tip of the iceberg, Robert Earl Burton, Fellowship of Friends, Dante, Divine Comedy

The Tip of the Iceberg

What we see, be it Whitman’s ‘Leaves of Grass’, or Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’, is but the tip of the iceberg. In these two masterpieces of world literature we see but a reflection of what an individual, such as these two authors, may invisibly attain.

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Receiving and reflecting the light, Fellowship of Friends

Receiving and Reflecting the Light

We embody what is higher by being present. We can learn to hear if our hearts are in the temple or in the  bazaar. When we identify for  ourselves the flavor of those virtues–courage, prudence, humility and moderation–which Plato associates with the Ideal State, our work with others will be stronger: more direct and more compassionate as required.

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Reflecting light through action, Fellowship of Friends, Robert Earl Burton, Awakening, Socrates

Reflecting Light through Action

In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says:  “For no one Lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, nor in a hidden place, but rather he sets it on a lamp stand so that everyone who enters and leaves will see its Light.” This passage implies that that men and women who receive […]

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The Golden Key

It was as if everywhere he looked was illuminated by a bright light. Inexplicably, every impression he beheld glowed and seemed to present itself in its entirety. He was dazzled by how completely he perceived the minutest detail of all he saw. The world around him was no longer shrouded in mystery.

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Working Beyond the Machine, Girard Haven, Fellowship of Friends

Working Beyond the Machine

We imagine “freedom” means being able to follow whatever ‘I’s the machine happens to have, and “will” a way to actualize any desire that comes into the machine. In reality, however, freedom and will begin from being able to separate from the machine, and this separation begins with the ability to do what it does not want to do. 

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Change

We need to construct our lives around the effort to increase consciousness, or presence. We do this through working to deconstruct, transform, and transcend whatever within us resists or distracts us from acceleration into higher worlds. We come to realize, with time, that every moment of presence is a triumph, and a reason to be grateful.

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Rodney Collin, Abandoning the System

Rodney Collin on Abandoning the System

Rodney Collin was a student of P.D. Ouspensky in the last decade of Ouspensky’s life. He was with Ouspensky at Lyne Place, England, at Franklin Farms, New Jersey, and lived with him until Ouspensky’s death in 1947. The following excerpts are from letters written by Rodney Collin to his friends and students in the Fourth […]

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