Tying Rocks To Clouds – Conversations With Wise And Spiritual People

By William Elliott.

267 Pages | First Quest Edition 1995 | Hardcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607089.

An ordinary person seeks the meaning of life in meetings with extraordinary people.

With intrepid good spirits Elliott interviews world's foremost spiritual figures, acquainting us with their exuberant earthly charms as well as their insight and intelligence. Along with Elliott, meet Mother Theresa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Norman Vincent Peale, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Ram Dass, Rabbi Harold Kushner, B.F. Skinner, Pir Vilayat Khan and a dozen other contemporary sages.

From page 266 & 267:

" I have seen cosmic beings and other worlds,
yet without seeing a flower it is nothing.
I have stopped my breath and been at one,
yet without the love of two is nothing.
I have felt pure joy and all that it brings,
yet the greatest is to feel the pain of others.
I have predicted the future and the thoughts of others,
yet my own honesty eludes me.
I have been angelic, virtuous, and of pure heart,
yet without being human it is nothing.
Why do I crave other worlds
when the needy are here?
Why am I content with the joy of my world
when other cry?
What does this mean?
After communing with God and defeating the Devil,
Jesus simply said, 'I am a man.'
Though he had the power to see all and everything,
the Buddha was accidentally poisoned and died.
We live side by side with paradox and illusion.
Of these things it is hard to speak.
To tie a rock to a cloud -
is this possible?
And if it is,
does the cloud descend to meet the rock
or does the rock rise to meet the cloud? "