Hugh of st. Victor

I had to read this passage like four times in order to kind of understand what was being said. Not all things are what they seam to be. Like "when something is called the highest, this doesn’t mean that it is located above the top of the heavens, but rather that it is the inmost or most intimate of all". Its saying words are just that, "word" they are the things we use to try to express what we feel. Saying something is above does not mean it is really above us, but that it is so important that it is high in the mind and lifted up like something that should be treasured. When a person goes off looking for visible pleasures they will never find what they truly desire to fill that void. The only way to fill it is by knowing that God is within us and he himself will fill that void.

Symeon the newtheologian

This passage seamed strait to the point without really even saying anything. “...when he dives into the water, he can no longer see anything outside, and he knows only that his whole body is in the water.” A person who can only see what is in front of them won’t have their minds clouded by other thoughts. “The more a man enters the light of understanding, the more aware he is of his own ignorance”. To me that meant that the more a person learns they begin to understand how close minded they are and how little they knew before.

Johannes Scotus Erigena

Johannes Scotus Erigena passage was a different read. Every comment was contradicted by a some what explanation. It talked about the things that are incomprehensible comprehensible or the unknown known. It does make since even though it doesn’t really fully explain what is being said. To me it I just talking about how everything a person thinks is hidden, unseen, or unable to achieve it really isn’t. God is everywhere and in everything and like the passage said, God and creation is not two different things, but instead one in the same thing. "For both the creature, by subsisting, is in God; and God, by manifesting himself, in..... Everything" I like this because it speaks that God is not just there for us, but also is in everything around us.

Thomas Traherne

While reading this passage it seemed it was talking a lot about heaven. How “Your enjoyment of the world is never right till every morning you awake in heaven, see yourself in your father’s palace; and look upon the skies and the earth and the air as celestial joys:…..” It like he is trying to say we don’t understand anything as it is until we can see it with the same eyes God does.

Heraclitus

Even though this passage was quite small it had a lot to say. Not so much is the words on the page, but the messages from within. Like…”You can’t step twice into the same river”. Even if something appears to be the same at a glance it is in fact completely different. A person can never step into the same river because a river may be in the same spot, but it changing every second the water runs by. Or the statement…”You wont discover the limits of the soul, however far you go”. There is not a limit to the soul; no matter how hard a person tries if they look for it they will never find it. The closest a person can ever get to achieving the limits of a soul is to just take what they know and except what they don’t. “The hidden harmony is better than the obvious one”. I think anything that is not easy can be much more fulfilling. If you can get to it or see it does not have the same impact that it would if you had to strive to reach it. Lastly “The way up and the way down are one in the same. To me this means that in order to go up or down a person must change directions, therefore no matter which direction it is its still a change.

Maximus of Tyre

My favorite statement in this passage was when he said “God himself, the father and fashioner of all that is, older than the sun or the sky, greater than time and eternity and all the flow of being, is unnamable by any lawgiver, unutterable by any voice, not to be seen by any eye”. This just has such passion and appreciation for the creator. He is the one and the only; he is older than anything and will always be. A name, a voice and to be seen could not express the greatness. There is nothing that could really explain how wonderful and powerful “God” is.

Sharafuddin Maneri

This passage was quite long, but it had a lot of in site as to sharafuddins Maneri belief as to how a person worships God. He talked about “there is neither old nor new: everything is nothing, nothing at all. Yet he is what he is.” I think he is saying God has always been here and there has always been a God. Man start as nothing and they turn into nothing, so how can we measure up? We can’t; the only thing we can do is have faith in God and worship him. “When you lose yourself in God, you proclaim the divine unity. Lose the sense of being lost –that is complete detachment”. Not until a person lets go, I mean really lets go can they truly understand how grate God is. Nor can they even begin to understand anything……

Muhammad

This passage seamed to talk about the things that are provided to men. "And the earth also stretches out, setting on it the mighty hills, where we made every kind of joyous thin o grow..." Everything is here for us to use and to be thankful. The passage talked about the chain of life God creates. Like when it talked about it raining that allowed the gardens to grow and grain to be harvested and in turn it would bring life back into something that was dead. I liked the part that stated, "All that is in the heavens and in Earth magnifies God. He is the all-strong, the all-wise." I like this because to me it’s like he is all wonderful and powerful, but loving and kind. He creates life even though he could take it away. He makes the earth and heavens beautiful and grand for us even though he does not have to.

Pai-Chang

Short and sweet is exactly what this passage was. Basically it said we are perfect the way we are and the only difference between a person who has achieved enlightenment and one who hasn’t is “you are simply free from unreality and delusion.”

TZU-SSU

Tao is called true learning……I think the reason is because when a person understands Tao they understand life and all it is. It also talks about a person should act like the person they are Rich, Poor Barbarian, Trouble, and so on. There was two parts of the passage I really liked. The first was the part that said, “He makes sure that his own conduct is correct and seeks nothing from others; thus he is never disappointed.” To me this means to pay attention to what you are doing not to others and not to rely on anything from anyone other than yourself. The second was, “He has no complaints against heaven and no blame toward other people.” I like this because I think this is a good way of looking at life. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and what YOU do with it and only you will determine the outcome!

Wu-men

This was a little different to read. It mostly spoke to me about letting go. Until a person lets go they will never be able to achieve what they want. The ability to achieve the time to spend with the great ancestors is when ones is at the "cliff edge of birth-and-death, you will find great freedom"

The Buddha

This has to be my most favorite passage yet. I loved everything about it. The first part was my favorite. Where he talks about following things that are wholesome. He said..."It is proper to doubt. Do not be led by Holy Scriptures, or by mere logic or inference, or by appearances, or by the authority of religious teachers. But when you realize that something is unwholesome and bad for you, give it up. And when you realize that something is wholesome and good for you, do it." This is what I have been talking about in all my other blogs. It’s not what you can be taught by another person or the Holy Scriptures because it is all by people. The only true way to be holy is to be a good person inside and out. To help the ones who need it and make the others do it themselves. The real teachings we must live by we already have them we just need to follow what we know is the right way.

Dov baer of mezritch

The first passage was a little harder to read for me not because of its point, but how the words were arranged. I loved the second passage that said..." I will teach you the best way to say Torah. You must be nothing but an ear that hears what the universe of the word is constantly saying within you. The moment you begin to hear what you yourself are saying, you must stop." I loved this because like all the other passages within the enlightened mind, the one true way to believe and follow your God is to do just that. To feel what is right not to think. It is when you start thinking of how and why that people start to get it wrong. To truly believe and follow is to let go of your thoughts and to take in the feelings from within.

The Bible

Each one of the passages talked to me about knowing, not understanding. Nothing is out of reach as long as you have faith. To obtain it, is to just have it, not to strive for it. I like the passage...."For this pattern which I give you today is not hidden from you, and is not far away. It is not in heaven, for you to say, "Who will go up to heaven and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and do it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, for you to say, "Who will cross the sea and bring it back for us, so that we can hear it and do it?" But the teaching is very near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it" Another one I liked was... "You have hidden the truth in darkness; through this mystery you teach me wisdom", I really like this because for me it seems when I ask for patience I have more things in my life I need to practice patience with. When I ask for strength more things happen in my life I have to be strong for. It is as if when asking for something it wont just happen, but will be able to achieve it by the practice you have dealing with experiences.

Ramana Maharshi

This passage talked a lot about God already being there for a person. To have God is as simple as having him. People always make things so much more difficult than they really are. I think the section that explained the whole passage was the one that said..."God's grace is the beginning, the middle, and the end. When you pray for God's grace you are like someone standing neck-deep in water and yet crying for water. It is like saying that someone neck-deep in water feels thirsty, or that a fish in water feels thirst, or that water feels thirsty." God's grace and love is everywhere. We don’t need to look for it because we have it. We don’t need to yearn for it, it is there. We don’t need fancy words and teachings to obtain it, because we already have it.

The Upanishads

I truly liked this reading. My favorite thing was the unknowing and how even if you try to understand you can’t, but you can. Isn’t that how we live our lives? There is just so much we don’t understand and we strive to get it. Some times the things we know best are the things we both don’t understand and can’t explain. It’s like being so deeply passionate about something because you feel its right even though you could never explain it nor could you begin to understand it. The part that states “Eye cannot see it, tongue cannot utter it, mind cannot grasp it. There is no way to learn it or teach it. It is different from the known, beyond the unknown. That which makes the tongue speak but which cannot be spoken by the tongue-that alone is God, not what people worship." Basically what I got from this reading was to worship God and truly understand God is not to. It’s just allowing it to happen, for you to feel not think. For you to just know not to understand.

Chief Seattle

This speech really made me think. Here was a man who had come to the conclusion that his people were going to completely disappear from this earth because of the white man and still he referred to them as his brother. He does touch on the differences, but ultimately states even if they wipe out his people in life they will never really be gone for their dead people will always be around. I thought this was so powerful no matter what was said or done to his people they will still stay strong even if it is only in death.

SA-GO-YE-WAT-HA

While reading this passage I could tell that the chief was very nice in his delivery in asking the man to leave. I felt he had honestly listened to the missionary as he probably did the many before him. It seamed like everything the white man told his people was a lie or ended badly. Now this missionary was telling him, “All your lives have been in great errors and darkness.” Who was this man to tell the chief not only was he wrong to believe in what was passed down through generations to him, but if he didn’t follow the teachings passed down generations to the missionary he would “not be happy hereafter.” The chief felt he was happy, just as his forefathers were and his children now. He explained to the missionary that his people will continue to follow the teaching they have been and will “Be grateful for all the favors we receive, to love one another, and to be united."

I believe religion teachings boil down to what the chief was saying. We need to be grateful for all the favors we receive, to love one another, and to be united.