Nobility & Honor

Soul Café

Nobility & Honor

There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man or woman. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self. - Hindu Teaching

“I am ignorant of absolute truth. But I am humble before my ignorance and therein lies my honor and my reward.”-Gibran

It is possible so to adjust oneself to the practice of nobility that its atmosphere surrounds and colors every act. When actions are habitually and conscientiously adjusted to noble standards, with no thought of the words that might herald them, then nobility becomes the accent of life. At such a degree of evolution one scarcely needs try any longer to be good — all acts become the distinctive expression of nobility. – Baha’I Writings

I have many hopes for the world, but I try not to have any expectations. Whether I can actually fulfill my aspirations or not, I wish to let them shape me and guide my actions in the world. Focusing on achieving results can make us too attached to our goals. Our dreams do not necessarily have to be fulfilled in order for us to be happy. Nurturing hopes is meaningful in and of itself. It is worth working toward them, regardless of the outcome. When we make this shift away from results, we will find greater courage to act on our aspirations for the world. We will find our nobility of heart. – Buddhist

If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. Where there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. - Confucius

I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.
-Baha’I Writings

Wisdom is not in words

Wisdom is meaning within words.

Greatness is not in exalted position,

Greatness is for he who refuses position.

A man is not noble through ancestry,

How man noblemen are descendants of murders? - Gibran

“Love is a hero's journey, and the hero's journey is a noble but difficult path.” - Marianne Williamson

"the traveler abideth in every land and dwelleth in every region. In every face, he seeketh the beauty of the Friend; in every country he looketh for the beloved. He joineth every company, and seeketh fellowship with every soul, that haply in some mind he may uncover the secret of the Friend, or in some face he may behold the beauty of the Loved One."- Baha’I Writings

I cannot imagine anything nobler or more national than that for, say, one hour in the day we should all do the labor the poor must do, and thus identify ourselves with them and through them, with all mankind.- Gandhi

The point is, not how long you live, but how nobly you live.-Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD)

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.
 – Baha’I Writings

'Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.' – Gibran

Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart; a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor.  -Marianne Williamson

“Anyone can live contentedly in circumstances of ease and comfort, health and well-being gratification and felicity; but to remain happy and contented in the face of difficulty, hardship and the onslaught of disease and sickness-this is an indication of nobility.”

– Baha’I Writings

How noble is the sad heart who would sing a joyous song with joyous hearts.- Gibran

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. - Jesus

Not a day passes over this earth but men and women of note do great deeds, speak great words and suffer noble sorrows. -Charles Reed

And one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil." And he answered:

Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters.

You are good when you are one with yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.

And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, "Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance."

For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,

Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose.

And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.

Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.

Even those who limp go not backward.

But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good, You are only loitering and sluggard.

Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.

And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.

But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, "Wherefore are you slow and halting?" For the truly good ask not the naked, "Where is your garment?" nor the houseless, "What has befallen your house?" – Gibran

An humble man without learning, but filled with the Holy Spirit,

is more powerful than the most nobly-born profound scholar

without that inspiration. He who is educated by the Divine Spirit

can, in his time, lead others to receive the same Spirit.

– Baha’I Writings

Virtue alone is true nobility. - William Gifford (1756 - 1826)

“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”

- Von Goethe

"Nobility of character consists of ten qualities: generosity, modesty, sincerity, fulfillment of trust, humility, self-esteem, courage, forbearance, patience & gratitude. -Hazrat Ali

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and  you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. – source unknown

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; / when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost. –German proverb

A good character is the best tombstone.  Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when flowers have withered.  Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.  ~Charles H. Spurgeon

Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. ~Albert Einstein

Spring

Soul Café

‘Spring’

Lord of the springtime, Father of flower, field and fruit,

Smile on us in these earnest days when the work is heavy and the toil warisome

Lift up our hearts, O God,

To the things worthwhile – sunshine and night, the dripping rain,

The song of the birds, books and music, and the voices of our friends.

Lift up our hearts to these this night and grant us Thy peace.

 W.E. B. DuBois

“If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season shall we wait and for what other time shall we look?

– Baha’i Writings

Rebellion without truth is like spring in a bleak, arid desert.

K. Gibran

O Son of Dust!  The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing, even as the cup-bearers, who proffer not their cups till they find a seeker, and the lovers who cry not out from the depths of their heart until they gaze upon the beauty of their beloved. Wherefore sow the seeds of wisdom and knowledge in the pure soil of the heart, and keep them hidden, till the hyacinths of divine wisdom spring from the heart and not from mire and clay.

– Baha’i Writings

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."


Anne Bradstreet

Men keep their possessions for their own enjoyment and do not share sufficiently with others the bounty received from God. Spring is thus changed into the winter of selfishness and egotism. Jesus Christ said `Ye must be born again’ so that divine Life may spring anew within you. Be kind to all around and serve one another; love to be just and true in all your dealings; pray always and so live your life that sorrow cannot touch you. Look upon the people of your own race and those of other races as members of one organism; sons of the same Father; let it be known by your behavior that you are indeed the people of God. Then wars and disputes shall cease and over the world will spread the Most Great Peace.

–     Baha’i Writings

The Sun of Reality is one Sun but it has different dawning-places, just as the phenomenal sun is one although it appears at various points of the horizon. During the time of spring the luminary of the physical world rises far to the north of the equinoctial; in summer it dawns midway and in winter it appears in the most southerly point of its zodiacal journey. These day springs or dawning-points differ widely but the sun is ever the same sun whether it be the phenomenal or spiritual luminary. Souls who focus their vision upon the Sun of Reality will be the recipients of light no matter from what point it rises, but those who are fettered by adoration of the dawning-point are deprived when it appears in a different station upon the spiritual horizon.

–      Baha’i Writings

In those vernal seasons
of the year, when the
air is calm and pleasant,
it were an injury and
sullenness against Nature
not to go out and see
her riches, and partake
in her rejoicing with
heaven and earth.

John Milton

    The earth is in motion and growth; the mountains, hills and prairies are green and pleasant; the bounty is overflowing; the mercy universal; the rain is descending from the cloud of mercy; the brilliant Sun is shining; the full moon is ornamenting the horizon of ether; the great ocean-tide is flooding every little stream; the gifts are successive; the favors consecutive; and the refreshing breeze is blowing, wafting the fragrant perfume of the blossoms. Boundless treasure is in the hand of the King of Kings! Lift the hem of thy garment in order to receive it.

– Baha’i Writings

"Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall. Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone. Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring. "


-- William Alexander

All the virtues which have been deposited and potential in human hearts are being revealed from that Reality as flowers and blossoms from divine gardens. It is a day of joy, a time of happiness, a period of spiritual growth. I beg of God that this divine spiritual civilization may have the fullest impression and effect upon you. May you become as growing plants. May the trees of your hearts bring forth new leaves and variegated blossoms. May ideal fruits appear from them in order that the world of humanity, which has grown and developed in material civilization, may be quickened in the bringing forth of spiritual ideals.

–      Baha’i Writings

–       

Never yet was a springtime, when the buds forgot to bloom.

—Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

An optimist is the human personification of spring.


Susan J. Bissonette

      The divine religions are like the progression of the seasons of the year. When the earth becomes dead and desolate and because of frost and cold no trace of vanished spring remains, the springtime dawns again and clothes everything with a new garment of life.

– Baha’i Writings

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.

Furthermore, just as the solar cycle has its four seasons the cycle of the Sun of Reality has its distinct and successive periods. Each brings its vernal season or springtime. When the Sun of Reality returns to quicken the world of mankind a divine bounty descends from the heaven of generosity. The realm of thoughts and ideals is set in motion and blessed with new life. Minds are developed, hopes brighten, aspirations become spiritual, the virtues of the human world appear with freshened power of growth and the image and likeness of God become visible in man. It is the springtime of the inner world.

After the spring, summer comes with its fullness and fruitage spiritual; autumn follows with its withering winds which chill the soul; the Sun seems to be going away until at last the mantle of winter overspreads and only faint traces of the effulgence of that divine Sun remain. Just as the surface of the material world becomes dark and dreary, the soil dormant, the trees naked and bare and no beauty or freshness remain to cheer the darkness and desolation, so the winter of the spiritual cycle witnesses the death and disappearance of divine growth and extinction of the light and love of God. But again the cycle begins and a new springtime appears. In it the former springtime has returned, the world is resuscitated, illumined and attains spirituality; religion is renewed and reorganized, hearts are turned to God, the summons of God is heard and life is again bestowed upon man.

– Baha’i Writings

Acknowledging Impermanence

Soul Café

Acknowledging Impermanence

Life is fragile, like the dew hanging delicately on the grass, crystal drops that will be carried away on the first morning breeze. – Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, therefore he escapes the suffering. – the Buddha

God has given man a heart and the heart must have some attachment. We have proved that nothing is completely worthy of our heart’s devotion save reality, for all else is destined to perish. Therefore the heart is never at rest and never finds real joy and happiness until it attaches itself to the eternal. How foolish the bird that builds its nest in a tree that may perish when it could build its nest in an ever-verdant garden of paradise. – Abdu’l-Baha

“Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting.”

― Richard Paul Evans

"O FRIENDS! Abandon not the everlasting beauty for a beauty that must die, and set not your affections on this mortal world of dust." [Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, No. P14.]

"O BRETHREN! Be forbearing one with another and set not your affections on things below. Pride not yourselves in your glory, and be not ashamed of abasement. By My beauty! I have created all things from dust, and to dust will I return them again." [Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, No. P48.]

Man must attach himself to an infinite reality, so that his glory, his joy, and his progress may be infinite. Only the spirit is real; everything else is as shadow. All bodies are disintegrated in the end; only reality subsists. All physical perfections come to an end; but the divine virtues are infinite. How many kings have flourished in luxury and in a brief moment all has disappeared! Their glory and their honor are forgotten. Where are all these sovereigns now? But those who have been servants of the divine beauty are never forgotten. The result of their works is everywhere visible. – Abdu’l-Baha

The earth life lasts but a short time, even its benefits are transitory; that which is temporary does not deserve our heart’s attachment…. Detachment does not consist in setting fire to one’s house, or becoming bankrupt or throwing one’s fortune out of the window, or even giving away all of one’s possessions. Detachment consists in refraining from letting our possessions possess us. – Abdu’l-Baha

May no earthly entanglements, no worldly affections, no ephemeral pursuits tarnich the purity, or embitter the sweetness, of that grace which flows through you. – Lady Blomfield

Some people, sweet and attractive, and strong and healthy, happen to die young. They are masters in disguise teaching us about impermanence. -Dalai Lama

If we are not empty, we become a block of matter.
We cannot breathe, we cannot think.
To be empty means to be alive, to breathe in and to breathe out.
We cannot be alive if we are not empty.
Emptiness is impermanence, it is change.
We should not complain about impermanence,
because without impermanence, nothing is possible.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don’t struggle against it, we are in harmony with reality. – Pema Chodron

Somehow, in the process of trying to deny that things are always changing, we lose our sense of the sacredness of life. We tend to forget that we are part of the natural scheme of things. – Pema Chodron

Life is expressed in a perpetual sequence of changes. The birth of the child is the death of the baby, just as the birth of the adolescent is the death of the child. – Arnaud Desjardins

Awareness of impermanence and appreciation of our human potential will give us a sense of urgency that we must use every precious moment. – D. Lama

“Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.”

― Robert Frost

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words, "And this too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!”

― Abraham Lincoln

Come on sweetheart
let's adore one another
before there is no more
of you and me - Rumi

This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. 
To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance.
 A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,
Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain. – the Buddha

The recognition of the impermanence of all forms awakens you to
the dimension of the formless within yourself, that which is beyond death.  Jesus called it “eternal life.” ….It leads to…. nonresistance, non-judgment, and non-attachment .. the three aspects of true freedom and enlightened living.”
~Eckhart Tolle


“Corporeality is transient, feeling is transient, perception is transient, mental formations are transient, consciousness is transient.
And that which is transient, is subject to suffering; and of that which is transient and subject to suffering and change, one cannot rightly say: `This belongs to me; this am I; this is my Self’.
Therefore, whatever there be of corporeality, of feeling, perception, mental formations, or consciousness, whether past, present or future, one’s own or external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, one should understand according to reality and true wisdom: `This does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Self’.”
~ the Buddha

"What have I to do with worldly things? My connection with the world is like that of a traveler resting for a while underneath the shade of a tree and then moving on." – Muhammad

One who has finally learned that it is in the nature of objects to come and go without ceasing, rests in detachment and is no longer subject to suffering. - 
Ashtavakra Gita 


Live in the nowhere that you come from, 
Even though you have an address here. 
- Rumi

Detachment is not indifference. It is the prerequisite for effective involvement. Often what we think is best for others is distorted by our attachment to our opinions: we want others to be happy in the way we think they should be happy. It is only when we want nothing for ourselves that we are able to see clearly into others’ needs and understand how to serve them. 
Mahatma Gandhi

Much of our inner turbulence reflects the fear of loss: our dependence on people, circumstances, and things not really under our control. On some level we know that death, indifference, rejection, repossession, or high tide may leave us bereft in the morning. Still, we clutch desperately at things we cannot finally hold. Nonattachment is the most realistic of attitudes. It is freedom from wishful thinking, from always wanting things to be otherwise. 
Marilyn Ferguson

Your heart must become a see of love.  Your mind must become a river of detachment. – Sri Chinmoy

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. – Colossians 3:2

Dear God,
Please help me to detach
from things that hold me back.
Remove from me
illusions and falsehood.
Restore to me
the lightness
of my being.
-Marianne Williamson

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. – the Bible

We are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow. – the Bible

Joy and sorrow, beauty and deformity, equally pass away. – Sa’di

Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion. – Mark Twain

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - Mahatma Gandhi

O friends! Abandon not the everlasting beauty for a beauty that must die, and set not your affections on this mortal world of dust. – Baha’u’llah

"When I was still a child and had not yet attained the age of maturity, My father made arrangments in Tihran for the marriage of one of My older brothers, and as is customary in that city, the festivities lasted for seven days and seven nights. On the last day it was announced that the play "Shah Sultan Salim" would be presented. A large number of princes, dignitaries, and notables of the capital gathered for the occasion. I was sitting in one of the upper rooms of the building and observing the scene. Presently a tent was pitched in the courtyard, and before long some small human-like figures, each appearing to be no more than about a hand's span in height, were seen to emerge from it and raise the call: "His Majesty is coming! Arrange the seats at once!" Other figures then came forth, some of whom were seen to be engaged in sweeping, others in sprinkling water, and thereafter another, who was announced as the chief town crier, raised his call and bade the people assemble for an audience with the king. Next, several groups of figures made their appearance and took their places, the first attired in hats and sashes after the Persian fashion, the second wielding battleaxes, and the third comprising a number of footmen and executioners carrying bastinados. Finally there appeared, arrayed in regal majesty and crowned with a royal diadem, a kingly figure, bearing himself with the utmost haughtiness and grandeur, at turns advancing and pausing in his progress, who proceeded with great solemnity, poise and dignity to seat himself upon his throne.
At that moment a volley of shots was fired, a fanfare of trumpets was sounded, and king and tent were enveloped in a pall of smoke. When it had cleared, the king, ensconced upon his throne, was seen surrounded by a suite of ministers, princes, and dignitaries of state who, having taken their places, were standing at attention in his presence. A captured thief was then brought before the king, who gave the order that the offender should be beheaded. Without a moment's delay the chief executioner cut off the thief's head, whence a blood-like liquid came forth. After this the king held audience with his court, during which intelligence was received that a rebellion had broken out on a certain frontier. Thereupon the king reviewed his troops and despatched several regiments supported by artillery to quell the uprising. A few moments later cannons were heard booming from behind the tent, and it was announced that a battle had been engaged.
This Youth regarded the scene with great amazement. When the royal audience was ended, the curtain was drawn, and, after some twenty minutes, a man emerged from behind the tent carrying a box under his arm.
"What is this box," I asked him, "and what was the nature of this display?"
"All this lavish display and these elaborate devices," he replied, "the king, the princes, and the ministers, their pomp and glory, their might and power, everything you saw, are now contained within this box."
I swear by My Lord Who, through a single word of His Mouth, hath brought into being all created things! Ever since that day, all the trappings of the world have seemed in the eyes of this Youth akin to that same spectacle. They have never been, nor will they ever be, of any weight and consequence, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. How greatly I marveled that men should pride themselves upon such vanities, whilst those possessed of insight, ere they witness any evidence of human glory, perceive with certainty the inevitability of its waning. "Never have I looked upon any thing save that I have seen extinction before it; and God, verily, is a sufficient witness!"
It behoveth everyone to traverse this brief span of life with sincerity and fairness. Should one fail to attain unto the recognition of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, let him at least conduct himself with reason and justice. Erelong these outward trappings, these visible treasures, these earthly vanities, these arrayed armies, these adorned vestures, these proud and overweening souls, all shall pass into the confines of the grave, as though into that box. In the eyes of those possessed of insight, all this conflict, contention and vainglory hath ever been, and will ever be, like unto the play and pastimes of children. Take heed, and be not of them that see and yet deny. - Baha'u'llah

 “We may think that to detach ourselves means to hate, to ignore, to divide, to separate, to stand aloof, or to be cold and rough toward a given object. These are not signs of true detachment. True detachment is a Soul attitude, a function carried out on the Soul plane rather than on the physical, emotional, or lower mental planes. Actually you are not detaching your True Self from anyone or anything. You are detaching your Self from the inertia of the body, from the glamors of your emotional world, and from the illusions of your mental realm. You are also detaching your Real Self from the objects with which you were identified only through inertia, glamors, and illusions.” - Native American Saying

““I will be a saint” means I will despoil myself of all that is not God; I will strip my heart of all created things; I will live in poverty and detachment; I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims and fancies, and make myself a willing slave to the will of God.” – Mother Teresa

“He must be a lover of the rose, no matter in what soil it may be growing. He must be a seeker of the truth, no matter from what source it come.” – Abdu’l-Baha