Wisdom for the Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing

826 Pages·2006·45.337 MB·English

by  Larry Chang

Beginnowtohewfiatyouwiffhehereafter.
~ ~
St.Jerome
WISDOM
forthe Soul
FIVE MILLENNIA
OF PRESCRIPTIONS
FOR SPIRITUAL HEALING
&
Complied editedby
Larry Chang
Whereveryouareistheentrypoint.
~Kahir~
Copyrightedmaterial
Thefipsofthewiseareasthedoorsofa
cabinet;nosooneraretheyopened,Butthe
treasuresareyouredbeforeyou.Likeunto
treesofgoldarrangedinbedsofsilver,are
wisesentencesutteredindueseason.
~KhemeticSaying~
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Thewordsthatcnfigfitenthesoularemoreyrecxousthanjewefs.
~HazratKhan~
FIVE MILLENNIA
OF PRESCRIPTIONS
FOR SPIRITUAL HEALING
&
Compifed Editedby
LarryChang
Youhavecomeheretojindwhatijouahreadijhave.
~Buddhistaphorism~
G
GNOSOPHIA
WASHINGTON
WisdomjortheSouf:
FIVEMILLENNIAOFPRESCRIPTIONSFOR
SPIRITUALHEALING
Copyright©2006byLaurenceChang
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthis
bookmaybereproducedortransmitted
inanyfomiorbyanymeans,electronic
ormanual,includingphotocopying,
recordingorbyanyinformationstorage
andretrievalsystem,withoutwritten
permissionfromtheauthor,exceptfor
theinclusionofbriefquotationsin
criticalarticlesorreviews.
Publishedby:
GnosophiaPublishers
POBox3183
Washington,DC20010-0183
USA
http://www.wisdomforthesoul.org
[email protected]
Publisher'sCataloging-in'Publication
sWpiirsidtuoalmhfeoarltihneg/socuolmp:ifilveedmi&lleednintieadobfypLraesrcrryiCpthiaonngs.fo—r
1sted.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
LCCN2005933148
ISBN0-9773391-0-6
1.Self-realization—Quotations,maxims,etc.
2.Spirituallife-Quotations,maxims,etc. I.Chang,Larry.
PN6084.S45W572006 158.1
QBI05-600159
Firstprinting2006
PrintedinUSA
Copyrightedmaterial
ents
MuchappreciationtoMichaelDavidsonandEddie
MaddoxofDecatur,Georgia;SammieNicelyofAtlanta,
Georgia;CharmaineLimoniusandTxemaBeatoof
Manhattan,NewYork,andKingston,Jamaica;andCarl
NeitaandNamonArmstrongofWashington,DC,for
openingtheirheartsandhomestomeinmytimeof
need,andwiththat,accesstotheirpersonallibraries
fromwhichmuchofthematerialhereinwasdrawn.And
toJohnEvelynScottwhotookcareofbusinesswhileI
wanderedoffdoingthiswork;toLisaMooreforher
editorialassistanceandproofreading;andJessicaJones
whoencouragedmealongtheway.
I
Bethecay\~d(eEodritthheWmfiirarrotrontha~treffectsit.
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GUIDETOUSAGE
NAMES:Forthemostpart,authorsare
referredtointhetextbythenamesthey
aremostwidelyknown,withbirthand/or
othernameslistedintheindex.For
example,JuandeYpesisshownasJohnof
theCross,andindexedassuch.Chinese
andJapanesenamesadheretotheirorderof
familynamefirst,thengivenname,
throughout.RomanizationofChinese
namesfollowsthepinyinsystem.
ABBREVIATIONSUSED:
b. bom
BCE BeforetheCommonEra
c. circa(about)
C. Century
CE CommonEra
d. died
fl. flourished
Ibid. fromthesamesource
ed(s) editor(s)
tr(s). translator(s)
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I
Contents
Acknowledgments 5
GuidetoUsage 6
Disclaimer 8
Introduction 9
TableofSubjects 17
BiographicalIndex 771
AbouttheAuthor 819
Giveyourears,hearthesayings,
Giveyourhearttounderstandthem;
Ityrojitstoyuttheminyourheart.
~Amenemoj>e~
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Discfaimer
Thisbookisdesignedtoprovideaccesstoutterancesand
expressionsofopinionthatmayenlightenandinform.
Whilethereadermayderivecomfortandrelieffrom
theirperusal,itisnotintendedtoreplaceconsultation
withtheappropriateprofessionalsformedicalconditions.
I
'Tisthegoodreaderthatmakesthegood
hook;agoodheadcannotreadamiss:in
everyhookheJindspassageswhichseem
confidencesorasideshiddenjromaffefse
andunmistakahhjmeantJorhisear.
~RafphWafdoEmerson~
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INTRODUCTION9
Introduction
Anotherbookofquotations?Indeedtherearenumerousexcellentextantanthologiesofquotations,
butthesetendtobeverybroad,withabiastowardclassicalandwell-knownauthors.Thisanthology
focusesontheinnerlife,onpersonaldevelopmentandself-actualization.Thequotationshavebeen
selectedtoinspire,enlightenandencourage,andtheyhavebeenarrangedbycategoryandbyauthor
inchronologicalorder.Theresultingtimelineofthoughtinitselfisusefulandinstructiveasit
demonstratesveryclearlytheevolutionofconsciousnessevidentinthecontemporarythinkingon
particularsubjects.Oneormorequotationsineachclassificationwillbesuretostrikearesponsive
chordinthereader.
Betterthanathousandsayingscomposedofmeaninglessstatementsisasinglemeaningful
statementonhearingwhichonebecomescalm.
~Buddha,c.563-483BCE~
TheDhammapada,ThomasCleary,tr.,1994
Thewordsthatenlightenthesoularemorepreciousthanjewels.
~HazratKhan,1882-1927~
Inthestressofmodemlife,weseeksolutions,oratleastsomeinsightfromwhateverquarter,that
mayrelateorthrowlightonthechallengeswemaybefacing.Wecantakesomesmallcomfortin
realizingthatthereisnoneedtoreinventthewheel.
Employyourtimeinimprovingyourselfbyothermen'swritings,sothatyoushallgaineasily
whatothershavelaboredhardfor.
~Socrates,469-399BCE~
Wehavealegacyofrecordedthoughtspanningsomefivemillenniainvariousworldculturesthat
addresseseveryconceivableconditionthathasfacedtheindividual.Somebodysomewherehas
probablybeenthere,donethatalready.Wecanrefertowhattheyhavethoughtandsaidofthe
experience,andwecanlearnfromthem.Thereissomethinghereforeveryone.
TheLogosisdiggingachannelforwatertoreachthenextgeneration.
DuringeverygenerationthereisonewhobringsthewordofGod;
Stillthesayingsofthosewhohavecomebeforearehelpful.
~JalaluddinRumi,1207-1273~
MathnawiIII,2537-2538
ThePocketRumiReader,KabirHelminski,ed.
Alltrulywisethoughtshavebeenthoughtalreadythousandsoftimes;buttomakethem
trulyours,wemustthinkthemoveragainhonestly,tilltheytakerootinourpersonal
experience.
~JohannvonGoethe,1749-1832—
Thewisdomofthewiseandtheexperienceoftheagesareperpetuatedbyquotations.
~BenjaminDisraeli,1804-1881~
WISDOMFORTHESOUL