To create is to be like God (...). When you are filled with the essence of all existence, than whatever you say becomes true. (...) When a selfless person lives amongst us, his deeds become the heart-beat of virtue. Whatever he does to others improves even their meanest dreams. Whatever he touches becomes true and pure. He becomes the father of reality.What he creates never flounders in time. Ramakrishna, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.165-6.
Whatever you do, try to do it as nobody else has done it before. Sri Yuktesvar, quoted after: Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.96.
Habit-bound people can best be described as psychological antiques. They are the same, year in and year out. They say the same old things, do the same old things. (...) Take a look in the mirror of introspection and see if you are a psychological antique. Most people are. But why should you be one? Change your habits. Cast out moods. Try to be better every day. Let people be able to say, "What a wonderful change has come over him!" Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.188.
Creative thinking is the best antidote for moods. Moods get grip on your consciousness when you are in a negative or passive state of mind. The time when your mind is vacant is just the time it can become moody; (...). Therefore, develop creative thinking. Whenever you are not active physically, do something creative in your mind. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.205.
I think hardly a word of my lecture before I come here; but I get into the consciousness of my subject, and my soul begins to tell me wonderful things. When you are thinking creatively, you don't feel the body or moods; you become attuned with Spirit. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.205.
The whole library of the universe is hidden within you. All the things you want to know are within yourself. To bring them out, think creatively. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.207.
Husbands and wives should not ridicule each other's or their children's creative tendencies. It is a sin against the evolutionary process of God to try to suppress another's creative spirit. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.222.
Let them remember that there is meaning beyond absurdity. Let them be sure that every deed counts, that every word has power, and that all we can do is our share to redeem the world, in spite of all the absurdities and all the frustrations and disappointments. And above all let them remember to build a life as if it were a work of art. You're not a machine. And you are young. Start working on this great work of art called your own existence. Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972, USA), NBC television interview, New York, 1972, quoted in: Michael Shire, The Jewish Prophet, P.123.
To make an icon, one must first come to a dispassionateness, a purity, so that the Saint can guide every stroke of the painting. It is all to be pure prayer. One cannot paint a Saint except if he lives the same kind of life as the Saint. (…). Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.198.
Last updated: 2008/03/25
See the related subjects: Awakenings, Beauty, Courage, Freedom, Harmony, Inspiration, Joy, Mind, Offerings, Transcendence, Work.