The perfect human sentiments and virtues

You live to do good and to bring happiness to others.

~ 'Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 112

The greatest happiness can only be found in the happiness of others.

~ Baha'u'llah, the Divine Art of Living

Inspiring quote from Sir Winston Churchill

Success consists in going from chess to chess, without losing one's enthusiasm.

~ Sir Winston Churchill

Guidances

Man must always associate with those from whom he can get light, or be with those to whom he can give light. He must either receive or give instructions. Otherwise, being with people without these two intentions, he is spending his time for nothing, and, by so doing, he is neither gaining nor causing others to gain.

~ 'Abdu'l-Baha, Misc Baha'i, The Diary of Juliet Thompson

Dynamics of prayer

While in Haifa, the beloved Guardian of the Cause gave to the writer (Mrs Ruth Moffat), the most concise, complete, and effective formula she has ever seen, for the Dynamics of Prayer. After saying to stress the need of more prayers and meditation among the friends, he said to use these five steps if we had a problem of any kind for which we desired a solution or wished help.

First Step. - Pray and meditate about it. Use the prayers of the Manifestations as they have the greatest power. Then remain in the silence of contemplation for a few minutes.

Second Step. - Arrive at a decision and hold this. This decision is usually born during the contemplation. It may seem almost impossible of accomplishment but if it seems to be as answer to a prayer or a way of solving the problem, then immediately take the next step.

Third Step. - Have determination to carry the decision through.
Many fail here. The decision, budding into determination, is blighted and instead becomes a wish or a vague longing. When determination is born, immediately take the next step.

Fourth Step. - Have faith and confidence that the power will flow through you, the right way will appear, the door will open, the right thought, the right message, the right principle or the right book will be given you. Have confidence, and the right thing will come to your need. Then, as you rise from prayer, take at once the fifth step.

Fifth Step. - Then, he said, lastly, ACT; Act as though it had all been answered. Then act with tireless, ceaseless energy. And as you act, you, yourself, will become a magnet, which will attract more power to your being, until you become an unobstructed channel for the Divine power to flow through you. Many pray but do not remain for the last half of the first step. Some who meditate arrive at a decision, but fail to hold it. Few have the determination to carry the decision through, still fewer have the confidence that the right thing will come to their need. But how many remember to act as though it had all been answered? How true are those words - "Greater than the prayer is the spirit in which it is uttered" and greater than the way it is uttered is the spirit in which it is carried out.

~ Selected Statements and Special Documents Prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly, (Compilations, Principles of Bahai Administration, p. 91)

Four qualities which the Blessed Beauty [Baha'u'llah] loved to see manifested in people

The Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh] often remarked:
"There are four qualities which I love to see manifested in people:
first, enthusiasm and courage;
second, a face wreathed in smiles and a radiant countenance;
third, that they see with their own eyes and not through the eyes of others;
fourth, the ability to carry a task once begun, through to its end."

~ Stories of Bahá'u'lláh, Furútan, `Alí-Akbar (editor), 1986

Spirituality: the best religion

The best religion is the one that gets you closest to God. It is the one that makes you a better person.

Whatever makes you
more compassionate,
more sensible,
more detached,
more loving,
more humanitarian,
more responsible,
more ethical.

The religion that will do that for you is the best religion.

I am not interested, my friend, about your religion or if you are religious or not.

What really is important to me is your behavior towards your peers, family, work, community, and towards the world.

Remember, the universe is the echo of our actions and our thoughts.

The law of action and reaction is not exclusively for Physics. It is also of human relations.

If I act with goodness, I will receive goodness.
If I act with evil, I will get evil.
You will have what you desire for others.
Being happy is not a matter of destiny.
It is a matter of options.

Take care of your thoughts because they become words.
Take care of your words because they become actions.
Take care of your actions because they become habits.
Take care of your habits because they will form your character.
Take care of your character because it will form your destiny,
and your destiny will be your life.

...and...

There is no religion higher than the truth.

~ Adapted from an interview to the Dalai Lama

Happiness and serenity

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
~ Lao Tzu

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, "I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there."

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!"

So he came back and told Buddha, "The water in there is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink." After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.

This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. The disciple reached the lake to find the lake absolutely clean and clear with pure water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said," See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be... and the mud settled down on its own - and you got clear water. Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.

Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made. To speak or act with a peaceful mind, is to draw happiness after oneself, like an inseparable shadow.

~ Buddhist, Dhammapada - Sayings of the Buddha 1 (tr. J. Richards)