Spiritual Forum

Hello :)

I have an amazing book named The Flight of the Feathered Serpent which is written by Armando Cosani.

If anyone has read it, please feel free to share your experiences of it and some quotes that you perhaps liked :)

I know there are many awesome quotes in it, so perhaps it’s difficult to choose.

For those of you who haven't read it...I can just recommend it strongly... There is just so much in it... It isn't really an "intellectual book" but it contains things which speak straight to your heart if you have the correct experiences... Many things which one learns through self-awareness... 

The back of the book says:

One of the great spiritual teachings of any age, imbued with a rare wisdom found only in the most revered of sacred texts, but what is its origin? 

It begins with the true story of a journalist in the Second World War. His life changes inexplicably after he meets with a mysterious man, who leaves him with a series of profound writings - one being a firsthand account of Judas' life with Jesus and the events leading up to the betrayal.

The writings also contain extraordinary insights into the lives of Judas, Jesus and the Disciples, which astonishingly seem to correlate with the recently discovered Gospel of Judas.

Could these be the teachings of Judas Iscariot and his account of his relationship with Jesus? Could this be Judas' attempt to clear his own name, in a miraculous effort to change the world's perceptions and help humanity in its spiritual quest?

The book consists of three parts and even just the first part is very interesting, because you get to follow this journalist and his mysterious friend and their conversations etc… There are just so many things which is great about it, and it is best if the whole book is read, so quotes doesn’t do as much as reading the book from the beginning…

The book begins with:

I could never understand this strange man of moderate words, who seemed to enjoy confusing me with his caustic and paradoxical observations upon all things. He gave the impression of being sullen. However, soon after dealing with him, one couldn’t help but to notice the most extraordinary fact that I have come across in my hectic life: he was a smile. He was it from head to toe. He didn’t smile, he didn’t need to smile; he was a smile all over. This impression also reached me in a very strange way and it is difficult to explain. I will only say that smiling seemed to be a natural property of his body and that it emanated even from his way of walking. I never heard him laugh, but he had the gift of communicating his happiness or his seriousness, depending on the situation. I never saw him depressed or upset, not even during those turbulent days towards the end of the Second World War, where as a consequence of a political revolution I ended up in prison, and he did absolutely nothing to obtain my freedom. Even in this incident, he showed to be a man out of the ordinary. And he even seemed to be determined that I continue imprisoned, and once when I reproached such an attitude, he said to me:

 

“You are better off here than out there. At least here you are in good company and it is even possible that you wake up.”

 

“But here you can’t even sleep,” I said.

 

“That is what you think because you don’t know yet which of the ways of sleeping is more dangerous and harmful in the long term. There is someone who watches over you even when you sleep and you are in good company.”

A bit later in the book:

Many friends and some of my colleagues at work felt a noticeable dislike towards him. They asked me what I saw in this friend and they described him as an ‘odd character’; some of them said that he didn’t have feelings, that nothing moved him. But I knew he was a man full of love. When I commented on my friends’ opinions due to a social incident, he said to me:

 

“Don’t let those opinions worry you. They are the scum of humanity, the true evil of society. You will always find in their pockets the thirty pieces of silver. I have nothing with them; nothing do I want to have. They are subjected to other forces from which they could free themselves if they really wanted to, but they have fallen in love with themselves, and confuse feelings with their personal weaknesses.”

And even later, still in the first part:

“[…] In every human being there is a Judge always ready to guide us; but due to our bad education and the consequences of this and other things, either we ignore this Internal Judge or, when he talks to us, we don’t pay due attention. This Judge is ourselves in a different form, let’s say invisible. I would dare to say that in your case it was this Judge who made you go to the church and who has guided you in many of you tribulations. To remember this Judge, to practice its presence in oneself, is a very important thing. And since it is, let’s say, a superior aspect of ourselves, we can call this Judge I. But not that ordinary I we know. Striving to feel him in each of our actions, of our feelings, of our thoughts, we nourish him. Eventually we can come to notice him as something highly extraordinary, highly intelligent and understanding. It is a very different sensation and feeling to what we are used to considering as I. It doesn’t appear overnight, but it needs to be forged patiently. But that is enough for now. Think about this, I beg you. […]”

I didn't really know what quotes I should write, because I don't know how much people here understand... Perhaps this is confusing or it feels obvious... But it is something that one understands better when one has some degree of self-knowledge, which one gets through awareness and to consciously observe oneself... And there are quotes in this book which I don't understand and which are probably very deep... But quotes that I at first didn't understand, I do understand now since I have more self-knowledge and quotes in this book has helped me very much...

Also, when one lives in a state of awareness, aware of the outside world and one's own emotions, feelings and thoughts... And one strives towards being in awareness always, praying (still in this calm awareness) for all  the aspects inside oneself that takes away this awareness, to disintegrate as they occur within oneself...you can get to understand this book better, at least I have...

I will end this with a quote that has been really helpful to me:

“Watch and Pray” was the heritage left by Christ for the courageous.

 

Watch is to do everything awakened; pray is a feeling of ardent yearning to be one with the Being.

 

However, he who prays and watches, even though they do it in an imperfect way, will receive generous help and he will learn to receive generously as well…

 

The help is in the Here and it is Now.

Book: http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Feathered-Serpent-Armando-Cosani/dp/0978986415/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320576712&sr=8-1-spell