Literary and Spiritual Excerpts
Ignatius of St. Paul (George Spencer) What right then, thought I, had Luther and his companions to set themselves against the united voice of the Church? I saw that he rebelled against the authority of …
The Kojiki Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto [i.e. “the divine primal pair”] consulted together, saying: “We have now produced the Great-eight-island country, with the mountains, rivers, herbs, and trees. Why should we not …
John Hancock In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments…at the same time all …
Masao Abe All I-Thou relationships among men and between man and God are possible only within an endlessly expanding self-awakening. Zen calls this our “Original Face,” the face we have before we are born. “Before …
Alexander Hamilton Good and wise men, in all ages…have supposed that the deity, from the relations, we stand in, to himself and to each other, has constituted an eternal and immutable law, which is, indispensibly, …
Kaushitaki Upanishad Pratardana Daivodasi by fighting and virility arrived at the beloved abode of Indra. To him then Indra said: “Pratardana, choose a boon (vara).” Then said Pratardana: “Do you yourself choose for me the …
Maitri Upanishad Now, indeed, O king, this is the Brahma-knowledge, even the knowledge contained in all the Upanishads, as declared to us by the honorable Maitri. I will narrate it to you. Now, the Valakhilyas …
Dominico Barberi Alas! O Lord, Sovereign ruler of the universe, thou who from nothing didst create all things, and with the power of thy arm dost preserve and uphold them; thou, who didst deign to …
Shvetashvatara Upanishad In that vast Brahma-wheel, in which all things live and rest, the bird flutters about, so long as he thinks that the self (in him) is different from the mover (the god, the …
Tony P. Hall The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God …
Dominico Barberi Alas! O Lord, Sovereign ruler of the universe, thou who from nothing didst create all things, and with the power of thy arm dost preserve and uphold them; thou, who didst deign to …
Henry Weedall Let us begin with the virtue of religion. Of this a principal duty is worship, reason teaches us to worship God. The natural law prescribes that we should do it frequently. The divine …
Mundaka Upanishad Manifest, [yet] hidden; called “Moving-in-secret”: The great abode! Therein is placed that Which moves and breathes and winks. What that is, know as Being (sad) and Non-being (a-sad), As the object of desire, …
Matthew Hale The Great Lord of the World hath placed the Children of Men in this Earth as his Stewards; and according to the Parable in Matthew 25, He delivers to every person his Talents, …
Arthur Clifford A Prayer to the Almighty Amid the Ruins of History To want, and pining misery dear, And loved by all the country near, When, as successive ages rolled, The steel-clad knight, or baron …
The Prashna Upanishad The Lord of Creation, verily, was desirous of creatures. He performed austerity. Having performed austerity, he produces a pair, matter and life, thinking “These two will make creatures for me in manifold …