A Calendar of Wisdom

November 1

A man who considers himself the master of his own life can never be humble, because he thinks that he has no obligation to anyone. The man who considers service to God to be the purpose of his life is always humble, because he feels that he has never fulfilled his obligations.

And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

—LUKE 17:5-10

Truly kind people forget the good things they have done in the past. They are so involved in the things they do now that they forget the things they have done before.

—CHINESE WISDOM

The better a person knows himself, the smaller and less significant he seems to himself and the higher he elevates himself toward God.

—THOMAS À KEMPIS

November 2

A deed done only to achieve glory is always bad, no matter what consequences it has. A deed motivated equally by the desire to achieve goodness and to achieve glory is indifferent. A deed is truly good only when its motivation is to fulfill the law of God.

If you care too much about being praised, in the end you will not accomplish anything serious. People have different values. You may say, “I want good people to value me,” but you know you will respect only those who praise your actions.

We are not satisfied with our real life. We want to live an imaginary life, a life in which we seem different in the eyes of other people than we are in reality.

—BLAISE PASCAL

Let the judgments of others he the consequence of your deeds, not their purpose.

To live only for God, you should do good works which no one will ever discover. Do so, and you will experience a special joy.

November 3

There is only one real law, the law of God, which is the same for all of mankind. Human law can be valid only when it is in harmony with the law of God.

The first and most difficult obstruction to the fulfillment of the law of God is the fact that our society’s existing laws are completely opposed to this law.

Those human laws are good which are based on the law of God. Those human laws are bad which contradict the laws of God; we should change these laws.

—GIUSEPPE MAZZINI

In order to study the most important questions of life, everyone should destroy the prejudices and lies which were created by previous centuries in relation to all serious questions in life.

The law of God contradicts human law. So what should we do? Should we hide the law of God and proclaim human law? People have done this for almost nineteen centuries, and the contradiction becomes stronger and stronger. There is only one solution: to replace the existing laws with the law of God.

November 4

Debates conceal the truth more often than they reveal it. Real truth should be revealed in solitude. When it is revealed, it becomes clear to you that you can accept it without any argument or discussions.

He has power who can keep silent in an argument, even though he is right.

You should abstain from arguments. They are very illogical ways to convince people. Opinions are like nails: the stronger you hit them, the deeper inside they go.

—DECIMUS JUNIUS JUVENALIS

If you live alone, think about your own sins; if you are in society, forget about the sins of others.

—CHINESE WISDOM

The more urgently you want to speak, the more likely it is that you will say something foolish.

November 5

Thought is the glorification of truth; therefore, bad thoughts are those which have not been thought through to the end.

In order that a lamp can give good light, you should put it in a place protected from the wind. If the light is in the wind, then it will leave long, trembling shadows. So too will bad thoughts drop shadows on the white surface of your soul.

—INDIAN WISDOM

Establish your purpose when you are alone and without temptations.

—JEREMY BENTHAM

Meditation is the way to eternity; lightheartedness is the way to death. Those who meditate never die; those who are lighthearted remind me of death.

—BUDDHIST WISDOM

You cannot send away a bad thought when it appears in your mind, but you can create other thoughts which will weaken or destroy this bad thought. For example, I may imagine that your friend or neighbor has some drawback, and I may not be able to banish this thought, but when I concentrate on the thought that criticizing another person is bad because I am not perfect, and he has the same God within him as I have within me, then I cannot stop loving this person.

November 6

Blaming your neighbor is harmful, both for you and for others.

Yesterday at a party, when a guest said good-bye and departed, everyone who was left started to slander him. The same thing happened to the second person when he left, and to all the guests, one after another, as they left. The last guest said, “Let me stay here and spend the night. I saw that all the people who left suffered and I am afraid for myself.”

Be strict to yourself and forgive others, and then you will have no enemies.

—CHINESE WISDOM

I once met an old man who spoke very slowly, pausing for several seconds between his words. He did this because he was afraid to sin with his words.

Let us forgive each other. If we can forgive each other, then we can live in peace.

A word is an expression of thoughts; thoughts are the expression of divine force. Therefore, words should correspond to our true meaning. Speech can be indifferent, but it should not be an expression of evil.

November 7

You can look at life as death, and death as an awakening.

I cannot stop thinking that I was dead before I was born, and at my death I will return to the same state.

—GEORGE LICHTENBERG

I do not regret that I was born here and that I lived part of my life here, because I lived in a way that I think was useful. When the end comes, I will leave my life in the same way, as if I leave an inn and not my home, because I think that my stay in this life is temporary and that death is only a transfer to another state.

—MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO

Even if I err in saying that the soul is eternal, nevertheless I am happy that I made this mistake. And while I am alive, not a single person can take away this assurance which gives me complete calmness and great satisfaction.

—MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO

We ask the wrong question when we say, “What will happen after death?” When we speak about the future, we speak of time, but when we die, we leave time behind.

November 8

We come to a right understanding of our life in relation to God in the same way we understand our relation to the world and to its things. Without conscience, we would never know anything about God.

The question is whether the intellectual one, without the heart, can understand God. The truth is that if our heart understands God our intellect will then start to seek Him.

—GEORGE LICHTENBERG

The basic foundation of the understanding of God is inside of us.

—WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING

A good worker probably does not know the details of the life of his master. Only a lazy worker tries to do nothing except find out more about his master’s way of life, tastes, and preferences in order to please him. The same is true of a person’s attitude to God. It is important to accept Him as your master and to know what He wants you to do. I may never know the answers to the questions “What is He?” and “How does He live?” I will never find out because I am not equal to Him. I am His worker, not His master.

Every person understands God in different ways, but people fulfill His will in the same way.

November 9

Self-admiration is the beginning of pride. Pride is dissipated self-admiration.

Those who do not hate their own selfishness, their placing of themselves higher than the rest of the world, are blind, because this action contradicts the truth.

—BLAISE PASCAL

The lighter and less dense a substance is, the less space it occupies. The qualities which a proud person attributes to himself can be compared to this.

—EASTERN WISDOM

There are many people who claim to be teachers of others who should themselves be taught first of all.

The most important thing in life is the path to perfection, and what kind of perfection can exist if a person is proud and satisfied with himself?

November 10

From the first moment the members of a religious gathering said, “The Holy Spirit is among us,” when they claimed theirs the highest authority above all other authorities, when they accepted the results of their own meditation as more worthy than the divine spark that exists in every person (that is, the intellect and the conscience), from this time, a great lie originated, a lie which deceives the bodies and souls of many people, which has destroyed millions of human beings, and which continues its terrible work.

In 1682, a Dr. Leyton, a respected citizen of England who wrote a book criticizing a bishop, was put on trial and severely punished. First he was harshly beaten, then one ear was cut away. After several days he was beaten again, though the injuries on his back had not healed; then they cut off his second ear, and tore off his nose. This was done in the name of Christianity.

—RANDALL THOMAS DAVIDSON

Christ never founded any church, never created any state, never passed any law, never established any government or other authority. He wanted to put the law of God into the hearts of people, to make them self-governed.

—HERBERT NEWTON

If there is a true church, the people who are inside it cannot see it from the outside.

November 11

Moral perfection is the impossible goal, but moving to it is the law of human life.

Some people say, “Man is selfish, greedy, and dissipated, and cannot be kind to other people.” This is not true. We can be good. Feel in your heart the kind of person you should be; this feeling will give you power.

A woman accidentally dropped a precious pearl into the sea, and she started to scoop ocean water with a spade, one cup after another. A sea-sprite came to her and said, “When will you stop scooping up water?” The woman said, “When I have taken all the water from the sea, and retrieved my pearl from the bottom.” Then the sea-sprite retrieved the pearl and returned it to her.

Outer consequences are not in oar power to control; it is only possible to make an effort, and inner consequences always follow from our effort.

November 12

The land is the general and equal possession of all humanity, and therefore cannot be the property of individuals.

My intellect teaches me that land cannot be sold.

—BLACK HAWK

The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

—LEVITICUS 25:23

To be honest, the earth has two masters: the first is almighty God and the second are his sons; all the people who have worked and will work on it.

—THOMAS CARLYLE

All people, from the first, and without any judicial act, should possess the earth. They should be able to live where nature and chance have brought them.

—IMMANUEL KANT

The possession of land as property is one of the most unnatural crimes there is. We cannot see the horror of this crime because in our world it is accepted as law.

November 13

Self-perfection should be one’s primary motivation. If you are truthful to yourself, you will never be satisfied with yourself.

A person should always develop his ability to do goodness. Make yourself better; this should be every person’s goal.

—IMMANUEL KANT

The first rule of achieving goodness is this: think only about self-perfection, and do so without thought to being praised by others.

—CHINESE WISDOM

He who moves from doing bad deeds to doing good deeds enlightens this world like the moon coming out from behind the clouds. This is the best thing in the world; this is the first step toward divinity.

—DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM

Those who live life in perfection look only forward; those who have stopped moving forward look back on their achievements.

Dissatisfaction is a necessary condition of intellectual life. It is only this dissatisfaction that pushes you to work.

November 14

The most important knowledge is that which guides the way you lead your life.

It is harmful to eat if you are not hungry. It is even worse to have sex if you lack desire. But even more harmful is to try to think when you do not wish to, or to be engaged in meaningless intellectual activity. Many people do so when they want to improve their position.

Your will is not good until you have changed the habits of your intellect, and they will improve only when they follow the eternal laws of life.

—LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA

Only those who have real knowledge know what to do.

—INDIAN WISDOM

What is important in knowledge is not quantity, but quality. It is important to know what knowledge is significant, what is less so, and what is trivial.

November 15

The joy of wealth is inconstant.

Wherever your heart is, there will be your treasure. The heart of a person whose major treasure is wealth is buried in filth.

—SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Is it true that people were created to collect more and more gold? No. God created people after His own image; He created you so that you could fulfill his will.

Why should a person be rich? Why should he have expensive horses, rich clothes, wonderful rooms, and the leisure to visit public places of entertainment? Because he does not have enough thoughts to accompany his intellect. Give this person the inner work of his intellect, and he will be happier than the richest man.

—RALPH WALDO EMERSON

For those who live a spiritual life, wealth is not only unnecessary but uncomfortable. It stops the development of one’s real life.

November 16

Faith answers those questions to which the intellect cannot find answers, but which must be asked.

There is only one true religion, though there are many different faiths.

—IMMANUEL KANT

It is only faith which creates the powerful convictions, the energy, and the unity which can cure society.

—GIUSEPPE MAZZINI

We have only one sinless guide, a universal spirit which gets into all of us though we are all individuals, and which gives us the urge to do all that is necessary. The same spirit which exists in a tree and pushes it to grow straight and to produce seeds exists in us, urges us to be closer to God, and brings us closer to each other.

When a person is alive, he believes; the closer his faith is to the truth, the happier his life. The further from the truth his faith is, the more unhappy he is.

Without faith he does not live; he dies a premature death or else kills himself.

November 17

We suffer from the past, and we spoil our future because we neglect the present.

The best the future can offer is dreams. There is only one thing which really exists: the present.

Be attentive to the present. Only in the present time can we understand eternity.

—After JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

Use your body, your vessel, today; tomorrow it can be broken.

—The TALMUD

There is no past and no future; no one has ever entered those two imaginary kingdoms. There is only the present. Do not worry about the future, because there is no future. Live in the present and for the present, and if your present is good, then it is good forever.

If you have difficult times, if you suffer from the loss of loved ones or from fears about the future, remember that life exists only in the present and direct all your thoughts and memories to this present. All your anguish about the past and your worries about the future will disappear, and you will feel freedom and happiness.

November 18

You cannot measure good by either the feeling of need or sacrifice, but only by the communication with God which is established between the giver and the receiver.

Life alone is not good. Goodness exists only in a proper, virtuous life.

—LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA

It is not a virtue, but a kind of deceitful similitude, to fulfill our duty for the purpose of its reward.

—MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO

All people become closer, more or less, to one of two opposite limits: one is life only for oneself, and the other is life only for God.

I call this life a happy one in which I do one good deed after another, with no intervals between them.

—MARCUS AURELIUS

We do good only when we do not notice what we do, when we forget ourselves and live only in others.

November 19

A material evil done by a person does not return to the evildoer, but the evil feeling which was created by the sinful deed will fester in his soul and sooner or later make him suffer.

If in the morning a person wants to do evil unto others, evil will return to him by nightfall.

—INDIAN WISDOM

The evildoer harms himself first, before he harms others.

—SAINT AUGUSTINE

Every man becomes what he teaches others to be. Those who gain victory over themselves will gain victory over others. It is most difficult to achieve victory over oneself. Every man has power only over himself.

—DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM

There is no material goodness which can restore the soul after the damage done by the evil which you create.

November 20

Remember: Those who suffer through to the end will be saved. Very often a person becomes desperate or even stops in his purpose when only a small effort is needed to achieve it.

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

—MATTHEW 10:17-20

Right cannot be defeated, because it is done not by your will but according to the eternal laws of God.

—THOMAS CARLYLE

Persecution and suffering are the necessary conditions of the fulfillment of Christian law. Persecution is precious because it reveals whether a person lives with real faith.

Do not seek love in other people, and do not complain about the absence of their love for you. Some people love wrong, not right; therefore, try to please God, rather than people.

November 21

There is no deed in this life so impossible that you cannot do it. Your whole life should be lived as an heroic deed.

Every time you wake up and ask yourself, “What good things am I going to do today?” remember that, when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of your life with it.

—INDIAN PROVERB

The virtue of a person is measured not by his outstanding efforts, but by his everyday behavior.

—BLAISE PASCAL

I am the tool with which God works. My virtue is to participate in this work, and I can do so if I keep the instrument which is given to me, namely my soul, in immaculate condition.

All things, even the most complicated things, become simple and clear if you separate them from other people and place them before God for judgment.

Other than our service to God, all our actions, whether we consider them important or not, are completely trivial. We may not know what the consequences of our actions will be, but we know what we should do.

November 22

The more busy you are with the improvement of your inner life, the more active you become in social life, helping other people.

It is as wrong for one person to rule many as it is for many to rule one.

—VLADIMIR CHERTKOV

What is truth? For the majority of people, truth is the majority of counted votes.

—THOMAS CARLYLE

When I sit on the seashore and listen to the waves beating on the sand, I feel free from any obligation, and I think that all the people of the world can change their constitutions without me.

—HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Never build, but always plant: in the case of the first, nature will interfere and destroy the creation of your work, but in the case of the second, nature will help you, causing growth in everything you planted. The same thing happens in your spiritual life: those things which are in harmony with the eternal laws of human nature will grow, but those things which correspond to the temporal wishes of people will not.

November 23

The question of life’s meaning is a difficult problem which cannot be solved. So, too, is the question, “Why did God send us into this world?” But the meaning of life becomes very simple when a person asks himself, “What should

I

do?”

Your life may be cut short at any time; therefore, your life should have a deep purpose, a significance that will not depend on whether it is short or long.

There is only one way, if you want to live without understanding the meaning of your life: to become addicted to tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, and to live in the world of permanent entertainment.

This world is not a joke but rather a place for a trial, a way station to a better, eternal world. Our purpose is to make it a better and more joyous place to live, for those who live with us and those who come after us.

Our soul’s perfection is our life’s purpose; any other purpose, keeping death in mind, has no substance.

November 24

Helping others takes the form not only of physical aid, but of spiritual support for your neighbor. Stop blaming your neighbor and respect his human dignity.

Do not think that you are generous because you give your excess wealth to a poor person. Real generosity requires that you give this person a place in your heart.

—From the BOOK OF DIVINE THOUGHTS

He is virtuous who does not pay any attention to libel and evil speech.

You should be truthful; you should avoid wrath; you should give to those who ask, because they ask for small things. You will become holier by following these three paths.

—DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM

With humbleness, kindness, and self-sacrifice, you will take the weapon from any enemy. Any fire dies if there is insufficient wood.

—BUDDHIST WISDOM

Try not to hide the shameful memories of your sins in dark corners. On the contrary, keep them close to you and remember them, before you judge your neighbor.

November 25

War is murder. No matter how many people get together to commit murder or what they call themselves, murder is the worst sin in the world.

People of planet Earth are on a very low level of development. Every day in the newspapers you read the news about military treaties, about the preparations for war, for mass manslaughter. People do not understand that the life of each man is his own personal private property.

—CAMILLE FLAMMARION

The majority of people now understand not only the uselessness, but also the stupidity and cruelty of any war.

Until such time as people reject the power of government to govern, to tax, to legislate, and to punish, war will never stop. War is the consequence of the government’s power.

November 26

Just as one candle lights another and can light thousands of other candles, so one heart illuminates another heart and can illuminate thousands of other hearts.

Beware of those who want to convince you that it is impossible to strive for good just because it is impossible to reach perfection.

—JOHN RUSKIN

Good books are a good influence. Good art is a good influence. Prayer is an influence as well. But the strongest influence is the example of a good life. A good life becomes a blessing for people, not only for those who live good lives but those who can see, know, and understand such lives.

It is difficult to hringpeople to goodness with lessons, but it is easy to do so by example.

—Lucius ANNAEUS SENECA

Beware of groups of people who are harmful for your soul. Try to avoid them. You should praise good company and seek it.

November 27

If a passion embraces you, you should remember that this passionate desire is not a part of your soul, but a dark covering which shuts out the true qualities of your soul.

You should be a lantern for yourself. Draw close to the light within you and seek no other shelter.

—BUDDHIST WISDOM

A person’s soul may be compared to a transparent ball which is lit from the inside with its own light. This flame is not only the source of all light and truth, but it illuminates everything around you. In this state, the soul is free and happy. Only if it becomes addicted to anything outside you will it become troubled, darkened, and impenetrable. Distractions obstruct the light which shows you the way.

—MARCUS AURELIUS

The soul is a mirror in which you can see the reflection of divine intellect.

—JOHN RUSKIN

As soon as you feel passion, try to feel in yourself the understanding of your divine nature. As soon as you perceive that your divine nature is inactive and that you are possessed by passions, fight with these passions.

November 28

Life is not destroyed, only changed, by death.

The future is only an illusion inferred from our present state. What is important is not the length of life, but the depth of life. What is most important is not to make life longer, but to take your soul out of time, as every sublime act does. Only then does your life become fulfilled. And do not ask yourself questions about time. Jesus did not explain a thing about the eternity of life, but his influence brought people to the eternal.

—RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Faith in the eternity is given to us not in meditation, but in life.

It is not reasoning which will convince you of the necessity of life after death, but example: when you walk very close to a person, hand in hand, and this person disappears into an abyss,

over there

, stop in front of the abyss and try to look within it.

The level of fear you feel about death is the level of your understanding of life.

The less you fear death, the more you possess freedom, tranquillity, and an understanding of the greatness of your spirit and the joy of life.

The understanding of eternity is part of the nature of the human soul.

November 29

A word is an action.

Do not say words you do not feel, lest your soul be blackened with darkness.

—From the BOOK OF DIVINE THOUGHTS

Your enemies can be more useful to you than your friends, because your friends can often pardon your weaknesses, but your enemies notice them and attract your attention to them.

Do not neglect the opinion of your enemies.

A wise man does not judge a person for his words, but at the same time does not neglect another person’s wordsy even when these words are pronounced by an unworthy person.

—CHINESE WISDOM

A person’s tongue is a tool which is sufficient to transmit the ideas created by the human mind. But in the domain of true and deep feelings, our tongue is weak.

—LAJOS KOSSUTH

Never is there a single instance when a lie can be justified.

November 30

When a humble person forgets himself, he is united with God.

People who try to force circumstances become their slaves. Those who use them become their masters.

—The TALMUD

There is nothing in this world more tender and more pliable than water, yet hard and rigid things cannot resist it.

Weakness defeats strength, tenderness defeats rigidity. Everyone knows this law, but no one acts upon it. The weakest in the world gain victory over the strongest; therefore, there is a great advantage in humility and silence. Only a few people in this world are truly humble.

—LAO-TZU

The more humble a person is, the freer and stronger be is.