tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25545691739953169872011-10-21T15:54:06.193+11:00Stairway to HeavenJohn Noycehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02966033772994457851noreply@blogger.comBlogger61100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2554569173995316987.post-15046205261679183222009-04-27T00:20:00.001+10:002009-04-27T00:20:53.616+10:00The notion of heavenly ascent by the purified is to be found in many ancient traditions of the lands adjoining the eastern part of the Mediterranean: in ancient Egyptian beliefs, in Mazdaism, in Greek and Latin philosophical traditions, in the Jewish tradition and its Christian offshoots, in Manichaeism, in Mandaeism, as well as in the Sanskrit Upanishads of India, and in the Qur'an. In ChristianJohn Noycehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02966033772994457851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2554569173995316987.post-28847520963210708772009-01-18T20:42:00.002+11:002009-01-18T20:44:33.787+11:00Be at peace with your own soulthen heaven & earth will be at peace with you.Enter eagerly into the treasure housethat is within you,And you will see the things that are in heaven,for there is but one single entry to them both.The ladder that leads to the Kingdomis hidden within your soul...Dive into yourself and in your souland you will discover the stairs by which to ascend.Isaac the Syrian (7thJohn Noycehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02966033772994457851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2554569173995316987.post-6956855470954857072007-05-07T23:49:00.000+10:002007-05-07T23:50:03.520+10:00[Jacob] dreamt that he saw a ladder, which rested on the ground with its top reaching to heaven, and angels of God were going up and down it. Genesis 28:12John Noycehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02966033772994457851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2554569173995316987.post-69866084766168821972007-05-07T23:24:00.001+10:002007-05-07T23:50:58.128+10:00To all hastening to write their names in the book of life in the heavens, the present book is a surpassing path. Traveling by this path, we shall see that it infallibly guides those who follow its instructions, preserves them invulnerable to every obstacle and presents to us a firmly-based ladder leading us up from the earthly to the holy of holies, at the summit of which is the God of love.John John Noycehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02966033772994457851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2554569173995316987.post-41165735307807619422007-05-07T21:52:00.000+10:002007-05-08T22:30:00.459+10:00When I was hard at work one day, thinking on the spiritual work needful for God's servants, four such spiritual works came to my mind, these being: reading; meditation; prayer; contemplation. This is the ladder for those in cloisters, and for others in the world who are God's Lovers, by means of which they can climb from earth to heaven. It is a marvellously tall ladder, but with just four rungs,John Noycehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02966033772994457851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2554569173995316987.post-26251859666481996072007-04-02T09:16:00.001+10:002009-01-18T20:43:25.557+11:00… can you hear the wind blow, and did you knowYour stairway lies on the whispering wind.Robert Plant, Stairway to Heaven (1971)John Noycehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02966033772994457851noreply@blogger.com