God does not give us salvation because we believe. Our believing is only the normal way of receiving the salvation he freely gives.
We're blind, deaf and dumb. It is only that Self, which is our life force that makes who and what we are. The realization of that is self-realization.
Faith is the framework for living. It gives us the spirit and heart that affects everything we do. If gives us hope each day. Faith gives us purpose to right wrongs, to preserve our families, and to teach our children values. Faith gives us conscience to keep us honest, even when nobody is looking. And, faith can change lives; I know first hand, because faith changed mine.
Don't hang on to your failures, because you can always try again. Trying gives hope. Hope gives us life.
God gives me hope that there is something greater than us, something better and bigger than the here and now, that can help us live.
I discovered for myself and by myself that there is no self to realize -- that's the realization I am talking about. It comes as a shattering blow. It hits you like a thunderbolt. You have invested everything in one basket, self-realization, and, in the end, suddenly you discover that there is no self to discover, no self to realize -- and you say to yourself "What the hell have I been doing all my life?!" That blasts you.
Self-realization is not the awareness that this world is a dream, that's a part of self-realization.
God realization and self-realization are one and the same. God-realization is nothing but the ability and expansiveness of heart to love everything equally.
Self-confidence is not hope; it is the self-judgment of your own internal forces in their relation to the world without, which results from the failure of many hopes and the non-realization of many fears.
Hope gives us something to do when we are afraid of what might happen.
Our sages developed music from time immemorial to take shelter in one's true self. Real music is not for wealth, not for honors, or not even for the joys of the mind - it is a path for realization and salvation.
I'm going to use whatever God blesses me with as a platform to tell the world that God is for you. He proved it through sending Jesus down here to die for us and be resurrected. And for us that gives us second chances and it gives us hope, and so we spread that message everywhere.
I'd almost say hope isn't what it used to be. It's very difficult today to be a teacher. I speak to children. And tell them, look, no matter what, you must have hope. You must. When I invoke Camus, who said when there is no hope, you must invent hope. . .hope is something that is not what God gives us. It's like peace. It's a gift that one can give to one another. Only another person can push me to despair. And only another person can push me to hope. Its my choice.
Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can’t simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment. We feel that someone else knows what is going on, but that there is something missing in us, and therefore something is lacking in our world.
Self-realization means to know truth through yourself, and not through others. By seeking God first, through Self-realization, all things-strength, power, prosperity, wisdom, health, and immortality-will be added unto you.
To encounter Christ is to touch reality and experience transcendence. He gives us a sense of self-worth or personal significance, because He assures us of God's love for us. He sets us free from guilt because He died for us and from paralyzing fear because He reigns. He gives meaning to marriage and home, work and leisure, personhood and citizenship.