Author Archives: Laura Dobson

“There is only one breath. All are made of the same clay. Light within all is the same.”Guru Gobind Singh, tenth Guru of Sikhism, quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“To give is to receive. To receive is to give.To teach is to learn. To learn is to teach.To love is to be loved. To be loved is to love.In this world, there cannot be any person or place or thing or even a moment in time that only receives or only gives.And if thereContinue reading “Thought for the day, Saturday 17th July”

“Three things cannot be retrieved:The arrow once sped from the bowThe word spoken in hasteThe missed opportunity.”Ali the Lion, Caliph of Islam, son-in-law of Muhammad the Prophet (peace be upon him), quoted in Caravan of Dreams by Idries Shah

“The reality of Divinity is like an endless ocean. Revelation may be likened to the rain. Can you imagine the cessation of rain? Ever on the face of the earth somewhere rain is pouring down.”Abdu’l Baha (1844 – 1921), head of the Baha’i faith from 1892 to 1921

From The Celtic Spirit: Meditations for the Turning Year by Caitlin Matthews, “The Language of the Birds“Birds now represent the continued presence of the past, evoked by the singing, whistling and calling that fell into millions of ancestral ears and there left images that we all inherit.” Jacquetta Hawkes, A LandThe Celtic peoples held birds in high esteem,Continue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 14th July”

“Life is a gift which we have not earned and for which we cannot pay. There is no necessity that there be a universe, no inevitability about a world moving towards life and then self-awareness. There might have been … nothing at all. Since we have not earned J. S. Bach – or friends orContinue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 13th July”

On this day in 2013, her 16th birthday, Malala Yousafzai delivered this speech to the United Nations,“Bismillah hir rahman ir rahim.In the name of God, the most merciful, the most beneficent…Today, it is an honour for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honourable people is a great momentContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 12th July”

“All religions seek to demonstrate the reality of God through symbols. These symbols are seen as pointers to a transcendent reality beyond themselves. Symbols are necessary, for they make the reality present to us. Every word we use is a symbol. God is a symbol. These are symbols we use to point to something whichContinue reading “Thought for the day, Sunday 11th July”

“When all thoughts are exhaustedI slip into the wood and gatherA pile of shepherd’s purse.Like the little stream making its wayThrough the mossy crevicesI, too, quietly turn clear and transparent.”Ryokan (c.1758 – 1831), Zen master

Your Life is a Mirror – a Sufi story from an unknown author “A stranger enters a village, and immediately looks for the Sufi master to ask advice. He says, ‘I’m thinking of moving to live in this village. What can you tell me about the people who live here?’And the Sufi master replies, ‘WhatContinue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 9th July”