She was a beautiful woman, endowed with many talents and a very strong character. She needed to be converted more than once from a perhaps self-centered and mediocre life. But, when she finally listened to God's call she gave her whole being to following him. She suffered a great deal of opposition, betrayal, calumny and insult. But, she never gave up. In our own times of trial she is an encouragement to us and a symbol of perseverance in living what we know to be what God wants of us even if it be unpopular or not the "in" thing to do. (- from The Monastery of Christ in the Desert, New Mexico)

The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They're not the Way. The Way is wordless. Words are illusions... Don't cling to appearances, and you'll break through all barriers...

Emperor Wu of China was a very benevolent Buddhist. He built many temples and monasteries, educated many monks, and performed countless philanthropic deeds in the name of Buddhism. He asked the great teacher Bodhidharma, "What merit is there in my good works?" Bodhidharma replied, "None whatsoever." The Emperor then asked, "What is the Primal meaning of Holy Reality?" Bodhidharma answered, "Emptiness, not holiness." The Emperor then queried, "Who, then, is this confronting me?" "I do not know," was Bodhidharma's reply. Since the Emperor did not understand, Bodhidharma left his kingdom.

Later, the Emperor related this conversation to an adviser, Prince Shiko. Shiko reprimanded him, saying that Bodhidharma was a great teacher possessed of the highest truth. The Emperor, filled with regret, dispatched a messenger to entreat Bodhidharma to return. But Shiko warned, "Even if all the people in the land went, that one will never return." (- from Zen Koans by Venerable Gyomay Kubose c.1973)

Abandoning the false and embracing the true, and in simpleness of thought, abiding in pi-kuan or wall meditation, one finds that there is neither selfhood nor otherness, that the masses and the worthies are of one essence. Holding firmly to this belief and never moving away therefrom, one is not guided by any written instructions, for one is in silent communion with the principle itself, free from conceptual discrimination serene and not-acting.                            (- from  Meditation on Four Acts, Bodhidharma)

 … there need be no fear, with the help of God, that religious observances in this house will decline, for, as Saint Clare said, the walls of poverty are very strong. It was with these walls, she said, and with those of humility, that she wished to surround her convents; and assuredly, if the rule of poverty is truly kept, both chastity and all the other virtues are fortified much better than by the most sumptuous edifices. 

It seems very wrong, my daughters, that great houses should be built with the money of the poor; may God forbid that this should be done; let our houses be small and poor in every way.   (-Teresa, in The Way of Perfection)