TERMS STARTING WITH
Purity is more a condition than a substance. Peace helps to purity — since in peace disturbing influences cease and the essence of purity b to respond only to the Divine Influence and not to have affini^ with other movements.
Purity, simple sincerity and capacity of an unegoistic, unmIxed self-offering without pretension or demand are the conditions of an entire opening of the psychic being.
Purity, Stage of: See: Dasa-bhumi.
purity, cleanliness; ritual ablution before prayers.
purity ::: freedom from soil or mixture. The divine purity is that in which there is not mixture of the turbid ignorant movements of the lower nature.
purity ::: “It [purity] is more a condition than a substance. Peace helps to purity—since in peace disturbing influences cease and the essence of purity is to respond only to the Divine Influence and not to have an affinity with other movements.” Letters on Yoga
purity ::: n. --> The condition of being pure.
freedom from foreign admixture or deleterious matter; as, the purity of water, of wine, of drugs, of metals.
Cleanness; freedom from foulness or dirt.
Freedom from guilt or the defilement of sin; innocence; chastity; as, purity of heart or of life.
Freedom from any sinister or improper motives or views.
Freedom from foreign idioms, or from barbarous or improper html{color:
purity ::: Sri Aurobindo: "It [purity] is more a condition than a substance. Peace helps to purity — since in peace disturbing influences cease and the essence of purity is to respond only to the Divine Influence and not to have an affinity with other movements.” *Letters on Yoga
PURITY. ::: To accept no other influence but only the influ- ence of the Divine.
TERMS ANYWHERE
2. Absolute mental and physical purity;
Ab-e-Hayat or Ab-e-Zendegi (Persian) Āb-e-Hayat or Āb-e-Zendegi [from Persian āb, Avestan āp, Pahlavi āv, water, purity, brilliance, honor, bliss, fortune] Water of life or immortality; it is believed that the Water of Life is hidden in the most northern part of the earth in the dark. He who finds and drinks of it will become immortal. Some Persian allegories say that Alexander the Great sought after it in vain. It is also said Khezr, the prophet, found it and that is how he became immortal. Esoterically it represents the universal self and life’s principal substance. It corresponds to the use of “water” in Genesis 1:2. The ancient Iranians believed that the first created was Mithra (Mehr), the reflection of Being, the essence of light, in the water of life; so the creation was the synthesis of these two, named Mehrab. Mehrab later became the sacred place of worship in mosques among Moslems.
*Abhidharmahṛdaya. (C. Apitan xin lun; J. Abidon shinron; K. Abidam sim non 阿毘曇心論). In Sanskrit, "Heart of ABHIDHARMA"; one of the first attempts at a systematic presentation of abhidharma according to the SARVASTIVADA school; the treatise is attributed to Dharmasresthin (Fasheng, c. 130 BCE), who hailed from the GANDHARA region of Central Asia. The text is no longer extant in Sanskrit but survives only in a Chinese translation made sometime during the fourth century (alt. 376, 391) by SaMghadeva and LUSHAN HUIYUAN. The treatise functions essentially as a handbook for meditative development, focusing on ways of overcoming the negative proclivities of mind (ANUsAYA) and developing correct knowledge (JNANA). The meditative training outlined in the treatise focuses on the four absorptions (DHYANA) and on two practical techniques for developing concentration: mindfulness of breathing (ANAPANASMṚTI) and the contemplation of impurity (AsUBHABHAVANA). The text is also one of the first to distinguish the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), which involves the initial insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, and the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), which eliminates all the remaining proclivities so that the adept may experience the stage of the worthy one (ARHAT).
abhirati. (T. mngon dga'; C. miaoxi/abiluoti; J. myoki/abiradai; K. myohŭi/abiraje 妙喜/阿比羅提). In Sanskrit, "delight," "repose," or "wondrous joy"; the world system (LOKADHATU) and buddha-field (BUDDHAKsETRA) of the buddha AKsOBHYA, which is said to be located in the east. Abhirati is one of the earliest of the buddha-fields to appear in Buddhist literature and is depicted as an idealized form of our ordinary SAHA world. As its name implies, abhirati is a land of delight, the antithesis of the suffering that plagues our world, and its pleasures are the by-products of Aksobhya's immense merit and compassion. In his land, Aksobhya sits on a platform sheltered by a huge BODHI TREE, which is surrounded by row after row of palm trees and jasmine bushes. The soil is golden in color and as soft as cotton. Although abhirati, like our world, has a sun and moon, both pale next to the radiance of Aksobhya himself. In abhirati, there are gender distinctions, as in our world, but no physical sexuality. A man who entertains sexual thoughts toward a woman would instantly see this desire transformed into a DHYANA that derives from the meditation on impurity (AsUBHABHAVANA), while a woman can become pregnant by a man's glance (even though women do not experience menstruation). Food and drink appear spontaneously whenever a person is hungry or thirsty. Abhirati is designed to provide the optimal environment for Buddhist practice, and rebirth there is a direct result of an adept having planted meritorious roots (KUsALAMuLA), engaging in salutary actions, and then dedicating any merit deriving from those actions to his future rebirth in that land. Aksobhya will eventually attain PARINIRVAnA in abhirati through a final act of self-immolation (see SHESHEN). Abhirati is described in the AKsOBHYATATHAGATASYAVYuHA, an important precursor to the more famous SUKHAVATĪVYuHA that describes SUKHAVATĪ, the buddha-field of AMITABHA.
acarasuddhi ::: [purity of acara].
Adibrahmacariyakasīla. In PAli, "higher rules of purity"; the more advanced of two types of moral discipline (P. sīla, S. sĪLA), referring to rules of conduct that will lead the practitioner further along toward the complete eradication of suffering. This type of discipline is contrasted with ABHISAMACARIKASĪLA, or lesser discipline, which indicates more mundane, external prescriptions, including how a monk should treat his superior and how a monastery should be maintained from day to day. While abhisamAcArikAsīla is concerned with mundane ends, Adibrahmacariyakasīla is understood to be the higher, transcendent discipline.
AdīnavAnupassanANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the contemplation of danger (ADĪNAVA)"; this is the fourth of nine knowledges (NAna) cultivated as part of the "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI) according to the outline in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Knowledge arising from the contemplation of danger is developed by noting the frightfulness of conditioned formations (saMkhAra; S. SAMSKARA), that is to say, the mental and physical phenomena (NAMARuPA) comprising the individual and the universe. Having seen that all phenomena are fearful because they are impermanent (anicca; S. ANITYA) and destined for annihilation, the practitioner finds no refuge in any kind of existence in any of the realms of rebirth. He sees no conditioned formation or station on which he can rely or that is worth holding onto. The Visuddhimagga states that the practitioner sees the three realms of existence as burning charcoal pits, the elements of the physical world as venomous snakes, and the five aggregates (khandha; S. SKANDHA) comprising the person as murderers with drawn swords. Seeing danger in continued existence and in every kind of becoming (BHAVA), the practitioner realizes that the only safety and happiness are found in nibbAna (S. NIRVAnA).
Agantukaklesa. (P. Agantukakilesa; T. glo bur gyi nyon mongs; C. kechen fannao; J. kyakujin bonno; K. kaekchin ponnoe 客塵煩惱). In Sanskrit, "adventitious afflictions" or "adventitious defilements"; indicating that the KLEsA are accidental and extrinsic qualities of the mind, rather than natural and intrinsic. This notion builds on an ancient strand in Buddhist thought, such as in the oft-quoted passage in the PAli AnGUTTARANIKAYA: "The mind, O monks, is luminous but defiled by adventitious defilements" (pabhassaraM idaM bhikkave cittaM, taN ca kho Agantukehi upakkilesehi upakkilittham). Since defilements are introduced into the thought processes from without, the intrinsic purity of the mind (CITTA) can be restored through counteracting the influence of the klesa and overcoming the inveterate tendency toward attachment and its concomitant craving (LOBHA) and ill will (DVEsA), which empower them.This concept of Agantukaklesa is critical to the MAHAYANA doctrine of TATHAGATAGARBHA (embryo of buddhahood), where the mind is presumed to be innately enlightened, but that enlightenment is temporarily obscured or concealed by defilements (KLEsA) that are extrinsic to it.
“A generic personification of a class of spiritual beings described as the embodiment of essential wisdom (Bodhi) and absolute purity. They dwell in the fourth Arupa Dhatu (formless world) or Buddhakshetra, and are the first or the highest hierarchy of the five orthodox Dhyani Buddhas. There was a Sramana (an Arhat) of this name (see Eitel’s Sansk. Chin. Dict.), a native of Kashmir, ‘who introduced Buddhism into Kustan and laboured in Tibet (in the seventh century of our era). He was the best translator of the semi-esoteric Canon of Northern Buddhism, and a contemporary of the great Samantabhadra . . .” (TG 358-9).
Agnishvatta(s) ::: (Sanskrit) ::: A compound of two words: agni, "fire"; shvatta, "tasted" or "sweetened," from svad, verb-rootmeaning "to taste" or "to sweeten." Therefore, literally one who has been delighted or sweetened by fire.A class of pitris: our solar ancestors as contrasted with the barhishads, our lunar ancestors.The kumaras, agnishvattas, and manasaputras are three groups or aspects of the same beings: thekumaras represent the aspect of original spiritual purity untouched by gross elements of matter. Theagnishvattas represent the aspect of their connection with the sun or solar spiritual fire. Having tasted orbeen "sweetened" by the spiritual fire -- the fire of intellectuality and spirituality -- they have beenpurified thereby. The manasaputras represent the aspect of intellectuality -- the functions of higherintellect.The agnishvattas and manasaputras are two names for the same class or host of beings, and set forth orsignify or represent two different aspects or activities of this one class of beings. Thus, for instance, aman may be said to be a kumara in his spiritual parts, an agnishvatta in his buddhic-manasic parts, and amanasaputra in his purely manasic aspect. Other beings could be called kumaras in their highest aspects,as for instance the beasts, but they are not imbodied agnishvattas or manasaputras.The agnishvattas are the solar spiritual-intellectual parts of us, and therefore are our inner teachers. Inpreceding manvantaras, they had completed their evolution in the realms of physical matter, and whenthe evolution of lower beings had brought these latter to the proper state, the agnishvattas came to therescue of these who had only the physical "creative fire," thus inspiring and enlightening these lowerlunar pitris with spiritual and intellectual energies or "fires."When this earth's planetary chain shall have reached the end of its seventh round, we, as then havingcompleted the evolutionary course for this planetary chain, will leave this planetary chain asdhyan-chohans, agnishvattas; but the others now trailing along behind us -- the present beasts -- will bethe lunar pitris of the next planetary chain to come.While it is correct to say that these three names appertain to the same class of beings, nevertheless eachname has its own significance in the occult teaching, which is why the three names are used with threedistinct meanings. Imagine an unconscious god-spark beginning its evolution in any one solar ormaha-manvantara. We may call it a kumara, a being of original spiritual purity, but with a destinythrough karmic evolution connected with the realms of matter.At the other end of the line, at the consummation of the evolution in this maha-manvantara, when theevolving entity has become a fully self-conscious god or divinity, its proper appellation then isagnishvatta, for it has been "sweetened" or purified by means of the working through it of the spiritualfires inherent in itself.Now then, when such an agnishvatta assumes the role of a bringer of mind or of intellectual light to alunar pitri which it overshadows and in which a ray from it incarnates, it then, although in its own realman agnishvatta, functions as a manasaputra or child of mind or mahat. A brief analysis of the compoundelements of these three names may be useful.Kumara is from ku meaning "with difficulty" and mara meaning "mortal." The significance of the wordtherefore can be paraphrased as "mortal with difficulty," and the meaning usually given to it by Sanskritscholars as "easily dying" is wholly exoteric and amusing, and doubtless arose from the fact that kumarais a word frequently used for child or boy, everybody knowing that young children "die easily." The ideatherefore is that purely spiritual beings, although ultimately destined by evolution to pass through therealms of matter, become mortal, i.e., material, only with difficulty.Agnishvatta has the meaning stated above, "delighted" or "pleased" or "sweetened," i.e., "purified" byfire -- which we may render in two ways: either as the fire of suffering and pain in material existenceproducing great fiber and strength of character, i.e., spirituality; or, perhaps still better from thestandpoint of occultism, as signifying an entity or entities who have become one in essence throughevolution with the aethery fire of spirit.Manasaputra is a compound of two words: manasa, "mental" or "intellectual," from the word manas,"mind," and putra, "son" or "child," therefore a child of the cosmic mind -- a "mind-born son" as H. P.Blavatsky phrases it. (See also Pitris, Lunar Pitris)
Agnus Dei (Latin) [from agnus lamb + deus god] Lamb of God; originating in the New Testament: “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). It is applied to various emblems, cakes, anthems, etc., used in the services of the orthodox Christian churches. As a lamb was sacrificed and partaken of in the Jewish feast of the Passover, John said in effect: behold the true divine Paschal Lamb. However, the original idea that impurity is burnt out by the divine fire from the radiant source within each person was perverted, both in the case of agni and the Lamb of God, into the idea of vicarious atonement (cf SD 2:383).
A Jewish communal bath for washing away spiritual impurity by immersion.
Ajīvaka. [alt. AjīvakA; Ajīvika]. (T. 'Tsho ba can; C. Xieming waidao; J. Jamyo gedo; K. Samyong oedo 邪命外道) In Sanskrit and PAli, "Improper Livelihood"; one of the major early sects of Indian wandering religious (sRAMAnA) during the fifth century BCE. Makkhali GosAla (S. MASKARIN GOsALĪPUTRA) (d. c. 488 BCE), the leader of the Ajīvakas, was a contemporary of the Buddha. No Ajīvaka works survive, so what little we know about the school derives from descriptions filtered through Buddhist materials. Buddhist explications of Ajīvaka views are convoluted and contradictory; what does seem clear, however, is that the Ajīvakas adhered to a doctrine of strict determinism or fatalism. The Ajīvakas are described as believing that there is no immediate or ultimate cause for the purity or depravity of beings; all beings, souls, and existent things are instead directed along their course by fate (niyati), by the conditions of the species to which they belong, and by their own intrinsic natures. Thus, attainments or accomplishments of any kind are not a result of an individual's own action or the acts of others; rather, according to those beings' positions within the various stations of existence, they experience ease or pain. Makkhali GosAla is portrayed as advocating a theory of automatic purification through an essentially infinite number of transmigrations (saMsArasuddhi), by means of which all things would ultimately attain perfection. The Buddha is said to have regarded Makkhali GosAla's views as the most dangerous of heresies, which was capable of leading even the divinities (DEVA) to loss, discomfort, and suffering. BUDDHAGHOSA explains the perniciousness of his error by comparing the defects of Makkhali's views to those of the views of two other heretical teachers, Purana Kassapa (S. Purana KAsyapa) (d. c. 503 BCE), another Ajīvaka teacher, and AJITA-Kesakambala, a prominent teacher of the LOKAYATA (Naturalist) school, which maintained a materialist perspective toward the world. Purana asserted the existence of an unchanging passive soul that was unaffected by either wholesome or unwholesome action and thereby denied the efficacy of KARMAN; Ajita advocated an annihilationist theory that there is no afterlife or rebirth, which thereby denied any possibility of karmic retribution. Makkhali's doctrine of fate or noncausation, in denying both action and its result, was said to have combined the defects in both those systems of thought.
AksobhyatathAgatasyavyuha. (T. De bzhin gshegs pa mi 'khrugs pa'i bkod pa; C. Achu foguo jing; J. Ashuku bukkokukyo; K. Ach'ok pulguk kyong 阿閦佛國經). In Sanskrit, "The Array of the TATHAGATAAKsOBHYA"; a SuTRA in which the Buddha, at sARIPUTRA's request, teaches his eminent disciple about the buddha AKsOBHYA; also known as the Aksobhyavyuha. It was first translated into Chinese in the mid-second century CE by LOKAKsEMA, an Indo-Scythian monk from KUSHAN, and later retranslated by the Tang-period monk BODHIRUCI in the early eighth century as part of his rendering of the RATNAKutASuTRA. The scripture also exists in a Tibetan translation by Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi, and Ye shes sde. The text explains that in the distant past, a monk made a vow to achieve buddhahood. He followed the arduous BODHISATTVA path, engaging in myriad virtues; the text especially emphasizes his practice of morality (sĪLA). He eventually achieves buddhahood as the buddha Aksobhya in a buddha-field (BUDDHAKsETRA) located in the east called ABHIRATI, which the sutra describes in some detail as an ideal domain for the practice of the dharma. As its name implies, Abhirati is a land of delight, the antithesis of the suffering that plagues our world, and its pleasures are the by-products of Aksobhya's immense merit and compassion. In his land, Aksobhya sits on a platform sheltered by a huge BODHI TREE, which is surrounded by rows of palm trees and jasmine bushes. Its soil is golden in color and as soft as cotton, and the ground is flat with no gullies or gravel. Although Abhirati, like our world, has a sun and moon, both pale next to the radiance of Aksobhya himself. In Abhirati, the three unfortunate realms (APAYA) of hell denizens, ghosts, and animals do not exist. Among humans, there are gender distinctions but no physical sexuality. A man who entertains sexual thoughts toward a woman would instantly see that desire transformed into a DHYANA that derives from the meditation on impurity (AsUBHABHAVANA), while a woman can become pregnant by a man's glance (even though women do not experience menstruation). Food and drink appear spontaneously whenever a person is hungry or thirsty. There is no illness, no ugliness, and no crime. Described as a kind of idealized monastic community, Abhirati is designed to provide the optimal environment to engage in Buddhist practice, both for those who seek to become ARHATs and for those practicing the bodhisattva path. Rebirth there is a direct result of having planted virtuous roots (KUsALAMuLA), engaging in wholesome actions, and then dedicating any merit deriving from those actions to one's future rebirth in that land. One is also reborn there by accepting, memorizing, and spreading this sutra. Aksobhya will eventually attain PARINIRVAnA in Abhirati through a final act of self-immolation (see SHESHEN). After his demise, his teachings will slowly disappear from the world.
Alaungpaya. Burmese king (r. 1752-1760) and founder of the Konbaung dynasty (1752-1885), the last Burmese royal house before the British conquest. He was born the son of the village headman of Mokesoebo in Upper Burma in 1711. Originally named Aungzeyya, he succeeded his father as headman and early on showed charismatic signs of leadership. By this time, the then Burmese empire of Taungoo, which had been founded in 1531, was on the verge of collapse. The Mon of Lower Burma, whose capital was Pegu, rebelled and soon swept northward, eventually capturing the Burmese capital, AVA, and executing its king. When emissaries from the Mon king, Binnya-dala, demanded the allegiance of Mokesoebo, Aungzeyya beheaded them and organized a rebellion to restore Burmese sovereignty. Gathering around him a loyal cohort of local chiefs and soldiers from Ava, he crowned himself king and established Mokesoebo as his first capital, which he renamed Shwebo. A brilliant tactician and masterful propagandist, he assumed the title Alaungpaya, meaning "Future Buddha," and waged war on the Mon as a BODHISATTVA intent on restoring the purity of the Buddha's religion and ushering in a golden age. In 1753, he recaptured Ava and subdued the Shan chieftains on his northern flank. In 1755, he captured the strategic port town of Dagon, which he renamed Yangon (Rangoon), meaning "End of Strife." In 1757, after a protracted siege, he destroyed Pegu, the last stronghold of Mon resistance, executing its king, Binnya-dala, and massacring its population. After consolidating Burmese control over the central provinces, Alaungpaya marched his armies against the Hindu kingdom of Manipur, which had taken advantage of the civil war to pillage Burma's western territories. Having vanquished Manipur, in 1760, he moved against the Thai kingdom of AYUTHAYA in the east in retaliation for fomenting anti-Burmese rebellions along the border. The Burmese seized Moulmein, Tavoy, and Tenasserim, but Alaungpaya was mortally wounded during the siege of Ayuthaya and died during the subsequent Burmese retreat. The empire created by Alaungpaya expanded under his sons and their descendants, eventually bringing it into conflict with the British East India Company.
AlayavijNAna. (T. kun gzhi rnam par shes pa; C. alaiyeshi/zangshi; J. arayashiki/zoshiki; K. aroeyasik/changsik 阿賴耶識/藏識). In Sanskrit, "storehouse consciousness" or "foundational consciousness"; the eighth of the eight types of consciousness (VIJNANA) posited in the YOGACARA school. All forms of Buddhist thought must be able to uphold (1) the principle of the cause and effect of actions (KARMAN), the structure of SAMSARA, and the process of liberation (VIMOKsA) from it, while also upholding (2) the fundamental doctrines of impermanence (ANITYA) and the lack of a perduring self (ANATMAN). The most famous and comprehensive solution to the range of problems created by these apparently contradictory elements is the AlayavijNAna, often translated as the "storehouse consciousness." This doctrinal concept derives in India from the YOGACARA school, especially from ASAnGA and VASUBANDHU and their commentators. Whereas other schools of Buddhist thought posit six consciousnesses (vijNAna), in the YogAcAra system there are eight, adding the afflicted mind (KLIstAMANAS) and the AlayavijNAna. It appears that once the SarvAstivAda's school's eponymous doctrine of the existence of dharmas in the past, present, and future was rejected by most other schools of Buddhism, some doctrinal solution was required to provide continuity between past and future, including past and future lifetimes. The alAyavijNAna provides that solution as a foundational form of consciousness, itself ethically neutral, where all the seeds (BIJA) of all deeds done in the past reside, and from which they fructify in the form of experience. Thus, the AlayavijNAna is said to pervade the entire body during life, to withdraw from the body at the time of death (with the extremities becoming cold as it slowly exits), and to carry the complete karmic record to the next rebirth destiny. Among the many doctrinal problems that the presence of the AlayavijNAna is meant to solve, it appears that one of its earliest references is in the context not of rebirth but in that of the NIRODHASAMAPATTI, or "trance of cessation," where all conscious activity, that is, all CITTA and CAITTA, cease. Although the meditator may appear as if dead during that trance, consciousness is able to be reactivated because the AlayavijNAna remains present throughout, with the seeds of future experience lying dormant in it, available to bear fruit when the person arises from meditation. The AlayavijNAna thus provides continuity from moment to moment within a given lifetime and from lifetime to lifetime, all providing the link between an action performed in the past and its effect experienced in the present, despite protracted periods of latency between seed and fruition. In YogAcAra, where the existence of an external world is denied, when a seed bears fruit, it bifurcates into an observing subject and an observed object, with that object falsely imagined to exist separately from the consciousness that perceives it. The response by the subject to that object produces more seeds, either positive, negative, or neutral, which are deposited in the AlayavijNAna, remaining there until they in turn bear their fruit. Although said to be neutral and a kind of silent observer of experience, the AlayavijNAna is thus also the recipient of karmic seeds as they are produced, receiving impressions (VASANA) from them. In the context of Buddhist soteriological discussions, the AlayavijNAna explains why contaminants (ASRAVA) remain even when unwholesome states of mind are not actively present, and it provides the basis for the mistaken belief in self (Atman). Indeed, it is said that the klistamanas perceives the AlayavijNAna as a perduring self. The AlayavijNAna also explains how progress on the path can continue over several lifetimes and why some follow the path of the sRAVAKA and others the path of the BODHISATTVA; it is said that one's lineage (GOTRA) is in fact a seed that resides permanently in the AlayavijNAna. In India, the doctrine of the AlayavijNAna was controversial, with some members of the YogAcAra school rejecting its existence, arguing that the functions it is meant to serve can be accommodated within the standard six-consciousness system. The MADHYAMAKA, notably figures such as BHAVAVIVEKA and CANDRAKĪRTI, attacked the YogAcAra proponents of the AlayavijNAna, describing it as a form of self, which all Buddhists must reject. ¶ In East Asia, the AlayavijNAna was conceived as one possible solution to persistent questions in Buddhism about karmic continuity and about the origin of ignorance (MOHA). For the latter, some explanation was required as to how sentient beings, whom many strands of MAHAYANA claimed were inherently enlightened, began to presume themselves to be ignorant. Debates raged within different strands of the Chinese YogAcAra traditions as to whether the AlayavijNAna is intrinsically impure because of the presence of these seeds of past experience (the position of the Northern branch of the Chinese DI LUN ZONG and the Chinese FAXIANG tradition of XUANZANG and KUIJI), or whether the AlayavijNAna included both pure and impure elements because it involved also the functioning of thusness, or TATHATA (the Southern Di lun school's position). Since the sentient being has had a veritable interminable period of time in which to collect an infinity of seeds-which would essentially make it impossible to hope to counteract them one by one-the mainstream strands of YogAcAra viewed the mind as nevertheless tending inveterately toward impurity (dausthulya). This impurity could only be overcome through a "transformation of the basis" (AsRAYAPARAVṚTTI), which would completely eradicate the karmic seeds stored in the storehouse consciousness, liberating the bodhisattva from the effects of all past actions and freeing him to project compassion liberally throughout the world. In some later interpretations, this transformation would then convert the AlayavijNAna into a ninth "immaculate consciousness" (AMALAVIJNANA). See also DASHENG QIXIN LUN.
A leguminous plant bearing white or yellow flowers found in the warmer regions of the globe. In Freemasonry, acacia has a threefold symbolism: 1) immortality of the soul, as the plant continually renews itself; 2) innocence, purity, integrity; and 3) initiation or birth into a “new” life. The acacia seyal is the shrub believed to be the shittah-tree (Isaiah 41:19) that furnished the shittim-wood for the Ark of the Covenant and for the Tabernacle.
alloy ::: v. t. --> Any combination or compound of metals fused together; a mixture of metals; for example, brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc. But when mercury is one of the metals, the compound is called an amalgam.
The quality, or comparative purity, of gold or silver; fineness.
A baser metal mixed with a finer.
Admixture of anything which lessens the value or detracts
"Along with purity and as a help to bring it about, concentration. Purity and concentration are indeed two aspects, feminine and masculine, passive and active, of the same status of being; purity is the condition in which concentration becomes entire, rightly effective, omnipotent; by concentration purity does its works and without it would only lead to a state of peaceful quiescence and eternal repose.” The Synthesis of Yoga
“Along with purity and as a help to bring it about, concentration. Purity and concentration are indeed two aspects, feminine and masculine, passive and active, of the same status of being; purity is the condition in which concentration becomes entire, rightly effective, omnipotent; by concentration purity does its works and without it would only lead to a state of peaceful quiescence and eternal repose.” The Synthesis of Yoga
amalam. ::: free from the impurity of illusory appearance
amalavijNAna. (T. dri ma med pa'i rnam shes; C. amoluo shi/wugou shi; J. amarashiki/mukushiki; K. amara sik/mugu sik 阿摩羅識/無垢識). In Sanskrit, "immaculate consciousness"; a ninth level of consciousness posited in certain strands of the YOGACARA school, especially that taught by the Indian translator and exegete PARAMARTHA. The amalavijNAna represents the intrusion of TATHAGATAGARBHA (womb or embryo of buddhahood) thought into the eight-consciousnesses theory of the YOGACARA school. The amalavijNAna may have antecedents in the notion of immaculate gnosis (amalajNAna) in the RATNAGOTRAVIBHAGA and is claimed to be first mentioned in STHIRAMATI's school of YogAcAra, to which ParamArtha belonged. The term is not attested in Sanskrit materials, however, and may be of Chinese provenance. The most sustained treatment of the concept appears in the SHE LUN ZONG, an exegetical tradition of Chinese Buddhism built around ParamArtha's translation of ASAnGA's MAHAYANASAMGRAHA (She Dasheng lun). ParamArtha compares amalavijNAna to the perfected nature (PARINIsPANNA) of consciousness, thus equating amalavijNAna with the absolute reality of thusness (TATHATA) and therefore rendering it the essence of all dharmas and the primary catalyst to enlightenment. As "immaculate," the amalavijNAna emulates the emphasis in tathAgatagarbha thought on the inherent purity of the mind; but as "consciousness," amalavijNAna could also be sited within the YogAcAra philosophy of mind as a separate ninth level of consciousness, now construed as the basis of all the other consciousnesses, including the eighth ALAYAVIJNANA. See also BUDDHADHATU; FOXING.
Am Ha'aretz ::: (Heb. Person of the Land). A term used in Jewish scriptures for citizens, or some particular class of citizens; in rabbinic literature, for persons or groups that dissented from or were uninstructed in rabbinic halakha and rigorous purity and tithing norms. It sometimes signifies the unlearned, sometimes is used condescendingly (boor). It was also used to describe the broad mass of Jewish people of the 1st century CE, who cannot be categorized into any of the sub-groups of the time. See also Pharisees.
ananda ::: delight, bliss, ecstasy, beatitude; "a profound concentrated ananda intense self-existent bliss extended to all that our being does, envisages, creates, a fixed divine rapture"; same as sama ananda, the universal delight which constitutes active / positive samata, "an equal delight in all the cosmic manifestation of the Divine", whose "foundation is the Atmajnana or Brahmajnana by which we perceive the whole universe as a perception of one Being that manifests itself in multitudinous forms and activities"; the highest of the three stages of active / positive . 12 samata, "the joy of Unity" by which "all is changed into the full and pure ecstasy" of the Spirit; the third and highest state of bhukti, consisting of the delight of existence experienced "throughout the system" in seven principal forms (kamananda, premananda, ahaituka ananda, cidghanananda, suddhananda, cidananda and sadananda) corresponding to the seven kosas or sheaths of the being and the seven lokas or planes of existence; physical ananda or sarirananda in its five forms, also called vividhananda (various delight), the fourth member of the sarira catus.t.aya; (especially in the plural, "anandas") any of these forms of ananda; same as anandaṁ brahma, the last aspect of the fourfold brahman; bliss of infinite conscious existence, "the original, all-encompassing, all-informing, all-upholding delight", the third aspect of saccidananda and the principle manifested in its purity in janaloka or anandaloka, also present in an involved or subordinated form on every other plane.
Ananganasutta. (C. Huipin jing; J. Ebongyo; K. Yep'um kyong 穢品經). In PAli, "Discourse on Being Unblemished," the fifth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the eighty-seventh sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; there is also an unidentified recension in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA); preached by sARIPUTRA to a group of monks in the JETAVANA grove in sRAVASTĪ. sAriputra describes how a monk will become blemished if he succumbs to evil wishes. In this regard, he explains that people are of four types: one who is impure who does not know his impurity, and one who is impure and knows his impurity; one who is pure and does not know his purity, and one who is pure who knows his purity. Of these four, the second of each pair is to be preferred: the one who knows his impurities can strive to remove them so that he dies with his mind undefiled; the one who knows that his mind is pure can continue to guard his senses so that he too keeps his mind without blemish until death.
Angel of Purity—Tahariel. [Rf. Abelson,
anulomaNAna. In PAli, "conformity knowledge"; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, this is the ninth and last of nine knowledges (P. NAna, S. JNANA) cultivated as part of the purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path (P. patipadANAnadassanavisuddhi). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth of the seven purities (VIsUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. "Conformity knowledge" refers to the last three so-called impulsion moments (javana) of consciousness that arise in the mind of the practitioner preceding his perception of the nibbAna element (NIRVAnADHATU). This knowledge is so named because it conforms itself to the preceding eight stages of knowledge, as well as to the immediately following supramundane path (P. AriyamAgga, S. ARYAMARGA) and the thirty-seven constituents of enlightenment (P. bodhipakkhiyadhamma, S. BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA). When the three moments are treated separately, they receive different names. The first impulsion moment is called "preparation" (P. parikamma), when adaptation knowledge takes as its object the compounded formations (SAMSKARA) as being something impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANATMAN). Immediately thereafter, the second impulsion moment arises, which takes the same formations as its object and is called "access" (upacAra). Immediately following that the third impulsion moment arises taking the same object, which is called "conformity" (anuloma). At this point, the practitioner is at the threshold of liberation (P. vimokkha, S. VIMOKsA), and, therefore, conformity knowledge is described as the final stage in what is called "insight leading to emergence" (P. vutthAnagAminivipassanA). This category includes the sixth, seventh, and eighth knowledges (NAna) in the ninefold schema: namely, "knowledge arising from the desire for deliverance" (P. MUCCITUKAMYATANAnA), "knowledge arising from the contemplation on reflection" (P. PAtISAnKHANUPASSANANAnA), and "knowledge arising from equanimity regarding all formations of existence" (P. SAnKHARUPEKKHANAnA).
apramAnasubha. (P. appamAnasubha; T. tshad med dge; C. wuliangjing tian; J. muryojoten; K. muryangjong ch'on 無量淨天). In Sanskrit, "immeasurable purity"; the second of the three heavens of the third meditative absorption (DHYANA) of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU).
arapacana. (T. a ra pa dza na). The arapacana is a syllabary of Indic or Central Asian origin typically consisting of forty-two or forty-three letters, named after its five initial constituents a, ra, pa, ca, and na. The syllabary appears in many works of the MAHAYANA tradition, including the PRAJNAPARAMITA, GAndAVYuHA, LALITAVISTARA, and AVATAMSAKA SuTRAs, as well as in texts of the DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA (SIFEN LÜ) and MuLASARVASTIVADA VINAYA. It occurs in both original Sanskrit works and Chinese and Tibetan translations. In most cases, each syllable in the list is presumed to correspond to a key doctrinal term beginning with, or containing, that syllable. A, for example, is associated with the concept of ANUTPADA (nonarising), ra with rajo'pagata (free from impurity), and so forth. Recitation of the syllabary, therefore, functioned as a mystical representation of, or mnemonic device (DHARAnĪ) for recalling, important MahAyAna doctrinal concepts, somewhat akin to the MATṚKA lists of the ABHIDHARMA. Other interpretations posit that the syllables themselves are the primal sources whence the corresponding terms later developed. The syllabary includes: a, ra, pa, ca, na, la, da, ba, da, sa, va, ta, ya, sta, ka, sa, ma, ga, stha, tha, ja, sva, dha, sa, kha, ksa, sta, jNa, rta, ha, bha, cha, sma, hva, tsa, gha, tha, na, pha, ska, ysa, sca, ta, dha. The arapacana also constitutes the central part of the root MANTRA of the BODHISATTVA MANJUsRĪ; its short form is oM a ra pa ca na dhi. It is therefore also considered to be an alternate name for MaNjusrī.
argent ::: n. --> Silver, or money.
Whiteness; anything that is white.
The white color in coats of arms, intended to represent silver, or, figuratively, purity, innocence, beauty, or gentleness; -- represented in engraving by a plain white surface. ::: a.
Aryadeva. (T. 'Phags pa lha; C. Tipo; J. Daiba; K. Cheba 提婆). While traditional sources are often ambiguous, scholars have identified two Aryadevas. The first Aryadeva (c. 170-270 CE) was an important Indian philosopher, proponent of MADHYAMAKA philosophy, and a direct disciple of the Madhyamaka master NAGARJUNA. According to traditional accounts, he was born to a royal family in Sri Lanka. Renouncing the throne at the time of his maturity, he instead sought monastic ordination and met NAgArjuna at PAtALIPUTRA. After his teacher's death, Aryadeva became active at the monastic university of NALANDA, where he is said to have debated and defeated numerous brahmanic adherents, eventually converting them to Buddhism. He is the author of the influential work CATUḤsATAKA ("The Four Hundred"). He is also said to be the author of the *sATAsASTRA (C. BAI LUN), or "The Hundred Treatise," counted as one of the "three treatises" of the SAN LUN ZONG of Chinese Buddhism, together with the Zhong lun ("Middle Treatise," i.e., MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA) and SHI'ERMEN LUN ("Twelve [Chapter] Treatise"), both attributed to NAgArjuna. The *satasAstra is not extant in Sanskrit or Tibetan, but is preserved only in Chinese. ¶ The second Aryadeva [alt. AryadevapAda; d.u.] trained in yogic practices under the tantric master NAgArjuna at NAlandA. In the Tibetan tradition, this Aryadeva is remembered for his great tantric accomplishments, and is counted among the eighty-four MAHASIDDHAs under the name Karnari or Kanheri. His important tantric works include the CaryAmelapakapradīpa ("Lamp that Integrates the Practices") and Cittavisuddhiprakarana [alt. CittAvaranavisuddhiprakarana] ("Explanation of Mental Purity").
Arya Samaj (Sanskrit) Ārya Samāja A movement started in India during the 19th century by Swami Dayanand Sarasvati in order to lead his countrymen back to the pristine purity of their Vedic religion, although under the form of a theistic philosophy, and to free them from the degenerations and demoralizations of the orthodox Brahmanism of the time. It was affiliated for a short time with the Theosophical Society, but the union was soon dissolved because it became evident that the Samaj was not in harmony with the universality of the aims and purposes of the Theosophical Society as had previously been understood. The Samaj gradually spread throughout Northern India to the extent of two or three hundred branches.
ascertain ::: v. t. --> To render (a person) certain; to cause to feel certain; to make confident; to assure; to apprise.
To make (a thing) certain to the mind; to free from obscurity, doubt, or change; to make sure of; to fix; to determine.
To find out or learn for a certainty, by trial, examination, or experiment; to get to know; as, to ascertain the weight of a commodity, or the purity of a metal.
Ascetic, Asceticism Originally exercise, practice, applied to monastic discipline and self-mortification, very much as was the Sanskrit tapas. But the true ascetic is not one who mortifies his passions, abuses his body, or suppresses his instincts, but one whose earthly desires have been consumed or transformed in the fire of devotion and knowledge. It is used in The Secret Doctrine with special reference to Siva, the “Great Ascetic,” and to kumaras who have maintained their purity by refusing to create.
As known to the Greeks and Romans, Mithras was the god of the sun, of purity, moral goodness, and knowledge, whose worship spread over the Roman world, especially during the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
assay ::: n. --> Trial; attempt; essay.
Examination and determination; test; as, an assay of bread or wine.
Trial by danger or by affliction; adventure; risk; hardship; state of being tried.
Tested purity or value.
The act or process of ascertaining the proportion of a particular metal in an ore or alloy; especially, the determination of
asuddhi (ashuddhi; asuddhi) ::: impurity, "confusion and disorder asuddhi among the functions", the opposite of suddhi.
asuddhi ::: [impurity].
atmaprasada (atmaprasada; atmaprasad) ::: "a state of clearness, atmaprasada purity and contentment in the whole self", the last member of the samata / santi catus.t.aya, which in its most positive form is called hasya; an element of Mahesvari bhava.
At the beginning the soul in Nature, the psychic entity, whose unfolding is the first step towards a spiritual change, is an entirely veiled part of us, although it is that by which we exist and persist as individual beings in Nature. The other parts of our natural composition are not only mutable but perishable; but the psychic entity in us persists and is fundamentally the same always: it contains all essential possibilities of our manifestation but is not constituted by them; it is not limited by what it manifests, not contained by the incomplete forms of the manifestation, not tarnished by the imperfections and impurities, the defects and depravations of the surface being. It is an ever-pure flame of the divinity in things and nothing that comes to it, nothing that enters into our experience can pollute its purity or extinguish the flame. This spiritual stuff is immaculate and luminous and, because it is perfectly luminous, it is immediately, intimately, directly aware of truth of being and truth of nature; it is deeply conscious of truth and good and beauty because truth and good and beauty are akin to its own native character, forms of something that is inherent in its own substance. It is aware also of all that contradicts these things, of all that deviates from its own native character, of falsehood and evil and the ugly and the unseemly; but it does not become these things nor is it touched or changed by these opposites of itself which so powerfully affect its outer instrumentation of mind, life and body. For the soul, the permanent being in us, puts forth and uses mind, life and body.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 21-22, Page: 924-25
Baizhang qinggui. (J. Hyakujo shingi; K. Paekchang ch'onggyu 百丈清規). In Chinese, "Baizhang's Rules of Purity"; a monastic code distinctive to the CHAN school, attributed to the eminent Tang dynasty monk BAIZHANG HUAIHAI; the text is no longer extant, but it is abridged in the CHANMEN GUISHI. According to later Song-dynasty accounts, Baizhang wrote this QINGGUI ("pure rules") for the new monastery that he had helped establish on Mt. Baizhang. This monastery is considered by the Chan tradition to be the first independent Chan institution, and its unique monastic code is thus a symbol of the school's emancipation from the regulations of the Indian VINAYA tradition. The Baizhang qinggui is said to have emphasized the role of the abbot within monastic administration, the precedence of ordination age over monastic rank, and the importance of communal labor. The code also divides the Chan monastic institution into ten administrative offices and provides a general outline of the daily ritual activities in the monastery. This story of the promulgation of the code can be found in the biography of Baizhang in the SONG GAOSENG ZHUAN and JINGDE CHUANDENG LU, as well as in the preface attributed to Yang Yi (968-1024) in the 1335 edition of the Baizhang guishi. Whether Baizhang's monastic codes were ever compiled in written form, and if so, whether they bore this title, remain matters of scholarly controversy.
baohua ershen. (J. hoke nishin; K. pohwa isin 報化二身). In Chinese, "the enjoyment body and the transformation body [of a buddha]," Two of the three bodies (TRIKAYA) of a buddha described in the MAHAYANA. The "enjoyment body" (SAMBHOGAKAYA) is described as the product of eons of bodhisattva activities, which resides forever in that buddha's PURE LAND. The "transformation body" or "emanation body" (NIRMAnAKAYA) is, by contast, a magical emanation of a buddha in ordinary realms of rebirth, which appears to be subject to old age and death. By inference, the "true essence" of a buddha's PURE LAND, which is beyond the dualities of purity and impurity, is eternally abiding, and is called the "pure land of the enjoyment body" (baotu). The magically transformed buddha lands (huatu), in contrast, may manifest as either pure or impure in varying degrees according to the mental condition and collective karma (see BUDDHAKsETRA and GONG BUGONG YE) of their inhabitants, and are subject to the laws of formation and dissolution. See TRIKAYA.
Baozang lun. (J. Hozoron; K. Pojang non 寶藏論). In Chinese, "Treasure Store Treatise," in one roll, attributed to SENGZHAO. The treatise comprises three chapters: (1) the broad illumination of emptiness and being, (2) the essential purity of transcendence and subtlety, and (3) the empty mystery of the point of genesis. Doctrinally, the Baozang lun resembles works associated with the NIUTOU ZONG of the CHAN school, such as the JUEGUAN LUN, XINXIN MING, and WUXIN LUN. In both terminology and rhetorical style, the treatise is also similar to the Daode jing and to texts that belong to the Daoist exegetical tradition known as Chongxuan. The author(s) of the Baozang lun thus sought to synthesize the metaphysical teachings of the Buddhist and Daoist traditions.
barbarism ::: n. --> An uncivilized state or condition; rudeness of manners; ignorance of arts, learning, and literature; barbarousness.
A barbarous, cruel, or brutal action; an outrage.
An offense against purity of style or language; any form of speech contrary to the pure idioms of a particular language. See Solecism.
barbarity ::: n. --> The state or manner of a barbarian; lack of civilization.
Cruelty; ferociousness; inhumanity.
A barbarous or cruel act.
Barbarism; impurity of speech.
basanite ::: n. --> Lydian stone, or black jasper, a variety of siliceous or flinty slate, of a grayish or bluish black color. It is employed to test the purity of gold, the amount of alloy being indicated by the color left on the stone when rubbed by the metal.
beguiling serpent” sullied “the purity of my maid¬
(b) Emptiness of mind in the sense of absolute peace and purity (Taoism), and also in the sense of "not allowing what is already in the mind to disturb what is coming into the mind." (Hsun Tzu, c 335-c 288 B.C.) -- W.T.C.
beneficence ::: n. --> The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity; bounty springing from purity and goodness.
benjue. (J. hongaku; K. pon'gak 本覺). In Chinese, lit. "original enlightenment"; also sometimes translated as "inherent" or "intrinsic" enlightenment. The term was apparently coined in China and explicated in many Buddhist APOCRYPHA, such as the DASHENG QIXIN LUN and the KŬMGANG SAMMAE KYoNG. The Dasheng qixin lun synthesized the earlier Indian theories of TATHAGATAGARBHA and ALAYAVIJNANA, which came to stand for two different aspects of the one mind (YIXIN). The Dasheng qixin lun also posited a difference between attaining awakening through a process of cultivation known as "actualizing enlightenment" (SHIJUE) and the inherent purity of the mind represented by the term "original enlightenment" (benjue). From the standpoint of the buddhas and sages, the mind of the ordinary sentient being is seen as being inherently endowed with the tathAgatagarbha, the embryo of buddhahood and thus intrinsically in a state of "original enlightenment" (benjue). From the standpoint of sentient beings, however, the foundation of that same mind is the AlayavijNAna, which, as a storehouse of a seemingly infinite number of seeds or potencies (BĪJA) of past unwholesome deeds, is defiled and thus in need of purification through a process of "actualizing enlightenment" (shijue). Once that actualization process is completed, however, one realizes that the enlightenment achieved through cultivation is in fact identical to the enlightenment that is innate, viz., "original enlightenment" (benjue). Hence, the difference between these two types of enlightenment is ultimately a matter of perspective: the buddhas and sages see the mind as the innately pure tathAgatagarbha and thus originally enlightened, while ordinary persons (PṚTHAGJANA) see the mind as defiled and thus needing purification through the process of actualizing enlightenment. See also HONGAKU.
Bhakti yoga: The Yoga of love, the quest of union with the Divine Spirit through the bhakti-marga, the harmonization of the love nature of man with his prescribed destiny, which is to manifest, in all its purity, the Divine Love of the Creator under its three-fold aspect of life-giver, preserver and upholder. Man is conceived as ultimately reaching the divine union of mystic love by uniting his love nature with that portion of the divine aspect of love and cohesion which is giving him life. The three degrees of Bhakti Yoga are: Bhaya bhakti, ananaya bhakti, and yekanta bhakti (q.v.).
bhangAnupassanANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution"; according to BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA, the second of nine types of knowledge (P. NAnA) cultivated as part of the "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VIsUDDHI) that is to be developed along the path to liberation. "Knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution" is developed by observing the dissolution of material and mental phenomena (NAMARuPA). Having keenly observed the arising, subsistence, and decay of phenomena, the meditator turns his attention solely to their dissolution or destruction (bhanga). He then observes, for example, that consciousness arises because of causes and conditions: namely, it takes as its objects the five aggregates (P. khandha, S. SKANDHA) of matter (RuPA), sensation (VEDANA), perception (P. saNNA, S. SAMJNA) conditioned formations (P. sankhAra, S. SAMSKARA) and consciousness (P. viNNAna, S. VIJNANA), after which it is inevitably dissolved. Seeing this, the meditator understands that all consciousness is characterized by the three marks of existence (tilakkhana; S. TRILAKsAnA); namely, impermanence (anicca; S. ANITYA), suffering (dukkha; S. DUḤKHA) and nonself (anattA; S. ANATMAN). By understanding these three marks, he feels aversion for consciousness and overcomes his attachment to it. Eight benefits accrue to one who develops knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution; (1) he overcomes the view of eternal existence, (2) he abandons attachment to life, (3) he develops right effort, (4) he engages in a pure livelihood, (5 & 6) he enjoys an absence of anxiety and of fear, (7) he becomes patient and gentle, and (8) he overcomes boredom and sensual delight.
bhava samsuddhi. ::: purity of thought
bhayatupatthAnANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the awareness of terror"; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the third of nine knowledges (NAna; JNANA) cultivated as part of "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Knowledge arising from the contemplation of terror is developed by noting how all conditioned formations (sankhAra; SAMSKARA) or mental and physical phenomena (NAMARuPA) of the past, present and future have either gone, are going, or are destined to go to destruction. A simile given in the Visuddhimagga is that of a woman whose three sons have offended the king. The woman, who has already witnessed the beheading of her eldest son, witnesses the beheading of her middle son. And having witnessed the beheadings of her two older sons, the woman is filled with terror at the knowledge that her youngest son will likewise be executed. In the same way, the practitioner observes how phenomena of the past have ceased, how phenomena of the present are ceasing, and how those of the future are likewise destined to cease. Seeing conditioned formations as destined to destruction in this way, that is, as impermanent (anicca; ANITYA), the practitioner is filled with terror. Similarly, the practitioner sees conditioned formations as suffering (dukkha; DUḤKHA), and as impersonal and nonself (anattA; ANATMAN) and is filled with terror. In this way, the practitioner comes to realize that all mental and physical phenomena, being characterized by the three universal marks of existence (tilakkhana; TRILAKsAnA), are frightful.
Bhrigu (Sanskrit) Bhṛgu [from bhrajj to be hot, brilliantly glowing, or bhrāj to be shining] One of the most celebrated of the Vedic rishis (sages), regarded as the ancestor of the Bhargavas, enumerated as one of the ten primeval maharshis created by the first manu; he is also regarded as one of the seven or ten prajapatis (progenitors) of mankind and other beings, “which is equivalent to identifying him with one of the creative gods, placed by the Puranas in Krita Yug, or the first age, that of purity” (TG 57). Some hymns in the Rig-Veda are attributed to him. The planet Sukra (Venus) is associated with Bhrigu, being one of its names, and Bhrigu is often a term designating the equivalent of Friday, which is consecrated to the planet Venus. Venus is also sometimes called the son of Bhrigu.
bhūta ::: creature; any of the pañcabhūta, the five "subtle conditions bhuta of material energy" which are "called by the names of the five concrete elements of ancient thought, ether, air, fire, water and earth"; all objects are said to be "created by the combination of these five subtle conditions or elements" which are "nowhere to be found in their purity in the gross material world".
Purity is more a condition than a substance. Peace helps to purity — since in peace disturbing influences cease and the essence of purity b to respond only to the Divine Influence and not to have affini^ with other movements.
::: "Purity is to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.” *Letters on Yoga
“Purity is to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.” Letters on Yoga
"Purity means freedom from soil or mixture. The divine Purity is that in which there is no mixture of the turbid ignorant movements of the lower nature. Ordinarily, purity is used to mean (in the common language) freedom from sexual passion and impulse.” *Letters on Yoga
“Purity means freedom from soil or mixture. The divine Purity is that in which there is no mixture of the turbid ignorant movements of the lower nature. Ordinarily, purity is used to mean (in the common language) freedom from sexual passion and impulse.” Letters on Yoga
Purity, simple sincerity and capacity of an unegoistic, unmIxed self-offering without pretension or demand are the conditions of an entire opening of the psychic being.
Purity, Stage of: See: Dasa-bhumi.
brahmacarya (Brahmacharya) ::: complete sex-purity. ::: brahmacaryam [nominativel
brahmatejas, brahmatejah (Brahmatej) ::: [the power and glory of brahman], a power of light full of spiritual force, illumination and purity of working.
brahmavarcasya (brahmavarchasya; brahmavarchasyam) ::: "spiritual force which comes from knowledge and purity", an attribute of the brahman.a.
Buddhi (.Discrimination) ::: Buddhi is a construction of conscious being which quite exceeds its beginnings in the basic chitta; it is the intelligence with its power of knowledge and will. Buddhi takes up and deals with all the rest of the action of the mind and life and body. It is in its nature thought-power and will-power of the Spirit turned into the lower form of a mental activity. We may distinguish three successive gradations of the action of this intelligence. There is first an inferior perceptive understanding which simply takes up, records, understands and responds to the communications of the sense-mind, memory, heart and sensational mentality. It creates by their means an elementary thinking mind which does not go beyond their data, but subjects itself to their mould and rings out their repetitions, runs round and round in the habitual circle of thought and will suggested by them or follows, with an obedient subservience of the reason to the suggestions of life, any fresh determinations which may be offered to its perception and conception. Beyond this elementary understanding, which we all use to an enormous extent, there is a power of arranging or selecting reason and will-force of the intelligence which has for its action and aim an attempt to arrive at a plausible, sufficient, settled ordering of knowledge and will for the use of an intellectual conception of life. In spite of its more purely intellectual character this secondary or intermediate reason is really pragmatic in its intention. It creates a certain kind of intellectual structure, frame, rule into which it tries to cast the inner and outer life so as to use it with a certain mastery and government for the purposes of some kind of rational will. It is this reason which gives to our normal intellectual being our set aesthetic and ethical standards, our structures of opinion and our established norms of idea and purpose. It is highly developed and takes the primacy in all men of an at all developed understanding. But beyond it there is a reason, a highest action of the buddhi which concerns itself disinterestedly with a pursuit of pure truth and right knowledge; it seeks to discover the real Truth behind life and things and our apparent selves and to subject its will to the law of Truth. Few, if any of us, can use this highest reason with any purity, but the attempt to do it is the topmost capacity of the inner instrument, the antahkarana.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 651-52
Buddhi is a construction of conscious being which quite exceeds its beginnings in the basic chitta; it is the intelligence with its power of knowledge and will. Buddhi takes up and deals with all the rest of the action of the mind and life and body. It is in its nature thought-power and will-power of the Spirit turned into the lower form of a mental activity. We may distinguish three successive gradations of the action of this intelligence. There is first an inferior perceptive understanding which simply takes up, records, understands and responds to the communications of the sense-mind, memory, heart and sensational mentality. It creates by their means an elementary thinking mind which does not go beyond their data, but subjects itself to their mould and rings out their repetitions, runs round and round in the habitual circle of thought and will suggested by them or follows, with an obedient subservience of the reason to the suggestions of life, any fresh determinations which may be offered to its perception and conception. Beyond this elementary understanding, which we all use to an enormous extent, there is a power of arranging or selecting reason and will-force of the intelligence which has for its action and aim an attempt to arrive at a plausible, sufficient, settled ordering of knowledge and will for the use of an intellectual conception of life. In spite of its more purely intellectual character this secondary or intermediate reason is really pragmatic in its intention It creates a certain kind of intellectual structure, frame, rule into which it tries to cast the inner and outer life so as to use it with a certain mastery and government for the purposes of some kind of rational will. It is this reason which gives to our normal intellectual being our set aesthetic and ethical standards, our structures of opinion and our established norms of idea and purpose. It is highly developed and takes the primacy in all men of an at all developed understanding. But beyond it there is a reason, a highest action of the buddhi which concerns itself disinterestedly with a pursuit of pure truth and right knowledge; it seeks to discover the real Truth behind life and things and our apparent selves and to subject its will to the law of Truth. Few, if any of us, can use this highest reason with any purity, but the attempt to do it is the topmost capacity of the inner instrument, the antahkarana.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 651-52
buddhisaktih. (vishuddhata, prakasha, vichitrabodha, jnanadharanasamarthyam iti buddhishaktih) ::: purity, clarity, variety of understanding, capacity to hold all knowledge: these constitute the power of the thinking mind.
"By studying the principles of success and failure, preservation and destruction, calamity and prosperity from ancient to recent times, they learn how to hold what is essential and to grasp the fundamental. They guard themselves with purity and emptiness, in humility and weakness they maintain themselves . . . Afterwards those who act without restraint desired to reject learning and the rules of propriety, and at the same time, discard benevolence and righteousness. They said that the world could be governed simply by purity and emptiness."
candor ::: n. --> Whiteness; brightness; (as applied to moral conditions) usullied purity; innocence.
A disposition to treat subjects with fairness; freedom from prejudice or disguise; frankness; sincerity.
Caodong zong. (J. Sotoshu; K. Chodong chong 曹洞宗). One of the so-called "five houses and seven schools" (WU JIA QI ZONG) of the mature Chinese CHAN tradition. The school traces its own pedigree back to the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) HUINENG via a lineage that derives from QINGYUAN XINGSI and SHITOU XIQIAN, but its history begins with the two Tang-dynasty Chan masters who lend their names to the school: DONGSHAN LIANGJIE and his disciple CAOSHAN BENJI. The name of this tradition, Caodong, is derived from the first characters of the two patriarchs' names, viz., Caoshan's "Cao" and Dongshan's "Dong." (The disciple's name is said to appear first in the school's name purely for euphonic reasons.) One of the emblematic teachings of the Caodong tradition is that of the "five ranks" (WUWEI), taught by Dongshan and further developed by Caoshan, which was a form of dialectical analysis that sought to present the full panoply of MAHAYANA Buddhist insights in a compressed rubric. During the Song dynasty, the Caodong school also came to be associated with the contemplative practice of "silent illumination" (MOZHAO CHAN), a form of meditation that built upon the normative East Asian notion of the inherency of buddhahood (see TATHAGATAGARBHA) to suggest that, since enlightenment was the mind's natural state, nothing needed to be done in order to attain enlightenment other than letting go of all striving for that state. Authentic Chan practice therefore entailed only maintaining this original purity of the mind by simply sitting silently in meditation. The practice of silent illumination is traditionally attributed to HONGZHI ZHENGJUE (see MOZHAO MING) and ZHENGXIE QINGLIAO, who helped revive the moribund Caodong lineage during the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries and turned it into one of the two major forces in mature Song-dynasty Chan. The silent-illumination technique that they championed was harshly criticized by teachers in the rival LINJI ZONG, most notably Hongzhi's contemporary DAHUI ZONGGAO. In Japan, the ZEN master DoGEN KIGEN is credited with transmitting the Caodong lineage to the Japanese isles in the thirteenth century, where it is known as the SoToSHu (the Japanese pronunciation of Caodong zong); it became one of the three major branches of the Japanese Zen school, along with RINZAISHu and oBAKUSHu. In Korea, just one of the early Nine Mountains schools of SoN (see KUSAN SoNMUN), the Sumisan school, is presumed to trace back to a teacher, Yunju Daoying (d. 902), who was also a disciple of Dongshan Liangjie; the Caodong school had no impact in the subsequent development of Korean Son, where Imje (C. Linji zong) lineages and practices dominated from the thirteenth century onwards.
carita. (T. spyod pa; C. xing; J. gyo; K. haeng 行). In Sanskrit and PAli, "conduct," "behavior," or "temperament"; an alternative form is Sanskrit caryA (P. cariyA). As "behavior," carita is typically bifurcated into either good (sucarita) or bad (S. duscarita; P. duccarita) conduct. As "temperament," carita is used to indicate six general character types, which are predominantly biased toward the negative temperaments of greedy (RAGA), hateful (S. DVEsA; P. dosa), and deluded (MOHA), or the more positive temperaments of faithful (S. sRADDHA; P. saddhA), intelligent (BUDDHI), and discursive (S. VITARKA; P. vitakka), a taxonomy found in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. The first three types of temperaments are negative and thus need to be corrected. (1) A greedy temperament is constantly searching out new sensory experiences and clings to things that are not beneficial. (2) A hateful temperament is disaffected, always finding imaginary faults in others; along with the intelligent temperament, he is less prone to clinging than the other character types. (3) A deluded temperament is agitated and restless, because he is unable to make up his mind about anything and follows along with others' decisions. The latter three types of temperaments are positive and thus need to be enhanced. (4) A faithful temperament is like a greedy type who instead cultivates wholesome actions and clings to what is beneficial. (5) An intelligent temperament is like a hateful type who performs salutary actions and points out real faults; along with the hateful temperament, he is less prone to clinging than the other character types. (6) A discursive temperament is characterized by a restlessness of mind that constantly flits from topic to topic and vacillates due to his constant conjecturing; if these discursive energies can be harnessed, however, that knowledge may lead to wisdom. The Visuddhimagga also provides detailed guidelines for determining a person's temperament by observing their posture, their preferences in food, and the sort of mental concomitants with which they are typically associated. This knowledge of temperaments is important as a tool of practice (BHAVANA), because in the Visuddhimagga's account of visualization (P. KASInA) exercises, the practitioner is taught to use an appropriate kasina device or meditation topic (P. KAMMAttHANA) either to mitigate the influence of the negative temperaments or enhance the influence of the positive ones. Thus, a practitioner with a greedy temperament is advised to emphasize the cemetery contemplations on foulness (S. AsUBHABHAVANA; P. asubhabhAvanA) and mindfulness of the body (S. KAYANUPAsYANA; P. kAyAnupassanA; see also SMṚTYUPASTHANA); the hateful temperament, the four divine abidings (BRAHMAVIHARA) and the four color kasinas (of blue, yellow, red, white); the deluded temperament, mindfulness of breathing (S. ANAPANASMṚTI; P. AnApAnasati); the discursive temperament, also mindfulness of breathing; the faithful temperament, the first six recollections (S. ANUSMṚTI; P. anussati), viz., of the Buddha, the DHARMA, the SAMGHA, morality, generosity, and the divinities; and the intelligent temperament, the recollections of death and peace, the analysis of the four elements, and the loathsomeness of food. Suitable to all six temperaments are the other six kasinas (viz., of earth, water, fire, air, light, and empty space) and the immaterial absorptions (S. ARuPYAVACARADHYANA; P. arupAvacarajhAna). ¶ In the MAHAYANA, caryA, carita, and related terms (e.g., Sanskrit compounds such as duscara) refer specifically to the difficult course of action that a BODHISATTVA pursues in order to reach the goal of enlightenment. These actions include the unending search or pilgrimage for a teacher, the sacrifices required to meet with an authentic teacher who can teach MahAyAna doctrines (see SADAPRARUDITA, SUDHANA), and the difficult practices of charity, such as giving away all possessions, including family members and even one's body (see DEHADANA; SHESHEN). The JATAKAMALA of sura, the BODHICARYAVATARA of sANTIDEVA, and to a certain extent the BUDDHACARITA of AsVAGHOsA set forth a model of the authentic bodhisattva's behavior for aspirants to emulate. In Buddhist TANTRA, caryA refers to a code of ritual purity, and to an esoteric practice called "yoga with signs" (SANIMITTAYOGA) followed by CARYATANTRA practitioners.
catharist ::: n. --> One aiming at or pretending to a greater purity of like than others about him; -- applied to persons of various sects. See Albigenses.
Catuḥsataka. (T. Bzhi brgya pa; C. Guang Bai lun ben; J. Kohyakuronpon; K. Kwang Paengnon pon 廣百論本). In Sanskrit, "Four Hundred [Stanzas]"; the magnum opus of ARYADEVA, a third century CE Indian monk of the MADHYAMAKA school of MAHAYANA philosophy and the chief disciple of NAGARJUNA, the founder of that tradition. The four-hundred verses are divided into sixteen chapters of twenty-five stanzas each, which cover many of the seminal teachings of Madhyamaka philosophy. The first four of the sixteen chapters are dedicated to arguments against erroneous conceptions of permanence, satisfaction, purity, and a substantial self. In chapter 5, Aryadeva discusses the career of a BODHISATTVA, emphasizing the necessity for compassion (KARUnA) in all of the bodhisattva's actions. Chapter 6 is a treatment of the three afflictions (KLEsA) of greed or sensuality (LOBHA or RAGA), hatred or aversion (DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA). Chapter 7 explains the need to reject sensual pleasures. In chapter 8, Aryadeva discusses the proper conduct and attitude of a student of the TATHAGATA's teaching. Chapters 9 through 15 contain a series of arguments refuting the erroneous views of other Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools. These refutations center on Aryadeva's understanding of emptiness (suNYATA) as the fundamental characteristic of reality. For example, in chapter 9, Aryadeva argues against the conception that anything, including liberation, is permanent and independent of causes. In chapter 11, Aryadeva argues against the SARVASTIVADA claim that dharmas exist in reality in the past, present, and future. Chapter 16, the final chapter, is a discussion of emptiness and its centrality to the Madhyamaka school and its doctrine. There is a lengthy and influential commentary on the text by CANDRAKĪRTI, entitled CatuḥsatakatīkA; its full title is BodhisattvayogacaryAcatuḥsatakatīkA. The Catuḥsataka was translated into Chinese by XUANZANG and his translation team at DACI'ENSI, in either 647 or 650-651 CE. The work is counted as one of the "three treatises" of the Chinese SAN LUN ZONG, where it is treated as Aryadeva's own expansion of his *sATAsASTRA (C. BAI LUN; "One Hundred Treatise"); hence, the Chinese instead translates the title as "Expanded Text on the One Hundred [Verse] Treatise." Some have speculated, to the contrary, that the satasAstra is an abbreviated version of the Catuḥsataka. The two works consider many of the same topics, including the nature of NIRVAnA and the meaning of emptiness in a similar fashion and both refute SAMkhya and Vaisesika positions, but the order of their treatment of these topics and their specific contents differ; the satasAstra also contains material not found in the Catuḥsataka. It is, therefore, safer to presume that these are two independent texts, not that one is a summary or expansion of the other. It is possible that the satasAstra represents KumArajīva's interpretation of the Catuḥsataka, but this is difficult to determine without further clarity on the Indian text that KumArajīva translated.
Celibacy ::: The practice of refraining from sexual relationships in the interest of religious purity, known in Judaism among the Essenes and developed extensively in Christianity.
• cending brings peace and purity into all the inner parts ; the inner separates itself from the imperfect outer consciousness and at the same time the peace that comes carries in it a Power which can throw out what contradicts the peace and purity.
Changlu Zongze. (J. Choro Sosaku; K. Changno Chongsaek 長蘆宗賾) (d.u.; fl. c. late eleventh to early twelfth centuries). Chinese CHAN monk of the YUNMEN ZONG. Little is known about his life, but Changlu is said to have been a native of Yongnian in Luozhou, in present-day Henan province. Changlu also seems to have had a close relation to the disciples of Tianyi Yihuai (993-1064), himself a disciple of the Yunmen Chan master XUEDOU CHONGXUAN. Changlu eventually became a student of Tianyi's disciples Fayun Faxiu (1027-1090) and Changlu Yingfu (d.u.), and later inherited the latter's lineage. Changlu Zongze is most famous for his compilation of the influential text on Chan monastic regulations or "rules of purity" (QINGGUI), the CHANYUAN QINGGUI, during his tenure at the Chan monastery Hongji chanyuan in 1103. When a revised edition of the Chanyuan qinggui was published in 1202, the meditation manual ZUOCHAN YI, probably composed by Changlu or his colleagues, was included. Changlu is also remembered as a PURE LAND adept renowned for his rigorous practice of NIANFO, the recitation of the name of the buddha AMITABHA. He later moved to Changlu in present-day Jiangxi province, whence he acquired his toponym. Changlu was later given the title Chan master Cijue (Compassionate Enlightenment).
Chanyuan qinggui. (J. Zen'on shingi; K. Sonwon ch'onggyu 禪苑清規). In Chinese, "Pure Rules of the Chan Garden"; compiled by the CHAN master CHANGLU ZONGZE, in ten rolls. According to its preface, which is dated 1103, the Chanyuan qinggui was modeled on BAIZHANG HUAIHAI's legendary "rules of purity" (QINGGUI) and sought to provide a standardized set of monastic rules and an outline of institutional administration that could be used across all Chan monasteries. As the oldest extant example of the qinggui genre, the Chanyuan qinggui is an invaluable source for the study of early Chan monasticism. It was the first truly Chinese set of monastic regulations that came to rival in importance and influence the imported VINAYA materials of Indian Buddhism and it eventually came to be used not only in Chan monasteries but also in "public monasteries" (SHIFANG CHA) across the Chinese mainland. The Chanyuan qinggui provides meticulous descriptions of monastic precepts, life in the SAMGHA hall (SENGTANG), rites and rituals, manners of giving and receiving instruction, and the various institutional offices at a Chan monastery. A great deal of information is also provided on the abbot and his duties, such as the tea ceremony. Semi-independent texts such the ZUOCHAN YI, a primer of meditation, the Guijing wen, a summary of the duties of the monastic elite, and the Baizhang guisheng song, Zongze's commentary on Baizhang's purported monastic code, are also appended at the end of the Chanyuan qinggui. The Japanese pilgrims MYoAN EISAI, DoGEN KIGEN, and ENNI BEN'EN came across the Chanyuan qinggui during their visits to various monastic centers in China and, upon their return to Japan, they used the text as the basis for the establishment of the Zen monastic institution. Copies of a Chinese edition by a certain Yu Xiang, dated 1202, are now housed at the Toyo and Kanazawa Bunko libraries. The Chanyuan qinggui was also imported into Korea, which printed its own edition of the text in 1254; the text was used to reorganize Korean monastic institutions as well.
chastely ::: adv. --> In a chaste manner; with purity.
chasteness ::: n. --> Chastity; purity.
Freedom from all that is meretricious, gaudy, or affected; as, chasteness of design.
chastity ::: n. --> The state of being chaste; purity of body; freedom from unlawful sexual intercourse.
Moral purity.
The unmarried life; celibacy.
Chasteness.
Ching: Essence. "Essence and vital force (ch'i) constitute things." Purity; the pure nature. Spirit; intelligence. Concentration; unity of thought.
chitta suddhi. ::: purity of mind; purification of the mind; purity of conscience
Ch'onch'aek. (天頙) (1206-?). The fourth patriarch of the Korean White Lotus Society (PAENGNYoN KYoLSA) during the middle of the Koryo dynasty; also known as State Preceptor Chinjong ("True Calmness" or "True Purity," using homophonous Sinographs). Ch'onch'aek was a descendent of a Koryo merit official, who devoted himself to Confucian studies from a young age and passed the civil-service examinations at the age of twenty. At twenty-three, he became a monk under the tutelage of State Preceptor WoNMYO YOSE (1163-1245), the founder of the White Lotus Society (cf. BAILIAN SHE) at Mount Mandok in T'amjin county (present-day Kangjin in South Cholla province), and subsequently assisted his teacher Yose in the Society's campaign. In 1244, Ch'onch'aek traveled to Mimyonsa on Mount Kongdok in Sangju county (present-day Mun'gyong in North Kyongsang province) to open and lead the society there at the request of the renowned magistrate of Sangju, Ch'oe Cha (1188-1260). The Kongdoksan branch of the society was called the East White Lotus; the Mandoksan branch was by contrast called the South White Lotus. In the late 1250s or early 1260s, Ch'onch'aek returned to Mandoksan to become the fourth patriarch of the White Lotus Society. He later retired to Yonghyoram (Dragon Cavity Hermitage) on Mount Tongnyong, south of Mandoksan, where he continued an active correspondence with literati. Indeed, Ch'onch'aek maintained close associations with several of the famous literati of his time and invited them to participate in the activities of the White Lotus Society. Ch'onch'aek's thought reflects the historical realities of Korea during the Mongol invasion. In his letters to civil and military officials, Ch'onch'aek opined that killing the invading Mongol army would be an appropriate act for a BODHISATTVA, because it would stop the invaders from performing evil actions that would lead them to endless suffering in the hells. His Haedongjon hongnok ("Extended Record of the Transmission [of Buddhism] in Korea"), a four-roll collection of miracle tales related to worship of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") , sought to popularize that scripture also in order to help bring peace to the Korean peninsula. Ch'onch'aek's literary talent was so renowned that the famous Choson literatus Chong Yagyong (1762-1836) counted him among the three greatest writers of the Silla and Koryo dynasties. Ch'onch'aek's works, none of which are extant in full, include the Haedongjon hongnok and his literary collection, the Hosan nok ("Record of Lakes and Mountains"). Authorship of the SoNMUN POJANGNOK is attributed to Ch'onch'aek, although this attribution is still in question.
cittavisuddhi. (S. cittavisuddhi). In PAli, "purity of mind"; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the second of seven "purities" (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Purity of mind refers to the eight meditative absorptions (P. JHANA; S. DHYANA) or attainments (SAMAPATTI) belonging to the subtle-materiality realm (rupAvacara) and the immaterial realm (ArupyAvacara). Meditative absorption belonging to the subtle-materiality realm (P. rupAvacarajhAna; S. RuPAVACARADHYANA) is subdivided into four stages, each of which is characterized by an increasing attenuation of consciousness as the meditator progresses from one stage to the next. Meditative absorption belonging to the immaterial realm (P. arupAvacarajhAna; S. ARuPYAVACARADHYANA) is likewise subdivided into four stages, but in this case it is the object of meditation that becomes attenuated from one stage to the next. In the first immaterial absorption, the meditator sets aside the perception of materiality and abides in the sphere of infinite space (P. AkAsAnaNcAyatana; S. AKAsANANTYAYATANA). In the second immaterial absorption, the meditator sets aside the perception of infinite space and abides in the sphere of infinite consciousness (P. viNNanaNcAyatana; S. VIJNANANANTYAYATANA). In the third immaterial absorption, the meditator sets aside the perception of infinite consciousness and abides in the sphere of nothingness (P. AkiNcaNNAyatana; S. AKINCANYAYATANA). In the fourth immaterial absorption, the meditator sets aside the perception of nothingness and abides in the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception (P. nevasaNNAnAsaNNAyatana; S. NAIVASAMJNANASAMJNAYATANA). To this list of eight absorptions is added "access" or "neighborhood" "concentration" (P. UPACARASAMADHI), which is the degree of concentration present in the mind of the meditator just prior to entering any of the four jhAnas.
cleanness ::: n. --> The state or quality of being clean.
Purity of life or language; freedom from licentious courses.
clearness ::: purity; transparency.
CONCENTRATION ::: Fixing the consciousness in one place or on one object and in a single condition.
A gathering together of the consciousness and either centralising at one point or turning on a single object, e.g. the Divine; there can also be a gathered condition throughout the whole being, not at a point.
Concentration is necessary, first to turn the whole will and mind from the discursive divagation natural to them, following a dispersed movement of the thoughts, running after many-branching desires, led away in the track of the senses and the outward mental response to phenomena; we have to fix the will and the thought on the eternal and real behind all, and this demands an immense effort, a one-pointed concentration. Secondly, it is necessary in order to break down the veil which is erected by our ordinary mentality between ourselves and the truth; for outer knowledge can be picked up by the way, by ordinary attention and reception, but the inner, hidden and higher truth can only be seized by an absolute concentration of the mind on its object, an absolute concentration of the will to attain it and, once attained, to hold it habitually and securely unite oneself with it.
Centre of Concentration: The two main places where one can centre the consciousness for yoga are in the head and in the heart - the mind-centre and the soul-centre.
Brain concentration is always a tapasyā and necessarily brings a strain. It is only if one is lifted out of the brain mind altogether that the strain of mental concentration disappears.
At the top of the head or above it is the right place for yogic concentration in reading or thinking.
In whatever centre the concentration takes place, the yoga force generated extends to the others and produces concentration or workings there.
Modes of Concentration: There is no harm in concentrating sometimes in the heart and sometimes above the head. But concentration in either place does not mean keeping the attention fixed on a particular spot; you have to take your station of consciousness in either place and concentrate there not on the place, but on the Divine. This can be done with eyes shut or with eyes open, according as it best suits.
If one concentrates on a thought or a word, one has to dwell on the essential idea contained in the word with the aspiration to feel the thing which it expresses.
There is no method in this yoga except to concentrate, preferably in the heart, and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force to transform the consciousness; one can concentrate also in the head or between the eye-brows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is a beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be.
Powers (three) of Concentration ::: By concentration on anything whatsoever we are able to know that thing, to make it deliver up its concealed secrets; we must use this power to know not things, but the one Thing-in-itself. By concentration again the whole will can be gathered up for the acquisition of that which is still ungrasped, still beyond us; this power, if it is sufficiently trained, sufficiently single-minded, sufficiently sincere, sure of itself, faithful to itself alone, absolute in faith, we can use for the acquisition of any object whatsoever; but we ought to use it not for the acquisition of the many objects which the world offers to us, but to grasp spiritually that one object worthy of pursuit which is also the one subject worthy of knowledge. By concentration of our whole being on one status of itself we can become whatever we choose ; we can become, for instance, even if we were before a mass of weaknesses and fears, a mass instead of strength and courage, or we can become all a great purity, holiness and peace or a single universal soul of Love ; but we ought, it is said, to use this power to become not even these things, high as they may be in comparison with what we now are, but rather to become that which is above all things and free from all action and attributes, the pure and absolute Being. All else, all other concentration can only be valuable for preparation, for previous steps, for a gradual training of the dissolute and self-dissipating thought, will and being towards their grand and unique object.
Stages in Concentration (Rajayogic) ::: that in which the object is seized, that in which it is held, that in which the mind is lost in the status which the object represents or to which the concentration leads.
Concentration and Meditation ::: Concentration means fixing the consciousness in one place or one object and in a single condition Meditation can be diffusive,e.g. thinking about the Divine, receiving impressions and discriminating, watching what goes on in the nature and acting upon it etc. Meditation is when the inner mind is looking at things to get the right knowledge.
vide Dhyāna.
Conditions essfntitd for meditation ::: There are no essential external conditions, but solitude and seclusion at the time of meditation as as stillness of the body arc helpful, sometimes almost necessary to the beginner. Bui one should not bound b' external conditions. Once the habit of meditation is formed, it should be mads possible to do it in all circumstances, l.ving. sitting, walking, alone, in company, in silettce or in the midst of noise etc. The first imeroal condition necessary is concentration of the will against the obstacles to meditation. i.e. wandermg of the mind, forgetfulness, sfeep, phjsieal and nervous impatience and restlessness etc. The second is an increasing purity and calm of the inner consciousness (citia) out of which thought and emotion arise, i.e. a freedom frona all disturb i ng reactions, such as anger, grief, depression, anxiet>' about w-orldly happenings etc. Mental perfection and moral are always closely allied to each other.
corruption ::: n. --> The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration.
The product of corruption; putrid matter.
The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery.
The act of changing, or of being changed, for the
creosote ::: n. --> Wood-tar oil; an oily antiseptic liquid, of a burning smoky taste, colorless when pure, but usually colored yellow or brown by impurity or exposure. It is a complex mixture of various phenols and their ethers, and is obtained by the distillation of wood tar, especially that of beechwood. ::: v. t.
darkness ::: n. --> The absence of light; blackness; obscurity; gloom.
A state of privacy; secrecy.
A state of ignorance or error, especially on moral or religious subjects; hence, wickedness; impurity.
Want of clearness or perspicuity; obscurity; as, the darkness of a subject, or of a discussion.
A state of distress or trouble.
Dasa-bhumi: Sanskrit for ten stages. In Buddhist terminology, the ten stages of the spiritual development of a Bodhisattva (q.v.) toward Buddhahood. Each school of Buddhism has its own dasa-bhumi, but the most widely accepted set in Mahayana Buddhism is that set forth in the Dasa-bhumi Sastra, viz.: (1) The Stage of Joy, in which the Bodhisattva develops his holy nature and discards wrong views; (2) the Stage of Purity, in which he attains the Perfection of Morality; (3) the Stage of Illumination, in which he attains the Perfection of Patience or Humility, and also the deepest introspective insight; (4) the Stage of Flaming Wisdom, in which he achieves the Perfection of Meditation and realizes the harmony of the Worldly Truth and the Supreme Truth; (5) the Stage of Presence, in which he achieves the Perfection of Wisdom; (7) the Stage of Far-going, in which he attains the Perfection of Expediency by going afar and to save all beings; (8) the Stage of Immovability, in which he attains the Perfection of Vow and realizes the principle that all specific characters of elements (dharmas) are unreal; (9) the Stage of Good Wisdom, in which he achieves the Perfection of Effort, attains the Ten Holy Powers, and preaches both to the redeemable and the unredeemable; (10) the Stage of the Cloud of the Law, in which he attains mastery of Perfect Knowledge and preaches the Law to save all creatures, “like the cloud drops rain over all.”
Dasheng qixin lun. (S. *Mahāyānasraddhotpādasāstra; J. Daijo kishinron; K. Taesŭng kisin non 大乗起信論). In Chinese, "Treatise on the Awakening of Faith According to the MAHĀYĀNA"; attributed to the Indian author AsVAGHOsA, but now widely assumed to be an indigenous Chinese text (see APOCRYPHA) composed in the sixth century; typically known in English as simply the "Awakening of Faith." Since its composition, the text has remained one of the most influential treatises in all of East Asian Buddhism. The earliest and most widely used "translation" (c. 550) is attributed to the famous YOGĀCĀRA scholar PARAMĀRTHA, although some scholars have speculated that Paramārtha may in fact have composed the treatise after his arrival in China, perhaps even in Sanskrit, and then translated it into Chinese. The author of the Dasheng qixin lun sought to reconcile two of the dominant, if seemingly incompatible, strands in Mahāyāna Buddhism: TATHĀGATAGARBHA (embryo or womb of the buddhas) thought and the ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA (storehouse consciousness) theory of consciousness. Tathāgatagarbha thought taught that all sentient beings have the potential to achieve enlightenment because that enlightenment is in fact inherent in the minds of sentient beings. What that doctrine did not seem to explain well to the East Asians, however, was why sentient beings who were inherently enlightened would have become deluded in the first place. ĀlayavijNāna theory, by contrast, posited that the foundational recesses of the mind serve as a storehouse of the essentially infinite numbers of potentialities or seeds (BĪJA) of all past actions, including unsalutary deeds; this interpretation suggested to the East Asians that mental purity was not innate and that enlightenment therefore had to be catalyzed by some external source, such as "hearing the dharma," which would then prompt a "transformation of the basis" (ĀsRAYAPARĀVṚTTI) that could lead to purity of mind. The ālayavijNāna thus explained the intractability of ignorance and delusion, but did not seem to offer ready accessibility to enlightenment. In its search for common ground between these two doctrines, the Dasheng qixin lun instead describes the mind as being comprised of two distinct, but complementary, aspects: true thusness (ZHENRU; S. TATHATĀ) and production-and-cessation (shengmie), which correspond respectively to ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and conventional truth (SAMVṚTISATYA) or the unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA) and conditioned (SAMSKṚTA) realms. Since the mind that is subject to production and cessation (which the treatise identifies with ālayavijNāna) remains always grounded on the mind of true thusness (which the treatise identifies with tathāgatagarbha), the mind is therefore simultaneously deluded and enlightened. This distinction between this enlightened essence of the mind as "true thusness" and its various temporal manifestations as "production and cessation" is also described in terms of "essence" (TI) and "function" (YONG). From the standpoint of the buddhas and sages, the mind of the sentient being is therefore seen as being perpetually in a state of "original enlightenment" or "intrinsic enlightenment" (BENJUE; see also HONGAKU), while from the standpoint of sentient beings that same mind is seen as being deluded and thus in need of purification through a process of "actualizing enlightenment" (SHIJUE). Actualizing enlightenment involves the cultivation of calmness (ji; S. sAMATHA) and insight (guan; S. VIPAsYANĀ), as well as the development of no-thought (WUNIAN), aspects of training that receive extensive discussion in the treatise. Once the process of actualizing enlightenment is completed, however, the student realizes that the enlightenment achieved through cultivation is in fact identical to the enlightenment that is innate. Hence, the difference between these two types of enlightenment is ultimately a matter of perspective: the buddhas and sages see the innate purity of the tathāgatagarbha as something intrinsic; ordinary persons (PṚTHAGJANA) see it as something that must be actualized through practice. Some East Asian Buddhists, such as WoNHYO (617-686), seem to have presumed that the KŬMGANG SAMMAE KYoNG (S. *Vajrasamādhisutra) was the scriptural source of the Dasheng qixin lun's emblematic teaching of the one mind and its two aspects, even though we now know that that scripture was a Korean apocryphon that was not composed until over a century later. The most important commentaries to the Dasheng qixin lun are Wonhyo's TAESŬNG KISIN NON SO and TAESŬNG KISIN NON PYoLGI, FAZANG's DASHENG QIXIN LUN YI JIs, and JINGYING HUIYUAN's Dasheng qixin lun yishu.
Dasheng wusheng fangbian men. (J. Daijo musho hobenmon; K. Taesŭng musaeng pangp'yon mun 大乗無生方便門). In Chinese, "Expedient Means of [Attaining] Nonproduction according to the MAHĀYĀNA"; a summary of the teachings of the Northern School (BEI ZONG) of CHAN. Several different recensions of this treatise were discovered at DUNHUANG; the text is also known as the Dasheng wufangbian Beizong ("Five Expedient Means of the Mahāyāna: the Northern School"). These different editions speak of five expedient means (UPĀYA): (1) a comprehensive explanation of the essence of buddhahood (corresponding to the DASHENG QIXIN LUN), (2) opening the gates of wisdom and sagacity (viz., the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA), (3) manifesting the inconceivable dharma (the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA), (4) elucidating the true nature of dharmas (Sutra of [the god] Siyi), and (5) the naturally unobstructed path to liberation (the AVATAMSAKASuTRA). Although this arrangement of scriptures bears a superficial resemblance to a taxonomy of texts (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI), a common feature of Chinese Buddhist polemics and exegesis, this listing was not intended to be hierarchical. The explanation of the five expedient means occurs largely in dialogic format. Unlike the Dasheng wufangbian Beizong, the Dasheng wusheng fangbian men also provides a description of the method of conferring the BODHISATTVA precepts (PUSA JIE). In its discussions of both the five expedient means and the bodhisattva precepts, great emphasis is placed on the need for purity of mind.
Dasheng yi zhang. (J. Daijo gisho; K. Taesŭng ŭi chang 大乗義章). In Chinese, "Compendium of the Purport of Mahāyāna"; compiled by JINGYING HUIYUAN; a comprehensive dictionary of Buddhist numerical lists that functions as a virtual encyclopedia of MAHĀYĀNA doctrine. Huiyuan organized 249 matters of doctrine into five sections: teachings, meanings, afflictions, purity, and miscellaneous matters (this last section is no longer extant). Each section is organized numerically, much as are some ABHIDHARMA treatises. The section on afflictions begins, for instance, with the meaning of the two hindrances and ends with the 84,000 hindrances. These various listings are then explained from a Mahāyāna perspective, with corroboration drawn from quotations from scriptures, treatises, and the sayings of other teachers. The Dasheng yi zhang serves as an important source for the study of Chinese Mahāyāna thought as it had developed during the Sui dynasty (589-618).
2. When the Jewish People plant fruit trees in the Land of Israel, the fruits of those trees are forbidden for the first three years, and are referred to as orlah, literally &
debase ::: a. --> To reduce from a higher to a lower state or grade of worth, dignity, purity, station, etc.; to degrade; to lower; to deteriorate; to abase; as, to debase the character by crime; to debase the mind by frivolity; to debase style by vulgar words.
debauch ::: n. --> To lead away from purity or excellence; to corrupt in character or principles; to mar; to vitiate; to pollute; to seduce; as, to debauch one&
della crusca ::: --> A shortened form of Accademia della Crusca, an academy in Florence, Italy, founded in the 16th century, especially for conserving the purity of the Italian language.
Desire nothing but the purity, force, fight, wideness, calm, Ananda of the divine consciousness and Us insistence to transform and perfect your mind, life and body. Ask for notfifng 6ut the divine, spiritual and supramenfal Truth, its realisation on earth and in you and in all who arc called and chosen and the condi- tions needed for its creation and its Wcfoiy over all opposing forces.
dews ::: 1. Water droplets condensed from the air, usually at night, onto cool surfaces. 2. Something like or compared to such drops of moisture, as in purity, delicacy, or refreshing quality. dewy, Dew-time.
dhairyaṁ suddhatanantyalipsa mahadbhavah. ::: calmness, purity, the urge towards infinity, greatness.
Dharmakaya (Sanskrit) Dharmakāya [from dharma law, continuance from the verbal root dhṛ to support, carry, continue + kāya body] Continuance-body, body of the law. One of the trikaya of Buddhism, which consists of 1) nirmanakaya, 2) sambhogakaya, and 3) dharmakaya. “It is that spiritual body or state of a high spiritual being in which the restricted sense of soulship and egoity has vanished into a universal (hierarchical) sense, and remains only in the seed, latent — if even so much. It is pure consciousness, pure bliss, pure intelligence, freed from all personalizing thought” (OG 38). In the dharmakaya vesture the initiate is on the threshold of nirvana or in the nirvanic state. Sometimes the dharmakaya is called the “nirvana without remains,” for once having reached that state the buddha or bodhisattva remains entirely outside of every earthly condition; he will return no more until the commencement of a new manvantara, for he has crossed the cycle of births. Dharmakaya state is that of parasamadhi, where no progress is possible — at least as long as the entity remains in it. Such entities may be said to be for the time being crystallized in purity and homogeneity. This is, likewise, one of the states of adi-buddha, and as such is called the mystic, universally diffused essence, the robe or vesture of luminous spirituality. See also TRIKAYA; TRISARANA
ditthivisuddhi. In Pāli, "purity of understanding"; the third of seven purities (P. visuddhi; S. VIsUDDHI) that are to be developed along the path to liberation according to THERAVĀDA Buddhist soteriological theory. In the VISUDDHIMAGGA, purity of understanding refers to correct knowledge according to reality (YATHĀBHuTA) of the nature of mentality and materiality (NĀMARuPA) through reliance on discriminative wisdom, having overcome all mistaken belief in the existence of a perduring soul (attan; S. ĀTMAN). The ordinary person (puggala; S. PUDGALA) and, indeed, all of the phenomenal universe or realm of rebirth (SAMSĀRA) are comprised merely of mentality and materiality. Mind and matter, whether taken singly or together, do not constitute a self; but there is also no self existing apart from mind and matter that possesses them as their controller. Rather, the self is to be correctly regarded as merely a conventional expression (vohāradesanā) that does not designate a real, existing thing. The purity of understanding thus reveals that everything that exists is selfless (anattā; S. ANĀTMAN). Such an understanding of the selflessness of mind and matter penetrates the veil of conventional truth (sammutisacca; S. SAMVṚTISATYA) and apprehends ultimate truth (paramatthasacca; S. PARAMĀRTHASATYA).
DIVINE AND FORM. ::: The personal realisation of the Divine may be sometimes with Form, sometimes without Form. Without Form, it is the Presence of the living Divine Person, felt in everything. With Form, it comes with the image of the One to whom worship is offered. The Divine can always manifest himself in a form to the Bhakta or seeker. One sees him in the form in which one worships or seeks him or in a form suitable to the Divine Personality who is the object of the adoration. How it manifests depends upon many things and it is too various to be reduced to a single rule. Sometimes it is in the heart that the Presence with the form is seen, sometimes in any of the other centres, sometimes above and guiding from there, sometimes it is seen outside and in front as if an embodied person. Its advantages are an intimate relation and constant guidance or if felt or seen within, a very strong and concrete realisation of the constant Presence. But one must be very sure of the purity of one’s adoration and seekings for the disadvantage of this kind of embodied relation is that other Forces can imitate the Form or counterfeit the voice and the guidance and this gets more force if it is associated with a constructed image which is not the true thing. Several have been misled in this way because pride, vanity or desire was strong in them and robbed them of the fine psychic perception that is not mental.
Divine Love ::: Divine Love which is at the heart of all creation and the most powerful of all redeeming and creative forces has yet been the least frontally present in earthly life, the least successfully redemptive, the least creative. Human nature has been unable to bear it in its purity for the very reason that it is the most powerful, pure, rare and intense of all the divine energies.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 167
".. . Divine Love which is at the heart of all creation and the most powerful of all redeeming and creative forces has yet been the least frontally present in earthly life, the least successfully redemptive, the least creative. Human nature has been unable to bear it in its purity for the very reason that it is the most powerful, pure, rare and intense of all the divine energies; . . . . ” The Synthesis of Yoga
“.. . Divine Love which is at the heart of all creation and the most powerful of all redeeming and creative forces has yet been the least frontally present in earthly life, the least successfully redemptive, the least creative. Human nature has been unable to bear it in its purity for the very reason that it is the most powerful, pure, rare and intense of all the divine energies; …” The Synthesis of Yoga
“ . . . Divine Love which is at the heart of all creation and the most powerful of all redeeming and creative forces has yet been the least frontally present in earthly life, the least successfully redemptive, the least creative. Human nature has been unable to bear it in its purity for the very reason that it is the most powerful, pure, rare and intense of all the divine energies; what little could be seized has been corrupted at once into a vital pietistic ardour, a defenceless religious or ethical sentimentalism, a sensuous or even sensual erotic mysticism of the roseate coloured mind or passionately turbid life-impulse and with these simulations compensated its inability to house the Mystic Flame that could rebuild the world with its tongues of sacrifice. The Synthesis of Yoga
Dreams of physical mind and yogic dreams ; The dreams of the physical mind are an incoherent jumble made up partly of responses to vague touches from the physical world round which the lower mind-faculties disconnected from the will and reason, the bttddhi, weave a web of wandering phantasy, partly of disordered associations from the bram-memory, partly of reflections from the soul travelling on the mental plane, reflections which are, ordinarily, received without intelligence or co-ordination, wildly distorted in the reception and mixed up confusedly with the other dream elements, wnlh brain-memories and fantastic responses to any sensory touch from the physical world. In the yogic dream-state, on the other hand, the mind is in clear pos- session of itself, though not of the physical world, works cohe- rently and is able to use either its ordinary will and intelligence with a concentrated power or else the higher will and intelli- gence of the more exalted planes of mind. It withdraws from experience of the outer world, it puts its seals upon the physical senses and their doors of communication with material things ; but everything that is proper to itself, thought, reasoning, reflec- tion, vision, it can continue to execute with an increased purity and power of sovereign concentration free from the distractions and unsteadiness of the waking mind. It can use too its will and produce upon itself or upon its environment mental, moral and even physical effects which may continue and have their after-consequences on the waking state subsequent to the cessa- tion of the trance.
dunjiao. (J. tongyo; K. ton'gyo 頓教). In Chinese, "sudden teachings," or "subitism"; a polemical term used by HOZE SHENHUI in the so-called "Southern school" (NAN ZONG) of Chan to disparage his rival "Northern school" (BEI ZONG) as a gradualist, and therefore inferior, presentation of Chan teachings and practice. Unlike the Northern school's more traditional soteriological approach, which was claimed to involve gradual purification of the mind so that defilements would be removed and the mind's innate purity revealed, the Southern school instead claimed to offer immediate access to enlightenment itself (viz., "sudden awakening"; see DUNWU) without the necessity of preparatory practices or conceptual mediation. See also LIUZU TAN JING. ¶ The "sudden teaching" (dunjiao) was also the fourth of the five classifications of the teachings in the Huayan school (see HUAYAN WUJIAO), as outlined by DUSHUN and FAZANG (643-712). In a Huayan context, the sudden teachings were ranked as a unique category of subitist teachings befitting sharp people of keen spiritual faculties (S. TĪKsNENDRIYA), which therefore bypassed systematic approaches to enlightenment. Huayan thus treats the Chan school's touted methods involving sudden enlightenment (dunwu) and its rejection of reliance on written texts (BULI WENZI) as inferior to the fifth and final category of the "perfect" or "consummate teaching" (YUANJIAO), which was reserved for the HUAYAN ZONG.
During the second round even globe D of the earth-chain had not attained its present coarse consistency but was of an ethereal nature, although more dense and heavy than during the first round. Its characteristic was airy — that element, “the purity of which would ensure continuous life to him who would use it. . . . From the second Round, Earth — hitherto a foetus in the matrix of Space — began its real existence: it had developed individual sentient life, its second principle” (SD 1:260).
elaiometer ::: n. --> An apparatus for determining the amount of oil contained in any substance, or for ascertaining the degree of purity of oil.
emblematical ::: a. --> Pertaining to, containing, or consisting in, an emblem; symbolic; typically representative; representing as an emblem; as, emblematic language or ornaments; a crown is emblematic of royalty; white is emblematic of purity.
Erru sixing lun. (J. Ninyu shigyoron; K. Iip sahaeng non 二入四行論). In Chinese, "Treatise on the Two Accesses and Four Practices," attributed to the legendary Indian monk BODHIDHARMA, putative founder of the CHAN ZONG; regardless of the authenticity of this ascription, the text is legitimately regarded as the earliest text of the Chan school. The treatise provides an outline of "two accesses" (ER RU): the access of principle (liru) a more static approach to practice, which sought an intuitive insight into the DHARMA and a recognition of the fact that each and every person was innately endowed with the capacity for enlightenment. This was complemented by the access of practice (xingru), which was subdivided into four progressive practices: retribution of enmity, acquiescing to conditions, seeking nothing, and practicing in accord with the dharma. The treatise underscores the inherent purity of the practitioner, which it glosses as the dharma or principle, and betrays little evidence of features that come to characterize the later Chan tradition, such as the debate over sudden or gradual enlightenment, the rejection of traditional meditative techniques, etc. Numerous copies of this treatise were found in DUNHUANG, and citations of this text are found in the XU GAOSENG ZHUAN, LENGQIE SHIZI JI, and JINGDE CHUANDENG LU. The text was published in Korea as part of the SoNMUN CH'WARYO and in Japan as the SHoSHITSU ROKUMONSHu. A preface to this relatively short treatise was prepared by the monk Tanlin (fl. 506-574) and some editions of the treatise also contain two letters attributed to Bodhidharma's disciple HUIKE.
eudiometer ::: n. --> An instrument for the volumetric measurement of gases; -- so named because frequently used to determine the purity of the air.
eudiometry ::: n. --> The art or process of determining the constituents of a gaseous mixture by means of the eudiometer, or for ascertaining the purity of the air or the amount of oxygen in it.
Faithfulness to the Light and the Call — to refuse to listen to any suggestions, impulses, lures and to oppose to them all the call of the Truth, the imperative beckoning of the Light. In all doubt and depression, to say, “ I belong to the Divine, I cannot fail ” ; to all suggestions of impurity and unfitness, to reply, “ I am a child of Immortality chosen by the Divine ; I have but to be true to myself and to Him — the victory is sure ; even if I fell, I would rise again " ; to all impulses to depart and serve some smaller ideal, to reply, "This is the greatest, this is the Truth that alone can satisfy the soul within me ;
filthiness ::: n. --> The state of being filthy.
That which is filthy, or makes filthy; foulness; nastiness; corruption; pollution; impurity.
fineness ::: a. --> The quality or condition of being fine.
Freedom from foreign matter or alloy; clearness; purity; as, the fineness of liquor.
The proportion of pure silver or gold in jewelry, bullion, or coins.
Keenness or sharpness; as, the fineness of a needle&
fine ::: superl. --> Finished; brought to perfection; refined; hence, free from impurity; excellent; superior; elegant; worthy of admiration; accomplished; beautiful.
Aiming at show or effect; loaded with ornament; overdressed or overdecorated; showy.
Nice; delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; skillful; dexterous.
Not coarse, gross, or heavy
FOUNDATION IN YOGA. ::: The things that have to be established are . brahmacarya, complete sex-purity ; samah, quiet and harmony in the being, its forces maintained but con- trolled, harmonised, disciplined ; satyam, truth and sincerity in the whole nature ; prasanfUj, a general state of peace and calm ; atmasanyaina, the power and habit to control whatever needs control in the movements of the nature. When these are fairly established, one has laid the foundation on which one can deve- lop the yoga consciousness and with the yoga consciousness there comes an easy opening to realisation and experience.
four noble truths. (S. catvāry āryasatyāni; P. cattāri ariyasaccāni; T. 'phags pa'i bden pa bzhi; C. si shengdi; J. shishodai; K. sa songje 四聖諦). Although the term "four noble truths" is well established in English-language works on Buddhism, it is a misleading translation of the original Sanskrit and Pāli terms. The term translated as "noble" (ĀRYA) refers not to the truths themselves, but to those who understand them; thus, the compound may more accurately, if less euphoniously, be rendered as "four truths [known by the spiritually] noble"; they are four facts known to be true by those "noble ones" with insight into the nature of reality, but not known by ordinary beings (PṚTHAGJANA). The four truths are: suffering (DUḤKHA), origination (SAMUDAYA), cessation (NIRODHA), and path (MĀRGA). The four noble truths are the subject of extensive exegesis in the tradition, but the four terms and the relationships among them may be summarized as follows. Existence in the realms that are subject to rebirth, called SAMSĀRA, is qualified by suffering (duḥkha), the first truth (the Sanskrit term may also be rendered as "sorrow," "pain," or more generally "unsatisfactoriness"). The types of sufferings that beings undergo in the various destinations of rebirth are enumerated at great length in Buddhist texts. In his first sermon delivered after his enlightenment (see DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA), the Buddha identifies the following as forms of suffering: birth, aging, sickness, death, encountering what is unpleasant, separation from what is pleasant, not gaining what one desires, and the five SKANDHAs. The second truth is the origination (samudaya), or cause, of suffering. In his first sermon, the Buddha identifies the cause of suffering as craving (TṚsnĀ) or attachment; in his second sermon, the ANATTALAKKHAnASUTTA, said to have been delivered five days later, he suggests that the belief is self (ĀTMAN) is the cause of suffering. In other works, he lists two causes of suffering: unwholesome or unsalutary (AKUsALA) actions (KARMAN) such as killing, stealing, and lying, and the unwholesome mental states (see CAITTA) that motivate unwholesome actions. These unwholesome mental states include greed (LOBHA), hatred (DVEsA), and ignorance (MOHA), with ignorance referring here to an active misperception of the nature of the person and the world or, more technically, to an unsystematic attention (AYONIsOMANASKĀRA) to the true nature of things, leading to the following "inverted views" (VIPARYĀSA): seeing pleasure where there is actually pain, purity where there is impurity, permanence where there is impermanence, and self where there is no self. The third truth is the cessation (nirodha) of suffering, which refers to NIRLĀnA, the "deathless" (AMṚTA) state that transcends all suffering. The fourth and final truth is that of the path (mārga) to the cessation of suffering. The path is delineated in exhaustive detail in Buddhist texts; in his first sermon, the Buddha describes an eightfold path (ĀRLĀstĀnGAMĀRGA). The four truths therefore posit the unsatisfactory nature of existence, identify its causes, hold out the prospect of a state in which suffering and its causes are absent, and set forth a path to that state. Suffering is to be identified, its origin destroyed, its cessation realized, and the path to its cessation followed. The four truths demonstrate the importance of causality (see HETUPRATYAYA) in Buddhist thought and practice. Suffering is the effect of the cause, or origin, viz., "craving." Cessation is the absence of suffering, which results from the destruction of suffering's origin, craving. The path is the means by which one attains that cessation. The Buddha states in his first sermon that when he gained absolute and intuitive knowledge of the four truths, he achieved complete enlightenment and freedom from future rebirth. The four truths are also often described in terms of their sixteen aspects (sodasākāra), which counteract four inverted views (viparyāsa) for each truth. For the truth of suffering, the four aspects are knowledge that the aggregates (SKANDHA) are impermanent, suffering, empty, and selfless; these counteract seeing permanence, pleasure, mine (MAMAKĀRA), and I (AHAMKĀRA), respectively. For the truth of origination, the four aspects are knowledge that KLEsA(affliction) and action (karman) are cause (HETU), origination (samudaya), producer (saMbhava), and condition (PRATYAYA); they counteract the view that there is no cause, that there is a single cause, that the cause is transformation of a fundamental nature, and that the cause is a prior act of divine will, respectively. For the truth of cessation, the four aspects are knowledge that nirvāna is cessation (NIRODHA), peace (sānta), sublime (pranīta), and a definite escape (niryāna); these counteract the view that there is no liberation, that liberation is suffering, that the pleasure of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA) is unmitigated, and that NIRLĀnA is not firmly irreversible. And for the truth of the path, the four aspects are knowledge that the eightfold noble path is a path (mārga), correct method (UPĀYA), practice (PRATIPATTI), and brings a definite escape (nairyānika); these counteract the view that there is no path, that this eightfold noble path is vile, that something else is also a path, and that this path is reversible. Some Mahāyāna sutras say that those who are attached to (ABHINIVEsA) the four noble truths as being essentially true do not understand the purport of the Buddha's doctrine; only the teaching of the third noble truth, NIRLĀnA, is definitive (NĪTĀRTHA), the statements about the other truths require interpretation (NEYĀRTHA). See also DARsANAMĀRGA.
Four, the ::: same as the fourfold isvara; the four Vedic gods (Varun.a,Four Mitra, Aryaman and Bhaga) who "build up the whole divine state into its perfection by the natural interaction of its four essential elements", the four gods representing respectively "the all-pervading purity" of sat (Varun.a), "the all-uniting light" of cit (Mitra), "the movement and all-discerning force" of tapas (Aryaman) and "the allembracing joy" of ananda (Bhaga), thus being "practically the later
free from moral blemish or impurity; pure; undefiled.
fresh ::: free from impurity or pollution; pure.
Ganymede [from Greek and Latin Ganymedes] The fairest youth among mortals, abducted by Zeus. One interpretation is that when Ganymede, standing for objects of low desire, is seized by the World Lord of a darker cycle, Astraea, goddess of justice and purity, is cast out, and the Golden Age is then over (SD 2:785); astronomically, it stands for an inversion of the earth’s poles, which casts down Virgo (Astraea) and brings up Aquarius (Ganymedes).
Golden age: In occultism, the Satya Yuga (q.v.); an era of purity, simplicity of interests and pursuits and universal happiness.
Gold The king of metal, symbol of perfection, durability, and purity; of the real sun, the great masculine principle, the Father, the positive side of the solar cosmic life. Alchemists considered gold as being a deposit of solar light, regarding light as the emanative fire from the sun. The gold of human nature, which has to be purified by fire from its dross, is manas, the self-conscious element, when purified from contamination with the dross of the lower principles and united with buddhi. While divine alchemy seeks to purify the gold of human nature, physical alchemy seeks to derive gold by transmutation from baser metals. In contrast with gold, brass is mentioned as signifying the baser elements or the world of passional matter; and by another contrast, silver is the analog of the watery or feminine principle, whose planetary counterpart is the moon.
gotrabhuNāna. In Pāli, "change-of-lineage knowledge," a specific type of knowledge (P. Nāna; S. JNĀNA) included in the category "purity of knowledge and vision" (NĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), which is the seventh and final purity (P. VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Change-of-lineage knowledge takes as its object the unconditioned NIRVĀnA element (P. nibbānadhātu), by virtue of which the practitioner leaves the lineage of ordinary worldlings (P. puthujjanagotta; cf. S. PṚTHAGJANA; GOTRA) and enters the lineage of the noble ones (P. ariyagotta; S. āryagotra). Change-of-lineage knowledge itself is reckoned as a transitional moment of consciousness in that it has not yet entered onto any one of the four supramundane or noble paths (P. ariyamagga; S. ĀRYAMĀRGA),viz., that of the stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (P. sakadāgāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (ANĀGĀMI) or worthy one (P. arahant; S. ARHAT). Immediately following the occurrence of change-of-lineage knowledge there arises a moment of consciousness called MAGGACITTA, or "path consciousness," that signals the practitioner's actual entry into the noble path. It is this path consciousness that, technically speaking, constitutes the aforementioned "purity of knowledge and vision." At this point, if the practitioner has entered the path of the stream-enterer, he has permanently uprooted the first three of ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind beings to the cycle of existence, viz., (1) belief in the existence of a self in relation to the body (P. sakkāyaditthi; S. SATKĀYADṚstI), (2) doubt about the efficacy of the path (P. vicikicchā; S. VICIKITSĀ), and (3) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (P. sīlabbataparāmāsa; S. sĪLAVRATAPARĀMARsA). Having become a stream-enterer, the practitioner is destined never again to be reborn in any of the three unfortunate realms (DURGATI) of the hells, hungry ghosts, or animals, and is guaranteed to attain nirvāna in at most seven more lifetimes.
Grail, Holy In Christian legend, the cup or chalice which Jesus used at the Last Supper, later used to catch his blood. It was made from the stone which fell from Lucifer’s crown as he plunged to earth. As Lucifer brought the mental principle to mankind, the stone can be seen as egoic consciousness. In medieval times, the grail associated with unusual powers, especially the regeneration of life and Christian purity. See also CERIDWEN, CAULDRON OF; CUP
gter ma. (terma). In Tibetan, "hidden treasures" or "treasure text," a source of Tibetan Buddhist and BON sacred objects, including a wide range of manuscripts, relics, statuary, and ritual implements from earlier periods. Such treasure texts have been found in caves, mountains, lakes, valleys, or sequestered away in monasteries, sometimes within a pillar. Whether gter ma are BUDDHAVACANA, i.e., authentic words of the Buddha (or a buddha) or whether they are APOCRYPHA, is contested. In the RNYING MA canon, a division is made between gter ma and BKA' MA, the latter made up of commonly authenticated canonical works. Some gter ma are authentic (although proper criteria for authenticity is a subject of debate in both traditional and modern sources), and some are clearly forgeries and fabricated antiquities. Gter ma are of three types: sa gter ("earth treasure"), dgongs gter ("mind treasure"), and dag snang ("pure vision"). Those physically discovered in caves and so on are sa gter; they may be revealed in a public gathering (khrom gter) or found privately (gsang gter) and then shown to others; they may be accompanied by a prophecy (lung bstan; gter lung; see VYĀKARAnA) of the discovery, made at the time of concealment; the gter ma may have a guardian (gter srung), and the revealer (GTER STON) is often assisted by a dĀKINĪ. Dgongs gter are discovered in the mindstream of the revealer, placed there as seeds to be found, coming from an earlier lifetime, often as a direct disciple of PADMASAMBHAVA. Dag snang are discovered by the revealer through the power of the innate purity of the mind. Gter ma are associated most closely with the RNYING MA sect, although not exclusively so. The basic account of gter ma, in which myth and historical fact are interwoven, relates that prior to the persecution of Buddhism by GLANG DAR MA (reigned c. 838-842), PADMASAMBHAVA hid many teachings, often dictated to YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL, as treasures to be discovered in later times in order to ensure the continuation of the doctrine and to provide appropriate teachings for future generations. The first Tibetan gter ma appear sometime after the start of the second dispensation (PHYI DAR), c. 1000, with the rise of the new (GSAR MA) sects of BKA' GDAMS, SA SKYA, and BKA' BRGYUD, who in many cases call into question the authenticity of earlier Tibetan practices and translations. Gter ma became more common in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Prominent among the revealers is PADMA LAS 'BREL RTSAL, a shadowy figure who revealed the RDZOGS CHEN SNYING THIG that KLONG CHEN RAB 'BYAMS PA then systematized into the definitive RDZOGS CHEN teachings. Klong chen pa's scholarly presentation was again made more accessible through a series of gter ma (called the KLONG CHEN SNYING THIG) discovered by 'JIGS MED GLING PA. These are the basis of the rdzogs chen teachings as they are commonly found today in most branches of the Rnying ma sect. According to traditional accounts, Padmasambhava taught a system of meditation called the MKHA' 'GRO SNYING THIG ("Heart Essence of the dākinī") to PADMA GSAL, the daughter of king KHRI SRONG SDE BTSAN, in whose heart he had inscribed a sacred syllable after bringing her back from the dead. They were discovered there by Padma las 'brel rtsal and Klong chen pa, who are her reincarnations. Besides this widely acknowledged tradition, there are numerous other gter ma that form the basis of practices and rituals in specific Rnying ma monasteries. For example, the main line of teachings and consecrations (ABHIsEKA) in the DPAL YUL monastery in the Khams region of eastern Tibet, and in its reestablished Indian branch near Mysore in South India, is based on gter ma teachings combining Rnying ma and Bka' brgyud practices, revealed by Mi 'gyur rdo rje and redacted by KARMA CHAGS MED; the gter ma discovered by PADMA GLING PA are held in great reverence by the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD sect in Bhutan; and the secret teachings of the fifth DALAI LAMA (1617-1682) that later locate and legitimate the role of the Dalai Lamas in the Dge lugs pa sect originated in gter ma that he revealed. The different gter ma were brought together in a quasi-canonical form by 'JAM MGON KONG SPRUL BLO GROS MTHA' YAS in his RIN CHEN GTER MDZOD ("Treasury of Precious Treasure Teachings"). It is believed that the sacred and even political space of Tibet is empowered through the discovery of gter ma and, by extension, that the religious practice of a region is empowered through the discovery of treasures within it.
gunapāramitā. (T. yon tan pha rol tu phyin pa; C. gongde boluomi; J. kudokuharamitsu; K. kongdok paramil 功德波羅蜜). In Sanskrit, "the perfection of qualities," referring to the four salutary qualities of the TATHĀGATAGARBHA: permanence, purity, bliss, and self, as described in the sRĪMĀLĀDEVĪSIMHANĀDASuTRA. These qualities are in distinction to the four perverted views (VIPARYĀSA), where ignorant sentient beings regard the conditioned realm of SAMSĀRA as being permanent, pure, blissful, and self when in fact it is impermanent (ANITYA), impure (asubha), suffering (DUḤKHA), and not-self (ANĀTMAN). More specifically, according to the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākyā, sentient beings assume that all the conditioned phenomena they experience are permanent and real: they consider their own bodies to be pure, regard their five aggregates (SKANDHA) as having a perduring self (ĀTMAN), falsely imagine permanence in the transitory, and mistakenly regard saMsāra as a source of real happiness. In order to counter these attachments, the Buddha therefore taught that saMsāra is impermanent, impure, suffering, and not-self. However, the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākyā says it would be wrong to assume that these four qualities also apply to the tathāgatagarbha or the DHARMAKĀYA; the Buddha teaches that it is endowed with the four gunapāramitā, or perfect qualities, of permanence, purity, bliss, and self. The FOXING LUN ("Buddha-Nature Treatise") additionally presents the gunapāramitā as resulting from the perfection of four soteriological practices, e.g., bliss refers to the condition of being free from suffering, which is experienced through cultivating a SAMĀDHI that overcomes wrong conceptions of emptiness (suNYATĀ); permanence indicates the endless variety of acts that bodhisattvas cultivate on the path of great compassion (MAHĀKARUnĀ), etc. This positive valorization of the qualities of the tathāgatagarbha serves to counteract any mistaken tendency toward nihilism that might be prompted by the apophatic language used within the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ literature or the MADHYAMAKA school.
hall-mark ::: n. --> The official stamp of the Goldsmiths&
heal ::: v. t. --> To cover, as a roof, with tiles, slate, lead, or the like.
To make hale, sound, or whole; to cure of a disease, wound, or other derangement; to restore to soundness or health.
To remove or subdue; to cause to pass away; to cure; -- said of a disease or a wound.
To restore to original purity or integrity.
To reconcile, as a breach or difference; to make whole; to free from guilt; as, to heal dissensions.
Heaven and Hell ::: Every ancient exoteric religion taught that the so-called heavens are divided into steps or grades ofascending bliss and purity; and the so-called hells into steps or grades of increasing purgation orsuffering. Now the esoteric doctrine or occultism teaches that the one is not a punishment, nor is theother strictly speaking a reward. The teaching is, simply, that each entity after physical death is drawn tothe appropriate sphere to which the karmic destiny of the entity and the entity's own character andimpulses magnetically attract it. As a man works, as a man sows, in his life, that and that only shall hereap after death. Good seed produces good fruit; bad seed, tares -- and perhaps even nothing of value orof spiritual use follows a negative and colorless life.After the second death, the human monad "goes" to devachan -- often called in theosophical literature theheaven-world. There are many degrees in devachan: the highest, the intermediate, and the lowest. Whatbecomes of the entity, on the other hand, the lower human soul, that is so befouled and weighted withearth thought and the lower instincts that it cannot rise? There may be enough in it of the spirit nature tohold it together as an entity and enable it to become a reincarnating being, but it is foul, it is heavy; itstendency is consequently downwards. Can it therefore rise into a heavenly felicity? Can it go even intothe lower realms of devachan and there enjoy its modicum of the beatitude, bliss, of everything that isnoble and beautiful? No. There is an appropriate sphere for every degree of development of the ego-soul,and it gravitates to that sphere and remains there until it is thoroughly purged, until the sin has beenwashed out, so to say. These are the so-called hells, beneath even the lowest ranges of devachan; whereasthe arupa heavens are the highest parts of the devachan. Nirvana is a very different thing from theheavens. (See also Kama-Loka, Avichi, Devachan, Nirvana)
Hefsek Taharah (&
holiness ::: n. --> The state or quality of being holy; perfect moral integrity or purity; freedom from sin; sanctity; innocence.
The state of being hallowed, or consecrated to God or to his worship; sacredness.
honor ::: n. --> Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence.
That which rightfully attracts esteem, respect, or consideration; self-respect; dignity; courage; fidelity; especially, excellence of character; high moral worth; virtue; nobleness; specif., in men, integrity; uprightness; trustworthness; in women, purity; chastity.
Human mediumship is a voluntary, or more often involuntary, subjection to the lower planes of astral substance which, while more ethereal than ordinary matter, yet are of a quality more gross, more powerful, and usually more malefic. Entrance into these astral realms produces a species of astral intoxication, from the delusion of strange because unknown and often unequilibrated forces, deceptive astral pictures; and the astral intoxication is increased because of considering these experiences as wonder-phenomena. In other words, the conditions and experiences sensed are as genuine, and as unreliable and utterly useless, as are the hallucinations of the delirious or insane. Only an occultist of masterful will and great purity of life can rise consciously to the spiritual plane and, looking down on the astral levels below, understand, control, and remember what he sees. In untrained mediumship the atoms and molecules of the astrally “controlled” body which the alien astral entity uses to mold into a form and to move with its own desire-impulses, retain this astral psychomagnetic imprint. With repeated trances, the medium grows continuously and progressively less than his individual self, because of his thoughts and feelings becoming mixed with, overlaid, or blurred by ideas and emotions which per se are abnormal and misleading. He therefore becomes irresponsible as a source of genuine spiritual knowledge and prevision, and still less responsible as a guardian of sacred truths. Because of this, untrained mediumship precludes initiation into the Mysteries as the person’s faith in his astral “control” would dominate him instead of the rules of the sanctuary.
Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum (Latin) Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews; the initials are the same as those of the medieval Rosicrucian motto, Igne natura renovatur integra (by fire nature is restored in purity, or pure matter is restored by spirit).
Igne Natura Renovatur Integra (Latin) By fire nature is restored in purity, or pure matter is restored by spirit; the medieval Rosicrucian motto signifying that the working of the inner fire of the spirit, when operating free and unchained by its surrounding veils, reduces these veils into oneness with itself, so that pure, complete, or original nature is restored to its primordial essence. Thus, in its application to the human being, when a person lives entirely in the light or fire of the spirit or god within, all his veils of consciousness coalesce with the inner fire, so that his original spiritual being is restored and he becomes a god-man.
immixture ::: n. --> Freedom from mixture; purity.
immoral ::: a. --> Not moral; inconsistent with rectitude, purity, or good morals; contrary to conscience or the divine law; wicked; unjust; dishonest; vicious; licentious; as, an immoral man; an immoral deed.
impeachment ::: n. --> The act of impeaching, or the state of being impeached
Hindrance; impediment; obstruction.
A calling to account; arraignment; especially, of a public officer for maladministration.
A calling in question as to purity of motives, rectitude of conduct, credibility, etc.; accusation; reproach; as, an impeachment of motives.
impureness ::: n. --> The quality or condition of being impure; impurity.
impurity ::: n. --> The condition or quality of being impure in any sense; defilement; foulness; adulteration.
That which is, or which renders anything, impure; foul matter, action, language, etc.; a foreign ingredient.
Want of ceremonial purity; defilement.
IMPURITY. ::: The Anaoda descending cannot be held if there is too much sexual impurity creating an intoxicant or degrading mixture ; the Power recedes, if there is ambition, vanity or other aggressive form of lower self, the Oght if there is an attachment to obscurity or to any form of the Ignorance, the Presence if the chamber of the heart has not been made pure.
In cases of ecstasy, on the other hand — or of the true seer — there is supernormal activity of the mental-spiritual nature of the person whose human soul in being freed or absent from its kama-manasic desires and consciousness, becomes allied with his higher mind. Thus he becomes intellectually highly lucid, spiritually conscious, and illumined. His now quiescent personal self offers no bar to the reality of the light of truth flowing into him from his own higher nature. His condition, whether a spontaneous exaltation, a state self-induced, or invoked at will, is a direct contrast with the mediumistic state. He is vividly self-conscious of his experience, and he retains the memory of it. Such an exalted state of entrancement is only possible for those individuals who are prepared by great purity of life and a trained will, which are also prerequisites for the mystic rites of the higher initiations.
indelicacy ::: n. --> The quality of being indelicate; want of delicacy, or of a nice sense of, or regard for, purity, propriety, or refinement in manners, language, etc.; rudeness; coarseness; also, that which is offensive to refined taste or purity of mind.
indelicate ::: a. --> Not delicate; wanting delicacy; offensive to good manners, or to purity of mind; coarse; rude; as, an indelicate word or suggestion; indelicate behavior.
"Influence is more important than example. Influence is not the outward authority of the Teacher over his disciple, but the power of his contact, of his presence, of the nearness of his soul to the soul of another, infusing into it, even though in silence, that which he himself is and possesses. This is the supreme sign of the Master. For the greatest Master is much less a Teacher than a Presence pouring the divine consciousness and its constituting light and power and purity and bliss into all who are receptive around him.” The Synthesis of Yoga*
“Influence is more important than example. Influence is not the outward authority of the Teacher over his disciple, but the power of his contact, of his presence, of the nearness of his soul to the soul of another, infusing into it, even though in silence, that which he himself is and possesses. This is the supreme sign of the Master. For the greatest Master is much less a Teacher than a Presence pouring the divine consciousness and its constituting light and power and purity and bliss into all who are receptive around him.” The Synthesis of Yoga
ing down of light and peace and purity in those parts from above.
innocence ::: n. --> The state or quality of being innocent; freedom from that which is harmful or infurious; harmlessness.
The state or quality of being morally free from guilt or sin; purity of heart; blamelessness.
The state or quality of being not chargeable for, or guilty of, a particular crime or offense; as, the innocence of the prisoner was clearly shown.
Simplicity or plainness, bordering on weakness or
INTEGRAL YOGA ::: This yoga accepts the value of cosmic existence and holds it to be a reality; its object is to enter into a higher Truth-Consciousness or Divine Supramental Consciousness in which action and creation are the expression not of ignorance and imperfection, but of the Truth, the Light, the Divine Ānanda. But for that, the surrender of the mortal mind, life and body to the Higher Consciousnessis indispensable, since it is too difficult for the mortal human being to pass by its own effort beyond mind to a Supramental Consciousness in which the dynamism is no longer mental but of quite another power. Only those who can accept the call to such a change should enter into this yoga.
Aim of the Integral Yoga ::: It is not merely to rise out of the ordinary ignorant world-consciousness into the divine consciousness, but to bring the supramental power of that divine consciousness down into the ignorance of mind, life and body, to transform them, to manifest the Divine here and create a divine life in Matter.
Conditions of the Integral Yoga ::: This yoga can only be done to the end by those who are in total earnest about it and ready to abolish their little human ego and its demands in order to find themselves in the Divine. It cannot be done in a spirit of levity or laxity; the work is too high and difficult, the adverse powers in the lower Nature too ready to take advantage of the least sanction or the smallest opening, the aspiration and tapasyā needed too constant and intense.
Method in the Integral Yoga ::: To concentrate, preferably in the heart and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force transform the consciousness. One can concentrate also in the head or between the eye-brows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is the beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be. For the rest one must not depend on one’s own efforts only, but succeed in establishing a contact with the Divine and a receptivity to the Mother’s Power and Presence.
Integral method ::: The method we have to pursue is to put our whole conscious being into relation and contact with the Divine and to call Him in to transform Our entire being into His, so that in a sense God Himself, the real Person in us, becomes the sādhaka of the sādhana* as well as the Master of the Yoga by whom the lower personality is used as the centre of a divine transfiguration and the instrument of its own perfection. In effect, the pressure of the Tapas, the force of consciousness in us dwelling in the Idea of the divine Nature upon that which we are in our entirety, produces its own realisation. The divine and all-knowing and all-effecting descends upon the limited and obscure, progressively illumines and energises the whole lower nature and substitutes its own action for all the terms of the inferior human light and mortal activity.
In psychological fact this method translates itself into the progressive surrender of the ego with its whole field and all its apparatus to the Beyond-ego with its vast and incalculable but always inevitable workings. Certainly, this is no short cut or easy sādhana. 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 contact with the Divine, the wide, full and therefore laborious preparation of the whole lower Nature by the divine working to receive and become the higher Nature, and the eventual transformation. In fact, however, the divine strength, often unobserved and behind the veil, substitutes itself for the 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 comparison with the magnitude of its effort and object, the most easy and sure of all.
There are three outstanding features of this action 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 succession 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 purification and perfection. In a sense, therefore, each man in this path has his own method of Yoga. Yet are there certain broad lines of working common to all which enable us to construct not indeed a routine system, but yet some kind of Shastra or scientific method of the synthetic Yoga.
Secondly, the process, being integral, accepts our nature such as it stands organised by our past evolution and without rejecting anything essential compels all to undergo a divine change. Everything in us is seized by the hands of a mighty Artificer and transformed into a clear image of that which it now seeks confusedly to present. In that ever-progressive experience we begin to perceive how this lower manifestation is constituted and that everything in it, however seemingly deformed or petty or vile, is the more or less distorted or imperfect figure of some elements or action in the harmony of the divine Nature. We begin to understand what the Vedic Rishis meant when they spoke of the human forefathers fashioning the gods as a smith forges the crude material in his smithy.
Thirdly, the divine Power in us uses all life as the means of this integral Yoga. Every experience and outer contact with our world-environment, 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 perfection. 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 subconscious in Nature, in the other it becomes swift and selfconscious and the instrument confesses 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 completion in the individual. It is a gathering up and concentration of the movements dispersed and loosely combined in the lower evolution.
Key-methods ::: The way to devotion and surrender. It is the psychic movement that brings the constant and pure devotion and the removal of the ego that makes it possible to surrender.
The way to knowledge. Meditation in the head by which there comes the opening above, the quietude or silence of the mind and the descent of peace etc. of the higher consciousness generally till it envelops the being and fills the body and begins to take up all the movements.
Yoga by works ::: Separation of the Purusha from the Prakriti, the inner silent being from the outer active one, so that one has two consciousnesses or a double consciousness, one behind watching and observing and finally controlling and changing the other which is active in front. The other way of beginning the yoga of works is by doing them for the Divine, for the Mother, and not for oneself, consecrating and dedicating them till one concretely feels the Divine Force taking up the activities and doing them for one.
Object of the Integral Yoga is to enter into and be possessed by the Divine Presence and Consciousness, to love the Divine for the Divine’s sake alone, to be tuned in our nature into the nature of the Divine, and in our will and works and life to be the instrument of the Divine.
Principle of the Integral Yoga ::: The whole principle of Integral Yoga is to give oneself entirely to the Divine alone and to nobody else, and to bring down into ourselves by union with the Divine Mother all the transcendent light, power, wideness, peace, purity, truth-consciousness and Ānanda of the Supramental Divine.
Central purpose of the Integral Yoga ::: Transformation of our superficial, narrow and fragmentary human way of thinking, seeing, feeling and being into a deep and wide spiritual consciousness and an integrated inner and outer existence and of our ordinary human living into the divine way of life.
Fundamental realisations of the Integral Yoga ::: The psychic change so that a complete devotion can be the main motive of the heart and the ruler of thought, life and action in constant union with the Mother and in her Presence. The descent of the Peace, Power, Light etc. of the Higher Consciousness through the head and heart into the whole being, occupying the very cells of the body. The perception of the One and Divine infinitely everywhere, the Mother everywhere and living in that infinite consciousness.
Results ::: First, an integral realisation of Divine Being; not only a realisation 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 the relative consciousness; not only realisation of unity in the Self, but of unity in the infinite diversity of activities, worlds and creatures.
Therefore, also, an integral liberation. Not only the freedom born of unbroken contact of the individual being in all its parts with the Divine, sāyujya mukti, by which it becomes free even in its separation, even in the duality; not only the sālokya mukti by which the whole conscious existence dwells in the same status of being as the Divine, in the state of Sachchidananda ; but also the acquisition of the divine nature by the transformation of this lower being into the human image of the divine, sādharmya mukti, and the complete and final release of all, the liberation of the consciousness from the transitory mould of the ego and its unification with the One Being, universal both in the world and the individual and transcendentally one both in the world and beyond all universe.
By this integral realisation and liberation, the perfect harmony of the results of Knowledge, Love and Works. For there is attained the complete release from ego and identification in being with the One in all and beyond all. But since the attaining consciousness is not limited by its attainment, we win also the unity in Beatitude and the harmonised diversity in Love, so that all relations 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 upon withdrawal from life, we are able to become without egoism, bondage or reaction the channel in our mind and body for a divine action poured out freely upon the world.
The divine existence is of the nature not only of freedom, but of purity, beatitude and perfection. In integral purity which shall enable on the one hand the perfect reflection 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 functioning of the complex instrument we are in our outer parts, is the condition of an integral liberty. Its result is an integral beatitude, in which there becomes possible at once the Ānanda of all that is in the world seen as symbols of the Divine and the Ānanda of that which is not-world. And it prepares the integral perfection of our humanity as a type of the Divine in the conditions of the human manifestation, a perfection 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 action. This integrality also can be attained by the integral Yoga.
Sādhanā of the Integral Yoga does not proceed through any set mental teaching or prescribed forms of meditation, mantras or others, but by aspiration, by a self-concentration inwards or upwards, by a self-opening to an Influence, to the Divine Power above us and its workings, to the Divine Presence in the heart and by the rejection of all that is foreign to these things. It is only by faith, aspiration and surrender that this self-opening can come.
The yoga does not proceed by upadeśa but by inner influence.
Integral Yoga and Gita ::: The Gita’s Yoga consists in the offering of one’s work as a sacrifice to the Divine, the conquest of desire, egoless and desireless action, bhakti for the Divine, an entering into the cosmic consciousness, the sense of unity with all creatures, oneness with the Divine. This yoga adds the bringing down of the supramental Light and Force (its ultimate aim) and the transformation of the nature.
Our yoga is not identical with the yoga of the Gita although it contains all that is essential in the Gita’s yoga. In our yoga we begin with the idea, the will, the aspiration of the complete surrender; but at the same time we have to reject the lower nature, deliver our consciousness from it, deliver the self involved in the lower nature by the self rising to freedom in the higher nature. If we do not do this double movement, we are in danger of making a tamasic and therefore unreal surrender, making no effort, no tapas and therefore no progress ; or else we make a rajasic surrender not to the Divine but to some self-made false idea or image of the Divine which masks our rajasic ego or something still worse.
Integral Yoga, Gita and Tantra ::: The Gita follows the Vedantic tradition which leans entirely on the Ishvara aspect of the Divine and speaks little of the Divine Mother because its object is to draw back from world-nature and arrive at the supreme realisation beyond it.
The Tantric tradition leans on the Shakti or Ishvari aspect and makes all depend on the Divine Mother because its object is to possess and dominate the world-nature and arrive at the supreme realisation through it.
This yoga insists on both the aspects; the surrender to the Divine Mother is essential, for without it there is no fulfilment of the object of the yoga.
Integral Yoga and Hatha-Raja Yogas ::: For an integral yoga the special methods of Rajayoga and Hathayoga may be useful at times in certain stages of the progress, but are not indispensable. Their principal aims must be included in the integrality of the yoga; but they can be brought about by other means. For the methods of the integral yoga must be mainly spiritual, and dependence on physical methods or fixed psychic or psychophysical processes on a large scale would be the substitution of a lower for a higher action. Integral Yoga and Kundalini Yoga: There is a feeling of waves surging up, mounting to the head, which brings an outer unconsciousness and an inner waking. It is the ascending of the lower consciousness in the ādhāra to meet the greater consciousness above. It is a movement analogous to that on which so much stress is laid in the Tantric process, the awakening of the Kundalini, the Energy coiled up and latent in the body and its mounting through the spinal cord and the centres (cakras) and the Brahmarandhra to meet the Divine above. In our yoga it is not a specialised process, but a spontaneous upnish of the whole lower consciousness sometimes in currents or waves, sometimes in a less concrete motion, and on the other side a descent of the Divine Consciousness and its Force into the body.
Integral Yoga and other Yogas ::: The old yogas reach Sachchidananda through the spiritualised mind and depart into the eternally static oneness of Sachchidananda or rather pure Sat (Existence), absolute and eternal or else a pure Non-exist- ence, absolute and eternal. Ours having realised Sachchidananda in the spiritualised mind plane proceeds to realise it in the Supramcntal plane.
The suprcfhe supra-cosmic Sachchidananda is above all. Supermind may be described as its power of self-awareness and W’orld- awareness, the world being known as within itself and not out- side. So to live consciously in the supreme Sachchidananda one must pass through the Supermind.
Distinction ::: The realisation of Self and of the Cosmic being (without which the realisation of the Self is incomplete) are essential steps in our yoga ; it is the end of other yogas, but it is, as it were, the beginning of outs, that is to say, the point where its own characteristic realisation can commence.
It is new as compared with the old yogas (1) Because it aims not at a departure out of world and life into Heaven and Nir- vana, but at a change of life and existence, not as something subordinate or incidental, but as a distinct and central object.
If there is a descent in other yogas, yet it is only an incident on the way or resulting from the ascent — the ascent is the real thing. Here the ascent is the first step, but it is a means for the descent. It is the descent of the new coosdousness attain- ed by the ascent that is the stamp and seal of the sadhana. Even the Tantra and Vaishnavism end in the release from life ; here the object is the divine fulfilment of life.
(2) Because the object sought after is not an individual achievement of divine realisation for the sake of the individual, but something to be gained for the earth-consciousness here, a cosmic, not solely a supra-cosmic acbievement. The thing to be gained also is the bringing of a Power of consciousness (the Supramental) not yet organised or active directly in earth-nature, even in the spiritual life, but yet to be organised and made directly active.
(3) Because a method has been preconized for achieving this purpose which is as total and integral as the aim set before it, viz., the total and integral change of the consciousness and nature, taking up old methods, but only as a part action and present aid to others that are distinctive.
Integral Yoga and Patanjali Yoga ::: Cilia is the stuff of mixed mental-vital-physical consciousness out of which arise the movements of thought, emotion, sensation, impulse etc.
It is these that in the Patanjali system have to be stilled altogether so that the consciousness may be immobile and go into Samadhi.
Our yoga has a different function. The movements of the ordinary consciousness have to be quieted and into the quietude there has to be brought down a higher consciousness and its powers which will transform the nature.
intemerateness ::: n. --> The state of being unpolluted; purity.
INTENSITY. ::: Experiences can be intense and yet be very mixed in their truth and their character. In your experience your oNSTi subjeciivii}', someUmes your epo-pushes intCTfcre very much and give them their form and the Impression they create on you.
Intensity is not a guarantee of entire truth and correctness in an experience ; it is only purity of the consciousness that can give an entire truth and correctness.
In the Codex Nazaraeus Fetahil is also presented as one of the creative powers who were commanded to form man, and who tried to obey but failed because he was too pure; whereupon other and lower powers — Iukabar Zivo — had to be called to complete the work. In the hierarchical structure of the universe, all so-called creative powers of too high a rank are unable because of their spiritual purity and lofty state to form the lower planes until the intermediate ranges, in the gradually descending ladder of life, have been evolved or emanated into manifestation.
In the Ideen and in later works, Husserl applied the epithet "transcendental" to consciousness as it is aside from its (valid and necessary) self-apperception as in a world. At the same time, he restricted the term "psychic" to subjectivity (personal subjects, their streams of consciousness, etc.) in its status as worldly, animal, human subjectivity. The contrast between transcendental subjectivity and worldly being is fundamental to Husserl's mature concept of pure phenomenology and to his concept of a universal phenomenological philosophy. In the Ideen, this pure phenomenology, defined as the eidetic science of transcendental subjectivity, was contrasted with psychology, defined as the empirical science of actual subjectivity in the world. Two antitheses are involved, however eidetic versus factual, and transcendental versus psychic. Rightly, they yield a four-fold classification, which Husserl subsequently made explicit, in his Formale und Transzendentale Logik (1929), Nachwort zu meinen Ideen (1930), and Meditations Cartesiennes (1931). In these works, he spoke of psychology as including all knowledge of worldly subjectivity while, within this science, he distinguished an empirical or matter-of-fact pure psychology and an eidetic pure psychology. The former is "pure" only in the way phenomenology, as explicitly conceived in the first edition of the Logische Untersuchungen, is pure: actual psychic subjectivity is abstracted as its exclusive theme, objects intended in the investigated psychic processes are taken only as the latter's noematic-intentional objects. Such an abstractive and self-restraining attitude, Husserl believed, is necessary, if one is to isohte the psychic in its purity and yet preserve it in its full intentionality. The instituting and maintaining of such an attitude is called "psychological epoche"; its effect on the objects of psychic consciousness is called "psychological reduction." As empiricism, this pure psychology describes the experienced typical structures of psychic processes and of the typical noematic objects belonging inseparably to the latter by virtue of their intrinsic intentionality. Description of typical personalities and of their habitually intended worlds also lies within its province. Having acquired empirical knowledge of the purely psychic, one may relax one's psychological epoche and inquire into the extrapsychic circumstances under which, e.g., psychic processes of a particulai type actually occur in the world. Thus an empirical pure intentional psychology would become part of a concrete empirical science of actual psychophysical organisms.
iron ::: n. --> The most common and most useful metallic element, being of almost universal occurrence, usually in the form of an oxide (as hematite, magnetite, etc.), or a hydrous oxide (as limonite, turgite, etc.). It is reduced on an enormous scale in three principal forms; viz., cast iron, steel, and wrought iron. Iron usually appears dark brown, from oxidation or impurity, but when pure, or on a fresh surface, is a gray or white metal. It is easily oxidized (rusted) by moisture, and is attacked by many corrosive agents. Symbol Fe (Latin
“It is admitted that, however inferior to the classical Sanskrit of Panini, the language of the oldest portions of Rig Veda, notwithstanding the antiquity of its grammatical forms, is the same as that of the latest texts. Every one sees — cannot fail to see and to know — that for a language so old and so perfect as the Sanskrit to have survived alone, among all languages, it must have had its cycles of perfection and its cycles of degeneration. And, if one had any intuition, he might have seen that what they call a ‘dead language’ being an anomaly, a useless thing in Nature, it would not have survived, even as a ‘dead’ tongue, had it not its special purpose in the reign of immutable cyclic laws; and that Sanskrit, which came to be nearly lost to the world, is now slowly spreading in Europe, and will one day have the extension it had thousands upon thousands of years back — that of a universal language. The same as to the Greek and the Latin: there will be a time when the Greek of Aeschylus (and more perfect still in its future form) will be spoken by all in Southern Europe, while Sanskrit will be resting in its periodical pralaya; and the Attic will be followed later by the Latin of Virgil. Something ought to have whispered to us that there was also a time — before the original Aryan settlers among the Dravidian and other aborigines, admitted within the fold of Brahmanical initiation, marred the purity of the sacred Sanskrita Bhasha — when Sanskrit was spoken in all its unalloyed subsequent purity, and therefore must have had more than once its rise and fall. The reason for it is simply this: classical Sanskrit was only restored, if in some things perfected, by Panini. Panini, Katyayana, or Patanjali did not create it; it has existed throughout cycles, and will pass through other cycles still” (Five Years of Theosophy 419-20).
“It is a kind of cosmogony which contains all the fundamental tenets of Esoteric Cosmogenesis. Thus he says that in the beginning there was naught but limitless and boundless Space. All that lives and is, was born in it, from the ‘Principle which exists by Itself, developing Itself from Itself,’ i.e., Swabhavat. As its name is unknown and its essence is unfathomable, philosophers have called it Tao (Anima Mundi), the uncreate, unborn and eternal energy of nature, manifesting periodically. Nature as well as man when it reaches purity will reach rest, and then all become one with Tao, which is the source of all bliss and felicity. As in the Hindu and Buddhistic philosophies, such purity and bliss and immortality can only be reached through the exercise of virtue and the perfect quietude of our worldly spirit; the human mind has to control and finally subdue and even crush the turbulent action of man’s physical nature; and the sooner he reaches the required degree of moral purification, the happier he will feel” (TG 320).
jianwu. (J. zengo; K. chomo 漸悟). In Chinese, "gradual awakening" or "gradual enlightenment." In contrast to "sudden awakening" (DUNWU), gradual awakening refers to the view that enlightenment is the result of a process of the purification of the mind over the course of a number of stages, which may occur over many lifetimes. Sudden enlightenment, in contrast, refers to the view that the mind is naturally pure (viz., "buddha-nature," or FOXING) and that enlightenment entails an instantaneous re-cognition of this purity. Although debates over gradual vs. sudden enlightenment are most commonly associated in East Asia with the CHAN ZONG, there are precedents in Indian Buddhism. In addition, the so-called BSAM YAS DEBATE or Council of LHA SA that took place in Tibet at the end of the eighth century is said to have pitted the Indian monk KAMALAsĪLA against the Northern school (BEI ZONG) Chan monk HESHANG MOHEYAN in a debate over gradual enlightenment vs. sudden enlightenment. See also WU; DUNWU JIANXIU.
jNānadarsana. (P. Nānadassana; T. ye shes mthong ba; C. zhijian; J. chiken; K. chigyon 知見). In Sanskrit, "knowledge and vision"; the direct insight into the reality of the three marks of existence (TRILAKsAnA)-impermanence (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself/insubstantiality (ANĀTMAN)-and one of the qualities perfected on the path leading to the stage of a worthy one (ARHAT). The term often appears in a stock description of the transition from the meditative absorption that is experienced during the four levels of DHYĀNA to the insight generated through wisdom (PRAJNĀ): after suffusing one's mind with concentration, purity, malleability, and imperturbability, the meditator directs his or her attention to "knowledge and vision." In this vision of truth, the meditator then recognizes that the self (ĀTMAN) is but the conjunction of a physical body constructed from the four great elements (MAHĀBHuTA) and a mentality (VIJNĀNA, CITTA) that is bound to and dependent upon that physical body (see NĀMARuPA). Letting go of attachment to body and mind, the meditator finally gains the knowledge that he is no longer subject to rebirth and becomes an arhat. The Pāli abhidhamma includes "knowledge and vision" within the last three types of purifications of practice (P. visuddhi; S. VIsUDDHI): the fifth "purification of the knowledge and vision of what constitutes the path" (P. MAGGĀMAGGANĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), the sixth "purification of the knowledge and vision of the method of salvation" (P. PAtIPADĀNĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), and finally the seventh "purification of knowledge and vision" itself (P. NĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), which constitutes the pure wisdom that derives from the experience of enlightenment. In the MAHĀYĀNA, the perfection of knowledge and vision (jNānadarsanapāramitā) is also said to be an alternate name for the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ), one of the six or ten perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) of the BODHISATTVA path.
Jnana-darsana-suddhi (Sanskrit) Jñāna-darśana-śuddhi [from jñāna knowledge, wisdom + darśana vision, teaching + śuddhi purity, truth, perfection] Purity or perfection in the vision (or teaching) of knowledge or wisdom.
Kabbalah to describe coverings of impurity.
Kalki Avatara (Sanskrit) Kalkī (or Kalki) Avatāra [from kalkin white horse + avatāra divine descent] The white-horse avatara, the 10th and last descent of Vishnu, in the form of a white horse at the end of kali yuga. “When the close of the Kali-age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being which exists, of its own spiritual nature . . . shall descend on Earth . . . endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. . . . He will re-establish righteousness on earth, and the minds of those who live at the end of Kali-Yuga shall be awakened and become as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed . . . shall be the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita-age, the age of purity” (VP 4:24).
kankhāvitaranavisuddhi. In Pāli, "the purity of overcoming doubt"; the fourth of seven "purities" (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation, according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA. The purity of overcoming doubt refers to the understanding of the conditions that give rise to name and form (NĀMARuPA), viz., mentality and materiality, with reference to the three time periods (S. TRIKĀLA) of past, present, and future. The practitioner notes that no instance of name and form arisen in the present came into being through the will of a creator, nor did it arise spontaneously by itself without a cause. Rather, the practitioner understands that everything that has arisen has occurred because of a specific cause or condition. Thus, the practitioner understands, for example, that, due to the contact of the eye sense base with a visible object, a moment of visual consciousness arises. In the same way, the practitioner understands that what has arisen in the present because of causes and conditions (HETUPRATYAYA) becomes the cause and condition for something arising in the future. This knowledge encompasses knowledge of the relationship between volitional action (KARMAN) and its result (VIPĀKA) and that future existence within the cycle of rebirth occurs as a result of volitional action. In addition, the practitioner clearly understands the distinction between volitional action and its result, that is, that there is neither volitional action in the result nor result in the volitional action. In this way, the practitioner overcomes doubt regarding causality underlying the appearance of name and form in relation to the three times.
Kapila is also one of the three secret kumaras who are the progenitors of the true spiritual self in the physical human being. In many of the old writings Kapila is also symbolic of cosmic spirit, or of the individual spiritual self who represents the highest state reached on earth. Hence the Puranas and the Ramayana relate that Sagara’s 60,000 sons were reduced to ashes by a mere glance of Kapila’s eye. This allegory symbolizes the personifications of human emotions, both passional and mental, being completely reduced to inactivity by the spiritual wisdom and purity of the sage — here the personification of wisdom itself.
kāsāya. (P. kāsāya; T. ngur smrig; C. jiasha; J. kesa; K. kasa 袈裟). In Sanskrit, "dyed" (lit. "turbid-colored") robes (CĪVARA), referring to the robes of an ordained monk or nun, which were traditionally required to be sewn from pieces of soiled cloth and "dyed" to a reddish- or brownish-yellow saffron color or ochre tone; also spelled kasāya. Although the color that eventually came to be used in different Buddhist traditions varied, the important feature was that it be a mixed or muddied hue-and thus impure-and not a pure primary color. This impurity would help monastics develop a sense of nonattachment even toward their own clothing. According to the VINAYA, the kāsāya robe is also supposed to be sewn from sullied cloth that ordinary laypeople would be loath to use for clothing, such as rag cloth or funerary shrouds. Even new cloth offered to the SAMGHA will typically be ritually defiled so that it fulfills this requirement. The final requirement for the kāsāya robe is that it be sewn from pieces of cloth, not single sheets of new cloth, which were thought to be too luxurious. Robes were sewn from an odd-numbered series of vertical panels, typically five, seven, or nine in number, with each panel also in segments and the whole construction surrounded by a cloth edging. The Buddha is said to have received his inspiration for this patchwork design of the kāsāya while he was looking over a field of rice paddies with their surrounding embankments. Robes were one of the four major requisites (S. NIsRAYA; P. nissaya) of the monks and nuns, along with such basics as a begging bowl (PĀTRA), and were the object of the KAtHINA ceremony, in which the monastics were offered cloth for making new sets of robes at the end of each rain's retreat (VARsĀ). Robes eventually became symbolic of sectarian affiliation and institutional status within the various Buddhist traditions and are made in an array of bright colors and luxurious fabrics; but even the fanciest of robes will still typically be sewn in the patchwork fashion of the original kāsāya. See also CĪVARA; TRICĪVARA.
kashaya. ::: taint; impurity
khregs chod. (trekcho). In Tibetan, lit. "breaking through the hard" or "breakthrough"; one of the two main practices in the SNYING THIG tradition of RDZOGS CHEN, the other being THOD RGAL, "crossing the crest" or "leap over." Khregs chod is paired with the essential purity (ka dag) of awareness; the practice of khregs chod leads to thod rgal; it cuts through the stream of obscurations and reveals awareness (RIG PA) devoid of object-subject bifurcation (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA). Sustaining this awareness uninterruptedly while involved in ordinary sense perception is the essence of the practice. It cuts the stream of past and future thought and uses the gap of the unfindable present to contact the primordial pure awareness. It is oriented toward the emptiness (suNYATĀ) aspect free from conceptual proliferation (NIsPRAPANCA). Both thod rgal and khregs chod are concerned with the natural light ('od gsal; PRABHĀSVARA) of pure awareness; but whereas the former leads to the total dissolution of the body into light in a vision of transcendental consciousness (ye shes; JNĀNA), the practice of the former leaves the practitioner as a small particle of dust, as it were.
Knowledge, Power, Purity, Peace, Ananda, of which we become aware and which descends into the being and progressively replaces the ordinary consciousness itself by its own mos’cments
ksetrasuddhi. [alt. ksetravisuddhi] (T. dag zhing). In Sanskrit, "pure [buddha] field"; a type of buddha-field (BUDDHAKsETRA) created by a buddha as a result of his practice and which comes into existence at the time of that buddha's enlightenment. The nature of the purity is variously defined but typically means that in this world the realms of animals, ghosts, and hell beings do not exist; although songbirds may exist, they have been created by the buddha for the delight of the inhabitants of his buddha-field. The pure buddha-field is regarded as the outcome of the training (PRAYOGA) in purifying a buddha-field, one of the final practices of BODHISATTVAS set forth in the fourth chapter of the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA's explanation of the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ SuTRAs. The purification is brought about by the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ): for example, perfect giving (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ) brings about an external pure field (parallel to the BHĀJANALOKA) supplied with all the enjoyments of the deities, and so on. See also JINGTU.
lactometer ::: n. --> An instrument for estimating the purity or richness of milk, as a measuring glass, a specific gravity bulb, or other apparatus.
latinity ::: n. --> The Latin tongue, style, or idiom, or the use thereof; specifically, purity of Latin style or idiom.
"Liberation is the first necessity, to live in the peace, silence, purity, freedom of the self.” Letters on Yoga
“Liberation is the first necessity, to live in the peace, silence, purity, freedom of the self.” Letters on Yoga
LIBERATION. ::: To live in the peace, silence, purity, freedom of self.
Madhav: “the dragon bird, the vast enveloping bird of bliss; white to signify purity and fire to indicate the intensity of bliss.” Sat-Sang Vol. VIII
Madhav: “The House of Flame is the plenary manifestation of Agni, the Mystic Fire of which the Seers of the Veda speak. Here blazes the Divine Consciousness in its incandescent purity.” The Book of the Divine Mother
maggacitta. In Pāli, "path consciousness"; a term synonymous with "path knowledge" (maggaNāna); the moment of consciousness that occurs upon accessing any one of the four supramundane or noble paths (P. ariyamagga; S. ĀRYAMĀRGA), viz., that of the stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (P. sakadāgāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (P. anāgāmi; ANĀGĀMIN), and worthy one (P. arahant; S. ARHAT). It marks the attainment of what is called "purity of knowledge and vision" (NĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), which is the seventh and final purity (visuddhi; cf. S. VIsUDDHI) that is developed along the path to liberation. Path consciousness is immediately preceded by GOTRABHuNĀnA or "change-of-lineage knowledge," that point at which consciousness first takes the NIRVĀnA element (P. nibbānadhātu) as its object, thereby freeing the practitioner from belonging to the lineage of ordinary worldlings (P. puthujjana; cf. S. PṚTHAGJANA). Path consciousness is immediately followed by two or three moments of "fruition consciousness" (PHALACITTA), after which the mind subsides into the subconscious continuum (BHAVAnGASOTA). The difference between path consciousness and fruition consciousness may be described in the following way with reference to the stream-enterer: through the path of stream-entry, one "becomes" free of the first three fetters (SAMYOJANA), whereas through fruition of stream-entry one "is" free of the first three fetters. Because path consciousness represents the first moment of entering of the path, it occurs only once to any given practitioner on each of the four paths. Fruition consciousness, on the other hand, is not so limited and thus may repeat itself innumerable times during a lifetime.
maggāmaggaNānadassanavisuddhi. (S. *margāmargajNānadarsanavisuddhi; C. dao feidao zhijian qingjing; J. dohidochikenshojo; K. to pido chigyon ch'ongjong 道非道智見清淨). In Pāli, "purity of knowledge and vision of what is and is not the path." According to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the fifth of seven "purities" (visuddhi; cf. S. VIsUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. This purity consists of the understanding that distinguishes between what is the right path and what is the wrong path. It requires as a prerequisite the cultivation of methodological insight (nayavipassanā) through contemplating the nature of the five aggregates (P. khandha; S. SKANDHA). Through an understanding of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS and dependent origination (P. paticcasamuppāda; S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), the practitioner realizes that the aggregates come into being and pass away from moment to moment, and that as a consequence they are insubstantial, unreliable, and empty, like a mirage. During this stage of purification, ten experiences arise, which, if the practitioner becomes attached to them, function as defilements of insight (vipassanupakkilesa). These include: (1) radiant light (obhāsa), (2) knowledge (Nāna), (3) rapture (pīti), (4) tranquility (passaddhi), (5) pleasure (sukha), (6) determination (adhimokkha), (7) energy (paggaha), (8) awareness (upatthāna), (9) equanimity (upekkhā), and (10) delight (nikanti). These ten defilements may cause the practitioner to believe that he has attained liberation, when in fact he has not. They are overcome with continued practice, whereby the mind comes to regard them with indifference as mere concomitants of insight.
Mahāmeghasutra. (T. Sprin chen po'i mdo; C. Dafangdeng wuxiang jing/Dayun jing; J. Daihodo musokyo/Daiungyo; K. Taebangdŭng musang kyong/Taeun kyong 大方等無想經/大雲經). In Sanskrit, the "Great Cloud Sutra"; it is also known in China as the Dafangdeng wuxiang jing. The Mahāmeghasutra contains the teachings given by the Buddha to the bodhisattva "Great Cloud Secret Storehouse" (C. Dayunmizang) on the inconceivable means of attaining liberation, SAMĀDHI, and the power of DHĀRAnĪs. The Buddha also declares that TATHĀGATAS remain forever present in the dharma and the SAMGHA despite having entered PARINIRVĀnA and that they are always endowed with the four qualities of NIRVĀnA mentioned in the MAHĀPARINIRVĀnASuTRA, namely, permanence, bliss, purity, and selfhood (see GUnAPĀRAMITĀ). The Mahāparinirvānasutra's influence on the Mahāmeghasutra can also be witnessed in the story of the goddess "Pure Light" (C. Jingguang). Having heard the Mahāparinirvānasutra in her past life, the goddess is told by the Buddha that she will be reborn as a universal monarch (CAKRAVARTIN). The sutra is often cited for its prophecy of the advent of NĀGĀRJUNA, as well as for its injunctions against meat-eating. It was also recited in order to induce rain. In China, commentators on the Mahāmeghasutra identified the newly enthroned Empress WU ZETIAN as the reincarnation of the goddess, seeking thereby to legitimize her rule. As Emperor Gaozong (r. 649-683) of the Tang dynasty suffered from increasingly ill health, his ambitious and pious wife Empress Wu took over the imperial administration. After her husband's death she exiled the legitimate heir Zhongzong (r. 683-684, 705-710) and usurped the throne. One of the many measures she took to gain the support of the people was the publication and circulation of the Mahāmeghasutra. Two translations by ZHU FONIAN and DHARMAKsEMA were available at the time. Wu Zetian also ordered the establishment of monasteries called DAYUNSI ("Great Cloud Monastery") in every prefecture of the empire.
mahāmudrā. (T. phyag rgya chen po; C. dayin/dashouyin; J. daiin/daishuin; K. taein/taesuin 大印/大手印). In Sanskrit, "great seal"; an important term in tantric Buddhism, especially in the traditions that flourished in Tibet. In Tibet, although it is extolled by all sects, mahāmudrā is particularly associated with the BKA' BRGYUD sect and the lineage coming from TILOPA and NĀROPA to MAR PA and MI LA RAS PA. There, it is regarded as the crowning experience of Buddhist practice. It is a state of enlightened awareness in which phenomenal appearance and emptiness (suNYATĀ) are unified. It is also used to refer to the fundamental reality that places its imprint or "seal" on all phenomena of SAMSĀRA and NIRVĀnA. Mahāmudrā literature exalts the ordinary state of mind as being both the natural and ultimate state, characterized by lucidity and simplicity. In mahāmudrā, the worldly mind is valued for its ultimate identity with the ordinary mind; every deluded thought contains within it the lucidity and simplicity of the ordinary mind. This identity merely needs to be recognized to bring about the dawning of wisdom, the realization that a natural purity pervades all existence, including the deluded mind. It is usually set forth in a threefold rubric of the basis (gzhi), path (lam), and fruition ('bras bu), with the first referring to the pure nature of the ordinary mind, the second referring to becoming aware of that mind through the practice of meditation, and the third referring to the full realization of the innate clarity and purity of the mind. There is some debate in Tibet whether mahāmudrā is exclusively a tantric practice or whether there is also a SuTRA version, connected with TATHĀGATAGARBHA teachings. ¶ In tantric practice, mahāmudrā is also highest of the four seals, the others being the action seal (KARMAMUDRĀ), the pledge seal (SAMAYAMUDRĀ), and the wisdom seal (JNĀNAMUDRĀ).
Mahāparinirvānasutra. (T. Yongs su mya ngan las 'das pa chen po'i mdo; C. Da banniepan jing; J. Daihatsunehangyo; K. Tae panyolban kyong 大般涅槃經). In Sanskrit, "Discourse on the Great Decease" or the "Great Discourse on the Final Nirvāna"; also known in all languages simply as the Nirvāna Sutra. As its title suggests, the SuTRA describes the events and the Buddha's final instructions prior to his passage into PARINIRVĀnA and is thus the Sanskrit retelling of the mainstream version of the text (see MAHĀPARINIBBĀNASUTTA). However, although some of the same events are narrated in both versions, the Sanskrit text is very different in content, providing one of the most influential sources for MAHĀYĀNA views of the true nature of the Buddha and his NIRVĀnA, and of the buddha-nature (referred to in the sutra as both BUDDHADHĀTU, or "buddha-element," and TATHĀGATAGARBHA). There appear to have been a number of Sanskrit versions of the sutra, the earliest of which was likely compiled in Kashmir (see KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA) in the third century CE. One piece of internal evidence for the date of composition is the presence of prophecies that the dharma would fall into decline seven hundred years after the Buddha's passage into nirvāna. None of the Sanskrit versions is extant (apart from fragments), but several are preserved in Chinese and Tibetan translations. The earliest and shortest of these translations is in six rolls, translated into Chinese by FAXIAN (who brought the Sanskrit text to China from India) and BUDDHABHADRA, and completed in 418 CE. A second version was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan at the end of the eighth century. The longest version, in forty rolls, was translated into Chinese by DHARMAKsEMA and completed in 423. It is known as the "Northern Text." This version was later translated into Tibetan from the Chinese as the Yongs su mya ngan las das pa chen po'i mdo. Besides the Tibetan translation of the long Chinese version by Dharmaksema, there is another version of the sutra in Tibetan translation, a Mahāparinirvānasutra in 3,900 slokas, translated by Jinamitra, Dhyānagarbha, and Ban de btsan dra, as well as a few folios of a translation of the sutra by Kamalagupta and RIN CHEN BZANG PO. The Faxian and Dharmaksema Chinese versions were subsequently edited into a single work, in thirty-six rolls. Chinese scriptural catalogues (JINGLU) also refer to two other translations of the sutra, made prior to that of Faxian, but these are no longer extant. There were significant differences between the versions of Faxian and Dharmaksema (and hence apparently in the Sanskrit recensions that they translated), so much so that scholars speculate that the shorter version was composed in a non-Mahāyāna community, with Mahāyāna elements being added to what evolved into the longer version. The most famous of the differences between the versions occurs on the question of whether all beings, including "incorrigibles" (ICCHANTIKA), possess the buddha-nature; the shorter version says that they do not and they are therefore condemned to eternal damnation; the longer version says that they do and thus even they retain the capacity to achieve enlightenment. The shorter version of the sutra describes the SAMGHA as consisting of monks and nuns and preaches about the need to provide donations (DĀNA) to them; the longer version includes the laity among the saMgha and preaches the need for charity to all persons. The longer version also recommends various forms of punishment, including execution, for those who denigrate the Mahāyāna. The sutra also makes reference to other famous sutras, such as the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, and is mentioned in other sutras, such as the MAHĀMEGHASuTRA. The Mahāparinirvānasutra, like other important sutras extolling tathāgatagarbha thought, such as the sRĪMĀLĀDEVĪSIMHANĀDASuTRA, plays on the classical doctrine of the four "inverted views" (VIPARYĀSA), according to which sentient beings mistakenly view that which is suffering as being pleasurable, that which is impermanent as permanent, that which is impure as pure, and that which is without self as having self. In this sutra, by contrast, the four right views of suffering, impermanence, impurity, and no-self are proclaimed to be erroneous when describing the Buddha, his nirvāna, and the buddhadhātu; these are instead each said to be in fact blissful, permanent, pure, and endowed with self (see GUnAPĀRAMITĀ). Thus, the Buddha did not pass into nirvāna, for his lifespan is incalculable. The Buddha's nirvāna-which is referred to in the sutra as "great nirvāna" (mahānirvāna) or "great final nirvāna" (MAHĀPARINIRVĀnA)-differs from that of the ARHAT. The nirvāna of the arhat is said to be merely the state of the absence of the afflictions (KLEsA) but with no awareness of the buddhadhātu. The nirvāna of the buddha is instead eternal, pure, blissful, and endowed with self, a primordially existent reality that is only temporarily obscured by the klesa; when that nirvāna and buddhadhātu are finally "recognized," buddhahood is then achieved. The Buddha reveals the existence of this nirvāna to bodhisattvas. Because the buddhadhātu is present within all sentient beings, these four qualities are therefore found not simply in the Buddha but in all beings. This implies, therefore, that the Buddha and all beings are endowed with self, in direct contradiction to the normative Buddhist doctrine of no-self (ANĀTMAN). Here, in this sutra, the teaching of no-self is described as a conventional truth (SAMVṚTISATYA): when the Buddha said that there was no self, what he actually meant was that there is no mundane, conditioned self among the aggregates (SKANDHA). The Buddha's true teaching, as revealed at the time of his nirvāna, is that there is a "great self" or a "true self" (S. mahātman; C. dawo), which is the buddhadhātu, in all beings. To assert that there is no self is to misunderstand the true dharma. The doctrine of emptiness (suNYATĀ) thus comes to mean the absence of that which is compounded, suffering, and impermanent. These teachings would become influential in Tibet, especially among the proponents of the doctrine of "other emptiness" (GZHAN STONG). See also GUnAPĀRAMITĀ.
mahāsiddha. (T. grub thob chen po; C. dasheng; J. daisho; K. taesong 大聖). In Sanskrit, "great adept"; an epithet of a tantric YOGIN, used especially to refer to any one of a group of Indian tantric masters (in some renditions, numbering eighty or eighty-four; see "List of Lists"). These yogins, many of whom were historical figures (dating from between the seventh and twelfth centuries CE), were famous in India and Tibet and appear frequently in both hagiography and iconography. The most famous collection of hagiographies is the *CATURAsĪTISIDDHAPRAVṚTTI by Abhayadatta. Just as the ARHAT is the ideal of mainstream Buddhism and the BODHISATTVA the ideal of the MAHĀYĀNA, the MAHĀSIDDHA is the ideal of Buddhist TANTRA in India. Although many of the hagiographies of the mahāsiddhas tell stories of princes who, like the Buddha, renounced the world, others tell of enlightened masters who are neither virtuous monks nor gentle bodhisattvas but are instead drawn from the most ignoble levels of Indian society: butchers, hunters, fishermen, blacksmiths, leathersmiths, pimps; i.e., those involved in professions that were considered to be sources of pollution. If this were not enough, they also engage in activities that break taboos: they eat meat, they meditate sitting on top of corpses, they copulate with low-caste girls. If the power of the monk derives from the purity he acquires through abstaining from the things that laymen do, the power of the tantric yogin derives from his transgression of purity, engaging in acts that both violate monastic vows as well as the prescriptions regarding purity and pollution of traditional Indian society. The mahāsiddhas also perform prodigious magical feats, such as flying through the air, turning base metals into gold, diving into the earth, and restoring amputated limbs. They are regarded as enlightened beings, using what is prohibited on the path, and transforming acts that would send others to hell into the deeds of a buddha. It is unclear how many of the mahāsiddhas were historical figures, and the accounts of their deeds are obviously rich in mythological detail. Their stories are replete with what we might regard as miracles, the performance of which the Buddha was said to have discouraged. On a philosophical level, such miracles demonstrate that those who have insight into the true nature of reality are not bound by rules, their transgression of the conventions of society signifying their transcendence of the laws of nature. Those who understand the true nature of the world can manipulate it, unbound by the laws of either gravity or KARMAN. The stories of the mahāsiddhas also demonstrate the persistence of the worldly in the history of Buddhism. Tantric practice is said to produce two types of powers, called SIDDHIs. There are mundane (LAUKIKA) siddhis, such as the ability to turn base metals into gold, to find buried treasure, to gain the love of a woman, to curse an enemy, to paralyze an invading army, or to stop the sun from moving across the sky. These contrast with the supramundane (LOKOTTARA) siddhis of buddhahood. Much of the tantric literature that survives is designed to provide mundane siddhis, generally divided into four categories of deeds (CATURKARMAN): pacifying, increasing, controlling, and wrathful.
maidenhead ::: n. --> The state of being a maiden; maidenhood; virginity.
The state of being unused or uncontaminated; freshness; purity.
The hymen, or virginal membrane.
mala. ::: taint; impurity; defilement; defect; ignorance; limitation of consciousness; also a flower garland or string of beads, usually 108, used to count off repetitions of a mantra
mala. (T. dri ma; C. gou; J. ku; K. ku 垢). In Sanskrit, "taint," "stain," "maculation"; often used as a synonym for afflictions (KLEsA). Much of the discourse on the Buddhist path (MĀRGA) is expressed in terms of purity and pollution, with the path to liberation sometimes described as the gradual purification of the mind, in which various stains or taints are removed. What remains at the end of the process of purification is the subject of considerable discussion among the various Buddhist schools. For example, DHARMAKĪRTI declared in his PRAMĀnAVĀRTTIKA, "The nature of the mind is clear light; its stains are adventitious." See also AMALAVIJNĀNA.
Meditation The attempt to raise the self-conscious mind to the level of its spiritual counterpart, to unite manas with a ray from buddhi. It is a positive attitude of mind, a state of consciousness rather than a system or a time period of intensive thinking. It corresponds in its more perfect form to the ecstasy of Plotinus, which he defines as “the liberation of the mind from its finite consciousness, becoming one and identified with the Infinite.” It is silent prayer in one real sense, for the heart aspires upwards to become freed from all desire for personal benefit, and the mind frames no specific object, but both unite in the aspiration; not my will, but thine, be done. When engaged in at the outset of the day, or on retiring to sleep, it often takes the form of reflecting profoundly and impersonally on spiritual teachings, as well as self-examination, attuning of the mind and heart to calm and unselfish thought and feelings, as well as the endeavor to realize in consciousness one’s highest ideals of duty, purity, and truth, and inducing thereby a general harmonizing and one-pointed adjustment of the whole nature.
Mental World ::: the powers of Mind, its ideas and principles that influence our earth-being, are found to have in the greater Mind-world their own field of fullness of self-nature, while here in human existence they throw out only partial formations which have much difficulty in establishing themselves because of their meeting and mixture with other powers and principles; this meeting, this mixture curbs their completeness, alloys their purity, disputes and defeats their influence
Ref: CWSA Vol. 21-22, Page: 814
mingle ::: v. t. --> To mix; intermix; to combine or join, as an individual or part, with other parts, but commonly so as to be distinguishable in the product; to confuse; to confound.
To associate or unite in society or by ties of relationship; to cause or allow to intermarry; to intermarry.
To deprive of purity by mixture; to contaminate.
To put together; to join.
To make or prepare by mixing the ingredients of.
modesty ::: n. --> The quality or state of being modest; that lowly temper which accompanies a moderate estimate of one&
Mystery Schools Adopted in theosophical literature from Classical writings, to designate centers which were consecrated to the teaching of the truths of cosmic Being to those who were found fit and ready for their reception; and this body of teaching or instruction and training is imbodied in the ancient wisdom which is the heritage of humanity. This wisdom was originally given to mankind during the infancy of the human race by celestial teachers. “The mysteries of Heaven and Earth, revealed to the Third Race by their celestial teachers in the days of their purity, became a great focus of light, the rays from which became necessarily weakened as they were diffused and shed upon an uncongenial, because too material soil. With the masses they degenerated into Sorcery, taking later on the shape of exoteric religions, of idolatry full of superstitions, and man-, or hero-worship” (SD 2:281).
nazarite ::: n. --> A Jew bound by a vow to lave the hair uncut, to abstain from wine and strong drink, and to practice extraordinary purity of life and devotion, the obligation being for life, or for a certain time. The word is also used adjectively.
Neopythagoreans The Pythagoreans of Alexandria and other cities on the Mediterranean coast in the 1st century with whom Apollonius of Tyana is often classed. As happened to the Neoplatonists, the atmosphere of the later Greco-Roman world was not conducive to abstract philosophy, and hence the tendency of the times produced the practical mysticism characterizing both the viewpoint of the Pythagoreans and the Neoplatonists. Both schools were highly philosophic and used abstract philosophic speculation; yet predominant in both was the yearning for the attainment of inner spiritual illumination by practices of physical abstinence and by purity of life.
Niddah ::: Laws of purity - mainly female cleanliness laws.
nirmala. ::: pure; without impurity; without defect or blemish
Nirvana(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound: nir, "out," and vana, the past participle passive of the root va, "to blow,"literallly meaning "blown out." So badly has the significance of the ancient Indian thought (and even its language, the Sanskrit) been understood, that for many years erudite European scholars were discussingwhether being "blown out" meant actual entitative annihilation or not. But the being blown out refersonly to the lower principles in man.Nirvana is a very different thing from the "heavens." Nirvana is a state of utter bliss and complete,untrammeled consciousness, a state of absorption in pure kosmic Being, and is the wondrous destiny ofthose who have reached superhuman knowledge and purity and spiritual illumination. It really ispersonal-individual absorption into or rather identification with the Self -- the highest SELF. It is also thestate of the monadic entities in the period that intervenes between minor manvantaras or rounds of aplanetary chain; and more fully so between each seven-round period or Day of Brahma, and thesucceeding day or new kalpa of a planetary chain. At these last times, starting forth from the seventhsphere in the seventh round, the monadic entities will have progressed far beyond even the highest stateof devachan. Too pure and too far advanced even for such a condition as the devachanic felicity, they goto their appropriate sphere and condition, which latter is the nirvana following the end of the seventhround.Devachan and nirvana are not localities. They are states, states of the beings in those respective spiritualconditions. Devachan is the intermediate state; nirvana is the superspiritual state; and avichi, popularlycalled the lowest of the hells, is the nether pole of the spiritual condition. These three are states of beingshaving habitat in the lokas or talas, in the worlds of the kosmic egg.So far as the individual human being is concerned, the nirvanic state or condition may be attained to bygreat spiritual seers and sages, such as Gautama the Buddha, and even by men less progressed than he;because in these cases of the attaining of the nirvana even during a man's life on earth, the meaning isthat one so attaining has through evolution progressed so far along the path that all the lower personalpart of him is become thoroughly impersonalized, the personal has put on the garment of impersonality,and such a man thereafter lives in the nirvanic condition of the spiritual monad.As a concluding thought, it must be pointed out that nirvana, while the ultima thule of the perfection tobe attained by any human being, nevertheless stands less high in the estimate of mystics than thecondition of the bodhisattva. For the bodhisattva, although standing on the threshold of nirvana andseeing and understanding its ineffable glory and peace and rest, nevertheless retains his consciousness inthe worlds of men, in order to consecrate his vast faculties and powers to the service of all that is. Thebuddhas in their higher parts enter the nirvana, in other words, assume the dharmakaya state or vesture,whereas the bodhisattva assumes the nirmanakaya vesture, thereafter to become an ever-active andcompassionate and beneficent influence in the world. The buddha indeed may be said to act indirectlyand by long distance control, thus indeed helping the world diffusively or by diffusion; but thebodhisattva acts directly and positively and with a directing will in works of compassion, both for theworld and for individuals.
Nirvanin, Nirvani (Sanskrit) Nirvāṇin One who enters, or has entered, nirvana; a jivanmukta. One who is liberated for the remainder of the entire solar manvantara from the cycle of spiritual transmigrations through the various spheres of being, visible and invisible. The nirvanin, therefore, rests in crystallized bliss and purity, relatively at one with the cosmic spirit or Logos for the remainder of the cosmic manvantara and throughout the long pralaya which succeeds it. Only when the next manvantara opens will the nirvanin, through karmic necessity, be obliged to enter the pathways of experience in the new system of worlds. Also nirvanee.
NIYAMA. ::: Control ; ducipUoe of the mind by regular prac- tices of which the highest is meditation on the Divine Being, and their object is to create a sattwic calm, purity and preparation for concentration upon which the scoire permanence of the rest of the yoga can te founded.
niyamas. ::: self-purification and study; religious observances divided into five disciplines that should all be practiced in word, thought and deed &
obscene ::: a/ --> Offensive to chastity or modesty; expressing of presenting to the mind or view something which delicacy, purity, and decency forbid to be exposed; impure; as, obscene language; obscene pictures.
Foul; fifthy; disgusting.
Inauspicious; ill-omened.
obscenity ::: n. --> That quality in words or things which presents what is offensive to chasity or purity of mind; obscene or impure lanquage or acts; moral impurity; lewdness; obsceneness; as, the obscenity of a speech, or a picture.
oleometer ::: n. --> An instrument for ascertaining the weight and purity of oil; an elaiometer.
Om (Sanskrit) Om In Brahmanical literature, a syllable of invocation, considered very holy: “Om is the bow, the Self is the arrow, Brahman is called its aim” (Mandukya Upanishad 2:2). It is placed at the beginning of scriptures considered of unusual sanctity. “Prolonging the uttering of this word, both of the O and the M, with the mouth closed, it reechoes in and arouses vibration in the skull, and affects, if the aspirations be pure, the different nervous centers of the body for great good” (Fund 28). The virtue or spiritual and magical properties attributed to this word, however, arise out of the purity and devotion of the one uttering it. See also AUM
pavitram paramam ::: the supreme purity. [Gita 10.12]
doping - The process of adding impurity atoms to intrinsic (pure) silicon or germanium to improve the conductivity of the semiconductor material.
trivalent element - One having three valence electrons. Used as an impurity in semiconductor material to produce p-type material. Most commonly used trivalent elements are: Aluminum, Gallium and Boron.
Peace, purity and silence can be felt in all material things — for the Divine Self is there in all.
Phallic, Phallicism, Phallus [from Greek phallos penis] The phallus occurs frequently in Greek mythologic and mystical representation: it is carried by Pan; borne in Bacchic processions; carved on the pedestals of the Hermae in the streets of Athens. There is no reason, apart from appropriateness, for preferring or rejecting one part of the body rather than another as a symbol, so that the phallus of Pan may be quite on a par with the wings on the feet of Hermes. But the symbol has gone through stages of degradation, from being an emblem of spiritual generation to one of mere physical procreation, when physical procreation itself, once thought of in purity and with reverence, acquired associations of profligacy, sin, and shame. The words are chiefly used in The Secret Doctrine in reference to the degeneration of ancient doctrine and ritual from their originally exalted form into a materialized form, whether in Hebraic systems, Dionysion or Bacchic rites, Hindu ceremonial, etc.
Phoebus (Greek) Pure, bright, radiant, beaming; the solar regent, and in Latin mystic mythology the sun god, offspring of Zeus and Latona: also known by the Greeks as Apollo or Phoebus-Apollo. This deity represented both physical and spiritual purity and radiance to the Greeks; and to the Greek mind the solar divinity bore intimate relationships with mankind through his Oracle at Delphi, situated on the slopes of Mount Parnassus in Phocis, where a temple and oracular sanctuary were erected in his honor, to which consultants and suppliants thronged from all parts of the ancient world. Inscribed on the temple was the phrase associated with Socrates and Plato — gnothi seauton (know yourself). See also APOLLO; ORACLE
poison ::: n. --> Any agent which, when introduced into the animal organism, is capable of producing a morbid, noxious, or deadly effect upon it; as, morphine is a deadly poison; the poison of pestilential diseases.
That which taints or destroys moral purity or health; as, the poison of evil example; the poison of sin.
To put poison upon or into; to infect with poison; as, to poison an arrow; to poison food or drink.
To injure or kill by poison; to administer poison to.
pollution ::: n. --> The act of polluting, or the state of being polluted (in any sense of the verb); defilement; uncleanness; impurity.
The emission of semen, or sperm, at other times than in sexual intercourse.
prakasho, vichitrabodho, jnanasamarthyam) ::: purity, clarity, variety of understanding, capacity for all knowledge (the elements of buddhisakti).
prasannata ::: clearness, "clear purity and gladness", an element of prasannata pran.asakti.
prasannata ::: clear purity and gladness.
presence ::: 1. The state or fact of being present; current existence or occurrence. 2. A divine, spiritual, or supernatural spirit or influence felt or conceived as present. 3. The immediate proximity of someone or something.
Sri Aurobindo: "It is intended by the word Presence to indicate the sense and perception of the Divine as a Being, felt as present in one"s existence and consciousness or in relation with it, without the necessity of any further qualification or description. Thus, of the ‘ineffable Presence" it can only be said that it is there and nothing more can or need be said about it, although at the same time one knows that all is there, personality and impersonality, Power and Light and Ananda and everything else, and that all these flow from that indescribable Presence. The word may be used sometimes in a less absolute sense, but that is always the fundamental significance, — the essential perception of the essential Presence supporting everything else.” *Letters on Yoga
"Beyond mind on spiritual and supramental levels dwells the Presence, the Truth, the Power, the Bliss that can alone deliver us from these illusions, display the Light of which our ideals are tarnished disguises and impose the harmony that shall at once transfigure and reconcile all the parts of our nature.” Essays Divine and Human
"But if we learn to live within, we infallibly awaken to this presence within us which is our more real self, a presence profound, calm, joyous and puissant of which the world is not the master — a presence which, if it is not the Lord Himself, is the radiation of the Lord within.” *The Life Divine
"The true soul secret in us, — subliminal, we have said, but the word is misleading, for this presence is not situated below the threshold of waking mind, but rather burns in the temple of the inmost heart behind the thick screen of an ignorant mind, life and body, not subliminal but behind the veil, — this veiled psychic entity is the flame of the Godhead always alight within us, inextinguishable even by that dense unconsciousness of any spiritual self within which obscures our outward nature. It is a flame born out of the Divine and, luminous inhabitant of the Ignorance, grows in it till it is able to turn it towards the Knowledge. It is the concealed Witness and Control, the hidden Guide, the Daemon of Socrates, the inner light or inner voice of the mystic. It is that which endures and is imperishable in us from birth to birth, untouched by death, decay or corruption, an indestructible spark of the Divine.” *The Life Divine
"If we need any personal and inner witness to this indivisible All-Consciousness behind the ignorance, — all Nature is its external proof, — we can get it with any completeness only in our deeper inner being or larger and higher spiritual state when we draw back behind the veil of our own surface ignorance and come into contact with the divine Idea and Will behind it. Then we see clearly enough that what we have done by ourselves in our ignorance was yet overseen and guided in its result by the invisible Omniscience; we discover a greater working behind our ignorant working and begin to glimpse its purpose in us: then only can we see and know what now we worship in faith, recognise wholly the pure and universal Presence, meet the Lord of all being and all Nature.” *The Life Divine
"The presence of the Spirit is there in every living being, on every level, in all things, and because it is there, the experience of Sachchidananda, of the pure spiritual existence and consciousness, of the delight of a divine presence, closeness, contact can be acquired through the mind or the heart or the life-sense or even through the physical consciousness; if the inner doors are flung sufficiently open, the light from the sanctuary can suffuse the nearest and the farthest chambers of the outer being.” *The Life Divine
"There is a secret divine Will, eternal and infinite, omniscient and omnipotent, that expresses itself in the universality and in each particular of all these apparently temporal and finite inconscient or half-conscient things. This is the Power or Presence meant by the Gita when it speaks of the Lord within the heart of all existences who turns all creatures as if mounted on a machine by the illusion of Nature.” *The Synthesis of Yoga
"For what Yoga searches after is not truth of thought alone or truth of mind alone, but the dynamic truth of a living and revealing spiritual experience. There must awake in us a constant indwelling and enveloping nearness, a vivid perception, a close feeling and communion, a concrete sense and contact of a true and infinite Presence always and everywhere. That Presence must remain with us as the living, pervading Reality in which we and all things exist and move and act, and we must feel it always and everywhere, concrete, visible, inhabiting all things; it must be patent to us as their true Self, tangible as their imperishable Essence, met by us closely as their inmost Spirit. To see, to feel, to sense, to contact in every way and not merely to conceive this Self and Spirit here in all existences and to feel with the same vividness all existences in this Self and Spirit, is the fundamental experience which must englobe all other knowledge.” *The Synthesis of Yoga
"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.” *Letters on Yoga
"They [the psychic being and the Divine Presence in the heart] are quite different things. The psychic being is one"s own individual soul-being. It is not the Divine, though it has come from the Divine and develops towards the Divine.” *Letters on Yoga
"For it is quietness and inwardness that enable one to feel the Presence.” *Letters on Yoga
"Beyond mind on spiritual and supramental levels dwells the Presence, the Truth, the Power, the Bliss that can alone deliver us from these illusions, display the Light of which our ideals are tarnished disguises and impose the harmony that shall at once transfigure and reconcile all the parts of our nature.” *Essays Divine and Human
The Mother: "For, in human beings, here is a presence, the most marvellous Presence on earth, and except in a few very rare cases which I need not mention here, this presence lies asleep in the heart — not in the physical heart but the psychic centre — of all beings. And when this Splendour is manifested with enough purity, it will awaken in all beings the echo of his Presence.” Words of the Mother, MCW, Vol. 15.
Psychic love is distingubhed by an essential purity and selfless- ness, but the vital can put on a very brilliant imitation of that character, when it likes.
Psydtlc light ::: The colour of the psychic light is according to what it manifests, e.g. psychic love is pink or rose, the psychic purity is white etc.
purism ::: n. --> Rigid purity; the quality of being affectedly pure or nice, especially in the choice of language; over-solicitude as to purity.
purist ::: n. --> One who aims at excessive purity or nicety, esp. in the choice of language.
One who maintains that the New Testament was written in pure Greek.
purity ::: freedom from soil or mixture. The divine purity is that in which there is not mixture of the turbid ignorant movements of the lower nature.
purity ::: “It [purity] is more a condition than a substance. Peace helps to purity—since in peace disturbing influences cease and the essence of purity is to respond only to the Divine Influence and not to have an affinity with other movements.” Letters on Yoga
purity ::: n. --> The condition of being pure.
freedom from foreign admixture or deleterious matter; as, the purity of water, of wine, of drugs, of metals.
Cleanness; freedom from foulness or dirt.
Freedom from guilt or the defilement of sin; innocence; chastity; as, purity of heart or of life.
Freedom from any sinister or improper motives or views.
Freedom from foreign idioms, or from barbarous or improper html{color:
purity ::: Sri Aurobindo: "It [purity] is more a condition than a substance. Peace helps to purity — since in peace disturbing influences cease and the essence of purity is to respond only to the Divine Influence and not to have an affinity with other movements.” *Letters on Yoga
PURITY. ::: To accept no other influence but only the influ- ence of the Divine.
Pythagoreans The school founded at Crotona, Italy in the 6th century BC by Pythagoras of Samos. Pythagoras was an initiate not only into the Mysteries of his own native state, but also into those of the ancient Orient, where he had pursued extensive studies. His special work was to translate his esoteric knowledge into terms of the Grecian thought of that period. He shows the ultimate derivation of his wisdom and consequent teaching both by the content of his philosophical doctrines and by his insistence upon purity and self-mastery in life as a prime requisite to the attainment of wisdom.
reformed ::: a. --> Corrected; amended; restored to purity or excellence; said, specifically, of the whole body of Protestant churches originating in the Reformation. Also, in a more restricted sense, of those who separated from Luther on the doctrine of consubstantiation, etc., and carried the Reformation, as they claimed, to a higher point. The Protestant churches founded by them in Switzerland, France, Holland, and part of Germany, were called the Reformed churches.
Amended in character and life; as, a reformed gambler or
repristination ::: n. --> Restoration to an original state; renewal of purity.
reprobate ::: a. --> Not enduring proof or trial; not of standard purity or fineness; disallowed; rejected.
Abandoned to punishment; hence, morally abandoned and lost; given up to vice; depraved.
Of or pertaining to one who is given up to wickedness; as, reprobate conduct. ::: n.
Re’sh Hiwwar (Hebrew) Rē’sh Ḥiwwār Reisha’ Hiwwara’ (Aramaic) Rēishā’ Ḥiwwārā’ [from Hebrew rē’sh head, beginning, chief, supremacy + ḥiwwār white, colorless purity, the colorless compound glory emanating forth from the Rootless Root, the Qabbalistic Concealed of the Concealed] Beginning of purity, head of purity, White Head; a Qabbalistic term applied to the first emanation of the Sephirothal Tree, Kether (the Crown). Through this first Sephirah or Head flows the white hid fire (or colorless glory of the spirit) in 370 streams in all directions of the universe. This number means the 360 occult points of consciousness each emanating its own fiery energy, in addition to the ten basic hierarchical roots or fountains, thus forming 370. “But indeed it is not fire, but that splendor which is included in the subtile air” (Zohar, ’Idra’ Rabba’, col. 256). This fire is termed the Living Fire or Spirit of Light (SD 1:338). It is the full aggregate of the entire stream of consciousness-life-substance emanating from the ever Concealed of the Concealed and flowing forth in 360 streams, from ten hierarchical fountains or roots, and thus building up the full hierarchical structure of our universe. See also ANCIENT OF THE ANCIENT; FACE; HEAD OF ALL HEADS
righteousness ::: n. --> The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude.
A righteous act, or righteous quality.
The act or conduct of one who is righteous.
The state of being right with God; justification; the work of Christ, which is the ground of justification.
Root-race, Seventh The seventh and last root-race of any round on any globe of a planetary chain. Reference is nearly always to the seventh root-race of the fourth round on globe D of the earth-chain. It characteristics are analogous on a smaller scale to those of the seventh round, modified by the fact that it belongs to the fourth round. There is a return to conditions of purity which prevailed at the beginning of the round; but this return does not mean a going backward but an emanative evolutionary unfolding to the point where the cyclic motion brings all things back to the same plane, but on a higher subdivision. The great adepts and initiates — referring here specifically to the seventh root-race on globe D of the fourth round — will once more produce mind-born sons immaculately, and there will be a race of buddhas, sons of god, the purity of the krita-age being reestablished (SD 2:274, 483). The invisible north polar continent will once more become visible, and the bodhisattva Maitreya will appear (SD 1:328, 470). A seventh element will appear as a presentment, not however to be fully manifested until the seventh round. In this race some of the greatest adepts will return.
SAFEGUARD. ::: An inner purity and sincerity, in which one is motivated only by the higher call, is one’s best safeguard against the lures of the intermediate stage. It keeps one on the right track and guards from deviation, until the psychic being is fully awake and in front and, once that happens, there is no further danger. If in addition to this purity and sincerity, there is a clear mind with a power of discrimination, that increases the safety in the earlier stages.
Samadhi and norma! sleep, between the dream*state of Yoga and the physical state of dream. The latter belongs to the physical mind ; in the former the mind proper and subtle is at work liberated from the immixture of the physical mentality. The dreams of the physical mind are an incoherent jumble made up partly of responses to vague touches from the physical world round which the lower mind*faculttes disconnected from the will and reason, the buddhi, weave a web of wandering phantasy, partly of disordered associations from the brain>memory, partly of refieclions from the soul travelling on the mental plane, reflec- tions which arc, ordinarily, received without intelligence or co- ordination, wildly distorted in the reception and mixed up confusedly with the other dream elements, with brain-memories and fantastic responses to any sensory touch from the physical world. In the Yogic dream-state, on the other hand, the mind is in clear possession of itself, though not of the physical world, works coherently and is able to use either its ordinary will and intelligence with a concentrated power or else the higher will and intelligence of the more exalted planes of mind. It withdraws from experience of the outer world, it puts its seals upon the physical senses and their doors of conununicatinn with maJerJal things ; but everything that is proper to itself, thought, reasoning, reflection, vision, it can continue to execute with an increased purity and power of sovereign concentration free from the dis- tractions and unsteadiness of the waking mind. It can use too its will and produce upon itself or upon its environment mental, moral and even physical effects which may continue and have
sanctity ::: n. --> The state or quality of being sacred or holy; holiness; saintliness; moral purity; godliness.
Sacredness; solemnity; inviolability; religious binding force; as, the sanctity of an oath.
A saint or holy being.
Sangbai Dag-po (Tibetan) [from sang ba to remove (impurity), cleanse, be freed from (or sang sbad hidden, concealed) + bdag po (dak-po) lord] The concealed lord; applied to one who has entered nirvana; a title of “those who have merged into, and identified themselves with, the Absolute” (TG 289). Equivalent to the Sanskrit jivanmukta and nirvani.
sattvapatti. ::: purity of Heart; attaining Reality; the passage of the mind in Truth; a state of mind wherein the mind is full of purity and light; when the aspirant begins to feel the being of the real Self within him; the fourth stage in the path of Self-knowledge
sattvasamsuddhi. ::: purity of heart; purity of feeling; increase of light and purity
Sattva: Sanskrit for being, existence, reality, true essence; one of the three constituents of the Cosmic Substance (prakriti), viz. the illuminating aspect of Nature that reveals all manifestations; in Yoga, the quality of purity or goodness.
Sattva(Sanskrit) ::: One of the trigunas or "three qualities," the other two being rajas and tamas. Sattva is thequality of truth, goodness, reality, purity. These three gunas or qualities run all through the web or fabricof nature like threads inextricably mingled, for, indeed, each of these three qualities participates likewiseof the nature of the other two, yet each one possessing its predominant (which is its own svabhava) orintrinsic characteristic. One who desires to gain some genuine understanding of the manner in which thearchaic wisdom looks upon these three phases of human intellectual and spiritual activity must rememberthat not one of these three can be considered apart from the other two. The three are fundamentally threeoperations of the human consciousness, and essentially are that consciousness itself.
Sattva (Sanskrit) Sattva [from sat being] True essence, spiritual essence, reality, true being. Also one of the trigunas (three qualities), the other two being rajas and tamas. “Sattwa is the quality of truth, goodness, reality, purity. These three gunas or qualities run all through the web or fabric of Nature like threads inextricably mingled, for, indeed, each of these three qualities participate likewise in the nature of the other two, yet each one possessing its predominant (which is its own Swabhava) or intrinsic characteristic. One who desires to gain some genuine understanding of the manner in which the Archaic Wisdom looks upon these three phases of human intellectual and spiritual activity must remember that not one of these three can be considered apart from the other two. The three are fundamentally three operations of the human consciousness, and essentially are that consciousness itself” (OG 153-4). As the human being is the microcosm of the macrocosm, the same gunas can be discovered in the cosmos.
sattva &
saturation ::: n. --> The act of saturating, or the state of being saturating; complete penetration or impregnation.
The act, process, or result of saturating a substance, or of combining it to its fullest extent.
Freedom from mixture or dilution with white; purity; -- said of colors.
Satya loka: In Hinduism and occult terminology, the world or plane of absolute purity and wisdom, the abode of the gods.
Satya Yuga (Sanskrit) Satya Yuga [from satya reality, truth + yuga age] The age of purity, reality, and truth, sometimes called the krita yuga, lasting 1,728,000 years. The first of the four great yugas constituting a mahayuga (great age). “The Krita is the age in which righteousness is eternal, when duties did not languish nor people decline. No efforts were made by men, the fruit of the earth was obtained by their mere wish. There was no malice, weeping, pride, or deceit; no contention, no hatred, cruelty, fear, affliction, jealousy, or envy. The castes alike in their function fulfilled their duties, were unceasingly devoted to one deity, and used one formula, one rule, and one rite. Though they had separate duties, they had but one Veda and practised one duty” (MB abrig Muir, 1:144).
sauca (saucha) ::: purity. sauca
say he was the demon of impurity.” Jewish lore
Seder VI, Toharot (purifications) -- 12 tractates: lay and levitical purity and impurity.
Shaktism, Saktism: The philosophy, supported by liturgy and ritual of various degrees of purity, of the believers in the Tantra (q.v.). It explains Brahma as absolute spirit which, on becoming Shiva and Shakti, the male and female principles, produces through maya (q.v.) from itself as the One in a series of 36 tattvas (q.v.) the Many, a process which at the end of the world is made to retrogress and again progress periodically. -- K.F.L.
shaucha &
Shruti: “The aisle holds the fire of purity, of truth; it holds Agni, the spark of the Divine illumination.”
singleness ::: n. --> The quality or state of being single, or separate from all others; the opposite of doubleness, complication, or multiplicity.
Freedom from duplicity, or secondary and selfish ends; purity of mind or purpose; simplicity; sincerity; as, singleness of purpose; singleness of heart.
Siva is known under more than a thousand names or titles and is represented under many different forms in Hindu writings. As the god of generation and of justice, he is represented riding a white bull; his own color, as well as that of the bull, is generally white, referring probably to the unsullied purity of abstract justice. He is sometimes seen with two hands, sometimes with four, eight, or ten; and with five faces, representing among other things his power over the five elements. He has three eyes, one placed in the centre of his forehead, and shaped as a vertical oval. These three eyes are said to denote his view of the three divisions of time: past, present, and future. He holds a trident in his hand to denote his three great attributes of emanator, destroyer, and regenerator, thus combining all the usual qualities or functions attributed to the Trimurti. In his character of time, he not only presides over its beginning and its extinction, but also over its present functioning as represented in astronomical and astrological calculations. A crescent or half-moon on his forehead indicates time measured by the phases of the moon; a serpent forms one of his necklaces to denote the measure of time by cycles, and a second necklace of human skulls signifies the extinction and succession of the races of mankind. He is often pictures as entirely covered with serpents, which are at once emblems of spiritual immortality and his standing as the patron of the nagas or initiates. He is often mystically personated by Mount Meru, which esoterically is both the cosmic and terrestrial axis with their respective poles.
some impurity, weakness or, at the very least, ignorance. One should then seek out this weakness in oneself and correct it.
Spiritual Experience ::: As the crust of the outer nature cracks, as the walls of inner separation break down, the inner light gets through, the inner fire burns in the heart, the substance of the nature and the stuff of consciousness
refine to a greater subtlety and purity.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 21-22, Page: 941
SPIRITUALISATION. ::: Spiritualisation means the descent of the jiigher peace, force, light, knowledge, purity, Ananda, etc. which belong to any of the higher planes from Higher Mind to
Spirituality ::: Spirituality is not a high intellectuality, not idealism, not an ethical turn of mind or moral purity and austerity, not religiosity or an ardent and exalted emotional fervour, not even a compound of all these excellent things; a mental belief, creed or faith, an emotional aspiration, a regulation of conduct according to a religious or ethical formula are not spiritual achievement and experience. These things are of considerable value to mind and life; they are of value to the spiritual evolution itself as preparatory movements disciplining, purifying or giving a suitable form to the nature; but they still belong to the mental evolution,— the beginning of a spiritual realisation, experience, change is not yet there. Spirituality is in its essence an awakening to the inner reality of our being, to a spirit, self, soul which is other than our mind, life and body, an inner aspiration to know, to feel, to be that, to enter into contact with the greater Reality beyond and pervading the universe which inhabits also our own being, to be in communion with It and union with It, and a turning, a conversion, a transformation of our whole being as a result of the aspiration, the contact, the union, a growth or waking into a new becoming or new being, a new self, a new nature.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 21-22, Page: 889-90
spiritually ::: adv. --> In a spiritual manner; with purity of spirit; like a spirit.
spotless ::: a. --> Without a spot; especially, free from reproach or impurity; pure; untainted; innocent; as, a spotless mind; spotless behavior.
spot ::: n. --> A mark on a substance or body made by foreign matter; a blot; a place discolored.
A stain on character or reputation; something that soils purity; disgrace; reproach; fault; blemish.
A small part of a different color from the main part, or from the ground upon which it is; as, the spots of a leopard; the spots on a playing card.
A small extent of space; a place; any particular place.
Sri Aurobindo: " . . . Divine Love which is at the heart of all creation and the most powerful of all redeeming and creative forces has yet been the least frontally present in earthly life, the least successfully redemptive, the least creative. Human nature has been unable to bear it in its purity for the very reason that it is the most powerful, pure, rare and intense of all the divine energies; what little could be seized has been corrupted at once into a vital pietistic ardour, a defenceless religious or ethical sentimentalism, a sensuous or even sensual erotic mysticism of the roseate coloured mind or passionately turbid life-impulse and with these simulations compensated its inability to house the Mystic Flame that could rebuild the world with its tongues of sacrifice. The Synthesis of Yoga
SS ::: (Schutzstaffel, Protection Squad), originally Adolf Hitler's bodyguard, it became the elite guard of the Nazi state and its main tool of terror. The SS maintained control over the concentration camp system and was instrumental in the mass shootings conducted by the Einsatzgruppen. Led by Heinrich Himmler, its members had to submit with complete obedience to the authority of the supreme master, Hitler and himself. SS officers had to prove their own and their wives' racial purity back to the year 1700, and membership was conditional on Aryan appearance.
Strength and purity in the lower vital and wideness in the heart are the best condition for meeting others, especially women, and if that could always be there sex could hardly have a look in.
suddha. ::: purity
suddha sattva. ::: uncontaminated purity
suddha (shuddha; suddha) ::: purified, pure; unmixed, unmodified; suddha free from impurity (asuddhi); short for suddhananda. suddha ananda suddha
suddhata ::: purity. suddhata suddha-vij suddha-vij ñanananda anananda (shuddha-vijnanananda; suddha vijnanananda)
suddhi (shuddhi; suddhi) ::: purity; purification, "the removal of all suddhi aberrations, disorders, obstructions brought about by the mixed and irregular action of the energy of being in our physical, moral and mental system" (adhara); in pūrn.a yoga, "not a negative, prohibitory, passive or quietistic, but a positive, affirmative, active purity" depending on the removal of "two forms of impurity which are at the root of the whole confusion", namely, "a radically wrong and ignorant form given to the proper action of each part of our instrumental being" and "an immixture of functions by which the impure working of the lower instrument gets into the characteristic action of the higher function"; the first member of the siddhi catus.t.aya, "a total purification of all the complex instrumentality in all the parts of each instrument", so that the whole being is made "a clear mirror in which the divine reality can be reflected, a clear vessel and an unobstructing channel into which the divine presence and through which the divine influence can be poured, a subtilised stuff which the divine nature can take possession of, new-shape and use to divine issues" suddhir, muktir, bhuktih., siddhir, iti yogacatus.t.ayam (shuddhir, muksuddhir,
sullied ::: 1. Marred; tarnished; defiled. 2. Marred the purity or lustre of. sullies, sullying.
Tabernacles, Festival/Feast of ::: See Sukkot. ::: Taharah ::: (pl. taharot) Ritual purity.
Taharah (ritual &
Taharat HaMishpakhah ::: Laws of family purity; include a prohibition of sexual activities for at least twelve days during ever menstrual cycle, and requiring the woman to immerse herself in a mikva.
Tahariel —angel of purity and one of the 70
Tan: The opposite of 'grossness'; remaining detached from all outside things, the climax of fineness. It is to have in oneself no contraries; the climax of purity, in the sense of 'un-mixedness'. (Chuang Tzu, between 399 and 295 B.C.). -- H.H.
tarnish ::: a. --> To soil, or change the appearance of, especially by an alternation induced by the air, or by dust, or the like; to diminish, dull, or destroy the luster of; to sully; as, to tarnish a metal; to tarnish gilding; to tarnish the purity of color. ::: v. i. --> To lose luster; to become dull; as, gilding will
“That the story is an allegory is seen upon its very face: the 60,000 Sons, brutal, vicious, and impious, are the personification of the human passions that a ‘mere glance of the sage’ — the self who represents the highest state of purity that can be reached on earth — reduces to ashes. But it has also other significations — cyclic and chronological meanings, — a method of marking the periods when certain sages flourished, found also in other Puranas” (SD 2:571).
“ . . . the chief gods and heroes of the Fourth and Fifth Races, as of later antiquity, are the deified images of these men of the Third. The days of their physiological purity, and those of their so-called Fall, have equally survived in the hearts and memories of their descendants. Hence, the dual nature shown in those gods, both virtue and sin being exalted to their highest degree, in the biographies composed by posterity” (SD 2:171-2).
The heaven of immeasurable purity (APRAMĀnĀsUBHA)
The heaven of lesser purity (PARĪTTAsUBHA)
The heaven of pervasive purity (sUBHAKṚTSNA)
The invariable form of the Puranas is of a dialogue between an exponent or teacher and an inquirer or disciple, interspersed with the dialogues and observations of other individuals. In addition to the Puranas there are 18 subordinate Upa-puranas. The Puranas are popularly classified in India under three categories corresponding to the gunas sattva, rajas, and tamas. Those in which the quality of sattva (purity) prevails are: the Vishnu, Naradiya, Bhagavata, Garuda, Padma, and Varaha Puranas, also called the Vaishnava-Puranas. Those in which rajas (passion) are said to prevail, relating chiefly to the god Brahma, are the Brahma, Brahmanda, Brahma-vaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavishya, and Vamana Puranas. Those in which tamas (inertia) is said to prevail, relating chiefly to the god Siva, are the Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Siva, Skanda, and Agni Puranas.
The lokas, in our present fourth planetary round, are dominant on the luminous arc, while the talas are recessive; whereas the talas are the dominant factors or worlds on the shadowy arc of descent, where the lokas are recessive or involving. Virtue, purity, kindness, compassion are signs that the entity possessing them is evolving the spirit within, and therefore is ascending along the lokas of the luminous arc and thus is a denizen of the lokas as the dominant factors in his evolution. Selfishness, impurity, unkindness, cruelty, and deception are the signs that the entity possessing them is then under the influence or dominance of the talas, and is for the time being on a shadowy arc — the particular and characteristic effect of the working of the influences of the talas.
The Mother: “For, in human beings, here is a presence, the most marvellous Presence on earth, and except in a few very rare cases which I need not mention here, this presence lies asleep in the heart—not in the physical heart but the psychic centre—of all beings. And when this Splendour is manifested with enough purity, it will awaken in all beings the echo of his Presence.” Words of the Mother, MCW, Vol. 15.
The niyamas are equally a discipline of the mind by regular practices of which the highest -is meditation on the divine Being, and their object is to create a sattwic calm, purity and prepa- ration for concentration upon which the secure pursuance of the rest of the Yoga can be founded.
"The other parts of our natural composition are not only mutable but perishable; but the psychic entity in us persists and is fundamentally the same always: it contains all essential possibilities of our manifestation but is not constituted by them; it is not limited by what it manifests, not contained by the incomplete forms of the manifestation, not tarnished by the imperfections and impurities, the defects and depravations of the surface being. It is an ever-pure flame of the divinity in things and nothing that comes to it, nothing that enters into our experience can pollute its purity or extinguish the flame.” *The Life Divine
“The other parts of our natural composition are not only mutable but perishable; but the psychic entity in us persists and is fundamentally the same always: it contains all essential possibilities of our manifestation but is not constituted by them; it is not limited by what it manifests, not contained by the incomplete forms of the manifestation, not tarnished by the imperfections and impurities, the defects and depravations of the surface being. It is an ever-pure flame of the divinity in things and nothing that comes to it, nothing that enters into our experience can pollute its purity or extinguish the flame.” The Life Divine
The phrase does not mean that each person should follow the bent of his own personal inclinations, but that he should follow the path of duty, which is the path of evolution, as revealed to him by intuition and purity of aspiration. He should become the master of his destiny, spiritually willing his future through self-devised training and efforts upwards.
The rules governing betrayal of the secrets were of the utmost severity, the common penalty for such infringement being death. Yet this was a sign of degeneration from the original purity of the Mysteries, for “never in any circumstances has the power or the force of the Lodge, has the hand of a Teacher, been raised in violence or in hatred against a betrayer, against the unfaithful, no matter how grave the crime might have been. Their punishment was in this: they were left strictly to themselves; and the inner penalty was the withdrawal of the Deathless Watcher, the higher self within, which had been consciously and successfully invoked upon entrance into the Mysteries, and in the higher degrees of initiation had been faced, literally face to face. The early and automatic penalty was inner death by the soul-loss. The betrayer lost his soul” (Fund 254-5).
The Vishnu-Purana says of the kali yuga that the barbarians will be masters of the banks of the Indus, of Chandrabhaga and Kasmira, that “there will be contemporary monarchs, reigning over the earth — kings of churlish spirit, violent temper, and ever addicted to falsehood and wickedness. They will inflict death on women, children, and cows; they will seize upon the property of their subjects, and be intent upon the wives of others; they will be of unlimited power, their lives will be short, their desires insatiable. . . . People of various countries intermingling with them, will follow their example; and the barbarians being powerful (in India) in the patronage of the princes, while purer tribes are neglected, the people will perish (or, as the Commentator has it, ‘The Mlechchhas will be in the centre and the Aryas in the end.’) Wealth and piety will decrease until the world will be wholly depraved. Property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigations; and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification. . . . a man if rich will be reputed pure; dishonesty (anyaya) will be the universal means of subsistence, weakness the cause of dependence, menace and presumption will be substituted for learning; liberality will be devotion; mutual assent, marriage; fine clothes, dignity. He who is the strongest will reign; the people, unable to bear the heavy burthen, Khara bhara (the load of taxes) will take refuge among the valleys. . . . Thus, in the Kali age will decay constantly proceed, until the human race approaches its annihilation (pralaya). . . . When the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being which exists, of its own spiritual nature . . . shall descend on Earth . . . (Kalki Avatar) endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. . . . He will re-establish righteousness on earth, and the minds of those who live at the end of Kali Yuga shall be awakened and become as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed . . . shall be the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, the age of purity. As it is said, ‘When the sun and moon and the lunar asterism Tishya and the planet Jupiter are in one mansion, the Krita (or Satya) age shall return’ ” (SD 1:377-8). See also YUGA.
This opposition has been permitted from of old not merely as a test or ordeal, but as a compulsion on us to seek a greater strength, a more perfect self-knowledge, an intenser purity and force of aspiration, a faith that nothing can crush, a more power- ful descent of the Divine Grace.
This preliminary is of supreme importance ; without it the course of the rest of the Rajayoga is likely to be troubled, marred and full of unexpected mental, moral and physical perils. This moral purification is divided in the established system under two heads, five yamas and five niyamas. The first are rules of moral self- control in conduct such as truth-speaking, abstinence from injury or killing, from theft, etc., but in reality these must be regarded as merely certain main indications of the general need of moral self-control and purity, Ywna Is, more largely, any self-discipline by which the rajasic egoism and its passions and desires in the human being are conquered and quieted into perfect cessation.
Through this realisation silence, freedom, wideness, mastery, purity, a sense of univcrsa/i’ry become Cbc nannal experience.
THw iVpjvftf /Uvfty if that in which Ihe.re is mitnup of ihe turbid Ignorant movements of the loner nature. The Divine Purity is a more wide and all-embracing experience than the psychic.
tone ::: 1. Sound with reference to quality, pitch, or volume. 2. The characteristic quality or timbre of a particular instrument or voice. 3. (US and Canadian) Another word for note. 4. A color variation with more variations than a shade—having to do with the value (brightness) of a hue (position in the spectrum) or its chroma (saturation or purity).5. A general quality, effect, or atmosphere. tones, many-toned, hundred-toned, sweet-toned.
"To regard the fundamental as the refined essence and to regard things as its coarse embodiment; to regard accumulation as deficiency; to dwell quietly and alone with the spiritual and the intelligent; these were some aspects of the system of Tao of the ancients . . . They built their system upon the principle the eternal Non-Being and centered it upon the idea of Ultimate Unity. Their outward expression was weakness and humility. Pure emptiness without injury to objective things was for them true substance. Kuan Yin said, "Establish nothing in regard to oneself. Let things be what they are; move like water; be tranquil like a mirror; respond like an echo. Pass quickly like the non-existent; be quiet like purity . . .' Lao Tan (Lao Tzu) said, 'Know manhood (active force), and preserve womanhood (passive force); become the ravine of the world. Know whiteness (glory); endure blackness (disgrace); become a model of the world.' Men all seek the first; he alone took the last . . . Men all seek for happiness; he alone sought contentment in adaptation . . . He regarded the deep as the fundamental, moderation as the rule . . .
touch-needle ::: n. --> A small bar of gold and silver, either pure, or alloyed in some known proportion with copper, for trying the purity of articles of gold or silver by comparison of the streaks made by the article and the bar on a touchstone.
touchstone ::: n. --> Lydian stone; basanite; -- so called because used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak which is left upon the stone when it is rubbed by the metal. See Basanite.
Any test or criterion by which the qualities of a thing are tried.
transhumanize ::: v. t. --> To make more than human; to purity; to elevate above humanity.
Trigunas (Sanskrit) Triguṇa-s The three qualities; all differentiated beings and matter are considered to possess three inherent qualities or characteristics: sattva (purity, goodness, truth); rajas (activity, passion, desire); and tamas (quiescence, indifference, darkness). Each of these three qualities has both a good and an imperfect or evil side, and possesses in itself the other two qualities; for instance, there is sattva-sattva, rajas-sattva, tamas-sattva, etc. Thus in the different hierarchies in the cosmos, the beings composing these hierarchies may be classified not only under one of the three gunas, as essentially manifesting that characteristic, but likewise during their evolution they pass through the phases of the other two qualities, although under the dominance of the main quality from which they as individuals derive.
Trividha-dvara (Sanskrit) Trividha-dvāra [from trividha triple, threefold + dvāra door, gate, entrance, opening] The threefold gate, which is “body, mouth, and mind; or purity of body, purity of speech, purity of thought — the three virtues requisite for becoming a Buddha” (TG 344).
truth, by renuflcjation of all forms of egozstJc seeXaac, by absten- tion from injury to others, by purity, by constant meditation and inclination to the divine Purusha who is the true lord of the mental kingdom, a pure, glad, clear state of mind and heart is established.
Truth \vill ha\e no chance of establishing itseif in its purity in the nature.
Tumah (ritual &
Tushitas (Sanskrit) Tuṣita-s [from the verbal root tuṣ to become calm, be satisfied or pleased] One name of the Hindu adityas, planetary regents because of their intimate connection with the sun, the son of Aditi, called Martanda. Hence in esoteric Northern Buddhism, the tushitas are a class of divinities of great purity said to have a deva-loka (celestial region) of their own, but in the highest parts of the material plane where all the bodhisattvas are reborn before they descend on this earth as future buddhas. See also JAYA
Varuna ::: "he of the Wideness", [Ved.]: the deva as the all-pervading Vastness and purity of the Divine supporting and perfecting the world, he represents the ethereal purity and oceanic wideness of the infinite Truth; [Purana]: the deity of the waters; [in the Gita called chief among the peoples of the sea].
Varun.a ::: "the Lord of Wideness", a Vedic god who "brings to us Varuna the infinite oceanic space of the divine soul and its ethereal, elemental purity", one of the Four who represent the "working of the Truth in the human mind and temperament"; in post-Vedic mythology, the god of the sea.
\Vhile this transformation is being done it is more than ever necessary to keep yourself free from all taint of the perversions of the ego. Let no demand or insistence creep in to stain the purity of the self-giving and the sacrifice. There must be no attachment to the work or the result, no laying doNvn of condi- tions, no claim to possess the Power that should possess you, no pride of the instrument, no vani^’ or arrogance. Nothing in the mind or in the vital or physical parts should be suffered to distort to its own use or seize for its own personal and separate satisfaction the greatness of the forces that are acting through you. Let your faith, your sincerity, your purity of aspiration be absolute and pervasive of all the planes and layers of the being ; then every disturbing element and distorting influence will pro- gressively fall away from your nature.
vicious ::: a. --> Characterized by vice or defects; defective; faulty; imperfect.
Addicted to vice; corrupt in principles or conduct; depraved; wicked; as, vicious children; vicious examples; vicious conduct.
Wanting purity; foul; bad; noxious; as, vicious air, water, etc.
Not correct or pure; corrupt; as, vicious language;
vimala. ::: purity; unblemished; without stain or defect
vinometer ::: n. --> An instrument for determining the strength or purity of wine by measuring its density.
virginity ::: n. --> The quality or state of being a virgin; undefiled purity or chastity; maidenhood.
The unmarried life; celibacy.
vis.ayadr.s.t.i (vishayadrishti) ::: subtle sense-perception (sūks.ma dr.s.t.i) visayadrsti .. in general or any particular form of such perception, especially perception of the sūks.ma vis.ayas of sound, touch, smell and taste (sabda, sparsa, gandha and rasa), with vision of rūpa often mentioned separately; the faculty or faculties constituting the instrumentation of saṁjñana or "sense in its purity", which "exists behind and beyond the mind it uses and is a movement of the self, a direct and original activity of the infinite power of its consciousness", capable of presenting to us "things concealed from the limited receptivity or beyond the range of the physical organs, . . . scenes, forms, happenings, symbols of the vital, psychical, mental, supramental, spiritual worlds".
visuddhata ::: [purity].
visuddhata (vishuddhata) ::: purity of the thinking faculty, an element visuddhata of buddhisakti. visuddhata, prakasa, vicitrabodha, jñanadharan.asamarthyam iti visuddhata,
visuddhi ::: purity.
visuddhi (vishuddhi; visuddhih) ::: purity; same as visuddhata. visuddhi visuddhih., prakaso, vicitrabodho, jñanasamarthyam (visuddhih, visuddhih,
Western Wall or The Kotel ::: The only remaining structure from the second temple left standing after the Roman destruction. Since the Jews are considered to be in a state of “ritual impurity” until certain special sacrifices can be brought (notably the ashes of the red heifer), some authorities hold religious Jews are forbidden to set foot on the actual site of the temple and this is the closest they can come to praying at the temple site. Others hold, however, that Jews may ascend the Temple Mount compound and are only forbidden to enter certain areas inside it.
When the human ego realises that its will is a tool, its wisdom ignorance and childishness, its power an infant’s groping, its virtue a pretentious impurity, and learns to trust itself to that which transcends it, that is its salvation. The apparent freedom and self-assertion of our personal being to which we arc so profoundly attached, conceal a most pitiable subjection to a thousand suggestions, impulsions, forces which we have made extraneous to our little person. Our ego, boasting of freedom, is at every moment the slave, toy and puppet of countless beings, powers, forces, influences in uniwrsal Nature. The self-abnega- tion of the ego in the Divine is its self-fulfilment ; its surrender to that which transcends it is its liberation from bonds and limits and its perfect freedom.
When the human ego realises that its will is a tool, its wisdom ignorance and childishness, its power an infant’s groping, its virtue a pretentious impurity, and learns to trust itself to that which transcends it, that is its salvation. The apparent freedom and self-assertion of our personal being to which we are so profoundly attached, conceal a most pitiable subjection to a thousand suggestions, impulsions, forces which we have made extraneous to our little person. Our ego, boasting of freedom, is at every moment the slave, toy and puppet of countless beings, powers, forces, influences in universal Nature. The self-abnegation of the ego in the Divine is its self-fulfilment; its surrender to that which transcends it is its liberation from bonds and limits and its perfect freedom.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 59-60
When the psychic being comes to the surface, it feels sad when the mental or vital being is making a fool -of itself. That sadness is purity offended.
While indicates a force of purity, psjchic puritj , purity and power of the divine Truth White hsht is that of the pure conscious force from which all the rest come
whiteness ::: n. --> The quality or state of being white; white color, or freedom from darkness or obscurity on the surface.
Want of a sanguineous tinge; paleness; as from terror, grief, etc.
Freedom from stain or blemish; purity; cleanness.
Nakedness.
A flock of swans.
whiteness ::: the quality or state of the colour of greatest lightness; purity. Also fig.
white ::: superl. --> Reflecting to the eye all the rays of the spectrum combined; not tinted with any of the proper colors or their mixtures; having the color of pure snow; snowy; -- the opposite of black or dark; as, white paper; a white skin.
Destitute of color, as in the cheeks, or of the tinge of blood color; pale; pallid; as, white with fear.
Having the color of purity; free from spot or blemish, or from guilt or pollution; innocent; pure.
Will-born Used in The Secret Doctrine as equivalent to mind-born — referring specifically to those beings in the early third root-race “while it was yet in its state of purity” who were created by means of will power through kriyasakti by the Sons of Wisdom. This progeny is termed the Sons of Ad, Sons of the Fire-mist, or Sons of Will and Yoga. “It was not a Race, this progeny. It was at first a wondrous Being, called the ‘Initiator,’ and after him a group of semi-divine and semi-human beings. ‘Set apart’ in Archaic genesis for certain purposes, they are those in whom are said to have incarnated the highest Dhyanis, ‘Munis and Rishis from previous Manvantaras’ — to form the nursery for future human adepts, on this earth and during the present cycle” (SD 1:207). Theosophy teaches that in future ages generation by means of will power through krisyasakti will again be the method of producing offspring.
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2 Book of Wisdom
2 Avesta: Vendidad
2 Sri Ramana Maharshi
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2 ?
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1:The climax of purity is the beginning of theology. ~ Saint John Klimakos, #KEYS
2:Purity and peace make men upright. ~ Lao-Tsu-Te, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
3:Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort. ~ Yamamoto Tsunetomo, #KEYS
4:Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort." ~ Yamamoto Tsunetomo, #KEYS
5:He who loves with purity considers not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver." ~ Thomas a Kempis, #KEYS
6:Ignorance is not a state of innocence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Purity, #KEYS
7:Purity of soul cannot be lost without consent. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #KEYS
8:Only a consciousness full of light can be pure. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Purity, #KEYS
9:What purity is for the soul, cleanliness is for the body. ~ Epicietus, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
10:The principle of supreme purity is in repose, in perfect calm. ~ Hoce-nan-tse, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
11:God is love and beauty as well as purity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, Religion as the Law of Life, #KEYS
12:God desires the smallest degree of purity of conscience in you more than all the works you can perform. ~ Saint John of the Cross, [T5], #KEYS
13:Purity is, next to birth, the greatest good that can be given to man. ~ Avesta: Vendidad, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
14:Always cultivate pure thoughts. Purity is strength, and purity is God. Live such a life that no one may be an enemy to you. ~ SWAMI PREMANANDA, #KEYS
15:Sufism consists of purity of a person's relationship with God." ~ Hazrat Junaid Baghdadi, @Sufi_Path #KEYS
16:Peace was a thrilled voluptuous purity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Paradise of the Life-Gods, #KEYS
17:Purity is to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T5],#KEYS
18:Because monks come from the midst of purity, they consider as good and pure what does not arouse desire among other people. ~ Dogen Zenji, #KEYS
19:When mind is still, then Truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine And Human, #KEYS
20:By the purity of the thoughts, of the actions, of holy words one cometh to know Ahura-Mazda. ~ Avesta: Yana, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
21:The beginning of wisdom is the sincere desire for instruction. To observe attentively its laws is to establish the perfect purity of the soul. ~ Book of Wisdom, #KEYS
22:Tranquillity is a sign of increasing self-mastery and purity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Higher and the Lower Knowledge, #KEYS
23:Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God's will." ~ Saint Francis de Sales, #KEYS
24:This self can always be won by truth and austerity, by purity and by entire knowledge. ~ Mundaka Upanishad III. 1-5, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
25:In sincerity is the certitude of victory. Sincerity! Sincerity! How sweet is the purity of thy presence!
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
26:Discrimination (viveka) and non-attachment (Vairaga) are the two purifying agents through which the worldly attain purity. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
27:His purity has brought him many profitable things, and this in the first rank, to know his soul. ~ Apollonius of Tyana, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
28:Purity of heart, self-restraint, evenness of temper, tenderness towards all beings are virtues of the sattvic mind. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
29: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
30:Early dawns cannot endure in their purity, so long as the race is not ready. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, The Infrarational Age of the Cycle, #KEYS
31:Purity of heart, evenness of temper and tenderness towards all beings are the outstanding virtues of the sattvic mind. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
32: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
33:See everything in the true light. Whom to fear? God is our most loving Mother. Can that Mother do any harm to Her child? Be true, practice purity and patience. ~ SWAMI PARAMANANDA, #KEYS
34: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
35:As dawn announces the rising of the sun, so in a man disinterestedness, purity, rectitude forerun the coming of the Eternal. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
36: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
37:God, before He comes to the heart, sends servants to make it ready for His coming. And who are those servants? Purity, chastity, humility, loving-kindness. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
38:Purity and concentration are indeed two aspects, feminine and masculine, passive and active, of the same status of being . ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Concentration, #KEYS
39:A single drop of poison can vitiate the entire stream of wholesome blood in the body.
But there is too a Purity, a drop of which can render crystal clear a whole morass of soil and dirt. ~ Nolini Kanta Gupta,#KEYS
40:The beginning of wisdom is the sincere desire for instruction. To observe attentively its laws is to establish the perfect purity of the soul. ~ Book of Wisdom, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
41:Have strength. Have courage, no matter what may come before you. Overcome all weakness by the strength of purity. Move onward boldly, having real faith in the Lord. He will always protect you. ~ SWAMI PARAMANANDA, #KEYS
42:Moral purity and spiritual aspiration are the first steps in the seeker's path. Without a strong conviction in moral values, there can surely be no spiritual life, or even a good life. ~ Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #KEYS
43:Q : How can I meditate? What is meant by opening? Where should I open?
The Mother ,: An inner purity and receptivity that freely lets in the Mother's influence. Begin with the heart. ~ The Mother,#KEYS
44:Whosoever recognises at all times his faults of omission and cleanses himself by observing the ways of purity in each one of his actions, shall attain to perfection. ~ Udanavarga, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
45:Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor learning nor eloquence nor anything else will prevail, but purity, living the life, in one word, Anubhuti, Realization. ~ Swami Vivekananda, (C.W. VIII. 348), #KEYS
46:How can I meditate? What is meant by opening? Where should I open?
An inner purity and receptivity that freely lets in the Mother's influence. Begin with the heart.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
47:Psychic love is distinguished by an essential purity and selflessness—but the vital can put on a very brilliant imitation of that character. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #KEYS
48:May the partisans of all doctrines in all countries unite and live in a common fellowship. For all alike profess mastery to be attained over oneself and purity of the heart. ~ Inscriptions of Asoka, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
49:Contentment, internal peace, dominion over oneself, purity, compassion, affectionate words and consideration for friends are seven sorts of fuel which keep alive the flame of happiness. ~ Mahabharata, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
50:Do not weigh down your servants with the burden of their sins, but purify us and direct the paths we take so that we go forward in purity and innocence of heart, so that all that we do is good and acceptable to you and to those who lead us. ~ Clement I, #KEYS
51:If a man possesses the true light, darkness cannot lodge in his soul. Who can describe the peace of that luminous country where the true light shines out for ever in its limpid purity? ~ Imitation of Christ, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
52:My son, go hack into thy self by disentangling thyself as much as thou mayst from all things; seek purity from things below by detaching thy will and thy heart from the love of sensible objects. ~ J. Tauter, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
53:One must be bold enough to face everything in order to serve the Ideal. Truth can never be realized by weak-minded people. Our task in life must be done boldly. Fear none. Divinity and purity are your birthright. Have faith and struggle on. ~ SWAMI PARAMANANDA, #KEYS
54:Be pure. Then you will be able to understand everything. Pray to Him. Crave for the strength to develop purity. Everything will happen by His grace. Unless He bestows the power, no one can become pure. Purity, purity, purity—chant this mantra. ~ Swami Adbhutananda, #KEYS
55:Since this fountain, this source of life, this table surrounds us with untold blessings and fills us with the gifts of the Spirit, let us approach it with sincerity of heart and purity of conscience to receive grace and mercy in our time of need. ~ Saint John Chrysostom, #KEYS
56:The pure shall not die, but he who leads not the spiritual life dies without ceasing. The wise man knows this difference and takes pleasure in purity and spirituality; it is his joy to live like the saints. ~ Udanavarga, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
57:In what does religion consist? It consists in causing as little suffering as possible and in doing good in abundance. It consists in the practice of love, of compassion, of truth, of purity in all domains of life. ~ Asoka, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
58:The quiddity of things, which is the truth of beings, is unattainable in its purity; though it is sought by all philosophers, it is found by no one as it is. And the more deeply we are instructed in this ignorance, the closer we approach the truth. ~ Nicholas of Cusa, DDI I.3, #KEYS
59:This evolution lasts until we reach the absolute purity of the Being. Then we arrive at divinity. We form a vast oneness. We enjoy an entirety of divine power; we are united in a single love; we are God. ~ Antoine the Healer, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
60:Fools or hypocrites! Meanest falsehood is this among mortals,
Veils of purity weaving, names misplacing ideal
When our desires we disguise and paint the lusts of our nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,#KEYS
61:The surest defense against evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even eccentricity. Evil is a sucker for solidarity. It always goes for big numbers, for confident granite, for ideological purity, for drilled armies and balance sheets. ~ Joseph Brodsky, #KEYS
62:There is no allegiance possible where there is no character in the leader, and perfect purity ensures the most lasting allegiance and confidence. There must not be a hade of jealousy or selfishness, then you are a leader. ~ Swami Vivekananda, (C.W. VI. 284), #KEYS
63:There can be no true devotion without serving the Personal God. If u seek the truth within urself, with earnestness & sincerity, u are a devotee. Have true love for ur Ideal, whatever u may call Him. Serve Him faithfully, with unselfishness & purity, & u will get true devotion.~ Swami Paramananda, #KEYS
64:Do not test ur spiritual strength & purity when u are a beginner on the spiritual path. Do not rush into evil associations when u are a spiritual neophyte to show that u have the courage to face sin & impurity. It will be a serious mistake. You will be running into a grave danger~ Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #KEYS
65:The Blessed Virgin is said to have merited to bear the Lord of all, not because she merited God to be incarnate, but because she merited, from the grace given to her, that grade of purity and holiness, which suited her to be the Mother of God ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 3.2.11ad3)., #KEYS
66:Sincerity, Aspiration, Faith, Devotion and Self-Giving, Surrender to the Divine Will, Love, Openness and Receptivity, Purity and Humility, Gratitude and Faithfulness, Will and Perseverance, Enthusiasm, Hope and Straightforwardness, Happiness and Joy, Heroism and Bravery, Prudence and Balance, Truth and Speech ~ ?, toc, #KEYS
67:The shining Edens of the vital gods
Received him in their deathless harmonies.
All things were perfect there that flower in Time;
Beauty was there creation's native mould,
Peace was a thrilled voluptuous purity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Paradise of the Life-Gods,#KEYS
68:As for myself, I look upon all women as my Mother. This is a very pure attitude of mind. There is no risk or danger in it. To look upon a woman as one's sister is also not bad. But the other attitudes are very difficult and dangerous. It is almost impossible to keep to the purity of the ideal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
69:To want to be a superman is a mistake, it only swells the ego. One can aspire for the Divine to bring about the supramental transformation, but that also should not be done till the being has become psychic and spiritualised by the descent of the Mother's peace, force, light and purity.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
70:To be humble means for the mind, the vital and the body never to forget that without the Divine they know nothing, are nothing and can do nothing; without the Divine they are nothing but ignorance, chaos and impotence. The Divine alone is Truth, Life, Power, Love, Felicity.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, Purity and Humility, 152,#KEYS
71:God's Tread
Once we have chosen to be as the gods, we must follow that motion.
Knowledge must grow in us, might like a Titan's, bliss like an ocean,
Calmness and purity born of the spirit's gaze on the Real,
Rapture of his oneness embracing the soul in a clasp ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ahana,#KEYS
72:A certain amount of purification is necessary before there can be any realisation of the Divine and that is what has been going on in you. It is after all not a very long time since the real purification began and it is never an easy work. So the impatience may be natural, but it is not exactly reasonable. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, Purity, #KEYS
73:Why do men cling to a religion?
Religions are based on creeds which are spiritual experiences brought down to a level where they become more easy to grasp, but at the cost of their integral purity and truth. The time of religions is over. We have entered the age of universal spirituality, of spiritual experience in its initial purity.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III,#KEYS
74:Whosoever purifies his own nature by holy thoughts, good words and good actions, has the real purity. Right nature is the true purification. In this visible world the true purification is for each man the right nature of his own natural being. And this nature is right in him when he purifies himself by holy thoughts, good words and good actions. ~ Avesta: Vendidad, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
75:Remember that the Mother is always with you.
Address Her as follows and She will pull you out of all difficulties:
"O Mother, Thou art the light of my intelligence, the purity of my soul,
the quiet strength of my vital, the endurance of my body.
I rely on Thee alone and want to be entirely Thine.
Make me surmount all obstacles on the way."
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III, [T1],#KEYS
76:The ground is composed of gold, the trees are wish-fulfilling trees, and the rain is the rainfall of nectar. All beings are dakas and dakinis; the calls of the birds are the sounds of Dharma; the sounds of nature, wind, water, and fire reverberate as the Vajra Guru mantra; and all thoughts are expressions of wisdom and bliss. So here the perception of purity is much vaster and more omnipresent than in the sutras.
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Guru Yoga,#KEYS
77:Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor learning nor eloquence nor anything else will prevail, but purity, living the life, in one word, anubhuti, realisation. Let there be a dozen such lion-souls in each country, lions who have broken their own bonds, who have touched the Infinite, whose whole soul is gone to Brahman, who care neither for wealth nor power nor fame, and these will be enough to shake the world.
~ Swami Vivekananda,#KEYS
78: Its like the word purity - one could lecture endlessly on the difference between divine purity and what people call purity. Divine purity (at the lowest level) is to admit but one influence the divine Influence (but this is at the lowest level, and already terribly distorted). Divine purity means that only the Divine exists - nothing else. It is perfectly pure only the Divine exists, nothing other than He. And so on. ~ The Mother, Agenda Vol 02, 1961-07-07, #KEYS
79:In your nature there are many obstacles, chiefly a great activity of the outward-going mind and a thick crust of the impure lower Prakriti that covers the heart and the vital being. Quieting of the mind and purification of the nature are what you must have before you can fulfil your aim. Aspire for these two things first; ask for them constantly from above. You will not be able to achieve them by your own unaided effort. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, Purity, #KEYS
80:Freedom from pride and arrogance, harmlessness, patience, sincerity, purity, constancy, self-control, indifference to the objects of sense, absence of egoism,...freedom from attachment to son and wife and house, constant equality of heart towards desirable or undesirable events, love of solitude and withdrawal from the crowd, perpetual knowledge of the Supreme and study of the principles of things, this is knowledge; what is contrary in nature to this, is ignorance. ~ Bhagavad Gita, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
81:Mind, heart, life, body are to do the works of the Divine, all the works which they do now and yet more, but to do them divinely, as now they do not do them. This is the first appearance of the problem before him on which the seeker of perfection has to lay hold, that it is not a negative, prohibitory, passive or quietistic, but a positive, affirmative, active purity which is his object. A divine quietism discovered the immaculate eternity of the Spirit, a divine kinetism adds to it the right pure undeviating action of the soul, mind and body.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,#KEYS
82:But if human mind can become capable of the glories of the divine Light, human emotion and sensibility can be transformed into the mould and assume the measure and movement of the supreme Bliss, human action not only represent but feel itself to be the motion of a divine and non-egoistic Force and the physical substance of our being suffiently partake of the purity of the supernal essence, suffiently unify plasticity and durable constancy to support and prolong these highest experiences and agencies, then all the long labour of Nature will end in a crowning justification and her evolutions reveal their profound significance.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,#KEYS
83:Calm, even if it seems at first only a negative thing, is so difficult to attain, that to have it at all must be regarded as a great step in advance.
"In reality, calm is not a negative thing, it is the very nature of the Sat-Purusha and the positive foundation of the divine consciousness. Whatever else is aspired for and gained, this must be kept. Even Knowledge, Power, Ananda, if they come and do not find this foundation, are unable to remain and have to withdraw until the divine purity and peace of the Sat-Purusha are permanently there.
"Aspire for the rest of the divine consciousness, but with a calm and deep aspiration. It can be ardent as well as calm, but not impatient, restless or full of rajasic eagerness.
"Only in the quiet mind and being can the supramental Truth build its true creation." ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1954,#KEYS
84:January 7, 1914
GIVE them all, O Lord, Thy peace and light, open their blinded eyes and their darkened understanding; calm their futile worries and their vain anxieties. Turn their gaze away from themselves and give them the joy of being consecrated to Thy work without calculation or mental reservation. Let Thy beauty flower in all things, awaken Thy love in all hearts, so that Thy eternally progressive order may be realised upon earth and Thy harmony be spread until the day all becomes Thyself in perfect purity and peace.
Oh! let all tears be wiped away, all suffering relieved, all anguish dispelled, and let calm serenity dwell in every heart and powerful certitude strengthen every mind. Let Thy life flow through all like a regenerating stream that all may turn to Thee and draw from that contemplation the energy for all victories. ~ The Mother, Prayers And Meditations,#KEYS
85:The heaven-hints that invade our earthly lives,
The dire imaginations dreamed by Hell,
Which if enacted and experienced here
Our dulled capacity soon would cease to feel
Or our mortal frailty could not long endure,
Were set in their sublime proportions there.
There lived out in their self-born atmosphere,
They resumed their topless pitch and native power;
Their fortifying stress upon the soul
Bit deep into the ground of consciousness
The passion and purity of their extremes,
The absoluteness of their single cry
And the sovereign sweetness or violent poetry
Of their beautiful or terrible delight.
All thought can know or widest sight perceive
And all that thought and sight can never know,
All things occult and rare, remote and strange
Were near to heart's contact, felt by spirit-sense.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The World-Stair,#KEYS
86:10.: I do not know whether I have put this clearly; self-knowledge is of such consequence that I would not have you careless of it, though you may be lifted to heaven in prayer, because while on earth nothing is more needful than humility. Therefore, I repeat, not only a good way, but the best of all ways, is to endeavour to enter first by the room where humility is practised, which is far better than at once rushing on to the others. This is the right road;-if we know how easy and safe it is to walk by it, why ask for wings with which to fly? Let us rather try to learn how to advance quickly. I believe we shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavouring to know God, for, beholding His greatness we are struck by our own baseness, His purity shows our foulness, and by meditating on His humility we find how very far we are from being humble. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle, 1.02, #KEYS
87:Turn your thoughts now, and lift up your thoughts to a devout and joyous contemplation on sage Vyasa and Vasishtha, on Narda and Valmiki. Contemplate on the glorious Lord Buddha, Jesus the Christ, prophet Mohammed, the noble Zoroaster (Zarathushtra), Lord Mahavira, the holy Guru Nanak. Think of the great saints and sages of all ages, like Yajnavalkya, Dattatreya, Sulabha and Gargi, Anasooya and Sabari, Lord Gauranga, Mirabai, Saint Theresa and Francis of Assisi. Remember St. Augustine, Jallaludin Rumi, Kabir, Tukaram, Ramdas, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Vivekananda and Rama Tirtha. Adore in thy heart the sacred memory of Mahatma Gandhi, sage Ramana Maharishi, Aurobindo Ghosh, Gurudev Sivananda and Swami Ramdas. They verily are the inspirers of humanity towards a life of purity, goodness and godliness. Their lives, their lofty examples, their great teachings constitute the real wealth and greatest treasure of mankind today.
~ Sri Chidananda, Advices On Spiritual Living,#KEYS
88:The hostile forces have a certain self-chosen function: it is to test the condition of the individual, of the work, of the earth itself and their readiness for the spiritual descent and fulfilment. At every step of the journey, they are there attacking furiously, criticising, suggesting, imposing despondency or inciting to revolt, raising unbelief, amassing difficulties. No doubt, they put a very exaggerated interpretation on the rights given them by their function, making mountains even out of what seems to us a mole-hill. A little trifling false step or mistake and they appear on the road and clap a whole Himalaya as a barrier across it. But this opposition has been permitted from of old not merely as a test or ordeal, but as a compulsion on us to seek a greater strength, a more perfect self-knowledge, an intenser purity and force of aspiration, a faith that nothing can crush, a more powerful descent of the Divine Grace.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
89:Influence is more important than example. Influence is not the outward authority of the Teacher over his disciple, but the power of his contact, of his presence, of the nearness of his soul to the soul of another, infusing into it, even though in silence, that which he himself is and possesses. This is the supreme sign of the Master. For the greatest Master is much less a Teacher than a Presence pouring the divine consciousness and its constituting light and power and purity and bliss into all who are receptive around him.
And it shall also be a sign of the teacher of the integral Yoga that he does not arrogate to himself Guruhood in a humanly vain and self-exalting spirit. His work, if he has one, is a trust from above, he himself a channel, a vessel or a representative. He is a man helping his brothers, a child leading children, a Light kindling other lights, an awakened Soul awakening souls, at highest a Power or Presence of the Divine calling to him other ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,#KEYS
90:Do not be over-eager for experience, - for experiences you can always get, having once broken the barrier between the physical mind and the subtle planes. What you have to aspire for most is the improved quality of the recipient consciousness in you - discrimination in the mind, the unattached impersonal Witness look on all that goes on in you and around you, purity in the vital, calm equanimity, enduring patience, absence of pride and the sense of greatness - and more especially, the development of the psychic being in you - surrender, self-giving, psychic humility, devotion. It is a consciousness made up of these things, cast in this mould that can bear without breaking, stumbling or deviation into error the rush of lights, powers and experiences from the supraphysical planes. An entire perfection in these respects is hardly possible until the whole nature from the highest mind to the subconscient physical is made one in the light that is greater than Mind; but a sufficient foundation and a consciousness always self-observant, vigilant and growing in these things is indispensable
- for perfect purification is the basis of the perfect siddhi. ~ ?,#KEYS
91:The triple way takes for its chosen instruments the three main powers of the mental soul-life of the human being. Knowledge selects the reason and the mental vision and it makes them by purification, concentration and a certain discipline of a Goddirected seeking its means for the greatest knowledge and the greatest vision of all, God-knowledge and God-vision. Its aim is to see, know and be the Divine. Works, action selects for its instrument the will of the doer of works; it makes life an offering of sacrifice to the Godhead and by purification, concentration and a certain discipline of subjection to the divine Will a means for contact and increasing unity of the soul of man with the divine Master of the universe. Devotion selects the emotional and aesthetic powers of the soul and by turning them all Godward in a perfect purity, intensity, infinite passion of seeking makes them a means of God-possession in one or many relations of unity with the Divine Being. All aim in their own way at a union or unity of the human soul with the supreme Spirit.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Principle of the Integral Yoga, 610 [T3],#KEYS
92:But for the knowledge of the Self it is necessary to have the power of a complete intellectual passivity, the power of dismissing all thought, the power of the mind to think not at all which the Gita in one passage enjoins. This is a hard saying for the occidental mind to which thought is the highest thing and which will be apt to mistake the power of the mind not to think, its complete silence for the incapacity of thought. But this power of silence is a capacity and not an incapacity, a power and not a weakness. It is a profound and pregnant stillness. Only when the mind is thus entirely still, like clear, motionless and level water, in a perfect purity and peace of the whole being and the soul transcends thought, can the Self which exceeds and originates all activities and becomings, the Silence from which all words are born, the Absolute of which all relativities are partial reflections manifest itself in the pure essence of our being. In a complete silence only is the Silence heard; in a pure peace only is its Being revealed. Therefore to us the name of That is the Silence and the Peace.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Purified Understanding, 302,#KEYS
93:The whole principle of this Yoga is to give oneself entirely to the Divine alone and to nobody and to nothing else, and to bring down into ourselves by union with the Divine Mother-Power all the transcendent light, force, wideness, peace, purity, truth-consciousness and Ananda of the supramental Divine. In this Yoga, therefore, there can be no place for vital relations or interchanges with others; any such relation or interchange immediately ties down the soul to the lower consciousness and its lower nature, prevents the true and full union with the Divine and hampers both the ascent to the supramental Truth consciousness and the descent of the supramental Ishwari Shakti. Still worse would it be if this interchange took the form of a sexual relation or a sexual enjoyment, even if kept free from any outward act; therefore these things are absolutely forbidden in the sadhana. It goes without saying that any physical act of the kind is not allowed, but also any subtler form is ruled out. It is only after becoming one with the supramental Divine that we can find our true spiritual relations with others in the Divine; in that higher unity this kind of gross lower vital movement can have no place. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, #KEYS
94:And now what methods may be employed to safeguard the worker in the field of the world? What can be done to ensure his safety in the present strife, and in the greater strife of the coming centuries? 1. A realisation that purity of all the vehicles is the prime essential. If a Dark Brother gains control over any man, it but shows that that man has in his life some weak spot.... 2. The elimination of all fear. The forces of evolution vibrate more rapidly than those of involution, and in this fact lies a recognisable security. Fear causes weakness; weakness causes a disintegration; the weak spot breaks and a gap appears, and through that gap evil force may enter.... 3. A standing firm and unmoved, no matter what occurs. Your feet may be bathed in the mud of earth, but your head may be bathed in the sunshine of the higher regions... 4. A recognition of the use of common-sense, and the application of this common-sense to the matter in hand. Sleep much, and in sleeping, learn to render the body positive; keep busy on the emotional plane, and achieve the inner calm. Do naught to overtire the body physical, and play whenever possible. In hours of relaxation comes the adjustment that obviates later tension. ~ Alice A. Bailey, Letters on Occult Meditation p. 137/8, (1922) #KEYS
95:In order to strengthen the higher knowledge-faculty in us we have to effect the same separation between the intuitive and intellectual elements of our thought as we have already effected between the understanding and the sense-mind; and this is no easy task, for not only do our intuitions come to us incrusted in the intellectual action, but there are a great number of mental workings which masquerade and ape the appearances of the higher faculty. The remedy is to train first the intellect to recognise the true intuilion, to distinguish it from the false and then to accustom it, when it arrives at an intellectual perception or conclusion, to attach no final value to it, but rather look upward, refer all to the divine principle and wait in as complete a silence as it can command for the light from above. In this way it is possible to transmute a great part of our intellectual thinking into the luminous truth-conscious vision, -- the ideal would be a complete transition, -- or at least to increase greatly the frequency, purity and conscious force of the ideal knowledge working behind the intellect. The latter must learn to be subject and passive to the ideal faculty.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Purified Understanding, 316,#KEYS
96:understanding fails when pulled down by lower movements ::: By the understanding we mean that which at once perceives, judges and discriminates, the true reason of the human beingnot subservient to the senses, to desire or to the blind force of habit, but working in its own right for mastery, for knowledge. Certainly, the reason of man as he is at present does not even at its best act entirely in this free and sovereign fashion; but so far as it fails, it fails because it is still mixed with the lower half-animal action, because it is impure and constantly hampered and pulled down from its characteristic action. In its purity it should not be involved in these lower movements, but stand back from the object, and observe disinterestedly, put it in its right place in the whole by force of comparison, contrast, analogy, reason from its rightly observed data by deduction, induction, inference and holding all its gains in memory and supplementing them by a chastened and rightly-guided imagination view all in the light of a trained and disciplined judgment. Such is the pure intellectual understanding of which disinterested observation, judgment and reasoning are the law and characterising action.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Knowledge, The Purified Understanding,#KEYS
97:In the name of Him Who created and sustains the world, the Sage Who endowed tongue with speech.
He attains no honor who turns the face from the doer of His mercy.
The kings of the earth prostate themselves before Him in supplication.
He seizes not in haste the disobedient, nor drives away the penitent with violence. The two worlds are as a drop of water in the ocean of His knowledge.
He withholds not His bounty though His servants sin; upon the surface of the earth has He spread a feast, in which both friend and foe may share.
Peerless He is, and His kingdom is eternal. Upon the head of one He placed a crown another he hurled from the throne to the ground.
The fire of His friend He turned into a flower garden; through the water of the Nile He sended His foes to perdition.
Behind the veil He sees all, and concealed our faults with His own goodness.
He is near to them that are downcast, and accepts the prayers of them that lament.
He knows of the things that exist not, of secrets that are untold.
He causes the moon and the sun to revolve, and spreads water upon the earth.
In the heart of a stone hath He placed a jewel; from nothing had He created all that is.
Who can reveal the secret of His qualities; what eye can see the limits of His beauty?
The bird of thought cannot soar to the height of His presence, nor the hand of understanding reach to the skirt of His praise.
Think not, O Saadi, that one can walk in the road of purity except in the footsteps of Mohammed (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him)
~ Saadi, The Bustan of Sa'di,#KEYS
98:need for the soul's spiritualization :::
And yet even the leading of the inmost psychic being is not found sufficient until it has succeeded in raising itself out of this mass of inferior Nature to the highest spiritual levels and the divine spark and flame descended here have rejoined themselves to their original fiery Ether. For there is there no longer a spiritual consciousness still imperfect and half lost to itself in the thick sheaths of human mind, life and body, but the full spiritual consciousness in its purity, freedom and intense wideness. There, as it is the eternal Knower that becomes the Knower in us and mover and user of all knowledge, so it is the eternal All-Blissful who is the Adored attracting to himself the eternal divine portion of his being and joy that has gone out into the play of the universe, the infinite Lover pouring himself out in the multiplicity of his own manifested selves in a happy Oneness. All Beauty in the world is there the beauty of the Beloved, and all forms of beauty have to stand under the light of that eternal Beauty and submit themselves to the sublimating and transfiguring power of the unveiled Divine Perfection. All Bliss and Joy are there of the All-Blissful, and all inferior forms of enjoyment, happiness or pleasure are subjected to the shock of the intensity of its floods or currents and either they are broken to pieces as inadequate things under its convicting stress or compelled to transmute themselves into the forms of the Divine Ananda. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Ascent of the Sacrifice - 2, 168,#KEYS
99:the powers of concentration :::
By concentration on anything whatsoever we are able to know that thing, to make it deliver up its concealed secrets; we must use this power to know not things, but the one Thing-in-itself. By concentration again the whole will can be gathered up for the acquisition of that which is still ungrasped, still beyond us; this power, if it is sufficiently trained, sufficiently single-minded, sufficiently sincere, sure of itself, faithful to itself alone, absolute in faith, we can use for the acquisition of any object whatsoever; but we ought to use it not for the acquisition of the many objects which the world offers to us, but to grasp spiritually that one object worthy of pursuit which is also the one subject worthy of knowledge. By concentration of our whole being on one status of itself, we can become whatever we choose; we can become, for instance, even if we were before a mass of weaknesses and fear, a mass instead of strength and courage, or we can become all a great purity, holiness and peace or a single universal soul of Love; but we ought, it is said, to use this power to become not even these things, high as they may be in comparison with what we now are, but rather to become that which is above all things and free from all action and attributes, the pure and absolute Being. All else, all other concentration can only be valuable for preparation, for previous steps, for a gradual training of the dissolute and self-dissipating thought, will and being towards their grand and unique object.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Concentration, [318],#KEYS
100:Received him in their deathless harmonies.
All things were perfect there that flower in Time;
Beauty was there creation's native mould,
Peace was a thrilled voluptuous purity.
There Love fulfilled her gold and roseate dreams
And Strength her crowned and mighty reveries;
Desire climbed up, a swift omnipotent flame,
And Pleasure had the stature of the gods;
Dream walked along the highways of the stars;
Sweet common things turned into miracles:
Overtaken by the spirit's sudden spell,
Smitten by a divine passion's alchemy,
Pain's self compelled transformed to potent joy
Curing the antithesis twixt heaven and hell.
All life's high visions are embodied there,
Her wandering hopes achieved, her aureate combs
Caught by the honey-eater's darting tongue,
Her burning guesses changed to ecstasied truths,
Her mighty pantings stilled in deathless calm
And liberated her immense desires.
In that paradise of perfect heart and sense
No lower note could break the endless charm
Of her sweetness ardent and immaculate;
Her steps are sure of their intuitive fall.
After the anguish of the soul's long strife
At length were found calm and celestial rest
And, lapped in a magic flood of sorrowless hours,
Healed were his warrior nature's wounded limbs
In the encircling arms of Energies
That brooked no stain and feared not their own bliss.
In scenes forbidden to our pallid sense
Amid miraculous scents and wonder-hues
He met the forms that divinise the sight,
To music that can immortalise the mind
And make the heart wide as infinity
Listened, and captured the inaudible
~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Paradise of the Life-Gods,#KEYS
101:THE PSYCHOLOGY OF YOGA
Initial Definitions and Descriptions
Yoga has four powers and objects, purity, liberty, beatitude and perfection. Whosoever has consummated these four mightinesses in the being of the transcendental, universal, lilamaya and individual God is the complete and absolute Yogin.
All manifestations of God are manifestations of the absolute Parabrahman.
The Absolute Parabrahman is unknowable to us, not because It is the nothingness of all that we are, for rather whatever we are in truth or in seeming is nothing but Parabrahman, but because It is pre-existent & supra-existent to even the highest & purest methods and the most potent & illimitable instruments of which soul in the body is capable.
In Parabrahman knowledge ceases to be knowledge and becomes an inexpressible identity. Become Parabrahman, if thou wilt and if That will suffer thee, but strive not to know It; for thou shalt not succeed with these instruments and in this body.
In reality thou art Parabrahman already and ever wast and ever will be. To become Parabrahman in any other sense, thou must depart utterly out of world manifestation and out even of world transcendence.
Why shouldst thou hunger after departure from manifestation as if the world were an evil? Has not That manifested itself in thee & in the world and art thou wiser & purer & better than the Absolute, O mind-deceived soul in the mortal? When That withdraws thee, then thy going hence is inevitable; until Its force is laid on thee, thy going is impossible, cry thy mind never so fiercely & wailingly for departure. Therefore neither desire nor shun the world, but seek the bliss & purity & freedom & greatness of God in whatsoever state or experience or environment.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine And Human,#KEYS
102:It must also be kept in mind that the supramental change is difficult, distant, an ultimate stage; it must be regarded as the end of a far-off vista; it cannot be and must not be turned into a first aim, a constantly envisaged goal or an immediate objective. For it can only come into the view of possibility after much arduous self-conquest and self-exceeding, at the end of many long and trying stages of a difficult self-evolution of the nature. One must first acquire an inner Yogic consciousness and replace by it our ordinary view of things, natural movements, motives of life; one must revolutionise the whole present build of our being. Next, we have to go still deeper, discover our veiled psychic entity and in its light and under its government psychicise our inner and outer parts, turn mind-nature, life-nature, body-nature and all our mental, vital, physical action and states and movements into a conscious instrumentation of the soul. Afterwards or concurrently we have to spiritualise the being in its entirety by a descent of a divine Light, Force, Purity, Knowledge, freedom and wideness. It is necessary to break down the limits of the personal mind, life and physicality, dissolve the ego, enter into the cosmic consciousness, realise the self, acquire a spiritualised and universalised mind and heart, life-force, physical consciousness. Then only the passage into the supramental consciousness begins to become possible, and even then there is a difficult ascent to make each stage of which is a separate arduous achievement. Yoga is a rapid and concentrated conscious evolution of the being, but however rapid, even though it may effect in a single life what in an instrumental Nature might take centuries and millenniums or many hundreds of lives, still all evolution must move by stages; even the greatest rapidity and concentration of the movement cannot swallow up all the stages or reverse natural process and bring the end near to the beginning.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Supermind and the Yoga of Works, 281,#KEYS
103:indifference to things of the body :::
This detachment of the mind must be strengthened by a certain attitude of indifference to the things of the body; we must not care essentially about its sleep or its waking, its movement or its rest, its pain or its pleasure, its health or ill-health, its vigour or its fatigue, its comfort or its discomfort, or what it eats or drinks. This does not mean that we shall not keep the body in right order so far as we can; we have not to fall into violent asceticisms or a positive neglect of the physical frame. But we have not either to be affected in mind by hunger or thirst or discomfort or ill-health or attach the importance which the physical and vital man attaches to the things of the body, or indeed any but a quite subordinate and purely instrumental importance. Nor must this instrumental importance be allowed to assume the proportions of a necessity; we must not for instance imagine that the purity of the mind depends on the things we eat or drink, although during a certain stage restrictions in eating and drinking are useful to our inner progress; nor on the other hand must we continue to think that the dependence of the mind or even of the life on food and drink is anything more than a habit, a customary relation which Nature has set up between these principles. As a matter of fact the food we take can be reduced by contrary habit and new relation to a minimum without the mental or vital vigour being in any way reduced; even on the contrary with a judicious development they can be trained to a greater potentiality of vigour by learning to rely on the secret fountains of mental and vital energy with which they are connected more than upon the minor aid of physical aliments. This aspect of self-discipline is however more important in the Yoga of self-perfection than here; for our present purpose the important point is the renunciation by the mind of attachment to or dependence on the things of the body.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Release from Subjection to the Body,#KEYS
104:It is not very easy for the customary mind of man, always attached to its past and present associations, to conceive of an existence still human, yet radically changed in what are now our fixed circumstances.We are in respect to our possible higher evolution much in the position of the original Ape of the Darwinian theory. It would have been impossible for that Ape leading his instinctive arboreal life in primeval forests to conceive that there would be one day an animal on the earth who would use a new faculty called reason upon the materials of his inner and outer existence, who would dominate by that power his instincts and habits, change the circumstances of his physical life, build for himself houses of stone, manipulate Nature's forces, sail the seas, ride the air, develop codes of conduct, evolve conscious methods for his mental and spiritual development. And if such a conception had been possible for the Ape-mind, it would still have been difficult for him to imagine that by any progress of Nature or long effort of Will and tendency he himself could develop into that animal. Man, because he has acquired reason and still more because he has indulged his power of imagination and intuition, is able to conceive an existence higher than his own and even to envisage his personal elevation beyond his present state into that existence. His idea of the supreme state is an absolute of all that is positive to his own concepts and desirable to his own instinctive aspiration,-Knowledge without its negative shadow of error, Bliss without its negation in experience of suffering, Power without its constant denial by incapacity, purity and plenitude of being without the opposing sense of defect and limitation. It is so that he conceives his gods; it is so that he constructs his heavens. But it is not so that his reason conceives of a possible earth and a possible humanity. His dream of God and Heaven is really a dream of his own perfection; but he finds the same difficulty in accepting its practical realisation here for his ultimate aim as would the ancestral Ape if called upon to believe in himself as the future Man. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Ego and the Dualities, #KEYS
105:But now thou askest me how thou mayest destroy this naked knowing and feeling of thine own being. For peradventure thou thinkest that if it were destroyed, all other hindrances were destroyed ; and if thou thinkest thus, thou thinkest right truly. But to this I answer thee and I say, that without a full special grace full freely given by God, and also a full according ableness on thy part to receive this grace, this naked knowing and feeling of thy being may in nowise be destroyed. And this ableness is nought else but a strong and a deep ghostly sorrow. ... All men have matter of sorrow; but most specially he feeleth matter of sorrow that knoweth and feeleth that he is. All other sorrows in comparison to this be but as it were game to earnest. For he may make sorrow earnestly that knoweth and feeleth not only what he is, but that he is. And whoso felt never this sorrow, let him make sorrow; for he hath never yet felt perfect sorrow. This sorrow, when it is had, cleanseth the soul, not only of sin, but also of pain that it hath deserved for sin ; and also it maketh a soul able to receive that joy, the which reave th from a man all knowing and feeling of his being. This sorrow, if it be truly conceived, is full of holy desire; and else a man might never in this life abide it or bear it. For were it not that a soul were somewhat fed with a manner of comfort by his right working, he should not be able to bear that pain that he hath by the knowing and feeling of his being. For as oft as he would have a true knowing and a feeling of his God in purity of spirit (as it may be here), and then feeleth that he may not for he findeth evermore his knowing and his feeling as it were occupied and filled with a foul stinking lump of himself, the which must always be hated and despised and forsaken, if he shall be God's perfect disciple, taught by Himself in the mount of perfection so oft he goeth nigh mad for sorrow. . . . This sorrow and this desire must every soul have and feel in itself (either in this manner or in another), as God vouchsafed! to teach his ghostly disciples according to his good will and their according ableness in body and in soul, in degree and disposition, ere the time be that they may perfectly be oned unto God in perfect charity such as may be had here, if God vouchsafed!.
~ Anonymous, The Cloud Of Unknowing,#KEYS
106:they are acting all the while in the spirit of rajasic ahaṅkara, persuade themselves that God is working through them and they have no part in the action. This is because they are satisfied with the mere intellectual assent to the idea without waiting for the whole system and life to be full of it. A continual remembrance of God in others and renunciation of individual eagerness (spr.ha) are needed and a careful watching of our inner activities until God by the full light of self-knowledge, jñanadı̄pena bhasvata, dispels all further chance of self-delusion. The danger of tamogun.a is twofold, first, when the Purusha thinks, identifying himself with the tamas in him, "I am weak, sinful, miserable, ignorant, good-for-nothing, inferior to this man and inferior to that man, adhama, what will God do through me?" - as if God were limited by the temporary capacities or incapacities of his instruments and it were not true that he can make the dumb to talk and the lame to cross the hills, mūkaṁ karoti vacalaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim, - and again when the sadhak tastes the relief, the tremendous relief of a negative santi and, feeling himself delivered from all troubles and in possession of peace, turns away from life and action and becomes attached to the peace and ease of inaction. Remember always that you too are Brahman and the divine Shakti is working in you; reach out always to the realisation of God's omnipotence and his delight in the Lila. He bids Arjuna work lokasaṅgraharthaya, for keeping the world together, for he does not wish the world to sink back into Prakriti, but insists on your acting as he acts, "These worlds would be overpowered by tamas and sink into Prakriti if I did not do actions." To be attached to inaction is to give up our action not to God but to our tamasic ahaṅkara. The danger of the sattvagun.a is when the sadhak becomes attached to any one-sided conclusion of his reason, to some particular kriya or movement of the sadhana, to the joy of any particular siddhi of the yoga, perhaps the sense of purity or the possession of some particular power or the Ananda of the contact with God or the sense of freedom and hungers after it, becomes attached to that only and would have nothing else. Remember that the yoga is not for yourself; for these things, though they are part of the siddhi, are not the object of the siddhi, for you have decided at the beginning to make no claim upon God but take what he gives you freely and, as for the Ananda, the selfless soul will even forego the joy of God's presence, ... ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #KEYS
107:How can one become conscious of Divine Love and an instrument of its expression?
First, to become conscious of anything whatever, you must will it. And when I say "will it", I don't mean saying one day, "Oh! I would like it very much", then two days later completely forgetting it.
To will it is a constant, sustained, concentrated aspiration, an almost exclusive occupation of the consciousness. This is the first step. There are many others: a very attentive observation, a very persistent analysis, a very keen discernment of what is pure in the movement and what is not. If you have an imaginative faculty, you may try to imagine and see if your imagination tallies with reality. There are people who believe that it is enough to wake up one day in a particular mood and say, "Ah! How I wish to be conscious of divine Love, how I wish to manifest divine Love...." Note, I don't know how many millions of times one feels within a little stirring up of human instinct and imagines that if one had at one's disposal divine Love, great things could be accomplished, and one says, "I am going to try and find divine Love and we shall see the result." This is the worst possible way. Because, before having even touched the very beginning of realisation you have spoilt the result. You must take up your search with a purity of aspiration and surrender which in themselves are already difficult to acquire. You must have worked much on yourself only to be ready to aspire to this Love. If you look at yourself very sincerely, very straight, you will see that as soon as you begin to think of Love it is always your little inner tumult which starts whirling. All that aspires in you wants certain vibrations. It is almost impossible, without being far advanced on the yogic path, to separate the vital essence, the vital vibration from your conception of Love. What I say is founded on an assiduous experience of human beings. Well, for you, in the state in which you are, as you are, if you had a contact with pure divine Love, it would seem to you colder than ice, or so far-off, so high that you would not be able to breathe; it would be like the mountain-top where you would feel frozen and find it difficult to breathe, so very far would it be from what you normally feel. Divine Love, if not clothed with a psychic or vital vibration, is difficult for a human being to perceive. One can have an impression of grace, of a grace which is something so far, so high, so pure, so impersonal that... yes, one can have the feeling of grace, but it is with difficulty that one feels Love.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1950-1951,#KEYS
108:He continuously reflected on her image and attributes, day and night. His bhakti was such that he could not stop thinking of her. Eventually, he saw her everywhere and in everything. This was his path to illumination.
He was often asked by people: what is the way to the supreme? His answer was sharp and definite: bhakti yoga. He said time and time again that bhakti yoga is the best sadhana for the Kali Yuga (Dark Age) of the present.
His bhakti is illustrated by the following statement he made to a disciple:
To my divine mother I prayed only for pure love.
At her lotus feet I offered a few flowers and I prayed:
Mother! here is virtue and here is vice;
Take them both from me.
Grant me only love, pure love for Thee.
Mother! here is knowledge and here is ignorance;
Take them both from me.
Grant me only love, pure love for Thee.
Mother! here is purity and impurity;
Take them both from me.
Grant me only love, pure love for Thee.
Ramakrishna, like Kabir, was a practical man.
He said: "So long as passions are directed towards the world and its objects, they are enemies. But when they are directed towards a deity, then they become the best of friends to man, for they take him to illumination. The desire for worldly things must be changed into longing for the supreme; the anger which you feel for fellow man must be directed towards the supreme for not manifesting himself to you . . . and so on, with all other emotions. The passions cannot be eradicated, but they can be turned into new directions."
A disciple once asked him: "How can one conquer the weaknesses within us?" He answered: "When the fruit grows out of the flower, the petals drop off themselves. So when divinity in you increases, the weaknesses of human nature will vanish of their own accord." He emphasized that the aspirant should not give up his practices. "If a single dive into the sea does not bring you a pearl, do not conclude that there are no pearls in the sea. There are countless pearls hidden in the sea.
So if you fail to merge with the supreme during devotional practices, do not lose heart. Go on patiently with the practices, and in time you will invoke divine grace." It does not matter what form you care to worship. He said: "Many are the names of the supreme and infinite are the forms through which he may be approached. In whatever name and form you choose to worship him, through that he will be realized by you." He indicated the importance of surrender on the path of bhakti when he said:
~ Swami Satyananda Saraswati, A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya,#KEYS
109:10000 ::: The True Object of Spiritual Seeking:
To find the Divine is indeed the first reason for seeking the spiritual Truth and the spiritual life; it is the one thing indispensable and all the rest is nothing without it. The Divine once found, to manifest Him,-that is, first of all to transform one's own limited consciousness into the Divine Consciousness, to live in the infinite Peace, Light, Love, Strength, Bliss, to become that in one's essential nature and, as a consequence, 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 mistranslation of the Truth-these things cannot be the first or 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 action can only be a help or means towards finding the Divine and it ought not to have any other purpose. As we grow in the inner consciousness, or as the spiritual Truth of the Divine grows in us, our life and action must indeed more and more flow from that, be one with that. But to decide beforehand by our limited mental conceptions 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 actions as well as our consciousness, 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 consciousness 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 realisation or of impeding or even falsifying by a half-way formation the true growth into the full communion and union with the Divine and the free and intimate outflowing of His will in our life. This is a mistake of orientation to which the mind of today is especially prone. It is far better to approach the Divine for the Peace or Light or Bliss that the realisation of Him gives than to bring in these minor things which can divert us from the one thing needful. The divinisation 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 outflowing of the inner realisation, something that grows from within outward, not by the working out of a mental principle.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T1],#KEYS
110:The preliminary movement of Rajayoga is careful self-discipline by which good habits of mind are substituted for the lawless movements that indulge the lower nervous being. By the practice of truth, by renunciation of all forms of egoistic seeking, by abstention from injury to others, by purity, by constant meditation and inclination to the divine Purusha who is the true lord of the mental kingdom, a pure, clear state of mind and heart is established.
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 consciousness and acquire the foundation for a perfect freedom and self-mastery. But Rajayoga does not forget that the disabilities of the ordinary mind proceed largely from its subjection to the reactions of the nervous system and the body. It adopts therefore from the Hathayogic system its devices of asana and pranayama, 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 control of the body and the vital functions and for the awakening of that internal dynamism, full of a latent supernormal faculty, typified in Yogic terminology by the kundalini, the coiled and sleeping serpent of Energy within. This done, the system proceeds to the perfect quieting of the restless mind and its elevation to a higher plane through concentration of mental force by the successive stages which lead to the utmost inner concentration or ingathered state of the consciousness 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 consciousness, Rajayoga serves a double purpose. It compasses a pure mental action liberated from the confusions of the outer consciousness 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 concentrated energising of consciousness on its object which our philosophy asserts as the primary cosmic energy and the method of divine action upon the world. By this capacity the Yogin, already possessed of the highest supracosmic knowledge and experience in the state of trance, is able in the waking state to acquire directly whatever knowledge and exercise whatever mastery may be useful or necessary to his activities in the objective world.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Conditions of the Synthesis, The Systems of Yoga, 36,#KEYS
111:The Teacher of the integral Yoga will follow as far as he may the method of the Teacher within us. He will lead the disciple through the nature of the disciple. Teaching, example, influence, - these are the three instruments of the Guru. But the wise Teacher will not seek to impose himself or his opinions on the passive acceptance of the receptive mind; he will throw in only what is productive and sure as a seed which will grow under the divine fostering within. He will seek to awaken much more than to instruct; he will aim at the growth of the faculties and the experiences by a natural process and free expansion. He will give a method as an aid, as a utilisable device, not as an imperative formula or a fixed routine. And he will be on his guard against any turning of the means into a limitation, against the mechanising of process. His whole business is to awaken the divine light and set working the divine force of which he himself is only a means and an aid, a body or a channel.
The example is more powerful than the instruction; but it is not the example of the outward acts nor that of the personal character which is of most importance. These have their place and their utility; but what will most stimulate aspiration in others is the central fact of the divine realisation within him governing his whole life and inner state and all his activities. This is the universal and essential element; the rest belongs to individual person and circumstance. It is this dynamic realisation that the sadhaka must feel and reproduce in himself according to his own nature; he need not strive after an imitation from outside which may well be sterilising rather than productive of right and natural fruits.
Influence is more important than example. Influence is not the outward authority of the Teacher over his disciple, but the power of his contact, of his presence, of the nearness of his soul to the soul of another, infusing into it, even though in silence, that which he himself is and possesses. This is the supreme sign of the Master. For the greatest Master is much less a Teacher than a Presence pouring the divine consciousness and its constituting light and power and purity and bliss into all who are receptive around him.
And it shall also be a sign of the teacher of the integral Yoga that he does not arrogate to himself Guruhood in a humanly vain and self-exalting spirit. His work, if he has one, is a trust from above, he himself a channel, a vessel or a representative. He is a man helping his brothers, a child leading children, a Light kindling other lights, an awakened Soul awakening souls, at highest a Power or Presence of the Divine calling to him other powers of the Divine. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga,#KEYS
112:root of the falsification and withdrawl of divine love :::
At every moment they are moved to take egoistic advantage of the psychic and spiritual influences and can be detected using the power, joy or light these bring into us for a lower life-motive. Afterwards too, even when the seeker has opened to the Divine Love transcendental, universal or immanent, yet if he tries to pour it into life, he meets the power of obscuration and perversion of these lower Nature-forces. Always they draw away towards pitfalls, pour into that higher intensity their diminishing elements, seek to capture the descending Power for themselves and their interests and degrade it into an aggrandised mental, vital or physical instrumentation for desire and ego. Instead of a Divine Love creator of a new heaven and a new earth of Truth and Light, they would hold it here prisoner as a tremendous sanction and glorifying force of sublimation to gild the mud of the old earth and colour with its rose and sapphire the old turbid unreal skies of sentimentalising vital imagination and mental idealised chimera. If that falsification is permitted, the higher Light and Power and Bliss withdraw, there is a fall back to a lower status; or else the realisation remains tied to an insecure half-way and mixture or is covered and even submerged by an inferior exaltation that is not the true Ananda. It is for this reason that Divine Love which is at the heart of all creation and the most powerful of all redeeming and creative forces has yet been the least frontally present in earthly life, the least successfully redemptive, the least creative. Human nature has been unable to bear it in its purity for the very reason that it is the most powerful, pure, rare and intense of all the divine energies; what little could be seized has been corrupted at once into a vital pietistic ardour, a defenceless religious or ethical sentimentalism, a sensuous or even sensual erotic mysticism of the roseate coloured mind or passionately turbid life-impulse and with these simulations compensated its inability to house the Mystic Flame that could rebuild the world with its tongues of sacrifice. It is only the inmost psychic being unveiled and emerging in its full power that can lead the pilgrim sacrifice unscathed through these ambushes and pitfalls; at each moment it catches, exposes, repels the mind's and the life's falsehoods, seizes hold on the truth of the Divine Love and Ananda and separates it from the excitement of the mind's ardours and the blind enthusiasms of the misleading life-force. But all things that are true at their core in mind and life and the physical being it extricates and takes with it in the journey till they stand on the heights, new in spirit and sublime in figure. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Ascent of the Sacrifice - 2, 166,#KEYS
113:To Know How To Suffer
IF AT any time a deep sorrow, a searing doubt or an intense pain overwhelms you and drives you to despair, there is an infallible way to regain calm and peace.
In the depths of our being there shines a light whose brilliance is equalled only by its purity; a light, a living and conscious portion of a universal godhead who animates and nourishes and illumines Matter, a powerful and unfailing guide for those who are willing to heed his law, a helper full of solace and loving forbearance towards all who aspire to see and hear and obey him. No sincere and lasting aspiration towards him can be in vain; no strong and respectful trust can be disappointed, no expectation ever deceived.
My heart has suffered and lamented, almost breaking beneath a sorrow too heavy, almost sinking beneath a pain too strong.... But I have called to thee, O divine comforter, I have prayed ardently to thee, and the splendour of thy dazzling light has appeared to me and revived me.
As the rays of thy glory penetrated and illumined all my being, I clearly perceived the path to follow, the use that can be made of suffering; I understood that the sorrow that held me in its grip was but a pale reflection of the sorrow of the earth, of this abysm of suffering and anguish.
Only those who have suffered can understand the suffering of others; understand it, commune with it and relieve it. And I understood, O divine comforter, sublime Holocaust, that in order to sustain us in all our troubles, to soothe all our pangs, thou must have known and felt all the sufferings of earth and man, all without exception.
How is it that among those who claim to be thy worshippers, some regard thee as a cruel torturer, as an inexorable judge witnessing the torments that are tolerated by thee or even created by thy own will?
No, I now perceive that these sufferings come from the very imperfection of Matter which, in its disorder and crudeness, is unfit to manifest thee; and thou art the very first to suffer from it, to bewail it, thou art the first to toil and strive in thy ardent desire to change disorder into order, suffering into happiness, discord into harmony.
Suffering is not something inevitable or even desirable, but when it comes to us, how helpful it can be!
Each time we feel that our heart is breaking, a deeper door opens within us, revealing new horizons, ever richer in hidden treasures, whose golden influx brings once more a new and intenser life to the organism on the brink of destruction.
And when, by these successive descents, we reach the veil that reveals thee as it is lifted, O Lord, who can describe the intensity of Life that penetrates the whole being, the radiance of the Light that floods it, the sublimity of the Love that transforms it for ever! ~ The Mother, Words Of Long Ago, To Know How To Suffer, 1910,#KEYS
114:On that spring day in the park I saw a young woman who attracted me. She was tall and slender, elegantly dressed, and had an intelligent and boyish face. I liked her at once. She was my type and began to fill my imagination. She probably was not much older than I but seemed far more mature, well-defined, a full-grown woman, but with a touch of exuberance and boyishness in her face, and this was what I liked above all .
I had never managed to approach a girl with whom I had fallen in love, nor did I manage in this case. But the impression she made on me was deeper than any previous one had been and the infatuation had a profound influence on my life.
Suddenly a new image had risen up before me, a lofty and cherished image. And no need, no urge was as deep or as fervent within me as the craving to worship and admire. I gave her the name Beatrice, for, even though I had not read Dante, I knew about Beatrice from an English painting of which I owned a reproduction. It showed a young pre-Raphaelite woman, long-limbed and slender, with long head and etherealized hands and features. My beautiful young woman did not quite resemble her, even though she, too, revealed that slender and boyish figure which I loved, and something of the ethereal, soulful quality of her face.
Although I never addressed a single word to Beatrice, she exerted a profound influence on me at that time. She raised her image before me, she gave me access to a holy shrine, she transformed me into a worshiper in a temple.
From one day to the next I stayed clear of all bars and nocturnal exploits. I could be alone with myself again and enjoyed reading and going for long walks.
My sudden conversion drew a good deal of mockery in its wake. But now I had something I loved and venerated, I had an ideal again, life was rich with intimations of mystery and a feeling of dawn that made me immune to all taunts. I had come home again to myself, even if only as the slave and servant of a cherished image.
I find it difficult to think back to that time without a certain fondness. Once more I was trying most strenuously to construct an intimate "world of light" for myself out of the shambles of a period of devastation; once more I sacrificed everything within me to the aim of banishing darkness and evil from myself. And, furthermore, this present "world of light" was to some extent my own creation; it was no longer an escape, no crawling back to -nether and the safety of irresponsibility; it was a new duty, one I had invented and desired on my own, with responsibility and self-control. My sexuality, a torment from which I was in constant flight, was to be transfigured nto spirituality and devotion by this holy fire. Everything :brk and hateful was to be banished, there were to be no more tortured nights, no excitement before lascivious picures, no eavesdropping at forbidden doors, no lust. In place of all this I raised my altar to the image of Beatrice, :.. and by consecrating myself to her I consecrated myself to the spirit and to the gods, sacrificing that part of life which I withdrew from the forces of darkness to those of light. My goal was not joy but purity, not happiness but beauty, and spirituality.
This cult of Beatrice completely changed my life.
~ Hermann Hesse, Demian,#KEYS
115:It is thus by an integralisation of our divided being that the Divine Shakti in the Yoga will proceed to its object; for liberation, perfection, mastery are dependent on this integralisation, since the little wave on the surface cannot control its own movement, much less have any true control over the vast life around it. The Shakti, the power of the Infinite and the Eternal descends within us, works, breaks up our present psychological formations, shatters every wall, widens, liberates, presents us with always newer and greater powers of vision, ideation, perception and newer and greater life-motives, enlarges and newmodels increasingly the soul and its instruments, confronts us with every imperfection in order to convict and destroy it, opens to a greater perfection, does in a brief period the work of many lives or ages so that new births and new vistas open constantly within us. Expansive in her action, she frees the consciousness from confinement in the body; it can go out in trance or sleep or even waking and enter into worlds or other regions of this world and act there or carry back its experience. It spreads out, feeling the body only as a small part of itself, and begins to contain what before contained it; it achieves the cosmic consciousness and extends itself to be commensurate with the universe. It begins to know inwardly and directly and not merely by external observation and contact the forces at play in the world, feels their movement, distinguishes their functioning and can operate immediately upon them as the scientist operates upon physical forces, accept their action and results in our mind, life, body or reject them or modify, change, reshape, create immense new powers and movements in place of the old small functionings of the nature. We begin to perceive the working of the forces of universal Mind and to know how our thoughts are created by that working, separate from within the truth and falsehood of our perceptions, enlarge their field, extend and illumine their significance, become master of our own minds and active to shape the movements of Mind in the world around us. We begin to perceive the flow and surge of the universal life-forces, detect the origin and law of our feelings, emotions, sensations, passions, are free to accept, reject, new-create, open to wider, rise to higher planes of Life-Power. We begin to perceive too the key to the enigma of Matter, follow the interplay of Mind and Life and Consciousness upon it, discover more and more its instrumental and resultant function and detect ultimately the last secret of Matter as a form not merely of Energy but of involved and arrested or unstably fixed and restricted consciousness and begin to see too the possibility of its liberation and plasticity of response to higher Powers, its possibilities for the conscious and no longer the more than half-inconscient incarnation and self-expression of the Spirit. All this and more becomes more and more possible as the working of the Divine Shakti increases in us and, against much resistance or labour to respond of our obscure consciousness, through much struggle and movement of progress and regression and renewed progress necessitated by the work of intensive transformation of a half-inconscient into a conscious substance, moves to a greater purity, truth, height, range. All depends on the psychic awakening in us, the completeness of our response to her and our growing surrender. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Ascent of the Sacrifice - 2, 183, #KEYS
116:We have now completed our view of the path of Knowledge and seen to what it leads. First, the end of Yoga of Knowledge is God-possession, it is to possess God and be possessed by him through consciousness, through identification, through reflection of the divine Reality. But not merely in some abstraction away from our present existence, but here also; therefore to possess the Divine in himself, the Divine in the world, the Divine within, the Divine in all things and all beings. It is to possess oneness with God and through that to possess also oneness with the universal, with the cosmos and all existences; therefore to possess the infinite diversity also in the oneness, but on the basis of oneness and not on the basis of division. It is to possess God in his personality and his impersonality; in his purity free from qualities and in his infinite qualities; in time and beyond time; in his action and in his silence; in the finite and in the infinite. It is to possess him not only in pure self, but in all self; not only in self, but in Nature; not only in spirit, but in supermind, mind, life and body; to possess him with the spirit, with the mind, with the vital and the physical consciousness; and it is again for all these to be possessed by him, so that our whole being is one with him, full of him, governed and driven by him. It is, since God is oneness, for our physical consciousness to be one with the soul and the nature of the material universe; for our life, to be one with all life; for our mind, to be one with the universal mind; for our spirit, to be identified with the universal spirit. It is to merge in him in the absolute and find him in all relations. Secondly, it is to put on the divine being and the divine nature. And since God is Sachchidananda, it is to raise our being into the divine being, our consciousness into the divine consciousness, our energy into the divine energy, our delight of existence into the divine delight of being. And it is not only to lift ourselves into this higher consciousness, but to widen into it in all our being, because it is to be found on all the planes of our existence and in all our members, so that our mental, vital, physical existence shall become full of the divine nature. Our intelligent mentality is to become a play of the divine knowledge-will, our mental soul-life a play of the divine love and delight, our vitality a play of the divine life, our physical being a mould of the divine substance. This God-action in us is to be realised by an opening of ourselves to the divine gnosis and divine Ananda and, in its fullness, by an ascent into and a permanent dwelling in the gnosis and the Ananda. For though we live physically on the material plane and in normal outwardgoing life the mind and soul are preoccupied with material existence, this externality of our being is not a binding limitation. We can raise our internal consciousness from plane to plane of the relations of Purusha with prakriti, and even become, instead of the mental being dominated by the physical soul and nature, the gnostic being or the bliss-self and assume the gnostic or the bliss nature. And by this raising of the inner life we can transform our whole outward-going existence; instead of a life dominated by matter we shall then have a life dominated by spirit with all its circumstances moulded and determined by the purity of being, the consciousness infinite even in the finite, the divine energy, the divine joy and bliss of the spirit.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Integral Knowledge, The Higher and the Lower Knowledge [511] [T1],#KEYS
117:The principle of Yoga is the turning of one or of all powers of our human existence into a means of reaching the divine Being. In an ordinary Yoga one main power of being or one group of its powers is made the means, vehicle, path. In a synthetic Yoga all powers will be combined and included in the transmuting instrumentation.
In Hathayoga the instrument is the body and life. All the power of the body is stilled, collected, purified, heightened, concentrated to its utmost limits or beyond any limits by Asana and other physical processes; the power of the life too is similarly purified, heightened, concentrated by Asana and Pranayama. This concentration of powers is then directed towards that physical centre in which the divine consciousness sits concealed in the human body. The power of Life, Nature-power, coiled up with all its secret forces asleep in the lowest nervous plexus of the earth-being,-for only so much escapes into waking action in our normal operations as is sufficient for the limited uses of human life,-rises awakened through centre after centre and awakens, too, in its ascent and passage the forces of each successive nodus of our being, the nervous life, the heart of emotion and ordinary mentality, the speech, sight, will, the higher knowledge, till through and above the brain it meets with and it becomes one with the divine consciousness.
In Rajayoga the chosen instrument is the mind. our ordinary mentality is first disciplined, purified and directed towards the divine Being, then by a summary process of Asana and Pranayama the physical force of our being is stilled and concentrated, the life-force released into a rhythmic movement capable of cessation and concentrated into a higher power of its upward action, the mind, supported and strengthened by this greater action and concentration of the body and life upon which it rests, is itself purified of all its unrest and emotion and its habitual thought-waves, liberated from distraction and dispersion, given its highest force of concentration, gathered up into a trance of absorption. Two objects, the one temporal, the other eternal,are gained by this discipline. Mind-power develops in another concentrated action abnormal capacities of knowledge, effective will, deep light of reception, powerful light of thought-radiation which are altogether beyond the narrow range of our normal mentality; it arrives at the Yogic or occult powers around which there has been woven so much quite dispensable and yet perhaps salutary mystery. But the one final end and the one all-important gain is that the mind, stilled and cast into a concentrated trance, can lose itself in the divine consciousness and the soul be made free to unite with the divine Being.
The triple way takes for its chosen instruments the three main powers of the mental soul-life of the human being. Knowledge selects the reason and the mental vision and it makes them by purification, concentration and a certain discipline of a Goddirected seeking its means for the greatest knowledge and the greatest vision of all, God-knowledge and God-vision. Its aim is to see, know and be the Divine. Works, action selects for its instrument the will of the doer of works; it makes life an offering of sacrifice to the Godhead and by purification, concentration and a certain discipline of subjection to the divine Will a means for contact and increasing unity of the soul of man with the divine Master of the universe. Devotion selects the emotional and aesthetic powers of the soul and by turning them all Godward in a perfect purity, intensity, infinite passion of seeking makes them a means of God-possession in one or many relations of unity with the Divine Being. All aim in their own way at a union or unity of the human soul with the supreme Spirit.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Self-Perfection, The Principle of the Integral Yoga, 609,#KEYS
118:CHAPTER XIII
OF THE BANISHINGS: AND OF THE PURIFICATIONS.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and had better come first. Purity means singleness. God is one. The wand is not a wand if it has something sticking to it which is not an essential part of itself. If you wish to invoke Venus, you do not succeed if there are traces of Saturn mixed up with it.
That is a mere logical commonplace: in magick one must go much farther than this. One finds one's analogy in electricity. If insulation is imperfect, the whole current goes back to earth. It is useless to plead that in all those miles of wire there is only one-hundredth of an inch unprotected. It is no good building a ship if the water can enter, through however small a hole.
That first task of the Magician in every ceremony is therefore to render his Circle absolutely impregnable.
If one littlest thought intrude upon the mind of the Mystic, his concentration is absolutely destroyed; and his consciousness remains on exactly the same level as the Stockbroker's. Even the smallest baby is incompatible with the virginity of its mother. If you leave even a single spirit within the circle, the effect of the conjuration will be entirely absorbed by it.> {101}
The Magician must therefore take the utmost care in the matter of purification, "firstly", of himself, "secondly", of his instruments, "thirdly", of the place of working. Ancient Magicians recommended a preliminary purification of from three days to many months. During this period of training they took the utmost pains with diet. They avoided animal food, lest the elemental spirit of the animal should get into their atmosphere. They practised sexual abstinence, lest they should be influenced in any way by the spirit of the wife. Even in regard to the excrements of the body they were equally careful; in trimming the hair and nails, they ceremonially destroyed> the severed portion. They fasted, so that the body itself might destroy anything extraneous to the bare necessity of its existence. They purified the mind by special prayers and conservations. They avoided the contamination of social intercourse, especially the conjugal kind; and their servitors were disciples specially chosen and consecrated for the work.
In modern times our superior understanding of the essentials of this process enables us to dispense to some extent with its external rigours; but the internal purification must be even more carefully performed. We may eat meat, provided that in doing so we affirm that we eat it in order to strengthen us for the special purpose of our proposed invocation.> {102}
By thus avoiding those actions which might excite the comment of our neighbours we avoid the graver dangers of falling into spiritual pride.
We have understood the saying: "To the pure all things are pure", and we have learnt how to act up to it. We can analyse the mind far more acutely than could the ancients, and we can therefore distinguish the real and right feeling from its imitations. A man may eat meat from self-indulgence, or in order to avoid the dangers of asceticism. We must constantly examine ourselves, and assure ourselves that every action is really subservient to the One Purpose.
It is ceremonially desirable to seal and affirm this mental purity by Ritual, and accordingly the first operation in any actual ceremony is bathing and robing, with appropriate words. The bath signifies the removal of all things extraneous to antagonistic to the one thought. The putting on of the robe is the positive side of the same operation. It is the assumption of the fame of mind suitable to that one thought.
A similar operation takes place in the preparation of every instrument, as has been seen in the Chapter devoted to that subject. In the preparation of theplace of working, the same considerations apply. We first remove from that place all objects; and we then put into it those objects, and only those {103} objects, which are necessary. During many days we occupy ourselves in this process of cleansing and consecration; and this again is confirmed in the actual ceremony.
The cleansed and consecrated Magician takes his cleansed and consecrated instruments into that cleansed and consecrated place, and there proceeds to repeat that double ceremony in the ceremony itself, which has these same two main parts. The first part of every ceremony is the banishing; the second, the invoking. The same formula is repeated even in the ceremony of banishing itself, for in the banishing ritual of the pentagram we not only command the demons to depart, but invoke the Archangels and their hosts to act as guardians of the Circle during our pre-occupation with the ceremony proper.
In more elaborate ceremonies it is usual to banish everything by name. Each element, each planet, and each sign, perhaps even the Sephiroth themselves; all are removed, including the very one which we wished to invoke, for that force ... ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,#KEYS
119:To what gods shall the sacrifice be offered? Who shall be invoked to manifest and protect in the human being this increasing godhead?
Agni first, for without him the sacrificial flame cannot burn on the altar of the soul. That flame of Agni is the seven-tongued power of the Will, a Force of God instinct with Knowledge. This conscious and forceful will is the immortal guest in our mortality, a pure priest and a divine worker, the mediator between earth and heaven. It carries what we offer to the higher Powers and brings back in return their force and light and joy into our humanity.
Indra, the Puissant next, who is the power of pure Existence self-manifested as the Divine Mind. As Agni is one pole of Force instinct with knowledge that sends its current upward from earth to heaven, so Indra is the other pole of Light instinct with force which descends from heaven to earth. He comes down into our world as the Hero with the shining horses and slays darkness and division with his lightnings, pours down the life-giving heavenly waters, finds in the trace of the hound, Intuition, the lost or hidden illuminations, makes the Sun of Truth mount high in the heaven of our mentality.
Surya, the Sun, is the master of that supreme Truth, - truth of being, truth of knowledge, truth of process and act and movement and functioning. He is therefore the creator or rather the manifester of all things - for creation is out-bringing, expression by the Truth and Will - and the father, fosterer, enlightener of our souls. The illuminations we seek are the herds of this Sun who comes to us in the track of the divine Dawn and releases and reveals in us night-hidden world after world up to the highest Beatitude.
Of that beatitude Soma is the representative deity. The wine of his ecstasy is concealed in the growths of earth, in the waters of existence; even here in our physical being are his immortalising juices and they have to be pressed out and offered to all the gods; for in that strength these shall increase and conquer.
Each of these primary deities has others associated with him who fulfil functions that arise from his own. For if the truth of Surya is to be established firmly in our mortal nature, there are previous conditions that are indispensable; a vast purity and clear wideness destructive of all sin and crooked falsehood, - and this is Varuna; a luminous power of love and comprehension leading and forming into harmony all our thoughts, acts and impulses, - this is Mitra; an immortal puissance of clear-discerning aspiration and endeavour, - this is Aryaman; a happy spontaneity of the right enjoyment of all things dispelling the evil dream of sin and error and suffering, - this is Bhaga. These four are powers of the Truth of Surya. For the whole bliss of Soma to be established perfectly in our nature a happy and enlightened and unmaimed condition of mind, vitality and body are necessary. This condition is given to us by the twin Ashwins; wedded to the daughter of Light, drinkers of honey, bringers of perfect satisfactions, healers of maim and malady they occupy our parts of knowledge and parts of action and prepare our mental, vital and physical being for an easy and victorious ascension.
Indra, the Divine Mind, as the shaper of mental forms has for his assistants, his artisans, the Ribhus, human powers who by the work of sacrifice and their brilliant ascension to the high dwelling-place of the Sun have attained to immortality and help mankind to repeat their achievement. They shape by the mind Indra's horses, the chariot of the Ashwins, the weapons of the Gods, all the means of the journey and the battle. But as giver of the Light of Truth and as Vritra-slayer Indra is aided by the Maruts, who are powers of will and nervous or vital Force that have attained to the light of thought and the voice of self-expression. They are behind all thought and speech as its impellers and they battle towards the Light, Truth and Bliss of the supreme Consciousness.
There are also female energies; for the Deva is both Male and Female and the gods also are either activising souls or passively executive and methodising energies. Aditi, infinite Mother of the Gods, comes first; and there are besides five powers of the Truthconsciousness, - Mahi or Bharati, the vast Word that brings us all things out of the divine source; Ila, the strong primal word of the Truth who gives us its active vision; Saraswati, its streaming current and the word of its inspiration; Sarama, the Intuition, hound of heaven who descends into the cavern of the subconscient and finds there the concealed illuminations; Dakshina, whose function is to discern rightly, dispose the action and the offering and distribute in the sacrifice to each godhead its portion. Each god, too, has his female energy.
All this action and struggle and ascension is supported by Heaven our Father and Earth our Mother Parents of the Gods, who sustain respectively the purely mental and psychic and the physical consciousness. Their large and free scope is the condition of our achievement. Vayu, master of life, links them together by the mid-air, the region of vital force. And there are other deities, - Parjanya, giver of the rain of heaven; Dadhikravan, the divine war-horse, a power of Agni; the mystic Dragon of the Foundations; Trita Aptya who on the third plane of existence consummates our triple being; and more besides.
The development of all these godheads is necessary to our perfection. And that perfection must be attained on all our levels, - in the wideness of earth, our physical being and consciousness; in the full force of vital speed and action and enjoyment and nervous vibration, typified as the Horse which must be brought forward to upbear our endeavour; in the perfect gladness of the heart of emotion and a brilliant heat and clarity of the mind throughout our intellectual and psychical being; in the coming of the supramental Light, the Dawn and the Sun and the shining Mother of the herds, to transform all our existence; for so comes to us the possession of the Truth, by the Truth the admirable surge of the Bliss, in the Bliss infinite Consciousness of absolute being. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Hymns to the Mystic Fire, The Doctrine of the Mystics,#KEYS
120:VIJAY: "How can one see God?"
MASTER: "One cannot see God without purity of heart. Through attachment to 'woman and gold' the mind has become stained-covered with dirt, as it were. A magnet cannot attract a needle if the needle is covered with mud. Wash away the mud and the magnet will draw it. Likewise, the dirt of the mind can be washed away with the tears of our eyes. This stain is removed if one sheds tears of repentance and says, 'O God, I shall never again do such a thing.' Thereupon God, who is like the magnet, draws to Himself the mind, which is like the needle. Then the devotee goes into samdhi and obtains the vision of God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1.07 - THE MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI,#KEYS
*** WISDOM TROVE ***
1:Purity is the fruit of prayer. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove 2:Learn from the purity of nature. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 3:Purity of heart is to will one thing. ~ soren-kierkegaard, @wisdomtrove 4:In deep meditation we see nothing but purity. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 5:Purity of mind and idleness are incompatible. ~ mahatma-gandhi, @wisdomtrove 6:The power of purity-it is a definite power. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 7:Without purity it's impossible to realize God. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 8:Purity of soul cannot be lost without consent. ~ saint-augustine, @wisdomtrove 9:What power is higher than the power of purity? ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 10:Without purity one cannot advance towards Divinity. ~ anandamayi-ma, @wisdomtrove 11:Out of purity and silence comes the word of power. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 12:Purity, perseverance, and energy- these three I want. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 13:Purity is when there is no anxiety, no worry, no thinking. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 14:There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it. ~ buddha, @wisdomtrove 15:Purity is a negative state and therefore contrary to nature. ~ william-faulkner, @wisdomtrove 16:All your knowledge is dust. Knowing is your purity, knowledge is dust. ~ rajneesh, @wisdomtrove 17:Purity is also developed in action. Purity is developed when we love. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 18:Living in balance and purity is the highest good for you and the earth. ~ deepak-chopra, @wisdomtrove 19:Purity is light. Not just an ordinary light, but a transcendental light. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 20:External practices have value only as helps to develop internal purity. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 21:Is not light grander than fire? It is the same element in a state of purity. ~ thomas-carlyle, @wisdomtrove 22:Liberty, like chastity, once lost, can never be regained in its original purity. ~ josh-billings, @wisdomtrove 23:Purity is the ability to see dharma in its manifold forms in any plane or loka. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 24:The scriptures recommend love and service to the enlightened to develop purity. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 25:Reformers who are obsessed with purity and cannot see that their obsession is impure. ~ e-m-forster, @wisdomtrove 26:There is only one prayer and that is prayer for light, for purity, for perfection. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 27:Unless you have a great deal of purity, it's difficult to retain the higher light. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 28:I can receive nothing more from these tragic solitudes than a little empty purity. ~ jean-paul-sartre, @wisdomtrove 29:Had Passion and Purity never encountered, Tenderness had never come into the world. ~ william-faulkner, @wisdomtrove 30:Purity of morals [is] the only sure foundation of public happiness in any country. ~ george-washington, @wisdomtrove 31:Don't be offended by your lack of purity. Purity is a seed that will grow and develop. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 32:Heaven does without doing through its purity, Earth does without doing through its calmness. ~ zhuangzi, @wisdomtrove 33:In whatever you are doing, be one: body, soul, mind. Do it beautifully and with purity. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 34:When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence. ~ sri-aurobindo, @wisdomtrove 35:If there be any one whose power is in beauty, in purity, in goodness, it is a woman. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 36:Ahimsa (non-killing), truthfulness, purity, mercy, and godliness are always to be kept. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 37:Spend time with spiritual friends, those who seek light. Purity is gained through strength. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 38:Purity, patience and perseverance are the three essentials to success and above all love. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 39:Whatever others think or do, lower not your standard of purity, morality and love of God. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 40:Any action done with beauty and purity, and in complete harmony of body, mind and soul, is Art. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 41:Purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education. ~ mahatma-gandhi, @wisdomtrove 42:Use your mind to discriminate. Choose to advance yourself, to bring more purity into your being. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 43:In order to go beyond ideas to direct realization, it's essential to have a great deal of purity. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 44:Purity is innocence, the innocence of lack of self. Desire is innocent unless it's connected with self. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 45:Necessary, forever necessary, to burn out false shames and smelt the heaviest ore of the body into purity. ~ d-h-lawrence, @wisdomtrove 46:Purity, patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. All great things must of necessity be slow. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 47:Consciousness equals energy = love = awareness = light = wisdom = beauty = truth = purity. It's all the same trip. ~ ram-das, @wisdomtrove 48:Infinite patience, infinite purity, and infinite perseverance are the secret of success in a good cause. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 49:It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods. ~ margaret-fuller, @wisdomtrove 50:Purity is very fragile when it takes physical manifestation. It is very, very strong in its original aspect. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 51:The certain mark by which a Christian community can be recognized is the preaching of the gospel in its purity. ~ martin-luther, @wisdomtrove 52:I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones. ~ george-orwell, @wisdomtrove 53:Because monks come from the midst of purity, they consider as good and pure what does not arouse desire among other people. ~ dogen, @wisdomtrove 54:Purity means lack of hatred, jealousy, fear, greed and lust - the absence of anything that can stain consciousness. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 55:Purity is receptivity, the ability to sit and wait patiently, for as long as necessary, for the coming of the light. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 56:Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. ~ leonardo-da-vinci, @wisdomtrove 57:The women that I met were exceptional, extraordinary - tremendous purity, tremendous gentleness, self-giving and power. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 58:Purity is developed through caring. You need to care about light and the matters of light, truth, religion and spirituality. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 59:Purity is something that comes from another world. It's a radiance that enters into this world of transformation and change. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 60:Oh, to live even for a day in the full light of freedom, to breathe the free air of simplicity! Isn't that the highest purity? ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 61:As you learn to accept that the body is transitory, as you watch it with love, but without attachment, the body will develop purity. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 62:Sallust is indisputably one of the best historians among the Romans, both for the purity of his language and the elegance of his style. ~ edmund-burke, @wisdomtrove 63:To think that fulfilling yourself in this world will create eternal fulfillment is absurd. But we feel this way because we lack purity. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 64:No negative, all positive, affirmative. I am, God is, everything is in me. I will manifest health, purity, knowledge, whatever I want. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 65:The Land where humanity has attained its highest towards gentleness, towards generosity, towards purity, towards calmness - it is India. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 66:Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not much to recommend it. Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts. ~ mahatma-gandhi, @wisdomtrove 67:Very few people are conscious of the deeper strata of eternity. The primary reason is either because they lack purity or they lack motivation. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 68:For some reason, there is a purity to the Swiss Alps - a certain energy - that is very reminiscent of my snowboarding experiences in the Himalayas. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 69:We make and sell a very, very large number of (hopefully) beautiful, well-made things. Our success is a victory for purity, integrity - for giving a damn. ~ jony-ive, @wisdomtrove 70:Seek to advance your fortunes in this world. Set up a strong base so that you can practice your spirituality and be of service to others. This is purity to. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 71:You have to refine your being. You have to go through all of the stages and steps of erasing yourself through service to others with purity, humility, integrity. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 72:All perfection is there already in the soul. But this perfection has been covered up by nature; layer after layer of nature is covering this purity of the soul. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 73:Wherever you go, go with inspiration and aspiration. Whatever you do, do with love and concern. Whomever you see, see with purity's beauty And responsibility's glory. ~ sri-chinmoy, @wisdomtrove 74:Go back to that state of pure being, where the & 75:What if you have seen it before, ten thousand times over? An apple tree in full blossom is like a message, sent fresh from heaven to earth, of purity and beauty. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 76:Sincerity of conviction and purity of motive will surely gain the day; and even a small minority, armed with these, is surely destined to prevail against all odds. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 77:There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity. ~ george-santayana, @wisdomtrove 78:In executing the duties of my present important station, I can promise nothing but purity of intentions, and, in carrying these into effect, fidelity and diligence. ~ george-washington, @wisdomtrove 79:Purity is something that can be consciously developed. Expect to have impure moments, thoughts, and ideas. One day they will go away, and then there will be happiness. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 80:During the age of Atlantis, the low population density and the resulting purity of the earth's aura, made conditions ideal for discovering secret meditation techniques. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 81:The light of love, the purity of grace, The mind, the Music breathing from her face, The heart whose softness harmonised the whole ‚Äî And, oh! that eye was in itself a Soul! ~ lord-byron, @wisdomtrove 82:Purity is essential for just your own peace of mind; otherwise, you'll go through this world like a mad person, howling and screaming and cursing, never satisfied, never happy. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 83:Feel that your body is like a bundle of flowers. When someone gives you flowers you enjoy their beauty, their purity. But you realize that, one day, the flowers will wither and fade. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 84:Life is short. Time is fleeting. Realize the Self. Purity of the heart is the gateway to God. Aspire. Renounce. Meditate. Be good; do good. Be kind; be compassionate. Inquire, know Thyself. ~ sivananda, @wisdomtrove 85:Do not keep the mind busy all the time. Stop it - and just be. If you give it rest, it will settle down and recover its purity and strength. Constant thinking makes it decay. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 86:Someone else would come, another self that was a little more refined, that had a little more purity, a little more humility, because I was quite egotistical, I thought I was quite wonderful. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 87:Only when there is purity in the heart; a heart peaceful and free from egoism& 88:First yoga deals with health, strength and conquest of the body. Next, it lifts the veil of difference between the body and the mind. Lastly, it leads the Sadhaka to peace and unalloyed purity. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 89:Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 90:The lion of anger shall give place to the lamb of meekness; the raven of uncleanness shall fly before the dove of purity; the vile serpent of deceit shall be trodden under the heel of truth. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 91:Selfless-giving burns away the layers of the onion. Purity and humility keep meditation and selfless-giving clear. Love radiates through the entire practice because we do all of it only for love. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 92:There is nothing mind can do that cannot be better done in the mind's immobility and thought-free stillness. When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence. ~ sri-aurobindo, @wisdomtrove 93:Purity in body and heart May please some& 94:The obscene and vulgar stories in the Bible are as repugnant to our ideas of the purity of a Divine Being, as the horrid cruelties and murders it ascribes to Him are repugnant to our ideas of His justice. ~ thomas-paine, @wisdomtrove 95:Happiness is strange; it comes when you are not seeking it. When you are not making an effort to be happy, then unexpectedly, mysteriously, happiness is there, born of purity, of a loveliness of being. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 96:There is in youth a purity of character which, when once touched and defiled, can never be restored; a fringe more delicate than frost-work, and which, when torn and broken, can never be re-embroidered. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 97:When the mind is not only silent, but that part of the mind that could become conscious that the mind is silent dissolves in light, then we see and feel purity. We become it, the purity of the eternal light. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 98:To be pure, to remain pure, can only come at a price, the price of knowing God and loving him enough to do his will. He will always give us the strength we need to keep purity as something as beautiful for him. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove 99:As gold purified in a furnace loses its impurities and achieves its own true nature, the mind gets rid of the impurities of the attributes of delusion, attachment and purity through meditation and attains Reality. ~ adi-shankara, @wisdomtrove 100:Truth, purity, and unselfishness wherever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 101:Take courage and work on. Patience and steady work - this is the only way. Go on; remember - patience and purity and courage and steady work. . . . So long as you are pure, and true to your principles, you will never fail. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 102:The spring without a leaf to toss, bare and bright like a virgin fierce in her chastity, scornful in her purity, was laid out on fields wide-eyed and watchful and entirely careless of what was done or thought by the beholders. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 103:Zen is the spirit of a man. Zen believes in his inner purity and goodness. Whatever is superadded or violently torn away, injures the wholesomeness of the spirit. Zen, therefore, is emphatically against all religious conventionalism. ~ d-t-suzuki, @wisdomtrove 104:What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue. ~ henri-matisse, @wisdomtrove 105:During the age Atlantis, there were only several hundred thousand people living on our planet. They lived in a sublime state of harmony with nature. At that time, because of the purity of the earth's aura, it was much easier to meditate. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 106:We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble. ~ teresa-of-avila, @wisdomtrove 107:Business is not the supreme virtue, and sanctity is not measured by the amount of work we accomplish. Perfection is found in the purity of our love for God, and this pure love is a delicate plant that grows best where there is plenty of time for it to mature ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 108:The sage has the sun and moon by his side and the universe under his arm. He blends everything into a harmonious whole. . . . He blends the disparities of ten thousand years into one complete purity. All things are blended like this and mutually involve each other. ~ zhuangzi, @wisdomtrove 109:I would sooner be holy than happy if the two things could be divorced. Were it possible for a man always to sorrow and yet to be pure, I would choose the sorrow if I might win the purity, for to be free from the power of sin, to be made to love holiness, is true happiness. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 110:Bless people when they revile you. Think how much good they are doing by helping to stamp out the false ego. Hold fast to the real Self. Think only pure thoughts, and you will accomplish more than a regiment of mere preachers. Out of purity and silence comes the word of power. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 111:Simplicity is the character of the spring of life, costliness becomes its autumn; but a neatness and purity, like that of the snow-drop or lily of the valley, is the peculiar fascination of beauty, to which it lends enchantment, and gives what amiability is to the mind. ~ henry-wadsworth-longfellow, @wisdomtrove 112:The foods that prolong life and increase purity, vigour, health, cheerfulness, and happiness are those that are delicious, soothing, substantial and agreeable... Foods that are bitter, sour, salt, over-hot, pungent, dry and burning produce unhappiness, repentance and disease. ~ henry-wadsworth-longfellow, @wisdomtrove 113:We must keep in mind that where the road is crooked, God makes it straight, and where our hearts are wounded, God makes us whole. As we open our hearts in purity and simplicity, admitting to God that we are completely powerless in the area of our problem, His illumination redeems us. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 114:You are strong, omnipotent, and omniscient. No matter that you have not expressed it yet, it is in you. All knowledge is in you, all power, all purity, and all freedom-why cannot you express this knowledge? Because you do not believe in it... Believe in it, and it must and will come out. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 115:Mind is repetitive, mind always moves in circles. Mind is a mechanism: you feed it with knowledge, it repeats the same knowledge, it goes on chewing the same knowledge again and again. No-mind is clarity, purity, innocence. No- mind is the real way to live, the real way to know, the real way to be. ~ rajneesh, @wisdomtrove 116:As for myself, I look upon all women as my Mother. This is a very pure attitude of mind. There is no risk or danger in it. To look upon a woman as one's sister is also not bad. But the other attitudes are very difficult and dangerous. It is almost impossible to keep to the purity of the ideal. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove 117:Children, in the present dark age of materialism, chanting the mantra is the easiest way for us to obtain inner purification and concentration. Japa can be done at any time, anywhere, without observing any rule regarding the purity of mind and body. Japa can be done while engaged in any task. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 118:If you stay with the idea that you are not the body nor the mind, not even their witness, but altogether beyond, your mind will grow in clarity, your desires - in purity, your actions - in charity and that inner distillation will take you to another world, a world of truth and fearless love. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 119:Spirituality is the science that teaches us how to achieve peace of mind and supreme satisfaction. Right now we are hankering after many, many things, but nothing we get satisfies us. Spirituality tells us that satisfaction can be found only if we lead a good and divine life-a life of simplicity, purity and humility. ~ sri-chinmoy, @wisdomtrove 120:It is impossible to live pure lives until we have pure hearts. Many people today are trying to put the cart before the horse. They are teaching purity of motives, desires, and actions to old, deceitful hearts! No wonder we have ended up such moral failures, in spite of our vaunted knowledge and psychological approaches. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 121:A clean heart is a free heart. A free heart can love Christ with an undivided love in chastity, convinced that nothing and nobody will separate it from his love. Purity, chastity, and virginity created a special beauty in Mary that attracted God's attention. He showed his great love for the world by giving Jesus to her. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove 122:We have to learn to go beyond both a positive mind and a negative mind to become a silent, nonjudgmental, nonanalytical, noninterpretive mind. In other words, the silent witness. In the process of silent witnessing, we experience inner silence. In the purity of silence, we feel connected to our source and to everything else. ~ deepak-chopra, @wisdomtrove 123:Behind my work was ambition, behind my love was personality, behind my purity was fear, behind my guidance the thirst for power. Now they are vanishing and I drift. I come, Mother, I come, in Thy warm bosom, floating wheresoever Thou takest me, in the voiceless, in the strange, in the wonderland, I come - a spectator, no more an actor. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 124:At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 125:I still remain convinced that truth, love, peaceableness, meekness, and kindness are the violence which can master all other violence. The world will be theirs as soon as ever a sufficient number of people with purity of heart, with strength, and with perseverance think and live out the thoughts of love and truth, of meekness and peaceableness. ~ albert-schweitzer, @wisdomtrove 126:Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove 127:What does this word holiness really mean? Is it a negative kind of piety from which so many people have shied away? No, of course not! Holiness in the Bible means moral wholeness& 128:Zen abhors repetition or imitation of any kind, for it kills. For the same reason Zen never explains, but only affirms. Life is fact and no explanation is necessary or pertinent. To explain is to apologize, and why should we apologize for living? To live—is that not enough? Let us then live, let us affirm! Herein lies Zen in all its purity and in all its nudity as well. ~ d-t-suzuki, @wisdomtrove 129:To penetrate into the essence of all being and significance, and to release the fragrance of that inner attainment for the guidance of others, by expressing in the world of forms- truth, love, purity and beauty - this is the sole game which has any intrinsic and absolute worth. All other happenings, incidents and attainments can, in themselves, have no lasting importance. ~ meher-baba, @wisdomtrove 130:I believe God loves the world through us - through you and through me. We use Mother Teresa's name; it is only a name, but we are real co-workers and carriers of His love. Today God loves the world through us. Especially in times like these when people are trying to make God "was," it is you and I, by our love, by the purity of our lives, by our compassion, who prove to the world that God "is." ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove 131:There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. This mysterious unity and integrity is wisdom, the mother of us all, "natura naturans." There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fountain of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness, and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 132:There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. This mysterious unity and integrity is wisdom, the mother of us all, "natura naturans." There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fountain of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness, and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 133:Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor learning nor eloquence nor anything else will prevail, but purity, living the life, in one word, anubhuti, realisation. Let there be a dozen such lion-souls in each country, lions who have broken their own bonds, who have touched the Infinite, whose whole soul is gone to Brahman, who care neither for wealth nor power nor fame, and these will be enough to shake the world. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 134:Mental purity will come through constant chanting of the divine name. This is the simplest way. You are trying to cross the ocean of transmigration, the cycle of birth and death. The mantra is the oar of the boat; it is the instrument you use to cross the samsara of your restless mind, with its unending thought waves. The mantra can also be compared to a ladder that you climb to reach the heights of God realization. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 135:Death is unimportant to a yogi; he does not mind when he is going to die. What happens after death is immaterial to him. He is only concerned with life-with how he can use his life for the betterment of humanity. Having undergone various types of pain in his life and having acquired a certain mastery over pain, he develops compassion to help society and maintains himself in purity and holiness. The yogi has no interest beyond that. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 136:Tremendous purity, tremendous renunciation, is the one secret of spirituality. ‚ÄúNeither through wealth, nor through progeny, but through renunciation alone is immortality to be reached,‚Äù say the Vedas. ‚ÄúSell all that thou hast and give to poor, and follow me,‚Äù says the Christ. So all great saints and prophets have expressed it, and have carried it out in their lives. How can great spirituality come without renunciation? ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 137:Sorrow and happiness are the heresies of virtue; joy and anger lead astray from TAO; love and hate cause loss of virtue. The heart unconscious of sorrow and happiness - that is perfect virtue. One, without change - that is perfect repose. Without any obstruction - that is the perfection of the unconditioned. Holding no relations with the external world, - that is perfection of the negative state. Without blemish of any kind, - that is the perfection of purity. ~ zhuangzi, @wisdomtrove 138:‚ÄúBlessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.‚Äù This sentence alone would save mankind, if all books and prophets were lost. This purity of heart will bring the vision of God. It is the theme of the whole music of this universe. In purity is no bondage. Remove the veils of ignorance by purity; then we manifest ourselves as we really are and know that we were never in bondage. The seeing of & 139:When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness," the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 140:You can purify your existence by feeling deep within yourself a beautiful rose or lotus, or any other flower that you like. A flower is all purity. Try to identify yourself with the consciousness of the flower or with the purity of the flower. Today it is imagination, but if you continue imagining for five days, or ten days, or a month or two, then you are bound to see and feel the flower within you. First you may feel it, then you are bound to see the existence of the flower, and then automatically the fragrance and the purity of the flower will enter into you to purify you. ~ sri-chinmoy, @wisdomtrove 141:There, our Self-seeing is a communion with the Self, restored to purity. No doubt we should not speak of "seeing," but, instead of [speaking of] "seen" and "seer," speak boldly of a simple unity. For in this seeing we neither see, nor distinguish, nor are there, two. The man is changed, no longer himself nor belonging to himself; he is merged with the Supreme, sunken into It, one with It; it is only in separation that duality exists. This is why the vision baffles telling; for how could a man bring back tidings of the Supreme as something separate from himself when he has seen It as one with himself? ~ plotinus, @wisdomtrove 142:One cannot see God without purity of heart. Through attachment to "woman and gold" the mind has become stained -covered with dirt, as it were. A magnet cannot attract a needle if the needle is covered with mud. Wash away the mud and the magnet will draw it. Likewise, the dirt of the mind can be washed away with the tears of our eyes. This stain is removed if one sheds tears of repentence and says, "0 God, I shall never again do such a thing." Thereupon God, who is like the, magnet, draws to Himself the mind, which is like the needle. Then the devotee goes into samadhi and obtains the vision of God. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove 143:When the soul has descended into generation (from its first divine condition) she partakes of evil, and is carried a great way into a state the opposite of her first purity and integrity, to be entirely merged in which, is nothing more than to fall into a dark mire. ... The soul dies as much as it is possible for the soul to die: and the death to her is, while baptized or immersed in the present body, to descend into matter, and be wholly subjected by it; and after departing thence to lie there til it shall arise and turn its face away from the abhorrent filth. This is what is meant by falling asleep in Hades, of those who have come there. ~ plotinus, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:Purity, simplicity, love. ~ Kate Morton, #NFDB
2:I am amazed at the seeker of purity ~ Rumi, #NFDB
3:Behave simply and hold on to purity. ~ Laozi, #NFDB
4:Purity is the fruit of prayer. ~ Mother Teresa, #NFDB
5:Purity and peace make men upright. ~ Lao-Tsu-Te, #NFDB
6:The price of purity is purists. ~ Calvin Trillin, #NFDB
7:The purity of intention repels fear. ~ Toba Beta, #NFDB
8:Learn from the purity of nature. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
9:Rare is the union of beauty and purity. ~ Juvenal, #NFDB
10:Snow is false purity. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
11:Allow the purity of evil to guide you. ~ The Undertaker, #NFDB
12:Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing ~ S ren Kierkegaard, #NFDB
13:Waiting on God means increasing purity. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
14:Purity of heart is to will one thing. ~ Soren Kierkegaard, #NFDB
15:Purity of heart is what enables us to see. ~ Benedict XVI, #NFDB
16:True beauty consists of purity of heart. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
17:True beauty lies in purity of the heart. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
18:We want his power more than his purity. ~ David Wilkerson, #NFDB
19:Purity without balance is its own corruption. ~ V E Schwab, #NFDB
20:In politics, purity is the enemy of victory. ~ Haley Barbour, #NFDB
21:Purity is the power to contemplate defilement. ~ Simone Weil, #NFDB
22:Your true nature is purity, peace and joy. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
23:Unity is divinity, purity is enlightenment. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
24:In deep meditation we see nothing but purity. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
25:Purity is the ability to contemplate defilement. ~ Simone Weil, #NFDB
26:Purity of heart is what enables us to see. ~ Pope Benedict XVI, #NFDB
27:Purity of life is the highest and truest art. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
28:Purity of mind and idleness are incompatible. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
29:The power of purity-it is a definite power. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
30:Without purity it's impossible to realize God. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
31:His moral purity serves to magnify our impurity. ~ Jerry Bridges, #NFDB
32:Purity consists of more than remaining a virgin. ~ Joshua Harris, #NFDB
33:Purity in person and in morals is true godliness. ~ Hosea Ballou, #NFDB
34:Purity of soul cannot be lost without consent. ~ Saint Augustine, #NFDB
35:Purity of soul cannot be lost without consent. ~ Saint Augustine, #NFDB
36:Purity is the feminine, truth the masculine of honor. ~ David Hare, #NFDB
37:What power is higher than the power of purity? ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
38:...the universe is a flaw in the purity of non-being. ~ Paul Val ry, #NFDB
39:True beauty after all consists in purity of heart. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
40:experience of the purity and the power, the love and ~ Andrew Murray, #NFDB
41:The purity of youth will usher in the Divine Wind. ~ Takijiro Onishi, #NFDB
42:What purity is for the soul, cleanliness is for the body. ~ Epicietus, #NFDB
43:Out of purity and silence comes the word of power. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
44:Purity and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven. ~ Laozi, #NFDB
45:Purity of soul and impurity of body can go together. ~ Vincent Van Gogh, #NFDB
46:If heart filled with purity,
then mind found the beauty. ~ Toba Beta,#NFDB
47:I shall sully the purity of your floor, said he...
~ Juan de la Cruz,#NFDB
48:Purity and stillness give the correct law to all under heaven. ~ Lao Tzu, #NFDB
49:Purity comes from Seva... it comes from selfless love. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
50:True beauty after all consists in purity of heart. With ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
51:Civil disobedience can only lead to strength and purity. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
52:Purity, perseverance, and energy- these three I want. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
53:The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
54:Purity is when there is no anxiety, no worry, no thinking. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
55:There is only a single step between impurity and purity. ~ Berl Katznelson, #NFDB
56:Cultural purity is an oxymoron (Saunders just quoted this). ~ Doug Saunders, #NFDB
57:I feel bad that I don't identify with the purity of babies. ~ Melissa Broder, #NFDB
58:Peace of heart is the natural outcome of purity of heart. ~ Spiros Zodhiates, #NFDB
59:In a single wave of meaning the triumphant purity of being. ~ Boris Pasternak, #NFDB
60:So much for the high road: Victory is more important than purity. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
61:The principle of supreme purity is in repose, in perfect calm. ~ Hoce-nan-tse, #NFDB
62:It was sad and fierce all at once, alive with a lonely purity. ~ Karen Russell, #NFDB
63:It is purity of spirit that will keep corruption from the flesh ~ Mark Lawrence, #NFDB
64:Maybe the gruffness and anger can be done with a purity of sound. ~ Josh Groban, #NFDB
65:Purity is a negative state and therefore contrary to nature. ~ William Faulkner, #NFDB
66:The simplicity and purity of enjoying a growing friendship ~ William Paul Young, #NFDB
67:You could drink the truth in its purity if you went to the source ~ John Graves, #NFDB
68:A people that does not protect its racial purity will perish! ~ Julius Streicher, #NFDB
69:Confidence is the purity of action produced by a mind free of doubt. ~ Katty Kay, #NFDB
70:Purity doesn't happen by accident; it requires obedience to God. ~ Joshua Harris, #NFDB
71:Simplicity, simplicity! How sweet is the purity of Thy Presence!... ~ The Mother, #NFDB
72:All your knowledge is dust. Knowing is your purity, knowledge is dust. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
73:consideration of Christ's sufferings is urged for purity and holiness ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
74:Simplicity ought to be in the intention, purity in the affection. ~ Thomas Kempis, #NFDB
75:There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
76:By turns our purity inspires and our impurity casts us down. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
77:Man flows at once to God when the channel of purity is open. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
78:Purity or impurity depends on oneself, no one can purify another. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
79:There are no simple paths to justice and purity, only the difficult one. ~ Jo Nesb, #NFDB
80:The negro has maintained his racial purity by his well known habit of ~ Che Guevara, #NFDB
81:It signifies joy, purity, beauty, and when given as a gift, secret love. ~ Sieni A M, #NFDB
82:Simplicity reaches out after God; purity discovers and enjoys Him. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
83:He always had a problem with the purity of others. Never his own. ~ Christopher Moore, #NFDB
84:Holy Purity is granted by God when it is asked for with humility. ~ Josemaria Escriva, #NFDB
85:Ignorance is not a state of innocence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Purity, #NFDB
86:People like beauty and purity. They pretend that's what it's all about. ~ Patti Smith, #NFDB
87:Purity or impurity depends on oneself,
No one can purify another. ~ Gautama Buddha,#NFDB
88:The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention ~ Richard Moss, #NFDB
89:You can't build a foundation of sin now for a life of purity later. ~ Craig Groeschel, #NFDB
90:one endure In purity of thought, joy follows him As his own shadow—sure. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
91:Purity is also developed in action. Purity is developed when we love. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
92:There is no purity with regards to the marketplace and art, I believe. ~ Kehinde Wiley, #NFDB
93:The way to preserve the peace of the church is to preserve its purity. ~ Matthew Henry, #NFDB
94:We estimate wrongdoing in proportion to the purity of our conscience ~ Honor de Balzac, #NFDB
95:How long, I wonder, will ignorance spell purity and knowledge shame? ~ Rosamond Lehmann, #NFDB
96:If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd. ~ Elisabeth Elliot, #NFDB
97:It is only by means of purity of mind can you come close to the Lord. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
98:Living in balance and purity is the highest good for you and the earth. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
99:The excellence of the Church does not consist in multitude but in purity. ~ John Calvin, #NFDB
100:The politics of the possible was being replaced by the politics of purity. ~ H W Brands, #NFDB
101:Your capacity to keep your vow will depend on the purity of your life. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
102:I am a Soul sharing the Purity and Gift of my Soul - with the Souls of Others. ~ Eleesha, #NFDB
103:Purity is, next to birth, the greatest good that can be given to man. ~ Avesta: Vendidad, #NFDB
104:You are the source of all purity and impurity. No one purifies another. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
105:If one endure In purity of thought, joy follows him As his own shadow—sure. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
106:It was the work of the quiet mountains, this torrent of purity at my feet. ~ Jack Kerouac, #NFDB
107:Purity is light. Not just an ordinary light, but a transcendental light. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
108:Purity and virtue scarcely differ from vice, if they're not free of malice ~ Anton Chekhov, #NFDB
109:Purity of race does not exist. Europe is a continent of energetic mongrels. ~ H A L Fisher, #NFDB
110:This purity is attained through conquering the passions. ~ Vladimir Aleksandrovich Antonov, #NFDB
111:External practices have value only as helps to develop internal purity. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
112:Let the purity and innocence of a child be your one and only religion! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
113:. . . meekness,love, purity, these are the things that should magnify us. ~ Joseph Smith Jr, #NFDB
114:The lotus symbolizes purity, because it rises out of the mud but looks pristine. ~ Lisa See, #NFDB
115:True affection and love have a purity which shall always prevail over bigotry. ~ Libba Bray, #NFDB
116:Why should men arrogate to themselves the right to regulate female purity? ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
117:A single white roes goes with everything, doesn´t it, and it symbolizes purity. ~ Alex Flinn, #NFDB
118:Eureka! [I have found it!] On discovery of a method to test the purity of gold. ~ Archimedes, #NFDB
119:If you came to see the truth, the purity, it's here inside a lonely heart. ~ Michael Jackson, #NFDB
120:Purity prepares the soul for love, and love confirms the soul in purity. ~ John Henry Newman, #NFDB
121:Alas, all traditions lose their primal purity and we all fail our founders. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
122:Is not light grander than fire? It is the same element in a state of purity. ~ Thomas Carlyle, #NFDB
123:All that remains of that minute is time in all its purity, bone-white time. ~ Marguerite Duras, #NFDB
124:Only a consciousness full of light can be pure. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, Purity, #NFDB
125:It keeps her purity vacum-sealed to preserve its freshness for her future husband. ~ Libba Bray, #NFDB
126:Our purity lies in our originality. Our intuition lies in our innocence. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi, #NFDB
127:purity of a sort is easily had where responsibilities are not assumed. The ~ Richard Hofstadter, #NFDB
128:Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government. ~ James Madison, #NFDB
129:True art must be evidence of happiness, contentment and purity of its authors. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
130:By two wings a man is lifted up from things earthly: by simplicity and purity. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
131:From exertion come wisdom and purity; from sloth ignorance and sensuality. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
132:If one lives only for the Divine and by the Divine, there follows a perfect purity. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
133:Peace was a thrilled voluptuous purity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Paradise of the Life-Gods, #NFDB
134:Purity is the ability to see dharma in its manifold forms in any plane or loka. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
135:The scriptures recommend love and service to the enlightened to develop purity. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
136:The plastic virtues: purity, unity, and truth, keep nature in subjection. ~ Guillaume Apollinaire, #NFDB
137:...of all the kinds of decay in this world, decadent purity is the most malignant. ~ Yukio Mishima, #NFDB
138:Purity prepares the soul for love, and love confirms the soul in purity. ~ Saint John Henry Newman, #NFDB
139:Nothing is black and white, and there is no purity and there is no such thing has justice. ~ Banksy, #NFDB
140:Reformers who are obsessed with purity and cannot see that their obsession is impure. ~ E M Forster, #NFDB
141:Rigour and purity in assembling words, however simple the result, create a vacuum. ~ Theodor Adorno, #NFDB
142:Spiritual joy arises from purity of the heart and perseverance in prayer. ~ Saint Francis of Assisi, #NFDB
143:There is only one prayer and that is prayer for light, for purity, for perfection. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
144:Unless you have a great deal of purity, it's difficult to retain the higher light. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
145:My goal was not pleasure, but purity; not happiness, but beauty and intellectuality. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
146:When you start looking for purity in politics, you eventually get to unreality. ~ Mario Vargas Llosa, #NFDB
147:Zealous men often confuse purity with intolerance, particularly when they're young. ~ R Scott Bakker, #NFDB
148:He who is concerned only with the purity of his own life ruins the great human relations. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
149:I can receive nothing more from these tragic solitudes than a little empty purity. ~ Jean Paul Sartre, #NFDB
150:I should wish to die if a man who is impure should parade his purity in front of me. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
151:My name, Paloma, means 'dove' in Spanish. It stands as a symbol of peace and purity. ~ Paloma Picasso, #NFDB
152:Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort. ~ Yamamoto Tsunetomo, #NFDB
153:[T]he astonishing purity of pain, how it will not be mixed with any other sensation. ~ Charles Baxter, #NFDB
154:The purity of a person's heart can be quickly measured by how they regard animals ~ Theophile Gautier, #NFDB
155:A life of peace, purity and refinement leads to a calm and untroubled old age. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero, #NFDB
156:Had Passion and Purity never encountered, Tenderness had never come into the world. ~ William Faulkner, #NFDB
157:Her purity of spirit would never be in doubt, though she moved through a blemished world. ~ Ian McEwan, #NFDB
158:Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort. ~ Yamamoto Tsunetomo, #NFDB
159:Purity of morals [is] the only sure foundation of public happiness in any country. ~ George Washington, #NFDB
160:The human mind has claimed for water one of its highest values-the value of purity. ~ Gaston Bachelard, #NFDB
161:The newly emerging ideal was solitude, purity, perfect waves far from civilization. ~ William Finnegan, #NFDB
162:The true master lives in truth,In goodness and restraint,Non-violence, moderation and purity. ~ Buddha, #NFDB
163:All the classical genres are now ridiculous in their rigorous purity. ~ Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, #NFDB
164:Don't be offended by your lack of purity. Purity is a seed that will grow and develop. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
165:Humility and purity are the wings which carry us to God and make us almost divine. ~ Pio of Pietrelcina, #NFDB
166:I am there where it is spoken that the universe is a defect in the purity of non-being. ~ Jacques Lacan, #NFDB
167:In whatever you are doing, be one: body, soul, mind. Do it beautifully and with purity. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
168:Like the watch, the heart needs the winding of purity, or the Dweller ceases to speak. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
169:The natural purity of our mind is of no use to us if we are not aware of it, ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
170:A fearless woman who knows that her purity is her best shield can never be dishonoured. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
171:God is love and beauty as well as purity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, Religion as the Law of Life, #NFDB
172:I want to lead people toward finding hope through the purity and healing power of metal. ~ David Draiman, #NFDB
173:rethink things. There was something about the design that lacked purity, he felt. “Why ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
174:The Bush administration does not desire to see Islam practiced in its pristine purity. ~ Louis Farrakhan, #NFDB
175:When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, #NFDB
176:A kind of childlike purity to her repose that made the thought of kissing her seem vile. ~ Jessica Khoury, #NFDB
177:If there be any one whose power is in beauty, in purity, in goodness, it is a woman. ~ Henry Ward Beecher, #NFDB
178:Not extreme perfection,
but purity and clarity are the targets
at which we should aim. ~ Lao Tzu,#NFDB
179:Politicians who talk about purity usually end up deciding who is pure and who is not. ~ Elizabeth Kostova, #NFDB
180:Purity engenders Wisdom, Passion avarice, and Ignorance folly, infatuation and darkness. ~ Cyril Connolly, #NFDB
181:Those who love and who have a sense of purity live in a very luminous band of awareness. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
182:Your innermost core has always been pure. Purity is intrinsic to you, it cannot be taken away. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
183:Every single act of one who would lead a life of purity should be in the nature of yajna. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
184:He who loves with purity considers not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
185:My death, taking the light from my eyes, gives back to the day the purity which they soiled. ~ Jean Racine, #NFDB
186:She was pure, it was true, as he had never dreamed of purity; but cherries stained her lips. ~ Jack London, #NFDB
187:That government which doth not promote unity as well as purity, is not the government of Christ. ~ Various, #NFDB
188:That’s the purity of nature. It may be harsh in its honesty, but it never lies to you. ~ Carine McCandless, #NFDB
189:Ahimsa (non-killing), truthfulness, purity, mercy, and godliness are always to be kept. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
190:As frustrating as the battle for purity must be, I suppose it's easier if you've got company. ~ Kevin Roose, #NFDB
191:Contemplation places us in a purity and radiance which is far above our understanding. ~ John of Ruysbroeck, #NFDB
192:Ramanama is for the pure at heart and for those who want to attain purity and remain pure. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
193:The demand for absolute purity of genres is becoming nowadays an anachronism in literature. ~ Stanislaw Lem, #NFDB
194:Winning has a joy and discrete purity to it that cannot be replaced by anything else. ~ A Bartlett Giamatti, #NFDB
195:Because that was there even when love wasn't - the net of family, the purity of habit and home. ~ Emma Cline, #NFDB
196:By the purity of the thoughts, of the actions, of holy words one cometh to know Ahura-Mazda. ~ Avesta: Yaçna, #NFDB
197:Spend time with spiritual friends, those who seek light. Purity is gained through strength. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
198:If we cannot write with the beauty of Mozart, let us at least try to write with his purity. ~ Johannes Brahms, #NFDB
199:Purity, patience and perseverance are the three essentials to success and above all love. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
200:Rather than the obsession with impurity, you'd do better to fear the nostalgia for purity. ~ Georges Bernanos, #NFDB
201:Whatever others think or do, lower not your standard of purity, morality and love of God. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
202:I always knew that God's way was the best, that I wanted to wait, and that I valued purity. ~ Rebecca St James, #NFDB
203:Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion. ~ Thomas Jefferson, #NFDB
204:Purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
205:The primordial purity of the ground completely transcends words, concepts, and formulations. ~ Jamgon Kongtrul, #NFDB
206:To insist on purity is to baptize instinct, to humanize art, and to deify personality. ~ Guillaume Apollinaire, #NFDB
207:Any action done with beauty and purity, and in complete harmony of body, mind and soul, is Art. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
208:In the religion of all nations a purity is hinted at, which, I fear, men never attain to. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
209:Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and, above all, love. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
210:Sanctification is the real change in man from the sordidness of sin to the purity of God's image. ~ William Ames, #NFDB
211:The world commands our desire for purity but bids that we not be too precise about it. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
212:Bear with the various opinions of everybody. Patience, purity, and perseverance will prevail. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
213:But my arts are also pure, as a circle is pure, and in a flawed world purity cannot endure. ~ Stephen R Donaldson, #NFDB
214:I do love the young adult novels as a form and genre, because it has a purity of intention and heart. ~ Ira Sachs, #NFDB
215:The purity of man is the absence of something, the purity of Jesus is the presence of something. ~ Ravi Zacharias, #NFDB
216:The true master lives in truth, in goodness and restraint, non-violence, moderation, and purity. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
217:Use your mind to discriminate. Choose to advance yourself, to bring more purity into your being. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
218:11 He who f loves purity of heart, and whose g speech is gracious, h will have the king as his friend. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
219:Even a few moments of offering lovingkindness can reconnect you with the purity of your loving heart. ~ Tara Brach, #NFDB
220:In order to go beyond ideas to direct realization, it's essential to have a great deal of purity. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
221:Survivors are so often re-victimized by a system that demands they prove their purity and innocence. ~ Lena Dunham, #NFDB
222:The armies of the day have chased the army of the night, Heaven and earth are filled with purity and light. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
223:The moral strength of the Church depends upon purity of doctrine and not upon the mass of individuals. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
224:Bavaria made the adoption of the Beer Purity Law a condition of its joining the new German Empire. ~ Neil MacGregor, #NFDB
225:This self can always be won by truth and austerity, by purity and by entire knowledge. ~ Mundaka Upanishad III. 1-5, #NFDB
226:Two wings lift a person up from earthly concerns: Simplicity in intention, and Purity in feeling. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
227:My hair is pure. It stands for purity because no foreign chemicals or substances has ever touched my hair. ~ CM Punk, #NFDB
228:The nobility of the ancients was no more than purity and serenity--what need for bushels of emblems? ~ Thomas Cleary, #NFDB
229:understood that there was a line of purity, and he would neither cross it nor ask her to cross it. ~ Karen Kingsbury, #NFDB
230:doubt seems the only purity for those who are too fervent to deny, and too lucid to affirm. ~ Natalie Clifford Barney, #NFDB
231:Quite a bit of human solidarity has been sacrificed in pursuit of preserving some kind of imagined purity ~ Eula Biss, #NFDB
232:The Age of Aquarius is the age of excellence in which personal purity shall absolutely matter. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi, #NFDB
233:His purity has brought him many profitable things, and this in the first rank, to know his soul. ~ Apollonius of Tyana, #NFDB
234:Perfect purity is possible if you turn your life into a line of poetry written with a splash of blood. ~ Yukio Mishima, #NFDB
235:Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature. ~ Thomas Kempis, #NFDB
236:During courtship, guarding each other's purity and refraining from intimacy are the acts of lovemaking. ~ Joshua Harris, #NFDB
237:It was enough that slander could ruin a woman, because her purity was the most important thing about her. ~ Jane Porter, #NFDB
238:There's a kind of purity to a relationship unencumbered by convention, a sense of simplicity and freedom. ~ J P Delaney, #NFDB
239:My question is, do you believe in an evil possessed of its own purity? or does every act intend some good? ~ Brent Weeks, #NFDB
240:Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
241:Purity is innocence, the innocence of lack of self. Desire is innocent unless it's connected with self. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
242:The only people who ever prize purity of ignorance are those who profit from a monopoly on knowledge. ~ Orson Scott Card, #NFDB
243:the only people who ever prize purity of ignorance are those who profit from a monopoly on knowledge. ~ Orson Scott Card, #NFDB
244:Tulsidas's Ramayana is a notable book because it is informed with the spirit of purity, pity and piety. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
245:Holy is the Bible word for all that makes God different from us, in particular his awesome power and purity. ~ J I Packer, #NFDB
246:Necessary, forever necessary, to burn out false shames and smelt the heaviest ore of the body into purity. ~ D H Lawrence, #NFDB
247:Of all the religions in the world, perhaps the religion of liberty is the only faith capable of purity. ~ Tiffany Madison, #NFDB
248:Purity, patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. All great things must of necessity be slow. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
249:He wanted and needed their love, but felt none towards them. He now had neither love nor humility nor purity ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
250:Holy” is the Bible word for all that makes God different from us, in particular his awesome power and purity. ~ J I Packer, #NFDB
251:The purity men love is like the mists which envelope the earth, and not like the azure ether beyond. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
252:A man of genius is unbearable, unless he possesses at least two things besides: gratitude and purity. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
253:I am a lover of truth, a worshiper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance. ~ Stephen Fry, #NFDB
254:My question is, do you believe in an evil possessed of its own purity? or does every act intend some good?... ~ Brent Weeks, #NFDB
255:Purity is to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T5],#NFDB
256:When our heart wants to live in purity & do the right thing, God will keep us from falling into sin. ~ Stormie Omartian, #NFDB
257:but here in this November instant those tiny flakes swirled with the unspeakable purity of a divine gift. ~ Beatriz Williams, #NFDB
258:I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance. ~ Stephen Fry, #NFDB
259:India has the purity, the innocence. India knows what it wants. There is a direction. It has so much to offer. ~ Anil Kapoor, #NFDB
260:Infinite patience, infinite purity, and infinite perseverance are the secret of success in a good cause. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
261:Purity brings freedom, life, love, and a sense of stability and fortification for which every human heart longs. ~ Eric Ludy, #NFDB
262:The one who wants to love God has to take care about the purity of the soul, first of all. ~ Vladimir Aleksandrovich Antonov, #NFDB
263:The purity men love is like the mists which envelop the earth, and not like
the azure ether beyond. ~ Henry David Thoreau,#NFDB
264:There was a refreshing purity to their views, which seemed often unaffected by real-world complexities. The ~ Ben S Bernanke, #NFDB
265:"All is passing". When one realises this, he sits loose to this world of sorrow : This is the way of purity. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
266:Consciousness equals energy = love = awareness = light = wisdom = beauty = truth = purity. It's all the same trip. ~ Ram Dass, #NFDB
267:It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods. ~ Margaret Fuller, #NFDB
268:Purity is very fragile when it takes physical manifestation. It is very, very strong in its original aspect. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
269:that the only people who ever prize purity of ignorance are those who profit from a monopoly on knowledge. ~ Orson Scott Card, #NFDB
270:when your consciousness is simply there without content, that contentless purity is what Tantra calls real experience. ~ Osho, #NFDB
271:In no other place had I ever seen female purity celebrated by a 355-foot phallic object. But maybe that was me. ~ Anne Fortier, #NFDB
272:Men, generally going with the stream, seldom judge for themselves, and purity of taste is almost as rare as talent. ~ Voltaire, #NFDB
273:No religion can long continue to maintain its purity when the church becomes the subservient vassal of the state ~ Felix Adler, #NFDB
274:Perfect purity is the most essential thing, for only "the pure in heart shall see God". ~ Swami Vivekananda from Jnana Yoga IX, #NFDB
275:True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. ~ Milan Kundera, #NFDB
276:External worship is only a symbol of internal worship; but internal worship and purity are the real things. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
277:History is a tissue of base and cruel acts in the midst of which a few drops of purity sparkle at long intervals. ~ Simone Weil, #NFDB
278:Only the man who extols the purity of love devoid of desire, is capable of the depravity of a desire devoid of love. ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
279:The certain mark by which a Christian community can be recognized is the preaching of the gospel in its purity. ~ Martin Luther, #NFDB
280:A concern for doctrinal purity should always be based on love of the Lord, not a desire to express spiritual pride. ~ Max Anders, #NFDB
281:God desires the smallest degree of purity of conscience in you more than all the works you can perform. ~ Saint John of the Cross, #NFDB
282:Purity does not mean crushing the instincts but having the instincts as servants and not the master of the spirit. ~ Eric Liddell, #NFDB
283:The body's a mirror of heaven: Its energies make angels jealous. Our purity astounds seraphim. Devils shiver at our nerve. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
284:Books are the basis; purity is the force; preaching is the essence; utility is the principle. ~ A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, #NFDB
285:But they also were on some base level congenitally brave. There was a selflessness within them, a purity of action. ~ Harlan Coben, #NFDB
286:I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones. ~ George Orwell, #NFDB
287:It is only when one is thoroughly true that there can be purity and freedom. Falsehood always punishes itself. ~ Berthold Auerbach, #NFDB
288:Personal purity isn’t really the issue. Not supporting animal abuse – and persuading others not to support it – is. ~ Peter Singer, #NFDB
289:Real meditation engenders humility and purity, always. Yet I don't really think it demands any kind of lifestyle. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
290:What terrifies you most in purity, I asked?
Haste, William answered.
-- The Name of the Rose, Fifth Day, Nones ~ Umberto Eco,#NFDB
291:When human rights are abused on a grand scale, the broth of purity boils and feeds the rebellion of a new order. ~ James A Baldwin, #NFDB
292:When mind is still, then Truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine And Human, #NFDB
293:Because monks come from the midst of purity, they consider as good and pure what does not arouse desire among other people. ~ Dogen, #NFDB
294:Being right on a stock had something of the purity of a perfect move in chess; it had an intellectual resonance. ~ Roger Lowenstein, #NFDB
295:Charm was the luxury of those who still believed in the essential rightness of things. In purity and picket fences. ~ Dennis Lehane, #NFDB
296:Purity strikes me as the most mysterious of the virtues and the more I think about it the less I know about it. ~ Flannery O Connor, #NFDB
297:Simplicity is the intention, purity in the affection; simplicity turns to God, purity unites with and enjoys him. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
298:Social improvement is attained more readily by a concern with the quality of results than with the purity of motives. ~ Eric Hoffer, #NFDB
299:Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable. ~ James Baldwin, #NFDB
300:No one is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart: for his purity, by definition, is unassailable. ~ James Baldwin, #NFDB
301:Purity means lack of hatred, jealousy, fear, greed and lust - the absence of anything that can stain consciousness. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
302:The creative universe begins with its essentiality, and, whatever path the imagination takes, ends with its purity. ~ Giorgio Armani, #NFDB
303:We believe as much in the purity of races as we think they (the Whites) do...by advocating the purity of all races. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
304:When the mind, through the quality of extreme purity, merges in the Heart, it will attain perfection as peace. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
305:When the peace of God follows the purity of God's wisdom into our hearts and lives, it will affect those around us. ~ David Jeremiah, #NFDB
306:And it is you, spirit--with will and energy, and virtue and purity--that I want, not alone with your brittle frame. ~ Charlotte Bront, #NFDB
307:I like the purity of stand-up because it is all about whether people laugh at your jokes. Either they laugh or they don't. ~ Jo Brand, #NFDB
308:Purity is receptivity, the ability to sit and wait patiently, for as long as necessary, for the coming of the light. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
309:The award of a pure gold medal for poetry would flatter the recipient unduly: no poem ever attains such carat purity. ~ Robert Graves, #NFDB
310:The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
311:And it is you, spirit--with will and energy, and virtue and purity--that I want, not alone with your brittle frame. ~ Charlotte Bronte, #NFDB
312:Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. ~ Leonardo da Vinci, #NFDB
313:It was one thing to read about a society obsessed with female purity—quite another to find yourself living in one. ~ Emily Croy Barker, #NFDB
314:I've never had anyone define purity. You probably can't define purity. Purity is to live according to original design. ~ Josh McDowell, #NFDB
315:Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable. ~ James A Baldwin, #NFDB
316:People like to think of themselves as purists, but there is no such thing as purity, when there exists so much contact. ~ Ana Castillo, #NFDB
317:Classified ads of the Ku Klux Klan: Tired of all the games? Do you like racial purity, horses and dressing up like a ghost? ~ Dana Gould, #NFDB
318:God desires the smallest degree of purity of conscience in you more than all the works you can perform. ~ Saint John of the Cross, [T5], #NFDB
319:Strive always to confess your sins with a deep knowledge of your own wretchedness and with clarity and purity. ~ Saint John of the Cross, #NFDB
320:The women that I met were exceptional, extraordinary - tremendous purity, tremendous gentleness, self-giving and power. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
321:Always remember the essence of Christian holiness is simplicity and purity: one design, one desire: entire devotion to God. ~ John Wesley, #NFDB
322:But I always connected to the people and the purity of their faith, rather than the religious code they followed. ~ Gregory David Roberts, #NFDB
323:Purity is not about following a list of rules so that you'll avoid hell. It's about wanting heaven for the person you love. ~ Jason Evert, #NFDB
324:Purity of heart, self-restraint, evenness of temper, tenderness towards all beings are virtues of the sattvic mind. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
325:The ideological purity of the Islamic State has one compensating virtue: it allows us to predict some of the group’s actions. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
326:There are no pure styles of karate. Purity comes only when pure knuckles meet pure flesh, no matter who delivers or receives. ~ Ed Parker, #NFDB
327:Tranquillity is a sign of increasing self-mastery and purity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Higher and the Lower Knowledge, #NFDB
328:...without any conscientious scruples condoning impurity in themselves, required ideal and angelic purity in their women... ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
329:12Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
330:If you will express the requisite purity of character in action, you cannot do it better than through the spinning wheel. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
331:The thing that brings people to wail at a wall, or face Mecca, or to go to church, is a search for that feeling of purity. ~ Michael J Fox, #NFDB
332:...I've known damnable beauty - the turgid pull of swirling blackness - but in the end, it's futile - purity alone redeems... ~ John Geddes, #NFDB
333:I haven't got purity, and I don't think I ever did. I have always been, even as a child, a very decadent little person. ~ Marianne Faithfull, #NFDB
334:Purity of heart, evenness of temper and tenderness towards all beings are the outstanding virtues of the sattvic mind. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
335:The majesty of the Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the gospel has its influence on my heart. ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau, #NFDB
336:The purity of Jewish upbringing - the restrictions that one carries through life being a 'nice Jewish girl' - what a burden. ~ Lauren Bacall, #NFDB
337:A creativity that comes out of meditative innocence, of meditative purity. And a real creator is possible only through meditation. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
338:A guitar riff played on a piano doesn't come close to the purity of it being played on a guitar but I faked it enough to get by. ~ Barry Mann, #NFDB
339:Purity is developed through caring. You need to care about light and the matters of light, truth, religion and spirituality. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
340:Purity is something that comes from another world. It's a radiance that enters into this world of transformation and change. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
341:The pursuit of purity is not about the suppression of lust, but about the reorientation of one's life to a larger goal. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, #NFDB
342:We can all pretend to be cynical and scheming, but when we’re faced with purity and innocence, the cynical mask drops off. ~ Federico Fellini, #NFDB
343:You cannot have both. Riches and purity do not match. Humility hates pride.” He paced in a circle. “You have been warned. ~ Tess Uriza Holthe, #NFDB
344:As dawn announces the rising of the sun, so in a man disinterestedness, purity, rectitude forerun the coming of the Eternal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
345:Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity… even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. — LEONARDO DA VINCI ~ Michael J Gelb, #NFDB
346:The best guarantee against the abuse of power consists in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of popular elections. ~ John Quincy Adams, #NFDB
347:Maintain purity of heart.
Trust in the process.
Hold steadfast to your belief of self.
Never loose sight of your smile. ~ Truth Devour,#NFDB
348: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, #NFDB
349:The long-continued and useful public service and eminent purity of character of the deceased ex-President will be remembered. ~ Ulysses S Grant, #NFDB
350:The mere contemplation of his loss of virginity, and thereby his purity, inspired naught but a violent shudder of raw terror. ~ Barbara Devlin, #NFDB
351:At the root of all this is purity. Where there is purity there love grows. When purity and love come together, there is bliss. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
352:In sincerity is the certitude of victory. Sincerity! Sincerity! How sweet is the purity of thy presence!
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#NFDB
353:Race prejudice is a gift of nature, intended to preserve in purity the various divisions of mankind which the ages have evolved. ~ H P Lovecraft, #NFDB
354:Early dawns cannot endure in their purity, so long as the race is not ready. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, The Infrarational Age of the Cycle, #NFDB
355:Oh, to live even for a day in the full light of freedom, to breathe the free air of simplicity! Isn't that the highest purity? ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
356:Proverbs, words, and grammar inflections convey the public sense with more purity and precision, than the wisest individual. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
357:That is the nature of the obscene: a truth so honest it must be guarded, for it holds a revelation of purity that is deadly to mankind. ~ K I Hope, #NFDB
358:Christ does not make new laws; he rectifies the wrong interpretations of the scribes which had vitiated the purity of the law of God. ~ John Calvin, #NFDB
359:Each of us is born with a share of purity, predestined to be corrupted by our commerce with mankind, by that sin against solitude. ~ Emile M Cioran, #NFDB
360:Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform. ~ Chanakya, #NFDB
361:The best part of being a vegan is the purity and peace of mind one experiences and the strong connection I feel to the animal kingdom. ~ Uri Geller, #NFDB
362:would be important to ascertain whether a man’s son was his own through a wife’s purity, but where marriage was not involved it was ~ Iris Johansen, #NFDB
363:Better by far the destiny of plant or stone, bereft of knowledge and consciousness, but blessed at least with purity and peace of mind! ~ Cao Xueqin, #NFDB
364:God bestows more consideration on the purity of the intention with which our actions are performed than on the actions themselves. ~ Saint Augustine, #NFDB
365:If you accept such love with purity and humility, you will understand that Love is neither giving nor receiving -it is participating. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
366:The sectarian divisions which plagued Marxism are manifestations of an urge for purity which the Left would be better off without. ~ Richard M Rorty, #NFDB
367:They had painted in a grand rush to keep intact the purity of their first impression, the mood in which the motif had been conceived. ~ Irving Stone, #NFDB
368:We cannot bring the good old days back but, if we must eat mass-made foods, get laws passed to insist upon its goodness and purity. ~ Flora Thompson, #NFDB
369:As you learn to accept that the body is transitory, as you watch it with love, but without attachment, the body will develop purity. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
370:No, among Catholics one did not question the purity of the Holy Virgin, and among Nazis one didn’t question the honor of the Führer. ~ Upton Sinclair, #NFDB
371: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, #NFDB
372:Or do you, like Achilles, believe in the dignity of love and the purity of honor as the only things that matter in the face of death? ~ Adam Nicolson, #NFDB
373:There is an innocence or purity that we see in renewals and in the Mennonite church and a new an invigorated civil rights movement. ~ Shane Claiborne, #NFDB
374:The sweetest souls, like the sweetest flowers, soon canker in cities, and no purity is rarer there than the purity of delight. ~ Walter Savage Landor, #NFDB
375:Sallust is indisputably one of the best historians among the Romans, both for the purity of his language and the elegance of his style. ~ Edmund Burke, #NFDB
376:When life feels heavy, these two remedies relieve life’s complexities: simplicity and purity. Simplicity seeks God. Purity enjoys him. ~ Thomas Kempis, #NFDB
377:I have been much too calm these past three years. I can receive nothing more from these tragic solitudes than a little empty purity. ~ Jean Paul Sartre, #NFDB
378:But how can anyone put a bridle on man's vanity and arrogance? But how can Purity walk the earth without covering her feet with mud? ~ Nikos Kazantzakis, #NFDB
379:Optimism can be prescribed and applied as a medicine, and is a remedy in proportion to its purity and the wisdom displayed in its use. ~ Horace Fletcher, #NFDB
380:To think that fulfilling yourself in this world will create eternal fulfillment is absurd. But we feel this way because we lack purity. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
381:Oh? Did you think he was some paragon of purity? I’ve seen him kill girls younger than you. I’ve seen him wind women up to crawl to his bed. ~ Elise Kova, #NFDB
382:If history teaches us any lessons at all, it teaches us that force applied to religion creates not a purity of faith but a river of blood. ~ Edwin Gaustad, #NFDB
383:No negative, all positive, affirmative. I am, God is, everything is in me. I will manifest health, purity, knowledge, whatever I want. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
384:Our purity systems, even those established with the best of intentions, do not make us holy.*4 They only create insiders and outsiders. ~ Nadia Bolz Weber, #NFDB
385:Better by far the destiny of plant or stone, bereft of knowledge and consciousness, but blessed at least with purity and peace of mind!’ These ~ Cao Xueqin, #NFDB
386:I have called her beautiful, because it was her moral beauty that at once attracted me. True beauty after all consists in purity of heart. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
387:Judy Garland was the singer I most wanted to sound like then, not to copy, but to get some of her soul and purity. A wonderful young voice. ~ Sarah Vaughan, #NFDB
388:Robinson’s fierce quest for spiritual purity had been tempered by the realization that little was to be gained by arrogance and anger. ~ Nathaniel Philbrick, #NFDB
389:The Land where humanity has attained its highest towards gentleness, towards generosity, towards purity, towards calmness - it is India. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
390:The waxen pallor of her face was almost spiritual in its ivorylike purity though her rosebud mouth was a genuine Cupid's bow, Greekly perfect. ~ James Joyce, #NFDB
391:I did say that in-group, authority and purity are necessary for the maintenance of order, but I would never give them a blanket endorsement. ~ Jonathan Haidt, #NFDB
392:It is not enough to maintain physical purity alone. One must also guard against mental acts of unfaithfulness (see Ex. 20:17; compare Ps. 19:14). ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
393:I was in love with the innocence of dogs, the purity of their affection. They didn't know enough to hide their feelings. They existed. ~ Benjamin Alire S enz, #NFDB
394:Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not much to recommend it. Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
395:Through fasting. . .I have found a perfect health, a new state of existence, a feeling of purity and happiness, something unknown to humans. ~ Upton Sinclair, #NFDB
396:Truly? You’ve been chaste for that long?”
“‘Chaste’ implies a purity of thought that I assure you does not apply. But I have been celibate. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
397:Your body is woven from the light of heaven. Are you aware that its purity and swiftness is the envy of angels and its courage keeps even devils away. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
398: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, #NFDB
399:In another life, before taking the veil of journalistic purity, I practiced the black arts of a political operative, including 'debate prep. ~ Jeff Greenfield, #NFDB
400:Only cast your pure eyes into the well of my delight, friends! You will not dim its sparkle! It shall laugh back at you with its purity. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
401:Purity most often leads to pride or to despair, not to holiness. Because holiness is about union with, and purity is about separation from. ~ Nadia Bolz Weber, #NFDB
402:The one common thread is purity. I created a look that highlights the innate beauty of the face from the eyes to the lip to clear, shiny skin. ~ Gucci Westman, #NFDB
403:To claim the mantle of purity is always a risky business. It just gives an excuse to be disillusioned once your ordinary humidity is exposed. ~ Rick Perlstein, #NFDB
404:Whiteness, Fanon asserts, has become a symbol of purity, of Justice, Truth, Virginity. It defi nes what it means to be civilized, modern and human ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
405:Gay male and lesbian culture is obsessed with purity of identity as the only basis for figuring out who you can trust or dance with. -Pat Califia ~ Carol Queen, #NFDB
406:I would beseech you not only to be pure beyond suspicion but I would ask you to combine with stainless purity, great wisdom and great ability. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
407:No one ever became, or can become truly eloquent without being a reader of the Bible, and an admirer of the purity and sublimity of its language. ~ Fisher Ames, #NFDB
408: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, #NFDB
409:Parents don't want their children to lose that purity and innocence of childhood. We want to bottle that and hold onto that, but it's impossible. ~ Pete Docter, #NFDB
410:Peace, then, be unto everyone who becomes a teacher of peace. For peace is the acknowledgment of perfect purity from which no one is excluded. ~ Helen Schucman, #NFDB
411:The beginning of wisdom is the sincere desire for instruction. To observe attentively its laws is to establish the perfect purity of the soul. ~ Book of Wisdom, #NFDB
412:The purity of her beauty gives me a feeling close to sadness - a very natural feeling, though one only something extraordinary could produce. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
413:The scene was horrid, yet it had the purity of a stanza from a ballad come to life, a ballad composed about tragic events in some border hell. ~ Lucius Shepard, #NFDB
414:Very few people are conscious of the deeper strata of eternity. The primary reason is either because they lack purity or they lack motivation. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
415:I've never been one that thinks that the function of an instrument is to approach the purity of voice or the structure of a beautifully sung line. ~ Evan Parker, #NFDB
416:Purity is the foundation of a spiritual life. God reveals Himself soon in a pure heart. Try to remain pure in body, speech, and mind.MAHAPURUSH SWAMI SHIVANANDA, #NFDB
417:The beginning of wisdom is the sincere desire for instruction. To observe attentively its laws is to establish the perfect purity of the soul. ~ Book of Wisdom, #NFDB
418:To achieve purity of mind, one should cultivate constant awareness by being mindful all the time. One should remain always aware of one's thoughts. ~ Rama Swami, #NFDB
419:Around her shone the nameless charms unmarked by her alone—the light of Love, the purity of Grace, the mind, the Music breathing from her face … ~ Carolyn Miller, #NFDB
420:The neglected legacy of the Sixties is just this: unabashed moral certitude, and the purity -- the incredibly outgoing energy -- of righteous rage. ~ June Jordan, #NFDB
421:The purity of a revolution can last a fortnight. That is why a poet, the revolutionary of the soul, limits himself to the about-turns of the mind. ~ Jean Cocteau, #NFDB
422:Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind. ~ Leonardo da Vinci, #NFDB
423:The purity of her beauty gives me a feeling close to sadness—a very natural feeling, though one that only something extraordinary could produce. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
424:what is the ingredient to double the strength of a positive thought? Faith. For tripling it? Persistence. How to quadruple it? Purity of the intention. ~ Om Swami, #NFDB
425:Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
426:He hoped it would snow recklessly and bring to the island the impossible winter purity, so rare and precious, he remembered fondly from his youth. ~ David Guterson, #NFDB
427:Historically, there are hierarchies of purity. Certain aspects of poetry are very, very pure. The lyric poem can't be anything but the lyric poem. ~ Vijay Seshadri, #NFDB
428:She was my Heaven, filling me with love, wrapping me in warmth, our souls joining in the purity of our love. She was my light. My strength. My all. ~ Ashlan Thomas, #NFDB
429:For some reason, there is a purity to the Swiss Alps - a certain energy - that is very reminiscent of my snowboarding experiences in the Himalayas. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
430:For those with the purity to see it, a nursing mother is one of the most precious, most beautiful, and most holy of all possible images of woman. ~ Christopher West, #NFDB
431:His purity was too great, his aspiration too high for this poor, miserable world! His great soul is now only enjoying that for which it was worthy! ~ Queen Victoria, #NFDB
432:Return to the purity of your innocence where you are enchanted with life. Give love for no reason. Surround yourself with others doing the same. ~ Miguel Angel Ruiz, #NFDB
433:Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God's will. ~ Saint Francis de Sales, #NFDB
434:Your have a purity I've lost, pet. But in some ways, the important ones, you're not naive. You understand the darkness without ever having been in it. ~ Joey W Hill, #NFDB
435:December brought stone-silent days though a fresh odor came from the heavy sky, the smell of cold purity that was the essence of the boreal forest. So ~ Annie Proulx, #NFDB
436:It's only with that absolute humility and purity that you can make friends with God; because, otherwise, you're just too busy with all your desires. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
437:I wish the Lord would just knock me over with kindness and goodness and simple purity, because I don't seem to be getting the knack of it on my own. ~ Nancy E Turner, #NFDB
438:Martyrdom does not consist only in dying for one's faith. Martyrdom also consists in serving God with love and purity of heart every day of one's life ~ Saint Jerome, #NFDB
439:Strange how my body and its purity have become the town's sacred possessions, yet they spare me no pity. It's as if they were the ones wronged, not me. ~ Julie Berry, #NFDB
440:When a whole nation is roaring patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and the purity of its heart. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
441:Here are the four fundamentals of true spirituality:
recognize simplicity,
cherish purity,
reduce your possessions,
diminish your desires. ~ Lao Tzu,#NFDB
442:I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
443:Truth, purity, self-control, firmness, fearlessness, humility, unity, peace, and renunciation - these are the inherent qualities of a civil resister. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
444:We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do... We believe also that the white race of South Africa should be the predominating race. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
445:By two wings is man lifted above earthly things, even by
simplicity and purity. Simplicity ought to be in the intention,
purity in the affection. ~ Thomas Kempis,#NFDB
446:Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (NIV). ~ Alex Harris, #NFDB
447:Satire's nature is to be one-sided, contemptuous of ambiguity, and so unfairly selective as to find in the purity of ridicule an inarguable moral truth. ~ E L Doctorow, #NFDB
448:Christ is the most perfect image of God, into which we are so renewed as to bear the image of God, in knowledge, purity, righteousness, and true holiness. ~ John Calvin, #NFDB
449:We can understand the inherent radiance & purity of our minds by understanding metta. Like the mind, metta is not distorted by what it encounters. ~ Sharon Salzberg, #NFDB
450:When I read Andrew Motion's biography, I wept. It's something about the purity of the story and how fresh it was because of the love letters Keats wrote. ~ Jane Campion, #NFDB
451:it is a testament to the strength and purity of the democratic sentiment in the country, that the republic has not been overthrown by its newspapers. ~ Harriet Martineau, #NFDB
452:No one since the Garden of Eden - which the serpent forsook in order to run for higher office - has imputed to politicians great purity of motive. ~ William F Buckley Jr, #NFDB
453:So purity of soul is sufficient of itself to reflect God, as the Lord also says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ~ Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, #NFDB
454:We make and sell a very, very large number of (hopefully) beautiful, well-made things. Our success is a victory for purity, integrity - for giving a damn. ~ Jonathan Ive, #NFDB
455:Before children, even the most cynical people throw down their usual masks and become capable of feeling the purity and love which all human beings seek. ~ Sun Myung Moon, #NFDB
456:By the ancients, courage was regarded as practically the main part of virtue; by us, though I hope we are not less brave, purity is so regarded now. ~ Julius Charles Hare, #NFDB
457:The small things you do everyday- smiling at a stranger or paying someone a compliment -bring you closer to your spiritual truth , the purity of your soul ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
458:The untouched countryside, the purity of the air. It was a simpler time. Things have changed a great deal in eight hundred years, much of it for the worse. ~ Carl Ashmore, #NFDB
459:We must be pure. I do not speak merely of the purity of the senses. We must observe great purity in our will, in our intentions, in all our actions. ~ Peter Julian Eymard, #NFDB
460:You place too much importance... on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
461:Do not think only of your own joy, but vow to save all beings from suffering. This is sharing in its highest form and purity beyond all poisons of this world. ~ Dalai Lama, #NFDB
462:If the mental poisons can finally be transformed into wisdom, it is because their ultimate nature is endowed with primordial, naturally luminous purity. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
463:The dizzy rapture of starving. The power of needing nothing. By force of will I make myself the impossible sprite who lives on air, on water, on purity. ~ Kathryn Harrison, #NFDB
464:You will perceive by my preaching that I am growing old: it is the privilege of years, and I am sure you will pardon it from the purity of it's motives. ~ Thomas Jefferson, #NFDB
465:Gone is the blinding glow in his hands - gone, too, is the illusion of purity and beauty! In it's place all that remains is mind-numbing, spine-chilling reality! ~ Dave Sim, #NFDB
466:learning was useless if there was no love; that sacrifices were meaningless without purity of heart; and gifts worthless if bestowed on the undeserving. ~ Anand Neelakantan, #NFDB
467:Purity most often leads to pride or to despair, not to holiness. Because holiness is about union with, and purity is about separation from. ~ Nadia Bolz Weber, #NFDB
468:A lot of times people start out with a lot of good ideas, but then they don't execute. They lose the purity of their vision. You end up running around in circles. ~ Jan Koum, #NFDB
469:God, before He comes to the heart, sends servants to make it ready for His coming. And who are those servants? Purity, chastity, humility, loving-kindness. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
470:If there were a scale to determine the purity of a person, I would send one side crashing to the ground with the weight of my sins, and laugh while I watched. ~ Meghan March, #NFDB
471:It is the special privilege of the fine artist to reveal immediate data with a clarity, intensity and purity that promotes them to a special degree of reality. ~ Alton Tobey, #NFDB
472:Seek to advance your fortunes in this world. Set up a strong base so that you can practice your spirituality and be of service to others. This is purity to. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
473:The Business of the World is Trade and Death, and you must engage with that unpleasantness, as the price of your not-at-all-assur'd Moment of Purity.— Fool. ~ Thomas Pynchon, #NFDB
474:There is no such thing as purity. It’s an idea in the heads of religious fanatics, the kind of people who kill because they are so good and righteous. ~ Kim Stanley Robinson, #NFDB
475:God, before He comes to the heart, sends servants to make it ready for His coming. And who are those servants? Purity, chastity, humility, loving-kindness. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
476:Nothing like being visible, publishing one's work, and speaking openly about one's life, to disabuse the world of the illusion of one's perfection and purity. ~ Joyce Maynard, #NFDB
477:Photography is Photography; And in it's purity and innocence is far too uniquely, valuable and beautiful to be spoilt by making it imitate something else. ~ Frederick H Evans, #NFDB
478:Throughout human history, the apostles of purity, those who have claimed to possess a total explanation, have wrought havoc among mere mixed-up human beings. ~ Salman Rushdie, #NFDB
479:To do justice to the figure of Kafka in its purity and its peculiar beauty one must never lose sight of one thing: it is the purity and beauty of a failure. ~ Walter Benjamin, #NFDB
480:We do not have a choice between purity and violence but between different kinds of violence. Inasmuch as we are incarnate beings, violence is our lot. ~ Maurice Merleau Ponty, #NFDB
481:Caius was one of those who gloried in his ignorance, called his lack of letters purity, scorned any subtlety of thought or expression. A man for his time, indeed. ~ Iain Pears, #NFDB
482:There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it. To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
483:when purity is condemned,—when poets teach lewdness, and scientists blasphemy,—when love is mocked, and God forgotten,—the End is near! I take My part in that end !— ~ Various, #NFDB
484:Your body is woven
from the light of heaven.
Are you aware
that its purity and swiftness
is the envy of angels
and its courage
keeps even devils away. ~ Rumi,#NFDB
485:He catches the thieves that lie in the hearts of their pure and respectable wives. And he compares them to the purity in the heart of a whore in a brothel. ~ Saadat Hasan Manto, #NFDB
486:Kundalini is generated through cultivating humility, purity, through meditation, selfless giving, and by studying with an advanced teacher on a personal level. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
487:Without question, purity is beautiful. We're not talking about repression or prudishness, but about having a confident and serene sense of your dignity and worth. ~ Jason Evert, #NFDB
488:You are the one Purity! You have no body. You are not the mind; you're the supreme Reality. "I'm the Self, the supreme Reality!" ~ The Wisdom of the Avadhuta Gita #AvadhutaGita, #NFDB
489:Again and again in the world, truth and error, truth and untruth, are almost inseparably mixed together. The truth in all its grandeur and purity does not appear. ~ Benedict XVI, #NFDB
490:Purity and concentration are indeed two aspects, feminine and masculine, passive and active, of the same status of being . ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Concentration, #NFDB
491:Sweat cleaned you as effectively as water. But this was the race which had invented the proverb that cleanliness was next to godliness - cleanliness, not purity. ~ Graham Greene, #NFDB
492:The religiosity of the prohibition movement was stoked by a genuine desire to lead holy lives pleasing to God. But purity is easier to regulate than holiness. ~ Nadia Bolz Weber, #NFDB
493:We've got Chinese, white, black and mixed; but remember that our colors are cheap, for after many years of contracts and tricks nobody's purity runs very deep. ~ Nicolas Guillen, #NFDB
494:What was it about that short creature with her wild hair and spurious air of purity and why would anyone much less two men love her and to such disastrous ends. ~ Anna Godbersen, #NFDB
495:By giving away food we get more strength. By bestowing clothing on others we gain more beauty. By donating abodes of purity and truth we acquire great treasures. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
496:Complete honesty has nothing to do with 'purity' or naivety. The full truth is unattainable to naivety, and the completely honest artist is not pure in heart. ~ Clement Greenberg, #NFDB
497:Radical groups with distant goals could find comfort in an isolated purity, while those who tasted success saw the value of accommodating the views of others. ~ Lawrence Freedman, #NFDB
498:Whosoever recognises at all times his faults of omission and cleanses himself by observing the ways of purity in each one of his actions, shall attain to perfection. ~ Udanavarga, #NFDB
499:You have to refine your being. You have to go through all of the stages and steps of erasing yourself through service to others with purity, humility, integrity. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
500:Men commonly couple with their idea of marriage a slight degree at least of sensuality; but every lover, the world over, believesin its inconceivable purity. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
501:Not in purity or in holiness merely, for in Paradise man was holy, and he shall be holy when redeemed through the sacrifice of Christ and made an heir of heaven. ~ Matthew Simpson, #NFDB
502:Purity is an illusion. The idea of purity has been used as an excuse for calamities like honor killings, bride burnings, child molestation. Purification is genocide. ~ Alice Glass, #NFDB
503:The French Revolution, by claiming to build history on the principle of absolute purity,
inaugurates modern times simultaneously with the era of formal morality. ~ Albert Camus,#NFDB
504:There is need for a crusade of manliness and purity to counteract and nullify the savage work of those who think man is a beast. And that crusade is your work. ~ Josemaria Escriva, #NFDB
505:Where it concerns human beings, it is almost always true that the more anxiously we look for purity the more likely we are to come upon admixture and interbreeding. ~ Amitav Ghosh, #NFDB
506:All perfection is there already in the soul. But this perfection has been covered up by nature; layer after layer of nature is covering this purity of the soul. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
507:Wherever you go, go with inspiration and aspiration. Whatever you do, do with love and concern. Whomever you see, see with purity's beauty And responsibility's glory. ~ Sri Chinmoy, #NFDB
508:God was conceived of a most pure Virgin ... it was fitting that the virgin should be radiant with a purity so great that a greater purity cannot be conceived. ~ Anselm of Canterbury, #NFDB
509:Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor learning nor eloquence nor anything else will prevail, but purity, living the life, in one word, Anubhuti, Realization. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
510:This must be part of Mother Nature's master plan—making these boys so irresistibly cute, in such a naughty way, that the purity of their intentions becomes irrelevant. ~ Rachel Cohn, #NFDB
511:I suggest you take a look at yourself. Not the concepts, not the ideas, not the goods, not the bads. But a timeless purity of existence. A witness to the beauty that is. ~ Prem Rawat, #NFDB
512:May the partisans of all doctrines in all countries unite and live in a common fellowship. For all alike profess mastery to be attained over oneself and purity of the heart. ~ Ashoka, #NFDB
513:The most harm of all is done when power is in the hands of people who are absolutely persuaded of the purity of their instincts-- and the purity of their intentions ~ Milton Friedman, #NFDB
514:What if you have seen it before, ten thousand times over? An apple tree in full blossom is like a message, sent fresh from heaven to earth, of purity and beauty. ~ Henry Ward Beecher, #NFDB
515:What is the meaning of Initiation? It is the Path to the realisation of your Self as the sole, the supreme, the absolute of all Truth, Beauty, Purity, Perfection! ~ Aleister Crowley, #NFDB
516:Without the renewed mind, we will distort the Scriptures to avoid their radical commands for self-denial, and love, and purity, and supreme satisfaction in Christ alone. ~ John Piper, #NFDB
517:I know the greatness of Jehovah; I acknowledge the perfection of His word; I adore the purity of the Christian faith; my theory is right, my practice horribly wrong. ~ Charlotte Bront, #NFDB
518:Innocence is defined in dictionaries as freedom from guilt or sin, especially from lack of knowledge; purity of heart; blamelessness; guilelessness; simplicity, etc. ~ William Maxwell, #NFDB
519:Sincerity of conviction and purity of motive will surely gain the day; and even a small minority, armed with these, is surely destined to prevail against all odds. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
520:There is a moment when time stops, when the air grows still, when you enter a state of nothingness, a state of purity and perfection. That is the moment to strive for. ~ Chloe Thurlow, #NFDB
521:There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity. ~ George Santayana, #NFDB
522:When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals (1822–1863), #NFDB
523:All men are homosexual, some turn straight. It must be very odd to be a straight man because your sexuality is hopelessly defensive. It's like an ideal of racial purity. ~ Derek Jarman, #NFDB
524:Among the principles of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah lie the attitude of peace and purity of their heart and tongue towards the Sahaba(Companions) of the Prophet (saw). ~ Ibn Taymiyyah, #NFDB
525:In executing the duties of my present important station, I can promise nothing but purity of intentions, and, in carrying these into effect, fidelity and diligence. ~ George Washington, #NFDB
526:I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh, #NFDB
527:Purity is something that can be consciously developed. Expect to have impure moments, thoughts, and ideas. One day they will go away, and then there will be happiness. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
528:There's a purity to the struggle to reach a peak. You leave your world behind and take only what you need. For a creature like me there is nothing closer to redemption. ~ Mark Lawrence, #NFDB
529:the wealth they had accumulated from retail needed to hide its origins, for it is well known that the purity of gold increases the further removed it is from labor. ~ Diane Setterfield, #NFDB
530:After all, she is lucky. I have been much too calm these past three years. I can receive nothing more from these tragic solitudes than a little empty purity. I leave. ~ Jean Paul Sartre, #NFDB
531:During the age of Atlantis, the low population density and the resulting purity of the earth's aura, made conditions ideal for discovering secret meditation techniques. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
532:In America, they shoot budgets and schedules, and they don't shoot films any more. There's more opportunity in Europe to make films that at least have a purity of intent. ~ Paul Bettany, #NFDB
533:Perfect taste is the faculty of receiving the greatest possible pleasure from those material sources which are attractive to oar moral nature in its purity and perfection. ~ John Ruskin, #NFDB
534:The light of love, the purity of grace, The mind, the Music breathing from her face, The heart whose softness harmonised the whole — And, oh! that eye was in itself a Soul! ~ Lord Byron, #NFDB
535:We have to learn to stand up for our interests. To seek purity is self-defeating and a stereotype in itself: women have to be pure, women are not concerned about money. ~ Gloria Steinem, #NFDB
536:I sang that tree's glory, its solid, unhurried purity, its slow beauty. Oh, that I could be like it, rooted to the ground but with my every hand raised up to God in praise! ~ Yann Martel, #NFDB
537:Purity both of the body and the soul rests on the steadfastness of the will strengthened by God's grace, and cannot be forcibly taken from an unwilling person. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #NFDB
538:The foul slime stands for the sloth and vice of man, the decay of humanity; the fragrant flower that springs from it, for the purity and courage which are immortal. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
539:There’s a widely held view that by living an unhealthy lifestyle a writer can remove himself from the profane world and attain a kind of purity that has artistic value. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
540:Our purity of taste is best tested by its universality, for if we can only admire this thing or that, we maybe use that our cause for liking is of a finite and false nature. ~ John Ruskin, #NFDB
541:Thus the word "I" means the purity of God's essence, as he is in himself, and is free and bare of any additional essences which are foreign to him, for they are created. ~ Meister Eckhart, #NFDB
542:You will not defile the purity of love with dishonesty or deceit, for this is adulterous. I promise you, when you have found God, you shall not commit this adultery. ~ Neale Donald Walsch, #NFDB
543:Truth is a painful sword. It cuts deep and stings, but the pain evaporates, the blood dries, and in the place of such savagery is a gleaming absolution and an absolute purity. ~ Cat Porter, #NFDB
544:We care about moral issues, nobility, decency, happiness, goodness—the issues that matter in the real world, but which can only be addressed, in their purity, in fiction. ~ Orson Scott Card, #NFDB
545:Bible prophecy helps us to better understand the future and realize the urgent need to spread the Gospel. It motivates us to personal purity and gives us hope in a hopeless age. ~ Tim LaHaye, #NFDB
546:By oneself the evil is done, by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself, no one can purify another. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
547:closely—you can’t have a front without a back, you can’t have an up without a down, and I’m not sure you can have light without dark, purity without sleaze, good without evil. ~ Harlan Coben, #NFDB
548:The Uruguayans have a sort of purity. I don't know where they got it, and I doubt even if they know from where they got it. Perhaps they didn't kill off their major population. ~ Martin Amis, #NFDB
549:Wherever you go, go with inspiration and aspiration.
Whatever you do, do with love and concern.
Whomever you see, see with purity's beauty
And responsibility's glory. ~ Sri Chinmoy,#NFDB
550:You have to be practical, subordinate your personal purity to the cause. Perkins learned that in a fallen world it is often the “tainted” people who help you do the most good. ~ David Brooks, #NFDB
551:If thou art fighting against thy sins, so is God. On thy side is God who made all, and Christ who died for all and the Spirit who alone gives wisdom, purity, and nobleness. ~ Charles Kingsley, #NFDB
552:The 1970s must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters, and our living environment. It is literally now or never. ~ Richard M Nixon, #NFDB
553:Courage is where you find it. Bravery that comes from a bottle-- or from book or from a sermon-- lacks the full strength and purity of bravery that comes straight from the heart. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
554:Master your words. Master your thoughts. Never allow your body to do harm. Follow these three roads with purity And you will find yourself upon the one way, The way of wisdom. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
555:Resistance is weakness and fear masquerading as strength. What the ego sees as weakness is your Being in its purity, innocence, and power. What it sees as strength is weakness. ~ Eckhart Tolle, #NFDB
556:The arguments for purity of life fail of their due influence, not because they have been considered and confuted, but because they have been passed over without consideration. ~ Samuel Johnson, #NFDB
557:When you cannot feel,
The purity of love,
The tenderness of beauty,
The drinkability of wine,
The simplicity of a smile,
You have to go back and drink coffee ~ M F Moonzajer,#NFDB
558:Do not judge us, you who boast your purity.
No one will indict you for the faults of others.
What is it to you whether I am virtuous or a sinner?
Busy yourself with yourself! ~ Hafez,#NFDB
559:From whichever angle one looks at it, the application of racial theories remains a striking proof of the lowered demands of public opinion upon the purity of critical judgment. ~ Johan Huizinga, #NFDB
560:He feels himself falling. He wants to spend every minute with her, he wants to possess her, her purity, her body, her mind. She is what he has been waiting for. Now he can live. ~ Alan Lightman, #NFDB
561:Holiness appeared to me to be of a sweet, pleasant, charming, serene, calm nature; which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness and ravishment to the soul. ~ Jonathan Edwards, #NFDB
562:Purity is essential for just your own peace of mind; otherwise, you'll go through this world like a mad person, howling and screaming and cursing, never satisfied, never happy. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
563:Truth is a painful sword. It cuts deep and stings, but the pain evaporates, the blood dries, and in the place of such savagery is a gleaming absolution and an absolute purity. It’s ~ Cat Porter, #NFDB
564:Brandenburg Beer War,” fought out in the courts, lasted for ten years—all over a black beer brewed in the former GDR that contained sugar, something forbidden by the Purity Law. ~ Neil MacGregor, #NFDB
565:Where there is no purity, there is no Unity. Without Unity you cannot attain Divinity. Then your life is just a waste. First purity, next Unity, then you realize your Divinity. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
566:Either every member of your pure race of human dies, or every human dies. And, well … you know how mongrels think, Mr. Smyrt. They have no appreciation for the perfection of purity. ~ John Scalzi, #NFDB
567:The light of love, the purity of grace,
The mind, the Music breathing from her face,
The heart whose softness harmonised the whole —
And, oh! that eye was in itself a Soul! ~ Lord Byron,#NFDB
568:Women are concerned about the purity and welfare of the community. ? While the father's love was related to mundane desires, the mother's love was related to spiritual concerns. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
569:For me, as a music fan, visuals kind of steal away the purity of the song. My instinct is not to provide a visual to go with a piece of music. But here's MTV. It's really powerful. ~ Michael Stipe, #NFDB
570:Frigg was the goddess of married women and love. She was also Odin’s wife and queen of Asgard. Frigg and Odin had a son named Baldr. He was a beautiful god of light and purity. ~ Mary Pope Osborne, #NFDB
571:Is it harder to have faith when you’re in another land, I wondered? Or, in a search for meaning and purity in a place that can often resent you, does your faith harden in reaction? ~ Nikesh Shukla, #NFDB
572:Everything, even herself, was now unbearable to her. She wished that, taking wing like a bird, she could fly somewhere, far away to regions of purity, and there grow young again. ~ Gustave Flaubert, #NFDB
573:I’m not a bad person.” Zagaev looked up at me with imploring eyes. Claims of ethical purity are a common strategy in games like this. But they’re paper, forever losing to scissors. ~ Jeffery Deaver, #NFDB
574:Indeed, there is something to learn from the openness of children. The immediacy of their pleasure and their emotional authenticity reveals a certain purity that’s lacking in adults. ~ Andrew Furst, #NFDB
575:In fact, his purity scared them off, and his honesty ignited irrational fear in an America where men were draped with medals for killing other men yet imprisoned for loving one another. ~ Morrissey, #NFDB
576:May the partisans of all doctrines in all countries unite and live in a common fellowship. For all alike profess mastery to be attained over oneself and purity of the heart. ~ Inscriptions of Asoka, #NFDB
577:The music of Mozart is of such purity and beauty that one feels he merely found it - that it has always existed as part of the inner beauty of the universe waiting to be revealed. ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
578:There's something evil in me that loves evil and degradation--purity's black backside! That loves honesty with a horrid love; or why have I always gone seeking it at the liar's door? ~ Djuna Barnes, #NFDB
579:What he never counted on was me and the degree to which your mother’s purity would affect you. (Menyara)
You’re so full of shit, Menyara, you ought to be a cow pasture. (Nick) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon,#NFDB
580:When the purity of Jesus lies over a heart, His transparency burns the cataracts off the soul. The only way to see God manifested in the world around is with the eyes of Jesus within. ~ Ann Voskamp, #NFDB
581:As an individual, I think you have to find your own path. I like the simplicity and purity of Hinduism and many elements of Buddhism. These are all means of accessing spiritual energy. ~ Dave Davies, #NFDB
582:I find in animals the same thing I find so wonderful in children. That purity, that honesty, where they don't judge you, they just want to be your friend. I think that is so sweet. ~ Michael Jackson, #NFDB
583:If you'd spent your life being called "Gyles Brandreth", you would crawl across broken glass to achieve the bliss, the simplicity, the purity, the joy of simply being called "Bob". ~ Gyles Brandreth, #NFDB
584:I guess even at nine I had a serious lack of spiritual purity, for my wounds soured within two days, and for nine weeks I lay in fever, chasing dark dreams along death’s borderlands. ~ Mark Lawrence, #NFDB
585:Blessed are the pure in heart; how will people believe that, unless we ourselves are worshipping the living God until our own hearts are set on fire and scorched through with his purity? ~ N T Wright, #NFDB
586:Contentment, internal peace, dominion over oneself, purity, compassion, affectionate words and consideration for friends are seven sorts of fuel which keep alive the flame of happiness. ~ Mahabharata, #NFDB
587:Feel that your body is like a bundle of flowers. When someone gives you flowers you enjoy their beauty, their purity. But you realize that, one day, the flowers will wither and fade. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
588:It turned out, regardless the purity behind awful deeds, the mind didn’t simply shut them off. The dead didn’t die just because you killed them. They kept living, only now in your head. ~ David Beers, #NFDB
589:Q : How can I meditate? What is meant by opening? Where should I open?
The Mother ,: An inner purity and receptivity that freely lets in the Mother's influence. Begin with the heart. ~ The Mother,#NFDB
590:The curiosity of cats is, like their affection, of a purity and intensity rarely seen in humans. We would be jaded when faced with the fiftieth paper bag. Not so our cats. ~ Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, #NFDB
591:To attain to perfect purity one has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech and action; to rise above the opposing currents of love and hatred, attachment and repulsion. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
592:Evil is done by oneself alone; By oneself is one defiled. Evil is avoided by oneself; By oneself alone is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on oneself; No one can purify another. ~ Gil Fronsdal, #NFDB
593:In times to come people will not judge us by the creed we profess or the label we wear or the slogans we shout, but, by our work, industry, sacrifice, honesty and purity of character. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
594:Someone said that patriotism is the last refuge of cowards; those without moral principles usually wrap a flag around themselves, and those bastards always talk about the purity of race. ~ Umberto Eco, #NFDB
595:I’m asking for simplicity, for purity and ease of choice and no pressure. I’m asking for something that no politics is going to provide, something that probably you only get in preschool. ~ Ned Vizzini, #NFDB
596:In these rooms, the world’s vast hissing tangle of shadows burns away, all its treacherous grays are honed to the stark purity of a bare blade, two-edged: cause and effect, good and evil. ~ Tana French, #NFDB
597:Life is short. Time is fleeting. Realize the Self. Purity of the heart is the gateway to God. Aspire. Renounce. Meditate. Be good; do good. Be kind; be compassionate. Inquire, know Thyself. ~ Sivananda, #NFDB
598:Telling the truth to yourself is Integrity; Telling the truth to others is Honesty; Telling the truth with no fear or intimidation is Bravity and being free from falsehood is Purity! ~ Israelmore Ayivor, #NFDB
599:The best way to prove the clearness of our mind, is by showing its faults; as when a stream discovers the dirt at the bottom, it convinces us of the transparency and purity of the water. ~ Alexander Pope, #NFDB
600:The Masonic system represents a stupendous and beautiful fabric, founded on universal purity, to rule and direct our passions, to have faith and love in God, and charity toward man. ~ William Howard Taft, #NFDB
601:Women particularly can dress modestly and in the process contribute to their own self respect and to the moral purity of men. In the end, most women get the type of man they dress for. ~ Tad R Callister, #NFDB
602:Although royal jelly is often sold for human use, its production is extremely labor intensive, and the purity (or even authenticity) of what you can buy is questionable at best. Beebread ~ H G Bissinger, #NFDB
603:The moon in all her immaculate purity hung in the sky, laughing at this world of dust. She congratulated me for my carefully considered maneuvers and invited me to share in her eternal solitude. ~ Shan Sa, #NFDB
604:There is the purity of love, harmonious in every way, but not meant for a lifetime, and then there is the steady love of commitment - no less real but completely different. She had both. ~ Donna Lynn Hope, #NFDB
605:If thou hadst simplicity and purity, thou wouldst be able to comprehend all things without error, and behold them without danger. The pure heart safely pervades not only heaven, but hell. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
606:It has been said that the position of woman is the test of civilization, and that of our women was secure. In them was vested our standard of morals and the purity of our blood. ~ Charles Alexander Eastman, #NFDB
607:Nothing has stolen more dreams, dashed more hopes, broken up more families, and messed up more people psychologically than our propensity to disregard God's commands regarding sexual purity. ~ Andy Stanley, #NFDB
608:Purity, we see in the object-lesson, is NOT the one thing needful; and it is better that a life should contract many a dirt-mark, than forfeit usefulness in its efforts to remain unspotted. ~ William James, #NFDB
609:To defend his purity, Saint Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, Saint Benedict threw himself into a thorn bush, and Saint Bernard plunged into an icy pond... You - what have you done? ~ Josemaria Escriva, #NFDB
610:By oneself is evil done, by oneself is one made impure. By oneself is evil undone, by oneself is one made pure. Each one is responsible for purity and impurity. No one can cleanse another. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
611:He prayed for purity, humility, love, and now it seemed to him that God heard his prayers. He had not lagged behind the times in knowledge.
He now had neither love nor humility nor purity. ~ Leo Tolstoy,#NFDB
612:If a man possesses the true light, darkness cannot lodge in his soul. Who can describe the peace of that luminous country where the true light shines out for ever in its limpid purity? ~ Imitation of Christ, #NFDB
613:My son, go hack into thy self by disentangling thyself as much as thou mayst from all things; seek purity from things below by detaching thy will and thy heart from the love of sensible objects. ~ J. Tauter, #NFDB
614:Purity perceives and respects the character of sex-its depth, seriousness, intimacy, and true home within wedded love, which alone makes possible the total and mutual gift of self. ~ Dietrich von Hildebrand, #NFDB
615:She wondered how many of them were liars; their outer purity masking crimes as dark or darker than her own. How many would be chromes themselves, if the truth in their hearts were revealed. ~ Hillary Jordan, #NFDB
616:The purity of death holds no attraction for the Homeric Greeks. Their world is one in which the felt, sensed and shared reality, the reality of the human heart, is the only one worth having. ~ Adam Nicolson, #NFDB
617:Having no knowledge of models other than what they meet with in their own tongue, the standard they have formed of purity and taste in composition must necessarily be a narrow one. ~ Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, #NFDB
618:I thought, how magical, the first glimspe of snow. By March I would be sick of it, but here in this November instant those tiny flakes swirled with the unspeakable purity of a divine gift. ~ Beatriz Williams, #NFDB
619:Someone else would come, another self that was a little more refined, that had a little more purity, a little more humility, because I was quite egotistical, I thought I was quite wonderful. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
620:That “purity of youth” often turns out, as in the case of this rabbit, to be a frenzied dance—an indecipherable, sensual mishmash that casually combines murderous hatred with self-intoxication. ~ Osamu Dazai, #NFDB
621:We lament, too, the destruction of purity among women and young girls as is evidenced by the increasing immodesty of their dress and conversation and by their participation in shameful dances. ~ Pope Pius XI, #NFDB
622:There wasn’t a bit of innocence or purity in him. He was sinful and cynical. Unapologetic. He cared nothing for the world. He just ate its fruits and roamed its wilds and didn’t need anyone. ~ Joanna Chambers, #NFDB
623:And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together. ~ James Madison, #NFDB
624:First yoga deals with health, strength and conquest of the body. Next, it lifts the veil of difference between the body and the mind. Lastly, it leads the Sadhaka to peace and unalloyed purity. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
625:He said we live under grace and not law. He said as followers of Christ our goal is to live like Jesus did and not worry about man-made laws. He said we should strive for purity, not conformity. ~ Tricia Goyer, #NFDB
626:I indulged the wild child inside of me - the one that's not aware of danger or fear - for the purity of existence for that character in that film. Of course, behind me they're saying, 'She's crazy!' ~ Bai Ling, #NFDB
627:Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
628:Purity in body and heart May please some--as for me, I make no boast. For, as you know, no master of a household Has all of his utensils made of gold; Some are wood, and yet they are of use. ~ Geoffrey Chaucer, #NFDB
629:The lion of anger shall give place to the lamb of meekness; the raven of uncleanness shall fly before the dove of purity; the vile serpent of deceit shall be trodden under the heel of truth. ~ Charles Spurgeon, #NFDB
630:The more clean you are in awakening to your own being, the more you'll be able to move your own being toward others. Your evolution as awareness is in the purity of thatit's in the cleanness. ~ John de Ruiter, #NFDB
631:How can I meditate? What is meant by opening? Where should I open?
An inner purity and receptivity that freely lets in the Mother's influence. Begin with the heart.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#NFDB
632:I just happened to have my camera and be photographing my friends. It was totally innocent; there was no purpose to the photographs. There was a purity to them that wasn’t planned; it was realism. ~ Larry Clark, #NFDB
633:In our multi-ethnic, relativist world it is difficult to understand the importance placed in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries on concepts like ethnic, racial or cultural ‘purity’; ~ Alexandra Richie, #NFDB
634:Writers have the purity of their art and what they want to achieve with that, and that this purity is bound up with the messy material conditions of trying to make a living while doing that work. ~ Chad Harbach, #NFDB
635:A single drop of poison can vitiate the entire stream of wholesome blood in the body.
But there is too a Purity, a drop of which can render crystal clear a whole morass of soil and dirt. ~ Nolini Kanta Gupta,#NFDB
636:You can't help people being right for the wrong reasons...This fear of finding oneself in bad company is not an expression of political purity; it is an expression of a lack of self-confidence. ~ Arthur Koestler, #NFDB
637:You take a painting, you have a white, virginal piece of canvas that is the world of purity, and then you put your imagery on it, and you try to bring it back to the original purity. ~ Louise Berliawsky Nevelson, #NFDB
638:If now, against my will, you cause me to be polluted, a twofold purity will be gloriously imputed to me. You cannot bend my will to your purpose; whatever you do to my body, that cannot happen to me. ~ Saint Lucy, #NFDB
639:Selfless-giving burns away the layers of the onion. Purity and humility keep meditation and selfless-giving clear. Love radiates through the entire practice because we do all of it only for love. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
640:Jesus’ zealousness regarding purity is not because He hates us or wants to suppress whatever might be “fun.” His zealousness stems from His being radically for us. He knows what we were made for. ~ Russell D Moore, #NFDB
641:Life, after all, is not a high thing, and in many ways is the reverse of purity. I am wise now, if not much older, and I know it is better to have all things, high and low, than to have the high only. ~ Gene Wolfe, #NFDB
642:There is nothing mind can do that cannot be better done in the mind's immobility and thought-free stillness. When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, #NFDB
643:The world is touched by sacrifice. It does not then discriminate about the merits of a cause. No so God - He is all seeing. He insists on the purity of the cause and on adequate sacrifice thereof. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
644:O Lord in Heaven, may thy name be praised in utmost purity for ever and ever, and may thy kingdom come to us. Please forgive our many sins, and bestow thy blessings upon our humble pathways. Amen. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
645:True purity, however, is a direction, a persistent, determined pursuit of righteousness. This direction starts in the heart, and we express it in a lifestyle that flees opportunities for compromise. ~ Joshua Harris, #NFDB
646:Yet we can't wait for the undamaged to make our connections for us; we can't wait to speak until we are wholly clear and righteous. There is no purity, and, in our lifetimes, no end to this process. ~ Adrienne Rich, #NFDB
647:Corny, yes, but there you go. Purity. That was what hit you when you get lost looking at your own child—a purity that could be derived only from true, unconditional love. He loved Ryan so damned much. ~ Harlan Coben, #NFDB
648:I like doves. They look so beautiful, like a woman. For me they represent peace and love and purity. And sometimes they're seen as the messengers of God, so they're important to me because I'm a Christian. ~ John Woo, #NFDB
649:Here's the thing about politics: It's not an expression of your moral purity and your ethics and your probity and your fond dreams of some utopian future. Progressive people constantly fail to get this. ~ Tony Kushner, #NFDB
650:No calamity happens to those who eagerly follow auspicious customs and the rule of good conduct, to those who are always careful of purity, and to those who mutter ,sacred texts and offer burnt oblations. ~ Guru Nanak, #NFDB
651:This implies that purification is a lifelong process, not something that is applied once and then forgotten. Purity of heart never survives a passive relationship. One must always guard his or her heart. ~ Hamza Yusuf, #NFDB
652:All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government as originally organized should be administered in purity and truth. ~ Robert E Lee, #NFDB
653:Good design is as little design as possible. Less, but better - because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity. ~ Dieter Rams, #NFDB
654:It is to be all made of fantasy, All made of passion and all made of wishes, All adoration, duty, and observance, All humbleness, all patience and impatience, All purity, all trial, all observance ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
655:Love in its essence is unconditional. When conditions, exceptions, and ultimatums are cast into the mix, its purity changes. It is no longer love and should be referred to by a less-desirable name. ~ Richelle E Goodrich, #NFDB
656:Nobody taught me to be like this. I was born this way. Since I opened my eyes to the world, I have never slept with a man. Never. Just imagine what purity. I have nothing to be ashamed of.
[2000] ~ Chavela Vargas,#NFDB
657:Psychic love is distinguished by an essential purity and selflessness—but the vital can put on a very brilliant imitation of that character. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Human Relations and the Spiritual Life, #NFDB
658:The obscene and vulgar stories in the Bible are as repugnant to our ideas of the purity of a Divine Being, as the horrid cruelties and murders it ascribes to Him are repugnant to our ideas of His justice. ~ Thomas Paine, #NFDB
659:The pure shall not die, but he who leads not the spiritual life dies without ceasing. The wise man knows this difference and takes pleasure in purity and spirituality; it is his joy to live like the saints. ~ Udanavarga, #NFDB
660:The purity of Andre’s few words had astonished me. This was why women smiled at the mention of their children’s names, I thought. Mothers carried the memories of sweet words spoken from the heart. Years ~ Ann Weisgarber, #NFDB
661:When we shift from personal purity to personal happiness, we lose biblical hope because we are not focusing on God's agenda, we are focusing on our own. God's agenda is guaranteed on our agenda is not. ~ James MacDonald, #NFDB
662:Fools or hypocrites! Meanest falsehood is this among mortals,
Veils of purity weaving, names misplacing ideal
When our desires we disguise and paint the lusts of our nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,#NFDB
663:There is nothing mind can do that cannot be better done in the mind's immobility and thought-free stillness.
When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence. ~ Sri Aurobindo,#NFDB
664:Fascism is a system of political authority and social order intended to reinforce the unity, energy, and purity of communities in which liberal democracy stands accused of producing division and decline. ~ Robert O Paxton, #NFDB
665:He represented purity, beauty, family, all of the things that had been taken from her. He was a glimmer of goodness in her dark fucking world, a warm spark she could hold, if only for a fleeting span of time. ~ Pam Godwin, #NFDB
666:In what does religion consist? It consists in causing as little suffering as possible and in doing good in abundance. It consists in the practice of love, of compassion, of truth, of purity in all domains of life. ~ Asoka, #NFDB
667:Happiness is strange; it comes when you are not seeking it. When you are not making an effort to be happy, then unexpectedly, mysteriously, happiness is there, born of purity, of a loveliness of being. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
668:represented purity, beauty, family, all of the things that had been taken from her. He was a glimmer of goodness in her dark fucking world, a warm spark she could hold, if only for a fleeting span of time. ~ Pepper Winters, #NFDB
669:The five cardinal vows are: non-violence, truth, non-stealing, celibacy, non-possession. The five casual vows are: bodily purity, contentment, the study of the scriptures, austerity, and meditation of God. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
670:A lovely nook of forest scenery, or a grand rock, like a beautiful woman, depends for much of its attractiveness upon the attendance sense of freedom from whatever is low; upon a sense of purity and of romance. ~ P T Barnum, #NFDB
671:As ever, he is surpriz'd by the fierceness of their bodies, their inability to hold back, the purity of the not-yet-dishonest,— 'twould take a harder Case than Mason not to struggle with Tears of Sentiment. ~ Thomas Pynchon, #NFDB
672:I qualify it as pathetic. Pathetic--because despite the insatiable fire of my venereal appetite, I intended, with the most fervent force and foresight, to protect the purity of that twelve-year-old child. ~ Vladimir Nabokov, #NFDB
673:Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. ~ Okakura Kakuzo, #NFDB
674:There is in youth a purity of character which, when once touched and defiled, can never be restored; a fringe more delicate than frost-work, and which, when torn and broken, can never be re-embroidered. ~ Henry Ward Beecher, #NFDB
675:The law not only prohibits certain negative behaviors and attitudes, but by implication it requires certain positive behaviors and attitudes. That is, if adultery is prohibited, chastity and purity are required. ~ R C Sproul, #NFDB
676:There is a great power within that when used in beauty and immaculate purity can cure and heal and cause miracles. When you use it it spreads like a magic garden and when you do not use it it recedes from you. ~ Lord Buckley, #NFDB
677:This evolution lasts until we reach the absolute purity of the Being. Then we arrive at divinity. We form a vast oneness. We enjoy an entirety of divine power; we are united in a single love; we are God. ~ Antoine the Healer, #NFDB
678:We both may be killed by the Muslims," he told Manu, "and must put our purity to the ultimate test, so that we know that we are offering the purest of sacrifices, and we should now both start sleeping naked. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
679:When the mind is not only silent, but that part of the mind that could become conscious that the mind is silent dissolves in light, then we see and feel purity. We become it, the purity of the eternal light. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
680:Purity in body and heart
May please some--as for me, I make no boast.
For, as you know, no master of a household
Has all of his utensils made of gold;
Some are wood, and yet they are of use. ~ Geoffrey Chaucer,#NFDB
681:The nature of Buddhism, as I understand it, is to believe that we are all pure and radiant at our core. And yet we see around us so much evidence that people are not acting from a place of purity and radiance. ~ Oprah Winfrey, #NFDB
682:Virtually every natural feature in Maine, pond to peak, has a proper name, but Knight saw such titles as human impositions and preferred not to know them. He sought a purity to his retreat beyond all measure. ~ Michael Finkel, #NFDB
683:It baffled me how people could resist math's gorgeousness, but people did, and people do. The fine of its purity drives them away, the purity of the fine, unmixed with the heaviness of unnecessitated being. ~ Rebecca Goldstein, #NFDB
684:To be pure, to remain pure, can only come at a price, the price of knowing God and loving him enough to do his will. He will always give us the strength we need to keep purity as something as beautiful for him. ~ Mother Teresa, #NFDB
685:I should dread to disfigure the beautiful ideal of the memories of illustrious persons with incongruous features, and to sully the imaginative purity of classical works with gross and trivial recollections. ~ William Wordsworth, #NFDB
686:It is the purity of man's heart and mind, and his innocent and faithful approach to action with the purpose of all good to everyone, which really succeeds in yielding maximum results with minimum effort. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, #NFDB
687:She represents love, beauty, purity, the ideal female and the moon...and she's the mystère of jealousy, vengeance and discord, AND, on the other hand, of love, perpetual help, goodwill, health, beauty and fortune. ~ Zadie Smith, #NFDB
688:Simplicity and purity are the two wings by which a man is lifted above all earthly things. Simplicity is in the intention - purity in the affection. Simplicity tends to God, - purity apprehends and tastes Him. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
689:As gold purified in a furnace loses its impurities and achieves its own true nature, the mind gets rid of the impurities of the attributes of delusion, attachment and purity through meditation and attains Reality. ~ Adi Shankara, #NFDB
690:The anti-equality right wing has interests. We have to learn to stand up for our interests. To seek purity is self-defeating and a stereotype in itself: women have to be pure, women are not concerned about money. ~ Gloria Steinem, #NFDB
691:The first tugs towards prohibition were about power, and purity of belief. If you are going to have one God and one Church, you need to stop experiences that make people feel that they can approach God on their own. ~ Johann Hari, #NFDB
692:Whatever is done lovingly, with righteous purity and with peace of mind, is a good action. Everything which is done with the stain of desire and with agitation filling the mind is classified as a bad action. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
693:Nothing can compare to creating characters and worlds out of thin air with your friends and making a book exactly the way you think it should be made, pure creative freedom, purity of intention, with no boundaries. ~ Rick Remender, #NFDB
694:A tranquil mind, a truth-filled speech, and a body dedicated to service-one who has these three qualities is described as the embodiment of 'Triputi' (the Triple purity). Such a one is the noblest of human beings. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
695:Timbuktu. The last pure place. Isolation being the mother of purity. All men are jealous of Timbuktu because Timbuktu is removed from men, it's the wholeness men have fractured, the sacred extreme they've traded away. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
696:Christ did not die to make good works merely possible or to produce a half-hearted pursuit. He died to produce in us a passion for good deeds. Christian purity is not the mere avoidance of evil, but the pursuit of good. ~ John Piper, #NFDB
697:Kill us in the clear light on the Moon, where the sky is black and soft, where the stars shine brightly, where the cleanliness and purity of vacuum make all things sharp.
- Not in this low-clinging, fuzzy blue. ~ Isaac Asimov,#NFDB
698:The Lord intends us to be powerful people-mighty in optimism and hopeful of spirit, powerful in evangelistic zeal, potent in influence, sturdy in moral fiber and purity. We can be powerhouses in prayer and preaching. ~ David Jeremiah, #NFDB
699:We all disapprove of prostitution; but we do not all approve of purity. The only way to discuss the social evil is to get at once to the social ideal. We can all see the national madness; but what is national sanity? ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
700:The contemplative is not isolated in himself, but liberated from his external and egotistic self by humility and purity of heart—therefore there is no longer any serious obstacle to simple and humble love of other men. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
701:I understand that the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, astatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equaled the purity of sound achieved by the pig. ~ Alfred Hitchcock, #NFDB
702:My varnashram refuses to bow the head before the greatest potentate on earth, but my varnashram compels me to bow down my head in all humility before knowledge, purity, before every person where I see God face to face. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
703:We can only re-tell stories; we attempt, in doing so, to tell new stories. Is there a way out of this bind? I think the trick is to enter into it completely. Avoid purity. The idea of perfection sounds awfully boring. ~ Robert Kroetsch, #NFDB
704:On the other hand, Allah directs man to the spiritual purity through the act of giving that is represented by charity that the pious pays as "Zakat" and "Sadakat" almsgiving, and other financial obligations. ~ Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, #NFDB
705:The blacks, those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of an affinity with bathing, have seen their territory invaded by a new kind of slave: the Portuguese. ~ Che Guevara, #NFDB
706:Let’s not forget gold. Kings wanted it. Alchemists promised it —had been promising it for centuries–, and if they achieved purity and perfection in anything, it was the purity and perfection of their failure to produce it. ~ Laini Taylor, #NFDB
707:There are no better cosmetics than a severe temperance and purity, modesty and humility, a gracious temper and calmness of spirit; and there is no true beauty without the signatures of these graces in the very countenance. ~ Arthur Helps, #NFDB
708:But however imperfect, even repugnant, were particular policies, particular actions, there remained the purity of the ideal, represented in the theories of Karl Marx and the noble visions of many lesser thinkers and writers. ~ Howard Zinn, #NFDB
709:I thought some of my earlier cartoons were not exactly great shakes at the time I drew them. Now I see a certain innocence in them. The humor has a kind of purity to it, I guess. And it works better on some level for me now. ~ Gary Larson, #NFDB
710:It is only as we see His holiness, His absolute purity and moral hatred of sin, that we will be gripped by the awfulness of sin against the Holy God. To be gripped by that fact is the first step in our pursuit of holiness. ~ Jerry Bridges, #NFDB
711:It’s complicated, but the short version is, purity almost always loses to pollution when the two are served in equal shares. Acceptance versus will. You can’t ram purity and acceptance into something like you can with hatred. ~ Sean Platt, #NFDB
712:Rodgers & Hammerstein shows have a purity of unironic emotion that imprints itself upon people's hearts. They seem to touch our feelings so effortlessly. They have a scope and ambition that's missing from many musicals now. ~ Mary Rodgers, #NFDB
713:Satan, like a drudge, may hold the sieve, hoping to destroy the corn; but the overruling hand of the Master is accomplishing the purity of the grain by the very process which the enemy intended to be destructive. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
714:The truly self-possessed, however, are free from the whims of fate and chance. Calmly, they affect their will, and with strength of character and purity of intention, they attract to their person solely positive outcomes. To ~ James Allen, #NFDB
715:Let us make our way through these low valleys of the humble and little virtues. We shall see in them the roses amid the thorns, charity that shows its beauty among interior and exterior afflictions, the lilies of purity. ~ Francis de Sales, #NFDB
716:Truth, purity, and unselfishness wherever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
717:[Bob] Dylan began to incorporate things into that scene that were controversial then. He got shouted at in Newport when he played electric guitar, for instance. There was a certain purity that was sought among those people. ~ T Bone Burnett, #NFDB
718:I was in love with the innocence of dogs, the purity of their affection. They didn't know enough to hide their feelings. They existed. A dog was a dog. There was such a simple elegance about being a dog that I envied. ~ Benjamin Alire S enz, #NFDB
719:One thing that I think never goes out of style is just purity. Niceness and purity. And the Muppets have never lost that. Kermit especially is just wide-eyed wonder, unblinking. And he cant blink. Which I think probably helps. ~ Jason Segel, #NFDB
720:The cliche is that misery loves company. Another is that there is fellowship among thieves. But thieves do not seek the consoling presence of the fellowship of police officers. Sinful misery does not love the company of purity. ~ R C Sproul, #NFDB
721:From the simple stringing together of lemon garlands for the goddess Durga, to dividing the prasadam or blessed foods for the children first, I came to associate food not only with feminity, but also with purity and divinity. ~ Padma Lakshmi, #NFDB
722:He had dreamed of a kind of integrity, of a kind of purity that was entire; he had found compromise and the assaulting diversion of triviality. He had conceived wisdom, and at the end of the long years he had found ignorance. ~ John Williams, #NFDB
723:I'm not claiming divinity. I've never claimed purity of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can. But I still believe in peace, love and understanding. ~ John Lennon, #NFDB
724:Mr. and Mrs. Hankshaw were summoned from the waiting room where Saturday Evening Post fantasies had clouded their instinctive parental concern the way that Norman Rockwell's sentimental ideas cloud the purity of a blank canvas. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
725:The humorous man recognizes that absolute purity, absolute justice, absolute logic and perfection are beyond human achievement and that men have been able to live happily for thousands of years in a state of genial frailty. ~ Brooks Atkinson, #NFDB
726:There is no allegiance possible where there is no character in the leader, and perfect purity ensures the most lasting allegiance and confidence. There must not be a hade of jealousy or selfishness, then you are a leader. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
727:As we face our vulnerability and weakness, there are things you and I should pray for regularly. We should pray for purity of desire, wisdom to recognize the enemy’s tricks, and strength to fight the battles we can’t avoid. ~ Paul David Tripp, #NFDB
728:In English, we don't have a word for people who aren't virgins. What the non-virgin lexical gap really made me think was that our obsession with sexual purity is such that once you are no longer this THING, you are indescribable. ~ John Green, #NFDB
729:Take courage and work on. Patience and steady work - this is the only way. Go on; remember - patience and purity and courage and steady work. . . . So long as you are pure, and true to your principles, you will never fail. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
730:Truth is a painful sword. It cuts deep and stings, but the pain evaporates, the blood dries, and in the place of such savagery is a gleaming absolution and an absolute purity. It’s blinding. It hurts. And it is utterly beautiful. ~ Cat Porter, #NFDB
731:whereas wine offers a kind of high, it is treacherous, for it leads to debauchery. By contrast, the “high” engendered by the Holy Spirit brings no debauchery, no hangovers, but purity, right relationships, and the joy of the Lord ~ D A Carson, #NFDB
732:But no matter how much we strive for purity in our minds, bodies, spirits, or ideologies, purity is not the same as holiness. It’s just easier to define what is pure than what is holy, so we pretend they are interchangeable. ~ Nadia Bolz Weber, #NFDB
733:I have a theory that the hosts are like babies. Whatever you do, they will learn, imitate, and do it back. It's like the purity and clarity of a newborn. If they're a clean slate, there's no agenda - just the need to survive. ~ Angela Sarafyan, #NFDB
734:Practice of gratitude lends incredible emotional strength. If you are emotionally strong, you can succeed at anything, anything at all. Gratitude makes you emotionally pure and such purity in turn allows you to love unconditionally. ~ Om Swami, #NFDB
735:The sense of purity is a puzzling, and at times a fearful thing. It seems so noble, and it starts at one with morality. But it is a dangerous guide, and can lead us away not only from what is gracious, but also from what is good. ~ E M Forster, #NFDB
736:The spring without a leaf to toss, bare and bright like a virgin fierce in her chastity, scornful in her purity, was laid out on fields wide-eyed and watchful and entirely careless of what was done or thought by the beholders. ~ Virginia Woolf, #NFDB
737:Women who are harassed, at work, on the street, or even online, are subject to the same rigid purity standards as women who are sexually assaulted, Just by virtue of being out in public, we're overstepping certain boundaries. ~ Jessica Valenti, #NFDB
738:For the first time in my life, I felt that a wave, a justice was sweeping away a deep-seated decay without any indulgence. I dearly wished that it would keep going without hesitation or deviation, in a spirit of purity forever. ~ Naguib Mahfouz, #NFDB
739:Let us make our way through these low valleys of the humble and little virtues. We shall see in them the roses amid the thorns, charity that shows its beauty among interior and exterior afflictions, the lilies of purity. ~ Saint Francis de Sales, #NFDB
740:The human body represents to me the same universal innocence, timelessness and purity of all seed pods, suggesting the mother as well as the child, the parental as well as the descendant, conceived according to nature's longings. ~ Ruth Bernhard, #NFDB
741:The wonderful purity of nature at this season is a most pleasing fact.... In the bare fields and tinkling woods, see what virtue survives. In the coldest and bleakest places, the warmest charities still maintain a foothold. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
742:Purity is about wholeness or integrity. It means that the body, mind, heart, and soul are rightly ordered toward God. Every element of who we are is doing its part to bring us to union with God, which is our ultimate happiness. ~ Charles J Chaput, #NFDB
743:The wise never harbor hostility. The good man forgets the faults of others; the best man forgives them, even when he himself has borne their brunt. In the purity of his heart, the virtuous man only sees the virtue in everyone else. ~ Ramesh Menon, #NFDB
744:Zen is the spirit of a man. Zen believes in his inner purity and goodness. Whatever is superadded or violently torn away, injures the wholesomeness of the spirit. Zen, therefore, is emphatically against all religious conventionalism. ~ D T Suzuki, #NFDB
745:A family is not built just by marrying a woman and producing children. Family is built with a timeless sacrifice which must represent purity, unity, standard of ethics, righteousness, grace, dignity, divinity and principles. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi, #NFDB
746:A white magician is one who is laboring to gain the confidence of the powers that be, and to prove, through the purity of his life and the sincerity of his motive, his worthiness to be entrusted with the great arcane (the wand of the Magus). [...], #NFDB
747:What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue. ~ Henri Matisse, #NFDB
748:While the political right may moralize sex, the political left is doing it with food. Food is becoming extremely moralized nowadays, and a lot of it is ideas about purity, about what you're willing to touch, or put into your body. ~ Jonathan Haidt, #NFDB
749:The fish appeared gray and white and moved with the precision and trajectory of an enormous bullet, a shot somehow fired in slow motion through the medium of the sea, moving with a purity and suppleness that were eerily beautiful. ~ Michael Capuzzo, #NFDB
750:the path of self-purification is hard and steep. To attain to perfect purity one has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech and action; to rise above the opposing currents of love and hatred, attachment and repulsion. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
751:they keep the image of Christ fair and undefiled, in the purity of God’s truth, from the times of the Fathers of old, the Apostles and the martyrs. And when the time comes they will show it to the tottering creeds of the world. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
752:You can use just about anything to make a magic circle, but salt is often the most practical. It’s a symbol of the earth and of purity, and it doesn’t draw ants. You use sugar to make a circle on the carpet only once. Let me tell you. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
753:If you’re attracted to critical people, you may find relief in their clarity of thought and purity of vision. But you’ll also find yourself guilt-ridden, compliant, and unable to make mistakes without tremendous anxiety. Irresponsibles ~ Henry Cloud, #NFDB
754:That's what a book is: a failed attempt that, its failure notwithstanding, is sincere and hard-worked and expunged of as much falseness as he could manage, given his limited abilities, and has thus been imbued with a sort of purity. ~ George Saunders, #NFDB
755:If we look on idly, heaven and earth will never be joined. To join heaven and earth, some decisive deed of purity is necessary. To accomplish so resolute an action, you have to stake your life, giving no thought to personal gain or loss. ~ Yukio Mishima, #NFDB
756:I've never seen crack or a lot of these new drugs. Don't know anything about them. I don't know what they do for you, or whether they do anything good for you or not. But I do still have a lot of faith in the spiritual purity of LSD and pot. ~ Ken Kesey, #NFDB
757:Mr. Purity nodded and paused to take another sip of coffee. “As you well know, my name has fallen into a state of great reproach. And with this declining opinion of my importance, I have become increasingly unattractive to most people today. ~ Eric Ludy, #NFDB
758:Much certainly of the happiness and purity of our lives depends on our making a wise choice of our companions and friends. If our friends are badly chosen they will inevitably drag us down; if well they will raise us up. ~ Eric Lubbock 4th Baron Avebury, #NFDB
759:But the path of self-purification is hard and steep. To attain to perfect purity one has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech and action; to rise above the opposing currents of love and hatred, attachment and repulsion. I ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
760:During the age Atlantis, there were only several hundred thousand people living on our planet. They lived in a sublime state of harmony with nature. At that time, because of the purity of the earth's aura, it was much easier to meditate. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
761:He now detected this worldly sadness in Designori's face, expressed there with the greatest purity and intensity, as though his face were meant to be representative of many, to epitomize the secret sufferings and morbidity of a multitude. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
762:Race theorists, who are as old as imperialism itself, want to achieve racial purity in peoples whose interbreeding, as a result of the expansion of world economy, is so far advanced that racial purity can have meaning only to a numbskull. ~ Wilhelm Reich, #NFDB
763:She seemed like a nightmare of Lucy as she lay there, the pointed teeth, the blood stained, voluptuous mouth, which made one shudder to see, the whole carnal and unspirited appearance, seeming like a devilish mockery of Lucy’s sweet purity. ~ Bram Stoker, #NFDB
764:We are teaching the world the great truth that Governments do better without Kings & Nobles than with them. The merit will be doubled by the other lesson that Religion Flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government. ~ James Madison, #NFDB
765:Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in life, in love, in faith, and in purity … Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. ~ Karen Kingsbury, #NFDB
766:I have never been able to let Iraq go. It is a part of me. Even under Saddam Hussein, even despite what the country went through, and despite how violent and tribal it can be, there is still a certain purity to the kindness of the population. ~ Arwa Damon, #NFDB
767:Life is easy For the man who is without shame, Impudent as a crow, A vicious gossip, Vain, meddlesome, dissolute. But life is hard For the man who quietly undertakes The way of perfection, With purity, detachment and vigor. He sees light. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
768:love you for your smart-ass mouth, and your purity, and your kindness, and your rambling, and your love of family, and for the way you care about those you love. But most of all, I love you because you’re you, and you accept me for who I am. ~ Nina Levine, #NFDB
769:Sin is here the kind of purity that wants the world cleansed of the other rather than the heart cleansed of the evil that drives people out by calling those who are clean “unclean” and refusing to help make clean those who are unclean. Put ~ Miroslav Volf, #NFDB
770:The true notion is that the material universe is a sign or an indication of what God is. We look at the purity of the snowflake and we see something of the goodness of God. The world is full of poetry: it is sin which turns it into prose. ~ Fulton J Sheen, #NFDB
771:You’re perfect the way you are.” He traced his thumb over her scar and kissed her there again. “I wouldn’t care if you had none.” He pulled her mouth down to him, and she felt the purity of that kiss, the force of his emotion. “I love you. ~ Jessica Scott, #NFDB
772:Because it's too cruel to know that life is just one time and that we have no guarantee outside our faith in shadows - because it's too cruel, so I respond with the purity of an untamable happiness. I refuse to be sad. Let us be joyful. ~ Clarice Lispector, #NFDB
773:Starting anew with a clean slate has been one of the most harmful ideas in history. It treats previous knowledge as an impediment and imagines that only present knowledge deployed in theoretical purity can make real the wondrous new vision. ~ Stewart Brand, #NFDB
774:The periods of spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind's creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness — yea, the divine nature — appear in man and the universe never to disappear. -Mary Baker Eddy
(SH 509:24) ~ Mary Baker Eddy,#NFDB
775:These are bagpipes. I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equalled the purity of the sound achieved by the pig. ~ Alfred Hitchcock, #NFDB
776:What’s the difference between venerating women for being fuckable and putting them on a purity pedestal? In both cases, women’s worth is contingent upon their ability to please men and to shape their sexual identities around what men want. ~ Jessica Valenti, #NFDB
777:Even at birth the soul comes to its own and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and, impurity, its strength and weakness. Men ~ James Allen, #NFDB
778:[Mahatma Gandhi] said that the first president of India ought to be a harijan girl, an untouchable. He was so against the class system and the oppression of women that an untouchable woman became for him the epitome of purity and benediction. ~ Indira Gandhi, #NFDB
779:Of course I was in love with little Em'ly. I am sure I loved that baby quite as truly, quite as tenderly, with greater purity and more disinterestedness, than can enter into the best love of a later time of life, high and ennobling as it is. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
780:For me, anything can be music! I can get huge enjoyment and be moved totally by the purity and perfection of some Renaissance polyphony, but equally I can feel emotion in the expectant hum of a big old guitar amp just before the strings are hit. ~ Steven Price, #NFDB
781:Although many swamis and yogis had come from India to the West, Prabhupada was the only one with the purity and devotion to establish India's ancient Krishna conscious philosophy around the world on its own terms-not watered down, but as it is. ~ Mukunda Goswami, #NFDB
782:She blinked her eyes open, her lips parted and cheeks flushed, looking every bit like a goddess before him. And if he were a better man, he wouldn’t have been able to taint such purity. But he wasn’t a better man, and there was no turning back now. ~ A Zavarelli, #NFDB
783:Thought in the mind hath made us, What we are By thought was wrought and built. If a man's mind Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes The wheel the ox behind.... ..If one endure In purity of thought, joy follows him As his own shadow—sure. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
784:...to go into the garden in its snowed-up state is like going into a bath of purity. The first breath on opening the door is so ineffably pure that it makes me gasp, and I feel a black and sinful object in the midst of all the spotlessness. ~ Elizabeth von Arnim, #NFDB
785:Bergman was the first to bring metaphysics - religion, death, existentialism - to the screen. ... But the best of Bergman is the way he speaks of women, of the relationship between men and women. He's like a miner digging in search of purity. ~ Bertrand Tavernier, #NFDB
786:In the midst of these pleasing ideas we should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. ~ Samuel Adams, #NFDB
787:What's madness but nobility of soul
At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire! I know the purity of pure despair, my shadow pinned against a sweating wall, that place among the rocks--is it a cave, or winding path? The edge is what I have. ~ Theodore Roethke,#NFDB
788:Had he learned nothing from all those years of teaching Hawthorne? Through story after story he'd led his boys to consider the folly of obsession with purity - its roots sunk deep in pride, flowering condemnation and violence against others and self. ~ Tobias Wolff, #NFDB
789:Had he learned nothing from all those years of teaching Hawthorne? Through story after story he’d led his boys to consider the folly of obsession with purity – its roots sunk deep in pride, flowering condemnation and violence against others and self. ~ Tobias Wolff, #NFDB
790:In the middle ages of Christianity opposition to the State opinions was hushed. The consequence was, Christianity became loaded with all the Romish follies. Nothing but free argument, raillery & even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion. ~ Thomas Jefferson, #NFDB
791:Fashion understands itself; good-breeding and personal superiority of whatever country readily fraternize with those of every other. The chiefs of savage tribes have distinguished themselves in London and Paris, by the purity of their tournure. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
792:Conqueror I might be of the house but the inmate would escape to heaven before I could call myself possesor of its clay dwelling-place. And it is you, spirit -- with will and energy, and virtue and purity -- that I want: not alone your brittle frame ~ Charlotte Bront, #NFDB
793:The Holy Spirit has a sanctifying influence. The influence of the Holy Spirit tends towards sanctification, purity and holiness. Expect to live a life of greater purity, sanctification and holiness when under the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit. ~ Dag Heward Mills, #NFDB
794:In the waters of purity, I melted like salt
Neither blasphemy, nor faith, nor conviction, nor
doubt remained.
In the center of my heart a star has appeared
And all the seven heavens have become lost in it.
~ Jalaluddin Rumi, In The Waters Of Purity
,#NFDB
795:Love loves unto purity. Love has ever in view the absolute loveliness of that which it beholds. Therefore all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love's kind, must be destroyed. And our God is a consuming fire. ~ George MacDonald, #NFDB
796:There is a purity in rage. It will burn out sorrow. For a time. It will burn out fear. Even cruelty and hatred will seek shelter, rage wants none of them, only to destroy. Rage is the gift our nature gives to us, shaped by untold years. Why discard it? ~ Mark Lawrence, #NFDB
797:What's natural is the microbe. All the rest-heath, integrity, purity (if you like)-is a product of the human will, of a vigilance that must never falter. The good man, the man who infects hardly anyone, is the man who has the fewest lapses of attention. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
798:A good youth ought to have a fear of God, to be subject to his parents, to give honor to his elders, to preserve his purity; he ought not to despise humility, but should love forbearance and modesty. All these are an ornament to youthful years. ~ Saint Ambrose of Milan, #NFDB
799:Nor turned I ween Adam from his fair spouse, nor Eve the rites Mysterious of connubial love refused: Whatever hypocrites austerely talk Of purity and place and innocence, Defaming as impure what God declares Pure, and commands to some, leaves free to all. ~ John Milton, #NFDB
800:The standard of matrimony is erected by affection and purity, and does not depend upon the height, or bulk, or color, or wealth, or poverty of individuals. Water will seek its level; nature will have free course; and heart will answer to heart. ~ William Lloyd Garrison, #NFDB
801:Treat your date with the respect and purity you hope your future spouse will have. Keep in mind how you will expect a young man to treat your daughter one day. By listening to your conscience in this way, you'll have a good idea of where to draw the line. ~ Jason Evert, #NFDB
802:Weren't you wearing a purity ring when we got here? Aren't you supposed to be saving yourself?" Shanti asked.
"Yeah," Mary Lou answered. "And then I thought, for what? You save leftovers. My sex is not a leftover, and it is not a Christmas present. ~ Libba Bray,#NFDB
803:What’s natural is the microbe. All the rest—health, integrity, purity (if you like)—is a product of the human will, of a vigilance that must never falter. The good man, the man who infects hardly anyone, is the man who has the fewest lapses of attention. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
804:You must live life in its very elementary forms. The Mexicans have a very nice word for it: pura vida. It doesn't mean just purity of life, but the raw, stark-naked quality of life. And that's what makes young people more into a filmmaker than academia. ~ Werner Herzog, #NFDB
805:When you find me attempting to break into your house to take your plate, under any pretence whatsoever, but most of all under pretence of purity of religion and Christian charity shoot me for a robber and a hypocrite, as in that case I shall certainly be. ~ Edmund Burke, #NFDB
806:Kell shook his head. "No," he said. "It is Vitari. In a way, I suppose it is pure. But it is pure potential, pure, power, pure magic."
"And no humanity," said Lila. "No harmony."
Kell nodded. "Purity without balance is its own corruption. ~ V E Schwab,#NFDB
807:You can make yourself feel better about yourself if you project your shadow side, if you project your own potential for evil onto someone else. By annihilating them and, therefore, your shadow, you bring yourself into some state of purity or reformation. ~ Jennifer Beals, #NFDB
808:It (Teaism) insulates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life. ~ Kakuz Okakura, #NFDB
809:...the existence and increase of our race and nation, the sustenance of its children and the purity of its blood, the freedom and independence of the Fatherland, and the nation's ability to fulfill the mission appointed to it by the Creator of the universe. ~ Adolf Hitler, #NFDB
810:What we take for virtue is often but an assemblage of various ambitions and activities that chance, or our own astuteness, have arranged in a certain manner; and it is not always out of courage or purity that men are brave, and women chaste. ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld, #NFDB
811:When a man’s heart is right with God the mysterious utterances of the Bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart. ~ Oswald Chambers, #NFDB
812:Being salt and light demands two things: we practice purity in the midst of a fallen world and yet we live in proximity to this fallen world. If you don't hold up both truth in tension, you invariably becomes useless and separated from the world God loves. ~ David Kinnaman, #NFDB
813:Isaiah himself was only more aware of his shame as it stood in contrast to the perfection and purity of the Lord. It brought him to despair at his predicament. But despair is not a bad thing when it compels us to trust in or be associated with God himself. ~ Edward T Welch, #NFDB
814:The moment you understand that there is an essence of purity in you, you will realize reality. The moment you realize reality you will have royalty, and then you don't have to say or do a thing. When your presence will work then you will emit wisdom. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi, #NFDB
815:A clean heart is a free heart. A free heart can love Christ with an undivided love in chastity, convinced that nothing and nobody will separate it from his love. Purity, chastity, and virginity created a special beauty in Mary that attracted God’s attention. ~ Mother Teresa, #NFDB
816:We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, #NFDB
817:A life of feminine submission, of 'contemplative purity,' a life of silence, a life that has no pen and no story, while a life of female rebellion, of 'significant action,' is a life that must be silenced, a life whose monstrous pen tells a terrible story. ~ Sandra M Gilbert, #NFDB
818:Business is not the supreme virtue, and sanctity is not measured by the amount of work we accomplish. Perfection is found in the purity of our love for God, and this pure love is a delicate plant that grows best where there is plenty of time for it to mature ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
819:We do not know either unalloyed happiness or unmitigated misfortune. Everything in this world is a tangled yarn; we taste nothing in its purity; we do not remain two moments in the same state. Our affections as well as bodies, are in a perpetual flux. ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau, #NFDB
820:A husband who truly loves his wife will want to see her grow in Christlike purity. A wife who truly loves her husband will want to see him grow in godliness. Out of true love, both will put growth in godliness above affluence, public opinion, or personal ease. ~ Gary L Thomas, #NFDB
821:It is the color closest to light. In its utmost purity it always implies the nature of brightness and has a cheerful, serene, gently stimulating character. Hence, experience teaches us that yellow makes a thoroughly warm and comforting impression. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
822:So far as female beauty is concerned, the Circassian women have no superiors. They have preserved in their mountain home the purity of the Grecian models, and still display the perfect physical loveliness, whose type has descended to us in the Venus de Medici. ~ Bayard Taylor, #NFDB
823:So Jesus came and modelled a lifestyle of power and purity because the power of the Spirit of God was on him. He was trying to show those of us who would follow what life would be like in someone who had no sin and was completely empowered by the Spirit of God. ~ Bill Johnson, #NFDB
824:There's a real purity in New Zealand that doesn't exist in the states. It's actually not an easy thing to find in our world anymore. It's a unique place because it is so far away from the rest of the world. There is a sense of isolation and also being protected. ~ Elijah Wood, #NFDB
825:A practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, “That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend or that relative is perfect in Christ Jesus! ~ Oswald Chambers, #NFDB
826:The ego in its purity is experienced in intervals between two states
or two thoughts. Ego is like that caterpillar which leaves its hold
only after catching another. Its true nature can be found when it is
out of contact with objects or thoughts. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,#NFDB
827:You must learn the art of disappearance to protect yourself from the stupid! This art will save your time and your energy and it will keep your mind’s purity. And what is this art? It is to isolate yourself for a particular period of time from the society! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
828:A life of feminine submission, of 'contemplative purity,' is a life of silence, a life that has no pen and no story, while a life of female rebellion, of 'significant action,' is a life that must be silenced, a life whose monstrous pen tells a terrible story. ~ Sandra M Gilbert, #NFDB
829:Everyone needs faith: faith that even though the world is full of evil, a suitor will come and kiss us awake; faith that the girl will escape the tower, the big bad wolf will die, and even those poisoned by malevolence can be reborn, as innocent as purity itself. ~ Rene Denfeld, #NFDB
830:But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods…for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them. ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery, #NFDB
831:Charity in the theatre usually begins and ends with people who have a play opening the week following one's own. Their unlikely benevolence is not so much a purity of heart as the knowledge that they face a firing line with rifles aimed in exactly the same direction. ~ Moss Hart, #NFDB
832:He was so intense, so serious, armored in the formality of his rank and yet vulnerable in his honesty, the purity of his will. Her heart yearned to him. He thought he had learned pain, but he would learn it again and again, all his life, and forget none of it. ~ Ursula K Le Guin, #NFDB
833:Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. So we must stretch ourselves to the very limits of human possibility. Anything less is a sin against both God and man. ~ Leonardo da Vinci, #NFDB
834:Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. The artful minimalism of the speech gave it simplicity, purity, and charm. ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
835:When mind uses itself without the hands it runs the circle and may go too fast.... The hand that shapes the mind into clay or written word slows thought to the gait of things and lets it be subject to accident and time. Purity is on the edge of evil, they say. ~ Ursula K Le Guin, #NFDB
836:Achievement of any kind is the crown of effort,the diadem of thought.By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends.By the aid of animality,indolence,impurity,corruption,and confusion of thought a man descends. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
837:The shining Edens of the vital gods
Received him in their deathless harmonies.
All things were perfect there that flower in Time;
Beauty was there creation’s native mould,
Peace was a thrilled voluptuous purity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Paradise of the Life-Gods,#NFDB
838:The Temple of Righteousness is built and its four walls are the four Principles— Purity, Wisdom, Compassion, Love. Peace is its roof; its floor Steadfastness, its entrance-door is Selfless Duty, its atmosphere is Inspiration, and its music is the Joy of the perfect. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
839:I believe we shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavouring to know God, for, beholding His greatness we are struck by our own baseness, His purity shows our foulness, and by meditating on His humility we find how very far we are from being humble. 11. ~ Teresa of vila, #NFDB
840:I have seen the poor suffer when nobles seek the purity of ideals. I have seen the powerless die when princes believe in the nostalgia of their dreams. I have seen the common people torn from peace and thrown into war when kings yearn to test the clarity of their vision. ~ Ken Liu, #NFDB
841:I honestly do not know if love vanquishes death as our traditional faiths teach but I do know that our vulnerabilities trump our ideologies and that love leavens the purity and logic of our beliefs propelling us to connect as the fiercely gracious human beings we are. ~ Irwin Kula, #NFDB
842:Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal high priest himself, the Son of God Jesus Christ, build you up in faith and truth and in all gentleness and in all freedom from anger and forbearance and steadfastness and patient endurance and purity. ~ Polycarp, #NFDB
843:And then, the unspeakable purity - and freshness of the air! There was just enough heat to enhance the value of the breeze, and just enough wind to keep the whole sea in motion, to make the waves come bounding to the shore, foaming and sparkling, as if wild with glee. ~ Anne Bronte, #NFDB
844:I'm not in search of sanctity, sacredness, purity; these things are found after this life, not in this life; but in this life I search to be completely human: to feel, to give, to take, to laugh, to get lost, to be found, to dance, to love and to lust, to be so human. ~ C JoyBell C, #NFDB
845:The highest wisdom and truth are like the purest liquid we may wish to imbibe,’ he said. ‘Can I receive that pure liquid into an impure vessel and judge of its purity? Only by the inner purification of myself can I retain in some degree of purity the liquid I receive. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
846:We men are easily prone to sins of thought. Therefore, He who has formed each heart individually, knowing that the impulse received from the intention constitutes the major element in sin, has ordained that purity in the ruling part of our soul be our primary concern. ~ Saint Basil, #NFDB
847:When “fundamentalism” takes root within a religious movement, emphasis shifts away from love of God and love of neighbor in order to be replaced by an obsessive fear that infractions of the sexual purity code are responsible for dragging modern society down to hell. ~ Aaron Milavec, #NFDB
848:According to the general Buddhist view, the whole of saṃsāra, with its myriad pleasant and miserable realms, is a prison. But from the perspective of pristine awareness, all of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is equally suffused by the primordial purity of the Great Perfection. ~ B Alan Wallace, #NFDB
849:I am a journalist and, under the modern journalist's code of Olympian objectivity (and total purity of motive), I am absolved of responsibility. We journalists don't have to step on roaches. All we have to do is turn on the kitchen light and watch the critters scurry. ~ P J O Rourke, #NFDB
850:The elect of God are those who hear the voice of the Lord, do not harden their hearts, gather with the Lord and his Church, magnify their callings, and, because of their purity, abide the day of the Savior's second coming (D&C 29:7; 33:6; 35:21; 84:34; Moses 7:62). ~ Robert L Millet, #NFDB
851:Doesn't the bible say "blessed are the pure in the heart, so they shall see God?" when?
Only when there is purity in the heart; a heart peaceful and free from egoism--the "I" and the "mine." Purity of heart and equanimity of mind are the very essence of Yoga. ~ Swami Satchidananda,#NFDB
852:Mary, I wish to know who I am as a wife or girlfriend or mother or daughter. I wish to be the woman I am capable of being. I wish to have your purity and clarity and level of enlightenment. May the essence of my womanhood become more radiant than my external self. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
853:Only one thing I expect from all of you: to be yourself, to discover your inner beauty, your purity of consciousness, your hidden splendor - and spread it to as many people as possible. People are miserable. Help them to laugh a little, to sing a little, to dance a little. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
854:The founding fathers went out of their way to establish a clear “wall of separation” between religion and state, to quote Thomas Jefferson. They reasoned, as James Madison so cleverly articulated, that both religion and government exist in greater purity if kept apart. ~ Phil Zuckerman, #NFDB
855:This world is filled with many vulgar and dishonorable things that will claw and tear at your Christian purity if you allow them to. Don't let them! Seek instead the things of God. He will purify you and free you from your slavery to profane and inconsequential things. ~ Patrick Madrid, #NFDB
856:Coffee, the sober drink, the mighty nourishment of the brain, which unlike other spirits, heightens purity and lucidity; coffee, which clears the clouds of the imagination and their gloomy weight; which illuminates the reality of things suddenly with the flush of truth. ~ Jules Michelet, #NFDB
857:I think you can fan the flames, but I think in the same way that a mathematician is a mathematician - He's not taught to be a mathematician. He either has a feeling for equations and an understanding and delight in it, not only in the purity of it, but in its beauty as well. ~ John Hurt, #NFDB
858:Love isn't always convenient, and it doesn't always happen the way you expect it to, Purity." Everyone is silent for a moment, before Luna turns to her mother. "Wow. That's really profound, Mom." "Isn't it?" Jez asks. "I thought so, too. I saw it embroidered on a pillow. ~ Sabrina Paige, #NFDB
859:When all hopes of recognition or honor have faded into distant memory, when purity of heart meets sorrow of mind, when all the world seems to walk in blindness and yet a man works without wearying for that which he loves...only in this moment is passion truly understood ~ Franz Schubert, #NFDB
860:I could spend thousands now on the highest end hi-fi in the world and know that, for all the wattage and purity of signal, the music would never quite touch me again as it did then from that primitive monaural system. But nor could anything quite touch me now as it did then. ~ Stephen Fry, #NFDB
861:Many societies therefore develop moral concepts such as sanctity and sin, purity and pollution, elevation and degradation. In such societies, the personal liberty of secular Western nations looks like libertinism, hedonism, and a celebration of humanity’s baser instincts. ~ Jonathan Haidt, #NFDB
862:Whenever you remember me, now or hereafter, one word you must remember: God only lives in cozy homes. Man without a cozy home is a man without God. And coziness is the relationship between you and your purity, your piety and your principles to which you have agreed. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi, #NFDB
863:When the war has been fought out, and that peace established which is always the result of conflict and war, then it is that the goddess Athena reigns in all gentleness and purity, teaching mankind to enjoy peace, and instructing them in all that gives beauty to human life. ~ Michael Rank, #NFDB
864:Any ironic or irreverent disciple of Voltaire will find it difficult to resist making the obvious remark that, things being what they are, purity can be maintained only so long as there are innocent creatures to sacrifice in this world, whether turtledoves, lambs, or others. ~ Jos Saramago, #NFDB
865:How many of us have a love so true it spans eternity? A purity of need so clear it can remain strong in the face of all that the world throws at us? This
is Karen Ann McNeil, the woman who fell to Earth, the woman for whom the people in her life never gave up waiting. ~ Douglas Coupland,#NFDB
866:Serenity, regularity, absence of vanity,Sincerity, simplicity, veracity, equanimity, Fixity, non-irritability, adaptability, Humility, tenacity, integrity, nobility, magnanimity, charity, generosity, purity. Practise daily these eighteen "ities" You will soon attain immortality. ~ Socrates, #NFDB
867:Simplicity is the most sophisticated complexion and the reason why man begins with it, is because that is the instinct which she/he was born with. It is the mark of purity (contrary to Jew Covenant and Roman Baptism beliefs) which were given to her/him by God in the womb. ~ Ibrahim Ibrahim, #NFDB
868:The best attraction is the gospel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency; an arrow which can pierce the hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest wound. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
869:The Romans may not have understood the Jewish religion, with its strange observances and its overwhelming obsession with ritual purity—“The Jews regard as profane all that we hold sacred,” Tacitus wrote, “while they permit all that we abhor”—but they nevertheless tolerated it. ~ Reza Aslan, #NFDB
870:Without modesty, woman is devoid of beauty and culture. Humility, purity of thought and manners, meekness, surrender to high ideals, sensitivity, sweetness of temper - the peculiar blend of all these qualities is modesty. It is the most invaluable of all jewels for women. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
871:Whosoever will list himself under the banner of Christ, must, in the first place and above all things, make war upon his own lusts and vices. It is in vain for any man to usurp the name of Christian, without holiness of life, purity of manners, benignity and meekness of spirit. ~ John Locke, #NFDB
872:He cast his eyes upwards and stood amazed. The snow had ceased to fall, and now, as if by a miracle, he saw above his head the clear black sky of the northern winter, decorated with the sumptuous fires of the stars. It was a canopy fit for the resplendent purity of the snows. ~ Joseph Conrad, #NFDB
873:I would sooner be holy than happy if the two things could be divorced. Were it possible for a man always to sorrow and yet to be pure, I would choose the sorrow if I might win the purity, for to be free from the power of sin, to be made to love holiness, is true happiness. ~ Charles Spurgeon, #NFDB
874:Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends; by the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
875:we can learn to trust our maternal selves and to have faith in the innate goodness and purity of our children - even when we feel overwhelmed and the kids are pushing all our buttons. we can support one another....we can be understanding of each other and easier on ourselves. ~ Katrina Kenison, #NFDB
876:Conclude not from all this that I have renounced the Christian religion. . . . Far from it. I see in every page something to recommend Christianity in its purity, and something to discredit its corruptions. . . . The ten commandments and the sermon on the mount contain my religion. ~ John Adams, #NFDB
877:Let’s state it clearly: One great idea of the biblical revelation is that God is manifest in the ordinary, in the actual, in the daily, in the now, in the concrete incarnations of life, and not through purity codes and moral achievement contests, which are seldom achieved anyway. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
878:Supposedly, the gods had forbidden interactions of the fun kind between halfs and pures eons ago. Something to do with the purity of a pure's blood not being tarnished—a fear a child of such a coupling would be . . . I frowned at Aiden's back.
Would be what—a Cyclops? ~ Jennifer L Armentrout,#NFDB
879:The very essence of meditation is to be so silent that there is no stirring of thoughts in you, that words don't come between you and reality, that the whole net of words falls down, that you are left alone. This aloneness, this purity, this unclouded sky of your being is meditation. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
880:You’re growing up. Maybe that’s it,” he said softly. “Sometimes I think the world tests us most sharply then, and we turn inward and watch ourselves with horror. But that’s not the worst. We think everybody is seeing into us. Then dirt is very dirty and purity is shining white. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
881:Mozart's joy is made of serenity, and a phrase of his music is like a calm thought; his simplicity is merely purity. It is a crystalline thing in which all the emotions play a role, but as if already celestially transposed. Moderation consists in feeling emotions as the angels do. ~ Andre Gide, #NFDB
882:Purity is not imposed upon us as though it were a kind of punishment, it is one of those mysterious but obvious conditions of that supernatural knowledge of ourselves in the Divine, which we speak of as faith. Impurity does not destroy this knowledge, it slays our need for it. ~ Georges Bernanos, #NFDB
883:Wonder is a very subtle, precious emotion, often lost in the gross hustle and bustle of modern life. When we feel wonder, we are immediately reminded of the purity and innocence of our childhood. Then, everything was magical and mysterious. Magic should help us relive that wonder. ~ Doug Henning, #NFDB
884:You're looking for purity, something that just isn't all garbled, someplace where you can feel the earth again, where you can feel what the wind feels like, where you can see the stars at night, and actually, not just look at little dots in the sky, but feel an energy from them. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
885:Bless people when they revile you. Think how much good they are doing by helping to stamp out the false ego. Hold fast to the real Self. Think only pure thoughts, and you will accomplish more than a regiment of mere preachers. Out of purity and silence comes the word of power. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
886:Have you ever looked at, say, a picture or a great building or read a paragraph in a book and felt the world suddenly expand and, in the same instant, contract and harden into a kernel of perfect purity? Do you know what I mean? Everything suddenly fits, everything's in its place. ~ Carol Shields, #NFDB
887:It lies out of the realm of time, space, and causation, and out of the boundaries of the ever-changing phenomenal field of creation. It is, It was, It will be, in the status of Its absolute purity. It always has the status which knows no change, the status of eternal life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, #NFDB
888:We three belong to the Middle Ages. We have this need of heroism, and there is no place for such feelings in modern life. That is our tragedy. Once I wanted to be a saint. It seemed the only absolute act left to do, for what is most powerful in me is the craving for purity, greatness. ~ Anais Nin, #NFDB
889:We three belong to the Middle Ages. We have this need of heroism, and there is no place for such feelings in modern life. That is our tragedy. Once I wanted to be a saint. It seemed the only absolute act left to do, for what is most powerful in me is the craving for purity, greatness. ~ Ana s Nin, #NFDB
890:My interest in the space program has a certain purity to it because I recognize the romance of it but I was never seduced by it. That allowed me to view it through a more purely scientific lens. My interest in space while in school came about through my scientific activities. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson, #NFDB
891:To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General (33rd Degree Masons), we say this, that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st, and 30th degrees: 'The Masonic religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine.' ~ Albert Pike, #NFDB
892:ONE of the paradoxes of the mystical life is this: that a man cannot enter into the deepest center of himself and pass through that center into God, unless he is able to pass entirely out of himself and empty himself and give himself to other people in the purity of a selfless love. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
893:Simplicity is the character of the spring of life, costliness becomes its autumn; but a neatness and purity, like that of the snow-drop or lily of the valley, is the peculiar fascination of beauty, to which it lends enchantment, and gives what amiability is to the mind. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, #NFDB
894:Do you realize you can actually listen a person's soul into existence? Your fervent interest in the inner life of those you care for can awaken their dormant powers. The teacher Richard Moss says 'The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.' Offer this gift. ~ Rob Brezsny, #NFDB
895:Religion, in its purity, is not so much a pursuit as a temper; or rather it is a temper, leading to the pursuit of all that is high and holy. Its foundation is faith; its action, works; its temper, holiness; its aim, obedience to God in improvement of self, and benevolence to men. ~ Jonathan Edwards, #NFDB
896:The Mapuche are our indigenous people from the south, the Patagonia. They are a vey wise and luminous ancient cavitation, which is completely opposite to where Nazism was headed. In the novel [Wakolda], the theme of racial purity and the Nazi obsession with it was much more developed. ~ Lucia Puenzo, #NFDB
897:This moving story of a small group of people, driven by a passionate belief in the strict purity of their devotion to the word of God and an equally passionate rejection of worldly authority in favour of a divinely sanctioned life, scarcely registered on the consciousness of England. ~ Adam Nicolson, #NFDB
898:[Country Music] is the final destination for many punk rockers [...] Rockabilly is the mid-point and then [they] end up at Country [...] There's purity to that music and I think that appeals to a lot of punk rock people - the precision, the purity, and the directness of Country Music. ~ John C Reilly, #NFDB
899:Holiness is more than purity. In Scripture we see that cleansing precedes holiness. (2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 5:26,27; 2 Tim. 2:21) Cleansing is the taking away of that which is wrong; liberation from sin. Holiness is the filling with that which is good, divine, with the disposition of Jesus. ~ Andrew Murray, #NFDB
900:We do not follow the philosophy of purity versus pollution. That is a false choice, a false dichotomy. The truth is, nothing is “pure”. Everything is the product of something else. To name something “pure” is to pretend it has no history, nothing before it, which is obviously false. ~ Ian C Esslemont, #NFDB
901:Labor came to humanity with the fall from grace and was at best a penitential sacrifice enabling purity through humiliation. Laborwas toil, distress, trouble, fatigue--an exertion both painful and compulsory. Labor was our animal condition, struggling to survive in dirt and darkness. ~ Shoshana Zuboff, #NFDB
902:The Christian religion, when divested of the rags in which they [the clergy] have enveloped it, and brought to the original purity and simplicity of it's benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind. ~ Thomas Jefferson, #NFDB
903:A great writer named Neal Stephenson said that America does four things better than any other country in the world: rock music, movies, software and high-speed pizza delivery. All of these are sacred American art forms. Let's return to our purity and our idealism while we have this shot. ~ Courtney Love, #NFDB
904:Even if you can say nothing else good about Che Guevara, even his most hateful detractors have to admit that Che was a man of non-compromising determination when it came to his own ideals and beliefs. It was his own purity of ideology that often left him at odds with his own associates. ~ Hourly History, #NFDB
905:Nothing has stolen more dreams, dashed more hopes, broken up more families, and messed up more people psychologically than our propensity to disregard God’s commands regarding sexual purity. Most of the major social ills in America are caused by, or fueled by, the misuse of our sexuality. ~ Andy Stanley, #NFDB
906:What is any public question but a conglomeration of private interests? What is any newspaper article but an expression of the views taken by one side? Truth! it takes an age to ascertain the truth of any question! The idea of Tom Towers talking of public motives and purity of purpose! ~ Anthony Trollope, #NFDB
907:I use colors that have already been experienced through the light of day and through the state of mind of the total man. In other words, my colors are not colors that are laboratory tools which are isolated from all accidentals or impurities so that they have a specified identity or purity. ~ Mark Rothko, #NFDB
908:The foods that prolong life and increase purity, vigour, health, cheerfulness, and happiness are those that are delicious, soothing, substantial and agreeable... Foods that are bitter, sour, salt, over-hot, pungent, dry and burning produce unhappiness, repentance and disease. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, #NFDB
909:The price the Virgin demanded was purity, and the way the educators of Catholic children have interpreted this for nearly two thousand years is sexual chastity. Impurity, we were taught, follows from many sins, but all are secondary to the principal impulse of the devil in the soul--lust. ~ Marina Warner, #NFDB
910:How different the peace of God from that of the world! It calms the passions, preserves the purity of the conscience, is inseparable from righteousness, unites us to God and strengthens us against temptations. The peace of the soul consists in an absolute resignation to the will of God. ~ Francois Fenelon, #NFDB
911:PATER SERAPHICUS. Higher rise, still higher, growing Stronger imperceptibly, Near the Divine Presence gaining A more perfect purity! What is it the spirit thrives on, What fills the ethereal space? Endless love whose revelation Blitheness brings, eternal bliss. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
912:The glory our God receives, and will eternally receive, from having saved our souls doesn’t come from all the good things we do for Him. His glory comes from creating people of purity and spiritual passion who once did things like that. Like we’ve done. Like you’ve done. Like I’ve done. ~ Priscilla Shirer, #NFDB
913:The word 'pure' has never revealed an intelligent meaning to me. I can only use the word to quench and optical thirst for purity in the transparencies that evoke it - in bubbles, in a volume of water, and in the imaginary latitudes entrenched, beyond reach, at the very center of a dense crystal. ~ Colette, #NFDB
914:We must keep in mind that where the road is crooked, God makes it straight, and where our hearts are wounded, God makes us whole. As we open our hearts in purity and simplicity, admitting to God that we are completely powerless in the area of our problem, His illumination redeems us. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
915:When we have to think strategically, we also have to accept our complicity: we forgo any illusions of purity; we give up the safety of exteriority. If we are not exterior to the problem under investigation, we too are the problem under investigation. Diversity work is messy, even dirty, work. ~ Sara Ahmed, #NFDB
916:Basically, fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon. In the same way that Hitler evoked a mythological religion of German purity and the glory of the past, the Islamists use religion to evoke emotions and passions in people who have been oppressed for a long time in order to reach their purpose. ~ Azar Nafisi, #NFDB
917:It was a beautiful summer afternoon, at that delicious period of the year when summer has just burst forth from the growth of spring; when the summer is yet but three days old, and all the various shades of green which nature can put forth are still in their unsoiled purity of freshness. ~ Anthony Trollope, #NFDB
918:If you want to usher real change, he told her, you have to work with the sleazy legislators and the rough party pols. You have to be practical, subordinate your personal purity to the cause. Perkins learned that in a fallen world it is often the “tainted” people who help you do the most good. ~ David Brooks, #NFDB
919:You are strong, omnipotent, and omniscient. No matter that you have not expressed it yet, it is in you. All knowledge is in you, all power, all purity, and all freedom-why cannot you express this knowledge? Because you do not believe in it... Believe in it, and it must and will come out. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
920:Mind is repetitive, mind always moves in circles. Mind is a mechanism: you feed it with knowledge, it repeats the same knowledge, it goes on chewing the same knowledge again and again. No-mind is clarity, purity, innocence. No-mind is the real way to live, the real way to know, the real way to be. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
921:What I want you to do is just take it as it is. Don't think too much. If you get involved with thinking about it, the whole thing gets lost or loses its purity. Don't think during practice - DO! The more you think, the further from the truth of budo you get: Budo is NOT an academic subject! ~ Masaaki Hatsumi, #NFDB
922:Look into the face of a man who will kill you for a belief and your nostrils will snuff up the scent of abomination. Hear a speech declaring a holy war and, I assure you, your ears should catch the clink of evil's scales and the dragging of its monstrous tail over the purity of the language. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
923:When Julian ascended the throne, he declared his impatience to embrace and reward the Syrian sophist, who had preserved, in a degenerate age, the Grecian purity of taste, of manners and of religion. The emperor's prepossession was increased and justified by the discreet pride of his favourite. ~ Edward Gibbon, #NFDB
924:...I was not prepared for the feel of the noodles in my mouth, or the purity of the taste. I had been in Japan for almost a month, but I had never experiences anything like this. The noodles quivered as if they were alive, and leapt into my mouth where they vibrated as if playing inaudible music. ~ Ruth Reichl, #NFDB
925:As for myself, I look upon all women as my Mother. This is a very pure attitude of mind. There is no risk or danger in it. To look upon a woman as one's sister is also not bad. But the other attitudes are very difficult and dangerous. It is almost impossible to keep to the purity of the ideal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
926:I am a part of the old school where I feel that purity of the language should be retained. But English is a constantly evolving language where new words are being added to the dictionary, so I don't see any harm in experimenting with the language. Only poor editing standards need to be improved. ~ Ashwin Sanghi, #NFDB
927:The Holy Scriptures...can alone secure to society order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and usefulness.....Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience. ~ James McHenry, #NFDB
928:As for myself, I look upon all women as my Mother. This is a very pure attitude of mind. There is no risk or danger in it. To look upon a woman as one's sister is also not bad. But the other attitudes are very difficult and dangerous. It is almost impossible to keep to the purity of the ideal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
929:God's Tread
Once we have chosen to be as the gods, we must follow that motion.
Knowledge must grow in us, might like a Titan’s, bliss like an ocean,
Calmness and purity born of the spirit’s gaze on the Real,
Rapture of his oneness embracing the soul in a clasp ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ahana,#NFDB
930:It was a Tuesday afternoon. It was springtime in the northern hemisphere of Earth.
Earth was green and watery. The air of earth was good to breath, as fattening as cream.
The purity of the rains that fell on Earth could be tasted. The taste of purity was daintily tart.
Earth was warm. ~ Kurt Vonnegut,#NFDB
931:The entire object of true education is to make people not merely do the right things, but enjoy the right things — not merely industrious, but to love industry — not merely learned, but to love knowledge — not merely pure, but to love purity — not merely just, but to hunger and thirst after justice. ~ John Ruskin, #NFDB
932:any beginning student of Śaiva Tantra must become acquainted with Sanderson’s work, beginning with the easier introductory pieces: “Shaivism and the Tantric Traditions,” “Power and Purity among the Brahmins of Kashmir,” and “EPHE Lectures: Long Summary,” all available on alexissanderson.com. ~ Christopher D Wallis, #NFDB
933:Truth is a painful sword. It cuts deep and stings, but the pain evaporates, the blood dries, and in the place of such savagery is a gleaming absolution and an absolute purity.
It’s blinding.
It hurts.
And it is utterly beautiful.
You can’t escape it.
Truth demanded a leap,
I took it. ~ Cat Porter,#NFDB
934:As the beautiful does not exist for the artist and poet alone—though these can find in it more poignant depths of meaning than other men—so the world of Reality exists for all; and all may participate in it, unite with it, according to their measure and to the strength and purity of their desire. ~ Evelyn Underhill, #NFDB
935:Children, in the present dark age of materialism, chanting the mantra is the easiest way for us to obtain inner purification and concentration. Japa can be done at any time, anywhere, without observing any rule regarding the purity of mind and body. Japa can be done while engaged in any task. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
936:The pure in heart shall see God, because they always do His will. Purity does not begin in the body but in the will. From there it flows outward, cleansing thought, imagination, and, finally, the body. Bodily purity is a repercussion or echo of the will. Life is impure only when the will is impure. ~ Fulton J Sheen, #NFDB
937:Whether it appears in a story about a man killing his girlfriend while calling her a whore or in trying to battle conservative claims that emergency contraception or the HPV vaccine will make girls promiscuous, the purity myth in America underlies more misogyny than most people would like to admit ~ Jessica Valenti, #NFDB
938:You know they say confession is good for the soul, right?
"I think that applies unless you're a priest. And you dont look like ANY priest I've ever seen."
"It's true. I am having trouble with purity of thoughts at the moment..."
She hadn't had a pure thought since she'd met him... ~ Amy Andrews,#NFDB
939:What I could have done in real life only by throwing a bomb which would have led to the scaffold I tried to achieve in painting by using color of maximum purity. In this way I satisfied my urge to destroy old conventions, to disobey in order to re-create a tangible, living, and liberated world. ~ Maurice de Vlaminck, #NFDB
940:You must find whatever ugliness there exists within him and have the courage to extract it, like a bad tooth, or if it cannot be extracted to actually journey inside him and gather the ugliness in your arms for metamorphosis, by the strength and the purity of your love to make him beautiful again. ~ Beatriz Williams, #NFDB
941:Her innocence and purity would be mine, to taste what I could never have again. I thirsted for it like a man that needed water to survive. With each evil act, I tainted my blackened soul more, and the need to sin and feed on that purity again and again was a vicious, unyielding cycle that was my Hell. ~ Ashlan Thomas, #NFDB
942:Let us hold fast the great truth, that communities are responsible, as well as individuals; that no government is respectable which is not just. Without unspotted purity of public faith, without sacred public principle, fidelity, and honor, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to political society. ~ Daniel Webster, #NFDB
943:Tea with us became more than an idealisation of the form of drinking; it is a religion of the art of life. The beverage grew to be an excuse for the worship of purity and refinement, a sacred function at which the host and guest joined to produce for that occasion the utmost beatitude of the mundane. ~ Okakura Kakuzo, #NFDB
944:In a musically imperfect world, there is still perfection in the voice of Barbara Cook. For anyone eulogizing the historic scores of a long-lost era of Broadway greatness, not to worry. Somebody is still singing them with purity and passion. She is Barbara Cook, and she sings them for the angels to applaud. ~ Rex Reed, #NFDB
945:Sincerity, Aspiration, Faith, Devotion and Self-Giving, Surrender to the Divine Will, Love, Openness and Receptivity, Purity and Humility, Gratitude and Faithfulness, Will and Perseverance, Enthusiasm, Hope and Straightforwardness, Happiness and Joy, Heroism and Bravery, Prudence and Balance, Truth and Speech ~ ?, toc, #NFDB
946:The Hanlin named his granddaughter Lustrous Jade, for jade was the fairest of stones and possessed five virtues: charity, for its lustre; rectitude, for its translucence; wisdom, for its purity of sound when struck; equity, for its sharp edges that injure none; courage, for it can be broken but not bent. ~ Bette Bao Lord, #NFDB
947:Don't pressure yourself to target a market. Hit the mark instead. Pay homage to your own connection. Quantity flocks to quality and quality comes from purity. Purity wails. Integrity taps a nerve. Inspiration slips beneath the skin of yoru skin and turns disinterested strangers into warm-bodied kin. ~ Tama J Kieves, #NFDB
948:Like the statue of David, our Authentic Swing already exists, concealed within the stone, so to speak.” Keeler broke in with excitement. “Then our task as golfers, according to this line of thought…” “…is simply to chip away all that is inauthentic, allowing our Authentic Swing to emerge in its purity. ~ Steven Pressfield, #NFDB
949:The purity of the message makes it even more remarkable. It’s easy to tell someone about the Leaning Tower. Much harder to tell them about the Pantheon in Rome. So, even though the Pantheon is beautiful, breathtaking, and important, it sees 1 percent of the crowds that the harder-to-get-to Tower in Pisa gets. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
950:The word 'pure' has never revealed an intelligent meaning to me. I can only use the word to quench an optical thirst for purity in the transparencies that evoke it - in bubbles, in a volume of water, and in the imaginary latitudes entrenched, beyond reach, at the very center of a dense crystal. ~ Sidonie Gabrielle Colette, #NFDB
951:A memory rose, unbidden, unwanted. Trite in its way, yet the truth of the statement hit her to the core. “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Or became a woman. Her days of purity were behind her now. Taking ~ J T Ellison, #NFDB
952:White for Shadowhunters is the color of funerals," Luke explained. “ But for mundanes, Jace, it’ s the color of weddings. Brides wear white to symbolize their purity.” “I thought Jocelyn said her dress wasn’t white,” Simon said. “Well,” said Jace, “I suppose that ship has sailed.” Luke choked on his coffee. ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
953:And it is you, spirit--with will and energy, and virtue and purity--that I want: not alone your brittle frame. Of yourself you could come with soft flight and nestle against my heart, if you would: seized against your will, you will elude the grasp like an essence--you will vanish ere I inhale your fragrance ~ Charlotte Bront, #NFDB
954:The first time someone else touched me with the intent to pleasure, I fell in love. Not with that person, but with the act itself. Such intimacy and accord. Even with the awkwardness of first time lovers there was a grace and purity, carnal and beautiful that I knew from that moment on I could never live without. ~ Fiona Zedde, #NFDB
955:To want to be a superman is a mistake, it only swells the ego. One can aspire for the Divine to bring about the supramental transformation, but that also should not be done till the being has become psychic and spiritualised by the descent of the Mother's peace, force, light and purity.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#NFDB
956:You hate it, yes, but your eyes do not. Like a killer forest fire, like cancer under a microscope, any battle or bombing raid or artillery barrage has the aesthetic purity of absolute moral indifference—a powerful, implacable beauty—and a true war story will tell the truth about this, though the truth is ugly. To ~ Tim O Brien, #NFDB
957:Any society contains propaganda, but it is important to distinguish this from art and to preserve the purity and independence of the practice of art. A good society contains many different artists doing many different things. A bad society coerces artists because it knows that they can reveal all kinds of truths. ~ Iris Murdoch, #NFDB
958:Everyone knows that there are thirteen stripes to represent the original thirteen colonies and fifty stars, each representing one of the fifty states. But what you may not know is that red represents hardness and valor. White represents purity and innocence. And blue represents perseverance, vigilance, and justice. ~ Ben Carson, #NFDB
959:Many couples have made commitments to sexual purity, but instead of adopting a lifestyle that supports this commitment, they continue relationships that encourage physical expression and place themselves in dangerous settings. The path you take with your feet should never contradict the conviction of your heart. ~ Joshua Harris, #NFDB
960:systematic ethnic cleansing of the Polish population, in some cases completely eliminating entire Polish communities in order to establish racial purity. It was only the beginning of a brutal genocidal campaign that Hitler and his emissaries would wage over the next six years. Hitler proceeded to invade Denmark ~ Hourly History, #NFDB
961:There were the usual exhortations to purity – think of the novel not as your opportunity to get rich or famous but to wrestle, in your own way, with the titans of the form – exhortations poets don’t have to make, given the economic marginality of the art, an economic marginality that soon all literature will share. ~ Ben Lerner, #NFDB
962:Thoughts can be trained. They can be conditioned to trick us into doing things we normally wouldn’t. But feelings are channeled purity and honesty, like a spring that won’t be diverted or tamed. They change at their own whims and nobody else’s. If only I knew how to trick my feelings the way I can trick my brain. ~ Kendall Grey, #NFDB
963:Having labored faithfully in establishing the right of self-government, we see in the rising generation, into whose hands it is passing, that purity of principle and energy of character which will protect and preserve it through their day, and deliver it over to their sons as they receive it from their fathers. ~ Thomas Jefferson, #NFDB
964:David Shi (historian of the simple life) describes the common denominator among the various approaches to simpler living as the understanding that the making of money and the accumulation of things should not smother the purity of the soul, the life of the mind, the cohesion of the family, or the good of the society. ~ Duane Elgin, #NFDB
965:Everything we do, our every objective, must be undertaken for the sake of... purity of heart... we must practice the reading of the Scripture, together with all the other virtuous activities... to hold our hearts free of the harm of every dangerous passion and in order to rise step by step to the high point of love. ~ John Cassian, #NFDB
966:I understand La Dolce Famiglia will be exclusive to Purity hotels. When is the opening?”
Julietta spoke up. “Sex months.”
Silence dropped. The three of them stared at her as if she’d sprouted horns, and suddenly, she realized what she said. Holy crap. Talk about a Freudian slip of epic propor-tions. ~ Jennifer Probst,#NFDB
967:Spirituality is the science that teaches us how to achieve peace of mind and supreme satisfaction. Right now we are hankering after many, many things, but nothing we get satisfies us. Spirituality tells us that satisfaction can be found only if we lead a good and divine life-a life of simplicity, purity and humility. ~ Sri Chinmoy, #NFDB
968:The woman to whom he comes is, as a rule, distinguished for her purity of life. Usually she is a virgin; but where already married and a mother, she must be recognized as chaste or, at least, there must be no stigma of impurity upon her reputation. I am not at the present writing aware of a single exception to this. ~ Ida Craddock, #NFDB
969:You have been very wise. You were right to do what you did’, for there is only one kind of dishonesty, only one kind of faithlessness which is allowed and that is an dishonesty to the personality and all that is inferior and perishable. It is never permissible to cheat God, the angels, purity or goodness. ~ Omraam Mikha l A vanhov, #NFDB
970:The vajrayana, or diamond vehicle, is powerful because it is derived from the tranquillity and readiness of the hinayana and the purity and soft heart of the mahayana. When students have developed those qualities, the vajrayana becomes ready to launch its diamond ship into the oceans of those who are ready for it. ~ Ch gyam Trungpa, #NFDB
971:Every relationship for a Christian is an opportunity to love another person like God has loved us. To lay down our desires and do what's in his or her best interest. To care for him or her even when there's nothing in it for us. To want that person's purity and holiness because it pleases God and protects him or her. ~ Joshua Harris, #NFDB
972:The world is living today in what might be described as an era of carnality, which glorifies sex, hates restraint, identifies purity with coldness, innocence with ignorance, and turns men and women into Buddhas with their eyes closed, hands folded across their breasts, intently looking inward, thinking only of self. ~ Fulton J Sheen, #NFDB
973:An atheist may, of course, also feel clean after taking a bath and dirty without one, but the mikveh ritual, associating outer hygiene with the recovery of a particular kind of inner purity, like so many other symbolic practices promoted by religions, manages to use a physical activity to support a spiritual lesson. ~ Alain de Botton, #NFDB
974:Detachment, properly understood, means freedom, inner freedom. And, although it is not a word Jesus used, detachment expresses very well an important element in his spirituality: the ability to let go. In the Christian tradition this has been spoken of as “purity of heart” or as the process of becoming “poor in spirit. ~ Albert Nolan, #NFDB
975:White for Shadowhunters is the color of funerals," Luke explained. “ But for mundanes, Jace, it’ s the color of weddings. Brides wear white to symbolize their purity.”
“I thought Jocelyn said her dress wasn’t white,” Simon said.
“Well,” said Jace, “I suppose that ship has sailed.”
Luke choked on his coffee. ~ Cassandra Clare,#NFDB
976:And the bowling average? The obsession with statistics, the purity and power of the numbers worked to the seventh decimal place, as if some truth were hidden in the golden mean. He could feel his young self grasping for solidity in those numbers, keys to himself - I am this concrete, numerical thing. I am 134.7538658. ~ David Duchovny, #NFDB
977:It is impossible to live pure lives until we have pure hearts. Many people today are trying to put the cart before the horse. They are teaching purity of motives, desires, and actions to old, deceitful hearts! No wonder we have ended up such moral failures, in spite of our vaunted knowledge and psychological approaches. ~ Billy Graham, #NFDB
978:The first typical adolescent of modern times was Wagner's Siegfried. : the music of Siegfried expressed for the first time that combination of (provisional) purity, physical strength, naturism, spontaneity and joie de vivre which was to make the adolescent the hero of our twentieth century, the century of adolescence. ~ Philippe Aries, #NFDB
979:The purity of unison singing, unaffected by alien motives of musical techniques, the clarity, unspoiled by the attempt to give musical art an autonomy of its own apart from the words, the simplicity and frugality, the humaneness and warmth of this way of singing is the essence of all congregational singing. This, ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, #NFDB
980:A clean heart is a free heart. A free heart can love Christ with an undivided love in chastity, convinced that nothing and nobody will separate it from his love. Purity, chastity, and virginity created a special beauty in Mary that attracted God's attention. He showed his great love for the world by giving Jesus to her. ~ Mother Teresa, #NFDB
981:The one who wants to love God has to take care about the purity of the soul, first of all. This purity is attained through conquering the passions. (The one who has not conquered the passions cannot enter) the chaste and pure region of the heart. Do not hate a sinner, for we all are to be responsible. ~ Vladimir Aleksandrovich Antonov, #NFDB
982:The reader must not imagine that he is to find in it wisdom, brilliancy, fertility of invention, ingenuity of construction, excellence of form, purity of style, perfection of imagery, truth to nature, clearness of statement, humanly possible situations, humanly possible people, fluent narrative, connected sequence of events ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
983:Would you prefer it if I'd continued to wear your shirt and banyan?"
Actually he'd quite liked her wearing his clothes, both because her breasts had been unbuttoned it made something in him very, very content. The yellow dress, however, quite suited her. She seemed to glow in the candlelight, like a beacon of purity. ~ Elizabeth Hoyt,#NFDB
984:Reviewers claimed that she could see a way through any emotional conflict; more often than not, they mentioned the purity of her heart. But they were wrong. It was the impurity in her heart that made her successful. She was an ordinary woman who’d made extraordinary mistakes. She understood every nuance of need and loss. ~ Kristin Hannah, #NFDB
985:Western liberals have comforted themselves by contorting their own consumption patterns into performances of moral or environmental purity—less beef, more Teslas, fewer transatlantic flights. But the climate calculus is such that individual lifestyle choices do not add up to much, unless they are scaled by politics. ~ David Wallace Wells, #NFDB
986:Earth was green and watery. The air of the Earth was good to breathe, as fattening as cream. The purity of the rains that fell on Earth could be tasted. The taste of purity was daintily tart. Earth was warm. The surface of the Earth heaved and seethed in fecund restlessness. Earth was most fertile where the most death was. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
987:To be humble means for the mind, the vital and the body never to forget that without the Divine they know nothing, are nothing and can do nothing; without the Divine they are nothing but ignorance, chaos and impotence. The Divine alone is Truth, Life, Power, Love, Felicity.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, Purity and Humility, 152,#NFDB
988:Eternity politicians bring us the past as a vast misty courtyard of illegible monuments to national victimhood, all of them equally distant from the present, all of them equally accessible for manipulation. Every reference to the past seems to involve an attack by some external enemy upon the purity of the nation. National ~ Timothy Snyder, #NFDB
989:...she wanted to wash the corpse of the woman who had suffered from insomnia, to wipe away her own blood and the sperm of others, to deliver her purified to the earth, if it still makes sense to speak of the purity of the body in this asylum where we are living, for purity of the soul, as we know, is beyond everyone's reach. ~ Jos Saramago, #NFDB
990:All sensuality is one, though it takes many forms; all purity is one. It is the same whether a man eat, or drink, or cohabit, or sleep sensually. They are but one appetite, and we only need to see a person do any one of these things to know how great a sensualist he is. The impure can neither stand nor sit with purity. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
991:Even if everyone around you is ditching purity, God will give you the strength to stand strong. Even if all your friends are having sex before marriage, you will know the value of saving it for marriage. Even if the women around you are marrying nonbelievers, you will understand the importance of waiting for a Christian man. ~ Bethany Baird, #NFDB
992:It’s not Love. But what fault is it of mine
if my affections do not become
Love? Very much my fault, I would say,
when I can live from day to day
on mad purity, blind pity…
Make a scandal of meekness.
But the violence of the senses and intellect
that has confounded me for years
was the only way. ~ Pier Paolo Pasolini,#NFDB
993:If art could be absolutely verified as to importance in, say, the way gold can be judged for purity and weight, then it would of course be finished as mythic activity. Free of doubt, controversy, and the inexplicable fluctuation of reputation, art-making would bear the same relationship to creativity as cake mix does to baking. ~ Harold Town, #NFDB
994:Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the struggling woman, as yet only half his victim, that the outward guise of purity was but a lie, and that, if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom besides Hester Prynne’s? Or, ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, #NFDB
995:I could imagine my grandmother’s opinion about Holly’s white wedding dress, since Holly had a little boy in school—but hey, whatever made the bride happy. White used to symbolize the virgin purity of the wearer. Now it just meant the bride had acquired an expensive and unusable dress to hang in her closet after the big day. ~ Charlaine Harris, #NFDB
996:Little-boy love...the cleanest pain I've ever known. Love without desire, conditions, or limits - a pure and radiant glow in the heart that could make me giddy and sad and glorious all at once. Where does it go? Why, in all their experiments, did the Magi never try to capture that purity in a bottle? Perhaps they couldn't. ~ Christopher Moore, #NFDB
997:I am convinced that the human heart hungers for constancy. In forfeiting the sanctity of sex by casual, nondiscriminato ry "making out" and "sleeping around," we forfeit something we cannot well do without. There is dullness, monotony, sheer boredom in all of life when virginity and purity are no longer protected and prized. ~ Elisabeth Elliot, #NFDB
998:Music — good music, great music — had a hard, irreducible purity to it. It might be bitter and despairing and pessimistic, but it could never be cynical. If music is tragic, those with asses’ ears accuse it of being cynical. But when a composer is bitter, or in despair, or pessimistic, that still means he believes in something. ~ Julian Barnes, #NFDB
999:We have to learn to go beyond both a positive mind and a negative mind to become a silent, nonjudgmental, non-analytical, non-interpretiv e mind. In other words, the silent witness. In the process of silent witnessing, we experience inner silence. In the purity of silence, we feel connected to our source and to everything else. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
1000:If a man has no vices, he's in great danger of making vices out of his virtues, and there's a spectacle. We've all seen them: men who were monsters of philanthropy and women who were dragons of purity. ... No, no - nurse one vice in your bosom. Give it the attention it deserves and let your virtues spring up modesly around it. ~ Thornton Wilder, #NFDB
1001:If you're really going to uncover something as an artist, you're going to come into access with parts of your personality and your psyche that are really uncomfortable to face: your own ambition, your own greed, your own avarice, your own jealousies, and anything that would get in the way of the purity of your own artistic voice. ~ Billy Corgan, #NFDB
1002:The viewer who sees only a study in the picture of the glass jug illuminated from behind fails to appreciate the masterly composition, the noble purity of the lines, the rich plasticity of the form and consequently also the poetry and beauty of the picture, and still more important, its specifically photographic qualities. ~ Alexander Rodchenko, #NFDB
1003:What if a man save my life with a draught that was prepared to poison me? The providence of the issue does not at all discharge the obliquity of the intent. And the same reason holds good even in religion itself. It is not the incense, or the offering that is acceptable to God, but the purity and devotion of the worshipper. ~ Seneca the Younger, #NFDB
1004:Wisdom does not depend on mind and memory but on the maturity, purity and perfection of the individual personality. ... Therefore, insights are not passed on through the mind, but - and this particularly - through intuition or inspiration. The degree of wisdom is therefore determined by the state of development of the individual. ~ Franz Bardon, #NFDB
1005:First-half-of-life religion is almost always about various types of purity codes or “thou shalt nots” to keep us up, clear, clean, and together, like good Boy and Girl Scouts. A certain kind of “purity” and self-discipline is also “behovely,” at least for a while in the first half of life, as the Jewish Torah brilliantly presents. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
1006:I believe Michael [Jackson] in a sense is an American martyr. Martyrs are persecuted and Michael was persecuted. Michael was innocent and martyrs are innocent. If you go on YouTube and watch interviews with Michael, you don't see a crack in the facade. There's this purity and this innocence that continued [throughout his life]. ~ David LaChapelle, #NFDB
1007:From the aspect of energy, renewed by radio-active phenomena, material corpuscles may now be treated as transient reservoirs of concentrated power. Though never found in a state of purity, but always more or less granulated (even in light) energy nowadays represents for science the most primitive form of universal stuff. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #NFDB
1008:Regard as free not those whose status makes them outwardly free, but those who are free in their character and conduct. For we should not call men truly free when they are wicked and dissolute, since they are slaves to worldly passions. Freedom and happiness of soul consist in genuine purity and detachment from transitory things. ~ Anthony the Great, #NFDB
1009:If a guy pressures you to compromise sexually, he is not showing you Christlike, agape love. He's not encouraging you toward purity and holiness. He's not striving to honor God in that area of the relationship. He's focusing on his wants and is sadly using you to satisfy them. He's being selfish and putting his desires above all else. ~ Bethany Baird, #NFDB
1010:Profoundness, genius, spontaneity, merit, nobility, ingenuity, voice propriety, feeling, discernment, sensibility, good taste, great tone, rightness, courtliness, vivacity, boldness, style, freshness, harmony, perfection, imagination, purity, correctness. The greatest writer of all times. God's most astonishing creation. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
1011:An alliance or coalition between Government and religion cannot be too carefully guarded against......Every new and successful example therefore of a PERFECT SEPARATION between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance........religion and government will exist in greater purity, without (rather) than with the aid of government. ~ James Madison, #NFDB
1012:... Janis Joplin has one of the most distinguished female voices of the decade. It is a voice that has been aged in Southern Comfort and cured with Kahlua and milk. It is a voice that cuts you like a razor, but you can still hear the innocence in it, a claim to purity that soars out of the garbage of her throat, carrying evil harmonies. ~ Al Aronowitz, #NFDB
1013:Peter was dimly aware on some level that with each swing of his arm, the purity by which his youth was defined was shattering all around him, irrevocably so, and he would no more be able to put his soul back together the way it was before than reassemble a broken pane of glass.
After tonight, he knew things would never be the same. ~ Sean J Quirk,#NFDB
1014:The pope being informed of the great increase of protestantism, in the year 1512 sent inquisitors to Venice to make an inquiry into the matter, and apprehend such as they might deem obnoxious persons. Hence a severe persecution began, and many worthy persons were martyred for serving God with purity, and scorning the trappings of idolatry. ~ John Foxe, #NFDB
1015:Tis chastity, my brother, chastity; She that has that is clad in complete steel, And, like a quiver'd nymph with arrows keen, May trace huge forests, and unharbour'd heaths, Infamous hills, and sandy perilous wilds; Where, through the sacred rays of chastity, No savage fierce, bandite, or mountaineer, Will dare to soil her virgin purity. ~ John Milton, #NFDB
1016:Act in the moment, live in the present, slowly slowly don't allow the past to interfere And you will be surprised that life is such an eternal wonder, such a mysterious phenomenon and such a great gift that one simply feels constantly in gratitude. So this is my message for you: live in the moment, herenow. That's why I call it divine purity ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1017:Remember, young men, that purity precedes power. The Lord said, 'But purify your hearts before me; and then go ye into all the world, and preach my gospel unto every creature who has not received it' (D&C 112:28). Missionaries discover this very early in their missions and make every effort to be worthy so they can serve with power. ~ M Russell Ballard, #NFDB
1018:Can you imagine the restaurant host removing his tuxedo coat and offering it to me? Jesus does. We’re not talking about an ill-fitting, leftover jacket. He offers a robe of seamless purity and dons my patchwork coat of pride, greed, and selfishness. “He changed places with us” (Gal. 3:13). He wore our sin so we could wear his righteousness. ~ Max Lucado, #NFDB
1019:The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing Religion as she descended from Heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption which she contracted in a long residence upon Earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beings. ~ Edward Gibbon, #NFDB
1020:A certain amount of purification is necessary before there can be any realisation of the Divine and that is what has been going on in you. It is after all not a very long time since the real purification began and it is never an easy work. So the impatience may be natural, but it is not exactly reasonable. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, Purity, #NFDB
1021:And he felt himself oppressed by this creation of factitious purity, so cunningly manufactured by a conspiracy of mothers and aunts and grandmothers and long-dead ancestresses, because it was supposed to be what he wanted, what he had a right to, in order that he might exercise his lordly pleasure in smashing it like an image made of snow. ~ Edith Wharton, #NFDB
1022:Behind my work was ambition, behind my love was personality, behind my purity was fear, behind my guidance the thirst for power. Now they are vanishing and I drift. I come, Mother, I come, in Thy warm bosom, floating wheresoever Thou takest me, in the voiceless, in the strange, in the wonderland, I come - a spectator, no more an actor. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1023:It was said that its existence protected decent women. An unmarried man could go to one of these houses and evacuate the sexual energy which was making him uneasy and at the same time maintain the popular attitudes about the purity and loveliness of women. It was a mystery, but then there are many mysterious things in our social thinking. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1024:step up their game, my goods are off the market. But one bottle of chardonnay later, and my drunken rant has gone viral. I’m the most famous person NOT having sex since the Jonas Brothers put on their purity rings. A men’s magazine has even put a bounty on my (ahem) maidenhead: fifty Gs to whoever makes me break the drought. Be careful what ~ Lila Monroe, #NFDB
1025:The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing Religion as she descended from Heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption, which she contracted in a long residence upon earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beings. ~ Edward Gibbon, #NFDB
1026:Those who hope for purity and righteousness always try and destroy that which disturbs them. They think the disturbance comes from outside themselves. This is a serious problem. Wars, suicide bombings, and all sorts of other nasty things start from the premise that we can destroy "evil" outside ourselves without dealing with the evil within. ~ Brad Warner, #NFDB
1027:Those who hope for purity and righteousness always try and destroy that which disturbs them. They think the disturbance comes from outside themselves. This is a serious problem. Wars, suicide bombings, and all sorts of other nasty things start from the premise that we can destroy 'evil' outside ourselves without dealing with the evil within. ~ Brad Warner, #NFDB
1028:As the skies appear to a man, so is his mind. Some see only clouds there; some, prodigies and portents; some rarely look up at all; their heads, like the brutes,' are directed toward Earth. Some behold there serenity, purity, beauty ineffable. The world runs to see the panorama, when there is a panorama in the sky which few go to see. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
1029:Far from ruining the purity of solitary prayer, petition guards and preserves that purity. The solitary, more than anyone else, is always aware of his needs before God. ... His prayer is an expression of his poverty. Petition, for him, can hardly become a mere formality, a concession to human custom, as if he did not need God in everything. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1030:It was in the mosque that al-Zarqawi first discovered Salafism, a doctrine that in its contemporary form advocates a return to theological purity and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. Salafists deem Western-style democracy and modernity not only fundamentally irreconcilable with Islam, but the main pollutants of the Arab civilization, ~ Michael Weiss, #NFDB
1031:THE TOTALLY AWAKENED warrior can freely utilize all elements contained in heaven and earth. The true warrior learns how to correctly perceive the activity of the universe and how to transform martial techniques into vehicles of purity, goodness, and beauty. A warrior’s mind and body must be permeated with enlightened wisdom and deep calm. ~ Morihei Ueshiba, #NFDB
1032:When I saw her... my heart skipped a beat. Her expression was as open and trusting as that of a young child. Such purity is something never, ever seen at the court. Hieraglion is a mire of intrigue and deceit... yet there she was-- a simple, beautiful wildflower blooming in its midst. I wanted to protect her. Myself. With my own two hands. ~ Noriko Ogiwara, #NFDB
1033:At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
1034:It is significant that whereas in the West Mary is primarily the Virgin, a being almost totally different from us in her absolute and celestial purity and freedom from all carnal pollution, in the East she is always referred to and glorified as Theotokos, the Mother of God, and virtually all icons depict her with the Child in her arms. ~ Alexander Schmemann, #NFDB
1035:In animation, you can throw away people's defense. You can go right to the center of things, right through inside someone's heart. The characters anyway, they do represent different aspects of all of us - and put them all together, you get a human being. And so it's got a wonderful purity, a real purity that's so moving, exiting, everything. ~ Timothy Dalton, #NFDB
1036:I wished I could explain it to those I loved, my mother, to Japhy, but there just weren't any words to describe the nothingness and purity of it. "Is there a certain and definite teaching to be given to all living creatures?" was the question probably asked to beetle browed snowy Dipankara, and his answer was the roaring silence of the diamond. ~ Jack Kerouac, #NFDB
1037:Now, should we treat women as independent agents, responsible for themselves? Of course. But being responsible has nothing to do with being raped. Women don’t get raped because they were drinking or took drugs. Women do not get raped because they weren’t careful enough. Women get raped because someone raped them. JESSICA VALENTI The Purity Myth ~ Jon Krakauer, #NFDB
1038:With many people, religion is merely a matter of words. So far as words go we do what we think right. But the words rarely lead to action, thought, and conduct, or to purity, goodness, and honesty. There is too much playing at religion, and too little of enthusiastic, hard work. ~ Samuel Smiles, Duty, With Illustrations of Courage, Patience & Endurance (1880), #NFDB
1039:Yeah, we were looking for a way to represent adulthood and the passing into adulthood. And I think, for me personally and a lot of the folks that I work with, childhood is kind of a sacred, special kind of point in time that has a real joy and purity to it. And we sort of long on a daily basis to reach back and kind of grab onto that in some way. ~ Pete Docter, #NFDB
1040:There are few poets today who can equal, in their esthetic exploitation of language, in their depth of commitment to their medium, in their range of conceptual understanding, in the purity of their closed forms, the work of Nabokov, Borges, Beckett, Barth, Broch, Gaddis, or Calvino, or any of half-a-dozen extraordinarily gifted South Americans. ~ William H Gass, #NFDB
1041:You’re growing up. Maybe that’s it,” he said softly. Sometimes I think the world tests us most sharply then, and we turn inward and watch ourselves with horror. But that’s not the worst. We think everybody is seeing into us. Then dirt is very dirty and purity is shining white. Aron, it will be over. Wait only a little while and it will be over. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1042:By salvation I mean not barely according to the vulgar notion deliverance from hell or going to heaven but a present deliverance from sin a restoration of the soul to its primitive health its original purity a recovery of the divine nature the renewal of our souls after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness in justice mercy and truth. ~ John Wesley, #NFDB
1043:There tend to be two different drives that lead young people toward music. One is that music provides an escape; it takes you away from the unhappiness or torture of where you are and makes you feel less alienated-you believe there is a place you fit in somewhere else. The other is a sort of transcendent, spiritual feeling in the purity of music. ~ Michael Stipe, #NFDB
1044:The state of grace is nothing other than purity, and it gives heaven to those who clothe themselves in it. Holiness, therefore, is simply the state of grace purified, illuminated, beautified by the most perfect purity, exempt not only from mortal sin but also from the smallest faults; purity will make saints of you! Everything lies in this! ~ Peter Julian Eymard, #NFDB
1045:The British minister, making his own inquiries, was told that if British troops landed before a German invasion or without a formal Belgian request, the Belgians would open fire. Belgium’s rigid purity confirmed what the British never tired of repeating to the French—that everything depended upon the Germans violating Belgian neutrality first. ~ Barbara W Tuchman, #NFDB
1046:I still remain convinced that truth, love, peaceableness, meekness, and kindness are the violence which can master all other violence. The world will be theirs as soon as ever a sufficient number of people with purity of heart, with strength, and with perseverance think and live out the thoughts of love and truth, of meekness and peaceableness. ~ Albert Schweitzer, #NFDB
1047:She always said that the one feature in his proposal which overcame her hesitation was the obvious purity and straightforwardness of his intentions. He showed himself to be so virtuous and kind: he treated her with a respect to which she had never before been accustomed; and she was braced to the obvious risks of the voyage by her confidence in him. ~ Thomas Hardy, #NFDB
1048:That night, I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me, a Child of Faith. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both. ~ Maximilian Kolbe, #NFDB
1049:The Word brings joy directly and indirectly. Directly by simply showing us the beauty of Christ and his ways and all the good things he has promised to be for us forever. Indirectly by weaning us off the toxic pleasures of the world by means of the superior pleasures of Christ, so that, in purity of heart, we can see the beauty of Christ more clearly. ~ John Piper, #NFDB
1050:To materialists this world is opaque like a curtain; nothing can be seen through it. A mountain is just a mountain, a sunset just a sunset; but to poets, artists, and saints, the world is transparent like a window pane - it tells of something beyond....a mountain tells of the Power of God, the sunset of His Beauty, and the snowflake of His Purity. ~ Fulton J Sheen, #NFDB
1051:We are irrational beings, easy to manipulate if you're willing to do whatever it takes. That's exactly how terrorists convince themselves that murder is worthwhile. And the wound it left, it was larger than those lives lost; it was a wound we would all have to live with forever. The purity of my feeling for Carl was gone and I would never get it back. ~ Hank Green, #NFDB
1052:Whosoever purifies his own nature by holy thoughts, good words and good actions, has the real purity. Right nature is the true purification. In this visible world the true purification is for each man the right nature of his own natural being. And this nature is right in him when he purifies himself by holy thoughts, good words and good actions. ~ Avesta: Vendidad, #NFDB
1053:As women, wea re given a great give: our purity. And everything that makes us who we are emotionally - our feminine nature, our sensitivity, our vulnerability, and our desire to give ourselves fully to one man - is part of that gift. Our purity is a treasure. it is so much more than just our physical virginity, it starts with who we are on the inside. ~ Leslie Ludy, #NFDB
1054:But purity of heart isn’t limited to matters of sex. It’s about not letting lesser loves or sins distract us from the Lord. We need to guard our hearts not just against lust and pornography, but also against gossip, anger, pride, greed, and selfishness. This keeps us on a path to God with his grace, and it leads us to the joy of one day seeing him. ~ Charles J Chaput, #NFDB
1055:CLEANLINESS. — In the child, the sense for cleanliness should be fanned into a passion, and then later on he will raise himself, in ever new phases, to almost every virtue, and will finally appear, in compensation for all talent, as a shining cloud of purity, temperance, gentleness, and character, happy in himself and spreading happiness around. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
1056:He had never killed a child; he had never arrested anyone. But he had broken the fragile dyke that protected the purity of his soul from the seething darkness around him. The blood of the camps and the ghettos had gushed over him and carried him away... There was no longer any divide between him and the darkness; he himself was part of the darkness. ~ Vasily Grossman, #NFDB
1057:Meditation is nothing but an effort to drop all the foreign elements so that you can see yourself as you were before you were born, mirrored in its purity. It is a great silence and a great joy to be there, and once you start abiding there, there is no death and no time. All fear, all greed, all anger, disappears: one is just there with no idea, no desire. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1058:Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life. ~ Kakuz Okakura, #NFDB
1059:You are blinded,” said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, “by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow up to be! ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
1060:Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal. ~ Mother Teresa, #NFDB
1061:Purity” suggests a single, uncontaminated, element or quality. “Purity of heart,” therefore, is an undeviating regard to God alone, who has become the center and focus of all one’s thoughts, words and actions. Only by such purity of heart is the mind of man readied and prepared for the perfect concentration of mind, which is known as contemplation. ~ Swami Abhayananda, #NFDB
1062:William Saroyan wrote a great play on this theme, that purity of heart is the one success worth having. "In the time of your life--live!" That time is short and it doesn't return again. It is slipping away while I write this and while you read it, and the monosyllable of the clock is Loss, loss, loss, unless you devote your heart to its opposition. ~ Tennessee Williams, #NFDB
1063:Winning has a joy and discrete purity to it that cannot be replaced by anything else. Winning is important to any man's or woman's sense of satisfaction and well-being. Winning is not everything; but it is something powerful, indeed beautiful, in itself, something as necessary to the strong spirit as striving is necessary to the healthy character. ~ A Bartlett Giamatti, #NFDB
1064:I am convinced that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose. Whenever we dumb down the political debate, we lose. For it's precisely the pursuit of ideological purity, the rigid orthodoxy and the sheer predictability of our current political debate, that keeps us from finding new ways to meet the challenges we face. ~ Barack Obama, #NFDB
1065:The essence of religion is inertia; the essence of science is change. It is the function of the one to preserve, it is the function of the other to improve. If, as in Egypt, they are firmly chained together, either science will advance, in which case the religion will be altered, or the religion will preserve its purity, and science will congeal. ~ William Winwood Reade, #NFDB
1066:We live in a relativistic culture, where people are more con- cerned with being liked than being truthful. In A Sweet and Bitter Providence, John Piper does an outstanding job of bibli- cally defending key truths that the church often ignores. He gives us an example of how to take a bold and educated stand on issues of race, purity, and God's sovereignty. ~ Francis Chan, #NFDB
1067:I think that there is a purity aesthetic, like "I just make art because I'm an artist and I can't help it. I don't care what the critics say." But different mediums have a different relationship with the public. If you're in a performing medium it's hard not to place some weight on whether or not people come to your shows, or whether or not they're enjoying them. ~ Mirah, #NFDB
1068:True religion is heart-work. We may wash the outside of the cup and the platter as long as we please, but if the inward parts be filthy, we are filthy altogether in the sight of God, for our hearts are more truly ourselves than our hands are; the very life of our being lies in the inner nature, and hence the imperative need of purity within. The ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
1069:It really is worth the trouble to invent a new symbol if we can thus remove not a few logical difficulties and ensure the rigour of the proofs. But many mathematicians seem to have so little feeling for logical purity and accuracy that they will use a word to mean three or four different things, sooner than make the frightful decision to invent a new word. ~ Gottlob Frege, #NFDB
1070:The difference between being subtle and abstract is the difference between knowing and saying it in a gentler way and not knowing and saying it in a way that will let you off the hook. To be abstract with the word is all right if you use it like paint and seek the pure word, but it is difficult, in the language, to have near purity without near meaning. ~ Charles Bukowski, #NFDB
1071:She’s got to be a ghost. First of all, she’s just too beautiful. Her features are gorgeous, but it’s not only that. She’s so perfect I know she can’t be real. She’s like a person who stepped right out of a dream. The purity of her beauty gives me a feeling close to sadness—a very natural feeling, though one that only something extraordinary could produce. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1072:Islam emphasized the internal purity of man that is achieved through the purity of the mind in realizing the Right and the purity of feelings through having the pure intention towards man, far away from the meanness of malevolence and hatred and through the purity of the movement that is not lunched except for the sake of justice, Good and life. ~ Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, #NFDB
1073:It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty... Like a killer forest fire, like cancer under a microscope, any battle or bombing raid or artillery barrage has the aesthetic purity of absolute moral indifference- a powerful, implacable beauty- and a true war story will tell the truth about this, though the truth is ugly ~ Tim O Brien, #NFDB
1074:It is my dream to create an art which is filled with balance, purity and calmness, freed from a subject matter that is disconcerting or too attention-seeking. In my paintings, I wish to create a spiritual remedy, similar to a comfortable armchair which provides rest from physical expectation for the spiritually working, the businessman as well as the artist. ~ Henri Matisse, #NFDB
1075:She’s got to be a ghost. First of all, she’s just too beautiful. Her features are gorgeous, but it’s not only that. She’s so perfect I know she can’t be real. She’s like a person who stepped right out of a dream. The purity of her beauty gives me a feeling close to sadness –a very natural feeling, though one that only something extraordinary could produce. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1076:But then I get to thinking of our mortality and human weakness, remembering there has never been power with purity—anywhere. If you want to be pure, you must stand alone. If you seek to do positive things, achieve something, leave the world a mite better than you found it, then you must choose power and throw some of your purity away. There’s no other choice. ~ Arthur Hailey, #NFDB
1077:Grant argued that America needed to become America again. And that the only way this was going to happen was if we removed the weeds and allowed people of Grant’s race to flourish. A decade later, when Madison Grant’s book was translated into German, no one would embrace his notion of race purity more than a young soldier imprisoned in a fortress in Landsberg. ~ Paul A Offit, #NFDB
1078:I have stolen more quotes and thoughts and purely elegant little starbursts of writing from the Book of Revelation than anything else in the English language - and it is not because I am a biblical scholar, or because of any religious faith, but because I love the wild power of the language and the purity of the madness that governs it and makes it music. ~ Hunter S Thompson, #NFDB
1079:[Mr. Jones] was uncommonly bad at seduction if he though talk of common capital and incorporation would do the trick, but she could think of no other reason he would lavish her with such time and care.
Except the impossible one: No motive but to help her. Such purity didn’t exist, though. If it did …
If it did, he’d be a dangerously good seducer. ~ Alison Atlee,#NFDB
1080:I adore her so horribly. No: ‘horribly’ is the wrong word. The elation with which the vision of new delights filled me was not horrible but pathetic. I qualify it as pathetic. Pathetic – because despite the insatiable fire of my venereal appetite, I intended, with the most fervent force and foresight, to protect the purity of that twelve-year-old child. And ~ Vladimir Nabokov, #NFDB
1081:Throughout human history, the apostles of purity, those who have claimed to possess a total explanation, have wrought havoc among mere mixed-up human beings. Like many millions of people, I am a bastard child of history. Perhaps we all are, black and brown and white, leaking into one another, as a character of mine once said, like flavours [sic] when you cook ~ Salman Rushdie, #NFDB
1082:Innocence is only a virtue, lass, when it is temporary. You must pass from it to look back and recognize its unsullied purity. To remain innocent is to twist beneath invisible and unfathomable forces all your life, until one day you realize yourself, and it comes to you that innocence was a curse that had shackled you, defeated your every expression of living. ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
1083:This is not a matter of compromises or adaptations. The power of a new Middle Ages is needed. A change, interior as well as exterior, of barbaric purity is required. Philosophy, “culture”, everyday politics: no more of all that. It is not a matter of shifting to the other side of this bed of agony. It is a matter of finally waking up, and standing on one’s feet. ~ Julius Evola, #NFDB
1084:Girls, if you will learn to wait patiently and confidently for God to bring a Christlike man into your life, you will not be disappointed. And guys, learn to treat women like the Perfect Gentleman, Jesus Christ If you do, you will not only be promoted out of “jerkhood,” but you will then be worthy of a beautiful princess of purity who is saving herself just for you. ~ Eric Ludy, #NFDB
1085:The perspective of eternity is not a perspective from a certain place beyond the world, nor the point of view of a transcendent being; rather it is a certain form of thought and feeling that rational persons can adopt within the world ... Purity of heart, if one could attain it, would be to see clearly and to act with grace and self-command from this point of view. ~ John Rawls, #NFDB
1086:A walk. The atmosphere incredibly pure ... joy in one's whole being ... I abandoned myself to life and to nature ... To open one's heart in purity to this ever-pure nature, to allow this immortal life of things to penetrate into one's soul, is at the same time to listen to the voice of God. Sensation may be a prayer, and self-abandonment an act of devotion. ~ Henri Fr d ric Amiel, #NFDB
1087:Children inherit the qualities of the parents, no less than their physical features. Environment does play an important part, but the original capital on which a child starts in life is inherited from its ancestors. I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1088:I have nothing against a community that is made up of people who are Polish, or who are Czechoslovakians, or who are French Canadians or who are blacks trying to maintain the ethnic purity of their neighborhoods. This is a natural inclination... Government should not break up a neighborhood on a numerical basis. As soon as the Government does, the white folks flee. ~ Jimmy Carter, #NFDB
1089:Orthodoxy as right belief will cost us little; indeed, it will allow us to sit back with our Pharisaic doctrines, guarding the ‘truth’ with the purity of our interpretations. But orthodoxy, as believing in the right way, as bringing love to the world around us and within us … that will cost us everything. For to live by that sword, as we all know, is to die by it. ~ Peter Rollins, #NFDB
1090:If every marriage placed value on holiness, the following would be present: Confession and ownership of the problems in each individual A relentless drive toward growth and development A giving up of everything that gets in the way of love A surrendering of everything that gets in the way of truth A purity of heart where nothing toxic is allowed to grow This would be ~ Henry Cloud, #NFDB
1091:Why do men cling to a religion?
Religions are based on creeds which are spiritual experiences brought down to a level where they become more easy to grasp, but at the cost of their integral purity and truth. The time of religions is over. We have entered the age of universal spirituality, of spiritual experience in its initial purity.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III,#NFDB
1092:Christianity can be built around isolating ourselves from evildoers and sinners, creating a community of religious piety and moral purity. That’s the Christianity I grew up with. Christianity can also be built around joining with the broken sinners and evildoers of our world crying out to God, groaning for grace. That’s the Christianity I have fallen in love with. ~ Shane Claiborne, #NFDB
1093:Among those who walk with God, there is no greater motive and incentive unto universal holiness, and the preserving of their hearts and spirits in all purity and cleanness, than this, that the blessed Spirit, who hath undertaken to dwell in them, is continually considering what they give entertainment in their hearts unto, and rejoiceth when his temple is kept undefiled. ~ John Owen, #NFDB
1094:Zen abhors repetition or imitation of any kind, for it kills. For the same reason Zen never explains, but only affirms. Life is fact and no explanation is necessary or pertinent. To explain is to apologize, and why should we apologize for living? To live—is that not enough? Let us then live, let us affirm! Herein lies Zen in all its purity and in all its nudity as well. ~ D T Suzuki, #NFDB
1095:Our world does not need to hear more people talk about God or even about Jesus if those people do not have a lifestyle that reinforces every word they utter. The interesting thing is that the closer we walk in intimacy with God, the less we have to say. Our very lives become a bold and beautiful testimony to the purity, the freedom, and the beauty of the Lord Jesus. ~ Dennis F Kinlaw, #NFDB
1096:It is only through meditation that purity comes. Meditation means jumping out of the mind. There is no need to purify the mind, it can be put aside. One can become disidentified with the mind. To know "I am not the mind," is real purity because then you are only consciousness, awareness, a witnessing. To live twenty-four hours a day as a witness is the way of the sannyasin. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1097:To penetrate into the essence of all being and significance, and to release the fragrance of that inner attainment for the guidance of others, by expressing in the world of forms- truth, love, purity and beauty - this is the sole game which has any intrinsic and absolute worth. All other happenings, incidents and attainments can, in themselves, have no lasting importance. ~ Meher Baba, #NFDB
1098:Sanctification means the impartation of the Holy qualities of Jesus Christ. It is His patience, His love, His holiness, His faith, His purity, His godliness, that is manifested in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me. ~ Oswald Chambers, #NFDB
1099:--You're rather well read for a working-class girl, she said with her back to me.
--Really? I've found that all my well-read friends are from the working class.
--Oh my. Why do you think that is? The purity of poverty?
--No. It's just that reading is the cheapest form of entertainment.
--Sex is the cheapest form of entertainment.
--Not in this house. ~ Amor Towles,#NFDB
1100:Prayer gives us strength for great ideals, for keeping up our faith, charity, purity, generosity; prayer gives us strength to rise up from indifference and guilt, if we have had the misfortune to give in to temptation and weakness. Prayer gives us light by which to see and to judge from God's perspective and from eternity. That is why you must not give up on praying! ~ Pope John Paul II, #NFDB
1101:A commitment to sexual purity was a commitment to cooperation between the sexes. Ideal manhood and womanhood increased the social stability of marriage and family life. The quality of domestic life, according to purity reformers who witnessed firsthand living and working conditions plagued by sexual impurity, hinged on the development of proper habits of male self-restraint.38 ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1102:A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
1103:Like Spinoza, he has a certain kind of moral purity and loftiness, which is very impressive. He is always sincere, never shrill or censorious, invariably concerned to tell the reader, as simply as he can, what he believes to be important. Whatever one may think of him as a theoretical philosopher, it is impossible not to love him as a man. The life of Plotinus is known, ~ Bertrand Russell, #NFDB
1104:...the truth is that every murder case is, if not simple, capable of simplicity, and that this is not only necessary but breathtaking, that if there are miracles then this is one. In these rooms, the world's vast hissing tangle of shadows burns away, all its treacherous grays are honed to the stark purity of a bare blade, two-edged:cause and effect, good and evil. pp. 385-386 ~ Tana French, #NFDB
1105:A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains. A ~ James Allen, #NFDB
1106:His boast of irreligion stayed on his tongue,for what reasons he couldn't say,any more than he could say why words long unuttered floated unbidden into his mind:La ilaha illa Allah,Muhammad rasulullah.The Kalima,the Word of Purity,the declaration of faith.It almost made him laugh:at the moment he planned to disavow his Muslim identity,his subconscious had unearthed its kernel. ~ Amy Waldman, #NFDB
1107:Often our perceptions are incorrect. We get in touch with an object and think that it embodies love, happiness, a self, or purity. We tend to think that love is something sentimental that will fill the emptiness inside us. We blame our suffering on another person or group, or on bad luck, but outside conditions are not the reason it appears. Our suffering was already there. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
1108:PSALM 112 As the majority of mankind expect to prosper by evil deeds, and as they generally endeavor to enrich themselves by plunder, fraud, and every species of injustice, the prophet enumerates the blessings of God which attend those who worship him in purity, in order that we may know that, in aiming at a life of piety and morality, we shall not lose our reward. ~ John Calvin, #NFDB
1109:The supremacy of God in all things is the great
reward we long for in fasting. His supremacy in our own affections and in all our life-choices. His supremacy in the purity of the church. His supremacy in the salvation of the lost. His
supremacy in the establishing of righteousness and justice. And his supremacy for the joy of all peoples in the evangelization of the world. ~ John Piper,#NFDB
1110:The energy and material which we have all squandered on making war since even 1914 could have warmed, fed, and clothed everyone on Earth, but we go about this atrocious squandering in the name of such immaterial and irrelevant fantasies as religion, honor, ideology, progress, racial purity, and patriotism—the last being not love of one’s country but of the idea of one’s country ~ Alan W Watts, #NFDB
1111:From it (the Rosary) the young will draw fresh energy with which to control the rebellious tendencies to evil and to preserve intact the stainless purity of the soul. Also in it, the old will again find repose, relief, and peace from their anxious cares. And to all those who suffer in any way, especially the dying, may it bring comfort and increase the hope of eternal happiness. ~ Pope Pius XI, #NFDB
1112:[Grover} Cleveland, this product of good conscience and self-help, with his stern ideas of purity, efficiency, and service, was a taxpayer's dream, the ideal bourgeois statesmen for his time: out of heartfelt conviction he gave to the interests what many a lesser politician might have sold them for a price. He was the flower of American political culture in the Gilded Age. ~ Richard Hofstadter, #NFDB
1113:When you are in deep meditation, you feel a great serenity, a joy that is unknown to you, a watchfulness that is a new guest. Soon this watchfulness will become the host. The day the watchfulness becomes the host, it remains twenty-four hours with you. And out of this watchfulness, whatever you do has a wisdom in it. Whatever you do shows a clarity, a purity, a spontaneity, a grace. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1114:Mysticism is the realisation of God, of the Universal Self. It is attained either as a realisation of God outside the Mystic, or within himself. In the first case, it is usually reached from within a religion, by exceptionally intense love and devotion, accompanied by purity of life, for only "the pure in heart shall see God". ~ Annie Besant in Annie Besant Quotes ISBN-13: 978-1535078498 (2016), #NFDB
1115:...only we don't call it 'ignorance', we call it 'faith'. What a horrible little word that is - faith - exuding as it does its fake aura of purity and virtue while fronting some of the ugliest ideas this planet has ever seen. Closing people's hearts when it should be opening them. Making them proud of things they should be ashamed of. And ashamed of things they should be proud of. ~ Pat Condell, #NFDB
1116:The light of artistic creation is also blinding.
The artist can’t see the suffering he causes
to those around him. And the’ll never
understand the purity of his goal, how the heat
of his invention won’t melt the ice in his heart.
He must be ruthless!
No religion, no purpose except this:
Make something perfect before you die.
Life is short, art is for all time ~ Ian McEwan,#NFDB
1117:She had that transparent honesty and purity and serenity that like clear water flooding over the bed of a stream washes away uncleanness, and makes fresh and divinely lovely all that is seen through its own transparency. We see the world through the medium of our own characters, and Marguerite saw and loved all things through her own bright clarity, and enjoyed them enormously. ~ Elizabeth Goudge, #NFDB
1118:Each of us has the plague within him; no one, no one on earth is free from it. And i know, too, that we must keep endless watch on ourselves lest in a careless moment we breath in someone's face and fasten the infection on him. What's natural is the microbe. All the rest – health, integrity, purity (if you like) – is a product of the human will, of a vigilance that must never falter. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
1119:I tell the girls in our student ministry, “You don’t really want sex. What you want is intimacy. You want to meet a guy, fall in love, and know you can trust him completely. You want somebody with whom you can share everything there is to know about you without fear of betrayal or rejection. You want to be fully known and to know him fully. Purity now paves the way to intimacy later. ~ Andy Stanley, #NFDB
1120:The true purpose of life is the perfection of humanity through individual effort, under the guidance of God's inspiration. Real life is response to the best within us. To be alive only to appetite, pleasure, pride, money-making, and not to goodness and kindness, purity and love, poetry, music, flowers, stars, God and eternal hopes, is to deprive one's self of the real joy of living. ~ David O McKay, #NFDB
1121:And then as we looked the white figure moved forwards again. It was now near enough for us to see clearly, and the moonlight still held. My own heart grew cold as ice, and I could hear the gasp of Arthur, as we recognized the features of Lucy Westenra. Lucy Westenra, but yet how changed. The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness. ~ Bram Stoker, #NFDB
1122:Religion, in its purity, is not so much a pursuit as a temper; or rather it is a temper, leading to the pursuit of all that is high and holy. Its foundation is faith; its action, works; its temper, holiness; its aim, obedience to God in improvement of self, and benevolence to men. ~ Jonathan Edwards, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 494, #NFDB
1123:Remember that the Mother is always with you.
Address Her as follows and She will pull you out of all difficulties:
"O Mother, Thou art the light of my intelligence, the purity of my soul,
the quiet strength of my vital, the endurance of my body.
I rely on Thee alone and want to be entirely Thine.
Make me surmount all obstacles on the way."
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III, [T1],#NFDB
1124:So what is the difference between someone who willfully indulges in sexual pleasures while ignoring the Bible on moral purity and someone who willfully indulges in the selfish pursuit of more and more material possessions while ignoring the Bible on caring for the poor? The difference is that one involves a social taboo in the church and the other involves the social norm in the church. ~ David Platt, #NFDB
1125:In a pure society, the subject of marriage would not be so often avoided,--from shame and not from reverence, winked out of sight,and hinted at only; but treated naturally and simply,--perhaps simply avoided like the kindred mysteries. If it cannot be spoken of for shame, how can it be acted of? But, doubtless, there is far more purity, as well as more impurity, than is apparent. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
1126:That racial categories were hardening at this moment put Boas’s statements directly at odds with an increasing public desire to believe in racial purity. White southerners were hysterical over the threat of “social equality” or what they took to mean the apocalyptic possibility of black men “ravishing” white women and passing on their “degenerate” traits to a “pure” white race ~ Khalil Gibran Muhammad, #NFDB
1127:This time she wasn't facing racial cleansing that aimed to create physical perfection, size and color to achieve purity. Now it was a cleansing of ideas. It was people's minds they were afraid of, not their physical traits. The doubts expressed by a crazy philosopher from her own country whom she used to read flitted through her mind: "Is man God's mistake, or God man's mistake? ~ Armando Lucas Correa, #NFDB
1128:Ws 7:24 For wisdom is more active than all active things; and reacheth everywhere, by reason of her purity. Ws 7:25 For she is a vapour of the power of God, and a certain pure emmanation of the glory of the Almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing cometh into her. Ws 7:26 For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of his goodness. ~ Various, #NFDB
1129:But some embraced Arminian sentiments, while others professed to take a middle path, and called themselves Baxterians. These displayed, not only less zeal for the salvation of sinners, and, in many cases, less purity or strictness of life, but they adopted a different strain in preaching, dwelt more on general principles of religion, and less on the vital truths of the gospel. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
1130:In Shia lore, Fatima lives on in another dimension to witness her sons’ suffering and to weep for them. She is the Holy Mother, whose younger son would sacrifice himself to redeem humanity just as had the son of that other great mother, Mary. Like her, Fatima is often called the Virgin as a sign of her spiritual purity. Like her, she will mourn her offspring until the Day of Judgment, ~ Lesley Hazleton, #NFDB
1131:I want the material of things. Humanity is drenched with humanization, as if that were necessary; and that false humanization trips up man and trips up his humanity. A thing exists that is fuller, deafer, deeper, less good, less bad, less pretty. Yet that thing too runs the risk, in our coarse hands, of becoming transformed into "purity", our hands that are coarse and full of words. ~ Clarice Lispector, #NFDB
1132:Language is a shared and sharing part of a culture that cares little about formal classifications and much about vitality and connection, for culture itself perishes in purity or isolation, which is the deadly wages of perfection. Like bread and love, language is shared with others. And human beings share a tradition. There is no creation without tradition. No one creates from nothing. ~ Carlos Fuentes, #NFDB
1133:If the Greek miracle were to remain a miracle, its proponents must maintain that it happened by a kind of parthenogenesis, not by a fertilization from outside. So the whole Hegelian view of history and civilization, with its emphasis on cultural purity and its disapproval of hybridity, brushed aside the question of possible influences passing between Indian and Greek philosophers. For ~ Thomas McEvilley, #NFDB
1134:He who through virtue and spiritual knowledge has brought his body into harmony with his soul has become a harp, a flute and a temple of God. He has become a harp by preserving the harmony of the virtues; a flute by receiving the inspiration of the Spirit through divine contemplation; and a temple by becoming a dwelling place of the Logos through the purity of his intellect. ~ Saint Maximus the Confessor, #NFDB
1135:My soul unbound from the human as if my skin was ripped away, layer by layer, flesh from muscle, and muscle from bone, until every nerve was exposed to the fire. The light was blinding, too pure, torturing my tainted soul with my own sins. It was too much to bear, too much pain. I screamed as my blood boiled in the purity of his light. With an unearthly force, he cast me home.
To Hell. ~ Ashlan Thomas,#NFDB
1136:There's a Spanish proverb," he said, "that's always fascinated me. "Take what you want and pay for it, says God.'" "I don't believe in God," Daniel said, "but that principle seems, to me, to have a divinity of its own; a kind of blazing purity. What could be simpler, or more crucial? You can have anything you want, as long as you accept that there is a price and that you will have to pay it. ~ Tana French, #NFDB
1137:If our preaching does not turn men from drunkenness to sobriety, from thieving to honesty, from unchastity to purity, then our Gospel is not worth a button! But if it does all this, then this shall be the evidence that it comes from God, seeing that in the world so sorely diseased by sin, it works the wondrous miracle of curing men of these deadly evils!”–1894, Sermon 2352 “Christ ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
1138:Sexual purity was to be the special virtue of a woman. It was assumed that men, as a matter of biological nature, would sin, but woman must not surrender. As one male author said: “If you do, you will be left in silent sadness to bewail your credulity, imbecility, duplicity, and premature prostitution.” A woman wrote that females would get into trouble if they were “high spirited not prudent. ~ Howard Zinn, #NFDB
1139:I think that the love of the really happy husband and wife—not purged of passion, but with passion heated to a white heat of intensity and purity and tenderness and consideration, and with many another feeling added thereto—is the loftiest and most ennobling influence that comes into the life of any man or woman, even loftier and more ennobling than the wise and tender love for children.” In ~ Edmund Morris, #NFDB
1140:the doves, as we know, must be killed according to the law before Mary’s purification can be acknowledged and ratified. Any ironic or irreverent disciple of Voltaire will find it difficult to resist making the obvious remark that, things being what they are, purity can be maintained only so long as there are innocent creatures to sacrifice in this world, whether turtledoves, lambs, or others. ~ Jos Saramago, #NFDB
1141:Seasoning one’s claims with self-irony and modesty, cultivating a tolerance for moral ambiguity, periodically practicing normative reticence, building up a resistance to the pleasure of purity, minding your own business, doing what you can to forget to wreak vengeance, defending negative freedom even if there is no such thing, and playing around are the best you can do. But that’s quite a lot. ~ Jane Bennett, #NFDB
1142:What is any public question but a conglomeration of private interests? What is any newspaper article but an expression of the views taken by one side? Truth! it takes an age to ascertain the truth of any question! The idea of Tom Towers talking of public motives and purity of purpose! Why, it wouldn’t give him a moment’s uneasiness to change his politics to-morrow, if the paper required it. ~ Anthony Trollope, #NFDB
1143:A single note, held in an amber suspension of time, like a charcoal drawing of Icarus falling. It was sad and fierce all at once, alive with a lonely purity. It went on and on, until my own lungs were burning.
“What bird are you calling?” I asked finally, when I couldn’t stand it any longer.
The Bird Man stopped whistling. He grinned, so that I could see all his pebbly teeth.
“You. ~ Karen Russell,#NFDB
1144:I believe God loves the world through us - through you and through me. We use Mother Teresa's name; it is only a name, but we are real co-workers and carriers of His love. Today God loves the world through us. Especially in times like these when people are trying to make God "was," it is you and I, by our love, by the purity of our lives, by our compassion, who prove to the world that God "is." ~ Mother Teresa, #NFDB
1145:I don't believe in a perfect world. I don't believe it's achievable, and I believe the people who try to achieve it usually end up turning it into something like Cambodia or something very similar because purity tests set in. Are you ideologically pure enough to be allowed to live? Well, it turns out that very few people are, so you end up with a big powerful struggle and a mass killing scene. ~ Margaret Atwood, #NFDB
1146:Since I neither want not can influence the events of the world, my mission is to preserve the internal integrity and equilibrium of my mind; that will be in which the manor in which I recover the purity of the original act; I shall be my own citadel, and to it I shall retire to protect myself against a hostile and corrupt world. I shall be my own citadel and, within it, my own and only citizen. ~ Carlos Fuentes, #NFDB
1147:Mozart has the classic purity of light and the blue ocean; Beethoven the romantic grandeur which belongs to the storms of air and sea, and while the soul of Mozart seems to dwell on the ethereal peaks of Olympus, that of Beethoven climbs shuddering the storm-beaten sides of a Sinai. Blessed be they both! Each represents a moment of the ideal life, each does us good. Our love is due to both. ~ Henri Frederic Amiel, #NFDB
1148:Fasting is not bodily hunger but bodily elevation and purity. It is not a body that hungers and longs for food, but a body that rids itself of the desire to eat. Fasting is a time when the soul flourishes and lifts the body up with it. It rids the body of its loads and burdens and lifts it up so that God may work with it without impediment to the happiness of the spiritual entity. ~ Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, #NFDB
1149:A mathematician either has a feeling for equations and an understanding and delight in it, not only in the purity of it, but in its beauty as well. I don't think that's something that you learn at school. I think you can get better in mathematics on a school level, but when you're talking about being a mathematician, I think that's definitely a gift of genes or whatever, you know? Whatever your pool is. ~ John Hurt, #NFDB
1150:I can look to Hanuman for energy, Varuna (the God of water) if I want rain, Lakshmi (Vishnu's consort, the goddess of wealth) if I need money and Saraswathi (Brahma's consort, the goddess of knowledge) ifI have an exam coming up. Ganesh the elephant god and the child of Shiva and Parvati) can be called on when starting a new journey or venture and Vishnu, Ram or Krishna if I want purity of spirit. ~ Sarah Macdonald, #NFDB
1151:My Last Poem
I would like my last poem thus
That it be gentle saying the simplest and least intended things
That it be ardent like a tearless sob
That it have the beauty of almost scentless flowers
The purity of the flame in which the most limpid diamonds are consumed
The passion of suicides who kill themselves without explanation.
- translation by Elizabeth Bishop ~ Manuel Bandeira,#NFDB
1152:The Gate, which I suppose we must now call Kurald Galain, is an iteration of control,’ Caladan replied, ‘over a force that was and remains pervasive, existing as it does in opposition to Chaos.’ ‘To Chaos? Not Light?’ ‘Light, if you would consider this, is an absolution of Chaos. In its purity it finds order, with substance and hue. This is how Chaos seeks, in its own fashion, its own obliteration. ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
1153:If our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady's Rosary, a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men. ~ Pope Pius XI, #NFDB
1154:Legalism may “work” in an institution such as a Bible college or the Marine Corps. In a world of ungrace, structured shame has considerable power. But there is a cost, an incalculable cost: ungrace does not work in a relationship with God. I have come to see legalism in its pursuit of false purity as an elaborate scheme of grace avoidance. You can know the law by heart without knowing the heart of it ~ Philip Yancey, #NFDB
1155:To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races--the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by. ~ M S Golwalkar, #NFDB
1156:If the deepest ground of my being is love, then
in that very love and nowhere else will I find
myself, the world, and my brother and sister
in Christ. It is not a question of either-or but
of all-in-one. It is not a matter of exclusivity
and “purity” but of wholeness, wholeheartedness,
unity, and of Meister Eckhart’s gleichheit
(equality) which finds the same ground of love ~ Thomas Merton,#NFDB
1157:The Magi taught that the soul was a complex being, and that certain portions of it perished, while certain other parts survived and passed on through a series of earth and "other-world" existences, until finally it attained such a degree of purity that it was relieved of the necessity for further incarnation, and thenceforth dwelt in the region of ineffable bliss—the region of light eternal. ~ William Walker Atkinson, #NFDB
1158:If I could tell him just one thing, wherever he is, pass him one message, it would be this: he had something. Something to his thoughts, his ideas, the papers in his notebooks, the work we did in the garage. Beyond just a purity to his ideas, a sincerity to his belief, a genuine curiosity, a determination that, if he just sat there long enough, thought hard enough, failed enough times, he'd find a way in. ~ Charles Yu, #NFDB
1159:Innocence is only a virtue, lass, when it is temporary. You must pass from it to look back and recognize its unsullied purity. To remain innocent is to twist beneath invisible and unfathomable forces all your life, until one day you realize that you no longer recognize yourself, and it comes to you that innocence was a curse that had shackled you, stunted you, defeated your every expression of living. ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
1160:I prize the purity of his character as highly as I do that of hers. As a moral being, whatever it is morally wrong for her to do,it is morally wrong for him to do. The fallacious doctrine of male and female virtues has well nigh ruined all that is morally great and lovely in his character: he has been quite as deep a sufferer by it as woman, though mostly in different respects and by other processes. ~ Angelina Grimke, #NFDB
1161:Once Himmler had been strict about membership requirements, but now he could afford to actually purge the SS of those who did not meet his increasingly exacting standards. Of course, these precepts were not so much a man’s IQ or the number of pushups that he could do, but the Aryan purity of the blood in his veins and his Nordic appearance. Had DNA testing existed in the 1930s, Himmler would have used it. ~ Bill Yenne, #NFDB
1162:But alas! while sociologists gleefully count his bastards and his prostitutes, the very soul of the toiling, sweating black man is darkened by the shadow of a vast despair. Men call the shadow prejudice, and learnedly explain it as the natural defence of culture against barbarism, learning against ignorance, purity against crime, the "higher" against the "lower" races. To which the Negro cries Amen! and ~ W E B Du Bois, #NFDB
1163:To do justice to the figure of Kafka it its purity and peculiar beauty one must never lose sight of one thing; it is the purity and beauty of failure. The circumstances of this failure are manifold. One is tempted to say: once he was certain of eventual failure, everything worked out for him en route as in a dream. There is nothing more memorable that the fervor with which Kafka emphasized his failure. ~ Walter Benjamin, #NFDB
1164:There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. This mysterious Unity and Integrity is Wisdom, the Mother of all, Natura Naturans. There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fountain of action and of joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being... ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1165:But what if absolute consistency on any issue from the left or the right, religious or secular, is an indication of mediocre intelligence and a lack of intellectual honesty? What if the world is a complex place? What if leadership requires flexibility? What if ideology is a bad substitute for common sense? What if ideological consistency, let alone “purity,” is a sign of small-mindedness, maybe even stupidity? ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1166:Chastity is the lily of virtues, and makes men almost equal to Angels. Everything is beautiful in accordance with its purity. Now the purity of man is chastity, which is called honesty, and the observance of it, honor and also integrity; and its contrary is called corruption; in short, it has this peculiar excellence above the other virtues, that it preserves both soul and body fair and unspotted. ~ Saint Francis de Sales, #NFDB
1167:Blue: as yellow is always accompanied with light, so it may be said that blue still brings a principle of darkness with it. This color has a peculiar and almost indescribable effect on the eye. As a hue it is powerful - but it is on the negative side, and in its highest purity is, as it were, a stimulating negation. Its appearance, then, is a kind of contradiction between excitement and repose. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
1168:There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. This mysterious unity and integrity is wisdom, the mother of us all, "natura naturans." There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fountain of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness, and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1169:This is not the true meaning of jihad,” he spoke into the starless dark. “Jihad is the holy war we have within ourselves. That is the meaning below the surface. Our internal struggle for purity,” he said with emphasis, pressing his forefinger into his chest. “It is the war of ascendance over our basal instincts. It has absolutely nothing to do with others. The only thing we can have control over is ourselves. ~ Camilla Gibb, #NFDB
1170:There is an infinity of landscape here, caused by the purity of the atmosphere. It has been said that there is a lack of colour. It is not so obvious as the greenness of England, but it is infinitely more varied and more delicate in tone. The landscape is a pinky mauve, a lilac, and the reflection of the sun of the particles of the atmosphere is a warm amber. So I should say our colour scheme is amber and lilac. ~ Hans Heysen, #NFDB
1171:What's madness but nobility of soul At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire! I know the purity of pure despair, My shadow pinned against a sweating wall, That place among the rocks--is it a cave, Or winding path? The edge is what I have........ ....... Dark,dark my light, and darker my desire. My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly, Keeps buzzing at the sill. ~From "The Waking" by Theodore Roethke ~ Theodore Roethke, #NFDB
1172:You can’t refuse to meet because that might compromise the purity of your position,” he said. “The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room, and then start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved. You then have a responsibility to prepare an agenda that is achievable—that can institutionalize the changes you seek—and to engage the other side. ~ Ta Nehisi Coates, #NFDB
1173:And if we were not all three in fairyland, certainly I was. I lived principally on Dora and coffee. To have reason to think that when she was with other people she was yet mindful of me, seemed to me the summit of human ambition. There is no doubt whatever that I was a lackadaisical young spoony; but there was a purity of heart in all this still that prevents my having quite a contemptuous recollection of it. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
1174:Every new & successful example therefore of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance. And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.
[Letter to Edward Livingston, 10 July 1822 - Writings 9:100--103] ~ James Madison,#NFDB
1175:Everything is ... so white."
"Of course it's white," said Simon. "It's a wedding."
"White for Shadowhunters is the color of funerals," Luke explained. "But for mundanes, Jace, it's the color of weddings. Brides wear white to symbolize their purity."
"I thought Jocelyn said her dress wasn't white," Simon said.
"Well," said Jace, "I suppose that ship has sailed."
Luke choked on his coffe. ~ Cassandra Clare,#NFDB
1176:If we compare the present state of the New Testament text with that of any other ancient writing, we must... declare it to be marvelously correct. Such has been the care with which the New Testament has been copied - a care which has doubtless grown out of true reverence for its holy words.... The New Testament is unrivaled among ancient writings in the purity of its test as actually transmitted and kept in use. ~ B B Warfield, #NFDB
1177:To be disgraced in the eye of the world, to wear the appearance of infamy while her heart is all purity, her actions all innocence, and the misconduct of another the true source of her debasement, is one of those circumstances which peculiarly belong to the heroine's life, and her fortitude under it what particularly dignifies her character. Catherine had fortitude too; she suffered, but no mumur passed her lips. ~ Jane Austen, #NFDB
1178:Your true wealth is your stock of virtue, and your true power the uses to which you put it. Rectify your heart, and you will rectify your life. Lust, hatred, anger, vanity, pride, covetousness, self-indulgence, self-seeking, obstinacy,- all these are poverty and weakness; whereas love, purity, gentleness, meekness, compassion, generosity, self-forgetfulness, and self-renunciation,- all these are wealth and power. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
1179:Pardon me, O perfections of my God, for having preferred imperfect and evil inclinations to Thee! Pardon me, O justice of my God, for having outraged Thee by my sins. Pardon me, O holiness of my God, for having so long stained Thy sight's purity by my sins. Pardon me, O mercy of my God, for having despised so long Thy mercy's voice. In deep sorrow and contrition, I cast myself at Thy feet: Have mercy on me. ~ Ignatius of Loyola, #NFDB
1180:Spirituality, by which I mean the purity of a strong and noble nature,
with all the new and untried powers that must grow out of it—has
not yet appeared on our horizon; and its absence is a natural consequence
of a diversity of interests between man and woman, who
are for the most part brought together through the attraction of
passion; and who, but for that, would be as far asunder as the poles. ~ Germaine Greer,#NFDB
1181:To be disgraced in the eye of the world, to wear the appearance of infamy while her heart is all purity, her actions all innocence, and the misconduct of another the true source of her debasement, is one of those circumstances which peculiarly belong to the heroine’s life, and her fortitude under it what particularly dignifies her character. Catherine had fortitude too; she suffered, but no murmur passed her lips. ~ Jane Austen, #NFDB
1182:Her name, said the Oracle, will this time be Ama, a female that sleeps in every one of us, Yin of Creation, a wisdom guide that with her purity extinguishes thirst for spiritual longings. She is the one that stands on a crescent moon with stars in her hair, pouring water from jars of her soul into lakes of emotions, awakening compassion for humankind and its Chaos, nourishing Earth and Her constant renewal. ~ Nata a Nuit Pantovi, #NFDB
1183:Human life is precious, sublime and meaningful. But by involvement in purely worldly pursuits, the greatness of human birth is forgotten. Without human values, life is meaningless. When there is purity in thought, word and deed, human values are practised. The unity of the three H's is essential. 'Heart, Head and Hand. ' But today this unity is absent among people, with the result that men are becoming inhuman. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
1184:It is not easy to explain why God permits evil; but it is impossible for an atheist to explain the existence of goodness. How could a spiritless, soul-less, cross-less, Godless universe become the center of faith, purity, sacrifice, and martyrdom? How can decency be the decent thing if there is no God? Since God is love, why should we be surprised that want of it should end in pain, hate, broken hearts, and war? ~ Fulton J Sheen, #NFDB
1185:Those theorists who complain repeatedly about the “externalities” that have messed up their model by fomenting this or that untoward event, before returning to the purity of the model, suffer from a debilitating disease: they act as if the models would work if only the world did not contain so many “outside” factors that are, in fact, imbricated and entangled in a thousand ways with the practices they study. ~ William E Connolly, #NFDB
1186:I was looking out at cliffs and the sea, all sluiced in delicate pinks and yellows and greens and blues, as if the sun were imparting to the sleeping rock and water dreams of their youth, dreams of the rock’s birth in the earth’s molten core, the water’s ecstatic purity before it was sullied by life—as if the play of soft colors were the sun’s lullaby to the cliffs and the sea, of endurance and transformation. ~ Deborah Eisenberg, #NFDB
1187:He sat on as the sun's rays came slowly down through the trees, lower and lower, and when the lowest reached a branch not far above him it caught a dewdrop poised upon a leaf. The drop instantly blazed crimson, and a slight movement of his head made it show all the colours of the spectrum with extraordinary purity, from a red almost too deep to be seen through all the others to the ultimate violet and back again. ~ Patrick O Brian, #NFDB
1188:The blacks, those magnificent examples of the African race who have conserved their racial purity by a lack of affinity with washing, have seen their patch invaded by a different kind of slave: The Portuguese. the black is indolent and fanciful, he spends his money on frivolity and drink; the European comes from a tradition of working and saving which follows him to this corner of America and drives him to get ahead. ~ Che Guevara, #NFDB
1189:A lot of campaigning for food purity is a translated worry about abundance. You still eat your fill, but you agonize over the food's contents. We are a pack of animals that allows some to have excess food while others starve. Those who have so much get finicky about what is good to eat; they become obsessed by it, re-creating scarcity for themselves so as to not feel guilty, confused, or dangerously envied. ~ Jennifer Michael Hecht, #NFDB
1190:Each of us could be under a cloud of suspicion for the rest of our lives."
"A black spot," Dour Elinor intoned. "A blemish upon our maiden purity."
"Oh, no, surely not," disgraceful Mary Jane replied. "Not for such a trifling thing as neglecting to mention the death of a headmistress and her nasty brother. No one could really be upset over that. It takes much more fun to leave a blemish upon one's maiden purity. ~ Julie Berry,#NFDB
1191:For the first time in his life, Mont Blanc for a moment looked to him what it was - a chaos of anarchic and purposeless forces - and he needed days of repose to see it clothe itself again with the illusions of his senses, the white purity of its snows, the splendor of its light, and the infinity of its heavenly peace. Nature was kind; Lake Geneva was beautiful beyond itself, and the Alps put on charms real as terrors. ~ Henry Adams, #NFDB
1192:Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor learning nor eloquence nor anything else will prevail, but purity, living the life, in one word, anubhuti, realisation. Let there be a dozen such lion-souls in each country, lions who have broken their own bonds, who have touched the Infinite, whose whole soul is gone to Brahman, who care neither for wealth nor power nor fame, and these will be enough to shake the world. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1193:Objects must cease, mind must become just a pure mirror - a mirroring, not mirroring anything - just a mirror without any object in it, a pure mirror. By dhyan, this purity of the mind is indicated. So first, no object should be in the mind. Mind must remain alone without thinking about anything - with no thought, just a consciousness, just an awareness, just an alertness. This alertness without any object is meditation. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1194:Pardon me, O perfections of my God, for having preferred imperfect and evil inclinations to Thee! Pardon me, O justice of my God, for having outraged Thee by my sins. Pardon me, O holiness of my God, for having so long stained Thy sight's purity by my sins. Pardon me, O mercy of my God, for having despised so long Thy mercy's voice. In deep sorrow and contrition, I cast myself at Thy feet: Have mercy on me. ~ Saint Ignatius of Loyola, #NFDB
1195:The marriage institution cannot exist among slaves, and one sixth of the population of democratic America is denied it's privileges by the law of the land. What is to be thought of a nation boasting of its liberty, boasting of it's humanity, boasting of its Christianity, boasting of its love of justice and purity, and yet having within its own borders three millions of persons denied by law the right of marriage? ~ Frederick Douglass, #NFDB
1196:There are natures in which, if they love us, we are conscious of having a sort of baptism and consecration: they bind us over to rectitude and purity by their pure belief about us; and our sins become that worst kind of sacrilege which tears down the invisible altar of trust. 'If you are not good, non is good'--those little words may give a terrific meaning to responsibility, may hold a vitriolic intensity for remorse. ~ George Eliot, #NFDB
1197:All one night we sat, with a friend of his, in a big dark roadhouse outside of Philadelphia, arguing and arguing about mysticism, and smoking more and more cigarettes and gradually getting drunk. Eventually, filled with enthusiasm for the purity of heart which begets the vision of God, I went on with them into the city, after the closing of the bars, to a big speak-easy where we completed the work of getting plastered. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1198:But Christianity gives us the largest liberty of the sons of God, and were all men Christians after the fashion of Jesus, this variety would be a thousand times greater than now; for Christianity is not a system of doctrines, but rather a method of attaining oneness with God. It demands, therefore, a good life of piety within, of purity without, and gives the promise that who does God's `will, shall know of God's doctrine. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1199:Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor learning nor eloquence nor anything else will prevail, but purity, living the life, in one word, anubhuti, realisation. Let there be a dozen such lion-souls in each country, lions who have broken their own bonds, who have touched the Infinite, whose whole soul is gone to Brahman, who care neither for wealth nor power nor fame, and these will be enough to shake the world.
~ Swami Vivekananda,#NFDB
1200:Phillipa blew out her breath. Running a finger along the soft flower petals, she unfolded the note. For Phillipa, she read to herself,
I hope adding yellow daisies isn’t too forward. I asked Lady Fennington for their meaning, and she said white means “purity,” while yellow means “slighted.” I’m taking them to mean “frustrated.” Because I am frustrated that you are still pure. Bennett.
She snorted. ~ Suzanne Enoch,#NFDB
1201:Continue to make the demands of the day your immediate concern, and take occasion to test the purity of your hearts and the steadfastness of your spirits. When you then take a deep breath and rise above the cares of this world and in an hour of leisure, you will surely win the proper frame of mind to face devoutly what is above us, with reverence, seeing in all events the manifestation of a higher guidance. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
1202:How deep a wound to morals and social purity has that accursed article of the celibacy of the clergy been! Even the best and most enlightened men in Romanist countries attach a notion of impurity to the marriage of a clergyman. And can such a feeling be without its effect on the estimation of the wedded life in general? Impossible! and the morals of both sexes in Spain, Italy, France, and. prove it abundantly. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge, #NFDB
1203:THEY hold their public meetings where
Our most renowned patriots stand,
One among the birds of the air,
A stumpier on either hand;
And all the popular statesmen say
That purity built up the State
And after kept it from decay;
And let all base ambition be,
For intellect would make us proud
And pride bring in impurity:
The three old rascals laugh aloud.
~ William Butler Yeats, The Three Monuments
,#NFDB
1204:Mental purity will come through constant chanting of the divine name. This is the simplest way. You are trying to cross the ocean of transmigration, the cycle of birth and death. The mantra is the oar of the boat; it is the instrument you use to cross the samsara of your restless mind, with its unending thought waves. The mantra can also be compared to a ladder that you climb to reach the heights of God realization. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
1205:What decides whether a man will become immortal, is not his character but his vitality. Nothing save intensity confers immortality. A man manifests himself more vividly, in proportion as he is strong and unified, effective and unique. Immortality knows nothing of morality or immorality, of good or evil; it measures only work and strength; it demands from a man not purity but unity. Here, morality is nothing; intensity, all. ~ Stefan Zweig, #NFDB
1206:Tremendous purity, tremendous renunciation, is the one secret of spirituality. “Neither through wealth, nor through progeny, but through renunciation alone is immortality to be reached,” say the Vedas. “Sell all that thou hast and give to poor, and follow me,” says the Christ. So all great saints and prophets have expressed it, and have carried it out in their lives. How can great spirituality come without renunciation? ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1207:Fuck!” he said, the purity and forcefulness of the profanity cleansing in its simplicity. Fuck. Odd, he thought, how the word considered the most unutterable should be the one that represented, for many, the greatest pleasure of which the human body was capable. The sacred and the profane, he supposed, the ultimate proof of the perversity of human nature, to make a curse of the very act that kept the species in existence. ~ Michael Thomas Ford, #NFDB
1208:Is it not rather proof of a feeble mind, to be unable to bear either the pains of bodily servitude or the foolish opinion of the vulgar? And is not that to be pronounced the greater mind, which rather faces than flees the ills of life, and which, in comparison of the light and purity of conscience, holds in small esteem the judgment of men, and specially of the vulgar, which is frequently involved in a mist of error? ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #NFDB
1209:Of all the human values, three are most important. The foremost is love of God. Where there is love there is sacrifice. There arises purity of heart. There should be a fusion of love, sacrifice and purity. They are not mere human qualities. They constitute vital organs of a human being. They are as essential for a human being as the head, hands and legs for the body. Without these attributes, no one is a complete human being. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
1210:The promotion of human rights cannot be about exhortation alone. At times, it must be coupled with painstaking diplomacy. I know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks the satisfying purity of indignation. But I also know that sanctions without outreach -- condemnation without discussion -- can carry forward only a crippling status quo. No repressive regime can move down a new path unless it has the choice of an open door. ~ Barack Obama, #NFDB
1211:Two great virtues . . . give a man power with the heavens - integrity and purity of character. Let a man possess these, let his heart be true and unflinching, let his life be pure, and, if we add to these humility, he is protected against a multitude of weaknesses and can resist a host of temptations. We all have our weaknesses; God has permitted them that we might be taught humility in ourselves and charity towards others. ~ Wilford Woodruff, #NFDB
1212:How will it be with us in the future life, when everything that has gratified us in this world: riches, honors, food and drink, dress, beautifully furnished dwellings, and all attractive objects-how will it be, I say, when all these things leave us-when they will all seem to us a dream, and when works of faith and virtue, of abstinence, purity, meekness, humility, mercy, patience, obedience, and others will be required of us? ~ John of Kronstadt, #NFDB
1213:No one has ever laughed at a pun who did not see in the one word a twofold meaning. To materialists this world is opaque like a curtain; nothing can be seen through it. A mountain is just a mountain, a sunset just a sunset; but to poets, artists, and saints, the world is transparent like a window pane - it tells of something beyond....a mountain tells of the Power of God, the sunset of His Beauty, and the snowflake of His Purity. ~ Fulton J Sheen, #NFDB
1214:Death is unimportant to a yogi; he does not mind when he is going to die. What happens after death is immaterial to him. He is only concerned with life-with how he can use his life for the betterment of humanity. Having undergone various types of pain in his life and having acquired a certain mastery over pain, he develops compassion to help society and maintains himself in purity and holiness. The yogi has no interest beyond that. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
1215:So there are established sayings: Guidance to enlightenment seems nonsensical. Guidance to progress seems backwards. Guidance to equality seems to classify. Higher efficacy seems at a loss. Great purity seems like shame. Broad effectiveness seems insufficient. Constructive effectiveness seems casual. Basic reality seems changeable. A great expanse has no shores. A large container takes a long time to make. Important news is rarely heard. ~ Lao Tzu, #NFDB
1216:There's also the idea in this country [USA], it's not wholly new, but it's new in its kind of purity, in that you have to be really smart to be really rich. I always say to people, the reason people believe this is a) they've never met a really smart person, and b) they've never met a really rich person. I have met both, and I cannot see the crossover. You do not have to be a genius to get rich. You have to be ruthless to get rich. ~ Fran Lebowitz, #NFDB
1217:Everywhere you look with this young lady, there’s a purity of motivation,” Shultz told him. “I mean she really is trying to make the world better, and this is her way of doing it.” Mattis went out of his way to praise her integrity. “She has probably one of the most mature and well-honed sense of ethics—personal ethics, managerial ethics, business ethics, medical ethics that I’ve ever heard articulated,” the retired general gushed. ~ John Carreyrou, #NFDB
1218:There is a sort of creative purity in an independent film, in the passion of the director, the passion of the crew. They're not getting a whole lot of money, so you know they are not there because they want to get rich. Instead, they are there because they want to make a movie. In the bigger films, I remember when I used to do those, it's just a job for a lot of people, so there is less of an intense energy devoted to the whole project. ~ Amy Irving, #NFDB
1219:Tormenting Cares
Sleep, sleep today, tormenting cares
Of earth and folly born!
Ye shall not dim the light that streams
From this celestial morn.
Tomorrow will be time enough
To feel your harsh control;
Ye shall not violate this day,
The sabbath of my soul.
Sleep, sleep for ever, guilty thoughts!
Let fires of vengeance die;
And, purged from sin, may I behold
A God of purity!
~ Anna Laetitia Barbauld,#NFDB
1220:As the people of the United States enjoy the great merit of having established a system of Government on the basis of human rights, and of giving it a form without example, which, as they believe, unites the greatest national strength with the best security for public order and individual liberty, they owe to themselves, to their posterity and to the world, a preservation of the system in its purity, its symmetry, and its authenticity. ~ James Madison, #NFDB
1221:The ground is composed of gold, the trees are wish-fulfilling trees, and the rain is the rainfall of nectar. All beings are dakas and dakinis; the calls of the birds are the sounds of Dharma; the sounds of nature, wind, water, and fire reverberate as the Vajra Guru mantra; and all thoughts are expressions of wisdom and bliss. So here the perception of purity is much vaster and more omnipresent than in the sutras.
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Guru Yoga,#NFDB
1222:For St. Thomas Aquinas the problem was rather different. It was a question of how to integrate philosophy into sacred science, not only without allowing either the one or the other to suffer essentially thereby, but to the greater benefit of both. In order to achieve this result, he had to integrate a science of reason with a science of revelation without corrupting at the same time both the purity of reason and the purity of revelation. ~ tienne Gilson, #NFDB
1223:Once you step inside, history has to be rewritten to include you. A fiction develops a story that weaves you into the social fabric, giving you roots and a local identity. You are assimilated, and in erasing your differences and making you one of their own, the community can maintain belief in its wholeness and purity. After two or three generations, nobody remembers the story is fiction. It has become fact. And this is how history is made. ~ Camilla Gibb, #NFDB
1224:One great idea of the biblical revelation is that God is manifest in the ordinary, in the actual, in the daily, in the now, in the concrete incarnations of life, and not through purity codes and moral achievement contests, which are seldom achieved anyway… We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking… The most courageous thing we will ever do is to bear humbly the mystery of our own reality. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
1225:The purity of sound that Cisco Music and Bernie Grundman have achieved with this 45rpm version of Famous Blue Raincoat 20th Anniversary Edition is shockingly perfect. I have never heard any version of Famous Blue Raincoat which sounds better... and I've heard them all. No caveats: This LP set is unbelievably gorgeous. I have been waiting two decades to hear it like this. Cisco's 45rpm edition is simply as good as Famous Blue Raincoat gets. ~ Jennifer Warnes, #NFDB
1226:We should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our Liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. If an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, and that can be procured by a party through artifice or corruption, the Government may be the choice of a party for its own ends, not of the nation for the national good. ~ John Adams, #NFDB
1227:In meditation you withdraw from others and focus your attention inside to gain purity of mind and wisdom energy. Then you must become extroverted and use this energy. When you take a long jump, you must first take some steps backward. Then you run, and make the jump. Like this, you first withdraw, observe yourself, develop clarity and unlock the wisdom. Then you make a long jump into society, to serve society. These two steps cannot be separated. ~ S N Goenka, #NFDB
1228:What's madness but nobility of soul
At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire!
I know the purity of pure despair,
My shadow pinned against a sweating wall,
That place among the rocks--is it a cave,
Or winding path? The edge is what I have........
.......
Dark,dark my light, and darker my desire.
My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly,
Keeps buzzing at the sill.
~From "The Waking" by Theodore Roethke ~ Theodore Roethke,#NFDB
1229:You cannot manifest thin from thoughts of I hate being fat. You cannot manifest purity from I despise being an addict. You cannot manifest health from I abhor being sick. In each of the above assertions of what you dislike, you are giving of your thoughts to creating more and more of the same. Since you become what you think about all day long, once again, the solutions involve a different level of energy to any of these and similar circumstances. ~ Wayne W Dyer, #NFDB
1230:God is more pleased by one work, however small, done secretly, without desire that it be known, than a thousand done with the desire that people know of them. Those who work for God with purest love not only care nothing about whether others see their works, but do not even seek that God himself know of them. Such persons would not cease to render God the same services, with the same joy and purity of love, even if God were never to know of these. ~ Juan de la Cruz, #NFDB
1231:Red and white, the Tudor rose that symbolized the union between the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York, blood and snow, passion and purity, fire and ice, hell and heaven, sinner and saint, conquest and surrender, whore and virgin, the red dazzle of rubies and the nacreous lustrous shimmer of pearls, innocence born from a bloody womb, the blood is the life, the cold white marble of death—a tomb effigy; red roses for the blood of martyrs. ~ Brandy Purdy, #NFDB
1232:Thus it is said:
The path into the light seems dark,
the path forward seems to go back,
the direct path seems long,
true power seems weak,
true purity seems tarnished,
true steadfastness seems changeable,
true clarity seems obscure,
the greatest are seems unsophisticated,
the greatest love seems indifferent,
the greatest wisdom seems childish.
The Tao is nowhere to be found.
Yet it nourishes and completes all things. ~ Lao Tzu,#NFDB
1233:Thus, Protestantism will always stand up for the advancement of all Germans as such, as long as matters of inner purity or national deepening as well as German freedom are involved, since all these things have a firm foundation in its own being; but it combats with the greatest hostility any attempt to rescue the nation from the embrace of its most mortal enemy, since its attitude toward the Jews just happens to be more or less dogmatically established. ~ Adolf Hitler, #NFDB
1234:Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself oppressed by this creation of factitious purity, so cunningly manufactured by a conspiracy of mothers and aunts and grandmothers and long-dead ancestresses, because it was supposed to be what he wanted, what he had a right to, in order that he might exercise his lordly pleasure in smashing it like an image made of snow. ~ Edith Wharton, #NFDB
1235:Peter Beinart excoriates the doughface liberals who during the Cold War put anti-imperialism before anti-totalitarianism and demanded total moral purity on the part of the United States, thus opposing any action in the real world to resist Soviet expansionism. If the Democrats were, as he advocates, to return to the Trumanesque anti-totalitarian liberalism that held sway in the party from roughly 1947 to 1972, the party and the country would be better off. ~ Rich Lowry, #NFDB
1236:In your nature there are many obstacles, chiefly a great activity of the outward-going mind and a thick crust of the impure lower Prakriti that covers the heart and the vital being. Quieting of the mind and purification of the nature are what you must have before you can fulfil your aim. Aspire for these two things first; ask for them constantly from above. You will not be able to achieve them by your own unaided effort. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, Purity, #NFDB
1237:There is a well-known hadith which states that every child is born in the state of fiṭrah. Many Muslims translate this into English as, “Every child is born a Muslim.” However, the hadith says, “fiṭrah,” which means that people are born inclined to faith, with an intuitive awareness of divine purpose and a nature built to receive the prophetic message. What remains then is to nurture one’s fiṭrah and cultivate this inclination to faith and purity of heart. ~ Hamza Yusuf, #NFDB
1238:This Temple of the Arts and Muses is dedicated to Almighty God by the first Governors of Broadcasting in the year 1931, Sir John Reith being Director General. It is their prayer that good seed sown may bring forth a good harvest, that all things hostile to peace or purity may be banished from this house, and that the people, inclining their ear to whatsoever things are beautiful and honest and of good report, may tread the path of wisdom and uprightness. ~ Kate Atkinson, #NFDB
1239:Every sifting comes by divine command and permission. Satan must ask leave before he can lay a finger upon Job. Nay, more, in some sense our siftings are directly the work of heaven, for the text says, "I will sift the house of Israel." Satan, like a drudge, may hold the sieve, hoping to destroy the corn; but the overruling hand of the Master is accomplishing the purity of the grain by the very process which the enemy intended to be destructive. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
1240:He was able to find the intensity and beauty that he wanted, in the plung itself. Physical forces in a complicated coalition of gravity, acceleration, and temperature were powerful and intense enough to satisfy him. It made sense. Nothing was as comforting as the enduring purity of elemental forces, and returning to them could not mean defeat. But he never thought that he would die in a bark suit, strapped to a shock pancake, next to an incompetent midget. ~ Mark Helprin, #NFDB
1241:'Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord' (Heb. 12:14), Why did he say 'strive'? Because it is not possible for us to become holy and to be saints in an hour! We must therefore progress from modest beginnings toward holiness and purity. Even were we to spend a thousand years in this life we should never perfectly attain it. Rather we must always struggle for it every day, as if mere beginners. ~ Symeon the New Theologian, #NFDB
1242:While in the United States and Europe "revolution" was an excuse to sell pop music, stage protests, and hold festivals, it was being played for keeps in Asia. Young people were not just challenging their elders but pushing them aside, expelling, imprisoning, and in many cases executing them, all the while extolling the young as the righteous vanguard, their very youth a badge of purity. They were, by definition, forward-thinking. And in Hue they were armed. ~ Mark Bowden, #NFDB
1243:Suppose it were true—Adam, the most rigidly honest
man it was possible to find, living all his life on stolen money. Lee laughed to himself—now this
second will, and Aron, whose purity was a little on the self-indulgent side, living all his life on the
profits from a whorehouse. Was this some kind of joke or did things balance so that if one went too far
in one direction an automatic slide moved on the scale and the balance was re-established? ~ John Steinbeck,#NFDB
1244:When we hear complaints of the wretchedness or vanity of human life, the proper answer to them would be that there is hardly any one who at some point or other has not been in love. If we consider the high abstraction of this feeling, its depth, its purity, its voluptuous refinement, even in the meanest breast, how sacred and how sweet it is, this alone may reconcile us to the lot of humanity. That drop of balm turns the bitter cup to a delicious nectar. ~ William Hazlitt, #NFDB
1245:Please remember that your twin flame connection is not about fulfilling your own romantic needs, it's about reflecting the light to others in the world.
If you are having problems with your twin, just back off, send your twin good thoughts, or none, and allow the purity of the twin flame shine and illuminate others you come into contact with. THAT IS WHAT THE TWIN FLAME IS FOR. Rise above your own personal desires and serve the good of all humanity. ~ Sienna McQuillen,#NFDB
1246:The Theatre of Cruelty has been created in order to restore to the theatre a passionate and convulsive conception of life, and it is in this sense of violent rigour and extreme condensation of scenic elements that the cruelty on which it is based must be understood. This cruelty, which will be bloody when necessary but not systematically so, can thus be identified with a kind of severe moral purity which is not afraid to pay life the price it must be paid. ~ Antonin Artaud, #NFDB
1247:We’re surrounded by anonymous, poorly made objects. It’s tempting to think it’s because the people who use them don’t care - just like the people who make them. But what we’ve shown is that people do care. It’s not just about aesthetics. They care about things that are thoughtfully conceived and well made. We make and sell a very, very large number of (hopefully) beautiful, well-made things. our success is a victory for purity, integrity - for giving a damn. ~ Jonathan Ive, #NFDB
1248:A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion. ~ Robert O Paxton, #NFDB
1249:Be fearless and pure; never waver in your determination or your dedication to the spiritual life. Give freely. Be self-controlled, sincere, truthful, loving, and full of the desire to serve. Realize the truth of the scriptures; learn to be detached and to take joy in renunciation. 2 Do not get angry or harm any living creature, but be compassionate and gentle; show good will to all. 3 Cultivate vigor, patience, will, purity; avoid malice and pride. ~ Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, #NFDB
1250:I can’t have sex with you, Troy.”
“Yeah. You’ve mentioned it once or twice.”
She groaned again. “It’s just that…you’re so damn tempting.”
He grinned. At her conflict and the absurdity of it. As if they were teenagers who’d sworn a virginity pledge and had the purity rings to prove it. He rolled up on his side, supporting his head with his palm. “I’m sorry. For being so tempting.”
She snorted. “No you’re not.”
Troy laughed. “You’re right. I’m not. ~ Amy Andrews,#NFDB
1251:What's madness but nobility of soul
At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire!
I know the purity of pure despair,
My shadow pinned against a sweating wall,
That place among the rocks--is it a cave,
Or winding path? The edge is what I have........
.......
Dark,dark my light, and darker my desire.
My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly,
Keeps buzzing at the sill.
~ Theodore RoethkeFrom "The Waking" by Theodore Roethke ~ Theodore Roethke,#NFDB
1252:They are not callow like the young of most birds, but more perfectly developed and precocious even than chickens. The remarkably adult yet innocent expression of their open and serene eyes is very memorable. All intelligence seems reflected in them. They suggest not merely the purity of infancy, but a wisdom clarified by experience. Such an eye was not born when the bird was, but is coeval with the sky it reflects. The woods do not yield another such a gem. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
1253:Two things that every human being absolutely must come to understand are the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. These topics are difficult for people to face. And they go together: if we understand who God is, and catch a glimpse of His majesty, purity, and holiness, then we are instantly aware of the extent of our own corruption. When that happens, we fly to grace—because we recognize that there’s no way that we could ever stand before God apart from grace. ~ R C Sproul, #NFDB
1254:We must find a balance between "reddish whites," "bluish whites" and "yellowish whites," and decide on the proper length and thickness of the fiber. Then each part of the book can play its proper role: the front cover conveys a powerful silence; the inside cover the purity of first openings; the title page the texture of new beginnings; while the body of the text sets the words and pictures against a clear background, or whispers "touch me!" to the reader's fingertips ~ Kenya Hara, #NFDB
1255:A man does not marry a girl, nor a woman. He marries a promise, and it shines with a bright purity that is ageless. It shines, in other words, with the glory of lies. The deception is self inflicted. The promise was simple in its form, as befitted the thick-headedness of young men, and in its essence it offered the delusion that the present moment was eternal; that nothing would change; not the fires of desire, not the flesh itself, not the intense look in the eye. ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
1256:Freedom from pride and arrogance, harmlessness, patience, sincerity, purity, constancy, self-control, indifference to the objects of sense, absence of egoism,...freedom from attachment to son and wife and house, constant equality of heart towards desirable or undesirable events, love of solitude and withdrawal from the crowd, perpetual knowledge of the Supreme and study of the principles of things, this is knowledge; what is contrary in nature to this, is ignorance. ~ Bhagavad Gita, #NFDB
1257:To me the mountain mass lies nobly mute,
The whences and the whys I don't dispute.
When Nature by and in herself was founded,
In purity the earthen sphere she rounded.
In summit and in gorge did pleasure seek,
And threaded cliff to cliff and peak to peak;
Then did she fashion sloping hills at peace
And gently down into the vale release.
All greens and grows, and to her gay abundance
Your swirling lunacies are sheer redundance. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,#NFDB
1258:We all have human feelings, emotions, and thoughts. If we don’t spend time with the Lord, we become dominated by them. But when we spend time with God, our unforgiveness, doubt, lust, hate, anxiety, and sadness becomes forgiveness, faith, purity, love, peace, and joy. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, He gives us the desires of our heart. When we commit our ways to the Lord and trust in Him, He brings our desires to pass as we pray about them (Psalm 37:4-5). ~ Stormie Omartian, #NFDB
1259:Be conscious of yourself, watch your mind, give it your full attention. Don't look for quick results; there may be none within your noticing. Unknown to you, your psyche will undergo a change; there will be more clarity in your thinking, charity in your feeling, purity in your behavior. You need not aim at these - you will witness the change all the same. For, what you are now is the result of inattention and what you become will be the fruit of attention. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #NFDB
1260:No one's body is polluted so as to endanger the soul if it has not pleased the mind. If you were to lift my hand to your idol and so make me offer against my will, I would still be guiltless in the sight of the true God, who judges according to the will and knows all things. If now, against my will, you cause me to be polluted, a twofold purity will be gloriously imputed to me. You cannot bend my will to your purpose; whatever you do to my body, that cannot happen to me. ~ Saint Lucy, #NFDB
1261:Our Apostolic Mandate requires from Us that We watch over the purity of the Faith and the integrity of Catholic discipline. It requires from Us that We protect the faithful from evil and error; especially so when evil and error are presented in dynamic language which, concealing vague notions and ambiguous expressions with emotional and high-sounding words, is likely to set ablaze the hearts of men in pursuit of ideals which, whilst attractive, are nonetheless nefarious. ~ Pope Pius X, #NFDB
1262:Sin makes our armor vulnerable to attack from Satan, who then gains permission from God to attack us in the area where we have failed to uphold righteousness. If we break down in moral purity, Satan comes in and establishes a stronghold. If we give place to bitterness and unwillingness to forgive, we break fellowship with God and others. If we become money-focused, we fall into greed and deception. Sin is a vicious cycle that leaves us weak and vulnerable to ever more sin. ~ Os Hillman, #NFDB
1263:Thoughtful men, with hearts craving the truth, have come to seek in the Catholic Church the road which leads with surety to eternal life. They have understood that they could not cleave to Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church if they did not belong to the Body of Jesus Christ which is the Church. Nor could they ever hope to possess in all its purity the faith of Jesus Christ if they were to reject its legitimate teaching authority entrusted to Peter and his successors. ~ Pope Leo XIII, #NFDB
1264:The study of eugenics had its beginning in Germany, sometime after the mid-19th century mark, stimulated by volkish concerns for Aryan racial purity. Rudolf Virchow, pathologist and politician, began a study of national ethnic statistics in 1871, convinced that the majority of Germans would prove to be of relatively pure Nordic descent. The results of his studies proved otherwise. According to Virchow, the obvious solution was to set about Nordicizing the debased German stock. ~ Jim Keith, #NFDB
1265:To the contrary, he knew the ascetic beauty of such a way of being. He lived every moment mindful of the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was natural to him to separate the milk from the meat, to refrain from labor on the Sabbath, to abide by the laws of family purity in his relations with his wife. The disciplines of that monthly abstinence had only sharpened desire and sweetened their reunion. But to be without a wife entirely…that, to him, was no fit life for a man. ~ Geraldine Brooks, #NFDB
1266:Unicorns are not to be forgiven." The magician felt himself growing giddy with jealousy, not only of the touch but of something like a secret that was moving between Molly and the unicorn. "Unicorns are for beginnings," he said, "for innocence and purity, for newness. Unicorns are for young girls."
Molly was stroking the unicorn's throat as timidly as though she were blind. She dried her grimy tears on the white mane. "You don't know much about unicorns," she said. ~ Peter S Beagle,#NFDB
1267:When I became thoroughly acquainted with the Greek and Roman authors, I thought it incumbent upon me to do something towards the honor of the place of my nativity, and to vindicate the rhetoric of this ancient forum of our Metropolis from the aspersions of the illiterate by composing A Treatise of the Alercation of the Ancients; wherein I have demonstrated that the purity, sincerity, and simplicity of their diction is nowhere so well preserved as amongst my neighbourhood. ~ John Arbuthnot, #NFDB
1268:I can give her no greater power than she has already, said the woman; don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals are obliged to serve her, and how well she has got through the world, barefooted as she is. She cannot receive any power from me greater than she now has, which consists in her own purity and innocence of heart. If she cannot herself obtain access to the Snow Queen, and remove the glass fragments from little Kay, we can do nothing to help her. ~ Hans Christian Andersen, #NFDB
1269:I've always assumed that every time a child is born, the Divine reenters the world. Okay? That's the meaning of the Christmas story. And every time that child's purity is corrupted by society, that's the meaning of the Crucifixion story. Your man Jesus stands for that child, that pure spirit, and as its surrogate, he's being born and put to death again and again, over and over, every time we inhale and exhale, not just at the vernal equinox and on the twenty-fifth of December. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
1270:To touch on people's lives [ in a way they ] haven't been touched on before, it´s fascianting. You know, it's one thing if [ a celebrity ] has an incredible character and you're really going to be able to delve into their personality – that's great. But you can never get real purity if people have been spoiled by the camera and don't trust you. I like feeling that I'm able to be a voice for those people who aren't famous, the people that don't have the great opportunities. ~ Mary Ellen Mark, #NFDB
1271:Six: you are never to be idle. You will devote five hours each day to studying, and use the remainder of your time to develop your abilities in some meaningful way. If you have any skills, abilities or talents, you will seek to improve upon them, and if you have no abilities, or talents, or skills, you will read the Bible; and if you cannot read, then you will sit and stare at the Bible, and try to absorb through the purity of your thoughts the meaning of the Lord and his ways. ~ V C Andrews, #NFDB
1272:It is of the extraordinary insights of Imam Malik that the first section of his Muwatta', which precedes even the section on ritual purity, is on the times of the prayer. It is the times of prayer that obligate purity. Observing the times of prayer is the first thing we do when we wake and the last thing we do before retiring to bed; it is done in the middle of the day and in its decline. It is an unrelenting reminder of to whom we belong, why we are here, and where we are going. ~ Hamza Yusuf, #NFDB
1273:Jace looked around uneasily at the walls hung with veils, fans, tiaras, and seed-pearl-encrusted trains. “Everything is .. .so white.”
“Of course it’s white,” said Simon. “It’s a wedding.”
“White for Shadowhunters is the color of funerals,” Luke explained. “But for mundanes, Jace, it’s the color of weddings. Brides wear white to symbolize their purity.”
“I thought Jocelyn said her dress wasn’t white,” Simon said.
“Well,” said Jace, “I suppose that ship has sailed. ~ Cassandra Clare,#NFDB
1274:The receipt to make a speaker, and an applauded one too, is short and easy. Take common sense quantum sufficit; add a little application to the rules and orders of the House [of Commons], throw obvious thoughts in a new light, and make up the whole with a large quantity of purity, correctness and elegancy of style. Take it for granted that by far the greatest part of mankind neither analyze nor search to the bottom; they are incapable of penetrating deeper than the surface. ~ Lord Chesterfield, #NFDB
1275:It is of the extraordinary insights of Imam Malik that the first section of his Muwatta'*, which precedes even the section on ritual purity, is on the times of the prayer. It is the times of prayer that obligate purity. Observing the times of prayer is the first thing we do when we wake and the last thing we do before retiring to bed; it is done in the middle of the day and in its decline. It is an unrelenting reminder of to whom we belong, why we are here, and where we are going. ~ Hamza Yusuf, #NFDB
1276:The newly emerging ideal was solitude, purity, perfect waves far from civilization. Robinson Crusoe, Endless Summer. This was a track that led away from citizenship, in the ancients sense of the word, toward a scratched-out frontier where we would live as latter-day barbarians. It went deeper that that. Chasing waves in a dedicated way was both profoundly egocentric and selfless, dynamic and ascetic, radical in its rejection of the values of duty and conventional achievement. ~ William Finnegan, #NFDB
1277:Among the Huguenots he learned to be gentle and courteous; to bear himself among his elders respectfully, but without fear or shyness; to consider that, while all things were of minor consequence in comparison to the right to worship God in freedom and purity, yet that a man should be fearless of death, ready to defend his rights, but with moderation and without pushing them to the injury of others; that he should be grave and decorous of speech, and yet of a gay and cheerful spirit. ~ G A Henty, #NFDB
1278:chardonnay later, and my drunken rant has gone viral. I’m the most famous person NOT having sex since the Jonas Brothers put on their purity rings. A men’s magazine has even put a bounty on my (ahem) maidenhead: fifty Gs to whoever makes me break the drought. Be careful what you wish for... Now my office looks like an explosion in a Hallmark factory, I’ve got guys lining up to sweep me off my feet-and the one man I want is most definitely off-limits. Jake Weston is a player through and ~ Lila Monroe, #NFDB
1279:Oh that I could give any idea of the scene; of that sweet, sweet, good, good woman in all the radiant beauty of her youth and animation, with the red scar on her forehead of which she was conscious, and which we saw with grinding of our teeth- remembering whence and how it came; her loving kindness against our grim hate; her tender faith against all our fears and doubting; and we, knowing that so far as symbols went, she with all her goodness and purity and faith, was outcast from God. ~ Bram Stoker, #NFDB
1280:He quirked an eyebrow briefly, slightly, in such a way that no one afterwards might be able to safely accuse him of having done it. Sei knew the look. Names are meaningless, plosives and breath, but those who liked the slope of her waist often made much of hers, which denoted purity, clarity—as though it had any more in the way of depth than others. They wondered, all of them, if she really was pure, as pure as her name announced her to be, all white banners and hymeneal grace. ~ Catherynne M Valente, #NFDB
1281:Jesus did not go through all His sufferings so we could go to church; He did what He did to atone for sin. And by doing so He made it possible to raise up a new breed of world changers, those who could maintain the standard He set in love, purity and power. This reality is one of the great prophecies that Jesus spoke: “Greater works than these shall you do because I go to the Father” (see John 14:12). Not only does Jesus’ life compel us to follow the miracle worker, so do His promises. ~ Bill Johnson, #NFDB
1282:Loyalty, love and respect perhaps have never been expounded with such agility like this one ‘Loyalty has its roots in respect and respect is the fruit of Love, and Love drives out the demons of the imagination – which distrust everything and everyone – and, instead, returns purity to our gaze’. He cites that ‘Loyalty can never be imposed by force, fear, insecurity or intimidation’. ‘And because it is a choice, it will never tolerate betrayal, but will always be generous with mistakes’. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1283:Religious faith and purpose are the only certain safeguards against the growing perils of life. So far as there has been among educated men a decline of loyalty to Christ and His gospel, there has been a decline in those qualities which claim confidence and honor, which insure unblemished reputation, which minister to social well-being, and to the integrity and purity of public life. ~ A. P. Peabody, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 498, #NFDB
1284:One half of the trouble in the assemblies is the people’s murmuring over the conditions they are in. The Bible teaches us not to murmur. If you reach that standard, you will never murmur anymore. You will be above murmuring. You will be in the place where God is absolutely the exchanger of thought, the exchanger of actions, and the exchanger of your inward purity. He will be purifying you all the time and lifting you higher, and you will know you are not of this world (John 15:19). ~ Smith Wigglesworth, #NFDB
1285:And while I'm on the subject, let me say something about Harry Potter. [Gravels her voice.] Warlocks are enemies of God!! [Back to normal screech.] And I don't care what kind of hero they are, they're an enemy of God. And had it been in the Old Testament, Harry Potter woulda been put to death! [Applause.] You don't make heroes out of warlocks. This is the generation that's gonna stand for purity, an' righteousnesss, an' holiness, an' you're gonna serve the lord all the days of your life. ~ Becky Fischer, #NFDB
1286:The chaste severity of the fathers in whatever related to the commerce of the two sexes flowed from the same principle -- their abhorrence of every enjoyment which might gratify the sensual and degrade the spiritual nature of man. It was their favourite opinion, that if Adam had preserved his obedience to the Creator, he would have lived for ever in a state of virgin purity, and that some harmless mode of vegetation might have peopled paradise with a race of innocent and immortal beings. ~ Edward Gibbon, #NFDB
1287:I assure you, Constable Morgan, I am quite sane, as I understand the word, perhaps the sanest person in this room, for I suffer from no illusions. I have freed myself, you see, from the pretense that burdens most men. Much like our prey, I do not impose order where there is none; I do not pretend there is any more than what there is, or that you and I are anything more than what we are. That is the essence of their beauty, Morgan, the aboriginal purity of their being, and why I admire them. ~ Rick Yancey, #NFDB
1288:The issue is not, "What must I do in order to secure my salvation?" but rather, "What does God require of me in response to the needs of others?" It is not, "How can I be virtuous?" but "How can I participate in the struggle of the oppressed for a more just world?"Otherwise our nonviolence is premised on self-justifying attempts to establish our own purity in the eyes of God, others, and ourselves, and that is nothing less than a satanic temptation to die with clean hands and a dirty heart. ~ Walter Wink, #NFDB
1289:The only time I get frustrated with activist criticism is if I have recognized them, and invited them to work with me to figure out how we solve this problem that they're concerned about, and either they don't engage out of the sense of purity - "I'm not going to shake his hand" - or you're not sufficiently prepared so you don't even know what to ask for, or you're not being strategic as an activist and trying to figure out how the process has to work in order for you to get what you want. ~ Barack Obama, #NFDB
1290:We all dream dreams of unity, of purity; we all dream that there's an authoritative voice out there that will explain things, including ourselves. If it wasn't for our longing for these things, I doubt the novel or the short story would exist in its current form. I'm not going to say much more on the topic. Just remember: In dictatorships, only one person is really allowed to speak. And when I write a book or a story, I too am the only one speaking, no matter how I hide behind my characters. ~ Junot D az, #NFDB
1291:We all dream dreams of unity, of purity; we all dream that there's an authoritative voice out there that will explain things, including ourselves. If it wasn't for our longing for these things, I doubt the novel or the short story would exist in its current form. I'm not going to say much more on the topic. Just remember: In dictatorships, only one person is really allowed to speak. And when I write a book or a story, I too am the only one speaking, no matter how I hide behind my characters. ~ Junot Diaz, #NFDB
1292:Without self-discipline a man drifts lower and lower, approximating more and more nearly to the beast, until at last he grovels, a lost creature, in the mire of his own befoulment. By self-discipline a man rises higher and higher, approximating more and more nearly to the divine, until at last he stands erect in his divine dignity, a saved soul, glorified by the radiance of his purity. Let a man discipline himself, and he will live; let a man cease to discipline himself, and he will perish. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
1293:The truth was not always pleasant. It did not always have good manners and clean its fingernails. Sometimes it was in the eyes of a child or in a bird on a treetop, sometimes in a gutter, on a gallows, in a barracks latrine; and it was no less the truth in one place than in another. The dedication was to find it in all places - everywhere. To face it, know it, and be unafraid. Without evil, there could be no good; without filth, no purity, without hell, no heaven; without Satan, no God. ~ James Ramsey Ullman, #NFDB
1294:Hanna kept her words to herself because they gave her power. Inside her, they retained their purity. She scrutinized Mommy and other adults, studied them. Their words fell like dead bugs from their mouths. A rare person, like Daddy, spoke in butterflies, whispering colors that made her gasp. Inside, she was a kaleidoscope of racing, popping, bursting exclamations, full of wonder and question marks. Patterns swirled, and within every secret pocket she’d stashed a treasure, some stolen, some found. ~ Zoje Stage, #NFDB
1295:The mind in creation is as a fading coal, which some invisible influence, like an inconstant wind, awakens to transitory brightness; this power arises from within...could this influence be durable in its original purity and force, it is impossible to predict the greatness of the result; but when composition begins, inspiration is already on the decline; and the most glorious poetry that has been communicated to the world is probably a feeble shadow of the original conceptions of the poet. ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, #NFDB
1296:Christianity excludes malignity, subdues selfishness, regulates the passions, subordinates the appetites, quickens the intellect, exalts the affections. It promotes industry, honesty, truth, purity, kindness. It humbles the proud, exalts the lowly, upholds law, favors liberty, is essential to it, and would unite men in one great brotherhood. It is the breath of life to social and civil well-being here, and spreads the azure of that heaven into whose unfathomed depths the eye if faith loves to look. ~ Mark Hopkins, #NFDB
1297:Desire means you are dragged out of the moment; that creates a tension, that creates anxiety, that creates hope. And then finally hope turns sour, becomes frustration. Each hope leads you into anguish. Buddha calls it the only impurity. Cut the roots of desire, live in the moment so totally, pull yourself out of the past and don`t project yourself into the future. Let this moment be all and all. And your life will have such a purity, such a crystal-clear consciousness that right now you cannot imagine. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1298:O CHILDREN OF ADAM! Holy words and pure and goodly deeds ascend unto the heaven of celestial glory. Strive that your deeds may be cleansed from the dust of self and hypocrisy and find favor at the court of glory; for ere long the assayers of mankind shall, in the holy presence of the Adored One, accept naught but absolute virtue and deeds of stainless purity. This is the daystar of wisdom and of divine mystery that hath shone above the horizon of the divine will. Blessed are they that turn thereunto. ~ Bah u ll h, #NFDB
1299:I wish the world were like this, if I just woke up and marked the food I’d be eating and it came to me later in the day. I suppose it is like that, except you have to pay for whatever you want to eat, so maybe what I’m asking for is communism, but I think it’s actually deeper than communism—I’m asking for simplicity, for purity and ease of choice and no pressure. I’m asking for something that no politics is going to provide, something that probably you only get in preschool. I’m asking for preschool. ~ Ned Vizzini, #NFDB
1300:Of course it's juggling,” the man in motley was saying [...] “You know what your problem is, Sir Grenall? You've been seduced by the lure of spectacle. Sure, I could juggle three or four balls and use two hands, and that would be very impressive, but then what would I do after that? Five balls? Three hands? You see how it goes? Now me, I'm an artist, trying to recapture the original purity of the art form. This” - the man nodded at the ball he tossing up and down - “this is the essence of juggling. ~ Gerald Morris, #NFDB
1301:The concentrated expression of the abolitionist strategy was the slogan, “No Union with Slaveholders,” which was not, as has often been charged, an attempt to maintain their moral purity but an effort to break up the Union in order to establish a liberated zone adjacent to the slave states. It was a strategy that would later come to be known as dual power, and neither Garrison’s pacifism nor his failure to develop a general critique of the capitalist system should blind us to its revolutionary character. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1302:I am sure I loved that baby quite as truly, quite as tenderly, with greater purity and more disinterestedness, than can enter into the best love of a later time of life, high and ennobling as it is. I am sure my fancy raised up something round that blue-eyed mite of a child, which etherealised, and made a very angel of her. If, any sunny forenoon, she had spread a little pair of wings, and flown away before my eyes, I don't think I should have regarded it as much more than I had had reason to expect. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
1303:Philby would later frame his decision as one of ideological purity, consistent with the ‘total commitment to the Soviet Union’ he had made at the age of twenty-one. He did what he did, in his own estimation, out of pure political conviction, the guiding principle of his life. He looked with disdain on others who had seen the horrors of Stalinism and abandoned ship. ‘I stayed the course,’ he wrote, ‘in the confident faith that the principles of the Revolution would outlive the aberration of individuals. ~ Ben Macintyre, #NFDB
1304:Pranayama. Stopping the right nostril with the thumb, through the left nostril fill in air, according to capacity; then, without any interval, throw the air out through the right nostril, closing the left one. Again inhaling through the right nostril eject through the left, according to capacity; practicing this three or five times at four hours of the day, before dawn, during midday, in the evening, and at midnight, in fifteen days or a month purity of the nerves is attained; then begins Pranayama. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1305:So behave that the odor of your actions may enhance the general sweetness of the atmosphere, that when we behold or scent a flower, we may not be reminded how inconsistent your deeds are with it; for all odor is but one form of advertisement of a moral quality, and if fair actions had not been performed, the lily would not smell sweet. The foul slime stands for the sloth and vice of man, the decay of humanity; the fragrant flower that springs from it, for the purity and courage which are immortal. ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
1306:The injunction, 'Show tolerance for the sake of God,' means to not hurt any creature while at the same time aiming toward not being hurt by any creature. This is a natural consequence of purity of heart. A poet has aptly expressed this as follows:
This is the objective of humans and jinns in the garden of the world,
To neither hurt anyone, nor to be hurt by anyone.
From another perspective, it means: Abandon the world of causality and be content with the pleasure of the divine will. ~ Osman Nuri Topba,#NFDB
1307:That Jesus’ task “is consummated” must be true, because he says so (John 19:30). Yet what a spectacle of failure! His word rejected, his message misunderstood, his commands ignored. None the less, his appointed task is accomplished, through obedience to the death—that obedience whose purity counterbalances the sins of a world. That Jesus delivered his message is what counts—not the world’s reaction; and once proclaimed, that message can never be silenced, but will knock on men’s hearts to the last day. ~ Romano Guardini, #NFDB
1308:The path of self-purification is hard and steep. One has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech and action to rise above the opposing currents of love and hatred, attachment and repulsion. I know that I have not in me as yet that triple purity in spite of constant ceaseless striving for it. That is why the world's praise fails to move me, indeed it very often stings me. To conquer the subtle passions seems to me to be harder far than the physical conquest of the world by the force of arms. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1309:“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This sentence alone would save mankind, if all books and prophets were lost. This purity of heart will bring the vision of God. It is the theme of the whole music of this universe. In purity is no bondage. Remove the veils of ignorance by purity; then we manifest ourselves as we really are and know that we were never in bondage. The seeing of 'many' is the great sin of all the world. See all as Self and love all; let all idea of separateness go. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1310:Marie Bateson
You observe the carven hand
With the index finger pointing heavenward.
That is the direction, no doubt.
But how shall one follow it?
It is well to abstain from murder and lust,
To forgive, do good to others, worship God
Without graven images.
But these are external means after all
By which you chiefly do good to yourself.
The inner kernel is freedom,
It is light, purity -I can no more,
Find the goal or lose it, according to your vision.
~ Edgar Lee Masters,#NFDB
1311:We shall never succeed in knowing ourselves unless we seek to know God; by looking at His purity we shall see our foulness; by meditating upon His humility, we shall see how far we are from being humble. There are two advantages in this. First, it is clear that anything white looks very much whiter against something black, just as the black looks blacker against the white. Secondly, if we turn from self towards God, our understanding and our will become nobler and readier to embrace all that is good. ~ Padma Aon Prakasha, #NFDB
1312:Well…there’s only one glove. Right away, I wonder, where’s the other glove? How did it become separated from its mate? Does it feel lost and confused without its other half? It looks lonely. Cold. Like an outsider that has no one to turn to, nowhere to go. And the stark contrast of the white snow against the bright colors of the glove makes the lines crisp and clear. It makes that feeling of alienated loneliness crisp and clear. The purity of the snow gives the purity of the glove’s solitude a stronger effect. ~ Linda Kage, #NFDB
1313:We can only suppose that Buddhism has been so much admired mainly for what it is not. A well known modern writer on the subject has remarked that “Buddhism in its purity ignored the existence of a God; it denied the existence of a soul; it was not so much a religion as a code of ethics”. We can understand the appeal of this on the one hand to the rationalist and on the other to the sentimentalist. Unfortunately for these, all three statements are untrue, at least in the sense in which they are meant. ~ Ananda K Coomaraswamy, #NFDB
1314:I think I've had pretty good experiences for the most part with the people who have directed my screenplays. It's more that I wanted to see what it would be like if I didn't have to collaborate with anybody, to have a sense of purity of the thing from beginning to end. I liked doing it. It's really different from writing. Directing is a more pragmatic experience, where you have to deal with the restrictions of time and money that force you to make certain decisions you don't have to make when you're writing. ~ Charlie Kaufman, #NFDB
1315:The Beatitudes reveal the profile of the Christian, the character of the one who has had a life-changing encounter with the grace of God. In light of God's overwhelming goodness, the sinner sees his own poverty of spirit and mourns not only for his own sin but also for the spiritual sickness of the world. Therefore, he grows meek and longs for all the more earnestly for true righteousness. Therefore, he practices mercy and enjoys purity and makes peace. Therefore, he gladly endures persecution for the sake of Jesus. ~ R W Glenn, #NFDB
1316:To think that we are disconnected in some way serves the occupation whether it's through indifference or a distancing. It is a colonial approach of making you a subject and them the spectators. That is disturbing and counterproductive. And then suddenly they are surprised or find it alienating that the microcosmic effects of Palestine are happening in the U.S., France, and England, whether it's from the Islamic movements or immigration factors. Keeping a false purity of their countries will harm them eventually. ~ Elia Suleiman, #NFDB
1317:Humility is the safeguard of chastity. In the matter of purity, there is no greater danger than not fearing the danger. For my part, when I find a man secure of himself and without fear, I give him up for lost. I am less alarmed for one who is tempted and who resists by avoiding the occasions, than for one who is not tempted and is not careful to avoid occasions. When a person puts himself in an occasion, saying, I shall not fall, it is an almost infallible sign that he will fall, and with great injury to his soul. ~ Philip Neri, #NFDB
1318:When there is real purification of the body, external and internal, there arises neglect of the body, and the idea of keeping it nice vanishes. A face which others call most beautiful will appear to the Yogi as merely animal, if there is not intelligence behind it. What the world calls a very common face he regards as heavenly, if the spirit shines behind it. This thirst after body is the great bane of human life. So the first sign of the establishment of purity is that you do not care to think you are a body. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1319:purity-versus-disgust messaging, Willer says, he and Feinberg did something similar. They spoke in conservative language, making a fake environmental advertisement that essentially said, “Now more than ever, it’s so important to protect our sacred mountains and our rivers from desecration.” The ad also talked about impurities in the environment entering our bodies. It had images of people drinking dirty water. “What really surprised us was that it closed the gap between liberals and conservatives,” Willer says. ~ Shawn Lawrence Otto, #NFDB
1320:In the biblical view of things, a deeper knowledge of God brings with it improvement in the other areas mentioned: purity, integrity, a willingness to sacrifice, evangelistic faithfulness, better study of Scripture, improved private and corporate worship, better relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ, a heart for the lost, and much more. But if we seek these things without passionately desiring a deeper knowledge of God, we may be running after God’s blessings or pursuing God’s power without running after him. ~ D A Carson, #NFDB
1321:It has also been a great solace to me, to believe that you are engaged in vindicating to posterity the course we have pursued for preserving to them, in all their purity, the blessings of self-government, which we had assisted too in acquiring for them. If ever the earth has beheld a system of administration conducted with a single and steadfast eye to the general interest and happiness of those committed to it, one which, protected by truth, can never know reproach, it is that to which our lives have been devoted. ~ Thomas Jefferson, #NFDB
1322:Jobs tended to be deeply moved by artists who displayed purity, and he became a fan. He invited Ma to play at his wedding, but he was out of the country on tour. He came by the Jobs house a few years later, sat in the living room, pulled out his 1733 Stradivarius cello, and played Bach. “This is what I would have played for your wedding,” he told them. Jobs teared up and told him, “You playing is the best argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of God, because I don’t really believe a human alone can do this.” On ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
1323:Megan had heard about such heroics before, those rare spouses or parents who sacrificed themselves without thought. She read about shootings where husbands naturally stepped in front of their wives, saving them. They weren’t always good men, by classic definition. Some were drunks or gamblers or thieves. But they also were on some base level congenitally brave. There was a selflessness within them, a purity of action. They made you feel safe and cared for and loved. You couldn’t teach it. You had it or you didn’t. Even ~ Harlan Coben, #NFDB
1324:To the Baptist Churches on Neal's Greek on Black Creek, North Carolina I have received, fellow-citizens, your address, approving my objection to the Bill containing a grant of public land to the Baptist Church at Salem Meeting House, Mississippi Territory. Having always regarded the practical distinction between Religion and Civil Government as essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, I could not have otherwise discharged my duty on the occasion which presented itself ~ James Madison, #NFDB
1325:He amplifies fear, worry, and anxiety until they’re the loudest voices in your head, causing you to deem the adventure of following God too risky to attempt (Josh. 14:8). Strategy 7—Against Your Purity He tries to tempt you toward certain sins, convincing you that you can tolerate them without risking consequence, knowing they’ll only wedge distance between you and God (Isa. 59:1–2). Strategy 8—Against Your Rest and Contentment He hopes to overload your life and schedule, pressuring you to constantly push beyond your ~ Priscilla Shirer, #NFDB
1326:Beware the powerful exclusive attachment to another; it is not, as people sometimes think, evidence of the purity of the love. Such encapsulated, exclusive love—feeding on itself, neither giving to nor caring about others—is destined to cave in on itself. Love is not just a passion spark between two people; there is infinite difference between falling in love and standing in love. Rather, love is a way of being, a “giving to,” not a “falling for”; a mode of relating at large, not an act limited to a single person. Though ~ Irvin D Yalom, #NFDB
1327:[...] Black is the absence of colour and light. White is purity, it is undivided light - light not broken down into colours. Red is the epitome of colour, its zenith and its point of greatest intensity. This ordering of things becomes even more evident if, between white and red, a whole series of intermediate colours, such as lemon-yellow, yellow-ochre, and bright red, is inserted, or again, if one speaks of a 'peacock's tail' of gradually unfolding colours. In this case royal purple is always the seal of each series. ~ Titus Burckhardt, #NFDB
1328:…“Please let me make her happy, deliver me from this dreadful tyranny of self. I have sunk low. Let me sink lower still, that I may know the truth. Teach me to love again, to love life.” That wouldn’t do either … “Where is love? Let me truly suffer. Give me back my purity, the knowledge of the Mysteries, that I have betrayed and lost.—Let me be truly lonely, that I may honestly pray. Let us be happy again somewhere, if it’s only together, if it’s only out of this terrible world. Destroy the world!” he cried in his heart. ~ Malcolm Lowry, #NFDB
1329:Will you regret letting him kiss you if you compare his kiss to your husband’s your whole life? Or was it more than a kiss? That is why the church expects purity. It isn’t because they don’t understand temptation, or even that they don’t understand how wonderful a budding relationship can be. Including the stolen kisses. No. They understand all too well how good it feels and how seductive desire can be. The Lord expects you to remain pure for other reasons. Your body is a temple and should be for you and your husband only. ~ Kari Trumbo, #NFDB
1330:Stagnating in boredom “is preventing one from dying, she said, it is not living”; she is “always totally involved in something, always active, always gay.” Foolhardy, childish, or deep, gay or serious, reckless or secretive, they all refuse the heavy sleep in which humanity sinks. And these women who have been able to preserve their freedom, albeit unfulfilled, will rise up by passion to heroism as soon as they meet an object worthy of them; their force of soul and their energy attest to the fierce purity of total commitment. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1331:Human beings are settlers, but not in the pioneer sense. It is our human occupational hazard to settle for little. We settle for purity and piety when we are being invited to an exquisite holiness. We settle for the fear-driven when love longs to be our engine. We settle for a puny, vindictive God when we are being nudged always closer to this wildly inclusive, larger-than-any-life God. We allow our sense of God to atrophy. We settle for the illusion of separation when we are endlessly asked to enter into kinship with all. ~ Gregory Boyle, #NFDB
1332:Jesus was trying to get the Pharisees to come off of their proud, high tower and see the spiritual bankruptcy in their own lives. The Pharisees had no regard for spirituality of soul, purity of heart, integrity of behavior, or obedience to God, and they were building their big spiritual structure on sand. Sure, they prayed and fasted and gave alms, but they did so only to impress God, to parade their supposed spirituality, and to enhance their reputations. They had a religion of externals; that is a religion of sand. ~ John F MacArthur Jr, #NFDB
1333:birch – hope butterflies – change, transformation, inner growth cypress – mourning daisies – innocence, purity dragonflies – ancestors fireflies – life, sexuality hummingbirds – hope and beauty, the sun in disguise, infinity in the flight of their wings phoenix – rebirth poppies – remembrance raven – in some cultures death, in some cultures a bringer of light associated with Creation rose (red) – romantic love rose (yellow) – friendship sage – powerful cleansing sweetgrass – a grandmother medicine sycamore – hidden treasure ~ Cynthia Sharp, #NFDB
1334:Frequent not the company of immodest persons, especially if they be also impudent, as is generally the case; ...these corrupted souls and infected hearts scarcely speak to any, either of the same or a different sex, without causing them to fall in some degree from purity; they have poison in their eyes and in their breath, like basilisks. On the contrary, keep company with the chaste and virtuous; often meditate upon and read holy things; for the word of God is chaste, and makes those also chaste that delight in it. ~ Saint Francis de Sales, #NFDB
1335:Consciousness is imbued with the three qualities (gunas) of luminosity (sattva), vibrancy (rajas) and inertia (tamas). The gunas also colour our actions: white (sattva), grey (rajas) and black (tamas). Through the discipline of yoga, both actions and intelligence go beyond these qualities and the seer comes to experience his own soul with crystal clarity, free from the relative attributes of nature and actions. This state of purity is samadhi. Yoga is thus both the means and the goal. Yoga is samadhi and samadhi is yoga. There ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
1336:When we are alone on a starlit night; when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children; when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet Bashō we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash—at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the “newness,” the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1337:Now let us regard the idea of God from the magic standpoint, according to the four elements, the so-called tetragrammaton, the unspeakable, the supreme: the fiery principle involves the almightiness and the omnipotence, the airy principle owns the wisdom, purity and clarity, from which aspect proceeds the universal lawfulness. Love and eternal life are attributed to the watery principle, and omnipresence, immortality and consequently eternity belong to the earth principle. These four aspects together represent the supreme Godhead. ~ Franz Bardon, #NFDB
1338:What could rightly have worried my dad about me and surfing was the special brand of monomania, antisocial and ill-balanced, that a serious commitment to surfing nearly always brought with it. Surfing was still something that one did—that I did—with friends, but the club thing, the organized-sports part, was fading fast. I no longer dreamed about winning contests, as I had dreamed about pitching for the Dodgers. The newly emerging ideal was solitude, purity, perfect waves far from civilization. Robinson Crusoe, Endless Summer. ~ William Finnegan, #NFDB
1339:Where there was nature and earth, life and water, I saw a desert landscape that was unending, resembling some sort of crater, so devoid of reason and light and spirit that the mind could not grasp it on any sort of conscious level and if you came close the mind would reel backward, unable to take it in. It was a vision so clear and real and vital to me that in its purity it was almost abstract. This was what I could understand, this was how I lived my life, what I constructed my movement around, how I dealt with the tangible. ~ Bret Easton Ellis, #NFDB
1340:I want first of all - in fact, as an end to these other desires - to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact - to borrow from the language of the saints - to live 'in grace' as much of the time as possible. I am not using this term in a strictly theological sense. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh, #NFDB
1341:Awakening is waking up from the daytime dream and realizing that who you thought you were is not limited to thought, emotion or form. Beyond the imaginary seeker, beyond concepts and beliefs, there is a field of innocence and purity. We are this deep peace and sacredness, which is absolute and beyond all intellectual understanding. I invite you to recognize this Essence of Being and to directly realize the illusion of all psychological suffering due to misidentification, misperception of separation and attachment to conditioned thought. ~ Katie Davis, #NFDB
1342:For Werner, doubts turn up regularly. Racial purity, political purity—Bastian speaks to a horror of any sort of corruption, and yet, Werner wonders in the dead of night, isn’t life a kind of corruption? A child is born, and the world sets in upon it. Taking things from it, stuffing things into it. Each bite of food, each particle of light entering the eye—the body can never be pure. But this is what the commandant insists upon, why the Reich measures their noses, clocks their hair color. The entropy of a closed system never decreases. ~ Anthony Doerr, #NFDB
1343:...I want first of all - in fact, as an end to these other desires - to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central cor to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact - to borrow from the language of the saints -to live 'in grace' as much of the time as possible. I am not using this term in a strictly theological sense. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony... ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh, #NFDB
1344:Lee put his arm around the broad shoulders to comfort him. "You're growing up. Maybe that's it," he said softly. "Sometimes I think the world tests us most sharply then, and we turn inward and watch ourselves with horror. But that's not the worst. We think everybody is seeing into us. The dirt is very dirty and purity is shining white. Aron, it will be over. That's not much relief to you because you don't believe it, but it's the best I can do for you. Try to believe that things are neither so good nor so bad as they seem to you now. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1345:Rondeau
Ah, Manon, say, why is it we
Are one and all so fain of thee?
Thy rich red beauty debonnaire
In very truth is not more fair,
Than the shy grace and purity
That clothe the maiden maidenly;
Her gray eyes shine more tenderly
And not less bright than thine her hair;
Ah, Manon, say!
Expound, I pray, the mystery
Why wine-stained lip and languid eye,
And most unsaintly Maenad air,
Should move us more than all the rare
White roses of virginity?
Ah, Manon, say!
~ Ernest Christopher Dowson,#NFDB
1346:63. In this state of Resurrection comes that ineffable silence, by which we not only subsist in God, but commune with Him, and which, in a Soul thus dead to its own working, and general and fundamental Self-appropriation, becomes a flux and reflux of Divine Communion, with nothing to sully its purity; for there is nothing to hinder it. 64. The Soul then becomes a partaker of the ineffable communion of the Trinity, where the Father of Spirits imparts his spiritual fecundity, and makes it one Spirit with Himself. ~ Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, #NFDB
1347:Because bread was so important, the laws governing its purity were strict and the punishment severe. A baker who cheated his customers could be fined £10 per loaf sold, or made to do a month's hard labor in prison. For a time, transportation to Australia was seriously considered for malfeasant bakers. This was a matter of real concern for bakers because every loaf of bread loses weight in baking through evaporation, so it is easy to blunder accidentally. For that reason, bakers sometimes provided a little extra- the famous baker's dozen. ~ Bill Bryson, #NFDB
1348:consider who and what you are; who the Spirit is that is grieved, what he has done for you, what he comes to your soul about, what he has already done in you; and be ashamed. Among those who walk with God, there is no greater motive and incentive unto universal holiness, and the preserving of their hearts and spirits in all purity and cleanness than this: That the blessed Spirit, who has undertaken to dwell in them, is continually considering what they give entertainment in their hearts unto, and rejoices when his temple is kept undefiled. ~ John Owen, #NFDB
1349:Nineteenth-century Russian literature, swooning with compassion for the suffering brother, had created for Nerzhin, and for everyone reading it for the first time, the image of a haloed, silvery-haired People, embodying all wisdom, moral purity, and spiritual grandeur.
But that was far away, on bookshelves; it was somewhere else, in the villages and fields at the crossroads of the nineteenth century. The heavens unfolded, the twentieth century came, and those places had long since ceased to exist under Russian skies. ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,#NFDB
1350:Ron told Pippa that during the six years he had spent on the book, Valerie Chernow had developed a powerful identification with Hamilton’s wife. “She used to say, ‘Eliza is like me: She’s good, she’s true, she’s loyal, she’s not ambitious.’ There was a purity and a goodness about the character, and that was like Valerie,” he says. In 2006, after 27 years of marriage, Valerie passed away. For her gravestone, Ron chose a line from the letter that Hamilton wrote to Eliza on the night before the duel: “Best of wives and best of women. ~ Lin Manuel Miranda, #NFDB
1351:Consider who and what you are; who the Spirit is that is grieved, what he has done for you, what he comes to your soul about, what he has already done in you; and be ashamed. Among those who walk with God, there is no greater motive and incentive unto universal holiness, and the preserving of their hearts and spirits in all purity and cleanness than this: That the blessed Spirit, who has undertaken to dwell in them, is continually considering what they give entertainment in their hearts unto, and rejoices when his temple is kept undefiled. ~ John Owen, #NFDB
1352:Ministers and their people, while their relation continues, often meet together in this world. They are wont to meet from Sabbath to Sabbath, and at other times, for the public worship of God, and administration of ordinances, and the solemn services of God’s house. And besides these meetings, they have also occasions to meet for the determining and managing their ecclesiastical affairs, for the exercise of church discipline, and the settling and adjusting those things which concern the purity and good order of public administrations. ~ Jonathan Edwards, #NFDB
1353:The passion for such children contains no ego motive of anticipated reciprocity; one is choosing against, in the poet Richard Wilbur's phrase, 'loving things for reasons'. You find beauty and hope in the existence, rather than the achievements, of such a child. Most parenthood entails some struggle to change, educate and improve one's children; people with multiple severe disabilities may not become anything else, and there is a compelling purity in parental engagement not with what might or should or will be, but with, simply, what is. ~ Andrew Solomon, #NFDB
1354:the surplice and alb signify innocence; the cord that serves as a girdle is an emblem of chastity and modesty; the amice, of purity of heart and body—the helmet of salvation mentioned by Saint Paul. The maniple, of good works, vigilance, and the tears and sweat poured out by the priest to win and save souls; the stole, of obedience, the clothing on of immortality given to us in baptism; the dalmatic, of justice, of which we must give proof in our ministrations; the chasuble, of the unity of the faith, and also of the yoke of Christ ~ Joris Karl Huysmans, #NFDB
1355:In this night the soul obtains these four benefits here mentioned, namely, delight of peace, constant remembrance of God, purity and cleanness of soul, the practice of all the virtues of which I have just spoken. So David speaks from his own experience when he was in this night. “My soul,” he says, “refuses to be comforted; I was mindful of God and was delighted, and was exercised, and my spirit fainted.” He adds forthwith: “I meditated in the night with my own heart, and I was exercised, and I swept my spirit”6 clean of all affections. ~ Juan de la Cruz, #NFDB
1356:Therefore the Way that is sagely within and kingly without has fallen into darkness and is no longer clearly perceived, has become shrouded and no longer shines forth. The men of the world all follow their own desires and make these their “doctrine.” How sad!—the hundred schools going on and on instead of turning back, fated never to join again. The scholars of later ages have unfortunately never perceived the purity of Heaven and earth, the great body of the ancients, and “the art of the Way” in time comes to be rent and torn apart by the world. ~ Zhuangzi, #NFDB
1357:When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness," the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1358:Some of these various sects and denominations are peaceful, but the largest of them—the most successful of them—have been built on the blood, bones, and screams of those who have the effrontery not to bow to their idea of God. The Romans fed Christians to the lions; the Christians dismembered those they deemed to be heretics or sorcerers or witches; Hitler sacrificed the Jews in their millions to the false god of racial purity. Millions have been burned, shot, hung, racked, poisoned, electrocuted, and torn to pieces by dogs . . . all in God’s name. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1359:THERE HAVE BEEN five great kisses since 1642 B.C., when Saul and Delilah Korn's inadvertent discovery swept across Western civilization. (Before then couples hooked thumbs.) And the precise rating of kisses is a terribly difficult thing, often leading to great controversy, because although everyone agrees with the formula of affection times purity times intensity times duration, no one has ever been completely satisfied with how much weight each element should receive. But on any system, there are five that everyone agrees deserve full marks. ~ William Goldman, #NFDB
1360:Three deep cravings of the self, three great expressions of man's restlessness, which only mystic truth can fully satisfy. The first is the craving which makes him a pilgrim and a wanderer. It is the longing to go out from his normal world in search of a lost home, a 'better country'; an Eldorado, a Sarras, a Heavenly Syon. The next is the craving of heart for heart, of the Soul for its perfect mate, which makes him a lover. The third is the craving for inward purity and perfection, which makes him an ascetic, and in the last resort a saint. ~ Evelyn Underhill, #NFDB
1361:Where are the young who must dedicate their roseate hours, their illusions and enthusiasm to the good of the country? Where are they who must generously spill their blood to wash away so much shame, so many crimes, so much abomination? Pure and spotless must be the victim for the holocaust to be acceptable. Where are you, you children who must embody the vigor of life that has fled from your veins, the purity of ideas that has become in our minds and the fire of enthusiasm that has gone out in our hearts? We await you, Oh youth! Come, we await you! ~ Jos Rizal, #NFDB
1362:Aurobindo Ghose writes somewhere of the present as 'the pure and virgin moment,' that razor's edge of time and existence which divides the past from the future, and is, and yet, instantaneously is not. The phrase is attractive and yet what does it mean? The virgin moment emerging from the veil of the future in all its naked purity, coming into contact with us, and immediately becoming the soiled and stale past. Is it we that soil it and violate it? Or is the moment not so virgin after all, for it is bound up with all the harlotry of the past? ~ Jawaharlal Nehru, #NFDB
1363:A treacherous friend is the most dangerous enemy; and I will say boldly, that both religion and virtue have received more real discredit from hypocrites than the wittiest profligates or infidels could ever cast upon them: nay, farther, as these two, in their purity, are rightly called the bands of civil society, and are indeed the greatest of blessings; so when poisoned and corrupted with fraud, pretence, and affectation, they have become the worst of civil curses, and have enabled men to perpetrate the most cruel mischiefs to their own species. ~ Henry Fielding, #NFDB
1364:Avoid such situations in which you are unnecessarily burdened with rubbish. You already have too much as it is, you need to be unburdened of it. And you go on collecting it as if it is something precious. Talk less, listen only to the essential, be telegraphic in talking and listening. If you talk less, if you listen less, slowly slowly you will see that a cleanliness, a feeling of purity, as if you have just taken a bath, will start arising within you. That becomes the necessary soil for meditation to arise. Don't go on reading all kinds of nonsense. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1365:I just happened to have my camera and be photographing my friends. It was totally innocent; there was no purpose to the photographs. There was a purity to them that wasn't planned; it was realism. Over the years, the work has changed for me. I know that I have wanted to repeat myself, but I can't. I've been lost a lot of times, but then I'd just get an idea and photograph it. Once I'd started, I'd know exactly what would go down and how it would end. So I just quit doing it, because it loses all interest for me when you know what's going to happen. ~ Larry Clark, #NFDB
1366:The classic hustle is still famous, even today, for the cold purity of its execution: bring opium from India, introduce it into China00howdy Fong, this here’s opium, opium, this is Fong—ah, so, me eatee!—no-ho-ho, Fong, you smokee, smokee, see? pretty soon Fong’s coming back for more and more, so you create an inelastic demand for that shit, get China to make it illegal, then sucker China into a couple-three disastrous wars over the right of your merchants to sell opium, which by now you are describing as sacred. You win, China loses. Fantastic. ~ Thomas Pynchon, #NFDB
1367:Perfection... is clearly not achieved simply by being naked, by the lack of wealth or by the rejection of honors, unless there is also that love whose ingredients the apostle described (cf. I Cor. 13) and which is to be found solely in purity of heart. Not to be jealous, not to be puffed up, not to act heedlessly, not to seek what does not belong to one, not to rejoice over some injustice, not to plan evil - what is this and its like if not the continuous offering to God of the heart that is perfect and truly pure, a heart kept free of all disturbance? ~ John Cassian, #NFDB
1368:A Virgin Cure? It's a lie of the most terrible and monstrous sort." pg. 121
"In 1871, under common law, the age of consent was 10 years of age. (In Delaware it was seven.) The young girls of New York understood (for better or for worse) the value of declaring themselves to be a palatable age to gentlemen. Twelve sounded fr too young to the ears of any man with a conscience or heart. Sixteen, even when uttered by honest lip, inevitably brought the girl's purity into question. Of the years left between, fifteen was declared to be the ideal number." pg 124 ~ Ami McKay,#NFDB
1369:What a word of encouragement, consolation, and comfort! We don't have to shift our heart's an analyze our intentions before returning home. Abba just wants us to show up. We don't have to tarry at the tavern until the purity of heart arrives. We don't have to be shredded with sorrow or crushed with contrition. We don't have to be perfect or even very good before God will accept us. We don't have to wallow in guilt, shame, remorse, and self-condemnation. Even if we still nurse a secret nostalgia for the far country, Abba falls on our neck and kisses us. ~ Brennan Manning, #NFDB
1370:Look, it is snowing! Oh, I must
go out! Amsterdam asleep in the white night, the dark jade canals under the little snow-covered bridges, the empty streets, my muted steps--there will be
purity, even if fleeting, before tomorrows mud.See the huge flakes drifting against the windowpanes. It must be the doves, surely. They finally make up
their minds to come down, the little dears; they are covering the waters and the roofs with a thick layer of feathers; they are fluttering at every window.
What an invasion! Lets hope they are bringing good news. ~ Albert Camus,#NFDB
1371:All things in the world are created for Man, yet all have two purposes. The waters run that we might drink of them, but they are also symbols of the futility of Man. They reflect our lives in rushing beauty, birthed in the purity of the mountains. As babes they babble and run, gushing and growing as they mature into strong young rivers. Then they widen and slow until at last they meander, like old men, to join with the sea. And like the soles of men in the Nethervoid, they mix and mingle until the sun lifts them again as raindrops to fall upon the mountains. ~ David Gemmell, #NFDB
1372:Purity in Death Portrait in Death Imitation in Death Divided in Death Visions in Death Survivor in Death Origin in Death Memory in Death Born in Death Innocent in Death Creation in Death Strangers in Death Salvation in Death Promises in Death Kindred in Death Fantasy in Death Indulgence in Death Treachery in Death New York to Dallas Celebrity in Death Delusion in Death Calculated in Death Thankless in Death Concealed in Death Festive in Death Obsession in Death Devoted in Death Brotherhood in Death Apprentice in Death Echoes in Death Secrets in Death Dark in Death ~ J D Robb, #NFDB
1373:When the soul is solidly rooted in... peacefulness, when it is freed of the bonds of every carnal urge, when the unshaking thrust of the heart is toward the one supreme Good, then the words of the apostle will be fulfilled. 'Pray without ceasing,' he said (I Thes. 5:17). 'In every place lift up pure hands, with no anger and no rivalry' (I Tim 2:8). Sensibility is, so to speak, absorbed by this purity. It is reshaped in the likeness of the spiritual and the angelic so that all its dealings, all its activity will be prayer, utterly pure, utterly without tarnish. ~ John Cassian, #NFDB
1374:Few countries have produced such arrogance and snobbishness as America. Particularly is this true of the American woman of the middle class. She not only considers herself the equal of man, but his superior, especially in her purity, goodness, and morality. Small wonder that the American suffragist claims for her vote the most miraculous powers. In her exalted conceit she does not see how truly enslaved she is, not so much by man, as by her own silly notions and traditions. Suffrage can not ameliorate that sad fact; it can only accentuate it, as indeed it does. ~ Emma Goldman, #NFDB
1375:...if you wish to get pure air into your room, or if you go for a walk in the fresh air, think of the pure and of the unclean heart. Many of us like to have pure air in the room (and this is an excellent habit), or are fond of walking in the fresh air, but they do not even think of the necessity of the purity of the spirit or heart (of, so to say, spiritual air, the breath of life); and, living in the fresh air, they allow themselves to indulge in impure thoughts, impure movements of the heart, and even impurity of language, and most impure carnal actions. ~ John of Kronstadt, #NFDB
1376:Rama Nama should come from the heart. In that event, Rama Nama could become an effective remedy against all ailments. A man who believes in Rama Nama would not make a fetish of the body but would regard it as a means of serving God. And for making it into a fit instrument for that purpose, Rama Nama is the sovereign means. To install Rama Nama in the heart requires infinite patience. It might even take ages. But the effort is worthwhile. Rama Nama cannot come from the heart unless one has cultivated the virtues of truth, honesty and purity within and without. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1377:It’s all too easy to turn the fight of faith into sanctification-by-checklist. Take care of a few bad habits, develop a couple good ones, and you’re set. But a moral checklist doesn’t take into consideration the idols of the hearts. It may not even have the gospel as part of the equation. And inevitably, checklist spirituality is highly selective. So you end up feeling successful at sanctification because you stayed away from drugs, lost weight, served at the soup kitchen, and renounced Styrofoam. But you’ve ignored gentleness, humility, joy, and sexual purity. ~ Kevin DeYoung, #NFDB
1378:Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing
that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing
that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.
I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my
love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it
is thy power gives me strength to act.
~ Rabindranath Tagore, Purity
,#NFDB
1379:[In the Royal Society, there] has been, a constant Resolution, to reject all the amplifications, digressions, and swellings of style: to return back to the primitive purity, and shortness, when men deliver'd so many things, almost in an equal number of words. They have exacted from all their members, a close, naked, natural way of speaking; positive expressions; clear senses; a native easiness: bringing all things as near the Mathematical plainness, as they can: and preferring the language of Artizans, Countrymen, and Merchants, before that, of Wits, or Scholars. ~ Thomas Sprat, #NFDB
1380:Then there’s the Day of Purity, which I must admit I don’t understand at all. If the day is a celebration of premarital abstinence, as Dean Staver said, then why was 50 or 60 percent of his convocation speech about homosexuality and the redefinition of gender boundaries? What does that have to do with not having sex? Is the implication that if gay marriage is legalized, Christian boyfriends and girlfriends will turn to each other, shrug their shoulders, and say, Well, gee, might as well? From what I can tell, not a whole lot of forethought has gone into the holiday. ~ Kevin Roose, #NFDB
1381:That still did not invalidate their purity in his eyes, so long as they continued to live the way they lived: sitting on the floor, eating with their fingers, cooking and sleeping first in one room, then in another, or in the vast patio with its fountains, or on the roof, leading the existence of nomads inside the beautiful shell which was the house. If he had felt that they were capable of discarding their utter preoccupation with the present, in order to consider the time not yet arrived, he would straightway have lost interest in them and condemned them as corrupt. ~ Paul Bowles, #NFDB
1382:The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, for one great cause alone appear in the world. The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to hear of the Buddha's knowledge and insight and thus enable them to gain purity. They appear in the world because they wish to demonstrate the Buddha's knowledge and insight to the beings. They appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to understand. They appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to enter into the path of the Buddha's knowledge and insight. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
1383:The deeds of love are less questionable than any action of an individual can be, for, it being founded on the rarest mutual respect, the parties incessantly stimulate each other to a loftier and purer life, and the act in which they are associated must be pure and noble indeed, for innocence and purity can have no equal. In this relation we deal with one whom we respect more religiously even than we respect our better selves, and we shall necessarily conduct as in the presence of God. What presence can be more awful to the lover than the presence of his beloved? ~ Henry David Thoreau, #NFDB
1384:Mind, heart, life, body are to do the works of the Divine, all the works which they do now and yet more, but to do them divinely, as now they do not do them. This is the first appearance of the problem before him on which the seeker of perfection has to lay hold, that it is not a negative, prohibitory, passive or quietistic, but a positive, affirmative, active purity which is his object. A divine quietism discovered the immaculate eternity of the Spirit, a divine kinetism adds to it the right pure undeviating action of the soul, mind and body.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,#NFDB
1385:My brothers, everything that the Maccabean revolt gained for us, the purity, the holiness, the zeal, was lost when the Herods took over the priesthood. The Herodians are the betrayers of our countrymen. They are not even true Jews. They are Edomites, sons of Esau. Pretenders and betrayers. They rob the common Jew and control the majority of the wealth of Israel. They conspire with Rome to keep us enslaved while they sit in their extravagant palaces drinking wine and eating pig. I ask you, do such rulers deserve their riches? Do they deserve to live when so many of us die? ~ Brian Godawa, #NFDB
1386:There is nothing in either savage or civilized history that is more utterly complete, more remorselessly sweeping than the Father of Mercy´s campaign among the Midianites. The official report deals only in masses, all the virgins, all the men, all the babies. all ´creatures that breathe,´ all houses. all cities. It gives you just one vast picture ...as far as the eye can reach, of charred ruins and storm-swept desolation... Would you expect this same conscienceless God, this moral bankrupt, to become a teacher of morals, of gentleness, of meekness, of righteousness, of purity? ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
1387:You can purify your existence by feeling deep within yourself a beautiful rose or lotus, or any other flower that you like. A flower is all purity. Try to identify yourself with the consciousness of the flower or with the purity of the flower. Today it is imagination, but if you continue imagining for five days, or ten days, or a month or two, then you are bound to see and feel the flower within you. First you may feel it, then you are bound to see the existence of the flower, and then automatically the fragrance and the purity of the flower will enter into you to purify you. ~ Sri Chinmoy, #NFDB
1388:the radical— someone who always takes the opposing view to the citizen. To the moral proscription of violence by the one, the other always replies with his purely ideological apology of violence. Where the pacifist always seeks to absolve himself of the state of the world, to remain good by doing no evil, the radical seeks to absolve himself of participation in the “existing state of things” through minor illegalities embellished with hardcore “position statements. ” Both aspire to purity, one through violent action, the other by abstaining from it. Each is the other’s nightmare ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1389:Lady Emily’s maid had come to her many years ago as Amélie Conque, but the assimilative genius of the English language, Mr Leslie’s determination not to truckle to foreigners in the matter of pronunciation, and Mr Gudgeon’s deep-rooted conviction of the purity of his own French accent had all united to form the name Conk. By this name she had been known with terror and dislike by Lady Emily’s children, with love and disrespect by her grandchildren. Whether Conk had softened with years or the new generation were more confident than the old, we cannot say. Probably both. Conk ~ Angela Thirkell, #NFDB
1390:He pressed his cheek to hers and closed his eyes on a prayer of gratitude for interfering fathers, and bad weather, and gorgeous, brave, clever lassies. From the first, he’d recognized Charlotte as the other half of his soul. But this profound emotion as he joined his body to hers exceeded anything he’d known. Buried deep inside her, he could swear they breathed as one. He loved Charlotte Warren with a purity and steadfastness that nothing could shake. He would wed her and claim her as his with every bond of church and state. But their true marriage started at this moment. The ~ Anna Campbell, #NFDB
1391:I want the woman I think you are. But the longer you dissemble, the more I think I made a mistake. Saw things in you that weren’t there.” I fisted my hands and bit down a protest. He made me feel so conflicted. I wanted to shout, You didn’t make a mistake. I am her! I wanted to cut my losses and run before the devil owned more of my soul. “There was purity in that basement. That’s the way I live. There was a time I thought you did, too.” I did, I wanted to say. I do. “Some things are sacred. Until you act like they’re not. Then you lose them.” The door swung silently shut. ~ Karen Marie Moning, #NFDB
1392:Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers t an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 u Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you v by prophecy when the council of elders w laid their hands on you. 15Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, [3] so that x all may see your progress. 16 y Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save z both yourself and a your hearers. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1393:Mary properly bore the name of Virgin, and possessed to the full all the attributes of purity. She was a virgin in both body and soul, and kept all the powers of her soul and her bodily senses far above any defilement. This she did authoritatively, steadfastly, decisively and altogether inviolably at all times, as a closed gate preserves the treasure within, and a sealed book keeps hidden from sight what is written inside. The Scriptures say of her, 'This is the sealed book' (cf. Rev. 5:1-6:1; Dan. 12:4) and 'this gate shall be shut, and no man shall enter by it' (Ezek. 44:2). ~ Gregory Palamas, #NFDB
1394:There have been five great kisses since 1642 B.C. when Saul and Delilah Korn's inadvertent discovery swept across Western civilization. (Before then couples hooked thumbs.) And the precise rating of kisses is a terribly difficult thing, often leading to great controversy, because although everyone agrees with the formula of affection times purity times intensity times duration, no one has ever been completely satisfied with how much weight each element should receive. But on any system, there are five that everyone agrees deserve full marks. Well, this one left them all behind. ~ William Goldman, #NFDB
1395:Unnoticed, the sun occupied his sky, and the shadows of the tree stems, extraordinarily solid, fell like trenches of purple across the frosted lawn. It was a glorious winter morning. Evie’s fox terrier, who had passed for white, was only a dirty grey dog now, so intense was the purity that surrounded him. He was discredited, but the blackbirds that he was chasing glowed with Arabian darkness, for all the conventional colouring of life had been altered. Inside, the clock struck ten with a rich and confident note. Other clocks confirmed it, and the discussion moved towards its close. ~ E M Forster, #NFDB
1396:So I said, “I’ve kept that page all these years because the article is about my life, in a way. A long time ago I was the victim of a crime.” “Rapist-robber? Oh, Mom”—your face twisted up—“you mean you weren’t a virgin when you married Dad! Poor you!” It was a shock to realize that your understanding of sexual violence was being filtered through the language of sexual purity. I felt that I had failed you. The church had failed you. Women are not merely virgins or victims. There’s more to living in a woman’s skin than staying a virgin. So you and I had more conversations after that. ~ Ruth Everhart, #NFDB
1397:He had cast out of heaven his dim star; it had fallen, and its track was lost in the darkness of night. It would never return to the sky again, because life was given only once and never came a second time. If he could have turned back the days and years of the past, he would have replaced the falsity with truth, the idleness with work, the boredom with happiness; he would have given back purity to those whom he had robbed of it. He would have found God and goodness, but that was as impossible as to put back the fallen star into the sky, and because it was impossible he was in despair. ~ Anton Chekhov, #NFDB
1398:It is eminently possible to have a market-based economy that requires no such brutality and demands no such ideological purity. A free market in consumer products can coexist with free public health care, with public schools, with a large segment of the economy -- like a national oil company -- held in state hands. It's equally possible to require corporations to pay decent wages, to respect the right of workers to form unions, and for governments to tax and redistribute wealth so that the sharp inequalities that mark the corporatist state are reduced. Markets need not be fundamentalist. ~ Naomi Klein, #NFDB
1399:I have always loved simplicity. With you, everything’s black and white, Richie had said, like an accusation; but the truth is that almost every murder case is, if not simple, capable of simplicity, and that this is not only necessary but breathtaking, that if there are miracles then this is one. In these rooms, the world’s vast hissing tangle of shadows burns away, all its treacherous grays are honed to the stark purity of a bare blade, two-edged: cause and effect, good and evil. To me, these rooms are beautiful. I go into them the way a boxer goes into the ring: intent, invincible, home. ~ Tana French, #NFDB
1400:In reading, friendship is restored immediately to its original purity. With books there is no forced sociability. If we pass the evening with those friends—books—it’s because we really want to. When we leave them, we do so with regret and, when we have left them, there are none of those thoughts that spoil friendship: “What did they think of us?”—“Did we make a mistake and say something tactless?”—“Did they like us?”—nor is there the anxiety of being forgotten because of displacement by someone else. All such agitating thoughts expire as we enter the pure and calm friendship of reading. ~ Marcel Proust, #NFDB
1401:Sweet, sane, still Nakedness in Nature! — ah if poor, sick, prurient humanity in cities might really know you once more! Is not nakedness then indecent? No, not inherently. It is your thought, your sophistication, your fear, your respectability that is indecent. There come moods when these clothes of ours are not only too irksome to wear, but are themselves indecent. Perhaps indeed he or she to whom the free exhilarating ecstasy of nakedness in Nature has never been eligible (and how many thousands there are!) has not really known what purity is — nor what faith or art or health really is. ~ Walt Whitman, #NFDB
1402:...all this convinced him that he had come to one of those revolting havens where pathetic depravity makes its abode, born of tawdry education and the terrible populousness of the capital. One of those havens where man blasphemously crushes and derides all the pure and holy that adorns life, where woman, the beauty of the world, the crown of creation, turns into some strange, ambiguous being, where, along with purity of soul, she loses everything feminine and repulsively adopts all the mannerisms and insolence of a man, and ceases to be that weak, that beautiful being so different from us. ~ Nikolai Gogol, #NFDB
1403:From the standpoint of a Middle Eastern citizen, Americans look like a bully forcing our way of life on the Islamic way of life. The notion of purity is very important in Islam, and a lot of the negative warlike actions taken against us have to do with our physical presence in the Middle East. Osama bin Laden was trying to get the American, or protesting the American military presence in Saudi Arabia. It's not surprising that our strong presence in Iraq has produced a wave of resistance anger, extreme anger in some cases, and a permissive atmosphere that allows these people to go undetected. ~ John Updike, #NFDB
1404:do not remember having ever fainted away, or having even been moved to tears of joyful pride, at sight of any legislative body. I have borne the House of Commons like a man, and have yielded to no weakness, but slumber, in the House of Lords. I have seen elections for borough and county, and have never been impelled (no matter which party won) to damage my hat by throwing it up into the air in triumph, or to crack my voice by shouting forth any reference to our Glorious Constitution, to the noble purity of our independent voters, or, the unimpeachable integrity of our independent members. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
1405:Last night, I drifted off while reading a Lisp book. Suddenly, I was bathed in a suffusion of blue.
At once, just like they said, I felt a great enlightenment. I saw the naked structure of Lisp code unfold before me.
(My god. It's full of "car"s.)
The patterns and metapatterns danced. Syntax faded, and I swam in the purity of quantified conception. Of ideas manifest.
Truly, this was the language from which the Gods wrought the universe!
[God replies:] "No, it's not. [...] I mean, ostensibly, yes. Honestly, we hacked most of it together with Perl." ~ Randall Munroe, XKCD 224,#NFDB
1406:Everything was lies. Everything. She did not know what the truth was anymore. She had escaped from Panias after being made a nymph to be offered up for the satisfaction of satyrs and other men’s lusts. And now she was being made an offering to a serpent god to satisfy his bloodlust. It had felt to her as if she lived in a world that was unnatural. It made her long for an impossible purity of being. These malevolent gods made her wonder if there was a good and loving divinity anywhere on the earth. Or was existence just a brutal form of suffering until one died and entered the oblivion of Sheol? ~ Brian Godawa, #NFDB
1407:Innocence and purity have become a symbol of stupidity, but that’s
nowadays. We live in a culture where the person with the most experience wins. It’s sick. Everyone knows which way modernism is going, you create a form by breaking up a form, in an endless regression; just let it continue, and for as long as it does, experience will have the upper hand. The unique feature of our times, the pure or independent act, is, as you know, to renounce, not to accept. Accepting is too easy. There’s nothing to be achieved by it. That’s more or less where I place you. Almost saint-like, in other words. ~ Karl Ove Knausg rd,#NFDB
1408:We need an enemy to give people hope. Someone said that patriotism is the last refuge of cowards: those without moral principles usually wrap a flag around themselves, and the bastards always talk about the purity of the race. National identity is the last bastion of the dispossessed. But the meaning of identity is now based on hatred, on hatred for those who are not the same. Hatred has to be cultivated as a civic passion. The enemy is the friend of the people. You always want someone to hate in order to feel justified in your own misery. Hatred is the primordial passion. It is love that’s abnormal. ~ Umberto Eco, #NFDB
1409:A cleansed vessel must be ruled with the opposite from which it was emptied. If fear was cast out, faith must be added. If corruption was cast out, purity must fill its place. If hatred and bitterness were cast out, love and forgiveness must occupy. In other words, one must fill himself with the character and nature of Christ Himself. When a man is completely occupied with matters of the Holy Spirit, there can be no room for evil. “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). The filling of the house is accomplished by living a disciplined Christian life. Let ~ Frank Hammond, #NFDB
1410:In our society, defecation involves an
individual in activity which is defined as inconsistent with
the cleanliness and purity standards expressed in many of our
performances. Such activity also causes the individual to
disarrange his clothing and to 'go out of play," that is, to
drop from his face the expressive mask that he employs in
face-to-face interaction. At the same time ic becomes difficult
for him to reassemble his personal front should the need to
enter into interaction suddenly occur. Perhaps that is a
reason why toilet doors in our society have locks on them. ~ Erving Goffman,#NFDB
1411:The perspective of eternity is not a perspective from a certain place beyond the world, nor the point of view of a transcendent being; rather it is a certain form of thought and feeling that rational persons can adopt within the world. And having done so, they can, whatever their generation, bring together into one scheme all individual perspectives and arrive together at regulative principles that can be affirmed by everyone as he lives by them, each from his own standpoint. Purity of heart, if one could attain it, would be to see clearly and to act with grace and self-command from this point of view. ~ John Rawls, #NFDB
1412:What does “hallowed be thy name” ask for? God’s “name” in the Bible regularly means the person he has revealed himself to be. “Hallowed” means known, acknowledged, and honored as holy. “Holy” is the Bible word for all that makes God different from us, in particular his awesome power and purity. This petition, then, asks that the praise and honor of the God of the Bible, and of him only, should be the issue of everything. The idea that “glory be to God alone” is a motto distinguishing John Calvin and his admirers is no discredit to them, but it is a damning sideswipe at all other versions of Christianity. ~ J I Packer, #NFDB
1413:All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable person that the Bible is simply and purely of human invention - of barbarian invention - is to read it. Read it as you would any other book; think of it as you would of any other; get the bandage of reverence from your eyes; drive from your heart the phantom of fear; push from the throne of your brain the cowled form of superstition - then read the Holy Bible, and you will be amazed that you ever, for one moment, supposed a being of infinite wisdom, goodness and purity, to be the author of such ignorance and of such atrocity. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll, #NFDB
1414:Chinese whisper games will start, where one woman will nod at a young dancing girl, asking a question that is passed down the row from one woman to another, before a response comes back up the line in the same manner. These women are in the business of finding wives for their sons and they offer up occasional commentary on the performance before them.
“Not so pretty. Her sister is better.”
“That poor one will have a hard time, yes. The dark skin—she is already an old woman. She will have to wait, yes.”
Information about the girl’s family’s honor, purity, and place in society is also exchanged ~ Jenny Nordberg,#NFDB
1415:The English language is like London: proudly barbaric yet deeply civilised, too, common yet royal, vulgar yet processional, sacred yet profane. Each sentence we produce, whether we know it or not, is a mongrel mouthful of Chaucerian, Shakespearean, Miltonic, Johnsonian, Dickensian and American. Military, naval, legal, corporate, criminal, jazz, rap and ghetto discourses are mingled at every turn. The French language, like Paris, has attempted, through its Academy, to retain its purity, to fight the advancing tides of Franglais and international prefabrication. English, by comparison, is a shameless whore. ~ Stephen Fry, #NFDB
1416:He angled himself so he could see the round smoothness of her forehead and the straight, oddly aristocratic nose. She was beautiful. He'd recognized that immediately.
Recognized and railed against it.
The oval face with its exotically slanted cheekbones reminded him of etchings he'd seen of Italian Madonnas. His uncle had been generous in giving him books to make up for the Grand Tour he'd never undertake.
His gaze fastened on where delicate color returned from her lush mouth. Its fullness belied the impression of purity. That mouth made even such a sorry excuse for a man as Matthew dream of sin. ~ Anna Campbell,#NFDB
1417:History has taught us that the nature of man is evil, sublimely so. Good is not perfectible, but evil is. Why should you not use your great mind in service of what is perfectible? I ask you, my friend, to join me of your own accord in my research. If you do so, you will save yourself great anguish, and you will save me considerable trouble. Together we will advance the historian's work beyond anything the world has ever seen. There is no purity like the purity of the sufferings of history. You will have what every historian wants: history will be reality to you. We will wash our minds clean with blood. ~ Elizabeth Kostova, #NFDB
1418:The Word of God is not bound by the binding of preachers, but it happens to the persecuted as to Israel in Egypt: ‘But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew’ (Exo 1:12). Probably the Church of God has never had better times, certainly she has never had happier times, than during periods of persecution. Those were the days of her purity and, consequently, her glory. When she has been in the dark, God has been her light; and when she has been driven to and fro by the cruelties of men, then has she most effectually rested under the shadow of the Almighty!”–1887, Sermon 1998 ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
1419:If all emotions are common coin, then what is unique to the good man?
To welcome with affection what is sent by fate. Not to stain or disturb the spirit within him with a mess of false beliefs. Instead, to preserve it faithfully, by calmly obeying God – saying nothing untrue, doing nothing unjust. And if the others don’t acknowledge it – this life lived in simplicity, humility, cheerfulness – he doesn’t resent them for it, and isn’t deterred from following the road where it leads: to the end of life. An end to be approached in purity, in serenity, in acceptance, in peaceful unity with what must be. ~ Marcus Aurelius,#NFDB
1420:Holy shit.” This is the kind of sunset you hardly see any more, a 19th-century wilderness sunset, a few of which got set down, approximated, on canvas, landscapes of the American West by artists nobody ever heard of, when the land was still free and the eye innocent, and the presence of the Creator much more direct. Here it thunders now over the Mediterranean, high and lonely, this anachronism in primal red, in yellow purer that can be found anywhere today, a purity begging to be polluted…of course Empire took its way westward, what other way was there but into those virgin sunsets to penetrate and to foul? ~ Thomas Pynchon, #NFDB
1421:By the altar, which is made of massive slabs of stone untouched by tools since hewn from the quarry and set up in this vast edifice, a barefooted priest wearing a linen tunic waits for the Levite to hand over the turtledoves. He takes the first one, carries it to a comer of the altar, and with a single blow knocks the head from its body. [...] Joseph has nothing more to accomplish here, he must withdraw, collect his wife and child, and return home. Mary is pure once more, not in the strict sense of the word, because purity is something to which most human beings, and above all women, can scarcely hope to aspire. ~ Jos Saramago, #NFDB
1422:Then in the darkness and purity of the meadows he began to feel that the world had many secrets, that they were shattering even to glimpse or sense, and that they were not necessarily unpleasant. In certain states of light he could see, he could begin to sense, things most miraculous indeed. Although it seemed self-serving, he concluded nonetheless, after a lifetime of adhering to the diffuse principles of a science he did not know, that there was life after death, that the dead rose into a mischievous world of pure light, that something most mysterious lay beyond the the enfolding darkness, something wonderful. ~ Mark Helprin, #NFDB
1423:You cling so tightly to your purity, my lad! How terrified you are of sullying your hands. Well, go ahead then, stay pure! What good will it do, and why even bother coming here among us? Purity is a concept of fakirs and friars. But you, the intellectuals, the bourgeois anarchists, you invoke purity as your rationalization for doing nothing. Do nothing, don’t move, wrap your arms tight around your body, put on your gloves. As for myself, my hands
are dirty. I have plunged my arms up to the elbows in excrement and blood. And what else should one do? Do you suppose that it is possible to govern
innocently? ~ Jean Paul Sartre,#NFDB
1424:Wild Things in Captivity
Wild things in captivity
while they keep their own wild purity
won't breed, they mope, they die.
All men are in captivity,
active with captive activity,
and the best won't breed, though they don't know why.
The great cage of our domesticity
kills sex in a man, the simplicity
of desire is distorted and twisted awry.
And so, with bitter perversity,
gritting against the great adversity,
they young ones copulate, hate it, and want to cry.
Sex is a state of grace.
In a cage it can't take place.
Break the cage then, start in and try. ~ D H Lawrence,#NFDB
1425:I am travelling with this mystique myself, I know. It has grown out of childhood, and adolescent reading. This looking-glass Tibet is a realm of ancient learning lost to the rest of the world, ruled by a lineage of monks who are reincarnations of divinity. Recessed beyond the greatest mountain barrier on earth, in plateaux of cold purity, it floats in its own time. It is a land forbidden to intruders not by human agency but by some mystical interdiction. So it resonates like the memory of something lost, a survival from a purer time, less a country than a region in the mind. Perhaps it holds the keys to the afterlife ~ Colin Thubron, #NFDB
1426:This is true of the physical powers, and of those which dwell in the higher vestures. There must be, first, purity; as the blood must be pure, before one can attain to physical health. But absence of impurity is not in itself enough, else would many nerveless ascetics of the cloisters rank as high saints. There is needed, further, a positive fire of the will; a keen vital vigour for the physical powers, and something finer, purer, stronger, but of kindred essence, for the higher powers. The fire of genius is something more than a phrase, for there can be no genius without the celestial fire of the awakened spiritual will. ~ Pata jali, #NFDB
1427:America was founded on an imagined moral superiority and purity. The fact that dominance of others came, and still comes, from unrestrained acts of violence is washed out of the national narrative. The steadfast failure to face the truth, Baldwin warned, perpetuates a kind of collective psychosis. Unable to face the truth, white Americans stunt and destroy their capacity for self-reflection and self-criticism. They construct a world of self-serving fantasy. Those who imbibe the myth of whiteness externalize evil—their own evil—onto their victims. Racism, Baldwin understood, is driven by an inner loneliness and latent guilt. ~ Chris Hedges, #NFDB
1428:Each generation has shouted behind him, Nigger! as he walked our streets; it is he whom we would rather our sisters did not marry; he is banished into the vast and wailing outer darkness whenever we speak of the “purity” of our women, of the “sanctity” of our homes, of “American” ideals. What is more, he knows it. He is indeed the “native son”: he is the “nigger.” Let us refrain from inquiring at the moment whether or not he actually exists; for we believe that he exists. Whenever we encounter him amongst us in the flesh, our faith is made perfect and his necessary and bloody end is executed with a mystical ferocity of joy. ~ James Baldwin, #NFDB
1429:Today the first presage of the rising sun was a wash of palest lavender above the rounded outlines of the hills. As the light brightened the shadows of the pine trees deepened; each rock, each tuft of course grass had a shadow. My own shadow, long and thin, took shape and trailed behind me on the stony path.
Here upon the hills there was a space and a wide lonely freedom and there was such purity in the morning air that my spirit was stilled, as if I were in church, to profound solemnity. . . . The morning was like a gift from the past when no town sullied the surface of the earth and legendary heroes strode upon the hills. ~ D E Stevenson,#NFDB
1430:Lymond considered this with every appearance of seriousness. “I see. Thus the baseness of my morals is redeemed by the stature of my manners? You admire consistency?”
“Yes, I do.”
“But prefer consistency in evil to consistency in good?”
“The choice is hypothetical.”
“Lord; is it? What an exciting past you must have.”
“I despise mediocrity,” stated the young man firmly.
“And you would also despise me if I practised evil but professed purity?”
“Yes. I should.”
“I see. What you are really saying, of course, is that you dislike hypocrisy, and people who can’t stand by their principles. ~ Dorothy Dunnett,#NFDB
1431:Evolution, if it is nothing else, is endless modification, change without reason or end. Notions of preserving racial purity in the twenty-first century, or of maintaining biologically static environments, in which all new arrivals are classified as “invasive” or “foreign” and are to be expunged, or are not permitted entry to start with, are untenable. The obvious ethical issues aside, these arguments deny the flow of time. Landscapes are figuratively, not actually, timeless. And ours is an age of unprecedented cultural exchange, of emigration and immigration. Reactionary resentment around issues of race and culture has no future but warfare. ~ Barry Lopez, #NFDB
1432:Deleuze and Guattari have been totally misunderstood because the following has been wrenched from context: "Forming grammatically correct sentences is for the normal individual the prerequisite for any submission to social laws. No one is supposed to be ignorant of grammaticality; those who are belong in special institutions. The unity of language is fundamentally political." (112)
They are NOT advocating for this sort of prescriptive approach to language; rather, they are describing the social system around language--how language is a political tool. Why persist in quoting them as though they are promoting some sort of linguistic purity? ~ Gilles Deleuze,#NFDB
1433:THE PILGRIMS HAD BEEN DRIVEN by fiercely held spiritual beliefs. They had sailed across a vast and dangerous ocean to a wilderness where, against impossible odds, they had made a home. The purity of the Old Comers’ purpose and the magnitude of their accomplishments could never again be repeated. From the start, the second generation suffered under the assumption that, as their ministers never tired of reminding them, they were “the degenerate plant of a strange vine.” Where their mothers and fathers had once stood before their congregations and testified to the working of grace within them, the children of the Saints felt no such fervor. ~ Nathaniel Philbrick, #NFDB
1434:By the time the Ramayana was written by Valmiki, patriarchy had registered its authority over women’s bodies and over their reproductive rights. Rama considers Sita his property until he loses her to Ravana. Despite Sita’s purity, Rama rejects her twice, doubting her fidelity. One cannot imagine anyone doing this to Draupadi and it is impossible to accuse Kunti of any infidelity except to her own self! Yet Sita is a silent heroine as she refuses to bear Rama any child till he secures his throne. She brings up her sons on her own as a single abandoned mother and finally returns to her mother’s womb, thus establishing the autonomy of the female. ~ Namita Gokhale, #NFDB
1435:Two loves I have, of comfort and despair,
Which, like two spirits, do suggest me still;
The better angel is a man right fair,
The worser spirit a woman colored ill.
To win me soon to hell, my female evil
Tempteth my better angel from my side,
And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,
Wooing his purity with her foul pride.
And whether that my angel be turned fiend
Suspect I may, but not directly tell;
But being both from me both to each friend,
I guess one angel in another’s hell.
Yet this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out."
- Shakespeare, Sonnet: 144 ~ William Shakespeare,#NFDB
1436:If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: "Help and not Fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1437:Robert Murray McCheyne spoke at the ordination of young Dan Edwards in the 1840s. He said something like this: “Mr. Edwards, do not forget the inner man, the heart. The cavalry officer knows that his life depends upon his saber, so he keeps it clean. Every stain he wipes off with the greatest care. Mr. Edwards, you are God’s chosen instrument. According to your purity, so shall be your success. It is not great talent; it is not great ideas that God uses; it is great likeness to Jesus Christ. Mr. Edwards, a holy man is an awesome weapon in the hand of God” (see 2 Tim. 2:21). McCheyne was right, and God’s will is that you be holy—sanctified. ~ John F MacArthur Jr, #NFDB
1438:For love loves unto purity. Love has ever in view the absolute loveliness of that which it beholds. Where loveliness is incomplete, and love cannot love its fill of loving, it spends itself to make more lovely, that it may love more; it strives for perfection, even that itself may be perfected—not in itself, but in the object. As it was love that first created humanity, so even human love, in proportion to its divinity, will go on creating the beautiful for its own outpouring. There is nothing eternal but that which loves and can be loved, and love is ever climbing towards the consummation when such shall be the universe, imperishable, divine. ~ George MacDonald, #NFDB
1439:I, Billy Joe Pilkington, by the life that courses within my blood and the love that resides within my heart, take thee Layla Eden to my hand, my heart, and my spirit to be my chosen one. To desire thee and be desired by thee. To possess thee and be possessed by thee without sin or shame, for naught can exist in the purity of my love for thee. I promise to love thee wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in poverty, in life and beyond, where we shall meet, remember, and love again. I shall not seek to change thee in any way. I shall respect thee, thy beliefs, thy people, and thy ways as I respect myself. ~ Georgia Le Carre, #NFDB
1440:They whirled around in the light dance of a duchess entering a ball—majestic yet understated—a spiraling splash of purity of color that took shape under nature’s watch. A newly-sculpted garden burst forth, glistening in an afternoon sun. It welcomed the dusty pink rose, who stood beside its fellows, basked themselves in their own serenity of white, triumphant red, or cheery yellow. It swayed in the breath of a wind, caressing each and becoming more. It was a mixture of quiet and thunderous, light and dark, shyness and boldness. It was a mixture of the quiet strength and overwhelming courage that the human soul might wish to one day possess. ~ Gina Marinello Sweeney, #NFDB
1441:To connect to the holy is to access the deepest, juiciest part of our spirits. Perhaps this is why we set up so many boundaries, protections, and rules around both sex and religion. Both pursuits expose such a large surface area of the self, which can then be either hurt or healed. But when the boundaries, protections, and rules become more important than the sacred thing they are intended to protect, casualties ensue.
But no matter how much we strive for purity in our minds, bodies, spirits, or ideologies, purity is not the same as holiness. It's just easier to define what is pure than what is holy, so we pretend they are interchangeable. ~ Nadia Bolz Weber,#NFDB
1442:But if human mind can become capable of the glories of the divine Light, human emotion and sensibility can be transformed into the mould and assume the measure and movement of the supreme Bliss, human action not only represent but feel itself to be the motion of a divine and non-egoistic Force and the physical substance of our being suffiently partake of the purity of the supernal essence, suffiently unify plasticity and durable constancy to support and prolong these highest experiences and agencies, then all the long labour of Nature will end in a crowning justification and her evolutions reveal their profound significance.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,#NFDB
1443:Since we nowadays think that all a man needs for acquisition of truth is to exert his brain more or less vigorously, and since we consider an ascetic approach to knowledge hardly sensible, we have lost the awareness of the close bond that links the knowing of truth to the condition of purity. Thomas says that unchastity's first-born daughter is blindness of the spirit. Only he who wants nothing for himself, who not subjectively 'interested,' can know the truth. On the other hand, an impure, selfishly corrupted will-to-pleasure destroys both resoluteness of spirit and the ability of the psyche to listen in silent attention to the language of reality. ~ Josef Pieper, #NFDB
1444:The Azath will not be touched, for it is new, a child. Her eyes, soft brown, slowly regarded those of her companions. “The Queen of Darkness spoke thus of Light when it was first born: ‘It is new, and what is new is innocent, and what is innocent is precious. Observe this child of wonder, and know respect.’ ”
Orfantal scowled. “Thus did Light survive, and so was Darkness destroyed, the purity vanquished—and now you would have us flawed as our Queen was flawed. Light became corrupted and destroyed our world, Korlat, or have you forgotten?”
Korlat’s smile was a sad one. Cherish such flaws, dear brother, for our Queen’s was hope, and so is mine. ~ Steven Erikson,#NFDB
1445:I am not a good enough writer to convey the intense emotion I felt over my newfound self-respect. It was a rehabilitation, if not a new life. This imaginary baptism, the immersion in purity, the elevation of my being above the filth in which I'd been mired and, overnight, this sense of responsibility, made me into a different man. The convict's complexes that make him hear his chains and suspect he's being watched even after he's freed, everything I'd seen, gone through, suffered, everything that was making me tarnished, rotten and dangerous, passively obedient on the surface but terribly dangerous in rebellion, all that had disappeared as if by a miracle. ~ Henri Charri re, #NFDB
1446:I know positively—yes, Rieux, I can say I know the world inside out, as you may see—that each of us has the plague within him; no one, no one on earth is free from it. And I know, too, that we must keep endless watch on ourselves lest in a careless moment we breathe in somebody’s face and fasten the infection on him. What’s natural is the microbe. All the rest—health, integrity, purity (if you like)—is a product of the human will, of a vigilance that must never falter. The good man, the man who infects hardly anyone, is the man who has the fewest lapses of attention. And it needs tremendous will-power, a never ending tension of the mind, to avoid such lapses. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
1447:It is sublime as night and a breathless ocean. It contains every religious sentiment, all the grand ethics, which visit in turn each noble poetic mind .... It is of no use to put away the book if! trust myself in the woods or in a boat upon the pond. Nature makes a Brahmin of me presently: eternal compensation, unfathomable power, unbroken silence .... This is her creed. Peace, she saith to me, and purity and absolute abandonment - these panaceas expiate all sin and bring you to the beatitude of the Eight Gods. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, About Vedic thought. Quoted in Palkhivala, Nani Ardeshir. India s priceless heritage 1st ed. Bombay Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1980. 1980 P 9 - 24., #NFDB
1448:When you get a good, honest exchange with an officer in this situation, normally it restores your faith in your profession, boosts you up for the daily grind of criminality, because that well-behaved, professional exchange between you both feels like an honorable thing; it pushes away the thoughts of the shysters and the ambulance chasers, the doughnut munchers and the baton wielders. You become two men, in a room, upholding the law, and there’s a purity to that, a kind of distinction, which is a very rare thing on a day-to-day basis. In Zoe’s case, it made things only slightly more bearable, because the facts of her arrest were so unremittingly grim. “She’d ~ Gilly Macmillan, #NFDB
1449:my dreams, my works, must wait till after hell
I hold my honey and I store my bread
In little jars and cabinets of my will.
I label clearly, and each latch and lid
I bid, Be firm till I return from hell.
I am very hungry. I am incomplete.
And none can tell when I may dine again.
No man can give me any word but Wait,
The puny light. I keep eyes pointed in;
Hoping that, when the devil days of my hurt
Drag out to their last dregs and I resume
On such legs as are left me, in such heart
As I can manage, remember to go home,
My taste will not have turned insensitive
To honey and bread old purity could love. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks,#NFDB
1450:Xxxvii
Pardon, oh, pardon, that my soul should make,
Of all that strong divineness which I know
For thine and thee, an image only so
Formed of the sand, and fit to shift and break.
It is that distant years which did not take
Thy sovranty, recoiling with a blow,
Have forced my swimming brain to undergo
Their doubt and dread, and blindly to forsake
Thy purity of likeness and distort
Thy worthiest love to a worthless counterfeit:
As if a shipwrecked Pagan, safe in port,
His guardian sea-god to commemorate,
Should set a sculptured porpoise, gills a-snort
And vibrant tail, within the temple-gate.
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning,#NFDB
1451:I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn
uselessly roaming in the sky, O my sun ever-glorious!
Thy touch has not yet melted my vapor,
making me one with thy light,
and thus I count months and years separated from thee.
If this be thy wish and if this be thy play,
then take this fleeting emptiness of mine,
paint it with colors, gild it with gold,
float it on the wanton wind and spread it in varied wonders.
And again when it shall be thy wish to end this play at night,
I shall melt and vanish away in the dark,
or it may be in a smile of the white morning,
in a coolness of purity transparent.
~ Rabindranath Tagore, Roaming Cloud
,#NFDB
1452:This body of thought represents an almost total inversion of Westphalian world order. In the purist version of Islamism, the state cannot be the point of departure for an international system because states are secular, hence illegitimate; at best they may achieve a kind of provisional status en route to a religious entity on a larger scale. Noninterference in other countries’ domestic affairs cannot serve as a governing principle, because national loyalties represent deviations from the true faith and because jihadists have a duty to transform dar al-harb, the world of unbelievers. Purity, not stability, is the guiding principle of this conception of world order. ~ Henry Kissinger, #NFDB
1453:If you yield yourself up to His divine working, the Lord will alter your nature; He will subdue the old nature, and breathe new life into you. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and He will give you a heart of flesh. Where everything was hard, everything shall be tender; where everything was vicious, everything shall be virtuous: where everything tended downward, everything shall rise upward with impetuous force. The lion of anger shall give place to the lamb of meekness; the raven of uncleanness shall fly before the dove of purity; the vile serpent of deceit shall be trodden under the heel of truth. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
1454:The ecstatic vision and social program sought to rebuild a society upward from its grass roots but on principles of religious and economic egalitarianism, with free healing brought directly to the peasant homes and free sharing of whatever they had in return. The deliberate conjunction of magic and meal, miracle and table, free compassion and open commensality, was a challenge launched not just at Judaism’s strictest purity regulations, or even at the Mediterranean’s patriarchal combination of honor and shame, patronage and clientage, but at civilization’s eternal inclination to draw lines, invoke boundaries, establish hierarchies, and maintain discriminations. ~ John Dominic Crossan, #NFDB
1455:Sonnet Xxxvii
Pardon, oh, pardon, that my soul should make,
Of all that strong divineness which I know
For thine and thee, an image only so
Formed of the sand, and fit to shift and break.
It is that distant years which did not take
Thy sovranty, recoiling with a blow,
Have forced my swimming brain to undergo
Their doubt and dread, and blindly to forsake
Thy purity of likeness and distort
Thy worthiest love to a worthless counterfeit:
As if a shipwrecked Pagan, safe in port,
His guardian sea-god to commemorate,
Should set a sculptured porpoise, gills a-snort
And vibrant tail, within the temple-gate.
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning,#NFDB
1456:He had never clearly fathomed the true weight of a word of good, truth, and purity cast in the stream of human speech and the deep bend it cut in it. Nor had he thought that a word spoken boldly and loudly, with no hint of false shame, but rather with courage, that this word would not drown in the ugly cries of fashionable satyrs but would plunge like a pearl into the abyss of public life and always find itself a shell.
Many stumble over a good word, blushing in embarrassment, and utter a careless word boldly and loudly, never suspecting that it, too, unfortunately, will not go for naught but will leave a long trail of often times ineradicable evil.
p. 296 ~ Ivan Goncharov,#NFDB
1457:4but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1458:If you govern a country by listening to the arguments of a multitude of people, the country will be in danger in no time at all. How do we know this is so? Lao-tzu emphasized flexibility, Confucius emphasized humaneness, Mo-tzu emphasized universality, the Keeper of the Pass emphasized purity, Lieh-tzu emphasized emptiness, Ch’en Ping emphasized equality, Yang Chu emphasized self, Sun Pin emphasized power, Wang Liao emphasized initiative, Ni Liang emphasized conformism. Using bells and drums is a means of unifying ears; making law and order uniform is a way of unifying minds. When the smart ones can’t be clever and the stupid ones can’t be clumsy, this is a means of unifying a mass. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
1459:At present we are on the outside… the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the pleasures we see. But all the pages of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Someday, God willing, we shall get “in”… We will put on glory… that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch.
We do not want to merely “see” beauty -- though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words–to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. ~ C S Lewis,#NFDB
1460:15. The evil-doer mourns in this world, and he mourns in the next; he mourns in both. He mourns and suffers when he sees the evil of his own work. 16. The virtuous man delights in this world, and he delights in the next; he delights in both. He delights and rejoices, when he sees the purity of his own work. 17. The evil-doer suffers in this world, and he suffers in the next; he suffers in both. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done; he suffers more when going on the evil path. 18. The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the next; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good he has done; he is still more happy when going on the good path. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1461:They couldn't understand that every time I entered the slum I felt the urge to let go and surrender to a simpler, poorer life that was yet richer in respect, and love, and a vicinal connectedness to the surrounding sea of human hearts. They couldn't understand what I meant when I talked about the purity of the slum: they'd been there, and seen the wretchedness and filth for themselves. They saw no purity. But they hadn't lived in those miraculous acres, and they hadn't learned that to survive in such a writhe of hope and sorrow the people had to be scrupulously and heartbreakingly honest. That was the source of their purity: above all things, they were true to themselves. ~ Gregory David Roberts, #NFDB
1462:Here then we see philosophy brought to a critical position, since it has to be firmly fixed, notwithstanding that it has nothing to support it in heaven or earth. Here it must show its purity as absolute director of its own laws, not the herald of those which are whispered to it by an implanted sense or who knows what tutelary nature. Although these may be better than nothing, yet they can never afford principles dictated by reason, which must have their source wholly a priori and thence their commanding authority, expecting everything from the supremacy of the the law and due respect for it, nothing from inclination, or else condemning the man to self-contempt and inward abhorrence. ~ Immanuel Kant, #NFDB
1463:Herein is a capital truth. It is not the natural capacity, the congenital gift, nor is it the effort, the will, the work, which in the intelligence as sway over the energy capable of making it fully efficacious. It is uniquely the desire, that is, the desire for beauty. This desire, given a certain degree of intensity and purity, is the same thing as genius. At all levels it is the same thing as attention. If this were understood, the whole conception of teaching would be quite other than it is. First, one would realize that the intelligence functions only in joy. Intelligence is perhaps even the only one of our faculties to which joy is indispensible. The absence of joy asphyxiates it. ~ Simone Weil, #NFDB
1464:There is no chain of philosophical reasoning or method of philosophical enquiry through which we can arrive at the truths of faith as conclusions. But once by faith we have acknowledged those truths we are able to understand why there is good reason to acknowledge them. This, as he was to argue a little later, is because of the effects of sin on the human mind. It is "because human minds are obscured by familiarity with darkness, which covers them in a night of sins and bad habits, and are unable to perceive with the clarity and purity proper to reason" that authority has been provided to bring "the faltering eye into the light of truth" (De moribus ecclesiae catholicae 31.2.31). ~ Alasdair MacIntyre, #NFDB
1465:She began her reading, resolved that she would enjoy her poetry in spite of the narrow seat. She had often talked of “Queen Mab,” and perhaps she thought she had read it. This, however, was in truth her first attempt at that work. “How wonderful is Death! Death and his brother, Sleep!” Then she half-closed the volume, and thought that she enjoyed the idea. Death, — and his brother Sleep! She did not know why they should be more wonderful than Action, or Life, or Thought; — but the words were of a nature which would enable her to remember them, and they would be good for quoting. “Sudden arose Ianthe’s soul; it stood all-beautiful in naked purity.” The name of Ianthe suited her exactly ~ Anthony Trollope, #NFDB
1466:A future priest, I faced her as before an altar: one of her cheeks was the Epistle and the other the Gospel. Her mouth might have been the chalice, her lips the paten. All I needed to do was to say a new mass, according to a Latin that no one learns at school, and is the catholic language of mankind. Don’t think me sacrilegious, devout lady reader; the purity of the intention cleanses anything unorthodox in the style. We stood there with heaven within us. Our hands, their nerve ends touching, made two creatures one: a single, seraphic being. Our eyes went on saying infinite things, and the words did not even try to pass our lips: they went back to the heart as silently as they had come… ~ Machado de Assis, #NFDB
1467:Sonnet Xxxvii: Pardon, Oh, Pardon
Pardon, oh, pardon, that my soul should make,
Of all that strong divineness which I know
For thine and thee, an image only so
Formed of the sand, and fit to shift and break.
It is that distant years which did not take
Thy sovranty, recoiling with a blow,
Have forced my swimming brain to undergo
Their doubt and dread, and blindly to forsake
Thy purity of likeness and distort
Thy worthiest love to a worthless counterfeit:
As if a shipwrecked Pagan, safe in port,
His guardian sea-god to commemorate,
Should set a sculptured porpoise, gills a-snort
And vibrant tail, within the temple gate.
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning,#NFDB
1468:The strange thing was how quiet everything became just in that moment. Everything. All of existence, covered in a thick, still blanket of complete silence. The screeching tires and the yelling all paused. And then it happened: the white flash. It was blinding, taking away all definition of earth and sky, leaving nothing visible but the awful purity of the white. I remember that I flinched instinctively. That was all I really had time to do. Then, as if to announce my passing and that of all three-hundred-and-fourteen other souls working the midnight shift at the plant, came the roar. It was a guttural thunderous growl, like some great evil had just been released into the world. After that… ~ Dennis Sharpe, #NFDB
1469:Democratic politics is about persuasion, not self-expression. I’m here, I’m queer will never provoke more than a pat on the head or a roll of the eyes. Accept that you will never agree with people on everything—that’s to be expected in a democracy. One effect of engaging in social movements tied to identity is that you’ve been surrounded by the like-minded and like-faced and like-educated. Impose no purity tests on those you would convince. Not everything is a matter of principle—and even when something is, there are usually other, equally important principles that might have to be sacrificed to preserve this one. Moral values are not pieces in a puzzle where everything has been precut to fit. ~ Mark Lilla, #NFDB
1470:The earthly father is a God-given mnemonic device to remind us of the glory of the heavenly Father. The shepherd is a mnemonic device to remind us of God’s care for his own. The snow is meant to remind us of the Lord’s purity and holiness. The storm is a mnemonic device to remind us of God’s power and wrath. The daily rising sun is a mnemonic device to remind us of God’s faithfulness. We’re literally surrounded by gracious reminders of the presence, power, authority, and character of God because he designed created things to function mnemonically. He knows how quickly and easily we forget and how vital it is for us to remember, so he embedded reminders everywhere we look in his creation. ~ Paul David Tripp, #NFDB
1471:It is not difficult for an unwise mother quite unintentionally to centre the heterosexual feelings of a young son upon herself, and it is true that, if this is done, the evil consequences pointed out by Freud will probably ensue. This is, however, much less likely to occur if the mother's sexual life is satisfying to her, for in that case she will not look to her child for a type of emotional satisfaction which ought to be sought only from adults. The parental impulse in its purity is an impulse to care for the young, not to demand affection from them, and if a woman is happy in her sexual life she will abstain spontaneously from all improper demands for emotional response from her child. ~ Bertrand Russell, #NFDB
1472:...[R]eason issues its commands unyieldingly, without promising anything to the inclinations, and, as it were, with disregard and contempt for these claims, which are so impetuous and at the same time so plausible, and which will not allow themselves to be suppressed by any command. Hence there arises a natural dialectic, that is, a disposition to argue against these strict laws of duty and to question their validity, or at least their purity and strictness; and, if possible, to make them more accordant with our wishes and inclinations, that is to say, to corrupt them at their very source and entirely to destroy their worth-a thing which even common practical reason cannot ultimately call good. ~ Immanuel Kant, #NFDB
1473:And so when you have lost everything, no more roads, no direction, no fixed signs, no ground, no thoughts able to resist other thoughts, when you are lost, beside yourself, and you continue getting lost, when you become the panicky movement of getting lost, then, that’s when, where you are unwoven weft, flesh that lets strangeness come through, defenseless being, without resistance, without batten, without skin, inundated with otherness, it’s in these breathless times that writings traverse you, songs of an unheard-of purity flow through you, addressed to no one, they well up, surge forth, from the throats of your unknown inhabitants, these are the cries that death and life hurl in their combat. ~ H l ne Cixous, #NFDB
1474:He will never be satisfied,” writes one biographer...I know because I suffer from the same disease...I don't believe for a minute that the flowers ever faded or the stars were ever dimmed in Rimbaud's eyes...It was the world of men that his weary glance saw things pale and fade. He began by wanting to “see all, feel all, exhaust everything, explore everything, say everything.” ...He had no choice of fighting for the rest of his life to hold the ground he had gained or to renounce the struggle utterly. Why could he not have compromised? Because compromise was not in his vocabulary. He was a fanatic from childhood, a person who had to go the whole hog or die. In this lied his purity, his innocence. ~ Henry Miller, #NFDB
1475:As Anna poured her heart out over the phone, Ted's own heart lit up like a solar flare. He wanted nothing more than to show Anna how he saw her: how beautiful and perfect she was in his eyes. He needed to let her know that he was going to carry that memory—that knowledge—of her inside him, so that no matter what happened between them, no matter how down she got on herself, he could do this for her: he could love her, selflessly and unceasingly, with total commitment and purity, for the rest of his life.
An hour later, Anna sniffled. 'Thank you for listening, Ted,' she said. 'It really means a lot to me.'
I would die for you, Ted thought.
'No problemo,' Ted said. ~ Kristen Roupenian,#NFDB
1476:Purity culture often functions by shaming us for seeking knowledge about our own bodies. Studying even the scientific elements of sexual intercourse can feel like a rebellion. Knowing yourself, even just medically or scientifically, is a step away from the ignorance that purity teachings often instill. Knowledge is power, especially here—knowing how your body and your partner’s work together can help you both be confident. One of the best ways to develop a healthy sexual ethic for yourself is to know your anatomy, to know how different kinds of sex work, and to be prepared to enter sexual encounters safely. Having this information can help you to be confident, both in saying yes and in saying no. The ~ Dianna Anderson, #NFDB
1477:A Timid Grace Sits Trembling In Her Eye
A timid grace sits trembling in her eye,
As loath to meet the rudeness of men's sight,
Yet shedding a delicious lunar light
That steeps in kind oblivious ecstasy
The care-crazed mind, like some still melody:
Speaking most plain the thoughts which do possess
Her gentle sprite: peace, and meek quietness,
And innocent loves, and maiden purity:
A look whereof might heal the cruel smart
Of changed friends, or fortune's wrongs unkind:
Might to sweet deeds of mercy move the heart
Of him who hates his brethren of mankind.
Turned are those lights from me, who fondly yet
Past joys, vain loves, and buried hopes regret.
~ Charles Lamb,#NFDB
1478:Then what is good? The obsessive interest in human affairs, plus a certain amount of compassion and moral conviction, that first made the experience of living something that must be translated into pigment or music or bodily movement or poetry or prose or anything that's dynamic and expressivee--that's what's good for you if you're at all serious in your aims. William Saroyan wrote a great play on this theme, that purity of heart is the one success worth having. "In the time of your life--live!" That time is short and it doesn't return again. It is slipping away while I write this and while you read it, the monosyllable of the clock is Loss, loss, loss, unless you devote your heart to its opposition. ~ Tennessee Williams, #NFDB
1479:Ephesians 4:26 says "be angry but do not sin". How to know the difference ? We can know the difference from the life of Jesus.When they insulted Him, spoke evil of Him, beat Him, spatted on Him, crucified Him.. He was not angry. He was never angry when it concerned Himself . He was angry when God's house was being defiled ..when poor people were being exploited, when the Pharisees and the elders would not allow the man with a withered hand to be healed on the sabbath day..
So, in anything concerning ourselves we should never be angry but when it concern the purity of God's house and the way people exploits others then we need to be angry.
There is an anger that is holy and there is an anger that is sinful. ~ Zac Poonen,#NFDB
1480:There's a Spanish proverb that's always fascinated me. 'Take what you want and pay for it, says God.' I don't believe in God, but that principle seems, to me, to have a divinity of its own; a kind of blazing purity. What could be simpler, or more crucial? You can have anything you want, as long as you accept that there is a price and that you will have to pay it. It seems to me, that we as a society have come to overlook the second clause. We hear only 'Take what you want, says God'; nobody mentions a price, and when it comes time to settle the score, everyone's outraged. We've become a nation of defaulters: we buy on credit, and when the bill comes in, we're so deeply outraged that we refuse even to look at it. ~ Tana French, #NFDB
1481:Henceforth we find woman no longer a slave of man and tool of lust, but the pride and joy of her husband, the fond mother training her children to virtue and godliness, the ornament and treasure of the family, the faithful sister, the zealous servant of the congregation in every work of Christian charity, the sister of mercy, the martyr with superhuman courage, the guardian angel of peace, the example of purity, humility, gentleness, patience, love, and fidelity unto death. Such women were unknown before. The heathen Libanius, the enthusiastic eulogist of old Grecian culture, pronounced an involuntary eulogy on Christianity when he exclaimed, as he looked at the mother of Chrysostom: "What women the Christians have! ~ Philip Schaff, #NFDB
1482:It's a new direction for you, though, isn't it? Menacing waterfowl?"
"I think I prefer the kittens," Harry said. He'd been silent until then.
"You dislike moody animals, even if they're beautiful, Harry?" Genevieve teased.
"I dislike believing things are one way when they're really another way entirely."
And if that wasn't an innuendo, Genevieve didn't know what one was.
She just didn't know if he was referring to his own heart, or to 'her', in general.
But that could very well be her conscience interpreting it.
She sighed. She felt a certain kinship with that swan. Everyone thought Genevieve Eversea was serenity and purity itself. When she really was capable of... alarmingly original behavior. ~ Julie Anne Long,#NFDB
1483:The second antihistorical way of considering the past is the politics of eternity. Like the politics of inevitability, the politics of eternity performs a masquerade of history, though a different one. It is concerned with the past, but in a self-absorbed way, free of any real concerns with facts. Its mood is a longing for past moments that never really happened during epochs that were, in fact, disastrous. Eternity politicians bring us the past as a vast misty courtyard if illegible monuments to national victimhood, all of them equally distant from the present, all of them equally accessible for manipulation. Every reference to the past seems to involve an attack by some external enemy upon the purity of the nation. ~ Timothy Snyder, #NFDB
1484:The second antihistorical way of considering the past is the politics of eternity. Like the politics of inevitability, the politics of eternity performs a masquerade of history, though a different one. It is concerned with the past, but in a self-absorbed way, free of any real concerns with facts. Its mood is a longing for past moments that never really happened during epochs that were, in fact, disastrous. Eternity politicians bring us the past as a vast misty courtyard of illegible monuments to national victimhood, all of them equally distant from the present, all of them equally accessible for manipulation. Every reference to the past seems to involve an attack by some external enemy upon the purity of the nation. ~ Timothy Snyder, #NFDB
1485:Our dress affects not only our thoughts and actions but also the thoughts and actions of others. Accordingly, Paul the Apostle counseled “women [to] adorn themselves in modest apparel” (1 Timothy 2:9).
The dress of a woman has a powerful impact upon the minds and passions of men. If it is too low or too high or too tight, it may prompt improper thoughts, even in the mind of a young man who is striving to be pure.
Men and women can look sharp and be fashionable, yet they can also be modest. Women particularly can dress modestly and in the process contribute to their own self-respect and to the moral purity of men. In the end, most women get the type of man they dress for.
[Ensign, Mar. 2014, 47-48] ~ Tad R Callister,#NFDB
1486:Greek women were not allowed to be: free and untamed. In fact, Artemis is a bit of a paradox. On the one hand, her commitment to purity must have been greatly admired by Ancient Greeks; yet she is also untamable and answers to no man. She is truly the eternal wild child who never has to grow up and shoulder the responsibilities that adulthood brings. She never has to compromise herself or conform to any of society’s standards. No wonder she is associated with the moon—completely untouchable, forever unattainable. If offered the option of becoming one of Artemis’ immortal maidens, freed forever from the shackles of marriage or slavery, I think many Ancient Greek women would have jumped on that bandwagon as it careened past ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
1487:I never met anybody who didn't like Rumours It got played a lot around my house in the year of 'Anarchy in the U.K.' and 'White Riot,' and I think the reason why so many people who got airsick of being in the same room with Eagle records might find songs like 'Dreams' bringing them to tears was that Fleetwood Mac transcended FM Hollywood, not only by playing and singing with open-eyed passion but by articulating the painful questions of love (and the real answers that hurt). 'Thunder only happens when it's raining/Players only love you when they're playing' may have been obvious, but that was its very purity: you had been there, and could remember all too well when you first learned you can't change anybody. ~ Lester Bangs, #NFDB
1488:It is these conditions that form the grounding for our system of moral metaphors. Since it is better to be rich than to be poor, morality is conceptualized in terms of wealth. Since it is better to be strong than to be weak, we expect to see morality conceptualized as strength. Because it is better to be healthy than sick, it is no surprise to see morality conceptualized in terms of health and attendant concepts like cleanliness and purity. Since it is better to be cared for than uncared for, it seems natural to find morality conceptualized as nurturance. And because, in normal cases, children tend to be better off if they obey rather than disobey their parents, we expect to see morality conceptualized as obedience. What ~ George Lakoff, #NFDB
1489:I never met anybody who didn't like Rumours. It got played a lot around my house in the year of 'Anarchy in the U.K.' and 'White Riot,' and I think the reason why so many people who got airsick of being in the same room with Eagle records might find songs like 'Dreams' bringing them to tears was that Fleetwood Mac transcended FM Hollywood, not only by playing and singing with open-eyed passion but by articulating the painful questions of love (and the real answers that hurt). 'Thunder only happens when it's raining/Players only love you when they're playing' may have been obvious, but that was its very purity: you had been there, and could remember all too well when you first learned you can't change anybody. ~ Lester Bangs, #NFDB
1490:In this primal sense, then, evil is evil because it is rebellion against God. Evil is the failure to do what God demands or the performance of what God forbids. Not to love God with heart and soul and mind and strength is a great evil, for God has demanded it; not to love our neighbor as ourself is a great evil, for the same reason. To covet someone’s house or car or wife is a great evil, for God has forbidden covetousness; to nurture bitterness and self-pity is evil, for a similar reason. The dimensions of evil are thus established by the dimensions of God; the ugliness of evil is established by the beauty of God; the filth of evil is established by the purity of God; the selfishness of evil is established by the love of God. ~ D A Carson, #NFDB
1491:Epigraph The conspicuous absence of the lynching tree in American . . . preaching is profoundly revealing, especially since the crucifixion was clearly a first-century lynching. In the “lynching era,” between 1880 and 1940, white Christians lynched nearly five thousand black men and women in a manner with obvious echoes of the crucifixion of Jesus. . . . As Jesus was an innocent victim of mob hysteria and Roman imperial violence, many African Americans were innocent victims of white mobs, thirsting for blood in the name of God and in defense of segregation, white supremacy, and the purity of the Anglo-Saxon race. Both the cross and the lynching tree were symbols of terror. —James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree ~ William H Willimon, #NFDB
1492:In the words of Arnaldo Momigliano, the most learned and nimble interpreter of antiquity in our age: “All these civilizations display literacy, a complex political organization combining central government and local authorities, elaborate town-planning, advanced metal technology and the practice of international diplomacy. In all these civilizations there is a profound tension between political powers and intellectual movements. Everywhere one notices attempts to introduce greater purity, greater justice, greater perfection and a more universal explanation of things. New models of reality, either mystically or prophetically or rationally apprehended, are propounded as a criticism of, and alternative to, the prevailing models. ~ Thomas Cahill, #NFDB
1493:A rumor is a social cancer: it is difficult to contain and it rots the brains of the masses. However, the real danger is that so many people find rumors enjoyable. That part causes the infection. And in such cases when a rumor is only partially made of truth, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the information may have gone wrong. It is passed on and on until some brave soul questions its validity; that brave soul refuses to bite the apple and let the apple eat him. Forced to start from scratch for the sake of purity and truth, that brave soul, figuratively speaking, fully amputates the information in order to protect his personal judgment. In other words, his ignorance is to be valued more than the lie believed to be true. ~ Criss Jami, #NFDB
1494:As he worked on the room, and as it began slowly to take a shape, he realized that for many years, unknown to himself, he had had an image locked somewhere within him like a shamed secret, an image that was ostensibly of a place but which was actually of himself. So it was himself that he was attempting to define as he worked on his study. As he sanded the old boards for his bookcases, and saw the surface roughnesses disappear, the gray weathering flake away to the essential wood and finally to a rich purity of grain and texture—as he repaired his furniture and arranged it in the room, it was himself that he was slowly shaping, it was himself that he was putting into a kind of order, it was himself that he was making possible. ~ John Williams, #NFDB
1495:I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn uselessly roaming in the sky, O my sun ever-glorious! Thy touch has not yet melted my vapour, making me one with thy light, and thus I count months and years separated from thee. If this be thy wish and if this be thy play, then take this fleeting emptiness of mine, paint it with colours, gild it with gold, float it on the wanton wind and spread it in varied wonders. And again when it shall be thy wish to end this play at night, I shall melt and vanish away in the dark, or it may be in a smile of the white morning, in a coolness of purity transparent. [1884.jpg] -- from Gitanjali, by Rabindranath Tagore
~ Rabindranath Tagore, (80) I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn (from Gitanjali)
,#NFDB
1496:Sonnet 37 - Pardon, Oh, Pardon, That My Soul Should
Make
XXXVII
Pardon, oh, pardon, that my soul should make,
Of all that strong divineness which I know
For thine and thee, an image only so
Formed of the sand, and fit to shift and break.
It is that distant years which did not take
Thy sovranty, recoiling with a blow,
Have forced my swimming brain to undergo
Their doubt and dread, and blindly to forsake
Thy purity of likeness and distort
Thy worthiest love to a worthless counterfeit:
As if a shipwrecked Pagan, safe in port,
His guardian sea-god to commemorate,
Should set a sculptured porpoise, gills a-snort
And vibrant tail, within the temple-gate.
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning,#NFDB
1497:The things which certain stupid men invent, who indulge their fancy, and give bodily form to the punishment of sinners and the reward of the just and righteous, and say that there is at the resurrection a reckoning and a pair of scales, the Church does not receive; but each one of us carries his light and his fire within him, and his heaviness and his lightness is found in his own nature. Just as stone and iron naturally possess the property of falling to the earth, and as the air naturally ascends upward on account of its rarity and its lightness; so also in the resurrection, he that is heavy and lying in sins, his sins will bring him down; and he that is free from the rust of sin, his purity will make him rise in the scale.34 ~ Philip Jenkins, #NFDB
1498:If women allow themselves to be consoled for their culturally determined lack of access to the modes of intellectual debate by the invocation of hypothetical great goddesses, they are simply flattering themselves into submission (a technique often used on them by men). All the mythic versions of women, from the myth of the redeeming purity of the virgin to that of the healing, reconciliatory mother, are consolatory nonsenses; and consolatory nonsense seems to me a fair definition of myth, anyway. Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths gives women emotional satisfaction, it does so at the price of obscuring the real conditions of life. This is why they were invented in the first place. ~ Angela Carter, #NFDB
1499:FREQUENTLY the man of passion is most eager to put others right; but the man of wisdom puts himself right. If one is anxious to reform the world, let him begin by reforming himself. The reformation of self does not end with the elimination of the sensual elements only; that is its beginning. It ends only when every vain thought and selfish aim is overcome. Short of perfect purity and wisdom, there is still some form of self-slavery or folly which needs to be conquered. On the wings of aspiration man rises from earth to heaven, from ignorance to knowledge, from the under darkness to the upper light. Without it he remains a grovelling animal, earthly, sensual, unenlightened, and uninspired. Aspiration is the longing for heavenly things. ~ James Allen, #NFDB
1500:I’ll Open The Window
Our embrace lasted too long.
We loved right down to the bone.
I hear the bones grind, I see
our two skeletons.
Now I am waiting
till you leave, till
the clatter of your shoes
is heard no more. Now, silence.
Tonight I am going to sleep alone
on the bedclothes of purity.
Aloneness
is the first hygienic measure.
Aloneness
will enlarge the walls of the room,
I will open the window
and the large, frosty air will enter,
healthy as tragedy.
Human thoughts will enter
and human concerns,
misfortune of others, saintliness of others.
They will converse softly and sternly.
Do not come anymore.
I am an animal
very rarely.
~ Anna Swirszczynska,#NFDB
266 Integral Yoga
72 Poetry
47 Yoga
37 Christianity
34 Occultism
33 Philosophy
12 Fiction
10 Hinduism
7 Psychology
6 Mysticism
5 Baha i Faith
4 Islam
2 Integral Theory
2 Education
2 Buddhism
1 Sufism
1 Science
1 Philsophy
1 Alchemy
271 Sri Aurobindo
128 The Mother
60 Nolini Kanta Gupta
53 Satprem
27 Sri Ramakrishna
15 Aleister Crowley
14 Saint Augustine of Hippo
14 Plotinus
13 William Wordsworth
12 Saint John of Climacus
12 Percy Bysshe Shelley
11 Swami Vivekananda
10 Aldous Huxley
8 James George Frazer
7 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
7 A B Purani
6 Carl Jung
5 Vyasa
5 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
5 Swami Krishnananda
5 Jalaluddin Rumi
5 Franz Bardon
5 Baha u llah
4 Sri Ramana Maharshi
4 Robert Browning
4 Rabindranath Tagore
4 Muhammad
4 Anonymous
3 William Butler Yeats
3 Walt Whitman
3 Saint Teresa of Avila
3 Plato
3 Patanjali
3 John Keats
3 Friedrich Schiller
3 Friedrich Nietzsche
2 Mahendranath Gupta
2 Ken Wilber
2 Jordan Peterson
2 Henry David Thoreau
2 Bokar Rinpoche
72 The Synthesis Of Yoga
25 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
22 The Life Divine
19 Letters On Yoga IV
18 Essays On The Gita
15 Prayers And Meditations
15 Letters On Yoga II
13 Wordsworth - Poems
13 Savitri
13 On Thoughts And Aphorisms
13 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
12 The Ladder of Divine Ascent
12 Shelley - Poems
12 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
11 Questions And Answers 1954
11 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
11 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
11 City of God
10 The Perennial Philosophy
10 The Human Cycle
10 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
9 Liber ABA
8 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
8 The Golden Bough
8 Questions And Answers 1956
8 Letters On Yoga III
8 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
8 Agenda Vol 02
7 Record of Yoga
7 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
7 Questions And Answers 1953
7 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
6 Words Of The Mother II
6 Words Of Long Ago
6 Vedic and Philological Studies
6 Talks
6 Magick Without Tears
6 Letters On Yoga I
6 Essays Divine And Human
6 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
6 Collected Poems
6 Agenda Vol 04
6 Agenda Vol 01
5 Vishnu Purana
5 The Study and Practice of Yoga
5 The Secret Doctrine
5 Raja-Yoga
5 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 01
5 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
5 Amrita Gita
5 Agenda Vol 08
5 Agenda Vol 05
5 Agenda Vol 03
4 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
4 Some Answers From The Mother
4 Quran
4 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
4 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 04
4 Mysterium Coniunctionis
4 Isha Upanishad
4 Hymn of the Universe
4 Browning - Poems
4 Agenda Vol 06
3 Yeats - Poems
3 Words Of The Mother III
3 Whitman - Poems
3 Thus Spoke Zarathustra
3 The Confessions of Saint Augustine
3 The Book of Certitude
3 Tagore - Poems
3 Schiller - Poems
3 Rumi - Poems
3 Questions And Answers 1955
3 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
3 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 03
3 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
3 Kena and Other Upanishads
3 Keats - Poems
3 Initiation Into Hermetics
3 Bhakti-Yoga
3 Agenda Vol 12
3 Agenda Vol 09
3 5.1.01 - Ilion
2 Walden
2 The Way of Perfection
2 The Secret Of The Veda
2 The Practice of Magical Evocation
2 The Phenomenon of Man
2 The Lotus Sutra
2 The Integral Yoga
2 The Bible
2 Tara - The Feminine Divine
2 Sex Ecology Spirituality
2 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 02
2 On Education
2 Maps of Meaning
2 Anonymous - Poems
2 Agenda Vol 07
0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
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 upon 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
--
The anguish of the inner soul of India found expression through these passionate words of the young Gadadhar. For what did his unsophisticated eyes see around him in Calcutta, at that time the metropolis of India and the centre of modem culture and learning? Greed and lust held sway in the higher levels of society, and the occasional religious practices were merely outer forms from which the soul had long ago departed. Gadadhar had never seen anything like this at Kamarpukur among the simple and pious villagers. The sadhus and wandering monks whom he had served in his boyhood had revealed to him an altogether different India. He had been impressed by their devotion and Purity, their self-control and renunciation. He had learnt from them and from his own intuition that the ideal of life as taught by the ancient sages of India was the realization of God.
When Ramkumar reprimanded Gadadhar for neglecting a "bread-winning education", 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 national life. All demonstrated that the life current of India is spirituality. This truth was revealed to Gadadhar through that inner vision 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.
--
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 religion are the human aspects of the indescribable and incomprehensible Spirit, as conceived by the finite human mind. They understand and appreciate human love and emotion, help men to realize their secular and spiritual ideals, and ultimately enable men to attain liberation from the miseries of phenomenal life. The Source of light, intelligence, wisdom, and strength is the One alone from whom comes the fulfilment of desire. Yet, as long as a man is bound by his human limitations, 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 son, or the ideal friend. But the name ultimately leads to the Nameless, the form to the Formless, the word to the Silence, the emotion to the serene realization of Peace in Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. The gods gradually merge in the one God. But until that realization 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, songs, and prayers. And there are appropriate rites connected with all these functions. 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 meditations. 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 longer as clay or stone, but as the embodiment of Spirit, throbbing with Life and Consciousness. 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 beyond, 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 beyond rites and rituals, forms and names, words and praise, and to realize God as the All-pervading Consciousness.
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 transformation came over his mind. While going through the prescribed ceremonies, he would actually find himself encircled by a wall of fire protecting him and the place of worship from unspiritual vibrations, or he would feel the rising of the mystic Kundalini through the different centres of the body. The glow on his face, his deep absorption, and the intense atmosphere of the temple impressed everyone who saw him worship the Deity.
--
Naturally the temple officials took him for an insane person. 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 conduct 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 meditation he built a place in the northern wooded section 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 visions.
--
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 discussions and, by the measure of his own erudition, he proceeded to gauge Sri Ramakrishna. An orthodox brahmin, he thoroughly disapproved of his cousin's unorthodox actions, but he was not unimpressed by Sri Ramakrishna's Purity of life, ecstatic love of God, and yearning for realization.
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 wondered whether his visions 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 upon me, it said solemnly, 'Remain in bhavamukha, on the threshold of relative consciousness.' This it repeated three times and then it gently disappeared in the mist, which itself dissolved. This vision reassured me."
--
Thus, after nirvikalpa samadhi, Sri Ramakrishna realized maya in an altogether new role. The binding aspect of Kali vanished from before his vision. She no longer obscured his understanding. The world became the glorious manifestation 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 creation: sensuous desires, evil passions, greed, lust, cruelty, and so on. It sustains the world system on the lower planes. It is responsible for the round of man's birth and death. It must be fought and vanquished. But vidyamaya is the higher force of creation: the spiritual virtues, the enlightening qualities, kindness, Purity, love, devotion. Vidyamaya elevates man to the higher planes of consciousness. 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 creation, the two powers of Kali; and She stands beyond them both. She is like the effulgent sun, bringing into existence and shining through and standing behind the clouds of different colours and shapes, conjuring up wonderful 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 consciousness, 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 manifestations of the Kundalini in the lower centres. He gently oscillated back and forth across the dividing line. Ecstatic devotion to the Divine Mother alternated with serene absorption in the Ocean of Absolute Unity. He thus bridged the gulf between the Personal and the Impersonal, the immanent and the transcendent aspects of Reality. This is a unique experience in the recorded spiritual history of the world.
--
By his marriage Sri Ramakrishna admitted the great value of marriage in man's spiritual evolution, and by adhering to his monastic vows he demonstrated the imperative necessity of self-control, Purity, and continence, in the realization of God. By this unique spiritual relationship with his wife he proved that husband and wife can live together as spiritual companions. Thus his life is a synthesis of the ways of life of the householder and the monk.
--- THE "EGO" OF THE MASTER
--
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 personality. In the course of an article about Sri Ramakrishna, Pratap wrote in the "Theistic Quarterly Review": "What is there in common between him and me? I, a Europeanized, civilized, self-centred, semi-sceptical, so-called educated reasoner, and he, a poor, illiterate, unpolished, half-idolatrous, friendless Hindu devotee? Why should I sit long 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 confirmed advocate of Vedantic doctrines. . . . He is an idolater, yet is a faithful and most devoted meditator on the perfections of the One Formless, Absolute, Infinite Deity. . . . His religion 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 long 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 inebriation in the love of God. . . . He, by his childlike bhakti, by his strong conceptions of an ever-ready Motherhood, helped to unfold it [God as our Mother] in our minds wonderfully. . . . By associating with him we learnt to realize better the divine attributes as scattered over the three hundred and thirty millions of deities of mythological India, the gods of the Puranas."
The Brahmo leaders received much inspiration from their contact with Sri Ramakrishna. It broadened their religious views and kindled in their hearts the yearning for God-realization; it made them understand and appreciate the rituals and symbols of Hindu religion, convinced them of the manifestation of God in diverse forms, and deepened their thoughts about the harmony of religions. The Master, too, was impressed by the sincerity of many of the Brahmo devotees. He told them about his own realizations and explained to them the essence of his teachings, such as the necessity of renunciation, 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 discrimination between the Real and the unreal.
--
Through all this fun and frolic, this merriment and frivolity, he always kept before them the shining ideal of God-Consciousness and the path of renunciation. He prescribed ascents steep or graded according to the powers of the climber. He permitted no compromise with the basic principles of Purity. An aspirant had to keep his body, mind, senses, and soul unspotted; had to have a sincere love for God and an ever mounting spirit of yearning. The rest would be done by the Mother.
His disciples were of two kinds: the householders, and the young men, some of whom were later to become monks. There was also a small group of women devotees.
--
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 religion, a friend of the poor, and a mocker at social conventions. Even in his boyhood and youth Narendra possessed great physical courage and presence of mind, a vivid imagination, deep power of thought, keen intelligence, an extraordinary memory, a love of truth, a passion for Purity, a spirit of independence, and a tender heart. An expert musician, he also acquired proficiency in physics, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, history, and literature. He grew up into an extremely handsome young man. Even as a child he practised meditation and showed great power of concentration. Though free and passionate in word and action, 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 rationalistic Western philosophers of the nineteenth century, his boyhood faith in God and religion was unsettled. He would not accept religion on mere faith; he wanted demonstration of God. But very soon his passionate nature discovered that mere Universal Reason was cold and bloodless. His emotional nature, dissatisfied with a mere abstraction, required a concrete support to help him in the hours of temptation. He wanted an external power, a guru, who by embodying perfection in the flesh would still the commotion of his soul. Attracted by the magnetic personality 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.
--
A few more meetings completely removed from Narendra's mind the last traces of the notion that Sri Ramakrishna might be a monomaniac or wily hypnotist. His integrity, Purity, renunciation, and unselfishness were beyond question. But Narendra could not accept a man, an imperfect mortal, as his guru. As a member of the Brahmo Samaj, he could not believe that a human intermediary was necessary between man and God. Moreover, he openly laughed at Sri Ramakrishna's visions as hallucinations. Yet in the secret chamber of his heart he bore a great love for the Master.
Sri Ramakrishna was grateful to the Divine Mother for sending him one who doubted his own realizations. Often he asked Narendra to test him as the money-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 console 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 infatuation would soon 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 won't listen to you any more. Mother says that I love you because I see God in you, and the day I no longer see God in you I shall not be able to bear even the sight of you."
--
With his woman devotees Sri Ramakrishna established a very sweet relationship. 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 emotion 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 constraint before him. He was our best confidant." 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
0.02 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When we are in the presence of hostile forces, only the Purity of
an absolute truth can conquer them.
0.02 - The Three Steps of Nature, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Equally, the vital and nervous energies in us are there for a great utility; they too demand the divine realisation of their possibilities in our ultimate fulfilment. The great part assigned to this element in the universal scheme is powerfully emphasised by the catholic wisdom of the Upanishads. "As the spokes of a wheel in its nave, so in the Life-Energy is all established, the triple knowledge and the Sacrifice and the power of the strong and the Purity of the wise. Under the control of the LifeEnergy is all this that is established in the triple heaven."2 It is therefore no integral Yoga that kills these vital energies, forces them into a nerveless quiescence or roots them out as the source
annakos.a and pran.akos.a.
--
The immanence itself would have no credible reason for being if it did not end in such a transfiguration. But if human mind can become capable of the glories of the divine Light, human emotion and sensibility can be transformed into the mould and assume the measure and movement of the supreme Bliss, human action not only represent but feel itself to be the motion of a divine and non-egoistic Force and the physical substance of our being sufficiently partake of the Purity of the supernal essence, sufficiently unify plasticity and durable constancy to support and prolong these highest experiences and agencies, then all the long labour of Nature will end in a crowning justification and her evolutions reveal their profound significance.
So dazzling is even a glimpse of this supreme existence and so absorbing its attraction that, once seen, we feel readily justified in neglecting all else for its pursuit. Even, by an opposite exaggeration to that which sees all things in Mind and the mental life as an exclusive ideal, Mind comes to be regarded as an unworthy deformation and a supreme obstacle, the source of an illusory universe, a negation of the Truth and itself to be denied and all its works and results annulled if we desire the final liberation. But this is a half-truth which errs by regarding only the actual limitations of Mind and ignores its divine intention.
0.03 - Letters to My little smile, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
My Mother, give me Purity and constancy in my
aspiration.
0.03 - The Threefold Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
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 preservation 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 isolation 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 contact 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 alone but in the collectivity and that individual perfection and liberation are not the whole sense of God's intention in the world. The free use of our liberty includes also the liberation of others and of mankind; the perfect utility of our perfection is, having realised in ourselves the divine symbol, to reproduce, multiply and ultimately universalise it in others.
0.04 - The Systems of Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
the powers of disorder. The preliminary movement of Rajayoga is a careful self-discipline by which good habits of mind are substituted for the lawless movements that indulge the lower nervous being. By the practice of truth, by renunciation of all forms of egoistic seeking, by abstention from injury to others, by Purity, by constant meditation and inclination to the divine
Purusha who is the true lord of the mental kingdom, a pure, glad, clear state of mind and heart is established.
--
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 perfection and aims only at Purity as a condition of the divine realisation. A second defect is that as actually practised it chooses one of the three parallel paths exclusively and almost in antagonism to the others instead of effecting a synthetic harmony of the intellect, the heart and the will in an integral divine realisation.
The Path of Knowledge aims at the realisation of the unique and supreme Self. It proceeds by the method of intellectual reflection, vicara, to right discrimination, viveka. It observes and distinguishes the different elements of our apparent or phenomenal being and rejecting identification with each of them arrives at their exclusion and separation in one common term as constituents of Prakriti, of phenomenal Nature, creations of
0.05 - The Synthesis of the Systems, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The divine existence is of the nature not only of freedom, but of Purity, beatitude and perfection. An integral Purity which shall enable on the one hand the perfect reflection of the divine
Being in ourselves and on the other the perfect outpouring of its
01.01 - The One Thing Needful, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
To find the Divine is indeed the first reason 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 consciousness into the Divine Consciousness, to live in the infinite Peace, Light, Love, Strength, Bliss, to become that in one's essential nature and, as a consequence, 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 mistranslation 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 action 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 consciousness, or as the spiritual Truth of the Divine grows in us, our life and action must indeed more and more flow from that, be one with that. But to decide beforeh and by our limited mental conceptions 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 actions as well as our consciousness, 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 consciousness 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 realisation or of impeding or even falsifying by a halfway formation the truth growth into the full communion and union with the Divine and the free and intimate outflowing of His will in our life. This is a mistake of orientation to which the mind of today is especially prone. It is far better to approach the Divine for the Peace or Light or Bliss that the realisation of Him gives than to bring in these minor things which can divert us from the one thing needful. The divinisation 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 realisation, something that grows from within outwards, not by the working out of a mental principle.
The realisation 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 realisation. Manifestation and organisation of the whole life for the divine work, - first, the sadhana personal and collective necessary for the realisation and a common life of God-realised men, secondly, 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 realisation 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.
01.03 - Mystic Poetry, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But first let us go to the fans et origo, be acquainted with the very genuine article in its Purity and perfection, in its essential simplicity. I do not know of any other ideal exemplar than the Upanishad. Thus,
There the sun shines not and the moon has no
--
This, I say, is something different from the religious and even from the mystic. It is away from the merely religious, because it is naked of the vesture of humanity (in spite of a human face that masks it at times) ; it is something more than the merely mystic, for it does not stop being a signpost or an indication to the Beyond, but is itself the presence and embodiment of the Beyond. The mystic gives us, we can say, the magic of the Infinite; what I term the spiritual, the spiritual proper, gives in addition the logic of the Infinite. At least this is what distinguishes modern spiritual consciousness from the ancient, that is, Upanishadic spiritual consciousness. The Upanishad gives expression to the spiritual consciousness in its original and pristine Purity and perfection, in its essential simplicity. It did not buttress itself with any logic. It is the record of fundamental experiences and there was no question of any logical exposition. But, as I have said, the modern mind requires and demands a logical element in its perceptions and presentations. Also it must needs be a different kind of logic that can satisfy and satisfy wholly the deeper and subtler movements of a modern consciousness. For the philosophical poet of an earlier age, when he had recourse to logic, it was the logic of the finite that always gave him the frame, unless he threw the whole thing overboard and leaped straight into the occult, the illogical and the a logical, like Blake, for instance. Let me illustrate and compare a little. When the older poet explains indriyani hayan ahuh, it is an allegory he resorts to, it is the logic of the finite he marshals to point to the infinite and the beyond. The stress of reason is apparent and effective too, but the pattern is what we are normally familiar with the movement, we can say, is almost Aristotelian in its rigour. Now let us turn to the following:
Our life is a holocaust of the Supreme. ||26.15||
--
Poetry, actually however, has been, by and large, a profane and mundane affair: for it expresses the normal man's perceptions and feelings and experiences, human loves and hates and desires and ambitions. 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 confusion. 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 sublimation of his bodily and vital instincts and impulses., man is gradually growing into the mental, moral and finally spiritual consciousness, even so the artistic expression of his creative activity has followed a similar line of transformation. The first and original transformation 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 tone and temper, the same urges and passions, only turned Godward. Religious poetry too marks a new turn and development of human speech, in taking the name of God human tongue acquires a new plasticity and flavour that transform or give a new modulation 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 creation, 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 upon the ordinary consciousness, it does not fit closely or fuse. In the religious, however, the first step is taken for a mingling and fusion. The mystic is the beginning of a real fusion and a considerable ascension of the lower into the higher. The philosopher poet follows another line for the same katharsisinstead of uplifting emotions 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,
01.04 - The Intuition of the Age, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
So instead of the rational principle, the new age wants the principle of Nature or Life. Even as regards knowledge Reason is not the only, nor the best instrument. For animals have properly no reason; the nature-principle of knowledge in the animal is Instinct the faculty that acts so faultlessly, so marvellously where Reason can only pause and be perplexed. This is not to say that man is to or can go back to this primitive and animal function; but certainly he can replace it by something akin which is as natural and yet purified and self-consciousillumined instinct, we may say or Intuition, as Bergson terms it. And Nietzsche's definition of the Superman has also a similar orientation and significance; for, according to him, the Superman is man who has outgrown his Reason, who is not bound by the standards and the conventions determined by Reason for a special purpose. The Superman is one who has gone beyond "good and evil," who has shaken off from his nature and character elements that are "human, all too human"who is the embodiment of life-force in its absolute Purity and strength and freedom.
This then is the mantra of the new ageLife with Intuition as its guide and not Reason and mechanical efficiency, not Man but Superman. The right mantra has been found, the principle itself is irreproachable. But the interpretation, the application, does not seem to have been always happy. For, Nietzsche's conception of the Superman is full of obvious lacunae. If we have so long been adoring the intellectual man, Nietzsche asks us, on the other hand, to deify the vital man. According to him the superman is he who has (1) the supreme sense of the ego, (2) the sovereign will to power and (3) who lives dangerously. All this means an Asura, that is to say, one who has, it may be, dominion over his animal and vital impulsions in order, of course, that he may best gratify them but who has not purified them. Purification does not necessarily mean, annihilation but it does mean sublimation and transformation. So if you have to transcend man, you have to transcend egoism also. For a conscious egoism is the very characteristic of man and by increasing your sense of egoism you do not supersede man but simply aggrandise your humanity, fashion it on a larger, a titanic scale. And then the will to power is not the only will that requires fulfilment, there is also the will to knowledge and the will to love. In man these three fundamental constitutive elements coexist, although they do it, more often than not, at the expense of each other and in a state of continual disharmony. The superman, if he is to be the man "who has surmounted himself", must embody a poise of being in which all the three find a fusion and harmonya perfect synthesis. Again, to live dangerously may be heroic, but it is not divine. To live dangerously means to have eternal opponents, that is to say, to live ever on the same level with the forces you want to dominate. To have the sense that one has to fight and control means that one is not as yet the sovereign lord, for one has to strive and strain and attain. The supreme lord is he who is perfectly equanimous with himself and with the world. He has not to batter things into a shape in order to create. He creates means, he manifests. He wills and he achieves"God said 'let there be light' and there was light."
01.04 - The Poetry in the Making, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
I said that the supreme artist is superconscious: his consciousness withdraws from the normal mental consciousness and becomes awake and alive in another order of consciousness. To that superior consciousness the artist's mentalityhis ideas and dispositions, his judgments and valuations and acquisitions, in other words, his normal psychological make-upserves as a channel, an instrument, a medium for transcription. Now, there are two stages, or rather two lines of activity in the processus, for they may be overlapping and practically simultaneous. First, there is the withdrawal and the in-gathering of consciousness and then its reappearance into expression. The consciousness retires into a secret or subtle worldWords-worth's "recollected in tranquillity"and comes back with the riches gathered or transmuted there. But the Purity of the gold thus garnered and stalled in the artistry of words and sounds or lines and colours depends altogether upon the Purity of the channel through which it has to pass. The mental vehicle receives and records and it can do so to perfection if it is perfectly in tune with what it has to receive and record; otherwise the transcription becomes mixed and blurred, a faint or confused echo, a poor show. The supreme creators are precisely those in whom the receptacle, the instrumental faculties offer the least resistance and record with absolute fidelity the experiences of the over or inner consciousness. In Shakespeare, in Homer, in Valmiki the inflatus of the secret consciousness, the inspiration, as it is usually termed, bears down, sweeps away all obscurity or contrariety in the recording mentality, suffuses it with its own glow and puissance, indeed resolves it into its own substance, as it were. And the difference between the two, the secret norm and the recording form, determines the scale of the artist's creative value. It happens often that the obstruction of a too critically observant and self-conscious brain-mind successfully blocks up the flow of something supremely beautiful that wanted to come down and waited for an opportunity.
Artists themselves, almost invariably, speak of their inspiration: they look upon themselves more or less as mere instruments of something or some Power that is beyond them, beyond their normal consciousness attached to the brain-mind, that controls them and which they cannot control. This perception has been given shape in myths and legends. Goddess Saraswati or the Muses are, however, for them not a mere metaphor but concrete realities. To what extent a poet may feel himself to be a mere passive, almost inanimate, instrumentnothing more than a mirror or a sensitive photographic plateis illustrated in the famous case of Coleridge. His Kubla Khan, as is well known, he heard in sleep and it was a long poem very distinctly recited to him, but when he woke up and wanted to write it down he could remember only the opening lines, the rest having gone completely out of his memory; in other words, the poem was ready-composed somewhere else, but the transmitting or recording instrument was faulty and failed him. Indeed, it is a common experience to hear in sleep verses or musical tunes and what seem then to be very beautiful things, but which leave no trace on the brain and are not recalled in memory.
--
The three or four major orders I speak of in reference to conscious artistry are exampled characteristically in the history of the evolution of Greek poetry. It must be remembered, however, at the very outset that the Greeks as a race were nothing if not rational and intellectual. It was an element of strong self-consciousness that they brought into human culture that was their special gift. Leaving out of account Homer who was, as I said, a primitive, their classical age began with Aeschylus who was the first and the most spontaneous and intuitive of the Great Three. Sophocles, who comes next, is more balanced and self-controlled and pregnant with a reasoned thought-content clothed in polished phrasing. We feel here that the artist knew what he was about and was exercising a conscious control over his instruments and materials, unlike his predecessor who seemed to be completely carried away by the onrush of the poetic enthousiasmos. Sophocles, in spite of his artistic perfection or perhaps because of it, appears to be just a little, one remove, away from the Purity of the central inspiration there is a veil, although a thin transparent veil, yet a veil between which intervenes. With the third of the Brotherhood, Euripides, we slide lower downwe arrive at a predominantly mental transcription of an experience or inner conception; but something of the major breath continues, an aura, a rhythm that maintains the inner contact and thus saves the poetry. In a subsequent age, in Theocritus, for example, poetry became truly very much 'sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought', so much of virtuosity and precocity entered into it; in other words, the poet then was an excessively self-conscious artist. That seems to be the general trend of all literature.
But should there be an inherent incompatibility between spontaneous creation and self-consciousness? As we have seen, a harmony and fusion can and do happen of the superconscious and the normally conscious in the Yogi. Likewise, an artist also can be wakeful and transparent enough so that he is conscious on both the levels simultaneouslyabove, he is conscious of the source and origin of his inspiration, and on the level plain he is conscious of the working of the instrument, how the vehicle transcribes and embodies what comes from elsewhere. The poet's consciousness becomes then divalent as it werethere is a sense of absolute passivity in respect of the receiving apparatus and coupled and immisced with it there is also the sense of dynamism, of conscious agency as in his secret being he is the master of his apparatus and one with the Inspirerin other words, the poet is both a seer (kavih) and a creator or doer (poits).
--
The consciously purposive activity of the poetic consciousness in fact, of all artistic consciousness has shown itself with a clear and unambiguous emphasis in two directions. First of all with regard to the subject-matter: the old-world poets took things as they were, as they were obvious to the eye, things of human nature and things of physical Nature, and without questioning dealt with them in the beauty of their normal form and function. The modern mentality has turned away from the normal and the obvious: it does not accept and admit the "given" as the final and definitive norm of things. It wishes to discover and establish other norms, it strives to bring about changes in the nature and condition of things, envisage the shape of things to come, work for a brave new world. The poet of today, in spite of all his effort to remain a pure poet, in spite of Housman's advocacy of nonsense and not-sense being the essence of true Art, is almost invariably at heart an incorrigible prophet. In revolt against the old and established order of truths and customs, against all that is normally considered as beautiful,ideals and emotions and activities of man or aspects and scenes and movements of Natureagainst God or spiritual life, the modern poet turns deliberately to the ugly and the macabre, the meaningless, the insignificant and the triflingtins and teas, bone and dust and dustbin, hammer and sicklehe is still a prophet, a violent one, an iconoclast, but one who has his own icon, a terribly jealous being, that seeks to pull down the past, erase it, to break and batter and knead the elements in order to fashion out of them something conforming to his heart's desire. There is also the class who have the vision and found the truth and its solace, who are prophets, angelic and divine, messengers and harbingers of a new beauty that is to dawn upon earth. And yet there are others in whom the two strains mingle or approach in a strange way. All this means that the artist is far from being a mere receiver, a mechanical executor, a passive unconscious instrument, but that he is supremely' conscious and master of his faculties and implements. This fact is doubly reinforced when we find how much he is preoccupied with the technical aspect of his craft. The richness and variety of patterns that can be given to the poetic form know no bounds today. A few major rhythms were sufficient for the ancients to give full expression to their poetic inflatus. For they cared more for some major virtues, the basic and fundamental qualitiessuch as truth, sublimity, nobility, forcefulness, Purity, simplicity, clarity, straightforwardness; they were more preoccupied with what they had to say and they wanted, no doubt, to say it beautifully and powerfully; but the modus operandi was not such a passion or obsession with them, it had not attained that almost absolute value for itself which modern craftsmanship gives it. As technology in practical life has become a thing of overwhelming importance to man today, become, in the Shakespearean phrase, his "be-all and end-all", even so the same spirit has invaded and pervaded his aesthetics too. The subtleties, variations and refinements, the revolutions, reversals and inventions which the modern poet has ushered and takes delight in, for their own sake, I repeat, for their intrinsic interest, not for the sake of the subject which they have to embody and clothe, have never been dream by Aristotle, the supreme legislator among the ancients, nor by Horace, the almost incomparable craftsman among the ancients in the domain of poetry. Man has become, to be sure, a self-conscious creator to the pith of his bone.
Such a stage in human evolution, the advent of Homo Faber, has been a necessity; it has to serve a purpose and it has done admirably its work. Only we have to put it in its proper place. The salvation of an extremely self-conscious age lies in an exceeding and not in a further enhancement or an exclusive concentration of the self-consciousness, nor, of course, in a falling back into the original unconsciousness. It is this shift in the poise of consciousness that has been presaged and prepared by the conscious, the scientific artists of today. Their task is to forge an instrument for a type of poetic or artistic creation completely new, unfamiliar, almost revolutionary which the older mould would find it impossible to render adequately. The yearning of the human consciousness was not to rest satisfied with the familiar and the ordinary, the pressure was for the discovery of other strands, secret stores of truth and reality and beauty. The first discovery was that of the great Unconscious, the dark and mysterious and all-powerful subconscient. Many of our poets and artists have been influenced by this power, some even sought to enter into that region and become its denizens. But artistic inspiration is an emanation of Light; whatever may be the field of its play, it can have its origin only in the higher spheres, if it is to be truly beautiful and not merely curious and scientific.
01.04 - The Secret Knowledge, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Implacable in their timeless Purity,
All barter or bribe of worship they refuse;
01.08 - Walter Hilton: The Scale of Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Here is the Augustinian mantra taken as the motto of The Scale of Perfection: We ascend the ascending grades in our heart and we sing the song of ascension1. The journey's end is heavenly Jerusalem, the House of the Lord. The steps of this inner ascension are easily visible, not surely to the outer eye of the sense-burdened man, but to the "ghostly seeing" of the aspirant which is hazy in the beginning but slowly clears as he advances. The first step is the withdrawal from the outer senses and looking and seeing within. "Turn home again in thyself, and hold thee within and beg no more without." The immediate result is a darkness and a restless darknessit is a painful night. The outer objects of attraction and interest have been discarded, but the inner attachments and passions surge there still. If, however, one continues and persists, refuses to be drawn out, the turmoil settles down and the darkness begins to thin and wear away. One must not lose heart, one must have patience and perseverance. So when the outward world is no more-there and its call also no longer awakes any echo in us, then comes the stage of "restful darkness" or "light-some darkness". But it is still the dark Night of the soul. The outer light is gone and the inner light is not yet visible: the night, the desert, the great Nought, stretches between these two lights. But the true seeker goes through and comes out of the tunnel. And there is happiness at the end. "The seeking is travaillous, but the finding is blissful." When one steps out of the Night, enters into the deepest layer of the being, one stands face to face to one's soul, the very image of God, the perfect God-man, the Christ within. That is the third degree of our inner ascension, the entry into the deepest, purest and happiest statein which one becomes what he truly is; one finds the Christ there and dwells in love and union with him. But there is still a further step to take, and that is real ascension. For till now it has been a going within, from the outward to the inner and the inmost; now one has to go upward, transcend. Within the body, in life, however deep you may go, even if you find your soul and your union with Jesus whose tabernacle is your soul, still there is bound to remain a shadow of the sinful prison-house; the perfect bliss and Purity without any earthly taint, the completeness and the crowning of the purgation and transfiguration can come only when you go beyond, leaving altogether the earthly form and worldly vesture and soar into Heaven itself and be in the company of the Trinity. "Into myself, and after... above myself by overpassing only into Him." At the same time it is pointed out, this mediaeval mystic has the common sense to see that the going in and going above of which one speaks must not be understood in a literal way, it is a figure of speech. The movement of the mystic is psychological"ghostly", it is saidnot physical or carnal.
This spiritual march or progress can also be described as a growing into the likeness of the Lord. His true self, his own image is implanted within us; he is there in the profoundest depth of our being as Jesus, our beloved and our soul rests in him in utmost bliss. We are aware neither of Jesus nor of his spouse, our soul, because of the obsession of the flesh, the turmoil raised by the senses, the blindness of pride and egoism. All that constitutes the first or old Adam, the image of Nought, the body of death which means at bottom the "false misruled love in to thyself." This self-love is the mother of sin, is sin itself. What it has to be replaced by is charity that is the true meaning of Christian charity, forgetfulness of self. "What is sin but a wanting and a forbearing of God." And the whole task, the discipline consists in "the shaping of Christ in you, the casting of sin through Christ." Who then is Christ, what is he? This knowledge you get as you advance from your sense-bound perception towards the inner and inmost seeing. As your outer nature gets purified, you approach gradually your soul, the scales fall off from your eyes too and you have the knowledge and "ghostly vision." Here too there are three degrees; first, you start with faith the senses can do nothing better than have faith; next, you rise to imagination which gives a sort of indirect touch or inkling of the truth; finally, you have the "understanding", the direct vision. "If he first trow it, he shall afterwards through grace feel it, and finally understand it."
--
This will elucidate another point of difference between the Christian's and the Vaishnava's love of God, for both are characterised by an extreme intensity and sweetness and exquisiteness of that divine feeling. This Christian's, however, is the union of the soul in its absolute Purity and simplicity and "privacy" with her lord and master; the soul is shred here of all earthly vesture and goes innocent and naked into the embrace of her Beloved. The Vaishnava feeling is richer and seems to possess more amplitude; it is more concrete and less ethereal. The Vaishnava in his passionate yearning seeks to carry as it were the whole world with him to his Lord: for he sees and feels Him not only in the inmost chamber of his soul, but meets Him also in and I through his senses and in and through the world and its objects around. In psychological terms one can say that the Christian realisation, at its very source, is that of the inmost soul, what we call the "psychic being" pure and simple, referred to in the book we are considering; as: "His sweet privy voice... stirreth thine heart full stilly." Whereas the Vaishnava reaches out to his Lord with his outer heart too aflame with passion; not only his inmost being but his vital being also seeks the Divine. This bears upon the occult story of man's spiritual evolution upon earth. The Divine Grace descends from the highest into the deepest and from the deepest to the outer ranges of human nature, so that the whole of it may be illumined and transformed and one day man can embody in his earthly life the integral manifestation of God, the perfect Epiphany. Each religion, each line of spiritual discipline takes up one limb of manone level or mode of his being and consciousness purifies it and suffuses it with the spiritual and divine consciousness, so that in the end the whole of man, in his integral living, is recast and remoulded: each discipline is in charge of one thread as it were, all together weave the warp and woof in the evolution of the perfect pattern of a spiritualised and divinised humanity.
The conception of original sin is a cardinal factor in Christian discipline. The conception, of sinfulness is the very motive-power that drives the aspirant. "Seek tensely," it is said, "sorrow and sigh deep, mourn still, and stoop low till thine eye water for anguish and for pain." Remorse and grief are necessary attendants; the way of the cross is naturally the calvary strewn with pain and sorrow. It is the very opposite of what is termed the "sunlit path" in spiritual ascension. Christian mystics have made a glorious spectacle of the process of "dying to the world." Evidently, all do not go the whole length. There are less gloomy and happier temperaments, like the present one, for example, who show an unusual balance, a sturdy common sense even in the midst of their darkest nights, who have chalked out as much of the sunlit path as is possible in this line. Thus this old-world mystic says: it is true one must see and admit one's sinfulness, the grosser and apparent and more violent ones as well as all the subtle varieties of it that are in you or rise up in you or come from the Enemy. They pursue you till the very end of your journey. Still you need not feel overwhelmed or completely desperate. Once you recognise the sin in you, even the bare fact of recognition means for you half the victory. The mystic says, "It is no sin as thou feelest them." The day Jesus gave himself away on the Cross, since that very day you are free, potentially free from the bondage of sin. Once you give your adherence to Him, the Enemies are rendered powerless. "They tease the soul, but they harm not the soul". Or again, as the mystic graphically phrases it: "This soul is not borne in this image of sin as a sick man, though he feel it; but he beareth it." The best way of dealing with one's enemies is not to struggle and "strive with them." The aspirant, the lover of Jesus, must remember: "He is through grace reformed to the likeness of God ('in the privy substance of his soul within') though he neither feel it nor see it."
0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
the vibrations of love from manifesting in their Purity.
4 June 1963
01.10 - Nicholas Berdyaev: God Made Human, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Eastern spirituality does not view sorrow and sufferingevilas an integral part of the Divine Consciousness. It is born out of the Divine, no doubt, as nothing can be outside the Divine, but it is a local and temporal formation; it is a disposition consequent upon certain conditions and with the absence or elimination of those conditions, this disposition too disappears. God and the Divine Consciousness can only be Purity, light, immortality and delight. The compassion that a Buddha feels for the suffering humanity is not at all a feeling of suffering; pain or any such normal human reaction does not enter into its composition; it is the movement of a transcendent consciousness which is beyond and purified of the normal reactions, yet overarching them and entering into them as a soothing and illumining and vivifying presence. The healer knows and understands the pain and suffering of his patient but is not touched by them; he need not contract the illness of his patient in order to be in sympathy with him. The Divine the Soulcan be in flesh and yet not smirched with its mire; the flesh is not essentially or irrevocably the ooze it is under certain given conditions. The divine physical body is composed of radiant matter and one can speak of it even as of the soul that weapons cannot pierce it nor can fire burn it.
***
01.10 - Principle and Personality, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The thing, however, is that what you call principles do not drop from heaven in their virgin Purity and all at once lay hold of mankind en masse. It is always through a particular individual that a great principle manifests itself. Principles do not live in the general mind of man and even if they live, they live secreted and unconscious; it is only a puissant personality, who has lived the principle, that can bring it forward into life and action, can awaken, like the Vedic Dawn, what was dead in allmritam kanchana bodhayanti. Men in general are by themselves 'inert and indifferent; they have little leisure or inclination to seek, from any inner urge of their own, for principles and primal truths; they become conscious of these only when expressed and embodied in some great and rare soul. An Avatar, a Messiah or a Prophet is the centre, the focus through which a Truth and Law first dawns and then radiates and spreads abroad. The little lamps are all lighted by the sparks that the great torch scatters.
And yet we yield to none in our demand for holding forth the principles always and ever before the wide open gaze of all. The principle is there to make people self-knowing and self-guiding; and the man is also there to illustrate that principle, to serve as the hope and prophecy of achievement. The living soul is there to touch your soul, if you require the touch; and the principle is there by which to test and testify. For, we do not ask anybody to be a mere automaton, a blind devotee, a soul without individual choice and initiative. On the contrary, we insist on each and every individual to find his own soul and stand on his own Truththis is the fundamental principle we declare, the only creedif creed it be that we ask people to note and freely follow. We ask all people to be fully self-dependent and self-illumined, for only thus can a real and solid reconstruction of human nature and society be possible; we do not wish that they should bow down ungrudgingly to anything, be it a principle or a personality. In this respect we claim the very first rank of iconoclasts and anarchists. And along with that, if we still choose to remain an idol-lover and a hero-worshipper, it is because we recognise that our mind, human as it is, being not a simple equation but a complex paradox, the idol or the hero symbolises for us and for those who so will, the very iconoclasm and anarchism and perhaps other more positive things as wellwhich we behold within and seek to manifest.
0.11 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Consciousness in its Purity is perfect and infallible.
2 April 1968
--
What a joy it would be to possess the required Purity!
When one is living among men with all their miseries, it is only
--
time it is perfect Purity.
This is what we should strive for.
0 1954-08-25 - what is this personality? and when will she come?, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
But if She is ever to reside and act here, She has to find at least a minimal receptivity, at least one human being with the required vital and physical qualities, a kind of super-Parsifal gifted with an innate and integral Purity, yet possessing at the same time a body strong enough and poised enough to bear unwaveringly the intensity of the Ananda She brings.
Thus far, She has not found what is needed. Men remain obstinately men and do not want to or are unable to become supermen. All they can receive and express is a love at their own dimension: a human lovewhereas the supreme bliss of divine Ananda eludes their perception.
0 1958-07-19, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
We are the distorting intermediary between the Purity of the animal and the divine Purity of the gods.
***
0 1959-07-14, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Mother, my whole soul writes you this. I swear there is in me a single great need of Love, beauty, nobility, Purity. And we would work for you together in joy at last.1
Your anxious child,
0 1960-05-21 - true purity - you have to be the Divine to overcome hostile forces, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
object:0_1960-05-21 - true Purity - you have to be the Divine to overcome hostile forces
author class:The Mother
--
What I call Purity, the true Purity, is not all those things morality teaches: it is non-ego.
There must be nothing but Him.
--
At times, I feel that Ill never get over the difficulty. We are besieged by this enormous world of hostile forcesoceans of forces, churning and combining and submerging each other in gigantic pralayas,1 then again regrouping and combining. When you see that, it feels as if you had to be the Divine Himself to get over the difficulty. Precisely so! (And its the hostile forces who help you to see this, its their role.) You have TO BE THE DIVINE, that is the solution, that is the true divine Purity.
***
0 1960-11-08, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I have experienced all kinds of things in life, but I have always felt a sort of lightso INTANGIBLE, So perfectly pure (not in the moral sense, but pure light!)and it could go anywhere, mix everywhere without ever really getting mixed with anything. I felt this flame as a young childa white flame. And NEVER have I felt disgust, contempt, recoil, the sense of being dirtiedby anything or anyone. There was always this flamewhite, white, so white that nothing could make it other than white. And I started feeling it long ago in the past (now my approach is entirely differentit comes straight from above, and I have other reasons for seeing the Purity in everything). But it came back when I met Z (because of the contact with him)and I felt nothing negative, absolutely nothing. Afterwards, people said, Oh, how he used to be this, how he used to be that! And now look at him! See what hes become! Someone even used the word rotten that made me smile. Because, you see, that doesnt exist for me.
What I saw is this world, this realm where people are like that, they live that, for its necessary to get out from below and this is a wayits a way, the only way. It was the only way for the vital formation and the vital creation to enter into the material world, into inert matter. An intellectualized vital, a vital of ideas, an artist; it even fringes upon or has the first drops of Poetrythis Poetry which upon its peaks goes beyond the mind and becomes an expression of the Spirit. Well, when these first drops fall on earth, it stirs up mud.
0 1960-11-12, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Sri Aurobindo has explained it in Savitri. Only when Divine Love has manifested in all its Purity will everything yield, will it all yieldit will then be done.
Its the only thing that can do it.
0 1961-01-10, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
To begin with, theres what could be called a negative way, the way expounded by Buddhism and similar religions: the refusal to see. To be in a state of such Purity and beauty that there is no perception of evil and ugliness. Its like something that doesnt touch you because it doesnt exist in you. This is the perfection of the negative method.
It is quite elementary: never take notice of evil, never speak of the evil present in others, never perpetuate the vibrations of evil by observation, criticism or giving undue attention to the evil deed. This is what Buddha taught: each time you mention an evil you help spread it.
0 1961-02-04, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Another time, I was brought one of those big flowers (which are not really flowers) somewhat resembling corn, with long, very strongly scented stalks.4 I smelled it and said, Ascetic Purity! Just like that, from the odor alone. I was later told it was Shivas flower when he was doing his tapasya.5
These people have an age-old knowledge the ancient Vedic knowledge which they have preserved. In other words, it is something CONCRETELY TRUE: it doesnt depend at all on the mind, on thought or even on feelingsits a vibration.
0 1961-04-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Here, this is Grace.5 Here, Balance6 (how lovely!). Here, Light without Obscurity.7 And this is Purity: an Integral Conversion8 (in the cup of this flower, Mother has placed two other flowers: Service9 and Sri Aurobindos Compassion10), an integral conversion, with Sri Aurobindo, with his compassionhis compassion which gives us the opportunity to serve him.
Oh, mon petit, we need to say something a bit intelligent, dont you think? Im counting on you.
0 1961-04-29, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Men are such fools (laughing: it doesnt get any better!) that they can change anything at all into a religion, so great is their need for a fixed framework for their narrow thought and limited action. They dont feel secure unless they can affirm: This is true and that is not but such an affirmation becomes impossible for anyone who has read and understood what Sri Aurobindo has written. Religion and yoga are not situated on the same plane of the being, and the spiritual life can exist in its Purity only if it is free from all mental dogma.
People must really be made to understand this.
0 1961-07-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its like the word Purityone could lecture endlessly on the difference between divine Purity and what people call Purity. Divine Purity (at the lowest level) is to admit but one influence the divine Influence (but this is at the lowest level, and already terribly distorted). Divine Purity means that only the Divine existsnothing else. It is perfectly pureonly the Divine exists, nothing other than He.
And so on.
0 1961-07-12, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But Perfection is only one side, one special way of approaching the Divine. There are innumerable sides, angles, aspectsinnumerable ways to approach the Divine. When I am walking, for example, doing japa, I have the sense of Unity (I have spoken to you of all the things I mention when I am upstairs walking: will, truth, Purity, perfection, unity, immortality, eternity, infinity, silence, peace, existence, consciousness the list goes on). And when one follows a particular tack and does succeed in reaching or approaching or contacting the Divine, one realizes through experience that these many approaches differ only in their most external forms the contact itself is identical. Its like looking through a kaleidoscopeyou revolve around a center, a globe, and see it under various aspects; but as soon as the contact is established, its identical.
The number of approaches is practically infinite. Each one senses the path which accords with his temperament.
0 1961-07-28, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I have had the experience of being missioned, so to speak, in a form of Love and Consciousness combineddivine Love in its supreme Purity, divine Consciousness in its supreme Purity and emanated DIRECTLY, without passing through all the intermediate states, directly into the nethermost depths of the Inconscient. And there I had the impression of being, or rather of finding a symbolic Being in deep sleep so veiled that he was almost invisible. Then, at my contact, the veil seemed to be rent and, without his awakening, there was a sort of radiation spreading out. I can still see my vision.2
(silence)
0 1961-10-15, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But whats interesting is that it produced neither headache, nor malaise, nor anything of the kind; yet neither was there any great joy or satisfaction. It is the words we use always take on a pejorative tone and spoil it, but the difference between our habitual way of functioning and this new way is something so tremendous and overwhelming that an adaptation is evidently required. And he always said that the adaptation would at first be a diminution, and that only gradually could one regain the original Purity. Thats just how it is.
But its not the time to say all this, mon petit!
0 1962-01-12 - supramental ship, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Once and for all it has swept away all these notionsnot merely ordinary moral notions, but everything people here in India consider necessary for the spiritual life. In that respect, it was very instructive. And first and foremost, this so-called ascetic Purity. Ascetic Purity is merely the rejection of all vital movements. Instead of taking these movements and turning them towards the Divine, instead of seeing, that is, the supreme Presence in them (and so letting the Supreme deal with them freely), He is told (laughing): Noits none of Your business! You have no say in it.
As for the physical, its an old and well-known storyascetics have always rejected it; but they also reject the vital. And theyre all like that here, even X may have changed somewhat by now, but at the beginning he was no different either. Only things classically recognized as holy or admitted by religious tradition were accepted the sanctity of marriage, for example, and things like that. But a free life? Not a chance! It was wholly incompatible with religious life.
0 1962-01-21, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This sort of will in people for Purity, for Good (which in ordinary mentality is expressed by a need to be virtuous) is actually the GREAT OBSTACLE to true self-giving. Its the root of Falsehood, the very source of hypocrisy: the refusal to take up ones share of the burden of difficulties. And thats what Sri Aurobindo has touched on in this aphorism, directly and very simply.
Do not try to be virtuous. See to what extent you are united, ONE with all that is antidivine. Take up your share of the burden; accept to be impure and false yourself, and in so doing you will be able to take up the Shadow and offer it. And insofar as you are able to take it and offer it, things will change.3
--
The other motive for anubhava is of a more general applicability; for in order to reject anything from the being one has first to become conscious of it, to have the clear inner experience of its action and to discover its actual place in the workings of the nature. One can then work upon it to eliminate it, if it is an entirely wrong movement, or to transform it if it is only the degradation of a higher and true movement. It is this or something like it that is attempted crudely and improperly with a rudimentary and insufficient knowledge in the system of psycho-analysis. The process of raising up the lower movements into the full light of consciousness in order to know and deal with them is inevitable; for there can be no complete change without it. But it can truly succeed only when a higher light and force are sufficiently at work to overcome, sooner or later, the force of the tendency that is held up for change. Many, under the pretext of anubhava, not only raise up the adverse movement, but support it with their consent instead of rejecting it, find justifications for continuing or repeating it and so go on playing with it, indulging its return, eternising it; afterwards when they want to get rid of it, it has got such a hold that they find themselves helpless in its clutch and only a terrible struggle or an intervention of divine grace can liberate them.Some do this out of a vital twist or perversity, others out of sheer ignorance; but in yoga, as in life, ignorance is not accepted by Nature as a justifying excuse. This danger is there in all improper dealings with the ignorant parts of the nature; but none is more ignorant, more perilous, more unreasoning and obstinate in recurrence than the lower vital subconscious and its movements. To raise it up prematurely or improperly for anubhava is to risk suffusing the conscious parts also with its dark and dirty stuff and thus poisoning the whole vital and even the mental nature. Always therefore one should begin by a positive, not a negative experience, by bringing down something of the divine nature, calm, light, equanimity, Purity, divine strength into the parts of the conscious being that have to be changed; only when that has been sufficiently done and there is a firm positive basis, is it safe to raise up the concealed subconscious adverse elements in order to destroy and eliminate them by the strength of the divine calm, light, force and knowledge. Even so, there will be enough of the lower stuff rising up of itself to give you as much of the anubhava as you will need for getting rid of the obstacles; but then they can be dealt with with much less danger and under a higher internal guidance.
***
0 1962-03-11, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
To begin with, I said that the vital is peopled by small entities, small formations, the remnants of human beings who have died. But there is a whole vital world which has nothing to do with that one, a world peopled by beings of the vital proper, beings of great power and even great beauty. Most people who dabble in occultism without having a deep enough spiritual life are immediately deluded by themsome even take them as the supreme God and worship them. Thats generally how religions are created. They are a great success. They are the supreme God of many a religion they are beings of the vital world, and can assume an appearance of overwhelming beauty. They are the biggest impostors in the world, and dangerous at that; it takes the spiritual instinct, the instinct of true spiritual Purity, not to be deceived by them. Many religions and sects are founded on revelations and miracles, and every bit of it comes from vital beings.
Its one of the greatest problems in human life; I dont mean spiritual life, but the life of people who deal with the beyond.
There are skies (not heavens) in the vital world that are truly paradises. Naturally the real divine element is lacking, but only spiritual Purity and the true spiritual sense can show you the difference. All who remain within the vital or mental worlds are completely deluded. They see marvelous things, miracles in profusion (thats where you find the most miracles!).
By neglecting to explain this aspect [in this Talk], I passed over a large part of the topic in silence. I usually dont speak of those things, or else mention them only in passingit terrifies people and they immediately start wondering, Oh, is it really a god? Is it this is it that? Could it be a devil in disguise? They panic.
Only its perfectly true that to deal with those realms one must either be fully protected by a guru, a real guru, a man with knowledge, or else have Purity (not saintliness), an unmixed vital and mental Purity. Very, very often, bhaktas [devotees] of Sri Aurobindo or mewhen they are sincere, truly sincere, that is, people of great spiritual Purityhave dozens of beings appear to them, saying, I am Sri Aurobindo. It happens all the time, with all the right external appearancesits very easy for such beings to put on a disguise. It takes the inner psychic Purity not to be deceivedyou invariably FEEL something that makes it impossible for you to be duped. But otherwise, many, many people are taken in.
I dont like to talk about this because people here have no discrimination; they would be left with nothing but fear and would no longer believe in anything, forever asking me, Oh, isnt this a trick? Which paralyzes everything. Thats why I didnt speak about that in this Talk.
--
It should at least be mentioned that some beings in the vital world can take on completely deceptive appearances at willall the most dazzling lights are found in the vital, but with a particular quality. So those who have truly approached THE Light cant be deceived. Because its indefinable, something the spiritual sense alone can feel: perfect security, perfect peace, perfect Purity (although I hesitate to use the word Purity, which has taken on such an idiotic meaning); what I mean is the absence of all admixture.
To those with the spiritual sense, the most dazzling vital lights always seem to have something artificial about themthey FEEL artificial and cold, hard, aggressive, deceptive. But thats the point: you yourself must be beyond all this. Not to be fooled, you mustnt fool yourself!
0 1962-07-11, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The true life in its SIMPLE Purity cannot come until until the Lord Himself is doing and deciding everything, acting, realizing, living, having the experience. When everything is in His hands and you have absolutely nothing to do and dont even know WHERE YOU ARE, then then it comes in its Purity, not before.
This is the difference, the radical difference, since the experience of [April 13]: there is nothing but the Lord. All the rest what is it? No more than a habit of speaking (not even a habit of thinking, thats all gone), a habit of speaking; so the less one speaks, the happier one is. Otherwise nothing. And what else could there be? It is He who sees, He who wills, He who acts.
0 1962-07-14, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(In the same conversation of July 11, Mother said that to have the experience in its simple Purity we mustnt even know where we are, and yet we want to see ourselves being, progressing, acting, to see ourselves.)
That [the sense of an individual position, of being a particular being in a particular place, watching and feeling oneself being] really vanished with the last experience [of April 13]. Before, it used to get in my way a lot. I was always wondering how to get rid of it.
0 1963-02-15, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And, I must say, I was observing this because, originally, the first time I heard of it, this conception shocked me, in the sense that (I dont know, it wasnt an idea, it was a feeling), as though it meant lending reality to something which in my consciousness, for a very long time (at least millennia perhaps, I dont know), had been the Falsehood to be conquered. The Falsehood that must cease to exist. Its the aspect of Truth that must manifest itself, its not all that: doing anything whatsoever just for the fun of it, simply because you have the full power. You have the power to do everything, so you do everything, and knowing that there is a Truth behind, you dont give a damn about consequences. That was something something which, as far back as I can remember, I have fought against. I have known it, but it seems to me it was such a long, long time ago and I rejected it so strongly, saying, No, no! and implored the Lord so intensely that things may be otherwise, beseeched Him that his all-powerful Truth, his all-powerful Purity and his all-powerful Beauty may manifest and put an end to all that mess. And at first I was shocked when Sri Aurobindo told me that; previously, in this life, it hadnt even crossed my mind. In that sense Theons explanation had been much more (what should I say?) useful to me from the standpoint of action: the origin of disorder being the separation of the primal Powers but thats not it! HE is there, blissfully worshipping all this confusion!
And naturally this time around, when I started translating it came back. At first there was a shudder (Mother makes a gesture of stiffening). Then I told myself, Havent you got beyond that! And I let myself flow into the thing. Then I had a series of nights with Sri Aurobindo so marvelous! You understand, I see him constantly and I go into that subtle physical world where he has his abode; the contact is almost permanent (at any rate, thats how I spend all my nights: he shows me the work, everything), but still, after this translation of Savitri he seemed to be smiling at me and telling me, At last you have understood! (Mother laughs) I said, It isnt that I didnt understand, its that I didnt want it! I didnt want, I dont WANT things to be like that any more, for thousands of years I have wanted things to be otherwise!
0 1963-07-31, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And I was told something this morning (I think it was this morning, or in the night, I dont remember); it was said to the body, not to me. The body was told that it would go on till complete purification, and that AT THAT POINT it will have the choice between continuing its work or You see, once it has attained complete purification from the cellular point of view (not what people call physical Purity, thats not it), from the point of view of the divine Influence, which means that each cell will be under the exclusive influence of the Supreme (thats the work under way now), the body was told that that work would be done, and once it was completed, the body ITSELF, entirely under the Supremes influence, would decide whether it wants to continue or be dissolved. It was very interesting, because dissolution means a scattering, but to scatter (thats easy to understand) is a way to SPREAD the consciousness over a very large area. So the cells will be given the choice either to act in that way (gesture of diffusion) or to act in agglomeration (Mother makes a fist).
(silence)
0 1963-09-25, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Far more difficult than what people consider Purity to be! Which is something quite artificial and false.
The last sentence I wrote in French, too (the two came together):
0 1963-10-03, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
If divine Love were to descend first, before divine Truth, certain beings with a special power or receptivity might draw it into themselves, personally, and then all those wrong impulses might occur.1 But if this divine Love descends only in the Truth, in the Truth-Consciousness, it will enter someone only if that person is ready to receive it. Without a preparation of Truth, there might occur a very powerful attraction of elements unable to keep that Love in its Purity; whereas if the preparation of Truth has been done, with that preparation, It will CHOOSE, in order to manifest, the persons, the individualities, who are ready.
***
0 1963-10-05, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
On the way, the same thing happened again: I went the usual wayplop! cut off, nothing left, I cant get through; I come back, start another wayplop! cut off, I cant get through. Yet I kept going up (how, I dont know). Then I reached a sort of square terrace-balcony, perfectly square, and ALL its doors were closed. There was no way of going farther: all the doors were closed. Then I see water rising, rising, rising in the ENTIRE building, except the places where the doors were closed. Downstairs (I dont know, I was very high up, maybe on the fourth or fifth floor) the doors were closed, so naturally water could not get in. All the courtyards (large, immense courtyards) were turned into swimming pools. What water! I kept watching it, admiring it; I said to myself, What wonderful water! So clear, so clear, clearer than any I ever saw. Water that was I cant say, it was transparent like like Purity itself, it was marvelous. It was rising and rising and rising. I saw in one of the courtyards on my left (a very large courtyard: it had become an immense swimming pool!), I saw a person in a bathing suit come out of the water, as if he had taken his bath in it, and wrap himself up (a very tall person, very tall, who was neither a man nor a woman), he wrapped himself up in a bathrobe, then walked away on the water (!) I was watching this till suddenly I realized that the water was beginning to reach my feet. Then I KNEW: Ah, yes! Theyve decided to do this. I was a little upset: They really could have told me they were going to do this! I thought. Its something they must do regularly. Did they inform some people? (All this in my head, of course.)
And I kept admiring that water, thinking, But its Purity itself! It was reaching my feet, yet I wasnt getting wet. Then I remarked, If I stay here (Because I was standing with my back against closed doors and the building extended beyond them, but in front of me there was nothing, so normally the water should have flowed out that wayhow is it then that it didnt? I dont know the whole thing was quite marvelous!) And it was rising and rising and rising, until it reached my ankles and suddenly triggered something within me I woke up.
I was at least ten minutes later than my usual time.
0 1963-12-21, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When you can enter that vibration in its Purity, you realize immediately that it has the same quality as the vibration of Love: it is directionless. It isnt something going from one thing to another, it doesnt go from here to there (gesture from low to high) or there to here it is (round gesture) simultaneous and total.
I mean it isnt something that needs the two poles in order to exist; it doesnt go from one pole to the other or from the other to the one: its a vibration which in its Purity is the same as the vibration of Love, which doesnt go from here to there or from there to here the two poles of existence.
It exists in itself for its own delight of being. (And what I am saying spoils it a lot.)
0 1964-01-08, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh, if we wanted to make poetry (its no longer a philosophical or spiritual way of seeing, but a pictorial way), we could imagine a Lord who is a totality of all the possible and impossible possibilities, in quest of a Purity and Perfection that can never be reached and are ever progressive and the Lord would get rid of all in the Manifestation that weighs down His unfoldingHe would begin with the nastiest. You see it? Total Night, total Unconsciousness, total Hatred (no, hatred still implies that Love exists), the incapacity to feel. Nothingness.
Were on the way. I still have a little bit of it [that total Unconsciousness] left.
0 1964-09-16, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Purity and sincerity are the same thing.
Sannyasa: renunciation of works and worldly life.
0 1964-10-14, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
They had a meeting with people from England or Europe, in which they said, Oh, the world needs a new religion, now is the time to give it a new religion. And they wanted to take Sri Aurobindos name and make a new religion out of it! So I answered them, The time of religions is over. They didnt understand, mon petit, they were appalled! I wrote it to them without explanation, the way you fling something to shake things up: The time of religions is over, this is the age of universal spirituality (universal in the sense of containing EVERYTHING and adapting to everything). So they answered me, We dont understand, but anyway (laughing) since you tell us, we accept it. So I added an explanation in the Bulletin (the explanation isnt as strong, but I had to try and make myself understood), I said that religions are based on spiritual experiences brought down to a level where mankind can grasp them, and that the new phase must be that of spiritual experience in its Purity, not brought down to a lower level.2
But this too is hard to understand.
--
Here is Mother's exact text, as it was published in the August issue of the Ashram's Bulletin: "Why do men cling to a religion? Religions are based on creeds which are spiritual experiences brought down to a level where they become more easy to grasp, but at the cost of their integral Purity and truth. The time of religions is over. We have entered the age of universal spirituality, of spiritual experience in its initial Purity."
***
0 1964-10-24a, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And it made me understand that one of the most considerable obstacles is that deviation of aspiration into a thirst for something. But who doesnt deviate? You see, I always start by looking at myself and at all that I know of this beings conscious life (thats my first observation), and all the images come; well, the self-offering, the perfectly pure aspiration that doesnt expect any resultabsolutely free from the slightest idea of result the aspiration in its essential Purity thats not frequent. Its not frequent.
Now the conditions are totally different, but I see the mass of aspirations, of approaches, and I always compare with my attitude towards Sri Aurobindo at that time, when it was he who, to me, represented the Intermediary; well, I understand I understand that the absolutely pure thing, that is, free of all mixture with the ego consciousness (its the ego consciousness), free of all mixture with the ego consciousness, is its still rare.
0 1964-11-28, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It begins with something he calls aspirationoh, its beautiful! I have rarely heard something with so pure and so beautiful an inspiration. All of a sudden, a sound comes, which is exactly the sound you hear up above. And it isnt too mixed (the fault I find with all classical music is all the accompaniment which is there to give more substance, but which spoils the Purity of the inspiration: to me, its padding), well, with Sunil, the padding isnt there. He doesnt claim to be making music, of course, and the padding isnt there, so its truly beautiful.
I have decided not to play this year for January 1st. Even last year, I very much hesitated to play because I was absolutely conscious of the inadequacy the poorness and inadequacyof the physical instrument; but there was a sort of reasonable wisdom which knew how a refusal to play would be interpreted [by the disciples], so I playedwithout satisfaction, and it wasnt worth much. But the music I heard yesterday was so much THAT, SO much what I would like to play, that I said to myself, Well, now it would be unreasonable to want to keep in a personal manifestation something that has a much better means of expression [Sunil]. So I have decided to say No for January 1st. But I will see if Sunil couldnt prepare something on the theme of next years message, something that would be recorded and played for everyone, in an anonymous wayno need to say, Its by this or that person, its music, thats all.
0 1965-06-23, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I am under no illusion that it will retain its Purity, but we will try something.
Much will depend on those you will entrust with the financial organization of the project.
0 1965-09-08, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I didnt remember this passage. But I told you, my experience2 is that the last thing as one rises the last thing beyond light, beyond consciousness, beyond the last thing one reaches is love. One, this one is its the II dont know. According to the experience, its the last thing to manifest now in its Purity, and it is the one that has the transforming power.
Thats what he appears to be saying here: the victory of Love seems to be the final victory.
0 1965-10-30, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And then, what I hear has a Purity thats not there. Its very interesting. And curiously, when I told you I would play, I thought I wouldnt be able to, and the next day there came, oh, a cascade of music, for a long, long time. I said to myself, Very well, since it comes, I will see.
***
0 1965-12-25, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its only when the central vibration remains pure and is expressed in its original Purity, which is a spreading out (what can I call it? Its something radiating out, a vibration spreading out in a glory, a vibration blossoming out, yes, a radiant blossoming out), then it remains true. And materially its expressed by self-giving, self-forgetfulness, the generosity of the soul. And thats the only true movement. But what people are used to calling love is as removed from the central vibration of true Love as hatred; only, the one turns in on itself, shrivels up and hardens, while the other strikes thats what makes the whole difference.
And this isnt seen with ideas: its seen with vibrations. Its very interesting.
0 1966-09-07, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its a strange thing. The state of consciousness of the bodys cells is a sort of keen, constant thirst for what must be: the vibration of Harmony, of Consciousness, of Light, Beauty, Purity. It isnt even expressed in words, but its an aspiration, and nothing but that. Nothing but that, nothing else. And then, [in that silent aspiration] things come like that, from every side. And the rather peculiar thing is that there are also pains, discomforts, appearances of illnessand it all comes from outside. And with always the same answer (gesture of Descent): put the divine Consciousness put the divine Consciousness, on everything. The Consciousness that contains the Peace, the Light, the Force.
In that letter which he never sent, Satprem ingenuously tried to make the secretaries understand that these conversations with Mother might have import for the whole world, and that if Mother was an hour late for her conversations with Satprem and tired by a heap of trifles and petty personal matters, the atmosphere was not conducive for her to recapture the thread of her experience. But Satprem clearly saw the uselessness of stressing these obvious facts and saw that he would have quite simply been assumed to be indulging in "self-promotion." So be it. (This footnote was written in 1966.)
0 1966-09-17, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And this simplicity, this lack of complication and sophistication, is what gives these things great value, in the sense that it gives them perfect sincerity and simplicity. In anything expressed mentally, vitally, intellectually, there is always MORE in the form, in the word, in the expression, MORE than in the experienceit gets enlarged and rounded out (!) What is said is more than what is meant to be said. While here, its the perfectly pure experience, which feels the words as a sort of shrinking, a diminishing, and at the same time as bringing in a complication that doesnt exist in the experience the experience is very simple, very simple: it is truly pure. And anything one says is like adding something that lessens its Purity and simplicity.
So, saying these things is good for oneself, its good for someone who is in the same state of heart, but for the public (Mother shakes her head) its doomed to incomprehension.
0 1967-05-06, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For instance, what Sri Aurobindo says that Purity which consists in receiving ONLY the Influence of the Divine, so that all other influences cannot touch For example, a certain number of people have been paid to destroy me. I know it. And I see it. Well, it cant do anything, but it does give a little workit SHOULDNT give any work. Now and then I am obliged to put up the shield of white Light to stop them from coming through. That shouldnt be necessary, it should be automatic. And it comes from the fact that there are still loads of cells with old habitsold imprints, old habits.
That must change.
0 1967-05-20, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Mother gazes at a flower she called "divine Purity": lobelia longiflora.)
Do you know what divine Purity is? I no longer know. What can it mean?
Obeying the true Impulsion?
If we mean divine Purity in beings, I quite understand, but if we mean the Divines Purity, I no longer understand.
Divine Purity in beings means they are closed to all influence except that of the Divine. (Mother counts the petals) Five petals
***
0 1967-09-06, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You see one drop of That in its perfection, and all shadows disappearall disharmony disappears. It can only be in its perfection, in its essential Purity.
It truly is all-powerfulness.
0 1967-10-11, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And in those visions (lets take this one, for instance), Durga has a visible, defined form, while this body (Mothers) isnt there because this body belongs here, on earth; so its a radiating centre of white light that can take a form (but doesnt have a form), a radiance of light, a vibration of light, of consciousnessof conscious light. And thats very interesting. (Mother remains with her eyes closed) It was as if to see how thisthis consciousness, this lightcan manifest in feasible forms on earth without losing something of the Purity and radiance of the consciousness.
(Mother goes into a long contemplation)
0 1967-12-20, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This is Divine Purity.1 What does Divine Purity mean? It means that the Divine receives the divine influence alone! I understand! Or else, the individual receives nothing but the divine influencehere, mon petit. (Mother gives the flower)
***
0 1968-04-10, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
As soon as you come down from that supreme Height, you find the whole play of diverse influences (gesture of mixture and conflict), and thats in fact a sure sign: if you come down ever so slightly (even into a region of higher mentality, higher intelligence), the WHOLE conflict of influences starts. Only whats truly all the way up, with perfect Purity, has this power of spontaneous conviction. All substitutes you may try are therefore an approximation, and not a much better one than democracyby democracy, I mean the system that wants to rule through the greatest number and lowest masses (I am referring to social democracy, the latest trend).
If there is no representative of the supreme Consciousness (which can happen, of course), if there isnt any, we could perhaps (this would be worth trying) replace him with the government by a small numberwe would have to choose between four and eight, something like that: four, seven or eighta small number having an INTUITIVE intelligence. Intuitive is more important than intelligence: they should have an intuition that manifests intellectually. (From a practical standpoint it would have some drawbacks, but it might be nearer the truth than the lowest rung: socialism or communism.) All the intermediaries have proved incompetent: theocracy, aristocracy, democracy, plutocracyall that is a complete failure. The other one too is now giving proof of its failure, the government of what can we call it? Democracy?4 (But democracy always implies the idea of educated, rich people.) That has given proof of its complete incompetence.
0 1968-05-04, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Mother gives a flower called "Divine Purity": Isotoma longiflora.)
Do you know this?
Sri Aurobindos definition of Purity is being exclusively under the influence of the Divine. So naturally, the Divine is exclusively under his own influence (!), and thats Purity!
Any news regarding P.L.?
0 1968-06-29, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
At the same time, a very precise perception. You know, once (years ago) I was asked, What is Purity? I answered, Purity is to be exclusively under the influence of the Supreme Lord and to receive nothing but from him. Then, a year or two later, while reading Sri Aurobindo, I found a sentence in English which said exactly the same thing in other words1 (a sentence I had never read and didnt know). I saw that same sentence yesterday evening (I have a calendar with quotations from Sri Aurobindo). They [the cells] are growing purer and purer, and the extent to which they arent is pointed out very clearly, in an absolutely precise, distinct way, as if with the point of a needle, on the spot that isnt pure. And it hurts! It always corresponds to a painwhile the same physical condition goes on. Take an exposed nerve in a tooth: normally, it should hurt constantly; at times, in an almost general way, it doesnt exist, but just when the Purity isnt total, whew! It hurts excruciatingly! And in a few seconds it may pass. So it all exclusively depends on Thateverything. Its a proof, the most concrete proof!
" Purity is to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine."
0 1969-04-30, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But a few seconds of the true state in its Purity and theres an awesome power. Only its still far, far away.
But I remember the time when, if there was one minute or a moment in this State, the body would get afraidnot afraid, but alarmed. That goes back to about I dont know, a little more than ten years ago. There has been a whole curve. Now, its the other way around: when the body is in this State, it feels normal-it feels thats the normal state. But the whole makeup of the world still seems to act as a brake, there still seems to be something And that something is what this Consciousness is working on. For it to be established, a change in the earth consciousness must take place.
0 1971-04-14, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And you, mon petit, its your destiny. It is your destiny: to become conscious and manifest the Divineit is your destiny. You must. Me, I am in a hurry because I see circumstances becoming more and more acutedangerous. Only a miracle can save us that is to say, what we consider a miracle: an intervention an intervention of the Divine Will in its Purity, undistorted, uncontroverted, unobstructedjust That.
(silence)
0 1971-05-22, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I would like. You see, the Will comes, but then all the formations come in and decay its execution I would like I would like my atmosphere to be a limpid transmitter, utterly limpid. I dont even try to know what it is, because that too introduces an ordinary human element. A limpid, limpid transmitter: let it come like this (gesture of direct descent), pure, in all its Purityeven if it is overwhelming.
At bottom we dont know why one thing is like this, another thing is like that, and our vision is even if our vision is worldwide, it is so small, so smallso exclusive: we want this, we do not want that. First and FOREMOST to be an instrument: we must be LIMPID, limpid, things must pass through undistorted and unobstructed.
0 1971-12-11, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And Sri Aurobindo gives us the key. It may be that the sense of our own revolution escapes us because we try to prolong that which already exists, to refine it, improve it, sublimate it. But the ape may have made the same mistake amid its revolution that produced man; perhaps it sought to become a super-ape, better equipped to climb trees, hunt and run, a more agile and clever ape. With Nietzsche we too sought a superman who was nothing more than a colossalization of man, and with the spiritualists a super-saint more richly endowed with virtue and wisdom. But human virtue and wisdom are useless! Even when carried to their highest heights they are nothing more than the old poverties gilded over, the obverse of our tenacious misery. Supermanhood, says Sri Aurobindo, is not man climbed to his own natural zenith, not a superior degree of human greatness, knowledge, power, intelligence, will, genius, saintliness, love, Purity or perfection.7 It is SOMETHING ELSE, another vibration of being, another consciousness.
But if this new consciousness is not to be found on the peaks of the human, where then, are we to find it? Perhaps, quite simply in that which we have most neglected since we entered the mental cycle, in the body. The body is our base, our evolutionary foundation, the old stock to which we always return, and which painfully compels our attention by making us suffer, age and die. In that imperfection, Sri Aurobindo assures us, is the urge towards a higher and more many-sided perfection. It contains the last finite which yet yearns to the Supreme Infinite. God is pent in the mire but the very fact imposes a necessity to break through that prison.8 That is the old, uncured Illness, the unchanged root, the dark matrix of our misery, hardly different now from what it was in the time of Lemuria. It is this physical substance which we must transform, otherwise it will topple, one after another, all the human or superhuman devices we try to graft on it. This body, this physical cellular substance contains almighty powers,9 a dumb consciousness that harbors all the lights and all the infinitudes, just as much as the mental and spiritual immensities do. For, in truth, all is Divine and unless the Lord of all the universe resides in a single little cell he resides nowhere. It is this original, dark cellular Prison which we must break open; for as long as we have not broken it, we will continue to turn vainly in the golden or iron circles of our mental prison. These laws of Nature, says Sri Aurobindo, that you call absolute merely mean an equilibrium established to work in order to produce certain results. But, if you change the consciousness, then the groove also is bound to change.10
02.01 - A Vedic Story, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Fire then is the energy of consciousness secreted in the heart of things. It is that which moves the creation upward, produces the unfolding evolution that is history, both individual and collective. It is kindled, it increases in volume and strength and Purity and effectiveness, as and when a lower element is offered and submitted to a higher reality and this higher reality impinges upon the lower one (which is what the rubbing of the arai or the pressing of the soma symbolises); the limitation is broken, the small enters into and becomes the vast, the crooked is straightened and leng thened out, what was hidden becomes manifest. This is described as the progression of the sacrifice (adhvaraadvanceon the path). That is also the victorious battle waged against the dark forces of Ignorance. The goal, the purpose is the descent and manifestation of the gods here upon earth in human vehicles.
But this Fire is not normally available. It is lost, imbedded in the thick petrified folds of unconsciousness and inconscience. Man's soul is not an apparent reality. It has to be found out, called forth, brought to the front. Even so, in the normal consciousness, the soul, the divine fire is a flickering, twinkling, hesitating spark; it is not sure of itself, not certain of its destiny. Yet when the time is ripe and the call comes, the gods, the luminous forces from above descend with all their insistence and meet the hidden godhead: Agni is reminded of his work and destiny which nothing can frustrate or cancel. He has to consent and undertake his sacrificial labour.
02.01 - Our Ideal, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Nature's attempt at the transcendence of Mind opens the door for a more and more direct and integral descent of the Divine Consciousness, and in its highest degrees the degrees of the Supermind the Descent means a reversal of the normal values, a swift and total transfiguration of earthly life into the mould of supernal spiritual realities. An absolute degree of the Descent, an irruption of the Divine Consciousness in its supreme Purity and fullness becomes inevitable in the end: for that alone can bring about the fulfilment that Nature ultimately has in view. Matter will yield completely, and life power too, only to the direct touch and embrace of the Divine's own self.
In this age we stand at some such critical juncture in Nature's evolutionary history. Its full implications, the exact degree of the immediate achievement, the form and manner of the Descent are things that remain veiled till the fact is accomplished. Something of it is revealed, however, to the eye of vision and the heart of faith, something of it is seized by those to whom it chooses to disclose itself
02.01 - The World-Stair, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The passion and Purity of their extremes,
The absoluteness of their single cry
02.02 - The Kingdom of Subtle Matter, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
A Purity of sense we never feel;
Its intercession with the eternal Ray
02.03 - The Glory and the Fall of Life, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Some passion of the inviolate Purity
Broke through, a ray of the original Bliss.
--
Indulgence with a tender Purity came
And nursed the god on her maternal breast:
02.06 - Boris Pasternak, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
That is why even when Pasternak speaks of social progress, a better humanity, we are not sure. For what matters is the present. A brave new world in the offing, yes. But how to take life in the meanwhile? Evidently, it is the life of the cross, you have to choose that or it is imposed upon you. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you and in spite of what the world and life are, you can create within you, possess in your inner consciousness something of the divine element, the peace that passeth understanding, the Purity and freedom and harmony with oneself and with the entire creation, including even one's neighbours.
Inner divinity does not save you from an outer calvary. But you know how to accept it and go through it, not only patiently but gladly, for thereby you take upon yourself the burden of sorrow that is humanity's share in the life here below. I referred at the beginning to the tragedy of a sensitive soul; I may turn the phrase and speak of the sensitivity of a tragic soul. There are souls that are tragic in the very grain it is that which gives an unearthly beauty, nobilityindeed the martyr's aureole. It is not only that our sweetest songs arise out of our saddest thought, but that, as our poet says,
02.06 - The Integral Yoga and Other Yogas, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Power, Purity, Peace, Ananda of which we become aware above and which descends into the being and progressively replaces the ordinary consciousness by its own movements - that is the second transformation. We realise also the consciousness itself as moving upward, ascending through many planes physical, vital, mental, overmental to the supramental and Ananda planes.
This is nothing new; it is stated in the Taittiriya Upanishad that there are five Purushas, the physical, the vital, the mental, the
02.09 - The Paradise of the Life-Gods, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Peace was a thrilled voluptuous Purity.
There Love fulfilled her gold and roseate dreams
02.11 - The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Mind, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
By an abstract Purity of godless sight,
By a percept nude, intolerant of forms,
02.15 - The Kingdoms of the Greater Knowledge, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
A diamond Purity of eternal sight;
A consciousness lay still, devoid of forms,
--
He dwelt in his self's colourless Purity.
It was a plane of undetermined spirit
03.03 - A Stainless Steel Frame, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
What is needed then is an army of souls: individuals, either separately or in groups, who have contacted their inmost reality, their divinity, in some way or othermen with a new consciousness and aspiration, a new life and realisation. They will live in the midst of the general degeneration and disintegration, not aloof and immured in their privacy of Purity, but take part in the normal activities of everyday life, still acting from the height and depth of the pure consciousness prove by their very living that one can be in the world and yet not of it, doing what is necessary for the maintenance and enhancement of life and yet not stooping to the questionable ways that are supposed to be necessary and inevitable. In other words, they will disprove that safety and success and prosperity in life can be had only if one follows the lead of Evil, if one sells one's soul. On the contrary, by living out one's divine essence one will have conquered the worldihaiva tairjitam. At every moment, in all circumstances one follows the voice of the highest in oneself. If it is that and no other inferior echo, then one becomes fearless and immortal and all-conquering.
Such souls living and moving among men with little faith and in circumstances adverse and obscure will forge precisely the new steel frame, the stainless-steel frame upon which the new society will be securely based.
03.03 - The House of the Spirit and the New Creation, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Against the white Purity of heaven's cleansing flame.
All seemed to have perished that was undivine:
--
On the white Purity of the Witness Soul.
These hues were the very prism of the Supreme,
03.04 - The Other Aspect of European Culture, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
If then Europe can cut across the snares that Modernism has spread all about her and get behind the surface turmoils and ebullitions and seek that which she herself once knew and esteemed as the one thing needful, then will she really see what the East means, then only will she find the bond of indissoluble unity with Asia. For the Truth that Europe carried in her bosom is much bigger than anything she ever suspected even in her best days. And she carried it not with the full illumination and power of a Master, but rather in the twilight consciousness of a servant or a devotee. The Truth in its Purity flowed there for the most part much under the main current of life, and its formulations in life were not its direct expressions and embodiments but echoes and images. It is Asia who grasps the Truth with the hand of the Master, the Truth in its full and absolute truth and it is Asia who can show in fact and life how to embody it integrally.
Europe's spiritual soul itself in the last analysis will be found to be only a derivative of Asia's own self. For all the Mysteries and Occult Disciplines the Christian, the Platonic, the Eleusinian and Orphic, the Kabalistic, the Druidicwhich lay imbedded in Europe's spiritual and religious genius, when traced further up to the very source, will carry us straight into Asia's lap, perhaps India's.
03.07 - Brahmacharya, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Modern education means storage of information, knowledge of thingsas much knowledge of as many things as it is possible for the brain to contain. The older ideal, however, was not so much knowledge, that is to say, packet of knowings, but capacity, first capacity in a general way, and then as its application, the capacity of knowledge. The problem was to locate, that is to say, find out the source of energy then master it, increase it, harness it and utilise it. The physico-vital energy is the most elementary and elemental energy that is nearest to us and most easily available. It is the basic energy; man starts his life with that, a child possesses it abundantly. The first problem is how to store it; evidently it is most liable to be thrown or frittered away. The first form of the discipline in the preparatory stage of early life is regularity in habits, methodical physical exercises; even a fixed routine sometimes helps much. Next comes self-control, continence, physical Purity. This is Brahmacharya proper. It means the exercise of conscious will.
We do not speak of Brahmacharya in relation to a child. The discipline can be taken up only when the body and the consciousness have attained a certain degree of growth and development. A child grows in the full free play of its life movements: the care or attention of others should weigh upon it as lightly as possible, maintaining only an atmosphere of happy influence and protection. The transition from the stage of free play to conscious control is marked in Indian society by the ceremony of upanayana, the first approach or initiation: it is the beginning of the life of Brahmacharya.
03.07 - Some Thoughts on the Unthinkable, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
A day will come when it is the Divine that will reign upon earth, the Divine in his transcendent Delight and Knowledge and Power and Purity, and human life shall embody the Law of the Truth.
The thing may not happen today or within a short period, according to the human standard. Man's smallness, in its impatience, once could not contemplate a span of more than a few thousand years. But we have been forced to learn to calculate earth's life and evolution in astronomical figures, and the human stage is being found to have extended farther and farther into a dim and immemorial past. Millenniums are nothing in the march of the cosmic play. Things are done here in the measures of eternity; it is only the narrowness of the human consciousness that wants to cut up what is eternal and infinite into convenient bits and parcels.
03.15 - Origin and Nature of Suffering, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Here is, briefly, how we view the question. The soul accepts a mortal life of pain and suffering, welcomes an apparent denial of its essential nature for two reasons: (1) to grow and increase in consciousness through such experiences,pain and suffering being one variety of the fuel that tends the Fire that is our soul; and (2) to transfer its inalienable Purity into Matter, by its secret pressure and influence gradually transform earthly life into a movement of its own divine state, the state of inviolable Bliss.
All experiences, all contacts with the forms and forces of Life and Matter act indeed as fuel to the flame of the soul's consciousness, whether they are good, bad or indifferent according to some outward view or standard. And in response to the nature and degree of the growth and increase demanded, does the soul choose its fuel, its external mode of life and surroundings. If suffering and misery help to kindle and increase the flame, the soul has no jugups, repulsion for them. Indeed, it accepts the forms of misery in order to cure them, transform them, to bring out of them their original norms of beauty and bliss of which they are a degradation and an aberration.
04.03 - The Eternal East and West, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The East and the West are two recognised wings of humanity. Only the relation between them is somewhat in dispute. According to one view the two are quite separate and irreconcilable entities, because they embody two outlooks that are contradictory to each other. The other view is that they are not contradictory, however distinct they may be; they are complementary or supplementary to each other. The interaction between the two across the centuries recorded in history has been admitted and studied; it considerably influenced the growth and development of each in its line. Only the influence exerted some view with favour, others with disfavour. For some consider the mixture of influence, like that of blood, as a necessary condition of progress and creativity: others again are keen on maintaining, the Purity of stock, the particular type of culture to which each is attached and any intrusion of a foreign vein they consider as a lowering, a degeneration of the type.
We all know the great difference between the East and the West that has been pointed out and accepted generally as true is that of the spiritual East and the worldly or materialist West. Crudely and categorically formulated the truth remains no longer true. There is a very large amount of worldliness in the East, on the one hand, and on the other, mystics and spiritual seekers or leaders are not a rare phenomenon in the West. However, it can be said and admitted as a fact that there is in the East an atmosphere that is predominantly spiritual and one can more easily come in contact with it; whereas in the West it is the mental and material culture that predominates and the approach to it is nearer and closer to man. The science of the Spirit has received greater attention in the East; it has been studied, experimented, organised, almost consummated there in a supreme manner. Even as the science of Matter has reached its apotheosis in the West.
04.04 - A Global Humanity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Viewed as a progressive growth of consciousness and transformation of nature, man's advance has been marked out in a few very definite stages. The first was the purely animal manPasuwhen man lived merely as a physical being, concerned solely about his body. Then came the Pisacha, the man of vital urges in their crudest form, the man of ignorant passions and dark instincts who has been imaged in the popular mind as the ghoul. At the next stage, with a further release of the consciousness, when the larger vital impulses come into play man becomes the Rakshasa, the demon. Egoistic hunger for possession, enjoyment, enlarged and increased appetite are his characteristics. Next came the Asura, the Titan, the egoistic mental man in his earlier avatar seeking to emerge out of the purely vital nature. Ambition and pride are his guiding spirit. Prometheus is his prototype. There are still two higher types which have been established in the human consciousness and in the world atmosphere as dynamic ideals, if not as common concrete facts of the material world. The first is the ethical man, who seeks to govern his life according to some principles of light and Purity, such, for example, as unselfishness, altruism, chivalry, self-abnegation, rectitude, truthfulness etc. He is the Sattwic man, as known in India. There is also a still higher category, where consciousness endeavours to go beyond mind, enters into the consciousness of the Spirit; then we have the spiritual man, the saint and the sage. Beyond lie the supra-mental domains formed of the consciousness of the gods.
Man, individually and collectively, has passed and is passing through these steps of evolution. The last one is his goal at the present stage. To be a saint, seer or sage is not enough for man. He must be a god. Indeed when he has succeeded to be a god then only would it be possible for him to become what a saint or a seer or sage has to be in order to fulfil himself totally and integrally. The human race as a whole is progressing along the same line towards the same consummation. That is the secret purpose and end of Nature, to evolve a growing developing material form housing, embodying higher and wider ranges of consciousness, integrating all elements into a more and more intimate and inviolable unity and harmony.
04.04 - The Quest, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Bathed in the Purity of the mild gaze
That, uninsistent, ruled them from its peace,
04.09 - Values Higher and Lower, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The balance is upset exactly when we say that the higher depends on the lower or that it comes after. Not only so, the statement is likely to involve an error, a mistaken view. If one has to make a distinction between higher and lower, inner and outer, it will be nearer the truth and fact to say that the lower depends on the higher, it is the inner reality that upholds and inspires the outer form: without this inner cohesive deity all the external frame would fall to pieces. It is not the contingencies of time and circumstances, of day-to-day existence that determine the nature and form of power of the soul and spirit. It is the pressure of the Inner Being, antarym, that brings about the pattern and organisation of the outer life. At the summit of being, at the absolute point of consciousness the two are identical, absolutely one and the same. In the lower ranges as manifestation and variation begin the two maintain their union and harmony and mutuality so long as the consciousness retains its Purity and the being is not invaded by Ignorance. Ignorance means the gradual predominance of the outer and the lower, till it reaches its last point in Inconscience where Matter is the only reality and everything is made to stand and depend on the grossest reality.
Even then, even from that nadir, let us consider things a little more closely. We have still consciousness left in us as human beings. Now, because 'man has a body and because he has to live and move in physical surroundings and circumstances, therefore body and physical conditions must necessarily come to his consciousness first in importancethis is not a valid argument nor a statement of fact. For man has and is something else besides: and this something else, in other words, the spiritual being, is quite a free and independent entity and can act as it wills ignoring and ignorant of the body and its circumstances. Whether one is poor or rich, successful or frustrated, happy or unhappy, one can always listen and follow the call of the Spirit.
04.22 - To the Heights-XXII, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
An unspeakable tranquillity holds my mind and heart, An utter Purity nestles me!
My ears have drunk thy voice-
05.01 - Man and the Gods, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The gods possess this high quality of crystal Purity, of a concentrated seeing will in which vision and execution form one single simultaneous movement, of the taut yet perfectly serene rhythm of a hero-consciousness. Something of that grandiose sweep of godly march the Virgilian gradus diviis echoed in these Vedic lines hymned to Varuna:
Adabdhni varunasya vratni vicakaaccandram naktameti
05.01 - Of Love and Aspiration, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Of Love Ananda is the soul, self-mastery the head, and Purity the foundation.
The human approaches to the Divine are dangerous. Seek God in God's ways.
05.02 - Physician, Heal Thyself, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Will is a twofold power: it is energy and it is light. True will, will in essential Purity, that is to say, when one is perfectly sincere and determined to follow up one's sincerity, impels rightly and impels infallibly. The consciousness is there of the right thing to do and the energy is also there inherent in that consciousness to work it out inevitably. There is a will be longing to a lower level, to the mind which is only a variant of wish, and in reference to that only it is said that even if the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. This will is a light, but without the fire that vivifies: and that is because there is a division in the consciousness, one can love and yet one can betray, in the words of a famous novelist.
But as we have already said, man is not condemned to this malady of schizophrenia: he is not by nature a Manichean creature. He is whole and entire in his inner reality and true consciousness and he can assert his integrality, he has the freedom and the power to do so-he has to and will do so, since it is not merely a possibility but an inevitability that is to come about in the course of his growth and evolution.
05.03 - Bypaths of Souls Journey, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The soul in its inner consciousness knows all its evolutionary formations, remembers those of the past and foresees those of the future, when needed, and even determines them essentially. The mind ruling one incarnation cannot recall other incarnations, for it is a product of that incarnation and is meant to guide and control it; physical memory is a function of the brain in the particular body that the soul inhabits for the time. The soul carries a deeper reminiscence which is part and parcel of the self-consciousness inherent in its nature. The physical memory too can partake of this inner reminiscence if it is purified, illumined and organised around the soul as its instrument of expression. Indeed, although the journey of the soul essentially and originally is the flight of the spirit to the Spirit, yet the final consummation is towards an increasing integration of all the external instruments from the highest to the lowest, from the subtlest to the grossest into a harmonised organised whole, reflecting and embodying the Spirit in its Purity and totality. The mind, the life and the body too attain a perfectly unified individuality that is the expression of the soul's truth-consciousness and escaping disruption and dissolution partake ultimately of the inherent immortality of the spiritual being.
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05.03 - Of Desire and Atonement, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But there is too a Purity, a drop of which can render crystal clear a whole morass of soil and dirt.
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05.03 - Satyavan and Savitri, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The bloom of their Purity and passion one.
A sacrament of joy in treasuring palms
05.24 - Process of Purification, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
There are three well-marked stages in the process of the purification of nature and surrender to the Divine. When one has made up one's mind finally to take to the path of spiritual life and to turn one's back on the life of ignorant nature, one enters at the outset into a phase of divided consciousness and life. It is the stage when one cries, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." One feels an inner aspiration and devotion and even freedom and Purity and wider consciousness, but actually in the practical world, he follows the old nature, acts under the pressure of Ignorance and the Ripus. You are a mundane man with profane habitsand yet within, when aloof, you are in contact with the deeper and larger breath of the Spirit. The next stage is one of external control and of modification of behaviour. You have the inner consciousness of the spirit grown strong in you and you are no longer a helpless prey to the physical outbursts of inferior nature: a kind of brake has been put upon the outgoing passions. Still at this stage the surges of passion are there within, inside the wall of control, as it were. The pressure and demand of the Spirit has brought about a deadlock in the ignorant movements of the outer nature, although the physico-vital and vital support behind has not been wholly purified and continues in its old way, expressing itself in veiled and sublimated acts and in dreams and imaginations. The vital support even when it does not express itself in grosser physical movements, even when it is self-contained, yet maintains its old taste for them. Finally, when this taste even goes away (that is the suggestion in the beautiful and luminous phrase of the Gita, rasavaljam), then only one rises into the integral and unadulterated life of the Spirit. Till that final consummation happens, the period of interregnum is a great occasion for training and experience. It is of considerable interest also from the standpoint of occult knowledge.
There are two typeswhich mean two stagesof control. You can control your nature by the force of your will, as one does a wicked horse by means of the toothed bit. But this control is precarious and the clearing or purification effected is only skin-deep. At the slightest weakening of the will or a momentary lack of vigilance, you may find yourself in the very midst of a volcanic eruption of passions. Even otherwise, even if there happens no external outburst, the burden or pressure of the ignorant nature is always there and the struggle or tension, although thrown into the background, obstructs the nature, does not give it the free and spontaneous higher poise of the spirit. The other control comes from the inmost being, from the spiritual self itself: it is automatic and it is occult in its action and therefore naturally effective. When the Spirit, the Inner Control (Antarymi)works, it happens that even if the desires are there, the occasions for their satisfaction are withdrawn from you. As the Mother says, some people who are destined for the spiritual life lose all earthly props whenever they wish to lean upon them, they lose their endeared objects whenever they are eager to cherish them. At a certain stage of the growth of the inner consciousness, the demand of the soul makes it impossible for the vital (or physico-vital), so far as it is unpurified and unprepared, to secure its objects: even if the lips yearn, the cup is taken away. The circumstances themselves yield to the pressure of the inner being and conspire, as it were, to withhold and remove all dangerous contacts. The being has not to say, "Lead me not into temptation", for the temptations by themselves slip away. That is the earlier poise of the interregnum we are describing; the next poise comes when the wish-impulses, the subjective vibrations also melt and disappear. Then there appear no such things as temptations. Objects, events, circumstances that might have acted in that role come and go, but the being remains indifferent and unruffled, because suffused with the delight of another contact. The detachment from the worldly is secure and absolute because the being has found its attachment to the Divine. That is the beginning of the integral spiritualisation of the nature.
06.15 - Ever Green, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Whenever you go inside and seek your poise, do not look for your old acquaintances, the familiar experiences, do not carry upon your back the load of the past, but go ahead, as if through a virgin tract, making quite new discoveries, and opening unexpected vistas at each step. You can make an experiment even on your physical body, i.e. take the physical consciousness too to share in your adventure of ever new discovery. Thus you may, for example, forget your habit of eating or even walking, truly forget and try to learn over again, even as you did for the first time as a child. You have to acquire consciously a capacity of the body that has become an almost unconscious reflex action. It is a wonderful and exhilarating experience. Naturally you cannot repeat too often or carry too far an experiment of this kind on the physical plane. But you can freely deal with your inner life and consciousness. You can make your mind and your vital a clean slate, as much as you like: not once in your life, but every moment of your life. And then see how the world impinges upon your consciousness, what fresh discoveries and awakenings come to you endlessly! You can always rid yourself of the accustomed vibrations on the normal levels of your existence, the physical, vital and mental; and even you can go beyond your psychic formation and be the wide, the vast, the limitless, the Infinite itself, void of all name and form. And then with that virgin consciousness drop straight into the world of material life and form, into your body and bodily reactions. The world will give itself up to you in its pristine Purity, its original beauty and truth, always luminous and glorious. This experience has to be the normal mode of your living, not simply the culmination or acme of your being, a fixed and stagnant status, even if considered the highest, the summum bonum. That is how you can keep yourself and the world around you ever fresh and young and new.
The preacher who speaks of the truth and delivers it to his hearers is usually effective for the first time or for a first few occasions only, when he feels the truth of his truth and is sincere while delivering. But as time wears on, his truth too wears out, for it becomes stereotyped, a matter of mere habit. The experience is no longer lived, but mechanically doled out. You are sincere only when the experience is new and fresh and living, it should be made so every moment, otherwise it is dead letter, letter that killeth.
06.24 - When Imperfection is Greater Than Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
A perfected consciousness is attained in the highest status of being, when it is full of light and delight, peace and Purity, one with the Divine Consciousness. Such a Consciousness, when it comes down upon earth in its original unmixed clarity, lives as a foreign element and has no real contact with the world; it can have only a very indirect influence upon men and things. If the perfect, the Divine Consciousness has to be truly effective, has to change human and world nature, it must put on partially at least that nature; it must share in the imperfection of ignorance so that it can show how that imperfection can be dealt with and transformed. The Divine has to become human, even the ordinary human, in a sense, in the outward instrumental aspect, to a greater or lesser degree as needed, so that He may come in living contact with the obscure lower consciousness and put His light into it and gradually purify and illumine it. If, however, the consciousness retains its fullness of power and light makes its appearance as such, it may dazzle and overwhelm, as a meteor miracle, but leave nothing substantial behind. This is what has happened in the past of man's history. The saints and sages, the greatest and the most genuine among them, mostly dwelt apart from humanity in consciousness and even away from human contact; the earth could not profit wholly by their example.
Therefore the Mother says in her Prayers and Meditations that having gone beyond all desires still she had to live in the midst of desires; she had no choice of her own, no preference, no attachment, no need of anything, yet she was put in the conditions of very ordinary life, the normal human life; she had to deal with the common man, handle the small insignificant objects of material existence. In one part of her being she had to identify herself with ignorance and obscurity, so much so that even the distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness the conscient and the inconscientwas for a time obliterated. Naturally, the inmost being in its inner self remained always calm, luminous, inviolable, but it put around itself this body of ordinary nature to meet its ordinary reactions and through them gradually to uplift and train it to manifest and incarnate the inmost divine.
07.02 - The Parable of the Search for the Soul, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Casts into the argent Purity of his soul
His splendour and his greatness and the light
07.05 - The Finding of the Soul, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
In a simple Purity of emptiness
Her mind knelt down before the unknowable.
07.08 - The Divine Truth Its Name and Form, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You expect to see a divine form in each and all things? It may happen so. But I am not sure; I have the impression that there is a large part of imagination in such experiences. You may, for example, see the form of Krishna or Christ or Buddha in every being or thing. But I say that much of human conception enters into this perception. Otherwise what I was telling you just now would not be true. I said all who have the consciousness of the Divine, all who get the contact with the Divine, wherever one may be, to whatever age or country he may belong, all have the same essential experience. If it were not so, the Hindus would always see one of their gods, the Europeans one of theirs, the Japanese a third variety and so on. This may be an addition of each one's own mental formation, but it would not be the Reality in its essence or Purity which is beyond all form. One can have a perception of the Divine Presence, a very concrete perception, one can have even a personal contact with the Divine, but it need not happen in and through the kind of form you imagine; it is something inexpressible, beyond all explanation or definition, it is evident only to one who has the experience. It may be as you are suddenly lifted up into a peculiar condition, you find yourself in the presence of the Divine which takes a form familiar to you, a form you have been accustomed to associate with the Divine, because of your education, your up-bringing and tradition. But, as I say, it is not the supreme essence of the experience: the form gives after all a limitation to the experience, takes away from it its universality and a large measure of its power.
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07.12 - This Ugliness in the World, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Everything in the world has at its source a supreme truth, how is it then that the world has become ugly in its expression? Why are things at all ugly? Because there are other things that intervene between the Source and the manifestation. For example, if I asked you: Do you know your true being? what would you say? You do not know; it would be wonderful if you did. It is the same with all beings and things. And yet you are already a sufficiently developed being, a thinking being, and have gone through many stages of refinement; you are not quite the lizard crawling on the wall! Still you cannot tell what is the truth of your being. That is the secret of the deformation in the world. It is because there is all the unconsciousness the Inconscient that has been created by the fact of separation from one's origin. It is this inconscience which prevents the Source from manifesting in its own nature, although it is there always. It is there, therefore that all things exist, the world exists; but in its expression it is deformed, because it has to manifest itself through inconscience, through ignorance and obscurity. But how did it come about? The will to create was originally a will that projected itself towards individual formation; what it arrived at, however, was not the true individual (or individualisation) but a breaking up of the solid unity into infinitesimal fragments. The original indivisible unity became a sum of infinitely divided unities. These unities or units were individualisations of things separate and feeling and acting as such. It is precisely the feeling of separation from others that gives you the impression that you are an individual. Otherwise you would feel that you were only a fluid mass. That is to say, you are no longer conscious simply of your rigid outer form and all that cuts you off from others and makes of you a separate individual, you are conscious of the vital forces that move about everywhere, of the inconscient that is the foundation of all, you have the impression that you are a moving mass with all kinds of contradictory movements in it, which cannot be separated from each other. You would not have the impression that you are an individual being, but that you are something like one note or vibration in a whole complex. The original will was to form individual beings capable of becoming conscious again of their divine origin. This process of individualisation created the necessity that to be an individual one must feel oneself separate: that is why one is cut off from the original consciousness, at least apparently, and is fallen into inconscience. For the Life of life is the Origin alone and if it is separated from that source, consciousness naturally turns into unconsciousness and you lose trace of the truth of your being. That is the process of the creation or formation of the world by which the pure origin does not manifest directly in its essence and Purity, but through deformation, that is to say, unconsciousness and ignorance. That is how ugliness came in, death and disease, wickedness and misery and all. It is the movement, I say, brought in by the necessity of individual formation that has produced these things, each and every one of them, that is the one source of the multiple evil in all its modes and vibrations. I do not say this was indispensable that problem I may take up later on. But for the moment I direct you to the source in order to show the remedy. And there is no point in questioning why it is so. As I said, the only way to settle the world problem is to be conscious again, to recover the lost consciousness. Of course, if you say like some religions that good is good and evil is evil and they will always remain so, then there is no longer any problem. An eternal struggle binds the two together and whichever wins for the moment will make the world a little better at one moment and a little worse at another. But the two exist, continue to exist eternally and indissolubly intertwined. But you have seen it is not like that; one can come out of the tangle into the perfect unity of the truth, for it is that which is the only and original source.
It is this perfect truth, let me repeat, that has scattered itself abroad, into these innumerable little atoms, into these insignificant brain cells which, in spite of all their ignorance, are still moved by a secret stir of consciousness: these little specks of darkness reach out towards light which they can find, for it is within them. They will arrive at what they seek. It may take time more or less, but they will reach in the end. That is then the remedy: it lies in the very heart of evil itself.
07.31 - Images of Gods and Goddesses, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Well when a little child draws a picture of an object, is there any likeness? It is about the same or even worse here. For the child is simple and sincere, while the image-maker is full of prejudices and preconceived ideas, stuffed with things he has heard or read. And he is tied to his constructions. But at times, here and there, very rarely indeed, artists appear with an inner vision, with a great aspiration and a great Purity of soul; they do things that are acceptable. But they are exceptions, the contrary is the rule.
I have seen some of these forms in the vital world and also in the mental world; they are truly creations of man. There is a Power from beyond that manifests, but in this triple world of Ignorance man creates God Himself in his own image and beings that appear there are more or less the outcome of the creative human thought. So at times we do have things that are truly frightful. I have seen formations that are so obscure, so un-understandable, so inexpressive! There are some divine beings that are treated worse than the others. Take, for example, this poor Mahakali. What has man made of her, wildly terrible, a nightmare beyond imagination! Such creations however live in a very inferior world, in the lowest vital world; and if there is anything there of the original being, it is such a far off reflection that it is hardly recognisable. And yet it is that which is pulled by the human consciousness. When, for example, an image is made and installed and the priest calls down into it a form, an emanation of a god, through an inner invocation there is usually a whole ceremony in this connectionif the priest is someone having the power of evocation, then the thing succeeds (what Ramakrishna did in the Kali temple). But generally priests are people with the commonest ideas and the most traditional training and education; when they think of the gods they give them attributes and appearances which are popular, which belong normally to entities of the vital world, at best to mental formations but which do not represent in any way the truth of the beings behind. All the idols in temples or the household gods worshipped by the many are inhabited by beings who know only how to lead you to unhappiness and disaster. They are so far away from the divinity that one means to worship. There are certain family Kalis that are real monsters. I have even advised some to throw such an image into the Ganges to get rid of the evil influence emanating from it. But of course it is always the fault of man and not of the divinity. For man wishes so much to make his gods in his own image.
08.01 - Choosing To Do Yoga, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
For, on this level, on the spiritual level, too many people,in fact, the majority of those who take up the spiritual lifedo Yoga for personal reasons, all kinds of personal reasons : some because they are disgusted with life, others because they are unhappy, some others because they wish to have more knowledge, others again because they want to be spiritually great, yet others because they want to learn things so that they may teach them to others, and so On, there are a thousand personal reasons for doing the Yoga. But there are not many for doing the simple act of giving oneself to the Divinethis act in all its Purity and consistencyso that the Divine may take one up and do with One what He wants. With that you go straight to your goal and never run the risk of making a mistake. But all the other motives are mixed up, tainted with ego and they can lead, you hither and thither and far away from the goal.
This feeling that there is for you only one reason for existence, one single motive, the total complete perfect consecration to the Divine, to such a degree that you are unable to distinguish between yourself and the Divine, you become the Divine wholly, absolutely, without any personal reaction whatsoever intervening: this is the ideal attitude. And that is the only one with which you can progress safely in life, protected from everything, protected even from yourself for of all dangers the greatest is that which comes from one's own self, one's egoistic self.
09.04 - The Divine Grace, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But there are conditions to fulfil: a great Purity must be there and a great intensity in the self-giving and that absolute trust in the supreme wisdom of the Divine Grace which knows better than us what is truly good for ourselves. If the aspiration is offered to That and the offering is made truly and with enough intensity, the result will be marvellous.
But then you must be able to see. When things are realised, most often people find that quite natural; they do not care to see even why and how it has so happened; they simply say, "Yes, but of course it had to be so." And thus they lose the joy of gratefulness. After all, if one can be full of gratefulness and gratitude for the Divine Grace, then that is the last thing; you begin to see that at every step things are exactly what they should be and the very best that can be. It is then that Sachchidananda begins to gather Himself and refashion His Unity.
09.15 - How to Listen, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
In the same way, when you have an experience, as long as it lasts, do not try to understand what it means; if you do that, it vanishes, or you deform and disfigure it, taking away all its Purity. In the same way also if you want a spiritual experience to enter into you, you must have a brain absolutely quiet and immobile, like a mirror which not only reflects but absorbs, allows the ray to enter and penetrate deep within so that out of the profundities of your consciousness it may rise up one day or other in the form of knowledge.
If you come here, come with the intention of listening in silence. What will happen you will recognise later on; the effect of this attitude of silence you will find out in course of time. But in the meanwhile the only thing to do is to be silent, still, attentive.
10.01 - Cycles of Creation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
At the present time the human consciousness in general has been so prepared and its dwelling and playfield the earth consciousness made ready to such a degree that it has been possible for the still secreted higher perfection to enter into the arena. The evolution, the growth has been a gradual expression and revelation of the light, the consciousness in a higher and higher degree of Purity and potency through an encasement hard and resistant at first but gradually yielding to the impact of the higher status and even transforming itself so as to become its instrument and embodiment. We speak of the present situation, we are concerned with man and what he is to grow into or bring out of himself. Here also there seem to be stages or cycles of creation leading to the final achievement. The whole burden of the present endeavour is how to transcend, transform or modify the animalhood which is the basis of humanity even now and in and through which man is growing and seeking to manifest and incarnate his superior potencies. Man's supramental destiny means that he totally outgrows the animal, outgrows even his manhood in so far as it is merely human; for he has to incorporate the principle of the supramental which wholly transcends the mental.
The first step in this momentous movement has been taken, the first act achieved, for the supramental is now here established in the earth's atmosphere and is already percolating into general human consciousness. It is no longer a far-off object residing away in its own home, its higher transcendent status, but a concrete reality as something like earth's own. It is at work in this material envelope, this animal encasing of humanity and is vigorously transforming, demolishing and building, preparing the new structure.
10.01 - The Dream Twilight of the Ideal, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
A spirit of Purity, an elusive presence
Of faery beauty and ungrasped delight
10.04 - Transfiguration, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
This transfiguration is possible, nay, inevitable, because the higher realities, the truth-expressions of the Supreme Consciousness are there always self-existent in their total Purity and pressing down upon earth and displacing the lower mayic shadow-realities. We need not seek to pull down what is already descending of itself. One must be open and receptive and welcoming in tranquillity the descending Godheads.
***
1.004 - Women, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
49. Have you not considered those who claim Purity for themselves? Rather, God purifies whom He wills, and they will not be wronged a whit.
50. See how they devise lies against God. That alone is an outright sin.
1.00a - Introduction, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Our own Order is the only exception of importance; and the reason for this is that it is much more difficult to retain one's Purity if one is living in the world than if one simply cuts oneself off from it. It is far easier to achieve technical attainments if one is unhampered by any such considerations. These regulations operate as restrictions to one's usefulness in helping the world. There are terrible dangers, the worst dangers of all, associated with complete retirement. In my own personal judgment, moreover, I think that our own ideal of a natural life is much more wholesome.
When you have found out a little about your past incarnations, you should be able to understand this very clearly and simply.
--
Then again, you ask me questions like "What is Purity?" that can be answered in a dozen different ways; and you must understand what is meant by a "universe of discourse." If you asked me "Is this sample of cloride of gold a pure sample?" I can answer you. You must understand the value of precision in speech. I could go on rambling about Purity and selflessness for years, and no one would be a penny the better.
P.S. or rather, I did not want to dictate this bit Your ideas about the O.T.O. remind me of some women's idea of shopping. You want to maul about the stock and then walk out with a proud glad smile: NO. Do you really think that I should muster all the most distinguished people alive for your inspection and approval?
1.00 - Main, #The Book of Certitude, #Baha u llah, #Baha i
"All praise be to Thee, O Thou the Desire of the worlds!" In truth, it is in the hand of God to give what He willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and to withhold what He pleaseth from whomsoever He may wish. He knoweth the inner secrets of the hearts and the meaning hidden in a mocker's wink. How many an embodiment of heedlessness who came unto Us with Purity of heart have We established upon the seat of Our acceptance; and how many an exponent of wisdom have We in all justice consigned to the fire. We are, in truth, the One to judge. He it is Who is the manifestation of "God doeth whatsoever He pleaseth", and abideth upon the throne of "He ordaineth whatsoever He chooseth".
158
10.12 - The Divine Grace and Love, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Grace means gift, it is a gesture of the giving of boon from the Divine. The Divine gives out of His Plenitude what we want, what we need, what we should have, naturally as per His choice. The most obvious, the most external, superficial and concrete form of gift is what meets our physical material need. And protection is the most appreciated and the most readily available treasure. Protection in its larger sense, includes all kinds and modes of welfare from the most physical to the utmost spiritual. When the aspirant prays: 'Lead us not to temptations, give us Purity and peace and truth,' God's answer is His Grace.
But instead of giving any boon, any treasure physical or material or even spiritual, however precious, instead of giving anything the Divine may give Himself to one who approaches Him; then it becomes something more than the Grace, it is Love, the Divine's LoveHis own Self. It is His own substance, His own delight of being that He gives, not anything external or extraneous. One remembers the story of Arjuna and Duryodhana. Duryodhana approached Krishna and thought the utmost, the best that he could secure from Krishna was Krishna's battalions, for that seemed to him the most precious gift of all, for that is the thing he would need most in the coming battle. Arjuna asked for nothing else but Krishna Himself.
1.018 - The Cave, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
81. So we wanted their Lord to replace him with someone better in Purity, and closer to mercy.
82. And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphaned boys in the city. Beneath it was a treasure that belonged to them. Their father was a righteous man. Your Lord wanted them to reach their maturity, and then extract their treasure—as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it of my own accord. This is the interpretation of what you were unable to endure.”
1.01f - Introduction, #The Lotus Sutra, #Anonymous, #Various
Who, through persistence, possessed Purity of conduct,
Which they protected like a precious jewel.
1.01 - Maitreya inquires of his teacher (Parashara), #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
[5]: The three qualities, to which we shall have further occasion to advert, are, Satya, goodness or Purity, knowledge, quiescence; Rajas, foulness, passion, activity; and Tamas, darkness, ignorance, inertia.
[6]: Pradhānabuddhyādisū. This predicate of the Deity distinguishes most of the Purāṇas from several of the philosophical systems, which maintain, as did the earliest Grecian systems of cosmogony, the eternal and independent existence of the first principle of things, as nature, matter, or chaos. Accordingly, the commentator notices the objection. Pradhāna being without beginning, it is said how can Viṣṇu be its parent? To which he replies, that this is not so, for in a period of worldly destruction (Pralaya), when the Creator desists from creating, nothing is generated by virtue of any other energy or parent. Or, if this be not satisfactory, then the text may be understood to imply that intellect (Buddhi) &c. are formed through the materiality of crude nature, or Pradhāna.
1.01 - On knowledge of the soul, and how knowledge of the soul is the key to the knowledge of God., #The Alchemy of Happiness, #Al-Ghazali, #Sufism
When the heart is free from worldly lusts, from the animosities of society and from the distraction occasioned by the senses, the vision of God is possible. And this course is adopted by the Mystics.1 It is also the path followed by the prophets. But it is permitted also to acquire the practice of it by learning, and this is the way adopted by the theologians. This is also an exalted way, though in comparison with the former, its results are insignificant and contracted. Many distinguished men have attained these revelations by experience and the demonstration of reasoning. Still let every one who fails of obtaining this knowledge either by means of Purity of desire or of demonstration of reasoning, take care and not deny its existence to those who are possessed of it, so that they may not be repelled from the low degree they have attained, and their conduct become a snare to them in the way of truth. These things which we have mentioned constitute the wonders of the heart and show its grandeur.
Think not that these discoveries of truth are limited to the prophets alone. On the contrary every man in his essential nature is endowed with attributes rendering him capable of participating in the same discoveries. What God says, "Am I not your Lord?"2 refers to this quality. And the holy saying of the prophet of God: "Every man is born with the nature of Islamism; but his ancestors practised Judaism, Nazarenism or Magianism," is an indication of the same thing.
1.01 - THAT ARE THOU, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The self realized in your inmost consciousness appears in its Purity; this is the Tathagata-garbha (literally, Buddha-womb), which is not the realm of those given over to mere reasoning
Pure in its own nature and free from the category of finite and infinite, Universal Mind is the undefiled Buddha-womb, which is wrongly apprehended by sentient beings.
1.01 - The Cycle of Society, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
This typal stage creates the great social ideals which remain impressed upon the human mind even when the stage itself is passed. The principal active contri bution it leaves behind when it is dead is the idea of social honour; the honour of the Brahmin which resides in Purity, in piety, in a high reverence for the things of the mind and spirit and a disinterested possession and exclusive pursuit of learning and knowledge; the honour of the Kshatriya which lives in courage, chivalry, strength, a certain proud self-restraint and self-mastery, nobility of character and the obligations of that nobility; the honour of the Vaishya which maintains itself by rectitude of dealing, mercantile fidelity, sound production, order, liberality and philanthropy; the honour of the Shudra which gives itself in obedience, subordination, faithful service, a disinterested attachment. But these more and more cease to have a living root in the clear psychological idea or to spring naturally out of the inner life of the man; they become a convention, though the most noble of conventions. In the end they remain more as a tradition in the thought and on the lips than a reality of the life.
For the typal passes naturally into the conventional stage. The conventional stage of human society is born when the external supports, the outward expressions of the spirit or the ideal become more important than the ideal, the body or even the clothes more important than the person. Thus in the evolution of caste, the outward supports of the ethical fourfold order,birth, economic function, religious ritual and sacrament, family custom,each began to exaggerate enormously its proportions and its importance in the scheme. At first, birth does not seem to have been of the first importance in the social order, for faculty and capacity prevailed; but afterwards, as the type fixed itself, its maintenance by education and tradition became necessary and education and tradition naturally fixed themselves in a hereditary groove. Thus the son of a Brahmin came always to be looked upon conventionally as a Brahmin; birth and profession were together the double bond of the hereditary convention at the time when it was most firm and faithful to its own character. This rigidity once established, the maintenance of the ethical type passed from the first place to a secondary or even a quite tertiary importance. Once the very basis of the system, it came now to be a not indispensable crown or pendent tassel, insisted upon indeed by the thinker and the ideal code-maker but not by the actual rule of society or its practice. Once ceasing to be indispensable, it came inevitably to be dispensed with except as an ornamental fiction. Finally, even the economic basis began to disintegrate; birth, family custom and remnants, deformations, new accretions of meaningless or fanciful religious sign and ritual, the very scarecrow and caricature of the old profound symbolism, became the riveting links of the system of caste in the iron age of the old society. In the full economic period of caste the priest and the Pundit masquerade under the name of the Brahmin, the aristocrat and feudal baron under the name of the Kshatriya, the trader and money-getter under the name of the Vaishya, the half-fed labourer and economic serf under the name of the Shudra. When the economic basis also breaks down, then the unclean and diseased decrepitude of the old system has begun; it has become a name, a shell, a sham and must either be dissolved in the crucible of an individualist period of society or else fatally affect with weakness and falsehood the system of life that clings to it. That in visible fact is the last and present state of the caste system in India.
1.01 - The First Steps, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
After one has learned to have a firm erect seat, one has to perform, according to certain schools, a practice called the purifying of the nerves. This part has been rejected by some as not belonging to Raja-Yoga, but as so great an authority as the commentator Shankarchrya advises it, I think fit that it should be mentioned, and I will quote his own directions from his commentary on the Shvetshvatara Upanishad: "The mind whose dross has been cleared away by Pranayama, becomes fixed in Brahman; therefore Pranayama is declared. First the nerves are to be purified, then comes the power to practice Pranayama. Stopping the right nostril with the thumb, through the left nostril fill in air, according to capacity; then, without any interval, throw the air out through the right nostril, closing the left one. Again inhaling through the right nostril eject through the left, according to capacity; practicing this three or five times at four hours of the day, before dawn, during midday, in the evening, and at midnight, in fifteen days or a month Purity of the nerves is attained; then begins Pranayama."
Practice is absolutely necessary. You may sit down and listen to me by the hour every day, but if you do not practice, you will not get one step further. It all depends on practice. We never understand these things until we experience them. We will have to see and feel them for ourselves. Simply listening to explanations and theories will not do. There are several obstructions to practice. The first obstruction is an unhealthy body: if the body is not in a fit state, the practice will be obstructed. Therefore we have to keep the body in good health; we have to take care of what we eat and drink, and what we do. Always use a mental effort, what is usually called "Christian Science," to keep the body strong. That is all nothing further of the body. We must not forget that health is only a means to an end. If health were the end, we would be like animals; animals rarely become unhealthy.
1.01 - The Four Aids, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
34:Influence is more important than example. Influence is not the outward authority of the Teacher over his disciple, but the power of his contact, of his presence, of the nearness of his soul to the soul of another, infusing into it, even though in silence, that which he himself is and possesses. This is the supreme sign of the Master. For the greatest Master is much less a Teacher than a Presence pouring the divine consciousness and its constituting light and power and Purity and bliss into all who are receptive around him.
35:And it shall also be a sign of the teacher of the integral Yoga that he does not arrogate to himself Guruhood in a humanly vain and self-exalting spirit. His work, if he has one, is a trust from above, he himself a channel, a vessel or a representative. He is a man helping his brothers, a child leading children, a Light kindling other lights, an awakened Soul awakening souls, at highest a Power or Presence of the Divine calling to him other powers of the Divine.
1.01 - The Rape of the Lock, #The Rape of the Lock, #unset, #Zen
What guards the Purity of melting maids,
In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades,
1.01 - THE STUFF OF THE UNIVERSE, #The Phenomenon of Man, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
of Purity, but always more or less granulated (even in light)
energy nowadays represents for science the most primitive form
1.02.2.2 - Self-Realisation, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
either Purity of self-knowledge or an obscuration and distortion
of knowledge in the dualities of truth and error; a pure activity
1.022 - The Pilgrimage, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
24. They were guided to Purity of speech. They were guided to the path of the Most Praised.
25. As for those who disbelieve and repel from God’s path and from the Sacred Mosque—which We have designated for all mankind equally, whether residing therein or passing through—and whoever seeks to commit sacrilege therein—We will make him taste of a painful punishment.
1.02.3.1 - The Lord, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
and eternal Purity. For it is unmodified; It watches as the Sakshi,
the witness, the modifications effected by Prakriti, but does not
--
of Prakriti and her works. An absolute calm and passivity, Purity and equality within, a sovereign and inexhaustible activity
without is the nature of Brahman as we see it manifested in the
10.27 - Consciousness, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Love in the mind, love in the heart, love in the vital, love in the physical, love human and animal are not negations of the Divine love, it is not that you have to reject, cut off these so-called inferior formulations of love, these do not necessarily deny or reject the Divine love in their heart of hearts; even there in their true reality, glows the pure Divine love. To reach the Divine love, to enjoy its divine nanda, it is not necessary to make a bonfire of these earthly goods and go beyond into the transcendent. Even here in this earthly mould the Divine love in its full Purity can be established for it is already there behind and needs only earnest evocation.
Consciousness essentially is always and everywhere the same. Its own quality is unvarying but in its expression there is growth and development, an increase in intensity and amplitude. The light that your candle gives and the light that comes from the sun are not different in quality but they differ in expression or manifestation, because of the receptacle, the seat or abode of the light. The Vedic fire was lighted on a sacred altar, that is the seat for the God from where to manifest himself. There was a regular ceremony for the preparation of the seat (Barhi) and the value and the success of the sacrifice depended largely on a proper preparation of the seat. The seat, the basic status also indicates that there is an ascending movement of the sacrifice. The sacrifice symbolises consciousness and radiant energy, mounting and travelling upward and forward; the progress or ascent of consciousness means bringing out its inherent potential strength that is behind and within and placing it in front as power of expression. As I have said, if consciousness in matter is like a light of single candle power, on the level of life it becomes a light of multiple candle power and in the mind this multiple power is again multiplied. In this way the consciousness finally attains its solar incandescence on the highest height of the being.
1.02 - Karmayoga, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Vedanta presuppose a preparation in life, for it is only through life that one can reach to immortality. The opposite opinion is due to certain tendencies which have bulked large in the history and temperament of our race. The ultimate goal of our religion is emancipation from the bondage of material Nature and freedom from individual rebirth, and certain souls, among the highest we have known, have been drawn by the attraction of the final hush and Purity to dissociate themselves from life and bodily action in order more swiftly and easily to reach the goal. Standing like
Essays from the Karmayogin
1.02 - MAPS OF MEANING - THREE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
conflict (between temptation and moral Purity, for example) requires the construction of an abstract
moral system, powerful enough to allow what an occurrence signifies for the future to govern reaction to
1.02 - SADHANA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
man may become so pure that his Purity will become tangible,
as it were. The body has become pure, and in an intensely
--
emanates that Purity wherever it goes. Whosoever comes in
contact with that man becomes pure. Next the indicated
--
internal Purity is of greater value that external, but both are
necessary, and external Purity, without internal, is of no good.
33. kldidl'Td II XX II
--
So, when this Purity is established, the first sign will be that
you do not care to think you are a body. It is only when
1.02 - Self-Consecration, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
25:For here, there are two movements with a transitional stage between them, two periods of this Yoga, -- one of the process of surrender, the other of its crown and consequence. In the first the individual prepares himself for the reception o? the Divine into his members. For all this first period he has to work by means of the instruments of the lower Nature, but aided more and more from above. But in the later transitional stage of this movement our personal and necessarily ignorant effort more and more dwindles and a higher Nature acts; the eternal shakti descends into this limited form of mortality and progressively possesses and transmutes it. In the second period the greater movement wholly replaces the lesser, formerly indispensable first action; but this can be done only when our self-surrender is complete. The ego person in us cannot transform itself by its own force or will or knowledge or by any virtue of its own into the nature of the Divine; all it can do is to fit itself for the transformation and make more and more its surrender to that which it seeks to become. As long as the ego is at work in us, our personal action is and must always be in its nature a part of the lower grades of existence; it is obscure or half-enlightened, limited in its field, very partially effective in its power. If a spiritual transformation, not a mere illumining modification of our nature, is to be done at all, we must call in the Divine shakti to effect that miraculous work in the individual; for she alone has the needed force, decisive, all-wise and illimitable. But the entire substitution of the divine for the human personal action is not at once entirely possible. All interference from below that would falsify the truth of the superior action must first be inhibited or rendered impotent, and it must be done by our own free choice. A continual and always repeated refusal of the impulsions and falsehoods of the lower nature is asked from us and an insistent support to the Truth as it grows in our parts: for the progressive settling into our nature and final perfection of the incoming informing Light, Purity and Power needs for its development and sustenance our free acceptance of it and our stubborn rejection of all that is contrary to it, inferior or incompatible.
26:In the first movement of self-preparation, the period of personal effort, the method we have to use is this concentration of the whole being on the Divine that it seeks and, as its corollary, this constant rejection, throwing out, katharsis, of all that is not the true Truth of the Divine. An entire consecration of all that we are, think, feel and do will be the result of this persistence. This consecration in its turn must culminate in an integral self-giving to the Highest; for its crown and sign of completion is the whole nature's all-comprehending absolute surrender. In the second stage of the Yoga, transitional between the human and the divine working, there will supervene an increasing purified and vigilant passivity, a more and more luminous divine response to the Divine Force, -- but not to any other; and there will be as a result the growing inrush of a great and conscious miraculous working from above. In the last period there is no effort at all, no set method, no fixed sadhana; the place of endeavour and Tapasya will be taken by a natural, simple, powerful and happy disclosing of the flower of the Divine out of the bud of a purified and perfected terrestrial nature. These are the natural successions of the action of the Yoga.
1.02 - Skillful Means, #The Lotus Sutra, #Anonymous, #Various
The Buddha Bhagavat appear in this world to cause sentient beings to aspire toward Purity and the wisdom and insight of the buddhas. They appear in this world to manifest the wisdom and insight of the buddhas to sentient beings. They appear in this world to cause sentient beings to attain the wisdom and insight of a buddhas enlightenment. They appear in this world in order to cause sentient beings to enter the path of the wisdom and insight of a buddha.
O riputra! For this one great reason alone the buddhas have appeared in this world.
1.02 - Taras Tantra, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
its Purity. This notion of continuity underscores that
the nature of mind is not something new to obtain,
1.02 - The Doctrine of the Mystics, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Each of these primary deities has others associated with him who fulfil functions that arise from his own. For if the truth of Surya is to be established firmly in our mortal nature, there are previous conditions that are indispensable; a vast Purity and clear wideness destructive of all sin and crooked falsehood, - and this is Varuna; a luminous power of love and comprehension leading and forming into harmony all our thoughts, acts and impulses, - this is Mitra; an immortal puissance of clear-discerning aspiration and endeavour, - this is Aryaman; a happy spontaneity of the right enjoyment of all things dispelling the evil dream of sin and error and suffering, - this is Bhaga. These four are powers of the Truth of Surya.
For the whole bliss of Soma to be established perfectly in our nature a happy and enlightened and unmaimed condition of mind, vitality and body are necessary. This condition is given to us by the twin Ashwins; wedded to the daughter of Light, drinkers of honey, bringers of perfect satisfactions, healers of maim and malady they occupy our parts of knowledge and parts of action and prepare our mental, vital and physical being for an easy and victorious ascension.
1.02 - The Great Process, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
But the damage does not stop there. Nothing is stickier than falsehood. It sticks to the soles of our shoes even though we have turned away from the wrong path. Others had indeed seen the earthly relevance of the Great Process the Zen Buddhists, the Tantric initiates, the Sufis and others and, more and more, disconcerted minds are turning to it and to themselves: never have so many more or less esoteric schools flourished. But the old error is holding fast (to tell the truth, we don't know whether error is ever an appropriate term, for the so-called error always turns out to be a roundabout route of the same Truth leading to a wider view of itself). It took so much effort out of the Sages of those days, and out of the lesser sages of these days, so many indispensable conditions of peace, austerity, silence and Purity for them to achieve their more or less illumined goal, that our subconscious mind was as if branded by a red-hot iron with the idea that, without special conditions and special masters and somewhat special or mystical or innate gifts, it was not really possible to set out on that path, or at best the results would be meager and proportionate to the effort expended. And it was still, of course, an individual undertaking, a lofty extension of book learning. But this new dichotomy threatens to be more serious than the other one, more potentially harmful, between an unredeemed mass and an enlightened elite juggling lights about which anything can be said since there is no microscope to check it. Drugs, too, are a cheap ticket to dizzying glimpses of dazzling lights.
But we still do not have the key, the simple key. Yet the Great Process is there, the simple process.
1.02 - The Human Soul, #The Interior Castle or The Mansions, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
10.: I do not know whether I have put this clearly; self-knowledge is of such consequence that I would not have you careless of it, though you may be lifted to heaven in prayer, because while on earth nothing is more needful than humility. Therefore, I repeat, not only a good way, but the best of all ways, is to endeavour to enter first by the room where humility is practised, which is far better than at once rushing on to the others. This is the right road;-if we know how easy and safe it is to walk by it, why ask for wings with which to fly? Let us rather try to learn how to advance quickly. I believe we shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavouring to know God, for, beholding His greatness we are struck by our own baseness, His Purity shows our foulness, and by meditating on His humility we find how very far we are from being humble.
11.: Two advantages are gained by this practice. First, it is clear that white looks far whiter when placed near something black, and on the contrary, black never looks so dark as when seen beside something white. Secondly, our understanding and will become more noble and capable of good in every way when we turn from ourselves to God: it is very injurious never to raise our minds above the mire of our own faults. I described how murky and fetid are the streams that spring from the source of a soul in mortal sin.25' Thus (although the case is not really the same, God forbid! this is only a comparison), while we are continually absorbed in contemplating the weakness of our earthly nature, the springs of our actions will never flow free from the mire of timid, weak, and cowardly thoughts, such as: 'I wonder whether people are noticing me or not! If I follow this course, will harm come to me? Dare I begin this work? Would it not be presumptuous? Is it right for any one as faulty as myself to speak on sublime spiritual subjects?26' Will not people think too well of me, if I make myself singular? Extremes are bad, even in virtue; sinful as I am I shall only fall the lower. Perhaps I shall fail and be a source of scandal to good people; such a person as I am has no need of peculiarities.'
1.02 - THE NATURE OF THE GROUND, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The holy light of faith is so pure that, compared with it, particular lights are but impurities; and even ideas of the saints, of the Blessed Virgin, and the sight of Jesus Christ in his humanity are impediments in the way of the sight of God in His Purity.
J.J. Olier
1.02 - The Stages of Initiation, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
But in any circumstances, one precaution is necessary, failing which it were better to leave untrodden all steps on the path to higher knowledge. It is necessary that the student should lose none of his qualities as a good and noble man, or his receptivity for all physical reality. Indeed, throughout his training he must continually increase his moral strength, his inner Purity, and his power of observation. To give an example:
p. 55
--
Once the student has found the beginnings of spiritual vision by means of such exercises, he may proceed to the contemplation of man himself. Simple phenomena of human life must first be chosen. But before making any attempt in this direction it is imperative for the student to strive for the absolute Purity of his moral character. He must banish all through of ever using knowledge gained in this way for his own personal benefit. He must be convinced that he would never, under any circumstances, avail himself in an evil sense of any power he may gain over his fellow-creatures. For this reason, all who seek to discover through personal vision the secrets in
p. 69
1.02 - The Ultimate Path is Without Difficulty, #The Blue Cliff Records, #Yuanwu Keqin, #Zen
When Ch'an students experienced Purity or bliss, or perceived
Buddhas and bodhisattvas in their meditations, they were told
10.36 - Cling to Truth, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Beware, this is the voice of the adversary trying to tempt you by confusing your mind. The path is straight and narrow, it is not wide and comfortable and strewn with roses. To find the Truth, to live the Truth we must begin by finding it in its Purity and living it. As is the start, so is the end. Our steadfastness, our faithfulness must be unalloyed, our sincerity of utmost Purity. It is Truth alone that leads to Truth, a compromise or semblance leads only to the untruth. Your diplomacy or duplicity may bring you the coveted result or it may not; but surely it will put a layer of soot upon your soul, push you back one step more into your inconscience. And if you continue you may become the biggest success in the eyes of the world, but your soul will be nowhere, leaving behind perhaps only a hopeless sob in a wilderness. Has not the Mother said, "Even if there is a particle of falsehood in your expression In your word or in your acthow can you hope to express the Supreme Truth?" Remember also the words of Sri Aurobindo: "Do not imagine that truth and falsehood, light and darkness, surrender and selfishness can be allowed to dwell together in a house consecrated to the Divine. The transformation must be integral, and integral therefore the rejection of all that withstands it."1
You cannot elude falsehood or cajole or conjure it. You must stand face to face, gaze with unwinking eyes, the flame of Truth within you constantly ablaze.
1.036 - The Rise of Obstacles in Yoga Practice, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Likewise, the spiritual undertaking is a treatment administered to the soul for the purpose of its regaining perfect health and pristine Purity. The practice of yoga is nothing but this cathartic, this pill that is administered, and immediately there is a peculiar action set up in the system by this purifying drug that has been given. Then anything and everything takes place, much to our surprise all of which look like tremendous enemies attacking from all sides and we may be under the impression that we are falling down, dropping into the pits, or going to hell. But that is not what is happening. As the sun rises, sometimes the frost starts biting more intensely than it would before the sunrise. In midwinter sometimes we have that experience, when the entire mountain is seen to be covered with mist. We cannot see the Ganga; we cannot see the buildings on the other side; there is nothing that can be seen. It is all a white, hazy, impervious substance, and we do not know anything it is all homogeneity. When the sun rises, there is a dispersion of this white substance and it starts moving towards our rooms, and we find it entering and stinging us. When the sun rises, the cold increases as a preparation for the complete vanishing of the substance altogether, and then there is the warmth of the blazing sun. Such is the inward transforming process which we undergo when spiritual discipline takes action in the entire system of the seeker.
Ordinarily, no one can understand what effects follow from spiritual practice. We cannot understand this by a study of books, because the actions, or the reactions we may say, that follow the practice of a system of spiritual discipline for a protracted period depends upon what is already inside us. What is inside us will come out; and different persons, finding themselves in different stages of evolution, have different patterns of this deposit in themselves. So the experiences that seekers pass through vary in various ways merely because of the difference, and the type of the content of their own personalities.
1.03 - Hymns of Gritsamada, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
1. The Priest of the call has taken his seat in the house of his priesthood; he is ablaze with light and vivid in radiance, he is full of knowledge and perfect in judgment. He has a mind of wisdom whose workings are invincible and is most rich in treasures: Fire with his tongue of Purity is a bringer of the thousand.
2. Thou art the Messenger, thou art our protector who takest us to the other side; O Bull of the herds, thou art our leader on the way to a world of greater riches. For the shaping of the Son and the building of the bodies28 awake in thy light, a guardian, and turn not from thy work, O Fire.
1.03 - Japa Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
19. When you repeat the Mantra, have the feeling or mental attitude that the Lord is seated in your heart, that Sattva or Purity is flowing from the Lord to your mind, that the Mantra purifies your heart, destroys desires and cravings and evil thoughts.
20. Do not do the Japa in a hurried manner, just as a contractor tries to finish his work in a hurried way. Do it slowly with Bhava, one-pointedness of mind and single-minded devotion.
1.03 - Meeting the Master - Meeting with others, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Disciple: Khadi is an emblem of Purity.
Sri Aurobindo: It is always a sign of a weak mind when one tries to combine things that rationally cannot be put together such as Purity, Swaraj, politics, religion etc. with Khadi! Nobody objects to Khadi being used on its own merits. Why not use it as such? Why put music, religion, Swaraj, etc. into it?
Disciple: In the days of the Khilafat agitation they used to say: "Swaraj is Khilafat" (meaning thereby the identification of Khilafat agitation with the fight for Swaraj); "Khilafat is cow" (because the cow, the emblem of Hinduism, should be protected by the Muslims); and we used to say "Yes, Swaraj is a cow!" (Laughter)
--
Sri Aurobindo: There is not one meaning of the word ' Purity'. It depends upon how you understand the word. But what I call essential Purity can be attained by making the basis of peace firm and establishing the whole consciousness in the Purusha firmly. When one is firmly established in the Purusha consciousness then one has also got a basis for Purity because the Purusha is ever-pure, Nitya Shuddha; he does not require Purity, he is inherently pure. Afterwards the Purity that remains to be established is that of Prakriti. Once one is established in the Purusha consciousness the Prakriti automatically begins to get purified.
21 SEPTEMBER 1925
1.03 - PERSONALITY, SANCTITY, DIVINE INCARNATION, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
This sorrow, if it be truly conceived, is full of holy desire; and else a man might never in this life abide it or bear it. For were it not that a soul were somewhat fed with a manner of comfort by his right working, he should not be able to bear that pain that he hath by the knowing and feeling of his being. For as oft as he would have a true knowing and a feeling of his God in Purity of spirit (as it may be here), and then feeleth that he may not for he findeth evermore his knowing and his feeling as it were occupied and filled with a foul stinking lump of himself, the which must always be hated and despised and forsaken, if he shall be Gods perfect disciple, taught by Himself in the mount of perfctionso oft he goeth nigh mad for sorrow.
This sorrow and this desire must every soul have and feel in itself (either in this manner or in another), as God vouchsafeth to teach his ghostly disciples according to his good will and their according ableness in body and in soul, in degree and disposition, ere the time be that they may perfectly be oned unto God in perfect charitysuch as may be had here, if God vouchsafeth.
--
What is the nature of this stinking lump of selfness or personality, which has to be so passionately repented of and so completely died to, before there can be any true knowing of God in Purity of spirit? The most meagre and non-committal hypodiesis is that of Hume. Mankind, he says, are nothing but a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity and are in a perpetual flux and movement. An almost identical answer is given by the Buddhists, whose doctrine of anatta is the denial of any permanent soul, existing behind the flux of experience and the various psycho-physical skandhas (closely corresponding to Humes bundles), which constitute the more enduring elements of personality. Hume and the Buddhists give a sufficiently realistic description of selfness in action; but they fail to explain how or why the bundles ever became bundles. Did their constituent atoms of experience come together of their own accord? And, if so, why, or by what means, and within what kind of a non-spatial universe? To give a plausible answer to these questions in terms of anatta is so difficult that we are forced to abandon the doctrine in favour of the notion that, behind the flux and within the bundles, there exists some kind of permanent soul, by which experience is organized and which in turn makes use of that organized experience to become a particular and unique personality. This is the view of the orthodox Hinduism, from which Buddhist thought parted company, and of almost all European thought from before the time of Aristotle to the present day. But whereas most contemporary thinkers make an attempt to describe human nature in terms of a dichotomy of interacting psyche and physique, or an inseparable wholeness of these two elements within particular embothed selves, all the exponents of the Perennial Philosophy make, in one form or another, the affirmation that man is a kind of trinity composed of body, psyche and spirit. Selfness or personality is a product of the first two elements. The third element (that quidquid increatum et increabile, as Eckhart called it) is akin to, or even identical with, the divine Spirit that is the Ground of all being. Mans final end, the purpose of his existence, is to love, know and be united with the immanent and transcendent Godhead. And this identification of self with spiritual not-self can be achieved only by dying to selfness and living to spirit.
What could begin to deny self, if there were not something in man different from self?
--
Then the Blessed One spoke and said: Know, Vasetha, that from time to time a Tathagata is born into the world, a fully Enlightened One, blessed and worthy, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to erring mortals, a teacher of gods and men, a Blessed Buddha. He thoroughly understands this universe, as though he saw it face to face The Truth does he proclaim both in its letter and in its spirit, lovely in its origin, lovely in its progress, lovely in its consummation. A higher life doth he make known in all its Purity and in all its perfectness.
Tevigga Sutta
1.03 - The Armour of Grace, #The Mother With Letters On The Mother, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
1:To walk through life armoured against all fear, peril and disaster, only two things are needed, two that go always together - the Grace of the Divine Mother and on your side an inner state made up of faith, sincerity and surrender. Let your faith be pure, candid and perfect. An egoistic faith in the mental and vital being tainted by ambition, pride, vanity, mental arrogance, vital self-will, personal demand, desire for the petty satisfactions of the lower nature is a low and smoke-obscured flame that cannot burn upwards to heaven. Regard your life as given you only for the divine work and to help in the divine manifestation. Desire nothing but the Purity, force, light, wideness, calm, Ananda of the divine consciousness and its insistence to transform and perfect your mind, life and body. Ask for nothing but the divine, spiritual and supramental Truth, its realisation on earth and in you and in all who are called and chosen and the conditions needed for its creation and its victory over all opposing forces.
2:Let your sincerity and surrender be genuine and entire. When you give yourself, give completely, without demand, without condition, without reservation so that all in you shall belong to the Divine Mother and nothing be left to the ego or given to any other power.
1.03 - The Gods, Superior Beings and Adverse Forces, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
If you had understood and reacted in the right way, you would have passed the test and got rid not only of this special difficulty but probably of this hostiles influence altogether. But you failed and got possessed. And only one thing was left to me to do, it was to flood you with the pure light, the white flame of purification to chase from inside you the intruder. It is what you took probably for a cut in our relations, a wall of separation between us; there was nothing of the kind; I was inside you, penetrating you as usual, but in the form of this supreme Purity which is so foreign to all that is anti-divine or even to all ordinary human movement.
This adverse entity is not only vital, it is also mental and supports its desires by some apparently reasonable principles which become aggressively stupid by their rigidity. When this seizes you, you seem to lose all common sense and the most elementary understanding.
1.03 - The House Of The Lord, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
At the beginning all of us would make it a point to be present during his meal and watch the function as well as the Mother's part in it. When the time was announced, water was brought for Sri Aurobindo to wash his hands, then he started eating with a spoon and rarely with knife and fork. He would take off his ring, place it in Champaklal's hand and wash. Champakal would put it back on his finger afterwards. Sometimes when he forgot to take off the ring, Champaklal caught hold of the hand before it was dipped in the water. Then the Mother would come, prepare and lay the table, push it herself up to Sri Aurobindo and arrange the various foods in bowls or glass tumblers, in the order of savouries, sweets and fruit juices everything having an atmosphere of cleanliness, Purity and beauty. Then she would offer, one by one, the dishes to the silent Deity who would take them slowly and silently as if the eating was not for the satisfaction of the palate but an act of self-offering. Steadiness and silence were the characteristic stamps of Sri Aurobindo. Dhra, according to him, was the ideal of Aryan culture. Hurry and hustle were words not found in his dictionary. Be it eating, drinking, walking or talking he did it always in a slow and measured rhythm, giving the impression that every movement was conscious and consecrated. The Mother would punctuate the silence with queries like, "How do you like that dish?" or such remarks as, "This mushroom is grown here, this is special brinjal sent from Benares, this is butterfruit." To all, Sri Aurobindo's reply would be, "Oh, I see! Quite good!" Typically English in manner and tone! His silence or laconic praise made us wonder if he had not lost all distinction in taste! Did rasagolla, bread and brinjal have the same taste in the Divine sense-experience? Making this vital point clear, he wrote in a letter: "Distinction is never lost, bread cannot be as tasty as a luchi, but a yogi can enjoy bread with as much rasa as a luchi which is quite a different thing." He had a liking for sweets, particularly for rasagolla, sandesh and pantua. We could see that clearly: after the Mother had banned all sweets from his menu for medical reasons, one day some pantuas found their way in by chance. The Mother could not send them back from the table. She asked him if he would take some. He replied, "If it is pantua, I can try." Since then this became a spicy joke with all of us. He enjoyed, as a matter of fact, all kinds of good dishes, European or Indian. But whatever was not to his taste, he would just touch and put away. The pungent preparations of the South could not, however, receive his blessings, except the rasam[1]. When on his arrival in Pondicherry he was given rasam, he enjoyed it very much and said in our talks, "It has a celestial taste!" He was neither a puritan god nor an epicure; only, he had no hankering or attachment for anything. His meal ended with a big tumbler of orange juice which he sipped slowly, looking after each sip to see how much was left, and keeping a small quantity as prasd. Once the entire juice had slightly fermented and after one or two sips he left it at the Mother's prompting. We conspired to make good use of it as prasd, but Sri Aurobindo got the scent of our secret design and forewarned us! We had to check our temptation.
One thing that we noticed was that unless the Mother served him in this way, he would lose all distinction between different preparations and would not know which to take first and in which order. Very probably he would have gone half-fed. On one occasion we saw him eating a whole cooked green chilly before we could cry halt! Of course, what was one chilly for him who is said in the old days to have taken a lump of opium with impunity! We have also seen him finishing his meal somehow, if for some reason the Mother could not be present and Champaklal had to serve instead. The story goes that once Mridu's dish went back without being touched by Sri Aurobindo, and she raised a storm. Sri Aurobindo had to quiet her with the plea that the Mother being absent he did not know what he had taken or what he had not. On another occasion Sri Aurobindo's meal being over earlier than usual, Mridu's dish arrived late and was left untouched. As soon as she heard about it she began to wail "like a new-born babe" as if she would bring down the whole Ashram by her lamentations. Dr. Manilal reported the fact to Sri Aurobindo and he asked, "How did she know about it?" I replied apologetically, "I told her." He said softly, "These things should not be said;" then he added with a smile, "but it is I who ought to lament for having missed her fine dish." We all had a good laugh.
1.03 - The Human Disciple, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
For the maintenance of family morality, of the social law and the law of the nation? These are the very standards that will be destroyed by this civil war; the family itself will be brought to the point of annihilation, corruption of morals and loss of the Purity of race will be engendered, the eternal laws of the race and moral law of the family will be destroyed. Ruin of the race, the collapse of its high traditions, ethical degradation and hell for the authors of such a crime, these are the only practical results possible of this monstrous civil strife. "Therefore," cries
Arjuna, casting down the divine bow and inexhaustible quiver given to him by the gods for that tremendous hour, "it is more for my welfare that the sons of Dhritarashtra armed should slay me unarmed and unresisting. I will not fight."
1.03 - To Layman Ishii, #Beating the Cloth Drum Letters of Zen Master Hakuin, #unset, #Zen
"Now and again, you come across superior seekers of genuine ability who are devoting themselves to hidden application and secret practice. As they continue steadily forward, accumulating merit until their efforts achieve a Purity that infuses them with strength, their emotions gradually cease to arise altogether. They find themselves at an impasse, unable to move forward despite the most strenuous application. It is as though they are trapped inside an invincible enclosure of diamond-like strength, or are sitting in a bottle of purest crystal-unable to move forward, unable to retreat, they become dunces, utter blockheads.
"Suddenly the moment arrives when they become one with their questing mind. Mind and koan both disappear. Breathing itself seems to cease. This, although they are not aware of it, is the moment when the tortoise shell cracks and fissures, when the Luan-bird emerges from its egg. They are experiencing the auspicious signs that appear when a person is about to attain the Buddha Way.
--
"Students who have not yet penetrated the source should not be troubled if their entrance into enlightenment is slow in coming; they should be troubled only if their practice fails to attain a state of genuine Purity. Students who have already penetrated to attainment should not be troubled if people fail to revere them; they should be concerned only about the difficulty of making their attainment
complete.
--
"Observe the manner in which a clear-eyed teacher like Chen Tsun-su was able unequivocally to affirm Lin-chi: 'Your practice is pure and genuine!' That Purity and that genuineness of practice are extremely difficult to attain, even if a student devotes an entire lifetime to Zen training. However, once you attain it, you are, without any doubt, a tiger that has sprouted wings.l You should never doubt that you yourself have such a capacity.
"Yet Lin-chi went three times to ask Huang-po about the cardinal meaning of the Buddha Dharma.
1.03 - YIBHOOTI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
the power of Pratibha. (enlightenment from Purity). This is
when a man has risen to a high state of Pratibha ; then he has
--
This power of non-attachment acquired through Purity gives
the Yogi the enlightenment called Pratibha.
--
By the similarity of Purity between the Sattva and the
PuruSa comes Kaivalya.
--
mixture of Purity and im Purity called mind has been made as
pure as the PuruSa Itself; then the Sattva, the mind, reflects
only the unqualified essence of Purity, which is the PuruSa
122
1.04 - GOD IN THE WORLD, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
This very earth is the Lotus-Land of Purity,
And this body is the body of the Buddha.
1.04 - KAI VALYA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
had become real. Peace and calmness, and perfect Purity
became their own nature, after they had given up all these
1.04 - Magic and Religion, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
who delights in charity and mercy and Purity more than in oblations
of blood, the chanting of hymns, and the fumes of incense, his
1.04 - On blessed and ever-memorable obedience, #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
One of those ever-memorable fathers who had great love for me according to God and was very outspoken, once said to me kindly: If, wise man, you have within you the power of him who said, I can do all things in Christ who streng thens me;1 if the Holy Spirit has descended upon you with the dew of Purity, as upon the Holy Virgin; if the power of the Highest has over shadowed you with patience; then like the Man (Christ our God), gird your loins with the towel of obedience; and having risen from the supper of silence, wash the feet of the brethren in a spirit of contrition; or rather, roll yourself under the feet of the community in spiritual self-abasement. At the gate of your heart place strict and unsleeping guards. Control your wandering mind in your distracted body. Amidst the actions and movements of your limbs, practise mental quiet (hesychia). And, most paradoxical of all, in the midst of commotion be unmoved in soul. Curb your tongue which rages to leap into arguments. Seventy times seven in the day wrestle with this tyrant. Fix your mind to your soul as to the wood of a cross to be struck like an anvil with blow upon blow of the hammers, to be mocked, abused, ridiculed and wronged, without being in the least crushed or broken, but continuing to be quite calm and immovable. Shed your own will as a garment of shame, and thus stripped of it enter the practice ground. Array yourself in the rarely acquired breastplate of faith, not crushed or wounded by distrust towards your spiritual trainer. Check with the rein of temperance the sense of touch that leaps forward shamelessly. Bridle your eyes, which are ready to waste hour after hour looking at physical grandeur and beauty, by meditation on death. Gag your mind, overbusy with its private concerns, and thoughtlessly prone to criticize and condemn your brother, by the practical means of showing your neighbour all love and sympathy. By this will all men truly know, dearest father, that we are disciples of Christ, if, while living together, we have love one for another.2 Come, come, said this good friend, come and settle down with us and for living water drink derision at every hour. For David, having tried every pleasure under heaven, last of all said in bewilderment: Behold, what is good, or what is beautiful? Nothing else but that brethren should dwell together in unity.3 But if we have not yet been granted this good, that is, such patience and obedience, then it is best for us, having at least discovered our weakness, to live apart far from the athletic lists, and bless the combatants and pray they may be granted patience. I was won over to the good arguments of this most excellent father and teacher, who
1 Philippians iv, 13.
--
If anyone has his conscience in the utmost Purity in the matter of obedience to his spiritual father, then he daily awaits death as if it were sleep, or rather life, and is not dismayed, knowing for certain that at the time of his departure, not he, but his director, will be called to account.
If anyone receives voluntarily some task from his father, and in doing it suffers a stumble, he should not ascribe the blame to the giver but to the receiver of the weapon. For he took the weapon for battle against the enemy, but has turned it against his own heart. But if he forced himself for the Lords sake to accept the task, though he previously explained his weakness to him who gave it, let him take courage; for though he has fallen, he is not dead.
--
Eagerly drink scorn and insult as the water of life from everyone who wants to give you the drink that cleanses from lust. Then a deep Purity will dawn in your soul and the divine light will not grow dim in your heart.
If anyone sees that the brotherhood is appeased by his efforts he should not boast of it in his heart, because thieves are around. Always remember Him who said: When you have done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have only done what we were bound to do.1 The judgment on our labours we shall know at the time of our death.
--
The devil suggests to those living in obedience the desire for impossible virtues. Similarly, to those living in solitude he proposes unsuitable ideas. Scan the mind of inexperienced novices and there you will find distracted thought: a desire for quiet, for the strictest fast, for uninterrupted prayer, for absolute freedom from vanity, for unbroken remembrance of death, for continual compunction, for perfect freedom from anger, for deep silence, for surpassing Purity. And if by divine providence they are without these to start with, they rush in vain to another life and are deceived. For the enemy urges
1 St. Matthew x, 22.
1.04 - Religion and Occultism, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Religions are based on creeds which are spiritual experiences brought down to a level where they become more easy to grasp, but at the cost of their integral Purity and truth.
The time of religions is over.
We have entered the age of universal spirituality, of spiritual experience in its initial Purity.
(About an article entitled Religion in the New Age)
--
It is a lamb, which means Purity.
4 January 1933
1.04 - The Gods of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
So much Varuna does but what is he actually?We cannot tell with accuracy until we have separated him from his companion Mitra. We come across him next no longer in company withMitra, but still not by himself, accompanied this time by Indra and helping him in his work, in the seventeenth sukta of the first Mandala, a hymn of Medhatithi Kanwa, a hymn whose burden is joy, calm, Purity & fulfilment. Of Indra & Varuna, the high rulers, I choose the protection, may they be gracious to us in this our state (of attainment). For ye are they who come to the call of the enlightened soul that can contain you; you are they who are upbearers of his actions. Take ye your pleasure to your hearts content in the felicity, O Indra, O Varuna; so we desire you utterly near to us. May we gain the full pitch of the powers, the full vigour of the right thoughts that give men the assured plenty.Indra is the desirable Strength of all that gives force, Varuna of all that is ample & noble. By their protection may we remain in safety and meditate, may there be indeed an utter purification. Indra and Varuna, I call you for rich and varied ecstasy, do ye render us victorious. Indra and Varuna, now may our understandings be entirely obedient to you, that in them you may give to us peace. May the good praise be grateful to you, O Indra & Varuna, which I call aloud to you, the fulfilling praise which you bring to prosperity.
We are no longer with Madhuchchhanda Vaiswamitra. It is Medhatithi of the Kanwas who has taken the word, a soul of great clearness & calmness who is full of a sort of vibrating peace. Yet we find the same strain, the same fixed ideas, the same subjective purpose & spiritual aspiration. A few words here & there in my translation may be challenged and given a different meaning. Throughout the Veda there are words like radhas etc to which I have given a sense based on reasons of context & philology but which must be allowed to remain conjectural till I am able to take up publicly the detailed examination of the language & substance of the Rigveda. But we have sumati again and the ever recurring vaja, the dhartara charshaninam, holders of actions, & rayah which certainly meant felicity in the Veda. It is clear from the third verse that Varuna and Indra are called to share in the felicity of the poets soul,that felicity is his material of sacrifice,anukamam tarpayetham, he says, Delight in it to your hearts content; and again in the seventh shloka he tells them, Vam aham huve chitraya radhase, a phrase which, in view of verse 3, I can only translate I call you for rich and varied ecstasy; for it is evidently meant to describe that felicity, that heart-filling satisfaction which he has already offered in the third sloka. In return he asks them to give victory. Always in the Veda there is the idea of the spiritual battle as well as the outer struggles of life, the battle with the jealous forces of Nature, with Vala, the grudging guardian of light, with the great obscuring dragon Vritra & his hosts, with the thieving Panis, with all the many forces that oppose mans evolution & support limitation and evil. A great many of the words for sacrifice, mean also war and battle, in Sanscrit or in its kindred tongues.
1.04 - The Paths, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
Narcissus, both implying Purity and innocence ; and its colour Grey.
3-K
1.04 - The Praise, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
With the Purity of SOHA and
OM.
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WITH THE Purity OF SOHA AND OM.
HAPPINESS, VIRTUE, AND PEACE are permanent
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Purity: these mantras are pure, that is, perfectly
au thentic. This explains their benefits.
1.04 - The Sacrifice the Triune Path and the Lord of the Sacrifice, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
A union by identity may be ours, a liberation and change of our substance of being into that supreme Spirit-substance, of our consciousness into that divine Consciousness, of our soul-state into that ecstasy of spiritual beatitude or that calm eternal bliss of existence. A luminous indwelling in the Divine can be attained by us secure against any fall or exile into this lower consciousness of the darkness and the Ignorance, the soul ranging freely and firmly in its own natural world of light and joy and freedom and oneness. And since this is not merely to be attained in some other existence beyond but pursued and discovered here also, it can only be by a descent, by a bringing down of the Divine Truth, by the establishment here of the souls native world of light, joy, freedom, oneness. A union of our instrumental being no less than of our soul and spirit must change our imperfect nature into the very likeness and image of Divine Nature; it must put off the blind, marred, mutilated, discordant movements of the Ignorance and put on the inherence of that light, peace, bliss, harmony, universality, mastery, Purity, perfection; it must convert itself into a receptacle of divine knowledge, an instrument of divine Will-Power and Force of Being, a channel of divine Love, Joy and Beauty. This is the transformation to be effected, an integral transformation of all that we now are or seem to be, by the joiningYogaof the finite being in Time with the Eternal and Infinite.
All this difficult result can become possible only if there is an immense conversion, a total reversal of our consciousness, a supernormal entire transfiguration of the nature. There must be an ascension of the whole being, an ascension of spirit chained here and trammelled by its instruments and its environment to sheer Spirit free above, an ascension of soul towards some blissful Super-soul, an ascension of mind towards some luminous Supermind, an ascension of life towards some vast Super-life, an ascension of our very physicality to join its origin in some pure and plastic spirit-substance. And this cannot be a single swift upsoaring but, like the ascent of the sacrifice described in the Veda, a climbing from peak to peak in which from each summit one looks up to the much more that has still to be done. At the same time there must be a descent too to affirm below what we have gained above: on each height we conquer we have to turn to bring down its power and its illumination into the lower mortal movement; the discovery of the Light for ever radiant on high must correspond with the release of the same Light secret below in every part down to the deepest caves of subconscient Nature. And this pilgrimage of ascension and this descent for the labour of transformation must be inevitably a battle, a long war with ourselves and with opposing forces around us which, while it lasts, may well seem interminable. For all our old obscure and ignorant nature will contend repeatedly and obstinately with the transforming Influence, supported in its lagging unwillingness or its stark resistance by most of the established forces of environing universal Nature; the powers and principalities and the ruling beings of the Ignorance will not easily give up their empire.
1.04 - Wake-Up Sermon, #The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, #Bodhidharma, #Buddhism
you live in a land of Purity. The sutras say, "If you fill a land with
im Purity and filth, no buddha will ever appear." Im Purity and filth
1.05 - CHARITY, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
If you wish to tranquillize your mind and restore its original Purity, you must proceed as you would do if you were purifying a jar of muddy water. You first let it stand, until the sediment settles at the bottom, when the water will become clear, which corresponds with the state of the mind before it was troubled by defiling passions. Then you carefully strain off the pure water. When the mind becomes tranquillized and concentrated into perfect unity, then all things will be seen, not in their separateness, but in their unity, wherein there is no place for the passions to enter, and which is in full conformity with the mysterious and indescribable Purity of Nirvana.
Surangama Sutra
1.05 - On painstaking and true repentance which constitute the life of the holy convicts; and about the prison., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
They all used to sit with the sight of death unceasingly before their eyes and say: How will it be with us? What will be our sentence? What kind of end shall we have? Will there be a reprieve for us? Will there be forgiveness for those in darkness, the humble, the convicted? Is our prayer powerful enough to enter before the Lord? Or has it not been deservedly rejected, deemed worthless and shameful? And if it did reach the Lord, how much of the Divine favour would it gain there? What success would it have? What profit would it bring? What power would it have? Coming from foul lips and bodies, it would not have great power. And so, would it reconcile us with the Judge completely or only in partonly to the extent of half our sores? Because they really are tremendous, calling for much sweat and labour. Have our guardian angels drawn nearer to us, or are they still far from us? And until they come nearer to us, all our labours are futile and useless. For our prayer has not the power of access nor the wings of Purity to reach the Lord unless our angels approach us and take it and bring it to the Lord.
Some often expressed their doubts to each other and said: Are we accomplishing anything brothers? Are we obtaining our requests? Will the Lord accept us again? Will He open to us? And to this others would reply: Who knows, as our brothers the Ninevites said, if God will repent8 and will deliver us even from great punishment? In any case, let us do our part. And if He opens the door, well and good. And if not, blessed is the Lord God who in His justice has closed the door to us. At least let us persist in knocking at the door till the end of our life. Perhaps He will open to us for our great assiduity and importunity.9 Therefore they exhorted one another, saying: Let us run, brothers, let us run. For we need to run, and to run hard, because we have fallen behind our holy company. Let us run, and not spare this our foul and wicked flesh, but let us kill it as it has killed us.
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How they would recall their former attainments! And be- wailing them as if they were children that had died, they would say: Where is my Purity of prayer? Where is its boldness? Where the sweet tears instead of the bitter? Where is the hope of perfect chastity and purification? Where is the expectation of blessed dispassion? Where is my faith in the shepherd? Where is the effect of his prayer in us? All this is lost, and has slipped away as if it had never appeared, and has vanished as if it had never been.
And some prayed to become possessed by devils; others begged the Lord that they might fall into epilepsy;4 some wished to lose their eyes and present a pitiful spectacle; others, to become paralyzed, only that they might not experience sufferings hereafter. And I, my friends, found so much pleasure in their grief that I forgot myself, and was wholly rapt in mind, and could not contain myself.
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We must carefully consider whether our conscience has ceased to accuse us, not as a result of Purity, but because it is immersed in evil. A sign of deliverance from our falls is the continual acknowledgment of our indebtedness.
Nothing equals or excels Gods mercies. Therefore he who despairs is committing suicide. A sign of true repentance is the acknowledgement that we deserve all the troubles, visible and invisible, that come to us, and even greater ones. Moses, after seeing God in the bush, returned again to Egypt, that is to darkness and to the brick-making of Pharaoh, symbolical of the spiritual pharaoh. But he went back again to the bush, and not only to the bush but also up the mountain. Whoever has known contemplation will never despair of himself. Job became a beggar, but he became twice as rich again.
1.05 - Prayer, #Hymn of the Universe, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
with distaste; teach it the true meaning of Purity:
not a debilitating separation from all created real-
1.05 - Qualifications of the Aspirant and the Teacher, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
The conditions necessary for the taught are Purity, a real thirst after knowledge, and perseverance.
No impure soul can be really religious. Purity in thought, speech, and act is absolutely necessary for any one to be religious. As to the thirst after knowledge, it is an old law that we all get whatever we want. None of us can get anything other than what we fix our hearts upon. To pant for religion truly is a very difficult thing, not at all so easy as we generally imagine. Hearing religious talks or reading religious books is no proof yet of a real want felt in the heart; there must be a continuous struggle, a constant fight, an unremitting grappling with our lower nature, till the higher want is actually felt and the victory is achieved. It is not a question of one or two days, of years, or of lives; the struggle may have to go on for hundreds of lifetimes. The success sometimes may come immediately, but we must be ready to wait patiently even for what may look like an infinite length of time. The student who sets out with such a spirit of perseverance will surely find success and realisation at last.
In regard to the teacher, we must see that he knows the spirit of the scriptures. The whole world reads Bibles, Vedas, and Korans; but they are all only words, syntax, etymology, philology, the dry bones of religion. The teacher who deals too much in words and allows the mind to be carried away by the force of words loses the spirit. It is the knowledge of the spirit of the scriptures alone that constitutes the true religious teacher. The network of the words of the scriptures is like a huge forest in which the human mind often loses itself and finds no way out.
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"Why should we look into the character and personality of a teacher? We have only to judge of what he says, and take that up." This is not right. If a man wants to teach me something of dynamics, or chemistry, or any other physical science, he may be anything he likes, because what the physical sciences require is merely an intellectual equipment; but in the spiritual sciences it is impossible from first to last that there can be any spiritual light in the soul that is impure. What religion can an impure man teach? The sine qua non of acquiring spiritual truth for one's self or for imparting it to others is the Purity of heart and soul. A vision of God or a glimpse of the beyond never comes until the soul is pure.
Hence with the teacher of religion we must see first what he is, and then what he says. He must be perfectly pure, and then alone comes the value of his words, because he is only then the true "transmitter". What can he transmit if he has not spiritual power in himself? There must be the worthy vibration of spirituality in the mind of the teacher, so that it may be sympathetically conveyed to the mind of the taught. The function of the teacher is indeed an affair of the transference of something, and not one of mere stimulation of the existing intellectual or other faculties in the taught. Something real and appreciable as an influence comes from the teacher and goes to the taught. Therefore the teacher must be pure.
1.05 - Ritam, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Truth & Purity the Road, divine bliss the gate, the immortal nature the seat & kingdom, this is the formula of Vedic aspiration. Truth the roadPraskanwa the Knwa makes it clear enough in his hymn to the Aswins, the 46th of the MandalaMade was the road of Truth for our going to that other effectively fulfilling shore, seen was the wide-flowing stream of Heaven. It is the heaven of the pure mind of which he speaks; beyond, on its other shore, are the gates divine, the higher heaven, the realms of immortality.
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In return for his offering the gods give to the sacrificer the results of the divine nature. The mortal favoured by them moves forward unstumbling & unoverthrown, accha gacchati astrita,towards or to what? Ratnam vasu visvam tokam uta tman. This is his goal; but we have seen too that the goal is the ritam. Therefore the expressions ratnam vasu, visvam tokam tman must describe either the nature of the ritam or the results of successful reaching & habitation in the ritam. Toka means son, says the ritualist. I fail to see how the birth of a son can be the supreme result of a mans perfecting his nature & reaching the divine Truth; I fail to see also what is meant by a man marching unoverthrown beyond sin & falsehood towards pleasant wealth & a son. In a great number of passages in the Veda, the sense of son for toka or of either son or grandson for tanaya is wholly inadmissible except by doing gross violence to sense, context & coherence & convicting the Vedic Rishis of an advanced stage of incoherent dementia. Toka, from the root tuch, to cut, form, create (cf tach & twach, in takta, tashta, twashta, Gr. tikto, etekon, tokos, a child) may mean anything produced or created. We shall see, hereafter, that praj, apatyam, even putra are used in the Veda as symbolic expressions for action & its results as children of the soul. This is undoubtedly the sense here. There are two results of life in the ritam, in the vijnana, in the principle of divine consciousness & its basis of divine truth; first ratnam vasu, a state of being the nature of which is delight, for vijnana or ritam is the basis of divine ananda; secondly, visvam tokam uta tman,this state of Ananda is not the actionless Brahmananda of the Sannyasin, but the free creative joy of the Divine Nature, universal creative action by the force of the self. The action of the liberated humanity is not to be like that of the mortal bound, struggling & stumbling through ignorance & sin towards Purity & light, originating & bound by his action, but the activity spontaneously starting out of self-existence & creating its results without evil reactions or bondage.
To complete our idea of the hymn & its significance, I shall give my rendering of its last three slokas,the justification of that rendering or comment on it would lead me far from the confines of my present subject. How, O friends, cries Kanwa to his fellow-worshippers, may we perfect (or enrich) the establishment in ourselves (by the mantra of praise) of Mitra & Aryaman or how the wide form of Varuna? May I not resist with speech him of you who smites & rebukes me while he yet leads me to the godhead; through the things of peace alone may I establish you in all my being. Let a man fear the god even when he is giving him all the four states of being (Mahas, Swar, Bhuvah, Bhuh), until the perfect settling in the Truth: let him not yearn towards evil expression. In other words, perfect adoration & submission to the gods who are leading us in the path, those who are yajnanh, leaders of the sacrifice, is the condition of the full wideness of Varunas being in us & the full indwelling ofMitra & Aryaman in the principles of the Ananda & the Ritam.
1.05 - The Ascent of the Sacrifice - The Psychic Being, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
At the same time the Yogin who knows the Supreme is not subject to any need or compulsion in these activities; for to him they are neither a duty nor a necessary occupation for the mind nor a high amusement, nor imposed by the loftiest human purpose. He is not attached, bound and limited by any nor has he any personal motive of fame, greatness or personal satisfaction in these works; he can leave or pursue them as the Divine in him wills, but he need not otherwise abandon them in his pursuit of the higher integral knowledge. He will do these things just as the supreme Power acts and creates, for a certain spiritual joy in creation and expression or to help in the holding together and right ordering or leading of this world of God's workings. The Gita teaches that the man of knowledge shall by his way of life give to those who have not yet the spiritual consciousness, the love and habit of all works and not only of actions recognised as pious, religious or ascetic in their character; he should not draw men away from the world-action by his example. For the world must proceed in its great upward aspiring; men and nations must not be led to fall away from even an ignorant activity into a worse ignorance of inaction or to sink down into that miserable disintegration and tendency of dissolution which comes upon communities and peoples when there predominates the tamasic principle, the principle whether of obscure confusion and error or of weariness and inertia. "For I too," says the Lord in the Gita, "have no need to do works, since there is nothing I have not or must yet gain for myself; yet I do works in the world; for if I did not do works, all laws would fall into confusion, the worlds would sink towards chaos and I would be the destroyer of these peoples." The spiritual life does not need, for its Purity, to destroy interest in all things except the Inexpressible or to cut at the roots of the Sciences, the Arts and Life. It may well be one of the effects of an integral spiritual knowledge and activity to lift them out of their limitations, substitute for our mind's ignorant, limited, tepid or trepidant pleasure in them a free, intense and uplifting urge of delight and supply a new source of creative spiritual power and illumination by which they can be carried more swiftly and profoundly towards their absolute light in knowledge and their yet undreamed possibilities and most dynamic energy of content and form and practice. The one thing needful must be pursued first and always, but all things else come with it as its outcome and have not so much to be added to us as recovered and reshaped in its self-light and as portions of its self-expressive force.
This then is the true relation between divine and human knowledge; it is not a separation into disparate fields, sacred and profane, that is the heart of the difference, but the character of the consciousness behind the working. All is human knowledge that proceeds from the ordinary mental consciousness interested in the outside or upper layers of things, in process, in phenomena for their own sake or for the sake of some surface utility or mental or vital satisfaction of Desire or of the Intelligence. But the same activity of knowledge can become part of the Yoga if it proceeds from the spiritual or spiritualising consciousness which seeks and finds in all that it surveys or penetrates the presence of the timeless Eternal and the ways of manifestation of Eternal in Time. It is evident that the need of a concentration indispensable for the transition out of the Ignorance may make it necessary for the seeker to gather together his energies and focus them only on that which will help the transition and to leave aside or subordinate for the time all that is not directly turned towards the one object. He may find that this or that pursuit of human knowledge with which he was accustomed to deal by the surface power of the mind still brings him, by reason of this tendency or habit, out of the depths to the surface or down from the heights which he has climbed or is nearing, to lower levels. These activities then may have to be intermitted or put aside until secure in a higher consciousness he is able to turn its powers on all the mental fields; then, subjected to that light or taken up into it, they are turned, by the transformation of his consciousness, into a province of the spiritual and divine. All that cannot be so transformed or refuses to be part of a divine consciousness he will abandon without hesitation, but not from any preconceived prejudgment of its emptiness or its incapacity to be an element of the new inner life. There can be no fixed mental test or principle for these things; he will therefore follow no unalterable rule, but accept or repel an activity of the mind according to his feeling, insight or experience until the greater Power and Light are there to turn their unerring scrutiny on all that is below and choose or reject their material out of what the human evolution has prepared for the divine labour.
1.05 - THE HOSTILE BROTHERS - ARCHETYPES OF RESPONSE TO THE UNKNOWN, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
diligent pursuit of fantastic ideal, ideological Purity, statist heaven on earth. Concentration camp that is
concentration of people in arbitrary association, restriction of movement and thought to a particular area;
1.05 - THE MASTER AND KESHAB, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Then he said: "To my Divine Mother I prayed only for pure love. I offered flowers at Her Lotus Feet and prayed to Her: 'Mother, here is Thy virtue, here is Thy vice. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy knowledge, here is Thy ignorance. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy Purity, here is Thy im Purity. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee.
Here is Thy dharma, here is Thy adharma. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee.'
1.05 - The True Doer of Works, #The Mother With Letters On The Mother, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
4:While this transformation is being done it is more than ever necessary to keep yourself free from all taint of the perversions of the ego. Let no demand or insistence creep in to stain the Purity of the self-giving and the sacrifice. There must be no attachment to the work or the result, no laying down of conditions, no claim to possess the Power that should possess you, no pride of the instrument, no vanity or arrogance. Nothing in the mind or in the vital or physical parts should be suffered to distort to its own use or seize for its own personal and separate satisfaction the greatness of the forces that are acting through you. Let your faith, your sincerity, your Purity of aspiration be absolute and pervasive of all the planes and layers of the being; then every disturbing element and distorting influence will progressively fall away from your nature.
5:The last stage of this perfection will come when you are completely identified with the Divine Mother and feel yourself to be no longer another and separate being, instrument, servant or worker but truly a child and eternal portion of her consciousness and force. Always she will be in you and you in her; it will be your constant, simple and natural experience that all your thought and seeing and action, your very breathing and moving come from her and are hers. You will know and see and feel that you are a person and power formed by her out of herself, put out from her for the play and yet always safe in her, being of her being, consciousness of her consciousness, force of her force, ananda of her Ananda. When this condition is entire and her supramental energies can freely move you, then you will be perfect in divine works; knowledge, will, action will become sure, simple, luminous, spontaneous, flawless, an outflow from the Supreme, a divine movement of the Eternal.
1.05 - To Know How To Suffer, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In the depths of our being there shines a light whose brilliance is equalled only by its Purity; a light, a living and conscious portion of a universal godhead who animates and nourishes and illumines Matter, a powerful and unfailing guide for those who are willing to heed his law, a helper full of solace and loving forbearance towards all who aspire to see and hear and obey him. No sincere and lasting aspiration towards him can be in vain; no strong and respectful trust can be disappointed, no expectation ever deceived.
My heart has suffered and lamented, almost breaking beneath a sorrow too heavy, almost sinking beneath a pain too strong.... But I have called to thee, O divine comforter, I have prayed ardently to thee, and the splendour of thy dazzling light has appeared to me and revived me.
1.05 - Vishnu as Brahma creates the world, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
ga, Kūrma, Padma, and Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇas. The Bhāgavata offers some important varieties: "From his eastern and other mouths he created the Rich, Yajush, Sāma, and Atharvan vedas; the Śastra, or 'the unuttered incantation;' Ijyā, 'oblation;' Stuti and Stoma, 'prayers' and 'hymns;' and Prāyaścitta, 'expiation' or 'sacred philosophy' (Brāhma): also the Vedas of medicine, arms, music, and mechanics; and the Itihāsas and Purāṇas, which are a fifth Veda: also the portions of the Vedas called Sorasi, Uktha, Purīṣi, 'Agniṣṭut, Āptoryāmā, Atirātra, Vājapeya, Gosava; the four parts of virtue, Purity, liberality, piety, and truth; the orders of life, and their institutes and different religious rites and professions; and the sciences of logic, ethics, and polity. The mystic words and monosyllable proceeded from his heart; the metre Ushnih from the hairs of his body; Gayatrī from his skin; Tṛṣṭubh from his flesh; Anuṣṭubh from his tendons; Jagati from his bones; Pankti from his marrow; Vrihati from his breath. The consonants were his life; the vowels his body; the sibilants his senses; the semivowels his vigour." This mysticism, although perhaps expanded and amplified by the Paurāṇics, appears to originate with the Vedas: as in the text, 'The metre was of the tendons.' The different portions of the Vedas specified in the text are yet, for the most part, uninvestigated.
1.065 - Divorce, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
1. O Prophet! If any of you divorce women, divorce them during their period of Purity, and calculate their term. And be pious before God, your Lord. And do not evict them from their homes, nor shall they leave, unless they have committed a proven adultery. These are the limits of God—whoever oversteps God’s limits has wronged his own soul. You never know; God may afterwards bring about a new situation.
2. Once they have reached their term, either retain them honorably, or separate from them honorably. And call to witness two just people from among you, and give upright testimony for God. By that is exhorted whoever believes in God and the Last Day. And whoever fears God—He will make a way out for him.
1.06 - Man in the Universe, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
4:The Unknowable knowing itself as Sachchidananda is the one supreme affirmation of Vedanta; it contains all the others or on it they depend. This is the one veritable experience that remains when all appearances have been accounted for negatively by the elimination of their shapes and coverings or positively by the reduction of their names and forms to the constant truth that they contain. For fulfilment of life or for transcendence of life, and whether Purity, calm and freedom in the spirit be our aim or puissance, joy and perfection, Sachchidananda is the unknown, omnipresent, indispensable term for which the human consciousness, whether in knowledge and sentiment or in sensation and action, is eternally seeking.
5:The universe and the individual are the two essential appearances into which the Unknowable descends and through which it has to be approached; for other intermediate collectivities are born only of their interaction. This descent of the supreme Reality is in its nature a self-concealing; and in the descent there are successive levels, in the concealing successive veils. Necessarily, the revelation takes the form of an ascent; and necessarily also the ascent and the revelation are both progressive. For each successive level in the descent of the Divine is to man a stage in an ascension; each veil that hides the unknown God becomes for the God-lover and God-seeker an instrument of His unveiling. Out of the rhythmic slumber of material Nature unconscious of the Soul and the Idea that maintain the ordered activities of her energy even in her dumb and mighty material trance, the world struggles into the more quick, varied and disordered rhythm of Life labouring on the verges of self-consciousness. Out of Life it struggles upward into Mind in which the unit becomes awake to itself and its world, and in that awakening the universe gains the leverage it required for its supreme work, it gains self-conscious individuality. But Mind takes up the work to continue, not to complete it. It is a labourer of acute but limited intelligence who takes the confused materials offered by Life and, having improved, adapted, varied, classified according to its power, hands them over to the supreme Artist of our divine manhood. That Artist dwells in supermind; for supermind is superman. Therefore our world has yet to climb beyond Mind to a higher principle, a higher status, a higher dynamism in which universe and individual become aware of and possess that which they both are and therefore stand explained to each other, in harmony with each other, unified.
1.06 - MORTIFICATION, NON-ATTACHMENT, RIGHT LIVELIHOOD, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
Happy is the man who, by continually effacing all images and through introversion and the lifting up of his mind to God, at last forgets and leaves behind all such hindrances. For by such means only, he operates inwardly, with his naked, pure, simple intellect and affections, about the most pure and simple object, God. Therefore see that thy whole exercise about God within thee may depend wholly and only on that naked intellect, affection and will. For indeed, this exercise cannot be discharged by any bodily organ, or by the external senses, but only by that which constitutes the essence of manunderstanding and love. If, therefore, thou desirest a safe stair and short path to arrive at the end of true bliss, then, with an intent mind, earnestly desire and aspire after continual cleanness of heart and Purity of mind. Add to this a constant calm and tranquillity of the senses, and a recollecting of the affections of the heart, continually fixing them above. Work to simplify the heart, that being immovable and at peace from any invading vain phantasms, thou mayest always stand fast in the Lord within thee, to that degree as if thy soul had already entered the always present now of eternity that is, the state of the deity. To mount to God is to enter into oneself. For he who so mounts and enters and goes above and beyond himself, he truly mounts up to God. The mind must then raise itself above itself and say, He who above all I need is above all I know. And so carried into the darkness of the mind, gathering itself into that all-sufficient good, it learns to stay at home and with its whole affection it cleaves and becomes habitually fixed in the supreme good within. Thus continue, until thou becomest immutable and dost arrive at that true life which is God Himself, perpetually, without any vicissitude of space or time, reposing in that inward quiet and secret mansion of the deity.
Albertus Magnus (?)
1.06 - Of imperfections with respect to spiritual gluttony., #Dark Night of the Soul, #Saint John of the Cross, #Christianity
WITH respect to the fourth sin, which is spiritual gluttony, there is much to be said, for there is scarce one of these beginners who, however satisfactory his progress, falls not into some of the many imperfections which come to these beginners with respect to this sin, on account of the sweetness which they find at first in spiritual exercises. For many of these, lured by the sweetness and pleasure which they find in such exercises, strive more after spiritual sweetness than after spiritual Purity and discretion, which is that which God regards and accepts throughout the spiritual journey.40 Therefore, besides the imperfections into which the seeking for sweetness of this kind makes them fall, the gluttony which they now have makes them continually go to extremes, so that they pass beyond the limits of moderation within which the virtues are acquired and wherein they have their being. For some of these persons, attracted by the pleasure which they find therein, kill themselves with penances, and others weaken themselves with fasts, by performing more than their frailty can bear, without the order or advice of any, but rather endeavouring to avoid those whom they should obey in these matters; some, indeed, dare to do these things even though the contrary has been commanded them.
2. These persons are most imperfect and unreasonable; for they set bodily penance before subjection and obedience, which is penance according to reason and discretion, and therefore a sacrifice more acceptable and pleasing to God than any other. But such one-sided penance is no more than the penance of beasts, to which they are attracted, exactly like beasts, by the desire and pleasure which they find therein. Inasmuch as all extremes are vicious, and as in behaving thus such persons41 are working their own will, they grow in vice rather than in virtue; for, to say the least, they are acquiring spiritual gluttony and pride in this way, through not walking in obedience. And many of these the devil assails, stirring up this gluttony in them through the pleasures and desires which he increases within them, to such an extent that, since they can no longer help themselves, they either change or vary or add to that which is commanded them, as any obedience in this respect is so bitter to them. To such an evil pass have some persons come that, simply because it is through obedience that they engage in these exercises, they lose the desire and devotion to perform them, their only desire and pleasure being to do what they themselves are inclined to do, so that it would probably be more profitable for them not to engage in these exercises at all.
1.06 - Raja Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
7. Niyama is observance of five canons, viz., Saucha (internal and external Purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (austerity), Svadhyaya (study of religious books and repetitions of Mantras), and Ishvarapranidhana (self-surrender to God, and His worship).
8. Ahimsa is perfect harmlessness and positive love also. This removes the brutal nature in man and streng thens the will.
1.06 - The Ascent of the Sacrifice 2 The Works of Love - The Works of Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It is here that the emergence of the secret psychic being in us as the leader of the sacrifice is of the utmost importance; for this inmost being alone can bring with it the full power of the spirit in the act, the soul in the symbol. It alone can assure, even while the spiritual consciousness is incomplete, the perennial freshness and sincerity and beauty of the symbol and prevent it from becoming a dead form or a corrupted and corrupting magic; it alone can preserve for the act its power with its significance. All the other members of our being, mind, life-force, physical or body consciousness, are too much under the control of the Ignorance to be a sure instrumentation and much less can they be a guide or the source of an unerring impulse. Always the greater part of the motive and action of these powers clings to the old law, the deceiving tablets, the cherished inferior movements of Nature and they meet with reluctance, alarm or revolt or obstructing inertia the voices and the forces that call and impel us to exceed and transform ourselves into a greater being and a wider Nature. In their major part the response is either a resistance or a qualified or temporising acquiescence; for even if they follow the call, they yet tend - when not consciously, then by automatic habit - to bring into the spiritual action their own natural disabilities and errors. At every moment they are moved to take egoistic advantage of the psychic and spiritual influences and can be detected using the power, joy or light these bring into us for a lower life-motive. Afterwards too, even when the seeker has opened to the Divine Love transcendental, universal or immanent, yet if he tries to pour it into life, he meets the power of obscuration and perversion of these lower Natureforces. Always they draw away towards pitfalls, pour into that higher intensity their diminishing elements, seek to capture the descending Power for themselves and their interests and degrade it into an aggrandised mental, vital or physical instrumentation for desire and ego. Instead of a Divine Love creator of a new heaven and a new earth of Truth and Light, they would hold it here prisoner as a tremendous sanction and glorifying force of sublimation to gild the mud of the old earth and colour with its rose and sapphire the old turbid unreal skies of sentimentalising vital imagination and mental idealised chimera. If that falsification is permitted, the higher Light and Power and Bliss withdraw, there is a fall back to a lower status; or else the realisation remains tied to an insecure half-way and mixture or is covered and even submerged by an inferior exaltation that is not the true Ananda. It is for this reason that Divine Love which is at the heart of all creation and the most powerful of all redeeming and creative forces has yet been the least frontally present in earthly life, the least successfully redemptive, the least creative. Human nature has been unable to bear it in its Purity for the very reason that it is the most powerful, pure, rare and intense of all the divine energies; what little could be seized has been corrupted at once into a vital pietistic ardour, a defenceless religious or ethical sentimentalism, a sensuous or even sensual erotic mysticism of the roseate coloured mind or passionately turbid life-impulse and with these simulations compensated its inability to house the Mystic Flame that could rebuild the world with its tongues of sacrifice. It is only the inmost psychic being unveiled and emerging in its full power that can lead the pilgrim sacrifice unscathed through these ambushes and pitfalls; at each moment it catches, exposes, repels the mind's and the life's falsehoods, seizes hold on the truth of the Divine Love and Ananda and separates it from the excitement of the mind's ardours and the blind enthusiasms of the misleading life-force. But all things that are true at their core in mind and life and the physical being it extricates and takes with it in the journey till they stand on the heights, new in spirit and sublime in figure.
And yet even the leading of the inmost psychic being is not found sufficient until it has succeeded in raising itself out of this mass of inferior Nature to the highest spiritual levels and the divine spark and flame descended here have rejoined themselves to their original fiery Ether. For there is there no longer a spiritual consciousness still imperfect and half lost to itself in the thick sheaths of human mind, life and body, but the full spiritual consciousness in its Purity, freedom and intense wideness. There, as it is the eternal Knower that becomes the Knower in us and mover and user of all knowledge, so it is the eternal All-Blissful who is the Adored attracting to himself the eternal divine portion of his being and joy that has gone out into the play of the universe, the infinite Lover pouring himself out in the multiplicity of his own manifested selves in a happy Oneness.
All Beauty in the world is there the beauty of the Beloved, and all forms of beauty have to stand under the light of that eternal Beauty and submit themselves to the sublimating and transfiguring power of the unveiled Divine Perfection. All Bliss and Joy are there of the All-Blissful, and all inferior forms of enjoyment, happiness or pleasure are subjected to the shock of the intensity of its floods or currents and either they are broken to pieces as inadequate things under its convicting stress or compelled to transmute themselves into the forms of the Divine Ananda. Thus for the individual consciousness a Force is manifested which can deal sovereignly in it with the diminutions and degradations of the values of the Ignorance. At last it begins to be possible to bring down into life the immense reality and intense concreteness of the love and joy that are of the Eternal. Or at any rate it will be possible for our spiritual consciousness to raise itself out of mind into the supramental Light and Force and Vastness; there in the light and potency of the supramental Gnosis are the splendour and joy of a power of divine self-expression and selforganisation which could rescue and re-create even the world of the Ignorance into a figure of the Truth of the Spirit.
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aware of in himself and finds all around him and has to struggle and combat incessantly to be rid of their grip and dislodge the long-entrenched mastery they have exercised over his own being as over the environing human existence. The difficulty is great; for their hold is so strong, so apparently invincible that it justifies the disdainful dictum which compares human nature to a dog's tail, - for, straighten it never so much by force of ethics, religion, reason or any other redemptive effort, it returns in the end always to the crooked curl of Nature. And so great is the vim, the clutch of that more agitated Life-Will, so immense the peril of its passions and errors, so subtly insistent or persistently invasive, so obstinate up to the very gates of Heaven the fury of its attack or the tedious obstruction of its obstacles that even the saint and the Yogin cannot be sure of their liberated Purity or their trained self-mastery against its intrigue or its violence. All labour to straighten out this native crookedness strikes the struggling will as a futility; a flight, a withdrawal to happy Heaven or peaceful dissolution easily finds credit as the only wisdom and to find a way not to be born again gets established as the only remedy for the dull bondage or the poor shoddy delirium or the blinded and precarious happiness and achievement of earthly existence.
A remedy yet there should be and is, a way of redress and a chance of transformation for this troubled vital nature; but for that the cause of deviation must be found and remedied at the heart of Life itself and in its very principle, since Life too is a power of the Divine and not a creation of some malignant
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detect the origin and law of our feelings, emotions, sensations, passions, are free to accept, reject, new-create, open to wider, rise to higher planes of Life-Power. We begin to perceive too the key to the enigma of Matter, follow the interplay of Mind and Life and Consciousness upon it, discover more and more its instrumental and resultant function and detect ultimately the last secret of Matter as a form not merely of Energy but of involved and arrested or unstably fixed and restricted consciousness and begin to see too the possibility of its liberation and plasticity of response to higher Powers, its possibilities for the conscious and no longer the more than half-inconscient incarnation and self-expression of the Spirit. All this and more becomes more and more possible as the working of the Divine Shakti increases in us and, against much resistance or labour to respond of our obscure consciousness, through much struggle and movement of progress and regression and renewed progress necessitated by the work of intensive transformation of a half-inconscient into a conscious substance, moves to a greater Purity, truth, height, range. All depends on the psychic awakening in us, the completeness of our response to her and our growing surrender.
But all this can only constitute a greater inner life with a greater possibility of the outer action and is a transitional achievement; the full transformation can come only by the ascent of the sacrifice to its farthest heights and its action upon life with the power and light and beatitude of the divine supramental
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Force a single movement; the opposites that afflict us here are resolved into their reconciled unity: good develops its absolute and evil divesting itself of its error returns to the good that was behind it; sin and virtue vanish in a divine Purity and an infallible truth-movement; the dubious evanescence of pleasure disappears in a Bliss that is the play of an eternal and happy spiritual certitude, and pain in perishing discovers the touch of an Ananda which was betrayed by some dark perversion and
The Ascent of the Sacrifice - 2
1.06 - THE MASTER WITH THE BRAHMO DEVOTEES, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"God cannot be realized without Purity of heart. One receives the grace of God by subduing the passions-lust, anger, and greed. Then one sees God. I tried many things in order to conquer lust.
"When I was ten or eleven years old and lived at Kamarpukur, I first experienced samdhi. As I was passing through a paddy-field, I saw something and was overwhelmed. There are certain characteristics of God-vision. One sees light, feels joy, and experiences the upsurge of a great current in one's chest, like the bursting of a rocket."
1.070 - The Seven Stages of Perfection, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
This body is the house. This individuality is the vehicle that has been manufactured by these tendencies to object-perception, and they themselves form the substance of this body-mind complex. And, the presence of this vehicle is simultaneous with the attachment of consciousness to that vehicle; this is the bondage of the soul. Thus, it is hard for one to attain salvation, because it is the abolition of individuality itself a total extinction of personality that is known as nirvana, the complete vanishing from sight of the very possibility of objectivity. The blowing out of a lamp is what is actually meant by nirvana. The lamp of world-consciousness the light with which we see objects is blown out completely, and there is the return of the spirit to its own pristine Purity and status.
This is the meaning in substance of these sutras: tad abhvt sayogbhva hna tadde kaivalyam (II.25); vivekakhyti aviplav hnopya (II.26); tasya saptadh prntabhmi praj (II.27). What is the way to this attainment? Discriminative knowledge is the way, which has to be attained by the practice of the limbs of yoga and there is no other alternative. Nanya panth vidyate ayanya (R.V. X.90.16), says the Rig Veda. We cannot have any other, simpler method here. There is only one method. This is a single-track approach, and everyone has to proceed along the same road which others have trodden from ancient times. This is the viveka khyati that is referred to here. The enlightenment that follows understanding of the true nature of things this is viveka khyati. This understanding should be perpetual; it should be second nature to us.
1.075 - Self-Control, Study and Devotion to God, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
When this contentment arises and serenity of mind is attained, it is understood that distractions are not there; and the absence of distractions is the same as concentration of mind. Thus, the power of concentrating the mind arises automatically on account of this rise of sattva within oneself. In the Chhandogya Upanishad we have a similar proclamation regarding the results that follow from the development of sattva. hra-uddhau sattva-uddhi, sattva-uddhau dhruv smti, smitilambhe sarva-granthna vipramoka (C.U. VII.26.2), says Sanatkumara to Narada in the Chhandogya Upanishad. hra-uddhau sattva-uddhi: When there is a purification of the modes of intake by the senses when what the senses grasp by way of knowledge is pure Purity of mind is automatically generated within because the mind is made up of nothing but the impressions of the senses. So, whatever the senses convey, that the mind also is, and does.
The message that is conveyed through the senses is the character that is imbedded in the mind. Hence, when the senses receive pure food, the message that they convey, being pure, makes the mind also pure because the mind has nothing to say and nothing to do except what the senses direct. The intake of the senses means the perceptions of the senses the objects that they perceive or contact, the way in which they evaluate things, and the reactions they set up in respect of their perceptions. All this is what is known as ahara, or the diet of the senses.
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Sattvauddhi saumanasya aikgrye indriyajaya tmadarana yogyatvni ca (II.41) is the sutra of Patanjali which tells us that luminosity lustre of the mind, tranquillity, a serenity of mood, concentration, or the power to focus the mind, and control over the senses, indriyajaya all these are spontaneously the results of Purity, which finally ends in fitness of oneself to receive the light of the Self.
Kya indriya siddhi auddhikayt tapasa (II.43): Austerity purifies the body, purifies the senses, purifies the mind, and endows a person with certain peculiar powers which cannot usually be seen in people. Kya indriya siddhi are the words used. Siddhi is a perfection, an endowment, a power or a capacity, an energy; all these meanings are implied in the term siddhi. These three perfections in respect of the body and the senses arise by the practice of tapas, or austerity. Any attempt which subdues the senses is tapas which, impliedly, involves, of course, the control of the mind, because one depends on the other and one works in connection with the other.
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These three methods tapas, svadhyaya and Ishvara pranidhana are really the training of the will, the intellect and the emotion. It requires tremendous will to practise tapas, great understanding or intellectual capacity to probe into the meaning of the scriptures, and emotional Purity to love God. These three are emphasised in the canons of tapas, svadhyaya and Ishvara pranidhana. By svadhyaya there is ishtadevata samprayogah,says the sutra; there is union of oneself with the deity of ones worship and adoration by a daily brooding over its characters.
Whatever we think in our mind, that we will become, and that we will get. But, this thinking should not be a shallow thinking; it should be a very deep absorption of oneself in what one expects. The whole of us should be saturated with our longing for the ideal which is in our mind. There should be no other thought except of the qualities, characters and nature of the ideal which is in our mind. Anything and everything can be obtained in this world if only there is a will behind it. If the force of thought is intense enough, there is nothing which is impossible. This is the point made out in this sutra.
1.07 - Akasa or the Ethereal Principle, #Initiation Into Hermetics, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
The various religions have given it the name of God. It is the fifth power, the original power. Everything has been created by it and is kept in balance by it. It is the origin and the Purity of all thoughts and intentions, it is the causal world wherein the whole creation in subsisting on, beginning from the highest spheres down to the lowest ones.
It is the quintessence of the alchemists; it is all in all.
1.07 - Hymn of Paruchchhepa, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
of the riches, he who in his Purity holds them within him,
wise he enjoys the things laid upon him and they are pleasant
1.07 - On mourning which causes joy., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
The abyss of mourning has seen comfort, and Purity of heart has received illumination. Illumination is an ineffable activity which is unknowingly perceived and invisibly seen. Comfort is the solace of a sorrowing soul which, like a child, at once both whimpers to itself and shouts happily. Divine intervention is the renewal of a soul depressed by grief which in a wonderful way transforms painful tears into painless ones.
Tears over our departure produce fear; and when fear begets fearlessness, joy dawns. And when joy is unfailingly obtained, holy love bursts into flower.
1.07 - Raja-Yoga in Brief, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
The following are helps to success in Yoga and are called Niyama or regular habits and observances; Tapas, austerity; Svdhyya, study; Santosha, contentment; Shaucha, Purity; Ishvara-pranidhna, worshipping God. Fasting, or in other ways controlling the body, is called physical Tapas. Repeating the Vedas and other Mantras, by which the Sattva material in the body is purified, is called study, Svadhyaya. There are three sorts of repetitions of these Mantras. One is called the verbal, another semi-verbal, and the third mental. The verbal or audible is the lowest, and the inaudible is the highest of all. The repetition which is loud is the verbal; the next one is where only the lips move, but no sound is heard. The inaudible repetition of the Mantra, accompanied with the thinking of its meaning, is called the "mental repetition," and is the highest. The sages have said that there are two sorts of purification, external and internal. The purification of the body by water, earth, or other materials is the external purification, as bathing etc. Purification of the mind by truth, and by all the other virtues, is what is called internal purification. Both are necessary. It is not sufficient that a man should be internally pure and externally dirty. When both are not attainable the internal Purity is the better, but no one will be a Yogi until he has both. Worship of God is by praise, by thought, by devotion.
We have spoken about Yama and Niyama. The next is Asana (posture). The only thing to understand about it is leaving the body free, holding the chest, shoulders, and head straight. Then comes Pranayama. Prana means the vital forces in one's own body, yma means controlling them. There are three sorts of Pranayama, the very simple, the middle, and the very high. Pranayama is divided into three parts: filling, restraining, and emptying. When you begin with twelve seconds it is the lowest Pranayama; when you begin with twenty-four seconds it is the middle Pranayama; that Pranayama is the best which begins with thirty-six seconds. In the lowest kind of Pranayama there is perspiration, in the medium kind, quivering of the body, and in the highest Pranayama levitation of the body and influx of great bliss. There is a Mantra called the Gyatri. It is a very holy verse of the Vedas. "We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our minds." Om is joined to it at the beginning and the end. In one Pranayama repeat three Gayatris. In all books they speak of Pranayama being divided into Rechaka (rejecting or exhaling), Puraka (inhaling), and Kurnbhaka (restraining, stationary). The Indriyas, the organs of the senses, are acting outwards and coming in contact with external objects. Bringing them under the control of the will is what is called Pratyahara or gathering towards oneself. Fixing the mind on the lotus of the heart, or on the centre of the head, is what is called Dharana. Limited to one spot, making that spot the base, a particular kind of mental waves rises; these are not swallowed up by other kinds of waves, but by degrees become prominent, while all the others recede and finally disappear. Next the multiplicity of these waves gives place to unity and one wave only is left in the mind. This is Dhyana, meditation. When no basis is necessary, when the whole of the mind has become one wave, one-formedness, it is called Samadhi. Bereft of all help from places and centres, only the meaning of the thought is present. If the mind can be fixed on the centre for twelve seconds it will be a Dharana, twelve such Dharanas will be a Dhyana, and twelve such Dhyanas will be a Samadhi.
1.07 - The Ego and the Dualities, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
8:It is not very easy for the customary mind of man, always attached to its past and present associations, to conceive of an existence still human, yet radically changed in what are now our fixed circumstances. We are in respect to our possible higher evolution much in the position of the original Ape of the Darwinian theory. It would have been impossible for that Ape leading his instinctive arboreal life in primeval forests to conceive that there would be one day an animal on the earth who would use a new faculty called reason upon the materials of his inner and outer existence, who would dominate by that power his instincts and habits, change the circumstances of his physical life, build for himself houses of stone, manipulate Nature's forces, sail the seas, ride the air, develop codes of conduct, evolve conscious methods for his mental and spiritual development. And if such a conception had been possible for the Ape-mind, it would still have been difficult for him to imagine that by any progress of Nature or long effort of Will and tendency he himself could develop into that animal. Man, because he has acquired reason and still more because he has indulged his power of imagination and intuition, is able to conceive an existence higher than his own and even to envisage his personal elevation beyond his present state into that existence. His idea of the supreme state is an absolute of all that is positive to his own concepts and desirable to his own instinctive aspiration, - Knowledge without its negative shadow of error, Bliss without its negation in experience of suffering, Power without its constant denial by incapacity, Purity and plenitude of being without the opposing sense of defect and limitation. It is so that he conceives his gods; it is so that he constructs his heavens. But it is not so that his reason conceives of a possible earth and a possible humanity. His dream of God and Heaven is really a dream of his own perfection; but he finds the same difficulty in accepting its practical realisation here for his ultimate aim as would the ancestral Ape if called upon to believe in himself as the future Man. His imagination, his religious aspirations may hold that end before him; but when his reason asserts itself, rejecting imagination and transcendent intuition, he puts it by as a brilliant superstition contrary to the hard facts of the material universe. It becomes then only his inspiring vision of the impossible. All that is possible is a conditioned, limited and precarious knowledge, happiness, power and good.
9:Yet in the principle of reason itself there is the assertion of a Transcendence. For reason is in its whole aim and essence the pursuit of Knowledge, the pursuit, that is to say, of Truth by the elimination of error. Its view, its aim is not that of a passage from a greater to a lesser error, but it supposes a positive, pre-existent Truth towards which through the dualities of right knowledge and wrong knowledge we can progressively move. If our reason has not the same instinctive certitude with regard to the other aspirations of humanity, it is because it lacks the same essential illumination inherent in its own positive activity. We can just conceive of a positive or absolute realisation of happiness, because the heart to which that instinct for happiness belongs has its own form of certitude, is capable of faith, and because our minds can envisage the elimination of unsatisfied want which is the apparent cause of suffering. But how shall we conceive of the elimination of pain from nervous sensation or of death from the life of the body? Yet the rejection of pain is a sovereign instinct of the sensations, the rejection of death a dominant claim inherent in the essence of our vitality. But these things present themselves to our reason as instinctive aspirations, not as realisable potentialities.
1.07 - The Ideal Law of Social Development, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Naturally, this is an ideal law which the imperfect human race has never yet really attained and it may be very long before it can attain to it. Man, not possessing, but only seeking to find himself, not knowing consciously, obeying only in the rough subconsciously or half-consciously the urge of the law of his own nature with stumblings and hesitations and deviations and a series of violences done to himself and others, has had to advance by a tangle of truth and error, right and wrong, compulsion and revolt and clumsy adjustments, and he has as yet neither the wideness of knowledge nor the flexibility of mind nor the Purity of temperament which would enable him to follow the law of liberty and harmony rather than the law of discord and regimentation, compulsion and adjustment and strife. Still it is the very business of a subjective age when knowledge is increasing and diffusing itself with an unprecedented rapidity, when capacity is generalising itself, when men and nations are drawn close together and partially united though in an inextricable, confused entanglement of chaotic unity, when they are being compelled to know each other and impelled to know more profoundly themselves, mankind, God and the world and when the idea of self-realisation for men and nations is coming consciously to the surface,it is the natural work and should be the conscious hope of man in such an age to know himself truly, to find the ideal law of his being and his development and, if he cannot even then follow it ideally owing to the difficulties of his egoistic nature, still to hold it before him and find out gradually the way by which it can become more and more the moulding principle of his individual and social existence.
It may be said that since man is a mental being limited by the mind, life and body, this development and organisation of a power beyond mind, a supramental power, would be the creation of a new superhuman race and that the use of the words human and humanly would no longer be in place. This is no doubt true, but the possibility for the race still remains, if not for all in the same degree or at the same time, yet in an eventual fulfilment.
1.07 - THE MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
MASTER: "One cannot see God without Purity of heart. Through attachment to 'woman and gold' the mind has become stained-covered with dirt, as it were. A magnet cannot attract a needle if the needle is covered with mud. Wash away the mud and the magnet will draw it. Likewise, the dirt of the mind can be washed away with the tears of our eyes. This stain is removed if one sheds tears of repentance and says, 'O God, I shall never again do such a thing.' Thereupon God, who is like the magnet, draws to Himself the mind, which is like the needle. Then the devotee goes into samdhi and obtains the vision of God.
God's grace is the ultimate help
1.07 - The Process of Evolution, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Sayama is unseasonable and would be fruitless when a force, quality or tendency is in its infancy or vigour, before it has had the enjoyment and full activity which is its due. When once a thing is born it must have its youth, growth, enjoyment, life and final decay and death; when once an impetus has been given by Prakriti to her creation, she insists that the velocity shall spend itself by natural exhaustion before it shall cease. To arrest the growth or speed unseasonably by force is nigraha, which can be effective for a time but not in perpetuity. It is said in the Gita that all things are ruled by their nature, to their nature they return and nigraha or repression is fruitless. What happens then is that the thing untimely slain by violence is not really dead, but withdraws for a time into the Prakriti which sent it forth, gathers an immense force and returns with extraordinary violence ravening for the rightful enjoyment which it was denied. We see this in the attempts we make to get rid of our evil saskras or associations when we first tread the path of Yoga. If anger is a powerful element in our nature, we may put it down for a time by sheer force and call it self-control, but eventually unsatisfied Nature will get the better of us and the passion return upon us with astonishing force at an unexpected moment. There are only two ways by which we can effectively get the better of the passion which seeks to enslave us. One is by substitution, replacing it whenever it rises by the opposite quality, anger by thoughts of forgiveness, love or forbearance, lust by meditation on Purity, pride by thoughts of humility and our own defects or nothingness; this is the method of Rajayoga, but it is a difficult, slow and uncertain method; for both the ancient traditions and the modern experience of Yoga show that men who had attained for long years the highest self-mastery have been suddenly surprised by a violent return of the thing they thought dead or for ever subject. Still this substitution, slow though it be, is one of the commonest methods of Nature and it is largely by this means, often unconsciously or half-consciously used, that the character of a man changes and develops from life to life or even in the bounds of a single lifetime. It does not destroy things in their seed and the seed which is not reduced to ashes by Yoga is always capable of sprouting again and growing into the complete and mighty tree. The second method is to give bhoga or enjoyment to the passion so as to get rid of it quickly. When it is satiated and surfeited by excessive enjoyment, it becomes weak and spent and a reaction ensues which establishes for a time the opposite force, tendency or quality. If that moment is seized by the Yogin for nigraha, the nigraha so repeated at every suitable opportunity becomes so far effective as to reduce the strength and vitality of the vtti sufficiently for the application of the final sayama. This method of enjoyment and reaction is also a favourite and universal method of Nature, but it is never complete in itself and, if applied to permanent forces or qualities, tends to establish a see-saw of opposite tendencies, extremely useful to the operations of Prakriti but from the point of view of self-mastery useless and inconclusive. It is only when this method is followed up by the use of sayama that it becomes effective. The Yogin regards the vtti merely as a play of Nature with which he is not concerned and of which he is merely the spectator; the anger, lust or pride is not his, it is the universal Mothers and she works it and stills it for her own purposes. When, however, the vtti is strong, mastering and unspent, this attitude cannot be maintained in sincerity and to try to hold it intellectually without sincerely feeling it is mithycra, false discipline or hypocrisy. It is only when it is somewhat exhausted by repeated enjoyment and coercion that Prakriti or Nature at the comm and of the soul or Purusha can really deal with her own creation. She deals with it first by vairgya in its crudest form of disgust, but this is too violent a feeling to be permanent; yet it leaves its mark behind in a deep-seated wish to be rid of its cause, which survives the return and temporary reign of the passion. Afterwards its return is viewed with impatience but without any acute feeling of intolerance. Finally supreme indifference or udsnat is gained and the final going out of the tendency by the ordinary process of Nature is watched in the true spirit of the sayam who has the knowledge that he is the witnessing soul and has only to dissociate himself from a phenomenon for it to cease. The highest stage leads either to mukti in the form of laya or disappearance, the vtti vanishing altogether and for good, or else to another kind of freedom when the soul knows that it is Gods ll and leaves it to Him whether He shall throw out the tendency or use it for His own purposes. This is the attitude of the Karmayogin who puts himself in Gods hands and does work for His sake only, knowing that it is Gods force that works in him. The result of that attitude of self-surrender is that the Lord of all takes charge and according to the promise of the Gita delivers His servant and lover from all sin and evil, the vttis working in the bodily machine without affecting the soul and working only when He raises them up for His purposes. This is nirliptat, the state of absolute freedom within the ll.
The law is the same for the mass as for the individual. The process of human evolution has been seen by the eye of inspired observation to be that of working out the tiger and the ape. The forces of cruelty, lust, mischievous destruction, pain-giving, folly, brutality, ignorance were once rampant in humanity, they had full enjoyment; then by the growth of religion and philosophy they began in periods of satiety such as the beginning of the Christian era in Europe to be partly replaced, partly put under control. As is the law of such things, they have always reverted again with greater or less virulence and sought with more or less success to re-establish themselves. Finally in the nineteenth century it seemed for a time as if some of these forces had, for a time at least, exhausted themselves and the hour for sayama and gradual dismissal from the evolution had really arrived. Such hopes always recur and in the end they are likely to bring about their own fulfilment, but before that happens another recoil is inevitable. We see plenty of signs of it in the reeling back into the beast which is in progress in Europe and America behind the fair outside of Science, progress, civilisation and humanitarianism, and we are likely to see more signs of it in the era that is coming upon us. A similar law holds in politics and society. The political evolution of the human race follows certain lines of which the most recent formula has been given in the watchwords of the French Revolution, freedom, equality and brotherhood. But the forces of the old world, the forces of despotism, the forces of traditional privilege and selfish exploitation, the forces of unfraternal strife and passionate self-regarding competition are always struggling to reseat themselves on the thrones of the earth. A determined movement of reaction is evident in many parts of the world and nowhere perhaps more than in England which was once one of the self-styled champions of progress and liberty. The attempt to go back to the old spirit is one of those necessary returns without which it cannot be so utterly exhausted as to be blotted out from the evolution. It rises only to be defeated and crushed again. On the other hand the force of the democratic tendency is not a force which is spent but one which has not yet arrived, not a force which has had the greater part of its enjoyment but one which is still vigorous, unsatisfied and eager for fulfilment. Every attempt to coerce it in the past reacted eventually on the coercing force and brought back the democratic spirit fierce, hungry and unsatisfied, joining to its fair motto of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity the terrible addition or Death. It is not likely that the immediate future of the democratic tendency will satisfy the utmost dreams of the lover of liberty who seeks an anarchist freedom, or of the lover of equality who tries to establish a socialistic dead level, or of the lover of fraternity who dreams of a world-embracing communism. But some harmonisation of this great ideal is undoubtedly the immediate future of the human race. On the old forces of despotism, inequality and unbridled competition, after they have been once more overthrown, a process of gradual sayama will be performed by which what has remained of them will be regarded as the disappearing vestiges of a dead reality and without any further violent coercion be transformed slowly and steadily out of existence.
1.07 - The Psychic Center, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
marvelously fresh and crystalline Purity, as it exists irresistibly outside all the traps we set for it, outside all our ideas, feelings, and pronouncements, we must create a transparency within ourselves.
Beethoven, the sea, or our churches were only instruments for achieving that transparency. Because it is always the same: the moment we are clear. Truth, vision, joy emerge spontaneously; it is all there without the least effort, because Truth is the most natural thing in the world; it's the rest that clouds everything the mind and vital with their unruly vibrations and erudite complications. All spiritual disciplines worthy of the name, all tapasya, must ultimately tend toward that completely natural point where no effort is necessary; for effort is yet another clouding, another layer of complication. So the seeker will not attempt to enter the muddle of the moral mind, or try the impossible task of sorting out good from evil in order to bring the psychic to light, for, actually, the purpose of good and evil is intimately linked to their mutual harmfulness. (My lover took away my robe of sin and I let it fall, rejoicing; then he plucked at my robe of virtue, but I was ashamed and alarmed and prevented him. It was not till he wrested it from me by force that I saw how my soul had been hidden from me79 .) He will simply try to let everything settle in the silence, for silence is clean in itself; it is lustral water. "Do not try to wash off one by one the stains on the robe," a very ancient Chaldean tradition exhorts, "change it altogether." This is what Sri Aurobindo calls a change of consciousness. In that transparency, the old habits of the being will indeed quietly lose their hold, and we will feel a new poise of consciousness within ourselves not an intellectual poise, but a new center of gravity. At heart level, but deeper than the vital center of the heart (which covers and imitates the psychic), we will feel a region of concentration more intense than the others, as if they had all converged there; this is the psychic center. We had already felt the onset of a current of consciousness-force within us, taking on a life of its own, moving in the body, and becoming increasingly intense as it gradually freed itself from its mental and vital activities. Now,
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The psychic personality, or true personality, expresses each person's unique destiny (perhaps we should say his unique angle) beneath his cultural, social, and religious layers. Thus, a person might be successively a navigator, a musician, a revolutionary, a Christian, a Moslem, and an atheist; yet through each life he would express the same angle of love, say, or of conquering energy, or joy, or Purity, which would impart a unique nuance to everything he undertook. From lifetime to lifetime this particular angle would become more prominent, refined, and extensive.
into particular talents, special problems, innate affinities, inexplicable anxieties, irresistible attractions, and sometimes even particular circumstances that repeat themselves almost mechanically, as if to confront us with the same, unresolved problem. Each life, then,
1.07 - The Three Schools of Magick 2, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
A fairly pure example of the first stage of this type of thought is to be found in the Vedas, of the second stage, in the Upanishads. But the answer to the question, "How is the illusion of evil to be destroyed?", depends on another point of theory. We may postulate a Parabrahm infinitely good, etc. etc. etc., in which case we consider the destruction of the illusion of evil as the reuniting of the consciousness with Parabrahm. The unfortunate part of this scheme of things is that on seeking to define Parabrahm for the purpose of returning to Its Purity, it is discovered sooner or later, that It possesses no qualities at all! In other words, as the farmer said, on being shown the elephant: There ain't no sich animile. It was Gautama Buddha who perceived the inutility of dragging in this imaginary pachyderm. Since our Parabrahm, he said to the Hindu philosophers, is actually nothing, why not stick to or original perception that everything is sorrow, and admit that the only way to escape from sorrow is to arrive at nothingness?
We may complete the whole tradition of the Indian peninsula very simply. To the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Tripitaka of the Buddhists, we have only to add the Tantras of what are called the Vamacharya Schools. Paradoxical as it may sound the Tantrics are in reality the most advanced of the Hindus. Their theory is, in its philosophical ultimatum, a primitive stage of the White tradition, for the essence of the Tantric cults is that by the performance of certain rites of Magick, one does not only escape disaster, but obtains positive benediction. The Tantric is not obsessed by the will-to-die. It is a difficult business, no doubt, to get any fun out of existence; but at least it is not impossible. In other words, he implicitly denies the fundamental proposition that existence is sorrow, and he formulates the essential postulate of the White School of Magick, that means exist by which the universal sorrow (apparent indeed to all ordinary observation) may be unmasked, even as at the initiatory rite of Isis in the ancient days of Khem. There, a Neophyte presenting his mouth, under compulsion, to the pouting buttocks of the Goat of Mendez, found himself caressed by the chaste lips of a virginal priestess of that Goddess at the base of whose shrine is written that No man has lifted her veil.
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We may define the doctrine of the White School in its Purity in very simple terms.
Existence is pure joy. Sorrow is caused by failure to perceive this fact; but this is not a misfortune. We have invented sorrow, which does not matter so much after all, in order to have the exuberant satisfaction of getting rid of it. Existence is thus a sacrament.
1.07 - TRUTH, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The amount and kind of knowledge we acquire depends first upon the will and, second, upon our psycho-physical constitution and the modifications imposed upon it by environment and our own choice. Thus, Professor Burkitt has pointed out that, where technological discovery is concerned mans desire has been the important factor. Once something is definitely wanted, again and again it has been produced in an extremely short time Conversely, nothing will teach the Bushmen of South Africa to plant and herd. They have no desire to do so. The same is true in regard to ethical and spiritual discoveries. You are as holy as you wish to be, was the motto given by Ruysbroeck to the students who came to visit him. And he might have added, You can therefore know as much of Reality as you wish to know for knowledge is in the knower according to the mode of the knower, and the mode of the knower is, in certain all-important respects, within the knowers control. Liberating knowledge of God comes to the pure in heart and poor in spirit; and though such Purity and poverty are enormously difficult of achievement, they are nevertheless possible to all.
She said, moreover, that if one would attain to Purity of mind it was necessary to abstain altogether from any judgment on ones neighbour and from all empty talk about his conduct. In creatures one should always seek only for the will of God. With great force she said: For no reason whatever should one judge the actions of creatures or their motives. Even when we see that it is an actual sin, we ought not to pass judgment on it, but have holy and sincere compassion and offer it up to God with humble and devout prayer.
From the Testament of
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This total abstention from judgment upon ones fellows is only one of the conditions of inward Purity. The others have already been described in the section on Mortification.
Learning consists in adding to ones stock day by day. The practise of Tao consists in subtracting day by day: subtracting and yet again subtracting until one has reached inactivity.
1.089 - The Levels of Concentration, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
kr savitark sampatti (I.42), tells us that the gross form of samyama is in the form of the envisagement of the object as it is defined by a mix-up of the essential nature of the object, together with the name and the idea of it. But when the name and the idea are withdrawn, the object stands in its pristine Purity. When we can conceive the object independent of our idea about it and divested of the name that we have foisted upon it, we go to nirvitarka: smtipariuddhau svarpanye ivaarthamtranirbhs nirvitark (I.43). But nobody can reach that state, however much we may scratch our heads. We cannot go even one step above. We are always in the lowest because who can be free from the idea of the object and the name that is attached to the object? When we look at the tree, we have an idea of tree: It is a tree. We have attached some name to that particular substance which we call by this name or that name. The independent concept of an object, free from ideational evaluations, is difficult because we have been brought up in an atmosphere of prejudice. Yoga is against all prejudice. We must be thoroughly dispassionate and impersonal to the core if we want to know the nature of anything in this world.
That is what we are trying to achieve by samyama. Tasya bhmiu viniyoga (III.6). The bhumis, or the levels of concentration, which are suggested in this sutra are the levels mentioned in the Samadhi Pada where the various levels of samadhis, or samapattis, are described. The grossest form of the object as it is visible to the ordinary, conceptual mind is the first stage of concentration. We take the object as it is, in the manner we are able to conceive it, think of it, etc. Then, we try to free it from the associations that we have created in respect of it by thinking of it as lovable or not loveable, pleasurable or otherwise, liked or not liked, tall or short, etc. An object is neither tall nor short this also is a very important thing to remember. Tallness and shortness, thickness and thinness, etc., are relative terms. If I bring before you a shirt and ask you, Is it a big shirt or a small shirt? you cannot say it is big or small because it depends upon the person. If it is a small child, he will say it is too big; if it is for a big man, he will say it is too small. We cannot say anything about any object unless we compare it with something else. This comparison should be removed. We must take it as it is; and nothing can be more difficult than this task.
1.08 - Adhyatma Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
28. Cultivate the divine qualities: humility, harmlessness, Purity, steadfastness, self-control, dispassion, unostentatiousness, non-attachment, balance of mind, fearlessness, angerlessness, self-restraint, renunciation, straightforwardness, truthfulness, compassion, non-covetousness, steadiness. You will attain Wisdom of the Self or Brahma-Jnana.
29. Be cautious. Be vigilant. Be diligent. Be alert. The senses are very turbulent. They will hurl you down into the abyss of ignorance at any moment. Always do Japa, do Kirtan. Meditate ceaselessly.
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40. Rajas is passion, motion. It causes attachment and thirst for mundane life. Inertia is darkness. It causes heedlessness, laziness, indolence, and sloth. Sattva is Purity, harmony. It produces peace and bliss.
41. When Rajas predominates, Sattva and Tamas are subordinated; when Sattva preponderates, Rajas and Tamas are subordinated. When Tamas predominates, Sattva and Rajas are subordinated.
1.08 - The Depths of the Divine, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
In that pure empty awareness, I-I am the rise and fall of all worlds, ceaselessly, endlessly. I-I swallow the Kosmos and span the centuries, untouched by time or turmoil, embracing each with primordial Purity, fierce compassion. It has never started, this nightmare of evolution, and therefore it will never end.
It is as it is, self-liberated at the moment of its very arising. And it is only this.
1.08 - The Four Austerities and the Four Liberations, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Before starting to describe the four kinds of austerity required, it is necessary to clarify one question which is a source of much misunderstanding and confusion in the minds of most people. It is the question of ascetic practices, which they mistake for spiritual disciplines. These practices, which consist of ill-treating the body in order, so they say, to liberate the spirit from it, are in fact a sensuous distortion of spiritual discipline; it is a kind of perverse need for suffering which drives the ascetic to self-mortification. The sadhus recourse to the bed of nails or the Christian anchorites resort to the whip and the hair-shirt are the result of a more or less veiled sadistic tendency, unavowed and unavowable; it is an unhealthy seeking or a subconscious need for violent sensations. In reality, these things are very far removed from all spiritual life, for they are ugly and base, dark and diseased; whereas spiritual life, on the contrary, is a life of light and balance, beauty and joy. They are invented and extolled by a sort of mental and vital cruelty towards the body. But cruelty, even with regard to ones own body, is nonetheless cruelty, and all cruelty is a sign of great unconsciousness. Unconscious natures need very strong sensations, for without them they can feel nothing; and cruelty, which is one form of sadism, brings very strong sensations. The avowed purpose of such practices is to abolish all sensation so that the body may no longer stand in the way of ones flight towards the spirit; but the effectiveness of this method is open to doubt. It is a recognised fact that in order to progress rapidly, one must not be afraid of difficulties; on the contrary, by choosing to do the difficult thing at every opportunity, one increases the will-power and streng thens the nerves. Now, it is much more difficult to lead a life of moderation and balance, in equanimity and serenity, than to try to contend with over-indulgence in pleasure and the obscuration it entails, by over-indulgence in asceticism and the disintegration it causes. It is much more difficult to achieve the harmonious and progressive development of ones physical being in calm and simplicity than to ill-treat it to the point of annihilation. It is much more difficult to live soberly and with- out desire than to deprive the body of its indispensable nourishment and cleanliness and boast proudly of ones abstinence. It is much more difficult to avoid or to surmount and conquer illness by an inner and outer harmony, Purity and balance, than to disregard and ignore it and leave it free to do its work of destruction. And the most difficult thing of all is to maintain the consciousness constantly at the height of its capacity, never allowing the body to act under the influence of a lower impulse.
This is why we shall have recourse to the four austerities which will result in four liberations within us. The practice of these austerities will constitute a fourfold discipline or tapasya which can be defined as follows:
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At the beginning of this manifestation, in the Purity of its origin, love is composed of two movements, two complementary poles of the urge towards complete oneness. On one hand there is the supreme power of attraction and on the other the irresistible need for absolute self-giving. No other movement could have better bridged the abyss that was created when in the individual being consciousness was separated from its origin and became unconsciousness.
What had been projected into space had to be brought back to itself without, however, annihilating the universe which had thus been created. That is why love burst forth, the irresistible power of union.
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To a lesser degree, and above all, in a less durable way, there are other contented people in the world whose contentment is due to the magic effect of love. Each time an individual breaks the narrow limitations in which he is imprisoned by his ego and emerges into the open air, through self-giving, whether for the sake of another human being or his family, his country or his faith, he finds in this self-forgetfulness a foretaste of the marvellous delight of love, and this gives him the impression that he has come into contact with the Divine. But most often it is only a fleeting contact, for in the human being love is immediately mixed with lower egoistic movements which debase it and rob it of its power of Purity. But even if it remained pure, this contact with the divine existence could not last for ever, for love is only one aspect of the Divine, an aspect which here on earth has suffered the same distortions as the others.
Besides, all these experiences are very good and useful for the ordinary man who follows the normal way of Nature in her stumbling march towards the future unity. But they cannot satisfy those who want to hasten the movement, or rather, who aspire to belong to another line of more direct and rapid movement, to an exceptional movement that will liberate them from ordinary mankind and its interminable march, so that they may take part in the spiritual advance which will lead them along the swiftest paths towards the creation of the new race, the race that will express the supramental truth upon earth. These rare souls must reject all forms of love between human beings, for however beautiful and pure they may be, they cause a kind of short-circuit and cut off the direct connection with the Divine.
1.097 - Sublimation of Object-Consciousness, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Sattva puruayo uddhi smye kaivalyam iti (III.56). Kaivalya, or ultimate independence of the spirit, arises when there is equanimity of the structural character of sattva and the purusha. Sattva means the mind, or we may call it prakriti; purusha is the consciousness. When there is similarity established between the two, then the one does not remain as an object of the other, nor is one a subject in relation to the other. When the two become one on account of the intense Purity of the experiencing consciousness, infinity enters into experience. This is kaivalya, this is moksha sattva puruayo uddhi smye kaivalyam iti (III.56). These sutras have given us, in a concise manner, the principles of spiritual contemplation.
It has to be taken for granted that the conditions which are stated in earlier sutras as necessary for this practice are already acquired to an appreciable degree. In fact, everything that is of importance in the practice of yoga has been mentioned in the Samadhi Pada itself. That one pada is sufficient it is a complete statement of the entire process of yoga practice. The other sections are like an elaborate commentary on those instructions which are given in the Samadhi Pada. We have to recall to our minds, once again, what are these conditions. One of the main things mentioned in the Samadhi Pada were vairagya and abhyasa, and tivra samvegatva intense ardour of the aspiring spirit is required in order that success may become imminent.
1.09 - Kundalini Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
27. He who has Chitta-suddhi or Purity of heart will be benefited by the awakening of Kundalini Sakti.
28. He who is addicted to sensual pleasures, who is arrogant, proud, dishonest, untruthful, who disrespects the Guru, Sadhus and Saints can never attain success in Kundalini Yoga.
1.09 - Legend of Lakshmi, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
"I bow down to Śrī, the mother of all beings, seated on her lotus throne, with eyes like full-blown lotuses, reclining on the breast of Viṣṇu. Thou art Siddhi (superhuman power): thou art Swadhā and Svāhā: thou art ambrosia (Sudhā), the purifier of the universe: thou art evening, night, and dawn: thou art power, faith, intellect: thou art the goddess of letters (Sarasvatī). Thou, beautiful goddess, art knowledge of devotion, great knowledge, mystic knowledge, and spiritual knowledge[9]; which confers eternal liberation. Thou art the science of reasoning, the three Vedas, the arts and sciences[10]: thou art moral and political science. The world is peopled by thee with pleasing or displeasing forms. Who else than thou, oh goddess, is seated on that person of the god of gods, the wielder of the mace, which is made up of sacrifice, and contemplated by holy ascetics? Abandoned by thee, the three worlds were on the brink of ruin; but they have been reanimated by thee. From thy propitious gaze, oh mighty goddess, men obtain wives, children, dwellings, friends, harvests, wealth. Health and strength, power, victory, happiness, are easy of attainment to those upon whom thou smilest. Thou art the mother of all beings, as the god of gods, Hari, is their father; and this world, whether animate or inanimate, is pervaded by thee and Viṣṇu. Oh thou who purifiest all things, forsake not our treasures, our granaries, our dwellings, our dependants, our persons, our wives: abandon not our children, our friends, our lineage, our jewels, oh thou who abidest on the bosom of the god of gods. They whom thou desertest are forsaken by truth, by Purity, and goodness, by every amiable and excellent quality; whilst the base and worthless upon whom thou lookest favourably become immediately endowed with all excellent qualifications, with families, and with power. He on whom thy countenance is turned is honourable, amiable, prosperous, wise, and of exalted birth; a hero of irresistible prowess: but all his merits and his advantages are converted into worthlessness from whom, beloved of Viṣṇu, mother of the world, thou avertest thy face. The tongues of Brahmā, are unequal to celebrate thy excellence. Be propitious to me, oh goddess, lotus-eyed, and never forsake me more." Being thus praised, the gratified Śrī, abiding in all creatures, and heard by all beings, replied to the god of a hundred rites (Śatakratu); "I am pleased, monarch of the gods, by thine adoration. Demand from me what thou desirest: I have come to fulfil thy wishes." "If, goddess," replied Indra, "thou wilt grant my prayers; if I am worthy of thy bounty; be this my first request, that the three worlds may never again be deprived of thy presence. My second supplication, daughter of ocean, is, that thou wilt not forsake him who shall celebrate thy praises in the words I have addressed to thee." "I will not abandon," the goddess answered, "the three worlds again: this thy first boon is granted; for I am gratified by thy praises: and further, I will never turn my face away from that mortal who morning and evening shall repeat the hymn with which thou hast addressed me."
Parāśara proceeded:-
1.09 - Sleep and Death, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
its own transcriptions will tend unconsciously to interfere with and to distort the Purity of the experience. Without a knowledgeable guide to unravel this tangle, we must learn to remain as mentally silent as possible upon awakening, and to feel, intuitively, the meaning of these other languages; this occurs fairly rapidly as our consciousness develops and our experiences multiply. At first, it is like a jungle of a Chinese marketplace: everything looks the same. Then, over the months and years, one eventually makes out paths and faces, places and signs, and a more vivid proliferation than on earth.
But how to remember one's sleep? For most people it is a total blank a link is missing. There are in fact many links, or bridges, as the Mother puts it, as if we were made of a series of countries connected to one another by bridges. Thus, we may easily remember some parts of our being and their travels, while others are forgotten for lack of a bridge to the rest of our consciousness. When crossing this void, or untrained part of the consciousness, we forget (which generally happens to those who fall into "ecstasy," a subject we will return to). Usually, a sufficiently developed person travels through the whole range of planes of consciousness in his or her sleep and goes right to the supreme Light of the Spirit Sat-Chit-Ananda most often unconsciously, but those few minutes are the true sleep, true repose in the absolute relaxation of Joy and Light. Sri Aurobindo used to say that the real purpose of sleep is to return spontaneously to the Source and reimmerse oneself in it. From there we come down slowly through each plane the Mind, Vital, Subtle Physical, and Subconscient (the last one is remembered the most easily) where each part of our being has its own corresponding experiences. There are also many zones within each plane, each with its own particular bridge. The major difficulty is in building the first bridge, the connection with the external waking consciousness. The one and only way to do this is to remain perfectly motionless and silent upon awakening. If we turn over or move, everything vanishes or, rather,
1.1.01 - The Divine and Its Aspects, #Letters On Yoga I, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
When one follows after the impersonal Self, one is moving between two opposite principles - the silence and Purity of the impersonal inactive Atman and the activity of the ignorant Prakriti. One can pass into the Self, leaving the ignorant Nature or reducing it to silence. Or else, one can live in the peace and freedom of the Self and watch the action of Nature as a witness.
Even one may put some sattwic control, by tapasya, over the action of the Prakriti; but the impersonal Self has no power to change or divinise the Nature. For that one has to go beyond the impersonal Self and seek after the Divine who is both personal and impersonal and beyond these two aspects. If, however, you practise living in the impersonal Self and can achieve a certain spiritual impersonality, then you grow in equality, Purity, peace, detachment, you get the power of living in an inner freedom not touched by the surface movement or struggle of the mental, vital and physical nature, and this becomes a great help when you have to go beyond the impersonal and to change the troubled nature also into something divine.
The Divine and the Atman
1.1.02 - The Aim of the Integral Yoga, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Spiritual perfection and fulfilment means that the nature should be spiritualised, new-formed in the consciousness of the free Self and the divine consciousness of infinity, Purity, light, power, bliss and knowledge.
In the Brahmanic condition one feels the self to be untouched and pure - but the nature remains imperfect. The ordinary Sannyasin does not care about that, because it is not his object to perfect the nature, but to separate himself from it.
11.02 - The Golden Life-line, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The Upanishad speaks of the creation as a garl and and all the elements of life that are like precious jewelsare strung upon a secret thread. Indeed, it is not on nothing that this multiplicity which is the creation is standing and holding together. There is however a twofold secret threadone that binds together a world of ignorance: that is the thread of ignorance which passes through, even keeps alive as it were, all the expressions and embodiments of the ignorance, pain and suffering, greed and hunger, egoism and selfishness and all forms of what is called evil. But it is the apparent world; even so, it is not pure delusion: it is a make-believe or falsehood which keeps behind it the true, the real world. That world lies behind the mask, the present actual world; it is another world of light and truth, power and delight and Purity. There the link that binds together the succession of events and realities is a golden thread of pure consciousness. The link of ignorance is, one may say, the iron link, and is open to rust and decay inevitably. It is the link that binds together the ordinary life of ignorance, that pulls always backward, clings to all that has gone by, seeks to extend the past into the present and the future, feels unhappy if that is disturbed.
In a new and higher life we are asked to discard that link and come out of it, to discover the other inner link, the link of light. That turns always to the future, directs all impulses and activities towards the realities that are to be.
11.08 - Body-Energy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The body-movements in the animal are more au thentic and truthful for they are not subsidised and suborned by the vital and mental injunctions, and they are more ordered and controlled, not subject to idiosyncrasies that sway the human character. They are more free and more natural: the same essential freedom and au thenticity and Purity shall belong to the body natural of the highest mode of being and consciousness.
However, in this age, at the present time the human body is inevitably moving towards such a consummationtowards freedom and buoyancy and radiancy, a new valency, a new self-law. The individual efforts are more than supplemented by a Grace that is at work in a supreme effective manner: for this is the hour of God"when even a little effort produces great results and changes destiny."
1.10 - Aesthetic and Ethical Culture, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Neither the ethical being nor the aesthetic being is the whole man, nor can either be his sovereign principle; they are merely two powerful elements. Ethical conduct is not the whole of life; even to say that it is three-fourths of life is to indulge in a very doubtful mathematics. We cannot assign to it its position in any such definite language, but can at best say that its kernel of will, character and self-discipline are almost the first condition for human self-perfection. The aesthetic sense is equally indispensable, for without that the self-perfection of the mental being cannot arrive at its object, which is on the mental plane the right and harmonious possession and enjoyment of the truth, power, beauty and delight of human existence. But neither can be the highest principle of the human order. We can combine them; we can enlarge the sense of ethics by the sense of beauty and delight and introduce into it to correct its tendency of hardness and austerity the element of gentleness, love, amenity, the hedonistic side of morals; we can steady, guide and streng then the delight of life by the introduction of the necessary will and austerity and self-discipline which will give it endurance and Purity. These two powers of our psychological being, which represent in us the essential principle of energy and the essential principle of delight,the Indian terms are more profound and expressive, Tapas and Ananda,2can be thus helped by each other, the one to a richer, the other to a greater self-expression. But that even this much reconciliation may come about they must be taken up and enlightened by a higher principle which must be capable of understanding and comprehending both equally and of disengaging and combining disinterestedly their purposes and potentialities. That higher principle seems to be provided for us by the human faculty of reason and intelligent will. Our crowning capacity, it would seem to be by right the crowned sovereign of our nature.
The epithet is needed, for European Christianity has been something different, even at its best of another temperament, Latinised, Graecised, Celticised or else only a rough Teutonic imitation of the old-world Hebraism.
1.10 - Concentration - Its Practice, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
Now we shall understand the aphorism that the states of the qualities are defined, undefined, indicated only, and signess. By the "defined" are meant the gross elements, which we can sense. By the "undefined" are meant the very fine materials, the Tanmatras, which cannot be sensed by ordinary men. If you practise Yoga, however, says Patanjali, after a while your perceptions will become so fine that you will actually see the Tanmatras. For instance, you have heard how every man has a certain light about him; every living being emits a certain light, and this, he says, can be seen by the Yogi. We do not all see it, but we all throw out these Tanmatras, just as a flower continuously sends out fine particles which enable us to smell it. Every day of our lives we throw out a mass of good or evil, and everywhere we go the atmosphere is full of these materials. That is how there came to the human mind, unconsciously, the idea of building temples and churches. Why should man build churches in which to worship God? Why not worship Him anywhere? Even if he did not know the reason, man found that the place where people worshipped God became full of good Tanmatras. Every day people go there, and the more they go the holier they get, and the holier that place becomes. If any man who has not much Sattva in him goes there, the place will influence him and arouse his Sattva quality. Here, therefore, is the significance of all temples and holy places, but you must remember that their holiness depends on holy people congregating there. The difficulty with man is that he forgets the original meaning, and puts the cart before the horse. It was men who made these places holy, and then the effect became the cause and made men holy. If the wicked only were to go there, it would become as bad as any other place. It is not the building, but the people that make a church, and that is what we always forget. That is why sages and holy persons, who have much of this Sattva quality, can send it out and exert a tremendous influence day and night on their surroundings. A man may become so pure that his Purity will become tangible. Whosoever comes in contact with him becomes pure.
Next "the indicated only" means the Buddhi, the intellect. "The indicated only" is the first manifestation of nature; from it all other manifestations proceed. The last is "the signless". There seems to be a great difference between modern science and all religions at this point. Every religion has the idea that the universe comes out of intelligence. The theory of God, taking it in its psychological significance, apart from all ideas of personality, is that intelligence is first in the order of creation, and that out of intelligence comes what we call gross matter. Modern philosophers say that intelligence is the last to come. They say that unintelligent things slowly evolve into animals, and from animals into men. They claim that instead of everything coming out of intelligence, intelligence itself is the last to come. Both the religious and the scientific statements, though seeming directly opposed to each other are true. Take an infinite series, ABAB AB. etc. The question is which is first, A or B? If you take the series as AB. you will say that A is first, but if you take it as BA, you will say that B is first. It depends upon the way we look at it. Intelligence undergoes modification and becomes the gross matter, this again merges into intelligence, and thus the process goes on. The Sankhyas, and other religionists, put intelligence first, and the series becomes intelligence, then matter. The scientific man puts his finger on matter, and says matter, then intelligence. They both indicate the same chain. Indian philosophy, however, goes beyond both intelligence and matter, and finds a Purusha, or Self, which is beyond intelligence, of which intelligence is but the borrowed light.
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External purification is keeping the body pure; a dirty man will never be a Yogi. There must be internal purification also. That is obtained by the virtues named in I.33. Of course, internal Purity is of greater value than external, but both are necessary, and external Purity, without internal, is of no good.
33. To obstruct thoughts which are inimical to Yoga, contrary thoughts should be brought.
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When there is real purification of the body, external and internal, there arises neglect of the body, and the idea of keeping it nice vanishes. A face which others call most beautiful will appear to the Yogi as merely animal, if there is not intelligence behind it. What the world calls a very common face he regards as heavenly, if the spirit shines behind it. This thirst after body is the great bane of human life. So the first sign of the establishment of Purity is that you do not care to think you are a body. It is only when Purity comes that we get rid of the body idea.
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1.10 - Mantra Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
3. A Mantra is Divinity, Mantra and its presiding Devata are one. The Mantra itself is Devata. Mantra is divine power, Daivi Sakti, manifesting in a sound-body. Constant repetition of the Mantra with faith, devotion and Purity augments the Sakti or power of the aspirant, purifies and awakens the Mantra Chaitanya latent in the Mantra and bestows on the Sadhaka Mantra Siddhi, illumination, freedom, peace, eternal bliss, immortality.
4. By constant repetition of the Mantra the Sadhaka imbibes the virtues and powers of the Deity that presides over the Mantra. Repetition of Surya Mantra bestows health, long life, vigour, vitality, Tejas or brilliance. It removes all diseases of the body and the diseases of the eye. No enemy can do any harm. Repetition of Aditya-hridayam in the early morning is highly beneficial. Lord Rama conquered Ravana through the repetition of Aditya-hridayam imparted by Agastya Rishi.
1.10 - On slander or calumny., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
I have seen some committing the gravest sins in secret and without exposure, and in their supposed Purity they have harshly inveighed against persons who have had a petty fall in public.
To judge others is a shameless arrogation of the Divine prerogative; to condemn is the ruin of ones soul.
1.10 - The Magical Garment, #The Practice of Magical Evocation, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
This is to be treated in the same manner as the cap or magusband. The magical gament is a long robe made of silk, buttoned from the neck to the toes. The sleeves of the robe end at the wrists. The robe looks like the vestment of a clergyman and symbolizes the absolute Purity of all ideas, and the Purity of the magician's soul. It is also the symbol of protection. Just as a common garment protects a man's physical body from outside influences, rain, cold etc. so the magical garment of the magician shelters him from outside influences which may attact his body through its astral or mental matrix. As already mentioned several times, silk is the best insulating material against any astral or mental influences. A robe made of silk is therefore an excellent means of in61 sulation and may also be successfully used for other operations not directly connected with ritual magic; for instance, protection of the astral or physical body when projecting the mental or astral body so that no being can take possession of the magician's astral or physical body without his approval. A magic robe may also be successfully used for similar operations for which the insulation of the mental, astral and physical body is necessary. It is, however, up to the magician which possible variations he wants to make use of. Under no circumstances may the magician use a garment for ritual magic or evocations which has been used for common purposes such as, for example, training, or current magical operations. A special robe must be taken for this special kind of magic, and its colour must suit the purpose. Here I should point out that for common mental and astral operations or experiments, the insulating garment may be put on top of any other clothes; for evocations and ritual magic; however, the magical garment is to be worn over the naked body. The magician may, however, in cold weather, put on a shirt or pants made of pure silk und put the robe over them, but the pants or shirt must be of the same colour as the robe. The magician may use house-shoes of the same colour as the robe. The soles of the shoes can be made of leather or rubber.
The colour of the robe corresponds to the work, idea and purpose the magician wishes to carry out. He may choose one of the three universal colours: white, violet or black. Violet is equivalent to the Akasha-colour and may be used for nearly all magical operations. White is chosen for the robe only, when dealing with high and good beings. Black is the appropriate colour for negative powers and beings. The magician is able to carry out almost all ritual operations with these colours. If he can afford the expense, he can have three robes made, one of each colour. A wealthy magician may choose, for his robes, colours analogous to the individual spheres of the planets he works with. Thus he will take for:
1.10 - The Methods and the Means, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
In regard to the method and the means of Bhakti-Yoga we read in the commentary of Bhagavan Ramanuja on the Vedanta-Sutras: "The attaining of That comes through discrimination, controlling the passions, practice, sacrificial work, Purity, strength, and suppression of excessive joy." Viveka or discrimination is, according to Ramanuja, discriminating, among other things, the pure food from the impure. According to him, food becomes impure from three causes: (1) by the nature of the food itself, as in the case of garlic etc.; (2) owing to its coming from wicked and accursed persons; and (3) from physical impurities, such as dirt, or hair, etc. The Shrutis say, When the food is pure, the Sattva element gets purified, and the memory becomes unwavering", and Ramanuja quotes this from the Chhndogya Upanishad.
The question of food has always been one of the most vital with the Bhaktas. Apart from the extravagance into which some of the Bhakti sects have run, there is a great truth underlying this question of food. We must remember that, according to the Sankhya philosophy, the Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, which in the state of homogeneous equilibrium form the Prakriti, and in the heterogeneous disturbed condition form the universe are both the substance and the quality of Prakriti. As such they are the materials out of which every human form has been manufactured, and the predominance of the Sattva material is what is absolutely necessary for spiritual development. The materials which we receive through our food into our body-structure go a great way to determine our mental constitution; therefore the food we eat has to be particularly taken care of. However, in this matter, as in others, the fanaticism into which the disciples invariably fall is not to be laid at the door of the masters.
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Cleansing the external body and discriminating the food are both easy, but without internal cleanliness and Purity, these external observances are of no value whatsoever. In the list of qualities conducive to Purity, as given by Ramanuja, there are enumerated, Satya, truthfulness; rjava, sincerity; Day, doing good to others without any gain to one's self; Ahims, not injuring others by thought, word, or deed; Anabhidhy, not coveting others' goods, not thinking vain thoughts, and not brooding over injuries received from another. In this list, the one idea that deserves special notice is Ahimsa, non-injury to others. This duty of non-injury is, so to speak, obligatory on us in relation to all beings. As with some, it does not simply mean the non-injuring of human beings and mercilessness towards the lower animals; nor, as with some others, does it mean the protecting of cats and dogs and feeding of ants with sugar with liberty to injure brother-man in every horrible way! It is remarkable that almost every good idea in this world can be carried to a disgusting extreme. A good practice carried to an extreme and worked in accordance with the letter of the law becomes a positive evil. The stinking monks of certain religious sects, who do not ba the lest the vermin on their bodies should be killed, never think of the discomfort and disease they bring to their fellow human beings. They do not, however, belong to the religion of the Vedas!
The test of Ahimsa is absence of jealousy. Any man may do a good deed or make a good gift on the spur of the moment or under the pressure of some superstition or priestcraft; but the real lover of mankind is he who is jealous of none. The so-called great men of the world may all be seen to become jealous of each other for a small name, for a little fame, and for a few bits of gold. So long as this jealousy exists in a heart, it is far away from the perfection of Ahimsa. The cow does not eat meat, nor does the sheep. Are they great Yogis, great non-injurers (Ahimsakas)? Any fool may abstain from eating this or that; surely that gives him no more distinction than to herbivorous animals. The man who will mercilessly cheat widows and orphans and do the vilest deeds for money is worse than any brute even if he lives entirely on grass. The man whose heart never cherishes even the thought of injury to any one, who rejoices at the prosperity of even his greatest enemy, that man is the Bhakta, he is the Yogi, he is the Guru of all, even though he lives every day of his life on the flesh of swine. Therefore we must always remember that external practices have value only as helps to develop internal Purity. It is better to have internal Purity alone when minute attention to external observances is not practicable.
But woe unto the man and woe unto the nation that forgets the real, internal, spiritual essentials of religion and mechanically clutches with death-like grasp at all external forms and never lets them go.
1.10 - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The substance of modern philological discovery about the Vedas consists, first, in the picture of an Aryan civilisation introduced by northern invaders and, secondly, in the interpretation of the Vedic religion as a worship of Nature-powers & Vedic myths as allegorical legends of sun & moon & star & the visible phenomena of Nature. The latter generalisation rests partly on new philological renderings of Vedic words, partly on the Science of Comparative Mythology. The method of this Science can be judged from one or two examples. The Greek story of the demigod Heracles is supposed to be an evident sun myth. The two scientific proofs offered for this discovery are first that Hercules performed twelve labours and the solar year is divided into twelve months and, secondly, that Hercules burnt himself on a pyre on Mount Oeta and the sun also sets in a glory of flame behind the mountains. Such proofs seem hardly substantial enough for so strong a conclusion. By the same reasoning one could prove the emperor Napoleon a sun myth, because he was beaten & shorn of his glory by the forces of winter and because his brilliant career set in the western ocean and he passed there a long night of captivity. With the same light confidence the siege of Troy is turned by the scholars into a sun myth because the name of the Greek Helena, sister of the two Greek Aswins, Castor & Pollux, is philologically identical with the Vedic Sarama and that of her abductor Paris is not so very different from the Vedic Pani. It may be noted that in the Vedic story Sarama is not the sister of the Aswins and is not abducted by the Panis and that there is no other resemblance between the Vedic legend & the Greek tradition. So by more recent speculation even Yudhishthira and his brothers and the famous dog of theMahabharat are raised into the skies & vanish in a starry apotheosis,one knows not well upon what grounds except that sometimes the Dog Star rages in heaven. It is evident that these combinations are merely an ingenious play of fancy & prove absolutely nothing. Hercules may be the Sun but it is not proved. Helen & Paris may be Sarama & one of the Panis, but itis not proved. Yudhishthira & his brothers may be an astronomical myth, but it is not proved. For the rest, the unsubstantiality & rash presumption of the Sun myth theory has not failed to give rise in Europe to a hostile school of Comparative Mythologists who adopt other methods & seek the origins of early religious legend & tradition in a more careful and flexible study of the mentality, customs, traditions & symbolisms of primitive races. The theory of Vedic Nature-worship is better founded than these astronomical fancies. Agni is plainly the God of Fire, Surya of the Sun, Usha of the Dawn, Vayu of the Wind; Indra for Sayana is obviously the god of rain; Varuna seems to be the sky, the Greek Ouranos,et cetera. But when we have accepted these identities, the question of Vedic interpretation & the sense of Vedic worship is not settled. In the Greek religion Apollo was the god of the sun, but he was also the god of poetry & prophecy; Athene is identified with Ahana, a Vedic name of the Dawn, but for the Greeks she is the goddess of Purity & wisdom; Artemis is the divinity of the moon, but also the goddess of free life & of chastity. It is therefore evident that in early Greek religion, previous to the historic or even the literary period, at an epoch therefore that might conceivably correspond with the Vedic period, many of the deities of the Greek heavens had a double character, the aspect of physical Nature-powers and the aspect of moral Nature-powers. The indications, therefore,for they are not proofs,even of Comparative Mythology would justify us in inquiring whether a similar double character did not attach to the Vedic gods in the Vedic hymns.
The real basis of both the Aryan theory of Vedic civilisation and the astronomical theory of Aryan myth is the new interpretation given to a host of Vedic vocables by the comparative philologists. The Aryan theory rests on the ingenious assumption that anarya, dasyu or dasa in the Veda refer to the unfortunate indigenous races who by a familiar modern device were dubbed robbers & dacoits because they were guilty of defending their country against the invaders & Arya is a national term for the invaders who called themselves, according to Max Muller, the Ploughmen, and according to others, the Noble Race. The elaborate picture of an early culture & history that accompanies and supports this theory rests equally on new interpretations of Vedic words and riks in which with the progress of scholarship the authority of Sayana and Yaska has been more & more set at nought and discredited. My contention is that anarya, dasa and dasyu do not for a moment refer to the Dravidian races,I am, indeed, disposed to doubt whether there was ever any such entity in India as a separate Aryan or a separate Dravidian race,but always to Vritra, Vala & the Panis and other, primarily non-human, opponents of the gods and their worshippers. The new interpretations given to Vedic words & riks seem to me sometimes right & well grounded, often arbitrary & unfounded, but always conjectural. The whole European theory & European interpretation of the Vedas may be [not] unjustly described as a huge conjectural & uncertain generalisation built on an inadequate & shifting mass of conjectural particulars.
1.10 - The Yoga of the Intelligent Will, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
For evidently there are two possibilities of the action of the intelligent will. It may take its downward and outward orientation towards a discursive action of the perceptions and the will in the triple play of Prakriti, or it may take its upward and inward orientation towards a settled peace and equality in the calm and immutable Purity of the conscious silent soul no longer subject to the distractions of Nature. In the former alternative the subjective being is at the mercy of the objects of sense, it lives in the outward contact of things. That life is the life of desire. For the senses excited by their objects create a restless or often violent disturbance, a strong or even headlong outward movement towards the seizure of these objects and their enjoyment, and they carry away the sense-mind, "as the winds carry away a ship upon the sea"; the mind subjected to the emotions, passions, longings, impulsions awakened by this outward movement of the senses carries away similarly the intelligent will, which loses therefore its power of calm discrimination and mastery. Subjection of the soul to the confused play
The Yoga of the Intelligent Will
11.15 - Sri Aurobindo, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The individual can be and is to be fulfilled in and through his soul the presiding consciousness that has at its disposal the mind, the vital and the body as its instruments and means of expression, but which till now, because of an evolutionary necessity of growth and development, acted more as an obstruction or a veil than as an aid or a channel. When in the new consciousness the individual attains its soul-status, in other words, its divinity, then a reshaping and recasting of the lower limbs becomes possible and even inevitable. The soul-status means freedom, harmony, Purity, knowledge, power, delight and immortality, absolute and inalienable.
As individuals grow in this line, the social structure too is altered and transmuted. The harmony and fullness that individuals present are automatically represented in the collective grouping. Instead of a battling competitive society we have not merely a cooperative but a unitive community striving in a common aspiration towards a single unique achievement. For all individuals know and feel that they are but various limbs of the same organism, luminously and unfailingly functioning each in its and for its own appointmentexpressing differently the one Light supreme.
1.11 - Delight of Existence - The Problem, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
9:Half of the moral difficulty - that difficulty in its one unanswerable form disappears. It no longer arises, can no longer be put. Cruelty to others, I remaining immune or even participating in their sufferings by subsequent repentance or belated pity, is one thing; self-infliction of suffering, I being the sole existence, is quite another. Still the ethical difficulty may be brought back in a modified form; All-Delight being necessarily all-good and alllove, how can evil and suffering exist in Sachchidananda, since he is not mechanical existence, but free and conscious being, free to condemn and reject evil and suffering? We have to recognise that the issue so stated is also a false issue because it applies the terms of a partial statement as if they were applicable to the whole. For the ideas of good and of love which we thus bring into the concept of the All-Delight spring from a dualistic and divisional conception of things; they are based entirely on the relations between creature and creature, yet we persist in applying them to a problem which starts, on the contrary, from the assumption of One who is all. We have to see first how the problem appears or how it can be solved in its original Purity, on the basis of unity in difference; only then can we safely deal with its parts and its developments, such as the relations between creature and creature on the basis of division and duality.
10:We have to recognise, if we thus view the whole, not limiting ourselves to the human difficulty and the human standpoint, that we do not live in an ethical world. The attempt of human thought to force an ethical meaning into the whole of Nature is one of those acts of wilful and obstinate self-confusion, one of those pathetic attempts of the human being to read himself, his limited habitual human self into all things and judge them from the standpoint he has personally evolved, which most effectively prevent him from arriving at real knowledge and complete sight. Material Nature is not ethical; the law which governs it is a co-ordination of fixed habits which take no cognisance of good and evil, but only of force that creates, force that arranges and preserves, force that disturbs and destroys impartially, nonethically, according to the secret Will in it, according to the mute satisfaction of that Will in its own self-formations and self-dissolutions. Animal or vital Nature is also non-ethical, although as it progresses it manifests the crude material out of which the higher animal evolves the ethical impulse. We do not blame the tiger because it slays and devours its prey any more than we blame the storm because it destroys or the fire because it tortures and kills; neither does the conscious-force in the storm, the fire or the tiger blame or condemn itself. Blame and condemnation, or rather self-blame and self-condemnation, are the beginning of true ethics. When we blame others without applying the same law to ourselves, we are not speaking with a true ethical judgment, but only applying the language ethics has evolved for us to an emotional impulse of recoil from or dislike of that which displeases or hurts us.
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16:We must first make it clear to ourselves that just as when we speak of universal consciousness we mean something different from, more essential and wider than the waking mental consciousness of the human being, so also when we speak of universal delight of existence we mean something different from, more essential and wider than the ordinary emotional and sensational pleasure of the individual human creature. Pleasure, joy and delight, as man uses the words, are limited and occasional movements which depend on certain habitual causes and emerge, like their opposites pain and grief which are equally limited and occasional movements, from a background other than themselves. Delight of being is universal, illimitable and self-existent, not dependent on particular causes, the background of all backgrounds, from which pleasure, pain and other more neutral experiences emerge. When delight of being seeks to realise itself as delight of becoming, it moves in the movement of force and itself takes different forms of movement of which pleasure and pain are positive and negative currents. Subconscient in Matter, superconscient beyond Mind this delight seeks in Mind and Life to realise itself by emergence in the becoming, in the increasing self-consciousness of the movement. Its first phenomena are dual and impure, move between the poles of pleasure and pain, but it aims at its self-revelation in the Purity of a supreme delight of being which is self-existent and independent of objects and causes. Just as Sachchidananda moves towards the realisation of the universal existence in the individual and of the form-exceeding consciousness in the form of body and mind, so it moves towards the realisation of universal, self-existent and objectless delight in the flux of particular experiences and objects. Those objects we now seek as stimulating causes of a transient pleasure and satisfaction; free, possessed of self, we shall not seek but shall possess them as reflectors rather than causes of a delight which eternally exists.
17:In the egoistic human being, the mental person emergent out of the dim shell of matter, delight of existence is neutral, semilatent, still in the shadow of the subconscious, hardly more than a concealed soil of plenty covered by desire with a luxuriant growth of poisonous weeds and hardly less poisonous flowers, the pains and pleasures of our egoistic existence. When the divine conscious-force working secretly in us has devoured these growths of desire, when in the image of the Rig Veda the fire of God has burnt up the shoots of earth, that which is concealed at the roots of these pains and pleasures, their cause and secret being, the sap of delight in them, will emerge in new forms not of desire, but of self-existent satisfaction which will replace mortal pleasure by the Immortal's ecstasy. And this transformation is possible because these growths of sensation and emotion are in their essential being, the pains no less than the pleasures, that delight of existence which they seek but fail to reveal, - fail because of division, ignorance of self and egoism.
1.11 - Higher Laws, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
We are conscious of an animal in us, which awakens in proportion as our higher nature slumbers. It is reptile and sensual, and perhaps cannot be wholly expelled; like the worms which, even in life and health, occupy our bodies. Possibly we may withdraw from it, but never change its nature. I fear that it may enjoy a certain health of its own; that we may be well, yet not pure. The other day I picked up the lower jaw of a hog, with white and sound teeth and tusks, which suggested that there was an animal health and vigor distinct from the spiritual. This creature succeeded by other means than temperance and Purity. That in which men differ from brute beasts, says Mencius, is a thing very inconsiderable; the common herd lose it very soon; superior men preserve it carefully. Who knows what sort of life would result if we had attained to Purity? If I knew so wise a man as could teach me Purity I would go to seek him forthwith. A comm and over our passions, and over the external senses of the body, and good acts, are declared by the Ved to be indispensable in the minds approximation to God. Yet the spirit can for the time pervade and control every member and function of the body, and transmute what in form is the grossest sensuality into Purity and devotion. The generative energy, which, when we are loose, dissipates and makes us unclean, when we are continent invigorates and inspires us. Chastity is the flowering of man; and what are called Genius, Heroism, Holiness, and the like, are but various fruits which succeed it. Man flows at once to God when the channel of Purity is open. By turns our Purity inspires and our im Purity casts us down. He is blessed who is assured that the animal is dying out in him day by day, and the divine being established. Perhaps there is none but has cause for shame on account of the inferior and brutish nature to which he is allied. I fear that we are such gods or demigods only as fauns and satyrs, the divine allied to beasts, the creatures of appetite, and that, to some extent, our very life is our disgrace.
How happys he who hath due place assigned
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All sensuality is one, though it takes many forms; all Purity is one.
It is the same whether a man eat, or drink, or cohabit, or sleep sensually. They are but one appetite, and we only need to see a person do any one of these things to know how great a sensualist he is. The impure can neither stand nor sit with Purity. When the reptile is attacked at one mouth of his burrow, he shows himself at another. If you would be chaste, you must be temperate. What is chastity? How shall a man know if he is chaste? He shall not know it. We have heard of this virtue, but we know not what it is. We speak conformably to the rumor which we have heard. From exertion come wisdom and Purity; from sloth ignorance and sensuality. In the student sensuality is a sluggish habit of mind. An unclean person is universally a slothful one, one who sits by a stove, whom the sun shines on prostrate, who reposes without being fatigued. If you would avoid uncleanness, and all the sins, work earnestly, though it be at cleaning a stable. Nature is hard to be overcome, but she must be overcome. What avails it that you are
Christian, if you are not purer than the hea then, if you deny yourself no more, if you are not more religious? I know of many systems of religion esteemed hea thenish whose precepts fill the reader with shame, and provoke him to new endeavors, though it be to the performance of rites merely.
1.11 - Powers, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
All these can come without any Samyama to the man who has the power of Pratibha (spontaneous enlightenment from Purity). When a man has risen to a high state of Pratibha, he has that great light. All things are apparent to him. Everything comes to him naturally without making Samyama.
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56. By the similarity of Purity between the Sattva and the Purusha comes Kaivalya.
When the soul realises that it depends on nothing in the universe, from gods to the lowest atom, that is called Kaivalya (isolation) and perfection. It is attained when this mixture of Purity and im Purity called Sattva (intellect) has been made as pure as the Purusha itself; then the Sattva reflects only the unqualified essence of Purity, which is the Purusha.
^The distinction among the three kinds of concentration mentioned in aphorisms 9, 11 and 12 is as follows: In the first, the disturbed impressions are merely held back, but not altogether obliterated by the impressions of control which just come in; in the second, the former are completely suppressed by the latter which stand in bold relief, while in the third, which is the highest, there is no question of suppressing, but only similar impressions succeed each other in a stream. Ed.
1.11 - The Influence of the Sexes on Vegetation, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
moral Purity, which is so intimately associated in their minds with
the observance of such a rule, furnishes a sufficient explanation of
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aspiration after moral Purity, but for the sake of some ulterior yet
perfectly definite and concrete object, to gain which he is prepared
1.11 - The Kalki Avatar, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
tion with an era of Purity or Krita Yuga. The four yugas
will then proceed in the same order once again, with simi-
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vate the creation with an era of Purity, a Krita Yuga. The
four Yugas will then proceed in the same order once again,
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race which shall follow: the Krita Aga or Age of Purity. 65
Sri Aurobindo has closely related the Kalki Avatar
1.11 - The Master of the Work, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Our nature is not only mistaken in will and ignorant in knowledge but weak in power; but the Divine Force is there and will lead us if we trust in it and will use our deficiencies and our powers for the divine purpose. If we fail in our immediate aim, it is because he has intended the failure; often our failure or ill-result is the right road to a truer issue than an immediate and complete success would have put in our reach. If we suffer, it is because something in us has to be prepared for a rarer possibility of delight. If we stumble, it is to learn in the end the secret of a more perfect walking. Let us not be in too furious a haste to acquire even peace, Purity and perfection. Peace must be ours, but not the peace of an empty or devastated nature or of slam or mutilated capacities incapable of unrest because we have made them incapable of intensity and fire and force. Purity must be our aim, but not the Purity of a void or of a bleak and rigid coldness. Perfection is demanded of us, but not the perfection that can exist only by confining its scope within narrow limits or putting an arbitrary full stop to the ever self-extending scroll of the Infinite. Our object is to change into the divine nature, but the divine nature is not a mental or moral but a spiritual condition, difficult to achieve, difficult even to conceive by our intelligence. The Master of our work and our Yoga knows the thing to be done, and we must allow him to do it in us by his own means and in his own manner.
The movement of the Ignorance is egoistic at its core and nothing is more difficult for us than to get rid of egoism while yet we admit personality and adhere to action in the half-light and half-force of our unfinished nature. It is easier to starve the ego by renouncing the impulse to act or to kill it by cutting away from us all movement of personality. It is easier to exalt it into self-forgetfulness immersed in a trance of peace or an ecstasy of divine Love. But our more difficult problem is to liberate the true Person and attain to a divine manhood which shall be the pure vessel of a divine force and the perfect instrument of a divine action. Step after step has to be firmly taken; difficulty after difficulty has to be entirely experienced and entirely mastered. Only the Divine Wisdom and Power can do this for us and it will do all if we yield to it in an entire faith and follow and assent to its workings with a constant courage and patience.
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There are gradations in this last integralising movement; for it cannot be done at once or without long approaches that bring it progressively nearer and make it at last possible. The first attitude to be taken is to cease to regard ourselves as the worker and firmly to realise that we are only one instrument of the cosmic Force. At first it is not the one Force but many cosmic forces that seem to move us; but these may be turned into feeders of the ego and this vision liberates the mind but not the rest of the nature. Even when we become aware of all as the working of one cosmic Force and of the Divine behind it, that too need not liberate. If the egoism of the worker disappears, the egoism of the instrument may replace it or else prolong it in a disguise. The life of the world has been full of instances of egoism of this kind and it can be more engrossing and enormous than any other; there is the same danger in Yoga. A man becomes a leader of men or eminent in a large or lesser circle and feels himself full of a power that he knows to be beyond his own ego-Force; he may be aware of a Fate acting through him or a Will mysterious and unfathomable or a Light within of great brilliance. There are extraordinary results of his thoughts, his actions or his creative genius. He effects some tremendous destruction that clears the path for humanity or some great construction that becomes its momentary resting-place. He is a scourge or he is a bringer of light and healing, a creator of beauty or a messenger of knowledge. Or, if his work and its effects are on a lesser scale and have a limited field, still they are attended by the strong sense that he is an instrument and chosen for his mission or his labour. Men who have this destiny and these powers come easily to believe and declare themselves to be mere instruments in the hand of God or of Fate: but even in tile declaration we can see that there can intrude or take refuge an intenser and more exaggerated egoism than ordinary men have the courage to assert or the strength to house within them. And often if men of this kind speak of God, it is to erect all image of him which is really nothing but a huge shadow of themselves or their own nature, a sustaining Deific Essence of their own type of will and thought and quality and force. This magnified image of their ego is the Master whom they serve. This happens only too often in Yoga to strong but crude vital natures or minds too easily exalted when they allow ambition, pride or the desire of greatness to enter into their spiritual seeking and vitiate its Purity of motive; a magnified ego stands between them and their true being and grasps for its own personal purpose the strength from a greater unseen Power, divine or undivine, acting through them of which they become vaguely or intensely aware. An intellectual perception or vital sense of a Force greater than ours and of ourselves as moved by it is not sufficient to liberate from the ego.
This perception, this sense of a greater Power in us or above and moving us, is not a hallucination or a megalomania. Those who thus feel and see have a larger sight than ordinary men and have advanced a step beyond the limited physical intelligence, but theirs is riot the plenary vision or the direct experience. For, because they are not clear in mind and aware in the soul, because their awakening is more in the vital parts than into the spiritual substance of Self, they cannot be the conscious instruments of the Divine or come face to face with the Master, but are used through their fallible arid imperfect nature. The most they see of the Divinity is a Fate or a cosmic Force or else they give his name to a limited Godhead or, worse, to a titanic or demoniac Power that veils him. Even certain religious founders have erected the image of the God of a sect or a national God or a Power of terror and punishment or a Numen of sattwic love and mercy and virtue and seem not to have seen the One and Eternal. The Divine accepts the image they make of him and does his work in them through that medium, but, since the one Force is felt and acts in their imperfect nature but more intensely than in others, the motive principle of egoism too can be more intense in them than in others. An exalted rajasic or sattwic ego still holds them and stands between them and the integral Truth. Even this is something, a beginning, although far from the true and perfect experience. A much worse thing may befall those who break something of the human bonds but have not Purity and have not -- the knowledge, for they may become instruments, but not of the Divine; too often, using his name, they serve unconsciously his masks and black Contraries, the Powers of Darkness. Our nature must house the cosmic Force but not in its lower aspect or in its rajasic or sattwic movement; it must serve the universal Will, but in the light of a greater liberating knowledge. There must be no egoism of any kind in the attitude of the instrument, even when we are fully conscious of the greatness of the Force within us. Every man is knowingly or unknowingly the instrument of a universal Power and, apart from the inner Presence, there is no such essential difference between one action and another, one kind of instrumentation and another as would warrant the folly of an egoistic pride. The difference between knowledge and ignorance is a grace of the Spirit; the breath of divine Power blows where it lists and fills today one and tomorrow another with the word or the puissance. If the potter shapes one pot more perfectly than another, the merit lies not in the vessel but the maker. The attitude of our mind must not be "This is my strength" or "Behold God's power in me", but rather "A Divine Power works in this mind and body and it is the same that works in all men and in the animal, in the plant and in the metal, in conscious and living things and in things appearing to be inconscient arid inanimate." This large view of the One working in all and of the whole world as the equal instrument of a divine action and gradual self-expression, if it becomes our entire experience, will help to eliminate all rajasic egoism out of us and even the sattwic ego-sense will begin to pass away from our nature.
The elimination of this form of ego leads straight towards the true instrumental action which Is the essence of a perfect Karmayoga. For while we cherish the instrumental ego, we may pretend to ourselves that we are conscious instruments of the Divine, but in reality we are trying to make of the Divine shakti an instrument of our own desires or our egoistic purpose. And even if the ego is subjected but not eliminated, we may indeed be engines of the divine Work, but we shall be imperfect tools and deflect or impair the working by our mental errors, our vital distortions or the obstinate incapacities of our physical nature. If this ego disappears, then we can truly become, not only pure instruments consciously consenting to every turn of the divine Hand that moves us, but aware of our true nature, conscious portions of the one Eternal and Infinite put out in herself for her works by the supreme shakti.
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Not only liberation but perfection must be the aim of the Karmayoga. The Divine works through our nature and according to our nature; if our nature is imperfect, the work also will be imperfect, mixed, inadequate. Even it may be marred by gross errors, falsehoods, moral weaknesses, diverting influences. The work of the Divine will be done in us even then, but according to our weakness, not according to the strength and Purity of its source. If ours were not an integral Yoga, if we sought only the liberation of the self within us or the motionless existence of Purusha separated from prakriti, this dynamic imperfection might not matter. Calm, untroubled, not depressed, not elated, refusing to accept the perfection or imperfection, fault or merit, sin or virtue as ours, perceiving that it is the modes of Nature working in the field of her modes that make this mixture, we could withdraw into the silence of the spirit and, pure, untouched, witness only the workings of prakriti. But in an integral realisation this can only be a step on the way, not our last resting-place. For we aim at the divine realisation not only in the immobility of the Spirit, but also in the movement of Nature. And this cannot be altogether until we can feel the presence and power of the Divine in every step, motion, figure of our activities, in every turn of our will, in every thought, feeling and impulse. No doubt, we can feel that in a sense even in the nature of the Ignorance, but it is the divine Power and Presence in a disguise, a diminution, an inferior figure. Ours is a greater demand, that our nature shall be a power of the Divine in the Truth of the Divine, in the Light, in the force of the eternal self-conscient Will, in the wideness of the sempiternal Knowledge.
After the removal of the veil of ego, the removal of the veil of Nature and her inferior modes that govern our mind, life and body. As soon as the limits of the ego begin to fade, we see how that veil is constituted and detect the action of cosmic Nature in us, and in or behind cosmic Nature we sense the presence of the cosmic Self and the dynamisms of the world-pervading Ishwara. The Master of the instrument stands behind all this working, and even within the working there is his touch and the drive of a great guiding or disposing Influence. It is no longer ego or ego-force that we serve; we obey the World-Master and his evolutionary impulse. At each step we say in the language of the Sanskrit verse, "Even as I am appointed by Thee seated in my heart, so, 0 Lord, I act." But still this action may be of two very different kinds, one only illumined, the other transformed and uplifted into a greater supernature. For we may keep on in the way of action upheld and followed by our nature when by her and her illusion of egoism we were "turned as if mounted on a machine," but now with a perfect understanding of the mechanism and its utilisation for his world purposes by the Master of works whom we feel behind it. This is indeed as far as even many great Yogis have reached on the levels of spiritualised mind; but it need not be so always, for there is a greater supramental possibility. It is possible to rise beyond spiritualised mind and to act spontaneously in the living presence of the original divine Truth-Force of the Supreme Mother Our motion one with her motion and merged in it, our will one with her will, our energy absolved
1.11 - The Seven Rivers, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It is evident that Vasishtha is speaking here of the same waters, the same streams that Vamadeva hymns, the waters that rise from the ocean and flow into the ocean, the honeyed wave that rises upward from the sea, from the flood that is the heart of things, streams of the clarity, ghr.tasya dharah.. They are the floods of the supreme and universal conscious existence in which Varuna moves looking down on the truth and the falsehood of mortals, - a phrase that can apply neither to the descending rains nor to the physical ocean. Varuna in the Veda is not an Indian Neptune, neither is he precisely, as the European scholars at first imagined, the Greek Ouranos, the sky. He is the master of an ethereal wideness, an upper ocean, of the vastness of being, of its Purity; in that vastness, it is elsewhere said, he has made paths in the pathless infinite along which Surya, the
Sun, the Lord of Truth and the Light can move. Thence he looks down on the mingled truths and falsehoods of the mortal consciousness. And we have farther to note that these divine waters are those which Indra has cloven out and made to flow upon the earth, - a description which throughout the Veda is applied to the seven rivers.
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Ashwa, the Horse, is the dynamic force of Life, and the rivers labouring over Agni on the earth become the waters of Life, of the vital dynamis or kinesis, the Prana, which moves and acts and desires and enjoys. Agni himself begins as material heat and power, manifests secondarily as the Horse and then only becomes the heavenly fire. His first work is to give as the child of the Waters its full form and extension and Purity to the middle world, the vital or dynamic plane, raja atatanvan.
He purifies the nervous life in man pervading it with his own pure bright limbs, lifting upward its impulsions and desires, its purified will in works (kratum) by the pure powers of the super-conscient Truth and Wisdom, kavibhih. pavitraih.. So he wears his vast glories, no longer the broken and limited activity
1.11 - WITH THE DEVOTEES AT DAKSHINEWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"Knowledge and love-both are paths leading to God. Those who follow the path of love have to observe a little more outer Purity. But the violation of this by a man following the path of knowledge cannot injure him. It is destroyed in the fire of knowledge. Even a banana tree is burnt up when it is thrown into a roaring fire.
"The jnanis follow the path of discrimination. Sometimes it happens that, discriminating between the Real and the unreal, a man loses his faith in the existence of God. But a devotee who sincerely yearns for God does not give up his meditation even though he is invaded by atheistic ideas. A man whose father and. grandfa ther have been farmers continues his farming even though he doesn't get any crop in a year of drought."
1.12 - Brute Neighbors, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
A phbe soon built in my shed, and a robin for protection in a pine which grew against the house. In June the partridge (_Tetrao umbellus_,) which is so shy a bird, led her brood past my windows, from the woods in the rear to the front of my house, clucking and calling to them like a hen, and in all her behavior proving herself the hen of the woods. The young suddenly disperse on your approach, at a signal from the mother, as if a whirlwind had swept them away, and they so exactly resemble the dried leaves and twigs that many a traveler has placed his foot in the midst of a brood, and heard the whir of the old bird as she flew off, and her anxious calls and mewing, or seen her trail her wings to attract his attention, without suspecting their neighborhood. The parent will sometimes roll and spin round before you in such a dishabille, that you cannot, for a few moments, detect what kind of creature it is. The young squat still and flat, often running their heads under a leaf, and mind only their mothers directions given from a distance, nor will your approach make them run again and betray themselves. You may even tread on them, or have your eyes on them for a minute, without discovering them. I have held them in my open hand at such a time, and still their only care, obedient to their mother and their instinct, was to squat there without fear or trembling. So perfect is this instinct, that once, when I had laid them on the leaves again, and one accidentally fell on its side, it was found with the rest in exactly the same position ten minutes afterward. They are not callow like the young of most birds, but more perfectly developed and precocious even than chickens. The remarkably adult yet innocent expression of their open and serene eyes is very memorable. All intelligence seems reflected in them. They suggest not merely the Purity of infancy, but a wisdom clarified by experience. Such an eye was not born when the bird was, but is coeval with the sky it reflects.
The woods do not yield another such a gem. The traveller does not often look into such a limpid well. The ignorant or reckless sportsman often shoots the parent at such a time, and leaves these innocents to fall a prey to some prowling beast or bird, or gradually mingle with the decaying leaves which they so much resemble. It is said that when hatched by a hen they will directly disperse on some alarm, and so are lost, for they never hear the mothers call which gathers them again.
1.12 - Delight of Existence - The Solution, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
16:Such then is the view of the universe which arises out of the integral Vedantic affirmation. An infinite, indivisible existence all-blissful in its pure self-consciousness moves out of its fundamental Purity into the varied play of Force that is consciousness, into the movement of Prakriti which is the play of Maya. The delight of its existence is at first self-gathered, absorbed, subconscious in the basis of the physical universe; then emergent in a great mass of neutral movement which is not yet what we call sensation; then further emergent with the growth of mind and ego in the triple vibration of pain, pleasure and indifference originating from the limitation of the force of consciousness in the form and from its exposure to shocks of the universal Force which it finds alien to it and out of harmony with its own measure and standard; finally, the conscious emergence of the full Sachchidananda in its creations by universality, by equality, by self-possession and conquest of Nature. This is the course and movement of the world.
17:If it then be asked why the One Existence should take delight in such a movement, the answer lies in the fact that all possibilities are inherent in Its infinity and that the delight of existence - in its mutable becoming, not in its immutable being, - lies precisely in the variable realisation of its possibilities. And the possibility worked out here in the universe of which we are a part, begins from the concealment of Sachchidananda in that which seems to be its own opposite and its self-finding even amid the terms of that opposite. Infinite being loses itself in the appearance of non-being and emerges in the appearance of a finite Soul; infinite consciousness loses itself in the appearance of a vast indeterminate inconscience and emerges in the appearance of a superficial limited consciousness; infinite selfsustaining Force loses itself in the appearance of a chaos of atoms and emerges in the appearance of the insecure balance of a world; infinite Delight loses itself in the appearance of an insensible Matter and emerges in the appearance of a discordant rhythm of varied pain, pleasure and neutral feeling, love, hatred and indifference; infinite unity loses itself in the appearance of a chaos of multiplicity and emerges in a discord of forces and beings which seek to recover unity by possessing, dissolving and devouring each other. In this creation the real Sachchidananda has to emerge. Man, the individual, has to become and to live as a universal being; his limited mental consciousness has to widen to the superconscient unity in which each embraces all; his narrow heart has to learn the infinite embrace and replace its lusts and discords by universal love and his restricted vital being to become equal to the whole shock of the universe upon it and capable of universal delight; his very physical being has to know itself as no separate entity but as one with and sustaining in itself the whole flow of the indivisible Force that is all things; his whole nature has to reproduce in the individual the unity, the harmony, the oneness-in-all of the supreme Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
1.12 - Independence, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
When the Yogi has attained to this discrimination, all the powers mentioned in the last chapter come to him, but the true Yogi rejects them all. Unto him comes a peculiar knowledge, a particular light, called the Dharma-megha, the cloud of virtue. All the great prophets of the world whom history has recorded had this. They had found the whole foundation of knowledge within themselves. Truth to them had become real. Peace and calmness, and perfect Purity became their own nature, after they had given up the vanities of powers.
29. From that comes cessation of pain and works.
1.12 - The Divine Work, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
of the being. A complete Purity or transcendence of the three
gunas has been harmoniously established. The soul has seen the
--
all beings, living in the infinite Truth and Purity and acting out
of the profoundest deeps of his inner consciousness, governed
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perfection, a supreme status, Purity, knowledge, strength, love,
capacity, is not that personally we may enjoy the divine Nature
1.12 - THE FESTIVAL AT PNIHTI, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Sri Ramakrishna had enjoyed a little rest after his midday meal. The room had an atmosphere of Purity and holiness. On the walls hung pictures of gods and goddesses, among them one of Christ rescuing the drowning Peter. Outside the room were plants laden with fragrant flowers, and the Ganges could be seen flowing toward the south.
The Master was seated on the small couch, facing the north, and the devotees sat on mats and carpets spread on the floor. All eyes were directed toward him. Mani Mallick, an old Brahmo devotee about sixty-five years of age, came to pay his respects to the Master. He had returned a few months earlier from a pilgrimage to Benares and was recounting his experiences to Sri Ramakrishna.
1.12 - The Left-Hand Path - The Black Brothers, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
And for this is BABALON under the power of the Magician, that she hath submitted herself unto the work; and she guardeth the Abyss. And in her is a perfect Purity of that which is above, yet she is sent as the Redeemer to them that are below. For there is no other way into the Supernal mystery but through her and the Beast on which she rideth; and the Magician is set beyond her to deceive the brothers of blackness, lest they should make unto themselves a crown; for it there were two crowns, then should Ygdrasil, that ancient tree, be cast out into the Abyss, uprooted and cast down into the Outermost Abyss, and the Arcanum which is in the Adytum should be profaned; and the Ark should be touched, and the Lodge spied upon by them that are not masters, and the bread of the Sacrament should be the dung of Choronzon; and the wine of the Sacrament should be the water of Choronzon; and the incense should be dispersion; and the fire upon the Altar should be hate. But lift up thyself; stand, play the man, for behold! there shall be revealed unto thee the Great Terror, the thing of awe that hath no name.
(Ibid. 3rd thyr)
1.12 - The Office and Limitations of the Reason, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It is not only that he has to contrive continually some new harmony between the various elements of his being, physical, vitalistic, practical and dynamic, aesthetic, emotional and hedonistic, ethical, intellectual, but each of them again has to arrive at some order of its own disparate materials. In his ethics he is divided by different moral tendencies, justice and charity, self-help and altruism, self-increase and self-abnegation, the tendencies of strength and the tendencies of love, the moral rule of activism and the moral rule of quietism. His emotions are necessary to his development and their indulgence essential to the outflowering of his rich humanity; yet is he constantly called upon to coerce and deny them, nor is there any sure rule to guide him in the perplexity of this twofold need. His hedonistic impulse is called many ways by different fields, objects, ideals of self-satisfaction. His aesthetic enjoyment, his aesthetic creation forms for itself under the stress of the intelligence different laws and forms; each seeks to impose itself as the best and the standard, yet each, if its claim were allowed, would by its unjust victory impoverish and imprison his faculty and his felicity in its exercise. His politics and society are a series of adventures and experiments among various possibilities of autocracy, monarchism, military aristocracy, mercantile oligarchy, open or veiled plutocracy, pseudo-democracy of various kinds, bourgeois or proletarian, individualistic or collectivist or bureaucratic, socialism awaiting him, anarchism looming beyond it; and all these correspond to some truth of his social being, some need of his complex social nature, some instinct or force in it which demands that form for its effectuation. Mankind works out these difficulties under the stress of the spirit within it by throwing out a constant variation of types, types of character and temperament, types of practical activity, aesthetic creation, polity, society, ethical order, intellectual system, which vary from the pure to the mixed, from the simple harmony to the complex; each and all of these are so many experiments of individual and collective self-formation in the light of a progressive and increasing knowledge. That knowledge is governed by a number of conflicting ideas and ideals around which these experiments group themselves: each of them is gradually pushed as far as possible in its Purity and again mixed and combined as much as possible with others so that there may be a more complex form and an enriched action. Each type has to be broken in turn to yield place to new types and each combination has to give way to the possibility of a new combination. Through it all there is growing an accumulating stock of self-experience and self-actualisation of which the ordinary man accepts some current formulation conventionally as if it were an absolute law and truth,often enough he even thinks it to be that,but which the more developed human being seeks always either to break or to enlarge and make more profound or subtle in order to increase or make room for an increase of human capacity, perfectibility, happiness.
This view of human life and of the process of our development, to which subjectivism readily leads us, gives us a truer vision of the place of the intellect in the human movement. We have seen that the intellect has a double working, dispassionate and interested, self-centred or subservient to movements not its own. The one is a disinterested pursuit of truth for the sake of Truth and of knowledge for the sake of Knowledge without any ulterior motive, with every consideration put away except the rule of keeping the eye on the object, on the fact under enquiry and finding out its truth, its process, its law. The other is coloured by the passion for practice, the desire to govern life by the truth discovered or the fascination of an idea which we labour to establish as the sovereign law of our life and action. We have seen indeed that this is the superiority of reason over the other faculties of man that it is not confined to a separate absorbed action of its own, but plays upon all the others, discovers their law and truth, makes its discoveries serviceable to them and even in pursuing its own bent and end serves also their ends and arrives at a catholic utility. Man in fact does not live for knowledge alone; life in its widest sense is his principal preoccupation and he seeks knowledge for its utility to life much more than for the pure pleasure of acquiring knowledge. But it is precisely in this putting of knowledge at the service of life that the human intellect falls into that confusion and imperfection which pursues all human action. So long as we pursue knowledge for its own sake, there is nothing to be said: the reason is performing its natural function; it is exercising securely its highest right. In the work of the philosopher, the scientist, the savant labouring to add something to the stock of our ascertainable knowledge, there is as perfect a Purity and satisfaction as in that of the poet and artist creating forms of beauty for the aesthetic delight of the race. Whatever individual error and limitation there may be, does not matter; for the collective and progressive knowledge of the race has gained the truth that has been discovered and may be trusted in time to get rid of the error. It is when it tries to apply ideas to life that the human intellect stumbles and finds itself at fault.
Ordinarily, this is because in concerning itself with action the intelligence of man becomes at once partial and passionate and makes itself the servant of something other than the pure truth. But even if the intellect keeps itself as impartial and disinterested as possible, and altogether impartial, altogether disinterested the human intellect cannot be unless it is content to arrive at an entire divorce from practice or a sort of large but ineffective tolerantism, eclecticism or sceptical curiosity,still the truths it discovers or the ideas it promulgates become, the moment they are applied to life, the plaything of forces over which the reason has little control. Science pursuing its cold and even way has made discoveries which have served on one side a practical humanitarianism, on the other supplied monstrous weapons to egoism and mutual destruction; it has made possible a gigantic efficiency of organisation which has been used on one side for the economic and social amelioration of the nations and on the other for turning each into a colossal battering-ram of aggression, ruin and slaughter. It has given rise on the one side to a large rationalistic and altruistic humanitarianism, on the other it has justified a godless egoism, vitalism, vulgar will to power and success. It has drawn mankind together and given it a new hope and at the same time crushed it with the burden of a monstrous commercialism. Nor is this due, as is so often asserted, to its divorce from religion or to any lack of idealism. Idealistic philosophy has been equally at the service of the powers of good and evil and provided an intellectual conviction both for reaction and for progress. Organised religion itself has often enough in the past hounded men to crime and massacre and justified obscurantism and oppression.
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This truth is hidden from the rationalist because he is supported by two constant articles of faith, first that his own reason is right and the reason of others who differ from him is wrong, and secondly that whatever may be the present deficiencies of the human intellect, the collective human reason will eventually arrive at Purity and be able to found human thought and life securely on a clear rational basis entirely satisfying to the intelligence. His first article of faith is no doubt the common expression of our egoism and arrogant fallibility, but it is also something more; it expresses this truth that it is the legitimate function of the reason to justify to man his action and his hope and the faith that is in him and to give him that idea and knowledge, however restricted, and that dynamic conviction, however narrow and intolerant, which he needs in order that he may live, act and grow in the highest light available to him. The reason cannot grasp all truth in its embrace because truth is too infinite for it; but still it does grasp the something of it which we immediately need, and its insufficiency does not detract from the value of its work, but is rather the measure of its value. For man is not intended to grasp the whole truth of his being at once, but to move towards it through a succession of experiences and a constant, though not by any means a perfectly continuous self-enlargement. The first business of reason then is to justify and enlighten to him his various experiences and to give him faith and conviction in holding on to his self-enlargings. It justifies to him now this, now that, the experience of the moment, the receding light of the past, the half-seen vision of the future. Its inconstancy, its divisibility against itself, its power of sustaining opposite views are the whole secret of its value. It would not do indeed for it to support too conflicting views in the same individual, except at moments of awakening and transition, but in the collective body of men and in the successions of Time that is its whole business. For so man moves towards the infinity of the Truth by the experience of its variety; so his reason helps him to build, change, destroy what he has built and prepare a new construction, in a word, to progress, grow, enlarge himself in his self-knowledge and world-knowledge and their works.
The second article of faith of the believer in reason is also an error and yet contains a truth. The reason cannot arrive at any final truth because it can neither get to the root of things nor embrace the totality of their secrets; it deals with the finite, the separate, the limited aggregate, and has no measure for the all and the infinite. Nor can reason found a perfect life for man or a perfect society. A purely rational human life would be a life baulked and deprived of its most powerful dynamic sources; it would be a substitution of the minister for the sovereign. A purely rational society could not come into being and, if it could be born, either could not live or would sterilise and petrify human existence. The root powers of human life, its intimate causes are below, irrational, and they are above, suprarational. But this is true that by constant enlargement, purification, openness the reason of man is bound to arrive at an intelligent sense even of that which is hidden from it, a power of passive, yet sympathetic reflection of the Light that surpasses it. Its limit is reached, its function is finished when it can say to man, There is a Soul, a Self, a God in the world and in man who works concealed and all is his self-concealing and gradual self-unfolding. His minister I have been, slowly to unseal your eyes, remove the thick integuments of your vision until there is only my own luminous veil between you and him. Remove that and make the soul of man one in fact and nature with this Divine; then you will know yourself, discover the highest and widest law of your being, become the possessors or at least the receivers and instruments of a higher will and knowledge than mine and lay hold at last on the true secret and the whole sense of a human and yet divine living.
1.12 - The Significance of Sacrifice, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Brahman-fire." The former conceive of the Divine in various forms and powers and seek him by various means, ordinances, dharmas, laws or, as we might say, settled rites of action, selfdiscipline, consecrated works; for the latter, those who already know, the simple fact of sacrifice, of offering whatever work to the Divine itself, of casting all their activities into the unified divine consciousness and energy, is their one means, their one dharma. The means of sacrifice are various; the offerings are of many kinds. There is the psychological sacrifice of self-control and self-discipline which leads to the higher self-possession and self-knowledge. "Some offer their senses into the fires of control, others offer the objects of sense into the fires of sense, and others offer all the actions of the sense and all the actions of the vital force into the fire of the Yoga of self-control kindled by knowledge." There is, that is to say, the discipline which receives the objects of sense-perception without allowing the mind to be disturbed or affected by its sense-activities, the senses themselves becoming pure fires of sacrifice; there is the discipline which stills the senses so that the soul in its Purity may appear from behind the veil of mind-action, calm and still; there is the discipline by which, when the self is known, all the actions of the senseperceptions and all the action of the vital being are received into that one still and tranquil soul. The offering of the striver after perfection may be material and physical, dravya-yajna, like that consecrated in worship by the devotee to his deity, or it may be the austerity of his self-discipline and energy of his soul directed to some high aim, tapo-yajna, or it may be some form of Yoga like the Pranayama of the Rajayogins and Hathayogins, or any other yoga-yajna. All these tend to the purification of the being; all sacrifice is a way towards the attainment of the highest.
The one thing needful, the saving principle constant in all these variations, is to subordinate the lower activities, to diminish the control of desire and replace it by a superior energy, to abandon the purely egoistic enjoyment for that diviner delight
1.12 - The Superconscient, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
However "clear austerity" remains a powerful protection, for unfortunately not everyone has the capacity to rise to the high regions where the forces are pure; it is far easier to open oneself at the vital level, which is the world of the great Force of Life and desires and passions (well known to mediums and occultists), where the lower forces can readily take on divine appearances with dazzling colors, or frightening forms. If the seeker is pure, he will see through the hoax either way, and his little psychic light will dissolve all the threats and all the gaudy mirages of the vital melodrama. But how can one ever be sure of one's own Purity? Therefore, not to pursue personal forms but only a higher and higher truth, and letting It manifest under any form It chooses, will help us avoid error and superstition.
We can now try to describe these superconscious levels, as they appear when one does not succumb to ecstatic unconsciousness, and as Sri Aurobindo experienced them. Certainly, what is closest to the universal truth has nothing to do with forms, which are always limited and related to a given tradition or age (though these forms have their place and their truth), but with luminous vibrations. By "vibrations," we do not mean any lifeless waves of quantum physics, but movements of light, inexpressibly filled with joy, love, knowledge, beauty, and all the qualities manifested by the best of human consciousness, whether they be religious or not:
1.12 - TIME AND ETERNITY, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The manifest world and whatever is moved in any sort take their causes, order and forms from the stability of the divine Mind. This hath determined manifold ways for doing things; which ways being considered in the Purity of Gods understanding are named Providence; but being referred to those things which he moveth and disposeth are called Fate. Providence is the very divine Reason itself, which disposeth all things. But Fate is a disposition inherent in changeable things, by which Providence connecteth all things in their due order. For Providence equally embraceth all things together, though diverse, though infinite; but Fate puts into motion all things, distributed by places, forms and times; so that the unfolding of the temporal order, being united in the foresight of the divine Mind is Providence, and the same uniting, being digested and unfolded in time, is called Fate. As a workman conceiving the form of anything in his mind, taketh his work in hand and executeth by order of time that which he had simply and in a moment foreseen, so God by his Providence disposeth whatever is to be done with simplicity and stability, and by Fate effecteth by manifold ways and in the order of time those very things which he disposeth. All that is under Fate is also subject to Providence. But some things which are under Providence are above the course of Fate. For they are those things which, being stably fixed in virtue of their nearness to the first divinity, exceed the order of Fates mobility.
Boethius
1.13 - Gnostic Symbols of the Self, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
"the Purity or homogeneity of the essence." It is the "punctum
solis" 149 in the egg-yolk, which grows into a chick. In Khunrath
1.13 - Reason and Religion, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
But there is another level of the religious life in which reason might seem justified in interfering more independently and entitled to assume a superior role. For as there is the suprarational life in which religious aspiration finds entirely what it seeks, so too there is also the infrarational life of the instincts, impulses, sensations, crude emotions, vital activities from which all human aspiration takes its beginning. These too feel the touch of the religious sense in man, share its needs and experience, desire its satisfactions. Religion includes this satisfaction also in its scope, and in what is usually called religion it seems even to be the greater part, sometimes to an external view almost the whole; for the supreme Purity of spiritual experience does not appear or is glimpsed only through this mixed and turbid current. Much im Purity, ignorance, superstition, many doubtful elements must form as the result of this contact and union of our highest tendencies with our lower ignorant nature. Here it would seem that reason has its legitimate part; here surely it can intervene to enlighten, purify, rationalise the play of the instincts and impulses. It would seem that a religious reformation, a movement to substitute a pure and rational religion for one that is largely infrarational and impure, would be a distinct advance in the religious development of humanity. To a certain extent this may be, but, owing to the peculiar nature of the religious being, its entire urge towards the suprarational, not without serious qualifications, nor can the rational mind do anything here that is of a high positive value.
Religious forms and systems become effete and corrupt and have to be destroyed, or they lose much of their inner sense and become clouded in knowledge and injurious in practice, and in destroying what is effete or in negating aberrations reason has played an important part in religious history. But in its endeavour to get rid of the superstition and ignorance which have attached themselves to religious forms and symbols, intellectual reason unenlightened by spiritual knowledge tends to deny and, so far as it can, to destroy the truth and the experience which was contained in them. Reformations which give too much to reason and are too negative and protestant, usually create religions which lack in wealth of spirituality and fullness of religious emotion; they are not opulent in their contents; their form and too often their spirit is impoverished, bare and cold. Nor are they really rational; for they live not by their reasoning and dogma, which to the rational mind is as irrational as that of the creeds they replace, still less by their negations, but by their positive quantum of faith and fervour which is suprarational in its whole aim and has too its infrarational elements. If these seem less gross to the ordinary mind than those of less self-questioning creeds, it is often because they are more timid in venturing into the realm of suprarational experience. The life of the instincts and impulses on its religious side cannot be satisfyingly purified by reason, but rather by being sublimated, by being lifted up into the illuminations of the spirit. The natural line of religious development proceeds always by illumination; and religious reformation acts best when either it re-illuminates rather than destroys old forms or, where destruction is necessary, replaces them by richer and not by poorer forms, and in any case when it purifies by suprarational illumination, not by rational enlightenment. A purely rational religion could only be a cold and bare Deism, and such attempts have always failed to achieve vitality and permanence; for they act contrary to the dharma, the natural law and spirit of religion. If reason is to play any decisive part, it must be an intuitive rather than an intellectual reason, touched always by spiritual intensity and insight. For it must be remembered that the infrarational also has behind it a secret Truth which does not fall within the domain of the Reason and is not wholly amenable to its judgments. The heart has its knowledge, the life has its intuitive spirit within it, its intimations, divinations, outbreaks and upflamings of a Secret Energy, a divine or at least semi-divine aspiration and outreaching which the eye of intuition alone can fathom and only intuitive speech or symbol can shape or utter. To root out these things from religion or to purge religion of any elements necessary for its completeness because the forms are defective or obscure, without having the power to illuminate them from within or the patience to wait for their illumination from above or without replacing them by more luminous symbols, is not to purify but to pauperise.
1.13 - THE MASTER AND M., #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Now and then Ishan invited Hazra to his house. Hazra had a craze for outward Purity.
Sri Ramakrishna often discouraged him in this.
MASTER (to Ishan): "Let me tell you another thing. Don't be over-fastidious about outward Purity. Once a sdhu felt very thirsty. A water-carrier was carrying water in his skin water-bag, and offered the water to the holy man. The sdhu asked if the skin was clean. The carrier said: 'Revered sir; my skin bag is perfectly clean. But inside your skin are all sorts of filthy things. That is why I can ask you to drink water from my skin. It won't injure you.' By 'your skin', the carrier meant the body, the belly, and so forth.
"Have faith in the name of God. Then you won't need even to go to holy places."
1.13 - The Supermind and the Yoga of Works, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
in its light and under its government psychicise our inner and outer parts, turn mind-nature, life-nature, body-nature and all our mental, vital, physical action and states and movements into a conscious instrumentation of the soul. Afterwards or concurrently we have to spiritualise the being in its entirety by a descent of a divine Light, Force, Purity, Knowledge, freedom and wideness. It is necessary to break down the limits of the personal mind, life and physicality, dissolve the ego, enter into the cosmic consciousness, realise the self, acquire a spiritualised and universalised mind and heart, life-force, physical consciousness.
Then only the passage into supramental consciousness begins to become possible, and even then there is a difficult ascent to make each stage of which is a separate arduous achievement. Yoga is a rapid and concentrated conscious evolution of the being, but however rapid, even though it may effect in a single life what in an unassisted Nature might take centuries and millenniums or many hundreds of lives, still all evolution must move by stages; even the greatest rapidity and concentration of the movement cannot swallow up all the stages or reverse natural process and bring the end near to the beginning. A hasty and ignorant mind, a too eager force easily forget this necessity; they rush forward to make the supermind an immediate aim and expect to pull it down with a pitchfork from its highest heights in the Infinite.
1.14 - INSTRUCTION TO VAISHNAVS AND BRHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
It was the day of the annual festival of the Sinduriapatti Brahmo Samaj. The ceremony was to be performed in Manilal Mallick's house. The worship hall was beautifully decorated with flowers, wreaths, and evergreens, and many devotees were assembled, eagerly awaiting the worship. Their enthusiasm had been greatly heightened by the news that Sri Ramakrishna was going to grace the occasion with his presence. Keshab, Vijay, Shivanath, and other leaders of the Brahmo Samaj held him in high respect. His God intoxicated state of mind, his intense love of spiritual life, his burning faith, his intimate communion with God, and his respect for women, whom he regarded as veritable manifestations of the Divine Mother, together with the unsullied Purity of his character, his complete renunciation of worldly talk, his love and respect for all religious faiths, and his eagerness to meet devotees of all creeds, attracted the members of the Brahmo Samaj to him. Devotees came that day from far-off places to join the festival, for it would give them a chance to get a glimpse of the Master and listen to his inspiring talk.
Sri Ramakrishna arrived at the house before the worship began, and became engaged in conversation with Vijaykrishna Goswami and the other devotees. The lamps were lighted and the divine service was about to begin.
1.14 - On the clamorous, yet wicked master-the stomach., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
5. Satiety in food is the father of fornication; but mortification of the stomach is an agent of Purity.
6. He who fondles a lion often tames it, but he who coddles the body makes it still wilder.
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29. If you have promised Christ to go by the strait and narrow way, restrain your stomach, because by pleasing it and enlarging it, you break your contract. Attend and you will hear Him who says: Spacious and broad is the way of gluttony that leads to the perdition of fornication, and many there are who go in by it; because narrow is the gate and hard is the way of fasting that leads to the life of Purity, and few there are who go in by it.2
30. The prince of demons is the fallen Lucifer, and the prince of passions is gluttony.
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33. Fasting is the coercion of nature and the cutting out of everything that delights the palate, the prevention of lust, the uprooting of bad thoughts, deliverance from dreams, Purity of prayer, the light of the soul, the guarding of the mind, deliverance from blindness, the door of compunction, humble sighing, glad contrition, a lull in chatter, a means to silence, a guard of obedience, lightening of sleep, health of body, agent of dispassion, remission of sins, the gate of Paradise and its delight.
34. Let us ask this foe, or rather this supreme chief of our misfortunes, this door of passions, this fall of Adam, this ruin of Esau, this destruction of the Israelites, this laying naked of Noahs shame, this betrayer of Gomorrah, this reproach of Lot, this death of the sons of Eli, this guide to im Puritylet us ask him: From whom is he born? Who are his offspring? Who crushes him? And who finally destroys him?
1.14 - The Book of Magic Formulae, #The Practice of Magical Evocation, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
13. Putting on of the magical garment and meditative attitude to cause protection, Purity etc.
14. Putting on of the magical headgear - crown, cap or magus- band and meditation to bring about the contact with the deity
1.14 - The Principle of Divine Works, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
works? It is the question of Arjuna,2 but answered from a standpoint other than that from which Arjuna had put it. The motive cannot be personal desire on the intellectual, moral, emotional level, for that has been abandoned, - even the moral motive has been abandoned, since the liberated man has passed beyond the lower distinction of sin and virtue, lives in a glorified Purity beyond good and evil. It cannot be the spiritual call to his perfect self-development by means of disinterested works, for the call has been answered, the development is perfect and fulfilled. His motive of action can only be the holding together of the peoples, cikrs.ur lokasangraham. This great march of the peoples towards a far-off divine ideal has to be held together, prevented from falling into the bewilderment, confusion and utter discord of the understanding which would lead to dissolution and destruction and to which the world moving forward in the night or dark twilight of ignorance would be too easily prone if it were not held together, conducted, kept to the great lines of its discipline by the illumination, by the strength, by the rule and example, by the visible standard and the invisible influence of its Best. The best, the individuals who are in advance of the general line and above the general level of the collectivity, are the natural leaders of mankind, for it is they who can point to the race both the way they must follow and the standard or ideal they have to keep to or to attain. But the divinised man is the Best in no ordinary sense of the word and his influence, his example must have a power which that of no ordinarily superior man can exercise. What example then shall he give? What rule or standard shall he uphold?
In order to indicate more perfectly his meaning, the divine
1.14 - The Secret, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
. . . Modern psychology is an infant science, at once rash, fumbling and crude. As in all infant sciences, the universal habit of the human mind to take a partial or local truth, generalize it unduly and try to explain a whole field of Nature in its narrow terms runs riot here. . . . The psychoanalysis [especially] of Freud . . . takes up a certain part, the darkest, the most perilous, the unhealthiest part of the nature, the lower vital subconscious layer,225 isolates some of its most morbid phenomena and attributes to it and them an action out of all proportion to its true role in the nature. . . . To raise it up prematurely or improperly for experience is to risk suffering the conscious parts also with its dark and dirty stuff and thus poisoning the whole vital and even the mental nature. Always therefore one should begin by a positive, not a negative experience, by bringing down something of the divine nature, calm, light, equanimity, Purity, divine strength into the parts of the conscious being that have to be changed; only when that has been sufficiently done and there is a firm positive basis, is it safe to raise up the concealed subconscious adverse elements in order to destroy and eliminate them by the strength of the divine calm, light, force and knowledge.
There is another drawback to psychoanalysis, a more serious one.
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Now the seeker will realize that each thing has its own inevitable place in the whole. Not only can nothing be left out, but nothing is more important or less important, as if the total problem were represented in the smallest incident or the slightest everyday gesture, as much as in cosmic upheavals; perhaps, too, the total Light and Joy are contained as much in the most infinitesimal atom as in the superconscious infinities. Now the dark half of the truth has become illuminated. Every stumbling or error kindles a flame of pain and seems to produce a breach of light below; every weakness summons up a corresponding force, as if the energy of the fall were the very energy of the ascent; every imperfection is a step toward a greater fulfillment. There are no sins, no errors, but only countless mishaps that compel us to attend to the full extent of our kingdom and to embrace everything in order to heal and fulfill everything. Through a tiny crack in our armor, a love and compassion for the world have entered in, which none of the radiant purities can ever understand; Purity is impregnable, self-contained, sealed off like a fortress; some fissure is needed for the Truth to come in!
[He] made error a door by which Truth could enter in.240
1.14 - The Suprarational Beauty, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The art-creation which lays a supreme stress on reason and taste and on perfection and Purity of a technique constructed in obedience to the canons of reason and taste, claimed for itself the name of classical art; but the claim, like the too trenchant distinction on which it rests, is of doubtful validity. The spirit of the real, the great classical art and poetry is to bring out what is universal and subordinate individual expression to universal truth and beauty, just as the spirit of romantic art and poetry is to bring out what is striking and individual and this it often does so powerfully or with so vivid an emphasis as to throw into the background of its creation the universal, on which yet all true art romantic or classical builds and fills in its forms. In truth, all great art has carried in it both a classical and a romantic as well as a realistic element,understanding realism in the sense of the prominent bringing out of the external truth of things, not the perverse inverted romanticism of the real which brings into exaggerated prominence the ugly, common or morbid and puts that forward as the whole truth of life. The type of art to which a great creative work belongs is determined by the prominence it gives to one element and the subdual of the others into subordination to its reigning spirit. But classical art also works by a large vision and inspiration, not by the process of the intellect. The lower kind of classical art and literature,if classical it be and not rather, as it often is, pseudo-classical, intellectually imitative of the external form and process of the classical,may achieve work of considerable, though a much lesser power, but of an essentially inferior scope and nature; for to that inferiority it is self-condemned by its principle of intellectual construction. Almost always it speedily degenerates into the formal or academic, empty of real beauty, void of life and power, imprisoned in its slavery to form and imagining that when a certain form has been followed, certain canons of construction satisfied, certain rhetorical rules or technical principles obeyed, all has been achieved. It ceases to be art and becomes a cold and mechanical workmanship.
This predominance given to reason and taste first and foremost, sometimes even almost alone, in the creation and appreciation of beauty arises from a temper of mind which is critical rather than creative; and in regard to creation its theory falls into a capital error. All artistic work in order to be perfect must indeed have in the very act of creation the guidance of an inner power of discrimination constantly selecting and rejecting in accordance with a principle of truth and beauty which remains always faithful to a harmony, a proportion, an intimate relation of the form to the idea; there is at the same time an exact fidelity of the idea to the spirit, nature and inner body of the thing of beauty which has been revealed to the soul and the mind, its svarpa and svabhva. Therefore this discriminating inner sense rejects all that is foreign, superfluous, otiose, all that is a mere diversion distractive and deformative, excessive or defective, while it selects and finds sovereignly all that can bring out the full truth, the utter beauty, the inmost power. But this discrimination is not that of the critical intellect, nor is the harmony, proportion, relation it observes that which can be fixed by any set law of the critical reason; it exists in the very nature and truth of the thing itself, the creation itself, in its secret inner law of beauty and harmony which can be seized by vision, not by intellectual analysis. The discrimination which works in the creator is therefore not an intellectual self-criticism or an obedience to rules imposed on him from outside by any intellectual canons, but itself creative, intuitive, a part of the vision, involved in and inseparable from the act of creation. It comes as part of that influx of power and light from above which by its divine enthusiasm lifts the faculties into their intense suprarational working. When it fails, when it is betrayed by the lower executive instruments rational or infrarational, and this happens when these cease to be passive and insist on obtruding their own demands or vagaries,the work is flawed and a subsequent act of self-criticism becomes necessary. But in correcting his work the artist who attempts to do it by rule and intellectual process, uses a false or at any rate an inferior method and cannot do his best. He ought rather to call to his aid the intuitive critical vision and embody it in a fresh act of inspired creation or recreation after bringing himself back by its means into harmony with the light and law of his original creative initiation. The critical intellect has no direct or independent part in the means of the inspired creator of beauty.
1.15 - On incorruptible purity and chastity to which the corruptible attain by toil and sweat., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
object:1.15 - On incorruptible Purity and chastity to which the corruptible attain by toil and sweat.
subject:Christianity
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On incorruptible Purity and chastity to which the corruptible attain by toil and sweat.2
Foreword
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Purity means that we put on the angelic nature. Purity is the longed-for house of Christ and the earthly heaven of the heart. Purity is a supernatural denial of nature, which means that a mortal and corruptible body is rivalling the celestial spirits in a truly marvellous way.
He is pure who expels love with love and who has extinguished the material fire by the immaterial fire.3
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The rule and limit of absolute and perfect Purity is to be equally disposed towards animate and inanimate bodies, rational and irrational.
Let no one thoroughly trained in Purity attribute its attainment to himself. For it is impossible for anyone to conquer his own nature. When nature is defeated, it should be recognized that this is due to the presence of Him who is above nature. For beyond all dispute, the weaker gives way to the stronger.
The beginning of Purity is the refusal to have anything to do with bad thoughts and occasional dreamless emissions; the middle state of Purity is natural movements due to excess of food, but without dreams and emissions; and the end of Purity is the mortification of the body after previously mortifying bad thoughts.
Truly blessed is he who has acquired perfect insensibility to every body and colour and beauty.
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If a sign of true Purity is to be unmoved by dreams during sleep, then it is certainly a mark of sensuality to be subject to emissions from (impure) thoughts when awake.
He who fights this adversary by bodily hardship and perspiration is like one who has tied his foe to a dry branch. But he who opposes him by temperance, sleeplessness and vigil is like one who puts a dog-collar on him. He who opposes him by humility, freedom from irritability and thirst is like one who has killed his enemy and hidden him in the sand. And by sand I mean humility, because it produces no fodder for the passions but is mere earth and ashes.
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The Lord, being incorruptible and incorporeal, rejoices in the Purity and incorruptibility of our body. But nothing gives such joy to the demons, some say, as the stench of fornication, and no other passion so gladdens them as the defilement of the body.
Purity means that we put on the likeness of God, as far as is humanly possible.
The mother of sweetness is earth and dew, and the mother of Purity is silence with obedience. Dispassion of the body attained by silence, has often been shaken on coming into contact with the world; but that obtained by obedience is genuine and inviolable everywhere.
I have seen pride lead to humility. And I remembered him who said: Who has known the mind of the Lord?1 The pit and fruit of conceit is a fall; but a fall is often an occasion of humility for those who are willing to use it to their advantage.
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Someone told me of an extraordinarily high degree of Purity. He said: A certain man,2 on seeing a beautiful body, thereupon glorified the Creator, and from that one look he was moved to the love of God and to a fountain of tears. And it was wonderful to see how what would have been a cause of destruction for one was for another the supernatural cause of a crown. If such a person always feels and behaves in the same way on similar occasions, then he has risen immortal before the general resurrection.
Let us be guided by the same rule in singing melodies and songs. For lovers of God are moved to holy gaiety, to divine love and to tears both by worldly and by spiritual songs; but lovers of pleasure to the opposite.
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Hear yet another trick and villainy of that deceiver, all you who wish to be confirmed in Purity, and look out for it. One who had experience of this craftiness told me that the demon of sensuality very often hid himself completely, and while a monk was sitting or conversing with women, he would suggest to him extreme piety, and perhaps even a fountain of tears, and would put into his mind the
1 At the time when the struggle in the blood rages (St. Isaac the Syrian).
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It is those who are subject to the demon of arrogance who especially suffer in this way; because, as their hearts are no longer continually occupied with impure thoughts, they are prone to the passion of pride. And in order to be convinced of the truth of what has been said, when they have achieved a certain measure of holy quiet, let them discreetly examine themselves. Then they will certainly find that some thought is concealed in the depth of their heart like a snake in dung, suggesting to them that they have made some progress in Purity of heart by their own effort and zeal. Poor wretches! They do not think of what was said: What hast thou that thou didst not receive3 as a free gift, either from God, or by the co-operation and prayers of others? And so let them look to their own affairs, and let them cast out of their heart with all speed the snake mentioned above, killing it by much humility, so that when they have got rid of it they may in time be stripped of their clothing of skin4 and as chaste children sing
1 Cf. Step 27: 45. The discerning father appears to be St. Mark the Ascetic in his Admonition to Nicholas (PG. 65 col. 1036 B).
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to the Lord the triumph song of Purity; if only, when they are stripped, they do not find themselves naked of that humility and freedom from malice which is natural to children.
This demon much more than any other watches for critical moments. And when we are physically unable to pray against it, then the unholy creature launches a special attack against us.
1.15 - Prayers, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
O Mother, Thou art the light of my intelligence, the Purity of my soul, the quiet strength of my vital, the endurance of my body. I rely on Thee alone and want to be entirely Thine. Make me surmount all obstacles on the way.
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1.15 - The Suprarational Good, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
For the ethical being like the rest is a growth and a seeking towards the absolute, the divine, which can only be attained securely in the suprarational. It seeks after an absolute Purity, an absolute right, an absolute truth, an absolute strength, an absolute love and self-giving, and it is most satisfied when it can get them in absolute measure, without limit, curb or compromise, divinely, infinitely, in a sort of godhead and transfiguration of the ethical being. The reason is chiefly concerned with what it best understands, the apparent process, the machinery, the outward act, its result and effect, its circumstance, occasion and motive; by these it judges the morality of the action and the morality of the doer. But the developed ethical being knows instinctively that it is an inner something which it seeks and the outward act is only a means of bringing out and manifesting within ourselves by its psychological effects that inner absolute and eternal entity. The value of our actions lies not so much in their apparent nature and outward result as in their help towards the growth of the Divine within us. It is difficult, even impossible to justify upon outward grounds the absolute justice, absolute right, absolute Purity, love or selflessness of an action or course of action; for action is always relative, it is mixed and uncertain in its results, perplexed in its occasions. But it is possible to relate the inner being to the eternal and absolute good, to make our sense and will full of it so as to act out of its impulsion or its intuitions and inspirations. That is what the ethical being labours towards and the higher ethical man increasingly attains to in his inner efforts.
In fact ethics is not in its essence a calculation of good and evil in the action or a laboured effort to be blameless according to the standards of the world,those are only crude appearances,it is an attempt to grow into the divine nature. Its parts of Purity are an aspiration towards the inalienable Purity of Gods being; its parts of truth and right are a seeking after conscious unity with the law of the divine knowledge and will; its parts of sympathy and charity are a movement towards the infinity and universality of the divine love; its parts of strength and manhood are an edification of the divine strength and power. That is the heart of its meaning. Its high fulfilment comes when the being of the man undergoes this transfiguration; then it is not his actions that standardise his nature but his nature that gives value to his actions; then he is no longer laboriously virtuous, artificially moral, but naturally divine. Actively, too, he is fulfilled and consummated when he is not led or moved either by the infrarational impulses or the rational intelligence and will, but inspired and piloted by the divine knowledge and will made conscious in his nature. And that can only be done, first by communication of the truth of these things through the intuitive mind as it purifies itself progressively from the invasion of egoism, self-interest, desire, passion and all kinds of self-will, finally through the suprarational light and power, no longer communicated but present and in possession of his being. Such was the supreme aim of the ancient sages who had the wisdom which rational man and rational society have rejected because it was too high a truth for the comprehension of the reason and for the powers of the normal limited human will too bold and immense, too infinite an effort.
Therefore it is with the cult of Good, as with the cult of Beauty and the cult of the spiritual. Even in its first instincts it is already an obscure seeking after the divine and absolute; it aims at an absolute satisfaction, it finds its highest light and means in something beyond the reason, it is fulfilled only when it finds God, when it creates in man some image of the divine Reality. Rising from its infrarational beginnings through its intermediate dependence on the reason to a suprarational consummation, the ethical is like the aesthetic and the religious being of man a seeking after the Eternal.
1.15 - The world overrun with trees; they are destroyed by the Pracetasas, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
kā, the wife of Viprachitti. Hiraṇyakaśipu was the father of four mighty sons, Anuhlāda, Hlāda, the wise Prahlāda, and the heroic Sanhlāda, the augmentor of the Daitya race[28]. Amongst these, the illustrious Prahlāda, looking on all things with indifference, devoted his whole faith to Janārddana. The flames that were lighted by the king of the Daityas consumed not him, in whose heart Vāsudeva was cerished; and all the earth trembled when, bound with bonds, he moved amidst the waters of the ocean. His firm body, fortified by a mind engrossed by Achyuta, was unwounded by the weapons hurled on him by order of the Daitya monarch; and the serpents sent to destroy him breathed their venomous flames upon him in vain. Overwhelmed with rocks, he yet remained unhurt; for he never forgot Viṣṇu, and the recollection of the deity was his armour of proof. Hurled from on high by the king of the Daityas, residing in Swerga, earth received him unharmed. The wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself annihilated by him, in whom Madhusūdana was present. The fierce elephants of the spheres broke their tusks, and vailed their pride, against the firm breast which the lord of the Daityas had ordered them to assault. The ministrant priests of the monarch were baffled in all their rites for the destruction of one so steadily attached to Govinda: and the thousand delusions of the fraudulent Samvara, counteracted by the discus of Kṛṣṇa, were practised without success. The deadly poison administered by his father's officers he partook of unhesitatingly, and without its working any visible change; for he looked upon the world with mind undisturbed, and, full of benignity, regarded all things with equal affection, and as identical with himself. He was righteous; an inexhaustible mine of Purity and truth; and an unfailing model for all pious men.
Footnotes and references:
1.1.5 - Thought and Knowledge, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
All these thoughts and influences come really from outside, from universal Nature they create formations in us or get habitual responses from the individual being. When they are rejected, they go back into the external universal Nature and if one becomes conscious, one can feel them coming from outside and trying to get a lodging inside again or reawaken the habitual response. One has to reject them persistently till no possibility of response remains any longer. This is hastened much if a certain inner calm, Purity and silence can be established from which these things fall away without being able to touch it.
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Yogic control can come in one of two ways or by their combination. (1) To separate the witness Soul in you from the movements of the mental, vital and physical Prakriti to which these things belong, learn to look upon them and in the end to feel them as not yourself, not a part of the inner or true being but occurring on the surface, and to experience the inner being as the Purusha eternally calm, silent and immovable. This separation once done, learn by abhysa to give the effective comm and of the Purusha to the movements of the Prakriti to ceaserefusing the sanction to all that you wish to eliminate. The process is long and laborious and the final perfection can only come by resolute and persevering practice. (2) To open yourself to the Divine Power and give up all into its hands, yourself only rejecting and refusing sanction to all that you feel to be false and contrary to truth and Purity in you.
This is as an answer to your difficulty, but I cannot direct you or give you any Sadhana, which I give only to those who are called from within to my way of Yoga and not for any limited object like the one you have in view.
1.15 - Truth, #Initiation Into Hermetics, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
There is a wide difference between knowledge and wisdom and it is much easier to win knowledge than wisdom. Wisdom depends, not in the least, on knowledge, although both are identical up to a certain degree. The source of wisdom is in God, that is to say, in the causal principle (the akasa) on all planes of the material, astral, and mental worlds. Therefore wisdom does not depend on mind and memory but on the maturity, Purity and perfection of the individual personality. Wisdom could also be considered as a developmental stage of the ego. Therefore, insights are not passed on thought the mind, but and this particularly through intuition or inspiration. The degree of wisdom is therefore determined by the state of development of the individual.
This will not mean, of course, that we ought to neglect knowledge; on the contrary, knowledge and wisdom must go hand in hand. The adept will therefore endeavour to get on in knowledge as well as in wisdom, for neither of the two must lag behind in development.
1.16 - PRAYER, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
"What God is in Himself, God and his mysteries as they are in themselves the phrases have a Kantian ring. But if Kant was right and the Thing in itself is unknowable, Bourgoing, De Condren and all the other masters of the spiritual life were engaged in a wild goose chase. But Kant was right only as regards minds that have not yet come to enlightenment and deliverance. To such minds Reality, whether material, psychic or spiritual, presents itself as it is darkened, tinged and refracted by the medium of their own individual natures. But in those who are pure in heart and poor in spirit there is no distortion of Reality, because there is no separate selfhood to obscure or refract, no painted lantern slide of intellectual beliefs and hallowed imagery to give a personal and historical colouring to the white radiance of Eternity. For such minds, as Olier says, even ideas of the saints, of the Blessed Virgin, and the sight of Jesus Christ in his humanity are impediments in the way of the sight of God in his Purity. The Thing in itself can he perceived but only by one who, in himself, is no-thing.
By prayer I do not understand petition or supplication which, according to the doctrines of the schools, is exercised principally by the understanding, being a signification of what the person desires to receive from God. But prayer here specially meant is an offering and giving to God whatsoever He may justly require from us.
1.16 - The Process of Avatarhood, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
and a heightening of its powers of light and love and strength and Purity; and to show also how it can be done. If the Avatar were to act in an entirely supernormal fashion, this object would not be fulfilled. A merely supernormal or miraculous Avatar would be a meaningless absurdity; not that there need be an entire absence of the use of supernormal powers such as Christ's socalled miracles of healing, for the use of supernormal powers is quite a possibility of human nature; but there need not be that at all, nor in any case is it the root of the matter, nor would it at all do if the life were nothing else but a display of supernormal fireworks. 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.
1.16 - The Suprarational Ultimate of Life, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
In all the higher powers of his life man may be said to be seeking, blindly enough, for God. To get at the Divine and Eternal in himself and the world and to harmonise them, to put his being and his life in tune with the Infinite reveals itself in these parts of his nature as his concealed aim and his destiny. He sets out to arrive at his highest and largest and most perfect self, and the moment he at all touches upon it, this self in him appears to be one with some great Soul and Self of Truth and Good and Beauty in the world to which we give the name of God. To get at this as a spiritual presence is the aim of religion, to grow into harmony with its eternal nature of right, love, strength and Purity is the aim of ethics, to enjoy and mould ourselves into the harmony of its eternal beauty and delight is the aim and consummation of our aesthetic need and nature, to know and to be according to its eternal principles of truth is the end of science and philosophy and of all our insistent drive towards knowledge.
But all this seems to be something above our normal and usual being; it is something into which we strive to grow, but it does not seem to be the normal stuff, the natural being or atmosphere of the individual and the society in their ordinary consciousness and their daily life. That life is practical and not idealistic; it is concerned not with good, beauty, spiritual experience, the higher truth, but with interests, physical needs, desires, vital necessities. This is real to it, all the rest is a little shadowy; this belongs to its ordinary labour, all the rest to its leisure; this to the stuff of which it is made, all the rest to its parts of ornament and dispensable improvement. To all that rest society gives a place, but its heart is not there. It accepts ethics as a bond and an influence, but it does not live for ethical good; its real gods are vital need and utility and the desires of the body. If it governs its life partly by ethical laws because otherwise vital need, desire, utility in seeking their own satisfaction through many egoistic individuals would clash among themselves and destroy their own aims, it does not feel called upon to make its life entirely ethical. It concerns itself still less with beauty; even if it admits things beautiful as an embellishment and an amusement, a satisfaction and pastime of the eye and ear and mind, nothing moves it imperatively to make its life a thing of beauty. It allows religion a fixed place and portion, on holy days, in the church or temple, at the end of life when age and the approach of death call the attention forcibly away from this life to other life, at fixed times in the week or the day when it thinks it right for a moment to pause in the affairs of the world and remember God: but to make the whole of life a religion, a remembering of God and a seeking after him, is a thing that is not really done even in societies which like the Indian erect spirituality as their aim and principle. It admits philosophy in a still more remote fashion; and if nowadays it eagerly seeks after science, that is because science helps prodigiously the satisfaction of its vital desires, needs and interests: but it does not turn to seek after an entirely scientific life any more than after an entirely ethical life. A more complete effort in any one of these directions it leaves to the individual, to the few, and to individuals of a special type, the saint, the ethical man, the artist, the thinker, the man of religion; it gives them a place, does some homage to them, assigns some room to the things they represent, but for itself it is content to follow mainly after its own inherent principle of vital satisfaction, vital necessity and utility, vital efficiency.
1.17 - God, #Initiation Into Hermetics, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
Now let us regard the idea of God from the magic standpoint, according to the four elements, the so-called tetragrammaton, the unspeakable, the supreme: the fiery principle involves the almightiness and the omnipotence, the airy principle owns the wisdom, Purity and clarity, from which aspect proceeds the universal lawfulness.
Love and eternal life are attributed to the watery principle, and omnipresence, immortality and consequently eternity belong to the earth principle. These four aspects together represent the supreme Godhead. Let us tread upon this path to this supreme Godhead practically and step by step, beginning from the lowest sphere, to arrive at the true realization of God in ourselves. Let us praise the happy man who will reach this still in his earthly existence. Us banish fear of the pains, for all of us will reach this goal.
1.17 - Religion as the Law of Life, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The whole root of the historic insufficiency of religion as a guide and control of human society lies there. Churches and creeds have, for example, stood violently in the way of philosophy and science, burned a Giordano Bruno, imprisoned a Galileo, and so generally misconducted themselves in this matter that philosophy and science had in self-defence to turn upon Religion and rend her to pieces in order to get a free field for their legitimate development; and this because men in the passion and darkness of their vital nature had chosen to think that religion was bound up with certain fixed intellectual conceptions about God and the world which could not stand scrutiny, and therefore scrutiny had to be put down by fire and sword; scientific and philosophical truth had to be denied in order that religious error might survive. We see too that a narrow religious spirit often oppresses and impoverishes the joy and beauty of life, either from an intolerant asceticism or, as the Puritans attempted it, because they could not see that religious austerity is not the whole of religion, though it may be an important side of it, is not the sole ethico-religious approach to God, since love, charity, gentleness, tolerance, kindliness are also and even more divine, and they forgot or never knew that God is love and beauty as well as Purity. In politics religion has often thrown itself on the side of power and resisted the coming of larger political ideals, because it was itself, in the form of a Church, supported by power and because it confused religion with the Church, or because it stood for a false theocracy, forgetting that true theocracy is the kingdom of God in man and not the kingdom of a Pope, a priesthood or a sacerdotal class. So too it has often supported a rigid and outworn social system, because it thought its own life bound up with social forms with which it happened to have been associated during a long portion of its own history and erroneously concluded that even a necessary change there would be a violation of religion and a danger to its existence. As if so mighty and inward a power as the religious spirit in man could be destroyed by anything so small as the change of a social form or so outward as a social readjustment! This error in its many shapes has been the great weakness of religion as practised in the past and the opportunity and justification for the revolt of the intelligence, the aesthetic sense, the social and political idealism, even the ethical spirit of the human being against what should have been its own highest tendency and law.
Here then lies one secret of the divergence between the ancient and the modern, the Eastern and Western ideal, and here also one clue to their reconciliation. Both rest upon a certain strong justification and their quarrel is due to a misunderstanding. It is true in a sense that religion should be the dominant thing in life, its light and law, but religion as it should be and is in its inner nature, its fundamental law of being, a seeking after God, the cult of spirituality, the opening of the deepest life of the soul to the indwelling Godhead, the eternal Omnipresence. On the other hand, it is true that religion when it identifies itself only with a creed, a cult, a Church, a system of ceremonial forms, may well become a retarding force and there may therefore arise a necessity for the human spirit to reject its control over the varied activities of life. There are two aspects of religion, true religion and religionism. True religion is spiritual religion, that which seeks to live in the spirit, in what is beyond the intellect, beyond the aesthetic and ethical and practical being of man, and to inform and govern these members of our being by the higher light and law of the spirit. Religionism, on the contrary, entrenches itself in some narrow pietistic exaltation of the lower members or lays exclusive stress on intellectual dogmas, forms and ceremonies, on some fixed and rigid moral code, on some religio-political or religio-social system. Not that these things are altogether negligible or that they must be unworthy or unnecessary or that a spiritual religion need disdain the aid of forms, ceremonies, creeds or systems. On the contrary, they are needed by man because the lower members have to be exalted and raised before they can be fully spiritualised, before they can directly feel the spirit and obey its law. An intellectual formula is often needed by the thinking and reasoning mind, a form or ceremony by the aesthetic temperament or other parts of the infrarational being, a set moral code by mans vital nature in their turn towards the inner life. But these things are aids and supports, not the essence; precisely because they belong to the rational and infrarational parts, they can be nothing more and, if too blindly insisted on, may even hamper the suprarational light. Such as they are, they have to be offered to man and used by him, but not to be imposed on him as his sole law by a forced and inflexible domination. In the use of them toleration and free permission of variation is the first rule which should be observed. The spiritual essence of religion is alone the one thing supremely needful, the thing to which we have always to hold and subordinate to it every other element or motive.
1.17 - The Divine Birth and Divine Works, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Dharma is generally spoken of as something eternal and unchanging, and so it is in the fundamental principle, in the ideal, but in its forms it is continually changing and evolving, because man does not already possess the ideal or live in it, but aspires more or less perfectly towards it, is growing towards its knowledge and practice. And in this growth dharma is all that helps us to grow into the divine Purity, largeness, light, freedom, power, strength, joy, love, good, unity, beauty, and against it stands its shadow and denial, all that resists its growth and has not undergone its law, all that has not yielded up and does not will to yield up its secret of divine values, but presents a front of perversion and contradiction, of im Purity, narrowness, bondage, darkness, weakness, vileness, discord and suffering and division, and the hideous and the crude, all that man has to leave behind in his progress. This is the adharma, notdharma, which strives with and seeks to overcome the dharma, to draw backward and downward, the reactionary force which makes for evil, ignorance and darkness. Between the two there is perpetual battle and struggle, oscillation of victory and defeat in which sometimes the upward and sometimes the downward forces prevail. This has been typified in the Vedic image of the struggle between the divine and the Titanic powers, the sons
The word means "holding" from the root dhr., to hold.
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These three are always the necessary elements of the work of the Avatar. He gives a dharma, a law of self-discipline by which to grow out of the lower into the higher life and which necessarily includes a rule of action and of relations with our fellowmen and other beings, endeavour in the eightfold path or the law of faith, love and Purity or any other such revelation of the nature of the divine in life. Then because every tendency in man has its collective as well as its individual aspect, because those who follow one way are naturally drawn together into spiritual companionship and unity, he establishes the sangha, the fellowship and union of those whom his personality and his teaching unite. In Vaishnavism there is the same trio, bhagavata, bhakta, bhagavan, - the bhagavata, which is the law of the Vaishnava dispensation of adoration and love, the bhakta representing the fellowship of those in whom that law is manifest, bhagavan, the divine Lover and
Beloved in whose being and nature the divine law of love is founded and fulfils itself. The Avatar represents this third element, the divine personality, nature and being who is the soul of the dharma and the sangha, informs them with himself, keeps them living and draws men towards the felicity and the liberation.
1.17 - The Divine Soul, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
4:Its consciousness would not be shut out from any part of the infinite truth, nor limited by any poise or status that it might assume in its relations with others, nor condemned to any loss of self-knowledge by its acceptance of a purely phenomenal individuality and the play of practical differentiation. It would in its self-experience live eternally in the presence of the Absolute. To us the Absolute is only an intellectual conception of indefinable existence. The intellect tells us simply that there is a Brahman higher than the highest,2 an Unknowable that knows itself in other fashion than that of our knowledge; but the intellect cannot bring us into its presence. The divine soul living in the Truth of things would, on the contrary, always have the conscious sense of itself as a manifestation of the Absolute. Its immutable existence it would be aware of as the original "self-form"3 of that Transcendent, - Sachchidananda; its play of conscious being it would be aware of as manifestation of That in forms of Sachchidananda. In its every state or act of knowledge it would be aware of the Unknowable cognising itself by a form of variable self-knowledge; in its every state or act of power, will or force aware of the Transcendence possessing itself by a form of conscious power of being and knowledge; in its every state or act of delight, joy or love aware of the Transcendence embracing itself by a form of conscious self-enjoyment. This presence of the Absolute would not be with it as an experience occasionally glimpsed or finally arrived at and held with difficulty or as an addition, acquisition or culmination superimposed on its ordinary state of being: it would be the very foundation of its being both in the unity and the differentiation; it would be present to it in all its knowing, willing, doing, enjoying; it would be absent neither from its timeless self nor from any moment of Time, neither from its spaceless being nor from any determination of its extended existence, neither from its unconditioned Purity beyond all cause and circumstance nor from any relation of circumstance, condition and causality. This constant presence of the Absolute would be the basis of its infinite freedom and delight, ensure its security in the play and provide the root and sap and essence of its divine being.
5:Moreover such a divine soul would live simultaneously in the two terms of the eternal existence of Sachchidananda, the two inseparable poles of the self-unfolding of the Absolute which we call the One and the Many. All being does really so live; but to our divided self-awareness there is an incompatibility, a gulf between the two driving us towards a choice, to dwell either in the multiplicity exiled from the direct and entire consciousness of the One or in the unity repellent of the consciousness of the Many. But the divine soul would not be enslaved to this divorce and duality. It would be aware in itself at once of the infinite self-concentration and the infinite self-extension and diffusion. It would be aware simultaneously of the One in its unitarian consciousness holding the innumerable multiplicity in itself as if potential, unexpressed and therefore to our mental experience of that state non-existent, and of the One in its extended consciousness holding the multiplicity thrown out and active as the play of its own conscious being, will and delight. It would equally be aware of the Many ever drawing down to themselves the One that is the eternal source and reality of their existence and of the Many ever mounting up attracted to the One that is the eternal culmination and blissful justification of all their play of difference. This vast view of things is the mould of the Truth-Consciousness, the foundation of the large Truth and Right hymned by the Vedic seers; this unity of all these terms of opposition is the real Adwaita, the supreme comprehending word of the knowledge of the Unknowable.
1.18 - M. AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"Listen. I prayed to the Divine Mother for pure love. I said to Her: 'Here is Thy righteousness, here is Thy unrighteousness. Take them both and give me pure love for Thee. Here is Thy Purity, here is Thy im Purity. Take them both and give me pure love for Thee. O Mother, here is Thy virtue, here is Thy vice. Take them both and give me pure love for Thee.' "
GOSWAMI: "Yes, sir. That is right."
1.18 - The Divine Worker, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
buddhiman manus.yes.u, - not the perplexed thinker who judges life and works by the external, uncertain and impermanent distinctions of the lower reason. Therefore the liberated man is not afraid of action, he is a large and universal doer of all works, kr.tsna-karma-kr.t; not as others do them in subjection to Nature, but poised in the silent calm of the soul, tranquilly in Yoga with the Divine. The Divine is the lord of his works, he is only their channel through the instrumentality of his nature conscious of and subject to her Lord. By the flaming intensity and Purity of this knowledge all his works are burned up as in a fire and his mind remains without any stain or disfiguring mark from them, calm, silent, unperturbed, white and clean and pure. To do all in this liberating knowledge, without the personal egoism of the doer, is the first sign of the divine worker.
The second sign is freedom from desire; for where there is not the personal egoism of the doer, desire becomes impossible; it is starved out, sinks for want of a support, dies of inanition.
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doing and its objects bring about in his mind and heart any of those reactions which we call passion and sin. For 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; the impersonal, the spiritual is always pure, apapaviddham, and gives to all that it does its own inalienable Purity. This spiritual impersonality is a third sign of the divine worker. All human souls, indeed, who have attained to a certain greatness and largeness are conscious of an impersonal Force or Love or Will and Knowledge working through them, but they are not free from egoistic reactions, sometimes violent enough, of their human personality. But this freedom the liberated soul has attained; for he has cast his personality into the impersonal, where it is no longer his, but is taken up by the divine Person, the
Purushottama, who uses all finite qualities infinitely and freely and is bound by none. He has become a soul and ceased to be a sum of natural qualities; and such appearance of personality as remains for the operations of Nature, is something unbound, large, flexible, universal; it is a free mould for the Infinite, it is a living mask of the Purushottama.
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of the evolving Dharma, and every turn of the conflict has been designed and mapped by the foreseeing eye of the Master of the battle, the Lord of works and Guide of the dharma. Honour and dishonour from men cannot move him, nor their praise nor their blame; for he has a greater clear-seeing judge and another standard for his action, and his motive admits no dependence upon worldly rewards. Arjuna the Kshatriya prizes naturally honour and reputation and is right in shunning disgrace and the name of coward as worse than death; for to maintain the point of honour and the standard of courage in the world is part of his dharma: but Arjuna the liberated soul need care for none of these things, he has only to know the kartavyam karma, the work which the supreme Self demands from him, and to do that and leave the result to the Lord of his actions. He has passed even beyond that distinction of sin and virtue which is so allimportant to the human soul while it is struggling to minimise the hold of its egoism and lighten the heavy and violent yoke of its passions, - the liberated has risen above these struggles and is seated firmly in the Purity of the witnessing and enlightened soul. Sin has fallen away from him, and not a virtue acquired and increased by good action and impaired or lost by evil action, but the inalienable and unalterable Purity of a divine and selfless nature is the peak to which he has climbed and the seat upon which he is founded. There the sense of sin and the sense of virtue have no starting-point or applicability.
Arjuna, still in the ignorance, may feel in his heart the call of right and justice and may argue in his mind that abstention from battle would be a sin entailing responsibility for all the suffering that injustice and oppression and the evil karma of the triumph of wrong bring upon men and nations, or he may feel in his heart the recoil from violence and slaughter and argue in his mind that all shedding of blood is a sin which nothing can justify. Both of these attitudes would appeal with equal right to virtue and reason and it would depend upon the man, the circumstances and the time which of these might prevail in his mind or before the eyes of the world. Or he might simply feel constrained by his heart and his honour to support his friends against his enemies,
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Impersonal from whom all action proceeds without disturbing his peace. The true Sannyasa of action is the reposing of all works on the Brahman. "He who, having abandoned attachment, acts reposing (or founding) his works on the Brahman, brahman.yadhaya karman.i, is not stained by sin even as water clings not to the lotus-leaf." Therefore the Yogins first "do works with the body, mind, understanding, or even merely with the organs of action, abandoning attachment, for self-purification, sangam tyaktvatmasuddhaye. By abandoning attachment to the fruits of works the soul in union with Brahman attains to peace of rapt foundation in Brahman, but the soul not in union is attached to the fruit and bound by the action of desire." The foundation, the Purity, the peace once attained, the embodied soul perfectly controlling its nature, having renounced all its actions by the mind, inwardly, not outwardly, "sits in its ninegated city neither doing nor causing to be done." For this soul is the one impersonal Soul in all, the all-pervading Lord, prabhu, vibhu, who, as the impersonal, neither creates the works of the world, nor the mind's idea of being the doer, na kartr.tvam na karman.i, nor the coupling of works to their fruits, the chain of cause and effect. All that is worked out by the Nature in the man, svabhava, his principle of self-becoming, as the word literally means. The all-pervading Impersonal accepts neither the sin nor the virtue of any: these are things created by the ignorance in the creature, by his egoism of the doer, by his ignorance of his highest self, by his involution in the operations of Nature, and
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1.18 - The Infrarational Age of the Cycle, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
At a higher stage of development or of a return towards a fuller evolution,for the actual savage in humanity is perhaps not the original primitive man, but a relapse and reversion towards primitiveness,the infrarational stage of society may arrive at a very lofty order of civilisation. It may have great intuitions of the meaning or general intention of life, admirable ideas of the arrangement of life, a harmonious, well-adapted, durable and serviceable social system, an imposing religion which will not be without its profundities, but in which symbol and ceremonial will form the largest portion and for the mass of man will be almost the whole of religion. In this stage pure reason and pure spirituality will not govern the society or move large bodies of men, but will be represented, if at all, by individuals at first few, but growing in number as these two powers increase in their Purity and vigour and attract more and more votaries.
This may well lead to an age, if the development of reason is strongest, of great individual thinkers who seize on some idea of life and its origins and laws and erect that into a philosophy, of critical minds standing isolated above the mass who judge life, not yet with a luminous largeness, a minute flexibility of understanding or a clear and comprehensive profundity, but still with power of intelligence, insight, acuteness, perhaps even a preeminent social thinker here and there who, taking advantage of some crisis or disturbance, is able to get the society to modify or reconstruct itself on the basis of some clearly rational and intelligent principle. Such an age seems to be represented by the traditions of the beginnings of Greek civilisation, or rather the beginnings of its mobile and progressive period. Or if spirituality predominates, there will be great mystics capable of delving into the profound and still occult psychological possibilities of our nature who will divine and realise the truth of the self and spirit in man and, even though they keep these things secret and imparted only to a small number of initiates, may yet succeed in deepening with them the crude forms of the popular life. Even such a development is obscurely indicated in the old traditions of the mysteries. In prehistoric India we see it take a peculiar and unique turn which determined the whole future trend of the society and made Indian civilisation a thing apart and of its own kind in the history of the human race. But these things are only a first beginning of light in the midst of a humanity which is still infrarational as well as infra-spiritual and, even when it undergoes the influence of these precursors, responds only obscurely to their inspirations and without any clearly intelligent or awakened spiritual reception of what they impart or impose. It still turns everything into infrarational form and disfiguring tradition and lives spiritually by ill-understood ceremonial and disguising symbol. It feels obscurely the higher things, tries to live them in its own stumbling way, but it does not yet understand; it cannot lay hold either on the intellectual form or the spiritual heart of their significance.
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For a time the new growth and impulse may seem to take possession of a whole community as in Athens or in old Aryan India. But these early dawns cannot endure in their Purity, so long as the race is not ready. There is a crystallisation, a lessening of the first impetus, a new growth of infrarational forms in which the thought or the spirituality is overgrown with inferior accretions or it is imbedded in the form and may even die in it, while the tradition of the living knowledge, the loftier life and activity remains the property of the higher classes or a highest class. The multitude remains infrarational in its habit of mind, though perhaps it may still keep in capacity an enlivened intelligence or a profound or subtle spiritual receptiveness as its gain from the past. So long as the hour of the rational age has not arrived, the irrational period of society cannot be left behind; and that arrival can only be when not a class or a few but the multitude has learned to think, to exercise its intelligence activelyit matters not at first however imperfectlyupon their life, their needs, their rights, their duties, their aspirations as human beings. Until then we have as the highest possible development a mixed society, infrarational in the mass, but saved for civilisation by a higher class whose business it is to seek after the reason and the spirit, to keep the gains of mankind in these fields, to add to them, to enlighten and raise with them as much as possible the life of the whole.
At this point we see that Nature in her human mass tends to move forward slowly on her various lines of active mind and life towards a greater application of reason and spirituality which shall at last bring near the possibility of a rational and, eventually, a spiritual age of mankind. Her difficulties proceed from two sides. First, while she originally developed thought and reason and spirituality by exceptional individuals, now she develops them in the mass by exceptional communities or nations,at least in the relative sense of a nation governed, led and progressively formed and educated by its intellectually or spiritually cultured class or classes. But the exceptional nation touched on its higher levels by a developed reason or spirituality or both, as were Greece and later Rome in ancient Europe, India, China and Persia in ancient Asia, is surrounded or neighboured by enormous masses of the old infrarational humanity and endangered by this menacing proximity; for until a developed science comes in to redress the balance, the barbarian has always a greater physical force and unexhausted native power of aggression than the cultured peoples. At this stage the light and power of civilisation always collapses in the end before the attack of the outer darkness. Then ascending Nature has to train the conquerors more or less slowly, with long difficulty and much loss and delay to develop among themselves what their incursion has temporarily destroyed or impaired. In the end humanity gains by the process; a greater mass of the nations is brought in, a larger and more living force of progress is applied, a starting-point is reached from which it can move to richer and more varied gains. But a certain loss is always the price of this advance.
1.19 - Equality, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Even by the pretensions of learning and Purity and virtue and the claims to superiority which men base upon these things, he is not led away. He is equal-souled to all men, to the sinner and the saint, to the virtuous, learned and cultured Brahmin and the fallen outcaste. All these are the Gita's descriptions of the sattwic equality, and they sum up well enough what is familiar to the world as the calm philosophic equality of the sage.
Where then is the difference between this and the larger equality taught by the Gita? It lies in the difference between the intellectual and philosophic discernment and the spiritual, the Vedantic knowledge of unity on which the Gita founds its teaching. The philosopher maintains his equality by the power of the buddhi, the discerning mind; but even that by itself is a doubtful foundation. For, though master of himself on the whole by a constant attention or an acquired habit of mind, in reality he is not free from his lower nature, and it does actually assert itself in many ways and may at any moment take a violent revenge for its rejection and suppression. For, always, the play of the lower nature is a triple play, and the rajasic and tamasic qualities are ever lying in wait for the sattwic man. "Even the mind of the
1.19 - Tabooed Acts, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
being born again could restore them to Purity. "For the purpose of
regeneration it is directed to make an image of pure gold of the
1.19 - The Victory of the Fathers, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Angirases, sons of Heaven, breaking open the wealth-filled hill, shining in Purity." We have here very clearly the seven divine
Seers as the supreme ordainers of the world-sacrifice and the idea of the human being "becoming" these seven Seers, that is to say, creating them in himself and growing into that which they mean, just as he becomes the Heaven and Earth and the other gods or, as it is otherwise put, begets or creates or forms
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Next the example of the human fathers is given as the original type of this great becoming and achievement. "Now also, even as our supreme ancient fathers, O Agni, seeking to possess the Truth, expressing the Word, travelled to the Purity and the light; breaking open the earth (the material being) they uncovered the ruddy ones (the Dawns, the Cows); perfected in works and in light, seeking the godheads, gods, forging the Births like iron (or, forging the divine births like iron), making Agni a pure flame, increasing Indra, they attained and reached the wideness of the Light (of the Cows, gavyam urvam). As if herds of the Cow in the field of riches, that was manifested to vision which is the Births of the Gods within, O puissant One; they both accomplished the wide enjoyments (or, longings) of mortals and worked as aspirers for the increase of the higher being"; a yutheva ks.umati pasvo akhyad, devanam yaj janima anti ugra; martanam cid urvasr akr.pran, vr.dhe cid arya uparasya ayoh..
Evidently, this is a repetition in other language of the double idea of possessing the riches of Diti, yet safeguarding Aditi. "We have done the work for thee, we have become perfect in works, the wide-shining Dawns have taken up their home in the Truth
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Bull milks the pure shining teat." The symbolic opposition between the shining white Purity of the One who is the source, seat, foundation and the variegated colouring of the Life manifested
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1.2.02 - Qualities Needed for Sadhana, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It goes without saying that the qualities you speak of are helpful in the approach to the spiritual path, while the defects you enumerate are each a serious stumbling-block in the way. Sincerity especially is indispensable to the spiritual endeavour, and crookedness a constant obstacle. The sattwic nature has always been held to be the most apt and ready for the spiritual life, while the rajasic nature is encumbered by its desires and passions. At the same time, spirituality is something above the dualities, and what is most needed for it is a true upward aspiration. This may come to the rajasic man as well as to the sattwic. If it does, he can rise by it above his failings and desires and passions, just as the other can rise beyond his virtues, to the Divine Purity and
Light and Love. Necessarily this can only happen if he conquers his lower nature and throws it from him; for if he relapses into it, he is likely to fall from the path or at least to be, so long as the relapse lasts, held back by it from inner progress. But for all that the conversion of great sinners into great saints, of men of little or no virtue into spiritual seekers and God-lovers has frequently happened in religious and spiritual history - as in
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Such qualities as faith, sincerity, aspiration, devotion etc. make up the perfection indicated in our language of the flowers.1 In ordinary language it would mean something else such as Purity, love, benevolence, fidelity and a host of other virtues.
Conditions of the Yoga
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(2) A fundamental calm, peace and Purity in the mind, vital being and all the nature.
The hours of meditation should be devoted to the formation of these two conditions in you, by aspiration and by selfobservation and rejection of all that disturbs the nature or keeps it troubled, confused and impure. Aspiration if rightly done, quietly, earnestly and sincerely, brings the divine help from above to effect this object.
1.2.03 - Purity, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
object:1.2.03 - Purity
author class:Sri Aurobindo
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The aspiration must be for entire purification, especially (1) purification from sex, so that no sex imaginations may enter and the sex impulse may cease, (2) purification from desires and demands, (3) purification from depression which is the result of disappointed desires. It is the most important for you. Particularly what you must aspire for is peace in all the being, complete equanimity, samata. The feeling that peace is not enough must go. Peace and Purity and equanimity once established, all the rest must be the Mother s free gift, not a result of the demand from the being.
You can mix normally with people keeping as much as possible an inner quietude. In future when the purification is done and a continuous experience possible we can reconsider the matter.
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The Meaning of Purity
Purity is to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.
It [ Purity] is more a condition than a substance. Peace helps to Purity - since in peace disturbing influences cease and the essence of Purity is to respond only to the Divine Influence and not to have an affinity with other movements.
Purity means freedom from soil or mixture. The divine Purity is that in which there is no mixture of the turbid ignorant movements of the lower nature. Ordinarily Purity is used to mean (in the common language) freedom from vital passion and impulse.
The Divine Purity is a more wide and all-embracing experience than the psychic.
Purity or im Purity depends upon the consciousness; in the divine
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Ignorance is not a state of innocence or Purity; that is an old blunder. Only a consciousness full of light can be pure. For instance, when you are conscious, your mind is clear and you have the right ideas about things and people; your mind is pure of ignorance. But when the mind is clouded by some im Purity,
- say, anger, jealousy or pride or some unreasonable desire, - you at once become ignorant and mistake and misunderstand everything.
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This is what the Mother meant by Purity; to be free from false ideas, wrong feelings, desires, demands etc. is to be pure.
Purity in the consciousness and Purity in the conduct is what is usually meant by these terms [inner and outer Purity].
12.04 - Love and Death, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The Viziers of Bassora represents Love in its mood of frolicsome, almost frivolous dalliance, clothed, it would appear, in a body purely made of the fluid, i.e., playful senses. There is no need, no question of moral or social inhibitionslove is in its absolute spontaneous sportive natural state, natural to an earthly being. The beauty that unhindered love displays here has no stain in it, a stain that a more sophisticated and cultured nature contracts: it is the smiling radiance of the unspoiled limpid consciousness of a child. Yes, it is the Brindaban-lila of Love in its very human, very secular movement. Love is here of earth and of an earthy mode and yet somehow it has maintained its Purity, its very spontaneity and simplicity has, as it were, miraculously by its very naturalness purified it of its dross and made it akin to something aerial and heavenly.
In Vasavadutta, Love is depicted as something royal and noble and aristocratic, it is something refined and beautiful, an adornment of a consciousness cultured and luminous; it is a special gift bestowed by the Gods only upon a few godly creatures, men and women.
1.2.05 - Aspiration, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Mother s peace, force, light and Purity.
No Need of Words in Aspiration
1.2.07 - Surrender, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
If you are surrendered only in the higher consciousness, with no peace or Purity in the lower, certainly that is not enough and you have to aspire for the peace and Purity everywhere.
It [surrender] cannot be absolutely complete in the beginning, but it can be true - if the central will is sincere and there is the faith and the Bhakti. There may be contrary movements, but these will be unable to stand for long and the imperfection of the surrender in the lower part will not seriously interfere with the power and pervasiveness of the inner attitude.
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The power of experience is not gone - but what is most important now is to develop the psychic condition of surrender, devotion, love and cheerful confidence in the Mother an unshaken faith and a constant inner closeness, and also to bring down from above the peace, wideness, Purity etc. of the higher
Self which is that of the Mother s consciousness. It is these things that are the basis of the siddhi in this Yoga - other experiences are only a help, not the basis.
1.20 - Equality and Knowledge, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The sacrifice of knowledge, says the Gita therefore, is greater than any material sacrifice. "Even if thou art the greatest doer of sin beyond all sinners, thou shalt cross over all the crookedness of evil in the ship of knowledge. . . . There is nothing in the world equal in Purity to knowledge." By knowledge desire and its first-born child, sin, are destroyed. The liberated man is able to do works as a sacrifice because he is freed from attachment through his mind, heart and spirit being firmly founded in selfknowledge, gata-sangasya jnanavasthita-cetasah.. All his work disappears completely as soon as done, suffers laya, as one might say, in the being of the Brahman, pravilyate; it has no reactionary consequence on the soul of the apparent doer. The work is done by the Lord through his Nature, it is no longer personal to the human instrument. The work itself becomes but power of the nature and substance of the being of the Brahman.
It is in this sense that the Gita is speaking when it says that all the totality of work finds its completion, culmination, end in knowledge, sarvam karmakhilam jnane parisamapyate. "As
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Nature. But this freedom, mastery, Purity we cannot see; we are bewildered by the natural ignorance which hides from us the eternal self-knowledge of the Brahman secret within our being.
But knowledge comes to its persistent seeker and removes the natural self-ignorance; it shines out like a long-hidden sun and lights up to our vision that self-being supreme beyond the dualities of this lower existence, adityavat prakasayati tat param. By a long whole-hearted endeavour, by directing our whole conscious being to that, by making that our whole aim, by turning it into the whole object of our discerning mind and so seeing it not only in ourselves but everywhere, we become one thought and self with that, tad-buddhayas tad-atmanah., we are washed clean of all the darkness and suffering of the lower man by the waters of knowledge,1 jnana-nirdhuta-kalmas.ah..
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too rise beyond good and evil; we act in that Purity, stainlessly, with an equal and single purpose of fulfilling the welfare of all existences, ks.n.a-kalmas.ah. sarvabhuta-hite ratah.. The Lord in our hearts is in the ignorance also the cause of our actions, but through his Maya, through the egoism of our lower nature which creates the tangled web of our actions and brings back upon our egoism the recoil of their tangled reactions affecting us inwardly as sin and virtue, affecting us outwardly as suffering and pleasure, evil fortune and good fortune, the great chain of
Karma. When we are freed by knowledge, the Lord, no longer hidden in our hearts, but manifest as our supreme self, takes up our works and uses us as faultless instruments, nimitta-matram, for the helping of the world. Such is the intimate union between knowledge and equality; knowledge here in the buddhi reflected as equality in the temperament; above, on a higher plane of consciousness, knowledge as the light of the Being, equality as the stuff of the Nature.
1.20 - RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
He sees everything to be full of Brahman-Consciousness; therefore he behaves like a ghoul. He is not conscious of the holy and the unholy. He does not observe any formal Purity. To him everything is Brahman. He is not aware of filth as such. Even rice and other cooked food after a few days become like filth.
"Again, he is like a madman. People notice his ways and actions and think of him as insane. Or sometimes he is like a child-no bondage, no shame, no hatred, no hesitation, or the like.
1.20 - Tabooed Persons, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
rules of ceremonial Purity identical with rules observed by Maoris
and Australian blackfellows on the war-path. The vessels they used
1.21 - Families of the Daityas, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
Diti, having lost her children, propitiated Kaśyapa; and the best of ascetics, being pleased with her, promised her a boon; on which she prayed for a son of irresistible prowess and valour, who should destroy Indra. The excellent Muni granted his wife the great gift she had solicited, but with one condition: "You shall bear a son," he said, "who shall slay Indra, if with thoughts wholly pious, and person entirely pure, you carefully carry the babe in your womb for a hundred years." Having thus said, Kaśyapa departed; and the dame conceived, and during gestation assiduously observed the rules of mental and personal Purity. When the king of the immortals, learnt that Diti bore a son destined for his destruction, he came to her, and attended upon her with the utmost humility, watching for an opportunity to disappoint her intention. At last, in the last year of the century, the opportunity occurred. Diti retired one night to rest without performing the prescribed ablution of her feet, and fell asleep; on which the thunderer divided with his thunderbolt the embryo in her womb into seven portions. The child, thus mutilated, cried bitterly; and Indra repeatedly attempted to console and silence it, but in vain: on which the god, being incensed, again divided each of the seven portions into seven, and thus formed the swift-moving deities called Mārutas (winds). They derived this appellation from the words with which Indra had addressed them (Mā rodīh, 'Weep not'); and they became forty-nine subordinate divinities, the associates of the wielder of the thunderbolt[24].
Footnotes and references:
1.21 - Tabooed Things, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
THUS in primitive society the rules of ceremonial Purity observed by
divine kings, chiefs, and priests agree in many respects with the
1.22 - The Problem of Life, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
1:LIFE IS, we have seen, the putting forth, under certain cosmic circumstances, of a Conscious-Force which is in its own nature infinite, absolute, untrammelled, inalienably possessed of its own unity and bliss, the Conscious-Force of Sachchidananda. The central circumstance of this cosmic process, in so far as it differs in its appearances from the Purity of the infinite Existence and the self-possession of the undivided Energy, is the dividing faculty of the Mind obscured by ignorance. There results from this divided action of an undivided Force the apparition of dualities, oppositions, seeming denials of the nature of Sachchidananda which exist as an abiding reality for the mind, but only as a phenomenon misrepresenting a manifold Reality for the divine cosmic Consciousness concealed behind the veil of mind. Hence the world takes on the appearance of a clash of opposing truths each seeking to fulfil itself, each having the right to fulfilment, and therefore of a mass of problems and mysteries which have to be solved because behind all this confusion there is the hidden Truth and unity pressing for the solution and by the solution for its own unveiled manifestation in the world.
2:This solution has to be sought by the mind, but not by the mind alone; it has to be a solution in Life, in act of being as well as in consciousness of being. Consciousness as Force has created the world-movement and its problems; consciousness as Force has to solve the problems it has created and carry the world-movement to the inevitable fulfilment of its secret sense and evolving Truth. But this Life has taken successively three appearances. The first is material, - a submerged consciousness is concealed in its own superficial expressive action and representative forms of force; for the consciousness itself disappears from view in the act and is lost in the form. The second is vital, - an emerging consciousness is half-apparent as power of life and process of the growth, activity and decay of form, it is half-delivered out of its original imprisonment, it has become vibrant in power, as vital craving and satisfaction or repulsion, but at first not at all and then only imperfectly vibrant in light as knowledge of its own self-existence and its environment. The third is mental, - an emerged consciousness reflects fact of life as mental sense and responsive perception and idea while as new idea it tries to become fact of life, modifies the internal and attempts to modify conformably the external existence of the being. Here, in mind, consciousness is delivered out of its imprisonment in the act and form of its own force; but it is not yet master of the act and form because it has emerged as an individual consciousness and is aware therefore only of a fragmentary movement of its own total activities.
1.23 - The Double Soul in Man, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
4:That term is something in us which we sometimes call in a special sense the soul, - that is to say, the psychic principle which is not the life or the mind, much less the body, but which holds in itself the opening and flowering of the essence of all these to their own peculiar delight of self, to light, to love, to joy and beauty and to a refined Purity of being. In fact, however, there is a double soul or psychic term in us, as every other cosmic principle in us is also double. For we have two minds, one the surface mind of our expressed evolutionary ego, the superficial mentality created by us in our emergence out of Matter, another a subliminal mind which is not hampered by our actual mental life and its strict limitations, something large, powerful and luminous, the true mental being behind that superficial form of mental personality which we mistake for ourselves. So also we have two lives, one outer, involved in the physical body, bound by its past evolution in Matter, which lives and was born and will die, the other a subliminal force of life which is not cabined between the narrow boundaries of our physical birth and death, but is our true vital being behind the form of living which we ignorantly take for our real existence. Even in the matter of our being there is this duality; for behind our body we have a subtler material existence which provides the substance not only of our physical but of our vital and mental sheaths and is therefore our real substance supporting this physical form which we erroneously imagine to be the whole body of our spirit. So too we have a double psychic entity in us, the surface desire-soul which works in our vital cravings, our emotions, aesthetic faculty and mental seeking for power, knowledge and happiness, and a subliminal psychic entity, a pure power of light, love, joy and refined essence of being which is our true soul behind the outer form of psychic existence we so often dignify by the name. It is when some reflection of this larger and purer psychic entity comes to the surface that we say of a man, he has a soul, and when it is absent in his outward psychic life that we say of him, he has no soul.
5:The external forms of our being are those of our small egoistic existence; the subliminal are the formations of our larger true individuality. Therefore are these that concealed part of our being in which our individuality is close to our universality, touches it, is in constant relation and commerce with it. The subliminal mind in us is open to the universal knowledge of the cosmic Mind, the subliminal life in us to the universal force of the cosmic Life, the subliminal physicality in us to the universal forceformation of cosmic Matter; the thick walls which divide from these things our surface mind, life, body and which Nature has to pierce with so much trouble, so imperfectly and by so many skilful-clumsy physical devices, are there, in the subliminal, only a rarefied medium at once of separation and communication. So too is the subliminal soul in us open to the universal delight which the cosmic soul takes in its own existence and in the existence of the myriad souls that represent it and in the operations of mind, life and matter by which Nature lends herself to their play and development; but from this cosmic delight the surface soul is shut off by egoistic walls of great thickness which have indeed gates of penetration, but in their entry through them the touches of the divine cosmic Delight become dwarfed, distorted or have to come in masked as their own opposites.
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13:Even as between the other divided and opposed terms of manifested Being, so also a supramental consciousness-energy could alone establish a perfect harmony between these two terms - apparently opposite only because of the Ignorance - of spirit status and world dynamism in our embodied existence. In the Ignorance Nature centres the order of her psychological movements, not around the secret spiritual self, but around its substitute, the ego-principle: a certain ego-centrism is the basis on which we bind together our experiences and relations in the midst of the complex contacts, contradictions, dualities, incoherences of the world in which we live; this ego-centrism is our rock of safety against the cosmic and the infinite, our defence. But in our spiritual change we have to forego this defence; ego has to vanish, the person finds itself dissolved into a vast impersonality, and in this impersonality there is at first no key to an ordered dynamism of action. A very usual result is that one is divided into two parts of being, the spiritual within, the natural without; in one there is the divine realisation seated in a perfect inner freedom, but the natural part goes on with the old action of Nature, continues by a mechanical movement of past energies her already transmitted impulse. Even, if there is an entire dissolution of the limited person and the old ego-centric order, the outer nature may become the field of an apparent incoherence, although all within is luminous with the Self. Thus we become outwardly inert and inactive, moved by circumstance or forces but not self-mobile,9 even though the consciousness is enlightened within, or as a child though within is a plenary self-knowledge,10 or as one inconsequent in thought and impulse though within is an utter calm and serenity,11 or as the wild and disordered soul though inwardly there is the Purity and poise of the Spirit.12 Or if there is an ordered dynamism in the outward nature, it may be a continuation of superficial ego-action witnessed but not accepted by the inner being, or a mental dynamism that cannot be perfectly expressive of the inner spiritual realisation; for there is no equipollence between action of mind and status of spirit. Even at the best where there is an intuitive guidance of Light from within, the nature of its expression in dynamism of action must be marked with the imperfections of mind, life and body, a King with incapable ministers, a Knowledge expressed in the values of the Ignorance. Only the descent of the Supermind with its perfect unity of Truth-Knowledge and Truth-Will can establish in the outer as in the inner existence the harmony of the Spirit; for it alone can turn the values of the Ignorance entirely into the values of the Knowledge.
14:In the fulfilment of our psychic being as in the consummation of our parts of mind and life, it is the relating of it to its divine source, to its correspondent truth in the Supreme Reality, that is the indispensable movement; and, here too as there, it is by the power of the Supermind that it can be done with an integral completeness, an intimacy that becomes an au thentic identity; for it is the Supermind which links the higher and the lower hemispheres of the One Existence. In Supermind is the integrating Light, the consummating Force, the wide entry into the supreme Ananda: the psychic being uplifted by that Light and Force can unite itself with the original Delight of existence from which it came: overcoming the dualities of pain and pleasure, delivering from all fear and shrinking the mind, life and body, it can recast the contacts of existence in the world into terms of the Divine Ananda.
1.240 - 1.300 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
M.: The Self in its Purity.
D.: How can the mind be made to vanish?
--
The ego in its Purity is experienced in intervals between two states or two thoughts. Ego is like that caterpillar which leaves its hold only after catching another. Its true nature can be found when it is out of contact with objects or thoughts. Realise this interval with the conviction gained by the study of avas thatraya (the three states of consciousness).
D.: How do we go to sleep and how do we wake up?
--
M.: Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness. By constant meditation it gains strength, i.e., to say, its weakness of fugitive thought gives place to the enduring background free from thoughts. This expanse devoid of thought is the Self. Mind in Purity is the Self. Sri
Bhagavan continued in reply to the former questioner: Everyone says
1.240 - Talks 2, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
M.: The Self in its Purity.
D.: How can the mind be made to vanish?
--
The ego in its Purity is experienced in intervals between two states or two thoughts. Ego is like that caterpillar which leaves its hold only after catching another. Its true nature can be found when it is out of contact with objects or thoughts. Realise this interval with the conviction gained by the study of avas thatraya (the three states of consciousness).
D.: How do we go to sleep and how do we wake up?
--
M.: Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness. By constant meditation it gains strength, i.e., to say, its weakness of fugitive thought gives place to the enduring background free from thoughts. This expanse devoid of thought is the Self. Mind in Purity is the Self. Sri
Bhagavan continued in reply to the former questioner: Everyone says
--
M.: It is to give rise to this question; investigate the answer to this question, and finally abide in the supreme or rather the primal source of all, including the Self. The investigation will resolve itself into one of quest for the Self and cease only after the non-self is sifted away and the Self realised in its Purity and glory.
D.: How is the investigation to start?
--
Mind is necessary for visesha; it modifies the Purity of absolute consciousness. So vijnana represents intellect and the sheath composing it, i.e., relative knowledge. In that case jnana is common
(samanya) running through vijnana samjnana, prajnana, ajnana, mati, dhirti - different modes of knowledge (vide: Aitareyopanishad,
--
M.: It requires Purity and strength of mind and practice in meditation.
D.: Does God become evident if the above conditions exist?
--
M.: Yes. There is Purity (satva) in satva (in the pure quality); activity in it (rajas in satva); and dullness also (tamas in satva); and so on,
Suddha satva is quite pure; misra (mixed satva) is a combination of satva with other qualities. The quality satva implies only its predominance over the other two qualities.
--
Jnani. The ego is simply wrong identity of the Self with the non-self, as in the case of a colourless crystal and its coloured background. The crystal though colourless appears red because of its background. If the background is removed the crystal shines in its original Purity. So it is with the Self and the antahkaranas.
Still again the illustration is not quite appropriate. For the ego has its source from the Self and is not separate like the background from the crystal. Having its source from the Self, the ego must only be retraced in order that it might merge in its source.
1.24 - Matter, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
call sense, but here it has to be an obscure externalised sense which must be assured of the reality of what it contacts. The descent of pure substance into material substance follows, then, inevitably on the descent of Sachchidananda through supermind into mind and life. It is a necessary result of the will to make multiplicity of being and an awareness of things from separate centres of consciousness the first method of this lower experience of existence. If we go back to the spiritual basis of things, substance in its utter Purity resolves itself into pure conscious being, self-existent, inherently self-aware by identity, but not yet turning its consciousness upon itself as object. Supermind preserves this self-awareness by identity as its substance of selfknowledge and its light of self-creation, but for that creation presents Being to itself as the subject-object one and multiple of its own active consciousness. Being as object is held there in a supreme knowledge which can, by comprehension, see it both as an object of cognition within itself and subjectively as itself, but can also and simultaneously, by apprehension, project it as an object (or objects) of cognition within the circumference of its consciousness, not other than itself, part of its being, but a part (or parts) put away from itself, - that is to say, from the centre of vision in which Being concentrates itself as the Knower,
Witness or Purusha. We have seen that from this apprehending consciousness arises the movement of Mind, the movement by which the individual knower regards a form of his own universal being as if other than he; but in the divine Mind there is immediately or rather simultaneously another movement or reverse side of the same movement, an act of union in being which heals this phenomenal division and prevents it from becoming even for a moment solely real to the knower. This act of conscious union is that which is represented otherwise in dividing Mind obtusely, ignorantly, quite externally as contact in consciousness between divided beings and separate objects, and with us this contact in divided consciousness is primarily represented by the principle of sense. On this basis of sense, on this contact of union subject to division, the action of the thought-mind founds itself and prepares for the return to a higher principle of union in which
1.24 - On meekness, simplicity, guilelessness which come not from nature but from habit, and about malice., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
Innocent is he whose soul is in its natural Purity as it was created, and who makes intercession for all.
Malice is a perversion of honesty, a deceitful way of thinking, falsely screened by affability, false oaths, ambiguous words, dissimulation of heart, an abyss of cunning, deceit that has become a habit, conceit turned into nature, a foe to humility, a pretence of penitence, diminution of mourning, hostility to confession, wilfulness, an agent of falls, a hindrance to resurrection, a smiling at offences, affected frowning, false reverence, diabolical life.
1.25 - ADVICE TO PUNDIT SHASHADHAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
My Mother's play, declares Prasad, shatters all rules and laws: Strive hard for Purity, O mind,
And understand my Mother's ways.
--
"But seeing is far better than hearing. Then all doubts disappear. It is true that many things are recorded in the scriptures; but all these are useless without the direct realization of God, without devotion to His Lotus Feet, without Purity of heart. The almanac forecasts the rainfall of the year. But not a drop of water will you get by squeezing the almanac. No, not even one drop.
"How long should one reason about the texts of the scriptures? So long as one does not have direct realization of God. How long does the bee buzz about? As long as it is not sitting on a flower. No sooner does it light on a flower and begin to sip honey than it keeps quiet.
1.25 - On the destroyer of the passions, most sublime humility, which is rooted in spiritual feeling., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
1. He who thinks that it is possible to use the visible word in order to describe the sensation and effect of the love of the Lord exactly, holy humility gracefully, blessed Purity truly, divine enlightenment clearly, the fear of God honestly, assurance of heart sincerely, and imagines that by his description of things of this kind he will enlighten those who have never actually experienced them, is like a man who by words and comparisons wants to give an idea of the sweetness of honey to people who have never tasted it. But just as the latter talks in vain, not to say babbles, so the former either gives the impression of having no experience of what he is talking about, or else has become the mere toy of vainglory.1
2. This subject sets a treasure before us as a touchstone, preserved in ear then vessels, that is to say in our bodies, and it is of a quality that baffles all description. This treasure has one inscription which is incomprehensible because it comes from above, and those who try to explain it with words give themselves great and endless trouble. And the inscription runs thus: Holy Humility.
--
44. If the limit and rule and characteristic of extreme pride is for a man to feign such virtues as he does not possess for the sake of glory, then it follows that a sign of the deepest humility will be to cheapen ourselves by pretending to have faults that we do not possess. It was in this way that he behaved who took into his hands bread and cheese.3 Likewise the exponent of Purity who took off his clothes and, free of passion, went through the whole city.4 Such men care nothing for human censure. They have already received invisible power through prayer to reassure all. But he who is anxious about the former will show a lack of the latter.5 When God is prepared to attend to our prayer, then we can do anything.
45. It is better to offend men than God. God rejoices when He sees us running to meet dishonour, so as to crush, strike and destroy our vain self-esteem.
1.25 - SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The following passage from one of the great Mahayana scriptures contains a searching criticism of the kind of spiritual exercises prescribed by Hinayanist teachersconcentration on symbolic objects, meditations on transience and decay (to wean the soul away from attachment to earthly things), on the different virtues which must be cultivated, on the fundamental doctrines of Buddhism. (Many of these exercises are described at length in The Path of Purity, a book which has been translated in full and published by the Pali Text Society. Mahayanist exercises are described in the Surangama Sutra, translated by Dwight Goddard and in the volume on Tibetan Yoga, edited by Dr. Evans-Wentz.)
In his exercise the Yogin sees (imaginatively) the form of the sun or moon, or something looking like a lotus, or the underworld, or various forms, such as sky, fire and the like. All these appearances lead him in the way of the philosophers; they throw him down into the state of Sravakahood, into the realm of the Pratyekabuddhas. When all these are put aside and there is a state of imagelessness, then a condition in conformity with Suchness presents itself, and the Buddhas will come together from all their countries and with their shining hands will touch the head of this benefactor.
1.26 - FESTIVAL AT ADHARS HOUSE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Presently the Master left them, going in the direction of the pine-trees. After a few minutes M. and Ltu, standing in the Panchavati, saw the Master coming back toward them. Behind him the sky was black with the rain-cloud. Its reflection in the Ganges made the water darker. The disciples felt that the Master was God Incarnate, a Divine Child five years old, radiant with the smile of innocence and Purity. Around him were the sacred trees of the Panchavati under which he had practised spiritual discipline and had beheld visions of God. At his feet flowed the sacred river Ganges, the destroyer of man's sins. The presence of this God-man charged the trees, shrubs, flowers, plants, and temples with spiritual fervour and divine joy.
Sri Ramakrishna returned to his room and sat on the small couch. He began to praise a medicine that a certain brahmachari had prepared for him. Referring to this man, Hazra said: "He is now entangled in many worldly anxieties. What a shame! Look at Nabai Chaitanya of Konnagar. Though a householder, he has put on a red cloth."
1.26 - On discernment of thoughts, passions and virtues, #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
Discernment is undefiled conscience and Purity of feeling.
Let no one on seeing or hearing something supernatural in the monastic way of life fall into unbelief out of ignorance; for where the supernatural God dwells, much that is supernatural happens.
--
Some, I know not why (for I have not learned to pry conceitedly into the gifts of God) are by nature, I might say, prone to temperance, or silence, or Purity, or modesty, or meekness, or contrition. But others, although almost their own nature itself resists them in this, to the best of their power force themselves; and though they occasionally suffer defeat yet, as men struggling with nature, they are in my opinion higher than the former.
Do not boast, man, of the wealth you have obtained without labour. For the Bestower, foreseeing your great hurt, and infirmity, and ruin, at least saves you to some extent by those unmerited gifts.
1.27 - AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Refuge of all beings! Purity of purifiers!
Thou alone dost rule over those in the high places, Supreme over the supreme, the Protector of protectors.
1.28 - On holy and blessed prayer, mother of virtues, and on the attitude of mind and body in prayer., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
12. Do not be bold, even though you may have attained Purity; but rather approach with great humility, and you will receive still more boldness.
13. Though you may have climbed the whole ladder of the virtues, pray for forgiveness of sins. Listen to the cry of Paul regarding sinners: Of whom I am the first.3
1.29 - Concerning heaven on earth, or godlike dispassion and perfection, and the resurrection of the soul before the general resurrection., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
7. Purity too is called dispassion; and rightly, because it is the harbinger of the general resurrection and of the incorruption of the corruptible.
8. Dispassion was shown by him who said: I have the mind of the Lord.3 Dispassion was shown by the Egyptian4 who said that he no longer feared the Lord. Dispassion was shown by him who prayed that his passions should return to him.5 Who before the future glory has been granted such dispassion as that Syrian?6 For David, glorious among the prophets, says to the Lord: O spare me, that I may recover my strength;7 but that athlete of God cries: Spare me from the waves of Thy grace.
--
10. If it is the acme of gluttony to force oneself to eat even when one has no appetite, then it is certainly the acme of temperance for a hungry man to overcome nature when it is blameless.8 If it is extreme sensuality to rave over irrational and even inanimate creatures, then it is extreme Purity to hold all persons in the same regard as inanimate things. If it is the height of cupidity to go on collecting and never be satisfied, it is the height of poverty not to spare even ones own body. If it is the height of despondency, while living in complete peace, not to acquire patience, then it is the height of patience to think of oneself even in affliction as being at rest. If it is called a sea of wrath for a person to be savage even when no one is about, then it will be a sea of long-suffering to be as calm in the presence of your slanderer as in his absence. If it is the height of vainglory when a person, seeing no one near him to praise him, puts on affected behaviour, it is certainly a mark of its absence, not to let your thought be beguiled in the presence of those who praise you. If it is a sign of perdition (that is to say, pride) to be arrogant even in poor clothing, then it is a mark of saving humility to have humble thoughts in the midst of high undertakings and achievements. If it is a sign of complete enslavement to the passions to yield readily to everything the demons sow in us, then I take it as a mark of holy dispassion to be able to say honestly: The evil one who dodges me, I have not known;9 nor how he came, nor why, nor how he went; but I am completely unaware of everything of this kind, because I am wholly united with God, and always will be.
11. He who has been granted such a state, while still in the flesh, always has God dwelling within him as his Guide in all his words, deeds and thoughts. Therefore, through illumination he apprehends the Lords will as a sort of inner voice. He is above all human instruction and says: When shall I come and appear before the face of God?10 For I can no longer bear the force of love; I long for the immortal beauty which Thou hast given me in exchange for this clay.
1.2 - Katha Upanishads, #Kena and Other Upanishads, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
2. Lo, the Swan whose dwelling is in the Purity, He is the Vasu
in the interregions, the Sacrificer at the altar, the Guest in
1.300 - 1.400 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
M.: It is to give rise to this question; investigate the answer to this question, and finally abide in the supreme or rather the primal source of all, including the Self. The investigation will resolve itself into one of quest for the Self and cease only after the non-self is sifted away and the Self realised in its Purity and glory.
D.: How is the investigation to start?
--
Mind is necessary for visesha; it modifies the Purity of absolute consciousness. So vijnana represents intellect and the sheath composing it, i.e., relative knowledge. In that case jnana is common
(samanya) running through vijnana samjnana, prajnana, ajnana, mati, dhirti - different modes of knowledge (vide: Aitareyopanishad,
--
M.: It requires Purity and strength of mind and practice in meditation.
D.: Does God become evident if the above conditions exist?
--
M.: Yes. There is Purity (satva) in satva (in the pure quality); activity in it (rajas in satva); and dullness also (tamas in satva); and so on,
Suddha satva is quite pure; misra (mixed satva) is a combination of satva with other qualities. The quality satva implies only its predominance over the other two qualities.
--
Jnani. The ego is simply wrong identity of the Self with the non-self, as in the case of a colourless crystal and its coloured background. The crystal though colourless appears red because of its background. If the background is removed the crystal shines in its original Purity. So it is with the Self and the antahkaranas.
381
1.3.01 - Peace The Basis of the Sadhana, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Peace and Purity of the consciousness are the very foundation of the necessary change in the nature.
Peace is necessary for all; without peace and an increasing Purity, even if one opens, one cannot receive perfectly all that comes down through the opening. Light too is necessary for all
- without light one cannot take full advantage of all that comes down.
1.3.03 - Quiet and Calm, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
First aspire and pray to the Mother for quiet in the mind, Purity, calm and peace, an awakened consciousness, intensity of devotion, strength and spiritual capacity to face all inner and outer difficulties and go through to the end of the Yoga. If the consciousness awakens and there is devotion and intensity of
Quiet and Calm
--
In reality, calm is not a negative thing; it is the very nature of the Sat-Purusha and the positive foundation of the divine consciousness. Whatever else is aspired for and gained, this must be kept. Even Knowledge, Power, Ananda, if they come and do not find this foundation, are unable to remain and have to withdraw until the divine Purity and peace of the Sat-Purusha are permanently there.
Quiet and Calm
1.3.04 - Peace, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Certainly, peace, Purity and silence can be felt in all material
Peace
--
It is the Vaishnava feeling that the Vedantic peace is not enough, the love and joy of the Divine is more precious. But unless the two things go together, the love and joy felt is perhaps intense, but impermanent, and it is also true that it gets easily mixed, misdirected or turns to something that is not the true thing at all. Peace and Purity must be got as the foundation of the consciousness, otherwise there is no firm standing ground for the divine play.
Active experience of the joy, peace, love, etc. when the direct contact is there; but even when it is not there, a quiet mind, heart and vital waiting and aspiring for the contact and the
1.30 - Adonis in Syria, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
these tumbling waters, in the sweetness and Purity of the mountain
air, in the vivid green of the vegetation. The temple, of which some
1.30 - Concerning the linking together of the supreme trinity among the virtues., #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
19. I think that the body of those incorruptible men is not even subject to sickness any longer, because it has been rendered incorruptible; for they have purified the inflammable flesh in the flame of Purity. I think that even the food that is set before them they accept without any pleasure. For there is an underground stream that nourishes the root of a plant, and their souls too are sustained by a celestial fire.
20. The growth of fear is the beginning of love, but a complete state of Purity is the foundation of divine knowledge.4
21. He who has perfectly united his feeling to God is mystically led by Him to an understanding of His words. But without this union it is difficult to speak about God.
22. The engrafted Word5 perfects Purity, and slays death by His presence; and after the slaying of death, the disciple of divine knowledge is illumined.
23. The Word of the Lord which is from God the Father is pure, and remains so eternally. But he who has not come to know God merely speculates.
24. Purity makes its disciple a theologian, who of himself grasps the dogmas of the Trinity.
25. He who loves the Lord has first loved his brother, because the second is a proof of the first.
1.31 - Continues the same subject. Explains what is meant by the Prayer of Quiet. Gives several counsels to those who experience it. This chapter is very noteworthy., #The Way of Perfection, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
take away all that He has given from those who live in Purity of conscience. But there are
persons-and I have been one of them-to whom the Lord gives tenderness of devotion and holy
1.3.2.01 - I. The Entire Purpose of Yoga, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
By Yoga we can rise out of falsehood into truth, out of weakness into force, out of pain and grief into bliss, out of bondage into freedom, out of death into immortality, out of darkness into light, out of confusion into Purity, out of imperfection into perfection, out of self-division into unity, out of Maya into God.
All other utilisation of Yoga is for special and fragmentary advantages not always worth pursuing. Only that which aims at possessing the fullness of God is purna Yoga; the sadhaka of the
1.3.5.02 - Man and the Supermind, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Superman is not man climbed to his own natural zenith, not a superior degree of human greatness, knowledge, power, intelligence, will, character, genius, dynamic force, saintliness, love, Purity or perfection. Supermind is something beyond mental man and his limits, a greater consciousness than the highest consciousness proper to human nature.
Man is a being from the mental worlds whose mentality works here involved, obscure and degraded in a physical brain, shut off from its own divinest powers and impotent to change life beyond certain narrow and precarious limits. Even in the highest of his kind it is baulked of its luminous possibilities of supreme force and freedom by this dependence. Most often and in most men it is only a servitor, a purveyor of amusements, a caterer of needs and interests to the life and the body. But the superman will be a gnostic king of Nature; supermind in him even in its evolutionary beginnings will appear as a ray of the eternal omniscience and omnipotence. Sovereign and irresistible
1.35 - Describes the recollection which should be practised after Communion. Concludes this subject with an exclamatory prayer to the Eternal Father., #The Way of Perfection, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
abominable and foul as they are. With His beauty and Purity He does not deserve to be in a house
where such things happen. Do this, Lord, not for our sake, for we do not deserve it, but for the sake
1.3 - Mundaka Upanishads, #Kena and Other Upanishads, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
integral knowledge, by a life of Purity, - this Self that is
in the inner body, radiant, made all of light whom by the
14.08 - A Parable of Sea-Gulls, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The symbol used here is very appropriate and meaningful. The sea-gull has normally a very beautiful appearance: Its snow-white body, out-spread wings, all spotless white and its gracefulness in flight is indeed a delightful spectacle for the eyes to contemplate. Even so man also, even this earthly creature has within him a beautiful being snow-white in its Purity and exceedingly graceful in gait and movement; that being has to be brought out and displayed even as the sea-gull transformed itselftransformed its very nature and substance into a vibrating mass of light with its diamond sheen, its material body itself a packet of intense and yet controlled radiating energy.
A re-creation of the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, published by Turnstone Press Ltd, London, 1972.
1.41 - Isis, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
encircled with the nimbus of moral Purity, of immemorial and
mysterious sanctity. Thus chastened and transfigured she won many
1.439, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
There are many cases known to the writer and many others of which he has heard and read, in which such continued dwelling in the company of saints has not only cooled down the ardour and aspiration of the seekers but also turned them into scoffers and sceptics. The fall of a sadhak from faith, Purity and aspiration does him incalculable harm.
A young plant growing beneath the shade of a full-grown giant tree does not develop strength and stature. Its growth will be dwarfed, shrivelled and diseased. Whereas if the same plant were put into the open ground directly exposed to the storms, heat, cold, and other rigours of changing weather, it is bound to grow into a mighty tree drawing sustenance both from above and below.
--
Self in Purity is found to remain along with ignorance-seed (ajnana beeja) in sleep. But the incompatibility arises only in the waking and dream states.
Ajnana has two aspects: avarana (veiling) and vikshepa (multiplicity). Of these, avarana (veiling) denotes the veil hiding the Truth. That prevails in sleep. Multiplicity (vikshepa) is activity in different times. This gives rise to diversity and prevails in waking and dream states (jagrat and svapna).
--
Knowledge. Knowledge does not consist in knowing objects: this is relative knowledge. But Knowledge in its Purity remains all alone,
One, unique, transcendent Light!
1.450 - 1.500 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
"There are many cases known to the writer and many others of which he has heard and read, in which such continued dwelling in the company of saints has not only cooled down the ardour and aspiration of the seekers but also turned them into scoffers and sceptics. The fall of a sadhak from faith, Purity and aspiration does him incalculable harm.
"A young plant growing beneath the shade of a full-grown giant tree does not develop strength and stature. Its growth will be dwarfed, shrivelled and diseased. Whereas if the same plant were put into the open ground directly exposed to the storms, heat, cold, and other rigours of changing weather, it is bound to grow into a mighty tree drawing sustenance both from above and below.
15.08 - Ashram - Inner and Outer, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
I will tell you a story today, but of another kind. I will tell you of a dream, or a vision that I had sometime ago. It was an ashram, I say an ashram for it was not quite like our ashram although there was a great similarity between the two. In some respects it was like our ashram and in other respects somewhat unlike. First of all the whole ashram was in one place, a consolidated organisation, not houses here and there scattered about: there were no buildings or houses belonging to other people or other organisations, also the buildings were beautiful to look at and the general lay-out artistic, but all the activities we have were there. The school was there, the playground was there, the library also, but all in an orderly arrangement. The Mother was also there, she was going from place to place, observing all and speaking to people. Among the people, curiously, some I seemed to recognise, some of those even who are here now, there were many strangers from other countries, a good many of them. Regarding those who are here now and whom I seemed to recognise there also, the impression is rather vague and I cannot name them. But some of those who were here and passed away I recognised very well, they had almost the same face and features but in a new, fresh and younger form. They were active and handsome young men, young women I remember Sri Aurobindo quoting from the Rigveda: The Vedic Rishi speaks of a happy herd of cows grazing in green fields; the Rishi adds: even those among them that were old have become young now. The cow represented for the Rishi the light, the sun's ray, the Purity of consciousness. Perhaps the image came from the actual life of the Rishis of that time, the cattle they reared, the domestic animals about them, the natural scenery around them, and all that was an important part of their ordinary daily life. A whole herd of cattle all white is a beautiful picture. Even so there was something in the atmosphere of the ashram which gave it a special quality, it was clear pure, limpid and transparent, there was a strange luminosity in it, and it was a very happy atmosphere. While you are there, you feel free and at ease and there were no petty feelings that we have here in the normal life of the world, no anger, no jealousy, no selfishness, no ugliness: there was a happy coordination of all persons and things.
My feeling is that this ashram that I saw was in fact the inner reality of our ashram here, that inner ashram which is within us all; what we see at present is the outer form, the material form which is a good deal deformed and even falsified in many ways. Indeed that inner ashram has an other worldly atmosphere of its own, an atmosphere of rarefied heights. I have told you very often that those who are here are fortunate, they brea the this atmosphere and in spite of their faults and foibles, and no matter what they do, they are in contact with something of the inner beauty and fragrance. I do not know whether you have heard what Mother said more than once, that all the children here, when they live here for sometime, imbibe and carry a new atmosphere. And she could recognise a person from a distance, even from a great distance, not by his face or physical features but by the atmosphere he carried that he belonged to the ashram, very different from the atmosphere an outsider normally carries. It is an atmosphere or aura made of happiness and Purity and luminosity. All the ashram children are surrounded by it because it is Mother's own atmosphere. Therefore in these days, she used to say, these children should not go out into the outside world even in their holidays, because, when they go out, she said, she had seen it, they lose this ashram atmosphere and when they come back, they are coated with a thick layer of the mud of the ordinary world, and it took her a lot of time and trouble to rub and scrub and clean the dross upon the body, to made it shine as before. You may remember here in this connection a Ramakrishna story about the sinners who went to the Ganges for a bath to purify themselves; they leave their sins on the shore or the sins leave them as they get into the Ganges water, but the sins wait for them there on the bank and as soon as they come back purified of their sins, the sins lying in wait jump on them again and the sinners remain always sinners. Here naturally you are not destined to remain sinners always.
However, that atmosphere, the inner atmosphere still exists here. With the Mother's withdrawal of physical body that too might have withdrawn a little perhaps, a little only, just a few inches perhaps! But it is still there, for the Mother is there as concrete as before although not as material.. As I said, there are some who have passed away from here and some new faces also I found in this other inner ashram. These are already there wholly in that ashram. But we who are here, we lead a double life as it were: part of us is here, and part in that other inner ashram, as though one leg this side and the other on that side over the fence. In your better moments when you feel nice and free, when you are happy, when you are noble in spirit, you come in contact with that inner ashram, you brea the that atmosphere. In dreams also, while asleep, apparently asleep, many of you must have seen the Mother, must have had Sri Aurobindo's darshan. That is because you come in contact with that inner atmosphere and enter into it. Now our task is to come more and more in contact with that reality even in our waking moments, to be conscious of that which is nothing but the Mother's Presence. Half of you, your inner life is already there, bathing there in that luminous happy air. Only try to be conscious of that: if you are conscious of it even a little you will feel immensely happy, feel that you are beautiful, that you are wisewhen you feel the touch of that inner ashram life And instead of living entirely or mainly the outer life of the ashram as at present you can turn this life into that inner life; and gradually reshape the present life in the mould of the inner life. That is your duty, your task, particularly you who are students, boys and girls, that is your central workstudy and learning and all that is secondary. What you should do and what you can is to brea the a new air, live in a better, more beautiful way. You can have this inner life, that is already there, this inner life not with much difficulty, for it is already there, a collective inner life, which is so beautiful as I say, filled with the fragrance of the Mother's Presence. It is a collective life in which you all are not only brothers and sisters but one body and soul unified in the Mother's loving and living substance.
1.53 - The Propitation of Wild Animals By Hunters, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
observing rules of ceremonial Purity, and when they have gone out to
fish, the women at home must keep strict silence or the fish would
1.550 - 1.600 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
Knowledge. Knowledge does not consist in knowing objects: this is relative knowledge. But Knowledge in its Purity remains all alone,
One, unique, transcendent Light!
--- Overview of noun purity
The noun purity has 3 senses (first 2 from tagged texts)
1. (3) purity, pureness ::: (being undiluted or unmixed with extraneous material)
2. (1) purity, pureness, sinlessness, innocence, whiteness ::: (the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil)
3. honor, honour, purity, pureness ::: (a woman's virtue or chastity)
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun purity
3 senses of purity
Sense 1
purity, pureness
=> condition, status
=> state
=> attribute
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
Sense 2
purity, pureness, sinlessness, innocence, whiteness
=> condition, status
=> state
=> attribute
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
Sense 3
honor, honour, purity, pureness
=> virtue, chastity, sexual morality
=> morality
=> quality
=> attribute
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
--- Hyponyms of noun purity
2 of 3 senses of purity
Sense 1
purity, pureness
=> plainness
Sense 2
purity, pureness, sinlessness, innocence, whiteness
=> cleanness
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun purity
3 senses of purity
Sense 1
purity, pureness
=> condition, status
Sense 2
purity, pureness, sinlessness, innocence, whiteness
=> condition, status
Sense 3
honor, honour, purity, pureness
=> virtue, chastity, sexual morality
--- Coordinate Terms (sisters) of noun purity
3 senses of purity
Sense 1
purity, pureness
-> condition, status
=> diversity
=> anchorage
=> health
=> mode
=> niche, ecological niche
=> noise conditions
=> participation, involvement
=> prepossession
=> regularization, regularisation
=> saturation
=> silence
=> situation, position
=> ski conditions
=> nomination
=> standardization, standardisation
=> stigmatism
=> astigmatism, astigmia
=> way
=> circumstance
=> homelessness
=> reinstatement
=> place
=> celibacy
=> virginity
=> innocence
=> purity, pureness, sinlessness, innocence, whiteness
=> guilt, guiltiness
=> encapsulation
=> polarization, polarisation
=> physical condition, physiological state, physiological condition
=> hyalinization, hyalinisation
=> vacuolization, vacuolisation, vacuolation
=> protuberance
=> curvature
=> psychological state, psychological condition, mental state, mental condition
=> difficulty
=> improvement, melioration
=> decline, declination
=> ennoblement
=> dominance, ascendance, ascendence, ascendancy, ascendency, control
=> comfort, comfortableness
=> discomfort, uncomfortableness
=> need, demand
=> fullness
=> emptiness
=> nakedness, nudity, nudeness
=> hairlessness, depilation
=> dishabille, deshabille
=> hopefulness
=> despair, desperation
=> purity, pureness
=> impurity, impureness
=> financial condition
=> economic condition
=> sanitary condition
=> tilth
=> orderliness, order
=> disorderliness, disorder
=> normality, normalcy
=> lactosuria
=> environmental condition
=> climate, mood
=> atmosphere, ambiance, ambience
=> unsusceptibility, immunity
=> immunity, resistance
=> subservience
=> susceptibility, susceptibleness
=> wetness
=> dryness, waterlessness, xerotes
=> safety
=> danger
=> tension, tensity, tenseness, tautness
=> atonicity, atony, atonia, amyotonia
=> laxness, laxity
=> repair
=> soundness
=> mutism, muteness
=> eye condition
=> unsoundness
=> impropriety
=> iniquity, wickedness, darkness, dark
=> light, illumination
=> malady
=> serration
=> absolution
=> automation
=> brutalization, brutalisation
=> condemnation
=> deification
=> diversification
=> exoneration
=> facilitation
=> frizz
=> fruition
=> hospitalization
=> identification
=> impaction
=> ionization, ionisation
=> irradiation
=> leakiness
=> lubrication
=> mechanization, mechanisation
=> motivation
=> mummification
=> preservation
=> prognathism
=> rustication
=> rustiness
=> scandalization, scandalisation
=> submission
=> urbanization, urbanisation
Sense 2
purity, pureness, sinlessness, innocence, whiteness
-> condition, status
=> diversity
=> anchorage
=> health
=> mode
=> niche, ecological niche
=> noise conditions
=> participation, involvement
=> prepossession
=> regularization, regularisation
=> saturation
=> silence
=> situation, position
=> ski conditions
=> nomination
=> standardization, standardisation
=> stigmatism
=> astigmatism, astigmia
=> way
=> circumstance
=> homelessness
=> reinstatement
=> place
=> celibacy
=> virginity
=> innocence
=> purity, pureness, sinlessness, innocence, whiteness
=> guilt, guiltiness
=> encapsulation
=> polarization, polarisation
=> physical condition, physiological state, physiological condition
=> hyalinization, hyalinisation
=> vacuolization, vacuolisation, vacuolation
=> protuberance
=> curvature
=> psychological state, psychological condition, mental state, mental condition
=> difficulty
=> improvement, melioration
=> decline, declination
=> ennoblement
=> dominance, ascendance, ascendence, ascendancy, ascendency, control
=> comfort, comfortableness
=> discomfort, uncomfortableness
=> need, demand
=> fullness
=> emptiness
=> nakedness, nudity, nudeness
=> hairlessness, depilation
=> dishabille, deshabille
=> hopefulness
=> despair, desperation
=> purity, pureness
=> impurity, impureness
=> financial condition
=> economic condition
=> sanitary condition
=> tilth
=> orderliness, order
=> disorderliness, disorder
=> normality, normalcy
=> lactosuria
=> environmental condition
=> climate, mood
=> atmosphere, ambiance, ambience
=> unsusceptibility, immunity
=> immunity, resistance
=> subservience
=> susceptibility, susceptibleness
=> wetness
=> dryness, waterlessness, xerotes
=> safety
=> danger
=> tension, tensity, tenseness, tautness
=> atonicity, atony, atonia, amyotonia
=> laxness, laxity
=> repair
=> soundness
=> mutism, muteness
=> eye condition
=> unsoundness
=> impropriety
=> iniquity, wickedness, darkness, dark
=> light, illumination
=> malady
=> serration
=> absolution
=> automation
=> brutalization, brutalisation
=> condemnation
=> deification
=> diversification
=> exoneration
=> facilitation
=> frizz
=> fruition
=> hospitalization
=> identification
=> impaction
=> ionization, ionisation
=> irradiation
=> leakiness
=> lubrication
=> mechanization, mechanisation
=> motivation
=> mummification
=> preservation
=> prognathism
=> rustication
=> rustiness
=> scandalization, scandalisation
=> submission
=> urbanization, urbanisation
Sense 3
honor, honour, purity, pureness
-> virtue, chastity, sexual morality
=> honor, honour, purity, pureness
--- Grep of noun purity
impurity
purity
Wikipedia - Anderson impurity model -- Hamiltonian used in quantum physics
Wikipedia - Breathing gas quality -- Purity requirements for gases for human breathing
Wikipedia - Brethren of Purity
Wikipedia - Carat (purity)
Wikipedia - Collect for Purity
Wikipedia - Eight sheratzim -- Animals whose bodies convey impurity in Jewish law
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Wikipedia - Purity Ring discography -- Discography
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Wikipedia - Racial purity
Wikipedia - Ritual impurity
Wikipedia - Ritual purity in Islam -- Essential aspect of Islam
Wikipedia - Shinran: Path to Purity -- 1987 film
Wikipedia - Shrines (album) -- 2012 studio album by Purity Ring
Wikipedia - Social purity movement -- 1800s temperance movement against prostitution
Wikipedia - Tazkiah -- Process of transforming the nafs (carnal self or desires) from its deplorable state of self-centrality through various spiritual stages towards the level of purity and submission to the Will of Allah
Wikipedia - The Castle of Purity -- 1972 film by Arturo Ripstein
Wikipedia - The Purity Myth -- Book by Jessica Valenti
Wikipedia - Zavah -- State of ritual impurity applicable to females arising from vaginal blood discharges
Wikipedia - Zav -- State of ritual impurity arising from abnormal seminal discharge from the male sexual organ
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Kheper - Brethren_of_Purity -- 28
selforum - sattwa is purity light and
selforum - purity of ones adoration and seeking
selforum - return to purity of mythical vedism
selforum - search for purity is attack on reality
selforum - why purity of savitri text is important
wiki.auroville - Purity
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/Impurity
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ContractualPurity
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PurityPersonified
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PuritySue
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/PurityRing
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tropers/KiaPurity
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Purity
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Purity_in_Buddhism
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Toshokan Sensou: Kakumei no Tsubasa -- -- Production I.G -- 1 ep -- Novel -- Action Comedy Military Romance -- Toshokan Sensou: Kakumei no Tsubasa Toshokan Sensou: Kakumei no Tsubasa -- Kasahara Iku and Dojo Atsushi receive an emergency recall in the middle of their date as Japan is rocked by a terror attack. Their new duty is a protection detail assigned to Touma Kurato, an author. Meanwhile, the relationship between Librarians and the Media Purity Committee is also worsening. -- Movie - Jun 16, 2012 -- 20,338 7.80
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Purity_Congress_Meets.djvu
Anderson impurity model
Bell of Purity Temple
Blood purity
Brethren of Purity
Collect for Purity
Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity
Fluff Busting Purity
German purity law
Hydrogen purity
Impurity
Impurity after childbirth
Impurity (disambiguation)
Impurity of the land of the nations
List of rasa'il in the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity
Palace of Heavenly Purity
Purity
Purity (algebraic geometry)
Purity and Danger
Purity ball
Purity Cherotich
Purity Cherotich Kirui
Purity Cherotich Rionoripo
Purity Factories
Purity Kagwiria
Purity Ngina
Purity (novel)
Purity of arms
Purity of Essence
Purity of Essence (Hoodoo Gurus album)
Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing (EP)
Purity (quantum mechanics)
Purity ring
Purity Ring (band)
Purity Ring discography
Purity Supreme
Purity test
Remnants of a Deeper Purity
Ritual purity in Islam
Shinran: Path to Purity
Social purity movement
The Castle of Purity
Theorem of absolute purity
The Purity of Vengeance (soundtrack)
Wait for Me: Rediscovering the Joy of Purity in Romance
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