Theodore J. Nottingham > Quotes

“So you who seek for deep truth, for the mystery and sacredness of life, don't give up looking just because the externals seemed to be the opposite of what they should be. Keep searching, for it is to be found. You will find that pearl of great price, in fact you will be led to it. So don't give up! One day, you will be given that which will set your heart on fire and you will become a new person, the person you were always meant to be.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth

“Intentionality is actually the first step toward authentic spiritual awakening and the discovery of new horizons of understanding and wisdom. Intentionality is that baby step that opens the doors of perception. It requires an effort of sustained attention and commitment which is rare in our time, as our minds are distracted and reshaped by the rapid-fire stimulus of media through every possible venue. We are each responsible for reining in our attention, taking command of this power of focused awareness, and purposefully choosing how we will live the moments of our lives. We can waste and dissipate them, like leaking cisterns that can hold no water as the prophet Jeremiah said in ancient times, or we can center ourselves intentionally and live fully in the present moment which then opens a meaningful path into the future, even when our plans are not entirely clear. Intentionality calls forth the best of our human nature and all its potential. It all begins with a decision to live in such a way, a decision that we refuse to betray. We then become useful to the Universe and to our fellow human beings. That is how bliss enters our lives.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham

“In ancient times, the temple of Delphi proclaimed „Know Thyself“ and the Greek philosophers made it their central theme, because in the knowing of one‘s true Self, we discover not a name or a lineage, but a whole new dimension of what it means to be human. In our very mortality is embedded something of the eternal. Encased within the bones and sinews that are destined to disintegrate is Spirit that comes from beyond and returns home when we are „born into Heaven“ as the Orthodox say, or when we cross that threshold. These ideas cannot be reduced to mere belief systems and dogmas. They have been vividly part of the human experience from the beginning. (p. 8-9)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Remember always that the goal of awakening, of self-awareness, of living in higher consciousness is always about the very same thing that Christ brought into the world which is unconditional, agape love. (p. 92)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“We are that drop in the ocean of the cosmos which contains within itself the entire cosmos. (p. 12)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Darkness is always trying to overcome the light and what we know from Advent and from the resurrection is that darkness cannot overcome the light. And that is a truth that can carry you into bliss and hope all the days of your life. (p. 50)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Our world will never be changed until individuals have changed, and individuals will never change until religion as inner transformation has penetrated to the hearts of their beings and made them into new persons. Change happens one human being at a time. It is your transformation, my transformation, that will make a difference in this wondrous but troubled world of ours, as we become who we truly are.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth

“That's why this matter of inner peace is so important, because it lays a groundwork for that new life, that theosis, that transformation, that link with God, the ultimate destiny of our Spirits - not in the afterlife, but right here and now.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth

“comes the next lesson: “From now on, you will catch people.” The Greek words translate more literally as: “From now on, you will revive people, bring them back to life.”   He is telling us: From now on, you will go out into the deep, the dangerous, where people don’t believe anything, are lost, are in turmoil, are surrounded by sharks. Go out into the deep and go get them. That is the mission of the disciple. I will send you into all the depths, starting with next door. There are many fish out there who are hungry for God, who are lost without God. Perhaps more than ever before, we are a disintegrating society, a broken civilization. The words of Jesus tell us: Help them find God, help them find peace, help them find joy and sanity. The assumption is that we find sanity first so there is a sane place for them to come.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Parable Wisdom: Spiritual Awakening in the Teachings of Jesus

“That is the message of Jesus in black and white: Bring people into contact with God and you will be feeding thousands. And what happens? The disciples leave everything and follow him. This means that the disciples freed themselves of everything. To follow him, you have to deny yourself, release your elf from your own need to be right all the time, to be in charge all the time, to have your own way all the time, all those desires that make you inaccessible from the Holy Spirit.   This is how you are transformed. This is how you become a light in this world so that others want what you have found.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Parable Wisdom: Spiritual Awakening in the Teachings of Jesus

“Sometimes it is when those most traumatic of experiences take place that we have the opportunity to be flooded by that which is called Grace. When the heart is broken, when you are deeply betrayed, when people speak falsely against you, try to find the inner strength not to crack under the injustice and maliciousness of others. Choose not to be filled with rage or despair. Then you are „letting go“ or detaching yourself from this most intimate kind of pain, and a door will open. As the great spiritual teacher Karlfried Graf Dürckheim said: „Open the door and let yourself be found.“ (p. 200)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“The word Church (Ecclesia) means: The assembly of those who are called out. In other words, each individual who is called out of a godless world gathers with companions on the Way and becomes part of the Body of Christ together – incarnations of Divine Goodness. (p. 45)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Each of us is meant to come face to face with the depths of our being and awaken to our greatest fulfillment: becoming conscious children of the universe, incarnating the unconditional love that created us all.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth

“It is said that when times are truly dark, as these times are, when lights have gone out and the culture has become a secular environment, often full of violence, a culture of death some call it - it is in those times of intense darkness that a ray of light can shine brightest. It can be found by those who are seeking, but one must be seeking for it. I would remind you of those marvelous, timeless words from the Gospel of John, that the darkness sought to overcome the Light, but it could not, it cannot overcome it. (S. 120)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth

“Try it some time. This is the effort that opens the door to the other side, to a new life, to God’s way in our life. If you want to get out of a dead end -- spiritual, emotional, intellectual -- this is how you do it: Do what God tells you to do even if it makes no sense. Can you manifest enough faith, enough trust in the God revealed by Jesus to say, “If you say so, I will do it”? I will have faith.   Peter responds: “Okay, makes no sense but if you say so, I’ll do it.” And what happens? They go out in the middle of the day time and the net gets so full, it starts breaking. There are so many fish that the other boat comes out to help and the two boats start sinking. Now what does this picture tell us? That is the mercy of God! That is the abundance of Grace with which God wants to fill our life. That is what God wants to give you.   If Peter had not said “if you say so,” if he had said, “I’m sorry, rabbi. We tried it. We can’t do it,” Jesus would be on his way to find himself another fisherman, another community, another set of people who might just be willing to go out and take the risk. But Peter did say it and the simple fisherman is known to us today as one of the great world transformers. God will take anyone of us and use us for His purposes if we are willing like Peter to say, “Okay, I’ll do it.” That decision opens the door, and makes the impossible possible.   We”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Parable Wisdom: Spiritual Awakening in the Teachings of Jesus

“We all know people who are constantly negative, always complaining, and will go to their graves like that. Truly you know that this is no way to live. It's not why we were born. It's not why there are sunrises, sunsets and beauty around us. Through our awakened presence, our heightened consciousness, the universe becomes conscious of itself. Our seeing of the beauty of the world makes that beauty more meaningful, more fully what it was called to be, and that is true in human lives all around us, and in all that we do. One philosopher says you can water a plant because it needs water, or you can water it with love.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth

“You will find that there is a mighty power, a non-exclusive, eternal dimension that actually can change your psychology, your joy of life; it can lift you up, give you a sense of self beyond anything you imagined to empower you to become that child of the universe, a child of God to whom miracles of goodness can come. Take the time to seek; take the time to rediscover the depths of these teachings and everything will change. (p. 20)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Salvation is healing [sozo], fullness of life, and life in abundance. And we learn in this ancient teaching at the dawn of time that this is the kind of Uncreated One and mystery at the heart of the universe who made us. And then we hear a teaching, „Now wait for the Lord. My soul waits.“ Now it‘s not like waiting at a bus stop. It‘s an intentional attentive waiting. It‘s patience. It‘s certainty that God will come to help us. Who dares to wait patiently in the midst of distress? That is the way that we are given. That is the spiritual instruction. Wait for the Lord knowingly, expecting that you will have help. If you don‘t wait, if you run off and give up and say, „Okay, time‘s up. I tried that; I‘m going to do something else“ – that‘s what we call outer darkness, you‘re on your own. Wait for the Lord. (p. 44)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Surely, you are a bit surprised when you hear Jesus say, “Woman…” Let me  point out that he says “woman” at another time, on the cross, saying, “Woman, behold your son,” speaking of apostle John standing there in despair. So the term “woman” is not a negative, although it is an objectification because this new beginning represents Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph and Mary, becoming Jesus the Christ, son of the living God.  He is moving from his natural identity into his true identity.   This is a message telling you that you are not merely the product of your Mom and Dad. You are not the result of whatever mistakes they made. You are not just the imitation of their ways. You are not just what your environment created. You are more than your DNA. You are child of the living God. As the Gospel of John says: “What is born of flesh is flesh; what is born a spirit, is spirit.” When you awaken to your true identity, to your spiritual self, you find that you are much more than just that person you thought you were.   Jesus says, according to this translation, something like, “What does this have to do with you and me?” You will find all sorts of politically correct, cleaned-up, watered-down versions of that statement.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Parable Wisdom: Spiritual Awakening in the Teachings of Jesus

“That „road less traveled by“ is a modern parallel to the ancient mystical metaphor „the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it“ (Matthew 7:14) This less traveled, more difficult „road“ is the living out of a spiritual life rather than a mere survival in our short passage through time […] The less traveled road, or the mystic way as others might call it, is therefore a process of sublimation carrying the relationship of the self with the universe to higher levels than our ordinary states of awareness. But this is no selfish journey. For as the mystic grows nearer the source of true life and participates in the creative energies of the Divine, he or she is capable of greater unselfish activity to the point of unconditional Love […] This is the journey of the one who chooses „the road less traveled“ and there are many who have witnessed to the fact that this harder road, this narrow way, is an inner journey leading to the infinite depths of our True Self, crossing the threshold into becoming a conscious Child of God, a Child of the Universe. (p. 205 -215)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“We too spent the night fishing and did not catch anything, each in our own way. He gives us the key to how we can get past that failure, that hopelessness. You will notice that Peter addresses him as “Master” but has never met him before. Here is the simple fisherman looking up at this man covered with dust from Galilee and, somehow, he knows he is looking at a holy man. Can you imagine for a moment what must have been radiating out of this man that caused the fisherman with no education to say “Master”?   Yet even though he called him Master, he knew his business when it came to fishing. He knew that fishing should take place at night when the fish were up by the surface, rather than in the day, when they scatter down into the depths. Yet this holy man, who is not a fisherman, is telling him his business. All of us think we know something about something, don’t we? We have our little corner carved out that we know all about,  and here comes Jesus messing with our business, telling us something that is not logical. Nevertheless, Peter says, “Yet because you say so, we will do it.” That is a sacred teaching: I don’t understand it, I don’t know where it’s going to lead me. it’s not familiar, it’s not what I know but because you say so, I will do it.   Consider a situation in your life where, in applying this teaching, another door will open, another opportunity will arise “because you say so.” Look at the fruits of the Spirit: Because you say to be patient even though I’m so upset and it makes no sense and I’m right and they’re wrong, yet I will be patient.   Try”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Parable Wisdom: Spiritual Awakening in the Teachings of Jesus

“We come much closer together when the Heart of the matter is unveiled, when the best of Hinduism and Islam and Christianity are uncovered, then we are dealing with people who love God. We're not dealing with inculturated things, with prejudices of different times and places, we're dealing with ecstatic love of God. Think of Rumi the poet, also known as Mevlana, whose delight in the reality of God caused him to dance spontaneously and it gave rise to the Dervishes of Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth

“We love those words – “For God all things are possible.” But the application is another matter: I’m in a terrible relationship. We’re going to get divorced. It’s never going to work. That is when those words need to become real for us. That is when you must think of abundance that fills the ships and the nets to overflowing. That’s the word of Jesus. This is not a fantasy, nor poetry. It is the power of God.   Peter sees this astonishing miracle, phenomenon, manifestation of the Holy and he falls on his knees, not to worship but to beg Jesus to go away. He wants Jesus to get away from him! What does that mean? When you and I are faced with Truth, with purity, with goodness, it is like placing a mirror right up to everything that is not so pure within us.  We do not want to see ourselves. Our response most often is: “Get away from me, please. I would much rather be comfortable in my old ways, in my darkness.” Jesus is too much to handle especially if you do not want to follow his life-changing teachings.   So here is this man who is so ashamed of himself, of just being a human being that he says  – “You shouldn’t be around me.” And what does Jesus say to you, to me? “Do not be afraid.” God loves us anyway. The Holy accepts us despite ourselves and will use anyway in all our fragmentation, brokenness, confusion and mistakes. If we are willing, God wants us to sign up and be part of God’s activity in the world no matter who we are. That is why we were born.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Parable Wisdom: Spiritual Awakening in the Teachings of Jesus

“Let us come into this holy place cleansed, purified. That's how we honor God. That's how we prove our belief in the arrival of the divine in the midst of our lives. God will help the one who seeks to make those efforts. Finally he says, „Put on (or clothe) yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't think of that as some other unapproachable metaphor. It means think like Him. Live like Him. Not as a vagrant, but as a compassionate person, a forgiving person. Even if you're the only one in the crowd. Don't let the poison of negativity get contagious on you. Recognize it for what it is. Put on Christ, nothing less. Each one of us is called to that. Because in putting on that understanding of life, you find your true Self, your true destiny, your true joy. (p. 52)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“To hold your soul in hell and not despair is to manage to hang on to the faith in the reality of the spiritual realm, even in the harshest time of the physical realm, even when all seems lost and in fact if you want to climb the mountain of spiritual awakening, spiritual consciousness there must be that stage where we are taken to the far edge beyond what we can bear or think we can bear. And if we hang on in faith and trust, if we call upon the help of that spiritual reality, that miracle will happen and against all odds renewal, new beginnings, redemption, can take place.

This is a verifiable, magnificent experience that I know personally, that I know others have experienced, and that you can experience. So, from the point of view of the Fourth Way all the difficulties of life become firewood for the fire. In other words, strengthen your consciousness, raise your consciousness to another level of perspective and transcendence so that you can walk calmly through the nightmare and holding on through that dark night you will achieve a new level of faith, understanding, and relationship with the spiritual reality.

If some of you are in times of great suffering and all of us walk that path somehow sometime, remember that and take it seriously for it is one of the pearls of great price and discover that the very negative things of life, personal and destructive can turn into the fertilizer for your soul, the awakening of a deeper self, and the face-to-face encounter with the reality of God's help. (p. 142-142)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“we see here that Jesus comes and teaches people from the boat. But did you notice that it doesn’t mention what he said? There is no teaching expressed here. That tells us that the story itself is the teaching. As 21st century people, you know that when you take a four gigabyte file and turn it to a 100 megabyte file, you have compressed a great amount of information.   That is what we have here. This is sacred wisdom containing universal truth and one of our great mistakes is that we only take it on the surface. Do you know that for hundreds of years, for centuries, all the teachers talked about different levels of understanding holy scripture and yet, somewhere around the 1800s, scholars locked in to merely the surface, so it is just about Peter and the guys out fishing.  Yet, this is only a picture to touch us at an emotional level that can understand better than our mind. Jesus is going passed our mind to a place where we can understand in another way.   Let me give you an example of a picture that stirs the emotions. You notice that the fishermen were washing their nets and a bit later, we find Peter saying, “We’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” Have you ever tried something with all your efforts and gotten nowhere? Have you ever run out of steam or lost hope? Have you ever given up on something because you’ve given it all you had and nothing came of it?   Jesus is addressing us right there in that frustrated place, in that unhappy place, in that depressed place, whatever it is that caused it. Jesus is giving us a spiritual remedy to our sense of failure.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Parable Wisdom: Spiritual Awakening in the Teachings of Jesus

“In spiritual symbolism, there are three levels of truth: stone, water, wine. Stone truth is seen found in: Thou shall not kill and if thou killest, we will kill thee. It is literal truth, often a truth with no mercy, a truth that we must obey, and much religion is simply truth of stone -- Follow the laws or else. Water, which also stands for Truth, is found when we begin to recognize the good of the Teaching, the good of God’s Word, the good of not killing -- not because we are afraid of what will happen but because it is the right thing to do. It is the beginning of transformation. Christ tells us, “You have heard it said…but I say to you; you have heard it said ‘Do not kill,’ I say to you, do not even think deadly thoughts about your neighbor in your mind.”   Understand that since it is wine, it is the kind of truth that intoxicates the soul. It gives you joy to live the teachings of Christ. That is wine. This is what Jesus brings into the world, not a religion of laws, not a morality of obligation, but a delighting in spirit. This kind of Truth naturally makes us good people, forgiving people, caring people.   Now we come to the meaning of the marriage, the union. It is a marriage between what we know and what is in our character. When knowledge and being come together, a new understanding is created.   So the secret formula to spiritual transformation is the application of what you know through living it out. This is the union which creates the person we are called to be. Jesus changes us into wine. When you bring the teachings into your life, you can bring flavor and joy that were not there before.   This is the miracle. Not out there in Cana at a wedding but right in the middle of your life. Living out the power that the Christ has brought into the world, the renewal of what religion is meant to be. There is the secret in the very first step, the very beginning of Christ’s ministry in the Gospel of John. On that “third day” comes a new beginning, not just for Jesus, for all of us.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Parable Wisdom: Spiritual Awakening in the Teachings of Jesus

“In this age of global interrelatedness and hunger for meaning, it is incumbent upon persons driven by a need to find and manifest peace, to find that which is universal and practical at the core of all spiritual teachings. A Tibetan Buddhist can be enriched by the wisdom of the Christ just as a Christian can develop a deeper inner practice through a study of Islamic Mysticism. Our epoch can no longer accept the artificial walls that have stood for centuries between peoples and cultures. This is a new century, and there is no going back.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth

“I urge you to keep searching. You will find what you seek, because Spirit will lead you to it, and even though there is much disappointment and much chaos out there, eventually you will be led into those rare places where something different is happening, where priority is given to a Way of Being, a Way of Life, a Way of Loving Kindness which is the Way of Christ; a place where people are being sensitized and made self-aware and gentler, so that in the combined community we have truly a body of people joining together for that common purpose of awakening to Spirit, of loving their Creator, and of making a difference in this world.”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Yeshua the Cosmic Mystic: Beyond Religion to Universal Truth