Srimati Carrie
Speaks on "Prayerful Steps"
Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 11:00am
With each prayerful step, I ascend the mountain of my consciousness. I climb to new heights yet unknown to me. But my soul knows this path and carries me forward. Even with the physical and mental challenges that await my body and mind, my soul does not suffer the difficulties that ensue. It raises me up to heights of infinite beauty and eternal joy. With each prayerful step, I am guided by God and Gurus.
—Srimati Carrie
From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM
“The wandering monk wanders along the path of life to reach what destination? And to attain what goal? The goal is known only to his intuition and not to his intellect. He is a recluse. The young renunciate walks slowly. He is not in any hurry; he stops, casting his glance about and around and wondering about the mysterious maya of nature, and then he resumes his known-unknown journey. He is a pilgrim.”
—Swami Premananda, "A Wanderer" from "Prayers of Soul"
“I have a particular habit which I cultivate regularly and which brings me innumerable and incomparable joys. It has become a meditation, and it requires a particular method which I observe carefully. I walk. I walk, and the technique for my walking meditation requires that I be outside in every season, for the purpose of being with Nature on her terms and realizing her every secret climate. I enjoy feeling part of her elements, gentle or harsh, wet or dry, hot or cold…for this meditation I simply give myself to Nature. My communion is always richly rewarding, for Nature gives herself so entirely to me. I walk alone."
—Swami Kamalananda, "Frontiers of the Spirit"
Noble Thoughts: "Let Noble Thoughts come to us from every side." —Rig Veda
“In the life of the Indian there was only one inevitable duty, the duty of prayer, the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal. His daily devotions were more necessary to him than daily food. He wakes at daybreak, puts on his moccasins and steps down to the water’s edge. Here he throws handfuls of clear, cold water into his face, or plunges in bodily. After the bath, he stands erect before the advancing dawn, facing the sun as it dances upon the horizon, and offers unspoken orison. His mate may precede or follow him in his devotions, but never accompanies him. Each soul must meet the morning sun, the new sweet earth and the Great Silence alone!”
—Ohiyesa, Santee Dakota physician and author
“I am but a poor struggling soul yearning to be wholly good, wholly truthful and wholly non-violent in thought, word and deed, but ever failing to reach the ideal which I know to be true. It is a painful climb, but the pain of it is a positive pleasure to me. Each step upwards makes me feel stronger and fit for the next.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
“One step firmly taken makes easier all the others.”
“All the hundred separate paths meet in the Eternal.”
—Sri Aurobindo
“We cross infinity with every step; we meet eternity in every second.”
—Rabindranath Tagore
“Lead, kindly Light, amid th'encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene--one step enough for me.”
—Hymn by John Henry Newman