James Redfield Quotations

When we cultivate mystical awareness or transcendent identity - which is a natural outgrowth of meditation and other practices - what happens is that we begin to take a witness position on our own lives, and that includes our minds.

Life is really about a spiritual unfolding that is personal and enchanting -- an unfolding that no science or philosophy or religion has yet fully clarified.

One of the things I think we're learning to do as the twelfth insight emerges is to be discerning without being judgmental, because condemning someone certainly feels like a comic event that brings other things back on you.

One thing we did to remedy the high prices, we bought these Scions, which are better on gas,

I grew up in a little Methodist church that was very rural, very community support-oriented, made up of great people who talked about love and grace and the spiritual experience, but only in rhetorical terms.

Fundamentalists from every religion have to be replaced, have to be disempowered.

I think we all can identify with the journey of the main character (John) as he takes steps for deeper spirituality.

Spiritual consciousness is, on the whole, very adventurous and all about pursuing our deepest, most fulfilling dreams.

Most intuitive ideas have to be clarified, so there is a trial and error process.

You can be non-judgmental, but you don't want to be non-discerning because, remember, the force of evolution is the conversation, you know: two truths standing up to each other in conversation, and the best truth emerges, and the best truth prevails.

Wherever we are in life is where destiny has brought us. It doesn't mean we have to stay there.

We're all addicted to sort of the habits of our lives. And we get stuck, and sometimes we'll get stuck because we had traumas that we don't want to remember.

We have to transcend our own negativity and vulnerability and work from our own inner security.

What I need in order to stay creative and centered is a certain amount of distance from the maddening crowd. You cease to be your best self if you're running too fast.

We all have times that we get off center.

Being with nature opens us up to divine experience.

There's a destiny for everybody. The world is set up - as foreign as that can be to some people who are very materialistic - but there is a force in this world, once we step into it, that opens doors for us, that gives us a sense of purpose and the greatest life there is, in my view.

Sometimes you just make a contact, and it feels right, but you don't know why. But down the road, something will happen that will make it clear why that connection had to be made at the point it was made.

A lot of people are simply interested in exploring their own spirituality, their own values, who they are, whether they're happy where they are.

There's a rich legend of this in other cultures, this speaking with ancestors. The Christian mystics communicated with angels.

I try not to recommend too many books, frankly, because I think there's a certain synchronicity that happens when people discover books.

It's about really having a God connection: a connection with the divine behind the world and flowing forth out of that in a positive way with love and moving toward making a contribution that pushes forth the evolution of the world.

Each of us has a gift, a talent, that we can offer to the world that makes the world essentially a better place.

The world is set up - as foreign as that can be to some people who are very materialistic - but there is a force in this world, once we step into it, that opens doors for us, that gives us a sense of purpose and the greatest life there is, in my view.

The world is much more mysterious than we ever thought.

I'm just a philosophical journalist, trying to describe what's going on. I want to stimulate conversations, and hope out of them will come truths.

I had to find some clarity about approaching life more spiritually. I think I'm kind of dense, and it makes me pull the process into mind and struggle over it in finding the path.

If you connect with a greater part of yourself, I call it higher self, but that's an experience, and when you do this, knowledge comes in, including intuition, and it's always about, 'What's my heart's sole desire?'

If you've ever walked a mile into a virgin forest - you know, like a deep forest where trees have been uncut - the energy is totally different from the shopping mall.

Beauty is something we can affirm and intend to have more of.

I call it the birth vision - what we are called to accomplish. If we follow this calling, we help spiritualize the planet.

...The human perception of this energy first begins with a heightened sensitivity to beauty.

The reality of the Life Review is becoming part of our every day understanding. We know that after death, we have to look at our lives again; and we’re going to agonize over every missed opportunity, over every case in which we failed to act. This knowledge is contributing to our determination to pursue every intuitive image that comes to mind, and keep it firmly in awareness. We’re living life in a more deliberate way. We don’t want to miss a single important event. We don’t want the pain of looking back later and realizing that we blew it, that we failed to make the right decisions.

This is [her] soul group.’ What do you mean?’ It’s a group of souls with whom she resonates closely.

The things that we preceive as beautiful may be different, but the actual characteristics we ascribe to beautiful objects are similar. Think about it. When something strikes us as beautiful, it displays more presence and sharpness of shape and vividness of color, doesn't it? It stands out. It shines. It seems almost iridescent compared to the dullness of other objects less attractive.

Once you learn what life is about, there is no way to erase that knowledge. If you try to do something else with your life, you will always sense that you are missing something

Michael Tomlinson's music truly explores the issues of the heart.

I'm asked that a lot: 'James, is there really a continuing spiritual renaissance occurring on this planet? Look at all the conflict, look at the wars.' And I believe, yes, we're still moving toward a deeper spirituality. It's personal. It's grassroots. It's everybody trying to get their own connection made, and from there it grows out.

The true, or higher part of the self is always seeking the state that mystics talk about, the state in which we are filled with a universal love and a peaceful euphoria.

Energy doesn't come to us so much from the things around us-although we can absorb energy directly from some plants and sacred sites. Sacred energy comes from our connection to the divine inside us.

The process of discovering who we are and what we are here to do . . . is dependent . . . on our ability to stay positive and to find a silver lining in all events.

The thought of both East and West (philosophies) can indeed be integrated into a higher truth. They show us that the West is correct in maintaining that life is about progress about evolving toward something higher. Yet the East is also correct in emphasizing that we must let go of control with the ego. We can't progress by using logic alone. We have to attain a fuller consciousness, an inner connection with God, because only then can our evolution toward something better be guided by a higher part of ourselves.

The effective prayers are affirmations.

If we make sure we stay in a state of conscious alertness for the next synchronicity, our minds stay on the positive and off our fear and doubt.

We must intend to live [the new spiritual awareness], to integrate each increased degree of awareness into our daily routine. It only takes one negative interpretation to stop everything.

Our children take our level of vibration and raise it even higher. This is how we, as humans, continue evolution.

History is not just the evolution of technology; it is the evolution of thought.

Prayer power is real. By putting it into action, we will be able to stay more constantly in higher awareness than ever before. If we can do that, the world will quickly change.

You see, the problem in life isn't in receiving answers. The problem is in identifying your current questions. Once you get the questions right, the answers always come.

Evolution is a myth. God creates the future the way he wants it.

If we stay aware and acknowledge the great mystery that is this life, we will see that we have been perfectly placed, in exactly the right position… to make all the difference in the world.

In reality, there are no enemies; we're all souls in growth, waking up

All I've done is put into words what all of us are about. We're now at the archetypal stage of being ready to move from a material to a transcendent world view of culture. I'm only articulating what dwells in the consciousness of a good part of the masses now. That's why the response.

The First Insight Theory: Mysterious coincidences cause the reconsideration of the inherent mystery that surrounds our individual lives on this planet.

Life is really about a spiritual unfolding that is personal and enchanting - an unfolding that no science or philosophy or religion has yet fully clarified.

Love is not an intellectual concept or a moral imperative or anything else. It is the background emotion that exists when one is connected to the energy available in the universe, which of course, is the energy of God.

Spirituality can not be separate from how we treat our bodies, construct our lifestyles, and keep our energy at higher levels.

Beauty is something we can affirm and intend to have more of. What happens then is our perceptual ability, no matter where we are, expands in that direction.

It is important to communicate to children about what we are going through. We often speak in half truths. We don't frame the truth or explain our experience in terms they can understand. We need to take time to do this. What has to happen is that more people have to get involved with more children. Focus energy on the child. Children are raising themselves these days in all sorts of strange ways.

You should never take responsibility for more children than you can give attention to.

Our experience of love is more of a measure of whether we're connected with the universal source of this energy. In other words, there's some life energy that we have and sort of share with people we might be relating to that takes place, that operates whether we're sort of feeling in a state of love or not. But love is the measure of whether we're really connected with the internal source of this energy where we can consciously sort of fill up and amplify the amount of energy that we're able to take in from the inside.

[Learn] to slow down and perceive the mysterious events and opportunities that happen in life. We call them coincidences, but if we look closely we see they are meaningful. They bring us just the right information at just the right time to extend our careers, relationships, and growth. These events feel destined in some way, as though the world is set up to help us make a better life, work through our problems, and reach our dreams - if we just pay attention.

Each of us is the next step in evolution along the lineage created by our two parents. Our higher purpose on earth can be found by recognizing what our parents accomplished and where they left off. By reconciling what they gave us with what they left us to resolve, we can get a clear picture of who we are and what we are meant to do.

One of my teachers once said that the way you know you're on the right path is that it works. Now, that doesn't mean you don't run into blocks and brick walls, but it does mean that you can find a way around them or find a way to change yourself or your project in order to find the flow again and have it work.

I really believe that an awakening, a greater perspective on our lives and existence is happening. It's really the firing of archetypes that are already built into our brains, we just are able to awaken to a point where we can see a greater beauty in the world, a greater connection and sense of well being. This is what the mystics speak about. The insights fire us up into a greater consciousness on the planet. So it is a greater consciousness at the same time and a greater awareness of our spiritual nature. That is what the 'aha' is.

When we cultivate mystical awareness or transcendent identity--which is a natural outgrowth of meditation and other practices--what happens is that we begin to take a witness position on our own lives, and that includes our minds. We break the illusion that we think our own thoughts, which is not always the case. Some ideas just arrive in our heads.

As we blossom or awaken, we begin to notice there is a force in the world that seems to be operating and leading us into a certain destiny. And it's very much a kind of detective effort on our own part to figure out what these things mean. The synchronicity is essentially a meaningful coincidence that brings us information at just the right time. While leading us forward, it also feels very inspiring and destined in a way. It feels like we're on a path of unfolding in our own personal evolution.

We're just animals, creatures smart enough and unlucky enough to have figured out we're alive, and we're going to die without ever knowing any purpose. We can pretend all we want and we can wish all we want, but that basic existential fact remains—we can't know.

In the '90s, we are all our own gurus, offering truth to each other. My message is that we all have a truth inside of us that we must tell. The synchronicity of life is all about becoming clear, knowing what that truth is, watching and taking advantage of the opportunity to express that truth, and knowing how to present it.

Knowing our personal mission further enhances the flow of mysterious coincidences as we are guided toward our destinies.

By seeing the beauty in every face we lift others into their wisest self and increase the chances of hearing a synchronistic message.

We can increase the frequency of guiding coincidences by uplifting every person that comes into our lives. Care must be taken not to lose our inner connection in romantic relationships.

Religions become corrupted when leaders are assigned to explain God's will to people instead of showing them how to find this direction within themselves.

Such growth will move humans into ever-higher energy states, ultimately transforming our bodies into spiritual form and uniting this dimension of existence with the afterlife dimension, ending the cycle of birth and death.

Loving and energizing others is the best possible thing we can do for ourselves.

The worst thing that can be done to children is to drain their energy while correcting them.

If history tells us anything, it is that human culture and knowledge are constantly evolving.

Learn to slow down and perceive the mysterious events and opportunities that happen in life... if we look closely we see they... bring us just the right information at just the right time...

Very often your attitude about why an accident or illness has happened has an effect on your recuperation.

We're finally becoming aware of a process that has been unconscious since human experience began. From the start, humans have perceived a Birth Vision, and then after birth have gone unconscious, aware of only the vaguest of intuitions. At first in the early day of human history, the distance between what we intended and what we actually accomplished was very great, and then, over time, the distance has closed. Now we're the verge of remembering everything.

Setting a field for synchronicity is a matter of putting yourself in a particular state of mind. It is easy to think about synchronicity intellectually, but unless you enter the state of mind where your prayer-field will help, all you will do is glimpse the coincidences every once in a while. In some situations that is enough and you will be led forward for a time, but eventually you will lose your direction. The only way to establish a constant flow of synchronicity is to stay in a state where your prayer field keeps this flow moving toward you--a state of conscious alertness.

Apparently, before we are born, each of us experiences a vision of what our life can be, complete with reflections on our parents and our tendencies to engage in particular control dramas, even how we might work through these dramas with these parents and go on to be prepared for what we want to accomplish.

We humans have always sought to increase our personal energy in the only manner we have known, by seeking to psychologically steal it from the others--an unconscious competition that underlies all human conflict in the world.

Sexual union is a holy moment in which a part of Heaven flows into the Earth.

If we knock on the door until it opens, not taking no for an answer, our lives will be transformed as we step up into a higher awareness.

You will learn that at higher levels of energy, our fields of prayer act very quickly to bring us exactly what we expect. If we fear, it brings to us what we fear. If we hate, it brings us more of what we hate. Thankfully when we go into these negative expectations, our prayer-fields collapse rather quickly because we lose our connection with the divine and are no longer outflowing love. But a fear expectation can still be powerful. That is why you must monitor your expectations carefully and set your field consciously.

Inspiration is what keeps us well.

Where Attention goes Energy flows; Where Intention goes Energy flows!

...Dreams come to tell us something about our lives that we are missing.

Remember to stop as often as necessary to re-connect your energy. Stay full, stay in a state of love. Remember that once you achieve the state of love, nothing nor anyone can pull more energy from you that you can replace. In fact, the energy flowing out of you creates a current that pulls energy into you at the same rate. You can never run out. But you must stay conscious of this process in order for it to work. This is especially important when you interact with people.

The universe is energy, energy that responds to our expectations.

When each expects the other to live in his or her world, to always be there to join in his or her chosen activities, an ego battle inevitably develops.

We can become inspired to shape a higher, more ideal future, and when we do, miracles happen.

When we dislike someone, or feel threatened by someone, the natural tendency is to focus on something we dislike about the person, something that irritates us. Unfortunately, when we do this--instead of seeing the deeper beauty of the person and giving them energy--we take energy away and actually do them harm. All they know is that they suddenly feel less beautiful and less confident, and it is because we sapped their energy.

...the basic stuff of the universe, at its core, is looking like a kind of pure energy that is malleable to human intention and expectation in a way that defies our old mechanistic model of the universe--as though our expectation itself causes our energy to flow out into the world and affect other energy systems.

Blaming our behavior on forces outside ourselves is a way of avoiding responsibility.

We must assume every event has significance and contains a message that pertains to our questions...this especially applies to what we used to call bad things...the challenge is to find the silver lining in every event, no matter how negative.

I don't think that anything happens by coincidence... No one is here by accident... Everyone who crosses our path has a message for us. Otherwise they would have taken another path, or left earlier or later. The fact that these people are here means that they are here for some reason"...

How many people do you know who are obsessed with their work, who are type A or have stress related diseases and who can’t slow down? They can’t slow down because they use their routine to distract themselves, to reduce life to only its practical considerations. And they do this to avoid recalling how uncertain they are about why they live.

When love first happens, the individuals are giving each other energy unconsciously and both people feel buoyant and elated. That's the incredible high we call being ‘in love.’ Unfortunately, once they expect this feeling to come from another person, they cut themselves off from the energy in the universe and begin to rely even more on the energy from each other--only now there doesn’t seem to be enough and so they stop giving each other energy and fall back into their dramas in an attempt to control each other and force the other’s energy their way.