TERMS STARTING WITH
the perfect. [Rf The Secret Books of the Egyptian
TERMS ANYWHERE
a-avidya-siddhi ::: the perfection (siddhi) that is attainable under the conditions of vidya-avidya, where Knowledge is "inextricably intertwined with an original Ignorance".
abhimukhī. (T. mngon du 'gyur ba/mngon du phyogs pa; C. xianqian [di]; J. genzen[chi]; K. hyonjon [chi] 現前[地]). In Sanskrit, "manifest" or "evident"; used with reference to a twofold classification of phenomena as manifest (abhimukhī)-viz., those things that are evident to sense perception-and hidden (S. PAROKsA, T. lkog gyur)-viz., those things whose existence must be inferred through reasoning. ¶ Abhimukhī, as "immediacy" or "face-to-face," is the sixth of the ten stages (BHuMI) of the BODHISATTVA path described in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA. The MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA interprets this bhumi as "directly facing," or "face-to-face," implying that the bodhisattva at this stage of the path stands at the intersection between SAMSARA and NIRVAnA. The bodhisattva here realizes the equality of all phenomena (dharmasamatA), e.g., that all dharmas are signless and free of characteristics, unproduced and unoriginated, and free from the duality of existence and nonexistence. Turning away from the compounded dharmas of saMsAra, the bodhisattva turns to face the profound wisdom of the buddhas and is thus "face-to-face" with both the compounded (SAMSKṚTA) and uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA) realms. This bhumi is typically correlated with mastery of the sixth perfection (PARAMITA), the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA).
AbhisamayAlaMkAra. (T. Mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan). In Sanskrit, "Ornament of Realization"; a major scholastic treatise of the MAHAYANA, attributed to MAITREYANATHA (c. 350CE). Its full title is AbhisamayAlaMkAranAmaprajNApAramitopadesasAstra (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan) or "Treatise Setting Forth the Perfection of Wisdom called 'Ornament for Realization.'" In the Tibetan tradition, the AbhisamayAlaMkAra is counted among the five treatises of Maitreya (BYAMS CHOS SDE LNGA). The 273 verses of the AbhisamayAlaMkAra provide a schematic outline of the perfection of wisdom, or PRAJNAPARAMITA, approach to enlightenment, specifically as delineated in the PANCAVIMsATISAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA ("Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines"). This detailed delineation of the path is regarded as the "hidden teaching" of the prajNApAramitA sutras. Although hardly known in East Asian Buddhism (until the modern Chinese translation by FAZUN), the work was widely studied in Tibet, where it continues to hold a central place in the monastic curricula of all the major sects. It is especially important for the DGE LUGS sect, which takes it as the definitive description of the stages of realization achieved through the Buddhist path. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra treats the principal topics of the prajNApAramitA sutras by presenting them in terms of the stages of realizations achieved via the five paths (PANCAMARGA). The eight chapters of the text divide these realizations into eight types. The first three are types of knowledge that are essential to any type of practice and are generic to both the mainstream and MahAyAna schools. (1) The wisdom of knowing all modes (SARVAKARAJNATA), for the bodhisattva-adepts who are the putative target audience of the commentary, explains all the characteristics of the myriad dharmas, so that they will have comprehensive knowledge of what the attainment of enlightenment will bring. (2) The wisdom of knowing the paths (MARGAJNATA), viz., the paths perfected by the sRAVAKAs, is a prerequisite to achieving the wisdom of knowing all modes. (3) The wisdom of knowing all phenomena (SARVAJNATA) is, in turn, a prerequisite to achieving the wisdom of knowing the paths. With (4) the topic of the manifestly perfect realization of all aspects (sarvAkArAbhisambodha) starts the text's coverage of the path itself, here focused on gaining insight into all aspects, viz., characteristics of dharmas, paths, and types of beings. By reaching (5) the summit of realization (murdhAbhisamaya; see MuRDHAN), one arrives at the entrance to ultimate realization. All the realizations achieved up to this point are secured and commingled through (6) gradual realization (anupurvAbhisamaya). The perfection of this gradual realization and the consolidation of all previous realizations catalyze the (7) instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya). The fruition of this instantaneous realization brings (8) realization of the dharma body, or DHARMAKAYA (dharmakAyAbhisambodha). The first three chapters thus describe the three wisdoms incumbent on the buddhas; the middle four chapters cover the four paths that take these wisdoms as their object; and the last chapter describes the resultant dharma body of the buddhas and their special attainments. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra provides a synopsis of the massive prajNApAramitA scriptures and a systematic outline of the comprehensive path of MahAyAna. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra spurred a long tradition of Indian commentaries and other exegetical works, twenty-one of which are preserved in the Tibetan canon. Notable among this literature are Arya VIMUKTISEnA's Vṛtti and the ABHISAMAYALAMKARALOKA and Vivṛti (called Don gsal in Tibetan) by HARIBHADRA. Later Tibetan commentaries include BU STON RIN CHEN GRUB's Lung gi snye ma and TSONG KHA PA's LEGS BSHAD GSER PHRENG.
AdarsajNAna. [alt. mahAdarsajNAna] (T. me long lta bu'i ye shes; C. dayuanjing zhi; J. daienkyochi; K. taewon'gyong chi 大圓鏡智). In Sanskrit, "mirrorlike wisdom" or "great perfect mirror wisdom"; one of the five types of wisdom (PANCAJNANA) exclusive to a buddha according to the YOGACARA and tantric schools, along with the wisdom of equality (SAMATAJNANA), the wisdom of discriminating awareness (PRATYAVEKsAnAJNANA), the wisdom that one has accomplished what was to be done (KṚTYANUstHANAJNANA), and the wisdom of the nature of the DHARMADHATU (DHARMADHATUSVABHAVAJNANA). This specific type of wisdom is a transformation of the eighth consciousness, the ALAYAVIJNANA, in which the perfect interfusion between all things is seen as if reflected in a great mirror.
adhara-siddhi ::: the perfection of the mental-vital-physical system, adhara-siddhi consisting of the siddhi of the first four catus.t.ayas, so that the adhara "becomes a perfect instrument for the Purushottama, the Purusha and Shakti to carry on their Lila".
Aesthetics. Any system or program of fine art emphasizing the ideal (s.) is Aesthetic Idealism. The view that the goal of fine art is an embodiment or reflection of the perfections of archetypal Ideas or timeless essences (Platonism). The view of art which emphasizes feeling, sentiment, and idealization (as opposed to "literal reproduction" of fact). The view of art which emphasizes cognitive content (as opposed to abstract feeling, primitive intuition, formal line or structure, mere color or tone). Psychology. The doctrine that ideas or judgments are causes of thought and behavior, and not mere effects or epiphenomena, is Psychological Idealism.
Again, the pentagram or five-pointed star may take the place of the central point, in which case the pentagram symbolizes the microcosm or man, within the macrocosm or universe. “The double triangle representing symbolically, the Macrocosm, or great universe, contains in itself besides the idea of the duality (as shown in the two colours, and two triangles — the universe of Spirit and that of Matter) — those of the Unity, of the Trinity, of the Pythagorean Tetractys — the perfect Square — and up to the Dodecagon and the Dodecahedron” (BCW 3:313). See also SENARY; SEAL OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
AkAra. (T. rnam pa; C. xingxiang; J. gyoso; K. haengsang 行相). In Sanskrit, "aspect," "mode," "form," or "image"; a polysemous term that is notably employed in discussions of epistemology to describe an image cast by an object, which serves as the actual object of sense perception. At an early stage of its history (as Akṛti), the term refers to what a word articulates. Over time, it came to mean the content of a word (that may or may not be connected with an actual content in reality) and then the mediating mental image. Buddhist philosophical schools differ as to whether or not such an "aspect" is required in order for sense perception to occur. VAIBHAsIKAS are non-aspectarians (NIRAKARAVADA) who say mind knows objects directly; SAUTRANTIKAS are aspectarians (SAKARAVADA) who say mind knows through an image (AkAra) of the object that is taken into the mind. YOGACARAS are aspectarians insofar as they do not accept external objects; they are divided into satyAkAravAdin (T. rnam bden pa), or true aspectarians, who assert that appearances as gross objects exist and are not polluted by ignorance; and alīkAkAravAdin (T. rnam rdzun pa), or false aspectarians, who assert that appearances as gross objects do not exist and are polluted by ignorance. In SARVAKARAJNATA ("knowledge of all modes"), the name in the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA) literature for the omniscience of a buddha, AkAra is synonymous with DHARMAS. In the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, there are 173 aspects that define the practice (prayoga) of a bodhisattva. They are the forms of a bodhisattva's knowledge (of impermanence that counteracts the mistaken apprehension of permanence, for example) informed by BODHICITTA and the knowledge that the knowledge itself has no essential nature (SVABHAVA).
alchemy ::: AlchemyThe science, both physical and spiritual, of transforming base materials into superior forms, i.e. gold. Transmutation of base metals into gold was based on the belief that naturally occurring gold, silver and other precious substances were originally formed within the earth from lesser substances, and could be reconstituted through alchemical operations. The operations of alchemy were based on the Hermetic principle that everything on earth had a heavenly counterpart, and that through the 'principle of vibration', heavenly things could affect their earthly counterparts, and vice-versa. Consequently, each mineral, plant, and metal corresponded with a heavenly body, and thus contained the properties of its associated heavenly body. As a result, alchemical formulae for medicines were created, and the concept of spiritual development through alchemical work was developed. The Great Work became not simply transmuting base metals into precious ones, but the perfection of the divine in man himself.
Aleph (Hebrew) ’Ālef The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet (Hebrew char), having the ox or bull for its symbol; also having the numerical value of 1. In its composition it is said by Qabbalists to symbolize waw (Hebrew char) between yod (Hebrew char) and daleth (Hebrew char), thus the letter itself represents the word yod (which again is the perfect number 10).
Al-Waliyy ::: The One who guides and enables an individual to discover their reality and to live their life in accordance to their essence. It is the source of risalah (personification of Allah’s knowledge) and nubuwwah (prophethood), which comprise the pinnacle states of sainthood (wilayah). It is the dispatcher of the perfected qualities comprising the highest point of sainthood, risalah, and the state one beneath that, nubuwwah.
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.
IDEAS OF THE CAUSAL WORLD
The ideas of the world of ideas are objective forms as well as being subjective, and thus the ideas are faithful representations of enduring objective and subjective realities. Every intuition corresponds to a mental system of reality ideas. Lower worlds exist in the ideas of the world of ideas and thus the knowledge of these lower worlds is contained in the idea systems of the intuitions. &
anandakosa (anandakosha; ananda-kosha) ::: the sheath (kosa) coranandakosa responding to the plane of ananda, the "bliss-sheath" which is the spiritual body of the "bliss soul" and in which, together with the vijñanakosa, "all the perfection of a spiritual embodiment is to be found, a yet unmanifested divine law of the body".
anandasiddhi (anandasiddhi; ananda siddhi) ::: the perfection of anandasiddhi ananda, especially in the sense of sama ananda or any form of physical ananda.
anasiddhi (vijnanasiddhi; vijnana-siddhi; vijnana siddhi) ::: the perfection of the vijñana catus.t.aya. vij ñana ana suddha
Anselmian argument: Anselm (1033-1109) reasoned thus: I have an idea of a Being than which nothing greater can be conceived; this idea is that of the most perfect, complete, infinite Being, the greatest conceivable; now an idea which exists in reality (in re) is greater than one which exists only in conception (in intellectu); hence, if my idea is the greatest it must exist in reality. Accordingly, God, the Perfect Idea, Being, exists. (Anselm's argument rests upon the basis of the realistic metaphysics of Plato.) -- V.F.
AnunatvApurnatvanirdesa. (C. Buzeng bujian jing; J. Fuzofugengyo; K. Pujŭng pulgam kyong 不增不減經). In Sanskrit, the "Neither Increase nor Decrease Sutra," one of the earliest TATHAGATAGARBHA (embryo of the tathAgatas) scriptures, along with the TATHAGATAGARBHASuTRA and the sRĪMALA-DEVĪSIMHANADASuTRA. The text, only a single roll in length, was far more influential in the development of tathAgatagarbha thought in East Asia than its length might suggest. The complete text survives only in a Chinese translation made in 525 by BODHIRUCI (d. 527). Neither Sanskrit nor Tibetan recensions of the text are extant, although the RATNAGOTRAVIBHAGA includes many quotations from the scripture. The AnunatvApurnatvanirdesa explains the absolute identity between sentient beings and the DHARMAKAYA of the buddhas through the concept of tathAgatagarbha. According to the scripture, although sentient beings endure endless rebirths among the six destinies (GATI) because of afflictions (KLEsA), they in fact neither arise nor perish because they are all actually manifestations of the unchanging dharmakAya. Since sentient beings are therefore nothing other than the dharmakAya-and since the dharmakAya is unchanging, ever-present, and subject neither to increase nor to decrease-the sentient beings who possess the dharmakAya as their nature also "neither increase nor decrease." The scripture also explains that such wrong views as the notion that sentient beings are subject to increase or decrease are caused by not realizing that the realms of sentient beings and tathAgatas are in fact one and the same. When the dharmakAya is obscured by afflictions and resides in the suffering of SAMSARA, it is called a sentient being; when it is cultivating the perfections (PARAMITA) and developing a repugnance for the suffering of saMsAra, it is called a BODHISATTVA; when it is pure and free from all afflictions, it is called a tathAgata. Sentient beings, tathAgatagarbha, and dharmakAya are therefore merely different names for the one realm of reality (DHARMADHATU). The AnunatvApurnatvanirdesa thus emphasizes the immanent aspect of tathAgatagarbha, whereas the srīmAlAsutra emphasizes its transcendent aspect.
arcismatī. (T. 'od 'phro ba; C. yanhui di; J. enneji; K. yomhye chi 焔慧地). In Sanskrit, "radiance" or "effulgence"; the fourth of the ten BODHISATTVA grounds or stages (BHuMI) according to the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA. At this stage, the bodhisattva masters the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA), whose radiance becomes so intense that it incinerates all the obstructions and afflictions. The bodhisattva thus develops inexhaustible energy for his quest for enlightenment; this bhumi is therefore often correlated with mastery of the fourth perfection (PARAMITA), the perfection of vigor or energy (VĪRYAPARAMITA). The fourth-stage bodhisattva also shows special devotion to the fourth means of conversion (SAMGRAHAVASTU), that of the common good, or consistency between words and deeds (SAMANARTHATA).
AryAstAngamArga. (P. ariyAtthangikamagga; T. 'phags lam yan lag brgyad; C. bazhengdao; J. hasshodo; K. p'alchongdo 八正道). In Sanskrit, "noble eightfold path"; the path (MARGA) that brings an end to the causes of suffering (DUḤKHA); the fourth of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvAry AryasatyAni). This formulation of the Buddhist path to enlightenment appears in what is regarded as the Buddha's first sermon after his enlightenment, the "Setting Forth the Wheel of Dharma" (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA), in which he sets forth a middle way (MADHYAMAPRATIPAD) between the extremes of asceticism and sensual indulgence. That middle way, he says, is the eightfold path, which, like the four truths, he calls "noble" (ARYA); the term is therefore commonly rendered as "noble eightfold path." However, as in the case of the four noble truths, what is noble is not the path but those who follow it, so the compound might be more accurately translated as "eightfold path of the [spiritually] noble." Later in the same sermon, the Buddha sets forth the four noble truths and identifies the fourth truth, the truth of the path, with the eightfold path. The noble eightfold path is comprised of (1) right views (SAMYAGDṚstI; P. sammAditthi), which involve an accurate understanding of the true nature of things, specifically the four noble truths; (2) right intention (SAMYAKSAMKALPA; P. sammAsankappa), which means avoiding thoughts of attachment, hatred, and harmful intent and promoting loving-kindness and nonviolence; (3) right speech (SAMYAGVAC; P. sammAvAcA), which means refraining from verbal misdeeds, such as lying, backbiting and slander, harsh speech and abusive language, and frivolous speech and gossip; (4) right action or right conduct (SAMYAKKARMANTA; P. sammAkammanta), which is refraining from physical misdeeds, such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; (5) right livelihood (SAMYAGAJĪVA; P. sammAjīva), which entails avoiding trades that directly or indirectly harm others, such as selling slaves, selling weapons, selling animals for slaughter, dealing in intoxicants or poisons, or engaging in fortune-telling and divination; (6) right effort (SAMYAGVYAYAMA; P. sammAvAyAma), which is defined as abandoning unwholesome states of mind that have already arisen, preventing unwholesome states that have yet to arise, sustaining wholesome states that have already arisen, and developing wholesome states that have yet to arise; (7) right mindfulness (SAMYAKSMṚTI; P. sammAsati), which means to maintain awareness of the four foundations of mindfulness (SMṚTYUPASTHANA), viz., body, physical sensations, the mind, and phenomena; and (8) right concentration (SAMYAKSAMADHI; P. sammAsamAdhi), which is one pointedness of mind. ¶ The noble eightfold path receives less discussion in Buddhist literature than do the four noble truths (of which they are, after all, a constituent). Indeed, in later formulations, the eight factors are presented not so much as a prescription for behavior but as eight qualities that are present in the mind of a person who has understood NIRVAnA. The eightfold path may be reduced to a simpler, and more widely used, threefold schema of the path that comprises the "three trainings" (TRIsIKsA) or "higher trainings" (adhisiksA) in morality (sĪLA; P. sīla; see ADHIsĪLAsIKsA), concentration (SAMADHI, see ADHISAMADHIsIKsA), and wisdom (PRAJNA; P. paNNA; see ADHIPRAJNAsIKsA). In this schema, (1) right views and (2) right intention are subsumed under the training in higher wisdom (adhiprajNAsiksA); (3) right speech, (4) right conduct, and (5) right livelihood are subsumed under higher morality (adhisīlasiksA); and (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness, and (8) right concentration are subsumed under higher concentration (adhisamAdhisiksA). According to the MADHYANTAVIBHAGA, a MAHAYANA work attributed to MAITREYANATHA, the eightfold noble path comprises the last set of eight of the thirty-seven constituents of enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA), where enlightenment (BODHI) is the complete, nonconceptual awakening achieved during the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). After that vision, following the same pattern as the Buddha, right view is the perfect understanding of the vision, and right intention is the articulation of the vision that motivates the teaching of it. Right mindfulness, right effort, and right concentration correspond respectively to the four types of mindfulness (SMṚTYUPASTHANA), four efforts (PRAHAnA), and four ṚDDHIPADA ("legs of miraculous attainments," i.e., samAdhi) when they are perfect or right (samyak), after the vision of the four noble truths.
Asavakkhaya. (S. Asravaksaya). In PAli, "extinction of the contaminants" or "destruction of the outflows"; a supramundane (lokuttara) supernormal power (abhiNNA) produced through the perfection of insight (VIPASSANA). It is equivalent to the attainment of "worthiness" (arahatta) or perfect sainthood. One who achieves this is a "worthy one" (arahant), attains in this life deliverance of mind (cetovimutti) and deliverance through wisdom (paNNAvimutti), and at death passes into nibbAna never to be reborn. See ASRAVAKsAYA.
a siddhi ::: the perfection of samata or of the samata catus.t.aya.
As nine is one less than ten, in a denary hierarchy it is all the units except the first, the first being regarded as the origin or synthesis of the emanated nine. Thus one and nine may represent spirit and matter, or unmanifest and manifest, a logos and its rays. In the Stanzas of Dzyan svabhavat is the numbers one and nine, which make the perfect ten; and the same is seen in the ten Sephiroth of the Qabbalah, where Kether the Crown is often considered apart from the other nine. It was an especially favorite number in Norse mythology, appearing continuously throughout the Eddas.
Asravaksaya. (P. Asavakkhaya; T. zag pa zad pa; C. loujin[zhi]; J. rojin[chi]; K. nujin[ji] 漏盡[智]). In Sanskrit, "extinction of the contaminants"; a supranormal power (ABHIJNA) produced through the perfection of insight (VIPAsYANA), and one of the three knowledges (TRIVIDYA) that are the products of enlightenment (BODHI). One who achieves this state is a "worthy one" (ARHAT) and at death passes into NIRVAnA, never to be reborn. See also ANASRAVA; ASRAVA.
AsrayaparAvṛtti. [alt. Asrayaparivṛtti] (T. gnas yongs su 'gyur pa; C. zhuanyi; J. ten'e; K. chonŭi 轉依). In Sanskrit, "transformation of the basis" or "fundamental transmutation"; the transmutation of the defiled state in which one has not abandoned the afflictions (KLEsA) into a purified state in which the klesas have been abandoned. This transmutation thus transforms an ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) into a noble one (ARYA). In the YOGACARA school's interpretation, by understanding (1) the emptiness (suNYATA) of the imagined reality (PARIKALPITA) that ordinary people mistakenly ascribe to the sensory images they experience (viz., "unreal imaginings," or ABHuTAPARIKALPA) and (2) the conditioned origination of things through the interdependent aspect of cognition (PARATANTRA), the basis will be transformed into the perfected (PARNIsPANNA) nature, and enlightenment realized. STHIRAMATI posits three aspects to this transformation: transformation of the basis of the mind (cittAsrayaparAvṛtti), transformation of the basis of the path (mArgAsrayaparAvṛtti), and transformation of the basis of the proclivities (dausthulyAsrayaparAvṛtti). "Transformation of the basis of mind" transmutes the imaginary into the perfected through the awareness of emptiness. Insight into the perfected in turn empties the path of any sense of sequential progression, thus transmuting the mundane path (LAUKIKAMARGA) with its multiple steps into a supramundane path (lokottaramArga, cf. LOKUTTARAMAGGA) that has no fixed locus; this is the "transformation of the basis of the path." Finally, "transformation of the basis of the proclivities" eradicates the seeds (BĪJA) of action (KARMAN) that are stored in the storehouse consciousness (ALAYAVIJNANA), liberating the bodhisattva from the effects of any past unwholesome actions and freeing him to project compassion liberally throughout the world.
astAnta. (T. mtha' brgyad; C. babu; J. happu; K. p'albul 八不). In Sanskrit, "eight extremes," an important term in the MADHYAMAKA school, referring to eight qualities of which all phenomena are said to be empty (see suNYATA). The eight (in four pairs) are cessation and production, annihilation and permanence, coming and going, and difference and sameness. The locus classicus for the list is the opening passage of NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA, which reads, "Homage to the perfect Buddha, best of teachers, who taught that what is dependently arisen has no cessation and no production, no annihilation and no permanence, no coming and no going, no difference and no sameness, is free of elaborations and is at peace." See also BABU.
AstasAhasrikAprajNApAramitA. (T. Sher phyin brgyad stong pa; C. Xiaopin bore jing; J. Shobon hannyakyo; K. Sop'um panya kyong 小品般若經). In Sanskrit, "Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines." This scripture is now generally accepted to be the earliest of the many PRAJNAPARAMITA sutras and thus probably one of the very earliest of the MAHAYANA scriptures. The Asta, as it is often referred to in the literature, seems to have gradually developed over a period of about two hundred years, from the first century BCE to the first century CE. Some of its earliest recensions translated into Chinese during the Han dynasty do not yet display the full panoply of self-referentially MahAyAna terminology that characterize the more elaborate recensions translated later, suggesting that MahAyAna doctrine was still under development during the early centuries of the Common Era. The provenance of the text is obscure, but the consensus view is that it was probably written in central or southern India. The Asta, together with its verse summary, the RATNAGUnASAMCAYAGATHA, probably represents the earliest stratum of the prajNApAramitA literature; scholars believe that this core scripture was subsequently expanded between the second and fourth centuries CE into other massive PrajNApAramitA scriptures in as many as 100,000 lines (the sATASAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA). By about 500 CE, the Asta's basic ideas had been abbreviated into shorter condensed statements, such as the widely read, 300-verse VAJRACCHEDIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA ("Diamond Sutra"). (Some scholars have suggested instead that the "Diamond Sutra" may in fact represent one of the earliest strata of the prajNApAramitA literature.) The MahAyAna tradition's view of its own history, however, is that the longest of the prajNApAramitA scriptures, the 100,000-line satasAhasrikAprajNApAramitA, is the core text from which all the other perfection of wisdom sutras were subsequently excerpted. The main interlocutor of the Asta, as in most of the prajNApAramitA scriptures, is SUBHuTI, an ARHAT foremost among the Buddha's disciples in dwelling at peace in remote places, rather than sARIPUTRA, who much more commonly appears in this role in the mainstream Buddhist scriptures (see AGAMA; NIKAYA). The prominent role accorded to Subhuti suggests that the prajNApAramitA literature may derive from forest-dwelling (Aranyaka) ascetic traditions distinct from the dominant, urban-based monastic elite. The main goal of the Asta and other prajNApAramitA scriptures is rigorously to apply the foundational Buddhist notion of nonself (ANATMAN) to the investigation of all phenomena-from the usual compounded things (SAMSKARA) and conditioned factors (SAMSKṚTADHARMA), but even to such quintessentially Buddhist summa bona as the fruits of sanctity (ARYAMARGAPHALA) and NIRVAnA. The constant refrain of the Asta is that there is nothing that can be grasped or to which one should cling, not PRAJNA, not PARAMITA, not BODHISATTVA, and not BODHI. Even the six perfections (sAdPARAMITA) of the bodhisattva are subjected to this same refutation: for example, only when the bodhisattva realizes that there is no giver, no recipient, and no gift will he have mastered the perfection of giving (DANAPARAMITA). Such radical nonattachment even to the central concepts of Buddhism itself helps to foster a thoroughgoing awareness of the emptiness (suNYATA) of all things and thus the perfection of wisdom (prajNApAramitA). Even if the Asta's area of origin was in the south of India, the prajNApAramitA scriptures seem initially to have found their best reception in the northwest of India during the KUSHAN dynasty (c. first century CE), whence they would have had relatively easy entrée into Central Asia and then East Asia. This geographic proximity perhaps accounts for the early acceptance the Asta and the rest of the prajNApAramitA literature received on the Chinese mainland, helping to make China the first predominantly MahAyAna tradition.
AstasAhasrikAprajNApAramitAvyAkhyAbhisamayAlaMkArAlokA. (T. Brgyad stong 'grel chen/Rgyan snang). In Sanskrit, "Light for the Ornament of Clear Realizations, a Commentary on the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines," by the Indian scholiast HARIBHADRA. See ABHISAMAYALAMKARALOKAVYAKHYA.
As to the cross inside of the square, “The philosophical cross, the two lines running in opposite directions, the horizontal and the perpendicular, the height and breadth, which the geometrizing Deity divides at the intersecting joint, and which forms the magical as well as the scientific quaternary, when it is inscribed within the perfect square, is the basis of the occultists. Within its mystical precinct lies the master-key which opens the door of every science, physical as well as spiritual. It symbolizes our human existence, for the circle of life circumscribes the four points of the cross, which represent in succession birth, life, death, and immortality. Everything in this world is a trinity completed by the quaternary.” (IU 1:508). The squaring of the circle is a cosmogonic and mystical mystery indeed. See also QUATERNARY
asya (dasya; dasyam) ::: (in January 1913) the third of four degrees of dasya, "the dasya of the yantra [instrument], which cannot disobey, but is worked mechanically through an intermediate impulsion of Prakriti", this indirectness being what distinguishes it from quaternary dasya; (from September 1913 onwards, corresponding to the earlier triple dasya) the highest of three forms of dasya, "a complete subjection" to the isvara, with prakr.ti "only as a channel", a state resulting from the loss of the illusory "relative freedom which by us is ignorantly called free-will", in which "at each moment and in each movement the absolute freedom of the Supreme handles the perfect plasticity of our conscious and liberated nature"; it has three stages, one in which volition is "dominant in the consciousness not as free, but as accompanying & approving the movement", a second in which the control of prakr.ti is "dominant though as a compelled & compulsory agent of a remote or veiled Ishwara" and a third in which prakr.ti is purely a channel and "the compulsion from the Ishwara direct, omnipresent and immanent".
A. The first vowel and letter in the Sanskrit alphabet. The phoneme "a" is thought to be the source of all other phonemes and its corresponding letter the origin of all other letters. As the basis of both the Sanskrit phonemic system and the written alphabet, the letter "a" thus comes to be invested with mystical significance as the source of truth, nondifferentiation, and emptiness (suNYATA), or even of the universe as a whole. The PRAJNAPARAMITASARVATATHAGATAMATA-EKAKsARA, the shortest of the perfection of wisdom scriptures, also describes how the entirety of the perfection of wisdom is subsumed by this one letter. The letter in the Sanskrit SIDDHAM alphabet gained special significance within the esoteric Buddhist traditions in Japan (MIKKYo), such as Shingon (see SHINGONSHu), which considered it to be the "seed" (BĪJA) of MAHAVAIROCANA, the central divinity of esoteric Buddhism, and used it in a distinctive type of meditation called AJIKAN ("contemplation of the letter 'a'"). The letter "a," which is said to be originally uncreated (AJI HONPUSHo), is interpreted to be the essence of all phenomena in the universe and the DHARMAKAYA of the buddha MahAvairocana. In the East Asian CHAN traditions, the letter "a" is also sometimes understood to represent the buddha-nature (FOXING, S. BUDDHADHATU) of all sentient beings.
ava ::: a fusion of the different types of relation (bhava) between the jiva and the isvara, who is perceived as "the perfect Personality capable of all relations even to the most human, concrete and intimate; for he is friend, comrade, lover, playmate, guide, teacher, master, ministrant of knowledge or ministrant of joy, yet in all relations unbound, free and absolute"; in the composite bhava, the various relations are unified in a "deepest many-sided relation" based on "love from which all things flow, love passionate, complete, seeking a hundred ways of fulfilment, every means of mutual possession, a million facets of the joy of union" çraddha
Avarana. (T. sgrib pa; C. zhang; J. sho; K. chang 障). In Sanskrit and PAli, "obstruction," "obstacle," or "hindrance." In MAHAYANA literature, two types of Avarana are commonly described: "obstructions that are the afflictions," or "afflictive obstructions" (KLEsAVARAnA), and cognitive or noetic obstructions, viz., "obstructions to omniscience" (JNEYAVARAnA). sRAVAKAs and PRATYEKABUDDHAs can be freed from the afflictive obstructions, but only BODHISATTVAs are able to free themselves from the cognitive obstructions. In the YOGACARA system, the cognitive obstructions result from fundamental misapprehensions about the nature of reality. Because of the attachment that derives from the reification of what are actually imaginary external phenomena, conceptualization and discrimination arise in the mind, which in turn lead to pride, ignorance, and wrong views. Based on the mistakes in understanding generated by these cognitive obstructions, the individual engages in defiled actions motivated by anger, envy, etc., which constitute the afflictive obstructions. The afflictive obstructions may be removed by followers of the srAvaka, pratyekabuddha, and beginning bodhisattva paths by applying various antidotes or counteragents (PRATIPAKsA) to the afflictions or defilements (KLEsA); overcoming these types of obstructions will lead to freedom from further rebirth. The cognitive obstructions, however, can only be overcome by advanced bodhisattvas who seek instead to achieve buddhahood, by perfecting their understanding of emptiness (suNYATA) and compassion (KARUnA) and amassing a great store of merit (PUnYA) by engaging in the bodhisattva deeds (CARYA). Buddhas, therefore, are the only class of beings who have overcome both types of obstructions and thus are able simultaneously to cognize all objects of knowledge in the universe. The jNeyAvarana are therefore sometimes translated as "obstructions to omniscience." In the elaboration of the obstructions in the YogAcAra text CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimAtratAsiddhi), there are ten types of Avarana that are specifically said to obstruct the ten types of suchness (TATHATA) correlated with the ten stages of the bodhisattva path (DAsABHuMI): (1) the obstruction of the common illusions of the unenlightened (pṛthagjanatvAvarana; C. yishengxing zhang); (2) the obstruction of deluded conduct (mithyApratipattyAvarana; C. xiexing zhang); (3) the obstruction of dullness (dhandhatvAvarana; C. andun zhang); (4) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle afflictions (suksmaklesasamudAcArAvarana; C. xihuo xianxing zhang); (5) the obstruction of the lesser HĪNAYANA ideal of PARINIRVAnA (hīnayAnaparinirvAnAvarana; C. xiasheng niepan zhang); (6) the obstruction of the manifestation of coarse characteristics (sthulanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. cuxiang xianxing zhang); (7) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle characteristics (suksmanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. xixiang xianxing zhang); (8) the obstruction of the continuance of activity even in the immaterial realm that is free from characteristics (nirnimittAbhisaMskArAvarana; C. wuxiang jiaxing zhang); (9) the obstruction of not desiring to act to bring salvation to others (parahitacaryAkAmanAvarana; C. buyuxing zhang); and (10) the obstruction of not yet acquiring mastery over all things (dharmesuvasitApratilambhAvarana; fa weizizai zhang). These ten obstructions are overcome by practicing, respectively: (1) the perfection of giving (DANAPARAMITA); (2) the perfection of morality (sĪLAPARAMITA); (3) the perfection of forbearance (KsANTIPARAMITA); (4) the perfection of energetic effort (VĪRYAPARAMITA); (5) the perfection of meditative absorption (DHYANAPARAMITA); (6) the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA); (7) the perfection of expedient means (UPAYAPARAMITA); (8) the perfection of the vow (to attain enlightenment) (PRAnIDHANAPARAMITA); (9) the perfection of powers (BALAPARAMITA); and (10) the perfection of omniscience (jNAnapAramitA). See also KARMAVARAnA; NĪVARAnA.
Avichi is a state, not a locality per se; nevertheless, an entity, whatever state it may be in, must have location, and consequently so far as the human race is concerned, avichi is Myalba, our earth in certain of its lowest aspects. Furthermore, in avichi, although it can be looked upon as being the representation of stagnation of life and being in immobility, nevertheless this refers to the temporary or quasi-inability to rise along the evolutionary ladder — yet not completely so. Beings entirely in avichi are born and reborn uninterruptedly, with scarcely intermissions of time periods. But “suppose a case of a monster of wickedness, sensuality, ambition, avarice, pride, deceit, etc.: but who nevertheless has a germ or germs of something better, flashes of a more divine nature — where is he to go? The said spark smouldering under a heap of dirt will counteract, nevertheless, the attraction of the eighth sphere, whither fall but absolute nonentities; ‘failures of nature’ to be remodelled entirely, whose divine monad separated itself from the five principles during their life-time, . . . and who have lived as soulless human beings. . . . Well, the first named entity then, cannot, with all its wickedness go to the eighth sphere — since his wickedness is of a too spiritual, refined nature. He is a monster — not a mere Soulless brute. He must not be simply annihilated but punished; for, annihilation, i.e. total oblivion, and the fact of being snuffed out of conscious existence, constitutes per se no punishment, and as Voltaire expressed it: ‘le neant ne laisse pas d’avoir du bon.’ Here is no taper-glimmer to be puffed out by a zephyr, but a strong, positive, maleficent energy, fed and developed by circumstances, some of which may have really been beyond his control. There must be for such a nature a state corresponding to Devachan, and this is found in Avitchi — the perfect antithesis of devachan — vulgarized by the Western nations into Hell and Heaven . . . ” (ML 196-7).
A. While Nicholas of Cusa referred to God as "the absolute," the noun form of this term came into common use through the writings of Schelling and Hegel. Its adoption spread in France through Cousin and in Britain through Hamilton. According to Kant the Ideas of Reason seek both the absolute totality of conditions and their absolutely unconditioned Ground. This Ground of the Real Fichte identified with the Absolute Ego (q.v.). For Schelling the Absolute is a primordial World Ground, a spiritual unity behind all logical and ontological oppositions, the self-differentiating source of both Mind and Nature. For Hegel, however, the Absolute is the All conceived as a timeless, perfect, organic whole of self-thinking Thought. In England the Absolute has occasionally been identified with the Real considered as unrelated or "unconditioned" and hence as the "Unknowable" (Mansel, H. Spencer). Until recently, however, it was commonly appropriated by the Absolute Idealists to connote with Hegel the complete, the whole, the perfect, i.e. the Real conceived as an all-embracing unity that complements, fulfills, or transmutes into a higher synthesis the partial, fragmentary, and "self-contradictory" experiences, thoughts, purposes, values, and achievements of finite existence. The specific emphasis given to this all-inclusive perfection varies considerably, i.e. logical wholeness or concreteness (Hegel), metaphysical completeness (Hamilton), mystical feeling (Bradley), aesthetic completeness (Bosanquet), moral perfection (Royce). The Absolute is also variously conceived by this school as an all-inclusive Person, a Society of persons, and as an impersonal whole of Experience.
bala. (T. stobs; C. li; J. riki; K. yok 力). In Sanskrit and PAli, "power" or "strength"; used in a variety of lists, including the five powers (the eighteenth to twenty-second of the BODHIPAKsIKADHARMAs, or "thirty-seven factors pertaining to awakening"), the ten powers of a TATHAGATA, the ten powers of a BODHISATTVA, and the ninth of the ten perfections (PARAMITA). The five powers are the same as the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA)-faith (sRADDHA), perseverance (VĪRYA), mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA)-but now fully developed at the LAUKIKAGRADHARMA stage of the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA), just prior to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). A tathAgata's ten powers are given in both PAli and Sanskrit sources as the power of the knowledge (jNAnabala) of: (1) what can be and cannot be (sthAnAsthAna), (2) karmic results (karmavipAka), (3) the various dispositions of different beings (nAnAdhimukti), (4) how the world has many and different elements (nAnAdhAtu), (5) the higher (or different) faculties people possess (indriyaparApara), (6) the ways that lead to all destinations (sarvatragAminīpratipad), (7) the defilement and purification of all meditative absorptions (DHYANA), liberations (VIMOKsA), samAdhis, and trances (SAMAPATTI) (sarvadhyAnavimoksasamAdhisamApatti-saMklesavyavadAnavyavasthAna), (8) recollecting previous births (PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI), (9) decease and birth (cyutyupapatti), and (10) the extinction of the contaminants (ASRAVAKsAYA). Another list gives the Buddha's ten powers as the power of aspiration (Asaya), resolution (ADHYAsAYA), habit (abhyAsa), practice (PRATIPATTI), wisdom (prajNA), vow (PRAnIDHANA), vehicle (YANA), way of life (caryA), thaumaturgy (vikurvana), the power derived from his bodhisattva career, and the power to turn the wheel of dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA). When the MahAyAna six perfections (PARAMITA) are expanded and linked to the ten bodhisattva stages (DAsABHuMI), four perfections are added: the perfections of skillful means (UPAYA), vow, power, and knowledge (JNANA). Thus the perfection of power (BALAPARAMITA) is linked with the ninth bodhisattva stage (BHuMI). When the ten powers are listed as a bodhisattva's perfection of power, they are sometimes explained to be the powers of a tathAgata before they have reached full strength.
Behind the tales that have clustered around this wonderful bird, there was a deep symbology: “Simorgh was the guardian of the ancient Persian Mysteries. It is expected to reappear at the end of the cycle as a gigantic bird-lion. Esoterically, it stands as the symbol of the Manvantaric cycle” (TG 299). Simorgh symbolizes the ancient knowledge and the creative life force. In later Persian literature, it represents the perfect man who has exalted himself to the highest degree of freedom.
(be mental being realised in the fully developed man and thence into the perfect consciousness which is beyond the mental, into the Supramental consciousness and the Suprameotal being, the
B. Generically "an absolute" or "the absolute" (pl. "absolutes") means the real (thing-in-itself) as opposed to appearance; substance, the substantival, reals (possessing aseity or self-existence) as opposed to relations; the perfect, non-comparative, complete of its kind; the primordial or uncaused; the independent or autonomous. Logic. Aristotelian logic involves such absolutes as the three laws of thought and changeless, objectively real classes or species, In Kantian logic the categories and principles of judgment are absolutes, i.e. a priori, while the Ideas of reason seek absolute totality and unity, In the organic or metaphysical logic of the Hegelian school, the Absolute is considered the ultimate terminus, referent, or subject of every judgment. Ethics and Axiology. Moral and axiological identified with the Real values, norms, principles, maxims, laws are considered absolutes when universally valid objects of acknowledgment, whether conditionally or unconditionally (e.g. the law of the best possible, the utilitarian greatest happiness principle, the Kantian categorical imperative).
bhagavat. [alt. bhagavant] (T. bcom ldan 'das; C. shizun; J. seson; K. sejon 世尊). In Sanskrit and PAli, lit. "endowed with fortune"; one of the standard epithets of a buddha, commonly rendered in English as "Blessed One," "Exalted One," or simply "Lord." The term means "possessing fortune," "prosperous," and, by extension, "glorious," "venerable," "divine." In Sanskrit literature, bhagavat is reserved either for the most honored of human individuals, or for the gods. In Buddhist literature, however, the term is used almost entirely with reference to the Buddha, and points to the perfection of his virtue, wisdom, and contentment. There are several transcriptional and declensional variants of the term commonly found in English-language sources, including bhagavAn (nominative singular), bhagavat (weak stem), bhagavad (a saMdhi pronunciation change), bhagawan, and bhagwan. The Chinese translation of bhagavat, shizun, means "World-Honored One." The Tibetan translation may be rendered as "Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror," as it indicates a conqueror (bcom) who is endowed with all good qualities (ldan) and has gone beyond SAMSARA ('das).
Bka' gdams. (Kadam). An early sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibetan, BKA' (ka) is the word of the Buddha or an enlightened master, and gdams (dam) means "to instruct"; traditionally the compound is parsed as "those who take all of the Buddha's words as instruction." Another etymology associates the word bka' with the words of ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNANA, whose followers began the early sect of Tibetan Buddhism, and in place of gdams "to advise" understands dam "to bind," hence, "those who hold his sacred words as binding." The origins of the sect are traced back to the founding of RWA SGRENG monastery in 1056 by Atisa's foremost disciple and interpreter 'BROM STON RGYAL BA'I 'BYUNG GNAS. The three main students of 'Brom ston pa are Po to ba Rin chen gsal (Potowa), Spyan mnga' ba Tshul khrims 'bar (Chen Ngawa), and Bu chung ba Gzhon nu rgyal mtshan (Bu chungwa), from whom originate the three principal Bka' gdams lineages (bka' babs): (1) the authoritative treatises (gzhung) lineage, (2) the essential instruction (gdams ngag) lineage, and (3) the oral instruction (man ngag) lineage, respectively. Po to ba's authoritative treatise lineage emphasized the close study of six paired fundamental Buddhist treatises: the BODHISATTVABHuMI and MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA, the BODHICARYAVATARA and sIKsASAMUCCAYA, and the JATAKAMALA and UDANAVARGA. The teachings of the lineage of oral instructions are collected in the BKA' GDAMS GLEGS BAM PHA CHOS BU CHOS. The sect is probably best known for its strict discipline and austerity of practice, but the Gsang phu ne'u thog Bka' gdams lineage that is traced back to the founding of the monastery of GSANG PHU NE'U THOG in about 1073 by RNGOG LEGS PA'I SHES RAB, an immediate disciple of Atisa, and his nephew, the translator RNGOG BLO LDAN SHES RAB, gave the Bka' gdams a well-deserved reputation as a sect of great learning. Monks from Gsang phu ne'u thog like PHYWA PA CHOS KYI SENG GE wrote important works on PRAMAnA (logic and epistemology) and formalized debate (rtsod rigs). The Bka' gdams was responsible for the distinctive Tibetan BSTAN RIM (tenrim) ("stages of teaching") genre, based on Atisa's seminal work, the BODHIPATHAPRADĪPA. This genre was later adapted and popularized by TSONG KHA PA in his influential LAM RIM CHEN MO. Tsong kha pa idealized Atisa as the perfect teacher and his early DGE LUGS PA followers, first called Dga' ldan pa (Gandenpa) after the DGA' LDAN monastery he founded, were also known as the new Bka' gdams pa. After the rise of the Dge lugs sect, the Bka' gdams disappeared from Tibetan history, for reasons still not fully understood, with only the monasteries of Rwa sgreng and SNAR THANG retaining their original affiliation.
bodhisaMbhAra. (T. byang chub kyi tshogs; C. puti ju/puti ziliang; J. bodaigu/bodaishiryo; K. pori ku/pori charyang 菩提具/菩提資糧). In Sanskrit, "collection" of, or "equipment" (SAMBHARA) for, "enlightenment" (BODHI); the term refers to specific sets of spiritual requisites (also called "accumulations") necessary for the attainment of awakening. The BODHISATTVA becomes equipped with these factors during his progress along the path (MARGA) leading to the attainment of buddhahood. In a buddha, the amount of this "enlightenment-collection" is understood to be infinite. These factors are often divided into two major groups: the collection of merit (PUnYASAMBHARA) and the collection of knowledge (JNANASAMBHARA). The collection of merit (PUnYA) entails the strengthening of four perfections (PARAMITA): generosity (DANA), morality (sĪLA), patience (KsANTI), and energy (VĪRYA). The collection of knowledge entails the cultivation of meditative states leading to the realization that emptiness (suNYATA) is the ultimate nature of all things. The bodhisaMbhAra were expounded in the *BodhisaMbhAraka, attributed to the MADHYAMAKA exegete NAGARJUNA, which is now extant only in Dharmagupta's 609 CE Chinese translation, titled the Puti ziliang lun. In this treatise, NAgArjuna explains that the acquisition, development, and fruition of these factors is an essentially interminable process: enlightenment will be achieved when these factors have been developed for as many eons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River (see GAnGANADĪVALUKA). The text also emphasizes the importance of compassion (KARUnA), calling it the mother of perfect wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA). The perfection of wisdom sutras stress that PARInAMANA (turning over [merit]) and ANUMODANA (rejoicing [in the good deeds of others]) are necessary to amass the collection necessary to reach the final goal.
bodhisattvayAna. (T. byang chub sems dpa'i theg pa; C. pusa sheng; J. bosatsujo; K. posal sŭng 菩薩乘). In Sanskrit, lit. "BODHISATTVA vehicle," the path (MARGA) that begins with the initial activation of the aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPADA) and culminates in the achievement of buddhahood; one of the early terms used for what eventually comes to be called the "Great Vehicle" (MAHAYANA). The bodhisattvayAna focuses on the development of the six perfections (PARAMITA) over a period as long as three incalculable eons of time (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA). At the culmination of this essentially interminable process, the bodhisattva becomes a buddha, with the full range of unique qualities (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA) that are developed only as a result of mastering the perfections. The bodhisattvayAna is distinguished from the sRAVAKAYANA, in which teachings were learned from a buddha or an enlightened disciple (sRAVAKA) of the Buddha and which culminates in becoming a "worthy one" (ARHAT); and the PRATYEKABUDDHAYANA, the vehicle of those who reach their goal in solitude. The bodhisattvayAna, by contrast, is modeled on the accounts of the current buddha sAKYAMUNI's extensive series of past lives, during which he was motivated by the altruistic aspiration to save all beings from suffering by becoming a buddha himself, not simply settling for arhatship. The srAvakayAna, pratyekabuddhayAna, and bodhisattvayAna together constitute the TRIYANA, or "three vehicles," mentioned in many MahAyAna sutras, most famously in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA.
Buddhabhumisutra. (T. Sangs rgyas kyi sa'i mdo; C. Fodi jing; J. Butsujikyo; K. Pulchi kyong 佛地經). In Sanskrit, "Scripture on the Stage of Buddhahood," an important MAHAYANA scripture on the experience of enlightenment. The sutra begins with a description of the PURE LAND in which the scripture is taught and its audience of BODHISATTVAs, mahAsrAvakas, and MAHASATTVAs. The text goes on to describe the five factors that exemplify the stage of buddhahood (buddhabhumi). The first of these is (1) the wisdom of the DHARMADHATU, which is likened to space (AKAsA) itself, in that it is all-pervasive and uncontained. The next two factors are (2) mirror-like wisdom, or great perfect mirror wisdom (ADARsAJNANA), in which the perfect interfusion between all things is seen as if reflected in a great mirror, and (3) the wisdom of equality, or impartial wisdom (SAMATAJNANA), which transcends all dichotomies to see everything impartially without coloring by the ego. The scripture then describes (4) the wisdom of specific knowledge (PRATYAVEKsAnAJNANA) and (5) the wisdom of having accomplished what was to be done (KṚTYANUstHANAJNANA), both of which are attained as a result of the subsequently attained wisdom (TATPṚstHALABDHAJNANA); these two types of knowledge clarify that the dharmadhAtu is a realm characterized by both emptiness (suNYATA) and compassion (KARUnA). Finally, similes are offered to elucidate the nature of these wisdoms. The Chinese translation, in one roll, was made by XUANZANG and his translation team in 645 CE. In tantric Buddhism, these five wisdoms or knowledges (JNANA) are linked with the five "buddha families" (see PANCATATHAGATA).
buddhayAna. (T. sangs rgyas kyi theg pa; C. fo sheng; J. butsujo; K. pul sŭng 佛乘). In Sanskrit, "buddha vehicle," the conveyance leading to the state of buddhahood. In general, the buddhayAna is synonymous with both the BODHISATTVAYANA and the MAHAYANA, although in some contexts it is considered superior to them, being equivalent to a supreme EKAYANA. When this path is perfected, the adept achieves the full range of special qualities unique to the buddhas (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA), which result from mastery of the perfections (PARAMITA). This understanding of the term buddhayAna and its significance is explained in chapter two of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"). There, the Buddha compares three means of salvation to three carts promised to children in an effort to convince them to come out from a burning house. The three carts are said to correspond to the three vehicles (TRIYANA). The first is the sRAVAKAYANA, the vehicle for sRAVAKAs ("disciples"), in which teachings were learned from a buddha and which culminates in becoming a "worthy one" (ARHAT). Next is the PRATYEKABUDDHAYANA, the vehicle of the PRATYEKABUDDHA or "solitary buddha," those who strive for enlightenment but do not rely on a buddha in their last life. The third is the bodhisattvayAna, the path followed by the BODHISATTVA to buddhahood. In the parable in the "Lotus Sutra," the Buddha uses the prospect of these three vehicles to entice the children to leave the burning house; once they are safely outside, they find not three carts waiting for them but instead a single magnificent cart. The Buddha then declares the three vehicles to be a form of skillful means (UPAYAKAUsALYA), for there is in fact only one vehicle (ekayAna), also referred to as the buddha vehicle (buddhayAna). Later exegetes, especially in East Asia, engaged in extensive scholastic investigation of the relationships between the terms bodhisattvayAna, buddhayAna, and ekayAna.
Bu ston rin chen grub. (Buton Rinchen Drup) (1290-1364). A Tibetan scholar, translator, and encyclopedist, renowned for systematizing the Tibetan Buddhist canon into its present form. According to Tibetan hagiographies, Bu ston was born into a lineage of tantric practitioners and considered a reincarnation of the Kashmiri master sAKYAsRĪBHADRA. Having mastered tantric ritual at an early age, he then received ordination at the age of eighteen. He trained under numerous teachers, studying all branches of Buddhist learning and eventually earned a reputation especially for his knowledge of the KALACAKRATANTRA. At age thirty, Bu ston accepted the abbacy of ZHWA LU monastery in central Tibet, where he authored and taught his most influential works; his entire corpus fills twenty-eight volumes in one edition. Bu ston's tenure at Zhwa lu was so influential that it provided the name for a new lineage, the so-called Zhwa lu pa (those of Zhwa lu) or the Bu lugs tshul (the tradition of Bu ston). In about 1332 Bu ston completed his famous history of Buddhism (BU STON CHOS 'BYUNG) and it was during this time that, based on previous canonical lists, he began to reformulate a classification system for organizing the Tibetan canon. Bu ston was not the only editor (among them were Dbu pa blo gsal and Bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri), but he was the most important figure in the final redaction of the BKA' 'GYUR and BSTAN 'GYUR; he compared manuscripts from the two major manuscript collections at SNAR THANG and 'Tshal, added other works not found there, eliminated indigenous Tibetan works, decided on criteria for inclusion in the canon, standardized terminology, and decided on categories under which to include the many volumes. It is customary in modern works to include Bu ston in the SA SKYA sect and indeed his explanations of the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA and the ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA, among others, are considered authoritative by that sect. But his influence is not limited to that sect; for example, TSONG KHA PA's commentary on the perfection of wisdom (LEGS BSHAD GSER 'PHRENG), and his explanation of the different types of tantra (SNGAGS RIM CHEN MO) (both authoritative texts in the DGE LUGS sect) borrow heavily from Bu ston's work. Bu ston is one of several key figures in the history of Tibetan Buddhism to be referred to as kun mkhyen, or "all knowing."
"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.” The Synthesis of Yoga
“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.” The Synthesis of Yoga
Byang chub 'od. (Jangchup Ö) (late tenth century). Grandnephew of King YE SHES 'OD who successfully invited the Indian Buddhist monk and scholar ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNANA to Tibet. During the second half of the tenth century, Ye shes 'od (also known as Song nge) became the king of Mnga' ris (Ngari), now the far western region of Tibet. He sent a number of Tibetans to Kashmir (see KASHMIR-GANDHARA) to study Buddhism, among them the translator RIN CHEN BZANG PO whose return to Tibet in 978 marks the beginning of the later spread of Buddhism (PHYI DAR). (Others date the beginning to the start of the second MuLASARVASTIVADA ordination line, which began at about the same period.) According to a well-known story, Ye shes 'od wanted to invite the foremost Indian Buddhist scholar of the day, Atisa, to Tibet and traveled to the Qarluq (T. gar log) kingdom (probably to KHOTAN in present-day Chinese Xianjiang province), to raise funds. He was captured by the chieftain and held for ransom. Ye shes 'od sent a letter to his nephew Byang chub 'od, saying that rather than use money for a ransom to free him, he should use any money collected for his release to invite Atisa. Ye shes 'od died in captivity, but Byang chub 'od succeeded in convincing Atisa to come to Tibet where he had a great influence, particularly on the earlier followers of the BKA' GDAMS sect. The history of this period becomes more important in later Tibetan history when TSONG KHA PA, the founder of the DGE LUGS sect, described Atisa as the perfect teacher in his seminal work the LAM RIM CHEN MO. In the seventeenth century, when the Dge lugs rose to political power under the fifth DALAI LAMA and his supporters, Byang chub 'od and Atisa were incorporated into a complex founding myth legitimating Dge lugs ascendancy and the DGA' LDAN PHO BRANG government.
Candrakīrti. (T. Zla ba grags pa) (c. 600-650). An important MADHYAMAKA master and commentator on the works of NAGARJUNA and ARYADEVA, associated especially with what would later be known as the PRASAnGIKA branch of Madhyamaka. Very little is known about his life; according to Tibetan sources, he was from south India and a student of Kamalabuddhi. He may have been a monk of NALANDA. He wrote commentaries on NAgArjuna's YUKTIsAstIKA and suNYATASAPTATI as well as Aryadeva's CATUḤsATAKA. His two most famous and influential works, however, are his PRASANNAPADA ("Clear Words"), which is a commentary on NAgArjuna's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA, and his MADHYAMAKAVATARA ("Entrance to the Middle Way"). In the first chapter of the PrasannapadA, he defends the approach of BUDDHAPALITA against the criticism of BHAVAVIVEKA in their own commentaries on the MulamadhyamakakArikA. Candrakīrti argues that it is inappropriate for the Madhyamaka to use what is called an autonomous syllogism (SVATANTRAPRAYOGA) in debating with an opponent and that the Madhyamaka should instead use a consequence (PRASAnGA). It is largely based on Candrakīrti's discussion that Tibetan scholars retrospectively identified two subschools of Madhyamaka, the SVATANTRIKA (in which they placed BhAvaviveka) and the PrAsangika (in which they placed BuddhapAlita and Candrakīrti). Candrakīrti's other important work is the MadhyamakAvatAra, written in verse with an autocommentary. It is intended as a general introduction to the MulamadhyamakakArikA, and provides what Candrakīrti regards as the soteriological context for NAgArjuna's work. It sets forth the BODHISATTVA path, under the rubric of the ten bodhisattva stages (BHuMI; DAsABHuMI) and the ten perfections (PARAMITA). By far the longest and most influential chapter of the text is the sixth, dealing with the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA), where Candrakīrti discusses the two truths (SATYADVAYA), offers a critique of CITTAMATRA, and sets forth the reasoning for proving the selflessness of phenomena (DHARMANAIRATMYA) and the selflessness of the person (PUDGALANAIRATMYA), using his famous sevenfold analysis of a chariot as an example. Candrakīrti seems to have had little influence in the first centuries after his death, perhaps accounting for the fact that his works were not translated into Chinese (until the 1940s). There appears to have been a revival of interest in his works in India, especially in Kashmir, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, at the time of the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet. Over the next few centuries, Candrakīrti's works became increasingly important in Tibet, such that eventually the MadhyamakAvatAra became the locus classicus for the study of Madhyamaka in Tibet, studied and commented upon by scholars of all sects and serving as one of the "five texts" (GZHUNG LNGA) of the DGE LUGS curriculum. ¶ There appear to be later Indian authors who were called, or called themselves, Candrakīrti. These include the authors of the Trisaranasaptati and the MadhyamakAvatAraprajNA, neither of which appears to have been written by the author described above. Of particular importance is yet another Candrakīrti, or CandrakīrtipAda, the author of the Pradīpoddyotana, an influential commentary on the GUHYASAMAJATANTRA. Scholars often refer to this author as Candrakīrti II or "the tantric Candrakīrti."
CariyApitaka. In PAli, "The Basket of Conduct"; fifteenth book of the KHUDDAKANIKAYA of the PAli SUTTAPItAKA. According to traditional accounts, the text was preached by Gotama (S. GAUTAMA) Buddha immediately after the BUDDHAVAMSA at the request of SAriputta (S. sARIPUTRA). Centuries later, the missionary MAHINDA is said to have converted thousands of Sri Lankans to Buddhism when he recited it in ANURADHAPURA. Divided into three chapters (vagga), the book contains thirty-five stories in verse of previous lives of the Buddha. These stories recount and extol the ten perfections (P. pAramī, S. PARAMITA) that Gotama developed while striving for enlightenment through many lives as a bodhisatta (S. BODHISATTVA). The stories in this collection are called cariyA ("conduct," or "act"), whence the name of the text, and in content they parallel corresponding prose narratives found in the JATAKA. The PAli tradition recognizes ten perfections as requisite for attaining buddhahood: generosity (DANA), morality (sīla, S. sĪLA), renunciation (nekkhamma, S. NAIsKRAMYA), wisdom (paNNA, S. PRAJNA), energy (viriya, S. VĪRYA), patience (khanti, S. KsANTI), truthfulness (sacca, S. SATYA), resolution (adhitthAna, S. ADHIstHANA), loving-kindness (mettA, S. MAITRĪ) and equanimity (upekkhA, S. UPEKsA). Of these ten, only seven are enumerated in this text. The first vagga is comprised of ten stories concerning the perfection of generosity. The second vagga has ten stories concerning morality. The third vagga contains fifteen stories, five of which are devoted to renunciation, six to truthfulness, two to loving-kindness, and one each to the perfections of resolution and equanimity. A commentary to the text, attributed to DHARMAPALA, is included in the PARAMATTHADĪPANĪ.
catuspad dharma ::: the perfect harmony of the four dharmas (brahmanyam, ksatram, vaisyam, saudram).
Chih jen: Chinese for the perfect man; one who has reached a state of mystical union with the universe, or “one who has not separated from the true.”
Chih jen: "The perfect man", one who has reached a state of mystical union with the universe, or "one who has not separated from the true." (Chuang Tzu between 399 and 295 B.C.) -- H.H.
Ch'ont'ae sagyo ŭi. (C. Tiantai sijiao yi; J. Tendai shikyogi 天台四教儀). In Korean, the "Principle of the Fourfold Teachings of the Tiantai [School]," composed by the Korean monk Ch'egwan (d. 970); an influential primer of TIANTAI ZONG (K. Chont'ae chong) doctrine. The loss of the texts of the Tiantai tradition in China after the chaos that accompanied the fall of the Tang dynasty prompted the king of the Wuyue kingdom to seek copies of them elsewhere in East Asia. King Kwangjong (r. 950-975) of the Koryo dynasty responded to the Wuyue king's search by sending the monk Ch'egwan to China in 961. In order to summarize the major teachings of the Tiantai school, Ch'egwan wrote this one-roll abstract of TIANTAI ZHIYI's Sijiao yi, which also draws on other of Zhiyi's writings, including his FAHUA XUANYI. Ch'egwan's text is especially known for its summary of Zhiyi's doctrinal classification schema (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI) on the different (chronological) stages of the Buddha's teaching career and the varying methods he used in preaching to his audiences; these are called the "five periods and eight teachings" (WUSHI BAJIAO). The five periods correspond to what the Tiantai school considered to be the five major chronological stages in the Buddha's teaching career, each of which is exemplified by a specific scripture or type of scripture: (1) HUAYAN (AVATAMSAKASuTRA), (2) AGAMA, (3) VAIPULYA, (4) PRAJNAPARAMITA, and (5) SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA and MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA. The different target audiences of the Buddha's message lead to four differing varieties of content in these teachings (huafa): (1) the PItAKA teachings, which were targeted at the two-vehicle adherents (ER SHENG) of disciples (sRAVAKA) and solitary buddhas (PRATYEKABUDDHA); (2) the common teachings, which were intended for both two-vehicle adherents and neophyte bodhisattvas of the MAHAYANA; (3) the distinct teachings, which targeted only bodhisattvas; (4) the perfect or consummate teachings (YUANJIAO), which offered advanced bodhisattvas an unvarnished assessment of Buddhist truths. In speaking to these audiences, which differed dramatically in their capacity to understand his message, the Buddha is said also to have employed four principal techniques of conversion (huayi), or means of conveying his message: sudden, gradual, secret, and indeterminate. Ch'egwan's text played a crucial role in the revitalization of the Tiantai tradition in China and has remained widely studied since. The Ch'ont'ae sagyo ŭi was also influential in Japan, where it was repeatedly republished. Numerous commentaries on this text have also been written in China, Korea, and Japan.
chrysalis ::: n. --> The pupa state of certain insects, esp. of butterflies, from which the perfect insect emerges. See Pupa, and Aurelia (a).
Chunghyangsong. (K) (衆香城). "City of Multitudinous Fragrances"; city where the AstASAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA says the BODHISATTVA DHARMODGATA lived and taught the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA); an alternate name for the Korean "Diamond Mountains." See GANDHAVATĪ, KŬMGANGSAN; DHARMODGATA.
Chun tu: The superior man, the perfect man, the moral man, the noble man. "There may have been a superior man who is not a true man (jen), but there has never been an inferior man (hsiao jen) who is a true man." The superior man "makes upward progress," "understands profit," and "despises the ordinances of Heaven, great men, and the words of the sages." (Confucius.) "The superior man's moral order is on the increase, while the inferior man's moral order is on the decrease." "The superior man abides by what is internal, whereas the inferior man abides by what is external." (Ancient Confucianism ) "The superior man makes advance in the moral law, whereas the inferior man makes advance in profit." "The superior man enjoys in the fulfillment of the moral law, whereas the inferior man enjoys in the fulfillment of his desires." (Medieval Confucianism.) The superior man "sees what is great and far" and is interested in "helping things to perfection," whereas the inferior man "sees what is small and near" and is interested in destroying things." (Neo-Confucianism.) A ruler. Husband (as in the Odes).
Control Program for Microcomputers ::: (operating system) (CP/M) An early microcomputer operating system written by Gary Kildall of Digital Research for 8080 and Zilog Z80-based 8-bit computers. CP/M was very popular in the late 1970s but was virtually wiped out by MS-DOS after the release of the IBM PC in 1981.Many of CP/M's features and conventions strongly resemble those of early DEC operating systems such as TOPS-10, OS/8, RSTS and RSX-11.CP/M might have been the OS for the IBM PC instead of MS-DOS but Kildall wanted to keep control of his creation and only license it to IBM. Big Blue however wanted to own and control it completely. Kildall spent the day IBM's reps wanted to meet him enjoying the perfect flying weather in his private plane.[Did CP/M use the same FAT file system as MS-DOS?] (1996-01-07)
Control Program for Microcomputers "operating system" (CP/M) An early {microcomputer} {operating system} written by Gary Kildall of {Digital Research} for {8080} and {Zilog Z80}-based 8-bit computers. CP/M was very popular in the late 1970s but was virtually wiped out by {MS-DOS} after the release of the {IBM PC} in 1981. Many of CP/M's features and conventions strongly resemble those of early {DEC} operating systems such as {TOPS-10}, {OS/8}, {RSTS} and {RSX-11}. CP/M might have been the {OS} for the {IBM PC} instead of {MS-DOS} but Kildall wanted to keep control of his creation and only license it to IBM. Big Blue however wanted to own and control it completely. Kildall spent the day IBM's reps wanted to meet him enjoying the perfect flying weather in his private plane. The {file system} of MS-DOS was patterned closely on {CP/M}'s, including the use of 8 + 3 (upper case) character file names. The first version (MS-DOS 1.0) was even limited to a single directory, like CP/M. (2019-01-21)
Conze, Edward. [Eberhard (Edward) Julius Dietrich Conze] (1904-1979). An influential Anglo-German Buddhist scholar and practitioner, Edward Conze was born in London, the son of the then German vice consul, but was raised in Germany. He attended the universities of Cologne, Bonn, and Hamburg, where he studied both Western and Indian philosophy and Buddhist languages, including Sanskrit, PAli, and Tibetan. Conze was raised as a Protestant, but he also explored Communism and had a strong interest in Theosophy. Because of his deep opposition to the Nazi ideology, he became persona non grata in Germany and in 1933 moved to England. Although initially active with English socialists, he eventually became disillusioned with politics and began to study the works of DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI, whom he came to consider his informal spiritual mentor. Conze taught at various universities in the UK between 1933 and 1960, expanding the range of his visiting professorships to the USA and Canada in the 1960s. However, the Communist affiliations of his youth and his outspoken condemnation of the Vietnam War put him at odds with American authorities, prompting him to return to England. Conze was especially enamored of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA) texts and the related MADHYAMAKA strand of Buddhist philosophy and became one of foremost scholarly exponents of this literature of his day. He saw Buddhism and especially Madhyamaka philosophy as presenting an "intelligible, plausible, and valid system" that rivaled anything produced in the West and was therefore worthy of the close attention of Western philosophers. He translated several of the major texts of the prajNApAramitA, including The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousands Lines and Its Verse Summary (1973), and The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom with the Divisions of the AbhisamayAlaMkAra (1975), as well as the VAJRACCHEDIKAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA ("Diamond Sutra") and the PRAJNAPARAMITAHṚDAYASuTRA ("Heart Sutra"). His compilation of terminology derived from this translation work, Materials for a Dictionary of the PrajNApAramitA Literature (1967), did much to help establish many of the standard English equivalencies of Sanskrit Buddhist terms. Conze also wrote more general surveys of Buddhist philosophy and history, including Buddhism: Its Essence and Development (1951) and Buddhist Thought in India (1962).
daijue ermiao. (待絶二妙). In Chinese, "marvelous in comparison and marvelous in its own right." In the TIANTAI school's system of doctrinal classification (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI), Buddhist teachings and scriptures were classified into four modes of instruction (according to their different doctrinal themes; see TIANTAI BAJIAO) and five periods (according to the presumed chronological order by which the Buddha propounded them; see WUSHI). The most sophisticated pedagogical mode and the culminating chronological period are called, respectively, "the perfect teaching" (YUANJIAO) and the "Fahua-Niepan period." The teachings and scriptures associated with the highest mode and the culminating period-the paradigmatic example being the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") and the teachings it embodied for the Tiantai school-are called truly "marvelous" for two reasons. First, they are "marvelous in comparison to the teachings and scriptures of all other 'modes' and 'periods'" (xiangdai miao) because they are the definitive expressions of the Buddha's teachings; second, they are also "marvelous in their own right" (juedai miao), i.e., they are wonderful and profound in an absolute sense, and not just comparatively.
dAnapAramitA. (P. dAnapAramī; T. sbyin pa'i pha rol tu phyin pa; C. bushi boluomi; J. fuseharamitsu; K. posi paramil 布施波羅蜜). In Sanskrit, the "perfection of giving"; the first of the six [or ten] perfections (PARAMITA) cultivated on the BODHISATTVA path. According to the PAli tradition, dAna is the first of ten perfections (P. PARAMĪ). Three kinds of DANA are often enumerated in this context: the "gift of material goods" (AMIsADANA); the "gift of fearlessness" (ABHAYADANA) and the "gift of the dharma" (DHARMADANA). Giving (DANA) is perfected on the first of the ten stages (DAsABHuMI) of the bodhisattva path, PRAMUDITA (joyful), where the bodhisattva's vision into the emptiness (suNYATA) of all things motivates him to perfect the practice of giving, learning to give away those things most precious to him, including his wealth, his wife, and family, and even his very body (see DEHADANA; SHESHEN). Thanks to his understanding of emptiness (suNYATA), the bodhisattva masters the perfection of giving by realizing there is no donor, no recipient, and no gift. It is with this insight that ordinary giving becomes perfected giving. The perfection of giving brings an end to the obstruction of the common illusions of the unenlightened (pṛthagjanatvAvarana; C. yishengxing zhang), leading in turn to the awareness of universal suchness (sarvatragatathatA; C. bianxing zhenru). See DAsABHuMI, VESSANTARA.
darsana. (P. dassana; T. mthong ba; C. jian; J. ken; K. kyon 見). In Sanskrit, lit. "seeing," viz., "vision," "insight," or "understanding." In a purely physical sense, darsana refers most basically to visual perception that occurs through the ocular sense organ. However, Buddhism also accepts a full range of sensory and extrasensory perceptions, such as those associated with meditative development (see YOGIPRATYAKsA), that also involve "vision," in the sense of directly perceiving a reality hidden from ordinary sight. Darsana may thus refer to the seeing that occurs through any of the five types of "eyes" (CAKsUS) mentioned in Buddhist literature, viz., (1) the physical eye (MAMSACAKsUS), the sense base (AYATANA) associated with visual consciousness; (2) the divine eye (DIVYACAKsUS), the vision associated with the spiritual power (ABHIJNA) of clairvoyance; (3) the wisdom eye (PRAJNACAKsUS), which is the insight that derives from cultivating mainstream Buddhist practices; (4) the dharma eye (DHARMACAKsUS), which is exclusive to the BODHISATTVAs; and (5) the buddha eye (BUDDHACAKsUS), which subsumes all the other four. When used in its denotation of "insight," darsana often appears in the compound "knowledge and vision" (JNANADARsANA), viz., the direct insight that accords with reality (YATHABHuTA) of the three marks of existence (TRILAKsAnA)-impermanence (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself/insubstantiality (ANATMAN)-and one of the qualities perfected on the path leading to the state of "worthy one" (ARHAT). Darsana is usually considered to involve awakening (BODHI) to the truth, liberation (VIMUKTI) from bondage, and purification (VIsUDDHI) of all afflictions (KLEsA). The perfection of knowledge and vision (jNAnadarsanapAramitA) is also said to be an alternate name for the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA), one of the six perfections (PARAMITA) of the bodhisattva path. In the fivefold structure of the Buddhist path, the DARsANAMARGA constitutes the third path. The related term "view" (DṚstI), which derives from the same Sanskrit root √dṛs ("to see"), is sometimes employed similarly to darsana, although it also commonly conveys the more pejorative meanings of dogma, heresy, or extreme or wrong views regarding the self and the world, often as propounded by non-Buddhist philosophical schools. Darsana is also sometimes used within the Indian tradition to indicate a philosophical or religious system, a usage still current today.
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.”
dasabhumi. (T. sa bcu; C. shidi; J. juji; K. sipchi 十地). In Sanskrit, lit., "ten grounds," "ten stages"; the ten highest reaches of the bodhisattva path (MARGA) leading to buddhahood. The most systematic and methodical presentation of the ten BHuMIs appears in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA ("Ten Bhumis Sutra"), where each of the ten stages is correlated with seminal doctrines of mainstream Buddhism-such as the four means of conversion (SAMGRAHAVASTU) on the first four bhumis, the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (CATVARY ARYASATYANI) on the fifth bhumi, and the chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA) on the sixth bhumi, etc.-as well as with mastery of one of a list of ten perfections (PARAMITA) completed in the course of training as a bodhisattva. The list of the ten bhumis of the Dasabhumikasutra, which becomes standard in most MahAyAna traditions, is as follows: (1) PRAMUDITA (joyful) corresponds to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA) and the bodhisattva's first direct realization of emptiness (suNYATA). The bodhisattva masters on this bhumi the perfection of giving (DANAPARAMITA), learning to give away those things most precious to him, including his wealth, his wife and family, and even his body (see DEHADANA); (2) VIMALA (immaculate, stainless) marks the inception of the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), where the bodhisattva develops all the superlative traits of character incumbent on a buddha through mastering the perfection of morality (sĪLAPARAMITA); (3) PRABHAKARĪ (luminous, splendrous), where the bodhisattva masters all the various types of meditative experiences, such as DHYANA, SAMAPATTI, and the BRAHMAVIHARA; despite the emphasis on meditation in this bhumi, it comes to be identified instead with the perfection of patience (KsANTIPARAMITA), ostensibly because the bodhisattva is willing to endure any and all suffering in order to master his practices; (4) ARCIsMATĪ (radiance, effulgence), where the flaming radiance of the thirty-seven factors pertaining to enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA) becomes so intense that it incinerates obstructions (AVARAnA) and afflictions (KLEsA), giving the bodhisattva inexhaustible energy in his quest for enlightenment and thus mastering the perfection of vigor or energy (VĪRYAPARAMITA); (5) SUDURJAYA (invincibility, hard-to-conquer), where the bodhisattva comprehends the various permutations of truth (SATYA), including the four noble truths, the two truths (SATYADVAYA) of provisional (NEYARTHA) and absolute (NĪTARTHA), and masters the perfection of meditative absorption (DHYANAPARAMITA); (6) ABHIMUKHĪ (immediacy, face-to-face), where, as the name implies, the bodhisattva stands at the intersection between SAMSARA and NIRVAnA, turning away from the compounded dharmas of saMsAra and turning to face the profound wisdom of the buddhas, thus placing him "face-to-face" with both the compounded (SAMSKṚTA) and uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA) realms; this bhumi is correlated with mastery of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA); (7) DuRAnGAMA (far-reaching, transcendent), which marks the bodhisattva's freedom from the four perverted views (VIPARYASA) and his mastery of the perfection of expedients (UPAYAPARAMITA), which he uses to help infinite numbers of sentient beings; (8) ACALA (immovable, steadfast), which is marked by the bodhisattva's acquiescence or receptivity to the nonproduction of dharmas (ANUTPATTIKADHARMAKsANTI); because he is now able to project transformation bodies (NIRMAnAKAYA) anywhere in the universe to help sentient beings, this bhumi is correlated with mastery of the perfection of aspiration or resolve (PRAnIDHANAPARAMITA); (9) SADHUMATĪ (eminence, auspicious intellect), where the bodhisattva acquires the four analytical knowledges (PRATISAMVID), removing any remaining delusions regarding the use of the supernatural knowledges or powers (ABHIJNA), and giving the bodhisattva complete autonomy in manipulating all dharmas through the perfection of power (BALAPARAMITA); and (10) DHARMAMEGHA (cloud of dharma), the final bhumi, where the bodhisattva becomes autonomous in interacting with all material and mental factors, and gains all-pervasive knowledge that is like a cloud producing a rain of dharma that nurtures the entire world; this stage is also described as being pervaded by meditative absorption (DHYANA) and mastery of the use of codes (DHARAnĪ), just as the sky is filled by clouds; here the bodhisattva achieves the perfection of knowledge (JNANAPARAMITA). As the bodhisattva ascends through the ten bhumis, he acquires extraordinary powers, which CANDRAKĪRTI describes in the eleventh chapter of his MADHYAMAKAVATARA. On the first bhumi, the bodhisattva can, in a single instant (1) see one hundred buddhas, (2) be blessed by one hundred buddhas and understand their blessings, (3) live for one hundred eons, (4) see the past and future in those one hundred eons, (5) enter into and rise from one hundred SAMADHIs, (6) vibrate one hundred worlds, (7) illuminate one hundred worlds, (8) bring one hundred beings to spiritual maturity using emanations, (9) go to one hundred BUDDHAKsETRA, (10), open one hundred doors of the doctrine (DHARMAPARYAYA), (11) display one hundred versions of his body, and (12) surround each of those bodies with one hundred bodhisattvas. The number one hundred increases exponentially as the bodhisattva proceeds; on the second bhumi it becomes one thousand, on the third one hundred thousand, and so on; on the tenth, it is a number equal to the particles of an inexpressible number of buddhaksetra. As the bodhisattva moves from stage to stage, he is reborn as the king of greater and greater realms, ascending through the Buddhist cosmos. Thus, on the first bhumi he is born as king of JAMBUDVĪPA, on the second of the four continents, on the third as the king of TRAYATRIMsA, and so on, such that on the tenth he is born as the lord of AKANIstHA. ¶ According to the rather more elaborate account in chapter eleven of the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimAtratAsiddhi), each of the ten bhumis is correlated with the attainment of one of the ten types of suchness (TATHATA); these are accomplished by discarding one of the ten kinds of obstructions (Avarana) by mastering one of the ten perfections (pAramitA). The suchnesses achieved on each of the ten bhumis are, respectively: (1) universal suchness (sarvatragatathatA; C. bianxing zhenru), (2) supreme suchness (paramatathatA; C. zuisheng zhenru), (3) ubiquitous, or "supreme outflow" suchness (paramanisyandatathatA; C. shengliu zhenru), (4) unappropriated suchness (aparigrahatathatA; C. wusheshou zhenru), (5) undifferentiated suchness (abhinnajAtīyatathatA; C. wubie zhenru), (6) the suchness that is devoid of maculations and contaminants (asaMklistAvyavadAtatathatA; C. wuranjing zhenru), (7) the suchness of the undifferentiated dharma (abhinnatathatA; C. fawubie zhenru), (8) the suchness that neither increases nor decreases (anupacayApacayatathatA; C. buzengjian), (9) the suchness that serves as the support of the mastery of wisdom (jNAnavasitAsaMnisrayatathatA; C. zhizizai suoyi zhenru), and (10) the suchness that serves as the support for mastery over actions (kriyAdivasitAsaMnisrayatathatA; C. yezizai dengsuoyi). These ten suchnessses are obtained by discarding, respectively: (1) the obstruction of the common illusions of the unenlightened (pṛthagjanatvAvarana; C. yishengxing zhang), (2) the obstruction of the deluded (mithyApratipattyAvarana; C. xiexing zhang), (3) the obstruction of dullness (dhandhatvAvarana; C. andun zhang), (4) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle afflictions (suksmaklesasamudAcArAvarana; C. xihuo xianxing zhang), (5) the obstruction of the lesser HĪNAYANA ideal of parinirvAna (hīnayAnaparinirvAnAvarana; C. xiasheng niepan zhang), (6) the obstruction of the manifestation of coarse characteristics (sthulanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. cuxiang xianxing zhang), (7) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle characteristics (suksmanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. xixiang xianxing zhang), (8) the obstruction of the continuance of activity even in the immaterial realm that is free from characteristics (nirnimittAbhisaMskArAvarana; C. wuxiang jiaxing zhang), (9) the obstruction of not desiring to act on behalf of others' salvation (parahitacaryAkAmanAvarana; C. buyuxing zhang), and (10) the obstruction of not yet acquiring mastery over all things (fa weizizai zhang). These ten obstructions are overcome by practicing, respectively: (1) the perfection of giving (dAnapAramitA), (2) the perfection of morality (sīlapAramitA), (3) the perfection of forbearance (ksAntipAramitA), (4) the perfection of energetic effort (vīryapAramitA), (5) the perfection of meditation (dhyAnapAramitA), (6) the perfection of wisdom (prajNApAramitA), (7) the perfection of expedient means (upAyapAramitA), (8) the perfection of the vow (to attain enlightenment) (pranidhAnapAramitA), (9) the perfection of power (balapAramitA), and (10) the perfection of knowledge (jNAnapAramitA). ¶ The eighth, ninth, and tenth bhumis are sometimes called "pure bhumis," because, according to some commentators, upon reaching the eighth bhumi, the bodhisattva has abandoned all of the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and is thus liberated from any further rebirth. It appears that there were originally only seven bhumis, as is found in the BODHISATTVABHuMI, where the seven bhumis overlap with an elaborate system of thirteen abidings or stations (vihAra), some of the names of which (such as pramuditA) appear also in the standard bhumi schema of the Dasabhumikasutra. Similarly, though a listing of ten bhumis appears in the MAHAVASTU, a text associated with the LOKOTTARAVADA subsect of the MAHASAMGHIKA school, only seven are actually discussed there, and the names given to the stages are completely different from those found in the later Dasabhumikasutra; the stages there are also a retrospective account of how past buddhas have achieved enlightenment, rather than a prescription for future practice. ¶ The dasabhumi schema is sometimes correlated with other systems of classifying the bodhisattva path. In the five levels of the YogAcAra school's outline of the bodhisattva path (PANCAMARGA; C. wuwei), the first bhumi (pramuditA) is presumed to be equivalent to the level of proficiency (*prativedhAvasthA; C. tongdawei), the third of the five levels; while the second bhumi onward corresponds to the level of cultivation (C. xiuxiwei), the fourth of the five levels. The first bhumi is also correlated with the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), while the second and higher bhumis correlate with the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). In terms of the doctrine of the five acquiescences (C. ren; S. ksAnti) listed in the RENWANG JING, the first through the third bhumis are equivalent to the second acquiescence, the acquiescence of belief (C. xinren; J. shinnin; K. sinin); the fourth through the sixth stages to the third, the acquiescence of obedience (C. shunren; J. junnin; K. sunin); the seventh through the ninth stages to the fourth, the acquiescence to the nonproduction of dharmas (anutpattikadharmaksAnti; C. wushengren; J. mushonin; K. musaengin); the tenth stage to the fifth and final acquiescence, to extinction (jimieren; J. jakumetsunin; K. chongmyorin). FAZANG's HUAYANJING TANXUAN JI ("Notes Plumbing the Profundities of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA") classifies the ten bhumis in terms of practice by correlating the first bhumi to the practice of faith (sRADDHA), the second bhumi to the practice of morality (sĪLA), the third bhumi to the practice of concentration (SAMADHI), and the fourth bhumi and higher to the practice of wisdom (PRAJNA). In the same text, Fazang also classifies the bhumis in terms of vehicle (YANA) by correlating the first through third bhumis with the vehicle of humans and gods (rentiansheng), the fourth through the seventh stage to the three vehicles (TRIYANA), and the eighth through tenth bhumis to the one vehicle (EKAYANA). ¶ Besides the list of the dasabhumi outlined in the Dasabhumikasutra, the MAHAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA and the DAZHIDU LUN (*MahAprajNApAramitAsAstra) list a set of ten bhumis, called the "bhumis in common" (gongdi), which are shared between all the three vehicles of sRAVAKAs, PRATYEKABUDDHAs, and bodhisattvas. These are the bhumis of: (1) dry wisdom (suklavidarsanAbhumi; C. ganhuidi), which corresponds to the level of three worthies (sanxianwei, viz., ten abidings, ten practices, ten transferences) in the srAvaka vehicle and the initial arousal of the thought of enlightenment (prathamacittotpAda) in the bodhisattva vehicle; (2) lineage (gotrabhumi; C. xingdi, zhongxingdi), which corresponds to the stage of the "aids to penetration" (NIRVEDHABHAGĪYA) in the srAvaka vehicle, and the final stage of the ten transferences in the fifty-two bodhisattva stages; (3) eight acquiescences (astamakabhumi; C. barendi), the causal incipiency of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA) in the case of the srAvaka vehicle and the acquiescence to the nonproduction of dharmas (anutpattikadharmaksAnti) in the bodhisattva path (usually corresponding to the first or the seventh through ninth bhumis of the bodhisattva path); (4) vision (darsanabhumi; C. jiandi), corresponding to the fruition or fulfillment (PHALA) level of the stream-enterer in the srAvaka vehicle and the stage of nonretrogression (AVAIVARTIKA), in the bodhisattva path (usually corresponding to the completion of the first or the eighth bhumi); (5) diminishment (tanubhumi; C. baodi), corresponding to the fulfillment level (phala) of stream-enterer or the causal incipiency of the once-returner (sakṛdAgAmin) in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage following nonretrogression before the attainment of buddhahood in the bodhisattva path; (6) freedom from desire (vītarAgabhumi; C. liyudi), equivalent to the fulfillment level of the nonreturner in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage where a bodhisattva attains the five supernatural powers (ABHIJNA); (7) complete discrimination (kṛtAvibhumi), equivalent to the fulfillment level of the ARHAT in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage of buddhahood (buddhabhumi) in the bodhisattva path (buddhabhumi) here refers not to the fruition of buddhahood but merely to the state in which a bodhisattva has the ability to exhibit the eighteen qualities distinctive to the buddhas (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA); (8) pratyekabuddha (pratyekabuddhabhumi); (9) bodhisattva (bodhisattvabhumi), the whole bodhisattva career prior to the fruition of buddhahood; (10) buddhahood (buddhabhumi), the stage of the fruition of buddhahood, when the buddha is completely equipped with all the buddhadharmas, such as omniscience (SARVAKARAJNATĀ). As is obvious in this schema, despite being called the bhumis "common" to all three vehicles, the shared stages continue only up to the seventh stage; the eighth through tenth stages are exclusive to the bodhisattva vehicle. This anomaly suggests that the last three bhumis of the bodhisattvayāna were added to an earlier srāvakayāna seven-bhumi scheme. ¶ The presentation of the bhumis in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ commentarial tradition following the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA uses the names found in the Dasabhumikasutra for the bhumis and understands them all as bodhisattva levels; it introduces the names of the ten bhumis found in the Dazhidu lun as levels that bodhisattvas have to pass beyond (S. atikrama) on the tenth bodhisattva level, which it calls the buddhabhumi. This tenth bodhisattva level is not the level of an actual buddha, but the level on which a bodhisattva has to transcend attachment (abhinivesa) to not only the levels reached by the four sets of noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA) but to the bodhisattvabhumis as well. See also BHuMI.
dasyalipsa ::: the urge towards service (dasya); "the desire to serve", dasyalipsa which "in the perfect man becomes the desire to serve God-in-all", an attribute of the sūdra: "the abnegation that is ready to bear the yoke of the Master and make the life a free servitude to Him and under his direction to the claim and need of his creatures".
dehadāna. (T. lus kyi sbyin pa; C. sheshen; J. shashin; K. sasin 捨身). In Sanskrit, "gift of the body," a form of charity (DĀNA) in which one gives away one's body or a part of one's body. Stories of such gifts abound in both the JĀTAKA and AVADĀNA literature, where a bodhisattva will give away a body part (including the head) or sacrifice his life as a way of easing others' suffering. Among the more famous stories are that of King sIBI, who cuts off some of his own flesh to ransom the life of a dove from a hawk, Prince Mahāsattva who commits suicide by jumping off a cliff in order that his corpse can feed a starving tigress and her cubs, and King Candraprabha who gives his head to an evil brāhmana. Such gifts are often counted among the bodhisattva's fulfillment of the perfection of giving (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ), but it is sometimes said that a bodhisattva who has not yet understood emptiness (suNYATĀ) should not make such a gift. The person who asks for the body part is often the god sAKRA in disguise, and the body part that was offered is then often restored upon making an "asseveration of truth" (SATYAVACANA). See also SHESHEN.
dehasiddhi ::: the perfection of the body, which "has to submit to a mutation and be no longer the clamorous animal or the impeding clod it now is, but become instead a conscious servant and radiant instrument and living form of the spirit"; the siddhi of the sarira catus.t.aya.
dharmacakrapravartana. (P. dhammacakkappavattana; T. chos 'khor bskor ba; C. zhuan falun; J. tenborin; K. chon pomnyun 轉法輪). In Sanskrit, "turning the wheel of the DHARMA"; a term used generally to describe the Buddha's teaching; specifically, it refers the Buddha's first sermon, delivered at the Deer Park (S. MṚGADĀVA) in ṚsIPATANA, the modern SĀRNĀTH, as described in the Pāli DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA (S. Dharmacakrapravartanasutra), when he first declared the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni) and the noble eightfold path (ĀRYĀstĀnGAMĀRGA). As Buddhist doctrine expanded exponentially in size and complexity, Buddhists were hard put to explain the apparent divergences in the teachings found in various recensions of the sutras. In order to account for the critical differences in these sutra explications of the Buddhist teachings, different traditions began to suggest that the Buddha had actually "turned the wheel of the dharma" more than one time. Certain perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) sutras refer to the Buddha's teaching of the perfection of wisdom as the second turning of the wheel of dharma. The SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA posits that the Buddha actually turned the wheel of the dharma three separate times, a description that came to figure prominently in MAHĀYĀNA scholastic literature: the first, called CATUḤSATYADHARMACAKRA, when he taught the four noble truths of the HĪNAYĀNA traditions; the second, called the ALAKsAnADHARMACAKRA ("dharma-wheel of signlessness"), when he taught the emptiness (suNYATĀ) doctrine as understood by the MADHYAMAKA school; and a third, the *SUVIBHAKTADHARMACAKRA ("dharma-wheel possessed of good differentiation"), when he taught the Yogācāra TRISVABHĀVA doctrine. The SaMdhinirmocanasutra claims that the teachings of the first two dharma-wheels were provisional (NEYĀRTHA), while the third was definitive (NĪTĀRTHA). This threefold taxonomy of the Buddhist teachings was one of the most influential hermeneutical schema (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI) created in the Mahāyāna and elicited extensive commentary in India, Tibet, and East Asia. Proponents of the Madhyamaka, who identified the second wheel with the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRAs, claimed to the contrary that the second wheel was definitive and the first and third were provisional.
dharmakāya. (T. chos sku; C. fashen; J. hosshin; K. popsin 法身). In Sanskrit, often translated as "truth body," one of the two (along with the RuPAKĀYA) or three (along with the SAMBHOGAKĀYA and NIRMĀnAKĀYA) bodies of a buddha. In early discussions of the true nature of the Buddha, especially regarding the person of the Buddha to whom one goes for refuge (sARAnA), the term dharmakāya seems to have been coined to refer to the corpus or collection (KĀYA) of the auspicious qualities (DHARMA) of the Buddha, including his wisdom, his compassion, his various powers, etc.; it also referred to the entire corpus (kāya) of the Buddha's teachings (dharma). In the MAHĀYĀNA, the term evolved into a kind of cosmic principle that was regarded as the true nature of the Buddha and the source from which his various other forms derived. In the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) commentarial tradition, a dispute arose over the interpretation of the eighth chapter of the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, with VIMUKTISENA arguing that the SVĀBHĀVAKĀYA is the ultimate nature of a buddha and HARIBHADRA arguing that there are two aspects of the dharmakāya: a JNĀNADHARMAKĀYA (knowledge truth body), i.e., the nondual omniscient knowledge of a buddha, and a svābhāvakāya. Later commentators in India and Tibet explored the ramifications of this distinction at length. See also TRIKĀYA.
dharmameghā. (T. chos kyi sprin; C. fayun di; J. hounji; K. pobun chi 法雲地). In Sanskrit, "cloud of dharma," the tenth and final "ground" or stage (BHuMI) of the BODHISATTVA path, just prior to the attainment of buddhahood. On the dharmameghā bhumi, the bodhisattva is at the point of attaining the dharma-body (DHARMAKĀYA) that is as vast as the sky, becomes autonomous in interacting with all material and mental factors, and gains all-pervasive knowledge, which causes the excellent dharma to fall like rain from a cloud, nurturing the entire world and increasing the harvest of virtue for sentient beings. This stage is also described as being pervaded by meditative absorption (DHYĀNA) and mastery of the use of DHĀRAnĪ, just as the sky is filled with clouds. According to the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimātratāsiddhisāstra; chap. 11), each of the ten stages of the bodhisattva path leads to the attainment of one of the ten types of suchness (TATHATĀ); these are accomplished by discarding one of the ten kinds of obstructions (ĀVARAnA) through practicing one of the ten perfections (PĀRAMITĀ). In the case of the dharmameghā bhumi, the obstruction of not yet acquiring mastery over all dharmas (fa wei zizai zhang) is removed through the perfection of knowledge (JNĀNAPĀRAMITĀ), leading to the suchness that serves as the support for mastery over action (ye zizai deng suoyi zhenru; *kriyādivasitāsaMnisrayatathatā) and the ability of the bodhisattva to ripen the minds of sentient beings. The tenth stage thus removes any remaining delusions regarding the use of the supernatural knowledges or powers (ABHIJNĀ) or the subtle mysteries, giving the bodhisattva complete autonomy in manipulating all dharmas. As the culminating stage of the "path of cultivation" (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA), the dharmameghā bhumi still contains the last and most subtle remnants of the cognitive obstructions (JNEYĀVARAnA). These obstructions will be completely eradicated through the adamantine-like concentration (VAJROPAMASAMĀDHI), which marks the transition to the "ultimate path" (NIstHĀMĀRGA), or "path where no further training is necessary" (AsAIKsAMĀRGA), i.e., an eleventh stage of the buddhas (TATHĀGATABHuMI) that is sometimes also known as the "universally luminous" (samantaprabhā).
Dhyana ::: There are two words used in English to express the Indian idea of Dhyana, "meditation" and "contemplation". Meditation means properly the concentration of the mind on a single train of ideas which work out a single subject. Contemplation means regarding mentally a single object, image, idea so that the knowledge about the object, image or idea may arise naturally in the mind by force of the concentration. Both these things are forms of dhyana; for the principle of dhyana is mental concentration whether in thought, vision or knowledge. There are other forms of dhyana. There is a passage in which Vivekananda advises you to stand back from your thoughts, let them occur in your mind as they will and simply observe them & see what they are. This may be called concentration in self-observation. This form leads to another, the emptying of all thought out of the mind so as to leave it a sort of pure vigilant blank on which the divine knowledge may come and imprint itself, undisturbed by the inferior thoughts of the ordinary human mind and with the clearness of a writing in white chalk on a blackboard. You will find that the Gita speaks of this rejection of all mental thought as one of the methods of Yoga and even the method it seems to prefer. This may be called the dhyana of liberation, as it frees the mind from slavery to the mechanical process of thinking and allows it to think or not think as it pleases and when it pleases, or to choose its own thoughts or else to go beyond thought to the pure perception of Truth called in our philosophy Vijnana. Meditation is the easiest process for the human mind, but the narrowest in its results; contemplation more difficult, but greater; self-observation and liberation from the chains of Thought the most difficult of all, but the widest and greatest in its fruits. One can choose any of them according to one’s bent and capacity. The perfect method is to use them all, each in its own place and for its own object.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 36, Page: 293-294
Dunwu rudao yaomen lun. (J. Tongo nyudo yomonron; K. Tono ipto yomun non 頓悟入道要門論). In Chinese, "Treatise on the Essential Gate of Entering the Way through Sudden Awakening," composed by the Tang dynasty CHAN master DAZHU HUIHAI (d.u.); also known as the Dunwu yaomen. The monk Miaoxie (d.u.) discovered this text in a box and published it in 1369 together with Dazhu's recorded sayings that he selectively culled from the JINGDE CHUANDENG LU. Miaoxie's edition is comprised of two rolls. The first roll contains Dazhu's text the Dunwu rudao yaomen lun, and the second contains his sayings, which Miaoxie entitled the Zhufang menren canwen yulu. A preface to this edition was prepared by the monk Chongyu (1304-1378). The Dunwu rudao yaomen lun focuses on the notion of "sudden awakening" (DUNWU) and attempts to explicate various doctrinal concepts, such as sĪLA, DHYĀNA, PRAJNĀ, TATHATĀ, BUDDHA-NATURE (FOXING), and "no-thought" (WUNIAN), from the perspective of sudden awakening. The text explains sudden awakening as the "sudden" (dun) eradication of deluded thoughts and "awakening" (WU) to nonattainment or the fundamental absence of anything that needs to be achieved. Citing such scriptures as the LAnKĀVATĀRASuTRA and VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA, the text also contends that the mind itself is the foundation of cultivation and practice. The primary method of cultivation discussed in the text is seated meditation (ZUOCHAN), which it describes as the nonarising of deluded thoughts and seeing one's own nature (JIANXING). The Dunwu rudao yaomen lun also contends that sudden awakening begins with the perfection of giving (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ).
durangamā. (T. ring du song ba; C. yuanxing di; J. ongyoji; K. wonhaeng chi 遠行地). In Sanskrit, "gone afar," or "transcendent"; the seventh of the ten "stages" or "grounds" (BHuMI) of the bodhisattva path (MĀRGA). The name of this stage is interpreted to mean that the bodhisattva has here reached the culmination of moral discipline (sĪLA) and hereafter proceeds to focus more on meditation (SAMĀDHI) and wisdom (PRAJNĀ). This stage marks the bodhisattva's freedom from the four perverted views (VIPARYĀSA) and his mastery of the perfection of expedients (UPĀYAKAUsALYA), which he uses to help infinite numbers of sentient beings. Although at this stage the bodhisattva abides in signlessness (ĀNIMITTA), he does not negate the conventions that create signs, thereby upholding the conventional nature of phenomena. He remains at this stage until he is able to abide spontaneously and effortlessly in the signless state. According to CANDRAKĪRTI in his MADHYAMAKĀVĀTĀRA, at this stage the bodhisattva, in each and every moment, is able to enter into and withdraw from the equipoise of cessation (NIRODHASAMĀPATTI) in which all elaborations (PRAPANCA) cease. For Candrakīrti, at the conclusion of the seventh stage, the bodhisattva is liberated from rebirth, having destroyed all of the afflictive obstructions (KLEsĀVARAnA). The seventh stage is thus the last of the impure bhumis. The bodhisattva then proceeds to the three pure stages (the eighth, ninth, and tenth bhumis), over the course of which he abandons the obstructions to omniscience (JNEYĀVARAnA).
Ekagrata or Ekagratva(Sanskrit) ::: A term signifying "onepointedness" or "absolute intentness" in the mental contemplation of anobject of meditation. The perfect concentration of the percipient mind on a single point of thought, andthe holding of it there.
Evolution is an ancient and cardinal tenet of the archaic wisdom and was formerly called emanation. In mankind, three distinct, principal lines of evolution take place and converge; the spiritual, the mental or manasic, and the astral-vital-physical. The manasic factor is derived from the perfected humanity of a previous manvantara, whose entrance into the human stock of the third root-race brought about the union of the heavenly and the terrestrial so as to make a complete self-conscious being who thereafter mirrors every plane in nature. In humankind, the divine monad, a spark of the universal spirit, emanates from itself its first vehicle, and thus is formed the spiritual monad, atma-buddhi. This monad, emanating from itself in its turn another vehicle, becomes the higher human soul or reimbodying ego; and the emanational process is continued throughout the human constitution by the formation of the astral-vital soul which in its turn emanates or oozes forth the physical body.
Faxing zong. (J. Hosshoshu; K. Popsong chong 法性宗). In Chinese, "Dharma Nature school," the intellectual tradition in East Asian Buddhism that was concerned with the underlying essence or "nature" (xing) of reality; contrasted with the "Dharma Characteristics School" (FAXIANG ZONG), the tradition that analyzed the different functions of various phenomena. The term "Faxing zong" was employed to refer to more advanced forms of the MAHĀLĀNA, such as to the MADHYAMAKA teachings of the SAN LUN ZONG, the TATHĀGATAGARBHA teachings, or to the last three of the five teachings in the Huayan school's hermeneutical taxonomy (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI): viz., the advanced teaching of Mahāyāna (Dasheng zhongjiao), the sudden teaching (DUNJIAO), and the perfect teaching (YUANJIAO). By contrast, "Faxiang zong" was a pejorative term referring to the Chinese YOGĀLĀRA school that was established on the basis of the new Yogācāra texts introduced from India by XUANZANG (600/602-664) and elaborated upon in his lineage. The Huayan exegete CHENGGUAN (738-839) first used the term Faxing zong to differentiate it from the Faxiang zong. In his Dafangguang fo huayanjing shu ("Commentary on the AVATAMSAKASuTRA"), Chengguan presents ten differences between the two schools of Faxing and Faxiang, and in his own hermeneutic taxonomy, Chengguan polemically equates the elementary teaching of the Mahāyāna (Dasheng shijiao) with Faxiang, and the advanced (Dasheng zhongjiao) and perfect teachings (yuanjiao) of the Mahāyāna with the Faxing school. The contrast between "nature" (xing) and "characteristics" (xiang) was used in FAZANG's (643-712) HUAYAN WUJIAO ZHANG as a means of reconciling the differences in the approaches taken by the Madhyamaka and Yogācāra schools. Although Fazang did not use the term Faxing zong himself, he did coin the term "Faxiang zong" to refer pejoratively to Xuanzang's lineage of Yogācāra teachings. It appears, then, that Chengguan projected the concept of Faxing and Faxiang schools onto Fazang's doctrinal notions as well, for Chengguan sometimes interprets Fazang's notions of the "provisional" and "definitive" teachings (see QUAN SHI) as the Faxiang and the Faxing schools, respectively, or sometimes replaces a concept such as "true nature" (zhenxing) with the term faxing.
Finally, intellect and will are brought into meaningful relation (Critique of Judgment, 1789-1793) in the feelings of aesthetic (i.e., "artistic") enjoyment and natural purposiveness. The appreciation of beauty, "aesthetic judgment", arises from the harmony of an object of cognition with the forms of knowledge; the perfect compatibility, in other words, of Nature and freedom, best exemplified in genius. Natural purposiveness, on the other hand, is not necessarily a real attribute of Nature, but an a priori, heuristic principle, an irresistible hypothesis, by which we regard Nature as a supreme end or divine form in order to give the particular contents of Nature meaning and significance.
Five Because of its being one half of the perfect number (ten), five held the attention and study of all followers of the Pythagorean system of numerals. As we are now in the fifth root-race, the fifth principle (manas) takes an especially prominent position in human evolution. The five-pointed star, or again the pentagon, is the symbol of the microcosm, man, often referred to as a five-limbed man. Five “symbolizes at one and the same time the Spirit of life eternal and the Spirit of life and love terrestrial — in the human compound; and, it includes divine and infernal magic, and the universal and the individual quintessence of being” (SD 2:579).
flaw ::: a feature that mars the perfection of something; an imperfection, defect, or blemish.
Four The square of two, and the second even number, hence feminine in characteristics. It was regarded by the Pythagoreans with especial esteem, for it was the base number of the tetraktys. It corresponds to a solid figure, or a square — the quaternary although on the spiritual plane, as being the immediate successor of the triad, it became the symbol of immortality, and hence in this sense a perfect number, the ideal root of all subsequent hierarchical numbers on the lower planes including the physical. Thus there is the spiritual four as the mother-type of all productivity, and there was likewise the material four, the ideal root of all numbers on the astral and physical planes. It was called by the Pythagoreans the key-keeper of nature, but it was only so in union with the number three, for then the sum made seven — the perfect number of nature in our world. The Hermetists had the same idea: four was the symbol of truth when expanded into a cube, for when this cube is unfolded the production is seven. Four is the number “which affords an arithmetical division between unity and seven, as it surpasses the former by the same number (three), as it is itself surpassed by the seven, since four is by as many numbers above one, as seven is above four” (SD 2:582).
Free will is manifesting, however feebly, in vegetative or automatic action in the whirling electrons of the atom; also in characteristic actions of matter, such as cohesion, polarity, and electricity; in the varied growths of vegetation; in the range of animal activities; in the evolving human being, and in the perfected humans called gods; and so forth up the scales of being. It acts in the urge which brings the monad to cast off its former garments in the minerals in order to assume new ones in the vegetable kingdom, from which again, after casting off these latter, it progresses to the animal kingdom; and from this again, the monad rejects beast forms and assumes the human shape where it gains in range and momentum because now acting self-consciously in greater or less degree.
Gandhavatī. (T. Spos ldan ma; C. Zhongxiangcheng; J. Shukojo; K. Chunghyangsong 衆香城). In Sanskrit, "City of [Multitudinous] Fragrances," the city where the AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ says that the BODHISATTVA DHARMODGATA lived and taught the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ); an alternate name for the Korean "Diamond Mountains" (KŬMGANGSAN).
gate gate pāragate pārasaMgate bodhi svāhā. (T. ga te ga te pā ra ga te pā ra saM ga te bo dhi svā hā; C. jiedi jiedi boluojiedi boluosengjiedi puti sapohe; J. gyatei gyatei haragyatei harasogyatei boji sowaka; K. aje aje paraaje parasŭngaje moji sabaha 帝帝波羅帝波羅僧帝菩提薩婆訶). A Sanskrit MANTRA contained in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASuTRA ("Heart Sutra"). At the conclusion of the SuTRA, the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA says to sĀRIPUTRA, "Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom is the mantra of great wisdom, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequalled mantra, the mantra that completely pacifies all suffering. Because it is not false, it should be known to be true. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is stated thus: gate gate pāragate pārasaMgate bodhi svāhā." Although most mantras are not translatable, this one can be roughly rendered into English as "gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, enlightenment, svāhā" (svāhā is an interjection, meaning "hail," commonly placed at the end of a mantra). "Gate" in the mantra is most probably a vocative of gatā addressed to the goddess PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ (the iconographic representation of perfect wisdom); hence, the mantra may be addressed to PrajNāpāramitā and mean, "You who have gone, gone, gone beyond," etc. Given the ubiquity of the PrajNāpāramitāhṛdayasutra in MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism and its frequent ritual chanting by monks in both East Asia and Tibet, the mantra has been the subject of extensive commentary. Thus, some commentators correlate the first five words with the five paths (PANCAMĀRGA) to buddhahood: the first "gate" indicates the path of accumulation (SAMBHĀRAMĀRGA); the second "gate," the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMĀRGA); "pāragate," the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA); "pārasaMgate," the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA); and BODHI, the adept path (AsAIKsAMĀRGA). Such an interpretation is in keeping with the Indian scholastic view of the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutras, where it is said that the sutras have two teachings, one explicit and one implicit. The explicit teaching is emptiness (suNYATĀ) and the implicit teaching is the various realizations (ABHISAMAYA) of the bodhisattva along the path to buddhahood. From this perspective, everything in the sutra up to the mantra provides the explicit teaching and the mantra provides the implicit teaching. Other commentators state that the first part of the sutra (up to the mantra) is intended for bodhisattvas of dull faculties and that the mantra is intended for bodhisattvas of sharp faculties (TĪKsnENDRIYA). Some of the commentators include "it is thus" (tadyathā) in the mantra and add oM at the beginning. Although the presence of DHĀRAnĪ is relatively common in Mahāyāna sutras, something that is explicitly called a mantra is not, leading some commentators to consider whether the PrajNāpāramitāhṛdayasutra should be classified as a sutra or a TANTRA.
god ::: a being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions. gods, gods", God"s, Gods, God-bliss, God-born, god-chant, God-child, god-children, God-ecstasy, God-face, God-frame, God-Force, God-given, god-haunts, God-instinct"s, God-joy, God-Light, god-kind, God-knowledge, God-language, God-light, god-mind, god-phase, God-spark, god-speech, God-state, god-touch, God-vision"s, god-wings, child-god, dream-god"s, half-god, Sun-god"s.
Gṛdhrakutaparvata. (P. Gijjhakutapabbata; T. Bya rgod phung po'i ri; C. Lingjiushan; J. Ryojusen; K. Yongch'uksan [alt. Yongch'wisan/Yongch'usan] 靈鷲山). In Sanskrit, "Vulture Peak," one of the five hills surrounding the city of RĀJAGṚHA, a favored site of GAUTAMA Buddha and several of his most important disciples in mainstream Buddhist materials and the site where the Buddha is said to have delivered many renowned sutras in the NIKĀYAs and ĀGAMAs; in the MAHĀYĀNA, Gṛdhrakuta is also the location where sĀKYAMUNI Buddha is purported to have preached such important Mahāyāna scriptures as the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") and the perfection of wisdom sutras (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ). The hill was so named either because it was shaped like a vulture's beak or a flock of vultures, or because vultures roosted there. In another legend, the peak is said to have received its name when, in an attempt to distract ĀNANDA from his meditation, the demon MĀRA turned himself into a frightening vulture; Ānanda, however, was unswayed by the provocation and eventually became enlightened. In one of the most famous episodes in the life of the Buddha, his evil cousin DEVADATTA, in attempting to kill the Buddha, instead wounded him when he hurled a boulder down on him from the hill, cutting his toe; for this and other "acts that bring immediate retribution" (ĀNANTARYAKARMAN), Devadatta fell into AVĪCI hell. Because many important Mahāyāna sermons are said to have been spoken on the peak, some schools-specifically the Japanese NICHIRENSHu-believe that the mountain itself is a PURE LAND. Other sources state that because of the sutras set forth there, the peak has become a STuPA, and like the Buddha's seat (VAJRĀSANA) in BODHGAYĀ, it will not be destroyed by fire at the end of the KALPA. Although beings in the intermediate state (ANTARĀBHAVA) are said to be able to pass through mountains, they are not able to pass through Vulture Peak. The first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST), in which a group of five hundred ARHATS met to recite the Buddha's teaching after his death, is said to have been held in a cave on Vulture Peak.
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.
Harmony, Pre-Established: The perfect functioning of mind and body, as ordained by God in the beginning. The dualism of Descartes (1596-1650) had precluded interaction between mind or soul and body by its absolute difference and opposition between res cogitans and res extensa. How does it happen, then, that the mind perceives the impressions of the body, and the body is ready to follow the mind's will? The Cartesians, in order to correct this difficulty, introduced the doctrine of "occasionalism", whereby when anything happens to either mind or body, God interferes to make the corresponding change in the other. Leibniz (1646-1716) countered by suggesting that the relation between mind and body is one of harmony, established by God before their creation. Earlier than mind or body, God had perfect knowledge of all possible minds and bodies. In an infinite number of creations all possible combinations are possible, including those minds whose sequence of ideas perfectly fits the motions of some bodies. In the latter, there is a perfect and pre-established harmony. A parallelism between mind and body exists, such that each represents the proper expression of the other. Leibniz compares their relation to that of two clocks which have been synchronized once for all and which therefore operate similarly without the need of either interaction or intervention. Expressed by Leibniz' follower, C. Wolff (1679-1754) as "that by which the intercourse of soul and bodv is explained by a series of perceptions and desires in the soul, and a series of motions in the body, which are harmonic or accordant through the nature of soul and body." -- J.K.F.
hasyasiddhi ::: the perfection of hasya; hasya as an element in the hasyasiddhi siddhi of the samata catus.t.aya.
Holy of Holies has a specific meaning in connection with the Jewish tabernacle, as explained in Exodus, referring to the inner part, the western division of the tabernacle. Three of the sides of the holy place were the walls of the tabernacle itself, while the fourth or eastern end of the sanctum was closed by a curtain or veil — upon which were the figures of the cherubim — suspended from four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold. The intention was to have this Holy of Holies in the shape of a perfect cube, the length, breath, and height being each ten cubits. In this sanctuary was placed the Ark of the Covenant or Testament, made of shittim wood overlaid with gold. Upon the Ark was the golden mercy-seat (the kapporeth), also two golden cherubim facing towards the center. Instead of being a “sarcophagus (the symbol of the matrix of Nature and resurrection) as in the Sanctum sanctorum of the pagans, they had the ark made still more realistic in its construction by the two cherubs set up on the coffer or ark of the covenant, facing each other, with their wings spread in such a manner as to form a perfect yoni (as now seen in India). Besides which, this generative symbol had its significance enforced by the four mystic letters of Jehovah’s name, namely hebrew text; or text meaning Jod (membrum Virile, see Kabala); text (He, the womb); text (Vau, a crook or a hook, a nail), and text again, meaning also ‘an opening’; the whole forming the perfect bisexual emblem or symbol or Y(e)H(o)V(a)H, the male and female symbol” (SD 2:460). However, “the worship of the ‘god in the ark’ dates only from David; and for a thousand years Israel knew of no phallic Jehovah” (SD 2:469). See also ARK
Huayan sansheng. (J. Kegon no sansho; K. Hwaom samsong 華嚴三聖). In Chinese, "the Three Sages of HUAYAN," refer to the three primary deities of the lotus-womb world (lianhuazang shijie; cf. TAIZoKAI), the universe as described in the AVATAMSAKASuTRA, which contains infinitely layered cosmoses and interpenetrating realms. (1) VAIROCANA Buddha is considered to be the dharma body (DHARMAKĀYA) itself, who pervades the entire universe and from whom all other buddhas arose; he symbolizes the utmost fruition of bodhisattva practice. (2) SAMANTABHADRA, an advanced BODHISATTVA depicted as standing to Vairocana's right, symbolizes the profound aspiration and all-embracing practices undertaken by the bodhisattvas. (3) MANJUsRĪ, another advanced bodhisattva depicted as standing to Vairocana's left, symbolizes the wisdom gleaned through mastering the bodhisattva path. The primary virtues represented by these two bodhisattvas are said to culminate in the perfection of the cosmic Vairocana. In the Huayan tradition, in particular, various other attributes and symbolisms are also attributed to the three deities.
humanitarian ::: a. --> Pertaining to humanitarians, or to humanitarianism; as, a humanitarian view of Christ&
Ideal Utilitarianism: See Utilitarianism. Idealization: In art, the process of generalizing and abstracting from specifically similar individuals, in order to depict the perfect type of which they are examples, the search for real character or structural form, to the neglect of external qualities and aspects. Also, any work of art in which such form or character is exhibited; i.e. any adequate expression of the perfected essence inadequately manifested by the physical particular. In classical theory, the object so discovered and described is a Form or Idea; in modern theory, it is a product of imagination. -- I.J.
If biological scientists recognize that inner and invisible worlds are the noumenal causes of the exterior or physical world, the difficulty in reconciling the perfectly true adage “nature makes no jumps,” would then vanish; they would then see that the physical plane in its manifestation is the effect of inner and driving causes, and that what appears separate on the physical plane is only so because it is the plane of bodies of a physically material character. Indeed, had we the percipient vision to see it and therefore to know it, we should perceive that even this apparently discrete physical plane, broken up as it apparently is into uncounted myriads of different entities, is really itself no exception to nature’s rule of unbroken continuity throughout; for even the apparently separate entities composing the physical plane are inextricably woven together into a vast web of life by the underlying substances of nature and the ever-active and continuously moving forces which are physical nature itself.
immoralism ::: The philosophy that man should try to strive for the perfect aesthetic of eternal life.
Insan al-Kamil ::: The Perfect Man.
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.
In the Qabbalah it is said that creation was accomplished during the twelve hours of a day: “The ‘twelve hours of the day’ are again the dwarfed copy, the faint, yet faithful, echo of primitive Wisdom. They are like the 12,000 divine years of the gods, a cyclic blind. Every ‘Day of Brahma’ has 14 Manus, which the Hebrew Kabalists, following, however, in this the Chaldeans, have disguised into 12 ‘Hours.’ The Nuctameron of Apollonius of Tyana is the same thing. ‘The Dodecahedron lies concealed in the perfect Cube,’ say the Kabalists. The mystic meaning of this is, that the twelve great transformations of Spirit into matter (the 12,000 divine years) take place during the four great ages, or the first Mahayuga” (SD 1:450).
irwonsang. (一圓相). In Korean, "one-circle symbol"; the central doctrinal concept and object of religious devotion in the modern Korean religion of WoNBULGYO, considered to be functionally equivalent to the notion of the DHARMAKĀYA buddha (popsinbul) in mainstream MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism. The founder of Wonbulgyo, PAK CHUNGBIN (later known by his sobriquet SOT'AESAN), believed that worshipping buddha images, as symbols of the physical body of the buddha, no longer inspired faith in Buddhist adherents and was thus a hindrance to religious propagation in the modern age; he instead instructed Wonbulgyo dharma halls to enshrine on their altars just the simple circle that is the irwonsang. This irwonsang was the "symbol" (sang) of the ineffable reality of the "unitary circle" (irwon). In Sot'aesan's view, different religions may have various designations for ultimate truth, but all of their designations ultimately refer to the perfect unity that is the irwon. Sot'aesan described the irwon as the mind-seal of all the buddhas and sages, the original nature of all sentient beings, and the ineffable realm of SAMĀDHI that transcends birth and death; but it simultaneously also served as the monistic source from which the phenomenal world in all its diversity arises. By understanding this irwon through tracing the radiance of the mind back to its fundamental source (K. hoegwang panjo; see HUIGUANG FANZHAO), Wonbulgyo adherents seek to recognize the fundamental nonduality of, and unity between, all things in existence and thus master the ability to act with utter impartiality and selflessness in all their interactions with the world and society.
ishwarabhava) ::: non-depression, swiftness, steadiness, mastery: the second general formula of the sakti catus.t.aya, consisting of qualities needed for the perfection of all parts of the psycho-physical system.
isita (Ishita) ::: [one of the astasiddhis]: the perfect control over the powers of nature and over things inert and intelligent; effectiveness of will acting not as command or through the thought, by ajnanam, but through the heart and temperament (citta) in a perception of need or pure lipsa.
“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).
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.
jNāna. (P. Nāna; T. ye shes; C. zhi; J. chi; K. chi 智). In Sanskrit, "gnosis," "knowledge," "awareness," or "understanding," numerous specific types of which are described in Buddhist literature. JNāna in the process of cognition implies specific understanding of the nature of an object and is necessarily preceded by SAMJNĀ ("perception"). JNāna is also related to PRAJNĀ ("wisdom"); where prajNā implies perfected spiritual understanding, jNāna refers to more general experiences common to a specific class of being, such as the knowledge of a sRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, or buddha. The YOGĀCĀRA school discusses four or five specific types of knowledge exclusive to the buddhas. The four knowledges are transformations of the eighth consciousnesses (VIJNĀNA): (1) Mirror-like knowledge, or great perfect mirror wisdom (ĀDARsAJNĀNA; mahādarsajNāna), a transformation of the eighth consciousness, the ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA, in which the perfect interfusion between all things is seen as if reflected in a great mirror. (2) The knowledge of equality, or impartial wisdom (SAMATĀJNĀNA), a transformation of the seventh KLIstAMANOVIJNĀNA, which transcends all dichotomies to see everything impartially without coloring by the ego. (3) The knowledge of specific knowledge or sublime contemplation (PRATYAVEKsANĀJNĀNA), a transformation of the sixth MANOVIJNĀNA, which recognizes the unique and common characteristics of all DHARMAs, thus giving profound intellectual understanding. (4) The knowledge that one has accomplished what was to be done (KṚTYĀNUstHĀNAJNĀNA), a transformation of the five sensory consciousnesses, wherein one perfects actions that benefit both oneself and others. The fifth of the five knowledges is the "knowledge of the nature of the DHARMADHĀTU" (DHARMADHĀTUSVABHĀVAJNĀNA). Each of these knowledges is then personified by one of the PANCATATHĀGATAs, sometimes given the names VAIROCANA, AKsOBHYA, RATNASAMBHAVA, AMITĀBHA, and AMOGHASIDDHI.
jNānasaMbhāra. (T. ye shes kyi tshogs; C. zhiju; J. chiju; K. chich'wi 智聚). In Sanskrit, the "collection," or "equipment," "of knowledge"; along with the "collection of merit" (PUnYASAMBHĀRA), one of the two types of qualities with which BODHISATTVAs must equip themselves in the course of achieving buddhahood. Between the two poles of method (UPĀYA) and wisdom (PRAJNĀ), the collection of knowledge is associated with wisdom. Among the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ), the last two, meditative absorption (DHYĀNA) and wisdom (PRAJNĀ), are traditionally associated with the collection of knowledge (the perfection of effort, VĪRYAPĀRAMITĀ, contributes to both collections). The DHARMAKĀYA is said to be the result of the buddhas having equipped themselves with knowledge, while the RuPAKĀYA is said to be the result of the collection of merit.
kamananda ::: a form of sarirananda or physical ananda associkamananda ated with (suddha) kama or purified desire, also referred to as maithunananda (though that term is usually reserved for a high intensity of kamananda); a general term for ananda as experienced on the physical plane: "the joy of Matter released into a spiritual consciousness and thrilled with a constant ecstasy", realised as part of "the total perfection of the spiritualised body". Kamananda manifests both in the sūks.ma deha (subtle body) and the sthūla deha (gross body), and there is a subjective kamananda besides the physical kamananda that is more often meant by the word. The perfection of kamananda, as the "most central" form of physical ananda, depends on a "transformation of the sex-centre and its energy" so that this energy which "is the support in the body of all the mental, vital and physical forces of the nature" is "changed into a mass and a movement of intimate Light, creative Power, pure divine Ananda".
Keter ::: First of the sefirot, keter means “crown.” It is the link, so to speak, between the emanations of the sefirot and the perfect unity of the Ein Sof.
kongokai. (S. vajradhātu; T. rdo rje dbyings; C. jingang jie; K. kŭmgang kye 金剛界). In Japanese, "diamond realm" or "diamond world"; one of the two principal diagrams (MAndALA) used in the esoteric traditions of Japan (see MIKKYo), along with the TAIZoKAI ("womb realm"); the Sanskrit reconstruction for this diagram is *vajradhātumandala. The teachings of the kongokai are said to derive in part from two seminal scriptures of the esoteric traditions, the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAMBODHISuTRA and SARVATATHĀGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, but its construction as a mandala relies on no known written instructions and more likely evolved pictorially. KuKAI (774-835), the founder of the SHINGONSHu, used the kongokai mandala in combination with the taizokai mandala in a variety of esoteric rituals designed to awaken the individual adept. However, Japanese TENDAI Buddhism as well as various SHUGENDo complexes also heavily incorporated their own rituals into the two mandalas. ¶ The kongokai consists of nine smaller, nearly square-shaped mandalas, or "assemblies" (J. e), some of which are sometimes isolated for worship and visualized independently. It is said that, by visualizing the mandala, the kongokai ultimately demonstrates that the universe as a whole is coextensive with the body of the DHARMAKĀYA or cosmic buddha, Mahāvairocana (SEE VAIROCANA). In the center of the mandala, Mahāvairocana sits on a lotus flower, surrounded by four female figures, who symbolize the four perfections. Immediately outside are four discs, each encompassing a directional buddha: AMITĀBHA to the west, AKsOBHYA to the east, AMOGHASIDDHI to the north, and RATNASAMBHAVA to the south. Each is, in turn, surrounded by four BODHISATTVAs. This ensemble of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and female figures is repeated in the first four mandala of outward trajectory and its structure repeated in the lower six. Below the center mandala is the mandala of physical objects, each representing the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The next one in outward trajectory are figures residing inside a three-pointed vajra, representing the sounds of the world. The fourth mandala displays all figures (excluding buddhas) in their female form, each exhibiting specific bodily movements. Arriving next at the upper-left mandala, the group is reduced to Mahāvairocana and four surrounding bodhisattvas. In the top-center mandala sits only a large Mahāvairocana. The last three mandalas in the outward spiral shift toward worldly affairs. The top right reveals passions and desire. In the next to last are horrific demons and deities. The last mandala represents consciousness. ¶ Looking at the depictions in the kongokai individually, the nine smaller mandalas are arrayed in a clockwise direction as follows. (1) The perfected-body assembly (jojinne) is the central assembly of the entire mandala. In the center of this assembly sits Mahāvairocana, displaying the gesture (MUDRĀ) of the wisdom fist (BODHYAnGĪMUDRĀ; J. chiken-in), surrounded by the four directional buddhas (Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi), who embody four aspects of Mahāvairocana's wisdom. Each of these buddhas, including Mahāvairocana, is in turn attended by four bodhisattvas. (2) The SAMAYA assembly (J. sammayae; S. samayamandala) replaces the buddhas and bodhisattvas with physical objects, such as VAJRAS and lotuses. (3) The subtle assembly (J. misaime; S. suksmamandala) signifies the adamantine wisdom of Mahāvairocana. (4) In the offerings assembly (J. kuyo-e; S. pujāmandala), bodhisattvas make offerings to the five buddhas. (5) The four-mudrās assembly (J. shiinne; S. caturmudrāmandala) depicts only Mahāvairocana and four bodhisattvas. (6) The single-mudrā assembly (J. ichiinne; S. ekamudrāmandala) represents Mahāvairocana sitting alone in the gesture of wisdom. (7) In the guiding-principle assembly (J. rishu-e; S. nayamandala), VAJRASATTVA sits at the center, surrounded by four female figures, representing craving, physical contact, sexual desire, and fulfillment. (8) In the assembly of the descent into the three realms of existence (J. gozanze-e; S. trailokyavijayamandala), Vajrasattva assumes the ferocious appearance of Gosanze (TRAILOKYAVIJAYA). (9) The samaya of the descent into the three-realms assembly (J. gozanzesammayae; S. trailokyavijayasamaya mandala) has the same structure as the previous one. ¶ In one distinctively Shingon usage, the mandala was placed in the east and the kongokai stood in juxtaposition across from it. The initiate would then invite all buddhas, bodhisattvas, and divinities into the sacred space, invoking all of their power and ultimately unifying with them. In SHUGENDo, the two mandalas were often spatially superimposed over mountain geography or worn as robes on the practitioner while entering the mountain. See TAIZoKAI.
laukikāgradharma. (T. 'jig rten pa'i chos kyi mchog; C. shidiyifa; J. sedaiippo; K. sejeilbop 世第一法). In Sanskrit, "highest worldly factors," the fourth of the "aids to penetration" (NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA), which are developed during the "path of preparation" (PRAYOGAMĀRGA) and mark the transition from the mundane sphere of cultivation (LAUKIKAMĀRGA) to the supramundane vision (DARsANA) of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). This aid to penetration receives its name because these factors (DHARMA) constitute the highest mundane stage prior to the attainment of the first noble (ĀRYA) path, the "path of vision" (DARsANAMĀRGA). There were rival definitions within MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS and among VAIBHĀsIKA teachers themselves about which factors constituted the laukikāgradharma; the orthodox view of the dominant Kashmiri branch was that the laukikāgradharma were those factors involving mind (CITTA) and mental concomitants (CAITTA) that immediately catalyze the abandonment of mundane stages of existence and induce "access to the certainty that one will eventually win liberation" (SAMYAKTVANIYĀMĀVAKRĀNTI). Emerging from the stage of laukikāgradharmas, there is a single moment of "acquiescence to the fact of suffering" (duḥkhe dharmajNānaksānti) at the first (of the sixteen) moments of realization of the four noble truths, which then leads inexorably in the next instant to the path of vision (darsanamārga), which constitutes stream-entry (SROTAĀPANNA), the first of the four stages of sanctity. Thus, the laukikāgradharmas represent the final thought-moment of the ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) before one attains the "supreme" fruit of recluseship (sRĀMAnYAPHALA). ¶ In the Mahāyāna reformulation of ABHIDHARMA in the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) tradition based on the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, the laukikāgradharma is divided into three parts, a smaller, middling, and final part, within a larger presentation of a path of vision (darsanamārga) that knows "the lack of self of phenomena" (DHARMANAIRĀTMYA), i.e., that even the knowledge of the four noble truths is itself without any essential ultimate truth. According to this Mahāyāna abhidharma presentation, the path counteracts not just the mistaken apprehension of the four noble truths of suffering, origination, cessation, and path but also a series of thirty-eight object and subject conceptualizations (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA). The three parts of the bodhisattva's laukikāgradharma, each divided again into three, counteract the last set of nine "pure" subject conceptualizations of an essentialized liberated person who experiences a liberating vision.
Legs bshad gser 'phreng. (Lekshe Sertreng). In Tibetan, "Golden Garland of Eloquence," TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA's explanation of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) based on the commentaries of BU STON RIN CHEN GRUB and Nya dbon Kun dga' dpal. The text is composed in the GSANG PHU NE'U THOG commentarial tradition founded by RNGOG BLO LDAN SHES RAB, using the words of the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA and Haribhadra's short commentary (ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRAVIVṚTI) as a framework. Legs bshad gser phreng privileges the views of Indian YOGĀCĀRA and MADHYAMAKA writers, particularly Ārya VIMUKTISENA, and accords great respect to the work of RNGOG. It already reveals Tsong kha pa's antipathy for the distinctive GZHAN STONG ("emptiness of other") view of DOL PO PA SHES RAB RGYAL MTSHAN, but it eschews the strong sectarian tendencies that begin to appear after the death of Tsong kha pa in the early fifteenth century. As an early work of Tsong kha pa, some of the views it espouses were rejected by later DGE LUGS scholars.
Madhav: “… the perfect beings—the archetypes that project themselves in the form of Ideals on the mental horizons of man….” Readings in Savitri Vol. I.
Madhyamakāvatāra. (T. Dbu ma la 'jug pa). In Sanskrit, "Entrance to the Middle Way" (translated also as "Supplement to the Middle Way"); the major independent (as opposed to commentarial) work of the seventh-century Indian master CANDRAKĪRTI, who states that it is intended as an avatāra (variously rendered as "primer," "entrance," and "supplement") to NĀGĀRJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ. The work is written in verse, to which the author provides an extensive prose commentary (bhāsya). The work is organized around ten "productions of the aspiration to enlightenment" (BODHICITTOTPĀDA), which correspond to the ten stages (BHuMI) of the bodhisattva path (drawn largely from the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA) and their respective perfections (PĀRAMITĀ), describing the salient practices and attainments of each. These are followed by chapters on the qualities of the bodhisattva, on the stage of buddhahood, and a conclusion. The lengthiest (comprising approximately half of the work) and most important chapter of the text is the sixth, dealing with the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ). This is one of the most extensive and influential expositions in Indian literature of Madhyamaka philosophical positions. In it, Candrakīrti provides a detailed discussion of the two truths-ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and conventional truth (SAMVṚTISATYA)-arguing that all things that have these two natures and that conventional truths (which he glosses as "concealing truths") are not in fact true because they appear falsely to the ignorant consciousness. He also discusses the crucial question of valid knowledge (PRAMĀnA) among the unenlightened, relating it to worldly consensus (lokaprasiddha). The sixth chapter also contains one of the most detailed refutations of YOGĀCĀRA in MADHYAMAKA literature, treating such topics as the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA), the foundational consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA), and the statements in the sutras that the three realms of existence are "mind-only" (CITTAMĀTRA). This chapter also contains Candrakīrti's most famous contribution to Madhyamaka reasoning, the sevenfold reasoning designed to demonstrate the absence of a personal self (PUDGALANAIRĀTMYA). Adding to and elaborating upon a fivefold reasoning found in Nāgārjuna's Mulamadhyamakakārikā, Candrakīrti argues that the person does not intrinsically exist because of it: (1) not being the aggregates (SKANDHA), (2) not being other than the aggregates, (3) not being the basis of the aggregates, (4) not depending on the aggregates, (5) not possessing the aggregates, (6) not being the shape of the aggregates, and (7) not being the composite of the aggregates. He illustrates this reasoning by applying it to the example of a chariot, which, he argues, is not to be found among its constituent parts. The sixth chapter concludes with a discussion of the sixteen and the twenty forms of emptiness (suNYATĀ), which include the emptiness of emptiness (suNYATĀsuNYATĀ). The work was the most widely studied and commented upon Madhyamaka text in Tibet among all sects, serving, for example, as one of the "five texts" (ZHUNG LNGA) that formed the DGE LUGS scholastic curriculum. The work is preserved only in Tibetan, although a Sanskrit manuscript of verses has been discovered in Tibet.
Mahakali Mahasarasvati tapas (Mahakali Mahasaraswati tapas) —Mahakali the force of Mahakali-Mahasarasvati, a reconciliation of active and passive tapas in which the swiftness of Mahakali is one with the perfection of Mahasarasvati.Mah Mahakali akali pravr pravrtti
Mahāyāna. (T. theg pa chen po; C. dasheng; J. daijo; K. taesŭng 大乘). In Sanskrit, "great vehicle"; a term, originally of self-appellation, which is used historically to refer to a movement that began some four centuries after the Buddha's death, marked by the composition of texts that purported to be his words (BUDDHAVACANA). Although ranging widely in content, these texts generally set forth the bodhisattva path to buddhahood as the ideal to which all should aspire and described BODHISATTVAs and buddhas as objects of devotion. The key doctrines of the Mahāyāna include the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ), the skillful methods (UPĀYAKAUsALYA) of a buddha, the three bodies (TRIKĀYA) of a buddha, the inherency of buddha-nature (BUDDHADHĀTU; TATHĀGATAGARBHA), and PURE LANDs or buddha-fields (BUDDHAKsETRA). The term Mahāyāna is also appended to two of the leading schools of Indian Buddhism, the YOGĀCĀRA and the MADHYAMAKA, because they accepted the Mahāyāna sutras as the word of the Buddha. However, the tenets of these schools were not restricted to expositions of the philosophy and practice of the bodhisattva but sought to set forth the nature of wisdom and the constituents of the path for the ARHAT as well. The term Mahāyāna often appears in contrast to HĪNAYĀNA, the "lesser vehicle," a pejorative term used to refer to those who do not accept the Mahāyāna sutras as the word of the Buddha. Mahāyāna became the dominant form of Buddhism in China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and Mongolia, and therefore is sometimes referred to as "Northern Buddhism," especially in nineteenth-century sources. Because of the predominance of the Mahāyāna in East Asia and Tibet, it is sometimes assumed that the Mahāyāna displaced earlier forms of Buddhism (sometimes referred to by scholars as "Nikāya Buddhism" or "MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS") in India, but the testimony of Chinese pilgrims, such as XUANZANG and YIJING, suggests that the Mahāyāna remained a minority movement in India. These pilgrims report that Mahāyāna and "hīnayāna" monks lived together in the same monasteries and followed the same VINAYA. The supremacy of the Mahāyāna is also sometimes assumed because of the large corpus of Mahāyāna literature in India. However, scholars have begun to speculate that the size of this corpus may not be a sign of the Mahāyāna's dominance but rather of its secondary status, with more and more works composed but few gaining adherents. Scholars find it significant that the first mention of the term "Mahāyāna" in a stone inscription does not appear in India until some five centuries after the first Mahāyāna sutras were presumably composed, perhaps reflecting its minority, or even marginal, status on the Indian subcontinent. The origins of the Mahāyāna remain the subject of scholarly debate. Earlier theories that saw the Mahāyāna as largely a lay movement against entrenched conservative monastics have given way to views of the Mahāyāna as beginning as disconnected cults (of monastic and sometimes lay members) centered around an individual sutra, in some instances proclaimed by charismatic teachers called DHARMABHĀnAKA. The teachings contained in these sutras varied widely, with some extolling a particular buddha or bodhisattva above all others, some saying that the text itself functioned as a STuPA. Each of these sutras sought to represent itself as the authentic word of sĀKYAMUNI Buddha, which was more or less independent from other sutras; hence, the trope in so many Mahāyāna sutras in which the Buddha proclaims the supremacy of that particular text and describes the benefits that will accrue to those who recite, copy, and worship it. The late appearance of these texts had to be accounted for, and various arguments were set forth, most making some appeal to UPĀYA, the Buddha's skillful methods whereby he teaches what is most appropriate for a given person or audience. Thus, in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"), the Buddha famously proclaims that the three vehicles (TRIYĀNA) that he had previously set forth were in fact expedient stratagems to reach different audiences and that there is in fact only one vehicle (EKAYĀNA), revealed in the Saddharmapundarīkasutra, the BUDDHAYĀNA, which had been taught many times in the past by previous buddhas. These early Mahāyāna sutras seem to have been deemed complete unto themselves, each representing its own world. This relatively disconnected assemblage of various cults of the book would eventually become a self-conscious scholastic entity that thought of itself as the Mahāyāna; this exegetical endeavor devoted a good deal of energy to surveying what was by then a large corpus of such books and then attempting to craft the myriad doctrines contained therein into coherent philosophical and religious systems, such as Yogācāra and Madhyamaka. The authority of the Mahāyāna sutras as the word of the Buddha seems to have remained a sensitive issue throughout the history of the Mahāyāna in India, since many of the most important authors, from the second to the twelfth century, often offered a defense of these sutras' authenticity. Another influential strand of early Mahāyāna was that associated with the RĀstRAPĀLAPARIPṚCCHĀ, KĀsYAPAPARIVARTA, and UGRAPARIPṚCCHĀ, which viewed the large urban monasteries as being ill-suited to serious spiritual cultivation and instead advocated forest dwelling (see ARANNAVĀSI) away from the cities, following a rigorous asceticism (S. dhutaguna; P. DHUTAnGA) that was thought to characterize the early SAMGHA. This conscious estrangement from the monks of the city, where the great majority of monks would have resided, again suggests the Mahāyāna's minority status in India. Although one often reads in Western sources of the three vehicles of Buddhism-the hīnayāna, Mahāyāna, and VAJRAYĀNA-the distinction of the Mahāyāna from the vajrayāna is less clear, at least polemically speaking, than the distinction between the Mahāyāna and the hīnayāna, with followers of the vajrayāna considering themselves as following the path to buddhahood set forth in the Mahāyāna sutras, although via a shorter route. Thus, in some expositions, the Mahāyāna is said to subsume two vehicles, the PĀRAMITĀYĀNA, that is, the path to buddhahood by following the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) as set forth in the Mahāyāna sutras, and the MANTRAYĀNA or vajrayāna, that is, the path to buddhahood set forth in the tantras.
Manas-samyama (Sanskrit) Manas-saṃyama [from manas mind + saṃyama concentration] Concentration of the mind; the perfect control and concentration of the mind during yoga practices. See also SANNYASA
mārgajNatā. (T. lam shes; C. daozhi; J. dochi; K. toji 道智). In Sanskrit, "knowledge of the paths"; one of the three knowledges (along with SARVĀKĀRAJNATĀ and SARVAJNATĀ, or VASTUJNĀNA) set forth in the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA. When explained from the perspective of the path that bodhisattvas have to complete in order to reach their goal of full enlightenment, the knowledge of paths is indicated by nine dharmas; these include its special causes (MAHĀKARUnĀ, Mahāyāna GOTRA, and so on), the bodhisattva's paths of accumulation and preparation (called MOKsABHĀGĪYA and NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA), a special path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), and a path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA) understood from the standpoints of UPĀYA (method) and PRAJNĀ (wisdom). "Method" consists of zealous resolution (ADHIMOKsA) regarding the merit (PUnYA) that derives from the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) and its results; rejoicing (ANUMODANA) in that merit; and dedicating it to the goal of full enlightenment (PARInĀMANĀ). Wisdom consists in innate purity, and the purity that derives from the elimination of obscurations (ĀVARAnA). When described from the perspective of the bodhisattva's actual practice, "knowledge of the paths" refers to the Mahāyāna path of bodhisattvas, including all the aspects (ĀKĀRA) of knowledge that are as yet uninformed by the full knowledge of a buddha (the sarvākārajNatā).
Market power – Where a firm is said to be a price setter. Market power benefits the powerful at the expense of others. When firms have market power over prices, they can use this to raise prices and profits above the perfectly competitive level. Other things being equal, the firm will gain at the expense of the consumer. Similarly, if consumers or workers have market power, they can use this to their own benefit.
maturate ::: a. --> To bring to ripeness or maturity; to ripen.
To promote the perfect suppuration of (an abscess). ::: v. i. --> To ripen; to become mature; specif/cally, to suppurate.
Mean: In general, that which in some way mediates or occupies a middle position among various things or between two extremes. Hence (especially in the plural) that through which an end is attained; in mathematics the word is used for any one of various notions of average; in ethics it represents moderation, temperance, prudence, the middle way. In mathematics: The arithmetic mean of two quantities is half their sum; the arithmetic mean of n quantities is the sum of the n quantities, divided by n. In the case of a function f(x) (say from real numbers to real numbers) the mean value of the function for the values x1, x2, . . . , xn of x is the arithmetic mean of f(x1), f(x2), . . . , f(xn). This notion is extended to the case of infinite sets of values of x by means of integration; thus the mean value of f(x) for values of x between a and b is ∫f(x)dx, with a and b as the limits of integration, divided by the difference between a and b. The geometric mean of or between, or the mean proportional between, two quantities is the (positive) square root of their product. Thus if b is the geometric mean between a and c, c is as many times greater (or less) than b as b is than a. The geometric mean of n quantities is the nth root of their product. The harmonic mean of two quantities is defined as the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of their reciprocals. Hence the harmonic mean of a and b is 2ab/(a + b). The weighted mean or weighted average of a set of n quantities, each of which is associated with a certain number as weight, is obtained by multiplying each quantity by the associated weight, adding these products together, and then dividing by the sum of the weights. As under A, this may be extended to the case of an infinite set of quantities by means of integration. (The weights have the role of estimates of relative importance of the various quantities, and if all the weights are equal the weighted mean reduces to the simple arithmetic mean.) In statistics, given a population (i.e., an aggregate of observed or observable quantities) and a variable x having the population as its range, we have: The mean value of x is the weighted mean of the values of x, with the probability (frequency ratio) of each value taken as its weight. In the case of a finite population this is the same as the simple arithmetic mean of the population, provided that, in calculating the arithmetic mean, each value of x is counted as many times over as it occurs in the set of observations constituting the population. In like manner, the mean value of a function f(x) of x is the weighted mean of the values of f(x), where the probability of each value of x is taken as the weight of the corresponding value of f(x). The mode of the population is the most probable (most frequent) value of x, provided there is one such. The median of the population is so chosen that the probability that x be less than the median (or the probability that x be greater than the median) is ½ (or as near ½ as possible). In the case of a finite population, if the values of x are arranged in order of magnitude --repeating any one value of x as many times over as it occurs in the set of observations constituting the population --then the middle term of this series, or the arithmetic mean of the two middle terms, is the median. --A.C. In cosmology, the fundamental means (arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic) were used by the Greeks in describing or actualizing the process of becoming in nature. The Pythagoreans and the Platonists in particular made considerable use of these means (see the Philebus and the Timaeus more especially). These ratios are among the basic elements used by Plato in his doctrine of the mixtures. With the appearance of the qualitative physics of Aristotle, the means lost their cosmological importance and were thereafter used chiefly in mathematics. The modern mathematical theories of the universe make use of the whole range of means analyzed by the calculus of probability, the theory of errors, the calculus of variations, and the statistical methods. In ethics, the 'Doctrine of the Mean' is the moral theory of moderation, the development of the virtues, the determination of the wise course in action, the practice of temperance and prudence, the choice of the middle way between extreme or conflicting decisions. It has been developed principally by the Chinese, the Indians and the Greeks; it was used with caution by the Christian moralists on account of their rigorous application of the moral law. In Chinese philosophy, the Doctrine of the Mean or of the Middle Way (the Chung Yung, literally 'Equilibrium and Harmony') involves the absence of immoderate pleasure, anger, sorrow or joy, and a conscious state in which those feelings have been stirred and act in their proper degree. This doctrine has been developed by Tzu Shu (V. C. B.C.), a grandson of Confucius who had already described the virtues of the 'superior man' according to his aphorism "Perfect is the virtue which is according to the mean". In matters of action, the superior man stands erect in the middle and strives to follow a course which does not incline on either side. In Buddhist philosophy, the System of the Middle Way or Madhyamaka is ascribed more particularly to Nagarjuna (II c. A.D.). The Buddha had given his revelation as a mean or middle way, because he repudiated the two extremes of an exaggerated ascetlsm and of an easy secular life. This principle is also applied to knowledge and action in general, with the purpose of striking a happy medium between contradictory judgments and motives. The final objective is the realization of the nirvana or the complete absence of desire by the gradual destruction of feelings and thoughts. But while orthodox Buddhism teaches the unreality of the individual (who is merely a mass of causes and effects following one another in unbroken succession), the Madhyamaka denies also the existence of these causes and effects in themselves. For this system, "Everything is void", with the legitimate conclusion that "Absolute truth is silence". Thus the perfect mean is realized. In Greek Ethics, the doctrine of the Right (Mean has been developed by Plato (Philebus) and Aristotle (Nic. Ethics II. 6-8) principally, on the Pythagorean analogy between the sound mind, the healthy body and the tuned string, which has inspired most of the Greek Moralists. Though it is known as the "Aristotelian Principle of the Mean", it is essentially a Platonic doctrine which is preformed in the Republic and the Statesman and expounded in the Philebus, where we are told that all good things in life belong to the class of the mixed (26 D). This doctrine states that in the application of intelligence to any kind of activity, the supreme wisdom is to know just where to stop, and to stop just there and nowhere else. Hence, the "right-mean" does not concern the quantitative measurement of magnitudes, but simply the qualitative comparison of values with respect to a standard which is the appropriate (prepon), the seasonable (kairos), the morally necessary (deon), or generally the moderate (metrion). The difference between these two kinds of metretics (metretike) is that the former is extrinsic and relative, while the latter is intrinsic and absolute. This explains the Platonic division of the sciences into two classes: those involving reference to relative quantities (mathematical or natural), and those requiring absolute values (ethics and aesthetics). The Aristotelian analysis of the "right mean" considers moral goodness as a fixed and habitual proportion in our appetitions and tempers, which can be reached by training them until they exhibit just the balance required by the right rule. This process of becoming good develops certain habits of virtues consisting in reasonable moderation where both excess and defect are avoided: the virtue of temperance (sophrosyne) is a typical example. In this sense, virtue occupies a middle position between extremes, and is said to be a mean; but it is not a static notion, as it leads to the development of a stable being, when man learns not to over-reach himself. This qualitative conception of the mean involves an adaptation of the agent, his conduct and his environment, similar to the harmony displayed in a work of art. Hence the aesthetic aspect of virtue, which is often overstressed by ancient and neo-pagan writers, at the expense of morality proper. The ethical idea of the mean, stripped of the qualifications added to it by its Christian interpreters, has influenced many positivistic systems of ethics, and especially pragmatism and behaviourism (e.g., A. Huxley's rule of Balanced Excesses). It is maintained that it is also involved in the dialectical systems, such as Hegelianism, where it would have an application in the whole dialectical process as such: thus, it would correspond to the synthetic phase which blends together the thesis and the antithesis by the meeting of the opposites. --T.G. Mean, Doctrine of the: In Aristotle's ethics, the doctrine that each of the moral virtues is an intermediate state between extremes of excess and defect. -- O.R.M.
mozhao Chan. (J. mokushozen; K. mukcho Son 默照禪) In Chinese, "silent illumination meditation"; a form of Chan meditation attributed to the CAODONG ZONG (J. SoToSHu), and specifically the masters HONGZHI ZHENGJUE (1091-1157) and his teacher Danxia Zichun (1064-1117). This practice builds upon the normative East Asian notion of the inherency of buddhahood (see TATHĀGATAGARBHA) to suggest that, since enlightenment is the natural state of the mind, there is nothing that needs to be done in order to attain enlightenment other than letting go of all striving for that state. Authentic Chan practice therefore entails only maintaining this original purity of the mind by simply sitting silently in meditation. Hongzhi's clarion call to this new Caodong-style of practice is found in his Mozhao ming ("Inscription on Silent Illumination"), which may have been written in response to increasingly vehement criticisms of the practice by the rival LINJI ZONG, although its dating remains uncertain. In Hongzhi's description of the practice of silent illumination, silence (mo) seems to correlate roughly with calmness (Ch. zhi, S. sAMATHA) and illumination (zhao) with insight (C. guan, S. VIPAsYANĀ); and when both silence and illumination are operating fully, the perfect interfusion of all things is made manifest. Silent-illumination meditation thus seems to have largely involved prolonged sessions of quiet sitting (see ZUOCHAN) and the cessation of distracted thought, a state likened to dead wood and cold ashes or a censer in an old shrine. The Linji Chan adept DAHUI ZONGGAO deploys the term to denigrate the teachings of his Caodong contemporaries and to champion his preferred approach of practice, investigating meditative topics (see KANHUA CHAN) through Chan cases (C. GONG'AN), which demands a breakthrough to enlightenment, not simply what he claims is the passive sitting of the Caodong zong. After Dahui's obstreperous critique of mozhao, the term seems to have acquired such a pejorative connotation that it stopped being used even within the Caodong tradition. See also SHIKAN TAZA.
Mulamadhyamakakārikā. (T. Dbu ma rtsa ba'i tshig le'u byas pa; C. Zhong lun; J. Churon; K. Chung non 中論). In Sanskrit, "Root Verses on the Middle Way"; the magnum opus of the second-century Indian master NĀGĀRJUNA; also known as the PrajNānāmamulamadhyamakakārikā and the Madhyamakasāstra. (The Chinese analogue of this text is the Zhong lun, which renders the title as MADHYAMAKAsĀSTRA. This Chinese version was edited and translated by KUMĀRAJĪVA. Kumārajīva's edition, however, includes not only Nāgārjuna's verses but also Pingala's commentary to the verses.) The most widely cited and commented upon of Nāgārjuna's works in India, the Mulamadhyamakakārikā, was the subject of detailed commentaries by such figures as BUDDHAPĀLITA, BHĀVAVIVEKA, and CANDRAKĪRTI (with Candrakīrti's critique of Bhāvaviveka's criticism of a passage in Buddhapālita's commentary providing the locus classicus for the later Tibetan division of MADHYAMAKA into *SVĀTANTRIKA and *PRĀSAnGIKA). In East Asia, it was one of the three basic texts of the "Three Treatises" school (C. SAN LUN ZONG), and was central to TIANTAI philosophy. Although lost in the original Sanskrit as an independent work, the entire work is preserved within the Sanskrit text of Candrakīrti's commentary, the PRASANNAPADĀ (serving as one reason for the influence of Candrakīrti's commentary in the European reception of the Mulamadhyamakakārikā). The work is composed of 448 verses in twenty-seven chapters. The topics of the chapters (as provided by Candrakīrti) are the analysis of: (1) conditions (PRATYAYA), (2) motion, (3) the eye and the other sense faculties (INDRIYA), (4) aggregates (SKANDHA), (5) elements (DHĀTU), (6) passion and the passionate, (7) the conditioned (in the sense of production, abiding, disintegration), (8) action and agent, (9) prior existence, (10) fire and fuel, (11) the past and future limits of SAMSĀRA, (12) suffering, (13) the conditioned (SAMSKĀRA), (14) contact (saMsarga), (15) intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA), (16) bondage and liberation, (17) action and effect, (18) self, (19) time, (20) assemblage (sāmagrī), (21) arising and dissolving, (22) the TATHĀGATA, (23) error, (24) the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, (25) NIRVĀnA, (26), the twelve links of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), and (27) views. The tone of the work is set in its famous homage to the Buddha, which opens the work, "I bow down to the perfect Buddha, the best of teachers, who taught that what is dependently arisen is without cessation, without production, without annihilation, without permanence, without coming, without going, without difference, without sameness, pacified of elaboration, at peace." The Mulamadhyamakakārikā offers a relentless examination of many of the most important categories of Buddhist thought, subjecting them to an analysis that reveals the absurd consequences that follow from imagining any of them to be real in the sense of possessing an independent and intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA). Nāgārjuna demonstrates repeatedly that these various categories only exist relationally and only function heuristically in a worldly and transactional sense; they do not exist ultimately. Thus, in the first chapter, Nāgārjuna examines production via causes and conditions, one of the hallmarks of Buddhist thought, and declares that a thing is not produced from itself, from something other than itself, from something that is both itself and other, or from something that is neither itself nor the other. He examines the four kinds of conditions, declaring each to lack an intrinsic nature, such that they do not exist because they do not produce anything. In the second chapter, Nāgārjuna examines motion, seeking to determine precisely where motion occurs: on the path already traversed, the path being traversed, or on the path not yet traversed. He concludes that motion is not to be found on any of these three. In the twenty-fifth chapter, he subjects nirvāna to a similar analysis, finding it to be neither existent, nonexistent, both existent and nonexistent, nor neither existent nor nonexistent. (These are the famous CATUsKOtI, the "four alternatives," or tetralemma.) Therefore, nirvāna, like saMsāra and all worldly phenomena, is empty of intrinsic nature, leading Nāgārjuna to declare (at XXV.19), in one of his most famous and widely misinterpreted statements, that there is not the slightest difference between saMsāra and nirvāna. The thoroughgoing negative critique or apophasis in which Nāgārjuna engages leads to charges of nihilism, charges that he faces directly in the text, especially in the twenty-fourth chapter on the four noble truths where he introduces the topic of the two truths (SATYADVAYA)-ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and conventional truth (SAMVṚTISATYA)-declaring the importance of both in understanding correctly the doctrine of the Buddha. Also in this chapter, he discusses the danger of misunderstanding emptiness (suNYATĀ), and the relation between emptiness and dependent origination ("That which is dependent origination we explain as emptiness. This is a dependent designation; just this is the middle path"). To those who would object that emptiness renders causation and change impossible, he counters that if things existed independently and intrinsically, there could be no transformation; "for whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible." There has been considerable scholarly discussion of Nāgārjuna's target audience for this work, with the consensus being that it is intended for Buddhist monks well versed in ABHIDHARMA literature, especially that associated with the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school; many of the categories to which Nāgārjuna subjects his critique are derived from this school. In the Sarvāstivāda abhidharma, these categories and factors (DHARMA) are posited to be endowed with a certain reality, a reality that Nāgārjuna sees as implying permanence, independence, and autonomy. He seeks to reveal the absurd consequences and hence the impossibility of the substantial existence of these categories and factors. Through his critique, he seeks a new understanding of these fundamental tenets of Buddhist philosophy in light of the doctrine of emptiness as set forth in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ SuTRAs. He does not cite these sutras directly, however, nor does he mention the MAHĀYĀNA, which he extols regularly in other of his works. Instead, he seeks to demonstrate how the central Buddhist doctrine of causation, expressed as dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda), necessarily entails emptiness (sunyatā). The understanding of emptiness is essential in order to abandon false views (MITHYĀDṚstI). Nāgārjuna therefore sees his purpose not to reject the standard categories of Buddhist thought but to reinterpret them in such a way that they become conduits for, rather than impediments to, liberation from suffering, in keeping with the Buddha's intent.
Nāgārjuna. (T. Klu sgrub; C. Longshu; J. Ryuju; K. Yongsu 龍樹). Indian Buddhist philosopher traditionally regarded as the founder of the MADHYAMAKA [alt. Mādhyamika] school of MAHĀYĀNA Buddhist philosophy. Very little can be said concerning his life; scholars generally place him in South India during the second century CE. Traditional accounts state that he lived four hundred years after the Buddha's PARINIRVĀnA. Some traditional biographies also state that he lived for six hundred years, apparently attempting to identify him with a later Nāgārjuna known for his tantric writings. Two of the works attributed to Nāgārjuna, the RATNĀVALĪ and the SUHṚLLEKHA, are verses of advice to a king, suggesting that he may have achieved some fame during his lifetime. His birth is "prophesied" in a number of works, including the LAnKĀVATĀRASuTRA. Other sources indicate that he also served as abbot of a monastery. He appears to have been the teacher of ĀRYADEVA, and his works served as the subject of numerous commentaries in India, East Asia, and Tibet. Although Nāgārjuna is best known in the West for his writings on emptiness (suNYATĀ), especially as set forth in his most famous work, the "Verses on the Middle Way" (MuLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ, also known as the MADHYAMAKAsĀSTRA), Nāgārjuna was the author of a number of works (even when questions of attribution are taken into account) on a range of topics, and it is through a broad assessment of these works that an understanding of his thought is best gained. He wrote as a Buddhist monk and as a proponent of the Mahāyāna; in several of his works he defends the Mahāyāna sutras as being BUDDHAVACANA. He compiled an anthology of passages from sixty-eight sutras entitled the "Compendium of Sutras" (SuTRASAMUCCAYA), the majority of which are Mahāyāna sutras; this work provides a useful index for scholars in determining which sutras were extant during his lifetime. Among the Mahāyāna sutras, Nāgārjuna is particularly associated with the "perfection of wisdom" (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) corpus. According to legend, Nāgārjuna retrieved from the Dragon King's palace at the bottom of the sea the "Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines" (sATASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA), which the Buddha had entrusted to the undersea king of the NĀGAs for safekeeping. He also composed hymns of praise to the Buddha, such as the CATUḤSTAVA, and expositions of Buddhist ethical practice, such as the Ratnāvalī. (Later exegetes classify his works into a YUKTIKĀYA, or "logical corpus," and a STAVAKĀYA, or "devotional corpus.") Nāgārjuna's works are addressed to a variety of audiences. His philosophical texts are sometimes directed against logicians of non-Buddhist schools, but most often offer a critique of the doctrines and assumptions of Buddhist ABHIDHARMA schools, especially the SARVĀSTIVĀDA. Other works are more general expositions of Buddhist practice, directed sometimes to monastic audiences, sometimes to lay audiences. An overriding theme in his works is the bodhisattva's path to buddhahood, and the merit (PUnYA) and wisdom (PRAJNĀ) that the bodhisattva must accumulate over the course of that path in order to achieve enlightenment. By wisdom here, he means the perfection of wisdom (prajNāpāramitā), declared in the sutras to be the knowledge of emptiness (suNYATĀ). Nāgārjuna is credited with rendering the poetic and sometimes paradoxical declarations concerning emptiness that appear in these and other Mahāyāna sutras into a coherent philosophical system. In his first sermon, the DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA, the Buddha had prescribed a "middle way" between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. Nāgārjuna, citing an early sutra, spoke of a middle way between the extremes of existence and nonexistence, sometimes also referred to as the middle way between the extremes of permanence (sĀsVATĀNTA) and annihilation (UCCHEDĀNTA). For Nāgārjuna, the ignorance (AVIDYĀ) that is the source of all suffering is the belief in SVABHĀVA, a term that literally means "own being" and has been variously rendered as "intrinsic existence" and "self-nature." This belief is the mistaken view that things exist autonomously, independently, and permanently; to hold this belief is to fall into the extreme of permanence. It is equally mistaken, however, to hold that nothing exists; this is the extreme of annihilation. Emptiness, which for Nāgārjuna is the true nature of reality, is not the absence of existence, but the absence of self-existence, viz., the absence of svabhāva. Nāgārjuna devotes his Mulamadhyamakakārikā to a thoroughgoing analysis of a wide range of topics (in twenty-seven chapters and 448 verses), including the Buddha, the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, and NIRVĀnA, to demonstrate that each lacks the autonomy and independence that are mistakenly ascribed to it. His approach generally is to consider the various ways in which a given entity could exist, and then demonstrate that none of these is tenable because of the absurdities that would be entailed thereby, a form of reasoning often described in Western writings as reductio ad absurdum. In the case of something that is regarded to be the effect of a cause, he shows that the effect cannot be produced from itself (because an effect is the product of a cause), from something other than itself (because there must be a link between cause and effect), from something that is both the same as and different from itself (because the former two options are not possible), or from something that is neither the same as nor different from itself (because no such thing exists). This, in his view, is what is meant in the perfection of wisdom sutras when they state that all phenomena are "unproduced" (ANUTPĀDA). The purpose of such an analysis is to destroy misconceptions (VIKALPA) and encourage the abandonment of all views (DṚstI). Nāgārjuna defined emptiness in terms of the doctrine of PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA, or "dependent origination," understood in its more generic sense as the fact that things are not self-arisen, but are produced in dependence on causes and conditions. This definition allows Nāgārjuna to avoid the claim of nihilism, which he addresses directly in his writings and which his followers would confront over the centuries. Nāgārjuna employs the doctrine of the two truths (SATYADVAYA) of ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and conventional truth (SAMVṚTISATYA), explaining that everything that exists is ultimately empty of any intrinsic nature but does exist conventionally. The conventional is the necessary means for understanding the ultimate, and the ultimate makes the conventional possible. As Nāgārjuna wrote, "For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible."
Nature and kept within the narrow bounds of her normal ope- rations. Id the ancient tradition of Hatha Yoga it has always been supposed that this conquest could be pushed so far even as to conquer to a great extent the force of gravitation. By various subsidiary but elaborate processes the Hatha Yogin next contrives to keep the body free from all impurities and the ner- vous system unclogged for those exercises of respiration which are his most important instruments. These are called prana- yama, the control of the breath or vital power ; for breathing is the chief physical functioning of the vital forces. Prdnayaina, for the Hatha Yogin, serves a double purpose. First, it completes the perfection of the body. The vitality is liberated from many of the ordinary necessities of physical Nature ; robust health, prolonged youth, often an extraordinary longevity arc attained.
neshamah ::: Neshamah The Zohar tells us that the Neshamah is the highest of the three grades of the soul, and even when it is not consciously realised it dominates the path that a mans life takes. Kabbalists say that a man cannot know the Neshamah until he dies, and yet they also tell us that the perfect devotee may come to know her.
Nidana (Sanskrit) Nidāna [from ni down, into + the verbal root dā to bind] That which binds, to earth or to existence, philosophically speaking. Originally meaning bond, rope, halter — that which binds. From this arose the implication of binding cause, or bonds of causation, and hence in Buddhist philosophy it signifies cause of existence, the concatenation of cause and effect. The twelve nidanas given as the chief causes are: 1) jati (birth) according to one of the chatur-yoni, the four modes of entering incarnation, each mode placing the being in one of the six gatis; 2) jara-marana (decrepitude) and death, following the maturity of the skandhas; 3) bhava, which leads every sentient being to be born in this or another mode of existence in the trailokya and gatis; 4) upadana, the creative cause of bhava which thus becomes the cause of jati, and this creative cause is the clinging to life; 5) trishna (thirst for life, love, attachment); 6) vedana (sensation) perception by the senses, the fifth skandha; 7) sparsa (the sense of touch) contact of any kind, whether mental or physical; 8) shadayatana (the organs of sensation) the inner or mental astral seats of the organs of sense; 9) nama-rupa (name-form, personality, a form with a name to it) the symbol of the unreality of material phenomenal appearances; 10) vijnana, the perfect knowledge of every perceptible thing and of all objects in their concatenation and unity; 11) samskara, action on the plane of illusion; and 12) avidya (nescience, ignorance) lack of true perception.
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.
“Nirvana, while the Ultima Thule of the perfection to be attained by any human being, nevertheless stands less high in the estimate of mystics than the condition of the Bodhisattva. For the Bodhisattva, although standing on the threshold of Nirvana and seeing and understanding its ineffable glory and peace and rest, nevertheless retains his consciousness in the worlds of men, in order to consecrate his vast faculties and powers to the service of all that is. The Buddhas 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 and compassionate and beneficent influence in the world. The Buddha indeed may be said to act indirectly and by ‘long distance control,’ thus indeed helping the world diffusively or by diffusion; but the Bodhisattva acts directly and positively and with a directing will in works of compassion, both for the world and for individuals” (OG 116-17).
ṅkara-mukti-siddhi ::: the perfection of release from the ego (ahaṅkara), part of the mukti or liberation of the nature: "the transformation of the limited ego into a conscious centre of the divine unity and freedom" (caitanyakendra) through "an uncompromising abolition of the ego-sense at its very basis and source", leaving only an "individualisation for the purposes of the play of universal consciousness in an individual mind and frame".
One can choose any of them according to one’s bent and capa- city, The perfect method is to use them all, each in its o'atj pla(» and for its onyn object.
"Our sins are the misdirected steps of a seeking Power that aims, not at sin, but at perfection, at something that we might call a divine virtue. Often they are the veils of a quality that has to be transformed and delivered out of this ugly disguise: otherwise, in the perfect providence of things, they would not have been suffered to exist or to continue. The Master of our works is neither a blunderer nor an indifferent witness nor a dallier with the luxury of unneeded evils. He is wiser than our reason and wiser than our virtue.” The Synthesis of Yoga
“Our sins are the misdirected steps of a seeking Power that aims, not at sin, but at perfection, at something that we might call a divine virtue. Often they are the veils of a quality that has to be transformed and delivered out of this ugly disguise: otherwise, in the perfect providence of things, they would not have been suffered to exist or to continue. The Master of our works is neither a blunderer nor an indifferent witness nor a dallier with the luxury of unneeded evils. He is wiser than our reason and wiser than our virtue.” The Synthesis of Yoga
Oxherding Pictures, Ten. (C. Shiniu tu; J. Jugyuzu; K. Sibu to 十牛圖). A varied series of illustrations used within the CHAN (J. ZEN; K. SoN, V. THIỀN) schools to depict the process of religious training, a process that leads ultimately to awakening and the perfect freedom of enlightenment. The series show a young herdsman who goes out into the wild in search of a wild ox that he can tame. The "herdsman" represents the religious adept who seeks to tame the "ox" of his unchecked thoughts, so that he may put his mind to use in the service of all sentient beings. There are several different versions of the oxherding pictures found in the literature, but two are best known. The first is by the Song-dynasty adept Puming (d.u.): (1) not yet found, (2) training begun, (3) disciplining, (4) turning its head, (5) tamed, (6) unimpeded, (7) wandering freely, (8) each forgotten, (9) moon shining alone, and (10) both disappear. A second set of ten pictures, which became normative within the Chan tradition, was made later by the Song-dynasty YANGQI PAI teacher KUO'AN SHIYUAN (d.u.): (1) searching for the ox; (2) seeing its footprints; (3) finding the ox; (4) catching the ox; (5) taming the ox; (6) riding the ox home; (7) ox forgotten, but not the person; (8) person and ox both forgotten; (9) returning to the origin and going back to the fount; and (10) entering the marketplace to bestow gifts. This second set of pictures is often found painted sequentially around the outside walls of the main shrine hall (TAEUNG CHoN) in Korean monasteries.
paNcajNāna. (T. ye shes lnga; C. wuzhi; J. gochi; K. oji 五智). In Sanskrit, "five wisdoms," "five knowledges"; five aspects of the perfect enlightenment (BODHI) of the buddhas, according to the MAHĀYĀNA tradition. They are (1) the wisdom of the DHARMADHĀTU (DHARMADHĀTUJNĀNA), (2) the mirrorlike wisdom (ĀDARsAJNĀNA), (3) the wisdom of equality or impartiality (SAMATĀJNĀNA), (4) the wisdom of specific knowledge (PRATYAVEKsAnAJNĀNA), and (5) the wisdom of accomplishing what was to be done (KṚTYĀNUstHĀNAJNĀNA). They are important especially in YOGĀCĀRA, where it is said, for example, that the foundational storehouse consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA) is transformed into the mirrorlike wisdom, and the afflicted mind (KLIstAMANAS) is transformed into the wisdom of equality. In tantric Buddhism, the five wisdoms are associated with the five buddhas (PANCATATHĀGATA): VAIROCANA, AKsOBHYA, RATNASAMBHAVA, AMITĀBHA, and AMOGHASIDDHI, respectively. It is also said that, through the practice of the tantric path, the five KLEsAs of delusion or obscuration (MOHA), hatred (DVEsA), pride (MĀNA), desire (RĀGA), and jealousy (ĪRsYĀ) are transformed into the five wisdoms in the order listed above.
pāramitā. (P. pāramī; T. pha rol tu phyin pa; C. boluomi; J. haramitsu; K. paramil 波羅蜜). In Sanskrit, "perfection," a virtue or quality developed and practiced by a BODHISATTVA on the path to becoming a buddha. The term is paranomastically glossed by some traditional commentators as "gone beyond" or "gone to the other side" (see PARA), although it seems in fact to derive from Skt. parama, meaning "highest" or "supreme." The best-known enumeration of the perfections is a group of six: giving (DĀNA), morality (sĪLA), patience or forbearance (KsĀNTI), effort (VĪRYA), concentration (DHYĀNA), and wisdom (PRAJNĀ). There are also lists of ten perfections. In the MAHĀYĀNA (specifically in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA), the list of ten includes the preceding six, to which are added method (UPĀYA), vow (PRAnIDHĀNA), power (BALA), and knowledge (JNĀNA), with the explanation that the bodhisattva practices the perfections in this order on each of the ten bodhisattva stages or grounds (BHuMI). Thus, giving is perfected on the first bhumi, morality on the second, and so on. In Pāli sources, where the perfections are called pāramī, the ten perfections are giving (dāna), morality (sīla), renunciation (nekkhamma; S. NAIsKRAMYA), wisdom (paNNā), effort (viriya), patience (khanti), truthfulness (sacca; S. SATYA), determination (adhitthāna; S. ADHIstHĀNA), loving-kindness (mettā; S. MAITRĪ), and equanimity (upekkhā; S. UPEKsĀ). The practice of these perfections over the course of the many lifetimes of the bodhisattva's path eventually fructifies in the achievement of buddhahood. The precise meaning of the perfections is discussed at length, as is the question of how the six (or ten) are to be divided between the categories of merit (PUnYA) and wisdom (JNĀNA). For example, according to one interpretation of the six perfections, giving, morality, and patience contribute to the collection of merit (PUnYASAMBHĀRA); concentration and wisdom contribute to the collection of wisdom (JNĀNASAMBHĀRA), and effort contributes to both. Commentators also consider what distinguishes the practice of these six from other instances of the practice of giving, etc. Some MADHYAMAKA exegetes, for example, argue that these virtues only become perfections when the bodhisattva engages in them with an understanding of emptiness (suNYATĀ); for example, giving a gift without clinging to any conception of giver, gift, or recipient.
paranirvana. ::: the Supreme; Final Nirvana; when the perfectly enlightened individual is released from physical embodiment, never to return to birth in any world, high or low
Parardha and Aparardha [Higher and Lower Halves] ::: A separation, acute in practice though unreal in essence, divides the total being of man, the microcosm, as it divides also the world-being, the macrocosm. Both have a higher and a lower hemisphere, the parardha and aparardha of the ancient wisdom. The higher hemisphere is the perfect and eternal reign of the Spirit; for there it manifestswithout cessation or diminution its infinities, deploys the unconcealed glories of its illimitable existence, its illimitable consciousness and knowledge, its illimitable force and power, its illimitable beatitude. The lower hemisphere belongs equally to the Spirit; but here it is veiled, closely, thickly, by its inferior self-expression of limiting mind, confined life and dividing body.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 465
paripurna&
parisuddhabuddhaksetra. (T. sangs rgyas kyi shing yongs su dag pa; C. qingjing foguotu; J. shojo bukkokudo; K. ch'ongjong pulgukt'o 清淨佛國土). In Sanskrit, "purified buddha-field." In the MAHĀYĀNA, when a buddha attains enlightenment, he not only achieves the three bodies (TRIKĀYA) of a buddha, but also creates a land in which he will preach the dharma. That land can be either pure, impure, or mixed. A pure buddha field may be one in which the inhabitants engage in only virtuous deeds and experience no suffering. The term is also used to describe a buddha-field that does not include the unfortunate realms (APĀYA; DURGATI) of animals, ghosts, and hell denizens. The buddha-field of Amitābha, SUKHĀVATĪ, is a pure field in these two senses (although the term parisuddhabuddhaksetra does not appear in the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA). The term may also be used with regard to whether the inhabitants of the buddha-field are all BODHISATTVAs, or all ĀRYABODHISATTVAs, that is, those who have achieved at least the first BHuMI. It is possible that the Chinese term JINGTU (the source of the English term "PURE LAND"), which does not appear to be a direct translation from Sanskrit, derives from parisuddhabuddhaksetra, perhaps as an abbreviation of it. In the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA's explanation of the PANCAVIMsATISĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA, the parisuddhabuddhaksetra is twofold, corresponding to the BHĀJANALOKA ("container world," referring to the wider environment or the physical or inanimate world) and the SATTVALOKA, the "world of sentient beings," who are the inhabitants of that "container." A degraded environment with treeless deserts, thornbushes, and so on is impure; when beings are sick and hungry, etc., the sattvaloka is impure. The perfect purity of a buddha-field comes about when a bodhisattva achieves the purity of those two worlds by counteracting their imperfections through the creation of an entirely pleasant environment, and through the supply of food, clothing, shelter, etc.
perfectionism ::: n. --> The doctrine of the Perfectionists.
Plato's theory of knowledge can hardly be discussed apart from his theory of reality. Through sense perception man comes to know the changeable world of bodies. This is the realm of opinion (doxa), such cognition may be more or less clear but it never rises to the level of true knowledge, for its objects are impermanent and do not provide a stable foundation for science. It is through intellectual, or rational, cognition that man discovers another world, that of immutable essences, intelligible realities, Forms or Ideas. This is the level of scientific knowledge (episteme); it is reached in mathematics and especially in philosophy (Repub. VI, 510). The world of intelligible Ideas contains the ultimate realities from which the world of sensible things has been patterned. Plato experienced much difficulty in regard to the sort of existence to be attributed to his Ideas. Obviously it is not the crude existence of physical things, nor can it be merely the mental existence of logical constructs. Interpretations have varied from the theory of the Christian Fathers (which was certainly not that of Plato himself) viz , that the Ideas are exemplary Causes in God's Mind, to the suggestion of Aristotle (Metaphysics, I) that they are realized, in a sense, in the world of individual things, but are apprehended only by the intellect The Ideas appear, however, particularly in the dialogues of the middle period, to be objective essences, independent of human minds, providing not only the foundation for the truth of human knowledge but afso the ontological bases for the shadowy things of the sense world. Within the world of Forms, there is a certain hierarchy. At the top, the most noble of all, is the Idea of the Good (Repub. VII), it dominates the other Ideas and they participate in it. Beauty, symmetry and truth are high-ranking Ideas; at times they are placed almost on a par with the Good (Philebus 65; also Sympos. and Phaedrus passim). There are, below, these, other Ideas, such as those of the major virtues (wisdom, temperance, courage, justice and piety) and mathematical terms and relations, such as equality, likeness, unlikeness and proportion. Each type or class of being is represented by its perfect Form in the sphere of Ideas, there is an ideal Form of man, dog, willow tree, of every kind of natural object and even of artificial things like beds (Repub. 596). The relationship of the "many" objects, belonging to a certain class of things in the sense world, to the "One", i.e. the single Idea which is their archetype, is another great source of difficulty to Plato. Three solutions, which are not mutually exclusive, are suggested in the dialogues (1) that the many participate imperfectly in the perfect nature of their Idea, (2) that the many are made in imitation of the One, and (3) that the many are composed of a mixture of the Limit (Idea) with the Unlimited (matter).
Pojo Chinul. (C. Puzhao Zhine; J. Fusho Chitotsu 普照知訥) (1158-1210). In Korean, lit. "Shining Universally, Knowing Reticence"; the premier Korean SoN master of the Koryo dynasty and one of the two most influential monks in the history of Korean Buddhism (along with WoNHYO); he usually referred to himself using his cognomen Moguja (Oxherder). Chinul was a native of the Tongju district to the west of the Koryo capital of Kaesong (present-day Sohŭng in Hwanghae province). In 1165, he was ordained by the Son master Chonghwi (d.u.) at Kulsansa on Mt. Sagul, one of the monastic centers of the so-called "Nine Mountains school of Son" (see KUSAN SoNMUN). In 1182, Chinul passed the Son clerical examinations (SŬNGKWA) held at the monastery of Pojesa in the capital of Kaesong, but rather than take an ecclesiastical position he opted instead to form a retreat society (KYoLSA) with some fellow monks. Chinul left the capital and headed south and began his residence at Ch'ongwonsa in Ch'angp'yong (present-day South Cholla province). There, Chinul is said to have attained his initial awakening while reading the LIUZU TAN JING. In 1185, Chinul relocated himself to Pomunsa on Mt. Haga (present-day North Kyongsang province), where he had his second awakening while reading LI TONGXUAN's HUAYAN JING HELUN ("Commentary to the AVATAMSAKASuTRA"). In 1188, Chinul and the monk Tŭkchae (d.u.) launched the first Samādhi and PrajNā Retreat Society (CHoNGHYE KYoLSA) at the monastery of Kojosa on Mt. Kong (present-day North Kyongsang province). Chinul subsequently moved the community to the Kilsangsa on Mt. Songgwang, which was later renamed SUSoNSA, or the Son Cultivation Community, by King Hŭijong (r. 1204-1211); this is the major monastery now known as SONGGWANGSA. On his way to establish the retreat society, Chinul is said to have briefly resided at the hermitage Sangmujuam on CHIRISAN, where he attained his final awakening while reading the recorded sayings (YULU) of the CHAN master DAHUI ZONGGAO. In addition to reciting the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA, the practice of the Son Cultivation Community at Kilsangsa was purportedly based on the three principles of the concurrent practice of SAMĀDHI and PRAJNĀ as taught in the Liuzu tan jing, faith and understanding of the perfect and sudden teachings (K. wondon kyo; C. YUANDUN JIAO) according to the AvataMsakasutra, and the shortcut method of "questioning meditation" (K. kanhwa Son; C. KANHUA CHAN) developed by Dahui. Chinul is renowned for developing an ecumenical approach to Buddhist thought and practice, which sought to reconcile the insights of the "word of the Buddha"-viz., the scriptures, or KYO-with the "mind of the Buddha"-viz., Son practice. He taught an approach to Buddhist practice that combined an initial sudden awakening followed by continued gradual cultivation (K. dono chomsu; C. DUNWU JIANXIU), which he saw as the optimal soteriological schema for most practitioners. Chinul also was the first to introduce "questioning meditation" (kanhwa Son) into the Korean Son tradition, and this type of meditation would hold pride of place in Korean Buddhism from that point forward. Chinul was later given the posthumous title Puril Pojo (Buddha-Sun That Shines Universally). His many works include the SUSIM KYoL ("Secrets on Cultivating the Mind"), KANHWA KYoRŬI RON ("Resolving Doubts About Observing the Meditative Topic"), WoNDON SoNGBUL NON ("The Complete and Sudden Attainment of Buddhahood"), and his magnum opus, the PoPCHIP PYoRHAENGNOK CHoRYO PYoNGIP SAGI ("Excerpts from the 'Dharma Collection and Special Practice Record' with Personal Notes"), which is included in the SAJIP ("Fourfold Collection").
prabhākarībhumi. (T. 'od byed pa; C. faguang di; J. hokkoji; K. palgwang chi 發光地). In Sanskrit, "illuminating," the name of the third of the ten BODHISATTVA BHuMI, as found in a list of ten stages (DAsABHuMI) enumerated in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA ("Sutra on the Ten Stages"), a sutra that is later subsumed into the massive scriptural compilation, the AVATAMSAKASuTRA. The first bhumi coincides with the attainment of the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), the remaining nine to the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). Prabhākarībhumi is so called because the light of the bodhisattva's wisdom burns brightly through the attainment of the four meditative absorptions (DHYĀNA) and the five superknowledges (ABHIJNĀ). When the practice of the six (or ten) perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) is aligned with the ten bhumi, the prabhākarībhumi is especially an occasion for the practice of the perfection of patience (KsĀNTIPĀRAMITĀ), where the bodhisattva's patience becomes so great that even if someone were to mutilate his body, he would not respond in anger. The bodhisattva remains on this bhumi until he is able to abide consistently in the limbs of enlightenment (BODHIPĀKsIKADHARMA).
PrajNāpāramitāhṛdayasutra. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i mdo; C. Bore boluomiduo xin jing; J. Hannya haramitta shingyo; K. Panya paramilta sim kyong 般若波羅蜜多心經). In English, the "Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra" (or, in other interpretations, the "DHĀRAnĪ-Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom"); a work known in English simply as the "Heart Sutra"; one of only a handful of Buddhist SuTRAs (including the "Lotus Sutra" and the "Diamond Sutra") to be widely known by an English title. The "Heart Sutra" is perhaps the most famous, and certainly the most widely recited, of all Buddhist sutras across all Mahāyāna traditions. It is also one of the most commented upon, eliciting more Indian commentaries than any Mahāyāna sutra (eight), including works by such luminaries as KAMALAsĪLA, VIMALAMITRA, and ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNĀNA, as well as such important East Asian figures as FAZANG, KuKAI, and HAKUIN EKAKU. As its title suggests, the scripture purports to be the quintessence or heart (hṛdaya) of the "perfection of wisdom" (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ), in its denotations as both supreme wisdom and the eponymous genre of scriptures. The sutra exists in long and short versions-with the longer version better known in India and the short version better known in East Asia-but even the long version is remarkably brief, requiring only a single page in translation. The short version, which is probably the earlier of the two recensions, is best known through its Chinese translation by XUANZANG made c. 649 CE. There has been speculation that the Chinese version may be a redaction of sections of the Chinese recension of the MAHĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA (also translated by Xuanzang) as a mnemonic encoding (dhāranī) of the massive perfection of wisdom literature, which was then subsequently translated back into Sanskrit, perhaps by Xuanzang himself. Although there is as yet no scholarly consensus on the provenance of the text, if this argument is correct, this would make the "Heart Sutra" by far the most influential of all indigenous Chinese scriptures (see APOCRYPHA). The long version of the text, set on Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKutAPARVATA) outside RĀJAGṚHA, begins with the Buddha entering SAMĀDHI. At that point, the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA (who rarely appears as an interlocutor in the prajNāpāramitā sutras) contemplates the perfection of wisdom and sees that the five aggregates (SKANDHA) are empty of intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA). The monk sĀRIPUTRA, considered the wisest of the Buddha's sRĀVAKA disciples, is inspired by the Buddha to ask Avalokitesvara how one should train in the perfection of wisdom. Avalokitesvara's answer constitutes the remainder of the sutra (apart from a brief epilogue in the longer version of the text). That answer, which consists essentially of a litany of negations of the major categories of Buddhist thought-including such seminal lists as the five aggregates (skandha), twelve sense-fields (ĀYATANA), twelve links of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), and FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS-contains two celebrated statements. The first, made in reference to the first of the five aggregates, is "form (RuPA) is emptiness (suNYATĀ); emptiness is form" (RuPAM suNYATĀ sUNYATAIVA RuPAM). This is one of the most widely quoted and commented upon statements in the entire corpus of Mahāyāna sutras and thus is not easily amenable to succinct explication. In brief, however, the line suggests that emptiness, as the nature of ultimate reality, is not located in some rarified realm, but rather is found in the ordinary objects of everyday experience. The other celebrated statement is the spell (MANTRA) that concludes Avalokitesvara's discourse-GATE GATE PĀRAGATE PĀRASAMGATE BODHI SVĀHĀ-which, unlike many mantras, is amenable to translation: "gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, enlightenment, svāha." This mantra has also been widely commented upon. The presence of the mantra in the sutra has led to its classification as a TANTRA rather than a sutra in some Tibetan catalogues; it also forms the basis of Indian tantric SĀDHANAs. The brevity of the text has given it a talismanic quality, being recited on all manner of occasions (it is commonly used as an exorcistic text in Tibet) and inscribed on all manner of objects, including fans, teacups, and neckties in modern Japan.
PrajNāpāramitānayasatapaNcasatikā. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i tshul brgya lnga bcu pa; C. Bore liqu fen; J. Hannya rishubun; K. Panya ich'wi pun 般若理趣分). In Sanskrit, "Way of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Fifty Lines," a short PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ SuTRA in fifteen chapters of ten lines each, spoken by different buddhas, including VAIROCANA. The presence of such terms as VAJRA, guhya, and SIDDHI have caused some to classify it as "tantric." The scripture is cited by both CANDRAKĪRTI and HARIBHADRA and was translated into Chinese five different times, by XUANZANG, BODHIRUCI, VAJRABODHI, AMOGHAVAJRA, and DĀNAPĀLA.
PrajNāpāramitāpindārtha. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa don bsdus pa). In Sanskrit, "Summary of the Perfection of Wisdom," a commentary on the AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ attributed to DIGNĀGA; also known as the PrajNāpāramitāpindārthasaMgraha and the PrajNāpāramitāsaMgrahakārikā. It is a short work in fifty-eight lines, which summarize the perfection of wisdom under thirty-two headings, including the ten misconceptions (VIKALPA) and their antidotes, as well as the sixteen types of emptiness (suNYATĀ). The opening stanza of the text is widely quoted: "The perfection of wisdom is nondual wisdom; it is the TATHĀGATA. That term [is used] for texts and paths because they have that goal." The work provides a YOGĀCĀRA perspective on the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ, presenting a more systematic outline of doctrines than is typically found in the diffuse prajNāpāramitā literature. Doctrinally, the work is closely related to the MADHYĀNTAVIBHĀGA. It appears to have been widely known; HARIBHADRA quotes from it five times in his ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRĀLOKĀ. The text was translated into Chinese in 980 and into Tibetan in the eleventh century. There is a commentary on the text, entitled PrajNāpāramitāpindārthasaMgrahavivarana, by Triratnadāsa, a student of VASUBANDHU.
prajNāpāramitā. (P. paNNāpāramī; T. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa; C. bore boluomiduo/zhidu; J. hannya haramitta/chido; K. panya paramilta/chido 般若波羅蜜多/智度). In Sanskrit, "perfection of wisdom" or "perfect wisdom"; a polysemous term, which appears in Pāli accounts of the Buddha's prior training as a BODHISATTVA (P. bodhisatta), but is widely used in MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism. ¶ PrajNāpāramitā refers to a level of understanding beyond that of ordinary wisdom, especially referring to the the wisdom associated with, or required to achieve, buddhahood. The term receives a variety of interpretations, but it is often said to be the wisdom that does not conceive of an agent, an object, or an action as being ultimately real. The perfection of wisdom is also sometimes defined as the knowledge of emptiness (suNYATĀ). ¶ As the wisdom associated with buddhahood, prajNāpāramitā is the sixth of the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) that are practiced on the bodhisattva path. When the practice of the six perfections is aligned with the ten bodhisattva bhumis, the perfection of wisdom is practiced on the sixth BHuMI, called ABHIMUKHĪ. ¶ PrajNāpāramitā is also used to designate the genre of Mahāyāna sutras that sets forth the perfection of wisdom. These texts are considered to be among the earliest of the Mahāyāna sutras, with the first texts appearing sometime between the first century BCE and the first century CE. Here, the title "perfection of wisdom" may have a polemical meaning, claiming to possess a wisdom beyond that taught in the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS. In addition to numerous descriptions of, and paeans to, emptiness, the perfection of wisdom sutras also extol the practice of the bodhisattva path as the superior form of Buddhist practice. Although emptiness is said to be the chief topic of the sutras, their "hidden meaning" is said to be the detailed structure of the bodhisattva path. A number of later commentaries, most notably the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, extracted terminology from these sutras in order to systematize the presentation of the bodhisattva path. There are numerous sutras with prajNāpāramitā in their titles, the earliest of which are designated simply by their length as measured in sLOKAs, a unit of metrical verse in traditional Sanskrit literature that is typically rendered in English as "stanza," "verse," or "line." Scholars speculate that there was a core text, which was then expanded. Hence, for example, the prajNāpāramitā sutra in eight thousand lines (AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) is often thought to be one of the earliest of the genre, later followed by twenty-five thousand lines (PANCAVIMsATISĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA), and one hundred thousand lines (sATASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ), as well as compilations many times longer, such as XUANZANG's translation of the MAHĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA. The texts known in English as the "Heart Sutra" (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASuTRA) and the "Diamond Sutra" (VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) are both much shorter versions of these prajNāpāramitā sutras. ¶ Perhaps because the Sanskrit term prajNāpāramitā is in the feminine gender, PrajNāpāramitā also became the name of a goddess, referred to as the mother of all buddhas, who is the embodiment of the perfection of wisdom. ¶ In the traditional Tibetan monastic curriculum, prajNāpāramitā is one of the primary topics of study, based on the AbhisamayālaMkāra of MAITREYANĀTHA and its commentaries.
PrajNāpāramitāsarvatathāgatamātā-Ekāksarā. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi yum yi ge gcig ma). In Sanskrit, "Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter, the Mother of All Tathāgatas." The shortest of all the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutras, it reads in its entirety: "Thus have I heard. At one time, the Lord (BHAGAVAT) was dwelling on Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKutAPARVATA) with a great assembly of 1,250 monks and many millions of bodhisattvas. At that time, the Lord said this to the venerable ĀNANDA: 'Ānanda, keep this perfection of wisdom in one letter for the benefit and happiness of sentient beings. It is thus: A.' So spoke the Lord and everyone-Ānanda, the monks, the BODHISATTVA-MAHĀSATTVAs-having understood and admired the perfection of wisdom, praised what the Lord had said." "The Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter" thus refers to the letter "a," the first letter of the Indic alphabet. See also A; AJIKAN.
pramuditā. (T. rab tu dga' ba; C. huanxi di; J. kangiji; K. hwanhŭi chi 歡喜地). In Sanskrit, "joyous," the first of the ten bodhisattva BHuMI, a list of ten stages (DAsABHuMI) deriving from the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA ("Sutra on the Ten Bhumis"), a sutra that is later subsumed into the massive scriptural compilation, the AVATAMSAKASuTRA. This first bhumi coincides with the attainment of the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and the remaining nine to the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). The first stage is called "joyous" because the bodhisattva rejoices at having seen reality for the first time, or because he feels joy at seeing that he is close to buddhahood, at which point he can achieve the aims of sentient beings. When the six perfections are aligned with the ten bhumis, the pramuditā stage is an occasion for the bodhisattva to practice the perfection of giving (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ) in particular and attracts disciples through the four means of gathering (SAMGRAHAVASTU). The bodhisattva remains at this stage as long as he remains unaware of subtle ethical transgressions; morality (sĪLA) is fully perfected on the second stage. On the first bhumi, it is said that a bodhisattva can (1) see one hundred buddhas, (2) be blessed by one hundred buddhas, (3) live for one hundred eons, (4) see the past and future in those one hundred eons with wisdom, (5) enter into and withdraw from one hundred SAMĀDHIs, (6) vibrate one hundred worlds, (7) illuminate one hundred worlds, (8) bring one hundred sentient beings to spiritual maturity using emanations, (9) go to one hundred pure buddha-fields (PARIsUDDHABUDDHAKsETRA), (10) open one hundred doors of doctrine, (11) display one hundred versions of his own body, and (12) surround each of those bodies with one hundred bodhisattvas. These numbers multiply as the bodhisattva proceeds to subsequent stages.
Prasphutapadā. (T. Tshig rab tu gsal ba). In Sanskrit, "The Clearly Worded," a work by the Indian scholiast Dharmamitra (c. ninth century); the full title of this text is AbhisamayālaMkārakārikāprajNāpāramitopadesasāstratīkā-prasphutapadā or "The Clearly Worded, Commentary on Treatise Setting Forth the Perfection of Wisdom, the Verses of the Ornament of Realization." The Prasphutapadā is a subcommentary on HARIBHADRA's ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRAVIVṚTI, which is intended to clarify points on the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, one of five texts that were purportedly revealed to ASAnGA by the BODHISATTVA MAITREYA in the fourth or fifth centuries CE. The Prasphutapadā was written shortly after the composition of the AbhisamayālaMkāravivṛti in the early ninth century. In the Prasphutapadā, Dharmamitra seeks to clarify Haribhadra's views as they appear in the Vivṛti, rather than put forth his own ideas regarding the AbhisamayālaMkāra. In his work, Dharmamitra explains a number of doctrinal elements that would have a great impact on later forms of Tibetan Buddhism, including the TATHĀGATAGARBHA doctrine and the theory of multiple buddha bodies (BUDDHAKĀYA). For instance, in the Prasphutapadā, Dharmamitra asserts that the enjoyment body (SAMBHOGAKĀYA) is accessible only to a bodhisattva who has reached the tenth stage (BHuMI) of the bodhisattva path (see BODHISATTVABHuMI). Dharmamitra's text, together with the Durbodhāloka, the subcommentary on the AbhisamayālaMkāravivṛti by DHARMAKĪRTIsRĪ (the teacher of ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNĀNA), is often cited in Tibetan PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ commentaries.
prayoga. (T. sbyor ba; C. jiaxing; J. kegyo; K. kahaeng 加行). In Sanskrit, "application," "preparation," "joining together," "exertion." The term is widely used in soteriological, tantric, and astrological literature. It also functions as a technical term in logic, where it is often translated as "syllogism" and refers to a statement that contains a subject, a predicate, and a reason. A correct syllogism is composed of three parts, the subject (dharmin), the property being proved (SĀDHYADHARMA), and the reason (HETU or LInGA). For example, in the syllogism "Sound is impermanent because of being produced," the subject is sound, the property being proved is impermanence, and the reason is being produced. In order for the syllogism to be correct, three relations must exist among the three components of the syllogism: (1) the reason must be a property (DHARMA) of the subject, also called the "position" (PAKsA), (2) there must be a relationship of pervasion (VYĀPTI) between the reason and the property being proved (SĀDHYADHARMA), such that whatever is the reason is necessarily the property being proved, and (3) there must be a relationship of "exclusion" or reverse pervasion (vyatirekavyāpti) between the property being proved and the reason, such that whatever is not the property being proved is necessarily not the reason. ¶ In the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ exegetical tradition based on the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, prayoga is the word used for the fourth to seventh of the eight ABHISAMAYAs ("clear realizations"). According to Ārya VIMUKTISENA's commentary (Vṛtti), the first three chapters set forth the three knowledges (JNĀNA) as topics to be studied and reflected upon (see sRUTAMAYĪPRAJNĀ, CINTĀMAYĪPRAJNĀ); the next four chapters set forth the practice of those knowledges, viz. the practice of the knowledge of a buddha. This practice is called prayoga. It is primarily at the level of meditation (BHĀVANĀMAYĪPRAJNĀ), and it leads to the SARVĀKĀRAJNATĀ, a buddha's omniscient knowledge of all aspects. The first prayoga is habituation to the perfect realization of all aspects (sarvākārābhisambodha); the second is learning to remain at the summit of the realization (murdhābhisamaya; cf. MuRDHAN); the third is a further habituation to each aspect, one by one (anupurvābhisamaya); and the fourth is the realization of all aspects in one single instant (ekaksanābhisamaya). This is the moment prior to omniscience. This prayoga is first detailed in twenty subtopics beginning with the cryptic statement that the practice is no practice at all; the 173 aspects (ĀKĀRA) that together cover the entire range of a bodhisattva's practice are set forth at all the stages of development, through the paths of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA) up through the bodhisattva stages (BHuMI) to the purification of the buddha-field (BUDDHAKsETRA) and final instants of the path. Through the first of the four prayogas, the bodhisattva gains mastery over all the aspects; through the second, he abides in the mastery of them; with the third, he goes through each and makes the practice special; and with the fourth, he enters into the state of a buddha. See also PRAYOGAMĀRGA.
[The Sufi's] aim in life is to release the captive soul from the bondage of limitations, which he accomplishes by the repetition of the sacred names of God, and by constant thought of his divine ideal, and an ever-increasing love for the divine Beloved until the beloved God with His perfection becomes manifest to his vision, and his imperfect self vanishes from his sight.
This he calls Fanā, the merging in the ideal. In order to attain the final goal he gradually raises his ideal, first to Fanā-fī-Shaikh, the ideal seen in a mortal walking on the earth, and he drills himself as a soldier before battle in devotion to his ideal.
Then comes Fanā-fī-Rasūl, when he sees his ideal in spirit, and pictures Him in all sublimity, and fashions Him with beautiful qualities, which he wishes to obtain himself. And after this he raises it to Fanā-fī-Allāh, the love and devotion for that ideal which is beyond qualities and in which is the perfection of all qualities.
punyajNānasaMbhāra. (T. bsod nams dang ye shes kyi tshogs; C. fuzhi ziliang; J. fukuchi shiryo; K. pokchi charyang 福智資糧). In Sanskrit, "equipment" or "collection of merit and knowledge," a term that encompasses all the practices and deeds that a BODHISATTVA perfects along the path to buddhahood. It is said that a bodhisattva must amass both a collection of merit (PUnYA) and a collection of knowledge (JNĀNA) in order to achieve buddhahood; this is because merit will help to overcome the afflictions (KLEsA), while knowledge will help to counter ignorance (AVIDYĀ). MAHĀYĀNA exegetes explain that the collection of merit fructifies as the material body (RuPAKĀYA) of a buddha (which includes both the SAMBHOGAKĀYA and the NIRMĀnAKĀYA) and the collection of knowledge fructifies as the DHARMAKĀYA. As such, the collection of merit is associated with UPĀYA, or method, and the collection of knowledge is associated with PRAJNĀ, or wisdom. Mahāyāna scholiasts have also explored the question of the relationship between the accumulation of these two collections and the practice of the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ). Among various opinions set forth, a common one states that practice of the first three perfections-of giving (DĀNA), morality (sĪLA), patience (KsĀNTI)-contributes to the collection of merit; the practice of the last two perfections-concentration (DHYĀNA) and wisdom (prajNā)-contributes to the collection of knowledge; and the perfection of effort (VĪRYA) contributes to both.
purna ::: [full, fulfilled, perfect]. ::: purnah [nominative, masculine], the perfect being. ::: purnam [nominative, neuter], fullness.
purnam param ::: the perfect and the highest.
Pythagoras taught that seven was composed of the numbers three and four, explaining that “on the plane of the noumenal world, the triangle was, as the first conception of the manifested Deity, its image: ‘Father-Mother-Son’; and the Quaternary, the perfect number, was the noumenal, ideal root of all numbers and things on the physical plane” (ibid.). Further, seven was called by the Pythogoreans the vehicle of life for it consisted of body and spirit: the body was held to consist of four principal elements, while the spirit was in manifestation triple, comprising the monad, intellect or essential reason, and mind.
qizuisheng. (J. shichisaisho; K. ch'ilch'oesŭng 七最勝). In Chinese, "the seven unsurpassed [qualities of the perfections]." According to the CHENG WEISHI LUN (S. *VijNaptimātratāsiddhi), the "perfections" (PĀRAMITĀ) of a BODHISATTVA are distinguished from other forms of virtuous and wholesome practices because of their seven unsurpassed qualities. They are the following: (1) being firmly anchored in the BODHISATTVA lineage (see GOTRA) (anzhu zuisheng); (2) being firmly founded on BODHICITTA, the bodhisattva's aspiration to lead all beings to deliverance (yizhi zuisheng); (3) being permeated with the intention to take pity in all sentient beings (yiguo zuisheng); (4) implementing all good deeds, not just a limited number (shiye zuisheng); (5) being compatible with all skillful means (see UPĀYA) and not constrained by just a limited number of them (qiaobian zuisheng); (6) ultimately leading to perfect BODHI (huixiang zuisheng); and (7) being undefiled by the two obstructions of KLEsĀVARAnA (afflictive obstructions) and JNEYĀVARAnA (cognitive obstructions) (qingjing zuisheng).
quest ::: “The quest of man for God, which becomes in the end the most ardent and enthralling of all his quests, begins with his first vague questionings of Nature and a sense of something unseen both in himself and her. Even if, as modern Science insists, religion started from animism, spirit-worship, demon-worship, and the deification of natural forces, these first forms only embody in primitive figures a veiled intuition in the subconscient, an obscure and ignorant feeling of hidden influences and incalculable forces, or a vague sense of being, will, intelligence in what seems to us inconscient, of the invisible behind the visible, of the secretly conscious spirit in things distributing itself in every working of energy. The obscurity and primitive inadequacy of the first perceptions do not detract from the value or the truth of this great quest of the human heart and mind, since all our seekings,—including Science itself,—must start from an obscure and ignorant perception of hidden realities and proceed to the more and more luminous vision of the Truth which at first comes to us masked, draped, veiled by the mists of the Ignorance. Anthropomorphism is an imaged recognition of the truth that man is what he is because God is what He is and that there is one soul and body of things, humanity even in its incompleteness the most complete manifestation yet achieved here and divinity the perfection of what in man is imperfect.” The Life Divine
quote :::When man has risen to the stage of development where he can be the perfect instrument of God, when nothing of his own being stands in the way of the direct impulse that comes from within -- that spirit may be called perfect. That which is most precious, that which is the purpose of man's life is to arrive at that state of perfection when he can be the perfect instrument of God.
Raja yoga ::: 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 th
refore 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 kundalinı, 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. For the ancient system of Rajayoga aimed not only at Swarajya, self-rule or subjective empire, the entire control by the subjective consciousness of all the states and activities proper to its own domain, but included Samrajya as well, outward empire, the control by the subjective consciousness of its outer activities and environment.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 36-37
Ramayana; an ardent devotee of Rama, he is considered as the perfect servant of God
RatnagunasaMcayagāthā. (T. Yon tan rin po che sdud pa tshigs su bcad pa; C. Fomu baodezang bore boluomi jing; J. Butsumo hotokuzo hannya haramitsukyo; K. Pulmo podokchang panya paramil kyong 佛母寶德藏般若波羅蜜經). In Sanskrit, "Verses on the Collection of Precious Qualities," the longer title is PrajNāpāramitāratnagunasaMcayagāthā, or "Verses on the Collection of the Precious Qualities of the Perfection of Wisdom." The RatnagunasaMcayagāthā epitomizes the early MAHĀYĀNA in its emphasis on the emptiness (suNYATĀ) of the aggregates (SKANDHA) and its praise of the path of the BODHISATTVA over that of the ARHAT. The text is considered to be of particular importance in the history of the Mahāyāna because many of its verses, particularly those that appear early in the text, may represent some of the earliest expressions of Mahāyāna philosophy and may date as far back as 100 BCE. Another indication of the text's antiquity is that it was translated into Chinese as early as the second century CE. The only extant Sanskrit version is that edited in the eighth century by HARIBHADRA to conform to the structure of the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, making the precise order of the original verses difficult to determine. Many Mahāyāna sutras are composed of alternating verse and prose. The verses of the RatnagunasaMcayagāthā are written in an ancient meter, suggesting to some that they constitute part of an original sutra, with the AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ ("Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines") supplying the prose section. However, because the verses that appear in the RatnagunasaMcayagāthā are not in all cases identical to those in the Astasāhasrikā, the RatnagunasaMcayagāthā may have originally been a separate work. It appears as the verse recapitulations in the Chinese translation of the Astasāhasrikā and as the eighty-fourth chapter of the Astadasasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā ("Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines") in its Tibetan translation.
ṛddhividhābhijNā. (P. iddhividhābhiNNā; T. rdzu 'phrul mngon shes; C. shenjing zhizhengtong; J. jinkyochishotsu; K. sin'gyong chijŭngt'ong 神境智證通). In Sanskrit, "psychic supranormal powers," referring to a set of five mundane (LAUKIKA; P. lokiya) supranormal powers (ABHIJNĀ; P. abhiNNā) produced through the perfection of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). These psychic powers (ṚDDHI) include (1) the ability to replicate one's body and, having done so, to make it one again; (2) the ability to pass through solid objects, such as walls and mountains, as if they were air; (3) the ability to walk on water as if it were solid earth; (4) the ability to fly through the air like a bird, even with one's legs crossed; and (5) the ability to touch the sun and the moon with one's hand. See also ṚDDHI.
recollect ::: v. t. --> To recover or recall the knowledge of; to bring back to the mind or memory; to remember.
Reflexively, to compose one&
Sadāprarudita. (T. Rtag tu ngu; C. Changti [pusa]; J. Jotai [bosatsu]; K. Sangje [posal] 常啼[菩薩]). In Sanskrit, "Ever Weeping," the name of a BODHISATTVA whose story appears in the AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ. He sets out in search of a teacher who will teach him the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) but, unable to find one, is constantly crying. He eventually learns that the bodhisattva DHARMODGATA is teaching in a faraway city. He has nothing to offer his teacher and thus announces that he is willing to sell his body. sAKRA, the king of the gods, decides to test his commitment and takes the form of an old man who agrees to buy some of Sadāprarudita's flesh. He cuts off a piece of his thigh and gives it to the man. The man then asks for some bone marrow. Sadāprarudita is about to break his leg to extract the marrow when a wealthy merchant's daughter, impressed by his dedication, offers to provide the necessary gifts for Dharmodgata. sakra then reveals his true form and heals Sadāprarudita's body. Sadāprarudita, the merchant's daughter, and her five hundred attendants then proceed to the city where Dharmodgata is residing and receive his teachings. The story is a famous example of DEHADĀNA, the "gift of the body" that bodhisattvas make out of their dedication to the welfare of others. It is also an important example of devotion to the teacher.
sādhumatī. (T. legs pa'i blo gros; C. shanhui di; J. zen'eji; K. sonhye chi 善慧地). In Sanskrit, "auspicious intellect," the ninth of the ten bodhisattva BHuMIs. A list of ten stages (DAsABHuMI) is most commonly enumerated, deriving from the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA ("Sutra on the Ten Bhumis"), a sutra that is later subsumed into the massive scriptural compilation, the AVATAMSAKASuTRA. The first bhumi coincides with the attainment of the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and the remaining nine to the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). Together with the eighth and tenth bhumis, this is one of the three "pure bhumis," because at the end of the seventh bhumi, the bodhisattva has abandoned all afflictions (KLEsA), and is devoted to destroying the remaining obstructions (ĀVARAnA). On this bhumi, the bodhisattva practices the ninth of the ten perfections, the perfection of power (BALAPĀRAMITĀ). This stage is called "auspicious intellect" because at this stage the bodhisattva gains a special understanding of the dharma, which allows him to teach others without error. This special understanding comes from his attainment of the four analytical knowledges (PRATISAMVID). By means of the analytical knowledge of phenomena or factors (dharmapratisaMvid; see DHARMA), he gains a thorough knowledge of the specific characteristics of all phenomena. By means of the analytical knowledge of meanings (arthapratisaMvid; see ARTHA), he gains a thorough knowledge of the categories of all phenomena. Through the analytical knowledge of etymology (niruktipratisaMvid; see NIRUKTI) he gains perfect facility in language so that he can teach without confusing doctrines. With the analytical knowledge of eloquence (pratibhānapratisaMvid; see PRATIBHĀNA), he is able to inspire others with his words. Another explanation says that through dharmapratisaMvid, the bodhisattva knows the words in the twelve branches of the Buddha's teaching (dharma); through arthapratisaMvid, he knows the content or meaning of the twelve branches of the Buddha's teaching (DVĀDAsĀnGA [PRAVACANA]); through niruktipratisaMvid, he knows the languages of each region (nirukti); and through pratibhānapratisaMvid, he possesses the above three knowledges and thus has confidence to teach others. The bodhisattva remains on this stage as long as he is unable to display the land, retinue, and emanations of a buddha, make full use of the qualities of a buddha, and bring sentient beings to spiritual maturity.
sadpāramitā. (T. phar phyin drug; C. liu boluomi; J. ropparamitsu; K. yuk paramil 六波羅蜜). In Sanskrit, the "six perfections," the six bodhisattva perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) of giving (DĀNA), morality (sĪLA), patience (KsĀNTI), effort (VĪRYA), meditative absorption (DHYĀNA), and wisdom (PRAJNĀ). In the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA, four additional perfections are added, such that one perfection is associated with each of the ten bodhisattva stages (BHuMI). These additional four perfections are understood as additional elements of the sixth perfection, prajNāpāramitā. They are the perfection of expedient means (UPĀYAPĀRAMITĀ), the perfection of the vow (to attain buddhahood) (PRAnIDHĀNAPĀRAMITĀ), the perfection of powers (BALAPĀRAMITĀ) and the perfection of knowledge (JNĀNAPĀRAMITĀ). In Pāli materials, there is a different set of ten perfections (PĀRAMĪ) that are practiced by the bodhisattva. See PĀRAMITĀ and the specific types of perfections.
sāgaramudrāsamādhi. (T. rgya mtsho'i phyag rgya ting nge 'dzin; C. haiyin sanmei; J. kaiin zanmai; K. haein sammae 海印三昧). In Sanskrit, "ocean-seal samādhi," or "oceanic reflection samādhi," a concentration (SAMĀDHI) often treated as emblematic of the HUAYAN ZONG's most profound vision of reality. "Ocean seal" is a metaphor for the pure and still mind that is able to reflect all phenomena while remaining perpetually unaffected by them, just as the calm surface of the ocean is said to be able to reflect all the phenomena in the universe. The AVATAMSAKASuTRA includes the sāgaramudrāsamādhi among several other types of samādhi that it mentions. In the "SAMANTABHADRA Bodhisattva Chapter" (Puxian pusa pin), the first of the ten samādhis taught by this bodhisattva is the sāgaramudrāsamādhi; through its power, a buddha is enabled to perform all types of works to rescue sentient beings, such as manifesting himself as a buddha and using numerous skillful means (UPĀYA) in order to guide them. The "Ten Bhumis Chapter" (Shidi pin) mentions sāgaramudrāsamādhi as one of a list of eleven samādhis that occur to bodhisattvas who reach the tenth stage (BHuMI) on the path. The "Manifestation of the Tathāgata Chapter" (Rulai chuxian pin) says that sāgaramudrāsamādhi is so named because it is like the ocean that reflects the images of all sentient beings. In the Huayan scholastic tradition, sāgaramudrāsamādhi is raised to pride of place within its doctrinal system. Sāgaramudrāsamādhi is considered to be the generic samādhi (zongding) that the Buddha enters prior to beginning the elucidation of the various assemblies recounted in the AvataMsakasutra itself; the seven subsequent samādhis that the Buddha enters as he preaches the teaching of the AvataMsakasutra at each of the eight assemblies (hui) (there is no samādhi prior to the second assembly) are regarded instead as specific types of samādhis (bieding). ZHIYAN (602-668), the second Huayan patriarch, associated sāgaramudrāsamādhi with the teaching of one vehicle (EKAYĀNA) in his KONGMU ZHANG, where he says that the common and distinctive teachings of the one vehicle (yisheng tongbie) are revealed through the "ocean-seal" samādhi, while the teachings of the three vehicles (TRIYĀNA) are revealed through the subsequently obtained wisdom (C. houde zhi; S. PṚstHALABDHAJNĀNA). FAZANG (643-712), the third Huayan patriarch, following his teacher Zhiyan's view, declares at the beginning of his HUAYAN WUJIAO ZHANG that his work was written to reveal the teaching of the one vehicle that the Buddha attained through the "ocean-seal" samādhi. It is Fazang who formalized the place of the sāgaramudrāsamādhi in the Huayan doctrinal system. In his XIU HUAYAN AOZHI WANGJIN HUANYUAN GUAN, Fazang noted that the "ocean-seal" samādhi and the Huayan samādhi (C. Huayan sanmei), both mentioned among the ten samādhis in the Xianshou pusa pin of the AvataMsakasutra, correspond to the "two functions" (er YONG): respectively, to the "function of the eternal abiding of all things reflected on the ocean" (haiyin senluo changzhu yong) and the "function of the autonomy of the perfect luminosity of the DHARMADHĀTU" (fajie yuanming zizai yong). Both of these types of functions were subordinated to the highest category of the "one essence" (yi TI), viz., the "essence of the pure and perfect luminosity of the self-nature" (zixing qingjing yuanming ti). The first type of function, which was associated with the sāgaramudrāsamādhi, was the perfect reflection of all things in the pure mind; like the unsullied ocean that reflected all phenomena, it also was freed from any type of delusion or falsity. For Fazang, "ocean seal" (haiyin) was interpreted to mean the "original enlightenment of true thusness" (ZHENRU BENJUE) by correlating this function with the "ocean of the thusness of the dharma nature" (faxing zhenru hai) as mentioned in the DASHENG QIXIN LUN ("Awakening of Faith According to the Mahāyāna"). In Fazang's Huayan youxin fajie ji, the "ocean-seal" samādhi was classified as a cause and the Huayan samādhi as a fruition. Elsewhere, in his HUAYAN JING TANXUAN JI, Fazang additionally differentiates the ocean-seal samādhi itself into two phases of cause and fruition: the stage of the cause is attained by the bodhisattva SAMANTABHADRA at the tenth of the ten stages of faith, while the fruition stage corresponds to the samādhi of a tathāgata. In addition to its importance in the AvataMsakasutra and the Huayan school, there are several other sutras that also mention the sāgaramudrāsamādhi. For example, the MAHĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA says that the sāgaramudrāsamādhi incorporates all other samādhis. The RATNAKutASuTRA states that one should abide in sāgaramudrāsamādhi in order to obtain complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI). Finally, the MAHĀSAMNIPĀTASuTRA says that one can see all sentient beings' mental functions and gain the knowledge of all teaching devices (DHARMAPARYĀYA) through the sāgaramudrāsamādhi.
Samantabhadra. (T. Kun tu bzang po; C. Puxian; J. Fugen; K. Pohyon 普賢). The Sanskrit name of both an important bodhisattva in Indian and East Asian Buddhism and of an important buddha in Tibetan Buddhism. As a bodhisattva, Samantabhadra is a principal bodhisattva of the MAHĀYĀNA pantheon, who is often portrayed as the personification of the perfection of myriad good works and spiritual practices. He is one of the AstAMAHOPAPUTRA, and an attendant of sĀKYAMUNI Buddha, standing opposite MANJUsRĪ at the Buddha's side. In the PANCATATHĀGATA configuration, he is associated with the buddha VAIROCANA. Samantabhadra figures prominently in the AVATAMSAKASuTRA. In a chapter named after him, he sets forth ten SAMĀDHIs. In the GAndAVYuHA (the final chapter of the AvataMsakasutra), the bodhisattva SUDHANA sets out in search of a teacher, encountering fifty-two beings (twenty of whom are female), including the Buddha's mother Mahāmāyā (MĀYĀ), the future buddha MAITREYA, as well as AVALOKITEsVARA and MANJUsRĪ. His final teacher is the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, who sets forth the ten vows in his famous BHADRACARĪPRAnIDHĀNA. In China, the center of Samantabhadra's worship is EMEISHAN in Sichuan province, which began to develop in the early Tang. According to legend, Samantabhadra arrived at the mountain by flying there on his white elephant, his usual mount. As a buddha, Samantabhadra is the primordial buddha (ĀDIBUDDHA) according to the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He is depicted naked, blue, and in sexual union with his consort Samantabhadrī. He is embodiment of the original purity of all phenomena of SAMSĀRA and NIRVĀnA. Called the "primordial basis" (ye gzhi), he is regarded as the eternal union of awareness (RIG PA) and emptiness (suNYATĀ), of emptiness and appearance, and of the nature of the mind and compassion. As such he is the wellspring of the ATIYOGA teachings.
SaMdhinirmocanasutra. (T. Mdo sde dgongs 'grel; C. Jieshenmi jing; J. Gejinmikkyo; K. Haesimmil kyong 解深密經). In Sanskrit, variously interpreted to mean the sutra "Unfurling the Real Meaning," "Explaining the Thought," or "Unraveling the Bonds"; one of the most important Mahāyāna sutras, especially for the YOGĀCĀRA school. The sutra is perhaps most famous for its delineation of the three turnings of the wheel of the dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA), which would become an influential schema for classifying the teachings of the Buddha. The sutra has ten chapters. The first four chapters deal with the nature of the ultimate (PARAMĀRTHA) and how it is to be understood. The fifth chapter discusses the nature of consciousness, including the storehouse consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA) where predispositions (VĀSANĀ) are deposited and ripen. The sixth chapter discusses the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA). In the seventh chapter, the division of the Buddha's teachings into the provisional (NEYĀRTHA) and the definitive (NĪTĀRTHA) is set forth. The eighth chapter explains how to develop sAMATHA and VIPAsYANĀ. The ninth chapter describes the ten bodhisattva BHuMIs and the final chapter describes the nature of buddhahood. Each of these chapters contains important passages that are cited in subsequent commentaries and treatises. ¶ Perhaps the most influential of all the sutra's chapters is the seventh, which discusses the three turnings of the wheel of the dharma (dharmacakrapravartana). There, the bodhisattva Paramārthasamudgata explains that the first turning of the wheel had occurred at ṚsIPATANA (the Deer Park at SĀRNĀTH), where the Buddha had taught the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS to those of the sRĀVAKA ("listener, disciple") vehicle. This first turning of the wheel is called the CATUḤSATYADHARMACAKRA, the "dharma wheel of the four truths." The bodhisattva says, "This wheel of dharma turned by the Buddha is surpassable, an occasion [for refutation], provisional, and subject to dispute." Referring presumably to the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) sutras, the bodhisattva then goes on to explain that the Buddha then turned the wheel of dharma a second time for those who had entered the Mahāyāna, teaching them the doctrine of emptiness (suNYATĀ), that phenomena are "unproduced, unextinguished, originally quiescent, and inherently beyond sorrow." Commentators would call this second turning of the wheel the ALAKsAnADHARMACAKRA, "the dharma wheel of signlessness." But this wheel also is provisional. The Buddha finally turned the wheel of doctrine a third time for those of all vehicles, clearly differentiating how things exist. "This wheel of doctrine turned by the BHAGAVAT is unsurpassed, not an occasion [for refutation], of definitive meaning; it is indisputable." Commentators would call this third turning of the wheel the PARAMĀRTHAVINIsCAYADHARMACAKRA, "the dharma wheel for ascertaining the ultimate"; it is also called "the dharma wheel that makes a fine delineation" (*SUVIBHAKTADHARMACAKRA). The sutra thus takes something of an historical perspective on the Buddha's teaching, declaring both that his first sermon on the four noble truths addressed to srāvakas and his teaching of the perfection of wisdom addressed to bodhisattvas was not his final and most clearly delineated view. That consummate view, his true intention, is found in the third turning of the wheel of dharma, a wheel that includes, at very least, the SaMdhinirmocanasutra itself. The SaMdhinirmocanasutra was translated into Chinese four times: by GUnABHADRA, BODHIRUCI, PARAMĀRTHA, and XUANZANG. Of these recensions, the translations by Bodhiruci and Xuanzang are complete renderings of the sutra and circulated most widely within the East Asian tradition; the other two renderings were shorter digests of the sutra.
saMnāha. (T. go cha; C. beijia; J. hiko; K. p'igap 被甲). In Sanskrit, "armor"; a term that occurs especially in the tradition of the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, where the term "armor practice" (saMnāhapratipatti) refers both to the bodhisattva path in general as well as to specific practices begun on the path of accumulation or equipment (SAMBHĀRAMĀRGA). In the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutras (which are termed the jinajananī, "mother of victors"), bodhisattvas are said to be armed with a great armor (saMnaddhasaMnāha), an equipment made out of the interwoven six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ); and to set out (prasthāna) for the difficult work (duskaracaryā) necessary to become "victors" (JINA). This "difficult work" involves activities done for the sake of others. Each of the perfections is said to subsume all the other perfections, so that, for example, when bodhisattvas engage in exceptional acts of giving away their wealth or limbs (DĀNA), the act is informed by the bodhisattva's morality (sĪLA); done with forbearance (KsĀNTI) that can withstand the difficulty involved; propelled by perseverance (VĪRYA), and informed by concentration (SAMĀDHI), which enables the bodhisattva to stay focused on the aim of enlightenment while remaining tranquil and at ease; and is grounded on the wisdom (PRAJNĀ) that understands that the act of giving, the carrying out of the act, and the donor are all interdependent and without any inherent nature (SVABHĀVA). When bodhisattvas are armed with this great armor, they do not become discouraged by the long and difficult task of looking after the welfare of others (PARĀRTHA) who are "numberless like the sands of the Ganges" (GAnGĀNADĪVĀLUKĀ). Buckling on the armor (saMnāha) and setting out (prasthāna) on their quest, bodhisattvas ultimately accumulate all their necessary equipment (SAMBHĀRA) and go forth (niryāna) to the final goal of buddhahood.
sanguan. (J. sangan; K. samgwan 三觀). In Chinese, "threefold contemplation"; several versions of such a threefold contemplation are elaborated in Chinese exegetical traditions, of which the most influential was the TIANTAI version outlined by TIANTAI ZHIYI in his MOHE ZHIGUAN. Zhiyi's version entails a system of contemplative practice that leads to the attainment of insight into the nature of reality. Zhiyi's "threefold contemplation" consists of the contemplations of the "three truths: (SANDI): emptiness, conventional existence, and their mean (C. kong jia zhong sanguan; J. ku ge chu sangan; K. kong ka chung samgwan). The first, "contemplation on emptiness" (kongguan), is the step of practice that advances beyond naïve realism by penetrating into the conditionally constructed, and therefore insubstantial, nature of all phenomena (see suNYATĀ). The second, the "contemplation on conventionality" (jiaguan), involves the reaffirmation of the conventional existence of all phenomena, whereby a bodhisattva actively engages the world in spite of his awareness of the reality of emptiness. The third, the "contemplation of their mean" (zhongguan), is understood as a dialectical transcendence of the previous two modes of practice. This transcendence has two aspects: it is transcendent because it is neither ("the middle that negates both," C. shuangfei zhi zhong) and because it affirms both ("the middle that illuminates both," C. shuangzhao zhi zhong). It is "neither" because the middle way is not fixed exclusively on either abiding in emptiness or on wallowing in mundane existence. It is "both" because it elucidates that "emptiness" and "conventionality" are not opposing realities but are in fact mutually validating. "The threefold contemplation" is understood variously as a gradual or a simultaneous practice ("two kinds of 'threefold contemplation,'" C. erzhong sanguan; J. nishu no sangan; K. ijong samgwan). The gradual practice of the "threefold contemplation" begins with the contemplation of emptiness, advances to that of conventional existence, and culminates in the contemplation of their mean. Tiantai exegetes variously labeled this approach "the threefold contemplation" by either "graduated stages" (C. cidi sanguan; J. shidai sangan; K. ch'aje samgwan) or "differentiation" (C. biexiang sanguan; J. besso no sangan; K. pyolsang samgwan). As a simultaneous practice, all three aspects of the reality are to be contemplated simultaneously within any given instant of thought: a true understanding of "emptiness" is the same as the correct understanding of "conventional existence," for they are just different emphases of the same truth of conditionality; only an erroneous construction of "emptiness" and "conventional existence" would lead to the conclusion that they are separate, contradictory realities. This approach is variously referred to as "the threefold contemplation that does not involve graduated stages" (C. bucidi sanguan; J. fushidai sangan; K. pulch'aje samgwan), "the perfectly interfused threefold contemplation" (C. yuanrong sanguan; J. ennyu no sangan; K. wonyung samgwan), or "the threefold contemplation [that is to be conducted within] a single moment of thought" (C. yixin sanguan; J. isshin sangan; K. ilsim samgwan). See also SANZHI.
San lun zong. (J. Sanronshu; K. Sam non chong 三論宗). In Chinese, the "Three Treatises school," a Chinese analogue of the MADHYAMAKA school of Indian Buddhism philosophy; a largely exegetical tradition that focused on three important texts translated by KUMĀRAJĪVA, namely the Zhong lun ("Middle Treatise"), BAI LUN ("Hundred [Verse] Treatise"), and SHI'ERMEN LUN ("Twelve [Chapter] Treatise"). The Zhong lun is ostensibly a translation of NĀGĀRJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ. Kumārajīva's translation (dated 409), however, also contains his own notes as well as a commentary on Nāgārjuna's text by Pingala (fl. c. 4 CE). The Bai lun (*sATAsĀSTRA) is attributed to ĀRYADEVA and was translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva in 404. In this text, the author employs the apophatic language of the Madhyamaka school and refutes the arguments of rival traditions. The Shi'ermen lun (*Dvādasamukhasāstra) is also attributed to Nāgārjuna and is purportedly an introductory manual to the Zhong lun. In this text, the author provides an interpretation of emptiness (suNYATĀ) in twelve chapters. No Sanskrit or Tibetan recensions of the Bai lun or Shi'ermen lun are extant. The "three treatises," however, exerted much influence in East Asia, where they functioned as the central texts for students of emptiness and Madhyamaka doctrine. JIZANG (549-623) wrote influential commentaries on the three treatises and came to be regarded as the systematizer of the San lun school. He retrospectively traces the school to two important vaunt couriers: SENGZHAO (374-414), an influential early Chinese exegete and cotranslator of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) literature, whose writings helped to popularize the works of the Madhyamaka school in China; and SŬNGNANG (c. 450-c. 520), who is claimed to have taught the notion of "three truths" or "three judgments" (SANDI)-the truths of emptiness, provisional reality, and their mean-an exegetical schema that was influential in the subsequent development of both the San lun and TIANTAI schools. The writings of San lun exegetes were also influential in Korea during the Three Kingdoms period (where the tradition was known as Sam non) and during the Nara and Heian periods in Japan (where it was called Sanron).
SaptasatikāprajNāpāramitā. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa bdun brgya pa; C. Qibai song bore; J. Shichihyakuju hannya; K. Ch'ilbaek song panya 七百頌般若). In Sanskrit, the "Perfection of Wisdom in Seven Hundred Lines," a PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutra in which the interlocutors include the Buddha, MANJUsRĪ, MAITREYA, sĀRIPUTRA, ĀNANDA, and Nirālambā Bhaginī. It sets forth such topics as the true nature of the TATHĀGATA, the ultimate nonexistence of enlightenment and the stages leading to it, and the samādhi of the "single array" (ekavyuhasamādhi, see YIXING SANMEI). Like the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA, it emphasizes the paradoxical nature of the teachings of the perfection of wisdom.
sāriputra. (P. Sāriputta; T. Shā ri bu; C. Shelifu; J. Sharihotsu; K. Saribul 舍利弗). In Sanskrit, "Son of sārī"; the first of two chief disciples of the Buddha, along with MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA. sāriputra's father was a wealthy brāhmana named Tisya (and sāriputra is sometimes called Upatisya, after his father) and his mother was named sārī or sārikā, because she had eyes like a sārika bird. sārī was the most intelligent woman in MAGADHA; she is also known as sāradvatī, so sāriputra is sometimes referred to as sāradvatīputra. sāriputra was born in Nālaka near RĀJAGṚHA. He had three younger brothers and three sisters, all of whom would eventually join the SAMGHA and become ARHATs. sāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana were friends from childhood. Once, while attending a performance, both became overwhelmed with a sense of the vanity of all impermanent things and resolved to renounce the world together. They first became disciples of the agnostic SANJAYA VAIRĀtĪPUTRA, although they later took their leave of him and wandered through India in search of the truth. Finding no solution, they parted company, promising one another that whichever one should succeed in finding the truth would inform the other. It was then that sāriputra met the Buddha's disciple, AsVAJIT, one of the Buddha's first five disciples (PANCAVARGIKA) and already an arhat. sāriputra was impressed with Asvajit's countenance and demeanor and asked whether he was a master or a disciple. When he replied that he was a disciple, sāriputra asked him what his teacher taught. Asvajit said that he was new to the teachings and could only provide a summary, but then uttered one of the most famous statements in the history of Buddhism, "Of those phenomena produced through causes, the TATHĀGATA has proclaimed their causes (HETU) and also their cessation (NIRODHA). Thus has spoken the great renunciant." (See YE DHARMĀ s.v.). Hearing these words, sāriputra immediately became a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) and asked where he could find this teacher. In keeping with their earlier compact, he repeated the stanza to his friend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who also immediately became a streamenterer. The two friends resolved to take ordination as disciples of the Buddha and, together with five hundred disciples of their former teacher SaNjaya, proceeded to the VEnUVANAVIHĀRA, where the Buddha was in residence. The Buddha ordained the entire group with the EHIBHIKsUKĀ ("Come, monks") formula, whereupon all except sāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana became arhats. Mahāmaudgalyāyana was to attain arhatship seven days after his ordination, while sāriputra reached the goal after a fortnight upon hearing the Buddha preach the Vedanāpariggahasutta (the Sanskrit recension is entitled the Dīrghanakhaparivrājakaparipṛcchā). The Buddha declared sāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana his chief disciples the day they were ordained, giving as his reason the fact that both had exerted themselves in religious practice for countless previous lives. sāriputra was declared chief among the Buddha's disciples in wisdom, while Mahāmaudgalyāyana was chief in mastery of supranormal powers (ṚDDHI). sāriputra was recognized as second only to the Buddha in his knowledge of the dharma. The Buddha praised sāriputra as an able teacher, calling him his dharmasenāpati, "dharma general" and often assigned topics for him to preach. Two of his most famous discourses were the DASUTTARASUTTA and the SAnGĪTISUTTA, which the Buddha asked him to preach on his behalf. Sāriputra was meticulous in his observance of the VINAYA, and was quick both to admonish monks in need of guidance and to praise them for their accomplishments. He was sought out by others to explicate points of doctrine and it was he who is said to have revealed the ABHIDHARMA to the human world after the Buddha taught it to his mother, who had been reborn in the TRĀYASTRIMsA heaven; when the Buddha returned to earth each day to collect alms, he would repeat to sāriputra what he had taught to the divinities in heaven. sāriputra died several months before the Buddha. Realizing that he had only seven days to live, he resolved to return to his native village and convert his mother; with this accomplished, he passed away. His body was cremated and his relics were eventually enshrined in a STuPA at NĀLANDĀ. sāriputra appears in many JĀTAKA stories as a companion of the Buddha, sometimes in human form, sometimes in animal form, and sometimes with one of them a human and the other an animal. sāriputra also plays a major role in the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, where he is a common interlocutor of the Buddha and of the chief BODHISATTVAs. Sometimes he is portrayed as a dignified arhat, elsewhere he is made the fool, as in the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA when a goddess turns him into a woman, much to his dismay. In either case, the point is that the wisest of the Buddha's arhat disciples, the master of the abhidharma, does not know the sublime teachings of the Mahāyāna and must have them explained to him. The implication is that the teachings of the Mahāyāna sutras are therefore more profound than anything found in the canons of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS. In the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYA ("Heart Sutra"), it is sāriputra who asks AVALOKITEsVARA how to practice the perfection of wisdom, and even then he must be empowered to ask the question by the Buddha. In the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, it is sāriputra's question that prompts the Buddha to set forth the parable of the burning house. The Buddha predicts that in the future, sāriputra will become the buddha Padmaprabha.
sarvabhutani atmaivabhud vijanatah ::: it is the Self-Being that has become all existences that are Becomings, for he has the perfect knowledge. [cf. Isa 7]
sarvajNatā. (P. sabbaNNu; T. kun shes/thams cad mkhyen pa; C. yiqie zhi; J. issaichi; K. ilch'e chi 一切智). In Sanskrit, "all-knower," "all-knowledge," or "omniscience"; in early versions of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) sutras, the name for a buddha's knowledge; later, the term was used for the knowledge of a sRĀVAKA or PRATYEKABUDDHA, in contrast to a buddha's knowledge of all aspects (SARVĀKĀRAJNATĀ), which is reached by cultivating a bodhisattva's knowledge of the paths (MĀRGAJNATĀ). The "all" (sarva) means all the grounds (vastu) of the knowledge of defiled (SAMKLIstA) and pure (visuddha, see VIsUDDHI) dharmas systematized in the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. In the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA and VIMUKTISENA's commentary to that text, sarvajNatā has both a positive and a negative meaning. In the opening verses of the AbhisamayālaMkāra, for example, sarvajNatā is called the mother of the perfection of wisdom. In such cases it is a positive term for the part of a buddha's knowledge that is shared in common with srāvakas, and so on. In the third chapter of the same work, sarvajNatā is a negative term used to identify the absence of skillful means (UPĀYA) and the lack of the total absence of subject-object conceptualization (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA) in srāvakas, in order to point clearly to the superiority of the BODHISATTVA path.
sāsrava. (P. sāsava; T. zag bcas; C. youlou; J. uro; K. yuru 有漏). In Sanskrit, lit. "with outflows," hence, "contaminated," "tainted." Just as a leaky roof lets in rain that destroys a residence and all its contents, the edifice of the five aggregates (SKANDHA) is a ruin dampened by the afflictions (KLEsA) of greed, hatred, and delusion and riddled with the rot of KARMAN (viz., the formative forces left by the actions motivated by the afflictions). Sāsrava is similar in meaning to SAMKLIstA (defilement, affliction), although wider in application because unwholesome (AKUsALA) and wholesome (KUsALA) states are sāsrava if they lead to a future state with outflows, even if that is a fortunate state of happiness in this lifetime or the next. In this sense, sāsrava is a common designation for the aggregates (skandha) and refers to those objects that may serve as an occasion for the increase of klesa. Thus, even an inanimate object can be considered "contaminated" in the sense that it can serve as a cause for the increase of the afflictions, such as greed. According to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, only four dharmas are uncontaminated. Three of these are permanent: space (ĀKĀsA), nonanalytical cessation (APRATISAMKHYĀNIRODHA), and analytical cessation (PRATISAMKHYĀNIRODHA), which would include NIRVĀnA. The only impermanent dharma that is uncontaminated is the truth of the path or true path (MĀRGASATYA); technically, this would refer to the equipoise of nonperception (ASAMJNĀSAMĀPATTI) when absorbed in a perfect vision of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, or, in the MAHĀYĀNA, in the perfect vision of the emptiness (suNYATĀ) of all dharmas. The SĀSRAVASKANDHA (contaminated aggregates) is the entire heap of dharmas that make up a person (PUDGALA), with the sole exception of the NIRVĀnA element, or in Mahāyāna the pure element (DHĀTU) that locates the lineage (GOTRA) of all beings destined for the final perfect enlightenment. The ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA gives six meanings for sāsrava, which it says can be (1) a contaminant (ĀSRAVA) itself, i.e., an actual klesa, (2) the other parts of the mind that are necessarily present when obscuration (ĀVARAnA) is present, (3) the aggregates when klesa is operating, (4) the future contaminated aggregates that arise from the earlier cause, (5) the higher stages of the path because, although not governed by klesa, they are tied up with thought construction, and (6) even the very final stage of the bodhisattva path, because it is affected by residual impressions left by earlier contaminated states.
sāstṛsaMjNā. (T. ston par 'du shes; C. dashi xiang; J. daishiso; K. taesa sang 大師想). In Sanskrit, "recognition as the teacher," a term that appears especially in the MAHĀYĀNA sutras in a variety of contexts. In addition to its denotation of recognizing the Buddha as the true teacher (sĀSTṚ), the Mahāyāna also claims that a bodhisattva should regard all other bodhisattvas as his teachers, as if they were the Buddha himself; one should regard as one's teacher the person from whom one hears the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ); one should regard the text of the prajNāpāramitā itself as one's teacher; and one should regard all sentient beings as one's teacher.
satguru &
satyayuga (satyayuga; satya yuga) ::: the "Age of Truth" or Golden Age; "a period of the world in which a harmony, stable and sufficient, is created and man realises for a time, under certain conditions and limitations, the perfection of his being", the first age in a caturyuga, whose master-spirit is the brahman.a.
saundarya (saundarya; saundaryam) ::: beauty; physical beauty as part of the perfection of the body, the third member of the sarira catus.t.aya, involving an attempt "of the psychic body to alter by mental force the physical sheath into its own image"; beauty in the world; short for . saundaryabodha.
Seven The fundamental number of manifestation, frequently found in the different cosmogonies as well as in many religious dogmas and observances of the different ancient peoples. Although ten was called one of the perfect numbers by the Pythagoreans, seven was unique in their series of numbers because it has all the “perfection of the Unit — the number of numbers. For as absolute unity is uncreated, and impartite (hence number-less) and no number can produce it, so is the seven: no digit contained within the decade can beget or produce it” (SD 2:582). Seven is the number of the manifested universe, while ten or twelve is the number of the unmanifested universe.
(Shakti) is every^vhere. The perfect dynamism is there in the
She lun zong. (J. Shoronshu; K. Sop non chong 攝論宗). In Chinese, "School of the MAHĀYĀNASAMGRAHA"; one of the early Chinese indigenous doctrinal schools, focusing on YOGĀCĀRA philosophy. The school has its origins in exegetical traditions that began with PARAMĀRTHA's (499-569) translation of ASAnGA's MahāyānasaMgraha (C. She Dasheng lun). The school played a central role in early Chinese doctrinal controversies concerning the interpretation of consciousness in two different Indian Buddhist systems of thought: Yogācāra and TATHĀGATAGARBHA. The controversies revolved around the issue of the nature of the eighth storehouse consciousness (ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA), based on VASUBANDHU's ambiguous position in the SHIDIJING LUN (DAsABHuMIVYĀKHYĀNA), a commentary on the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA. In some passages, Vasubandhu implied that the ālayavijNāna was the tainted source from which SAMSĀRA arises; in others, he implied instead that the ālayavijNāna was coextensive with suchness (TATHATĀ) and thus fundamentally pure. The northern branch of the DI LUN ZONG argued that the storehouse consciousness was impure; it is a tainted source that produces only defiled dharmas. By contrast, the southern branch argued that the ālayavijNāna was fundamentally pure but came to be adventitiously associated with impure elements: it was the functioning of suchness and thus was pure, but it also was subject to the same laws of conditioned origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA) as the sensory consciousnesses and thus on that level was also impure. The She lun school sought to integrate these two interpretations by drawing on Paramārtha's concept of an immaculate consciousness (AMALAVIJNĀNA). Paramārtha in his personal writings condemned the ālayavijNāna as being fundamentally impure, positing instead that only a ninth mode of consciousness, which he termed the immaculate consciousness, was pure. Following Paramārtha, She lun exegetes treated the ālayavijNāna as impure, and instead established the amalavijNāna as the pure ninth consciousness. They identified this new consciousness with suchness (tathatā) by using it as a synonym for PARINIsPANNA, the perfected nature described in Yogācāra philosophy. In the She lun zong interpretation, amalavijNāna thus came to be regarded as the absolute basis for all previous eight types of consciousness; the eighth consciousness, the ālayavijNāna, was instead seen as the provisional basis of afflictions (KLEsA). Several She lun masters advocated this admixture between ālayavijNāna and tathāgatagarbha thought, including Huikai (518-568), Daoni (fl. 590), Huikuang (534-613), and Tanqian (542-607). Tanqian was especially influential and was even invited by the Sui emperor Wendi (r. 581-604) to the imperial capital of Chang'an in 587 to preach the She lun teachings. The emperor later built the monastery of Chandingsi in the capital and appointed Tanqian as its first abbot, which became the center of the She lun zong. Sengbian (568-642), a She lun master from Daoni's lineage, was one of the teachers of the renowned Korean Yogācāra master WoNCH'ŬK (613-696). Doctrinal positions held in the She lun zong were crucial in the evolution of the HUAYAN school of the mature Chinese tradition.
sheshen. (S. ātmaparityāga/dehadāna; T. rang gi lus yongs su gtong ba / lus kyi sbyin pa; J. shashin; K. sasin 捨身). In Chinese, lit. "relinquishing the body," viz., "self-immolation"; a whole complex of religiously motivated types of suicide in the MAHĀYĀNA tradition, of which "autocremation" (shaoshen) is best known but which may also include suicide by drowning, starvation, feeding oneself to wild animals, etc. (The Sanskrit ātmabhāvaparityāga means "giving up one's self," as soldiers might for their country, and by extension an act of extreme charity.) This practice is associated with the perfection of giving (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ) that occurs on the first BHuMI, PRAMUDITĀ (joyful), of the bodhisattva path, where the bodhisattva learns to abandon everything that is most precious to him, including his wealth, his wife and family, and even his own body. Self-immolation is a common trope in Indian Mahāyāna literature, where this "gift of the body" (DEHADĀNA) is performed as an ultimate act of self-sacrifice. One of best-known examples is BHAIsAJYAGURURĀJA (Medicine King) in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, who pays homage to the buddhas by burning himself alive. Self-immolation goes back to at least the late-fourth century in Chinese Buddhism but is perhaps best known today through the suicides of such Vietnamese monks as THÍCH QUẢNG ĐỨC (1897-1963), whose autocremation in 1963 at his residence of THIÊN MỤ TỰ drew attention to the persecution of Buddhists by the pro-Catholic Vietnamese government of Ngô Đình Diẹm. The legitimacy of the act of self-immolation was a matter of continued debate within the Buddhist tradition, since suicide could be viewed as a form of attachment or passion (RĀGA), viz., the attachment to "nonexistence" (S. abhavarāga; C. wuyou ai). But there were also vehement supporters of self-immolation, who saw it as the consummate expression of asceticism (see DHUTAnGA) and selflessness (ANĀTMAN). The Chinese term sheshen is used interchangeably with the synonyms wangshen (to lose the body) and yishen (to let go of the body); an analogous Sanskrit term is svadehaparityāga (abandoning the body). See also DEHADĀNA.
sibi. (P. Sivi; T. Shi bi; C. Shipi; J. Shibi; K. Sibi 尸毘). A king who is the protagonist of a famous JĀTAKA tale. There are two different stories associated with him. In the first, versions of which also appear in the Hindu epics, sibi is a king renowned for his generosity. Seeking to test the limits of his charity, the divinities (DEVA) sAKRA and AGNI take the form of a hawk and a dove. Pursued by the hawk, the dove seeks shelter in the king's lap. The hawk agrees to spare the dove if the king will offer in exchange flesh equal to the weight of the dove. A scale is produced and the king cuts off a piece of his own flesh. However, the gods manipulate the scale so that no matter how much of his flesh the king cuts off and places on the scale, it never equals the weight of the dove. Eventually, the king is reduced to a skeleton, at which point the gods reveal their true identity and make the king whole again. In the second version of the story, which appears in the JĀTAKAMĀLĀ and other sources, sakra, the king of the gods, hears of the king's generosity and seeks to test it. He takes the form of a blind brāhmana, who goes to King sibi and asks that the king give him his eyes. The king agrees and has his eyes removed and given to the blind man, restoring his sight. Again, the god reveals his true identity and returns the king's eyes. Both versions are famous examples of the BODHISATTVA's "gift of the body" (DEHADĀNA), which he makes as part of his practice of the perfection of giving (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ). See also SHE SHEN.
siddha ::: accomplished, complete, perfect; the perfected soul, the perfect man.
sīlapāramitā. (P. sīlapāramī; T. tshul khrims kyi pha rol tu phyin pa; C. jie boluomi; J. kaiharamitsu; K. kye p'aramil 戒波羅蜜). In Sanskrit, "perfection of morality," the second of the six or ten "perfections" (PĀRAMITĀ) of the BODHISATTVA, along with the perfection of charity (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ), forbearance (KsĀNTIPĀRAMITĀ), effort (VĪRYAPĀRAMITĀ), meditation (DHYĀNAPĀRAMITĀ), and wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ); and, in the longer list, the perfection of expedients (UPĀYAPĀRAMITĀ), vow (PRAnIDHĀNAPĀRAMITĀ), power (BALAPĀRAMITĀ), and knowledge (JNĀNAPĀRAMITĀ). In the MAHĀYĀNA tradition, the perfection of morality is accomplished through the bodhisattva precepts, and specifically "three sets of pure precepts" (trividhāni sīlāni; C. sanju jingjie, see sĪLATRAYA): (1) the saMvarasīla (see PRĀTIMOKsASAMVARA), or "restraining precepts," which refers to the rules of discipline (PRĀTIMOKsA) and deportment that help adepts restrain themselves from all types of unwholesome conduct; (2) the accumulation of wholesome qualities (kusaladharmasaMgrāhaka), which accumulates all types of wholesome conduct that give rise to the buddhadharmas; and (3) SATTVĀRTHAKRIYĀ, acting for the welfare of beings, which involve giving aid and comfort to sentient beings. Here, the first group corresponds to the preliminary "HĪNAYĀNA" precepts, while the second and third groups are regarded as reflecting a Mahāyāna position on morality. Thus, the perfection of morality, through the three sets of pure precepts, is conceived as a comprehensive description of Buddhist views on precepts, which incorporates both hīnayāna and Mahāyāna perspectives into an overarching system. According to the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimātratāsiddhi), each of the ten stages (BHuMI) of the bodhisattva path leads to the attainment of one of the ten kinds of suchness (TATHATĀ), through practicing one of the ten perfections (pāramitā) and thus overcoming one of the ten types of obstructions (ĀVARAnA). As the second perfection, sīlapāramitā is practiced on the second stage of the bodhisattva path, the VIMALĀ (immaculate, stainless) bhumi, and leads to the attainment of supreme suchness (paramarthatathatā; C. zuisheng zhenru), by overcoming the obstruction of deluded conduct (mithyāpratipattyāvarana; C. xiexing zhang).
sīlatraya. (T. tshul khrims gsum; C. sanju jingjie; J. sanju jokai; K. samch'wi chonggye 三聚淨戒). In Sanskrit, "three categories of morality" (also called the trividhāni sīlāni); a categorization of moral codes found typically in YOGĀCĀRA-oriented materials, which also becomes especially popular in indigenous East Asian scriptures (see APOCRYPHA). They are: (1) the restraining precepts, which maintain both the discipline and the deportments (saMvarasīla; see PRĀTIMOKsASAMVARA); (2) the accumulation of wholesome qualities (kusaladharmasaMgrāhaka); and (3) acting for the welfare of beings (SATTVĀRTHAKRIYĀ). Here, the first group corresponds to the preliminary "HĪNAYĀNA" precepts, while the second and third groups are regarded as reflecting a Mahāyāna position on morality. Thus, the three sets of pure precepts are conceived as a comprehensive description of Buddhist views on precepts, which incorporates both hīnayāna and Mahāyāna perspectives into an overarching system; and it is these three categories that are said to constitute the perfection of morality (sĪLAPĀRAMITĀ). These three categories are explained in such Yogācāra materials as the BODHISATTVABHuMI section of the YOGĀCĀRABHuMIsĀSTRA and in the MAHĀYĀNASuTRĀLAMKĀRA and in several East Asian apocryphal scriptures, including the FANWANG JING, PUSA YINGLUO BENYE JING, *VAJRASAMĀDHISuTRA (KŬMGANG SAMMAE KYoNG), and the ZHANCHA SHAN'E YEBAO JING. See also SAMVARA; SDOM GSUM.
Six The number of manifestation; the ancients reasoned that since the basis of all manifested nature was sextal — such as six fundamental forces, planes, and hierarchies of beings — therefore nature throughout all its manifested structure and workings would be subordinate to this fundamental numerical key. Hence not only the structure of nature itself would be sextal, but so would cycles of time in their operation. Here is the fundamental reason the Hindus, ancient Babylonians, and the Mystery schools and teachers of other lands, adopted the sextal or sexagesimal keys as the numerical series of events in which time cycles repeated themselves, therefore corresponding to events in human and cosmic matters. Multiplied by itself, and then by ten (the perfect number), gives 360 — the number of the Hindu Divine Year, also of degrees in a circle and the basis of the Babylonian saros.
sloka. (P. siloka; T. tshigs bcad; C. ji/song; J. ge/ju; K. ke/song 偈/頌). In Sanskrit, "stanza," referring to a unit of metrical verse in traditional Sanskrit literature. Although the exact form of the verse may vary, the most common form of sLOKA is composed of four "feet" (pāda), each foot consisting of eight syllables, for a total of thirty-two; this form is called the anustubh. Other forms include the tristubh, which has four feet of eleven syllables each, and the gāyatrī, which has three feet of eight syllables each. The form is widely used in Buddhist and non-Buddhist Indian literature, which is often composed in a mixture of prose and verse. The term is implied in the titles of the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ SuTRAs: e.g., in the AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ, which is often translated as "The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines," where lines refers to slokas.
Sngags rim chen mo. (Ngak rim chenmo). In Tibetan, "Great Exposition of the Stages of MANTRA," an extensive theoretical work on the classes and stages of TANTRA, written by the DGE LUGS savant TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA. The work is regarded as the tantric companion to his most famous work, the LAM RIM CHEN MO, or "Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path." The work begins with an influential discussion of what distinguishes the MAHĀYĀNA from the HĪNAYĀNA, and within Mahāyāna, what distinguishes the perfection vehicle (PĀRAMITĀYĀNA, phar phyin theg pa) from the mantra vehicle (MANTRAYĀNA, sngags kyi theg pa), with Tsong kha pa arguing that the practice of "deity yoga" (DEVATĀYOGA, lha'i rnal 'byor) is the distinguishing feature of tantric practice. The text then goes on to set forth the principal practices of each of the four major divisions of tantras according to Dge lugs: KRIYĀTANTRA, CARYĀTANTRA, YOGATANTRA, and ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, with the greater part of the text devoted to the last of these divisions, regarded as essential for the achievement of buddhahood.
Sonamsa. (仙巖寺). In Korean, "Monastery of the Peaks of the Perfected," one of the main mountain monasteries of the T'AEGO CHONG of Korean Buddhism; located on the opposite side of CHOGYE Mountain from SONGGWANGSA, and near the city of Sunch'on, in South Cholla province. The monastery claims to have been founded in 529 by the legendary Koguryo monk ADO. In 861, the monk TOSoN (827-898) enlarged the monastery and gave it its current name Sonamsa. During the Koryo dynasty, the royal monk ŬICH'oN (1055-1101) expanded the monastery again, making it a center for ecumenical training in both Doctrine (KYO) and Meditation (SoN). The monastery was destroyed during the Japanese Hideyoshi invasions of the late-sixteenth century; rebuilt, it burned again in the eighteenth century and was reconstructed by the monks Nuram Sikhwal (1752-1830) and Haebung Chollyong (d. 1826) during the reign of the Choson King Sunjo (r. 1800-1834). During the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), Sonamsa was one of the thirty-one major district monasteries (ponsan) of the Buddhist ecclesiastical administration. After the purification movement (chonghwa undong) that occurred in Korean Buddhism after the end of Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War, Sonamsa was the only major mountain monastery to remain under the control of the married monks in the T'aego order. The contemporary CHOGYE CHONG claims legal title to Sonamsa and lists it officially as the twentieth of its twenty-five parish monasteries (PONSA), but has ceded control to the T'aego order. In 1985, the T'aego order opened a center at Sonamsa to train a new generation of priests in its order. The entrance to Sonamsa is graced by two bridges, one of which, the Sŭngson Bridge, is considered one of the most beautiful in Korea, especially when its view is combined with nearby Kangsollu Tower and a pond that includes a tree-studded island. Sonamsa also preserves one of the largest hanging pictures (see KWAEBUL, T'AENGHWA) in Korea, which depicts in intricate detail all the assemblies of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA (K. Hwaom kyong).
Sotoshu. (曺洞宗). One of the three major branches of the Japanese Zen tradition, along with the RINZAISHu and oBAKUSHu. The Soto tradition traces its lineage back to DoGEN KIGEN (1200-1253), who is credited with transmitting to Japan the CAODONG ZONG line of the Chinese CHAN teacher TIANTONG RUJING (1162-1227). After returning from China in 1227, Dogen settled in Kyoto and sought to create a new Zen community. Because of resistance from the TENDAI and Rinzai traditions that were already firmly entrenched in the capital (see ENNI BEN'EN), Dogen and his followers eventually left for the rural area of Echizen (in the northern part of present-day Fukui prefecture), and founded EIHEIJI, which came to serve as the center of this new Zen institution. In Echizen, Dogen devoted his time and energy to securing the doctrinal and institutional bases for his community. Dogen's venture was aided by several adherents of the DARUMASHu, who joined the community. Among them were Koun Ejo (1198-1280), the editor of the seventy-five-roll version of Dogen's magnum opus, the SHoBoGENZo, and Tettsu Gikai (1219-1309), whose lineage subsequently came to dominate the Soto school; these monks later served as the second and the third abbots of Eiheiji. Modern scholars believe that a dispute between Gikai and a fellow disciple of Koun Ejo named Gien (d. 1313) concerning the abbotship of Eiheiji prompted Gikai to move to Daijoji in Ishikawa. Gikai was succeeded by his disciple KEIZAN JoKIN (1268-1325), who is honored as "the second patriarch" of Soto by the school's modern followers. Keizan revitalized the Soto community by synthesizing Zen practice with the worship of local gods (KAMI), thus appealing to the local populace. Keizan also established SoJIJI, which along with Eiheiji came to serve as the headquarters (honzan) of the Soto tradition. Gazan Shoseki (1275-1365), a successor of Keizan, produced several disciples, including Taigen Soshin (d. c. 1371) and Tsugen Jakurei (1322-1391), who are credited with the Soto school's rapid expansion throughout Japan during the medieval period. Soto monks of this period, especially those belonging to Keizan-Gazan lines, proselytized in the rural areas of Japan, which had been largely neglected by the established Buddhist traditions at court, and attracted a following among commoners and local elites by engaging in such social activities as building bridges and irrigation systems, as well as by performing rituals that met their religious needs, such as funeral services and mass ordinations (jukai e). Each lineage of the Soto tradition also developed its own secret koan manuals (monsan), only available to selected monks, which gave a received set of questions and answers regarding each koan (C. GONG'AN). During the Tokugawa period, the Soto school developed into one of the largest Buddhist sects in Japan, with a stable financial base, thanks to the mandatory parish system (DANKA SEIDO) that the government launched, in which every household was required to register as a member of a local Buddhist temple and was responsible for the financial support for the temple. By the middle of the eighteenth century, there were more than 17,500 Soto temples across Japan. Although the religious life of the majority of the Soto monks and lay followers during this period was focused on practical religious benefits, such as faith healing and funeral services, a restoration movement eventually developed that sought to return to the putative "original teachings and practices" of the founder Dogen. MANZAN DoHAKU (1636-1714) opposed the custom of IN'IN EKISHI, or "changing teachers according to temple," which was widespread in the Soto tradition during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and was required in order to inherit the dharma lineage of a temple (GARANBo). Instead, Manzan called for a direct, face-to-face transmission (menju shiho) from one master to his disciple (isshi insho), which he claimed Dogen had established for the Soto tradition. After several failed attempts, he finally succeeded in persuading the bakufu government to ban the in'in ekishi and garanbo practice in 1703. TENKEI DENSON (1648-1735) and MENZAN ZUIHo (1683-1769) also composed influential commentaries to Dogen's magnum opus, the Shobogenzo, which led to a renaissance in Dogen studies. After the Meiji reforms of 1868, the two head monasteries of Eiheiji and Sojiji, which had remained rivals through the Tokugawa period, worked together to reform the school, issuing several standardizations of the rules for temple operation, ritual procedures, etc. In 1890, Azegami Baisen (d.1901) from Sojiji and Takiya Takushu (d. 1897) from Eiheiji edited the layman ouchi Seiran's (1845-1918) introductory work on the Shobogenzo and distributed it under the title of the Soto kyokai shushogi ("Meaning of Practice and Realization in the Soto Sect"). This text played a major role in the popularization of the school's meditative practice of "just sitting" (SHIKAN TAZA), which fosters a psychological state in which "body and mind are sloughed off" (SHINJIN DATSURAKU); sitting practice itself is therefore regarded as the manifestation of the perfect enlightenment of buddhahood. The Soto school continues to thrive today, with the great majority of its more than fourteen thousand contemporary temples affiliated with Sojiji.
Spiritual evolution ::: It is a series of ascents from the physical being and consciousness to the vital, the being dominated by the life-self, thence to the menial being realised in the fully deve- loped man and thence into the perfect consciousness which is beyond the mental, into the supramental consciousness and the supramental being, the Truth-Consciousness which is the integral consciousness of the spiritual being. Mind cannot be our last conscious expression because mind is fundamentally an ignorance seeking for knowledge ; it is only the supramental Truth-Cons- ciousness that can bring us the true and whole Self-Knowledge and world-KnowIedge ; it is through that only that we can get to our true being and fulfilment of our spiritual evolution.
Sri Aurobindo: "The quest of man for God, which becomes in the end the most ardent and enthralling of all his quests, begins with his first vague questionings of Nature and a sense of something unseen both in himself and her. Even if, as modern Science insists, religion started from animism, spirit-worship, demon-worship, and the deification of natural forces, these first forms only embody in primitive figures a veiled intuition in the subconscient, an obscure and ignorant feeling of hidden influences and incalculable forces, or a vague sense of being, will, intelligence in what seems to us inconscient, of the invisible behind the visible, of the secretly conscious spirit in things distributing itself in every working of energy. The obscurity and primitive inadequacy of the first perceptions do not detract from the value or the truth of this great quest of the human heart and mind, since all our seekings, — including Science itself, — must start from an obscure and ignorant perception of hidden realities and proceed to the more and more luminous vision of the Truth which at first comes to us masked, draped, veiled by the mists of the Ignorance. Anthropomorphism is an imaged recognition of the truth that man is what he is because God is what He is and that there is one soul and body of things, humanity even in its incompleteness the most complete manifestation yet achieved here and divinity the perfection of what in man is imperfect.” The Life Divine
sudurjayā. (T. sbyang dka' ba; C. nansheng di; J. nanshoji; K. nansŭng chi 難勝地). In Sanskrit, "unconquerable," the name of the fifth of the ten bodhisattva stages (BHuMI). A list of ten stages (DAsABHuMI) is most commonly enumerated, deriving from the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA ("Sutra on the Ten Bhumis"), a sutra that is later subsumed into the massive scriptural compilation, the AVATAMSAKASuTRA. The first bhumi coincides with the attainment of the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and the remaining nine to the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). This bhumi is called "unconquerable" because, from this point on the path, the bodhisattva cannot be overcome by demons. On this bhumi, the bodhisattva practices the perfection of meditative absorption (DHYĀNAPĀRAMITĀ), the fifth of the ten perfections (PĀRAMITĀ), achieving myriad forms of SAMĀDHI. Here, the bodhisattva also gains understanding of the subtle nature of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. The bodhisattva remains on his stage as long as his distress deriving from his analysis of SAMSĀRA prevents him entering into meditative equipoise (SAMĀHITA) on the signless (ĀNIMITTA).
sumati ::: the perfect mentality; right thoughts, right sensibilities; a happy rightness of mind and feeling. [Ved.]
sunyatā. (T. stong pa nyid; C. kong; J. ku; K. kong 空). In Sanskrit, "emptiness"; the term has a number of denotations, but is most commonly associated with the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) sutras and the MADHYAMAKA school of Mahāyāna philosophy. In its earlier usage, "emptiness" (as sunya) is the third of the four aspects of the truth of suffering (DUḤKHASATYA), the first of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: viz., the aggregates (SKANDHA) are (1) impermanent, (2) associated with the contaminants, (3) empty of cleanliness, and (4) nonself. There are a number of explanations of emptiness in this early usage, but most suggest the absence of cleanliness or attractiveness in the body that would lead to grasping at the body as "mine" (S. ātmīya, mama). This misapprehension is counteracted by the application of mindfulness with regard to the body (KĀYĀNUPAsYANĀ), which demonstrates the absence or emptiness of an independent, perduring soul (ĀTMAN) inherent in the skandhas. In its developed usage in the Madhyamaka school, as set forth by NĀGĀRJUNA and his commentators, emptiness becomes an application of the classical doctrine of no-self (ANĀTMAN) beyond the person (PUDGALA) and the skandhas to subsume all phenomena (DHARMA) in the universe. Emptiness is the lack or absence of intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA) in any and all phenomena, the final nature of all things (DHARMATĀ), and the ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA). Despite its various interpretations among the various Madhyamaka authors, emptiness is clearly neither nothingness nor the absence of existence, but rather the absence of a falsely imagined type of existence, identified as svabhāva. Because all phenomena are dependently arisen, they lack, or are empty of, an intrinsic nature characterized by independence and autonomy. Nāgārjuna thus equates sunyatā and the notion of conditionality (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). The YOGĀCĀRA school introduces the concept of the "three natures" (TRISVABHĀVA) to give individual meanings to the lack of intrinsic existence (NIḤSVABHĀVA) in the imaginary nature (PARIKALPITASVABHĀVA), the dependent nature (PARATANTRASVABHĀVA), and the consummate nature (PARINIsPANNASVABHĀVA). Parinispanna in this Yogācāra interpretation is emptiness in the sense of the absence of a difference of entity between object and subject; it is the emptiness of the parikalpitasvabhāva or imagined nature in a paratantra or dependent nature. In Tibet, the question of the true meaning of emptiness led to the RANG STONG GZHAN STONG debate.
svalaksanasunya. (T. rang mtshan gyis stong pa; C. zixiang kong; J. jisoku; K. chasang kong 自相空). In Sanskrit, "empty of own characteristic," a term is used in the perfection of wisdom (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ) literature to describe the fundamental truth of all phenomena. According to some ABHIDHARMA schools, the factors (DHARMA) that constitute physical and mental existence were real and were endowed with specific essential qualities (SVALAKsAnA). One of the major doctrinal developments present in prajNāpāramitā literature is the assertion that ultimate reality should be properly understood as devoid of such characteristics (svalaksanasunya). The term svalaksana was used in the *PRĀSAnGIKA branch of MADHYAMAKA to specify an intrinsic nature. In this context, the term svalaksana takes on the meaning of "established by means of it own characteristic," and thus is identified as a false quality imagined to exist by ignorance, a quality that all phenomena in the universe lack and of which they are empty; hence, they are svalaksanasunya.
SvalpāksaraprajNāpāramitā. (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa yi ge nyung ngu; C. Shengfomu xiaozi bore boluomiduo jing; J. Shobutsumo shoji hannya haramittakyo; K. Songbulmo soja panya p'aramilta kyong 聖佛母小字般若波羅蜜多經). In Sanskrit, "Perfection of Wisdom in a Few Words"; also known as the AlpāksaraprajNāpāramitā. Sometimes referred to in Western scholarship as the "Tantric Heart Sutra," this brief PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutra that takes the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and AVALOKITEsVARA, in which the buddha enjoins the bodhisattva to recite the "heart of the perfection of wisdom." The sutra is directed to those beings of little merit and of limited intellectual capacity. The Buddha enters the SAMĀDHI called "liberation from all suffering" (sarvaduḥkhapramocana) and provides a MANTRA and DHĀRAnĪ to his audience. The mantra is connected with an earlier buddha called Mahāsākyamuni. By reciting the mantra and the dhāranī, hindrances from past actions are extinguished and beings turn toward enlightenment.
svapnasiddhi (swapnasiddhi; swapna siddhi) ::: the perfection of dream, converting it into internal vision in svapnasamadhi. svapna-sus svapna-susupti
tantra. (T. rgyud; C. tanteluo; J. dantokura; K. tant'ŭngna 檀特羅). In Sanskrit, lit. "continuum"; a term derived from the Sanskrit root √tan ("to stretch out," "to weave"), having the sense of an arrangement or a pattern (deployed not only in a ritual, but in military and political contexts as well). The term is thus used to name a manual or handbook that sets forth such arrangements, and is not limited to Buddhism or to Indian religions more broadly. Beyond this, the term is notoriously difficult to define. It can be said, however, that tantra does not carry the connotation of all things esoteric and erotic that it has acquired in the modern West. In Buddhism, the term tantra generally refers to a text that contains esoteric teachings, often ascribed to sĀKYAMUNI or another buddha. Even this, however, is problematic: there are esoteric texts that do not carry the term tantra in their title (such as the VAJRAsEKHARASuTRA), and there are nonesoteric texts in whose title the term tantra appears (such as the UTTARATANTRA). Scholars therefore tend to define tantra (in the textual sense) based on specific sets of elements contained in the texts. These include MANTRA, MAndALA, MUDRĀ, initiations (ABHIsEKA), fire sacrifices (HOMA), and feasts (GAnACAKRA), all set forth with the aim of gaining powers (SIDDHI), both mundane and supramundane. The mundane powers are traditionally enumerated as involving four activities: pacification of difficulties (sĀNTIKA), increase of wealth (PAUstIKA), control of negative forces (VAsĪKARAnA), and destruction of enemies (ABHICĀRA). The supramundane power is enlightenment (BODHI). The texts called tantras began to appear in India in the late seventh and early eighth centuries CE, often written in a nonstandard (some would say "corrupt") Sanskrit that included colloquial elements and regional terms. These anonymous texts (including such famous works as the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA, the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA, and the HEVAJRATANTRA), typically provided mantras and instructions for drawing mandalas, among a variety of other elements, but their presentation and organization were usually not systematic; these texts came to serve as the "root tantra" for a cycle of related texts. The more systematic of these were the SĀDHANA (lit. "means of achievement"), a ritual manual by a named author, which set forth the specific practices necessary for the attainment of siddhi. The standard form was to create a mandala into which one invited a deity. The meditator would either visualize himself or herself as the deity or visualize the deity as appearing before the meditator. Various offerings would be made, mantras would be recited, and siddhis would be requested. Although scholars continue to explore the relation between the tantras and the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, tantric exegetes viewed the tantras, like the Mahāyāna sutras, as being the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA) and as setting forth forms of practice consistent with the bodhisattva vow and the quest for buddhahood, albeit more quickly than by the conventional path, via what came to be referred to as the VAJRA vehicle (VAJRAYĀNA). Thus, it was said that the Mahāyāna was divided into the pāramitānaya, the "mode of the perfections" set forth in the Mahāyāna sutras, and the mantranaya, the "mode of the mantras" set forth in the tantras. These two are also, although less commonly, known as the sutrayāna and the TANTRAYĀNA. In this context, then, the term "tantra" is often used by tantric exegetes in contrast to "sutra," which is taken to mean the corpus of exoteric teachings of the Buddha. For those who accept the tantras as the word of the Buddha, the term "sutras and tantras" would thus refer to the entirety of the Buddha's teachings. The corpus of tantras was eventually classified by late Indian Buddhist exegetes into a number of schemata, the most famous of which is the fourfold division into KRIYĀTANTRA, CARYĀTANTRA, YOGATANTRA, and ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA.
Tattvaratnāvalī. (T. De kho na nyid rin po che'i phreng ba). In Sanskrit, the "Necklace of Principles"; a scholastic exposition of Buddhist TANTRA by Advayavajra, the apparent pen name of the Indian master Maitrīpāda, who flourished in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries CE. The work provides some insight into how Buddhism was understood in the late period of Indian Buddhism, dividing it into the three vehicles of the sRĀVAKAYĀNA, PRATYEKABUDDHAYĀNA, and MAHĀYĀNA, with the Mahāyāna further subdivided into the "way of the perfections" (pāramitānaya) and the "way of mantra" (mantranaya). The work also states that the Madhyamaka school is divided into the two, the Māyopamādvayavāda, or "Proponents of Illusion-like Nonduality," and the Sarvadharmāpratisthānavāda, or "Proponents That All Dharmas Are Nonabiding."
tejo balaṁ pravr.ttir mahattvam (tejo balam pravrittir mahattwam) ::: energy (tejas), strength (bala1), dynamism (pravr.tti), greatness (mahattva): the first general formula of the sakti catus.t.aya, consisting of qualities needed for the perfection of all four elements of virya.
“the basic syllable OM, which is the foundation of all the perfect creative sounds of the revealed word; OM is the one universal formulation of the energy of sound and speech, that which contains and sums up, synthesises and releases, all the spiritual power and all the potentiality of Vak (speech, the goddess Speech) and Shabda (sound, vibration, word). The mantra of the divine consciousness brings its light of revelation, the Mantra of the divine Power, its will of effectuation, the Mantra of the divine Ananda is equal fulfilment of the spiritual delight of existence. All word and thought are an outflowing of he great OM,—OM, the Word, the Eternal Manifest in the forms of sensible objects; manifest in that conscious play of creative self-conception of which forms and objects are the figures, manifest behind in the self-gathered superconscient power of the Infinite, OM is the sovereign source, seed, womb of thing and idea, form and name—it is itself, integrally, the supreme Intangible, the original Unity, the timeless Mystery self—existent above all manifestation in supernal being.” SABCL Volume 13—Page 315
"the basic syllable OM, which is the foundation of all the perfect creative sounds of the revealed word; OM is the one universal formulation of the energy of sound and speech, that which contains and sums up, synthesises and releases, all the spiritual power and all the potentiality of Vak (speech, the goddess Speech) and Shabda (sound, vibration, word). The mantra of the divine consciousness brings its light of revelation, the Mantra of the divine Power, its will of effectuation, the Mantra of the divine Ananda is equal fulfilment of the spiritual delight of existence. All word and thought are an outflowing of he great OM, - OM, the Word, the Eternal Manifest in the forms of sensible objects; manifest in that conscious play of creative self-conception of which forms and objects are the figures, manifest behind in the self-gathered superconscient power of the Infinite, OM is the sovereign source, seed, womb of thing and idea, form and name – it is itself, integrally, the supreme Intangible, the original Unity, the timeless Mystery self- existent above all manifestation in supernal being.” SABCL Volume 13 – Page 315*
“The Chhandogya,… is to be a work in the right and perfect way of devoting oneself to the Brahman; its subject is the Brahman, but the Brahman as symbolised in the OM, the sacred syllable of the Veda, not therefore, the pure state of existence only, but that existence in all its parts… OM is the symbol and the thing symbolised.”the basic syllable OM, which is the foundation of all the perfect creative sounds of the revealed word; OM is the one universal formulation of the energy of sound and speech, that which contains and sums up, synthesises and releases, all the spiritual power and all the potentiality of Vak (speech, the goddess Speech) and Shabda (sound, vibration, word). The mantra of the divine consciousness brings its light of revelation, the Mantra of the divine Power, its will of effectuation, the Mantra of the divine Ananda is equal fulfilment of the spiritual delight of existence. All word and thought are an outflowing of he great OM,—OM, the Word, the Eternal Manifest in the forms of sensible objects; manifest in that conscious play of creative self-conception of which forms and objects are the figures, manifest behind in the self-gathered superconscient power of the Infinite, OM is the sovereign source, seed, womb of thing and idea, form and name—it is itself, integrally, the supreme Intangible, the original Unity, the timeless Mystery self—existent above all manifestation in supernal being.” SABCL Volume 13—Page 315
The death and rebirth of Atys represent initiation and subsequent adeptship. His impotency points directly to the perfect chastity required for the higher degrees of initiation.
The Divine, for us, is always the perfection not yet manifested, all the marvels not yet manifested, and which must keep on growing, of course.
“The double triangle — the Satkiri Chakram of Vishnu — or the six-pointed star, is the perfect seven. In all the old Sanskrit works — Vedic and Tantrik — you find the number 6 mentioned more often than the 7 — this last figure, the central point being implied, for it is the germ of the six and their matrix. . . . the central point standing for seventh, and the circle, the Mahakasha — endless space — for the seventh Universal Principle. In one sense, both are viewed as Avalokitesvara, for they are respectively the Macrocosm and the microcosm. The interlaced triangles — the upper pointing one — is Wisdom concealed, and the downward pointing one — Wisdom revealed (in the phenomenal world). The circle indicates the bounding, circumscribing quality of the All, the Universal Principle which, from any given point expands so as to embrace all things, while embodying the potentiality of every action in the Cosmos. As the point then is the centre round which the circle is traced — they are identical and one, and though from the standpoint of Maya and Avidya — (illusion and ignorance) — one is separated from the other by the manifested triangle, the 3 sides of which represent the three gunas — finite attributes. In symbology the central point is Jivatma (the 7th principle), and hence Avalokitesvara, the Kwan-Shai-yin, the manifested ‘Voice’ (or Logos), the germ point of manifested activity; — hence — in the phraseology of the Christian Kabalists ‘the Son of the Father and Mother,’ and agreeably to ours — ‘the Self manifested in Self’ — Yih-sin, the ‘one form of existence,’ the child of Dharmakaya (the universally diffused Essence), both male and female. Parabrahm or ‘Adi-Buddha’ while acting through that germ point outwardly as an active force, reacts from the circumference inwardly as the Supreme but latent Potency. The double triangles symbolize the Great Passive and the Great Active; the male and female; Purusha and Prakriti. Each triangle is a Trinity because presenting a triple aspect. The white represents in its straight lines: Gnanam — (Knowledge); Gnata — (the Knower); and Gnayam — (that which is known). The black — form, colour, and substance, also the creative, preservative, and destructive forces and are mutually correlating . . .” (ML 345-6).
The early Gnostics also considered ten to contain the knowledge of the universe, both metaphysical and material. The Pythagorean dekad “representing the Universe and its evolution out of Silence and the unknown Depths of the Spiritual Soul, or anima mundi, presented two sides or aspects to the student. It could be, and was at first so used and applied to the Macrocosm, after which it descended to the Microcosm, or Man. There was, then, the purely intellectual and metaphysical, or the ‘inner Science,’ and the as purely materialistic or ‘surface science,’ both of which could be expounded by and contained in the Decade. It could be studied, in short, from the Universals of Plato, and the inductive method of Aristotle. The former started from a divine comprehension, when the plurality proceeded from unity, or the digits of the decade appeared, but to be finally re-absorbed, lost in the infinite Circle. The latter depended on sensuous perception alone, when the Decade could be regarded either as the unity that multiplies, or matter which differentiates, its study being limited to the plane surface; to the Cross, or the Seven which proceeds from the ten — or the perfect number, on Earth as in heaven” (SD 2:573).
"The first word of the supramental Yoga is surrender; its last word also is surrender. It is by a will to give oneself to the eternal Divine, for lifting into the divine consciousness, for perfection, for transformation, that the Yoga begins; it is in the entire giving that it culminates; for it is only when the self-giving is complete that there comes the finality of the Yoga, the entire taking up into the supramental Divine, the perfection of the being, the transformation of the nature.” Essays Divine and Human
“The first word of the supramental Yoga is surrender; its last word also is surrender. It is by a will to give oneself to the eternal Divine, for lifting into the divine consciousness, for perfection, for transformation, that the Yoga begins; it is in the entire giving that it culminates; for it is only when the self-giving is complete that there comes the finality of the Yoga, the entire taking up into the supramental Divine, the perfection of the being, the transformation of the nature.” Essays Divine and Human
"The freedom of the Gita is that of the freeman, the true freedom of the birth into the higher nature, self-existent in its divinity. Whatever he does and however he lives, the free soul lives in the Divine; he is the privileged child of the mansion, bâlavat, who cannot err or fall because all he is and does is full of the Perfect, the All-blissful, the All-loving, the All-beautiful. The kingdom which he enjoys, râjyam samrddham, is a sweet and happy dominion of which it may be said, in the pregnant phrase of the Greek thinker, ``The kingdom is of the child."" Essays on the Gita
“The freedom of the Gita is that of the freeman, the true freedom of the birth into the higher nature, self-existent in its divinity. Whatever he does and however he lives, the free soul lives in the Divine; he is the privileged child of the mansion, bâlavat, who cannot err or fall because all he is and does is full of the Perfect, the All-blissful, the All-loving, the All-beautiful. The kingdom which he enjoys, râjyam samrddham, is a sweet and happy dominion of which it may be said, in the pregnant phrase of the Greek thinker, ``The kingdom is of the child.’’ Essays on the Gita
"The greatest motion of poetry comes when the mind is still and the ideal principle works above and outside the brain, above even the hundred petalled lotus of the ideal mind, in its proper empire; for then it is Veda that is revealed, the perfect substance and expression of eternal truth.” Essays Divine and Human*
“The greatest motion of poetry comes when the mind is still and the ideal principle works above and outside the brain, above even the hundred petalled lotus of the ideal mind, in its proper empire; for then it is Veda that is revealed, the perfect substance and expression of eternal truth.” Essays Divine and Human
The Mother: "In the physical world, of all things it is beauty that expresses best the Divine. the physical world is the world of form and the perfection of form is beauty. Beauty interprets, expresses, manifests the Eternal. Its role is to put all manifested nature in contact with the Eternal through the perfection of form, through harmony and a sense of the ideal which uplifts and leads towards something higher. On Education, MCW Vol. 12.
The Mother: “In the physical world, of all things it is beauty that expresses best the Divine. the physical world is the world of form and the perfection of form is beauty. Beauty interprets, expresses, manifests the Eternal. Its role is to put all manifested nature in contact with the Eternal through the perfection of form, through harmony and a sense of the ideal which uplifts and leads towards something higher. On Education, MCW Vol. 12.
The necessity of assuming such a supreme form appears also from the side of physics. Since every movement or change implies a mover, and since the chain of causes cannot be infinite if the world is to be intelligible, there must be an unmoved first mover. Furthermore, since motion is eternal (for time is eternal, and time is but the measure of motion), the first mover must be eternal. This eternal unmoved first mover, whose existence is demanded by physical theory, is described in the Metaphysics as the philosophical equivalent of the god or gods of popular religion. Being one, he is the source of the unity of the world process. In himself he is pure actuality, the only form without matter, the only being without extension. His activity consists in pure thought, that is, thought which has thought for its object; and he influences the world not by mechanical impulse, but by virtue of the perfection of his being, which makes him not only the supreme object of all knowledge, but also the ultimate object of all desire.
::: "The perfect cosmic vision & cosmic sentiment is the cure of all error & suffering; but most men succeed only in enlarging the range of their ego.” Essays Divine and Human
“The perfect cosmic vision & cosmic sentiment is the cure of all error & suffering; but most men succeed only in enlarging the range of their ego.” Essays Divine and Human
— the perfection of the traigun.ya or trigun.a: that part of the mukti or liberation of the nature in which, when the being has transcended the gun.as and is trigun.atita, the gun.as are transformed and unified so that "the three lower unequal modes pass into an equal triune mode"; tamas, rajas and sattva then "go back to their divine principles" in "three essential powers of the Divine", termed sama, tapas (or pravr.tti) and prakasa, "which are not merely existent in a perfect equilibrium of quietude, but unified in a perfect consensus of divine action".
the perfect. [Rf The Secret Books of the Egyptian
The Pythagoreans regarded the number seven as a compound of three and four: “On the plane of the noumenal world, the triangle was, as the first conception of the manifested Deity, its image: ‘Father-Mother-Son’; and the Quaternary, the perfect number, was the noumenal, ideal root of all numbers and things on the physical planes” (SD 2:582). The early Pythagoreans regarded the number three mystically as the vehicle of deity. If the duad was considered by these and other thinkers to be the first numerical element in cosmic manifestation, so following the same line the triad or three was considered the first number with which began the emanative series of hierarchies building all the planes inner and outer of the manifested worlds. See also TRIAD
There is a Three-in-One within every human being: “Rudimentary man . . . becomes the perfect man . . . when, with the development of ‘Spiritual Fire,’ the noumenon of the ‘Three in One’ within his Self, he acquires from his inner Self, or Instructor, the Wisdom of Self-Consciousness, which he does not possess in the beginning” (SD 2:113).
These kumaras are sometimes also called rudras, adityas, gandharvas, asuras, maruts, and vedhas. The seven kumaras — both as groups and as aggregated individuals — are intimately connected with the dhyani-buddhas who watch over the seven rounds of our planetary chain. The four groups of kumaras generally spoken of are connected equally intimately with the four celestial bodhisattvas of the four globes of our round, and by correspondence with the four completed root-races of our earth. They are identical with the angels of the seven planets, and their name shows their connection with the constellation Makara or Capricorn. Makara is connected with the birth of the spiritual microcosm, and the death or dissolution of the physical universe (its passage into the realm of the spiritual) as are the kumaras. Mara is the god of darkness, the Fallen one, and death, i.e., death of every physical thing; but through the karmic lessons learned also the quickener of the birth of the spiritual. The kumaras are connected also with the sage Narada. An allegory in the Puranas says that the kumaras, the first progeny of Brahma, were without desire or passion, inspired with the holy wisdom, and undesirous of progeny. They refused to create, but were compelled later on to complete divine man by incarnating in him. The barhishads or lunar pitris formed the “senseless” astral-physical humanity of the early root-races. Those beings possessing the living spiritual fire were the agnishvattas or solar pitris. The sons of Brahma, the kumaras, being originally themselves unconscious (in our sense) could be of no use in supplying the mental and kamic principles, as they did not possess them: they had attained no individual karmic elevation in merit of their own as had the agnishvattas. The perfection of the kumaras was passive and negative (nirguna). The kumaras eventually “sacrifice” themselves by incarnating in mankind, thus corresponding to the manasaputras and fallen angels cast into hell (material spheres, our earth).
This done, the system proceeds to the perfect quieting of the restless min d and its elevation to a higher plane through con- centration of mental force by the sucwrssivc stages which lead to
This something larger is the cosmic drama written, staged, and acted by the Absolute, who is artist and actor as well as a rational intelligence, intent no less upon dramatic than upon intelligible unity and self-expression. The world-process is tragic, witness the sin and suffering and imperfection with which it is fraught. But in the infinite tragedy, as well as in the tragedies composed by men, evil is contributory to the perfection of the whole, and, when seen and accepted as such by the finite individual, not only loses its sting but produces a "catharsis" of his attitude towards it, in which he cheerfully accepts it, battles with it, and finds his triumph over it in nobly enduring it. This "catharsis," identifying him as it does with the meaning of the life of the Absolute, is his peace and his salvation. Main works: Logic, 1888; The Philosophical Theory of the State, 1899; Value and Destiny of the Individual, 1913. -- B.A.G.F.
thought-siddhi (thought-siddhi; thought siddhi) ::: the perfection of thought; the siddhi of jñana.
trikalasiddhi (trikalsiddhi) ::: the perfection of trikaladr.s.t.i. trikalasiddhi
unperfect ::: v. t. --> To mar or destroy the perfection of. ::: a. --> Imperfect.
utopian ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to Utopia; resembling Utopia; hence, ideal; chimerical; fanciful; founded upon, or involving, imaginary perfections; as, Utopian projects; Utopian happiness. ::: n. --> An inhabitant of Utopia; hence, one who believes in the perfectibility of human society; a visionary; an idealist; an optimist.
vaiyavadānika. (T. rnam par byang ba; C. qingjing; J. shojo; K. ch'ongjong 清淨). In Sanskrit, an adjective formed from VYAVADĀNA, "purification" or "cleansing," contrasted with sāMklesika (from SAMKLEsA), meaning impurity, defilement, stain, or pollution. Dharmas are understood to operate from two distinct and opposite modes of causation that condition one's future-sāMklesika (or SAMKLIstA) dharmas leading to suffering and vaiyavadānika dharmas leading to the end of suffering. In the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) sutras, 108 types of phenomena are declared to be empty (sunya); they are divided into two broad categories, purification (vaiyavadānika) and defilement (saMklista), or the pure and the defiled. Fifty-five phenomena of the pure class are enumerated in the MAHĀYĀNA, including, for example, the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ), the eighteen types of emptiness (suNYATĀ), the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment (BODHIPĀKsIKADHARMA), and the eighteen unshared qualities of a buddha (ĀVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA). The defiled class includes, for example, the five aggregates (SKANDHA), the six sense organs (INDRIYA), the six consciousnesses (VIJNĀNA), and the twelve links of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). See also VYAVADĀNA.
VajracchedikāprajNāpāramitāsutra. (T. Rdo rje gcod pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i mdo; C. Jingang jing; J. Kongokyo; K. Kŭmgang kyong 金剛經). In Sanskrit, the "Diamond-Cutter Perfection of Wisdom Sutra"; known in English as the "Diamond Sutra" (deriving from its popular abbreviated Chinese title Jingang jing, as above), one of the most famous, widely read, and commented upon of all MAHĀYĀNA sutras, together with two others that are also known by their English titles, the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") and the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASuTRA ("Heart Sutra"). The "Diamond Sutra" was composed in Sanskrit, probably sometime between the second and fourth centuries CE. Despite its fame, much of its meaning remains elusive, beginning with the title. In Sanskrit, it is VajracchedikāprajNāpāramitā. The Sanskrit term VAJRA refers to a kind of magical weapon, sometimes described as a thunderbolt or a discus, and is said to be hard and unbreakable, like a diamond or adamant. Thus, the title might be rendered into English as "The Perfection of Wisdom That Cuts like a Diamond/Thunderbolt." The sutra opens with the Buddha residing in the JETAVANA with 1,250 monks and a large number of bodhisattvas. After returning from his begging round (PIndAPĀTA) and eating his meal, the Buddha is approached by the great ARHAT SUBHuTI, who asks him about the practice of the BODHISATTVA. The Buddha says that a bodhisattva must vow to lead all beings in the universe into NIRVĀnA, while fully recognizing that there are in fact no beings to be led into nirvāna. "If, Subhuti, a bodhisattva were to have the (mis)perception (SAMJNĀ) of a self (ĀTMAN), a being (SATTVA), a living entity (JĪVA), or a person (PUDGALA), he is not to be called 'a bodhisattva.'" This is one of many famous statements in the sutra, regarded by commentators as setting forth the doctrine of emptiness (although the technical term suNYATĀ does not appear in the sutra), i.e., that all phenomena are falsely imagined to have a self, a soul, and an "own-being," qualities that they, in fact, lack. Any meritorious deed, from the giving of a gift to the vow to free all beings, is not an authentic bodhisattva deed if it is tainted with the (mis)perception (saMjNā) of a sign (NIMITTA) of selfhood: thus the perfection of the act of charity (DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ) means that true bodhisattva giving occurs when there is no conception of there being a donor, recipient, or gift-for that kind of giving would produce immeasurable merit. The Buddha asks Subhuti whether the Buddha is to be seen through the possession of the thirty-two physical marks of a superman (MAHĀPURUsALAKsAnA) that adorn his body. Subhuti says that he is not, because what the Buddha has described as the possession of marks (LAKsAnA) is in fact the nonpossession of no-marks. This formula of question and response, with the correct answer being, "A is in fact not A, therefore it is called A" is repeated throughout the text. The sutra is not simply a radical challenge to the ordinary conception of the world, of language, and of thought; it is also a polemical Mahāyāna sutra, seeking, like other such sutras, to declare its supremacy and to promise rewards to those who exalt it. It is noteworthy that here, as in many other perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) sutras, the Buddha's interlocutor is not a bodhisattva, but an arhat, the wise Subhuti, suggesting that even those who have completed the path to nirvāna still have more to learn. The Buddha predicts that this sutra will be understood far into the future, even into the final five hundred years that the Buddha's teaching remains in the world. At that time, anyone who has even a moment of faith in this sutra will be honored by millions of buddhas. Indeed, even now, long before this point in the distant future, anyone who would teach just four lines of this sutra to others would earn incalculable merit. In a statement that appears in other perfection of wisdom sutras, the Buddha declares, "On whatever piece of ground one will proclaim this sutra, that piece of ground will become an object of worship. That piece of ground will become for the world together with its gods, humans, and demigods a true shrine to be revered and circumambulated." Scholars have seen in this statement the possibility that the perfection of wisdom sutras were something of a "cult of the book," in which the sutra itself was worshipped, serving as a substitute for more traditional sites of worship, such as reliquaries (STuPA). The sutra suggests that such practices were not always condoned by others; the Buddha goes on to say that those who worship the sutra will be ridiculed for doing so, but by suffering ridicule they will destroy the great stores of negative KARMAN accumulated over many lifetimes. The Buddha's exhortations seem to have been taken to heart. The recitation and copying of the sutra was widely practiced across Asia; many copies of the sutra were discovered at DUNHUANG, and the earliest printed book in the world is a xylographic print of the Chinese translation of the VajracchedikāprajNāpāramitā dated May 11, 868, that was found in the Dunhuang cache. On a rock cliff on the Chinese sacred mountain of Taishan, there is a massive carving of the VajracchedikāprajNāpāramitā covering some 2,100 Sinographs in 21,000 square feet (2,000 sq. m.). Miracle tales of the benefits of reciting and copying the sutra were also told across Asia. The VajracchedikāprajNāpāramitā also played an important role in the CHAN traditions of East Asia: e.g., it was the scripture that the fifth patriarch HONGREN expounded to HUINENG, bringing him to enlightenment and enabling Huineng to be his successor as the sixth patriarch (LIUZU) of Chan.
Vajra (Sanskrit) Vajra Diamond or thunderbolt; one possessing this scepter, or diamond-thunderbolt, possesses great spiritual, intellectual, and psychic powers; among others, the occult ability to repel evil influences by purifying the air, as ozone does in chemistry. The vajra mystically refers to indestructibility and to the wondrous reflective powers of the diamond. One who possesses the vajra reflects the suffering, joys, and sorrows — and beauties — of the world, but can never be injured by them. It has been said that the heart of the perfect person is a mirror: it reflects all things, but holds nothing for self alone. Thus also is the heart of one wielding the scepter of the vajra.
Vessantara. (S. Visvantara/VisvaMtara; T. Thams cad sgrol; C. Xudana; J. Shudainu/Shudaina; K. Sudaena 須大拏). Pāli name of a prince who is the subject of the most famous of all JĀTAKA tales; he was the BODHISATTVA's final existence before he took rebirth in TUsITA heaven, where he awaited the moment when he would descend into Queen MĀYĀ's womb to be born as Prince SIDDHĀRTHA and eventually become GAUTAMA Buddha. During his lifetime as Prince Vessantara, the bodhisattva (P. bodhisatta) fulfilled the perfection (P. pāramī; S. PĀRAMITĀ) of generosity (DĀNA; see also DĀNAPĀRAMITĀ). The story is found in Sanskrit in Āryasura's JĀTAKAMĀLĀ and Ksemendra's Avadānakalpalatā, with the same main features as in the Pāli version. The story enjoys its greatest popularity in Southeast Asia, so the Pāli version is described here. ¶ The bodhisattva was born as the crown prince of Sivirattha, the son of King SaNjaya and Queen Phusatī of the kingdom of Jetuttara. On the day of his birth, a white elephant named Paccaya was also born, who had the power to make rain. When Vessantara was sixteen, he married a maiden named Maddī, with whom he had a son and a daughter, Jāli and Kanhajinā. Once, when Kalinga was suffering a severe drought, brāhmanas from that kingdom requested that Vessantara give them his white elephant to alleviate their plight. Vessantara complied, handing over to them his elephant along with its accessories. The citizens of Jetuttara were outraged that he should deprive his own kingdom of such a treasure and demanded his banishment to the distant mountain of Vankagiri. His father, King SaNjaya, consented and ordered Vessantara to leave via the road frequented by highwaymen. Before his departure, Vessantara held a great almsgiving, in which he distributed seven hundred of every type of thing. Maddī insisted that she and her children accompany the prince, and they were transported out of the city on a grand carriage pulled by four horses. Four brāhmanas begged for his horses, which he gave. Gods then pulled his carriage until a brāhmana begged for his carriage. Thereafter, they traveled on foot. Along the way crowds gathered, some even offering their kingdoms for him to rule, so famous was he for his generosity. At Vankagiri, they lived in two hermitages, one for Vessantara and the other for his wife and children. These had been constructed for them by Vissakamma, architect of the gods. There, they passed four months until one day an old brāhmana named Jujaka arrived and asked for Jāli and Kanhajinā as slaves. Vessantara expected this to occur, so he sent his wife on an errand so that she would not be distressed at the sight of him giving their children away. Jujaka was cruel, and the children ran away to their father, only to be returned so that Vessantara's generosity could be perfected. When Maddī returned, she fainted at the news. Then, Sakka (sAKRA), king of the gods, assumed the form of a brāhmana and asked for Maddī; Vessantara gave his wife to the brāhmana. The earth quaked at the gift. Sakka immediately revealed his identity and returned Maddī, granting Vessantara eight boons. In the meantime, Jujaka, the cruel brāhmana, traveled to Jetuttara, where King SaNjaya bought the children for a great amount of treasure, including a seven-storied palace. Jujaka, however, died of overeating and left no heirs, so the treasure was returned to the king. Meanwhile, the white elephant was returned because the kingdom of Kalinga could not maintain him. A grand entourage was sent to Vankagiri to fetch Vessantara and Maddī, and when they returned amid great celebration they were crowned king and queen of Sivirattha. In order that Vessantara would be able to satisfy all who came for gifts, Sakka rained down jewels waist deep on the palace. When Vessantara died, he was born as a god in tusita heaven, where he awaited his last rebirth as Siddhattha Gotama, when he would become a buddha. ¶ As a depiction of the virtue of dāna, the story of Vessantara is one of the most important Buddhist tales in Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia and is depicted on murals throughout the region. Thai retellings of the Vessantara-Jātaka, known also as the Mahāchat, or "Great Jātaka," are found in the many Thai dialects and consist of thirteen chapters. The story is popular in Thailand's north and especially in the northeast, where virtually every monastery (excluding forest monasteries) holds a festival known as the Bun Phra Wet, usually in February or March, at which the entire story is recited in one day and one night. Laypeople assist in decorating their local monastery with trunks and branches of banana trees to represent the forest to which Vessantara was banished after giving away his kingdom's auspicious elephant. They also present offerings of flowers, hanging decorations, balls of glutinous rice, and money. The festival includes, among other things, a procession to the monastery that includes local women carrying long horizontal cloth banners on which the Vessantara story is painted. The merit earned by participating in the festival is linked to two beliefs: (1) that the participant will be reborn at the time of the future buddha, MAITREYA, known in Thai as Phra Si Ariya Mettrai (P. Ariya Metteyya), and (2) that the community, which remains primarily agricultural, will be blessed with sufficient rainfall.
vijanatah ::: [of one having the perfect knowledge]. [Isa 7]
Vijnana (Sanskrit) Vinnana (Pali) Vijñāna, Viññāṇa [from vi-jñā to know exactly, perceive clearly from the verbal root jñā to know] Mental powers; the perfect knowledge of every perceptible thing and of all objects in their concatenation and unity; the faculty of the higher manas. The tenth nidana or causes of existence; and the fifth skandha, “an amplification of the fourth — meaning the mental, physical and moral predispositions” (ML 111).
vimalā. (T. dri ma med pa; C. ligou di; J. rikuji; K. igu chi 離垢地). In Sanskrit, "immaculate" or "stainless"; the name of the second of the ten bodhisattva stages, or BHuMI. On this bhumi, the bodhisattva engages in the perfection of morality (sĪLAPĀRAMITĀ) and is unstained by even subtle types of unwholesome actions performed by body, speech, or mind. It is said that from this bhumi onward, the bodhisattva is untainted by killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, senseless prattle, covetousness, harmful intent, or wrong views, even during dreams. He performs the ten virtues of protecting life, giving gifts, maintaining sexual ethics, speaking truthfully, speaking harmoniously, speaking kindly, speaking sensibly, nonattachment, helpful intent, and right views without the slightest taint of a conception of self (ĀTMAGRAHA). The bodhisattva remains on this stage until he is able to enter into all worldly forms of SAMĀDHI.
vīryapāramitā. (P. viriyapāramī; T. brtson 'grus kyi pha rol tu phyin pa; C. jingjin boluomiduo; J. shojinharamita; K. chongjin paramilta 精進波羅蜜多). In Sanskrit, "the perfection of energy [alt. effort, vigor]"; the fourth of the six [alt. ten] perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) cultivated on the BODHISATTVA path. It is perfected on the fourth of the ten stages (DAsABHuMI) of the bodhisattva path, ARCIsMATĪ (radiant), where the flaming radiance of the thirty-seven factors pertaining to enlightenment (BODHIPĀKsIKADHARMA) becomes so intense that it incinerates all the obstructions and afflictions, giving the bodhisattva inexhaustible energy in his quest for enlightenment. When the six perfections are divided based on whether they are associated with the accumulation of merit (PUnYASAMBHĀRA) or of wisdom (JNĀNASAMBHĀRA), the perfection of energy is associated with both.
weikza. [alt. weikza-do]. In Burmese, a "wizard," deriving from the Pāli vijjādhara (S. VIDYĀDHARA). In Burmese popular religion, the weikza is portrayed as a powerful thaumaturge possessed of extraordinarily long life, whose abilities derive from a mastery of tranquillity meditation (P. samatha; S. sAMATHA) and a variety of occult sciences such as alchemy (B. ekiya), incantations (P. manta; S. MANTRA), and runes (B. ing, aing). Collectively, these disciplines are called weikza-lam or "the path of the wizard." Training in this path is esoteric, requiring initiation by a master (B. saya), and votaries typically are organized into semisecret societies called weikza-gaing (P. vijjāgana). Although concerned with the acquisition of supernatural powers and an invulnerable body, these attributes are ultimately dedicated to the altruistic purpose of assisting good people in times of need and protecting the Buddha's religion from evil forces. In this regard, weikza practitioners often act as healers and exorcists, and in the modern era weikza-sayas with large followings are among the country's notables, who have built monumental pagodas and restored national shrines. The perfected weikza has the ability to live until the advent of the future buddha Metteya (S. MAITREYA), at which time he can choose to pass into nibbāna (S. NIRVĀnA) as an enlightened disciple (P. sāvaka arahant; S. sRĀVAKA ARHAT), vow to become himself a solitary buddha (P. paccekabuddha; S. PRATYEKABUDDHA) or a perfect buddha (P. sammāsambuddha; S. SAMYAKSAMBUDDHA), or simply continue living as a weikza. Weikza practitioners typically eschew the practice of insight meditation (P. VIPASSANĀ; S. VIPAsYANĀ) on the grounds that this might cause them to attain nibbāna too quickly. Although largely domesticated to the prevailing worldview of Burmese THERAVĀDA orthodoxy, weikza practice and orientation ultimately derive from outside the Pāli textual tradition and show striking similarities to the Buddhist MAHĀSIDDHA tradition of medieval Bengal.
When referring to causes containing the perfection of their effect. Formally, virtually, and eminently are said of causes according as they contain the perfection of their effect. For an effect is said to be contained formally in its cause, when the nature of the effect which is produced, is found in the cause itself, thus heat is contained formally in fire, because fire also contains in itself the heat which it produce. An effect is contained virtually in its cause when the cause can indeed produce such an effect, but the nature of the effect is not found in the cause itself, e.g. the statue is contained virtually in the artist. Lastly, an effect is contained eminently in its cause, when the cause is much more perfect than the effect and is without the imperfections which are found in the effect. E.g. God eminently contains the perfections of creatures. -- H.G.
Will, there are many tangfed knots that have to be loosened and cannot be cut abruptly asunder. The Asura and Rakshasa hold this evolving earthly nature and have to be met and conquered on their own terms in their own long-conquered fief and pro- vince ; the human in us has to be led and prepared to transcend its limits and is too weak and obscure to be lifted up suddenly to a form far beyond it. The Divine Consciousness and Force are there and do at each moment the thing that is needed in the conditions of the labour, take always the step that fs decreed and shape In the midst of imperfection the perfection that is to come. But only when the supermiod has descended in you can she deal directly as the supramental Shakti with supramental natures. If you follow your mind, it will not recognise the hiother even when she is manifest before you. Follow your soul and not your mind, your soul that answers to the Truth, not your mind that leaps at appearances ; trust the Divine Power and she will free the godlike elements in you and shape all into an expression of Divine Nature.
Wondon songbul non. (圓頓成佛論). In Korean, "The Perfect and Sudden Attainment of Buddhahood"; posthumous publication on the convergence of HWAoM (C. HUAYAN) and SoN (C. CHAN) thought and practice by the mid-Koryo reformer POJO CHINUL (1158-1210). The Wondon songbul non is said to have been found in a wooden box belonging to Chinul after his death and published posthumously by his disciple CHIN'GAK HYESIM. The text provides Chinul's most sustained presentation of his views on Hwaom thought and practice, which were profoundly influenced by LI TONGXUAN's (635-730) idiosyncratic commentary on the AVATAMSAKASuTRA, the HUAYAN JING HELUN. Chinul seeks to demonstrate that the sudden understanding-awakening (K. haeo; C. JIEWU; viz., knowing that one is a buddha) is attained at the first level of the ten stages of faith (sipsin), which were usually thought to be a preliminary stage of training, rather than at the first arousing of the thought of enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPĀDA), which occurred at the first of the ten stages of abiding (sipchu). Chinul supports this argument by drawing on the Hwaom concept of "nature origination" (XINGQI), which he finds superior to the alternative Hwaom theory of the conditioned origination of the dharmadhātu (FAJIE YUANQI). This Hwaom understanding at the very inception of practice that one is endowed with the fundamental nature of buddhahood is compared to the CHAN and SoN notion of "seeing one's nature and attaining buddhahood" (JIANXING CHENGFO). But because Chan/Son does not sanction the prolix conceptual descriptions of this experience that are found in the Hwaom school, it is the true "perfect and sudden" school. See also YUANDUN JIAO.
xing zong. (J. shoshu; K. song chong 性宗). In Chinese, the "school of the nature"; also known as the FAXING ZONG, or "Dharma Nature" school. In distinction to the XIANG ZONG, or "characteristics school," which mainly involved the analysis of phenomena, the xing school refers to those Buddhist intellectual traditions that studied the underlying essence or "nature" of reality. While the xiang school, i.e., the FAXIANG or "Dharma Characteristics" school, was a pejorative term referring to the Chinese YOGĀCĀRA school established on the basis of the new Yogācāra texts introduced from India by XUANZANG (600/602-664) and elaborated by his lineage, the name "xing zong" was used polemically to refer to the MADHYAMAKA teachings of the SAN LUN ZONG, the TATHĀGATAGARBHA teachings, or the last three of the five teachings in the HUAYAN school's hermeneutical taxonomy (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI): the advanced teachings of Mahāyāna (Dasheng zhongjiao), i.e., the sudden teachings (DUNJIAO) and the perfect teachings (YUANJIAO). Maintaining a strict differentiation between the xing and xiang tendencies was called xingxiang juepan (differentiation between nature and characteristics); a scholastic approach that sought to harmonize the two trends was characterized as xingxiang ronghui (harmonizing nature and characteristics).
yāna. (T. theg pa; C. sheng; J. jo; K. sŭng 乘). In Sanskrit, "vehicle," "conveyance"; a common Sanskrit term for any means of transportation (in Pāli materials and in many of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, the term is generally used in this literal sense). In MAHĀYĀNA literature, the term takes on great significance in the metaphorical sense of a mode of transportation along the path to enlightenment, becoming a constituent of the term Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") itself. In Mahāyāna SuTRAs and sĀSTRAs, this rhetorical sense of the term is often put to polemical use, with the followers of the Buddha being placed into three or two vehicles. The three vehicles are the BODHISATTVAYĀNA or Mahāyāna, the PRATYEKABUDDHAYĀNA, and the sRĀVAKAYĀNA. The two vehicles are the Mahāyāna and the HĪNAYĀNA (the "lesser vehicle," or even more disparagingly, "base vehicle" or "vile vehicle"), which subsumes the pratyekabuddhayāna and the srāvakayāna. Other uses of the term yāna include the BUDDHAYĀNA and the EKAYĀNA ("one vehicle"), whose precise relationship to the bodhisattvayāna and the Mahāyāna is discussed in the scholastic literature. Among the Mahāyāna sutras, the most celebrated expression of the rhetoric of the yānas occurs in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") where, in the parable of the burning house, a father promises to reward his children with three different carriages (yāna) when in fact there is only a single magnificent carriage. With the rise of tantric Buddhism, the Mahāyāna itself is divided into two, the PĀRAMITĀYĀNA or "perfection vehicle," referring to the path to buddhahood involving successive mastery of the perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) as set forth in the sutras, and the MANTRAYĀNA or "mantra vehicle," referring to the path to buddhahood as set forth in the TANTRAs (although some scholars have argued that the proper term here is not yāna, but naya, meaning "mode" or "principle"). The tantric teachings are also variously referred to as the GUHYAMANTRAYĀNA ("secret mantra vehicle"), the PHALAYĀNA ("fruition vehicle"), and, most famously, as the VAJRAYĀNA ("diamond vehicle" or "thunderbolt vehicle").
yixing sanmei. (S. ekavyuhasamādhi; J. ichigyo zanmai; K. irhaeng sammae 一行三昧). In Chinese, "single-practice SAMĀDHI." The term yixing sanmei seems to first appear in a passage in the Chinese translation of the SAPTAsATIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA: "The DHARMADHĀTU has only a single mark; to take the dharmadhātu as an object is called one-practice samādhi." Two practices are then recommended by the text for cultivating yixing sanmei, viz, the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) and recollection of the Buddha's name (S. BUDDHĀNUSMṚTI; C. NIANFO). The concept of yixing sanmei was later incorporated into the apocryphal Chinese treatise DASHENG QIXIN LUN and the influential meditation manual MOHE ZHIGUAN. TIANTAI ZHIYI, the author of the Mohe Zhiguan, identified the practice of constant sitting, the first of the so-called four kinds of samādhi (sizhong sanmei), with yixing sanmei. Famous teachers of the early CHAN community, such as DAOXIN, HUINENG, and HEZE SHENHUI, also emphasized the importance of yixing sanmei, which they identified with seated meditation (ZUOCHAN) and the cultivation of prajNāpāramitā. According to the LIUZU TANJING ("Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch"), Huineng interpreted yixing sanmei as the maintenance of a straightforward mind (yizhi xin) while walking, standing, sitting, and lying. Shenhui identified yixing sanmei with "no mind" (WUXIN; see also WUNIAN).
yoga-siddhi ::: [the perfection which comes by the practice of yoga].
yogasiddhi (yogasiddhi; yoga-siddhi; yoga siddhi) ::: "the perfection that comes from the practice of Yoga"; the progressive or eventual attainment of perfection (siddhi) in yoga, especially in the yoga of selfperfection outlined in the sapta catus.t.aya, often not including karma or the effective half of the karma catus.t.aya.
Yoga Slddhl ; The perfection that comes from the practice ot yoga can be best attained by the combined working of four great instruments. There is, first, the knowledge of the truths, princi- ples, powers and processes that govern the realisation — sdstra.
yoga ::: union; "the union of that which has become separated in the play of the universe with its own true self, origin and universality"; any of various methods of seeking for such a union; especially the path of pūrn.a yoga, culminating in a "Yoga of self-perfection" by which the "liberated individual being, united with the Divine in self and spirit, becomes in his natural being a self-perfecting instrument for the perfect outflowering of the Divine in humanity". In Sri Aurobindo"s diary, "the Yoga" usually refers to his practice of this Yoga of self-. perfection, whose elements are enumerated in the sapta catus.t.aya; but the effective half of the karma catus.t.aya is for some purposes treated as part of "life" or the lila, as distinct from the yoga. yoga catustaya
yuandun jiao. (J. endongyo; K. wondon kyo 圓頓教). In Chinese, "perfect and sudden teaching"; one of the highest levels of the various doctrinal taxonomies (panjiao; see JIAOXIANG PANSHI) deployed in the TIANTAI ZONG, HUAYAN ZONG, and sometimes the CHAN ZONG. The Tiantai school first introduced the term to refer to the highest form of the teachings. In the Tiantai analysis, "perfect" refers to "perfect teaching" or "consummate teaching" (YUANJIAO), the last of the four types of teachings according to content (huafa sijiao), while "sudden" refers to the "sudden teaching" (DUNJIAO), the first of the four modes of exposition (huayi sijiao) (see TIANTAI BAJIAO). The compound "perfect and sudden teaching" thus refers to the consummate vision of the ultimate truth of Buddhism that is expounded all at once without any provisional or gradual expedients. In the Tiantai zong, this "perfect and sudden teaching" may refer either to (1) the teachings of the Tiantai school itself, which provide an approach to Buddhist soteriology in which every stage, condition, and thought, whether defiled or pure, becomes the basis of enlightenment since it represents the perfect median truth (see SANDI); or (2) the teachings of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA, in which the Buddha expounded his consummate and unadulterated vision of reality immediately after his enlightenment without any consideration of the ability of his audience to understand that vision. The Huayan school follows closely the Tiantai concept of yuandun jiao. The Huayan and CHAN teacher GUIFENG ZONGMI (780-841), for example, refers to the perfect and sudden teaching as the "huayi dun" (sudden teaching according to the method of exposition), correlating it with the teaching of the dharma-realm of the mutual and unobstructed interpenetration between phenomenon and phenomena (SHISHI WU'AI FAJIE). The Korean SoN (Chan) master POJO CHINUL (1158-1210), based on the works of LI TONGXUAN (635-730), interpreted the term as referring to the perfect and sudden enlightenment to the truth of nature origination (XINGQI), which occurs through understanding Huayan doctrine from a Son perspective. In the Chan tradition, therefore, the "perfect and sudden teaching" may refer to the highest form of the Buddhist teachings rather than to the teachings of any specific scholastic school (KYO). See also WoNDON SoNGBUL NON.
zhi byed. (shije). In Tibetan, lit. "pacification"; a Tibetan Buddhist tradition of meditation practice traced back to the eleventh-century Indian adept PHA DAM PA SANGS RGYAS, who for many years taught at the small temple of GLANG SKOR, near Ding ri in western Tibet. The name derives from the goal of the practice, which is the "pacification" of all suffering, transforming negative states into positive states through the practice of the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ), especially the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ). The practice is also said to extend one's life. Together with the related tradition of GCOD, or "severance," promulgated by Pha dam pa sangs rgyas's female disciple MA GCIG LAB SGRON, pacification is frequently counted as one of eight major streams of Buddhist practice found in Tibet, the so-called eight great conveyances that are lineages of achievement (SGRUB BRGYUD SHING RTA CHEN PO BRGYAD). Unlike the tradition of severance, however, the practice of pacification as a unique system had largely died out by the nineteenth century, when great Tibetan scholars of the nonsectarian (RIS MED) movement attempted to preserve its transmission.
Zhi Dun. [alt. Zhi Daolin] (J. Shi Ton/Shi Dorin; K. Chi Tun/Chi Torim 支遁/支道林) (314-366). An early exegete of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) literature in the southern part of China and leader of an influential group of early Buddhist philosophers associated with the "Dark Learning" (XUANXUE) school. Zhi is especially important for his crucial reinterpretation of the Chinese philosophical term LI, which previously had meant the "pattern" or natural order of things. Zhi instead reinterprets li in light of perfection of wisdom thought as an absolute "principle," which later came to be contrasted with the manifestations of that principle in the world as various "phenomena" (SHI). This distinction between principle and phenomena later occupied a crucial position in the thought of many of the indigenous schools of Chinese Buddhism, including the TIANTAI ZONG and the HUAYAN ZONG. Zhi Dun is also known for the earliest communication to a certain monk from the Korean Koguryo Kingdom, at least one decade before the official introduction of Buddhism to the peninsula, suggesting earlier Buddhist contacts between China and Korea than the extant evidence indicates.
Zhongxiangcheng. (J. Shukojo; K. Chunghyangsong 衆香城). In Chinese, "City of Multitudinous Fragrances"; according to the AstASĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ, the city where the BODHISATTVA DHARMODGATA lived and taught the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ); an alternate name for the Korean "Diamond Mountains." See also GANDHAVATĪ, KŬMGANGSAN.
zoon ::: n. --> An animal which is the sole product of a single egg; -- opposed to zooid.
Any one of the perfectly developed individuals of a compound animal.
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1:When the world pushes you to your knees, you are in the perfect position to pray. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, #KEYS
2:The perfect man does not hunt after wealth. ~ Confucius, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
3:The perfect man is a divine child! ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays in Philosophy and Yoga, Heraclitus - VII, #KEYS
4:But its final effect is to lead men to the PERFECT GOOD ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on 2 Tim. 3, lect. 3)., #KEYS
5:By directly inquiring, "Who AM I?" ... 'I' reveals itself as the Perfect Being, the Absolute Self. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
6:The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It refuses nothing. It receives, but does not keep. ~ Chuang Tzu, #KEYS
7:From step to step, from truth to truth, we shall climb ceaselessly until we reach the perfect realisation of tomorrow. ~ The Mother, #KEYS
8:The consciousness which always shines in the Heart as the formless Self alone is the perfect reality. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
9: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
10:By knowing for an absolute fact that he does not live but is being lived, the man of wisdom is aware of the perfect futility of all intentions. ~ Ramesh Balsekar, #KEYS
11:Balance is the perfect state of still water. Let that be our model. It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface." ~ Confucius, #KEYS
12:The perfect path: for each one the path which leads fastest to the Divine.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,#KEYS
13:e should follow the law which Nature has engraved in our hearts. Wisdom lies in the perfect observation of her law. ~ Seneca, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
14:Sustaining love and consciousness is the perfect means to enlightenment. It is available at all times in every being: no one has the power to stand in the way." ~ Thaddeus Golas, #KEYS
15:The perfect faith is an assent of the whole being to the truth seen by it or offered to its acceptance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Faith and Shakti, #KEYS
16:The perfect society will be that which most entirely favours the perfection of the individual. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, The Imperfection of Past Aggregates, #KEYS
17:Both of these are imperfect in man if he is compared to the perfect righteousness of the divine standard ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Commentary on Job, lect. 4)., #KEYS
18:Good is mastery of the body, good the mastery of the speech, good too the mastery of the thought, good the perfect self-mastery. ~ Maggima Nikaya, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
19:This very world is seen by the five senses as matter, by the very wicked as hell, by the good as heaven, and by the perfect as God. ~ Swami Vivekananda, (C.W. V. 272), #KEYS
20:FAITH and HOPE can exist indeed in a way without charity, but they do not have the perfect character of virtue without CHARITY ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 1-2.65.4)., #KEYS
21:The assumption of imperfection by the perfect is the whole mystic phenomenon of the universe. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Possibility and Purpose of Avatarhood, #KEYS
22:If there existed in our souls a perfect image of God, as the Son is the perfect image of the Father, our mind would know God at once ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, (ST 1.88.3)., #KEYS
23:The development of the free individual is, we have said, the first condition for the development of the perfect society. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, Civilisation and Barbarism, #KEYS
24: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
25:The perfect union is that which meets the Divine at every moment, in every action and with all the integrality of the nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Way and the Bhakta, #KEYS
26:f you succeed inconquering yourself entirely, you will conquer the rest with the greatest ease. To triumph over oneself is the perfect victory ~ Imitation of Christ, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
27:The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will.
~ Eliphas Levi,#KEYS
28:He is the perfect athlete who surmounts temptations and the incline of his nature towards sin and exercises over his mind domination and empire. ~ J. Tauler. Institutions, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
29:Truth is the perfect virtue, the sovereign good that is not troubled by matter nor circumscribed by the body, the good bare, evident, unalterable, august, immutable. ~ Hermes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
30:he man whose understanding is in union with the Spirit, casts from him both good doing and evil doing; get this union, it is the perfect skill in works. ~ Bhagavad Gita. II- 50, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
31:So long as a man has a little knowledge, he goes everywhere reading and preaching; but when the perfect knowledge has been attained, one ceases from vain ostentation. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
32:As the perfect man speaks so he acts; as he acts, so the perfect man speaks. It is because he speaks as he acts and acts as he speaks that he is called the perfect. ~ Buddhist Scripture, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
33:He who contemplates the supreme Truth, contemplates the perfect Essence; only the vision of the spirit can see this nature of ineffable perfection. ~ Buddhist Mediations from the Japanese, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
34:That is the supreme felicity of those who have won their victory, it is the perfect and immutable peace, the defeat of Impermanence, a pure and luminous condition, the victory over death. ~ Canon in Pali, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
35:Reconstitute the perfect word, unite
The Alpha and the Omega in one sound;
Then shall the Spirit and Nature be at one.
Two are the ends of the mysterious plan. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,#KEYS
36:7. He in whom it is the Self-Being that has become all existences that are Becomings, for he has the perfect knowledge, how shall he be deluded, whence shall he have grief who sees everywhere oneness?
~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, [7],#KEYS
37:Whosoever has come to know himself, has come to the perfect good; but he who by an error of love has set his love on the body, remains lost in darkness and subjected by his senses to the conditions of death. ~ Hennes, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
38:Good is the mastery of the body, good the mastery of the speech, good too the mastery of the mind, good the perfect self-mastery. The disciple who is the master of himself, shall deliver his soul from every sorrow. ~ Dhammapada, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
39:O divine Master, let Thy light fall into this chaos and bring forth from it a new world. Accomplish what is now in preparation and create a new humanity which may be the perfect expression of Thy new and sublime Law.
~ The Mother, Prayers And Meditations,#KEYS
40:Happy is she who out of her treasure brings forth the perfect image of the King. Your treasure is wisdom, your treasure is chastity and righteousness, your treasure is a good understanding, such as was that treasure from which the Magi, when they worshipped the Lord. ~ Saint Ambrose, #KEYS
41:He who shows not zeal where zeal should be shown, who young and strong gives himself up to indolence, who lets his will and intelligence sleep, that do-nothing, that coward shall not find the way of the perfect knowledge. ~ Dhammapada 280, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
42:He saw the Perfect in their starry homes
Wearing the glory of a deathless form,
Lain in the arms of the Eternal's peace,
Rapt in the heart-beats of God-ecstasy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Yoga of the King, The Yoga of the Soul's Release,#KEYS
43:The perfect dictatorship would have the appearance of a democracy, but would basically be a prison without walls in which the prisoners would not even dream of escaping. It would essentially be a system of slavery where, through consumption and entertainment, the slaves would love their servitudes. ~ Aldous Huxley, #KEYS
44:As the floods when they have thrown themselves into the ocean, lose their name and their form and one cannot say of them, "Behold, they are here, they are there, " though still they are, so one cannot say of the Perfect when he has entered into the supreme Nirvana, "He is here, he is there," though he is still in existence. ~ Buddhist Meditations, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
45:As a result of their separate formulation in Nature, man has open to him a choice between three kinds of life, the ordinary material existence, a life of mental activity and progress and the unchanging spiritual beatitude. But he can, as he progresses, combine these three forms, resolve their discords into a harmonious rhythm and so create in himself the whole godhead, the perfect Man. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Threefold Life, #KEYS
46:SRI AUROBINDO'S SYMBOL
[facsimile]
The descending triangle represents Sat-Chit-Ananda.
The ascending triangle represents the aspiring answer from matter under the form of life, light and love.
The junction of both - the central square - is the perfect manifestation having at its centre the Avatar of the Supreme - the lotus.
The water - inside the square - represents the multiplicity,
the creation.
4 April 1958
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother I,#KEYS
47:Perfection is one way to approach the Divine; Unity is another. But Perfection is a global approach: all is there and all is as it should be-that is to say, the perfect expression of the Divine (you can't even say 'of His Will,' because that still implies something apart, something emanating from Him!).
It could be put like this (but it brings it down considerably): He is what He is and exactly as He wants to be. The 'exactly as He wants to be' takes us down quite a few steps, but it still gives an idea of what I mean by 'perfection'!
~ The Mother, Agenda Vol 02, Satprem,#KEYS
48:There exist two extremes, O my brothers, to which he who aspires to liberation should never abandon himself. One of these extremes is the continual seeking after the satisfaction of the passions and the sensuality; that is vile, coarse, debasing and fatal, that is the road of the children of this world. The other extreme is a life consecrated to mortifications and asceticism; that is full of sorrow, suffering and inutility. Alone the middle path which the Perfect has discovered, avoids these two blind-alleys, accords clearsightedness, opens the intelligence and conducts to liberation, wisdom and perfection. ~ Mahavaga, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
49:Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful yet, act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful: he cuts away here, he smoothes there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has grown upon his work. So do you also: cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is overcast, labour to make all one glow of beauty and never cease chiselling your statue, until there shall shine out on you from it the godlike splendour of virtue, until you shall see the perfect goodness surely established in the stainless shrine. ~ Plotinus, The Enneads, #KEYS
50:If renunciation is not embraced
By the pure motivation of bodhicitta,
It will not become a cause for the perfect bliss of unsurpassed awakening,
So the wise should generate supreme bodhicitta.
Beings are swept along by the powerful current of the four rivers,
Tightly bound by the chains of their karma, so difficult to undo,
Ensnared within the iron trap of their self-grasping,
And enshrouded in the thick darkness of ignorance.
Again and yet again, they are reborn in limitless saṃsāra,
And constantly tormented by the three forms of suffering.
This is the current condition of all your mothers from previous lives—
Contemplate their plight and generate supreme bodhichitta. ~ Tsongkapa,#KEYS
51:The human soul's individual liberation and enjoyment of union with the Divine in spiritual being, consciousness and delight must always be the first object of the Yoga; its free enjoyment of the cosmic unity of the Divine becomes a second object; but out of that a third appears, the effectuation of the meaning of the divine unity with all beings by a sympathy and participation in the spiritual purpose of the Divine in humanity. The individual Yoga then turns from its separateness and becomes a part of the collective Yoga of the divine Nature in the human race. The liberated individual being, united with the Divine in self and spirit, becomes in his natural being a self-perfecting instrument for the perfect outflowering of the Divine in humanity.
~ Sri Aurobindo,#KEYS
52:three paths as one :::
We can see also that in the integral view of things these three paths are one. Divine Love should normally lead to the perfect knowledge of the Beloved by perfect intimacy, thus becoming a path of Knowledge, and to divine service, thus becoming a path of Works. So also should perfect Knowledge lead to perfect Love and Joy and a full acceptance of the works of That which is known; dedicated Works to the entire love of the Master of the Sacrifice and the deepest knowledge of His ways and His being. It is in the triple path that we come most readily to the absolute knowledge, love and service of the One in all beings and in the entire cosmic manifestation.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Introduction - The Conditions of the Synthesis, The Systems of Yoga,#KEYS
53:But what then of that silent Self, inactive, pure, self-existent, self-enjoying, which presented itself to us as the abiding justification of the ascetic? Here also harmony and not irreconcilable opposition must be the illuminative truth. The silent and the active Brahman are not different, opposite and irreconcilable entities, the one denying, the other affirming a cosmic illusion; they are one Brahman in two aspects, positive and negative, and each is necessary to the other. It is out of this Silence that the Word which creates the worlds for ever proceeds; for the Word expresses that which is self-hidden in the Silence. It is an eternal passivity which makes possible the perfect freedom and omnipotence of an eternal divine activity in innumerable cosmic systems. For the becomings of that activity derive their energies and their illimitable potency of variation and harmony from the impartial support of the immutable Being, its consent to this infinite fecundity of its own dynamic Nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Reality Omnipresent, #KEYS
54: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
55:...the present terms are there not as an unprofitable recurrence, but in active pregnant gestation of all that is yet to be unfolded by the spirit, no irrational decimal recurrence helplessly repeating for ever its figures, but an expanding series of powers of the Infinite. What is in front of us is the greater potentialities, the steps yet unclimbed, the intended mightier manifestations. Why we are here is to be this means of the spirit's upward self-unfolding. What we have to do with ourselves and our significances is to grow and open them to greater significances of divine being, divine consciousness, divine power, divine delight and multiplied unity, and what we have to do with our environment is to use it consciously for increasing spiritual purposes and make it more and more a mould for the ideal unfolding of the perfect nature and self-conception of the Divine in the cosmos. This is surely the Will in things which moves, great and deliberate, unhasting, unresting, through whatever cycles, towards a greater and greater informing of its own finite figures with its own infinite Reality.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays In Philosophy And Yoga,#KEYS
56:The lessening of evil breeds abstinence from evil; and
abstinence from evil is the beginning of repentance; and
the beginning of repentance is the beginning of salvation; and
the beginning of salvation is a good resolve; and
a good resolve is the mother of labors. And
the beginning of labors is the virtues; and
the beginning of the virtues is a flowering, and
the flowering of virtue is the beginning of activity. And
the offspring of virtue is perseverance; and
the fruit and offspring of persevering practice is habit, and
the child of habit is character. And
good character is the mother of fear; and
fear gives birth to the keeping of commandments in which I include both Heavenly and earthly. And
the keeping of the commandments is a sign of love; and
the beginning of love is an abundance of humility; and
an abundance of humility is the daughter of dispassion; and
the acquisition of the latter is the fullness of love, that is to say, the perfect indwelling of God in those who through dispassion are pure in heart, for they shall see God.
And to Him the glory for all eternity. Amen" ~ Saint John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent,#KEYS
57:In the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is called 'the resurrection body ' and 'the glorified body.' The prophet Isaiah said, 'The dead shall live, their bodies shall rise' (Isa. 26:19). St. Paul called it 'the celestial body' or 'spiritual body ' (soma pneumatikon) (I Corinthians 15:40). In Sufism it is called 'the most sacred body ' (wujud al-aqdas) and 'supracelestial body ' (jism asli haqiqi). In Taoism, it is called 'the diamond body,' and those who have attained it are called 'the immortals' and 'the cloudwalkers.' In Tibetan Buddhism it is called 'the light body.' In Tantrism and some schools of yoga, it is called 'the vajra body,' 'the adamantine body,' and 'the divine body.' In Kriya yoga it is called 'the body of bliss.' In Vedanta it is called 'the superconductive body.' In Gnosticism and Neoplatonism, it is called 'the radiant body.' In the alchemical tradition, the Emerald Tablet calls it 'the Glory of the Whole Universe' and 'the golden body.' The alchemist Paracelsus called it 'the astral body.' In the Hermetic Corpus, it is called 'the immortal body ' (soma athanaton). In some mystery schools, it is called 'the solar body.' In Rosicrucianism, it is called 'the diamond body of the temple of God.' In ancient Egypt it was called 'the luminous body or being' (akh). In Old Persia it was called 'the indwelling divine potential' (fravashi or fravarti). In the Mithraic liturgy it was called 'the perfect body ' (soma teilion). In the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, it is called 'the divine body,' composed of supramental substance. In the philosophy of Teilhard de Chardin, it is called 'the ultrahuman'.
~ ?, http://herebedragons.weebly.com/homo-lumen.html,#KEYS
58:The link between the spiritual and the lower planes of the mental being is that which is called in the old Vedantic phraseology the vijnana and which we may term the Truth-plane or the ideal mind or supermind where the One and the Many meet and our being is freely open to the revealing light of the divine Truth and the inspiration of the divine Will and Knowledge. If we can break down the veil of the intellectual, emotional, sensational mind which our ordinary existence has built between us and the Divine, we can then take up through the Truth-mind all our mental, vital and physical experience and offer it up to the spiritual -- this was the secret or mystic sense of the old Vedic "sacrifice" -- to be converted into the terms of the infinite truth of Sachchidananda, and we can receive the powers and illuminations of the infinite Existence in forms of a divine knowledge, will and delight to be imposed on our mentality, vitality, physical existence till the lower is transformed into the perfect vessel of the higher. This was the double Vedic movement of the descent and birth of the gods in the human creature and the ascent of the human powers that struggle towards the divine knowledge, power and delight and climb into the godheads, the result of which was the possession of the One, the Infinite, the beatific existence, the union with God, the Immortality. By possession of this ideal plane we break down entirely the opposition of the lower and the higher existence, the false gulf created by the Ignorance between the finite and the Infinite, God and Nature, the One and the Many, open the gates of the Divine, fulfil the individual in the complete harmony of the cosmic consciousness and realise in the cosmic being the epiphany of the transcendent Sachchidananda. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, 2.15, #KEYS
59:Now I have taught you about Immortal Man and have loosed the bonds of the robbers from him. I have broken the gates of the pitiless ones in their presence. I have humiliated their malicious intent, and they all have been shamed and have risen from their ignorance. Because of this, then, I came here, that they might be joined with that Spirit and Breath, [III continues:] and might from two become one, just as from the first, that you might yield much fruit and go up to Him Who Is from the Beginning, in ineffable joy and glory and honor and grace of the Father of the Universe.
"Whoever, then, knows the Father in pure knowledge will depart to the Father and repose in Unbegotten Father. But whoever knows him defectively will depart to the defect and the rest of the Eighth. Now whoever knows Immortal Spirit of Light in silence, through reflecting and consent in the truth, let him bring me signs of the Invisible One, and he will become a light in the Spirit of Silence. Whoever knows Son of Man in knowledge and love, let him bring me a sign of Son of Man, that he might depart to the dwelling-places with those in the Eighth.
"Behold, I have revealed to you the name of the Perfect One, the whole will of the Mother of the Holy Angels, that the masculine multitude may be completed here, that there might appear in the aeons, the infinities and those that came to be in the untraceable wealth of the Great Invisible Spirit, that they all might take from his goodness, even the wealth of their rest that has no kingdom over it. I came from First Who Was Sent, that I might reveal to you Him Who Is from the Beginning, because of the arrogance of Arch-Begetter and his angels, since they say about themselves that they are gods. And I came to remove them from their blindness, that I might tell everyone about the God who is above the universe. Therefore, tread upon their graves, humiliate their malicious intent, and break their yoke and arouse my own. I have given you authority over all things as Sons of Light, that you might tread upon their power with your feet."
These are the things the blessed Savior said, and he disappeared from them. Then all the disciples were in great, ineffable joy in the spirit from that day on. And his disciples began to preach the Gospel of God, the eternal, imperishable spirit. Amen.
~ The Sophia of Jesus, (excerpt), The Nag Hamadi Library,#KEYS
60:the three stages of the ascent :::
There are three stages of the ascent, -at the bottom the bodily life enslaved to the pressure of necessity and desire, in the middle the mental, the higher emotional and psychic rule that feels after greater interests, aspirations, experiences, ideas, and at the summits first a deeper psychic and spiritual state and then a supramental eternal consciousness in which all our aspirations and seekings discover their own intimate significance.In the bodily life first desire and need and then the practical good of the individual and the society are the governing consideration, the dominant force. In the mental life ideas and ideals rule, ideas that are half-lights wearing the garb of Truth, ideals formed by the mind as a result of a growing but still imperfect intuition and experience. Whenever the mental life prevails and the bodily diminishes its brute insistence, man the mental being feels pushed by the urge of mental Nature to mould in the sense of the idea or the ideal the life of the individual, and in the end even the vaguer more complex life of the society is forced to undergo this subtle process.In the spiritual life, or when a higher power than Mind has manifested and taken possession of the nature, these limited motive-forces recede, dwindle, tend to disappear. The spiritual or supramental Self, the Divine Being, the supreme and immanent Reality, must be alone the Lord within us and shape freely our final development according to the highest, widest, most integral expression possible of the law of our nature. In the end that nature acts in the perfect Truth and its spontaneous freedom; for it obeys only the luminous power of the Eternal. The individual has nothing further to gain, no desire to fulfil; he has become a portion of the impersonality or the universal personality of the Eternal. No other object than the manifestation and play of the Divine Spirit in life and the maintenance and conduct of the world in its march towards the divine goal can move him to action. Mental ideas, opinions, constructions are his no more; for his mind has fallen into silence, it is only a channel for the Light and Truth of the divine knowledge. Ideals are too narrow for the vastness of his spirit; it is the ocean of the Infinite that flows through him and moves him for ever.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Supreme Will,#KEYS
61:As far as heaven, as near as thought and hope,
Glimmered the kingdom of a griefless life.
Above him in a new celestial vault
Other than the heavens beheld by mortal eyes,
As on a fretted ceiling of the gods,
An archipelago of laughter and fire,
Swam stars apart in a rippled sea of sky.
Towered spirals, magic rings of vivid hue
And gleaming spheres of strange felicity
Floated through distance like a symbol world.
On the trouble and the toil they could not share,
On the unhappiness they could not aid,
Impervious to life's suffering, struggle, grief,
Untarnished by its anger, gloom and hate,
Unmoved, untouched, looked down great visioned planes
Blissful for ever in their timeless right.
Absorbed in their own beauty and content,
Of their immortal gladness they live sure.
Apart in their self-glory plunged, remote
Burning they swam in a vague lucent haze,
An everlasting refuge of dream-light,
A nebula of the splendours of the gods
Made from the musings of eternity.
Almost unbelievable by human faith,
Hardly they seemed the stuff of things that are.
As through a magic television's glass
Outlined to some magnifying inner eye
They shone like images thrown from a far scene
Too high and glad for mortal lids to seize.
But near and real to the longing heart
And to the body's passionate thought and sense
Are the hidden kingdoms of beatitude.
In some close unattained realm which yet we feel,
Immune from the harsh clutch of Death and Time,
Escaping the search of sorrow and desire,
In bright enchanted safe peripheries
For ever wallowing in bliss they lie.
In dream and trance and muse before our eyes,
Across a subtle vision's inner field,
Wide rapturous landscapes fleeting from the sight,
The figures of the perfect kingdom pass
And behind them leave a shining memory's trail.
Imagined scenes or great eternal worlds,
Dream-caught or sensed, they touch our hearts with their depths;
Unreal-seeming, yet more real than life,
Happier than happiness, truer than things true,
If dreams these were or captured images,
Dream's truth made false earth's vain realities.
In a swift eternal moment fixed there live
Or ever recalled come back to longing eyes
Calm heavens of imperishable Light,
Illumined continents of violet peace,
Oceans and rivers of the mirth of God
And griefless countries under purple suns.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Glory and the Fall of Life,#KEYS
62:The Godhead, the spirit manifested in Nature appears in a sea of infinite quality, Ananta-guna. But the executive or mechanical prakriti is of the threefold Guna, Sattwa, Rajas, Tamas, and the Ananta-guna, the spiritual play of infinite quality, modifies itself in this mechanical nature into the type of these three gunas. And in the soul-force in man this Godhead in Nature represents itself as a fourfold effective Power, caturvyuha , a Power for knowledge, a Power for strength, a Power for mutuality and active and productive relation and interchange, a Power for works and labour and service, and its presence casts all human life into a nexus and inner and outer operation of these four things. The ancient thought of India conscious of this fourfold type of active human personality and nature, built out of it the four types of the Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra, each with its spiritual turn, ethical ideal, suitable upbringing, fixed function in society and place in the evolutionary scale of the spirit. As always tends to be the case when we too much externalise and mechanise the more subtle truths of our nature, this became a hard and fast system inconsistent with the freedom and variability and complexity of the finer developing spirit in man. Nevertheless the truth behind it exists and is one of some considerable importance in the perfection of our power of nature; but we have to take it in its inner aspects, first, personality, character, temperament, soul-type, then the soul-force which lies behind them and wears these forms, and lastly the play of the free spiritual shakti in which they find their culmination and unity beyond all modes. For the crude external idea that a man is born as a Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya or Sudra and that alone, is not a psychological truth of our being. The psychological fact is that there are these four active powers and tendencies of the Spirit and its executive shakti within us and the predominance of one or the other in the more well-formed part of our personality gives us our main tendencies, dominant qualities and capacities, effective turn in action and life. But they are more or less present in an men, here manifest, there latent, here developed, there subdued and depressed or subordinate, and in the perfect man will be raised up to a fullness and harmony which in the spiritual freedom will burst out into the free play of the infinite quality of the spirit in the inner and outer life and in the self-enjoying creative play of the Purusha with his and the world's Nature-Power. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, 4:15 - Soul-Force and the Fourfold Personality, #KEYS
63: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
64:Mother, suffering comes from ignorance and pain, but what is the nature of the suffering and pain the Divine Mother feels for her children-the Divine Mother in Savitri?
It is because she participates in their nature. She has descended upon earth to participate in their nature. Because if she did not participate in their nature, she could not lead them farther. If she remained in her supreme consciousness where there is no suffering, in her supreme knowledge and consciousness, she could not have any contact with human beings. And it is for this that she is obliged to take on the human consciousness and form, it is to be able to enter into contact with them. Only, she does not forget: she has adopted their consciousness but she remains in relation with her own real, supreme consciousness. And thus, by joining the two, she can make those who are in that other consciousness progress. But if she did not adopt their consciousness, if she did not suffer with their sorrow, she could not help them. Hers is not a suffering of ignorance: it is a suffering through identity. It is because she has accepted to have the same vibrations as they, in order to be able to enter into contact with them and pull them out of the state they are in. If she did not enter into contact with them, she would not be felt at all or no one could bear her radiance.... This has been said in all kinds of forms, in all kinds of religions, and they have spoken very often of the divine Sacrifice, but from a certain point of view it is true. It is a voluntary sacrifice, but it is true: giving up a state of perfect consciousness, perfect bliss, perfect power in order to accept the state of ignorance of the outer world so as to pull it out of that ignorance. If this state were not accepted, there would be no contact with it. No relation would be possible. And this is the reason of the incarnations. Otherwise, there would be no necessity. If the divine consciousness and divine force could work directly from the place or state of their perfection, if they could work directly on matter and transform it, there would be no need to take a body like man's. It would have been enough to act from the world of Truth with the perfect consciousness and upon consciousness. In fact that acts perhaps but so slowly that when there is this effort to make the world progress, make it go forward more rapidly, well, it is necessary to take on human nature. By taking the human body, one is obliged to take on human nature, partially. Only, instead of losing one's consciousness and losing contact with the Truth, one keeps this consciousness and this Truth, and it is by joining the two that one can create exactly this kind of alchemy of transformation. But if one did not touch matter, one could do nothing for it. ~ The Mother, Question And Answers,#KEYS
65:There's an idea in Christianity of the image of God as a Trinity. There's the element of the Father, there's the element of the Son, and there's the element of the Holy Spirit. It's something like the spirit of tradition, human beings as the living incarnation of that tradition, and the spirit in people that makes relationship with the spirit and individuals possible. I'm going to bounce my way quickly through some of the classical, metaphorical attributes of God, so that we kind of have a cloud of notions about what we're talking about, when we return to Genesis 1 and talk about the God who spoke chaos into Being.
There's a fatherly aspect, so here's what God as a father is like. You can enter into a covenant with it, so you can make a bargain with it. Now, you think about that. Money is like that, because money is a bargain you make with the future. We structured our world so that you can negotiate with the future. I don't think that we would have got to the point where we could do that without having this idea to begin with. You can act as if the future's a reality; there's a spirit of tradition that enables you to act as if the future is something that can be bargained with. That's why you make sacrifices. The sacrifices were acted out for a very long period of time, and now they're psychological. We know that you can sacrifice something valuable in the present and expect that you're negotiating with something that's representing the transcendent future. That's an amazing human discovery. No other creature can do that; to act as if the future is real; to know that you can bargain with reality itself, and that you can do it successfully. It's unbelievable.
It responds to sacrifice. It answers prayers. I'm not saying that any of this is true, by the way. I'm just saying what the cloud of ideas represents. It punishes and rewards. It judges and forgives. It's not nature. One of the things weird about the Judeo-Christian tradition is that God and nature are not the same thing, at all. Whatever God is, partially manifest in this logos, is something that stands outside of nature. I think that's something like consciousness as abstracted from the natural world. It built Eden for mankind and then banished us for disobedience. It's too powerful to be touched. It granted free will. Distance from it is hell. Distance from it is death. It reveals itself in dogma and in mystical experience, and it's the law. That's sort of like the fatherly aspect.
The son-like aspect. It speaks chaos into order. It slays dragons and feeds people with the remains. It finds gold. It rescues virgins. It is the body and blood of Christ. It is a tragic victim, scapegoat, and eternally triumphant redeemer simultaneously. It cares for the outcast. It dies and is reborn. It is the king of kings and hero of heroes. It's not the state, but is both the fulfillment and critic of the state. It dwells in the perfect house. It is aiming at paradise or heaven. It can rescue from hell. It cares for the outcast. It is the foundation and the cornerstone that was rejected. It is the spirit of the law.
The spirit-like aspect. It's akin to the human soul. It's the prophetic voice. It's the still, small voice of conscience. It's the spoken truth. It's called forth by music. It is the enemy of deceit, arrogance, and resentment. It is the water of life. It burns without consuming. It's a blinding light.
That's a very well-developed set of poetic metaphors. These are all...what would you say...glimpses of the transcendent ideal. That's the right way of thinking about it. They're glimpses of the transcendent ideal, and all of them have a specific meaning. In part, what we're going to do is go over that meaning, as we continue with this series. What we've got now is a brief description, at least, of what this is. ~ Jordan Peterson, Biblical Series, 1,#KEYS
66:The perfect supramental action will not follow any single principle or limited rule.It is not likely to satisfy the standard either of the individual egoist or of any organised group-mind. It will conform to the demand neither of the positive practical man of the world nor of the formal moralist nor of the patriot nor of the sentimental philanthropist nor of the idealising philosopher. It will proceed by a spontaneous outflowing from the summits in the totality of an illumined and uplifted being, will and knowledge and not by the selected, calculated and standardised action which is all that the intellectual reason or ethical will can achieve. Its sole aim will be the expression of the divine in us and the keeping together of the world and its progress towards the Manifestation that is to be. This even will not be so much an aim and purpose as a spontaneous law of the being and an intuitive determination of the action by the Light of the divine Truth and its automatic influence. It will proceed like the action of Nature from a total will and knowledge behind her, but a will and knowledge enlightened in a conscious supreme Nature and no longer obscure in this ignorant Prakriti. It will be an action not bound by the dualities but full and large in the spirit's impartial joy of existence. The happy and inspired movement of a divine Power and Wisdom guiding and impelling us will replace the perplexities and stumblings of the suffering and ignorant ego.
If by some miracle of divine intervention all mankind at once could be raised to this level, we should have something on earth like the Golden Age of the traditions, Satya Yuga, the Age of Truth or true existence. For the sign of the Satya Yuga is that the Law is spontaneous and conscious in each creature and does its own works in a perfect harmony and freedom. Unity and universality, not separative division, would be the foundation of the consciousness of the race; love would be absolute; equality would be consistent with hierarchy and perfect in difference; absolute justice would be secured by the spontaneous action of the being in harmony with the truth of things and the truth of himself and others and therefore sure of true and right result; right reason, no longer mental but supramental, would be satisfied not by the observation of artificial standards but by the free automatic perception of right relations and their inevitable execution in the act. The quarrel between the individual and society or disastrous struggle between one community and another could not exist: the cosmic consciousness imbedded in embodied beings would assure a harmonious diversity in oneness.
In the actual state of humanity, it is the individual who must climb to this height as a pioneer and precursor. His isolation will necessarily give a determination and a form to his outward activities that must be quite other than those of a consciously divine collective action. The inner state, the root of his acts, will be the same; but the acts themselves may well be very different from what they would be on an earth liberated from ignorance. Nevertheless his consciousness and the divine mechanism of his conduct, if such a word can be used of so free a thing, would be such as has been described, free from that subjection to vital impurity and desire and wrong impulse which we call sin, unbound by that rule of prescribed moral formulas which we call virtue, spontaneously sure and pure and perfect in a greater consciousness than the mind's, governed in all its steps by the light and truth of the Spirit. But if a collectivity or group could be formed of those who had reached the supramental perfection, there indeed some divine creation could take shape; a new earth could descend that would be a new heaven, a world of supramental light could be created here amidst the receding darkness of this terrestrial ignorance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Standards of Conduct and Spiritual Freedom, 206,#KEYS
67:Although a devout student of the Bible, Paracelsus instinctively adopted the broad patterns of essential learning, as these had been clarified by Pythagoras of Samos and Plato of Athens. Being by nature a mystic as well as a scientist, he also revealed a deep regard for the Neoplatonic philosophy as expounded by Plotinus, Iamblichus, and Proclus. Neoplatonism is therefore an invaluable aid to the interpretation of the Paracelsian doctrine.
Paracelsus held that true knowledge is attained in two ways, or rather that the pursuit of knowledge is advanced by a two-fold method, the elements of which are completely interdependent. In our present terminology, we can say that these two parts of method are intuition and experience. To Paracelsus, these could never be divided from each other.
The purpose of intuition is to reveal certain basic ideas which must then be tested and proven by experience. Experience, in turn, not only justifies intuition, but contributes certain additional knowledge by which the impulse to further growth is strengthened and developed. Paracelsus regarded the separation of intuition and experience to be a disaster, leading inevitably to greater error and further disaster. Intuition without experience allows the mind to fall into an abyss of speculation without adequate censorship by practical means. Experience without intuition could never be fruitful because fruitfulness comes not merely from the doing of things, but from the overtones which stimulate creative thought. Further, experience is meaningless unless there is within man the power capable of evaluating happenings and occurrences. The absence of this evaluating factor allows the individual to pass through many kinds of experiences, either misinterpreting them or not inter preting them at all. So Paracelsus attempted to explain intuition and how man is able to apprehend that which is not obvious or apparent. Is it possible to prove beyond doubt that the human being is capable of an inward realization of truths or facts without the assistance of the so-called rational faculty?
According to Paracelsus, intuition was possible because of the existence in nature of a mysterious substance or essence-a universal life force. He gave this many names, but for our purposes, the simplest term will be appropriate. He compared it to light, further reasoning that there are two kinds of light: a visible radiance, which he called brightness, and an invisible radiance, which he called darkness. There is no essential difference between light and darkness. There is a dark light, which appears luminous to the soul but cannot be sensed by the body. There is a visible radiance which seems bright to the senses, but may appear dark to the soul. We must recognize that Paracelsus considered light as pertaining to the nature of being, the total existence from which all separate existences arise. Light not only contains the energy needed to support visible creatures, and the whole broad expanse of creation, but the invisible part of light supports the secret powers and functions of man, particularly intuition. Intuition, therefore, relates to the capacity of the individual to become attuned to the hidden side of life. By light, then, Paracelsus implies much more than the radiance that comes from the sun, a lantern, or a candle. To him, light is the perfect symbol, emblem, or figure of total well-being. Light is the cause of health. Invisible light, no less real if unseen, is the cause of wisdom. As the light of the body gives strength and energy, sustaining growth and development, so the light of the soul bestows understanding, the light of the mind makes wisdom possible, and the light of the spirit confers truth. Therefore, truth, wisdom, understanding, and health are all manifesta tions or revelations ot one virtue or power. What health is to the body, morality is to the emotions, virtue to the soul, wisdom to the mind, and reality to the spirit. This total content of living values is contained in every ray of visible light. This ray is only a manifestation upon one level or plane of the total mystery of life. Therefore, when we look at a thing, we either see its objective, physical form, or we apprehend its inner light Everything that lives, lives in light; everything that has an existence, radiates light. All things derive their life from light, and this light, in its root, is life itself. This, indeed, is the light that lighteth every man who cometh into the world. ~ Manly P Hall, Paracelsus,#KEYS
68: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
69:One little picture in this book, the Magic Locket, was drawn by 'Miss Alice Havers.' I did not state this on the title-page, since it seemed only due, to the artist of all these (to my mind) wonderful pictures, that his name should stand there alone.
The descriptions, of Sunday as spent by children of the last generation, are quoted verbatim from a speech made to me by a child-friend and a letter written to me by a lady-friend.
The Chapters, headed 'Fairy Sylvie' and 'Bruno's Revenge,' are a reprint, with a few alterations, of a little fairy-tale which I wrote in the year 1867, at the request of the late Mrs. Gatty, for 'Aunt Judy's Magazine,' which she was then editing.
It was in 1874, I believe, that the idea first occurred to me of making it the nucleus of a longer story.
As the years went on, I jotted down, at odd moments, all sorts of odd ideas, and fragments of dialogue, that occurred to me--who knows how?--with a transitory suddenness that left me no choice but either to record them then and there, or to abandon them to oblivion. Sometimes one could trace to their source these random flashes of thought--as being suggested by the book one was reading, or struck out from the 'flint' of one's own mind by the 'steel' of a friend's chance remark but they had also a way of their own, of occurring, a propos of nothing --specimens of that hopelessly illogical phenomenon, 'an effect without a cause.' Such, for example, was the last line of 'The Hunting of the Snark,' which came into my head (as I have already related in 'The Theatre' for April, 1887) quite suddenly, during a solitary walk: and such, again, have been passages which occurred in dreams, and which I cannot trace to any antecedent cause whatever. There are at least two instances of such dream-suggestions in this book--one, my Lady's remark, 'it often runs in families, just as a love for pastry does', the other, Eric Lindon's badinage about having been in domestic service.
And thus it came to pass that I found myself at last in possession of a huge unwieldy mass of litterature--if the reader will kindly excuse the spelling --which only needed stringing together, upon the thread of a consecutive story, to constitute the book I hoped to write. Only! The task, at first, seemed absolutely hopeless, and gave me a far clearer idea, than I ever had before, of the meaning of the word 'chaos': and I think it must have been ten years, or more, before I had succeeded in classifying these odds-and-ends sufficiently to see what sort of a story they indicated: for the story had to grow out of the incidents, not the incidents out of the story I am telling all this, in no spirit of egoism, but because I really believe that some of my readers will be interested in these details of the 'genesis' of a book, which looks so simple and straight-forward a matter, when completed, that they might suppose it to have been written straight off, page by page, as one would write a letter, beginning at the beginning; and ending at the end.
It is, no doubt, possible to write a story in that way: and, if it be not vanity to say so, I believe that I could, myself,--if I were in the unfortunate position (for I do hold it to be a real misfortune) of being obliged to produce a given amount of fiction in a given time,--that I could 'fulfil my task,' and produce my 'tale of bricks,' as other slaves have done. One thing, at any rate, I could guarantee as to the story so produced--that it should be utterly commonplace, should contain no new ideas whatever, and should be very very weary reading!
This species of literature has received the very appropriate name of 'padding' which might fitly be defined as 'that which all can write and none can read.' That the present volume contains no such writing I dare not avow: sometimes, in order to bring a picture into its proper place, it has been necessary to eke out a page with two or three extra lines : but I can honestly say I have put in no more than I was absolutely compelled to do.
My readers may perhaps like to amuse themselves by trying to detect, in a given passage, the one piece of 'padding' it contains. While arranging the 'slips' into pages, I found that the passage was 3 lines too short. I supplied the deficiency, not by interpolating a word here and a word there, but by writing in 3 consecutive lines. Now can my readers guess which they are?
A harder puzzle if a harder be desired would be to determine, as to the Gardener's Song, in which cases (if any) the stanza was adapted to the surrounding text, and in which (if any) the text was adapted to the stanza.
Perhaps the hardest thing in all literature--at least I have found it so: by no voluntary effort can I accomplish it: I have to take it as it come's is to write anything original. And perhaps the easiest is, when once an original line has been struck out, to follow it up, and to write any amount more to the same tune. I do not know if 'Alice in Wonderland' was an original story--I was, at least, no conscious imitator in writing it--but I do know that, since it came out, something like a dozen storybooks have appeared, on identically the same pattern. The path I timidly explored believing myself to be 'the first that ever burst into that silent sea'--is now a beaten high-road: all the way-side flowers have long ago been trampled into the dust: and it would be courting disaster for me to attempt that style again.
Hence it is that, in 'Sylvie and Bruno,' I have striven with I know not what success to strike out yet another new path: be it bad or good, it is the best I can do. It is written, not for money, and not for fame, but in the hope of supplying, for the children whom I love, some thoughts that may suit those hours of innocent merriment which are the very life of Childhood; and also in the hope of suggesting, to them and to others, some thoughts that may prove, I would fain hope, not wholly out of harmony with the graver cadences of Life.
If I have not already exhausted the patience of my readers, I would like to seize this opportunity perhaps the last I shall have of addressing so many friends at once of putting on record some ideas that have occurred to me, as to books desirable to be written--which I should much like to attempt, but may not ever have the time or power to carry through--in the hope that, if I should fail (and the years are gliding away very fast) to finish the task I have set myself, other hands may take it up.
First, a Child's Bible. The only real essentials of this would be, carefully selected passages, suitable for a child's reading, and pictures. One principle of selection, which I would adopt, would be that Religion should be put before a child as a revelation of love--no need to pain and puzzle the young mind with the history of crime and punishment. (On such a principle I should, for example, omit the history of the Flood.) The supplying of the pictures would involve no great difficulty: no new ones would be needed : hundreds of excellent pictures already exist, the copyright of which has long ago expired, and which simply need photo-zincography, or some similar process, for their successful reproduction. The book should be handy in size with a pretty attractive looking cover--in a clear legible type--and, above all, with abundance of pictures, pictures, pictures!
Secondly, a book of pieces selected from the Bible--not single texts, but passages of from 10 to 20 verses each--to be committed to memory. Such passages would be found useful, to repeat to one's self and to ponder over, on many occasions when reading is difficult, if not impossible: for instance, when lying awake at night--on a railway-journey --when taking a solitary walk-in old age, when eyesight is failing or wholly lost--and, best of all, when illness, while incapacitating us for reading or any other occupation, condemns us to lie awake through many weary silent hours: at such a time how keenly one may realise the truth of David's rapturous cry "O how sweet are thy words unto my throat: yea, sweeter than honey unto my mouth!"
I have said 'passages,' rather than single texts, because we have no means of recalling single texts: memory needs links, and here are none: one may have a hundred texts stored in the memory, and not be able to recall, at will, more than half-a-dozen--and those by mere chance: whereas, once get hold of any portion of a chapter that has been committed to memory, and the whole can be recovered: all hangs together.
Thirdly, a collection of passages, both prose and verse, from books other than the Bible. There is not perhaps much, in what is called 'un-inspired' literature (a misnomer, I hold: if Shakespeare was not inspired, one may well doubt if any man ever was), that will bear the process of being pondered over, a hundred times: still there are such passages--enough, I think, to make a goodly store for the memory.
These two books of sacred, and secular, passages for memory--will serve other good purposes besides merely occupying vacant hours: they will help to keep at bay many anxious thoughts, worrying thoughts, uncharitable thoughts, unholy thoughts. Let me say this, in better words than my own, by copying a passage from that most interesting book, Robertson's Lectures on the Epistles to the Corinthians, Lecture XLIX. "If a man finds himself haunted by evil desires and unholy images, which will generally be at periodical hours, let him commit to memory passages of Scripture, or passages from the best writers in verse or prose. Let him store his mind with these, as safeguards to repeat when he lies awake in some restless night, or when despairing imaginations, or gloomy, suicidal thoughts, beset him. Let these be to him the sword, turning everywhere to keep the way of the Garden of Life from the intrusion of profaner footsteps."
Fourthly, a "Shakespeare" for girls: that is, an edition in which everything, not suitable for the perusal of girls of (say) from 10 to 17, should be omitted. Few children under 10 would be likely to understand or enjoy the greatest of poets: and those, who have passed out of girlhood, may safely be left to read Shakespeare, in any edition, 'expurgated' or not, that they may prefer: but it seems a pity that so many children, in the intermediate stage, should be debarred from a great pleasure for want of an edition suitable to them. Neither Bowdler's, Chambers's, Brandram's, nor Cundell's 'Boudoir' Shakespeare, seems to me to meet the want: they are not sufficiently 'expurgated.' Bowdler's is the most extraordinary of all: looking through it, I am filled with a deep sense of wonder, considering what he has left in, that he should have cut anything out! Besides relentlessly erasing all that is unsuitable on the score of reverence or decency, I should be inclined to omit also all that seems too difficult, or not likely to interest young readers. The resulting book might be slightly fragmentary: but it would be a real treasure to all British maidens who have any taste for poetry.
If it be needful to apologize to any one for the new departure I have taken in this story--by introducing, along with what will, I hope, prove to be acceptable nonsense for children, some of the graver thoughts of human life--it must be to one who has learned the Art of keeping such thoughts wholly at a distance in hours of mirth and careless ease. To him such a mixture will seem, no doubt, ill-judged and repulsive. And that such an Art exists I do not dispute: with youth, good health, and sufficient money, it seems quite possible to lead, for years together, a life of unmixed gaiety--with the exception of one solemn fact, with which we are liable to be confronted at any moment, even in the midst of the most brilliant company or the most sparkling entertainment. A man may fix his own times for admitting serious thought, for attending public worship, for prayer, for reading the Bible: all such matters he can defer to that 'convenient season', which is so apt never to occur at all: but he cannot defer, for one single moment, the necessity of attending to a message, which may come before he has finished reading this page,' this night shalt thy soul be required of thee.'
The ever-present sense of this grim possibility has been, in all ages, 1 an incubus that men have striven to shake off. Few more interesting subjects of enquiry could be found, by a student of history, than the various weapons that have been used against this shadowy foe. Saddest of all must have been the thoughts of those who saw indeed an existence beyond the grave, but an existence far more terrible than annihilation--an existence as filmy, impalpable, all but invisible spectres, drifting about, through endless ages, in a world of shadows, with nothing to do, nothing to hope for, nothing to love! In the midst of the gay verses of that genial 'bon vivant' Horace, there stands one dreary word whose utter sadness goes to one's heart. It is the word 'exilium' in the well-known passage
Omnes eodem cogimur, omnium
Versatur urna serius ocius
Sors exitura et nos in aeternum
Exilium impositura cymbae.
Yes, to him this present life--spite of all its weariness and all its sorrow--was the only life worth having: all else was 'exile'! Does it not seem almost incredible that one, holding such a creed, should ever have smiled?
And many in this day, I fear, even though believing in an existence beyond the grave far more real than Horace ever dreamed of, yet regard it as a sort of 'exile' from all the joys of life, and so adopt Horace's theory, and say 'let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.'
We go to entertainments, such as the theatre--I say 'we', for I also go to the play, whenever I get a chance of seeing a really good one and keep at arm's length, if possible, the thought that we may not return alive. Yet how do you know--dear friend, whose patience has carried you through this garrulous preface that it may not be your lot, when mirth is fastest and most furious, to feel the sharp pang, or the deadly faintness, which heralds the final crisis--to see, with vague wonder, anxious friends bending over you to hear their troubled whispers perhaps yourself to shape the question, with trembling lips, "Is it serious?", and to be told "Yes: the end is near" (and oh, how different all Life will look when those words are said!)--how do you know, I say, that all this may not happen to you, this night?
And dare you, knowing this, say to yourself "Well, perhaps it is an immoral play: perhaps the situations are a little too 'risky', the dialogue a little too strong, the 'business' a little too suggestive.
I don't say that conscience is quite easy: but the piece is so clever, I must see it this once! I'll begin a stricter life to-morrow." To-morrow, and to-morrow, and tomorrow!
"Who sins in hope, who, sinning, says,
'Sorrow for sin God's judgement stays!'
Against God's Spirit he lies; quite stops Mercy with insult; dares, and drops,
Like a scorch'd fly, that spins in vain
Upon the axis of its pain,
Then takes its doom, to limp and crawl,
Blind and forgot, from fall to fall."
Let me pause for a moment to say that I believe this thought, of the possibility of death--if calmly realised, and steadily faced would be one of the best possible tests as to our going to any scene of amusement being right or wrong. If the thought of sudden death acquires, for you, a special horror when imagined as happening in a theatre, then be very sure the theatre is harmful for you, however harmless it may be for others; and that you are incurring a deadly peril in going. Be sure the safest rule is that we should not dare to live in any scene in which we dare not die.
But, once realise what the true object is in life--that it is not pleasure, not knowledge, not even fame itself, 'that last infirmity of noble minds'--but that it is the development of character, the rising to a higher, nobler, purer standard, the building-up of the perfect Man--and then, so long as we feel that this is going on, and will (we trust) go on for evermore, death has for us no terror; it is not a shadow, but a light; not an end, but a beginning!
One other matter may perhaps seem to call for apology--that I should have treated with such entire want of sympathy the British passion for 'Sport', which no doubt has been in by-gone days, and is still, in some forms of it, an excellent school for hardihood and for coolness in moments of danger.
But I am not entirely without sympathy for genuine 'Sport': I can heartily admire the courage of the man who, with severe bodily toil, and at the risk of his life, hunts down some 'man-eating' tiger: and I can heartily sympathize with him when he exults in the glorious excitement of the chase and the hand-to-hand struggle with the monster brought to bay. But I can but look with deep wonder and sorrow on the hunter who, at his ease and in safety, can find pleasure in what involves, for some defenceless creature, wild terror and a death of agony: deeper, if the hunter be one who has pledged himself to preach to men the Religion of universal Love: deepest of all, if it be one of those 'tender and delicate' beings, whose very name serves as a symbol of Love--'thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women'--whose mission here is surely to help and comfort all that are in pain or sorrow!
'Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.' ~ Lewis Carroll, Sylvie and Bruno,#KEYS
*** WISDOM TROVE ***
1:The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror. ~ zhuangzi, @wisdomtrove 2:The perfect man sees nothing but God. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 3:Wherever we find Jesus is the perfect place to worship. ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 4:You never know what's hit you. A gunshot is the perfect way. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove 5:A lottery is the perfect tax... laid only upon the willing. ~ george-washington, @wisdomtrove 6:Time is the best author. It always writes the perfect ending. ~ charlie-chaplan, @wisdomtrove 7:The Perfect Way is only difficult for those who pick and choose; ~ jianzhi-sengcan, @wisdomtrove 8:The decent method you follow is better than the perfect method you quit. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove 9:The perfect love affair is one which is conducted entirely by post. ~ george-bernard-shaw, @wisdomtrove 10:The perfect man of old looked after himself first before looking to help others. ~ zhuangzi, @wisdomtrove 11:Only by perfect virtue can the perfect path, in all its courses, be made a fact. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 12:Successful entrepreneurs don't wait for the perfect moment - they create it ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 13:The definition of a revolution: it destroys the perfect and enables the impossible. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 14:All the months are crude experiments, out of which the perfect September is made. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 15:The day we find the perfect church, it becomes imperfect the moment we join it. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 16:The nature of revolutions is that they destroy the perfect and enable the impossible. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 17:To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question. ~ ursula-k-le-guin, @wisdomtrove 18:Kindness to self will put you in the perfect attitude and position to be kind to others. ~ alan-cohen, @wisdomtrove 19:Thats usually what I gravitate to, I read The Perfect Storm, then I read Into Thin Air . ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove 20:What is wisdom? It is the skill to achieve the perfect means by the perfect ends ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 21:You are the perfect creation of God. Don't allow you to be down. God is experiencing through you. ~ amit-ray, @wisdomtrove 22:I believe in the perfect outcome in every area of my life! Expect to be successful! Expect to win! ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 23:I trust Life. I know it brings me everything that I need at the perfect time and in the perfect way. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove 24:Speech is one symptom of affection; and silence one; the perfect communication is heard of none. ~ emily-dickinson, @wisdomtrove 25:The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 26:For the complete life, the perfect pattern includes old age as well as youth and maturity. ~ william-somerset-maugham, @wisdomtrove 27:If you want the perfect plan that God has for your life, you will have to go by way of Calvary to get it. ~ billy-graham, @wisdomtrove 28:The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep. ~ zhuangzi, @wisdomtrove 29:Stop waiting for the perfect day or the perfect moment. Take this day, this moment and lead it to perfection. ~ steve-maraboli, @wisdomtrove 30:Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art. ~Waddington ~ william-somerset-maugham, @wisdomtrove 31:I relax and enjoy life. I know that whatever I need to know is revealed to me in the perfect time and space sequence. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove 32:Love happens! I release the desperate need for love, and instead, allow it to find me in the perfect time-space sequence. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove 33:Play is as necessary to the perfect development of a child as sunshine is to the perfect development of a plant. ~ orison-swett-marden, @wisdomtrove 34:The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord's Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion. ~ denis-diderot, @wisdomtrove 35:The Perfect Way is only difficult for those who pick and choose; do not like, do not dislike: All will then be clear. ~ jianzhi-sengcan, @wisdomtrove 36:The perfect way is only difficult for those who pick and choose. Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear. ~ jianzhi-sengcan, @wisdomtrove 37:The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord's Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion. ~ thomas-aquinas, @wisdomtrove 38:The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists. ~ e-m-forster, @wisdomtrove 39:The world itself is pregnant with failure, is the perfect manifestation of imperfection, of the consciousness of failure. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 40:Balance is the perfect state of still water. Let that be our model. It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 41:When we allow God to be exalted in our difficulties we are in the perfect place to smell the fragrance of His Presence. ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 42:If the mind could cease measuring itself against the hero, the perfect, the glorious and all that, it would be what it is. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 43:If you wish to produce a perfect rose, you must cut off the other buds which are spoiling the growth of the perfect flower. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 44:Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, for you shall only live it once. Be comfortable with growing older. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove 45:I learnt to stop fantasising about the perfect job or the perfect relationship because that can actually be an excuse for not living. ~ alain-de-botton, @wisdomtrove 46:In my adolescence, love, as I think for most of us, was a tremendous focus. I wanted to find the perfect partner. I did and married her. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 47:So long as he was personally present, [Alcibiades] had the perfect mastery of his political adversaries; calumny only succeeded in his absence. ~ plutarch, @wisdomtrove 48:The perfect human being is uninteresting - the Buddha who leaves the world, you know. It is the imperfections of life that are lovable. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 49:When you emit the perfect frequency of what you want, the perfect people, circumstances, and events will be attracted to you and delivered! ~ rhonda-byrne, @wisdomtrove 50:I will take as a given that, for most people, somewhere between six and seven billion of them, the perfect job is the one that takes the least time. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove 51:The best job that was ever offered to me was to become a landlord in a brothel. In my opinion it's the perfect milieu for an artist to work in. ~ william-faulkner, @wisdomtrove 52:By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and more enjoyable. It's the perfect example of having your cake and eating it, too. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove 53:Genuine blasphemy, genuine in spirit and not purely verbal, is the product of partial belief, and is as impossible to the complete atheist as to the perfect Christian. ~ t-s-eliot, @wisdomtrove 54:There is only one kind of discipline, and that is the perfect discipline. As a leader, you must enforce and maintain that discipline; otherwise, you will fail at your job. ~ vince-lombardi, @wisdomtrove 55:In a sense, when we started Virgin Atlantic, I was trying to create an airline for myself. If you try to build the perfect airline for yourself, it will be appreciated by others. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 56:When you know that whatever you need is what you get, life becomes paradise. It's the perfect setup. Everything you need, and even more than you need, is always supplied, in abundance. ~ byron-katie, @wisdomtrove 57:The Perfect Way is only difficult for those who pick and choose; Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear. Make a hairbreadth difference, and Heaven and Earth are set apart; ~ jianzhi-sengcan, @wisdomtrove 58:Alow immortality to work through you. Be but a mere instrument. And that instrument should be so absorbed in the perfect perfection of existence, that it knows not even that it is absorbed. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 59:God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form... The perfect surrender and humiliation was undergone by Christ: perfect because He was God, surrender and humiliation because He was man. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 60:I can't help you. Not really. I can only show up with a bright heart and hope that I get you at the right micro-moment with the perfect dose of light that helps you see what you already know. ~ danielle-laporte, @wisdomtrove 61:To the perfect, if it be perfect, there is nothing that can be added; therefore, the will is not capable of any other desire, when that which is of the perfect is present with it, highest and best. ~ giordano-bruno, @wisdomtrove 62:Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all the ingredients to breathe and find freedom just where you are. ~ jack-kornfield, @wisdomtrove 63:Oneness is the perfect expansion Of our inner reality. Let our hearts oneness only increase To make us feel That we belong to a universal world ? family, And this world ? Family Is a fulfilled Dream of God. ~ sri-chinmoy, @wisdomtrove 64:Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 65:The perfect view of existence comes from an unclouded, uncluttered life and mind whereby the radiance of perfect attention of the mind of the universe floods us at every moment. This is Buddhism. This is being on the path. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 66:The perfect creative situation is to really, really want something that you truly believe is possible. And when that combination of desire and belief is present within you, things will quickly and easily unfold in your experience. ~ esther-hicks, @wisdomtrove 67:To the man with an ear for verbal delicacies- the man who searches painfully for the perfect word, and puts the way of saying a thing above the thing said - there is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident. ~ h-l-mencken, @wisdomtrove 68:Every job from the heart is, ultimately, of equal value. The nurse injects the syringe; the writer slides the pen; the farmer plows the dirt; the comedian draws the laughter. Monetary income is the perfect deceiver of a man's true worth. ~ criss-jami, @wisdomtrove 69:The one infinite is perfect, in simplicity, of itself, absolutely, nor can aught be greater or better, This is the one Whole, God, universal Nature, occupying all space, of whom naught but infinity can give the perfect image or semblance. ~ giordano-bruno, @wisdomtrove 70:The one infinite is perfect , in simplicity , of itself, absolutely, nor can aught be greater or better, This is the one Whole, God , universal Nature , occupying all space, of whom naught but infinity can give the perfect image or semblance. ~ giordano-bruno, @wisdomtrove 71:This world is not a platform where you will hear Thalberg-piano-playing. It is a piano manufactory, where are dust and shavings and boards, and saws and files and rasps and sandpapers. The perfect instrument and the music will be hereafter. ~ henry-ward-beecher, @wisdomtrove 72:So it seems obvious that the perfect creative situation is to really, really want something that you truly believe is possible. And when that combination of desire and belief is present within you, things will quickly and easily unfold in your experience. ~ esther-hicks, @wisdomtrove 73:The perfect way is without difficulty, for it avoids picking and choosing. Only when you stop liking and disliking will all be clearly understood. Be not concerned with right or wrong, for the conflict between right and wrong is the sickness of the mind. ~ jianzhi-sengcan, @wisdomtrove 74:When Christmas doesn't fit your expectations of what the perfect holiday should be, think about how Joseph and Mary probably didn't think that manger was the perfect place for their child to be born. but look at what a perfect Christmas that turned out to be. ~ joel-osteen, @wisdomtrove 75:I did once seriously think of embracing the Christian faith. The gentle figure of Christ, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek - I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man. ~ mahatma-gandhi, @wisdomtrove 76:The Lord did not create suffering. Pain and death came into the world with the fall of man. But after man had chosen suffering in preference to the joys of union with God, the Lord turned suffering itself into a way by which man could come to the perfect knowledge of God. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 77:Our own intuition of what we're called to is reality speaking to us individually and perfectly. We have to listen to how the Infinite talks to us and leads us. Reality, Life the Infinite, God, has a way of leading us in just the perfect way, if we will only just listen to it. ~ adyashanti, @wisdomtrove 78:How do I know that I needed a hit on the head? Because that's what happened! No mistake. When you know that whatever you need is what you get, life becomes paradise. It's the perfect setup. Everything you need, and even more than you need, is always supplied, in abundance. ~ byron-katie, @wisdomtrove 79:You don't impress the officials at NASA with a paper airplane. You don't boast about your crayon sketches in the presence of Picasso. You don't claim equality with Einstein because you can write & 80:Therefore the perfect, absolutely and in itself, is one, infinite, which cannot be greater or better, and that which nothing can be greater or better. This is one, everywhere, the only God, universal nature, of which nothing can be a perfect image or reflection, but the infinite. ~ giordano-bruno, @wisdomtrove 81:Once we begin to question our thoughts, our partners-alive, dead, or divorced-are always our greatest teachers. There's no mistake about the person you're with; he or she is the perfect teacher for you, whether or not the relationship works out, and once you enter inquiry, you come to see that clearly. ~ byron-katie, @wisdomtrove 82:Christmas is the perfect time to celebrate the love of God and family and to create memories that will last forever. Jesus is God's perfect, indescribable gift. The amazing thing is that not only are we able to receive this gift, but we are able to share it with others on Christmas and every other day of the year. ~ joel-osteen, @wisdomtrove 83:If we spend the time we waste in sighing for the perfect golden fruit in fulfilling the conditions of its growth, happiness will come, must come. It is guaranteed in the very laws of the universe. If it involves some chastening and renunciation, well, the fruit will be all the sweeter for this touch of holiness. ~ hellen-keller, @wisdomtrove 84:The usefulness of religion - the fact that it gives life meaning, that it makes people feel good - is not an argument for the truth of any religious doctrine. It's not an argument that it's reasonable to believe that Jesus really was born of a virgin or that the Bible is the perfect word of the creator of the universe. ~ sam-harris, @wisdomtrove 85:The perfect church service would be the one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God. But every novelty prevents this. It fixes our attention on the service itself; and thinking about worship is a different thing than worshipping ... & 86:We make assertions and denials of what is next to it, but never of it, for it is both beyond every assertion, being the perfect and unique cause of all things, and, by virtue of its pre-eminently simple and absolute nature, free of every limitation, beyond every limitation; it is also beyond every denial ~ pseudo-dionysius-the-areopagite, @wisdomtrove 87:We make assertions and denials of what is next to it, but never of it, for it is both beyond every assertion, being the perfect and unique cause of all things, and, by virtue of its preeminently simple and absolute nature, free of every limitation, beyond every limitation; it is also beyond every denial. ~ pseudo-dionysius-the-areopagite, @wisdomtrove 88:There is a growing interest in Confucianism in China and other parts of the world. More and more followers of Confucianism are advocating a deeper study of his philosophies. Confucius' ideals stand true even today. His philosophy on how to be a Junzi or the perfect gentleman is based on the simple ideology of love and tolerance. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove 89:When the head of a goat is severed from its body, the trunk struggles for some time, still showing signs of life. Similarly, though ahamkara (egotism) is slain in the perfect man, yet enough of its vitality is left to make him carry on the functions of physical life; but it is not sufficient to bind him again into the world. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove 90:Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. ~ robert-frost, @wisdomtrove 91:Cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is overcast, labour to make all one glow of beauty and never cease chiselling your statue, until there shall shine out on you from it the godlike splendour of virtue, until you shall see the perfect goodness surely established in the stainless shrine. ~ plotinus, @wisdomtrove 92:The perfect way is only difficult for those who pick and choose. Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear. Make a hairbreadth difference and heaven and earth are set apart; if you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between & 93:When anything good happens to you in your day, give thanks. It doesn't matter how small it is, say thank you. When you get the perfect parking space, hear your favorite song on the radio, approach a light that turns green, or find an empty seat on the bus or train, say thank you. These are all good things that you are receiving from life. ~ rhonda-byrne, @wisdomtrove 94:The Perfect Way is only difficult for those who pick and choose; Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear. Make a hairbreadth difference, and Heaven and Earth are set apart; If you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between & 95:As you peel it back, in the heart of nothing, that is love. You are what you are seeking. Life is a set up so that each of us can actually see in ourselves the truth for ourselves. What gets taken away are all the exterior means we thought we wanted love to come to us. You have the choice to notice the perfect set up to see love is exactly what you are. ~ adyashanti, @wisdomtrove 96:With respect to love we speak continually about perfection and the perfect person. With respect to love Christianity also speaks continually about perfection and the perfect person. Alas, but we men talk about finding the perfect person in order to love him. Christianity speaks about being the perfect person who limitlessly loves the person he sees. ~ soren-kierkegaard, @wisdomtrove 97:As long as you notice, and have to count the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning to dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don't notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not conciously think about eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The perfect church service would be the one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove 98:We are all born idolaters, and idolatry is good, because it is in the nature of man. Who can get beyond it? Only the perfect man, the God-man. The rest are all idolaters. So long as we see this universe before us, with its forms and shapes, we are all idolaters. This is a gigantic symbol we are worshipping. He who says he is the body is a born idolater. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 99:I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art. ~ william-somerset-maugham, @wisdomtrove 100:When we place our dependence in God, we are unencumbered, and we have no worry. In fact, we may even be reckless, insofar as our part in the production is concerned. This confidence, this sureness of action, is both contagious and an aid to the perfect action. The rest is in the hands of God - and this is the same God, gentlemen, who has won all His battles up to now. ~ vince-lombardi, @wisdomtrove 101:For the perfect accomplishment of any art, you must get this feeling of the eternal present into your bones - for it is the secret of proper timing. No rush. No dawdle. Just the sense of flowing with the course of events in the same way that you dance to music, neither trying to outpace it nor lagging behind. Hurrying and delaying are alike ways of trying to resist the present. ~ alan-watts, @wisdomtrove 102:You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you. ~ chuck-palahniuk, @wisdomtrove 103:The complete life, the perfect pattern, includes old age as well as youth and maturity. The beauty of the morning and the radiance of noon are good, but it would be a very silly person who drew the curtains and turned on the light in order to shut out the tranquillity of the evening. Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth. ~ william-somerset-maugham, @wisdomtrove 104:If a man is crossing the river and an empty boat collides with his skiff, even though he is a bad tempered man he will not become very angry. But if he sees a man in the other boat he will scream and shout and curse at the man to steer clear. If you can empty your own boat crossing the river of the world, no one will oppose you, no one will seek to harm you. Thus is the perfect man - his boat is empty. ~ zhuangzi, @wisdomtrove 105:Joy is everywhere; it is in the earth's green covering of grass: in the blue serenity of the sky: in the reckless exuberance of spring: in the severe abstinence of grey winter: in the living flesh that animates our bodily frame: in the perfect poise of the human figure, noble and upright: in living, in the exercise of all our powers: in the acquisition of knowledge. . . Joy is there everywhere. ~ rabindranath-tagore, @wisdomtrove 106:Perfectly Imperfect... We have all heard that no two snowflakes are alike. Each snowflake takes the perfect form for the maximum efficiency and effectiveness for its journey. And while the universal force of gravity gives them a shared destination, the expansive space in the air gives each snowflake the opportunity to take their own path. They are on the same journey, but each takes a different path. ~ steve-maraboli, @wisdomtrove 107:How great is the path proper to the Sage! Like overflowing water, it sends forth and nourishes all things, and rises up to the height of heaven. All-complete is its greatness! It embraces the three hundred rules of ceremony, and the three thousand rules of demeanor. It waits for the proper man, and then it is trodden. Hence it is said, & 108:Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God, we do not see ourselves - blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 109:Think of what understanding this great orchestration could mean for relationships. Imagine interacting with others knowing that they too each share this parallel with the snowflake. Like you, they are headed to the same place and no matter what they may appear like to you, they have taken the perfect form for their journey. How strong our relationships would be if we could see and respect that we are all perfectly imperfect for our journey. ~ steve-maraboli, @wisdomtrove 110:[T]he kingdom of heaven is of the childlike, of those who are easy to please, who love and who give pleasure. Mighty men of their hands, the smiters and the builders and the judges, have lived long and done sternly and yet preserved this lovely character; and among our carpet interests and twopenny concerns, the shame were indelible if we should lose it. Gentleness and cheerfulness, these come before all morality; they are the perfect duties. ~ robert-louis-stevenson, @wisdomtrove 111:A woman cannot do the thing she ought, which means whatever perfect thing she can, in life, in art, in science, but she fears to let the perfect action take her part and rest there: she must prove what she can do before she does it, - prate of woman's rights, of woman's mission, woman's function, till the men (who are prating, too, on their side) cry, A woman's function plainly is... to talk. Poor souls, they are very reasonably vexed! ~ elizabeth-barrett-browning, @wisdomtrove 112:Realisation of love can never come so long as there is the least desire in the heart, or what Shri Ramakrishna used to say, attachment for K√¢ma-K√¢nchana (sense-pleasure and wealth). In the perfect realisation of love, even the consciousness of one's own body does not exist. Also, the supreme Jnana is to realise the oneness everywhere, to see one's own self as the Self in everything. That too cannot come so long as there is the least consciousness of the ego (Aham). ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 113:Sinclair Lewis is the perfect example of the false sense of time of the newspaper world... . [ellipsis in source] He was always dominated by an artificial time when he wrote Main Street... . He did not create actual human beings at any time. That is what makes it newspaper. Sinclair Lewis is the typical newspaperman and everything he says is newspaper. The difference between a thinker and a newspaperman is that a thinker enters right into things, a newspaperman is superficial. ~ gertrude-stein, @wisdomtrove 114:Be sure the safest rule is that we should not dare to live in any scene in which we dare not die. But, once realise what the true object is in life ¬ó that it is not pleasure, not knowledge, not even fame itself, & 115:How many times have you said, & 116:W ithdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful yet, act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful; he cuts away here, he smoothes there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has grown upon his work. So do you also; cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is in shadow; labor to make all one glow of beauty and never cease chiseling your statue until there shall shine out on you from it the godlike splendor of virtue, until you shall see the perfect goodness established in the stainless shrine. ~ plotinus, @wisdomtrove 117:Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful yet, act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful: he cuts away here, he smoothes there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has grown upon his work. So do you also: cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is overcast, labour to make all one glow of beauty and never cease chiselling your statue, until there shall shine out on you from it the godlike splendour of virtue, until you shall see the perfect goodness surely established in the stainless shrine. ~ plotinus, @wisdomtrove 118:Again, ascending, we say that He is neither soul nor intellect; nor has He imagination, nor opinion or reason; He has neither speech nor understanding, and is neither declared nor understood; He is neither number nor order, nor greatness nor smallness, nor equality nor likeness nor unlikeness; He does not stand or move or rest; He neither has power nor is power; nor is He light, nor does He live, nor is He life; He is neither being nor age nor time; nor is He subject to intellectual contact; He is neither knowledge nor truth. nor royalty nor wisdom; He is neither one nor unity, nor divinity, nor goodness; nor is He spirit, as we understand spirit; He is neither sonship nor fatherhood nor anything else known to us or to any other beings, either of the things that are or the things that are not; nor does anything that is, know Him as He is, nor does He know anything that is as it is; He has neither word nor name nor knowledge; He is neither darkness nor light nor truth nor error; He can neither be affirmed nor denied; nay, though we may affirm or deny the things that are beneath Him, we can neither affirm nor deny Him; for the perfect and sole cause of all is above all affirmation, and that which transcends all is above all subtraction, absolutely separate, and beyond all that is. ~ pseudo-dionysius-the-areopagite, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:Bed is the perfect climate. ~ Noel Coward, #NFDB
2:The perfect square lacks corners. ~ Laozi, #NFDB
3:God is the perfect poet. ~ Robert Browning, #NFDB
4:I will be the perfect mannequin. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
5:Oneness is the perfect expansion ~ Sri Chinmoy, #NFDB
6:Music is the perfect type of art. ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
7:I’ve found the perfect partner. ~ Margot Fonteyn, #NFDB
8:The perfect is the enemy of the good. ~ Voltaire, #NFDB
9:I'm not the perfect bride after all. ~ Jenna Bush, #NFDB
10:The Perfect Crime! By Al the Janitor. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
11:The perfect killer has no identity. ~ Brent Weeks, #NFDB
12:The perfect size is happy" -Garvey ~ Nikki Grimes, #NFDB
13:The perfect classroom is Paris. ~ Letitia Baldrige, #NFDB
14:The perfect killer has no conscience. ~ Brent Weeks, #NFDB
15:I have the perfect face for radio. ~ Virginia Graham, #NFDB
16:This was her moment, the perfect now. ~ Ann Patchett, #NFDB
17:They (TVXQ) really are the perfect sunbaes. ~ G Dragon, #NFDB
18:This very moment is the perfect teacher ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
19:The perfect man does not hunt after wealth. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
20:If I could choose the perfect Dad ~ John Walter Bratton, #NFDB
21:Poison. The perfect weapon for a snake. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
22:The perfect man sees nothing but God. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
23:All my life I've pursued the perfect red. ~ Diana Vreeland, #NFDB
24:Swimmer of noonday, lean for the perfect dive ~ Allen Tate, #NFDB
25:The perfect shorts are always important. ~ Britt Robertson, #NFDB
26:Conscience is the perfect interpreter of life. ~ Karl Barth, #NFDB
27:I live the perfect imperfect life. -Paul Lore ~ Larry Smith, #NFDB
28:Silence is the perfect herald of joy. ~ William Shakespeare, #NFDB
29:The perfect human being is uninteresting. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
30:The perfect man? A poet on a motorcycle. ~ Lucinda Williams, #NFDB
31:Fries and fortune... The perfect combination. ~ Danika Stone, #NFDB
32:Good shoes and a good scent make the perfect day. ~ Nia Long, #NFDB
33:Acting is the perfect idiot's profession. ~ Katharine Hepburn, #NFDB
34:Stop making the perfect enemy of the good. ~ Patrick Lencioni, #NFDB
35:Emotional intelligence, the perfect oxymoron! ~ David Nicholls, #NFDB
36:None but God can fill the perfect whole. ~ Philip James Bailey, #NFDB
37:The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets. ~ Brent Weeks, #NFDB
38:The perfect soundtrack for my personal hell. ~ Robyn Schneider, #NFDB
39:We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. ~ Lee Child, #NFDB
40:What is wrong with black? It's the perfect color. ~ V E Schwab, #NFDB
41:Any age is the perfect age to follow your dream! ~ Marie Forleo, #NFDB
42:We are only syllables of the perfect Word. ~ Caryll Houselander, #NFDB
43:Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. ~ Gretchen Rubin, #NFDB
44:Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. ~ Gretchen Rubin, #NFDB
45:American-style iced tea is the perfect drink for a hot ~ Tom Holt, #NFDB
46:Love is the perfect safety, or the perfect weapon. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
47:Voltaire wrote, “The perfect is the enemy of the good. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
48:Self-love the perfect soil from which to grow love. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
49:If I could write the perfect novella I would die happy. ~ Ian Mcewan, #NFDB
50:Pleasure and self destruction...The perfect poison. ~ Patrick Marber, #NFDB
51:You are the Perfect Young Man: honest, clean, virile. ~ Edmund White, #NFDB
52:You don’t have to be perfect to have the perfect life. ~ Jewel E Ann, #NFDB
53:You're never gonna find the perfect politician. ~ Anthony Scaramucci, #NFDB
54:The perfect normal person is rare in our civilization. ~ Karen Horney, #NFDB
55:To the man who knows what makes the perfect date night ~ Kim Harrison, #NFDB
56:Voltaire: “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” This ~ Howard Marks, #NFDB
57:You could be the perfect spy. All you need is a cause. ~ John le Carr, #NFDB
58:I don't think there is such a thing as the perfect system. ~ Ray Dalio, #NFDB
59:My only job was to be the perfect wife and partner. ~ Elizabeth Nelson, #NFDB
60:What are gods, after all, if not the perfect victims? ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
61:You are in the perfect position to get there from here. ~ Esther Hicks, #NFDB
62:a hospital for the broken, not a museum for the perfect. ~ Sheila Walsh, #NFDB
63:My heart contains of good, wise, just, the perfect shape. ~ John Milton, #NFDB
64:Within the perfect situation, not everything is perfect. ~ Gene Simmons, #NFDB
65:A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the woods. ~ Rachel Carson, #NFDB
66:I believe the novella is the perfect form of prose fiction. ~ Ian Mcewan, #NFDB
67:Sleepwalking is the perfect exorcise for lazy people ~ Benny Bellamacina, #NFDB
68:If we wait for the perfect answer, the world will pass us by ~ Jack Welch, #NFDB
69:I love yoga and hiking - I think that's the perfect combo. ~ Olivia Wilde, #NFDB
70:Reading is the perfect escape from whatever ails you. ~ Jessica Spotswood, #NFDB
71:as Voltaire put it, the perfect is the enemy of the good. ~ Rutger Bregman, #NFDB
72:I'd love to play Carmen - it's the perfect mezzo role. ~ Katherine Jenkins, #NFDB
73:If I'm a tuning fork, you're the perfect A, making me hum. ~ Joss Stirling, #NFDB
74:I'm not saying I'm the perfect role model. But I'm honest. Period. ~ Kesha, #NFDB
75:The cigar is the perfect complement to an elegant lifestyle. ~ George Sand, #NFDB
76:The perfect time to start something never arrives START NOW! ~ T Harv Eker, #NFDB
77:I'm trying to make the perfect dance, that's what drives me. ~ Trisha Brown, #NFDB
78:The perfect borscht is what life should be but never is. ~ Aleksandar Hemon, #NFDB
79:The perfect world is created when the mind is free to see it. ~ Byron Katie, #NFDB
80:A meal of bread, cheese and beer constitutes the perfect food. ~ Elizabeth I, #NFDB
81:I am the perfect weapon, I can kill with a single touch. ~ Melinda Salisbury, #NFDB
82:Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone. ~ Victor Hugo, #NFDB
83:The perfect moment, once lost, is not easily found again. ~ Elizabeth Goudge, #NFDB
84:They saw that the perfect world is a journey, not a place. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
85:You’re the perfect little whore, but you’re my fucking whore, ~ Nina G Jones, #NFDB
86:As a kid, I thought John Denver was the perfect Prince Charming. ~ Sandra Lee, #NFDB
87:But the time of mourning is always the perfect time for nonsense. ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
88:You never know what's hit you. A gunshot is the perfect way. ~ John F Kennedy, #NFDB
89:A lottery is the perfect tax...laid only upon the willing. ~ George Washington, #NFDB
90:It is not the perfect, but the imperfect, who have need of love. ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
91:The note of the perfect personality is not rebellion, but peace. ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
92:This 20th win means more to me than the perfect game in 1968. ~ Catfish Hunter, #NFDB
93:Who can ever say the perfect thing to the poet about his poetry? ~ Alice Munro, #NFDB
94:Who would I marry? I know, my ego. We'd make the perfect couple. ~ Max Beesley, #NFDB
95:The perfect type of the man of action is the suicide. ~ William Carlos Williams, #NFDB
96:Time is the best author. It always writes the perfect ending. ~ Charlie Chaplin, #NFDB
97:I’ll always recognize the evil lying underneath the perfect exterior ~ V F Mason, #NFDB
98:in a world filled with destruction
you are the perfect distraction ~ R H Sin,#NFDB
99:In the world that exists inside my own head I am the perfect woman. ~ L H Cosway, #NFDB
100:I've used [drum machine] because I have to have the perfect tempo. ~ Miles Davis, #NFDB
101:Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien. (The perfect is the enemy of the good.) ~ Voltaire, #NFDB
102:The perfect state is one where men weep and rejoice over the same things. ~ Plato, #NFDB
103:The word fit. It was the perfect size. And that was okay. ~ E E Charlton Trujillo, #NFDB
104:Watching my back is the perfect opportunity to stick a knife in it. ~ Holly Black, #NFDB
105:I always thought Camilla was the perfect love match with Charles. ~ Princess Diana, #NFDB
106:I guess Ziggy would have been the perfect vehicle to have done with. ~ David Bowie, #NFDB
107:The perfect song on the perfect drive to make you feel infinite. ~ Stephen Chbosky, #NFDB
108:A Christmas tree--the perfect gift for a guy. The plant is already dead. ~ Jay Leno, #NFDB
109:His sinless life furnishes the perfect righteousness we lack. ~ John F MacArthur Jr, #NFDB
110:I'm not going to sacrifice my mental health to have the perfect body. ~ Demi Lovato, #NFDB
111:The perfect joys of heaven do not satisfy the cravings of nature. ~ William Hazlitt, #NFDB
112:Don’t listen to them, Matches,” Hudson said. “You’re the perfect size. ~ Avery Flynn, #NFDB
113:God is the perfect poet, Who in his person acts his own creations. ~ Robert Browning, #NFDB
114:Japan is the perfect example of make plans, and watch God laugh. ~ Christopher Titus, #NFDB
115:She braced herself for the pain of the perfect horn breaking her heart. ~ Tanith Lee, #NFDB
116:She was a Roman Cardinal, chaste, but for the perfect choirboy. ~ Jeanette Winterson, #NFDB
117:Can we execute the perfect jailbreak when we have become our own jailers? ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
118:Culture means the perfect and equal development of man on all sides. ~ John Burroughs, #NFDB
119:The morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
120:Why did he have to choose tonight to turn into the perfect husband? ~ Sophie Kinsella, #NFDB
121:Apart from the obvious psychological problems, he’s the perfect man. ~ Charlotte Stein, #NFDB
122:Conventional lives are the perfect refuge if you are a terrible artist. ~ Kevin Wilson, #NFDB
123:The decent method you follow is better than the perfect method you quit. ~ Tim Ferriss, #NFDB
124:The perfect partner is an imposter for the perfect partnership. ~ Khang Kijarro Nguyen, #NFDB
125:The perfect team in personal development is small steps and willpower. ~ Stephen Guise, #NFDB
126:There is no defense against a perfect pass. I can throw the perfect pass. ~ Dan Marino, #NFDB
127:I realized that as imperfect as I may be, I am the perfect Nick Vujicic. ~ Nick Vujicic, #NFDB
128:Just the perfect peace of nothingness. That's what I believed. ~ Shaun David Hutchinson, #NFDB
129:Maybe I’m not thin, but skinny isn’t perfect. The perfect size is happy. ~ Nikki Grimes, #NFDB
130:One is that the perfect garden can be created overnight, which it can't. ~ Ken Thompson, #NFDB
131:The perfect day is going to bed with a dream and waking up with a purpose. ~ A J McLean, #NFDB
132:When the world pushes you to your knees, you're in the perfect position to pray. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
133:Yoga is the perfect way to de-stress and work out at the same time. ~ Shannon Elizabeth, #NFDB
134:No man can bring about the perfect murder; chance, however, can do it ~ Vladimir Nabokov, #NFDB
135:The perfect couple: she puts the id back in Yid, I put the oy back in goy. ~ Philip Roth, #NFDB
136:The perfect pleasure: money is neither fattening nor immoral nor illegal. ~ Mason Cooley, #NFDB
137:You're both so screwed up alone that together you're like the perfect mess. ~ J Sterling, #NFDB
138:You’re both so screwed up alone that together you’re like the perfect mess. ~ J Sterling, #NFDB
139:Angie. Her name fit her when KC said it. It was the perfect size. ~ E E Charlton Trujillo, #NFDB
140:Calamity is the perfect glass wherein we truly see and know ourselves. ~ William Davenant, #NFDB
141:I might not be Silent any longer, but I still have the perfect poker face. ~ Nalini Singh, #NFDB
142:Maybe the key to finding the perfect song is simply rewriting the lyrics. ~ Kandi Steiner, #NFDB
143:...never let a passion for the perfect take precedence over pragmatism. ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
144:New York is the perfect model of a city, not the model of a perfect city. ~ Lewis Mumford, #NFDB
145:No man can bring about the perfect murder; chance, however, can do it. ~ Vladimir Nabokov, #NFDB
146:The perfect love affair is one which is conducted entirely by post. ~ George Bernard Shaw, #NFDB
147:'The system made me do it' is the perfect cop-out for today's managers. ~ Pankaj Ghemawat, #NFDB
148:Cooking is so popular today because it's the perfect mix of food and fun. ~ Emeril Lagasse, #NFDB
149:He was the perfect recipe for disaster, and I was aching to be destroyed. ~ Bethany Bazile, #NFDB
150:I don't try to be perfect. It's the perfect ones that attract suspicion. ~ Robert Ferrigno, #NFDB
151:I feel I am the perfect lover, because I love equally all beautiful girls. ~ M F Moonzajer, #NFDB
152:I would work hard.
I would excel.
I would become the perfect soldier. ~ Julie Kagawa,#NFDB
153:No woman is the perfect woman, Cara. She can only ever be the right woman. ~ Shirlee McCoy, #NFDB
154:One day I’ll paint the perfect sunset--
if I can only find the words. ~ Atticus Poetry,#NFDB
155:The decent method you follow is better than the perfect method you quit. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
156:The nude is the perfect expression of freedom. Freedom to be. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
157:I was the perfect automaton: blessed with ability but cursed with ignorance. ~ Ransom Riggs, #NFDB
158:Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
159:Sometimes being around children was the perfect abstinence program. ~ Jennifer L Armentrout, #NFDB
160:Sometimes, you have to remind yourself the perfect is the enemy of the good. ~ Barry Eisler, #NFDB
161:The Cadillac Escalade is the perfect vehicle for a pimp with a growing family. ~ Dana Gould, #NFDB
162:The perfect rescue dog is out there for everybody. You just have to find it. ~ Josh Hopkins, #NFDB
163:This is the perfect place for insight, for a person to become somebody better. ~ Junot D az, #NFDB
164:You’re deceptively good, Blix. Just the perfect amount of bitch to be sexy. ~ Liz Reinhardt, #NFDB
165:You're miserable, edgy and tired. You're in the perfect mood for journalism. ~ Warren Ellis, #NFDB
166:Only by perfect virtue can the perfect path, in all its courses, be made a fact. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
167:What is wisdom? It is the skill to achieve the perfect means by the perfect ends ~ A W Tozer, #NFDB
168:against my gut feelings and instead focus on becoming the perfect girlfriend. ~ Kathryn Croft, #NFDB
169:If his nose were a tail he would be the perfect image of a sow’s rear end. ~ Charles Palliser, #NFDB
170:if we don't begin by imagining the perfect society, how shall we create one? ~ Isabel Allende, #NFDB
171:Just the perfect touch of rebellion," says Haymitch "Very nice." Rebellion? ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
172:Successful entrepreneurs don't wait for the perfect moment - they create it ~ Richard Branson, #NFDB
173:Tucker: "But she gave me the perfect gift."
Clara: "What?"
Tucker: "You. ~ Cynthia Hand,#NFDB
174:A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
175:I always say that candy is the perfect studio food - it keeps your energy going. ~ Nick Cannon, #NFDB
176:Percy wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. Annabeth was the perfect demigod child. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
177:Sometimes parts just come along when it's the perfect time for you to do them. ~ Jessica Lange, #NFDB
178:You cannot always wait for the perfect time. Sometimes you must dare to jump. ~ Yasmine Bleeth, #NFDB
179:A substantial daily intake of alcohol was the perfect way to stay in shape. ~ Simon Napier Bell, #NFDB
180:But I was the perfect automaton: blessed with ability but cursed with ignorance. ~ Ransom Riggs, #NFDB
181:for laughter is the perfect medicine for the tortured heart, the balm for misery, ~ Dean Koontz, #NFDB
182:No one expected a first year engineering student to build the perfect bridge. ~ Janet Evanovich, #NFDB
183:road, fills me with his cock and it's the perfect missing piece. I know he has ~ Justine Elvira, #NFDB
184:The goal is to try and make the perfect song. Which of course will never happen. ~ Chris Martin, #NFDB
185:When you're editing, you want to be the perfect appreciator, not another writer. ~ Joseph Kanon, #NFDB
186:Yeah, I think A Confederacy of Dunces is probably the perfect New Orleans book. ~ Poppy Z Brite, #NFDB
187:A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship. A ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
188:Because you think you're a few revs short of the perfect engine he likes to drive? ~ Jack L Pyke, #NFDB
189:If you want the perfect relationship, start with the one you have with yourself. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
190:Most kids dream of scoring the perfect goal. I've always dreamed of stopping it. ~ Iker Casillas, #NFDB
191:Nobody ever brought up the hairpiece, and Salenca thought it was the perfect crime. ~ Tim Dorsey, #NFDB
192:The definition of a revolution: it destroys the perfect and enables the impossible. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
193:We're the perfect combination. Colonel's an old carny, and me, I'm off the wall. ~ Elvis Presley, #NFDB
194:We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
195:Jesus Christ is not a security from storms. He is the perfect security in storms ~ Kathy Troccoli, #NFDB
196:Just the perfect touch of rebellion," says Haymitch "Very nice."
Rebellion? ~ Suzanne Collins,#NFDB
197:The perfect kind of architecture decision is the one which never has to be made ~ Robert C Martin, #NFDB
198:When all else fails, cleaning house is the perfect antidote to most of life's ills. ~ Sue Grafton, #NFDB
199:Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, God can give us the perfect way. ~ Corrie ten Boom, #NFDB
200:Envious, cold, and lonely. The perfect ingredients for a nice homemade bitter pie. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
201:nothing is safer
than the sound of you
reading out loud to me - the perfect date ~ Rupi Kaur,#NFDB
202:Run first,' Shane said. 'Mourn later.'
It was the perfect motto for Morganville. ~ Rachel Caine,#NFDB
203:The day we find the perfect church, it becomes imperfect the moment we join it. ~ Charles Spurgeon, #NFDB
204:The nature of revolutions is that they destroy the perfect and enable the impossible. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
205:The perfect aphorism would achieve classical balance and then immediately upset it. ~ Mason Cooley, #NFDB
206:To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question. ~ Ursula K Le Guin, #NFDB
207:You can create the perfect triceps by just pushing yourself off your wall. ~ Jean Claude Van Damme, #NFDB
208:All she needed to cinch the perfect Georgetown application was to win today's election. ~ J L Bryan, #NFDB
209:I am like the perfect horror movie viewer because I do not get scared very easily. ~ Tania Raymonde, #NFDB
210:If you don’t buy, they’ll kill you. The perfect sales-pitch. Buy or die—new slogan. ~ Philip K Dick, #NFDB
211:I love hats and winter is the perfect time for them. I love winter time fashion. ~ Rebecca Ferguson, #NFDB
212:I'm the perfect candidate to be affected by SARS. I'm highly susceptible to infections. ~ Ron Santo, #NFDB
213:The enso contains the perfect and imperfect; that is why it is always complete. ~ Kazuaki Tanahashi, #NFDB
214:The film Titanic is the perfect Afghan tale, where impossible love ends with death ~ Jenny Nordberg, #NFDB
215:We need to make fast decisions here. We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. ~ Lee Child, #NFDB
216:A corrupt angel . . . corrupted by me, agent of the devil himself. The perfect pairing ~ Tillie Cole, #NFDB
217:Applying makeup took energy and choosing the perfect outfit drained mental faculties ~ William Massa, #NFDB
218:I was the perfect candidate. America had their chance with the perfect candidate. ~ Michele Bachmann, #NFDB
219:People keep looking for the perfect one, but perfection is an attribute of God alone. ~ Farahad Zama, #NFDB
220:PSA37.37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
221:The perfect man is a divine child! ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays in Philosophy and Yoga, Heraclitus - VII, #NFDB
222:The perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other ~ Kate Stewart, #NFDB
223:West Indian cultural mentality and a North American life equals the perfect balance. ~ Melanie Fiona, #NFDB
224:I'm the lucky one, Tara. I have you; I have Nathan. I have the perfect life. Thank you. ~ Jaci Burton, #NFDB
225:Thats usually what I gravitate to, I read The Perfect Storm, then I read Into Thin Air . ~ Max Lucado, #NFDB
226:The perfect moment is one of our treasures, and patience is the best way to find it. ~ David duChemin, #NFDB
227:We're the perfect complement to each other. I help him stay grounded and he helps me fly. ~ K Webster, #NFDB
228:In fact, I would say that the demand for the perfect is the greatest enemy of the good. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
229:The sky was the perfect untroubled blue of a television screen, tuned to a dead channel. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
230:To be possessed by Jesus and to possess Him - that is the perfect reign of Love. ~ Peter Julian Eymard, #NFDB
231:Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way . . . God can give us the perfect way. ~ Corrie ten Boom, #NFDB
232:You can't be perfect. You can't be the perfect father. You can't be the perfect singer. ~ Eddie Vedder, #NFDB
233:Happy is the spirit that attains to the perfect formlessness at the time of prayer. ~ Evagrius Ponticus, #NFDB
234:Once you reject fear, you will become the perfect candidate to receive and reflect Truth. ~ Suzy Kassem, #NFDB
235:Sometimes the stars align in the perfect unison, bringing together the perfect union. ~ Elizabeth Reyes, #NFDB
236:The tasks I set out for myself are what I do to beat the perfect pointlessness of life. ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
237:This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it's with us wherever we go. ~ Pema Chodron, #NFDB
238:This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it’s with us wherever we go. ~ Pema Chödrön, #NFDB
239:We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.” —Tom Robbins ~ Zane, #NFDB
240:Being a good listener is the perfect way to avoid answering questions you’d rather ignore. ~ V C Andrews, #NFDB
241:Cotton candy is the perfect snack for when I'm in the mood to eat dry, scratchy fabric. ~ Demetri Martin, #NFDB
242:If she packaged the perfect Facebook life, maybe she would start to believe it herself. ~ Liane Moriarty, #NFDB
243:nothing is safer
than the sound of you
reading out loud to me
-the perfect date ~ Rupi Kaur,#NFDB
244:The perfect accessory can make the difference between looking blah and totally to die for ~ Michael Kors, #NFDB
245:Grant made the perfect candidate, a war hero with indistinct views on most political issues. ~ H W Brands, #NFDB
246:If she could only give up, relax, and live in the perfect knowledge that there was no hope. ~ Paul Bowles, #NFDB
247:Mobile is the perfect example of what is enabling economic growth in the technology sector. ~ Max Levchin, #NFDB
248:My idea of the perfect bottom would be nice, bubbly, curvy, firm, maybe a little bit bouncy. ~ A J McLean, #NFDB
249:nothing is safer
than the sound of you
reading out loud to me
-the perfect date ~ Rupi Kaur,#NFDB
250:[Reagan] was the best president in this era, as he had the perfect temperament for the job. ~ Dan Patrick, #NFDB
251:The day we find the perfect church, it becomes imperfect the moment we join it. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon, #NFDB
252:We can will the perfect future into being by becoming microcosms of the perfect future. ~ Terence McKenna, #NFDB
253:And in her life, she found the perfect death, a way to drown out the pain, a way to let go. ~ Kayla Krantz, #NFDB
254:I tend to like the most basic pieces with the perfect fit and fabric, like a simple tank. ~ Alexander Wang, #NFDB
255:I would like to collaborate with Lana Del Rey . She just has the perfect voice! I love it. ~ Martin Garrix, #NFDB
256:Practically every guy is the perfect guy the first night, so why ever bother with a second? ~ Ben Monopoli, #NFDB
257:shame was not his plan for us—that the perfect state for humankind is a shame-free life. ~ Christine Caine, #NFDB
258:The thing is I'm a great believer in the perfect moment. They don't come around that often. ~ Sarah Dessen, #NFDB
259:You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly ~ Sam Keen, #NFDB
260:I realized that I have very long arms so I can take the perfect arm-length picture with fans ~ Taylor Swift, #NFDB
261:Puerto Rican, Italian and Cuban—the perfect ingredients for a hot, bossy, badass cocktail. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
262:That night I no longer believed that God was the perfect judge. So, in a way, I lost God too. ~ V C Andrews, #NFDB
263:The perfect day for quitting is not real. It will never come, so might as well start today ~ Samuel Johnson, #NFDB
264:Sometimes, we don’t know who we really are until we find the perfect partner to bring it out. ~ Chelle Bliss, #NFDB
265:The Perfect Gentlemen are perfectly delightful, musically superb and thoroughly entertaining. ~ David Zippel, #NFDB
266:You are the perfect creation of God. Don't allow you to be down. God is experiencing through you. ~ Amit Ray, #NFDB
267:Facebook is the perfect place to try on different identities until she finds one that sticks. ~ Brooke Hauser, #NFDB
268:In real life I'm a poor dressmaker and a terrible cook, anything in fact but the perfect wife. ~ June Allyson, #NFDB
269:I want to be the perfect child. I owe so much to my parents and the way I was brought up. ~ Leonardo DiCaprio, #NFDB
270:New York is the perfect town for getting over a disappointment, a loss, or a broken heart. ~ Shirley MacLaine, #NFDB
271:We don’t fall in love with the perfect person; we fall in love despite a person’s imperfections. ~ Vi Keeland, #NFDB
272:I always thought Kurt Cobain was the perfect embodiment of the great alternative guitar player. ~ Billy Corgan, #NFDB
273:In hindsight, these gardens were the perfect place for a nice and quiet attempted murder. ~ Jennifer A Nielsen, #NFDB
274:Mark rolled his eyes. He was clearly not a member of the Perfect Diego Appreciation Society. ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
275:Now is the perfect time to make powerful change-your willingness is at an all-time high. ~ Gabrielle Bernstein, #NFDB
276:Elmsbrook is the perfect town for a serial killer, and I mean that in the best possible way. ~ Jonathan Tropper, #NFDB
277:Face towards the perfect image of every organ and the shadows of disease will never touch you. ~ Robert Collier, #NFDB
278:For the complete life, the perfect pattern includes old age as well as youth and maturity. ~ W Somerset Maugham, #NFDB
279:My face is in his neck and I think if I was going to cry, this would be the perfect place to do it ~ Nyrae Dawn, #NFDB
280:Too poor to paint and too proud to whitewash.’ That’s the perfect description of Tessa’s family. ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
281:A network marketing business is the perfect business for people who like helping other people. ~ Robert Kiyosaki, #NFDB
282:He was the perfect friend, except for the part where he wanted my dick. But I could look past that. ~ Linda Kage, #NFDB
283:If the perfect Son of God is unattractive to you, then obviously you are an unattractive person. ~ John Gerstner, #NFDB
284:I love Chicago. It is my new favorite city. It is the perfect place to do any kind of theater. ~ Christopher Lee, #NFDB
285:It is in the perfect union of two hearts that complete and total marriage consists. ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, #NFDB
286:Rate the intensive above the extensive. The perfect does not lie in quantity, but in quality. ~ Baltasar Gracian, #NFDB
287:The Greek word for “I know,” oida, is the perfect of the verb “to see” and means “I have seen. ~ William Barrett, #NFDB
288:The perfect day is caffeine for 10 hours, alcohol for 4. It balances everything out perfectly. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
289:Algae is the perfect food plant. It doubles cell mass every twelve hours, depending on the strain. ~ Homaro Cantu, #NFDB
290:Christ comes among us at Christmas: it is the perfect time for a personal encounter with the Lord. ~ Pope Francis, #NFDB
291:I always told everybody the perfect joke would be where the setup and punch line were identical. ~ Norm MacDonald, #NFDB
292:I trust Life. I know it brings me everything that I need at the perfect time and in the perfect way. ~ Louise Hay, #NFDB
293:The virtue of the good man is necessarily the same as the virtue of the citizen of the perfect state. ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
294:We can no more create the perfect environment for our children than we can create perfect children. ~ Hanna Rosin, #NFDB
295:Don't wait for the perfect opportunity. Just take an opportunity and make it as perfect as you can. ~ Mark Sanborn, #NFDB
296:enjoyment is in the learning, in the perfect balance between player skill and the challenge presented. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
297:I'm not looking for the perfect man. I'm looking for the man whose imperfections I can put up with. ~ Devon Ashley, #NFDB
298:it wasn’t about finding the perfect guy; it was about finding a guy whose faults you could live with. ~ Sylvia Day, #NFDB
299:Speech is one symptom of affection; and silence one; the perfect communication is heard of none. ~ Emily Dickinson, #NFDB
300:The imperfect book that gets published is better than the perfect book that never leaves my computer. ~ Bren Brown, #NFDB
301:This would be the perfect place to sleep: one could see the stars at night without getting rained on. ~ John Green, #NFDB
302:What do you want to be?"
"Happy," she says with a smile.
That's the perfect answer. ~ Colleen Hoover,#NFDB
303:Why now, why is this the perfect time for this particular idea, and to start this particular company? ~ Sam Altman, #NFDB
304:God is the perfect poet, Who in his person acts his own creations. ~ Robert Browning, Paracelsus (1835), Part II, #NFDB
305:His eyes are the perfect shade of cobalt, blue like a blossoming bruise, clear and deep and decided. ~ Tahereh Mafi, #NFDB
306:I hope to find the perfect band as well, I really do, and I'm working very hard to find that band. ~ Vinnie Vincent, #NFDB
307:Lentils taste like wartime and look like destruction. They’re the perfect punishment for a traitor. ~ Bunmi Laditan, #NFDB
308:We come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. ~ Sam Keen, #NFDB
309:Like the perfect collision of oils on a canvas.
She was a walking piece of art. Words and all. ~ Candace Knoebel,#NFDB
310:The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
311:The performance of a lifetime is the perfect thing to be doing at this age because I can use the age. ~ Fritz Weaver, #NFDB
312:When I started working with mirrors, it seemed to be the perfect material to stand in for that waiting. ~ Jim Hodges, #NFDB
313:You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. ~ Sam Keen, #NFDB
314:Good and Evil," quoth the Buddhists, "both are fetters. The perfect man is master of them both. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
315:he’s the perfect guy to end your dry spell since he won’t expect anything. I think you should hit that. ~ Darcy Burke, #NFDB
316:He was a great horse,” she went on, “and the perfect story—we wouldn’t love him so much if he’d lived. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
317:I never, my producer never, we never let myself just sing. We were always trying to get the perfect vocal. ~ K D Lang, #NFDB
318:It's funny how three or four notes of anger can be struck at once, creating the perfect chord of fury. ~ Tayari Jones, #NFDB
319:It’s funny how three or four notes of anger can be struck at once, creating the perfect chord of fury. ~ Tayari Jones, #NFDB
320:It's the perfect environment for prayer. Chanting in Greek is like a beautiful opera, but way better. ~ Troy Polamalu, #NFDB
321:The Ninja challenges his apprentice to choose the perfect eye-removing dagger for fighting a kraken. ~ Douglas Sarine, #NFDB
322:But Lady Louisa was…inoffensive, almost invisible really. The perfect wife for a man like him. Murdo ~ Joanna Chambers, #NFDB
323:Do not follow your present course. It is a dead end. The dead end of the perfect English gentleman. ~ Guy Vanderhaeghe, #NFDB
324:Don't spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity, that you miss the right opportunity. ~ Michael Dell, #NFDB
325:Higher than the perfect song For which love longeth, Is the tender fear of wrong, That never wrongeth. ~ Bayard Taylor, #NFDB
326:His strong chiseled jaw line looked like the perfect throne to sit on while he ravaged me with his tongue. ~ M Andrews, #NFDB
327:Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to the perfect principles of art. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
328:Run first," Shane said. "Mourn later."
It was the perfect motto for Morganville."
"Chapter 13 ~ Rachel Caine,#NFDB
329:Sometimes I think life's only mission is to bring us to our knees...the perfect position to seek God. ~ Yasmin Mogahed, #NFDB
330:The imperfect book that gets published is better than the perfect book that never leaves my computer. ~ Gretchen Rubin, #NFDB
331:― all you have to do is kill every citizen at birth and then, by God, you're left with the perfect ― ~ William Marshall, #NFDB
332:As for Albert. . . . All right, not the perfect confidant, but definitely the best in a field of one. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
333:By his father he is English, by his mother he is Americanto my mind the blend which makes the perfect man. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
334:Dad was synonymous with his charm and wit and grace, and it was sort of the perfect way to go for him. ~ Jennifer Grant, #NFDB
335:He's got it all. The lineage, the resources, the perfect presidential hair. He'd be crazy not to run. ~ Cristin Terrill, #NFDB
336:I have loved hosting over the years, simply because I love working with people. It's the perfect job. ~ Wink Martindale, #NFDB
337:Inner-calm will lead you on a beautiful journey back to your original self; the perfect, beautiful you. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
338:In the perfect world every source could be identified, but like the man said, "It's not a perfect world." ~ Ben Bradlee, #NFDB
339:I've always been a huge fan of martial arts and comedy, so Rush Hour was the perfect combination for me. ~ Justin Hires, #NFDB
340:Reality TV is the perfect antidote to people who don't have enough self-centered douchebags in their life. ~ Dana Gould, #NFDB
341:Wisdom is the perfect good of the human mind; philosophy is the love of wisdom, and the endeavor to attain it. ~ Seneca, #NFDB
342:By directly inquiring, "Who AM I?" ... 'I' reveals itself as the Perfect Being, the Absolute Self. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
343:If you want the perfect plan that God has for your life, you will have to go by way of Calvary to get it. ~ Billy Graham, #NFDB
344:Look - every time is the wrong time and the perfect time to have a kid, and you just do it when you can. ~ Bill McKibben, #NFDB
345:Mayor Gusherowski approached Adam with a Guy Smiley smile—the perfect blend of game show host and Muppet. ~ Harlan Coben, #NFDB
346:May the perfect grace and eternal love of Christ our Lord be our never-failing protection and help. ~ Ignatius of Loyola, #NFDB
347:Nobody knows I'm Elvis, nobody knows this is me. After all of my tries, I've got the perfect disguise. ~ Waylon Jennings, #NFDB
348:Smart, sharp, and hilarious, Slaughterhouse 90210 is the perfect pick-me-up and never-put-me-down book. ~ Jami Attenberg, #NFDB
349:He certainly seems like the perfect guy but none of that matters if he's not the perfect guy for you. ~ Lauren Weisberger, #NFDB
350:I have always wanted to come and play in MLS so it’s the perfect combination for me and a dream come true. ~ Robbie Keane, #NFDB
351:I'm always moving forward creatively and don't like stalling, trying to find the perfect snare drum sound. ~ Mark Kozelek, #NFDB
352:It's neither and it's both. That's the perfect kind of art. Labels only detract from the artist's intention. ~ Ted Dekker, #NFDB
353:The perfect position for myth is at a crossroads: its genius radiates out in many different directions. ~ Dr. Martin Shaw, #NFDB
354:We come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. ~ Angelina Jolie, #NFDB
355:World Screen is a great resource-the perfect one-stop guide to what matters most in global entertainment. ~ Bonnie Hammer, #NFDB
356:Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries,hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
357:He was the perfect picture of a gentleman in a top hat and tails, fully sane and dreadfully victorious. ~ Stephanie Garber, #NFDB
358:I don’t see the point in waiting for things to happen to you or hoping the perfect circumstances arrive. ~ Jenna Woginrich, #NFDB
359:I don't think I've found the perfect job for me, but I know what I like, so that's halfway there, right? ~ Colleen Haskell, #NFDB
360:....the longer I look, the more convinced I am she’s the perfect storm and I’m lost at sea."-Andrew ~ Ginger Scott, #NFDB
361:Leonardo DiCaprio's life is the perfect example of how not to be. I would not wish his life on anybody. ~ Virginie Ledoyen, #NFDB
362:Press the button, pump the water, build the pressure, push the piston, press the button. It's the perfect job. ~ Tori Amos, #NFDB
363:Sometimes it takes making a lot of mistakes and being with the wrong person to lead you to the perfect one. ~ Nicole Dykes, #NFDB
364:THE PERFECT YOU “Again—nothing you do or think or wish or make is necessary to establish your worth. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
365:The strange, unbeautiful face beautiful in its ugliness; the perfect, beautiful face ugly in its perfection. ~ Eric Maisel, #NFDB
366:Why does every deliberately cruel person describe themselves as the perfect example of necessary bluntness? ~ Mia Sheridan, #NFDB
367:Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
368:Elegant revenge is great. The perfect revenge that lets people see who they actually are for a moment. ~ Patrick Somerville, #NFDB
369:He could look out the window and see nothing but deep snow and deep woods, the perfect picture for Christmas. ~ Susan Wiggs, #NFDB
370:No wonder. Puerto Rican, Italian and Cuban –
the perfect ingredients for a hot, bossy, badass cocktail. ~ Kristen Ashley,#NFDB
371:Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art. ~Waddington ~ W Somerset Maugham, #NFDB
372:That's why you find a lot of entertainers are insecure, because it's the perfect camouflage for insecurity. ~ Gloria Gaynor, #NFDB
373:The consciousness which always shines in the Heart as the formless Self alone is the perfect reality. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
374:The life of faith is not the perfect life; it is the life which clings on to what God has said he will do. ~ Timothy Keller, #NFDB
375:The perfect life would be to have an amazing part every year and to spend all my free time to just write. ~ Melanie Laurent, #NFDB
376:They've finally come up with the perfect office computer. If it makes a mistake, it blames another computer. ~ Milton Berle, #NFDB
377:When I came out to Hollywood, I discovered the perfect place for my creative madness - Cannon Pictures. ~ Mario Van Peebles, #NFDB
378:Even if you build the perfect reactor, you're still saddled with a people problem and an equipment problem. ~ David R Brower, #NFDB
379:Every moment of life mattered. Even the perfect snowflake that alighted on his palm and melted in seconds. ~ Kristen Britain, #NFDB
380:In measured doses, mortification cleanses the soul. It's the perfect antidote for excessive self-regard. ~ Andrew J Bacevich, #NFDB
381:It's the perfect solution. We argue all the time. We can't stand each other. It's like we're already married. ~ Lisa Kleypas, #NFDB
382:Novelists get to direct the perfect films. We get to cast every part. We dress the set exactly as we wish. ~ Jonathan Lethem, #NFDB
383:She smells like angels ought to smell, the perfect woman... the Goddess. Goldie. She says her name is Goldie. ~ Frank Miller, #NFDB
384:The only reason for something to happen in a novel is that it’s the perfect thing to have happen at that time. ~ John Irving, #NFDB
385:The perfect I was looking for wasn’t perfection. The perfect I was looking for was the one. And he was you. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
386:The Perfect Man uses his mind like a mirror - going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing. ~ Zhuangzi, #NFDB
387:What is it about coffee? It's the perfect beverage. It warms me, body and soul. And it makes me insanely happy. ~ Kim Holden, #NFDB
388:Chocolate didn’t make stupid decisions. Chocolate didn’t ask questions. Chocolate was the perfect companion. ~ Melissa Foster, #NFDB
389:How to Commit the Perfect Murder" was an old game in heaven. I always chose the icicle: the weapon melts away. ~ Alice Sebold, #NFDB
390:I felt so fine I didn't once overanalyze the perfect emotion, budding inside. The one I'd always feared most. ~ Ellen Hopkins, #NFDB
391:I really don't like when things are all polished and perfect - the perfect love story and the hair is perfect. ~ Marisa Tomei, #NFDB
392:I want to be contributing and working with people that I like and love, and this was the perfect combination. ~ Nicole Kidman, #NFDB
393:Jakarta is the perfect place to start an attack—the population density is high and there are tons of expatriates ~ A G Riddle, #NFDB
394:My dog, Puffy. The dog is the perfect portrait subject. He doesn't pose. He isn't aware of the camera. ~ Patrick Demarchelier, #NFDB
395:The perfect orchestration of the symphony of life is one of the Creator's greatest and most beautiful miracles. ~ Suzy Kassem, #NFDB
396:This is why people cooked food-to create the perfect meal for a table like this-for people gathering together. ~ Sarina Bowen, #NFDB
397:We should follow the law which Nature has engraved in our hearts. Wisdom lies in the perfect observation of her law. ~ Seneca, #NFDB
398:Writing is the perfect balance between self-confidence and self-doubt, with a bit of self-delusion thrown in. ~ Judith Kelman, #NFDB
399:You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly---Sam Keen, Author ~ Sam Keen, #NFDB
400:English is the perfect language for preachers because it allows you to talk until you think of what to say. ~ Garrison Keillor, #NFDB
401:Equity mutual funds are the perfect solution for people who want to own stocks without doing their own research. ~ Peter Lynch, #NFDB
402:It hurts to know that fate has given me the perfect person for me to love, but has failed to make it reciprocal. ~ Lily Morton, #NFDB
403:May the perfect grace and eternal love of Christ our Lord be our never-failing protection and help. ~ Saint Ignatius of Loyola, #NFDB
404:The perfect bureaucrat everywhere is the man who manages to make no decisions and escape all responsibility. ~ Brooks Atkinson, #NFDB
405:Truth is the perfect tranquilizer. The enemy’s power is rendered powerless in the presence of God’s promises. ~ Lysa TerKeurst, #NFDB
406:We dream of the perfect wave, the perfect job, the perfect house. When we get there, we dream of something else. ~ Rob Machado, #NFDB
407:Writing mirrors the interior self. You know, any book is like the perfect blueprint of the psyche of the author. ~ Janet Fitch, #NFDB
408:haphazardly in the clouds. Teetering and tottering in the crystal-blue sky, it’s the perfect juxtaposition of ~ Melissa Collins, #NFDB
409:I let go of everything not divinely designed for me, and the perfect plan of my life now comes to pass. ~ Florence Scovel Shinn, #NFDB
410:She’d fall asleep with her head resting on his chest, the rise and fall of his breathing the perfect lullaby. ~ Christine Nolfi, #NFDB
411:The perfect breakfast is fish with grits and scrambled eggs with onions. I'm getting hungry thinking about that. ~ Daymond John, #NFDB
412:The perfect way is only difficult for those who pick and choose. Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear. ~ Sengcan, #NFDB
413:We all have this fantasy of finding our one true love who's going to be the perfect fit. It's just not a reality. ~ Ethan Hawke, #NFDB
414:"Who can free himself of achievement and fame, then descend and be lost amidst the masses of men?" ~ Zhuangzi, The Perfect Man|, #NFDB
415:He said, 'The perfect taco.' That's it, those were his last words. He sighed, 'Ahhh,' and said, 'The perfect taco. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
416:I couldn’t do anything because his lips were the perfect collar, keeping me leashed tight and trembling. First, ~ Pepper Winters, #NFDB
417:My lips ached to kiss her. My body strained to hold her as if she was the perfect ending to my unhappy tragedy. ~ Pepper Winters, #NFDB
418:Stop waiting for the perfect day or the perfect moment... Take THIS day, THIS moment and lead it to perfection. ~ Steve Maraboli, #NFDB
419:The ability to become a person of our own making is the perfect lie. I concede that it might appear that some ~ Lisa Renee Jones, #NFDB
420:The institutions under which we live, my countrymen, secure each person in the perfect enjoyment of all his rights. ~ John Tyler, #NFDB
421:The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one and it would not be a wasted life. ~ Ken Watanabe, #NFDB
422:The perfect man is the one who does not let the light of his knowledge quench the light of his reverence. ~ Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, #NFDB
423:We start with the perfect experience and then work backward. That's how we're going to continue to be successful. ~ Brian Chesky, #NFDB
424:You can't always get the perfect moment. Sometimes, you just have to do the best you can under the circumstances. ~ Sarah Dessen, #NFDB
425:Divine Order says that the perfect solution to any problem is already selected if you allow yourself to be guided; ~ Tosha Silver, #NFDB
426:I don't really drink sodas, but when I have popcorn or pizza I need a little. It's the perfect combination. ~ Alessandra Ambrosio, #NFDB
427:Any woman who, by her own admission, is capable of shooting a man in cold blood is likely the perfect wife for me. ~ Vanessa Kelly, #NFDB
428:Down the footpath the two went through the perfect morning, the love of God and all nature in their hearts. ~ Gene Stratton Porter, #NFDB
429:England is home to one of the most unattractive people on earth!" He glared at Walker. "You are the perfect example. ~ Rick Yancey, #NFDB
430:Every once in a while, magicians strike gold. David Regal has created and produced the perfect close-up illusion. ~ Jim Steinmeyer, #NFDB
431:I have the perfect simplified tax form for government. Why don't they just print our money with a return address on it? ~ Bob Hope, #NFDB
432:I'm not good at just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, hoping that the perfect role is going to turn up. ~ Ed Speleers, #NFDB
433:I really like the Caribbean. Anyplace in the Caribbean. I get there, and I feel like a monkey - the perfect state. ~ Penelope Cruz, #NFDB
434:I relax and enjoy life. I know that whatever I need to know is revealed to me in the perfect time and space sequence. ~ Louise Hay, #NFDB
435:Then I strip the pants away from each leg, like peeling a banana. That's it, the perfect metaphor: peeling a banana. ~ Rick Yancey, #NFDB
436:The perfect wound was one that was not mortal, debilitating, or disfiguring, but that was bad enough to get you out. ~ Mark Bowden, #NFDB
437:a corpse is actually the perfect friend. The perfect pet. I feel more comfortable with them than I do with real people. ~ Dan Wells, #NFDB
438:Interferometry, like surfing, is a search for the perfect wave. But physicists don't have to paddle around and wait. ~ Ken Goldberg, #NFDB
439:I've been wanting to have my own family since I was young. It just took me a while to find the perfect woman. ~ Matthew McConaughey, #NFDB
440:No power of genius has ever yet had the smallest success in explaining existence. The perfect enigma remains. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
441:Time could not wreck the perfect symmetry of those walls, nor the site itself, a jewel in the hollow of a hand. ~ Daphne du Maurier, #NFDB
442:Wisdom, properly so called, is nothing else but this: the perfect knowledge of the truth in all matters whatsoever. ~ Thomas Hobbes, #NFDB
443:You have the perfect amount of time each day for the things that matter most. The key is spending time on those things. ~ Jon Acuff, #NFDB
444:From step to step, from truth to truth, we shall climb ceaselessly until we reach the perfect realisation of tomorrow. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
445:So smoking is the perfect way to commit suicide without actually dying. I smoke because it's bad, it's really simple. ~ Damien Hirst, #NFDB
446:The grounds of your justification are the perfect works of Jesus Christ. We're saved by works, but they're not our own. ~ R C Sproul, #NFDB
447:The little boy inside me was screaming 'Manchester United'. United breathes football... the perfect match for me. ~ Robin van Persie, #NFDB
448:His death counts as full punishment for our sins. His sinless life furnishes the perfect righteousness we lack. ~ John F MacArthur Jr, #NFDB
449:I’d been the perfect example of ignorance. I didn’t know what made them love each other because I didn’t understand love. ~ C D Reiss, #NFDB
450:I think that the second we find ourselves asking 'who am I?' is the second we become the perfect person for the job. ~ Katie Ganshert, #NFDB
451:Thinking about drinking now was like fantasizing about the perfect crime. How he would do it—if he were going to do it. ~ Chuck Hogan, #NFDB
452:Time is short, Doctor,” said Dax. “And the perfect is the enemy of the good. Make do with what we’ve got—and do it fast. ~ David Mack, #NFDB
453:Well done, Hudson thought to himself. Keep on talking about murderers; that’s the perfect way to make a good impression. ~ Adi Alsaid, #NFDB
454:It's unfiltered conversation and I love it. I also like to argue with children, so it's the perfect platform for me. ~ Chelsea Handler, #NFDB
455:Love happens! I release the desperate need for love, and instead, allow it to find me in the perfect time-space sequence. ~ Louise Hay, #NFDB
456:Play is as necessary to the perfect development of a child as sunshine is to the perfect development of a plant. ~ Orison Swett Marden, #NFDB
457:Don't be brainwashed by the sun fascists - fair-weather Cumulus have a starring role in the perfect summer's day. ~ Gavin Pretor Pinney, #NFDB
458:It had been a wonderful evening and what I needed now, to give it the perfect ending, was a little of the Ludwig Van. ~ Anthony Burgess, #NFDB
459:Real love amounts to withholding the truth, even when you're offered the perfect opportunity to hurt someone's feelings ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
460:The perfect disinterestedness and self-devotion of which men seem incapable, but which is sometimes found in women. ~ Thomas B Macaulay, #NFDB
461:The perfect human being is all human beings put together, it is a collective, it is all of us together that make perfection. ~ Socrates, #NFDB
462:The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists. ~ E M Forster, #NFDB
463:From step to step , from truth to truth, we shall climb ceaselessly until we reach the perfect realisation of tomorrow.---- ~ The Mother, #NFDB
464:I began writing with a Michael Buble mentality. I think he's fantastic, and it's the perfect music for any date night, ever. ~ Joe Jonas, #NFDB
465:I know my life as a whole hasn’t been perfect, but I’m finally starting to appreciate all the perfect things within it. ~ Colleen Hoover, #NFDB
466:Never shall a man attain to the perfect love of God who has not loved to perfection some creature in this world. ~ Marguerite de Navarre, #NFDB
467:on it. It was the perfect opportunity to regroup. My new table-mates introduced themselves in Turkish. I caught the name ~ Lars Guignard, #NFDB
468:Real love amounts to withholding the truth, even when you're offered the perfect opportunity to hurt someone's feelings. ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
469:Sometimes I listen to them and sometimes I just watch the perfect line of Coin’s hair and try to decide if it’s a wig. ~ Suzanne Collins, #NFDB
470:The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists. ~ E M Forster, #NFDB
471:The world itself is pregnant with failure, is the perfect manifestation of imperfection, of the consciousness of failure. ~ Henry Miller, #NFDB
472:Things are achieved when they are well begun. The perfect archer calls the deer his own While yet the shaft is whistling. ~ George Eliot, #NFDB
473:What is true genius, if not the perfect balance of inspiration and perseverence? CHEULGU KIM Ancient Truths for a New Age ~ C S Friedman, #NFDB
474:Folklore is the perfect second skin. From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world. ~ Jane Yolen, #NFDB
475:Holding on for dear life, I was overcome with the perfect nearness of him, the ache of human solitude nearly conquered. ~ Jennifer DeLucy, #NFDB
476:If you want to make a movie, make it. Don't wait for a grant, don't wait for the perfect circumstances, just make it. ~ Quentin Tarantino, #NFDB
477:It is the perfect moment, a perfect marriage of stillness and life, of beauty and harmony, of aloneness and togetherness. ~ Steven Rowley, #NFDB
478:This rebuilding of New Orleans gives us the perfect opportunity to see if we're ready to extend the legacy of Dr. King. ~ Wynton Marsalis, #NFDB
479:Everyone has their own idea of the perfect partner, but they usually do not consider what it is they have to offer one. ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
480:Human relationships are the perfect tool for sanding away our rough edges and getting at the core of divinity within us. ~ Eknath Easwaran, #NFDB
481:If you can win complete mastery over self, you will easily master all else. To triumph over self is the perfect victory. ~ Thomas a Kempis, #NFDB
482:Though the world and consciousness emerge together, the world shines only through consciousness. That is the perfect Reality. ~ Sri Ramana, #NFDB
483:Take shelter with those who need no shelter. Only on the horse of love can you go beyond the sun and moon to behold the Perfect One. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
484:There's no such thing as designing the perfect utopian city. Everything is subject to change. There are no final frontiers. ~ Jacque Fresco, #NFDB
485:A great start to the perfect day - a world-class workout at the gym... It's hard to feel miserable after a great workout. ~ Bradford Winters, #NFDB
486:A poem is the perfect place to celebrate imperfection and exult in the ways you fall short of being the person you want to be. ~ Taylor Mali, #NFDB
487:Balance is the perfect state of still water. Let that be our model. It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface. ~ Confucius, #NFDB
488:Happy are those who choose, those who accept being chosen, the handsome heroes, the handsome saints, the perfect escapists. ~ Julio Cort zar, #NFDB
489:I guess all the directors in France are influenced by Hitchcock, because he's the perfect visual director, in my eyes. ~ Michel Hazanavicius, #NFDB
490:It was the perfect time and place for an inherently timid person like him to express his
inner pervert by peeing in public. ~ Ry Murakami,#NFDB
491:I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of today's existence. ~ Robert Mapplethorpe, #NFDB
492:Rock stars hawking Diet Cokes--are demons set loose on the Earth to lower the standards for the perfect & holy children of God! ~ Bill Hicks, #NFDB
493:The fact that I was studying the perfect harmony of the stars and planets at the exact same time I was falling in love with you. ~ Nina Lane, #NFDB
494:You can't wait for the perfect situation. Find something you love. People you love. And get out there and you'll discover it. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
495:I can't even find the perfect brush so I can paint what's going through my mind. Racing 'gainst myself but I'm a couple steps behind. ~ Drake, #NFDB
496:I’m just a person, just Jay Park, but people expect me to be the best dancer or a man with the perfect personality. That’s not me. ~ Jay Park, #NFDB
497:That would have been the perfect entrance," Crina muttered, referring to the cheer that had been thoroughly shut down my Decebel. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
498:This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity. ~ Tupac Shakur, #NFDB
499:You should do whatever language you feel is the perfect language for you to sing in and then try to strive to do the best. ~ Enrique Iglesias, #NFDB
500:Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. Colossians 3:13–14 ~ Beth Moore, #NFDB
501:Serving in obscurity can do more to shape a future leader than a dozen years of combing evangelicalism for the perfect position. ~ Dave Harvey, #NFDB
502:The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord's Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion. ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas, #NFDB
503:The perfect path: for each one the path which leads fastest to the Divine.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,#NFDB
504:The perfect world for me is to find some sort of inner peace. I believe that a man that walks with God can walk anywhere. ~ Immortal Technique, #NFDB
505:The waiter came over to ask if all is delicious. As we have not yet ordered, it is certainly the perfect time to enquire. ~ Patrick McGuinness, #NFDB
506:If the mind could cease measuring itself against the hero, the perfect, the glorious and all that, it would be what it is. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
507:I had the perfect family, perfect girl, perfect future. I let myself forget the other girl you once were. Beau didn’t forget her. ~ Abbi Glines, #NFDB
508:A slice of hot, buttered toast is the perfect meal. It's not too much and not too little, and it gives you just the right buzz. ~ Naveen Andrews, #NFDB
509:Because that’s what life’s about. It’s about paddling out and fighting the waves until you find the perfect one to ride home on. ~ Kandi Steiner, #NFDB
510:Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see. ~ Corrie ten Boom, #NFDB
511:Great love isn't two people finding the perfect match in one another. Great love is two people making the choice to be a match. ~ Lysa TerKeurst, #NFDB
512:If you wish to produce a perfect rose, you must cut off the other buds which are spoiling the growth of the perfect flower. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
513:Maybe it's not just about finding the perfect friend, partner, or tribe, but finding the perfection in those you've already found. ~ Mike Dooley, #NFDB
514:Oh roses for the flush of youth, And laurel for the perfect prime; But pluck an ivy branch for me Grown old before my time. ~ Christina Rossetti, #NFDB
515:What do you do?" I ask.
"I live."
"I live" is not an answer, until I think about it. Maybe it's the perfect answer. ~ Jewel E Ann,#NFDB
516:Beau had come to my rescue when I needed it the most. He might not be the perfect citizen but Grana always said perfect was boring. ~ Abbi Glines, #NFDB
517:Chihuahuas are the perfect pet if you don't have a person in your life who screams and shits their pants every time there's a noise. ~ Dana Gould, #NFDB
518:Chuang-tzu: ‘‘The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror; it grasps nothing; it refuses nothing; it receives, but does not keep. ~ Alan W Watts, #NFDB
519:Ever since my daughter was born I feel the fleetingness of time. And I don't want to waste it on getting the perfect lip color. ~ Madonna Ciccone, #NFDB
520:Everyone asks how I felt before the perfect game. You never feel bad when you're in the World Series. You've got all winter to rest. ~ Don Larsen, #NFDB
521:Good is mastery of the body, good the mastery of the speech, good too the mastery of the thought, good the perfect self-mastery. ~ Maggima Nikaya, #NFDB
522:great love isn’t two people finding the perfect match in each other. Great love is two people making the choice to be a match. A ~ Lysa TerKeurst, #NFDB
523:! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see. ~ Corrie ten Boom, #NFDB
524:I had the perfect accident for the perfect idea. I was rendered immobile where the only thing I could do is mess with my computer. ~ Harry Knowles, #NFDB
525:It is the woman who sheaths her claws and waits for the perfect opportunity who ends up with the cream from the top of the pail. ~ Vivienne Lorret, #NFDB
526:It takes a long time to make the perfect playlist. I don't believe in that little Genius button they have on iTunes. That's cheating. ~ J J Howard, #NFDB
527:The perfect body protects its owner from disease, gives birth to amazing new people and stops your bones from falling out. The end. ~ Heather Hill, #NFDB
528:The perfect date for me would be staying at home, making a big picnic in bed, eating Wotsits and cookies while watching cable TV. ~ Kim Kardashian, #NFDB
529:You are the perfect girl,” he said against my lips. “You’re hot, but you hate to shop. That dress is gonna look great. On my floor. ~ Sarina Bowen, #NFDB
530:Did he realize how he was sometimes able to say the perfect thing? Because if he was trying to get in my pants, it was working. ~ Heather Demetrios, #NFDB
531:Don't waste your whole lifetime waiting for the perfect life when there's a perfectly good one within and right in front of you. ~ Rasheed Ogunlaru, #NFDB
532:It's all very well to put the government in the hands of the perfect man, but what do you do when the perfect man gets a bellyache? ~ David Eddings, #NFDB
533:It's the warmest, loveliest community I've ever set foot in. For me, it's the perfect place to live. It's the best part of America. ~ Nicole Kidman, #NFDB
534:My witness is the empty sky.
My reward is the perfect blue sky at dawn in the desert in a bird-resounding riverbottom grove. ~ Jack Kerouac,#NFDB
535:The opportunity is not to discover the perfect company for ourselves. The opportunity is to build the perfect company for each other. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
536:You think you've found the perfect mate and you head for him, blinking as fast as you can, and then you find out he's a Bic lighter. ~ Lisa Kleypas, #NFDB
537:I can spend my time focusing on the perfect version of the life I’ll never have or I can spend my time enjoying the life I do have. ~ Colleen Hoover, #NFDB
538:I don't mind being called a liar. I am. I am a marvelous liar. But I hate being called a liar when I´m telling the perfect truth. ~ Patrick Rothfuss, #NFDB
539:If we have to know without a doubt that the choices we are making are the perfect ones, we risk never making any choices at all. ~ Marcus Buckingham, #NFDB
540:The grit in his tone felt like the perfect pumice stone, smoothing edges of me that had been rough for as long as I could remember. ~ Laurelin Paige, #NFDB
541:He had waited until I had my door open, then driven away. The perfect gentleman. Sort of like Dracula just before he drank your blood. ~ Toni Andrews, #NFDB
542:Show me what you wish, show me what to do,” I began. “The perfect actions are already picked . . . guide me . . . please open the way! ~ Tosha Silver, #NFDB
543:The perfect surrender and humiliation were undergone by Christ: perfect because He was God, surrender and humiliation because He was man. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
544:The soulless blood-rush of synthesized climax over a repetitive backbeat made disco the perfect music by which to score with a stranger. ~ Naomi Wolf, #NFDB
545:This is flight 121 to Los Angeles. If your travel plans today do not include Los Angeles, now would be the perfect time to disembark. ~ Douglas Adams, #NFDB
546:What makes a great song - you dont put it into words. You feel it. The perfect lyric. The perfect melody. It makes you feel something. ~ Diane Warren, #NFDB
547:Yeah, they haven’t hand dug graves in years. I just thought it would be fun.” “I’m going to kill you.” “This would be the perfect place. ~ Kasie West, #NFDB
548:career. Why didn’t he wait and run for mayor after Daley was done? Barack would be the perfect candidate to bridge the city’s divides. ~ David Axelrod, #NFDB
549:I decided to create a really good laptop recording situation and to learn how to write that way, rather than have the perfect stuff around. ~ St Lucia, #NFDB
550:I have long since decided if you wait for the perfect time to write, you'll never write. There is no time that isn't flawed somehow. ~ Margaret Atwood, #NFDB
551:Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, for you shall only live it once. Be comfortable with growing older. ~ Louise Hay, #NFDB
552:The perfect target market for a startup is a small group of particular people concentrated together and served by few or no competitors. ~ Peter Thiel, #NFDB
553:Type well used is invisible as type, just as the perfect talking voice is the unnoticed vehicle for the transmission of words, ideas. ~ Beatrice Warde, #NFDB
554:Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see.” Every ~ Corrie ten Boom, #NFDB
555:How is that cut doing?" His tone had the perfect degree of unconcerned concern.
"Don't worry, my trigger finger is just fine. ~ Bard Constantine,#NFDB
556:I learnt to stop fantasising about the perfect job or the perfect relationship because that can actually be an excuse for not living. ~ Alain de Botton, #NFDB
557:It was the perfect excuse to talk Livvie into donating her furniture to Claudia and Rubio (let him deal with all the bed pillows). ~ C J Roberts, #NFDB
558:March is the perfect month for a wedding. Just make sure it’s after the NCAA tournament. I think we’ll go far this year. Go Big Blue! ~ Kathleen Brooks, #NFDB
559:The perfect human being is uninteresting-the Buddha who leaves the world, you know. It is the imperfections of life that are lovable. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
560:There were no international terrorists in Iraq until we went in. It was we who gave the perfect conditions in which Al Qaeda could thrive. ~ Robin Cook, #NFDB
561:This very world is seen by the five senses as matter, by the very wicked as hell, by the good as heaven, and by the perfect as God. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
562:To the totality of purposes of the perfect Law there belong the abandonment, depreciation, and restraint of desires in so far as possible. ~ Maimonides, #NFDB
563:I always thought that's the exact metaphor, the perfect metaphor for acting. To go blind, to ignore the danger, and to totally trust. ~ Isabelle Huppert, #NFDB
564:In the perfect society, there is neither emotion nor mercy; precious space cannot be wasted on those who have outlived their usefulness. ~ Frank Herbert, #NFDB
565:No, buddy. I won’t be mad. In fact, I’m mighty happy God brought you to the perfect family in His perfect timing just like we prayed for. ~ Jody Hedlund, #NFDB
566:There is desire in the perfect, beauty in the imperfect.
Thus I lust over the flawless,
and fall amorously forceless to the flawed. ~ Ilyas Kassam,#NFDB
567:There's so many songs about heartbreak that exist this in the world, because music is somehow the perfect medium to express something like this. ~ Bjork, #NFDB
568:To be thought of as the perfect woman for a man isn’t a compliment to a woman, it’s more about how a man sees himself—and what he needs. ~ Sherry Thomas, #NFDB
569:Without the perfect sympathy with the animals around them, no gentleman's education, no Christian education, could be of any possible use. ~ John Ruskin, #NFDB
570:Women are like pumpkins; you search and search for the perfect one, bring it home, and the next thing you know, you're looking for a knife. ~ Dana Gould, #NFDB
571:doing the perfect kettlebell swing alone is superior to 99 percent of the sophisticated strength and conditioning programs out there. ~ Pavel Tsatsouline, #NFDB
572:I had the feeling that Sarajevo was the perfect place to shoot the film I wanted to shoot. It is the perfect illustration of purgatory. ~ Jean Luc Godard, #NFDB
573:In my adolescence, love, as I think for most of us, was a tremendous focus. I wanted to find the perfect partner. I did and married her. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
574:Who am I? I am that. Nothing can change that. Words, intellect and concepts can never reach that. It is the perfect silence without vibration. ~ Amit Ray, #NFDB
575:He pulled his nose out of her cleavage and turned to me. “Gaylord Brown,” he said. “It’s the perfect name because I’m gay and I’m brown. ~ Janet Evanovich, #NFDB
576:Like a butterfly stuck in a chrysalis, waiting for the perfect moment, I was waiting for the day I could burst forth and fly away and find my home. ~ Emme, #NFDB
577:So long as he was personally present, [Alcibiades] had the perfect mastery of his political adversaries; calumny only succeeded in his absence. ~ Plutarch, #NFDB
578:technically imperfect plan that is implemented well will achieve more than the perfect plan that never gets off the paper on which it is typed ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
579:Thank you, yard sales, for being the perfect way to say to your neighbors: We think we're important enough to charge money for our garbage. ~ Jimmy Fallon, #NFDB
580:The powers cannot see those who have put on the perfect light, and they cannot seize them. One puts on the light in the mystery of union. ~ Marvin W Meyer, #NFDB
581:When you emit the perfect frequency of what you want, the perfect people, circumstances, and events will be attracted to you and delivered! ~ Rhonda Byrne, #NFDB
582:Bloom is not a book about living the perfect lifestyle, it's about giving you the confidence to find the lifestyle that is perfect for you. ~ Est e Lalonde, #NFDB
583:Government is the perfect portrayer of the accuracy of the axiom that if you lie big enough, long enough, the lie becomes the “truth. ~ Neale Donald Walsch, #NFDB
584:I guess I'm the perfect young lead actress. I'm not Chloe Sevigny - I'm not really a character actress. Some actors have "character" faces. ~ Berenice Bejo, #NFDB
585:"My only problem with women breastfeeding in public is they never wink back." It's kind of the perfect joke because it's a bait and switch. ~ Gavin McInnes, #NFDB
586:Q: When is the perfect time? A: Who can say, but probably somewhere between haste and delay - and it's usually most wise to start today. ~ Rasheed Ogunlaru, #NFDB
587:Roosevelt declared, arguing that “the insistence upon having only the perfect cure often results in securing no betterment whatever. ~ Doris Kearns Goodwin, #NFDB
588:Search for the perfect church if you will; when you find it, join it, and realize that on that day it becomes something less than perfect. ~ Andrew Greeley, #NFDB
589:The space between our expectations and our reality is a fertile field, and it’s the perfect place to grow a bumper crop of disappointment. ~ Lysa TerKeurst, #NFDB
590:"Are We There Yet?" was the perfect title, because it's such a common saying. And having made the movie with the same name kinda locks it all in. ~ Ice Cube, #NFDB
591:Allie put her chin on his shoulder to look into the carton. He had great shoulders and Chinese food. At the moment, he was the perfect man. ~ Jennifer Crusie, #NFDB
592:I'm a four star general in this thing, and you don't rise to the ranks of a four star general by hanging about the house being the perfect dad. ~ Sam Elliott, #NFDB
593:It was a basic rule of life: Parents are full of promises; children are full of needs and longing. The perfect ingredients for disappointment. ~ Brad Meltzer, #NFDB
594:People ask me, 'Is 3D a good medium for horror movies?' I think it's the perfect thing for horror movies because it really puts you into it. ~ Tania Raymonde, #NFDB
595:Send out love and harmony, put your mind and body in a peaceful place, and then allow the universe to work in the perfect way that it knows how. ~ Wayne Dyer, #NFDB
596:Sometimes one waits too long for the perfect moment before snapping the picture. You never realize that you needed was to change perspective. ~ Miguel Syjuco, #NFDB
597:the mass repatriation was great news for both governments—the perfect win-win situation for everyone except the real human beings involved. ~ Masaji Ishikawa, #NFDB
598:1225
When Memory is full
When Memory is full
Put on the perfect Lid This Morning's finest syllable
Presumptuous Evening said ~ Emily Dickinson,#NFDB
599:Hi's nose was pressed to his window. “I've changed my mind, Tory. This is the perfect place to hold someone prisoner. I'm keeping this on file. ~ Kathy Reichs, #NFDB
600:If you get a chance to be in a film, that's great. One of my goals is to make a record as good as Don Henley's album, Building the Perfect Beast. ~ Glenn Frey, #NFDB
601:I have a noble history of being rejected by a lot of places, only to discover that the one that finally lets me in is in fact the perfect fit. ~ Renee Fleming, #NFDB
602:I’ve always thought I could commit the perfect murder. People who get caught get caught because they don’t have patience; they refuse to plan. ~ Gillian Flynn, #NFDB
603:Round still, but that's fine.
Feeling good outside and in.
Maybe I'm not thin,
but skinny isn't perfect.
The perfect size is happy. ~ Nikki Grimes,#NFDB
604:The perfect plan includes health, wealth, love and perfect selfexpression. This is the square of life, which brings perfect happiness. ~ Florence Scovel Shinn, #NFDB
605:Because the perfect moment can never be improved, and should be remembered, cherished, just the way it was. Like every moment I spend in your arms. ~ J D Tyler, #NFDB
606:He used to say that life was all about a boy finding the perfect girl; he was lucky enough to have been handed his in a labor and delivery room. ~ Jodi Picoult, #NFDB
607:I don’t mind being called a liar. I am. I am a marvelous liar. But I hate being called a liar when I’m telling the perfect truth. Regardless ~ Patrick Rothfuss, #NFDB
608:[...] it's about challenge and fulfillment, finding the perfect combination of striving and achievement that comes from reaching a big goal. ~ Chris Guillebeau, #NFDB
609:My parents ingrained in me early on that the perfect score is always something to strive for. I want to win and I want to succeed no matter what. ~ Andrea Jung, #NFDB
610:The appearance of the perfect shoes were met with another round of ahhs, and this time Cinder couldn’t contain a chuckle and shake of her head. ~ Marissa Meyer, #NFDB
611: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
612:The real question is, can you love the real me? Not the perfect person you want me to be, not that image you had of me, but who I really am. ~ Christine Feehan, #NFDB
613:This season don't get lost in making the perfect meal or become overwhelmed with all the folks in your house. Use this time to center yourself. ~ Oprah Winfrey, #NFDB
614: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
615:The library was one enormous room, with long, high metal shelves and the perfect quiet that libraries provide for anyone looking for an answer. ~ Daniel Handler, #NFDB
616:The perfect tools aren't going to help us if we can't face each other and give and receive fearlessly, but more important, to ask without shame. ~ Amanda Palmer, #NFDB
617:Everyone has the perfect gift to give the world-and if each of us is freed up to give our unique gift, the world will be in total harmony. ~ R Buckminster Fuller, #NFDB
618:I like it when people know my preferences up front and shape the world to my liking. It’s the perfect thing the morning after a gunshot wound.” She ~ Lauren Dane, #NFDB
619:It was if the devil himself had devised the perfect earthly torture for Lady Alicia Lawrence. “Now how will I occupy myself when I get to hell? ~ Celeste Bradley, #NFDB
620:I've got the perfect dress. It's going to knock your socks off."
Marcus wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but he couldn't wait to find out. ~ Deborah Blake,#NFDB
621:Life was a journey of discovery, and character was a variable that kept veering left and right in search of the perfect way for a particular day. ~ Moses Isegawa, #NFDB
622:The intense happiness of our union is derived in a high degree from the perfect freedom with which we each follow and declare our own impressions. ~ George Eliot, #NFDB
623:The perfect faith is an assent of the whole being to the truth seen by it or offered to its acceptance. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Faith and Shakti, #NFDB
624:The perfect thing for me is to be on something I love, where I'm doing it and have enough money not to be poor, and I'm allowed to go on vacation. ~ Ben Schwartz, #NFDB
625:What I loved about it was language-wise it wasn't that finely-tuned-perfect-insult-for-the-perfect-situation that sometimes we try and do on Veep. ~ David Mandel, #NFDB
626:All I know
is that "thank you" should appear somewhere.
So just in case
I can't find
the perfect place-
"Thank you, thank you. ~ Mary Oliver,#NFDB
627:A shimmery bronzer is the perfect way to look alive. If you don't want to wear makeup, mix some with moisturizer. You'll look pretty but not made-up. ~ Eva Mendes, #NFDB
628:As Oscar Wilde says, thirty-five is the perfect age for a woman, so much so that many women have decided to adopt it for the rest of their lives. ~ Helen Fielding, #NFDB
629:Fiery goddess in search of the perfect god. Soar with me through clouds, frolic under the stars, hand me the moon for my own. Mortals need not reply. ~ Kate Perry, #NFDB
630:Having the perfect body doesn't fix all your problems, or make you love yourself more. To me, it's all about being comfortable in your own skin. ~ America Ferrera, #NFDB
631:Insane or not, Rudy was always destined to be Liesel's best friend. A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
632:it’s to do with not being able to let go of what Richard and I had, the perfect idea of us, even though our reality has fallen so far from that. ~ Gilly Macmillan, #NFDB
633:I will take as a given that, for most people, somewhere between six and seven billion of them, the perfect job is the one that takes the least time. ~ Tim Ferriss, #NFDB
634:Like a butterfly stuck in a chrysalis, waiting for the perfect moment, I was waiting for the day I could burst forth and fly away and find my home. ~ Emme Rollins, #NFDB
635:see and their responses to it. With superhuman technology, the step from the perfect surveillance state to the perfect police state would be minute. ~ Max Tegmark, #NFDB
636:The best job that was ever offered to me was to become a landlord in a brothel. In my opinion it's the perfect milieu for an artist to work in. ~ William Faulkner, #NFDB
637:There was an Old Man of Messina, Whose daughter was named Opsibeena; She wore a small wig, and rode out on a pig, To the perfect delight of Messina. ~ Edward Lear, #NFDB
638:In terms of essays, I would say Oliver Sacks. His breadth of hard knowledge and imagination and empathy seems to constitute the perfect mind to me. ~ Hilary Mantel, #NFDB
639:I've always looked for the perfect life to step into. I've taken all the paths to get where I wanted.But no matter where I go, I still come home me. ~ Layne Staley, #NFDB
640:Nature had found the perfect place to hide the yellow fever virus. It seeded itself and grew in the blood, blooming yellow and running red. ~ Molly Caldwell Crosby, #NFDB
641:The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. ~ Pope Francis, #NFDB
642:What writing ROOM taught me was that I know exactly how to be the perfect mother, but I'm not willing to do it for more than ten minutes at a time. ~ Emma Donoghue, #NFDB
643:Aidan realized he'd wasted a lot of time waiting for the perfect woman, when all he really wanted was someone to laugh with him the rest of his life. ~ Jill Shalvis, #NFDB
644:Normally I'm really lucky because I can go down to my local shops and no one cares. I take the Tube and the bus so it's kind of the perfect balance. ~ MyAnna Buring, #NFDB
645:Reality is the perfect enemy: it always fights back, it can never be defeated, and infinite energy can be expended in unsuccessfully resisting it. ~ Mencius Moldbug, #NFDB
646:Such clubs and bars offered the perfect “third place,” neither home nor work, where I could go to unwind and socialize. I wasn’t ready to give that up. ~ Clea Simon, #NFDB
647:Switzerland is the perfect place where you have volatility at a municipal level that nothing up top - small units competing with each other. ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb, #NFDB
648:Among the features peculiar to the political system of the United States, is the perfect equality of rights which it secures to every religious sect. ~ James Madison, #NFDB
649:He's out for her blood and he'll stop at nothing to get it.
And he's got the perfect pathway to it...straight through her heart.
-Tristan ~ Ashley Jade,#NFDB
650:If you succeed inconquering yourself entirely, you will conquer the rest with the greatest ease. To triumph over oneself is the perfect victory ~ Imitation of Christ, #NFDB
651:I guess I kind of realized that my whole life isn’t one giant press junket. I don’t have to be smiling all the time and always have the perfect answer. ~ Miley Cyrus, #NFDB
652:My family are amazing. I had like, the perfect upbringing. It sucks for people like Lindsey [Lohan], but it's not her fault she's so off the rails. ~ Kristen Stewart, #NFDB
653:Some people tell me that they like what I do, which is great, of course. The perfect irony and truth is that I need them much more than they need me. ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
654:The Holy Eucharist is the perfect expression of the love of Jesus Christ for man since It is the quintessence of all the mysteries of His Life. ~ Peter Julian Eymard, #NFDB
655:The perfect society will be that which most entirely favours the perfection of the individual. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, The Imperfection of Past Aggregates, #NFDB
656:The worst part is, he’s been extra sweet because he’s trying to make everything okay again. If he weren’t a serial killer, he’d be the perfect boyfriend ~ Kelly Oram, #NFDB
657:We go in search of the perfect partner who will stay with us forever. But we forget that we have first to be a perfect partner before we seek one. ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
658:I get great joy from creating the perfect Norman Rockwell holiday. This is why I think I might be Martha Stewart's brother from another mother. ~ Jesse Tyler Ferguson, #NFDB
659:I will take as a given that, for most people, somewhere between six and seven billion of them, the perfect job is the one that takes the least time. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
660:My music is like the perfect haircut-a Friday-night cut! It makes you feel like wanting to put on some nice clothes to go out and have a good time. ~ Anthony Hamilton, #NFDB
661:Sara, your work is not to look for the perfect place where only the things you want exist. Your work is to look for the things you want in every place. ~ Esther Hicks, #NFDB
662:That's the mistake people make - always searching for the perfect match, when they would be just as happy if they settled for somebody reasonably good. ~ Farahad Zama, #NFDB
663:Then, when shame strikes, it is so nasty you have to numb yourself, and what better anesthetic than your addiction? It is the perfect vicious circle. ~ Edward T Welch, #NFDB
664:There is no Mr. Right because there is no Mr. Wrong. There is whoever is in front of us, and the perfect lessons to be learned from that person. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
665:We had hundreds of thousands of people all dedicated to doing the perfect job, and I think they did about as well as anyone could ever have expected. ~ Neil Armstrong, #NFDB
666:Words of encouragement, a little respect, simple gestures of kindness from a teacher promote the perfect climate for studetns to study, learn, and grow. ~ Donna Fargo, #NFDB
667:I never lost the certainty that he was the perfect boy. The perfect boy for me anyway. I just tried not to think about it, because it made me ache inside. ~ Cat Clarke, #NFDB
668:So, I completely and utterly support David and Gillian's decision to go to Los Angeles, but I think that Vancouver is the perfect location for the show. ~ Nicholas Lea, #NFDB
669:The perfect weather of Indian Summer lengthened and lingered, warm sunny days were followed by brisk nights with Halloween a presentiment in the air. ~ Wallace Stegner, #NFDB
670:There's tons of little tricks that that go into making the perfect shoe, but I think color, comfort is really important and different sizes of heels. ~ Jessica Simpson, #NFDB
671:Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony. ~ Coco Chanel, #NFDB
672:You must have a cigarette. A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want? ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
673:I have a great plain blue shirt from APC, and a denim one from Dolce that I wear constantly. It's hard to find the perfect denim shirt, but this is it. ~ Felicity Jones, #NFDB
674:I have no plans to retire. It's the perfect combination of work and play that keeps you young. If I quit work it would be the beginning of the end for me. ~ Hugh Hefner, #NFDB
675:Jordan used to say that the perfect environment for a game is a closed space, be it in the seven cars in The Last Express, or a spaceship, for that matter. ~ Mark Moran, #NFDB
676:Sarah is the most enthusiastic cynical person on the planet. She’d be the perfect cheerleader if she weren’t so disgusted by the notion of school spirit. ~ Jandy Nelson, #NFDB
677:She had not merely been attracted to him, she had been arrested by him and in her mind he had become the perfect partner she would never have ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, #NFDB
678:And I’m so obsessed with my pursuit of the perfect cappuccino that I spent $6,000 on an exquisite La Marzocco coffee machine, which I imported from Florence. ~ Guy Spier, #NFDB
679:As the print of the seal on the wax is the express image of the seal itself, so Christ is the express image - the perfect representation of God. ~ Saint Ambrose of Milan, #NFDB
680:If there’s one thing my mother taught me, it is how to wear the perfect mask. Never show them what you’re really feeling because that’s how they hurt you. ~ Cat Hellisen, #NFDB
681:Like many men and women who make egregious and irretrievable mistakes with their own children, she would redeem herself by becoming the perfect grandmother. ~ Pat Conroy, #NFDB
682:this was exactly what he did: became a turtle, all hard shell. It was the perfect protection, the perfect weapon. She lost every time. She understood that ~ Gayle Forman, #NFDB
683:Growing up with country, R&B, gospel, and classical music from my grandmother and pop, Tuskegee was the perfect melting pot for my influences as a writer. ~ Lionel Richie, #NFDB
684:He is the perfect athlete who surmounts temptations and the incline of his nature towards sin and exercises over his mind domination and empire. ~ J. Tauler. Institutions, #NFDB
685:If Jesus expresses loving concern for the smallest of our troubles, certainly in His role as the perfect sufferer He cares for our greatest traumas. ~ John F MacArthur Jr, #NFDB
686:I think Jon Foo and my chemistry is incredible! Foo is a genuine introvert and I'm a genuine extrovert. We're the perfect ying and yang, on and off camera. ~ Justin Hires, #NFDB
687:It is a story I never tire of telling, because to me it is the perfect coming together to science and spirituality-the twin driving forces of my life. ~ A P J Abdul Kalam, #NFDB
688:It’s never easy to stand when the storm hits. And that’s exactly the point. By sending the wind, He brings us to our knees: the perfect position to pray. ~ Yasmin Mogahed, #NFDB
689:The perfect crime is when you push someone to suicide. I once read a study that said everyone in the course of their life has thought of killing someone. ~ Claude Lelouch, #NFDB
690:As the perfect parent, God suffers emotional pain when his creatures, created in his own image and likeness, rebel against him and do evil instead of good. ~ Roger E Olson, #NFDB
691:God can make a sunrise—if He can arrange the planet the perfect distance from the sun and keep it on course each day—then He can tackle anything in my life. ~ John Herrick, #NFDB
692:In film, there's so many little things where not just the actor can blow his lines, but technically, it doesn't quite come off in the perfect way envisioned. ~ Ali MacGraw, #NFDB
693:Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is spread before us every day, but it changes and withers at a touch. ~ J B Priestley, #NFDB
694:Living in an age of advertisement we are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is spread before us every day but it changes and withers at the touch. ~ J B Priestley, #NFDB
695:Serpentining is the perfect metaphor for how we spend enormous energy trying to dodge vulnerability when it would take far less effort to face it straight on. ~ Bren Brown, #NFDB
696:There will come a day A hazy day in May Or a storm in mid-December When you need someone Just to have a little fun Then I could be the perfect girl for you. ~ Paris Hilton, #NFDB
697:The universe knows the perfect timing for all those things you want and will find, through the crack of least resistance, the best way to deliver it to you. ~ Esther Hicks, #NFDB
698:All of my most significant moments somehow involved music. It's like my life was a John Hughes film and somebody had to put together the perfect soundtrack. ~ Caprice Crane, #NFDB
699:By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and more enjoyable. It's the perfect example of having your cake and eating it, too. ~ Tim Ferriss, #NFDB
700:Ideally, anything one writes should have a social conscience: if you can write a story that thrills, and with a good message, that's the perfect type of a story. ~ Stan Lee, #NFDB
701:I will repeat my points for your ruddy draft, but I will not burn my night away searching for the perfect words that will ensure no one gets their feelings hurt, ~ K M Shea, #NFDB
702:The perfect man is the true partner. Not a bed partner nor a fun partner, but a man who will shoulder burdens equally with you and possess that quality of joy. ~ Erica Jong, #NFDB
703:When I began my search for the perfect skin care to fight the aging process, I noticed that my sensitive skin was reacting horribly to any product I used. ~ Connie Sellecca, #NFDB
704:Each woman is made to feel it is her own cross to bear if she can't be the perfect clone of the male superman and the perfect clone of the feminine mystique. ~ Betty Friedan, #NFDB
705:I open the book while resting my back on the chair and read. Because the book gives me the perfect description, play by play, on how to pull off a spotless crime ~ V F Mason, #NFDB
706:The assumption of imperfection by the perfect is the whole mystic phenomenon of the universe. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Possibility and Purpose of Avatarhood, #NFDB
707:The perfect mate can give you the big O with a single touch. He can make you feel sexy, delicious, and totally kick ass. No, wait, that’s ice cream. Never mind. ~ Celia Kyle, #NFDB
708:Which was briefly reassuring, until some biomedical statistician from the University of fucking Buzzkill went on record about the myth of the perfect failsafe, ~ Rich Horton, #NFDB
709:And Jessica saw in Richard an enormous amount of potential, which, properly harnessed by the right woman, would have made him the perfect matrimonial accessory. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
710:If God can make a sunrise—if He can arrange the planet the perfect distance from the sun and keep it on course each day—then He can tackle anything in my life. ~ John Herrick, #NFDB
711:I know that having the perfect body doesn't fix all your problems, or make you love yourself more. To me, it's all about being comfortable in your own skin. ~ America Ferrera, #NFDB
712:My work has the abstraction underneath it all now & what I deliberately set out to do down here, for this is the perfect realistic abstraction in landscape. ~ Marsden Hartley, #NFDB
713:The Perfect Matrimony is the union of two beings; one who loves more, and the other who loves better. The best religion available to the human race is Love. ~ Samael Aun Weor, #NFDB
714:The perfect woman, you see [is] a working-woman; not an idler; not a fine lady; but one who [uses] her hands and her head and her heart for the good of others. ~ Thomas Hardy, #NFDB
715:Truth is the perfect virtue, the sovereign good that is not troubled by matter nor circumscribed by the body, the good bare, evident, unalterable, august, immutable. ~ Hermes, #NFDB
716:Velazquez found the perfect balance between the ideal illustration which he was required to produce, and the overwhelming emotion he aroused in the spectator. ~ Francis Bacon, #NFDB
717:Climate change is the perfect pseudoscientific theory for a big government politician who wants more power. Why? Because it is a theory that can never be disproven. ~ Ted Cruz, #NFDB
718:Gail Sheehy tells us that "the delights of self-discovery are always available." All Fools' Day is the perfect day to engrave this wisdom in our hearts. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach, #NFDB
719:I'm still trying to find the perfect Nirvana song that's an example of that, but you do hear a lot of their songs start with an extremely emotional death grunts. ~ Ian Christe, #NFDB
720:I was always looking for a career that could combine my creative interests with my technical side, and it ends up directing films is the perfect combination. ~ Joseph Kosinski, #NFDB
721:Over the years I must have spent thousands of hours silently brushing on the liquid coatings, preparing each sheet in anticipation of reaching the perfect print. ~ Irving Penn, #NFDB
722:Until tonight I saw him only through the golden mist of love, and thought him the perfect man. This evening he revealed himself as what he really is – a satyr. ~ P G Wodehouse, #NFDB
723:Whenever you can, swap “Let’s think about it” for “Let’s decide on it.” Commit to making decisions. Don’t wait for the perfect solution. Decide and move forward. ~ Jason Fried, #NFDB
724:When you feel the need to have the right person show up in your life, affirm: 'I know the right person is arriving in divine order at precisely the perfect time.' ~ Wayne Dyer, #NFDB
725:By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and more enjoyable. It's the perfect example of having your cake and eating it, too. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
726:For me Brazilian music is the perfect mix of melody and rhythm. It just bubbles rhythmically. If I had to pick just one music style to play if would be Brazilian. ~ Herbie Mann, #NFDB
727:He didn’t complete me, because hell, I was complete to begin with, but he was the perfect complement, one that I’d be hard pressed to find in someone else. ~ Jennifer Blackwood, #NFDB
728:He is racist, he's homophobic, he's xenophobic and he's a sexist. He's the perfect Republican candidate. [California Democratic Party chairman about Pat Buchanan.] ~ Bill Press, #NFDB
729:No matter how I may encounter rejection in the world around me, I am welcomed to abide in the Creator of heaven and earth and the perfect Son of the Most High God. ~ Beth Moore, #NFDB
730:People look at you, and they've got just the perfect little box for you, the perfect category. Call you a redneck. Call you a hillbilly. Like those were insults. ~ Travis Tritt, #NFDB
731:She had all the best things wrong with her—incest, insanity, drug addiction, bulimia, alopecia: you name it. All the perfect stuff for a memoir. She’s so lucky. ~ Peter Cameron, #NFDB
732:This is perfect. This is perfect. From the perfect springs the perfect. If the perfect is taken from the perfect, only the perfect remains. —ANCIENT HINDU SCRIPTURE ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
733:This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see. ~ Corrie ten Boom, #NFDB
734:I have the words already. What I am seeking is the perfect order of words in the sentence. You can see for yourself how many different ways they might be arranged. ~ James Joyce, #NFDB
735:I’m much more interested in whether I reach the goals that I set for myself, so in this sense long-distance running is the perfect fit for a mindset like mine. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
736:My mother was a domestic goddess and Mother Earth figure. She was sweet and placid - just what the perfect wife was supposed to be and I was determined not to be. ~ Joan Collins, #NFDB
737:Some people are born to inflict pain on others. Because they don’t feel any pain or pity themselves. The perfect executioners. And I am the master of my trade . ~ Oliver P tzsch, #NFDB
738:The man whose understanding is in union with the Spirit, casts from him both good doing and evil doing; get this union, it is the perfect skill in works. ~ Bhagavad Gita. II- 50, #NFDB
739:The perfect state, the summum bonum, is Play. In play, life expresses itself in its fullness. God's life is play. Adam fell when his play became serious business . ~ Jakob Bohme, #NFDB
740:The true office of religion is to bring out the whole nature of man in harmonious activity… ~ William Ellery Channing, The Perfect Life (1873) "The Perfecting Power of Religion", #NFDB
741:You might find the perfect combination of all your interests and have a very enjoyable career. Or you might discover that what you really love is learning itself. ~ Barbara Sher, #NFDB
742:High tech companies that focus on research, development and production will learn that they can be the perfect complement to our world-renowned agriculture heritage. ~ Alan Autry, #NFDB
743:If you wait for the perfect moment when all is safe and assured, it may never arrive. Mountains will not be climbed, races won, or lasting happiness achieved. ~ Maurice Chevalier, #NFDB
744:It is a wiser, more generous, more noble thing to remember and point out the perfect words, than to invent poorer ones, wherewith to encumber temporarily the world. ~ John Ruskin, #NFDB
745:Writers who don’t produce copy—or leave it so long that they couldn’t possibly produce something good—are giving themselves the perfect excuse for not succeeding. ~ Megan McArdle, #NFDB
746:You don’t see yet, Genry, why we perfected and practice Foretelling?” “No—” “To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question.” I ~ Ursula K Le Guin, #NFDB
747:Churchill gave the perfect riposte: “When I hear a man say that his childhood was the happiest time of his life, I think, my friend, you have had a pretty poor life. ~ Susan Quinn, #NFDB
748:Florida’s the perfect camouflage,” said Serge. “Up in Middle America, even one of our low-profile whack jobs would stick out like Pamela Anderson bronco-riding a UFO. ~ Tim Dorsey, #NFDB
749:Genuine blasphemy, genuine in spirit and not purely verbal, is the product of partial belief, and is as impossible to the complete atheist as to the perfect Christian. ~ T S Eliot, #NFDB
750:I find a package of spaghetti, and I remember seeing bacon and eggs and a block of Parmesan cheese in the refrigerator. I’ll make spaghetti carbonara, the perfect ~ Tess Gerritsen, #NFDB
751:It doesn't really matter what people think of me, I should just be connecting with people I really like instead of pretending to be the perfect version of myself. ~ Emily Browning, #NFDB
752:Loving makes love. Loving makes itself. We waste time looking for the perfect lover instead of creating the perfect love. Wouldn’t that be the way to make love stay? ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
753:Sydney was perfect – the actual embodiment of the perfect woman. She was practically pristine and fresh. She was untouchable.
She was everything to me. ~ Jennifer L Armentrout,#NFDB
754:The perfect fascist state needs to operate in conditions of perpetual warfare. Have you ever noticed how the world has been in constant crisis since World War II? ~ Grant Morrison, #NFDB
755:The perfect man, whose mind is thoroughly disciplined, has his eyes constantly directed towards God even when he is weighed down by the burden of worldly duties. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
756:The vampire is an outsider. He's the perfect metaphor for those things. He's someone who looks human and sounds human, but is not human, so he's always on the margins. ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
757:My grandfather told me that God puts pieces in the wrong places to keep us busy solving puzzles, and in the perfect places so that we never forget there is a God. ~ Julia Heaberlin, #NFDB
758:The image God has of me is a perfect image, and my subconscious mind recreates my body in perfect accordance with the perfect image held in the mind of God.’ ” This ~ Joseph Murphy, #NFDB
759:Despite her insistence that no one should make a big deal about her birthday, no one ever listened. There was always so much pressure to have the perfect happy day. ~ Michelle Madow, #NFDB
760:Everyone’s looking for the perfect teacher, but although their teachings might be divine, teachers are all too human, and that’s something people find hard to accept. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
761:He was the perfect soldier: he went where you sent him, and stayed where you put him, and had no idea of his own to keep him from doing exactly what you told him. ~ Dashiell Hammett, #NFDB
762:I arrived early because I lifted my skirts and ran here. Hope that qualifies me to fit in. If not, let me impress you with my secret talent at brewing the perfect tea. ~ Katie Cross, #NFDB
763:I could spend eternity following you around every corner of every bookstore, watching you search for the perfect story to get lost in.
- your passion is my passion ~ Cyrus Parker,#NFDB
764:In the late '70s I started to search for the perfect sound - whatever that might be, before that I was mainly interested in drugs, insanity and the rock'n'roll lifestyle. ~ Lou Reed, #NFDB
765:Jesus offered Himself as the perfect, final sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:1–18). Therefore, we must not try to atone for our sins, but rest only in the sacrifice of Christ. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
766:Miracles are not about praying the perfect prayer; miracles are about what happens when we welcome God's presence and power into our situations and our lives. ~ Linda Evans Shepherd, #NFDB
767:Appius Livius Ocella made mistakes in his whole long existence. Perhaps changing Eric was his finest hour. He created the perfect vampire. Eric's only flaw is you. ~ Charlaine Harris, #NFDB
768:Better take the keys and drive forever. Staying won't put these futures back together. All the perfect drugs and superheroes wouldn't be enough to bring me back to zero. ~ Aimee Mann, #NFDB
769:each kiss was the perfect consummation of desire. What can we do but reach for the embrace that must now contain both heaven and hell: our doom again and again and again. ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
770:I’ll be hollow. My ancestors had the perfect term for that. ‘Mahasani.’ It means you are the me that lives outside of myself. When you’re not near, I’ll have nothing. ~ Elaine Levine, #NFDB
771:The development of the free individual is, we have said, the first condition for the development of the perfect society. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, Civilisation and Barbarism, #NFDB
772:Dancing may not be the perfect substitute for love, human love, but it certainly requires all the time and thought and energy that could otherwise be dedicated to love. ~ Toni Bentley, #NFDB
773:'Iggy' was my dog - he was named after Iggy Pop - and 'Azalea' is the street where I grew up; together, they have the right amount of syllables to make the perfect name. ~ Iggy Azalea, #NFDB
774:Something about the crisp, cool air, the twinkling carnival lights, and the scent of deep-fried food provided the perfect atmosphere for reckless teenage abandon. ~ Krystal Sutherland, #NFDB
775:The perfect man judges not after appearances; he judges righteously. He sees himself and others as he desires himself and them to be. He hears what he wants to hear. ~ Neville Goddard, #NFDB
776:The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac represents the twelve lessons of human existence, the 12 qualities to be developed in the formation of the perfect man (and woman). ~ Vera Stanley Alder, #NFDB
777:You don't see yet, Genry, why we perfected and practice Fortelling?"
"No..."
"To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question. ~ Ursula K Le Guin,#NFDB
778:Artificial overstimulation seemed like the perfect way to stifle a generation of young people who wanted more and more from a world where less and less was available. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
779:I don't need a fantasy life as once I did. That is the life of the imagination that I had a great need for. Films were the perfect means for satisfying that need. ~ Olivia de Havilland, #NFDB
780:I've always liked to shoot from the hip. This is the perfect fit for me ... I'm willing to earn my spurs, because once again, after 18 years I'm back to being a rookie. ~ Reggie Miller, #NFDB
781:So long as a man has a little knowledge, he goes everywhere reading and preaching; but when the perfect knowledge has been attained, one ceases from vain ostentation. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
782:You know I used to be the back porch poet with my book of lines, always hoping knowing all the time, I'm probably never gonna find the perfect rhyme. . .For heavier things ~ John Mayer, #NFDB
783:As the perfect man speaks so he acts; as he acts, so the perfect man speaks. It is because he speaks as he acts and acts as he speaks that he is called the perfect. ~ Buddhist Scripture, #NFDB
784:In the perfect state the good man is absolutely the same as the good citizen; whereas in other states the good citizen is only good relatively to his own form of government. ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
785:My grandfather once told me that God puts pieces in the wrong places to keep us busy solving puzzles, and in the perfect places so that we never forget there is a God. ~ Julia Heaberlin, #NFDB
786:Those men and women who follow the path of the Perfect Matrimony finally gain the bliss of entering Nirvana, which is to be in oblivion of the world and men forever... ~ Samael Aun Weor, #NFDB
787:Artificial over stimulations seemed like the perfect way to stifle a generation of young people who wanted more and more from a world where less and less was available. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
788:For me, having greek yogurt and some granola is the perfect start-up breakfast because it has many benefits. Its filling, healthy and gives me energy to start my day. ~ Shantel VanSanten, #NFDB
789:I think crush is the perfect word to describe it, too, because it simultaneously means 'to have a brief infatuation with someone unattainable' and 'to be violently squashed. ~ Elna Baker, #NFDB
790:I was feeling a strong need to change, grow, and break with particular things that were going on in my life and my history, and the material was the perfect answer for that. ~ Jim Hodges, #NFDB
791:My idea of the perfect man would be someone intelligent and clever enough, but also kind and compassionate enough to stand up to me - to stand up to me with compassion. ~ Madonna Ciccone, #NFDB
792:The perfect union is that which meets the Divine at every moment, in every action and with all the integrality of the nature. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, The Way and the Bhakta, #NFDB
793:There is a simple path to follow, that appears only when you calm your mind. It leads you on a beautiful journey back to your original self; the perfect, beautiful you. ~ Bryant H McGill, #NFDB
794:To design the perfect anti-Unix, write an operating system that thinks it knows what you’re doing better than you do. And then adds injury to insult by getting it wrong. ~ Eric S Raymond, #NFDB
795:Find where the sound ends and silence begins. Then exist in that moment, for there will you find your secret centre of being, the perfect place of peace within yourself. ~ Raymond E Feist, #NFDB
796:He who contemplates the supreme Truth, contemplates the perfect Essence; only the vision of the spirit can see this nature of ineffable perfection. ~ Buddhist Mediations from the Japanese, #NFDB
797:My experience with casting children is that... the whole movie is going to rest on their shoulders, so you have to set aside time and wait for the perfect people to appear. ~ Wes Anderson, #NFDB
798:Perfection is highly desirable. But nothing man-made or man-designed is, or can be, absolutely perfect. So to wait for the perfect set of conditions is to wait forever. ~ David J Schwartz, #NFDB
799:She was indeed the perfect package on the surface…but below it, I sensed she was so much more. Messy and passionate and raw and creative—a cyclone forced into an eggshell. ~ Sierra Simone, #NFDB
800:Syverstad was at Vemork, and Nielsen in an Oslo hospital, awaiting an appendectomy that his sister, a nurse there, had arranged for him to have on Sunday—the perfect alibi. ~ Neal Bascomb, #NFDB
801:I believe the novella is the perfect form of prose fiction. It is the beautiful daughter of a rambling, bloated ill-shaven giant (but a giant who’s a genius on his best days). ~ Ian McEwan, #NFDB
802:I believe the novella is the perfect form of prose fiction. It is the beautiful daughter of a rambling, bloated ill-shaven giant (but a giant who's a genius on his best days). ~ Ian Mcewan, #NFDB
803:I don't try to be feminist. I just am. It's innately inside me. I have no interest in trying to be the perfect feminist, but I do believe feminists are in good hands with me. ~ Amy Schumer, #NFDB
804:I have a very low tolerance for animation. I'm used to the perfect integrity you get from drawing your own comics. There's something about that that animation always loses. ~ Daniel Clowes, #NFDB
805:Masjid turns on the radio, and Rabindra Sangeet adds the perfect soundtrack to the scene: “Por ke korile nikot bondhu”—you bring the distant near. One of Baba’s favorites. ~ Mitali Perkins, #NFDB
806:There is only one kind of discipline, and that is the perfect discipline. As a leader, you must enforce and maintain that discipline; otherwise, you will fail at your job. ~ Vince Lombardi, #NFDB
807:American-style iced tea is the perfect drink for a hot, sunny day. It's never really caught on in the UK, probably because the last time we had a hot, sunny day was back in 1957. ~ Tom Holt, #NFDB
808:December drops no weak, relenting tear, By our fond summer sympathies ensnared; Nor from the perfect circle of the year Can even winter's crystal gems be spared. ~ Christopher Pearse Cranch, #NFDB
809:Don't let foolish assumptions about what's appropriate keep you from a good man. There are too few good men around to ignore one just because he's the perfect age for you. ~ Jennifer Crusie, #NFDB
810:Don’t let foolish assumptions about what’s appropriate keep you from a good man. There are too few good men around to ignore one just because he’s the perfect age for you. ~ Jennifer Crusie, #NFDB
811:I had lived as Ravana and I would die as Ravana. I did not intend to become Rama, the perfect man and God. There was no dearth of gods in my country. It only lacked men. ~ Anand Neelakantan, #NFDB
812:The perfect detective story cannot be written. The type of mind which can evolve the perfect problem is not the type of mind that can produce the artistic job of writing. ~ Raymond Chandler, #NFDB
813:He tells me he wants to fuck me rough and dirty and come inside of me. He tells me he wants to degrade the perfect little ballerina. Tie her to his bed and never let her leave. ~ Celia Aaron, #NFDB
814:I want to thank him—for coming to my rescue tonight, for letting me stay with him, for holding me. For everything. But instead, I fall asleep to the perfect rhythm of his heart. ~ Jamie Shaw, #NFDB
815:Photography is a demanding action sport. The light can change so quickly. I often find myself sprinting so that I can catch the perfect light falling on a photogenic subject. ~ Steven Pinker, #NFDB
816:She wondered if that was how it worked, that while most women spent their lives searching for the perfect man, men sat around waiting to be chosen and then made the best of it. ~ Lisa Jewell, #NFDB
817:There was something horribly depressing, she felt, about watching the weather report. That life could be planned like the perfect summer picnic drained it of spontaneity. ~ Galt Niederhoffer, #NFDB
818:I always teased her I’d serve her lemonade out there. It would be the perfect place for us—the meeting of worlds. But at the moment, it was hard to imagine a future like that. ~ Richelle Mead, #NFDB
819:Meditate upon all the perfect light within your own mind! Do this repeatedly and the radiant Bodhisattvas of Wisdom and Laughter will visit you and change your karma forever! ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
820:Somewhere out there, the perfect man you deserve is probably searching for you."
Phoebe laughed against his mouth. "Let's hurry, then- we can be married before he gets here. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
821:The perfect PIN is not four digits and not associated with your life, like an old telephone number. It's something easy for you to remember and hard for other people to guess. ~ Kevin Mitnick, #NFDB
822:Working with Cate Blanchett, on and off the screen, has always been a highlight for me. She embodies the perfect combination of consummate actor and world-class fashion icon. ~ Giorgio Armani, #NFDB
823:You know, I've got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can't say any more than that it's the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody there will listen to me. ~ Steve Jobs, #NFDB
824:All of a sudden I discovered that I'm allergic to caviar. It was the perfect metaphor for my life. When I was only able to afford bad caviar, I could certainly eat my fill of it. ~ Larry David, #NFDB
825:If you're waiting for the perfect moment, you'll never write a thing because it will never arrive. I have no routine. I have no foolproof anything. There's nothing foolproof. ~ Margaret Atwood, #NFDB
826:And so he found himself always in search of the perfect love, always unable to find it or sustain it, and predisposed to reenact his mother's bewildering abandonment of him. ~ Laurence Bergreen, #NFDB
827:There's nothing so attractive as a blank slate. Take one attractive man, slap on a thick coat of daydream, and voila, the perfect man. With absolutely no resemblance to reality. ~ Lauren Willig, #NFDB
828:Brad got up and locked himself in the bathroom, surreptitiously carrying the hairbrush with the perfect handle. How was he going to explain the need to brush his hair at 2:38 a.m.? ~ Anne Tenino, #NFDB
829:For Nature is accustomed to rehearse with certain large, perhaps baser, and all classes of wild (animals), and to place in the imperfect the rudiments of the perfect animals. ~ Marcello Malpighi, #NFDB
830:He felt disinclined to move. To move would disturb the perfect, stable moment, the balance of the world. The winter light along the ceiling was beautiful beyond expression. He ~ Ursula K Le Guin, #NFDB
831:It didn't take a trauma to make you wear a mask. It didn't take your parents getting shot...or cosmic rays or a power ring...Just the perfect combination of loneliness and despair. ~ Mark Millar, #NFDB
832:It's not like I planned to have a heart attack, you know? I wasn't thinking to myself, 'Hmm, you know what James? Today seems like the perfect afternoon for a myocardial infarction. ~ John Bowen, #NFDB
833:Malcolm looked like the perfect battlefield commander, except for the fact that he'd forgotten his pants. His red briefs made quite a statement with his sword and leather cuirass. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
834:People had this image of the Jacksons as the perfect American family and I destroyed that image. But what people have to understand is writing that book was very healing for me. ~ LaToya Jackson, #NFDB
835:There's a whole form of literature in India which talks about the quest for the perfect man by a woman, where every woman looks for a perfect man but only ends up with half that. ~ Shahrukh Khan, #NFDB
836:These funerals always appear to me the more indecent in a populous city, from the total indifference of the beholders, and the perfect unconcern with which they are beheld. ~ Karl Philipp Moritz, #NFDB
837:If I had a vision of the perfect psychedelic drug and knew its structure, I'd make it. That's why I have a laboratory out there - to make things that haven't been made before. ~ Alexander Shulgin, #NFDB
838:If you smash a city when you're trying to capture it, you actually end up providing the perfect terrain for the defenders while blocking the access for your own armoured vehicles. ~ Antony Beevor, #NFDB
839:Just for the record, should you ever find yourself in a similar scenario, the middle of a monologue is the perfect time to send your free fist smashing into the bad guy's crotch. ~ Rick Gualtieri, #NFDB
840:The Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue really sets the social standard for what people expect the perfect woman's body to look like, and a lot of those bodies usually look the same. ~ Ronda Rousey, #NFDB
841:The word hammockable (describing two trees that are the perfect distance apart between which a hammock can be hung) is not in the dictionary, but it should be. [Of lying in hammocks] ~ Dan Kieran, #NFDB
842:Beauty is also submitted to the taste of time, so a beautiful woman from the Belle Epoch is not exactly the perfect beauty of today, so beauty is something that changes with time. ~ Karl Lagerfeld, #NFDB
843:Ideas weren’t making a difference. The only thing that made a difference was actually doing something. Cleaning with whatever I had on hand, whether it was the perfect thing or not. ~ Dana K White, #NFDB
844:If you have been up all night, escaping from a burning mental asylum or fighting men who refuse to die when you shoot them in the forehead, or both, coffee is the perfect beverage. ~ Theodora Goss, #NFDB
845:I just had no idea about anything right now. Too little sleep, too little food, too much stress. All of those had come together to form the perfect emotional storm in my life. As ~ Christy Barritt, #NFDB
846:In a sense, when we started Virgin Atlantic, I was trying to create an airline for myself. If you try to build the perfect airline for yourself, it will be appreciated by others. ~ Richard Branson, #NFDB
847:I was forever trying to get the perfect 1970's Michael Jackson Afro. What I had was more Buckwheat--unruly and impossible to comb, like stabbing a pitchfork into a bed of crab grass. ~ Trevor Noah, #NFDB
848:Not everybody's the perfect person in the world. I mean everyone kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me, whatever. I think that people need a second chance. ~ Terrelle Pryor, #NFDB
849:Thy will be done –’ No Muslim claiming to be a ‘slave of God’ ever gave a more sweeping consent than that. In that prayer you invite Him to do His worst. The perfect masochist. ~ Robert A Heinlein, #NFDB
850:Trane was the perfect saxophonist for Monk's music because of the space that Monk always used. Trane could fill up all that space with all them chords and sounds he was playing then. ~ Miles Davis, #NFDB
851:Women are the perfect creation. I don’t care who hears that. Even before I hit puberty, they lived nightly in my dreams, and I have the feeling they’ll live with me in the grave. ~ James Lee Burke, #NFDB
852:a freshly sharpened pencil is about starting over, and never ceasing to hope for—and work for—the perfect point. While that perfection may never be attained, it is cowardly not to try. ~ David Rees, #NFDB
853:Besides, the perfect time never arrives. You’re always too young or old or busy or broke or something else. If you constantly fret about timing things perfectly, they’ll never happen. ~ Jason Fried, #NFDB
854:I learned that it's okay to feel the way I do: that my life has no meaning unless I have a boyfriend. A real man is like the perfect vampire-boy and all the perfect guys in Twue Wuv. ~ Jess C Scott, #NFDB
855:Music is going to break the way because music is in a spiritual thing of its own. It's like the waves of the ocean. You can't just cut out the perfect wave and take it home with you. ~ Jimi Hendrix, #NFDB
856:The perfect chocolate chip cookie should have three rings. The center should be soft and a little gooey. The middle ring should be chewy. And the outer ring should be crispy" -Lara Jean ~ Jenny Han, #NFDB
857:The perfect woman is a higher type of humanity than the perfect man, and also something much rarer. The natural history of animals furnishes grounds in support of this theory. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
858:A young man is the perfect soldier. He has great potential for aggression and a limited critical capacity - or none at all - with which to analyse it and judge how to channel it. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zaf n, #NFDB
859:A young man is the perfect soldier. He has great potential for aggression and a limited critical capacity - or none at all - with which to analyze it and judge how to channel it. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zaf n, #NFDB
860:Her recipe for the perfect waitress was, “two parts Walter Cronkite to one part Mae West, carefully blended with a cup of Mikhail Baryshnikov and a liberal sprinkling of Mother Teresa. ~ Danny Meyer, #NFDB
861:I was a very good girl for a long time, that's what really drew me to acting. The stage was the perfect place to be outrageous, to be sad, to be angry, to be all these different things. ~ Joan Allen, #NFDB
862:Just enough for a twelve-pack of beer, a pack of smokes, and a Bic lighter. Not exactly the breakfast of champions, but the perfect recipe for a man who is speedily losing his shit. ~ Vincent Zandri, #NFDB
863:She didn't like to say things flatly, but sometimes it is the perfect antidote to someone trying to convince you the noose in their hand is a lovely silk ribbon for your hair. ~ Catherynne M Valente, #NFDB
864:Social media sites are the perfect place to share daily updates. Don’t worry about being on every platform; pick and choose based on what you do and the people you’re trying to reach. ~ Austin Kleon, #NFDB
865:The main thing about archery is a battle with yourself. You can ruin it all. Once you have learned the technique, the point is to recreate the perfect technique over and over and over. ~ Geena Davis, #NFDB
866:The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. ~ A W Tozer, #NFDB
867:The mind is like a lake. It reflects eternity when it's very still. If ripples appear, lots of them, then the reflection is not clear. We lose the clarity of the perfect reflection. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
868:We are always waiting for the perfect brief from the perfect client. It almost never happens [...] Whatever is on your desk right now, that's the one. Make it the best you possibly can. ~ Paul Arden, #NFDB
869:If Lada was the spiky green weed that sprouted in the midst of a drought-cracked riverbed, Radu was the delicate, sweet rose that wilted in anything less that the perfect conditions. ~ Kiersten White, #NFDB
870:The perfect storm of occupational stress appears to be a combination of two factors: (1) a great deal is expected of you, and (2) you have no control over whether you will perform well. ~ John Medina, #NFDB
871:The Word says God don't give us credit for lovin the folks we want to love anyway. No, He gives us credit for loving the unlovable. The perfect love of God don't come with no conditions... ~ Ron Hall, #NFDB
872:trouble. Which was fine when she was a tearaway teen, but not so useful now she’s trying to run a hipster urban cafe, invent the perfect trendy dessert, and stop feeding the many ~ Marianne Delacourt, #NFDB
873:A children's book is the perfect place where young readers can understand the world because they can take a deep breath and look at it and imagine and contemplate while they're looking at. ~ Jan Brett, #NFDB
874:If you wish to get back at His Highness, I have the perfect thing. “What is it?” A dress. “A dress? How is a dress going to silence him?” Just wait and see. Come. We will dress you for war. ~ K M Shea, #NFDB
875:It was the perfect moment to tell her. This is my last year. But I couldn’t say it. Not yet. I wanted another minute, another hour, another night of pretending this wasn’t the end. ~ Maggie Stiefvater, #NFDB
876:I wanted to be the perfect artist. I'd do three hours of media interviews a day, going to every radio station I could squeeze in. I'd sign autographs after the show until everybody left. ~ Clint Black, #NFDB
877:Right now, I just wanna blow off some steam, and beating my meat seems like the perfect way to do it. So I grease the pipe with some gun oil from my nightstand and start to rub one out. ~ Clarissa Wild, #NFDB
878:There you go. That ego of yours getting in the way," I teased.
"Of what?"
"The perfect package."
He snorted. "Let me tell you, I have the perfect--"
"Don't be gross. ~ Jennifer L Armentrout,#NFDB
879:About as close you can get to the perfect cerebral thriller: searingly smart, ridiculously funny, and fast as hell... I defy anybody to read the first page and not keep going to the last. ~ Lev Grossman, #NFDB
880:A woman's quest in life should be to find the perfect apartment. And I have found the perfect apartment. The perfect apartment is the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum. With a sofa. ~ Fran Lebowitz, #NFDB
881:He shook his head. “I’ll be hollow. My ancestors had the perfect term for that. ‘Mahasani.’ It means you are the me that lives outside of myself. When you’re not near, I’ll have nothing. ~ Elaine Levine, #NFDB
882:Los Angeles was a magnet for human aspirations - the perfect place for mortals to gather, starry-eyed with dreams of fame, then fail, die and circle down the drain, flushed into oblivion. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
883:Ramit Sethi recommends applying what he calls the “85% Solution.” So many people get wrapped up in making the perfect decision that they wind up overwhelming themselves and doing nothing. ~ Josh Kaufman, #NFDB
884:The perfect hero is one whose heroism none sees. The most precious glory is the glory lost on senseless winds. The highest virtue is the one that remains for ever hidden within oneself. ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
885:And why is it all men think
everything a woman writes is trivial or trashy-or just plain silly
drivel? Don't men have romantic notions? Don't men dream of finding
the perfect love? ~ V C Andrews,#NFDB
886:I think that Comic-Con is just a wonderful forum. It's just the perfect place for our show and the fans have embraced us so wonderfully. I would be shocked, if we weren't back every year. ~ Laurie Holden, #NFDB
887:Life may not always go the way you'd planned, you may not have the perfect family, you may not be the most beautiful, but that doesn't mean you can't make the best of what you do have. ~ Madeline Sheehan, #NFDB
888:Parables were never my strong suit. If you wan to say something, say it. So, of course, Joshua and Buddhists were the perfect people to hang out with, straight talkers that they were. ~ Christopher Moore, #NFDB
889:That is the supreme felicity of those who have won their victory, it is the perfect and immutable peace, the defeat of Impermanence, a pure and luminous condition, the victory over death. ~ Canon in Pali, #NFDB
890:Yoga is the perfect vehicle for change of yourself. First by creating a strong and powerful body and mind. It is a starting point from which you can begin to realize your human spirit. ~ Bikram Choudhury, #NFDB
891:Beauty is more than just shining for others. You don’t need to have the perfect face to be beautiful. Being ugly or beautiful is a matter of energy, and true beauty comes from the heart. ~ Kristen Stewart, #NFDB
892:Here was a fragment of Goddess myth that, through all its permutations, had somehow escaped being turned on its head. It was the perfect springboard for the sort of novel I wanted to write. ~ Joan D Vinge, #NFDB
893:John Galt (as written in said novel) is a deeply flawed, sociopathic ideal of the perfect human. John Galt does not recognize the societal structure surrounding him that allows him to exist. ~ Chris Kluwe, #NFDB
894:the perfect schizophrenic - if there was such a person - would be a man or woman not only unaware of his other persona(e), but one unaware that anything at all was amiss in his or her life. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
895:We are imprisoned within, hypnotized without, denying ourselves access to the internal peace and external harmony. Can we execute the perfect jailbreak when we have become our own jailers? ~ Russell Brand, #NFDB
896:A tractor is going to come dig the rest of this hole?” “Yeah, they haven’t hand dug graves in years. I just thought it would be fun.” “I’m going to kill you.” “This would be the perfect place. ~ Kasie West, #NFDB
897:I think audiences definitely respond to people who are not living the perfect lives. The flawed characters, the people who are struggling. The antiheroes - people like to see that a lot more. ~ Clea DuVall, #NFDB
898:Life is like cooking your masterpiece recipe. You have to get the right ingredients,have the right mixture and the right cooking time to reveal the PERFECT and DELICIOUS TASTE of your craft. ~ Bette Midler, #NFDB
899:So many of us believe in perfection, which ruins everything else, because the perfect is not only the enemy of the good; it's also the enemy of the realistic, the possible, and the fun. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, #NFDB
900:So many of us believe in perfection, which ruins everything else, because the perfect is not only the enemy of the good; it’s also the enemy of the realistic, the possible, and the fun. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, #NFDB
901:The yellow-tied patzer had come for beauty, but Ljubo had come for truth. In chess, that means finding not just a good move or even a harmonious move but the perfect move. God's move. ~ Charles Krauthammer, #NFDB
902:We aren't using Guantanamo Bay anymore to take additional terrorists. That was the perfect facility to be able to use to extract information from people to keep the American people safe. ~ Michele Bachmann, #NFDB
903:Alow immortality to work through you. Be but a mere instrument. And that instrument should be so absorbed in the perfect perfection of existence, that it knows not even that it is absorbed. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
904:Difficult, say you? Difficult to be a man of virtue, truly good, shaped and fashioned without flaw in the perfect figure of four-squared excellence, in body and mind, in act and thought? ~ Simonides of Ceos, #NFDB
905:For me, my taste is all over the place, so the festival is the perfect match for me because I can hit, again, Against Me! and SZA, all those different genres and the experience is awesome. ~ Jennifer Abbott, #NFDB
906:THERE’S THE PERSON you think you should be and there’s the person you really are. I’m not sure who I should be, but I now know who I am. And that, I say, is the perfect place to start again. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
907:This is the perfect hour ~ Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen This is the perfect hour when a hush descendsOn our muted human murmuringsAnd inside us finally there speaksThe grave voice of indolent dreams. .., #NFDB
908:A couple of times a day I sit quietly and visualize my body fighting the AIDS virus. It's the same as me sitting and seeing myself hit the perfect serve. I did that often when I was an athlete. ~ Arthur Ashe, #NFDB
909:God is perfection. Nothing we can ever do would be good enough to satisfy God’s perfection. Only Jesus, the Perfect One, is good enough. Nothing but our faith in Him makes us acceptable to God. ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
910:It's downright undignified how many blazers I've bought over the years. And will continue to buy. They immediately give shape and add authority. With the perfect blazer, anything is possible. ~ Rashida Jones, #NFDB
911:It would seem that to Bligh, infliction of punishment was like sickness, and scurvy, something that had no place on a well-run ship. William Bligh had set out to make the perfect voyage. ~ Caroline Alexander, #NFDB
912:The interface of history and myth is where my stories take place anyway, and there's always a way I'm trying to tap mythologies with the perfect understanding that history will trump mythology. ~ Steve Stern, #NFDB
913:As often as I have witnessed the miracle [birth], held the perfect creature with its tiny hands and feet, each time I have felt as though I were entering a cathedral with prayer in my heart. ~ Margaret Sanger, #NFDB
914:God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form...The perfect surrender and humiliation was undergone by Christ: perfect because He was God, surrender and humiliation because He was man. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
915:I stood looking into my wardrobe hoping that the perfect outfit would leap out at me. Either that or a magical world would appear and I could fuck off and have tea with a fawn instead. Oliver ~ Joanna Bolouri, #NFDB
916:It's funny, because my last record was a lot about isolation and people living in separate worlds that other people can't even understand, which drug addiction is the perfect negative example of. ~ Aimee Mann, #NFDB
917:Terri would have made the perfect wife for Bob – they could have simply slept their way through married life. Rip van Winkle and Duchess Anaesthesia, the lost, sleepy daughter of the Romanovs. ~ Kate Atkinson, #NFDB
918:There are some things a woman can’t hide from, no matter how hard she tries. Like her past. It’s always there, just below the surface, lying in wait for the perfect time to come back out and play. ~ K Webster, #NFDB
919:Using supernatural beings to build the perfect weapon? Intriguing idea." "Not really," I said. "They did it on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A sub-par season. I slept through half the episodes. ~ Kelley Armstrong, #NFDB
920:…what matters is not complexity or decoration but rather intelligibility, grace, and the fact that the sentence should strike us as the perfect vehicle for expressing what it aims to express… ~ Francine Prose, #NFDB
921:You need to be a "good-enough mom"--attentive, loving, and responsive. No one is the perfect mom. As long as you try to be perfect, you will continue to be insignificant in your own eyes. ~ Laura Schlessinger, #NFDB
922:Aside from blow jobs, though, I'm through with being the perfect girlfriend, just through with it. Then if he's sore with me, let him dump my ass. That will just give me more time to be a genius. ~ Sheila Heti, #NFDB
923:Hugely enjoyable and insightfulGosling has produced the perfect combination of rigorous research and lightness of prose to create a book that will transform every reader into a super snooper. ~ Richard Wiseman, #NFDB
924:If I had my way, if I was lucky enough, if I could be on the brink my entire life - that great sense of expectation and excitement without the disappointment - that would be the perfect state. ~ Cate Blanchett, #NFDB
925:I'm certainly going to support Al Gore because, on the whole, he's the more sensible figure and you vote not for the perfect but for the best. Coupled with that is a special situation. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith, #NFDB
926:I've just always been very aware and careful of everything, so that I can be ready for the perfect opportunities as they come. I don't take anything for granted or wait for anything to come to me. ~ Katy Perry, #NFDB
927:...remember that a story does not unwind. It weaves. Events that start in different places and different times all bear down on that one tiny point in space-time, which is the perfect momwnt. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
928:The Hope, Love & Healing necklace is the perfect embodiment of what we are trying to bring to Haiti through safe and sustainable housing, sanitation solutions, and water filtration devices. ~ Patricia Arquette, #NFDB
929:The true cook is the perfect blend, the only perfect blend, of artist and philosopher. He knows his worth: he holds in his palm the happiness of mankind, the welfare of generations yet unborn. ~ Norman Douglas, #NFDB
930:a man could only love her imperfectly, but God could give her the perfect love she desired. Lady Rose had learned to comfort her husband in his pain instead of expecting him to heal her own. ~ Melanie Dickerson, #NFDB
931:He offered me his free hand, clear blue eyes sparkling. "Come on...let's go find ourselves the perfect tree."
I took his hand and leaned into his shoulder. Didn't he know I'd go anywhere with him? ~ S R Grey,#NFDB
932:I like to take long naps. I like long walks on the beach. The perfect day is back home, California, going to the beach with a couple of friends, laying out in the sunshine, get a nice bronze. ~ Keaton Stromberg, #NFDB
933:Right now, I just wanna blow off some steam, and beating my meat seems like the perfect way to do it. So I grease the pipe with some gun oil from my nightstand and start to rub one out. However, ~ Clarissa Wild, #NFDB
934:The perfect man, for the pagans, was the perfection of the man that exists; for Christians, the perfection of the man that does not exist; and for Buddhists, the perfection of no man existing. ~ Fernando Pessoa, #NFDB
935:What are my thoughts on this whole ordeal?" she repeated, pausing to contemplate. And then she thought of the perfect answer. "Ali didn't manage to kill us," she said. "She only made us stronger. ~ Sara Shepard, #NFDB
936:with the colors of the dawn still in the sky, when right smack-dab in the center of my field of vision I noticed this cloud in the perfect shape of an angel with her wings arched across the sky. ~ Doreen Virtue, #NFDB
937:You’re it for me, Banner. The one. I’d given up on finding the perfect woman for me, but you showed me I hadn’t been looking in the right place. Who knew I had to go all the way to New York City? ~ Meghan March, #NFDB
938:See yourself as the perfect creation that you are, but at the same time, recognize with sincere honesty, the areas of your life that are out of balance and get to work to improve and grow. ~ Dashama Konah Gordon, #NFDB
939:But more importantly, know I love you more than I can say with simple words. Poets have attempted for centuries to find the perfect combination, and I don’t imagine I shall have more luck than they. ~ Lissa Bryan, #NFDB
940:He didn't mind if she hated him. They were never going to be a cute romantic couple like Sam and Astrid. Clean-cut, righteous, all that. The perfect couple. He and Diana were the imperfect couple. ~ Michael Grant, #NFDB
941:It might be said that a great unstated reason for travel is to find places that exemplify where one has been happiest. Looking for idealised versions of home-indeed, looking for the perfect memory. ~ Paul Theroux, #NFDB
942:Men of genius sometimes accomplish most when they work the least, for they are thinking out inventions and forming in their minds the perfect idea that they subsequently express with their hands. ~ Giorgio Vasari, #NFDB
943:The perfect woman indulges in literature just as she indulges in a small sin: as an experiment, in passing, looking around to see if anybody notices it — and to make sure that somebody does. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
944:The perfect woman perpetrates literature as she perpetrates a small sin: as an experiment, in passing, glancing around to see whether anybody notices--and to make sure that somebody notices. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
945:The sweetest fragrance, the most beautiful aroma that God has ever detected emanating from this planet, was the aroma of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus that was offered once and for all on the cross. ~ R C Sproul, #NFDB
946:Either there is a God, and that God the perfect heart of truth and loveliness, or all poetry and art is but an unsown, unplanted, rootless flower, crowning a somewhat symmetrical heap of stones. ~ George MacDonald, #NFDB
947:I believe the perfect freedom of life in a barbarous country would attract me more than any scenery. A man must feel his personal, human dignity as he can never feel it in our crowded towns. ~ Ethel Lilian Voynich, #NFDB
948:I do make my own brushes and have done so for many years. I'm constantly refining the designs, trying new materials, re-configuring other brushes - all in my never-ending quest for the perfect brush. ~ James Nares, #NFDB
949:If you place the imperfect next to the perfect, people will see the difference between the one and the other. But if you offer the imperfect alone, people are only too apt to be satisfied by it. ~ Alfred Stieglitz, #NFDB
950:I'm a sucker for turquoise sea, white beaches and palm trees. I've been to the tropics every year since I could afford it. It's the perfect place to unwind. I can chill out, read, do a bit of yoga. ~ Bruno Tonioli, #NFDB
951:I think projects find me. It's really interesting. Everything I've done, from "The Truman Show," the "Eternal Sunshine" to "Yes Man" and "Bruce Almighty," always come into my life at the perfect time. ~ Jim Carrey, #NFDB
952:It's so hard being handsome, isn't it?" I mocked him.
He nodded and shrugged. "Sometimes I ask God why, but then I realize someone has to show the world the perfect male specimen. Why not me? ~ Amelia LeFay,#NFDB
953:It’s so hard being handsome, isn’t it?” I mocked him.
But he nodded and shrugged. “Sometimes I ask God why, but then I realize someone has to show the world the perfect male specimen. Why not me? ~ Amelia LeFay,#NFDB
954:The idea that by eating the meat of an animal, the animal powers or faculties could be conveyed to oneself is nonsense and originates in a mental ignorance of the perfect and genuine primitive laws. ~ Franz Bardon, #NFDB
955:He could have used the cash. The new light topcoats for the coming season were hip-length, and he’d seen the perfect example at Neiman Marcus: six hundred fifty dollars, on sale, with a wool lining. ~ John Sandford, #NFDB
956:I knew that I was learning one of the most important lessons of my life: that instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity, I should work toward a realization that every opportunity is perfect. ~ Suzan Lori Parks, #NFDB
957:With every movie I produce, I learn something. I watch the directors. It's like the relationship you have with your children. I'm there to learn from my daughters. They are the perfect spirits. ~ Guillermo del Toro, #NFDB
958:And of course, Japan, with the highest suicide statistics in the world, a country with an unquenchable thirst for the bizarre, the cruel and the terrible, would provide the perfect last refuge for him. ~ Ian Fleming, #NFDB
959:Love isn’t “deserved,” as in If only I would have said the right thing, made the perfect gesture, or found a way to be more, to be good enough, then I would deserve love. But love isn’t like that. ~ Meggan Watterson, #NFDB
960:Then I read The Once and Future King, and for most of a year I was young Arthur, Dad was Merlyn, and it was my destiny to create the perfect kingdom of Camelot somewhere beyond northeastern Illinois. ~ Kurt Andersen, #NFDB
961:Using supernatural beings to build the perfect weapon? Intriguing idea."
"Not really," I said. "They did it on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A sub-par season. I slept through half the episodes. ~ Kelley Armstrong,#NFDB
962:Fashion is about so much more than just a pretty pair of pumps or the perfect hemline. For so many people across the country, it is a calling, it is a career, and it's a way they feed their families. ~ Michelle Obama, #NFDB
963:he had a firm voice, a nice low register that spoke of both kindness and unassailable authority, which seemed the perfect combination in a man—in the romance novels her mother had been fond of, anyway ~ Kate Atkinson, #NFDB
964:I never realized Death was so fleet of foot.'
'The fleetest. Always dancing in the shadows.'
'Always waiting for his next partner?'
'Dancing through a long list until he finds the perfect one. ~ Anne Mallory,#NFDB
965:I shouted the perfect words to scare him off. It was just the delivery (and only the delivery) that made me sound like a twelve-year-old girl with pee running down her leg.
I felt dirty and stupid. ~ Graham Parke,#NFDB
966:Most new trainers agonize over the perfect workout, over-train virtually everyone and are the crazy purist idiots who embarrass themselves at restaurants trying to impress everyone with how clean they eat. ~ Dan John, #NFDB
967:Reconstitute the perfect word, unite
The Alpha and the Omega in one sound;
Then shall the Spirit and Nature be at one.
Two are the ends of the mysterious plan. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,#NFDB
968:Warfield says: "I think it is important to insist that Calvinism is not a specific variety of theistic thought, religious experience, evangelical faith, but just the perfect manifestation of these things. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
969:Whosoever has come to know himself, has come to the perfect good; but he who by an error of love has set his love on the body, remains lost in darkness and subjected by his senses to the conditions of death. ~ Hennes, #NFDB
970:Besides, it was a big deal, and I was a man for spectacle. This dinner would be the perfect time to let her know my intentions and tell her I was ready to announce our relationship to the entire world. ~ Chance Carter, #NFDB
971:In the ultimate sense, the world itself is pregnant with failure, is the perfect manifestation of imperfection, of the consciousness of failure. In the realization of this, failure is itself eliminated. ~ Henry Miller, #NFDB
972:It struck me then that I had the perfect comparison for the prophecy. It was like reading the end of a book, knowing what would happen but having to wait to see how the chapters played out in between. ~ Melissa Wright, #NFDB
973:The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will. ~ Eliphas Levi, #NFDB
974:Trust that your wounds are exactly as the Universe planned. They were divinely placed in your life in the perfect order so that you could show up for them with love and remember the light within. ~ Gabrielle Bernstein, #NFDB
975:Why else is politics the perfect refuge for every liar, cheat, and self-serving toad that was ever born? All you need is a good set of teeth and the ability to smile convincingly with them.
--Cressida ~ Stuart Hill,#NFDB
976:If the mystery of the Trinity is the template of all reality, what we have in the Trinitarian God is the perfect balance between union and differentiation, autonomy and mutuality, identity and community. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
977:I won’t as long as you drop the perfect gentleman crap. That’s a deal breaker. My boobs won’t tolerate it.” “I love your boobs, they’re so fun.” His smile is panty wetting. “I’ll pick them up at seven? ~ Helena Hunting, #NFDB
978:July 4 is the perfect day to relax. It also provides a very good chance to spend quality time with friends and family since everyone is able to get away from the hassles of every day life, such as work. ~ Colin Chapman, #NFDB
979:Our greatest pleasure, surely, is in fragments, just as we derive the most pleasure from life if we regard it as a fragment, whereas the whole and the complete and the perfect are basically abhorrent. ~ Thomas Bernhard, #NFDB
980:There is no such thing as the perfect picture. That's the challenge of photography. I was always striving for perfection, even though I knew I could never achieve it. But it kept me reaching for something. ~ Phil Stern, #NFDB
981:Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all the ingredients to breathe and find freedom just where you are. ~ Jack Kornfield, #NFDB
982:While I support a more comprehensive bill and hope a more extensive package will eventually past the Senate, I also am a realist and know that we must not let the perfect bill be the enemy of real reform. ~ John McCain, #NFDB
983:Annie Wilkes was the perfect audience, a woman who loved stories without having the slightest interest in the mechanics of making them. She was the embodiment of that Victorian archetype, Constant Reader. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
984:In particular, I'm drawn to the stories that have big, high concepts and real characters at their heart. And I love where those two worlds meet, and 'Edge of Tomorrow' is the perfect canvas to explore that. ~ Doug Liman, #NFDB
985:Because Caribbean music is now coming back into the mainstream, there are so many things that make this the perfect time to educate people on where this music, this vibe, and these dance moves come from. ~ Kreesha Turner, #NFDB
986:He had found in himself the perfect, undeniable case of insanity. He possessed wisdom, patience, tolerance, truthfulness, loyalty, and moral fortitude—all the qualities that go to make an utter madman. ~ Machado de Assis, #NFDB
987:here we have the perfect gift to share with the world, just bursting to be opened, and we keep it sitting there, wrapped tightly in a box, growing old and gathering dust. Oh the waste! The agony! Meanwhile, ~ Jen Sincero, #NFDB
988:I am a border-ruffian from the State of Missouri. I am a Connecticut Yankee by adoption. In me, you have Missouri morals, Connecticut culture; this, gentlemen, is the combination which makes the perfect man. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
989:I loved Peter Sellers. I thought he was the perfect mix of physical comedy with out-of-the-box humor. I loved his tone; I loved his physicality; I loved everything about what he was doing as a comedic actor. ~ J B Smoove, #NFDB
990:In the morning a man walks with his whole body; in the evening, only with his legs. RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks Greek architecture is the perfect flowering of geometry. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
991:I think that we come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. Raise kids. Have a good life. Be a good friend. And try to be completely who you are. ~ Angelina Jolie, #NFDB
992:Jessica was clearly in her element, moving with the music naturally and without effort. Even her lustrous golden hair swayed to the beat, completing the perfect picture of a dancer caught up in ecstasy. ~ Francine Pascal, #NFDB
993:Like the beach glass, the wood was more beautiful because of its journey, because of the things it had been through.
Inside the perfect shells is dim,
It's through the cracks, the light comes in. ~ Lisa Wingate,#NFDB
994:The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will.
~ Eliphas Levi,#NFDB
995:The perfect righteousness that we pursue is unattainable in this life. But if we hunger and thirst for it and diligently pursue it, over time we will grow more and more into the person God wants us to be. ~ Jerry Bridges, #NFDB
996:"Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all the ingredients to breathe and find freedom just where you are." ~ Jack Kornfield, #NFDB
997:Dirty things. Depraved things. He tells me he wants to fuck me rough and dirty and come inside of me. He tells me he wants to degrade the perfect little ballerina. Tie her to his bed and never let her leave. ~ Celia Aaron, #NFDB
998:It’s tempting to wish for the perfect boss, the perfect parent, or the perfect outfit. But maybe the best any of us can do is not to quit, play the hand we’ve been dealt, and accessorize what we’ve got. ~ Candace Bushnell, #NFDB
999:Meteorologist see perfect in strange things, and the meshing of three completely independent weather systems to form a hundred-year event is one of them. My God, thought Case, this is the perfect storm. ~ Sebastian Junger, #NFDB
1000:One would be hard put to find a set of whole numbers with a more fascinating history and more elegant properties surrounded by greater depths of mystery--and more totally useless--than the perfect numbers. ~ Martin Gardner, #NFDB
1001:When I finish writing a rap verse. It's a lot like sex: You start off slow with ideas, like foreplay, and then you put your all into it. When you end it with the perfect thought, it's like that perfect last stroke. ~ Drake, #NFDB
1002:Why is every mom's concern about sex? There are more important things in life, like school, careers, poetry, books, ice cream, or learning how to make the perfect chocolate cake. It's so damn frustrating. ~ Isabel Quintero, #NFDB
1003:A five minute call replaces the time it takes to read and reply to the original email and read and reply to their reply... or replies. And I no longer spend 20+ minutes crafting the perfect email - no need to. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
1004:As a respectable lady with excellent manners and now a good inheritance (if Sarah Browne’s maid is to be believed), Miss Porter would be the perfect bride for a former rake of limited means like Lord John. ~ Elizabeth Boyle, #NFDB
1005:Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1006:Made in the perfect image of a perfect relationship, we are relational to the core of our beings and filled with a desire for transcendent purpose. We long to be an irreplaceable part of a shared adventure. ~ Stasi Eldredge, #NFDB
1007:Precocious was not the same as smart, much less the same as wise, and the perfect opposite of informed - since the more you prided yourself on knowing already the less you listened and the less you learned. ~ Lionel Shriver, #NFDB
1008:ROMANTIC SUSPENSE - A recipe that includes a dash of desperation, a smidgen of danger, a dollop of adventure and a healthy portion of passion. Sprinkle a happy ending on top and you have the perfect meal. ~ Maureen A Miller, #NFDB
1009:Susannah realized, with dawning bitterness, that she could now give the perfect definition of a ka-mai: one who has been given hope but no choices. Like giving a motorcycle to a blindman, she thought. Richard ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1010:Wow." Lisa motioned for Keith to stop for a moment. "Look at this place. It's like the perfect family house. The porch and the windows, even from here, it feels like the walls have seen a lifetime of love. ~ Karen Kingsbury, #NFDB
1011:Here one has the perfect example of justice: the men have kept their women enslaved...stupid and limited and apart, for their male vanity and power; result: the dull women bore the daylights out of the men. ~ Martha Gellhorn, #NFDB
1012:How do we appreciate the good without letting it be the enemy of the perfect? How do we keep a step in the right direction from becoming a stopping point? How do we get beyond shades of insipid light green? ~ Donella Meadows, #NFDB
1013:I tried dressing him as an angel.
While I was putting my fairy costume on, he ate his halo.
Then I found the perfect costume for my small red puppy.
Clifford was the littlest ghost I had ever seen. ~ Norman Bridwell,#NFDB
1014:Our body remains alive, yet sooner or later our soul will receive a mortal blow. The perfect crime--for we don't know who murdered our joy, what their motives were, or where the guilty parties are to be found. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1015:Amid so much discordance let us constantly seek for a pure ear, which will tell us in a moment when we have spoken a single word that is inconsistent with the perfect harmonies of the nature of God, which is love. ~ F B Meyer, #NFDB
1016:And, of course, there are the perfect day, perfect moment, perfect life dreams that come sometimes and make a person hit the snooze button for hours, trying to go back to sleep and make the perfect moments last. ~ Ally Carter, #NFDB
1017:In his monologue Swimming to Cambodia, Spalding Gray says we travel in search of “the perfect moment,” and once attained, we can return home in peace until, in need of another such moment, we head out again. ~ Alex Sheshunoff, #NFDB
1018:It was the perfect distraction for Cooper to ignore the flood of...contentment... Hearing that their friendship had meant to Noah even a portion of what it had meant to Coop. Which, as a kid, had been everything. ~ Riley Hart, #NFDB
1019:The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man's metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as well. ~ Ivan Illich, #NFDB
1020:Any woman can be both the perfect housewife and an accomplished assassin, because both functions require the same qualities: creativity; a never-say-die attitude; and an attention to details, no matter how small… ~ Josie Brown, #NFDB
1021:I'm a big fan of pops of color, but I thought I would take that to the next level and do a color-blocked Rolex. This watch is the perfect accessory whether you're wearing a tee and jeans or a well-tailored suit. ~ Brad Goreski, #NFDB
1022:Maybe there is no such thing as the perfect person. Or maybe Jason's right: there are perfect people, many of them, and it's up to you to grab one when you find each other in the random chaos of life and love. ~ Lauren Morrill, #NFDB
1023:…beating somebody else just doesn't do it for me. I'm much more interested in whether I reach the goals that I set for myself, so in this sense long-distance running is the perfect fit for a mindset like mine. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1024:Good is the mastery of the body, good the mastery of the speech, good too the mastery of the mind, good the perfect self-mastery. The disciple who is the master of himself, shall deliver his soul from every sorrow. ~ Dhammapada, #NFDB
1025:I don't know if I even believe in that anymore. The right guy. The perfect guy. The one. I've lost faith in "the". How do you feel about "a" and "an"? Indifferent. So you're considering a life without articles? ~ Rainbow Rowell, #NFDB
1026:Patience involves staying focused, continuing to hone one’s skill, talent, or craft, waiting for the perfect opportunity when your skills will be at their best and opportunity will exist at its highest potential ~ Shannon Ables, #NFDB
1027:The perfect time for falling in love is when you are emotionally available, you feel completely self-fulfilled, and free of worries and cares. If you wait for the perfect time to fall in love… it’ll never happen. ~ Jos N Harris, #NFDB
1028:The philosophy that guides my cooking and my kitchen is this: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. In cooking, as in life, even as we strive for flawlessness, most often what we achieve is good enough. ~ Megan Kimble, #NFDB
1029:To speak in literature with the perfect rectitude and insouciance of the movements of animals and the unimpeachable of the sentiment of trees in the woods and grass by the roadside is the flawless triumph of art. ~ Walt Whitman, #NFDB
1030:You noodle around with tempo and sound until you get the perfect fit for that particular song, and then, so long as you can sustain it, God is on your side and everything comes easily and even the waiters smile. ~ Wilfrid Sheed, #NFDB
1031:Blaze sits in front of us in the chair; legs crossed appearing to be the perfect lady. “I’m sorry I didn’t come. Princess told me about the service, but it was for family and it didn’t feel right.” It is like déjà ~ Ryan Michele, #NFDB
1032:Everything is aiming towards perfection;
the universe is expanding to reach the perfect size.”
...“The final destination is perfection but we need to learn a
lot before we reach there. I agree with you now ~ Dixy Gandhi,#NFDB
1033:I was one of those whose school report would always say, 'Could pay more attention.' I spent my time trying to be the centre of attention or the class joker instead of knuckling down. Far from the perfect student. ~ Suzanne Shaw, #NFDB
1034:now I’m thinking that happiness is never going to be having the perfect job, house, life. It isn’t a destination, you know? It’s a series of moments. I mean, isn’t that what life is? Moments? The here and now? ~ Kristen Callihan, #NFDB
1035:Someday we’ll find the one we cannot live without. The perfect man who will love us both,” Gia giggled as she wrapped Gemma in a hug. “He’ll make you smile and laugh and put up with you talking to me every day. ~ Kathleen Brooks, #NFDB
1036:We all have time to write. We have time to write the minute we are willing to write badly, to chase a dead end, to scribble a few words, to write for the hell of it instead of for the perfect and polished result. ~ Julia Cameron, #NFDB
1037:All things are already complete in us. There is no greater delight than to be conscious of right within us. If one strives to treat others as he would be treated by them, he shall not fail to come near the perfect life. ~ Mencius, #NFDB
1038:His likeness to Christ is the truth of a man, even as the perfect meaning of a flower is the truth of a flower…. As Christ is the blossom of humanity, so the blossom of every man is the Christ perfected in him. ~ George MacDonald, #NFDB
1039:I've seen a lot of movies where a kid my age finds out he's got magical powers and then gets invited to go away to some special school. Well, if I've got an invitation coming, now would be the perfect time to get it ~ Jeff Kinney, #NFDB
1040:[...] that's why waiting for perfect understanding and clarity before diving into the therapeutic waters is like waiting for the perfect woman before getting married- both represent fear of a real human encounter. ~ Noam Shpancer, #NFDB
1041:But in the world of sales, if a company were to make the perfect product, any other company would have to change it—which would make it worse—in order to promote its own innovation, to show that it was different. ~ Donald A Norman, #NFDB
1042:Nature, who for the perfect maintenance of the laws of her general equilibrium, has sometimes need of vices and sometimes of virtues, inspires now this impulse, now that one, in accordance with what she requires. ~ Marquis de Sade, #NFDB
1043:And why does every deliberately cruel person seem to consider themselves the perfect example of necessary bluntness? As if you're supposed to thank them for mowing over your heart with their special brand of honesty. ~ Mia Sheridan, #NFDB
1044:I didn't want the clothes or the perfect shoes or the expensive anything. I didn't want to be draped in silk. All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart. ~ Tahereh Mafi, #NFDB
1045:I don't know why anyone would be scared of a homeless person. The truly scary people are all the murder mystery writers. They spend all day thinking of the perfect plot on how to kill someone and get away with it. ~ Shannon L Alder, #NFDB
1046:I hate cosmetics companies. They get you addicted to the perfect lipstick or nail polish and then, six months later, they discontinue it. You have to buy your favorite colors like you're storing up for the Apocalypse. ~ Lisa Kudrow, #NFDB
1047:I like to look for gifts throughout the year. If I find the perfect item for someone, I put it in my "gift closet" and keep it for the next holiday. But I often get too excited and just give it to them before! ~ Christina Hendricks, #NFDB
1048:The greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue will be the most assiduous in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to assist them. ~ Louis de Montfort, #NFDB
1049:To be the object of desire is to be defined in the passive case.
To exist in the passive case is to die in the passive case – that is, to be killed.
This is the moral of the fairy tale about the perfect woman. ~ Angela Carter,#NFDB
1050:You shine like the sun and you move like water. Your eyes are the perfect mix of gray and brown, like fog in the woods, and you smell like lilacs in the summer. I think if you laughed, it would sound like music. ~ Michelle Leighton, #NFDB
1051:According to my married friends, it is impossible to find the perfect person to be with. There are no perfect people. Every person on earth is going to have some things you like about them and some things you don’t like. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1052:Chouquettes. The perfect pastry. Puffed up. Light. They came in two versions, dusted with sugar granules or chocolate chips. April elected the sucre perlé. If you were in Paris your food might as well glitter. After ~ Michelle Gable, #NFDB
1053:Each job I had wasn't necessarily the perfect job, but I always talk to young women about how you really have to take certain things from each job and learn from that and then move on to something you really want to do. ~ Tory Burch, #NFDB
1054:I tried to make the punchline as close to the setup as I could. And I thought that was the perfect thing. If I could make the setup and the punchline identical to each other, I would create a different kind of joke. ~ Norm MacDonald, #NFDB
1055:He and I together was a terrible idea. We were both unstable, we were both shattered, and there was no getting around it. He was thunder, I was lightning, and we were seconds away from creating the perfect storm. ~ Brittainy C Cherry, #NFDB
1056:He rose up and looked down at her. "If I'd known you were out there, I would've begun searching for you thousands of years ago."
Her smile was soft and glorious. "That was the perfect response."
"It's the truth. ~ Donna Grant,#NFDB
1057:I want to say something, not just something, but the perfect thing to comfort him, to make him forget his family for a few minutes, but I can't think of it. This is why people touch. Sometimes words are just not enough. ~ Nicola Yoon, #NFDB
1058:Reinvention is the key to surviving this fashion industry. Madonna is the perfect example of reinvention. She has taken something that is so little and turned herself into a legend by simply never staying the same. ~ Janice Dickinson, #NFDB
1059:Sirio Maccioni is the perfect Maestro. He does it all: great food, great entertainment, and always with a room full of the best people. He's the only person I could ever imagine going into the restaurant business with! ~ Donald Trump, #NFDB
1060:When you train to be an apothecary, you learn about composition and creation, construction and destruction. You learn to isolate elements and how to put them together, how to balance them to make the perfect cure. ~ Melinda Salisbury, #NFDB
1061:You’re quirky…and yet conventional. Innocent but worldly. Reserved yet outgoing. Candid yet guarded. Trendy but also practical. And childlike while still managing to be mature. It’s like…you’re the perfect contradiction. ~ Linda Kage, #NFDB
1062:13Put up with one another. Forgive. Pardon any offenses against one another, as the Lord has pardoned you, because you should act in kind. 14But above all these, put on love! Love is the perfect tie to bind these together. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1063:And then I opened the door to my room and saw you standing there in the parking lot, in the rain, and I just thought, 'This. This is what the perfect time feels like. It's not about the milestones; its about the person. ~ Dahlia Adler, #NFDB
1064:The monotony of a long heroic poem may often be pleasantly relieved by judicious interruptions in the perfect successions of rhymes, just as the metre may sometimes be adorned with occasional triplets and Alexandrines. ~ H P Lovecraft, #NFDB
1065:The more amorous the President became, the more his fatuousness made him intolerable: there is nothing in the world as comical as a lawyer in love—he is the perfect picture of gaucheness, impertinence and ineptitude. ~ Marquis de Sade, #NFDB
1066:Alice Green, your deeds will now be revealed,” the perfect man before me continued. I could not find the will to even look up to see which scroll was longer. The numbers continued to roll off my tongue, faster and faster ~ Keary Taylor, #NFDB
1067:When the phone rang I was in the kitchen, boiling a potful of spaghetti and whistling along with an FM broadcast of the overture to Rossini's 'The Thieving Magpie,' which has to be the perfect music for cooking pasta. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1068:Anyone who would argue that this third-generatio n MDX is an SUV might as well belong to the Flat Earth Society. The 2014 Acura MDX is the perfect expression of the modern car - capable, spacious, and friendly to drive. ~ Michael Jordan, #NFDB
1069:I think that without sushi there would be no David Hasselhoff, because sushi is like the perfect way of describing the insides of David Hasselhoff. He is like a protein, clean and easy. That's how I feel about myself. ~ David Hasselhoff, #NFDB
1070:The perfect fight is one that is over before the loser really understands what is going on. The perfect defense is a counterattack that succeeds before the assailant discovers that he has bitten off more than he can chew. ~ Jeff Cooper, #NFDB
1071:Kyria Abrahams, former teen bride of a doomsday cult and seeker of salvation in slam poetry, tells the terribly funny story of her improbable life with candor, wit, and an unsparing eye for the perfect detail. Brilliant. ~ Janice Erlbaum, #NFDB
1072:One whose happiness is within, who is active within, who rejoices within and is illumined within, is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme. ~ A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhup da, #NFDB
1073:Revenge is the capitalism of the poor: conserve the original wound, defer immediate gratification, fatten the first insult with new insults, invest and reinvest spite, and ke waiting for the perfect moment to strike back. ~ Aravind Adiga, #NFDB
1074:Stephanie: I wouldn't mind a sister either
Tanith: Any chance of that happening?
Stephanie: I can't see what would be in it for my parents. I mean, they have the perfect daughter already - What more could they want? ~ Derek Landy,#NFDB
1075:The dead are orphans. No company but the silence like a moth's wing. An end to the agony of movement, to the long nightmare of going down the road. The body in peace, stillness, and order. The perfect darkness of death. ~ Richard Bachman, #NFDB
1076:To be completely honest, I didn't want to compete with myself. I wanted to reinvent myself. This seemed like the perfect way to step back in without competing with what I've already done, because I can't win that battle. ~ Marta Kauffman, #NFDB
1077:And if you want the story, then remember that a story does not unwind. It weaves. Events that start in different places and different times all bear down on that one tiny point in space-time, which is the perfect moment. ~ Terry Pratchett, #NFDB
1078:He who shows not zeal where zeal should be shown, who young and strong gives himself up to indolence, who lets his will and intelligence sleep, that do-nothing, that coward shall not find the way of the perfect knowledge. ~ Dhammapada 280, #NFDB
1079:Mystical identification transcends the aristocratic virtue of courageous self-sacrifice. It is self- surrender in a higher, more complete, and more complete and more radical form. It is the perfect form of self-affirmation. ~ Paul Tillich, #NFDB
1080:And that’s why the American habit of bringing a teacup, a tea bag, and a pot of hot water to the table is merely the perfect way of making a thin, pale, watery cup of tea that nobody in their right mind would want to drink. ~ Douglas Adams, #NFDB
1081:Cade is thick, long and pierced. He has the kind of cock that makes women beg for more, slightly titled up, thick head, and those silver barbells in the perfect locations. I squeeze him and feel him pulse beneath my palm. ~ Chelsea Camaron, #NFDB
1082:Charming is the perfect word to describe Charlie [Sheen]. That's why people love him. He's so personable. They can relate to him. He made mistakes and he knows it. Everyone is like that. That is why he has so many fans. ~ Daniela Bobadilla, #NFDB
1083:Of all the virtues necessary to the completion of the perfect man, there is none to be more delicately implied and less ostentatiously vaunted than that of exquisite feeling or universal benevolence. ~ Edward Bulwer Lytton 1st Baron Lytton, #NFDB
1084:Once, long ago on her world, a sunny day in spring was her favorite, but now a sunny day in winter delights her more. It is the perfect metaphor for their love. Sunshine on ice. She warms his frost. He cools her fever. ~ Karen Marie Moning, #NFDB
1085:The perfect view of existence comes from an unclouded, uncluttered life and mind whereby the radiance of perfect attention of the mind of the universe floods us at every moment. This is Buddhism. This is being on the path. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
1086:7. He in whom it is the Self-Being that has become all existences that are Becomings, for he has the perfect knowledge, how shall he be deluded, whence shall he have grief who sees everywhere oneness?
~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, [7],#NFDB
1087:Faith itself has no merit; in fact, by its nature it is self-emptying. It involves our complete renunciation of any confidence in our own righteousness and a relying entirely on the perfect righteousness and death of Christ. ~ Jerry Bridges, #NFDB
1088:Looking for Mr. Right leads to desperation because there is no Mr. Right. There is no Mr. Right because there is no Mr. Wrong. There is whoever is in front of us, and the perfect lessons to be learned from that person. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
1089:Men always talk about the most important things to perfect strangers. In the perfect stranger we perceive man himself; the image of a God is not disguised by resemblances to an uncle or doubts of wisdom of a mustache. ~ Gilbert K Chesterton, #NFDB
1090:She sat up in her bed and turned on her T.V.. Golden Girls reruns seemed like the perfect remedy, but even after one of Blanche’s killer punchlines, Sloan was still restless. She reached for her phone and texted Xeni. ~ Rebekah Weatherspoon, #NFDB
1091:The perfect equation is form equals content. The style of the film reflects the story, and that's what you're always aiming for. You're not always necessarily successful at it, but that's the ambition that you're trying to do. ~ Danny Boyle, #NFDB
1092:Being president is as difficult as writing the perfect poem. And being president is as effortless as writing the perfect poem. Always a Reckoning, my first collection of poetry, was described by Booklist as 'keenly evocative.' ~ Jimmy Carter, #NFDB
1093:For Dad, the perfect Father's Day would be one in which he didn't even realize that it was Father's Day, because nobody was making him appreciate gifts he didn't want, or read greeting cards filled with lame Father's Day poetry. ~ Dave Barry, #NFDB
1094:Looking for Mr. Right leads to desperation, because there is no Mr. Right. There is no Mr. Right, because there is no Mr. Wrong. There is whoever is in front of us and the perfect lessons to be learned from that person. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
1095:Marcy soon entered the room with a plastic cup with a bright green lid--the perfect reflection of my skin tone. “Do you think you can give us a urine sample, hon?” she asked.
I can give you a vomit sample, I thought. ~ Ree Drummond,#NFDB
1096:Marry me, Lada. It is the perfect solution." Lada laughed. Mehmed's smile grew, until he realized her laugh was not a sweet breeze of delight, but a brutal desert wind carrying stinging sand in its wake. "I will never marry. ~ Kiersten White, #NFDB
1097:You always want to write the perfect song. But no one will ever write the perfect song, I guess. I would just like to write on that has all the elements of what I'm tring to do. And I'm working on it. I'm always working on it. ~ Mose Allison, #NFDB
1098:You can do almost anything if you put your mind to it. Be it the perfect murder, robbing a bank or owning your own company. I don’t go along with Prince Charles’ maxim that everyone should know their place and limitations. ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
1099:You're quirky ... and yet conventional. Innocent but worldly. Reserved yet outgoing. Candid yet guarded. Trendy but also practical. And childlike while still managing to be mature. It's like ... you're the perfect contradiction. ~ Linda Kage, #NFDB
1100:I seek truth and beauty in the transparency of an autumn leaf, in the perfect form of a seashell on the beach, in the curve of a woman's back, in the texture of an ancient tree trunk, but also in the elusive forms of reality. ~ Isabel Allende, #NFDB
1101:Because we are always growing, life compounds and magnifies what is already in us. If you are miserable you grow in misery and if you are joyful you grow in joy. This makes self-love is the perfect soil from which to grow love. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
1102:If love was only for the perfect, what a sad and lonely world it would it be. We are the culmination of every good and bad choice we’ve ever made. Your mistakes have made you into an incredibly fierce and loving woman; one I am ~ Ruth Cardello, #NFDB
1103:I want to say something, not just something, but the perfect thing to comfort him, to make him forget his family for a few minutes, but I can't think of it. This is why people touch. Sometimes words are just not enough" -Madeline ~ Nicola Yoon, #NFDB
1104:Rick Perry is the perfect candidate for those who thought George W. Bush was just too dang cerebral. And Adios, Mofo is the perfect guide to his record, his rhetoric and his remarkable hair. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll vote. ~ Paul Begala, #NFDB
1105:The perfect life, the perfect lie, I realised after Christmas, is one which prevents you from doing that which you would ideally have done (painted, say, or written unpublishable poetry) but which, in fact, you have no wish to do. ~ Geoff Dyer, #NFDB
1106:You've asked me to have coffee with you six times over the past year."
He nodded.
She leaned closer to him. "I'm told seven is the perfect number."
"I've heard that too." He smiled at her, his eyes bright. ~ James L Rubart,#NFDB
1107:Authentic humans don’t show the perfect, chessmaster appreciation of consequences that von Neumann’s theory demands. Instead, decision makers resort to heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to arrive at quick, intuitive choices. ~ William Poundstone, #NFDB
1108:He turned to me then, his expression serious, the firelight playing over the perfect planes of his features. “I’ve spent my life searching for a way to make things right. You’re the first glimmer of hope I’ve had in a long time. ~ Leigh Bardugo, #NFDB
1109:I want to be in fifth grade again. Now, that is a deep dark secret, almost as big as the other one. Fifth grade was easy -- old enough to play outside without Mom, too young to go off the block. The perfect leash length. ~ Laurie Halse Anderson, #NFDB
1110:Portland is a place where you can find a community as a feminist, a vegan or a fat activist. Artists, musicians, knitters, and filmmakers can all meet like-minded souls. It's proved the perfect place for me and all my punk friends. ~ Beth Ditto, #NFDB
1111:When I heard the royal family wanted to have me perform in celebration of Prince William's marriage, I knew I had to give them a little something. 'Wet' is the perfect anthem for Prince William or any playa to get the club smokin'. ~ Snoop Dogg, #NFDB
1112:You have not yet learned that in this life you have to be like everyone else: the perfect mediocrity--no better, no worse. Individuality is a monster and it must be strangled in its cradle to make our friends feel comfortable. ~ Stanley Kubrick, #NFDB
1113:For by a kind of mutual bond the Lord has joined together the certainty of his Word and of his Spirit so that the perfect religion of the Word may abide in our minds when the Spirit, who causes us to contemplate God's face, shines. ~ John Calvin, #NFDB
1114:Once, long ago in her world, a sunny day in spring was her favorite, but now a sunny day in winter delights her more. It is the perfect metaphor for their love.
Sunshine on ice.
She warms his frost. He cools her fever. ~ Karen Marie Moning,#NFDB
1115:I roll my eyes but before I can respond Evans does. “Yeah, that really hurt my feelings, I might just up and leave you one man down.” I grunt. “You do that and I’ll make sure to find the perfect guy to walk your Cupcake down the aisle. ~ K C Lynn, #NFDB
1116:The writer Rebecca Solnit puts it well: “So many of us believe in perfection, which ruins everything else, because the perfect is not only the enemy of the good; it’s also the enemy of the realistic, the possible, and the fun. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, #NFDB
1117:You made me coffee? You are seriously the perfect woman.” “I didn’t make it, and I’m actually quite far from being perfect or a woman, but I’ll still take the compliment.” Fantasy dead, I pulled my eyes open and groaned. “Scotty?” My ~ Kelly Oram, #NFDB
1118:Your Master Teacher knows all you need to learn, the perfect timing for your learning it, and the ideal way of teaching it to you. You don't create a Master Teacher -- that's already been done. You discover your Master Teacher. ~ Peter McWilliams, #NFDB
1119:Even if you meet the perfect person, it ain’t gonna be at the perfect time. You’re married, they’re single. That’s right. You’re Jewish, they’re Palestinian. You’re a Mexican, they’re a raccoon. You’re a black woman, he’s a black man. ~ Chris Rock, #NFDB
1120:I guess in America we're so sold on this ideal of the perfect, well-adjusted family that is able to confront any conflict and, with true love and understanding, work things through. I'm sure they do exist, but I never knew any of them. ~ Alan Ball, #NFDB
1121:The harming of animals for any reason is shameful, but torturing them for mere vanity is senseless. Slaughtering animals for their fur or harming them for cosmetic purposes is disgusting and not worth the perfect shade of lipstick. ~ Laura Mennell, #NFDB
1122:They're coming out of high school exhausted. The pressure in high school is killing these kids. By the time they get to college, they have been fighting for three or four years to get the perfect SAT scores and get into A.P. classes. ~ Debora Spar, #NFDB
1123:To the man with an ear for verbal delicacies- the man who searches painfully for the perfect word, and puts the way of saying a thing above the thing said - there is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident. ~ H L Mencken, #NFDB
1124:We want to freeze the perfect moment, hold on to it, at least long enough to understand it. But it dances on with us or without us, so we jump in and try to keep up. The universe is expanding and we are just two of a billion stars. ~ Rob Sheffield, #NFDB
1125:An atheist chaplain would be the perfect vehicle for convincing wounded warriors that they should end their lives because there's nothing in the future and there's nothing now, so why not just save money and kill themselves. ~ Gordon Klingenschmitt, #NFDB
1126:Only you would ask. All anyone has to do is look in your eyes to see your heart shining through, and it's a warm heart, to boot. I think Hattie has made the perfect choice"
Chloe felt as if she'd just gotten a telephone hug. ~ Catherine Anderson,#NFDB
1127:[T]he Super Bowl, the quintessential American creation. A dizzying mélange of brilliant entrepreneurship in an atmosphere of intense competition. It is the perfect show for the most intensely competitive culture in this solar system. ~ Robert Klein, #NFDB
1128:when the man with the perfect smile asks, “And what have you learned?” I tell him I’ve learned I don’t have to wait to be given an opportunity, but that I can make an opportunity and use my voice to speak up for what I need and want. ~ Ren e Watson, #NFDB
1129:A one night stand with the perfect girl is like... it's like getting to the airport in Hawaii, then getting right back on the plane and flying home. It's depressing to have been that close to paradise without actually getting there. ~ Steph Campbell, #NFDB
1130:He saw the Perfect in their starry homes
Wearing the glory of a deathless form,
Lain in the arms of the Eternal’s peace,
Rapt in the heart-beats of God-ecstasy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Yoga of the King, The Yoga of the Soul’s Release,#NFDB
1131:He was in love with her body, the perfect size of her chest, the dramatic dip of her waist, the pink flesh between her legs. Simply watching her stirred a shiver of pleasure through his groin and a fluttering feeling near his heart. ~ Pepper Winters, #NFDB
1132:I am in the zone, the perfect balance between manic and drunk, I am mellow, I’m cool, cool as cats. I’ve found the answer, the thing that takes the edge off, smoothes out the madness, sends me sailing, lifts me up and lets me fly. ~ Marya Hornbacher, #NFDB
1133:I'm all out o faith, this is how I feel. I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor. Illusions never change into something real. I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn. You're a little late, I'm already torn. ~ Natalie Imbruglia, #NFDB
1134:James Brown is the perfect example of flashy but classy. Classy doesn't have to mean boring. His gear was flamboyant but without being so over the top. The cape was probably the biggest part of his persona. He looked like Superman. ~ Mayer Hawthorne, #NFDB
1135:So how did you get into journalism?” “In high school I worked on the paper. Then I majored in journalism in college. I loved collecting facts and then making a story out of them. The perfect combo of science and art. How about you?” “I ~ Fiona Davis, #NFDB
1136:The perfect gentle knight. She had a strong urge to kick him in the shins. Which would do precisely nothing and he'd look confused at me. And then probably offer to take his shin armor off so I could try again without hurting my foot. ~ T Kingfisher, #NFDB
1137:At the beginning he’d thought of his style as being his essence, the perfect expression of who he was inside, but lately the styles had started to feel like disguises, distractions Danny could move around behind without being seen. 27 ~ Jennifer Egan, #NFDB
1138:…but don’t ever forget that he’s also Gideon Cross. You’ve got everything you need to be the perfect wife for a man of his stature, but you’re still replaceable, Eva. What he’s built is not. You jeopardize his empire and he’ll leave you. ~ Sylvia Day, #NFDB
1139:Every job from the heart is, ultimately, of equal value. The nurse injects the syringe; the writer slides the pen; the farmer plows the dirt; the comedian draws the laughter. Monetary income is the perfect deceiver of a man's true worth. ~ Criss Jami, #NFDB
1140:I ate three skittles at a time. One skittle didn’t provide enough flavor. Two was a tease of sugar, yet four skittles in one bite drowned the senses. Therefore, the exact number of three served as the perfect harmony of candy goodness. ~ Kenya Wright, #NFDB
1141:The church is to be set apart (sanctified) not by possessing a special religious piety but by participating in and manifesting the perfect eternal love of God. As Bonhoeffer said, “Jesus calls men, not to a new religion, but to life. ~ Gregory A Boyd, #NFDB
1142:In his kindness, he broke me into the perfect slave. I didn’t need his anger to become devoted. I needed his softer moments—gentle love was my undoing, not demands or threats. I was pitiful with how I needed compassion, companionship. ~ Pepper Winters, #NFDB
1143:I wake the next morning feeling like I'm floating. He's still pressed up against my back with one hand cupping my breast and the other lying protectively over where our daughter grows in my belly. It's the perfect way to wake up. ~ Terri Anne Browning, #NFDB
1144:The candles burned The moon went down The polished hill The milky town Transparent, weightless, luminous Uncovering the two of us On that fundamental ground Where love's unwilled, unleashed, unbound And half the perfect world is found. ~ Leonard Cohen, #NFDB
1145:God, she loved this man. She loved his gruff, sweet, thoughtful sides. And his edgy side. She wasn’t in love with the perfect Cord McKay she’s been fantasizing over forever, but the real flesh and blood man. The real man. Flaws and all. ~ Lorelei James, #NFDB
1146:I've never been in a band where someone goes, 'Ah, I've got the perfect name! And it's because I climbed Mount Fuji, and at the top a golden dove came down...' It's always a bunch of guys sitting around going, 'How about Rotten Chipmunks? ~ Wes Borland, #NFDB
1147:The mistakes that I made I made because I drank too much. I don't think that's going to happen any more. Am I going to make mistakes as a parent? Sadly, every day. I'm looking around for the perfect parent and I haven't seen one yet. ~ Paula Poundstone, #NFDB
1148:I can't imagine Hunger Games, even with its very popular books, being nearly a success that it's been without Jen Lawrence being the perfect person to play that role - a very modern celebrity, a very down-to-earth, accessible, celebrity. ~ Nina Jacobson, #NFDB
1149:Idealism is an ideal which is based on the idea of someone of the perfect world or the perfect life. An idealist fails to understand the limitation of his idea and believes that the real world can be converted into the world of his idea. ~ Awdhesh Singh, #NFDB
1150:The syntax of prejudice—threaded into conversation with the perfect pauses and facial expressions—was like ciphers and spy codes. The meaning clear to those it was meant for. To everyone else, it was harmless scribbles. Easy enough to deny. ~ Sonali Dev, #NFDB
1151:We don’t need more money, we don’t need greater success or fame, we don’t need the perfect body or even the perfect mate-right now, at this very moment, we have a mind, which is all the basic equipment we need to achieve complete happiness. ~ Dalai Lama, #NFDB
1152:Everybody has hope for the perfect love. Normal people are raised to believe that there's someone out there who's your soulmate, your best friend, your lover. My dad always told me that when you find that person, "You gotta nail her"! ~ Christopher Titus, #NFDB
1153:I guess I'm the perfect match, then, for a girl who likes to visit a cemetery." He drew out every syllable so that it sounded like a love song.
I closed my eyes, savoring those words. "A perfect match," I murmured. "My other half. ~ Jessica Verday,#NFDB
1154:I love the energy we create between us when we banter like this. It’s the most intense sensation of pleasure, knowing he’ll always have the perfect response ready. I’ve never known anyone like him; as addictive to talk to as he is to kiss. ~ Sally Thorne, #NFDB
1155:I stopped examining myself in the mirror to compare myself to the perfect beauties of movies and magazines; I decided I was beautiful-- for the simple reason that I wanted to be. And then never gave the matter a second thought. -Eva Luna ~ Isabel Allende, #NFDB
1156:Life doesn’t exactly give us what we need when it’s the perfect time. It’s not a pitching machine straight over the plate. Life throws curve balls—hard and fast, unpredictable. But you still have to hit that sucker or strike out swinging. ~ Kandi Steiner, #NFDB
1157:Life was so fucking unfair at times. She had the thing I wanted more than anything—even worse, she got it by accident when I had been trying for years. And I had what she wanted: infertility, the perfect excuse to justify a child-free life. ~ Karma Brown, #NFDB
1158:The temperature in the room rose by twenty degrees as the front line of undead exploded into ash. Black clouds filled the air, biting at my lungs. It was like sitting in a sauna that was built inside an ashtray—the perfect stop smoking ad. ~ Tim Marquitz, #NFDB
1159:I started out looking for the perfect love story, but what I found instead was something even more beautiful - a messy love, an imperfect love, a human love. In this time of uncertainty, can I continue to love, even if it breaks my heart? ~ Velcrow Ripper, #NFDB
1160:What’s the most fundamental human urge?”
Barrett recites for her. “To find the perfect pair of jeans. To find the jeans that fit and flatter you so ideally that everybody, every cognizant being on the planet, will want to fuck you. ~ Michael Cunningham,#NFDB
1161:And my daughter really likes Justin Bieber, so I think she'll have fun watching him. But I think Rihanna is the perfect match for the Victoria's Secret show because she's really beautiful, she's really sexy, and she's really talented. ~ Alessandra Ambrosio, #NFDB
1162:This provision (the 4th Amendment) speaks for itself. Its plain object is to secure the perfect enjoyment of that great right of the common law, that a man's house shall be his own castle, privileged against all civil and military intrusion. ~ Joseph Story, #NFDB
1163:Allowing yourself to be put in such a position that God is exalted is the goal of living the crucified life. When you allow God to be exalted in your difficulties, you will be in the perfect position to smell the sweet fragrance of His presence. ~ A W Tozer, #NFDB
1164:his strong arms circled me, a little tremor ran through my body, like a static shock jolting right through my chest. He was the perfect height for me to press my face into the curve of his neck and breathe him in, but I restrained myself. ~ Elizabeth Briggs, #NFDB
1165:I bizarrely think that this [Sin City] is the perfect date movie. If a guy took me on a date to see this movie, I would marry him, for sure. It's bad-ass chicks and rad dudes, who are sexy, all over the place, and there's so much cool action. ~ Jessica Alba, #NFDB
1166:I think we need to just be very clear about what we're trying to do in Afghanistan. Frankly, we're not trying to create the perfect democracy. We're never going to create some ideal society. We are simply there for our own national security. ~ David Cameron, #NFDB
1167:O divine Master, let Thy light fall into this chaos and bring forth from it a new world. Accomplish what is now in preparation and create a new humanity which may be the perfect expression of Thy new and sublime Law.
~ The Mother, Prayers And Meditations,#NFDB
1168:Religion is faith in an Infinite Creator, who delights in and enjoins that Rectitude which conscience commands us to seek, This conviction gives a Divine Sanction to duty. ~ William Ellery Channing, The Perfect Life (1873) "The Perfecting Power of Religion", #NFDB
1169:But in after days Cosmo repented of having so completely dropped the old gentleman's acquaintance; he was under obligation to him; and if a man will have to do only with the perfect, he must needs cut himself first, and go out of the world. ~ George MacDonald, #NFDB
1170:Jesus is the perfect name!
He who put away his fame!
And persecuted in shame!
That you will never be the same!
It's because of you and I He came!
Believe him or have yourself to blame!
In the book of life, have your name! ~ Israelmore Ayivor,#NFDB
1171:she was trying to be the perfect mother-in-law, but really, when you didn’t let a woman help, it was a way of keeping her at a distance, of letting her know that she wasn’t family, of saying I don’t like you enough to let you into my kitchen. ~ Liane Moriarty, #NFDB
1172:The divine awakening produces in the soul of the perfect a flame of love which is a participate of that living flame which is the Holy Spirit Himself...this is the operation of the Holy Spirit in the soul that is transformed in love. ~ Saint John of the Cross, #NFDB
1173:The one infinite is perfect , in simplicity , of itself, absolutely, nor can aught be greater or better, This is the one Whole, God , universal Nature , occupying all space, of whom naught but infinity can give the perfect image or semblance. ~ Giordano Bruno, #NFDB
1174:We don't need more money, we don't need greater success or fame, we don't need the perfect body or even the perfect mate - right now, at this very moment, we have a mind, which is all the basic equipment we need to achieve complete happiness. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
1175:I come home to an empty house and fill the sink with water. The pigeons above the window are clucking. I let the dishes slip under the bubbles and I close my eyes. I listen to the perfect, whole, round sounds of glass against porcelain under water. ~ Eula Biss, #NFDB
1176:...Maybe it was just the perfect realization to all ones' dreams....where a magic elixir could heal you and make you strong, where men could make roses bloom with the single touch of a thumb, and where the bigger women were, so much the better. ~ Tiffany Baker, #NFDB
1177:No one should ever say that it was my ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small according to God's good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and let it so be thought, that - as is the perfect truth - it was the gift of God. ~ Saint Patrick, #NFDB
1178:some other brown stuff that might not be mud into her tangled hair. All around, villagers wandered with their baskets of brightly colored eggs, looking for the perfect hiding places. Ruth Zardo sat on the bench in the middle of the green tossing ~ Louise Penny, #NFDB
1179:The perfect Muslim, standing upright in the presence of his Maker, at once proud and submissive, free from all illusions and from any bias in dealing with his fellow men, exemplifies fitrah. He is both perfect master and perfect servant. ~ Charles Le Gai Eaton, #NFDB
1180:Hope. It's like a drop of honey, a field of tulips blooming in the springtime. It's a fresh rain, a whispered promise, a cloudless sky, the perfect punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. And it's the only thing in the world keeping me afloat. ~ Tahereh Mafi, #NFDB
1181:I love the energy we create between us when we banter like this. It’s the most intense sensation of pleasure, knowing he’ll always have the perfect response ready. I’ve never known anyone like him; as addictive to talk to as he is to kiss. “Truth ~ Sally Thorne, #NFDB
1182:Like the perfect beach vacation, where the routine is so blissfully uneventful that when you return home and friends ask how your trip was, you can’t really recall what exactly you did to fill up so many hours. That’s what being with Dex is like. ~ Emily Giffin, #NFDB
1183:The writer Rebecca Solnit puts it well: “So many of us believe in perfection, which ruins everything else, because the perfect is not only the enemy of the good; it’s also the enemy of the realistic, the possible, and the fun.” Perfectionism ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, #NFDB
1184:This world is not a platform where you will hear Thalberg-piano-playing. It is a piano manufactory, where are dust and shavings and boards, and saws and files and rasps and sandpapers. The perfect instrument and the music will be hereafter. ~ Henry Ward Beecher, #NFDB
1185:Addictions are based on a longing for presence. Addicts somehow believe they can live in the presence of perfection: the perfect body, the perfect man or woman, the perfect nirvana. Addictions are archetypally based on the search for perfection. ~ Marion Woodman, #NFDB
1186:Every person's body chemistry is different. The effect of one single drug that appeals to me might have a different effect on someone else. There's no way to tell what the perfect psychedelic drug would be, because it would be perfect for only you. ~ Ann Shulgin, #NFDB
1187:Shoes really did lead the perfect life. They were polished and taken care of and not
expected to do anything more painful than occasionally step in a bit of mud or a rare puddle. She’d
wager her shoes never wished they could just disappear. ~ Karen Hawkins,#NFDB
1188:The perfect metaphor," he said, "looming up suddenly out of nowhere in the middle of your maiden voyage, unseen until it is nearly upon you, unavoidable even when you try to swerve, unexpected even though there have been warnings all along. [...] ~ Connie Willis, #NFDB
1189:But when you envision the perfect flowers and the perfect food and the perfect outdoor space and the perfect weather, you forget that you can't rent the perfect family to go along with it. You're stuck with shitty old one you've already got. ~ J Courtney Sullivan, #NFDB
1190:Seek the Perfect Master who is like a deep sea where pearl you will find no point seeking that One in the shallow water too! [2667.jpg] -- from Anthology of Great Sufi & Mystical Poets of Pakistan, by Paul Smith
~ Baba Sheikh Farid, Like a deep sea
,#NFDB
1191:The fairy tale suggests you will find the perfect one. It does not exist. What does exist is love. Support, patience, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, understanding. These exist. They are choices that must be made every day to maintain a marriage. ~ Violet Howe, #NFDB
1192:She’s the perfect, all-American girl, like an apple pie, and I just want to eat her up.
I mean, I don’t want that. That came out wrong. I totally don’t want to eat my assistant.
Or bang my assistant.
Or bend my assistant over the desk. ~ Lauren Blakely,#NFDB
1193:The perfect way is without difficulty, for it avoids picking and choosing. Only when you stop liking and disliking will all be clearly understood. Be not concerned with right or wrong, for the conflict between right and wrong is the sickness of the mind. ~ Sengcan, #NFDB
1194:America has always been torn between the ideal and the real, between noble goals and inevitable compromises. So was Jefferson. In his head and in his heart, as in the nation itself, the perfect warred with the good, the intellectual with the visceral. ~ Jon Meacham, #NFDB
1195:Do youmind?” she clipped out suddenly with a fine, cultured accent like frosted glass.
His gaze flicked up from her chest to her blazing eyes. “So, you can talk.”
“Obviously.”
“Too bad,” he drawled. “I thought I just found the perfect woman. ~ Gaelen Foley,#NFDB
1196:Grabbing my hand he pulls me to him, and grabs my hips, digging his hand in. "I have the perfect spot for your first tattoo." Reaching for the bottom of my dress, he lifts the front so only he can see, and runs his thumb over my hipbone. "Perfect. ~ Victoria Ashley, #NFDB
1197:The zombie is in a lot of ways the perfect horror movie bad guy. It plays on so many fears all at once. The fear of predators, the fear of disease and the fear of loved ones betraying us - the ones we care about are turning around and trying to eat us. ~ James Gunn, #NFDB
1198:And if such a gift could come to him at such a time, then anything—dear girl from Rockford dressed up for her meeting, rushing above the Rock River—he opened his eyes, and yes, there it was, the perfect knowledge: Anything was possible for anyone. ~ Elizabeth Strout, #NFDB
1199:You know what I mean? Real and unreal, beautiful and strange, like a dream. It got me high as a kite, but it didn’t last long enough. It ended too soon and left nothing behind.” That’s how it is with dreams,” said Priscilla. “They’re the perfect crime. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
1200:For me, I have to say that I like to work a lot too, but I like not working better. The perfect scenario is when you just worked and you know something's coming up, then you have four, five, six months off. But you know you're going to have a job later. ~ Salma Hayek, #NFDB
1201:Genocide is only possible when dehumanization happens on a massive scale, and the perfect tool for this job is propaganda: it keys right into the neural networks that understand other people, and dials down the degree to which we empathize with them. ~ David Eagleman, #NFDB
1202:In the Chinese language the word for righteousness is a combination of two characters, the figure of a lamb and a person. The lamb is on top, covering the person. Whenever God looks down at you, this is what he sees: the perfect Lamb of God covering you. ~ Max Lucado, #NFDB
1203:I think I could describe the perfect quarterback. Take a little piece of everybody. Take John Elway's arm, Dan Marino's release, maybe Troy Aikman's drop-back, Brett Favre's scrambling ability, Joe Montana's two-minute poise and, naturally, my speed. ~ Peyton Manning, #NFDB
1204:She would bemoan this for the rest of her life: Why did I let it happen? Why did I not tell him when there was a chance to fix it? Because the perfect course of action can only be seen in hindsight, which is why we fill life with so many should haves. ~ Sof a Segovia, #NFDB
1205:Hope.
It's like a drop of honey, a field of tulips blooming in the springtime. It's a fresh rain, a whispered promise, a cloudless sky, the perfect punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. And it's the only thing in the world keeping me afloat. ~ Tahereh Mafi,#NFDB
1206:My inner control freak had taken the day off... I had descended from the mountain of the perfect, into the valley of the possible, and was now on the happy shaded trail, dappled with sunlight, of the present. It was the most wonderful walk of my life. ~ Elizabeth Bard, #NFDB
1207:That ego of yours getting in the way."
"Of what?"
"The perfect package."
He snorted. "Let me tell you, I have the perfect-"
"Don't be gross."
"You have such a dirty mind. I was going to say I'm perfect in all the ways that count. ~ Jennifer L Armentrout,#NFDB
1208:The exorcist had a slightly Australian tinge to his voice, and the laid-back, whatever-comes-next attitude of a man who had suddenly realised two degrees short of a sunstroke that exorcism was the perfect career choice he'd never been offered in school. ~ Kate Griffin, #NFDB
1209:Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we’ll find the perfect match here somewhere – I wonder, now – yes, why not – unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple.’ Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
1210:You never heard me tell you that I want everything, not just the perfect pieces, not just the sparkling, charming snapshots of you. You never let me tell you that I want every piece of you, even the broken ones, even the dark places where scary things hide. ~ Amy Reed, #NFDB
1211:I remember 10 a.m. felling incredibly early and 3 a.m. being my usual bedtime. New York City is the perfect place to be awake in the middle of the night. Being awake and sober at 4 a.m. is a much difference experience from being wasted and stumbling home. ~ Amy Poehler, #NFDB
1212:There are so many things hinted at that will be fun to reveal in depth. For years, fans have made it abundantly and enthusiastically clear that they want the same thing, so now seems like the perfect time to give readers the story of how the Maze began. ~ James Dashner, #NFDB
1213:When you think about it finding the perfect partner is a bit like a game of pontoon. I mean, you get your cards and you make your decision, do you stick or twist? do you play safe and settle for 19 or do you go all out for 21 even if you might end up bust? ~ Mike Gayle, #NFDB
1214:After that, there is nothing more to say. We will move straight ahead at the perfect pace, neither too fast nor too slow. Where does this road lead? Perhaps, you should ask a growing vine. The vine may answer. “I don’t know. But I grow toward the sunlight. ~ Osamu Dazai, #NFDB
1215:Gardening is peaceful, yet there is a great element of failure. It's the perfect metaphor for life -- a lot of pleasure, then it's over. There's great satisfaction in tending something, feeling it needs you, even if it's just a plant on your windowsill. ~ Jane Kaczmarek, #NFDB
1216:How ironic, then, and how poetic, that humankind may have created the Creator out of want for one. Man creates God, who then creates man. Is that not the perfect circle of life? But then, if that turns out to be the case, who is created in whose image? ~ Neal Shusterman, #NFDB
1217:If he weren’t a Doomer, he would’ve been the perfect male for her. How many guys out there would’ve tolerated her penchant for drama, the fact that she was a spoiled princess and was used to getting her way—always, and had a runaway mouth with no brakes. Not ~ I T Lucas, #NFDB
1218:She had always been faintly disappointed in herself, disappointed in school because she had not been remarkable, disappointed when she married because she had not become the perfect housekeeper, most of all disappointed in herself as a mother. ~ Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, #NFDB
1219:This [Thelonious Monk: The Life And Times Of An American Original] is another one of those books with the perfect blend of anecdote and analysis. The analysis is built into the anecdote. It has that right feel about it. It's not too scholarly, either. ~ Scott McClanahan, #NFDB
1220:We know the meaning of all the myths. We know the last secret revealed to the perfect initiate. And it is not the voice of a priest or a prophet saying 'These things are.' It is the voice of a dreamer and an idealist crying, 'Why cannot these things be? ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
1221:New Rule: Colin Firth has to admit that he's not a human being but a robot designed by women as the perfect man. He's handsome, charming, witty, he's got that accent and a gay best friend...the only way he could be any better is if he ejaculated Häagen-Dazs. ~ Bill Maher, #NFDB
1222:That phrase—“the wisdom of insecurity”—really struck me. It was the perfect rejoinder to my “price of security” motto. It made me see my work worries in an entirely different light. If there was no such thing as security, then why bother with the insecurity? ~ Dan Harris, #NFDB
1223:Who's Jessie?"
"My Yugo"
"You have a name for your Yugo? Please don't tell me you're one of those guys who also names his dick."
"Unfortunately, I've yet to find the perfect name for mine, so it's in this netherworld of nameless identity right now. ~ Rachel Cohn,#NFDB
1224:As the middle son, I of course represent the perfect balance. Wit, physical prowess and a multitude of talents to match my natural grace. When combined with my extraordinary ability to waste it all, you see, standing before you, the exquisite culmination. ~ Steven Erikson, #NFDB
1225:Beauty is truth's smile
when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror. ~
Beauty is in the ideal of perfect harmony
which is in the universal being;
truth the perfect comprehension of the universal mind.
~ Rabindranath Tagore, Poems On Beauty
,#NFDB
1226:Enough that in the present case, as in millions, it was not the two halves of a perfect whole that confronted each other at the perfect moment; a missing counterpart wandered independently about the earth waiting in crass obtuseness till the late time came. ~ Thomas Hardy, #NFDB
1227:Here one has the perfect example of justice: the men have kept their women enslaved—the Arabs more than the Christian Copts—kept them stupid and limited and apart, for their male vanity and power; result: the dull women bore the daylights out of the men. ~ Martha Gellhorn, #NFDB
1228:How much more reasonable is it to say with the sage Plato, that the perfect happiness of a state consists in the subjects obeying their prince, the prince obeying the laws, and the laws being equitable and always directed to the good of the public? ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau, #NFDB
1229:When I started writing a business column 15 years ago, I knew I'd found the perfect job for myself. As a columnist I could pick my own topic, do my own analysis, say what I wanted to say and attribute it to myself. Best of all, I could write in my own voice. ~ Allan Sloan, #NFDB
1230:It is impossible to tell you the perfect sweetness of the lips and closed eyes, nor the solemnity of the seal of death which is set upon the whole figure. It is, in every way, perfect--truth itself, but truth selected with inconceivable refinement of feeling. ~ John Ruskin, #NFDB
1231:Only two percent of the world’s population have green eyes.”
Kell said it so Gethin would turn and look at him full on. He did. Moss green. Lagoon green. A tiger’s eyes. He wished he had the perfect words to describe the colour. Exotic. Exciting. Sexy. ~ Barbara Elsborg,#NFDB
1232:People work around you and next to you and the universe waits for the perfect time to whisper in your ear, “Look this way.” There is someone in your life right now who may end up being your enemy, your wife, or your boss. Lift up your head and you may notice. ~ Amy Poehler, #NFDB
1233:The American people and the American military will never get used to civilian casualties. And we will - we will fight against that every way we can possibly bring our intelligence and our tactics to bear. We're not the perfect guys, but we are the good guys. ~ James Mattis, #NFDB
1234:There was a village watercolour society and they'd come and paint in my field. I watched them from the window, the way they would struggle this way and that to find the perfect moment. God has made every angle on that beautiful, and I felt that tremendously. ~ Nicolas Roeg, #NFDB
1235:What does the perfect elevator look like, the one that will deliver us from the cities we suffer now, these stunted shacks? We don't know because we can't see inside it, it's something we cannot imagine, like the shape of angels' teeth. It's a black box. ~ Colson Whitehead, #NFDB
1236:You know what I mean? Real and unreal, beautiful and strange, like a dream. It got me high as a kite, but it didn’t last long enough. It ended too soon and left nothing behind.”
That’s how it is with dreams,” said Priscilla. “They’re the perfect crime. ~ Tom Robbins,#NFDB
1237:Hers was the perfect love that dwells on the other's happiness, and not on its own. She knew that, though for the time being he would find bliss and oblivion in her arms, he would soon repine in inactivity whilst others fought for that which he held sublime. ~ Emmuska Orczy, #NFDB
1238:I'm the perfect girl. You read about me in Maxim or whatever. I tell dirty jokes like I'm one of the guys, and I'm sitting there in my panties and bra so you can see I'm a piece of ass in the bargain. Except I'm real, so I come with all kinds of complications. ~ Garth Ennis, #NFDB
1239:One thing more: Wonderland and I are the same. You love one of us, you love the other. You are Wonderland, too. Which means we are the perfect fit, in more ways than you can even imagine. On our day together, I’ll take great pleasure in showing you all of them. ~ A G Howard, #NFDB
1240:Photography, of course, is the perfect medium for the investigation. It can reveal the truth of present day specifics and particularities, while at the same time, by conscious choice of lighting and pictorial structure, suggest the aesthetic legacy of the past. ~ John Pfahl, #NFDB
1241:The economy was in a shambles, despite Lenin’s best efforts to fix it. So the Communist Party demanded that people look forward and remember that their own sacrifices would one day flower in the perfect society for their children or their children’s children. ~ M T Anderson, #NFDB
1242:the Eucharistic bread and wine are not a prize for the perfect or a reward for good behavior. Rather they are food for the human journey and medicine for the sick. We come forward not because we are worthy but because we are all wounded and somehow “unworthy. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
1243:There was nothing like the smell of books, particularly old books—that magical combination of oaky aged paper, the rich robustness of leather, the silkiness of binding, together with the fruity topnotes of faded ink, all combining to produce the perfect bouquet. ~ H Y Hanna, #NFDB
1244:You see, my dear ice witch, I have had the love of children from all over the world because of my stories. A child's love is the perfect love, for it is given with a whole heart. That love will outlast me a hundredfold. And it will outlast you as well. ~ Jane Yolen, #NFDB
1245:a simple dream, set in a city park, along an avenue of mature elms, whose overarching branches turned the avenue into a green tunnel into which the sky and the sunlight were dripping, here and there, through the perfect imperfections in the canopy of leaves. ~ Salman Rushdie, #NFDB
1246:I'd love to say that every move I make is completely calculated and I'm sitting on a pile of scripts, sifting through them for the perfect role, but the fact is that there are a lot of talented people out there and there's a lot of competition in our business. ~ Eric Balfour, #NFDB
1247:It may upset my secret sisters that I say this, but between you and me, if you're so fortunate as to have captured the perfect male, peeling off that chain-mail bikini and becoming a part-time Amazon is not so bad after all.
-Author's Note, Anne Fortier ~ Anne Fortier,#NFDB
1248:When life tends to get too complex, too fast, too cluttered, too deadline oriented, or too type A for you, stop and remember your own spirit. You're headed for inspiration, a simple, peaceful place where you're in harmony with the perfect timing of all creation. ~ Wayne Dyer, #NFDB
1249:I know know why ... if something not broke, don't fix it. Twelve Angry Men was the perfect movie. The cast was just the best cast you could possibly get together. The director was Sidney Lumet, the best director around. So why they made the remake I don't know. ~ Jack Klugman, #NFDB
1250:It doesn’t matter what field you’re talking about—beating somebody else just doesn’t do it for me. I’m much more interested in whether I reach the goals that I set for myself, so in this sense long-distance running is the perfect fit for a mindset like mine. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1251: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
1252:When I made Illmatic, I was trying to make the perfect album. It comes from the days of Wild Style. I was trying to make you experience my life. I wanted you to look at hip-hop differently. I wanted you to feel that hip-hop was changing and becoming something more real. ~ Nas, #NFDB
1253:Fairacre children could handle tools, and had the plodding unhurried methods of the countryman that produce amazing results. Here was the perfect medium for their inborn skill. The golden sand was turned, raked, piled, patted and ornamented with shells and seaweed, ~ Miss Read, #NFDB
1254:I am so attracted to ambition and drive and talent. If a man loves something and can put his heart into it, I am instantly into him. I like a strong man who can be in control and make decisions but who is sensitive and attentive. That is the perfect combination. ~ Meaghan Rath, #NFDB
1255:That abominable offspring of Ham and Emzara was the man that Ishtar was after. As the cursed son of Ham, he would be the perfect vehicle through which to breed the Seedline of the Serpent in opposition to the Seedline of the Woman through the chosen son of Noah. ~ Brian Godawa, #NFDB
1256:The enlightened world will be one in which everyone is in love with everyone all the time. We will see each other as God created us: as the perfect, loving, and lovable people we really are. The purpose of romantic love is to jump-start our enlightenment. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
1257:What is WIND and what is BONE have never been conclusively determined by the generations of Chinese critics, but what is certain, according to Liu Hsieh, is that the perfect combination or balance of WIND and BONE, the metaphor for the ideal poem, is a bird. ~ Eliot Weinberger, #NFDB
1258:hasn’t happened in a long time. I swear. We are doing great.” Luke raised his eyebrows. He knew better; he’d seen the finger-shaped bruises on her arm just a few days ago. Annie ignored him. “I know you can’t understand. You and Natalie had the perfect marriage. ~ Emily Bleeker, #NFDB
1259:She tugged at the little braids on each side of her head. Again, Jason thought how glad he was that she’d lost the Aphrodite blessing. With the makeup and the dress and the perfect hair, she’d looked about twenty-five, glamorous, and completely out of his league. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
1260:Actually, acting turned out to be the perfect job for me, because I had a lot of different interests. I thought about being a priest at one point. I thought about being a teacher. I thought about being a lawyer. But I think acting is probably the best job for me. ~ John C Reilly, #NFDB
1261:Had they not wounded her, she'd be inaccessible to him. Had she not resisted the darkness so successfully, she'd not be strong enough to handle what he was about to do to her. She'd been damaged, but not irreparably. Fragmented and strong, the perfect mix for him. ~ Melissa Marr, #NFDB
1262:I feel like throughout history we've heard bullshit from politicians, but now we're at the perfect intersection of technology and entertainment where we can, in real time, produce something that holds people accountable. That's an exciting time to be living in. ~ Morgan Spurlock, #NFDB
1263:Artificial over-stimulation seemed like the perfect way to stifle a generation of young people who wanted more and more from a world where less and less was available. Whether the victims were men or women, arousal addiction seemed to have become the new normal. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
1264:In the physics of fire, there is a chemical phenomenon known as a stoichiometric condition, in which a fire achieves the perfect burning ratio of oxygen to fuel—in other words, there is exactly enough air available for the fire to consume all of what it is burning. ~ Susan Orlean, #NFDB
1265:Of all the albums I've made, I still don't feel like I've made the perfect album. I've had ones that touch on this, and others that touch on that, but never one that's just perfect and fully relevant. I don't know if I'll ever make it, but I'm certainly trying every day. ~ Eminem, #NFDB
1266: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
1267:I generally read every night before I fall asleep: Brad does too. I find it comforting to lie beside my husband, each of us with a book in our hands. I see it as a period of calm and intimacy, and as the perfect metaphor-together, yet individual-for our marriage. ~ Debbie Macomber, #NFDB
1268:I've done seven movies in eight years, and with each movie I feel like I'm learning a lot. I'm still young-ish, so I still feel like I'm in the zone of learning and creating. Those are the perfect places to do that. And in a weird way, you have a lot of freedom. ~ Daniel Radcliffe, #NFDB
1269:I write most of my stuff. When I'm rejected in music, it hurts worse than when I don't get a role, because that's someone else's vision. If they don't see me as that part, even if I believe I'm the perfect person for it, that's their vision. The music is my vision. ~ Taryn Manning, #NFDB
1270:The creator of Bambi was secretly writing pornographic novels on the side. This single fact tells you everything you need to know about turn-of-the-century Vienna, and why it was the perfect place for Sigmund Freud and his far-fetched theories about the human psyche. ~ Eric Weiner, #NFDB
1271:When you feel scared, hold someone's hand and look into their eyes. And when you feel brave, do the same thing. You are all here because you are smart. And you are brave. And if you add kindness and the ability to change a tire, you almost make up the perfect person. ~ Amy Poehler, #NFDB
1272:As he responded to the essay questions, Mitchell kept bending his answers toward their practical application. He wanted to know why he was here, and how to live. It was the perfect way to end your college career. Education had finally led Mitchell out into life. ~ Jeffrey Eugenides, #NFDB
1273:But death wouldn’t deter her killer. It would whet his appetite. He’d look at her corpse and see only an object of desire. Someone he can control. She doesn’t resist him. She is cool, passive flesh, yielding to any and all indignities. She is the perfect lover. The ~ Tess Gerritsen, #NFDB
1274:But once I'd come up with it, I realized it really was the perfect plan. Instead of waiting for Maria to come to me, I was simply going to go to her and, well... Send her back to where she came. Or reduce her to a mound of quivering gelatinous goo. Whichever came first. ~ Meg Cabot, #NFDB
1275:Hey!” I wave my index finger in his face, “No shitting on pop music. Everyone needs some light, fun, sexy pop music. It’s summer, and that right there, is the perfect summer song. It’s hot.”
“You’re right, it is hot,” he says, scanning my body with his eyes. ~ Hilaria Alexander,#NFDB
1276:Our body remains alive, yet sooner or later our soul will receive the mortal blow. The perfect crime - for we don't know who murdered our joy, what their motives were, or where the guilty parties are to be found...they too are the victims of the reality they created. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1277:Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we’re related, for better or worse…and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.” It didn’t sound like much of a recipe for the perfect family. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
1278:I generally read every night befi=ore I fall asleep: Brad does too. I find it comforting to lie beside my husband, each of us with a book in our hands. I see it as a period of calm and intimacy, and as the perfect metaphor-together, yet individual-for our marriage. ~ Debbie Macomber, #NFDB
1279:In its flawless grace and superior self-sufficiency I have seen a symbol of the perfect beauty and bland impersonality of the universe itself, objectively considered, and in its air of silent mystery there resides for me all the wonder and fascination of the unknown. ~ H P Lovecraft, #NFDB
1280:Nothing is more clear than that Christ cannot be explained by any humanistic system. He does not fit into any theory of natural evolution, for in that case the perfect flower of humanity should have appeared at the end of human history and not in the middle of it. ~ Loraine Boettner, #NFDB
1281:The stillness and stasis of bed are the perfect opposite of travel: inertia is what I've come to consider the default mode, existentially and electronically speaking. Bed, its utter inactivity, offers a glimpse of eternity, without the drawback of being dead. ~ Lynne Sharon Schwartz, #NFDB
1282:We think that relationship structures should be designed to fit the people in them rather than people chosen to fit some abstract ideal of the perfect relationship. There’s no right or wrong way to do this as long as everyone’s having fun and getting their needs met. ~ Dossie Easton, #NFDB
1283:When I was a kid, I was fascinated by space
And I learnt that time slows near a black hole.
Inside a black hole, time stops altogether.
Whether or not this theory will ever be proved,
I’m moved to believe this would be the perfect place to love someone. ~ Shane L Koyczan,#NFDB
1284:I think a good poem should have some inscrutable part. You can't quite explain it. The poem can only explain itself to a certain limit and at that point you enter into a little bit of mystery. That for me is the perfect poem: to begin in clarity and to end in mystery. ~ Billy Collins, #NFDB
1285:Surely choosing the perfect silken shoes isn’t more important than finding a blood-crazed murderer. Yet… look at those things on your feet, getting all stained and gory. Is your interest in science simply an attempt at finding a husband? Shall I grab my coat, then? ~ Kerri Maniscalco, #NFDB
1286:We did musical chairs to sit with our partner. Glasses were refilled and heads bent in pairs. Looking over the table, I was suffused with affection for my friends. If you could bottle this warm feeling and turn it into words, I thought, that would be the perfect toast. ~ Kerry Reichs, #NFDB
1287:You are really in search of yourself, without knowing it. You are love-longing for the love-worthy, the perfect lovable. Due to ignorance you are looking for it in the world of opposites and contradictions. When you find it within, your search will be over. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #NFDB
1288:As James Madison put it in Federalist No. 40, “The choice must always be made, if not one of the lesser evil, at least of the GREATER, not the PERFECT good.” And in the last of the Federalist Papers, he said, “I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man. ~ Condoleezza Rice, #NFDB
1289:He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars. ~ Jack London, #NFDB
1290:Really, every day is the perfect day to boss up. Every day that you wake up is a perfect day to boss up. It's all about continuing to put one foot in front of the next. That's what it's about. Whatever you think you're going through, just put one foot in front of the next. ~ Rick Ross, #NFDB
1291:The waking dreams of life as most people know them are spiritual experiences, but there is another order of spiritual experience and that's to be in the garden of the heart, in the perfect stillness, where the white light of eternity meets the white light of eternity. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
1292:As to the value of conversions, God alone can judge. God alone can know how wide are the steps which the soul has to take before it can approach to a community with Him, to the dwelling of the perfect, or to the intercourse and friendship of higher natures. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
1293:I can spend my time focusing on the perfect version of the life I’ll never have or I can spend my time enjoying the life I do have. And the life I have would provide me with so much opportunity if I would get out of my own head long enough to chase those opportunities. ~ Colleen Hoover, #NFDB
1294:Ice cream is the perfect buffer, because you can do things in a somewhat lighthearted way. Plus, people have an emotional response to ice cream; it's more than just food. So I think when you combine caring, and eating wonderful food, it's a very powerful combination. ~ Jerry Greenfield, #NFDB
1295:In my opinion, animation is best when it communicates without words, because it is the perfect medium through which to make shortcuts to meaning. When actors are not talking, just acting out, it looks kind of weird. But in animation, mime is constant, and you accept it. ~ Signe Baumane, #NFDB
1296:They’re like my aunt Claire,” Dave went on. “When something bad happens to someone else, she says God is punishing them. When something bad happens to her, God is testing her faith. It’s the perfect system; no matter what happens, she’s right and everyone else is wrong. ~ Craig Alanson, #NFDB
1297:To remain virile in the light demands the audacity of a mad ignorance: letting oneself catch fire, screaming with joy, expecting death—because of an unknown, unknowable presence; becoming love and blind light oneself, attaining the perfect incomprehension of the sun. ~ Georges Bataille, #NFDB
1298:You don't impress the officials at NASA with a paper airplane. You don't boast about your crayon sketches in the presence of Picasso. You don't claim equality with Einstein because you can write 'H20.' And you don't boast about your goodness in the presence of the Perfect. ~ Max Lucado, #NFDB
1299:According to a new report, since he's been governor, Chris Christie has spent $82,000 at a concession stand at MetLife Stadium. Now, I know it seems like the perfect story for a Chris Christie joke but I'm actually on a Chris Christie joke diet. So nothing for me, thanks. ~ Jimmy Fallon, #NFDB
1300:I mean that's something we're very conscious of when writing. Tempos are very important. Like "Oh we can't play the song too fast because people aren't going to feel it." There's a pulse to a song. You can't play it too slow. We're always trying to find the perfect tempo. ~ Tony Palermo, #NFDB
1301:Probably the most fun I've ever had, actually, acting. Because it was the perfect extension of the stuff that I'd started to do on Late Night With David Letterman, and when I look back on all my work, it was probably the best possible incarnation of Chris Elliott, of me. ~ Chris Elliott, #NFDB
1302:Tell me you got back at him."
"Are you kidding? I smiled like the perfect Indian princess, asked hi one sugar or two and put in seven. You should've seen his face when he had to choke it down or risk insulting my entire family." Total evil satisfaction in her tone. ~ Nalini Singh,#NFDB
1303:The fireplace against one wall with two cozy wingback chairs facing one squashy sofa made the perfect little nook for both customer and proprietor, since I also lived here. With small side tables placed about the space with samovars for tea tasting, I deemed it perfect. ~ Jeri Westerson, #NFDB
1304:There are many reasons why so many of us choose to share our lives with a pet--it's the perfect antidote for loneliness, providing an endless supply of smiles and the certainty of unwavering companionship, and many of us have seen the way a pet can make a family feel whole. ~ Nick Trout, #NFDB
1305:There may be a time when a country will have to wake up from a vision of happiness, when they have to realize that theirs is not the perfect idea, that there are many aspects that do not correspond to the reality of what is there, the real need and aspirations of the people. ~ Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
1306:The whole concept of 'the perfect meal' is ludicrous.
I knew already that the best meal in the world, the perfect meal, is very rarely the most sophisticated or expensive one....Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one's life. ~ Anthony Bourdain,#NFDB
1307:With two children of my own, I know what it means to balance the demands of family and career - and let's not even talk about finding a date for myself. Rabbi Shmuley keeps telling me he'll find me the perfect woman. My response is, 'As long as she's not a journalist'. ~ Michael Jackson, #NFDB
1308:But once I'd come up with it, I realized it really was the perfect plan. Instead of waiting for Maria to come to me, I was simply going to go to her and, well...
Send her back to where she came.
Or reduce her to a mound of quivering gelatinous goo. Whichever came first. ~ Meg Cabot,#NFDB
1309:I have a very beautiful room in my house... It's glass on three sides, and you'd think that's the perfect place to write. Somehow in that nice room I feel too exposed, and... I'm too distracted by things going on, so I end up writing in a not-very-nice office bedroom. ~ Jeffrey Eugenides, #NFDB
1310:I remember the first time Bill Fichtner and I had a scene together. I've seen him in a few movies, from Armageddon to The Perfect Storm and Contact, and suddenly he's on a bunk bed and I'm on a bunk bed and we're doing this scene together. That was a real 'pinch me' moment. ~ Chris Vance, #NFDB
1311:The Lord did not create suffering. Pain and death came into the world with the fall of man. But after man had chosen suffering in preference to the joys of union with God, the Lord turned suffering itself into a way by which man could come to the perfect knowledge of God. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1312:And I know you thought a lot of him. I realize I'm hardly the perfect substitute, but like I said, the way things are going maybe it's stupid to wait for perfection." Suddenly he was looking directly at her and Cassie saw something in his mahogany eyes she'd never seen before. ~ L J Smith, #NFDB
1313:George W. Bush is a person who is totally disinterested in the world, uneducated. I'm not saying he's stupid. I don't think he's stupid. He's crafty as hell, but he projects well on television. And that's the real big problem. He is the perfect "what, me worry?" president. ~ Robert Scheer, #NFDB
1314:it feels like that is the perfect example of real life. Someone out there is holding down my backspace key and the longer he does this, the more I disappear. I try to write my story again but there he is, erasing, deleting. We are all just pieces in life’s game of chess. ~ Sudeep Nagarkar, #NFDB
1315:Our own intuition of what we're called to is reality speaking to us individually and perfectly. We have to listen to how the Infinite talks to us and leads us. Reality, Life the Infinite, God, has a way of leading us in just the perfect way, if we will only just listen to it. ~ Adyashanti, #NFDB
1316:That thing over there was more there than it’s there!
Yes, sometimes I cry about the perfect body that doesn’t exist.
But the perfect body is the bodiest body there can be,
And the rest are the dreams men have,
The myopia of someone who doesn’t look very much, ~ Alberto Caeiro,#NFDB
1317:The Democratic Convention is $27 million in debt. They had to cancel the kick-off event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. A speedway is the perfect place for the Democratic Convention. You go around in circles, turn left every few seconds, and you end up right where you started. ~ Jay Leno, #NFDB
1318:A pregnant woman and her spouse dream of three babies--the perfect four-month-old who rewards them with smiles and musical cooing,the impaired baby, who changes each day, and the mysterious real baby whose presence is beginning to be evident in the motions of the fetus. ~ T Berry Brazelton, #NFDB
1319:If Mad Men had taken place in the '90s it would have been just as believable. But the fact is that was the perfect storm and with the fashion and the sets and the writing and the actors it just all made sense and it just was one of those things that you can't explain. ~ Christina Hendricks, #NFDB
1320:She'd be the perfect choice."
Jake snapped his head around to find Charli no smiling. "Who?"
"Annie."
"Are you kidding me?" Jake barked out a laugh. "We'd tear each other's throat out."
"Or each other's clothes off. Which sounds like a much better solution to me. ~ Candis Terry,#NFDB
1321:To be thought of as the perfect woman for a man isn't a compliment to a woman, it's more about how a man sees himself. Should we marry, either I will be exhausted trying to keep his illusion intact — or Lord Bancroft will be severely disappointed in his choice. Likely both. ~ Sherry Thomas, #NFDB
1322:I didn't work hard to make Ruby perfect for everyone, because you feel differently from me. No language can be perfect for everyone. I tried to make Ruby perfect for me, but maybe it's not perfect for you. The perfect language for Guido van Rossum is probably Python. ~ Yukihiro Matsumoto, #NFDB
1323:Thus all things are subject to death, sorrow and suffering. I became aware that I too was of the same nature, the nature of beginning and end. What if I searched for that which underlies all creation, that which is nirvana, the perfect freedom from unconditioned existence? ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
1324:[Walking] is the perfect way of moving if you want to see into the life of things. It is the one way of freedom. If you go to a place on anything but your own feet you are taken there too fast, and miss a thousand delicate joys that were waiting for you by the wayside. ~ Elizabeth von Arnim, #NFDB
1325:Acceptance. Acceptance of the impermanence of being. And acceptance of the imperfect nature of being, or possibly the perfect nature of being, depending on how one looks at it. Acceptance that this is not a rehearsal. That this is it.
(When asked what will save humanity.) ~ William Gibson,#NFDB
1326:Between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four, foreplay changes from being something that boys want to do and girls don't, to something that women want and men can't be bothered with. ... The perfect match, if you ask me, is between the Cosmo woman and the fourteen-year old boy. ~ Nick Hornby, #NFDB
1327:Everything shows up in Divine time. We get what we need on the schedule of a force much larger than ourselves. This invisible force moves the pieces around in its own way, in its own time, to harmonize with the perfect precision that defines every cubic inch of space and time. ~ Wayne W Dyer, #NFDB
1328:Look at her. She’s young, she’s vital. She’s a star in the sky. She’s agonized over this night. Agonized over every second of getting ready like the perfect combination of clothes and makeup will unlock the secrets of the universe. Sometimes it feels that much is at stake. ~ Courtney Summers, #NFDB
1329:The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race. ~ Susan B Anthony, #NFDB
1330:God is one with the powerless, one with the hopeless, one with the broken. And we know this because of Jesus. Jesus is the most fully realized revelation of God that we’ve got, and what we can see of God in the life of Jesus is the perfect example of self-limitation and humility. ~ Tony Jones, #NFDB
1331:I gave my mother a matching set [of mugs] for Christmas, and she accepted them as graciously as possible, announcing that they would make the perfect pet bowls. The mugs were set on the kitchen floor and remained there until the cat chipped a tooth and went on a hunger strike. ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
1332:Our culture does not emphasize self-compassion, quite the opposite. We’re told that no matter how hard we try, our best just isn’t good enough. It’s time for something different. We can all benefit by learning to be more self-compassionate, and now is the perfect time to start. ~ Kristin Neff, #NFDB
1333:There's no such thing as the perfect soulmate. If you meet someone and you think they're perfect, you better run as fast as you can in the other direction. 'Cos your soulmate is the person that pushes all your buttons, pisses you off on a regular basis, and makes you face your shit. ~ Madonna, #NFDB
1334:A keen observer of life once said, "no man can fail, if some one person sees him successful." Such is the power of the vision, and many a great man owed his success to a wife, or sister, or a friend who "believed in him" and held without wavering to the perfect pattern! ~ Florence Scovel Shinn, #NFDB
1335:I hurried to the bed. But the sight of Quinn’s ass was too beautiful to resist and I quickly dropped to my knees behind him. The height of the bed gave me the perfect angle and I gave Quinn no warning whatsoever as I split him open with my hands and then dove in with my mouth. ~ Sloane Kennedy, #NFDB
1336:Oh, sweet mother of fuckers. I almost wept at the taste. It was the nirvana of chocolate, the perfect sweetness, the perfect moistness, the perfect richness, and then to reward the eater further, the cake was shot through with raspberry. Literally the best pairing in the world. ~ Deborah Wilde, #NFDB
1337:Today in an auditorium full of parents my son scanned the room looking for me.
When he saw me his face lit up the room.
He wasn't looking for the perfect parent.
He was looking for his mom.
Don't ever forget the power of simply being their mom. ~ Rachel Marie Martin,#NFDB
1338:You just have to keep moving forward. You just have to keep doing something, seizing the next opportunity, staying open to trying something new. It doesn’t have to fit your vision of the perfect job or the perfect life. Perfect is boring, and dreams are not real. Just . . . DO. ~ Shonda Rhimes, #NFDB
1339:Allah says, "He has made everything
that is in the heavens and the earth subservient to you. It is all from Him." (22:65) All that is
in the universe is subject to man. He who knows that from his knowledge is the Perfect Man.
He who is ignorant of that is the Animal Man. ~ Ibn Arabi,#NFDB
1340:A so-called news organization called the Denver Guardian - which, by the way, doesn't exist - wrote an article and pushed it on social media that said that the pope had endorsed Donald Trump. That's the perfect definition of fake news. It was intentionally designed to deceive. ~ Vivian Schiller, #NFDB
1341:is an Infinite Intelligence which responds to your thoughts, and that no matter what the problem is, as you think about a Divine solution and the happy ending, you will find a subjective wisdom within you responding to you, revealing the perfect plan, and showing you the way you ~ Joseph Murphy, #NFDB
1342:Our enemies-my enemies-wouldn’t win. The demon lizards had hurt me for the last time. Now, they had a new foe, and I would make sure they remembered my name when I destroyed them on the battlefield.
I would work hard.
I would excel.
I would become the perfect soldier. ~ Julie Kagawa,#NFDB
1343:A few days after we came home from the hospital, I sent a letter to a friend, including a photo of my son and some first impressions of fatherhood. He responded, simply, 'Everything is possible again.' It was the perfect thing to write because that was exactly how it felt. ~ Jonathan Safran Foer, #NFDB
1344:But pure wit is akin to Puritanism; to the perfect and painful consciousness of the final fact in the universe. Very briefly, the man who sees the consistency in things is a wit - and a Calvinist. The man who sees the inconsistency in things is a humorist - and a Catholic. ~ Gilbert K Chesterton, #NFDB
1345:Everything is possible again.” It was the perfect thing to write, because that was exactly how it felt. We could retell our stories and make them better, more representative or aspirational. Or we could choose to tell different stories. The world itself had another chance. ~ Jonathan Safran Foer, #NFDB
1346:It was Vivaldi's Mandolin Concerto, Francesca Abraham realized as the radio alarm went off. Lively, unrelentingly upbeat, it was the perfect tempo in which to start the day. Covering her head with a pillow, she reached out blindly and urgently, desperate to shut the damn thing off. ~ Naomi Ragen, #NFDB
1347:I was always fascinated with the idea that an imaginary friend was the perfect friend that a child created, and I wanted to play with the idea of a role reversal where the imaginary friend is waiting to find that perfect someone but has doubts about whether that day would ever come. ~ Dan Santat, #NFDB
1348:Life is a beta. Voltaire said that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Google lives the rule as it introduces every new product as a beta. That is Google's way to say that it trusts us to help it finish its products. It is Google's way to open up its design process to our wisdom. ~ Jeff Jarvis, #NFDB
1349:Alter! When The Hills Do
729
Alter! When the Hills do—
Falter! When the Sun
Question if His Glory
Be the Perfect One—
Surfeit! When the Daffodil
Doth of the Dew—
Even as Herself—Sir—
I will—of You—
~ Emily Dickinson,#NFDB
1350:Yoga is, as I can readily believe, the perfect and appropriate method of fusing body and mind together so that they form a unity which is scarcely to be questioned. This unity creates a psychological disposition which makes possible intuitions that transcend consciousness. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
1351:I knew when I bought the ring that it would be years before I gave it to Abby, but it made sense to keep it just in case the perfect moment happened to arise. Knowing it was there gave me something to look forward to, even now. Inside that box was the little bit of hope I had left. ~ Jamie McGuire, #NFDB
1352:It was the first time either of them had ever held another's hand, and for them alone, the immensity of what unfolded that night was overshadowed by the perfect wonderment of fingers intertwined - as though this was what hands had always been for, and not for holding weapons at all. ~ Laini Taylor, #NFDB
1353:The determination and enthusiasm of the Category 5 team makes it the perfect home for my music as I embark on this next stage of my career. The promotional savvy and level of support they've pledged meets or exceeds anything I've seen from the major labels I've been associated with. ~ Travis Tritt, #NFDB
1354:There's never going to be a decathlon that you're going to have 10 events that your satisfied with. You're always, always going to be dissatisfied in something, and that always draws you back to try to retry that the next time you do a decathlon. It's like you go for the perfect 10. ~ Ashton Eaton, #NFDB
1355:It is the perfect wrong time for Jeremy to do to Mirabelle what she had done to him - call him up for a quick fix - because;, in a sense, she is now betrothed. Her first date with someone who treated her well obligates her to faithfulness, at least until the relationship is explored. ~ Steve Martin, #NFDB
1356:Sometimes it feels like that is the perfect example of real life. Someone out there is holding down my backspace key and the longer he does this, the more I disappear. I try to write my story again but there he is, erasing, deleting. We are all just pieces in life’s game of chess. ~ Sudeep Nagarkar, #NFDB
1357:Cecelia turned her gaze away from the girls and looked at the shimmer blue of their kidney shaped swimming pool, with its powerful underwater light, the perfect symbol of suburban bliss, except for that strange intermit sound like a baby choking that was coming from the pool filter. ~ Liane Moriarty, #NFDB
1358:I still think that with any candidate, whoever gets elected, there are going to be certain issues or platforms that those who feel strongly can work with him on. You can't be perfect. You can't be the perfect father. You can't be the perfect singer. You can't be the perfect president. ~ Eddie Vedder, #NFDB
1359:The actors feel very free. The actor, he doesn't need to think about where the camera is, he just has to focus on what he's doing and forget the camera. The camera is never in the perfect position, and I think this is what keeps this feeling of reality. The frame is not perfect. ~ Fernando Meirelles, #NFDB
1360:The perfect gadget would somehow allow me to fly. Isn't that what everybody wants? It would also cook a damn good microwave pizza. So while in flight you had something to eat - an in-flight meal. Where would I go? Well, nowadays, it would probably just take me to work a lot quicker. ~ John Krasinski, #NFDB
1361:I'm truly grateful to the writers of Fringe for giving me that because, over the years, when I've spoken about the character with them, I've always felt that this would be the perfect way to end and complete his journey, and to complete the journey of this series, and they gave it to me. ~ John Noble, #NFDB
1362:The problem is that this search for the perfect person can generate a lot of stress. Younger generations face immense pressure to find the “perfect person” that simply didn’t exist in the past when “good enough” was good enough. When they’re successful, though, the payoff is incredible. ~ Aziz Ansari, #NFDB
1363:They’ve had several conversations since that day in Owings Mills when Bisciotti fired him. “He said at some point we will sit down and have a glass of wine in that new house of yours,” Billick said. Billick had the perfect response. “It’s the least I can do, because you’re paying for it. ~ Gary Myers, #NFDB
1364:We did two films [Kung Fu Panda], because the first two films were so embraced by the Chinese audiences we wanted to make something we could push further and since this is a co-production, it seemed like the perfect time to create something that felt native to Chinese audiences. ~ Jennifer Yuh Nelson, #NFDB
1365:We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way boys are. If we have sons, we don’t mind knowing about their girlfriends. But our daughters’ boyfriends? God forbid. (But we of course expect them to bring home the perfect man for marriage when the time is right.) ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, #NFDB
1366:We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way boys are. If we have sons, we don’t mind knowing about their girlfriends. But our daughters’ boyfriends? God forbif. (But we of course expect them to bring home the perfect man for marriage when the time is right.) ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, #NFDB
1367:You always have to compromise,” Gene said. An incredible statement and totally untrue in his case. “You found the perfect wife. Highly intelligent, extremely beautiful, and she lets you have sex with other women.” Gene suggested that I not congratulate Claudia in person for her tolerance, ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1368:You're a centurion," Ty said. "You have vows-"
"vows of friendship and love are stronger," said Diego.
Drusilla looked at him with cartoon hearts in her eyes. "That's beautiful."
Mark rolled his eyes. He was clearly not a member of the perfect Diego appreciation society. ~ Cassandra Clare,#NFDB
1369:Any guy, even imaginary, would just feel like second best. Second best to what? I don't even have an image of the perfect boyfriend. I just know he must exist. Because I have all these feelings-love, longing, wanting to be touched, dreaming of being kissed-yet no one to focus them on. ~ Tabitha Suzuma, #NFDB
1370:For a moment, I was captivated as I studied them side by side. My mother: the perfect picture of guardian excellence and decorum. My father: always capable of achieving his goals, no matter how twisted the means. Uneasily, I began to understand how I’d inherited my bizarre personality. ~ Richelle Mead, #NFDB
1371:have told Laurence the whole story, about what Mr. Rose said to me. CH@ NG3M3: What do you think would have happened if you’d told him? Patricia: He would have thought I was making it up. He would have thought I was nuts. That’s why it was the perfect trap. Whatever I do, I lose. ~ Charlie Jane Anders, #NFDB
1372:He couldn't help but lose himself in Rain's eyes. They were deep vine green, so vivid; the perfect match to her peach cheeks. Malcolm had been trying to run from those eyes, but hadn't realized until now that for the last two years he'd been living in a jungle of the exact same shade. ~ Jason F Wright, #NFDB
1373:In sexual love we seek our own pleasure via another body. In non-sexual love, we seek our own pleasure via our own idea. The masturbator may be abject, but in point of fact he’s the perfect logical expression of the lover. He’s the only one who doesn’t feign and doesn’t fool himself. ~ Fernando Pessoa, #NFDB
1374:I think what women are doing to themselves is that they're seeing these different images of perfection - the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect career person, the perfect movie star - and they're somehow thinking that they should be all of these things, and that's the problem. ~ Debora Spar, #NFDB
1375:Neither of us would ever enjoy the perfect peace of nothing. After the clock by the bed flashed midnight and Christmas was over, I felt my wife nibbling kisses across my shoulders. I smelled unhappiness on her breath, but she continued caressing me, saying my name in a mournful whisper. ~ Tayari Jones, #NFDB
1376:People help you time-travel. People work around you and next to you and the universe waits for the perfect time to whisper in your ear, “Look this way.” There is someone in your life right now who may end up being your enemy, your wife, or your boss. Lift up your head and you may notice. ~ Amy Poehler, #NFDB
1377:That girl enjoyed everything that bored me and everything that I enjoyed bored her. We were the perfect mates: what kept us going was the tolerable and intolerable distance between us. We kept meeting each day—and each night—with nothing solved and no chance to solve it. Perfection. ~ Charles Bukowski, #NFDB
1378:I envy those old Greek bathers, into whose hands were delivered Pericles, and Alcibiades, and the perfect models of Phidias. They had daily before their eyes the highest types of Beauty which the world has ever produced; for of all things that are beautiful, the human body is the crown. ~ Bayard Taylor, #NFDB
1379:It is very extraordinary to see the perfect flush of health on her cheeks, to see the lustre of her coiled black hair, the poise of the head upon the neck, the grace of the white hands - and to think that it all means nothing - that it is a picture without a meaning. Yes, it is queer. ~ Ford Madox Ford, #NFDB
1380:My idea of the perfect exercise class is this: The teacher gives us all a hug and goes, “You did it! You showed up! Let’s lie down.” We all lie down and she’s like, “How is everybody feeling?” We’re like, “Great!” And the teacher’s like, “Great!” Then we all get to leave 20 minutes early. ~ Amy Poehler, #NFDB
1381:She was Mattie Tucker now, mother of three and a good forty pounds heavier, casting that burning eye over them all, reaching way back for a southern pleasantry that was more like a Halloween apple with a razor blade in it: 'Well, don't y'all make just the perfect family of four? ~ John Burnham Schwartz, #NFDB
1382:We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way boys are. If we have sons, we don’t mind knowing about their girlfriends. But our daughters’ boyfriends? God forbid. (But we of course expect them to bring home the perfect man for marriage when the time is right.) We ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, #NFDB
1383:When the spiritual and natural orders are in cohesion, it is fertile ground for the miraculous, freedom from poverty, righteous living, healthy homes and happy holiness. Governments are righteous. Pollution and disease are eradicated from society. The perfect cohesion of Eden is restored. ~ John Crowder, #NFDB
1384:Fishing in a bucket. The total hopelessness of the activity was very soothing. It was the perfect sport. Without the emotional stresses of success and failure, she was entirely free to enjoy the pleasures of the moment... It was a good hobby, and cheap, and if more people did it more often ~ Hilary McKay, #NFDB
1385:...he is constantly reminding me that real magic doesn't come from achieving the perfect appearance, from being Cinderella at the ball with both glass slippers and a killer hairstyle. The real magic is in the pumpkin, in the mice, in the moonlight; not beyond ordinary life, but within it. ~ Martha N Beck, #NFDB
1386:The perfect opening is the word imagine, because imagine allows you to communicate in the eyes and the vision of the listener rather than yours. And the best illustration of that is "1984." Room 101 in "1984" - everyone's read it, and we all have our own imagination of what that looks like. ~ Frank Luntz, #NFDB
1387:The point is that religion puts a value on irrationality, which makes it the perfect tool for promoting irrational beliefs like misogyny. Other ideologies can be challenged with evidence and reason, but religion is allowed a pass by most people. And that's why it's especially dangerous. ~ Amanda Marcotte, #NFDB
1388:What the hell is on my wedding dress?” The fastest way to get demoted from bridesmaid to dishonored guest is to vomit on the bride’s wedding gown. But if you do ever vomit on a wedding gown, make sure the bride is the perfect mix of anal-retentive, hyper planner, and fairy-tale whimsical. ~ Alice Clayton, #NFDB
1389:And is it that the haze of grief
Makes former gladness loom so great?
The lowness of the present state,
That sets the past in this relief?
Or that the past will always win
A glory from its being far;
And orb into the perfect star
We saw not when we moved therein? ~ Alfred Tennyson,#NFDB
1390:Jesus lived within this world of fear, and perceived only love. Every action, every word, every thought was guided by the Holy Spirit instead of the ego. He was a thoroughly purified being. To think about him is to think about, and so to call forth, the perfect love inside ourselves. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
1391:The perfect and genuine faith is that which daily acknowledges the works (i.e., facts) that the Lord has accomplished. The meaning of claiming is to acknowledge daily all that the Lord has accomplished for us, that is, to acknowledge that all these accomplishments are effective in us. Then, ~ Watchman Nee, #NFDB
1392:Therefore the perfect, absolutely and in itself, is one, infinite, which cannot be
greater or better, and that which nothing can be greater or better. This is one, everywhere,
the only God, universal nature, of which nothing can be a perfect image
or reflection, but the infinite. ~ Giordano Bruno,#NFDB
1393:I suppose my biggest frustration is that we as white people come into a culture and demand that the natives do things our way. I want to see their lives bettered as much as anyone, but who says we have somehow arrived at the perfect way to live? Especially for specific areas of the world? ~ Tracie Peterson, #NFDB
1394:She told me the French expression [Esprit de l'escalier]—the spirit of the staircase—for the voice that catches up with you, minutes after the fact, to make fun of whatever you said and come up with the perfect answer you didn't think of. We even had our own code phrase: SOS, we called it. ~ Francine Prose, #NFDB
1395:The perfect stillness of the night was thrilled by a more solemn silence. The darkness held a presence that was all the more felt because it was not seen. I could not any more have doubted that HE was there than that I was. Indeed, I felt myself to be, if possible, the less real of the two. ~ William James, #NFDB
1396:Where did you find the whipped cream?” he asked. “You had milk, I had science,” said Jack. “It’s amazing how much of culinary achievement can be summarized by that sentence. Cheese making, for example. The perfect intersection of milk, science, and foolish disregard for the laws of nature. ~ Seanan McGuire, #NFDB
1397:Even Bertrand Russell, who fancied he saw flaws in Christ's character, confessed nonetheless that 'What the world needs is love, Christian love, or compassion.' But this belies a belief in what most others acknowledge, namely, that Christ was the perfect manifestation of the virtue of love. ~ Norman Geisler, #NFDB
1398:Everyone's looking for the perfect teacher, but although their teachings might be divine, teachers are all too human, and that's something people find hard to accept. Don't confuse the teacher with the lesson, the ritual with the ecstasy, the transmitter of the symbol with the symbol itself. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1399:Jordan, Attached, please find a copy of the schedule for our trip. Best Courtney."
I was really proud of it. The email i mean. Because it was so short and cold.Of course, it took me and my friend Jocelyn about two hours to come up with the perfect wording, but Jordan doesn't know that. ~ Lauren Barnholdt,#NFDB
1400:Look at it out here! It's all falling apart. I'm erasing you, and I'm happy! You did it to me first. I can't believe you did this to me. Clem! Did you hear me? By morning, you'll be gone! The perfect ending to this piece of sh*t story! ~ Joel Barish (Jim Carrey), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004., #NFDB
1401:The running wasn’t about the race or the finish line. It was about the joy of the gift of having something to run after. I realized the Truth. There is no finish line. There is no success or failure. There is nothing to fix. There is only the perfect me, my dream, and the joy of running it down. ~ Tim Grahl, #NFDB
1402:Trump is the perfect foil,” he summarized. “He’s the bad father, the terrible first husband, the boyfriend that fucked you over and wasted all those years, and [you] gave up your youth for, and then dumped you. And the terrible boss that grabbed you by the pussy all the time and demeaned you. ~ Bob Woodward, #NFDB
1403:But there we are. Some things never do make perfect sense. There must be some explanation, and it is perhaps a little like the Doctrine of the Perfect Partner. We must be content to know that she exists, somewhere in the world, and try not to care overmuch that we will probably never meet her. ~ Iain M Banks, #NFDB
1404:WILD THYME (Activity) This herb grows in a dense matted pattern, making it the perfect camouflage for fairy abodes and for sleeping fairy queens. A patch of thyme was traditionally set aside in herb gardens for the fairies to live in, somewhat like birdhouses are placed in the garden today. ~ Carolyn Turgeon, #NFDB
1405:A warm sunny evening, the plash and gurgle of the waves in the rock pools, the rush of the cold gin. I thought for the first time of my novel, abandoned, all these years, and I came up, unprompted, with the perfect title. Octet. Octet by Logan Mountstuart. Perhaps I will surprise them all, yet. ~ William Boyd, #NFDB
1406:But for women, it’s so much more than that. The politeness that we’re raised to prioritize, first and foremost, against our better judgment and whether we feel like being polite or not, is the perfect systematically ingrained personality trait for manipulative, controlling people to exploit. ~ Karen Kilgariff, #NFDB
1407:Every cook knows it's a rare day when you have all the parts of the perfect dish. But that day back at Mawton I had everything I needed: white fleshed pippins, pink quince, and a cinnamon stick that smelled like a breeze from the Indies. My flour was clean, my butter as yellow as a buttercup. ~ Martine Bailey, #NFDB
1408:He was tall. He was broad. He had the perfect amount of stubble on his jawline, and those eyes were to-die for – deep brown and piercing. Then there was his hair – thick, brown, and ideal for sliding fingers through. She didn’t want to take her eyes off him, but she knew better than to stare. ~ Lauren Blakely, #NFDB
1409:they’d fought like hellions, crashed into each other like two giant stones. That eventually they’d eroded each other into the perfect fit, become a single wall, nestled into each other’s curves and hollows, her strengths chinking his weaknesses, her weaknesses reinforced by his strengths. ~ Karen Marie Moning, #NFDB
1410:What is
the right tool,
the best option,
the choicest gift,
the winning hand,
the greatest relief,
the finest revenge,
the sweetest drink,
the perfect response,
the working solution,
the strongest medicine?
The correct answer is kindness. ~ Richelle E Goodrich,#NFDB
1411:He is by nature a musician who composes the harmony of the Cosmos and transmits to each individual the rhythm of their own music. If the music becomes discordant, don't blame the musician, but the lyre-string he plays, that has become loose and sounds flat, marring the perfect beauty of the melody. ~ Tim Freke, #NFDB
1412:After months of searching for the perfect gentleman, you now crave a steady dose of wicked men and you've decided to start with me." He patted his lap, knowing she couldn't see the gesture in the dark. "I don't think I should like you finding another, so I shall work hard to hold your attention. ~ Olivia Parker, #NFDB
1413:I'm the perfect amount of guarded. I don't reveal too much, and I never reveal who the songs are about. They are real life. People get that. I date a lot of musicians and they do the same thing. People that work with me - who I write about too - they get it. It's my creative outlet, my therapy. ~ Kelly Clarkson, #NFDB
1414:A perfect couple is a wholly private thing. No one but the two people in the perfect relationship know for certain whether they're in one. Its only defining quality is that it's composed of two people who feel perfectly right about sharing their lives with each other, even during the hard times. ~ Cheryl Strayed, #NFDB
1415:She turned off all the lights in the duplex and peered out the windows, moving from one room to the next to see if she could catch sight of the a black sedan. Security lights and streetlights in her complex cast a strange orange glow on the misty snow. It looked like the perfect night for a murder. ~ Terry Spear, #NFDB
1416:The prospect of thousands of Koreans returning home to serve as foot soldiers in the Great March Forward (as I call it) fueled his maniacal dreams. So yes, the mass repatriation was great news for both governments—the perfect win-win situation for everyone except the real human beings involved. ~ Masaji Ishikawa, #NFDB
1417:You never build the perfect building. Only Allah is perfect. Life is such. You make decisions on conclusions, then some guy invents something else and the world changes. That's comforting. There's no one way to use museums, no one way to do art. That also means there is no one way to build museums. ~ Frank Gehry, #NFDB
1418:Acting offers me an outlet. Here is the perfect opportunity to spend fleeting moments becoming an entirely different person; to experience a character entirely unlike myself, but to also make such a character a part of me. There is no routine here; there is no boredom. How does one get bored of life? ~ Osric Chau, #NFDB
1419:Dad was thirsty, not given to great displays of affection, like his father and his father's father before him. A long line of self-indulgent men who couldn't give love but lived to take it, which isn't the same as receiving it. They were all in so much pain and that's always the perfect excuse. ~ Courtney Summers, #NFDB
1420:This, you see, is the true danger of children: they are ambushes, each and every one of them. A person may look at someone else’s child and see only the surface, the shiny shoes or the perfect curls. They do not see the tears and the tantrums, the late nights, the sleepless hours, the worry. They ~ Seanan McGuire, #NFDB
1421:Well, we come here to the Fastnesses mostly to learn what questions not to ask."
"But you're the Answerers!"
"You don't see yet, Genry, why we perfected and practice Foretelling?"
"No––"
"To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question. ~ Ursula K Le Guin,#NFDB
1422:And just because your life isn't as awful as someone else's, that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. You can't compare how you feel to the way other people feel. It just doesn't work. What might look like the perfect life- or even an okay life- to you might not be so okay for the person living it. ~ Michael Thomas Ford, #NFDB
1423:Black Americans should be given credit for finding probably the perfect weapon; the weapon of the song. And that song continues. Most holocausts don't, so they have this bitterness left over. The phenomenon of the world, as far as Black Americans are considered, is that we are not a bitter people. ~ Nikki Giovanni, #NFDB
1424:Did I tell you I finally found the perfect page-cutter? It's a pearl-handled fruit knife. My mother left me a dozen of them, I keep one in the pencil cup on my desk. Maybe I go with the wrong kind of people but i'm just not likely to have twelve guests all sitting around simultaneously eating fruit. ~ Helene Hanff, #NFDB
1425:How we approached this was I wanted this to be personal in a way. It's not a big, epic Hollywood score but really personal and intimate, and we thought guitar would be the perfect instrument for him because he's young and he has an undying spirit and all that stuff and we went on that feeling totally. ~ A R Rahman, #NFDB
1426:I don't think I'll ever meet the perfect woman. I might have to get me one of them mail order women. You can do that: you send away to the Philippines, and they send you a wife. The only thing is, once you're on their mailing list, they keep sending you a relative a month whether you want it or not. ~ Adam Ferrara, #NFDB
1427:Just because your life isn't as awful as someone else's that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. You can't compare how you feel to the way other people feel. It just doesn't work.
What might look like the perfect life - or even an okay life - to you might not be so okay for the person living it. ~ Michael Thomas Ford,#NFDB
1428:Just because your life isn't as awful as someone else's, that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. You can't compare how you feel to the way other people feel. It just doesn't work. What might look like the perfect life -- or even an okay life -- to you might not be so okay for the person living it. ~ Michael Thomas Ford, #NFDB
1429:We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are travelling and in darkness. But we already possess Him by grace, and therefore in that sense we have arrived and are dwelling in the light. But oh! How far have I to go to find You in Whom I have already arrived! ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1430:From 1970 onwards, our culture told both sexes that individual expression was paramount. And for women, that was defined as the right to choose an interesting a career, a high-status mate, the desirable handbag or vacation, the perfect family size, and a definitionally fruitless quest for 'perfection.' ~ Naomi Wolf, #NFDB
1431:I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be fixed up with another one of your ideas of the perfect man. Contrary to popular belief, we all don’t want to get fucked by the first thing that shows any interest in us. Besides, testosterone-driven sex machines with little to no brains do not appeal to me! ~ Mandy M Roth, #NFDB
1432:I scratched the word HELLO in small letters. ... And as names go, it's a good one, isn't it? In spite of all the damage that followed, I still think that's the perfect name for a picture drawn by a man who was trying his best not to be sad anymore - who was trying to remember how it felt to be happy. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1433:No principle of general law is more universally acknowledged, than the perfect equality of nations. Russia and Geneva have equal rights. It results from this equality, that no one can rightfully impose a rule on another....As no nation can prescribe a rule for others, none can make a law of nations. ~ John Marshall, #NFDB
1434:Once we begin to question our thoughts, our partners-alive, dead or divorced-are always our greatest teachers. There's no mistake about the person you're with; he or she is the perfect teacher for you, whether or not the relationship works out, and once you enter inquiry, you come to see that clearly. ~ Byron Katie, #NFDB
1435:She had tried to be the perfect daughter of a soapmaker. She had tried to be the perfect sister of an earl. She had tried so hard to be a perfect part of an imperfect society that she had turned herself into a person she no longer recognized. Perhaps, just this once, she would try being Viola Hextall. ~ Kelly Bowen, #NFDB
1436:The college bookstore was a splash of life, culture, and society. As a psychology student, I often found myself intrigued by the behavior, ways of thinking and feeling, and general schemata of others, and this was the perfect spot to engage my senses.
Other times, I was just annoyed. ~ Gina Marinello Sweeney,#NFDB
1437:The perfect dictatorship would have the appearance of a democracy, but would basically be a prison without walls in which the prisoners would not even dream of escaping. It would essentially be a system of slavery where, through consumption and entertainment, the slaves would love their servitudes. ~ Aldous Huxley, #NFDB
1438:A more secret, sweet, and overpowering beauty appears to man when his heart and mind open to the sentiment of virtue. Then he is instructed in what is set above him. He learns that his being is without bound; that to the good, to the perfect, he is born, low as he now lies in evil and weakness. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
1439:Death has its beauty. It makes you see the eternity in every second; it makes you see every moment’s perfection instead of searching an eternity for the perfect moment. Time moves differently—beautifully—for those who only have smidgens of it left. But there is no beauty in death for those left behind. ~ Layla Hagen, #NFDB
1440:Growing up in a Jewish matriarchal world inside the patriarchal paradise of Salt Lake City, Utah, gave me increased perspective on gender issues, as it also did my gay brother and my lesbian sister. Our younger sister is the perfect Jewish-American wife and mother, and is fiercely proud of that fact. ~ Roseanne Barr, #NFDB
1441:I didn’t have the vaguest idea of what to do – I couldn’t keep staring at the wall forever, I told myself. But even that admonition didn’t work. A faculty advisor reviewing a graduation thesis would have had the perfect comment: you write well, you argue clearly, but you don’t have anything to say. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1442:If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary. The perfect morality of the gospel rests upon the doctrine which, though often controverted has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God. ~ Benjamin Rush, #NFDB
1443:If you want a romantic partner, when you see a couple madly in love it’s your magic cue to be grateful for the perfect partner. If you want to have a family, when you see babies and children, take the magic cue and be grateful for children. When you pass by your bank, or an ATM, it’s your magic cue to ~ Rhonda Byrne, #NFDB
1444:A cupcake is like a great pop song. The whole world in less than three minutes. And it's impossible to have a bad cupcake. In New York you walk everywhere. So I'm always looking, always on the eternal search for the perfect cupcake. I take them very seriously. It's like hunting and gathering for me. ~ Laurel Nakadate, #NFDB
1445:And just because your life isn’t as awful as someone else’s, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. You can’t compare how you feel to the way other people feel. It just doesn’t work. What might look like the perfect life—or even an okay life—to you might not be so okay for the person living it. God, ~ Michael Thomas Ford, #NFDB
1446:Sometimes love is taken away unjustly, but not until the very end do you stop believing and then it is very bitter. It is bitter because somewhere within you the perfect standard still lives, the pure expectation against which failure and betrayal are contrasted like the dark shadows on a moonlit road. ~ Mark Helprin, #NFDB
1447:Their vain presumption of knowing all can take beginning solely from their never having known anything; for if one has but once experienced the perfect knowledge of one thing, and truly tasted what it is to know, he shall perceive that of infinite other conclusions he understands not so much as one. ~ Galileo Galilei, #NFDB
1448:The mediocrity principle simply states that you aren't special. The universe does not revolve around you; this planet isn't privileged in any unique way; your country is not the perfect product of directed, intentional fate; and that tuna sandwich you had for lunch was not plotting to give you indigestion. ~ PZ Myers, #NFDB
1449:We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are travelling and in darkness. But we already possess Him by grace, and therefore in that sense we have arrived and are dwelling in the light.
But oh! How far have I to go to find You in Whom I have already arrived! ~ Thomas Merton,#NFDB
1450:You can learn how to be an aristocrat by following a few rules in a very short book. There is nothing to it.” He gave the boy a small copy of a book called Manners for the Perfect Gentry. He taught Pierrot to hold his chin up higher and to cry out that he didn’t know why on earth he wasn’t in Italy. ~ Heather O Neill, #NFDB
1451:Can you even understand what a beautiful life is? It isn’t about the perfect house and a keeping-up-with-the-Jones’s new car every two years and having the right landscaper and bragging at parties that you have a house cleaner. Not when all that stuff is shit. It’s surface. There’s nothing underneath. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
1452:It is a state of peace to be able to accept things as they are. This is to be at home in our own lives. We see that this universe is much too big to hold on to, but it is the perfect size for letting go. Our hearts and minds become that big, and we can actually let go. This is the gift of equanimity. ~ Sharon Salzberg, #NFDB
1453:Take a cup of coffee, keep adding sugar until you reach the point that you like it the most, and then when you add more sugar, you actually like it less. Well, the food industry knows that, and they spend huge amounts of effort finding the perfect spot, not just for sugar, but for fat and salt, as well. ~ Michael Moss, #NFDB
1454:And Grandmother Hall really imagines that she can raise Eleanor and her two brothers differently than these children were raised. And if she is very strict and everything is very regimented and ordered and disciplined, that they will become the perfect children who her own children did not become. ~ Blanche Wiesen Cook, #NFDB
1455:He would say it all, except for the wishing she was a boy part, without crying or wobbling. The girls would look at him with such powerful love and gratitude that he would turn into a different person, a better person, the perfect person. All he needed was that one look and he could live forever. ~ Catherynne M Valente, #NFDB
1456:When my grandmother was alive, she used to tell me that every time God creates a soul in heaven, he creates another to become its special mate. And that once we're born, we begin our search for our soul mate, the one person who's the perfect fit for our mind and body. They lucky oens find each other. ~ Lurlene McDaniel, #NFDB
1457:Years later, when I headed up the Investigative Support Unit, I would get asked if—with all that we knew about criminal behavior and crime-scene analysis—any of us could commit the perfect murder. I always told them no, that even with all we knew, our postoffense behavior would still give us away. ~ John Edward Douglas, #NFDB
1458:A naked blade hid nothing, feared nothing. She wanted to be like that. Because that was how you found yourself, created yourself. You didn't hide. You didn't wait for the perfect moment to settle on you like a butterfly, like magic.
You went out and made magic. Made your own wishes come true. ~ Sarah Cross,#NFDB
1459:Every day I'd say I look different. Sometimes I look really formal, sometimes I love the classic Stella McCartney, Chloe Sevigny and Gwyneth Paltrow thing. Other days I like being rock star and wearing leather jackets and studs. I love wearing Burberry - it's the perfect combination of formal and punky. ~ Ellie Goulding, #NFDB
1460:Here I was with the guy I maybe-loved, relaxing by the ocean with salty crisp breezes and blue-gray sea curving into a for-ever horizon. We even had background music to add to the romantic ambience. And except for the "can't kiss because he's my brother" thing, this was the perfect romantic moment. ~ Linda Joy Singleton, #NFDB
1461:The Carmen Electra cards give me another way to connect with my fans while providing them the ability to enjoy the convenience of shopping or paying bills with ease -- online and offline, ... Payment Data Systems is the perfect partner for me because of the capabilities the company already has in place. ~ Carmen Electra, #NFDB
1462:We are living in the era of premeditation and the perfect crime. Our criminals are no longer helpless children who could plead love as their excuse. On the contrary, they are adults and the have the perfect alibi: philosophy, which can be used for any purpose - even for transforming murderers into judges. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
1463:What if everything about me is totally made up? What if I’m actually…I don’t know. A wanted fugitive in the States.”
“Julia.” He reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “Nobody makes up being a high school math teacher.”
“That’s why it’s the perfect disguise!”
He shook his head. “Nobody. ~ Rebecca Brooks,#NFDB
1464:Among the minor, yet striking characteristics of mathematics, may be mentioned the fleshless and skeletal build of its propositions; the peculiar difficulty, complication, and stress of its reasonings; the perfect exactitude of its results; their broad universality; their practical infallibility. ~ Charles Sanders Peirce, #NFDB
1465:Families were never what you wanted them to be. We all wanted what we couldn't have: the perfect child, the doting husband, the mother who wouldn't let go. We live in our grown-up dollhouses completely unaware that, at any moment, a hand might come in and change around everything we'd become accustomed to. ~ Jodi Picoult, #NFDB
1466:He had too much cat in his blood - a deep-rooted feline twitch that would travel the length of his nerves to tickle his mind at the faintest sign of a mystery, no matter how small. He could no more let a riddle go unsolved than he could pass by the perfect length of colourful wire without picking it up. ~ Charles de Lint, #NFDB
1467:Looking back I realize I had the perfect family background to become the political cartoonist that I became. My father was stupid, insensitive, and cruel, thereby making me distrustful of all authority. On the other hand, I had a warm, supportive and encouraging mother, which made me want to fix the world. ~ Edward Sorel, #NFDB
1468:Mackenzie traversed those waters via canoe, and so I planned the same. My choice involved more than historic homage; it is the perfect slow vehicle to see the country. No noise, no pollution, no trace left of your passage, yet still able to travel far enough a day to give the sense one is making progress. ~ Brian Castner, #NFDB
1469:That Steuben, who needed a translator, what with his English vocabulary consisting almost entirely of swear words, ended up being the perfect hire to upgrade the Continental Army should rattle every search committee, small-business owner, casting director, college admissions officer, headhunter, and voter. ~ Sarah Vowell, #NFDB
1470:a few days of fabulous fuckability fun.” “Why don’t you just call it attractiveness? I prefer that.” “Attractive is too benign. Quaint. In our mothers’ day, it used to be enough to have a pretty face or a nice figure, which was bad enough, but now you must be the perfect fuck-doll too.” “What’s a fuck-doll? ~ Sarai Walker, #NFDB
1471:God doesn’t hide sin. In fact, he put it on display two thousand years ago in a splintered T-shaped piece of wood. Jesus came down to earth, lived the perfect life we never could have, and died the death we should have. And every drop of blood that poured from him was another drop of love falling on us. ~ Jefferson Bethke, #NFDB
1472:He ticked my every box both intellectually and sexually. He was attentive and warm and had a huge capacity for love which he proudly displayed whenever he spoke to his beautiful little girl. He was the perfect man to steal my heart, and I had zero doubts once he was done with it, it would never be the same. ~ Kate Stewart, #NFDB
1473:Never allow any unnecessary or vain thought to occupy your mind. This is more easily said than done. You cannot make your mind a blank all at once. So in the beginning try to prevent evil or idle thoughts by occupying your mind with the analysis of your own faults, or the contemplation of the Perfect Ones. ~ H P Blavatsky, #NFDB
1474:The British are civilized. People still read and some conversations can be interesting. By contrast American are fat and stupid and so thoroughly brain-blurred and over-sold by our culture that there's a numbing, unapologetic, arrogance and desperation about us. In fact, I've just defined the perfect consumer. ~ Dan Fante, #NFDB
1475:The infinite intelligence, which gave me this desire leads, guides, and reveals to me the perfect plan for the unfolding of my desire. I know the deeper wisdom of my subconscious is now responding, and what I feel and claim within is expressed in the without There is a balance, equilibrium, and equanimity. ~ Joseph Murphy, #NFDB
1476:As a leader your job is to do everything in your power to create the perfect conditions for success by benching your ego and inspiring your team to play the game the right way. But at some point, you need to let go and turn yourself over to the basketball gods. The soul of success is surrendering to what is. ~ Phil Jackson, #NFDB
1477:A fantastic, gleeful, chrome-plated-slick debut of a novel. In Jonathan Chase, Markham has created the perfect cliche-shattering super spy while honoring the progenitors. Dangerously sharp, and genuinely fun-and very, very, very smart. I want more books like this. I want more books from the mind of Mr. Markham! ~ Greg Rucka, #NFDB
1478:Flowers make themselves fragrant and offer nectar. Why? To nourish the bees or to get themselves pollinated? Or both? In nature, to get you have to give. There is no charity. There is no exploitation, neither selfishness nor selflessness. One grows by helping others grow. Is that not the perfect society? ~ Devdutt Pattanaik, #NFDB
1479:Twinkle lights are the perfect metaphor for joy. Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments—often ordinary moments. Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we’re too busy chasing down extraordinary moments. Other times we’re so afraid of the dark that we don’t dare let ourselves enjoy the light. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1480:We crave nothing less that the perfect story; And while we chatter or listen all our lives to a din of craving – jokes, anecdotes, novels, dreams, films, plays, songs, half the words of our days – We are satisfied only by the one short tale we feel to be true; History is the will of a just God who knows us. ~ Reynolds Price, #NFDB
1481:A lot of passivationists got that way because they insisted on waiting until everything was 100 percent favorable before they took action. Perfection is highly desirable. But nothing man-made or man-designed is, or can be, absolutely perfect. So to wait for the perfect set of conditions is to wait forever. ~ David J Schwartz, #NFDB
1482:My mom told me that love is messy. And it isn’t about finding the perfect person, because they don’t exist. Love is about finding the person who’s perfect for you and then being there for each other when life gets messy. You are the person who I want by my side when life gets messy. You are my perfect person. ~ Melanie Shawn, #NFDB
1483:My subconscious knows the answer. It is responding to me now. I give thanks because I know the infinite intelligence of my subconscious knows all things and is revealing the perfect answer to me now. My real conviction is now setting free the majesty and glory of my subconscious mind. I rejoice that it is so. ~ Joseph Murphy, #NFDB
1484:To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss. ~ Michael Oakeshott, #NFDB
1485:Twinkle lights are the perfect metaphor for joy. Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments—often ordinary moments. Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we’re too busy chasing down extraordinary moments. Other times we’re so afraid of the dark that we don’t dare let ourselves enjoy the light. ~ Bren Brown, #NFDB
1486:When I was in high school, I was always really envious of those girls who seemed to have everything: the perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect boyfriend, perfect life. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that nobody's life is perfect, and that those girls probably had a lot of the same problems I did. ~ Sarah Dessen, #NFDB
1487:Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness is the perfect companion to Mindfulness in Plain English. Written with the thoroughness and the masterful simplicity so characteristic of his teaching, Bhante Gunaratana presents essential guidelines for turning the Buddha's teachings on the Eightfold Path into living wisdom. ~ Larry Rosenberg, #NFDB
1488:I thought a voice had to be about your fluency, your dexterity, your virtuosity. But in fact your voice could be about your failings, your falterings, your physical limits. The voices that ring hardest in our heads are not the perfect voices. They are the voices with an additional dimension, which is pain. ~ Patricia Lockwood, #NFDB
1489:Since the striosomes receive projections primarily from the emotional centers of the limbic system and the matrisomes receive projections from the higher cognitive centers of the prefrontal cortex, together they provide the perfect mechanism of integrating the messages of the heart with those of the mind. ~ Jeffrey M Schwartz, #NFDB
1490:The Caesar salad arrived, aromatic with garlic, studded with caramel-colored anchovies. The crisp lettuce popped in her mouth with freshness. The perfect balance for the wontons, and a way to ready her palate for the crab to come. The dressing sizzled with hot pepper, tangy vinegar, creamy mayo, and bright lemons. ~ Camy Tang, #NFDB
1491:If we spend the time we waste in sighing for the perfect golden fruit in fulfilling the conditions of its growth, happiness will come, must come. It is guaranteed in the very laws of the universe. If it involves some chastening and renunciation, well, the fruit will be all the sweeter for this touch of holiness. ~ Helen Keller, #NFDB
1492:Lacan , Derrida and Foucault are the perfect prophets for the weak, anxious academic personality, trapped in verbal formulas and perennially defeated by circumstances. They offer a self-exculpating cosmic explanation for the normal professorial state of resentment, alienation, dithering passivity and inaction. ~ Camille Paglia, #NFDB
1493:The perfect family doesn't exist, nor is there a perfect husband or a perfect wife, and let's not talk about the perfect mother-in-law! It's just us sinners. A healthy family life requires frequent use of three phrases: "May I? Thank you, and I'm sorry" and "never, never, never end the day without making peace." ~ Pope Francis, #NFDB
1494:At the very core of conservatism lies comfort with contradiction, acceptance of the fact that life is not fair; that ideals must forever be goals, not destinations; that the perfect is not the enemy of the good but one standard by which we understand what is good in the first place—though not the only standard. ~ Jonah Goldberg, #NFDB
1495:For some people, being a Zen monk is the perfect expression. For others, drinking beer and calling meditation hogwash is the perfect expression. Some teachers will tell you to sweep the floor mindfully, and others will tell you that your mindful sweeping is only a dream. Life is wonderfully playful and diverse. ~ Joan Tollifson, #NFDB
1496:She will not believe me if I tell her love is all anyone ever needs. Everything else – the fast cars, the private aeroplanes, the mansions, the diamonds, the watches, the fancy clothes, the perfect bodies, the publicity, the awards, the applause – all are ways of filling the emptiness created by the lack of love. ~ Manjul Bajaj, #NFDB
1497:Every label thinks, when they sign someone, 'This is the perfect pedigree to sign. They're cute, they can sing, they can dance, et cetera.' And they say to the public, 'Here, this is what you're gonna like.' But you might say, 'No, I don't like that!' You'll probably say 'no' many more times than you'll say 'yes! ~ Randy Jackson, #NFDB
1498:it seems like we all knew that it was a borrowed moment, a temporary delight—a daydream that would eventually come to an end. I think that’s when I learned that good things never last. So, in silent agreement, we laughed harder, we held each other closer, and we pretended to be the perfect family for a little longer. ~ Mia Asher, #NFDB
1499:So it is with you. The perfect you isn’t something you need to create, because God already created it. The perfect you is the love within you. Your job is to allow the Holy Spirit to remove the fearful thinking that surrounds your perfect self, just as excess marble surrounded Michelangelo’s perfect statue. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
1500:That rarest of beasts: the perfect thriller. This extraordinary novel set my blood fizzing—I quite literally couldn’t put it down. I told myself I'd just dip in; eleven hours later—it's now 5:47 a.m.—I've finished it, absolutely dazzled."
—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window ~ A J Finn,#NFDB
388 Integral Yoga
45 Christianity
43 Poetry
42 Philosophy
34 Occultism
19 Yoga
14 Psychology
7 Mysticism
7 Fiction
6 Theosophy
6 Philsophy
5 Sufism
5 Science
4 Integral Theory
3 Education
2 Kabbalah
2 Hinduism
2 Buddhism
1 Mythology
1 Cybernetics
1 Baha i Faith
1 Alchemy
366 Sri Aurobindo
148 The Mother
66 Nolini Kanta Gupta
60 Satprem
20 Plotinus
14 Carl Jung
13 Aleister Crowley
11 Saint Augustine of Hippo
10 Walt Whitman
9 Sri Ramakrishna
9 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
8 Swami Vivekananda
8 Aldous Huxley
8 A B Purani
7 Saint John of Climacus
7 Plato
6 Ralph Waldo Emerson
6 H P Lovecraft
6 Anonymous
5 Rudolf Steiner
5 Franz Bardon
4 Rabindranath Tagore
4 Alice Bailey
3 Sri Ramana Maharshi
3 Saint Teresa of Avila
3 Robert Browning
3 Paul Richard
3 Friedrich Nietzsche
3 Al-Ghazali
2 William Butler Yeats
2 Swami Krishnananda
2 Rabbi Moses Luzzatto
2 Patanjali
2 Mahendranath Gupta
2 Jordan Peterson
2 James George Frazer
2 Genpo Roshi
2 Friedrich Schiller
2 Edgar Allan Poe
117 Record of Yoga
79 The Synthesis Of Yoga
25 Prayers And Meditations
21 The Life Divine
17 On Thoughts And Aphorisms
15 Essays On The Gita
15 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
15 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
12 Letters On Yoga II
12 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
11 The Human Cycle
11 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
10 Liber ABA
10 City of God
9 Whitman - Poems
9 Savitri
9 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
9 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
8 The Perennial Philosophy
8 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
8 Talks
8 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
8 Agenda Vol 07
8 Agenda Vol 05
7 The Secret Of The Veda
7 The Ladder of Divine Ascent
7 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 01
7 Mysterium Coniunctionis
7 Isha Upanishad
7 Essays Divine And Human
7 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
7 Agenda Vol 01
6 Questions And Answers 1956
6 Questions And Answers 1955
6 Questions And Answers 1953
6 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
6 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 04
6 Lovecraft - Poems
6 Emerson - Poems
5 The Secret Doctrine
5 The Bible
5 Some Answers From The Mother
5 Magick Without Tears
5 Letters On Yoga IV
5 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
5 Dark Night of the Soul
5 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08
5 Agenda Vol 10
5 Agenda Vol 04
5 Agenda Vol 03
5 Agenda Vol 02
4 Words Of Long Ago
4 Vedic and Philological Studies
4 Tagore - Poems
4 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 02
4 On the Way to Supermanhood
4 On Education
4 Letters On Yoga I
4 Letters On Poetry And Art
4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
4 Bhakti-Yoga
4 A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
3 The Practice of Magical Evocation
3 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
3 The Integral Yoga
3 The Alchemy of Happiness
3 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
3 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 03
3 Let Me Explain
3 Knowledge of the Higher Worlds
3 Kena and Other Upanishads
3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 06
3 Browning - Poems
3 Aion
3 Agenda Vol 11
2 Yeats - Poems
2 Words Of The Mother III
2 Words Of The Mother II
2 Words Of The Mother I
2 Twilight of the Idols
2 The Way of Perfection
2 The Study and Practice of Yoga
2 The Practice of Psycho therapy
2 The Phenomenon of Man
2 Theosophy
2 The Golden Bough
2 The Future of Man
2 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
2 Symposium
2 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
2 Schiller - Poems
2 Raja-Yoga
2 Questions And Answers 1954
2 Poe - Poems
2 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
2 Maps of Meaning
2 Initiation Into Hermetics
2 Hymn of the Universe
2 General Principles of Kabbalah
2 Collected Poems
2 Beating the Cloth Drum Letters of Zen Master Hakuin
2 Agenda Vol 13
2 Agenda Vol 09
2 Agenda Vol 08
2 Agenda Vol 06
2 A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah
00.01 - The Approach to Mysticism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The warning seems to have fallen, in the modern age, on unheeding ears. For the modern mind, being pre-eminently and uncompromisingly scientific, can entertain no doubt as to The Perfect competency of science and the scientific method to seize and unveil any secret of Nature. If, it is argued, mysticism is a secret, if there is at all a truth and reality in it, then it is and must be amenable to the rules and regulations of science; for science is the revealer of Nature's secrecies.
But what is not recognised in this view of things is that there are secrecies and secrecies. The material secrecies of Nature are of one category, the mystic secrecies are of another. The two are not only disparate but incommensurable. Any man with a mind and understanding of average culture can see and handle the 'scientific' forces, but not the mystic forces.
00.04 - The Beautiful in the Upanishads, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Only, to some perhaps the beauty may not appear as evident and apparent. The Spirit of beauty that resides in the Upanishadic consciousness is more retiring and reticent. It dwells in its own privacy, in its own home, as it were, and therefore chooses to be bare and austere, simple and sheer. Beauty means usually the beauty of form, even if it be not always the decorative, ornamental and sumptuous form. The early Vedas aimed at The Perfect form (surpaktnum), the faultless expression, the integral and complete embodiment; the gods they envisaged and invoked were gleaming powers carved out of harmony and beauty and figured close to our modes of apprehension (spyan). But the Upanishads came to lay stress upon what is beyond the form, what the eye cannot see nor the vision reflect:
na sandi tihati rpamasya
--
Art at its highest tends to become also the simplest and the most unconventional; and it is then the highest art, precisely because it does not aim at being artistic. The aesthetic motive is totally absent in the Upanishads; the sense of beauty is there, but it is attendant upon and involved in a deeper strand of consciousness. That consciousness seeks consciousness itself, the fullness of consciousness, the awareness and possession of the Truth and Reality,the one thing which, if known, gives the knowledge of all else. And this consciousness of the Truth is also Delight, The Perfect Bliss, the Immortality where the whole universe resolves itself into its original state of rasa, that is to say, of essential and inalienable harmony and beauty.
***
00.05 - A Vedic Conception of the Poet, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Where then is the birth of the Poets? Ask it of the Masters. The Poets have seized and mastered the Mind, they have The Perfect working and they fashion the Heaven.
On this Earth they hold everywhere in themselves all the secrets. They make Earth and Heaven move together, so that they may realise their heroic strength. They measure them with their rhythmic measurings, they hold in their controlled grasp the vast and great twins, and unite them and establish between them the mid-world of Delight for The Perfect poise.30
All the gods are poetstheir forms are perfect, surpa, suda, their Names full of beauty,cru devasya nma.31 This means also that the gods embody the different powers that constitute the poetic consciousness. Agni is the Seer-Will, the creative vision of the Poet the luminous energy born of an experience by identity with the Truth. Indra is the Idea-Form, the architectonic conception of the work or achievement. Mitra and Varuna are the large harmony, the vast cadence and sweep of movement. The Aswins, the Divine Riders, represent the intense zest of well-yoked Life-Energy. Soma is Rasa, Ananda, the Supreme Bliss and Delight.
0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
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.
0.02 - The Three Steps of Nature, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
If, then, this inferior equilibrium is the basis and first means of the higher movements which the universal Power contemplates and if it constitutes the vehicle in which the Divine here seeks to reveal Itself, if the Indian saying is true that the body is the instrument provided for the fulfilment of the right law of our nature, then any final recoil from the physical life must be a turning away from the completeness of the divine Wisdom and a renunciation of its aim in earthly manifestation. Such a refusal may be, owing to some secret law of their development, the right attitude for certain individuals, but never the aim intended for mankind. It can be, therefore, no integral Yoga which ignores the body or makes its annulment or its rejection indispensable to a perfect spirituality. Rather, The Perfecting of the body also should be the last triumph of the Spirit and to make the bodily life also divine must be God's final seal upon His work in the universe. The obstacle which the physical presents to the spiritual is no argument for the rejection of the physical; for in the unseen providence of things our greatest difficulties are our best opportunities. A supreme difficulty is Nature's indication to us of a supreme conquest to be won and an ultimate problem to be solved; it is not a warning of an inextricable snare to be shunned or of an enemy too strong for us from whom we must flee.
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
0.03 - The Threefold Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
NATURE, then, is an evolution or progressive self-manifestation of an eternal and secret existence, with three successive forms as her three steps of ascent. And we have consequently as the condition of all our activities these three mutually interdependent possibilities, the bodily life, the mental existence and the veiled spiritual being which is in the involution the cause of the others and in the evolution their result. Preserving and perfecting the physical, fulfilling the mental, it is Nature's aim and it should be ours to unveil in The Perfected body and mind the transcendent activities of the Spirit. As the mental life does not abrogate but works for the elevation and better utilisation of the bodily existence, so too the spiritual should not abrogate but transfigure our intellectual, emotional, aesthetic and vital activities.
For man, the head of terrestrial Nature, the sole earthly frame in which her full evolution is possible, is a triple birth. He has been given a living frame in which the body is the vessel and life the dynamic means of a divine manifestation. His activity is centred in a progressive mind which aims at perfecting itself as well as the house in which it dwells and the means of life that it uses, and is capable of awaking by a progressive self-realisation to its own true nature as a form of the Spirit. He culminates in what he always really was, the illumined and beatific spirit which is intended at last to irradiate life and mind with its now concealed splendours.
Since this is the plan of the divine Energy in humanity, the whole method and aim of our existence must work by the interaction of these three elements in the being. As a result of their separate formulation in Nature, man has open to him a choice between three kinds of life, the ordinary material existence, a life of mental activity and progress and the unchanging spiritual beatitude. But he can, as he progresses, combine these three forms, resolve their discords into a harmonious rhythm and so create in himself the whole godhead, The Perfect Man.
In ordinary Nature they have each their own characteristic and governing impulse.
--
The characteristic law of Spirit is self-existent perfection and immutable infinity. It possesses always and in its own right the immortality which is the aim of Life and The Perfection which is the goal of Mind. The attainment of the eternal and the realisation of that which is the same in all things and beyond all things, equally blissful in universe and outside it, untouched by the imperfections and limitations of the forms and activities in which it dwells, are the glory of the spiritual life.
In each of these forms Nature acts both individually and collectively; for the Eternal affirms Himself equally in the single form and in the group-existence, whether family, clan and nation or groupings dependent on less physical principles or the supreme group of all, our collective humanity. Man also may seek his own individual good from any or all of these spheres of activity, or identify himself in them with the collectivity and live for it, or, rising to a truer perception of this complex universe, harmonise the individual realisation with the collective aim. For as it is the right relation of the soul with the Supreme, while it is in the universe, neither to assert egoistically its separate being nor to blot itself out in the Indefinable, but to realise its unity with the Divine and the world and unite them in the individual, so the right relation of the individual with the collectivity is neither to pursue egoistically his own material or mental progress or spiritual salvation without regard to his fellows, nor for the sake of the community to suppress or maim his proper development, but to sum up in himself all its best and completest possibilities and pour them out by thought, action and all other means on his surroundings so that the whole race may approach nearer to the attainment of its supreme personalities.
--
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.
Therefore from a concrete view of human life in its threefold potentialities we come to the same conclusion that we had drawn from an observation of Nature in her general workings and the three steps of her evolution. And we begin to perceive a complete aim for our synthesis of Yoga.
--
But what Nature aims at for the mass in a slow evolution, Yoga effects for the individual by a rapid revolution. It works by a quickening of all her energies, a sublimation of all her faculties. While she develops the spiritual life with difficulty and has constantly to fall back from it for the sake of her lower realisations, the sublimated force, the concentrated method of Yoga can attain directly and carry with it The Perfection of the mind and even, if she will, The Perfection of the body. Nature seeks the Divine in her own symbols: Yoga goes beyond Nature to the Lord of Nature, beyond universe to the Transcendent and can return with the transcendent light and power, with the fiat of the Omnipotent.
But their aim is one in the end. The generalisation of Yoga in humanity must be the last victory of Nature over her own delays and concealments. Even as now by the progressive mind in Science she seeks to make all mankind fit for the full development of the mental life, so by Yoga must she inevitably seek to make all mankind fit for the higher evolution, the second birth, the spiritual existence. And as the mental life uses and perfects the material, so will the spiritual use and perfect the material and the mental existence as the instruments of a divine self-expression.
0.04 - The Systems of Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Nature and kept within the narrow bounds of her normal operations. In the ancient tradition of Hathayoga it has always been supposed that this conquest could be pushed so far even as to conquer to a great extent the force of gravitation. By various subsidiary but elaborate processes the Hathayogin next contrives to keep the body free from all impurities and the nervous system unclogged for those exercises of respiration which are his most important instruments. These are called pran.ayama, the control of the breath or vital power; for breathing is the chief physical functioning of the vital forces. Pranayama, for the Hathayogin, serves a double purpose. First, it completes The Perfection of the body. The vitality is liberated from many of the ordinary necessities of physical Nature; robust health, prolonged youth, often an extraordinary longevity are attained.
On the other hand, Pranayama awakens the coiled-up serpent of the Pranic dynamism in the vital sheath and opens to the Yogin fields of consciousness, ranges of experience, abnormal faculties denied to the ordinary human life while it puissantly intensifies such normal powers and faculties as he already possesses.
--
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 pran.ayama, but reduces their multiple and elaborate forms in each case to one simplest and most directly effective process sufficient for its own immediate object. Thus it gets rid of the Hathayogic complexity and cumbrousness while it utilises the swift and powerful efficacy of its methods for the 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 kun.d.alin, 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
--
We can see also that in the integral view of things these three paths are one. Divine Love should normally lead to The Perfect knowledge of the Beloved by perfect intimacy, thus becoming a path of Knowledge, and to divine service, thus becoming a path of Works. So also should perfect Knowledge lead to perfect
Love and Joy and a full acceptance of the works of That which is known; dedicated Works to the entire love of the Master of the Sacrifice and the deepest knowledge of His ways and His being. It is in this triple path that we come most readily to the absolute knowledge, love and service of the One in all beings and in the entire cosmic manifestation.
0.05 - The Synthesis of the Systems, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
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. 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
Truth and Law in us in the terms of life and through the right
0.06 - INTRODUCTION, #Dark Night of the Soul, #Saint John of the Cross, #Christianity
the state of The Perfect, which is that of the Divine union of the soul with
God. 4
0.07 - DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL, #Dark Night of the Soul, #Saint John of the Cross, #Christianity
Exposition of the stanzas describing the method followed by the soul in its journey upon the spiritual road to the attainment of The Perfect union of love with God, to the extent that is possible in this life. Likewise are described the properties belonging to the soul that has attained to the said perfection, according as they are contained in the same stanzas.
PROLOGUE
0.07 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
the needed instrument, The Perfect servant."
27 March 1936
0.08 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
it is The Perfectly effective remedy for the fatigue, tension and
exhaustion arising from that internal over-activity and noise
01.01 - The One Thing Needful, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
... the principle of this Yoga is not perfection of the human nature as it is but a psychic and spiritual transformation of all the parts of the being through the action of an inner consciousness and then of a higher consciousness which works on them, throws out the old movements or changes them into the image of its own and so transmutes lower into higher nature. It is not so much The Perfection of the intellect as a transcendence of it, a transformation of the mind, the substitution of a larger greater principle of knowledge - and so with all the rest of the being.
This is a slow and difficult process; the road is long and it is hard to establish even the necessary basis. The old existing nature resists and obstructs and difficulties rise one after another and repeatedly till they are overcome. It is therefore necessary to be sure that this is the path to which one is called before one finally decides to tread it.
01.03 - The Yoga of the King - The Yoga of the Souls Release, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
He saw The Perfect in their starry homes
Wearing the glory of a deathless form,
01.04 - The Poetry in the Making, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Still, it must be noted that Coleridge is a rare example, for the recording apparatus is not usually so faithful but puts up its own formations that disturb and alter The Perfection of the original. The passivity or neutrality of the intermediary is relative, and there are infinite grades of it. Even when the larger waves that play in it in the normal waking state are quieted down, smaller ripples of unconscious or half-conscious habitual formations are thrown up and they are sufficient to cause the scattering and dispersal of the pure light from above.
The absolute passivity is attainable, perhaps, only by the Yogi. And in this sense the supreme poet is a Yogi, for in his consciousness the higher, deeper, subtler or other modes of experiences pass through and are recorded with the minimum aberration or diffraction.
01.04 - The Secret Knowledge, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Reconstitute The Perfect word, unite
The Alpha and the Omega in one sound;
--
The Absolute, The Perfect, the Alone
Has called out of the Silence his mute Force
--
The Absolute, The Perfect, the Alone
Has entered with his silence into space:
--
The Absolute, The Perfect, the Immune,
One who is in us as our secret self,
01.05 - The Nietzschean Antichrist, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
This is the Nietzsche we all know. But there is another aspect of his which the world has yet been slow to recognise. For, at bottom, Nietzsche is not all storm and fury. If his Superman is a Destroying Angel, he is none the less an angel. If he is endowed with a supreme sense of strength and power, there is also secreted in the core of his heart a sense of the beautiful that illumines his somewhat sombre aspect. For although Nietzsche is by birth a Slavo-Teuton, by culture and education he is pre-eminently Hellenic. His earliest works are on the subject of Greek tragedy and form what he describes as an "Apollonian dream." And to this dream, to this Greek aesthetic sense more than to any thing else he sacrifices justice and pity and charity. To him the weak and the miserable, the sick and the maimed are a sort of blot, a kind of ulcer on the beautiful face of humanity. The herd that wallow in suffering and relish suffering disfigure the aspect of the world and should therefore be relentlessly mowed out of existence. By being pitiful to them we give our tacit assent to their persistence. And it is precisely because of this that Nietzsche has a horror of Christianity. For compassion gives indulgence to all the ugliness of the world and thus renders that ugliness a necessary and indispensable element of existence. To protect the weak, to sympathise with the lowly brings about more of weakness and more of lowliness. Nietzsche has an aristocratic taste par excellencewhat he aims at is health and vigour and beauty. But above all it is an aristocracy of the spirit, an aristocracy endowed with all the richness and beauty of the soul that Nietzsche wants to establish. The beggar of the street is the symbol of ugliness, of the poverty of the spirit. And the so-called aristocrat, die millionaire of today is as poor and ugly as any helpless leper. The soul of either of them is made of the same dirty, sickly stuff. The tattered rags, the crouching heart, the effeminate nerve, the unenlightened soul are the standing ugliness of the world and they have no place in the ideal, The Perfect humanity. Humanity, according to Nietzsche, is made in order to be beautiful, to conceive the beautiful, to create the beautiful. Nietzsche's Superman has its perfect image in a Grecian statue of Zeus cut out in white marble-Olympian grandeur shedding in every lineament Apollonian beauty and Dionysian vigour.
The real secret of Nietzsche's philosophy is not an adoration of brute force, of blind irrational joy in fighting and killing. Far from it, Nietzsche has no kinship with Treitschke or Bernhard. What Nietzsche wanted was a world purged of littleness and ugliness, a humanity, not of saints, perhaps, but of heroes, lofty in their ideal, great in their achievement, majestic in their empirea race of titanic gods breathing the glory of heaven itself.
01.07 - Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
About doubt, Pascal says that The Perfect doubter, the Pyrrhonian as he is called, is a fiction. Pascal asks:
"What will men do in such a state? Will he doubt everything?... Will he doubt whether he doubts ? Will he doubt whether he exists?. . . In fact there has never been a perfectly effective Pyrrhonian."6
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."
01.09 - William Blake: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Such is to be the ideal, The Perfect, the spiritual man. Have we here the progenitor of the Nietzschean Superman? Both smell almost the same sulphurous atmosphere. But that also seems to lie in the direction to which the whole world is galloping in its evolutionary course. Humanity in its agelong travail has passed through the agony, one might say, of two extreme and opposite experiences, which are epitomised in the classic phrasing of Sri Aurobindo as: (1) the Denial of the Materialist and (2) the Refusal of the Ascetic.1 Neither, however, the Spirit alone nor the body alone is man's reality; neither only the earth here nor only the heaven there embodies man's destiny. Both have to be claimed, both have to belivedubhayameva samrt, as the old sage, Yajnavalkya, declared.
The earliest dream of humanity is also the last fulfilment. The Vedic Rishis sang of the marriage of heaven and earthHeaven is my father and this Earth my mother. And Blake and Nietzsche are fiery apostles of that dream and ideal in an age crippled with doubt, falsehood, smallness, crookedness, impotence, colossal ignorance.
0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Ecstasy belongs to The Perfected yogi.
Joy belongs to the desireless man.
01.13 - T. S. Eliot: Four Quartets, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Our poet is too self-conscious, he himself feels that he has not The Perfect voice. A Homer, even a Milton possesses a unity of tone and a wholeness of perception which are denied to the modern. To the modern, however, the old masters are not subtle enough, broad enough, psychological enough, let us say the word, spiritual enough. And yet the poetic inspiration, more than the religious urge, needs the injunction not to be busy with too many things, but to be centred upon the one thing needful, viz., to create poetically and not to discourse philosophically or preach prophetically. Not that it is impossible for the poet to swallow the philosopher and the prophet, metabolising them into the substance of his bone and marrow, of "the trilling wire in his blood", as Eliot graphically expresses. That perhaps is the consummation towards which poetry is tending. But at present, in Eliot, at least, the strands remain distinct, each with its own temper and rhythm, not fused and moulded into a single streamlined form of beauty. Our poet flies high, very high indeed at times, often or often he flies low, not disdaining the perilous limit of bathos. Perhaps it is all wilful, it is a mannerism which he cherishes. The mannerism may explain his psychology and enshrine his philosophy. But the poet, the magician is to be looked for elsewhere. In the present collection of poems it is the philosophical, exegetical, discursive Eliot who dominates: although the high lights of the subject-matter may be its justification. Still even if we have here doldrums like
That the past has another pattern, and ceases to be a mere sequence
0.11 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Beyond the creation lies The Perfect Oneness, but potentially it
contains duality since the Mahashakti will manifest for the needs
--
in The Perfect Oneness, everything exists at the same
time, simultaneously. This cannot be understood, it must
0.14 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Total union and The Perfect manifestation of the Divine are the
sole means of putting an end to the suffering and misery of the
0 1958-04-03, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I was waiting for things to be well established in me before writing you again. An important change has occurred: it seems that something in me has clickedwhat Sri Aurobindo calls the central will, perhapsand I am living literally in the obsession of divine realization. This is what I want, nothing else, it is the only goal in life, and at last I have understood (not with the head) that the outer realization in the world will be the consequence of the inner realization. So thousands of times a day, I repeat, Mother, I want to be your instrument, ever more conscious, I want to express your truth, your light. I want to be what you want, as you want, when you want. There is in me now a kind of need for perfection, a will to abolish this ego, a real understanding that to become your instrument means at the same time to find The Perfect plenitude of ones personality. So I am living in an almost constant state of aspiration, I feel your force constantly, or nearly so, and if I am distracted a few minutes, I experience a void, an uneasiness that calls me back to you.
And at the same time, I saw that it is you who is doing everything, you who aspires in me, you who wants the progress, and that all I myself am in this affair is a screen, a resisting obstacle. O Mother, break this screen that I may be wholly transparent before you, that your transforming force may purify all the secret recesses in my being, that nothing may remain but you and you alone. O Mother, may all my being be a living expression of your light, your truth.
0 1958-07-02, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Something I have never said completely. On the one hand, there is the attitude of those in yesterday evenings film2: God is everything, God is everywhere, God is in he who smites you (as Sri Aurobindo wroteGod made me good with a blow, shall I tell Him: O Mighty One, I forgive you your harm and cruelty but do not do it again!), an attitude which, if extended to its ultimate conclusion, accepts the world as it is: the world is The Perfect expression of the divine Will. On the other hand, there is the attitude of progress and transformation. But for that, you must recognize that there are things in the world which are not as they should be.
In The Synthesis of Yoga, Sri Aurobindo says that this idea of good and bad, of pure and impure, is a notion needed for action; but the purists, such as Chaitanya, Ramakrishna and others, do not agree. They do not agree that it is indispensable for action. They simply say: your acceptance of action as a necessary thing is contrary to your perception of the Divine in all things.
0 1958-10-10, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
To this has been added a growing initiation into the supramental realization which is (I understand it well now) The Perfect union of what comes from above and what comes from below, or in other words, the eternal position and the evolutionary realization.
Then and this becomes rather amusing like lifes play Depending upon each ones nature and position and bias, and because human beings are very limited, very partial and incapable of a global vision, there are those who believe, who have faith, or to whom the eternal Mother is revealed through Grace, who have this kind of relationship with the eternal Mother and there are those who themselves are plunged in sadhana, who have the consciousness of a developed sadhak, and thereby have the same relationship with me as one has with what they generally call a realized soul. Such persons consider me the prototype of the Guru teaching a new way, but the others dont have this relationship of sadhak to Guru (I am taking the two extremes, but of course there are all the possibilities in between), they are only in contact with the eternal Mother and, in the simplicity of their hearts, they expect Her to do everything for them. If they were perfect in this attitude, the eternal Mother would do everything for themas a matter of fact, She does do everything, but as they arent perfect, they cannot receive it totally. But the two paths are very different, the two kinds of relationships are very different; and as we all live according to the law of external things, in a material body, there is a kind of annoyance, an almost irritated misunderstanding, between those who follow this path (not consciously and intentionally, but spontaneously), who have this relationship of the child to the Mother, and those who have this other relationship of the sadhak to the Guru. So it creates a whole play, with an infinite diversity of shades.
0 1958-11-11, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
And this almighty spring is The Perfect image of what is happeningwhat must happen, what will happenFOR EVERYONE: suddenly, one is cast forth into the vast.
***
0 1958-11-15, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Meanwhile, we should acknowledge that we dont have the key, it is not yet in our hands. Or rather, we know quite well where it is, and there is only one thing to do: The Perfect surrender Sri Aurobindo speaks of, the total surrender to the divine Will whatever happens, even in the dark of night.
There is night and sun, night and sun, and night again, many nights, but one must cling to this will for surrender, cling as through a storm, and put everything into the hands of the Supreme Lord. Until the day when the Sun shall shine forever, the day of total Victory.
0 1960-11-12, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
The actual aphorism reads: 'When I read a wearisome book through and with pleasure, yet perceived all The Perfection of its wearisomeness, then I knew that my mind was conquered.'
Yama: the god of Death. He is also the guardian of the Law.
0 1960-12-17, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
It goes back and forth between the two all the timea kind of curve like an electric arc between them; it goes up, it goes down, it falls and then climbs back up. In a flash comes the clear vision that the universal realization will be achieved along with The Perfection of the material, TERRESTRIAL world. (I say terrestrial, for the earth is still something unique; the rest of the universe is differentso this blown up speck of dust becomes of capital importance!) Then, at another moment, eternity for which all the universes are simply the expression of a second, and in which all this is a sort ofnot even an interesting game, but rather a breathing in and out, in and out And at such a moment, all the importance we give to material things seems so fantastically idiotic! And it goes in and out In this state, everything is obvious and indisputable. And in the other state, everything is obvious and indisputable. But between the two there is EVERY combination and every possibility.
(silence)
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 1961-07-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Perfection is one way to approach the Divine; Unity is another. But Perfection is a global approach: all is there and all is as it should be that is to say, The Perfect expression of the Divine (you cant even say of His Will, because that still implies something apart, something emanating from Him!).
It could be put like this (but it brings it down considerably): He is what He is and exactly as He wants to be. The exactly as He wants to be takes us down quite a few steps, but it still gives an idea of what I mean by perfection!
0 1961-07-18, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This is quite interesting to me because Sri Aurobindo says the same thing: that nothing is bad, simply things are not in their placetheir place not only in space but in time, their place in the universe, beginning with the planets and stars, each thing exactly in its place. Then when each thing, from the most colossal to the most microscopic, is exactly in place, the whole Will PROGRESSIVELY express the Supreme, without having to be withdrawn and emanated anew. On this also, Sri Aurobindo based the fact that this present creation, this present universe, will be able to manifest The Perfection of a divine worldwhat Sri Aurobindo calls the Supermind.
Equilibrium is the essential law of this creationit is what permits perfection to be realized in the manifestation.
0 1961-07-28, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Take the experience of Mind, for example: Mind, in the evolution of Nature, gradually emerging from its involution; well and this is a very concrete experience these initial mentalized forms, if we can call them that, were necessarily incomplete and imperfect, because Natures evolution is slow and hesitant and complicated. Thus these forms inevitably had an aspiration towards a sort of perfection and a truly perfect mental state, and this aspiration brought the descent of already fully conscious beings from the mental world who united with terrestrial formsthis is a very, very concrete experience. What emerges from the Inconscient in this way is an almost impersonal possibility (yes, an impersonal possibility, and perhaps not altogether universal, since its connected with the history of the earth); but anyway its a general possibility, not personal. And the Response from above is what makes it concrete, so to speak, bringing in a sort of perfection of the state and an individual mastery of the new creation. These beings in corresponding worlds (like the gods of the overmind,4 or the beings of higher regions) came upon earth as soon as the corresponding element began to evolve out of its involution. This accelerates the action, first of all, but also makes it more perfectmore perfect, more powerful, more conscious. It gives a sort of sanction to the realization. Sri Aurobindo writes of this in SavitriSavitri lives always on earth, with the soul of the earth, to make the whole earth progress as quickly as possible. Well, when the time comes and things on earth are ready, then the divine Mother incarnates with her full powerwhen things are ready. Then will come The Perfection of the realization. A splendor of creation exceeding all logic! It brings in a fullness and a power completely beyond the petty shallow logic of human mentality.
People cant understand! To put oneself at the level of the general public may be all very well5 (personally I have never found it so, although its probably inevitable), but to hope that they will ever understand the splendor of the Thing. They have to live it first!
0 1961-12-16, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
So to calm the body I took a pencil and wrote: My being thirsts. (to tell the truth, I wanted to write this body thirsts) for perfection, not this human perfection(I should tell you that all the things I am translating are simultaneously accompanied by a set of external circumstances OBVIOUSLY arranged in detail to illustrate the translation: a whole set of quite unpleasant circumstances, besides, serving simultaneously as backdrop and illustration. Thats what brought on the anguish). This body thirsts for perfection, not this human perfection which is The Perfection of the ego (it was so clear to me that everything human beings conceive of as perfection is simply the ego wanting to magnify itself for its own greater glory) not this human perfection which is The Perfection of the ego and bars the way to the divine Perfection, but that one perfection (these repeated perfections are deliberate: its like a litany) but that one perfection which has the POWER to manifest upon earth the eternal Truth.
It was this need, this need. All the bodys cells began to vibrate with a more and more intense vibrationit was much more than a need; it was a necessity, a necessity to vibrate in unison with Truth. The cells seemed to be sensing the vibration of Truth, and so the entire body was in a state of total tensionnot tension in the ordinary sense, but it was like trying to find a note that rings true. Thats what it was: to make the cells vibration ring true to the Vibration of Truth.
--
We thirst for perfection, not this human perfection which is The Perfection of the ego and bars the way to the divine Perfection, but that ONE perfection which has the power to manifest upon Earth the eternal Truth.1
The English version is stronger than the French. Thats because it first came in English and then I made a patch-up job in French!
0 1962-07-21, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Now let me discuss some particular points of your letter. I do not want to say much in this letter about what you have written as regards your yoga. We shall have better occasion when we meet. To look upon the body as a corpse is a sign of Sannyasa, of the path of Nirvana. You cannot be of the world with this idea. You must have delight in all thingsin the Spirit as well as in the body. The body has consciousness, it is Gods form. When you see God in everything that is in the world, when you have this vision that all this is Brahman, Sarvamidam Brahma, that Vasudeva is all thisVasudevah sarvamiti then you have the universal delight. The flow of that delight precipitates and courses even through the body. When you are in such a state, full of the spiritual consciousness, you can lead a married life, a life in the world. In all your works you find the expression of Gods delight. So far I have been transforming all the objects and perceptions of the mind and the senses into delight on the mental level. Now they are taking the form of the supramental delight. In this condition is The Perfect vision and perception of Sachchidananda.
You write about the Deva Samgha and say, I am not a god, I am only a piece of much hammered and tempered iron. No one is a God but in each man there is a God and to make Him manifest is the aim of divine life. That we can all do. I recognize that there are great and small adharas [vessels]. I do not accept, however, your description of yourself as accurate. Still whatever the nature of the vessel, once the touch of God is upon it, once the spirit is awake, great and small and all that does not make much difference. There may be more difficulties, more time may be taken, there may be a difference in the manifestation, but even about that there is no certainty. The God within takes no account of these hindrances and deficiencies. He breaks his way out. Was the amount of my failings a small one? Were there less obstacles in my mind and heart and vital being and body? Did it not take time? Has God hammered me less? Day after day, minute after minute, I have been fashioned into I know not whether a god or what. But I have become or am becoming something. That is sufficient, since God wanted to build it. It is the same as regards everyone. Not our strength but the Shakti of God is the sadhaka [worker] of this yoga.
0 1962-10-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When she next saw Satprem, Mother added the following correction: "After you left, they came. It's not I who remembered they MADE me remember! There was Saraswati saying, 'What about my sitar?' And Krishna, 'What about my flute?' (Mother laughs) There was another one also, I don't remember who. They were really upset! They told me right away, 'What are you talking about! We LOVE music.' All right. 'Fine,' I said (Mother laughs). It's trueKrishna is a great musician, and Saraswati is The Perfection of expression.... Now that we have acknowledged their merits (Mother bows), go on with your reading."
Ysaye (1838-1931): celebrated Belgian violinist, colleague of Rubinstein.
0 1962-10-30, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Thats how you can cure somebody, if hes able to receive it. Its the antidote to disorder, The Perfect antidote to disorder.
Yes, one leaves that state refreshed, rested.
0 1962-11-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In order to be discernible, the cube was enveloped in something that looked like a kind of tulle, a tulle made of a pale gray substance, which expressed the individual nonexistence, The Perfect humility that completely abolishes the ego: because of that there wasnt the least possibility of egoif you ask me why, I cant say, but thats how it was. And I was seeing that tulle all the time something extremely delicate, scarcely perceptible, yet maintaining the cubes form. It was perfect humility (in the divine sense) and total absence of egothere wasnt even the memory or idea of it, nothing whatever: the abolition of the ego. And it served to receive that immobile immensity which manifested through an action of the Power. And then, the action of the Power. I was conscious (I was consciouswhere was I? I dont know; the cube represented my physical being: I had been TOLD it was my physical being), and I was watching it without being situated I myself had no precise place but could see and understand the whole thing. And I could discern all the action being done through the cube: this action for that thing, this for that, this for that the whole earth (gesture expressing forces radiating outward, each for a special purpose), things from the past and things FAR into the future.
And it was so imperative!
0 1962-12-15, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This B. seems to have had the idea that The Perfect man, the immortal man, would be spherical! And then Thon always used to say (he told me the whole story himself): I told him it wasnt possible, it would be too impracticalpeople couldnt kiss! His idea of a joke. Thon also told me that when B. came to Tlemcen (they first met in Egypt, then again in Tlemcen), he saw the house Thon was building and asked, Why is your house painted red? Does it have some mystical significance? And Thon replied, No, its because red goes well with green! So you get the picture. But I dont remember his name any more; in his time he was very well known, he was a contemporary of the fellow who wrote The Great Initiates.
Schur?
0 1963-03-06, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It will be transformed and will be an outline, as it were, of the new one. When this outline comes into being, the other, The Perfect form, will appear. Because both have their own beauty and purpose, and so both will be there.
The mind always tries to make an exclusive choice or decision thats not the way. Even the totality of what we are able to imagine is very little compared to what will be. The truth is, everyone with an intense aspiration and inner certitude will be called to realize it.
0 1963-05-11, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You see, Mahalakshmi is the Divine Mothers aspect of love, The Perfection of manifested love, which must come before this supreme Love (which is beyond the Manifestation and the Nonmanifestation) can be expressed the supreme Love referred to in Savitri when the Supreme sends Savitri to the earth:
For ever love, O beautiful slave of God!
--
12 is The Perfection of the creation: perfect creation.
30 is The 3 is Sachchidananda and the 30 its external expression (because 10 means something expressed). So 30 is the manifestation of Sachchidananda.
--
The 12 is the figure of the Mahashakti. Its the essential creation, the creation in its essence the creative Power. And perfection, too: The Perfection in the execution. The 12 is a very important figure (24 is two times 12, and 36, three times).
48 is four times 12. Its an extremely important figure. Extremely important.
0 1963-05-25, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Basically we always try to cut things into small pieces. It evidently means the manifestation, a new manifestation of the Divine, which takes place some time after the Divine in man is resuscitated. The Divine in man is resuscitated, thats very clear: it has become conscious. And after a time (4 is the manifestation, 10 is The Perfection of the manifestation), The Perfection of the manifestation of God resuscitated in man allows that universal or cosmic thing to manifest. If you take it like that, it makes sense.
That universal thing might be a collective transformation. A transformation thats no longer exclusively individual the descent of the Holy Spirit into the collectivity?
0 1963-07-24, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And yet, for some time now and increasingly, there has been an extremely concrete Response to a kind of aspiration (a call or prayer) in which I say to the Lord, Supreme Lord, manifest Your Love. (It comes at the end of a long invocation in which I ask Him to manifest all His aspects one after another, one after another, and it ends like that.) But then, remarkably enough, at that moment there comes a Response which is growing clearer and clearer, stronger and stronger. But Sri Aurobindo says that Truth should be established first, and that what he calls the Supramental is the supreme Truth, the Divine Truth. It corresponds to what I noticed while translating that last chapter on The Perfection of the being in the Yoga of Self-Perfection: I kept thinking, But thats only the aspect of Truth; all that he expresses is the aspect of Truth; always and everywhere, its the angle of Truth; and his supramental action is an action of Truth.
I didnt know he had said it, but its written clearly here:
0 1963-10-16, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And always that question of age In everybody, everybody, without even their noticing it, there is always in the background (for the slightest thing, at the slightest opportunity), always the idea of old age, of going downhill, of decrepitude. And it comes a thousand times a day! (Mother laughs) So here too, I say to the Lord, Listen, am I really going downhill? Then He shows me one or two things in a dazzling light. It happens to me off and onnot oftenwhen the avalanche has been considerable enough; then there is a bedazzlement of Light and Power, sometimes of such a formidable Power that you get the feeling that if you were to wield it what would happen? For instance, if I simply come into contact with a malicious ill will (thats rare), an urge or a desire to harm, I do this (Mother pinches the vibration between her fingers), I do this (but it corresponds to an inner action: its a Power that acts together with a white Light, absolutely white, you know, intolerant of anything but The Perfectly white), and almost instantly, in the person in whom the movement of ill will resulted in a partial possession of the vital: an attack of nerves or (what do they call it?) a vital collapse or a nervous collapse, very tangible. So naturally, you curb all movements and you watch it all, perfectly quiet, with the eternal Smile. But its as if to show me: herehere is the potentiality (!) Only there is no Order to wield it, except now and then just to see.
(silence)
0 1964-01-08, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The Divine, for us, is always The Perfection not yet manifested, all the marvels not yet manifested, and which must keep on growing, of course.
The far end of the Manifestation (assuming that there was a progressive descent there may have been one, I dont knowthere have been so many perceptions of what happened, sometimes contradictory, always incomplete and humanized), but if you consider the aspect of evolution, you tend to consider a far end from which you proceed to another far end (its obviously childish, but anyway), or an extreme way of being that grows towards the opposite Extreme Way of Being; well, what seems to me the blackest and most inert, the total negation of that to which we aspire, is what constitutes Falsehood.
0 1964-01-22, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Still, for actions in this domain, actions of transformation, I dont say solitude because thats sillythere is no such thing as solitude but peace is necessary, that is, The Perfect control over the activity: the activity must be kept on a level where it doesnt interfere with the inner work thats the point. That was why, in fact, I was forced (apparently) to remain upstairs, because downstairs it had become it was infernalinfernal, no one can imagine! Its always the same principle: Why not me? And there are 1,300 of them, you understand let alone the visitors who come in their hundreds (some days, there are more than 200 or 300 of them at one time); they hear that there is someone worth seeing, and when I was downstairs and one of the circus showmen ([laughing] excuse me!) came, he would bring a troop along.
Now, its a little better, but it has become Why not me? Mother has seen such and such a category of people, therefore the entire category has a right to be seen! The birthdays1 too, it depends on the ages and occupations: if I see people of a certain age and occupation on their birthdays, all those of about the same age and similar occupation have a RIGHT to comethey have the rightand it is my DUTY to see them. And when I say that I dont have the time theyre upset.
0 1964-03-25, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You see, this aphorism would eventually lead to an absolute subjectivity, and only that absolute subjectivity would be truewell, its NOT like that. Because that means pralaya, it means Nirvana. Well, there isnt only Nirvana, there is an objectivity thats real, not false but how can you say what it is! Its something I have felt several timesseveral times, not just in a flash: the reality of (How can we express ourselves? We are always deceived by our words) In The Perfect sense of Oneness and in the consciousness of Oneness there is room for the objective, for objectivityone doesnt destroy the other, not at all. You may have the sense of a differentiation; not that it isnt yourself, but its a different vision. I told you, all that we can say is nothing, its nonsense, because the purpose of words is to express the unreal world, but Yes, that may be what Sri Aurobindo calls the sense of Multiplicity in Unity (maybe that corresponds a little), just as you feel the internal multiplicity of your being, something of that sort. I dont at all have the sensation of a separate self anymore, not at all, not at all, not even in the body, yet that doesnt prevent me from having a certain sense of an objective relationshipwell, yes, it leads us back to his change in the relation of sun-consciousness and earth-consciousness. (Laughing) Maybe thats really is the best way of putting it! Its a relation of consciousness. It isnt at all the relationship between oneself and othersnot at all, thats entirely canceled but it might be like the relation of consciousness between the various parts of ones being. And it gives objectivity to those various parts, obviously.
(long silence)
0 1964-09-23, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
So there is this problem, a problem of every second, which I must solve every second by the corresponding attitude that leads to the True Thing; and at the same time, there is the other attitude of acceptance of all that is for instance, of what leads to disintegration: the acceptance of disintegration, defeat, decomposition, weakening, decayall things that, naturally, to the ordinary man, are detestable and against which he reacts violently. But since you are told that everything is the expression of the divine Will and must be accepted as the divine Will, there comes this problem, which crops up almost constantly and every minute: if you accept those things as the expression of the divine Will, quite naturally things will follow their habitual course towards disintegration, but what is the TRUE ATTITUDE that can give you that perfect equanimity in all circumstances, and at the same time give a maximum of force and power and will to The Perfection that must be realized?
As soon as we deal with even the vital plane, even the lower vital, the problem doesnt arise, its very easy; but here, in the cells of the body, in this life? In this life of every minute, which is so constricted, so shriveled, so microscopic. What should you do when you know that you mustnt bring into play a will to reject all that is a decay, and when, at the same time, you cant accept decay because you dont see it as a perfect expression of the Divine?
--
Its not even that I have the feeling of the years going bythere is nothing like that, its not that! Its the problem of living from second to second, from minute to minute. I dont at all think, Oh, the years are going by , its a long time since all that has been over. Its not that, its the easy path of passive acceptance, which evidently leads (evidently, I mean not through reasoning, but THROUGH EXPERIENCE), which leads to increased decay; or else, that intensity of aspiration for The Perfection that must manifest, for all that must be, an aspiration which keeps everything at a standstill in that expectation. Its the opposition between these two attitudes.
The problem is made worse by the fact that the goodwill of the cells (a necessarily ignorant goodwill) doesnt know if one attitude is better than the other, if it should choose between the two, if both should be accepted they dont know! And as it isnt mentalized or formulated or with words, its very difficult. Oh, as soon as the words are there all that has been said comes back, and its over. Its not that, its not that anymore. Even if strong sensations or a vital force come up, its not a problem anymore. The problem is only HERE, in this (Mother strikes her body).
0 1964-10-07, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I quite understand: some people dont like the idea of a Divine because it immediately gets mixed up with all the European or Western conceptions (which are dreadful), and so it makes their lives a little bit more complicated but we dont need that! The something we need, The Perfection we need, the Light we need, the Love we need, the Truth we need, the supreme Perfection we need and thats all. The formulas the fewer the formulas, the better. A need, a need, a need that THE Thing alone can satisfy, nothing else, no half measure. That alone. And then, move on! Move on! Your path will be your path, it doesnt matter; any path, any path whatever, even the follies of todays American youth can be a path, it doesnt matter.
As Sri Aurobindo said, if you cant have Gods love (I am translating), well then, find a way to fight with God and have a wrestlers relationship with Him.1
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 1964-10-30, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And that wisdom! Its an almost cellular wisdom (its odd). For instance, I was looking at the relationship I had with all those great beings of the Overmind and higher, The Perfectly objective and very familiar relationship I had with all those beings and the inner perception of being the eternal Motherall that is very well, but for me its almost ancient history! The me that exists now is HERE, its at ground level, in the body; its the body, its Matter; its at ground level; and to tell the truth, it doesnt care much about the intervention of all those beings who ultimately know nothing at all! They dont know the true problem: they live in a place where there are no problems. They dont know the true problem the true problem is here.
Its an amused way of looking at religions and all the gods the way you would look at they are like theater performances. Theyre pastimes; but thats not what can teach you to know yourself, not at all, not at all! You must go right down to the bottom.
0 1964-11-12, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And all of a sudden, I saw thats not it at all! When they have the experience, at the time of the experience, it is the thing ITSELF, The Perfection ITSELF that has been reached, and they are in a state of perfection; and it is because they COME OUT of it that they feel they have to slowly prepare themselves for the result. I dont know if I am expressing myself clearly, but my notation was like this: perfection is there, always, coexisting with imperfectionperfection and imperfection are coexistent, always, and not only simultaneous, but in the SAME PLACE (Mother presses her two hands together), I dont know how to put itcoexistent. Which means that at any second and in any conditions, you can attain perfection: it isnt something that has to be gained little by little, through successive progress; perfection is THERE, and YOU change states, from the state of imperfection to the state of perfection; and it is the capacity to remain in that state of perfection that grows for some reason or other and gives you the feeling that you must prepare yourself or transform yourself.
That was very real and very concrete.
--
The Perfection is there coexistent
with the imperfection and attainable
0 1965-05-19, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For the whole, its always, every instant, the most favorable to the divine evolution. And for the elements consciously attuned to the Divine, its the best for The Perfection of their union.
But it shouldnt be forgotten that its constantly changing, it isnt a static best; its a best that, if retained, wouldnt be the best of the next moment. And its because the human consciousness always tends to want to retain statically what it finds or considers to be good that it finds this best always eludes it. That effort to retain is what warps things.
--
Thats why certain minds have postulated that the creation was the result of an error. But we find all the possible conceptions: The Perfect creation, then a fault that introduced the error; the creation itself as a lower movement, which must end since it began; then the conception of the Vedas according to what Sri Aurobindo told us about it, which was a progressive and infinite unfolding or discoveryindefinite and infiniteof the All by Himself. Naturally, all these are human translations. For the moment, as long as we express ourselves humanly, its a human translation; but depending on the initial stand of the human translator (that is, a stand that accepts the primordial error, or the accident in the creation, or the conscious supreme Will since the beginning, in a progressive unfolding), the conclusions or the descents in the yogic attitude are different. There are the nihilists, the Nirvanists and the illusionists, there are all the religions (like Christianity) that accept the devils intervention in one form or another; and then pure Vedism, which is the Supremes eternal unfolding in a progressive objectification. And depending on your taste, you are here or there or here, and there are nuances. But according to what Sri Aurobindo felt to be the most total truth, according to that conception of a progressive universe, you are led to say that, every minute, what takes place is the best possible for the unfolding of the whole. The logic of it is absolute. And I think that all the contradictions can only stem from a more or less pronounced tendency for this or that position, that other position; all the minds that accept the intrusion of a fault or an error and the resulting conflict between forces pulling backward and forces pulling forward, can naturally dispute the possibility. But you are forced to say that for someone who is spiritually attuned to the supreme Will or the supreme Truth, what happens is necessarily, every instant, the best for his personal realizationthis is true in all cases. The unconditioned best can only be accepted by one who sees the universe as an unfolding, the Supreme growing more and more conscious of Himself.
(silence)
0 1965-05-29, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The only point (I dont know if science has solved it) is the unpredictability of the future. But maybe they say thats because they havent yet reached The Perfection of their instruments and methods! For instance, maybe they think that just when man appeared on the earth, if there had been the instruments they now have, they would have been able to foresee the transformation from animal to man, or the appearance of man as a result of something in the animal I am not aware (Mother smiles) of their most modern pretensions. In that case, they should be able to measure or perceive the difference in the atmosphere now, with the intrusion of something that wasnt therebecause that still belongs to the material field.3 But I dont think thats what Sri Aurobindo meant; I think he meant that the world of the soul and the inner realities are so much more wonderful than the physical realities that all the physical wonders make you smileits rather that.
But the key you speak of, that key they dont have, is it not precisely the soul? A power of the soul over Matter, a power to change Matterto work physical wonders, too. Does the soul have that power?
0 1966-01-08, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its The Perfect answer to the present condition.
Thats the point, isnt it: it touches on the very crux of the difficulty (Mother pinches something tiny and very hard between her fingers). Despite everything, even though you may give everything, surrender everything, there is something (same gesture), and that something always remains there, behind.
0 1966-03-02, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Satprem then reads Mother an old Talk of April 17, 1951, and comes to a passage concerning The Perfection of the physical instrument: Physical perfection in no way and by no means proves that a single step has been made towards spirituality. Physical perfection means that the instrument that will be used by the forceany forcewill be sufficiently perfect to be remarkably expressive. But the important point, the essential point, is the force that will use the instrument, and thats where a choice will have to be made. Mother remarks:)
I remember the exact moment when I said that the place, the time, the sound, everythingbecause at that moment, I suddenly felt a divine Will manifest. I remember having thought at that moment, Ah, it should be like this every time. And now it has come back. What was the date?
0 1966-03-04, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It was like a justification of the creation, which made possible a certain mode of perception (which we could describe with the words precision, exactness in the objectification), which couldnt have existed without that. Because when that Consciousness The Perfect Consciousness, the true Consciousness, THE Consciousness was there, present and lived to the exclusion of any other, there was a something, like a vibratory mode, if I may say so, a vibratory mode of objective precision and exactness, which couldnt have existed without this material form of creation. You know, there was always that great Why?the great Why like this?, Why all this? which resulted in what is expressed in the human consciousness by suffering and misery and helplessness and all, all the horrors of the ordinary consciousness why? Why this? And then, the answer was like this: In the true Consciousness, there is a vibratory mode of precision, exactness, clearness in the objectification, which couldnt have existed without that, which wouldnt have had an opportunity to manifest. Thats certain. It is the answer the all-powerful answer to the Why?
It is clearvery clear that what for us is translated as progress, as progressive manifestation, is not only a law of the material manifestation as we know it, but is the very principle of the eternal Manifestation. If we want to climb down again to the level of terrestrial thought, we may say that there is no manifestation without progress. But what WE call progress, whats progress to our consciousness, up above, is it may be anything: a necessity, anything we like. There is a sort of absolute that we dont understand, an absolute of being: thats how it is because thats how it is, thats all. But to our consciousness, its more and more, better and better (and these words are stupid), more and more perfect, better and better perceived. Its the very principle of the manifestation.
0 1966-06-08, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The aspiration in the cellular consciousness to The Perfect sincerity of the consecration.
And the lived experienceintensely lived that only that absolute sincerity of the consecration allows existence.
0 1966-08-03, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And then, what discoveries I make! Extraordinary discoveries: how every experience always has an obverse and a reverse. For instance, the calm of a vision thats vast enough not to be disturbed by tiny infinitesimal points and is (I was about to say seems to be, but it doesnt seem to be: it IS) the result of a growth of consciousness and of an identification with the higher regions, and at the same time that apparent insensitiveness that looks like the negation of divine compassion; there comes a point when you see both as having become true and being able to exist not simultaneously but as ONE thing. As recently as the day before yesterday, I had The Perfectly concrete experience of an extremely intense wave of divine Compassion [in the face of one of those psychological contagions], and I had the opportunity to observe how, if this Compassion is allowed to manifest on a certain plane, it becomes an emotion that may disturb or trouble the imperturbable calm; but if it manifests (they arent the same planes: there are imperceptible nuances), if it manifests in its essential truth, it retains all its power of action, of effective help, and it in no way changes the imperturbable calm of the eternal vision.
All those are experiences of nuances (or nuances of experiences, I dont know how to put it) that become necessary and concrete only in the physical consciousness. And then, it results in a perfection of realizationa perfection in the minutest detailwhich none of those realizations have in the higher realms. I am learning what the physical realization contri butes in terms of concreteness, accuracy and perfection in the Realization; and how all those experiences interpenetrate, combine with each other, complement each otherits wonderful.
0 1966-09-07, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I say its amusing, but I know, its like that all the timeall the time, all the time, for everything. I am in a state of (what should I call it?) of contemplative stillness, with that sort of constant aspiration for for The Perfection we want to have: That which we want to bring down into this world. Thats all. And then, from every side, from just everywhere, all kinds of things come (gesture of communication): I am suddenly thinking of that, or I suddenly have an answer to this, or I suddenly And when the work is over, I immediately see: this (gesture to the forehead) has remained quiet, still, not even interested. Its like a transmittera receiver-transmitterin a telephone set. And I simply transmit. But I dont even have the curiosity to know why this or that came. Thats how it is: it goes out and comes; the answer goes out, the transmission, then the answer. And everything remains quiet (gesture to the forehead). So I know how things happen, but as I dont say to myself, Oh, this or that or this is the reason, when the outward proof comes [such as this Talk about money], its amusing!
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.
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 1966-10-26, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Because its an experience Ive had several times, and with all this work I am doing now, I understand better. You see, what seems to be perpetuated or preserved isnt individuals: its states of consciousness states of consciousness. Those states of consciousness manifest through many individuals and many different lives, and those states of consciousness are what progress towards a more and more luminous perfection. There are now, at present, all kinds of categories of states of consciousness that come one upon another in order to be put in contact with the Truth, the Light, The Perfect Consciousness, and at the same time they have retained a sort of imprint (like a memory) of the moments when they manifested.
There is a big work of transformation of the material states of consciousness going on: the states of consciousness nearest to the Inconscient, the most material states of consciousness. They come like that [to present themselves to Mother], with one or two examples of their previous manifestation (perhaps even their first emergence from the Inconscient), and then I see the transition (along with what has transformed them, changed them or even simply altered them through successive manifestations), the transition up to the point when they are now presented before the supreme Consciousness for the final transformation. This is a perpetual work, so to speak, because, interestingly, its a work I can go on doing while seeing people. Generally my work was interrupted when I saw people, because I was busy with them and that diminished and limited the work: they represented a small aggregate of difficulties that enormously shrank the Action [of Mother]. But now its no longer like that. And the interesting point is that it places people in this or that curve of transformation of the consciousness. For some time I have been seeing a considerable number of people I had never seen before (with all the old or familiar people there was no difficulty, but with the new ones it generally caused a shrinking of the work), and now with this study of states of consciousness, people are placed: here, there, here (Mother draws different levels in space). And if they are receptive, they must go away [after seeing Mother] with a new impulse to transform themselves. Those who arent receptive just miss it; but they are no longer a disturbance: they come in and go out. And from that I know what state they are in I can even do it with photos, but when I see people its much more complete. Photos are no more than one moment of their being, while here, even what isnt being manifested is there, hidden behind, and can be seen, so I see the person more completely. Its very interesting. It transforms this whole burden of visitors into something interesting.
0 1967-10-14, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
All of a sudden, yesterday afternoon towards evening (around six, or a little before), there came a sort of atmosphere of (what should I call it?) a kind of discouraged pessimism in which everything had become lacklustre, grey, dissatisfied. When you see things from above, in a certain atmosphere of totality, each thing plays its part and collaborates in a general manifestation, but there, it was like something shut in itself, with no reason to be except that it was. It had neither aim, nor motive nor reason to be, neither was it a special circumstance or a particular event: it was a kind of self-enclosed formation, a state of being which was obviously morbid, but not violent, nothing violent. Yes, in which each and everything was without reason or aim, without any satisfactionnei ther oneself nor others, nor things. And I was DELIBERATELY shut in it, in order to feel it. The consciousness wondered, Why? What does it mean? Why is it like this? And at the same time (you know that yesterday was the day of Durgas Victory for those who worship Durga), so I asked myself, Why does she choose to shut me in this state just on the day of victory? What does it mean? What does it mean? It was indeed like a factual demonstration of The Perfect uselessness of that way of being, which had no reason to be, which could be turned to anything, any time, without reason and without motive. It was like the symbol of disgruntled uselessness. But it went on. I looked and looked at it, trying to find the slightest clue to the cause of that state: what, when, who, how? And the curious thing is that its very, very foreign to my nature, because even when I was in real trouble, I never wasted my time being like that. And it went on, as things go on when I have to study them, understand them, and do what needs to be done. Then, at a certain point I said to myself, Oh, perhaps this is what Durga intends to conquer this year? And at the same time I remembered (like that, far away on the fringes of the consciousness), I remembered the time when Sri Aurobindo was there; every year, on the Victory day, I would tell him, Well, this is what Durga has done this year, and he would corroborate it. I would say, This is what Durga has conquered, this is what Durga Every year, over a long time. And so that memory was there, far away in the light, as if to tell me, See, do you remember that? And I said to myself, Well, this may be what Durga wants to conquer? Then I thought, But whats to be conquered in this? Its silly! Its a silly state. (Lots of people are in that state, I know, but its absolutely silly, it has neither reason nor cause nor aim, its like something that comes in without one knowing how or why.) It went on for a good while (I dont remember exactly how long). Then, when I had seen clearly, understood clearly what it was, I asked Durga, Is this what you want to do? And it was suddenly as if a very strange thing, as if it evaporated before my eyes, pfft! It went like this (gesture of bursting), and then I tried and tried the memory of it and everything had completely vanished! In one second it had completely gone.
While it was there, it was yes, as if something without any truth in itself, something that didnt rest on any truth. A morose, dissatisfied, grumpy state, and it was grey, grey, grey, lacklustre, looking at everything from the angle of uselessness and stupidity. Then there was a sort of bursting: all of a sudden, poff! like that, and it was all over. And now its a sort of vague memory which I can hardly recapture, which no longer exists.
0 1967-10-21, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Naturally, this can be done because even in the inconscient, at its very bottom, there is consciousness; but thats philosophy. Yesterday, it was The Perfectly concrete and material experience of it all.
And individualization is part of the process, its a necessity of the process, because it permits a more minute and direct action.
0 1968-05-18, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Ill make a decent copy of it (Mother looks for a paper and goes on). So then, it put everything in perspective. Ah, I must add something to let you understand. I saw D. yesterday, and as she had written to me that she didnt know how to meditate, but that anyhow she would keep quiet so as not to disturb me (!), naturally I started talking! But then, I said things to her that I had never said before (and which I wouldnt be able to repeatnei ther would she, because she understood only very, very little of what I said). I told her that from the standpoint of the manifestation (I didnt speak about beyond the manifestation), from the standpoint of the manifestation, there is only one thing that is true: Consciousness. And that all the rest is the APPEARANCE of something, but not the thing; that THE thing is Consciousness, and all the rest is a sort of play in which everyone has the illusion of being a personality, but its an illusion. While I was speaking, I had The Perfectly sincere and spontaneous experience of it. And I realized that this experience of the SINGLE Consciousness playing through innumerable forms (Mother breaks off)
But one cannot express that, words cant. While I was speaking, it was that Consciousness which spoke. And the two experiences together (the childrens notes, I read them yesterday evening; as for D., I had seen her in the morning), the two together gave me the detachment (its not detachment: its a liberation) from the phenomenon of death in such an absolute way that I was able to look throughout History, far into the past, at the whole human tragedy. That is to say, death is a natural phenomenon in the creation on earth, but as a means of TRANSITIONI clearly saw why it had become necessary, how, with the human consciousness and mental development, it had been turned into a tragedy, and how it was becoming again merely a means of transition (a clumsy means, we might say), which was now becoming unnecessary again.
0 1968-10-26, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It wouldnt be general, it could only be partial. But it WILL be. Its part of the Plan. But The Perfection of ONE realization depends on a total realization. There may be a certain quantum of realization, thats undeniable thats precisely what the supramental race will realize, obviously. Its obvious.
But I mean that if, now, through some miracle, ONE became luminously true, it would strike the rest of mankind so much that it would be turned back onto the path of TruthONE example.
0 1969-02-08, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
If everyone seriously worked to perfect himself, The Perfection of the whole would automatically follow.
February 6, 1969
0 1969-05-03, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The strange thing is that when you see things with this Consciousness, The PerfectION of the organization is so TREMENDOUS that you are youre almost terrified! Normally, when she went down to the bottom they should have noticed it immediately they would have brought her up and it would have been over (they know very well how to do that, nothing would have happened).
(silence)
0 1969-07-30, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But listen, yesterday, I saw a dozen young men and women who came, I think, from America (they were from various countries), and theyd asked to see me. I said, I am not keen to see them. But they had asked, and L. was moved to pity and brought them to me. Mon petit, if you knew how HOLLOW they were! Hollow, nothing but words. And what questions they asked me! What is responsibility? One of the girls asked me, Whats the Divine? (Theyre all ultramodern people, you know, much too intelligent to believe in any godhead! Theyre far above that.) She asked me with a derisive little air, Whats the Divine? So I looked at her (Mother looks hugely amused), and told her, The Divine is The Perfection you have to realize.
I had some real fun! There was nothing more to be said. (Mother laughs)
0 1969-10-18, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And for the Force to be able to go through rapidly so as to reach the body, a GREAT passivity is needed. I can see that: every time there is a pressure so as to act on some part of the body or other, it always begins with an absolute passivity, which is The Perfection of inertia, you understand? What inertia imperfectly representsits The Perfection of that. Something with no activity of its ownwhich is VERY difficult precisely for those who have a great mental development, very difficult. Because its whole life long, the body has worked to be in that state of receptivity to the mind, and that state, which is what brought about its obedience, docility and so on, is what needs to be abolished.
How can I explain? The development through the mind is a constant and general awakening of the whole beingeven the most material beingan awakening as a result of which there is also something thats the opposite of sleep. But to receive the supreme Force, whats needed is, on the contrary, the equivalent of stillness the stillness of sleep, but an ABSOLUTELY CONSCIOUS sleep, absolutely conscious. The body feels the difference. It feels the difference to such a point that for example, at night I lie down and I am like that, for hours I remain like that, and if after a while I drop into ordinary sleep, my body wakes up with a dreadful anguish! Then it slowly goes back to that State. That anguish, I feel it from time to timeit goes away instantly as soon as the body recaptures the true attitude, which is a state of stillness, but absolutely conscious. Stillness, I dont know how to explain that. Its almost the opposite of inertia in stillness.
0 1969-10-29, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Yes. One doesnt know The body here is beginning to understand thoroughly that one must be like this (gesture upward). The one most important thing is to have ones consciousness CONSTANTLY turned towards towards The Perfection we must manifest. Thats all.
With the understanding we have, its IMPOSSIBLE to know. Our vision is too small.
0 1970-01-28, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
How can I really explain? The body, the body consciousness was the consciousness of a dying body, and at the same time with The Perfect knowledge that it wasnt dying. But it was the consciousness of a dying body, with all the anguish, all the suffering, all those things, but there was the knowledge that it wasnt this (Mother points to her own body) that was dying. And it lasted a long time: it lasted all nigh the died very early this morning. Afterwards, I knew (only a few hours afterwards, when I was told that he had left), then I understood. That man was very ardent in his devotion and he had long known that he was going to die; his sons had proposed to take him away for treatmen the said, No, I want to die at the Ashram, I dont want to leave the atmosphere. And I understand why, because you see, the consciousness was there helping him all along, he instantly had the reaction this body [Mothers] would have, you understand? Which means he died in particularly favorable conditions. My body was like this (gesture of surrender) and saying, All right. Lord, its as You will, I am quite ready. At the same time, it perfectly had the knowledge: But you arent dying! Like that.
But thats how it was, it said, Very well, if You have decided. You have decided. And it knew. I cant say it spent a good night, no!1 But the consciousness was very, very, very conscious, oh!
0 1970-02-07, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And it will be The Perfect government when everyone is conscious of the inner Divine and obeys Him and Him alone.
Ill write, then a sequel will come, but I dont have the time to note it down.
0 1970-10-17, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In The Synthesis of Yoga, Sri Aurobindo writes about The Perfection of the lower mind, the psychic prana
Whats that?
0 1972-07-19, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its full of the very word is full of deception. Its not that way, its. WE AREWe are the Divine who has forgotten Himself. And our task, the task is to reestablish the connectioncall it by any name you like, it doesnt matter. Its The Perfection we must become, thats all.
The Perfection, the Power, the Knowledge we must become, thats all. Call it what you like, it doesnt matter to me. Thats the aspiration we must have. We must get out of this mire, this stupidity, this unconsciousness, this disgusting defeatism that crushes us because we allow ourselves to be crushed.
And we fear. We fear for its life (Mother touches the skin of her hands), for this thing, as if it were precious, because we want to stay conscious. But lets unite with the Supreme Consciousness, and well stay conscious forever! Thats IT, thats exactly it.
0 1973-01-20, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Dalai Lama:) It is my dream to have The Perfect economic development of Tibet, The Perfect organization, the efficiency that we find in Communism, but all this based upon, founded upon the Buddhistic qualities of Compassion and Love, so that the people in power do not degenerate into corruption. What is Mothers view of this dream, and whether such a thing will be realized in Tibet?
It is not a dream. It will naturally be. But the time it will take, I do not know. This is something like what Sri Aurobindo has said about the Supramental.
02.01 - The World War, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Those that have stood against this Dark Force and its over-shadowing menaceeven though perhaps not wholly by choice or free-will, but mostly compelled by circumstancesyet, because of the stand they have taken, now bear the fate of the world on their shoulders, carry the whole future of humanity in their march. It is of course agreed that to have stood against the Asura does not mean that one has become sura, divine or godlike; but to be able to remain human, human instruments of the Divine, however frail, is sufficient for the purpose, that ensures safety from the great calamity. The rule of life of the Asura implies the end of progress, the arrest of all evolution; it means even a reversal for man. The Asura is a fixed type of being. He does not change, his is a hardened mould, a settled immutable form of a particular consciousness, a definite pattern of qualities and activitiesgunakarma. Asura-nature means a fundamental ego-centricism, violent and concentrated self-will. Change is possible for the human being; he can go downward, but he can move upward too, if he chooses. In the Puranas a distinction has been made between the domain of enjoyment and the domain of action. Man is the domain of action par excellence; by him and through him evolve new and fresh lines of activity and impulsion. The domain of enjoyment, on the other hand, is where we reap the fruits of our past Karma; it is the result of an accumulated drive of all that we have done, of all the movements we have initiated and carried out. It is a status of being where there is only enjoyment, not of becoming where there can be development and new creation. It is a condition of gestation, as it were; there is no new Karma, no initiative or change in the stuff of the consciousness. The Asuras are bhogamaya purusha, beings of enjoyment; their domain is a cumulus of enjoyings. They cannot strike out a fresh line of activity, put forth a new mode of energy that can work out a growth or transformation of nature. Their consciousness is an immutable entity. The Asuras do not mend, they can only end. Man can certainly acquire or imbibe Asuric force or Asura-like qualities and impulsions; externally he can often act very much like the Asura; and yet there is a difference. Along with the dross that soils and obscures human nature, there is something more, a clarity that opens to a higher light, an inner core of noble metal which does not submit to any inferior influence. There is this something More in man which always inspires and enables him to break away from the Asuric nature. Moreover, though there may be an outer resemblance between the Asuric qualities of man and the Asuric qualities of the Asura, there is an intrinsic different, a difference in tone and temper, in rhythm and vibration, proceeding as they do, from different sources. However cruel, hard, selfish, egocentric man may be, he knows, he admitsat times, if hot always, at heart, if not openly, subconsciously, if not wholly consciously that such is not the ideal way, that these qualities are not qualifications, they are unworthy elements and have to be discarded. But the Asura is ruthless, because he regards ruthlessness as the right thing, as The Perfect thing, it is an integral part of his swabhava and swadharma, his law of being and his highest good. Violence is the ornament of his character.
The outrages committed by Spain in America, the oppression of the Christians by Imperial Rome, the brutal treatment of Christians by Christians themselves (the inquisition, that is to say) or the misdeeds of Imperialists generally were wrong and, in many cases, even inhuman and unpardonable. But when we compare with what Nazi Germany has done in Poland or wants to do throughout the world, we find that there is a difference between the two not only in degree, but in kind.One is an instance of the weakness of man, of his flesh being frail; the other illustrates the might of the Asura, his very spirit is unwilling. One is undivine; the other antidivine, positively hostile. They who cannot discern this difference are colour-blind: there are eyes to which all deeper shades of colour are black and all lighter shades white.
--
A great opportunity is offered to India's soul, a mighty auspicious moment is come, if she can choose. If she chooses rightly, then can she arrive at The Perfect fulfilment of her agelong endeavour, her life mission. India has preserved and fostered through the immemorial spiritual living of her saints and seers and sages the invaluable treasure, the vitalising, the immortalising power of spirituality, so that it can be placed at the service of terrestrial life for the deliverance of mankind, for the transfiguration of the human type. It is this for which India lives; by losing this India loses all her reason of existenceraison d'tre the earth and humanity too lose all significance. Today we are in the midst of an incomparable ordeal. If we know how to take the final and crucial step, we come out of it triumphant, a new soul and a new body, and we make the path straight for the Lord. We have to recognise clearly and unequivocally that victory on' one side will mean that the path of the Divineof progress and evolution and fulfilmentwill remain open, become wider and smoother and safer; but if the victory is on the other side, the path will be closed perhaps for ever, at least for many ages and even then the travail will have to be undergone again under the most difficult conditions and circumstances. Not with a political shortsightedness, not out of -the considerations of convenience or diplomacy, of narrow parochial interests, but with the steady vision of the soul that encompasses the supreme welfare of humanity, we have to make our choice, we have to go over to the right side and oppose the wrong one with all the integrity of our life and being. The Allies, as they have been justly called, are really our allies, our friends and comrades, in spite of their thousand faults and defects; they have stood on the side of the Truth whose manifestation and triumph is our goal. Even though they did not know perhaps in, the beginning what they stood for, even though perhaps as yet they do not comprehend the full sense and solemnity of the issues, still they have chosen a side which is ours, and we have to stand by them whole-heartedly in an all-round comradeship if we want to be saved from a great perdition.
This war is a great menace; it is also a great opportunity. It can land humanity into a catastrophe; it can also raise it to levels which would not have been within its reach but for the occasion. The Forces of Darkness have precipitated themselves with all their might upon the world, but by their very downrush have called upon the higher Forces of Light also to descend. The true' use of the opportunity offered to man would be to bring about a change, better still, a reversal, in his consciousness, that is to say, it will be of highest utility if it forces upon him by the pressure of inexorable circumstancessince normally he is so unwilling and incapable to do it through a spontaneous inner awakening the inescapable decision that he must change and shall change; and the change is to be for or towards the birth of a spiritual consciousness in earthly life. Indeed the war might be viewed" as the birth-pangs of such a spiritual consciousness. Whether the labour would be sublimely fruitful here and how or end in barrenness is the question the Fates and the gods are asking of man the mortal beingtoday.
02.02 - Lines of the Descent of Consciousness, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The next steps, farther down or away, arrive when the drive towards differentiation and multiplication gathers momentum becomes accentuated, and separation and isolation increase in degree and emphasis. The lines of individuation fall more and more apart from each other, tending to form closed circles, each confining more and more exclusively to itself, stressing its own particular and special value and function, in contradistinction to or even against other lines. Thus the descent or fall from the Supermind leads, in the first instance, to the creation or appearance of the Overmind. It is the level of consciousness where The Perfect balance of the One and the Many is disturbed and the emphasis begins to be laid on the many. The source of incompatibility between the two just starts here as if Many is notOne and One is not Many. It is the beginning of Ignorance, Avidya, Maya. Still in the higher hemisphere of the Overmind, the sense of unity is yet maintained, although there is no longer the sense of absolute identity of the two; they are experienced as complementaries, both form a harmony, a harmony as of different and distinct but conjoint notes. The Many has come forward, yet the unity is also there supporting it-the unity is an immanent godhead, controlling the patent reality of the Many. It is in the lower hemisphere of the Overmind that unity is thrown into the background half-submerged, flickering, and the principle of multiplicity comes forward with all insistence. Division and rivalry are the characteristic marks of its organisation. Yet the unity does not disappear altogether, only it remains very much inactive, like a sleeping partner. It is not directly perceived and envisaged, not immediately felt but is evoked as reminiscence. The Supermind, then, is the first crystallisation of the Infinite into individual centres, in the Overmind these centres at the outset become more exclusively individualised and then jealously self-centred.
The next step of Descent is the Mind where the original unity and identity and harmony are disrupted to a yet greater degree, almost completely. The self-delimitation of consciousness which is proper to the Supermind and even to the Overmind, at least in its higher domainsgives way to self-limitation, to intolerant egoism and solipsism. The consciousness withdraws from its high and wide sweep, narrows down to introvert orbits. The sense of unity in the mind is, at most, a thing of idealism and imagination; it is an abstract notion, a supposition and a deduction. Here we enter into the very arcana of Maya, the rightful possession of Ignorance. The individualities here have become totally isolated and independent and mutually conflicting lines of movement. Hence the natural incapacity of mind, as it is said, to comprehend more than one object simultaneously. The Super mind and, less absolutely, the Overmind have a global and integral outlook: they can take in each one in its purview all at once the total assemblage of things, they differentiate but do not divide the Supermind not at all, the Overmind not categorically. The Mind has not this synthetic view, it proceeds analytically. It observes its object by division, taking the parts piecemeal, dismantling them, separating them, and attending to each one at a time. And when it observes it fixes itself on one point, withdrawing its attention from all the rest. If it bas to arrive at a synthesis, it can only do so by collating, aggregating and summing. Mental consciousness is thus narrowly one pointed: and in narrowing itself, being farther away from the source it becomes obscurer, more and more outward gazing (parci khni) and superficial. The One Absolute in its downward march towards multiplicity, fragmentation and partiality loses also gradually its subtlety, its suppleness, its refinement, becomes more and more obtuse, crude, rigid and dense.
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The various movements or forces of consciousness that play in the various fields or levels of creation are not merely states or degrees and magnitudes, currents and streams of consciousness: they are also personalities with definite forms and figuresnot physical indeed, yet very definite even when subtle and fluidic. Thus the supreme Reality, which is usually described as The Perfect status of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, is not merely a principle but a personality. It is the Supreme Person with his triune nature (Purushottama). It is the Divine as the supreme Knower and Doer or Creator and Lover. The creation in or from that status of consciousness is not simply a play or result of the force of consciousness, it is even more truly the embodiment of a conscious Will; it is the will of the Divine Father executed by the Divine Mother.
Now, as the Reality along with its consciousness, in the downward involutionary course towards materialisation, has been gradually disintegrating itself, multiplying itself, becoming more and more obscure and dense in separated and isolated units, even so the Person too has been following a parallel course of disintegration and multiplication and obscuration and isolation. At the origin lies, as we have said, The Perfect Person, the Supreme Person, in his dual aspect of being and nature, appearing as the supreme purua and the supreme prakti, our Father and our Mother in the highest heaven.
Next is the domain of the Supermind with which the manifestation of the Divine starts. We have said it is the world of typal realities, of the first seed-realities, where the One and the Many are united and fused in each other, where the absolute unity of the Supreme maintains itself in undiminished magnitude and expresses and formulates itself perfectly in and through the original multiplicity. Here take birth the first personalities, absolute truth-forms of the Divine. Here are the highest gods, the direct formations of the Divine himself. Here are the Four Powers and Personalities of swara whom Sri Aurobindo has named after the Vaishnava terminology: (i) Mahavira, embodying the Brahmin quality of Knowledge and Light and wide Consciousness, (ii) Balarama, embodying the Kshatriya quality of Force and intense dynamism, (iii) Pradyumna, embodying the quality of love and beauty the Vaishya virtue of mutuality and harmony and solidarity, and (iv) Aniruddha, embodying the Sudra quality of competent service, of organisation and execution in detail. Corresponding with these Four there are the other Four Powers and Personalities of the Divine Mother war (i) Maheshwari, (ii) Mahakali, (iii) Mahalakshmi and (iv) Mahasaraswati. Next in the downward gradient comes the Overmind where the individualised powers and personalities of the Divine tend to become self-sufficient and self-regarding; their absolute unity is loosened and the lines of multiplicity begin to be more independent of each other, each aiming at a special fulfilment of its own. Still the veil that is being drawn over the unity is yet transparent which continues to be sufficiently dynamic. This is the abode of the gods, the true and high gods: it is these that the Vedic Rishis appear to have envisaged and sought after. The all gods (vive dev) were indeed acknowledged to be but different names and forms of one supreme godhead (dev) it is the one god, says Rishi Dirghatamas, who is called multifariously whether as Agni or Yam a or Matariswan; it is the one god, again, who is described as having a thousand heads and a thousand feet. And yet they are separate entities, each has his own distinct and distinctive character and attribute, each demands a characteristic way of approach and worship. The tendency towards an exclusive stress is already at work on this level and it is the perception of this truth that lies behind the term henotheism used by European scholars to describe the Vedic Religion.
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The supramentalisation of the personality which means The Perfect divinisation of the personality is yet not the final end of Nature's march. Her path is endless, since she follows the trail of infinity. There are still higher modes of consciousness, or, if they cannot properly be called higher, other modes of consciousness that lie in waiting to be brought out and placed and established in the front of terrestrial evolution. Only, supramentalisation means the definite crossing over from Ignorance, from every trace and shadow of Ignorance, into the abiding and perennial Knowledge and Freedom. Thenceforward the course of Nature's evolution may be more of the kind of expression than ascension; for, beyond the Supermind it is very difficult to speak of a higher or lower order of consciousness. Everything thereafter is in the full perfect light the difference comes in the mode or manner or stress of expression. However, that is a problem with which we are not immediately concerned.
We have spoken of four lines of Descent in the evolution and organisation of consciousness. There yet remains a fifth line. It is more occult. It is really the secret of secrets, the Supreme Secret. It is the descent of the Divine himself. The Divine, the supreme Person himself descends, not indirectly through emanations, projections, partial or lesser formulations, but directly in his own plenary self. He descends not as a disembodied force acting as a general movement, possessing, at the most, other objects and persons as its medium or instrument, but in an embodied form and in the fullness of his consciousness. The Indian word for Divine Incarnation, avatra, literally means he who has descended. The Divine comes down himself as a terrestrial being, on this material plane of ours, in order to raise the terrestrial and material Nature to a new status in her evolutionary courseeven so He incarnated as the Great Boar who, with his mighty tusk, lifted a solid mass of earth from out of the waters of the Deluge. It is his purpose to effect ascension of consciousness, a transmutation of being, to establish a truly New Order, a New Dharma, as it is termed dharmasamsthpanrthya. On the human level, he appears as a human person for two purposes. First of all, he shows, by example, how the ascension, the transmutation is to be effected, how a normal human being can rise from a lower status of consciousness to a higher one. The Divine is therefore known as the Lord of Yoga for Yoga is the means and method by which one consciously uplifts oneself, unites oneself with the Higher Reality. The embodied Divine is the ideal and pattern: he shows the path, himself walks the path and man can follow, if he chooses. The Biblical conception of the Son of GodGod made fleshas the intermediary between the human and the Divine, declaring, I am the Way and the Goal, expresses a very similar truth. The Divine takes a body for anotheroccultreason also. It is this: Matter or terrestrial life cannot be changedchanged radically, that is to say, transformed by the pure spiritual consciousness alone, lying above or within; also it is not sufficient to bring about only that much of change in terrestrial life which can be effected by the mere spiritual force acting in a general way. It looks as if the physical transformation which is what is meant by an ascension or emergence in the evolutionary gradient were possible only by a physical impact embodying and canalising the spiritual force: it is with his physical body that the Divine Incarnation seems to push and lift up physical Nature to a new and higher status.
02.02 - The Kingdom of Subtle Matter, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
At beauty and The Perfect shape of things.
In rooms of the young divinity of power
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Some trait of The Perfection of the Unborn,
Some vision seen in the omniscient Light,
02.03 - The Glory and the Fall of Life, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The figures of The Perfect kingdom pass
And behind them leave a shining memory's trail.
02.06 - The Integral Yoga and Other Yogas, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
I know very well also that there have been seemingly allied ideals and anticipations - The Perfectibility of the race, certain
Tantric sadhanas, the effort after a complete physical siddhi by certain schools of Yoga, etc. etc. I have alluded to these things myself and have put forth the view that the spiritual past of the race has been a preparation of Nature not merely for attaining to the Divine beyond this world, but also for this very step forward which the evolution of the earth-consciousness has still to make.
02.06 - The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Life, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It hunts for The Perfect word, The Perfect shape,
It leaps to the summit thought, the summit light.
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Its claim to be The Perfect form of things,
Truth's last epitome, Time's golden best.
02.11 - New World-Conditions, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The geographical revolution has led inevitably to the economic revolution which is not less momentous, pregnant with prophecies of brave new things. We all know that the modern world was ushered in with the industrial revolution. As a result of this new dispensation, world and society gradually divided into two camps: on one side, the industrialists and on the other the agriculturists, or, in a general way, the possessors of raw materials. The Imperialists formed the first group, while the latter, dominated by these, belonged to the Colonies. The "backward" countries and people who could not take to industry, but continued the old system became a helpless prey to the industrial nations. Africa and Asia and the South American countries came under the domination of European nations, rather the West European Nations: they became the suppliers of raw materials and also the market for finished products. Also within the same country occupying the imperial status, there came a division, a class division, as it is called. A few industrial magnates or trusts (France had its famous Two-Hundred Families) monopolised all the wealth, became the top-dog, the "Haves", the others were mere hewers of wood and drawers of water, serfs and slaves, the "Have-Nots". Exploitation was-the motto of the age. The "exploiters" and the "exploited", this trenchant duality was the whole truth of the social scheme and that summed up the entire malady of the collective life. Then came the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution which brought to a head the great crisis and initiated the change-over to new conditions. The French Revolution called up from the rear of social ranks and set in front the Third Estate and gradually formed and crystallised, with the aid of the Industrial Revolution, what is known as the Bourgeoisie. The Russian Revolution went a step farther. It dislodged the bourgeoisie and installed the Fourth Estate, the proletariate, as the head and front of society, its centre of power and governmental authority. In the meantime there was developing in the bourgeois society, too, a kind of socialism which aimed at the uplift and remoulding of the working class into a total social power. But the process could not, go far enough. The Industrial League, no doubt, began to release some of its monopolies, delegate some of its power and authority to the Proletariate and sought an armistice and entente; but still it is they who wielded the real power and gave to society the tone and impress of their characteristic authority. The Russian experiment made a bold departure and attempted to build up a new society from the very bottom: the manual labourers, they who produce with the sweat of their brow and make a society living and prosperous must also be its rulers. Now whatever the success or failure in regard to The Perfect ideal, the thing achieved is solid; certain forces have been released that are working inexorably in and through even contrary appearances, they have come to stay and cannot be negatived. The urge, for example, towards a more equitable distribution of wealth and wealth-producing implements; an even balancing of economic values has been growing and gathering strength: it has become an asset of the body social. Instead of an unfettered competition between rival agencies, the mad drive for a jealous and closely guarded appropriation (rather, mis-appropriation) by private cartels, there has arisen an inevitable need for a unitary or co-operative control under a common direction, whether it be that of the state or some other body equally representing the common interest. In other words, the principle of co-operation has now become a living reality, a thing of practical politics. All effort towards progress and amelioration, cure of social ills and regaining of health and strength must lie in that direction: anything going the contrary way shall perforce be out of tune with the Time-Spirit and can cause only confusion, bring in stagnation or even regression.
First of all, the colonies, which mean practically the Eastern hemisphere, can no longer be regarded, even by those who would very much wish to, as the field of exploitation, the granary of raw materials or the dumping ground of finished articles. Industrialism, the spirit and urge of it at least, has reached these places too: the exploiters themselves have been instrumental In bringing it about. The growing industrialism in countries so long held in subjection or tutelage, as safe preserves, need not necessarily mean a further spell of keen competition. If we look closely, we see things moving in a different direction. It is self-evident that all countries do not and cannot grow or manufacture all things with equal ease and facility. Countries are naturally complementary or supplementary to each other with regard to their raw produce or industrial manufacture. And an inevitable give and take, mutual understanding and help must follow such an alignment of economic forces.
03.01 - Humanism and Humanism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The Indian sage is not and cannot be human in the human way. For the end of his whole spiritual effort is to transcend the human way and establish himself in the divine way, in the way of the Spirit. The feeling he has towards his fellow beingsmen and animals, the sentient or the insentient, the entire creation in factis one of identity in the One Self. And therefore he does not need to embrace physically his brother, like the Christian saint, to express or justify The Perfect inner union or unity. The basis of his relation with the world and its objects is not the human heart, however purified and widened, but something behind it and hidden by it, the secret soul and self. It was Vivekananda who very often stressed the point that the distinctive characteristic of the Vedantist was that he did not look upon created beings as his brethren but as himself, as the one and the same self. The profound teaching of the Upanishadic Rishi iswhat may appear very egoistic and inadmissible to the Christian saint that one loves the wife or the I son or anybody or anything in the world not for the sake of the wife or the son or that body or thing but for the sake of the self, for the sake of oneself that is in the object which one seems to love.
The pragmatic man requires an outward gesture, an external emotion to express and demonstrate his kinship with creation. Indeed the more concrete and tangible the expression the more human it is considered to be and all the more worthy for it. There are not a few who think that giving alms to the poor is more nobly human than, say, the abstract feeling of a wide commonalty, experienced solely in imagination or contemplation in the Wordsworthian way.
03.01 - The Evolution of Consciousness, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
In my explanation of the universe I have put forward this cardinal fact of a spiritual evolution as the meaning of our existence here. It is a series of ascents from the physical being and consciousness to the vital, the being dominated by the life-self, thence to the mental being realised in the fully developed man and thence into The Perfect consciousness which is beyond the mental, into the Supramental consciousness and the Supramental being, the Truth-Consciousness which is the integral consciousness of the spiritual being. Mind cannot be our last conscious expression because mind is fundamentally an ignorance seeking for knowledge; it is only the Supramental
Truth-Consciousness that can bring us the true and whole SelfKnowledge and world-Knowledge; it is through that only that we can get to our true being and the fulfilment of our spiritual evolution.
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Life, of conscious mind first in animal life and then fully in conscious and thinking man, the highest present achievement of evolutionary Nature. The achievement of mental being is at present her highest and tends to be regarded as her final work; but it is possible to conceive a still further step of the evolution: Nature may have in view beyond the imperfect mind of man a consciousness that passes out of the mind's ignorance and possesses truth as its inherent right and nature. There is a truth-consciousness as it is called in the Veda, a supermind, as I have termed it, possessing Knowledge, not having to seek after it and constantly miss it. In one of the Upanishads a being of knowledge is stated to be the next step above the mental being; into that the soul has to rise and through it to attain The Perfect bliss of spiritual existence. If that could be achieved as the next evolutionary step of Nature here, then she would be fulfilled and we could conceive of The Perfection of life even here, its attainment of a full spiritual living even in this body or it may be in a perfected body. We could even speak of a divine life on earth; our human dream of perfectibility would be accomplished and at the same time the aspiration to a heaven on earth common to several religions and spiritual seers and thinkers.
The ascent of the human soul to the supreme Spirit is that soul's highest aim and necessity, for that is the supreme reality; but there can be too the descent of the Spirit and its powers into the world and that would justify the existence of the material world also, give a meaning, a divine purpose to the creation and solve its riddle. East and West could be reconciled in the pursuit of the highest and largest ideal, Spirit embrace Matter and Matter find its own true reality and the hidden Reality in all things in the Spirit.
03.04 - The Body Human, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The Perfection of the anatomical and morphological structure in man consists precisely in its wonderful elasticity the 'infinite faculty' or multiple functioning referred to by Shakespeare. This is the very characteristic character of man both with regard to his physical and psychological make-up. The other species are, everyone of them, more or less, a specialised formation; we have there a closed system, a fixed and definite physical mould and pattern of life. A cat or a crow of a million years ago, like 'the immemorial elm' was not very different from its descendant of today; not so with man. I mean, the human frame, in its general build, might have remained the: same from the beginning of time, but the uses to which it has been put, the works that have been demanded of it are multifarious, indeed of infinite variety. Although it is sometimes stated that the human body too has undergone a change (and is still undergoing) from what was once heavy and muscular, tall and stalwart, with a thicker skeletal system, towards something lighter and more delicate. Also an animal, like the plant, because of its rigidity of pattern, remains unchanged, keeping to its own geographical habitat. Change of climate meant for the animal a considerable change, a sea-change, a change of species, practically. But man can easilymuch more easily than an animal or a plantacclimatise himself to all sorts of variable climates. There seems to be a greater resilience in his physical system, even as a physical object. Perhaps it contains a greater variety of component elements and centres of energy which support its versatile action. The human frame, one may say, is like the solar spectrum that contains all the colour vibrations and all the lines characteristic of the different elements. The solar sphere is the high symbol for man.
The story runs (Aitareya Upanishad) that once the gods wished to come down and inhabit an earthly frame. Several animal forms (the cow, the horse) were presented to them one after another, but they were not satisfied, none was considered adequate for their habitation. At last the human frame (with its conscious personality) was offered to them and immediately they declared that that was indeed The Perfect form they neededsuktam bateti and they entered into it.
The human frame is the abode of the gods; it is a temple of God, as we all know. But the most significant thing about it is that the gods alone do not dwell there: all being, all creatures crowd there, even the ungodly and the undivine. The Pashu (the animal), the Pishacha (the demon), the Asura (the Titan), and the Deva (the god), all find comfortable lodging in itthere are many chambers indeed in this mansion of the Lord. Man was made after the image of God and yet Lucifer had access into that tabernacle and all his entire host with him. This duality of the divine and the undivine, the characteristic mark of human nature as it is, presents a field and a labour through which man's progress has to be worked out. The soul, the divine flame, has, been placed in Ignorance, that is to say, what is apparent Ignorance, the frame of Matter, just because this Matter in Ignorance is to be smelted, purified, given its original and intrinsic substance, shape and character. The human person in its actual form is not obviously something absolutely perfect and divine. The type, the norm it represents is divine, but it has been overlaid with all obscure and base elementsit has to be washed and cleaned thoroughly, smelted and reconditioned. The dark ungodly elements mar and vitiate; they must be removed on the one hand, but on the other, they point out and test the salvaging work that has to be done and is being done. Man is always at the crossroads. This is his especial difficulty and this is also his unique opportunity. His consciousness has a double valency, in contradistinction to the animal's which is, it can be said, monovalent, in that it is amoral, has not the sense of divided loyalty and hence the merit of choice. The movements of the animal follow a fixed stereotyped pattern; it has not got to deviate from the beaten track of its instincts. But man with his sense of the moral, of the good, of the progressive is at every step of his life faced with a dilemma, has to pause at a parting of the ways, always looks before and after and is puzzled at a cas de conscience. That, we have said, has been made for him the condition of growth, of a conscious and willed change with an ever-increasing tempo towards perfect perfection. That furnishes the occasion and circumstance by which he rises to divinity itself, becomes the Divine. He becomes the Divine thus not merely in the own home of the Divine, but on all the levels of the manifestation: all the planes of consciousness with all the hierarchy of beingspowers and personalitiesfind a new play of harmony, a supreme and global fulfilment in the transfigured human vehicle. The frame itself that encases the human consciousness acts as a living condenser: the very contour in its definiteness seems to exert a pressure towards an ever larger and higher synthesis, it may be compared to a kind of field office (Einsteinian, for example) that controls, regulates, moves and configurates all elements within its range. The human frame even as a frame possesses a magic virtue.
03.04 - The Vision and the Boon, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The harps of The Perfect shall attune her voice,
The streams of Heaven shall murmur in her laugh,
03.04 - Towardsa New Ideology, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But perhaps the real truth of the matter here is that all these termsliberty or right or even dutyare mental conceptions. They are indeed ideals, that is to say, made of the stuff of ideas and do not always coincide with the deeper realities of life and hence are not able to produce The Perfect and durable harmony among warring members whether in the individual or in the collective life.
We had in India a fairer word than "duty", a deeper and more luminous mantra: it is dharma. The expression has certainly "'fallen on evil days and on evil tongues"; it smells today of medievalism and obscurantism and whatever is not "forward" and "radical". Still we hark back to it: it is high time that we should resuscitate the old word mantrain spite of its musty covering, it carries the purest nugget of gold.
03.06 - Divine Humanism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The Indian sage is not and cannot be human in the human way. For the end of his whole spiritual effort is to transcend the human way and establish himself in the divine way, in the way of the Spirit. The feeling he has towards his fellow-beingsmen and animals, the sentient and the insentient, the entire creation, in factis one of identity in the One Self. And, therefore, he does not need to embrace physically his brother, like the Christian saint, to express or justify The Perfect inner union or unity. The basis of his relation with the world and its objects is not the human heart, however purified and widened, but something behind it and hidden by it, the secret soul and self. It was Vivekananda who very often stressed the point that the distinctive characteristic of the Vedantin was that he did not look upon created beings as his brethren, but as himself, as the one and the same self. The profound teaching of the Upanishadic Rishi iswhat may appear very egoistic and inadmissible to the Christian saint that one loves the wife or the son or anybody or anything in the world, not for the sake of the wife or the son or that body or that thing, but for the sake of the self, for the sake of one's own self that is in the object which one seems to love.
The pragmatic man requires an outward gesture, an external emotion to express and demonstrate his kinship with the creation. Indeed the more concrete and tangible the expression, the more human it is considered to be and all the more worthy for it. There are not a few who think that giving alms to the poor is more nobly human than, say, to have the abstract feeling of a wide commonalty, experienced solely in imagination or contemplation in the Wordsworthian way.
03.13 - Human Destiny, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But, as we have said, man seems to have yet retained his youthfulness. He always just falls short of The Perfect perfection, that is to say, in any single form or expression of life. Life did become stereotyped, mechanised, and therefore fossilised, more or less, in Egypt of the later Dynasties; in India too life did not become less inert and vegetative during two long periods, once just preceding the advent of the Buddha,.
and a second time just preceding the Moslem adventand a third time perhaps just preceding the British advent. And yet man has survived all falls and has been reborn and rejuvenated every time he seems to be off the stage.
03.16 - The Tragic Spirit in Nature, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
There runs a pessimistic vein in Nature's movement. Due to the original Inconscience out of which she is built and also because of a habit formed through millenniums it is not possible for her to expect or envisage anything else than decay, death and frustration in the end or on the whole. To every rise there must be a fall, a crest must end in a trough. Nature has not the courage nor the faculty to look for any kind of perfection upon earth. Not that within her realm one cannot or should not try for the good; the noble, even The Perfect, but one must be ready to pay the price. Good there is and may be, but it is suffered only on payment of its Danegeld to Evil. That is the law of sacrifice that seems to be fundamental to Nature's governance.
The Evil, we have said, is nothing else than the basis of unconsciousness or Inconscience in Nature. It is this which pulls the beingwhatever structure of consciousness can be reared upon itdown to decay and frustration. It is the force of gravitation or inertia. Matter is unconsciousness; the body, formed basically of matter, is unconsciousness too. The natural tendency of Matter is towards disintegration and dissolution; the body, therefore, is mortalbhasmntamidam arram. The scope and range of mortality is measured by the scope and range of unconsciousness. Matter is the most concrete and solid form of unconsciousness; but it casts its shadow upon the higher levels toolife and mind always lie in the penumbra of this original evil.
04.01 - The Divine Man, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The Christian mystics themselves, however, do not seem to have aimed at real physical transubstantiationalthough that might have been at the back of the older Hebrew sacrament of the Eucharist; The Perfection sought by them was to be enjoyed in Heaven in company of the Father and not on this earth and in this human body: it was more a sublimation than a transformation that was their goal. The flesh for them was always too weak.
The Gita, [IX. 33] (https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/19/equality#p9)
04.03 - Consciousness as Energy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Thus consciousness is not merely a status of being, but also a force of becoming. All that is to take form and be active, whether in the grossest, the material mode or in the most subtle, the ideative mode is originally a seed, a stress, a point of concentration of this consciousness. The Yogi becomes potentially all-powerful, because he is one with the All-Power, the Mother Consciousness. The Perfect spiritual man not merely dwells with or is close to the Divine (slokya), he is not merely made in the image of the Divine (srpya), and again he is not merely unified and one with the Divine (syujya) but what is most marvellous, he has the same nature, that is to say, he has the same powers and capacities as the Divine (sdharmya).
The dynamic becoming, becoming a power and personality of the omnipotent Divine, is a secret well known to the Yogis and mystics. Only it has not been worked out in all its implications, not given the full value and importance rightfully due to it. The reason is that although the principle was discovered and admitted, the proper key had not been found that could release and manipulate the Energy at its highest potential and largest amplitude. Because the major tendency in the spiritual man till now has been rather to follow the path of nivtti than the path of pravtti, this latter path being more or less identified with the path of Ignorance. But there is a higher line of pravtti which means the manifestation of the Divine, not merely the expression of the inferior Nature.
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We have spoken of the Inner Consciousness. But there is also, we must now point out, an Inmost Consciousness. As the Superconsciousness is a consciousness-energy in height, the Inmost Consciousness is a consciousness-energy in depth, the deepest depth, beyond or behind the Inner Consciousness. If we wish to put it geometrically, we can say, the vertical section of consciousness represents the line from the superconsciousness to the subconscious or vice versa; the horizontal section represents the normal waking state of consciousness; and there is a transverse section leading from the surface first to the Inner and finally to the Inmost. This inmost consciousness the consciousness most profound and secreted in the cave of the heart, guhhitam gahvaretham,is the consciousness of the soul, the Psychic Being, as Sri Aurobindo calls it: it is the immortal in the mortal. It is, as has often been described, the nucleus round which is crystallised and organised the triple nature of man consisting of his mind and life and body, the centre of dynamic energy that secretly vivifies them, gradually purifies and transforms them into higher functions and embodiments of consciousness. As a matter of fact, it is this inmost consciousness that serves as the link, at least as the most powerful link, between the higher and lower forms of consciousness, between the Superconscient and the Subsconscient or Inconscient. It takes up within itself all the elements of consciousness that the past in its evolutionary career from the very lowest and basic levels has acquired and elaborated, and by its inherent pressure and secret gestation delivers what was crude and base and unformed as the purest luminous noble substance of The Perfectly organised superconscient reality. Indeed, that is the mystic alchemy which the philosophers experimented in the Middle Ages. In this context, the Inner Consciousness, we may note, serves as a medium through which the action of the Inmost (as well as that of the Uppermost) takes place.
We can picture the whole phenomenon in another way and say in the devotional language of the Mystics that the Inmost Consciousness is the Divine Child, the Superconscient is the Divine Father and the Inferior Consciousness is the Great Mother (Magna Mater): the Inner and the Outer Consciousness are the field of play and the instrument of action as well of this Divine Trinity.
04.03 - The Call to the Quest, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Towards The Perfection of eternal things.
Transparent grown the ephemeral living dress
05.01 - Man and the Gods, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Three courses are open to The Perfected and completely developed soul. First, it may remain, contented with its fullness, self-gathered and self-sufficient, dwelling in its own domain the psychic world and enjoying the even, equal, undisturbed felicity and beatitude of union with the Divine. This status may perhaps not be chosen by many or for a long time. The second line that the Psyche can adopt is to come down or remain upon earth and take a share in the fulfilment of the Divine Purpose in the world. That purpose is the transformation of the physical, making the material an embodiment of the divine Light and Power and Bliss and Immortality. A third development also may take place; this is not strictly speaking normal, not the logical and inevitable happening in the course of things, nor does it depend wholly upon any personal choice of the psychic being, so to say. It occurs when the force of a higher destiny operates, for a special work and at a special time. It is when the psychic being is contacted with, made to identify itself with, a godhead under a higher dispensation, when, in a word, a divinity descends into a human soul.
The gods are especial powers and executive agents of the one Divine. They move and act in a special way with a special end in view. They are, we may say, highbrow entities: they carry things with a high hand. That is to say, what they have got to do, they seek to do without any consideration or computation of the means, without regard to the pauses and hindrances that naturally attend all terrestrial and human achievements. God said, let there be light, and there was light. That is also the way of the gods. There is here an imperial majesty and grandeur, a sweeping mastery and sovereign indifference,
05.02 - Of the Divine and its Help, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Discover the centre of your being and hold fast to it; only from there can you describe The Perfect circle of life rounded into its absolute fullness.
Do not strive and struggle to do. Only be conscious of what is being done for you.
05.07 - Man and Superman, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Now, one may ask, what would be the relation between the two humanities the human and the divine? And what would be the effect of the appearance of the new race upon the older stock? Here again we can take up the animal analogy. How has the advent of man affected the animal kingdom? It has affected to a certain extent, even to a considerable extent, one may venture to say. First of all, man has parked around him a fairly large group of animals, domesticated them, as it is termed, employing them in his service, using them for his purposes. Furthermore, he has gone out into the woods, the forests and mountains, ice-bound regions and deep seas, and there extended his sphere of influence, hunting and capturing animals that were so long free and unmolested, bringing about a change in the conditions of life even among wild animals. We do not say that the superman will deal with man in the same way (although something of the kind may be found in the Nietzschean ideology). For man was a creature of Ignorance, and his behaviour and influence were naturally of the ignorant kind. The superman, however, being delivered of ignorance and living in perfect knowledge, has a different nature and outlook. He is one with the universe, with all its creatures; united with the Divine, he finds and realises his own self in each and every creature and thing: his character and conduct are the automatic expression of this sense of perfect identity. So he can do nothing that may seek to enslave or do real injury to mankind. On the contrary, his love and his knowledge, being one with the cosmic existence, will inevitably work for the progress and welfare of man too; indeed, his will be The Perfect aid that even ordinary humanity can ask for and receive.
In spite of all the achievements he has had in the past, and in spite of the cul-de-sac or the blind alley into which he seems now to be stagnating, there is yet possibility enough for man to progress further, that is to say, even as a human being without taking the more audacious jump into supermanhood. The present miseries of human society, the maldistribution of the necessities of life, the ravages of illness and disease, the prevalence of ignorance, are not and need not after all be a permanent and irrevocable feature of human organisation. They can be remedied to a large extent, and society made more decent to live in, even though it may not be transfigured into the City of God. Man, without foregoing his present human nature, can yet be a more humane and humanistic creature, that is to say, more truly human and less animal and demoniac that he is trying to be. To this end the advent and the presence of the divine race will surely contri bute in a large measure. The influence which the individuals of such a race will exert by the force of their luminous consciousness and the impact of their purified living, the sympathy and knowledge and comprehension which their very presence carries, will materially alter the nature and composition of the normal man and his society. There will emerge a sort of higher humanityan intermediary between the present more or less animal, degraded humanity and the divine humanity of the future. The two humanities may very well live amicably together and be of help and service to each other.
05.12 - The Soul and its Journey, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
We may try to illustrate by examples, although it is a rather dangerous game and may tend to put into a too rigid and' mathematical formula something that is living and variable. Still it will serve to give a clearer picture of the matter. Napoleon, evidently was a child of Mahakali; and Caesar seems to have been fashioned largely by the principle of Maheshwari; while Christ or Chaitanya are clearly emanations in the line of Mahalakshmi. Constructive geniuses, on the other hand, like the great statesman Colbert, for example, or Louis XIV, Ie grand monarque, himself belong to a family (or gotra, as we say in India) that originated from Mahasaraswati. Poets and artists again, although generally they belong to the clan of Mahalakshmi, can be regrouped according to the principle that predominates in each, the godhead that presides over the inspiration in each. The large breath in Homer and Valmiki, the high and noble style of their movement, the dignity and vastness that compose their consciousness affiliate them naturally to the Maheshwari line. A Dante, on the other hand, or a Byron has something in his matter and manner that make us think of the stamp of Mahakali. Virgil or Petrarch, Shelley or our Tagore seem to be emanations of Beauty, Harmony, LoveMahalakshmi. And The Perfect artisanship of Mahasaraswati has found its especial embodiment in Horace and Racine and our Kalidasa. Michael Angelo in his fury of inspirations seems to have been impelled by Mahakali, while Mahalakshmi sheds her genial favour upon Raphael and Titian; and the meticulous care and the detailed surety in a Tintoretto makes us think of Mahasaraswati's grace. Mahasaraswati too seems to have especially favoured Leonardo da Vinci, although a brooding presence of Maheshwari also seems to be intermixed there.
For it must be remembered that the human soul after all is not a simple and unilateral being, it is a little cosmos in itself. The soul is not merely a point or a single ray of light come down straight from its divine archetype or from the Divine himself, it is also a developing fire that increases and enriches itself through the multiple experiences of an evolutionary progressionit not only grows in height but extends in wideness also. Even though it may originally emanate from one principle and Personality, it takes in for its development and fulfilment influences and elements from the others also. Indeed, we know that the Four primal personalities of the Divine are not separate and distinct as they may appear to the human mind which cannot understand distinction without disparity. The Vedic gods themselves are so linked together, so interpenetrate one another that finally it is asserted that there is only one existence, only it is given many names. All the divine personalities are aspects of the Divine blended and fused together. Even so the human soul, being a replica of the Divine, cannot but be a complex of many personalities and often it may be difficult and even harmful to find and fix upon a dominant personality. The full flowering of the human soul, its perfect divinisation demands the realisation of a many-aspected personality, the very richness of the Divine within it.
05.16 - A Modernist Mentality, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
This is a counsel of perfection, one might say, and human things are not usually done in this way. But precisely because things are not done in this way that human affairs are always in a muddle and continue to be more or less the same eternal merry-go-round. It is only when things are done in the ideal way that the ideal can be established fully, The Perfect remedy obtained.
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05.21 - Being or Becoming and Having, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
A soulful man, whatever he says, thinks, feels or acts, always embodies wholly the Divine. Not that because he says, acts, thinks or feels in a certain manner that he has attained perfection or is in dynamic union with the summit a d integral consciousness. As the Mother brings out the distinction, although in a somewhat different context, The Perfect soul-existence .cannot be judged by the forms it takes, the forms themselves have to be judged by the soul-existence.
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05.23 - The Base of Sincerity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
That is the definition of sincerity: to be transparent and single-pointed to your soul-consciousness, to your deity. And that also is the only way by which there can be realised in you, the highest and largest, the most intimate and absolute harmony you are capable of and that is demanded of you. The Perfect organisation of the individual life can be obtained in and through the harmony inherent in the central reality, in the natural order of its activities. In the scheme or pattern laid out in the inmost consciousness, each element has its own orbit and its own quantum of energy, each force its allotted function: the will in each is exactly commensurable with what should be the expression in it of the total reality, each is the whole and rounded articulation of an aspect or figure put forth by the central truth in its self-display. As in a musical theme, each note has a definite pitch, amplitude, tone which give it its perfect form in order to constitute a common pattern the highest pitch, the largest amplitude or the most vibrant tone is not needed, not only not needed, would be a bar on the contraryeven so, the individual man when he attains perfection realises in himself a harmony which gives the true expression of all his limbs, the fullest and fairest expression of each and every one as demanded by the divine role destined for him.
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05.27 - The Nature of Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
How is the harmony to be brought about in the human system composed of so many different and discordant factors, forms and forces of consciousness? It is not possible if one tries to make them accommodate each other, tone down the individual acuities and angularities, blunt or cut out the extreme expressions and effect some sort of a compromise or a pact of goodwill. It is not the Greek ideal of the golden mean nor is it akin to the modern democratic ideal which lays down that each element is freeto grow and possessto the extent that it allows the same freedom to every other element. No, for true harmony one has to go behind and beyond the apparent divergences to a secret being or status of consciousness, the bed-rock of existence where all divergences are resolved and find their inherent and inalienable unity, their single origin and basis. If one gets there and takes one's stand upon that absolute oneness, then and then only The Perfect harmony of all the diversities that naturally rise out of it as its self-expression becomes possible, not only possible but inevitable.
That bed-rock is one's inmost spiritual being, the divine consciousness which is at once an individual centre, a cosmic or universal field of existence and a transcendent truth and reality. With that as the nucleus and around it the whole system has to be arranged and organised: according to the demand of the will and vision composing that consciousness, life has to manifest itself and play out its appointed role. Its configuration or disposition will be wholly determined by the Divine Purpose working in and through it; its fullness will be the fullness of the Divine Presence and intention. The mind will be wholly illumined, the vital with it will become the pure energy of Consciousness and the physical body will be made out of the substance of the divine being: our humanity will be the home and sanctuary of the Divine.
06.02 - Darkness to Light, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You may not be able to do the ideal things at a given moment. You may not comm and The Perfect gesture that is expected of you in a set of circumstances; the Divine may seem to be veiled from you and you do not hear the direct voice. But it does not matter. What is expected of you is to do your best, do the best' that you are capable of at that moment. That highest that is present to you, the summit available for the time and under the circumstances that should be the source and inspiration of your act. Act on the heights where you stand and aspire for still higher heights.
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06.18 - Value of Gymnastics, Mental or Other, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
It is harmful when you take to mental gymnastics only for its own sake, to exclusive intellectual acrobaticsdiscussions, disputations, verbal quibbles, etc., etc.; in that case the result attained is a disproportionate growth. But the development of the mind, even of the logical mind, can be and must be made part of the integral development, it must attain its true form, stature and strength, as a help towards and finally as an expression in its own field of the divinity, the highest and richest consciousness in man, even as the body too is to express and make concrete the supreme beauty and vigour of The Perfect being.
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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.
07.03 - The Entry into the Inner Countries, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
O aspirant to The Perfect way of life,
Here find it; rest from search and live at peace.
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.
07.26 - Offering and Surrender, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
In the beginning you make a general surrender or submission, in principle, as it were: it is in your inner being. It must be brought forth gradually in the outer being, carried out in all the details of life. That is how difficulties arise. You have made your offering, you say, even you have worked at it for a long time, worked hard, given much time and much will; suddenly you find, upsetting your calculations, something different happening, you have not succeeded in something. So there is a revolt, a turning back and so on. But what you have to do is to renew your offering, reaffirm your adhesion. When the adhesion is complete, when there is the spontaneous acceptance of the Divine Will in everything, in every manner of happening, then comes the surrender, The Perfect obedience which is calm, tranquil, at peace in either case, whether things happen in this way or that.
You ask if you cannot make a mistake unwittingly, do a wrong even if you do not want to. It is not likely. If you are sincere to the core, you are always conscious and you cannot be taken unawares. It is some form or degree of insincerity that veils your sense of right and wrong, makes you unconscious, as it were. Your discrimination is clouded, because you wish things to happen in a way, or do not wish them to happen in another way. On the other hand, if you are straight, if you are indifferent to either way and await only the Divine's will, you will always immediately perceive if there is or likely to be a wrong movement in you; you know it intimately in a very precise manner, for you are ready to rectify it.
07.32 - The Yogic Centres, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The centre at the bottom of the spine, which is the basis of the individual consciousness is seen as a serpenta serpent coiled up and asleep, with perhaps just the head sticking up in a very somnolent manner. It represents the normal human consciousness, bottled up, narrow, ignorant, asleep; human energy, too, at this level is obscure and mechanical, extremely limited. The whole energy potential, the consciousness-force is locked up in the physical body consciousness. Now the serpent does not remain asleep forever. It has to wake up, it wakes up. That is to say, man's consciousness awakes, grows and rises upward. The serpent one day shakes its head, lifts it up a little more, begins to sway its hood, as if trying to throw off the sleep and look about. It slowly uncoils itself and rises more and more. It rises and passes through the centres one by one, becomes more and more awake, gathers new light and potency at each centre. Finally, fully awakened, it rises to its full height, erect, straight like a rod, its tail-end at the bottom of the spine and its hood touching the crown of the man's head. The man is then the fully awakened, The Perfectly self-conscious man. The movement does not stop there, however; for the serpent presses further on, it strikes with its hood the bottom of the crown and in the end breaks through and passes beyond like a flash of lightning. One need not fear the break through, there is no actual, physical breaking or fracture of the skull. Although it is said that once you have gone over and beyond your head, you are not likely to return, you go for good. In other words, the body does not hold together very long after the experience; it drops and dies. And yet it need not be so, it is not the whole truth. For when you have gone beyond, you can come back too, carrying the superconscient light with you. That is to say, the serpent, now luminous,pure and free energycan enter the body again, this time with its head down and the tail up. It enters blazing, illumining with its superconscient light the centres one by one, giving man richer and richer consciousness, energy and life, transforming the being more and more. The Light comes down easily enough to the heart region; then the difficulty begins, the regions below gradually become darker and denser and it is hard task for the Light to penetrate as it goes further down. If it succeeds in reaching the bottom of the spine, it has achieved something miraculous. But there is a further progress necessary, if man and the world with himis to realise a wholly transformed supraconscient life. In other words, the Light must touch and enter not only the physical stratum of our being but the others too that lie below, the subconscient and inconscient. That has been till now a sealed dungeon, something impossible to approach and tackle.
And yet it is not an impossibility. Not only is it not impossible, we have to make it possible. Not only so, man's destiny demands that it should be inevitable. If man is to be a transformed being, if he is to incarnate here below something of the Divine Reality, if his social life on earth is to be the expression of the light and harmony of the Spirit Consciousness, then he has to descend into these nether regions, break open the nethermost as he has done in regard to the uppermost and unite the two.
07.36 - The Body and the Psychic, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The matter is not so simple. I have told you often that the psychic being is the result of an evolution, that is to say, it is the expression of the divine consciousness that has entered and spread itself into Matter and slowly raises Matter and develops it so that it may return to the Divine. The psychic being is formed progressively by the divine centre through many lives or incarnations. There comes a time when it attains a kind of perfection, The Perfection of its growth and formation. It has then often an aspiration towards greater realisation, a further progress to manifest better or further the Divine. As the result of this pull, it generally draws towards itself a being of a higher order, from a higher plane, from the Overmind, as Sri Aurobindo calls it, a being of involution who incarnates in the psychic being. These overmental entities are termed gods and divinities by men. Now when the fusion takes place, of a god into a psychic being, the latter naturally increases in stature and partakes of the nature of the god and acquires also the capacity to produce emanations; that is to say it throws out of itself a part which possesses an independent existence and can incarnate in others. In this way there may be not only two but several emanations or projections of the same original being. In other words, there may be a single psycho-divine origin but many personalities coming out of it. That is how it happens sometimes that different people feel a sort of affinity and even identity, and with reason, because they carry within them the same deity, out of which they, that is, their psychic being came. It is not the same thing as the doubling of the personality where in throwing oneself out of oneself one loses a portion, as when you cut a body into two: there are only two halves. Here the projection is a whole and independent personality. If you emanate a being out of you, you remain whole and entire without losing anything of yourself and the emanation too is a being whole and entire living its independent life.
II
07.39 - The Homogeneous Being, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You have to find out in you a seat of consciousness, a signpost firmly planted, deep inside, which is at the same time a mirror. All things, all happenings must pass in front of the mirror; they will be reflected there in their true nature, exactly as they are in their truth and not as they appear or pretend to be. And according to their nature and quality you are to give them places around; the signpost will show where each has to go for its place. The Mirror will judge and test each sentiment, each impulse, each sensation that comes up. If it is pleasant, if it is luminous, if it is what it should be, give it a place near the centre. If on the other hand, it is grey, obscure, doubtful, put it away, farther off. If, by chance, any of the unpleasant elements has forced its way up and occupied a near seat, you must warn it sternly and remove it and give it its appropriate seat; when it has recognised itself, changed itself, then only can it be allowed a place within a nearer ring. It is in this way that you should arrange and group all the elements of your being, according to the value and quality of each one around the central consciousness. That is how you organise your being. You build up a pattern of concentric rings, the nearer the ring to the centre, the purer must be the elements that compose it and therefore of greater value and significance. If you can arrange in this way all the parts and parcels of your being around the psychic centre, each in its own place according to its role and function and all turned towards the central consciousness and inspired and moved by it and there is no element which strikes a discordant note, then you have The Perfect homogeneity of your nature.
It is a very interesting exercise in which you can engage yourself. If you take it up and follow it regularly and assiduously, you will amuse yourself immensely and with profit. Time will never hang heavy, it will bear golden fruits. At the end, say of two or three years, you will see, if you look back, how much you have changed; you wonder how you could have thought or acted as you did. You find yourself a considerably changed personality. You can start the experiment from today itself and see how life becomes more and more amusing, interesting and significant.
08.31 - Personal Effort and Surrender, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The relation of the whole and its part does not hold good here; for there is no longer any division. The very quality of the approach is different. Can you say that a perfect identification with one drop of water would give you the knowledge of what the sea is? And here The Perfect identification in question is not merely with the ocean but with all possible oceans. And yet The Perfect identification with one drop of water does give you the knowledge of the ocean in its essence; but in the other way you know the ocean not merely in its essence but in its totality. It is however very difficult to express the reality of the truth. What can be said to put it as clearly as possible is this: in the line of personal effort, when one depends solely upon one's personal strength, all that has been individualised maintains the virtues of individuality and hence also, in a certain sense, all the limitations necessary for this individuality. In the other case, when you have surrendered your individuality, you not only enjoy the virtues of individuality but also you are not subject to its limitations. It is almost high philosophy, I am afraid. It is not clear therefore. But that is all I can say.
***
09.04 - The Divine Grace, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
If you are truly in a state of intense aspiration there is no circumstance that will not serve to help you in the realisation of your aspiration. All will come to help you, as if it were The Perfect and absolute Consciousness that organised all things around you.
And you in your external ignorance may not recognise it, may at first protest against the circumstances as they come to you, may grumble and try even to change them. But after a time you will have become wiser, with a little distance put in between the event and yourself, you will find out that that was just the thing necessary for you to make the required progress. It is a Will, a supreme Good Will that arranges everything around you.
09.05 - The Story of Love, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Evidently, if the sense of unity were re-established, the miseries would disappear. But if you realised The Perfect identity and the whole universe in its totality realised this absolute unity in which there is no possibility of any distinction, then there would be no universe at all, it would be the return to Pralaya. The solution then is to find Ananda in the play of mutual exchange and union.
What has been projected into space and time must be brought back to itself, without thereby annulling the world so created. That is why Love burst forth as the irresistible power of Union. It soared over darkness and unconsciousness, it scattered itself, pulverised itself into the bosom of unfathomable night. It is then that the awakening and the ascension began the slow formation in and out of Matter and a progress without end.
09.13 - On Teachers and Teaching, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Teachers who do not possess perfect calm, endurance that can stand all test, tranquillity that cannot be shaken by anything, who have not cast off their amour propre, are not the kind that can ever succeed. You must be a saint, a hero in order to be a good teacher. You must be a great Yogi to be a good teacher. You must yourself have always The Perfect attitude if you demand from your students a perfect attitude. You cannot ask of any person a thing which you cannot do yourself.
So then look within yourself at the difference there is between what is and what should be; that will give you the measure of your lack of success in the class.
10.04 - The Dream Twilight of the Earthly Real, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
There The Perfection born from eternity
Calls to it The Perfection born in Time,
The truth of God surprising human life,
1.00a - DIVISION A - THE INTERNAL FIRES OF THE SHEATHS., #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
The fire of Spirit is the essential fire of the first Lord of Will plus the fire of the second Logos of Love. These two cosmic Entities blend, merge, and demonstrate as Soul, utilising for purposes of manifestation the aid of the third Logos. The three fires blend and merge. In this fourth round and on this fourth globe of our planetary scheme, the fires of the third Logos of intelligent matter are fusing somewhat with the fires of cosmic [64] mind, showing as will or power, and animating the Thinker on all planes. The object of Their co-operation is The Perfected manifestation of the cosmic Lord of Love. This should be pondered upon for it reveals a mystery.
The blending of the three fires, the merging of the three Rays, and the co-operation of the three Logoi have in view (at this time and within this solar system) the development of the Essence of the cosmic Lord of Love, the second Person in the logoic trinity. Earlier it was not so, later it will not be, but now it is. When viewed from the cosmic mental plane these Three constitute the PERSONALITY OF THE LOGOS, and are seen functioning as one. Hence the secret (well recognised as fact, though not understood) of the excessive heat, occultly expressed, of the astral or central body of the triple personality. It animates and controls the physical body, and its desires hold sway in the majority of cases; it demonstrates in time and space the correspondence of the temporary union of spirit and matter, the fires of cosmic love and the fires of matter blended. A similar analogy is found in the heat apparent in this second solar system.
1.00c - DIVISION C - THE ETHERIC BODY AND PRANA, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
a. The cessation of desire. This should be the result of all evolutionary process. True death, under the law, is brought about by the attainment of the objective, and hence by the cessation of aspiration. This, as The Perfected cycle draws to its close, will be true of the individual human being, of the Heavenly Man, and of the Logos Himself.
b. By the slowing down and gradual cessation of the cyclic rhythm, the adequate vibration is achieved, and the work accomplished. When the vibration or note is perfectly felt or sounded it causes (at the point of synthesis with other vibrations) the utter shattering of the forms.
1.00d - DIVISION D - KUNDALINI AND THE SPINE, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
The other fire of matter (the dual fire) is attracted upward, and merges with the fire of mind through a junction effected at the alta major centre. This centre is situated at the base of the skull, and there is a slight gap between this centre and the point at which the fires of matter issue from the spinal channel. Part of the work the man who is developing thought power has to do, is to build a temporary channel in etheric matter to bridge the gap. This channel is the reflection in physical matter of the antaskarana [lxv]63 that the Ego has to build in order to bridge the gap between the lower and higher mental, between the causal vehicle on the third subplane of the mental plane, and the manasic permanent atom on the first subplane. This is the work that all advanced thinkers are unconsciously doing now. When the gap is completely [138] bridged, man's body becomes co-ordinated with the mental body and the fires of mind and of matter are blended. It completes The Perfecting of the personality life, and as earlier said, this perfecting brings a man to the portal of initiationinitiation being the seal set upon accomplished work; it marks the end of one lesser cycle of development, and the beginning of the transference of the whole work to a still higher spiral.
We must always bear in mind that the fires from the base of the spine and the splenic triangle are fires of matter. We must not lose this recollection nor get confused. They have no spiritual effect, and concern themselves solely with the matter in which the centres of force are located. These centres of force are always directed by manas or mind, or by the conscious effort of the indwelling entity; but that entity is held back in the effects he seeks to achieve until the vehicles through which he is seeking expression, and their directing, energising centres, make adequate response. Hence it is only in due course of evolution, and when the matter of these vehicles is energised sufficiently by its own latent fires that he can accomplish his long-held purpose. Hence again the need of the ascension of the fire of matter to its own place, and its resurrection from its long burial and seeming prostitution before it can be united with its Father in Heaven, the third Logos, Who is the Intelligence of matter itself. The correspondence, again, holds good. Even the atom of the physical plane has its goal, its initiations and its ultimate triumph.
1.00e - DIVISION E - MOTION ON THE PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL PLANES, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
a. His goal is The Perfect blending of Spirit and matter.
b. His function is the manipulation of prakriti, or matter, so as to make it fit, or equal to, the demands and needs of the Spirit.
--
The centres, therefore, when functioning properly, form the "body of fire" which eventually is all that is left, first to man in the three worlds, and later to the Monad. This body of fire is "the body incorruptible" [lxxiv]72 or indestructible, spoken of by St. Paul, and is the product of evolution, of The Perfect blending of the three fires, which ultimately destroy the form. When the form is [167] destroyed there is left this intangible spiritual body of fire, one pure flame, distinguished by seven brilliant centres of intenser burning. This electric fire is the result of the bringing together of the two poles and demonstrates at the moment of complete at-one-ment, the occult truth of the words "Our God is a consuming Fire." [lxxv]73
Three of these centres are called major centres, as they embody the three aspects of the threefold MonadWill, Love and Intelligence:
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This all concerns The Perfected, realised Personality.
In all these perfections is seen the awareness of the Self, and the graded process of identification, utilisation, manipulation and final rejection of the not-self by that Self who is now consciously aware. He hears the note of nature and that of his monad; he recognises their identity, utilises their vibration, and passes rapidly through the three stages of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer.
--
b. The bringing into activity from latency of the seven centres on all planes, beginning from the bottom upwards, until the centres (according to ray and type) are interrelated and co-ordinated. There are manifest thirty-five vortices of fire in The Perfected adept,all of radiant activity and all interacting.
c. The vortices or wheels of lambent flame become interlinked by triangles of fire which pass and circulate from one to another, till we have a web of fiery lines, uniting centres of living fire, and giving truth to the statement that the Sons of Mind are FLAMES.
--
Fourth. A gradual grasp of the Law of Vibration as an aspect of the basic law of building; the initiate learns consciously to build, to manipulate thought matter for The Perfecting of the plans of the Logos, to work in mental essence, and to apply the law of mental levels and thereby affect the physical plane. Motion originates cosmically on cosmic mental levels, and in the microcosm the same order will be seen. There is an occult hint here that will reveal much if pondered upon. At initiation, at the moment of the application of the Rod, the initiate consciously realises the meaning of the Law of Attraction in form building, and in the synthesis of the three fires. Upon his ability to retain that realisation and himself to apply the law, will depend his power and progress.
e. By the application of the Rod, the fire of kundalini is aroused, and its upward progress directed. The fire at the base of the spine, and the fire of mind are [210] directed along certain routes, or triangles, by the action of the Rod as it moves in a specified manner. There is a definite occult reason, under the Laws of Electricity, behind the known fact that every initiate, presented to the Initiator, is accompanied by two of the Masters, who stand one on either side of him. The three of them together form a triangle which makes the work possible.
1.00 - Preliminary Remarks, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
In fact, there are three main classes of stroke; the bad stroke, which we associate, and rightly, with wandering attention; the good stroke which we associate, and rightly, with fixed attention; and The Perfect stroke, which we do not understand, but which is really caused by the habit of fixity of attention having become independent of the will, and thus enabled to act freely of its own accord.
This is the same phenomenon referred to above as being a good sign.
1.01 - Description of the Castle, #The Interior Castle or The Mansions, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
5.: I feel sure that vexation at thinking that during our life on earth God can bestow these graces on the souls of others shows a want of humility and charity for one's neighbour, for why should we not feel glad at a brother's receiving divine favours which do not deprive us of our own share? Should we not rather rejoice at His Majesty's thus manifesting His greatness wherever He chooses?8' Sometimes our Lord acts thus solely for the sake of showing His power, as He declared when the Apostles questioned whether the blind man whom He cured had been suffering for his own or his parents' sins.9' God does not bestow soul speaks of that sovereign grace of God in taking it into the house of His love, which is the union or transformation of love in God . . . The cellar is the highest degree of love to which the soul can attain in this life, and is therefore said to be the inner. It follows from this that there are other cellars not so interior; that is, the degrees of love by which souls reach to this, the last. These cellars are seven in number, and the soul has entered them all when it has in perfection the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, so far as it is possible for it. . . . Many souls reach and enter the first cellar, each according to The Perfection of its love, but the last and inmost cellar is entered by few in this world, because therein is wrought The Perfect union with God, the union of the spiritual marriage.' A Spiritual Canticle, stanza xxvi. 1-3. Concept. ch. vi. (Minor Works of St. Teresa.) these favours on certain souls because they are more holy than others who do not receive them, but to manifest His greatness, as in the case of St. Paul and St. Mary Magdalen, and that we may glorify Him in His creatures.
6.: People may say such things appear impossible and it is best not to scandalize the weak in faith by speaking about them. But it is better that the latter should disbelieve us, than that we should desist from enlightening souls which receive these graces, that they may rejoice and may endeavour to love God better for His favours, seeing He is so mighty and so great. There is no danger here of shocking those for whom I write by treating of such matters, for they know and believe that God gives even greater proofs of His love. I am certain that if any one of you doubts the truth of this, God will never allow her to learn it by experience, for He desires that no limits should be set to His work: therefore, never discredit them because you are not thus led yourselves.
1.01 - Isha Upanishad, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
7. He in whom it is the Self-Being that has become all existences that are Becomings,7 for he has The Perfect knowledge, how shall he be deluded, whence shall he have grief who sees everywhere oneness?
8. It is He that has gone abroad - That which is bright, bodiless, without scar of imperfection, without sinews, pure, unpierced by evil. The Seer, the Thinker,8 the One who becomes everywhere, the Self-existent has ordered objects perfectly according to their nature from years sempiternal.
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
O seeker after the divine mysteries! know thou that the door to the knowledge of God will be opened to a man first of all, when he knows his own soul, and understands the truth about his own spirit, according as it has been revealed, "he who knows himself knows his Lord also." And God proclaims in his holy book: "We will display our miracles in the different countries of the world, till it shall be demonstrated to them that the Koran is the truth,"1 that is, let us show men in the visible world, and in their own souls, the wonderfulness of our works and The Perfection of our power, that they may learn to know that the Lord God is Almighty and true, and that everything else besides is vanity.
O seeker of the mysteries! since there is nothing nearer to thee than thyself, and that still with thy soul alone, thou canst not discriminate anything, and art impotent to find out and know thyself, in what way canst thou become acquainted with anything else, and with that which is even separate from thyself? And how should'st thou be able to comprehend God, who in his nature cannot be comprehended, [14] and of whose absolute essence it is not possible to give thee any explanation. If thou should'st say, "I perfectly know myself," we reply, that we have no doubt that what you are acquainted with is your own hand and foot, with your eye and mouth, and animals even have this kind of knowledge. You know also that if you are hungry, your stomach craves food, and that if you are cold, you desire clothing; but other animals also understand these things.
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It is plain that mind, discernment and reason were bestowed upon man, that when he looks upon the world and sees in every object illustrations of various forms of perfection, and much to excite his wonder, he might turn his attention from the work of the artist, to the artist himself; from the thing formed to him that formed it; that he might comprehend his own excessive frailty and weakness, and The Perfection of the wisdom and power, yea, of all the attributes of the eternal Creator, and that, without ceasing, he might humbly supplicate acceptance in his frailty and weakness on the one hand, and on the other might seek to draw near to the King of kings, and finally obtain rest in [22] the home of the faithful, where the angels are in the presence of God. If men refuse to recognize their own dignity, if they neglect their duty and prefer the qualities of devils and beasts of prey, they will also possess, in the future world, the qualities of beasts of prey, and will be judged with the devils. Our refuge is in God!
Know, thou seeker of divine mysteries! that there is no end to the wonderful operations of the heart. For, to pursue the same subject, the dignity of the heart is of two kinds; one kind is by means of knowledge, and the other through the exertion of divine power. Its dignity by means of knowledge is also of two kinds. The first is external knowledge, which every one understands: the second kind is veiled and cannot be understood by all, and is extremely precious. That which we have designated as external, refers to that faculty of the heart by which the sciences of geometry, medicine, astronomy, numbers, the science of law and all the arts are understood; and although the heart is a thing which cannot be divided, still the knowledge of all the world exists in it. All the world indeed, in comparison with it, is as a grain compared with the sun, or as a drop in the ocean. In a second, by the power of thought, the soul passes from the abyss to the highest heaven, and from the east to the west. Though on the earth, it knows the latitude of the stars and their distances. It knows the course, the size and the peculiarities of the sun. It knows the nature and cause of the clouds and the rain, the lightning and the thunder. It ensnares the fish from the depths of the sea, and the bird from the end of heaven. By knowledge it subdues the elephant, the camel and the tiger. All these kinds of knowledge, it acquires with its internal and external senses.
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The science of the structure of the body is called anatomy : it is a great science, but most men are heedless of it. If any study it, it is only for the purpose of acquiring skill in medicine, and not for the sake of becoming acquainted with The Perfection of the power of God. But whoever will occupy himself with anatomy, and therein contemplate the wonders of the works of God, will reap three advantages. The first advantage will be, that in learning the composition of the thing made, and thereby gaining a comprehensive and condensed view of all other things like it he will see that it is impossible to discover imperfection or incompetence in the being who has created him in such perfection. The Creator himself will be acknowledged to be almighty and perfect. The second advantage will be, that he will see that it is impossible that a being who has created an organization so intelligent, capable of comprehension, endowed with beauty, and useful, should be otherwise than perfect in knowledge himself. And lastly, we shall understand the mercy, favor and perfect compassion of God towards us. Nothing that is either useful or ornamental has been omitted in the framing of our bodies, whether it be such things as are the sources of life, like the spirit and the head; or such as sustain life, as the hand, the foot, the mouth and the teeth : or such as are a means of ornament, as the beard, elegance of form, black hair and the lips. It is to be observed that similar organs have been provided not only for man, but for all creatures, so that nothing is wanting to initiate and sustain life in the mouse, the wasp, the snake and the ant. God has done all things perfectly, and may his name be glorified !
The investigator of truth this fact well knows,
1.01 - SAMADHI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
This is The Perfect superconscious Asamprajnata Samadhi,
the state which gives us freedom. The first state does not
1.01 - Seeing, #Let Me Explain, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
more to be seen. After all, do we not judge The Perfection of
an animal, or the supremacy of a thinking being, by the
1.01 - Sets down the first line and begins to treat of the imperfections of beginners., #Dark Night of the Soul, #Saint John of the Cross, #Christianity
INTO this dark night souls begin to enter when God draws them forth from the state of beginnerswhich is the state of those that meditate on the spiritual road and begins to set them in the state of progressiveswhich is that of those who are already contemplativesto the end that, after passing through it, they may arrive at the state of The Perfect, which is that of the Divine union of the soul with God.
Wherefore, to the end that we may the better understand and explain what night is this through which the soul passes, and for what cause God sets it therein, it will be well here to touch first of all upon certain characteristics of beginners (which, although we treat them with all possible brevity, will not fail to be of service likewise to the beginners themselves), in order that, realizing the weakness of the state wherein they are, they may take courage, and may desire that God will bring them into this night, wherein the soul is streng thened and confirmed in the virtues, and made ready for the inestimable delights of the love of God. And, although we may tarry here for a time, it will not be for longer than is necessary, so that we may go on to speak at once of this dark night.
1.01 - Tara the Divine, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
All of them are in essence The Perfection of knowledge
or the nature itself of our mind.
1.01 - The Divine and The Universe, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It is He, The Perfect spirit who fills all.
The Perfect spirit fills all.
--
Who is He? The Perfect spirit.
It is He, The Perfect spirit who fills all.
1952
1.01 - The Four Aids, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
1:Yoga-siddhi, The Perfection that comes from the practice of Yoga, can be best attained by the combined working of four great instruments. There is, first, the knowledge of the truths, principles, powers and processes that govern the realisation -- sastra. Next comes a patient and persistent action on the lines laid down by the knowledge, the force of our personal effort -- utsaha. There intervenes, third, uplifting our knowledge and effort into the domain of spiritual experience, the direct suggestion, example and influence of the Teacher -- guru. Last comes the instrumentality of Time -- kala; for in all things there is a cycle of their action and a period of the divine movement.
SHASTRA
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10:By this Yoga we not only seek the Infinite, but we call upon the Infinite to unfold himself in human life. Therefore the Shastra of our Yoga must provide for an infinite liberty in the receptive human soul. A free adaptability in the manner and type of the individual's acceptance of the Universal and Transcendent into himself is the right condition for the full spiritual life in man. Vivekananda, pointing out that the unity of all religions must necessarily express itself by an increasing richness of variety in its forms, said once that The Perfect state of that essential unity would come when each man had his own religion, when not bound by sect or traditional form he followed the free self-adaptation of his nature in its relations with the Supreme. So also one may say that The Perfection of the integral Yoga will come when each mall is able to follow his own path of Yoga, pursuing the development of his own nature in its upsurging towards that which transcends the nature. For freedom is the final law and the last consummation.
11:Meanwhile certain general lines have to be formed which may help to guide the thought and practice of the Sadhaka. But these must take, as much as possible, forms of general truths, general statements of principle, the most powerful broad directions of effort and development rather than a fixed system which has to be followed as a routine. All Shastra is the outcome of past experience and a help to future experience. It is an aid and a partial guide. It puts up signposts, gives the names of the main roads and the already explored directions, so that the traveller may know whither and by what paths he is proceeding.
1.01 - The Mental Fortress, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
But its use is not as the mind imagines in the arrogance of its knowledge and discoveries, for the mind always mistakes the instrument for the Master. We thought that the mental tool was both end and means, and that that end was an increasing, ever more triumphant and rigorous mastery over the mental field, which it has colonized with marvelous cities and less marvelous suburbs. But that is only a secondary end, a turbulent by-product, and it turns out that the major effect of the Mind in man has not been to make him more intelligent (intelligent with respect to what? The mouse in its hole has The Perfect intelligence for its own terrain), but to individualize him within his own species and endow him with the power to change while the other species were invariable and only individualized as a general type and finally to make him capable of casting a look at what exceeds his own condition. With this individualization and power of variation began the errors of man, his sins, his afflicting dualities; yet his capacity for error is also a secret capacity for progress, which is why all our moralities based on right or wrong and all our flawless heavens have failed and will forever fail if we were flawless and irreproachable, we would be a stagnant and infallible species, like the shellfish or the opossum. In other words, the Mind is an instrument of accelerated evolution, an evolver. In fifty years of scientific development, man has progressed more than during all the prescientific milleniums. But progress in what sense? To be sure, not in the sense of the fallacious mastery, nor in the quality of life or the degree of comfort, but in the sense of the mental saturation of the species. One cannot leave a circle unless one has individually and collectively exhausted the circle. One cannot step alone onto the other side; either everybody does it (or is capable of doing it) or nobody does it; the whole species goes together, because there is but one human Body. Instead of a handful of initiates scattered among a semianimal and ignorant human mass, the entire species is now undergoing its initiation or, in evolutionary terms, its supreme variation. We have not passed through the mental circle for the sake of sending rockets to the moon, but in order to be individually, innumerably and voluntarily capable of effecting the passage to the next higher circle. The breaking of the circle is the great organic Fact of our times. All the dualities and opposite poles, the sins of virtue and the virtues of sin, all this dazzling chaos were the instruments of the Work, the tensors, we could say, bending us to the breaking point against a wall of iron which is a wall of illusion. But the illusion falls only when one decides to see it.
That is where we are. The illusion is not dead; it even rages with unprecedented violence, equipped with all the arms we have so obligingly polished up for it. But these are the last convulsions of a colossus with feet of clay which is actually a gnome, an oversized, overoutfitted gnome. The ancient sages of India knew it well. They divided human evolution into four concentric circles: that of the men of knowledge (Brahmins), who lived at the beginning of humanity, in the age of truth; that of the nobles and warriors (Kshatriya), when only three fourths of the truth was left; that of the merchants and middle class (Vaishya), who had only half of the truth; and finally ours, the age of the little men, the Shudra, the servants (of the machine, of the ego, of desire), the great proletariat of regimented liberties the Dark Age, Kali Yuga, when no truth is left at all. But because this circle is the most extreme, because all the truths have been tried and exhausted, and all possible roads explored, we are nearing the right solution, the true solution, the emergence of a new age of truth, the supramental age Sri Aurobindo spoke of, like the buttercup breaking its last envelope to free its golden fruit. If the parallel holds true between the collective body and our human body, we could say that the center governing the age of the sages was located at the level of the forehead, while that of the age of the nobles was at the level of the heart, that of the age of the merchants, at the stomach, and the one governing our age is at the level of sex and matter. The descent is complete. But that descent has a meaning a meaning for matter. Had we stayed forever at the forehead level of the divine truths of the mind, this earth and body would never have been changed, and we would have probably ended up escaping into some spiritual heaven or nirvana. Now, everything must be transformed, even the body and matter, since we are right in it. Ironically, this is the greatest service this dark, materialistic and scientific age may have rendered us: to compel such a plunge of the spirit into matter that it had either to lose itself in it or to be transformed with it. Absolute darkness is but the shadow of a greater Sun, which digs its abysses in order to raise up a more stable beauty, founded on the purified base of our earthly subconscious and seated erect in truth down to the very cells of our bodies.
1.02.2.2 - Self-Realisation, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
for he has The Perfect knowledge, how shall he be deluded, whence shall he have grief
who sees everywhere oneness?
--
the realisation of the Truth (vijanatah., having The Perfect knowledge), there must be repeated the divine act of consciousness by
which the one Being, eternally self-existent, manifests in itself
--
This realisation is The Perfect and complete Beatitude, embracing
action, but delivered from sorrow and self-delusion.
1.02.3.2 - Knowledge and Ignorance, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
the higher. To gain the real freedom and The Perfect Immortality
one would have to descend again to all that had been rejected
1.02.4.1 - The Worlds - Surya, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
we have this vision, there is the integral self-knowledge, The Perfect seeing, expressed in the great cry of the Upanishad, so'ham.
The Purusha there and there, He am I. The Lord manifests Himself in the movements and inhabits many forms, but it is One
1.02 - Karmayoga, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
mountain-peaks above the common level, they have attracted all eyes and fixed this withdrawal as the highest and most commanding Hindu ideal. It is for this reason that Sri Krishna laid so much stress on The Perfect Yogin's cleaving to life and human activity even after his need of them was over, lest the people, following, as they always do, the example of their best, turn away from their dharma and bastard confusion reign. The ideal
Yogin is no withdrawn and pent-up force, but ever engaged in doing good to all creatures, either by the flood of the divine energy that he pours on the world or by himself standing in the front of humanity, its leader in the march and the battle, but unbound by his works and superior to his personality.
1.02 - Self-Consecration, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
22:When once the object of concentration has possessed and is possessed by the three master instruments, the thought, the heart and the will, -- a consummation fully possible only when the desire-soul in us has submitted to the Divine Law, -- The Perfection of mind and life and body can be effectively fulfilled in our transmuted nature. This will be done, not for the personal satisfaction of the ego, but that the whole may constitute a fit temple for the Divine Presence, a faultless instrument for the divine work. For the work can be truly performed only when the instrument, consecrated and perfected, has grown fit for a selfless action, -- and that will be when personal desire and egoism are abolished, but not the liberated individual. Even when the little ego has been abolished, the true Spiritual Person can still remain and God's will and work and delight in him and the spiritual use of his perfection and fulfilment. Our works will then be divine and done divinely; our mind arid life and will, devoted to the Divine, will be used to help fulfil in others and in the world that which has been first realised in ourselves, -all that we can manifest of the embodied Unity, Love, Freedom, Strength, Power, Splendour, immortal Joy which is the goal of the spirit's terrestrial adventure.
23:The Yoga must start with an effort or at least a settled turn towards this total concentration. A constant and unfailing will of consecration of all ourselves to the Supreme is demanded of us, an offering of our whole being and our many-chambered nature to the Eternal who is the All. The effective fullness of our concentration on the one thing needful to the exclusion of all else will be the measure of our self-consecration to the One who is alone desirable. But this exclusiveness will in the end exclude nothing except the falsehood of our way of seeing the world and our will's ignorance. For our concentration on the Eternal will be consummated by the mind when we see constantly the Divine in itself and the Divine in ourselves, but also the Divine in all things and beings and happenings. It will be consummated by the heart when all emotion is summed up in the love of the Divine, -- of the Divine in itself and for itself, but love too of the Divine in all its beings and powers and personalities and forms in the Universe' It will be consummated by the will when we feel and receive always the divine impulsion and accept that alone as our sole motive force; but this will mean that, having slain to the last rebellious straggler the wandering impulses of the egoistic nature, we have universalised ourselves and can accept with a constant happy acceptance the one divine working in all things. This is the first fundamental siddhi of the integral Yoga.
1.02 - The Doctrine of the Mystics, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
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.
Three great Gods, origin of the Puranic Trinity, largest puissances of the supreme Godhead, make possible this development and upward evolution; they support in its grand lines and fundamental energies all these complexities of the cosmos.
1.02 - The Eternal Law, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
and one who is ready to understand a little Lalita's childlike face and to bring her his incense and flowers may not be able to address the Eternal Mother in the silence of his heart; still another may prefer to deny all forms and plunge into the contemplation of That which is formless. "Even as men come to Me, so I accept them. It is my path that men follow from all sides," says the Bhagavad Gita (IV,11). 14 As we see, there are so many ways of conceiving of God, in three or three million persons, that we should not dogmatize, lest we eliminate everything, finally leaving nothing but a Cartesian God, one and universal by virtue only of his narrowness. Perhaps we still confuse unity with uniformity. It was in the spirit of that tradition that Sri Aurobindo was soon to write: The Perfection of the integral Yoga will come when each man is able to follow his own path of Yoga, pursuing the development of his own nature in its upsurging towards that which transcends the nature. For freedom is the final law and the last consummation.15
Nor does an Indian ever ask: "Do you believe in God?" The question would seem to him as childish as: "Do you believe in CO2?"
1.02 - The Magic Circle, #The Practice of Magical Evocation, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
A true magic circle represents the symbolic lay-out of the macrocosm and the microcosm, that is, of The Perfect man. It stands for the Beginning and the Ending for the Alpha and the Omega, as well as for Eternity, which has no beginning and no end. The magic circle, therefore, is a symbolic diagram of the Infinite, of Divinity in all its aspects, as can be comprehended by the microcosm, i. e. by the true adept, The Perfect magician. To draw a magic circle means to symbolize the Divine in His perfection, to get into contact with Him. This happens, above all, at the moment the magician is standing in the centre of the magic circle, for it is by this act that the contact with the Divinity is demonstrated graphically. It is the magician's contact with the macrocosm in his highest step of consciousness. Therefore, from the point of view of true magic, it is quite logical that standing in the centre of the magic circle is equivalent to being, in one's consciousness, a unity with the Universal Divinity. From this one can see clearly that a magic circle is not only a diagram for protection from unwanted negative influences, but security and inviolability are brought about by this conscious and spiritual contact with the Highest. The magician who stands in the centre of the magic circle is protected from any influence, no matter, whether good or evil, for himself is, in fact, symbolizing the Divine in the universe. Furthermore, by standing in the centre of the magic circle, the magician also represents the Divinity in the microcosm and controls and rules the beings of the universe in a totalitarian manner.
The esoteric essence of the magician's standing in the centre of the magic circle is, therefore, quite different from that which the books on evocations usually maintain. If a magician standing in the centre of the magic circle were not conscious of the fact that he is, at that moment, symbolizing God the Divine and Infinite, he would not be able to practise any influence on any being whatsoever. The magician is, at that instant, a perfect magic authority whom all powers and beings must absolutely obey. His will and the orders he gives to beings or powers are equivalent to the will and orders of the Infinite, the Divine, and must therefore be unconditionally respected by the beings and powers the magician has conjured up. If the magician, during such an operation, has not the right attitude towards his doings, he degrades himself to a sorcerer, a charlatan, who simply mimics and has no true contact with the Highest. The magician's authority would, in such a case, be rather doubtful. Moreover, he would be in danger of losing his control over such beings and powers, or, what would even be worse, he could be mocked by them, not to speak of other unwanted and unforeseen surprises and accompanying phenomena that he would be exposed, especially if negative forces were involved.
1.02 - THE QUATERNIO AND THE MEDIATING ROLE OF MERCURIUS, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
Our Mercurius is therefore that same [Microcosm], who contains within him The Perfections, virtues, and powers of Sol [in the dual sense of sun and gold], and who goes through the streets [vicos] and houses of all the planets, and in his regeneration has obtained the power of Above and Below, wherefore he is to be likened to their marriage, as is evident from the white and the red that are conjoined in him. The sages have affirmed in their wisdom that all creatures are to be brought to one united substance.61
Accordingly Mercurius, in the crude form of the prima materia, is in very truth the Original Man disseminated through the physical world, and in his sublimated form he is that reconstituted totality.62 Altogether, he is very like the redeemer of the Basilidians, who mounts upward through the planetary spheres, conquering them or robbing them of their power. The remark that he contains the powers of Sol reminds us of the above-mentioned passage in Abul-Qasim, where Hermes says that he unites the sun and the planets and causes them to be within him as a crown. This may be the origin of the designation of the lapis as the crown of victory.63 The power of Above and Below refers to that ancient authority the Tabula smaragdina, which is of Alexandrian origin.64 Besides this, our text contains allusions to the Song of Songs: through the streets and houses of the planets recalls Song of Songs 3 : 2: I will . . . go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth.65 The white and red of Mercurius refers to 5 : 10: My beloved is white and ruddy. He is likened to the matrimonium or coniunctio; that is to say he is this marriage on account of his androgynous form.
1.02 - The Stages of Initiation, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
human nature must follow the golden rule of true spiritual science. This golden rule is as follows: For every one step that you take in the pursuit of higher knowledge, take three steps in The Perfection of your own character. If this rule is observed, such exercise as the following may be attempted:
Recall to mind some person whom you may have observed when he was filled with desire for some object. Direct your attention to this desire. It is best to recall to memory that moment when the desire was at its height, and it was still uncertain whether the object of the desire would be attained. And now fill your mind with this recollection, and reflect on what you can thus observe. Maintain the utmost inner tranquility. Make the greatest possible effort to be blind and deaf to everything that may be going on around you, and take special heed that through the conception thus evoked a feeling should awaken in your soul. Allow this feeling to rise in your soul like a cloud on the cloudless horizon. As a rule, of course, your reflection will be interrupted, because the person whom it concerns was not observed in this particular state of soul for a sufficient length of
--
the ability to come quickly to terms with himself, for he must here find his higher self in the truest sense of the word. He must rapidly decide in all things to listen to the inspiration of the spirit. There is no time for doubt or hesitation. Every moment of hesitation would prove that he was still unfit. Whatever prevents him from listening to the voice of the spirit must be courageously overcome. It is a question of showing presence of mind in this situation, and the training at this stage is concerned with The Perfect development of this quality. All the accustomed inducements to act or even to think now cease. In order not to remain inactive he must not lose himself, for only within himself can he find the one central point of vantage where he can gain a firm hold. No one on reading this, without further acquaintance with these matters, should feel an antipathy for this principle of being thrown back on oneself, for success in this trial brings with it a moment of supreme happiness.
At this stage, no less than at the others, ordinary life is itself an esoteric training for many. For anyone having reached the point of being able, when suddenly confronted with some task
1.02 - To Zen Monks Kin and Koku, #Beating the Cloth Drum Letters of Zen Master Hakuin, #unset, #Zen
Hakuin's teaching career did not really begin, however, until an autumn night in 1726, a little over two years prior to this letter. While reading the Lotus Sutra, he suddenly achieved the decisive enlightenment that brought his religious quest to an end, and with it the knowledge, "beyond any doubt," that he was "ready to teach others with The Perfect, untrammeled freedom of the
Bodhisattvas."
10.33 - On Discipline, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But obedience to a person is in the last analysis a symbolsymbol of obedience to a principle. The person signifies and embodies a principle, a law to which we render our obedience. In normal life it is these principles or laws that demand our obedience. These laws or rules are meant for the welfare of collective living and therefore individuals are expected to restrain or forego their personal impulses, their so-called liberties in order to live together in harmony. Discipline is meant exactly to control one's personal idiosyncrasies, place them under the yoke of the common collective law. All laws or rules that make for a harmonious collective living, that is, social or national welfare, are limbs of discipline. By submitting himself to such a process of self-abnegation the individual gains in self-control and self-mastery. But there are rules and rules, laws and laws. For that depends on the ideal or the purpose set before oneself. If the purpose is narrow, limited, superficial, the rules are necessarily likewise, and although effective in a particular field, they have a restricting, even deadening effect on the consciousness of the individual. If discipline means obedience, the obedience must be to a larger and higher law, and The Perfect discipline will come only from obedience to the highest law.
The heart of discipline then is the effort to surmount oneself. Instead of a lower self following the law of an inferior consciousness one is to rise to a higher level of consciousness and a greater law of being. Discipline thus is only another term for tapasy, replacing the lower law gradually by a higher and higher law.
1.03 - A Parable, #The Lotus Sutra, #Anonymous, #Various
With transcendent powers and The Perfections
And will have properly practiced the bodhisattva path
--
the father of the entire world, he permanently dispels fear, distress, anxiety, ignorance, and blindness. He has attained immeasurable wisdom, insight, power, and fearlessness, as well as great transcendent powers and the power of wisdom. He has attained The Perfection of skillful means and of wisdom.
With his great mercy and compassion he incessantly and indefatigably seeks the welfare of all beings and benets them all.
1.03 - Of some imperfections which some of these souls are apt to have, with respect to the second capital sin, which is avarice, in the spiritual sense, #Dark Night of the Soul, #Saint John of the Cross, #Christianity
on works of mortification and The Perfecting of the inward poverty of spirit which
should be theirs. Furthermore, they burden themselves with images and rosaries
1.03 - PERSONALITY, SANCTITY, DIVINE INCARNATION, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
In the West, the mystics went some way towards liberating Christianity from its unfortunate servitude to historic fact. (or, to be more accurate, to those various mixtures of contemporary record with subsequent inference and phantasy, which have, at different epochs, been accepted as historic fact). From the writings of Eckhart, Tauler and Ruysbroeck, of Boehme, William Law and the Quakers, it would be possible to extract a spiritualized and universalized Christianity, whose narratives should refer, not to history as it was, or as someone afterwards thought it ought to be, but to processes forever unfolded in the heart of man. But unfortunately the influence of the mystics was never powerful enough to bring about a radical Mahayanist revolution in the West. In spite of them, Christianity has remained a religion in which the pure Perennial Philosophy has been overlaid, now more, now less, by an idolatrous preoccupation with events and things in timeevents and things regarded not merely as useful means, but as ends, intrinsically sacred and indeed divine. Moreover such improvements on history as were made in the course of centuries were, most imprudently, treated as though they themselves were a part of historya procedure which put a powerful weapon into the hands of Protestant and, later, of Rationalist controversialists. How much wiser it would have been to admit The Perfectly avowable fact that, when the sternness of Christ the Judge had been unduly emphasized, men and women felt the need of personifying the divine compassion in a new form, with the result that the figure of the Virgin, mediatrix to the mediator, came into increased prominence. And when, in course of time, the Queen of Heaven was felt to be too awe-inspiring, compassion was re-personified in the homely figure of St. Joseph, who thus became me thator to the me thatrix to the me thator. In exactly the same way Buddhist worshippers felt that the historic Sakyamuni, with his insistence on recollectedness, discrimination and a total dying to self as the principal means of liberation, was too stern and too intellectual. The result was that the love and compassion which Sakyamuni had also inculcated came to be personified in Buddhas such as Amida and Maitreyadivine characters completely removed from history, inasmuch as their temporal career was situated somewhere in the distant past or distant future. Here it may be remarked that the vast numbers of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, of whom the Mahayanist theologians speak, are commensurate with the vastness of their cosmology. Time, for them, is beginningless, and the innumerable universes, every one of them supporting sentient beings of every possible variety, are born, evolve, decay and the, only to repeat the same cycleagain and again, until the final inconceivably remote consummation, when every sentient being in all the worlds shall have won to deliverance out of time into eternal Suchness or Buddhahood This cosmological background to Buddhism has affinities with the world picture of modern astronomyespecially with that version of it offered in the recently published theory of Dr. Weiszcker regarding the formation of planets. If the Weiszcker hypothesis is correct, the production of a planetary system would be a normal episode in the life of every star. There are forty thousand million stars in our own galactic system alone, and beyond our galaxy other galaxies, indefinitely. If, as we have no choice but to believe, spiritual laws governing consciousness are uniform throughout the whole planet-bearing and presumably life-supporting universe, then certainly there is plenty of room, and at the same time, no doubt, the most agonizing and desperate need, for those innumerable redemptive incarnations of Suchness, upon whose shining multitudes the Mahayanists love to dwell.
For my part, I think the chief reason which prompted the invisible God to become visible in the flesh and to hold converse with men was to lead carnal men, who are only able to love carnally, to the healthful love of his flesh, and afterwards, little by little, to spiritual love.
1.03 - Self-Surrender in Works - The Way of The Gita, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The greatest gospel of spiritual works ever yet given to the race, the most perfect system of Karmayoga known to man in the past, is to be found in the Bhagavad Gita. In that famous episode of the Mahabharata the great basic lines of Karmayoga are laid down for all time with an incomparable mastery and the infallible eye of an assured experience. It is true that the path alone, as the ancients saw it, is worked out fully: The Perfect fulfilment, the highest secret1 is hinted rather than developed; it is kept back as an unexpressed part of a supreme mystery. There are obvious reasons for this reticence; for the fulfilment is in any case a matter for experience and no teaching can express it. It cannot be described in a way that can really be understood by a mind that has not the effulgent transmuting experience. And for the soul that has passed the shining portals and stands in the blaze of the inner light, all mental and verbal description is as poor as it is superfluous, inadequate and an impertinence. All divine consummations have perforce to be figured by us in the inapt and deceptive terms of a language which was made to fit the normal experience of mental man; so expressed, they can be rightly understood only by those who already know, and, knowing, are able to give these poor external terms a changed, inner and transfigured sense. As the Vedic Rishis insisted in the beginning, the words of the supreme wisdom are expressive only to those who are already of the wise. The Gita at its cryptic close may seem by its silence to stop short of that solution for which we are seeking; it pauses at the borders of the highest spiritual mind and does not cross them into the splendours of the supramental Light. And yet its secret of dynamic, and not only static, identity with the inner Presence, its highest mystery of absolute surrender to the Divine Guide, Lord and Inhabitant of our nature, is the central secret. This surrender is the indispensable means of the supramental change and, again, it is through the supramental change that the dynamic identity becomes possible.
1 rahasyam uttamam.
1.03 - The Divine and Man, #Words Of The Mother II, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This is what we mean by Divine: all the knowledge we have to acquire, all the power we have to obtain, all the love we have to become, all The Perfection we have to achieve, all the harmonious and progressive poise we have to manifest in light and joy, all the new and unknown splendours that have to be realised.
7 September 1952
--
God is The Perfection that we must aspire to realise.
8 November 1969
The Divine is The Perfection towards which we move.
And if you like, I shall lead you to Him very willingly.
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Integral World - In Search of the Perfect Coke, David Lane
Only Fools and Horses (1984 - 2002) - Only Fools and Horses tells the story of the crafty cockney huckster Derek "Delboy" Trotter (David Jason), who has finally found the perfect scheme which he is convinced will make him a millionaire within a year! Del's kid brother Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and his sweet but doddery old granddad (L...
This Art Club has a Problem! (2016 - 2016) - Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! focuses on an art club in a certain middle school, and its members: Subaru Uchimaki, who is a genius at drawing faces, but only wants to draw the perfect 2D wife; Colette, a rich troublemaker who never stops making mischief; and the club president, who sleeps thro...
Elliot Moose (1998 - 1999) - Where could he be? Anywhere his imagination can take him! Elliot Moose is on the loose in this charming series combining live action, puppetry and animation, based on the Elliot Moose book series by author/illustrator Andrea Beck. A children's playroom is the perfect home base for adventure and fun...
Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls (2018 - 2018) - It has been 10 years since the war between the Iga and Kouga ninja clans came to an end. The two groups have since made peace, supposedly dispelling the animosity that once existed between them. Hachirou Kouga and Hibiki Iga, the successors of their respective bloodlines, seem to have the perfect co...
Place to Place (Acchi Kocchi) (2012 - 2012) - Feelings may come and go, but true love always remains in the heart. Tsumiki Miniwa is in love with her best friend, Io Otonashi. For her, confessing is nearly impossible; but to her friends, they seem to be the perfect match. Cute and petite, Tsumiki comes off more as a friend, and Io's attitude to...
The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (1993 - 1993) - Justy Ueki Tylor had his life all planned out: join the military, get a cushy desk job, and then retire with a big fat pension check. The perfect plan...until he wandered into a hostage situation and somehow managed to save an Admiral! Now Tylor, a man who wouldn't know what discipline was if it bit...
His and Her Circumstances (1998 - 1999) - Miyazawa Yukino is the perfect student. Kind, intelligent, pretty and modest, it's unbelievable that such a person could exist. Little did everyone know Yukino's perfection was just a facade. An act to fulfill her desire for praise and admiration. Her life took a turn however, as a newcomer to their...
The Secret World of Santa Claus (1997 - 1999) - Curious what Santa Claus, his nine flying reindeer and the Elves do the other 364 days of the year? In this non-stop adventure, Santa and his team are on search for the perfect toys for all the boys and girls on his Nice list.
Mary Poppins(1964) - The Banks children, Jane and Michael, aren't bad. They just need the right nanny to look after them. Enter Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), the practically perfect nanny who arrives after she finds a letter the children write describing the perfect nanny. Amazing adventures commence, from jumping into...
Problem Child 2(1991) - Junior's back in his first adventure since his last! Junior and Ben move to Mortville which seems like the perfect town to live in. The Healys have a nice new house--and Junior get's a cool new room! And young women have formed a line at Ben's door in order to get a piece of him (romantically). Ben...
The Baby-Sitters Club(1995) - Based on the bestselling book series about seven friends whose babysitting business leads to one adventure after another. When tomboy Kristy, president of the club, has a brilliant idea to run a summer day camp, the girls all agree it's the perfect way to spend their summer--together! But life gets...
Serial Mom(1994) - Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) is the perfect suburban housewife and mother. She likes to cook, her home is immaculately clean, she's always well-groomed and cheerful, and she loves her husband Eugene (Sam Waterston) and her two children, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard). There's jus...
Twins(1988) - Julius and Vincent Benedict are the results of an experiment that would allow for the perfect child. Julius was planned and grows to athletic proportions. Vincent is an accident and is somewhat smaller in stature. Vincent is placed in an orphanage while Julius is taken to a south seas island and rai...
Laura's Star(2004) - Did you ever believe that somewhere there's a special friend just for you? That what Laura finds the day she moves with her family to the city. She misses her old friends and her old house - until she rescues a fallen star, the perfect size for cuddling. The star is homesick, too. And as Laura and t...
Screamers(1995) - (SIRIUS 6B, Year 2078) On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding, self-replicating race of killing devices known as Screamers designed for one purpose only -- to hunt down and destroy all enemy life forms.
Light Sleeper(1992) - Paul Schrader's brilliant study of another alienated urban denizen skirting the borderline of madness stars Willem Dafoe as John Le Tour, a rich, upscale drug dealer for Manhattan professionals "White drugs for white people," as he puts it. John is a recovering addict and for him it's the perfect...
Lost & Found(1999) - Just how low will a guy sink in order to impress the woman of his dreams? How does stealing her dog sound? In Lost and Found, David Spade plays Dylan, who is about to open an new restaurant and has finally found the perfect apartment. The apartment just gets better when he meets his new neighbor, Li...
The Perfect Holiday(2007) - The Perfect Holiday is a 2007 family comedy film starring Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, and Terrence Howard and is produced by Academy Award-nominated actress Queen Latifah, who also narrates the movie. The film was released on December 12
The Thomas Crown Affair(1968) - A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.
Girly(1970) - A wealthy, fatherless British clan kidnaps bums and hippies and forces them to participate in an elaborate role-playing game in which they are the perfect family; those who refuse or attempt escape are ritualistically murdered.
Voodoo Woman(1957) - Deep in the jungles a mad scientist is using the natives' voodoo for his experiments to create an indestructible being to serve his will. When a party of gold seekers stumbles upon his village, the scientist realizes that Marilyn the expedition's evil leader is the perfect subject for his work.
The Perfect Score(2004) - Six high school seniors decide to break into the Princeton Testing Center so they can steal the answers to their upcoming SAT tests and all get perfect scores.
My Boss's Daughter(2003) - When a young man agrees to housesit for his boss, he thinks it'll be the perfect opportunity to get close to the woman he desperately has a crush on - his boss's daughter. But he doesn't plan on the long line of other houseguests that try to keep him from his mission. And he also has to deal with th...
The Perfect Mother(1997) - After being set up on a blind date by their mothers, John and Kathryn fall love and soon marry. But their fairy tale life takes a fearful turn when John's meddling mother Eleni goes to extreme measures to protect her son, grandson, and family...even if she has to kill her daughter-in-law. Inspired b...
Pathology(2008) - A group of medical students devise a deadly game: to see which one of them can commit the perfect murder.
Duplex(2003) - Alex Rose and Nancy Kendricks are a young, professional, New York couple in search of their dream home. When they finally find the perfect Brooklyn brownstone they are giddy with anticipation. The duplex is a dream come true, complete with multiple fireplaces, except for one thing: Mrs. Connelly, th...
Monster-In-Law(2005) - The love life of Charlotte is reduced to an endless string of disastrous blind dates, until she meets the perfect man, Kevin. Unfortunately, his merciless mother will do anything to destroy their relationship.
A Bad Moms Christmas(2017) - Under-appreciated and overburdened moms Amy, Kiki and Carla rebel against the challenges and expectations of the Super Bowl for moms: Christmas. As if creating the perfect holiday for their families isn't hard enough, they'll have to do it while hosting and entertaining their own respective mothers...
Mean Frank And Crazy Tony(1973) - There's trouble in Frankie Diomede's criminal empire in Genoa. A French gangster has moved into Frankie's territory, so Frankie flies home to take care of business. He promptly has himself arrested so that he'll have the perfect alibi when his top local associate dies, but then Frankie's life gets c...
Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!(2002) - In a one-hour special Elmo celebrates Christmas and also learns of the holidays of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and how people celebrate them. As a part of the special Elmo watches a Christmas pageant and visits Santa to find the perfect present for Dorothy. Kelly Ripa guest stars as a letter carrier who br...
https://myanimelist.net/anime/16371/Peeping_Life__The_Perfect_Emotion -- Slice of Life, Comedy
https://myanimelist.net/anime/16373/Peeping_Life__The_Perfect_Evolution -- Slice of Life, Comedy
https://myanimelist.net/anime/16377/Peeping_Life__The_Perfect_Extension -- Slice of Life, Comedy
https://myanimelist.net/anime/17161/Peeping_Life__The_Perfect_Emotion_Special -- Slice of Life, Comedy
https://myanimelist.net/anime/17163/Peeping_Life__The_Perfect_Evolution_Specials -- Slice of Life, Comedy
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37370/The_Perfect_World -- Music
A Christmas Story (1983) ::: 7.9/10 -- PG | 1h 33min | Comedy, Family | 18 November 1983 (USA) -- In the 1940s, a young boy named Ralphie attempts to convince his parents, his teacher and Santa that a Red Ryder BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift. Director: Bob Clark Writers:
Adventureland (2009) ::: 6.8/10 -- R | 1h 47min | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 3 April 2009 (USA) -- In the summer of 1987, a college graduate takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world. Director: Greg Mottola Writer:
Christmas in Connecticut (1945) ::: 7.4/10 -- Not Rated | 1h 41min | Comedy, Romance | 11 August 1945 (USA) -- A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas. Director: Peter Godfrey Writers:
Diabolique (1955) ::: 8.0/10 -- Les diaboliques (original title) -- Diabolique Poster -- The wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi. Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot (as H.G. Clouzot) Writers:
For the Boys (1991) ::: 6.4/10 -- R | 2h 18min | Comedy, Drama, Music | 27 November 1991 (USA) -- U.S. entertainer Eddie Sparks wants to bring some fun to the soldiers during World War II and contacts singer/dancer Dixie Leonard for help. They become the perfect team and tour from North... S Director: Mark Rydell Writers:
Gambit (1966) ::: 7.1/10 -- Approved | 1h 49min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller | 7 January 1967 (USA) -- An English cat burglar needs a Eurasian dancer's help to pull off the perfect heist, but even the most foolproof schemes have a way of backfiring. Director: Ronald Neame Writers: Jack Davies (screenplay), Alvin Sargent (screenplay) | 1 more credit Stars:
Hanna (2011) ::: 6.8/10 -- PG-13 | 1h 51min | Action, Adventure, Drama | 8 April 2011 (USA) -- A sixteen-year-old girl who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives. Director: Joe Wright Writers:
Kaante (2002) ::: 6.6/10 -- R | 2h 30min | Action, Crime, Drama | 20 December 2002 (India) -- Six bank robbers trying to pull off the perfect heist discover one of them is an undercover cop. Director: Sanjay Gupta Writers: Sanjay Gupta, Yash Keswani (as Yash) | 3 more credits
Keeping Mum (2005) ::: 6.8/10 -- R | 1h 39min | Comedy, Crime | 6 October 2006 (USA) -- A pastor preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon fails to realize that his wife is having an affair, and his children are up to no good. Director: Niall Johnson Writers: Richard Russo (screenplay), Niall Johnson (screenplay) | 1 more
Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) ::: 6.4/10 -- R | 1h 37min | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 5 April 2002 (USA) -- A woman searching for the perfect man instead discovers the perfect woman. Director: Charles Herman-Wurmfeld Writers: Heather Juergensen, Jennifer Westfeldt
Maniac (1980) ::: 6.5/10 -- R | 1h 27min | Crime, Drama, Horror | 6 March 1981 (USA) -- A psychotic man, troubled by his childhood abuse, loose in New York City, kills young women and takes their scalps as his trophies. Will he find the perfect woman in a photographer, and end his killing spree? Director: William Lustig Writers:
Man Up (2015) ::: 6.8/10 -- R | 1h 28min | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 13 November 2015 (USA) -- A single woman takes the place of a stranger's blind date, which leads to her finding the perfect boyfriend. Director: Ben Palmer Writer: Tess Morris
Paddington 2 (2017) ::: 7.8/10 -- PG | 1h 43min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy | 12 January 2018 (USA) -- Paddington (Ben Whishaw), now happily settled with the Brown family and a popular member of the local community, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's (Imelda Staunton's) 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen. Director: Paul King Writers:
Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists ::: TV-14 | 45min | Crime, Drama, Mystery | TV Series (2019) -- Everything about the town of Beacon Heights seems perfect, but in the aftermath of the town's first murder, behind every Perfectionist hides secrets, lies and much needed alibies. Creator:
Rope (1948) ::: 8.0/10 -- Approved | 1h 20min | Crime, Drama, Mystery | 25 September 1948 (USA) -- Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death. Director: Alfred Hitchcock Writers: Hume Cronyn (adapted by), Patrick Hamilton (from the play by) | 1 more
Serial Mom (1994) ::: 6.8/10 -- R | 1h 35min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller | 13 April 1994 (USA) -- She's the perfect all-American parent: a great cook and homemaker, a devoted recycler, and a woman who'll literally kill to keep her children happy. Director: John Waters Writer:
She's Out of My League (2010) ::: 6.4/10 -- R | 1h 44min | Comedy, Romance | 12 March 2010 (USA) -- An average Joe meets the perfect woman, but his lack of confidence and the influence of his friends and family begin to pick away at the relationship. Director: Jim Field Smith Writers:
The Dead Zone ::: TV-14 | 1h | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery | TV Series (20022007) -- Johnny had the perfect life until he was in coma for six years. When he awoke, he found his fiancee married to another man. His son doesn't know him. Everything's changed, including Johnny. With one touch, he can see things. Creators:
The Horse's Mouth (1958) ::: 7.1/10 -- Not Rated | 1h 37min | Comedy | 11 November 1958 (USA) -- A somewhat vulgar but dedicated painter searches for the perfect realization of his artistic vision, much to the chagrin of others. Director: Ronald Neame Writers: Joyce Cary (novel), Alec Guinness (screenplay) Stars:
The Last Seduction (1994) ::: 7.0/10 -- R | 1h 50min | Crime, Drama, Romance | 26 October 1994 (USA) -- A devious sexpot steals her husband's drug money and hides out in a small town where she meets the perfect dupe for her next scheme. Director: John Dahl Writer: Steve Barancik
The Perfect Game (2009) ::: 6.9/10 -- PG | 1h 58min | Comedy, Drama, Family | 16 April 2010 (USA) -- Based on a true story, a group of boys from Monterrey, Mexico who became the first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series. Director: William Dear Writers: W. William Winokur, W. William Winokur (book)
The Perfect Host (2010) ::: 6.8/10 -- R | 1h 33min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller | 7 May 2011 (Japan) -- An on-the-run convict looking for temporary cover finds it at the house of a very colorful character. Director: Nick Tomnay Writers: Nick Tomnay, Krishna Jones
The Perfect Storm (2000) ::: 6.4/10 -- PG-13 | 2h 10min | Action, Adventure, Drama | 30 June 2000 (USA) -- An unusually intense storm pattern catches some commercial fishermen unaware and puts them in mortal danger. Director: Wolfgang Petersen Writers: Sebastian Junger (book), William D. Wittliff (screenplay) (as Bill
There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (2011) ::: 6.7/10 -- TV-MA | 1h 41min | Documentary | TV Movie 25 July 2011 -- This documentary explores the depth behind the case of a woman whose vehicle collision killed numerous people, including herself. Was she really the reckless drunk, or the perfect suburban mother? Director: Liz Garbus Stars:
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) ::: 7.0/10 -- Approved | 1h 42min | Crime, Drama, Romance | 26 June 1968 (USA) -- A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man. Director: Norman Jewison Writer: Alan Trustman (as Alan R. Trustman) Stars:
Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip (2013) ::: 7.9/10 -- 1h 25min | Documentary, Comedy | TV Movie 14 July 2014 -- Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond go on a seven-day road trip from Venice, Italy, to Pau, France, in this special episode from the BBC motoring series. Along the way the pair visit the ... S Director: Phil Churchward Writers: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond
Weird Science (1985) ::: 6.6/10 -- PG-13 | 1h 34min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi | 2 August 1985 (USA) -- Two high school nerds use a computer program to literally create the perfect woman, but she turns their lives upside down. Director: John Hughes Writer: John Hughes
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100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru 2nd Season -- -- Maho Film -- ? eps -- Manga -- Action Game Drama Fantasy Shounen -- 100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru 2nd Season 100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru 2nd Season -- Second season of 100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru. -- TV - Jul ??, 2021 -- 27,971 N/APlatinum End -- -- Signal.MD -- ? eps -- Manga -- Psychological Supernatural Drama Shounen -- Platinum End Platinum End -- After the death of his parents, a young Mirai Kakehashi is left in the care of his abusive relatives. Since then, he has become gloomy and depressed, leading him to attempt suicide on the evening of his middle school graduation. Mirai, however, is saved by a pure white girl named Nasse who introduces herself as a guardian angel wishing to give him happiness—by granting him supernatural powers and a chance to become the new God. -- -- In order to earn the position, he must defeat 12 other "God Candidates" within 999 days. Soon, Mirai begins a struggle to survive as a terrifying battle royale erupts between himself and the candidates looking to obtain the most power in the world. -- -- TV - Oct ??, 2021 -- 27,914 N/A -- -- Touch -- -- Gallop, Group TAC, Studio Junio -- 101 eps -- Manga -- Sports Romance School Drama Slice of Life Shounen -- Touch Touch -- The story centers around three characters—Uesugi Kazuya, his twin older brother Tatsuya, and Asakura Minami. Kazuya is the darling of his town as he's talented, hardworking, and the ace pitcher for his middle school baseball team. Tatsuya is a hopeless slacker who's been living the life of giving up the spotlight to Kazuya, despite the fact that he may be more gifted than him. Minami is the beautiful childhood girlfriend and for all intents, sister from next door who treats both of them as equals. Society largely assumes Kazuya and Minami will become the perfect couple, including Tatsuya. Yet as time progresses, Tatsuya grows to realize that he's willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of his brother, except at the expense of giving up Minami to Kazuya. And thus the story is told of Tatsuya trying to prove himself over his established younger brother, how it affects the relationship between the three, and both brothers' attempts to make Minami's lifelong dreams come true. -- 27,856 8.02
Acchi Kocchi (TV) -- -- AIC -- 12 eps -- 4-koma manga -- Slice of Life Comedy Romance School -- Acchi Kocchi (TV) Acchi Kocchi (TV) -- Feelings may come and go, but true love always remains in the heart. Tsumiki Miniwa is in love with her best friend, Io Otonashi. For her, confessing is nearly impossible; but to her friends, they seem to be the perfect match. Cute and petite, Tsumiki comes off more as a friend, and Io's attitude toward her is friendlier than toward others. Despite the constant teasing and obvious hints that his friends have been dropping, Io always seems to miss the signs. -- -- Throughout her everyday school life, Tsumiki spends time with her friends and Io. Will she finally muster enough courage to confess her true feelings? -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- TV - Apr 6, 2012 -- 260,189 7.50
Acchi Kocchi (TV) -- -- AIC -- 12 eps -- 4-koma manga -- Slice of Life Comedy Romance School -- Acchi Kocchi (TV) Acchi Kocchi (TV) -- Feelings may come and go, but true love always remains in the heart. Tsumiki Miniwa is in love with her best friend, Io Otonashi. For her, confessing is nearly impossible; but to her friends, they seem to be the perfect match. Cute and petite, Tsumiki comes off more as a friend, and Io's attitude toward her is friendlier than toward others. Despite the constant teasing and obvious hints that his friends have been dropping, Io always seems to miss the signs. -- -- Throughout her everyday school life, Tsumiki spends time with her friends and Io. Will she finally muster enough courage to confess her true feelings? -- -- TV - Apr 6, 2012 -- 260,189 7.50
Aura: Maryuuin Kouga Saigo no Tatakai -- -- AIC ASTA -- 1 ep -- Light novel -- Supernatural Drama Romance School -- Aura: Maryuuin Kouga Saigo no Tatakai Aura: Maryuuin Kouga Saigo no Tatakai -- Ichirou Satou is an ordinary high school student who pretended that he was a hero by the name of "Maryuuin Kouga" back in middle school, which led to others frequently bullying him. Now that he has left this embarrassing phase behind, he does his best to avoid standing out and live a peaceful life, although he feels the world has become quite dull. But when he makes his way back to school one night to grab a textbook he left in class, he runs into a strange girl wearing a costume. -- -- This girl, Ryouko Satou, happens to be his classmate and is affected by the exact same condition that he once had, holding on to a delusion that she is someone else and dressing up to reflect this. The very next day, Ichirou is asked by his teacher to become friends with Ryouko, to which he adamantly refuses, unwilling to be reminded of his own history. When he sees that she is being bullied just as he once was, however, the boy makes it his responsibility to take care of her and break her free from that which what once plagued him—the perfect job for Maryuuin Kouga. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- Movie - Apr 13, 2013 -- 47,395 7.48
Aura: Maryuuin Kouga Saigo no Tatakai -- -- AIC ASTA -- 1 ep -- Light novel -- Supernatural Drama Romance School -- Aura: Maryuuin Kouga Saigo no Tatakai Aura: Maryuuin Kouga Saigo no Tatakai -- Ichirou Satou is an ordinary high school student who pretended that he was a hero by the name of "Maryuuin Kouga" back in middle school, which led to others frequently bullying him. Now that he has left this embarrassing phase behind, he does his best to avoid standing out and live a peaceful life, although he feels the world has become quite dull. But when he makes his way back to school one night to grab a textbook he left in class, he runs into a strange girl wearing a costume. -- -- This girl, Ryouko Satou, happens to be his classmate and is affected by the exact same condition that he once had, holding on to a delusion that she is someone else and dressing up to reflect this. The very next day, Ichirou is asked by his teacher to become friends with Ryouko, to which he adamantly refuses, unwilling to be reminded of his own history. When he sees that she is being bullied just as he once was, however, the boy makes it his responsibility to take care of her and break her free from that which what once plagued him—the perfect job for Maryuuin Kouga. -- -- Movie - Apr 13, 2013 -- 47,395 7.48
Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou -- -- Seven Arcs Pictures -- 24 eps -- Manga -- Action Drama Historical Martial Arts -- Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou -- It has been 10 years since the war between the Iga and Kouga ninja clans came to an end. The two groups have since made peace, supposedly dispelling the animosity that once existed between them. Hachirou Kouga and Hibiki Iga, the successors of their respective bloodlines, seem to have the perfect conditions for their love to bloom, but not everyone is satisfied with the results of the age-old battle. -- -- Different tales of the final showdown between Gennosuke Kouga and Oboro Iga have spread, leaving Tadanaga Tokugawa—whom the Kouga represented—dissatisfied. As tension between the two clans rises once again, the brewing political climate threatens to keep the two fated lovers apart, just as it had in the previous generation. -- -- 30,267 5.47
Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou -- -- Seven Arcs Pictures -- 24 eps -- Manga -- Action Drama Historical Martial Arts -- Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou -- It has been 10 years since the war between the Iga and Kouga ninja clans came to an end. The two groups have since made peace, supposedly dispelling the animosity that once existed between them. Hachirou Kouga and Hibiki Iga, the successors of their respective bloodlines, seem to have the perfect conditions for their love to bloom, but not everyone is satisfied with the results of the age-old battle. -- -- Different tales of the final showdown between Gennosuke Kouga and Oboro Iga have spread, leaving Tadanaga Tokugawa—whom the Kouga represented—dissatisfied. As tension between the two clans rises once again, the brewing political climate threatens to keep the two fated lovers apart, just as it had in the previous generation. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 30,267 5.47
Chrome Shelled Regios -- -- Zexcs -- 24 eps -- Light novel -- Action Adventure Fantasy School Sci-Fi -- Chrome Shelled Regios Chrome Shelled Regios -- In a post-apocalyptic world overrun with mutated beasts called Limbeekoon or Filth Monsters, humanity is forced to live in large mobile cities called Regios and learn to use special weapons called Dite, by harnessing the power of Kei to defend themselves. In the Academy City of Zuellni, Layfon Alseif is hoping to start a new life and forget his past. However, his past has caught the attention of Karian Loss, the manipulative Student Council President and Nina Antalk, a Military Arts student and Captain of the 17th Military Arts Platoon, who instantly recognizes his abilities and decides he’s the perfect candidate to join her group. However, with a secret past that won’t leave him alone and unknown powers beyond normal, Layfon just might not take it. -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- TV - Jan 11, 2009 -- 182,565 7.34
Crying Freeman -- -- Toei Animation -- 6 eps -- Manga -- Action Police Martial Arts Romance Drama Seinen -- Crying Freeman Crying Freeman -- Yo Hinomura was an ordinary Japanese potter when a run-in with a Chinese mafia changed his life forever. Now an assassin for the 108 Dragons, Yo is the perfect killing machine. As a sign for remorse over his victims, he sheds tears after eliminating his targets. Because of this, he is infamously known by the Dragons and every crime syndicate in the world as "Crying Freeman." -- -- (Source: ANN) -- -- Licensor: -- ADV Films, Discotek Media -- OVA - Nov 25, 1988 -- 8,733 6.49
Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu. -- -- CloverWorks -- 13 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Drama Romance Shounen Ai -- Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu. Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu. -- Takato Saijou has held the title of "Sexiest Man of the Year" for five years running. He is an accomplished actor, with 20 years of experience under his belt, and is aware his good looks are well above average. Proud of his career, Takato regards the title as an appropriate indicator of his success. -- -- But when his reign is ended by acting newbie Junta Azumaya, who debuted only three years ago, Takato's initial shock gives way to jealous hostility. Even in the new drama that he has been cast in, Junta seems to have suddenly surpassed him; snatching Takato's usual spot of lead actor, Junta continually manages to get on his nerves. Most infuriating of all are the bright smile and kind words that accompany everything Junta does. -- -- All this animosity comes to a head, however, when Junta catches Takato in a rather vulnerable drunken state. Endangering his own public image, Takato confronts the junior actor with harsh words and angry comments—an opportunity Junta takes every advantage of. With the famous actor Takato Saijou now on video picking a fight with a co-star, Junta has the perfect means to blackmail him. -- -- Asking the price of his enemy's silence, Takato is shocked to find that his motivation lies far from advancing his career; instead, Junta's terms are those that can only be realized in the bedroom! -- -- 90,579 7.38
Dies Irae -- -- A.C.G.T. -- 11 eps -- Visual novel -- Action Military Super Power Magic -- Dies Irae Dies Irae -- On May 1, 1945 in Berlin, as the Red Army raises the Soviet flag over the Reichskanzlei, a group of Nazi officers conduct a ritual. For them, the slaughter in the city is nothing but the perfect ritual sacrifice in order to bring back the Order of the 13 Lances, a group of supermen whose coming would bring the world's destruction. Years later, no one knows if this group of officers succeeded, or whether they lived or died. Few know of their existence, and even those who knew began to pass away as the decades passed. -- -- Now in December in the present day in Suwahara City, Ren Fujii spends his days at the hospital. It has been two months since the incident that brought him to the hospital: a fight with his friend Shirou Yusa where they almost tried to kill each other. He tries to value what he has left to him, but every night he sees the same dream: a guillotine, murderers who hunt people, and the black clothed knights who pursue the murderers. He is desperate to return to his normal, everyday life, but even now he hears Shirou's words: "Everyone who remains in this city eventually loses their minds." -- -- (Source: ANN) -- 115,820 5.37
Dies Irae -- -- A.C.G.T. -- 11 eps -- Visual novel -- Action Military Super Power Magic -- Dies Irae Dies Irae -- On May 1, 1945 in Berlin, as the Red Army raises the Soviet flag over the Reichskanzlei, a group of Nazi officers conduct a ritual. For them, the slaughter in the city is nothing but the perfect ritual sacrifice in order to bring back the Order of the 13 Lances, a group of supermen whose coming would bring the world's destruction. Years later, no one knows if this group of officers succeeded, or whether they lived or died. Few know of their existence, and even those who knew began to pass away as the decades passed. -- -- Now in December in the present day in Suwahara City, Ren Fujii spends his days at the hospital. It has been two months since the incident that brought him to the hospital: a fight with his friend Shirou Yusa where they almost tried to kill each other. He tries to value what he has left to him, but every night he sees the same dream: a guillotine, murderers who hunt people, and the black clothed knights who pursue the murderers. He is desperate to return to his normal, everyday life, but even now he hears Shirou's words: "Everyone who remains in this city eventually loses their minds." -- -- (Source: ANN) -- -- Licensor: -- Crunchyroll, Funimation -- 115,820 5.37
ef: A Tale of Memories. -- -- Shaft -- 12 eps -- Visual novel -- Mystery Drama Romance -- ef: A Tale of Memories. ef: A Tale of Memories. -- On Christmas Eve, Hiro Hirono runs into Miyako Miyamura, a frivolous girl who "borrows" his bicycle in order to chase down a purse thief. After Hiro finds his bicycle wrecked and Miyako unconscious, the two unexpectedly spend their Christmas Eve together, and when they discover they go to the same high school, their accidental relationship develops even further. This sparks the jealousy of Hiro's childhood friend Kei Shindou, whose pure approach to life catches the eye of Kyosuke Tsutsumi, a womanizing photographer searching for the perfect shot. -- -- Elsewhere, Renji Asou, a boy who dreams of being a girl's knight in shining armor, has a chance encounter with Kei's twin sister—the overly shy Chihiro Shindou, who spends her time reading alone—at an abandoned train station. The two quickly become friends and eventually decide to write a novel together. However, when Renji discovers Chihiro's secret, a disability that causes her to have an eternally ephemeral memory, his childish ideals will be put to the test. -- -- Guided by two mysterious adults, these youths' relationships intertwine in a heart-rending tale of love, rejection, acceptance, and memories. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 223,388 7.94
Himouto! Umaru-chan -- -- Doga Kobo -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy School Seinen Slice of Life -- Himouto! Umaru-chan Himouto! Umaru-chan -- People are not always who they appear to be, as is the case with Umaru Doma, the perfect high school girl—that is, until she gets home! Once the front door closes, the real fun begins. When she dons her hamster hoodie, she transforms from a refined, over-achieving student into a lazy, junk food-eating otaku, leaving all the housework to her responsible older brother Taihei. Whether she's hanging out with her friends Nana Ebina and Kirie Motoba, or competing with her self-proclaimed "rival" Sylphinford Tachibana, Umaru knows how to kick back and have some fun! -- -- Himouto! Umaru-chan is a cute story that follows the daily adventures of Umaru and Taihei, as they take care of—and put up with—each other the best they can, as well as the unbreakable bonds between friends and siblings. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 523,344 7.16
Ichigo 100% -- -- Madhouse -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Ecchi Harem Romance Shounen -- Ichigo 100% Ichigo 100% -- One day, Manaka Junpei walks to the roof of his school and encounters a beautiful girl falling down from above him and accidentally exposing her strawberry panties. The embarrassed girl runs away before Junpei can find out whom she is. He wishes to become a filmmaker, and this whole experience seemed like it would make the perfect scene in a movie. And so he goes on a search for the girl with the strawberry panties in order to reenact it all on film. But he will soon discover that finding that one girl will not be that easy... -- -- (Source: ANN) -- TV - Apr 6, 2005 -- 98,682 6.67
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen -- -- A-1 Pictures -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Psychological Romance School Seinen -- Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen -- At the renowned Shuchiin Academy, Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya are the student body's top representatives. Ranked the top student in the nation and respected by peers and mentors alike, Miyuki serves as the student council president. Alongside him, the vice president Kaguya—eldest daughter of the wealthy Shinomiya family—excels in every field imaginable. They are the envy of the entire student body, regarded as the perfect couple. -- -- However, despite both having already developed feelings for the other, neither are willing to admit them. The first to confess loses, will be looked down upon, and will be considered the lesser. With their honor and pride at stake, Miyuki and Kaguya are both equally determined to be the one to emerge victorious on the battlefield of love! -- -- -- Licensor: -- Aniplex of America -- 1,015,770 8.42
Kaichou wa Maid-sama! -- -- J.C.Staff -- 26 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Romance School Shoujo -- Kaichou wa Maid-sama! Kaichou wa Maid-sama! -- Being the first female student council president isn't easy, especially when your school just transitioned from an all boys high school to a co-ed one. Aptly nicknamed "Demon President" by the boys for her strict disciplinary style, Misaki Ayuzawa is not afraid to use her mastery of Aikido techniques to cast judgment onto the hordes of misbehaving boys and defend the girls at Seika High School. -- -- Yet even the perfect Ayuzawa has an embarrassing secret—she works part-time as a maid at a maid café to help her struggling family pay the bills. She has managed to keep her job hidden from her fellow students and maintained her flawless image as a stellar student until one day, Takumi Usui, the most popular boy in school, walks into the maid café. He could destroy her reputation with her secret... or he could twist the student council president around his little finger and use her secret as an opportunity to get closer to her. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 931,301 8.05
Keroro Gunsou -- -- Sunrise -- 358 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Mecha Parody Sci-Fi Shounen -- Keroro Gunsou Keroro Gunsou -- Unsuspecting inhabitants of the planet Earth are going about their business, enjoying a bright and particularly beautiful sunny day, when a young Japanese boy spots a shiny object falling from the sky... Has an alien invasion finally begun? -- -- Elsewhere in Japan, Keroro, frog sergeant and leader of the Space Invasion Army Special Tactics Platoon of the 58th Planet in the Gamma Planetary System, has discovered the perfect hideout. He infiltrates the home of the Hinata family in an attempt to establish a headquarters that he and his troops could use to prepare for world domination... but earthlings Fuyuki and Natsumi Hinata are too much for him to handle! Natsumi instinctively calls them out of hiding, leaving the hapless sergeant no option but to reveal his secret identity. The two siblings soon welcome the sergeant to their home, all thanks to Fuyuki’s generos—err... curiosity. -- -- The Sergeant has successfully infiltrated his first target area! Or has he? Join Keroro Gunsou in his dastardly attempt to take over the world! -- -- Licensor: -- ADV Films, Discotek Media, Funimation -- TV - Apr 3, 2004 -- 61,510 7.69
Kirepapa. -- -- A.C.G.T. -- 2 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Drama Romance Yaoi -- Kirepapa. Kirepapa. -- Chisato Takatsukasa, a 35-year-old author, has such a youthful appearance that anyone would think him to be in his early twenties. His work is inspired by his idol—the best-selling mystery author Saki Shunka, who is as much of an enigma herself as the plots of the books she writes. -- -- Chisato is also the extremely overprotective father of 15-year old Riju, convinced that the "friends" his son constantly brings over are nothing but predators waiting for the perfect opportunity to defile his precious boy. As a result, Chisato will stop at nothing to ensure they never come over again, resorting to the most extreme of methods. -- -- There is not a man he hates more, however, than Riju's rather persistent best friend Shunsuke Sakaki, who just won't go away regardless of what Chisato tries to do. But the motivations of these characters lie as secrets bubbling just below the surface. Why is Chisato so wary of Riju's friends, and what exactly does Shunsuke know about the mysterious author his friend's father idolizes? -- -- OVA - Jan 25, 2008 -- 47,596 6.68
Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! -- -- feel. -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Romance School Seinen -- Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! -- Mizuki Usami is a passionate member of her school's art club, but the club has a problem—Usami is the only member who takes her craft seriously! The lazy club president constantly sleeps through activities and Collette hasn't regularly attended club activities in quite some time. Uchimaki Subaru, despite being an exceptional artist who could win an award if he tried, is obsessed with drawing the perfect 2D wife. -- -- Light-hearted and comedic in tone, Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! follows Usami as she struggles to do art club-like activities, often obstructed by her motley crew of good-for-nothings and her distracting crush on Subaru. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Maiden Japan -- 223,582 7.24
Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder -- -- A-1 Pictures -- 2 eps -- Manga -- Action Mystery Comedy Historical Demons Supernatural Shounen -- Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder -- At the behest of the Queen, Earl Ciel Phantomhive hosts a lavish dinner party attended by several of the finest members of polite society—as well as struggling author, Arthur. But as the party reaches its high, a terrible murder takes place and none other than the Earl himself is suspected of the crime. -- -- As a violent storm rages on outside, the death count continues to climb. The Phantomhive household and their eminent guests find they must cooperate in order to solve this mystery before they too fall prey to the mysterious murderer. However, it seems that not even the perfect butler, Sebastian Michaelis, is safe from this horror. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- OVA - Jan 28, 2015 -- 190,776 8.10
Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder -- -- A-1 Pictures -- 2 eps -- Manga -- Action Mystery Comedy Historical Demons Supernatural Shounen -- Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder Kuroshitsuji: Book of Murder -- At the behest of the Queen, Earl Ciel Phantomhive hosts a lavish dinner party attended by several of the finest members of polite society—as well as struggling author, Arthur. But as the party reaches its high, a terrible murder takes place and none other than the Earl himself is suspected of the crime. -- -- As a violent storm rages on outside, the death count continues to climb. The Phantomhive household and their eminent guests find they must cooperate in order to solve this mystery before they too fall prey to the mysterious murderer. However, it seems that not even the perfect butler, Sebastian Michaelis, is safe from this horror. -- -- OVA - Jan 28, 2015 -- 190,776 8.10
Kuroshitsuji -- -- A-1 Pictures -- 24 eps -- Manga -- Action Mystery Comedy Historical Demons Supernatural Shounen -- Kuroshitsuji Kuroshitsuji -- Young Ciel Phantomhive is known as "the Queen's Guard Dog," taking care of the many unsettling events that occur in Victorian England for Her Majesty. Aided by Sebastian Michaelis, his loyal butler with seemingly inhuman abilities, Ciel uses whatever means necessary to get the job done. But is there more to this black-clad butler than meets the eye? -- -- In Ciel's past lies a secret tragedy that enveloped him in perennial darkness—during one of his bleakest moments, he formed a contract with Sebastian, a demon, bargaining his soul in exchange for vengeance upon those who wronged him. Today, not only is Sebastian one hell of a butler, but he is also the perfect servant to carry out his master's orders—all the while anticipating the delicious meal he will eventually make of Ciel's soul. As the two work to unravel the mystery behind Ciel's chain of misfortunes, a bond forms between them that neither heaven nor hell can tear apart. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Aniplex of America, Funimation -- TV - Oct 3, 2008 -- 914,399 7.73
Kuzu no Honkai -- -- Lerche -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Drama Romance School Seinen -- Kuzu no Honkai Kuzu no Honkai -- To the outside world, Hanabi Yasuraoka and Mugi Awaya are the perfect couple. But in reality, they just share the same secret pain: they are both in love with other people they cannot be with. -- -- Hanabi has loved her childhood friend and neighbor Narumi Kanai for as long as she can remember, so she is elated to discover that he is her new homeroom teacher. However, Narumi is soon noticed by the music teacher, Akane Minagawa, and a relationship begins to blossom between them, much to Hanabi's dismay. -- -- Mugi was tutored by Akane in middle school, and has been in love with her since then. Through a chance meeting in the hallway, he encounters Hanabi. As these two lonely souls spend more time together, they decide to use each other as a substitute for the one they truly love, sharing physical intimacy with one another in order to stave off their loneliness. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 494,783 7.28
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen -- -- - -- ? eps -- Light novel -- Sci-Fi Supernatural Magic -- Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen -- Looking at Miyuki and Tatsuya now, it might be hard to imagine them as anything other than loving siblings. But it wasn't always this way.. -- -- Three years ago, Miyuki was always uncomfortable around her older brother. The rest of their family treated him no better than a lowly servant, even though he was the perfect Guardian, watching over Miyuki while she lived a normal middle school life. But what really bothered her was that he never showed any emotions or thoughts of his own. -- -- However, when danger comes calling during a fateful trip to Okinawa, their relationship as brother and sister will change forever… -- -- (Source: Yen Press) -- - - ??? ??, ???? -- 25,203 N/A -- -- Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE! LOVE! -- -- Studio Comet -- 12 eps -- Original -- Slice of Life Comedy Parody Magic School -- Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE! LOVE! Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE! LOVE! -- After pulling the plug on the space reality TV show "Can I Destroy the Earth? 2," the Defense Club and the Conquest Club return to their peaceful high school lives. Time has passed since that fearsome battle, and it's now autumn. The five Defense Club members have stopped serving as the Battle Lovers, and are enjoying a soak in the Kurotama Bath like always, when the Conquest Club broaches a subject that will change a great deal about events to come... -- -- [Source: Crunchyroll] -- 24,915 7.04
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen -- -- - -- ? eps -- Light novel -- Sci-Fi Supernatural Magic -- Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen -- Looking at Miyuki and Tatsuya now, it might be hard to imagine them as anything other than loving siblings. But it wasn't always this way.. -- -- Three years ago, Miyuki was always uncomfortable around her older brother. The rest of their family treated him no better than a lowly servant, even though he was the perfect Guardian, watching over Miyuki while she lived a normal middle school life. But what really bothered her was that he never showed any emotions or thoughts of his own. -- -- However, when danger comes calling during a fateful trip to Okinawa, their relationship as brother and sister will change forever… -- -- (Source: Yen Press) -- - - ??? ??, ???? -- 25,203 N/A -- -- Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga. OVA -- -- Project No.9 -- 1 ep -- - -- Ecchi Comedy Romance Supernatural Shounen -- Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga. OVA Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga. OVA -- This OVA is divided into two parts. First one is about Torii Shoutarou following his younger sister on a date. Second one is about Christmas Eve, which Mitsuki, Yuuya and their friends spend at Kanzaki's house. -- -- Bundled with the limited-edition volume 7 of the manga. -- -- (Source: AniDB) -- OVA - Jun 30, 2014 -- 24,937 6.42
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen -- -- - -- ? eps -- Light novel -- Sci-Fi Supernatural Magic -- Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen -- Looking at Miyuki and Tatsuya now, it might be hard to imagine them as anything other than loving siblings. But it wasn't always this way.. -- -- Three years ago, Miyuki was always uncomfortable around her older brother. The rest of their family treated him no better than a lowly servant, even though he was the perfect Guardian, watching over Miyuki while she lived a normal middle school life. But what really bothered her was that he never showed any emotions or thoughts of his own. -- -- However, when danger comes calling during a fateful trip to Okinawa, their relationship as brother and sister will change forever… -- -- (Source: Yen Press) -- - - ??? ??, ???? -- 25,203 N/ASakasama no Patema: Beginning of the Day -- -- Purple Cow Studio Japan, Studio Rikka -- 4 eps -- - -- Sci-Fi -- Sakasama no Patema: Beginning of the Day Sakasama no Patema: Beginning of the Day -- This is an online distribution of the prologue of the movie, illustrating the first day of the entire story. -- -- A world, forever beyond your expectations. -- -- In a dark, cramped, underground world of endless tunnels and shafts, people wear protective suits and live out their modest yet happy lives. The princess of the underground community, Patema, goes out exploring as always, inspired by her curiosity of the unknown depths of the world. -- -- Her favorite spot is the "danger zone," an area forbidden by the "rule" of the community. Despite being frequently chastised by her caretaker Jii, she cannot hold back her curiosity for the reason behind the rule, because no one would tell her what the "danger" was. When she approaches the hidden "secret," the story begins. -- -- (Source: translation of a synopsis from the nicovideo news) -- Special - Feb 26, 2012 -- 25,203 7.38
Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! -- -- Lerche -- 12 eps -- Visual novel -- Harem Comedy Super Power Romance Ecchi Martial Arts School -- Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! -- The samurai are a very important part of Japan's history, and to be related to them in any way is probably one of the most inspiring things that a young high school student could hope for. -- -- Kawakami City is well-known for having many samurai ancestors among its citizens, and is generally surrounded by an atmosphere of fighting spirit, loyalty, and dedication to work. In Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!, the students of Kawakami Academy use this knowledge on a daily basis, whether they are studying for exams, competing in sports competitions, or making sure that they take very good care of their traditions. Yamato Naoe is one such student, and his six closest friends (three boys and three girls) make up the perfect team for friendship, rivalry, and motivation. However, even samurai have weaknesses. -- -- Although the balance and long friendship of their group has been undisturbed for a long time, when two new girls enter the group, things start to get a lot more interesting. Not only must they maintain what they think is the samurai tradition, but they must now also do it with a lot of "distractions." -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 238,653 6.75
Mezzo Forte -- -- Arms -- 2 eps -- Original -- Action Comedy Hentai Sci-Fi -- Mezzo Forte Mezzo Forte -- For some individuals, baseball is more than just a game. Momokitchi Momoi, an underworld boss and the owner of a professional team known as the "Peach Twisters," seems to be the perfect example. There is only one punishment for players who have let him down: death. Terrible as he may sound, there is someone even more wicked than him—his daughter, Momomi. -- -- The three members of the Danger Service Agency—Mikura Suzuki, Tomohisa Harada, and Kenichi Kurokawa—are tasked with kidnapping Momokitchi and taking down his criminal empire. Surrounded by armed bodyguards, he is bound to be a risky target. However, born with a gun in hand, Mikura is used to dancing with danger. The only unknown quantity is Momomi, reputed to be a cold-blooded killer with a twisted mind. Should she stand in the DSA's way, Suzuki might finally find herself a worthy opponent. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Media Blasters, SoftCel Pictures -- OVA - May 25, 2000 -- 25,176 6.64
New Game! -- -- Doga Kobo -- 12 eps -- 4-koma manga -- Game Slice of Life Comedy -- New Game! New Game! -- Since childhood, Aoba Suzukaze has loved the Fairies Story game series, particularly the character designs. So when she graduates from high school, it is no surprise that she applies to work at Eagle Jump, the company responsible for making her favorite video game. On her first day, she is excited to learn that she will be working on a new installment to the series: Fairies Story 3—and even more so under Kou Yagami, the lead character designer. -- -- In their department are people who share the same passion for games. There is Yun Iijima, whose specialty is designing monsters; the shy Hifumi Takimoto, who prefers to communicate through instant messaging; Hajime Shinoda, an animation team member with an impressive figurine collection; Rin Tooyama, the orderly art director; Shizuku Hazuki, the game director who brings her cat to work; and Umiko Ahagon, the short-tempered head programmer. -- -- New Game! follows Aoba and the others on their adventure through the ups and downs of game making, from making the perfect character design to fixing all the errors that will inevitably accumulate in the process. -- -- 346,352 7.60
New Game! -- -- Doga Kobo -- 12 eps -- 4-koma manga -- Game Slice of Life Comedy -- New Game! New Game! -- Since childhood, Aoba Suzukaze has loved the Fairies Story game series, particularly the character designs. So when she graduates from high school, it is no surprise that she applies to work at Eagle Jump, the company responsible for making her favorite video game. On her first day, she is excited to learn that she will be working on a new installment to the series: Fairies Story 3—and even more so under Kou Yagami, the lead character designer. -- -- In their department are people who share the same passion for games. There is Yun Iijima, whose specialty is designing monsters; the shy Hifumi Takimoto, who prefers to communicate through instant messaging; Hajime Shinoda, an animation team member with an impressive figurine collection; Rin Tooyama, the orderly art director; Shizuku Hazuki, the game director who brings her cat to work; and Umiko Ahagon, the short-tempered head programmer. -- -- New Game! follows Aoba and the others on their adventure through the ups and downs of game making, from making the perfect character design to fixing all the errors that will inevitably accumulate in the process. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Crunchyroll, Funimation -- 346,352 7.60
Okane ga Nai -- -- Lilix -- 4 eps -- Manga -- Drama Romance Yaoi -- Okane ga Nai Okane ga Nai -- Yukiya Ayase is a gentle, kind hearted, and innocent university student. The only relative he has left, his cousin Tetsuo, betrays Ayase by selling him to the highest bidder in an auction with hopes of making an enormous profit to be able to pay off his debts. Somuku Kanou, a bad-tempered (though very rich) loan shark, comes to Ayase's rescue and buys Ayase for an impressive 1.2 billion. Kanou apparently knows Ayase from something that happened between them in the past, but Ayase cannot remember who Kanou is nor does he understand why he "saved" him. In a desperate effort to keep Ayase close to him, Kanou demands the debt be repaid in full and suggests the perfect way to do it: by selling his body to Kanou for 500,000 each time. Ayase is horrified in the beginning, but something soon begins to grow between them that can't be bought for any price. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- -- Licensor: -- Media Blasters -- OVA - Feb 9, 2007 -- 40,769 6.24
Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni "Shomin Sample" Toshite Gets♥Sareta Ken -- -- SILVER LINK. -- 12 eps -- Light novel -- Comedy Ecchi Harem Romance School -- Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni "Shomin Sample" Toshite Gets♥Sareta Ken Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni "Shomin Sample" Toshite Gets♥Sareta Ken -- Kimito Kagurazaka is a commoner with a fetish for men's muscles—or at least that's the lie he must keep telling if he wants to keep himself out of trouble at the elite all-girls school, Seikain Academy. Kidnapped by the school under the assumption that he prefers men, Kimito is made to be their "commoner sample," exposing the girls to both commoner and man so that the transition to the world after school is not jarring. Threatened with castration should his sexual preferences not match the school's assumptions, Kimito keeps up the facade to protect his manhood. -- -- But there are eccentric individuals around every corner who begin to make Kimito's life even more difficult. Among them are Aika Tenkuubashi, a social outcast who blurts out whatever comes to mind; Hakua Shiodome, a young genius; Karen Jinryou, the daughter of samurai who is obsessed with defeating Kimito; and Reiko Arisugawa, the perfect student who has delusions of marrying Kimito. Along with the commoner himself, these four girls make up the Commoner Club, which attempts to teach the girls more about life outside the school, while Kimito gradually learns about the odd girls surrounding him. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 210,993 6.79
Osomatsu-san -- -- Studio Pierrot -- 25 eps -- Original -- Comedy Parody -- Osomatsu-san Osomatsu-san -- The majority of the Matsuno household is comprised of six identical siblings: self-centered leader Osomatsu, manly Karamatsu, voice of reason Choromatsu, cynical Ichimatsu, hyperactive Juushimatsu, and lovable Todomatsu. Despite each one of them being over the age of 20, they are incredibly lazy and have absolutely no motivation to get a job, choosing to live as NEETs instead. In the rare occurrence that they try to look for employment and are somehow able to land an interview, their unique personalities generally lead to their swift rejection. -- -- From trying to pick up girlfriends to finding the perfect job, the daily activities of the Matsuno brothers are never dull as they go on all sorts of crazy, and often downright bizarre, adventures. Though they desperately search for a way to improve their social standing, it won't be possible if they can't survive the various challenges that come with being sextuplets! -- -- -- Licensor: -- VIZ Media -- 144,631 8.00
Paradise Kiss -- -- Madhouse -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Drama Josei Romance Slice of Life -- Paradise Kiss Paradise Kiss -- On her way home from school, Yukari Hayasaka is approached by a weird-looking guy who starts looking at her body intently. He's got blond spiky hair, a spiked choker, and multiple piercings on his ears and face. She wants nothing to do with him, and runs away, only to bump into a very tall and beautiful purple-haired woman with a flower pattern around her eye. Yukari faints from shock and wakes up later in a strange place called the Atelier. It turns out that these strangers are fashion designers who attend the most famous art school around, Yazawa Art Academy, and their group wants Yukari to model for their brand in Yazawa Academy's upcoming show. -- -- Yukari turns down their offer and escapes the Atelier, but unknowingly leaves her school ID behind. George Koizumi, the head designer, later sees it and immediately knows she would be the perfect model for them and will not stop until he gets what he wants—and he wants her. Yukari had never considered something as frivolous as modeling before, but could life among these eccentric designers actually prove to be fun? Or will Yukari lose herself in this world of art and passion? -- -- 157,790 7.83
Paradise Kiss -- -- Madhouse -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Drama Josei Romance Slice of Life -- Paradise Kiss Paradise Kiss -- On her way home from school, Yukari Hayasaka is approached by a weird-looking guy who starts looking at her body intently. He's got blond spiky hair, a spiked choker, and multiple piercings on his ears and face. She wants nothing to do with him, and runs away, only to bump into a very tall and beautiful purple-haired woman with a flower pattern around her eye. Yukari faints from shock and wakes up later in a strange place called the Atelier. It turns out that these strangers are fashion designers who attend the most famous art school around, Yazawa Art Academy, and their group wants Yukari to model for their brand in Yazawa Academy's upcoming show. -- -- Yukari turns down their offer and escapes the Atelier, but unknowingly leaves her school ID behind. George Koizumi, the head designer, later sees it and immediately knows she would be the perfect model for them and will not stop until he gets what he wants—and he wants her. Yukari had never considered something as frivolous as modeling before, but could life among these eccentric designers actually prove to be fun? Or will Yukari lose herself in this world of art and passion? -- -- -- Licensor: -- Geneon Entertainment USA -- 157,790 7.83
Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation -- -- Telecom Animation Film -- 12 eps -- Game -- Action Game Sci-Fi School -- Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation -- In the year 2027, the video game Phantasy Star Online 2 is all the rage at Seiga Academy. Every student is on board the fad—except for Itsuki Tachibana, a well-rounded student who doesn't play video games. Due to its popularity, the game is currently under review at Seiga Academy to see if it has a negative impact on the students. Consequently, this causes Itsuki to catch the attention of Rina Izumi, the perfectionist student council president who aims to prove that the game is not to blame. -- -- To accomplish her objective, Rina recruits Itsuki as the student council vice president and tasks him with learning to play the game while keeping his grades up. Now obliged to report his daily findings of the game to Rina and analyze its merits, Itsuki carries the fate of Phantasy Star Online 2 in his hands. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 59,993 6.34
Renmei Kuugun Koukuu Mahou Ongakutai Luminous Witches -- -- Shaft -- ? eps -- Original -- Military Sci-Fi Music Magic Ecchi -- Renmei Kuugun Koukuu Mahou Ongakutai Luminous Witches Renmei Kuugun Koukuu Mahou Ongakutai Luminous Witches -- These are witches who defend everyone's smiles and fight enemies through the healing power of music. These witches, opposite of those in the defense fleet, are idols known as the Music Squadron. -- -- (Source: MAL News) -- TV - ??? ??, 2021 -- 5,971 N/A -- -- Code:Realize - Sousei no Himegimi - Set a Thief to Catch a Thief -- -- M.S.C -- 1 ep -- Visual novel -- Military Harem Historical Romance Fantasy Josei -- Code:Realize - Sousei no Himegimi - Set a Thief to Catch a Thief Code:Realize - Sousei no Himegimi - Set a Thief to Catch a Thief -- It has been a month since London was struck with tragedy, and a ceremony symbolizing peace and restoration will soon be held. In light of these events, Arsène Lupin plans to throw a party for Cardia Beckford to honor the fulfillment of her wish. Lupin sets out on a search for the perfect gift to offer her; however, he finds himself caught up in the theft of a valuable jewel, and he is framed and believed to be the culprit. With Lupin locked behind bars, his friends work along with Cardia and an unexpected ally to clear Lupin's name and find the real perpetrators behind the heist. -- -- OVA - May 17, 2018 -- 5,867 6.74
Soukou Kihei Votoms: Kakuyaku taru Itan -- -- Sunrise -- 5 eps -- Original -- Drama Mecha Military Sci-Fi -- Soukou Kihei Votoms: Kakuyaku taru Itan Soukou Kihei Votoms: Kakuyaku taru Itan -- Chirico is awoken from cold sleep and separated from Fyana. His attempts to find her come to the attention of a Nextant, the replacement for the Perfect Soldier program. At the same time, the new Pope is to be nominated, and Chirico is religiously considered to be "The Untouchable". With one of the nominees related to the Nextant, Chirico's actions will have far-reaching political ramifications. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- OVA - Mar 21, 1994 -- 2,945 6.96
Tentacle and Witches -- -- - -- 4 eps -- Visual novel -- Hentai Supernatural Magic -- Tentacle and Witches Tentacle and Witches -- High school can be a complicated time for young men, especially for young men named Ichirou Tachibana. Ichirou knows his homeroom teacher Yuuko Morino's biggest secret: she's a witch! When fellow classmate and witch Lily Ramses Futaba catches him peaking on Yuuko, she decides it's the perfect time for her to use a new spell she's acquired and turn Ichirou into her familiar servant. -- -- Lily's planned antagonism for Ichirou goes awry when the spell turns him into some sort of twisted, purple, tentacle monster. Now he must directly acquire sexual energy from witches in order to sate the tentacle monster's lust and retain elements of his humanity. To make matters worse for the two witches, Ichirou's new form gives him the power to control them to satisfy his basest desires! -- -- The trio also find out that the spell that Lily acquired was sold to her deceptively and intentionally made to appear genuine. Amidst all the sexual misadventures in the Witches and Tentacle, they're about to discover that something far more sinister is at work, and they are but pawns within a larger game. -- OVA - May 27, 2011 -- 14,597 7.11
Tokyo Ghoul: "Pinto" -- -- Studio Pierrot -- 1 ep -- Light novel -- Action Drama Horror Mystery Psychological Supernatural -- Tokyo Ghoul: "Pinto" Tokyo Ghoul: "Pinto" -- Shuu Tsukiyama is a "ghoul": a creature who eats human flesh, and he likes to enjoy his meals to the fullest. One night, while relishing in the premeditated murder of his dinner, Shuu's much anticipated first bite is disturbed by a sudden flash of light. -- -- The flash turns out to be from the camera of high schooler Chie Hori, who presents Shuu with the perfect picture capturing his true nature; the extremely clear shot of a bloody corpse and an overly excited Shuu threatens to expose his ghoul identity, thus Shuu needs to sort out this situation quickly. -- -- After Shuu discovers that Chie attends the same high school as him and is even in the same class, the reason behind his feelings of obsession changes from self-preservation to morbid curiosity. As he grows closer to the absent-minded and extremely odd photographer, he challenges them both to learn more about each other's conflicting worlds; Shuu promises that Chie will come out of this experience with a photograph superior to the one she already has. -- -- OVA - Dec 25, 2015 -- 158,029 7.25
Touch -- -- Gallop, Group TAC, Studio Junio -- 101 eps -- Manga -- Sports Romance School Drama Slice of Life Shounen -- Touch Touch -- The story centers around three characters—Uesugi Kazuya, his twin older brother Tatsuya, and Asakura Minami. Kazuya is the darling of his town as he's talented, hardworking, and the ace pitcher for his middle school baseball team. Tatsuya is a hopeless slacker who's been living the life of giving up the spotlight to Kazuya, despite the fact that he may be more gifted than him. Minami is the beautiful childhood girlfriend and for all intents, sister from next door who treats both of them as equals. Society largely assumes Kazuya and Minami will become the perfect couple, including Tatsuya. Yet as time progresses, Tatsuya grows to realize that he's willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of his brother, except at the expense of giving up Minami to Kazuya. And thus the story is told of Tatsuya trying to prove himself over his established younger brother, how it affects the relationship between the three, and both brothers' attempts to make Minami's lifelong dreams come true. -- 27,856 8.02
Virtua Fighter -- -- Tokyo Movie Shinsha -- 35 eps -- Game -- Action Adventure Martial Arts Comedy Shounen -- Virtua Fighter Virtua Fighter -- Akira Yuki has spent years honing his Bajiquan skills under the guidance of his grandfather. He yearns to see the constellation of the eight stars of heaven, which are only revealed to those with real strength. This burning desire urges him to embark on travels, so as to learn more about how to see the stars. -- -- Meanwhile, a nefarious robotics scientist, Eva Durix, desires to create the perfect soldier. Eva's group, Judgment 6, tracks down and kidnaps Sarah Bryant, a college student and close acquaintance of Akira who is investigating a mysterious accident concerning her brother. Akira must now fight his way to Sarah to save her from the clutches of Judgement 6, a perilous path sure to be paved with countless challenges. -- -- Licensor: -- Media Blasters -- 8,166 7.11
Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san -- -- Xebec -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Ecchi Harem Romance Shounen Supernatural -- Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san -- Once a hot springs inn, now a boarding house with extraordinarily cheap rent, Yuragi-sou is virtually uninhabited save for a few peculiar residents. As rumor has it, it is haunted by a vile ghost which scares away all potential tenants. Therefore, it is the perfect refuge for Fuyuzora Kogarashi—a broke, homeless psychic seeking an affordable roof to stay under and ghosts to exorcise. -- -- Kogarashi prepares for a face-off against the ghost, only to find out it is not as malicious as the rumors made it out to be. Instead, it is the ghost of a beautiful, silver-haired girl whose only recollection of her life before death is her name: Yuuna. Even more baffling is that the other tenants of Yuragi-sou not only are able to see Yuuna as well, but each has their own supernatural ability. -- -- Amidst the chaos caused by his quirky fellow residents, Kogarashi attempts to uncover the regret that keeps Yuuna anchored to the world of the living, lest she become an evil spirit sentenced to spend her afterlife in hell. -- -- 198,730 7.04
Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san -- -- Xebec -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Ecchi Harem Romance Shounen Supernatural -- Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san -- Once a hot springs inn, now a boarding house with extraordinarily cheap rent, Yuragi-sou is virtually uninhabited save for a few peculiar residents. As rumor has it, it is haunted by a vile ghost which scares away all potential tenants. Therefore, it is the perfect refuge for Fuyuzora Kogarashi—a broke, homeless psychic seeking an affordable roof to stay under and ghosts to exorcise. -- -- Kogarashi prepares for a face-off against the ghost, only to find out it is not as malicious as the rumors made it out to be. Instead, it is the ghost of a beautiful, silver-haired girl whose only recollection of her life before death is her name: Yuuna. Even more baffling is that the other tenants of Yuragi-sou not only are able to see Yuuna as well, but each has their own supernatural ability. -- -- Amidst the chaos caused by his quirky fellow residents, Kogarashi attempts to uncover the regret that keeps Yuuna anchored to the world of the living, lest she become an evil spirit sentenced to spend her afterlife in hell. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Aniplex of America -- 198,730 7.04
Yuru Camp△ -- -- C-Station -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Slice of Life Comedy -- Yuru Camp△ Yuru Camp△ -- While the perfect getaway for most girls her age might be a fancy vacation with their loved ones, Rin Shima's ideal way of spending her days off is camping alone at the base of Mount Fuji. From pitching her tent to gathering firewood, she has always done everything by herself, and has no plans of leaving her little solitary world. -- -- However, what starts off as one of Rin's usual camping sessions somehow ends up as a surprise get-together for two when the lost Nadeshiko Kagamihara is forced to take refuge at her campsite. Originally intending to see the picturesque view of Mount Fuji for herself, Nadeshiko's plans are disrupted when she ends up falling asleep partway to her destination. Alone and with no other choice, she seeks help from the only other person nearby. Despite their hasty introductions, the two girls nevertheless enjoy the chilly night together, eating ramen and conversing while the campfire keeps them warm. And even after Nadeshiko's sister finally picks her up later that night, both girls silently ponder the possibility of another camping trip together. -- -- 332,880 8.27
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