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Sun-Earth
(Comfreak, Pixabay)

Sun and Volcano
(Rufus2601, Pixabay)

Man loving the Sun
(pnepalensis, Pixabay)

Heart-shaped Sun
(Monsterkoi, Pixabay)

Sun Man
(Devanath, Pixabay)

Sun in Space
(qimono, Pixabay)

Sun Mandala
(AlvaraCoelho, Pixabay)
Sun and Earth Sun as Role Model


Sun as High Ideal

By taking the sun as your ideal, your example to follow, you will be obliged to improve, you will find the courage to forget the disillusion and difficulty you have met with in the world and be like the sun, never losing either love or patience...The sun never tires...is the only one who can inspire you with noble, divine feelings. (O.M. Aïvanhov)

You will all become like the sun one day; if you look at it with love and confidence, you too will become warm, alive, luminous and life-giving. As you go about amongst others you will want to share all this light, warmth and life, you will want to distribute what you have received. The powerful law manifests itself through you and you become a sun yourself. (O.M. Aïvanhov)

Aim at the sun, you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself. (Joel Hawes)

Blaze with the fire that is never extinguished. (Luisa Sigea)

Only the sun will teach you to live the divine life. (O.M. Aïvanhov)

At the heart of our inner life, at the centre of our thoughts, we must place this universal principle which is the source of all religions – the sun – and immerse ourselves in the example it gives us each day. To bring light, warmth and life to all creatures without exception – this is the solar religion. Even before human beings appeared on earth, the sun was there, and it has been saying to them ever since, ‘Expand your consciousness, free yourselves from your narrow conceptions and do as I do: illuminate, warm, vivify and embrace the entire world with your intelligence and your love.’
The only true religion is the solar religion, which teaches us to become filled with light, warm and life-giving. It teaches us to work to acquire the wisdom which clarifies and solves problems; the disinterested love which embellishes, encourages and consoles; and the subtle, spiritual life which renders us active, dynamic and bold so that we may bring about the Kingdom of God and his Justice on earth. Anyone who tries to go against it only diminishes and obscures their own inner life. (O.M. Aïvanhov)


Sun and volcano

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Sun as Love

Look at the sun and take it as your role model, because it is the sun that best disposes us to love and help other human beings. Without this model of warmth and light, we give in to our crude, egocentric tendencies.
Look at what is happening in the world – all you see are people who only want to take advantage of others, to subjugate or trample on them. It is not a glorious picture! Whereas with the sun, you have an image of a being that is forever radiant and generous. And even if the sun is not an intelligent and reasoning being in the human sense, our conscious contact with its warmth and light can only inspire us with greater brotherly feelings towards one another. (O.M. Aïvanhov)

And still, after all this time, the Sun has never said to the Earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with love like that. It lights up the sky. (Rumi)

Even if those who preach Christianity strive to remember the precept given by Jesus, ‘Love your enemies’, in reality there are very few people capable of applying it. The majority do not even know how to love their friends, so how can they love their enemies? It is so difficult! In order to succeed in applying this selfless and impersonal conception of love, we must connect with a being who manifests this commandment fully: the sun. Watch, and you will see that however human beings behave, the sun continues to send them its light and warmth, to nourish and vivify them. If you want to understand the highest moral code, you will find it in the sun, and only there. And since the sun represents the spirit within you, when looking at it, force yourself to rise to those regions within you where you feel that nothing can touch you. Because it is only from here that, whatever happens to you, you can continue to send out your light and your love. (O.M. Aïvanhov)

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides. (David Viscott)

The sun is on the horizon and a man, elevated and by trees is standing and viewing the spectacle. He is in silhouette and holds his arms up and makes a heart-shaped symbol with his fingers.

The lover who leans upon the beloved's response, his love is like the flame that needs oil to live; but the lover who stands on his own feet is like the lantern of the sun that burns without oil. (Hazrat Inayat Khan)

Approach the sun consciously with the desire to become like it, and gradually you will receive something of its life, warmth and light. And if you want friends, it is also the sun’s example that will teach you the best ways to attract them. Who would not move closer to someone in whose presence they felt more alive, warm and light? But we avoid someone who is cold, dull and rigid, or if we have to be around them we do everything to protect ourselves by closing ourselves to them. Look at what flowers do: they close at night, and during the day they open to the sun. Isn’t that a form of language? The flowers are speaking to us and saying, ‘The only way you will open hearts and souls is by spreading light and warmth.’ (O.M. Aïvanhov)

The Sun brings warmth and light to the beloved flower. It does not seek to possess.
(Bruce Mitchell)


Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth "You owe me." Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky. (Hafiz)

Heart-shaped sun

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Sun & Health

In an interview on his 115th birthday, Mr Kimura said he was not sure why he was able to live so long. "Maybe it's all thanks to the sun above me," he said. "I am always looking up towards the sky, that is how I am." (Jiroemon Kimura of Japan, oldest man verified in history, died 12 June 2013 aged 116, cited at BBC, posted and accessed 12 June 2013)

O Great White Spirit - Father-Mother God,
As a flower opens to the sunlight I reach out to you.
As your light pours into my heart
All dark, cross, fearful thoughts, all black imps disappear.
Your great stream of light now fills my body -
Your angels spread their shining wings around me -
In the radiance of your light all selfish thoughts disappear.
My little light is part of your great sun -
I shine in you - you shine in me.
(Joan Hodgson in a White Eagle book for children)


Stand straight and tall and imagine you are a strong and beautiful tree. The sun shines on your leaves and branches and as you breathe in the light, you grow stronger and taller and become a tree of light. Your roots are firmly in the rich brown earth (stand with feet firmly together) and your branches grow up into the sunlight of God (use your arms as branches). Feel the light and life-force in you growing stronger and brighter until it shines from every branch and leaf. Gradually, animals, birds, and insects come to your golden tree of life to shelter in its branches and all are enfolded in the love and light of the Creator of life. Now picture the light shining from this golden tree to all animals who are sick or being cruelly treated - the light will help them feel the love and comfort of their Creator.
(Jenny Dent in a White Eagle book for children)

The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy. 
(Henry Ward Beecher)

The Sun is an excellent replacement for absent or abusive parents. It is always there to support you, befriend you, enlighten you, vivify you, warm you, love you - even at night it is there. Even if you have great parents, the chances are they’ll die before you - then and now you can look to the Sun for guidance, protection and support. (Bruce Mitchell)

Man gazing at sun

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Sun as Symbol for God

There is no visible thing, in all the world, more worthy to serve as a symbol of God than the sun, which illuminates with visible life, first itself, then all the celestial and mundane bodies. (Dante)

Praise be to you my Lord, with all your creatures, especially the Sun my brother who gives us day, and You illuminate us through him. And he is beautiful, and shines with great splendour; he brings us the meaning of You, Most High.
(
St. Francis of Assisi, from ‘Canticle of the Sun’)

The theological God is, as he [O.M. Aïvanhov] argued, too abstract and thus too discouraging. He therefore proposed that in place of such a remote figure, we should put the concrete daily experience of the sun. He felt that in contemplating the sun, we could truly discover - in our feelings - the mystery of the Divine... Aïvanhov further claimed that, as a supremely intelligent being, the sun is completely responsive to our spiritual intentions and aspirations. He viewed the sun as an "open door to Heaven." Aïvanhov also stated that the sun has been his principal teacher and that "the sun’s replies are given in a flash, like an electronic machine." (Georg Feuerstein)

The only universal religion is the religion of the sun, for only the sun is universal. ‘And the Lord?’ you will ask. Of course, the Lord is universal; but the Lord is so sublime, so inaccessible! People refuse to accept the sun on the grounds that we must glorify and worship only one God. But as they are unable to reach Him, they remain stuck in a vacuum. On the pretext that we must recognize only the Lord, they neither feel nor understand a thing. How smart is this? Why refuse to see that it is the sun, above all, that can bring us closer to God by offering us an image of His greatness, His light, His love and His power? We reject the sun and this is why we remain in the dark, cold and weak. (O.M. Aïvanhov)

The sun which we see in the sky is but the kernel, the only visible part of a much larger sun, the sun which envelops the very limits of the solar system with its radiative body. The earth is within the sun, plunged in the solar wind, spiralling with its sister planets like organs within the same solar body. I can touch the sun with my face, even in the dark. (Lawrence Blair)

When you consider the solar system as a representation of the human psyche, the sun is like our indestructible spirit. Its invisible energy reaches everywhere, bringing life. Its pervasive light and warmth are essential for our survival. It is both transcendent (the solar ball beyond our reach) and immanent (its energy touching everywhere). It brings enlightenment (light) and love (warmth). (Bruce Mitchell)

View of the Earth from Space, with the Sun rising over the curved edge of the Earth

When everything is going well, people think only about their own affairs, their own interests and pleasures. It is when they are worried or unhappy that they suddenly think of God and wonder why He does not come and help them. They would like the Lord to realize there is a poor wretch here who is suffering, and come personally to console them and extricate them from this mess. As though the Lord had nothing better to do! Now I am not saying that God does not help us – He does – but we do not know how to receive his help.
Take the sun for example. The sun is very powerful – it makes the planets turn, it drives and vivifies them, and yet in spite of that tremendous power, if you do not draw back your curtains, it cannot enter your room. You leave your curtains closed and say, ‘Come in, come in, dear sun!’ And the sun replies, ‘But I cannot.’ Why not? ‘You must open your curtains.’ Yes, a mere curtain is enough to keep it out. If you understand this, you will draw back your curtains, the sun will enter and you will be flooded with light. The sun is a symbol of the Lord. Of course, the Lord is almighty, of course he holds the universe in his hand, but when it comes to opening a curtain he cannot do it; it is up to us to draw back our curtains so that he can come in and help us. (O.M. Aïvanhov)

When asked where the sun is, a child is likely to tell you and gesture to you that it is everywhere around, whilst an adult is more likely to point you in the direction of the sky. This is a reflection of how we view God. A child can see God all around, whilst an adult is more likely to view God as some distant, separate, seldom noticed entity. (Bruce Mitchell?)

Dear Father Mother God, When I feel cross or unhappy, please help me to remember your light shining in my heart and the help and strength this can give me. I know my little light is linked to Your Great Light which I picture shining like the sun. Thank You for your beautiful light and Your care of all children. When I breathe in your light, your love and strength will fill my whole body, so I shall be able to do all the things I have to, quietly and happily. I pray for your help in this and that I may make those around me feel strong and happy too. Amen. (Jenny Dent in a White Eagle book for children)

All animate and inanimate things are, Aïvanhov noted, nothing but condensed sunlight. By this he meant that they are made of energy - a lesson that, despite Einstein’s influential theorem, few of us have as yet imbibed. The sun is the origin of life. More than that, the sun is the primordial teacher. For, without the sun there would be no human society, religion, morality, arts, philosophy, and technology. (Georg Feuerstein)

For the sun shines on every impure place, and yet it is not defiled. So it is with Christ.
(From the Teachings of Silvanus, a Nag Hammadi scripture)

God is the sun beaming light everywhere. (Tribal African saying)

The symbol for the Sun is
The dot represents the One and the circle is the All.
This is a mysterious truth which transcends our logical understanding.
The combination of individuality and everything is God or Love

Sun mandala

Also see:-

Solar Culture & Sun articles

God

The High Ideal

Surya
(Solar Culture exercise, PWP)

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Page last updated: 22 June 2022.