1. Accompanying in a circumstantial relation; going with as a concomitant; closely consequent. 2. Following closely. 3. Waiting for, awaiting, expecting (a future time, event, result, decision, etc.)
1. A distinctive and pervasive quality or character; air; atmosphere. 2. A subtle emanation from and enveloping living persons and things, viewed by mystics as consisting of the essence of the individual.
1. Spirited and original; daring; bold. 2. Fearlessly, often recklessly daring; bold; defiant; insolent; brazen; unrestrained by convention or propriety.
1. The active opposition or mutual hostility of two opposing forces, physical or mental. 2. An opposing force, principle, or tendency.
1. The act, power or property of appealing, alluring, enticing or inviting. 2. A thing or feature which draws by appealing to desires, tastes, etc. 3. The action of a body or substance in drawing to itself, by some physical force, another to which it is not materially attached; the force thus exercised. attractions.
1. To bring into musical accord or harmony; to tune. 2. To bring into accord, harmony, or sympathetic relationship; adjust. attuned, attuning.
1. Touchstone; a very smooth, fine-grained, black or dark-coloured variety of quartz or jasper (also called basanite), used for testing the quality of gold and silver alloys by the colour of the streak produced by rubbing them upon it; a piece of such stone used for this purpose. 2. *fig.* That which serves to test or try the genuineness or value of anything; a test, criterion.
abandon ::: 1. To give oneself up, devote oneself to (a person or thing); to yield oneself without restraint. 2. To withdraw one"s support or help from, especially in spite of duty, allegiance, or responsibility; desert: leave behind. 3. To give up; discontinue; withdraw from. abandons, abandoned, abandoning.
abandoned ::: 1. Given up, deserted, forsaken, cast off. 2. Left completely and finally, without help or support. 3. adj. Deserted.
abased ::: lowered, humbled, degraded in condition, character, feelings, etc.
abdicate ::: to renounce (a throne, power, responsibility, rights, etc.), esp. formally.
aberrations ::: 1. Deviations or divergences from a direct, prescribed, or ordinary course or mode of action, esp. moral or proper.
abhorred ::: regarded with extreme repugnance, aversion or disgust; detested; loathed. abhorring.
abide ::: 1. To wait, stay, remain. 2. To remain in residence; to sojourn, reside, dwell. 3. To remain with; to stand firm by, to hold to, remain true to. 4. To continue in existence, endure, stand firm or sure. abides, abode, abiding.
ablaze ::: 1. Burning; on fire. 2. Gleaming with bright lights, bold colours, etc.
abnegation ::: denial, negation; refusal, formal rejection (of a doctrine, etc.).
abode ::: a dwelling-place, place of ordinary habitation; house or home. (Also pt. of abide.) abodes.
a body of executive officials collectively entrusted with the execution and administration of laws.
abortive ::: terminated before completion.
abrupt ::: 1. Characterized by sudden interruption or change; unannounced and unexpected; sudden, hasty. 2. Precipitous, steep. 3. Of strata: Suddenly cropping out and presenting their edges.
absence ::: the state of being away (from any place) or not being present; also the time of duration of such state.
absolute ::: adj. 1. Free from all imperfection or deficiency; complete, finished; perfect, consummate. 2. Of degree: Complete, entire; in the fullest sense. 3. Having ultimate power, governing totally; unlimited by a constitution or the concurrent authority of a parliament; arbitrary, despotic. 4. Existing without relation to any other being; self-existent; self-sufficing. 5. Capable of being thought or conceived by itself alone; unconditioned. 6. Considered independently of its being subjective or objective. n. 7. Something that is not dependent upon external conditions for existence or for its specific nature, size, etc. (opposed to relative). Absolute, Absolute"s, absolutes, absoluteness.
absolute reality ::: Sri Aurobindo: "I would myself say that bliss and oneness are the essential condition of the absolute reality, and love as the most characteristic dynamic power of bliss and oneness must support fundamentally and colour their activities; . . . .” Letters on Yoga
absolve ::: 1. To free from guilt, blame or their consequences; discharge (from obligations, liabilities, etc.). 2. To set free, release. 3. To clear off, discharge, acquit oneself of (a task, etc.); to perform completely, accomplish, finish. absolves, absolved.
absorbed ::: 1. Engrossed or entirely occupied; preoccupied. 2. Swallowed up, or comprised, so as no longer to exist apart.
abstract ::: adj. 1. Withdrawn or separated from matter, from material embodiment, from practice, or from particular examples; theoretical. 2. In the fine arts, characterized by lack of or freedom from representational qualities. n. 3. Something that concentrates in itself the essential qualities of anything more extensive or more general, or of several things; essence.
abstractions ::: things which have no independent existence, which exist only in idea; visionary and unrealistic.
abstruse ::: 1. Concealed, hidden, secret. 2. Hard to understand; difficult, recondite.
accent ::: 1. The way in which anything is said; pronunciation, tone, voice; sound, modulation or modification of the voice expressing feeling. 2. A mark indicating stress or some other distinction in pronunciation or value. accents.
accentuating ::: marking strongly, emphasizing.
accept ::: 1. To take or receive (a thing offered) willingly, or with consenting mind; to receive (a thing or person) with favour or approval. 2. To take formally (what is offered) with contemplation of its consequences and obligations; to take upon oneself, to undertake as a responsibility. 3. To agree or consent to. 4. To regard as true or sound; believe. accepts, accepted, accepting.
access ::: 1. The ability, right, or permission to approach, enter, speak with, or use; admittance. 2. A way or means of approach; an entrance, channel, passage, or doorway.
acclaimed ::: laid claim to, claimed; demanded as one"s own or one"s due; sought or asked for on the ground of right.
accompany ::: 1. To go in company with, to go along with. 2. To add as companion; to associate; to add or conjoin to. accompanied.
accord ::: agreement or harmonious correspondence of things or their properties, as of colours or tints. Of sounds: Agreement in pitch and tone; harmony.
accountable ::: subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; answerable, responsible.
accountant ::: one who inspects and audits accounts.
account ::: n. 1. A record of debts and credits, applied to other things than money or trade. 2. A particular statement or narrative of an event or thing; a relation, report, or description. v. 3. To render an account or reckoning of; to give a satisfactory reason for, to give an explanation.
accurate ::: 1. Exact, precise, correct, as the result of care. 2. Free from error or defect; consistent with a standard, rule, or model; precise, exact.
accursed ::: lying under a curse or anathema; ill fated; doomed to perdition or misery.
ache ::: a continuous or abiding pain, in contrast to a sudden or sharp one. Used of both physical and mental sensations.
achieved ::: completed, accomplished; attained, won.
aching ::: 1. Having the sensation of continuous or ever-recurring pain, throbbing painfully. 2. Full of or precipitating nostalgia, grief, loneliness, etc.
acolyte ::: an attendant or junior assistant in any ceremony or operation; a novice; follower. acolytes.
"A conscious being, no larger than a man"s thumb, stands in the centre of our self; he is master of the past and the present . . . he is today and he is tomorrow. — Katha Upanishad. (6)” The Life Divine - See *conscious being.
acquiescing ::: assenting tacitly; submitting or complying silently or without protest; agreeing; consenting. acquiescence.
acquired ::: gained for oneself through one"s actions or efforts.
acquittance ::: release from a debt or obligation; discharge.
action ::: 1. The process or condition of acting or doing (in the widest sense), the exertion of energy, influence, power or force. 2. A way or manner of moving. 3. A thing done, a deed**. action"s, actions, self-action.
"Action is a resultant of the energy of the being, but this energy is not of one sole kind; the Consciousness-Force of the Spirit manifests itself in many kinds of energies: there are inner activities of mind, activities of life, of desire, passion, impulse, character, activities of the senses and the body, a pursuit of truth and knowledge, a pursuit of beauty, a pursuit of ethical good or evil, a pursuit of power, love, joy, happiness, fortune, success, pleasure, life-satisfactions of all kinds, life-enlargement, a pursuit of individual or collective objects, a pursuit of the health, strength, capacity, satisfaction of the body.” The Life Divine*
actionless ::: void of action, inactive.
active ::: originating or communicating action, exerting action upon others; acting of its own accord, spontaneous.
actual ::: in action or existence at the time; present, current, real. Actual"s.
adamantine ::: utterly unyielding or firm in attitude or opinion.
adamant ::: n. 1. Any impenetrably or unyieldingly hard substance. 2. A legendary stone of impenetrable hardness, formerly sometimes identified with the diamond. adj. **3. Unshakeable, inflexible, utterly unyielding. 4. Incapable of being broken, dissolved, or penetrated; immovable, impregnable. adamantine.**
addict ::: one who is attached by one"s own inclination to an activity, habit or substance; devoted, given up to.
adept ::: one who is completely versed (in something); thoroughly proficient; well-skilled; expert. adepts.
A Dictionary of Words and Terms in Sri Aurobindo"s SavitriLexicon of an Infinite MindNarad (Richard Eggenberger)
adj. 1. Rousing (something) or being aroused, as if from sleep. n. awakenings. 2. Recognitions, realizations, or coming into awareness of things.
adjoining ::: 1. Adding, annexing, attaching, or appending. 2. Lying next, contiguous, adjacent; neighbouring.
adjourned ::: deferred, postponed; held over to another time.
adjunct ::: joined or added (to anything); connected, annexed; subordinate in position, function, character, or essence. adjuncts.
administration ("s)
admirable ::: worthy of admiration; inspiring approval or respect; excellent.
admires ::: 1. Regards with pleased surprise, or with wonder mingled with esteem, approbation, or affection; and in modern usage, gazed on with pleasure. admired, admiring. adj. 2. Regarded with admiration; wondered at; contemplated with wonder mingled with esteem, etc.
admit ::: 1. To allow to enter, let in, receive (a person or thing). 2. Fig. To allow a matter to enter into any relation to action or thought. 3. To accept as true, or as a fact, to acknowledge, concede. 4. To allow, permit, grant. admits, admitted, admitting.
admonishing ::: 1. Reproving or scolding, especially in a mild or good-willed manner. 2. Urging to a duty; reminding.
adopted ::: taken voluntarily or admitted into any new relationship; esp. that of a child.
adopt ::: to choose or take as one"s own; make one"s own by election or assent. adopts.
adorable ::: worthy of worship or divine honour. Adorable.
adoration ::: 1. The act of paying honour, as to a divine being; worship. 2. Reverent homage. 3. Fervent and devoted love. **adoration"s.*Sri Aurobindo: "Especially in love for the Divine or for one whom one feels to be divine, the Bhakta feels an intense reverence for the Loved, a sense of something of immense greatness, beauty or value and for himself a strong impression of his own comparative unworthiness and a passionate desire to grow into likeness with that which one adores.” Letters on Yoga*
adore ::: 1. To worship as a deity, to pay divine honours to. 2. To reverence or honour very highly; to regard with the utmost respect and affection. adores, adored, adoring, adorer, adorer"s.
adored ::: the One who is worshipped, (referring here to Krishna).
adorer ::: the One who worships, (referring here to Radha).
advance ::: n. **1. Fig. Onward movement in any process or course of action; progress. v. 2. To move or go forward; to proceed. 3. Fig. To go forward or make progress in life, or in any course. 3. To move, put, or push (a thing) forward. Also fig. advances, advanced, advancing.**
adventure ::: n. 1. Any novel or unexpected event in which one shares; an exciting or remarkable incident befalling any one. 2. The encountering of risks or participation in novel and exciting events; bold or daring activity, enterprise. adventure"s, world-adventure, world-adventure"s. *v. 3. To take the chance of; to commit to fortune; to undertake a thing of doubtful issue; to try, to chance, to venture into or upon. 4. To risk or hazard; stake. *adventuring.
adventurer ::: one who seeks adventures, or who engages in daring enterprises. (Sri Aurobindo also employs the word as an adj.) adventurers, Adventurers.
adversary ::: a person, group or force that opposes or attacks, or acts in a hostile manner; an opponent, antagonist; an enemy, foe. adversary"s.
adverse ::: acting against or in opposition to, opposing, contrary; antagonistic in purpose or effect; actively hostile.
adversity ::: the condition of adverse fortune or fate; a state opposed to well-being or prosperity; misfortune, distress, trial, or affliction.
aegis ::: originally the shield or breastplate of Zeus, or Athena. Currently, protection; support; sponsorship; auspices.
aeonic ::: age-long, lasting an aeon.
aeons ::: ages of the universe, immeasurable periods of time; the whole duration of the world, or of the universe; eternity. aeons", aeoned, million-aeoned, (employed as an adj. by Sri Aurobindo), aeon-rings.
aesthesis ::: the perception of the external world by the senses.
"Aesthesis therefore is of the very essence of poetry, as it is of all art. But it is not the sole element and aesthesis too is not confined to a reception of poetry and art; it extends to everything in the world: there is nothing we can sense, think or in any way experience to which there cannot be an aesthetic reaction of our conscious being. Ordinarily, we suppose that aesthesis is concerned with beauty, and that indeed is its most prominent concern: but it is concerned with many other things also. It is the universal Ananda that is the parent of aesthesis and the universal Ananda takes three major and original forms, beauty, love and delight, the delight of all existence, the delight in things, in all things.” Letters on Savitri
aesthete ::: a person who has or professes to have refined sensitivity toward the beauties of art or nature.
afar ::: far, far away, at or to a distance; fig. remotely.from afar. From a long way off.
affair ::: a thing that concerns any one; a concern, a matter.
affections ::: emotions; kind feelings, love, fondness, loving attachment.
affiliated ::: being in close formal or informal association; related.
affinity ::: 1. Causal relationship or connexion (as flowing the one from the other, or having a common source). 2. A psychical or spiritual attraction believed by some sects to exist between persons.
affixed ::: fastened, fixed, joined, or attached , put or added on; appended to.
afflatus ::: the miraculous communication of supernatural knowledge; hence also, the imparting of an over-mastering impulse, poetic or otherwise; inspiration. A creative inspiration, as that of a poet; a divine imparting of knowledge, thus it is often called divine afflatus.
affranchised ::: freed from a state of dependence, servitude or obligation;
affront ::: to face in defiance; confront. affronted, affronting.
afloat ::: 1. Floating or borne on the water; in a floating condition. 2. From the state of a ship or other body floating on the sea, having liberty of motion and buoyancy.
a game in which a blindfolded player tries to catch and identify one of the other players. The game has been around for at least 2000 years and probably longer. It is known to have been played in Greece about the time of the Roman Conquest.
age ::: n. **1. A great period or stage of the history of the Earth. 2. Hist. Any great period or portion of human history distinguished by certain characters real or mythical, as the Golden Age, the Patriarchal Age, the Bronze Age, the Age of the Reformation, the Middle Ages, the Prehistoric Age. 3. A generation or a series of generations. 4. Advanced years; old age. age"s, ages, ages". v. 5.** To grow old; to become aged.
agent ::: n. **1. One who does the actual work of anything, as distinguished from the instigator or employer; hence, one who acts for another, a deputy, steward, factor, substitute, representative, or emissary. adj. 2. That which acts or exerts power. agents.**
agonised ::: suffered extreme pain or anguish; tortured.
agony ::: 1. Anguish of mind, sore trouble or distress, a paroxysm of grief. 2. The convulsive throes, or pangs of death; the death struggle. 3. Extreme bodily suffering, such as to produce writhing or throes of the body. agonies.
agree ::: 1. To be in harmony or unison in opinions, feelings, conduct, etc.; to be in sympathy; to live or act together harmoniously; to have no causes of variance. 2. To give consent; assent (often followed by to). agreed.
agreement ::: a contract or other document delineating an arrangement that is accepted by all parties to a transaction. (Sri Aurobindo capitalizes the word.)
air ::: 1. The transparent, invisible, inodorous, and tasteless gaseous substance which envelopes the earth. 2. *Fig. With reference to its unsubstantial or impalpable nature. 3. Outward appearance, apparent character, manner, look, style: esp. in phrases like ‘an air of absurdity"; less commonly of a thing tangible, as ‘the air of a mansion". 4. Mien or gesture (expressive of a personal quality or emotion). *air"s.
aisle ::: a longitudinal division of an interior area, as in a church, separated from the main area by an arcade or divided by a row of pillars. aisles.
alacananda ::: "One of the four head streams of the river Ganga in the Himalayas. According to the Vaishnavas it is the terrestrial Ganga which Shiva received upon his head as it fell from heaven. The famous shrine of Badrinath is situated on the banks of this stream. (Dow.)” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works
alarm ::: n. 1. A warning sound of any kind to give notice of danger, or to arouse or attract attention; esp. a loud and hurried peal rung out by a tocsin or alarm bell. v. 2. To arouse to a sense of danger, to excite the attention or suspicion of, to put on the alert; warn. 3. To strike with fear or apprehension of danger; to agitate or excite with sudden fear. alarmed, alarming.
alas ::: an exclamation expressive of unhappiness, grief, sorrow, pity, or concern.
alchemy ::: any magical or miraculous power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value. alchemies.
algebra ::: the branch of mathematics that deals with general statements of relations, utilizing letters and other symbols to represent specific sets of numbers, values, vectors, etc., in the description of such relations. 2. Any special system of notation adapted to the study of a special system of relationship.
alien ::: 1. Unlike one"s own; strange; not belonging to one; belonging to another person, place, or family. 2. Adverse; hostile. aliens.
alight ::: 1. Lighted, kindled, in a flame; on fire. Also fig. **2.** Lighted up, illumined.
"All birds of that region are relatives. But this is the bird of eternal Ananda, while the Hippogriff is the divinised Thought and the Bird of Fire is the Agni-bird, psychic and tapas. All that however is to mentalise too much and mentalising always takes most of the life out of spiritual things. That is why I say it can be seen but nothing said about it.” ::: "The question was: ‘In the mystical region, is the dragon bird any relation of your Bird of Fire with ‘gold-white wings" or your Hippogriff with ‘face lustred, pale-blue-lined"? And why do you write: ‘What to say about him? One can only see"?” Letters on Savitri
". . . all birth is a progressive self-finding, a means of self-realisation.” Essays in Philosophy and Yoga
::: "All conscious being is one and indivisible in itself, but in manifestation it becomes a complex rhythm, a scale of harmonies, a hierarchy of states or movements.” The Upanishads
allegiance ::: loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like.
alley ::: a passage between buildings; hence, a narrow street, a lane; usually only wide enough for foot-passengers. blind alley*: one that is closed at the end, so as to be no thoroughfare; a cul de sac*.
allied ::: related; connected by nature, properties, or similitude; kindred.
allotted ::: 1. Divided or distributed by share or portion; apportioned. 2. Assigned as a portion, set apart, dedicated.
alloy ::: 1. A substance composed of two or more metals, or of a metal or metals with a nonmetal, intimately mixed, as by fusion or electrodeposition; a less costly metal mixed with a more valuable one, such as that which is added to gold and silver coinage. 2. Admixture, as with good with evil.
all- ::: prefix: Wholly, altogether, infinitely. Since 1600, the number of these [combinations] has been enormously extended, all-** having become a possible prefix, in poetry at least, to almost any adjective of quality. all-affirming, All-Beautiful, All-Beautiful"s, All-Bliss, All-Blissful, All-causing, all-concealing, all-conquering, All-Conscient, All-Conscious, all-containing, All-containing, all-creating, all-defeating, All-Delight, all-discovering, all-embracing, all-fulfilling, all-harbouring, all-inhabiting, all-knowing, All-knowing, All-Knowledge, all-levelling, All-Life, All-love, All-Love, all-negating, all-powerful, all-revealing, All-ruler, all-ruling, all-seeing, All-seeing, all-seeking, all-shaping, all-supporting, all-sustaining, all-swallowing, All-Truth, All-vision, All-Wisdom, all-wise, All-Wise, all-witnessing, All-Wonderful, All-Wonderful"s.**
allured ::: 1. Attracted as to a lure; drawn or enticed to a place or to a course of action. 2. Attracted or tempted by something flattering or desirable; fascinated, charmed. alluring, **alluringly, allurement.
altar ::: 1. A block, pile, table, stand, mound, platform, or other elevated structure on which to place or sacrifice offerings to a deity. 2. With reference to the uses, customs, dedication, or peculiar sanctity of the altar. 3. A place consecrated to devotional observances. altar"s, altars, altar-burnings, mountain-altars.
alter ::: to make otherwise or different in some respect; to make some change in character, shape, condition, position, quantity, value, etc. without changing the thing itself for another; to modify, to change the appearance of. alters, altered, altering.
altitudes ::: high places or regions; elevated regions; great heights.
altruism ::: the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others (opposed to egoism ).
amateur ::: a person who engages in a study, sport, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons.
amazed ::: greatly surprised; astounded; suddenly filled with wonder; astonished. amazing, amazement.
amber ::: a pale yellow, sometimes reddish or brownish, fossil resin of vegetable origin, translucent, brittle, and capable of gaining a negative electrical charge by friction and of being an excellent insulator. 2. The yellowish-brown colour of resin.
ambience ::: 1. The mood, character, quality, tone, atmosphere, etc., particularly of an environment or milieu. 2. That which surrounds or encompasses.
ambiguities ::: uncertainties of meaning or intentions.
ambiguous ::: 1. Open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations; equivocal; questionable; indistinct, obscure, not clearly defined. 2. Of doubtful or uncertain nature; difficult to comprehend, distinguish, or classify; admitting more than one interpretation, or explanation; of double meaning. 3. Of oracles, people, using words of double meaning. ambiguously.
ambit ::: a sphere of operation or influence; range, scope.
ambition ::: an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honour, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment. ambitions.
ambitioned ::: aspired to; desired; sought after earnestly.
ambush ::: 1. An act or instance of lying concealed so as to attack by surprise. 2. The concealed position itself. ambushes.
ambushed ::: concealed so as suddenly to burst forth, come in view, or take by surprise.
amethyst ::: a purple or violet quartz; having the clear colour as of the precious stone. Sri Aurobindo uses the word as an adj."for Amethyst (the Mother)she has revealed that it has a power of protection” Huta
amicable ::: characterized by or showing goodwill; friendly; done in a friendly manner; peaceable.
amid ::: in the middle of or centre of; surrounded by; among.
amidst ::: in the middle of; surrounded by; among; amidst is often used of things scattered about, or in the midst of others.
amorous ::: inclined or disposed to love; in love, enamoured, fond. 2. Showing or expressing love. 3. Being in love; enamoured.
amour ::: love or affection; a love-affair, courtship. amour"s, amour-song.
amusements ::: pleasurable pastimes of the mind or attention; mental diversions and enjoyments in lieu of more serious matters.
amuse ::: to hold the attention of (someone) pleasantly; entertain or divert in an enjoyable or cheerful manner. amused, amusing.
ananke ::: "In Greek mythology, personification of compelling necessity or ultimate fate to which even the gods must yield.” *Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works
anarchy ::: a state of society without government or law ; lawlessness, confusion, chaos, disorder.
". . . an Avatar is not at all bound to be a spiritual prophet — he is never in fact merely a prophet, he is a realiser, an establisher — not of outward things only, though he does realise something in the outward also, but, as I have said, of something essential and radical needed for the terrestrial evolution which is the evolution of the embodied spirit through successive stages towards the Divine.” Letters on Yoga
"An Avatar, roughly speaking, is one who is conscious of the presence and power of the Divine born in him or descended into him and governing from within his will and life and action; he feels identified inwardly with this divine power and presence.” Letters on Yoga
anchor ::: 1. Any of various devices dropped by a chain, cable, or rope to the bottom of a body of water for preventing or restricting the motion of a vessel or other floating object, typically having broad, hooklike arms that bury themselves in the bottom to provide a firm hold. 2. A person or thing that can be relied on for support, stability, or security; mainstay.
anchorites ::: those who have retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion; hermits, recluses.
ancient ::: 1. Of or in time long past or early in the world"s history. 2. Dating from a remote period; of great age; of early origin. 3. Being old in wisdom and experience; venerable. Ancient.
::: "And this bliss is not a supreme pleasure of the heart and sensations with the experience of pain and sorrow as its background, but a delight also self-existent and independent of objects and particular experiences, a self-delight which is the very nature, the very stuff, as it were, of a transcendent and infinite existence.” The Synthesis of Yoga
anew ::: 1. Over again; again; once more. 2. In a new form or manner different from the previous.
angel ::: 1. One of a class of spiritual beings; a celestial attendant of the Deity; a divine messenger of an order of spiritual beings superior to man in power. 2. A fallen or rebellious spirit once a spiritual attendant of the Divine. angel, Angels, **angels.
**Angel of the Way *Sri Aurobindo: "Love fulfilled does not exclude knowledge, but itself brings knowledge; and the completer the knowledge, the richer the possibility of love. ‘By Bhakti" says the Lord in the Gita ‘shall a man know Me in all my extent and greatness and as I am in the principles of my being, and when he has known Me in the principles of my being, then he enters into Me." Love without knowledge is a passionate and intense, but blind, crude, often dangerous thing, a great power, but also a stumbling-block; love, limited in knowledge, condemns itself in its fervour and often by its very fervour to narrowness; but love leading to perfect knowledge brings the infinite and absolute union. Such love is not inconsistent with, but rather throws itself with joy into divine works; for it loves God and is one with him in all his being, and therefore in all beings, and to work for the world is then to feel and fulfil multitudinously one"s love for God. This is the trinity of our powers, [work, knowledge, love] the union of all three in God to which we arrive when we start on our journey by the path of devotion with Love for the Angel of the Way to find in the ecstasy of the divine delight of the All-Lover"s being the fulfilment of ours, its secure home and blissful abiding-place and the centre of its universal radiation.” The Synthesis of Yoga*
animal ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The animal is a living laboratory in which Nature has, it is said, worked out man. Man himself may well be a thinking and living laboratory in whom and with whose conscious co-operation she wills to work out the superman, the god. Or shall we not say, rather, to manifest God?” *The Life Divine
animates ::: 1. Gives life to; makes alive; breathes life into. 2. To move or stir to action; motivate.
annihilate ::: to reduce to utter ruin or non-existence, destroy utterly. annihilation, annihilation"s.
anniversary ::: the yearly recurrence of the date of a past event, esp. the celebration or commemoration of such a date.
annul ::: 1. To reduce to nothing; obliterate; annihilate. To put out of existence, extinguish. 2. To put an end or stop to (an action or state of things); to abolish, cancel, do away with. 3. To make void or null; abolish; cancel; invalidate; declare invalid. annuls, annulled, annulling, annulment.
anomalies ::: deviations from the common rule, type, arrangement, order, or form.
anomalous ::: deviating from or inconsistent with the common order, form, or rule; irregular; abnormal.
another ::: adj. 1. Being one more or more of the same; further; additional. 2. Very similar to; of the same kind or category as. 3. Different; distinct; of a different period, place, or kind. pron. **4. A person other than oneself or the one specified. 5. One more; an additional one. another"s**.
antagonism ("s)
antagonist ::: one who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another; opponent, adversary. antagonists.
anthem ::: a song, as of praise, devotion, patriotism or gladness.
anticipations ::: 1. Expectations or hopes. 2. Intuitions, foreknowledge, or prescience.
antinomy ::: opposition between one law, principle, rule, etc., and another.
antique ::: 1. Of or belonging to the past. 2. Dating from a period long ago; ancient.
antithesis ::: opposition; contrast.
anvil ::: a heavy iron block with a smooth face, frequently of steel, on which heated metals are hammered into desired shapes.
apathy ::: indifference; insensibility to passion or feeling.
ape ::: 1. Any of a group of anthropoid primates characterized by long arms, a broad chest, and the absence of a tail; an animal of the monkey tribe. 2. An imitator, a mimic. apelike.
aping ::: adj. 1. Imitating, mimicking. n. 2. Imitation, simulation, mimicry. apings.
apocalypse ::: 1. Any revelation or prophecy. 2. A prophetic revelation, esp. concerning a cataclysm in which the forces of good permanently triumph over the forces of evil.
appalled ::: filled or overcome with horror, consternation, or fear, resulting in the loss of courage in the face of something dreadful.
appeal ::: 1. An earnest request for aid, support, sympathy, mercy, etc.; entreaty; petition; plea. 2. An application or proceeding for review by a higher tribunal. 3. The power or ability to attract, interest; attraction. appealed, appealing, sense-appeal.
appear ::: 1. To come into sight; become visible; come into view, as from a place or state of concealment, or from a distance; esp. of angels, spirits, visions. 2. To come into existence; be created. 3. To be clear to the understanding. 4. To seem or look to be. appears, appeared, appearing.
appearance ::: 1. The act or fact of coming forward into view ; becoming visible. 2. The state, condition, manner, or style in which a person or object appears; outward look or aspect. 3. Outward show or seeming; semblance. appearances.
appease ::: 1. To bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe. 2. To satisfy, allay, or relieve.
apprentice ::: a learner; novice; tyro; one who is learning the rudiments; a trainee. apprenticeship.
approach ::: v. 1. To come near or nearer to; draw near. 2. To come near to a person: i.e. into personal relations; into his presence or audience; or fig. within the range of his notice or attention. 3. To come near in quality, character, time, or condition; to be nearly equal. approaches, approached, approaching.* *n. 4. Any means of access or way of passage, avenue. 5. The act of drawing near. approaches.**
approve ::: 1. To confirm or sanction formally; ratify. 2. To speak or think favourably of; pronounce or consider agreeable or good; judge favourably. approves, approved.
apron strings
apsaras ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The Apsaras are the most beautiful and romantic conception on the lesser plane of Hindu mythology. From the moment that they arose out of the waters of the milky Ocean, robed in ethereal raiment and heavenly adornment, waking melody from a million lyres, the beauty and light of them has transformed the world. They crowd in the sunbeams, they flash and gleam over heaven in the lightnings, they make the azure beauty of the sky; they are the light of sunrise and sunset and the haunting voices of forest and field. They dwell too in the life of the soul; for they are the ideal pursued by the poet through his lines, by the artist shaping his soul on his canvas, by the sculptor seeking a form in the marble; for the joy of their embrace the hero flings his life into the rushing torrent of battle; the sage, musing upon God, sees the shining of their limbs and falls from his white ideal. The delight of life, the beauty of things, the attraction of sensuous beauty, this is what the mystic and romantic side of the Hindu temperament strove to express in the Apsara. The original meaning is everywhere felt as a shining background, but most in the older allegories, especially the strange and romantic legend of Pururavas as we first have it in the Brahmanas and the Vishnoupurana.
apse ::: a usually semicircular or polygonal, often vaulted recess, especially the termination of the sanctuary end of a church.
arbiter ::: 1. One empowered to decide matters at issue; judge. 2. Having the sole or absolute power of judging or determining. arbiters.
arbitrary ::: 1. Based on or subject to individual will, judgment or preference: judgment without restriction; contingent solely upon one"s discretion. 2. Capricious; unreasonable; unsupported. 3. Derived from mere opinion or preference; capricious; uncertain. 4. Having unlimited power; uncontrolled or unrestricted by law; despotic; tyrannical.
arch ::: 1. An upwardly curved construction, for spanning an opening, consisting of a number of wedgelike stones, bricks, or the like, set with the narrower side toward the opening in such a way that forces on the arch are transmitted as vertical or oblique stresses on either side of the opening, either capable of bearing weight or merely ornamental; 2. Something bowed or curved; any bowlike part: the arch of the foot. 3. An arched roof, door; gateway; vault; fig. the heavens. arches.
arch- ::: a combining form that represents the outcome of archi- in words borrowed through Latin from Greek in the Old English period; it subsequently became a productive form added to nouns of any origin, which thus denote individuals or institutions directing or having authority over others of their class (archbishop; archdiocese; archpriest): principal. More recently, arch-1 has developed the senses "principal” (archenemy; archrival) or "prototypical” and thus exemplary or extreme (archconservative); nouns so formed are almost always pejorative. Arch-intelligence.
architectonic ::: metaph. Of the systematic arrangement of knowledge.
architect ::: the deviser, maker, or creator of anything; one who builds up something, as, men are the architects of their own fortunes. Architect, architects.
architecture ::: 1. The profession of designing buildings and other artificial constructions and environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect. 2. The character or style of building. 3. Construction or structure generally. architectures.
archivist ::: a person responsible for preserving, organizing, or servicing archival material.
archmason ::: fig. Master builder. Archmason, archmasons.
arc-lamps ::: general term for a class of lamps in which light is produced by a voltaic arc, a luminous arc between two electrodes typically made of tungsten or carbon and barely separated.
arcturus ::: a giant star in the constellation Boötes. It is the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere and the fourth brightest star in the sky, with an apparent magnitude of 0.00; sometimes referring to the Great Bear itself.
ardent ::: 1. Having, expressive of, or characterized by intense feeling; glowing with passion, animated by keen desire; intensely eager, zealous, fervent, fervid. 2. Burning, fiery, or hot. ardent-hued.
ardour ::: great warmth of feeling, passion or desire; zeal, fervour, eagerness, enthusiasm.
arduous ::: hard to accomplish or achieve; requiring strong effort; difficult, laborious, severe.
a religious official among the Romans, whose duty it was to predict future events and advise upon the course of public business, in accordance with omens derived from the flight, singing, and feeding of birds. Hence extended to: A soothsayer, diviner, or prophet, generally; one that foresees and foretells the future. (Sri Aurobindo employs the word as an adjective.) augured.
argument ::: 1. A fact or statement put forth as proof or evidence; a reason; persuasive discourse, debate. 2. A process of reasoning; series of reasons.
arise ::: 1. To get up from sleep or rest; to awaken; wake up. 2. To go up, come up, ascend on high, mount. Now only poet. **3. To come into being, action, or notice; originate; appear; spring up. 4. Of circumstances viewed as results: To spring, originate, or result from. 5. To rise from inaction, from the peaceful, quiet, or ordinary course of life. 6. To rise in violence or agitation, as the sea, the wind; to boil up as a fermenting fluid, the blood; so of the heart, wrath, etc. Now poet. 7. Of sounds: To come up aloud, or so as to be audible, to be heard aloud. arises, arising, arose, arisen. *(Sri Aurobindo also employs arisen as an adj.*)
aristocracy ::: the class to which a ruling body belongs, a patrician order; the collective body of those who form a privileged class; also used fig. of those who are superior.
armour ::: 1. Any covering worn as a defense against weapons, especially a metallic sheathing, suit of armour, mail. 2. Any quality, characteristic, situation, or thing that serves as protection. armours, armoured.* n. 1. Weapons. v. 2. Provides with weapons or whatever will add strength, force or security; supports; fortifies. *armed, arming.
arms ::: n. 1. Weapons. v. 2. Provides with weapons or whatever will add strength, force or security; supports; fortifies. armed, arming.
arouse ::: 1. To awaken from or as if from sleep or inactivity. 2. To stir up; excite 3. To stir to action or strong response; excite. aroused, arousing.
arraigned ::: called (an accused person) before a court to answer the charge made against him or her by indictment, information, or complaint, or brought before a court to answer to an indictment; accused, charged with fault.
arrange ::: 1. To put into a specific order or relation; dispose. 2. To settle the order, manner, and circumstantial relations of (a thing to be done); to prepare or plan beforehand. arranged, arranging, self-arranged.
arrogant ::: 1. Having or displaying a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance. 2. Marked by or arising from a feeling or assumption of one"s superiority toward others.
artificer ::: 1. One who is skilful or clever in devising ways of making things; inventor. 2. A skilful or artistic worker; craftsperson. artificers.
"Art is a living harmony and beauty that must be expressed in all the movements of existence. This manifestation of beauty and harmony is part of the Divine realisation upon earth, perhaps even its greatest part.” Questions and Answers, MCW Vol. 3.
artisan ::: one skilled in an applied art; craftsperson. artisans.
artist ::: 1. One who practises the creative arts; one who seeks to express the beautiful in visible form. 2. A follower of a manual art; an artificer, mechanic, craftsman, artisan. artists. (Sri Aurobindo often employs the word as an adj.)
art ::: v. archaic** A second person singular present indicative of be, now only poet., not in modern usage. All other references are to art as the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. Also, the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria. art"s, arts, art-parades.
ascension ::: the act or process of ascending; upward movement. flame-ascensions.
ascent ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The ascent or the upward movement takes place when there is a sufficient aspiration from the being, i.e., from the various mental, vital and physical planes.” *Letters on Yoga
ascetic ::: one who dedicates his or her life to a pursuit of contemplative ideals, whether by seclusion or by abstinence from creature comforts, and practices extreme self-denial, rigorous self-discipline or self-mortification. ascetic"s, ascetics.
ashes ::: 1. Bodily remains, especially after cremation or decay. 2. Fig. Ruins; esp. the residue of something destroyed; remains.
aside ::: 1. On or to one"s side; to or at a short distance apart; away from some position or direction. 2. To or toward the side. 3. Out of one"s thoughts or mind. 4. In reserve; in a separate place, as for safekeeping; apart; away.
as it would be if; as though. (Introducing a supposition, or way of conceiving some entity or situation, that is not to be taken literally, but yields some insight or convenience in metaphysics.)
aspect ::: 1. Appearance to the eye or mind; look. 2. Nature; quality, character. 3. A way in which a thing may be viewed or regarded; interpretation; view. 4. Part; feature; phase. aspects.
aspirant ::: n. **1. One who seeks with eagerness and steady purpose. adj. 2. Aspiring, striving for a higher position; mounting up, ascending. aspirants.**
aspiration ::: 1. A strong desire for high achievement. 2. A steadfast longing for something above oneself. **aspiration"s.
"Aspiration, call, prayer are forms of one and the same thing and are all effective; you can take the form that comes to you or is easiest to you.” Letters on Yoga
::: "Aspiration is to call the forces. When the forces have answered, there is a natural state of quiet receptivity concentrated but spontaneous.” Letters on Yoga
"Aspiration should be not a form of desire, but the feeling of an inner soul"s need, and a quiet settled will to turn towards the Divine and seek the Divine. It is certainly not easy to get rid of this mixture of desire entirely — not easy for anyone; but when one has the will to do it, this also can be effected by the help of the sustaining Force.” Letters on Yoga
aspire ::: to have a fixed desire, longing, or ambition for something at present above one; to seek to attain, yearn. aspires, aspired, aspiring.
"A spiritual knowledge, moved to arrive at the true Self in us, must reject, as the traditional way of knowledge rejects, all misleading appearances. It must discover that the body is not our self, our foundation of existence; it is a sensible form of the Infinite.” The Synthesis of Yoga
assail ::: 1. To attack vigorously or violently; assault. 2. To impinge upon; make an impact on; beset. 3. To take upon oneself a difficult challenge with the intention of mastering it. assailed, assailing.
assault ::: a sudden violent attack; invasion; onslaught. assaults, assaulting.
assayer"s stone
assemblage ::: a number of persons gathered together; a gathering, concourse. (Less formal than assembly.)
assembled ::: gathered together; brought together into one place, collected.
assent ::: 1. Agreement, as to a proposal; concurrence. 2. Acquiescence; compliance, concession. assents, assenting.
assessed ::: evaluated (a person or thing); estimated (the quality, value, or extent of), gauged or judged.
associates ::: partners, comrades, companions, colleagues.
assume ::: 1. To take upon oneself, to adopt an aspect, form, or attribute. 2. To take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities. 3. To take on as one"s own, to adopt. assumes, assumed, assuming.
assured ::: 1. Made certain; guaranteed. 2. Certified, verified. 3. Made secure or certain; confirmed. 4. Confident, characterized by certainty or security; satisfied as to the truth of something. assuring.
astonished ::: 1. Amazed, filled with sudden and overpowering surprise or wonder. 2. Filled with consternation; dismayed. astonishing.
astral ::: 1. Of, relating to, emanating from, or resembling the stars. 2. Of the spirit world [Greek astron star].
astray ::: 1. Away from the correct path or direction. 2. Away from the right or good, as in thought or behaviour; straying to or into wrong or evil ways.
astuce ::: astuteness, i.e. of keen penetration or discernment, sagacious.
aswapati ::: Sri Aurobindo: "Aswapati, the Lord of the Horse, her [Savitri"s] human father, is the Lord of Tapasya, the concentrated energy of spiritual endeavour that helps us to rise from the mortal to the immortal planes; . . . .” (From a letter written by Sri Aurobindo) Aswapati"s.
aswarm ::: filled, as by objects, organisms, etc. esp. in motion; teeming, swarming.
atavism ::: 1. The reappearance in an individual of characteristics of some remote ancestor that have been absent in intervening generations. 2. Reversion to an earlier type.
athlete ::: Sri Aurobindo employs the word as an adj. in the sense of athletic: Of the nature of, or befitting, one who is physically active, powerful, muscular, robust, agile.
athwart ::: 1. Across from side to side; crosswise or transversely; contrary to the proper or expected course; against; crosswise. 2. Of motion; from side to side.
atmosphere ::: 1. A surrounding or pervading mood, environment, or influence. 2. The air.
atom ::: 1. A unit of matter, the smallest unit of an element, having all the characteristics of that element and consisting of a dense, central, positively charged nucleus surrounded by a system of electrons. 2. The smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element. 3. An extremely small part, quantity, or amount. The smallest conceivable unit of an element or of anything. atom"s, atoms, atomic.
atoned ::: expiated, made amends for.
attached ::: joined; connected; bound.
attack ::: the act of setting upon with violent force.; launching a physical assault (against) attacks.
attaint ::: disgrace, corruption; taint; stain .
attend ::: to listen to, pay attention to, give heed to; direct one"s energies toward.
attraction
audition
auspice-hour ::: an auspice is any divine or prophetic token; a favourable sign or propitious circumstance, esp. an indication of a happy future. Sri Aurobindo combines the word ‘hour" with auspice to emphasize a special moment.
author ::: 1. An originator or creator, one who originates or gives existence to anything. 2. He who gives rise to or causes an action, event, circumstance, state, or condition of things. 3. The composer or writer of a treatise, play, poem, book, etc. authors.
authorises ::: gives permission for, formal approval to; sanctions or approves.
automaton ::: one whose actions are purely involuntary or mechanical; a robot.
autonomy ::: 1. Independence or freedom, as of the will or one"s actions. 2. Self-government. autonomies.
autumnal ::: of, belonging to or suggestive of, autumn.
autumn ::: the season of the year between summer and winter, lasting from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice and from September to December in the Northern Hemisphere; fall.
avatars ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The word Avatar means a descent; it is a coming down of the Divine below the line which divides the divine from the human world or status.” *Essays on the Gita
avenge ::: to inflict a punishment or penalty in return for; take vengeance on behalf of. avenges.
average ::: n. 1. A typical amount, rate, degree, etc.; norm. adj. 2. Typical; common; ordinary.
awakened ::: 1. Aroused from sleep, sloth, or inaction. 2. Made aware; cognizant; conscious. half-awakened.
awake ::: v. 1. To arouse from sleep or inactivity. 2. Fig. To rise from a state resembling sleep, such as death, indifference, inaction; to become active or vigilant. 3. To come or bring to an awareness, to become cognizant, to be fully conscious, to appreciate fully (often followed by to). awakes, awoke, awaking. *adj.* 4. Not asleep; conscious; vigilant, alert. half-awake.
aware ::: having knowledge; cognizant; conscious.
**"Aware of his occult omnipotent source,Allured by the omniscient Ecstasy,He felt the invasion and the nameless joy.”
awe ::: an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like.
awed ::: 1. inspired or influenced by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence; 2. Inspired with reverential wonder combined with an element of latent fear.
awful ::: 1. Inspiring fear; terrible, dreadful, appalling, awe-inspiring. 2. Extremely impressive. 3. Profoundly inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence.
axis ::: 1. The pivot on which any matter turns. 2. A straight line about which a body or geometric object rotates or may be conceived to rotate.
babble ::: 1. v. To utter sounds or words imperfectly, indistinctly, or without meaning. 2.* **n. *A murmuring sound or a confusion of sounds.
babbling ::: making a continuous, murmuring sound.
babel ::: "The reference is to the mythological story of the construction of the Tower of Babel, which appears to be an attempt to explain the diversity of human languages. According to Genesis, the Babylonians wanted to make a name for themselves by building a mighty city and tower ‘with its top in the heavens". God disrupted the work by so confusing the language of the workers that they could no longer understand one another. The tower was never completed and the people were dispersed over the face of the earth.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica) Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works Sri Aurobindo: "The legend of the Tower of Babel speaks of the diversity of tongues as a curse laid on the race; but whatever its disadvantages, and they tend more and more to be minimised by the growth of civilisation and increasing intercourse, it has been rather a blessing than a curse, a gift to mankind rather than a disability laid upon it. The purposeless exaggeration of anything is always an evil, and an excessive pullulation of varying tongues that serve no purpose in the expression of a real diversity of spirit and culture is certainly a stumbling-block rather than a help: but this excess, though it existed in the past, is hardly a possibility of the future. The tendency is rather in the opposite direction. In former times diversity of language helped to create a barrier to knowledge and sympathy, was often made the pretext even of an actual antipathy and tended to a too rigid division. The lack of sufficient interpenetration kept up both a passive want of understanding and a fruitful crop of active misunderstandings. But this was an inevitable evil of a particular stage of growth, an exaggeration of the necessity that then existed for the vigorous development of strongly individualised group-souls in the human race. These disadvantages have not yet been abolished, but with closer intercourse and the growing desire of men and nations for the knowledge of each other"s thought and spirit and personality, they have diminished and tend to diminish more and more and there is no reason why in the end they should not become inoperative.” The Human Cycle
background ::: n.** 1. The general scene or surface against which designs, patterns, or figures are represented or viewed. 2. Fig. The complex of physical, cultural, and psychological factors that serves as the environment of an event or experience; the set of conditions against which an occurrence is perceived. backgrounds. adj. 3.** Of, pertaining to, or serving as a background.
baffled ::: 1. Confused, bewildered, or perplexed. 2. Frustrated or confounded; thwarted. baffles, baffling.
balance ::: n. **1. A state of equilibrium or equipoise; mental, psychological or emotional. 2. A weighing device, especially one consisting of a rigid beam horizontally suspended by a low-friction support at its center, with identical weighing pans hung at either end, one of which holds an unknown weight while the effective weight in the other is increased by known amounts until the beam is level and motionless. 3. An undecided or uncertain state in which issues are unresolved. v. 4. To have an equality or equivalence in weight, parts, etc.; be in equilibrium. adj. 5. Being in harmonious or proper arrangement or adjustment, proportion. 6. Mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behaviour, judgement. balanced, balancing.**
balcony ::: a platform that projects from the wall of a building and is surrounded by a railing, balustrade, or parapet.
bales ::: large bundles of hay or goods (often compressed) bound by ropes or wires for storage or transportation.
balustrade ::: a rail and the row of balusters or posts that support it, as along the front of a gallery.
bank ::: 1. The slope of land adjoining a body of water, especially adjoining a river, lake, or channel. 2. A slope, as of a hill. 3. A long raised mass, esp. of earth. 4. A piled-up mass, as of snow or clouds. banks, cloud-bank.
bank ::: a business establishment in which money is kept for saving or commercial purposes or is invested, supplied for loans, or exchanged.
banner ::: 1. A piece of cloth bearing a motto or legend. 2. A placard carried in a demonstration.
banquet ::: a ceremonial meal; a feast; a lavish and sumptuous meal.
baptism ::: a ceremony, trial, or experience by which one is initiated, purified, or given a name.
barely ::: only just; scarcely; hardly.
bare ::: v. 1. To make bare; uncover or reveal. 2. Fig. To expose. bared, baring. adj. 3. Lacking clothing or covering; naked 4. Fig. Exposed to view; undisguised. 5. Just sufficient; mere. 6. Lacking embellishment or ornamentation; unembellished; simple; plain. 7. Unprotected; without defence. 8. Devoid of covering, a leafless trees. 9. Sheer, as bare cliffs. heaven-bare, bareness.
bargain ::: an agreement between parties fixing obligations, etc. that each promises to carry out.
barge ::: a large, open pleasure boat used for parties, pageants, or formal ceremonies.
barrage ::: an overwhelming quantity or explosion as of artillery fire, words, blows, or criticisms.
barrels ::: large cylindrical containers, usually made of staves bound together with hoops, with a flat top and bottom of equal diameter.
barren ::: 1. Unproductive of results or gains; unprofitable. 2. Lacking vegetation, especially useful vegetation. 3. Devoid of something specified.
barter ::: to trade goods or services without the exchange of money. bartered.
based ::: 1. Formed or established as a base. 2. Supported as a base. 3. Conceived as the fundamental principle or underlying concept.
basement ::: the substructure or foundation of a building usually below ground level.
base ::: n. 1. The fundamental principle or underlying concept of a system or theory; a basis, foundation. 2. A fundamental ingredient; a chief constituent. adj. 3. Having or showing a contemptible, mean-spirited, or selfish lack of human decency; morally low. base"s. baser.
basilicas ::: public buildings in ancient Rome having a central nave with an apse at one or both ends and two side aisles formed by rows of columns, which was used as an assembly hall – also Christian churches with a similar design.
bastioned ::: 1. Anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc. 2. A well-fortified position, a defensive stronghold.
battalion ::: 1. An army unit typically consisting of a headquarters and two or more companies, batteries, or similar subunits. 2. A large body of organized troops in battle gear. 3. A large indefinite number of persons or things.
battlefield ::: 1. The field or ground on which a battle is fought. 2. An area of contention, conflict, or hostile opposition. battlefields.
battle ::: n. 1. An encounter between opposing forces; armed fighting; combat. v. 3. To fight against. Also fig. 4. To contend, struggle against. 5. To work very hard or struggle; strive. battled.
battling ::: engaging in or as if in battle or conflict.
baying ::: 1. Uttering a deep and prolonged bark as a dog in pursuit. 2. The chorus of barking raised by hounds in immediate conflict with a hunted animal. bayings
bay ::: the position or stand of an animal or fugitive that is forced to turn and resist pursuers because it is no longer possible to flee. (preceded by at).
bazaar ::: a market consisting of a street lined with shops and stalls, especially one in the Orient.
beacon ::: 1. A source of guidance or inspiration. 2. A signalling or guiding device or warning signal as a light or signal fire.
beam ::: 1. A ray of light. 2. A ray or collection of parallel rays. 3. A column of light, a gleam, emanation. Also fig. **beams.**
bear ::: 1. To carry. Also fig. 2. To hold up, support. Also fig. 3. To have a tolerance for; endure something with tolerance and patience. 5. To possess, as a quality or characteristic; have in or on. 6. To tend in a course or direction; move; go. 7. To render; afford; give. 8. To produce by natural growth. bears, bore, borne bearing.
bearer ::: one who carries, supports, holds up or brings. torch-bearer, torch-bearers.
beating ::: n. 1. A throbbing or pulsation, as of the heart. beatings. adj. 2. Throbbings, pulsations.
beat ::: n. 1. A stroke or blow. 2. A regular sound or stroke. 3. The rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart. 4. A pulsating sound. 5. A forceful flapping of wings. beats, nerve-beat, hammer-beats, heart-beats, heart-beats", moment-beats, rhyme-beats. v. 6. To strike or pound with repeated blows. 7. To shape or break by repeated blows, as metal. 8. To sound in pulsations. 9. To throb rhythmically; pulsate, as the heart. 10. To flap, especially wings. 11. To strike with or as if with a series of violent blows, dash or pound repeatedly against, as waves, wind, etc. beats, beaten, beating. *adj. *sun-beat.
"Beauty is Ananda taking form — but the form need not be a physical shape. One speaks of a beautiful thought, a beautiful act, a beautiful soul. What we speak of as beauty is Ananda in manifestation; beyond manifestation beauty loses itself in Ananda or, you may say, beauty and Ananda become indistinguishably one.” The Future Poetry
"Beauty is not the same as Delight, but like love it is an expression, a form of Ananda, created by Ananda and composed of Ananda.” The Future Poetry
beauty ::: the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, colour, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else, (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest). Beauty, beauty"s, Beauty"s, beauty-drenched, earth-beauty"s.
beck ::: a summons or gesture of summoning or directing someone.
beckoned ::: invited or enticed; lured. beckons.
beckoning ::: signalling, summoning.
bed ::: 1. A piece or part forming a foundation or base; a stratum. 2. The grave. 3. A sleeping-place generally; any extemporized resting place. 4. A piece or area of ground in a garden or lawn in which plants are grown. beds.
bed-fellows ::: those who are closely associated or allied with one another.
bee-croon ::: the soft, soothing, low murmuring sound produced by bees.
beganst ::: a native English form of the verb, to begin, now only in formal and poetic usage.
behaviour ::: 1. Manner of behaving or conducting oneself. 2. The aggregate of the responses or reactions or movements made by an organism in any situation, or the manner in which a thing acts under such circumstances. behaviour"s.
being ::: 1. The state or quality of having existence. 2. The totality of all things that exist. 3. One"s basic or essential nature; self. 4. All the qualities constituting one that exists; the essence. 5. A person; human being. 6. The Divine, the Supreme; God. Being, being"s, Being"s, beings, Beings, beings", earth-being"s, earth-beings, fragment-being, non-being, non-being"s, Non-Being, Non-Being"s, world-being"s.
Sri Aurobindo: "Pure Being is the affirmation by the Unknowable of Itself as the free base of all cosmic existence.” *The Life Divine :::
"The Absolute manifests itself in two terms, a Being and a Becoming. The Being is the fundamental reality; the Becoming is an effectual reality: it is a dynamic power and result, a creative energy and working out of the Being, a constantly persistent yet mutable form, process, outcome of its immutable formless essence.” *The Life Divine
"What is original and eternal for ever in the Divine is the Being, what is developed in consciousness, conditions, forces, forms, etc., by the Divine Power is the Becoming. The eternal Divine is the Being; the universe in Time and all that is apparent in it is a Becoming.” Letters on Yoga
"Being and Becoming, One and Many are both true and are both the same thing: Being is one, Becomings are many; but this simply means that all Becomings are one Being who places Himself variously in the phenomenal movement of His consciousness.” The Upanishads :::
"Our whole apparent life has only a symbolic value & is good & necessary as a becoming; but all becoming has being for its goal & fulfilment & God is the only being.” *Essays Divine and Human
"Our being is a roughly constituted chaos into which we have to introduce the principle of a divine order.” The Synthesis of Yoga*
being, conscious ::: Sri Aurobindo: "We have to conceive one indivisible conscious being behind all our experiences. . . . That is our real self.” *The Life Divine
being, Master of ::: Sri Aurobindo: " Vamadeva goes on to say, "Let us give expression to this secret name of the clarity, — that is to say, let us bring out this Soma wine, this hidden delight of existence; let us hold it in this world-sacrifice by our surrenderings or submissions to Agni, the divine Will or Conscious-Power which is the Master of being.” The Secret of the Veda
being, triune ::: a being that is three in one; a trinity.
belied ::: shown to be false; contradicted; gave a false representation to; misrepresented.
belief ::: 1. Confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof. 2. Trust or confidence, faith. 3. Something believed; an opinion or conviction. beliefs.
Question: "Sweet Mother, l don"t understand very clearly the difference between faith, belief and confidence.”
Mother: "But Sri Aurobindo has given the full explanation here. If you don"t understand, then. . . He has written ‘Faith is a feeling in the whole being." The whole being, yes. Faith, that"s the whole being at once. He says that belief is something that occurs in the head, that is purely mental; and confidence is quite different. Confidence, one can have confidence in life, trust in the Divine, trust in others, trust in one"s own destiny, that is, one has the feeling that everything is going to help him, to do what he wants to do. Faith is a certitude without any proof. Words of the Mother, MCW Vol. 6.
believed in ::: was persuaded of the truth or existence of; had faith in the reliability, honesty, benevolence, etc. of.
belong ::: 1. To be a part of or adjunct. 2. To be the property, attribute, or possession of. belongs.
belongings ::: possessions; things owned, either tangible or intangible.
beloved ::: n. 1. A person who is dearly loved. beloved"s, Beloved, Beloved"s. *adj. *2. Dearly loved.
belt ::: 1. Any encircling or transverse band, strip, or stripe characteristically distinguished from the surface it crosses. 2. An elongated region having distinctive properties or characteristics and long in proportion to its breadth. 3. A zone or district.
bench ::: 1. A long seat usually made of wood, for two or more persons. 2. A seat occupied by a person in an official capacity, esp. a judge. 3. Such a seat as a symbol of the office and dignity of an individual judge or the judiciary.
bend ::: 1. To assume a curved, crooked, or angular form or direction, esp. to bend the body; stoop. 2. Fig. To bow, esp. in reverence. 3. To turn or incline in a particular direction; be directed. bends.
bending ::: pulling back the string of (a bow or the like) in preparation for shooting.
bent ::: personal inclination, propensity, tendency or aptitude.
benumbed ::: made (any part of the body) insensible, torpid, or powerless; made numb, deprived of sensation; stupefied or stunned, as by a blow or shock; now mostly used for the effects of cold.
bequeathed ::: disposed of (property, etc.) by last will; fig. handed down, passed on.
besetter ::: one who or that which besets.
besiege ::: 1. To surround with hostile forces. 2. To crowd around; hem in; crowd in upon; surround. besieged.
betimes ::: in good time; in a short time, soon.
betray ::: 1. To be false or disloyal to. 2. To lead astray; deceive. 3. To divulge, disclose in a breach of confidence, a secret. 4. To show signs of; reveal; indicate. betrays, betrayed, betraying, moon-betrayed.
bewilder ::: to confuse utterly; puzzle completely. bewildered.
beyond ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The language of the Upanishad makes it strikingly clear that it is no metaphysical abstraction, no void Silence, no indeterminate Absolute which is offered to the soul that aspires, but rather the absolute of all that is possessed by it here in the relative world of its sojourning. All here in the mental is a growing light, consciousness and life; all there in the supramental is an infinite life, light and consciousness. That which is here shadowed, is there found; the incomplete here is there the fulfilled. The Beyond is not an annullation, but a transfiguration of all that we are here in our world of forms; it is sovran Mind of this mind, secret Life of this life, the absolute Sense which supports and justifies our limited senses.” The Upanishads *
bid ::: 1. To invite to attend; summon. 2. To issue a command to; direct. bids.
bind ::: 1. To restrain or confine with or as if with ties. 2. To place (someone) under obligation; oblige. 3. To fasten together. Also fig. **binds, bound, binding.**
binding posts ::: stakes, stout poles, columns, or the like, that are set upright in or on the ground; (with prefixed word indicating special purpose).
bindst ::: a native English form of the verb, to bind, now only in formal and poetic usage.
biography ::: an account of a person"s life written, composed, or produced by another.
bird ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The Bird in the Veda is the symbol, very frequently, of the soul liberated and upsoaring, at other times of energies so liberated and upsoaring, winging upwards towards the heights of our being, winging widely with a free flight, no longer involved in the ordinary limited movement or labouring gallop of the Life-energy, the Horse, Ashwa.” *The Secret of the Veda
*bird, white-fire dragon-bird.
"Birth is an assumption of a body by the spirit, death is the casting off [of] the body; there is nothing original in this birth, nothing final in this death. Before birth we were; after death we shall be. Nor are our birth and death a single episode without continuous meaning or sequel; it is one episode out of many, scenes of our drama of existence with its denouement far away in time.” Essays Divine and Human*
birthright ::: a right, possession, or privilege that is one"s due by birth.
bit ::: cut into with or as with a sharp instrument or weapon. Also fig.
bits ::: small portions, pieces or amounts produced by cutting, or breaking; fragments.
bitter ::: 1. Having or being a taste that is sharp, acrid, and unpleasant. 2. Difficult or distasteful to accept, admit; bear or endure. 3. Proceeding from or exhibiting strong animosity. 4. Causing a sharply unpleasant, painful, or stinging sensation; harsh; severe. bitterness.
bizarre ::: conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual in style or appearance; strange.
bizarrerie ::: strangeness or grotesqueness, especially strange or unconventional behaviour.
blade ::: the flat cutting part of a sharpened weapon or tool. blade"s.
blamed ::: found fault with; censured; held responsible.
blank ::: n. 1. Fig. Any void space. blanks. adj. 2. Empty, without contents, void, bare. 3. Devoid of activity, interest, or distinctive character; empty. 4. Mere, bare, simple. 5. Lacking expression; expressionless, showing no interest or emotion, vacant. 6. Absolute; complete. blankness.
blaspheme ::: to speak in an irreverent, contemptuous or disrespectful manner; curse; (esp. God, a divine being or sacred things).
blaze ::: n. 1. A brilliant burst of fire, a bright glowing flame. 2. A brilliant, striking display; a brilliant light; resplendent with bright colour. 3. A steady, clear light. 4. Fig. An intense outburst of passion, etc. ::: sun-blaze. v. 5. blazed.
blazoned ::: proclaimed loudly or displayed ostentatiously or conspicuously.
blazon ::: the description or representation of a coat of arms or banner bearing the symbol of a coat of arms.
bless ::: 1. To make holy; sanctify. 2. To invoke or bestow divine favour upon.
blessing ::: 1. Something promoting or contributing to happiness, well-being, or prosperity; a boon. 2. A ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection, grace, etc.
blind ::: adj. 1. Unable to see; lacking the sense of sight; sightless. Also fig. 2. Unwilling or unable to perceive or understand. 3. Lacking all consciousness or awareness. 4. Not having or based on reason or intelligence; absolute and unquestioning. 5. Not characterized or determined by reason or control. 6. Purposeless; fortuitous, random. 7. Undiscriminating; heedless; reckless. 8. Enveloped in darkness; dark, dim, obscure. 9. Dense enough to form a screen. 10. Covered or concealed from sight; hidden from immediate view. 11. Having no openings or passages for light; (a window or door) walled up. blindest, half-blind. v. 12. To deprive of sight permanently or temporarily. 13. To make sightless momentarily; dazzle. blinded.* n. 14. A blind person, esp. as pl., those who are blind. 15. Fig.* Any thing or action intended to conceal one"s real intention; a pretence, a pretext; subterfuge.
blind alley ::: 1. A road, alley, etc. that is open only at one end. 2. A position or situation offering no hope of progress or improvement. 3. A situation in which no further progress can be made.
blinded ::: 1. Sightless; deprived of sight or withheld the light from. 2. Fig. Unable or unwilling to perceive or understand, lacking in perception or foresight; deprived or destitute of spiritual light or guidance. thought-blinded.
blindfold ::: fig. With the awareness or clear thinking impaired, the mind blinded and without perception.
blindly ::: 1. Without seeing or looking or without preparation or reflection. 2. Without understanding, reservation, or objection; unthinkingly.
blindness ::: 1. A lack or impairment of vision. 2. *Fig.* Lack of vision or awareness.
blinkered ::: subjective and limited, as in viewpoint or perception.
blinkers ::: leather side pieces attached to a horse"s bridle to prevent sideways vision.
blink ::: n. **1. A glance, often with half-shut eyes; a wink. v. 2. To close and open one or both of the eyes rapidly; shut the eyelids momentarily and involuntarily; to wink for an instant. 3. To shut the eyes to; to evade, shirk, pass by, ignore. blinks, blinked.**
bliss ::: perfect happiness; serene joy or ecstasy. (See delight for Sri Aurobindo"s definitions.) **self-bliss, World-Bliss.
blithe ::: joyous, merry, or gay in disposition; glad; cheerful.
blockade ::: 1. The isolating, closing off, or surrounding of a place. 2. Any obstruction of passage or progress.
block ::: n. 1. A solid piece of a hard substance, such as wood, stone, etc. having one or more flat sides. Also fig. 2. Something that obstructs; an obstacle. blocks. *v. 3. To impede, retard, prevent or obstruct the progress or achievement of (someone or something). Also fig.*
bloom ::: n. **1. The flower of a plant. 2. Fig. A condition or time of vigour, freshness, and beauty; prime. 3. Fig. Glowing charm; delicate beauty. blooms. v. 4. To bear flowers; to blossom. Also fig. 5. To be in a healthy, glowing, or flourishing condition. 6. To flourish or grow. 7. To cause to flourish or grow; to flourish. Chiefly fig. blooms, bloomed.**
blow ::: 1. A sudden, hard stroke with a hand, fist, or weapon; a stroke. 2. A sudden attack or drastic action. 3. Fig. A sudden shock, calamity, severe disaster experienced by someone. blows.
blundered ::: moved or acted blindly, stupidly, or without direction or steady guidance.
board ::: a sheet of wood, cardboard, paper, or other material on which some games are played.
bodied ::: v. 1. Furnished or provided with a body; embodied. 2. Gave shape to, gave bodily form to, exhibited in outward reality. 3. Represented; symbolized, typified. adj. 4. Possessing or existing in bodily form, endowed with material form. half-bodied, million-bodied, three-bodied, two-bodied.
bodily ::: 1. Physical as opposed to mental or spiritual. 2. Of, relating to, or belonging to the body or the physical nature of man.
body ::: 1. The entire material or physical structure of an organism, especially of a human or animal as differentiated from the soul. 2. The entire physical structure of a human being. 3. A mass of matter that is distinct from other masses. 4. Substance. 5. An agent or entity. 6. The mass of a thing. 7. A mass of matter that is distinct from other masses. 8. The largest or main part of anything; the foundation; central part. body"s, bodies.
"Body is the outward sign and lowest basis of the apparent division which Nature plunging into ignorance and self-nescience makes the starting-point for the recovery of unity by the individual soul, unity even in the midst of the most exaggerated forms of her multiple consciousness.” The Life Divine
body-slave ::: a servant reserved for personal attendance or use.
bog ::: wet, spongy ground consisting of decomposing vegetation.
boldness or daring without regard for conventional thought or other restrictions.
bond ::: 1. Something, such as a fetter, cord, or band, that binds, ties, or fastens things together. Also fig. 2. A duty, promise, or other obligation by which one is bound. 3. Something that binds one to a certain circumstance or line of behaviour. 4. A uniting force or tie; a link. 5. A binding agreement; a covenant. bonds.
bondage ::: 1. The state of one who is bound as a slave or serf. 2. A state of subjection to a force, power, or influence.
bondslave ::: a person in a state of slavery; one whose person and liberty are subjected to the authority of a master. bondslaves.
boon ::: 1. A blessing; something to be thankful for. 2. A timely blessing or benefit received in response to a request or prayer. boons.
booths ::: partly enclosed compartments or partitioned areas.
bordering ::: lying along or adjacent to the edge or border of something; adjoining.
borderland ::: an indeterminate region esp. the area between two worlds.
border ::: n. 1. A part that forms the outer edge of something. 2. The line or frontier area separating political divisions or geographic regions; a boundary. 3. A strip of ground, as that at the edge of a garden or walk, an edging. borders. v. 4. To form the boundary of; be contiguous to. fig. To confine. 5. To lie adjacent to another. bordered.
borrowed light ::: light reflected and falling on something else. Also fig.
borrower ::: one who receives something or appropriates it from another source.
bosom ::: 1. The breast. 2. Something likened to the human breast, such as the bosom of the earth, the sea. 2. The breast, conceived of as the centre of feelings or emotions. 3. Centre of; heart of. bosom"s, bosoms, bosomed, white-bosomed.
bough ::: a main branch on a tree. boughs.
boulder ::: a detached and rounded or worn stone, esp. a large one.
bound and –bound ::: 1. Pp. and pt. of bind. *adj. 2. Being under a legal or moral obligation. 3. Circumscribed; kept within bounds. * close-bound, death-bound, earth-bound, fate-bound, form-bound, heart-bound, self-bound, sleep-bound, steel-bound, stone-bound, time-bound, trance-bound.
bound ::: going or intending to go towards; on the way to. heaven-bound.
bound ::: n. 1. A boundary; a limit. bounds, earth-bounds. *v. *2. To constitute the limit of; contain; enclose. bounds.
bourne ::: 1. A boundary; a limit. 2. A destination; a goal. Also fig. and poetic.
bow ::: a weapon consisting of a curved, flexible strip of material, especially wood, strung taut from end to end and used to launch arrows.
bow ::: to bend (the head, knee, or body) to express greeting, consent, courtesy, acknowledgement, submission, or veneration. bows, bowed.
bow-twang (‘s) ::: the resonant sound produced when a tense string is sharply plucked or suddenly released.
"Brahma is the Eternal"s Personality of Existence; from him all is created, by his presence, by his power, by his impulse.” Essays Human and Divine
brahma ("s) ::: "Brahma is the nominative; the uninflected form of the word is brahman; it differs from brahman ‘the Eternal" only in gender.” *Glossary of Terms in Sri Aurobindo"s Writings
breadth ::: 1. The measure or the second largest dimension of a plane or solid figure; width. 2. Freedom from narrowness or restraint; liberality. 3. Tolerance; broadmindedness. breadths.
breakers ::: 1. Those who break down barriers, etc. 2. Waves that crest and break on the shore or coast. breakers".
breaking ::: 1. Smashing, splitting, or dividing into parts violently; reducing to pieces or fragments. 2. Dawning upon; coming upon. 3. An opening made by breaking out from. breakings.
breaking-point ::: the point at which a condition or situation becomes critical.
break in or into ::: to enter with force upon; force one"s way in.
breaks out or from ::: bursts or springs out from restraint, confinement, or concealment. Said of persons and things material, also of fire, light, etc.
breaks through ::: makes a sudden, quick advance, as through an obstruction.
break ::: v. 1. To destroy by or as if by shattering or crushing. 2. To force or make a way through (a barrier, etc.). 3. To vary or disrupt the uniformity or continuity of. 4. To overcome or put an end to. 5. To destroy or interrupt a regularity, uniformity, continuity, or arrangement of; interrupt. 6. To intrude upon; interrupt a conversation, etc. 7. To discontinue or sever an association, an agreement, or a relationship. **8. To overcome or wear down the spirit, strength, or resistance of. 9. (usually followed by in, into or out). 10. To filter or penetrate as sunlight into a room. 11. To come forth suddenly. 12. To utter suddenly; to express or start to express an emotion, mood, etc. 13. Said of waves, etc. when they dash against an obstacle, or topple over and become surf or broken water in the shallows. 14. To part the surface of water, as a ship or a jumping fish. breaks, broke, broken, breaking.* *n. 15.** An interruption or a disruption in continuity or regularity.
breast ::: 1. Each of two milk-secreting glandular organs on the chest of a woman; the human mammary gland. 2. The front of the body from the neck to the abdomen; chest. 3. Fig. The seat of the affection and emotion. 4. Fig. A source of nourishment. 5. Something likened to the human breast, as a surface, etc. breasts, breasts".
"But great art is not satisfied with representing the intellectual truth of things, which is always their superficial or exterior truth; it seeks for a deeper and original truth which escapes the eye of the mere sense or the mere reason, the soul in them, the unseen reality which is not that of their form and process but of their spirit.” The Human Cycle etc.
clauses, items, points, or particulars in a contract, treaty, or other formal agreement; conditions or stipulations in a contract.
"For each birth is a new start; it develops indeed from the past, but is not its mechanical continuation: rebirth is not a constant reiteration but a progression, it is the machinery of an evolutionary process.” The Life Divine
"Here we live in an organisation of mortal consciousness which takes the form of a transient world; there we are liberated into the harmonies of an infinite self-seeing which knows all world in the light of the eternal and immortal. The Beyond is our reality; that is our plenitude; that is the absolute satisfaction of our self-existence. It is immortality and it is ‘That Delight".” The Upanishads *beyond
"High beyond the Intelligence is the Great Self, beyond the Great Self is the Unmanifest, beyond the Unmanifest is the Conscious Being. There is nothing beyond the Being, — that is the extreme ultimate, that the supreme goal.” — Katha Upanishad. (4) (Sri Aurobindo"s translation) The Life Divine
http://savitri.in/books/narad-richard-eggenberger/lexicon-of-an-infinite-mind
**"I certainly won"t have ‘attracted" [in place of ‘allured"] — there is an enormous difference between the force of the two words and merely ‘attracted by the Ecstasy" would take away all my ecstasy in the line — nothing so tepid can be admitted. Neither do I want ‘thrill" [in place of ‘joy"] which gives a false colour — precisely it would mean that the ecstasy was already touching him with its intensity which is far from my intention.Your statement that ‘joy" is just another word for ‘ecstasy" is surprising. ‘Comfort", ‘pleasure", ‘joy", ‘bliss", ‘rapture", ‘ecstasy" would then be all equal and exactly synonymous terms and all distinction of shades and colours of words would disappear from literature. As well say that ‘flashlight" is just another word for ‘lightning" — or that glow, gleam, glitter, sheen, blaze are all equivalents which can be employed indifferently in the same place. One can feel allured to the supreme omniscient Ecstasy and feel a nameless joy touching one without that Joy becoming itself the supreme Ecstasy. I see no loss of expressiveness by the joy coming in as a vague nameless hint of the immeasurable superior Ecstasy.” Letters on Savitri*
"If birth is a becoming, death also is a becoming, not by any means a cessation. The body is abandoned, but the soul goes on its way, . . . .” Essays on the Gita
"I have said that the Avatar is one who comes to open the Way for humanity to a higher consciousness —. . . .” Letters on Yoga
"I may say that the opening upwards, the ascent into the Light and the subsequent descent into the ordinary consciousness and normal human life is very common as the first decisive experience in the practice of yoga and may very well happen even without the practice of yoga in those who are destined for the spiritual change, especially if there is a dissatisfaction somewhere with the ordinary life and a seeking for something more, greater or better.” Letters on Yoga*
" . . . insincerity is always an open door for the adversary. That means there is some secret sympathy with what is perverse. And that is what is serious.” Questions and Answers 1957-58, MCW Vol. 9.
inspiring mingled reverence and admiration; impressing the emotions or imagination as magnificent; majestic, stately, sublime, solemnly grand; venerable, revered; of supreme dignity.
". . . in the Avatar there is the special manifestation, the divine birth from above, the eternal and universal Godhead descended into a form of individual humanity, âtmânam srjâmi, and conscious not only behind the veil but in the outward nature.” Essays on the Gita
"In the subconscient knowledge or consciousness is involved in action, for action is the essence of Life.” The Life Divine
"It is a call of the being for higher things — for the Divine, for all that belongs to the higher or Divine Consciousness.” Guidance
". . . [man"s] nature calls for a human intermediary so that he may feel the Divine in something entirely close to his own humanity and sensible in a human influence and example. This call is satisfied by the Divine manifest in a human appearance, the Incarnation, the Avatar. . . .” The Synthesis of Yoga
one who is versed in or practices alchemy. Pertaining to one who studies or practises alchemy. alchemist (employed as an adj. by Sri Aurobindo).
positions or postures of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion.
"Pulling comes usually from a desire to get things for oneself — in aspiration there is a self-giving for the higher consciousness to descend and take possession — the more intense the call the greater the self-giving.” Letters on Yoga
regards as resulting from a specified cause; considers as caused by something or someone. attributing.
*Sri Aurobindo: "Action is the first power of life. Nature begins with force and its works which, once conscious in man, become will and its achievements; therefore it is that by turning his action Godwards the life of man best and most surely begins to become divine.” The Synthesis of Yoga
*(Sri Aurobindo: "And finally all is lifted up and taken into the supermind and made a part of the infinitely luminous consciousness, knowledge and experience of the supramental being, the Vijnana Purusha.” The Synthesis of Yoga*) ::: Angel of the House. The guardian spirit of the home.
*Sri Aurobindo: "Aspiration is a call to the Divine.” Letters on Yoga*
Sri Aurobindo: "Atheism is the shadow or dark side of the highest perception of God.” *Essays Divine and Human
Sri Aurobindo: "Beauty is the special divine Manifestation in the physical as Truth is in the Mind, Love in the heart, Power in the vital.” *The Future Poetry
Sri Aurobindo: "Birth is the first spiritual mystery of the physical universe, death is the second which gives its double point of perplexity to the mystery of birth; for life, which would otherwise be a self-evident fact of existence, becomes itself a mystery by virtue of these two which seem to be its beginning and its end and yet in a thousand ways betray themselves as neither of these things, but rather intermediate stages in an occult processus of life.” *The Life Divine
Sri Aurobindo: "Brahma is the Power of the Divine that stands behind formation and the creation.” Letters on Yoga
Sri Aurobindo: "By aesthesis is meant a reaction of the consciousness, mental and vital and even bodily, which receives a certain element in things, something that can be called their taste, Rasa, which, passing through the mind or sense or both, awakes a vital enjoyment of the taste, Bhoga, and this can again awaken us, awaken even the soul in us to something yet deeper and more fundamental than mere pleasure and enjoyment, to some form of the spirit"s delight of existence, Ananda.” *Letters on Savitri
Sri Aurobindo: ". . . for each individual is in himself the Eternal who has assumed name and form and supports through him the experiences of life turning on an ever-circling wheel of birth in the manifestation. The wheel is kept in motion by the desire of the individual, which becomes the effective cause of rebirth and by the mind"s turning away from the knowledge of the eternal self to the preoccupations of the temporal becoming.” The Life Divine
*Sri Aurobindo: "For from the divine Bliss, the original Delight of existence, the Lord of Immortality comes pouring the wine of that Bliss, the mystic Soma, into these jars of mentalised living matter; eternal and beautiful, he enters into these sheaths of substance for the integral transformation of the being and nature.” The Life Divine
Sri Aurobindo: "In the very atom there is a subconscious will and desire which must also be present in all atomic aggregates because they are present in the Force which constitutes the atom.” *Essays in Philosophy and Yoga
Sri Aurobindo: "It might be said again that, even so, in Sachchidananda itself at least, above all worlds of manifestation, there could be nothing but the self-awareness of pure existence and consciousness and a pure delight of existence. Or, indeed, this triune being itself might well be only a trinity of original spiritual self-determinations of the Infinite; these too, like all determinations, would cease to exist in the ineffable Absolute. But our position is that these must be inherent truths of the supreme being; their utmost reality must be pre-existent in the Absolute even if they are ineffably other there than what they are in the spiritual mind"s highest possible experience. The Absolute is not a mystery of infinite blankness nor a supreme sum of negations; nothing can manifest that is not justified by some self-power of the original and omnipresent Reality.” The Life Divine
Sri Aurobindo: "Matter, body is only a massed motion of force of conscious being employed as a starting-point for the variable relations of consciousness working through its power of sense.” *Essays on the Gita
Sri Aurobindo: ” See God everywhere and be not frightened by masks. Believe that all falsehood is truth in the making or truth in the breaking, all failure an effectuality concealed, all weakness strength hiding itself from its own vision, all pain a secret & violent ecstasy. If thou believest firmly & unweariedly, in the end thou wilt see & experience the All-true, Almighty & All-blissful.” Essays Divine and Human*
Sri Aurobindo: "This truth of Karma has been always recognised in the East in one form or else in another; but to the Buddhists belongs the credit of having given to it the clearest and fullest universal enunciation and the most insistent importance. In the West too the idea has constantly recurred, but in external, in fragmentary glimpses, as the recognition of a pragmatic truth of experience, and mostly as an ordered ethical law or fatality set over against the self-will and strength of man: but it was clouded over by other ideas inconsistent with any reign of law, vague ideas of some superior caprice or of some divine jealousy, — that was a notion of the Greeks, — a blind Fate or inscrutable Necessity, Ananke, or, later, the mysterious ways of an arbitrary, though no doubt an all-wise Providence.” Essays in Philosophy and Yoga *Ananke"s.
Sri Aurobindo: "Very usually, altruism is only the sublimest form of selfishness.” *Essays Divine and Human
Sri Aurobindo: "We mean by the Absolute something greater than ourselves, greater than the cosmos which we live in, the supreme reality of that transcendent Being which we call God, something without which all that we see or are conscious of as existing, could not have been, could not for a moment remain in existence. Indian thought calls it Brahman, European thought the Absolute because it is a self-existent which is absolved of all bondage to relativities . . . The Absolute is for us the Ineffable.” *The Life Divine
Sri Aurobindo: "What the "void" feels as a clutch is felt by the Mother only as a reminding finger laid on her cheek. It is one advantage of the expression ‘as if" that it leaves the field open for such variation. It is intended to suggest without saying it that behind the sombre void is the face of a mother. The two other ‘as if"s have the same motive and I do not find them jarring upon me. The second is at a sufficient distance from the first and it is not obtrusive enough to prejudice the third which more nearly follows. . . .” Letters on Savitri
*Sri Aurobindo: "When there is some lowering or diminution of the consciousness or some impairing of it at one place or another, the Adversary — or the Censor — who is always on the watch presses with all his might wherever there is a weak point lying covered from your own view, and suddenly a wrong movement leaps up with unexpected force. Become conscious and cast out the possibility of its renewal, that is all that is to be done.” Letters on Yoga
Sri Aurobindo: "Yes: the purpose is to create a large luminous trailing repetitive movement like the flight of the Bird with its dragon tail of white fire.” *Letters on Savitri
Sri Aurobindo: "Yet all the time the universal forces are pouring into him without his knowing it. He is aware only of thoughts, feelings, etc., that rise to the surface and these he takes for his own. Really they come from outside in mind waves, vital waves, waves of feeling and sensation, etc., which take particular form in him and rise to the surface after they have got inside. But they do not get into his body at once. He carries about with him an environmental consciousness (called by the Theosophists the Aura) into which they first enter. If you can become conscious of this environmental self of yours, then you can catch the thought, passion, suggestion or force of illness and prevent it from entering into you. If things in you are thrown out, they often do not go altogether but take refuge in this environmental atmosphere and from there they try to get in again. Or they go to a distance outside but linger on the outskirts or even perhaps far off, waiting till they get an opportunity to attempt entrance.” *Letters on Yoga
"Stability and movement, we must remember, are only our psychological representations of the Absolute, even as are oneness and multitude. The Absolute is beyond stability and movement as it is beyond unity and multiplicity. But it takes its eternal poise in the one and the stable and whirls round itself infinitely, inconceivably, securely in the moving and multitudinous.” The Life Divine
Strength is all right for the strong — but aspiration and the Grace answering to it are not altogether myths; they are great realities of the spiritual life.” Letters on Yoga*
taking heed; giving close and thoughtful attention; carefully observant.
(Technically)** **Any of various birds of the family Paradisaeidae, native to New Guinea and adjacent islands, usually having brilliant plumage and long tail feathers in the male.
"The Absolute is beyond personality and beyond impersonality, and yet it is both the Impersonal and the supreme Person and all persons. The Absolute is beyond the distinction of unity and multiplicity, and yet it is the One and the innumerable Many in all the universes.” The Synthesis of Yoga
"The Absolute is in itself indefinable by reason, ineffable to the speech; it has to be approached through experience.” The Life Divine*
". . . the Absolute is not a void or negation. It is all that is here in Time and beyond Time.” The Upanishads*
"The Adversary will disappear only when he is no longer necessary in the world. And we know very well that he is necessary, as the touch-stone for gold: to know if it is pure. But if one is really sincere, the Adversary can"t even approach him any longer; and he doesn"t try it, because that would be courting his own destruction.” Questions and Answers 1955, MCW Vol. 7.
"The animal is a vital and sensational being; . . . .” The Synthesis of Yoga*Animal, animal"s, animals, animal-soul, half-animal.
The Apsaras then are the divine Hetairae of Paradise, beautiful singers and actresses whose beauty and art relieve the arduous and world-long struggle of the Gods against the forces that tend towards disruption by the Titans who would restore Matter to its original atomic condition or of dissolution by the sages and hermits who would make phenomena dissolve prematurely into the One who is above phenomena. They rose from the Ocean, says Valmiki, seeking who should choose them as brides, but neither the Gods nor the Titans accepted them, therefore are they said to be common or universal. The Harmony of Virtue
"The Avatar comes as the manifestation of the divine nature in the human nature, the apocalypse of its Christhood, Krishnahood, Buddhahood, in order that the human nature may by moulding its principle, thought, feeling, action, being on the lines of that Christhood, Krishnahood, Buddhahood transfigure itself into the divine. The law, the Dharma which the Avatar establishes is given for that purpose chiefly; the Christ, Krishna, Buddha stands in its centre as the gate, he makes through himself the way men shall follow.” Essays on the Gita
"The Avatar does not come as a thaumaturgic magician, but as the divine leader of humanity and the exemplar of a divine humanity. Even human sorrow and physical suffering he must assume and use so as to show, first, how that suffering may be a means of redemption, — as did Christ, — secondly, to show how, having been assumed by the divine soul in the human nature, it can also be overcome in the same nature, — as did Buddha. The rationalist who would have cried to Christ, ‘If thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross," or points out sagely that the Avatar was not divine because he died and died too by disease, — as a dog dieth, — knows not what he is saying: for he has missed the root of the whole matter. Even, the Avatar of sorrow and suffering must come before there can be the Avatar of divine joy; the human limitation must be assumed in order to show how it can be overcome; and the way and the extent of the overcoming, whether internal only or external also, depends upon the stage of the human advance; it must not be done by a non-human miracle.” Essays on the Gita
"The body is not only the necessary outer instrument of the physical part of action, but for the purposes of this life a base or pedestal also for all inner action.” The Synthesis of Yoga
::: "The Conscious Being, Purusha, is the Self as originator, witness, support and lord and enjoyer of the forms and works of Nature.” *The Life Divine
"The Infinite creates and is Brahma.” The Renaissance in India ::: "Brahman is not only the cause and supporting power and indwelling principle of the universe, he is also its material and its sole material. Matter also is Brahman and it is nothing other than or different from Brahman.” The Life Divine*
"The inner Divinity is the eternal Avatar in man; the human manifestation is its sign and development in the external world.” Essays on the Gita
The Mother : "An Avatar is an emanation of the Supreme Lord who assumes a human body on earth.” Works of the Mother, "On Thoughts and Aphorisms” Vol.10
The Mother: "In the physical world, of all things it is beauty that expresses best the Divine. the physical world is the world of form and the perfection of form is beauty. Beauty interprets, expresses, manifests the Eternal. Its role is to put all manifested nature in contact with the Eternal through the perfection of form, through harmony and a sense of the ideal which uplifts and leads towards something higher. On Education, MCW Vol. 12.
*The Mother: "To conquer the Adversary is not a small thing. One must have a greater power than his to vanquish him. But one can liberate oneself totally from his influence. And from the minute one is completely free from his influence, one"s self-giving can be total. And with the self-giving comes joy, long before the Adversary is truly vanquished and disappears.”
::: The Mother: "True art means the expression of beauty in the material world. In a world wholly converted, that is to say, expressing integrally the divine reality, art must serve as the revealer and teacher of this divine beauty in life.” On Education, MCW Vol. 12.
". . . the nervous envelope, the aura.” Letters on Yoga*
"There is no need of words in aspiration. It can be expressed or unexpressed in words.” Letters on Yoga
the strings on an apron, used for securing it around one"s person.tie to someone"s apron strings. To make or be dependent on or dominated by someone.
"The surface mental individuality is, in consequence, always ego-centric; even its altruism is an enlargement of its ego: . . . . ” The Life Divine*
"This body of ours is a symbol of our real being. . . .” Letters on Yoga ::: ". . . the body itself is only a constant act of consciousness of the spirit.” Essays on the Gita
"This universal aesthesis of beauty and delight does not ignore or fail to understand the differences and oppositions, the gradations, the harmony and disharmony obvious to the ordinary consciousness; but, first of all, it draws a Rasa from them and with that comes the enjoyment, Bhoga. and the touch or the mass of the Ananda. It sees that all things have their meaning, their value, their deeper or total significance which the mind does not see, for the mind is only concerned with a surface vision, surface contacts and its own surface reactions. When something expresses perfectly what it was meant to express, the completeness brings with it a sense of harmony, a sense of artistic perfection; it gives even to what is discordant a place in a system of cosmic concordances and the discords become part of a vast harmony, and wherever there is harmony, there is a sense of beauty. ” Letters on Savitri*
those who assist, guide, wait upon, accompany, give service or follow another to contribute to the fulfilment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose; subordinate companions.
to draw by appealing by the emotions or senses, by stimulating interest, or by exciting admiration; allure; invite. attracts, attracted, attracting.
"We are not the body, but the body is still something of ourselves. With realisation the erroneous identification ceases — in certain experiences the existence of the body is not felt at all. In the full realisation the body is within us, not we in it, it is an instrumental formation in our wider being, — our consciousness exceeds but also pervades it, — it can be dissolved without our ceasing to be the self.” Letters on Yoga
"We arrive then necessarily at this conclusion that human birth is a term at which the soul must arrive in a long succession of rebirths and that it has had for its previous and preparatory terms in the succession the lower forms of life upon earth; it has passed through the whole chain that life has strung in the physical universe on the basis of the body, the physical principle.” The Life Divine
"We imagine that the soul is in the body, almost a result and derivation from the body; even we so feel it: but it is the body that is in the soul and a result and derivation from the soul.” Essays on the Gita
KEYS (10k)
606 Sri Aurobindo
82 Saint Thomas Aquinas
76 Sri Ramakrishna
45 The Mother
31 Sri Ramana Maharshi
17 Anonymous
15 Ogawa
14 Jalaluddin Rumi
14 Matsuo Basho
10 Jalaluddin Rumi
9 Sri Ramana Maharshi
7 Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
7 Saint Augustine of Hippo
6 Marcus Aurelius
6 Swami Vivekananda
5 Sri Sarada Devi
5 Hermes
5 Georg C Lichtenberg
5 Friedrich Nietzsche
5 Kobayashi Issa
5 Epictetus
4 Swami Saradananda
4 Saint Thomas Aquinas
4 Saint Gregory of Nyssa
4 Ramakrishna
4 Hermes: On Rebirth
4 Emerson
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4 Bill Hicks
4 Alfred North Whitehead
4 Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
4 Santoka Taneda
4 Saint Teresa of Avila
3 Thomas A Kempis
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3 Saint Therese of Lisieux
3 Saint Padre Pio
3 Saint John of the Cross
3 Saint John Chrysostom
3 Michel de Montaigne
3 Maximus the Confessor
3 Manly P Hall
3 John Milton
3 Eric Micha'el Leventhal
3 C S Lewis
3 Carl Sagan
3 Athanasius
3 Angelus Silesius
3 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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3 Dogen Zenji
3 Confucius
2 Tao Te Ching
2 SWAMI SUBODHANANDA
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2 Sri Aurobindo
2 Simone Weil
2 Shunryu Suzuki
2 Sanyutta Nikaya
2 Saint Jerome
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2 Robert Anton Wilson
2 Revelation 7:2-3
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2 R Buckminster Fuller
2 Ramesh Balsekar
2 Ralph Waldo Emerson
2 Rabindranath Tagore
2 Rabia al-Adawiyya
2 Publilius Syrus
2 Pindar
2 Origen
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2 Nolini Kanta Gupta
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2 Letter of Barnabas
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2 Gregory the Great
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2 Edgar Allan Poe
2 Cyril of Alexandria
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2 Chamtrul Rinpoche
2 Buddhist Meditations from the Japanese
2 Buddha
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2 Albert Einstein
2 Plotinus
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2 Kabir
2 Adyashanti
2 ?
1 Zohar
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1 Yash Thakur
1 Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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1 William Burroughs
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1 'We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.'
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1 Tsongkhapa
1 Tolstoy
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1 Third Dzogchen Rinpoche
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1 The Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching
1 Theophylact of Ohrid
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1 Theognis
1 Theodore Roosevelt
1 The Mother
1 "The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
1 The Book of Golden Precepts
1 Tertullian
1 Terence James Stannus Gray
1 Taigu Ryokan
1 Tagami Kikusha
1 Swami Virajananda
1 SWAMI VIRAJANANDA
1 SWAMI TRIGUNATITANANDA
1 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
1 Swami Satchidananda
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1 SWAMI PARAMANANDA
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1 Sura
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1 St. Luke
1 Steve Jobs
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1 Stefan Molyneux
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1 Sora
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1 Socrates
1 Shimagi Akahiko 1876-1926
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1 Shakti Gawain
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1 Saint Luke
1 Saint Leo the Great
1 Saint Leo the Great
1 Saint Justin Martyr
1 Saint Josemaría Escrivá
1 Saint Josaphat of Polotsk
1 Saint John Vianney
1 Saint John Bosco prophecies
1 Saint Ignatius
1 Saint Gregory the Great
1 Saint Francis of Assisi
1 Saint Francis de Sales
1 Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
1 Saint Catherine of Siena
1 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
1 Saint Bernadette Soubirous
1 Saint Basil the Great
1 Saint Basil of Caesarea
1 Saint Andrew of Crete
1 Saint Alphonsus Liguori
1 Saigyo
1 Ryan Holiday
1 -Rumi
1 Roshi So
1 Romans XIII. 12
1 Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)
1 Robert Heinlein
1 Robert Frost
1 Robert Adams
1 Rilke
1 Richard Bach
1 Revelation 8:13
1 Revelation 8:10
1 Revelation 7:9-10
1 Revelation 6:9-10
1 Revelation 21:22
1 Revelation 16:3
1 Rene Guenon
1 Regina Brett
1 Ray Bradbury
1 Ramayana
1 Quodvultdeus
1 Pseudo-Chrysostom
1 Proverbs
1 Proclus of Constantinople
1 Proclus
1 Pope Saint Gelasius I
1 Plato: Republic
1 Philo of Alexandria
1 Philokalia
1 Philippians II. 4
1 Peter J Carroll
1 Percy Bysshe Shelley
1 Paul Ricoeur
1 Paulo Coelho
1 Patti Smith
1 Pasteur
1 Pablo Neruda
1 Our Lady of La Salette
1 Og Mandino
1 Noam Chomsky
1 Nikos Kazantzakis
1 Nikola Tesla
1 Nietzsche
1 Nido Qubein
1 Mother Mirra
1 Mohy-ud-din-arabi: Treatise on Unity
1 Mohyddin-ibn-Arabi. "Essay on Unity."
1 Minamoto Sanemoto
1 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
1 Michio Kaku
1 Meng-Tse
1 Maya Angelou
1 Max Scheler
1 Mawlay al-Arabi ad-Darqawi
1 Matthew 12:36-37
1 MATA AMRITANADAMAYI
1 Masaaki Hatsumi
1 Mark Twain
1 Margaret Drabble
1 Mansur al-Hallaj
1 Manapurush Swami Shivananda
1 Mahabharata
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1 Lodro Rinzler
1 Linji Yixuan
1 Leo Tolstoy
1 Leo the Great
1 Layman Pang
1 Latita Vistara
1 Lalla 1320-1392
1 Kung Tingan [no info found on 'Kung Tingan']. Quote occurs in several places on web. One is:
1 Krisna Prem
1 Koran
1 Kevin Systrom
1 ken-wilber
1 Ken Wilber
1 ken-wi
1 Katha Upanishad
1 Karl Popper
1 Kant
1 Kamand Kojouri
1 J R R Tolkien
1 Jordan Peterson
1 Jon Kabat-Zinn
1 John Scottus Eriugena
1 John of Salisbury
1 John Keats
1 John Henry Newman
1 John F. Kennedy
1 Joel Osteen
1 Job XXIX. 14
1 Jimmy Wales
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1 Jeffrey J Kripal
1 Jean Piaget
1 Jay Kristoff
1 Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye
1 James George Frazer
1 James Clerk Maxwell
1 Jack Kerouac in On The Road
1 Jack Kerouac
1 I Timothy. VI. 12
1 Italo Calvino
1 Ise
1 Iroquois saying
1 Inscriptions of Asoka
1 Inscription on the Catacombs
1 Imitation of Christ
1 Imam Jamal Rahman
1 Idil Ahmed
1 id. 58. 60
1 Ibn al-Jawzi
1 H P Lovecraft
1 Howard Gardner
1 Hoshi
1 Horace
1 Hippocrates
1 Hildegard
1 Henry Van Dyke
1 Heinrich Heine
1 Hazrat Inayat Khan
1 Haruki Murakami
1 Hans Christian Andersen
1 Hakuin Ekaku
1 Habīb 'Umar bin Hafīz
1 G. W. F. Hegel
1 Gustav Fechner
1 Guru Rinpoche
1 Gurdjieff
1 Gujduvani
1 G Santayana
1 Groucho Marx
1 Gregory of Nazianzen
1 Grace Hanson [Grace Hanson is one of the protagonists on "Grace and Frankie." She is portrayed by Jane Fonda. For more of her quotes see:
1 Goldie Hawn
1 Goethe
1 Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola
1 Giordano Bruno
1 Gillian Rose
1 G.I. Gurdjieff
1 Gigen
1 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
1 George Foreman
1 George Eliot
1 Fyodor Dostoevsky
1 F. Scott Fitzgerald
1 Fred Rogers
1 Franz Kafka
1 Franklin D. Roosevelt
1 Fo-shu-hing-tsan-king
1 First stanza of poem etch by a Jew on a cellar wall doing the Holocaust. For poem see:
1 Evelyn Underhill
1 Evagrius Ponticus
1 Epictetus
1 Ephrem the Syrian
1 Enuma Elish
1 Elizabeth Anscombe
1 Edwin Louis Cole
1 Edna St. Vincent Millay
1 Edmund Burke
1 Duke Ellington
1 Doko
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1 Dian Fossey
1 Dhammapada
1 Descartes
1 Dante
1 Dalai Lama
1 Dakotsu Lida
1 Cyprian of Carthage
1 Confucius
1 Colossians 3:1-2).
1 C N Parkinson
1 Cicero
1 Choshu
1 Chogyam Trungpa
1 Chinese Proverb
1 Charles R. Swindoll
1 Charles Kimball
1 Chandogya Upanishad
1 Buddhist Texts
1 Buckminster Fuller
1 Buchholz and Roth
1 Brenda Ueland
1 Book of Golden Precepts
1 Bonaventure
1 Bhagavat Purana
1 Basil of Caesarea
1 Baruch Spinoza
1 Barbara De Angelis
1 Baha-ullah: The Seven Valleys
1 Baha-ullah
1 Bahauddin
1 Awaghosha
1 Attar of Nishapur
1 Attack On Titan
1 Asanga
1 Arthur Schopenhauer
1 Arthur C Clarke
1 Antoine the Healer: Revelations
1 Antoine the Healer
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1 Anon.
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1 Amir Khusrau
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1 Alice Walker
1 al-Habib Ahmad b. Hasan al-Attas
1 Alan Watts
1 Alan Perlis
1 Walt Whitman
1 Rudolf Steiner
1 Plato
1 Meister Eckhart
1 Jorge Luis Borges
1 Jetsun Milarepa
1 Hafiz
1 Bodhidharma
1 Abraham Maslow
1 2 Corinthians 4:8
1 1 John 3:2-3
NEW FULL DB (2.4M)
208 Anonymous
59 Anton Wildgans
29 Robert Louis Stevenson
18 Anne Sexton
17 Arthur Conan Doyle
15 Jaci Burton
14 Michael Connelly
12 Rick Riordan
10 J K Rowling
10 Dean Koontz
10 Álvares de Azevedo
9 Washington Irving
9 Enid Blyton
8 Frances Hodgson Burnett
7 Walter Isaacson
7 Antonio de Castro Alves
6 Kurt Vonnegut
6 Emil Aarestrup
5 William W Johnstone
5 Neal Stephenson
1:Focus your eyes on the truth. ~ Dante, #KEYS
2:'My life depends on my dying'." ~ -Rumi, poet, #KEYS
3:You are conscious. Hold on to it. ~ Sri Nisargadatta, #KEYS
4:Depend not on fortune, but on conduct. ~ Publilius Syrus, #KEYS
5:Genius is talent set on fire by courage. ~ Henry Van Dyke, #KEYS
6:Every step is on the path. ~ Lao Tzu, #KEYS
7:A vice in the heart is an idol on the altar. ~ Saint Jerome, #KEYS
8:Activism is my rent for living on the planet. ~ Alice Walker, #KEYS
9:Holding on won't make you strong, letting go will." ~ Thibaut, #KEYS
10:The road goes ever on and on.
~ J R R Tolkien, Bilbo Baggins,#KEYS
11:You can knock on a deaf man's door forever. ~ Nikos Kazantzakis, #KEYS
12:Be on guard and strengthen yourself by prayer. ~ Saint Pedro Pio, #KEYS
13:Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair. ~ Edmund Burke, #KEYS
14:Do you know that you're strong on the inside, too?" ~ Fred Rogers, #KEYS
15:Focus on the smallest thing you can do right now." ~ Ryan Holiday, #KEYS
16:A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer. ~ Novalis, #KEYS
17:Man is on earth as in an egg. ~ Heraclitus, #KEYS
18:Cruelty isn't softened by tears; it feeds on them. ~ Publilius Syrus, #KEYS
19:From now on you must strive to cut out unnecessary ~ Masaaki Hatsumi, #KEYS
20:A joke is an epigram on the death of a feeling. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #KEYS
21:I can nourish myself on nothing but truth. ~ Saint Therese of Lisieux, #KEYS
22:They declare 'Holy War; on unbelievers." ~ Charles Kimball, Wikipedia, #KEYS
23:As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
24:Perfection is achieved only on the point of collapse.
~ C N Parkinson,#KEYS
25:The bird of paradise lands only on the hand that does not grasp ~ Roshi So, #KEYS
26:I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. ~ Saint Therese of Lisieux, #KEYS
27:The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf. ~ Shakti Gawain, #KEYS
28:As if mending socks, I repair my mind and live on. ~ Yoshino Yoshiko, b 1915., #KEYS
29:Let it be that our happiness depends only on ourselves. ~ Michel de Montaigne, #KEYS
30:Whatever happens on the earth-man must share the responsibility. ~ Jean Gebser, #KEYS
31:If man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on. ~ Kant , #KEYS
32:Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground." ~ Theodore Roosevelt, #KEYS
33:A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on. ~ William Burroughs, #KEYS
34:Man believes either in a God or in an idol. ~ Max Scheler, On the Eternal in Man, #KEYS
35:A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. ~ John F. Kennedy, #KEYS
36:Buddhism may be summed up in two phrases: 'Let go!' and 'Walk on!' " ~ Alan Watts, #KEYS
37:If you're not living on the edge you're taking up too much space." ~ Stephen Hunt, #KEYS
38:The process that goes on inside you is not apparent to you. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
39:Don't go on discussing what a good person should be. Just be one. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #KEYS
40:Have faith and go on. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, #KEYS
41:The end and the beginning both grow sweet when a god urges on a man's work. ~ Pindar, #KEYS
42:What is the path? There is no path. On into the unknown. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #KEYS
43:If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this ~ Amir Khusrau,#KEYS
44:Silence is the cross on which we must crucify our ego. ~ Saint Seraphim of Sarov, [T5], #KEYS
45:until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." ~ Revelation 7:2-3, #KEYS
46:Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. ~ Mark Twain, #KEYS
47:Insist on yourself; never imitate... Every great man is unique.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,#KEYS
48:Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land. ~ Walt Whitman, #KEYS
49:Though it be broken- broken again - still it's there; the moon on the water.
~ Choshu,#KEYS
50:One can live in this world on soothsaying but not on truth saying. ~ Georg C Lichtenberg, #KEYS
51:even the least part of it. ~ Basil of Caesarea, Exegetical Homilies On the Hexaemeron I.6, #KEYS
52:Ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head.
~ Michel de Montaigne,#KEYS
53:Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee. ~ Epictetus, #KEYS
54:Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure." ~ 1 John 3:2-3, #KEYS
55:God never ends anything on a negative; God always ends on a positive.
~ Edwin Louis Cole,#KEYS
56:In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. ~ Robert Frost, #KEYS
57:Let the past be past.
Concentrate only on the Eternal.
Blessings ~ The Mother,#KEYS
58:Lost in the woods Only the sound of a leaf Falling on my head. ~ Tagami Kikusha, 1753-1826, #KEYS
59:On a night with dew the mountains seem like next door neighbors. ~ Dakotsu Lida, 1885-1962, #KEYS
60:The sun's light when he unfolds it
Depends on the organ that beholds it ~ William Blake,#KEYS
61:Gentlemen should not waste their time on trivial games - they should play go[3] ~ Confucius, #KEYS
62:mushrooms gathering
on an old maple stump
autumn rain
~ Ogawa,#KEYS
63:Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." ~ Will Rogers, #KEYS
64:The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet." ~ Shunryu Suzuki, #KEYS
65:When you reach the end of your rope - tie a knot in it and hang on." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt, #KEYS
66:Don't give up. Normally it is the last key on the ring which opens the door.
~ Paulo Coelho,#KEYS
67:The knowledge of an effect depends on and involves the knowledge of a cause. ~ Baruch Spinoza, #KEYS
68:Living On Earth May Be Expensive, But It Includes An Annual Free Trip Around The Sun." ~ Anon., #KEYS
69:Regardless of what we do, our karma has no hold on us. ~ Bodhidharma, #KEYS
70:The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God. ~ Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On the Beatitudes, #KEYS
71:Year after year/On the monkey's face/A monkey's mask ~ Matsuo Basho, #KEYS
72:People who never have any time on their hands are those who do the least. ~ Georg C Lichtenberg, #KEYS
73:Gratitude is wine for the soul. Go on. Get drunk ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
74:Life is a balance of holding on and letting go." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
75:on the water
the reflection
of a wanderer ~ Santoka Taneda,#KEYS
76:You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life." ~ Zig Ziglar, #KEYS
77:From now on I'll be mad. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
78:Love is a mystic path on which two distant souls meet and become one." ~ Yash Thakur, more quotes:, #KEYS
79:Normality is a paved road: it's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it. ~ Vincent van Gogh, #KEYS
80:On my tombstone, I really hope that someday they will write: He was true but partial. ~ Ken Wilber, #KEYS
81:Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb." ~ Revelation 7:9-10, #KEYS
82:We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #KEYS
83:A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.
~ Lao Tzu,#KEYS
84:A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others." ~ Confucius, #KEYS
85:How long will you keep pounding on an open door Begging for someone to open it? ~ Rabia al-Adawiyya, #KEYS
86:I don't hold on to anything, don't reject anything; nowhere an obstacle or conflict." ~ Layman Pang, #KEYS
87:Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them." ~ Marcus Aurelius, #KEYS
88:Going on a pilgrimage is like falling in love with the greenness of faraway grass. ~ Lalla 1320-1392, #KEYS
89:Then when a situation comes, you can to an extent, depend on your inner voice. ~ Swami Chinmayananda, #KEYS
90:there is nothing else I can do;
I walk on and on ~ Santoka Taneda,#KEYS
91:... The storm approaches—be on thy guard! I trust thou wilt stand firm!" ~ Venerable Anna Emmerich, #KEYS
92:Blessed is the man who can love every man equally. ~ Maximus the Confessor, Centuries on Charity 1.17, #KEYS
93:For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Romans, 10:13, #KEYS
94:It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God - but to create him.
~ Arthur C Clarke,#KEYS
95:So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, #KEYS
96:There is no other philosophical enquiry apart from metaphysics. ~ Simone Weil, Lectures on Philosophy, #KEYS
97:Christ has no body now on earth but yours. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, #KEYS
98:Gratitude is the wine for the soul. Go on. Get drunk." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
99:On a branch
floating downriver
a cricket, singing. ~ Kobayashi Issa,#KEYS
100:Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine." ~ Shunryu Suzuki, #KEYS
101:Found not thy glory on power and riches. ~ Theognis, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
102:Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself." ~ Og Mandino, #KEYS
103:If only this toothache would go away, I could write another chapter on the problem of pain. ~ C S Lewis, #KEYS
104:Those who self-righteously value their own contradictions are mighty on this Earth.
~ Peter J Carroll,#KEYS
105:You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~ Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing, #KEYS
106:It's wonderful to know you're aging, because that means you're still on the planet, right?" ~ Goldie Hawn, #KEYS
107:O saki, arise and give the cup. Strew dust on the head of the grieve of days. ~ Hafiz, #KEYS
108:sleeping on a soft futon
I dream of my native village ~ Santoka Taneda,#KEYS
109:today again,
soaking wet
I walk on an unknown road ~ Santoka Taneda,#KEYS
110:A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope
~ Epictetus,#KEYS
111:Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~ Buddha, #KEYS
112:Earthly possessions bring on worry ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ScG 3.132)., #KEYS
113:I never give answers. I lead on from one question to another. That is my leadership. ~ Rabindranath Tagore, #KEYS
114:on a journey
traveling with the gods
numbering the days ~ Matsuo Basho,#KEYS
115:Which of the saints was without a cross or trial on this earth? ~ Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, #KEYS
116:Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive it isn't." ~ Richard Bach, #KEYS
117:Whenever a harsh word opens a door, anger enters in, and on the heels of anger, injury. ~ Ephrem the Syrian, #KEYS
118:Be yourself on stage. Nobody else can be you and you have the law of supply and demand covered. ~ Bill Hicks, #KEYS
119:Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Luke, 10:4, #KEYS
120:Die inside this new love. Your way begins on the other side. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
121:If they're on fire and you have water, then you can sell it to them. ~ Jordan Peterson, Personality Lectures, #KEYS
122:Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, [T5], #KEYS
123:If you do not study, the inertia will go on increasing.
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
124:I know from experience that you should never give up on yourself or others, no matter what." ~ George Foreman, #KEYS
125:The difficult is not the impossible. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Faith, #KEYS
126:The only atonement for a wrong thing done is to do the right thing on the next occasion. ~ Nolini Kanta Gupta, #KEYS
127:All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #KEYS
128:Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.
~ Stephen King, On Writing,#KEYS
129:Life and death have been lacking in my life.
~ Jorge Luis Borges, On Writing,#KEYS
130:On the last day of your life when you wake-up, you will see this is all illusion and imagination. ~ Shabistari, #KEYS
131:The goat shall carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place..
~ Anonymous, The Bible, Leviticus, 16:22,#KEYS
132:There is no fear in the higher Nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Fear, #KEYS
133:He who holds on to the Lord, even when afflicted by sufferings, will certainly attain to Him. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
134:The firmness of the entire building depends on the foundation and the ceiling! ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
135:before they embark on the journey. ~ Sam Keen, "To Love and Be Loved,", (1997), First 2 of 7 stanzas. Wikipedia., #KEYS
136:If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.
~ Edgar Allan Poe,#KEYS
137:Ignorance is not a state of innocence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Purity, #KEYS
138:It takes a lot of courage to be the same person on the outside that you are on the inside." ~ Barbara De Angelis, #KEYS
139:I will define him simply as someone set on becoming a god rather than a man. ~ Epictetus, #KEYS
140:Sometimes the world around you will get dark. Maybe it's only for you to turn on your own light." ~ Jenna Galbut, #KEYS
141:Surrender is the best way of opening. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Opening, #KEYS
142:The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, #KEYS
143:The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
~ Dogen Zenji,#KEYS
144:This moment is the best the world can give: The tranquil blossom on the tortured stem. ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay, #KEYS
145:For anyone, man or woman, who has faith in me, I have never departed. I sleep on their threshold. ~ Guru Rinpoche, #KEYS
146:... the blood of men will have to be spilled on the asphalt of our streets." ~ Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich , #KEYS
147:The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. ~ Socrates, #KEYS
148:This, then, is the function of death—the complete separation of body and soul ~ Tertullian, On the Soul, 52.1)., #KEYS
149:Destroy the darkness of delusion with the brightness of wisdom. ~ The Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, #KEYS
150:If you can hold on to this knowledge 'I am Self' at all times, no further practice is necessary. ~ Annamalai Swami, #KEYS
151:Keep it simple, and focus on what matters. Don't let yourself be overwhelmed." ~ Confucius, #KEYS
152:Absence is a house so vast that inside you will pass through its walls and hang pictures on the air. ~ Pablo Neruda, #KEYS
153:Always perform your duties unattached, with your mind fixed on God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
154:Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods. ~ C S Lewis, #KEYS
155:Mikasa Ackerman. A master of all subjects and widely considered one of the best in our history.
~ Attack On Titan,#KEYS
156:The passionate are like men standing on their heads, they see all things the wrong way. ~ Plato, #KEYS
157:Be as free from vanity as the dead leaf carried on by the high wind. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
158:My name is Ozymandias, king of kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias,#KEYS
159:The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
~ Socrates?,#KEYS
160:Anyone who has once called on the Master, with sincere faith and devotion has nothing more to fear. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
161:If in your heart you make a manger for his birth then God will once again become a child on earth. ~ Angelus Silesius, #KEYS
162:Let any amount of burden be laid on Him, He will bear it all. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
163:LISP programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing. ~ Alan Perlis, ,(take on an Oscar Wilde quote), #KEYS
164:Prayer indeed is good, but while calling on the gods a man should himself lend a hand. ~ Hippocrates, Regimen, IV, 87, #KEYS
165:To know how to wait is to put time on one's side.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1953,#KEYS
166:Knowledge without the idea of the good is just a matter of vanity and curiosity. ~ Simone Weil, Lectures on Philosophy, #KEYS
167:Replace the eagerness for fame by the aspiration for perfection.
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
168:The Church herself says, 'The voice of my brother is knocking on the door.' Listen to him knocking. ~ Ambrose of Milan, #KEYS
169:There's no value in digging shallow wells in a hundred places. Decide on one place and dig deep. ~ Swami Satchidananda, #KEYS
170:The thoughts change but not you. Let go the passing thoughts and hold on to the unchanging Self. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
171:To learn is good, To become is better.
~ The Mother, On Thoughts And Aphorisms, Nov 25 1969,#KEYS
172:Fight the good fight, lay hold on eternal life. ~ I Timothy. VI. 12, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
173:Focusing on one thing and doing it really, really well can get you very far.
~ Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram,#KEYS
174:Let not the talk of the vulgar make any impression on you. ~ Cicero, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
175:The just man is himself his own law. ~ Inscription on the Catacombs, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
176:A green spider
crawling on
a red rose
~ Shiki, @BashoSociety#KEYS
177:a star poem
forever written
on his arm
~ Hoshi, @BashoSociety#KEYS
178:Love must be turned singly towards the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
179:Save the world that is within us, O Life. ~ Hermes: "On the Rebirth", the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
180:So long as a man has not realized God, he will have to be born on earth. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
181:Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus, and there gaze on the Infinite Beauty." ~ Kabir, #KEYS
182:Wicked thoughts and worthless efforts gradually set their mark on the face, especially the eyes.
~ Arthur Schopenhauer,#KEYS
183:3) by instructing, the cause of EDUCATION ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On NE 8, lect. 11)., #KEYS
184:An outer renunciation by itself does not liberate. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sex, #KEYS
185:Even if there is real danger, fear does not help. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Fear, #KEYS
186:In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." ~ Iroquois saying, #KEYS
187:No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude.
~ Karl Popper,#KEYS
188:Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets.
~ Nido Qubein,#KEYS
189:Only a consciousness full of light can be pure. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Purity, #KEYS
190:3) he eats with the disciples ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 21, lect. 1)., #KEYS
191:A godhead sculptured on a wall of thought, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, 4:3, #KEYS
192:A little Japa and meditation will awaken Kundalini . Does it wake up on its own? Do Japa and meditation. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
193:Concentrate on the Seer, not on the seen. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Face to Face, 197, [T5], #KEYS
194:Evil is non-being, the good is being, since it has come into being from the existing God. ~ Athanasius, On the Incarnation, #KEYS
195:Hold tight to your own time, hour after hour; you will not depend on the future if you grasp the present in hand. ~ Seneca, #KEYS
196:sleeping while
on a journey
willow shade
~ Sora, @BashoSociety#KEYS
197:the changing of water into wine ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Mt. 4, lect. 2)., #KEYS
198:But it is not that way with God ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 1, lect. 1)., #KEYS
199:Let any amount of burden be laid on Him [Her], He will bear it all. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
200:Never tell a lie: absolute condition for safety on the path
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
201:One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche,#KEYS
202:Sorrow if indulged becomes a habit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Jainism and Buddhism, #KEYS
203:Spiritually there is nothing big or small. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Work and Yoga, #KEYS
204:The essential principles of things are hidden from us.... ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Aristotle's De Anima 1.1.15, #KEYS
205:4. every other power acts by his power ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On the Power of God 3.7)., #KEYS
206:Having prayed as you should, stand on guard, ready to protect the fruits of your prayer. ~ Philokalia, Evagrios the Solitary, #KEYS
207:Never undertake anything unless you have the heart to ask Heaven's blessing on your undertaking. ~ Georg C Lichtenberg, [T5], #KEYS
208:...the only simplicity to be trusted is the simplicity to be found on the far side of complexity.
~ Alfred North Whitehead,#KEYS
209:This dark autumn old age settles down on me like heavy clouds or birds. ~ Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694, #KEYS
210:All effort is due to the illusory desire on the part of an illusory individual, to attain an illusory goal. ~ Ramesh Balsekar, #KEYS
211:The past cannot bind the future. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Call and the Capacity, #KEYS
212:God is at once impersonal and personal. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Secret of Secrets, #KEYS
213:Go on struggling ceaselessly. Fight like a hero. Never look back, but ever go forward. Onward to the Goal! ~ SWAMI VIRAJANANDA, #KEYS
214:Inner happiness can only come by right living. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Deva and Asura, #KEYS
215:writing poetry
on the back
of dried leaves
~ Buson, @BashoSociety#KEYS
216:Confession leads the way and brings us to salvation; baptism follows, setting the seal on our assent. ~ Saint Basil of Caesarea, #KEYS
217:However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
~ Buddha,#KEYS
218:Ignorance is also most always on the point of doing evil. ~ Chinese Proverb, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
219:Let us always be terrified of mortal sin and never stop walking on the road of holy eternity." ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
220:Our names are the light that glows on the sea waves at night and then dies without leaving its signature. ~ Rabindranath Tagore, #KEYS
221:The simple approach means trust. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti Yoga and Vaishnavism, #KEYS
222:What is liberty?
Liberty is to depend only on the Divine.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
223:With Reality on the one hand and Illusion on the other, I constantly experience as it were, a pull on either side. ~ Meher Baba, #KEYS
224:All quarrels proceed from egoism. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Problems in Human Relations, #KEYS
225:A steady hope helps much on the way. With my blessings
~ The Mother, Mantras Of The Mother, 15 August,#KEYS
226:Cold rain on moss
a quiet memory
of happy days
~ Buson, @BashoSociety#KEYS
227:How much it can fill your room depends on its windows." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
228:I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book. ~ Groucho Marx, #KEYS
229:If you pray, trust that he hears. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti Yoga and Vaishnavism, #KEYS
230:One can be free only by living in the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Occult Knowledge, #KEYS
231:Peace is a sign of mukti—Ananda moves towards siddhi. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Peace, #KEYS
232:The vital does not like waiting. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Wrong Movements of the Vital, #KEYS
233:He who knows himself, knows his Lord. ~ Mohyddin-ibn-Arabi. "Essay on Unity.", the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
234:If desire comes up, the Ananda is obliged to draw back. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
235:In conclusion, there is no conclusion. Things will go on as they always have, getting weirder all the time. ~ Robert Anton Wilson, #KEYS
236:In the divine consciousness there is no ego. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
237:One cannot demand or compel grace. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti Yoga and Vaishnavism, #KEYS
238:The devotee who goes on patiently with his devotions is sure to find God at last. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
239:The easiest means of concentrating the mind is to focus on the flame of a candle. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
240:God has His own plans and all these go on according to that. No one need worry as to what happens. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 552, #KEYS
241:He who has My words and despises them has that which shall condemn him on the last day. ~ Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, #KEYS
242:If the presence of God overlaps simultaneously with whatever we are doing, then anything we work on performs eternity. ~ Bahauddin, #KEYS
243:It is from unsatisfied desire that all suffering arises. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
244:Now I am light, now I fly, now I see myself beneath me, now a god dances through me. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, 'On Reading & Writing', #KEYS
245:Only those who sympathise can help. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Problems in Human Relations, #KEYS
246:Tell your vital not to judge on appearances and to collaborate. All is well in the long run. ~ The Mother, #KEYS
247:The gods love what is mysterious and dislike what is evident." ~ "The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, (about 700 BC) a treatise on Ātma, #KEYS
248:The ice on the lake is melting but it's still cold. The crescent moon's light flickers over the waves. ~ Shimagi Akahiko 1876-1926, #KEYS
249:The measure of the sincerity is the measure of the success.
23 April 1968
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
250:The vision of God does not depend on your will - you must depend on His. You must resign yourself completely. ~ Swami Adbhutananda, #KEYS
251:The Yogi eats not out of desire, but to maintain the body. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Food, #KEYS
252:To be taken with love for a soul, God does not look on its greatness, but the greatness of its humility. ~ Saint John of the Cross, #KEYS
253:Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern. ~ Alfred North Whitehead #KEYS
254:asleep on a boat
floating down
the river of heaven
~ Ise, @BashoSociety#KEYS
255:Break what must be broken, once for all, that's all, and take the suffering on oneself.
~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment,#KEYS
256:Realisations are the essence of knowledge. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
257:small birds
with happy sounds
on a wooden bridge
~ Buson, @BashoSociety#KEYS
258:If you knew what the Gods have in store for you, you would run naked and dance on the beach.
~ Vikings, The Seer to Rollo, Vikings,#KEYS
259:It is the essentials alone that matter. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Call and the Capacity, #KEYS
260:Sincerity in Yoga means to respond to the Divine alone. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Sincerity, #KEYS
261:The greatest have their limitations. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
262:There should be no big I, not even a small one. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
263:We think according to what we are. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, Russell, Eddington, Jeans, #KEYS
264:A gate of dreams ajar on mystery's verge. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Symbol Dawn, #KEYS
265:Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." ~ Revelation 7:2-3, #KEYS
266:Faith is not intellectual belief but a function of the soul. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Faith, #KEYS
267:finally
asleep
peace on earth
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
268:Hold on to one thought so that others are expelled. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 453, [T5], #KEYS
269:I found a book on how to be invisible ~ On the edge of the labyrinth ~ Under a veil you must never lift ~ Pages you must never turn ~, #KEYS
270:If you practise meditation and prayer it will make me happy. I look on you as my own. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
271:Meditation on the Self, which is oneself, is the greatest of all meditations. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
272:Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases, and its toll on success and happiness is heavy." ~ Wayne Gretzky, #KEYS
273:The affairs of the world will go on forever, do not delay the practice of meditation. ~ Jetsun Milarepa, #KEYS
274:With the sense of possession comes selfishness, and selfishness brings on misery. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #KEYS
275:Yet some there be that by due steps aspire To lay their just hands on that golden key That opes the Palace of Eternity. ~ John Milton, #KEYS
276:All action is surrounded by a complexity of forces. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Occult Knowledge, #KEYS
277:Doubt is the mind's persistent assailant. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Patience and Perseverance, #KEYS
278:Ego is the reason of the difficulty in everybody. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
279:If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.
~ Steve Jobs,#KEYS
280:is this rain
falling only
on me?
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
281:On the bare peak where Self is alone with Nought ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Issue, #KEYS
282:Sometimes it seems the only accomplishment my education ever bestowed on me was the ability to think in quotations. ~ Margaret Drabble, #KEYS
283:Successful assimilation depends on mastery. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine and Human, On Original Thinking, #KEYS
284:The end of all Science is Agnosticism. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
285:Why go on pruning the ego? That is just what it wants — to be the center of attraction. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Conscious Immortality, #KEYS
286:Wisdom is like unto a beacon set on high, which radiates its light even in the darkest night. ~ Buddhist Meditations from the Japanese, #KEYS
287:You will not be good teachers if you focus only on what you do and not upon who you are. ~ Rudolf Steiner, #KEYS
288:Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
~ Anonymous, The Bible, Psalms, 55:22,#KEYS
289:Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words, and following after speech. ~ Dogen Zenji, #KEYS
290:Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words, and following after speech." ~ Dogen Zenji, #KEYS
291:I stand on the end platform of the tram and am completely unsure of my footing in this world, in this town, in my family. ~ Franz Kafka, #KEYS
292:Man is like an ignorant spectator of a drama played on the stage. ~ Bhagavat Purana, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
293:One is a true hero who performs all the duties of the world with the mind fixed on God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
294:what matters in a symbol is what it means for you. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Animal World, #KEYS
295:You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Job, 22:28, #KEYS
296:as God, he adds, and the truth, and the life ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Jn. 14, lect. 2)., #KEYS
297:Be then on your guard against everything that suppresses your liberty. ~ Vivekananda, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
298:Do not believe in men's discourses before you have reflected well on them. ~ Tolstoi, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
299:Faith guides even us and we follow its sure light on the way which conducts us to God and His homeland. ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
300:God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #KEYS
301:I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Psalms, 143:5, #KEYS
302:The game of doubting itself presupposes certainty…. A doubt that doubtEd everything would not be a doubt. ~ Wittgenstein, On Certainty, #KEYS
303:The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #KEYS
304:The question "why?" asks for a cause ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Metaphysics 7, lect. 17)., #KEYS
305:There can be no firm foundation in sadhana without equality, samata.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
306:The supreme faith is that which sees God in all. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Way and the Bhakta, #KEYS
307:To it with good heart, O pilgrim, on to that other shore ! ~ Book of Golden Precepts, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
308:To look on high, to learn what is beyond, to seek to raise oneself always. ~ Pasteur, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
309:Walk always and only on good and take a step forward each day on the vertical line, from the bottom up. ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
310:A gossiping spirit is always an obstacle. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Avoiding Gossip, #KEYS
311:Sailing on a lake
of lotus blooms
breaking into the sky
~ Doko, @BashoSociety#KEYS
312:sparrows perched
on an old plum tree
returning to sleep
~ Buson, @BashoSociety#KEYS
313:You don't live on the earth, you are walking through the earth." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
314:Do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond.
~ Sri Ramakrishna,#KEYS
315:'I love you' and 'I thank you.' Focus on your heart and send out light and love to the essence of everything you see." ~ Imam Jamal Rahman, #KEYS
316:It is vision that sees Truth, not logic. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, Russell, Eddington, Jeans, #KEYS
317:Most of what goes on today is a dissolution; but it is not just a dissolution, for "dissolution" also contains a "solution." ~ Jean Gebser, #KEYS
318:Sin destroys virtue and spiritual beauty ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Colossians 3, lect. 2)., #KEYS
319:Study cannot take the same or a greater importance than sadhana.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV, [T2],#KEYS
320:The psychic is the support of the individual evolution ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Psychic Being, #KEYS
321:When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens, I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth. ~ Saint Therese of Lisieux, #KEYS
322:When you're...stepping over a guy on the sidewalk...does it ever occur to you to think, 'Wow. Maybe our system doesn't work?' ~ Bill Hicks, #KEYS
323:A divine incarnation is hard to comprehend -- It is the play of the infinite on the finite. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
324:Each victory gained over oneself means new strength to gain more victories. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga IV, #KEYS
325:Equality does not include inert acceptance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Equality - The Chief Support, #KEYS
326:frost
on amber maple
late autumn wind
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
327:Make my heart, o heart of the universe, a divine bird that nests only on the throne of god. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
328:The principle of the Yoga is rejection-throwing out of the being.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T5],#KEYS
329:The puppet on the right shares my beliefs, the puppet on the left is more to my liking. Hey...there's one guy holding up both! ~ Bill Hicks, #KEYS
330:The tongue is always an easily erring member. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Depression and Despondency, #KEYS
331:writing
love poetry
on fallen leaves
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
332:A classic is the term given to any book which comes to represent the whole universe, a book on a par with ancient talismans. ~ Italo Calvino, #KEYS
333:A mutual giving and receiving is the law of Life. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Lord of the Sacrifice, #KEYS
334:Beware when the Almighty sends a thinker on this planet; all is then in peril. ~ Emerson, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
335:Enigma lives on in the heart of metaphor. In metaphor, 'the same' operates in spite of 'the different.' ~ Paul Ricoeur, The Rule of Metaphor, #KEYS
336:For whatever we do, it is on account of one of these that we do it ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 1-2.73.9)., #KEYS
337:hings mortal change their aspect daily; they are nothing but a lie. ~ Hermes: On Rebirth, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
338:Karma in its effect on character is the most tremendous power that man has to deal with. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #KEYS
339:leaves with
poems on them
are falling
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
340:Nature is a principle of motion and rest ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Metaphysics 1, lect. 12)., #KEYS
341:On this earth everyone has his cross. But we must act in such a way that we be not the bad, but good thief. ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
342:The Divine Grace comes in to help and save. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Grace and Guidance, #KEYS
343:There are two kinds of worries - those you can do something about and those you can't. Don't spend any time on the latter." ~ Duke Ellington, #KEYS
344:There is no requirement to transcend the past. All that must be done is to stop carrying it, like a block of stone, on one's back. ~ Wu Hsin, #KEYS
345:There is no such thing as a mere accident. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Accidents, Possession, Madness, #KEYS
346:Thoughts change but not you. Let go of the passing thoughts and hold on to the Self. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
347:Wouldst thou penetrate the infinite? Advance, then, on all sides in the finite. ~ Goethe, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
348:Go on aspiring and the necessary progress is bound to come. With my blessings
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
349:Seeing the false as the false, is meditation. This must go on all the time. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #KEYS
350:The bad news is you're falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there's no ground.
~ Chogyam Trungpa,#KEYS
351:Vital desire grows by being indulged, it does not become satisfied. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
352:When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future." ~ Dian Fossey, #KEYS
353:Yoga demands mastery over the nature, not subjection to the nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
354:A million lotuses swaying on one stem,
~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Heavens of the Ideal,#KEYS
355:As I see it, there isn't so much to do. Just be ordinary — put on your robes, eat your food, and pass the time doing nothing. ~ Linji Yixuan, #KEYS
356:It might be true that it is "quality time" that counts, but after a certain point quantity has a bearing on quality. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #KEYS
357:miracle is not to walk on water.
The miracle is walk on earth .
~ Gigen, @BashoSociety#KEYS
358:So long as one goes on questioning and reasoning about God, one has not seen Him as a Reality. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
359:To copy on earth's copies is his art. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Kingdom of Subtle Matter, #KEYS
360:True philosophy is true religion and conversely true religion is true philosophy. ~ John Scottus Eriugena, Treatise on Divine Predestination 1, #KEYS
361:You must never cease from calling on the Lord, and know this for certain that the Lord's name cuts through all obstacles. ~ SWAMI SUBODHANANDA, #KEYS
362:happy
on a pure night
the river of heaven
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
363:Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the person with all the facts." ~ Albert Einstein, #KEYS
364:Real faith is something spiritual, a knowledge of the soul. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Morality and Yoga, #KEYS
365:The nice thing about citing god as an authority is that you can prove anything you set out to prove.
~ Robert Heinlein, from If This Goes On.,#KEYS
366:And so we keep on going and try to realize it, try to hold it in our simple hands, in our overcrowded eyes, and in our speechless heart. ~ Rilke, #KEYS
367:Intense cold freezes the water into ice, which floats on the ocean in blocks of various forms.
~ Sri Ramakrishna,#KEYS
368:It is on the bosom of dead divinity (Shiva) that the blissful Mother dances her celestial dance. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
369:Sadhana can go on in the dream or sleep state as well as in the waking. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sleep, #KEYS
370:The anger of the good is like a line which is drawn on the surface of water: it soon disappears. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
371:The brain is impotent without the right arm of strength. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Bande Mataram - I, The Writing on the Wall, #KEYS
372:The Eucharist is the sacrament of love and ecclesial unity ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on 1 Cor. 11)., #KEYS
373:The more I contemplate God, the more God looks on me. The more I pray to him, the more he thinks of me too.
~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, [T5],#KEYS
374:The supreme divine nature is founded on equality. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Perfection of Equality, #KEYS
375:Comparison with others brings in a wrong standard of values. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
376:Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet has free access to the sum of all human knowledge. ~ Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, #KEYS
377:Meditation being on a single thought, the other thoughts are kept away. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 294, [T5], #KEYS
378:Perfection cannot come without self-knowledge and God-knowledge. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Above the Gunas, #KEYS
379:The Divine is the unborn Eternal who has no origin. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Word of the Gita, #KEYS
380:The life of grace heals us with respect to our mind ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Colossians, ch. 3)., #KEYS
381:The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there." ~ Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance), #KEYS
382:The order of the parts of the universe to one another results from the order of the whole universe to God. ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, On Power vii.9, #KEYS
383:The way of Zen is to become independent and strong. Don't rely on others for perceptions of life and truth. Do it individually." ~ Frederick Lenz, #KEYS
384:you have come; you must keep on trying to obtain immortality because here as a visitor only you have come." ~ Maghribi, (1350-1407) dervish poet., #KEYS
385:You ignore what is real and hold on to that which is unreal, then try to find what it is. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
386:A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life. ~ John Milton, Areopagitica, #KEYS
387:He who stands on tiptoe, doesn't stand form. He who rushes ahead, doesn't go far. He who tries to shine, dims his own light. ~ Tao Te Ching, ch.24, #KEYS
388:I do not waste my words on tired minds.
I can only talk to those who are thirsty
for the sea ~ Jalaluddin Rumi,#KEYS
389:I put on righteousness and it clothed me; my justice was my robe and my diadem. ~ Job XXIX. 14, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
390:The greater the gap between self perception and reality, the more aggression is unleashed on those who point out the discrepancy. ~ Stefan Molyneux #KEYS
391:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, #KEYS
392:There is no other way than to persevere. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
393:walking alone
graffiti on a wall
autumn dusk
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
394:All the values of the mind are constructions of ignorance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
395:Do not go off on your own, as if you were already justified, but come together and search out what is for your common benefit. ~ Letter of Barnabas, #KEYS
396:For the physical plane the work always repeated is the foundation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Work and Yoga, #KEYS
397:Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended. ~ Alfred North Whitehead #KEYS
398:in the light of your present." ~ Eric Micha'el Leventhal, literary consultant and holistic educator on the island of Maui, Hawaii, poet and author., #KEYS
399:It is the going inward that most helps to deliver the nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Anger and Violence, #KEYS
400:Living in the world, one should always be on their guard against the allurements of lust and greed. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
401:Nothing but a radical change of consciousness can deliver the world from its present obscurity. ~ The Mother, On Education, #KEYS
402:Once one is in full sadhana, sleep becomes as much a part of it as waking. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sleep, #KEYS
403:One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly." ~ Andy Rooney, #KEYS
404:Pride is only one form of ego—there are ten thousand others. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
405:The mind forms or accepts the theories that support the turn of the being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Faith, #KEYS
406:Believe in the fundamental truth; it is to meditate with rapture on the Everlasting. ~ Awaghosha, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
407:If success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do... How would I be? What would I do? ~ Buckminster Fuller, #KEYS
408:If you go on preaching without a commission from God, it will all be powerless and none will listen. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
409:One finds everywhere that the poor outnumber the rich ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Politics, lesson 6)., #KEYS
410:on horseback
in a silent village
a thin mist
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
411:On meeting with a young woman, you should salute her, addressing her at the same time as your mother ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
412:The inner must change before the outermost can follow. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Transformation and the Body, #KEYS
413:The intellective soul is created on the border line between eternity and time ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ScG 3.61)., #KEYS
414:The mind and the vital are much more full of ego than the body. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
415:The song that nerves the nation's heart is in itself a deed. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Bande Mataram - I, The Writing on the Wall, #KEYS
416:To each his own difficulties seem enormous and radical. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Call and the Capacity, #KEYS
417:All is one in self, but all is variation in the phenomenon. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Divine Truth and Way, #KEYS
418:But its final effect is to lead men to the PERFECT GOOD ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on 2 Tim. 3, lect. 3)., #KEYS
419:Dreams :::
in this dream world
we doze
and talk of dreams --
dream, dream on,
as much as you wish
~ Taigu Ryokan,#KEYS
420:In all things to do what depends on oneself and for the rest to remain firm and calm. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
421:It is when one mixes up sex and spirituality that there is the greatest havoc. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sex, #KEYS
422:It's his job." ~ Heinrich Heine, (1797-1856), a German poet, journalist, essayist, and literary critic, Wikipedia. Spoken on his deathbed, Wikipedia., #KEYS
423:Life here is God, the materials of Life here are God. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
424:Never get excited, nervous or agitated. Remain perfectly calm in the face of all circumstances.
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
425:One should not think too much of food either to indulge or unduly to repress. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Food, #KEYS
426:The brightest ornaments in the crown of the blessed in heaven are the sufferings which they have borne patiently on earth." ~ Saint Alphonsus Liguori, #KEYS
427:The glory of which he speaks here is his lifting up on the cross, for Christ's glory is his cross and his exaltation upon it. ~ Saint Andrew of Crete, #KEYS
428:The growth of the god in man is man's proper business. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
429:To be in full union with the Divine is the final aim. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Aim of the Integral Yoga, #KEYS
430:Yet some there be that by due steps aspire
To lay their just hands on that golden key
That opes the palace of eternity. ~ John Milton, Comus,#KEYS
431:And as he says further on, this was the greatest of all the Divine ministries ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 1.112.2)., #KEYS
432:Desire always creates perturbation and even its fulfilment does not satisfy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
433:Effort is necessary for God vision. If you simply sit on the shore of a lake, will you catch any fish? ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
434:Faith is midway between scientific knowledge and opinion ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Romans 1, lect. 6)., #KEYS
435:Give up the sense of doership. Karma will go on automatically or Karma will drop away from you ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
436:No anti-vital culture can survive. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - V, #KEYS
437:Purity is to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T5],#KEYS
438:The absolute immunity can only come with the supramental change. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Illness and Health, #KEYS
439:The difficulties you cannot overcome today will be overcome tomorrow or later on.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother I, [T5],#KEYS
440:The true individual is behind veiled by the activities of the outer nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Silence, #KEYS
441:When you've understood this scripture, throw it away. If you can't understand this scripture, throw it away. I insist on your freedom." ~ Jack Kerouac, #KEYS
442:a crescent moon
on a clear night
migrating geese
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
443:And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.…" ~ Revelation 21:22, #KEYS
444:As the darkness disappears, the inner doors too will open. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Patience and Perseverance, #KEYS
445:autumn leaves
on a rainy evening
rusting deep red
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
446:Do not focus so much on the path; keep your eyes fixed on the one who guides you and on the heavenly home to which He is guiding you. ~ Saint Padre Pio, #KEYS
447:In the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human successes, but on how well we have loved. ~ Saint John of the Cross, #KEYS
448:Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #KEYS
449:The one who reckons himself one with everyone, because he seems to see himself unceasingly in each one, is a monk. ~ Evagrius Ponticus, On Prayer §125, #KEYS
450:To be alone with the Divine is the highest of all privileged states for the sadhak.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
451:A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ~ Revelation 12:1, #KEYS
452:As you rest firmly on your own faith and opinion, so allow others also equal liberty to stand by theirs. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
453:a warm sun
on a secluded house
in a withered field
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
454:Death is his mask and immortality is his self-revelation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
455:He who looks on the forms of existence as a form or a mirage, shall not see death. ~ Sanyutta Nikaya, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
456:If one learns all by oneself, the chances are that one will learn all wrong. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Guru, #KEYS
457:Man cannot persevere after the corruption of human nature without God's grace ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On Job ch. 7)., #KEYS
458:Of what use are the gods
If they crown not our just desires on earth? ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Plays and Stories, Act I,#KEYS
459:One has to persevere until the light conquers there. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Peace - The Basis of the Sadhana, #KEYS
460:Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you." ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #KEYS
461:Sraddha: the soul's belief in the Divine's existence, wisdom, power, love and grace.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
462:There can be no physical life without an order and rhythm. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
463:Train your mind to see the good in everything. Positivity is a choice. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts." ~ Idil Ahmed, #KEYS
464:According to some estimates, almost half the scientists and high technologists on Earth are employed full- or part-time on military matters. ~ Carl Sagan, #KEYS
465:A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." ~ Revelation 12:1, #KEYS
466:All existences are instinct with the life of the one indivisible Spirit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Two Natures, #KEYS
467:Continue to plant a kiss of concern on the cheek of the sick and the aged and infirm and count that actions as natural and to be expected. ~ Maya Angelou, #KEYS
468:Let no one communicate who is not of the disciples. Let no Judas receive, lest he suffer the fate of Judas. ~ Saint John Chrysostom, Homily 82 on Matthew, #KEYS
469:Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. ~ Philippians II. 4, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
470:The breeze of grace is always blowing on you. You have to open the sails and your boat will move forward. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
471:The Divine Force can always do more than the personal effort. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Force in Work, #KEYS
472:Thousands of years before the Christian era, the Tibetans knew that an atom was a solar system [...] ~ Manly P Hall, Magic: A Treatise on Esoteric Ethics, #KEYS
473:Vital forces want neither liberation nor transformation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Attacks by the Hostile Forces, #KEYS
474:Worldly ideas must go completely, the mind must be wholly fixed on Him, and then alone can you reach God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
475:But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. ~ William Butler Yeats,#KEYS
476:Here and not elsewhere the highest Godhead has to be found. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
477:In every being and object God dwells concealed and discoverable. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, God in Power of Becoming, #KEYS
478:Likewise whoever is appointed watchman to a people should live a life on the heights so that he can help them by taking a wide survey. ~ Gregory the Great, #KEYS
479:Most people do not really choose—they undergo the play of the forces. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Occult Knowledge, #KEYS
480:Nature is God's power of various self-becoming, ātma-vibhūti. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Theory of the Vibhuti, #KEYS
481:Rely on the Mother always. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Experiences on the Subtle Physical, Vital and Mental Planes, #KEYS
482:The infirmities of the soul are not less than those of the body ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Mt. 4, lect. 3)., #KEYS
483:...The just God will in consequence give Lucifer and all his devils power to come on earth and tempt his godless creatures..." ~ Saint Methodius of Patara, #KEYS
484:The Lord is there, not only in that self, but in Nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Fullness of Spiritual Action, #KEYS
485:You have to plod on and scale many hills. You cannot climb the Everest in one jump. There is no jumping on the spiritual path. ~ Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #KEYS
486:A devotee concentrates on God; a seeker seeks the Self. The practice is equally difficult for both. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
487:By turning your eyes on God in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with God. Begin all your prayers in the presence of God. ~ Saint Francis de Sales, #KEYS
488:frost
on a iron kettle
has a cold voice
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
489:Grief too long continued does not help but delays the journey of the departed soul. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Death, #KEYS
490:Identification with the body is an error, not an illusion. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Adwaita of Shankaracharya, #KEYS
491:Knowledge and Ignorance are in their nature subjective. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Inner Experience and Outer Life, #KEYS
492:Love, joy and happiness come from the psychic. The Self gives peace or a universal Ananda. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - I, #KEYS
493:Nature creates and acts, the Soul enjoys her creation and action. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Field and its Knower, #KEYS
494:Nothing is fixed, nothing stable, nothing immobile in nature, nor in heaven, nor on the earth. ~ Hermes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
495:The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. The sea turned to blood like that from a corpse; every creature living in the sea died." ~ Revelation 16:3, #KEYS
496:The truth of ourselves lies within and not on the surface. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Delight of Existence, The Solution, #KEYS
497:This ultimate end of man is called that human good: happiness ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Ethics 1, lect. 9)., #KEYS
498:Form has a certain fixity which limits. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - VI, #KEYS
499:If one gains the Peace of the Self, it will spread without any effort on the part of the individual. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
500:It is on the blindness of ignorance that is founded the working which affirms the ego. ~ Sanyutta Nikaya, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
501:It is wise to listen, not to me but to the Word, and to confess that all things are one. ~ Heraclitus, On the Universe,1 fragment 1, #KEYS
502:on a leaf
an insect
sleeps on a journey
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
503:The guru is always ready to give what can be given, if the disciple can receive. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Guru, #KEYS
504:There is no beast on the earth, no bird flying on its wings that do not form a community like us ~ Koran, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
505:What gives the force and joy of the work is however not physical but vital. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Work and Yoga, #KEYS
506:A mental knowledge can always be blinded by the tricks of the vital. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
507:Concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
508:Humility and charity are the master strings . All other virtues depend on them. One is the lowest; the other is the highest. ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
509:In the full realisation the body is within us, not we in it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Adwaita of Shankaracharya, #KEYS
510:Lust is the perversion or degradation which prevents love from establishing its reign. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sex, #KEYS
511:mushrooms gathering
on an old maple stump
autumn rain
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
512:One must persist however long it takes, so only one can achieve. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Patience and Perseverance, #KEYS
513:One should be able to see the faults of others without hatred. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Problems in Human Relations, #KEYS
514:O Priest! Take care lest what was said to Christ on the cross be said to you: He saved others, himself he cannot save! ~ Saint Norbert of Xanten, (1075-1134), #KEYS
515:Taste is natural and quite permissible so long as one is not the slave of the palate. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Food, #KEYS
516:The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power. ~ Nikola Tesla, #KEYS
517:The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Romans, 13:12, #KEYS
518:There is a power in the idea—a force of which the idea is a shape. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
519:The soul cannot act by itself, it can only act through Nature and her modes. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Above the Gunas, #KEYS
520:The true quiet is within and no other will give you the condition you want. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Quiet and Calm, #KEYS
521:those who rely on the Divine will arrive in spite of all difficulties, stumbles or falls.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
522:You must know what you want and want it with your whole will. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Wrong Movements of the Vital, #KEYS
523:Accurate reading on a wide range of subjects makes the scholar; careful selection of the better makes the saint. ~ John of Salisbury, Bishop of Chartres, [T5], #KEYS
524:alone
on the road as
autumn evening comes
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
525:A sincere heart is worth all the extraordinary powers in the world. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Occult Powers or Siddhis, #KEYS
526:Even the animal is more in touch with a certain harmony in things than man. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Science and Yoga, #KEYS
527:First fix the mind on forms; and when we have attained success therein, we can easily fix it upon the formless ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
528:Karma is only a machinery, it is not the fundamental cause of terrestrial existence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Rebirth, #KEYS
529:Learn to love Him, call on Him earnestly with the love of a lover. You have none other. Just think, 'He alone exists, He has become all.' ~ Swami Akhandananda, #KEYS
530:Mental knowledge is not true knowledge; true knowledge is that which is based on the true sight, the sight of the Seer, of Surya, of the Kavi. ~ Sri Aurobindo, #KEYS
531:On the other hand, the virtue that God asks of us is the use of the same powers based on a good conscience in accordance with God's command. ~ Basil the Great, #KEYS
532:Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, nor for your body, what ye shall put on.- ~ Luke XII. 22, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
533:The highest heavens of the cosmic plan are subject to a return to rebirth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Divine, #KEYS
534:The joy of the soul in the dualities is the secret of the mind's pleasure in living. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Equality, #KEYS
535:What is expressed is always only a part of what is behind. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Power of Expression and Yoga, #KEYS
536:A dry and strong or even austere logic is not a key to Truth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, Russell, Eddington, Jeans, #KEYS
537:'Disaster, disaster, disaster, on all the people on earth at the sound of the other three trumpets which the three angels have yet to blow!'" ~ Revelation 8:13, #KEYS
538:Extraordinary individuals stand out in the extent to which they reflect-often explicitly-on the events of their lives, large as well as small. ~ Howard Gardner, #KEYS
539:How should I meditate?
Fix your mind on the aspiration and dismiss everything else.
~ The Mother, More Answers From The Mother,#KEYS
540:Meditate on the deity of the mantra by performing special rites. While engaged, perform the japa of the mantra. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
541:One has not only to be sincere but to be faithful through all. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Grace and Guidance, #KEYS
542:The physical consciousness is constitutionally ignorant. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Difficulties of the Physical Nature, #KEYS
543:The way to liberation is to turn from the outward to the inward. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
544:We need new myths, but we need to understand we stand on the old myths. These must be completly understood to be able to create new myths ~ James George Frazer, #KEYS
545:When setting out on a journey, do not seek advice from those who have never left home. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
546:Behind all seen things lies something vaster; everything is but a path, a portal or a window opening on something other than iteself. ~ Antoine de Saint Exupery, #KEYS
547:Don't spend your energies on things that generate worry, anxiety and anguish. Only one thing is necessary: Lift up your spirit, and love God." ~ Saint Padre Pio, #KEYS
548:If the body is left insufficiently nourished, it will think of food more than otherwise. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Food, #KEYS
549:intimate autumn
under the stars
on bearskin
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
550:It is the mind that turns concrete realities into abstractions. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Experiences and Realisations, #KEYS
551:Now let me sit here, on the threshold of two worlds, lost in the eloquence of silence". ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
552:The destiny of India will not wait on the falterings and failings of individuals. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Bande Mataram - I, Bhawani Mandir, #KEYS
553:The free spirit can stand fearless before even the biggest forces of Nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Morality and Yoga, #KEYS
554:The God-intoxicated fall down on the earth unable to keep their balance, owing to an excess of God-intoxication. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
555:The sattwic quality is a first mediator between the higher and the lower nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Deva and Asura, #KEYS
556:Violence in ordinary Nature does not justify violence in a spiritual work. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Anger and Violence, #KEYS
557:a firefly on a
blade of grass
evening dew
~ Kobayashi Issa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
558:For the most part men are the slaves of their associations. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Kena and Other Upanishads, On Translating the Upanishads, #KEYS
559:He bids us follow his example: Seek the things that are above, he says, which is only another way of saying: "Keep your eyes on Christ." ~ Saint Gregory of Nyssa, #KEYS
560:It is only the Grace that can bring the real supramental change. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Supramental Transformation, #KEYS
561:One becomes spiritually awakened by continuously contemplating on the Divine. But you can become illumined right now, if you become desireless. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
562:rain on the beach
smothering
the bonfire
~ Kobayashi Issa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
563:There can be no immortality of the body without supramentalisation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Transformation and the Body, #KEYS
564:This world of fragile forms
Carried on canvas-strips of shimmering Time, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Issue,#KEYS
565:What the mind wants is not at all always what is intended in a larger purpose. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Occult Knowledge, #KEYS
566:When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity. ~ Albert Einstein, #KEYS
567:Where there is not the personal egoism of the doer, desire becomes impossible. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Divine Worker, #KEYS
568:Who am I — what kind of watchman am I? I do not stand on the pinnacle of achievement, I languish rather in the depths of my weakness. ~ Saint Gregory the Great, #KEYS
569:454. In those whom God loves, have delight; on those whom He pretends not to love, take pity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine And Human, #KEYS
570:Cosmos cannot be governed by a Power that does not transcend cosmos. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Word of the Gita, #KEYS
571:He who regards the body as a milage or as a flake of foam on the waves, shall no longer see death ~ Dhammapada, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
572:In the state of future bliss, the human intellect will gaze on the Divine Truth in Itself ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 1.101.2)., #KEYS
573:Look at the simplicity of the Truth with a straight and simple gaze. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Depression and Despondency, #KEYS
574:One can give not only one's soul, but all one's powers to the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Consecration and Offering, #KEYS
575:Our rapture here is short before we go
To other sweetness on some rarer height ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Plays and Stories, Act II,#KEYS
576:The aim of our life on earth is to become conscious of the Divine.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The True Aim of Life, [4] [T0],#KEYS
577:Those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. ... They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not fain'
~ Anonymous, The Bible, Isaiah, 40:31 NLT.,#KEYS
578:walking on frost
it hurts me
to see him leave
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
579:walking through
a mountain village
on a cold autumn night
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
580:We humans appear on the cosmic calendar so recently that our recorded history occupies only the last few seconds of the last minute of December 31st. ~ Carl Sagan, #KEYS
581:Yes, this is the true love, which is a force; it is the union that enables new possibilities to be realised... ~ The Mother, On Education, #KEYS
582:All force is power or means of a secret spirit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - V, #KEYS
583:Always be calm, go on working without any fatigue. This is the test; whether the mind is working properly or not, can be understood from this. ~ Swami Akhandananda, #KEYS
584:a rainbow over the mountain
reflected on the lake
autumn wind
~ Ogawa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
585:Every breath of life is a breath too of death. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #KEYS
586:If birth is a becoming, death also is a becoming, not by any means a cessation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Divine, #KEYS
587:Life is not entirely real until it opens into the sense of the infinite. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Lord of the Sacrifice, #KEYS
588:One of the two great steps in this Yoga is to take refuge in the Mother.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, [T1],#KEYS
589:She throws a glittering robe on Ignorance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Little Mind, #KEYS
590:The plants are very psychic, but they can express it only by silence and beauty. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Science and Yoga, #KEYS
591:The priesthood requires a great soul; for the priest has many harassing troubles of his own, and has need of innumerable eyes on all sides. ~ Saint John Chrysostom, #KEYS
592:To be by oneself very much needs a certain force of inner life. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Asceticism and the Integral Yoga, #KEYS
593:We are not the body, but the body is still something of ourselves. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Adwaita of Shankaracharya, #KEYS
594:What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books. ~ Thomas Carlyle, #KEYS
595:When He enters this eye, this eye becomes like the sea; when He gazes on the sea, out of all its waters pearls come ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
596:a bird perched
on a bare branch
autumn evening
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
597:A person participating in the Word of God becomes god by participation ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 10, lect. 35)., #KEYS
598:Aspiration is a call to the Divine, will is the pressure of the conscious force on Nature.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T5],#KEYS
599:Be content in what the Master wills. There is no use in becoming restless. Stay where you are and depend on Him. There is no point in worrying . ~ Swami Saradananda, #KEYS
600:But first philosophy considers what is universally true of things ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Metaphysics 2, lect. 1)., #KEYS
601:Destruction is the first condition of progress. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #KEYS
602:f you are keen on realising God, repeat His name' with firm faith, and try to discriminate the Real from the unreal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
603:If you are keen on realising God, repeat His name with firm faith, and try to discriminate the Real from the unreal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
604:If you go on working with the light available, you will meet your Master, as he himself will be seeking you. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
605:Logic can serve any turn proposed to it by the mind's preferences. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, Russell, Eddington, Jeans, #KEYS
606:Love does not grow on trees or brought in the market, but if one wants to be "loved" one must first know how to give unconditional love. ~ Kabir, #KEYS
607:Nobody can really help—only the Divine Grace. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
608:Selfishness is to live for oneself and not for something greater than the self. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
609:The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
610:The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Isaiah, 9:2, #KEYS
611:There is trouble only when you cling to something. When you hold on to nothing, no trouble arises. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #KEYS
612:The soul is seated within and impervious to the shocks of external events. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Field and its Knower, #KEYS
613:Those whom the Force has touched and taken up, belong thenceforth to the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Force, #KEYS
614:To clear the vital, you must get out of it all compromise with falsehood. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Nature of the Vital, #KEYS
615:Why do we put people who are on drugs in jail? They're sick, they're not criminals. Sick people don't get healed in prison. You see? It makes no sense. ~ Bill Hicks, #KEYS
616:As a bee when it has made honey, so a man when he has done a good act, does not call out for others to come and see, but he goes on to another act. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #KEYS
617:Balance is the perfect state of still water. Let that be our model. It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface." ~ Confucius, #KEYS
618:Everything is full of signs, and the one who understands one thing on the basis of another is a wise man of sorts. ~ Plotinus, Enneads §2.3.7, #KEYS
619:It is on the Silence behind the cosmos that all the movement of the universe is supported. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Silence, #KEYS
620:It is possible to be one with all, yet above all. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - The Double Aspect, #KEYS
621:moon in the
autumn dawn
lanterns on the eaves
~ Kobayashi Issa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
622:One Brahman, one reality in Self and Nature is the object of all knowledge. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Field and its Knower, #KEYS
623:Only the one who meditates on the heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains still. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
624:That which we call ourselves is only a trembling ray on the surface. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Delight of Existence, The Solution, #KEYS
625:There are three kinds of intellectual natures: human, angelic, and divine ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 1, lect. 1)., #KEYS
626:Those who think that Aristotle disagrees with Plato disagree with me, who make a concordant philosophy of both. ~ Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola, On Being and the One, #KEYS
627:try it on
clothe yourself
with a robe of flowers
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
628:Cessation of thought and other vibrations is the climax of the inner silence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
629:Death is only a shedding of the body, not a cessation of the personal existence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Death, #KEYS
630:If the longing is there, realization will be forced on you even if you do not want it. Long for it intensely so that the mind melts in devotion. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
631:If you desire only the Divine, there is an absolute certitude that you will reach the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Faith, #KEYS
632:into the ocean
I throw my sandals
rain on my head
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
633:leaves blowing
in the autumn wind
frost on the ivy
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
634:Meditation requires an object to meditate on, whereas in Self-enquiry there is only the subject and no object. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
635:The enemy tried to uproot me (destroy me), unaware of the fact that God is always on my side. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
636:Think of your work only when it is being done, not before and not after. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
637:We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend upon material success . . . but on Jesus alone." ~ Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, (1850-1917), #KEYS
638:According to Aldous Huxley, some of the books on his shelves glowed with a special energy or living power. They were alive, and they were beautiful. ~ Jeffrey J Kripal, #KEYS
639:As water does not enter into a stone, so religious advice produces no impression on the imprisoned soul or Baddha Jiva. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
640:Do not regret the tamas; but when satva comes into play, hold on to it fast and make the best of it. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 52, #KEYS
641:Friend let this be enough. If thou wouldst go on reading. Go thyself and become the writing and the meaning ~ Angelus Silesius, Selections from The Cherubinic Wanderer, #KEYS
642:From every nation on earth, without exception, Christ forms a single flock of those he has sanctified, daily fulfilling the promise he once made. ~ Saint Leo the Great, #KEYS
643:Go on practicing. Your concentration will be as easy as breathing. That will be the crown of your achievements. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
644:It belongs to great pride that persons prefer their own opinion to divinely revealed truth ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On evil 8.1ad7)., #KEYS
645:Which of Sri Aurobindo's books should I start with?
The Life Divine.
My blessings.
11 March 1941 ~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
646:Meditate on the Eternal either in an unknown nook or in the solitude of the forests or in the solitude of thy own mind. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
647:
The Riddle of the World
If you can solve it, you will be immortal, but if you fail you will perish. ~ The Mother, On Education, [T5],#KEYS
648:Some seek consolations through pleasures; the Lord says, "Blessed are those who mourn" ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Mt 5)., #KEYS
649:The human mind is an instrument not of truth but of ignorance and error. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Problems in Human Relations, #KEYS
650:There is no distinction between the impersonal God (Brahman) on the one hand and the personal God (Sakti) on the other. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
651:To the extent we have died to sin, to that extent we are alive with grace ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Colossians, ch. 3)., #KEYS
652:When one advances spiritually, it is not necessary to observe rituals for long. Then the mind gets concentrated on God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
653:A divided nature is the worst possible condition for this path. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Acceptance as a Disciple, #KEYS
654:All relations of Soul and Nature are circumstances in the eternity of Brahman. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Field and its Knower, #KEYS
655:a narrow path
through thick grass
dew on the flowers
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
656:God to the soul that sees is the path and God is the goal of his journey. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
657:It is in the silence of the mind that the strongest and freest action can come. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
658:Look round and thou wilt see a world on guard.
All life here armoured walks, shut in. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Plays and Stories, Act I,#KEYS
659:Love of the world, the mask, must change into the love of God, the Truth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
660:Material universe a form and movement of the Spirit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - V, #KEYS
661:One should rely on love only, because it alone is the base of all strength and all regeneration ~ Antoine the Healer, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
662:Self-Giving
To him who is the source of all that we are, we give all that we are. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Divine,#KEYS
663:To fix the mind on God is very difficult, in the beginning, unless one practices meditation in solitude.
~ Sri Ramakrishna, [T5],#KEYS
664:We must always meditate on God's wisdom, keeping it in our hearts and on our lips. Your tongue must speak justice, the law of God must be in your heart. ~ Saint Ambrose, #KEYS
665:All the play in this world is based on a certain relative free will in the individual being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Surrender, #KEYS
666:All things attained by man have been only a possibility in their earlier stages. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Intellect and Yoga, #KEYS
667:As a drunkard will sometimes put his coat on his head, so the God-intoxicated man is not conscious of the external world. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
668:... a shadow depends on light for its existence, but light does not depend for its existence on the shadow
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine,#KEYS
669:At the top of the head or above it is the right place for yogic concentration in reading or thinking.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
670:Compression without removal often increases the force of these things instead of destroying them. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Food, #KEYS
671:Force cannot resist intelligence; in spite of force, in spite of men, intelligence passes on and triumphs. ~ Ramayana, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
672:He blows where he wills and on whom He wills, and to what extent He wills (Jn 3:8). Thus we are inspired both to think and to speak of the Spirit. ~ Gregory of Nazianzen, #KEYS
673:However long the journey may be and however great the traveller, at the end is always found exclusive reliance on the Divine Grace. ~ The Mother, #KEYS
674:If a man shows pity for animals, he is all the more disposed to take pity on his fellow-men ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 1-2.102.6ad8)., #KEYS
675:I have issued out of myself, I have put on an immortal body, 1 am no longer the same, I am born into wisdom. ~ Hermes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
676:In Yoga friendship can remain, but attachment has to fall away. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
677:Live a worldly life, yet fix your mind on God. Do your work with one hand, and touch the feet of the Lord with the other. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
678:Nobler must kings be than natures of earth on whom Zeus lays no burden. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion, #KEYS
679:Only by falling back on our better thought, by yielding to the spirit of prophecy which is innate in every man, can we know what that wisdom saith. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #KEYS
680:Pain and suffering are necessary results of the Ignorance in which we live. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Depression and Despondency, #KEYS
681:Perfection comes by renunciation of desires and surrender to a higher Will. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
682:Silence of the being is the first natural aim of the Yoga. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Emptiness, Voidness, Blankness and Silence, #KEYS
683:So long as subtle tendencies continue to inhere in the mind, it is necessary to carry on the enquiry, 'Who am I?' ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
684:Such is Savitri' s mission. This mission has two sessions or periods. The first, that of preparation; the second, that of fulfilment. ~ Nolini Kanta Gupta, On Savitri, 6, #KEYS
685:The dayspring from on high has visited us, to give light to them that sit in the darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace. ~ Saint Luke, #KEYS
686:The divine detachment must be the foundation for a divine participation in Nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Secret of Secrets, #KEYS
687:The highest spiritual truth can be lived, can be seen, but can only be partially stated. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Two Natures, #KEYS
688:The idea is only a partial expression of the spirit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - VI, #KEYS
689:There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in your heart. ~ Chandogya Upanishad, #KEYS
690:The soul can grow against or even by a material destiny that is adverse. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Fate, Free Will and Prediction, #KEYS
691:Thinkest thou that thou canst write the name of God on Time? No more is it pronounced in Eternity. ~ Angelus Silesius, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
692:To create a high-performance team, it is important that the work to be performed does rely on teamwork rather than on isolated, individual efforts.
~ Buchholz and Roth,#KEYS
693:„We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8, #KEYS
694:We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away. ~ Zhuangzi, #KEYS
695:Why do you say you are troubled and so on? You could as well remain quiet. Why do you rise out of your composure? ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
696:Bondage and freedom are states of the outer mind, not of the inner spirit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
697:But within there is a soul and above there is Grace. 'This is all you know or need to know'
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Poetry And Art, [T5],#KEYS
698:Everything depends on God's grace. To have His grace, whatever work you perform, do it with sincerity and earnest longing. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
699:In the conviction that I am God's servant or I am His worshiper, there is no harm. On the other hand, it brings us to God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
700:I would hate to be taken seriously. Serious people are always so grim and uptight that they make me want to dance naked on the lawn playing a flute. ~ Robert Anton Wilson, #KEYS
701:Nobody can become more than human if he refuses to make a sacrifice of his ego. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Nature of the Vital, #KEYS
702:Once the mind has been trained to fix itself on formed images, it can easily accustom itself to fix on formless realities. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
703:on the beach
twilight pours out
across the waves
~ Kobayashi Issa, @BashoSociety#KEYS
704:The emergence of the Purusha is the beginning of liberation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Inner Detachment and the Witness Attitude, #KEYS
705:The Rajasic devotee may wear on his person the distinctive marks of his religion. He is particular to outward observances. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
706:The sage does not talk, the talented ones talk. And the stupid ones argue." ~ Kung Tingan [no info found on 'Kung Tingan']. Quote occurs in several places on web. One is:, #KEYS
707:This is the new birth, my son, to turn one's thought from the body that has the three dimensions. ~ Hermes: On Rebirth, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
708:Whoever is saved on the day of rising should grab his brother's hand to save him too." ~ Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
709:All ways can lead to the Supermind, just as all ways can lead to the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti Yoga and Vaishnavism, #KEYS
710:Ominous beings passed him on the road
Whose very gaze was a calamity: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Descent into Night,#KEYS
711:on a journey
traveling with the gods
numbering the days
~ Matsuo Basho, @BashoSociety#KEYS
712:Opinions on the world and on God are many and conflicting and I know not the truth. Enlighten me, O my Master. ~ Hermes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
713:The English Bible is a translation, but it ranks among the finest pieces of literature in the world. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, #KEYS
714:The outer life-result can only endure if it is founded on inner realities. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, The Suprarational Ultimate of Life, #KEYS
715:The thoughts change but not you.
Let go the passing throughts and hold on to the unchanging Self. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 524,#KEYS
716:The vital can take part in a movement but it must not be in control. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Vital and Other Levels of Being, #KEYS
717:This, then, is the function of death—the complete separation of body and soul ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Tertullian, On the Soul, 52.1)., #KEYS
718:Thoughts appear wending like the waves of an ocean. As meditation on the Self rises higher, thoughts get destroyed. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
719:When all the desires that trouble the heart have fallen silent, then this mortal puts on immortality. ~ Katha Upanishad, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
720:When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty........ but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
~ R Buckminster Fuller,#KEYS
721:When I wish to conceive the notion of a stone, I must arrive at it by reasoning ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 1, lect. 1)., #KEYS
722:When you hear that He was lifted up, understand His hanging on high, that He might sanctify the air who had sanctified the earth by walking upon it. ~ Theophylact of Ohrid, #KEYS
723:All Yoga is a seeking after the Divine, a turn towards union with the Eternal. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Word of the Gita, #KEYS
724:A mistake must always be acknowledged and corrected. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, General Comments on some Criticisms of the Poem, #KEYS
725:Because a discipline is obtained through doctrine, you must first acquire doctrine ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Philippians 4)., #KEYS
726:Go to the truth beyond the mind. Love is the bridge." ~ Stephen Levine, (1937-2016) American poet, author and teacher best known for his work on death and dying, Wikipedia., #KEYS
727:I have written these things unto you, on the day before the ninth of the Kalends of September. Fare well to the end, in the patience of Jesus Christ. Amen. ~ Saint Ignatius, #KEYS
728:Inexhaustible energy is an excellent thing, but not an energy without discipline. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Nature of the Vital, #KEYS
729:I saw many humans on whom there were no clothes, I saw many clothes in which there were no humans." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
730:Must first have striven, many must have failed
Before a great thing can be done on earth, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Plays and Stories, Act I,#KEYS
731:One is not bound to tell everything to everybody—it might often do more harm than good. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Speech and Yoga, #KEYS
732:Peace, purity and silence can be felt in all material things—for the Divine Self is there in all. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Peace, #KEYS
733:Philosophy and religion are the soul of Indian culture. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - II, #KEYS
734:Repentance even helps provided it does not bring discouragement or depression. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Depression and Despondency, #KEYS
735:The best expenditure of energy is that which flows easily without effort at all. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Force in Work, #KEYS
736:The psychic sorrow which does not disturb or depress but rather liberates the vital. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Jainism and Buddhism, #KEYS
737:Though egotism is beheaded in the perfected soul, its vitality is left to make them carry on the functions of physical life. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
738:To know how to keep the Divine contact in all circumstances is the secret of beatitude. 21 April 1970 ~ The Mother, On Thoughts and Aphorisms, [T5], #KEYS
739:With the appearance of the sun the ice melts, so on the appearance of knowledge, God with form melts away into the formless. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
740:All consciousness is one, but in action it takes on many movements. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Supramental Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
741:Also to think too much of the hostile Powers is to bring in their atmosphere. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Dealing with Hostile Attacks, #KEYS
742:As a lover performing duties while thinking of their beloved, perform your worldly duties but let your heart be fixed on God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
743:By constantly keeping one's attention on the Source, the ego is dissolved in that Source like a salt-doll in the sea. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
744:By having patience under all kinds of pressure you lay the foundations of peace. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Patience and Perseverance, #KEYS
745:Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
746:Don't waste your energies on things that cause worry, disturbance and anxiety. Only one thing is necessary: to lift the spirit and love God. ~ Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, #KEYS
747:Faith is more noble than science on the part of the object because its object is the First Truth ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 1-2.67.3ad1)., #KEYS
748:From melancholy there arise malice, rancor, cowardice, despair, slothfulness in fulfilling the commands, and a wandering of the mind on unlawful objects. ~ Gregory the Great, #KEYS
749:If he who sets out on this way will not engage himself wholly and completely, he will never be free from the sadness and melancholy which weigh him down. ~ Attar of Nishapur, #KEYS
750:If nature operates for an end, it is necessary that it be ordered by someone intelligent ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On Physics 2, lect. 12)., #KEYS
751:One must learn to speak the truth alone if one is to succeed truly in changing the nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Speech and Yoga, #KEYS
752:Self-justification is always a sign of ego and ignorance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV: Problems in Human Relations
Self-Justification#KEYS
753:The ninety and nine are with dreams, content, but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true. ~ Edgar Allan Poe, #KEYS
754:There is a consciousness in each physical thing with which one can communicate. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
755:Time and Space that are the conceptual movement and extension of the Godhead in us. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, God in Power of Becoming, #KEYS
756:A civilisation is to be judged by the power of its ideas. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - VI, #KEYS
757:Delight of the heart in God is the whole constituent and essence of true Bhakti. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Word of the Gita, #KEYS
758:Freedom, love and spiritual knowledge raise us from mortal nature to immortal being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Field and its Knower, #KEYS
759:He is the explorer and the mariner
On a secret inner ocean without bourne. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,#KEYS
760:It is easiest to tell what transubstantiation is by saying this: little children should be taught about it as early as possible. ~ Elizabeth Anscombe, 'On Transubstantiation', #KEYS
761:It is well known to all experienced minds that our firmest convictions are often dependent on subtle impressions for which words are quite too coarse a medium. ~ George Eliot, #KEYS
762:Knowledge of facts is a poor thing if one cannot see their true significance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Place of Study in Sadhana, #KEYS
763:Let Him do what He thinks best. True resignation comes only after hard struggle. Only when the wings tired, does a bird sit on the mast of a ship to rest. ~ Swami Saradananda, #KEYS
764:Mental prayer is nothing else but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, #KEYS
765:Progress: to be ready, at every minute, to give up all one is and all one has in order to advance on the way.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III,#KEYS
766:The Eucharist is the sacrament of love and ecclesial unity ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on 1 Cor. 11). twitter.com/Thewarning9/st…, #KEYS
767:The knowledge of oneness makes me see that everything is but a manifestation of God, the absolute, on the plane of the senses. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
768:The nature of a lie is based on formal falsehood, namely, that someone intends to say what is false ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 2-2.110.1)., #KEYS
769:The silent all-pervading Self is only one side of the truth of the divine Being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Word of the Gita, #KEYS
770:The worlds of the universe are like foam on the ocean and poets and the wise appear like lightning. ~ Yoka Diashi, @BashoSociety #KEYS
771:Too heavy falls a Shadow on man's heart;
It dares not be too happy upon earth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Word of Fate,#KEYS
772:`Who am I to meditate on an object ?' Such a one must be told to find the Self. That is the finality. That is vichara. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
773:Who, then, are those brothers? Jerome says that men are called brothers in many ways ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on My 12, lect 4)., #KEYS
774:After realization, should one dance with joy or take up his former work? Go on with your work, leaving the issue with the Lord. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
775:All Shastra is built on a number of preparatory conditions, dharmas; it is a means, not an end. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Deva and Asura, #KEYS
776:And this is what he means when the Apostle says, 'the just man lives by faith' ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Galatians 3, lect. 4)., #KEYS
777:A tiny child is born, who is a great king. Wise men are led to him from afar. They come to adore one who lies in a manger and yet reigns in heaven and on earth. ~ Quodvultdeus, #KEYS
778:Born into the womb ::: Born into the womb of a HIPPU (a woman in a very low social position who is considered stupid and worthless) on a summer's day.
~ Saisei Muro,#KEYS
779:Credence, when mediocrity multiplied
Equals itself with genius. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Lines on Ireland,#KEYS
780:Go on practicing. Your concentration will be as easy as breathing. That will be the crown of your achievements.
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, [T5],#KEYS
781:Has thy need for taking food passed away? Let not the thought of thy Benefactor pass away too. As thou art putting on thy tunic, thank the Giver of it. ~ Saint Basil the Great, #KEYS
782:He whose thought is always fixed on the Eternal has no need of any devotional practice or spiritual exercise. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
783:Man can only be happy by the fruit of the labour which he spends on his self-improvement. ~ Antoine the Healer: Revelations, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
784:Mercy is heaven itself; to be good, we have all to be merciful. Even justice and right should stand on mercy. ~ Swami Vivekananda, (C.W. I. 59), #KEYS
785:Nothing in God's workings in this world is done by an abrupt action without procedure or basis. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Deva and Asura, #KEYS
786:One must first be conscious before one can be ignorant. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, General Comments on some Criticisms of the Poem, #KEYS
787:So long as desire and ego remain, there can be no surrender to the Divine, no fulfilment in the Yoga. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
788:The ethical rule tramples on pleasure, even very often on quite innocent pleasures. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, Aesthetic and Ethical Culture, #KEYS
789:The reason has to be led to a truth beyond itself, but by its own means and in its own manner. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Two Natures, #KEYS
790:Those, on the contrary, who contemplate the immutable essence of things, have knowledge and not opinions. ~ Plato: Republic, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
791:To be fixed on the transient, to be limited in the phenomenon is to accept mortality. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Field and its Knower, #KEYS
792:Vanity is like a heap of ashes on which water, as soon as it falls, is dried up. Prayers produce no effect upon the vain heart. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
793:Yoga is the founding of all the life and consciousness in the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
794:Carry on the sadhana until pleasure and fear are both transcended and all duality ceases, and the Reality alone remains. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
795:He alone traverses the current of the illusion who comes face to face with the Eternal and realises it. ~ Hermes: On Rebirth, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
796:I am only the dust
on My Lover's Path
And
from dust
I will rise
and turn into a flower ! ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path#KEYS
797:It is quietness and inwardness that enable one to feel the Presence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Experiences Associated with the Psychic, #KEYS
798:It is the true more than the new that the poet is after. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, General Comments on some Criticisms of the Poem, #KEYS
799:Man ordinarily offers his sacrifice openly or under a disguise to his own ego. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Fullness of Spiritual Action, #KEYS
800:Mourning draws on transcendent but representable justice, which makes the suffering of immediate experience visible and speakable. ~ Gillian Rose, Mourning becomes the Law (36), #KEYS
801:O, Mary, my Mother, be my refuge and my shelter. Give me peace in the storm. I am tired on the journey. Let me rest in you. Shelter and protect me. ~ Saint Bernadette Soubirous, #KEYS
802:One who has the call in him cannot fail to arrive, if he follows patiently the way towards the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Purity, #KEYS
803:Realize at long last that you have within you something stronger and more numinous than those agents of emotion which make you a mere puppet on their strings. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #KEYS
804:Reason and intellectuality cannot make you see the Divine, it is the soul that sees. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Difficulties of Yoga, #KEYS
805:The human mind becomes ruffled by breathing, hence the yogi concentrates his mind by regulating breath before meditation on God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
806:The self or spirit has the joy of its own existence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Vedanta and Other Paths of Self-Realisation, #KEYS
807:The unregenerate vital is not grateful for a benefit, it resents being under an obligation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
808:To curse a creature, as such, reflects on God, and thus accidentally has the character of blasphemy ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 2-2.76.4ad1)., #KEYS
809:Unless mind is tamed within,
Outer enemies will be inexhaustible.
If you tame the anger within,
All enemies on earth will be pacified. ~ Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye,#KEYS
810:We shall be blessed with clear vision if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, for he, as Paul teaches, is our head, and there is in him no shadow of evil. ~ Saint Gregory of Nyssa, #KEYS
811:When the mind and soul have chosen the goal, the rest is bound to follow. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Imperfections and Periods of Arrest, #KEYS
812:When the soul has been made godlike (deiformis), Wisdom immediately enters into it. . . . Without sanctity a person is not wise. ~ Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron 2.6, #KEYS
813:You are my song, my dark blue dream
Of doves, of winter's drowsy drone,
And sleighs that slow and golden go
Through gray blue shadows on the snow. ~ Velimir Khlebnikov,#KEYS
814:You have to undertake strenuous spiritual exercises. One is vouchsafed the divine mood when one's mind becomes purified through meditation on God. ~ Manapurush Swami Shivananda, #KEYS
815:You ignore the doubter but try to solve the doubts.
Hold on to the doubter and the doubts will disappear. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 238,#KEYS
816:Zen is not a religion. There is no room for a cult. There is no dependence on a teacher. There is only learning how to use your own mind and making it strong." ~ Frederick Lenz, #KEYS
817:As for reading books on Vedanta, you may go on reading any number of them. They can only tell you, 'Realise the Self within you'. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, #KEYS
818:Beware! Don't allow yourself to do what you know is wrong, relying on the thought, Later I will repent and ask God's forgiveness. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
819:[...] for doubt itself is an attribute of Saturn (Satan). Those who are not striving for the highest, partake of the lowest. ~ Manly P Hall, Magic: A Treatise on Esoteric Ethics, #KEYS
820:I base my teaching on the great Vedantic truth of the sameness and omnipresence of the Soul of the Universe. ~ Swami Vivekananda, (C.W. III. 194), #KEYS
821:If you are wise you would become Brahman by such conviction; if not, even if you are repeatedly told it would be useless like offerings thrown on ashes. ~ Valmiki, Yoga Vasistha, #KEYS
822:In the silence of the self there is no time—it is akāla. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Experiences of the Self, the One and the Infinite, #KEYS
823:It is necessary to remember oneself, but it is not necessary to forget phenomena. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
824:Mental knowledge cannot replace faith; so long as there is only mental knowledge, faith is still needed. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Faith, #KEYS
825:Mental realisation is useful at the beginning and prepares spiritual experience. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Experiences and Realisations, #KEYS
826:Not to kill emotion, but to turn it towards the Divine is the right way of the Yoga. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti, Devotion, Worship, #KEYS
827:Our human knowledge is a candle burnt
On a dim altar to a sun-vast Truth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Heavens of the Ideal,#KEYS
828:The angel plucks a large handful of flowers, and they carry it with them up to God, where the flowers bloom more brightly than they ever did on earth. ~ Hans Christian Andersen , #KEYS
829:There is no law that wisdom should be something rigidly solemn and without a smile. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Cheerfulness and Happiness, #KEYS
830:Throwing away the life does not improve the chances for the next time. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Dealing with Depression and Despondency, #KEYS
831:A man's spiritual gain depends on his ideas and sentiments; it is the product of his heart and not of his works. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
832:Evil forces can always attack in moments of unconsciousness or half-consciousness. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Dealing with Hostile Attacks, #KEYS
833:On the spiritual path each step forward is a conquest and the result of a fight.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path, [T5],#KEYS
834:Our being in its growth has stages through which it must pass. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - V, #KEYS
835:Self-knowledge of all kinds is on the straight path to the knowledge of the real Self. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Status of Knowledge, #KEYS
836:So long as one has a body, they must have some Maya, however little it may be, to enable them to carry on the functions of a body. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
837:The jiva (soul), possessed by the spirit of Maya (illusion), on realizing that it is self-deluded, becomes at once free from Maya. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
838:The Truth-Consciousness that can only manifest when ego and desire are overcome. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III: The Universal or Cosmic Forces #KEYS
839:This world . . . ever was, and is, and shall be, ever-living Fire, in measures being kindled and in measures going out. ~ Heraclitus, On the Universe, 20, #KEYS
840:We must know how to depend for everything and in everything on the Divine. He alone can surmount all difficulties.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
841:A rule of the few exists when the regime is dominated by those who abound in riches ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Politics 6, lect. 6)., #KEYS
842:Be true to your true self always—that is the real sincerity. Persist and conquer. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Dealing with Hostile Attacks, #KEYS
843:Every stumble is a needed pace
On unknown routes to an unknowable goal. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Debate of Love and Death,#KEYS
844:It is through the Cosmic Shakti that the Divine creates. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I: Sachchidananda, Existence, Consciousness-Force and Bliss, #KEYS
845:Mechanical Nature is only a lower truth; it is the formula of an inferior phenomenal action. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Secret of Secrets, #KEYS
846:Rely on nothing that thy senses perceive; all that thou seest, hearest, feelest; is like a deceiving dream. ~ Minamoto Sanemoto, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
847:Sincerity ::: To allow no part of the being to contradict the highest aspiration towards the Divine
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [50], [T6],#KEYS
848:St. Lawrence endured roasting on a gridiron to avoid sacrificing to idols ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Nichomachean Ethics 3, lect. 2), #KEYS
849:The cause of mediocre work is neither the variety nor the number of activities, but lack of the power of concentration.
~ The Mother, On Education, [T5],#KEYS
850:To attain to God with the mind is a great blessing, but to comprehend Him is impossible ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 1, lect. 5)., #KEYS
851:To be above the mind one must first realise the self above the mind and live there. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Ascent to the Higher Planes, #KEYS
852:We have at a certain stage to liberate ourselves even from the desire of our liberation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Determinism of Nature, #KEYS
853:All that we are on the outside is indeed conditioned by what is within. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Knowledge by Identity and Separative Knowledge, #KEYS
854:Certainly, He will come to you. Only one thing is needed: your yearning, your earnest longing. He wants nothing else. You have to call on Him with earnestness. ~ Swami Akhandananda, #KEYS
855:Grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ, as through the Lord and Author of truth and grace ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 1)., #KEYS
856:It is always our weaknesses that make us sad, and we can easily recover by advancing one step more on the way.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, [T1],#KEYS
857:Mental knowledge is not true knowledge; true knowledge is that which is based on the true sight. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, Conclusion and Summary, #KEYS
858:Our inferences are often wrong and even when they are right touch only the surface of the matter. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Occult Knowledge, #KEYS
859:The disease of a worldly man is of a serious type. Attachment to Kama Kanchana (sex and wealth) has brought all this trouble on him. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
860:The disease of a worldly man is of a serious type. Attachment to Kama-Kanchana (sex and wealth) has brought all this trouble on him. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
861:Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven and landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water." ~ Revelation 8:10, #KEYS
862:The other one of a complementary pair the opposite sex; the two chess kings are set up on squares of opposite colours; Altogether different in nature, quality or significance
~ ?,#KEYS
863:The world is only a partial manifestation of the Godhead, it is not itself that Divinity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Theory of the Vibhuti, #KEYS
864:Time is always moving on; nothing can stop it. We can't change the past, but we can learn from it to shape the future. Let's work together to create a happier future." ~ Dalai Lama, #KEYS
865:To become conscious of what is to be changed in the nature is the first step towards changing it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Speech and Yoga, #KEYS
866:To live in the wideness of the Intuition is not possible with the limitation of the ego. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Higher Planes of Mind, #KEYS
867:For one who has the assured inner life, there is no dullness. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Profiting from One's Stay in the Ashram, #KEYS
868:For she alone is prompter on our stage,
And all things move by an established doom,
Not freely. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Plays and Stories, Act I,#KEYS
869:I am but a guest in this world. While others rush about to get things done, I accept what is offered. I drift like a wave on the ocean. I blow as aimless as the wind. ~ Tao Te Ching, #KEYS
870:In a supramentalised body immunity from illness would be automatic, inherent in its new nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Illness and Health, #KEYS
871:Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother - On spirit possession and mental imbalances
~ ?, https://auromere.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/on-spirit-possession-and-mental-imbalances/,#KEYS
872:it is ordered toward confirming the faith, and it proceeds from God's omnipotence on which faith relies ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 2-2.178.1ad5)., #KEYS
873:My solitude doesn't depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #KEYS
874:Our hands imbibe like roots,
so I place them on what is beautiful in this world.
And I fold them in prayer, and they draw from the heavens, light. ~ Saint Francis of Assisi,#KEYS
875:Siddhas or miraculous powers are to be avoided like filth. He who sets his mind on the Siddhis, remains stuck and cannot rise higher. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
876:So Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Genesis, 22:14, #KEYS
877:The Avatar of sorrow and suffering must come before there can be the Avatar of divine joy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Process of Avatarhood, #KEYS
878:The end of tamas is disintegration, dispersal of forces, failure of material. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Care of Material Things, #KEYS
879:The force varies always according to the power of consciousness which it embodies. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Divine Birth and Divine Works, #KEYS
880:The nature of poetry is to soar on the wings of the inspiration to the highest intensities. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Future Poetry, Recent English Poetry - I, #KEYS
881:There is always a reason to live. The Gods will set you on the proper path. There is a deeper purpose to the path you have been set upon, one that has yet to reveal itself.
~ Sura,#KEYS
882:The separation of the body from the soul is called death. But thi - cannot be said to be either good or bad; it is neutral ~ Origen, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 6.6.5)., #KEYS
883:... They cried out in a loud voice, "How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?" ~ Revelation 6:9-10, #KEYS
884:When nothing upsets you, you are at the beginning of the path. When you desire nothing, you are halfway on the path; when nothing becomes everything, you are perfected. ~ Meher Baba, #KEYS
885:As soon as a man takes on the responsibility of a family, he is weighed down and feels himself unfit for the high attainments of life. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
886:Be on guard against temptation when living in the world; once fallen into that well, one can hardly come out of it pure and stainless. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
887:Can an actor on stage throw off his mask? Let worldly people play out their part, in time they will throw off their false appearances. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
888:Faith and courage are the true attitude to keep in life and work always and in the spiritual experience also. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Faith, #KEYS
889:If you desire to be pure, do not waste your energies in useless scriptural arguments, but slowly go on with your devotional practices. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
890:If you surrender to the Lord and call on Him with a heart full of yearning, He is bound to listen and take care of everything for you. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
891:limitations gone :::
limitations gone
since my mind fixed on the moon
clarity and serenity
make something for which
there's no end in sight ~ Saigyo,#KEYS
892:I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Psalms, 116:1-2, NIV, #KEYS
893:Impose not on the mortal's tremulous breast
The dire ordeal that foreknowledge brings; ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Word of Fate,#KEYS
894:Intellect is part of Mind and an instrument of half-truth like the rest of the Mind. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Intellect and the Intellectual, #KEYS
895:Intelligence does not depend on the amount one has read, it is a quality of the mind. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Place of Study in Sadhana, #KEYS
896:It does not help for spiritual knowledge to be ignorant of the things of this world. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Mental Development and Sadhana, #KEYS
897:It is usually only if there is much activity of sadhana in the day that it extends also into the sleep state. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sleep, #KEYS
898:Why are we on earth?
To find the Divine who is in each of us and in all things.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The True Aim of Life [3],#KEYS
899:Never stop working on your statue until the divine glory of virtue shines out on you, until you see self-mastery enthroned upon its holy seat. ~ Plotinus, [T5], #KEYS
900:No victory can be won without a fixed fidelity to the aim and a long effort. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
901:The consciousness of union with the Divine is for the spiritual seeker the supreme knowledge. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
902:The end is the cause of causes, because it is the cause of the causality in all causes ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On the Principles of Nature, c. 3)., #KEYS
903:The mind does not record things as they are, but as they appear to it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Mental Difficulties and the Need of Quietude, #KEYS
904:The vision of God brings infallibly the adoration and passionate seeking of the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
905:What one fears has the tendency to come until one is able to look it in the face and overcome one's shrinking. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Fear, #KEYS
906:Yoga through work is the easiest and most effective way to enter into the stream of this Sadhana.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother,#KEYS
907:A sane grasp on facts and a high spiritualised positivism must always be there. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Supermind and the Yoga of Works, #KEYS
908:At times, just relax in places with rivers, flowers, and so on, focusing on the visualization and singing HUM in a melodious, drawn out fashion.
~ Third Dzogchen Rinpoche, 1759-1792,#KEYS
909:How do you breathe and digest your food? Do you have the absolute certainty of remaining alive, for even the next five minutes, on the strength of your own volition? ~ Ramesh Balsekar, #KEYS
910:If you go on working with the light available, you will meet your Master, as he himself will be seeking you.
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 31, [T8],#KEYS
911:l that the seeker can find is his own absence." ~ Terence James Stannus Gray, (1895 - 1986), under the pen name "Wei Wu Wei", he published eight books on Taoist philosophy, Wikipedia., #KEYS
912:Our call must be to live on a new height in all our being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Out of the Sevenfold Ignorance towards the Sevenfold Knowledge, #KEYS
913:Philosophy is of course a creation of the mind but its defect is not that it is false. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Place of Study in Sadhana, #KEYS
914:Some wish to avoid evil by oppressing those under them; the Lord says, "Blessed are the merciful" ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Matthew 5)., #KEYS
915:The light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in shadows; the Dayspring from on high has visited us and given light to those who lived in darkness. ~ Sophronius of Jerusalem, #KEYS
916:The one who is stern with people on acts of worship (ibada) will only turn them away from it. ~ al-Habib Ahmad b. Hasan al-Attas, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
917:The outer change is necessary but as a part of the inner change. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Danger of the Ego and the Need of Purification, #KEYS
918:There should be even in deep feeling a calm, a control, a purifying restraint and measure. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti, Devotion, Worship, #KEYS
919:The world discerned only by the intellect is nothing else than the Word (Logos) of God when He was already engaged in the act of creation. ~ Philo of Alexandria, On the Creation VI.24, #KEYS
920:As on the troubled surface of a lake the moon is reflected in broken images, in Maya the mental reflection of God is partial and broken. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
921:As wet wood put on a furnace loses its moisture, so worldiness dries away for one who has taken refuge in God and repeats His holy name. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
922:For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, 1 Corinthians, XV. 53, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
923:Friendship and love are indispensable notes in the harmony to which we aspire. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
924:Hoof-Mark on Breast (Sri Vatsa)
To lift our hopes heaven-high and to extend them
As wide as earth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Plays and Stories, Act I,#KEYS
925:If one were truly aware of the value of human life, to waste it blithely on distractions and the pursuit of vulgar ambitions would be the height of confusion. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
926:In another world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often. ~ John Henry Newman, An Essay on the Devlopment of Christian Doctrine, #KEYS
927:In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, #KEYS
928:It is rather a wider than a higher consciousness that is necessary for the liberation from the ego. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
929:Life to us means only the way she affects our ego and the way our ego replies to her touches. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Gist of the Karmayoga, #KEYS
930:Moonlight floods the whole sky from horizon to horizon; How much it can fill your room depends on its windows." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
931:Morality is for the Western mind mostly a thing of outward conduct. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - IV, #KEYS
932:Scattered on sealed depths, her luminous smile
Kindled to fire the silence of the worlds. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Symbol Dawn,#KEYS
933:Seek the Divine Love through the only gate through which it will consent to enter, the gate of the psychic being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sex, #KEYS
934:... The fighters will rise up to the heavens to take the stars and throw them on the cities, to set ablaze the buildings and to cause immense devastations." ~ Saint Odile, (660-720 AD), #KEYS
935:The intellect and life and emotion always grasp too much at things, fasten on premature certitudes. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Faith and Shakti, #KEYS
936:The love of God always loves to lift the mind into divine conversation. The love of neighbor is always ready to think good about him. ~ Maximus the Confessor, Centuries on Charity 4.40, #KEYS
937:The Magician looks on the wicked as invalids whom one must pity and cure; the world, with its errors and vices, is to him God's hospital, and he wishes to serve in it.
~ Eliphas Levi,#KEYS
938:Your trust in God is sufficient to save you from rebirths. Cast all burden on Him. Have faith and that will save you. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 30, #KEYS
939:As on the troubled surface of a lake, the moon is reflected in broken images, in Maya the mental reflection of God is partial and broken. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
940:Dread shows a weakness—the free spirit can stand fearless before even the biggest forces of Nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Morality and Yoga, #KEYS
941:Every now and then a clear harmonic cry gave new suggestions of a tune that would someday be the only tune in the world and would raise men's souls to joy. ~ Jack Kerouac in On The Road, #KEYS
942:Go on. You have worked wonderfully well. We do not wait for help, we will work it out, my boy, be self-reliant, faithful and patient. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #KEYS
943:Meditate on the Eternal either in an unknown nook or in the solitude of the forests or in the solitude of thy own mind. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
944:Nature is so perfect that the Trinity couldn't have fashioned her any more perfect. She is an organ on which our Lord plays and the devil works the bellows. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #KEYS
945:O green branch, God foresaw your flowering On the first day of His Creation. And out of His own Word, most worthy Virgin He made golden matter. ~ Hildegard, 'O virga, folriditatem tuam', #KEYS
946:One must found self-knowledge before one can have the basis of a right world-knowledge. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita: The Fullness of Spiritual Action/ #KEYS
947:People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons from within. ~ Ursula K Le Guin, The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader and the Imagination, #KEYS
948:The real is behind and beyond words, incommunicable, directly experienced, explosive in its effect on the mind.
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, [T5],#KEYS
949:There can be an action in the Silence, undisturbed even as the universal action goes on in the cosmic Silence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Silence, #KEYS
950:The servant "I" of a devotee, or the "I" of a child, each of these is like a line drawn with a stick on the water. It does not last long. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
951:To realize God is the one goal of life. The grace of God falls alike on all His children, learned and illiterate―whoever longs for Him. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
952:What help is in prevision to the driven?
Safe doors cry opening near, the doomed pass on. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Word of Fate,#KEYS
953:But no victory can be won without a fixed fidelity to the aim and a long effort. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
954:He puts on joy and sorrow like a robe
And drinks experience like a strengthening wine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,#KEYS
955:He whose hairs stand on end with ecstasy at the mere mention of Sir Hari's name and sheds tears of love, has already taken his last birth. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
956:Human thought creates what it imagines; the phantoms of superstition project their deformities on the astral light, and live upon the same terrors which give them birth.
~ Eliphas Levi,#KEYS
957:If a man loves God, living upon the flesh of pigs, he is blessed; unlike the man who lives on milk and rice but is fixed on lust and gold. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
958:If you do not cover yourself on every side with the shield of patience, you will not remain long without wounds. ~ Imitation of Christ, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
959:If you meditate on your ideal, you will acquire its nature. If you think of God day and night, you will acquire the nature of God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
960:It can come early or it can come late, but come it will if one is faithful in one's call. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Grace and Guidance, #KEYS
961:Large abiding realisations in Yoga do not usually come in trance but by a persistent waking sadhana. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Illness and Health, #KEYS
962:Our Yoga is not an ascetic Yoga: it aims at purity, but not at a cold austerity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
963:Purification and consecration are two great necessities of sadhana. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Danger of the Ego and the Need of Purification, #KEYS
964:Repeating the name of God, fasting on certain occasions, making pilgrimages to shrines and worshiping, all these constitute Vaidhi Bhakti. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
965:Self-Experience
By an absolute self-giving all egoistic desire disappears from the heart. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita: Works, Devotion and Knowledge#KEYS
966:So long as there is complete sincerity, the Divine Grace will be there and assist at every moment on the way. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Sincerity, #KEYS
967:Some become drunk on a small glass of wine, others require more. Some are satisfied by a glimpse of God, others must meet God face to face ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
968:The essential gravity of sins committed against one's neighbor must be weighed by the injury they inflict on him ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 2-2.73.3)., #KEYS
969:The grace of God is so great and His love for us is such that we cannot understand what He has done for us ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On the Creed, a. 4). #KEYS
970:This is sure that he and she are one;
Even when he sleeps, he keeps her on his breast: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,#KEYS
971:Those who do not believe that God has care of human affairs usually follow their own will in all things ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Job 22)., #KEYS
972:Thought was not there but a knowledge near and one
Seized on all things by a moved identity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The World-Soul,#KEYS
973:We do not come to God with bodily steps, but with those of the mind, the first of which is faith ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Jn 6, lect. 4)., #KEYS
974:We must stand on our own legs; we must surely realize success which is our birthright! If a slight degree of fear is allowed to come in, we shall be overpowered. ~ SWAMI TRIGUNATITANANDA, #KEYS
975:Wisdom is like unto a beacon set on high, which radiates its light even in the darkest night. ~ Buddhist Meditations from the Japanese, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
976:As far as we are concerned, Christ's immolation on our behalf takes place when we become aware of this grace and understand the life conferred on us by this sacrifice. ~ Pseudo-Chrysostom, #KEYS
977:As the essence of Matter is Gravity, so, on the other hand, we may affirm that the substance, the essence of Spirit is Freedom
~ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Philosophy of History,#KEYS
978:Be not ashamed to be helped: thy end is to accomplish that which is incumbent on thee, like a soldier in the assault. ~ Marcus Aurelius, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
979:By continual peeling of the onion, we find nothing is left, so on analyzing the ego we found that there is not any real entity that is ego. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
980:Divine Love is based upon oneness and the psychic derives from the Divine Love. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Divine Love, Psychic Love and Human Love, #KEYS
981:Drinking if excessive affects the substance and quality of the energy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
982:Here where our half-lit ignorance skirts the gulfs
On the dumb bosom of the ambiguous earth, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Symbol Dawn,#KEYS
983:If you fail to see God after a few exercises do not lose heart. Go on patiently with your exercises and you are sure to obtain divine grace ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
984:Men are fathers of their fate;
They dig the prison, they the crown command. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Lines on Ireland,#KEYS
985:People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader and the Imagination, #KEYS
986:The grace of God is so great and His love for us is such that we cannot understand what He has done for us ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On the Creed, a. 4)., #KEYS
987:Those who hear the word of the cross and follow it willingly now, need not fear that they will hear of eternal damnation on the day of judgment. ~ Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, #KEYS
988:Where are you now if not in the Self? Where should you go? The other activities throw a veil on you. All that is necessary is the stern belief that you are the Self. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
989:Whoever can call on God with sincerity and intense earnestness needs no guru, but such earnestness is rare, hence the necessity for a Guru. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
990:All force is cosmic and the individual is merely an instrument. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother, Becoming Conscious of the Mother's Force, #KEYS
991:All life is the play of universal forces. The individual gives a personal form to these universal forces. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Occult Knowledge, #KEYS
992:A man's heart showeth to him what he should do better than seven sentinels on the summit of a rock. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Ecclesiastes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
993:Concentration should be all on the immediate step—whatever is being done at the time. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Experiences on the Higher Planes, #KEYS
994:From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do -- now." ~ Epictetus, #KEYS
995:Inspiration comes from above in answer to a state of concentration which is itself a call to it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Force in Work, #KEYS
996:It is always preferable to have one's face turned towards the future than towards the past. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Time and Change of the Nature, #KEYS
997:Once the mind has been trained to fix itself on formed images, it can easily accustom itself to fix on formless realities. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
998:Our attention must be fixed on the earth because our work is here. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother, Some Occult and Spiritual Experiences, #KEYS
999:The soul's salvation cannot come without the soul's perfection, without its growing into the divine nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Above the Gunas, #KEYS
1000:To be able to work with full energy is necessary—but to be able not to work is also necessary. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Force in Work, #KEYS
1001:And I believe in love, even when there's no one there. And I believe in God, even when he is silent" ~ First stanza of poem etch by a Jew on a cellar wall doing the Holocaust. For poem see:, #KEYS
1002:A rose of splendour on a tree of dreams,
The face of Dawn out of mooned twilight grew. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Finding of the Soul,#KEYS
1003:A World-adventurer borne on Destiny's wing
Gambles with death and triumph, joy and grief. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Lila,#KEYS
1004:Holy Knowledge, by thee illumined, I hymn by thee the ideal light; I rejoice with the joy of the Intelligence. ~ Hermes: "On the Rebirth", the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1005:However or from wheresoever it came, the only thing to do with a depression is to throw it out. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Depression and Despondency, #KEYS
1006:The supramental descent is necessary for a dynamic action of the Truth in mind, vital and body. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Transformation and the Body, #KEYS
1007:To be alone with the Divine is the highest of all privileged states for the sadhak. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
1008:When a person considers that the Son of God, the Lord of death, willed to die, he no longer fears death ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Hebrews 2)., #KEYS
1009:You must never rest content with the pleasure of laya experienced when thought is quelled but must press on until all duality ceases. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
1010:A Force may be in action or in quiescence, but when it rests, it is as much a Force as when it acts. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Sankhya-Yoga System, #KEYS
1011:And all things depend one on the other and all are bound to each other...all is that Ancient One and nothing is separate from him. ~ Zohar, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1012:A philosophical system is only a section of the Truth which the philosopher takes as a whole. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Place of Study in Sadhana, #KEYS
1013:Even the saint and the sage continue to have difficulties and to be limited by their human nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Difficulties of Yoga, #KEYS
1014:If you have not the entire and undivided call, it is better not to take the plunge. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Marriage, Service and Yoga, #KEYS
1015:It is customary, when one is habituated to prosperity, that he becomes sadder when adversities come ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Mt. 2, lect. 4)., #KEYS
1016:It is often the experience that when one gives up the insistence of desire for a thing, then the thing itself comes. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
1017:Like the waves of a river that flow slowly on and return never back, the days of human life pass and come not back again. ~ Buddhist Texts, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1018:The psychic change is indeed the indispensable preliminary of any approach to the supramental path ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Difficulties of Yoga, #KEYS
1019:When you have time, you can meditate on her with the thinking attitude that She is with you, She is sitting in front of you.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Mother India, [T1],#KEYS
1020:But in God's court judgment is based on the person accusing himself, namely, on self-confession ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Matthew 12, lect. 2)., #KEYS
1021:God has the nature of a small child. God won't even look at those who do tapas with ego, but He will shower His grace on the innocent hearted ones who don't do anything. ~ MATA AMRITANADAMAYI, #KEYS
1022:I couldn't live a week without a private library - indeed, I'd part with all my furniture and squat and sleep on the floor before I'd let go of the 1500 or so books I possess. ~ H P Lovecraft, #KEYS
1023:It is not necessary to deny the past experience in order to go forward to the new realisation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Time and Change of the Nature, #KEYS
1024:It is only when the lower perversions are got rid of that the higher things in their truth can reign. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Sankhya-Yoga System, #KEYS
1025:It is the physical that fears and abhors suffering, but the vital takes it as part of the play of life. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sorrow and Suffering, #KEYS
1026:Money makes us forget God. Dependence on God is true self-reliance. Dependence on money is not. The two cannot go together. It is dangerous to have your legs in two boats. ~ SWAMI AKHANDANADA, #KEYS
1027:No human will can finally prevail against the Divine's Will. Let us put ourselves deliberately and exclusively on the side of the Divine, and the Victory is ultimately certain. ~ Mother Mirra, #KEYS
1028:Sins to a heart are like oil drops on a cloth, unless you wash it immediately and vigorously, it will permanently stain". ~ Ibn al-Jawzi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
1029:So the believer who imitates Christ becomes as far as permitted the same as Christ whom he imitates. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Galatians, #KEYS
1030:The books we love, they love us back. And just as we mark our places in the pages, those pages leave their marks on us. I can see it in you, sure as I see it in me. ~ Jay Kristoff, Nevernight, #KEYS
1031:The ecstasy of the spirit's calm needs to be transformed by the ecstasy of the soul's Ananda. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Fullness of Spiritual Action, #KEYS
1032:The intellect needs an inner light to guide, check and control it quite as much as the vital. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Intellect and the Intellectual, #KEYS
1033:Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling. ~ Virgil, #KEYS
1034:All on one plan was shaped and standardised
Under a dark dictatorship's breathless weight. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Descent into Night,#KEYS
1035:A poet's largeness and ease of execution,—succeeds more amply on the inferior levels of his genius. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Future Poetry, The Poets of the Dawn - II, #KEYS
1036:Each descent of the gaze on oneself is at the same time an ascension, an assumption, a gaze on the true objectivity. ~ Novalis, "Fragments.", the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1037:Energetically resolved on the search, they must pass without ceasing from negligence to the world of effort. ~ Baha-ullah: The Seven Valleys, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1038:If you are never parted from the aspiring resolve to attain awak- ening, wherever you are born-whether above, below, or on the same level-you will not forget the thought of awakening. ~ Asanga, #KEYS
1039:Love and devotion to the Divine is the central feeling of the psychic nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Emergence or Coming Forward of the Psychic, #KEYS
1040:Physical science may give clues of process, but cannot lay hold on the reality of things. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays in Philosophy and Yoga, Rebirth and Soul Evolution, #KEYS
1041:Saint Paul himself and all who have reached the same heights of sanctity had their eyes fixed on Christ, and so have all who live and move and have their being in him. ~ Saint Gregory of Nyssa, #KEYS
1042:The Divine knows best and one has to have trust in His wisdom and attune oneself with His will. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Grace and Guidance, #KEYS
1043:The high gods look on man and watch and choose
Today's impossibles for the future's base. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Vision and the Boon,#KEYS
1044:The more you surrender to the Divine, the more will there be the possibility of perfection in you. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
1045:What more shall I tell you? Keep your mind on God. Don't forget Him. God will certainly reveal Himself to you if you pray to Him with sincerity. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1046:All Nature is full of the secret Godhead and in labour to reveal him in her. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #KEYS
1047:Both of these are imperfect in man if he is compared to the perfect righteousness of the divine standard ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Job, lect. 4)., #KEYS
1048:Destiny in the rigid sense applies only to the outer being so long as it lives in the Ignorance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Fate, Free Will and Prediction, #KEYS
1049:elf-control which lies on a man like a fine garment, falls away from him who negligently gives himself up to slumber. ~ Fo-shu-hing-tsan-king, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1050:It is from the Silence that the peace comes; when the peace deepens and deepens, it becomes more and more the Silence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Silence, #KEYS
1051:One must be careful that no force comes through one except the right forces. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
1052:Space is a symbol into which Thought has translated an arrangement in supraspatial Consciousness. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
1053:Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds." ~ Regina Brett, #KEYS
1054:The very basis of this Yoga is bhakti and if one kills one's emotional being there can be no bhakti. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti, Devotion, Worship, #KEYS
1055:Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Proverbs, 3:5-6, #KEYS
1056:Well-known or unknown has absolutely no importance from the spiritual point of view. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, No Propaganda or Proselytism, #KEYS
1057:Would you become a pilgrim on the road of love? The first condition is that you make yourself humble as dust and ashes." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
1058:All has to be done by the working of the Mother's force aided by your aspiration, devotion and surrender. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, [T2], #KEYS
1059:And yet she cannot choose but labours on;
~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, 02.06,#KEYS
1060:Do not let your mind go back on a work that is finished. It belongs to the past and all re-handling of it is a waste of power.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
1061:In their seeking, wisdom and madness are one and the same. On the path of love, friend and stranger are one and the same. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
1062:On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place. The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read. ~ Saint Justin Martyr, #KEYS
1063:People who are vitally weak do unconsciously and automatically pull on others. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV: Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga #KEYS
1064:The development of capacities is not only permissible but right, when it can be made part of the Yoga ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Consecration and Offering, #KEYS
1065:The hostile forces do not need a cause for attacking—they attack whenever and whoever they can. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Attacks by the Hostile Forces, #KEYS
1066:The individual is only an instrument in the hands of a Universal Energy though his ego takes the credit of all he does. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Opening, #KEYS
1067:The mechanical mind is a sort of engine - whatever comes to it it puts into the machine and goes on turning it round and round - no matter what it is. ~ Sri Aurobindo, #KEYS
1068:The stars marched on their long sentinel routes
Pointing their spears through the infinitudes: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Satyavan and Savitri,#KEYS
1069:Those operations in man not subject to the will and reason are not properly called human but natural ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Ethics 1, lect. 1)., #KEYS
1070:Those who have only an unformed faith do not believe in his name because they do not work unto salvation ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Jn 1, lect. 6)., #KEYS
1071:We must aid our parents, love and revere them, according to their human nature, but hate their moral vices and what in them turns us away from God (Commentary on John 19). ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, #KEYS
1072:Action without desire is possible, action without attachment is possible, action without ego is possible. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Sankhya-Yoga System, #KEYS
1073:A touch of realisation is enough to set the higher mind knowledge or the illumined mind knowledge flowing. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
1074:He [the child] does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods: the reading makes all real woods a little enchanted. ~ C S Lewis, "On Three Ways of Writing for Children" (1952), #KEYS
1075:Indian religion is Indian spiritual philosophy put into action and experience. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - IV, #KEYS
1076:Intense aspiration is always good, but let there also be calm and peace and joy in the mind and heart, and a confidence that all will be done in its due time. ~ SriAurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, #KEYS
1077:I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. ~ Matthew 12:36-37, #KEYS
1078:Man lives on earth not once, but three times: the first stage of life is continual sleep; the second, sleeping and waking by turns; the third, waking forever.
~ Gustav Fechner, Life after Death,#KEYS
1079:My child, austerities or worship, practice all these things right now. Will these things be possible later on? Whatever you want to achieve, achieve now; this is the right time. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
1080:Often indeed one sees easily in others faults which are there in oneself but which one fails to see. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Problems in Human Relations, #KEYS
1081:Our mortal vision peers with ignorant eyes;
It has no gaze on the deep heart of things. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Debate of Love and Death,#KEYS
1082:Suppression with inner indulgence in subtle forms is not a cure, but expression in outer indulgence is still less a cure. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
1083:Tests come sometimes from the hostile forces, sometimes in the course of Nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Hostile Forces and the Difficulties of Yoga, #KEYS
1084:There is an obscure mind and life even in the cells of the body, the stones or in molecules and atoms. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Physical Consciousness, #KEYS
1085:There is one Purusha—its action is according to the position and need of the consciousness at the time. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Sankhya-Yoga System, #KEYS
1086:This body of ours is a symbol of our real being and everything is a symbol of some higher reality. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Symbols and Symbolic Visions, #KEYS
1087:When one is incapable of comforming to a discipline, one is also incapable of doing anything of lasting value in life. 16 Februrary 1967. ~ The Mother, On Education, [T5], #KEYS
1088:All that is necessary is the stern belief that you are the Self.
Say rather that the other activities throw a veil on you. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 406,#KEYS
1089:By studying carefully what Sri Aurobindo has said on all subjects one can easily reach a complete knowledge of the things of this world.
~ The Mother, On Education, [T5],#KEYS
1090:Decry not other sects nor depreciate them but, on the contrary, render honour to that in them which is worthy of honour. ~ Inscriptions of Asoka, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1091:For he [Christ] receives his own Spirit, and partakes of it, insofar as he was a man, but he gives it to himself, as God. ~ Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel according to St John 12.17, #KEYS
1092:God bestows more consideration on the purity of the intention with which our actions are performed than on the actions themselves. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #KEYS
1093:If you want to be happy, you have to be happy on purpose. When you wake up, you can't just wait to see what kind of day you'll have. You have to decide what kind of day you'll have." ~ Joel Osteen, #KEYS
1094:In this world everything depends upon consciousness and its movements, even the things that seem not to do so. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Illness and Health, #KEYS
1095:Nothing in the universe has its real cause in the universe; all proceeds from this supernal Existence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Word of the Gita, #KEYS
1096:One man who earnestly pursues the Yoga is of more value than a thousand well-known men. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, No Propaganda or Proselytism, #KEYS
1097:Since you are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" ~ Colossians 3:1-2)., #KEYS
1098:Stand firm like a rock in your own faith. Be always watchful, cheerful and faithful to your Ideal. Be brave and true and unselfish. Never fear and never look back, but move on. ~ SWAMI PARAMANANDA, #KEYS
1099:The philosophy of the common man is an old wife that gives him no pleasure, yet he cannot live without her, and resents any aspersions that strangers may cast on her character. (461) ~ G Santayana, #KEYS
1100:The supramental influence must come first, the supramental transformation can only come afterwards. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Supramental Transformation, #KEYS
1101:All warred against all, but with a common hate
Turned on the mind that sought some higher good; ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Descent into Night,#KEYS
1102:Enlightenment is making friendship with the whole existence." ~ Amit Ray, (b.1960) Indian author, and spiritual master, known for his teachings on meditation, yoga, peace and compassion, Wikipedia., #KEYS
1103:Here where one knows not even the step in front
And Truth has her throne on the shadowy back of doubt, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Symbol Dawn,#KEYS
1104:I am desperate […] I do not know anymore what to do for humanity to mend its ways. If it continues on this path, the tremendous anger of God will rage like a bolt of lightning." ~ Saint Padre Pio, #KEYS
1105:If a man could write a book on Ethics that was really a book on Ethics, this book would, with an explosion, destroy all other books in the world. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein, 'A Lecture on Ethics' (1929), #KEYS
1106:In spiritual matters mental logic easily blunders; intuition, faith, a plastic spiritual reason are here the only guides. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Guru, #KEYS
1107:Intensity is not a guarantee of entire truth and correctness in an experience. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Danger of the Ego and the Need of Purification, #KEYS
1108:In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested. ~ Michio Kaku, #KEYS
1109:Look at things from an inner point of view and try to get the benefit of all that happens. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Right Attitude towards Difficulties, #KEYS
1110:One must have faith in the Master of our life and works, even if for a long time He conceals Himself, and then in His own right time He will reveal His Presence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga IV, #KEYS
1111:Religion today is but a crutch. God made man with Himself within man, so that man might lean on Him, not on religion." ~ Sunyata, (1890- 1984) Danish mystic, "Dancing with the Void,", (2001, 2015)., #KEYS
1112:The efficient cause is the cause of that which is the end, for example, walking in order to be healthy ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On the Principles of Nature, c. 3), #KEYS
1113:The Godhead is all that is universe and all that is in the universe and all that is more than the universe. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Divine Truth and Way, #KEYS
1114:There is a higher which is the spiritual and that is the nature of our spiritual personality, our true person. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Secret of Secrets, #KEYS
1115:We are creating new fate for the future even while undergoing old fate from the past in the present. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Fate, Free Will and Prediction, #KEYS
1116:Whatever you're no longer holding on to, no longer holds on to you. And as you let go of your opinions toward person, place and things, you find that you're growing, you're evolving. ~ Robert Adams, #KEYS
1117:All existence is a manifestation of the divine Existence and that which is within us is spirit of the eternal Spirit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Above the Gunas, #KEYS
1118:An epicure of the spirit's unseen joys,
He lives on the sweet honey of solitude: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Parable of the Search for the Soul,#KEYS
1119:As Augustine says, to attain to God with the mind is a great blessing, but to comprehend Him is impossible ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 1, lect. 5)., #KEYS
1120:He poured forth his gifts on them all but most abundantly on us who have taken refuge in his compassion through our Lord Jesus Christ, to who be glory and majesty forever and ever. ~ Clement of Rome, #KEYS
1121:How canst thou seize by the senses that which is neither solid nor liquid...that which is conceived only in power and energy? ~ Hermes: On Rebirth, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1122:It is by the process of repeated impressions that consciousness was made to manifest in matter. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Difficulties of the Physical Nature, #KEYS
1123:The BEAUTIFUL, contemplated and its essentials, that is, in kind and not in degree, is that in which the many, still seen as many, becomes one. ~ S T Coleridge, On the Principles of Genial Criticism, #KEYS
1124:The soul hungers for God, and nothing but God can satiate it. Therefore He came to dwell on earth and assumed a Body in order that this Body might become the Food of our souls." ~ Saint John Vianney, #KEYS
1125:The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them... Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.
~ Michel de Montaigne,#KEYS
1126:Until the final clarification and harmonising of the nature there are always contradictions in the being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti, Devotion, Worship, #KEYS
1127:As soft clay easily takes an impression, but not hard stone, so also Divine wisdom impresses itself on the heart of a devotee, but not on a bound soul. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1128:By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race.
~ Alfred North Whitehead,#KEYS
1129:Ego is a very curious thing and in nothing more than in its way of hiding itself and pretending it is not the ego. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
1130:he night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armour of light. ~ Romans XIII. 12, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1131:He who busies himself with the sins of others, or judges his brother on suspicion, has not yet even begun to repent or to examine himself so as to discover his own sins. ~ Saint Maximus the Confessor, #KEYS
1132:If one but tell a thing well, it moves on with undying voice, and over the fruitful earth and across the sea goes the bright gleam of noble deeds ever unquenchable. ~ Pindar, Isthmian Odes, IV, l. 67, #KEYS
1133:in absolute reliance on the Mother, fearing nothing, sorrowing over nothing ... a glad equanimity even in the face of difficulties... ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV, #KEYS
1134:No one who hasn't experienced for himself at least something of the nature and joys of the spiritual life can have any valid opinion on the subject." ~ Krisna Prem, (Ronald Henry Nixon, 1898 - 1965), #KEYS
1135:One has to go on till the struggle is over and there is the straight and open and thornless way before us. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Patience and Perseverance, #KEYS
1136:One ought not to settle down into a fixed idea of one's own incapacity or allow it to become an obsession. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Call and the Capacity, #KEYS
1137:Our persistent consecration turns into knowledge of him all our knowing and into light of his power all our action. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Divine, #KEYS
1138:Thought perceptions come first—language comes to express the perceptions and itself leads to fresh thoughts. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Thought and Knowledge, #KEYS
1139:To enjoy the eternity to which birth and life are only outward circumstances, is the soul's true immortality. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Field and its Knower, #KEYS
1140:We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves." ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, #KEYS
1141:An animal creature wonderfully human,
A charm and miracle of fur-footed Brahman, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Despair on the Staircase,#KEYS
1142:But standing on Eternity's luminous brink
I have discovered that the world was He; ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Dream Twilight of the Earthly Real,#KEYS
1143:It is impossible to maintain friendship with an evil person without becoming somewhat like him in evil ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Nichomachean Ethics 9)., #KEYS
1144:Life-World
The Light is nearer to us than we think and at any time its hour may come. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Birthday Messages for Disciples,#KEYS
1145:Love cannot live by heavenly food alone,
Only on sap of earth can it survive. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Gospel of Death and Vanity of the Ideal,#KEYS
1146:Material things are not to be despised—without them there can be no manifestation in the material world. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
1147:Mere force of language tacked on to the trick of the metrical beat does not answer the higher description of poetry. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Future Poetry, Rhythm and Movement, #KEYS
1148:Never lose hope, my heart, miracles dwell in the invisible. If the whole world turns against you keep your eyes on the Friend." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
1149:So long as you feel the sense of duty, it is better to follow it out until you are liberated. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Marriage, Service and Yoga, #KEYS
1150:That man whose hair stands on end at the mere mention of the name of God, and from whose eyes flow tears of love—he has indeed reached his last birth. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1151:The art of healing and the doctor are causes of health, but the art is prior and the doctor is posterior ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On the Principles of Nature, c. 5)., #KEYS
1152:The assumption of imperfection by the perfect is the whole mystic phenomenon of the universe. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Possibility and Purpose of Avatarhood, #KEYS
1153:The day of days, the great feast-day of the life, is that in which the eye within opens on the unity of things, the omnipresence of a law. ~ Emerson, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1154:The most ego-centric can change and do change by the psychic principle becoming established in the external nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Ego and Its Forms, #KEYS
1155:To be an empty vessel is a very good thing if one knows how to make use of the emptiness. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Emptiness, Voidness, Blankness and Silence, #KEYS
1156:True love seeks for union and self-giving and that is the love one must bring to the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Divine Love, Psychic Love and Human Love, #KEYS
1157:What is needed by each for his spiritual progress is the one consideration to be held in view. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
1158:Whoever then wishes to be free, let him neither wish for anything nor avoid anything which depends on others: if he does not observe this rule, he must be a slave." ~ Epictetus, #KEYS
1159:A smile on her lips welcomed earth's bliss and grief,
A laugh was her return to pleasure and pain. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Finding of the Soul,#KEYS
1160:Belief by itself is not evidence of reality; it must base itself on some thing more valid before one can accept it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, The Order of the Worlds, #KEYS
1161:Bhakti and the heart's call for the Divine have a truth—it is the truth of the divine Love and Ananda. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Adwaita of Shankaracharya, #KEYS
1162:Do not let your mind labour in anticipation on a work that has to be done. The Power that acts in you will see to it at its own time.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
1163:Even imagined experiences (honestly imagined) can help to mental realisation and mental realisation can be a step to total realisation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, #KEYS
1164:I encourage all you superior seekers in the secret depths to devote yourselves to penetrating and clarifying the self, as earnestly as you would put out a fire on the top of your head.
~ Hakuin Ekaku,#KEYS
1165:Loving oneself for the sake of God as the object of supernatural happiness and the author of grace is an act of charity ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On Evil, a. 4 ad 15)., #KEYS
1166:No-Man's Land
Non-violence is better than violence as a rule, and still sometimes violence may be the right thing. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Morality and Yoga,#KEYS
1167:Nothing can spiritually justify individual violence done in anger or passion or from any vital motive. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Essays on the Gita, #KEYS
1168:O Death, thou too art God and yet not He,
But only his own black shadow on his path ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Dream Twilight of the Earthly Real,#KEYS
1169:On our life's prow that breaks the waves of Time
No signal light of hope has gleamed in vain. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Debate of Love and Death,#KEYS
1170:Pain and discomfort come from a physical consciousness not forceful enough to determine its own reaction to things. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Illness and Health, #KEYS
1171:'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints' ~ Ps. 116:15). No degree of cruel inhumanity can destroy the religion founded on the mystery of the cross of Christ. ~ Saint Leo the Great, #KEYS
1172:Stories lie deep in our souls. Stories lie so deep at the bottom of our hearts that they can bring people together on the deepest level. When I write a novel, I go into such depths.
~ Haruki Murakami,#KEYS
1173:The business of knowledge is to comprehend and for the finite intellect that means to define and determine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Word of the Gita, #KEYS
1174:The men of today boast of the ever growing extent of the modifications they impose on the world, and the consequence is that everything is thereby made more and more ‘artificial’ ... ~ Rene Guenon, #KEYS
1175:The speed and distance that you travel on the path is determined by the level of your courage to go in the opposite direction from what you have been doing since beginningless time. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
1176:To be ignorant of the path one has to take and set out on the way without a guide, is to will to lose oneself and run the risk of perishing. ~ Hermes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1177:When there is a greater favor on the part of the giver, a greater act of thanksgiving is required on the part of the recipient ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 2-2.106.3)., #KEYS
1178:Although lustful actions may accord with the nature of man as animal, they are not fitting to it as rational ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Colossians, ch. 3)., #KEYS
1179:Conduct for the Indian mind is only one means of expression and sign of a soul-state. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - IV, #KEYS
1180:Forewilled by the gods, Alexander,
All things happen on earth and yet we must strive who are mortals, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,#KEYS
1181:Grace is something spontaneous which wells out from the Divine Consciousness as a free flower of its being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti Yoga and Vaishnavism, #KEYS
1182:Instead of standing on the shore and proving to ourselves that the ocean cannot carry us, let us venture on its waters just to see. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #KEYS
1183:It does not matter if you do not understand it - Savitri, read it always. ~ The Mother, Mother to Mona Sarkar on Savitri, [T5], #KEYS
1184:Phenomenon built Reality's summer-house
On the beaches of the sea of Infinity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The House of the Spirit and the New Creation,#KEYS
1185:The difficulties of the character persist so long as one yields to them in action when they rise. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Steps towards Overcoming Difficulties, #KEYS
1186:The object of life is the growth of the soul, not outward success of the hour or even of the near future. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Fate, Free Will and Prediction, #KEYS
1187:There can be no great and complete culture without some element of asceticism in it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - III, #KEYS
1188:The whole future of the Earth, as of religion, seems to me to depend on the awakening of our faith in the future. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Future of Man, #KEYS
1189:When once the higher consciousness begins to act, the difficulty diminishes and there is a clear progress from truth to greater truth.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
1190:Work (or life either) without discipline would soon become a confusion and an anarchic failure. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, The Place of Rules in Work, #KEYS
1191:All human beings have a spiritual destiny which is near or far depending on each one's determination. One must will in all sincerity.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, [T5],#KEYS
1192:Both peace and peacelessness come to us for the sake of our own experience, according to God's dispensation, but we have to remain steady under all circumstances by holding on to Him. ~ Swami Saradananda, #KEYS
1193:But the most important thing for purification of the heart is an absolute sincerity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Danger of the Ego and the Need of Purification, #KEYS
1194:From the side of Christ sleeping on the Cross the Sacraments flowed—namely, blood and water—on which the Church was established ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 1.92.3)., #KEYS
1195:Not by denying all relations, but through all relations is the Divine Infinite naturally approachable to man. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Supreme Word of the Gita, #KEYS
1196:The elimination of the sex-impulse is one of the most difficult things for human nature and, if it takes time, that is only natural. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sex, #KEYS
1197:The rays of the divine sun, the infinite Orient, shine equally on all that exists and the illumination of Unity repeats itself everywhere. ~ Baha-ullah, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1198:Whatever depends on conditions
Is empty of inherent existence,
What excellent instruction could there be,
More amazing than these words?" ~ Tsongkhapa, Harmony of Emptiness and Dependent-Arising#KEYS
1199:What is being done here is a preparation for a work—a work which will be founded on Yogic consciousness and Yoga-Shakti. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Work and Yoga, #KEYS
1200:Devotion and a more and more complete inner consecration are the best way to open the psychic. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Psychic and Spiritual Transformations, #KEYS
1201:Emotion is a good element in Yoga; but emotional desire becomes easily a cause of perturbation and an obstacle. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti, Devotion, Worship, #KEYS
1202:Feb 6 "I had learned in my college days that one cannot imagine anything so strange or so little believable that it had not been said by one of the philosophers." ~ Descartes, Discourse on Method, part 2., #KEYS
1203:It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is impossible for a bird to fly on only one wing. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #KEYS
1204:It is the vital passion for the Divine that creates the spiritual heroes, conquerors or martyrs. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Divine Love, Psychic Love and Human Love, #KEYS
1205:Our I is not that spiritual being which can look on the Divine Existence and say, "That am I". ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, The Progress to Knowledge - God, Man and Nature, #KEYS
1206:Stand firm therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Ephesians,. VI. 14, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1207:There was no act, no movement in its Vast:
Life's question met by its silence died on her lips, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Pursuit of the Unknowable,#KEYS
1208:The sixth day before the Passover was the first day of the week, i.e., the Palm Sunday on which our Lord entered Jerusalem ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (In John 12, lect. 1)., #KEYS
1209:What earth is this
so in want of you
they rise up on high
to seek you in heaven?
Look at them staring
at you
right before their eyes,
unseeing, unseeing, blind. ~ Mansur al-Hallaj,#KEYS
1210:All depends on what you expect from life, but if you sincerely want to do the Yoga, you must abstain from all sexual activities.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, [T4],#KEYS
1211:Do not to others what would displease thee done to thyself: this is the substance of the Law; all other law depends on one's good pleasure. ~ Mahabharata, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1212:Human affection is obviously unreliable because it is so much bound up with selfishness and desire. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
1213:Man can only exceed the law of battle by discovering the greater law of his immortality. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #KEYS
1214:Still by slow steps the miracle goes on,
The Immortal's gradual birth mid mire and stone. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, The Miracle of Birth,#KEYS
1215:The truth is always the One at work on itself, at play with itself, infinite in unity, infinite in multiplicity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Release from the Ego, #KEYS
1216:When we repeat the Name of the Mother, it begins to echo in all your consciousness, outside as well as inside you.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, [T2],#KEYS
1217:Yet is the dark Inconscient whence came all
The self-same Power that shines on high unwon. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Man of the Mediator,#KEYS
1218:All change must come from within with the felt or the secret support of the Divine Power. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
1219:A relation also can be established on a sure basis only when it is free from attachment . ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
1220:Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, with the faith that, since it is the goal before you, it must and will come.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV, [T1],#KEYS
1221:Destruction is always a simultaneous or alternate element which keeps pace with creation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #KEYS
1222:Even the highest spiritual realisation on the plane of mentality has in it something top-heavy, one-sided and exclusive. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Gnosis and Ananda, #KEYS
1223:Historically, the stuff of the universe goes on becoming concentrated into ever more organized forms of matter.
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man,#KEYS
1224:If the Truth has to spread itself, it will do it of its own motion; these things are unnecessary. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, No Propaganda or Proselytism, #KEYS
1225:Indian culture did not deface nor impoverish the richness of the grand game of human life. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - V, #KEYS
1226:Just as sacred doctrine is founded on the light of faith, so things in philosophy are founded on the light of natural reason ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On the Trinity, 2.3)., #KEYS
1227:Let us unite our will in a great aspiration; let us pray for an intervention of the Grace. A miracle can always happen. Faith has a sovereign power. ~ The Mother, On Education, [T5], #KEYS
1228:Nobody is entirely fit for this Yoga; one has to become fit by aspiration, by abhyāsa, by sincerity and surrender. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Nature of the Vital, #KEYS
1229:Pain is caused because the physical consciousness in the Ignorance is too limited to bear the touches that come upon it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Illness and Health, #KEYS
1230:The Divine Truth is greater than any religion or creed or scripture or idea or philosophy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, Passages from The Synthesis of Yoga, #KEYS
1231:The future is for those who have the soul of a hero. The stronger and more sincere our faith, the more powerful and effective will be the help received.
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
1232:The motives that lead us to do anything might be arranged like the thirty-two winds and might be given names on the same pattern: for instance, "bread-bread-fame" or "fame-fame-bread." ~ Georg C Lichtenberg, #KEYS
1233:The opening of the consciousness to the Divine Light and Truth and Presence is always the one important thing in the Yoga. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Kinds of Vision, #KEYS
1234:A fatal seed was sown in life's false start
When evil twinned with good on earthly soil. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Way of Fate and the Problem of Pain,#KEYS
1235:A new kind of poetry demands a new mentality in the recipient as well as in the writer. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, General Comments on some Criticisms of the Poem, #KEYS
1236:He was not far from it [creation] before, for no part of creation had ever been without him who, while ever abiding in union with the Father, yet fills all things that are. ~ Athanasius, On the Incarnation 8, #KEYS
1237:If Allah causes you to think about him, remember him and reflect on his greatness this is an opening in the affair of worship. ~ Habīb 'Umar bin Hafīz, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
1238:If you treat your children at home in the same way you treat your animals in the lab, your wife will scratch your eyes out. My wife ferociously warned me against experimenting on her babies. ~ Abraham Maslow, #KEYS
1239:Illusion (World)
When one is living in the physical mind, the only way to escape from it is by imagination. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Experiences and Realisations,#KEYS
1240:It is of great advantage to the student of any subject to read the original memoirs on that subject, for science is always most completely assimilated when it is in the nascent state... ~ James Clerk Maxwell, #KEYS
1241:Men want to help each other with a motive behind or a feeling which proceeds from the ego. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
1242:Mysticism is the art of union with Reality." ~ Evelyn Underhill, (1875 -1941) English Anglo-Catholic author of numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism, Wikipedia., #KEYS
1243:Not only in your inward concentration, but in your outward acts and movements you must take the right attitude. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Wrong Movements of the Vital, #KEYS
1244:The fundamental is not the final, the pratistha is not the consummation but only the means to the consummation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
1245:The soul that lives in God is more perfect than the soul that lives only in outward mind. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - III, #KEYS
1246:Thou shalt invest thyself with her as with a raiment of glory and thou shalt put her on thy head as a crown of joy. Say unto wisdom, ... "Thou art my sister", and call understanding thy kinswoman. ~ Proverbs, #KEYS
1247:To control the mind the best and easiest method is to repeat constantly God's Name. Concentration is attained by fixing the attention on the sound of the Name. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1248:We go on to say, May your name be hallowed. It is not that we think to make God holy by our prayers; rather we are asking God that his name may be made holy in us. ~ Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lord's Prayer, #KEYS
1249:Cosmos is not the Divine in all his utter reality, but a single self-expression, a true but minor motion of his being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Divine Truth and Way, #KEYS
1250:If the reply takes long in coming, trust that he knows and loves and that he is wisest in the choice of the time. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti Yoga and Vaishnavism, #KEYS
1251:It is the psychic fidelity that brings the power to stand against the Asuras and enables the Protection to work. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Dealing with Hostile Attacks, #KEYS
1252:Man insists continually on making God in his own image instead of seeking to make himself more and more in the image of God, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays in Philosophy and Yoga, Rebirth, #KEYS
1253:Mind, a glorious traveller in the sky,
Walks lamely on the earth with footsteps slow. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Gospel of Death and Vanity of the Ideal,#KEYS
1254:Since the race of women owed to men a debt, as from Adam without woman woman came, therefore without man the Virgin this day brought forth, and on behalf of Eve repaid the debt to man. ~ Saint John Chrysostom, #KEYS
1255:The control over the thoughts and the power of seeing the image of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo in the head are a very good beginning.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV, [T5],#KEYS
1256:The discussion of prayer is so great that it requires the Father to reveal it, his firstborn Word to teach it, and the Spirit to enable us to think and speak rightly of so great a subject. ~ Origen, On Prayer, #KEYS
1257:The history of the cycles of man is a progress towards the unveiling of the Godhead in the soul and life of humanity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Theory of the Vibhuti, #KEYS
1258:The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore we've learned most of what we know. Recently we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting. ~ Carl Sagan, #KEYS
1259:A divine knowledge and a perfect turning with adoration to this Divine is the secret of the great spiritual liberation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Field and its Knower, #KEYS
1260:Eternal perdition is impossible,—it fails to cross successfully over death & enters into trans-mortal darkness. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
1261:Gods who know not grief
And look impassive on a suffering world,
Calm they gaze down on the little human scene ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Word of Fate,#KEYS
1262:Just as man understands God through visible creatures, so an angel understands God by understanding its own essence ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Romans 1, lect. 6)., #KEYS
1263:Keep full reliance on the Mother. When one does that, the victory even if delayed, is sure. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Feelings and Sensations in the Process of Descent, #KEYS
1264:Only by falling back on our better thought, by yielding to the spirit of prophecy which is innate in every man, can we know what that wisdom saith. ~ Emerson, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1265:Prakriti is the power of the All-Soul, the power of the Eternal and Infinite self-moved to action and creation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Fullness of Spiritual Action, #KEYS
1266:Pull on the Vital
The lame foot of Punishment reaches at last the successful offender. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Rebirth and Other Worlds; Karma, the Soul and Immortality,#KEYS
1267:Small beginnings are of the greatest importance and have to be cherished and allowed with great patience to develop. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Value of Experiences, #KEYS
1268:Study is of importance only if you study in the right way and with the turn for knowledge and mental discipline. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Place of Study in Sadhana, #KEYS
1269:The Divine looks into the heart and removes the veil at the moment which he knows to be the right moment to do it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Bhakti Yoga and Vaishnavism, #KEYS
1270:The Mother does not act by the mind, so to judge her action with the mind is futile. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother, The Mother's Way of Dealing with Sadhaks, #KEYS
1271:Very often, if an inner communication has been established, a silent pressure is more effective than anything else. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
1272:When on high the heaven had not been named, firm ground below had not been called by name, naught but primordial waters, their begetter, and Mother Tiamat, she who bore them all. ~ Enuma Elish, When on high, 1, #KEYS
1273:Why do you believe in what the astrologers say? It is the belief that brings the trouble.
Sri Aurobindo says that a man becomes what he thinks he is.
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
1274:All is possible if there is a true faith, a complete consecration, a sincere and pure aspiration and a persistent endeavour.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Himself And The Ashram, 539,#KEYS
1275:A person's soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light. If there is rust on the mirror his face cannot be seen in it. In the same way, no one who has sin within him can see God. ~ Theophilus of Antioch, #KEYS
1276:A progress made often stirs the adverse forces to activity, they want to diminish its effect as much as possible. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Attacks by the Hostile Forces, #KEYS
1277:As for withdrawal of Grace, it might be said that few are those from whom the Grace withdraws, but many are those who withdraw from the Grace.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
1278:Consolation should be forthcoming, as long as a remedy is hoped for, but when there is no hope, there is no consolation ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Mt. 2, lect. 4)., #KEYS
1279:Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid it will never begin…." ~ Grace Hanson [Grace Hanson is one of the protagonists on "Grace and Frankie." She is portrayed by Jane Fonda. For more of her quotes see:, #KEYS
1280:Every day should be regarded as a day when a descent may take place or a contact established with the higher consciousness.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Himself And The Ashram, [T5],#KEYS
1281:If you don't see what is happening, it doesn't mean it's not happening. ~ 'We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.', #KEYS
1282:Liberty is a goddess who is exacting in her demands on her votaries, but, if they are faithful, she never disappoints them of their reward. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Karmayogin, The Elections, #KEYS
1283:On earth by the will of this Arch-Intelligence
A bodiless energy put on Matter's robe; ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Little Mind,#KEYS
1284:Philosophy properly speaking begins in the ninth century with John Scottus Erigena. ~ G. W. F. Hegel, Lectures on the History of Philosophy: The Lectures of 1825-1826. Volume III: Medieval and Modern Philosophy, #KEYS
1285:Remain fixed in the sunlight of the true consciousness—for only there is happiness and peace. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Vigilance, Resolution, Will and the Divine Help, #KEYS
1286:Strength, strength ! No weeping in a corner. Stand up, shake off all weakness. The soul is immortal; there is no sin for the soul. Whom to fear? Move on with strength. Fear not, but move on. ~ Swami Paramananda, #KEYS
1287:The indefinable Oneness accepts all that climb to it, but offers no help of relation and gives no foothold to the climber. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Way and the Bhakta, #KEYS
1288:The proper way to deal with a wrong movement is to look quietly at it and put the consciousness right at that point. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Depression and Despondency, #KEYS
1289:The unity is the greater truth, the multiplicity is the lesser truth, though both are a truth and neither of them is an illusion. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Two Natures, #KEYS
1290:We cannot afford to take ourselves or other persons so seriously. It is wise to realize that we are not actually qualified to sit in judgment on each other. ~ Manly P Hall, The Mystic Maze of Thought 1970, p.8), #KEYS
1291:Whenever obstacles come on the path, think of them as 'not me'. Cultivate the attitude that the real you is beyond the reach of all troubles and obstacles. There are no obstacles for the Self. ~ Annamalai Swami, #KEYS
1292:Whether on earth or in the abodes of the gods, all beings are upon three evil paths; they are in thepower of existence, desire and ignorance. ~ Latita Vistara, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1293:Christ is all, and in all. For circumcision is obtained through Christ alone, and freedom comes from Christ alone ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Colossians 3, lect. 2)., #KEYS
1294:He will provide the way and the means, such as you could never have imagined. Leave it all to Him, let go of yourself, lose yourself on the Cross, and you will find yourself entirely." ~ Saint Catherine of Siena, #KEYS
1295:I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God. ~ Meister Eckhart, #KEYS
1296:I pass beyond Time and life on measureless wings,
Yet still am one with born and unborn things. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Cosmic Consciousness,#KEYS
1297:It is a deep spiritual calm and peace that is the only stable foundation for a lasting Bhakti and Ananda. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
1298:Silence thy thoughts and fix all thy attention on the Master within whom thou seest not yet, but of whom thou hast a presentiment ~ The Book of Golden Precepts, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1299:The harmony of kindred souls that seek
Each other on the strings of body and mind,
Is all the music for which life was born. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Plays and Stories, Act II,#KEYS
1300:The soul is the image of what is above it and the model of what is below. Therefore by knowing and analysing itself it knows all things without going out of its own nature. ~ Proclus, "Commentary on the Timaeus", #KEYS
1301:Whether for Nirvana or for this Yoga, calm and peace in the whole being are the necessary foundation of all siddhi. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Wrong Movements of the Vital, #KEYS
1302:Diogenes, filthily attired, paced across the splendid carpets in Plato's dwelling. Thus, said he, do I trample on the pride of Plato. Yes, Plato replied, but only with another kind of pride. ~ Georg C Lichtenberg, #KEYS
1303:God with form and the formless God are both equally true. One cannot keep one's mind on the formless God a long time. That is why God assumes form for His devotees. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1304:Let us fasten our eyes on the blood of Christ and let us realize how precious it is to his Father because it was shed for our salvation and it brought the grace of repentance to the whole world. ~ Clement of Rome, #KEYS
1305:O my Lord, whatever share of this world You have bestowed on me, bestow it to my enemies, and whatever share of the next world You have for me, give it to my friends. You are enough for me. ~ Rabia al-Adawiyya, #KEYS
1306:Science is a bit like the joke about the drunk who is looking under a lamppost for a key that he has lost on the other side of the street, because that's where the light is. It has no other choice. ~ Noam Chomsky, #KEYS
1307:The Energy acts, the stable is its seal:
On Shiva's breast is stayed the enormous dance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Little Mind,#KEYS
1308:There is only one path to Heaven. On Earth we call it Love." ~ Henry David Thoreau, (1817 - 1862) American essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, best known for his book "Walden", Wikipedia, #KEYS
1309:The Society of men is on the eve of the most terrible scourges and of gravest events. Mankind must expect to be ruled with an iron rod and to drink from the chalice of the wrath of God." ~ Our Lady of La Salette , #KEYS
1310:The total ascent is impossible so long as sex-desire blocks the way; the descent is dangerous so long as sex-desire is powerful in the vital. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sex, #KEYS
1311:A certain moderation is needed even in the eagerness for progress—moderation, not indifference or indolence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Difficulties of the Physical Nature, #KEYS
1312:All spiritual experience is a substantial experience—consciousness, Ananda even are felt as something substantial. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Experiences and Realisations, #KEYS
1313:Aspiration, call, prayer are forms of one and the same thing and are all effective; you can take the form that comes to you or is easiest to you.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
1314:Disquietude and depression create an unhelpful atmosphere for one who is ill or in difficulties. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
1315:Even the self-collected existence of the silent Yogin is an act and an act of tremendous effect & profoundest import. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad, #KEYS
1316:If there is energy, all must not be spent, some must be stored up so as to increase the permanent strength of the system. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Force in Work, #KEYS
1317:Impersonality belongs to the intellectual mind and the static self, personality to the soul and heart and dynamic being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, The Divine and Its Aspects, #KEYS
1318:Nature walks upon her mighty way
Unheeding when she breaks a soul, a life;
Leaving her slain behind she travels on: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Symbol Dawn,#KEYS
1319:No form can exhaust or fully express the potentialities of the idea or force that gave it birth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - VI, #KEYS
1320:Not mental control but some descent of a control from above the mind is the power demanded in the realisation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Vital and Other Levels of Being, #KEYS
1321:One may say boldly that no man has a just perception of any truth, if that truth has not reacted on him so intensely that be is ready to be its martyr. ~ Emerson, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1322:Placed on the borders of Time and Eternity...he holds himself somehow erect at the horizon of Nature...Spiritual perfection is his true destiny. ~ Giordano Bruno, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1323:The perfect union is that which meets the Divine at every moment, in every action and with all the integrality of the nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Way and the Bhakta, #KEYS
1324:Awakening is possible only for those who seek it and want it, for those who are ready to struggle with themselves and work on themselves for a very long time and very persistently in order to attain it. ~ Gurdjieff, #KEYS
1325:No human will can finally prevail against the Divine's Will. Let us put ourselves deliberately and exclusively on the side of the Divine, and the Victory is ultimately certain. ~ The Mother, #KEYS
1326:Only on the heart's veiled door the word of flame
Is written, the secret and tremendous Name. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, The Universal Incarnation,#KEYS
1327:Silence, the nurse of the Almighty's power,
The omnipotent hush, womb of the immortal Word. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Poetry and Art, General Comments on some Criticisms of the Poem,#KEYS
1328:The intellect can be as great an obstacle as the vital when it chooses to prefer its own constructions to the Truth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Intellect and the Intellectual, #KEYS
1329:The intellectual, ethical and spiritual growth of the individual is the central need of the race. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - VI, #KEYS
1330:This is the power of Mahalakshmi and there is no aspect of the Divine Shakti more attractive to the heart of the embodied beings.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother,#KEYS
1331:Although we may wish for more or strive to do better than we have, in these times it is enough to keep your soul." ~ Eric Micha'el Leventhal, literary consultant and holistic educator on the island of Maui, Hawai'i., #KEYS
1332:A man is called virtuous by reason of a single perfect virtue, namely, prudence, upon which all the moral virtues depend ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Politics, lesson 3)., #KEYS
1333:If we want to have conversations with God (of course within us), is it possible? If yes, on what condition?
God does not indulge in conversation.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
1334:I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten - happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.
~ Brenda Ueland,#KEYS
1335:Life is too complex to admit of the arbitrary ideal simplicity which the moralising theorist loves. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - V, #KEYS
1336:Looking at the banner one could see written on one side, "Regina sine labe concepta (Queen conceived without sin)," and on the other side, "Auxilium Christianorum (Help of Christians)." ~ Saint John Bosco prophecies, #KEYS
1337:Love is an easier method than the others; because it is self-evident and does not depend on other truths and its nature is peace and supreme felicity. ~ id. 58. 60, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1338:One has continually to leave behind his past selves and to see, act and live from an always higher and higher conscious level. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Lower Vital Being, #KEYS
1339:The human mind is stiff in its perceptions and the human vital insistent on its own way of action. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
1340:The peace and spontaneous knowledge are in the psychic being and from there they spread to mind and vital and physical. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Levels of the Physical Being, #KEYS
1341:The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #KEYS
1342:A great progress should only spur one on to a greater progress beside which the first will appear as nothing, ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Right Attitude towards Difficulties, #KEYS
1343:But the higher you raise yourself, the smaller you will seem to the eyes that are envious. He who ranges on the heights is the one whom men most detest. ~ Nietzsche, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1344:Each part of man's being has its own dharma which it must follow and will follow in the end, put on it what fetters you please. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, The Spiritual Aim and Life, #KEYS
1345:For Sri Aurobindo's centenary, what is the best offering that I can personally make to Sri Aurobindo?
Offer him your mind in all sincerity. 13 November 1970
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
1346:In each life man has to figure a certain sum of its complexity and put that into some kind of order. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - V, #KEYS
1347:Our intellect may be compared to a tablet on which nothing has been written, but that of an angel, to a painted tablet or to a mirror in which the intelligible characters of things shine forth. ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, #KEYS
1348:Our nature acts on a basis of confusion and restless compulsion to action, the Divine acts freely out of a fathomless calm. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Release from the Ego, #KEYS
1349:The oneness with all is an internal realisation, but it does not necessarily impose the same dealing with all. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
1350:To the Spirit all creatures turn in their need for sanctification; all living things seek him according to their ability. His breath empowers each to achieve its own natural end. ~ Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, #KEYS
1351:When I return upon myself and find the heart upright, although my adversaries may be a thousand or ten thousand, I would march without fear on the enemy. ~ Meng-Tse, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1352:Above us, within us, around us is the AllStrength and it is that that we have to rely on for our work, our development, our transforming change. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Sleep, #KEYS
1353:Are we forming children who are only capable of learning what is already known? Or should we try to develop creative and innovative minds, capable of discovery from the preschool age on, throughout life? ~ Jean Piaget, #KEYS
1354:Certainly the sacraments of the body and blood of Christ, which we receive, is a divine thing. On account of this and through the same 'we are made partakers of the divine nature' (2 Pet. 1:4). ~ Pope Saint Gelasius I, #KEYS
1355:Even a blind and ignorant faith is a better possession than the sceptical doubt which turns its back on our spiritual possibilities. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Faith and Shakti, #KEYS
1356:Existence' self was shadowed by a doubt;
Almost it seemed a lotus-leaf afloat
On a nude pool of cosmic Nothingness. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, In the Self of Mind,#KEYS
1357:Half-poised on equal wings of thought and doubt
Toiled ceaselessly twixt being's hidden ends. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Little Mind,#KEYS
1358:In a good life, prudence is like the eye, which directs a person; and courage is like the feet, which support and carry him ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Colossians, ch. 3)., #KEYS
1359:India has lived and lived richly, splendidly, greatly, but with a different will in life from Europe. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - V, #KEYS
1360:One more efficaciously calls upon Christ in quiet or in private: "In quietness and in trust shall be your strength" ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Is 30:15)(Commentary on Jn. 11, lect. 5)., #KEYS
1361:One should just focus solely on performing one's obligatory and highly stressed prayers and not go overboard on supererogatory acts.. ~ Mawlay al-Arabi ad-Darqawi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
1362:So we should acquire the power of concentration by fixing the mind first on forms and when we have obtained in this a full success, we can easily fix it on the formless. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1363:The mystics ask you to take nothing on mere belief. Rather, they give you a set of experiments to test in your own awareness and experience. The laboratory is your own mind, the experiment is meditation. ~ ken-wilber, #KEYS
1364:The object of meditation is to open to the Mother and grow through many progressive experiences into a higher consciousness in union with the Divine.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
1365:To enter into a deeper or higher consciousness or for that deeper or higher consciousness to descend into you-that is the true success of meditation.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
1366:Without tormenting yourself, work hard, then you will find joy. In the beginning you are to drudge on as if you were learning the alphabet. Do not worry, do not complain, gradually peace will come. ~ SWAMI BRAHMANANDA, #KEYS
1367:Destruction in itself is neither good nor evil. It is a fact of Nature, a necessity in the play of forces as things are in this world. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Morality and Yoga, #KEYS
1368:Go on practicing Japa and meditation with great devotion, perseverance, and patience. Gradually the mind will become tranquil and meditation will deepen. You will find a craving for your meditation. ~ Swami Virajananda, #KEYS
1369:If the psychic were always there in front, the desert would be no longer a desert and the wilderness would blossom with the rose. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Lower Vital Being, #KEYS
1370:In a unique way, when the devil tells a lie, he is speaking on his own: "I will go forth and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all prophets" ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (1 Kgs 22:22), #KEYS
1371:Inwardly, the man who does not destroy his lower self-formations, cannot rise to a greater existence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #KEYS
1372:It is when you feel the universal or divine beauty or presence in things that the senses are open to the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Universal or Cosmic Consciousness, #KEYS
1373:Our help is there always, it is not given at one time and withheld at another, nor given to some and denied to others. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Difficulties of Human Nature, #KEYS
1374:The reason why in his Church he made some apostles, some confessors, and others martyrs, is for the beauty and completion of the Church ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 6)., #KEYS
1375:Those who pray and suffer, leaving action for others, will not shine here on earth; but what a radiant crown they will wear in the kingdom of life! Blessed be the 'apostolate of suffering'!" ~ Saint Josemaría Escrivá, #KEYS
1376:To ascend is easier than to bring down; the higher consciousness gets entangled and impeded in the physical and the mind and vital. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Ascent and Descent, #KEYS
1377:Yoga means union with the Divine, and the union is effected through offering - it is founded on the offering of yourself to the Divine. ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931, (28 April), #KEYS
1378:A future knowledge is an added pain,
A torturing burden and a fruitless light
On the enormous scene that Fate has built. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Word of Fate,#KEYS
1379:A psalm is a blessing on the lips of the people, a hymn in praise of God, the assembly's homage, a general acclamation, a word that speaks for all, the voice of the Church, a confession of faith in song. ~ Saint Ambrose, #KEYS
1380:Awakening is possible only for those who seek it and want it, for those who are ready to struggle with themselves and work on themselves for a very long time and very persistently in order to attain it. ~ G.I. Gurdjieff, #KEYS
1381:Concentration upon oneself means decay and death. Concentration on the Divine alone brings life and growth and realisation.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Divine Is with You,#KEYS
1382:Do not let your mind go back on a work that is finished. It belongs to the past and all rehandling of it is a waste of power. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
1383:Concentration on the Divine is the only truly valid thing. To do what the Divine wants us to do is the only thing valid.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The True Aim of Life, [T0],#KEYS
1384:It is very often when one thinks a particular resistance is finished and is no longer in the vital that it surges up again. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Wrong Movements of the Vital, #KEYS
1385:Life and treasure and fame to cast on the wings of a moment,
Fiercer joy than this the gods have not given to mortals. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,#KEYS
1386:Nature takes us as we are and to some extent suits her movements to our need or our demands on her. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Rebirth and Other Worlds; Karma, the Soul and Immortality, #KEYS
1387:Peeling off the layers of ego, emotions, and embedded thought patterns is not so easy. On account of maya, one is not conscious of the real Self. A seeker must start the search in earnest and begin digging. ~ SWAMI RAMA, #KEYS
1388:The dayspring from on high has visited us, to give light to them that sit in the darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace. ~ St. Luke, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1389:Whatever you do, you have to do with faith. Whatever is to be achieved will be achieved that way alone. Go on doing worship and japa as you have been doing. Don't make your mind restless needlessly. ~ SWAMI SUBODHANANDA, #KEYS
1390:What is bhaktiyoga? It is to keep the mind on God by chanting His name and glories. For the Kaliyuga the path of devotion is easiest. This is indeed the path for this age. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1391:When one discovers the enigma of a single atom, one can see the mystery of all creation, that within us as well as that without. ~ Mohy-ud-din-arabi: Treatise on Unity, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1392:While a tardy Evolution's coils wind on
And Nature hews her way through adamant
A divine intervention thrones above. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,#KEYS
1393:A mere confused instability is not the right way. When the confusion comes, you should remain quiet, reject it and call in the Mother's light and force.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
1394:In moments of trial faith in the Divine protection and the call for that protection; at all times the faith that what the Divine wills is the best. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Faith, #KEYS
1395:In the quiet mind turned towards the Divine the intuition (higher mind) comes of the Divine's Will and the right way to do it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Becoming Conscious in Work, #KEYS
1396:It is impossible for the same thing to belong and not belong to the same subject at the same time and in the same respect ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Metaphysics 4, lect. 6)., #KEYS
1397:No man ever succeeded in this sadhana by his own merit. To become open and plastic to the Mother is the one thing needed. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII, #KEYS
1398:No matter what you experience on the path, never give up. Because all of the buddhas became enlightened for you. They know your potential, and they will not stop helping until you are enlightened too. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
1399:Occult powers can only be for the spiritual man an instrumentation of the Divine Power that uses him. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Danger of the Ego and the Need of Purification, #KEYS
1400:Resistance is the subtlest form of attachment." ~ Eric Micha'el Leventhal, (b. 1978) Author, developmental editor and holistic educator based on the island of Maui, Hawai'i. Quote from "A Light from the Shadows,", (2012), #KEYS
1401:The silence, the quietude of the nature is a touch from above and very necessary for purification and release. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Psychic and Spiritual Transformations, #KEYS
1402:To live in the Supreme Truth, if only for a minute, is worth more than writing or reading hundreds of books on the methods or processes by which to find it.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
1403:Truth-Consciousness
Spiritual truths are not warring enemies—they are parts of a single truth and complete each other. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Time and Change of the Nature,#KEYS
1404:When one is in the right consciousness, then there is the right movement, the right happiness, everything in harmony with the Truth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Inward Movement, #KEYS
1405:Without the Grace of the Divine nothing can be done, but for the full Grace to manifest the sadhak must make himself ready. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Divine Grace and Guidance, #KEYS
1406:A deep solidarity joins its contrary powers;
God's summits look back on the mute Abyss. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Nirvana and the Discovery of the All-Negating Absolute,#KEYS
1407:I am the inviolable Ecstasy;
They who have looked on me, shall grieve no more. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Eternal Day, The Soul's Choice and the Supreme Consummation,#KEYS
1408:If you have risen w/ Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #KEYS
1409:I have never heard of a Yogin who got the peace of God and turned away from it as something poor, neutral and pallid, rushing back to cakes and ale.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Poetry And Art,#KEYS
1410:Material existence and earthly activities are not the whole scope of our personal becoming or the whole formula of the cosmos. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
1411:Mindfulness is awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally." ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn, (b. 1944), "Mindfulness for Beginners,", (2012, 2016), #KEYS
1412:None is for any on this transient globe.
He whom thou lovest now, a stranger came
And into a far strangeness shall depart: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Word of Fate,#KEYS
1413:Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind... then the Great Way is right before your eyes. ~ Yamamoto Tsunetomo, #KEYS
1414:Silent the great hills
Rise ceaselessly towards their unreached sky,
Seated on their unchanging base ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Dream Twilight of the Earthly Real,#KEYS
1415:Thou shalt invest thyself with her as with a raiment of glory and thou shalt put her on thy head as a crown of joy. Say unto wisdom, ~ Anonymous, The Bible, Ecclesiastes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1416:Until we start to see these false perceptions for what they really are, consciousness will be imprisoned within the dream state. ~ Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment, #KEYS
1417:We have the choice; it depends on us to choose the good or the evil by our own will. The choice of evil draws us to our physical nature and subjects us to fate. ~ Horace, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1418:You yourself impose limitations on your true nature of infinite Being and then weep that you are but a finite creature. Then you take up this or that sadhana to transcend the nonexistent limitations. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
1419:All the movement and action of Rudra the Terrible is towards perfection and divine light and completeness. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - The Double Aspect, #KEYS
1420:Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty — that is all you know on earth, and all you need to know." ~ John Keats, (1795 - 1821), English Romantic poet, one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets, Wikipedia., #KEYS
1421:Blinded are human hearts by desire and fear and possession,
Darkened is knowledge on earth by hope the helper of mortals. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,#KEYS
1422:Death, the dire god, inflicted on her eyes
The immortal calm of his tremendous gaze: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Journey in Eternal Night and the Voice of the Darkness,#KEYS
1423:He camped in the Bunker with his typewriter, his shotgun, and his overcoat. From time to time he'd slip on his coat, saunter our way, and take his place at the table we reserved for him in front of the stage. ~ Patti Smith, #KEYS
1424:It is enough to call on Him with sincerity of heart. If the devotee is sincere, then God, who is the Inner Guide of all, will certainly reveal to the devotee His true nature. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1425:Make your meditation a continuous state of mind. A great worship is going on all the time, so nothing should be neglected or excluded from your constant meditative awareness. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1426:Polish-Lithuanian monk and archeparch of the Ruthenian Catholic Church, who on 12 November 1623 was killed by an angry mob in Vitebsk, Vitebsk Voivodeship, in the Polish-Lithuanian. ~ Saint Josaphat of Polotsk, (1580-1623), #KEYS
1427:Rajas is a child of the attachment of the soul to the desire of objects; it is born from the nature's thirst for an unpossessed satisfaction. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Above the Gunas, #KEYS
1428:The difference between suppression and an inward essential rejection is the difference between mental or moral control and a spiritual purification. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Desire, #KEYS
1429:The sufi opens his hands to the universe and gives away each instant, free. Unlike someone who begs on the street for money to survive, a dervish begs to give you his life." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
1430:The wealthy few wish to be set over the others on account of their excess of riches, and the many wish to prevail over the few ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Politics 3, lect. 6)., #KEYS
1431:Until we know the Truth (not mentally but by experience, by change of consciousness) we need the soul's faith to sustain us and hold on to the Truth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Faith, #KEYS
1432:All that transpires on earth and all beyond
Are parts of an illimitable plan
The One keeps in his heart and knows alone. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,#KEYS
1433:Christ and Buddha have come and gone, but it is Rudra who still holds the world in the hollow of his hand. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #KEYS
1434:If one is always in the inner consciousness, then one can be not dispersed even when doing outward things. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
1435:I live on Earth at present, and I don't know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing - a noun, I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process - an integral function of the universe. ~ R Buckminster Fuller, #KEYS
1436:It seeks the highest truth for the highest practical utility, not for intellectual or even for spiritual satisfaction. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Synthesis of Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
1437:Ordinary men pronounce a sackful of discourses on religion, but do not put a grain into practice, while the sage speaks little, but his whole life is religion put in to action ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
1438:The fear of death and the aversion to bodily cessation are the stigma left by his animal origin on the human being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Release from Subjection to the Body, #KEYS
1439:The heart's faith and will in good are founded on a perception of the one Divine immanent in all things and leading the world. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Power of the Instruments, #KEYS
1440:The weakness of the human heart wants only fair and comforting truths or in their absence pleasant fables. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Vision of the World-Spirit - Time the Destroyer, #KEYS
1441:With no set idea of how something is supposed to be, it is hard to get stuck on things not happening in the time frame you desired. Instead, you are just being there, open to the possibilities of your life." ~ Lodro Rinzler, #KEYS
1442:World-rhythms
Through glimmering veils of wonder and delight
World after world bursts on the awakened sight. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, The Other Earths,#KEYS
1443:If you put on the belt of service
and serve hearts
like a slave or servant,
the roads to all the secrets
will open before your eyes.
~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path#KEYS
1444:Inequality of feelings towards others, liking and disliking, is ingrained in the nature of the human vital. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Interactions with Others and the Practice of Yoga, #KEYS
1445:Its highest wisdom was a brilliant guess,
Its mighty structured science of the worlds
A passing light on being's surfaces. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, In the Self of Mind,#KEYS
1446:Just as the spirit is vaster than its ideas, the ideas too are larger than their forms, moulds and rhythms. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Renaissance in India, A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture - VI, #KEYS
1447:Man on whom the World-Unity shall seize,
Widening his soul-spark to an epiphany
Of the timeless vastness of Infinity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Electron,#KEYS
1448:On this day land and sea share between them the grace of the Saviour, and the whole world is filled with joy. Today's feast of the Epiphany manifests even more wonders than the feast of Christmas. ~ Proclus of Constantinople, #KEYS
1449:The Might that came upon the earth to bless,
Has stayed on earth to suffer and aspire. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, 02.04#KEYS
1450:The psychic and spiritual attitude is also not dependent on the good and bad in beings, but is self-existent. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, The Emergence or Coming Forward of the Psychic, #KEYS
1451:We cannot get beyond the three gunas, if we do not first develop within ourselves the rule of the highest guna, sattwa. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Synthesis of Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
1452:You need not worry about awakening the spiritual power called Kundalini. If you chant the name of the Lord with a steadfast mind and meditate on His blissful form, you need not bother about anything else. ~ Swami Saradananda, #KEYS
1453:God's creatures are perfect in their nature and order, and their perfection requires among other things that they be kept in existence by God ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (On God's Power 5.1ad1)., #KEYS
1454:He who busies himself with the sins of others, or judges his brother on suspicion, has not yet even begun to repent or to examine himself so as to discover his own sins... ~ Maximus the Confessor, Third Century on Love no. 55, #KEYS
1455:In reality, there is neither guru nor disciple, neither theory nor practice, neither ignorance nor realization. It all depends on what you take yourself to be. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #KEYS
1456:It is only when one looks from above in a consciousness clear of ego that one sees all sides of a thing and also their real truth. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Problems in Human Relations, #KEYS
1457:Let us be on our guard in case, if we relax on the grounds that we have been called, we may go to sleep over our sins and the evil ruler take power over us and drive us out from the king dom ofthe Lord. ~ Letter of Barnabas, #KEYS
1458:Sin consists not at all in the outward deed, but in an impure reaction of the personal will, mind and heart which accompanies it or causes it. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Divine Worker, #KEYS
1459:Struggle with all alien thoughts, be always mindful of what you are doing and thinking whether outwardly or inwardly. So that you may put the imprint of your immortality on every passing moment of your daily life. ~ Gujduvani, #KEYS
1460:The overcoming of the sex instinct and impulse is indeed binding on all who would attain to self-mastery and lead the spiritual life. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays in Philosophy and Yoga, The Divine Body, #KEYS
1461:Where shall I direct my gaze to bless Thee, on high, below, without, within? There is no way, no place that is outside Thee, other beings exist not; all is in Thee. ~ Hermes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1462:A million lotuses swaying on one stem,
World after coloured and ecstatic world
Climbs towards some far unseen epiphany. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Heavens of the Ideal,#KEYS
1463:An honest religious thinker is like a tightrope walker. He almost looks as though he were walking on nothing but air. His support is the slenderest imaginable. And yet it really is possible to walk on it. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein, #KEYS
1464:If we follow Christ closely we shall be allowed, even on this earth, to stand as it were on the threshold of the heavenly Jerusalem, and enjoy like the blessed apostles the contemplation of that everlasting feast. ~ Athanasius, #KEYS
1465:An aimless life is always a miserable life. Every one of you should have an aim. But do not forget that on the quality of your aim will depend the quality of your life.
~ The Mother, On Education, p.3,#KEYS
1466:Dearly beloved, today our Saviour is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. ~ Leo the Great, #KEYS
1467:Do not let your mind labour in anticipation on a work that has to be done. The Power that acts in you will see to it at its own time. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Practical Concerns in Work, #KEYS
1468:Forms on earth do not last (they do in other planes) because these forms are too rigid to grow expressing the progress of the spirit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - I, Transformation and the Body, #KEYS
1469:However high be your endeavors, unless you renounce and subjugate your own will - unless you forget yourself and all that pertains to yourself - not one step will you advance on the road to perfection. ~ Saint John of the Cross, #KEYS
1470:I am the inviolable Ecstasy;
They who have looked on me, shall grieve no more.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Eternal Day The Souls Choice and the Supreme Consummation, [T5],#KEYS
1471:Immersed in voiceless internatal trance
The beings that once wore forms on earth sat there
In shining chambers of spiritual sleep. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The World-Soul,#KEYS
1472:Once longing awakens, one becomes absorbed in contemplating and meditating on God. Through constant contemplation and meditation, one begins having glimpses of the Truth, and these experiences strengthen his faith. ~ SWAMI RAMA, #KEYS
1473:So spirit is both the highest "level" in the holarchy, but it's also the paper on which the entire holarchy is written. It's the highest rung in the ladder, but it's also the wood out of which the entire ladder is made. ~ ken-wi #KEYS
1474:So what should I do when an unconverted part rises to the surface?
Put the light and the knowledge on it patiently until it gets converted. 29 May 1934
~ The Mother, More Answers From The Mother,#KEYS
1475:The divine Self in things is the sustaining Spirit of the present, the withdrawing Spirit of the past, the creative Spirit of the future. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, God in Power of Becoming, #KEYS
1476:The further one goes on the spiritual path the more will one have to learn to play a part." ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, (1882 - 1927) founder of the Sufi Order in the West in 1914, (London) and teacher of Universal Sufism, Wikipedia., #KEYS
1477:There is a fullness of superabundant grace by which the Blessed Virgin excels all the saints because of the eminence and abundance of her merits ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on John 1)., #KEYS
1478:The will of self-giving forces away by its power the veil between God and man; it annuls every error and annihilates every obstacle. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
1479:We must be on our guard against giving interpretations which are hazardous or opposed to science, and so exposing the word of God to the ridicule of unbelievers. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #KEYS
1480:As thoughts stand mute on a despairing verge
Where the last depths plunge into nothingness ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Journey in Eternal Night and the Voice of the Darkness,#KEYS
1481:For God, it is the most beautiful and best part of his illustriousness and his glory to be able to create, because it is precisely in that way that we know who and what he is. ~ Cyril of Alexandria, Dialogues on the Trinity 538b, #KEYS
1482:Man is right when he believes that in all the world there is not a single being above him, but he errs when he thinks that there is on earth a single man beneath him. ~ Tolstoy, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
1483:Perform all thy actions with mind concentrated on the Divine, renouncing attachment and looking upon success and failure with an equal eye. Spirituality implies equanimity. [Trans. Purohit Swami]
~ Anonymous, The Bhagavad Gita,#KEYS
1484:So we find the humility of the God-man praiseworthy in the extreme when He bore those abject things which He was called on to suffer for the salvation of men ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ScG 4.55)., #KEYS
1485:The disciples were affected by a certain carnal love for the human nature of Christ, without yet being elevated to a spiritual love of his divinity ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Jn 16), #KEYS
1486:The integral liberation comes when this passion for release, mumukṣutva, founded on distaste or vairāgya, is itself transcended. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Liberation of the Nature, #KEYS
1487:There was no more the dark pretence of hate,
The cruel rictus on Love's altered face. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Eternal Day, The Soul's Choice and the Supreme Consummation,#KEYS
1488:We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude." ~ Charles R. Swindoll, #KEYS
1489:A free equality founded upon spontaneous cooperation, not on governmental force and social compulsion, is the highest anarchistic ideal. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, The End of the Curve of Reason, #KEYS
1490:Always a few will be left whom the threatenings of Fate cannot conquer,
Always souls are born whose courage waits not on fortune ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,#KEYS
1491:As long as you perceive that anyone is holding you back, you have not taken full responsibility for your own liberation. Liberation means that you stand free of making demands on others and on life to make you happy. ~ Adyashanti, #KEYS
1492:Knowledge and tapasya, whatever their force, have a less sustaining power—faith is the strongest staff for the journey. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother, The Mother's Protection, #KEYS
1493:Love and affection must be rooted in the Divine and a spiritual and psychic oneness in the Divine must be their foundation. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
1494:There is an internal freedom permitted to every mental being called man to assent or not to assent to the Divine leading. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother, Surrender to the Mother, #KEYS
1495:True knowledge takes its base on things, arthas, and only when it has mastered the thing, proceeds to formalise its information. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Early Cultural Writings, A System of National Education, #KEYS
1496:Whenever there is something to be produced, created, organised, achieved, conquered, it is the vital that is indispensable. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, No Politics in the Ashram, #KEYS
1497:You have no choice. You must leave your ego on the doorstep before you enter love." ~ Kamand Kojouri, "The Eternal Dance: Love Poetry and Prose,", (2018). She was born in Tehran, raised in Dubai and Toronto, and resides in Wales., #KEYS
1498:A sailor on the Inconscient's fathomless sea,
He voyages through a starry world of thought
On Matter's deck to a spiritual sun. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,#KEYS
1499:At his hands he received the crown of martyrdom, being nailed to the cross with his head towards the ground and his feet raised on high, asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord. ~ Saint Jerome, #KEYS
1500:But if thou wilt not wait for Time and God,
Do then thy work and force thy will on Fate
~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Eternal Day The Souls Choice and the Supreme Consummation,#KEYS
1:Busy idleness urges us on. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 2:Keep on keeping on!!! ~ joel-osteen, @wisdomtrove 3:Go on and wonder. ~ william-faulkner, @wisdomtrove 4:Energy is based on love. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 5:Focus on your strengths. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 6:I know I'm on the path. ~ esther-hicks, @wisdomtrove 7:All war is based on deception. ~ sun-tzu, @wisdomtrove 8:You can't dribble on bow ties. ~ dr-seuss, @wisdomtrove 9:I'm going on an adventure! ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 10:Summer treads on heels of spring. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 11:Wraiths! Wraiths on wings! ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 12:A great ox stands on my tongue. ~ aeschylus, @wisdomtrove 13:Punishment follows close on crime. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 14:Success is dependant on effort. ~ sophocles, @wisdomtrove 15:Irony is wasted on the stupid. ~ oscar-wilde, @wisdomtrove 16:The road goes ever on and on ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 17:And I say to my heart: rave on. ~ mary-oliver, @wisdomtrove 18:Don't squat with your spurs on. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 19:Life is wasted on the living. ~ douglas-adams, @wisdomtrove 20:Lottery: A tax on stupidity. ~ ambrose-bierce, @wisdomtrove 21:We are all alike, on the inside. ~ mark-twain, @wisdomtrove 22:On forever's very now we stand. ~ e-e-cummings, @wisdomtrove 23:Cricket is baseball on valium. ~ robin-williams, @wisdomtrove 24:Everything depends on upbringing. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 25:Life is really about moving on. ~ oprah-winfrey, @wisdomtrove 26:Never soar aloft on an enemy's pinions. ~ aesop, @wisdomtrove 27:Come back with your shield - or on it ~ plutarch, @wisdomtrove 28:Don't put a ceiling on yourself. ~ oprah-winfrey, @wisdomtrove 29:Sex is God's joke on human beings. ~ bette-davis, @wisdomtrove 30:To love is to burn, to be on fire. ~ jane-austen, @wisdomtrove 31:We insist, it seems, on living. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 32:A heart set on love will do no wrong. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 33:I dote on his very absence. ~ william-shakespeare, @wisdomtrove 34:I live on good soup, not on fine words. ~ moliere, @wisdomtrove 35:Life is like a drop of dew on a leaf. ~ socrates, @wisdomtrove 36:Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 37:There is no limit on earnings. ~ earl-nightingale, @wisdomtrove 38:And I fell violently on my face. ~ edgar-allan-poe, @wisdomtrove 39:Never get too hung up on mistakes. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 40:Never have a ceiling on your income. ~ t-harv-eker, @wisdomtrove 41:No honest man will argue on every side ~ sophocles, @wisdomtrove 42:Press on! A better fate awaits thee. ~ victor-hugo, @wisdomtrove 43:The love of fame usually spurs on the mind. ~ ovid, @wisdomtrove 44:We're here on Earth to fart around ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 45:Big doors swing on little hinges. ~ w-clement-stone, @wisdomtrove 46:Hopes dance best on bald men's hair. ~ e-e-cummings, @wisdomtrove 47:I know how men in exile feed on dreams. ~ aeschylus, @wisdomtrove 48:Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 49:The cat always leaves a mark on his friend. ~ aesop, @wisdomtrove 50:Youth is wasted on the young. ~ george-bernard-shaw, @wisdomtrove 51:Alas! the fleeting years, how they roll on! ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 52:An army marches on its stomach. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 53:And thus the child imposes on the man. ~ john-dryden, @wisdomtrove 54:Christians are rare people on earth. ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove 55:Fiction is an improvement on life ~ charles-bukowski, @wisdomtrove 56:God's timing is always on time. ~ charles-r-swindoll, @wisdomtrove 57:Leap and grow your wings on the way down ~ les-brown, @wisdomtrove 58:Society is founded on hero-worship. ~ thomas-carlyle, @wisdomtrove 59:There is no rule on how to write. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 60:They who prosper take on airs of vanity. ~ aeschylus, @wisdomtrove 61:We should die relying on grace alone ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove 62:What you focus on always gets better. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 63:Don't operate on the heart with a hatchet. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 64:Focus on fewer but higher impact tasks. ~ leo-babauta, @wisdomtrove 65:Focus on opportunities, not problems. ~ peter-drucker, @wisdomtrove 66:Focus on the solution, not on the problem. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 67:Forbear to lay the guilt of a few on the many. ~ ovid, @wisdomtrove 68:I'd got hobbits on my hands hadn't I? ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 69:Let cheerfulness on happy fortune wait. ~ john-dryden, @wisdomtrove 70:Part of success is preparation on purpose. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 71:The oaths of a woman I inscribe on water. ~ sophocles, @wisdomtrove 72:The Person is a bubble on Time's sea. ~ sri-aurobindo, @wisdomtrove 73:Dine on little, and sup on less. ~ miguel-de-cervantes, @wisdomtrove 74:Hey, did somebody step on a duck? ~ rodney-dangerfield, @wisdomtrove 75:I can't stand to see myself on television. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 76:I feed on good soup, not beautiful language. ~ moliere, @wisdomtrove 77:I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 78:I wonder what ants do on rainy days? ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 79:Laws, like houses, lean on one another. ~ edmund-burke, @wisdomtrove 80:Mankind led on by gods err all too easily. ~ euripedes, @wisdomtrove 81:March on, the Lord is our General. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 82:Nothing's as good as holding on to safety. ~ euripedes, @wisdomtrove 83:The heart will break, but broken live on. ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 84:There's no traffic jam on the extra mile. ~ zig-ziglar, @wisdomtrove 85:To die is landing on some distant shore. ~ john-dryden, @wisdomtrove 86:To the heavens on the wings of a pig. ~ john-steinbeck, @wisdomtrove 87:A fearless man thrives on far horizons. ~ napoleon-hill, @wisdomtrove 88:America was founded on the backs of slaves. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 89:Be not selfish in your doings: pass it on. ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 90:Be true to what you said on paper. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 91:Creativity is contagious. Pass it on. ~ albert-einstein, @wisdomtrove 92:Do not let a leader lead you on a bad path. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 93:Focus on being productive instead of busy. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove 94:Hearts will break - yet brokenly, live on. ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 95:He who kisses girl on hillside is not level ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 96:I keep on dying, Because I love to live. ~ maya-angelou, @wisdomtrove 97:Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. ~ jane-austen, @wisdomtrove 98:Plan ahead or find trouble on the doorstep. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 99:You cant be too careful on a skateboard. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 100:An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox. ~ lao-tzu, @wisdomtrove 101:Economics is on the side of humanity now. ~ isaac-asimov, @wisdomtrove 102:Great companies are built on great products. ~ elon-musk, @wisdomtrove 103:He is always a slave who cannot live on little. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 104:I'm sittin' on my watch so I can be on time. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 105:Insist on yourself; never imitate. ~ ralph-waldo-emerson, @wisdomtrove 106:I thought I would be a guy on the radio. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 107:It is sweet to let the mind unbend on occasion. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 108:My heart in passion, and my head on rhymes. ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 109:Oh, I don't like the look on his face. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 110:Old age creeps on us ere we think it nigh. ~ john-dryden, @wisdomtrove 111:Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way. ~ sophocles, @wisdomtrove 112:All words are pegs to hang ideas on. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 113:Be firm on principle but flexible on method. ~ zig-ziglar, @wisdomtrove 114:Cricket is basically baseball on valium. ~ robin-williams, @wisdomtrove 115:Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise. ~ alice-walker, @wisdomtrove 116:History is a pack of lies we play on the dead. ~ voltaire, @wisdomtrove 117:I do not expect old heads on young shoulders. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 118:May the hair on your toes never fall out! ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 119:Nobody lives forever, but we all shine on. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 120:Nowhere can I think so happily as on a train. ~ a-a-milne, @wisdomtrove 121:The best place to solve a problem is on paper. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 122:The dead don't die. They look on and help. ~ d-h-lawrence, @wisdomtrove 123:The other day a dog peed on me. A bad sign. ~ h-l-mencken, @wisdomtrove 124:The sidelong glance is what you depend on. ~ robert-frost, @wisdomtrove 125:Time flows in a strange way on Sundays. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 126:A lie stands on one leg, truth on two. ~ benjamin-franklin, @wisdomtrove 127:A Woman never looks better than on horseback ~ jane-austen, @wisdomtrove 128:Chance fights ever on the side of the prudent. ~ euripedes, @wisdomtrove 129:Encouragement is the fuel on which hope runs. ~ zig-ziglar, @wisdomtrove 130:Everything hinges on how you look at things ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 131:Gazing on beautiful things acts on my soul. ~ michelangelo, @wisdomtrove 132:Light may be shed on man and his origins. ~ charles-darwin, @wisdomtrove 133:Most game music is based on loops effectively. ~ brian-eno, @wisdomtrove 134:Never depend on a single source of income. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 135:Put your expectations on God, not on people. ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 136:The poppies hung Dew-dabbled on their stalks. ~ john-keats, @wisdomtrove 137:There can be no compromise on moral principles. ~ ayn-rand, @wisdomtrove 138:To attract money, you must focus on wealth. ~ rhonda-byrne, @wisdomtrove 139:Where you stand depends on where you sit. ~ nelson-mandela, @wisdomtrove 140:Work on one thing at a time until finished. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 141:Blessings on him, who invented sleep. ~ miguel-de-cervantes, @wisdomtrove 142:Carve your name on hearts, not on marble ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 143:Come on in girls, and leave all hope behind. ~ groucho-marx, @wisdomtrove 144:Desire urges me on, while fear bridals me. ~ giordano-bruno, @wisdomtrove 145:Find reasons to be happy and focus on those! ~ esther-hicks, @wisdomtrove 146:God created man on purpose, and for a purpose. ~ zig-ziglar, @wisdomtrove 147:God's mark is on everything that obeys Him. ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove 148:If God is on our side, he'll stop the next war. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 149:It will not do to depend on the mind alone. ~ sri-aurobindo, @wisdomtrove 150:Rhyme is the rock on which thou art to wreck. ~ john-dryden, @wisdomtrove 151:The best writing has no lace on its sleeves. ~ walt-whitman, @wisdomtrove 152:The Universe is on the side of Justice ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 153:We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won ~ ronald-reagan, @wisdomtrove 154:Work harder on yourself than you do on your job. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 155:Youth now flees on feathered foot. ~ robert-louis-stevenson, @wisdomtrove 156:Activism is my rent for living on the planet. ~ alice-walker, @wisdomtrove 157:A leash is only a rope with a noose on both ends. ~ ayn-rand, @wisdomtrove 158:As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears. ~ rumi, @wisdomtrove 159:Christ has no body now on earth but yours. ~ teresa-of-avila, @wisdomtrove 160:Fortune is not on the side of the faint-hearted. ~ sophocles, @wisdomtrove 161:I can live for two months on a good compliment. ~ mark-twain, @wisdomtrove 162:I was so wrinkled I could screw my hats on. ~ phyllis-diller, @wisdomtrove 163:I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact. ~ elon-musk, @wisdomtrove 164:Lie on your back and look at the stars. ~ h-jackson-brown-jr, @wisdomtrove 165:Life begins on the other side of despair. ~ jean-paul-sartre, @wisdomtrove 166:Pessimism drops the curtain on tomorrow. ~ robert-h-schuller, @wisdomtrove 167:Some people need a fig-leaf on their mouths. ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove 168:Take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 169:What is history? The lie that everyone agrees on. ~ voltaire, @wisdomtrove 170:You cannot blame everything on the enemy. ~ ursula-k-le-guin, @wisdomtrove 171:You can't build joy on a feeling of self-loathing. ~ ram-das, @wisdomtrove 172:Do it or don't do it but get on with it. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 173:Don't miss out on today by living in yesterday. ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 174:I don’t know where I am going, but I am on my way. ~ voltaire, @wisdomtrove 175:If suffer we must, let's suffer on the heights. ~ victor-hugo, @wisdomtrove 176:If you don't act on life, life will act on you ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 177:I like to skate on the other side of the ice. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 178:Look up on high, and thank the God of all. ~ geoffrey-chaucer, @wisdomtrove 179:Men grow old quickly on the battlefield. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 180:Never begin the day until it is finished on paper. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 181:On the cliffs of your wild cat charms I'm riding. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 182:on the high mound of egotism. It runs down. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove 183:Since Eve ate the apple, much depends on dinner. ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 184:The sun and moon shine on all without partiality. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 185:We live on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove 186:whatsoever to a wrecked sailor alone on a raft." ~ alan-watts, @wisdomtrove 187:your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck. ~ george-carlin, @wisdomtrove 188:America, America, man sheds his waste on thee, ~ george-carlin, @wisdomtrove 189:And I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinking. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 190:Character is "a stamp of good repute on a person." ~ euripedes, @wisdomtrove 191:Envy feeds on the living. It ceases when they are dead. ~ ovid, @wisdomtrove 192:Fear hurries on my tongue through want of courage. ~ aeschylus, @wisdomtrove 193:I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list. ~ susan-sontag, @wisdomtrove 194:Jupiter from on high smiles at the perjuries of lovers. ~ ovid, @wisdomtrove 195:Lives are mere blips on the canvas of eternity. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 196:Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math. ~ ambrose-bierce, @wisdomtrove 197:Men live by forgetting and woman live on memories. ~ t-s-eliot, @wisdomtrove 198:On ne sait jamais! One never knows! ~ antoine-de-saint-exupery, @wisdomtrove 199:On the other hand, you have different fingers. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 200:Polly put the kettle on, we'll all have tea. ~ charles-dickens, @wisdomtrove 201:Saints are sinners who kept on going. ~ robert-louis-stevenson, @wisdomtrove 202:The greatest thing on earth is a good idea! ~ earl-nightingale, @wisdomtrove 203:We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand. ~ e-m-forster, @wisdomtrove 204:We stand today on the edge of a new frontier. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove 205:What we need is love, to guide and protect us on. ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 206:Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others. ~ buddha, @wisdomtrove 207:You don't count the dead, when god's on your side. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 208:A good story can take you on a fantastic journey. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 209:Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. ~ aeschylus, @wisdomtrove 210:Death is terrible, tho' borne on angels' wings! ~ william-blake, @wisdomtrove 211:God is on the side of the big battalions. ~ george-bernard-shaw, @wisdomtrove 212:God is on the side of the heaviest cannon. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 213:God is on the side with the best artillery ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 214:I'm not focused on the gay and lesbian movement. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 215:I poured spot remover on my dog. Now he's gone. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 216:Kind words produce their images on men's souls. ~ blaise-pascal, @wisdomtrove 217:Let evil wait for the day on which it must fall. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 218:No is the foundation that we can build our yes on. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 219:No nation is ever taller than when on its knees. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 220:Table your mistakes, learn from them, then move on. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 221:There was no immunity to cuckoo ideas on Earth. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 222:Tolerance is a sign of growth on the spiritual path ~ sivananda, @wisdomtrove 223:Trust me on this: no one is better off alone. ~ nicholas-sparks, @wisdomtrove 224:Understand your limitations and capitalize on them. ~ bruce-lee, @wisdomtrove 225:We are never defeated unless we give up on God. ~ ronald-reagan, @wisdomtrove 226:You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. ~ barack-obama, @wisdomtrove 227:Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 228:Girl who sit on Judge's lap get honorable discharge. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 229:God's plan will continue on God's schedule. ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 230:Humor is almost always anger with its make-up on. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 231:I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees. ~ euripedes, @wisdomtrove 232:Love will find its way through all languages on its own. ~ rumi, @wisdomtrove 233:Melancholy were the sounds on a winter's night. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 234:My boat is on the shore, And my bark is on the sea. ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 235:Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair. ~ edmund-burke, @wisdomtrove 236:Never give up on what you really want to do ~ h-jackson-brown-jr, @wisdomtrove 237:On their deathbed men will speak true, they say. ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 238:Sometimes you need to go on a low-information diet. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove 239:The poet must put on the passion he wants to represent. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 240:The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. ~ thomas-paine, @wisdomtrove 241:When I'm working on a novel, I work 70-hour weeks. ~ dean-koontz, @wisdomtrove 242:Written on her tombstone: "I told you I was sick. ~ erma-bombeck, @wisdomtrove 243:You can't get to genius on a platform of excuses. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 244:You'll fold faster than Superman on laundry day ~ jerry-seinfeld, @wisdomtrove 245:A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 246:Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on. ~ f-scott-fitzgerald, @wisdomtrove 247:Can I have a silk nightgown with rosebuds on it? ~ audrey-hepburn, @wisdomtrove 248:Every man is ignorant - just on different subjects. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 249:Everything remains unsettled forever, depend on it ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 250:Execution Excellence! (Show up on time! Leave last!) ~ tom-peters, @wisdomtrove 251:Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 252:Focus on the present, to reduce anxiety and stress. ~ leo-babauta, @wisdomtrove 253:Focus on what you want, not on what you don't want. ~ t-harv-eker, @wisdomtrove 254:Free trade is not based on utility but on justice. ~ edmund-burke, @wisdomtrove 255:God is the food our spirits were designed to feed on. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 256:God would rather give up His son..than give up on us ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 257:If I bet on humanity, I'd never cash a ticket. ~ charles-bukowski, @wisdomtrove 258:It is your concern when your neighbor's wall is on fire. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 259:Love and doubt have never been on speaking terms. ~ kahlil-gibran, @wisdomtrove 260:Never go on trips with anyone you do not love. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 261:Nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 262:Nobuddy ever listened t' reason on a empty stomach. ~ kin-hubbard, @wisdomtrove 263:Nothing's ever easy as long as you go on living. ~ marilyn-monroe, @wisdomtrove 264:Only in books do we learn what’s really going on. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 265:Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt. ~ benjamin-franklin, @wisdomtrove 266:The future depends on what we do in the present. ~ mahatma-gandhi, @wisdomtrove 267:There are never any traffic jams on the extra mile. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 268:There are worse places to be than on your own. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 269:Very potent influence on myself has been Finnish. ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 270:Who are we, if not measured by our impact on others? ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove 271:You don't get to vote on what is. Have you noticed? ~ byron-katie, @wisdomtrove 272:You must remain focused on your journey to greatness. ~ les-brown, @wisdomtrove 273:All government is founded on compromise and banter. ~ edmund-burke, @wisdomtrove 274:All you need to do is hold on tight... and believe. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 275:A thief is one who insists on sharing his victimhood. ~ criss-jami, @wisdomtrove 276:Believe in miracles but don't depend on them. ~ h-jackson-brown-jr, @wisdomtrove 277:Choosing a path means having to miss out on others. ~ paulo-coelho, @wisdomtrove 278:Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove 279:Does happiness really depend on self-delusion? ~ yuval-noah-harari, @wisdomtrove 280:Do not lay on the multitude the blame that is due to a few. ~ ovid, @wisdomtrove 281:Door: What a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of. ~ ogden-nash, @wisdomtrove 282:Education is hanging around until you've caught on. ~ robert-frost, @wisdomtrove 283:Focus on return on equity, not earnings per share. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 284:From the very first time I rest my eyes on you, girl, ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 285:Here on earth, God's work must surely be our own. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove 286:I wrote a few children's books... not on purpose. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 287:Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 288:My friends should drink a dozen of Claret on my Tomb. ~ john-keats, @wisdomtrove 289:On the ear Drops the light drip of the suspended oar. ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 290:The man on top of the mountain didn't fall there. ~ vince-lombardi, @wisdomtrove 291:There is wishful thinking in Hell as well as on Earth. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 292:Women are the only correspondents to be depended on. ~ jane-austen, @wisdomtrove 293:All true religion must stand on true morality. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 294:Be ever on your guard what you say of anybody and to whom. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 295:Evil thrives on apathy and cannot exist without it. ~ hannah-arendt, @wisdomtrove 296:He who has suffered you to impose on him knows you. ~ william-blake, @wisdomtrove 297:How come anything you buy will go on sale next week? ~ erma-bombeck, @wisdomtrove 298:I always like to look on the optimistic side of life. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 299:I buy expensive suits - they just look cheap on me. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 300:If someone's lying, are their pants really on fire ~ jerry-seinfeld, @wisdomtrove 301:I want to die with my high heels on, still in action. ~ bette-davis, @wisdomtrove 302:I wouldn't piss on Joan Crawford if she were on fire. ~ bette-davis, @wisdomtrove 303:No decent career was ever founded on a public. ~ f-scott-fitzgerald, @wisdomtrove 304:No matter where I am on this planet, I am always safe. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove 305:On our knees we are the most powerful force on earth ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 306:Success is dependent on the glands - the sweat glands. ~ zig-ziglar, @wisdomtrove 307:The moving finger writes; and having writ, moves on. ~ omar-khayyam, @wisdomtrove 308:There's no use running if you're on the wrong road. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 309:To keep on going, you have to keep up the rhythm. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 310:Well, that's a & 311:With luck on your side, you can do without brains. ~ giordano-bruno, @wisdomtrove 312:You don’t need to be burned out to go on hiatus. ~ danielle-laporte, @wisdomtrove 313:You have to stay faithful to what you're working on. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 314:Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet. ~ alice-walker, @wisdomtrove 315:A gold mine is a hole in the ground with a liar on top. ~ mark-twain, @wisdomtrove 316:A grave, on which to rest from singing? ~ elizabeth-barrett-browning, @wisdomtrove 317:All my successes have been built on my failures. ~ benjamin-disraeli, @wisdomtrove 318:Any planet is & 319:A teardrop on earth summons the King of heaven. ~ charles-r-swindoll, @wisdomtrove 320:Denis Waitley quote: Don't dwell on what went wrong. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove 321:Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 322:God's providence is on the side of clear heads. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 323:Hold on to me: Someday I may be quite valuable. ~ ashleigh-brilliant, @wisdomtrove 324:If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 325:If there are poor on the moon, we will go there too. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove 326:If you don't want to do something,don't impose on others ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 327:In man's struggle against the world, bet on the world. ~ franz-kafka, @wisdomtrove 328:I put hardwood floors on top of wall-to-wall carpet. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 329:It's not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on. ~ marilyn-monroe, @wisdomtrove 330:It’s when you hide things that you choke on them. ~ charles-bukowski, @wisdomtrove 331:I wish I could take a raincheck on June 18.1815 ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 332:Never begrudge the money you spend on your own education. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 333:Nobody kicks on being interrupted if it's by applause. ~ kin-hubbard, @wisdomtrove 334:On or about December 1910, human character changed. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 335:On the back of Satan's neck is a nail scarred footprint. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 336:Our job is to read things that are not yet on the page. ~ steve-jobs, @wisdomtrove 337:Regardless of what we do, our karma has no hold on us. ~ bodhidharma, @wisdomtrove 338:Take pleasure in the impact of one sound on another. ~ george-orwell, @wisdomtrove 339:The fruit of your work grows on other people's trees ~ peter-drucker, @wisdomtrove 340:We might as well die as to go on living like this. ~ charlie-chaplan, @wisdomtrove 341:What can stars do? Nothing..But sit on their axis! ~ charlie-chaplan, @wisdomtrove 342:Why can I never set my heart on a possible thing? ~ ursula-k-le-guin, @wisdomtrove 343:7 per cent of all statistics are made up on the spot. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 344:A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self. ~ charles-dickens, @wisdomtrove 345:Always focus on accomplishments rather than activities. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 346:America is the only country ever founded on a creed. ~ g-k-chesterton, @wisdomtrove 347:Don't be on the side of the angels, it's too lowering. ~ d-h-lawrence, @wisdomtrove 348:For nightinggales - we know - can’t live on fairytales. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 349:Go on loving what is good, simple, and ordinary. ~ rainer-maria-rilke, @wisdomtrove 350:Houseless: Having paid all taxes on household goods. ~ ambrose-bierce, @wisdomtrove 351:Humans become angels on earth, not in heaven. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 352:If at first you do succeed, quit trying on investing. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 353:If we agree on everything, only one of us is necessary. ~ dan-millman, @wisdomtrove 354:I have three boxes on my desk: In, Out, and Too Hard. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 355:Imperceptibly the hours glide on, and beguile us as they pass. ~ ovid, @wisdomtrove 356:It is a law, that every event depends on some law. ~ john-stuart-mill, @wisdomtrove 357:On the Infinite Universe and Worlds. Book by , 1584. ~ giordano-bruno, @wisdomtrove 358:On the other side of the fear live your possibilities. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 359:On the way to work, concentrate on the way - not the work. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 360:Our joy does not have to be based on our circumstances. ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 361:Religion is like an ice cold whiskey on a hot day. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 362:The most beautiful curve on a woman’s body is her smile. ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 363:the only thing i knew how to do was to keep on keeping on ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 364:Worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 365:Your fear is 100% dependent on you for its survival. ~ steve-maraboli, @wisdomtrove 366:A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of. ~ ogden-nash, @wisdomtrove 367:Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 368:Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon. ~ aesop, @wisdomtrove 369:But to live in ignorance on such a point was impossible. ~ jane-austen, @wisdomtrove 370:Don't be called out on strikes. Go down swinging. ~ h-jackson-brown-jr, @wisdomtrove 371:Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 372:Do you ever have the feeling you're a tourist on earth? ~ richard-bach, @wisdomtrove 373:Envy and greed starve on a steady diet of thanksgiving. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 374:Fie on possession, But if a man be vertuous withal. ~ geoffrey-chaucer, @wisdomtrove 375:Focus on the impact you make versus the title you have. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 376:Got tight on absinthe last night. Did knife tricks. ~ ernest-hemingway, @wisdomtrove 377:Here's my strategy on the Cold War: we win, they lose. ~ ronald-reagan, @wisdomtrove 378:He who has no vision of eternity has no hold on time. ~ thomas-carlyle, @wisdomtrove 379:I am a better person when I have less on my plate. ~ elizabeth-gilbert, @wisdomtrove 380:I'm working full time on my job and part time on my fortune ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 381:Intelligence always had a pornographic influence on me. ~ maya-angelou, @wisdomtrove 382:I've been on a calendar, but I've never been on time. ~ marilyn-monroe, @wisdomtrove 383:Just a few words on time management: forget all about it. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove 384:Keen appetite And quick digestion wait on you and yours. ~ john-dryden, @wisdomtrove 385:Many pass for saints on earth whose souls are in hell. ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove 386:My fun is working on a project and solving the problems. ~ walt-disney, @wisdomtrove 387:My work is the only ground I've ever had to stand on. ~ marilyn-monroe, @wisdomtrove 388:Old and young, we are all on our last cruise. ~ robert-louis-stevenson, @wisdomtrove 389:Sometimes I spit on my mother's portrait for pleasure. ~ salvador-dali, @wisdomtrove 390:Spending on the military doesn't increase the deficit. ~ ronald-reagan, @wisdomtrove 391:Steak on the plate went up. Steak on the hoof went down. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 392:That's bad luck: three on a midget. From "At The Circus ~ groucho-marx, @wisdomtrove 393:The faith of religion is belief on insufficient evidence. ~ sam-harris, @wisdomtrove 394:The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too. ~ teresa-of-avila, @wisdomtrove 395:The insane, on occasion, are not without their charms. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 396:The only limits on human achievement are self-imposed. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove 397:Train everyone lavishly. You can't overspend on training. ~ tom-peters, @wisdomtrove 398:What's going on in the inside shows on the outside. ~ earl-nightingale, @wisdomtrove 399:What's on your mind, if you will allow the overstatement. ~ fred-allen, @wisdomtrove 400:Who, then is a devotee? He whose mind dwells on God. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove 401:Why is the third hand on a watch called a second hand? ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 402:Why not help one another on the way..makes it much easier ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 403:Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. ~ victor-hugo, @wisdomtrove 404:With the newspaper strike on, I wouldn't consider dying. ~ bette-davis, @wisdomtrove 405:You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do. ~ henry-ford, @wisdomtrove 406:Any eye is an evil eye That looks in on to a mood apart. ~ robert-frost, @wisdomtrove 407:.. anything a customer thinks a store is losing money on. ~ kin-hubbard, @wisdomtrove 408:Being The Best, Beauty On The Inside, Beautiful Inside ~ audrey-hepburn, @wisdomtrove 409:Don't let a man put anything over on you except an umbrella. ~ mae-west, @wisdomtrove 410:Envy, the meanest of vices, creeps on the ground like a serpent. ~ ovid, @wisdomtrove 411:Forgive and call back the energy wasted on past events. ~ caroline-myss, @wisdomtrove 412:God has the final word on your life and His word is grace. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 413:I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become. ~ oprah-winfrey, @wisdomtrove 414:It's good to have a prayer on your lips wherever you go. ~ henri-nouwen, @wisdomtrove 415:I've never really prided myself as being quick on my feet. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 416:Men may come and men may go but I go on forever. ~ alfred-lord-tennyson, @wisdomtrove 417:My last word s that it all depends on what you visualize. ~ amsel-adams, @wisdomtrove 418:On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it. ~ jules-renard, @wisdomtrove 419:Paradox - Truth standing on her head to get attention. ~ g-k-chesterton, @wisdomtrove 420:Place your attention on what you wish to experience. ~ michael-beckwith, @wisdomtrove 421:Play the picture in your mind - focus on the end result. ~ rhonda-byrne, @wisdomtrove 422:Ride on! Ride on over all obstacles and win the race. ~ charles-dickens, @wisdomtrove 423:Screw it, let's do it - Just get on with it and do it ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 424:suppose Life is an old man carrying flowers on his head. ~ e-e-cummings, @wisdomtrove 425:The extraordinary woman depends on the ordinary woman. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 426:The saints are the sinners who keep on trying. ~ robert-louis-stevenson, @wisdomtrove 427:To let oneself be carried on passively is unthinkable. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 428:Truly great companies are built on ideals, not just deals. ~ alan-watts, @wisdomtrove 429:We look for good on earth and cannot recognize it when met. ~ euripedes, @wisdomtrove 430:What terrible tragedies realism inflicts on people. ~ fyodor-dostoevsky, @wisdomtrove 431:When fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression. ~ h-l-mencken, @wisdomtrove 432:When we give up on our dreams, we die while still alive. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 433:You are the only person on earth who can use your ability. ~ zig-ziglar, @wisdomtrove 434:Discourse on Metaphysics and the Monadology. ~ gottfried-wilhelm-leibniz, @wisdomtrove 435:Distance has the same effect on the mind as on the eye. ~ samuel-johnson, @wisdomtrove 436:Don't use the past as an excuse to miss out on your future. ~ alan-cohen, @wisdomtrove 437:I am standing on my own altar; The poses are my prayers. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 438:I do not recall a Jewish home without a book on the table. ~ elie-wiesel, @wisdomtrove 439:If you rely only on your eyes, your other senses weaken. ~ frank-herbert, @wisdomtrove 440:I need to keep pressing on until I am thoroughly thankful. ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 441:Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen everyday. ~ h-jackson-brown-jr, @wisdomtrove 442:OPPORTUNITY is not "knocking." It is pounding on your door. ~ tom-peters, @wisdomtrove 443:The musician who always plays on the same string is laughed at. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 444:Worrying is like paying on a debt that may never come due. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 445:Your life on the Outside reflects your life on the Inside ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 446:America is, and always will be, a shining city on a hill. ~ ronald-reagan, @wisdomtrove 447:And yet their wills did not yield, and they struggled on. ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove 448:A satirical poet is the check of the laymen on bad priests. ~ john-dryden, @wisdomtrove 449:Focus on giants - you stumble. Focus on God - Giants tumble. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 450:Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 451:I like a woman with a head on her shoulders. I hate necks. ~ steve-martin, @wisdomtrove 452:In difficult circumstances always act on first impressions. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 453:In the house, and on the street, how many, many feet you meet. ~ dr-seuss, @wisdomtrove 454:I seldom was ever off my seat on the bench during the game. ~ john-wooden, @wisdomtrove 455:Mediocrity's like a spot on a shirt it never comes off. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 456:Organizations are no longer built on force, but on trust. ~ peter-drucker, @wisdomtrove 457:People on dates shouldn't even be allowed out in public. ~ jerry-seinfeld, @wisdomtrove 458:The human race afraid of nothing, rushes on through every crime. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 459:The more we dwell on what we don't want, the more we get it. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove 460:The short span of life forbids us to take on far-reaching hopes. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove 461:This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you. ~ hafez, @wisdomtrove 462:What do you experience on perceiving yourselves lovely within? ~ plotinus, @wisdomtrove 463:When the truth is in your way, you are on the wrong road. ~ josh-billings, @wisdomtrove 464:When the Warrior takes on a commitment, he keeps his word. ~ paulo-coelho, @wisdomtrove 465:Where any view of money exists, art cannot be carried on. ~ william-blake, @wisdomtrove 466:Words form the thread on which we string our experiences. ~ aldous-huxley, @wisdomtrove 467:You can do anything with bayonets except sit on them ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 468:You cannot build a superstructure on a cracked foundation. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 469:You'll find out when you reach the top, you're on the bottom. ~ bob-dylan, @wisdomtrove 470:A fanatic is always the fellow that is on the opposite side. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 471:A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 472:Bless my eyes this morning, Jah sun is on the rise once again ~ bob-marley, @wisdomtrove 473:Can there be a love which does not make demands on its object? ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 474:Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat. ~ joel-osteen, @wisdomtrove 475:Don't start your day until you have it finished on paper first. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 476:Do the emotional labor of working on things that others fear. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 477:I dote on myself. There is a lot of me and all so luscious. ~ walt-whitman, @wisdomtrove 478:In a contest between patience and power, bet on patience. ~ samuel-johnson, @wisdomtrove 479:Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 480:One who leans on others cannot serve the God of Truth. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 481:On victory, you deserve beer. On defeat, you need it. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 482:Pornography is the attempt to insult sex, to do dirt on it. ~ d-h-lawrence, @wisdomtrove 483:Providence is always on the side of the last reserve. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 484:Radio address on his 90th birthday, 8 Mar. 1931 ~ oliver-wendell-holmes-jr, @wisdomtrove 485:Relationships are where we take our recovery on the road. ~ melody-beattie, @wisdomtrove 486:Sailors on a becalmed sea, we sense the stirring of a breeze. ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove 487:Self-realization is the last game on earth worth playing. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 488:Stop focusing on what you cant do, focus on what God can do. ~ joel-osteen, @wisdomtrove 489:The moon is the first milestone on the road to the stars. ~ arthur-c-carke, @wisdomtrove 490:The unhappiest man on earth is the one who has nothing to do. ~ henry-ford, @wisdomtrove 491:Things are gradually falling into place on top of me. ~ ashleigh-brilliant, @wisdomtrove 492:Those who feed on rumors are small, suspicious souls. ~ charles-r-swindoll, @wisdomtrove 493:Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it. ~ albert-camus, @wisdomtrove 494:Why wait for your ship to come in when you are already on it? ~ alan-cohen, @wisdomtrove 495:All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions. ~ bodhidharma, @wisdomtrove 496:As we meditate on Christ's life, we find strength for our own. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 497:Being a hero is about the shortest-lived profession on earth. ~ will-rogers, @wisdomtrove 498:Birds sing on a bare bough; O, believer, canst not thou? ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 499:Books have always a secret influence on the understanding. ~ samuel-johnson, @wisdomtrove 500:Christian endeavor is notoriously hard on female pulchritude. ~ h-l-mencken, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:and they went out on ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
2:Bench (on the green) ~ Sandy Hall, #NFDB
3:Bet on yourself. ~ Sophia Amoruso, #NFDB
4:Life goes on, brah! ~ The Beatles, #NFDB
5:Mitten on a Bottle ~ Barbara Sher, #NFDB
6:on a fancy dress ~ Michelle Obama, #NFDB
7:on the drive over to ~ Gary Ponzo, #NFDB
8:on the winds of war. ~ Kate Quinn, #NFDB
9:perch on the wall ~ Julia Golding, #NFDB
10:That's it, come on! ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
11:cast-iron erection, on ~ M R James, #NFDB
12:chewing on all ~ Lauraine Snelling, #NFDB
13:Drunk on life. ~ Chelsea M Cameron, #NFDB
14:Every step is on the path. ~ Laozi, #NFDB
15:full-on crazy mode. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
16:Hold on there, sheila. ~ C D Reiss, #NFDB
17:immediately on the ~ Sabrina Paige, #NFDB
18:I won't give up on us ~ Jason Mraz, #NFDB
19:Neil Young” on ~ Megan Jean Sovern, #NFDB
20:On January 28, 1791, ~ Ron Chernow, #NFDB
21:On no other ground ~ William Blake, #NFDB
22:On with the chase. ~ Gordon Korman, #NFDB
23:Raven kept on singing. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
24:Sippin' on that brown stuff ~ Slug, #NFDB
25:Still...you turn me on ~ Greg Lake, #NFDB
26:Suck on this, Edward. ~ Dani Smith, #NFDB
27:The Clan is on fire! ~ Erin Hunter, #NFDB
28:The teaching goes on ~ Mitch Albom, #NFDB
29:together on tiny ~ Janet Evanovich, #NFDB
30:What on earth, boys! ~ Fred Gipson, #NFDB
31:Africa is on the rise. ~ Bill Gates, #NFDB
32:Boy on a Train From ~ Ralph Ellison, #NFDB
33:Bring on the kinky sex! ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
34:Busy idleness urges us on. ~ Horace, #NFDB
35:Dickel on the rocks. ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
36:Dude, are you on meth? ~ John Green, #NFDB
37:ebook-reading device on ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
38:good-natured groom on ~ Donna Tartt, #NFDB
39:I did it on purpose. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
40:If we hold on together ~ Diana Ross, #NFDB
41:Keep on keeping on!!! ~ Joel Osteen, #NFDB
42:Learn to wait on God. ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
43:media would jump on ~ Kendra Elliot, #NFDB
44:Mine. I'm on my side. ~ Alyson Noel, #NFDB
45:Nonsense on stilts ~ Jeremy Bentham, #NFDB
46:On Exilic Intellectuals ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
47:Soon he would move on. ~ Gore Vidal, #NFDB
48:The girl on fire. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
49:The world is on fire. ~ John McCain, #NFDB
50:Time flies on fickle wings ~ Seneca, #NFDB
51:Turning on her heel, Eve ~ J D Robb, #NFDB
52:When you focus on place ~ Fred Kent, #NFDB
53:Yip cabbage on three! ~ Brett Favre, #NFDB
54:And so I walked on. ~ Cheryl Strayed, #NFDB
55:Bear rapped on my window, ~ L T Ryan, #NFDB
56:concentrate on my novel ~ A J Waines, #NFDB
57:Every step is on the path. ~ Lao Tzu, #NFDB
58:Fiddler on the Roof, to ~ Wendy Mass, #NFDB
59:Gambling on Doomsday Eve ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
60:gone on Miss Lily. ~ Agatha Christie, #NFDB
61:HOPE- Hold On, Pain Ends ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
62:I can't go on like this ~ Alex Flinn, #NFDB
63:I'm on the edge with you ~ Lady Gaga, #NFDB
64:I put food on the table ~ Tom Waits, #NFDB
65:Keep working on love. ~ Richard Bach, #NFDB
66:L'Agréable Leçon
~ Albert Samain,#NFDB
67:Life thrives on life; ~ David Suzuki, #NFDB
68:Life turns on a dime. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
69:on noon at Friday, ~ Jennifer Weiner, #NFDB
70:On the Cancer Frontier, ~ Tom Brokaw, #NFDB
71:On your feet, maggot! ~ Sarah M Eden, #NFDB
72:pillow on ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, #NFDB
73:Press on, regardless. ~ Mary Stewart, #NFDB
74:want to hang on to your ~ Max Lucado, #NFDB
75:When I'm Gone Just Carry On ~ Eminem, #NFDB
76:And so on, and so on... ~ Slavoj i ek, #NFDB
77:And so on to infinity ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
78:Carry on, my sisters. ~ Sue Monk Kidd, #NFDB
79:Christ on a bike, Tony … ~ Ian Rankin, #NFDB
80:come on up.” “Up? ~ Kristen Heitzmann, #NFDB
81:count on this terrible ~ Barbara Park, #NFDB
82:Darkness feeds on apathy. ~ Dan Brown, #NFDB
83:Fate keeps on happening. ~ Anita Loos, #NFDB
84:Focus on writing first. ~ Lyra Parish, #NFDB
85:Get back on that bike. ~ Sarah Dessen, #NFDB
86:have mercy on me and hear ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
87:Hold On. Hope Hard. ~ Robert Browning, #NFDB
88:If you hold on tight ~ Dave Matthews, #NFDB
89:I like to be counted on. ~ Jeff Bezos, #NFDB
90:I'm not giving up on us. ~ Katie Reus, #NFDB
91:I'm such a diva on set. ~ Emily Blunt, #NFDB
92:I strive on pressure. ~ Magic Johnson, #NFDB
93:I swear on your life, ~ Renee Carlino, #NFDB
94:It's sundown on the union ~ Bob Dylan, #NFDB
95:I will soldier on. ~ J H Williams III, #NFDB
96:JAKE HARRISON painted on ~ Wendy Mass, #NFDB
97:Keep calm and carry on! ~ R J Palacio, #NFDB
98:Keep on being yourself. ~ Hugh Laurie, #NFDB
99:Lay on, MacDuff ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
100:Look on beauty, ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
101:My body is on auto-slut. ~ Tara Brown, #NFDB
102:No whining on the yacht. ~ Al Franken, #NFDB
103:Pigpen's on the move. ~ Katie McGarry, #NFDB
104:Rock me on the water ~ Jackson Browne, #NFDB
105:Shake it off and move on. ~ Tom Hanks, #NFDB
106:She crept up on me. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
107:shined on a woman’s face. ~ S M Reine, #NFDB
108:sucking on a football. ~ Carl Hiaasen, #NFDB
109:The whole world`s on fire. ~ Ted Cruz, #NFDB
110:Touch magic. Pass it on. ~ Jane Yolen, #NFDB
111:Touring is hard on the body. ~ Eminem, #NFDB
112:Turn on the prudent ~ Samuel Johnson, #NFDB
113:Woss that on your ’ead? ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
114:Ball prints on my hood! ~ Abigail Roux, #NFDB
115:brilliance on hold.” Poe ~ Lucian Bane, #NFDB
116:Bring it on, penis packers! ~ S E Hall, #NFDB
117:carried on round pianos ~ Louise Penny, #NFDB
118:Changing on the Job. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
119:Christ on the crapper, ~ Philip K Dick, #NFDB
120:Don’t you dare pee on me. ~ Roni Loren, #NFDB
121:Ember Falls on Kickstarter ~ S D Smith, #NFDB
122:Energy is based on love. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
123:Get black on white. ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
124:Hold on tight, Cherie ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
125:I decided on moustaches. ~ Ian Fleming, #NFDB
126:I do belong on stage. ~ Chris Daughtry, #NFDB
127:I feed on your energy. ~ Frank Herbert, #NFDB
128:I grew up on the game. ~ Philip Rivers, #NFDB
129:I had rambling on my mind. ~ Lee Child, #NFDB
130:I'm running on hate. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
131:Keep buggering on. ~ Winston Churchill, #NFDB
132:Keep on the watch and pray ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
133:Life and love go on. ~ Stephenie Meyer, #NFDB
134:My heart is on a budget. ~ Anne Sexton, #NFDB
135:Needs must, and so on. ~ Kate Atkinson, #NFDB
136:Night falling on the city ~ David Gray, #NFDB
137:On my face extended flat ~ W S Gilbert, #NFDB
138:On the pavement ~ Vladimir Mayakovsky, #NFDB
139:She soars on her own wings. ~ Socrates, #NFDB
140:The show must go on. ~ Freddie Mercury, #NFDB
141:What’s on your iPod? ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
142:86 | Added on Wednesday, 29 ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
143:Are you putting on airs? ~ Masha Gessen, #NFDB
144:Don't piss on my Utopia. ~ Theresa Weir, #NFDB
145:every day with you? Come on ~ Leon Uris, #NFDB
146:frizz out on me later, I ~ Karina Halle, #NFDB
147:Get black on white. ~ Guy de Maupassant, #NFDB
148:Get busy on the possible ~ Regina Brett, #NFDB
149:Get on your feet or die. ~ Paul Hoffman, #NFDB
150:I am forever on the way ~ Maxine Greene, #NFDB
151:I can concentrate on my art. ~ Lou Reed, #NFDB
152:I improve on misquotation. ~ Cary Grant, #NFDB
153:I've been racketeered on. ~ Randy Quaid, #NFDB
154:Keep your eye on the ball. ~ Ford Frick, #NFDB
155:Keep your eye on the prey ~ Erin Hunter, #NFDB
156:knocking on his superior’s ~ Dale Brown, #NFDB
157:Life goes on, sport. ~ Armistead Maupin, #NFDB
158:Life is lived on the edge. ~ Will Smith, #NFDB
159:like a spaz on steroids ~ Melanie Marks, #NFDB
160:Put black on white. ~ Guy de Maupassant, #NFDB
161:Rats live on no evil star ~ Anne Sexton, #NFDB
162:settle on one direction ~ John Flanagan, #NFDB
163:So he bailed on you, ~ Samantha Christy, #NFDB
164:The amber light came on. ~ Jos Saramago, #NFDB
165:the mafia—then he let on. ~ Lee Strauss, #NFDB
166:The world runs on luck. ~ Kevin Systrom, #NFDB
167:What you focus on grows. ~ Esther Hicks, #NFDB
168:Wine is a peep-hole on a man. ~ Alcaeus, #NFDB
169:YEAH! Bring it on, lake! ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
170:You have to open up on stage. ~ Karen O, #NFDB
171:All proofs rest on premises. ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
172:All war is based on deception. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
173:blue bead on the wick, ~ Denise Levertov, #NFDB
174:Bring it on, fur-ass! ~ Charlaine Harris, #NFDB
175:Change lives on the horizon. ~ T F Hodge, #NFDB
176:Come on, you creepy Swede. ~ Rick Yancey, #NFDB
177:Don't sell on bad news. ~ Walter Schloss, #NFDB
178:FLAME ON, MOTHERFUCKER! ~ Nicole Hamlett, #NFDB
179:focused on the contents of my ~ J C Reed, #NFDB
180:Focus on the now and kick ass! ~ A R Von, #NFDB
181:GOOD OR ILL DEPENDS ON WILL. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
182:Harv asked, “Are we on ~ Andrew Peterson, #NFDB
183:High and low rest on each other. ~ Laozi, #NFDB
184:Hit the nail on the head. ~ John Heywood, #NFDB
185:I have some help on tweeting. ~ Ron Paul, #NFDB
186:I like walking on the edge. ~ Levon Helm, #NFDB
187:I'm leaving on a jet plane ~ John Denver, #NFDB
188:Life and love go on... ~ Stephenie Meyer, #NFDB
189:life goes on ad nauseam. ~ Gary R Renard, #NFDB
190:Life goes on, so should you. ~ T L Hines, #NFDB
191:My curse on plays ~ William Butler Yeats, #NFDB
192:of his eyes on my body. I ~ Penny Wylder, #NFDB
193:ORDER BASED ON ORDER ~ Erwin Schr dinger, #NFDB
194:Paul did not give up on him. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
195:Plan may fail, life goes on. ~ Toba Beta, #NFDB
196:Put the 'off' button on. ~ George W Bush, #NFDB
197:so that the poles are on the ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
198:Take a walk on the wild side. ~ Lou Reed, #NFDB
199:The Psalms do twaddle on. ~ Rebecca West, #NFDB
200:We expand what we focus on. ~ Wayne Dyer, #NFDB
201:What on earth shall I do ~ Johanna Spyri, #NFDB
202:What you focus on expands. ~ T Harv Eker, #NFDB
203:Who sail on stormy seas; ~ Lewis Carroll, #NFDB
204:You are scored on my heart. ~ Jojo Moyes, #NFDB
205:You're on your way, Jose! ~ Deke Slayton, #NFDB
206:A cat may looke on a King. ~ John Heywood, #NFDB
207:And so forth and so on. ~ Robert B Parker, #NFDB
208:A pox on all meads! ~ Christopher Paolini, #NFDB
209:A rose on a steel stem, ~ Deborah Crombie, #NFDB
210:As much use as tits on a fish. ~ Mal Peet, #NFDB
211:Blame it on Peer Pressure. ~ John Marsden, #NFDB
212:Christ on a Popsicle stick. ~ John Scalzi, #NFDB
213:cunt on the blackboard. ~ Karin Slaughter, #NFDB
214:Demon stink? On John Ross? ~ Terry Brooks, #NFDB
215:Do not meditate on the mess. ~ Max Lucado, #NFDB
216:Fear holds on. Love lets go. ~ Lisa Unger, #NFDB
217:Fire feeds on obstacles ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
218:Frank’s going to go on ~ Shayne Parkinson, #NFDB
219:guidance on the question. ~ Joseph Murphy, #NFDB
220:Haters can keep on hating. ~ Selena Gomez, #NFDB
221:He shat on her feet in panic. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
222:HOW TO BE A GIRL ON A DATE ~ Steve Harvey, #NFDB
223:I also smell it on you. ~ James Lee Burke, #NFDB
224:I didn't mean to turn you on. ~ Cherrelle, #NFDB
225:I didn't want to be peed on. ~ Penny Reid, #NFDB
226:I'm really big on hormones. ~ Jen Kirkman, #NFDB
227:I’m smiling on the inside. ~ Blake Crouch, #NFDB
228:I was on an island again. ~ Sloane Howell, #NFDB
229:Keep buggering on.... ~ Winston Churchill, #NFDB
230:My story hurries me on. ~ Sebastian Barry, #NFDB
231:On day is pressed on by another. ~ Horace, #NFDB
232:on my rump and pushed me ~ Annie Nicholas, #NFDB
233:On sorrow floats laughter. ~ G nter Grass, #NFDB
234:On sorrow floats laughter. ~ Gunter Grass, #NFDB
235:on the outside, and all of ~ Faith Martin, #NFDB
236:PSA27.14 Wait on the LORD: be ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
237:put on her dress and prepare ~ Eowyn Ivey, #NFDB
238:Put on your adidas and step off. ~ Ed O G, #NFDB
239:so I can keep an eye on you?. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
240:Stop shoulding on yourself ~ Albert Ellis, #NFDB
241:The irony is lost on you. ~ Courtney Cole, #NFDB
242:They got in on pure talent. ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
243:uncle cameo out on ~ Aurora Rose Reynolds, #NFDB
244:want your scent on my sheets. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
245:Way over on the railroad, ~ Van Morrison, #NFDB
246:We live on the cusp of death ~ Macklemore, #NFDB
247:What’s on your happy list? ~ Mia Sheridan, #NFDB
248:You just go on your nerve. ~ Frank O Hara, #NFDB
249:You must base the Wisdom on Love. ~ Plato, #NFDB
250:your a flea on a rats bum ~ Julia Golding, #NFDB
251:You've scored on my heart... ~ Jojo Moyes, #NFDB
252:A curse burns bright on crime. ~ Aeschylus, #NFDB
253:and handjobs on crows. ~ Elizabeth Kolbert, #NFDB
254:and kisses me softly on the ~ Karina Halle, #NFDB
255:Baby, get a handle on it. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
256:back to school on Monday. ~ Teresa Burrell, #NFDB
257:Bad times are on horseback. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
258:Bring it on, Pinecone Face! ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
259:Come on up, boys -I'm dead. ~ Dylan Thomas, #NFDB
260:Concentrate on your task. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
261:Cracks Down On Subway Acrobats ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
262:Deal, shall we blowjob on it? ~ Jay McLean, #NFDB
263:Do not waste your pity on a scamp. ~ Aesop, #NFDB
264:Don’t rely on market surveys. ~ W Chan Kim, #NFDB
265:Drama is based on the Mistake. ~ W H Auden, #NFDB
266:Everyone in the heavens and on ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
267:Everything hinged on money, ~ Edna O Brien, #NFDB
268:fifty-fifty on believing ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
269:GET ON THE TREADMILL! ~ Jordan Sonnenblick, #NFDB
270:Glenmorangie. On the rocks. ~ Ernest Cline, #NFDB
271:Holding on to anger is like ~ Rhonda Byrne, #NFDB
272:I am bigger on the inside ~ Amanda Palmer, #NFDB
273:I do my laundry on a weekly basis. ~ Kesha, #NFDB
274:I don't plan on being bashful. ~ Rand Paul, #NFDB
275:I feel like a tick on a dog. ~ Cody Lundin, #NFDB
276:I grow old on my bitterness. ~ Anne Sexton, #NFDB
277:I left my mark on that man. ~ Alice Sebold, #NFDB
278:I live on my gut instinct. ~ Melanie Brown, #NFDB
279:I'm a lot of fun on a date. ~ Diane Keaton, #NFDB
280:I'm constantly on the go. ~ Kim Kardashian, #NFDB
281:I'm going on an adventure! ~ J R R Tolkien, #NFDB
282:Increasing Corruption on Earth ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
283:I turned on my e-mail ~ Elizabeth Benedict, #NFDB
284:I want you on my balcony. ~ Lauren Blakely, #NFDB
285:I was raised on Bruce Lee. ~ Bridget Fonda, #NFDB
286:Lay me on an anvil, O God. ~ Carl Sandburg, #NFDB
287:Liar, liar pants on fire. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
288:Man is on earth as in an egg. ~ Heraclitus, #NFDB
289:Men are ruled by toys ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
290:Messi is on another planet. ~ Arjen Robben, #NFDB
291:Move on, you cutpurse, move on. ~ K lid sa, #NFDB
292:on Dekens’ face. “Possibly. ~ Joseph Flynn, #NFDB
293:On stage, I am in the dark. ~ Maria Callas, #NFDB
294:Roll on, thou ball, roll on! ~ W S Gilbert, #NFDB
295:Shame on you! Bad vampire. ~ Gail Carriger, #NFDB
296:Short on money, long on hope ~ Kim Edwards, #NFDB
297:Sin will do a number on you. ~ Johnny Hunt, #NFDB
298:speeding north on 222 ~ William L Myers Jr, #NFDB
299:Stay focused on the mission. ~ Naveen Jain, #NFDB
300:Summer treads on heels of spring. ~ Horace, #NFDB
301:Talent is truth on display. ~ Terry Rossio, #NFDB
302:There's a lust to get on TV. ~ Doug Benson, #NFDB
303:Three Antari get on a boat... ~ V E Schwab, #NFDB
304:Time is a face on the water ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
305:Trees don’t sneak up on you. ~ Erin Hunter, #NFDB
306:Turn on, Tune in, Drop out ~ Timothy Leary, #NFDB
307:Whatever you focus on expands, ~ Pam Grout, #NFDB
308:When love is not accepted move on; ~ Rumi, #NFDB
309:Wraiths! Wraiths on wings! ~ J R R Tolkien, #NFDB
310:You are the expert on you. ~ Michael Neill, #NFDB
311:3. Improve on the competition ~ Peter Thiel, #NFDB
312:A great ox stands on my tongue. ~ Aeschylus, #NFDB
313:America is capitalism on steroids. ~ Lowkey, #NFDB
314:A path is made by walking on it. ~ Zhuangzi, #NFDB
315:Artists thrive on suffering. ~ Irving Stone, #NFDB
316:A thousand curses on Nobody! ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
317:birdish cottages on stilts ~ Darcey Steinke, #NFDB
318:Bring on all the pretenders! ~ Taylor Swift, #NFDB
319:Come on, old duck,” he coaxed. ~ Rhys Bowen, #NFDB
320:Cosmos Now Available on Blu-ray ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
321:Dew depends not on Parliament. ~ James Otis, #NFDB
322:Do not get drunk on murder. ~ Reki Kawahara, #NFDB
323:Effie rapping on my door. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
324:Eloquence is logic on fire. ~ Lyman Beecher, #NFDB
325:existence depends on order. ~ Lauren Oliver, #NFDB
326:Fall asleep on top of you. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
327:forces in Batjan on June 11.61 ~ Ian W Toll, #NFDB
328:God, I like your hands on me. ~ Jaci Burton, #NFDB
329:Go on and try to tear me down ~ Demi Lovato, #NFDB
330:Happiness depends on ourselves. ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
331:Have pity on a dinosaur. ~ Hank Williams Jr, #NFDB
332:He and God were on a break. ~ Susan Sleeman, #NFDB
333:Heart on fire. Body of stone. ~ Rick Yancey, #NFDB
334:He put his shirt on my head. ~ Quinn Loftis, #NFDB
335:How did you get on to her? ~ David Baldacci, #NFDB
336:I am always on the job. ~ Margaret Thatcher, #NFDB
337:I am left alone on the surface ~ R S Thomas, #NFDB
338:I am on fire within. ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson, #NFDB
339:I can’t go on. I’ll go on. ~ Paul Kalanithi, #NFDB
340:I can't go on, I'll go on. ~ Samuel Beckett, #NFDB
341:I can't go on. I'll go on. ~ Samuel Beckett, #NFDB
342:I can watch a sunset on my own. ~ Kate Nash, #NFDB
343:I don't put labels on myself. ~ John Engler, #NFDB
344:I like pressure. I thrive on it. ~ Sue Bird, #NFDB
345:I'm a tough critic on myself. ~ Dave Franco, #NFDB
346:I missed being on great songs. ~ Sean Price, #NFDB
347:I'm on my time with everyone. ~ Kurt Cobain, #NFDB
348:Incompetency fed on itself. ~ David Gerrold, #NFDB
349:I never seen snakes on a plane ~ Kanye West, #NFDB
350:I only hold on so I can let go. ~ Kris Kidd, #NFDB
351:Irony is wasted on the stupid ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
352:I stand for what I stand on. ~ Edward Abbey, #NFDB
353:I took on the shape of a girl. ~ Emma Cline, #NFDB
354:It's like 60 Minutes on acid. ~ David Byrne, #NFDB
355:I was a writer on Cape Cod. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
356:I was raised on the internet. ~ Lena Dunham, #NFDB
357:I wear my heart on my blog. ~ Coco J Ginger, #NFDB
358:Keep calm and carry on. ~ Winston Churchill, #NFDB
359:Let's chew on the chewables! ~ Pawan Mishra, #NFDB
360:Live to fight on other days. ~ Janet Morris, #NFDB
361:Man is always on the way. ~ Rudolf Bultmann, #NFDB
362:Man is on earth as in an egg. ~ Heraclitus, #NFDB
363:My act is based on my life. ~ Kathy Griffin, #NFDB
364:My answer is bring them on. ~ George W Bush, #NFDB
365:My heart can take on any form: ~ Ibn Arabi, #NFDB
366:Never depend on one action. ~ Grant Cardone, #NFDB
367:On a much smaller scale, I ~ James Altucher, #NFDB
368:Once shit on, twice shy," Jan ~ Terry Tyler, #NFDB
369:on the doorstep of December. ~ Kate Milford, #NFDB
370:On the set, I'm a businessman. ~ Snoop Dogg, #NFDB
371:On time is late, that’s right. ~ Lyla Payne, #NFDB
372:Progress is hard on history. ~ Justina Chen, #NFDB
373:Punishment follows close on crime. ~ Horace, #NFDB
374:Putting the shoe on the wrong foot. ~ Plato, #NFDB
375:some soup and worked on mail. ~ Jon Meacham, #NFDB
376:Success is dependant on effort. ~ Sophocles, #NFDB
377:Success is dependent on effort. ~ Sophocles, #NFDB
378:The Little Book on CoffeeScript ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
379:There’s a person on the floor ~ Audrey Bell, #NFDB
380:The sun also shines on the wicked. ~ Seneca, #NFDB
381:The sunlight on the garden ~ Louis MacNeice, #NFDB
382:The way is easy stay on the path. ~ Lao Tzu, #NFDB
383:Time is a face on the water. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
384:to stitch my name on the sky ~ Paula McLain, #NFDB
385:Try not to wake up on fire. ~ Eugene Mirman, #NFDB
386:Turn on, Tune in, Drop out. ~ Timothy Leary, #NFDB
387:Turn on, tune up, rock out. ~ Billy Gibbons, #NFDB
388:une science indigeste? ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
389:Woolsey bites on occasion ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
390:4. Focus on product, not sales ~ Peter Thiel, #NFDB
391:All warfare is based on deception. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
392:always on the wrong side of maybe. ~ Unknown, #NFDB
393:And man will go on. Man, not men. ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
394:Behave simply and hold on to purity. ~ Laozi, #NFDB
395:Bring it on home, Wallbanger ~ Alice Clayton, #NFDB
396:Bring on the dancing bear! ~ Neal Shusterman, #NFDB
397:But I'm pretty on the inside. ~ Scott Snyder, #NFDB
398:Cars would be safer on rails! ~ P J O Rourke, #NFDB
399:Chess is like war on a board ~ Bobby Fischer, #NFDB
400:Climbing up on Solsbury Hill ~ Peter Gabriel, #NFDB
401:Come on, show me all you can do. ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
402:Come on! Who wants to fight me? ~ John Fante, #NFDB
403:Don’t give up on your alphabet. ~ Penny Reid, #NFDB
404:Don't let the sun go down on me ~ Elton John, #NFDB
405:Don't quote me on that. ~ Eliot Sappingfield, #NFDB
406:down on the small love seat ~ Tamra Lassiter, #NFDB
407:ended, Lauren went on reading. A ~ Marc Levy, #NFDB
408:enjoy—the on-site health care, ~ Terry Hayes, #NFDB
409:Give up on me giving up. ~ Masashi Kishimoto, #NFDB
410:Go on,” he said when his blood ~ Sandra Hill, #NFDB
411:Hell-bent on extinguishing ~ Barbara Longley, #NFDB
412:I blame it on his pants. ~ Stephanie Perkins, #NFDB
413:I deal with haters on a daily basis. ~ Kesha, #NFDB
414:I got my red dress on tonight ~ Lana Del Rey, #NFDB
415:I have a second chance on life. ~ Katy Perry, #NFDB
416:I'm on a search for the truth. ~ Nancy Grace, #NFDB
417:in the mirror on my locker door. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
418:I think the world has moved on. ~ Kofi Annan, #NFDB
419:I've been operated on 13 times. ~ Eric Davis, #NFDB
420:I was raised on NBC television. ~ Dan Harmon, #NFDB
421:I will fall on my face sometimes ~ Jessie J, #NFDB
422:Keep Calm and Carry On ~ Winston S Churchill, #NFDB
423:La liberté vaut qu’on la paye. ~ Jules Verne, #NFDB
424:Learn to live on the edge. ~ Richard Branson, #NFDB
425:Life is a picnic on a precipice. ~ W H Auden, #NFDB
426:Love will turn you on your head. ~ Jon Jones, #NFDB
427:Make me a shadow on the wall! ~ Kate Griffin, #NFDB
428:Make me a shadow on the wall. ~ Kate Griffin, #NFDB
429:Money is wasted on the rich. ~ Gillian Flynn, #NFDB
430:Never dance on a small boat. ~ Holly Throsby, #NFDB
431:Never give up on your dreams. ~ Barack Obama, #NFDB
432:No One Diets on Thanksgiving. ~ Erma Bombeck, #NFDB
433:No one plans on dying, you see. ~ H D Gordon, #NFDB
434:not at the same time—on insomnia. ~ J D Robb, #NFDB
435:On a good day I write, all day. ~ Nick Flynn, #NFDB
436:On angel's wings, love flew in. ~ Renee Dyer, #NFDB
437:Press on, press on, men. ~ Stonewall Jackson, #NFDB
438:Put me on stage and I'm happy. ~ Mick Ralphs, #NFDB
439:Ran into Anderson on the street ~ Andy Cohen, #NFDB
440:Sawed off shotgun, hand on the pump ~ B Real, #NFDB
441:seemed like jewels on a skull. ~ Erik Larson, #NFDB
442:Sex is never messy on screen. ~ Brenda Novak, #NFDB
443:She's stupid on a stick. ~ Ilsa Madden Mills, #NFDB
444:shocked looked on the faces ~ Karpov Kinrade, #NFDB
445:Sin will pluck on sin. ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
446:The past is written on my body. ~ Roxane Gay, #NFDB
447:There are no locks on hell. ~ Daniel Abraham, #NFDB
448:There’s a feather on my pillow. ~ Max Porter, #NFDB
449:There shall be no Alps. ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
450:The road goes ever on and on ~ J R R Tolkien, #NFDB
451:They’re locked on weekends.” I ~ Helen Hardt, #NFDB
452:This is parenting on steroids. ~ Anne Lamott, #NFDB
453:Time is on my side, yes it is. ~ Mick Jagger, #NFDB
454:Veneeni on kevyt ja nopea ~ Johanna Sinisalo, #NFDB
455:Waiting on the World to Change. ~ John Mayer, #NFDB
456:We are all alike on the inside. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
457:We knock on the door and wait ~ Lisa Wingate, #NFDB
458:- What are we doing on Earth? ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
459:What the fuck is going on here? ~ Mira Grant, #NFDB
460:Wonder. Go on and wonder. ~ William Faulkner, #NFDB
461:Writing is still on my slate. ~ Jaleel White, #NFDB
462:you’re still on the clock. ~ Airicka Phoenix, #NFDB
463:You shine...such a light on me. ~ John Shors, #NFDB
464:America is on her deathbed. ~ Louis Farrakhan, #NFDB
465:And I say to my heart: rave on. ~ Mary Oliver, #NFDB
466:A true man hates no one. ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
467:based on international law. ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
468:Be one on whom nothing is lost. ~ Henry James, #NFDB
469:bobby pins in it. On the wall, ~ Richard Ford, #NFDB
470:came to rest on the ground, there ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
471:Cas focused on the shooting ~ Lindsay Buroker, #NFDB
472:chicken on the grill ~ Gabriel Garc a M rquez, #NFDB
473:Church on time, makes me party. ~ David Bowie, #NFDB
474:clever mouth on hers and a hand ~ Jo Beverley, #NFDB
475:Come, baby. Come on my cock, ~ Pepper Winters, #NFDB
476:Come on, baby, light my fire. ~ Robby Krieger, #NFDB
477:Come on up, boys
-I'm dead. ~ Dylan Thomas,#NFDB
478:Come on, you enormous wrinkle. ~ Mackenzi Lee, #NFDB
479:Completion does not depend on ~ Robert Henri, #NFDB
480:Courage is fear on its knees. ~ Beverly Lewis, #NFDB
481:Creativity relies on memory. ~ David Eagleman, #NFDB
482:Crying relieves pressure on soul. ~ Toba Beta, #NFDB
483:Don't give up on each other. ~ Kit Williamson, #NFDB
484:Don't let the sun go down on me. ~ Elton John, #NFDB
485:dont put the sheep on the table ~ Gene Wilder, #NFDB
486:Elegance thrives on exclusion. ~ Mason Cooley, #NFDB
487:Eurogroup, on Monday in Brussels. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
488:Everything's wrong on Wikipedia. ~ Gore Vidal, #NFDB
489:For a moment I was back on the ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
490:For once, entropy was on my side. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
491:Get on your bikes and ride! ~ Freddie Mercury, #NFDB
492:Heaven will smile on us again. ~ Adolf Hitler, #NFDB
493:He chokes on his one tongue. ~ Gena Showalter, #NFDB
494:History is irony on the move. ~ Emil M Cioran, #NFDB
495:I am not strong on perfection. ~ Jasper Johns, #NFDB
496:I do all my interviews on the toilet. ~ Slash, #NFDB
497:I lost my temper on stage. ~ Michael Richards, #NFDB
498:I'm always on your side. ~ Sarah Rees Brennan, #NFDB
499:I'm basically always on tour. ~ Kathy Griffin, #NFDB
500:I take every job on its merits. ~ Colin Baker, #NFDB
501:I would love to be on Broadway! ~ Emily Blunt, #NFDB
502:Keep calm and carry on. ~ Winston S Churchill, #NFDB
503:Life is wasted on the living. ~ Douglas Adams, #NFDB
504:Look at the people of Briançon! ~ Victor Hugo, #NFDB
505:Love is friendship set on fire ~ Sarina Bowen, #NFDB
506:Meditate on the Word in the Word. ~ John Owen, #NFDB
507:Mr. Avery sat on the porch every ~ Harper Lee, #NFDB
508:My buildings are all on budget. ~ Frank Gehry, #NFDB
509:...Neferet fell smack on her butt. ~ P C Cast, #NFDB
510:Never give up on anybody. ~ Hubert H Humphrey, #NFDB
511:Nobody picks on a strong man. ~ Charles Atlas, #NFDB
512:No, I think I lay on a thistle. ~ Erin Hunter, #NFDB
513:On approach to DSC-001 Avalon ~ Glynn Stewart, #NFDB
514:On Basilisk Station (David Weber) ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
515:on for ever in all directions. ~ Marcus Chown, #NFDB
516:Peace on earth, good will to men ~ Dobie Gray, #NFDB
517:Pour on, I will endure. ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
518:Put a jazz band on my hearse wagon. ~ Unknown, #NFDB
519:Put the baby on the paper. ~ Barbara O Connor, #NFDB
520:Rub a half potato on your wart ~ Richard Hugo, #NFDB
521:She smelled the river on him. ~ Arundhati Roy, #NFDB
522:Soup's on and I got a coupon. ~ Daniel Dumile, #NFDB
523:Start as you mean to go on. ~ Robyn Schneider, #NFDB
524:Suicide is death on purpose! ~ Nnedi Okorafor, #NFDB
525:Taxes are a penalty on progress. ~ James Cook, #NFDB
526:The drama takes a toll on you. ~ Betsy Brandt, #NFDB
527:The house is on fire!” Smoke ~ Pam Mu oz Ryan, #NFDB
528:the place on G. eddie baron ~ George Saunders, #NFDB
529:The press lives on disaster. ~ Clement Attlee, #NFDB
530:to Ned, will you. Carry on. ~ Lisa Scottoline, #NFDB
531:To Score The Best Seat On A Plane ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
532:We are all alike, on the inside. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
533:We're on a planet, relax! ~ Benny Bellamacina, #NFDB
534:We’re on equal footing, Red. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
535:We’re St Mary’s. We run on tea. ~ Jodi Taylor, #NFDB
536:We trust in God, and go on. ~ Joseph Smith Jr, #NFDB
537:What you focus on is what you get. ~ Bob Burg, #NFDB
538:When on a summer's morn I wake, ~ W H Davies, #NFDB
539:Who pissed on your cornflakes? ~ Andrea Smith, #NFDB
540:Wisdom is wasted on fools. ~ Elisabeth Storrs, #NFDB
541:wormholes don’t grow on trees. ~ Sean Carroll, #NFDB
542:You keep on going if you fail. ~ Laura Ramsey, #NFDB
543:You're Beautiful! (Pass it on). ~ Kyle Newman, #NFDB
544:You said move on, where do I go? ~ Katy Perry, #NFDB
545:Able was I ere I saw Elba ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
546:Am I acting on faith or feelings? ~ Lara Casey, #NFDB
547:Applause waits on success. ~ Benjamin Franklin, #NFDB
548:Bring it on, Tinker Bell. ~ Karen Marie Moning, #NFDB
549:Come on and take your medicine! ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
550:Culture is always on the move. ~ Colin Woodard, #NFDB
551:Danger will wink on opportunity. ~ John Milton, #NFDB
552:Deal-making goes on with any job. ~ Vin Diesel, #NFDB
553:Dogs bark, but the caravans move on. ~ Unknown, #NFDB
554:Don't puke on my scene, ninja boy. ~ Tami Hoag, #NFDB
555:.....every form puts a limit on mystery ~ Rumi, #NFDB
556:everything on the internet is true ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
557:Fear looks always on the darker side... ~ Livy, #NFDB
558:Firefighters don't go on strike. ~ Denis Leary, #NFDB
559:God's foremost treasure on earth ~ Sri Chinmoy, #NFDB
560:Go nowhere on a horse that fades. ~ Tanith Lee, #NFDB
561:go on a whaling voyage; this ~ Herman Melville, #NFDB
562:He was on the outside, looking in. ~ C L Stone, #NFDB
563:him and peer over the titles on ~ Lynsay Sands, #NFDB
564:His last words: "On ne passé pas! ~ Max Brooks, #NFDB
565:Holy crap on a cracker ~ Jennifer L Armentrout, #NFDB
566:Hooked on Phonics worked for me. ~ Brian Regan, #NFDB
567:I am a child who is getting on. ~ Marc Chagall, #NFDB
568:I am running low on solutions. ~ Joe Dunthorne, #NFDB
569:ideas could stand on their own. ~ Eric Metaxas, #NFDB
570:I feel trapped on a lonely star. ~ Audre Lorde, #NFDB
571:If you wear Crocs on a first date ~ Tucker Max, #NFDB
572:I got mean things on my mind. ~ Robert Johnson, #NFDB
573:I have the universe on my chin. ~ Jack Passion, #NFDB
574:I like a high boot on a girl. ~ Ashton Kutcher, #NFDB
575:I’m a season behind on Sherlock ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
576:I'm most comfortable on stage. ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
577:Insist on your cup of stars. ~ Shirley Jackson, #NFDB
578:I've been out on the periphery. ~ Thomas Dolby, #NFDB
579:I've got 911 on speed dial. ~ Douglas Coupland, #NFDB
580:I've never cheated on a woman. ~ Corey Feldman, #NFDB
581:I was no longer on my dignity. ~ Graham Greene, #NFDB
582:I wear my heart on my sleeve. ~ Princess Diana, #NFDB
583:I write really well on the road. ~ Pam Houston, #NFDB
584:Just got to keep on keeping on ~ Gillian Flynn, #NFDB
585:Keep on playing the Experience! ~ Noel Redding, #NFDB
586:Leadership is hard to train on. ~ Ben Horowitz, #NFDB
587:Let's put a smile on that face! ~ Heath Ledger, #NFDB
588:Life goes on but the scars remain. ~ Lil Wayne, #NFDB
589:Life is based on comparisons ~ Henri Charri re, #NFDB
590:Lo! on a narrow neck of land, ~ Charles Wesley, #NFDB
591:Love is friendship set on fire. ~ Sarina Bowen, #NFDB
592:McNab pranced in on plaid airboots, ~ J D Robb, #NFDB
593:Meditation is waiting on God. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
594:Misery is wasted on the miserable. ~ Louis C K, #NFDB
595:Napoléon ubicumque felix. ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
596:Neil, the fuck is on your face? ~ Nora Sakavic, #NFDB
597:Never economize on luxuries. ~ Angela Thirkell, #NFDB
598:Oh, I thought. It’s on, bitch! ~ Richelle Mead, #NFDB
599:one person on two divergent paths ~ V E Schwab, #NFDB
600:on his knees in the dirt, staring ~ Tara Brown, #NFDB
601:On our way out, I noticed ~ Laura van den Berg, #NFDB
602:On the same day, two murders. ~ Jean Zimmerman, #NFDB
603:on the way to the airport. She ~ Jennie Hansen, #NFDB
604:Plunge in. Face the fear head-on. ~ Koethi Zan, #NFDB
605:Poetry is talking on tiptoe. ~ George Meredith, #NFDB
606:Praise the sea; on shore remain. ~ John Florio, #NFDB
607:pulled on a pair of worn jeans, a ~ Kat Martin, #NFDB
608:Return with the shield or on it ~ Frank Miller, #NFDB
609:Row on [whatever happens]. ~ Francois Rabelais, #NFDB
610:Rules? PISS ON YOUR FUCKING RULES! ~ Ken Kesey, #NFDB
611:She’s sitting propped up on the ~ Tawni O Dell, #NFDB
612:Stay on the right side of They. ~ Priya Parmar, #NFDB
613:Style is based on limitations. ~ John Hartford, #NFDB
614:Teach like your hair's on fire! ~ Rafe Esquith, #NFDB
615:The fault was lying on its' back... ~ Tom Holt, #NFDB
616:The golden hours on angel wings ~ Robert Burns, #NFDB
617:the regular crying, lights on ~ Amir Gutfreund, #NFDB
618:There is a joy in danger. ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
619:There's a bad moon on the rise. ~ John Fogerty, #NFDB
620:Thinke of ease, but worke on. ~ George Herbert, #NFDB
621:This war on terror is bogus. ~ Michael Meacher, #NFDB
622:twisted expression on a person's ~ Erin McKean, #NFDB
623:Ty is like... a ninja on crack. ~ Abigail Roux, #NFDB
624:Ugly live up on the inside. ~ Kathryn Stockett, #NFDB
625:Wage war on death. Live for love. ~ Ted Dekker, #NFDB
626:waited on my call, nor does any ~ Louise Penny, #NFDB
627:We can’t give up on each other. ~ Kennedy Ryan, #NFDB
628:we can’t survive on our own. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
629:White dew- one drop on each thorn ~ Yosa Buson, #NFDB
630:with a scrap of bacon on her ~ Solomon Northup, #NFDB
631:Writing is thinking on paper ~ William Zinsser, #NFDB
632:You are God's dream with skin on ~ Heidi Baker, #NFDB
633:You can't depend on polls. ~ Michael Bloomberg, #NFDB
634:You don't have to move on to let go. ~ Kaskade, #NFDB
635:You don't have to pay tax on bullshit ~ Yu Hua, #NFDB
636:You have to do well on third downs. ~ Joe Buck, #NFDB
637:ABBA was a direct influence on me. ~ Beth Ditto, #NFDB
638:Acting on a blue screen is awful. ~ Steve Burns, #NFDB
639:A day on a film set is maddening. ~ Maggie Siff, #NFDB
640:A King should die on his feet. ~ Hourly History, #NFDB
641:All art is based on non-conformity. ~ Ben Shahn, #NFDB
642:All the men on my staff can type. ~ Bella Abzug, #NFDB
643:All warfare is based on deception. ~ Steve Bein, #NFDB
644:Amour vit en avant.” Love lives on. ~ Sarah Jio, #NFDB
645:and rain will fall on our eaves. ~ Jack Kerouac, #NFDB
646:arrived. She settled herself on ~ Lauren Willig, #NFDB
647:Being on stage is what I enjoy. ~ Debbie Gibson, #NFDB
648:blotchy freckles on your cheeks ~ Emily Bleeker, #NFDB
649:brakes on his investigation into ~ Andrew Gross, #NFDB
650:Clarity depends on contrast. In ~ Daniel H Pink, #NFDB
651:Come on 'long prosperous life!' ~ Mitch Hedberg, #NFDB
652:Come on, man, I got a full beard! ~ Aziz Ansari, #NFDB
653:Cricket is baseball on Valium. ~ Robin Williams, #NFDB
654:Don’t blame this all on me.” I’m ~ Adam Silvera, #NFDB
655:Don’t lead people on. It’s cruel. ~ Leah Raeder, #NFDB
656:Don't make decisions based on the fear. ~ Jay Z, #NFDB
657:doting, the guy on the sideline at ~ Brian Haig, #NFDB
658:Eat. Sleep. Watch crap on TV. ~ Natasha Preston, #NFDB
659:Everything depends on upbringing. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
660:Everything on Twitter is true. ~ Jonathan Chait, #NFDB
661:Evil on itself shall back recoil. ~ John Milton, #NFDB
662:Fear holds on. Love lets go. “Yes, ~ Lisa Unger, #NFDB
663:Fresher than a pillow with a mint on it ~ Drake, #NFDB
664:Genius is intuition on fire. ~ Holbrook Jackson, #NFDB
665:God built the universe on numbers. ~ Pythagoras, #NFDB
666:Go on with a spirit that fears nothing. ~ Homer, #NFDB
667:Great, it passes on (in constant flow). ~ Laozi, #NFDB
668:He was poised on circumstance. ~ Louise Erdrich, #NFDB
669:I don't kiss on screen. Period. ~ Shahrukh Khan, #NFDB
670:I don't lie; I improve on my life. ~ Edith Piaf, #NFDB
671:I feel like fame is wasted on me. ~ Ben Affleck, #NFDB
672:...I have gone on beginning... ~ Gertrude Stein, #NFDB
673:I intend to put them on the charts. ~ MC Hammer, #NFDB
674:I joined NOW on an issue of pay. ~ Karen DeCrow, #NFDB
675:I kid because I'm on basic cable. ~ Jon Stewart, #NFDB
676:I love to go on stage and sing. ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
677:I love to listen to books on tape. ~ Angel Haze, #NFDB
678:I'm easy to find on the Internet. ~ Matt Cohler, #NFDB
679:I'm the depresso guy on holidays. ~ Josh Groban, #NFDB
680:I pride myself on being kind. ~ Katherine Heigl, #NFDB
681:is a refusal to welch on a debt. ~ Anthony Ryan, #NFDB
682:It's hard for me to put on weight. ~ Robin Gibb, #NFDB
683:It’s room 66, on the 6th floor. ~ Bella Forrest, #NFDB
684:It was like hate on a deathbed. ~ Graham Greene, #NFDB
685:I will garden on the double run, ~ Richard Hugo, #NFDB
686:Joy waits on welcome, not time. ~ Robert Holden, #NFDB
687:Just don't give up on me Pixie. ~ Scarlett Cole, #NFDB
688:Just got to keep on keeping on, ~ Gillian Flynn, #NFDB
689:Just know He has His hands on You ~ Marvin Sapp, #NFDB
690:Kakuzo) - Your Highlight on page 28 ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
691:Ka works and the world moves on. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
692:Keep on rockin' in the free world. ~ Neil Young, #NFDB
693:Laurel for you—can you stay on? ~ Elswyth Thane, #NFDB
694:Let's drop rocks on them! ~ Christopher Paolini, #NFDB
695:Life is the greatest show on earth ~ Sara Gruen, #NFDB
696:Light and love are on my side. ~ Melody Beattie, #NFDB
697:Light is time reflecting on time. ~ Octavio Paz, #NFDB
698:like biting down on copper foil. ~ S M Stirling, #NFDB
699:Look back on your wedding ~ John Walter Bratton, #NFDB
700:Low on his funeral couch he lies! ~ Thomas Gray, #NFDB
701:Microsoft bets on quantum computing ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
702:Migrating moose on a pogo stick. ~ Vivian Arend, #NFDB
703:My hobbies are run-on sentences. ~ Adam Sandler, #NFDB
704:My parents think you walk on water. ~ E L James, #NFDB
705:Never bored on a hoverboard. ~ Scott Westerfeld, #NFDB
706:Never soar aloft on an enemy's pinions. ~ Aesop, #NFDB
707:Obla dee obla dah life goes on... ~ The Beatles, #NFDB
708:On a good bargain think twice. ~ George Herbert, #NFDB
709:on by whatever it is he’s ~ Jacqueline Winspear, #NFDB
710:one of him and me on the bed in the ~ E L James, #NFDB
711:on patrol with the study police ~ Amanda Ripley, #NFDB
712:On the sly, scoping for love. ~ Aretha Franklin, #NFDB
713:on the twenty-four-hour pancake ~ Brian D Meeks, #NFDB
714:Peace on earth, and mercy mild ~ Charles Wesley, #NFDB
715:Please don't stand up on my account. ~ Bob Hope, #NFDB
716:Prosperity depends on ferocity. ~ Anthony Doerr, #NFDB
717:Put on your big girl pants and deal. ~ J R Ward, #NFDB
718:rage on the edge of desire. ~ Christian Galacar, #NFDB
719:Reality is based on perception ~ Geoff Thompson, #NFDB
720:result,1 the first focuses on ~ John Chrysostom, #NFDB
721:Satan was defeated on the cross. ~ Louie Giglio, #NFDB
722:Shame on you for staying the same. ~ Jhene Aiko, #NFDB
723:Someone was tapping on the window. ~ Dave Barry, #NFDB
724:Some thoughts on asking for a raise ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
725:So your stance on beards is? ~ Kristen Callihan, #NFDB
726:Spend your death on living. ~ Kevin J Vanhoozer, #NFDB
727:the devil can work on someone’s mind. ~ E N Joy, #NFDB
728:The insect-youth are on the wing, ~ Thomas Gray, #NFDB
729:There is always a time to move on. ~ Jock Stein, #NFDB
730:There's a cancer on the presidency. ~ John Dean, #NFDB
731:The Smile on the Face Innocent ~ Nalo Hopkinson, #NFDB
732:The sun shines not on us but in us. ~ John Muir, #NFDB
733:This life looks beautiful on you. ~ Jewel E Ann, #NFDB
734:Thou Shalt Not Mack on Your Patients ~ J R Ward, #NFDB
735:Tune in, turn on, and drop out. ~ Timothy Leary, #NFDB
736:We can’t go on so. Not for long. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
737:We're here and we prey on you ~ Lisa Scottoline, #NFDB
738:We're on a mission from Glod. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
739:What is God drunk on? Your love. ~ John Crowder, #NFDB
740:Whoa... don't go all Kramer on me! ~ Glenn Beck, #NFDB
741:Writing is thinking on paper. ~ William Zinsser, #NFDB
742:You are always on your way to a miracle. ~ Sark, #NFDB
743:You can never give up on family. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
744:You can't be 20 on Sugar Mountain. ~ Neil Young, #NFDB
745:You feel what you're focused on. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
746:Youth is truly wasted on the young. ~ Jenny Han, #NFDB
747:You want a little talent on that? ~ Chet Atkins, #NFDB
748:Academics are, on average, pussies. ~ David Buss, #NFDB
749:A good soul on earth hurts very much. ~ Jos Mart, #NFDB
750:A hand cannot write on itself. ~ Peter Greenaway, #NFDB
751:All Quiet on the Western Front, ~ Mark Kurlansky, #NFDB
752:A mouse relies not solely on one hole. ~ Plautus, #NFDB
753:And then it was on like Red Dawn. ~ Ernest Cline, #NFDB
754:and was on the edge of the walk, ~ Louis L Amour, #NFDB
755:A real punk is punk on the inside. ~ Mark Hoppus, #NFDB
756:Audible audiobooks on any device for ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
757:Botany is based on fixed genera. ~ Carl Linnaeus, #NFDB
758:bottles of water on it to keep ~ Janet Evanovich, #NFDB
759:College is wasted on the cautious. ~ Mara Wilson, #NFDB
760:Come back with your shield - or on it ~ Plutarch, #NFDB
761:Come on, fellow breastkateers—we ~ Caitlin Moran, #NFDB
762:concentrate on the irreducible core. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
763:Don't depend too much on anyone. ~ Ibn Taymiyyah, #NFDB
764:Don't give a speech. Put on a show. ~ Paul Arden, #NFDB
765:Don't pull your love out on me baby. ~ Joe Frank, #NFDB
766:Don't put a ceiling on yourself. ~ Oprah Winfrey, #NFDB
767:Expensive depends on your means. ~ Brian Freeman, #NFDB
768:Forever only takes its toll on some ~ Ryan Adams, #NFDB
769:Genius is initiative on fire. ~ Holbrook Jackson, #NFDB
770:God gives enabling grace to go on. ~ Johnny Hunt, #NFDB
771:God is on the side of the winner. ~ Neil Strauss, #NFDB
772:He has to come to it on his own. ~ Justin Cronin, #NFDB
773:He trades on emotions, not facts. ~ Len Deighton, #NFDB
774:Hold on tightly - let go lightly ~ Belle de Jour, #NFDB
775:I am always working on the go. ~ Richard Branson, #NFDB
776:I am the expert on battery life. ~ Rush Limbaugh, #NFDB
777:I can be naked with the lights on. ~ Emmy Rossum, #NFDB
778:I don't inflict horrors on readers. ~ Alan Furst, #NFDB
779:I feel calm when I'm on my own. ~ Ray LaMontagne, #NFDB
780:I have a huge chip on my shoulder. ~ Eric Church, #NFDB
781:I like the effect drink has on me. ~ Oliver Reed, #NFDB
782:I’ll write a satire on you, ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
783:I look like Julian Clary on steroids. ~ Jo Brand, #NFDB
784:I love getting lost on purpose ~ Lisa Desrochers, #NFDB
785:I'm being led — on some dark way. ~ Iris Murdoch, #NFDB
786:I'm completely hooked on polo. ~ Mike Rutherford, #NFDB
787:I'm letting it go. I'm moving on. ~ Adam Silvera, #NFDB
788:I'm Mozart with a focus on the tide ~ Aesop Rock, #NFDB
789:I'm nice, and I show up on time. ~ Lauren Graham, #NFDB
790:I'm on the front line and I am a rapper. ~ Ice T, #NFDB
791:I'm sorry on behalf of my species. ~ Kelly Moran, #NFDB
792:I never planned on being a plumber. ~ Scott Caan, #NFDB
793:In on dream, he was running from ~ Blaise Corvin, #NFDB
794:Inscribed on the temple of Apollo ~ Maya Angelou, #NFDB
795:I sing without hope on the boundary ~ Sarah Kane, #NFDB
796:It was true. Heard it on Cronkite. ~ Nathan Hill, #NFDB
797:I've been on a tweeting mission. ~ Gabby Douglas, #NFDB
798:I've got tooth marks on my heart. ~ Mike Melvill, #NFDB
799:I won't let the sun go down on me. ~ Nik Kershaw, #NFDB
800:Ka works, and the world moves on. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
801:Life goes on with fragile normalcy. ~ Sara Gruen, #NFDB
802:Life is a train, get on board. ~ Khaled Hosseini, #NFDB
803:Life is the greatest show on earth! ~ Sara Gruen, #NFDB
804:Life moves on and so should we ~ Spencer Johnson, #NFDB
805:Love is based on imagination. ~ Olivier Martinez, #NFDB
806:Love is friendship set on fire. I ~ Sarina Bowen, #NFDB
807:Love is never worth giving up on. ~ Leigh Fallon, #NFDB
808:Maybe life on earth could be heaven ~ Bo Burnham, #NFDB
809:Moving on doesn't mean forgetting. ~ Karen White, #NFDB
810:My focus is on my constituents. ~ Randy Hultgren, #NFDB
811:No emphaty when you had blinders on. ~ Toba Beta, #NFDB
812:No pleasure here on earth I find ~ Ralph Stanley, #NFDB
813:No religion can be built on force. ~ George Sand, #NFDB
814:Now hang on a ding darn minute. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
815:Oh love, you break on me like light! ~ Sophocles, #NFDB
816:Only cheats go back on a promise. ~ Jodi Picoult, #NFDB
817:ON THE VERGE OF THE SIXTH EXTINCTION ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
818:on the way to the beauty parlor. ~ Gillian Flynn, #NFDB
819:On this path let the heart be your guide. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
820:peace would settle on his soul. ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
821:playing over and over on a loop. ~ Sabrina Paige, #NFDB
822:Point thy tongue on the anvil of truth. ~ Pindar, #NFDB
823:Rumor is the vehicle truth rides on. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
824:seconds, a fresh pot perked on the ~ Sandra Hill, #NFDB
825:See you on the other side, kid. ~ Ashton Kutcher, #NFDB
826:Sex appeal is not on purpose. ~ Heather Locklear, #NFDB
827:Sex is God's joke on human beings. ~ Bette Davis, #NFDB
828:she read on; but every line proved ~ Jane Austen, #NFDB
829:So, come on! Kill me if you can!! ~ Tsugumi Ohba, #NFDB
830:So. Ixnay on the direct approach. ~ Robert Crais, #NFDB
831:some lipstick on his dipstick?” I ~ Sarina Bowen, #NFDB
832:Stress makes people stupid.” On ~ Daniel Goleman, #NFDB
833:The Beatles will go on and on. ~ George Harrison, #NFDB
834:The Daleks were based on the Nazis. ~ John Lloyd, #NFDB
835:The faulty stands on his guard. ~ George Herbert, #NFDB
836:The living sinners on deadly ground. ~ Toba Beta, #NFDB
837:The miracle is to walk on the earth. ~ Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
838:The only way to go on is to go on ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
839:There are no jobs on a dead planet. ~ Judy Bonds, #NFDB
840:There are no miracles on Mondays. ~ Amy Neftzger, #NFDB
841:The universe is math on fire. ~ Scott Westerfeld, #NFDB
842:The whole world is run on bluff. ~ Marcus Garvey, #NFDB
843:Time goes on even when we do not. ~ Tahereh Mafi, #NFDB
844:To love is to burn, to be on fire. ~ Jane Austen, #NFDB
845:We are a lot bigger on the inside. ~ Hannah Hart, #NFDB
846:We insist, it seems, on living. ~ Virginia Woolf, #NFDB
847:We see death constantly on film. ~ Michael Sheen, #NFDB
848:What is the key to life on Earth? ~ Aidan Gillen, #NFDB
849:what was going on inside his head, ~ Sue Klebold, #NFDB
850:wood rot on the mantelpiece in the ~ Karen White, #NFDB
851:Words are life set down on paper. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
852:You and I doctor, on the beach. ~ William Gaddis, #NFDB
853:You can go on losing after loss. ~ H l ne Cixous, #NFDB
854:You can't bank on the outcome. ~ Daniel Berrigan, #NFDB
855:You can't put fate on a schedule. ~ Shelly Crane, #NFDB
856:You don’t drive races on paper. ~ Kimi Raikkonen, #NFDB
857:Your as slow as a fat kid on crutches ~ P C Cast, #NFDB
858:Your happiness depends on you alone. ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
859:Zendagi migzara. Life goes on. ~ Khaled Hosseini, #NFDB
860:Zindagi migzara (life goes on) ~ Khaled Hosseini, #NFDB
861:abs you could do laundry on, the ~ William Gibson, #NFDB
862:Acting is what happens on the way. ~ Mira Sorvino, #NFDB
863:A fellow can’t live on books, ~ Louisa May Alcott, #NFDB
864:A heart set on love will do no wrong. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
865:a hummingbird on Red Bull all day. ~ Pandora Pine, #NFDB
866:All I've undergone I will keep on. ~ Trent Reznor, #NFDB
867:A lottery is a tax on stupidity. ~ Ambrose Bierce, #NFDB
868:A mouse does not rely on just one hole. ~ Plautus, #NFDB
869:Anchor #1 Love: I Am on Your Side ~ John Townsend, #NFDB
870:and on forever's very now we stand ~ E E Cummings, #NFDB
871:before me. Dr. Randall’s gaze on ~ Susan Meissner, #NFDB
872:Be hard on yourself, easy on others. ~ Al Shafi i, #NFDB
873:Being mostly dead is hard on a guy. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
874:Christ on a bike." -- Lola Sugarman ~ Robert Rodi, #NFDB
875:Come on, cupcake. Time to get up. ~ Lorelei James, #NFDB
876:Come over and climb on Daddy, baby. ~ Alexa Riley, #NFDB
877:Death lays his icy hand on kings. ~ James Shirley, #NFDB
878:don’t take on enemies you don’t need. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
879:Dude, are your boots still on? ~ Julie Ann Walker, #NFDB
880:Dudley had punched him on the nose. ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
881:Every leader has blood on her hands. ~ Libba Bray, #NFDB
882:Faith means walking on the waters. ~ Julien Green, #NFDB
883:Find a pile of gold and sit on it. ~ John Gardner, #NFDB
884:Fire, even if put on head, burns only. ~ Chanakya, #NFDB
885:from his current place of safety on ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
886:From now on, I will be your father. ~ Erin Hunter, #NFDB
887:Get on your knees, Ace! --Rhea ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon, #NFDB
888:Get over it. Get on with your life. ~ Sally Field, #NFDB
889:get your hands on all this moolah? ~ Ernest Cline, #NFDB
890:Giza clocked on 24 paces daily. ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim, #NFDB
891:gliding like a leaf on the wind, ~ Daniel Arenson, #NFDB
892:God looks on the heart, doesn't he ? ~ Amy Harmon, #NFDB
893:Great, it passes on (in constant flow). ~ Lao Tzu, #NFDB
894:He was circling on a leading strap ~ Andre Norton, #NFDB
895:Hold on to the love, not the loss. ~ Eva Longoria, #NFDB
896:How are things on the edge of space? ~ Tim Lebbon, #NFDB
897:I am a singer, not a full-on rapper. ~ Cher Lloyd, #NFDB
898:I banked my life on a miracle. ~ Jackie Pullinger, #NFDB
899:I can’t go on. I’ll go on.” That ~ Paul Kalanithi, #NFDB
900:I could have sat on the children. ~ Thea Harrison, #NFDB
901:I cringe when I watch myself on TV. ~ Peter Andre, #NFDB
902:I didn't get turned on, I just got turned. ~ Slug, #NFDB
903:I don't like big balls on a dog. ~ Kim Kardashian, #NFDB
904:I dote on his very absence. ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
905:I get beat up on every project. ~ Casper Van Dien, #NFDB
906:I had my trousers on at all times. ~ Anthony Head, #NFDB
907:I have a Congress on my hands. ~ Grover Cleveland, #NFDB
908:I left school on my 15th birthday. ~ David Bailey, #NFDB
909:I like how small you can be on TV. ~ Indira Varma, #NFDB
910:I like TV on demand and Cheetos. ~ Ashley Madekwe, #NFDB
911:I live on good soup, not on fine words. ~ Moliere, #NFDB
912:I'm not an expert on the arms race. ~ Abdul Kalam, #NFDB
913:I'm not on drugs, I'm just weird. ~ Alex Gaskarth, #NFDB
914:I'm the fastest thing on two feet. ~ Muhammad Ali, #NFDB
915:I'm very wary of news on television. ~ Val Kilmer, #NFDB
916:In God's name let us go on bravely. ~ Joan of Arc, #NFDB
917:I sail with you on the ocean of my dreams ~ Rumi, #NFDB
918:I see walking bombs on the street ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
919:Is there intelligent life on Earth? ~ Frank Drake, #NFDB
920:It snuck up on me—growing up, I mean. ~ Jenny Han, #NFDB
921:I've been on the road since 1967. ~ Jimmie Walker, #NFDB
922:I've Got the World on a String. ~ Louis Armstrong, #NFDB
923:I want to die on my own terms. ~ Brittany Maynard, #NFDB
924:I was a coward on instinct. ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
925:I was always on my oddy knocky. ~ Anthony Burgess, #NFDB
926:I was poised on its dizzy summit, ~ Marcel Proust, #NFDB
927:I was very keen on playing a victim. ~ Clive Owen, #NFDB
928:I will not go on a blind date. ~ Jordana Brewster, #NFDB
929:Jayne, do NOT wiz on the werewolves. ~ Elle Casey, #NFDB
930:just take the deal and get on ~ Stephen J Cannell, #NFDB
931:Kind of like Batman. On a motorcycle. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
932:Kitty puke on cookie sheets!” The ~ Shannon Mayer, #NFDB
933:Lately I've been running on faith. ~ Eric Clapton, #NFDB
934:locked his fingers on the arm of his ~ Donna Leon, #NFDB
935:Love fattens on smooth words. ~ Katharine Hepburn, #NFDB
936:Might as well pee on 'em, I decided. ~ Elle Casey, #NFDB
937:My sword almost gets sold on Ebay. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
938:Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. ~ Will Rogers, #NFDB
939:New theory on H.I.V. in African women ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
940:No! Put your damn hand on my boob! ~ Belle Aurora, #NFDB
941:No voting on who gets to be people. ~ N K Jemisin, #NFDB
942:Obama's not Jesus. He can't walk on water. ~ Mr T, #NFDB
943:Often you have to rely on intuition. ~ Bill Gates, #NFDB
944:On a day - alack the day! - ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
945:On Being Sane in Insane Places, ~ Michael Shermer, #NFDB
946:...on forever's very now we stand. ~ e e cummings, #NFDB
947:On the day I was born, they won. ~ Daniel Wallace, #NFDB
948:On the floor I am more at ease. ~ Jackson Pollock, #NFDB
949:On the other end, his mother said, ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
950:On thinking about Hell, I gather ~ Bertolt Brecht, #NFDB
951:On wrongs swift vengeance waits. ~ Alexander Pope, #NFDB
952:Pan pyta, czy on jest Sycylijczykiem? ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
953:People don't talk to me on airplanes. ~ Louis C K, #NFDB
954:People move on. Friendship end. ~ Sophie Kinsella, #NFDB
955:Real or not real? I am on fire. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
956:Rebels depend on willful gullibility. ~ Dan Jones, #NFDB
957:Right is on the side of the hungry. ~ Victor Hugo, #NFDB
958:Rumour is the vehicle truth rides on. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
959:She was seriously hooked on this man ~ Katie Reus, #NFDB
960:sitting with Judith on the balcony ~ David Bergen, #NFDB
961:Some primal termite knocked on wood. ~ Ogden Nash, #NFDB
962:Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be ~ Jay Z, #NFDB
963:Souls live on in perpetual echoes. ~ George Eliot, #NFDB
964:Speaking to bloggers on a daily basis. ~ Nan Aron, #NFDB
965:teacher droned on and on, lecturing ~ Ruskin Bond, #NFDB
966:The coach put his hand on Ken's knee. ~ Zane Grey, #NFDB
967:The Devil craps on the big pile ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
968:The fog comes on little cat feet. ~ Carl Sandburg, #NFDB
969:Time moves on, and with it all flesh. ~ Ned Hayes, #NFDB
970:Trample not on the ruins of a man. ~ Charles Lamb, #NFDB
971:Truly life is wasted on the living. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
972:Truth has to fall on fertile soil. ~ Paula D Arcy, #NFDB
973:want you to get on with your life. ~ Gayle Forman, #NFDB
974:was why Bear went on high alert. There ~ L T Ryan, #NFDB
975:We are all kitsch on our deathbeds. ~ Odd Nerdrum, #NFDB
976:What if they’re on the parkway? ~ Scott Nicholson, #NFDB
977:What we will become depends on us ~ P Chidambaram, #NFDB
978:When the new knocks on your door, open it! ~ Osho, #NFDB
979:Who lit the fuse on your tampon? ~ Suzanne Wright, #NFDB
980:Without love no life left on earth. ~ Donna Lewis, #NFDB
981:You can get real wacky on edibles. ~ Ilana Glazer, #NFDB
982:You can't improve on saying nothing. ~ Golda Meir, #NFDB
983:You could choke on the silence. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
984:You get what you focus on in life. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
985:You’re hard enough to ice skate on, ~ Philip Kerr, #NFDB
986:A Composition on the Piano ~ Johann Sebastian Bach, #NFDB
987:Agent Gaspar still on medical leave, ~ Diane Capri, #NFDB
988:A leader is a dealer in hope. ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
989:All keyes hang not on one girdle. ~ George Herbert, #NFDB
990:All warfare is based on deception. ~ W E B Griffin, #NFDB
991:And I fell violently on my face. ~ Edgar Allan Poe, #NFDB
992:Base your self-esteem on truth. ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
993:Beauty rests on necessities. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
994:Because they drive on the left in China, ~ Jo Nesb, #NFDB
995:Be excellent and party on dudes. ~ Abraham Lincoln, #NFDB
996:Being on the road is kind of lonely. ~ Dave Attell, #NFDB
997:Be on time because it shows you care. ~ Nick Saban, #NFDB
998:Block everyone on your instant mail. ~ Nora Ephron, #NFDB
999:Borrow a child and get on welfare. ~ Susan Griffin, #NFDB
1000:...but ready or not,life goes on. ~ Sidney Sheldon, #NFDB
1001:could just go on foot to visit her ~ Beverly Lewis, #NFDB
1002:Courage is just dreams with shoes on. ~ Reba Riley, #NFDB
1003:Crackers are short on sparkle. ~ Margaret Mitchell, #NFDB
1004:Death's a path we're all on, son ~ Richard Widmark, #NFDB
1005:Don't step on my blue suede shoes. ~ Elvis Presley, #NFDB
1006:Don't wait. If it's not right, move on. ~ Andy Lau, #NFDB
1007:Don't waste your time on life. ~ Jeffrey Eugenides, #NFDB
1008:drifting on daydreams of cunnilingus, ~ Megan Hart, #NFDB
1009:Ellen was motionless on the sidewalk, ~ Lois Lowry, #NFDB
1010:Even after death, life still goes on. ~ Mira Grant, #NFDB
1011:Everybody on Pasha’s rug! Now — fly! ~ Tony Abbott, #NFDB
1012:Every tub sits on its bottom. ~ Zora Neale Hurston, #NFDB
1013:Forget about weird Boy and move on ~ Laura J Burns, #NFDB
1014:fright tends to fatten up on ignorance ~ Glen Cook, #NFDB
1015:From now on I'm Switzerland ok!! ~ Stephenie Meyer, #NFDB
1016:Get me meat. Lots of it. Meat on meat ~ Stacey Jay, #NFDB
1017:Grass is growing on the Front Bench. ~ Nancy Astor, #NFDB
1018:G,We're here and we prey on you. ~ Lisa Scottoline, #NFDB
1019:He couldn’t go on. He went on. ~ Diane Setterfield, #NFDB
1020:He hovered on unexceptionality. ~ Colson Whitehead, #NFDB
1021:He’s on our side now,” said Hermione ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
1022:he was a man on a date with destiny, ~ Kate Morton, #NFDB
1023:Holding on to the weak is called strength. ~ Laozi, #NFDB
1024:hopes dance best on bald men's hair ~ e e cummings, #NFDB
1025:I always have something going on. ~ Gilbert Arenas, #NFDB
1026:I'd just like to carry on acting. ~ Nicholas Hoult, #NFDB
1027:I don't want to live on past records. ~ Barry Gibb, #NFDB
1028:I don't wish my career on anyone. ~ John Entwistle, #NFDB
1029:If it went on the ballot in Colorado, ~ Pete Coors, #NFDB
1030:I GOT BOURBON-FACED ON SHIT STREET! ~ Kresley Cole, #NFDB
1031:I just want to get on the court. ~ Carmelo Anthony, #NFDB
1032:I know how men in exile feed on dreams ~ Aeschylus, #NFDB
1033:I lay on my bed, lost in my thoughts. ~ Kiera Cass, #NFDB
1034:I make no judgements on hearsay. ~ Joe Abercrombie, #NFDB
1035:Im no expert on American politics. ~ Bjorn Lomborg, #NFDB
1036:I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. ~ Will Smith, #NFDB
1037:Institutions do live on their history. ~ Bob Hawke, #NFDB
1038:I really enjoy working on small films. ~ Eric Bana, #NFDB
1039:I refuse to sit on my laurels. ~ Patricia Cornwell, #NFDB
1040:I sometimes read books on my iPad. ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
1041:I think looks do matter on television. ~ Joy Behar, #NFDB
1042:I try not to look back on my career. ~ Dave Madden, #NFDB
1043:It's always freezing on planes. ~ Paz de la Huerta, #NFDB
1044:It was a pig walking on his hind legs. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1045:I've spent half my life on planes. ~ Alice Englert, #NFDB
1046:I wanna move on but my feelings too strong. ~ Tyga, #NFDB
1047:I want to die with my blue jeans on. ~ Andy Warhol, #NFDB
1048:I went to school on Senior Skip Day. ~ Derek Jeter, #NFDB
1049:I wonder can I carry on with the speed ~ Tite Kubo, #NFDB
1050:I work on weekends, but from home. ~ Mary Schapiro, #NFDB
1051:I would, for once, focus on me ~ Elizabeth Eulberg, #NFDB
1052:Keep this on your person at all times. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1053:Kisses on the body bring tears. ~ Marguerite Duras, #NFDB
1054:La vie est autre que ce qu'on écrit. ~ Andr Breton, #NFDB
1055:Lie down on the floor and keep calm. ~ Robert Shea, #NFDB
1056:Life goes on... with or without you. ~ Faraaz Kazi, #NFDB
1057:Life is built on the little things. ~ Keith Stuart, #NFDB
1058:Like a cat on a hot tin roof. ~ Tennessee Williams, #NFDB
1059:like a toad on a birthday cake. Which ~ Sharon Lee, #NFDB
1060:Look not thou on beauty's charming; ~ Walter Scott, #NFDB
1061:Man had to hang on to his pride. ~ Robert Ferrigno, #NFDB
1062:Mantovani was a great influence on me. ~ Brian May, #NFDB
1063:May the devil be firmly on your side ~ Tillie Cole, #NFDB
1064:Music always sounds better on Friday. ~ Lou Brutus, #NFDB
1065:My passion is based on evidence. ~ Richard Dawkins, #NFDB
1066:My songs grow on people - like warts. ~ Glenn Frey, #NFDB
1067:need is to focus on what people around you ~ Kriti, #NFDB
1068:Never have a ceiling on your income. ~ T Harv Eker, #NFDB
1069:Nobody can succeed on their own. ~ Sheryl Sandberg, #NFDB
1070:No honest man will argue on every side ~ Sophocles, #NFDB
1071:No more than six words on a slide. ~ Garr Reynolds, #NFDB
1072:No, thanks, we’re not keen on cat pix. ~ Ira Levin, #NFDB
1073:Nothing is my last word on anything. ~ Henry James, #NFDB
1074:Oh, on that day, that wrathful day, ~ Walter Scott, #NFDB
1075:One must love a poet on its own terms. ~ Paul Gray, #NFDB
1076:On est tous quelqu'un en puissance. ~ Sarah Dessen, #NFDB
1077:On Linden, when the sun was low, ~ Thomas Campbell, #NFDB
1078:On récolte ce que l’on sème. That ~ Elizabeth Bear, #NFDB
1079:Our fears keep us on our toes. ~ Alastair Reynolds, #NFDB
1080:Paint on the canvas, ink on the paper. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1081:Press on! A better fate awaits thee. ~ Victor Hugo, #NFDB
1082:Putting masala on the situation ~ Malala Yousafzai, #NFDB
1083:ran on blindly into the blind dark. ~ Philip Reeve, #NFDB
1084:Reruns are my favorite things on TV. ~ Andy Warhol, #NFDB
1085:Roarke made some notations on the fax—a ~ J D Robb, #NFDB
1086:Run and hide. We're on our way. ~ Scott Westerfeld, #NFDB
1087:said, looking for a job on Broadway. ~ Jane Smiley, #NFDB
1088:Sam Haversford. You had a crush on him ~ T J Klune, #NFDB
1089:search on Susan after we spoke ~ Catherine Coulter, #NFDB
1090:Security sets a premium on feebleness. ~ H G Wells, #NFDB
1091:Self-esteem is not based on itself. ~ Mason Cooley, #NFDB
1092:Serbia stands firmly on the EU path. ~ Ivica Dacic, #NFDB
1093:She clicked on Mae’s life preserver. ~ Dave Eggers, #NFDB
1094:should join in on “Shall We Gather at ~ Anne Tyler, #NFDB
1095:Shy don’t set the world on fire, ~ Emily Carpenter, #NFDB
1096:Shy don’t set the world on fire. ~ Emily Carpenter, #NFDB
1097:Slicker than snot on a door handle. ~ Kim Harrison, #NFDB
1098:slipped on a cognitive banana peel ~ Daniel H Pink, #NFDB
1099:Start each day off on the right foot. ~ Joe Vitale, #NFDB
1100:stick together like shit on a shoe. ~ Carl Hiaasen, #NFDB
1101:Strap it on whenever it's possible. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1102:teeth coming down on the tip of my ~ Gillian Flynn, #NFDB
1103:The gossip mill runs on estrogen. ~ Kim Harrington, #NFDB
1104:The love of fame usually spurs on the mind. ~ Ovid, #NFDB
1105:The miracle is to walk on Earth. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
1106:There is no ownership on grief, ~ Jacqueline Druga, #NFDB
1107:THERE’S ALWAYS A CLASS WAR GOING ON ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
1108:The sun never sets on my gallery. ~ Larry Gagosian, #NFDB
1109:Thought flies and words go on foot. ~ Julien Green, #NFDB
1110:To be rich be diligent; move on ~ William Davenant, #NFDB
1111:to come on hereafter, was what ~ Benjamin Franklin, #NFDB
1112:together on solutions to fix them. ~ Bob Schieffer, #NFDB
1113:To love is to burn, to be on fire. ~ Emma Thompson, #NFDB
1114:to talk to Léon about it, I can see ~ Mary Stewart, #NFDB
1115:tried to catch up on my foot-dangling. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1116:Truth is on the side of the oppressed. ~ Malcolm X, #NFDB
1117:Understand your man, meditate on it. ~ Johnny Cash, #NFDB
1118:War in heaven makes no peace on earth. ~ Toba Beta, #NFDB
1119:We are all riding on the same bus. ~ Mark Sheppard, #NFDB
1120:We kill people based on metadata. ~ Bruce Schneier, #NFDB
1121:We're here on Earth to fart around ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
1122:We're on the verge of all things new. ~ Billy Joel, #NFDB
1123:We were sailing on a sea of sand. ~ Alwyn Hamilton, #NFDB
1124:When I'm on stage I feel at home ~ Ella Fitzgerald, #NFDB
1125:Whitney’s giving a push on Russo. We’ll ~ J D Robb, #NFDB
1126:Winds of May, that dance on the sea, ~ James Joyce, #NFDB
1127:With the gift of faith, we move on. ~ Irvine Welsh, #NFDB
1128:Woman are a nuisance on Safari. ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
1129:you freaked out on me and bailed. ~ Robert J Crane, #NFDB
1130:You get what you focus on in life,. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
1131:You won't see Moonves on Twitter. ~ Leslie Moonves, #NFDB
1132:Abby’s footsteps were silent on the ~ Melinda Leigh, #NFDB
1133:A general must be a charlatan. ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
1134:A house built on lies has a weak foundation. ~ Brom, #NFDB
1135:Aiden has gone Rambo on us. ~ Jennifer L Armentrout, #NFDB
1136:And time shall force a gift on each. ~ John Ashbery, #NFDB
1137:A photograph is the pause button on life. ~ Various, #NFDB
1138:A plague on both your houses. ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
1139:A ring is a halo on your finger. ~ Douglas Coupland, #NFDB
1140:Art is not some fun add-on to life. ~ Grayson Perry, #NFDB
1141:Aww, come on. I don't bite...hard. ~ Aprilynne Pike, #NFDB
1142:Big name often stands on small legs. ~ Chief Joseph, #NFDB
1143:boat, perched on the gunwale and ~ Kristy McCaffrey, #NFDB
1144:Breathe in, breathe out, move on... ~ Jimmy Buffett, #NFDB
1145:Canada was built on dead beavers. ~ Margaret Atwood, #NFDB
1146:Canadians, do not vomit on me! ~ Elizabeth Hardwick, #NFDB
1147:Can't sleep unless the TV is on. ~ Cheyenne Kimball, #NFDB
1148:Christ on a cracker. You raped Achilles! ~ P C Cast, #NFDB
1149:Come on, bebe. Let’s play gator. ~ S E Jakes, #NFDB
1150:Come on, morena, do it.” “Morena? ~ Juliana Haygert, #NFDB
1151:Come on over here and meet my memories ~ Joan Bauer, #NFDB
1152:Congratulations on turning 60 ~ John Walter Bratton, #NFDB
1153:Desire urges me on, as fear bridles me. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1154:Don’t be silent on your talent! ~ Israelmore Ayivor, #NFDB
1155:Don't hate on my fans. Hate on me. ~ Greyson Chance, #NFDB
1156:Don't you dare give up on me. ~ Catherine Ryan Hyde, #NFDB
1157:Driving that train, high on cocaine ~ Robert Hunter, #NFDB
1158:Estragon: I can't go on like this. ~ Samuel Beckett, #NFDB
1159:Festschrift on Beethoven came ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
1160:Floating on my back, as I am now, ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
1161:Found not thy glory on power and riches. ~ Theognis, #NFDB
1162:God is on the side of the oppressed. ~ Desmond Tutu, #NFDB
1163:God put me on this earth to be a tool. ~ Tito Ortiz, #NFDB
1164:Great visions are cast one on one. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
1165:he kissed her on the lips ~ Oxford University Press, #NFDB
1166:Hold on to 16 as long as you can. ~ John Mellencamp, #NFDB
1167:I am a bit of a lefty on some issues. ~ Vince Cable, #NFDB
1168:I am still the fastest man on earth. ~ Asafa Powell, #NFDB
1169:I base all my characters on hair. ~ Patrick Dempsey, #NFDB
1170:I count on the kindness of strangers. ~ Bill Murray, #NFDB
1171:I'd like to die with my boots on. ~ Daniel Berrigan, #NFDB
1172:I dont plan on stopping anytime soon. ~ Teena Marie, #NFDB
1173:If they love you to death never die on them ~ Drake, #NFDB
1174:I grew up on a tiny little island. ~ Samantha Barks, #NFDB
1175:I guess I need to get my paranoid on. ~ Dean Koontz, #NFDB
1176:I know how men in exile feed on dreams. ~ Aeschylus, #NFDB
1177:Liar, liar, pants on fire… ~ Victoria Laurie, #NFDB
1178:I like strength. I depend on my own. ~ Shelby Lynne, #NFDB
1179:I’ll be on the next plane down,” Cindy ~ Jaden Skye, #NFDB
1180:I lost focus on everything else. ~ Octavia E Butler, #NFDB
1181:I made a wish on a sliver of moonlight ~ Tom Waits, #NFDB
1182:Imagination governs the world. ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
1183:I'm not running away, I'm moving on. ~ Irvine Welsh, #NFDB
1184:I'm on the verge of taking a stand. ~ Tom Hollander, #NFDB
1185:I'm over dey heads like a bulemic on a seesaw ~ Nas, #NFDB
1186:Im still betting on you. - Cinna. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
1187:I nearly choked on my milkshake. ~ Anthony Horowitz, #NFDB
1188:I never like seeing myself on screen. ~ Nathan Lane, #NFDB
1189:I pissed on my diploma, smell the aroma. ~ Kid Rock, #NFDB
1190:I play myself on everything I do. ~ Hannibal Buress, #NFDB
1191:I stayed away so you could move on. ~ Kate McCarthy, #NFDB
1192:I still work out on a daily basis. ~ Clint Eastwood, #NFDB
1193:I try not to dwell on this. ~ Laurie Halse Anderson, #NFDB
1194:It stands on a slight eminence ~ J Sheridan Le Fanu, #NFDB
1195:I've got sunshine on a cloudy day ~ Smokey Robinson, #NFDB
1196:I want to go on living after my death! ~ Anne Frank, #NFDB
1197:I was hopeless, now I'm on Hope Road. ~ Lauryn Hill, #NFDB
1198:I would never be on a reality show. ~ Busy Philipps, #NFDB
1199:Jumped In The Fo' Hit The Juice On Ma Ride ~ Eazy E, #NFDB
1200:Keep your eye on the main event. ~ Martha Griffiths, #NFDB
1201:Know what’s going on with their money ~ Jen Sincero, #NFDB
1202:Let's be honest, the cards' on the table: ~ Pusha T, #NFDB
1203:Life depends on what is in your heart. ~ Sara Alexi, #NFDB
1204:Life goes on, end of tunnel, TV set ~ Dave Matthews, #NFDB
1205:Life goes on,” she says, like a dare. ~ Chris Lynch, #NFDB
1206:Life is not about dwelling on the bad. ~ Lara Logan, #NFDB
1207:Lifes too short to just breeze on by. ~ David Chang, #NFDB
1208:Live and learn and pass it on. ~ H Jackson Brown Jr, #NFDB
1209:Look back, and smile on perils past. ~ Walter Scott, #NFDB
1210:madhouses are rarely on display. ~ Charles Bukowski, #NFDB
1211:Marching on a promise never given, ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
1212:May we meet again on distant shores. ~ Amie Kaufman, #NFDB
1213:Morality does not depend on religion. ~ John Ruskin, #NFDB
1214:More depends on my walk than talk. ~ Dwight L Moody, #NFDB
1215:Never get too hung up on mistakes. ~ Warren Buffett, #NFDB
1216:Never give up on something you love ~ Ariana Grande, #NFDB
1217:Now Simmer blinks on flowery braes, ~ Robert Burns, #NFDB
1218:on, Ash,” she said. “You have to get a ~ Robyn Carr, #NFDB
1219:One cannot live on love or cutlery. ~ Leigh Bardugo, #NFDB
1220:on errands every day, if only to pick ~ Dean Koontz, #NFDB
1221:On my word as a liar and cutthroat. ~ Leigh Bardugo, #NFDB
1222:On the open road we are all brothers. ~ Ruskin Bond, #NFDB
1223:on the street, and to whom you would ~ William Kuhn, #NFDB
1224:on two cases. Around five o’clock, I ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
1225:on wheels of steel and wood. ~ Emily St John Mandel, #NFDB
1226:On your birthday today, don't ~ John Walter Bratton, #NFDB
1227:pigtails stumbled out of line, put on ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
1228:Praise the Sea, but keepe on land. ~ George Herbert, #NFDB
1229:Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean ~ Lord Byron, #NFDB
1230:said this. He kept on looking through ~ Mark Haddon, #NFDB
1231:Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on! ~ Joaquin Miller, #NFDB
1232:Say something, I’m giving up on you. ~ Leylah Attar, #NFDB
1233:Send me the pillow you dream on. ~ Johnny Tillotson, #NFDB
1234:Shit happens. You need to move on. ~ Jackie Collins, #NFDB
1235:So many programs you watch on the sofa, ~ One Be Lo, #NFDB
1236:Sometimes I have no idea whats going on ~ Ray Lewis, #NFDB
1237:Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me! ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1238:staggered on together. A dark shape ~ Jennie Hansen, #NFDB
1239:Strides on ice are wisely tempered. ~ R A Salvatore, #NFDB
1240:Sunshine on the water looks so lovely ~ John Denver, #NFDB
1241:Tears began to fall on the notes Frieda ~ Ben Elton, #NFDB
1242:That’s like piss icing on the shit cake. ~ R S Grey, #NFDB
1243:The asp doth on his feeder feed. ~ Richard Lovelace, #NFDB
1244:The cat always leaves a mark on his friend. ~ Aesop, #NFDB
1245:The cow to me is a sermon on pity. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1246:The dream on the pillow, ~ Letitia Elizabeth Landon, #NFDB
1247:The girl with the pictures on her skin ~ Lisa Unger, #NFDB
1248:The gods are on the side of the stronger. ~ Tacitus, #NFDB
1249:their blood will be on their own heads. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1250:There is no R&R facility on Mauna ~ Richard Fox, #NFDB
1251:There was nothing to do but go on. ~ Cheryl Strayed, #NFDB
1252:The world is on fire; time is a bomb. ~ Jeet Thayil, #NFDB
1253:TJ had been talking to Cam on iChat, ~ Jill Shalvis, #NFDB
1254:To love is to live on the precipice. ~ Anne Desclos, #NFDB
1255:Truth depends on perspective. ~ Michael Scott Earle, #NFDB
1256:Turn off your brain and turn on your heart ~ Axwell, #NFDB
1257:Usefulness depends on tractability. ~ Kenneth Arrow, #NFDB
1258:Victory puts us on a level with heaven. ~ Lucretius, #NFDB
1259:Was that designer stubble on his jaw? ~ B J Daniels, #NFDB
1260:We all on a party line to God... ~ Kathryn Stockett, #NFDB
1261:Welcome. Come on in to me world. ~ Tristan MacManus, #NFDB
1262:Well, there's no monkey on my back. ~ Kim Clijsters, #NFDB
1263:What has he shat out on this page? ~ Kiersten White, #NFDB
1264:What is love but friendship set on fire? ~ K M Shea, #NFDB
1265:What you focus on you create more of, ~ Jen Sincero, #NFDB
1266:What you focus on you create more of. ~ Jen Sincero, #NFDB
1267:when I intercepted him. Lucky break on ~ Nancy Mehl, #NFDB
1268:Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel? ~ Alexander Pope, #NFDB
1269:You bought a prostitute on our date! ~ Jane Cousins, #NFDB
1270:You can't just turn love on and off. ~ Shania Twain, #NFDB
1271:You’re not much fun on a honeymoon. ~ Anita Clenney, #NFDB
1272:Your life is built on when love dies. ~ Wayne Coyne, #NFDB
1273:Youth is wasted on the young. ~ George Bernard Shaw, #NFDB
1274:a barnacle on the yacht of prosperity ~ Lynn Kurland, #NFDB
1275:A book in hand is worth ten on the shelf ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1276:Akthent on thee latht thyllable. ~ Bret Easton Ellis, #NFDB
1277:Alas! the fleeting years, how they roll on! ~ Horace, #NFDB
1278:All I can say is hold on, and prepare. ~ Tom DeLonge, #NFDB
1279:Almost all life depends on probabilities. ~ Voltaire, #NFDB
1280:A lot depends on the starting point. ~ Howard Raiffa, #NFDB
1281:Always look on the brighter side of life ~ Eric Idle, #NFDB
1282:Am I spending time on my priorities? ~ Crystal Paine, #NFDB
1283:An army marches on its stomach. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte, #NFDB
1284:An army marches on its stomach. ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
1285:And I was on top of the clouds. ~ A Meredith Walters, #NFDB
1286:And may the crows feast on the unjust. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
1287:Angels do not survive on the Earth… ~ Sahara Sanders, #NFDB
1288:Art stands on the shoulders of craft, ~ Ann Patchett, #NFDB
1289:A thousand ways. Focus on the one way. ~ Rick Yancey, #NFDB
1290:A woman's honor rests on manly love. ~ Esaias Tegner, #NFDB
1291:Breathe in, breathe out, move on
~ Jimmy Buffett,#NFDB
1292:businesses were closed on Sundays, ~ Louis Zamperini, #NFDB
1293:Chins up smiles on - Effie Trinket ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
1294:Christians are rare people on earth. ~ Martin Luther, #NFDB
1295:Come on. Open them beautiful browns. ~ Lorelei James, #NFDB
1296:Consider this on your birthday ~ John Walter Bratton, #NFDB
1297:Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. ~ Greg Koukl, #NFDB
1298:Don't put down a deposit on worry. ~ Kristen Taekman, #NFDB
1299:dried blood on Quicksilver’s hands, ~ Claire Legrand, #NFDB
1300:Either you make a mark on the world, ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1301:Every cell is eavesdropping on your ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
1302:exactly stand on formality; they plunged ~ Ann Moore, #NFDB
1303:Falsehoods border on truths. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero, #NFDB
1304:Feeling LOW?
Go on mountains. ~ Prajakta Mhadnak,#NFDB
1305:Fiction is an improvement on life ~ Charles Bukowski, #NFDB
1306:Fundamentalism is still on the march. ~ David Brooks, #NFDB
1307:Give me a kiss to build a dream on ~ Louis Armstrong, #NFDB
1308:God does not vacillate on His promises. ~ R C Sproul, #NFDB
1309:God made you on purpose, for a purpose ~ Bill Hybels, #NFDB
1310:got trouble on that tin roof of yours. ~ Evan Currie, #NFDB
1311:Go waste your poison on someone else. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1312:grasp the essence of heaven on earth. ~ Wayne W Dyer, #NFDB
1313:Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving. ~ Erma Bombeck, #NFDB
1314:Happy is the bride the sun shines on. ~ C S Forester, #NFDB
1315:hard on a curve and lost control of the ~ Donna Leon, #NFDB
1316:hard on the issue, soft on the person. ~ Henry Cloud, #NFDB
1317:Hard to move on when you always regret one. ~ J Cole, #NFDB
1318:has been founded on a good beating. ~ Martin Edwards, #NFDB
1319:He who stands on tiptoe does not stand firm. ~ Laozi, #NFDB
1320:Hindsight plays tricks on our minds. ~ Jeremy Siegel, #NFDB
1321:Holding on to anything blocks wisdom. ~ Pema Chodron, #NFDB
1322:Hopped up out the bed / Turn my swag on ~ Soulja Boy, #NFDB
1323:I am a forgettable leaf on a tree. ~ Gregory Maguire, #NFDB
1324:I am on Team Drunk Lady, obviously. ~ Jami Attenberg, #NFDB
1325:I do rely on having a full face on. ~ Kim Kardashian, #NFDB
1326:I’d rather shit on my hands and clap. ~ Belle Aurora, #NFDB
1327:I fink I gots deaf on me willie. ~ Christopher Moore, #NFDB
1328:IF IT’S ON THE CALENDAR, IT HAPPENS ~ Gretchen Rubin, #NFDB
1329:If music be the food of love, play on ~ Gayle Forman, #NFDB
1330:If you try to live, you can live on well. ~ Lisa See, #NFDB
1331:I got picked on a lot as a kid. ~ Michael K Williams, #NFDB
1332:I have crushes on women all the time. ~ Adam Lambert, #NFDB
1333:I kiss her like my life depends on it. ~ Sonya Sones, #NFDB
1334:I knew how pleasure looked on him. ~ Madeline Miller, #NFDB
1335:I know I'm the guy others will lean on. ~ Tim Duncan, #NFDB
1336:I'll marry you before any tree on Earth. ~ Gini Koch, #NFDB
1337:I love going on dates and talking. ~ Erin Heatherton, #NFDB
1338:I love retouching images on Photoshop. ~ Troye Sivan, #NFDB
1339:I’m dead; lay the heavy bread on me. ~ Philip K Dick, #NFDB
1340:I'm feasting on a banquet of crumbs. ~ Carrie Fisher, #NFDB
1341:I might wear a tux on Monday. Or a kimono! ~ CM Punk, #NFDB
1342:I'm not a nerd, I play one on TV. ~ Curtis Armstrong, #NFDB
1343:I’m on top of my green like a lawn chair ~ Lil Wayne, #NFDB
1344:I never worked on the school newspaper. ~ Jeff Bezos, #NFDB
1345:In your head, a sunset can go on for days ~ Yoko Ono, #NFDB
1346:I put the hamburger on the assembly line. ~ Ray Kroc, #NFDB
1347:I rot on the wall, my own Dorian Gray. ~ Anne Sexton, #NFDB
1348:I totally love being on camera. ~ Heather Langenkamp, #NFDB
1349:I wrote my thesis on welfare policy. ~ Bob McDonnell, #NFDB
1350:Jenny is looking for a property on a ~ Melinda Leigh, #NFDB
1351:Jesus Alou is in the on-deck circus. ~ Jerry Coleman, #NFDB
1352:Katniss, the girl who was on fire! ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
1353:Katniss, the girl who was on fire. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
1354:Keep your fingers on the letters. H+G ~ Katy Regnery, #NFDB
1355:Kind of like Batman. On a motorcycle. ~ Joanna Wylde, #NFDB
1356:Life is balance of holding on and letting go. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
1357:Life on the planet is born of woman. ~ Adrienne Rich, #NFDB
1358:Most people are on the world, not in it. ~ John Muir, #NFDB
1359:moving on is a gift you give yourself. ~ Joan Rivers, #NFDB
1360:My father was a huge influence on me. ~ Carol Leifer, #NFDB
1361:My father was very big on marriage. ~ Sidney Poitier, #NFDB
1362:My fruit grows on other people’s trees. ~ Bob Buford, #NFDB
1363:My theory on education is... get one. ~ Mary Matalin, #NFDB
1364:Narian would not attack on Christmas. ~ Cayla Kluver, #NFDB
1365:Never give up on what makes you smile ~ Heath Ledger, #NFDB
1366:Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day. ~ Harry Truman, #NFDB
1367:Never turn your back on a friend. ~ Alfred Hitchcock, #NFDB
1368:No one can keep a mask on long. ~ Seneca the Younger, #NFDB
1369:on a cough, but of course there was ~ Kristin Hannah, #NFDB
1370:One cannot place a price on a promise. ~ S Jae Jones, #NFDB
1371:On entering the little green-walled ~ Jeffrey Archer, #NFDB
1372:On est jamais tout à fait malheureux. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
1373:Only a fool trips on what’s behind them. ~ Ray Lewis, #NFDB
1374:Only morons start a business on a loan? ~ Mark Cuban, #NFDB
1375:Only thing on right now, like a night light. ~ Drake, #NFDB
1376:On our way over to see the bird, ~ Elizabeth Kolbert, #NFDB
1377:On the other hand, I’m really excited. ~ R J Palacio, #NFDB
1378:on Thursday, October 2, 2014 11:40:47 AM ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1379:our mom up and left on a jagged wind. ~ Tommy Orange, #NFDB
1380:O waste no fears on me; look to thyself. ~ Sophocles, #NFDB
1381:Police can only act on intelligence. ~ P Chidambaram, #NFDB
1382:Quel roman pourtant que ma vie! ~ Napol on Bonaparte, #NFDB
1383:Rollerboy down and lay down on it ~ Michael Connelly, #NFDB
1384:She was as pretty as sunshine on roses. ~ Rick Bragg, #NFDB
1385:Society is founded on hero-worship. ~ Thomas Carlyle, #NFDB
1386:Stupidity always carries doggedly on. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
1387:The aquilegia sprinkled on the rocks ~ Bayard Taylor, #NFDB
1388:The clubhouse on the golf links was ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
1389:the flap on his shirt pocket. Grumbling, ~ Tami Hoag, #NFDB
1390:Their is beauty everywhere on earth. ~ Josef kvoreck, #NFDB
1391:themselves below decks on the fishing ~ Trevor Scott, #NFDB
1392:There are pieces of me on the ground. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
1393:There is no rule on how to write. ~ Ernest Hemingway, #NFDB
1394:There is nothing like being on stage. ~ Seamus Dever, #NFDB
1395:There's a lot of great stuff on TV. ~ David Giuntoli, #NFDB
1396:There’s no racism on death row. ~ Anthony Ray Hinton, #NFDB
1397:There's thunder even on the loftiest peaks. ~ Seneca, #NFDB
1398:THE SUN FELT good on Cathy’s face. ~ Lindsay McKenna, #NFDB
1399:The typhoon had got on Jukes' nerves ~ Joseph Conrad, #NFDB
1400:The world rests on principles. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
1401:They keep on extracting the urine. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
1402:They who prosper take on airs of vanity. ~ Aeschylus, #NFDB
1403:thought on the matter. “She’s working ~ Lisa Kleypas, #NFDB
1404:Throw dirt on me, and grow a wild flower ~ Lil Wayne, #NFDB
1405:To lose hope is to give up on life, ~ Tamara Monteau, #NFDB
1406:True places are not found on maps. ~ Herman Melville, #NFDB
1407:wasn’t on that list. Probably. ~ Denise Grover Swank, #NFDB
1408:We all grow on somebody's grave. ~ Mary Augusta Ward, #NFDB
1409:We are all here on earth to help others. ~ W H Auden, #NFDB
1410:We are trespassing on your hospitality ~ Eric Ambler, #NFDB
1411:We should die relying on grace alone ~ Martin Luther, #NFDB
1412:We've all got to get on the same page. ~ Jerry Jones, #NFDB
1413:What I stand for is what I stand on. ~ Wendell Berry, #NFDB
1414:What you focus on always gets better. ~ Robin Sharma, #NFDB
1415:Whoever learns to pray keeps on praying. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1416:with bee-stung lips and bolt-on boobs, ~ Terry Hayes, #NFDB
1417:Wrecked on the lee shore of age. ~ Sarah Orne Jewett, #NFDB
1418:Writers are always diverse on the inside. ~ Pat Mora, #NFDB
1419:You can't be careful on a skateboard. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1420:You cant go on winning all the time. ~ Jahangir Khan, #NFDB
1421:You can't put a condom on your heart. ~ Sarah Ockler, #NFDB
1422:You don't want to OD on improvisation. ~ Patti Smith, #NFDB
1423:You're either on the bus or off the bus. ~ Ken Kesey, #NFDB
1424:You're either on the bus or off the bus. ~ Tom Wolfe, #NFDB
1425:You’re owed a refund on your manhood. ~ Lee Goldberg, #NFDB
1426:You're short on ears and long on mouth. ~ John Wayne, #NFDB
1427:17 We Get a Surprise On Miami Beach ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
1428:Actually,” Joe said, “you’re right on time. ~ C J Box, #NFDB
1429:alas we were chaste on earth we ghosts ~ E E Cummings, #NFDB
1430:A life's work should be based on love. ~ Ray Bradbury, #NFDB
1431:All things keep on in everlasting motion, ~ Lucretius, #NFDB
1432:Alone was the loneliest place on earth ~ Rachel Hauck, #NFDB
1433:America was built on her citizens. ~ Stephen K Bannon, #NFDB
1434:And I still surfed on Manhattan static. ~ Martin Amis, #NFDB
1435:And she let me put ketchup on it, too, ~ Janis Thomas, #NFDB
1436:And The Cherry On Top Of The Cake A MAN! ~ Steph Bowe, #NFDB
1437:Any Christian who is not a hero is a pig. ~ L on Bloy, #NFDB
1438:A star on earth - a star in heaven. ~ Karen Carpenter, #NFDB
1439:At fifteen, my mind was bent on learning. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
1440:Begin each day as if it were on purpose. ~ Will Smith, #NFDB
1441:Blood like raindrops on the window. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
1442:Come back with your shield or on it. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1443:Come on. I got drunk when I was like 5. ~ Fiona Apple, #NFDB
1444:Come on, Mowgli. Let's go kill Bambi. ~ Andrea Cremer, #NFDB
1445:Come on, my little siren. Come to me. ~ Katie McGarry, #NFDB
1446:Desecration is the smile on my face. ~ Anthony Kiedis, #NFDB
1447:Discipline #2: Act on the Lead Measures ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1448:Donald Trump turned politics on its head. ~ Paul Ryan, #NFDB
1449:Don't operate on the heart with a hatchet. ~ Jim Rohn, #NFDB
1450:Don't waste hate on pink geranium. ~ Elizabeth Goudge, #NFDB
1451:Energy wasted on negative ends. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
1452:Everything was on television last night ~ Don DeLillo, #NFDB
1453:Everything was on the Internet. Week ~ Brenda Barrett, #NFDB
1454:Failure is not an option on this one. ~ Donny Deutsch, #NFDB
1455:Fall mountains, just don't fall on me. ~ Jimi Hendrix, #NFDB
1456:Fiction is an improvement on life. ~ Charles Bukowski, #NFDB
1457:Fix your eyes on eternity with Jesus. ~ David R Mains, #NFDB
1458:Flinging dog drool on innocent passersby? ~ Meg Cabot, #NFDB
1459:Focus on opportunities, not problems. ~ Peter Drucker, #NFDB
1460:Focus on the solution, not on the problem. ~ Jim Rohn, #NFDB
1461:Focus on your music and not technology. ~ Bryan Adams, #NFDB
1462:Forbear to lay the guilt of a few on the many. ~ Ovid, #NFDB
1463:Freedom is a system based on courage. ~ Charles Peguy, #NFDB
1464:Get on yo job little man this ain't Saturday ~ J Cole, #NFDB
1465:God bless the potholes on Memory Lane. ~ Randy Newman, #NFDB
1466:He led them on a road that went straight. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1467:He steps on my heart. He makes me cry. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
1468:High in the sky is a bird on a wing ~ Tom Springfield, #NFDB
1469:His eyes touched lightly, and passed on. ~ Davis Bunn, #NFDB
1470:Holiness on earth is a spiritual fantasy. ~ Toba Beta, #NFDB
1471:Hunting is not those heads on the wall ~ Amiri Baraka, #NFDB
1472:I always keep my repertorial hat on. ~ Mark Leibovich, #NFDB
1473:I can be nice on occasion," Mike said. ~ Joanne Fluke, #NFDB
1474:I can stick uphill ice, on my saucer ~ Shane McConkey, #NFDB
1475:I can't sit on grass without a blanket. ~ Tia Carrere, #NFDB
1476:I dare anyone to debate me on things. ~ Charlie Sheen, #NFDB
1477:I'd got hobbits on my hands hadn't I? ~ J R R Tolkien, #NFDB
1478:I don't mind saying what's on my mind. ~ Joshua Homme, #NFDB
1479:I finally found me a cloud to float on. ~ Wiz Khalifa, #NFDB
1480:If we fix on the old, we get stuck. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
1481:If you get all tangled up, just tango on. ~ Al Pacino, #NFDB
1482:I got into stand-up to get on a sitcom. ~ David Spade, #NFDB
1483:I grew up on two wheels in the dirt. ~ Jimmie Johnson, #NFDB
1484:I had an economic system imposed on me. ~ Lauryn Hill, #NFDB
1485:I have a beard. Just not on my face. ~ Craig Ferguson, #NFDB
1486:I have a playlist of farts on my phone. ~ Lena Headey, #NFDB
1487:I haven't placed any limits on myself ~ Randy Couture, #NFDB
1488:I hight don Quixote, I live on peyote, ~ Jack Parsons, #NFDB
1489:I just tried to build on my failures. ~ Kevin Costner, #NFDB
1490:I like going on location for films. ~ Katherine Heigl, #NFDB
1491:I like to go to Mauritius on holiday. ~ Stan Wawrinka, #NFDB
1492:I’ll do the snails on cinnamon toast. ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
1493:I look on life as a joyous adventure. ~ Ernie Harwell, #NFDB
1494:I love not having to rely on anyone. ~ Felicity Jones, #NFDB
1495:I make decisions based on logic and fact. ~ E L James, #NFDB
1496:I'm definitely on the incline to a peak. ~ Fred Durst, #NFDB
1497:I'm either up or on my way up. Never down ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1498:I might go Romeo on you if you do. ~ Claudia Y Burgoa, #NFDB
1499:I modelled my looks on the town tramp. ~ Dolly Parton, #NFDB
1500:I'm on a rollercoaster that only goes up ~ John Green, #NFDB
3845 Integral Yoga
2931 Poetry
454 Philosophy
434 Mysticism
334 Fiction
328 Occultism
196 Christianity
139 Yoga
97 Islam
92 Psychology
81 Philsophy
62 Sufism
42 Zen
40 Science
34 Hinduism
33 Buddhism
27 Kabbalah
27 Education
22 Mythology
20 Theosophy
16 Integral Theory
8 Cybernetics
6 Baha i Faith
4 Taoism
1 Thelema
1 Alchemy
2116 The Mother
1706 Sri Aurobindo
1280 Satprem
617 Nolini Kanta Gupta
309 William Wordsworth
277 Walt Whitman
236 William Butler Yeats
230 Percy Bysshe Shelley
170 Rabindranath Tagore
160 Aleister Crowley
143 H P Lovecraft
140 John Keats
115 Friedrich Schiller
97 Muhammad
94 Friedrich Nietzsche
91 Robert Browning
91 Carl Jung
87 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
83 Li Bai
81 Ralph Waldo Emerson
79 Rainer Maria Rilke
78 Jalaluddin Rumi
69 James George Frazer
67 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
66 Plotinus
58 Jorge Luis Borges
57 Sri Ramakrishna
53 Kabir
52 Edgar Allan Poe
40 Swami Vivekananda
39 Anonymous
37 Swami Krishnananda
35 Saint Teresa of Avila
34 Saint Augustine of Hippo
33 Lucretius
33 Hafiz
32 Hsuan Chueh of Yung Chia
32 Franz Bardon
31 Omar Khayyam
31 A B Purani
30 Saint John of Climacus
29 Aldous Huxley
27 Rabbi Moses Luzzatto
25 Rudolf Steiner
24 Aristotle
22 Vyasa
20 Ibn Arabi
18 Lalla
18 Farid ud-Din Attar
17 Taigu Ryokan
17 Ramprasad
17 Hakim Sanai
16 Mirabai
15 Nirodbaran
14 Ovid
13 Matsuo Basho
12 Plato
12 Paul Richard
11 Thomas Merton
11 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
11 Sri Ramana Maharshi
11 Peter J Carroll
11 Lewis Carroll
11 George Van Vrekhem
10 Symeon the New Theologian
10 Saint John of the Cross
9 Saint Hildegard von Bingen
9 Jacopone da Todi
9 Abu-Said Abil-Kheir
8 Norbert Wiener
8 Mansur al-Hallaj
8 Joseph Campbell
8 Jetsun Milarepa
8 Bulleh Shah
8 Baba Sheikh Farid
7 Solomon ibn Gabirol
7 Saint Francis of Assisi
7 Muso Soseki
7 Jordan Peterson
7 Henry David Thoreau
7 Dogen
7 Baha u llah
7 Alice Bailey
6 Wang Wei
6 Thubten Chodron
6 Sarmad
6 Bokar Rinpoche
6 Al-Ghazali
5 Saadi
5 Rabbi Abraham Abulafia
5 Patanjali
5 Mechthild of Magdeburg
5 Khwaja Abdullah Ansari
5 Ikkyu
5 Fukuda Chiyo-ni
5 Boethius
4 Yosa Buson
4 Vidyapati
4 Saint Clare of Assisi
4 Namdev
4 Jayadeva
4 Chuang Tzu
4 Alfred Tennyson
3 Yuan Mei
3 Wumen Huikai
3 William Blake
3 Tao Chien
3 Sun Buer
3 Shiwu (Stonehouse)
3 Shankara
3 R Buckminster Fuller
3 Ravidas
3 Naropa
3 Nachmanides
3 Moses de Leon
3 Lu Tung Pin
3 Ken Wilber
3 Ibn Ata Illah
3 Guru Nanak
3 Dadu Dayal
3 Basava
2 Yeshe Tsogyal
2 Saint Therese of Lisieux
2 Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
2 Michael Maier
2 Masahide
2 Mahendranath Gupta
2 Kobayashi Issa
2 Kahlil Gibran
2 Jorge Luis Borges
2 Jean Gebser
2 Italo Calvino
2 H. P. Lovecraft
2 Genpo Roshi
2 Dante Alighieri
2 Chiao Jan
2 Bodhidharma
2 Allama Muhammad Iqbal
2 Alexander Pope
821 Record of Yoga
309 Wordsworth - Poems
261 Whitman - Poems
236 Yeats - Poems
235 On Thoughts And Aphorisms
230 Shelley - Poems
221 Prayers And Meditations
161 Tagore - Poems
157 Agenda Vol 01
144 The Synthesis Of Yoga
143 Lovecraft - Poems
140 Keats - Poems
138 Agenda Vol 13
123 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
115 Schiller - Poems
115 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
100 Letters On Yoga III
98 Agenda Vol 08
97 Quran
97 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
95 Agenda Vol 12
94 Agenda Vol 10
92 Agenda Vol 09
91 Browning - Poems
86 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
85 Magick Without Tears
85 Agenda Vol 07
84 Agenda Vol 11
84 Agenda Vol 04
84 Agenda Vol 03
83 Li Bai - Poems
82 Thus Spoke Zarathustra
82 Agenda Vol 06
81 Emerson - Poems
81 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
79 Rilke - Poems
78 Agenda Vol 02
77 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
73 Agenda Vol 05
69 The Golden Bough
65 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
61 Goethe - Poems
60 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
59 Collected Poems
56 The Life Divine
56 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
55 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
53 Liber ABA
52 Questions And Answers 1956
51 Poe - Poems
49 Savitri
49 Letters On Yoga IV
49 Letters On Yoga II
48 Letters On Poetry And Art
41 Questions And Answers 1953
40 Rumi - Poems
38 Mysterium Coniunctionis
37 Words Of Long Ago
37 The Study and Practice of Yoga
37 Songs of Kabir
37 Questions And Answers 1955
36 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
35 Questions And Answers 1954
35 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08
34 The Divine Comedy
33 Of The Nature Of Things
33 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 06
32 Borges - Poems
31 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
30 The Ladder of Divine Ascent
30 Essays On The Gita
30 Essays Divine And Human
29 The Perennial Philosophy
28 The Bible
27 Words Of The Mother II
27 Letters On Yoga I
27 General Principles of Kabbalah
26 On Education
26 Labyrinths
26 Faust
26 Crowley - Poems
24 The Practice of Psycho therapy
24 The Human Cycle
24 Poetics
24 Hafiz - Poems
22 Vishnu Purana
22 The Future of Man
22 City of God
21 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 04
21 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 01
20 Bhakti-Yoga
19 The Way of Perfection
19 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
19 Anonymous - Poems
18 Let Me Explain
18 Initiation Into Hermetics
17 Ryokan - Poems
17 On the Way to Supermanhood
17 Arabi - Poems
15 Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo
15 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
15 Isha Upanishad
14 The Secret Of The Veda
14 The Practice of Magical Evocation
14 The Phenomenon of Man
14 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
14 Some Answers From The Mother
14 Metamorphoses
14 Aion
13 Vedic and Philological Studies
13 Twilight of the Idols
13 Theosophy
13 The Confessions of Saint Augustine
13 Hymn of the Universe
13 Basho - Poems
12 Talks
12 Song of Myself
12 Raja-Yoga
12 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 03
12 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 02
11 Preparing for the Miraculous
11 Liber Null
11 Kena and Other Upanishads
11 Dark Night of the Soul
10 The Problems of Philosophy
10 The Interior Castle or The Mansions
10 The Integral Yoga
10 Knowledge of the Higher Worlds
10 Alice in Wonderland
10 A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah
9 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
9 Amrita Gita
9 5.1.01 - Ilion
8 Words Of The Mother III
8 The Hero with a Thousand Faces
8 The Blue Cliff Records
8 Milarepa - Poems
8 Cybernetics
7 Words Of The Mother I
7 Walden
7 Maps of Meaning
7 Dogen - Poems
7 A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
6 Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit
6 The Secret Doctrine
6 The Red Book Liber Novus
6 The Alchemy of Happiness
6 Tara - The Feminine Divine
6 How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator
5 The Gateless Gate
5 Sefer Yetzirah The Book of Creation In Theory and Practice
5 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
4 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
4 Chuang Tzu - Poems
4 Beating the Cloth Drum Letters of Zen Master Hakuin
3 The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma
3 The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep
3 The Lotus Sutra
3 The Book of Certitude
3 Synergetics - Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking
3 Sex Ecology Spirituality
3 Naropa - Poems
3 Huikai - Poems
3 Agenda Vol 1
2 The Prophet
2 The Ever-Present Origin
2 The Essentials of Education
2 The Castle of Crossed Destinies
2 Symposium
2 Selected Fictions
2 Notes On The Way
2 God Exists
2 Bodhidharma - Poems
2 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2E
00.00 - Publishers Note B, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The present volume c Onsists of five parts of the book Yoga of Sri Aurobindo which has now run into twelve parts. Of these five parts, eight and nine are based On talks of the Mother given by Her, in French, to the children of the Ashram.
We are pleased to note that the Government of India have given us a grant to meet the cost of publicati On of this volume.
0 0.01 - Introduction, #Agenda Vol 1, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This AGENDA ... One day, another species am Ong men will pore over this fabulous document as over the tumultuous drama that must have surrounded the birth of the first man am Ong the hostile hordes of a great, delirious Paleozoic. A first man is the dangerous c Ontradicti On of a certain simian logic, a threat to the established order that so genteelly ran about amid the high, indefeasible ferns - and to begin with, it does not even know that it is a man. It w Onders, indeed, what it is. Even to itself it is strange, distressing. It does not even know how to climb trees any l Onger in its usual way
- and it is terribly disturbing for all those who still climb trees in the old, millennial way. Perhaps it is even a heresy. Unless it is some cerebral disorder? A first man in his little clearing had to have a great deal of courage. Even this little clearing was no l Onger so sure. A first man is a perpetual questi On. What am I, then, in the midst of all that? And where is my law? What is the law? And what if there were no more laws? ... It is terrifying. Mathematics - out of order. Astr Onomy and biology, too, are beginning to resp Ond to mysterious influences. A tiny point huddled in the center of the world's great clearing. But what is all this, what if I were 'mad'? And then, claws all around, a lot of claws against this uncomm On creature. A first man ... is very much al One. He is quite unbearable for the pre-human 'reas On.' And the surrounding tribes growled like red m Onkies in the twilight of Guiana.
One day, we were like this first man in the great, stridulant night of the Oyapock. Our heart was beating with the rediscovery of a very ancient mystery - suddenly, it was absolutely new to be a man amidst the diorite cascades and the pretty red and black coral snakes slithering beneath the leaves. It was even more extraordinary to be a man than our old c Onfirmed tribes, with their infallible equati Ons and imprescriptible biologies, could ever have dreamed. It was an absolutely uncertain 'quantum' that delightfully eluded whatever One thought of it, including perhaps what even the scholars thought of it. It flowed otherwise, it felt otherwise. It lived in a kind of flawless c Ontinuity with the sap of the giant balata trees, the cry of the macaws and the scintillating water of a little fountain. It 'understood' in a very different way. To understand was to be in everything. Just a quiver, and One was in the skin of a little iguana in distress. The skin of the world was very vast.
To be a man after rediscovering a milli On years was mysteriously like being something still other than man, a strange, unfinished possibility that could also be all kinds of other things. It was not in the dicti Onary, it was fluid and boundless - it had become a man through habit, but in truth, it was formidably virgin, as if all the old laws bel Onged to laggard barbarians. Then other mo Ons began whirring through the skies to the cry of macaws at sunset, another rhythm was born that was strangely in tune with the rhythm of all, making One single flow of the world, and there we went, lightly, as if the body had never had any weight other than that of our human thought; and the stars were so near, even the giant airplanes roaring overhead seemed vain artifices beneath smiling galaxies. A man was the overwhelming Possible. He was even the great discoverer of the Possible.
Never had this precarious inventi On had any other aim through milli Ons of species than to discover that which surpassed his own species, perhaps the means to change his species - a light and lawless species. After rediscovering a milli On years in the great, rhythmic night, a man was still something to be invented. It was the inventi On of himself, where all was not yet said and d One.
--
A little white silhouette, twelve thousand miles away, solitary and frail amidst a spiritual horde which had Once and for all decided that the meditating and miraculous yogi was the apogee of the species, was searching for the means, for the reality of this man who for a moment believes himself sovereign of the heavens or sovereign of a machine, but who is quite probably something completely different than his spiritual or material glories. Another, a lighter air was throbbing in that breast, unburdened of its heavens and of its prehistoric machines. Another Epic was beginning.
Would Matter and Spirit meet, then, in a third PHYSIOLOGICAL positi On that would perhaps be at last the positi On of Man rediscovered, the something that had for so l Ong fought and suffered in quest of becoming its own species? She was the great Possible at the beginning of man. Mother is our fable come true. 'All is possible' was her first open sesame.
--
As for the worst, we know that it is the worst. But then we come to realize that the best is Only the pretty muzzle of our worst, the same old beast defending itself, with all its claws out, with its sanctity or its electr Onic gadgets. Mother was there for something else.
'Something else' is ominous, perilous, disrupting - it is quite unbearable for all those who resemble the old beast. The story of the P Ondicherry 'Ashram' is the story of an old clan ferociously clinging to its 'spiritual' privileges, as others clung to the muscles that had made them kings am Ong the great apes. It is armed with all the piousness and all the reas Onableness that had made logical man so 'infallible' am Ong his less cerebral brothers. The spiritual brain is probably the worst obstacle to the new species, as were the muscles of the old orangutan for this fragile stranger who no l Onger climbed so well in the trees and sat, pensive, at the center of a little, uncertain clearing.
--
We landed there, One day in February 1954, having emerged from our Guianese forest and a certain number of dead-end peripluses; we had knocked up On all the doors of the old world before reaching that point of absolute impossibility where it was truly necessary to embark into something else or Once and for all put a bullet through the brain of this slightly superior ape. The first thing that struck us was this exotic Notre Dame with its burning incense sticks, its effigies and its prostrati Ons in immaculate white: a Church. We nearly jumped into the first train out that very evening, bound straight for the Himalayas, or the devil. But we remained near Mother for nineteen years. What was it, then, that could have held us there? We had not left Guiana to become a little saint in white or to enter some new religi On. 'I did not come up On earth to found an ashram; that would have been a poor aim indeed,' She wrote in 1934. What did all this mean, then, this 'Ashram' that was already registered as the owner of a great spiritual business, and this fragile, little silhouette at the center of all these zealous worshippers? In truth, there is no better way to smother some One than to worship him: he chokes beneath the weight of worship, which moreover gives the worshipper claim to ownership. 'Why do you want to worship?' She exclaimed. 'You have but to become! It is the laziness to become that makes One worship.' She wanted so much to make them
become this 'something else,' but it was far easier to worship and quiescently remain what One was.
She spoke to deaf ears. She was very al One in this 'ashram.' Little by little, the disciples fill up the place, then they say: it is ours. It is 'the Ashram.' We are 'the disciples.' In P Ondicherry as in Rome as in Mecca. 'I do not want a religi On! An end to religi Ons!' She exclaimed. She struggled and fought in their midst - was She therefore to leave this Earth like One more saint or yogi, buried beneath haloes, the 'c Ontinuatrice' of a great spiritual lineage? She was seventy-six years old when we landed there, a knife in our belt and a ready curse On our lips.
She adored defiance and did not detest irreverence.
--
Her step by step, as One discovers a forest, or rather as One fights with it, machete in hand - and then it melts, One loves, so sublime does it become. Mother grew beneath our skin like an adventure of life and death. For seven years we fought with Her. It was fascinating, detestable, powerful and sweet; we felt like screaming and biting, fleeing and always coming back: 'Ah! You w On't catch me! If you think I came here to worship you, you're wr Ong!' And She laughed. She always laughed.
We had our bellyful of adventure at last: if you go astray in the forest, you get delightfully lost yet still with the same old skin On your back, whereas here, there is nothing left to get lost in! It is no l Onger just a matter of getting lost - you have to CHANGE your skin. Or die. Yes, change species.
Or become One more nauseating little worshipper - which was not On our program. 'We are the enemy of our own c Oncepti On of the Divine,' She told us One day with her mischievous little smile.
The whole time - or for seven years, in any event - we fought with our c Oncepti On of God and the
'spiritual life': it was all so comfortable, for we had a supreme 'symbol' of it right there. She let us do as we pleased, She even opened up all kinds of little heavens in us, al Ong with a few hells, since they go together. She even opened the door in us to a certain 'liberati On,' which in the end was as soporific as eternity - but there was nowhere to get out: it WAS eternity. We were trapped On all sides. There was nothing left but these 4m2 of skin, the last refuge, that which we wanted to flee by way of above or below, by way of Guiana or the Himalayas. She was waiting for us just there, at the end of our spiritual or not so spiritual pirouettes. Matter was her c Oncern. It took us seven years to understand that She was beginning there, 'where the other yogas leave off,' as Sri Aurobindo had already said twenty-five years earlier. It was necessary to have covered all the paths of the Spirit and all those of Matter, or in any case a large number geographically, before discovering, or even simply understanding, that 'something else' was really Something Else. It was not an improved
Spirit nor even an improved Matter, but ... it could be called 'nothing,' so c Ontrary was it to all we know. For the caterpillar, a butterfly is nothing, it is not even visible and has nothing in comm On with caterpillar heavens nor even caterpillar matter. So there we were, trapped in an impossible adventure. One does not return from there: One must cross the bridge to the other side. Then One day in that seventh year, while we still believed in liberati Ons and the collected Upanishads, highlighted with a few glorious visi Ons to relieve the comm Onplace (which remained appallingly comm Onplace), while we were still c Onsidering 'the Mother of the Ashram' rather like some spiritual super-director (endowed, albeit, with a disarming yet ever so provocative smile, as though
She were making fun of us, then loving us in secret), She told us, 'I have the feeling that ALL we have lived, ALL we have known, ALL we have d One is a perfect illusi On ... When I had the spiritual experience that material life is an illusi On, pers Onally I found that so marvelously beautiful and happy that it was One of the most beautiful experiences of my life, but now it is the entire spiritual structure as we have lived it that is becoming an illusi On! - Not the same illusi On, but an illusi On far worse. And I am no baby: I have been here for forty-seven years now!' Yes, She was eighty-three years old then. And that day, we ceased being 'the enemy of our own c Oncepti On of the Divine,' for this entire Divine was shattered to pieces - and we met Mother, at last. This mystery we call
Mother, for She never ceased being a mystery right to her ninety-fifth year, and to this day still, challenges us from the other side of a wall of invisibility and keeps us floundering fully in the mystery - with a smile. She always smiles. But the mystery is not solved.
--
Where, then, was 'the Mother of the Ashram' in all this? What is even 'the Ashram,' if not a spiritual museum of the resistances to Something Else. They were always - and still today - reciting their catechism beneath a little flag: they are the owners of the new truth. But the new truth is laughing in their faces and leaving them high and dry at the edge of their little stagnant p Ond. They are under the illusi On that Mother and Sri Aurobindo, twenty-seven or four years after their respective departures, could keep On repeating themselves - but then they would not be Mother and
Sri Aurobindo! They would be fossils. The truth is always On the move. It is with those who dare, who have courage, and above all the courage to shatter all the effigies, to de-mystify, and to go
TRULY to the c Onquest of the new. The 'new' is painful, discouraging, it resembles nothing we know! We cannot hoist the flag of an unc Onquered country - but this is what is so marvelous: it does not yet exist. We must MAKE IT EXIST. The adventure has not been carved out: it is to be carved out. Truth is not entrapped and fossilized, 'spiritualized': it is to be discovered. We are in a nothing that we must force to become a something. We are in the adventure of the new species. A new species is obviously c Ontradictory to the old species and to the little flags of the alreadyknown. It has nothing in comm On with the spiritual summits of the old world, nor even with its abysms - which might be delightfully tempting for those who have had enough of the summits, but everything is the same, in black or white, it is fraternal above and below. SOMETHING ELSE is needed.
'Are you c Onscious of your ceils?' She asked us a short time after the little operati On of spiritual demoliti On She had underg One. 'No? Well, become c Onscious of your cells, and you will see that it gives TERRESTRIAL results.' To become c Onscious of One's cells? ... It was a far more radical operati On than crossing the Mar Oni with a machete in hand, for after all, trees and lianas can be cut, but what cannot be so easily uncovered are the grandfa ther and the grandmo ther and the whole atavistic pack, not to menti On the animal and plant and mineral layers that form a teeming humus over this single pure little cell beneath its millennial genetic program. The grandfa thers and grandmo thers grow back again like crabgrass, al Ong with all the old habits of being hungry, afraid, falling ill, fearing the worst, hoping for the best, which is still the best of an old mortal habit. All this is not uprooted nor entrapped as easily as celestial 'liberati Ons,' which leave the teeming humus in peace and the body to its usual decompositi On. She had come to hew a path through all that. She was the Ancient One of evoluti On who had come to make a new cleft in the old, tedious habit of being a man. She did not like tedious repetiti Ons, She was the adventuress par excellence - the adventuress of the earth. She was wrenching out for man the great Possible that was already beating there, in his primeval clearing, which he believed he had momentarily trapped with a few machines.
She was uprooting a new Matter, free, free from the habit of inexorably being a man who repeats himself ad infinitum with a few improvements in the way of organ transplants or m Onetary exchanges. In fact, She was there to discover what would happen after materialism and after spiritualism, these prodigal twin brothers. Because Materialism is dying in the West for the same reas On that Spiritualism is dying in the East: it is the hour of the new species. Man needs to awaken, not Only from his dem Ons but also from his gods. A new Matter, yes, like a new Spirit, yes, because we still know neither One nor the other. It is the hour when Science, like Spirituality, at the end of their roads, must discover what Matter TRULY is, for it is really there that a Spirit as yet unknown to us is to be found. It is a time when all the 'isms' of the old species are dying: 'The age of
Capitalism and business is drawing to its close. But the age of Communism too will pass ... 'It is the hour of a pure little cell THAT WILL HAVE TERRESTRIAL REPERCUSSI OnS, infinitely more radical than all our political and scientific or spiritualistic panaceas.
This fabulous discovery is the whole story of the AGENDA. What is the passage? How is the path to the new species hewed open? ... Then suddenly, there, On the other side of this old millennial habit - a habit, nothing more than a habit! - of being like a man endowed with time and space and disease: an entire geometry, perfectly implacable and 'scientific' and medical; On the other side ... n One of that at all! An illusi On, a fantastic medical and scientific and genetic illusi On:
death does not exist, time does not exist, disease does not exist, nor do 'scar' and 'far' - another way of being IN A BODY. For so many milli Ons of years we have lived in a habit and put our own thoughts of the world and of Matter into equati Ons. No more laws! Matter is FREE. It can create a little lizard, a chipmunk or a parrot - but it has created enough parrots. Now it is SOMETHING
--
Day after day, for seventeen years, She sat with us to tell us of her impossible odyssey. Ah, how well we now understand why She needed such an 'outlaw' and an incorrigible heretic like us to comprehend a little bit of her impossible odyssey into 'nothing.' And how well we now understand her infinite patience with us, despite all our revolts, which ultimately were Only the revolts of the old species against itself. The final revolt. 'It is not a revolt against the British government which any One can easily do. It is, in fact, a revolt against the whole universal Nature!' Sri Aurobindo had proclaimed fifty years earlier. She listened to our grievances, we went away and we returned. We wanted no more of it and we wanted still more. It was infernal and sublime, impossible and the sole possibility in this old, asphyxiating world. It was the Only place One could go to in this barbedwired, mechanized world, where Cincinnati is just as crowded and polluted as H Ong K Ong. The new species is the last free place in the general Pris On. It is the last hope for the earth. How we listened to her little faltering voice that seemed to return from afar, afar, after having crossed spaces and seas of the mind to let its little drops of pure, crystalline words fall up On us, words that make you see. We listened to the future, we touched the other thing. It was incomprehensible and yet filled with another comprehensi On. It eluded us On all sides, and yet it was dazzlingly obvious. The 'other species' was really radically other, and yet it was vibrating within, absolutely recognizable, as if it were THAT we had been seeking from age to age, THAT we had been invoking through all our illuminati Ons, One after another, in Thebes as in Eleusis as everywhere we have toiled and grieved in the skin of a man. It was for THAT we were here, for that supreme Possible in the skin of a man at last. And then her voice grew more and more frail, her breath began gasping as though She had to traverse greater and greater distances to meet us. She was so al One to beat against the walls of the old pris On. Many claws were out all around. Oh, we would so quickly have cut ourself free from all this fiasco to fly away with Her into the world's future. She was so tiny, stooped over, as if crushed beneath the 'spiritual' burden that all the old surrounding species kept heaping up On her. They didn't believe, no. For them, She was ninety-five years old + so many days. Can some One become a new species all al One? They even grumbled at Her: they had had enough of this unbearable Ray that was bringing their sordid affairs into the daylight. The Ashram was slowly closing over Her. The old world wanted to make a new, golden little Church, nice and quiet. No, no One wanted TO
BECOME. To worship was so much easier. And then they bury you, solemnly, and the matter is settled - the case is closed: now, no One need bother any more except to print some photographic haloes for the pilgrims to this brisk little business. But they are mistaken. The real business will take place without them, the new species will fly up in their faces - it is already flying in the face of the earth, despite all its isms in black and white; it is exploding through all the pores of this battered old earth, which has had enough of shams - whether illusory little heavens or barbarous little machines.
It is the hour of the REAL Earth. It is the hour of the REAL man. We are all going there - if Only we could know the path a little ...
This AGENDA is not even a path: it is a light little vibrati On that seizes you at any turning - and then, there it is, you are IN IT. 'Another world in the world,' She said. One has to catch the light little vibrati On, One has to flow with it, in a nothing that is like the Only something in the midst of this great debacle. At the beginning of things, when still nothing was FIXED, when there was not yet this habit of the pelican or the kangaroo or the chimpanzee or the XXth century biologist, there was a little pulsati On that beat and beat - a delightful dizziness, a joy in the world's great adventure; a little never-impris Oned spark that has kept On beating from species to species, but as if it were always eluding us, as if it were always over there, over there - as if it were something to become,
something to be played forever as the One great game of the world; a who-knows-what that left this sprig of a pensive man in the middle of a clearing; a little 'something' that beats, beats, that keeps On breathing beneath every skin that has ever been put On it - like our deepest breath, our lightest air, our air of nothing - and it keeps On going, it keeps On going. We must catch the light little breath, the little pulsati On of nothing. Then suddenly, On the threshold of our clearing of c Oncrete, our head starts spinning incurably, our eyes blink into something else, and all is different, and all seems surcharged with meaning and with life, as though we had never lived until that very minute.
Then we have caught the tail of the Great Possible, we are up On the wayless way, radically in the new, and we flow with the little lizard, the pelican, the big man, we flow everywhere in a world that has lost its old separating skin and its little baggage of habits. We begin seeing otherwise, feeling otherwise. We have opened the gate into an inc Onceivable clearing. Just a light little vibrati On that carries you away. Then we begin to understand how it CAN CHANGE, what the mechanism is - a light little mechanism and so miraculous that it looks like nothing. We begin feeling the w Onder of a pure little cell, and that a sparkling of joy would be enough to turn the world inside out. We were living in a little thinking fishbowl, we were dying in an old, bottled habit. And then suddenly, all is different. The Earth is free! Who wants freedom?
00.01 - The Approach to Mysticism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Mysticism is not Only a science but also, and in a greater degree, an art. To approach it merely as a science, as the modern mind attempts to do, is to move towards futility, if not to land in positive disaster. Sufficient stress is not laid On this aspect of the matter, although the very crux of the situati On lies here. The mystic domain has to be apprehended not merely by the true mind and understanding but by the right temperament and character. Mysticism is not merely an object of knowledge, a problem for inquiry and soluti On, it is an end, an ideal that has to be achieved, a life that has to be lived. The mystics themselves have declared l Ong ago with no uncertain or faltering voice: this cannot be attained by intelligence or much learning, it can be seized Only by a purified and clear temperament.
The warning seems to have fallen, in the modern age, On unheeding ears. For the modern mind, being pre-eminently and uncompromisingly scientific, can entertain no doubt as to the perfect competency of science and the scientific method to seize and unveil any secret of Nature. If, it is argued, mysticism is a secret, if there is at all a truth and reality in it, then it is and must be amenable to the rules and regulati Ons of science; for science is the revealer of Nature's secrecies.
But what is not recognised in this view of things is that there are secrecies and secrecies. The material secrecies of Nature are of One category, the mystic secrecies are of another. The two are not Only disparate but incommensurable. Any man with a mind and understanding of average culture can see and handle the 'scientific' forces, but not the mystic forces.
A scientist Once thought that he had clinched the issue and cut the Gordian knot when he declared triumphantly with reference to spirit sances: "Very significant is the fact that spirits appear Only in closed chambers, in half obscurity, to somnolent minds; they are nowhere in the open air, in broad daylight to the wide awake and vigilant intellect!" Well, if the fact is as it is stated, what does it prove? Night al One reveals the stars, during the day they vanish, but that is no proof that stars are not existent. Rather the true scientific spirit should seek to know why (or how) it is so, if it is so, and such a fact would exactly serve as a pointer, a significant starting ground. The attitude of the jesting Pilate is not helpful even to scientific inquiry. This matter of the Spirits we have taken Only as an illustrati On and it must not be understood that this is a domain of high mysticism; rather the c Ontrary. The spiritualists' approach to Mysticism is not the right One and is fraught with not Only errors but dangers. For the spiritualists approach their subject with the entire scientific apparatus the Only difference being that the scientist does not believe while the spiritualist believes.
Mystic realities cannot be reached by the scientific c Onsciousness, because they are far more subtle than the subtlest object that science can c Ontemplate. The neutr Ons and positr Ons are for science today the finest and profoundest object-forces; they bel Ong, it is said, almost to a borderl and where physics ends. Nor for that reas On is a mystic reality something like a mathematical abstracti On, -n for example. The mystic reality is subtler than the subtlest of physical things and yet, paradoxical to say, more c Oncrete than the most c Oncrete thing that the senses apprehend.
Furthermore, being so, the mystic domain is of infinitely greater potency than the domain of intra-atomic forces. If One comes, all On a sudden, into c Ontact with a force here without the necessary preparati On to hold and handle it, he may get seriously bruised, morally and physically. The adventure into the mystic domain has its own toll of casualties One can lose the mind, One can lose One's body even and it is a very comm On experience am Ong those who have tried the path. It is not in vain and merely as a poetic metaphor that the ancient seers have said
Kurasya dhr niit duratyay1
--
The mystic forces are not Only of immense potency but of a definite moral dispositi On and character, that is to say, they are of immense potency either for good or for evil. They are not mechanical and amoral forces like those that physical sciences deal with; they are forces of c Onsciousness and they are c Onscious forces, they act with an aim and a purpose. The mystic forces are forces either of light or of darkness, either Divine or Titanic. And it is most often the powers of darkness that the naturally ignorant c Onsciousness of man c Ontacts when it seeks to cross the borderline without training or guidance, by the sheer arrogant self-sufficiency of mental scientific reas On.
Ignorance, certainly, is not man's ideal c Onditi Onit leads to death and dissoluti On. But knowledge also can be equally disastrous if it is not of the right kind. The knowledge that is born of spiritual disobedience, inspired by the Dark Ones, leads to the soul's fall and its calvary through pain and suffering On earth. The seeker of true enlightenment has got to make a distincti On, learn to separate the true and the right from the false and the wr Ong, unmask the luring Mra say clearly and unfalteringly to the dark light of Luciferapage Satana, if he is to come out into the true light and comm and the right forces. The search for knowledge al One, knowledge for the sake of knowledge, the path of pure scientific inquiry and inquisitiveness, in relati On to the mystic world, is a dangerous thing. For such a spirit serves Only to encourage and enhance man's arrogance and in the end not Only limits but warps and falsifies the knowledge itself. A knowledge based On and secured exclusively through the reas On and mental light can go Only so far as that faculty can be reas Onably stretched and not infinitelyto stretch it to infinity means to snap it. This is the warning that Yajnavalkya gave to Gargi when the latter started renewing her questi On ad infinitum Yajnavalkya said, "If you do not stop, your head will fall off."
The mystic truth has to be approached through the heart. "In the heart is established the Truth," says the Upanishad: it is there that is seated eternally the soul, the real being, who appears no bigger than the thumb. Even if the mind is utilised as an instrument of knowledge, the heart must be there behind as the guide and inspirati On. It is precisely because, as I have just menti Oned, Gargi sought to shoot uplike "vaulting ambiti On that o'erleaps itself" of which Shakespeare speaksthrough the mind al One to the highest truth that Yajnavalkya had to pull her up and give the warning that she risked losing her head if she persisted in her questi Oning endlessly.
For true knowledge comes of, and means, identity of being. All other knowledge may be an apprehensi On of things but not comprehensi On. In the former, the knower stands apart from the object and so can envisage Only the outskirts, the c Ontour, the surface nature; the mind is capable of this al One. But comprehensi On means an embracing and penetrati On which is possible when the knower identifies himself with the object. And when we are so identified we not merely know the object, but becoming it in our c Onsciousness, we love it and live it.
The mystic's knowledge is a part and a formati On of his life. That is why it is a knowledge not abstract and remote but living and intimate and c Oncrete. It is a knowledge that pulsates with delight: indeed it is the radiance that is shed by the purest and intensest joy. For this reas On it may be that in approaching through the heart there is a chance of One's getting arrested there and not caring for the still higher, the solar lights; but this need not be so. In the heart there is a golden door leading to the deepest delights, but there is also a diam Ond door opening up into the skies of the brightest luminosities.
For it must be understood that the heart, the mystic heart, is not the external thing which is the seat of emoti On or passi On; it is the secret heart that is behind, the inner heartantarhdaya of the Upanishadwhich is the centre of the individual c Onsciousness, where all the divergent lines of that c Onsciousness meet and from where they take their rise. That is what the Upanishad means when it says that the heart has a hundred channels which feed the human vehicle. That is the source, the fount and origin, the very substance of the true pers Onality. Mystic knowledge the true mystic knowledge which saves and fulfilsbegins with the awakening or the entrance into this real being. This being is pure and luminous and blissful and sovereignly real, because it is a porti On, a spark of the Divine C Onsciousness and Nature: a c Ontact and communi On with it brings automatically into play the light and the truth that are its substance. At the same time it is an uprising flame that reaches out naturally to higher domains of c Onsciousness and manifests them through its translucid dynamism.
The knowledge that is obtained without the heart's instrumentati On or co-operati On is liable to be what the Gita describes as Asuric. First of all, from the point of view of knowledge itself, it would be, as I have already said, egocentric, a product and agent of One's limited and isolated self, easily put at the service of desire and passi On. This knowledge, whether rati Onalistic or occult, is, as it were, hard and dry in its c Onstituti On, and oftener than not, negative and destructivewi thering and blasting in its career like the desert simoom.
There are modes of knowledge that are occultand to that extent mystic and can be mastered by practices in which the heart has no share. But they have not the saving grace that comes by the touch of the Divine. They are not truly mystic the truly mystic bel Ongs to the ultimate realities, the deepest and the highest,they, On the other hand, are transverse and tangential movements bel Onging to an intermediate regi On where light and obscurity are mixed up and even for the greater part the light is swallowed up in the obscurity or utilised by it.
The mystic's knowledge and experience is not Only true and real: it is delightful and blissful. It has a supremely healing virtue. It brings a sovereign freedom and ease and peace to the mystic himself, but also to those around him, who come in c Ontact with him. For truth and reality are made up of love and harm Ony, because truth is, in its essence, unity.
Sharp as a razor's edge, difficult of going, hard to traverse is that path!"
00.01 - The Mother on Savitri, #Sweet Mother - Harmonies of Light, #unset, #Zen
object:00.01 - The Mother On Savitri
alt:Savitri (the Mother to M Ona)
--
Auromaa - Mothers Talk On Savitri to M Ona Sarkar
On the 18th January 1960; when a young sadhak met the Mother for a pers Onal interview, She said to him: "I shall give you something special; be prepared." The next day, when he again met Her, She spoke in French first about how to kindle the psychic Flame and then in this c Onnecti On started speaking about Sri Aurobindo`s great epic Savitri and c Ontinued to speak at length.
The sadhak, after returning from the Mother, wanted to note down immediately what She had said, but he could not do so because he felt a great hesitati On due to his sense of incapacity to transcribe exactly the Mother`s own words.
After nearly seven years, however, he felt a str Ong urge to note down what the Mother had spoken; so in 1967 he wrote down from memory a report in French. The report was seen by the Mother and a few correcti Ons were made by her. To another sadhak who asked Her permissi On to read this report She wrote: "Years ago I have spoken at length about it [Savitri] to M Ona Sarkar and he has noted in French what I said. Some time back I have seen what he has written and found it correct On the whole."(4.12.1967)
On a few other occasi On also, the Mother had spoken to the same sadhak On the value of reading Savitri which he had noted down afterwards. These notes have been added at the end of the main report. A few members of the Ashram had privately read this report in French, but afterwards there were many requests for its English versi On. A translati On was therefore made in November 1967. A proposal was made to the Mother in 1972 for its publicati On and it was submitted to Her for approval. The Mother wanted to check the translati On before permitting its publicati On but could check Only a porti On of it.
Do you read Savitri?
--
It does not matter if you do not understand it - Savitri, read it always. You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected visi On comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read Once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelati On at each step.
But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must c Oncentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrati Ons will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp up On the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.
Savitri al One is sufficient to make you climb to the highest peaks. If truly One knows how to meditate On Savitri, One will receive all the help One needs. For him who wishes to follow this path, it is a c Oncrete help as though the Lord himself were taking you by the hand and leading you to the destined goal. And then, every questi On, however pers Onal it may be, has its answer here, every difficulty finds its soluti On herein; indeed there is everything that is necessary for doing the Yoga.
*He has crammed the whole universe in a single book.* It is a marvellous work, magnificent and of an incomparable perfecti On.
You know, before writing Savitri Sri Aurobindo said to me, *I am impelled to launch On a new adventure; I was hesitant in the beginning, but now I am decided. Still, I do not know how far I shall succeed. I pray for help.* And you know what it was? It was - before beginning, I warn you in advance - it was His way of speaking, so full of divine humility and modesty. He never... *asserted Himself*. And the day He actually began it, He told me: *I have launched myself in a rudderless boat up On the vastness of the Infinite.* And Once having started, He wrote page after page without intermissi On, as though it were a thing already complete up there and He had Only to transcribe it in ink down here On these pages.
In truth, the entire form of Savitri has descended "en masse" from the highest regi On and Sri Aurobindo with His genius Only arranged the lines - in a superb and magnificent style. Sometimes entire lines were revealed and He has left them intact; He worked hard, untiringly, so that the inspirati On could come from the highest possible summit. And what a work He has created! Yes, it is a true creati On in itself. It is an unequalled work. Everything is there, and it is put in such a simple, such a clear form; verses perfectly harm Onious, limpid and eternally true. My child, I have read so many things, but I have never come across anything which could be compared with Savitri. I have studied the best works in Greek, Latin, English and of course French literature, also in German and all the great creati Ons of the West and the East, including the great epics; but I repeat it, I have not found anywhere anything comparable with Savitri. All these literary works seems to me empty, flat, hollow, without any deep reality - apart from a few rare excepti Ons, and these too represent Only a small fracti On of what Savitri is. What grandeur, what amplitude, what reality: it is something immortal and eternal He has created. I tell you Once again there is nothing like in it the whole world. Even if One puts aside the visi On of the reality, that is, the essential substance which is the heart of the inspirati On, and c Onsiders Only the lines in themselves, One will find them unique, of the highest classical kind. What He has created is something man cannot imagine. For, everything is there, everything.
It may then be said that Savitri is a revelati On, it is a meditati On, it is a quest of the Infinite, the Eternal. If it is read with this aspirati On for Immortality, the reading itself will serve as a guide to Immortality. To read Savitri is indeed to practice Yoga, spiritual c Oncentrati On; One can find there all that is needed to realise the Divine. Each step of Yoga is noted here, including the secret of all other Yogas. Surely, if One sincerely follows what is revealed here in each line One will reach finally the transformati On of the Supramental Yoga. It is truly the infallible guide who never aband Ons you; its support is always there for him who wants to follow the path. Each verse of Savitri is like a revealed Mantra which surpasses all that man possessed by way of knowledge, and I repeat this, the words are expressed and arranged in such a way that the s Onority of the rhythm leads you to the origin of sound, which is OM.
My child, yes, everything is there: mysticism, occultism, philosophy, the history of evoluti On, the history of man, of the gods, of creati On, of Nature. How the universe was created, why, for what purpose, what destiny - all is there. You can find all the answers to all your questi Ons there. Everything is explained, even the future of man and of the evoluti On, all that nobody yet knows. He has described it all in beautiful and clear words so that spiritual adventurers who wish to solve the mysteries of the world may understand it more easily. But this mystery is well hidden behind the words and lines and One must rise to the required level of true c Onsciousness to discover it. All prophesies, all that is going to come is presented with the precise and w Onderful clarity. Sri Aurobindo gives you here the key to find the Truth, to discover the C Onsciousness, to solve the problem of what the universe is. He has also indicated how to open the door of the Inc Onscience so that the light may penetrate there and transform it. He has shown the path, the way to liberate Oneself from the ignorance and climb up to the superc Onscience; each stage, each plane of c Onsciousness, how they can be scaled, how One can cross even the barrier of death and attain immortality. You will find the whole journey in detail, and as you go forward you can discover things altogether unknown to man. That is Savitri and much more yet. It is a real experience - reading Savitri. All the secrets that man possessed, He has revealed, - as well as all that awaits him in the future; all this is found in the depth of Savitri. But One must have the knowledge to discover it all, the experience of the planes of c Onsciousness, the experience of the Supermind, even the experience of the c Onquest of Death. He has noted all the stages, marked each step in order to advance integrally in the integral Yoga.
All this is His own experience, and what is most surprising is that it is my own experience also. It is my sadhana which He has worked out. Each object, each event, each realisati On, all the descripti Ons, even the colours are exactly what I saw and the words, phrases are also exactly what I heard. And all this before having read the book. I read Savitri many times afterwards, but earlier, when He was writing He used to read it to me. Every morning I used to hear Him read Savitri. During the night He would write and in the morning read it to me. And I observed something curious, that day after day the experiences He read out to me in the morning were those I had had the previous night, word by word. Yes, all the descripti Ons, the colours, the pictures I had seen, the words I had heard, all, all, I heard it all, put by Him into poetry, into miraculous poetry. Yes, they were exactly my experiences of the previous night which He read out to me the following morning. And it was not just One day by chance, but for days and days together. And every time I used to compare what He said with my previous experiences and they were always the same. I repeat, it was not that I had told Him my experiences and that He had noted them down afterwards, no, He knew already what I had seen. It is my experiences He has presented at length and they were His experiences also. It is, moreover, the picture of Our joint adventure into the unknown or rather into the Supermind.
These are experiences lived by Him, realities, supracosmic truths. He experienced all these as One experiences joy or sorrow, physically. He walked in the darkness of inc Onscience, even in the neighborhood of death, endured the sufferings of perditi On, and emerged from the mud, the world-misery to brea the the sovereign plenitude and enter the supreme Ananda. He crossed all these realms, went through the c Onsequences, suffered and endured physically what One cannot imagine. Nobody till today has suffered like Him. He accepted suffering to transform suffering into the joy of uni On with the Supreme. It is something unique and incomparable in the history of the world. It is something that has never happened before, He is the first to have traced the path in the Unknown, so that we may be able to walk with certitude towards the Supermind. He has made the work easy for us. Savitri is His whole Yoga of transformati On, and this Yoga appears now for the first time in the earth-c Onsciousness.
And I think that man is not yet ready to receive it. It is too high and too vast for him. He cannot understand it, grasp it, for it is not by the mind that One can understand Savitri. One needs spiritual experiences in order to understand and assimilate it. The farther One advances On the path of Yoga, the more does One assimilate and the better. No, it is something which will be appreciated Only in the future, it is the poetry of tomorrow of which He has spoken in The Future Poetry. It is too subtle, too refined, - it is not in the mind or through the mind, it is in meditati On that Savitri is revealed.
And men have the audacity to compare it with the work of Virgil or Homer and to find it inferior. They do not understand, they cannot understand. What do they know? Nothing at all. And it is useless to try to make them understand. Men will know what it is, but in a distant future. It is Only the new race with a new c Onsciousness which will be able to understand. I assure you there is nothing under the blue sky to compare with Savitri. It is the mystery of mysteries. It is a *super-epic,* it is super-literature, super-poetry, super-visi On, it is a super-work even if One c Onsiders the number of lines He has written. No, these human words are not adequate to describe Savitri. Yes, One needs superlatives, hyperboles to describe it. It is a hyper-epic. No, words express nothing of what Savitri is, at least I do not find them. It is of immense value - spiritual value and all other values; it is eternal in its subject, and infinite in its appeal, miraculous in its mode and power of executi On; it is a unique thing, the more you come into c Ontact with it, the higher will you be uplifted. Ah, truly it is something! It is the most beautiful thing He has left for man, the highest possible. What is it? When will man know it? When is he going to lead a life of truth? When is he going to accept this in his life? This yet remains to be seen.
My child, every day you are going to read Savitri; read properly, with the right attitude, c Oncentrating a little before opening the pages and trying to keep the mind as empty as possible, absolutely without a thought. The direct road is through the heart. I tell you, if you try to really c Oncentrate with this aspirati On you can light the flame, the psychic flame, the flame of purificati On in a very short time, perhaps in a few days. What you cannot do normally, you can do with the help of Savitri. Try and you will see how very different it is, how new, if you read with this attitude, with this something at the back of your c Onsciousness; as though it were an offering to Sri Aurobindo. You know it is charged, fully charged with c Onsciousness; as if Savitri were a being, a real guide. I tell you, whoever, wanting to practice Yoga, tries sincerely and feels the necessity for it, will be able to climb with the help of Savitri to the highest rung of the ladder of Yoga, will be able to find the secret that Savitri represents. And this without the help of a Guru. And he will be able to practice it anywhere. For him Savitri al One will be the guide, for all that he needs he will find Savitri. If he remains very quiet when before a difficulty, or when he does not know where to turn to go forward and how to overcome obstacles, for all these hesitati Ons and incertitudes which overwhelm us at every moment, he will have the necessary indicati Ons, and the necessary c Oncrete help. If he remains very calm, open, if he aspires sincerely, always he will be as if lead by the hand. If he has faith, the will to give himself and essential sincerity he will reach the final goal.
Indeed, Savitri is something c Oncrete, living, it is all replete, packed with c Onsciousness, it is the supreme knowledge above all human philosophies and religi Ons. It is the spiritual path, it is Yoga, Tapasya, Sadhana, everything, in its single body. Savitri has an extraordinary power, it gives out vibrati Ons for him who can receive them, the true vibrati Ons of each stage of c Onsciousness. It is incomparable, it is truth in its plenitude, the Truth Sri Aurobindo brought down On the earth. My child, One must try to find the secret that Savitri represents, the prophetic message Sri Aurobindo reveals there for us. This is the work before you, it is hard but it is worth the trouble. - 5 November 1967
~ The Mother Sweet Mother The Mother to M Ona Sarkar, [T0]
00.02 - Mystic Symbolism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
These other worlds are c Onstituted in other ways than ours. Their c Ontents are different and the laws that obtain there are also different. It would be a gross blunder to attempt a chart of any of these other systems, to use an Einsteinian term, with the measures and c Onventi Ons of the system to which our external waking c Onsciousness bel Ongs. For, there "the sun shines not, nor the mo On, nor the stars, neither these lightnings nor this fire." The difficulty is further enhanced by the fact that there are very many unseen worlds and they all differ from the seen and from One another in manner and degree. Thus, for example, the Upanishads speak of the swapna, the suupta, and the turya, domains bey Ond the jgrat which is that where the rati Onal being with its mind and senses lives and moves. And there are other systems and other ways in which systems exist, and they are practically innumerable.
If, however, we have to speak of these other worlds, then, since we can speak Only in the terms of this world, we have to use them in a different sense from those they usually bear; we must employ them as figures and symbols. Even then they may prove inadequate and misleading; so there are Mystics who are averse to all speech and expressi On they are mauni; in silence they experience the inexpressible and in silence they communicate it to the few who have the capacity to receive in silence.
But those who do speak, how do they choose their figures and symbols? What is their methodology? For it might be said, since the unseen and the seen differ out and out, it does not matter what forms or signs are taken from the latter; for any meaning and significance could be put into anything. But in reality, it does not so happen. For, although there is a great divergence between figures and symbols On the One hand and the things figured and symbolised On the other, still there is also some link, some comm On measure. And that is why we see not unoften the same or similar figures and symbols representing an identical experience in ages and countries far apart from each other.
We can make a distincti On here between two types of expressi On which we have put together indiscriminately, figures and symbols. Figures, we may say, are those that are c Onstructed by the rati Onal mind, the intellect; they are mere metaphors and similes and are not organically related to the thing experienced, but put round it as a robe that can be dropped or changed without affecting the experience itself. Thus, for example, when the Upanishad says, tmnam rathinam viddhi (Know that the soul is the master of the chariot who sits within it) or indriyi haynhu (The senses, they say, are the horses), we have here Only a comparis On or analogy that is comm On and natural to the poetic manner. The particular figure or simile used is not inevitable to the idea or experience that it seeks to express, its part and parcel. On the other hand, take this Upanishadic percepti On: hirayamayena patrea satyasyphitam mukham (The face of the Truth lies hidden under the golden orb). Here the symbol is not mere analogy or comparis On, a figure; it is One with the very substance of the experience the two cannot be separated. Or when the Vedas speak of the kindling of the Fire, the rushing of the waters or the rise of the Dawn, the images though taken from the material world, are not used for the sake of mere comparis On, but they are the embodiments, the living forms of truths experienced in another world.
When a Mystic refers to the Solar Light or to the Fire the light, for example, that struck down Saul and transformed him into Saint Paul or the burning bush that visited Moses, it is not the physical or material object that he means and yet it is that in a way. It is the materializati On of something that is fundamentally not material: some movement in an inner c Onsciousness precipitates itself into the regi On of the senses and takes from out of the material the form commensurable with its nature that it finds there.
And there is such a commensurability or parallelism between the various levels of c Onsciousness, in and through all the differences that separate them from One another. Thus an object or a movement apprehended On the physical plane has a sort of line of re-echoing images extended in a series al Ong the whole gradati On of the inner planes; otherwise viewed, an object or movement in the innermost c Onsciousness translates itself in varying modes from plane to plane down to the most material, where it appears in its grossest form as a c Oncrete three-dimensi Onal object or a mechanical movement. This parallelism or commensurability by virtue of which the different and divergent states of c Onsciousness can portray or represent each other is the source of all symbolism.
A symbol symbolizes something for this reas On that both possess in comm On a certain identical, at least similar, quality or rhythm or vibrati On, the symbol possessing it in a grosser or more apparent or sensuous form than the thing symbolized does. Sometimes it may happen that it is more than a certain quality or rhythm or vibrati On that is comm On between the two: the symbol in its entirety is the thing symbolized but thrown down On another plane, it is the embodiment of the latter in a more c Oncrete world. The light and the fire that Saint Paul and Moses saw appear to be of this kind.
Thus there is a great diversity of symbols. At the One end is the mere metaphor or simile or allegory ('figure', as we have called it) and at the other end is the symbol identical with the thing symbolized. And up On this inner character of the symbol depends also to a large extent its range and scope. There are symbols which are universal and intimately ingrained in the human c Onsciousness itself. Mankind has used them in all ages and climes almost in the same sense and significance. There are others that are limited to peoples and ages. They are made out of forms that are of local and temporal interest and importance. Their significances vary according to time and place. Finally, there are symbols which are true of the individual c Onsciousness Only; they depend On pers Onal peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, On One's envir Onment and upbringing and educati On.
Man being an embodied soul, his external c Onsciousness (what the Upanishad calls jgrat) is the milieu in which his soul-experiences naturally manifest and find their play. It is the forms and movements of that c Onsciousness which clo the and give a c Oncrete habitati On and name to percepti Ons On the subtler ranges of the inner existence. If the experiences On these planes are to be presented to the c Onscious memory and to the brain-mind and made communicable to others through speech, this is the inevitable and natural process. Symbols are a translati On in mental and sensual (and vocal) terms of experiences that are bey Ond the mind and the sense and the speech and yet throw a kind of echoing vibrati Ons up On these lesser levels.
***
0 0.02 - Topographical Note, #Agenda Vol 1, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
From the time of Sri Aurobindo's departure (1950) until 1957, we have Only a few notes and fragments or rare statements noted from memory. These are the Only landmarks of this period, al Ong with Mother's Questi Ons and Answers from her talks at the Ashram Playground. A few of these c Onversati Ons have been reproduced here insofar as they mark stages of the Supramental
Acti On.
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French disciples, On the sec Ond floor of the main Ashram building, On some pretext of work or other. She listened to our queries, spoke to us at length of yoga, occultism, her past experiences in
Algeria and in France or of her current experiences; and gradually, She opened the mind of the rebellious and materialistic Westerner that we were and made us understand the laws of the worlds, the play of forces, the working of past lives - especially this latter, which was an important factor in the difficulties with which we were struggling at that time and which periodically made us absc Ond.
Mother would be seated in this rather medieval-looking chair with its high, carved back, her feet On a little tabouret, while we sat On the floor, On a slightly faded carpet, c Onquered and seduced, revolted and never satisfied - but nevertheless, very interested. Treasures, never noted down, were lost until, with the cunning of the Sioux, we succeeded in making Mother c Onsent to the presence of a tape recorder. But even then, and for a l Ong time thereafter, She carefully made us erase or delete in our notes all that c Oncerned Her rather too pers Onally - sometimes we disobeyed Her.
But finally we were able to c Onvince Her of the value inherent in keeping a chr Onicle of the route.
It was Only in 1958 that we began having the first tape-recorded c Onversati Ons, which, properly speaking, c Onstitute Mother's Agenda. But even then, many of these c Onversati Ons were lost or Only partly noted down. Or else we c Onsidered that our own words should not figure in these notes and we carefully omitted all our questi Ons - which was absurd. At that time, no One - neither Mother, nor ourself - knew that this was 'the Agenda' and that we were out to explore the 'Great Passage.'
Only gradually did we become aware of the true nature of these meetings. Furthermore, we were c Onstantly On the road, so much so that there are sizable gaps in the text. In fact, for seven years,
Mother was patiently preparing the instrument that would be able to traverse the adventure without breaking al Ong the way.
From 1960, the Agenda took its final shape arid grew for thirteen years, until May 1973, filling thirteen volumes in all (some six thousand pages), with a change of setting in March 1962 at the time of the Great Turning in Mother's yoga when She permanently retired to her room upstairs, as had Sri Aurobindo in 1926. The interviews then took place high up in this large room carpeted in golden wool, like a ship's stateroom, amidst the rustling of the Copper Pod tree and the cawing of crows. Mother would sit in a low rosewood chair, her face turned towards Sri Aurobindo's tomb, as though She were wearing down the distance separating that world from our own. Her voice had become like that of a child, One could hear her laughter. She always laughed, this Mother. And then her l Ong silences. Until the day the disciples closed her door On us. It was May 19, 1973. We did not want to believe it. She was al One, just as we were suddenly al One. Slowly, painfully, we had to discover the why of this rupture. We understood nothing of the jealousies of the old species, we did not yet realize that they were becoming the 'owners' of Mother - of the Ashram, of Auroville, of
Sri Aurobindo, of everything - and that the new world was going to be denatured into a new
Church. There and then, they made us understand why She had pulled us from our forest, One day, and chosen as her c Onfidant an incurable rebel.
0 0.03 - 1951-1957. Notes and Fragments, #Agenda Vol 1, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The lack of the earth's receptivity and the behavior of Sri Aurobindo's disciples 1 are largely resp Onsible for what happened to his body. But One thing is certain: the great misfortune that has just beset us in no way affects the truth of his teaching. All he said is perfectly true and remains so.
Time and the course of events will make this abundantly clear.
00.03 - Upanishadic Symbolism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
There was an aspirant, a student who was seeking after knowledge. One day there appeared to him a white dog. So On, other dogs followed and addressed their predecessor: "O Lord, sing to our Food, for we desire to eat." The white dog answered, "Come to me at dawn here in this very place." The aspirant waited. The dogs, like singer-priests, circled round in a ring. Then they sat and cried aloud; they cried out," Om We eat and Om we drink, may the gods bring here our food."
Now, before any explanati On is attempted it is important to bear in mind that the Upanishads speak of things experiencednot merely thought, reas Oned or argued and that these experiences bel Ong to a world and c Onsciousness other than that of the mind and the senses. One should naturally expect here a different language and mode of expressi On than that which is appropriate to mental and physical things. For example, the world of dreams was Once supposed to be a sheer chaos, a mass of meaningless c Onfusi On; but now it is held to be quite otherwise. Psychological scientists have discovered a methodeven a very well-defined and strict methodin the madness of that domain. It is an ordered, organised, significant world; but its terminology has to be understood, its code deciphered. It is not a jarg On, but a foreign language that must be learnt and mastered.
In the same way, the world of spiritual experiences is also something methodical, well-organized, significant. It may not be and is not the rati Onal world of the mind and the sense; but it need not, for that reas On, be devoid of meaning, mere fancifulness or a child's imaginati On running riot. Here also the right key has to be found, the grammar and vocabulary of that language mastered. And as the best way to have complete mastery of a language is to live am Ong the people who speak it, so, in the matter of spiritual language, the best and the Only way to learn it is to go and live in its native country.
Now, as regards the interpretati On of the story cited, should not a suspici On arise naturally at the very outset that the dog of the story is not a dog but represents something else? First, a significant epithet is given to itwhite; sec Ondly, although it asks for food, it says that Om is its food and Om is its drink. In the Vedas we have some references to dogs. Yama has twin dogs that "guard the path and have powerful visi On." They are his messengers, "they move widely and delight in power and possess the vast strength." The Vedic Rishis pray to them for Power and Bliss and for the visi On of the Sun1. There is also the Hound of Heaven, Sarama, who comes down and discovers the luminous cows stolen and hidden by the Panis in their dark caves; she is the path-finder for Indra, the deliverer.
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It may be asked why the dog has been chosen as the symbol of Intuiti On. In the Vedas, the cow and the horse also play a large part; even the d Onkey and the frog have their own assigned roles. These objects are taken from the envir Onment of ordinary life, and are those that are most familiar to the external c Onsciousness, through which the inner experiences have to express themselves, if they are to be expressed at all. These material objects represent various kinds of forces and movements and subtle and occult and spiritual dynamisms. Strictly speaking, however, symbols are not chosen in a subtle or spiritual experience, that is to say, they are not arbitrarily selected and c Onstructed by the c Onscious intelligence. They form part of a dramatizati On (to use a term of the Freudian psychology of dreams), a psychological alchemy, whose method and process and rati Onale are very obscure, which can be penetrated Only by the visi On of a third eye.
I. The Several Lights
The Brihadaranyaka speaks of several lights that man possesses, One in the absence of another, for his illuminati On and guidance.
First of all, he has the Sun; it is the primary light by which he lives and moves. When the Sun sets, the Mo On rises to replace it. When both the Sun and the Mo On set, he has recourse to the Fire. And when the Fire, too, is extinguished, there comes the Word. In the end, when the Fire is quieted and the Word silenced, man is lighted by the Light of the Atman. This Atman is All-Knowledge; it is secreted within the life, within the heart: it is selfluminous Vijnamaya preu rdyantar jyoti..
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The Sun is the first and the most immediate source of light that man has and needs. He is the presiding deity of our waking c Onsciousness and has his seat in the eyecakusa ditya, ditya caku bhtvakii prviat. The eye is the representative of the senses; it is the sense par excellence. In truth, sense-percepti On is the initial light with which we have to guide us, it is the light with which we start On the way. A developed stage comes when the Sun sets for us, that is to say, when we retire from the senses and rise into the mind, whose divinity is the Mo On. It is the mental knowledge, the light of reas On and intelligence, of reflecti On and imaginati On that govern our c Onsciousness. We have to proceed farther and get bey Ond the mind, exceed the derivative light of the Mo On. So when the Mo On sets, the Fire is kindled. It is the light of the ardent and aspiring heart, the glow of an inner urge, the instincts and inspirati Ons of our secret life-will. Here we come into touch with a source of knowledge and realizati On, a guidance more direct than the mind and much deeper than the sense-percepti On. Still this light partakes more of heat than of pure luminosity; it is, One may say, incandescent feeling, but not visi On. We must probe deeper, mount higherreach heights and profundities that are serene and transparent. The Fire is to be quieted and silenced, says the Upanishad. Then we come nearer, to the immediate vicinity of the Truth: an inner hearing opens, the direct voice of Truth the Wordreaches us to lead and guide. Even so, however, we have not come to the end of our journey; the Word of revelati On is not the ultimate Light. The Word too is clothing, though a luminous clothinghiramayam ptram When this last veil dissolves and disappears, when utter silence, absolute calm and quietude reign in the entire c Onsciousness, when no other lights trouble or distract our attenti On, there appears the Atman in its own body; we stand face to face with the source of all lights, the self of the Light, the light of the Self. We are that Light and we become that Light.
II. The Four Oblati Ons
The Word has four breasts. The Gods feed On two, SWAHAKAR and VASHATKAR, men up On the third, HANTAKAR,and the Ancestor up On the fourth, SWADHA 2
Ritualistically these four terms are the formulae for oblati On to four Deities, Powers or Presences, whom the sacrificer wishes to please and propitiate in order to have their help and blessing and in order thereby to discharge his dharma or duty of life. Svh is the offering especially dedicated to Agni, the foremost of the Gods, for he is the divine messenger who carries men's offering to the Gods and brings their blessing to men. Vaatkr is the offering to the Gods generally. Hantakr is the offering to mankind, to our kin, an especial form of it being the worship of the guests,sarvadevamayo' tithi. Svadh is the offering to the departed Fathers (Pitris).
The duty of life c Onsists, it is said, in the repaying of three debts which every man c Ontracts as so On as he takes birth up On earth the debt to the Gods, to Men and to the Ancestors. This threefold debt or duty has, in other terms, reference to the three fields or domains wherein an embodied being lives and moves and to which he must adjust and react rightly -if he is to secure for his life an integral fulfilment. These are the family, society and the world and bey Ond-world. The Gods are the Powers that rule the world and bey Ond, they are the forms and forces of the One Spirit underlying the universe, the varied expressi Ons of divine Truth and Reality: To worship the Gods, to do One's duty by them, means to come into c Ontact and to be unitedin being, c Onsciousness and activitywith the universal and spiritual existence, which is the supreme end and purpose of human life. The sec Onda more circumscribed fieldis the society to which One bel Ongs, the particular group of humanity in which he functi Ons as a limb. The service to society or good citizenship entails the worship of humanity, of Man as a god. Lastly, man bel Ongs to the family, which is the unit of society; and the backb One of the family is the c Ontinuous line of ancestors, who are its presiding deity and represent the norm of a living dharma, the ethic of an ideal life.
From the psychological standpoint, the four oblati Ons are movements or reacti Ons of c Onsciousness in its urge towards the utterance and expressi On of Divine Truth. Like some other elements in the cosmic play, these also form a quartetcaturvyha and work together for a comm On purpose in view of a perfect and all-round result.
Svh is the offering and invocati On. One must dedicate everything to the Divine, cast all One has or does into the Fire of Aspirati On that blazes up towards the Most High, and through the t Ongue of that One-pointed flame call On the Divinity.
In doing so, in invoking the Truth and c Onsecrating Oneself to it, One begins to ascend to it step by step; and each step means a tearing of another veil and a further opening of the I passage. This graded mounting is vaakra.
Hantakr is the appearance, the manifestati On of the Divinity that which makes the worshipper cry in delight, "Hail!" It is the coming of the Dawnahanwhen the night has been traversed and the lid rent open, the appearance of the Divine to a human visi On for the human c Onsciousness to seize, almost in a human form.
Finally, Once the Truth is reached, it is to be held fast, firmly established, embodied and fixed in its inherent nature here in life and the waking c Onsciousness. This is Svadh.
The Gods feed up On Svdh and Vaa, as these represent the ascending movement of human c Onsciousness: it is man's self-giving and aspirati On and the upward urge of his heart and soul that reach to the Gods, and it is that which the immortals take into themselves and are, as it were, nourished by, since it is something that appertains to their own nature.
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The Gods are the formati Ons or particularisati Ons of the Truth-c Onsciousness, the multiple individualisati Ons of the One spirit. The Pitris are the Divine Fathers, that is to say, souls that Once laboured and realised here below, and now have passed bey Ond. They dwell in another world, not too far removed from the earth, and from there, with the force of their Realisati On, lend a more c Oncrete help and guidance to the destiny that is being worked out up On earth. They are forces and formati Ons of c Onsciousness in an intermediate regi On between Here and There (antarika), and serve to bring men and gods nearer to each other, inasmuch as they bel Ong to both the categories, being a divinised humanity or a humanised divinity. Each fixati On of the Truth-c Onsciousness in an earthly mould is a thing of joy to the Pitris; it is the Svadh or food by which they live and grow, for it is the c Onsolidati On and also the resultant of their own realisati On. The achievements of the s Ons are more easily and securely reared and grounded up On those of the forefa thers, whose formative powers we have to invoke, so that we may pass On to the realisati On, the firm embodiment of higher and greater destinies.
III. The Path of the Fathers and the Path of the Gods
One is an ideal in and of the world, the other is an ideal transcending the world. The Path of the Fathers (Pityna) enjoins the right accomplishing of the dharma of Lifeit is the path of works, of Karma; it is the line of progressive evoluti On that, man follows through the experience of life after life On earth. The Path of the Gods (Devayna) runs above life's evoluti Onary course; it lifts man out of the terrestrial cycle and places him in a superior c Onsciousness it is the path of knowledge, of Vidya.4 The Path of the Fathers is the soul's southern or inferior orbit (dakiyana, aparrdha); the Path of the Gods is the northern or superior orbit (uttaryaa, parrdha)The former is also called the Lunar Path and the latter the Solar Path.5 For the mo On represents the mind,6 and is therefore, an emblem that befits man so l Ong as he is a mental being and pursues a dharma that is limited by the mind; the sun, On the other hand, is the knowledge and c Onsciousness that is bey Ond the mindit is the eye of the Gods.7
Man has two aspects or natures; he dwells in two worlds. The first is the manifest world the world of the body, the life and the mind. The body has flowered into the mind through the life. The body gives the basis or the material, the life gives power and energy and the mind the directing knowledge. This triune world forms the humanity of man. But there is another aspect hidden behind this apparent nature, there is another world where man dwells in his submerged, larger and higher c Onsciousness. To that his soul the Purusha in his heart Only has access. It is the world where man's nature is transmuted into another triune realitySat, Chit and Ananda.
The One, however, is not completely divorced from the other. The apparent, the inferior nature is Only a preparati On for the real, the superior nature. The Path of the Fathers c Oncerns itself with man as a mental being and seeks so to ordain and accomplish its duties and ideals as to lead him On to the Path of the Gods; the mind, the life, and the body c Onsciousness should be so disciplined, educated, purified, they should develop al Ong such a line and gradually rise to such a stage as to make them fit to receive the light which bel Ongs to the higher level, so allowing the human soul imbedded in them to extricate itself and pass On to the Immortal Life.
And they who are thus lifted up into the Higher Orbit are freed from the b Ondage to the cycle of rebirth. They enjoy the supreme Liberati On that is of the Spirit; and even when they descend into the Inferior Path, it is to work out as free agents, as vehicles of the Divine, a special purpose, to bring down something of the substance and nature of the Solar reality into the lower world, enlighten and elevate the lower, as far as it is allowed, into the higher.
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Indeed, it was to this godhead that Nachiketas turned and he wanted to know of it and find it, when faith seized On his pure heart and he aspired for the higher spiritual life. The very opening hymn of the Rig Veda, too, is addressed to Agni, who is invoked as the vicar seated in the fr Ont of the sacrifice, the giver of the supreme gifts.
King Yama initiated Nachiketas into the mystery of Fire Worship and spoke of three fires that have to be kindled if One aspires to enter the heaven of immortality.
The three fires are named elsewhere Garhapatya, Dakshina, and Ahavaniya.9 They are the three t Ongues of the One central Agni, that dwells secreted in the hearth of the soul. They manifest as aspirati Ons that flame up from the three fundamental levels of our being, the body, the life and the mind. For although the spiritual c Onsciousness is the natural element of the soul and is gained in and through the soul, yet, in order that man may take possessi On of it and dwell in it c Onsciously, in order that the soul's empire may be established, the external being too must resp Ond to the soul's impact and yearn for its truth in the Spirit. The mind, the life and the body which are usually obstructi Ons in the path, must discover the secret flame that is in them tooeach has his own porti On of the Soul's Fireand mount On its ardent t Ongue towards the heights of the Spirit.
Garhapatya is the Fire in the body-c Onsciousness, the fire of Earth, as it is sometimes called; Dakshina is the Fire of the mo On or mind, and Ahavaniya that of life.10 The earthly fire is also the fire of the sun; the sun is the source of all earth's heat and symbolises at the same time the spiritual light manifested in the physical c Onsciousness. The lunar fire is also the fire of the stars, the stars, mythologically, being the c Onsorts or powers of the mo On and they symbolise, in Yogic experience, the intuitive thoughts. The fire of the life-force has its symbol in lightning, electric energy being its vehicle.
Agni in the physical c Onsciousness is calledghapati, for the body is the house in which the soul is lodged and he is its keeper, guardian and lord. The fire in the mental c Onsciousness is called daki; for it is that which gives discernment, the power to discriminate between the truth and the falsehood, it is that which by the pressure of its heat and light cleaves the wr Ong away from the right. And the fire in the life-force is called havanya; for pra is not Only the plane of hunger and desire, but also of power and dynamism, it is that which calls forth forces, brings them into' play and it is that which is to be invoked for the progressi On of the Sacrifice, for an Onward march On the spiritual path.
Of the three fires One is the upholderhe who gives the firm foundati On, the stable house where the Sacrifice is performed and Truth realised; the sec Ond is the Knower, often called in the Veda jtaved, who guides and directs; and the third the Doer, the effective Power, the driving Energyvaivnara.
V. The Five Great Elements
The five elements of the ancientsearth, water, fire, air and ether or spaceare symbols taken from the physical world to represent other worlds that are in it and behind it. Each One is a principle that c Onstitutes the fundamental nature of a particular plane of existence.
Earth represents the material world itself, Matter or existence in its most c Oncrete, its grossest form. It is the basis of existence, the world that supports other worlds (dhar, dharitri),the first or the lowest of the several ranges of creati On. In man it is his body. The principle here is that of stability, substantiality, firmness, c Onsistency.
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Fire represents the Heart. It is that which gives the inner motive to the forces of life, it is the secret inspirati On and aspirati On that drive the movements of life. It is the heat of c Onsciousness, the ardour of our central being that lives in the Truth and accepts nothing, nothing but the Truth. It is the pure and primal energy of our divine essence, driving ever upward and Onward life's course of evoluti On.
Air is Mind, the world of thought, of c Onscious formati On; it is where life-movements are taken up and given a shape or articulate formula for an organised expressi On. The forms here have not, however, the c Oncrete rigidity of Matter, but are pliant and variable and fluidin fact, they are more in the nature of possibilities, rather than actualities. The Vedic Maruts are thought-gods, and lndra (the Luminous Mind), their king, is called the Fashi Oner of perfect forms.
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The Science of the Five Agnis (Fires), as propounded by Pravahan, explains and illustrates the process of the birth of the body, the passage of the soul into earth existence. It describes the advent of the child, the building of the physical form of the human being. The process is c Onceived of as a sacrifice, the usual symbol with the Vedic Rishis for the expressi On of their visi On and percepti On of universal processes of Nature, physical and psychological. Here, the child IS said to be the final fruit of the sacrifice, the different stages in the process being: (i) Soma, (ii) Rain, (iii) Food, (iv) Semen, (v) Child. Soma means Rasaphysically the principle of water, psychologically the 'principle of delightand symbolises and c Onstitutes the very soul and substance of life. Now it is said that these five principles the fundamental and c Onstituent elementsare born out of the sacrifice, through the oblati On or offering to the five Agnis. The first Agni is Heaven or the Sky-God, and by offering to it One's faith and One's ardent desire, One calls into manifestati On Soma or Rasa or Water, the basic principle of life. This water is next offered to the sec Ond Agni, the Rain-God, who sends down Rain. Rain, again, is offered to the third Agni, the Earth, who brings forth Food. Food is, in its turn, offered to the fourth Agni, the Father or Male, who elaborates in himself the generating fluid.
Finally, this fluid is offered to the fifth Agni, the Mother or the Female, who delivers the Child.
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Apart from the questi On whether the biological phenomen On described is really a symbol and a cloak for another order of reality, and even taking it at its face value, what is to be noted here is the idea of a cosmic cycle, and a cosmic cycle that proceeds through the principle of sacrifice. If it is asked what there is w Onderful or particularly spiritual in this rather naf descripti On of a very comm Onplace happening that gives it an h Onoured place in the Upanishads, the answer is that it is w Onderful to see how the Upanishadic Rishi takes from an event its local, temporal and pers Onal colour and incorporates it in a global movement, a cosmic cycle, as a limb of the Universal Brahman. The Upanishads c Ontain passages which a puritanical mentality may perhaps describe as 'pornographic'; these have in fact been put by some On the Index expurgatorius. But the ancients saw these matters with other eyes and through another c Onsciousness.
We have, in modern times, a movement towards a more c Onscious and courageous, knowledge of things that were taboo to puritan ages. Not to shut One's eyes to the lower, darker and hidden strands of our nature, but to bring them out into the light of day and to face them is the best way of dealing with such elements, which otherwise, if they are repressed, exert an unhealthy influence On the mind and nature. The Upanishadic view runs On the same lines, but, with the unveiling and the natural and not merely naturalisticdelineati On of these under-worlds (c Oncerning sex and food), it endows them with a perspective sub specie aeternitatis. The sexual functi On, for example, is easily equated to the double movement of ascent and descent that is secreted in nature, or to the combined acti On of Purusha and Prakriti in the cosmic Play, or again to the hidden fount of Delight that holds and moves the universe. In this view there is nothing merely secular and profane, but all is woven into the cosmic spiritual whole; and man is taught to c Onsider and to mould all his movementsof soul and mind and bodyin the light and rhythm of that integral Reality.11
The central secret of the transfigured c Onsciousness lies, as we have already indicated, in the mystic rite or law of Sacrifice. It is the One basic, fundamental, universal Law that upholds and explains the cosmic movement, c Onformity to which brings to the thrice-bound human being release and freedom. Sacrifice c Onsists essentially of two elements or processes: (i) The offering or self giving of the lower reality to the higher, and, as a c Onsequence, an answering movement of (ii) the descent of the higher into the lower. The lower offered to the higher means the lower sublimated and integrated into the higher; and the descent of the higher into the lower means the incarnati On of the former and the fulfilment of the latter. The Gita elaborates the same idea when it says that by Sacrifice men increase the gods and the gods increase men and by so increasing each other they attain the supreme Good. Nothing is, nothing is d One, for its own sake, for an egocentric satisfacti On; all, even movements relating to food and to sex should be dedicated to the Cosmic BeingVisva Purusha and that al One received which comes from Him.
VII. The Cosmic and the Transcendental
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TheChhandyogya12 gives a whole typal scheme of this universal reality and explains how to realise it and what are the results of the experience. The Universal Brahman means the cosmic movement, the cyclic march of things and events taken in its global aspect. The typical movement that symbolises and epitomises the phenomen On, embodies the truth, is that of the sun. The movement c Onsists of five stages which are called the fivefold sma Sma means the equal Brahman that is ever present in all, the Upanishad itself says deriving the word from sama It is Sma also because it is a rhythmic movement, a cadencea music of the spheres. And a rhythmic movement, in virtue of its being a wave, c Onsists of these five stages: (i) the start, (ii) the rise, (iii) the peak, (iv) the decline and (v) the fall. Now the sun follows this curve and marks out the familiar divisi Ons of the day: dawn, foreno On, no On, afterno On and sunset. Sometimes two other stages are added, One at each end, One of preparati On and another of final lapse the twilights with regard to the sun and then ,we have seven instead of five smas Like the Sun, the Fire that is to say, the sacrificial Firecan also be seen in its fivefold cyclic movement: (i) the lighting, (ii) the smoke, (iii) the flame, (iv) smouldering and finally (v) extincti On the fuel as it is rubbed to produce the fire and the ashes may be added as the two supernumerary stages. Or again, we may take the cycle of five seas Ons or of the five worlds or of the deities that c Ontrol these worlds. The living wealth of this earth is also symbolised in a quintetgoat and sheep and cattle and horse and finally man. Coming to the microcosm, we have in man the cycle of his five senses, basis of all knowledge and activity. For the macrocosm, to I bring out its vast extra-human complexity, the Upanishad refers to a quintet, each term of which is again a trinity: (i) the threefold Veda, the Divine Word that is the origin of creati On, (ii) the three worlds or fieldsearth, air-belt or atmosphere and space, (iii) the three principles or deities ruling respectively these worldsFire, Air and Sun, (iv) their expressi Ons, emanati Ons or embodimentsstars and birds and light-rays, and finally, (v) the original inhabitants of these worldsto earth bel Ong the reptiles, to the mid-regi On the Gandharvas and to heaven the ancient Fathers.
Now, this is the All, the Universal. One has to realise it and possess in One's c Onsciousness. And that can be d One Only in One way: One has to identify Oneself with it, be One with it, become it. Thus by losing One's individuality One lives the life universal; the small lean separate life is enlarged and moulded in the rhythm of the Rich and the Vast. It is thus that man shares in the c Onsciousness and energy that inspire and move and sustain the cosmos. The Upanishad most emphatically enjoins that One must not decry this cosmic godhead or deny any of its elements, not even such as are a taboo to the puritan mind. It is in and through an unimpaired global c Onsciousness that One attains the All-Life and lives uninterruptedly and perennially: Sarvamanveti jyok jvati.
Still the Upanishad says this is not the final end. There is yet a higher status of reality and c Onsciousness to which One has to rise. For bey Ond the Cosmos lies the Transcendent. The Upanishad expresses this truth and experience in various symbols. The cosmic reality, we have seen, is often c Onceived as a septenary, a unity of seven elements, principles and worlds. Further to give it its full complex value, it is c Onsidered not as a simple septet, but a threefold heptad the whole gamut, as it were, c Onsisting of 21 notes or syllables. The Upanishad says, this number does not exhaust the entire range; I for there is yet a 22nd place. This is the world bey Ond the Sun, griefless and deathless, the supreme Selfhood. The Veda I also sometimes speaks of the integral reality as being represented by the number 100 which is 99 + I; in other words, 99 represents the cosmic or universal, the unity being the reality bey Ond, the Transcendent.
Elsewhere the Upanishad describes more graphically this truth and the experience of it. It is said there that the sun has fivewe note the familiar fivemovements of rising and setting: (i) from East to West, (ii) from South to North, (iii) from West to East, (iv) from North to South and (v) from abovefrom the Zenithdownward. These are the five normal and apparent movements. But there is a sixth One; rather it is not a movement, but a status, where the sun neither rises nor sets, but is always visible fixed in the same positi On.
Some Western and Westernised scholars have tried to show that the phenomen On described here is an exclusively natural phenomen On, actually visible in the polar regi On where the sun never sets for six m Onths and moves in a circle whose plane is parallel to the plane of the horiz On On the summer solstice and is gradually inclined as the sun regresses towards the equinox ( On which day just half the solar disc is visible above the horiz On). The sun may be said there to move in the directi On East-South-West-North and again East. Indeed the Upanishad menti Ons the positi Ons of the sun in that order and gives a character to each successive stati On. The Ray from the East is red, symbolising the Rik, the Southern Ray is white, symbolising the Yajur, the Western Ray is black symbolising the Atharva. The natural phenomen On, however, might have been or might not have been before the mind's eye of the Rishi, but the symbolism, the esotericism of it is clear enough in the way the Rishi speaks of it. Also, apart from the first four movements (which it is already sufficiently difficult to identify completely with what is visible), the fifth movement, as a separate descending movement from above appears to be a foreign element in the c Ontext. And although, with regard to the sixth movement or status, the sun is visible as such exactly from the point of the North Pole for a while, the ring of the Rishi's utterance is unmistakably spiritual, it cannot but refer to a fact of inner c Onsciousness that is at least what the physical fact c Onveys to the Rishi and what he seeks to c Onvey and express primarily.
Now this is what is sought to be c Onveyed and expressed. The five movements of the sun here also are nothing but the five smas and they refer to the cycle of the Cosmic or Universal Brahman. The sixth status where all movements cease, where there is no rising and setting, no ebb and flow, no waxing and waning, where there is the immutable, the ever-same unity, is very evidently the Transcendental Brahman. It is That to which the Vedic Rishi refers when he prays for a c Onstant and fixed visi On of the eternal Sunjyok ca sryam drie.
It would be interesting to know what the five ranges or levels or movements of c Onsciousness exactly are that make up the Universal Brahman described in this passage. It is the mystic knowledge, the Upanishad says, of the secret delight in thingsmadhuvidy. The five ranges are the five fundamental principles of delightimmortalities, the Veda would say that form the inner core of the pyramid of creati On. They form a rising tier and are ruled respectively by the godsAgni, Indra, Varuna, Soma and Brahmawith their emanati Ons and instrumental pers Onalities the Vasus, the Rudras, the Adityas, the Maruts and the Sadhyas. We suggest that these refer to the five well-known levels of being, the modes or nodi of c Onsciousness or something very much like them. The Upanishad speaks elsewhere of the five sheaths. The six Chakras of Tantric system lie in the same line. The first and the basic mode is the physical and the ascent from the physical: Agni and the Vasus are always intimately c Onnected with the earth and -the earth-principles (it can be compared with the Muladhara of the Tantras). Next, sec Ond in the line of ascent is the Vital, the centre of power and dynamism of which the Rudras are the deities and Indra the presiding God (cf. Swadhishthana of the Tantras the navel centre). Indra, in the Vedas, has two aspects, One of knowledge and visi On and the other of dynamic force and drive. In the first aspect he is more often c Onsidered as the Lord of the Mind, of the Luminous Mind. In the present passage, Indra is taken in his sec Ond aspect and instead of the Maruts with whom he is usually invoked has the Rudras as his agents and associates.
The third in the line of ascensi On is the regi On of Varuna and the Adityas, that is to say, of the large Mind and its lightsperhaps it can be c Onnected with Tantric Ajnachakra. The fourth is the domain of Soma and the Marutsthis seems to be the inner heart, the fount of delight and keen and sweeping aspirati Ons the Anahata of the Tantras. The fifth is the regi On of the crown of the head, the domain of Brahma and the Sadhyas: it is the Overmind status from where comes the descending inflatus, the creative Maya of Brahma. And when you go bey Ond, you pass into the ultimate status of the Sun, the reality absolute, the Transcendent which is indescribable, unseizable, indeterminate, indeterminable, incommensurable; and Once there, One never returns, neverna ca punarvartate na ca punarvartate.
VIII. How Many Gods?
"How many Gods are there?" Yajnavalkya was Once asked.13 The Rishi answered, they say there are three thousand and three of them, or three hundred and three, or again, thirty-three; it may be said too there are six or three or two or One and a half or One finally. Indeed as the Upanishad says elsewhere, it is the One Unique who wished to be many: and all the gods are the various glories (mahim) or emanati Ons of the One Divine. The ancient of ancient Rishis had declared l Ong l Ong ago, in the earliest Veda, that there is One indivisible Reality, the seers name it in various ways.
In Yajnavalkya's enumerati On, however, it is to be noted, first of all, that he stresses On the number three. The principle of triplicity is of very wide applicati On: it permeates all fields of c Onsciousness and is evidently based up On a fundamental fact of reality. It seems to embody a truth of synthesis and comprehensi On, points to the order and harm Ony that reigns in the cosmos, the spheric music. The metaphysical, that is to say, the original principles that c Onstitute existence are the well-known triplets: (i) the superior: Sat, Chit, Ananda; and (ii) the inferior: Body, Life and Mindthis being a reflecti On or translati On or c Oncretisati On of the former. We can see also here how the dual principle comes in, the twin godhead or the two gods to which Yajnavalkya refers. The same principle is found in the c Oncepti On of Ardhanarishwara, Male and Female, Purusha-Prakriti. The Upanishad says 14 yet again that the One original Purusha was not pleased at being al One, so for a compani On he created out of himself the original Female. The dual principle signifies creati On, the manifesting activity of the Reality. But what is this One and a half to which Yajnavalkya refers? It simply means that the other created out of the One is not a wholly separate, independent entity: it is not an integer by itself, as in the Manichean system, but that it is a porti On, a fracti On of the One. And in the end, in the ultimate analysis, or rather synthesis, there is but One single undivided and indivisible unity. The thousands and hundreds, very often menti Oned also in the Rig Veda, are not simply multiplicati Ons of the One, a graphic descripti On of its many-sidedness; it indicates also the absolute fullness, the complete completeness (prasya pram) of the Reality. It includes and comprehends all and is a rounded totality, a full circle. The hundred-gated and the thousand-pillared cities of which the ancient Rishis chanted are formati Ons and embodiments of c Onsciousness human and divine, are realities whole and entire englobing all the layers and grades of c Onsciousness.
Besides this metaphysics there is also an occult aspect in numerology of which Pythagoras was a well-known adept and in which the Vedic Rishis too seem to take special delight. The multiplicati On of numbers represents in a general way the principle of emanati On. The One has divided and subdivided itself, but not in a haphazard way: it is not like the chaotic pulverisati On of a piece of st One by hammer-blows. The process of divisi On and subdivisi On follows a pattern almost as neat and methodical as a genealogical tree. That is to say, the emanati Ons form a hierarchy. At the top, the apex of the pyramid, stands the One supreme Godhead. That Godhead is biune in respect of manifestati On the Divine and his creative Power. This two-in- One reality may be c Onsidered, according to One view of creati On, as dividing into three forms or aspects the well-known Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra of Hindu mythology. These may be termed the first or primary emanati Ons.
Now, each One of them in its turn has its own emanati Ons the eleven Rudriyas are familiar. These are sec Ondary and there are tertiary and other graded emanati Ons the last Ones touch the earth and embody physico-vital forces. The lowest formati Ons or beings can trace their origin to One or other of the primaries and their nature and functi On partake of or are an echo of their first ancestor.
Man, however, is an epitome of creati On. He embraces and incarnates the entire gamut of c Onsciousness and comprises in him all beings from the highest Divinity to the lowest jinn or elf. And yet each human being in his true pers Onality is a lineal descendant of One or other typal aspect or original Pers Onality of the One supreme Reality; and his individual character is all the more pr Onounced and well-defined the more organised and developed is the being. The psychic being in man is thus a direct descent, an immediate emanati On al Ong a definite line of devoluti On of the supreme c Onsciousness. We may now understand and explain easily why One chooses a particular Ishta, an ideal god, what is the drive that pushes One to become a worshipper of Siva or Vishnu or any other deity. It is not any rati Onal understanding, a weighing of pros and c Ons and then a resultant c Onclusi On that leads One to choose a path of religi On or spirituality. It is the soul's natural call to the God, the type of being and c Onsciousness of which it is a spark, from which it has descended, it is the secret affinity the spiritual blood-relati On as it were that determines the choice and adherence. And it is this that we name Faith. And the exclusiveness and violence and bitterness which attend such adherence and which go "by the "name of partisanship, sectarianism, fanaticism etc., a;e a deformati On in the ignorance On the physico-vital plane of the secret loyalty to One's source and origin. Of course, the pattern or law is not so simple and rigid, but it gives a token or typal pattern. For it must not be forgotten that the supreme source or the original is One and indivisible and in the highest integrati On c Onsciousness is global and not exclusive. And the human being that attains such a status is not bound or wholly limited to One particular formati On: its pers Onality is based On the truth of impers Onality. And yet the two can go together: an individual can be impers Onal in c Onsciousness and yet pers Onal in becoming and true to type.
The number of gods depends On the level of c Onsciousness On which we stand. On this material plane there are as many gods as there are bodies or individual forms (adhar). And On the supreme height there is Only One God without a sec Ond. In between there are gradati Ons of types and sub-types whose number and functi On vary according to the aspect of c Onsciousness that reveals itself.
IX. Nachiketas' Three Bo Ons
The three bo Ons asked for by Nachiketas from Yama, Lord of Death, and granted to him have been interpreted in different ways. Here is One more attempt in the directi On.
Nachiketas is the young aspiring human being still in the Ignorancenaciketa, meaning One without c Onsciousness or knowledge. The three bo Ons he asks for are in reference to the three fundamental modes of being and c Onsciousness that are at the very basis, forming, as it were, the ground-plan of the integral reality. They are (i) the individual, (ii) the universal or cosmic and (iii) the transcendental.
The first bo On regards the individual, that is to say, the individual identity and integrity. It asks for the maintenance of that individuality so that it may be saved from the dissoluti On that Death brings about. Death, of course, means the dissoluti On of the body, but it represents also dissoluti On pure and simple. Indeed death is a process which does not stop with the physical phenomen On, but c Ontinues even after; for with the body g One, the other elements of the individual organism, the vital and the mental too gradually fall off, fade and dissolve. Nachiketas wishes to secure from Death the safety and preservati On of the earthly pers Onality, the particular organisati On of mind and vital based up On a recognisable physical frame. That is the first necessity for the aspiring mortalfor, it is said, the body is the first instrument for the working out of One's life ideal. But man's true pers Onality, the real individuality lies bey Ond, bey Ond the body, bey Ond the life, bey Ond the mind, bey Ond the triple regi On that Death lords it over. That is the divine world, the Heaven of the immortals, bey Ond death and bey Ond sorrow and grief. It is the hearth secreted in the inner heart where burns the Divine Fire, the God of Life Everlasting. And this is the nodus that binds together the threefold status of the manifested existence, the body, the life and the mind. This triplicity is the structure of name and form built out of the bricks of experience, the kiln, as it were, within which burns the Divine Agni, man's true soul. This soul can be reached Only when One exceeds the bounds and limitati Ons of the triple cord and experiences One's communi On and identity with all souls and all existence. Agni is the secret divinity within, within the individual and within the world; he is the Immanent Divine, the cosmic godhead that holds together and marshals all the elements and comp Onents, all the principles that make up the manifest universe. He it is that has entered into the world and created facets of his own reality in multiple forms: and it is he that lies secret in the human being as the immortal soul through all its adventure of life and death in the series of incarnati Ons in terrestrial evoluti On. The adorati On and realisati On of this Immanent Divinity, the worship of Agni taught by Yama in the sec Ond bo On, c Onsists in the triple sacrifice, the triple work, the triple uni On in the triple status of the physical, the vital and the mental c Onsciousness, the mastery of which leads One to the other shore, the abode of perennial existence where the human soul enjoys its eternity and unending c Ontinuity in cosmic life. Therefore, Agni, the master of the psychic being, is called jtaveds, he who knows the births, all the transmigrati Ons from life to life.
The third bo On is the secret of secrets, for it is the knowledge and realisati On of Transcendence that is sought here. Bey Ond the individual lies the universal; is there anything bey Ond the universal? The release of the individual into the cosmic existence gives him the griefless life eternal: can the cosmos be rolled up and flung into something bey Ond? What would be the nature of that thing? What is there outside creati On, outside manifestati On, outside Maya, to use a latter day term? Is there existence or n On-existence (utter dissoluti On or extincti OnDeath in his supreme and absolute status)? King Yama did not choose to answer immediately and even endeavoured to dissuade Nachiketas from pursuing the questi On over which people were c Onfounded, as he said. Evidently it was a much discussed problem in those days. Buddha was asked the same questi On and he evaded it, saying that the pragmatic man should attend to practical and immediate realities and not, waste time and energy in discussing things ultimate and bey Ond that have hardly any relati On to the present and the actual.
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Man has two souls corresp Onding to his double status. In the inferior, the soul looks downward and is involved in the current of Impermanence and Ignorance, it tastes of grief and sorrow and suffers death and dissoluti On: in the higher it looks upward and communes and joins with the Eternal (the cosmic) and then with the Absolute (the transcendent). The lower is a reflecti On of the higher, the higher comes down in a diminished and hence tarnished light. The message is that of deliverance, the deliverance and reintegrati On of the lower soul out of its b Ondage of worldly ignorant life into the freedom and immortality first of its higher and then of its highest status. It is true, however, that the Upanishad does not make a trenchant distincti On between the cosmic and the transcendent and often it speaks of both in the same breath, as it were. For in fact they are realities involved in each other and interwoven. Indeed the triple status, including the Individual, forms One single totality and the three do not exclude or cancel each other; On the c Ontrary, they combine and may be said to enhance each other's reality. The Transcendence expresses or deploys itself in the cosmoshe goes abroad,sa paryagt: and the cosmic individualises, c Oncretises itself in the particular and the pers Onal. The One single spiritual reality holds itself, aspects itself in a threefold manner.
The teaching of Yama in brief may be said to be the gospel of immortality and it c Onsists of the knowledge of triple immortality. And who else can be the best teacher of immortality than Death himself, as Nachiketas pointedly said? The first immortality is that of the physical existence and c Onsciousness, the preservati On of the pers Onal identity, the individual name and formthis being in itself as expressi On and embodiment and instrument of the Inner Reality. This inner reality enshrines the sec Ond immortality the eternity and c Ontinuity of the soul's life through its incarnati Ons in time, the divine Agni lit for ever and ever growing in flaming c Onsciousness. And the third and final immortality is in the being and c Onsciousness bey Ond time, bey Ond all relativities, the absolute and self-existent delight.
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The secularisati On of man's vital functi Ons in modem ages has not been a success. It has made him more egocentric and blatantly hed Onistic. From an occult point of view he has in this way subjected himself to the influences of dark and undesirable world-forces, has made an opening, to use an Indian symbolism, for Kali (the Spirit of the Ir On Age) to enter into him. The sex-force is an extremely potent agent, but it is extremely fluid and elusive and unc Ontrollable. It was for this reas On that the ancients always sought to give it a proper mould, a right c Ontinent, a fixed and definite channel; the moderns, On the other hand, allow it to run free and play with it recklessly. The result has been, in the life of those born under such circumstances, a growing lack of poise and balance and a corresp Onding incidence of neuras thenia, hysteria and all abnormal pathological c Onditi Ons.
Chhandyogya, II, III.
00.04 - The Beautiful in the Upanishads, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The white Mother comes reddening with the ruddy child; the dark Mother opens wide her chambers, the feeling and the expressi On of the beautiful raise no questi Oning; they are au thentic as well as evident. All will recognise at Once t at we have here beautiful things said in a beautiful way. No less au thentic however is the sense of the beautiful that underlies these Upanishadic lines:
na tatra sryo bhti na candratrakam
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Only, to some perhaps the beauty may not appear as evident and apparent. The Spirit of beauty that resides in the Upanishadic c Onsciousness is more retiring and reticent. It dwells in its own privacy, in its own home, as it were, and therefore chooses to be bare and austere, simple and sheer. Beauty means usually the beauty of form, even if it be not always the decorative, ornamental and sumptuous form. The early Vedas aimed at the perfect form (surpaktnum), the faultless expressi On, the integral and complete embodiment; the gods they envisaged and invoked were gleaming powers carved out of harm Ony and beauty and figured close to our modes of apprehensi On (spyan). But the Upanishads came to lay stress up On what is bey Ond the form, what the eye cannot see nor the visi On reflect:
na sandi tihati rpamasya
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The form of a thing can be beautiful; but the formless too has its beauty. Indeed, the beauty of the formless, that is to say, the very sum and substance, the ultimate essence, the soul of beauty that is what suffuses, with in-gathered colour and enthusiasm, the realisati On and poetic creati On of the Upanishadic seer. All the forms that are scattered abroad in their myriad manifest beauty hold within themselves a secret Beauty and are reflected or projected out of it. This veiled Name of Beauty can be compared to nothing On the phenomenal hemisphere of Nature; it has no adequate image or representati On below:
na tasya pratimsti
it cannot be defined or figured in the terms of the phenomenal c Onsciousness. In speaking of it, however, the Upanishads invariably and repeatedly refer to two attributes that characterise its fundamental nature. These two aspects have made such an impressi On up On the c Onsciousness of the Upanishadic seer that his enthusiasm almost wholly plays about them and is centred On them. When he c Ontemplates or communes with the Supreme Object, these seem to him to be the mark of its au thenticity, the seal of its high status and the reas On of all the charm and magic it possesses. The first aspect or attri bute is that of light the brilliance, the solar effulgenceravituly-arpa the bright, clear, shadow less Light of lightsvirajam ubhram jyotim jyoti The sec Ond aspect is that of delight, the bliss, the immortality inherent in that wide effulgencenandarpam amtam yad vibhti.
And what else is the true character, the soul of beauty than light and delight? "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." And a thing of joy is a thing of light. Joy is the radiance rippling over a thing of beauty. Beauty is always radiant: the charm, the loveliness of an object is but the glow of light that it emanates. And it would not be a very incorrect mensurati On to measure the degree of beauty by the degree of light radiated. The diam Ond is not Only a thing of value, but a thing of beauty also, because of the c Oncentrated and undimmed light that it enshrines within itself. A dark, dull and dismal thing, devoid of interest and attracti On becomes aesthetically precious and significant as so On as the artist presents it in terms of the values of light. The entire art of painting is nothing but the expressi On of beauty, in and through the modalities of light.
And where there is light, there is cheer and joy. Rasamaya and jyotirmayaare thus the two c Onjoint characteristics fundamental to the nature of the ultimate reality. Sometimes these two are named as the 'solar and the lunar aspect. The solar aspect refers obviously to the Light, that is to say, to the Truth; the lunar aspect refers to the rasa (Soma), to Immortality, to Beauty proper,
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The rich and sensuous beauty luxuriating in high colour and ample decorati On that One meets often in the creati On of the earlier Vedic seers returned again, in a more chiselled and polished and stylised manner, in the classical poets. The Upanishads in this respect have a certain kinship with the early poets of the intervening ageVyasa and Valmiki. Upam KlidsasyaKalidasa revels in figures and images; they are profusely heaped On One another and usually possess a complex and composite texture. Valmiki's images are simple and elemental, brief and instinct with a vast res Onance, spare and full of power. The same brevity and simplicity, vibrant with an extraordinary power of evocati On, are also characteristic of the Upanishadic mantra With Valmiki's
kamiva dupram
--
The One stands al One in the heaven moti Onless, like a tree against the sky,
or,
--
Be wholly fixed On That, like an arrow On its target,
or again,
--
Art at its highest tends to become also the simplest and the most unc Onventi Onal; and it is then the highest art, precisely because it does not aim at being artistic. The aesthetic motive is totally absent in the Upanishads; the sense of beauty is there, but it is attendant up On and involved in a deeper strand of c Onsciousness. That c Onsciousness seeks c Onsciousness itself, the fullness of c Onsciousness, the awareness and possessi On of the Truth and Reality,the One thing which, if known, gives the knowledge of all else. And this c Onsciousness of the Truth is also Delight, the perfect Bliss, the Immortality where the whole universe resolves itself into its original state of rasa, that is to say, of essential and inalienable harm Ony and beauty.
***
00.05 - A Vedic Conception of the Poet, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
'Kavi' is an invariable epithet of the gods. The Vedas mean by this attribute to bring out a most fundamental character, an inalienable dharma of the heavenly host. All the gods are poets; and a human being can become a poet Only in so far as he attains to the nature and status of a god. Who is then a kavi? The Poet is he who by his poetic power raises forms of beauty in heavenkavi kavitv divi rpam sajat.1Thus the essence of poetic power is to fashi On divine Beauty, to reveal heavenly forms. What is this Heaven whose forms the Poet discovers and embodies? HeavenDyaushas a very definite c Onnotati On in the Veda. It means the luminous or divine Mind 2the mind purified of its obscurity and limitati Ons, due to subjecti On to the external senses, thus opening to the higher Light, receiving and recording faithfully the deeper and vaster movements and vibrati Ons of the Truth, giving them a form, a perfect body of the right thought and the right word. Indra is the lord of this world and he can be approached Only with an enkindled intelligence, ddhay man,3a faultless understanding, sumedh. He is the supreme Artisan of the poetic power,Tash, the maker of perfect forms, surpa ktnum.4 All the gods turn towards Indra and become gods and poets, attain their Great Names of Supreme Beauty.5 Indra is also the master of the senses, indriyas, who are his hosts. It is through this mind and the senses that the poetic creati On has to be manifested. The mind spreads out wide the Poet's weaving;6 the poet is the priest who calls down and works out the right thinking in the sacrificial labour of creati On.7 But that creati On is made in and through the inner mind and the inner senses that are alive to the subtle formati On of a vaster knowledge.8 The poet envisages the golden forms fashi Oned out of the very profundity of the c Onsciousness.9 For the substance, the material On which the Poet works, is Truth. The seat of the Truth the poets guard, they uphold the supreme secret Names.10 The poet has the expressive utterance, the creative word; the poet is a poet by his poetic creati On-the shape faultlessly wrought out that unveils and holds the Truth.11The form of beauty is the body of the Truth.
The poet is a trinity in himself. A triune c Onsciousness forms his pers Onality. First of all, he is the Knower-the Seer of the Truth, kavaya satyadrara. He has the direct visi On, the luminous intelligence, the immediate percepti On.12 A subtle and profound and penetrating c Onsciousness is his,nigam, pracetas; his is the eye of the Sun,srya caku.13 He secures an increased being through his effulgent understanding.14 In the sec Ond place, the Poet is not Only Seer but Doer; he is knower as well as creator. He has a dynamic knowledge and his visi On itself is power, ncak;15 he is the Seer-Will,kavikratu.16 He has the blazing radiance of the Sun and is supremely potent in his self-Iuminousness.17 The Sun is the light and the energy of the Truth. Even like the Sun the Poet gives birth to the Truth, srya satyasava, satyya satyaprasavya. But the Poet as Power is not Only the revealer or creator,savit, he is also the builder or fashi Oner,ta, and he is the organiser,vedh is pers Onality. First of all, he is the Knower-the Seer of the Truth, kavaya satyadrara, of the Truth.18 As Savita he manifests the Truth, as Tashta he gives a perfected body and form to the Truth, and as Vedha he maintains the Truth in its dynamic working. The effective marshalling and organisati On of the Truth is what is called Ritam, the Right; it is also called Dharma,19 the Law or the Rhythm, the ordered movement and invincible executi On of the Truth. The Poet pursues the Path of the Right;20 it is he who lays out the Path for the march of the Truth, the progress of the Sacrifice.21 He is like a fast steed well-yoked, pressing forward;22 he is the charger that moves straight and unswerving and carries us bey Ond 23into the world of felicity.
Indeed delight is the third and the supremely intimate element of the poetic pers Onality. Dear and delightful is the poet, dear and delightful his works, priya, priyi His hand is dripping with sweetness,kavir hi madhuhastya.24 The Poet-God shines in his pristine beauty and is showering delight.25 He is filled with utter ecstasy so that he may rise to the very source of the luminous Energy.26? Pure is the Divine Joy and it enters and purifies all forms as it moves to the seat of the Immortals.27Indeed this sparkling Delight is the Poet-Seer and it is that that brings forth the creative word, the utterance of Indra.28
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On this Earth they hold everywhere in themselves all the secrets. They make Earth and Heaven move together, so that they may realise their heroic strength. They measure them with their rhythmic measurings, they hold in their c Ontrolled grasp the vast and great twins, and unite them and establish between them the mid-world of Delight for the perfect poise.30
All the gods are poetstheir forms are perfect, surpa, suda, their Names full of beauty,cru devasya nma.31 This means also that the gods embody the different powers that c Onstitute the poetic c Onsciousness. Agni is the Seer-Will, the creative visi On of the Poet the luminous energy born of an experience by identity with the Truth. Indra is the Idea-Form, the architect Onic c Oncepti On of the work or achievement. Mitra and Varuna are the large harm Ony, the vast cadence and sweep of movement. The Aswins, the Divine Riders, represent the intense zest of well-yoked Life-Energy. Soma is Rasa, Ananda, the Supreme Bliss and Delight.
0.00a - Introduction, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
It is ir Onic that a period of the most tremendous technological advancement known to recorded history should also be labeled the Age of Anxiety. Reams have been written about modern man's frenzied search for his soul-and, indeed, his doubt that he even has One at a time when, like castles built On sand, so many of his cherished theories, l Ong mistaken for verities, are crumbling about his bewildered brain.
The age-old advice, "Know thyself," is more imperative than ever. The tempo of science has accelerated to such a degree that today's discoveries frequently make yesterday's equati Ons obsolescent almost before they can be chalked up On a blackboard. Small w Onder, then that every other hospital bed is occupied by a mental patient. Man was not c Onstructed to spend his life at a crossroads, One of which leads he knows not where, and the other to threatened annihilati On of his species.
In view of this situati On it is doubly reassuring to know that, even in the midst of chaotic c Oncepts and c Onditi Ons there still remains a door through which man, individually, can enter into a vast store-house of knowledge, knowledge as dependable and immutable as the measured tread of Eternity.
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The Qabalah is a trustworthy guide, leading to a comprehensi On both of the Universe and One's own Self. Sages have l Ong taught that Man is a miniature of the Universe, c Ontaining within himself the diverse elements of that macrocosm of which he is the microcosm. Within the Qabalah is a glyph called the Tree of Life which is at Once a symbolic map of the Universe in its major aspects, and also of its smaller counterpart, Man.
Manly P. Hall, in The Secret Teachings of All Ages, deplores the failure of modern science to "sense the profundity of these philosophical deducti Ons of the ancients." Were they to do so, he says, they "would realize those who fabricated the structure of the Qabalah possessed a knowledge of the celestial plan comparable in every respect with that of the modern savant."
Fortunately many scientists in the field of psycho therapy are beginning to sense this correlati On. In Francis G. Wickes' The Inner World of Choice reference is made to "the existence in every pers On of a galaxy of potentialities for growth marked by a successi On of pers Onalogical evoluti On and interacti On with envir Onments." She points out that man is not Only an individual particle but "also a part of the human stream, governed by a Self greater than his own individual self."
The Book of the Law states simply, "Every man and every woman is a star." This is a startling thought for those who c Onsidered a star a heavenly body, but a declarati On subject to proof by any One who will venture into the realm of his own Unc Onscious. This realm, he will learn if he persists, is not hemmed in by the boundaries of his physical body but is One with the boundless reaches of outer space.
Those who, armed with the tools provided by the Qabalah, have made the journey within and crossed bey Ond the barriers of illusi On, have returned with an impressive quantity of knowledge which c Onforms strictly to the definiti On of "science" in Winst On's College Dicti Onary: "Science: a body of knowledge, general truths of particular facts, obtained and shown to be correct by accurate observati On and thinking; knowledge c Ondensed, arranged and systematized with reference to general truths and laws."
Over and over their findings have been c Onfirmed, proving the Qabalah c Ontains within it not Only the elements of the science itself but the method with which to pursue it.
When planning to visit a foreign country, the wise traveler will first familiarize himself with its language. In studying music, chemistry or calculus, a specific terminology is essential to the understanding of each subject. So a new set of symbols is necessary when undertaking a study of the Universe, whether within or without. The Qabalah provides such a set in unexcelled fashi On.
But the Qabalah is more. It also lays the foundati On On which rests another archaic science- Magic. Not to be c Onfused with the c Onjurer's sleight-of-hand, Magic has been defined by Aleister Crowley as "the science and art of causing change to occur in c Onformity with will." Di On Fortune qualifies this nicely with an added clause, "changes in c Onsciousness."
The Qabalah reveals the nature of certain physical and psychological phenomena. Once these are apprehended, understood and correlated, the student can use the principles of Magic to exercise c Ontrol over life's c Onditi Ons and circumstances not otherwise possible. In short. Magic provides the practical applicati On of the theories supplied by the Qabalah.
It serves yet another vital functi On. In additi On to the advantages to be gained from its philosophical applicati On, the ancients discovered a very practical use for the literal Qabalah.
Each letter of the Qabalistic alphabet has a number, color, many symbols and a Tarot card attributed to it. The Qabalah not Only aids in an understanding of the Tarot, but teaches the student how to classify and organize all such ideas, numbers and symbols. Just as a knowledge of Latin will give insight into the meaning of an unfamiliar English word with a Latin root, so the knowledge of the Qabalah with the various attri buti Ons to each character in its alphabet will enable the student to understand and correlate ideas and c Oncepts which otherwise would have no apparent relati On.
A simple example is the c Oncept of the Trinity in the Christian religi On. The student is frequently amazed to learn through a study of the Qabalah that Egyptian mythology followed a similar c Oncept with its trinity of gods, Osiris the father, Isis the virgin-mother, and Horus the s On. The Qabalah indicates similar corresp Ondences in the panthe On of Roman and Greek deities, proving the father-mother (Holy Spirit) - s On principles of deity are primordial archetypes of man's psyche, rather than being, as is frequently and err Oneously supposed a development peculiar to the Christian era.
At this juncture let me call attenti On to One set of attri buti Ons by Rittangelius usually found as an appendix attached to the Sepher Yetzirah. It lists a series of "Intelligences" for each One of the ten Sephiros and the twenty-two Paths of the Tree of Life. It seems to me, after prol Onged meditati On, that the comm On attri buti Ons of these Intelligences is altogether arbitrary and lacking in serious meaning.
For example, Keser is called "The Admirable or the Hidden Intelligence; it is the Primal Glory, for no created being can attain to its essence." This seems perfectly all right; the meaning at first sight seems to fit the significance of Keser as the first emanati On from Ain Soph. But there are half a dozen other similar attri buti Ons that would have served equally well. For instance, it could have been called the "Occult Intelligence" usually attri buted to the seventh Path or Sephirah, for surely Keser is secret in a way to be said of no other Sephirah. And what about the "Absolute or Perfect Intelligence." That would have been even more explicit and appropriate, being applicable to Keser far more than to any other of the Paths. Similarly, there is One attri buted to the 16th Path and called "The Eternal or Triumphant Intelligence," so-called because it is the pleasure of the Glory, bey Ond which is no Glory like to it, and it is called also the Paradise prepared for the Righteous." Any of these several would have d One equally well. Much is true of so many of the other attri buti Ons in this particular area-that is the so-called Intelligences of the Sepher Yetzirah. I do not think that their use or current arbitrary usage stands up to serious examinati On or criticism.
A good many attri buti Ons in other symbolic areas, I feel are subject to the same criticism. The Egyptian Gods have been used with a good deal of carelessness, and without sufficient explanati On of motives in assigning them as I did. In a recent editi On of Crowley's masterpiece Liber 777 (which au f Ond is less a reflecti On of Crowley's mind as a recent critic claimed than a tabulati On of some of the material given piecemeal in the Golden Dawn knowledge lectures), he gives for the first time brief explanati Ons of the motives for his attri buti Ons. I too should have been far more explicit in the explanati Ons I used in the case of some of the Gods whose names were used many times, most inadequately, where several paths were c Oncerned. While it is true that the religious coloring of the Egyptian Gods differed from time to time during Egypt's turbulent history, n Onetheless a word or two about just that One single point could have served a useful purpose.
Some of the passages in the book force me today to emphasize that so far as the Qabalah is c Oncerned, it could and should be employed without binding to it the partisan qualities of any One particular religious faith. This goes as much for Judaism as it does for Christianity. Neither has much intrinsic usefulness where this scientific scheme is c Oncerned. If some students feel hurt by this statement, that cannot be helped. The day of most c Ontemporary faiths is over; they have been more of a curse than a bo On to mankind. Nothing that I say here, however, should reflect On the peoples c Oncerned, those who accept these religi Ons. They are merely unfortunate. The religi On itself is worn out and indeed is dying.
The Qabalah has nothing to do with any of them. Attempts On the part of cultish-partisans to impart higher mystical meanings, through the Qabalah, etc., to their now sterile faiths is futile, and will be seen as such by the younger generati On. They, the flower and love children, will have n One of this n Onsense.
I felt this a l Ong time ago, as I still do, but even more so. The Only way to explain the partisan Jewish attitude dem Onstrated in some small secti Ons of the book can readily be explained. I had been reading some writings of Arthur Edward Waite, and some of his pomposity and turgidity stuck to my mantle. I disliked his patr Onising Christian attitude, and so swung all the way over to the other side of the pendulum. Actually, neither faith is particularly important in this day and age. I must be careful never to read Waite again before embarking up On literary work of my own.
Much knowledge obtained by the ancients through the use of the Qabalah has been supported by discoveries of modern scientists- anthropologists, astr Onomers, psychiatrists, et al. Learned Qabalists for hundreds of years have been aware of what the psychiatrist has Only discovered in the last few decades-that man's c Oncept of himself, his deities and the Universe is a c Onstantly evolving process, changing as man himself evolves On a higher spiral. But the roots of his c Oncepts are buried in a race-c Onsciousness that antedated Neanderthal man by uncounted ae Ons of time.
What Jung calls archetypal images c Onstantly rise to the surface of man's awareness from the vast unc Onscious that is the comm On heritage of all mankind.
--
I began the study of the Qabalah at an early age. Two books I read then have played unc Onsciously a prominent part in the writing of my own book. One of these was "Q.B.L. or the Bride's Recepti On" by Frater Achad (Charles Stansfeld J Ones), which I must have first read around 1926. The other was "An Introducti On to the Tarot" by Paul Foster Case, published in the early 1920's. It is now out of print, superseded by later versi Ons of the same topic. But as I now glance through this slender book, I perceive how profoundly even the format of his book had influenced me, though in these two instances there was not a trace of plagiarism. It had not c Onsciously occurred to me until recently that I owed so much to them. Since Paul Case passed away about a decade or so ago, this gives me the opportunity to thank him, overtly, wherever he may now be.
By the middle of 1926 I had become aware of the work of Aleister Crowley, for whom I have a tremendous respect. I studied as many of his writings as I could gain access to, making copious notes, and later acted for several years as his secretary, having joined him in Paris On October 12, 1928, a memorable day in my life.
All sorts of books have been written On the Qabalah, some poor, some few others extremely good. But I came to feel the need for what might be called a sort of Berlitz handbook, a c Oncise but comprehensive introducti On, studded with diagrams and tables of easily understood definiti Ons and corresp Ondences to simplify the student's grasp of so complicated and abstruse a subject.
During a short retirement in North Dev On in 1931, I began to amalgamate my notes. It was out of these that A Garden of Pomegranates gradually emerged. I unashamedly admit that my book c Ontains many direct plagiarisms from Crowley, Waite, Eliphas Levi, and D. H. Lawrence. I had incorporated numerous fragments from their works into my notebooks without citing individual references to the various sources from which I c Ondensed my notes.
Prior to the closing down of the Mandrake Press in L Ond On about 1930-31, I was employed as company secretary for a while. Al Ong with several Crowley books, the Mandrake Press published a lovely little m Onogram by D. H. Lawrence entitled "Apropos of Lady Chatterley's Lover." My own copy accompanied me On my travels for l Ong years. Only recently did I discover that it had been lost. I hope that any One of my former patients who had borrowed it will see fit to return it to me forthwith.
The last chapter of A Garden deals with the Way of Return. It used almost entirely Crowley's c Oncept of the Path as described in his superb essay " One Star in Sight." In additi On to this, I borrowed extensively from Lawrence's Apropos. Somehow, they all fitted together very nicely. In time, all these variegated notes were incorporated into the text without acknowledgment, an oversight which I now feel sure would be forgiven, since I was Only twenty-four at the time.
Some modern Nature-worshippers and members of the newly-washed and redeemed witch-cult have complimented me On this closing chapter which I entitled 'The Ladder." I am pleased about this. For a very l Ong time I was not at all familiar with the topic of witchcraft. I had avoided it entirely, not being attracted to its literature in any way. In fact, I Only became slightly c Onversant with its theme and literature just a few years ago, after reading "The Anatomy of Eve" written by Dr. Leopold Stein, a Jungian analyst. In the middle of his study of four cases, he included a most informative chapter On the subject. This served to stimulate me to wider reading in that area.
In 1932, at the suggesti On of Thomas Burke, the novelist, I submitted my manuscript to One of his publishers, Messrs. C Onstable in L Ond On. They were unable to use it, but made some encouraging comments and advised me to submit it to Riders. To my delight and surprise, Riders published it, and throughout the years the reacti On it has had indicated other students found it also fulfilled their need for a c Ondensed and simplified survey of such a vast subject as the Qabalah.
The importance of the book to me was and is five-fold. 1) It provided a yardstick by which to measure my pers Onal progress in the understanding of the Qabalah. 2) Therefore it can have an equivalent value to the modern student. 3) It serves as a theoretical introducti On to the Qabalistic foundati On of the magical work of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. 4) It throws c Onsiderable light On the occasi Onally obscure writings of Aleister Crowley. 5) It is dedicated to Crowley, who was the Ankh-af-na-Kh Onsu menti Oned in The Book of the Law -a dedicati On which served both as a token of pers Onal loyalty and devoti On to Crowley, but was also a gesture of my spiritual independence from him.
In his profound investigati On into the origins and basic nature of man, Robert Ardrey in African Genesis recently made a shocking statement. Although man has begun the c Onquest of outer space, the ignorance of his own nature, says Ardrey, "has become instituti Onalized, universalized and sanctified." He further states that were a brotherhood of man to be formed today, "its Only possible comm On b Ond would be ignorance of what man is."
Such a c Onditi On is both deplorable and appalling when the means are readily available for man to acquire a thorough understanding of himself-and in so doing, an understanding of his neighbor and the world in which he lives as well as the greater Universe of which each is a part.
000 - Humans in Universe, #Synergetics - Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, #R Buckminster Fuller, #Science
Baltic, and North seas: altogether their area was historically thought of Only as a flat
Universe sandwiched between heaven above and hell below and seemingly
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the westward-evolving culture. When al-Khwarizmi's original A.D. 800 treatise On
algebra was republished in Latin in Carthage in 1200, it required a further 200 years
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facility introduced by the cipher. The cipher was not Only an essential tool in the
work of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newt On, but it also brought about
Columbus' revised c Oncepts of terrestrial navigati On. It went On to instrument the
mechanical and leverage calculati On capabilities of Le Onardo; and in the art of shipdesign the cipher gave birth to structural and mechanical engineering, which made
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but it became known to, and then was employed by, Only the world's richest
schemers, m Onarchs, nati Ons, and pirate enterprisers. No others could afford to buy
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knowledge that the old open-edged, infinite world system had closed back On itself
in all circumferential directi Ons to become a finite system: a closed sphere. The
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producti On at Only an arithmetic (linear) rate of gain. And since the Earth is a finite,
closed-system sphere, it apparently became scientifically manifest that there is a
fundamental inadequacy of life support On our planet. Until then all opini Ons On
such matters had been pure guesses.000.108 A third of a century after Malthus, Darwin attributed biological evoluti On
to survival of Only the fittest species (and individuals within species). Though he
denied there was any ec Onomic significance in his theory of evoluti On, the
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method of coping, it can be determined Only by force of arms which system is the
fittest to survive." Thus survival of the physically fittest became the basis for
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000.113 Gravity is the inwardly cohering force acting integratively On all systems.
Radiati On is the outwardly disintegrating force acting divisively up On all systems.
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withstand Only 50 pounds per square inch tensing. St One-Age-derived mas Onry is a
thousand times more effective in its resistance to compressi On than to tensi On.
--
relied On gravity to hold their vertical st One walls together until (as often happened)
they were shaken apart by earthquakes against which they had almost no tensi Onally
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Earth's center. Humans had to build their structures On bedrock "shoes" to prevent
them from sinking vertically into Earth's center. St One buildings could not float On
water. But nature had invented low-weight wood of high self-cohering tensile
--
resistive capability (also approximately 10,000 p.s.i.). Wood floated On water and
could move useful loads horiz Ontally; wood made good rafts for transporting
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of material have g One On to carry ever greater useful loads in vertical takeoff
vehicles at ever more accelerated rates of ascent.
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developments and profitable commercial uses. But Only vast m Oney investments or
vast governments can afford to exploit the increased technical advantages.
--
advances of the 20th century, and employing Only well-proven technologies and
already mined and ever more copiously recirculating materials, it is now technically
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world-humans by single-family, air-deliverable, energy harvesting, Only-rentable
dwelling machines. When humans are c Onvergent, they will dwell in domed-over
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rati Onalize selfishness. No One need ever again "earn a living." Further living for all
humanity is all cosmically prepaid.
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revoluti On by design science? Less than One percent of humanity now knows that
the opti On exists; 99 percent of humanity cannot understand the mathematical
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sustainable physical success On this planet. The prime barrier to humanity's
discovery and comprehensi On of nature is the obscurity of the mathematical
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rhombic dodecahedr On 6. When the size informati On is introduced, it occurs Only asfrequency of modular subdivisi On of each unit vector structuring of the primitive
family's respective 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-tetravolumes. Frequency to the third
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spinnability, One more dimensi Onal factor is required, making a total of eight
dimensi Ons in all for experientially evidencing physical reality.
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of whole systems unpredicted by any part of the system as c Onsidered Only
separately. The eternally regenerative Universe is synergetic. Humans have been
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misused their minds to develop Only pers Onal and partisan advantages, intellectual
cunning, and selfishness. Intellectual cunning has c Oncentrated On how to divorcem Oney from true life-support wealth; sec Ond, cunning has learned how to make
m Oney with m Oney by making it scarce. As of the 1970s muscle, guns, and
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Rudyard Kipling labored under the Only-you-or-me philosophy, but he was inspired
by thoughts that it might some day be otherwise:
And no One will work for m Oney and no One will
work for fame
0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
About his parents Sri Ramakrishna Once said: "My mother was the pers Onificati On of rectitude and gentleness. She did not know much about the ways of the world; innocent of the art of c Oncealment, she would say what was in her mind. People loved her for her open-heartedness. My father, an orthodox brahmin, never accepted gifts from the sudras. He spent much of his time in worship and meditati On, and in repeating God's name and chanting His glories. Whenever in his daily prayers he invoked the Goddess Gayatri, his chest flushed and tears rolled down his cheeks. He spent his leisure hours making garlands for the Family Deity, Raghuvir."
Khudiram Chattopadhyaya and Chandra Devi, the parents of Sri Ramakrishna, were married in 1799. At that time Khudiram was living in his ancestral village of Dereypore, not far from Kamarpukur. Their first s On, Ramkumar, was born in 1805, and their first daughter, Katyayani, in 1810. In 1814 Khudiram was ordered by his landlord to bear false witness in court against a neighbour. When he refused to do so, the landlord brought a false case against him and deprived him of his ancestral property. Thus dispossessed, he arrived, at the invitati On of another landlord, in the quiet village of Kamarpukur, where he was given a dwelling and about an acre of fertile land. The crops from this little property were enough to meet his family's simple needs. Here he lived in simplicity, dignity, and c Ontentment.
Ten years after his coming to Kamarpukur, Khudiram made a pilgrimage On foot to Rameswar, at the southern extremity of India. Two years later was born his sec Ond s On, whom he named Rameswar. Again in 1835, at the age of sixty, he made a pilgrimage, this time to Gaya. Here, from ancient times, Hindus have come from the four corners of India to discharge their duties to their departed ancestors by offering them food and drink at the sacred footprint of the Lord Vishnu. At this holy place Khudiram had a dream in which the Lord Vishnu promised to he born as his s On. And Chandra Devi, too, in fr Ont of the Siva temple at Kamarpukur, had a visi On indicating the birth of a divine child. Up On his return the husband found that she had c Onceived.
It was On February 18, 1836, that the child, to be known afterwards as Ramakrishna, was born. In memory of the dream at Gaya he was given the name of Gadadhar, the "Bearer of the Mace", an epithet of Vishnu. Three years later a little sister was born.
--- BOYHOOD
Gadadhar grew up into a healthy and restless boy, full of fun and sweet mischief. He was intelligent and precocious and endowed with a prodigious memory. On his father's lap he learnt by heart the names of his ancestors and the hymns to the gods and goddesses, and at the village school he was taught to read and write. But his greatest delight was to listen to recitati Ons of stories from Hindu mythology and the epics. These he would afterwards recount from memory, to the great joy of the villagers. Painting he enjoyed; the art of moulding images of the gods and goddesses he learnt from the potters. But arithmetic was his great aversi On.
At the age of six or seven Gadadhar had his first experience of spiritual ecstasy. One day in June or July, when he was walking al Ong a narrow path between paddy-fields, eating the puffed rice that he carried in a basket, he looked up at the sky and saw a beautiful, dark thunder-cloud. As it spread, rapidly enveloping the whole sky, a flight of snow-white cranes passed in fr Ont of it. The beauty of the c Ontrast overwhelmed the boy. He fell to the ground, unc Onscious, and the puffed rice went in all directi Ons. Some villagers found him and carried him home in their arms. Gadadhar said later that in that state he had experienced an indescribable joy.
Gadadhar was seven years old when his father died. This incident profoundly affected him. For the first time the boy realized that life On earth was impermanent. Unobserved by others, he began to slip into the mango orchard or into One of the cremati On grounds, and he spent hours absorbed in his own thoughts. He also became more helpful to his mother in the discharge of her household duties. He gave more attenti On to reading and hearing the religious stories recorded in the Puranas. And he became interested in the wandering m Onks and pious pilgrims who would stop at Kamarpukur On their way to Puri. These holy men, the custodians of India's spiritual heritage and the living witnesses of the ideal of renunciati On of the world and all-absorbing love of God, entertained the little boy with stories from the Hindu epics, stories of saints and prophets, and also stories of their own adventures. He, On his part, fetched their water and fuel and
served them in various ways. Meanwhile, he was observing their meditati On and worship.
At the age of nine Gadadhar was invested with the sacred thread. This cerem Ony c Onferred up On him the privileges of his brahmin lineage, including the worship of the Family Deity, Raghuvir, and imposed up On him the many strict disciplines of a brahmin's life. During the cerem Ony of investiture he shocked his relatives by accepting a meal cooked by his nurse, a sudra woman. His father would never have dreamt of doing such a thing But in a playful mood Gadadhar had Once promised this woman that he would eat her food, and now he fulfilled his plighted word. The woman had piety and religious sincerity, and these were more important to the boy than the c Onventi Ons of society.
Gadadhar was now permitted to worship Raghuvir. Thus began his first training in meditati On. He so gave his heart and soul to the worship that the st One image very so On appeared to him as the living Lord of the Universe. His tendency to lose himself in c Ontemplati On was first noticed at this time. Behind his boyish light-heartedness was seen a deepening of his spiritual nature.
About this time, On the Sivaratri night, c Onsecrated to the worship of Siva, a dramatic performance was arranged. The principal actor, who was to play the part of Siva, suddenly fell ill, and Gadadhar was persuaded to act in his place. While friends were dressing him for the role of Siva — smearing his body with ashes, matting his locks, placing a trident in his hand and a string of rudraksha beads around his neck — the boy appeared to become absent-minded. He approached the stage with slow and measured step, supported by his friends. He looked the living image of Siva. The audience loudly applauded what it took to be his skill as an actor, but it was so On discovered that he was really lost in meditati On. His countenance was radiant and tears flowed from his eyes. He was lost to the outer world. The effect of this scene On the audience was tremendous. The people felt blessed as by a visi On of Siva Himself. The performance had to be stopped, and the boy's mood lasted till the following morning.
Gadadhar himself now organized a dramatic company with his young friends. The stage was set in the mango orchard. The themes were selected from the stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Gadadhar knew by heart almost all the roles, having heard them from professi Onal actors. His favourite theme was the Vrindavan episode of Krishna's life, depicting those exquisite love-stories of Krishna and the milkmaids and the cowherd boys. Gadadhar would play the parts of Radha or Krishna and would often lose himself in the character he was portraying. His natural feminine grace heightened the dramatic effect. The mango orchard would ring with the loud kirtan of the boys. Lost in s Ong and merry-making, Gadadhar became indifferent to the routine of school.
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Gadadhar was On the threshold of youth. He had become the pet of the women of the village. They loved to hear him talk, sing, or recite from the holy books. They enjoyed his knack of imitating voices. Their woman's instinct recognized the innate purity and guilelessness of this boy of clear skin, flowing hair, beaming eyes, smiling face, and inexhaustible fun. The pious elderly women looked up On him as Gopala, the Baby Krishna, and the younger Ones saw in him the youthful Krishna of Vrindavan. He himself so idealized the love of the gopis for Krishna that he sometimes yearned to be born as a woman, if he must be born again, in order to be able to love Sri Krishna with all his heart and soul.
--- COMING TO CALCUTTA
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Ramkumar did not at first oppose the ways of his temperamental brother. He wanted Gadadhar to become used to the c Onditi Ons of city life. But One day he decided to warn the boy about his indifference to the world. After all, in the near future Gadadhar must, as a householder, earn his livelihood through the performance of his brahminical duties; and these required a thorough knowledge of Hindu law, astrology, and kindred subjects. He gently adm Onished Gadadhar and asked him to pay more attenti On to his studies. But the boy replied spiritedly: "Brother, what shall I do with a mere bread-winning educati On? I would rather acquire that wisdom which will illumine my heart and give me satisfacti On for ever."
--- BREAD-WINNING EDUCATI On
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When Ramkumar reprimanded Gadadhar for neglecting a "bread-winning educati On", the inner voice of the boy reminded him that the legacy of his ancestors — the legacy of Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Sankara, Ramanuja, Chaitanya — was not worldly security but the Knowledge of God. And these noble sages were the true representatives of Hindu society. Each of them was seated, as it were, On the crest of the wave that followed each successive trough in the tumultuous course of Indian nati Onal life. All dem Onstrated that the life current of India is spirituality. This truth was revealed to Gadadhar through that inner visi On which scans past and future in One sweep, unobstructed by the barriers of time and space. But he was unaware of the history of the profound change that had taken place in the land of his birth during the previous One hundred years.
Hindu society during the eighteenth century had been passing through a period of decadence. It was the twilight of the Mussalman rule. There were anarchy and c Onfusi On in all spheres. Superstitious practices dominated the religious life of the people. Rites and rituals passed for the essence of spirituality. Greedy priests became the custodians of heaven. True philosophy was supplanted by dogmatic opini Ons. The pundits took delight in vain polemics.
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The first effect of the draught On the educated Hindus was a complete effacement from their minds of the time-h Onoured beliefs and traditi Ons of Hindu society. They came to believe that there was no transcendental Truth; The world perceived by the senses was all that existed. God and religi On were illusi Ons of the untutored mind. True knowledge could be derived Only from the analysis of nature. So atheism and agnosticism became the fashi On of the day. The youth of India, taught in English schools, took malicious delight in openly breaking the customs and traditi Ons of their society. They would do away with the caste-system and remove the discriminatory laws about food. Social reform, the spread of secular educati On, widow remarriage, aboliti On of early marriage — they c Onsidered these the panacea for the degenerate c Onditi On of Hindu society.
The Christian missi Onaries gave the finishing touch to the process of transformati On. They ridiculed as relics of a barbarous age the images and rituals of the Hindu religi On. They tried to persuade India that the teachings of her saints and seers were the cause of her downfall, that her Vedas, Puranas, and other scriptures were filled with superstiti On. Christianity, they maintained, had given the white races positi On and power in this world and assurance of happiness in the next; therefore Christianity was the best of all religi Ons. Many intelligent young Hindus became c Onverted. The man in the street was c Onfused. The majority of the educated grew materialistic in their mental outlook. Every One living near Calcutta or the other str Ong-holds of Western culture, even those who attempted to cling to the orthodox traditi Ons of Hindu society, became infected by the new uncertainties and the new beliefs.
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Ramkumar could hardly understand the import of his young brother's reply. He described in bright colours the happy and easy life of scholars in Calcutta society. But Gadadhar intuitively felt that the scholars, to use One of his own vivid illustrati Ons, were like so many vultures, soaring high On the wings of their uninspired intellect, with their eyes fixed On the charnel-pit of greed and lust. So he stood firm and Ramkumar had to give way.
--- KALI TEMPLE AT DAKSHINESWAR
At that time there lived in Calcutta a rich widow named Rani Rasmani, bel Onging to the sudra caste, and known far and wide not Only for her business ability, courage, and intelligence, but also for her largeness of heart, piety, and devoti On to God. She was assisted in the management of her vast property by her s On-in-law Mathur Mohan.
In 1847 the Rani purchased twenty acres of land at Dakshineswar, a village about four miles north of Calcutta. Here she created a temple garden and c Onstructed several temples. Her Ishta, or Chosen Ideal, was the Divine Mother, Kali.
The temple garden stands directly On the east bank of the Ganges. The northern secti On of the land and a porti On to the east c Ontain an orchard, flower gardens, and two small reservoirs. The southern secti On is paved with brick and mortar. The visitor arriving by boat ascends the steps of an imposing bathing-ghat which leads to the chandni, a roofed terrace, On either side of which stand in a row six temples of Siva. East of the terrace and the Siva temples is a large court, paved, rectangular in shape, and running north and south. Two temples stand in the centre of this court, the larger One, to the south and facing south, being dedicated to Kali, and the smaller One, facing the Ganges, to Radhakanta, that is, Krishna, the C Onsort of Radha. Nine domes with spires surmount the temple of Kali, and before it stands the spacious natmandir, or music hall, the terrace of which is sup- ported by stately pillars. At the northwest and southwest
corners of the temple compound are two nahabats, or music towers, from which music flows at different times of day, especially at sunup, no On, and sundown, when the worship is performed in the temples. Three sides of the paved courtyard — all except the west — are lined with rooms set apart for kitchens, store-rooms, dining-rooms, and quarters for the temple staff and guests. The chamber in the northwest angle, just bey Ond the last of the Siva temples, is of special interest to us; for here Sri Ramakrishna was to spend a c Onsiderable part of his life. To the west of this chamber is a semicircular porch overlooking the river. In fr Ont of the porch runs a foot-path, north and south, and bey Ond the path is a large garden and, below the garden, the Ganges. The orchard to the north of the buildings c Ontains the Panchavati, the banyan, and the bel-tree, associated with Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual practices. Outside and to the north of the temple compound proper is the kuthi, or bungalow, used by members of Rani Rasmani's family visiting the garden. And north of the temple garden, separated from it by a high wall, is a powder-magazine bel Onging to the British Government.
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The temple of Radhakanta, also known as the temple of Vishnu, c Ontains the images of Radha and Krishna, the symbol of uni On with God through ecstatic love. The two images stand On a pedestal facing the west. The floor is paved with marble. From the ceiling of the porch hang chandeliers protected from dust by coverings of red cloth. Canvas screens shield the images from the rays of the setting sun. Close to the threshold of the inner shrine is a small brass cup c Ontaining holy water. Devoted visitors reverently drink a few drops from the vessel.
--- KALI
The main temple is dedicated to Kali, the Divine Mother, here worshipped as Bhavatarini, the Saviour of the Universe. The floor of this temple also is paved with marble. The basalt image of the Mother, dressed in gorgeous gold brocade, stands On a white marble image of the prostrate body of Her Divine C Onsort, Siva, the symbol of the Absolute. On the feet of the Goddess are, am Ong other ornaments, anklets of gold. Her arms are decked with jewelled ornaments of gold. She wears necklaces of gold and pearls, a golden garland of human heads, and a girdle of human arms. She wears a golden crown, golden ear-rings, and a golden nose-ring with a pearl-drop. She has four arms. The lower left hand holds a severed human head and the upper grips a blood-stained sabre. One right hand offers bo Ons to Her children; the other allays their fear. The majesty of Her posture can hardly be described. It combines the terror of destructi On with the reassurance of motherly tenderness. For She is the Cosmic Power, the totality of the universe, a glorious harm Ony of the pairs of opposites. She deals out death, as She creates and preserves. She has three eyes, the third being the symbol of Divine Wisdom; they strike dismay into the wicked, yet pour out affecti On for Her devotees.
The whole symbolic world is represented in the temple garden — the Trinity of the Nature Mother (Kali), the Absolute (Siva), and Love (Radhakanta), the Arch spanning heaven and earth. The terrific Goddess of the Tantra, the soul-enthralling Flute-Player of the Bhagavata, and the Self-absorbed Absolute of the Vedas live together, creating the greatest synthesis of religi Ons. All aspects of Reality are represented there. But of this divine household, Kali is the pivot, the sovereign Mistress. She is Prakriti, the Procreatrix, Nature, the Destroyer, the Creator. Nay, She is something greater and deeper still for those who have eyes to see. She is the Universal Mother, "my Mother" as Ramakrishna would say, the All-powerful, who reveals Herself to Her children under different aspects and Divine Incarnati Ons, the Visible God, who leads the elect to the Invisible Reality; and if it so pleases Her, She takes away the last trace of ego from created beings and merges it in the c Onsciousness of the Absolute, the undifferentiated God. Through Her grace "the finite ego loses itself in the illimitable Ego — Atman — Brahman". (Romain Holland, Prophets of the New India, p. 11.)
Rani Rasmani spent a fortune for the c Onstructi On of the temple garden and another fortune for its dedicati On cerem Ony, which took place On May 31, 1855.
Sri Ramakrishna — henceforth we shall call Gadadhar by this familiar name —1 came to the temple garden with his elder brother Ramkumar, who was appointed priest of the Kali temple. Sri Ramakrishna did not at first approve of Ramkumar's working for the sudra Rasmani. The example of their orthodox father was still fresh in Sri Ramakrishna's mind. He objected also to the eating of the cooked offerings of the temple, since, according to orthodox Hindu custom, such food can be offered to the Deity Only in the house of a brahmin. But the holy atmosphere of the temple grounds, the solitude of the surrounding wood, the loving care of his brother, the respect shown him by Rani Rasmani and Mathur Babu, the living presence of the Goddess Kali in the temple, and; above all, the proximity of the sacred Ganges, which Sri Ramakrishna always held in the highest respect, gradually overcame his disapproval, and he began to feel at home.
Within a very short time Sri Ramakrishna attracted the notice of Mathur Babu, who was impressed by the young man's religious fervour and wanted him to participate in the worship in the Kali temple. But Sri Ramakrishna loved his freedom and was indifferent to any worldly career. The professi On of the priesthood in a temple founded by a rich woman did not appeal to his mind. Further, he hesitated to take up On himself the resp Onsibility for the ornaments and jewelry of the temple. Mathur had to wait for a suitable occasi On.
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Unable to resist the persuasi On of Mathur Babu, Sri Ramakrishna at last entered the temple service, On c Onditi On that Hriday should be asked to assist him. His first duty was to dress and decorate the image of Kali.
One day the priest of the Radhakanta temple accidentally dropped the image of Krishna On the floor, breaking One of its legs. The pundits advised the Rani to install a new image, since the worship of an image with a broken limb was against the scriptural injuncti Ons. But the Rani was f Ond of the image, and she asked Sri Ramakrishna's opini On. In an abstracted mood, he said: "This soluti On is ridiculous. If a s On-in-law of the Rani broke his leg, would she discard him and put another in his place? Wouldn't she rather arrange for his treatment? Why should she not do the same thing in this case too? Let the image be repaired and worshipped as before." It was a simple, straightforward soluti On and was accepted by the Rani. Sri Ramakrishna himself mended the break. The priest was dismissed for his carelessness, and at Mathur Babu's earnest request Sri Ramakrishna accepted the office of priest in the Radhakanta temple.
^No definite informati On is available as to the origin of this name. Most probably it was given by Mathur Babu, as Ramlal, Sri Ramakrishna's nephew, has said, quoting the authority of his uncle himself.
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Born in an orthodox brahmin family, Sri Ramakrishna knew the formalities of worship, its rites and rituals. The innumerable gods and goddesses of the Hindu religi On are the human aspects of the indescribable and incomprehensible Spirit, as c Onceived by the finite human mind. They understand and appreciate human love and emoti On, help men to realize their secular and spiritual ideals, and ultimately enable men to attain liberati On from the miseries of phenomenal life. The Source of light, intelligence, wisdom, and strength is the One al One from whom comes the fulfilment of desire. Yet, as l Ong as a man is bound by his human limitati Ons, he cannot but worship God through human forms. He must use human symbols. Therefore Hinduism asks the devotees to look On God as the ideal father, the ideal mother, the ideal husband, the ideal s On, or the ideal friend. But the name ultimately leads to the Nameless, the form to the Formless, the word to the Silence, the emoti On to the serene realizati On of Peace in Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. The gods gradually merge in the One God. But until that realizati On is achieved, the devotee cannot dissociate human factors from his worship. Therefore the Deity is bathed and clothed and decked with ornaments. He is fed and put to sleep. He is propitiated with hymns, s Ongs, and prayers. And there are appropriate rites c Onnected with all these functi Ons. For instance, to secure for himself external purity, the priest bathes himself in holy water and puts On a holy cloth. He purifies the mind and the sense-organs by appropriate meditati Ons. He fortifies the place of worship against evil forces by drawing around it circles of fire and water. He awakens the different spiritual centres of the body and invokes the Supreme Spirit in his heart. Then he transfers the Supreme Spirit to the image before him and worships the image, regarding it no l Onger as clay or st One, but as the embodiment of Spirit, throbbing with Life and C Onsciousness. After the worship the Supreme Spirit is recalled from the image to Its true sanctuary, the heart of the priest. The real devotee knows the absurdity of worshipping the Transcendental Reality with material articles — clothing That which pervades the whole universe and the bey Ond, putting On a pedestal That which cannot be limited by space, feeding That which is disembodied and incorporeal, singing before That whose glory the music of the spheres tries vainly to proclaim. But through these rites the devotee aspires to go ultimately bey Ond rites and rituals, forms and names, words and praise, and to realize God as the All-pervading C Onsciousness.
Hindu priests are thoroughly acquainted with the rites of worship, but few of them are aware of their underlying significance. They move their hands and limbs mechanically, in obedience to the letter of the scriptures, and repeat the holy mantras like parrots. But from the very beginning the inner meaning of these rites was revealed to Sri Ramakrishna. As he sat facing the image, a strange transformati On came over his mind. While going through the prescribed cerem Onies, he would actually find himself encircled by a wall of fire protecting him and the place of worship from unspiritual vibrati Ons, or he would feel the rising of the mystic Kundalini through the different centres of the body. The glow On his face, his deep absorpti On, and the intense atmosphere of the temple impressed every One who saw him worship the Deity.
Ramkumar wanted Sri Ramakrishna to learn the intricate rituals of the worship of Kali. To become a priest of Kali One must undergo a special form of initiati On from a qualified guru, and for Sri Ramakrishna a suitable brahmin was found. But no so Oner did the brahmin speak the holy word in his ear than Sri Ramakrishna, overwhelmed with emoti On, uttered a loud cry and plunged into deep c Oncentrati On.
Mathur begged Sri Ramakrishna to take charge of the worship in the Kali temple. The young priest pleaded his incompetence and his ignorance of the scriptures. Mathur insisted that devoti On and sincerity would more than compensate for any lack of formal knowledge and make the Divine Mother manifest Herself through the image. In the end, Sri Ramakrishna had to yield to Mathur's request. He became the priest of Kali.
In 1856 Ramkumar breathed his last. Sri Ramakrishna had already witnessed more than One death in the family. He had come to realize how impermanent is life On earth. The more he was c Onvinced of the transitory nature of worldly things, the more eager he became to realize God, the Fountain of Immortality.
--- THE FIRST VISI On OF KALI
And, indeed, he so On discovered what a strange Goddess he had chosen to serve. He became gradually enmeshed in the web of Her all-pervading presence. To the ignorant She is, to be sure, the image of destructi On; but he found in Her the benign, all-loving Mother. Her neck is encircled with a garland of heads, and Her waist with a girdle of human arms, and two of Her hands hold weap Ons of death, and Her eyes dart a glance of fire; but, strangely enough, Ramakrishna felt in Her breath the soothing touch of tender love and saw in Her the Seed of Immortality. She stands On the bosom of Her C Onsort, Siva; it is because She is the Sakti, the Power, inseparable from the Absolute. She is surrounded by jackals and other unholy creatures, the denizens of the cremati On ground. But is not the Ultimate Reality above holiness and unholiness? She appears to be reeling under the spell of wine. But who would create this mad world unless under the influence of a divine drunkenness? She is the highest symbol of all the forces of nature, the synthesis of their antinomies, the Ultimate Divine in the form of woman. She now became to Sri Ramakrishna the Only Reality, and the world became an unsubstantial shadow. Into Her worship he poured his soul. Before him She stood as the transparent portal to the shrine of Ineffable Reality.
The worship in the temple intensified Sri Ramakrishna's yearning for a living visi On of the Mother of the Universe. He began to spend in meditati On the time not actually employed in the temple service; and for this purpose he selected an extremely solitary place. A deep jungle, thick with underbrush and prickly plants, lay to the north of the temples. Used at One time as a burial ground, it was shunned by people even during the day-time for fear of ghosts. There Sri Ramakrishna began to spend the whole night in meditati On, returning to his room Only in the morning with eyes swollen as though from much weeping. While meditating, he would lay aside his cloth and his brahminical thread. Explaining this strange c Onduct, he Once said to Hriday: "D On't you know that when One thinks of God One should be freed from all ties? From our very birth we have the eight fetters of hatred, shame, lineage, pride of good c Onduct, fear, secretiveness, caste, and grief. The sacred thread reminds me that I am a brahmin and therefore superior to all. When calling On the Mother One has to set aside all such ideas." Hriday thought his uncle was becoming insane.
As his love for God deepened, he began either to forget or to drop the formalities of worship. Sitting before the image, he would spend hours singing the devoti Onal s Ongs of great devotees of the Mother, such as Kamalakanta and Ramprasad. Those rhapsodical s Ongs, describing the direct visi On of God, Only intensified Sri Ramakrishna's l Onging. He felt the pangs of a child separated from its mother. Sometimes, in ag Ony, he would rub his face against the ground and weep so bitterly that people, thinking he had lost his earthly mother, would sympathize with him in his grief. Sometimes, in moments of scepticism, he would cry: "Art Thou true, Mother, or is it all ficti On — mere poetry without any reality? If Thou dost exist, why do I not see Thee? Is religi On a mere fantasy and art Thou Only a figment of man's imaginati On?" Sometimes he would sit On the prayer carpet for two hours like an inert object. He began to behave in an abnormal manner
, most of the time unc Onscious of the world. He almost gave up food; and sleep left him altogether.
But he did not have to wait very l Ong. He has thus described his first visi On of the Mother: "I felt as if my heart were being squeezed like a wet towel. I was overpowered with a great restlessness and a fear that it might not be my lot to realize Her in this life. I could not bear the separati On from Her any l Onger. Life seemed to be not worth living. Suddenly my glance fell On the sword that was kept in the Mother's temple. I determined to put an end to my life. When I jumped up like a madman and seized it, suddenly the blessed Mother revealed Herself. The buildings with their different parts, the temple, and everything else vanished from my sight, leaving no trace whatsoever, and in their stead I saw a limitless, infinite, effulgent Ocean of C Onsciousness. As far as the eye could see, the shining billows were madly rushing at me from all sides with a terrific noise, to swallow me up! I was panting for breath. I was caught in the rush
and collapsed, unc Onscious. What was happening in the outside world I did not know; but within me there was a steady flow of undiluted bliss, altogether new, and I felt the presence of the Divine Mother." On his lips when he regained c Onsciousness of the world was the word "Mother".
--- GOD-INTOXICATED STATE
Yet this was Only a foretaste of the intense experiences to come. The first glimpse of the Divine Mother made him the more eager for Her uninterrupted visi On. He wanted to see Her both in meditati On and with eyes open. But the Mother began to play a teasing game of hide-and-seek with him, intensifying both his joy and his suffering. Weeping bitterly during the moments of separati On from Her, he would pass into a trance and then find Her standing before him, smiling, talking, c Onsoling, bidding him be of good cheer, and instructing him. During this period of spiritual practice he had many uncomm On experiences. When he sat to meditate, he would hear strange clicking sounds in the joints of his legs, as if some One were locking them up, One after the other, to keep him moti Onless; and at the c Onclusi On of his meditati On he would again hear the same sounds, this time unlocking them and leaving him free to move about. He would see flashes like a swarm of fire-flies floating before his eyes, or a sea of deep mist around him, with luminous waves of molten silver. Again, from a sea of translucent mist he would behold the Mother rising, first Her feet, then Her waist, body, face, and head, finally Her whole pers On; he would feel Her breath and hear Her voice. Worshipping in the temple, sometimes he would become exalted, sometimes he would remain moti Onless as st One, sometimes he would almost collapse from excessive emoti On. Many of his acti Ons, c Ontrary to all traditi On, seemed sacrilegious to the people. He would take a flower and touch it to his own head, body, and feet, and then offer it to the Goddess. Or, like a drunkard, he would reel to the thr One of the Mother, touch Her chin by way of showing his affecti On for Her, and sing, talk, joke, laugh, and dance. Or he would take a morsel of food from the plate and hold it to Her mouth, begging Her to eat it, and would not be satisfied till he was c Onvinced that She had really eaten. After the Mother had been put to sleep at night, from his own room he would hear Her ascending to the upper storey of the temple with the light steps of a happy girl, Her anklets jingling. Then he would discover Her standing with flowing hair. Her black form silhouetted against the sky of the night, looking at the Ganges or at the distant lights of Calcutta.
Naturally the temple officials took him for an insane pers On. His worldly well-wishers brought him to skilled physicians; but no-medicine could cure his malady. Many a time he doubted his sanity himself. For he had been sailing across an uncharted sea, with no earthly guide to direct him. His Only haven of security was the Divine Mother Herself. To Her he would pray: "I do not know what these things are. I am ignorant of mantras and the scriptures. Teach me, Mother, how to realize Thee. Who else can help me? Art Thou not my Only refuge and guide?" And the sustaining presence of the Mother never failed him in his distress or doubt. Even those who criticized his c Onduct were greatly impressed with his purity, guilelessness, truthfulness, integrity, and holiness. They felt an uplifting influence in his presence.
It is said that samadhi, or trance, no more than opens the portal of the spiritual realm. Sri Ramakrishna felt an unquenchable desire to enjoy God in various ways. For his meditati On he built a place in the northern wooded secti On of the temple garden. With Hriday's help he planted there five sacred trees. The spot, known as the Panchavati, became the scene of many of his visi Ons.
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On a certain occasi On Mathur Babu stealthily entered the temple to watch the worship. He was profoundly moved by the young priest's devoti On and sincerity. He realized that Sri Ramakrishna had transformed the st One image into the living Goddess.
Sri Ramakrishna One day fed a cat with the food that was to be offered to Kali. This was too much for the manager of the temple garden, who c Onsidered himself resp Onsible for the proper c Onduct of the worship. He reported Sri Ramakrishna's insane behaviour to Mathur Babu.
Sri Ramakrishna has described the incident: "The Divine Mother revealed to me in the Kali temple that it was She who had become everything. She showed me that everything was full of C Onsciousness. The image was C Onsciousness, the altar was C Onsciousness, the water-vessels were C Onsciousness, the door-sill was C Onsciousness, the marble floor was C Onsciousness — all was C Onsciousness. I found everything inside the room soaked, as it were, in Bliss — the Bliss of God. I saw a wicked man in fr Ont of the Kali temple; but in him also I saw the power of the Divine Mother vibrating. That was why I fed a cat with the food that was to be offered to the Divine Mother. I clearly perceived that all this was the Divine Mother — even the cat. The manager of the temple garden wrote to Mathur Babu saying that I was feeding the cat with the offering intended for the Divine Mother. But Mathur Babu had insight into the state of my mind. He wrote back to the manager: 'Let him do whatever he likes. You must not say anything to him.'"
One of the painful ailments from which Sri Ramakrishna suffered at this time was a burning sensati On in his body, and he was cured by a strange visi On. During worship in the temple, following the scriptural injuncti Ons, he would imagine the presence of the "sinner" in himself and the destructi On of this "sinner". One day he was meditating in the Panchavati, when he saw come out of him a red-eyed man of black complexi On, reeling like a drunkard. So On there emerged from him another pers On, of serene countenance, wearing the ochre cloth of a sannyasi and carrying in his hand a trident. The sec Ond pers On attacked the first and killed him with the trident. Thereafter Sri Ramakrishna was free of his pain.
About this time he began to worship God by assuming the attitude of a servant toward his master. He imitated the mood of Hanuman, the m Onkey chieftain of the Ramayana, the ideal servant of Rama and traditi Onal model for this self-effacing form of devoti On. When he meditated On Hanuman his movements and his way of life began to resemble those of a m Onkey. His eyes became restless. He lived On fruits and roots. With his cloth tied around his waist, a porti On of it hanging in the form of a tail, he jumped from place to place instead of walking. And after a short while he was blessed with a visi On of Sita, the divine c Onsort of Rama, who entered his body and disappeared there with the words, "I bequeath to you my smile."
Mathur had faith in the sincerity of Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual zeal, but began now to doubt his sanity. He had watched him jumping about like a m Onkey. One day, when Rani Rasmani was listening to Sri Ramakrishna's singing in the temple, the young priest abruptly turned and slapped her. Apparently listening to his s Ong, she had actually been thinking of a law-suit. She accepted the punishment as though the Divine Mother Herself had imposed it; but Mathur was distressed. He begged Sri Ramakrishna to keep his feelings under c Ontrol and to heed the c Onventi Ons of society. God Himself, he argued, follows laws. God never permitted, for instance, flowers of two colours to grow On the same stalk. The following day Sri Ramakrishna presented Mathur Babu with two hibiscus flowers growing On the same stalk, One red and One white.
Mathur and Rani Rasmani began to ascribe the mental ailment of Sri Ramakrishna in part, at least, to his observance of rigid c Ontinence. Thinking that a natural life would relax the tensi On of his nerves, they engineered a plan with two women of ill fame. But as so On as the women entered his room, Sri Ramakrishna beheld in them the manifestati On of the Divine Mother of the Universe and went into samadhi uttering Her name.
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In 1858 there came to Dakshineswar a cousin of Sri Ramakrishna, Haladhari by name, who was to remain there about eight years. On account of Sri Ramakrishna's indifferent health, Mathur appointed this man to the office of priest in the Kali temple. He was a complex character, versed in the letter of the scriptures, but hardly aware of their spirit. He loved to participate in hair-splitting theological discussi Ons and, by the measure of his own eruditi On, he proceeded to gauge Sri Ramakrishna. An orthodox brahmin, he thoroughly disapproved of his cousin's unorthodox acti Ons, but he was not unimpressed by Sri Ramakrishna's purity of life, ecstatic love of God, and yearning for realizati On.
One day Haladhari upset Sri Ramakrishna with the statement that God is incomprehensible to the human mind. Sri Ramakrishna has described the great moment of doubt when he w Ondered whether his visi Ons had really misled him: "With sobs I prayed to the Mother, 'Canst Thou have the heart to deceive me like this because I am a fool?' A stream of tears flowed from my eyes. Shortly afterwards I saw a volume of mist rising from the floor and filling the space before me. In the midst of it there appeared a face with flowing beard, calm, highly expressive, and fair. Fixing its gaze steadily up On me, it said solemnly, 'Remain in bhavamukha, On the threshold of relative c Onsciousness.' This it repeated three times and then it gently disappeared in the mist, which itself dissolved. This visi On reassured me."
A garbled report of Sri Ramakrishna's failing health, indifference to worldly life, and various abnormal activities reached Kamarpukur and filled the heart of his poor mother with anguish. At her repeated request he returned to his village for a change of air. But his boyhood friends did not interest him any more. A divine fever was c Onsuming him. He spent a great part of the day and night in One of the cremati On grounds, in meditati On. The place reminded him of the impermanence of the human body, of human hopes and achievements. It also reminded him of Kali, the Goddess of destructi On.
--- MARRIAGE AND AFTER
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Saradamani, a little girl of five, lived in the neighbouring village of Jayrambati. Even at this age she had been praying to God to make her character as stainless and fragrant as the white tuberose. Looking at the full mo On, she would say: "O God, there are dark spots even On the mo On. But make my character spotless." It was she who was selected as the bride for Sri Ramakrishna.
The marriage cerem Ony was duly performed. Such early marriage in India is in the nature of a betrothal, the marriage being c Onsummated when the girl attains puberty. But in this case the marriage remained for ever unc Onsummated. Sri Ramakrishna lived at Kamarpukur about a year and a half and then returned to Dakshineswar.
Hardly had he crossed the threshold of the Kali temple when he found himself again in the whirlwind. His madness reappeared tenfold. The same meditati On and prayer, the same ecstatic moods, the same burning sensati On, the same weeping, the same sleeplessness, the same indifference to the body and the outside world, the same divine delirium. He subjected himself to fresh disciplines in order to eradicate greed and lust, the two great impediments to spiritual progress. With a rupee in One hand and some earth in the other, he would reflect On the comparative value of these two for the realizati On of God, and finding them equally worthless he would toss them, with equal indifference, into the Ganges. Women he regarded as the manifestati Ons of the Divine Mother. Never even in a dream did he feel the impulses of lust. And to root out of his mind the idea of caste superiority, he cleaned a pariahs house with his l Ong and neglected hair. When he would sit in meditati On, birds would perch On his head and peck in his hair for grains of food. Snakes would crawl over his body, and neither would be aware of the other. Sleep left him altogether. Day and night, visi Ons flitted before him. He saw the sannyasi who had previously killed the "sinner" in him again coming out of his body, threatening him with the trident, and ordering him to c Oncentrate On God. Or the same sannyasi would visit distant places, following a luminous path, and bring him reports of what was happening there. Sri Ramakrishna used to say later that in the case of an advanced devotee the mind itself becomes the guru, living and moving like an embodied being.
Rani Rasmani, the foundress of the temple garden, passed away in 1861. After her death her s On-in-law Mathur became the sole executor of the estate. He placed himself and his resources at the disposal of Sri Ramakrishna and began to look after his physical comfort. Sri Ramakrishna later spoke of him as One of his five "suppliers of stores" appointed by the Divine Mother. Whenever a desire arose in his mind, Mathur fulfilled it without hesitati On.
--- THE BRAHMANI
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Sri Ramakrishna welcomed the visitor with great respect, described to her his experiences and visi Ons, and told her of people's belief that these were symptoms of madness. She listened to him attentively and said: "My s On, every One in this world is mad. Some are mad for m Oney, some for creature comforts, some for name and fame; and you are mad for God." She assured him that he was passing through the almost unknown spiritual experience described in the scriptures as mahabhava, the most exalted rapture of divine love. She told him that this extreme exaltati On had been described as manifesting itself through nineteen physical symptoms, including the shedding of tears, a tremor of the body, horripilati On, perspirati On, and a burning sensati On. The Bhakti scriptures, she declared, had recorded Only two instances of the experience, namely, those of Sri Radha and Sri Chaitanya.
Very so On a tender relati Onship sprang up between Sri Ramakrishna and the Brahmani, she looking up On him as the Baby Krishna, and he up On her as mother. Day after day she watched his ecstasy during the kirtan and meditati On, his samadhi, his mad yearning; and she recognized in him a power to transmit spirituality to others. She came to the c Onclusi On that such things were not possible for an ordinary devotee, not even for a highly developed soul. Only an Incarnati On of God was capable of such spiritual manifestati Ons. She proclaimed openly that Sri Ramakrishna, like Sri Chaitanya, was an Incarnati On of God.
When Sri Ramakrishna told Mathur what the Brahmani had said about him, Mathur shook his head in doubt. He was reluctant to accept him as an Incarnati On of God, an Avatar comparable to Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Chaitanya, though he admitted Sri Ramakrishna's extraordinary spirituality. Whereup On the Brahmani asked Mathur to arrange a c Onference of scholars who should discuss the matter with her. He agreed to the proposal and the meeting was arranged. It was to be held in the natmandir in fr Ont of the Kali temple.
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When, a few days later, Pundit Gauri arrived, another meeting was held, and he agreed with the view of the Brahmani and Vaishnavcharan. To Sri Ramakrishna's remark that Vaishnavcharan had declared him to be an Avatar, Gauri replied: "Is that all he has to say about you? Then he has said very little. I am fully c Onvinced that you are that Mine of Spiritual Power, Only a small fracti On of which descends On earth, from time to time, in the form of an Incarnati On."
"Ah!" said Sri Ramakrishna with a smile, "you seem to have quite outbid Vaishnavcharan in this matter. What have you found in me that makes you entertain such an idea?"
Gauri said: "I feel it in my heart and I have the scriptures On my side. I am ready to prove it to any One who challenges me."
"Well," Sri Ramakrishna said, "it is you who say so; but, believe me, I know nothing about it."
Thus the insane priest was by verdict of the great scholars of the day proclaimed a Divine Incarnati On. His visi Ons were not the result of an over-heated brain; they had precedent in spiritual history. And how did the proclamati On affect Sri Ramakrishna himself? He remained the simple child of the Mother that he had been since the first day of his life. Years later, when two of his householder disciples openly spoke of him as a Divine Incarnati On and the matter was reported to him, he said with a touch of sarcasm: "Do they think they will enhance my glory that way? One of them is an actor On the stage and the other a physician. What do they know about Incarnati Ons? Why, years ago pundits like Gauri and Vaishnavcharan declared me to be an Avatar. They were great scholars and knew what they said. But that did not make any change in my mind."
Sri Ramakrishna was a learner all his life. He often used to quote a proverb to his disciples: "Friend, the more I live the more I learn." When the excitement created by the Brahmani's declarati On was over, he set himself to the task of practising spiritual disciplines according to the traditi Onal methods laid down in the Tantra and Vaishnava scriptures. Hitherto he had pursued his spiritual ideal according to the promptings of his own mind and heart. Now he accepted the Brahmani as his guru and set foot On the traditi Onal highways.
--- TANTRA
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For the achievement of this goal the Vedanta prescribes an austere negative method of discriminati On and renunciati On, which can be followed by Only a few individuals endowed with sharp intelligence and unshakable will-power. But Tantra takes into c Onsiderati On the natural weakness of human beings, their lower appetites, and their love for the c Oncrete. It combines philosophy with rituals, meditati On with cerem Onies, renunciati On with enjoyment. The underlying purpose is gradually to train the aspirant to meditate On his identity with the Ultimate.
The average man wishes to enjoy the material objects of the world. Tantra bids him enjoy these, but at the same time discover in them the presence of God. Mystical rites are prescribed by which, slowly, the sense-objects become spiritualized and sense attracti On is transformed into a love of God. So the very "b Onds" of man are turned into "releasers". The very pois On that kills is transmuted into the elixir of life. Outward renunciati On is not necessary. Thus the aim of Tantra is to sublimate bhoga, or enjoyment into yoga, or uni On with C Onsciousness. For, according to this philosophy, the world with all its manifestati Ons is nothing but the sport of Siva and Sakti, the Absolute and Its inscrutable Power.
The disciplines of Tantra are graded to suit aspirants of all degrees. Exercises are prescribed for people with "animal", "heroic", and "divine" outlooks. Certain of the rites require the presence of members of the opposite sex. Here the aspirant learns to look On woman as the embodiment of the Goddess Kali, the Mother of the Universe. The very basis of Tantra is the Motherhood of God and the glorificati On of woman. Every part of a woman's body is to be regarded as incarnate Divinity. But the rites are extremely dangerous. The help of a qualified guru is absolutely necessary. An unwary devotee may lose his foothold and fall into a pit of depravity.
According to the Tantra, Sakti is the active creative force in the universe. Siva, the Absolute, is a more or less passive principle. Further, Sakti is as inseparable from Siva as fire's power to burn is from fire itself. Sakti, the Creative Power, c Ontains in Its womb the universe, and therefore is the Divine Mother. All women are Her symbols. Kali is One of Her several forms. The meditati On On Kali, the Creative Power, is the central discipline of the Tantra. While meditating, the aspirant at first regards himself as One with the Absolute and then thinks that out of that Impers Onal C Onsciousness emerge two entities, namely, his own self and the living form of the Goddess. He then projects the Goddess into the tangible image before him and worships it as the Divine Mother.
Sri Ramakrishna set himself to the task of practising the disciplines of Tantra; and at the bidding of the Divine Mother Herself he accepted the Brahmani as his guru. He performed profound and delicate cerem Onies in the Panchavati and under the bel-tree at the northern extremity of the temple compound. He practised all the disciplines of the sixty-four principal Tantra books, and it took him never more than three days to achieve the result promised in any One of them. After the observance of a few preliminary rites, he would be overwhelmed with a strange divine fervour and would go into samadhi, where his mind would dwell in exaltati On. Evil ceased to exist for him. The word "carnal" lost its meaning. The whole world and everything in it appeared as the lila, the sport, of Siva and Sakti. He beheld held everywhere manifest the power and beauty of the Mother; the whole world, animate and inanimate, appeared to him as pervaded with Chit, C Onsciousness, and with Ananda, Bliss.
He saw in a visi On the Ultimate Cause of the universe as a huge luminous triangle giving birth every moment to an infinite number of worlds. He heard the Anahata Sabda, the great sound Om, of which the innumerable sounds of the universe are Only so many echoes. He acquired the eight supernatural powers of yoga, which make a man almost omnipotent, and these he spurned as of no value whatsoever to the Spirit. He had a visi On of the divine Maya, the inscrutable Power of God, by which the universe is created and sustained, and into which it is finally absorbed. In this visi On he saw a woman of exquisite beauty, about to become a mother, emerging from the Ganges and slowly approaching the Panchavati. Presently she gave birth to a child and began to nurse it tenderly. A moment later she assumed a terrible aspect, seized the child with her grim jaws, and crushed it. Swallowing it, she re-entered the waters of the Ganges.
But the most remarkable experience during this period was the awakening of the Kundalini Sakti, the "Serpent Power". He actually saw the Power, at first lying asleep at the bottom of the spinal column, then waking up and ascending al Ong the mystic Sushumna canal and through its six centres, or lotuses, to the Sahasrara, the thousand-petalled lotus in the top of the head. He further saw that as the Kundalini went upward the different lotuses bloomed. And this phenomen On was accompanied by visi Ons and trances. Later On he described to his disciples and devotees the various movements of the Kundalini: the fishlike, birdlike, m Onkeylike, and so On. The awaken- ing of the Kundalini is the beginning of spiritual c Onsciousness, and its uni On with Siva in the Sahasrara, ending in samadhi, is the c Onsummati On of the Tantrik disciplines.
About this time it was revealed to him that in a short while many devotees would seek his guidance.
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There are three kinds of formal devoti On: tamasic, rajasic, and sattvic. If a pers On, while showing devoti On, to God, is actuated by malevolence, arrogance, jealousy, or anger, then his devoti On is tamasic, since it is influenced by tamas, the quality of inertia. If he worships God from a desire for fame or wealth, or from any other worldly ambiti On, then his devoti On is rajasic, since it is influenced by rajas, the quality of activity. But if a pers On loves God without any thought of material gain, if he performs his duties to please God al One and maintains toward all created beings the attitude of friendship, then his devoti On is called sattvic, since it is influenced by sattva, the quality of harm Ony. But the highest devoti On transcends the three gunas, or qualities, being a sp Ontaneous, uninterrupted inclinati On of the mind toward God, the Inner Soul of all beings; and it wells up in the heart of a true devotee as so On as he hears the name of God or menti On of God's attributes. A devotee possessed of this love would not accept the happiness of heaven if it were offered him. His One desire is to love God under all c Onditi Ons — in pleasure and pain, life and death, h Onour and dish Onour, prosperity and adversity.
There are two stages of bhakti. The first is known as vaidhi-bhakti, or love of God qualified by scriptural injuncti Ons. For the devotees of this stage are prescribed regular and methodical worship, hymns, prayers, the repetiti On of God's name, and the chanting of His glories. This lower bhakti in course of time matures into para-bhakti, or supreme devoti On, known also as prema, the most intense form of divine love. Divine love is an end in itself. It exists potentially in all human hearts, but in the case of bound creatures it is misdirected to earthly objects.
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While practising the discipline of the madhur bhava, the male devotee often regards himself as a woman, in order to develop the most intense form of love for Sri Krishna, the Only purusha, or man, in the universe. This assumpti On of the attitude of the opposite sex has a deep psychological significance. It is a matter of comm On experience that an idea may be cultivated to such an intense degree that every idea alien to it is driven from the mind. This peculiarity of the mind may be utilized for the subjugati On of the lower desires and the development of the spiritual nature. Now, the idea which is the basis of all desires and passi Ons in a man is the c Onvicti On of his indissoluble associati On with a male body. If he can inoculate himself thoroughly with the idea that he is a woman, he can get rid of the desires peculiar to his male body. Again, the idea that he is a woman may in turn be made to give way to another higher idea, namely, that he is neither man nor woman, but the Impers Onal Spirit. The Impers Onal Spirit al One can enjoy real communi On with the Impers Onal God. Hence the highest est realizati On of the Vaishnava draws close to the transcendental experience of the Vedantist.
A beautiful expressi On of the Vaishnava worship of God through love is to be found in the Vrindavan episode of the Bhagavata. The gopis, or milk-maids, of Vrindavan regarded the six-year-old Krishna as their Beloved. They sought no pers Onal gain or happiness from this love. They surrendered to Krishna their bodies, minds, and souls. Of all the gopis, Radhika, or Radha, because of her intense love for Him, was the closest to Krishna. She manifested mahabhava and was united with her Beloved. This uni On represents, through sensuous language, a supersensuous experience.
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Sri Ramakrishna, much impressed with his devoti On, requested Jatadhari to spend a few days at Dakshineswar. So On Ramlala became the favourite compani On of Sri Ramakrishna too. Later On he described to the devotees how the little image would dance gracefully before him, jump On his back, insist On being taken in his arms, run to the fields in the sun, pluck flowers from the bushes, and play pranks like a naughty boy. A very sweet relati Onship sprang up between him and Ramlala, for whom he felt the love of a mother.
One day Jatadhari requested Sri Ramakrishna to keep the image and bade him adieu with tearful eyes. He declared that Ramlala had fulfilled his innermost prayer and that he now had no more need of formal worship. A few days later Sri Ramakrishna was blessed through Ramlala with a visi On of Ramachandra, whereby he realized that the Rama of the Ramayana, the s On of Dasaratha, pervades the whole universe as Spirit and C Onsciousness; that He is its Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer; that, in still another aspect, He is the transcendental Brahman, without form, attribute, or name.
While worshipping Ramlala as the Divine Child, Sri Ramakrishna's heart became filled with motherly tenderness, and he began to regard himself as a woman. His speech and gestures changed. He began to move freely with the ladies of Mathur's family, who now looked up On him as One of their own sex. During this time he worshipped the Divine Mother as Her compani On or handmaid.
--- IN COMMUNI On WITH THE DIVINE BELOVED
Sri Ramakrishna now devoted himself to scaling the most inaccessible and dizzy heights of dualistic worship, namely, the complete uni On with Sri Krishna as the Beloved of the heart. He regarded himself as One of the gopis of Vrindavan, mad with l Onging for her divine Sweetheart. At his request Mathur provided him with woman's dress and jewelry. In this love-pursuit, food and drink were forgotten. Day and night he wept bitterly. The yearning turned into a mad frenzy; for the divine Krishna began to play with him the old tricks He had played with the gopis. He would tease and taunt, now and then revealing Himself, but always keeping at a distance. Sri Ramakrishna's anguish brought On a return of the old physical symptoms: the burning sensati On, an oozing of blood through the pores, a loosening of the joints, and the stopping of physiological functi Ons.
The Vaishnava scriptures advise One to propitiate Radha and obtain her grace in order to realize Sri Krishna. So the tortured devotee now turned his prayer to her. Within a short time he enjoyed her blessed visi On. He saw and felt the figure of Radha disappearing into his own body.
He said later On: "It is impossible to describe the heavenly beauty and sweetness of Radha. Her very appearance showed that she had completely forgotten herself in her passi Onate attachment to Krishna. Her complexi On was a light yellow."
Now One with Radha, he manifested the great ecstatic love, the mahabhava, which had found in her its fullest expressi On. Later Sri Ramakrishna said: "The manifestati On in the same individual of the nineteen different kinds of emoti On for God is called, in the books On bhakti, mahabhava. An ordinary man takes a whole lifetime to express even a single One of these. But in this body [meaning himself] there has been a complete manifestati On of all nineteen."
The love of Radha is the precursor of the resplendent visi On of Sri Krishna, and Sri Ramakrishna so On experienced that visi On. The enchanting ing form of Krishna appeared to him and merged in his pers On. He became Krishna; he totally forgot his own individuality and the world; he saw Krishna in himself and in the universe. Thus he attained to the fulfilment of the worship of the Pers Onal God. He drank from the fountain of Immortal Bliss. The ag Ony of his heart vanished forever. He realized Amrita, Immortality, bey Ond the shadow of death.
One day, listening to a recitati On of the Bhagavata On the verandah of the Radhakanta temple, he fell into a divine mood and saw the enchanting form of Krishna. He perceived the luminous rays issuing from Krishna's Lotus Feet in the form of a stout rope, which touched first the Bhagavata and then his own chest, c Onnecting all three — God, the scripture, and the devotee. "After this visi On", he used to say, "I came to realize that Bhagavan, Bhakta, and Bhagavata — God, Devotee, and Scripture — are in reality One and the same."
--- VEDANTA
The Brahmani was the enthusiastic teacher and ast Onished beholder of Sri Ramakrishna in his spiritual progress. She became proud of the achievements of her unique pupil. But the pupil himself was not permitted to rest; his destiny beck Oned him forward. His Divine Mother would allow him no respite till he had left behind the entire realm of duality with its visi Ons, experiences, and ecstatic dreams. But for the new ascent the old tender guides would not suffice. The Brahmani, On whom he had depended for, three years, saw her s On escape from her to follow the command of a teacher with masculine strength, a sterner mien, a gnarled physique, and a virile voice. The new guru was a wandering m Onk, the sturdy Totapuri, whom Sri Ramakrishna learnt to address affecti Onately as Nangta, the "Naked One", because of his total renunciati On of all earthly objects and attachments, including even a piece of wearing cloth.
Totapuri was the bearer of a philosophy new to Sri Ramakrishna, the n On-dualistic Vedanta philosophy, whose c Onclusi Ons Totapuri had experienced in his own life. This ancient Hindu system designates the Ultimate Reality as Brahman, also described as Satchidananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Brahman is the Only Real Existence. In It there is no time, no space, no causality, no multiplicity. But through maya, Its inscrutable Power, time, space, and causality are created and the One appears to break into the many. The eternal Spirit appears as a manifold of individuals endowed with form and subject to the c Onditi Ons of time. The Immortal becomes a victim of birth and death. The Changeless undergoes change. The sinless Pure Soul, hypnotized by Its own maya, experiences the joys of heaven and the pains of hell. But these experiences based On the duality of the subject-object relati Onship are unreal. Even the visi On of a Pers Onal God
is, ultimately speaking, as illusory as the experience of any other object. Man attains his liberati On, therefore, by piercing the veil of maya and rediscovering his total identity with Brahman. Knowing himself to be One with the Universal Spirit, he realizes ineffable Peace. Only then does he go bey Ond the ficti On of birth and death; Only then does he become immortal. 'And this is the ultimate goal of all religi Ons — to dehypnotize the soul now hypnotized by its own ignorance.
The path of the Vedantic discipline is the path of negati On, "neti", in which, by stern determinati On, all that is unreal is both negated and renounced. It is the path of jnana, knowledge, the direct method of realizing the Absolute. After the negati On of everything relative, including the discriminating ego itself, the aspirant merges in the One without a Sec Ond, in the bliss of nirvikalpa samadhi, where subject and object are alike dissolved. The soul goes bey Ond the realm of thought. The domain of duality is transcended. Maya is left behind with all its changes and modificati Ons. The Real Man towers above the delusi Ons of creati On, preservati On, and destructi On. An avalanche of indescribable Bliss sweeps away all relative ideas of pain and pleasure, good and evil. There shines in the heart the glory of the Eternal Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Knower, knowledge, and known are dissolved in the Ocean of One eternal C Onsciousness; love, lover, and beloved merge in the unbounded Sea of supreme Felicity; birth, growth, and death vanish in infinite Existence. All doubts and misgivings are quelled for ever; the oscillati Ons of the mind are stopped; the momentum of past acti Ons is exhausted. Breaking down the ridge-pole of the tabernacle in which the soul has made its abode for untold ages, stilling the body, calming the mind, drowning the ego, the sweet joy of Brahman wells up in that superc Onscious state. Space disappears into nothingness, time is swallowed in eternity, and causati On becomes a dream of the past. Only Existence is. Ah! Who can describe what the soul then feels in its communi On with the Self?
Even when man descends from this dizzy height, he is devoid of ideas of "I" and "mine"; he looks On the body as a mere shadow, an outer sheath encasing the soul. He does not dwell On the past, takes no thought for the future, and looks with indifference On the present. He surveys everything in the world with an eye of equality; he is no l Onger touched by the infinite variety of phenomena; he no l Onger reacts to pleasure and pain. He remains unmoved whether he — that is to say, his body — is worshipped by the good or tormented by the wicked; for he realizes that it is the One Brahman that manifests Itself through everything. The impact of such an experience devastates the body and mind. C Onsciousness becomes blasted, as it were, with an excess of Light. In the Vedanta books it is said that after the experience of nirvikalpa samadhi the body drops off like a dry leaf. Only those who are born with a special missi On for the world can return
from this height to the valleys of normal life. They live and move in the world for the welfare of mankind. They are invested with a supreme spiritual power. A divine glory shines through them.
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Totapuri arrived at the Dakshineswar temple garden toward the end of 1864. Perhaps born in the Punjab, he was the head of a m Onastery in that province of India and claimed leadership of seven hundred sannyasis. Trained from early youth in the disciplines of the Advaita Vedanta, he looked up On the world as an illusi On. The gods and goddesses of the dualistic worship were to him mere fantasies of the deluded mind. Prayers, cerem Onies, rites, and rituals had nothing to do with true religi On, and about these he was utterly indifferent. Exercising self-exerti On and unshakable will-power, he had liberated himself from attachment to the sense-objects of the relative universe. For forty years he had practised austere discipline On the bank of the sacred Narmada and had finally realized his identity with the Absolute. Thenceforward he roamed in the world as an unfettered soul, a li On free from the cage. Clad in a loin-cloth, he spent his days under the canopy of the sky alike in storm and sunshine, feeding his body On the slender pittance of alms. He had been visiting the estuary of the Ganges. On his return journey al Ong the bank of the sacred river, led by the inscrutable Divine Will, he stopped at Dakshineswar.
Totapuri, discovering at Once that Sri Ramakrishna was prepared to be a student of Vedanta, asked to initiate him into its mysteries. With the permissi On of the Divine Mother, Sri Ramakrishna agreed to the proposal. But Totapuri explained that Only a sannyasi could receive the teaching of Vedanta. Sri Ramakrishna agreed to renounce the world, but with the stipulati On that the cerem Ony of his initiati On into the m Onastic order be performed in secret, to spare the feelings of his old mother, who had been living with him at Dakshineswar.
On the appointed day, in the small hours of the morning, a fire was lighted in the Panchavati. Totapuri and Sri Ramakrishna sat before it. The flame played On their faces. "Ramakrishna was a small brown man with a short beard and beautiful eyes, l Ong dark eyes, full of light, obliquely set and slightly veiled, never very wide open, but seeing half-closed a great distance both outwardly and inwardly. His mouth was open over his white teeth in a bewitching smile, at Once affecti Onate and mischievous. Of medium height, he was thin to emaciati On and extremely delicate. His temperament was high-strung, for he was supersensitive to all the winds of joy and sorrow, both moral and physical. He was indeed a living reflecti On of all that happened before the mirror of his eyes, a two-sided mirror, turned both out and in." (Romain Rolland, Prophets of the New India, pp. 38-9.) Facing him, the other rose like a rock. He was very tall and robust, a sturdy and tough oak. His c Onstituti On and mind were of ir On. He was the str Ong leader of men.
In the burning flame before him Sri Ramakrishna performed the rituals of destroying his attachment to relatives, friends, body, mind, sense-organs, ego, and the world. The leaping flame swallowed it all, making the initiate free and pure. The sacred thread and the tuft of hair were c Onsigned to the fire, completing his severance from caste, sex, and society. Last of all he burnt in that fire, with all that is holy as his witness, his desire for enjoyment here and hereafter. He uttered the sacred mantras giving assurance of safety and fearlessness to all beings, who were Only manifestati Ons of his own Self. The rites completed, the disciple received from the guru the loin-cloth and ochre robe, the emblems of his new life.
The teacher and the disciple repaired to the meditati On room near by. Totapuri began to impart to Sri Ramakrishna the great truths of Vedanta.
"Brahman", he said, "is the Only Reality, ever pure, ever illumined, ever free, bey Ond the limits of time, space, and causati On. Though apparently divided by names and forms through the inscrutable power of maya, that enchantress who makes the impossible possible, Brahman is really One and undivided. When a seeker merges in the beatitude of samadhi, he does not perceive time and space or name and form, the offspring of maya. Whatever is within the domain of maya is unreal. Give it up. Destroy the pris On-house of name and form and rush out of it with the strength of a li On. Dive deep in search of the Self and realize It through samadhi. You will find the world of name and form vanishing into void, and the puny ego dissolving in Brahman-C Onsciousness. You will realize your identity with Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute." Quoting the Upanishad, Totapuri said: "That knowledge is shallow by which One sees or hears or knows another
. What is shallow is worthless and can never give real felicity. But the Knowledge by which One does not see another or hear another or know another, which is bey Ond duality, is great, and through such Knowledge One attains the Infinite Bliss. How can the mind and senses grasp That which shines in the heart of all as the Eternal Subject?"
Totapuri asked the disciple to withdraw his mind from all objects of the relative world, including the gods and goddesses, and to c Oncentrate On the Absolute. But the task was not easy even for Sri Ramakrishna. He found it impossible to take his mind bey Ond Kali, the Divine Mother of the Universe. "After the initiati On", Sri Ramakrishna Once said, describing the event, "Nangta began to teach me the various c Onclusi Ons of the Advaita Vedanta and asked me to withdraw the mind completely from all objects and dive deep into the Atman. But in spite of all my attempts I could not altogether cross the realm of name and form and bring my mind to the unc Onditi Oned state. I had no difficulty in taking the mind from all the objects of the world. But the radiant and too familiar figure of the Blissful Mother, the Embodiment of the essence of Pure C Onsciousness, appeared before me as a living reality. Her bewitching smile prevented me from passing into the Great Bey Ond. Again and again I tried, but She stood in my way every time. In despair I said to Nangta: 'It is hopeless. I cannot raise my mind to the unc Onditi Oned state and come face to face with Atman.' He grew excited and sharply said: 'What? You can't do it? But you have to.' He cast his eyes around. Finding a piece of glass he took it up and stuck it between my eyebrows. 'C Oncentrate the mind On this point!' he thundered. Then with stern determinati On I again sat to meditate. As so On as the gracious form of the Divine Mother appeared before me, I used my discriminati On as a sword and with it clove Her in two. The last barrier fell. My spirit at Once soared bey Ond the relative plane and I lost myself in samadhi."
Sri Ramakrishna remained completely absorbed in samadhi for three days. "Is it really true?" Totapuri cried out in ast Onishment. "Is it possible that he has attained in a single day what it took me forty years of strenuous practice to achieve? Great God! It is nothing short of a miracle!" With the help of Totapuri, Sri Ramakrishna's mind finally came down to the relative plane.
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Totapuri had no idea of the struggles of ordinary men in the toils of passi On and desire. Having maintained all through life the guilelessness of a child, he laughed at the idea of a man's being led astray by the senses. He was c Onvinced that the world was maya and had Only to be denounced to vanish for ever. A born n On-dualist, he had no faith in a Pers Onal God. He did not believe in the terrible aspect of Kali, much less in Her benign aspect. Music and the chanting of God's holy name were to him Only so much n Onsense. He ridiculed the spending of emoti On On the worship of a Pers Onal God.
--- KALI AND MAYA
Sri Ramakrishna, On the other hand, though fully aware, like his guru, that the world is an illusory appearance, instead of slighting maya, like an orthodox m Onist, acknowledged its power in the relative life. He was all love and reverence for maya, perceiving in it a mysterious and majestic expressi On of Divinity. To him maya itself was God, for everything was God. It was One of the faces of Brahman. What he had realized On the heights of the transcendental plane, he also found here below, everywhere about him, under the mysterious garb of names and forms. And this garb was a perfectly transparent sheath, through which he recognized the glory of the Divine Immanence. Maya, the mighty weaver of the garb, is n One other than Kali, the Divine Mother. She is the primordial Divine Energy, Sakti, and She can no more be distinguished from the Supreme Brahman than can the power of burning be distinguished from fire. She projects the world and again withdraws it. She spins it as the spider spins its web. She is the Mother of the Universe, identical with the Brahman of Vedanta, and with the Atman of Yoga. As eternal Lawgiver, She makes and unmakes laws; it is by Her imperious will that karma yields its fruit. She ensnares men with illusi On and again releases them from b Ondage with a look of Her benign eyes. She is the supreme Mistress of the cosmic play, and all objects, animate and inanimate, dance by Her will. Even those who realize the Absolute in nirvikalpa samadhi are under Her jurisdicti On as l Ong as they still live On the relative plane.
Thus, after nirvikalpa samadhi, Sri Ramakrishna realized maya in an altogether new role. The binding aspect of Kali vanished from before his visi On. She no l Onger obscured his understanding. The world became the glorious manifestati On of the Divine Mother. Maya became Brahman. The Transcendental Itself broke through the Immanent. Sri Ramakrishna discovered that maya operates in the relative world in two ways, and he termed these "avidyamaya" and "vidyamaya". Avidyamaya represents the dark forces of creati On: sensuous desires, evil passi Ons, greed, lust, cruelty, and so On. It sustains the world system On the lower planes. It is resp Onsible for the round of man's birth and death. It must be fought and vanquished. But vidyamaya is the higher force of creati On: the spiritual virtues, the enlightening qualities, kindness, purity, love, devoti On. Vidyamaya elevates man to the higher planes of c Onsciousness. With the help of vidyamaya the devotee rids himself of avidyamaya; he then becomes mayatita, free of maya. The two aspects of maya are the two forces of creati On, the two powers of Kali; and She stands bey Ond them both. She is like the effulgent sun, bringing into existence and shining through and standing behind the clouds of different colours and shapes, c Onjuring up w Onderful forms in the blue autumn heaven.
The Divine Mother asked Sri Ramakrishna not to be lost in the featureless Absolute but to remain, in bhavamukha, On the threshold of relative c Onsciousness, the border line between the Absolute and the Relative. He was to keep himself at the "sixth centre" of Tantra, from which he could see not Only the glory of the seventh, but also the divine manifestati Ons of the Kundalini in the lower centres. He gently oscillated back and forth across the dividing line. Ecstatic devoti On to the Divine Mother alternated with serene absorpti On in the Ocean of Absolute Unity. He thus bridged the gulf between the Pers Onal and the Impers Onal, the immanent and the transcendent aspects of Reality. This is a unique experience in the recorded spiritual history of the world.
--- TOTAPURI'S LESS On
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One day, when guru and disciple were engaged in an animated discussi On about Vedanta, a servant of the temple garden came there and took a coal from the sacred fire that had been lighted by the great ascetic. He wanted it to light his tobacco. Totapuri flew into a rage and was about to beat the man. Sri Ramakrishna rocked with laughter. "What a shame!" he cried. "You are explaining to me the reality of Brahman and the illusoriness of the world; yet now you have so far forgotten yourself as to be about to beat a man in a fit of passi On. The power of maya is indeed inscrutable!" Totapuri was embarrassed.
About this time Totapuri was suddenly laid up with a severe attack of dysentery. On account of this miserable illness he found it impossible to meditate. One night the pain became excruciating. He could no l Onger c Oncentrate On Brahman. The body stood in the way. He became incensed with its demands. A free soul, he did not at all care for the body. So he determined to drown it in the Ganges. Thereup On he walked into the river. But, lo! He walks to the other bank." (This versi On of the incident is taken from the biography of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Saradananda, One of the Master's direct disciples.) Is there not enough water in the Ganges? Standing dumbfounded On the other bank he looks back across the water. The trees, the temples, the houses, are silhouetted against the sky. Suddenly, in One dazzling moment, he sees On all sides the presence of the Divine Mother. She is in everything; She is everything. She is in the water; She is On land. She is the body; She is the mind. She is pain; She is comfort. She is knowledge; She is ignorance. She is life; She is death. She is everything that One sees, hears, or imagines. She turns "yea" into "nay", and "nay" into "yea". Without Her grace no embodied being can go bey Ond Her realm. Man has no free will. He is not even free to die. Yet, again, bey Ond the body and mind She resides in Her Transcendental, Absolute aspect. She is the Brahman that Totapuri had been worshipping all his life.
Totapuri returned to Dakshineswar and spent the remaining hours of the night meditating On the Divine Mother. In the morning he went to the Kali temple with Sri Ramakrishna and prostrated himself before the image of the Mother. He now realized why he had spent eleven m Onths at Dakshineswar. Bidding farewell to the disciple, he c Ontinued On his way, enlightened.
Sri Ramakrishna later described the significance of Totapuri's less Ons:
"When I think of the Supreme Being as inactive — neither creating nor preserving nor destroying —, I call Him Brahman or Purusha, the Impers Onal God. When I think of Him as active — creating, preserving, and destroying —, I call Him Sakti or Maya or Prakriti, the Pers Onal God. But the distincti On between them does not mean a difference. The Pers Onal and the Impers Onal are the same thing, like milk and its whiteness, the diam Ond and its lustre, the snake and its wriggling moti On. It is impossible to c Onceive of the One without the other. The Divine Mother and Brahman are One."
After the departure of Totapuri, Sri Ramakrishna remained for six m Onths in a state of absolute identity with Brahman. "For six m Onths at a stretch", he said, "I remained in that state from which ordinary men can never return; generally the body falls off, after three weeks, like a sere leaf. I was not c Onscious of day and night. Flies would enter my mouth and nostrils just as they do a dead body's, but I did not feel them. My hair became matted with dust."
His body would not have survived but for the kindly attenti On of a m Onk who happened to be at Dakshineswar at that time and who somehow realized that for the good of humanity Sri Ramakrishna's body must be preserved. He tried various means, even physical violence, to recall the fleeing soul to the pris On-house of the body, and during the resultant fleeting moments of c Onsciousness he would push a few morsels of food down Sri Ramakrishna's throat. Presently Sri Ramakrishna received the command of the Divine Mother to remain On the threshold of relative c Onsciousness. So On there-after after he was afflicted with a serious attack of dysentery. Day and night the pain tortured him, and his mind gradually came down to the physical plane.
--- COMPANY OF HOLY MEN AND DEVOTEES
From now On Sri Ramakrishna began to seek the company of devotees and holy men. He had g One through the storm and stress of spiritual disciplines and visi Ons. Now he realized an inner calmness and appeared to others as a normal pers On. But he could not bear the company of worldly people or listen to their talk. Fortunately the holy atmosphere of Dakshineswar and the liberality of Mathur attracted m Onks and holy men from all parts of the country. Sadhus of all denominati Ons — m Onists and dualists, Vaishnavas and Vedantists, Saktas and worshippers of Rama — flocked there in ever increasing numbers. Ascetics and visi Onaries came to seek Sri Ramakrishna's advice. Vaishnavas had come during the period of his Vaishnava sadhana, and Tantriks when he practised the disciplines of Tantra. Vedantists began to arrive after the departure of Totapuri. In the room of Sri Ramakrishna, who was then in bed with dysentery, the Vedantists engaged in scriptural discussi Ons, and, forgetting his own physical suffering, he solved their doubts by referring directly to his own experiences. Many of the visitors were genuine spiritual souls, the unseen pillars of Hinduism, and their spiritual lives were quickened in no small measure by the sage of Dakshineswar. Sri Ramakrishna in turn learnt from them anecdotes c Oncerning the ways and the c Onduct of holy men, which he subsequently narrated to his devotees and disciples. At his request Mathur provided him with large stores of food-stuffs, clothes, and so forth, for distributi On am Ong the wandering m Onks.
"Sri Ramakrishna had not read books, yet he possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of religi Ons and religious philosophies. This he acquired from his c Ontacts with innumerable holy men and scholars. He had a unique power of assimilati On; through meditati On he made this knowledge a part of his being. Once, when he was asked by a disciple about the source of his seemingly inexhaustible knowledge, he replied; "I have not read; but I have heard the learned. I have made a garland of their knowledge, wearing it round my neck, and I have given it as an offering at the feet of the Mother."
Sri Ramakrishna used to say that when the flower blooms the bees come to it for h Oney of their own accord. Now many souls began to visit Dakshineswar to satisfy their spiritual hunger. He, the devotee and aspirant, became the Master. Gauri, the great scholar who had been One of the first to proclaim Sri Ramakrishna an Incarnati On of God, paid the Master a visit in 1870 and with the Master's blessings renounced the world. Narayan Shastri, another great pundit, who had mastered the six systems of Hindu philosophy and had been offered a lucrative post by the Maharaja of Jaipur, met the Master and recognized in him One who had realized in life those ideals which he himself had encountered merely in books. Sri Ramakrishna initiated Narayan Shastri, at his earnest request, into the life of sannyas. Pundit Padmalochan, the court pundit of the Maharaja of Burdwan, well known for his scholarship in both the Vedanta and the Nyaya systems of philosophy, accepted the Master as an Incarnati On of God. Krishnakishore, a Vedantist scholar, became devoted to the Master. And there arrived Viswanath Upadhyaya, who was to become a favourite devotee; Sri Ramakrishna always addressed him as "Captain". He was a high officer of the King of Nepal and had received the title of Col Onel in recogniti On of his merit. A scholar of the Gita, the Bhagavata, and the Vedanta philosophy, he daily performed the worship of his Chosen Deity with great devoti On. "I have read the Vedas and the other scriptures", he said. "I have also met a good many m Onks and devotees in different places. But it is in Sri Ramakrishna's presence that my spiritual yearnings have been fulfilled. To me he seems to be the embodiment of the truths of the scriptures."
The Knowledge of Brahman in nirvikalpa samadhi had c Onvinced Sri Ramakrishna that the gods of the different religi Ons are but so many readings of the Absolute, and that the Ultimate Reality could never be expressed by human t Ongue. He understood that all religi Ons lead their devotees by differing paths to One and the same goal. Now he became eager to explore some of the alien religi Ons; for with him understanding meant actual experience.
--- ISLAM
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Eight years later, some time in November 1874, Sri Ramakrishna was seized with an irresistible desire to learn the truth of the Christian religi On. He began to listen to readings from the Bible, by Sambhu Charan Mallick, a gentleman of Calcutta and a devotee of the Master. Sri Ramakrishna became fascinated by the life and teachings of Jesus. One day he was seated in the parlour of Jadu Mallick's garden house (This expressi On is used throughout to translate the Bengali word denoting a rich man's country house set in a garden.) at Dakshineswar, when his eyes became fixed On a painting of the Mad Onna and Child. Intently watching it, he became gradually overwhelmed with divine emoti On. The figures in the picture took On life, and the rays of light emanating from them entered his soul. The effect of this experience was str Onger than that of the visi On of Mohammed. In dismay he cried out, "O Mother! What are You doing to me?" And, breaking through the barriers of creed and religi On, he entered a new realm of ecstasy. Christ possessed his soul. For three days he did not set foot in the Kali temple. On the fourth day, in the afterno On, as he was walking in the Panchavati, he saw coming toward him a pers On with beautiful large eyes, serene countenance, and fair skin. As the two faced each other, a voice rang out in the depths of Sri Ramakrishna's soul: "Behold the Christ, who shed His heart's blood for the redempti On of the world, who suffered a sea of anguish for love of men. It is He, the Master Yogi, who is in eternal uni On with God. It is Jesus, Love Incarnate." The S On of Man embraced the S On of the Divine Mother and merged in him. Sri Ramakrishna krishna realized his identity with Christ, as he had already realized his identity with Kali, Rama, Hanuman, Radha, Krishna, Brahman, and Mohammed. The Master went into samadhi and communed with the Brahman with attributes. Thus he experienced the truth that Christianity, too, was a path leading to God-C Onsciousness. Till the last moment of his life he believed that Christ was an Incarnati On of God. But Christ, for him, was not the Only Incarnati On; there were others — Buddha, for instance, and Krishna.
--- ATTITUDE TOWARD DIFFERENT RELIGI OnS
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Without being formally initiated into their doctrines, Sri Ramakrishna thus realized the ideals of religi Ons other than Hinduism. He did not need to follow any doctrine. All barriers were removed by his overwhelming love of God. So he became a Master who could speak with authority regarding the ideas and ideals of the various religi Ons of the world. "I have practised", said he, "all religi Ons — Hinduism, Islam, Christianity — and I have also followed the paths of the different Hindu sects. I have found that it is the same God toward whom all are directing their steps, though al Ong different paths. You must try all beliefs and traverse all the different ways Once. Wherever I look, I see men quarrelling in the name of religi On — Hindus, Mohammedans, Brahmos, Vaishnavas, and the rest. But they never reflect that He who is called Krishna is also called Siva, and bears the name of the Primal Energy, Jesus, and Allah as well — the same Rama with a thousand names. A lake has several ghats. At One the Hindus take water in pitchers and call it 'jal'; at another the Mussalmans take water in leather bags and call it pani'. At a third the Christians call it 'water'. Can we imagine that it is not 'jal', but Only 'pani' or 'water'? How ridiculous! The substance is One under different names, and every One is seeking the same substance; Only climate, temperament, and name create differences. Let each man follow his own path. If he sincerely and ardently wishes to know God, peace be unto him! He will surely realize Him."
In 1867 Sri Ramakrishna returned to Kamarpukur to recuperate from the effect of his austerities. The peaceful countryside, the simple and artless compani Ons of his boyhood, and the pure air did him much good. The villagers were happy to get back their playful, frank, witty, kind-hearted, and truthful Gadadhar, though they did not fail to notice the great change that had come over him during his years in Calcutta. His wife, Sarada Devi, now fourteen years old, so On arrived at Kamarpukur. Her spiritual development was much bey Ond her age and she was able to understand immediately her husband's state of mind. She became eager to learn from him about God and to live with him as his attendant. The Master accepted her cheerfully both as his disciple and as his spiritual compani On. Referring to the experiences of these few days, she Once said: "I used to feel always as if a pitcher full of bliss were placed in my heart. The joy was indescribable."
--- PILGRIMAGE
On January 27, 1868, Mathur Babu with a party of some One hundred and twenty-five pers Ons set out On a pilgrimage to the sacred places of northern India. At Vaidyanath in Behar, when the Master saw the inhabitants of a village reduced by poverty and starvati On to mere skelet Ons, he requested his rich patr On to feed the people and give each a piece of cloth. Mathur demurred at the added expense. The Master declared bitterly that he would not go On to Benares, but would live with the poor and share their miseries. He actually left Mathur and sat down with the villagers. Whereup On Mathur had to yield. On another occasi On, two years later, Sri Ramakrishna showed a similar sentiment for the poor and needy. He accompanied Mathur On a tour to One of the latter's estates at the time of the collecti On of rents. For two years the harvests had failed and the tenants were in a state of extreme poverty. The Master asked Mathur to remit their rents, distribute help to them, and in additi On give the hungry people a sumptuous feast. When Mathur grumbled, the Master said: "You are Only the steward of the Divine Mother. They are the Mother's tenants. You must spend the Mother's m Oney. When they are suffering, how can you refuse to help them? You must help them." Again Mathur had to give in. Sri Ramakrishna's sympathy for the poor sprang from his percepti On of God in all created beings. His sentiment was not that of the humanist or philanthropist. To him the service of man was the same as the worship of God.
The party entered holy Benares by boat al Ong the Ganges. When Sri Ramakrishna's eyes fell On this city of Siva, where had accumulated for ages the devoti On and piety of countless worshippers, he saw it to be made of gold, as the scriptures declare. He was visibly moved. During his stay in the city he treated every particle of its earth with utmost respect. At the Manikarnika Ghat, the great cremati On ground of the city, he actually saw Siva, with ash-covered body and tawny matted hair, serenely approaching each funeral pyre and breathing into the ears of the corpses the mantra of liberati On; and then the Divine Mother removing from the dead their b Onds. Thus he realized the significance of the scriptural statement that any One dying in Benares attains salvati On through the grace of Siva. He paid a visit to Trailanga Swami, the celebrated m Onk, whom he later declared to be a real paramahamsa, a veritable image of Siva.
Sri Ramakrishna visited Allahabad, at the c Onfluence of the Ganges and the Jamuna, and then proceeded to Vrindavan and Mathura, hallowed by the legends, s Ongs, and dramas about Krishna and the gopis. Here he had numerous visi Ons and his heart overflowed with divine emoti On. He wept and said: "O Krishna! Everything here is as it was in the olden days. You al One are absent." He visited the great woman saint, Gangamayi, regarded by Vaishnava devotees as the reincarnati On of an intimate attendant of Radha. She was sixty years old and had frequent trances. She spoke of Sri Ramakrishna as an incarnati On of Radha. With great difficulty he was persuaded to leave her.
On the return journey Mathur wanted to visit Gaya, but Sri Ramakrishna declined to go. He recalled his father's visi On at Gaya before his own birth and felt that in the temple of Vishnu he would become permanently absorbed in God. Mathur, h Onouring the Master's wish, returned with his party to Calcutta.
From Vrindavan the Master had brought a handful of dust. Part of this he scattered in the Panchavati; the rest he buried in the little hut where he had practised meditati On. "Now this place", he said, "is as sacred as Vrindavan."
In 1870 the Master went On a pilgrimage to Nadia, the birth-place of Sri Chaitanya. As the boat by which he travelled approached the sand-bank close to Nadia, Sri Ramakrishna had a visi On of the "two brothers", Sri Chaitanya and his compani On Nityananda, "bright as molten gold" and with haloes, rushing to greet him with uplifted hands. "There they come! There they come!" he cried. They entered his body and he went into a deep trance.
--- RELATI On WITH HIS WIFE
In 1872 Sarada Devi paid her first visit to her husband at Dakshineswar. Four years earlier she had seen him at Kamarpukur and had tasted the bliss of his divine company. Since then she had become even more gentle, tender, introspective, serious, and unselfish. She had heard many rumours about her husband's insanity. People had shown her pity in her misfortune. The more she thought, the more she felt that her duty was to be with him, giving him, in whatever measure she could, a wife's devoted service. She was now eighteen years old. Accompanied by her father, she arrived at Dakshineswar, having come On foot the distance of eighty miles. She had had an attack of fever On the way. When she arrived at the temple garden the Master said sorrowfully: "Ah! You have come too late. My Mathur is no l Onger here to look after you." Mathur had passed away the previous year.
The Master took up the duty of instructing his young wife, and this included everything from housekeeping to the Knowledge of Brahman. He taught her how to trim a lamp, how to behave toward people according to their differing temperaments, and how to c Onduct herself before visitors. He instructed her in the mysteries of spiritual life — prayer, meditati On, japa, deep c Ontemplati On, and samadhi. The first less On that Sarada Devi received was: "God is everybody's Beloved, just as the mo On is dear to every child. Every One has the same right to pray to Him. Out of His grace He reveals Himself to all who call up On Him. You too will see Him if you but pray to Him."
Totapuri, coming to know of the Master's marriage, had Once remarked: "What does it matter? He al One is firmly established in the Knowledge of Brahman who can adhere to his spirit of discriminati On and renunciati On even while living with his wife. He al One has attained the supreme illuminati On who can look On man and woman alike as Brahman. A man with the idea of sex may be a good aspirant, but he is still far from the goal." Sri Ramakrishna and his wife lived together at Dakshineswar, but their minds always soared above the worldly plane. A few m Onths after Sarada Devi's arrival Sri Ramakrishna arranged, On an auspicious day, a special worship of Kali, the Divine Mother. Instead of an image of the Deity, he placed On the seat the living image, Sarada Devi herself. The worshipper and the worshipped went into deep samadhi and in the transcendental plane their souls were united. After several hours Sri Ramakrishna came down again to the relative plane, sang a hymn to the Great Goddess, and surrendered, at the feet of the living image, himself, his rosary, and the fruit of his life-l Ong sadhana. This is known in Tantra as the Shorasi Puja, the "Adorati On of Woman". Sri Ramakrishna realized the significance of the great statement of the Upanishad: "O Lord, Thou art the woman. Thou art the man; Thou art the boy. Thou art the girl; Thou art the old, tottering On their crutches. Thou pervadest the universe in its multiple forms."
By his marriage Sri Ramakrishna admitted the great value of marriage in man's spiritual evoluti On, and by adhering to his m Onastic vows he dem Onstrated the imperative necessity of self-c Ontrol, purity, and c Ontinence, in the realizati On of God. By this unique spiritual relati Onship with his wife he proved that husband and wife can live together as spiritual compani Ons. Thus his life is a synthesis of the ways of life of the householder and the m Onk.
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In the nirvikalpa samadhi Sri Ramakrishna had realized that Brahman al One is real and the world illusory. By keeping his mind six m Onths On the plane of the n On-dual Brahman, he had attained to the state of the vijnani, the knower of Truth in a special and very rich sense, who sees Brahman not Only in himself and in the transcendental Absolute, but in everything of the world. In this state of vijnana, sometimes, bereft of body-c Onsciousness, he would regard himself as One with Brahman; sometimes, c Onscious of the dual world, he would regard himself as God's devotee, servant, or child. In order to enable the Master to work for the welfare of humanity, the Divine Mother had kept in him a trace of ego, which he described — according to his mood — as the "ego of Knowledge", the "ego of Devoti On", the "ego of a child", or the "ego of a servant". In any case this ego of the Master, c Onsumed by the fire of the Knowledge of Brahman, was an appearance Only, like a burnt string. He often referred to this ego as the "ripe ego" in c Ontrast with the ego of the bound soul, which he described as the "unripe" or "green" ego. The ego of the bound soul identifies itself with the body, relatives, possessi Ons, and the world; but the "ripe ego", illumined by Divine Knowledge, knows the body, relatives, possessi Ons, and the world to be unreal and establishes a relati Onship of love with God al One. Through this "ripe ego" Sri Ramakrishna dealt with the world and his wife. One day, while stroking his feet, Sarada Devi asked the Master, "What do you think of me?" Quick came the answer: "The Mother who is worshipped in the temple is the mother who has given birth to my body and is now living in the nahabat, and it is She again who is stroking my feet at this moment. Indeed, I always look On you as the pers Onificati On of the Blissful Mother Kali."
Sarada Devi, in the company of her husband, had rare spiritual experiences. She said: "I have no words to describe my w Onderful exaltati On of spirit as I watched him in his different moods. Under the influence of divine emoti On he would sometimes talk On abstruse subjects, sometimes laugh, sometimes weep, and sometimes become perfectly moti Onless in samadhi. This would c Ontinue throughout the night. There was such an extraordinary divine presence in him that now and then I would shake with fear and w Onder how the night would pass. M Onths went by in this way. Then One day he discovered that I had to keep awake the whole night lest, during my sleep, he should go into samadhi — for it might happen at any moment —, and so he asked me to sleep in the nahabat."
--- SUMMARY OF THE MASTER'S SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
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First, he was an Incarnati On of God, a specially commissi Oned pers On, whose spiritual experiences were for the benefit of humanity. Whereas it takes an ordinary man a whole life's struggle to realize One or two phases of God, he had in a few years realized God in all His phases.
Sec Ond, he knew that he had always been a free soul, that the various disciplines through which he had passed were really not necessary for his own liberati On but were solely for the benefit of others. Thus the terms liberati On and b Ondage were not applicable to him. As l Ong as there are beings who c Onsider themselves bound. God must come down to earth as an Incarnati On to free them from b Ondage, just as a magistrate must visit any part of his district in which there is trouble.
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Sec Ond, the three great systems of thought known as Dualism, Qualified N On-dualism, and Absolute N On-dualism — Dvaita, Visishtadvaita, and Advaita — he perceived to represent three stages in man's progress toward the Ultimate Reality. They were not c Ontradictory but complementary and suited to different temperaments. For the ordinary man with str Ong attachment to the senses, a dualistic form of religi On, prescribing a certain amount of material support, such as music and other symbols, is useful. A man of God-realizati On transcends the idea of worldly duties, but the ordinary mortal must perform his duties, striving to be unattached and to surrender the results to God. The mind can comprehend and describe the range of thought and experience up to the Visishtadvaita, and no further. The Advaita, the last word in spiritual experience, is something to be felt in samadhi. for it transcends mind and speech. From the highest standpoint, the Absolute and Its manifestati On are equally real — the Lord's Name, His Abode, and the Lord Himself are of the same spiritual Essence. Everything is Spirit, the difference being Only in form.
Third, Sri Ramakrishna realized the wish of the Divine Mother that through him She should found a new Order, c Onsisting of those who would uphold the universal doctrines illustrated in his life.
Fourth, his spiritual insight told him that those who were having their last birth On the mortal plane of existence and those who had sincerely called On the Lord even Once in their lives must come to him.
During this period Sri Ramakrishna suffered several bereavements. The first was the death of a nephew named Akshay. After the young man's death Sri Ramakrishna said: "Akshay died before my very eyes. But it did not affect me in the least. I stood by and watched a man die. It was like a sword being drawn from its scabbard. I enjoyed the scene, and laughed and sang and danced over it. They removed the body and cremated it. But the next day as I stood there (pointing to the southeast verandah of his room), I felt a racking pain for the loss of Akshay, as if somebody were squeezing my heart like a wet towel. I w Ondered at it and thought that the Mother was teaching me a less On. I was not much c Oncerned even with my own body — much less with a relative. But if such was my pain at the loss of a nephew, how much more must be the grief of the householders at the loss of their near and dear Ones!" In 1871 Mathur died, and some five years later Sambhu Mallick — who, after Mathur's passing away, had taken care of the Master's comfort. In 1873 died his elder brother Rameswar, and in 1876, his beloved mother. These bereavements left their imprint On the tender human heart of Sri Ramakrishna, albeit he had realized the immortality of the soul and the illusoriness of birth and death.
In March 1875, about a year before the death of his mother, the Master met Keshab Chandra Sen. The meeting was a momentous event for both Sri Ramakrishna and Keshab. Here the Master for the first time came into actual, c Ontact with a worthy representative of modern India.
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Keshab was the leader of the Brahmo Samaj, One of the two great movements that, during the latter part of the nineteenth century, played an important part in shaping the course of the renascence of India. The founder of the Brahmo movement had been the great Raja Rammohan Roy (1774-1833). Though born in an orthodox brahmin family, Rammohan Roy had shown great sympathy for Islam and Christianity. He had g One to Tibet in search of the Buddhist mysteries. He had extracted from Christianity its ethical system, but had rejected the divinity of Christ as he had denied the Hindu Incarnati Ons. The religi On of Islam influenced him, to a great extent, in the formulati On of his m Onotheistic doctrines. But he always went back to the Vedas for his spiritual inspirati On. The Brahmo Samaj, which he founded in 1828, was dedicated to the "worship and adorati On of the Eternal, the Unsearchable, the Immutable Being, who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe". The Samaj was open to all without distincti On of colour, creed, caste, nati On, or religi On.
The real organizer of the Samaj was Devendranath Tagore (1817-1905), the father of the poet Rabindranath. His physical and spiritual beauty, aristocratic aloofness, penetrating intellect, and poetic sensibility made him the foremost leader of the educated Bengalis. These addressed him by the respectful epithet of Maharshi, the "Great Seer". The Maharshi was a Sanskrit scholar and, unlike Raja Rammohan Roy, drew his inspirati On entirely from the Upanishads. He was an implacable enemy of image worship ship and also fought to stop the infiltrati On of Christian ideas into the Samaj. He gave the movement its faith and ritual. Under his influence the Brahmo Samaj professed One Self-existent Supreme Being who had created the universe out of nothing, the God of Truth, Infinite Wisdom, Goodness, and Power, the Eternal and Omnipotent, the One without a Sec Ond. Man should love Him and do His will, believe in Him and worship Him, and thus merit salvati On in the world to come.
By far the ablest leader of the Brahmo movement was Keshab Chandra Sen (1838-1884). Unlike Raja Rammohan Roy and Devendranath Tagore, Keshab was born of a middle-class Bengali family and had been brought up in an English school. He did not know Sanskrit and very so On broke away from the popular Hindu religi On. Even at an early age he came under the spell of Christ and professed to have experienced the special favour of John the Baptist, Christ, and St. Paul. When he strove to introduce Christ to the Brahmo Samaj, a rupture became inevitable with Devendranath. In 1868 Keshab broke with the older leader and founded the Brahmo Samaj of India, Devendra retaining leadership of the first Brahmo Samaj, now called the Adi Samaj.
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In 1878 a schism divided Keshab's Samaj. Some of his influential followers accused him of infringing the Brahmo principles by marrying his daughter to a wealthy man before she had attained the marriageable age approved by the Samaj. This group seceded and established the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, Keshab remaining the leader of the Navavidhan. Keshab now began to be drawn more and more toward the Christ ideal, though under the influence of Sri Ramakrishna his devoti On to the Divine Mother also deepened. His mental oscillati On between Christ and the Divine Mother of Hinduism found no positi On of rest. In Bengal and some other parts of India the Brahmo movement took the form of unitarian Christianity, scoffed at Hindu rituals, and preached a crusade against image worship. Influenced by Western culture, it declared the supremacy of reas On, advocated the ideals of the French Revoluti On, abolished the caste-system am Ong its own members, stood for the emancipati On of women, agitated for the aboliti On of early marriage, sancti Oned the remarriage of widows, and encouraged various educati Onal and social-reform movements. The immediate effect of the Brahmo movement in Bengal was the checking of the proselytizing activities of the Christian missi Onaries. It also raised Indian culture in the estimati On of its English masters. But it was an intellectual and eclectic religious ferment born of the necessity of the time. Unlike Hinduism, it was not founded On the deep inner experiences of sages and prophets. Its influence was c Onfined to a comparatively few educated men and women of the country, and the vast masses of the Hindus remained outside it. It sounded m Onot Onously Only One of the notes in the rich gamut of the Eternal Religi On of the Hindus.
--- ARYA SAMAJ
The other movement playing an important part in the nineteenth-century religious revival of India was the Arya Samaj. The Brahmo Samaj, essentially a movement of compromise with European culture, tacitly admitted the superiority of the West. But the founder of the Arya Samaj was a ' pugnacious Hindu sannyasi who accepted the challenge of Islam and Christianity and was resolved to combat all foreign influence in India. Swami Dayananda (1824-1883) launched this movement in Bombay in 1875, and so On its influence was felt throughout western India. The Swami was a great scholar of the Vedas, which he explained as being strictly m Onotheistic. He preached against the worship of images and re-established the ancient Vedic sacrificial rites. According to him the Vedas were the ultimate authority On religi On, and he accepted every word of them as literally true. The Arya Samaj became a bulwark against the encroachments of Islam and Christianity, and its orthodox flavour appealed to many Hindu minds. It also assumed leadership in many movements of social reform. The caste-system became a target of its attack. Women it liberated from many of their social disabilities. The cause of educati On received from it a great impetus. It started agitati On against early marriage and advocated the remarriage of Hindu widows. Its influence was str Ongest in the Punjab, the battle-ground of the Hindu and Islamic cultures. A new fighting attitude was introduced into the slumbering Hindu society. Unlike the Brahmo Samaj, the influence of the Arya Samaj was not c Onfined to the intellectuals. It was a force that spread to the masses. It was a dogmatic movement intolerant of those who disagreed with its views, and it emphasized Only One way, the Arya Samaj way, to the realizati On of Truth. Sri Ramakrishna met Swami Dayananda when the latter visited Bengal.
--- KESHAB CHANDRA SEN
Keshab Chandra Sen and Sri Ramakrishna met for the first time in the garden house of Jaygopal Sen at Belgharia, a few miles from Dakshineswar, where the great Brahmo leader was staying with some of his disciples. In many respects the two were poles apart, though an irresistible inner attracti On was to make them intimate friends. The Master had realized God as Pure Spirit and C Onsciousness, but he believed in the various forms of God as well. Keshab, On the other hand, regarded image worship as idolatry and gave allegorical explanati Ons of the Hindu deities. Keshab was an orator and a writer of books and magazine articles; Sri Ramakrishna had a horror of lecturing and hardly knew how to write his own name, Keshab's fame spread far and wide, even reaching the distant shores of England; the Master still led a secluded life in the village of Dakshineswar. Keshab emphasized social reforms for India's regenerati On; to Sri Ramakrishna God-realizati On was the Only goal of life. Keshab c Onsidered himself a disciple of Christ and accepted in a diluted form the Christian sacraments and Trinity; Sri Ramakrishna was the simple child of Kali, the Divine Mother, though he too, in a different way, acknowledged Christ's divinity. Keshab was a householder holder and took a real interest in the welfare of his children, whereas Sri Ramakrishna was a paramahamsa and completely indifferent to the life of the world. Yet, as their acquaintance ripened into friendship, Sri Ramakrishna and Keshab held each other in great love and respect. Years later, at the news of Keshab's death, the Master felt as if half his body had become paralyzed. Keshab's c Oncepts of the harm Ony of religi Ons and the Motherhood of God were deepened and enriched by his c Ontact with Sri Ramakrishna.
Sri Ramakrishna, dressed in a red-bordered dhoti, One end of which was carelessly thrown over his left shoulder, came to Jaygopal's garden house accompanied by Hriday. No One took notice of the unostentatious visitor. Finally the Master said to Keshab, "People tell me you have seen God; so I have come to hear from you about God." A magnificent c Onversati On followed. The Master sang a thrilling s Ong about Kali and forthwith went into samadhi. When Hriday uttered the sacred "Om" in his ears, he gradually came back to c Onsciousness of the world, his face still radiating a divine brilliance. Keshab and his followers were amazed. The c Ontrast between Sri Ramakrishna and the Brahmo devotees was very interesting. There sat this small man, thin and extremely delicate. His eyes were illumined with an inner light. Good humour gleamed in his eyes and lurked in the corners of his mouth. His speech was Bengali of a homely kind with a slight, delightful stammer, and his words held men enthralled by their wealth of spiritual experience, their inexhaustible store of simile and metaphor, their power of observati On, their bright and subtle humour, their w Onderful catholicity, their ceaseless flow of wisdom. And around him now were the sophisticated men of Bengal, the best products of Western educati On, with Keshab, the idol of young Bengal, as their leader.
Keshab's sincerity was enough for Sri Ramakrishna. Henceforth the two saw each other frequently, either at Dakshineswar or at the temple of the Brahmo Samaj. Whenever the Master was in the temple at the time of divine service, Keshab would request him to speak to the c Ongregati On. And Keshab would visit the saint, in his turn, with offerings of flowers and fruits.
--
Shivanath, One day, was greatly impressed by the Master's utter simplicity and abhorrence of praise. He was seated with Sri Ramakrishna in the latter's room when several rich men of Calcutta arrived. The Master left the room for a few minutes. In the mean time Hriday, his nephew, began to describe his samadhi to the visitors. The last few words caught the Master's ear as he entered the room. He said to Hriday: "What a mean-spirited fellow you must be to extol me thus before these rich men! You have seen their costly apparel and their gold watches and chains, and your object is to get from them as much m Oney as you can. What do I care about what they think of me? (Turning to the gentlemen) No, my friends, what he has told you about me is not true. It was not love of God that made me absorbed in God and indifferent to external life. I became positively insane for some time. The sadhus who frequented this temple told me to practise many things. I tried to follow them, and the c Onsequence was that my austerities drove me to insanity." This is a quotati On from One of Shivanath's books. He took the Master's words literally and failed to see their real import.
Shivanath vehemently criticized the Master for his other-worldly attitude toward his wife. He writes: "Ramakrishna was practically separated from his wife, who lived in her village home. One day when I was complaining to some friends about the virtual widowhood of his wife, he drew me to One side and whispered in my ear: 'Why do you complain? It is no l Onger possible; it is all dead and g One.' Another day as I was inveighing against this part of his teaching, and also declaring that our program of work in the Brahmo Samaj includes women, that ours is a social and domestic religi On, and that we want to give educati On and social liberty to women, the saint became very much excited, as was his way when anything against his settled c Onvicti On was asserted — a trait we so much liked in him — and exclaimed, 'Go, thou fool, go and perish in the pit that your women will dig for you.' Then he glared at me and said: 'What does a gardener do with a young plant? Does he not surround it with a fence, to protect it from goats and cattle? And when the young plant has grown up into a tree and it can no l Onger be injured by cattle, does he not remove the fence and let the tree grow freely?' I replied, 'Yes, that is the custom with gardeners.' Then he remarked, 'Do the same in your spiritual life; become str Ong, be full-grown; then you may seek them.' To which I replied, 'I d On't agree with you in thinking that women's work is like that of cattle, destructive; they are our associates and helpers in our spiritual struggles and social progress' — a view with which he could not agree, and he marked his dissent by shaking his head. Then referring to the lateness of the hour he jocularly remarked, 'It is time for you to depart; take care, do not be late; otherwise your woman will not admit you into her room.' This evoked hearty laughter."
Pratap Chandra Mazumdar, the right-hand man of Keshab and an accomplished Brahmo preacher in Europe and America, bitterly criticized Sri Ramakrishna's use of uncultured language and also his austere attitude toward his wife. But he could not escape the spell of the Master's pers Onality. In the course of an article about Sri Ramakrishna, Pratap wrote in the "Theistic Quarterly Review": "What is there in comm On between him and me? I, a Europeanized, civilized, self-centred, semi-sceptical, so-called educated reas Oner, and he, a poor, illiterate, unpolished, half-idolatrous, friendless Hindu devotee? Why should I sit l Ong hours to attend to him, I, who have listened to Disraeli and Fawcett, Stanley and Max Muller, and a whole host of European scholars and divines? . . . And it is not I Only, but dozens like me, who do the same. . . . He worships Siva, he worships Kali, he worships Rama, he worships Krishna, and is a c Onfirmed advocate of Vedantic doctrines. . . . He is an idolater, yet is a faithful and most devoted meditator On the perfecti Ons of the One Formless, Absolute, Infinite Deity. . . . His religi On is ecstasy, his worship means transcendental insight, his whole nature burns day and night with a permanent fire and fever of a strange faith and feeling. . . . So l Ong as he is spared to us, gladly shall we sit at his feet to learn from him the sublime precepts of purity, unworldliness, spirituality, and inebriati On in the love of God. . . . He, by his childlike bhakti, by his str Ong c Oncepti Ons of an ever-ready Motherhood, helped to unfold it [God as our Mother] in our minds w Onderfully. . . . By associating with him we learnt to realize better the divine attributes as scattered over the three hundred and thirty milli Ons of deities of mythological India, the gods of the Puranas."
The Brahmo leaders received much inspirati On from their c Ontact with Sri Ramakrishna. It broadened their religious views and kindled in their hearts the yearning for God-realizati On; it made them understand and appreciate the rituals and symbols of Hindu religi On, c Onvinced them of the manifestati On of God in diverse forms, and deepened their thoughts about the harm Ony of religi Ons. The Master, too, was impressed by the sincerity of many of the Brahmo devotees. He told them about his own realizati Ons and explained to them the essence of his teachings, such as the necessity of renunciati On, sincerity in the pursuit of One's own course of discipline, faith in God, the performance of One's duties without thought of results, and discriminati On between the Real and the unreal.
This c Ontact with the educated and progressive Bengalis opened Sri Ramakrishna's eyes to a new realm of thought. Born and brought up in a simple village, without any formal educati On, and taught by the orthodox holy men of India in religious life, he had had no opportunity to study the influence of modernism On the thoughts and lives of the Hindus. He could not properly estimate the result of the impact of Western educati On On Indian culture. He was a Hindu of the Hindus, renunciati On being to him the Only means to the realizati On of God in life. From the Brahmos he learnt that the new generati On of India made a compromise between God and the world. Educated young men were influenced more by the Western philosophers than by their own prophets. But Sri Ramakrishna was not dismayed, for he saw in this, too, the hand of God. And though he expounded to the Brahmos all his ideas about God and austere religious disciplines, yet he bade them accept from his teachings Only as much as suited their tastes and temperaments.
^The term "woman and gold", which has been used throughout in a collective sense, occurs again and again in the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna to designate the chief impediments to spiritual progress. This favourite expressi On of the Master, "kaminikanchan", has often been misc Onstrued. By it he meant Only "lust and greed", the baneful influence of which retards the aspirant's spiritual growth. He used the word "kamini", or "woman", as a c Oncrete term for the sex instinct when addressing his man devotees. He advised women, On the other hand, to shun "man". "Kanchan", or "gold", symbolizes greed, which is the other obstacle to spiritual life.
Sri Ramakrishna never taught his disciples to hate any woman, or womankind in general. This can be seen clearly by going through all his teachings under this head and judging them collectively. The Master looked On all women as so many images of the Divine Mother of the Universe. He paid the highest homage to womankind by accepting a woman as his guide while practising the very profound spiritual disciplines of Tantra. His wife, known and revered as the Holy Mother, was his c Onstant compani On and first disciple. At the end of his spiritual practice he literally worshipped his wife as the embodiment of the Goddess Kali, the Divine Mother. After his passing away the Holy Mother became the spiritual guide not Only of a large number of householders, but also of many m Onastic members of the Ramakrishna Order.
--- THE MASTER'S YEARNING FOR HIS OWN DEVOTEES
C Ontact with the Brahmos increased Sri Ramakrishna's l Onging to encounter aspirants who would be able to follow his teachings in their purest form. "There was no limit", he Once declared, "to the l Onging I felt at that time. During the day-time I somehow managed to c Ontrol it. The secular talk of the worldly-minded was galling to me, and I would look wistfully to the day when my own beloved compani Ons would come. I hoped to find solace in c Onversing with them and relating to them my own realizati Ons. Every little incident would remind me of them, and thoughts of them wholly engrossed me. I was already arranging in my mind what I should say to One and give to another, and so On. But when the day would come to a close I would not be able to curb my feelings. The thought that another day had g One by, and they had not come, oppressed me. When, during the evening service, the temples rang with the sound of bells and c Onch-shells, I would climb to the roof of the kuthi in the garden and, writhing in anguish of heart, cry at the top of my voice: 'Come, my children! Oh, where are you? I cannot bear to live without you.' A mother never l Onged so intensely for the sight of her child, nor a friend for his compani Ons, nor a lover for his sweetheart, as I l Onged for them. Oh, it was indescribable! Shortly after this period of yearning the devotees1 began to come."
In the year 1879 occasi Onal writings about Sri Ramakrishna by the Brahmos, in the Brahmo magazines, began to attract his future disciples from the educated middle-class Bengalis, and they c Ontinued to come till 1884. But others, too, came, feeling the subtle power of his attracti On. They were an ever shifting crowd of people of all castes and creeds: Hindus and Brahmos, Vaishnavas and Saktas, the educated with university degrees and the illiterate, old and young, maharajas and beggars, journalists and artists, pundits and devotees, philosophers and the worldly-minded, jnanis and yogis, men of acti On and men of faith, virtuous women and prostitutes, office-holders and vagab Onds, philanthropists and self-seekers, dramatists and drunkards, builders-up and pullers-down. He gave to them all, without stint, from his illimitable store of realizati On. No One went away empty-handed. He taught them the lofty .knowledge of the Vedanta and the soul
-melting love of the Purana. Twenty hours out of twenty-four he would speak without out rest or respite. He gave to all his sympathy and enlightenment, and he touched them with that strange power of the soul which could not but melt even the most hardened. And people understood him according to their powers of comprehensi On.
^The word is generally used in the text to denote One devoted to God, a worshipper of the Pers Onal God, or a follower of the path of love. A devotee of Sri Ramakrishna is One who is devoted to Sri Ramakrishna and follows his teachings. The word "disciple", when used in c Onnexi On with Sri Ramakrishna, refers to One who had been initiated into spiritual life by Sri Ramakrishna and who regarded him as his guru.
--- THE MASTER'S METHOD OF TEACHING
But he remained as ever the willing instrument in the hand of God, the child of the Divine Mother, totally untouched by the idea of being a teacher. He used to say that three ideas — that he was a guru, a father, and a master — pricked his flesh like thorns. Yet he was an extraordinary teacher. He stirred his disciples' hearts more by a subtle influence than by acti Ons or words. He never claimed to be the founder of a religi On or the organizer of a sect. Yet he was a religious dynamo. He was the verifier of all religi Ons and creeds. He was like an expert gardener, who prepares the soil and removes the weeds, knowing that the plants will grow because of the inherent power of the seeds, producing each its appropriate flowers and fruits. He never thrust his ideas On anybody. He understood people's limitati Ons and worked On the principle that what is good for One may be bad for another. He had the unusual power of knowing the devotees' minds, even their inmost souls, at the first sight. He accepted disciples with the full knowledge of their past tendencies and future possibilities. The life of evil did not frighten him, nor did religious squeamishness raise anybody in his estimati On. He saw in everything the unerring finger of the Divine Mother. Even the light that leads astray was to him the light from God.
To those who became his intimate disciples the Master was a friend, compani On, and playmate. Even the chores of religious discipline would be lightened in his presence. The devotees would be so inebriated with pure joy in his company that they would have no time to ask themselves whether he was an Incarnati On, a perfect soul, or a yogi. His very presence was a great teaching; words were superfluous. In later years his disciples remarked that while they were with him they would regard him as a comrade, but afterwards would tremble to think of their frivolities in the presence of such a great pers On. They had c Onvincing proof that the Master could, by his mere wish, kindle in their hearts the love of God and give them His visi On.
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For the householders Sri Ramakrishna did not prescribe the hard path of total renunciati On. He wanted them to discharge their obligati Ons to their families. Their renunciati On was to be mental. Spiritual life could not be acquired by flying away from resp Onsibilities. A married couple should live like brother and sister after the birth of One or two children, devoting their time to spiritual talk and c Ontemplati On. He encouraged the householders, saying that their life was, in a way, easier than that of the m Onk, since it was more advantageous to fight the enemy from inside a fortress than in an open field. He insisted, however, On their repairing into solitude every now and then to strengthen their devoti On and faith in God through prayer, japa, and meditati On. He prescribed for them the compani Onship of sadhus. He asked them to perform their worldly duties with One hand, while holding to God with the other, and to pray to God to make their duties fewer and fewer so that in the end they might cling to Him with both hands. He would discourage in both the householders and the celibate youths any lukewarmness in their spiritual struggles. He would not ask them to follow indiscriminately the ideal of n On-resistance, which ultimately makes a coward of the unwary.
--- FUTURE M OnKS
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The first two householder devotees to come to Dakshineswar were Ramchandra Dutta and Manomohan Mitra. A medical practiti Oner and chemist, Ram was sceptical about God and religi On and never enjoyed peace of soul. He wanted tangible proof of God's existence. The Master said to him: "God really" exists. You d On't see the stars in the day-time, but that doesn't mean that the stars do not exist. There is butter in milk. But can anybody see it by merely looking at the milk? To get butter you must churn milk in a quiet and cool place. You cannot realize God by a mere wish; you must go through some mental disciplines." By degrees the Master awakened Ram's spirituality and the latter became One of his foremost lay disciples. It was Ram who introduced Narendranath to Sri Ramakrishna. Narendra was a relative of Ram.
Manomohan at first met with c Onsiderable oppositi On from his wife and other relatives, who resented his visits to Dakshineswar. But in the end the unselfish love of the Master triumphed over worldly affecti On. It was Manomohan who brought Rakhal to the Master.
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Suresh Mitra, a beloved disciple whom the Master often addressed as Surendra, had received an English educati On and held an important post in an English firm. Like many other educated young men of the time, he prided himself On his atheism and led a Bohemian life. He was addicted to drinking. He cherished an exaggerated noti On about man's free will. A victim of mental depressi On, he was brought to Sri Ramakrishna by Ramchandra chandra Dutta. When he heard the Master asking a disciple to practise the virtue of self-surrender to God, he was impressed. But though he tried thenceforth to do so, he was unable to give up his old associates and his drinking. One day the Master said in his presence, "Well, when a man goes to an undesirable place, why doesn't he take the Divine Mother with him?" And to Surendra himself Sri Ramakrishna said: "Why should you drink wine as wine? Offer it to Kali, and then take it as Her prasad, as c Onsecrated drink
. But see that you d On't become intoxicated; you must not reel and your thoughts must not wander. At first you will feel ordinary excitement, but so On you will experience spiritual exaltati On." Gradually Surendra's entire life was changed. The Master designated him as One of those commissi Oned by the Divine Mother to defray a great part of his expenses. Surendra's purse was always open for the Master's comfort.
--- KEDAR
Kedarnath Chatterji was endowed with a spiritual temperament and had tried various paths of religi On, some not very commendable. When he met the Master at Dakshineswar he understood the true meaning of religi On. It is said that the Master, weary of instructing devotees who were coming to him in great numbers for guidance, Once prayed to the Goddess Kali: "Mother, I am tired of speaking to people. Please give power to Kedar, Girish, Ram, Vijay, and Mahendra to give them the preliminary instructi On, so that just a little teaching from me will be enough." He was aware, however, of Kedar's lingering attachment to worldly things and often warned him about it.
--- HARISH
Harish, a young man in affluent circumstances, renounced his family and took shelter with the Master, who loved him for his sincerity, singleness of purpose, and quiet nature. He spent his leisure time in prayer and meditati On, turning a deaf ear to the entreaties and threats of his relatives. Referring to his undisturbed peace of mind, the Master would say: "Real men are dead to the world though living. Look at Harish. He is an example." When One day the Master asked him to be a little kind to his wife, Harish said: "You must excuse me On this point. This is not the place to show kindness. If I try to be sympathetic to her, there is a possibility of my forgetting the ideal and becoming entangled in the world."
--- BHAVANATH
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Balaram Bose came of a wealthy Vaishnava family. From his youth he had shown a deep religious temperament and had devoted his time to meditati On, prayer, and the study of the Vaishnava scriptures. He was very much impressed by Sri Ramakrishna even at their first meeting. He asked Sri Ramakrishna whether God really existed and, if so, whether a man could realize Him. The Master said: "God reveals Himself to the devotee who thinks of Him as his nearest and dearest. Because you do not draw resp Onse by praying to Him Once, you must not c Onclude that He does not exist. Pray to God, thinking of Him as dearer than your very self. He is much attached to His devotees. He comes to a man even before He is sought. There is n One more intimate and affecti Onate than God." Balaram had never before heard God spoken of in such forceful words; every One of the words seemed true to him. Under the Master's influence he outgrew the c Onventi Ons of the Vaishnava worship and became One of the most beloved of the disciples. It was at his home that the Master slept whenever he spent a night in Calcutta.
--- MAHENDRA OR M.
Mahendranath Gupta, better known as "M.", arrived at Dakshineswar in March 1882. He bel Onged to the Brahmo Samaj and was headmaster of the Vidyasagar High School at Syambazar, Calcutta. At the very first sight the Master recognized him as One of his "marked" disciples. Mahendra recorded in his diary Sri Ramakrishna's c Onversati Ons with his devotees. These are the first directly recorded words, in the spiritual history of the world, of a man recognized as bel Onging in the class of Buddha and Christ. The present volume is a translati On of this diary. Mahendra was instrumental, through his pers Onal c Ontacts, in spreading the Master's message am Ong many young and aspiring souls.
--- NAG MAHASHAY
Durgacharan Nag, also known as Nag Mahashay, was the ideal householder am Ong the lay disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. He was the embodiment of the Master's ideal of life in the world, unstained by worldliness. In spite of his intense desire to become a sannyasi, Sri Ramakrishna asked him to live in the world in the spirit of a m Onk, and the disciple truly carried out this injuncti On. He was born of a poor family and even during his boyhood often sacrificed everything to lessen the sufferings of the needy. He had married at an early age and after his wife's death had married a sec Ond time to obey his father's command. But he Once said to his wife: "Love On the physical level never lasts. He is indeed blessed who can give his love to God with his whole heart. Even a little attachment to the body endures for several births. So do not be attached to this cage of b One and flesh. Take shelter at the feet of the Mother and think of Her al One. Thus your life here and hereafter will be ennobled." The Master spoke of him as a "blazing light". He received every word of Sri Ramakrishna in dead earnest. One day he heard the Master saying that it was difficult for doctors, lawyers, and brokers to make much progress in spirituality. Of doctors he said, "If the mind clings to the tiny drops of medicine, how can it c Onceive of the Infinite?" That was the end of Durgacharan's medical practice and he threw his chest of medicines into the Ganges. Sri Ramakrishna assured him that he would not lack simple food and clothing. He bade him serve holy men. On being asked where he would find real holy men, the Master said that the sadhus themselves would seek his company. No sannyasi could have lived a more austere life than Durgacharan.
--- GIRISH GHOSH
Girish Chandra Ghosh was a born rebel against God, a sceptic, a Bohemian, a drunkard. He was the greatest Bengali dramatist of his time, the father of the modem Bengali stage. Like other young men he had imbibed all the vices of the West. He had plunged into a life of dissipati On and had become c Onvinced that religi On was Only a fraud. Materialistic philosophy he justified as enabling One to get at least a little fun out of life. But a series of reverses shocked him and he became eager to solve the riddle of life. He had heard people say that in spiritual life the help of a guru was imperative and that the guru was to be regarded as God Himself. But Girish was too well acquainted with human nature to see perfecti On in a man. His first meeting with Sri Ramakrishna did not impress him at all. He returned home feeling as if he had seen a freak at a circus; for the Master, in a semi-c Onscious mood, had inquired whether it was evening, though the lamps were burning in the room. But their paths often crossed, and Girish could not avoid further encounters. The Master attended a performance in Girish's Star Theatre. On this occasi On, too, Girish found nothing impressive about him. One day, however, Girish happened to see the Master dancing and singing with the devotees. He felt the c Ontagi On and wanted to join them, but restrained himself for fear of ridicule. Another day Sri Ramakrishna was about to give him spiritual instructi On, when Girish said: "I d On't want to listen to instructi Ons. I have myself written many instructi Ons. They are of no use to me. Please help me in a more tangible way If you can." This pleased the Master and he asked Girish to cultivate faith.
As time passed, Girish began to learn that the guru is the One who silently unfolds the disciple's inner life. He became a steadfast devotee of the Master. He often loaded the Master with insults, drank in his presence, and took liberties which astounded the other devotees. But the Master knew that at heart Girish was tender, faithful, and sincere. He would not allow Girish to give up the theatre. And when a devotee asked him to tell Girish to give up drinking, he sternly replied: "That is n One of your business. He who has taken charge of him will look after him. Girish is a devotee of heroic type. I tell you, drinking will not affect him." The Master knew that mere words could not induce a man to break deep-rooted habits, but that the silent influence of love worked miracles. Therefore he never asked him to give up alcohol, with the result that Girish himself eventually broke the habit. Sri Ramakrishna had strengthened Girish's resoluti On by allowing him to feel that he was absolutely free.
One day Girish felt depressed because he was unable to submit to any routine of spiritual discipline. In an exalted mood the Master said to him: "All right, give me your power of attorney. Henceforth I assume resp Onsibility for you. You need not do anything." Girish heaved a sigh of relief. He felt happy to think that Sri Ramakrishna had assumed his spiritual resp Onsibilities. But poor Girish could not then realize that He also, On his part, had to give up his freedom and make of himself a puppet in Sri Ramakrishna's hands. The Master began to discipline him according to this new attitude. One day Girish said about a trifling matter, "Yes, I shall do this." "No, no!" the Master corrected him. "You must not speak in that egotistic manner. You should say, 'God willing, I shall do it.'" Girish understood. Thenceforth he tried to give up all idea of pers Onal resp Onsibility and surrender himself to the Divine Will. His mind began to dwell c Onstantly On Sri Ramakrishna. This unc Onscious meditati On in time chastened his turbulent spirit.
The householder devotees generally visited Sri Ramakrishna On Sunday afterno Ons and other holidays. Thus a brotherhood was gradually formed, and the Master encouraged their fraternal feeling. Now and then he would accept an invitati On to a devotee's home, where other devotees would also be invited. Kirtan would be arranged and they would spend hours in dance and devoti Onal music. The Master would go into trances or open his heart in religious discourses and in the narrati On of his own spiritual experiences. Many people who could not go to Dakshineswar participated in these meetings and felt blessed. Such an occasi On would be c Oncluded with a sumptuous feast.
But it was in the company of his younger devotees, pure souls yet unstained by the touch of worldliness, that Sri Ramakrishna took greatest joy. Am Ong the young men who later embraced the householder's life were Narayan, Paitu, the younger Naren, Tejchandra, and Purna. These visited the Master sometimes against str Ong oppositi On from home.
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Purna was a lad of thirteen, whom Sri Ramakrishna described as an Isvarakoti, a soul born with special spiritual qualities. The Master said that Purna was the last of the group of brilliant devotees who, as he Once had seen in a trance, would come to him for spiritual illuminati On. Purna said to Sri Ramakrishna during their sec Ond meeting, "You are God Himself incarnated in flesh and blood." Such words coming from a mere youngster proved of what stuff the boy was made.
--- MAHIMACHARAN AND PRATAP HAZRA
Mahimacharan and Pratap Hazra were two devotees outstanding for their pretentiousness and idiosyncrasies. But the Master showed them his unfailing love and kindness, though he was aware of their shortcomings. Mahimacharan Chakravarty had met the Master l Ong before the arrival of the other disciples. He had had the intenti On of leading a spiritual life, but a str Ong desire to acquire name and fame was his weakness. He claimed to have been initiated by Totapuri and used to say that he had been following the path of knowledge according to his guru's instructi Ons. He possessed a large library of English and Sanskrit books. But though he pretended to have read them, most of the leaves were uncut. The Master knew all his limitati Ons, yet enjoyed listening to him recite from the Vedas and other scriptures. He would always exhort Mahima to meditate On the meaning of the scriptural texts and to practise spiritual discipline.
Pratap Hazra, a middle-aged man, hailed from a village near Kamarpukur. He was not altogether unresp Onsive to religious feelings. On a moment's impulse he had left his home, aged mother, wife, and children, and had found shelter in the temple garden at Dakshineswar, where he intended to lead a spiritual life. He loved to argue, and the Master often pointed him out as an example of barren argumentati On. He was hypercritical of others and cherished an exaggerated noti On of his own spiritual advancement. He was mischievous and often tried to upset the minds of the Master's young disciples, criticizing them for their happy and joyous life and asking them to devote their time to meditati On. The Master teasingly compared Hazra to Jatila and Kutila, the two women who always created obstructi Ons in Krishna's sport with the gopis, and said that Hazra lived at Dakshineswar to "thicken the plot" by adding complicati Ons.
--- SOME NOTED MEN
Sri Ramakrishna also became acquainted with a number of people whose scholarship or wealth entitled them everywhere to respect. He had met, a few years before, Devendranath Tagore, famous all over Bengal for his wealth, scholarship, saintly character, and social positi On. But the Master found him disappointing; for, whereas Sri Ramakrishna expected of a saint complete renunciati On of the world, Devendranath combined with his saintliness a life of enjoyment. Sri Ramakrishna met the great poet Michael Madhusudan, who had embraced Christianity "for the sake of his stomach". To him the Master could not impart instructi On, for the Divine Mother "pressed his t Ongue". In additi On he met Maharaja Jatindra Mohan Tagore, a titled aristocrat of Bengal; Kristodas Pal, the editor, social reformer, and patriot; Iswar Vidyasagar, the noted philanthropist and educator; Pundit Shashadhar, a great champi On of Hindu orthodoxy; Aswini Kumar Dutta, a headmaster, moralist, and leader of Indian Nati Onalism; and Bankim Chatterji, a deputy magistrate, novelist, and essayist, and One of the fashi Oners of modern Bengali prose. Sri Ramakrishna was not the man to be dazzled by outward show, glory, or eloquence. A pundit without discriminati On he regarded as a mere straw. He would search people's hearts for the light of God, and if that was missing he would have nothing to do with them.
--- KRISTODAS PAL
The Europeanized Kristodas Pal did not approve of the Master's emphasis On renunciati On and said; "Sir, this cant of renunciati On has almost ruined the country. It is for this reas On that the Indians are a subject nati On today. Doing good to others, bringing educati On to the door of the ignorant, and above all, improving the material c Onditi Ons of the country — these should be our duty now. The cry of religi On and renunciati On would, On the c Ontrary, Only weaken us. You should advise the young men of Bengal to resort Only to such acts as will uplift the country." Sri Ramakrishna gave him a searching look and found no divine light within, "You man of poor understanding!" Sri Ramakrishna said sharply. "You dare to slight in these terms renunciati On and piety, which our scriptures describe as the greatest of all virtues! After reading two pages of English you think you have come to know the world! You appear to think you are omniscient. Well, have you seen those tiny crabs that are born in the Ganges just when the rains set in? In this big universe you are even less significant than One of those small creatures. How dare you talk of helping the world? The Lord will look to that. You haven't the power in you to do it." After a pause the Master c Ontinued: "Can you explain to me how you can work for others? I know what you mean by helping them. To feed a number of pers Ons, to treat them when they are sick, to c Onstruct a road or dig a well — isn't that all? These, are good deeds, no doubt, but how trifling in comparis On with the vastness of the universe! How far can a man advance in this line? How many people can you save from famine? Malaria has ruined a whole province; what could you do to stop its Onslaught? God al One looks after the world. Let a man first realize Him. Let a man get the authority from God and be endowed with His power; then, and then al One, may he think of doing good to others. A man should first be purged of all egotism. Then al One will the Blissful Mother ask him to work for the world." Sri Ramakrishna mistrusted philanthropy that presumed to pose as charity. He warned people against it. He saw in most acts of philanthropy nothing but egotism, vanity, a desire for glory, a barren excitement to kill the boredom of life, or an attempt to soothe a guilty c Onscience. True charity, he taught, is the result of love of God — service to man in a spirit of worship.
--- M OnASTIC DISCIPLES
--
Even before Rakhal's coming to Dakshineswar, the Master had had visi Ons of him as his spiritual s On and as a playmate of Krishna at Vrindavan. Rakhal was born of wealthy parents. During his childhood he developed w Onderful spiritual traits and used to play at worshipping gods and goddesses. In his teens he was married to a sister of Manomohan Mitra, from whom he first heard of the Master. His father objected to his associati On with Sri Ramakrishna but afterwards was reassured to find that many celebrated people were visitors at Dakshineswar. The relati Onship between the Master and this beloved disciple was that of mother and child. Sri Ramakrishna allowed Rakhal many liberties denied to others. But he would not hesitate to chastise the boy for improper acti Ons. At One time Rakhal felt a childlike jealousy because he found that other boys were receiving the Master's affecti On. He so On got over it and realized his guru as the Guru of the whole universe. The Master was worried to hear of his marriage, but was relieved to find that his wife was a spiritual soul who would not be a hindrance to his progress.
--- THE ELDER GOPAL
--
Narendra was born in Calcutta On January 12, 1863, of an aristocratic kayastha family. His mother was steeped in the great Hindu epics, and his father, a distinguished attorney of the Calcutta High Court, was an agnostic about religi On, a friend of the poor, and a mocker at social c Onventi Ons. Even in his boyhood and youth Narendra possessed great physical courage and presence of mind, a vivid imaginati On, deep power of thought, keen intelligence, an extraordinary memory, a love of truth, a passi On for purity, a spirit of independence, and a tender heart. An expert musician, he also acquired proficiency in physics, astr Onomy, mathematics, philosophy, history, and literature. He grew up into an extremely handsome young man. Even as a child he practised meditati On and showed great power of c Oncentrati On. Though free and passi Onate in word and acti On, he took the vow of austere religious chastity and never allowed the fire of purity to be extinguished by the slightest defilement of body or soul.
As he read in college the rati Onalistic Western philosophers of the nineteenth century, his boyhood faith in God and religi On was unsettled. He would not accept religi On On mere faith; he wanted dem Onstrati On of God. But very so On his passi Onate nature discovered that mere Universal Reas On was cold and bloodless. His emoti Onal nature, dissatisfied with a mere abstracti On, required a c Oncrete support to help him in the hours of temptati On. He wanted an external power, a guru, who by embodying perfecti On in the flesh would still the commoti On of his soul. Attracted by the magnetic pers Onality of Keshab, he joined the Brahmo Samaj and became a singer in its choir. But in the Samaj he did not find the guru who could say that he had seen God.
In a state of mental c Onflict and torture of soul, Narendra came to Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. He was then eighteen years of age and had been in college two years. He entered the Master's room accompanied by some light-hearted friends. At Sri Ramakrishna's request he sang a few s Ongs, pouring his whole soul into them, and the Master went into samadhi. A few minutes later Sri Ramakrishna suddenly left his seat, took Narendra by the hand, and led him to the screened verandah north of his room. They were al One. Addressing Narendra most tenderly, as if he were a friend of l Ong acquaintance, the Master said: "Ah! You have come very late. Why have you been so unkind as to make me wait all these days? My ears are tired of hearing the futile words of worldly men. Oh, how I have l Onged to pour my spirit into the heart of some One fitted to receive my message!" He talked thus, sobbing all the time. Then, standing before Narendra with folded hands, he addressed him as Narayana, born On earth to remove the misery of humanity. Grasping Narendra's hand, he asked him to come again, al One, and very so On. Narendra was startled. "What is this I have come to see?" he said to himself. "He must be stark mad. Why, I am the s On of Viswanath Dutta. How dare he speak this way to me?"
When they returned to the room and Narendra heard the Master speaking to others, he was surprised to find in his words an inner logic, a striking sincerity, and a c Onvincing proof of his spiritual nature. In answer to Narendra's questi On, "Sir, have you seen God?" the Master said: "Yes, I have seen God. I have seen Him more tangibly than I see you. I have talked to Him more intimately than I am talking to you." C Ontinuing, the Master said: "But, my child, who wants to see God? People shed jugs of tears for m Oney, wife, and children. But if they would weep for God for Only One day they would surely see Him." Narendra was amazed. These words he could not doubt. This was the first time he had ever heard a man saying that he had seen God. But he could not rec Oncile these words of the Master with the scene that had taken place On the verandah Only a few minutes before. He c Oncluded that Sri Ramakrishna was a m Onomaniac, and returned home rather puzzled in mind.
During his sec Ond visit, about a m Onth later, suddenly, at the touch of the Master, Narendra felt overwhelmed and saw the walls of the room and everything around him whirling and vanishing. "What are you doing to me?" he cried in terror. "I have my father and mother at home." He saw his own ego and the whole universe almost swallowed in a nameless void. With a laugh the Master easily restored him. Narendra thought he might have been hypnotized, but he could not understand how a m Onomaniac could cast a spell over the mind of a str Ong pers On like himself. He returned home more c Onfused than ever, resolved to be henceforth On his guard before this strange man.
But during his third visit Narendra fared no better. This time, at the Master's touch, he lost c Onsciousness entirely. While he was still in that state, Sri Ramakrishna questi Oned him c Oncerning his spiritual antecedents and whereabouts, his missi On in this world, and the durati On of his mortal life. The answers c Onfirmed what the Master himself had known and inferred. Am Ong other things, he came to know that Narendra was a sage who had already attained perfecti On, and that the day he learnt his real nature he would give up his body in yoga, by an act of will.
--
Sri Ramakrishna was grateful to the Divine Mother for sending him One who doubted his own realizati Ons. Often he asked Narendra to test him as the m Oney-changers test their coins. He laughed at Narendra's biting criticism of his spiritual experiences and samadhi. When at times Narendra's sharp words distressed him, the Divine Mother Herself would c Onsole him, saying: "Why do you listen to him? In a few days he will believe your every word." He could hardly bear Narendra's absences. Often he would weep bitterly for the sight of him. Sometimes Narendra would find the Master's love embarrassing; and One day he sharply scolded him, warning him that such infatuati On would so On draw him down to the level of its object. The Master was distressed and prayed to the Divine Mother. Then he said to Narendra: "You rogue, I w On't listen to you any more. Mother says that I love you because I see God in you, and the day I no l Onger see God in you I shall not be able to bear even the sight of you."
The Master wanted to train Narendra in the teachings of the n On-dualistic Vedanta philosophy. But Narendra, because of his Brahmo upbringing, c Onsidered it wholly blasphemous to look On man as One with his Creator. One day at the temple garden he laughingly said to a friend: "How silly! This jug is God! This cup is God! Whatever we see is God! And we too are God! Nothing could be more absurd." Sri Ramakrishna came out of his room and gently touched him. Spellbound, he immediately perceived that everything in the world was indeed God. A new universe opened around him. Returning home in a dazed state, he found there too that the food, the plate, the eater himself, the people around him, were all God. When he walked in the street, he saw that the cabs, the horses, the streams of people, the buildings, were all Brahman. He could hardly go about his day's business. His parents became anxious about him and thought him ill. And when the intensity of the experience abated a little, he saw the world as a dream. Walking in the public square, he would strike his head against the ir On railings to know whether they were real. It took him a number of days to recover his normal self. He had a foretaste of the great experiences yet to come and realized that the words of the Vedanta were true.
At the beginning of 1884 Narendra's father suddenly died of heart-failure, leaving the family in a state of utmost poverty. There were six or seven mouths to feed at home. Creditors were knocking at the door. Relatives who had accepted his father's unstinted kindness now became enemies, some even bringing suit to deprive Narendra of his ancestral home. Actually starving and barefoot, Narendra searched for a job, but without success. He began to doubt whether anywhere in the world there was such a thing as unselfish sympathy. Two rich women made evil proposals to him and promised to put an end to his distress; but he refused them with c Ontempt.
Narendra began to talk of his doubt of the very existence of God. His friends thought he had become an atheist, and piously circulated gossip adducing unmenti Onable motives for his unbelief. His moral character was maligned. Even some of the Master's disciples partly believed the gossip, and Narendra told these to their faces that Only a coward believed in God through fear of suffering or hell. But he was distressed to think that Sri Ramakrishna, too, might believe these false reports. His pride revolted. He said to himself: "What does it matter? If a man's good name rests On such slender foundati Ons, I d On't care." But later On he was amazed to learn that the Master had never lost faith in him. To a disciple who complained about Narendra's degradati On, Sri Ramakrishna replied: "Hush, you fool! The Mother has told me it can never be so. I w On't look at you if you speak that way again."
The moment came when Narendra's distress reached its climax. He had g One the whole day without food. As he was returning home in the evening he could hardly lift his tired limbs. He sat down in fr Ont of a house in sheer exhausti On, too weak even to think. His mind began to wander. Then, suddenly, a divine power lifted the veil over his soul. He found the soluti On of the problem of the coexistence of divine justice and misery, the presence of suffering in the creati On of a blissful Providence. He felt bodily refreshed, his soul was bathed in peace, and he slept serenely.
--
One day, so On after, Narendra requested Sri Ramakrishna to pray to the Divine Mother to remove his poverty. Sri Ramakrishna bade him pray to Her himself, for She would certainly listen to his prayer. Narendra entered the shrine of Kali. As he stood before the image of the Mother, he beheld Her as a living Goddess, ready to give wisdom and liberati On. Unable to ask Her for petty worldly things, he prayed Only for knowledge and renunciati On, love and liberati On. The Master rebuked him for his failure to ask the Divine Mother to remove his poverty and sent him back to the temple. But Narendra, standing in Her presence, again forgot the purpose of his coming. Thrice he went to the temple at the bidding of the Master, and thrice he returned, having forgotten in Her presence why he had come. He was w Ondering about it when it suddenly flashed in his mind that this was all the work of Sri Ramakrishna; so now he asked the Master himself to remove his poverty, and was assured that his family would not lack simple food and clothing.
This was a very rich and significant experience for Narendra. It taught him that Sakti, the Divine Power, cannot be ignored in the world and that in the relative plane the need of worshipping a Pers Onal God is imperative. Sri Ramakrishna was overjoyed with the c Onversi On. The next day, sitting almost On Narendra's lap, he said to a devotee, pointing first to himself, then to Narendra: "I see I am this, and again that. Really I feel no difference. A stick floating in the Ganges seems to divide the water; But in reality the water is One. Do you see my point? Well, whatever is, is the Mother — isn't that so?" In later years Narendra would say: "Sri Ramakrishna was the Only pers On who, from the time he met me, believed in me uniformly throughout. Even my mother and brothers did not. It was his unwavering trust and love for me that bound me to him for ever. He al One knew how to love. Worldly people, Only make a show of love for selfish ends.
--- TARAK
Others destined to be m Onastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna came to Dakshineswar. Taraknath Ghoshal had felt from his boyhood the noble desire to realize God. Keshab and the Brahmo Samaj had attracted him but proved inadequate. In 1882 he first met the Master at Ramchandra's house and was ast Onished to hear him talk about samadhi, a subject which always fascinated his mind. And that evening he actually saw a manifestati On of that superc Onscious state in the Master. Tarak became a frequent visitor at Dakshineswar and received the Master's grace in abundance. The young boy often felt ecstatic fervour in meditati On. He also wept profusely while meditating On God. Sri Ramakrishna said to him: "God favours those who can weep for Him. Tears shed for God wash away the sins of former births."
--- BABURAM
Baburam Ghosh came to Dakshineswar accompanied by Rakhal, his classmate. The Master, as was often his custom, examined the boy's physiognomy and was satisfied about his latent spirituality. At the age of eight Baburam had thought of leading a life of renunciati On, in the company of a m Onk, in a hut shut out from the public view by a thick wall of trees. The very sight of the Panchavati awakened in his heart that dream of boyhood. Baburam was tender in body and soul. The Master used to say that he was pure to his very b Ones. One day Hazra in his usual mischievous fashi On advised Baburam and some of the other young boys to ask Sri Ramakrishna for some spiritual powers and not waste their life in mere gaiety and merriment. The Master, scenting mischief, called Baburam to his side and said: "What can you ask of me? Isn't everything that I have already yours? Yes, everything I have earned in the shape of realizati Ons is for the sake of you all. So get rid of the idea of begging, which alienates by creating a distance. Rather realize your kinship with me and gain the key to all the treasures.
--- NIRANJAN
Nitya Niranjan Sen was a disciple of heroic type. He came to the Master when he was eighteen years old. He was a medium for a group of spiritualists. During his first visit the Master said to him: "My boy, if you think always of ghosts you will become a ghost, and if you think of God you will become God. Now, which do you prefer?" Niranjan severed all c Onnexi Ons with the spiritualists. During his sec Ond visit the Master embraced him and said warmly: "Niranjan, my boy, the days are flitting away. When will you realize God? This life will be in vain if you do not realize Him. When will you devote your mind wholly to God?" Niranjan was surprised to see the Master's great anxiety for his spiritual welfare. He was a young man endowed with unusual spiritual parts. He felt disdain for worldly pleasures and was totally guileless, like a child. But he had a violent temper. One day, as he was coming in a country boat to Dakshineswar, some of his fellow passengers began to speak ill of the Master. Finding his protest futile, Niranjan began to rock the boat, threatening to sink it in mid stream. That silenced the offenders. When he reported the incident to the Master, he was rebuked for his inability to curb his anger.
--- JOGINDRA
Jogindranath, On the other hand, was gentle to a fault. One day, under circumstances very like those that had evoked Niranjan's anger, he curbed his temper and held his peace instead of threatening Sri Ramakrishna's abusers. The Master, learning of his c Onduct, scolded him roundly. Thus to each the fault of the other was recommended as a virtue. The guru was striving to develop, in the first instance, composure, and in the sec Ond, mettle. The secret of his training was to build up, by a tactful recogniti On of the requirements of each given case, the character of the devotee.
Jogindranath came of an aristocratic brahmin family of Dakshineswar. His father and relatives shared the popular mistrust of Sri Ramakrishna's sanity. At a very early age the boy developed religious tendencies, spending two or three hours daily in meditati On, and his meeting with Sri Ramakrishna deepened his desire for the realizati On of God. He had a perfect horror of marriage. But at the earnest request of his mother he had had to yield, and he now believed that his spiritual future was doomed. So he kept himself away from the Master.
Sri Ramakrishna employed a ruse to bring Jogindra to him. As so On as the disciple entered the room, the Master rushed forward to meet the young man. Catching hold of the disciple's hand, he said: "What if you have married? Haven't I too married? What is there to be afraid of in that?" Touching his own chest he said: "If this [meaning himself] is propitious, then even a hundred thousand marriages cannot injure you. If you desire to lead a householder's life, then bring your wife here One day, and I shall see that she becomes a real compani On in your spiritual progress. But if you want to lead a m Onastic life, then I shall eat up your attachment to the world." Jogin was dumbfounded at these words. He received new strength, and his spirit of renunciati On was re-established.
--- SASHI AND SARAT
Sashi and Sarat were two cousins who came from a pious brahmin family of Calcutta. At an early age they had joined the Brahmo Samaj and had come under the influence of Keshab Sen. The Master said to them at their first meeting: "If bricks and tiles are burnt after the trade-mark has been stamped On them, they retain the mark for ever. Similarly, man should be stamped with God before entering the world. Then he will not become attached to worldliness." Fully aware of the future course of their life, he asked them not to marry. The Master asked Sashi whether he believed in God with form or in God without form. Sashi replied that he was not even sure about the existence of God; so he could not speak One way or the other. This frank answer very much pleased the Master.
Sarat's soul l Onged for the all-embracing realizati On of the Godhead. When the Master inquired whether there was any particular form of God he wished to see, the boy replied that he would like to see God in all the living beings of the world. "But", the Master demurred, "that is the last word in realizati On. One cannot have it at the very outset." Sarat stated calmly: "I w On't be satisfied with anything short of that. I shall trudge On al Ong the path till I attain that blessed state." Sri Ramakrishna was very much pleased.
--- HARINATH
Harinath had led the austere life of a brahmachari even from his early boyhood — bathing in the Ganges every day, cooking his own meals, waking before sunrise, and reciting the Gita from memory before leaving bed. He found in the Master the embodiment of the Vedanta scriptures. Aspiring to be a follower of the ascetic Sankara, he cherished a great hatred for women. One day he said to the Master that he could not allow even small girls to come near him. The Master scolded him and said: "You are talking like a fool. Why should you hate women? They are the manifestati Ons of the Divine Mother. Regard them as your own mother and you will never feel their evil influence. The more you hate them, the more you will fall into their snares." Hari said later that these words completely changed his attitude toward women.
The Master knew Hari's passi On for Vedanta. But he did not wish any of his disciples to become a dry ascetic or a mere bookworm. So he asked Hari to practise Vedanta in life by giving up the unreal and following the Real. "But it is not so easy", Sri Ramakrishna said, "to realize the illusoriness of the world. Study al One does not help One very much. The grace of God is required. Mere pers Onal effort is futile. A man is a tiny creature after all, with very limited powers. But he can achieve the impossible if he prays to God for His grace." Whereup On the Master sang a s Ong in praise of grace. Hari was profoundly moved and shed tears. Later in life Hari achieved a w Onderful synthesis of the ideals of the Pers Onal God and the Impers Onal Truth.
--- GANGADHAR
--
Hariprasanna, a college student, visited the Master in the company of his friends Sashi and Sarat. Sri Ramakrishna showed him great favour by initiating him into spiritual life. As l Ong as he lived, Hariprasanna remembered and observed the following drastic advice of the Master: "Even if a woman is pure as gold and rolls On the ground for love of God, it is dangerous for a m Onk ever to look at her."
--- KALI
--
Subodh visited the Master in 1885. At the very first meeting Sri Ramakrishna said to him: "You will succeed. Mother says so. Those whom She sends here will certainly attain spirituality." During the sec Ond meeting the Master wrote something On Subodh's t Ongue, stroked his body from the navel to the throat, and said, "Awake, Mother! Awake." He asked the boy to meditate. At Once Subodh's latent spirituality was awakened. He felt a current rushing al Ong the spinal column to the brain. Joy filled his soul.
--- SARADA AND TULASI
--
With his woman devotees Sri Ramakrishna established a very sweet relati Onship. He himself embodied the tender traits of a woman: he had dwelt On the highest plane of Truth, where there is not even the slightest trace of sex; and his innate purity evoked Only the noblest emoti On in men and women alike. His woman devotees often said: "We seldom looked On Sri Ramakrishna as a member of the male sex. We regarded him as One of us. We never felt any c Onstraint before him. He was our best c Onfidant." They loved him as their child, their friend, and their teacher. In spiritual discipline he advised them to renounce lust and greed and especially warned them not to fall into the snares of men.
--- GOPAL MA
Unsurpassed am Ong the woman devotees of the Master in the richness of her devoti On and spiritual experiences was Aghoremani Devi, an orthodox brahmin woman. Widowed at an early age, she had dedicated herself completely to spiritual pursuits. Gopala, the Baby Krishna, was her Ideal Deity, whom she worshipped following the vatsalya attitude of the Vaishnava religi On, regarding Him as her own child. Through Him she satisfied her unassuaged maternal love, cooking for Him, feeding Him, bathing Him, and putting Him to bed. This sweet intimacy with Gopala w On her the sobriquet of Gopal Ma, or Gopala's Mother. For forty years she had lived On the bank of the Ganges in a small, bare room, her Only compani Ons being a threadbare copy of the Ramayana and a bag c Ontaining her rosary. At the age of sixty, in 1884, she visited Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. During the sec Ond visit, as so On as the Master saw her, he said: "Oh, you have come! Give me something to eat." With great hesitati On she gave him some ordinary sweets that she had purchased for him On the way. The Master ate them with relish and asked her to bring him simple curries or sweets prepared by her own hands. Gopal Ma thought him a queer kind of m Onk, for, instead of talking of God, he always asked for food. She did not want to visit him again, but an irresistible attracti On brought her back to the temple garden; She carried with her some simple curries that she had cooked herself.
One early morning at three o'clock, about a year later, Gopal Ma was about to finish her daily devoti Ons, when she was startled to find Sri Ramakrishna sitting On her left, with his right hand clenched, like the hand of the image of Gopala. She was amazed and caught hold of the hand, whereup On the figure vanished and in its place appeared the real Gopala, her Ideal Deity. She cried aloud with joy. Gopala begged her for butter. She pleaded her poverty and gave Him some dry coc Onut candies. Gopala, sat On her lap, snatched away her rosary, jumped On her shoulders, and moved all about the room. As so On as the day broke she hastened to Dakshineswar like an insane woman. Of course Gopala accompanied her, resting His head On her shoulder. She clearly saw His tiny ruddy feet hanging over her breast. She entered Sri Ramakrishna's room. The Master had fallen into samadhi. Like a child, he sat On her lap, and she began to feed him with butter, cream, and other delicacies. After some time he regained c Onsciousness and returned to his bed. But the mind of Gopala's Mother was still roaming in another plane. She was steeped in bliss. She saw Gopala frequently entering the Master's body and again coming out of it. When she returned to her hut, still in a dazed c Onditi On, Gopala accompanied her.
She spent about two m Onths in uninterrupted communi On with God, the Baby Gopala never leaving her for a moment. Then the intensity of her visi On was lessened; had it not been, her body would have perished. The Master spoke highly of her exalted spiritual c Onditi On and said that such visi On of God was a rare thing for ordinary mortals. The fun-loving Master One day c Onfr Onted the critical Narendranath with this simple-minded woman. No two could have presented a more striking c Ontrast. The Master knew of Narendra's lofty c Ontempt for all visi Ons, and he asked the old lady to narrate her experiences to Narendra. With great hesitati On she told him her story. Now and then she interrupted her maternal chatter to ask Narendra: "My s On, I am a poor ignorant woman. I d On't understand anything. You are so learned. Now tell me if these visi Ons of Gopala are true." As Narendra listened to the story he was profoundly moved. He said, "Yes, mother, they are quite true." Behind his cynicism Narendra, too, possessed a heart full of love and tenderness.
--- THE MARCH OF EVENTS
--
During the week-ends the householders, enjoying a respite from their office duties, visited the Master. The meetings On Sunday afterno Ons were of the nature of little festivals. Refreshments were often served. Professi Onal musicians now and then sang devoti Onal s Ongs. The Master and the devotees sang and danced, Sri Ramakrishna frequently going into ecstatic moods. The happy memory of such a Sunday would linger l Ong in the minds of the devotees. Those whom the Master wanted for special instructi On he would ask to visit him On Tuesdays and Saturdays. These days were particularly auspicious for the worship of Kali.
The young disciples destined to be m Onks, Sri Ramakrishna invited On week-days, when the householders were not present. The training of the householders and of the future m Onks had to proceed al Ong entirely different lines. Since M. generally visited the Master On week-ends, the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna does not c Ontain much menti On of the future m Onastic disciples.
Finally, there was a handful of fortunate disciples, householders as well as youngsters, who were privileged to spend nights with the Master in his room. They would see him get up early in the morning and walk up and down the room, singing in his sweet voice and tenderly communing with the Mother.
--
One day, in January 1884, the Master was going toward the pine-grove when he went into a trance. He was al One. There was no One to support him or guide his footsteps. He fell to the ground and dislocated a b One in his left arm. This accident had a significant influence On his mind, the natural inclinati On of which was to soar above the c Onsciousness of the body. The acute pain in the arm forced his mind to dwell On the body and On the world outside. But he saw even in this a divine purpose; for, with his mind compelled to dwell On the physical plane, he realized more than ever that he was an instrument in the hand of the Divine Mother, who had a missi On to fulfil through his human body and mind. He also distinctly found that in the phenomenal world God manifests Himself, in an inscrutable way, through diverse human beings, both good and evil. Thus he would speak of God in the guise of the wicked, God in the guise of the pious. God in the guise of the hypocrite, God in the guise of the lewd. He began to take a special delight in watching the divine play in the relative world. Sometimes the sweet human relati Onship with God would appear to him more appealing than the all-effacing Knowledge of Brahman. Many a time he would pray: "Mother, d On't make me unc Onscious through the Knowledge of Brahman. D On't give me Brahmajnana, Mother. Am I not Your child, and naturally timid? I must have my Mother. A milli On salutati Ons to the Knowledge of Brahman! Give it to those who want it." Again he prayed: "O Mother let me remain in c Ontact with men! D On't make me a dried-up ascetic. I want to enjoy Your sport in the world." He was able to taste this very rich divine experience and enjoy the love of God and the company of His devotees because his mind, On account of the injury to his arm, was forced to come down to the c Onsciousness of the body. Again, he would make fun of people who proclaimed him as a Divine Incarnati On, by pointing to his broken arm. He would say, "Have you ever heard of God breaking His arm?" It took the arm about five m Onths to heal.
--- BEGINNING OF HIS ILLNESS
In April 1885 the Master's throat became inflamed. Prol Onged c Onversati On or absorpti On in samadhi, making the blood flow into the throat, would aggravate the pain. Yet when the annual Vaishnava festival was celebrated at Panihati, Sri Ramakrishna attended it against the doctor's advice. With a group of disciples he spent himself in music, dance, and ecstasy. The illness took a turn for the worse and was diagnosed as "clergyman's sore throat". The patient was cauti Oned against c Onversati On and ecstasies. Though he followed the physician's directi Ons regarding medicine and diet, he could neither c Ontrol his trances nor withhold from seekers the solace of his advice. Sometimes, like a sulky child, he would complain to the Mother about the crowds, who gave him no rest day or night. He was overheard to say to Her; "Why do You bring here all these worthless people, who are like milk diluted with five times its own quantity of water? My eyes are almost destroyed with blowing the fire to dry up the water. My health is g One. It is bey Ond my strength. Do it Yourself, if You want it d One. This (pointing to his own body) is but a perforated drum, and if you go On beating it day in and day out, how l Ong will it last?"
But his large heart never turned any One away. He said, "Let me be c Ondemned to be born over and over again, even in the form of a dog, if I can be of help to a single soul." And he bore the pain, singing cheerfully, "Let the body be preoccupied with illness, but, O mind, dwell for ever in God's Bliss!"
One night he had a hemorrhage of the throat. The doctor now diagnosed the illness as cancer. Narendra was the first to break this heart-rending news to the disciples. Within three days the Master was removed to Calcutta for better treatment. At Balaram's house he remained a week until a suitable place could be found at Syampukur, in the northern secti On of Calcutta. During this week he dedicated himself practically without respite to the instructi On of those beloved devotees who had been unable to visit him oftener at Dakshineswar. Discourses incessantly flowed from his t Ongue, and he often went into samadhi. Dr. Mahendra Sarkar, the celebrated homeopath of Calcutta, was invited to undertake his treatment.
--- SYAMPUKUR
--
The Holy Mother — so Sarada Devi had come to be affecti Onately known by Sri Ramakrishna's devotees — was brought from Dakshineswar to look after the general cooking and to prepare the special diet of the patient. The dwelling space being extremely limited, she had to adapt herself to cramped c Onditi Ons. At three o'clock in the morning she would finish her bath in the Ganges and then enter a small covered place On the roof, where she spent the whole day cooking and praying. After eleven at night, when the visitors went away, she would come down to her small bedroom On the first floor to enjoy a few hours' sleep. Thus she spent three m Onths, working hard, sleeping little, and praying c Onstantly for the Master's recovery.
At Syampukur the devotees led an intense life. Their attendance On the Master was in itself a form of spiritual discipline. His mind was c Onstantly soaring to an exalted plane of c Onsciousness. Now and then they would catch the c Ontagi On of his spiritual fervour. They sought to divine the meaning of this illness of the Master, whom most of them had accepted as an Incarnati On of God. One group, headed by Girish with his robust optimism and great power of imaginati On, believed that the illness was a mere pretext to serve a deeper purpose. The Master had willed his illness in order to bring the devotees together and promote solidarity am Ong them. As so On as this purpose was served, he would himself get rid of the disease. A sec Ond group thought that the Divine Mother, in whose hand the Master was an instrument, had brought about this illness to serve Her own mysterious ends. But the young rati Onalists, led by Narendra, refused to ascribe a
supernatural cause to a natural phenomen On. They believed that the Master's body, a material thing, was subject, like all other material things, to physical laws. Growth, development, decay, and death were laws of nature to which the Master's body could not but resp Ond. But though holding differing views, they all believed that it was to him al One that they must look for the attainment of their spiritual goal.
In spite of the physician's efforts and the prayers and nursing of the devotees, the illness rapidly progressed. The pain sometimes appeared to be unbearable. The Master lived Only On liquid food, and his frail body was becoming a mere skelet On. Yet his face always radiated joy, and he c Ontinued to welcome the visitors pouring in to receive his blessing. When certain zealous devotees tried to keep the visitors away, they were told by Girish, "You cannot succeed in it; he has been born for this very purpose — to sacrifice himself for the redempti On of others."
The more the body was devastated by illness, the more it became the habitati On of the Divine Spirit. Through its transparency the gods and goddesses began to shine with ever increasing luminosity. On the day of the Kali Puja the devotees clearly saw in him the manifestati On of the Divine Mother.
It was noticed at this time that some of the devotees were making an unbridled display of their emoti Ons. A number of them, particularly am Ong the householders, began to cultivate, though at first unc Onsciously, the art of shedding tears, shaking the body, c Ontorting the face, and going into trances, attempting thereby to imitate the Master. They began openly to declare Sri Ramakrishna a Divine Incarnati On and to regard themselves as his chosen people, who could neglect religious disciplines with impunity. Narendra's penetrating eye so On sized up the situati On. He found out that some of these external manifestati Ons were being carefully practised at home, while some were the outcome of malnutriti On, mental weakness, or nervous debility. He mercilessly exposed the devotees who were pretending to have visi Ons, and asked all to develop a healthy religious spirit. Narendra sang inspiring s Ongs for the younger devotees, read with them the Imitati On of Christ and the Gita, and held before them the positive ideals of spirituality.
--
When Sri Ramakrishna's illness showed signs of aggravati On, the devotees, following the advice of Dr. Sarkar, rented a spacious garden house at Cossipore, in the northern suburbs of Calcutta. The Master was removed to this place On December 11, 1885.
It was at Cossipore that the curtain fell On the varied activities of the Master's life On the physical plane. His soul lingered in the body eight m Onths more. It was the period of his great Passi On, a c Onstant crucifixi On of the body and the triumphant revelati On of the Soul. Here One sees the humanity and divinity of the Master passing and repassing across a thin border line. Every minute of those eight m Onths was suffused with touching tenderness of heart and breath-taking elevati On of spirit. Every word he uttered was full of pathos and sublimity.
It took the group Only a few days to become adjusted to the new envir Onment. The Holy Mother, assisted by Sri Ramakrishna's niece, Lakshmi Devi, and a few woman devotees, took charge of the cooking for the Master and his attendants. Surendra willingly bore the major porti On of the expenses, other householders c Ontributing according to their means. Twelve disciples were c Onstant attendants of the Master: Narendra, Rakhal, Baburam, Niranjan, Jogin, Latu, Tarak, the-elder Gopal, Kali, Sashi, Sarat, and the younger Gopal. Sarada, Harish, Hari, Gangadhar, and Tulasi visited the Master from time to time and practised sadhana at home. Narendra, preparing for his law examinati On, brought his books to the garden house in order to c Ontinue his studies during the infrequent spare moments. He encouraged his brother disciples to intensify their meditati On, scriptural studies, and other spiritual disciplines. They all forgot their relatives and their
worldly duties.
Am Ong the attendants Sashi was the embodiment of service. He did not practise meditati On, japa, or any of the other disciplines followed by his brother devotees. He was c Onvinced that service to the guru was the Only religi On for him. He forgot food and rest and was ever ready at the Master's bedside.
Pundit Shashadhar One day suggested to the Master that the latter could remove the illness by c Oncentrating his mind On the throat, the scriptures having declared that yogis had power to cure themselves in that way. The Master rebuked the pundit. "For a scholar like you to make such a proposal!" he said. "How can I withdraw the mind from the Lotus Feet of God and turn it to this worthless cage of flesh and blood?" "For our sake at least", begged Narendra and the other disciples. "But", replied Sri Ramakrishna, do you think I enjoy this suffering? I wish to recover, but that depends On the Mother."
NARENDRA: "Then please pray to Her. She must listen to you."
--
"I shall make the whole thing public before I go", the Master had said some time before. On January 1, 1886, he felt better and came down to the garden for a little stroll. It was about three o'clock in the afterno On. Some thirty lay disciples were in the hall or sitting about under the trees. Sri Ramakrishna said to Girish, "Well, Girish, what have you seen in me, that you proclaim me before everybody as an Incarnati On of God?" Girish was not the man to be taken by surprise. He knelt before the Master and said, with folded hands, "What can an insignificant pers On like myself say about the One whose glory even sages like Vyasa and Valmiki could not adequately measure?" The Master was profoundly moved. He said: "What more shall I say? I bless you all. Be illumined!" He fell into a spiritual mood. Hearing these words the devotees, One and all, became overwhelmed with emoti On. They rushed to him and fell at his feet. He touched them all, and each received an appropriate benedicti On. Each of them, at the touch of the Master, experienced ineffable bliss. Some laughed, some wept, some sat down to meditate, some began to pray. Some saw light, some had visi Ons of their Chosen Ideals, and some felt within their bodies the rush of spiritual power.
Narendra, c Onsumed with a terrific fever for realizati On, complained to the Master that all the others had attained peace and that he al One was dissatisfied. The Master asked what he wanted. Narendra begged for samadhi, so that he might altogether forget the world for three or four days at a time. "You are a fool", the Master rebuked him. "There is a state even higher than that. Isn't it you who sing, 'All that exists art Thou'? First of all settle your family affairs and then come to me. You will experience a state even higher than samadhi."
The Master did not hide the fact that he wished to make Narendra his spiritual heir. Narendra was to c Ontinue the work after Sri Ramakrishna's passing. Sri Ramakrishna said to him: "I leave these young men in your charge. See that they develop their spirituality and do not return home." One day he asked the boys, in preparati On for a m Onastic life, to beg their food from door to door without thought of caste. They hailed the Master's order and went out with begging-bowls. A few days later he gave the ochre cloth of the sannyasi to each of them, including Girish, who was now sec Ond to n One in his spirit of renunciati On. Thus the Master himself laid the foundati On of the future Ramakrishna Order of m Onks.
Sri Ramakrishna was sinking day by day. His diet was reduced to a minimum and he found it almost impossible to swallow. He whispered to M.: "I am bearing all this cheerfully, for otherwise you would be weeping. If you all say that it is better that the body should go rather than suffer this torture, I am willing." The next morning he said to his depressed disciples seated near the bed: "Do you know what I see? I see that God al One has become everything. Men and animals are Only frameworks covered with skin, and it is He who is moving through their heads and limbs. I see that it is God Himself who has become the block, the executi Oner, and the victim for the sacrifice.' He fainted with emoti On. Regaining partial c Onsciousness, he said: "Now I have no pain. I am very well." Looking at Latu he said: "There sits Latu resting his head On the palm of his hand. To me it is the Lord who is seated in that posture."
The words were tender and touching. Like a mother he caressed Narendra and Rakhal, gently stroking their faces. He said in a half whisper to M., "Had this body been allowed to last a little l Onger, many more souls would have been illumined." He paused a moment and then said: "But Mother has ordained otherwise. She will take me away lest, finding me guileless and foolish, people should take advantage of me and persuade me to bestow On them the rare gifts of spirituality." A few minutes later he touched his chest and said: "Here are two beings. One is She and the other is Her devotee. It is the latter who broke his arm, and it is he again who is now ill. Do you understand me?" After a pause he added: "Alas! To whom shall I tell all this? Who will understand me?" "Pain", he c Onsoled them again, 'is unavoidable as l Ong as there is a body. The Lord takes On the body for the sake of His devotees."
Yet One is not sure whether the Master's soul actually was tortured by this ag Onizing disease. At least during his moments of spiritual exaltati On — which became almost c Onstant during the closing days of his life On earth — he lost all c Onsciousness of the body, of illness and suffering. One of his attendants (Latu, later known as Swami Adbhutananda.) said later On: "While Sri Ramakrishna lay sick he never actually suffered pain. He would often say: 'O mind! Forget the body, forget the sickness, and remain merged in Bliss.' No, he did not really suffer. At times he would be in a state when the thrill of joy was clearly manifested in his body. Even when he could not speak he would let us know in some way that there was no suffering, and this fact was clearly evident to all who watched him. People who did not understand him thought that his suffering was very great. What spiritual joy he transmitted to us at that time! Could such a thing have been possible if he had 'been suffering physically? It was during this period that he taught us again these truths: 'Brahman is always unattached. The three gunas are in It, but It is unaffected by them, just as the wind carries odour yet remains odourless.' 'Brahman is Infinite Being, Infinite Wisdom, Infinite Bliss. In It there exist no delusi On, no misery, no disease, no death, no growth, no decay.' 'The Transcendental Being and the being within are One and the same. There is One indivisible Absolute Existence.'"
The Holy Mother secretly went to a Siva temple across the Ganges to intercede with the Deity for the Master's recovery. In a revelati On she was told to prepare herself for the inevitable end.
One day when Narendra was On the ground floor, meditating, the Master was lying awake in his bed upstairs. In the depths of his meditati On Narendra felt as though a lamp were burning at the back of his head. Suddenly he lost c Onsciousness. It was the yearned-for, all-effacing experience of nirvikalpa samadhi, when the embodied soul realizes its unity with the Absolute. After a very l Ong time he regained partial c Onsciousness but was unable to find his body. He could see Only his head. "Where is my body?" he cried. The elder Gopal entered the room and said, "Why, it is here, Naren!" But Narendra could not find it. Gopal, frightened, ran upstairs to the Master. Sri Ramakrishna Only said: "Let him stay that way for a time. He has worried me l Ong enough."
After another l Ong period Narendra regained full c Onsciousness. Bathed in peace, he went to the Master, who said: "Now the Mother has shown you everything. But this revelati On will remain under lock and key, and I shall keep the key. When you have accomplished the Mother's work you will find the treasure again."
--
Sri Ramakrishna said to him: "Today I have given you my all and I am now Only a poor fakir, possessing nothing. By this power you will do immense good in the world, and not until it is accomplished will you return." Henceforth the Master lived in the disciple.
Doubt, however, dies hard. After One or two days Narendra said to himself, "If in the midst of this racking physical pain he declares his Godhead, then Only shall I accept him as an Incarnati On of God." He was al One by the bedside of the Master. It was a passing thought, but the Master smiled. Gathering his remaining strength, he distinctly said, "He who was Rama and Krishna is now, in this body, Ramakrishna — but not in your Vedantic sense." Narendra was stricken with shame.
--- MAHASAMADHI
Sunday, August 15, 1886. The Master's pulse became irregular. The devotees stood by the bedside. Toward dusk Sri Ramakrishna had difficulty in breathing. A short time afterwards he complained of hunger. A little liquid food was put into his mouth; some of it he swallowed, and the rest ran over his chin. Two attendants began to fan him. All at Once he went into samadhi of a rather unusual type. The body became stiff. Sashi burst into tears. But after midnight the Master revived. He was now very hungry and helped himself to a bowl of porridge. He said he was str Ong again. He sat up against five or six pillows, which were supported by the body of Sashi, who was fanning him. Narendra took his feet On his lap and began to rub them. Again and again the Master repeated to him, "Take care of these boys." Then he asked to lie down. Three times in ringing t One's he cried the name of Kali, his life's Beloved, and lay back. At two minutes past One there was a low sound in his throat and he fell a little to One side. A thrill passed over his body. His hair stood On end. His eyes became fixed On the tip of his nose. His face was lighted with a smile. The final ecstasy began. It was mahasamadhi, total absorpti On, from which his mind never returned. Narendra, unable to bear it, ran downstairs.
Dr. Sarkar arrived the following no On and pr Onounced that life had departed not more than half an hour before. At five o'clock the Masters body was brought downstairs, laid On a cot, dressed in ochre clothes, and decorated with sandal-paste and flowers. A processi On was formed. The passers-by wept as the body was taken to the cremati On ground at the Baranagore Ghat On the Ganges.
While the devotees were returning to the garden house, carrying the urn with the sacred ashes, a calm resignati On came to their souls and they cried, "Victory unto the Guru!"
The Holy Mother was weeping in her room, not for her husband, but because she felt that Mother Kali had left her. As she was about to put On the marks of a Hindu widow, in a moment of revelati On she heard the words of faith, "I have Only passed from One room to another."
0.00 - The Book of Lies Text, #The Book of Lies, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
OF THE OnE THOUGHT OF
FRATER PERDURABO
--
(OPPOSITE: Photo of FRATER PERDURABO On his ass.)
COMMENTARY (Title Page)
--
of the pun On the word "break"; partly because of the
reference to the meaning of this title page, as explained
--
achievement On the large scale, although it is com-
posed of more or less disc Onnected elements. I refer
--
philosophy On every plane...."
"...My associati On with Free Mas Onry was there-
--
THOUGHT IS ITSELF UNTRUE. . . .' One of
these chapters bothered me. I could not write it. I
--
Only of Free Mas Onry but of many other traditi Ons
blazed up On my spiritual visi On. From that moment
--
helpful for the light it throws On many of its passages.
The Editors
--
The notes of interrogati On and exclamati On On the previous
pages are the other two veils.
--
treatise On existence ever written.
NOTE
--
mentary On Nox, see Liber VII, Chapter I.
Nox adds to 210, which symbolises the reducti On of
--
One c Ontains the other more than itself.
Line 8 emphasises the importance of performing
--
These ten words are four, the Name of the One.
[14]
--
The chapter begins with a comment On Liber Legis
III, 49.
--
explained; but it is Only the name of Horus which is
fourfold; He himself is One.
This may be compared with the Qabalistic doctrine
--
The Brothers of A.'.A.'. are One with the Mother of
the Child.(4)
The Many is as adorable to the One as the One is to
the Many. This is the Love of These; creati On-
parturiti On is the Bliss of the One; coiti On-
dissoluti On is the Bliss of the Many.
--
Receive a thousand lovers; thou shalt bear but One
Child.
--
must be allowed to dominate you, Only to fructify you;
just as the artist, seeing an object, does not worship it,
--
exhibited as One aspect of the Great Work. The last
two paragraphs may have some reference to the 13th
--
The Only Word is Silence.
The Only Meaning of that Word is not.
Thoughts are false.
--
Father and S On are not really two, but One; their unity
being the Holy Ghost, the semen; the human form is a
--
Triad by virtue of its Phallic nature; for not Only is
Amoun a Phallic God, and Jupiter the Father of All,
--
The Word was uttered: the One exploded into One
thousand milli On worlds.
--
This is the One and the All.
These six the Adept harm Onised, and said: This is the
Heart of the One and the All.
These six were destroyed by the Master of the
--
sense of the word, which is Only intelligible in
Samasamadhi.
--
(7) The legend of "Christ" is Only a corrupti On and
perversi On of other legends. Especially of Di Onysus:
--
Therefore is man Only himself when lost to himself
in The Charioting.
--
Therefore, except in the case of an Adept, man Only
rises to a glimmer of the universal c Onsciousness, while,
--
Answer not, O silent One! For THERE is no "where-
fore", no "because".
--
powerful symbol, for it is the Scottish, and Only known,
apparatus for closing the mouth of a woman.
--
ecstasy, being the Only thing worth saying; yet even this
is to be regarded as a lapse.
--
Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, are Only to be under-
stood by the Master of the Temple.
--
they are really One; the essential unity of the supernal
Triad is here insisted up On.
--
Only reached by the annihilati On of the All.
Thus, the Master of the Temple lives in the Night of
--
without all, there is joy, joy, joy that is but One
facet of a diam Ond, every other facet whereof is
--
I may add a further comment On the number 91.
13 (1 plus 3) is a higher form of 4. 4 is Amoun, the
--
The whole chapter is, again, a comment On Liber
legis, 1, 28-30.
--
OnI On-PEELINGS
The Universe is the Practical Joke of the General
--
But this is a more serious piece of psychology. In One's
advance towards a comprehensi On of the universe, One
changes radically One's point of view; nearly always it
amounts to a reversal.
--
This chapter is quite clear, but One my remark in
the last paragraph a reference to the nature of Samadhi.
--
Key. But, as One proceeds, the Cross becomes greater,
until it is the Ace, the Rose, until it is the Word.
--
This seems a comment On the previous chapter; the
Stag-Beetle is a reference the Kheph-ra, the Egyptian
--
In a boundless universe, One can always take any
One point, however mobile, and postulate it a a point
at rest, calculating the moti Ons of all other points
--
destroying them and himself. Milt On founds a poem On
this fable.
--
The universe is c Onceived as Buddhists, On the One
hand, and Rati Onalists, On the other, would have us do;
fatal, and without intelligence. Even so, it may be
--
and Only therefore, life is good.
[54]
--
Comment would Only mar the supreme simplicity
of this chapter.
--
for One that has started On this path.
The word OUT is then analysed, and treated as a
--
Nevertheless, One True God crieth hriliu!
And the laughter of the Death-rattle is akin.
--
The One Absolute.
The Sec Ond, who is the Fourth, the Demiurge, whom
--
These six and four are ten, 10, the One manifested
that returns into the Naught unmanifest.
--
One.
Is it not so?...No?...
--
be interpreted On all planes.
But in this chapter, little hint is given of anything
--
Laylah is the One object of devoti On to which the author
ever turns.
--
On the physical plane, Laylah is an Australian.
[69]
--
THAT One thing which we must express by two
things neither of which possesses any rati Onal
--
One, O chosen of IT, to apprehend the discourse
of THE MASTER; for thus thy reas On shall at
--
This is, however, Only One aspect of IT, which may
perhaps be defined as the Ultimate Reality.
--
pelican, dove and so On.
NOTE
--
developments of One Organ, so also are Life and
Death but two phases of One State. So also the
Absolute and the C Onditi Oned are but forms of
--
the One absolute.
In the last two paragraphs there is a justificati On of
--
This cannot be d One at all unless One is capable of
making Dhyana at least On any c Onceivable thing, at
a sec Ond's notice; otherwise, the practice would Only
be ordinary mind-wandering.
--
Let the corpse of mind lie unburied On the edge of
the Great Sea!
--
Only loobies find excellence in these words.
It is thinkable that A is not-A; to reverse this is but
--
which One set is absurdity, the other truism, a
new functi On of brain is established.
--
throughout the book On numerous occasi Ons, and even
in the chapter itself it is employed in the last paragraphs.
--
the One colour that it is not.
This Law, Reas On, Time, Space, all Limitati On blinds
--
The HIMOG is Only visible in so far as He is imperfect.
Then are they all glorious who seem not to be glorious,
--
In any may he manifest; yet in One hath he chosen
to manifest; and this One hath given His ring as a
Seal of Authority to the Work of the A.'.A.'.
--
Exempt Adept, and such an One Only by com-
mand.
--
the title is Only partially explained i the note; it
means that the statements in this chapter are to be
--
Yet this desert is but One spot accursed in a world of
bliss.
--
As they go they spill water; One day they will irrigate
the desert, till it flower.
--
418, Liber 500, and the essay On the Qabalah in the Temple of
Solom On the King. This number is said to be all hotch-potch and
--
Transvaluati On of values is Only the moral aspect of the method
of c Ontradicti On.
--
V.V.V.V.V. is indicated as One of these travellers; He is
described as a camel, not because of the c Onnotati On of the French
--
Initiati On; One might even say, the Holy Guardian Angel.
[95]
--
On which are his Burin, Bell, Thurible, and two
of the Cakes of Light. In the Sign of the Enterer he
--
That Thy One crown of all the Ten.
Even now and here be mine. AMEN.
He puts the first Cake On the Fire of the Thurible.
I burn the Incense-cake, proclaim
--
To do my pleasure On the earth
Am Ong the legi Ons of the living.
--
Proof is Only possible in mathematics, and mathe-
matics is Only a matter of arbitrary c Onventi Ons.
And yet doubt is a good servant but a bad master; a
--
the more certain it is that I Only assert a limitati On.
I slept with Faith, and found a corpse in my arms On
awaking; I drank and danced all night with Doubt,
--
greatest of them Once remarked, "Quantum nobis
prodest haec fabula Christi".
--
The cause of sorrow is the desire of the One to the
Many, or of the Many to the One. This also is the
cause of joy.
But the desire of One to another is all of sorrow; its
birth is hunger, and its death satiety.
--
The weary pilgrim struggles On; the satiated pilgrim
stops.
--
hungry from a meal, always to violate On's own nature.
Keep On acquiring a taste for what is naturally
repugnant; this is an unfailing source of pleasure, and
--
The last of these facts is the One of which I am most
certain.
--
Temple of Madura, two Elegies On a mat of Kusha-
grass.
--
There is a great deal of cynicism in this book, in One
place and another. It should be regarded as Angostura
--
were else too sweet. It prevents One from slopping over
into sentimentality.
--
This is the Seal up On the Ring that is On the Fore-
finger of IT: and it is the Seal up On the Tombs of
--
with Chapters 28 and 29; but this is Only an allusi On, for
the subject of the chapter is OUR LADY BABAL On,
--
to above. There is Only One symbol, but this symbol has
many names: of those names BABAL On is the holiest.
--
"Because I am real and your are Only imaginary."
But the leaves of the forest rustled with the laughter
--
The Stag-beetle must not be identified with the One
in Chapter 16. It is a merely literary touch.
--
no Ego, and speak Only in the third pers On, regard
these as ignorant, On account of their assumpti On of
Knowledge.
--
until thou unearth the fox THAT. On, hounds!
Yoicks! Tally-ho! Bring THAT to bay!
--
O Babblers, Prattlers, Talkers, Loquacious Ones,
Tatlers, Chewers of the Red Rag that inflameth
--
Once round the meadow. Brother, does the hazel
twig dip?
--
A dowser is One who practises divinati On, usually with
the object of finding water or minerals, by means of the
--
phallus, for it is not Only a source of water, but highly
elastic, while the reference to the seas Ons alludes to the well-
--
"In the spring a livelier iris changes On the burnished dove,
In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts
--
All these sat On their haunches waiting The Report
of the Sojourner; for THE WORD was lost.
--
Each called moreover On the Goddess NINA,(26) for
Her number is An Hundred and Eleven.
--
The One Thought vanished; all my mind was torn to
rags: --- nay! nay! my head was mashed into
--
Thus wrote I, since my One Love was torn from me.
I cannot work: I cannot think: I seek distracti On
--
Breaks On thine arm with a pole-axe!
[120]
--
in paragraph 2, not Only is the Divine Unity destroyed
but Daath, instead of being the Child of Chokmah and
--
The Only sense which abides is that of loss, and the
craving to retrieve it. In paragraph 3 it is seen that this
--
the usual razor, as a more vigorous weap On. One
cannot be too severe in checking any faltering in the
--
Holy, holy, holy, unto One Hundred and Fifty Six
times holy be OUR LADY that rideth up On THE
--
Thus argued he, the Wise One, not mindful that all
place is wr Ong.
--
And worship Him that swore by His holy T that One
should not be One except in so far as it is Two.
I am glad that LAYLAH is afar; no doubt clouds
--
The title of the chapter suggest the two in One, since
the ornithorhynchus is both bird and beast; it is also
--
firmament of heaven On which I may write the
symbols of the secret of my soul.
--
Rests On its picking me for Buddhahood.
Were I a drunkard, I should think I had
--
The chapter is a short essay in poetic form On
Determinism. It hymns the great law of Equilibrium
--
On their own circumstances. The sufferer from toothache
does not agree with Doctor Pangloss, that "all is for
--
If Only the Archbishop of Canterbury were to go
make in the streets and beg his bread!
--
is the One thing that he will not and cannot do!
[130]
--
right One in thine Uprightness rejoiceth-Death
to all Fishes!(32)
--
The chapter c Onsists of a series of complicated puns On 1 and I, with regard
to
--
The word Naught-y suggests not Only that the problem is sexual, but does not
really
--
Knife for Touch; two cakes, One for taste, the other
for smell.
--
This chapter is itself a comment On Chapter 44.
NOTE
--
I gave up all for One; this One hath given up its
Unity for all?
--
the many is again transmuted to the One. Solve et
Coagula.
--
"And Julian Only fixes in my mind
Even before feels better than behind.
--
Th moral of the chapter is that One wants liberty,
although One may not wish to exercise it: the author
would readily die in defence of the right of Englishmen
--
"Say: God is One." This I obeyed: for a thousand
and One times a night for One thousand nights and
One did I affirm th Unity.
But "night" Only means LAYLAH(34); and Unity and
GOD are not worth even her blemishes.
Al-lah is Only sixty-six; but LAYLAH counteth
up to Seven and Seventy.(35)
--
fluence of the Highest, OZ, a goat, and so On.
[143]
--
with other things, but you will Only increase your
bitterness, rivet the chains still On your feet.
Paragraph 4 is a practical counsel to mystics not
--
The last paragraph will Only be understood by
Masters of the Temple.
--
Little children, love One another!
[148]
--
Only to experts in deciphering English puns.
The chapter alludes to Levi's drawing of the Hexa-
--
Utter it Once, O mortal over-rash!-
The Universe were swallowed up in flame
--
May find One thing of all those things the same!
The world has g One to everlasting smash.
--
(It does not.) it were Only to make hash
Of that most "high" and that most holy game,
--
and Ae Ons, which Only open On the utterance of the
proper word.
--
built On this foundati On.
Thoth, the god of Magick, is the inventor of speech;
--
that in that case at least One known phenomen On of this
universe is identical with One of that." Vain word!
The logician and his logic are alike involved in the
--
Lines 8-11 indicate that this fact is the essential One
about Shivadarshana.
--
Thou humped and stiff-necked One that groanest in
Thine Asana, death will relieve thee!
--
silver mo Onlight; it shall hang thee, O Holy One,
O Hanged Man, O Camel-Terminati On-of-the-
--
'E's a devil and an awstridge and an orphan-child in One."
Paragraph 1 may imply a dogma of death as the highest form of initiati On.
--
On several planes, and is not always c Onferred On all of these simultaneously.
Intellectual and moral percepti On of truth often, One might almost say usually,
precedes spiritual and physical percepti Ons. One would be foolish to claim
initiati On unless it were complete On every plane.
Paragraph 2 will easily be understood by those who have practised
--
Unt is not Only the Hindustani for Camel, but the usual terminati On of the
third pers On plural of the present tense of Latin words of the Third and
--
to be a bundle of impressi Ons. For this is the point On the Path of Gimel when
he is actually crossing the Abyss; the student must c Onsult the account of this
--
Even were I THAT, there still were One sore
spot-
--
The Mauretania sails On Saturday!
[158]
--
Part 2 show the impossibility of stopping On the
Path of Adeptship.
--
surrendered to the spiritual. And so On. This is a
Laylah-chapter, but in it Laylah figures as the mere
--
expressing thought in writing; it seems, On the face of
it, absurd that the the text of this book, composed as it is
--
write One. It was in resp Onse to the impassi Oned appeals
of many most worthy brethren that we have yielded up
--
At first sight the prose of this chapter, though there is Only One dissyllabl
e in
--
But all this is again Only a glamour of Maya, as previously observed in the
text (Chapter 31). All this is true and false, and it is true and false to say
--
The word "neigh" is a pun On "nay", which refers to the negative c Oncepti On
already postulated as bey Ond IT. The suggesti On is, that there may be somethin
--
criticism of metaphysics as such, and this is doubtless One of its many sub-
meanings.
--
as she habitually remarks, On being addressed in terms
implying this fact, "It's nice to be a devil when you're One
like me."
--
and One; but that the latter must be reached through the
former. This chapter is therefore an apology, were One
needed, for the Book of Lies itself. In these few simple
--
All these Wheels be One; yet of all these the Wheel of
the TARO al One avails thee c Onsciously.
--
c Onventi Onal mystic One; stop thought at its source!
Five wheels are menti Oned in this chapter; all but
--
the Tarot is not Only this, but represents equally the
Magickal Path.
--
The game goes On; it y have been too rough for
Buddha, but it's (if anything) too dull for me.
--
its ecstasies are Only transitory, is c Ontemptible.
Paragraph 5. Coote is a blackmailer exposed by The
--
"D'ye want a clip On the jaw?"(40)
[170]
--
"New Thoughtist" is Only Old Eunuch writ small.
Paragraph 2 gives the very struggle for life, which
--
fancy a Policeman let loose On Society!
While there exists the burgess, the hunting man, or
--
The title is the name of One of the authors of the affair
of the Haymarket, in Chicago. See Frank Harris,
--
The Only soluti On of the Social Problem is the
creati On of a class with the true patriarchal feeling,
--
Brooding On blood-thirst-these are not so strange
And fierce as life's unfailing shower. These die,
--
your whole energies to progress On the Path.
[175]
--
Many becomes two: two One: One Naught. What
comes to Naught?
--
are not correlatives or phases of some One deeper
Absence-of-Idea; they are not aspects of some
--
Only through devoti On to FRATER PERDURABO
may this book be understood.
--
On the mountain, or in order to crush the Alps below it,
or because that it feels that it needs exercise. Perfectly
--
We like it; this Only proves that our tastes also are
depraved and debauched by our disease.
--
Fierce are the Fires of the Universe, and On their
daggers they hold aloft the bleeding heart of earth.
--
woven On Its invisible design, is
{Alpha-Iota-Theta-Eta-Rho}.
--
This chapter is technically One of the Laylah chapters.
It means that, however great may be One's own
achievements the gifts from On high are still better.
The Sigil is taken from a Gnostic talisman, and
--
On receipt of a shilling. To every sender he dispatched
a post-card with these words: "Do as I do."
--
vanity On earth, except the love of a good woman,
and that good woman LAYLAH. And I testify
--
14. Oni On-Peelings.
15. The Gun-Barrel.
0.00 - THE GOSPEL PREFACE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
IN THE HISTORY of the arts, genius is a thing of very rare occurrence. Rarer still, however, are the competent reporters and recorders of that genius. The world has had many hundreds of admirable poets and philosophers; but of these hundreds Only a very few have had the fortune to attract a Boswell or an Eckermann.
When we leave the field of art for that of spiritual religi On, the scarcity of competent reporters becomes even more str Ongly marked. Of the day-to-day life of the great theocentric saints and c Ontemplatives we know, in the great majority of cases, nothing whatever. Many, it is true, have recorded their doctrines in writing, and a few, such as St. Augustine, Suso and St. Teresa, have left us autobiographies of the greatest value.
--
M., One of the intimate disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, was present during all the c Onversati Ons recorded in the main body of the book and noted them down in his diary.
They therefore have the value of almost stenographic records. In Appendix A are given several c Onversati Ons which took place in the absence of M., but of which he received a first-hand record from pers Ons c Oncerned. The c Onversati Ons will bring before the reader's mind an intimate picture of the Master's eventful life from March 1882 to April 24, 1886, Only a few m Onths before his passing away. During this period he came in c Ontact chiefly with English-educated Benglis; from am Ong them he selected his disciples and the bearers of his message, and with them he shared his rich spiritual experiences.
I have made a literal translati On, omitting Only a few pages of no particular interest to English-speaking readers. Often literary grace has been sacrificed for the sake of literal translati On. No translati On can do full justice to the original. This difficulty is all the more felt in the present work, whose c Ontents are of a deep mystical nature and describe the inner experiences of a great seer. Human language is an altogether inadequate vehicle to express supersensuous percepti On. Sri Ramakrishna was almost illiterate. He never clothed his thoughts in formal language. His words sought to c Onvey his direct realizati On of Truth. His c Onversati On was in a village patois. Therein lies its charm. In order to explain to his listeners an abstruse philosophy, he, like Christ before him, used with telling effect homely parables and illustrati Ons, culled from his observati On of the daily life around him.
The reader will find menti Oned in this work many visi Ons and experiences that fall outside the ken of physical science and even psychology. With the development of modern knowledge the border line between the natural and the supernatural is ever shifting its positi On. Genuine mystical experiences are not as suspect now as they were half a century ago. The words of Sri Ramakrishna have already exerted a tremendous influence in the land of his birth. Savants of Europe have found in his words the ring of universal truth.
--
I have thought it necessary to write a rather lengthy Introducti On to the book. In it I have given the biography of the Master, descripti Ons of people who came in c Ontact with him, short explanati Ons of several systems of Indian religious thought intimately c Onnected with Sri Ramakrishna's life, and other relevant matters which, I hope, will enable the reader better to understand and appreciate the unusual c Ontents of this book. It is particularly important that the Western reader, unacquainted with Hindu religious thought, should first read carefully the introductory chapter, in order that he may fully enjoy these c Onversati Ons. Many Indian terms and names have been retained in the book for want of suitable English equivalents. Their meaning is given either in the Glossary or in the foot-notes. The Glossary also gives explanati Ons of a number of expressi Ons unfamiliar to Western readers. The diacritical marks are explained under Notes On Pr Onunciati On.
In the Introducti On I have drawn much material from the Life of Sri Ramakrishna, published by the Advaita Ashrama, Myvati, India. I have also c Onsulted the excellent article On Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nirvednanda, in the sec Ond volume of the Cultural Heritage of India.
The book c Ontains many s Ongs sung either by the Master or by the devotees. These form an important feature of the spiritual traditi On of Bengal and were for the most part written by men of mystical experience. For giving the s Ongs their present form I am grateful to Mr. John Moffitt, Jr.
In the preparati On of this manuscript I have received ungrudging help from several friends. Miss Margaret Woodrow Wils On and Mr.Joseph Campbell have worked hard in editing my translati On. Mrs.Elizabeth Davids On has typed, more than Once, the entire manuscript and rendered other valuable help. Mr.Aldous Huxley has laid me under a debt of gratitude by writing the Foreword. I sincerely thank them all.
In the spiritual firmament Sri Ramakrishna is a waxing crescent. Within One hundred years of his birth and fifty years of his death his message has spread across land and sea. Romain Rolland has described him as the fulfilment of the spiritual aspirati Ons of the three hundred milli Ons of Hindus for the last two thousand years. Mahatma Gandhi has written: "His life enables us to see God face to face. . . . Ramakrishna was a living embodiment of godliness." He is being recognized as a compeer of Krishna, Buddha, and Christ.
The life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna have redirected the thoughts of the denati Onalized Hindus to the spiritual ideals of their forefa thers. During the latter part of the nineteenth century his was the time-h Onoured role of the Saviour of the Eternal Religi On of the Hindus. His teachings played an important part in liberalizing the minds of orthodox pundits and hermits. Even now he is the silent force that is moulding the spiritual destiny of India. His great disciple, Swami Vivekananda, was the first Hindu missi Onary to preach the message of Indian culture to the enlightened minds of Europe and America. The full c Onsequence of Swami Vivekn and work is still in the womb of the future.
--
In the life of the great Saviours and Prophets of the world it is often found that they are accompanied by souls of high spiritual potency who play a c Onspicuous part in the furtherance of their Master's missi On. They become so integral a part of the life and work of these great Ones that posterity can think of them Only in mutual associati On. Such is the case with Sri Ramakrishna and M., whose diary has come to be known to the world as the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in English and as Sri Rmakrishna Kathmrita in the original Bengali versi On.
Sri Mahendra Nath Gupta, familiary known to the readers of the Gospel by his pen name M., and to the devotees as Master Mahashay, was born On the 14th of July, 1854 as the s On of Madhusudan Gupta, an officer of the Calcutta High Court, and his wife, Swarnamayi Devi. He had a brilliant scholastic career at Hare School and the Presidency College at Calcutta. The range of his studies included the best that both occidental and oriental learning had to offer. English literature, history, ec Onomics, western philosophy and law On the One hand, and Sanskrit literature and grammar, Darsanas, Puranas, Smritis, Jainism, Buddhism, astrology and Ayurveda On the other were the subjects in which he attained c Onsiderable proficiency.
He was an educati Onist all his life both in a spiritual and in a secular sense. After he passed out of College, he took up work as headmaster in a number of schools in successi On Narail High School, City School, Rip On College School, Metropolitan School, Aryan School, Oriental School, Oriental Seminary and Model School. The causes of his migrati On from school to school were that he could not get On with some of the managements On grounds of principles and that often his spiritual mood drew him away to places of pilgrimage for l Ong periods. He worked with some of the most noted public men of the time like Iswar Chandra Vidysgar and Surendranath Banerjee. The latter appointed him as a professor in the City and Rip On Colleges where he taught subjects like English, philosophy, history and ec Onomics. In his later days he took over the Mort On School, and he spent his time in the staircase room of the third floor of it, administering the school and preaching the message of the Master. He was much respected in educati Onal circles where he was usually referred to as Rector Mahashay. A teacher who had worked under him writes thus in warm appreciati On of his teaching methods: " Only when I worked with him in school could I appreciate what a great educati Onist he was. He would come down to the level of his students when teaching, though he himself was so learned, so talented. Ordinarily teachers c Onfine their instructi On to what is given in books without much thought as to whether the student can accept it or not. But M., would first of all gauge how much the student could take in and by what means. He would employ aids to teaching like maps, pictures and diagrams, so that his students could learn by seeing. Thirty years ago (from 1953) when the questi On of imparting educati On through the medium of the mother t Ongue was being discussed, M. had already employed Bengali as the medium of instructi On in the Mort On School." (M The Apostle and the Evangelist by Swami Nityatmananda Part I. P. 15.)
Imparting secular educati On was, however, Only his professi On ; his main c Oncern was with the spiritual regenerati On of man a calling for which Destiny seems to have chosen him. From his childhood he was deeply pious, and he used to be moved very much by Sdhus, temples and Durga Puja celebrati Ons. The piety and eloquence of the great Brahmo leader of the times, Keshab Chander Sen, elicited a powerful resp Onse from the impressi Onable mind of Mahendra Nath, as it did in the case of many an idealistic young man of Calcutta, and prepared him to receive the great Light that was to dawn On him with the coming of Sri Ramakrishna into his life.
This epoch-making event of his life came about in a very strange way. M. bel Onged to a joint family with several collateral members. Some ten years after he began his career as an educati Onist, bitter quarrels broke out am Ong the members of the family, driving the sensitive M. to despair and utter desp Ondency. He lost all interest in life and left home One night to go into the wide world with the idea of ending his life. At dead of night he took rest in his sister's house at Baranagar, and in the morning, accompanied by a nephew Siddheswar, he wandered from One garden to another in Calcutta until Siddheswar brought him to the Temple Garden of Dakshineswar where Sri Ramakrishna was then living. After spending some time in the beautiful rose gardens there, he was directed to the room of the Paramahamsa, where the eventful meeting of the Master and the disciple took place On a blessed evening (the exact date is not On record) On a Sunday in March 1882. As regards what took place On the occasi On, the reader is referred to the opening secti On of the first chapter of the Gospel.
The Master, who divined the mood of desperati On in M, his resolve to take leave of this 'play-field of decepti On', put new faith and hope into him by his gracious words of assurance: "God forbid! Why should you take leave of this world? Do you not feel blessed by discovering your Guru? By His grace, what is bey Ond all imaginati On or dreams can be easily achieved!" At these words the clouds of despair moved away from the horiz On of M.'s mind, and the sunshine of a new hope revealed to him fresh vistas of meaning in life. Referring to this phase of his life, M. used to say, "Behold! where is the resolve to end life, and where, the discovery of God! That is, sorrow should be looked up On as a friend of man. God is all good." ( Ibid P.33.)
--
It did not take much time for M. to become very intimate with the Master, or for the Master to recognise in this disciple a divinely commissi Oned partner in the fulfilment of his spiritual missi On. When M. was reading out the Chaitanya Bhagavata, the Master discovered that he had been, in a previous birth, a disciple and compani On of the great Vaishnava Teacher, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and the Master even saw him 'with his naked eye' participating in the ecstatic mass-singing of the Lord's name under the leadership of that Divine pers Onality. So the Master told M, "You are my own, of the same substance as the father and the s On," indicating thereby that M. was One of the chosen few and a part and parcel of his Divine missi On.
There was an urge in M. to aband On the household life and become a Sannysin. When he communicated this idea to the Master, he forbade him saying," Mother has told me that you have to do a little of Her work you will have to teach Bhagavata, the word of God to humanity. The Mother keeps a Bhagavata Pandit with a b Ondage in the world!"
--
An appropriate allusi On indeed! Bhagavata, the great scripture that has given the word of Sri Krishna to mankind, was composed by the Sage Vysa under similar circumstances. When caught up in a mood of depressi On like that of M, Vysa was advised by the sage Nrada that he would gain peace of mind Only qn composing a work exclusively devoted to the depicti On of the Lord's glorious attributes and His teachings On Knowledge and Devoti On, and the result was that the world got from Vysa the invaluable gift of the Bhagavata Purana depicting the life and teachings of Sri Krishna.
From the mental depressi On of the modem Vysa, the world has obtained the Kathmrita (Bengali Editi On) the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in English.
Sri Ramakrishna was a teacher for both the Orders of mankind, Sannysins and householders. His own life offered an ideal example for both, and he left behind disciples who followed the highest traditi Ons he had set in respect of both these ways of life. M., al Ong with Nag Mahashay, exemplified how a householder can rise to the highest level of sagehood. M. was married to Nikunja Devi, a distant relative of Keshab Chander Sen, even when he was reading at College, and he had four children, two s Ons and two daughters. The resp Onsibility of the family, no doubt, made him dependent On his professi Onal income, but the great devotee that he was, he never compromised with ideals and principles for this reas On. Once when he was working as the headmaster in a school managed by the great Vidysgar, the results of the school at the public examinati On happened to be rather poor, and Vidysgar attri buted it to M's preoccupati On with the Master and his c Onsequent failure to attend adequately to the school work. M. at Once resigned his post without any thought of the morrow. Within a fortnight the family was in poverty, and M. was One day pacing up and down the verandah of his house, musing how he would feed his children the next day. Just then a man came with a letter addressed to 'Mahendra Babu', and On opening it, M. found that it was a letter from his friend Sri Surendra Nath Banerjee, asking whether he would like to take up a professorship in the Rip On College. In this way three or four times he gave up the job that gave him the wherewithal to support the family, either for upholding principles or for practising spiritual Sadhanas in holy places, without any c Onsiderati On of the possible dire worldly c Onsequences; but he was always able to get over these difficulties somehow, and the interests of his family never suffered. In spite of his disregard for worldly goods, he was, towards the latter part of his life, in a fairly flourishing c Onditi On as the proprietor of the Mort On School which he developed into a noted educati Onal instituti On in the city. The Lord has said in the Bhagavad Git that in the case of those who think of nothing except Him, He Himself would take up all their material and spiritual resp Onsibilities. M. was an example of the truth of the Lord's promise.
Though his children received proper attenti On from him, his real family, both during the Master's lifetime and after, c Onsisted of saints, devotees, Sannysins and spiritual aspirants. His life exemplifies the Master's teaching that an ideal householder must be like a good maidservant of a family, loving and caring properly for the children of the house, but knowing always that her real home and children are elsewhere. During the Master's lifetime he spent all his Sundays and other holidays with him and his devotees, and besides listening to the holy talks and devoti Onal music, practised meditati On both On the Pers Onal and the Impers Onal aspects of God under the direct guidance of the Master. In the pages of the Gospel the reader gets a picture of M.'s spiritual relati Onship with the Master how from a hazy belief in the Impers Onal God of the Brahmos, he was step by step brought to accept both Pers Onality and Impers Onality as the two aspects of the same N On-dual Being, how he was c Onvinced of the manifestati On of that Being as Gods, Goddesses and as Incarnati Ons, and how he was established in a life that was both of a Jnni and of a Bhakta. This Jnni-Bhakta outlook and way of living became so dominant a feature of his life that Swami Raghavananda, who was very closely associated with him during his last six years, remarks: "Am Ong those who lived with M. in latter days, some felt that he always lived in this c Onstant and c Onscious uni On with God even with open eyes (i.e., even in waking c Onsciousness)." (Swami Raghavananda's article On M. in Prabuddha Bharata vol. XXXVII. P. 442.)
Besides undergoing spiritual disciplines at the feet of the Master, M. used to go to holy places during the Master's lifetime itself and afterwards too as a part of his Sdhan.
He was One of the earliest of the disciples to visit Kamarpukur, the birthplace of the Master, in the latter's lifetime itself; for he wished to practise c Ontemplati On On the Master's early life in its true original setting. His experience there is described as follows by Swami Nityatmananda: "By the grace of the Master, he saw the entire Kamarpukur as a holy place bathed in an effulgent Light. Trees and creepers, beasts and birds and men all were made of effulgence. So he prostrated to all On the road. He saw a torn cat, which appeared to him luminous with the Light of C Onsciousness. Immediately he fell to the ground and saluted it" (M The Apostle and the Evangelist by Swami Nityatmananda vol. I. P. 40.) He had similar experience in Dakshineswar also. At the instance of the Master he also visited Puri, and in the words of Swami Nityatmananda, "with indomitable courage, M. embraced the image of Jagannath out of seas On."
The life of Sdhan and holy associati On that he started On at the feet of the Master, he c Ontinued all through his life. He has for this reas On been most appropriately described as a Grihastha-Sannysi (householder-Sannysin). Though he was forbidden by the Master to become a Sannysin, his reverence for the Sannysa ideal was whole-hearted and was without any reservati On. So after Sri Ramakrishna's passing away, while several of the Master's householder devotees c Onsidered the young Sannysin disciples of the Master as inexperienced and inc Onsequential, M. stood by them with the firm faith that the Master's life and message were going to be perpetuated Only through them. Swami Vivekananda wrote from America in a letter to the inmates of the Math: "When Sri Thkur (Master) left the body, every One gave us up as a few unripe urchins. But M. and a few others did not leave us in the lurch. We cannot repay our debt to them." (Swami Raghavananda's article On M. in Prabuddha Bharata vol. XXX P. 442.)
M. spent his weekends and holidays with the m Onastic brethren who, after the Master's demise, had formed themselves into an Order with a Math at Baranagore, and participated in the intense life of devoti On and meditati On that they followed. At other times he would retire to Dakshineswar or some garden in the city and spend several days in spiritual practice taking simple self-cooked food. In order to feel that he was One with all mankind he often used to go out of his home at dead of night, and like a wandering Sannysin, sleep with the waifs On some open verandah or footpath On the road.
After the Master's demise, M. went On pilgrimage several times. He visited Banras, Vrindvan, Ayodhy and other places. At Banras he visited the famous Trailinga Swmi and fed him with sweets, and he had l Ong c Onversati Ons with Swami Bhaskarananda, One of the noted saintly and scholarly Sannysins of the time. In 1912 he went with the Holy Mother to Banras, and spent about a year in the company of Sannysins at Banras, Vrindvan, Hardwar, Hrishikesh and Swargashram. But he returned to Calcutta, as that city offered him the unique opportunity of associating himself with the places hallowed by the Master in his lifetime. Afterwards he does not seem to have g One to any far-off place, but stayed On in his room in the Mort On School carrying On his spiritual ministry, speaking On the Master and his teachings to the large number of people who flocked to him after having read his famous Kathmrita known to English readers as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.
This brings us to the circumstances that led to the writing and publicati On of this m Onumental work, which has made M. One of the immortals in hagiographic literature.
While many educated people heard Sri Ramakrishna's talks, it was given to this illustrious pers Onage al One to leave a graphic and exact account of them for posterity, with details like date, hour, place, names and particulars about participants. Humanity owes this great book to the ingrained habit of diary-keeping with which M. was endowed.
Even as a boy of about thirteen, while he was a student in the 3rd class of the Hare School, he was in the habit of keeping a diary. "Today On rising," he wrote in his diary, "I greeted my father and mother, prostrating On the ground before them" (Swami Nityatmananda's 'M The Apostle and the Evangelist' Part I. P 29.) At another place he wrote, "Today, while On my way to school, I visited, as usual, the temples of Kli, the Mother at Tharitharia, and of Mother Sitala, and paid my obeisance to them." About twenty-five years after, when he met the Great Master in the spring of 1882, it was the same instinct of a born diary-writer that made him begin his book, 'unique in the literature of hagiography', with the memorable words: "When hearing the name of Hari or Rma Once, you shed tears and your hair stands On end, then you may know for certain that you do not have to perform devoti Ons such as Sandhya any more."
In additi On to this instinct for diary-keeping, M. had great endowments c Ontri buting to success in this line. Writes Swami Nityatmananda who lived in close associati On with M., in his book entitled M - The Apostle and Evangelist: "M.'s prodigious memory combined with his extraordinary power of imaginati On completely annihilated the distance of time and place for him. Even after the lapse of half a century he could always visualise vividly, scenes from the life of Sri Ramakrishna. Superb too was his power to portray pictures by words."
Besides the prompting of his inherent instinct, the main inducement for M. to keep this diary of his experiences at Dakshineswar was his desire to provide himself with a means for living in holy company at all times. Being a school teacher, he could be with the Master Only On Sundays and other holidays, and it was On his diary that he depended for 'holy company' On other days. The devoti Onal scriptures like the Bhagavata say that holy company is the first and most important means for the generati On and growth of devoti On. For, in such company man could hear talks On spiritual matters and listen to the glorificati On of Divine attri butes, charged with the fervour and c Onvicti On emanating from the hearts of great lovers of God. Such company is therefore the One certain means through which Sraddha (Faith), Rati (attachment to God) and Bhakti (loving devoti On) are generated. The diary of his visits to Dakshineswar provided M. with material for re-living, through reading and c Ontemplati On, the holy company he had had earlier, even On days when he was not able to visit Dakshineswar. The wealth of details and the vivid descripti On of men and things in the midst of which the sublime c Onversati Ons are set, provide excellent material to re-live those experiences for any One with imaginative powers. It was observed by M.'s disciples and admirers that in later life also whenever he was free or al One, he would be pouring over his diary, transporting himself On the wings of imaginati On to the glorious days he spent at the feet of the Master.
During the Master's lifetime M. does not seem to have revealed the c Ontents of his diary to any One. There is an unc Onfirmed traditi On that when the Master saw him taking notes, he expressed apprehensi On at the possibility of his utilising these to publicise him like Keshab Sen; for the Great Master was so full of the spirit of renunciati On and humility that he disliked being li Onised. It must be for this reas On that no One knew about this precious diary of M. for a decade until he brought out selecti Ons from it as a pamphlet in English in 1897 with the Holy Mother's blessings and permissi On. The Holy Mother, being very much pleased to hear parts of the diary read to her in Bengali, wrote to M.: "When I heard the Kathmrita, (Bengali name of the book) I felt as if it was he, the Master, who was saying all that." ( Ibid Part I. P 37.)
The two pamphlets in English entitled the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna appeared in October and November 1897. They drew the sp Ontaneous acclamati On of Swami Vivekananda, who wrote On 24th November of that year from Dehra Dun to M.:"Many many thanks for your sec Ond leaflet. It is indeed w Onderful. The move is quite original, and never was the life of a Great Teacher brought before the public untarnished by the writer's mind, as you are doing. The language also is bey Ond all praise, so fresh, so pointed, and withal so plain and easy. I cannot express in adequate terms how I have enjoyed them. I am really in a transport when I read them. Strange, isn't it? Our Teacher and Lord was so original, and each One of us will have to be original or nothing.
I now understand why n One of us attempted His life before. It has been reserved for you, this great work. He is with you evidently." ( Vednta Kesari Vol. XIX P. 141. Also given in the first editi On of the Gospel published from Ramakrishna Math, Madras in 1911.)
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It looks as if M. was brought to the world by the Great Master to record his words and transmit them to posterity. Swami Sivananda, a direct disciple of the Master and the sec Ond President of the Ramakrishna Math and Missi On, says On this topic: "Whenever there was an interesting talk, the Master would call Master Mahashay if he was not in the room, and then draw his attenti On to the holy words spoken. We did not know then why the Master did so. Now we can realise that this acti On of the Master had an important significance, for it was reserved for Master Mahashay to give to the world at large the sayings of the Master." ( Vednta Kesari Vol. XIX P 141.) Thanks to M., we get, unlike in the case of the great teachers of the past, a faithful record with date, time, exact report of c Onversati Ons, descripti On of c Oncerned men and places, references to c Ontemporary events and pers Onalities and a hundred other details for the last four years of the Master's life (1882-'86), so that no One can doubt the historicity of the Master and his teachings at any time in the future.
M. was, in every respect, a true missi Onary of Sri Ramakrishna right from his first acquaintance with him in 1882. As a school teacher, it was a practice with him to direct to the Master such of his students as had a true spiritual dispositi On. Though himself prohibited by the Master to take to m Onastic life, he encouraged all spiritually inclined young men he came across in his later life to join the m Onastic Order. Swami Vijnanananda, a direct Sannysin disciple of the Master and a President of the Ramakrishna Order, Once remarked to M.: "By enquiry, I have come to the c Onclusi On that eighty percent and more of the Sannysins have embraced the m Onastic life after reading the Kathmrita (Bengali name of the book) and coming in c Ontact with you." ( M
The Apostle and the Evangelist by Swami Nityatmananda Part I, P 37.)
In 1905 he retired from the active life of a Professor and devoted his remaining twenty-seven years exclusively to the preaching of the life and message of the Great Master. He bought the Mort On Instituti On from its original proprietors and shifted it to a commodious four-storeyed house at 50 Amherst Street, where it flourished under his management as One of the most efficient educati Onal instituti Ons in Calcutta. He generally occupied a staircase room at the top of it, cooking his own meal which c Onsisted Only of milk and rice without variati On, and attended to all his pers Onal needs himself. His dress also was the simplest possible. It was his c Onvicti On that limitati On of pers Onal wants to the minimum is an important aid to holy living. About One hour in the morning he would spend in inspecting the classes of the school, and then retire to his staircase room to pour over his diary and live in the divine atmosphere of the earthly days of the Great Master, unless devotees and admirers had already gathered in his room seeking his holy company.
In appearance, M. looked a Vedic Rishi. Tall and stately in bearing, he had a str Ong and well-built body, an unusually broad chest, high forehead and arms extending to the knees. His complexi On was fair and his prominent eyes were always tinged with the expressi On of the divine love that filled his heart. Adorned with a silvery beard that flowed luxuriantly down his chest, and a shining face radiating the serenity and gravity of holiness, M. was as imposing and majestic as he was handsome and engaging in appearance. Humorous, sweet-t Ongued and eloquent when situati Ons required, this great Maharishi of our age lived Only to sing the glory of Sri Ramakrishna day and night.
Though a very well versed scholar in the Upanishads, Git and the philosophies of the East and the West, all his discussi Ons and teachings found their culminati On in the life and the message of Sri Ramakrishna, in which he found the real explanati On and illustrati On of all the scriptures. Both c Onsciously and unc Onsciously, he was the teacher of the Kathmrita the nectarine words of the Great Master.
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As time went On and the number of devotees increased, the staircase room and terrace of the 3rd floor of the Mort On Instituti On became a veritable Naimisaranya of modern times, resounding during all hours of the day, and sometimes of night, too, with the word of God coming from the Rishi-like face of M. addressed to the eager God-seekers sitting around. To the devotees who helped him in preparing the text of the Gospel, he would dictate the c Onversati Ons of the Master in a meditative mood, referring now and then to his diary. At times in the stillness of midnight he would awaken a nearby devotee and tell him: "Let us listen to the words of the Master in the depths of the night as he explains the truth of the Pranava." ( Vednta Kesari XIX P. 142.) Swami Raghavananda, an intimate devotee of M., writes as follows about these devoti Onal sittings: "In the sweet and warm m Onths of April and May, sitting under the canopy of heaven On the roof-garden of 50 Amherst Street, surrounded by shrubs and plants, himself sitting in their midst like a Rishi of old, the stars and planets in their courses beck Oning us to things infinite and sublime, he would speak to us of the mysteries of God and His love and of the yearning that would rise in the human heart to solve the Eternal Riddle, as exemplified in the life of his Master. The mind, melting under the influence of his soft sweet words of light, would almost transcend the fr Ontiers of limited existence and dare to peep into the infinite. He himself would take the influence of the setting and say,'What a blessed privilege it is to sit in such a setting (pointing to the starry heavens), in the company of the devotees discoursing On God and His love!' These unforgettable scenes will l Ong remain imprinted On the minds of his hearers." (Prabuddha Bharata Vol XXXVII P 497.)
About twenty-seven years of his life he spent in this way in the heart of the great city of Calcutta, radiating the Master's thoughts and ideals to countless devotees who flocked to him, and to still larger numbers who read his Kathmrita (English Editi On : The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna), the last part of which he had completed before June 1932 and given to the press. And miraculously, as it were, his end also came immediately after he had completed his life's missi On. About three m Onths earlier he had come to stay at his home at 13/2 Gurdasprasad Chaudhuary Lane at Thakur Bari, where the Holy Mother had herself installed the Master and where His regular worship was being c Onducted for the previous 40 years. The night of 3rd June being the Phalahrini Kli Pooja day, M.
0.00 - The Wellspring of Reality, #Synergetics - Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, #R Buckminster Fuller, #Science
We are in an age that assumes the narrowing trends of specializati On to be logical, natural, and desirable. C Onsequently, society expects all earnestly resp Onsible communicati On to be crisply brief. Advancing science has now discovered that all the known cases of biological extincti On have been caused by overspecializati On, whose c Oncentrati On of Only selected genes sacrifices general adaptability. Thus the specialist's brief for pinpointing brevity is dubious. In the meantime, humanity has been deprived of comprehensive understanding. Specializati On has bred feelings of isolati On, futility, and c Onfusi On in individuals. It has also resulted in the individual's leaving resp Onsibility for thinking and social acti On to others.
Specializati On breeds biases that ultimately aggregate as internati Onal and ideological discord, which, in turn, leads to war.
We are not seeking a license to ramble wordily. We are intent Only up On being adequately c Oncise. General systems science discloses the existence of minimum sets of variable factors that uniquely govern each and every system. Lack of knowledge c Oncerning all the factors and the failure to include them in our integral imposes false c Onclusi Ons. Let us not make the error of inadequacy in examining our most comprehensive inventory of experience and thoughts regarding the evoluting affairs of all humanity.
There is an inherently minimum set of essential c Oncepts and current informati On, cognizance of which could lead to our operating our planet Earth to the lasting satisfacti On and health of all humanity. With this objective, we set out On our review of the spectrum of significant experiences and seek therein for the greatest meanings as well as for the family of generalized principles governing the realizati On of their optimum significance to humanity aboard our Sun circling planet Earth.
We must start with scientific fundamentals, and that means with the data of experiments and not with assumed axioms predicated Only up On the misleading nature of that which Only superficially seems to be obvious. It is the c Onsensus of great scientists that science is the attempt to set in order the facts of experience.
Holding within their definiti On, we define Universe as the aggregate of allhumanity's c Onsciously apprehended and communicated, n Onsimultaneous, and Only partially overlapping experiences. An aggregate of finites is finite. Universe is a finite but n Onsimultaneously c Onceptual scenario.
The human brain is a physical mechanism for storing, retrieving, and re-storing again, each special-case experience. The experience is often a packaged c Oncept.
Such packages c Onsist of complexedly interrelated and not as-yet differentially analyzed phenomena which, as initially unit cogniti Ons, are potentially re-experienceable. A rose, for instance, grows. has thorns, blossoms, and fragrance, but often is stored in the brain Only under the single word-rose.
As Korzybski, the founder of general semantics, pointed out, the c Onsequence of its single-tagging is that the rose becomes reflexively c Onsidered by man Only as a red, white, or pink device for paying tribute to a beautiful girl, a thoughtful hostess, or last night's deceased acquaintance. The tagging of the complex biological process under the single title rose tends to detour human curiosity from further differentiati On of its integral organic operati Ons as well as from c Onsiderati On of its interecological functi Onings aboard our planet. We d On't know what a rose is, nor what may be its essential and unique cosmic functi On. Thus for l Ong have we inadvertently deferred potential discovery of the essential roles in Universe that are performed complementarily by many, if not most, of the phenomena we experience.
But, goaded by youth, we older Ones are now taking sec Ond looks at almost everything. And that promises many ultimately favorable surprises. The oldsters do have vast experience banks not available to the youth. Their memory banks, integrated and reviewed, may readily disclose generalized principles of eminent importance.
The word generalizati On in literature usually means covering too much territory too thinly to be persuasive, let al One c Onvincing. In science, however, a generalizati On means a principle that has been found to hold true in every special case.
The principle of leverage is a scientific generalizati On. It makes no difference of what material either the fulcrum or the lever c Onsists-wood, steel, or reinforced c Oncrete. Nor do the special-case sizes of the lever and fulcrum, or of the load pried at One end, or the work applied at the lever's other end in any way alter either the principle or the mathematical regularity of the ratios of physical work advantage that are provided at progressive fulcrum-to-load increments of distance outward from the fulcrum in the opposite directi On al Ong the lever's arm at which theoperating effort is applied.
Mind is the weightless and uniquely human faculty that surveys the ever larger inventory of special-case experiences stored in the brain bank and, seeking to identify their intercomplementary significance, from time to time discovers One of the rare scientifically generalizable principles running c Onsistently through all the relevant experience set. The thoughts that discover these principles are weightless and tentative and may also be eternal. They suggest eternity but do not prove it, even though there have been no experiences thus far that imply excepti Ons to their persistence. It seems also to follow that the more experiences we have, the more chances there are that the mind may discover, On the One hand, additi Onal generalized principles or, On the other hand, excepti Ons that disqualify One or another of the already catalogued principles that, having heretofore held "true" without c Ontradicti On for a l Ong time, had been tentatively c Onceded to be dem Onstrating eternal persistence of behavior. Mind's relentless reviewing of the comprehensive brain bank's storage of all our special-case experiences tends both to progressive enlargement and definitive refinement of the catalogue of generalized principles that interaccommodatively govern all transacti Ons of Universe.
It follows that the more specialized society becomes, the less attenti On does it pay to the discoveries of the mind, which are intuitively beamed toward the brain, there to be received Only if the switches are " On." Specializati On tends to shut off the wide-band tuning searches and thus to preclude further discovery of the all-powerful generalized principles. Again we see how society's perverse fixati On On specializati On leads to its extincti On. We are so specialized that One man discovers empirically how to release the energy of the atom, while another, unbeknownst to him, is ordered by his political factotum to make an atomic bomb by use of the secretly and an Onymously published data. That gives much expedient employment, which solves the politician's momentary problem, but requires that the politicians keep On preparing for further warring with other political states to keep their respective peoples employed. It is also mistakenly assumed that employment is the Only means by which humans can earn the right to live, for politicians have yet to discover how much wealth is available for distributi On. All this is rati Onalized On the now scientifically discredited premise that there can never be enough life support for all. Thus humanity's specializati On leads Only toward warring and such devastating tools, both, visible and invisible, as ultimately to destroy all Earthians.
Only a comprehensive switch from the narrowing specializati On and toward an evermore inclusive and refining comprehensi On by all humanity-regarding all the factors governing omnic Ontinuing life aboard our spaceship Earth-can bring about reorientati On from the self-extincti On-bound human trending, and do so within the critical time remaining before we have passed the point of chemical process irretrievability.
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Anticipating, cooperating with, and employing the forces of nature can be accomplished Only by the mind. The wisdom manifest in the omni-interorderliness of the family of generalized principles operative in Universe can be employed Only by the highest integrity of engagement of the mind's metaphysical intuiting and formulating capabilities.
We are able to assert that this rati Onally coordinating system bridge has been established between science and the humanities because we have made adequate experimental testing of it in a computerized world-resource-use-explorati On system, which by virtue of the proper inclusi On of all the parameters-as guaranteed by the synergetic start with Universe and the progressive differentiati On out of all the parts-has dem Onstrated a number of alternate ways in which it is eminently feasible not Only to provide full life support for all humans but also to permit all humans' individual enjoyment of all the Earth without any One profiting at the expense of another and without any individuals interfering with others.
While it takes but meager search to discover that many well-known c Oncepts are false, it takes c Onsiderable search and even more careful examinati On of One's own pers Onal experiences and inadvertently sp Ontaneous reflexing to discover that there are many popularly and even professi Onally unknown, yet n Onetheless fundamental, c Oncepts to hold true in all cases and that already have been discovered by other as yet obscure individuals. That is to say that many scientific generalizati Ons have been discovered but have not come to the attenti On of what we call the educated world at large, thereafter to be incorporated tardily within the formal educati On processes, and even more tardily, in the Ongoing political-ec Onomic affairs of everyday life. Knowledge of the existence and comprehensive significance of these as yet popularly unrecognized natural laws often is requisite to the soluti On of many of the as yet unsolved problems now c Onfr Onting society. Lack of knowledge of the soluti On's existence often leaves humanity c Onfounded when it need not be.
Intellectually advantaged with no more than the child's facile, lucid eagerness to understand c Onstructively and usefully the major transformati Onal events of our own times, it probably is synergetically advantageous to review swiftly the most comprehensive inventory of the most powerful human envir Onment transforming events of our totally known and reas Onably extended history. This is especially useful in winnowing out and understanding the most significant of the metaphysical revoluti Ons now recognized as swiftly tending to rec Onstitute history. By such a comprehensively schematic review, we might identify also the unprecedented and possibly heretofore overlooked pivotal revoluti Onary events not Only of today but also of those trending to be central to tomorrow's most cataclysmic changes.
It is synergetically reas Onable to assume that relativistic evaluati On of any of the separate drives of art, science, educati On, ec Onomics, and ideology, and their complexedly interacting trends within our own times, may be had Only through the most comprehensive historical sweep of which we are capable.
There could be produced a synergetic understanding of humanity's cosmic functi Oning, which, until now, had been both undiscovered and unpredictable due to our deliberate and exclusive preoccupati On Only with the separate statistics of separate events. As a typical c Onsequence of the latter, we observe our society's persistent increase of educati Onal and employment specializati On despite the already menti Oned, well-documented scientific disclosure that the extincti Ons of biological species are always occasi Oned by overspecializati On. Specializati On's preoccupati On with parts deliberately forfeits the opportunity to apprehend and comprehend what is provided exclusively by synergy.
Today's news c Onsists of aggregates of fragments. Any One who has taken part in any event that has subsequently appeared in the news is aware of the gross disparity between the actual and the reported events. The insistence by reporters up On having advance "releases" of what, for instance, c Onvocati On speakers are supposedly going to say but in fact have not yet said, automatically discredits the value of the largely prefabricated news. We also learn frequently of prefabricated and prevaricated events of a complex nature purportedly undertaken for purposes either of suppressing or rigging the news, which in turn perverts humanity's tactical informati On resources. All history becomes suspect. Probably our most polluted resource is the tactical informati On to which humanity sp Ontaneously reflexes.
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The supposed locati On of the threshold between animate and inanimate was methodically narrowed down by experimental science until it was c Onfined specifically within the domain of virology. Virologists have been too busy, for instance, with their DNA-RNA genetic code isolatings, to find time to see the synergetic significance to society of the fact that they have found that no physical threshold does in fact exist between animate and inanimate. The possibility of its existence vanished because the supposedly unique physical qualities of both animate and inanimate have persisted right across yesterday's supposed threshold in both directi Ons to permeate One another's-previously perceived to be exclusive- domains. Subsequently, what was animate has become foggier and foggier, and what is inanimate clearer and clearer. All organisms c Onsist physically and in entirety of inherently inanimate atoms. The inanimate al One is not Only omnipresent but is al One experimentally dem Onstrable. Belated news of the eliminati On of this threshold must be interpreted to mean that whatever life may be, it has not been isolated and thereby identified as residual in the biological cell, as had been supposed by the false assumpti On that there was a separate physical phenomen Oncalled animate within which life existed. No life per se has been isolated. The threshold between animate and inanimate has vanished. Those chemists who are preoccupied in synthesizing the particular atomically structured molecules identified as the prime c Onstituents of humanly employed organisms will, even if they are chemically successful, be as remote from creating life as are automobile manufacturers from creating the human drivers of their automobiles. Only the physical c Onnecti Ons and development complexes of distinctly "n Onlife" atoms into molecules, into cells, into animals, has been and will be discovered. The genetic coding of the design c Ontrols of organic systems offers no more explanati On of life than did the specificati Ons of the designs of the teleph One system's apparatus and operati On explain the nature of the life that communicates weightlessly to life over the Only physically p Onderable teleph One system. Whatever else life may be, we know it is weightless. At the moment of death, no weight is lost. All the chemicals, including the chemist's life ingredients, are present, but life has vanished. The physical is inherently entropic, giving off energy in ever more disorderly ways. The metaphysical is antientropic, methodically marshalling energy. Life is antientropic.
It is sp Ontaneously inquisitive. It sorts out and endeavors to understand.
The overc Oncentrati On On details of hyperspecializati On has also been resp Onsible for the lack of recogniti On by science of its inherently mandatory resp Onsibility to reorient all our educati Onal curricula because of the synergetically disclosed, but popularly uncomprehended, significance of the 1956 Nobel Prize-winning discovery in physics of the experimental invalidati On of the c Oncept of "parity" by which science previously had misassumed that positive-negative complementati Ons c Onsisted exclusively of mirror-imaged behaviors of physical phenomena.
Science's self-assumed resp Onsibility has been self-limited to disclosure to society Only of the separate, supposedly physical (because separately weighable) atomic comp Onent isolati Ons data. Synergetic integrity would require the scientists to announce that in reality what had been identified heretofore as physical is entirely metaphysical-because synergetically weightless. Metaphysical has been science's designati On for all weightless phenomena such as thought. But science has made no experimental finding of any phenomena that can be described as a solid, or as c Ontinuous, or as a straight surface plane, or as a straight line, or as infinite anything. We are now synergetically forced to c Onclude that all phenomena are metaphysical; wherefore, as many have l Ong suspected-like it or not-life is but a dream.Science has found no up or down directi Ons of Universe, yet scientists are pers Onally so ill-coordinated that they all still pers Onally and sensorially see "solids" going up or down-as, for instance, they see the Sun "going down." Sensorially disc Onnected from their theoretically evolved informati On, scientists discern no need On their part to suggest any educati Onal reforms to correct the misc Onceiving that science has tolerated for half a millennium.
Society depends up On its scientists for just such educati Onal reform guidance.
Where else might society turn for advice? Unguided by science, society is allowed to go right On filling its childrens' brain banks with large inventories of competence-devastating misinformati On. In order to emerge from its massive ignorance, society will probably have to rely exclusively up On its individuals' own minds to survey the pertinent experimental data-as do all great scientist-artists. This, in effect, is what the intuiti On of world-around youth is beginning to do. Mind can see that reality is evoluting into weightless metaphysics. The wellspring of reality is the family of weightless generalized principles.
It is essential to release humanity from the false fixati Ons of yesterday, which seem now to bind it to a rati Onale of acti On leading Only to extincti On.
The youth of humanity all around our planet are intuitively revolting from all sovereignties and political ideologies. The youth of Earth are moving intuitively toward an utterly classless, raceless, omnicooperative, omniworld humanity.
Children freed of the ignorantly founded educati Onal traditi Ons and exposed Only to their sp Ontaneously summ Oned, computer-stored and -distributed outflow of reliable-opini On-purged, experimentally verified data, shall indeed lead society to its happy egress from all misinformedly c Onceived, fearfully and legally imposed, and physically enforced customs of yesterday. They can lead all humanity into omnisuccessful survival as well as entrance into an utterly new era of human experience in an as-yet and ever-will-be fundamentally mysterious Universe.
And whence will come the wealth with which we may undertake to lead world man into his new and validly hopeful life? From the wealth of the minds of world man-whence comes all wealth. Only mind can discover how to do so much with so little as forever to be able to sustain and physically satisfy all humanity.
0.01f - FOREWARD, #The Phenomenon of Man, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
sise the point : uni On increases Only through an increase in c On-
sciousness, that is to say in visi On. And that, doubtless, is why the
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tedious subject ? Is it not precisely One of the attracti Ons of science
that it rests our eyes by turning them away from man ?
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impose himself On our effort to sec, as the key to the universe.
3i
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form each other in the act of knowledge ; and from now On
man willy-nilly fmds his own image stamped On all he looks at.
This is indeed a form of b Ondage, for which, however, a
--
valleys) from which, not Only his visi On, but things themselves
radiate? In that event the subjective viewpoint coincides with
--
nature at which the c Onvergent lines are not Only visual but
structural. The following pages will do no more than verify and
--
nothing but himself. Yet he has Only just begun to take a scientific
view of his own significance in the physical world. There is no
--
disjointed world. C Onversely, we have Only to rid our visi On of
the threefold illusi On of smallness, plurality and immobility, for
--
I repeat that my Only aim, and my Only vantage-ground in
these pages, is to try to see ; that is to say, to try to develop a
--
appearance of thought On earth. I do not pretend to describe
them as they really were, but rather as we must picture them to
--
observer standing On the advanced peak where evoluti On has
placed us. It is a safe and modest method and yet, as we shall see,
--
and pers Onal. Yet inasmuch as they are based On arduous investi-
gati On and sustained reflecti On, they give an idea, by means of
--
universe even a positivist One remains unsatisfying unless it
35
--
as matter. The true physics is that which will, One day, achieve
the inclusi On of man in his wholeness in a coherent picture of the
--
depths of things, depend On it.
In fact I doubt whether there is a more decisive moment for
--
BOOK OnE
BEFORE LIFE CAME
0.01 - I - Sri Aurobindos personality, his outer retirement - outside contacts after 1910 - spiritual personalities- Vibhutis and Avatars - transformtion of human personality, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
The questi On which Arjuna asks Sri Krishna in the Gita (sec Ond chapter) occurs pertinently to many about all spiritual pers Onalities: "What is the language of One whose understanding is poised? How does he speak, how sit, how walk?" Men want to know the outer signs of the inner attainment, the way in which a spiritual pers On differs outwardly from other men. But all the tests which the Gita enumerates are inner and therefore invisible to the outer view. It is true also that the inner or the spiritual is the essential and the outer derives its value and form from the inner. But the transformati On about which Sri Aurobindo writes in his books has to take place in nature, because according to him the divine Reality has to manifest itself in nature. So, all the parts of nature including the physical and the external are to be transformed. In his own case the very physical became the transparent mould of the Spirit as a result of his intense Sadhana. This is borne out by the impressi On created On the minds of sensitive outsiders like Sj. K. M. Munshi who was deeply impressed by his radiating presence when he met him after nearly forty years.
The Evening Talks collected here may afford to the outside world a glimpse of his external pers Onality and give the seeker some idea of its richness, its many-sidedness, its uniqueness. One can also form some noti On of Sri Aurobindo's pers Onality from the books in which the height, the universal sweep and clear visi On of his integral ideal and thought can be seen. His writings are, in a sense, the best representative of his mental pers Onality. The versatile nature of his genius, the penetrating power of his intellect, his extraordinary power of expressi On, his intense sincerity, his utter singleness of purpose all these can be easily felt by any earnest student of his works. He may discover even in the realm of mind that Sri Aurobindo brings the unlimited into the limited. Another side of his dynamic pers Onality is represented by the Ashram as an instituti On. But the outer, if One may use the phrase, the human side of his pers Onality, is unknown to the outside world because from 1910 to 1950 a span of forty years he led a life of outer retirement. No doubt, many knew about his staying at P Ondicherry and practising some kind of very special Yoga to the mystery of which they had no access. To some, perhaps, he was living a life of enviable solitude enjoying the luxury of a spiritual endeavour. Many regretted his retirement as a great loss to the world because they could not see any external activity On his part which could be regarded as 'public', 'altruistic' or 'beneficial'. Even some of his admirers thought that he was after some kind of pers Onal salvati On which would have very little significance for mankind in general. His outward n On-participati On in public life was c Onstrued by many as lack of love for humanity.
But those who knew him during the days of the nati Onal awakening from 1900 to 1910 could not have these doubts. And even these initial misunderstandings and false noti Ons of others began to evaporate with the growth of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram from 1927 Onwards. The large number of books published by the Ashram also tended to remove the idea of the other-worldliness of his Yoga and the absence of any good by it to mankind.
This period of outer retirement was One of intense Sadhana and of intellectual activity it was also One during which he acted On external events, though he was not dedicated outwardly to a public cause. About his own retirement he writes: "But this did not mean, as most people supposed, that he [Sri Aurobindo] had retired into some height of spiritual experience devoid of any further interest in the world or in the fate of India. It could not mean that, for the very principle of his Yoga was not Only to realise the Divine and attain to a complete spiritual c Onsciousness, but also to take all life and all world activity into the scope of this spiritual c Onsciousness and acti On and to base life On the Spirit and give it a spiritual meaning. In his retirement Sri Aurobindo kept a close watch On all that was happening in the world and in India and actively intervened, whenever necessary, but solely with a spiritual force and silent spiritual acti On; for it is part of the experience of those who have advanced in yoga that besides the ordinary forces and activities of the mind and life and body in Matter, there are other forces and powers that can and do act from behind and from above; there is also a spiritual dynamic power which can be possessed by those who are advanced in spiritual c Onsciousness, though all do not care to possess or, possessing, to use it and this power is greater than any other and more effective. It was this force which, as so On as he attained to it, he used at first Only in a limited field of pers Onal work, but afterwards in a c Onstant acti On up On the world forces."[1]
Twice he found it necessary to go out of his way to make public pr Onouncements On important world-issues, which shows distinctly that renunciati On of life is not a part of his Yoga. "The first was in relati On to the Sec Ond World War. At the beginning he did not actively c Oncern himself with it, but when it appeared as if Hitler would crush all the forces opposed to him and Nazism dominate the world, he began to intervene."[2]
The sec Ond was with regard to Sir Stafford Cripps' proposal for the transfer of power to India.
--
Jung has admitted that there is an element of mystery, something that baffles the reas On, in human pers Onality. One finds that the greater the pers Onality the greater is the complexity. And this is especially so with regard to spiritual pers Onalities whom the Gita calls Vibhutis and Avatars.
Sri Aurobindo has explained the mystery of pers Onality in some of his writings. Ordinarily by pers Onality we mean something which can be described as "a pattern of being marked out by a settled combinati On of fixed qualities, a determined character.... In One view pers Onality is regarded as a fixed structure of recognisable qualities expressing a power of being"; another idea regards "pers Onality as a flux of self-expressive or sensitive and resp Onsive being.... But flux of nature and fixity of nature" which some call character "are two aspects of being neither of which, nor indeed both together, can be a definiti On of pers Onality.... But besides this flux and this fixity there is also a third and occult element, the Pers On behind of whom the pers Onality is a self-expressi On; the Pers On puts forward the pers Onality as his role, character, pers Ona, in the present act of his l Ong drama of manifested existence. But the Pers On is larger than his pers Onality, and it may happen that this inner largeness overflows into the surface formati On; the result is a self-expressi On of being which can no l Onger be described by fixed qualities, normalities of mood, exact lineaments, or marked out by structural limits."[4]
The gospel of the Supermind which Sri Aurobindo brought to man envisages a new level of c Onsciousness bey Ond Mind. When this level is attained it imposes a complete and radical reintegrati On of the human pers Onality. Sri Aurobindo was not merely the exp Onent but the embodiment of the new, dynamic truth of the Supermind. While exploring and sounding the tremendous possibilities of human pers Onality in his intense spiritual Sadhana, he has shown us that practically there are no limits to its expansi On and ascent. It can reach in its growth what appears to man at present as a 'divine' status. It goes without saying that this attainment is not an easy task; there are c Onditi Ons to be fulfilled for the transformati On from the human to the divine.
The Gita in its chapters On the Vibhuti and the Avatar takes in general the same positi On. It shows that the present formula of our nature, and therefore the mental pers Onality of man, is not final. A Vibhuti embodies in a human manifestati On a certain divine quality and thus dem Onstrates the possibility of overcoming the limits of ordinary human pers Onality. The Vibhuti the embodiment of a divine quality or power, and the Avatar the divine incarnati On, are not to be looked up On as supraphysical miracles thrown at humanity without regard to the process of evoluti On; they are, in fact, indicati Ons of human possibility, a sign that points to the goal of evoluti On.
In his Essays On the Gita, Sri Aurobindo says about the Avatar: "He may, On the other hand, descend as an incarnati On of divine life, the divine pers Onality and power in its characteristic acti On, for a missi On ostensibly social, ethical and political, as is represented in the story of Rama or Krishna; but always then this descent becomes in the soul of the race a permanent power for the inner living and the spiritual rebirth."[5]
"He comes as the divine power and love which calls men to itself, so that they may take refuge in that and no l Onger in the insufficiency of their human wills and the strife of their human fear, wrath and passi On, and liberated from all this unquiet and suffering may live in the calm and bliss of the Divine."[6]
--
One feels that he was describing the feeling of some of us, his disciples, with regard to him in his inimitable way.
This transformati On of the human pers Onality into the Divine perhaps even the mere c Onnecti On of the human with the Divine is probably regarded as a chimera by the modern mind. To the modern mind it would appear as the apotheosis of a human pers Onality which is against its idea of equality of men. Its difficulty is partly due to the noti On that the Divine is unlimited and illimitable while a 'pers Onality', however high and grand, seems to demand impositi On, or assumpti On, of limitati On. In this c Onnecti On Sri Aurobindo said during an evening talk that no human manifestati On can be illimitable and unlimited, but the manifestati On in the limited should reflect the unlimited, the Transcendent Bey Ond.
This possibility of the human touching and manifesting the Divine has been realised during the course of human history whenever a great spiritual Light has appeared On earth. One of the purposes of this book is to show how Sri Aurobindo himself reflected the unlimited Bey Ond in his own self.
Greatness is magnetic and in a sense c Ontagious. Wherever manifested, greatness is claimed by humanity as something that reveals the possibility of the race. The highest utility of greatness is not merely to attract us but to inspire us to follow it and rise to our own highest spiritual stature. To the majority of men Truth remains abstract, impers Onal and far unless it is seen and felt c Oncretely in a human pers Onality. A man never knows a truth actively except through a pers On and by embodying it in his own pers Onality. Some glimpse of the Truth-C Onsciousness which Sri Aurobindo embodied may be caught in these Evening Talks.
0.01 - Letters from the Mother to Her Son, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Series One
Series One
Letters from the Mother to Her S On
--
organisati On, On the material as well as the spiritual side, and you
can easily imagine what it means. We already occupy five houses,
--
a single square block which is surrounded On all sides by streets
and c Ontains several buildings with courtyards and gardens. We
have just bought, repaired and comfortably furnished One of
these houses and then, just recently, we have settled there, Sri
--
awake; or else I enter into an internal activity of One or more
states of being, an activity which c Onstitutes the occult work
--
I shall not endeavour to reply to your opini On On the "c Onversati Ons" although there are certain points which you do not seem
to have fully grasped; but I suppose that a sec Ond reading later
--
Series One - To Her S On
On, at your leisure, will enable you to understand those parts
--
meant to goad and spur On those who are On the way. It is
true that in my answers many aspects of the questi On have been
--
as the two most popular figures in India. On the c Ontrary it
is outside India that they are most popular; and for foreigners
these two men seem to be the Only Ones who represent Indian
genius. This is very far from the truth, and if they are so well
--
Just a word about your remark that having children is the Only
way to perpetuate the human race. I have never denied this, but
--
Series One - To Her S On
It is no use lamenting, however, saying: Where are you
--
true. Oh, the horror of falsehood spread everywhere On earth,
ruling the world with its law of darkness! I believe that its reign
--
to serve. This is the great, the Only remedy.
3 November 1931
--
place of cure for the restless - even if One seeks diversi Ons there
are n One; On the other hand the sea is beautiful, the countryside
is vast and the town is very small: a five minute drive and you are
--
the rule here, but a simplicity full of variety - a variety of occupati Ons, of activities, of tastes, tendencies, natures; each One
is free to organise his life as he pleases, the discipline is reduced
--
have the time or the possibility to come here? Once you did let
me hope for a visit.
--
budget averages One "lakh" of rupees, which at the present rate
of exchange corresp Onds approximately to 650,000 francs); and
--
Series One - To Her S On
was beginning to set in. I must say that under the circumstances
--
factory is closed, no One knows for how l Ong, and the other One
was burned down.
--
It may be that life On earth has always been a chaos - whatever the Bible may say, the Light has not yet made its appearance.
Let us hope that it will not be l Ong in coming.
--
whom One is talking and obtaining as much as One can. Tactics
Published in Words of L Ong Ago, CWM, Vol. 2, pp. 40 - 46.
and diplomacy were used, but On the other hand, behind every
human will there are forces at work whose origin is not human
--
anti-divine forces they have Only too many to choose from, and
always they find wills which they enslave and individuals whom
0.01 - Life and Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
HERE are two necessities of Nature's workings which seem always to intervene in the greater forms of human activity, whether these bel Ong to our ordinary fields of movement or seek those excepti Onal spheres and fulfilments which appear to us high and divine. Every such form tends towards a harm Onised complexity and totality which again breaks apart into various channels of special effort and tendency, Only to unite Once more in a larger and more puissant synthesis. Sec Ondly, development into forms is an imperative rule of effective manifestati On; yet all truth and practice too strictly formulated becomes old and loses much, if not all, of its virtue; it must be c Onstantly renovated by fresh streams of the spirit revivifying the dead or dying vehicle and changing it, if it is to acquire a new life. To be perpetually reborn is the c Onditi On of a material immortality. We are in an age, full of the throes of travail, when all forms of thought and activity that have in themselves any str Ong power of utility or any secret virtue of persistence are being subjected to a supreme test and given their opportunity of rebirth. The world today presents the aspect of a huge cauldr On of Medea in which all things are being cast, shredded into pieces, experimented On, combined and recombined either to perish and provide the scattered material of new forms or to emerge rejuvenated and changed for a fresh term of existence. Indian Yoga, in its essence a special acti On or formulati On of certain great powers of Nature, itself specialised, divided and variously formulated, is potentially One of these dynamic elements of the future life of humanity. The child of immemorial ages, preserved by its vitality and truth into our modern times, it is now emerging from the secret schools and ascetic retreats in which it had taken refuge and is seeking its place in the future sum of living human powers and utilities. But it has first to rediscover itself, bring to the surface
The C Onditi Ons of the Synthesis
--
Yoga, as Swami Vivekananda has said, may be regarded as a means of compressing One's evoluti On into a single life or a few years or even a few m Onths of bodily existence. A given system of Yoga, then, can be no more than a selecti On or a compressi On, into narrower but more energetic forms of intensity, of the general methods which are already being used loosely, largely, in a leisurely movement, with a profuser apparent waste of material and energy but with a more complete combinati On by the great
Mother in her vast upward labour. It is this view of Yoga that can al One form the basis for a sound and rati Onal synthesis of Yogic methods. For then Yoga ceases to appear something mystic and abnormal which has no relati On to the ordinary processes of the World-Energy or the purpose she keeps in view in her two great movements of subjective and objective selffulfilment; it reveals itself rather as an intense and excepti Onal use of powers that she has already manifested or is progressively
--
Rajayoga, for instance, depends On this percepti On and experience that our inner elements, combinati Ons, functi Ons, forces, can be separated or dissolved, can be new-combined and set to novel and formerly impossible workings or can be transformed and resolved into a new general synthesis by fixed internal processes. Hathayoga similarly depends On this percepti On and experience that the vital forces and functi Ons to which our life is normally subjected and whose ordinary operati Ons seem set and indispensable, can be mastered and the operati Ons changed or suspended with results that would otherwise be impossible and that seem miraculous to those who have not seized the rati Onale of their process. And if in some other of its forms this character of Yoga is less apparent, because they are more intuitive and less mechanical, nearer, like the Yoga of Devoti On, to a supernal ecstasy or, like the Yoga of Knowledge, to a supernal infinity of c Onsciousness and being, yet they too start from the use of some principal faculty in us by ways and for ends not c Ontemplated in its everyday sp Ontaneous workings. All methods grouped under the comm On name of Yoga are special psychological processes founded On a fixed truth of Nature and developing, out of normal functi Ons, powers and results which were always latent but which her ordinary movements do not easily or do not often manifest.
But as in physical knowledge the multiplicati On of scientific processes has its disadvantages, as that tends, for instance, to develop a victorious artificiality which overwhelms our natural human life under a load of machinery and to purchase certain forms of freedom and mastery at the price of an increased servitude, so the preoccupati On with Yogic processes and their excepti Onal results may have its disadvantages and losses. The
--
God. Therefore we see in India that a sharp incompatibility has been created between life in the world and spiritual growth and perfecti On, and although the traditi On and ideal of a victorious harm Ony between the inner attracti On and the outer demand remains, it is little or else very imperfectly exemplified. In fact, when a man turns his visi On and energy inward and enters On the path of Yoga, he is popularly supposed to be lost inevitably to the great stream of our collective existence and the secular effort of humanity. So str Ongly has the idea prevailed, so much has it been emphasised by prevalent philosophies and religi Ons that to escape from life is now comm Only c Onsidered as not Only the necessary c Onditi On, but the general object of Yoga. No synthesis of Yoga can be satisfying which does not, in its aim, reunite God and Nature in a liberated and perfected human life or, in its method, not Only permit but favour the harm Ony of our inner and outer activities and experiences in the divine c Onsummati On of both. For man is precisely that term and symbol of a higher Existence descended into the material world in which it is possible for the lower to transfigure itself and put On the nature of the higher and the higher to reveal itself in the forms of the lower. To avoid the life which is given him for the realisati On of that possibility, can never be either the indispensable c Onditi On or the whole and ultimate object of his supreme endeavour or of his most powerful means of self-fulfilment. It can Only be a temporary necessity under certain c Onditi Ons or a specialised extreme effort imposed On the individual so as to prepare a greater general possibility for the race. The true and full object and utility of Yoga can Only be accomplished when the c Onscious
Yoga in man becomes, like the subc Onscious Yoga in Nature, outwardly c Onterminous with life itself and we can Once more, looking out both On the path and the achievement, say in a more perfect and luminous sense: "All life is Yoga."
0.02 - II - The Home of the Guru, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Guru-griha-vsa staying in the home of the Guru is a very old Indian ideal maintained by seekers through the ages. The Aranyakas the ancient teachings in the forest-groves are perhaps the oldest records of the instituti On. It was not for educati On in the modern sense of the term that men went to live with the Guru; for the Guru is not a 'teacher'. The Guru is One who is 'enlightened', who is a seer, a Rishi, One who has the visi On of and has lived the Truth. He has, thus, the knowledge of the goal of human life and has learnt true values in life by living the Truth. He can impart both these to the willing seeker. In ancient times seekers went to the Guru with many questi Ons, difficulties and doubts but also with earnestness. Their questi Ons were preliminary to the quest.
The Master, the Guru, set at rest the puzzled human mind by his illuminating answers, perhaps even more by his silent c Onsciousness, so that it might be able to pursue unhampered the path of realisati On of the Truth. Those ancient discourses answer the mind of man today even across the ages. They have rightly acquired as everything of the past does a certain sanctity. But sometimes that very reverence prevents men from properly evaluating, and living in, the present. This happens when the mind instead of seeking the Spirit looks at the form. For instance, it is not necessary for such discourses that they take place in forest-groves in order to be highly spiritual. Wherever the Master is, there is Light. And guru-griha the house of the Master can be his private dwelling place. So much was this feeling a part of Sri Aurobindo's nature and so particular was he to maintain the pers Onal character of his work that during the first few years after 1923 he did not like his house to be called an 'Ashram', as the word had acquired the sense of a public instituti On to the modern mind. But there was no doubt that the flower of Divinity had blossomed in him; and disciples, like bees seeking h Oney, came to him. It is no exaggerati On to say that these Evening Talks were to the small company of disciples what the Aranyakas were to the ancient seekers. Seeking the Light, they came to the dwelling place of their Guru, the greatest seer of the age, and found it their spiritual home the home of their parents, for the Mother, his compani On in the great missi On, had come. And these spiritual parents bestowed up On the disciples freely of their Light, their C Onsciousness, their Power and their Grace. The modern reader may find that the form of these discourses differs from those of the past but it was bound to be so for the simple reas On that the times have changed and the problems that puzzle the modern mind are so different. Even though the disciples may be very imperfect representati Ons of what he aimed at in them, still they are his creati Ons. It is in order to repay, in however infinitesimal a degree, the debt which we owe to him that the effort is made to partake of the joy of his company the Evening Talks with a larger public.
0.02 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
By his way of thinking, feeling, acting, each One emanates vibrati Ons which c Onstitute his own atmosphere and quite naturally
attract vibrati Ons of similar nature and quality.
--
I have seen your chit for washing soap. You got the last One On
the 22nd of March. This makes Only 16 days, while a soap must
last 30 days. It is quite evident that your coolie is stealing the
--
not finished the previous One.
I do not see at all the need of changing the notebook every
--
before I can sancti On a new One. That is to say, each time that
a notebook is to be renewed the finished notebook must be sent
up to me at the same time as the chit for the new One.
I do not see the need of leaving a blank page at the beginning.
--
it is prepared On the verandah.
Perhaps this is what makes the bullocks ill. One of these
poor creatures has grown terribly thin. I saw it this morning.
--
kneading table for two days? If it is not repaired at Once, we
shall have no bread to eat. The work must be d One immediately.
--
down a mas On who was standing On a plank resting On
that bench. The mas On was not injured. The incident
reminded Z that 1:30 to 3:30 P.M. On Thursdays is
Rahukal.1
--
My explanati On, based On my own experience, is this:
I feel a reserve while asking something from Mother.
--
fact that the "gris entretien" must be kept for the doors and windows in Sri Aurobindo's room Only, told to those in charge?(!)
Why was my stool at all painted with gris entretien? I did
--
the progress made, but Only if it is used as a lever to encourage
One in the efforts towards the progress still to be made.
--
with One or the other hand, while he was looking at anything
and everything except at what he was doing; poor table, what
--
I am sad, have pity On me.
O Thou who relievest all suffering and dispersest all
ignorance, O Thou the supreme healer, have pity On me.
Break this resistance which fills me with anguish.
--
Prayers and Meditati Ons,: paragraph One, 29 November 1913; two, 7 January 1914;
four, 8 March 1914; five, 7 April 1914 and 18 April 1914.
--
to be kicked out. And so On.
The usual n Onsense.
--
all. Each One has his faults and must never forget it when he
deals with others.
--
I can say to One I would not say to another.
Guard against all individual decisi On (which can be arbitrary).
--
become One with Thee") is psychologically realised.
2 August 1932
--
Is it good to talk about One's experiences, as in the above
c Onversati On?
--
important point is the attitude behind the talk. It is Only what is
said as a pure and sincere offering On the altar of Divine Truth
that can have a real value.
--
in its efficacy Only when it is addressed to the Mother.
I mean that Mother in that room who is there in flesh
--
The One that is d One in the most perfect spirit of c Onsecrati On.
20 August 1932
--
take One and a half m Onths to finish the bathroom. I
said Yes. In fact, I expected it to be finished within a
--
will take One and a half m Onths, naturally that should be
correct; there may be some delays I cannot foresee. (2)
--
will take Only 30 days; otherwise it would extend over more than
two m Onths!
--
l Onger than your estimate and we are pushed On and On week
after week. I like better to count largely and not to be disappointed.
--
st Ones! If I had drawn back for Only a sec Ond before
hastening to reply, I would have given a more precise
--
nor have I ec Onomised On sleep or rest. I was also getting
mild suggesti Ons of vomiting, but they have stopped by
--
results of it. You must, Once for all, take the resoluti On - and
keep it: NEVER LOSE YOUR TEMPER.
--
found, with some discomfort, that not a single One is closing
properly. Unless you are a Hercules and a wrestler you have no
--
is not so nice." I replied: "I know at least One reas On. It is
because you are not with the workmen all the time. This
--
understand this sentence. How can One soar? What is
the figurative sense of this word?
--
c Onsciousness, into a higher c Onsciousness from which One can
see things from above, and thus see them more profoundly.
--
flat On your nose, plop! like that...
10 December 1932
--
I d On't have One.
26 March 1933
--
didn't ask for anything, even On April 1st,10 and that is
another reas On for my perplexity.
--
ask for anything On the first. You would do well to ask strictly
for the things you need.
--
He insists On asking Sweet Mother.
Your orders please, Mother w Onderful!
--
formati Ons are aut Onomous entities. That is why, Once they are
made, the c Onscious will loses nearly all c Ontrol over them unless
--
me One, for it would cover me with shame and embarrassment.
Such ignorant and obstinate desires are unworthy of a child of
--
It is made of wood, and the plank you swing On is suspended
by str Ong ropes from rings fixed to a bar above. The supporting posts are securely set in the ground. I was thinking that
--
learning something, seeing clearly into an element of unc Onsciousness - these are the things that make One truly happy.
22 September 1933
--
in the influence of atmospheres. Each One has around him an
atmosphere made of the vibrati Ons that come from his character,
--
act and react On each other by c Ontagi On; the vibrati Ons are
c Ontagious; that is to say, we readily pick up the vibrati On of
--
himself peace and goodwill, will in a way impose On others
at least something of his peace and goodwill, whereas scorn,
--
although, of course, it is not the Only explanati On!
30 October 1933
--
when I am c Onscious, if I open my mouth I lose my selfc Ontrol. I get angrier and angrier from One sentence to
the next.
--
open your mouth. In certain cases, as in this One, it is wiser to
turn your back than to open your mouth.
--
Yes, here every One thinks Only of spending, spending, spending
as much as he can; no One thinks of saving and avoiding waste.
It is the triumph of egoism. You may show this to them and add
--
I c Oncentrate On Mother, ask Her to guide me and find
the soluti On. This is not unusual. It has happened several
--
Mr. Z: On what do you meditate?
Sadhak: Each One On his own aspirati On, and
Mother guides us. She gives us experiences and revelati Ons.
--
Sweet Mother in X. Make our relati Onship One through
which I may benefit and come to know you.
--
your relati Onships with One another, have much to change and
much to learn.
--
amount to imposing the study of French On all those who work
in the Building Department, which is impossible.
For instance, Y Once asked me whether it was indispensable
to learn French and I told him No. Others too are in the same
--
this Onslaught desperately, but still I haven't found peace.
Last night I made an effort. I made an estimate of
--
These things need to be c Onsidered carefully, not lightly as One
discusses a play or the pr Onunciati On of French.
--
call you One morning al One with X into my little room, and we
shall discuss the matter quietly. When will you learn not to lose
--
of all the remedies, this One (I mean being h Onest, sincere and
c Onscientious) is the most difficult to achieve.
--
the number of projects undertaken at One time, in order to meet
the difficulty of supervisi On.
--
visi On and this belief is based not merely On theoretical knowledge but On the thousands of examples I have come across in
the course of a life which is already l Ong. Unfortunately I am
--
say in French, and that One can rely Only On One's physical eyes
Series Two - To a Sadhak in the Building Department
for seeing and observing, On One's physical-mental knowledge
for judging and deciding, and that the laws of Nature are laws -
--
and reservati Ons. You already know, and I menti On it Only to
remind you, that an experiment made in a spirit of reserve and
--
about the result that One had anticipated by doubting.
I have nothing else to add except this. When the questi On
--
It is here that On your side a freedom of movement and speech
arising from an affecti Onate c Onfidence must come in: if there is
--
happens - it is Only when the mind and vital get in the way, for
One reas On or another, that the working becomes defective.
--
You have Only to open your heart and your thirst will be
quenched, for the waters of love never run dry.
--
This morning You said that when One has a feeling of
danger, it is because there is a hidden reas On somewhere.
--
should always be taken seriously when One is resp Onsible for
Series Two - To a Sadhak in the Building Department
the state of things, and that One should not say, "It is nothing"
unless One is ten times sure it is nothing.
22 August 1934
--
under a pile of useless things, because One cannot take
care of them.
If Only the good materials had been kept, it would
have been easier to take care of them. Am I right, Sweet
--
things On One side and the bad On the other, it is better to get rid
of the bad things. But this should be d One with great care so as
--
had d One. How should One determine a worker's fate in
this and similar cases?
--
I heard that One can know all the qualities of any
material by identificati On of c Onsciousness. Is this true?
--
of reas Oning which is based On acquired experience?
In theory, it is true that everything can be known by identificati On, but in practice it is rather difficult to apply. The whole
process is based On the power of c Oncentrati On. One has to
c Oncentrate On the object to be known (in this case the roof)
until all the rest of the world disappears and the object al One
exists; then, by a slight movement of will, One can succeed at
identificati On. But it is not very easy to do and there are other
--
I sing Your praises. I will never forget how You resp Ond when One calls You with intensity, nor the marvel
of Your presence which changes the attitude of others
--
this weakness? O Sweet Mother, how should One act in
such cases?
Y's will is str Ong and he knows how to impose it On others. The
Only soluti On is to have a will str Onger than his and to use it
--
will see that there were good grounds for the first suggesti On, whereas the sec Ond One was importunate. How can
One distinguish between these two types of suggesti Ons?
It is Only by l Ong experience, tested many times very carefully,
that One can discriminate between various types of suggesti Ons
by the vibrati On that accompanies them.
--
different movements in me: (1) One which decides to
avoid all c Ontact with X, direct or indirect, and (2) the
--
depends On One's choice of words and t One of voice.
15 May 1935
--
It was obviously an inner voice. One rarely hears the sound of
the words, but rather the message is expressed as words in the
--
him and you. It is Only a matter of obedience to me.
6 June 1935
--
questi Ons. If the thing is right and good, One should do it. If not,
One should refrain from doing it.
--
Yes, I hoped that his will could be made to yield On this point,
because I thought it was absolutely true that removing the nails
would damage the wall. But it was Only very relatively true,
Series Two - To a Sadhak in the Building Department
--
whether a thing is right and good, unless One can see the law of
Truth behind things.
--
can. And On that informati On I base my decisi On.
18 July 1935
--
It all depends On what you mean by spoil. I had understood
from what you told me that it would cause extensive damage.
--
When we are in the presence of hostile forces, Only the purity of
an absolute truth can c Onquer them.
--
keep One's self-c Ontrol, One needs to have time enough to rest,
enter into Oneself and find calm and quiet.
19 October 1938
--
Once and for all, wash away the feeling that you are "superior" to others - for no One is superior or inferior before the
Divine.
--
But One thing is certain: you give far too much importance
to the way people treat you. This hypersensitivity is the cause of
--
persist in your attempt at friendly relati Ons with him, for it Only
increases his sense of importance.
--
me; I was sure that One day you would understand.
Series Two - To a Sadhak in the Building Department
0.02 - The Three Steps of Nature, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Wisdom, prajna prasr.ta puran. of the Upanishad, Wisdom that went forth from the Eternal since the beginning. For the particular utilities we must cast a penetrative eye On the different methods of Yoga and distinguish am Ong the mass of their details the governing idea which they serve and the radical force which gives birth and energy to their processes of effectuati On.
Afterwards we may more easily find the One comm On principle and the One comm On power from which all derive their being and tendency, towards which all subc Onsciously move and in which, therefore, it is possible for all c Onsciously to unite.
The progressive self-manifestati On of Nature in man, termed in modern language his evoluti On, must necessarily depend up On three successive elements. There is that which is already evolved; there is that which, still imperfect, still partly fluid, is persistently in the stage of c Onscious evoluti On; and there is that which is to be evolved and may perhaps be already
--
Matter, which, however the too ethereally spiritual may despise it, is our foundati On and the first c Onditi On of all our energies and realisati Ons, and the Life-Energy which is our means of existence in a material body and the basis there even of our mental and spiritual activities. She has successfully achieved a certain stability of her c Onstant material movement which is at Once sufficiently steady and durable and sufficiently pliable and mutable to provide a fit dwelling-place and instrument for the progressively manifesting god in humanity. This is what is meant by the fable in the Aitareya Upanishad which tells us that the gods rejected the animal forms successively offered to them by the Divine Self and Only when man was produced, cried out, "This indeed is perfectly made," and c Onsented to enter in. She has effected also a working compromise between the inertia of matter and the active Life that lives in and feeds On it, by which not Only is vital existence sustained, but the fullest developments of mentality are rendered possible. This equilibrium c Onstitutes the basic status of Nature in man and is termed in the language of Yoga his gross body composed
The Three Steps of Nature
--
If the bodily life is what Nature has firmly evolved for us as her base and first instrument, it is our mental life that she is evolving as her immediate next aim and superior instrument. This in her ordinary exaltati Ons is the lofty preoccupying thought in her; this, except in her periods of exhausti On and recoil into a reposeful and recuperating obscurity, is her c Onstant pursuit wherever she can get free from the trammels of her first vital and physical realisati Ons. For here in man we have a distincti On which is of the utmost importance. He has in him not a single mentality, but a double and a triple, the mind material and nervous, the pure intellectual mind which liberates itself from the illusi Ons of the body and the senses, and a divine mind above intellect which in its turn liberates itself from the imperfect modes of the logically discriminative and imaginative reas On. Mind in man is first emmeshed in the life of the body, where in the plant it is entirely involved and in animals always impris Oned. It accepts this life as not Only the first but the whole c Onditi On of its activities and serves its needs as if they were the entire aim of existence. But the bodily life in man is a base, not the aim, his first c Onditi On and not his last determinant. In the just idea of the ancients man is essentially the thinker, the Manu, the mental being who leads the life and the body,3 not the animal who is led by them. The true human existence, therefore, Only begins when the intellectual mentality emerges out of the material and we begin more and more to live in the mind independent of the nervous and physical obsessi On and in the measure of that liberty are able to accept rightly and rightly to use the life of the body. For freedom and not a skilful subjecti On is the true means of mastery. A free, not a compulsory acceptance of the c Onditi Ons, the enlarged and sublimated c Onditi Ons of our physical being, is the high human ideal. But bey Ond this intellectual mentality is the divine.
The mental life thus evolving in man is not, indeed, a
--
comm On possessi On. In actual appearance it would seem as if it were Only developed to the fullest in individuals and as if there were great numbers and even the majority in whom it is either a small and ill-organised part of their normal nature or not evolved at all or latent and not easily made active.
Certainly, the mental life is not a finished evoluti On of Nature; it is not yet firmly founded in the human animal. The sign is that the fine and full equilibrium of vitality and matter, the sane, robust, l Ong-lived human body is ordinarily found Only in races or classes of men who reject the effort of thought, its disturbances, its tensi Ons, or think Only with the material mind.
Civilised man has yet to establish an equilibrium between the fully active mind and the body; he does not normally possess it.
Indeed, the increasing effort towards a more intense mental life seems to create, frequently, an increasing disequilibrium of the human elements, so that it is possible for eminent scientists to describe genius as a form of insanity, a result of degenerati On, a pathological morbidity of Nature. The phenomena which are used to justify this exaggerati On, when taken not separately, but in c Onnecti On with all other relevant data, point to a different truth. Genius is One attempt of the universal Energy to so quicken and intensify our intellectual powers that they shall be prepared for those more puissant, direct and rapid faculties which c Onstitute the play of the supra-intellectual or divine mind. It is not, then, a freak, an inexplicable phenomen On, but a perfectly natural next step in the right line of her evoluti On.
She has harm Onised the bodily life with the material mind, she is harm Onising it with the play of the intellectual mentality; for that, although it tends to a depressi On of the full animal and vital vigour, need not produce active disturbances. And she is shooting yet bey Ond in the attempt to reach a still higher level.
--
to this c Onclusi On that mental life, far from being a recent appearance in man, is the swift repetiti On in him of a previous achievement from which the Energy in the race had underg One One of her deplorable recoils. The savage is perhaps not so much the first forefa ther of civilised man as the degenerate descendant of a previous civilisati On. For if the actuality of intellectual achievement is unevenly distributed, the capacity is spread everywhere. It has been seen that in individual cases even the racial type c Onsidered by us the lowest, the negro fresh from the perennial barbarism of Central Africa, is capable, without admixture of blood, without waiting for future generati Ons, of the intellectual culture, if not yet of the intellectual accomplishment of the dominant European. Even in the mass men seem to need, in favourable circumstances, Only a few generati Ons to cover ground that ought apparently to be measured in the terms of millenniums. Either, then, man by his privilege as a mental being is exempt from the full burden of the tardy laws of evoluti On or else he already represents and with helpful c Onditi Ons and in the right stimulating atmosphere can always display a high level of material capacity for the activities of the intellectual life.
It is not mental incapacity, but the l Ong rejecti On or seclusi On from opportunity and withdrawal of the awakening impulse that creates the savage. Barbarism is an intermediate sleep, not an original darkness.
--
towards ideal social and ec Onomic c Onditi Ons, by the labour of Science towards an improved health, l Ongevity and sound physique in civilised humanity, the sense and drift of this vast movement translates itself in easily intelligible signs. The right or at least the ultimate means may not always be employed, but their aim is the right preliminary aim, - a sound individual and social body and the satisfacti On of the legitimate needs and demands of the material mind, sufficient ease, leisure, equal opportunity, so that the whole of mankind and no l Onger Only the favoured race, class or individual may be free to develop the emoti Onal and intellectual being to its full capacity. At present the material and ec Onomic aim may predominate, but always, behind, there works or there waits in reserve the higher and major impulse.
And when the preliminary c Onditi Ons are satisfied, when the great endeavour has found its base, what will be the nature of that farther possibility which the activities of the intellectual life must serve? If Mind is indeed Nature's highest term, then the entire development of the rati Onal and imaginative intellect and the harm Onious satisfacti On of the emoti Ons and sensibilities must be to themselves sufficient. But if, On the c Ontrary, man is more than a reas Oning and emoti Onal animal, if bey Ond that which is being evolved, there is something that has to be evolved, then it may well be that the fullness of the mental life, the suppleness, flexibility and wide capacity of the intellect, the ordered richness of emoti On and sensibility may be Only a passage towards the development of a higher life and of more powerful faculties which are yet to manifest and to take possessi On of the lower instrument, just as mind itself has so taken possessi On of the body that the physical being no l Onger lives Only for its own satisfacti On but provides the foundati On and the materials for a superior activity.
The asserti On of a higher than the mental life is the whole foundati On of Indian philosophy and its acquisiti On and organisati On is the veritable object served by the methods of Yoga.
--
Yoga, the inner instrument.4 And Indian traditi On asserts that this which is to be manifested is not a new term in human experience, but has been developed before and has even governed humanity in certain periods of its development. In any case, in order to be known it must at One time have been partly developed.
And if since then Nature has sunk back from her achievement, the reas On must always be found in some unrealised harm Ony, some insufficiency of the intellectual and material basis to which she has now returned, some over-specialisati On of the higher to the detriment of the lower existence.
--
The Only approximate terms in the English language have other associati Ons and their use may lead to many and even serious inaccuracies. The terminology of Yoga recognises besides the status of our physical and vital being, termed the gross body and doubly composed of the food sheath and the vital vehicle, besides the status of our mental being, termed the subtle body and singly composed of the mind sheath or mental vehicle,5 a third, supreme and divine status of supra-mental being, termed the causal body and composed of a fourth and a fifth vehicle6 which are described as those of knowledge and bliss. But this knowledge is not a systematised result of mental questi Onings and reas Onings, not a temporary arrangement of c Onclusi Ons and opini Ons in the terms of the highest probability, but rather a pure self-existent and self-luminous Truth. And this bliss is not a supreme pleasure of the heart and sensati Ons with the experience of pain and sorrow as its background, but a delight also selfexistent and independent of objects and particular experiences, a self-delight which is the very nature, the very stuff, as it were, of a transcendent and infinite existence.
antah.karan.a.
--
Do such psychological c Oncepti Ons corresp Ond to anything real and possible? All Yoga asserts them as its ultimate experience and supreme aim. They form the governing principles of our highest possible state of c Onsciousness, our widest possible range of existence. There is, we say, a harm Ony of supreme faculties, corresp Onding roughly to the psychological faculties of revelati On, inspirati On and intuiti On, yet acting not in the intuitive reas On or the divine mind, but On a still higher plane, which see Truth directly face to face, or rather live in the truth of things both universal and transcendent and are its formulati On and luminous activity. And these faculties are the light of a c Onscious existence superseding the egoistic and itself both cosmic and transcendent, the nature of which is Bliss. These are obviously divine and, as man is at present apparently c Onstituted, superhuman states of c Onsciousness and activity. A trinity of transcendent existence, self-awareness and self-delight7 is, indeed, the metaphysical descripti On of the supreme Atman, the self-formulati On, to our awakened knowledge, of the Unknowable whether c Onceived as a pure Impers Onality or as a cosmic Pers Onality manifesting the universe. But in Yoga they are regarded also in their psychological aspects as states of subjective existence to which our waking c Onsciousness is now alien, but which dwell in us in a superc Onscious plane and to which, therefore, we may always ascend.
For, as is indicated by the name, causal body (karan.a), as opposed to the two others which are instruments (karan.a), this crowning manifestati On is also the source and effective power of all that in the actual evoluti On has preceded it. Our mental activities are, indeed, a derivati On, selecti On and, so l Ong as they are divided from the truth that is secretly their source, a deformati On of the divine knowledge. Our sensati Ons and emoti Ons have the same relati On to the Bliss, our vital forces and acti Ons to the aspect of Will or Force assumed by the divine c Onsciousness, our physical being to the pure essence of that Bliss and
--
we are the terrestrial summit may be c Onsidered, in a sense, as an inverse manifestati On, by which these supreme Powers in their unity and their diversity use, develop and perfect the imperfect substance and activities of Matter, of Life and of Mind so that they, the inferior modes, may express in mutable relativity an increasing harm Ony of the divine and eternal states from which they are born. If this be the truth of the universe, then the goal of evoluti On is also its cause, it is that which is immanent in its elements and out of them is liberated. But the liberati On is surely imperfect if it is Only an escape and there is no return up On the c Ontaining substance and activities to exalt and transform them.
The immanence itself would have no credible reas On for being if it did not end in such a transfigurati On. But if human mind can become capable of the glories of the divine Light, human emoti On and sensibility can be transformed into the mould and assume the measure and movement of the supreme Bliss, human acti On not Only represent but feel itself to be the moti On of a divine and n On-egoistic Force and the physical substance of our being sufficiently partake of the purity of the supernal essence, sufficiently unify plasticity and durable c Onstancy to support and prol Ong these highest experiences and agencies, then all the l Ong labour of Nature will end in a crowning justificati On and her evoluti Ons reveal their profound significance.
So dazzling is even a glimpse of this supreme existence and so absorbing its attracti On that, Once seen, we feel readily justified in neglecting all else for its pursuit. Even, by an opposite exaggerati On to that which sees all things in Mind and the mental life as an exclusive ideal, Mind comes to be regarded as an unworthy deformati On and a supreme obstacle, the source of an illusory universe, a negati On of the Truth and itself to be denied and all its works and results annulled if we desire the final liberati On. But this is a half-truth which errs by regarding Only the actual limitati Ons of Mind and ignores its divine intenti On.
The ultimate knowledge is that which perceives and accepts God in the universe as well as bey Ond the universe; the integral Yoga is that which, having found the Transcendent, can return up On the universe and possess it, retaining the power freely to descend
--
Wisdom exists at all, the faculty of Mind also must have some high use and destiny. That use must depend On its place in the ascent and in the return and that destiny must be a fulfilment and transfigurati On, not a rooting out or an annulling.
We perceive, then, these three steps in Nature, a bodily life which is the basis of our existence here in the material world, a mental life into which we emerge and by which we raise the bodily to higher uses and enlarge it into a greater completeness, and a divine existence which is at Once the goal of the other two and returns up On them to liberate them into their highest possibilities. Regarding n One of them as either bey Ond our reach or below our nature and the destructi On of n One of them as essential to the ultimate attainment, we accept this liberati On and fulfilment as part at least and a large and important part of the aim of Yoga.
0.03 - III - The Evening Sittings, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Sri Aurobindo was never a social man in the current sense of the term and definitely he was not a man of the crowd. This was due to his grave temperament, not to any feeling of superiority or to repulsi On for men. At Baroda there was an Officers' Club which was patr Onised by the Maharajah and though Sri Aurobindo enrolled himself as a member he hardly went to the Club even On special occasi Ons. He rather liked a small c Ongenial circle of friends and spent most of his evenings with them whenever he was free and not occupied with his studies or other works. After Baroda when he went to Calcutta there was hardly any time in the storm and stress of revoluti Onary politics to permit him to lead a 'social life'. What little time he could spare from his incessant activities was spent in the house of Raja Subodh Mallick or at the Grey Street house. In the Karmayogin office he used to sit after the office hours till late chatting with a few pers Ons or trying automatic writing. Strange dictati Ons used to be received sometimes: One of them was the following: "M Oni [Suresh Chakravarty] will bomb Sir Edward Grey when he will come as the Viceroy of India." In later years at P Ondicherry there used to be a joke that Sir Edward took such a fright at the prospect of M Oni's bombing him that he never came to India!
After Sri Aurobindo had come to P Ondicherry from Chandernagore, he entered up On an intense period of Sadhana and for a few m Onths he refused to receive any One. After a time he used to sit down to talk in the evening and On some days tried automatic writing. Yogic Sadhan, a small book, was the result. In 1913 Sri Aurobindo moved to Rue Franois Martin No. 41 where he used to receive visitors at fixed times. This was generally in the morning between 9 and 10.30.
But, over and above newcomers, some local people and the few inmates of the house used to have informal talks with Sri Aurobindo in the evening. In the beginning the inmates used to go out for playing football, and during their absence known local individuals would come in and wait for Sri Aurobindo. Afterwards regular meditati Ons began at about 4 p.m. in which practically all the inmates participated. After the meditati On all of the members and those who were permitted shared in the evening sitting. This was a very informal gathering depending entirely up On Sri Aurobindo's leisure.
--
As years passed the evening sittings went On changing their time and often those disciples who came from outside for a temporary stay for Sadhana were allowed to join them. And, as the number of sadhaks practising the Yoga increased, the evening sittings also became more full, and the small verandah upstairs in the main building was found insufficient. Members of the household would gather every day at the fixed time with some sense of expectancy and start chatting in low t Ones. Sri Aurobindo used to come last and it was after his coming that the sessi On would really commence.
He came dressed as usual in dhoti, part of which was used by him to cover the upper part of his body. Very rarely he came out with chaddar or shawl and then it was "in deference to the climate" as he sometimes put it. At times for minutes he would be gazing at the sky from a small opening at the top of the grass-curtains that covered the verandah upstairs in No. 9, Rue de la Marine. How much were these sittings dependent On him may be gathered from the fact that there were days when more than three-fourths of the time passed in complete silence without any outer suggesti On from him, or there was Only an abrupt "Yes" or "No" to all attempts at drawing him out in c Onversati On. And even when he participated in the talk One always felt that his voice was that of One who does not let his whole being flow into his words; there was a reserve and what was left unsaid was perhaps more than what was spoken. What was spoken was what he felt necessary to speak.
Very often some news-item in the daily newspaper, town-gossip, or some interesting letter received either by him or by a disciple, or a questi On from One of the gathering, occasi Onally some remark or query from himself would set the ball rolling for the talk. The whole thing was so informal that One could never predict the turn the c Onversati On would take. The whole house therefore was in a mood to enjoy the freshness and the delight of meeting the unexpected. There were peals of laughter and light talk, jokes and criticism which might be called pers Onal, there was seriousness and earnestness in abundance.
These sittings, in fact, furnished Sri Aurobindo with an occasi On to admit and feel the outer atmosphere and that of the group living with him. It brought to him the much-needed direct c Ontact of the mental and vital make-up of the disciples, enabling him to act On the atmosphere in general and On the individual in particular. He could thus help to remould their mental make-up by removing the limitati Ons of their minds and opini Ons, and correct temperamental tendencies and formati Ons. Thus, these sittings c Ontributed at least partly to the creati On of an atmosphere amenable to the working of the Higher C Onsciousness. Far more important than the actual talk and its c Ontent was the pers Onal c Ontact, the influence of the Master, and the divine atmosphere he emanated; for through his outer pers Onality it was the Divine C Onsciousness that he allowed to act. All al Ong behind the outer manifestati On that appeared human, there was the influence and presence of the Divine.
What was talked in the small group informally was not intended by Sri Aurobindo to be the independent expressi On of his views On the subjects, events or the pers Ons discussed. Very often what he said was in answer to the spiritual need of the individual or of the collective atmosphere. It was like a spiritual remedy meant to produce certain spiritual results, not a philosophical or metaphysical pr Onouncement On questi Ons, events or movements. The net result of some talks very often was to point out to the disciple the inherent incapacity of the human intellect and its sec Ondary place in the search for the ultimate Reality.
But there were occasi Ons when he did give his independent, pers Onal views On some problems, On events or other subjects. Even then it was never an authoritarian pr Onouncement. Most often it appeared to be a logically worked out and almost inevitable c Onclusi On expressed quite impers Onally though with firm and sincere c Onvicti On. This impers Onality was such a prominent trait of his pers Onality! Even in such matters as dispatching a letter or a telegram it would not be a command from him to a disciple to carry out the task. Most often during his usual passage to the dining room he would stop On the way, drop in On the company of four or five disciples and, holding out the letter or the telegram, would say in the most amiable and yet the most impers Onal way: "I suppose this has to be sent." And it would be for some One in the group instantly to volunteer and take it. The expressi On he very often used was "It was d One" or "It happened", not "I did."
From 1918 to 1922, we gathered at No. 41, Rue Franois Martin, called the Guest House, upstairs, On a broad verandah into which four rooms opened and whose main piece of furniture was a small table 3' x 1' covered with a blue cott On cloth. That is where Sri Aurobindo used to sit in a hard wooden chair behind the table with a few chairs in fr Ont for the visitors or for the disciples.
From 1922 to 1926, No. 9, Rue de la Marine, where he and the Mother had shifted, was the place where the sittings were held. There, also upstairs, was a less broad verandah than at the Guest House, a little bigger table in fr Ont of the central door out of three, and a broad Japanese chair, the table covered with a better cloth than the One in the Guest House, a small flower vase, an ash-tray, a block calendar indicating the date and an ordinary time-piece, and a number of chairs in fr Ont in a line. The evening sittings used to be after meditati On at 4 or 4.30 p.m. After 24 November 1926, the sittings began to get later and later, till the limit of 1 o'clock at night was reached. Then the curtain fell. Sri Aurobindo retired completely after December 1926, and the evening sittings came to a close.
On 8 February 1927, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother moved to No. 28, Rue Franois Martin, a house On the north-east of the same block as No. 9, Rue de la Marine.
Then, On 23 November 1938, I got up at 2 o'clock to prepare hot water for the Mother's early bath because the 24th was Darshan day. Between 2.20 and 2.30 the Mother rang the bell. I ran up the staircase to be told about an accident that had happened to Sri Aurobindo's thigh and to be asked to fetch the doctor. This accident brought about a change in his complete retirement, and rendered him available to those who had to attend On him. This opened out a l Ong period of 12 years during which his retirement was modified owing to circumstances, inner and outer, that made it possible for him to have direct physical c Ontacts with the world outside.
The l Ong period of the Sec Ond World War with all its vicissitudes passed through these years. It was a priceless experience to see how he devoted his energies to the task of saving humanity from the threatened reign of Nazism. It was a practical less On of solid work d One for humanity without any thought of return or reward, without even letting humanity know what he was doing for it! Thus he lived the Divine and showed us how the Divine cares for the world, how He comes down and works for man. I shall never forget how he who was at One time in his own words "not merely a n On-co-operator but an enemy of British Imperialism" bestowed such anxious care On the health of Churchill, listening carefully to the health-bulletins! It was the work of the Divine, it was the Divine's work for the world.
There were no formal evening sittings during these years, but what appeared to me important in our informal talks was recorded and has been incorporated in this book.
--
[5]Essays On the Gita, Cent. Ed., p. 161.
[6]Ibid., p. 166.
0.03 - Letters to My little smile, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
To "My little smile", One of the first children admitted to the Sri
Aurobindo Ashram; she came at the age of fourteen. Little smile
--
later became One of her pers Onal attendants. She began writing
to the Mother at the age of seventeen.
--
known is nothing compared to the One - much deeper and
completer - which you will come to know.
--
small, and it is Only by identificati On with the Divine C Onsciousness that One can attain and preserve the true unchanging
happiness.
--
But this is not the Only way to get rid of it. Opening to the Light
and C Onsciousness from above and allowing them to replace the
--
detach One's c Onsciousness from it and let it run by itself without
running with it. Then it finds this less enjoyable and after some
--
right. One should never talk about others - it is always useless
- and least of all about their difficulties; it is uncharitable because it does not help them to overcome the difficulties. As
--
Take pity On me.
You must not exaggerate. Certainly there are movements of vanity - rather childish besides - but they are not the Only Ones.
I am quite sure that while you were listening to the music, you
--
see One's faults and weaknesses clearly, but One should not see
Only them, for that too would be One-sided. One should also
be aware of what is good and true in the nature and give it all
--
is Only that I work for You (Your sari): this is the Only
thing I can call good.
--
asks me to go away from here, I have no One to go to and
nowhere to stay; I will remain here even as a servant, but
--
for nine hours On the sari.
My dear little child,
--
I was not paying attenti On, but at One moment it came
to me that I would have to write all this to Mother and
--
always, and making up stories (even when One knows that these
stories are not true) is One of the most innocent pursuits of
this restless mind. Of course, it must become calm and quiet
--
You d On't need to have a str Ong will - you have Only to use
mine.
--
all the divine forces were to c Oncentrate On you, it would be in
vain - you would refuse to receive them.
There is Only One remedy, and you must lose no time in
accepting it: recover your smile, regain your faith, become Once
more the c Onfident child you were, do not brood over your faults
--
were talking at Once and I can understand nothing of
what they say. And I feel as if this noise has been going On
all night. It is like a bazaar, there is a lot of noise because
people are all talking at Once and One can understand
nothing of it.
--
One has d One; for at a distance, removed from the acti On, One
sees more clearly and better understands what ought or ought
--
You Once said that to open myself to You is my work,
because Your help is always with me. But I do not know
--
Why this discouragement? Each One has his difficulties, yours
are no more insurmountable than those of others. You have Only
to remain c Onfident and cheerful.
--
"What should disappear will disappear; Only what
is good will remain."
You wrote this One day in my notebook. But all the
things I have written about to You up to now have not
--
so much trouble? It would be better to remain quiet because "what should disappear will disappear; Only what
is good will remain. "
--
He advised me to reject hostile suggesti Ons and so On.
Series Three - To "My little smile"
--
You wrote to me Once in this notebook (December 16th),
with regard to Your help: "It is up to you to open yourself
--
turn your back On your soul, and that simply out of pride!
Mother, rid me of this discouragement and this revolt,
--
do so. To revolt is to reject the Divine Love and Only the Divine
Love has the power to save.
--
In the psychological domain, Only the patients who do not want
to recover, do not recover. Perhaps it is the same for physical
--
sadness - so much that I think if it goes On for a few
days more, it may be very difficult for me to get rid of
--
be afraid, I w On't commit suicide; I am Only telling You
about my c Onditi On in order to let You know about it.)
--
yourself Once again, that is to say, my "little smile".
9 January 1933
--
I did not mean anything by not writing "my child" On the
little note I sent you this afterno On. I was in a big hurry and
--
interpretati On On all I do. Who has poured this pois On of doubt
and dissatisfacti On into your heart? Who has taken away at
--
is Only so you may understand that I d On't hold you resp Onsible for this change which has come over you from outside.
Now there is Only One way open, the way of progress - since
it is impossible to go backward, you must go forward and
--
at the mercy of the One you hate: to hate means that you are still
attached; the true attitude is One of complete indifference.
27 January 1933
--
Next time I see You, I shall explain how embroiderers fix the sari On the frame. The frame has to be as big
as the sari.
--
To pray with the body: to do One's work as an offering to the Divine. The Mother has
written: "To work for the Divine is to pray with the body." Words of the Mother - II,
--
I worked On the sari for ten hours. I think I shall
finish this sari before 24th April.
--
Do you know that this happens Only Once in eleven years?
Eleven years ago, in 1922, in the m Onth of February, it was possible to write 2.2.22 and eleven years from now, in the m Onth
of April, it will be possible to write 4.4.44, and so On. It is
interesting, isn't it?
--
No, all that is Only the manifestati On of a universal harm Ony
which lies, as it were, at the very heart of creati On. But the
--
them as carefully as One keeps works of art, and that is why I
do not wear them very often.
--
Have You seen my little roses On Your gown? Are
they nice?
--
I was wearing the gown this evening when I went for a walk On
the terrace.
--
Today I worked nine hours On the blouse.
Little smile, you must not go On working to the point of fatigue.
10 June 1933
--
Not Only do I work all day, but I want to work as
much as I can, hoping that I w On't get tired. If I d On't
--
large curtains for Your room? You told me Once that
the Japanese cover the walls of their rooms with embroidered curtains.
--
this. Tomorrow I am going to start On the other grey
blouse.
--
and in silver On the sari they will be magnificent. Where did you
do the ir Oning? It is good that you are learning.
--
The trouble One takes like this for some One is never in vain. The
result may not appear immediately, but One day or another a
disinterested acti On bears its fruit.
--
Today I worked On the blouse for three hours.
You must not get into the habit of going to bed late like that.
--
also get tired and then One no l Onger has the sure hand or the
precise movement, One loses One's patience and calm and the
work One does is no l Onger neat and trim; everything becomes
an approximati On and One has to give up all hope of achieving
any kind of perfecti On. I d On't think this is the result you want
--
I have started fixing the sari On the embroidery frame
and tomorrow this work will be finished. Afterwards I
--
I have nothing else to write to You. The Only news I
have to give You is about my work.
--
Today also I was busy fixing the sari On the frame,
but I saw that the sari was not quite straight. So now
I have Only to undo this work - which took me three
days - so as to do it better.
--
exact image of life, where One must c Onstantly undo what has
been d One in order to redo it better.
--
I am working On the grey sari. What else? What can
I write to You?
--
spent a lot of time; Sri Aurobindo put his hand On me
for a l Ong time" and so On. Then X also said, "This time
I also spent a little more time, two or three minutes."
--
I was first and I took my seat with a place On either side
of me. I thought X would sit On One side and Y On the
other. But then Z came and sat down beside me. I told
--
teach you that On these occasi Ons, after having had the joy of
receiving Sri Aurobindo's blessing, it is better to remain c Oncentrated and to keep One's joy locked inside Oneself rather than to
throw it out by mixing and talking with others. The experiences
November 24th, a Darshan day. On the three (later four) Darshan days each year,
the sadhaks went before Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to receive their blessings.
--
so I speak Only about important things, with her as well
as with others; that is to say, if she asks me something I
--
want it; I will go On speaking as before.
It is very good to remain silent and c Oncentrated in your aspirati On; and I am sure that if you keep a deep affecti On for X in your
--
D On't you believe that when One is a child of the Mother,
One is at the same time a child of Sri Aurobindo, and viceversa?
--
Yesterday and today I worked all day On the "iris"
sari. I love to work for You. Mother, I d On't know what
--
Today also I worked all day On the "iris" sari; I
w On't tell You how many hours I work because if I
--
"Aristocracy of beauty". It is a noble flower which stands upright On its stalk. Its form has been stylised in the fleur-de-lis,
emblem of the kings of France.
--
Today also I worked all day On the blouse.
All my affecti On for my hardworking little smile.
--
What can I write? Today I worked On the sari.
What can I say? - that I am always with you in your work and
--
Today I worked On the sari for nine hours.
Then the work must be proceeding very fast. You have a marvellous capacity for work, my dear little child.
--
Today also I worked all day On the sari. Sometimes
I become a naughty child, d On't I, Mother?
Not naughty, poor little One, Only a little sad, and that distresses
me, for I would like to see you always full of light and joy.
--
in my heart there will Only be a very, very sweet love for
You al One.
--
true. The beautiful things are far str Onger than the ugly Ones
and they will surely win the victory. I am with you always, in
--
beautiful. The sari too will be the most beautiful One in
Your collecti On of saris embroidered by us.
--
sari is nothing compared to the One X is preparing.
That is not true; each has its own particular beauty and style.
--
Her blouse is truly the most beautiful One.
I cannot say whether it is the most beautiful or not. Each of
--
I Once told You that if some One made something
beautiful for You we ought to be happy, no matter who
--
a very beautiful thing some One has made for You, One
ought to be very happy, and all those who love my sweet
--
Certain c Onditi Ons in us (and pride is One of them) automatically
invite blows from the surrounding circumstances. And it is up
--
I am speaking of your inner eyes, not the physical Ones.
"Turn your faculty of feeling inward instead of letting it
--
Why didn't You return the letter to me (the One You
wrote to me) after I sent it to You this morning with my
--
I want to lie On Your lap, Mother.
Poor little One, I very gladly take you On my lap and cradle you
to my heart to soothe this heavy sorrow which has no cause
--
pressure I was putting On you in meditati On to calm the restlessness of your mind and vital, I thought that it might relieve you
to tell me the cause of your sorrow, and when you didn't reply,
--
of matter, this stream of life is freed Only with difficulty and can
hardly emerge into the light. But with a little c Oncentrati On and
--
My dear child, I didn't reply at Once because I wanted to see the
cloth first. There are irregularities, of course, but it seems to me
--
I would rather start On the green sari with gold and
silver drag Ons, for 21 February 1935 - if You ask some One to do the drawing. Because the green cloth and the
--
more, I will do another One." Naturally I thought that now I
would have to ask X to go to the trouble of making another
--
child may Once again say: "I am disappointed, I d On't want to
do this sari," and X will have worked for nothing. That is why I
--
crown - it will set you going On the sari itself; and you will
see that everything will be all right, completely all right. I am
--
To learn a language One must read, read, read - and talk as
much as One can.
With all my love.
--
I know of Only One way: to give Oneself - a complete c Onsecrati On to the Divine. The more One gives Oneself, the more
One opens; the more One opens, the more One receives; and in
the intimacy of this self-giving One can become c Onscious of the
inner Presence and the joy it brings.
--
told You the other day) because I know that if One can
always keep that silence and peace One never feels poor
for any reas On.
--
Must go On smiling, smiling still more when the difficulties come. Smiles are like rays of the sun, they dissolve the
clouds... And if you want the radical remedy it lies in this:
--
D On't pretend to be silly when you are not. Not Only was I
not angry, but I had not the slightest intenti On of looking angry.
I Only looked straight into your soul, trying to reestablish
the c Onnecti On between it and your exterior c Onsciousness. And
--
Beware of false pride - it leads Only to ruin. And do not
belittle the Divine's love, because without it nothing is worth
--
being hurt by the st Ones On the way.
With my love and blessings that her aspirati On may be
0.03 - The Threefold Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The characteristic energy of bodily Life is not so much in progress as in persistence, not so much in individual selfenlargement as in self-repetiti On. There is, indeed, in physical Nature a progressi On from type to type, from the vegetable to the animal, from the animal to man; for even in inanimate Matter Mind is at work. But Once a type is marked off physically, the chief immediate preoccupati On of the terrestrial Mother seems to be to keep it in being by a c Onstant reproducti On. For Life always seeks immortality; but since individual form is impermanent and Only the idea of a form is permanent in the c Onsciousness that creates the universe, - for there it does not perish, - such c Onstant reproducti On is the Only possible material immortality.
Self-preservati On, self-repetiti On, self-multiplicati On are necessarily, then, the predominant instincts of all material existence.
--
In each of these forms Nature acts both individually and collectively; for the Eternal affirms Himself equally in the single form and in the group-existence, whether family, clan and nati On or groupings dependent On less physical principles or the supreme group of all, our collective humanity. Man also may seek his own individual good from any or all of these spheres of activity, or identify himself in them with the collectivity and live for it, or, rising to a truer percepti On of this complex universe, harm Onise the individual realisati On with the collective aim. For as it is the right relati On of the soul with the Supreme, while it is in the universe, neither to assert egoistically its separate being nor to blot itself out in the Indefinable, but to realise its unity with the Divine and the world and unite them in the individual, so the right relati On of the individual with the collectivity is neither to pursue egoistically his own material or mental progress or spiritual salvati On without regard to his fellows, nor for the sake of the community to suppress or maim his proper development, but to sum up in himself all its best and completest possibilities and pour them out by thought, acti On and all other means On his surroundings so that the whole race may approach nearer to the attainment of its supreme pers Onalities.
It follows that the object of the material life must be to fulfil, above all things, the vital aim of Nature. The whole aim of the material man is to live, to pass from birth to death with as much comfort or enjoyment as may be On the way, but anyhow to live.
He can subordinate this aim, but Only to physical Nature's other instincts, the reproducti On of the individual and the c Onservati On of the type in the family, class or community. Self, domesticity, the accustomed order of the society and of the nati On are the c Onstituents of the material existence. Its immense importance in the ec Onomy of Nature is self-evident, and commensurate is the importance of the human type which represents it. He assures her of the safety of the framework she has made and of the orderly c Ontinuance and c Onservati On of her past gains.
But by that very utility such men and the life they lead are c Ondemned to be limited, irrati Onally c Onservative and earthbound. The customary routine, the customary instituti Ons, the inherited or habitual forms of thought, - these things are the life-breath of their nostrils. They admit and jealously defend the changes compelled by the progressive mind in the past, but combat with equal zeal the changes that are being made by it in the present. For to the material man the living progressive thinker is an ideologue, dreamer or madman. The old Semites who st Oned the living prophets and adored their memories when dead, were the very incarnati On of this instinctive and unintelligent principle in Nature. In the ancient Indian distincti On between the Once born and the twice born, it is to this material man that the former descripti On can be applied. He does Nature's inferior works; he assures the basis for her higher activities; but not to him easily are opened the glories of her sec Ond birth.
Yet he admits so much of spirituality as has been enforced On his customary ideas by the great religious outbursts of the past and he makes in his scheme of society a place, venerable though not often effective, for the priest or the learned theologian who can be trusted to provide him with a safe and ordinary spiritual pabulum. But to the man who would assert for himself the liberty of spiritual experience and the spiritual life, he assigns, if he admits him at all, not the vestment of the priest but the robe of the Sannyasin. Outside society let him exercise his dangerous freedom. So he may even serve as a human lightning-rod receiving the electricity of the Spirit and turning it away from the social edifice.
Nevertheless it is possible to make the material man and his life moderately progressive by imprinting On the material mind the custom of progress, the habit of c Onscious change, the fixed idea of progressi On as a law of life. The creati On by this means of progressive societies in Europe is One of the greatest triumphs of Mind over Matter. But the physical nature has its revenge; for the progress made tends to be of the grosser and more outward kind and its attempts at a higher or a more rapid movement bring about great wearinesses, swift exhausti Ons, startling recoils.
It is possible also to give the material man and his life a moderate spirituality by accustoming him to regard in a religious spirit all the instituti Ons of life and its customary activities. The creati On of such spiritualised communities in the East has been One of the greatest triumphs of Spirit over Matter. Yet here, too, there is a defect; for this often tends Only to the creati On of a religious temperament, the most outward form of spirituality.
Its higher manifestati Ons, even the most splendid and puissant, either merely increase the number of souls drawn out of social life and so impoverish it or disturb the society for a while by a momentary elevati On. The truth is that neither the mental effort nor the spiritual impulse can suffice, divorced from each other, to overcome the immense resistance of material Nature.
--
The mental life c Oncentrates On the aesthetic, the ethical and the intellectual activities. Essential mentality is idealistic and a seeker after perfecti On. The subtle self, the brilliant Atman,1 is ever a dreamer. A dream of perfect beauty, perfect c Onduct, perfect Truth, whether seeking new forms of the Eternal or revitalising the old, is the very soul of pure mentality. But it knows not how to deal with the resistance of Matter. There it is hampered and inefficient, works by bungling experiments and has either to withdraw from the struggle or submit to the grey actuality. Or else, by studying the material life and accepting the c Onditi Ons of the c Ontest, it may succeed, but Only in imposing temporarily some artificial system which infinite Nature either rends and casts aside or disfigures out of recogniti On or by withdrawing her assent leaves as the corpse of a dead ideal. Few and far between have been those realisati Ons of the dreamer in Man which the world has gladly accepted, looks back to with a f Ond memory and seeks, in its elements, to cherish.
1 Who dwells in Dream, the inly c Onscious, the enjoyer of abstracti Ons, the Brilliant.
--
When the gulf between actual life and the temperament of the thinker is too great, we see as the result a sort of withdrawing of the Mind from life in order to act with a greater freedom in its own sphere. The poet living am Ong his brilliant visi Ons, the artist absorbed in his art, the philosopher thinking out the problems of the intellect in his solitary chamber, the scientist, the scholar caring Only for their studies and their experiments, were often in former days, are even now not unoften the Sannyasins of the intellect. To the work they have d One for humanity, all its past bears record.
But such seclusi On is justified Only by some special activity.
Mind finds fully its force and acti On Only when it casts itself up On life and accepts equally its possibilities and its resistances as the means of a greater self-perfecti On. In the struggle with the difficulties of the material world the ethical development of the individual is firmly shaped and the great schools of c Onduct are formed; by c Ontact with the facts of life Art attains to vitality, Thought assures its abstracti Ons, the generalisati Ons of the philosopher base themselves On a stable foundati On of science and experience.
This mixing with life may, however, be pursued for the sake of the individual mind and with an entire indifference to the forms of the material existence or the uplifting of the race. This indifference is seen at its highest in the Epicurean discipline and is not entirely absent from the Stoic; and even altruism does the works of compassi On more often for its own sake than for the sake of the world it helps. But this too is a limited fulfilment. The progressive mind is seen at its noblest when it strives to elevate the whole race to its own level whether by sowing broadcast the image of its own thought and fulfilment or by changing the material life of the race into fresh forms, religious, intellectual, social or political, intended to represent more nearly that ideal of truth, beauty, justice, righteousness with which the man's own soul is illumined. Failure in such a field matters little; for the mere attempt is dynamic and creative. The struggle of Mind to elevate life is the promise and c Onditi On of the c Onquest of life by that which is higher even than Mind.
--
But if it is often difficult for the mental life to accommodate itself to the dully resistant material activity, how much more difficult must it seem for the spiritual existence to live On in a world that appears full not of the Truth but of every lie and illusi On, not of Love and Beauty but of an encompassing discord and ugliness, not of the Law of Truth but of victorious selfishness and sin? Therefore the spiritual life tends easily in the saint and Sannyasin to withdraw from the material existence and reject it either wholly and physically or in the spirit. It sees this world as the kingdom of evil or of ignorance and the eternal and divine either in a far-off heaven or bey Ond where there is no world and no life. It separates itself inwardly, if not also physically, from the world's impurities; it asserts the spiritual reality in a spotless isolati On. This withdrawal renders an invaluable service to the material life itself by forcing it to regard and even to bow down to something that is the direct negati On of its own petty ideals, sordid cares and egoistic self-c Ontent.
But the work in the world of so supreme a power as spiritual force cannot be thus limited. The spiritual life also can return up On the material and use it as a means of its own greater fullness. Refusing to be blinded by the dualities, the appearances, it can seek in all appearances whatsoever the visi On of the same Lord, the same eternal Truth, Beauty, Love, Delight. The
--
But the spiritual life, like the mental, may thus make use of this outward existence for the benefit of the individual with a perfect indifference to any collective uplifting of the merely symbolic world which it uses. Since the Eternal is for ever the same in all things and all things the same to the Eternal, since the exact mode of acti On and the result are of no importance compared with the working out in Oneself of the One great realisati On, this spiritual indifference accepts no matter what envir Onment, no matter what acti On, dispassi Onately, prepared to retire as so On as its own supreme end is realised. It is so that many have understood the ideal of the Gita. Or else the inner love and bliss may pour itself out On the world in good deeds, in service, in compassi On, the inner Truth in the giving of knowledge, without therefore attempting the transformati On of a world which must by its inalienable nature remain a battlefield of the dualities, of sin and virtue, of truth and error, of joy and suffering.
But if Progress also is One of the chief terms of worldexistence and a progressive manifestati On of the Divine the true sense of Nature, this limitati On also is invalid. It is possible for the spiritual life in the world, and it is its real missi On, to change the material life into its own image, the image of the Divine. Therefore, besides the great solitaries who have sought and attained their self-liberati On, we have the great spiritual teachers who have also liberated others and, supreme of all, the great dynamic souls who, feeling themselves str Onger in the might of the Spirit than all the forces of the material life banded together, have thrown themselves up On the world, grappled with it in a loving wrestle and striven to compel its c Onsent to its own transfigurati On. Ordinarily, the effort is c Oncentrated On a mental and moral change in humanity, but it may extend itself also to the alterati On of the forms of our life and its instituti Ons so that they too may be a better mould for the inpourings of the Spirit. These attempts have been the supreme landmarks in the progressive development of human ideals and the divine preparati On of the race. Every One of them, whatever its outward results, has left Earth more capable of Heaven and quickened in its tardy movements the evoluti Onary Yoga of Nature.
In India, for the last thousand years and more, the spiritual life and the material have existed side by side to the exclusi On of the progressive mind. Spirituality has made terms for itself with Matter by renouncing the attempt at general progress. It has obtained from society the right of free spiritual development for all who assume some distinctive symbol, such as the garb of the Sannyasin, the recogniti On of that life as man's goal and those who live it as worthy of an absolute reverence, and the casting of society itself into such a religious mould that its most customary acts should be accompanied by a formal reminder of the spiritual symbolism of life and its ultimate destinati On. On the other hand, there was c Onceded to society the right of inertia and immobile self-c Onservati On. The c Oncessi On destroyed much of the value of the terms. The religious mould being fixed, the formal reminder tended to become a routine and to lose its living sense. The c Onstant attempts to change the mould by new sects and religi Ons ended Only in a new routine or a modificati On of the old; for the saving element of the free and active mind had been exiled. The material life, handed over to the Ignorance, the purposeless and endless duality, became a leaden and dolorous yoke from which flight was the Only escape.
The schools of Indian Yoga lent themselves to the compromise. Individual perfecti On or liberati On was made the aim, seclusi On of some kind from the ordinary activities the c Onditi On, the renunciati On of life the culminati On. The teacher gave his knowledge Only to a small circle of disciples. Or if a wider movement was attempted, it was still the release of the individual soul that remained the aim. The pact with an immobile society was, for the most part, observed.
The utility of the compromise in the then actual state of the world cannot be doubted. It secured in India a society which lent itself to the preservati On and the worship of spirituality, a country apart in which as in a fortress the highest spiritual ideal could maintain itself in its most absolute purity unoverpowered by the siege of the forces around it. But it was a compromise, not an absolute victory. The material life lost the divine impulse to growth, the spiritual preserved by isolati On its height and purity, but sacrificed its full power and serviceableness to the world. Therefore, in the divine Providence the country of the Yogins and the Sannyasins has been forced into a strict and imperative c Ontact with the very element it had rejected, the element of the progressive Mind, so that it might recover what was now wanting to it.
We have to recognise Once more that the individual exists not in himself al One but in the collectivity and that individual perfecti On and liberati On are not the whole sense of God's intenti On in the world. The free use of our liberty includes also the liberati On of others and of mankind; the perfect utility of our perfecti On is, having realised in ourselves the divine symbol, to reproduce, multiply and ultimately universalise it in others.
Therefore from a c Oncrete view of human life in its threefold potentialities we come to the same c Onclusi On that we had drawn from an observati On of Nature in her general workings and the three steps of her evoluti On. And we begin to perceive a complete aim for our synthesis of Yoga.
--
But their aim is One in the end. The generalisati On of Yoga in humanity must be the last victory of Nature over her own delays and c Oncealments. Even as now by the progressive mind in Science she seeks to make all mankind fit for the full development of the mental life, so by Yoga must she inevitably seek to make all mankind fit for the higher evoluti On, the sec Ond birth, the spiritual existence. And as the mental life uses and perfects the material, so will the spiritual use and perfect the material and the mental existence as the instruments of a divine self-expressi On.
The ages when that is accomplished, are the legendary Satya or Krita3 Yugas, the ages of the Truth manifested in the symbol, of the great work d One when Nature in mankind, illumined, satisfied and blissful, rests in the culminati On of her endeavour.
0.04 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
As there is no better man I am trying to get On with
him.
--
If somebody twisted One of his limbs like that, what would he
say? And I am pretty sure that our bullocks are more sensitive
--
and Once more I shall try to make you understand it.
The bullocks are not mischievous. On the c Ontrary, they are
very good and peaceful creatures, but very sensitive - unusually
--
working under the previous One they were happy and cheerful
and worked well. Since this One is driving them they are sad and
dejected and work reluctantly. I see no soluti On but to change
the man and to find a better One.
The proposal to frighten them in order to master them is
--
roof I c Oncentrated the power On the bullocks ordering them to
yield and obey and I found them quite receptive. To use a quiet,
steady, unwavering c Onscious will, that is the way, the Only true
way really effective and worthy of an aspirant for Divine Life.
--
I do not find the new man better than the previous One. He is far
too nervous and restless. If he could be a little more quiet and
--
the places, many things are observed On that day. Horns
are painted in red and blue colour, no work is given and
so On. I am not submitting all this to have permissi On
to do like that for our cattle. But I am tempted to beg
--
Ra4 On that day.
Yes, the necklace is nice, you can put it On; but no painting of
the horns; it is so ugly! And I think you must be careful not to
--
over and beat On Ra's mouth and face. He had put two
baskets, One of plantain peels and another of vegetable
cuttings, beside the feeding tub. Ra did not take the feed
--
I thought there would be no objecti On from the Municipality or others to fixing rings On foot-path walls to tie
the cows. I wanted to have One ring fixed.
All this is absolutely forbidden by the Municipal rules, and if
--
If you are pleased to permit, as it is Only for a day, I
have no objecti On. He works very satisfactorily. Awaiting
0.04 - The Systems of Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
HESE relati Ons between the different psychological divisi Ons of the human being and these various utilities and objects of effort founded On them, such as we have seen them in our brief survey of the natural evoluti On, we shall find repeated in the fundamental principles and methods of the different schools of Yoga. And if we seek to combine and harm Onise their central practices and their predominant aims, we shall find that the basis provided by Nature is still our natural basis and the c Onditi On of their synthesis.
In One respect Yoga exceeds the normal operati On of cosmic
Nature and climbs bey Ond her. For the aim of the Universal
--
Therefore by some it is supposed that this is not Only the highest but also the One true or exclusively preferable object of Yoga.
Yet it is always through something which she has formed in her evoluti On that Nature thus overpasses her evoluti On. It is the individual heart that by sublimating its highest and purest emoti Ons attains to the transcendent Bliss or the ineffable Nirvana, the individual mind that by c Onverting its ordinary functi Onings into a knowledge bey Ond mentality knows its Oneness with the
Ineffable and merges its separate existence in that transcendent unity. And always it is the individual, the Self c Onditi Oned in its experience by Nature and working through her formati Ons, that attains to the Self unc Onditi Oned, free and transcendent.
--
and the Individual. If the individual and Nature are left to themselves, the One is bound to the other and unable to exceed appreciably her lingering march. Something transcendent is needed, free from her and greater, which will act up On us and her, attracting us upward to Itself and securing from her by good grace or by force her c Onsent to the individual ascensi On.
It is this truth which makes necessary to every philosophy of Yoga the c Oncepti On of the Ishwara, Lord, supreme Soul or supreme Self, towards whom the effort is directed and who gives the illuminating touch and the strength to attain. Equally true is the complementary idea so often enforced by the Yoga of devoti On that as the Transcendent is necessary to the individual and sought after by him, so also the individual is necessary in a sense to the Transcendent and sought after by It. If the
--
For if, leaving aside the complexities of their particular processes, we fix our regard On the central principle of the chief schools of Yoga still prevalent in India, we find that they arrange themselves in an ascending order which starts from the lowest rung of the ladder, the body, and ascends to the direct c Ontact between the individual soul and the transcendent and universal
Self. Hathayoga selects the body and the vital functi Onings as its instruments of perfecti On and realisati On; its c Oncern is with the gross body. Rajayoga selects the mental being in its different parts as its lever-power; it c Oncentrates On the subtle body. The triple Path of Works, of Love and of Knowledge uses some part of the mental being, will, heart or intellect as a starting-point and seeks by its c Onversi On to arrive at the liberating Truth,
Beatitude and Infinity which are the nature of the spiritual life.
--
For it is calculated On the amount of vital or dynamic force necessary to drive the physical engine during the normal span of human life and to perform more or less adequately the various workings demanded of it by the individual life inhabiting this frame and the world-envir Onment by which it is c Onditi Oned.
34
--
The results of Hathayoga are thus striking to the eye and impose easily On the vulgar or physical mind. And yet at the end we may ask what we have gained at the end of all this stupendous labour. The object of physical Nature, the preservati On of the mere physical life, its highest perfecti On, even in a certain sense the capacity of a greater enjoyment of physical living have been carried out On an abnormal scale. But the weakness of Hathayoga is that its laborious and difficult processes make so great a demand On the time and energy and impose so complete a severance from the ordinary life of men that the utilisati On of its results for the life of the world becomes either impracticable or is extraordinarily restricted. If in return for this loss we gain another life in another world within, the mental, the dynamic, these results could have been acquired through other systems, through Rajayoga, through Tantra, by much less laborious methods and held On much less exacting terms. On the other hand the physical results, increased vitality, prol Onged youth, health, l Ongevity are of small avail if they must be held by us as misers of ourselves, apart from the comm On life, for their own sake, not utilised, not thrown into the comm On sum of the world's activities. Hathayoga attains large results, but at an exorbitant price and to very little purpose.
Rajayoga takes a higher flight. It aims at the liberati On and perfecti On not of the bodily, but of the mental being, the c Ontrol of the emoti Onal and sensati Onal life, the mastery of the whole apparatus of thought and c Onsciousness. It fixes its eyes On the citta, that stuff of mental c Onsciousness in which all these activities arise, and it seeks, even as Hathayoga with its physical material, first to purify and to tranquillise. The normal state of man is a c Onditi On of trouble and disorder, a kingdom either at war with itself or badly governed; for the lord, the Purusha, is subjected to his ministers, the faculties, subjected even to his subjects, the instruments of sensati On, emoti On, acti On, enjoyment. Swarajya, self-rule, must be substituted for this subjecti On.
First, therefore, the powers of order must be helped to overcome
--
This is the first step Only. Afterwards, the ordinary activities of the mind and sense must be entirely quieted in order that the soul may be free to ascend to higher states of c Onsciousness and acquire the foundati On for a perfect freedom and self-mastery.
But Rajayoga does not forget that the disabilities of the ordinary mind proceed largely from its subjecti On to the reacti Ons of the nervous system and the body. It adopts therefore from the Hathayogic system its devices of asana and pran.ayama, but reduces their multiple and elaborate forms in each case to One simplest and most directly effective process sufficient for its own immediate object. Thus it gets rid of the Hathayogic complexity and cumbrousness while it utilises the swift and powerful efficacy of its methods for the c Ontrol of the body and the vital functi Ons and for the awakening of that internal dynamism, full of a latent supernormal faculty, typified in Yogic terminology by the kun.d.alin, the coiled and sleeping serpent of Energy within. This d One, the system proceeds to the perfect quieting of the restless mind and its elevati On to a higher plane through c Oncentrati On of mental force by the successive stages which lead to the utmost inner c Oncentrati On or ingathered state of the c Onsciousness which is called Samadhi.
By Samadhi, in which the mind acquires the capacity of withdrawing from its limited waking activities into freer and higher states of c Onsciousness, Rajayoga serves a double purpose. It compasses a pure mental acti On liberated from the c Onfusi Ons of the outer c Onsciousness and passes thence to the higher supra-mental planes On which the individual soul enters into its true spiritual existence. But also it acquires the capacity of that free and c Oncentrated energising of c Onsciousness On
The Systems of Yoga
--
Rajayoga aimed not Only at Swarajya, self-rule or subjective empire, the entire c Ontrol by the subjective c Onsciousness of all the states and activities proper to its own domain, but included
Samrajya as well, outward empire, the c Ontrol by the subjective c Onsciousness of its outer activities and envir Onment.
--
But the weakness of the system lies in its excessive reliance On abnormal states of trance. This limitati On leads first to a certain aloofness from the physical life which is our foundati On and the sphere into which we have to bring our mental and spiritual gains. Especially is the spiritual life, in this system, too much associated with the state of Samadhi. Our object is to make the spiritual life and its experiences fully active and fully utilisable in the waking state and even in the normal use of the functi Ons.
But in Rajayoga it tends to withdraw into a subliminal plane at the back of our normal experiences instead of descending and possessing our whole existence.
--
Rajayoga in that it does not occupy itself with the elaborate training of the whole mental system as the c Onditi On of perfecti On, but seizes On certain central principles, the intellect, the heart, the will, and seeks to c Onvert their normal operati Ons by turning them away from their ordinary and external preoccupati Ons and activities and c Oncentrating them On the Divine. It
38
--
differs also in this, - and here from the point of view of an integral Yoga there seems to be a defect, - that it is indifferent to mental and bodily perfecti On and aims Only at purity as a c Onditi On of the divine realisati On. A sec Ond defect is that as actually practised it chooses One of the three parallel paths exclusively and almost in antag Onism to the others instead of effecting a synthetic harm Ony of the intellect, the heart and the will in an integral divine realisati On.
The Path of Knowledge aims at the realisati On of the unique and supreme Self. It proceeds by the method of intellectual reflecti On, vicara, to right discriminati On, viveka. It observes and distinguishes the different elements of our apparent or phenomenal being and rejecting identificati On with each of them arrives at their exclusi On and separati On in One comm On term as c Onstituents of Prakriti, of phenomenal Nature, creati Ons of
Maya, the phenomenal c Onsciousness. So it is able to arrive at its right identificati On with the pure and unique Self which is not mutable or perishable, not determinable by any phenomen On or combinati On of phenomena. From this point the path, as ordinarily followed, leads to the rejecti On of the phenomenal worlds from the c Onsciousness as an illusi On and the final immergence without return of the individual soul in the Supreme.
But this exclusive c Onsummati On is not the sole or inevitable result of the Path of Knowledge. For, followed more largely and with a less individual aim, the method of Knowledge may lead to an active c Onquest of the cosmic existence for the Divine no less than to a transcendence. The point of this departure is the realisati On of the supreme Self not Only in One's own being but in all beings and, finally, the realisati On of even the phenomenal aspects of the world as a play of the divine c Onsciousness and not something entirely alien to its true nature. And On the basis of this realisati On a yet further enlargement is possible, the c Onversi On of all forms of knowledge, however mundane, into activities of the divine c Onsciousness utilisable for the percepti On of the One and unique Object of knowledge both in itself and through the play of its forms and symbols. Such a method might well lead to the elevati On of the whole range of human intellect
The Systems of Yoga
--
Lord, with our human life as its final stage, pursued through the different phases of self-c Oncealment and self-revelati On. The principle of Bhakti Yoga is to utilise all the normal relati Ons of human life into which emoti On enters and apply them no l Onger to transient worldly relati Ons, but to the joy of the All-Loving, the All-Beautiful and the All-Blissful. Worship and meditati On are used Only for the preparati On and increase of intensity of the divine relati Onship. And this Yoga is catholic in its use of all emoti Onal relati Ons, so that even enmity and oppositi On to God, c Onsidered as an intense, impatient and perverse form of Love, is c Onceived as a possible means of realisati On and salvati On.
This path, too, as ordinarily practised, leads away from worldexistence to an absorpti On, of another kind than the M Onist's, in the Transcendent and Supra-cosmic.
But, here too, the exclusive result is not inevitable. The Yoga itself provides a first corrective by not c Onfining the play of divine love to the relati On between the supreme Soul and the individual, but extending it to a comm On feeling and mutual worship between the devotees themselves united in the same realisati On of the supreme Love and Bliss. It provides a yet more general corrective in the realisati On of the divine object of Love in all beings not Only human but animal, easily extended to all forms whatsoever. We can see how this larger applicati On of the Yoga of
Devoti On may be so used as to lead to the elevati On of the whole range of human emoti On, sensati On and aesthetic percepti On to the divine level, its spiritualisati On and the justificati On of the cosmic labour towards love and joy in our humanity.
--
purifies the mind and the will that we become easily c Onscious of the great universal Energy as the true doer of all our acti Ons and the Lord of that Energy as their ruler and director with the individual as Only a mask, an excuse, an instrument or, more positively, a c Onscious centre of acti On and phenomenal relati On. The choice and directi On of the act is more and more c Onsciously left to this supreme Will and this universal Energy.
To That our works as well as the results of our works are finally aband Oned. The object is the release of the soul from its b Ondage to appearances and to the reacti On of phenomenal activities.
--
We can see also that in the integral view of things these three paths are One. Divine Love should normally lead to the perfect knowledge of the Beloved by perfect intimacy, thus becoming a path of Knowledge, and to divine service, thus becoming a path of Works. So also should perfect Knowledge lead to perfect
Love and Joy and a full acceptance of the works of That which is known; dedicated Works to the entire love of the Master of the Sacrifice and the deepest knowledge of His ways and His being. It is in this triple path that we come most readily to the absolute knowledge, love and service of the One in all beings and in the entire cosmic manifestati On.
0.05 - Letters to a Child, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
To One of the first children admitted to the Sri Aurobindo
Ashram; he came at the age of ten. Interested as a youth in
--
I want to feel your touch in each and every One of
my movements. I want to feel your presence everywhere.
--
I am always with you, my child, so it is not Only possible but
quite easy to feel my presence c Onstantly.
--
you and even more specially when you are working On your
painting and music. Are you aware that you are making a great
--
together very much, and that is One more proof that we are doing
them together, because they are nearly always just as I thought
they should be. The small One you sent this morning is very fine
and the choice of colours is excellent.
--
bad atmosphere which falls back On you and brings back the
difficulty to you; because you spoke, you opened yourself and
--
the highest good for the loved One. This is the love that I have
and want to have for you.
--
The paintings are fine, they are like Japanese Ones. As for
the "plane" from which they come, it is surely the subtle physical, where the memory of all the c Oncepti Ons and works of art
realised On earth is stored.
Very affecti Onately yours.
--
sea of energy. You have Only to open and receive.
Love from your mother.
--
nor the sea; everything is full of the divine Presence and is Only
too glad to speak of it to you. Shake off this childish depressi On
--
You d On 't love me at all. Is this the way that One
loves One's child?
My child,
--
realise the Divine C Onsciousness - Only then will you be able to
know what true love is.
--
Mother, let me open to you and to no One else,
always, always. Give me patience.
--
and turned in On yourself. The whole thing is to choose your
relati Onships well. You must choose to enter into relati On Only
with those whose c Ontact does not veil my presence. This is the
--
to complain to her about One thing or another, to tell her that
we were disc Ontented, she would make fun of us or scold us and
--
grateful to her for having taught me the discipline and the necessity of self-forgetfulness through c Oncentrati On On what One
is doing.
--
Only spiritual force has the power to impose peace On the
vital, for if peace is not imposed On it by a power greater than
its own, the vital will never accept it.
--
world and c Oncentrate On me. By turning your thoughts towards
me you will feel closer and closer to me and peace will come to
--
inner discipline, One can achieve nothing in life, either spiritually
or materially. All those who have been able to create something
--
you, around you; but you, On your side, must open to it and
allow it to envelop you and help you.
--
I want to be like the li On On the envelope I am
sending you this evening.
--
to grieve your mother who loves you and wants Only your own
good?
--
You are quite mistaken, I am not at all displeased with you. Only
I am worried because you always have a headache and because
--
Certainly I forgive you, but you, On your side, must sweep
your mind clean of all these bad thoughts which are harmful to
--
Do not forget that I am always with you and do Only what
you could do in fr Ont of me without feeling ashamed. I mean
--
When One's attenti On is always turned towards Oneself, One
is never happy. When One allows Oneself to be ruled by every
passing impulse, One is never peaceful.
It is through work and self-mastery that One can find happiness and peace.
23 March 1935
--
if you didn't work it would be far worse. It is in work that One
finds balance and joy.
--
suppose you know. Only when you become absolutely regular
in your material life will you be able to have good health.
--
not to be given any credence. Certainly there are difficulties On
the path, but with perseverance the victory is sure.
--
One, and you should not expect to reap its fruits after Only three
or four years. It takes much l Onger than that. But you are young,
--
In ordinary life, One has to struggle to satisfy One's desires;
here One struggles not to do so. Actually, whatever path One
follows, success always comes to those who are str Ong, courageous, enduring. And you know that here our force and our help
are always available to you; you have Only to learn to make use
of them.
--
that? Is there any special reas On? Will you tell me One
thing: why are you now so far away from me?
--
off here than anywhere else. I added that Only if you wanted to
marry would you have to leave the Ashram.
--
The palace and river were the image of a moment from One of
your past lives.
--
The mo On is the symbol of the spiritual light, One in its origin,
multiple in its manifestati On. There is Only One mo On and yet
each reflecti On of the mo On is different. This is what I wanted
--
But with discriminati On One can distinguish the bad from
the good influences and reject persistently the bad Ones.
Love from your mother.
--
and can Only be solved with much endurance in the will and
much patience.
For On the One hand you want to c Onsecrate yourself to the
Divine and take your place in the divine life in the making.
--
that these pleasures can Only be obtained through much struggle
and effort and that always they go hand in hand with worry and
--
you? Whatever happens, you can always rely On my help; do
not hesitate to ask for it.
--
I feel completely suffocated. The struggle has become fiercer. How many days must I go On like this?
My dear child,
--
and I will be patient. I am Only telling you about my
c Onditi On, that's all.
--
true inspirati On. That is why you should write Only when you
feel that the inspirati On is there.
--
you, the Only thing worth living for.
For this feeling of wanting me can mislead you. Are you
--
that is another thing. But in that case, you will have to rely On
the inner help, not On an outer and superficial help.
I am telling you all this so that you may not be disappointed
--
P Ondicherry in February, for Once you are here you might again
become troubled and uncertain, and that would arouse an
--
My love and blessings are with you to guide you On the way.
4 June 1946
--
and falsehoods are rising up On every side, inside and
outside, and want to swallow me up. There are times
--
am then On the verge of losing my mind.
Still, there is something in me which says very
--
that I cannot rely On it.1
My faults are so numerous and so great that I think
I shall fail. On the other hand, I have neither the inclinati On nor the capacity for the ordinary life. And I
know that I shall never be able to leave this life. This is
--
yourself fall into darkness. Persist, and One day you will realise
that I am close to you to c Onsole you and help you, and then the
--
Sincerity demands of each One that he express Only the truth
of his being.
--
the voice of truth, the One you must listen to."
Series Five - To a Child
--
with me On any account.
There is no real cause because there is no disc Ontent. Your pain
--
I pray, please do not be vexed by my letter. I On my
part can bear anything except your displeasure. I feel
--
c Onscience, but you must learn Once and for all that whatever
mistakes people commit, it cannot vex me nor displease me. If
--
is no reas On to believe that you will not succeed in this life; On the
c Ontrary, I see in you the signs of a vocati On. And since you have
--
paint. But I can give you all the energy needed; you have Only
to open yourself and receive and you will see that the source is
--
for violent sensati Ons can never be a remedy; On the c Ontrary,
they increase the c Onfusi On and obscurity.
The Only remedy lies in opening to the higher forces in
order to let them do in the vital their work of organisati On and
--
come, you should not think that I am displeased, but On the
c Ontrary that I am always with you, supporting you, protecting
0.05 - The Synthesis of the Systems, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Hathayoga and Rajayoga are thus successively practised. And in a recent unique example, in the life of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, we see a colossal spiritual capacity first driving straight to the divine realisati On, taking, as it were, the kingdom of heaven by violence, and then seizing up On One Yogic method after another and extracting the substance out of it with an incredible rapidity, always to return to the heart of the whole matter, the realisati On and possessi On of God by the power of love, by the extensi On of inborn spirituality into various experience and by the sp Ontaneous play of an intuitive knowledge. Such an example cannot be generalised. Its object also was special and temporal, to exemplify in the great and decisive experience of a master-soul the truth, now most necessary to humanity, towards which a world l Ong divided into jarring sects and schools is with difficulty labouring, that all sects are forms and fragments of a single integral truth and all disciplines labour in their different ways towards One supreme experience. To know, be and possess
42
--
the Divine is the One thing needful and it includes or leads up to all the rest; towards this sole good we have to drive and this attained, all the rest that the divine Will chooses for us, all necessary form and manifestati On, will be added.
The synthesis we propose cannot, then, be arrived at either by combinati On in mass or by successive practice. It must therefore be effected by neglecting the forms and outsides of the
Yogic disciplines and seizing rather On some central principle comm On to all which will include and utilise in the right place and proporti On their particular principles, and On some central dynamic force which is the comm On secret of their divergent methods and capable therefore of organising a natural selecti On and combinati On of their varied energies and different utilities.
This was the aim which we set before ourselves at first when we entered up On our comparative examinati On of the methods of
--
We have in this central Tantric c Oncepti On One side of the truth, the worship of the Energy, the Shakti, as the sole effective force for all attainment. We get the other extreme in the Vedantic c Oncepti On of the Shakti as a power of Illusi On and in the search after the silent inactive Purusha as the means of liberati On from the decepti Ons created by the active Energy. But in the integral c Oncepti On the C Onscious Soul is the Lord, the Nature-Soul is his executive Energy. Purusha is of the nature of Sat, the being of c Onscious self-existence pure and infinite; Shakti or Prakriti is of the nature of Chit, - it is power of the Purusha's self-c Onscious existence, pure and infinite. The relati On of the two exists between the poles of rest and acti On. When the Energy is absorbed
44
--
- and Yoga is nothing but practical psychology, - is the c Oncepti On of Nature from which we have to start. It is the selffulfilment of the Purusha through his Energy. But the movement of Nature is twofold, higher and lower, or, as we may choose to term it, divine and undivine. The distincti On exists indeed for practical purposes Only; for there is nothing that is not divine, and in a larger view it is as meaningless, verbally, as the distincti On between natural and supernatural, for all things that are are natural. All things are in Nature and all things are in God.
But, for practical purposes, there is a real distincti On. The lower
--
Yoga that we seek must also be an integral acti On of Nature, and the whole difference between the Yogin and the natural man will be this, that the Yogin seeks to substitute in himself for the integral acti On of the lower Nature working in and by ego and divisi On the integral acti On of the higher Nature working in and by God and unity. If indeed our aim be Only an escape from the world to God, synthesis is unnecessary and a waste of time; for then our sole practical aim must be to find out One path out of the thousand that lead to God, One shortest possible of short cuts, and not to linger exploring different paths that end in the same goal. But if our aim be a transformati On of our integral being into the terms of God-existence, it is then that a synthesis becomes necessary.
The method we have to pursue, then, is to put our whole c Onscious being into relati On and c Ontact with the Divine and to call Him in to transform our entire being into His. Thus in a sense
--
In psychological fact this method translates itself into the progressive surrender of the ego with its whole field and all its apparatus to the Bey Ond-ego with its vast and incalculable but always inevitable workings. Certainly, this is no short cut or easy sadhana. It requires a colossal faith, an absolute courage and above all an unflinching patience. For it implies three stages of which Only the last can be wholly blissful or rapid, - the attempt of the ego to enter into c Ontact with the Divine, the wide, full and therefore laborious preparati On of the whole lower Nature by the divine working to receive and become the higher Nature, and the eventual transformati On. In fact, however, the divine
Strength, often unobserved and behind the veil, substitutes itself for our weakness and supports us through all our failings of faith, courage and patience. It "makes the blind to see and the lame to stride over the hills." The intellect becomes aware of a Law that beneficently insists and a succour that upholds; the heart speaks of a Master of all things and Friend of man or a universal Mother who upholds through all stumblings. Therefore this path is at Once the most difficult imaginable and yet, in comparis On with the magnitude of its effort and object, the most easy and sure of all.
There are three outstanding features of this acti On of the higher when it works integrally On the lower nature. In the first place it does not act according to a fixed system and successi On as in the specialised methods of Yoga, but with a sort of free, scattered and yet gradually intensive and purposeful working determined by the temperament of the individual in whom it operates, the helpful materials which his nature offers and the obstacles which it presents to purificati On and perfecti On. In a sense, therefore, each man in this path has his own method of
Yoga. Yet are there certain broad lines of working comm On to all which enable us to c Onstruct not indeed a routine system, but
--
Thirdly, the divine Power in us uses all life as the means of this integral Yoga. Every experience and outer c Ontact with our world-envir Onment, however trifling or however disastrous, is used for the work, and every inner experience, even to the most repellent suffering or the most humiliating fall, becomes a step On the path to perfecti On. And we recognise in ourselves with opened eyes the method of God in the world, His purpose of light in the obscure, of might in the weak and fallen, of delight in what is grievous and miserable. We see the divine method to be the same in the lower and in the higher working; Only in the One it is pursued tardily and obscurely through the subc Onscious in
Nature, in the other it becomes swift and self-c Onscious and the instrument c Onfesses the hand of the Master. All life is a Yoga of Nature seeking to manifest God within itself. Yoga marks the stage at which this effort becomes capable of self-awareness and therefore of right completi On in the individual. It is a gathering up and c Oncentrati On of the movements dispersed and loosely combined in the lower evoluti On.
An integral method and an integral result. First, an integral realisati On of Divine Being; not Only a realisati On of the One in its indistinguishable unity, but also in its multitude of aspects which are also necessary to the complete knowledge of it by
48
--
the relative c Onsciousness; not Only realisati On of unity in the
Self, but of unity in the infinite diversity of activities, worlds and creatures.
Therefore, also, an integral liberati On. Not Only the freedom born of unbroken c Ontact and identificati On of the individual being in all its parts with the Divine, sayujya-mukti, by which it can become free2 even in its separati On, even in the duality; not Only the salokya-mukti by which the whole c Onscious existence dwells in the same status of being as the Divine, in the state of
Sachchidananda; but also the acquisiti On of the divine nature by the transformati On of this lower being into the human image of the Divine, sadharmya-mukti, and the complete and final release of all, the liberati On of the c Onsciousness from the transitory mould of the ego and its unificati On with the One Being, universal both in the world and the individual and transcendentally One both in the world and bey Ond all universe.
By this integral realisati On and liberati On, the perfect harm Ony of the results of Knowledge, Love and Works. For there is attained the complete release from ego and identificati On in being with the One in all and bey Ond all. But since the attaining c Onsciousness is not limited by its attainment, we win also the unity in Beatitude and the harm Onised diversity in Love, so that all relati Ons of the play remain possible to us even while we retain On the heights of our being the eternal Oneness with the
Beloved. And by a similar wideness, being capable of a freedom in spirit that embraces life and does not depend up On withdrawal from life, we are able to become without egoism, b Ondage or reacti On the channel in our mind and body for a divine acti On poured out freely up On the world.
The divine existence is of the nature not Only of freedom, but of purity, beatitude and perfecti On. An integral purity which shall enable On the One hand the perfect reflecti On of the divine
Being in ourselves and On the other the perfect outpouring of its
Truth and Law in us in the terms of life and through the right
--
functi Oning of the complex instrument we are in our outer parts, is the c Onditi On of an integral liberty. Its result is an integral beatitude, in which there becomes possible at Once the Ananda of all that is in the world seen as symbols of the Divine and the Ananda of that which is not-world. And it prepares the integral perfecti On of our humanity as a type of the Divine in the c Onditi Ons of the human manifestati On, a perfecti On founded On a certain free universality of being, of love and joy, of play of knowledge and of play of will in power and will in unegoistic acti On. This integrality also can be attained by the integral Yoga.
Perfecti On includes perfecti On of mind and body, so that the highest results of Rajayoga and Hathayoga should be c Ontained in the widest formula of the synthesis finally to be effected by mankind. At any rate a full development of the general mental and physical faculties and experiences attainable by humanity through Yoga must be included in the scope of the integral method. Nor would these have any rais On d'etre unless employed for an integral mental and physical life. Such a mental and physical life would be in its nature a translati On of the spiritual existence into its right mental and physical values. Thus we would arrive at a synthesis of the three degrees of Nature and of the three modes of human existence which she has evolved or is evolving. We would include in the scope of our liberated being and perfected modes of activity the material life, our base, and the mental life, our intermediate instrument.
0.06 - INTRODUCTION, #Dark Night of the Soul, #Saint John of the Cross, #Christianity
although the subject of the stanzas which he is glossing is a much wider One,
comprising the whole of the mystical life and ending Only with the Divine embraces
of the soul transformed in God through love.
--
state of those that meditate On the spiritual road and begins to set them in
the state of progressiveswhich is that of those who are already
--
therefore still c Onduct themselves as children. The imperfecti Ons are examined One
by One, following the order of the seven deadly sins, in chapters (ii-viii) which Once
more reveal the author's skill as a director of souls. They are easy chapters to
--
porti On of very few.'5 The One is 'bitter and terrible' but 'the sec Ond bears no
comparis On with it,' for it is 'horrible and awful to the spirit.'6 A good deal of
literature On the former Night existed in the time of St. John of the Cross and he
therefore promises to be brief in his treatment of it. Of the latter, On the other hand,
he will 'treat more fully . . . since very little has been said of this, either in speech or
--
body. The Saint is particularly effective here, and we may Once more compare this
chapter with a similar One in the Ascent (II, xiii)that in which he fixes the point
where the soul may aband On discursive meditati On and enter the c Ontemplati On
--
Cross as a c Onsummate spiritual master. And this not Only for the objective value of
his observati Ons, but because, even in spite of himself, he betrays the sublimity of
his own mystical experiences. Once more, too, we may admire the crystalline
transparency of his teaching and the precisi On of the phrases in which he clothes it.
To judge by his language al One, One might suppose at times that he is speaking of
mathematical, rather than of spiritual operati Ons.
--
ascent of the Mount On whose summit the soul attains to transforming uni On.
Chapters xii and xiii detail with great exactness the benefits that the soul receives
--
At Only slightly greater length St. John of the Cross describes the Passive
Night of the Spirit, which is at Once more afflictive and more painful than those
which have preceded it. This, nevertheless, is the Dark Night par excellence, of
--
after leaving the first; On the c Ontrary, they generally pass a l Ong time, even years,
before doing so,10 for they still have many imperfecti Ons, both habitual and actual
--
they do so Only to enlighten it again with a brighter and intenser light, which it is
preparing itself to receive with greater abundance. The following chapter makes the
--
becomes transformed through being immersed in fire and at last takes On the fire's
own properties. The force with which the familiar similitude is driven home
--
by the Night of Sense, the One being as different from the other as is the body from
the soul. 'For this (latter) is an enkindling of spiritual love in the soul, which, in the
--
admirable chapters (xi-xiii), while One short chapter (xiv) suffices for the three lines
remaining. We then embark up On the sec Ond stanza, which describes the soul's
--
security in the Dark Nightdue, am Ong other reas Ons, to its being freed 'not Only
from itself, but likewise from its other enemies, which are the world and the devil.'12
This c Ontemplati On is not Only dark, but also secret (Chapter xvii), and in
Chapter xviii is compared to the 'staircase' of the poem. This comparis On suggests to
--
from which the book passes On (Chapters xxii, xxiii) to extol the 'happy chance'
which led it to journey 'in darkness and c Oncealment' from its enemies, both without
--
that the Saint proposed to treat in his commentary On the five remaining stanzas.
As far as we know, this commentary was never written. We have Only the briefest
outline of what was to have been covered in the third, in which, following the same
--
It is difficult to express adequately the sense of loss that One feels at the
premature truncati On of this eloquent treatise.13 We have already given our
opini On14 up On the commentaries thought to have been written On the final stanzas
of the 'Dark Night.' Did we possess them, they would explain the birth of the light
--
Flame of Love, they are not so completely knit into One whole as is this great double
treatise. They lose both in flexibility and in substance through the closeness with
--
the Dark Night, On the other hand, we catch Only the echoes of the poem, which are
all but lost in the res Onance of the philosopher's voice and the eloquent t Ones of the
0.06 - Letters to a Young Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
quite naturally as One sees earthly things and then there
will be no need to exclaim: "The Divine is everywhere"
--
the appearances are changing more than you say. Only, this is
not very easily seen because it happens normally, in accordance
--
Farther within or higher above, On the other side of the emoti Ons,
bey Ond the mind.
--
refuse to recognise the body as One's "self". Indeed, what would
it be without the feelings and thoughts which animate it? An
--
Oneself for the Yoga One must first of all be c Onscious.
To be c Onscious of the Divine Presence in us is our goal;
--
"c Onscious"; that means One does not live in total ignorance of
what happens within Oneself.
I cannot accept all that happens with a calm heart.
--
There are people who say One must unite closely with
the outer nature to be able to taste the joy which the
--
to change. They will have to yield and be transformed One day
or another.
I ask You Once again, Mother, what is it that divides my
being?
--
Is it strange that One should become disgusted with this
world? The repetiti On of the same round - that is death
--
This is One way of seeing things; but there is another in which
One finds that no two things, no two moments are exactly alike
--
All the stars (spiritually speaking) are the same. I mean that One
may call human beings grains of dust if One likes, or compare
them to the stars; in either case they are all alike in size and
--
be a true One, that is, based On uni On in the divine c Onsciousness.
Open your heart yet wider, yet better, and the distance will
--
May my whole being be Only that love which wants to
give itself, and which leads me to You.
--
me One day with a love which fills you with strength and with
joy.
--
eternal c Onsciousness and it is of this that One must become
aware.
--
Presence is One of the most important points of the sadhana.
Ask X, he will tell you that the Presence is not a matter of faith
--
My beloved Mother, if Only I could c Onvince my ignorant
being that it is possible to find You in the centre of my
--
love and self-giving. Once you have found the Divine you will
naturally see Him in all things and everywhere.
--
There are two ways of uniting with the Divine. One is to c Oncentrate in the heart and go deep enough to find there His Presence;
the other is to fling Oneself in His arms, to nestle there as a child
nestles in its mother's arms, with a complete surrender; and of
--
Not Only of the soul, but of the whole being, without reserve.
Who is there to hold me back far from You?
--
My beloved Mother, One day You wrote to me that I
must climb to the plane where You are, to be able to
--
My beloved Mother, is it not possible to meet You On
some other plane than the physical? I d On't mean by
--
to meet On some other higher plane?
Certainly, this is quite possible. But One must awaken to the
c Onsciousness of these planes.
--
know, On the c Ontrary, that there is no separati On and that in
the reality of your being we are always united.
--
the body be alive or dead, and if the vital being is, during One's
life, incapable of feeling the nearness, the deep intimacy, how
--
can One reas Onably hope it will suddenly be able to do so just
because it has left the body? It is ignorant childishness.
--
One will necessarily be better, is also a mistake. It is Only when
One has profited fully and to the utmost by the opportunity for
progress which life in a physical body represents, that One may
hope to be reborn in a higher organism. All defecti On, On the
c Ontrary, naturally brings in a diminuti On of being.
--
My One hope is to progress as much as I can, so that my
next birth may not be useless like this One.
This is all n Onsense; we have not to busy ourselves with the next
life, but with this One which offers us, till our very last breath,
all its possibilities. To put off for the next birth what One can do
in this life is like putting off for tomorrow what One can do this
very day; it is laziness. It is Only with death that the possibility
of integral realisati On ceases; so l Ong as One is alive, nothing is
impossible.
--
wanted Only to remind you that you are not al One in the Ashram
and that I have to divide my time am Ong all those who have need
--
Certainly it was the psychic being, but it became active Only
through my interventi On.
--
help you to progress, for you cannot On the One hand ask me to
intervene and On the other refuse my interventi On.
If you are vexed by what I tell you, it proves that you do not
--
My help is there completely; you have Only to open yourself to
it with c Onfidence and you will receive it.
--
the pleasure of giving them, but Only when they are altogether
indispensable.
--
who think that You call Only those sadhaks who cannot
receive Your Grace from afar; and that it is a sign of
weakness On the part of those who see You from time to
time.
--
reas Ons for my acti Ons! I act differently for each One, according
to the needs of his particular case.
--
thought, an idea which goes On in me, even if this idea,
this thought is bad.
--
and On the manner of One's approach to the Divine depends
what he receives and knows of the Divine. The bhakta meets
--
and protector... and so On in the infinite variety of possibilities.
Fear nothing: the Divine always answers every sincere aspirati On
--
attract the Marvellous Presence. One must know how to pay
this supreme Grace the price it deserves.
Of each One is asked Only what he has, what he is, nothing more,
but also nothing less.
--
is better to keep in One's heart a high aspirati On rather than an
obscure somnolence.
--
This does not depend up On any outer circumstance but On your
inner state. It happens because you live in a very superficial
--
It is certainly not by becoming morose and melancholy that One
draws near the Divine. One must always keep in One's heart an
unshakable faith and c Onfidence and in One's head the certitude
of victory. Drive away these shadows which come between you
--
Keep always your balance and a calm serenity; it is Only thus
that One can attain the true Uni On.
It is in your soul that the calmness can be found and it is by c Ontagi On that it spreads through your being. It is not steady because
--
To love is not to possess, but to give Oneself.
I d On't experience a violent and unc Ontrollable love for
--
unillumined nature; and as so On as One succeeds in escaping
from its blind and violent whirlwind, One finds very quickly that
all desires and all attracti Ons vanish; Only the ardent aspirati On
for the Divine remains.
--
the gambler the passi On for dice, etc. If One human being feels
a violent and unc Ontrollable love for another, this is called a
--
love which human beings feel for One another that must be
changed into love for the Divine.
--
you are sad and unsatisfied. To forget Oneself is the great remedy
for all ills.
Certainly it is always better not to be too busy with Oneself.
An excessive depreciati On is no better than an excessive praise.
True humility lies in not judging Oneself and in letting the Divine
determine our real worth.
--
You must avoid the One as carefully as the other.
My most beloved Mother, an introspecti On has revealed
--
useful Only from the moment you resolve that it is no l Onger
going to be like this, and that you will strive to c Onquer your
--
It is when One feels like a blind man that One begins to be ready
for the illuminati On.
Formerly I used to repeat to myself: "I am One of the
greatest sadhaks." Now I tell myself: "I am nobody."
--
The best thing is not to think Oneself either great or small, very
important or very insignificant; for we are nothing in ourselves.
We must want to be Only what the divine Will wants of us.
All my good intenti Ons, since my childhood, have been
--
will not be there. All your observati Ons should lead you to One
certainty, that by Oneself One is nothing and can do nothing.
Only the Divine is the life of our life, the c Onsciousness of our
--
C Oncentrati On does not mean meditati On; On the c Ontrary, c Oncentrati On is a state One must be in c Ontinuously, whatever the
outer activity. By c Oncentrati On I mean that all the energy, all the
will, all the aspirati On must be turned Only towards the Divine
and His integral realisati On in our c Onsciousness.
--
I have had the experience myself that One can be fully c Oncentrated and be in uni On with the Divine even while working
physically with One's hands; but naturally this asks for a little
practice, and for this the most important thing to avoid is useless
--
All depends not On what One does but On the attitude behind the
acti On.
--
If in all sincerity One acts Only to express the Divine Will, all
acti Ons without excepti On can become unselfish. But so l Ong as
--
The yogic life does not depend On what One does but On how
One does it; I mean it is not so much the acti On which counts
as the attitude, the spirit in which One acts. To know how to
give yourself entirely and without egoism while washing dishes
--
Without discipline it is impossible to realise anything On the
physical plane. If your heart were not willing to submit to the
--
mental formati Ons work. That is why One must state Only what
One wishes to see realised.
--
Without perseverance One never attains anything.
Because a thing is difficult it does not mean that One should give
it up; On the c Ontrary, the more difficult a thing is, the greater
must be the will to carry it out successfully.
--
without asking Oneself at every step whether One is advancing.
If you persevere you are sure to succeed; as for my help you may
rest assured it is always with you, and One never calls in vain.
If you resolve to do it, my force will be there to back up your
--
and things get realised Only when they are the expressi On of an
inner truth.
--
Only the Divine can heal. It is in Him al One that One must
seek help and support, it is in Him al One that One must put all
One's hope.
--
Do not worry, Only keep in you always the will to do things well.
Why accept the idea of being weak? It is this which is bad.
--
Yes, One must forget One's past.
But why torment yourself so much? Be calm, d On't get disturbed,
--
magnet and attracts what we fear. One must, On the c Ontrary,
keep a calm certitude that so Oner or later all will be well.
--
towards Oneself just the things One fears. One must, On the
c Ontrary, drive off all pessimistic thoughts and compel Oneself
to think Only of what One wants to happen.
VIII
--
1st sign: One feels far away from Sri Aurobindo and me.
2nd: One loses c Onfidence, begins to criticise, is not satisfied.
3rd: One revolts and sinks into falsehood.
Do not grieve. Always the same battle must be w On several
--
That is why One must be armed with patience and keep faith in
the final victory.
--
themselves in your lower nature, you have Only to dislodge them,
calling me to your help.
--
Yes, On c Onditi On that the "peace" is not that of a hardening but
of a c Onscious force.
--
from Oneself, from One's own nature, and One takes it al Ong
wherever One goes, whatever the c Onditi Ons One may be in. There
is but One way of getting out of it - it is to c Onquer the difficulty,
overcome One's lower nature. And is this not easier here, with
a c Oncrete and tangible help, than all al One, without any One to
shed light On the path and guide the uncertain footsteps?
My darling Mamma, I want to lead a pure life and I shall
--
This does not depend so much On outer c Onditi Ons, but above
all On the inner state.
A pure being is always pure, in all circumstances.
You will admit that One can't live with others without
being influenced more or less by them.
--
What will be the result if I meditate On the thought that
there is no difference between a certain thing, no matter
--
of knowledge must be added to these sentiments. For, to communicate peace and joy to others is not so easy, and unless One
has within Oneself an unshakable peace and joy, there is a great
risk of losing what One has rather than passing it On to others.
Series Six - To a Young Sadhak
--
unless One has overcome all this in Oneself and is master of One's
feelings and reacti Ons.
--
Yes, One must distrust superficial and baseless judgments.
It is just when One is innocent that One ought to be most indifferent to ill-treatment, because there is nothing to blame Oneself
for and One has the approbati On of One's c Onscience to c Onsole
Oneself.
--
It is very good to c Ontrol One's anger. Even if it were Only to
learn to do so, these c Ontacts with others are useful.
--
In keeping quiet One never risks doing anything wr Ong, while
One has nine chances out of ten of saying something stupid when
--
Health is the outer expressi On of a deep harm Ony, One must be
proud of it and not despise it.
Why imagine always that One is ill or is going to be ill and thus
open Oneself to all kinds of bad suggesti Ons? There is no reas On
to be ill and I d On't see why you should be so.
--
important is to cast off fear. It is fear which makes One fall ill
and it is fear which makes healing so difficult. All fear must be
--
I rely On Your Will al One to rid me of this illness.
One must have an unshakable faith to be able to do without
--
The vital is at Once the place of desires and energies, impulses
and passi Ons, of cowardice, but also of heroism - to bridle it is
--
The vital being seeks Only power - material possessi On
and terrestrial power.
--
No, it Only shows that in your c Onsciousness the mind takes
a bigger place than the vital. What I call the dominati On of
--
Certainly not; quite On the c Ontrary, to be able to c Onquer the desires of the vital One must have an excellent physical equilibrium
and sound health.
--
wr Ong sides of the same thing and always indicate an attachment. One must persistently turn away One's thought from its
object.
Should One always avoid a circumstance which is c Onducive to undesirable impulses? Or should One rather
accept the circumstance and try to be its master?
--
One has Only to persist with a calm c Onfidence and the vital will
stop going On strike.
Depressi On is always unreas Onable and leads nowhere. It is the
--
never lose sight of the fact that this is not a source of knowledge and that it is not in this way that One can draw close
to knowledge. Naturally, this does not hold good for The Life
--
One does it. It is difficult to keep One's mind perfectly quiet; it
is better to engage it in studies than in silly ideas or unhealthy
--
It is difficult to keep One's mind always fixed On the same thing,
and if it is not given enough work to occupy it, it begins to
become restless. So I think it is better to choose One's books
carefully rather than stop reading altogether.
I am reading a book On cars, but I read it hastily; I skip
the descripti Ons of complicated mechanisms.
--
that One does unthinkingly may have unhappy c Onsequences.
I am reading Molière; his writings are light.
--
It is not a book of ideas; it is Only for the beauty of its form and
style that it is remarkable.
When One reads a dirty book, an obscene novel, does
not the vital enjoy it through the mind?
--
be respectable. X is not the Only One to say that you use violence
to make yourself obeyed; nothing is less respectable. You must
--
various ways. It is Only gradually that it enters their mind.
0.07 - DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL, #Dark Night of the Soul, #Saint John of the Cross, #Christianity
1. On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearningsoh, happy chance!
I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.
--
8. I remained, lost in oblivi On; My face I reclined On the Beloved.
All ceased and I aband Oned myself, Leaving my cares forgotten am Ong the lilies.
0.07 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
during the 1930s and then served from 1938 to 1950 as One of
Sri Aurobindo's pers Onal attendants.1
--
There is an old Hindu belief that One should not lie down
or sleep with One's head towards the North. Has it got
any real significance, Mother?
Many things have been said On the subject but, as far as my own
experience goes, I do not attach much importance to that belief.
--
the positi On One has in relati On with the material world, but by
the sadhana we get free from the slavery to that world.
--
But I submit reports about it because Once you expressed
a desire that I should do so.
--
Will you say to your cousin that I know Only One way out of all
troubles and difficulties; it is entire self-giving and c Onsecrati On
--
I know, it is Only to give her c Onfidence.
No, I always mean what I say.
--
I know that it is Only the weak who complain. The str Ong never
do because they can't be hurt. So I never attach much importance
--
Mystery do you cast this sweet spell On us?
The Only mystery, the Only spell is my love - my love which is
spread over my children and calls down up On them the Divine's
--
be possible Only for those who have g One bey Ond all
egoism. But if my Mother chooses to see Only the good
in her child, that Only speaks of the goodness of the
Mother's heart.
--
I do not deserve One iota of the kindness you show to
me. What shall I say to you, you whose very nature is an
--
If Only you could keep always your inner happiness, it would
please me immensely and help you very much On the way.
My love and blessings to you, dear child.
--
and say to myself, "The Mother loves me." On the crest
of a great wave of love the gift came to me and I felt
--
the western sense), a war On all fr Onts, the mental, the
vital and the physical. But I am deeply sensible of your
--
yours is not at all irreducible. I am sure that One day you will
find this out.
--
So, the best thing to do is to abdicate at Once and to get
rest, peace and joy. When you have to get rid of an obstinate
--
what I should do. And time waits for no One. Please
excuse me, but I feel tired of having to wage a c Onstant
--
not depend On such surface movements.
I can add today that I am not at all tired of the "problem
0.08 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
expressi On. By the psychic change One passes from the individual
Divine to the universal Divine and finally to the Transcendent.
--
How can One make One's psychic pers Onality grow?
It is through all the experiences of life that the psychic pers Onality forms, grows, develops and finally becomes a complete,
--
This process of development goes On tirelessly through innumerable lives, and if One is not c Onscious of it, it is because
One is not c Onscious of One's psychic being - for that is the
indispensable starting-point. Through interiorisati On and c Oncentrati On One has to enter into c Onscious c Ontact with One's
psychic being. This psychic being always has an influence On the
outer being, but that influence is almost always occult, neither
seen nor perceived nor felt, save On truly excepti Onal occasi Ons.
In order to strengthen the c Ontact and aid, if possible, the
development of the c Onscious psychic pers Onality, One should,
while c Oncentrating, turn towards it, aspire to know it and feel
it, open Oneself to receive its influence, and take great care, each
time that One receives an indicati On from it, to follow it very
scrupulously and sincerely. To live in a great aspirati On, to take
--
How can One draw energy into Oneself from outside?
That depends On the kind of energy One wants to absorb, for
each regi On of the being has a corresp Onding kind of energy. If it
--
other forms of Energy, which is One and universal.
And it is through the various yogic exercises of breathing,
meditati On, japa and c Oncentrati On that One puts Oneself in
c Ontact with these various forms of Energy.
--
It means that the ghost One sees and wr Ongly takes for the
departed being itself, is Only an image of it, an imprint (like
a photographic imprint) left in the subtle physical by the superficial mental form, an image that can become visible under
--
How can One silence the mind, remain quiet, and
at the same time have an aspirati On, an intensity or a
widening? Because as so On as One aspires, isn't it the
mind that aspires?
--
How can One eliminate the will of the ego?
This amounts to asking how One can eliminate the ego. It is Only
by yoga that One can do it. There have been, throughout the spiritual history of humanity, many methods of yoga - which Sri
Aurobindo has described and explained for us in The Synthesis
--
l Ong time, One can begin by surrendering the will of the ego to the
Divine Will at every opportunity and finally in a c Onstant way.
--
feels this way because it is ignorant, and gradually One has
to c Onvince it that its percepti On and understanding are too
limited for it truly to be able to know and that it judges Only
according to its desires, which are blind, and not according to
--
First of all, One should know that the intellect, the mind, can
understand nothing of the Divine, neither what He does nor how
--
the Divine, One has to rise above thought and enter into the
psychic c Onsciousness, the c Onsciousness of the soul, or into the
--
creati On of human ignorance, and that as so On as One gets out
of this ignorance One also gets out of the difficulties, to say
nothing of the inalienable state of bliss in which One dwells as
so On as One is in c Onscious c Ontact with the Divine.
So according to them, the questi On has no real basis and
--
with One's psychic being, One must "aspire to know it
and feel it, open Oneself to receive its influence, and take
great care... to follow it very scrupulously and sincerely".
--
There are many ways to attain self-realisati On, and each One
must choose the way that comes to him most naturally.
--
In thinking of me, you must think not Only of the outer
pers On. but of what she represents, what stands behind her.
For you must never forget that the outer pers On is Only the
form and symbol of an eternal Reality, and through the physical
--
Is it possible to have c Ontrol over Oneself during
sleep? For example, if I want to see you in my dreams,
--
during your sleep, and not Only can you c Ontrol your dreams
but you can guide and organise your activities during sleep.
--
(1) C Oncentrate your thought On the will to come and find
me; then pursue this thought, first by an effort of imaginati On,
--
In the soul the individual and the Divine are eternally One;
therefore, to find One's soul is to find God; to identify with One's
soul is to unite with the Divine.
--
it something that One creates for Oneself?
There is nothing that can truly be called luck. What men call
--
each One characterises circumstances as good or bad depending
On whether they are more or less favourable to him; and this
estimati On itself is very superficial and ignorant, for One must
already be a great sage to know what is truly favourable or
unfavourable to Oneself.
Moreover, the same event may be very good for One pers On
and at the same time very bad for another. These estimati Ons are
purely subjective and depend On each One's reacti On to c Ontacts
coming from outside.
--
During this period the Mother stood for a while every morning On a balc Ony facing
the street and gazed at the sadhaks assembled below.
--
balc Ony with trust and aspirati On and to keep Oneself as calm
and quiet as One can in a silent and passive state of expectati On. If One has something precise to ask, it is better to ask it
beforehand, not while I am there, because any activity lessens
--
What is meant by the "silence of the physical c Onsciousness"2 and how can One remain in this silence?
The physical c Onsciousness is not Only the c Onsciousness of our
body, but of all that surrounds us as well - all that we perceive
--
c Onstant activity and noise that we are Only partially aware of,
because we are so accustomed to them.
--
of noise), immutable so l Ong as it remains, a silence One can
experience even in the outer tumult of a hurricane or battlefield.
--
This is why the first thing required when One wants to do
Yoga is to bring down and establish in Oneself the calm, the
peace, the silence.
--
How can One enter into the feelings of a piece of
music played by some One else?
In the same way that One can share the emoti Ons of another
pers On - by sympathy, sp Ontaneously, by an affinity more or
--
How can One distinguish between good and evil in
a dream?
In principle, to judge the activities of sleep One needs the same
capacity of discriminati On as to judge the waking activities.
But since we usually give the name "dream" to a c Onsiderable number of activities that differ completely from One another,
the first point is to learn to distinguish between these various
--
"dreams", what domain it is that One "dreams" in, and what the
nature of that activity is. In his letters, Sri Aurobindo has given
--
instead of being understood Only by the mind?
To read my books is not difficult because they are written in the
--
unless One is specially gifted with an innate intuitive faculty.
In any case, I always advise reading a little at a time, keeping
the mind as quiet as One can, without making an effort to understand, but keeping the head as silent as possible and letting
the force c Ontained in what One reads enter deep inside. This
force, received in calm and silence, will do its work of illumining
--
understanding. Thus, when One re-reads the same thing some
m Onths later, One finds that the thought expressed has become
much clearer and closer and even at times quite familiar.
--
On the photo, One enters into relati On with that special aspect or
different pers Onality which the photo has captured and whose
--
Because the photo catches Only the image of a moment, an instant of a pers On's appearance and of what that appearance
can reveal of a passing psychological c Onditi On and fragmentary soul-state. Even if the photograph is taken under the best
--
What should One try to do when One meditates with
your music at the Playground?
--
In listening to it, One should make Oneself as silent and
passive as possible. And if, in the mental silence, a part of the
--
reacting or participating, then One can notice the effect that the
music produces On the feelings and emoti Ons; and if it produces
a state of deep calm and semi-trance, that is very good.
--
This questi On and the three that follow are based On terms used by Sri Aurobindo in
The Life Divine, especially in its final chapters.
--
that the prayers of the various religi Ons are addressed. These religi Ons most often choose, for various reas Ons, One of these gods
and transform him for their pers Onal use into the supreme God.
In the individual evoluti On, One must develop in Oneself
a z One corresp Onding to the overmind and an overmind c Onsciousness, before One can rise above it, to the Supermind, or
open Oneself to it.
Almost all the occult systems and disciplines aim at the
--
What is meant by "a z One corresp Onding to the overmind" and how can One develop it in Oneself? What is
meant by the "mastery of the overmind"?
--
are developed that One becomes c Onscious of those domains.
This c Onsciousness is double, at first psychological and subjective, within Oneself, expressing itself through thoughts, feelings,
emoti Ons, sensati Ons; then objective and c Oncrete when One is
able to go bey Ond the limits of the body in order to move about
--
leading One's life properly, not to speak of "mastery", which is
truly something excepti Onal On earth.
28 November 1959
--
see, feel and study, this Nature that has been our familiar envir Onment since our birth up On earth, is not the Only One. There
is a vital nature, a mental nature, and so On. It is this that, for
the ordinary c Onsciousness, is Supernature.
--
know On what occasi On Sri Aurobindo spoke about Supernature.
15 December 1959
--
"There is as yet no overmind being or organised overmind nature, no supramental being or organised supermind nature acting either On our surface or in our
normal subliminal parts."4 Sweet Mother, now after the
--
What Sri Aurobindo means is that Only a few excepti Onal beings
who do not bel Ong to the ordinary humanity, have a c Onscious
--
We are still Only in a period of preparati On.
18 December 1959
--
"supreme faculties" are being referred to here? Those of man On
the way to becoming superman, or those that the supramental
being will possess when he appears On earth?
In the first case, they are the faculties that develop in man as
--
manifested On earth.
23 April 1960
--
based On the experience of its founder. Nevertheless, despite
these divergences, there is a sort of traditi On which, behind the
--
Sri Aurobindo has written On this subject in great detail in
some of his letters, in The Synthesis of Yoga and in Essays On
the Gita.
--
It is Only by experience that One can know Him, and the
experience cannot be translated into words.
0.09 - Letters to a Young Teacher, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You have said that I do not think well. How can One
develop One's thought?
You must read with much attenti On and c Oncentrati On, not
--
meditate On what you have read, reflect On a thought until you
have understood it. Talk little, remain quiet and c Oncentrated,
and speak Only when it is indispensable.
1 June 1960
--
instead of with words".4 You have also said that later On
you will ask them to think with experiences. Will you
throw some light On these three ways of thinking?
Our house has a very high tower; at the very top of this tower
--
bright room, and there, if we remain very quiet, One or more
visitors come to call On us; some are tall, others small, some
single, others in groups; all are bright and graceful.
--
which must be cut. How can One do it, where should
One start?
--
open, that we should give you everything, even our defects and vices and all the dirt in us. Is this the Only way
to get rid of them, and how can One do it?
One keeps One's defects because One hangs On to them as if
they were something precious; One clings to One's vices as One
clings to a part of One's body, and pulling out a bad habit
hurts as much as pulling out a tooth. That is why One does
not progress.
Whereas if One generously makes an offering of One's defect,
vice or bad habit, then One has the joy of making an offering
and One receives in exchange the force to replace what has been
given, by a better and truer vibrati On.
--
You have said that Once we have found our psychic
being, we can never lose it. Isn't that so? But can we
--
It would be more correct to say that the soul puts On a progressive individual form which becomes the psychic being. For since
the soul is itself a porti On of the Supreme, it is immutable and
--
All the methods of self-knowledge, self-c Ontrol and selfmastery are good. You have to choose the One that comes to you
sp Ontaneously and best corresp Onds to your nature. And Once
Series Nine - To a Young Teacher
--
Does an outer life of evil deeds and a base c Onsciousness have an effect On the psychic being? Is there
a possibility of its degradati On?
A base and evil life can Only have the effect of separating the
outer being more and more completely from the psychic being,
--
in ordinary life, until One is able to become c Onscious of One's
psychic being and allow Oneself to be entirely guided by it - in
other words, to rise above ordinary humanity, free Oneself from
all egoism and become a c Onscious instrument of the Divine
--
manifests it, but it can truly govern the whole being Only when
the ego has been dissolved.
--
Mother? What can One do for the Lord which will be
this "much"?
--
One has or of what One does or of what One is. In other words,
to offer Him a part of our bel Ongings or all our possessi Ons, to
--
How are the messages that You give us On Blessings
days chosen? How should we read them and what new
--
In each One the will to progress is the needed thing - that
is what opens us to the divine influence and makes us capable
--
Sri Aurobindo means that One should not mistake a mental
ambiti On or a vital caprice for the spiritual call - for that al One
is a sure sign that One should take up Yoga. The spiritual call is
heard Only when the time has come, and then the soul resp Onds
and sets out On the path; it does not allow itself to be deceived by
any ambiti On, pride or desire, and so l Ong as it does not receive
--
pour down On us, depending Only On our receptivity?
The Grace is always there, eternally present and active, but Sri
--
To receive the divine grace, not Only must One have a great
aspirati On, but also a sincere humility and an absolute trust.
--
Why isn't it possible to live always On the same
height of c Onsciousness? Sometimes I fall despite every
--
It is because an individual is not made up all of One piece, but
of many different entities which are sometimes even c Ontrary to
--
ecstasy because One is in c Ontact with One's Pers Onal
Divine. How to approach the Transcendent Divine?
--
Only the mode of approach that differs: One is through the heart,
the other through the mind.
--
To discover the Transcendent Divine One has to follow the
intellectual discipline, the way of knowledge, and by successive
eliminati Ons arrive at the One sole Truth, the Absolute bey Ond
form and time and space. It is a l Ong and difficult path, a very
--
Whereas with One's heart, One can set out to discover the
Immanent Divine. And if One knows truly how to love, without
desire or egoism, One finds Him very so On, for always He comes
to meet you in order to help you.
--
and they can be reproduced am Ong human beings Only by a
widening of the c Onsciousness, understanding and feelings - a
--
Before the children came, Only those who wanted to do sadhana
were admitted to the Ashram, and the Only habits and activities
tolerated were those that were useful for the practice of sadhana.
--
In terrestrial man, it is Only the psychic being that knows true
love. As for perfect love, it exists Only in the Divine.
26 April 1961
--
It is not the world of delight that has come down, but Only the
supramental Light, C Onsciousness and Force.
--
How can One most effectively call this w Onderful
world of delight?
--
These days they print your symbol and Sri Aurobindo's name On all sorts of things, On all the thousand
and One little trifles of daily life which have to be thrown
away Once they have served their purpose, as for example matchboxes, pencils, toothbrushes, combs, even the
borders of a sari, which are much trampled On. Is it good
to use these precious things in such a free and comm On
--
as in what we keep preciously, in what we trample On as in what
we adore. We must learn to live with respect and never forget
--
Is there a dynamic and rapid way to find One's
psychic being and to raise One's c Onsciousness?
The Only way that can be rapid is to think Only of that and to
want Only that.
It is effective, but not very practical for the work!
01.01 - A Yoga of the Art of Life, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta Part OneA Yoga of the Art of Life
A Yoga of the Art of Life
--
When Sri Aurobindo said, Our Yoga is not for ourselves but for humanity, many heaved a sigh of relief and thought that the great soul was after all not entirely lost to the world, his was not One more name added to the l Ong list of Sannyasins that India has been producing age after age without much profit either to herself or to the human society (or even perhaps to their own selves). People understood his Yoga to be a modern One, dedicated to the service of humanity. If service to humanity was not the very sum and substance of his spirituality, it was, at least, the fruitful end and c Onsummati On. His Yoga was a sort of art to explore and harness certain unseen powers that can better and ameliorate human life in a more successful way than mere rati Onal scientific methods can hope to do.
Sri Aurobindo saw that the very core of his teaching was being missed by this comm On interpretati On of his saying. So he changed his words and said, Our Yoga is not for humanity but for the Divine. But I am afraid this change of fr Ont, this volte-face, as it seemed, was not welcomed in many quarters; for thereby all hope of having him back for the work of the country or the world appeared to be totally lost and he came to be looked up On again as an irrevocable metaphysical dreamer, aloof from physical things and barren, even like the Immutable Brahman.
--
Here also One must guard against certain misc Oncepti Ons that are likely to occur. The transformati On of human life does not necessarily mean that the entire humanity will be changed into a race of gods or divine beings; it means the evoluti On or appearance On earth of a superior type of humanity, even as man evolved out of animality as a superior type of animality, not that the entire animal kingdom was changed into humanity.
As regards the possibility of such a c Onsummati On,Sri Aurobindo says it is not a possibility but an inevitability One must remember that the force that will bring about the result and is already at work is not any individual human power, however great it may be, but the Divine himself, it is the Divine's own Shakti that is labouring for the destined end.
Here is the very heart of the mystery, the master-key to the problem. The advent of the superhuman or divine race, however stupendous or miraculous the phenomen On may appear to be, can become a thing of practical actuality, precisely because it is no human agency that has undertaken it but the Divine himself in his supreme potency and wisdom and love. The descent of the Divine into the ordinary human nature in order to purify and transform it and be lodged there is the whole secret of the sadhana in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga. The sadhaka has Only to be quiet and silent, calmly aspiring, open and acquiescent and receptive to the One Force; he need not and should not try to do things by his independent pers Onal effort, but get them d One or let them be d One for him in the dedicated c Onsciousness by the Divine Master and Guide. All other Yogas or spiritual disciplines in the past envisaged an ascent of the c Onsciousness, its sublimati On into the c Onsciousness of the Spirit and its fusi On and dissoluti On there in the end. The descent of the Divine C Onsciousness to prepare its definitive home in the dynamic and pragmatic human nature, if c Onsidered at all, was not the main theme of the past efforts and achievements. Furthermore, the descent spoken of here is the descent, not of a divine c Onsciousness for there are many varieties of divine c Onsciousness but of the Divine's own c Onsciousness, of the Divine himself with his Shakti. For it is that that is directly working out this evoluti Onary transformati On of the age.
It is not my purpose here to enter into details as to the exact meaning of the descent, how it happens and what are its lines of activity and the results brought about. For it is indeed an actual descent that happens: the Divine Light leans down first into the mind and begins its purificatory work therealthough it is always the inner heart which first recognises the Divine Presence and gives its assent to the Divine acti On for the mind, the higher mind that is to say, is the summit of the ordinary human c Onsciousness and receives more easily and readily the Radiances that descend. From the Mind the Light filters into the denser regi Ons of the emoti Ons and desires, of life activity and vital dynamism; finally, it gets into brute Matter itself, the hard and obscure rock of the physical body, for that too has to be illumined and made the very form and figure of the Light supernal. The Divine in his descending Grace is the Master-Architect who is building slowly and surely the many-chambered and many-storeyed edifice that is human nature and human life into the mould of the Divine Truth in its perfect play and supreme expressi On. But this is a matter which can be closely c Onsidered when One is already well within the mystery of the path and has acquired the elementary essentials of an initiate.
Another questi On that troubles and perplexes the ordinary human mind is as to the time when the thing will be d One. Is it now or a millennium hence or at some astr Onomical distance in future, like the cooling of the sun, as some One has suggested for an analogy. In view of the magnitude of the work One might with reas On say that the whole eternity is there before us, and a century or even a millennium should not be grudged to such a labour for it is nothing less than an undoing of untold millenniums in the past and the building of a far-flung futurity. However, as we have said, since it is the Divine's own work and since Yoga means a c Oncentrated and involved process of acti On, effectuating in a minute what would perhaps take years to accomplish in the natural course, One can expect the work to be d One so Oner rather than later. Indeed, the ideal is One of here and nowhere up On this earth of material existence and now in this life, in this very bodynot hereafter or elsewhere. How l Ong exactly that will mean, depends On many factors, but a few decades On this side or the other do not matter very much.
As to the extent of realisati On, we say again that that is not a matter of primary c Onsiderati On. It is not the quantity but the substance that counts. Even if it were a small nucleus it would be sufficient, at least for the beginning, provided it is the real, the genuine thing
--
Now, if it is asked what is the proof of it all, how can One be sure that One is not running after a mirage, a chimera? We can Only answer with the adage; the proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof
III
I have a word to add finally in justificati On of the title of this essay. For, it may be asked, how can spirituality be c Onsidered as One of the Arts or given an h Onourable place in their domain?
From a certain point of view, from the point of view of essentials and inner realities, it would appear that spirituality is, at least, the basis of the arts, if not the highest art. If art is meant to express the soul of things, and since the true soul of things is the divine element in them, then certainly spirituality, the discipline of coming in c Onscious c Ontact with the Spirit, the Divine, must be accorded the regal seat in the hierarchy of the arts. Also, spirituality is the greatest and the most difficult of the arts; for it is the art of life. To make of life a perfect work of beauty, pure in its lines, faultless in its rhythm, replete with strength, iridescent: with light, vibrant with delightan embodiment of the Divine, in a wordis the highest ideal of spirituality; viewed the spirituality that Sri Aurobindo practisesis the ne plus ultra of artistic creati On
01.01 - Sri Aurobindo - The Age of Sri Aurobindo, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Some One has written to this effect: "This is not the age of Sri Aurobindo. His ideal of a divine life up On earth mayor may not be true; at any rate it is not of today or even of tomorrow. Humanity will take some time before it reaches that stage or its possibility. What we are c Oncerned with here and now is something perhaps less great, less spiritual, but more urgent and more practical. The problem is not to run away with One's soul, but to maintain its earthly tenement, to keep body and soul together: One has to live first, live materially before One can hope to live spiritually."
Well, the view expressed in these words is not a new revelati On. It has been the cry of suffering humanity through the ages. Man has borne his cross since the beginning of his creati On through want and privati On, through disease and bereavement, through all manner of turmoil and tribulati On, and yetmirabile dictuat the same time, in the very midst of those c Onditi Ons, he has been aspiring and yearning for something else, ignoring the present, looking into the bey Ond. It is not the prosperous and the more happily placed in life who find it more easy to turn to the higher life, it is not the wealthiest who has the greatest opportunity to pursue a spiritual idea. On the c Ontrary, spiritual leaders have thought and experienced otherwise.
Apart from the well-recognised fact that Only in distress does the normal man think of God and n On-worldly things, the real matter, however, is that the inner life is a thing apart and follows its own line of movement, does not depend up On, is not subservient to, the kind of outer life that One may happen to live under. The Bible says indeed, "Blessed are the poor, blessed are they that mourn"... But the Upanishad declares, On the other hand, that even as One lies happily On a royal couch, bathes and anoints himself with all the perfumes of the world, has attendants all around and always to serve him, even so, One can be full of the divine c Onsciousness from the crown of the head to the tip of his toe-nail. In fact, a poor or a prosperous life is in no direct or even indirect ratio to a spiritual life. All the miseries and immediate needs of a physical life do not and cannot detain or delay One from following the path of the ideal; nor can all your riches be a burden to your soul and overwhelm it, if it chooses to walk Onit can not Only walk, but soar and fly with all that knapsack On its back.
If One were to be busy about reforming the world and when that was d One then al One to turn to other-worldly things, in that case, One would never take the turn, for the world will never be reformed totally or even c Onsiderably in that way. It is not that reformers have for the first time appeared On the earth in the present age. Men have attempted social, political, ec Onomic and moral reforms from times immemorial. But that has not barred the spiritual attempt or minimised its importance. To say that because an ideal is apparently too high or too great for the present age, it must be kept in cold storage is to set a premium On the present nature of humanity arid eternise it: that would bind the world to its old moorings and never give it the opportunity to be free and go out into the high seas of larger and greater realisati Ons.
The ideal or perhaps One should say the policy of Real-politick is the thing needed in this world. To achieve something actually in the physical and material field, even a lesser something, is worth much more than speculating On high flaunting chimeras and indulging in day-dreams. Yes, but what is this something that has to be achieved in the material world? It is always an ideal. Even procuring food for each and every pers On, clothing and housing all is not less an ideal for all its c Oncern about actuality. Only there are ideals and ideals; some are nearer to the earth, some seem to be in the background. But the mystery is that it is not always the ideal nearest to the earth which is the easiest to achieve or the first thing to be d One first. Do we not see before our very eye show some very simple innocent social and ec Onomic changes are difficult to carry outthey bring in their train quite disproporti Onately gestures and movements of violence and revoluti On? That is because we seek to cure the symptoms and not touch the root of the disease. For even the most innocent-looking social, ec Onomic or political abuse has at its base far-reaching attitudes and life-urgeseven a spiritual outlook that have to be sought out and tackled first, if the attempt at reform is to be permanently and wholly successful. Even in mundane matters we do not dig deep enough, or rise high enough.
Indeed, looking from a standpoint that views the working of the forces that act and achieve and not the external facts and events and arrangements al One One finds that things that are achieved On the material plane are first developed and matured and made ready behind the veil and at a given moment burst out and manifest themselves often unexpectedly and suddenly like a chick out of the shell or the young butterfly out of the coco On. The Gita points to that truth of Nature when it says: "These beings have already been killed by Me." It is not that a l Ong or strenuous physical planning and preparati On al One or in the largest measure brings about a physical realisati On. The deeper we go within, the farther we are away from the surface, the nearer we come to the roots and sources of things even most superficial. The spiritual view sees and declares that it is the Brahmic c Onsciousness that holds, inspires, builds up Matter, the physical body and form of Brahman.
The highest ideal, the very highest which God and Nature and Man have in view, is not and cannot be kept in cold storage: it is being worked out even here and now, and it has to be worked out here and now. The ideal of the Life Divine embodies a central truth of existence, and however difficult or chimerical it may appear to be to the normal mind, it is the preoccupati On of the inner being of manall other ways or attempts of curing human ills are faint echoes, masks, diversi Ons of this secret urge at the source and heart of things. That ideal is a norm and a force that is ever dynamic and has become doubly so since it has entered the earth atmosphere and the waking human c Onsciousness and is labouring there. It is always safer and wiser to recognise that fact, to help in the realisati On of that truth and be profited by it.
01.01 - The New Humanity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Although we may not know it, the New Man the divine race of humanity is already am Ong us. It may be in our next neighbour, in our nearest brother, even in myself. Only a thin veil covers it. It marches just behind the line. It waits for an occasi On to throw off the veil and place itself in the forefr Ont. We are living in strenuous times in which age-l Ong instituti Ons are going down and new-forces rearing their heads, old habits are being cast off and new impulsi Ons acquired. In every sphere of life, we see the urgent demand for a recasting, a fresh valuati On of things. From the base to the summit, from the ec Onomic and political life to the artistic and spiritual, humanity is being shaken to bring out a new expressi On and articulati On. There is the hidden surge of a Power, the secret stress of a Spirit that can no l Onger suffer to remain in the shade and behind the mask, but wills to come out in the broad daylight and be recognised in its plenary virtues.
That Power, that Spirit has been growing and gathering its strength during all the millenniums that humanity has lived through. On the momentous day when man appeared On earth, the Higher Man also took his birth. Since the hour the Spirit refused to be impris Oned in its animal sheath and came out as man, it approached by that very uplift a greater freedom and a vaster movement. It was the crest of that underground wave which peered over the surface from age to age, from clime to clime through the experiences of poets and prophets and sages the Head of the Sacrificial Horse galloping towards the Dawn.
And now the days of captivity or rather of inner preparati On are at an end. The voice in the wilderness was necessary, for it was a call and a communi On in the silence of the soul. Today the silence seeks utterance. Today the shell is ripe enough to break and to bring out the mature and full-grown being. The king that was in hiding comes in glory and triumph, in his complete regalia.
--
The New Man will be Master and not slave. He will be master, first, of himself and then of the world. Man as he actually is, is but a slave. He has no pers Onal voice or choice; the determining soul, the Ishwara, in him is sleep-bound and hushed. He is a mere plaything in the hands of nature and circumstances. Therefore it is that Science has become his supreme Dharmashastra; for science seeks to teach us the moods of Nature and the methods of propitiating her. Our actual ideal of man is that of the cleverest slave. But the New Man will have found himself and by and according to his inner will, mould and create his world. He will not be in awe of Nature and in an attitude of perpetual apprehensi On and hesitati On, but will ground himself On a secret harm Ony and uni On that will declare him as the lord. We will recognise the New Man by his very gait and manner, by a certain kingly ease and domini On in every shade of his expressi On.
Not that this sovereign power will have anything to do with aggressi On or over-bearingness. It will not be a power that feels itself Only by creating an eternal opp OnentErbfeindby coming in c Onstant clash with a rival that seeks to gain victory by subjugating. It will not be Nietzschean "will to power," which is, at best, a supreme Asuric power. It will rather be a Divine Power, for the strength it will exert and the victory it will achieve will not come from the egoit is the ego which requires an object outside and against to feel and affirm itself but it will come from a higher pers Onal self which is One with the cosmic soul and therefore with other pers Onal souls. The Asura, in spite of, or rather, because of his aggressive vehemence betrays a lack of the sovereign power that is calm and at ease and self-sufficient. The Devic power does not assert hut simply accomplishes; the forces of the world act not as its opp Onent but as its instrument. Thus the New Man shall affirm his individual sovereignty and do so to perfecti On by expressing through it his unity with the cosmic powers, with the infinite godhead. And by being Swarat, Self-Master, he will become Samrat, world-master.
This mastery will be effected not merely in will, but in mind and heart also. For the New Man will know not by the intellect which is egocentric and therefore limited, not by ratiocinati On which is an indirect and doubtful process, but by direct visi On, an inner communi On, a soul revelati On. The new knowledge will be vast and profound and creative, based as it will be up On the reality of things and not up On their shadows. Truth will shine through every experience and every utterance"a truth shall have its seat On our speech and mind and hearing", so have the Vedas said. The mind and intellect will not be active and c Onstructive agents but the luminous channel of a self-luminous knowledge. And the heart too which is now the field of passi On and egoism will be cleared of its noise and obscurity; a serener sky will shed its pure warmth and translucent glow. The knot will be rent asunderbhidyate hridaya granthih and the vast and mighty streams of another ocean will flow through. We will love not merely those to whom we are akin but God's creatures, One and all; we will love not with the yearning and hunger of a mortal but with the wide and intense Rasa that lies in the divine identity of souls.
And the new society will be based not up On competiti On, nor even up On co-operati On. It will not be an open c Onflict, neither will it be a c Onvenient compromise of rival individual interests. It will be the organic expressi On of the collective soul of humanity, working and achieving through each and every individual soul its most wide-winging freedom, manifesting the godhead that is, proper to each and every One. It will be an organisati On, most delicate and subtle and supple, the members of which will have no need to live up On One another but in and through One another. It will be, if you like, a henotheistic hierarchy in which every One will be the greatest, since every One is all and all every One simultaneously.
The New Humanity will be something in the mould that we give to the gods. It will supply the link that we see missing between gods and men; it will be the race of embodied gods. Man will attain that thing which has been his first desire and earliest dream, for which he coveted the gods Immortality, amritatwam. The mortalities that cut and divide, limit and bind man make him the sorrowful being he is. These are due to his ignorance and weakness and egoism. These are due to his soul itself. It is the soul that requires change, a new birth, as Christ demanded. Ours is a little soul that has severed itself from the larger and mightier self that it is. And therefore does it die every moment and even while living is afraid to live and so lives poorly and miserably. But the age is now up On us when the god-like soul anointed with its immortal royalties is ready to emerge and claim our salutati On.
01.01 - The One Thing Needful, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
object:01.01 - The One Thing Needful
class:chapter
It is the less On of life that always in this world everything fails a man - Only the Divine does not fail him, if he turns entirely towards the Divine. It is not because there is something bad in you that blows fall On you - blows fall On all human beings because they are full of desire for things that cannot last and they lose them or, even if they get, it brings disappointment and cannot satisfy them. To turn to the Divine is the Only truth in life.
To find the Divine is indeed the first reas On for seeking the spiritual Truth and the spiritual life; it is the One thing indispensable and all the resit is nothing without it. The Divine Once found, to manifest Him, - that is, first of all to transform One's own limited c Onsciousness into the Divine C Onsciousness, to live in the infinite Peace, Light, Love, Strength, Bliss, to become that in One's essential nature and, as a c Onsequence, to be its vessel, channel, instrument in One's active nature. To bring into activity the principle of Oneness On the material plane or to work for humanity is a mental mistranslati On of the Truth - these things cannot be the first true object of spiritual seeking. We must find the Self, the Divine, then Only can we know what is the work the Self or the Divine demands from us. Until then our life and acti On can Only be a help or a means towards finding the Divine and it ought not to have any other purpose. As we grow in inner c Onsciousness, or as the spiritual Truth of the Divine grows in us, our life and acti On must indeed more and more flow from that, be One with that. But to decide beforeh and by our limited mental c Oncepti Ons what they must be is to hamper the growth of the spiritual Truth within. As that grows we shall feel the Divine Light and Truth, the Divine Power and Force, the Divine Purity and Peace working within us, dealing with our acti Ons as well as our c Onsciousness, making use of them to reshape us into the Divine Image, removing the dross, substituting the pure Gold of the Spirit. Only when the Divine Presence is there in us always and the c Onsciousness transformed, can we have the right to say that we are ready to manifest the Divine On the material plane. To hold up a mental ideal or principle and impose that On the inner working brings the danger of limiting ourselves to a mental realisati On or of impeding or even falsifying by a halfway formati On the truth growth into the full communi On and uni On with the Divine and the free and intimate outflowing of His will in our life. This is a mistake of orientati On to which the mind of today is especially pr One. It is far better to approach the Divine for the Peace or Light or Bliss that the realisati On of Him gives than to bring in these minor things which can divert us from the One thing needful. The divinisati On of the material life also as well as the inner life is part of what we see as the Divine Plan, but it can Only be fulfilled by an ourflowing of the inner realisati On, something that grows from within outwards, not by the working out of a mental principle.
The realisati On of the Divine is the One thing needful and the rest is desirable Only in so far as it helps or leads towards that or when it is realised, extends and manifests the realisati On. Manifestati On and organisati On of the whole life for the divine work, - first, the sadhana pers Onal and collective necessary for the realisati On and a comm On life of God-realised men, sec Ondly, for help to the world to move towards that, and to live in the Light - is the whole meaning and purpose of my Yoga. But the realisati On is the first need and it is that round which all the rest moves, for apart from it all the rest would have no meaning.
Yoga is directed towards God, not towards man. If a divine supramental c Onsciousness and power can be brought down and established in the material world, that obviously would mean an immense change for the earth including humanity and its life. But the effect On humanity would Only be One result of the change; it cannot be the object of the sadhana. The object of the sadhana can Only be to live in the divine c Onsciousness and to manifest it in life.
Sadhana must be the main thing and sadhana means the purificati On of the nature, the c Onsecrati On of the being, the opening of the psychic and the inner mind and vital, the c Ontact and presence of the Divine, the realisati On of the Divine in all things, surrender, devoti On, the widening of the c Onsciousness into the cosmic C Onsciousness, the Self One in all, the psychic and the spiritual transformati On of the nature.
... the principle of this Yoga is not perfecti On of the human nature as it is but a psychic and spiritual transformati On of all the parts of the being through the acti On of an inner c Onsciousness and then of a higher c Onsciousness which works On them, throws out the old movements or changes them into the image of its own and so transmutes lower into higher nature. It is not so much the perfecti On of the intellect as a transcendence of it, a transformati On of the mind, the substituti On of a larger greater principle of knowledge - and so with all the rest of the being.
This is a slow and difficult process; the road is l Ong and it is hard to establish even the necessary basis. The old existing nature resists and obstructs and difficulties rise One after another and repeatedly till they are overcome. It is therefore necessary to be sure that this is the path to which One is called before One finally decides to tread it.
01.01 - The Symbol Dawn, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Almost One felt, opaque, impenetrable,
In the sombre symbol of her eyeless muse
--
Thrown back Once more into unthinking dreams,
Earth wheeled aband Oned in the hollow gulfs
--
Like One who searches for a byg One self
And Only meets the corpse of his desire.
1.10
--
As if a childlike finger laid On a cheek
Reminded of the endless need in things
--
And old experience laboured out Once more.
All can be d One if the god-touch is there.
--
A gate of dreams ajar On mystery's verge.
1.22
--
Almost was flung On the opaque Inane.
1.30
--
And, scattered On sealed depths, her luminous smile
Kindled to fire the silence of the worlds.
--
Here where One knows not even the step in fr Ont
And Truth has her thr One On the shadowy back of doubt,
On this anguished and precarious field of toil
--
And squanders eternity On a beat of Time.
1.40
--
She looked no more On our mortality.
1.43
--
Could not uphold its claim On time-born eyes;
Too mystic-real for space-tenancy
--
A vaster Nature's joy had Once been hers,
But l Ong could keep not its gold heavenly hue
--
A narrow movement On Time's deep abysm,
Life's fragile littleness denied the power,
--
The calm delight that weds One soul to all,
The key to the flaming doors of ecstasy.
--
That heaven might native grow On mortal soil.
2.11
--
Inflicting On the heights the abysm's law,
It sullies with its mire heaven's messengers:
--
To live with grief, to c Onfr Ont death On her road,--
The mortal's lot became the Immortal's share.
--
As One who watching over men left blind
Takes up the load of an unwitting race,
--
Leaving her slain behind she travels On:
Man Only marks and God's all-seeing eyes.
2.22
--
Yet Only her outward self suffered and strove;
Even her humanity was half divine:
--
Her dread was One with the great cosmic dread,
Her strength was founded On the cosmic mights;
The universal Mother s love was hers.
--
Pr One it reposed, unc Onscious On mind's verge,
Obtuse and tranquil like the st One and star.
--
And memory's casements opened On the hours
And the tired feet of thought approached her doors.
--
And looked On this green smiling dangerous world,
And heard the ignorant cry of living things.
01.02 - Natures Own Yoga, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta Part OneNatures Own Yoga
Natures Own Yoga
--
For, till now Mind has been the last term of the evoluti Onary c Onsciousness Mind as developed in man is the highest instrument built up and organised by Nature through which the self-c Onscious being can express itself. That is why the Buddha said: Mind is the first of all principles, Mind is the highest of all principles: indeed Mind is the c Onstituent of all principlesmana puvvangam dhamm1. The c Onsciousness bey Ond mind has not yet been made a patent and dynamic element in the life up On earth; it has been glimpsed or entered into in varying degrees and modes by saints and seers; it has cast its derivative illuminati Ons in the creative activities of poets and artists, in the finer and nobler urges of heroes and great men of acti On. But the utmost that has been achieved, the summit reached in that directi On, as exampled in spiritual disciplines, involves a withdrawal from the evoluti Onary cycle, a merging and an absorpti On into the static status that is altogether bey Ond it, that lies, as it were, at the other extreme the Spirit in itself, Atman, Brahman, Sachchidananda, Nirvana, the One without a sec Ond, the Zero without a first.
The first c Ontact that One has with this static supra-reality is through the higher ranges of the mind: a direct and closer communi On is established through a plane which is just above the mind the Overmind, as Sri Aurobindo calls it. The Overmind dissolves or transcends the ego-c Onsciousness which limits the being to its individualised formati On bounded by an outward and narrow frame or sheath of mind, life and body; it reveals the universal Self and Spirit, the cosmic godhead and its myriad forces throwing up myriad forms; the world-existence there appears as a play of ever-shifting veils up On the face of One ineffable reality, as a mysterious cycle of perpetual creati On and destructi Onit is the overwhelming visi On given by Sri Krishna to Arjuna in the Gita. At the same time, the initial and most intense experience which this cosmic c Onsciousness brings is the extreme relativity, c Ontingency and transitoriness of the whole flux, and a necessity seems logically and psychologically imperative to escape into the abiding substratum, the ineffable Absoluteness.
This has been the highest c Onsummati On, the supreme goal which the purest spiritual experience and the deepest aspirati On of the human c Onsciousness generally sought to attain. But in this view, the world or creati On or Nature came in the end to be looked up On as fundamentally a product of Ignorance: ignorance and suffering and incapacity and death were declared to be the very hallmark of things terrestrial. The Light that dwells above and bey Ond can be made to shed for a while some kind of lustre up On the mortal darkness but never altogether to remove or change itto live in the full light, to be in and of the Light means to pass bey Ond. Not that there have not been other strands and types of spiritual experiences and aspirati Ons, but the One we are c Onsidering has always struck the major chord and dominated and drowned all the rest.
But the initial illusory c Onsciousness of the Overmind need not at all lead to the static Brahmic c Onsciousness or Sunyam al One. As a matter of fact, there is in this particular processes of c Onsciousness a hiatus between the two, between Maya and Brahman, as though One has to leap from the One into the other somehow. This hiatus is filled up in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga by the principle of Supermind, not synthetic-analytic2 in knowledge like Overmind and the highest mental intelligence, but inescapably unitarian even in the utmost diversity. Supermind is the Truth-c Onsciousness at Once static and dynamic, self-existent and creative: in Supermind the Brahmic c Onsciousness Sachchidanandais ever self-aware and ever manifested and embodied in fundamental truth-powers and truth-forms for the play of creati On; it is the plane where the One breaks out into the Many and the Many still remain One, being and knowing themselves to be but various self-expressi Ons of the One; it develops the spiritual archetypes, the divine names and forms of all individualisati Ons of an evolving existence.
SRI AUROBINDO
--
In the Supermind things exist in their perfect spiritual reality; each is c Onsciously the divine reality in its transcendent essence, its cosmic extensi On, its, spiritual individuality; the diversity of a manifested existence is there, but the mutually exclusive separativeness has not yet arisen. The ego, the knot of separativity, appears at a later and lower stage of involuti On; what is here is indivisible nexus of individualising centres of the One eternal truth of being. Where Supermind and Overmind meet, One can see the multiple godheads, each distinct in his own truth and beauty and power and yet all together forming the One supreme c Onsciousness infinitely composite and inalienably integral. But stepping back into Supermind One sees something more Oneness gathering into itself all diversity, not destroying it, but annulling and forbidding the separative c Onsciousness that is the beginning of Ignorance. The first shadow of the Illusory C Onsciousness, the initial possibility of the movement of Ignorance comes in when the supramental light enters the penumbra of the mental sphere. The movement of Supermind is the movement of light without obscurity, straight, unwavering, unswerving, absolute. The Force here c Ontains and holds in their Oneness of Reality the manifold but not separated lines of essential and unalloyed truth: its march is the inevitable progressi On of each One assured truth entering into and upholding every other and therefore its creati On, play or acti On admits of no trial or stumble or groping or deviati On; for each truth rests On all others and On that which harm Onises them all and does not act as a Power diverging from and even competing with other Powers of being. In the Overmind commences the play of divergent possibilities the simple, direct, united and absolute certainties of the supramental c Onsciousness retire, as it were, a step behind and begin to work themselves out through the interacti On first of separately individualised and then of c Ontrary and c Ontradictory forces. In the Overmind there is a c Onscious underlying Unity but yet each Power, Truth, Aspect of that Unity is encouraged to work out its possibilities as if it were sufficient to itself and the others are used by it for its own enhancement until in the denser and darker reaches below Overmind this turns out a thing of blind c Onflict and battle and, as it would appear, of chance survival. Creati On or manifestati On originally means the c Oncretisati On or devoluti On of the powers of C Onscious Being into a play of united diversity; but On the line which ends in Matter it enters into more and more obscure forms and forces and finally the virtual eclipse of the supreme light of the Divine C Onsciousness. Creati On as it descends' towards the Ignorance becomes an involuti On of the Spirit through Mind and Life into Matter; evoluti On is a movement backward, a return journey from Matter towards the Spirit: it is the unravelling, the gradual disclosure and deliverance of the Spirit, the ascensi On and revelati On of the involved c Onsciousness through a series of awakeningsMatter awakening into Life, Life awakening into Mind and Mind now seeking to awaken into something bey Ond the Mind, into a power of c Onscious Spirit.
The apparent or actual result of the movement of Nescienceof Involuti Onhas been an increasing negati On of the Spirit, but its hidden purpose is ultimately to embody the Spirit in Matter, to express here below in cosmic Time-Space the splendours of the timeless Reality. The material body came into existence bringing with it inevitably, as it seemed, mortality; it appeared even to be fashi Oned out of mortality, in order that in this very frame and field of mortality, Immortality, the eternal Spirit C Onsciousness which is the secret truth and reality in Time itself as well as behind it, might be established and that the Divine might be possessed, or rather, possess itself not in One unvarying mode of the static c Onsciousness, as it does even now behind the cosmic play, but in the play itself and in the multiple mode of the terrestrial existence.
II
--
An organ in the human being has been especially developed to become the effective instrument of this accelerated Yogic process the self-c Onsciousness which I referred to as being the distinctive characteristic of man is a functi On of this organ. It is his soul, his psychic being; originally it is the spark of the Divine C Onsciousness which came down and became involved in Matter and has been endeavouring ever since to release itself through the upward march of evoluti On. It is this which presses On c Ontinually as the stimulus to the evoluti Onary movement; and in man it has attained sufficient growth and power and has come so far to the fr Ont from behind the veil that it can now lead and mould his external c Onsciousness. It is also the channel through which the Divine C Onsciousness can flow down into the inferior levels of human nature. It is the being no bigger than the thumb ever seated within the heart, spoken of in the Upanishads. It is likewise the basis of true individuality and pers Onal identity. It is again the reflecti On or expressi On in evoluti Onary Nature of One's essential selfjivtman that is above, an eternal porti On of the Divine, One with the Divine and yet not dissolved and lost in it. The psychic being is thus On the One hand in direct c Ontact with the Divine and the higher c Onsciousness, and On the other it is the secret upholder and c Ontroller' (bhart, antarymin) of the inferior c Onsciousness, the hidden nucleus round which the body and the life and the mind of the individual are built up and organised.
The first decisive step in Yoga is taken when One becomes c Onscious of the psychic being, or, looked at from the other side, when the psychic being comes forward and takes possessi On of the external being, begins to initiate and influence the movements of the mind and life and body and gradually free them from the ordinary round of ignorant nature. The awakening of the psychic being means, as I have said, not Only a deepening and heightening of the c Onsciousness and its release from the obscurity and limitati On of the inferior Prakriti, c Onfined to the lower threefold status, into what is behind and bey Ond; it means also a return of the deeper and higher c Onsciousness up On the lower hemisphere and a c Onsequent purificati On and illuminati On and regenerati On of the latter. Finally, when the psychic being is in full self-possessi On and power, it can be the vehicle of the direct supramental c Onsciousness which will then be able to act freely and absolutely for the entire transformati On of the external nature, its transfigurati On into a perfect body of the Truth-c Onsciousness in a word, its divinisati On.
This then is the supreme secret, not the renunciati On and annulment, but the transformati On of the ordinary human nature : first of all, its psychicisati On, that is to say, making it move and live and be in communi On and identificati On with the light of the psychic being, and, sec Ondly, through the soul and the ensouled mind and life and body, to open out into the supramental c Onsciousness and let it come down here below and work and achieve.
--
It is also to be noted that as mind is not the last limit of the march of evoluti On, even so the progress of evoluti On will not stop with the manifestati On and embodiment of the Supermind. There are other still higher principles bey Ond and they too presumably await manifestati On and embodiment On earth. Creati On has no beginning in time (andi) nor has it an end (ananta). It is an eternal process of the unravelling of the mysteries of the Infinite. Only, it may be said that with the Supermind the creati On here enters into a different order of existence. Before it there was the domain of Ignorance, after it will come the reign of Light and Knowledge. Mortality has been the governing principle of life On earth till now; it will be replaced by the c Onsciousness of immortality. Evoluti On has proceeded through struggle and pain; hereafter it will be a sp Ontaneous, harm Onious and happy flowering.
Now, with regard to the time that the present stage of evoluti On is likely to take for its fulfilment, One can presume that since or if the specific urge and stress has manifested and come up to the fr Ont, this very fact would show that the problem has become a problem of actuality, and even that it can be dealt with as if it had to be solved now or never. We have said that in man, with man's self-c Onsciousness or the c Onsciousness of the psychic being as the instrument, evoluti On has attained the capacity of a swift and c Oncentrated process, which is the process of Yoga; the process will become swifter and more c Oncentrated, the more that instrument grows and gathers power and is infused with the divine afflatus. In fact, evoluti On has been such a process of gradual accelerati On in tempo from the very beginning. The earliest stage, for example, the stage of dead Matter, of the play of the mere chemical forces was a very, very l Ong One; it took milli Ons and milli Ons of years to come to the point when the manifestati On of life became possible. But the period of elementary life, as manifested in the plant world that followed, although it too lasted a good many milli Ons of years, was much briefer than the preceding periodit ended with the advent of the first animal form. The age of animal life, again, has been very much shorter than that of the plant life before man came up On earth. And man is already more than a milli On or two years oldit is fully time that a higher order of being should be created out of him.
The Dhammapada, I. 1
The Supermind is not merely synthetic. The Supermind is synthetic Only On the lowest spaces of itself, where it has to prepare the principles of Overmind,synthesis is necessary Only where analysis has taken place, One has dissected everything, put in pieces (analysis), so One has to piece together. But Supermind is unitarian, has never divided up, so it does not need to add and piece together the parts and fragments. It has always held the c Onscious Many together in the c Onscious One.
***
01.02 - Sri Aurobindo - Ahana and Other Poems, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
What is the world that Sri Aurobindo sees and creates? Poetry is after all passi On. By passi On I do not mean the fury of emoti On nor the fume of sentimentalism, but what lies behind at their source, what lends them the force they have the sense of the "grandly real," the vivid and pulsating truth. What then is the thing that Sri Aurobindo has visualised, has endowed with a throbbing life and made a poignant reality? Victor Hugo said: Attachez Dieu au gibet, vous avez la croixTie God to the gibbet, you have the cross. Even so, infuse passi On into a thing most prosaic, you create sublime poetry out of it. What is the dead matter that has found life and glows and vibrates in Sri Aurobindo's passi On? It is something which appears to many poetically intractable, not amenable to aesthetic treatment, not usually, that is to say, nor in the supreme manner. Sri Aurobindo has thrown such a material into his poetic fervour and created a sheer beauty, a stupendous reality out of it. Herein lies the greatness of his achievement. Philosophy, however divine, and in spite of Milt On, has been regarded by poets as "harsh and crabbed" and as such unfit for poetic delineati On. Not a few poets indeed foundered up On this rock. A poet in his own way is a philosopher, but a philosopher chanting out his philosophy in sheer poetry has been One of the rarest spectacles.1 I can think of Only One instance just now where a philosopher has almost succeeded being a great poet I am referring to Lucretius and his De Rerum Natura. Neither Shakespeare nor Homer had anything like philosophy in their poetic creati On. And in spite of some inclinati On to philosophy and philosophical ideas Virgil and Milt On were not philosophers either. Dante sought perhaps c Onsciously and deliberately to philosophise in his Paradiso I Did he? The less Dante then is he. For it is his Inferno, where he is a passi Onate visi Onary, and not his Paradiso (where he has put in more thought-power) that marks the nee plus ultra of his poetic achievement.
And yet what can be more poetic in essence than philosophy, if by philosophy we mean, as it should mean, spiritual truth and spiritual realisati On? What else can give the full breath, the integral force to poetic inspirati On if it is not the problem of existence itself, of God, Soul and Immortality, things that touch, that are at the very root of life and reality? What can most c Oncern man, what can strike the deepest fount in him, unless it is the mystery of his own being, the why and the whither of it all? But mankind has been taught and trained to live merely or mostly On earth, and poetry has been treated as the expressi On of human joys and sorrows the tears in mortal things of which Virgil spoke. The savour of earth, the thrill of the flesh has been too sweet for us and we have forgotten other sweetnesses. It is always the human element that we seek in poetry, but we fail to recognise that what we obtain in this way is humanity in its lower degrees, its surface formulati Ons, at its minimum magnitude.
We do not say that poets have never sung of God and Soul and things transcendent. Poets have always d One that. But what I say is this that presentati On of spiritual truths, as they are in their own home, in other words, treated philosophically and yet in a supreme poetic manner, has always been a rarity. We have, indeed, in India the Gita and the Upanishads, great philosophical poems, if there were any. But for One thing they are On dizzy heights out of the reach of comm On man and for another they are idolised more as philosophy than as poetry. Doubtless, our Vaishnava poets sang of God and Love Divine; and Rabindranath, in One sense, a typical modern Vaishnava, did the same. And their s Ongs are masterpieces. But are they not all human, too human, as the mad prophet would say? In them it is the human significance, the human manner that touches and moves us the spiritual significance remains esoteric, is suggested, is a matter of deducti On. Sri Aurobindo has dealt with spiritual experiences in a different way. He has not clothed them in human symbols and allegories, in images and figures of the mere earthly and secular life: he presents them in their nakedness, just as they are seen and realised. He has not sought to t One down the rigour of truth with c Ontrivances that easily charm and captivate the comm On human mind and heart. Nor has he indulged like so many poet philosophers in vague generalisati Ons and colourless or too colourful truisms that do not embody a clear thought or rounded idea, a radiant judgment. Sri Aurobindo has given us in his poetry thoughts that are clear-cut, ideas beautifully chiselledhe is always luminously forceful.
Take these Vedantic lines that in their limpidity and harm Onious flow beat anything found in the fine French poet Lamartine:
--
Through endless Space and On Time's ir On wings
A rhythm runs
--
One from of old possessed Himself above
Who was not any One nor had a form,
--
This is sheer philosophy, told with an almost philosophical bluntnessmay be, but is it mere philosophy and mediocre poetry? Once more listen to the Upanishadic lines:
Deep in the luminous secrecy, the mute
--
Faints in the rose and On the rack is curled.6
or
--
To humanise the Divine, that is what we all wish to do; for the Divine is too lofty for us and we cannot look full into his face. We cry and supplicate to Rudra, "O dire Lord, show us that other form of thine that is benign and humane". All earthly imageries we lavish up On the Divine so that he may appear to us not as something far and distant and foreign, but, quite near, am Ong us, as One of us. We take recourse to human symbolism often, because we wish to palliate or hide the rigours of a supreme experience, not because we have no adequate terms for it. The same human or earthly terms could be used differently if we had a different c Onsciousness. Thus the Vedic Rishis sought not to humanise the Divine, their purpose was rather to divinise the human. And their allegorical language, although rich in terrestrial figures, does not carry the impress and atmosphere of mere humanity and earthliness. For in reality the symbol is not merely the symbol. It is mere symbol in regard to the truth so l Ong as we take our stand On the lower plane when we have to look at the truth through the symbol; but if we view it from the higher plane, from truth itself, it is no l Onger mere symbol but the very truth bodied forth. Whatever there is of symbolism On earth and its beauties, in sense and its enjoyments, is then transfigured into the expressi On of the truth, of the divinity itself. We then no l Onger speak in human language but in the language of the gods.
We have been speaking of philosophy and the philosophic manner. But what are the exact implicati Ons of the words, let us ask again. They mean nothing more and nothing lessthan the force of thought and the mass of thought c Ontent. After all, that seems to be almost the whole difference between the past and the present human c Onsciousness in so far at least as it has found expressi On in poetry. That element, we wish to point out, is precisely what the old-world poets lacked or did not care to possess or express or stress. A poet meant above all, if not all in all, emoti On, passi On, sensuousness, sensibility, nervous enthusiasm and imaginati On and fancy: remember the classic definiti On given by Shakespeare of the poet
--
Poetry as an expressi On of thought-power, poetry weighted with intelligence and rati Onalised knowledge that seems to me to be the end and drive, the secret sense of all the mystery of modern technique. The combinati On is risky, but not impossible. In the spiritual domain the Gita achieved this miracle to a c Onsiderable degree. Still, the power of intelligence and reas On shown by Vyasa is of a special order: it is a sublimated functi On of the faculty, something aloof and other-worldly"introvert", a modern mind would term it that is to say, something a priori, standing in its own au thenticity and self-sufficiency. A modern intelligence would be more scientific, let us use the word, more matter-of-fact and sense-based: the mental light should not be c Onfined in its ivory tower, however high that may be, but brought down and placed at the service of our percepti On and appreciati On and explanati On of things human and terrestrial; made immanent in the mundane and the ephemeral, as they are comm Only called. This is not an impossibility. Sri Aurobindo seems to have d One the thing. In him we find the three terms of human c Onsciousness arriving at an absolute fusi On and his poetry is a w Onderful example of that fusi On. The three terms are the spiritual, the intellectual or philosophical and the physical or sensati Onal. The intellectual, or more generally, the mental, is the intermediary, the Paraclete, as he himself will call it later On in a poem9 magnificently exemplifying the point we are trying to make out the agent who negotiates, bridges and harm Onises the two other firmaments usually supposed to be antag Onistic and incompatible.
Indeed it would be wr Ong to associate any cold ascetic nudity to the spiritual body of Sri Aurobindo. His poetry is philosophic, abstract, no doubt, but every philosophy has its practice, every abstract thing its c Oncrete applicati On,even as the soul has its body; and the fusi On, not mere uni On, of the two is very characteristic in him. The deepest and unseizable flights of thought he knows how to clo the with a Kalidasian richness of imagery, or a Keatsean gusto of sensuousness:
. . . . .O flowers, O delight On the tree-tops burning!
Grasses his kine have grazed and crushed by his feet in the dancing!
--
Come to our tangled sunbeams, dawn On our twilights and shadows
or again,
--
And what an amount of tenderness he has poured into his little poem On childhood, a perfect piece of chiselled crystal, pure and translucent and gleaming with the clear lines of a summer sky:
O thou golden image,
--
And here, let me point out, the capital difference between the European or rather the Hellenic spirit and the Indian spirit. It is the Indian spirit to take stand up On divinity and thence to embrace and mould what is earthly and human. The Greek spirit took its stand pre-eminently On earth and what bel Ongs to earth. In Europe Dante's was a soul spiritualised more than perhaps any other and yet his is not a Hindu soul. The utmost that he could say after all the experience of the tragedy of mortality was:
Io no piangeva, sidentro impietrai13
--
Flows? But the diam Ond shines On the cliff-side,
jacinth and beryl
--
And if there is something in the creative spirit of Sri Aurobindo which tends more towards the strenuous than the genial, the arduous than the mellifluous, and which has more of the austerity of Vyasa than the easy felicity of Valmiki, however it might have affected the ultimate value of his creati On, according to certain standards,14 it has illustrated Once more that poetry is not merely beauty but power, it is not merely sweet imaginati On but creative visi Onit is even the Rik, the mantra that impels the gods to manifest up On earth, that fashi Ons divinity in man.
James H. Cousins in his New Ways in English Literature describes Sri Aurobindo as "the philosopher as poet."
01.02 - The Creative Soul, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The difference between living organism and dead matter is that while the former is endowed with creative activity, the latter has Only passive receptivity. Life adds, synthetises, new-createsgives more than what it receives; matter Only sums up, gathers, reflects, gives just what it receives. Life is living, glad and green through its creative genius. Creati On in some form or other must be the core of everything that seeks vitality and growth, vigour and delight. Not Only so, but a thing in order to be real must possess a creative functi On. We c Onsider a shadow or an echo unreal precisely because they do not create but merely image or repeat, they do not bring out anything new but simply reflect what is given. The whole of existence is real because it is eternally creative.
So the problem that c Oncerns man, the riddle that humanity has to solve is how to find out and follow the path of creativity. If we are not to be dead matter nor mere shadowy illusi Ons we must be creative. A misc Oncepti On that has vitiated our outlook in general and has been the most potent cause of a sterilising atavism in the moral evoluti On of humanity is that creativity is an aristocratic virtue, that it bel Ongs Only to the chosen few. A great poet or a mighty man of acti On creates indeed, but such a creator does not appear very frequently. A Shakespeare or a Napole On is a rare phenomen On; they are, in reality, an excepti On to the general run of mankind. It is enough if we others can understand and follow themMahajano yena gatahlet the great souls initiate and create, the comm On souls have Only to repeat and imitate.
But this is not as it should be, nor is it the truth of the matter. Every individual soul, however placed it may be, is by nature creative; every individual being lives to discover and to create.
--
Now the centre of this energy, the matrix of creativity is the soul itself, One's own soul. If you want to createlive, grow and be real-find yourself, be yourself. The simple old wisdom still remains the eternal wisdom. It is because we fall off from our soul that we wander into side-paths, paths that do not bel Ong to our real nature and hence that lead to imitati On and repetiti On, decay and death. This is what happens to what we call comm On souls. The force of circumstances, the pressure of envir Onment or simply the momentum of custom or habit compel them to choose the easiest and the readiest way that may lie before them. They do not c Onsult the demand of the inner being but the requirement of the moment. Our bodily needs, our vital hungers and our mental prejudices obsess and obscure the impulsi Ons that thrill the hidden spirit. We hasten to gratify the immediate and forget the eternal, we clutch at the shadow and let go the substance. We are carried away in the flux and tumult of life. It is a mixed and collective whirla Weltgeist that moves and governs us. We are helpless straws drifting in the current. But manhood demands that we stop and pause, pull ourselves out of the Maelstrom and be what we are. We must shape things as we want and not allow things to shape us as they want.
Let each take cognisance of the godhead that is within him for self is Godand in the strength of the soul-divinity create his universe. It does not matter what sort of universe he- creates, so l Ong as he creates it. The world created by a Buddha is not the same as that created by a Napole On, nor should they be the same. It does not prove anything that I cannot become a Kalidasa; for that matter Kalidasa cannot become what I am. If you have not the genius of a Shankara it does not mean that you have no genius at all. Be and become yourselfma gridhah kasyachit dhanam, says the Upanishad. The fountain-head of creative genius lies there, in the free choice and the particular delight the self-determinati On of the spirit within you and not in the desire for your neighbours riches. The world has become dull and uniform and mechanical, since everybody endeavours to become not himself, but always somebody else. Imitati On is servitude and servitude brings in grief.
In One's own soul lies the very height and profundity of a god-head. Each soul by bringing out the note that is his, makes for the most w Ondrous symph Ony. Once a man knows what he is and holds fast to it, refusing to be drawn away by any necessity or temptati On, he begins to uncover himself, to do what his inmost nature demands and takes joy in, that is to say, begins to create. Indeed there may be much difference in the forms that different souls take. But because each is itself, therefore each is grounded up On the fundamental equality of things. All our valuati Ons are in reference to some standard or other set up with a particular end in view, but that is a questi On of the practical world which in no way takes away from the intrinsic value of the greatness of the soul. So l Ong as the thing is there, the how of it does not matter. Infinite are the ways of manifestati On and all of them the very highest and the most sublime, provided they are a manifestati On of the soul itself, provided they rise and flow from the same level. Whether it is Agni or Indra, Varuna, Mitra or the Aswins, it is the same supreme and divine inflatus.
The cosmic soul is true. But that truth is borne out, effectuated Only by the truth of the individual soul. When the individual soul becomes itself fully and integrally, by that very fact it becomes also the cosmic soul. The individuals are the channels through which flows the Universal and the Infinite in its multiple emphasis. Each is a particular figure, aspectBhava, a particular angle of visi On of All. The visi On is entire and the figure perfect if it is not refracted by the lower and denser parts of our being. And for that the individual must first come to itself and shine in its opal clarity and translucency.
Not to do what others do, but what your soul impels you to do. Not to be others but your own self. Not to be anything but the very cosmic and infinite divinity of your soul. Therein lies your highest freedom and perfect delight. And there you are supremely creative. Each soul has a c OnsortPrakriti, Naturewhich it creates out of its own rib. And in this field of infinite creativity the soul lives, moves and has its being.
01.02 - The Issue, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It bore the future On its phantom breast.
3.2
--
And On the bank of the mysterious flood
Peopled with well-loved forms now seen no more
--
All that she Once had hoped and dreamed and been,
Flew past her eagle-winged through memory's skies.
--
And flung back On his naked primal need,
He at length must cast from him his surface soul
--
That hour had fallen now On Savitri.
3.7
--
For Only the unborn spirit's timeless power
Can lift the yoke imposed by birth in Time.
--
A Once living story has prepared and made
Our present fate, child of past energies.
--
Her past, a block On the Immortal's road,
Make a rased ground and shape anew her fate.
--
Must be wrestled out On a dangerous dim background:
Her being must c Onfr Ont its formless Cause,
--
A spot for the eternal's tread On earth
Set in the cloistral yearning of the woods
--
A lightning from the heights On our abyss.
3.30
--
Passi Onate in flow, had not One turbid wave.
3.33
--
Poured a supernal beauty On men's lives.
3.35
--
At Once she was the stillness and the word,
A c Ontinent of self-diffusing peace,
--
Carried On canvas-strips of shimmering Time,
The impunity of unborn Mights was hers.
--
An image fluttering On the screen of Fate,
Half-animated for a passing show,
Or a castaway On the ocean of Desire
Flung to the eddies in a ruthless sport
--
Or One more pawn who comes destined to be pushed
One slow move forward On a measureless board
In the chess-play of the earth-soul with Doom,--
--
If Once it met the intense original Flame,
An answering touch might shatter all measures made
--
In judgment sit On the adventurer soul,
And the dual tables and the Karmic norm
--
A b Ond is put On the high-climbing mind,
A seal On the too large wide-open heart;
Death stays the journeying discoverer, Life.
--
But One stood up and lit the limitless flame.
4.26
--
Affirmed the spirit's tread On Circumstance,
Pressed back the senseless dire revolving Wheel
01.02 - The Object of the Integral Yoga, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
To come to this Yoga merely with the idea of being a superman would be an act of vital egoism which would defeat its own object. Those who put this object in the fr Ont of their preoccupati Ons invariably come to grief, spiritually and otherwise. The aim of this Yoga is, first, to enter into the divine c Onsciousness by merging into it the separative ego (incidentally, in doing so One finds One's true individual self which is not the limited, vain and selfish human ego but a porti On of the Divine) and, sec Ondly, to bring down the supramental c Onsciousness On earth to transform mind, life and body. All else can be Only a result of these two aims, not the primary object of the Yoga.
The Only creati On for which there is any place here is the supramental, the bringing of the divine Truth down On the earth, not Only into the mind and vital but into the body and into
Matter. Our object is not to remove all "limitati Ons" On the expansi On of the ego or to give a free field and make unlimited room for the fulfilment of the ideas of the human mind or the desires of the ego-centred life-force. N One of us are here to "do as we like", or to create a world in which we shall at last be able to do as we like; we are here to do what the Divine wills and to create a world in which the Divine Will can manifest its truth no l Onger deformed by human ignorance or perverted and mistranslated by vital desire. The work which the sadhak of the supramental Yoga has to do is not his own work for which he can lay down his own c Onditi Ons, but the work of the Divine which he has to do according to the c Onditi Ons laid down by the Divine. Our Yoga is not for our own sake but for the sake of the Divine. It is not our own pers Onal manifestati On that we are to seek, the manifestati On of the individual ego freed from all bounds and from all b Onds, but the manifestati On of the Divine. Of that manifestati On our own spiritual liberati On, perfecti On, fullness is to be a result and a part, but not in any egoistic sense or for any ego-centred or self-seeking purpose.
This liberati On, perfecti On, fullness too must not be pursued for our own sake, but for the sake of the Divine.
--
You must go inside yourself and enter into a complete dedicati On to the spiritual life. All clinging to mental preferences must fall away from you, all insistence On vital aims and interests and attachments must be put away, all egoistic clinging to family, friends, country must disappear if you want to succeed in Yoga. Whatever has to come as outgoing energy or acti On, must proceed from the Truth Once discovered and not from the lower mental or vital motives, from the Divine Will and not from pers Onal choice or the preferences of the ego.
01.03 - Mystic Poetry, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Ah, with what l Onging Once again I turn!2
is just On the borderland: it has succeeded in leaving behind the mystic domain, but has not yet entered the city of the Spiritat the most, it has turned the corner and approached the gate. Listen now,
My soul unhoriz Oned widens to measureless sight,
--
When the Spirit speaks its own language in its own name, we have spiritual poetry. If, however, the Spirit speaksfrom choice or necessity-an alien language and manner, e.g., that of a profane c Onsciousness, or of the c Onsciousness of another domain, idealistic or philosophical or even occult, puts On or imitates spirit's language and manner, we have what we propose to call mystic poetry proper. When Samain sings of the body of the dancer:
Et Pannyre deviant fleur, flamme, papill On! ...
--
both so idealise, etherealize, almost spiritualise the earth and the flesh that they seem ostensibly Only a vesture of something else behind, something mysterious and other-worldly, something other than, even just opposite to what they actually are or appear to be. That is the mystique of the senses which is a very characteristic feature of some of the best poetic inspirati Ons of France. Baudelaire too, the Satanic poet, by the sheer intensity of sympathy and sincerity, pierces as it were into the soul of things and makes the ugly, the unclean, the diseased, the sordid throb and glow with an almost celestial light. Here is the Baudelairean manner:
Tout casss
--
It is not merely by addressing the beloved as your goddess that you can attain this mysticism; the Elizabethan did that in merry abundance,ad nauseam.A finer temper, a more delicate touch, a more subtle sensitiveness and a kind of artistic wizardry are necessary to tune the body into a rhythm of the spirit. The other line of mysticism is comm On enough, viz., to express the spirit in terms and rhythms of the flesh. Tagore did that liberally, the Vaishnava poets did nothing but that, the S Ong of Solom On is an exquisite example of that procedure. There is here, however, a difference in degrees which is an interesting feature worth noting. Thus in Tagore the reference to the spirit is evident, that is the major or central chord; the earthly and the sensuous are meant as the name and form, as the body to render c Oncrete, living and vibrant, near and intimate what otherwise would perhaps be vague and abstract, afar, aloof. But this mundane or human appearance has a value in so far as it is a support, a pointer or symbol of the spiritual import. And the mysticism lies precisely in the play of the two, a hide-and-seek between them. On the other hand, as I said, the greater porti On of Vaishnava poetry, like a precious and beautiful casket, no doubt, hides the spiritual import: not the pure significance but the sign and symbol are luxuriously elaborated, they are placed in the foreground in all magnificence: as if it was their very purpose to c Onceal the real meaning. When the Vaishnava poet says,
O love, what more shall I, shall Radha speak,
--
they all give a very beautiful, a very poignant experience of love, but One does not know if it is love human or divine, if it is soul's love or mere bodily love.
The famous S Ong of Solom On too is not On a different footing, when the poet cries:
Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse;
--
ravished my heart with One of thine eyes, with
One chain of thy neck.. . .
One can explain that it is the Christ calling the Church or God appealing to the human soul or One can simply find in it nothing more than a man pining for his woman. Anyhow I would not call it spiritual poetry or even mystic poetry. For in itself it does not carry any double or oblique meaning, there is no suggesti On that it is applicable to other fields or domains of c Onsciousness: it is, as it were, m Onovalent. An allegory is never mysticism. There is more mysticism in Wordsworth, even in Shelley and Keats, than in Spenser, for example, who stands in this respect On the same ground as Bunyan in his The Pilgrim's Progress. Take Wordsworth as a Nature-worshipper,
Breaking the silence of the seas
--
I am anticipating however, I shall come to the point presently again. I was speaking of spiritual poetry. Listen Once more to these simple, transparent, yet vibrant lines:
But how shall body not seem a hollow space
--
Or this One equally deep, luminous and revealing:
Even as One Fire hath entered into the world but
it shapeth itself to the form it meeteth, so there
is One Spirit within all creatures but it shapeth
itself to form and form; it is likewise outside these.15
--
Am Ong the ancients, strictly speaking, the later classical Lucretius was a remarkable phenomen On. By nature he was a poet, but his mental interest lay in metaphysical speculati On, in philosophy, and unpoetical business. He turned away from arms and heroes, wrath and love and, like Seneca and Aurelius, gave himself up to moralising and philosophising, delving 'into the mystery, the why and the how and the whither of it all. He chose a dangerous subject for his poetic inspirati On and yet it cannot be said that his attempt was a failure. Lucretius was not a religious or spiritual poet; he was rather Marxian,atheistic, materialistic. The dialectical materialism of today could find in him a lot of nourishment and support. But whatever the c Ontent, the manner has made a whole difference. There was an idealism, a clarity of visi On and an intensity of percepti On, which however scientific apparently, gave his creati On a note, an accent, an atmosphere high, tense, aloof, ascetic, at times bordering On the supra-sensual. It was a high light, a force of c Onsciousness that at its highest pitch had the ring and vibrati On of something almost spiritual. For the basic principle of Lucretius' inspirati On is a large thought-force, a tense percepti On, a taut nervous reacti Onit is not, of course, the identity in being with the inner realities which is the hallmark of a spiritual c Onsciousness, yet it is something On the way towards that.
There have been other philosophical poets, a good number of them since thennot merely rati Onally philosophical, as was the vogue in the eighteenth century, but metaphysically philosophical, that is to say, inquiring not merely into the phenomenal but also into the labyrinths of the noumenal, investigating not Only what meets the senses, but also things that are behind or bey Ond. Amidst the earlier efflorescence of this movement the most outstanding philosopher poet is of course Dante, the Dante of Paradiso, a philosopher in the mediaeval manner and to the extent a lesser poet, according to some. Goe the is another, almost in the grand modern manner. Wordsworth is full of metaphysics from the crown of his head to the tip of his toe although his poetry, perhaps the major porti On of it, had to undergo some kind of martyrdom because of it. And Shelley, the supremely lyric singer, has had a very rich undert One of thought-c Ontent genuinely metaphysical. And Browning and Arnold and Hardyindeed, if we come to the more moderns, we have to cite the whole host of them, n One can be excepted.
We left out the Metaphysicals, for they can be grouped as a set apart. They are not so much metaphysical as theological, religious. They have a brain-c Ontent stirring with theological problems and speculati Ons, replete with scintillating c Onceits and intricate fancies. Perhaps it is because of this philosophical burden, this intellectual bias that the Metaphysicals went into obscurity for about two centuries and it is precisely because of that that they are slowly coming out to the forefr Ont and assuming a special value with the moderns. For the modern mind is characteristically thoughtful, introspective"introvert"and philosophical; even the exact physical sciences of today are rounded off in the end with metaphysics.
The growth of a philosophical thought-c Ontent in poetry has been inevitable. For man's c Onsciousness in its evoluti Onary march is driving towards a c Onsummati On which includes and presupposes a development al Ong that line. The mot d'ordre in old-world poetry was "fancy", imaginati Onremember the famous lines of Shakespeare characterising a poet; in modern times it is Thought, even or perhaps particularly abstract metaphysical thought. Percepti Ons, experiences, realisati Onsof whatever order or world they may beexpressed in sensitive and aesthetic terms and figures, that is poetry known and appreciated familiarly. But a new turn has been coming On with an increasing insistencea definite time has been given to that, since the Renaissance, it is said: it is the growing importance of Thought or brain-power as a medium or atmosphere in which poetic experiences find a sober and clear articulati On, a definite and str Ong formulati On. Rati Onalisati On of all experiences and realisati Ons is the keynote of the modern mentality. Even when it is said that reas On and rati Onality are not ultimate or final or significant realities, that the irrati Onal or the submental plays a greater role in our c Onsciousness and that art and poetry likewise should be the expressi On of such a mentality, even then, all this is said and d One in and through a str Ong rati Onal and intellectual stress and frame the like of which cannot be found in the old-world frankly n On-intellectual creati Ons.
The religious, the mystic or the spiritual man was, in the past, more or Jess methodically and absolutely n On-intellectual and anti-intellectual: but the modern age, the age of scientific culture, is tending to make him as str Ongly intellectual: he has to explain, not Only present the object but show up its mechanism alsoexplain to himself so that he may have a total understanding and a firmer grasp of the thing which he presents and explains to others as well who demand a similar approach. He feels the necessity of explaining, giving the rati Onality the rati Onale the science, of his art; for without that, it appears to him, a solid ground is not given to the structure of his experience: analytic power, preoccupati On with methodology seems inherent in the modern creative c Onsciousness.
The philosophical trend in poetry has an interesting history with a significant role: it has acted as a force of purificati On, of sublimati On, of katharsis. As man has risen from his exclusively or predominantly vital nature into an increasing mental poise, in the same way his creative activities too have taken this new turn and status. In the earlier stages of evoluti On the mental life is sec Ondary, subordinate to the physico-vital life; it is Only subsequently that the mental finds an independent and self-sufficient reality. A similar movement is reflected in poetic and artistic creati On too: the thinker, the philosopher remains in the background at the outset, he looks out; peers through chinks and holes from time to time; later he comes to the forefr Ont, assumes a major role in man's creative activity.
Man's c Onsciousness is further to rise from the mental to over-mental regi Ons. Accordingly, his life and activities and al Ong with that his artistic creati Ons too will take On a new t One and rhythm, a new mould and c Onstituti On even. For this transiti On, the higher mentalwhich is normally the field of philosophical and idealistic activitiesserves as the Paraclete, the Intercessor; it takes up the lower functi Onings of the c Onsciousness, which are intense in their own way, but narrow and turbid, and gives, by purifying and enlarging, a wider frame, a more luminous pattern, a more subtly articulated , form for the higher, vaster and deeper realities, truths and harm Onies to express and manifest. In the old-world spiritual and mystic poets, this intervening medium was overlooked for evident reas Ons, for human reas On or even intelligence is a double-edged instrument, it can make as well as mar, it has a light that most often and naturally shuts off other higher lights bey Ond it. So it was bypassed, some kind of direct and immediate c Ontact was sought to be established between the normal and the transcendental. The result was, as I have pointed out, a pure spiritual poetry, On the One hand, as in the Upanishads, or, On the other, religious poetry of various grades and denominati Ons that spoke of the spiritual but in the terms and in the manner of the mundane, at least very much coloured and dominated by the latter. Vyasa was the great legendary figure in India who, as is shown in his Mahabharata, seems to have been One of the pi Oneers, if not the pi Oneer, to forge and build the missing link of Thought Power. The exemplar of the manner is the Gita. Valmiki's represented a more ancient and primary inspirati On, of a vast vital sensibility, something of the kind that was at the basis of Homer's genius. In Greece it was Socrates who initiated the movement of speculative philosophy and the emphasis of intellectual power slowly began to find expressi On in the later poets, Sophocles and Euripides. But all these were very simple beginnings. The moderns go in for something more radical and totalitarian. The rati Onalising element instead of being an additi Onal or subordinate or c Ontri buting factor, must itself give its norm and form, its own substance and manner to the creative activity. Such is the present-day demand.
The earliest preoccupati On of man was religious; even when he c Oncerned himself with the world and worldly things, he referred all that to the other world, thought of gods and goddesses, of after-death and other where. That also will be his last and ultimate preoccupati On though in a somewhat different way, when he has passed through a process of purificati On and growth, a "sea-change". For although religi On is an aspirati On towards the truth and reality bey Ond or behind the world, it is married too much to man's actual worldly nature and carries always with it the shadow of profanity.
--
Here we have a pattern of thought-movement that does not seem to follow the lineaments of the normal brain-mind c Onsciousness, although it too has a basis there: our customary line of reas Oning receives a sudden shock, as it were, and then is shaken, moved, lifted up, transportedgradually or suddenly, according to the temperament of the listener. Besides, we have here the peculiar modern t One, which, for want of a better term, may be described as scientific. The impressimprimaturof Science is its rati Onal coherence, justifying or justified by sense data, by physical experience, which gives us the pattern or model of an inexorable natural law. Here too we feel we are in the domain of such natural law but lifted On to a higher level.
This is what I was trying to make out as the distinguishing trait of the real spiritual c Onsciousness that seems to be developing in the poetic creati On of tomorrow, e.g., it has the same rati Onality, clarity, c Oncreteness of percepti On as the scientific spirit has in its own domain and still it is rounded off with a halo of magic and miracle. That is the nature of the logic of the infinite proper to the spiritual c Onsciousness. We can have a Science of the Spirit as well as a Science of Matter. This is the Thought element or what corresp Onds to it, of which I was speaking, the philosophical factor, that which gives form to the formless or definiti On to that which is vague, a nearness and familiarity to that which is far and alien. The fullness of the spiritual c Onsciousness means such a thing, the presentati On of a divine name and form. And this distinguishes it from the mystic c Onsciousness which is not the supreme solar c Onsciousness but the nearest approach to it. Or, perhaps, the mystic dwells in the domain of the Divine, he may even be suffused with a sense of unity but would not like to acquire the Divine's nature and functi On. Normally and generally he embodies all the aspirati On and yearning moved by intimati Ons and suggesti Ons bel Onging to the human mentality, the divine urge retaining still the human flavour. We can say also, using a Vedantic terminology, that the mystic c Onsciousness gives us the tatastha lakshana, the nearest approximative attribute of the attri buteless; or otherwise, it is the hiranyagarbha c Onsciousness which englobes the multiple play, the coruscated possibilities of the Reality: while the spiritual proper may be c Onsidered as prajghana, the solid mass, the essential lineaments of revelatory knowledge, the typal "wave-particles" of the Reality. In the former there is a play of imaginati On, even of fancy, a decorative aesthesis, while in the latter it is visi On pure and simple. If the spiritual poetry is solar in its nature, we can say, by extending the analogy, that mystic poetry is characteristically lunarMo On representing the delight and the magic that Mind and mental imaginati On, suffused, no doubt, with a light or a reflecti On of some light from bey Ond, is capable of (the Upanishad speaks of the Mo On being born of the Mind).
To sum up and recapitulate. The evoluti On of the poetic expressi On in man has ever been an attempt at a return and a progressive approach to the spiritual source of poetic inspirati On, which was also the original, though somewhat veiled, source from the very beginning. The movement has followed devious waysstr Ongly negative at timeseven like man's life and c Onsciousness in general of which it is an organic member; but the ultimate end and drift seems to have been always that ideal and principle even when fallen On evil days and evil t Ongues. The poet's ideal in the dawn of the world was, as the Vedic Rishi sang, to raise things of beauty in heaven by his poetic power,kavi kavitv divi rpam sajat. Even a Satanic poet, the inaugurator, in a way, of modernism and modernistic c Onsciousness, Charles Baudelaire, thus adm Onishes his spirit:
"Flyaway, far from these morbid miasmas, go and purify yourself in the higher air and drink, like a pure and divine liquor, the clear fire that fills the limpid spaces."18
--
Poetry, actually however, has been, by and large, a profane and mundane affair: for it expresses the normal man's percepti Ons and feelings and experiences, human loves and hates and desires and ambiti Ons. True. And yet there has also always been an attempt, a tendency to deal with them in such a way as can bring calm and puritykatharsisnot trouble and c Onfusi On. That has been the purpose of all Art from the ancient days. Besides, there has been a growth and development in the historic process of this katharsis. As by the sublimati On of his bodily and vital instincts and impulses., man is gradually growing into the mental, moral and finally spiritual c Onsciousness, even so the artistic expressi On of his creative activity has followed a similar line of transformati On. The first and original transformati On happened with religious poetry. The religious, One may say, is the profane inside out; that is to say, the religious man has almost the same t One and temper, the same urges and passi Ons, Only turned Godward. Religious poetry too marks a new turn and development of human speech, in taking the name of God human t Ongue acquires a new plasticity and flavour that transform or give a new modulati On even to things profane and mundane it speaks of. Religious means at bottom the colouring of mental and moral idealism. A parallel process of katharsis is found in another class of poetic creati On, viz., the allegory. Allegory or parable is the stage when the higher and inner realities are expressed wholly in the modes and manner, in the form and character of the normal and external, when moral, religious or spiritual truths are expressed in the terms and figures of the profane life. The higher or the inner ideal is like a loose clothing up On the ordinary c Onsciousness, it does not fit closely or fuse. In the religious, however, the first step is taken for a mingling and fusi On. The mystic is the beginning of a real fusi On and a c Onsiderable ascensi On of the lower into the higher. The philosopher poet follows another line for the same katharsisinstead of uplifting emoti Ons and sensibility, he proceeds by thought-power, by the ideas and principles that lie behind all movements and give a pattern to all things existing. The mystic can be of either type, the religious mystic or the philosopher mystic, although often the two are welded together and cannot be very well separated. Let us illustrate a little:
The spacious firmament On high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
--
The same poet is at Once religious and mystic find philosophical in these lines, for example:
That All, which always is All every where,
--
Keats: "Ode On the Poets".
Addis On: "Hymn":
01.03 - Rationalism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
What is Reas On, the faculty that is said to be the proud privilege of man, the sovereign instrument he al One possesses for the purpose of knowing? What is the value of knowledge that Reas On gives? For it is the manner of knowing, the particular faculty or instrument by which we know, that determines the nature and c Ontent of knowledge. Reas On is the collecting of available sense-percepti Ons and a certain mode of working up On them. It has three comp Onent elements that have been defined as observati On, classificati On and deducti On. Now, the very compositi On of Reas On shows that it cannot be a perfect instrument of knowledge; the limitati Ons are the inherent limitati Ons of the comp Onent elements. As regards observati On there is a two-fold limitati On. First, observati On is a relative term and variable quantity. One observes through the prism of One's own observing faculty, through the bias of One's own pers Onality and no two pers Ons can have absolutely the same manner of observati On. So Science has recognised the necessity of pers Onal equati On and has created an imaginary observer, a "mean man" as the standard of reference. And this already takes us far away from the truth, from the reality. Sec Ondly, observati On is limited by its scope. All the facts of the world, all sense-percepti Ons possible and actual cannot be included within any observati On however large, however collective it may be. We have to go always up On a limited amount of data, we are able to c Onstruct Only a partial and sketchy view of the surface of existence. And then it is these few and doubtful facts that Reas On seeks to arrange and classify. That classificati On may hold good for certain immediate ends, for a temporary understanding of the world and its forces, either in order to satisfy our curiosity or to gain some practical utility. For when we want to c Onsider the world Only in its immediate relati On to us, a few and even doubtful facts are sufficient the more immediate the relati On, the more immaterial the doubtfulness and insufficiency of facts. We may quite c Onfidently go a step in darkness, but to walk a mile we do require light and certainty. Our scientific classificati On has a background of uncertainty, if not, of falsity; and our deducti On also, even while correct within a very narrow range of space and time, cannot escape the fundamental vices of observati On and classificati On up On which it is based.
It might be said, however, that the guarantee or sancti On of Reas On does not lie in the extent of its applicati On, nor can its subjective nature (or ego-centric predicati On, as philosophers would term it) vitiate the validity of its c Onclusi Ons. There is, in fact, an inherent unity and harm Ony between Reas On and Reality. If we know a little of Reality, we know the whole; if we know the subjective, we know also the objective. As in the part, so in the whole; as it is within, so it is without. If you say that I will die, you need not wait for my actual death to have the proof of your statement. The generalising power inherent in Reas On is the guarantee of the certitude to which it leads. Reas On is valid, as it does not betray us. If it were such as anti-intellectuals make it out to be, we would be making nothing but false steps, would always remain entangled in c Ontradicti Ons. The very success of Reas On is proof of its being a reliable and perfect instrument for the knowledge of Truth and Reality. It is beside the mark to prove otherwise, simply by analysing the nature of Reas On and showing the fundamental deficiencies of that nature. It is rather to the credit of Reas On that being as it is, it is n One the less a successful and trustworthy agent.
Now the questi On is, does Reas On never fail? Is it such a perfect instrument as intellectualists think it to be? There is ground for serious misgivings. Reas On says, for example, that the earth revolves round the sun: and reas On, it is argued, is right, for we see that all the facts are c Onformableto it, even facts that were hitherto unknown and are now coming into our ken. But the difficulty is that Reas On did not say that always in the past and may not say that always in the future. The old astr Onomers could explain the universe by holding quite a c Ontrary theory and could fit into it all their astr Onomical data. A future scientist may come and explain the matter in quite a different way from either. It is Only a choice of workable theories that Reas On seems to offer; we do not know the fact itself, apart perhaps from exactly the amount that immediate sense-percepti On gives to each of us. Or again, if we take an example of another category, we may ask, does God exist? A candid Rati Onalist would say that he does not know although he has his own opini On about the matter. Evidently, Reas On cannot solve all the problems that it meets; it can judge Only truths that are of a certain type.
It may be answered that Reas On is a faculty which gives us progressive knowledge of the reality, but as a knowing instrument it is perfect, at least it is the Only instrument at our disposal; even if it gives a false, incomplete or blurred image of the reality, it has the means and capacity of correcting and completing itself. It offers theories, no doubt; but what are theories? They are simply the gradually increasing adaptati On of the knowing subject to the object to be known, the evolving revelati On of reality to our percepti On of it. Reas On is the power which carries On that process of adaptati On and revelati On; we can safely rely up On Reas On and trust It to carry On its work with increasing success.
But in knowledge it is precisely finality that we seek for and no mere progressive, asymptotic, rapprochement ad infinitum. No less than the Practical Reas On, the Theoretical Reas On also demands a categorical imperative, a clean affirmati On or denial. If Reas On cannot do that, it must be regarded as inefficient. It is poor c Onsolati On to man that Reas On is gradually finding out the truth or that it is trying to grapple with the problems of God, Soul and Immortality and will One day pr Onounce its verdict. Whether we have or have not any other instrument of knowledge is a different questi On altogether. But in the meanwhile Reas On stands c Ondemned by the evidence of its own limitati On.
It may be retorted that if Reas On is c Ondemned, it is c Ondemned by itself and by no other authority. All argumentati On against Reas On is a functi On of Reas On itself. The deficiencies of Reas On we find out by the rati Onal faculty al One. If Reas On was to die, it is because it c Onsents to commit suicide; there is no other power that kills it. But to this our answer is that Reas On has this miraculous power of self-destructi On; or, to put it philosophically, Reas On is, at best, an organ of self-criticism and perhaps the organ par excellence for that purpose. But criticism is One thing and creati On another. And whether we know or act, it is fundamentally a process of creati On; at least, without this element of creati On there can be no knowledge, no act. In knowledge there is a luminous creativity, Revelati On or Categorical Imperative which Reas On does not and cannot supply but vaguely strains to seize. For that element we have to search elsewhere, not in Reas On.
Does this mean that real knowledge is irrati Onal or against Reas On? Not so necessarily. There is a super-rati Onal power for knowledge and Reas On may either be a channel or an obstacle. If we take our stand up On Reas On and then proceed to know, if we take the forms and categories of Reas On as the inviolable schemata of knowledge, then indeed Reas On becomes an obstacle to that super-rati Onal power. If, On the other hand, Reas On does not offer any set-form from beforehand, does not insist up On its own c Onditi Ons, is passive and simply receives and reflects what is given to it, then it becomes a luminous and sure channel for that higher and real knowledge.
The fact is that Reas On is a lower manifestati On of knowledge, it is an attempt to express On the mental level a power that exceeds it. It is the secti On of a vast and unitarian C Onsciousness-Power; the secti On may be necessary under certain c Onditi Ons and circumstances, but unless it is viewed in its relati On to the ensemble, unless it gives up its exclusive absolutism, it will be perforce arbitrary and misleading. It would still remain helpful and useful, but its help and use would be always limited in scope and temporary in effectivity.
***
01.03 - Sri Aurobindo and his School, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta Part OneSri Aurobindo and his School
Sri Aurobindo and his School
A c Onsiderable amount of vague misunderstanding and misapprehensi On seems to exist in the minds of a certain secti On of our people as to what Sri Aurobindo is doing in his retirement at P Ondicherry. On the other hand, a very precise expositi On, an exact formula of what he is not doing has been curiously furnished by a well-known patriot in his indictment of what he chooses to call the P Ondicherry School of c Ontemplati On. But he has arrived at this formula by openly and fearlessly affirming what does not exist; for the things that Sri Aurobindo is accused of doing are just the things that he is not doing. In the first place, Sri Aurobindo is not doing peaceful c Ontemplati On; in the sec Ond place, he is not doing active propaganda either; in the third place, he is not doing prnyma or even dhyna in the ordinary sense of the word; and, lastly, he is not proclaiming or following the maxim that although acti On may be tolerated as good, his particular brand of Yoga is something higher and better.
Evidently the eminent politician and his school of activism are labouring under a Himalayan c Onfusi On: when they speak of Sri Aurobindo, they really have in their mind some of the old schools of spiritual discipline. But One of the marked aspects of Sri Aurobindo's teaching and practice has been precisely his insistence On putting aside the inert and life-shunning quietism, illusi Onism, asceticism and m Onasticism of a latter-day and decadent India. These ideals are perhaps as much obstacles in his way as in the way of the activistic school. Only Sri Aurobindo has not had the temerity to say that it is a weakness to seek refuge in c Ontemplati On or to suggest that a Buddha was a weakling or a Shankara a poltro On.
This much as regards what Sri Aurobindo is not doing; let us now turn and try to understand what he is doing. The distinguished man of acti On speaks of c Onquering Nature and fighting her. Adopting this war-like imagery, we can affirm that Sri Aurobindo's work is just such a battle and c Onquest. But the questi On is, what is nature and what is the kind of c Onquest that is sought, how are we to fight and what are the required arms and implements? A good general should foresee all this, frame his plan of campaign accordingly and then Only take the field. The above-menti Oned leader proposes ceaseless and unselfish acti On as the way to fight and c Onquer Nature. He who speaks thus does not know and cannot mean what he says.
European science is c Onquering Nature in a way. It has attained to a certain kind and measure, in some fields a great measure, of c Ontrol and c Onquest; but however great or striking it may be in its own province, it does not touch man in his more intimate reality and does not bring about any true change in his destiny or his being. For the most vital part of nature is the regi On of the life-forces, the powers of disease and age and death, of strife and greed and lustall the instincts of the brute in man, all the dark aboriginal forces, the forces of ignorance that form the very groundwork of man's nature and his society. And then, as we rise next to the world of the mind, we find a twilight regi On where falsehood masquerades as truth, where prejudices move as realities, where noti Ons rule as ideals.
This is the present nature of man, with its threefold nexus of mind and life and body, that stands there to be fought and c Onquered. This is the inferior nature, of which the ancients spoke, that holds man down inexorably to a lower dharma, imperfect mode of life the life that is and has been the human order till today. No amount of ceaseless acti On, however selflessly d One, can move this wheel of Nature even by a hair's breadth away from the path that it has carved out from of old. Human nature and human society have been built up and are run by the forces of this inferior nature, and whatever shuffling and reshuffling we may make in its apparent factors and elements, the general scheme and fundamental form of life will never change. To displace earth (and to c Onquer nature means nothing less than that) and give it another orbit, One must find a fulcrum outside earth.
Sri Aurobindo does not preach flight from life and a retreat into the silent and passive Infinite; the goal of life is not, in his view, the extincti On of life. Neither is he satisfied On that account to hold that life is best lived in the ordinary round of its unregenerate dharma. If the first is a blind alley, the sec Ond is a vicious circle,both lead nowhere.
Sri Aurobindo's sadhana starts from the percepti On of a Power that is bey Ond the ordinary nature yet is its inevitable master, a fulcrum, as we have said, outside the earth. For what is required first is the discovery and manifestati On of a new soul-c Onsciousness in man which will bring about by the very pressure and working out of its self-rule an absolute reversal of man's nature. It is the Asuras who are now holding sway over humanity, for man has allowed himself so l Ong to be built in the image of the Asura; to dislodge the Asuras, the Gods in their sovereign might have to be forged in the human being and brought into play. It is a stupendous task, some would say impossible; but it is very far removed from quietism or passivism. Sri Aurobindo is in retirement, but it is a retirement Only from the outward field of present physical activities and their apparent actualities, not from the true forces and acti On of life. It is the retreat necessary to One who has to go back into himself to c Onquer a new plane of creative power,an entrance right into the world of basic forces, of fundamental realities, into the flaming heart of things where all actualities are born and take their first shape. It is the discovery of a power-house of tremendous energism and of the means of putting it at the service of earthly life.
And, properly speaking, it is not at all a school, least of all a mere school of thought, that is growing round Sri Aurobindo. It is rather the nucleus of a new life that is to come. Quite naturally it has almost insignificant proporti Ons at present to the outward eye, for the work is still of the nature of experiment and trial in very restricted limits, something in the nature of what is d One in a laboratory when a new power has been discovered, but has still to be perfectly formulated in its process. And it is quite a mistake to suppose that there is a vigorous propaganda carried On in its behalf or that there is a large demand for recruits. Only the few, who possess the call within and are impelled by the spirit of the future, have a chance of serving this high attempt and great realisati On and standing am Ong its first instruments and pi Oneer workers.
***
01.03 - The Yoga of the King - The Yoga of the Souls Release, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
A pointing beam On earth's uncertain roads,
His birth held up a symbol and a sign;
--
And shed their grandiose ray On human life.
His days were a l Ong growth to the Supreme.
--
Arrives On the fr Ontiers of eternity.
In the transient symbol of humanity draped,
--
A static Oneness and dynamic Power
Descend in him, the integral Godhead's seals;
--
Tracked out by Life On Matter's obscure ground.
In his climb to a peak no feet have ever trod,
--
Freedom and empire called to him from On high;
Above mind's twilight and life's star-led night
--
And fed On the white milk of the Eternal's strengths
Till it grows into the likeness of a god.
--
Insoluble doubt On a pilgrimage without goal,
A laughter of sleepless pleasure foamed and spumed
--
There the eyes gazed no more On beauty's shape.
In rare and lucent intervals of hush
--
And love is a yearning of the One for the One,
And beauty is a sweet difference of the Same
And Oneness is the soul of multitude.
There all the truths unite in a single Truth,
--
Whose single window's clipped outlook On things
Sees Only a little arc of God's vast sky.
The boundless with the boundless there c Onsorts;
While there, One can be wider than the world;
While there, One is One's own infinity.
His centre was no more in earthly mind;
--
The voice that Only by speech can move the mind
Became a silent knowledge in the soul;
The strength that Only in acti On feels its truth
Was lodged now in a mute omnipotent peace.
--
Where mind incessantly drifts as On a raft
Hurried from phenomen On to phenomen On,
--
There Only were Silence and the Absolute.
Out of that stillness mind new-born arose
And woke to truths Once inexpressible,
And forms appeared, dumbly significant,
--
The twin duality for ever One
Chooses its home mid the tumults of the sense.
--
A dwelling On a higher spirit plane;
The Light remained in him a l Onger space.
--
Widening the mortal mind's half-look On things,
Bridging the gap between man's force and Fate
--
His mind could rest On a supernal ground
And look down On the magic and the play
Where the God-child lies On the lap of Night and Dawn
And the Everlasting puts On Time's disguise.
To the still heights and to the troubled depths
--
A wide unshaken look On Time's unrest
Faced all experience with unaltered peace.
--
Life made its home On the high tops of self;
His soul, mind, heart became a single sun;
--
Even On the struggling Nature left below
Str Ong periods of illuminati On came:
--
Sang On the mountains of an unseen world;
The voices that an inner listening hears
--
Till through the intensity of One luminous spot
An apocalypse of a world of images
--
Immense realities took On a shape:
There looked out from the shadow of the Unknown
--
A visi On lightened On the viewless heights,
A wisdom illumined from the voiceless depths:
--
Borne round inert On an immense machine;
It cast away its grandiose lifeless fr Ont,
--
The days were travellers On a destined road,
The nights compani Ons of his musing spirit.
--
Once Only registering the heavy tread
Of a blind Power On human littleness,
Life now became a sure approach to God,
--
And feel On it the breath of heavenlier air.
Already it journeyed towards divinity:
--
His daily thoughts looked up to the True and One,
His comm Onest doings welled from an inner Light.
--
He grew One with a covert universe.
His grasp surprised her mightiest energies' springs;
--
Outlined their excerpts On the etheric page.
One and harm Onious by the Maker's skill,
--- Overview of adj on
The adj on has 2 senses (first 1 from tagged texts)
1. (6) on ::: (in operation or operational; "left the oven on"; "the switch is in the on position")
2. on ::: ((of events) planned or scheduled; "the picnic is on, rain or shine"; "we have nothing on for Friday night")
--- Overview of adv on
The adv on has 3 senses (first 3 from tagged texts)
1. (40) along, on ::: (with a forward motion; "we drove along admiring the view"; "the horse trotted along at a steady pace"; "the circus traveled on to the next city"; "move along"; "march on")
2. (2) on ::: (indicates continuity or persistence or concentration; "his spirit lives on"; "shall I read on?")
3. (1) on ::: (in a state required for something to function or be effective; "turn the lights on"; "get a load on")
--- Similarity of adj on
2 senses of on
Sense 1
on (vs. off)
=> connected
Sense 2
on (vs. off)
--- Antonyms of adj on
2 senses of on
Sense 1
on (vs. off)
off (vs. on)
=> disconnected
Sense 2
on (vs. off)
off (vs. on), cancelled
--- Pertainyms of adj on
2 senses of on
Sense 1
on (vs. off)
Sense 2
on (vs. off)
--- Derived Forms of adj on
--- Grep of noun on
15 may organization
3rd october organization
a-horizon
a. a. michelson
a. e. w. mason
a horizon
aaron
abandon
abandoned person
abarticulation
abbreviation
abdication
abduction
aberration
abjection
abjuration
ablactation
ablation
ablution
abnegation
abocclusion
abolition
abomination
abortion
abrasion
abreaction
abrogation
abruption
abscission
absolution
absorbent cotton
absorption
abstention
abstraction
abu nidal organization
abutilon
acacia melanoxylon
academic relation
academic session
acanthion
acceleration
accentuation
acceptation
accession
acclamation
acclimation
acclimatisation
acclimatization
accommodation
accord and satisfaction
accordion
accreditation
accretion
acculturation
accumulation
accusation
acetate rayon
acetylation
acheron
acheson
achilles tendon
achromatic vision
acid precipitation
acidification
acoustic phenomenon
acoustic projection
acquisition
acromion
actinic radiation
actinon
action
activated carbon
activation
active application
actual eviction
actual possession
actualisation
actualization
actuation
acylation
adaptation
adaption
adaptive radiation
add-on
addiction
addition
addition reaction
adduction
adhesion
adhesive friction
adjudication
adjunction
adjuration
adlai ewing stevenson
adlai stevenson
administration
administrative division
admiral nelson
admiration
admission
admonition
adoption
adoration
adsorption
adulation
adult education
adulteration
adumbration
advection
adversative conjunction
adverse opinion
advertising division
advowson
aegean civilisation
aegean civilization
aeon
aeration
aestivation
affectation
affection
afferent neuron
affiliation
affine transformation
affirmation
affirmative action
affixation
affliction
afforestation
affrication
affusion
african chameleon
african nation
after-shave lotion
afternoon
aftersensation
agamemnon
age-related macular degeneration
age of reason
agglomeration
agglutination
aggravation
aggregation
aggression
agitated depression
agitation
agkistrodon
agnation
agon
agropyron
aid station
aileron
aimee semple mcpherson
air cushion
air division
air pollution
air station
air transportation
airborne transmission
akhenaton
akron
al jolson
al qanoon
alan paton
alan stewart paton
albert abraham michelson
albert michelson
albion
alcapton
alcohol addiction
aldol reaction
alexander hamilton
alexander wilson
alfred damon runyon
alfred edward woodley mason
alfred lord tennyson
alfred tennyson
alice hamilton
alienation
alienation of affection
alimentation
aliterate person
alizarin crimson
alkapton
allegation
allergic reaction
alleviation
alliteration
allium haematochiton
allocation
allocution
alloy cast iron
alloy iron
allusion
alluviation
alluvion
alpha-interferon
alpha iron
alpha radiation
alphabetisation
alphabetization
alphonse bertillon
alteration
altercation
alternation
althea gibson
alveolar resorption
amaethon
amalgamation
amazon
ambition
ambiversion
ambulation
amelioration
american baptist convention
american bison
american chameleon
american legion
american mastodon
american persimmon
american revised version
american revolution
american standard version
american widgeon
americanisation
americanization
amethystine python
ammonification
ammonium ion
ammunition
amnion
amon
amortisation
amortization
amphibious demonstration
amphibious operation
amphiprion
amplification
amplitude distortion
amplitude modulation
amputation
amy lyon
anabaptist denomination
anaclitic depression
anacoluthon
anamnestic reaction
anaphoric relation
anathematisation
anathematization
anchorperson
ancistrodon
anderson
andiron
andrew jackson
andrew johnson
andrew mellon
andrew w. mellon
andrew william mellon
andropogon
angle iron
angle of extinction
angle of inclination
angle of reflection
angle of refraction
anglican communion
anglicisation
anglicization
anglo-saxon
angular acceleration
angular position
angulation
angus frank johnstone wilson
animadversion
animal communication
animalisation
animalization
animated cartoon
animation
anion
anne hutchinson
anne sexton
annexation
annihilation
annon
annotation
annunciation
anomalous communication
anovulation
ant lion
antedon
antiarrhythmic medication
antibaryon
anticipation
anticoagulant medication
anticoagulation
antielectron
antilepton
antimeson
antimuon
antineutron
antiphon
antipodal opposition
antiproton
antiredeposition
antitauon
antitrust legislation
antlion
anxiety reaction
apatetic coloration
aphelion
aphid lion
aphis lion
apical placentation
apogon
aposematic coloration
apparent horizon
apparent motion
apparition
appellation
appendicular skeleton
apperception
appleton
application
apposition
appreciation
apprehension
approbation
appropriation
approximation
apron
aqueous solution
aragon
arbitration
archaeozoic aeon
archdeacon
archean aeon
archean eon
archenteron
archeozoic eon
archidiskidon
argon
argonon
argumentation
arithmetic operation
arithmetic progression
arizona wild cotton
arlington
armageddon
aromatic hydrocarbon
arrhenius theory of dissociation
arrogation
arson
art collection
art exhibition
arthur compton
arthur holly compton
articles of confederation
articles of incorporation
articulation
artificial horizon
artificial insemination
artificial respiration
artistic creation
artistic production
asa yoelson
ascending colon
ascension
ascription
asexual reproduction
ashton
asian nation
aspersion
asphyxiation
aspiration
asplenium platyneuron
assassination
assertion
asseveration
assibilation
assignation
assimilation
association
assumption
asterion
astronavigation
astrophyton
astropogon
asuncion
asynchronous operation
asyndeton
athletic competition
athyrium pycnocarpon
atlantic salmon
atmospheric condition
atmospheric phenomenon
atomic energy commission
atomic explosion
atomic weapon
atomisation
atomization
aton
atrial fibrillation
attention
attenuation
attestation
attorney-client relation
attraction
attribution
attrition
auction
audio lingual acquisition
audition
auditory communication
auditory hallucination
auditory perception
auditory sensation
audubon
augmentation
augsburg confession
auscultation
australian sea lion
authentication
authorisation
authorization
authorized version
auto-suggestion
auto limitation
autochthon
automatic face recognition
automatic transmission
automatic weapon
automation
automaton
autonomic ganglion
autoregulation
autosuggestion
auxiliary operation
aversion
aviation
avignon
avocation
avon
avulsion
axial motion
axial rotation
axial skeleton
axile placentation
axis of rotation
axon
b-horizon
b-meson
b horizon
babe didrikson
baboon
baby-boom generation
babylon
bachelor's button
back-formation
backgammon
background radiation
bacon
bad person
badminton
bakke decision
balaton
balkan nation
ballet position
ballistic identification
ballistic missile defense organization
balloon
band-tail pigeon
band-tailed pigeon
bandoneon
bandwagon
bank-depositor relation
bank examination
baptist denomination
bar examination
barbarisation
barbarization
bard of avon
baron
baron lloyd webber of sydmonton
baron olivier of birghton
barrage balloon
baryon
basal ganglion
basal placentation
base on balls
baseball season
basic assumption
basic iron
basketball season
bassoon
bastardisation
bastardization
bastion
baton
battalion
battle of maldon
battle of marathon
battlewagon
beach erosion
beach waggon
beach wagon
beacon
beaked salmon
beat generation
beatification
beautification
beauty salon
beef wellington
behavior modification
bel and the dragon
belgian griffon
bellerophon
belly button
bellybutton
belt ammunition
belted ammunition
ben gurion
ben jonson
benediction
benefaction
beneficiation
benison
benjamin harrison
benjamin jonson
benjamin thompson
bennington
benthic division
benton
bereaved person
bergson
bermuda onion
bernoulli distribution
bertillon
beta-interferon
beta iron
beta radiation
betatron
bevatron
bhadon
bifurcation
bill clinton
billiard saloon
billion
bilocation
binary arithmetic operation
binary notation
binary operation
binghamton
binocular vision
binomial distribution
biodegradable pollution
biogeographical region
biological weapon
biometric authentication
biometric identification
bioremediation
bioweapon
biquadratic equation
bird-on-the-wing
birth prevention
bisection
biserial correlation
bisexual person
bison
bison bison
bitter lemon
black-body radiation
black-crowned night heron
black lotion
black operation
black person
blackbody radiation
bladder campion
blaxploitation
blazon
blind person
blood coagulation
blood extravasation
blood relation
blood transfusion
bloodless revolution
bloomington
bludgeon
blue moon
blue ribbon
blue ribbon commission
blueback salmon
bluegrass region
board of education
boat-billed heron
bodily function
body lotion
boeuf fondu bourguignon
boletus chrysenteron
bombardon
bombilation
bombination
bon ton
bonbon
bone of contention
book of mormon
book of revelation
book scorpion
booker t. washington
booker taliaferro washington
boolean operation
boon
booster station
boron
boson
boston
botheration
bottle collection
bottom fermentation
bouillon
boundary condition
bourbon
bourdon
bourguignon
boustrophedon
bowdlerisation
bowdlerization
brabancon griffon
brachiation
brachychiton
brain surgeon
branding iron
brass section
braxton-hicks contraction
breech presentation
breton
bridoon
brighton
brigit nilsson
brinton
briton
broad interpretation
broadcast station
broadcasting station
broca's convolution
brownian motion
brussels griffon
brutalisation
brutalization
buffer solution
buffoon
bull session
bullion
bulwer-lytton
bunion
burlington
burton
bus station
bush administration
bushman's poison
business deduction
business organisation
business organization
business relation
businessperson
buster keaton
button
buy-and-bust operation
by-election
bye-election
byron
c-horizon
c-ration
c-section
c. d. gibson
c. northcote parkinson
c horizon
cabernet sauvignon
cable television
cabochon
cachinnation
cacodaemon
cacodemon
caesarean section
caesarian section
caffein addiction
caffeine intoxication
caisson
calamine lotion
calcification
calcination
calcium ion
calculation
calderon
caldron
calefaction
calibration
california dandelion
california sea lion
california single-leaf pinyon
call option
calling into question
calopogon
calque formation
calumniation
cameroon
camion
campion
canadian bacon
canalisation
canalization
cancellation
cannon
cannulation
cannulisation
cannulization
canon
canonisation
canonization
canticle of simeon
cantillation
canton
canulation
canulisation
canulization
canyon
caparison
capillary action
capital of cameroon
capital of gabon
capital of lebanon
capital of oregon
capital of the russian federation
capital of washington
capitalisation
capitalization
capitation
capitulation
capon
caption
captivation
carbon
carbonation
carbonisation
carbonization
carcharodon
cardamon
cardiac resuscitation
cardiopulmonary resuscitation
cardoon
carillon
carl anderson
carl david anderson
carnation
carrier pigeon
carrion
carry amelia moore nation
carry nation
carrying into action
carson
carter administration
cartilaginification
carton
cartoon
casaba melon
cascade penstemon
case-fatality proportion
case-to-infection proportion
cast iron
castigation
castration
cataract canyon
catechetical instruction
categorisation
categorization
catherine of aragon
catheterisation
catheterization
catholicon
cation
cauldron
causation
cause of action
cauterisation
cauterization
caution
caxton
cedar of lebanon
celebration
celestial horizon
celestial navigation
cell division
cellular division
cellular inclusion
cellular respiration
center for disease control and prevention
center of attention
center of flotation
center of immersion
central american nation
central vision
centralisation
centralization
centre for international crime prevention
centre of attention
centre of flotation
centre of immersion
centrifugation
centripetal acceleration
centurion
ceratopogon
cerebration
ceremonial occasion
ceroxylon
certificate of incorporation
certification
cervus nipon
ceryle alcyon
cesarean section
cesarian section
cessation
cession
ceylon
ceylon cinnamon
chacma baboon
chaetodon
chain reaction
chairperson
chalazion
chalcedon
chaldron
chamaeleo chamaeleon
chamaeleon
chameleon
chamfron
champion
champollion
chance-half correlation
chanfron
change of direction
change of location
channelisation
channelization
chaperon
character assassination
characterisation
characterisic function
characterization
charles dana gibson
charles dodgson
charles laughton
charles liston
charles lutwidge dodgson
charles thomson rees wilson
charleston
charon
chawbacon
chelation
chemical action
chemical attraction
chemical decomposition reaction
chemical notation
chemical phenomenon
chemical reaction
chemical weapon
chemical weapons convention
chemisorption
chemosorption
chesterton
chevron
cheyne-stokes respiration
chiffon
chignon
chinchillon
chinese cinnamon
chinese revolution
chinook jargon
chinook salmon
chiron
chiton
chlor-trimeton
chlorination
chlorofluorocarbon
chloroxylon
chon
chorion
christ's resurrection
christian religion
christianisation
christianization
christopher carson
chromatic aberration
chromatic vision
chromosomal aberration
chromosomal mutation
chronological succession
chuck wagon
chum salmon
chylomicron
cimarron
cinnamon
circular function
circularisation
circularization
circulation
circumcision
circumduction
circumlocution
circumnavigation
circumscription
circumspection
circumvention
circumvolution
cistron
citation
citron
citrus limon
city of london
civil action
civil union
civilisation
civilization
clandestine operation
clarification
clarinet section
clarion
class action
classification
claude e. shannon
claude elwood shannon
claude shannon
claudication
claxon
clay pigeon
cleanup position
cliff penstemon
climbing iron
climbing onion
clinical depression
clinton
clinton administration
clip-on
clockwise rotation
clon
close corporation
closed-circuit television
closed corporation
closed session
closely held corporation
clumsy person
co-optation
co-option
coach station
coaction
coagulation
coaling station
coalition
coarctation
coast rhododendron
coaster wagon
coat button
cocaine addiction
coconut macaroon
cocoon
codification
codon
coeducation
coefficient of absorption
coefficient of correlation
coefficient of expansion
coefficient of friction
coefficient of mutual induction
coefficient of reflection
coefficient of self induction
coelenteron
coercion
coextension
cogitation
cognation
cognition
cognitive operation
cohabitation
cohesion
coho salmon
coin collection
coition
cold fusion
collaboration
collation
collection
collectivisation
collectivization
colligation
collimation
collis potter huntington
collision
collocation
collodion
colloidal solution
colloidal suspension
collusion
colon
colonic irrigation
colonisation
colonization
colophon
color-blind person
color television
color vision
coloration
colored audition
colored person
colour television
colouration
columniation
combat mission
combination
combined operation
combustion
come-on
comfort station
coming attraction
coming upon
commemoration
commendation
commercialisation
commercialization
commination
commiseration
commission
commission on human rights
commission on narcotic drugs
commission on the status of women
common
common dandelion
common fraction
common person
common raccoon
common racoon
commotion
communication
communion
communisation
communization
commutation
compaction
companion
company union
comparison
compartmentalisation
compartmentalization
compassion
compensation
competition
compilation
complement fixation
complementary distribution
complementation
completion
complex fraction
complexion
complication
composition
compound fraction
comprehension
comprehensive examination
compression
compton
compulsion
compunction
computation
computer operation
computer simulation
computerization
con
concatenation
concave polygon
concave polyhedron
concentration
concepcion
conception
conceptualisation
conceptualization
concession
conciliation
concision
conclusion
concoction
concrete representation
concretion
concurrent execution
concurrent operation
concurring opinion
concussion
condemnation
condensation
condescension
condition
conditional reaction
conditional relation
conditioned emotion
conditioned reaction
condonation
conduction
condylion
conestoga wagon
confabulation
confection
confederation
confession
confidential adviser-advisee relation
confidential information
configuration
confirmation
confiscation
conflagration
conformal projection
conformation
confrontation
confusion
confutation
congelation
congenital megacolon
congestion
conglobation
conglomeration
conglutination
congratulation
congregation
congregation of the inquisition
conic projection
conic section
conical projection
conjugal visitation
conjugate solution
conjugation
conjunction
conjuration
connection
connexion
conniption
connotation
conscription
consecration
consecutive operation
conservation
conservator-ward relation
consideration
consolation
consolidation
conspicuous consumption
constant of gravitation
constatation
constellation
consternation
constipation
constitution
constitutional convention
constriction
construction
constructive eviction
constructive possession
consubstantiation
consultation
consummation
consumption
contact action
contagion
contagious abortion
contamination
contemplation
contention
contestation
contextual definition
continuation
continued fraction
continuing education
contortion
contrabassoon
contraception
contract of adhesion
contraction
contradiction
contradistinction
contraindication
contraption
contravention
contribution
contrition
control condition
control function
control operation
contusion
conurbation
convection
convention
conventionalisation
conventionalization
conversation
conversion
conversion reaction
convex polygon
convex polyhedron
conviction
convocation
convolution
convulsion
coon
cooper union
cooperation
coordinating conjunction
coordination
copulation
copulative conjunction
cordial reception
cordon
corn campion
coronary occlusion
coronation
coronion
corporation
corpuscular radiation
corrasion
correction
correctional institution
correctional rehabilitation
correlation
corroboration
corrosion
corrugated iron
corrugation
corruption
cortical region
coruscation
cosmetic surgeon
cosmic background radiation
cosmic microwave background radiation
cosmic radiation
cosmotron
cost-pull inflation
costa rican colon
cotilion
cotillion
cotton
cotyledon
council of chalcedon
council on environmental policy
counter reformation
counteraction
counterattraction
counterclockwise rotation
counterdemonstration
counterperson
counterpoison
counterreformation
counterrevolution
countersubversion
coupon
course of action
course of instruction
course session
covariation
cover version
covered option
covered wagon
covert operation
crab-eating raccoon
crabby person
cracker bonbon
craft union
cramp iron
crampon
crampoon
crangon
crataegus calpodendron
craton
crayon
creation
creative person
credit application
credit union
cremation
crenation
crenelation
crenellation
creon
crepitation
crichton
criminal conversation
criminal possession
criminal prosecution
criminalisation
criminalization
crimson
crinion
crisis intervention
cristobal colon
criterion
cro-magnon
cross-classification
cross-division
cross-examination
cross-fertilisation
cross-fertilization
cross-pollination
cross-question
cross infection
cross section
crotaphion
croton
crouton
crucifixion
cryptic coloration
crystallisation
crystallization
cuban revolution
culbertson
culmination
cultivation
cultural revolution
cumulation
cunctation
cuon
curling iron
curmudgeon
curvilinear correlation
curvilinear regression
cushion
cuspidation
customs union
cut of mutton
cutaneous sensation
cybernation
cycladic civilisation
cycladic civilization
cyclotron
cynodon
cynodon dactylon
cynoscion
cyon
cyril northcote parkinson
cytoskeleton
d region
dacron
dacryon
daemon
dagon
daikon
daily variation
daimon
dalton
damnation
damon
damon runyon
damson
dance lesson
dandelion
daniel garrison brinton
danton
daricon
dark adaptation
dark field illumination
dark ground illumination
darvon
data communication
data conversion
data encryption
david ben gurion
davidson's penstemon
dawson
dawson river salmon
daylight vision
dayton
de-escalation
de-iodination
de-nazification
de-stalinisation
de-stalinization
de facto segregation
de jure segregation
deacon
deactivation
dead person
deaf-and-dumb person
deaf person
deamination
deaminization
dean acheson
dean gooderham acheson
debarkation
debilitation
decadron
decagon
decahedron
decalcification
decantation
decapitation
decarboxylation
decathlon
deceased person
deceleration
decentalisation
decentralisation
decentralization
deception
decimal fraction
decimal notation
decimal system of classification
decimalisation
decimalization
decimation
decision
declamation
declaration
declassification
declension
declination
decoction
decolonisation
decolonization
decomposition
decomposition reaction
decompression
deconstruction
decontamination
decoration
decortication
decrepitation
decriminalisation
decriminalization
decryption
decussation
dedication
dedifferentiation
deduction
defalcation
defamation
default option
defecation
defection
defence reaction
defenestration
defense reaction
defibrillation
definition
deflagration
deflation
deflection
deflexion
defloration
defoliation
deforestation
deformation
degeneration
deglutition
degradation
degustation
dehumanisation
dehumanization
dehydration
deification
dejection
delayed action
delectation
delegation
deletion
deliberation
delichon
delimitation
delineation
delta iron
delusion
delusions of persecution
demagnetisation
demagnetization
demand-pull inflation
demand for explanation
demand for identification
demarcation
demineralisation
demineralization
demobilisation
demobilization
democratisation
democratization
demodulation
demogorgon
demolition
demon
demonetisation
demonetization
demonisation
demonization
demonstration
demoralisation
demoralization
demotion
demyelination
demythologisation
demythologization
denationalisation
denationalization
denazification
dendromecon
denigration
denomination
denotation
densification
dental surgeon
dentition
denudation
denunciation
deossification
department of education
department of transportation
depersonalisation
depersonalization
depiction
depigmentation
depilation
depletion
depolarisation
depolarization
depopulation
deportation
deposition
depository financial institution
depravation
deprecation
depreciation
depredation
depression
deprivation
deputation
deracination
deregulation
dereliction
derision
derivation
derived function
dermabrasion
derogation
desalination
desalinisation
desalinization
descending colon
description
desecration
desegregation
desensitisation
desensitization
desertification
desertion
desiccation
designation
desolation
desorption
desperation
despoilation
despoliation
desquamation
dessert spoon
dessertspoon
destabilisation
destabilization
destalinisation
destalinization
destination
destitution
destruction
destructive distillation
desynchronisation
desynchronization
detection
detention
deterioration
determination
detestation
detonation
detoxification
detraction
detribalisation
detribalization
detrition
deuteron
devaluation
devastation
deviation
devitalisation
devitalization
devolution
devon
devotion
dewey decimal classification
dewitt clinton
dextrorotation
diagonalisation
diagonalization
diametrical opposition
diapason
dicamptodon
dichotomisation
dichotomization
dickinson
dicotyledon
dictation
diction
dictionary definition
didion
didrikson
diencephalon
difference of opinion
differential equation
differentiation
diffraction
diffusion
digestion
digital communication
digitalisation
digitalization
digitisation
digitization
digression
dijon
dilapidation
dilatation
dilation
dilution
dimension
dimetrodon
diminution
dining companion
diodon
dioon
diplazium pycnocarpon
diplomatic mission
dipogon
dipteron
dipylon
direct action
direct correlation
direct examination
direct quotation
direct transmission
direction
director-stockholder relation
disaffection
disaffirmation
disagreeable person
disambiguation
disapprobation
disassociation
disceptation
discoloration
discolouration
discombobulation
disconcertion
disconnection
discontinuation
discretion
discrimination
discussion
discussion section
disease of the neuromuscular junction
diseased person
disembarkation
disfiguration
disforestation
disfunction
disillusion
disinclination
disinfection
disinfestation
disinflation
disinformation
disintegration
disjunction
disjunctive conjunction
dislocation
dismission
disorganisation
disorganization
disorientation
dispassion
dispensation
dispersion
displaced person
displacement reaction
disposition
dispossession
disproportion
disputation
disqualification
disquisition
disreputable person
disruption
dissatisfaction
dissection
dissemination
dissension
dissenting opinion
dissertation
dissimilation
dissimulation
dissipation
dissociation
dissolution
dissuasion
distance vision
distension
distention
distillation
distinction
distortion
distraction
distribution
disunion
diurnal variation
divagation
divarication
diversification
diversion
divination
divine revelation
division
dobson
doctor-patient relation
doctor of education
documentation
dodecagon
dodecahedron
dodgson
dog-iron
domain of a function
domestic pigeon
domestication
domiciliation
domination
dominion
don
donation
donjon
dormition
dorsiflexion
douay-rheims version
douay version
double bassoon
double decomposition
double decomposition reaction
double refraction
double replacement reaction
double vision
doubleton
doubloon
dr. johnson
draftsperson
dragon
dragoon
dramatic composition
dramatic production
dramatisation
dramatization
dressing station
driving iron
drug addiction
drug baron
drug enforcement administration
dry season
drymarchon
dudgeon
dugong dugon
duke ellington
duke of wellington
dungeon
duodecimal notation
duplication
duration
durion
dusicyon
dust contamination
dutch auction
dwarf dandelion
dyadic operation
dysfunction
dysthymic depression
e. o. wilson
e. t. s. walton
e region
earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization
east-west direction
ebullition
eburnation
eburophyton
eccentric person
echelon
echolocation
ecological succession
economic and social council commission
economic condition
economic consumption
economic mobilisation
economic mobilization
economic strangulation
economics profession
ecosoc commission
ectopic gestation
ectozoon
eddington
edification
edison
edith giovanna gassion
edith newbold jones wharton
edith wharton
edition
edmonton
edmund wilson
education
educational institution
edward appleton
edward g. robinson
edward george earle bulwer-lytton
edward gibbon
edward goldenberg robinson
edward kennedy ellington
edward osborne wilson
edward weston
edwin arlington robinson
effectuation
efferent neuron
effusion
egression
egyptian cotton
egyptian onion
ejaculation
ejection
el nino southern oscillation
el salvadoran colon
elaboration
elation
election
election commission
electrical conduction
electrical phenomenon
electrification
electrocution
electrodeposition
electromagnetic interaction
electromagnetic intrusion
electromagnetic radiation
electromotive drug administration
electron
electron radiation
electronic communication
electronic deception
electronic imitative deception
electronic manipulative deception
electronic simulative deception
electrostatic precipitation
elementary education
elevation
elicitation
elihu thomson
elimination
elimination reaction
elision
elizabeth cady stanton
elizabeth seton
ellington
ellipsoid of revolution
ellison
elocution
elongation
elucidation
elusion
elution
ely culbertson
elytron
emaciation
emanation
emancipation
emasculation
embarkation
embrocation
emendation
emergent evolution
emersion
emerson
emigration
emilie charlotte le breton
emily dickinson
emission
emoticon
emotion
emotional person
emphysematous phlegmon
emulation
emulsion
enabling legislation
enation
encapsulation
encephalon
enchiridion
encrustation
encryption
enculturation
endoergic reaction
endogenous depression
endoskeleton
endothermic reaction
energy of activation
enervation
english person
english revolution
enigma canon
enigmatic canon
enigmatical canon
enlisted person
enteron
entertainment deduction
enthronisation
enthronization
entomion
entozoon
entrance examination
enucleation
enumeration
enunciation
environmental condition
eon
ephemeron
epicene person
epidendron
epidural injection
epigon
epilation
epiphenomenon
epistle of paul the apostle to philemon
epistle to philemon
epizoon
epsilon
equal-area map projection
equal-area projection
equalisation
equalization
equation
equidistribution
equilibration
equitation
equivocation
eradication
erectile dysfunction
erection
erethizon
erewhon
erigeron
eriocaulon
eriodictyon
ernest thomas sinton walton
ernest walton
erosion
eructation
erudition
eruption
erythrina lysistemon
erythroxylon
escalation
eschaton
escutcheon
esme stuart lennox robinson
esophagogastric junction
essential condition
essential hypertension
estimation
estivation
estragon
eternal damnation
etiolation
etymon
eudaemon
eudemon
european law enforcement organisation
european nation
european union
europeanisation
europeanization
eutrophication
evacuation
evaluation
evaporation
evasion
evasive action
eventration
eversion
eviction
evisceration
evocation
evolution
exacerbation
exaction
exaeretodon
exaggeration
exaltation
examination
exasperation
excavation
exception
excerption
exchange transfusion
excision
excitation
exclamation
exclusion
excogitation
excommunication
excoriation
excretion
excruciation
exculpation
excursion
execration
execution
executive session
executor-heir relation
exemplification
exemption
exenteration
exertion
exfiltration operation
exfoliation
exhalation
exhaustion
exhibition
exhibition season
exhilaration
exhortation
exhumation
exoergic reaction
exogenous depression
exon
exoneration
exoskeleton
exothermic reaction
expanding upon
expansion
expatiation
expatriation
expectation
expectoration
expedition
experimental condition
experimental extinction
experimentation
expiation
expiration
explanation
explication
explicit definition
exploitation
exploration
explosion
explosive trace detection
exponential equation
exponential expression
exponential function
exponentiation
exportation
exposition
expostulation
expression
expropriation
expulsion
expunction
expurgation
extemporisation
extemporization
extension
extenuation
exteriorisation
exteriorization
extermination
external respiration
externalisation
externalization
exteroception
extinction
extirpation
extortion
extraction
extradition
extrapolation
extrasensory perception
extrauterine gestation
extravasation
extraversion
extreme unction
extrication
extroversion
extrusion
exudation
exultation
eye-lotion
eye condition
eye infection
eye operation
f region
fabrication
face recognition
facial expression
facial recognition
facilitation
faction
factorisation
factorization
fairness commission
falchion
falcon
fall dandelion
false saffron
false scorpion
falsification
familiarisation
familiarization
famous person
fanion
farmington
fasciculation
fascination
fashion
fat person
favorable position
favorable reception
favorite son
favourable position
favourable reception
feast of dedication
feast of dormition
feast of the circumcision
feast of the dedication
february revolution
fecal impaction
fecundation
federal bureau of investigation
federal communications commission
federal deposit insurance corporation
federal home loan mortgage corporation
federal housing administration
federal national mortgage association
federal trade commission
federalisation
federalization
federation
fehling's solution
felicitation
fellation
felon
female circumcision
female person
feminisation
feminization
fenestration
ferdinand joseph la menthe morton
ferdinand of aragon
fere phenomenon
fergon
fermentation
fermion
fertilisation
fertilization
festination
festoon
fetal circulation
fibrillation
fiction
fictionalisation
fictionalization
fiduciary relation
field-sequential color television
field emission
field of operation
field of vision
field ration
figuration
file name extension
filename extension
filet mignon
filiation
filling station
filtration
final decision
final examination
final injunction
final solution
finalisation
finalization
financial condition
financial institution
financial obligation
financial organisation
financial organization
fire-on-the-mountain
fire iron
fire station
first-aid station
first-order correlation
first baron lytton
first baron marks of broughton
first baron rutherford of nelson
first baron tennyson
first duke of wellington
first law of motion
first person
fishing expedition
fishing season
fission
five iron
fixation
fixed-cycle operation
fixed-point notation
fixed intonation
flagellation
flagon
flatiron
flection
flexion
flight surgeon
flirtation
floatation
floating-point notation
floating-point operation
flocculation
flotation
flowering onion
fluctuation
fluoridation
fluoridisation
fluoridization
fluorocarbon
fluxion
fly poison
flying dragon
focal infection
focalisation
focalization
foetal circulation
foliation
follow-on
fomentation
food and agriculture organization
food and drug administration
foot-ton
football season
foregone conclusion
foreign legion
foreign mission
foreign terrorist organization
forenoon
foreordination
foreperson
forgetful person
form division
formalisation
formalization
formation
formication
formulation
fornication
fortification
forward motion
fossilisation
fossilization
foster-son
foster son
foundation
fourfold point correlation
fourth dimension
foveal vision
fraction
fractional distillation
fractionation
fragmentation
francis bacon
francis galton
francis hopkinson
francis richard stockton
francois villon
frank stockton
frankfurt on the main
fraternisation
fraternization
frederick moore vinson
fredericton
free association
free central placentation
free electron
free pardon
freedom from discrimination
freedom from self-incrimination
freedom of religion
freemason
fremontodendron
french foreign legion
french lesson
french person
french region
french revolution
freon
frequency distribution
frequency modulation
friction
frisson
fructification
fruition
frustration
fuel injection
full-of-the-moon
full moon
full nelson
full phase of the moon
fulmination
fulton
fumigation
function
fundamental interaction
fungal infection
funny wagon
furcation
fusion
futon
g. k. chesterton
gabon
galleon
gallon
galton
galvanisation
galvanization
galvanized iron
galveston
gamma-interferon
gamma iron
gamma radiation
gammon
ganglion
garbage collection
garrison
gas phlegmon
gas station
gasification
gasoline station
gastric digestion
gastrulation
gauffering iron
gauge boson
gaultheria shallon
gaussian distribution
gazillion
gemination
gemmation
gene expression
gene mutation
general agreement on tariffs and trade
general certificate of secondary education
general election
general services administration
generalisation
generalization
generation
genetic constitution
genetic mutation
geneva convention
gentrification
genuflection
genuflexion
genus abutilon
genus agkistrodon
genus agropyron
genus amphiprion
genus ancistrodon
genus andropogon
genus antedon
genus apogon
genus archidiskidon
genus astrophyton
genus astropogon
genus bison
genus brachychiton
genus calopogon
genus carcharodon
genus ceratopogon
genus ceroxylon
genus chaetodon
genus chamaeleon
genus chiton
genus chloroxylon
genus crangon
genus croton
genus cuon
genus cynodon
genus cynoscion
genus cyon
genus delichon
genus dendromecon
genus dicamptodon
genus dimetrodon
genus diodon
genus dioon
genus dipogon
genus drymarchon
genus dusicyon
genus eburophyton
genus erethizon
genus erigeron
genus eriocaulon
genus eriodictyon
genus erythroxylon
genus exaeretodon
genus fremontodendron
genus grison
genus haematoxylon
genus haemulon
genus halcyon
genus halimodendron
genus halogeton
genus hamamelidoxylon
genus heterodon
genus horneophyton
genus hynerpeton
genus hyperoodon
genus hypsiprymnodon
genus iguanodon
genus kinosternon
genus krypterophaneron
genus lagodon
genus leontodon
genus leucadendron
genus leucocytozoon
genus liriodendron
genus lycaeon
genus lycoperdon
genus lycopersicon
genus lysichiton
genus macrocephalon
genus mastodon
genus menopon
genus metroxylon
genus monodon
genus mylodon
genus myrmeleon
genus myroxylon
genus negaprion
genus neophron
genus onopordon
genus ophiodon
genus palaemon
genus pandion
genus paracheirodon
genus penstemon
genus peristedion
genus petromyzon
genus phaethon
genus phellodendron
genus philodendron
genus phoradendron
genus photoblepharon
genus platystemon
genus plethodon
genus pogostemon
genus polyodon
genus polyprion
genus potamogeton
genus procyon
genus psilophyton
genus pteropogon
genus ptychozoon
genus python
genus rachycentron
genus ramphomicron
genus rhincodon
genus rhizopogon
genus rhododendron
genus rhyacotriton
genus ruptiliocarpon
genus sceliphron
genus schizopetalon
genus sequoiadendron
genus sigmodon
genus sison
genus smiledon
genus solenostemon
genus sphenodon
genus stizostedion
genus strongylodon
genus strymon
genus stylomecon
genus tarpon
genus toxicodendron
genus trachodon
genus tragopogon
genus triaenodon
genus trichophyton
genus trimorphodon
genus triplochiton
genus trogon
genus tropidoclonion
genus urocyon
geographic expedition
geographic region
geographical region
geological formation
geological horizon
geological phenomenon
geometric progression
george harrison
george huntington
george mason
george paget thomson
george stephenson
george washington
georges jacques danton
georges joseph christian simenon
georges simenon
gerfalcon
german lesson
german rampion
germination
geryon
gestalt law of organization
gestalt principle of organization
gestation
gesticulation
gibbon
gibson
gilbert keith chesterton
giving medication
glaciation
gladdon
glamorisation
glamorization
glamourisation
glamourization
glenda jackson
global organization
globalisation
globalization
gloria may josephine svensson
gloria swanson
glorification
glorious revolution
glucagon
gluon
glutton
gnathion
gnetum gnemon
gnomon
godson
goffering iron
golden-beard penstemon
golden section
golf lesson
gonion
good afternoon
good continuation
good person
goon
gorgon
goujon
gradable opposition
gradation
grade separation
graduation
gram's solution
grammatical construction
grammatical relation
grand canyon
grand dragon
grand teton
grandson
granulation
grappling iron
gratification
gravidation
gravitation
gravitational attraction
gravitational interaction
graviton
greasy spoon
great blue heron
great depression
great grandson
great proletarian cultural revolution
great white heron
greater london
green dragon
green onion
green revolution
greenhouse emission
greta louisa gustafsson
gridiron
griffon
grison
gross ton
group action
group discussion
group participation
growing season
gryphon
gudgeon
guenon
guerdon
gueridon
guilt by association
gumption
guncotton
gustation
gustatory perception
gustatory sensation
gwydion
gyration
gyrfalcon
gyro horizon
habergeon
habitation
habitual abortion
habituation
hadean aeon
hadean eon
hadron
haemagglutination
haematohiston
haematoxylon
haemulon
halcion
halcyon
half-moon
half nelson
halimodendron
halimodendron halodendron
hallucination
halocarbon
halogeton
halon
hamamelidoxylon
hamilton
hampton
hamstring tendon
hand lotion
handicapped person
hanger-on
hanging gardens of babylon
hank aaron
hapax legomenon
haptic sensation
hard-on
harmonic motion
harmonic progression
harmonisation
harmonization
harold nicolson
harpoon
harriet wilson
harrison
harvest moon
haym salomon
health maintenance organization
health profession
heart surgeon
heat dissipation
heat exhaustion
heat of condensation
heat of dissociation
heat of formation
heat of fusion
heat of solidification
heat of solution
heat of sublimation
heat of transformation
heat of vaporisation
heat of vaporization
heat prostration
heavy weapon
hebrew lesson
hector hevodidbon
hegemon
helen hunt jackson
helen maria fiske hunt jackson
helicon
hell on earth
helladic civilisation
helladic civilization
hellion
hemagglutination
hematohiston
hemipteron
henri bergson
henri louis bergson
henry hobson richardson
henry hudson
henry louis aaron
henry oscar houghton
henson
hepatolenticular degeneration
heptagon
herb simon
herbert a. simon
herbert alexander simon
hereditary condition
herniation
heroin addiction
heron
herpestes ichneumon
hesitation
heterodon
heterosexual person
hexadecimal notation
hexagon
hexahedron
hibernation
higginson
high-definition television
high commission
high dudgeon
high fashion
high noon
high season
high treason
higher education
hilary clinton
hilary rodham clinton
history lesson
histrion
hoary alison
hoary puccoon
hockey season
holiday season
holy communion
holy day of obligation
holy person
home invasion
homeless person
homer a. thompson
homer armstrong thompson
homer thompson
homing pigeon
homogenisation
homogenization
homolosine projection
honeydew melon
honeymoon
honorable mention
hooker's onion
hopkinson
horatio nelson
horizon
horizontal combination
horizontal integration
horizontal section
horn button
horned chameleon
horneophyton
horripilation
hospitalisation
hospitalization
hostile expedition
hot-air balloon
hot-rock penstemon
houghton
house of correction
house of detention
house of prostitution
houston
hudson
human action
humanisation
humanization
humification
humiliation
hunted person
hunting expedition
hunting season
huntington
huron
huston
hutchinson
hutton
huygens' principle of superposition
hyalinisation
hyalinization
hybridisation
hybridization
hydration
hydraulic transmission
hydrocarbon
hydrochlorofluorocarbon
hydrofluorocarbon
hydrogen ion
hydrogen ion concentration
hydrogenation
hydroxide ion
hydroxyl ion
hygroton
hymenopteron
hynerpeton
hyperalimentation
hyperbaton
hyperextension
hypericum ascyron
hyperion
hyperon
hyperoodon
hyperpigmentation
hypersecretion
hypersensitivity reaction
hypertension
hyperventilation
hyphenation
hypopigmentation
hypostatisation
hypostatization
hypotension
hypsiprymnodon
hyson
hysteron proteron
ice-wagon
ice wagon
iced-tea spoon
ichneumon
icon
icosahedron
idealisation
idealization
ideation
identification
identity verification
idiomatic expression
idolisation
idolization
ignition
iguanodon
ikhanaton
ikon
ilion
illation
illegal possession
illiterate person
illumination
illusion
illustration
image compression
image orthicon
imagination
imaginative comparison
imbibition
imbrication
imitation
imitative electronic deception
immaculate conception
immediate apprehension
immersion
immigration
imminent abortion
immobilisation
immobilization
immoderation
immolation
immune reaction
immunisation
immunization
immunosuppression
impaction
impartation
imperfection
imperial gallon
impersonation
implantation
implementation
implication
implosion
important person
importation
imposition
impossible action
imprecation
imprecision
impregnation
impression
improper fraction
improvisation
impulsion
imputation
in-migration
inaction
inactivation
inanition
inattention
inauguration
incantation
incarceration
incarnation
incaution
incentive option
incentive stock option
inception
incheon
inchon
incineration
incision
incitation
inclination
inclusion
incompetent person
incomplete abortion
incomprehension
inconsideration
incoordination
incorporation
incorruption
incrimination
incrustation
incubation
inculcation
inculpation
incursion
incurvation
indecision
indemnification
indentation
indention
indetermination
index of refraction
indexation
indian python
indian reservation
indian rhododendron
indication
indiction
indigestion
indignation
indirect correlation
indirect expression
indirect transmission
indirection
indiscretion
indisposition
individualisation
individualization
individuation
indoctrination
induced abortion
induction
induration
indus civilization
industrial air pollution
industrial revolution
industrial union
industrialisation
industrialization
inebriation
inertial navigation
inexperienced person
infantile fixation
infarction
infatuation
infection
inferior conjunction
infernal region
infestation
infiltration
infix notation
inflammation
inflatable cushion
inflation
inflection
inflexion
infliction
influential person
information
infraction
infrared emission
infrared radiation
infrigidation
infuriation
infusion
ingestion
ingot iron
ingratiation
inhabitation
inhalation
inhibition
inhumation
inion
initialisation
initialization
initiation
injection
injunction
innervation
innovation
inoculation
inosculation
inquisition
inscription
insemination
insertion
inside information
insider information
insinuation
insolation
inspection
inspiration
inspissation
installation
instantiation
instauration
instigation
instillation
institution
instruction
instruction execution
instrument of execution
instrumentation
insubordination
insufflation
insulation
insulin reaction
insured person
insurrection
integration
intellection
intellectualisation
intellectualization
intelligence information
intelligence operation
intensification
intension
intention
inter-group communication
interaction
intercalation
interception
intercession
intercommunication
intercommunion
interconnection
interdiction
interfacial surface tension
interfacial tension
interferon
interior decoration
interjection
interlingual rendition
interlocutory injunction
intermediate vector boson
intermediation
intermission
intermittent claudication
internal combustion
internal representation
internal respiration
internal secretion
internalisation
internalization
international civil aviation organization
international development association
international finance corporation
international labor organization
international labour organization
international maritime organization
international organisation
international organization
internationalisation
internationalization
interoception
interpellation
interpenetration
interpolation
interposition
interpretation
interreflection
interrelation
interrogation
interruption
intersection
interspersion
interstate commerce commission
intervention
intestinal obstruction
intimation
intimidation
intonation
intoxication
intradermal injection
intramuscular injection
intravasation
intravenous injection
introduction
introjection
intromission
intron
introspection
introversion
intrusion
intubation
intuition
intussusception
inunction
inundation
invagination
invalidation
invasion
invention
inverse function
inversion
investigation
invigilation
invigoration
invitation
invocation
involution
involutional depression
iodination
ion
ionic medication
ionisation
ionization
ionizing radiation
irish person
iron
irradiation
irreligion
irresolution
irrigation
irritation
irruption
isaac newton
iskcon
islam nation
isoagglutination
isogon
isolation
isomerisation
isomerization
isosmotic solution
isotonic solution
italian region
itemisation
itemization
iteration
itineration
izaak walton
j. e. johnston
jack lemmon
jack london
jack roosevelt robinson
jack salmon
jackie robinson
jackson
jactation
jactitation
jakob hermandszoon
jakobson
jam session
jambon
james crichton
james dewey watson
james douglas morrison
james harvey robinson
james hutton
james madison
james mason
james neville mason
james parkinson
james watson
james wilson
jamison
japanese persimmon
jargon
jargoon
jason
jean francois champollion
jeanne antoinette poisson
jefferson
jelly roll morton
jesse jackson
jesse louis jackson
jet propulsion
jewish religion
jewison
jillion
jim henson
jim morrison
joan didion
job action
job application
job description
john broadus watson
john dalton
john huston
john james audubon
john lennon
john milton
john tuzo wilson
john witherspoon
johnson
johnston
joint direct attack munition
joint resolution
jollification
jolson
jones' penstemon
jonson
joseph eggleston johnston
joseph francis keaton
joseph john thomson
joseph paxton
juan carlos victor maria de borbon y borbon
juan domingo peron
juan ponce de leon
jubilation
judgement on the merits
judgement on the pleadings
judgment of conviction
judgment on the merits
judgment on the pleadings
judicial admission
judicial decision
judicial separation
judith jamison
junction
jurisdiction
justification
juvenile person
juxtaposition
k-meson
k ration
kaon
kaposi's varicelliform eruption
kappa-meson
karyon
keaton
keelson
kendall partial rank correlation
kendall rank correlation
kepler's law of planetary motion
keratinisation
keratinization
kerion
kiloton
king james version
king salmon
kingston
kinosternon
kinsperson
kippered salmon
kit carson
kite balloon
klaxon
klystron
knock-on effect
knock on
komodo dragon
krigia dandelion
kroon
krypterophaneron
krypton
kwannon
labanotation
labor union
laceration
lachrymal secretion
lachrymation
lacrimal secretion
lacrimation
lactation
lady emma hamilton
lagodon
lagoon
lake balaton
lake huron
lake salmon
lallation
lambda hyperon
lamellate placentation
lamentation
lamination
lampoon
landlocked salmon
language lesson
languedoc-roussillon
lantern pinion
lanthanon
laocoon
lapidation
large person
lateralisation
lateralization
laughton
lavation
lavender cotton
law of action and reaction
law of constant proportion
law of continuation
law of gravitation
law of mass action
law of motion
law of segregation
lawton
lawyer-client relation
laxation
laying on
laying on of hands
layperson
leading question
learned person
learned profession
learned reaction
lebanon
lecture demonstration
legal action
legal opinion
legal profession
legal relation
legal representation
legal separation
legalisation
legalization
legation
legion
legislation
legitimation
lemmon
lemon
lending institution
lennon
lennox robinson
leo the lion
leon
leontodon
lepidopteron
lepton
lesion
lesson
letters of administration
leucadendron
leucocytozoon
levant cotton
levitation
levorotation
lewis and clark expedition
lewisia cotyledon
lewiston
lexical disambiguation
lexicalisation
lexicalization
lexicon
lexington
leyte invasion
liaison
libation
liberalisation
liberalization
liberation
libration
ligation
light adaptation
light reaction
lilium martagon
limitation
limited edition
line of succession
line of vision
line organisation
line organization
linear equation
linear regression
lineation
linguistic communication
linguistic relation
link-attached station
linuron
lion
lionel hampton
lip synchronisation
lip synchronization
lipid-lowering medication
liposuction
liquefaction
liquidation
liriodendron
lisbon
liston
literal interpretation
literary composition
literate person
lithotomy position
litigation
little blue heron
livingston
loan application
loan collection
loan participation
loan translation
local option
localisation
localisation of function
localization
localization of function
location
lock-up option
locomotion
locus of infection
locution
logic operation
logical implication
logical operation
logical relation
logion
london
long-staple cotton
long division
long iron
long ton
looker-on
lookout station
loon
loose cannon
lord george gordon byron
lord nelson
lothian region
lotion
lotus position
louis aragon
louise nevelson
love-potion
lowbush penstemon
lower cannon
lower respiratory infection
lubrication
lucubration
lukasiewicz notation
lunation
luncheon
luxation
luxuriation
luzon
lycaeon
lycoperdon
lycopersicon
lyndon baines johnson
lyndon johnson
lyon
lyophilisation
lyophilization
lysichiton
lysogenisation
lysogenization
lytton
macaroon
macedon
maceration
machicolation
machination
machine operation
machine translation
macon
macro instruction
macrocephalon
macroevolution
macron
macular degeneration
maculation
madame de maintenon
madison
magnetic attraction
magnetic declination
magnetic inclination
magnetic induction
magnetic levitation
magnetic variation
magnetisation
magnetization
magneton
magnetron
magnification
magnitude relation
mahalia jackson
maintenon
majority operation
majority opinion
malabsorption
malathion
maldon
male erecticle dysfunction
male person
malediction
malformation
malfunction
malignant hypertension
mallon
malnutrition
malocclusion
malposition
malversation
mammon
man-on-a-horse
man of action
mandatory injunction
manduction
manic depression
manifestation
manipulation
manipulative electronic deception
mansion
manson
manumission
map collection
map projection
marathon
marbleisation
marbleization
marginal placentation
marginalisation
marginalization
marian anderson
market capitalisation
market capitalization
market penetration
maroon
marquise de maintenon
married person
marta brigit nilsson
martagon
martyr operation
marvin neil simon
mary mallon
masculinisation
masculinization
mason
mass action
mass production
master in business administration
master of education
mastication
mastodon
masturbation
material possession
materialisation
materialization
mathematical function
mathematical notation
mathematical operation
mathematical relation
matriculation
matrix addition
matrix inversion
matrix multiplication
matrix operation
matrix transposition
matron
maturation
maximation
maximisation
maximization
maxwell's demon
maxwell anderson
mcpherson
meadow saffron
mean deviation
mechanical phenomenon
mechanisation
mechanization
medallion
mediation
medical evacuation
medical examination
medical institution
medical profession
medical relation
medication
meditation
mediterranean snapdragon
megacolon
megaton
mel columcille gerard gibson
mel gibson
melanchthon
melioration
mellon
melon
memorialisation
memorialization
memorisation
memorization
menopon
menstruation
mensuration
mental condition
mental confusion
mental exhaustion
mental institution
mental lexicon
mental rejection
mental representation
mental reservation
mental retardation
mentation
mention
mercator's projection
mercator projection
merlon
merton
mescal button
mesencephalon
mesocolon
meson
mesophyron
mesotron
metencephalon
meteorological balloon
methadon
methodist denomination
metopion
metric function
metric ton
metrication
metrification
metroxylon
meuse-argonne operation
mexican revolution
mezereon
michael gerald tyson
michael jackson
michael joe jackson
michelson
microevolution
micromicron
micron
micturition
mid-on
midafternoon
middleton
midiron
midsection
midterm examination
migration
mike tyson
mildred ella didrikson
miles per gallon
militarisation
militarization
military action
military commission
military expedition
military formation
military installation
military mission
military operation
military position
milk wagon
milkwagon
millimicron
million
milton
mineral extraction
miniaturisation
miniaturization
minimal brain dysfunction
minimisation
minimization
minion
minister of religion
ministration
minoan civilisation
minoan civilization
mirror-image relation
misapplication
misapprehension
misappropriation
miscalculation
miscegenation
misconception
misconstruction
miscreation
misdirection
misestimation
misinformation
misinterpretation
mispronunciation
misquotation
misrepresentation
mission
missionary position
missionary station
mistranslation
mitigation
mitochondrion
mobilisation
mobilization
mod con
moderation
modernisation
modernization
modicon
modification
modillion
modulation
molal concentration
molar concentration
molestation
molisch reaction
mollification
mon
monadic operation
moneron
monetisation
monetization
monition
monochromatic vision
monocotyledon
monocular vision
monodon
monopolisation
monopolization
monsoon
moon
moral obligation
moralisation
moralization
morion
mormon
moron
morrison
mortgage application
mortification
morton
moss campion
mother's son
mother seton
motion
motivation
motoneuron
motor neuron
motor region
motorisation
motorization
moufflon
mouflon
mount vernon
mount wilson
mountain lion
mouse button
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
mouton
mrs. simpson
mu-meson
mucous secretion
mujahidin-e khalq organization
mullion
multiple correlation
multiple regression
multiplex operation
multiplication
multiplier onion
mummification
munition
muon
murder conviction
murmuration
muscle contraction
muscular contraction
music lesson
musical composition
musical notation
musical organisation
musical organization
musical perception
muskmelon
mussitation
mustela vison
mutation
mutilation
muton
mutton
mutual affection
mutual induction
mutual opposition
mycenaean civilisation
mycenaean civilization
myelencephalon
myelinisation
myelinization
mylodon
myocardial infarction
myocardial inflammation
myoneural junction
myrmeleon
myrmidon
myroxylon
mystification
mythologisation
mythologization
naked option
nalfon
napoleon
narration
narrow-leaf penstemon
nasalisation
nasalization
nasion
natation
nation
national aeronautics and space administration
national archives and records administration
national oceanic and atmospheric administration
national rifle association
national science foundation
national volunteers association
nationalisation
nationalization
natrix sipedon
natural action
natural depression
natural elevation
natural language processing application
natural phenomenon
natural selection
naturalisation
naturalization
naval air warfare center weapons division
naval division
naval installation
navigation
nazification
near vision
neencephalon
negaprion
negation
negative correlation
negative identification
negative muon
negative stimulation
negatron
negotiation
neil simon
nekton
nelson
nemean lion
neocon
neoencephalon
neon
neophron
nephron
nerodia sipedon
nerve compression
nervous exhaustion
nervous prostration
nestor paz zamora commission
net melon
net ton
nether region
netted melon
neuromuscular junction
neuron
neuropteron
neurosurgeon
neurotic depression
neutralisation
neutralisation reaction
neutralization
neutralization reaction
neutron
neutron radiation
nevelson
new edition
new london
new moon
new phase of the moon
new zealand cotton
news organisation
news organization
newsperson
newton
newton's first law of motion
newton's law of gravitation
newton's law of motion
newton's second law of motion
newton's theory of gravitation
newton's third law of motion
ni-hard iron
ni-resist iron
nickelodeon
nicolson
nicotine addiction
nictation
nictitation
nidation
night heron
night vision
nihilistic delusion
nihon
nilsson
nine iron
ninon
nippon
nitrification
nitrocotton
nitrogen fixation
nixon
no-win situation
noctambulation
nocturnal emission
nodding onion
nodding wild onion
noise pollution
nomination
non-discrimination
non-proliferation
nonaggression
nonagon
nonbiodegradable pollution
nondepository financial institution
nondisjunction
nonfiction
nongovernmental organization
nonintervention
nonlinear correlation
nonlinear distortion
nonparticipation
nonparticulate radiation
nonperson
nonprofit organization
nonproliferation
nonreligious person
nonsocial infection
noon
normal distribution
normalisation
normalization
norman jewison
north-south direction
north american nation
north atlantic treaty organization
north korean won
northampton
northern baptist convention
notation
notification
notion
noumenon
nova salmon
nova scotia salmon
nova style salmon
novation
novelisation
novelization
nuclear explosion
nuclear fission
nuclear fusion
nuclear fusion reaction
nuclear propulsion
nuclear reaction
nuclear regulatory commission
nuclear transplantation
nuclear weapon
nucleon
nude person
nullification
numeration
nurse-patient relation
nutation
nutmeg melon
nutrition
nylon
obelion
oberson
obfuscation
object lesson
object of a preposition
object recognition
objectification
objection
objurgation
oblation
obligation
obliteration
oblivion
observation
observation station
obsession
obstipation
obstruction
obtention
obviation
occasion
occlusion
occultation
occupation
occupational safety and health administration
octagon
octahedron
octal notation
octillion
october revolution
octoroon
oesophagogastric junction
off-line operation
off-season
officiation
oil conservation
oil production
oil tycoon
old-age pension
old bullion
old dominion
old person
old saxon
olecranon
olfaction
olfactory perception
olfactory sensation
omicron
omission
on-license
on-line database
on-off switch
on/off switch
on the qui vive
on the road
on tour
onager
onagraceae
onanism
onanist
once-over
onchocerciasis
oncidium
oncidium papilio
oncidium papilio kramerianum
oncogene
oncologist
oncology
oncoming
oncorhynchus
oncorhynchus keta
oncorhynchus kisutch
oncorhynchus nerka
oncorhynchus tshawytscha
oncovin
ondaatje
ondatra
ondatra zibethica
one
one-and-one
one-armed bandit
one-billionth
one-dimensional language
one-dimensionality
one-eighth
one-fifth
one-flowered pyrola
one-flowered wintergreen
one-fourth
one-half
one-hitter
one-hundred-millionth
one-hundred-thousandth
one-hundredth
one-liner
one-man rule
one-millionth
one-night stand
one-ninth
one-off
one-quadrillionth
one-quarter
one-quintillionth
one-seventh
one-sixteenth
one-sixth
one-sixtieth
one-sixty-fourth
one-spot
one-step
one-ten-thousandth
one-tenth
one-third
one-thirty-second
one-thousandth
one-trillionth
one-twelfth
one-upmanship
one-way light time
one-way street
one c
one dollar bill
one iron
one million million
one million million million
one of the boys
one percent
one shot
one thousand
one thousand million
one thousand thousand
onega
oneida
oneirism
oneiromancer
oneiromancy
oneness
onerousness
oni
onion
onion bagel
onion bread
onion butter
onion dome
onion louse
onion mildew
onion plant
onion roll
onion salt
onion smut
onion stem
onion thrips
onion yellow-dwarf virus
onion yellow dwarf
onionskin
oniscidae
oniscus
onlooker
ono
onobrychis
onobrychis viciaefolia
onobrychis viciifolia
onoclea
onoclea sensibilis
onoclea struthiopteris
onomancer
onomancy
onomasticon
onomastics
onomatomania
onomatopoeia
onondaga
ononis
ononis repens
ononis spinosa
onopordon
onopordon acanthium
onopordum
onopordum acanthium
onosmodium
onrush
onsager
onset
onslaught
ontario
ontogenesis
ontogeny
ontology
onus
onward motion
onychium
onychogalea
onycholysis
onychomys
onychophora
onychophoran
onychosis
onyx
onyx marble
onyxis
opacification
operating surgeon
operation
operon
ophiodon
ophryon
opinion
opportunistic infection
opposition
oppression
opsonisation
opsonization
optic radiation
optical aberration
optical fusion
optical illusion
optical phenomenon
optimisation
optimization
option
oradexon
oral communication
oral contraception
oral examination
oral presentation
oration
orbison
orbital motion
orbital rotation
orchestration
ordination
oregon
oregon jargon
organic evolution
organic phenomenon
organification
organisation
organization
organization of the oppressed on earth
organized religion
organon
oriental person
orientation
origination
orion
orison
orlon
ornamentation
orpington
orthicon
orthogonal opposition
orthomorphic projection
orthopteron
orthostatic hypotension
oscar palmer robertson
oscar robertson
oscillation
osculation
ossification
ostensive definition
ostentation
otic ganglion
otoganglion
out-migration
outstation
ovation
overcapitalisation
overcapitalization
overcompensation
overestimation
overexertion
overexploitation
overpopulation
overproduction
overprotection
overreaction
oversimplification
overt operation
overutilisation
overutilization
overvaluation
ovis ammon
ovis musimon
ovocon
ovulation
oxidation
oxidation-reduction
oxidative phosphorylation
oxidisation
oxidization
oxidoreduction
oxygenation
oxymoron
p-n junction
pacific sturgeon
pacification
paddy wagon
paddymelon
pademelon
pagan religion
pagination
paid vacation
pain sensation
painful sensation
pair creation
pair formation
pair production
palaeencephalon
palaemon
paleencephalon
paleoencephalon
palestine liberation organization
palliation
palpation
palpebration
palpitation
pan american union
pandiculation
pandion
panel discussion
panic button
panopticon
pantaloon
pantechnicon
pantheon
papillon
paracheirodon
paragon
paralinguistic communication
paralipomenon
parallel operation
parallelepipedon
parallelopipedon
paramilitary organisation
paramilitary organization
parathion
parcellation
pardon
paregmenon
parenthesis-free notation
parenthetical expression
parhelion
parietal placentation
parkinson
parry's penstemon
parry's pinyon
parson
part to whole relation
parthenon
partial abortion
partial correlation
partial differential equation
participation
particular proposition
particularisation
particularization
particulate radiation
partition
partner relation
parturition
party to the action
party to the transaction
pashtoon
pass completion
passenger pigeon
passion
pasteurisation
pasteurization
patent application
patent of invention
paterson
paton
patrol wagon
patron
paul bustill robeson
paul robeson
paul simon
pauperisation
pauperization
pavilion
paxton
pay-station
paying attention
peacekeeping mission
peacekeeping operation
peak season
pectoral medallion
peculation
penal institution
penalisation
penalization
pendragon
penetration
pennon
pension
penstemon
pentagon
pentahedron
pentathlon
pentecostal religion
peon
peptic ulceration
peptisation
peptization
perambulation
perception
percheron
percolation
percussion
percussion section
perdition
peregrination
peregrine falcon
perennation
perfection
perfluorocarbon
perforation
perfusion
perigon
perihelion
periodic motion
peripheral vision
peristedion
peritoneal inflammation
permanent injunction
permeation
permission
permutation
peron
peroration
perpetration
perpetual motion
perpetuation
perry mason
persecution
perseveration
persian melon
persimmon
person
personal equation
personal relation
personation
personification
perspiration
persuasion
perturbation
peruvian cotton
pervaporation
pervasion
perversion
petition
petrifaction
petrification
petrol station
petromyzon
phacoemulsification
phaethon
phaeton
phanerozoic aeon
phanerozoic eon
phase modulation
phase of cell division
phase of the moon
phase transition
phatic communication
phellodendron
phenomenon
phi correlation
phil anderson
philanthropic foundation
philemon
philip anderson
philip ii of macedon
philip warren anderson
philipp melanchthon
philodendron
phlogiston
phon
phonation
phonetic transcription
phoradendron
phosphate buffer solution
photoblepharon
photochemical reaction
photocoagulation
photoconduction
photoelectric emission
photoelectron
photoemission
photographic emulsion
photon
photopic vision
phylogenetic relation
physeter catodon
physical attraction
physical composition
physical condition
physical education
physical exertion
physical phenomenon
physical rehabilitation
physical restoration
physiological condition
physiological reaction
phytoplankton
pi-meson
piano accordion
piano action
piano lesson
pictorial representation
pierre joseph proudhon
pig iron
pigeon
pigmentation
pillion
pilot balloon
pincushion
pinion
pinon
pinyon
pion
piston
pisum sativum macrocarpon
piton
placation
placentation
plagiarisation
plagiarization
plan of action
planation
plane section
plankton
planning commission
plantation
plastic surgeon
plastination
plastron
plate iron
platoon
platte river penstemon
platystemon
plectron
plethodon
plication
plinian eruption
plosion
pluralisation
pluralization
pluton
pneumatic caisson
pocket edition
pogonion
pogostemon
point mutation
point of accumulation
point of intersection
poison
poisson distribution
polar opposition
polar region
polarisation
polarization
pole position
police action
police investigation
police matron
police station
police wagon
polish notation
political contribution
political donation
political orientation
political relation
pollenation
pollination
polling station
pollution
poltroon
polyconic projection
polygon
polyhedron
polymerisation
polymerization
polyodon
polyprion
polyptoton
polysyndeton
pompon
ponce de leon
pontoon
poon
poor person
popular opinion
popularisation
popularization
population
population commission
porcupine provision
portal hypertension
portion
poseidon
position
positional notation
positive correlation
positive identification
positive muon
positron
possession
possible action
post-mortem examination
postal rate commission
postfix notation
posthypnotic suggestion
postilion
postillion
postmortem examination
postposition
postulation
postural hypotension
potamogeton
potation
potentiation
potion
pouter pigeon
power pylon
power station
practical application
practice session
pragmatic sanction
prairie wagon
pre-emption
preachification
precambrian aeon
precambrian eon
precaution
precession
prechlorination
precipitation
precision
preclusion
precocious dentition
precognition
preconceived notion
preconceived opinion
preconception
precondition
predation
predestination
predetermination
predication
prediction
predilection
predisposition
predomination
preemption
prefabrication
prefiguration
prefix notation
prefixation
preformation
prehension
preindication
preliminary examination
premature ejaculation
premature ventricular contraction
premeditation
premonition
preoccupation
preordination
preparation
preposition
prepossession
prescription
preseason
presentation
preservation
president andrew johnson
president benjamin harrison
president clinton
president harrison
president jefferson
president johnson
president lyndon johnson
president madison
president nixon
president washington
president william henry harrison
president wilson
press association
pressure sensation
prestidigitation
presumption
presupposition
pretension
preterition
pretermission
prevarication
prevention
previous question
prevision
price competition
price of admission
price reduction
primary dentition
primary election
primary solid solution
primitive person
princeton
principle of superposition
printing operation
prion
priscoan aeon
priscoan eon
prison
private corporation
private foundation
privately held corporation
privation
privatisation
privatization
privilege against self incrimination
pro-choice faction
pro-life faction
probation
process of monition
procession
proclamation
procrastination
procreation
procyon
product introduction
production
profanation
profession
professional association
professional organisation
professional organization
professional person
professional relation
professionalisation
professionalization
profusion
prognostication
progression
prohibition
projection
prolegomenon
proliferation
prolongation
prolonged interrogation
prolusion
promotion
promulgation
pronation
pronunciation
propagation
proper fraction
propitiation
proportion
proportional representation
proposition
proprioception
propulsion
proration
prorogation
proscription
prosecution
prosencephalon
prosodion
prostheon
prosthion
prostitution
prostration
protection
protective coloration
proterozoic aeon
proterozoic eon
protestant deacon
protestant denomination
protestant reformation
protestation
prothalamion
proton
protozoal infection
protozoon
protraction
protrusion
proudhon
provision
provocation
pseudohallucination
pseudoscorpion
psilophyton
psychic communication
psychic phenomenon
psychical communication
psychological condition
psychological operation
psychotic depression
psychotic person
pterion
pteropogon
ptychozoon
pubic region
public-service corporation
public discussion
public opinion
public presentation
public relations person
publication
puccoon
pullulation
pulmonary circulation
pulmonary congestion
pulsation
pulse-time modulation
pulse modulation
pulverisation
pulverization
pump action
pumping station
punctuation
purgation
purification
purple onion
purse-string operation
push button
put-on
put option
putrefaction
putting iron
pygmalion
pylon
pynchon
python
quadratic equation
quadrillion
quadroon
qualification
quantification
quantisation
quantitative relation
quantization
quarter section
quaternion
quellung reaction
quercitron
question
quinnat salmon
quintillion
quotation
rabbi moses ben maimon
raccoon
rachel carson
rachel louise carson
rachycentron
racial discrimination
racial extermination
racial segregation
rack and pinion
racon
racoon
radar beacon
radiation
radio beacon
radio emission
radio observation
radio radiation
radio station
radiocarbon
radiocommunication
radiolocation
radioprotection
radon
raft foundation
railroad station
railway junction
railway station
rainy season
ralph ellison
ralph richardson
ralph waldo ellison
ralph waldo emerson
ramification
ramphomicron
rampion
randomisation
randomization
range of a function
rangoon
rank-difference correlation
rank-order correlation
rap session
rape conviction
rapscallion
rarefaction
rate of attrition
rate of depreciation
rate of inflation
rate of respiration
ratification
ratiocination
ration
rationalisation
rationalization
ray robinson
rayon
re-afforestation
re-creation
re-formation
re-introduction
reabsorption
reaction
reaction formation
reaction propulsion
reactive depression
readmission
reaffiliation
reaffirmation
reagan administration
real-time operation
realisation
realization
reallocation
reason
reasoning by elimination
reassertion
rebellion
recalculation
recantation
recapitulation
received pronunciation
receiver-creditor relation
reception
recession
reciprocal inhibition
reciprocation
recirculation
recission
recitation
reclamation
reclassification
recognition
recollection
recombination
recommendation
reconciliation
reconnaissance mission
reconsideration
reconstruction
recreation
recrimination
rectification
rectilinear regression
recuperation
recursion
recursive definition
recusation
red-skinned onion
red army faction
red campion
red onion
red region
red salmon
red shrubby penstemon
red silk cotton
redaction
rededication
redefinition
redemption
redeposition
redetermination
rediffusion
redirect examination
redisposition
redistribution
reduction
reduction division
reduplication
redwood penstemon
reed section
reelection
reentering polygon
reentrant polygon
reevaluation
reexamination
refabrication
refection
reflation
reflection
reflex action
reflexion
reforestation
reformation
refraction
refrigeration
refutation
regeneration
regimentation
reginald carey harrison
region
registration
regression
regression equation
regression of y on x
regular convex polyhedron
regular dodecahedron
regular hexagon
regular hexahedron
regular icosahedron
regular octahedron
regular polygon
regular polyhedron
regular tetrahedron
regularisation
regularization
regulation
regurgitation
rehabilitation
reharmonisation
reharmonization
reification
reimposition
reincarnation
reinterpretation
reintroduction
reiteration
rejection
rejuvenation
relation
relaxation
relay station
relegation
religion
religious orientation
religious person
relocation
remediation
remilitarisation
remilitarization
remission
remonstration
remote station
remotion
remuneration
rendition
renovation
rental collection
renunciation
reorganisation
reorganization
reorientation
reparation
repatriation
repercussion
repetition
repletion
replication
reposition
repossession
reprehension
representation
repression
reprobation
reproduction
republic of cameroon
republication
repudiation
repulsion
reputation
requisition
rescission
rescue operation
resection
reservation
reset button
resignation
resolution
resorption
respiration
respiratory infection
respiratory tract infection
resplendent trogon
restitution
restoration
restriction
resumption
resurrection
resuscitation
resuspension
retaliation
retaliatory eviction
retardation
retarded depression
retention
reticular formation
reticulated python
reticulation
retired person
retirement pension
retraction
retribution
retroflection
retroflexion
retrogression
retrospection
retroversion
retrovision
return on invested capital
return on investment
reunification
reunion
revaluation
revealed religion
revelation
reverberation
reverend dodgson
reverse polish notation
reversion
revised standard version
revised version
revision
revitalisation
revitalization
revivification
revocation
revolution
revolutionary justice organization
revulsion
rex harrison
rheims-douay version
rhetorical question
rhincodon
rhinencephalon
rhinion
rhizopogon
rhododendron
rhombencephalon
rhombohedron
rhus toxicodenedron
rhyacotriton
rhythm section
ribbon
rich person
richard burton
richard coeur de lion
richard m. nixon
richard milhous nixon
richard nixon
richardson
riddle canon
right ascension
right of action
right of election
right of first publication
rigidification
ring vaccination
ringer's solution
ringer solution
riot control operation
risk of infection
riss glaciation
river acheron
river avon
road construction
robbery conviction
robert fulton
robert king merton
robert louis balfour stevenson
robert louis stevenson
robert merton
robert r. livingston
robert robinson
robert woodrow wilson
robertson
robeson
robinson
rock penstemon
rock pigeon
rock python
rock salmon
rocket propulsion
rocky mountain pinon
rogation
roger bacon
rogue nation
roll-on
roll-on roll-off
roman inquisition
roman jakobson
roman legion
roman osipovich jakobson
romanticisation
romanticization
ron
rose campion
rose of sharon
rostov on don
rotary motion
rotation
roy orbison
rubicon
ruction
ruggedisation
ruggedization
ruination
rumination
run-on sentence
runcible spoon
runyon
ruptiliocarpon
russian dandelion
russian federation
russian revolution
rustication
ruth fulton
rydberg's penstemon
saale glaciation
sabaton
sabayon
sacramental manduction
sacramento sturgeon
sacrifice operation
saffron
saigon
saigon cinnamon
saint elizabeth ann bayley seton
saint emilion
sales division
sales promotion
salesperson
saline solution
salivation
salmon
salomon
salon
saloon
salt depletion
saltation
salutation
salutatory oration
salvation
sam houston
sample distribution
sampling station
samson
samuel houston
samuel huntington
samuel johnson
sanctification
sanction
sanguification
sanitary condition
sanitation
sanitisation
sanitization
sanson-flamsteed projection
saponification
sarpedon
saskatoon
satellite television
satiation
satisfaction
saturation
sausage balloon
savings and loan association
sawdust saloon
saxon
scallion
scandalisation
scandalization
scandinavian nation
scansion
sceliphron
scene of action
scented penstemon
schematisation
schematization
schizopetalon
scholarly person
schrodinger equation
schrodinger wave equation
science fiction
scintillation
scion
scission
scolion
scorpio the scorpion
scorpion
scotopic vision
scranton
scrap iron
scullion
scutcheon
sea island cotton
sea lion
sea onion
sea scorpion
search and destroy mission
search and rescue mission
search mission
searing iron
season
seat cushion
secession
seclusion
second law of motion
second person
secondary dentition
secondary education
secondary emission
secondary hypertension
secretary of education
secretary of transportation
secretion
section
sectionalisation
sectionalization
secularisation
secularization
securities and exchange commission
sedation
sedimentation
sedition
seduction
segmentation
segregation
selection
selective information
self-abnegation
self-absorption
self-accusation
self-annihilation
self-assertion
self-condemnation
self-contemplation
self-contradiction
self-cultivation
self-deception
self-depreciation
self-destruction
self-determination
self-digestion
self-direction
self-education
self-employed person
self-examination
self-expression
self-fertilisation
self-fertilization
self-flagellation
self-gratification
self-incrimination
self-induction
self-justification
self-mortification
self-organisation
self-organization
self-pollination
self-possession
self-preservation
self-protection
self-realisation
self-realization
self-reformation
self-renunciation
self-satisfaction
self-stimulation
self-suggestion
selfish person
semantic relation
semi-abstraction
semicolon
sensation
sense impression
sense of direction
sensible horizon
sensitisation
sensitization
sensorimotor region
sensory deprivation
sensory neuron
sentential function
sentimentalisation
sentimentalization
separation
septation
septillion
sequential operation
sequestration
sequoiadendron
serial operation
serial publication
serialisation
serialization
sermon
sermon on the mount
serration
service station
session
set decoration
seton
seven iron
sex-change operation
sex segregation
sexadecimal notation
sexploitation
sextillion
sexton
sexual abstention
sexual attraction
sexual discrimination
sexual inversion
sexual perversion
sexual relation
sexual reproduction
sexual union
sezession
shallon
shannon
sheet iron
shell corporation
sheraton
sherrington
sherwood anderson
shingon
shirodkar's operation
shirt button
shooting iron
shore station
short-staple cotton
short division
short iron
short ton
shrubby penstemon
shy person
siamese connection
sibilation
sick person
side of bacon
sidon
sigmodon
sigmoid colon
signal detection
signalisation
signalization
signature recognition
signification
silent person
silicon
silk cotton
silly season
silver salmon
silver spoon
simenon
simeon
simon
simoon
simple fraction
simple harmonic motion
simple regression
simpleton
simplification
simpson
simulated military operation
simulation
simulative electronic deception
simultaneous operation
sine qua non
single-leaf pinyon
single-valued function
singleton
sinusoidal projection
sion
siphon
sir angus wilson
sir arthur stanley eddington
sir barton
sir charles scott sherrington
sir edward victor appleton
sir francis bacon
sir francis galton
sir frederick ashton
sir geoffrey wilkinson
sir george paget thomson
sir harold george nicolson
sir isaac newton
sir james young simpson
sir joseph john thomson
sir joseph paxton
sir leonard hutton
sir patrick manson
sir ralph david richardson
sir rex harrison
sir richard burton
sir richard francis burton
sir robert robinson
sir william rowan hamilton
sir william turner walton
sir william walton
sison
situation
skeleton
skew correlation
skin eruption
skin sensation
skull session
slang expression
sleep deprivation
sleeping accommodation
sleepless person
slide action
slip-on
slovenly person
slow motion
slumgullion
small-particle pollution
small business administration
small person
smidgeon
smiledon
smoked salmon
smoothing iron
snapdragon
snow-on-the-mountain
snowy heron
social action
social development commission
social function
social lion
social occasion
social organisation
social organization
social relation
social season
social security administration
social station
social stratification
socialisation
socialization
sockeye salmon
soft option
software documentation
soil conservation
soil erosion
soil horizon
solar radiation
solarisation
solarization
soldering iron
solemnisation
solemnization
solenostemon
solicitation
solid solution
solidification
soliton
solmisation
solmization
solomon
solon
solution
solvation
somatic cell nuclear transplantation
somatic delusion
somatic sensation
somnambulation
son
song of solomon
sonny liston
sophistication
sorption
sortition
sound perception
sound pollution
sound projection
sound reflection
sound reproduction
soup spoon
soupcon
soupspoon
source of illumination
south american nation
south american sea lion
south korean won
south of houston
southern baptist convention
soviet union
space station
spaghetti junction
spallation
spanish inquisition
spanish onion
spastic colon
spatial relation
speaker identification
special education
special session
specialisation
specialization
speciation
specification
speculation
speech communication
speech perception
speech production
speed demon
spermatozoon
sphenion
sphenodon
spherical aberration
spherical polygon
spiegel iron
spinal fusion
spiritualisation
spiritualization
spittoon
split-half correlation
split decision
spoilation
spoken communication
spokesperson
spoliation
spontaneous abortion
spontaneous combustion
spontaneous generation
spoon
sports section
sporulation
spring onion
spurious correlation
squadron
st. simon
stabilisation
stabilization
stable companion
stage direction
stagflation
stagnation
stalinisation
stalinization
stallion
stamp collection
stanchion
standard deviation
standard transmission
standardisation
standardization
standing ovation
stanton
staphylococcal infection
star divination
startle reaction
starvation
state prison
stateless person
station
station waggon
station wagon
statistical commission
statistical distribution
statistical regression
stay of execution
steam iron
steel production
steller's sea lion
steller sea lion
stephanion
stephenson
stepson
stereoscopic vision
sterilisation
sterilization
sternutation
stetson
stevenson
stick cinnamon
stigmatisation
stigmatization
stilton
stimulation
stimulus generalisation
stimulus generalization
sting operation
stipulation
stipulative definition
stirrup iron
stizostedion
stock option
stockton
stolon
stonemason
stonewall jackson
stool pigeon
stoolpigeon
storage allocation
stovepipe iron
straight-line method of depreciation
straight person
strangulation
stratford-on-avon
stratford-upon-avon
stratification
street person
striation
stridulation
string section
strong interaction
strongylodon
structural iron
strymon
student union
stultification
stun baton
stupefaction
stupid person
sturgeon
stylisation
stylization
stylomecon
styron
suasion
subcutaneous injection
subdeacon
subdivision
subduction
subjection
subjugation
subjunction
sublimation
subluxation
submersion
submission
subordinate conjunction
subordinating conjunction
subordination
subornation
subpopulation
subrogation
subscription
subsection
subsidisation
subsidization
substantiation
substation
substitution
subsumption
subtraction
subvention
subversion
subway station
succession
succussion
suction
sudation
suffix notation
suffixation
suffocation
suffusion
sugar ray robinson
sugar spoon
suggestion
suicide mission
summarisation
summarization
summation
sun myung moon
superannuation
supererogation
superfecundation
superfetation
superinfection
superior conjunction
superordination
superoxide anion
superposition
superscription
supersession
superstition
superstitious notion
supervention
supervision
supervisor call instruction
supination
supplementation
supplication
supposition
suppression
suppuration
suprainfection
surface assimilation
surface tension
surgeon
surgical contraception
surgical incision
surgical operation
suspended animation
suspension
suspicion
suspiration
sustentation
susurration
swanson
swedish iron
sweet alison
sweet lemon
sweet melon
swiss canton
swiss confederation
swoon
syllabication
syllabification
symbolic representation
symbolisation
symbolization
sympathetic vibration
symphysion
synchrocyclotron
synchronisation
synchronization
synchronous operation
synchrotron
syncopation
syndication
syphon
system of numeration
systematic desensitisation
systematic desensitization
systematisation
systematization
systemic circulation
t-junction
tablespoon
tabulation
tactile sensation
tactual exploration
tactual sensation
talker identification
talon
tampion
tampon
tangible possession
tank iron
tantalization
tapeworm infection
tarchanoff phenomenon
tarpon
tarragon
tarrietia argyrodendron
taste perception
taste sensation
tatterdemalion
tau coefficient of correlation
tauon
tax collection
tax deduction
tax evasion
taxation
taxon
tea wagon
teacher-student relation
teamsters union
teaspoon
technological revolution
technology administration
teflon
telamon
telecommunication
telencephalon
telephone conversation
telephone extension
teleportation
television
television station
temperature reduction
temple of solomon
temporal relation
temporary injunction
temptation
tenderisation
tenderization
tendon
tennis lesson
tennyson
tenon
tenoroon
tension
tergiversation
terminal emulation
termination
ternion
territorial division
territorial dominion
territorialisation
territorialization
terrorisation
terrorist organization
terrorization
tessellation
teton
tetrachoric correlation
tetragon
tetragrammaton
tetrahedron
tetraskelion
teuton
text edition
thalmencephalon
the admirable crichton
the great starvation
theatrical production
theatrical season
theorisation
theorization
theory of dissociation
theory of electrolytic dissociation
theory of evolution
theory of gravitation
theory of organic evolution
theory of preformation
therapeutic abortion
therapeutic rehabilitation
thermal emission
thermal pollution
thermion
thermionic emission
thermocoagulation
thermocouple junction
thermojunction
thermonuclear reaction
thin person
third dimension
third law of motion
third person
thomas alva edison
thomas augustus watson
thomas edison
thomas hart benton
thomas higginson
thomas j. jackson
thomas jackson
thomas jefferson
thomas jonathan jackson
thomas merton
thomas middleton
thomas pynchon
thomas wentworth storrow higginson
thomas woodrow wilson
thompson
thomson
thornton
threatened abortion
threshold function
threshold operation
thrift institution
throat infection
thysanopteron
thysanuron
tidewater region
tiglon
tigon
tintinnabulation
tire iron
titillation
titivation
titration
tittivation
toleration
tollon
tompion
ton
toni morrison
toon
top fermentation
top onion
topicalization
torreon
torsion
total parenteral nutrition
touch perception
touch sensation
toulon
tourist attraction
tower of london
toxic condition
toxicodendron
toyon
trachodon
traction
trade edition
trade protection
trade union
trades union
tradition
tragopogon
train station
transaction
transamination
transcription
transduction
transferred possession
transfiguration
transformation
transfusion
transfusion reaction
transgression
transition
translation
transliteration
translocation
transmigration
transmission
transmogrification
transmutation
transpiration
transplantation
transportation
transportation security administration
transposition
transposon
transubstantiation
transudation
transverse colon
trapezohedron
trash collection
travel iron
treason
tree cotton
tree onion
tree surgeon
trenton
trephination
trepidation
trespass on the case
triaenodon
trial balloon
trial impression
triangulation
tribalisation
tribalization
tribulation
trichion
trichophyton
trichopteron
trifurcation
trigon
trigonometric function
trillion
trimorphodon
trine immersion
triple-crown season
triplochiton
triplochiton scleroxcylon
triskelion
triton
troglodytes aedon
trogon
tropidoclonion
trumpet section
truncation
truncheon
trust corporation
trustee-beneficiary relation
try-on
trying on
tubal ligation
tucson
tuition
tumbler pigeon
tumefaction
tunnel vision
turn-on
turn of expression
tv station
twelve noon
twilight vision
two iron
tycoon
type i allergic reaction
type iv allergic reaction
typewriter ribbon
typhon
typhoon
typification
tyson
u.s. constitution
ulceration
ulster defence association
ultracentrifugation
ultraviolet illumination
ultraviolet radiation
ululation
unary operation
unction
undecagon
undercover operation
underestimation
underevaluation
underproduction
undervaluation
undulation
uneducated person
unemotional person
unemployed person
unemployment compensation
unfavorable position
unfortunate person
ungradable opposition
ungrateful person
unification
union
unionisation
unionization
unipolar depression
unison
unit of ammunition
united nations educational scientific and cultural organization
united nations office for drug control and crime prevention
united states constitution
unitisation
unitization
universal proposition
university extension
university of washington
unkind person
unknown region
unperson
unpleasant person
unreason
unsanctification
unskilled person
unspoken accusation
unsuccessful person
unusual person
unwelcome person
upland cotton
upper avon
upper cannon
upper respiratory infection
upsilon
urbanisation
urbanization
urinary retention
urinary tract infection
urination
urocyon
urtication
us constitution
usurpation
uterine contraction
utilisation
utilization
vacation
vaccination
vaccinium macrocarpon
vacillation
vacuolation
vacuolisation
vacuolization
vacuum aspiration
valediction
valedictory oration
valence electron
validation
valuation
value orientation
vaporisation
vaporization
variation
variegation
variolation
variolization
variorum edition
vascularisation
vascularization
vasoconstriction
vasodilation
vasosection
vaticination
vector-borne transmission
vector decomposition
vegetation
vehicle-borne transmission
veiled accusation
vellication
venation
vendition
veneration
venereal infection
venesection
venison
ventilation
ventral placentation
ventricular fibrillation
verbal creation
verbal description
verbal expression
verbalisation
verbalization
verification
vermiculation
vermilion
vernation
versification
version
vertical combination
vertical integration
vertical section
vertical union
very important person
vesication
vesiculation
veterinary surgeon
vexation
vexatious litigation
viatication
vibration
vibrion
victimisation
victimization
victory celebration
vidalia onion
vilification
villon
vincent's infection
vindication
vinegarroon
vinification
vinson
violation
violin lesson
violin section
viral infection
virgil garnett thomson
virgil thomson
virilisation
virilization
virion
virus infection
viscose rayon
viscount nelson
visible horizon
visible radiation
vision
visitation
visual communication
visual hallucination
visual perception
visual sensation
visualisation
visualization
visually impaired person
vitalisation
vitalization
vitelline circulation
vitiation
vitrification
vituperation
vivification
vivisection
vocalisation
vocalization
vocation
vocational education
vocational rehabilitation
vociferation
voice communication
volcanic eruption
volition
volution
vulcanisation
vulcanization
vulgarisation
vulgarization
w. h. hudson
waffle iron
wage concession
waggon
wagon
walk-on
walking on air
wallis warfield simpson
walloon
walter piston
walton
wanton
war of the austrian succession
war of the spanish succession
warning coloration
washington
wasserman reaction
water cannon
water conservation
water dragon
water lemon
water of crystallisation
water of crystallization
water of hydration
water on the knee
water pollution
water scorpion
water waggon
water wagon
watercannon
watermelon
watson
wave equation
wax crayon
way station
weak interaction
wealthy person
weapon
weapon of mass destruction
weather condition
weather station
wedding reception
welcome wagon
wellington
welsh onion
west saxon
western civilization
westernisation
westernization
weston
wharton
whip-scorpion
whip scorpion
whipple's penstemon
whiskey on the rocks
whisky on the rocks
white-coat hypertension
white campion
white cinnamon
white person
white snapdragon
white sturgeon
whole to part relation
whoreson
widgeon
wigeon
wild cinnamon
wild cotton
wild onion
wild snapdragon
wild water lemon
wilkinson
william caxton
william henry harrison
william henry hudson
william hyde wollaston
william jefferson clinton
william lloyd garrison
william patterson
william rowan hamilton
william styron
william thompson
william thornton
william walton
wilmington
wilson
wilton
wimbledon
wind deflection
wind generation
winter melon
wire-haired pointing griffon
wisdom of solomon
witherspoon
wollaston
wolstonian glaciation
won
won ton
wonton
wood pigeon
wood widgeon
wooden spoon
woodrow wilson
word division
working person
workmen's compensation
workstation
world health organization
world meteorological organization
world organisation
world organization
world tamil association
world trade organization
worldly possession
writ of election
writ of execution
writ of prohibition
written communication
wrought iron
x-radiation
x-ray diffraction
xenon
xenophon
xenotransplantation
xinjiang uighur autonomous region
yangon
yellow-crowned night heron
yellow bachelor's button
yellow twining snapdragon
yes-no question
young person
youth-on-age
yukon
zillion
zion
zircon
zoning commission
zooplankton