The other day, there was a Sufi proverb quoted in a journal:
“There are two rules on the spiritual path: begin and continue.”
The simplicity of the saying stood in stark contrast with the complexity of following it through, for although it is the only way to progress by even a single inch and a single breath, it is also the most exacting demand made of man.
The same journal also quoted a Japanese proverb:
“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
Both sayings are only stating the obvious. Both put tremendous pressure on man. Both have summed up what it takes to lead oneself to the golden shore. And like these, there are innumerable succinct, albeit loaded, words of wisdom, potent with the knowledge they hold within, radiant with Truth that can only belong to things that are eternal. Since eternity, into eternity.
What makes it truly amazing is how it is not a phenomenon peculiar to one culture or another. Every part of this earth has seeds of such knowledge sown into its soil and if man all over the world was to reap the harvest, we wouldn’t have to be led to any golden shore, for the very earth itself would become just that.
Here’s an invitation to you to send any thoughts that you may have found beautiful, profound, insightful, magical… and in the meanwhile, we leave you with one last gem:
“Make of thy daily way a pilgrimage,
For through small joys and griefs thou mov’st towards God.”
