The Ladder of Sentiency

Painting by Marley Ward

“I have encountered in my inner work Beings in comparison to whom my consciousness is not much more evolved than the sentiency I find in my sofa. Their response to me is always loving, caring, considerate, and appropriate. They are like shepherds of consciousness, tending its evolution across vast expanses of life and energy. The light of my sentiency is like a shadow compared to theirs, yet they tend to it, as they do to millions and billions of other lives and consciousnesses within the field of their beings, as if it were the brightest, most valuable flame in creation.” — David Spangler

“Happiness is impermanent, but it can be renewed. You are also impermanent and also renewable, like your breath, like your steps. You are not something permanent experiencing something impermanent. You are something impermanent experiencing something impermanent. If happiness can be renewed, so can you, because you in the next moment are a renewal of you in this moment. It’s wonderful to know that happiness lasts only as long as one in-breath or one step, because we know we can renew our happiness in another breath or another step, provided we know the art of generating mindfulness, concentration, and insight.” — Thich Nhat Hanh, in “The Art of Power.”

Everything is alive at some level. Most everything in our world is alive but dreaming…