many centuries, and in one sense its original, as it contains all the fundamental principles taught in the Jewish Kabbalistic works, but none of their blinds. It is very rare indeed, there being perhaps only two or three copies extant, and these in private hands" (TG 75).

"It is one of the 'Books of Hermes,' and it is referred to and quotations are made from it in the works of a number of ancient and mediaeval philosophical authors. Among these authorities are Arnoldo di Villanova's 'Rosarium philosoph.'; Francesco Arnolphim's 'Lucensis opus de lapide,' Hermes Trismegistus' 'Tractatus de transmutatione metallorum,' 'Tabula smaragdina,' and above all in the treatise of Raymond Lulli, 'Ab angelis opus divinum de quinta essentia' " (IU 1:254n).

(See also: Chaldean Book of Numbers , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

ANTI-CHRISTIAN STRATEGIES

"My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures have become clearer and stronger with advancing years," said Abraham Lincoln, a century and a half ago. "What are the fruits of Christianity? Bigotry, superstition and persecution," said President James Madison some two centuries ago. "For seventeen hundred years the Christian sect has done nothing but harm" said Voltaire 230 years ago. Quotations of this sort by the wisest of thinkers and leaders, extending as they do back through the millennia, should serve as a skull and crossbones over the door of the church.

Xtianity, obviously, is the worst of all worlds (with the possible exception of Islam). On the one hand, it exhorts its believers to live vicariously, to reach for nothing, inasmuch as Christ has done all the work of redemption for them. In this way it thoroughly discourages individualism, especially in its most creative aspects. On the other hand, it pledges salvation to the dregs of mankind - the lowest ranks of morality - to the mindless and the vicious. Thus it espouses egoism at the cheapest level.

Arrogant Xtians are fond of saying, "You can't have it both ways." By that they mean that you can't accept the interconnectedness of everything and at the same time believe in the separation of the individual. But Xtianity, founded as it is on the veneration of stupidity, has always confused paradox with inconsistency.

The wise man leans neither on belief nor on non-belief. The whole issue of God/Not-God is unnecessarily dichotomous, as is our analysis of morality/immorality. The Either-Or world is dangerous. Indeed, it is so dangerous that even to proceed in a line midway between this Scylla and Charybdis is to hem oneself in by unwanted limitations. "God" is a word that has yet to be defined and even the certainty of divine singularity vs. plurality is debatable. It is a common conceit that monotheism is a step is a step forward from polytheism and one which some serious metaphysicians are finally beginning to question. The initiate may declare that there is but one "God", but he means that in a quite different sense from the common notion of exclusivity.

Monotheism (see MONOLATRY) always leads to monolithism. We are one another only be differing from one another. It is uniqueness that makes us divine. It is quite possible to deny the existence of "God" without elevating man (in his present condition) to apotheosis. There is, for example, the teaching of Pantheism, in which all plants, animals and, in fact, matter itself, are all equally God. This is also one God.

Anti-christians are admittedly defensive about "Salvation through Christ". First of all, non-Christians insist, there can be no salvation without one's own immolation - not the crucifiction of some 2000 year old personage of legend. Secondly, Christ is a type of supraconsciousness already potential, but undeveloped, in all men and women. It must not be confused with the self-pitying figures depicted in stained glass windows. The Christ level of consciousness is, in fact, certainly not available to the average, plastic-coated, postmodern illiterate, whose vision scarcely extends beyond that of an insect and whose tenacity is no firmer than a worm's pull. Therefore, to make salvation available to all men on a believe-as-you-go basis is idiotic. And finally, the Galilean mode is only one of many modes of consciousness - most of which are a lot more interesting. (See 666.)

(See also: ANTI-CHRISTIAN STRATEGIES , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Justin Martyr

(ca. 100-165) Early Christian apologist. Born in Samaria, he came to Rome about 140. Rejected by Platonic and Pythagorean schools, he later adopted a literalist view of Christianity. He developed a distinctively literalist reading of the Old Testament and was one of the first to deploy quotations from the Gospels in his attacks on Jews, Gnostics, and other Christian thinkers. His authentic works are the First Apology and the Dialogue with Trypho the Jew.

(See also: Justin Martyr , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Justin Martyr

(ca. 100-165) Early Christian apologist. Born in Samaria, he came to Rome about 140. Rejected by Platonic and Pythagorean schools, he later adopted a literalist view of Christianity. He developed a distinctively literalist reading of the Old Testament and was one of the first to deploy quotations from the Gospels in his attacks on Jews, Gnostics, and other Christian thinkers. His authentic works are the First Apology and the Dialogue with Trypho the Jew.

(See also: Justin Martyr , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Automatic Writing The practice in which a person takes pen and paper, makes his mind blank, and waits for his pen to write by some involuntary impulse. Sometimes the pen is replaced by a mechanical device such as an ouija board. The results vary from purely negative ones, through the stage of illegible scrawls, up to elaborate consecutive messages or even quotations from rare books.

The ability of different persons to succeed in this practice varies, a minority being specially apt; and the aptitude can be developed by practice. The usual spiritualistic explanation is that these writings are communications from those "on the other side." But in every case it is necessary for the automatic writer to resign the control of his own will over his physical and vital-astral body and to surrender these to the use of influences unknown to him.

From a theosophical viewpoint this is extremely hazardous, as we are protected by our physical organism and by our own will from the dangerous, often malignant influences of the lower astral light; and to strive to break down that barrier is a proceeding which can lead to a breakdown of our linkage with our higher self.

(See also: Automatic Writing , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)