Quotes from " From Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives"

I liked Robert Fulghum's "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" bestseller, so when he came out with this volume "From Beginning to End", I quickly snapped a copy. This book talks about rituals, transformations and transitions, the very same issues I was coming to terms with in my personal life in May 1995 when I bought it. Here are the highlighted sentences and passages in my copy:

On Elemental Religious Questions:

"Every human being asks the elemental religious questions: Who am I? What am I doing here? Where did I come from before birth and what happens after I die? What's right and wrong and how do I know? What is the meaning of life, and how do I give meaning to my life? How do I account for the awesome, mysterious majesty of the universe, and what's my place in the scheme of things?"

On Personal Habits:

"...habits are sacred because they give deliberate structure to our lives. Structure gives us a sense of security. And that sense of security is the ground of meaning."

On Crossing Thresholds:

"Only with the passage of time, the accumulation of information about the similar experiences of others, and the opportunity to fit a given moment into the overall scheme of one's life does a threshold experience become understood."

On Life:

"Life is nothing but moments of crossing over."

On First Times:

"There are no parties or gifts or certificates to mark these times. Most often, nobody else knows or takes notice."

On Rites of Passage:

"The most powerful rites of passage are reflective--when you look back on your life again and again, paying attention to the rivers you have crossed and the gates you have opened and walked on through, the thresholds you have passed over."

On Reunions:

"It is not about high school. It is about Who am I? and What has become of me?"

* * *

"...you should go at least once. Go and see who you were or else you will never fully understand who you are and who you yet may become."

* * *

"Revisiting the music of one's youth is part of the reunion with self."

On Memories:

"The sweetest memories are seldom the result of planning."

On Celebrations:

"It never makes sense to wait until your life is in a state of grace to celebrate its joys and passages. Never hestitate to celebrate."

On Revival:

"All our exits may become entrances."

--Robert Fulghum

Quotes From "The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire"...Last Part

On Emotions:

"Emotions are just recycled energy."

* * *

"Emotions are never created in isolation; they always come about because of some interaction with the eviroment. In the absence of circumstances or relationships, there is no emotion."

* * *

"Each emotion is dependent on the context, circumstances, relationships that defie your reality at that moment."

On Genius :

"This is the nature of genius, to be able to grasp the knowable even when no one else recognizes that it is present."

On Personality :

"Personality gets created through selective identification with situations and through relationships."

On Soul :

"The soul is the observer who interprets and makes choices based on karma; it is also a confluence of relationships, out of which contexts and meaning, and it is this flow of context and meaning that creates experience."

* * *

"Your soul is the part of you that is universal ad individual at the same time, and it is a reflection of all other souls."

On Intention :

"Everything that happens in the universe starts with intentions."

* * *

"All learning, remembering, reasoning, drawing of inferences, and motor activity are preceded by intent. Intent is the very basis of creation."

* * *

"Our destiny ultimately comes from the deepest level of desire and also from the deepest level of intention."

* * *

"When intention is repeated that creates habit. The more an intention is repeated, the more likely it is that the universal consciousness will create the same pattern and manifest the intention i the physical world."

* * *

"Intention orchestrates infinite possibilities."

* * *

"Intent creates coincidences; it is the reason why when you're thinking of something, it happens."

* * *

"We can restore the power of intent through a return to the true self, or self-actualization."

On Good Luck :

"Good luck is opportunity and preparedness coming together."

On Life :

"...life is the ultimate mystery."

* * *

"What makes life mysterious is that our destiny seems hidden from us, and only at the end of our lives will we be in a position to look back and see the path we followed."

--Deepak Chopra

Quotes From "The Spontaneous Fulfillment Of Desire"...Part 1

I bought "The Spontaneous Fulfillment Of Desire" also on a February (2005) so, maybe, I should feature the lessons that I learned from this book today. At that time, this was (and still is) a must-have book for me for two reasons. It is a book on coincidences, which topic I continue to adore, and it is a book by Deepak Chopra, one of the contemporary spiritual thinkers whose writings strike a harmonic chord with what I believe in. This is the fourth volume authored by him in my personal collection. Read on...

On Coincidences:

"I do not believe in meaningless coincidences. I believe every coincidence is a message, a clue about a particular facet of our lives that requires our attention."

* * *

"The coincidences or little miracles that happen every day of your life are hints that the universe has much bigger plans for you than you ever dreamed of for yourself."

* * *

"The more attention you give to coincidences, the more likely they are to appear, which means you begin to gain greater and greater access to the messages being sent to you about the path and direction of your life."

* * *

"Notice the coincidences in your life. Coincidences are messages. They are clues from God or spirit or nonlocal reality, urging you to break out of your karmic conditioning, your familiar patterns of thinking."

* * *

"A coincidence is a clue to the intention of the universal spirit, and as such it is rich with significance."

* * *

"...I believe 'meaningful coincidence' is redundant because every coincidence is meaningful, otherwise it would not happen in the first place."

* * *

"The meaning does not come from the coincidence itself. It comes from you, the person who is having the experience."

* * *

"Nothing--absolutely nothing--would exist were it not for a remarkable set of coincidences."

* * *

"...the more attention you put on coincidences, the more you attract other coincidences, which will help you clarify their meaning."

* * *

"People who are sensitive to events and stimuli around them will be sensitive to coincidences sent from the universe."

* * *

"The most powerful and unusual stimuli will naturally draw your attention. Those are the things in your environment you need to look at most closely. And the more unlikely the coincidence, the more potent the clue."

* * *

"When a coincidence arises, don't ignore it. Ask yourself, What is the message here? What is the significance of this?"

--Deepak Chopra