Odilia Carmen Chirica

THEREFORE YOU ALSO MUST BE READY; FOR THE SON OF MAN IS COMING AT AN HOUR YOU DO NOT EXPECT. -MATTHEVV 24:44 " Sooner or later there arises in every human heart the desire for holiness, spirituality, God, call it what you will. One hears mystics speak of a divinity all around them that is within our grasp, that would make our lives meaningful and beautiful and rich, if we could only discover it. People have some sort of a vague idea as to what this thing is and they read books and con­sult gurus, in the attempt to find out what it is that they must do to gain this elusive thing called Holiness or Spirituality. They pick up all sorts of methods, techniques, spiritual exercises, formulas; then after years of fruitless striving they become discouraged and confused and wonder what went wrong. Mostly they blame themselves. If they had practiced their tech­niques more regularly, if they had been more fervent or more generous, they might have made it. But made what? They have no clear id

"No Zen student would presume to teach others till he had lived with his Master for a minimum of ten years.  Tenno, having completed his ten years of apprenticeship, acquired the rank of teacher.  One day he went to visit the Master Nan-in. It was a rainy day, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella.  When he walked in, Nan-in greeted him with, “You left your wooden clogs and umbrella on the porch didn’t you? Tell me, did you place your umbrella on the right side of the clogs or on the left?” Tenno was embarrassed, for he did not know the answer. He realized he lacked Awareness. So he became Nan-in’s student and laboured for ten more years to acquire Continual Awareness.  The person who is ceaselessly aware: the person who is totally there each moment: behold the Master!" from the book  "Song Of The Bird"  by  Anthony de Mello ...in truth,  OdiliaCarmen

  YOUR EYE IS THE LAMP OF YOUR BODY; WHEN YOUR EYE IS SOUND, YOUR WHOLE BODY IS FULL OF LIGHT; BUT VVHEN IT IS NOT SOUND, YOUR BODY I S FULL OF DARK NESS. -LUKE II:34 "We think the world would be saved if only we could generate larger quantities of goodwill and tolerance. That's false. What will save the world is not goodwill and tolerance but clear thinking. Of what use is it to be tolerant of others if you are convinced that you are right and everyone who disagrees with you is wrong? That isn't tol­erance but condescension. That leads not to union of hearts but to division, because you are one up and the others one down. A position that can only lead to a sense of superiority on your part and resentment on your neighbor's, thereby breeding further intolerance. True tolerance only arises from a keen awareness of the abysmal ignorance of everyone as far as truth is concerned. For truth is essen­tially mystery. The mind can sense but cannot grasp it, much less formulate