Quotes about Transformation

The human ego prefers anything, just about anything, to falling, or changing, or dying. The ego is that part of you that loves the status quo — even when it's not working. It attaches to past and present and fears the future.

We all become well-disguised mirror image of anything that we fight too long or too directly. That which we oppose determines the energy and frames the questions after a while. Most frontal attacks on evil just produce another kind of evil in yourself, along with a very inflated self-image to boot.

We all remain who we are. But on the way to healing or liberation we have to do what the Romans called agere contra: we have to act against the grain of our natural compulsions. This requires clear decisions. Because it does not happen by itself, it is in a way unnatural or supernatural . . . (we) simply have to cut loose now and then, and in the process . . . make mistakes.

God does not love us if we change, God loves us so that we can change.

Religion is lived by people who are afraid of hell. Spirituality is lived by people who have been through hell.

Much of what is called Christianity has more to do with disguising the ego behind the screen of religion and culture than any real movement toward a God beyond the small self, and a new self in God.

Pain and suffering that are not transformed are usually projected onto others.

Yes, transformation is often more about unlearning than learning, which is why the religious traditions call it "conversion" or "repentance.

God seems to be about turning our loves around and using them toward the great love that is their true object.

The Risen Christ is the standing icon of humanity in its final and full destiny. He is the pledge and guarantee of what God will do with all of our crucifixions. At last, we can meaningfully live with hope. It is no longer an absurd or tragic universe. Our hurts now become the home for our greatest hopes.

all mature spirituality, in one sense or another, is about letting go and unlearning.

In terms of soul work, we dare not get rid of the pain before we have learned what it has to teach us.