Matthew Barnes > Quotes

“Out of Me
Out of a thought
I created your Universe
And everything in It

“Using part of myself
To create
And to imbue all that exists
With substance
And Soul
And therefore Life
And motion

“I birthed Life
And the material world”
― Matthew Barnes , The Hermetica 101: A modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“A simple example of the difference between the inner teachings and the outer teachings is the idea of jihad, as found in the Islamic religion. In general, jihad refers to a holy war that we are all meant to partake in, and for which there is great reward. Many Muslim adherents take this to mean a true physical war, complete with gruesome violence against all non-believers. But the inner teaching is that the jihad is actually a war within you- a war between what is good and right within you versus your inner darkness. Another way of expressing this idea is that the inner war is between your self-centered ego and your higher self.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Emerald Tablet 101: A Modern, Practical Guide, Plain and Simple

“You, Arjuna, are not your body, nor are you your ego mind. Instead, you are the same energy, the same Spirit that created the material world, vibrating at a frequency and pattern unique only to you, giving you an earthly form and an earthly consciousness that is different from all others. This energy, not your ego mind or earthly flesh, is your true nature. As such, you can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only change form.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Bhagavad Gita 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“Acceptance of the two inevitable poles of life- This is the first step. Building the will And the focus and the desire To choose the inner world in which we wish to exist Instead of living by default, Instead of allowing the happenings and the scenarios of life, And the actions and the opinions of others To determine the mental states that we experience- This is the second step. Then comes the third step… Transcendence, a rising above.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Kybalion 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“That is simply exploring ITself through ITself, And in the process Creating, animating, and constantly evolving the universe As we know IT.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Kybalion 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“Every nation and every culture Since the beginning of time Has tried to make sense of this Intelligence, Whatever IT truly is. We all, every one of us, Want to know what IT is And what IT wants. We want our existence To make sense. We want our existence To have a reason, A meaning, a purpose, An ultimate destination. And we want to know That we go on After the death of these bodies. In our mission to understand, In our mission to make sense of it all, Mankind has given IT, Whatever IT truly is, Many different names And forms and motives And desires and agendas, Down to even the most petty Of the human emotions Of jealousy and greed and pride, And the need for praise. We have made IT racist. We have made IT sexist. We have given IT preferences Among races and creeds and cultures And nations and sexes and political parties. We have even used these beliefs To wage wars on each other. Yet the beliefs and the preferences That we have given IT Are our own doing. They represent Our feeble attempts At comprehending something That is far beyond our kin. Something that is beyond names And beyond agendas, Beyond human motives and understandings and desires, Beyond time and space, Beyond form and dimension, Beyond all that we, in our current level of understanding, Could possibly grasp.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Kybalion 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“Each drop of dew reflecting Not a fraction of the light of the moon, But each drop of dew on each blade of grass Reflecting the entirety of that moon”
― Matthew Barnes, The Kybalion 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“As Hindu thought and metaphysical experiences evolved even further (as I said, the Hindu lineage is very long), the two previous focuses of exploration—nature and the individual—were combined. You could find the Eternal by either means, they discovered, and they combined the two in the form of a summary of all previous findings. This summary was called the Bhagavad Gita.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple.

“In all areas of life, conflict will arise - it is the nature of this world. Do not seek it, but when it arises, you must accept it. Be neither joyful or afraid, for there is no win or lose - not with the source. But remember this: It is better to be intelligent than aggressive. Better to yield than to force.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Tao Te Ching 201: Deeper meanings, simplified.

“There is simply nothing In our human experience That would allow us to understand The totality of what this Intelligence Actually is. IT even seems to exist Beyond any concepts that we may have Of the terms existence and non-existence, As confusing as that may sound.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Kybalion 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“the struggle is the path. So continue the struggle, live, and with every obstacle that presents itself before you, look for the lesson behind it, the realization life is trying to lead you toward.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Bhagavad Gita 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“The ultimate lesson of the Upanishads is that God must not be sought as something far away, separate from us, but rather as the closest, most intimate aspects of our own being.”
― Matthew Barnes

“Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I will meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other” no longer makes any sense”. - Rumi”
― Matthew Barnes, The Kybalion 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“Your perception Is your reality. Change your perception And you change your world! Not the world But your world, For we do not see the world, Or participate within it As It is, We see the world And participate within it As we are.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Kybalion 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“Seek not to walk in the footsteps of the wise, seek what they sought.” – Basho”
― Matthew Barnes, The Emerald Tablet 101: A Modern, Practical Guide, Plain and Simple

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -Nelson Mandela”
― Matthew Barnes, Jesus Christ, Zen Master: The top 116 sayings of an Enlightened Jesus.

“The way of life is soft and yielding. The way of death is hard and inflexible. What is yielding and accepting endures. What is hard and stiff easily breaks.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Tao Te Ching 201: Deeper meanings, simplified.

“Religions tend to personify this Intelligence. They like to give this Intelligence a face and a form and a name. They like to define this Intelligence, speak for this Intelligence and punish those who oppose their particular teachings on this Intelligence. Religion often breeds intolerance.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Emerald Tablet 101: A Modern, Practical Guide, Plain and Simple

“Your thoughts are a mixture Of your personality And your experiences But they are not you “They are meant to be A tool for your use Not your master”
― Matthew Barnes, The Hermetica 101: A modern, practical guide, plain and simple

“holding a grudge or wishing ill on another person often hurts you just as much as it hurts the other person. In fact, it is common for such actions to hurt you more than it hurts the person you are angry with. Often, the other person does not even know that you are angry with them, yet you are suffering immensely, caught up in deep and intense emotional anguish.”
― Matthew Barnes, The Kybalion 101: a modern, practical guide, plain and simple