Some of Brother Sean's Quotes

"God's first language is silence." Marcia Montenegro

"Progress in intimacy with God means progress toward silence." Marcia Montenegro
"The important thing is that we are relaxed and our back is straight so that the vitalizing energies can flow freely." Marcia Montenegro
"This is the sum of duty. Do naught unto others which would cause pain unto you."
Mahabharate 5, 1517. Brahmanism:
"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5,18. Buddhism:
"All things whatsoever you should wish that men should do to you, do you even so to them." Matthew. 7,12. Christianity:
"This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you."
Mahabharata, X111:114. Hinduism:
"In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self." Mahavira. Janism:
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow men." Talmud, Shabbat 13a. Judaism:
"Let us care for each and everyone of us, for the earth is one country and mankind its citizens". Baha’i:
"We should build good relations with all people in the world and spread peace everywhere." Qur'an. Ch 49. V 13. Islam:
"Equality in care and compassion is guaranteed for all the men & women everywhere."
Mahabharate 5, 1517. Sikhism:
"Regard your neighbour’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss." T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien. Confucius/ Taoism:
“The interdependency of humankind, the relevance of relationship, the sacredness of creation is ancient, ancient wisdom.”-- Rebecca Adamson
“The indigenous understanding has its basis of spirituality in recognition of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all living things, a holistic and balanced view of the world. All things are bound together. All things connect. What happens to the Earth happens to the children of the earth. Humankind has not woven the web of life; we are but one thread. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” Rebecca Adamson
“The end of the Cold War removed the immediate causes of whole destruction -- but not the threat contained in our knowledge. We must tame this knowledge with the ideals of justice, caring, and compassion summoned from our common human spiritual and moral heritage, if we are to live in peace and serenity in the twenty-first century.” Mahnaz Afkhami
“ Peace among religions is a precondition for world peace.” Swami Agnivesh
“Peace among religions is a precondition for world peace. But religions, as religions, can never be at peace with each other. To enable religions to be instruments for peace we need to enable, first, religious communities to progress from religion to spirituality. For the world order to be one of peace and justice, for the global village to be a theater of right livelihood, it is imperative that a new and proactive spiritual vision commensurate to the challenges of the emerging world order be enunciated without delay. The challenge is to make “right livelihood” a universal goal. Recognizing this value in a symbolic way through an award like this is a significant step in the right direction. This is not, however, our journey’s end. We must not rest until right livelihood is within reach of every human being upon this earth we love and cherish. We all have a role to play in achieving this goal.”
-- Swami Agnivesh
"Some of the wars and conflicts of the past and present were fought over land and resources, but many have been over religious differences. In this past century, a global interfaith movement has been growing, helping to raise consciousness about the need for tolerance and understanding between different cultures and religions. This movement has helped highlight the common goals that most religions share, such as the Golden Rule, which is at the heart of nearly all religious traditions. At the same time, many throughout the world are discovering that 'spirituality' -- a deep connection to a greater purpose for humanity -- is an important driving force in their lives, even if they aren't religious.” Robert Alan
"We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race."Kofi Annan
“...Several million Sarvodaya adherents in Sri Lanka have proved that they can transcend racial, religious, linguistic and ethnic barriers to accept a common state of ideals, principles, and constructive programs to build a new society as collectively envisioned by them.” Dr. Ari Ariyaratne
"We who have been born Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, or any other faith can be very comfortable in each others temple's, mosques, and churches, praying or meditating together to create a spiritual mass of consciousness which can overcome our greed, hatred, and illusions." Dr. Ari Ariyaratne
“ To assert that it is possible to establish peace between men of different nations is simply to assert that man, whatever his ethnical background, his race, religious beliefs, or philosophy, is capable of reason. Two forces within the individual contribute to the development of his conscience and of his morality: reason and sensitivity.” Léon Bourgeois
“Whenever a human being ceases to live for themselves and begins to care about that which is greater than themselves, the personality begins to experience ecstasy, joy and spontaneous liberation. And that's found through doing, through action, through giving, through deeply embracing the human experience.” Andrew Cohen
“Never before probably has the need for interfaith commitment been nearly as great as it is at this very moment.” Walter Cronkite
“It seems to rise again when the crisis times come, and this is a time of most severe crisis, as we all know, not just for the history of the United States and the survival indeed of our democracy, but for the future peace of the world. And never before probably has the need for interfaith commitment been nearly as great as it is at this very moment.” Walter Cronkite
"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." The Dalai Lama
“ I appreciate any organization or individual people who sincerely make an effort to promote harmony between humanity, and particularly harmony between the various religions. I consider it very sacred work and very important work” The Dalai Lama
“The problems we face today, violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger and so on, are human-created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and the development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share.” The Dalai Lama
"What we would like to do is change the world-make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended for them to do. And, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute…we can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing that we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as well as our friend." Dorothy Day
"Whenever I groan within myself and think how hard it is to keep writing about love in these times of tension and strife which may, at any moment, become for us all a time of terror, I think to myself: What else is the world interested in? What else do we all want, each one of us, except to love and be loved, in our families, in our work, in all our relationships? God is Love. Love casts out fear. Even the most ardent revolutionist, seeking to change the world, to overturn the tables of the money changers, is trying to make a world where it is easier for people to love, to stand in that relationship to each other…There can never be enough of it." Dorothy Day
"Our principle is, and our practices have always been, to seek peace, and ensue it, and to follow after righteousness and the knowledge of God, seeking the good and welfare, and doing that which tends to the peace of all...All bloody principles and practices we do utterly deny, with all outward wars, and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever..." George Fox
“My generation was bold enough to question many things and to seek spirituality over religion. We haven’t succeeded in overthrowing the old order yet, and maybe there are some meanings to be found in my story about coming of age spiritually in the latter half of the twentieth century.” Matthew Fox
“Compassion is the essence of Jesus’ teaching, and indeed of the teaching of all great spiritual figures from Mohammed to Isaiah, from Lao Tzu to Chief Seattle. Yet compassion has been sentimentalized and severed from its relationship to justice-making and celebration. Creation Spirituality links the struggle for justice with the yearning for mysticism.” Matthew Fox
“We were made for something cosmic and will not fit peacefully into anything much smaller. And when we try to build our lives around anything much smaller than cosmos we become grotesque, and our institutions, be they religious or familial or educational or governmental are asked to do too much. They become misshapen and malformed and turn into instruments of cosmic and personal destruction.” Matthew Fox
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love: where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.” Saint Francis of Assisi
“Every time that religion has identified itself or entangled itself with a particular political movement or a particular government, religion has been harmed by that. I see religion as a powerful positive healing force for this nation and the world. But that force is blunted, weakened, compromised inestimably, if we turn religion into a tool for advancing political strategy; if we make it a matter of how to win political office; if we treat it as anything other than a sacred part of life from which we ought to draw sustenance and values and strength for living courageously as good citizens.” C. Welton Gaddy
"Every religion contains, in varying degrees, elements of the soft and the hard. For the sake of world peace, dialogue within religions and among them must strengthen the softer aspects." Johan Galtung
“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.” Mohandas Gandhi
“What is faith if it is not translated into action?” Mohandas Gandhi
“May Peace Prevail On Earth!” Masahisa Goi
“Interfaith dialogue is a must today, and the first step in establishing it is forgetting the past, ignoring polemical arguments, and giving precedence to common points, which far outnumber polemical ones.” M. Fethullah Gülen
“Tolerance, a term which we sometimes use in place of the words respect, mercy, generosity, or forbearance, is the most essential element of moral systems; it is a very important source of spiritual discipline and a celestial virtue of perfected people.” --M. Fethullah Gülen
“Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.” Thich Nhat Hanh
"Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth." Thich Nhat Hanh
"To me, love, spirituality and life are all the same thing. To me they're all about honoring the circle, and they're just different ways of defining the same understanding. Our society as a whole, because we have placed our love for money above our love for life, has devalued the sacred and devalued love." Julia Butterfly Hill
“It all began on a day in 1960, sitting in the kitchen of my Greenwich home with a friend, snacking on peanut butter sandwiches, talking about what a mess the world was in, with the spectre of nuclear Armageddon not a remote possibility, when as if out of nowhere, a light turned on in my mind and I excitedly saw an antidote -- an ongoing forum where dialogue and understanding could be promoted by bringing all the world's religions together under one roof.” Juliet Hollister, founder of the Temple of Understanding
“There is so much work yet to be done. It is so clear to me that all we have to do is awaken to the fact that we are all ONE, or as my friend Father Thomas Merton has so rightly said, 'We are already ONE . . . what we have to become is what we already are.' It seems so simple, doesn't it? Yet so much more work to do. So much more work.” Juliet Hollister, founder of the Temple of Understanding
“In the next 30 years we can destroy our world. With the very same powers — spiritual, social, scientific — we can evolve our world. Our mission is to serve as catalysts for a planetary awakening in our lifetime, to take a non-violent path to the next stage of our evolution.” Barbara Marx Hubbard
"Let me say this loud and clear. There is a world of difference between terrorist acts and the Islamic Shari'a. Islam is not only a religion, but a way of life. And at its heart lie the sacred principles of tolerance and dialogue.” King Hussein of Jordan
“I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.” Thomas Jefferson
"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others." John F. Kennedy
“Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.” Robert F. Kennedy
“The force and the strength for peace will come from people. And that will happen when people start to realize that all the diversity and differences we see of nationalities, of religions, of cultures, of languages, are all beautiful diversities, for they are only on the surface. And deep down we share the same humanity, the global humanity.” Satish Kumar
“There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions and no peace among the religions without dialogue.” Fr. Hans Kung
“…in place of the Old Bottom Line of money and power, a New Bottom Line of Love and Generosity is possible. People of all faiths need to shape a political and social movement that reaffirms the most generous, peace-oriented, social justice-committed, and loving truths of the spiritual heritage of the human race.” Rabbi Michael Lerner
"[Our biggest opportunity at this moment in history is] perhaps a deeper connection with all human beings. That kind of connection, made possible by our various technologies, simply couldn’t exist before recent times. The connection guarantees nothing, but it does offer an opportunity for expressions of a global spirit, or what I call a “species consciousness” or “species self.” What that means is not that one ceases to be an American, or a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Hindu. One is any of those and at the same time, in one’s own sense of self, a human being. This kind of species consciousness is expanding. Perhaps it represents our greatest opportunity. Robert Jay Lifton”
"All things are bound together, all things connect. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls also the children of the earth." Chief Oren Lyons, Onandaga Nation
“A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.” Thomas Merton
“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.” Thomas Merton
“One world, one people, living together as a global family! Young people will cross religious, ethnic and cultural divides to recognize the universal human as family. WE ARE ONE and the elders of tomorrow will carry this torch.” Nina Meyerhof
“The Interfaith Alliance has to become an ongoing sustaining and powerful movement whose interest is to prove that religion has a healing side as well as a killing side, and that democracy is the consequence of conscience.” Bill Moyers
“ The world’s major religions in the end all want the same thing, even though they were born in different places and circumstances on this planet. What the world needs today is a convergence of the different religions in the search for and definition of the cosmic or divine laws which ought to regulate our behavior on this planet.” Robert Muller
"As believers we all have an opportunity and moral obligation to recognize our spiritual common ground; to rise above our differences; to combat prejudice and intolerance." Queen Noor of Jordan
"It is particularly recommended, as a means of uniting the inhabitants of the village into one family, that while each faithfully adheres to the principles which he most approves, at the same time all shall think charitably of their neighbours respecting their religious opinions, and not presumptuously suppose that theirs alone are right. Robert Owen
"Show me a religion that doesn't care about compassion. Show me a religion that doesn't care about stewardship of the environment. Show me a religion that doesn't care about hospitality." Eboo Patel
"Be a sweet melody in the great orchestration, instead of a discordant note. The medicine this sick world needs is love. Hatred must be replaced by love, and fear by faith that love will prevail." Peace Pilgrim
“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.” Carl Sagan
“What interfaith seeks to do is to not allow religion to fall back into confrontational modes, into contemporary crusades and jihads, rather to move onwards to a new level of interfaith harmony and understanding." Dr. Karen Singh
"I would like the church to be a place where the questions of people are honored rather than a place where we have all the answers. The church has to get out of propaganda. The future will involve us in more interfaith dialogue. ... We cannot say we have the only truth."  Bishop John Shelby Spong
“We're talking about calling the entire world of religion into a global dialogue,'' --Bishop William E. Swing
“We have to sit down, have a meal together, pray together and then actually talk together. Then we realize that, yes, although we have some differences they are not impassable differences." Pauline Tangiora
“If the ecological crisis, for example, is to be solved and if we are to promote genuine justice and thus bring real peace to the planet—and with it the possibility of improving lives on every level, not just economically, socially, and politically, but spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually—then, just on a practical level, we need to have all of the religions working together." Brother Wayne Teasdale
"So many of the wars in history, thousands and thousands of them for the past five, six, seven thousand years, have been related to differences in Truth claims. If we can evolve beyond that problem, then I think there's some chance that we could retire the whole institution of war and begin to focus on the peaceful evolution of humanity. Brother Wayne Teasdale
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Pierre Teilhard De Chardin
“Love is a fruit in season at all times and within the reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. Everyone can reach this love through meditation, prayer, sacrifice, and an intense inner life.” Mother Teresa
"I honor the path each person is on. I believe that all of our prayer paths lead to the Great Mystery, or Spirit, or God." Mary Thunder
“Certainly the vision of the spiritual nature of man and the universe brings the conviction that the human potential is unlimited and that we stand at the threshold over which a quantum leap in consciousness is possible.” George Trevelyan
"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." Desmond Tutu
“We can find common ground only by moving to higher ground. Jim Wallis
“We believe in taking down the barriers, but we also believe in the most energetic reconciliation among peoples by getting them to know each other, talk each other's languages, understand each other's fears and beliefs, getting to know each other physically, philosophically, and spiritually. It is much harder to kill your near neighbor than the thousands of unknown and hostile aliens at the other end of a nuclear missile. We have to create a world in which there are no unknown, hostile aliens at the other end of any missiles.” Betty Williams (The Peace People)
“In the context of interfaith encounter, we need to bring to the surface how our actual beliefs shape what we do - not simply to agree that kindness is better than cruelty.” -- Rowan D. Williams
“The spiritual path -- is simply the journey of living our lives. Everyone is on a spiritual path; most people just don't know it.” Marianne Williamson
“Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.” Marianne Williamson
“There is only one river. There is only one sea. And it flows through you, and it flows through me. There is only one people. We are one and the same. We are all one spirit. We are all one name.” Peter Yarrow
"I fully agree that all religions lead to one truth, the Absolute truth. There is One truth. There is only one Goal, but there are various paths. Each religion is right in its own way." Sri Chinmoy
"No religion is absolutely perfect. Yet not only do we fight for religion, but also are we often willing to sacrifice our lives for it. And what we hopelessly fail to do is to live it. A true religion is that which has no caste, no creed, no colour. It is but an all-uniting and all-pervading embrace." Sri Chinmoy
"Man-made religions find fault with one another, whereas God-made religion is eternally a oneness-song — God-manifestation through human aspiration on earth." Sri Chinmoy
"If we live in our oneness-heart, we will feel the essence of all religions which is the love of God. Forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, brotherhood and the feeling of oneness are the signs of a true religion." Sri Chinmoy

In 1893, the first World Parliament of Religions was held in Chicago, USA. This was a unique event which invited people from the main different religious traditions. The Parliament was a resounding success; in particular, Swami Vivekananda, touched the hearts and minds of the participants through his clarion call for religious unity and religious tolerance.

"As different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee." Swami Vivekenanda

In 1993, the World Parliament of Religions reconvened in Chicago to revive this spirit of religious tolerance and religious oneness. Sri Chinmoy was chosen to lead the opening meditation. Sri Chinmoy feels that through silent meditation and prayer, we can most effectively feel the underlying unity of different religious teachings. He said of the event: “During my Opening Meditation I am praying for the oneness of all religions.” Sri Chinmoy

Sri Chinmoy: Being a spiritual man, I must say that there is only one religion. You call it Christianity, I call it Hinduism, somebody calls it Judaism and somebody else calls it Islam. But there is only one religion. So when there is one religion, there cannot be nearness or distance. There are many branches of the religion-tree, but there is only one religion, and that religion is God-realisation. The ultimate Goal of all religion is God-realisation.

Religions may fight on the way to the goal, but at the end of the journey they become most intimate friends, and then they feel that they were all the time together on the same journey, only following different paths. True, sincere followers of any religion, either Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or Judaism, will never find fault in the truths of other religions. They know that the ultimate Truth exists in each religion. Sri Chinmoy

Peace among religions is a precondition for world peace. But religions, as religions, can never be at peace with each other. To enable religions to be instruments for peace we need to enable, first, religious communities to progress from religion to spirituality. For the world order to be one of peace and justice, for the global village to be a theater of right livelihood, it is imperative that a new and proactive spiritual vision commensurate to the challenges of the emerging world order be enunciated without delay. The challenge is to make “right livelihood” a universal goal. Recognizing this value in a symbolic way through an award like this is a significant step in the right direction. This is not, however, our journey’s end. We must not rest until right livelihood is within reach of every human being upon this earth we love and cherish. We all have a role to play in achieving this goal.
Swami Agnivesh

We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race."  Kofi Annan
Several million Sarvodaya adherents in Sri Lanka have proved that they can transcend racial, religious, linguistic and ethnic barriers to accept a common state of ideals, principles, and constructive programs to build a new society as collectively envisioned by them.  Dr. Ari Ariyaratne

"We who have been born Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, or any other faith can be very comfortable in each others temple's, mosques, and churches, praying or meditating together to create a spiritual mass of consciousness which can overcome our greed, hatred,  and illusions."  Dr. Ari Ariyaratne

To assert that it is possible to establish peace between men of different nations is simply to assert that man, whatever his ethnical background, his race, religious beliefs, or philosophy, is capable of reason. Two forces within the individual contribute to the development of his conscience and of his morality: reason and sensitivity.   Léon Bourgeois

Whenever a human being ceases to live for themselves and begins to care about that which is greater than themselves, the personality begins to experience ecstasy, joy and spontaneous liberation. And that's found through doing, through action, through giving, through deeply embracing the human experience.  Andrew Cohen never before probably has the need for interfaith commitment been nearly as great as it is at this very moment.  Walter Cronkite

It seems to rise again when the crisis times come, and this is a time of most severe crisis, as we all know, not just for the history of the United States and the survival indeed of our democracy, but for the future peace of the world. And never before probably has the need for interfaith commitment been nearly as great as it is at this very moment.
-- Walter Cronkite

The fact that you are here tonight gathered together with us testifies to the fact you understand the need for this organization and the need for redoubling our efforts in this organization to try to assure that democracy as represented by the United States must depend upon a total freedom of religion, which is written into our Constitution, of course, and the mere suggestion that anyone could maintain that one’s patriotism, one’s devotion to one’s country can be judged by one’s religion is so vile, so vile that we have to take to the streets indeed and to put it aside. Walter Cronkite

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."  The Dalai Lama

* I appreciate any organization or individual people who sincerely make an effort to promote harmony between humanity, and particularly harmony between the various religions. I consider it very sacred work and very important work. The Dalai Lama

The problems we face today, violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger and so on, are human-created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and the development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share. The Dalai Lama

"What we would like to do is change the world-make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended for them to do. And, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute…we can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing that we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as well as our friend." Dorothy Day

 "Whenever I groan within myself and think how hard it is to keep writing about love in these times of tension and strife which may, at any moment, become for us all a time of terror, I think to myself: What else is the world interested in? What else do we all want, each one of us, except to love and be loved, in our families, in our work, in all our relationships? God is Love. Love casts out fear. Even the most ardent revolutionist, seeking to change the world, to overturn the tables of the money changers, is trying to make a world where it is easier for people to love, to stand in that relationship to each other…There can never be enough of it." Dorothy Day

"Our principle is, and our practices have always been, to seek peace, and ensue it, and to follow after righteousness and the knowledge of God, seeking the good and welfare, and doing that which tends to the peace of all...All bloody principles and practices we do utterly deny, with all outward wars, and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever..." George Fox

“My generation was bold enough to question many things and to seek spirituality over religion. We haven’t succeeded in overthrowing the old order yet, and maybe there are some meanings to be found in my story about coming of age spiritually in the latter half of the twentieth century.” Matthew Fox

Compassion is the essence of Jesus’ teaching, and indeed of the teaching of all great spiritual figures from Mohammed to Isaiah, from Lao Tzu to Chief Seattle. Yet compassion has been sentimentalized and severed from its relationship to justice-making and celebration. Creation Spirituality links the struggle for justice with the yearning for mysticism. Matthew Fox

We were made for something cosmic and will not fit peacefully into anything much smaller. And when we try to build our lives around anything much smaller than cosmos we become grotesque, and our institutions, be they religious or familial or educational or governmental are asked to do too much. They become misshapen and malformed and turn into instruments of cosmic and personal destruction. Matthew Fox

Every time that religion has identified itself or entangled itself with a particular political movement or a particular government, religion has been harmed by that. I see religion as a powerful positive healing force for this nation and the world. But that force is blunted, weakened, compromised inestimably, if we turn religion into a tool for advancing political strategy; if we make it a matter of how to win political office; if we treat it as anything other than a sacred part of life from which we ought to draw sustenance and values and strength for living courageously as good citizens. C. Welton Gaddy

* "Every religion contains, in varying degrees, elements of the soft and the hard. For the sake of world peace, dialogue within religions and among them must strengthen the softer aspects." Johan Galtung

“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.” Mohandas K. Gandhi

* What is faith if it is not translated into action? Mohandas K. Gandhi
It is the duty of every cultured man or woman to read sympathetically the scriptures of the world. If we are to respect others' religions as we would have them respect our own, a friendly study of the world's religions is a sacred duty.  Mohandas Gandhi
May Peace Prevail On Earth! Masahisa Goi
Interfaith dialogue is a must today, and the first step in establishing it is forgetting the past, ignoring polemical arguments, and giving precedence to common points, which far outnumber polemical ones. M. Fethullah Gülen
Tolerance, a term which we sometimes use in place of the words respect, mercy, generosity, or forbearance, is the most essential element of moral systems; it is a very important source of spiritual discipline and a celestial virtue of perfected people. M. Fethullah Gülen
Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment. Thich Nhat Hanh
* "Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth." Thich Nhat Hanh
"To me, love, spirituality and life are all the same thing. To me they're all about honoring the circle, and they're just different ways of defining the same understanding. Our society as a whole, because we have placed our love for money above our love for life, has devalued the sacred and devalued love." Julia Butterfly Hill
It all began on a day in 1960, sitting in the kitchen of my Greenwich home with a friend, snacking on peanut butter sandwiches, talking about what a mess the world was in, with the spectre of nuclear Armageddon not a remote possibility, when as if out of nowhere, a light turned on in my mind and I excitedly saw an antidote -- an ongoing forum where dialogue and understanding could be promoted by bringing all the world's religions together under one roof.' Juliet Hollister, founder of the Temple of Understanding
There is so much work yet to be done. It is so clear to me that all we have to do is awaken to the fact that we are all ONE, or as my friend Father Thomas Merton has so rightly said, 'We are already ONE . . . what we have to become is what we already are.' It seems so simple, doesn't it? Yet so much more work to do. So much more work.'  Juliet Hollister, founder of the Temple of Understanding
In the next 30 years we can destroy our world. With the very same powers — spiritual, social, scientific — we can evolve our world. Our mission is to serve as catalysts for a planetary awakening in our lifetime, to take a non-violent path to the next stage of our evolution.  Barbara Marx Hubbard
"Let me say this loud and clear. There is a world of difference between terrorist acts and the Islamic Shari'a. Islam is not only a religion, but a way of life. And at its heart lie the sacred principles of tolerance and dialogue.  King Hussein of Jordan
I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.  Thomas Jefferson
"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others." John F. Kennedy
Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired. Robert F. Kennedy
The force and the strength for peace will come from people. And that will happen when people start to realize that all the diversity and differences we see of nationalities, of religions, of cultures, of languages, are all beautiful diversities, for they are only on the surface. And deep down we share the same humanity, the global humanity.   Satish Kumar
“There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions and no peace among the religions without dialogue.” Fr. Hans Kung
in place of the Old Bottom Line of money and power, a New Bottom Line of Love and Generosity is possible. People of all faiths need to shape a political and social movement that reaffirms the most generous, peace-oriented, social justice-committed, and loving truths of the spiritual heritage of the human race.  Rabbi Michael Lerner
[Our biggest opportunity at this moment in history is] perhaps a deeper connection with all human beings. That kind of connection, made possible by our various technologies, simply couldn’t exist before recent times. The connection guarantees nothing, but it does offer an opportunity for expressions of a global spirit, or what I call a “species consciousness” or “species self.” What that means is not that one ceases to be an American, or a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Hindu. One is any of those and at the same time, in one’s own sense of self, a human being. This kind of species consciousness is expanding. Perhaps it represents our greatest opportunity. Robert Jay Lifton
All things are bound together, all things connect. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls also the children of the earth." Chief Oren Lyons, Onandaga Nation
A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.  Thomas Merton
* The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.  Thomas Merton
One world, one people, living together as a global family! Young people will cross religious, ethnic and cultural divides to recognize the universal human as family. WE ARE ONE and the elders of tomorrow will carry this torch. Nina Meyerhof
The Interfaith Alliance has to become an ongoing sustaining and powerful movement whose interest is to prove that religion has a healing side as well as a killing side, and that democracy is the consequence of conscience Bill Moyers
The world’s major religions in the end all want the same thing, even though they were born in different places and circumstances on this planet. What the world needs today is a convergence of the different religions in the search for and definition of the cosmic or divine laws which ought to regulate our behavior on this planet.  Robert Muller
"As believers we all have an opportunity and moral obligation to recognize our spiritual common ground; to rise above our differences; to combat prejudice and intolerance."  Queen Noor of Jordan
"it is particularly recommended, as a means of uniting the inhabitants of the village into one family, that while each faithfully adheres to the principles which he most approves, at the same time all shall think charitably of their neighbours respecting their religious opinions, and not presumptuously suppose that theirs alone are right. Robert Owen
Show me a religion that doesn't care about compassion. Show me a religion that doesn't care about stewardship of the environment. Show me a religion that doesn't care about hospitality. Eboo Patel
"Be a sweet melody in the great orchestration, instead of a discordant note. The medicine this sick world needs is love. Hatred must be replaced by love, and fear by faith that love will prevail." Peace Pilgrim
Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.  Carl Sagan
What interfaith seeks to do is to not allow religion to fall back into confrontational modes, into contemporary crusades and jihads, rather to move onwards to a new level of interfaith harmony and understanding." Dr. Karen Singh
"I would like the church to be a place where the questions of people are honored rather than a place where we have all the answers. The church has to get out of propaganda. The future will involve us in more interfaith dialogue. ... We cannot say we have the only truth."  Bishop John Shelby Spong
''We're talking about calling the entire world of religion into a global dialogue,''
"We have to sit down, have a meal together, pray together and then actually talk together. Then we realize that, yes, although we have some differences they are not impassable differences." Pauline Tangiora
If the ecological crisis, for example, is to be solved and if we are to promote genuine justice and thus bring real peace to the planet—and with it the possibility of improving lives on every level, not just economically, socially, and politically, but spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually—then, just on a practical level, we need to have all of the religions working together." Brother Wayne Teasdale
"So many of the wars in history, thousands and thousands of them for the past five, six, seven thousand years, have been related to differences in Truth claims. If we can evolve beyond that problem, then I think there's some chance that we could retire the whole institution of war and begin to focus on the peaceful evolution of humanity.  Brother Wayne Teasdale
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Pierre Teilhard De Chardin
Love is a fruit in season at all times and within the reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. Everyone can reach this love through meditation, prayer, sacrifice, and an intense inner life.  Mother Teresa
"I honor the path each person is on. I believe that all of our prayer paths lead to the Great Mystery, or Spirit, or God." Mary Thunder
Certainly the vision of the spiritual nature of man and the universe brings the conviction that the human potential is unlimited and that we stand at the threshold over which a quantum leap in consciousness is possible.  George Trevelyan
"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." Desmond Tutu
We can find common ground only by moving to higher ground. -- Jim Wallis
The spiritual path -- is simply the journey of living our lives. Everyone is on a spiritual path; most people just don't know it. Marianne Williamson
Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. Marianne Williamson
There is only one river. There is only one sea. And it flows through you, and it flows through me. There is only one people. We are one and the same.  We are all one spirit. We are all one name. Peter Yarrow

Why not come and join our Brothers and Sisters live for Morning Prayer at: 09.00 AM and Evening Prayers at: 05.00 PM on Livestream where we embrace the Love of the Supreme representing all beliefs and none.

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Led by Brother Sean from 12 midnight (GMT); 07.00pm (EST) 4 personal and global Peace and Insterspiritual Unity.

http://www.livestream.com/franciscanabbeyofpeacecompassion?t=565717

 

We are each the embodiment of Cosmic Christ Consciousness. Please come and share your spiritual love and sit with us around the table of many Blessings on Livestream. Brother Sean Bradley