Theodore J Nottingham Quotes

“In ancient times, the temple of Delphi proclaimed „Know Thyself“ and the Greek philosophers made it their central theme, because in the knowing of one‘s true Self, we discover not a name or a lineage, but a whole new dimension of what it means to be human. In our very mortality is embedded something of the eternal. Encased within the bones and sinews that are destined to disintegrate is Spirit that comes from beyond and returns home when we are „born into Heaven“ as the Orthodox say, or when we cross that threshold. These ideas cannot be reduced to mere belief systems and dogmas. They have been vividly part of the human experience from the beginning. (p. 8-9)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“We are that drop in the ocean of the cosmos which contains within itself the entire cosmos. (p. 12)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Remember always that the goal of awakening, of self-awareness, of living in higher consciousness is always about the very same thing that Christ brought into the world which is unconditional, agape love. (p. 92)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“You will find that there is a mighty power, a non-exclusive, eternal dimension that actually can change your psychology, your joy of life; it can lift you up, give you a sense of self beyond anything you imagined to empower you to become that child of the universe, a child of God to whom miracles of goodness can come. Take the time to seek; take the time to rediscover the depths of these teachings and everything will change. (p. 20)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Salvation is healing [sozo], fullness of life, and life in abundance. And we learn in this ancient teaching at the dawn of time that this is the kind of Uncreated One and mystery at the heart of the universe who made us. And then we hear a teaching, „Now wait for the Lord. My soul waits.“ Now it‘s not like waiting at a bus stop. It‘s an intentional attentive waiting. It‘s patience. It‘s certainty that God will come to help us. Who dares to wait patiently in the midst of distress? That is the way that we are given. That is the spiritual instruction. Wait for the Lord knowingly, expecting that you will have help. If you don‘t wait, if you run off and give up and say, „Okay, time‘s up. I tried that; I‘m going to do something else“ – that‘s what we call outer darkness, you‘re on your own. Wait for the Lord. (p. 44)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“The word Church (Ecclesia) means: The assembly of those who are called out. In other words, each individual who is called out of a godless world gathers with companions on the Way and becomes part of the Body of Christ together – incarnations of Divine Goodness. (p. 45)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Darkness is always trying to overcome the light and what we know from Advent and from the resurrection is that darkness cannot overcome the light. And that is a truth that can carry you into bliss and hope all the days of your life. (p. 50)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Let us come into this holy place cleansed, purified. That's how we honor God. That's how we prove our belief in the arrival of the divine in the midst of our lives. God will help the one who seeks to make those efforts. Finally he says, „Put on (or clothe) yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't think of that as some other unapproachable metaphor. It means think like Him. Live like Him. Not as a vagrant, but as a compassionate person, a forgiving person. Even if you're the only one in the crowd. Don't let the poison of negativity get contagious on you. Recognize it for what it is. Put on Christ, nothing less. Each one of us is called to that. Because in putting on that understanding of life, you find your true Self, your true destiny, your true joy. (p. 52)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“To hold your soul in hell and not despair is to manage to hang on to the faith in the reality of the spiritual realm, even in the harshest time of the physical realm, even when all seems lost and in fact if you want to climb the mountain of spiritual awakening, spiritual consciousness there must be that stage where we are taken to the far edge beyond what we can bear or think we can bear. And if we hang on in faith and trust, if we call upon the help of that spiritual reality, that miracle will happen and against all odds renewal, new beginnings, redemption, can take place.

This is a verifiable, magnificent experience that I know personally, that I know others have experienced, and that you can experience. So, from the point of view of the Fourth Way all the difficulties of life become firewood for the fire. In other words, strengthen your consciousness, raise your consciousness to another level of perspective and transcendence so that you can walk calmly through the nightmare and holding on through that dark night you will achieve a new level of faith, understanding, and relationship with the spiritual reality.

If some of you are in times of great suffering and all of us walk that path somehow sometime, remember that and take it seriously for it is one of the pearls of great price and discover that the very negative things of life, personal and destructive can turn into the fertilizer for your soul, the awakening of a deeper self, and the face-to-face encounter with the reality of God's help. (p. 142-142)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“Sometimes it is when those most traumatic of experiences take place that we have the opportunity to be flooded by that which is called Grace. When the heart is broken, when you are deeply betrayed, when people speak falsely against you, try to find the inner strength not to crack under the injustice and maliciousness of others. Choose not to be filled with rage or despair. Then you are „letting go“ or detaching yourself from this most intimate kind of pain, and a door will open. As the great spiritual teacher Karlfried Graf Dürckheim said: „Open the door and let yourself be found.“ (p. 200)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine

“That „road less traveled by“ is a modern parallel to the ancient mystical metaphor „the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it“ (Matthew 7:14) This less traveled, more difficult „road“ is the living out of a spiritual life rather than a mere survival in our short passage through time […] The less traveled road, or the mystic way as others might call it, is therefore a process of sublimation carrying the relationship of the self with the universe to higher levels than our ordinary states of awareness. But this is no selfish journey. For as the mystic grows nearer the source of true life and participates in the creative energies of the Divine, he or she is capable of greater unselfish activity to the point of unconditional Love […] This is the journey of the one who chooses „the road less traveled“ and there are many who have witnessed to the fact that this harder road, this narrow way, is an inner journey leading to the infinite depths of our True Self, crossing the threshold into becoming a conscious Child of God, a Child of the Universe. (p. 205 -215)”
― Theodore J. Nottingham, Doorway to Spiritual Awakening: Becoming Partakers of the Divine