Sophia Bauer

“So desu ne,” she said, nodding, but keeping her back to me. “It’s true. You can’t do anything about those things.” “So of course I feel angry,” I said, angrily. “What do you expect? It was a stupid thing to ask.” “Yes,” she agreed. “It was a stupid thing to ask. I see that you’re angry. I don’t need to ask such a stupid thing to understand that.” “So why did you ask?” Slowly she turned herself around, pivoting on her knees, until finally she was facing me. “I asked for you,” she said. “For me?” “So you could hear the answer.”
― Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being

“Reflect on what you do or don’t find sacred. Perhaps the goal is to find what you consider sublime and then slowly, ever so slowly, increase it. Increase day by day what is sacred to you. Reflect on what could be gained by finding ever more pockets of the divine in your daily life.”
― Rainn Wilson, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution

“One of my most favorite offerings comes from the Navajo (Diné) people: In beauty happily I walk. With beauty before me I walk. With beauty behind me I walk. With beauty below me I walk. With beauty above me I walk. With beauty all around me I walk.”
― Rainn Wilson, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution

“This discussion reminds me of a Zen teaching: “A finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.” We humans are capable, through language and image and art, of indicating something beautiful and mysterious. It is the pointing that guides us to the mystery. Language and metaphor are the finger. Poetry and music are the finger. Holy writings, divine texts, and religious wisdom are the finger. A spiritual teacher is the finger. Pointing to where? To the ancient, luminous moon of the essence of truth/God/beauty/wisdom. But be careful not to mistake the finger for the moon.”
― Rainn Wilson, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution