“Crashing Wave” | Anthony Satori
“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”
— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“Tiger Soul” | Anthony Satori
“The substance from which I am made… is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire.”
— Jorge Luis Borges
“Squirrel with Half a Donut” | Anthony Satori
“How do animals understand things? I do not know, but it is certain that they do understand. Perhaps there is a language which is not made of words and everything in the world understands it. Perhaps there is a soul hidden in everything and it can always speak, without even making a sound, to another soul.”
— Frances Hodgson Burnett
“Quiet and Still” | Anthony Satori
“To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet and still.”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Calm Waters” | Anthony Satori
“The hub of calmness — that’s your heart. That’s where God lives within you. Just keep coming back to that center, and you’ll always find peace.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert
“Stillness” | Anthony Satori
“I feel that art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. A stillness that characterizes prayer, too, and the eye of the storm.”
— Saul Bellow
“Lightning Strikes” | Anthony Satori
Early in his adult life, the great 20th century thinker and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller felt like none of his efforts were coming to any useful fruition. Broke and despondent, he took a late-night walk along a bridge, and even considered ending his life. As he stood at the edge of the bridge, a glowing sphere of white light appeared from nowhere, surrounded him, and lifted him several feet off the ground. A voice spoke these words:
“From now on you need never await temporal attestation to your thought. You think the truth. You do not have the right to eliminate yourself. You do not belong to you. You belong to the Universe. Your significance will remain forever obscure to you, but you may assume that you are fulfilling your role if you apply yourself to converting your experiences to the highest advantage of others.”
The sphere of light then gently placed him back onto his feet on the bridge, and disappeared. From that moment forward, Fuller’s entire outlook changed. He dedicated the rest of his life to the enthusiastic creation and invention of things that made people’s lives better, more efficient, and more productive — no longer worrying about the “success” or “failure” of his inventions — and he went on to become one of the most admired, prolific, and successful inventors of the 20th century.
On the bridge that night, the mystical Voice spoke directly to Fuller. But there is a lesson here for all of us. Even though we may never know the impact we will have on the world around us, if we dedicate our thoughts and efforts to benefiting others and to making the world a more beautiful, meaningful place, we will be fulfilling our highest destiny. As for everything else, it is out of our hands. We must simply leave the rest to fate.
This week marks five years that I have been producing this blog, sharing my photographic artworks, writings, and philosophical ponderings with you, once a week, every week, for the duration. Thank you for taking this journey with me, so far. May we have many more wonders to come.
“The Door to Walden” | Anthony Satori
“Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living.”
— Anais Nin
“Tree Swing (Autumn)” | Anthony Satori
Happiness and peace arise from cultivating a state of harmony between one’s inner light (mind, body, and spirit) and the details of the world around us.
“Rose” | Anthony Satori
“The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.”
— Leo Buscaglia
Satori Circle | Art & Culture 