“Throughout her life, Teresa stressed the importance of beginning the journey of self-knowledge. This journey requires an ability to be very honest with oneself and a desire for self-responsibility. It means that we no longer blame others for the state of our soul, or project our old wounds onto new (or old) friends. It means we are able to acknowledge to ourselves, and speak clearly to others, the thoughts and emotions we are experiencing…We are a grand mixture of ancestral, genetic, psychological, and spiritual components. All these come to light in our daily lives, and many of them are not as attractive as we would desire.

Teresa reminded us that by acknowledging these not-so-welcome traits, we are entering into humility – the place where we understand that we are superior to none, the place we can all afford to dwell in.”

Megan Don, in “Meditations with Teresa of Avila”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

     

“An old rabbi asked his pupils how they could tell the night had ended and the day had begun. “Could it be,” asked one of the students, “when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog?” “No,” answered the rabbi.

Another asked, “Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it’s a fig tree or a peach tree?” “No,” answered the rabbi. “Then when is it?” the pupils demanded.

“It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that it is your sister or brother. Because if you cannot see this, it is still night.”

An Hasidic Tale

Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

     

“Why do people abuse us? Because we allow them to abuse us, because in our judgment we believe we deserve to be abused. But if we go a little deeper, we see that we abuse ourselves far more than anybody else abuses us. We can blame other people who hurt us and say, “I grew up being abused,” and we can make many excuses. But in the present moment, who is abusing you? If you are truthful, you find that mostly it’s your own voice of knowledge.

Every time we lie to ourselves, we abuse ourselves. Every time we curse ourselves, we abuse ourselves. Every time we judge ourselves, every time we reject ourselves, of course we have an emotional reaction, and it isn’t pleasant! Again, if we don’t like the emotional reaction, it’s not about repressing what we feel; it’s about cleaning up the lies that cause the emotional reaction.”

Don Miguel Ruiz, in “The Voice of Knowledge”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

     

“Gratitude brings more to be grateful about. It increases your abundant life. Lack of gratitude, or complaining, brings little to rejoice about. Complainers always find that they have little good in their life, or they do not enjoy what they DO have. The Universe always gives us what we believe we deserve. Many of us have been raised to look at what we do not have and to feel only lack. We come from a belief in scarcity and then wonder why our lives are so empty. If we believe that “I don’t have, and I won’t be happy until I do…” then we are putting our lives on hold. What the Universe hears is: “I don’t have, and I am not happy,” and that is what you get more of.”

Louise L. Hay, in “Gratitude—A Way of Life”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

     

“Before any action can take place, the thought must precede it. We should THINK and then act, without first running around and telling everyone what we’re going to do. That dissipates energy and creates roadblocks. Let’s keep our intentions to ourselves as we follow the “line of duty” (what we consider our purpose in this lifetime) and let the results of our efforts do the talking for us.”

John Randolph Price, in “Living a Life of Joy”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.