This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Roger Schutz, aka Frère Roger, Brother Roger of Taize, baptised Roger Louis Schütz-Marsauche
In your persistent questioning, "Who do you say that I am?" You are the one who loves me into endless life. You open up the way of risk. You go ahead of me along the way of holiness, where happy are they who die of love, where the ultimate response is martyrdom. Day by day you transfigure the "no" in me into "Yes". You ask me, not for a few scraps, but for the whole of my existence. You are the one who prays in me by day and night. My stammerings are prayer: simply calling you by your name, Jesus, fills our communion to the full. You are the one who, every morning, slips on my finger the ring of the prodigal son, the ring of festival. So why have I wavered so long? You have been seeking me unwearyingly. Why did I hesitate once again, asking for time to deal with my own affairs? Once I had set my hand to the plough, why did I look back? Without realizing it, I was making myself unfit to follow you. Yet, though I had never seen you, I loved you. You kept on saying: Live the little bit of the gospel you have grasped. Proclaim my life. Light fire on the earth... You, follow me... Until one day I understood: you were asking me to commit myself to the point of no return.
The fineness and strength essential to our best being, and to make us do our work, come by the hammer and the fire, by the thorn in the flesh, the trouble and pain in our life, which may act in us as the fire acts in the iron, welding the fiber afresh.
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
Establish peace, for us, O Lord, In everlasting grace, Nor let us be of Thee abhorred, Who art our dwelling-place. We wander ever to and fro, Or sit in chains in exile drear, Yet still proclaim where’er we go, The splendour of Our Lord is here. Sore-tried, involved in heathen mesh, Deep-sunk as though in midmost sea, Each morn the thought is roused afresh, Who will arise to set us free? From rampart and from mountain reft, Immured in thick and pitchy gloom, Had not the Lord a remnant left, Death in the dust had been our doom. All realms behold our driven seed, Like wounded doves we fly their hate. All nations hunt us and impede And in the desert lie in wait. Gripped as a bird within a net, Ever pursued in deadly chase, With harsh devices daily met, Perchance our God will grant us grace. How many periods are past, And we in exile lingering, By enemies encompassed fast, Who jeer that now we have no King! They plot and league in lying spite God’s truth with cunning to eclipse, Our tongues, they say, shall give us might, We own no master to our lips. Shine forth, great God, in splendid flame, Bare Thy great arm of ancient days, Be jealous for Thy glorious name, Not unto us, O Lord, the praise. To dust the Arab kingdom sweep, The ravenous beasts who tear and bite, Who rend our scattered sons as sheep, Whose motto is to seize by might. Our heritage they have possessed, Exiled, devoured us at their will, Consumed and wasted and oppressed And machinate against us still. So low our nation hath been brought, So many masters override, A little more and it were naught, Had not the Lord been on its side. Beneath the feet of slaves we bend, In pit and prison we are pressed, The hunters at our necks impend, We labour still and have no rest. Where is that kindness from above Of which Thy servitors have heard, The boon of Thy peculiar love, For which we have our fathers’ word? O glorious sovran of the height, Abase, destroy their topmost tower, The final marvel bring to light, Arise and save us, show Thy power. Uplift the lowly from the mire, And make our meditation sweet, The lily gather from the brier, And our salvation, Lord, complete. With joy the lost and wounded bless, Wipe from all eyes the tears that run, Unveil the orb of righteousness, For unto us is born a son. O break the yoke, the slave release, Rebuke the arrogant again, And send Thy messenger of peace, Whose feet are welcome as the rain. Rejoice, my dear despised, the King In all His beauty thou shalt see, And this the song that men shall sing In Judah’s land, our own and free. The prayer of the meek finds grace, And God will hearken and forgive, Tread down corruption, sin erase, And in His light will let us live. My song of penitence He ranks As though an altar-sacrifice. Healed of my sins I give Him thanks, Who ’spite our deeds remits the price Delight and peace from Thee we hail, Thy hand Thy people’s sin outscored, Drew o’er iniquity a veil Nor gave wrongdoing its reward. Perpetual ascend to Thee Thy people’s and Thy servants’ cries, O let us Thy compassion see, And Thy salvation greet our eyes.
Art | Cause | Day | Heart | Man | Mob | Peace | Will | Witness | Art |
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
Thou existest, but hearing of ear cannot reach Thee, or vision of eye, Nor shall the How have sway over Thee, nor the Wherefore and Whence. Thou existest, but for Thyself and for none other with Thee. Thou existest, and before Time began Thou wast, And without place Thou didst abide. Thou existest, and Thy secret is hidden and who shall attain to it? "So deep, so deep, who can discover it?"
Art | Change | Heart | Imagination | Mystery | Oneness | Sin | Will | Wise | Art |
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
O Lord, who can reach Thy wisdom? For Thou gavest the soul the faculty of knowledge that is fixed therein, And knowledge is the fount of her glory. Therefore hath destruction no power over her, But she maintaineth herself by the stability of her foundation, For such is her nature and secret; The soul with her wisdom shall not see death. Nevertheless shall her punishment be visited upon her, A punishment bitterer than death, Though be she pure she shall obtain favour And shall laugh on the last day. But if she hath been defiled, She shall wander to and fro for a space in wrath and anger, And all the days of her uncleanness Shall she dwell vagabond and outcast; "She shall touch no hallowed thing, And to the sanctuary she shall not come Till the days of her purification be fulfilled."
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
O Lord, who can comprehend Thy power? For Thou hast created for the splendour of Thy glory a pure radiance "Hewn from the rock of rocks and digged from the bottom of the pit." Thou hast imparted to it the spirit of wisdom And called it the Soul. And of flames of intellectual fire hast Thou wrought its form, And like a burning fire hast Thou wafted it, And sent it to the body to serve and guard it, And it is as fire in the midst thereof yet doth not consume it, For it is from the fire of the soul that the body hath been created, And goeth from Nothingness to Being, "Because the Lord descended on him in fire."
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
Who can approach Thy seat? For beyond the sphere of Intelligence hast Thou established the throne of Thy glory; There standeth the splendour of Thy veiled habitation, And the mystery and the foundation. Thus far reacheth Intelligence, but cometh here to a standstill, For higher still hast Thou mounted, and ascended Thy mighty throne, "And no man may go up with Thee."
Angels | Art | Beginning | Change | Dread | Intelligence | Light | Lord | Power | Spirit | Universe | Work | Art |
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
May it please Thee, O Lord my God, To return to me in mercy, And to bring me back to Thee in perfect repentance. O dispose my heart and turn Thine ear to supplication, And open my heart to Thy law, And plant in my thoughts the fear of Thee, And decree for me good decrees, And annul the evil decrees against me, And lead me not into the power of temptation, Nor into the power of contempt, And from all evil chances deliver me, And hide me in Thy shadow until the havoc pass by, And be with my mouth in my meditation, And keep my ways from sin through my tongue, And remember me when Thou rememberest and favourest Thy people, And when Thou rebuildest Thy Temple, That I may behold the bliss of Thy chosen ones, And purify me to seek diligently Thy Sanctuary devastated and ruined, And to cherish its stones and its dust, And the clods of its desolation, And rebuild Thou its wastes!
Affliction | Eternal | Good | Mercy | Past | Pity | Rage | Rest | Reward | Trust | Wickedness | Will | Blessed |
Samuel ha-Nagid, born Samuel ibn Naghrela or Naghrillah
Build me up like a tower on the heights of your sanctuary, And set me like a seal upon your heart. Make me drunk with the blood of the foe on the day of war And satisfy me with his flesh on the night of redemption. Place the cup of salvation upon my right hand That my tongue may give voice in joy to a song of love. For nearly a thousand years I have declared my sorrow With many tears and with fasting,—will You not answer me?
Day | God | Grave | Grief | Heart | Peace | Rest | Spirit | Traitor | Will | Loss | God |
Margaret Fuller, fully Sara Margaret Fuller, Marchese Ossoli
With equal sweetness the commissioned hours Shed light and dew upon both weeds and flowers. The weeds unthankful raise their vile heads high, Flaunting back insult to the gracious sky; While the dear flowers, wht fond humility, Uplift the eyelids of a starry eye In speechless homage, and, from grateful hearts, Perfume that homage all around imparts.
Sara Teasdale, born Sara Trevor Teasdale, aka Sara Teasdale Filsinger
I saw above a sea of hills A solitary planet shine, And there was no one, near or far, to keep the world from being mine.
Shoghí Effendi, fully Shoghí Effendí Rabbání
It unequivocally maintains the principle of equal rights, opportunities, and privileges for men and women, insists on compulsory education, eliminates extremes of poverty and wealth, abolishes the institution of priesthood, prohibits slavery, asceticism, mendicancy, and monasticism, prescribes monogamy, discourages divorce, emphasizes the necessity of strict obedience to one's government, exalts any work performed in the spirit of service to the level of worship, urges either the creation or the selection of a auxiliary international language, and delineates the outlines of those institutions that must establish and perpetuate the general peace of mankind.
Duty | Faith | Harmony | Necessity | Oneness | Prejudice | Progress | Purpose | Purpose | Religion | Search | Unity | Wholeness |
Samuel ha-Nagid, born Samuel ibn Naghrela or Naghrillah
Gazing through the night and its stars, or the grass and its bugs, I know in my heart these swarms are the craft of surpassing wisdom. Think: the skies resemble a tent, stretched taut by loops and hooks; and the moon with its stars, a shepherdess, on a meadow grazing her flock; and the crescent hull in the looser clouds looks like a ship being tossed; a whiter cloud, a girl in her garden tending her shrubs; and the dew coming down is her sister shaking water from her hair onto the path; as we settle in our lives, like beasts in their ample stalls— fleeing our terror of death, like a dove its hawk in flight— though we’ll lie in the end like a plate, hammered into dust and shards.
Sara Teasdale, born Sara Trevor Teasdale, aka Sara Teasdale Filsinger
I am the pool of gold When sunset burns and dies-- You are my deepening skies; Give me your stars to hold... I shall learn from flower and leaf, That color every drop they hold, To change the lifeless wine of grief To living gold.
Sara Teasdale, born Sara Trevor Teasdale, aka Sara Teasdale Filsinger
I am not yours, nor lost in you, not lost, although I long to be. Lost as a candle lit at noon, lost as a snowflake in the sea. You love me, and I find you still a spirit beautiful and bright, yet I am I, who long to be lost as a light is lost in light.
Sen T’Sen, aka Seng T'San, Jianzhi Sengcan, Kanchi Sosan, Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen
Trusting In Mind - The Great Way is not difficult, Just don’t pick and choose. If you cut off all likes or dislikes Everything is clear like space. Make the slightest distinction And heaven and earth are set apart. If you wish to see the truth, Don’t think for or against. Likes and dislikes Are the mind’s disease. Without understanding the deep meaning You cannot still your thoughts. It is clear like space, Nothing missing, nothing extra. If you want something You cannot see things as they are. Outside, don’t get tangled in things. Inside, don’t get lost in emptiness. Be still and become One And all opposites disappear. If you stop moving to become still, This stillness always moves. If you hold on to opposites, How can you know One? If you don’t understand One, This and that cannot function. Denied, the world asserts itself. Pursued, emptiness is lost. The more you think and talk, The more you lose the Way. Cut off all thinking And pass freely anywhere. Return to the root and understand. Chase appearances and lose the source. One moment of enlightenment Illuminates the emptiness before you. Emptiness changing into things Is only our deluded view. Do not seek the truth. Only put down your opinions. Do not live in the world of opposites. Be careful! Never go that way. If you make right and wrong, Your mind is lost in confusion. Two comes from One, But do not cling even to this One. When your mind is undisturbed The ten thousand things are without fault. No fault, no ten thousand things, No disturbance, no mind. No world, no one to see it. No one to see it, no world. This becomes this because of that. That becomes that because of this. If you wish to understand both, See them as originally one emptiness. In emptiness the two are the same, And each holds the ten thousand things. If you no longer see them as different, How can you prefer one to another? The Way is calm and wide, Not easy, not difficult. But small minds get lost. Hurrying, they fall behind. Clinging, they go too far, Sure to take a wrong turn, Just let it be! In the end, Nothing goes, nothing stays. Follow nature and become one with the Way, Free and easy and undisturbed. Tied by your thoughts, you lose the truth, Become heavy, dull, and unwell. Not well, the mind is troubled. Then why hold or reject anything? If you want to get the One Vehicle Do not despise the world of the senses. When you do not despise the six senses, That is already enlightenment. The wise do not act. The ignorant bind themselves. In true Dharma there is no this or that, So why blindly chase your desires? Using mind to stir up the mind Is the original mistake. Peaceful and troubled are only thinking. Enlightenment has no likes or dislikes. All opposites arise From faulty views. Illusions, flowers in the air – Why try to grasp them? Win, lose, right, wrong – Put it all down! If the eye never sleeps, Dreams disappear by themselves. If the mind makes no distinctions, The ten thousand things are one essence. Understand this dark essence And be free from entanglements. See the ten thousand things as equal And you return to your original nature Enlightened beings everywhere All enter this source. This source is beyond time and space. One moment is ten thousand years. Even if you cannot see it, The whole universe is before your eyes. Infinitely small is infinitely large: No boundaries, no differences. Infinitely large is infinitely small: Measurements do not matter here. What is is the same as what is not. What is not is the same as what is. Where it is not like this, Don’t bother staying. One is all, All is one. When you see things like this, You do not worry about being incomplete. Trust and Mind are not two. Not-two is trusting the Mind. Words and speech don’t cut it, Can’t now, never could, won’t ever.
Assertion | Disease | Dreams | Earth | Hate | Heaven | Meaning | Mind | Mystery | Oneness | Present | Reality | Will | Words | World | Worry |
There are minerals called hydrophanous, which are not transparent till they are immersed in water, when they become so; as the hydrophane, a variety of opal. So it is with many a Christian. Till the floods of adversity been poured over him, his character appears marred and clouded by selfishness and worldly influences. But trials clear away the obscurity, and give distinctness and beauty to his piety.
Man |