Serena Caron

“All too often world history is told as if religion did not matter. The Spanish conquered New Spain for gold, and the British came to New England to catch fish. The French Revolution had nothing to do with Catholicism, and the U.S. civil rights movement was a purely humanitarian endeavor. But even if religion makes no sense to you, you need to make sense of religion to make sense of the world.”
― Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter

“Atman or Soul is visible in the ‘Samadhi’ stage. The Soul is percolated. It means ‘Kundalini’ or Life power is percolated. After percolation from the whole body, it is accumulated in the cerebrum or the seventh plane of the body and is seen. If any cell of the brain is defective, the man will not thrive at this stage. The life power will melt. And if it is flawless, the life power will descend from the cerebrum, and just at this stage, Atman is seen.”
― Sri Jibankrishma or Diamond

“The markings on your surface
Your speckled face
Flawed crystals hang from your ears
I couldn't gauge your fears
I can't relate to my peers
I'd rather live outside
I'd rather chip my pride than lose my mind out here
Maybe I'm a fool
Maybe I should move and settle
Two kids and a swimming pool
I'm not brave
(Brave)
I'm not brave
I'm living over city
And taking in the homeless sometimes, I've
Been living in an idea
An idea from another man's mind
Maybe I'm a fool
To settle for a place with some nice views (nice views)
Maybe I should move, settle down
Two kids and a swimming pool
I'm not brave
I'd rather live outside
I'd rather live outside
I'd rather go to jail
I've tried hell (it's a loop)
What would you recommend I do?
(The other side of the loop is a loop)
This, this fe-, this feel, this feel, this feels
This feels how molly must feel
This feels how molly must feel
How molly must feel
This feels how molly must feel
How molly must feel
This is not my life
It's just a fond farewell to a friend
It's just a fond farewell to a friend
This is not my life
It's just a fond farewell to a friend
It's not what I'm like
It's just a fond farewell (brave)
Speaking of nirvana, it was there
Rare as the feathers on my dash from a phoenix
There with my crooked teeth and companion sleeping, yeah
Dreaming a thought that could dream about a thought
That could think of the dreamer that thought
That could think of dreaming and getting a glimmer of God
I be dreaming a dream in a thought
That could dream about a thought
That could think of dreaming a dream
Where I cannot, where I cannot
Less morose and more present
Dwell on my gifts for a second
A moment one solar flare would consume, so why not
Spin this flammable paper on the film that's my life
High flights, inhale the vapor, exhale once and think twice
Eat some shrooms, maybe have a good cry, about you
See some colors, light hang glide off the moon
I'd do anything for you
(In the dark)
I'd do anything for you
(In the dark)
I'd do anything for you
(In the dark)
I'd do anything for you
(In the dark)
I'd do anything for you, anything for you
(In the dark)
I'd do anything for you, anything for you”
― Frank Ocean

“In sixteenth-century Geneva, Protestant theologian John Calvin spun a complex theological web around two simple threads: the absolute sovereignty of God and the total depravity of human beings. Like Calvinists, Muslims go to great lengths not to confuse Creator and created. Glorifying in the servility of human beings before Allah, they refer to themselves in many cases as "slaves" of the Almighty. But unlike Calvin, Muslims do not believe in original sin. Every human being is born with an inclination toward both God and the good. So sin is not the problem Islam addresses. Neither is there any need for salvation from sin. In Islam, the problem is self-sufficiency, the hubris of acting as if you can get along without God, who alone is self-sufficient. "The idol of yourself," writes the Sufi mystic Rumi, "is the mother of (all) idols." Replace this idol with submission to Allah, and what you have is the goal of Islam: a "soul at peace" (89:27) in this life and the next: Paradise.”
― Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter