classes ::: Verb,
children :::
branches ::: obstruct

bookmarks: Instances - Definitions - Quotes - Chapters - Wordnet - Webgen - Bottom of Page


object:obstruct
word class:Verb

see also :::

questions, comments, suggestions/feedback, take-down requests, contribute, etc
contact me @ integralyogin@gmail.com or
join the integral discord server (chatrooms)
if the page you visited was empty, it may be noted and I will try to fill it out. cheers



now begins generated list of local instances, definitions, quotes, instances in chapters, wordnet info if available and instances among weblinks


OBJECT INSTANCES [0] - TOPICS - AUTHORS - BOOKS - CHAPTERS - CLASSES - SEE ALSO - SIMILAR TITLES

TOPICS
SEE ALSO


AUTH

BOOKS
General_Principles_of_Kabbalah
Letters_On_Yoga
Letters_On_Yoga_IV
Life_without_Death
My_Burning_Heart
Process_and_Reality
The_Divine_Milieu
The_Heros_Journey
The_Imitation_of_Christ
The_Use_and_Abuse_of_History
The_Wit_and_Wisdom_of_Alfred_North_Whitehead
Toward_the_Future

IN CHAPTERS TITLE

IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

IN CHAPTERS TEXT
00.03_-_Upanishadic_Symbolism
0.00_-_INTRODUCTION
01.01_-_The_One_Thing_Needful
01.04_-_The_Poetry_in_the_Making
0_1958-04-03
0_1960-11-26
0_1961-01-31
0_1964-08-08
0_1964-10-24a
0_1967-02-04
0_1967-03-02
0_1967-07-12
0_1968-02-03
0_1968-06-29
0_1968-08-28
0_1969-04-19
0_1970-06-20
0_1971-04-14
0_1971-05-22
0_1971-06-26
0_1971-08-07
0_1972-02-19
0_1972-03-25
0_1972-03-30
0_1972-04-13
0_1972-10-11
0_1972-10-25
0_1973-01-10
02.05_-_The_Godheads_of_the_Little_Life
04.05_-_The_Freedom_and_the_Force_of_the_Spirit
05.04_-_The_Immortal_Person
05.06_-_Physics_or_philosophy
05.24_-_Process_of_Purification
06.02_-_The_Way_of_Fate_and_the_Problem_of_Pain
06.09_-_How_to_Wait
07.02_-_The_Parable_of_the_Search_for_the_Soul
10.05_-_Mind_and_the_Mental_World
1.016_-_The_Bee
1.01_-_Economy
1.01_-_Foreward
1.01_-_SAMADHI_PADA
1.01_-_The_First_Steps
1.01_-_The_Four_Aids
1.01_-_The_Human_Aspiration
10.22_-_Short_Notes_-_5-_Consciousness_and_Dimensions_of_View
1.028_-_Bringing_About_Whole-Souled_Dedication
1.02_-_BOOK_THE_SECOND
1.02_-_MAPS_OF_MEANING_-_THREE_LEVELS_OF_ANALYSIS
1.02_-_Meditating_on_Tara
1.02_-_SADHANA_PADA
1.02_-_Skillful_Means
1.02_-_The_Doctrine_of_the_Mystics
1.02_-_The_Philosophy_of_Ishvara
1.02_-_The_Ultimate_Path_is_Without_Difficulty
1.031_-_Intense_Aspiration
1.037_-_Preventing_the_Fall_in_Yoga
1.03_-_Bloodstream_Sermon
1.03_-_Self-Surrender_in_Works_-_The_Way_of_The_Gita
1.03_-_Tara,_Liberator_from_the_Eight_Dangers
1.03_-_To_Layman_Ishii
1.03_-_YIBHOOTI_PADA
1.04_-_ADVICE_TO_HOUSEHOLDERS
1.04_-_GOD_IN_THE_WORLD
1.04_-_KAI_VALYA_PADA
1.04_-_Te_Shan_Carrying_His_Bundle
1.04_-_The_Conditions_of_Esoteric_Training
1.04_-_The_Gods_of_the_Veda
1.04_-_The_Silent_Mind
1.052_-_Yoga_Practice_-_A_Series_of_Positive_Steps
1.05_-_Consciousness
1.05_-_Some_Results_of_Initiation
1.05_-_Vishnu_as_Brahma_creates_the_world
1.05_-_Yoga_and_Hypnotism
1.06_-_Agni_and_the_Truth
1.06_-_Origin_of_the_four_castes
1.06_-_The_Ascent_of_the_Sacrifice_2_The_Works_of_Love_-_The_Works_of_Life
1.06_-_The_Desire_to_be
1.06_-_The_Four_Powers_of_the_Mother
1.07_-_A_Song_of_Longing_for_Tara,_the_Infallible
1.07_-_Note_on_the_word_Go
1.080_-_Pratyahara_-_The_Return_of_Energy
1.081_-_The_Application_of_Pratyahara
1.08_-_BOOK_THE_EIGHTH
1.08_-_Introduction_to_Patanjalis_Yoga_Aphorisms
1.08_-_The_Depths_of_the_Divine
1.08_-_THINGS_THE_GERMANS_LACK
1.096_-_Powers_that_Accrue_in_the_Practice
1.099_-_The_Entry_of_the_Eternal_into_the_Individual
1.09_-_ADVICE_TO_THE_BRAHMOS
1.09_-_Concentration_-_Its_Spiritual_Uses
1.09_-_Legend_of_Lakshmi
1.107_-_The_Bestowal_of_a_Divine_Gift
1.10_-_Concentration_-_Its_Practice
1.10_-_Conscious_Force
1.1.1.01_-_Three_Elements_of_Poetic_Creation
1.1.1.03_-_Creative_Power_and_the_Human_Instrument
11.15_-_Sri_Aurobindo
1.11_-_Powers
1.11_-_The_Change_of_Power
1.11_-_The_Seven_Rivers
1.12_-_God_Departs
1.12_-_Independence
1.1.2_-_Intellect_and_the_Intellectual
1.12_-_THE_FESTIVAL_AT_PNIHTI
1.12_-_The_Superconscient
1.13_-_Conclusion_-_He_is_here
1.1.4_-_The_Physical_Mind_and_Sadhana
1.14_-_The_Secret
1.15_-_Prayers
1.15_-_The_world_overrun_with_trees;_they_are_destroyed_by_the_Pracetasas
1.1.5_-_Thought_and_Knowledge
1.18_-_M._AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.18_-_The_Human_Fathers
1.19_-_The_Victory_of_the_Fathers
1.200-1.224_Talks
1.2.06_-_Rejection
1.2.07_-_Surrender
12.09_-_The_Story_of_Dr._Faustus_Retold
1.20_-_RULES_FOR_HOUSEHOLDERS_AND_MONKS
1.2.10_-_Opening
1.21_-_Tabooed_Things
1.22_-_EMOTIONALISM
1.23_-_Improvising_a_Temple
1.240_-_1.300_Talks
1.240_-_Talks_2
1.25_-_ADVICE_TO_PUNDIT_SHASHADHAR
1.25_-_The_Knot_of_Matter
1.26_-_The_Ascending_Series_of_Substance
1.28_-_Supermind,_Mind_and_the_Overmind_Maya
1.300_-_1.400_Talks
1.3.5.02_-_Man_and_the_Supermind
1.400_-_1.450_Talks
1.4.02_-_The_Divine_Force
14.07_-_A_Review_of_Our_Ashram_Life
1.439
1.450_-_1.500_Talks
1.550_-_1.600_Talks
1.63_-_The_Interpretation_of_the_Fire-Festivals
17.11_-_A_Prayer
1913_11_25p
1914_11_20p
1951-04-21_-_Sri_Aurobindos_letter_on_conditions_for_doing_yoga_-_Aspiration,_tapasya,_surrender_-_The_lower_vital_-_old_habits_-_obsession_-_Sri_Aurobindo_on_choice_and_the_double_life_-_The_old_fiasco_-_inner_realisation_and_outer_change
1951-04-23_-_The_goal_and_the_way_-_Learning_how_to_sleep_-_relaxation_-_Adverse_forces-_test_of_sincerity_-_Attitude_to_suffering_and_death
1953-07-22
1953-07-29
1953-10-14
1954-11-10_-_Inner_experience,_the_basis_of_action_-_Keeping_open_to_the_Force_-_Faith_through_aspiration_-_The_Mothers_symbol_-_The_mind_and_vital_seize_experience_-_Degrees_of_sincerity_-Becoming_conscious_of_the_Divine_Force
1955-02-09_-_Desire_is_contagious_-_Primitive_form_of_love_-_the_artists_delight_-_Psychic_need,_mind_as_an_instrument_-_How_the_psychic_being_expresses_itself_-_Distinguishing_the_parts_of_ones_being_-_The_psychic_guides_-_Illness_-_Mothers_vision
1956-03-07_-_Sacrifice,_Animals,_hostile_forces,_receive_in_proportion_to_consciousness_-_To_be_luminously_open_-_Integral_transformation_-_Pain_of_rejection,_delight_of_progress_-_Spirit_behind_intention_-_Spirit,_matter,_over-simplified
1956-08-15_-_Protection,_purification,_fear_-_Atmosphere_at_the_Ashram_on_Darshan_days_-_Darshan_messages_-_Significance_of_15-08_-_State_of_surrender_-_Divine_Grace_always_all-powerful_-_Assumption_of_Virgin_Mary_-_SA_message_of_1947-08-15
1956-09-05_-_Material_life,_seeing_in_the_right_way_-_Effect_of_the_Supermind_on_the_earth_-_Emergence_of_the_Supermind_-_Falling_back_into_the_same_mistaken_ways
1957-07-10_-_A_new_world_is_born_-_Overmind_creation_dissolved
1957-07-31_-_Awakening_aspiration_in_the_body
1958-06-25_-_Sadhana_in_the_body
1f.lovecraft_-_At_the_Mountains_of_Madness
1f.lovecraft_-_In_the_Walls_of_Eryx
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Colour_out_of_Space
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Dreams_in_the_Witch_House
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Electric_Executioner
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Ghost-Eater
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Haunter_of_the_Dark
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Mound
1.jm_-_The_Song_of_Perfect_Assurance_(to_the_Demons)
1.jm_-_Upon_this_earth,_the_land_of_the_Victorious_Ones
1.kt_-_A_Song_on_the_View_of_Voidness
1.mbn_-_Prayers_for_the_Protection_and_Opening_of_the_Heart
1.rb_-_By_The_Fire-Side
1.rb_-_Paracelsus_-_Part_III_-_Paracelsus
1.rb_-_Paracelsus_-_Part_I_-_Paracelsus_Aspires
1.rb_-_Rhyme_for_a_Child_Viewing_a_Naked_Venus_in_a_Painting_of_'The_Judgement_of_Paris'
1.rb_-_Sordello_-_Book_the_Fifth
1.rb_-_Sordello_-_Book_the_Second
1.rb_-_Sordello_-_Book_the_Sixth
1.rb_-_Sordello_-_Book_the_Third
1.rt_-_Fireflies
1.rwe_-_Dmonic_Love
1.whitman_-_To_Oratists
1.ww_-_2-_The_White_Doe_Of_Rylstone,_Or,_The_Fate_Of_The_Nortons
1.ww_-_Book_Eighth-_Retrospect--Love_Of_Nature_Leading_To_Love_Of_Man
1.ww_-_Book_Thirteenth_[Imagination_And_Taste,_How_Impaired_And_Restored_Concluded]
1.ww_-_The_Excursion-_X-_Book_Ninth-_Discourse_of_the_Wanderer,_and_an_Evening_Visit_to_the_Lake
1.ww_-_View_From_The_Top_Of_Black_Comb
2.01_-_Mandala_One
2.01_-_The_Yoga_and_Its_Objects
2.02_-_Indra,_Giver_of_Light
2.02_-_On_Letters
2.02_-_The_Ishavasyopanishad_with_a_commentary_in_English
2.03_-_Karmayogin__A_Commentary_on_the_Isha_Upanishad
2.03_-_On_Medicine
2.03_-_The_Purified_Understanding
2.07_-_On_Congress_and_Politics
2.07_-_The_Mother__Relations_with_Others
2.09_-_Human_representations_of_the_Divine_Ideal_of_Love
2.10_-_THE_MASTER_AND_NARENDRA
2.1.1.04_-_Reading,_Yogic_Force_and_the_Development_of_Style
2.1.1_-_The_Nature_of_the_Vital
2.11_-_WITH_THE_DEVOTEES_IN_CALCUTTA
2.12_-_THE_MASTERS_REMINISCENCES
2.1.2_-_The_Vital_and_Other_Levels_of_Being
2.13_-_On_Psychology
2.13_-_THE_MASTER_AT_THE_HOUSES_OF_BALARM_AND_GIRISH
2.14_-_On_Movements
2.1.4_-_The_Lower_Vital_Being
2.14_-_The_Origin_and_Remedy_of_Falsehood,_Error,_Wrong_and_Evil
2.15_-_On_the_Gods_and_Asuras
2.16_-_The_15th_of_August
2.16_-_The_Integral_Knowledge_and_the_Aim_of_Life;_Four_Theories_of_Existence
2.16_-_VISIT_TO_NANDA_BOSES_HOUSE
2.17_-_December_1938
2.18_-_SRI_RAMAKRISHNA_AT_SYAMPUKUR
2.2.02_-_The_True_Being_and_the_True_Consciousness
2.20_-_The_Philosophy_of_Rebirth
2.21_-_The_Ladder_of_Self-transcendence
2.2.3_-_Depression_and_Despondency
2.23_-_Man_and_the_Evolution
2.23_-_The_Core_of_the_Gita.s_Meaning
2.24_-_The_Evolution_of_the_Spiritual_Man
2.25_-_The_Higher_and_the_Lower_Knowledge
2.25_-_The_Triple_Transformation
2.26_-_The_Ascent_towards_Supermind
2.2.7.01_-_Some_General_Remarks
2.27_-_Hathayoga
2.27_-_The_Gnostic_Being
2.28_-_The_Divine_Life
2.3.01_-_Concentration_and_Meditation
2.3.02_-_Mantra_and_Japa
2.3.02_-_Opening,_Sincerity_and_the_Mother's_Grace
2.3.03_-_The_Mother's_Presence
2.3.04_-_The_Mother's_Force
2.3.05_-_Sadhana_through_Work_for_the_Mother
2.3.06_-_The_Mother's_Lights
2.3.08_-_The_Mother's_Help_in_Difficulties
2.3.2_-_Desire
2.4.1_-_Human_Relations_and_the_Spiritual_Life
27.03_-_The_Great_Holocaust_-_Chhinnamasta
2_-_Other_Hymns_to_Agni
3.02_-_Aridity_in_Prayer
3.1.05_-_A_Vision_of_Science
3.1.1_-_The_Transformation_of_the_Physical
3.1.2_-_Levels_of_the_Physical_Being
3.1.3_-_Difficulties_of_the_Physical_Being
3.2.08_-_Bhakti_Yoga_and_Vaishnavism
3.21_-_Of_Black_Magic
3.2.2_-_Sleep
3.3.1_-_Agni,_the_Divine_Will-Force
3.3.1_-_Illness_and_Health
34.10_-_Hymn_To_Earth
3.4.1_-_The_Subconscient_and_the_Integral_Yoga
36.08_-_A_Commentary_on_the_First_Six_Suktas_of_Rigveda
3.7.1.05_-_The_Significance_of_Rebirth
3.7.2.02_-_The_Terrestial_Law
3_-_Commentaries_and_Annotated_Translations
4.02_-_Difficulties
4.06_-_Purification-the_Lower_Mentality
4.1.1_-_The_Difficulties_of_Yoga
4.1.3_-_Imperfections_and_Periods_of_Arrest
4.1.4_-_Resistances,_Sufferings_and_Falls
4.14_-_The_Power_of_the_Instruments
4.20_-_The_Intuitive_Mind
4.21_-_The_Gradations_of_the_supermind
4.2.1_-_The_Right_Attitude_towards_Difficulties
4.2.2_-_Steps_towards_Overcoming_Difficulties
4.22_-_The_supramental_Thought_and_Knowledge
4.2.5_-_Dealing_with_Depression_and_Despondency
4.25_-_Towards_the_supramental_Time_Vision
4.3.1_-_The_Hostile_Forces_and_the_Difficulties_of_Yoga
4.3.2_-_Attacks_by_the_Hostile_Forces
4.3.3_-_Dealing_with_Hostile_Attacks
4.4.4.05_-_The_Descent_of_Force_or_Power
5.03_-_The_Divine_Body
5.4.01_-_Notes_on_Root-Sounds
7.02_-_The_Mind
Appendix_4_-_Priest_Spells
BOOK_II._--_PART_II._THE_ARCHAIC_SYMBOLISM_OF_THE_WORLD-RELIGIONS
BOOK_I._--_PART_I._COSMIC_EVOLUTION
Deutsches_Requiem
Diamond_Sutra_1
DM_2_-_How_to_Meditate
DS2
DS3
DS4
ENNEAD_04.03_-_Psychological_Questions.
Guru_Granth_Sahib_first_part
LUX.06_-_DIVINATION
r1912_01_13
r1912_01_14
r1912_01_14a
r1912_01_16
r1912_01_19
r1912_01_27
r1912_01_28
r1912_02_06
r1912_07_01
r1912_07_03
r1912_07_14
r1912_07_19
r1912_07_20
r1912_07_21
r1912_07_23
r1912_10_13
r1912_11_29
r1912_12_04
r1912_12_05
r1912_12_06
r1912_12_07
r1913_01_04
r1913_01_05
r1913_01_06
r1913_01_08
r1913_01_09
r1913_01_15
r1913_01_26
r1913_01_31
r1913_02_12
r1913_06_04
r1913_06_05
r1913_06_09
r1913_06_13
r1913_06_17
r1913_06_17a
r1913_06_17b
r1913_06_19
r1913_06_20
r1913_07_06
r1913_07_07
r1913_07_09
r1913_09_13
r1913_09_14
r1913_09_18
r1913_09_22
r1913_09_30
r1913_11_13
r1913_11_15
r1913_11_16
r1913_11_17
r1913_11_18
r1913_11_21
r1913_11_24
r1913_11_25
r1913_12_01a
r1913_12_02a
r1913_12_03b
r1913_12_07
r1913_12_12a
r1913_12_12b
r1913_12_14
r1913_12_22
r1913_12_23
r1913_12_28
r1914_01_15
r1914_03_17
r1914_03_25
r1914_03_26
r1914_03_27
r1914_04_04
r1914_04_10
r1914_04_11
r1914_04_12
r1914_04_13
r1914_04_14
r1914_04_15
r1914_04_20
r1914_05_01
r1914_05_06
r1914_05_12
r1914_05_22
r1914_05_30
r1914_05_31
r1914_06_14
r1914_06_17
r1914_06_18
r1914_06_19
r1914_06_24
r1914_06_28
r1914_07_01
r1914_07_08
r1914_07_09
r1914_07_10
r1914_07_12
r1914_07_18
r1914_07_21
r1914_07_22
r1914_07_23
r1914_07_24
r1914_07_25
r1914_07_30
r1914_07_31
r1914_08_01
r1914_08_13
r1914_08_14
r1914_08_16
r1914_08_17
r1914_08_21
r1914_08_23
r1914_08_27
r1914_08_29
r1914_08_30
r1914_08_31
r1914_09_01
r1914_09_04
r1914_09_25
r1914_10_01
r1914_10_02
r1914_10_03
r1914_10_05
r1914_10_08
r1914_10_09
r1914_10_13
r1914_10_20
r1914_10_22
r1914_10_26
r1914_11_04
r1914_11_14
r1914_11_15
r1914_11_20
r1914_11_23
r1914_11_24
r1914_11_29
r1914_11_30
r1914_12_06
r1914_12_07
r1914_12_17
r1914_12_18
r1914_12_22
r1915_01_01a
r1915_01_04a
r1915_01_04b
r1915_01_05a
r1915_01_05b
r1915_01_08
r1915_01_09
r1915_01_12
r1915_01_15
r1915_01_16
r1915_01_17
r1915_01_28
r1915_02_01
r1915_02_02
r1915_04_25
r1915_04_27
r1915_04_29
r1915_05_02
r1915_05_03
r1915_05_04
r1915_05_06
r1915_05_14
r1915_05_19
r1915_05_21
r1915_05_22
r1915_05_25
r1915_06_03
r1915_06_04
r1915_06_08
r1915_06_13
r1915_06_17
r1915_06_24
r1915_06_25
r1915_07_05
r1915_07_06
r1915_07_07
r1915_07_08
r1915_07_13
r1915_07_31
r1915_08_06
r1915_08_08
r1915_08_26
r1917_01_30
r1917_02_08
r1917_02_10
r1917_02_11
r1917_02_15
r1917_02_17
r1917_02_20
r1917_02_21
r1917_02_25
r1917_03_03
r1917_03_04
r1917_03_05
r1917_03_10
r1917_03_13
r1917_03_17
r1917_08_24
r1917_08_25
r1917_08_26
r1917_08_27
r1917_08_28
r1917_08_29
r1917_08_31
r1917_09_02
r1917_09_08
r1917_09_09
r1917_09_10
r1917_09_20
r1917_09_24
r1918_02_14
r1918_02_20
r1918_02_23
r1918_02_24
r1918_02_25
r1918_02_26
r1918_03_07
r1918_05_05
r1918_05_06
r1918_05_07
r1918_05_08
r1918_05_09
r1918_05_10
r1918_05_11
r1918_05_12
r1918_05_13
r1918_05_14
r1918_05_18
r1918_05_20
r1918_05_21
r1918_05_22
r1918_05_23
r1918_06_14
r1918_07_01
r1919_06_24
r1919_06_25
r1919_06_28
r1919_06_29
r1919_07_06
r1919_07_08
r1919_07_10
r1919_07_13
r1919_07_14
r1919_07_16
r1919_07_17
r1919_07_18
r1919_07_19
r1919_07_20
r1919_07_21
r1919_07_22
r1919_07_23
r1919_07_24
r1919_07_26
r1919_07_28
r1919_07_31
r1919_08_01
r1919_08_04
r1919_08_10
r1919_08_21
r1919_08_25
r1919_08_26
r1919_08_27
r1919_08_28
r1919_08_29
r1919_08_31
r1919_09_01
r1920_02_04
r1920_02_21
r1920_02_22
r1920_02_24
r1920_02_27
r1920_02_29
r1920_03_01
r1920_03_04
r1920_03_14
r1920_03_15
r1920_03_16
r1920_06_07
r1920_06_08
r1920_06_10
r1920_06_17
r1920_10_17
r1927_01_03
r1927_01_10
r1927_01_11
r1927_01_13
r1927_01_14
r1927_01_15
r1927_01_17
r1927_01_20
r1927_01_21
r1927_01_23
r1927_01_27
r1927_04_15
r1927_10_24
Sayings_of_Sri_Ramakrishna_(text)
Sophist
Tablets_of_Baha_u_llah_text
Talks_001-025
Talks_026-050
Talks_051-075
Talks_176-200
Talks_225-239
Talks_600-652
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_1
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_2
The_Act_of_Creation_text
The_Anapanasati_Sutta__A_Practical_Guide_to_Mindfullness_of_Breathing_and_Tranquil_Wisdom_Meditation
The_Five,_Ranks_of_The_Apparent_and_the_Real
The_Poems_of_Cold_Mountain
Timaeus

PRIMARY CLASS

SIMILAR TITLES
obstruct

DEFINITIONS

16. they enter into the perception of gnosis that is unobstructed and unimpeded with respect to the past (S. atīte 'dhvany asangam apratihataM jNānadarsanaM pravartate; T. 'das pa'i dus la ma chags ma thogs pa'i ye shes gzigs par 'jug pa; C. zhihui zhi guoqushi wu'ai 智慧知過去世無礙)

17. they enter into the perception of gnosis that is unobstructed and unimpeded with respect to the future (S. anāgate 'dhvany asangam apratihataM jNānadarsanaM pravartate; T. ma 'ongs pa'i dus la ma chags ma thogs pa'i ye shes gzigs par 'jug pa; C. zhihui zhi weilaishi wu'ai 智慧知未來世無礙)

18. they enter into the perception of gnosis that is unobstructed and unimpeded with respect to the present (S. pratyutpanne 'dhvany asangam apratihataM jNānadarsanaM pravartate; T. da ltar gyi dus la ma chags ma thogs pa'i ye shes gzigs par 'jug pa; C. zhihui zhi xianzaishi wu'ai 智慧知現在世無礙)

1. afflictive obstructions (S. klesāvarana; T. nyon mongs pa'i sgrib ba; C. fannao zhang 煩惱障)

2. cognitive or noetic obstructions [to omniscience] (S. jNeyāvarana; T. shes bya'i sgrib ba; C. suozhi zhang 所知障)

  4. Truthfulness and unswerving faith in the law of Karma, independent of any power in nature that could interfere: a law whose course is not to be obstructed by any agency, not to be caused to deviate by prayer or propitiatory exoteric ceremonies;

acalA. (T. mi g.yo ba; C. budong di; J. fudoji; K. pudong chi 不動地). In Sanskrit, "immovable" or "steadfast"; the name for the eighth of the ten BODHISATTVA grounds or stages (BHuMI) according to the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA. At this level of the path (MARGA), the bodhisattva realizes the acquiescence or receptivity to the nonproduction of dharmas (ANUTPATTIKADHARMAKsANTI) and is no longer perturbed by either cause or absence of cause. The eighth-stage bodhisattva is able to project different transformation bodies (NIRMAnAKAYA) anywhere in the universe. This bhumi is sometimes correlated with mastery of the eighth perfection of resolve or aspiration (PRAnIDHANAPARAMITA). According to some commentators, upon reaching this bhumi, the bodhisattva has abandoned all of the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and is thus liberated from any further rebirth in a realm where he would be subject to defilement; for this reason, the eighth, ninth, and tenth bhumis are sometimes called "pure bhumis."

adj. 1. Not imprisoned or enslaved; being at liberty. 2. Unconstrained; unconfined. 3. Unobstructed; clear. 4. Ready or generous in using or giving; liberal; lavish. 5. Exempt from external authority, interference, restriction, etc., as a person or one"s will, thought, choice, action, etc.; independent; unrestricted. 6. Exempt or released from something specified that controls, restrains, burdens, etc. (usually followed by from or of). 7. Given readily or in profusion. freer, thought-free, world-free. *adv. *8. In a free manner; without constraints; unimpeded. v. 9. To make free; set at liberty; release from bondage, imprisonment, or restraint. 10. To disengage or clear something from an entanglement. 11. To relieve or rid of a burden, an inconvenience or an obligation. freed. set free. Released; liberated; freed.

Agonshu. (阿含宗). In Japanese, "AGAMA School"; a Japanese "new religion" structured from elements drawn from esoteric Buddhism (MIKKYo) and indigenous Japanese religions; founded in 1970 by Kiriyama Seiyu (born Tsutsumi Masao in 1921). Kiriyama's teachings are presented first in his Henshin no genri ("Principles of Transformation"; 1975). Kiriyama believed he had been saved by the compassion of Kannon (AVALOKITEsVARA) and was told by that BODHISATTVA to teach others using the HOMA (J. goma) fire rituals drawn from Buddhist esoteric (MIKKYo) traditions. Later, while Kiriyama was reading the Agama (J. agon) scriptures, he realized that Buddhism as it was currently constituted in Japan did not correspond to the original teachings of the Buddha. In 1978, Kiriyama changed the name of his religious movement to Agon, the Japanese pronunciation of the transcription of Agama, positing that his teachings derived from the earliest scriptures of Buddhism and thus legitimizing them. His practices are fundamentally concerned with removing practitioners' karmic hindrances (KARMAVARAnA). Since many of these hindrances, he claims, are the result of neglecting one's ancestors or are inherited from them, much attention is also paid in the school to transforming the spirits of the dead into buddhas themselves, which in turn will also free the current generation from their karmic obstructions. Spiritual power in the school derives from the shinsei busshari (true sARĪRA [relics] of the Buddha), a sacred reliquary holding a bone fragment of the Buddha himself, given to Kiriyama in 1986 by the president of Sri Lanka. Individual adherents keep a miniature replica of the sarīra in their own homes, and the relic is said to have the transformational power to turn ancestors into buddhas. A "Star Festival" (Hoshi Matsuri) is held in Kyoto on each National Foundation Day (February 11), at which time two massive homa fires are lit, one liberating the spirits of the ancestors (and thus freeing the current generation from inherited karmic obstructions), the other helping to make the deepest wishes of its adherents come true. Adherents write millions of prayers on wooden sticks, which are cast into the two fires.

AkAsa. (T. nam mkha'; C. xukong; J. koku; K. hogong 虚空). In Sanskrit, "space" or "spatiality"; "sky," and "ether." In ABHIDHARMA analysis, AkAsa has two discrete denotations. First, as "spatiality," AkAsa is an absence that delimits forms; like the empty space inside a door frame, AkAsa is a hole that is itself empty but that defines, or is defined by, the material that surrounds it. Second, as the vast emptiness of "space," AkAsa comes also to be described as the absence of obstruction and is enumerated as one of the permanent phenomena (nityadharma) because it does not change from moment to moment. Space in this sense is also interpreted as being something akin to the Western conception of ether, a virtually immaterial, but glowing fluid that serves as the support for the four material elements (MAHABHuTA). (Because this ethereal form of AkAsa is thought to be glowing, it is sometimes used as a metaphor for buddhahood, which is said to be radiant like the sun or space.) In addition to these two abhidharma definitions, the sphere of infinite space (AKAsANANTYAYATANA) has a meditative context as well through its listing as the first of the four immaterial DHYANAS. AkAsa is recognized as one of the uncompounded dharmas (ASAMSKṚTADHARMA) in six of the mainstream Buddhist schools, including the SARVASTIVADA and the MAHASAMGHIKA, as well as the later YOGACARA; three others reject this interpretation, including the THERAVADA.

aklistAjNAna. (T. nyon mongs can ma yin pa'i mi shes pa; C. buran wuzhi; J. fuzen muchi; K. puryom muji 不染無知). In Sanskrit, "unafflicted ignorance," a form of ignorance that affects those who have destroyed the KLEsAVARAnA (afflictive obstructions) but not the JNEYAVARAnA (cognitive obstructions). The term is used specifically in the MAHAYANA tradition to refer to ARHATs, who have been liberated from rebirth (SAMSARA) but who are still presumed to possess this subtlest form of ignorance. These cognitive obstructions are considered to result from fundamental misapprehensions about the nature of reality and serve as the origin of the afflictive obstructions. The buddhas therefore encourage the arhats to overcome even this unafflicted ignorance and enter the BODHISATTVA path that leads to buddhahood.

Alagaddupamasutta. (C. Alizha jing; J. Aritakyo; K. Arit'a kyong 阿梨經). In PAli, "Discourse on the Simile of the Snake," the twenty-second sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SarvAstivAda recension appears as the 200th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA, and the similes of the snake and of the raft are the subjects of independent sutras in an unidentified recension in the EKOTTARAGAMA). The discourse was preached by the Buddha at SAvatthi (sRAVASTĪ), in response to the wrong view (MITHYADṚstI) of the monk Arittha. Arittha maintained that the Buddha taught that one could enjoy sensual pleasures without obstructing one's progress along the path to liberation, and remained recalcitrant even after the Buddha admonished him. The Buddha then spoke to the assembly of monks on the wrong way and the right way of learning the dharma. In his discourse, he uses several similes to enhance his audience's understanding, including the eponymous "simile of the snake": just as one could be bitten and die by grasping a poisonous snake by the tail instead of the head, so too will using the dharma merely for disputation or polemics lead to one's peril because of one's wrong grasp of the dharma. This sutta also contains the famous "simile of the raft," where the Buddha compares his dispensation or teaching (sASANA) to a makeshift raft that will help one get across a raging river to the opposite shore: after one has successfully crossed that river by paddling furiously and reached solid ground, it would be inappropriate to put the raft on one's head and carry it; similarly, once one has used the dharma to get across the "raging river" of birth and death (SAMSARA) to the "other shore" of NIRVAnA, the teachings have served their purpose and should not be clung to.

All the apparent proofs of identity of “spirit” can be accounted for otherwise than by supposing the actual presence of the departed individual in the seance room. Such communications as are received evince no knowledge beyond that which we already have, and show no signs of emanating from a high source — and almost invariably such communications are trifling and paltry. Mediumship and seances are most harmful practice, as they open the door to the entry of pernicious obsessing influences from the lower astral realms. Moreover such practice may obstruct and retard the natural decomposition of the discarded lower elements of the deceased, and thus keep alive his kama-rupa beyond the term of its natural astral death. The appeal of astralism is very powerful to those who feel convinced that they have thereby obtained assurance of immortality and of the continued existence of their lost loved ones.

Amal: “Many obstructing agencies have to be met when one tries to break free from outwardness and plunge into the depths of one’s being. The very first of these obstructions is a poisonous serpent like a cobra—a terrifying front with a long supporting background of fearful forces.”

anacharis ::: n. --> A fresh-water weed of the frog&

Anantaryakarman. (P. Anantariyakamma; T. mtshams med pa'i las; C. wujian ye; J. mukengo; K. mugan op 無間業). In Sanskrit, "act that brings immediate retribution" or "inexpiable transgressions." This term refers to particularly heinous deeds that after death result in the "immediate retribution" of rebirth in the AVĪCI hell, without an intervening rebirth in another realm. They are often enumerated as five: patricide, matricide, killing an ARHAT, spilling the blood of a buddha, and causing schism in the monastic order (SAMGHABHEDA). According to PAli sources, this type of act also serves as a karmic obstruction (KARMAVARAnA) to concentration meditation (specifically of the KASInA visualization devices).

anuttarasamyaksaMbodhi. (T. bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa'i byang chub; C. wushang zhengdeng jue/anouduoluo sanmiao sanputi; J. mujoshotogaku/anokutara-sanmyaku-sanbodai; K. musang chongdŭng kak/anyoktara sammyak sambori 無上正等覺/阿耨多羅三藐三菩提). In Sanskrit, "unsurpassed (anuttara), complete (samyak), and perfect enlightenment (SAMBODHI)"; the enlightenment (BODHI) of a buddha, superior to all other forms of enlightenment. The term is often used to distinguish the enlightenment of a buddha from that of an ARHAT, with the former deemed superior because it is the result of the sustained practice of the BODHISATTVA path over the course of many eons (KALPA) of lifetimes. According to MahAyAna schools, in anuttarasamyaksaMbodhi, both of the two kinds of obstructions, the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and the obstructions to omniscience (JNEYAVARAnA), have been completely overcome. Although ARHATS also achieve enlightenment (BODHI), they have overcome only the first of the obstructions, not the second, and thus have still not realized anuttarasamyaksaMbodhi. This enlightenment, which is unique to the buddhas, surpasses all other types of realization and is thus unsurpassed, complete, and perfect. See also MAHABODHI; SAMBODHI.

apratisthitanirvAna. (T. mi gnas pa'i mya ngan las 'das pa; C. wuzhu niepan; J. mujunehan; K. muju yolban 無住涅槃). In Sanskrit, "unlocated nirvAna" or "nirvAna that is not permanently fixed"; the MAHAYANA description of the NIRVAnA of the buddhas, which is "not permanently fixed" at either the extreme of the SAMSARA of ordinary beings (PṚTHAGJANA) or what is presented as the overly quietistic nirvAna of the ARHAT. Since the buddhas' nirvAna is "unlocated," the buddhas are free to return to this world in order to save all sentient beings from suffering, without becoming in any way entangled by the prospect of rebirth, and without having passed completely away into the nirvAna of the arhat. NirvAna as it is experienced by the buddhas, who have eradicated both the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and obstructions to omniscience (JNEYAVARAnA), is therefore qualitatively different from that of the arhats, who have eradicated only the former.

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).

arhat. (P. arahant; T. dgra bcom pa; C. aluohan/yinggong; J. arakan/ogu; K. arahan/ŭnggong 阿羅漢/應供). In Sanskrit, "worthy one"; one who has destroyed the afflictions (KLEsA) and all causes for future REBIRTH and who thus will enter NIRVAnA at death; the standard Tibetan translation dgra bcom pa (drachompa) ("foe-destroyer") is based on the paronomastic gloss ari ("enemy") and han ("to destroy"). The arhat is the highest of the four grades of Buddhist saint or "noble person" (ARYAPUDGALA) recognized in the mainstream Buddhist schools; the others are, in ascending order, the SROTAAPANNA or "stream-enterer" (the first and lowest grade), the SAKṚDAGAMIN or "once-returner" (the second grade), and the ANAGAMIN or "nonreturner" (the third and penultimate grade). The arhat is one who has completely put aside all ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth: namely, (1) belief in the existence of a perduring self (SATKAYADṚstI); (2) skeptical doubt (about the efficacy of the path) (VICIKITSA); (3) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (sĪLAVRATAPARAMARsA); (4) sensual craving (KAMARAGA); (5) malice (VYAPADA); (6) craving for existence as a divinity (DEVA) in the realm of subtle materiality (RuPARAGA); (7) craving for existence as a divinity in the immaterial realm (ARuPYARAGA); (8) pride (MANA); (9) restlessness (AUDDHATYA); and (10) ignorance (AVIDYA). Also described as one who has achieved the extinction of the contaminants (ASRAVAKsAYA), the arhat is one who has attained nirvAna in this life, and at death attains final liberation (PARINIRVAnA) and will never again be subject to rebirth. Although the arhat is regarded as the ideal spiritual type in the mainstream Buddhist traditions, where the Buddha is also described as an arhat, in the MAHAYANA the attainment of an arhat pales before the far-superior achievements of a buddha. Although arhats also achieve enlightenment (BODHI), the MahAyAna tradition presumes that they have overcome only the first of the two kinds of obstructions, the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA), but are still subject to the noetic obstructions (JNEYAVARAnA); only the buddhas have completely overcome both and thus realize complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI). Certain arhats were selected by the Buddha to remain in the world until the coming of MAITREYA. These arhats (called LUOHAN in Chinese, a transcription of arhat), who typically numbered sixteen (see sOdAsASTHAVIRA), were objects of specific devotion in East Asian Buddhism, and East Asian monasteries will often contain a separate shrine to these luohans. Although in the MahAyAna sutras, the bodhisattva is extolled over the arhats, arhats figure prominently in these texts, very often as members of the assembly for the Buddha's discourse and sometimes as key figures. For example, in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"), sARIPUTRA is one of the Buddha's chief interlocutors and, with other arhats, receives a prophecy of his future buddhahood; in the VAJRACCHEDIKAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA, SUBHuTI is the Buddha's chief interlocutor; and in the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA, sAriputra is made to play the fool in a conversation with a goddess.

ARRESTS IN SADHANA. ::: A difficulty comes or an arrest in some movement which you have begun or have been carrying on for some time. Such arrests are inevitably frequent enough; one might almost say that every step forward is followed by an arrest. It is to be dealt with by becoming always more quiet, more firm in the will to go through, by opening oneself more and more so that any obstructing non-receptivity in the nature may diminish or disappear, by an affirmation of faith even in the midst of obscurity, faith in the presence of a Power that is working behind the cloud and the veil, in the guidance of the Guru, by an observation of oneself to find any cause of the arrest, not in a spirit of depression or discouragement but with the will to find out and remove it. This is the only right attitude and, if one is persistent in taking it, the periods of arrest are not abolished, - for that cannot be at this stage, - but greatly shortened and lightened in their incidence. Sometimes these arrests are periods, long or short, of assimilation or unseen preparation, their appearance of sterile immobility is deceptive ::: in that case, with the right attitude, one can after a time, by opening, by observation, by accumulated experience, begin to feel, to get some inkling of what is being prepared or done. Sometimes it is a period of true obstruction in which the Power at work has to deal with the obstacles in the way, obstacles in oneself, obstacles of the opposing cosmic forces or any other or of all together, and this kind of arrest may be long or short according to the magnitude or obstinacy or complexity of the impediments that are met. But here, too, the right attitude can alleviate or shorten and, if persistently taken, help to a more radical removal of the difficulties and greatly diminish the necessity of complete arrests hereafter.
On the contrary, an attitude of depression or unfaith in the help or the guidance or in the certitude of the victory of the guiding Power, a shutting up of yourself in the sense of the difficulties, helps the obstructions to recur with force instead of progressively diminishing in their incidence.


asaMskṛtadharma. (P. asankhatadhamma; T. 'dus ma byas kyi chos; C. wuweifa; J. muiho; K. muwibop 無爲法). In Sanskrit, "uncompounded" or "unconditioned" "factors"; a term used to describe the few DHARMAs that are not conditioned (SAMSKṚTA) and are therefore perduring phenomena (NITYADHARMA) that are not subject to impermanence (ANITYA). The lists differ in the various schools. The PAli tradition's list of eighty-two dharmas (P. dhamma) recognizes only one uncompounded dharma: NIRVAnA (P. nibbAna). The SARVASTIVADA school recognizes three out of seventy-five: space (AKAsA), and two varieties of nirvAna: "analytical" "suppression" or "cessation" (PRATISAMKHYANIRODHA) and "nonanalytical suppression" (APRATISAMKHYANIRODHA). YOGACARA recognizes six of its one hundred dharmas as uncompounded: the preceding three, plus "motionlessness" (AniNjya, [alt. aniNjya]), the "cessation of perception and sensation" (SAMJNAVEDAYITANIRODHA), and "suchness" (TATHATA). NirvAna is the one factor that all Buddhist schools accept as being uncompounded. It is the one dharma that exists without being the result of a cause (ahetuja), though it may be accessed through the three "gates to deliverance" (VIMOKsAMUKHA). Because nirvAna neither produces nor is produced by anything else, it is utterly distinct from the conditioned realm that is subject to production and cessation; its achievement, therefore, means the end to the repeated cycle of rebirth (SAMSARA). In several schools of Buddhism, including the SarvAstivAda, nirvAna is subdivided into two complementary aspects: an "analytical cessation" (pratisaMkhyAnirodha) that corresponds to earlier notions of nirvAna and "nonanalytical suppression" (apratisaMkhyAnirodha), which ensures that the enlightened person will never again be subject to the vagaries of the conditioned world. "Analytical cessation" (pratisaMkhyAnirodha) occurs through the direct meditative insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvAry AryasatyAni) and the cognition of nonproduction (ANUTPADAJNANA), which brings about the disjunction (visaMyoga) from all unwholesome factors (AKUsALADHARMA). "Nonanalytical suppression" (apratisaMkhyAnirodha) prevents the dharmas of the conditioned realm from ever appearing again for the enlightened person. In the VAIBHAsIKA interpretation, this dharma suppresses the conditions that would lead to the production of dharmas, thus ensuring that they remain forever positioned in future mode and unable ever again to arise in the present. Because this dharma is not a result of insight, it is called "nonanalytical." Space (AkAsa) has two discrete denotations. First, space is an absence that delimits forms; like the empty space inside a door frame, AkAsa is a hole that is itself empty but that defines, or is defined by, the material that surrounds it. Second, as the vast emptiness of space, space comes also to be described as the absence of obstruction; in this sense, space also comes to be interpreted as something akin to the Western conception of ether, a virtually immaterial, but glowing fluid that serves as the support for the four material elements (MAHABHuTA). Space is accepted as an uncompounded dharma in six of the mainstream Buddhist schools, including the SARVASTIVADA and the MAHASAMGHIKA, as well as the later YOGACARA; three others reject this interpretation, including the THERAVADA. The YogAcAra additions to this list essentially subsume the upper reaches of the immaterial realm (ArupyAvacara) into the listing of uncompounded dharmas. AniNjya, or motionlessness, is used even in the early Buddhist tradition to refer to actions that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome (see ANINJYAKARMAN), which lead to rebirth in the realm of subtle materiality or the immaterial realm and, by extension, to those realms themselves. The "cessation of perception and sensation" (saMjNAvedayitanirodha) is the last of the eight liberations (VIMOKsA; P. vimokkha) and the ninth and highest of the immaterial attainments (SAMAPATTI). "Suchness" (TATHATA) is the ultimate reality (i.e., suNYATA) shared in common by a TATHAGATA and all other afflicted (SAMKLIstA) and pure (VIsUDDHI) dharmas; the "cessation of perception and sensation" (saMjNAvedayitanirodha) is not only "a meditative trance wherein no perceptual activity remains," but one where no feeling, whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, is experienced.

Ass ::: Symbol of the inertia and obstruction in the body.

avaran.am ::: covering, obstruction. avaranam

avarana&

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.

Avenika[buddha]dharma. (T. chos ma 'dres pa/ma 'dres pa'i chos; C. bugong[fo]fa; J. fuguho/fugubuppo; K. pulgong[bul]bop 不共[佛]法). In Sanskrit and PAli, "unshared factors"; special qualities that are unique to the buddhas. They usually appear in a list of eighteen (astAdasa AvenikA buddhadharmAḥ): (1)-(2) the buddhas never make a physical or verbal mistake; (3) their mindfulness never diminishes; (4) they have no perception of difference; (5) they are free from discursiveness; (6) their equanimity is not due to a lack of discernment; (7)-(12) they do not regress in their devotion, perseverance, recollection, concentration, wisdom, or liberation; (13)-(15) all their physical, verbal, and mental actions are preceded and followed by gnosis; and (16)-(18) they enter into the perception of the gnosis that is unobstructed and unimpeded with respect to the past, future, and present. An expanded listing of 140 such unshared factors is given in the YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA.

backwater ::: n. --> Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current , or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar.
An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction.
Water thrown back by the turning of a waterwheel, or by the paddle wheels of a steamer.


barful ::: a. --> Full of obstructions.

bar ::: n. **1. Anything that obstructs or prevents; a barrier. v. 2. To obstruct, prevent, hinder, impede. bars, barred, barring.**

bar ::: n. --> A piece of wood, metal, or other material, long in proportion to its breadth or thickness, used as a lever and for various other purposes, but especially for a hindrance, obstruction, or fastening; as, the bars of a fence or gate; the bar of a door.
An indefinite quantity of some substance, so shaped as to be long in proportion to its breadth and thickness; as, a bar of gold or of lead; a bar of soap.
Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an


barrage ::: n. --> An artificial bar or obstruction placed in a river or water course to increase the depth of water; as, the barrages of the Nile.

barricade ::: a structure hastily set up across a route of access to obstruct the passage of an enemy.

barricade ::: n. --> A fortification, made in haste, of trees, earth, palisades, wagons, or anything that will obstruct the progress or attack of an enemy. It is usually an obstruction formed in streets to block an enemy&

barrier ::: 1. Anything built or serving to bar passage. 2. Anything that restrains or obstructs progress, access. 3. A limit or boundary of any kind. barriers, barrier-breakers.

barriered ::: closed off; blocked, obstructing passage. Also fig.

barrier ::: n. --> A carpentry obstruction, stockade, or other obstacle made in a passage in order to stop an enemy.
A fortress or fortified town, on the frontier of a country, commanding an avenue of approach.
A fence or railing to mark the limits of a place, or to keep back a crowd.
An any obstruction; anything which hinders approach or attack.


ba wei. (J. hachimi; K. p'al mi 八味). In Chinese, lit. "eight tastes"; a numerical list derived from Chinese translations of the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA, where the Buddha's experience of NIRVAnA is said to be characterized by eight "tastes," or experiences: (1) it is perpetually abiding (changzhu), (2) calm and extinguished (viz., of suffering and afflictions) (jimie), (3) not subject to old age (bulao), (4) deathless (busi), (5) immaculate (qingjing), (6) unobstructed like space (xutong), (7) imperturbable (budong), and (8) blissful (kuaile).

belay ::: v. t. --> To lay on or cover; to adorn.
To make fast, as a rope, by taking several turns with it round a pin, cleat, or kevel.
To lie in wait for with a view to assault. Hence: to block up or obstruct.


BhAvanAkrama. (T. Sgom rim). In Sanskrit, "Stages of Meditation," the title of three separate but related works by the late-eighth century Indian master KAMALAsĪLA. During the reign of the Tibetan king KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN at the end of the eighth century, there were two Buddhist factions at court, a Chinese faction led by the Northern Chan (BEI ZONG) monk Heshang Moheyan (MahAyAna) and an Indian faction of the recently deceased sANTARAKsITA, who with the king and PADMASAMBHAVA had founded the first Tibetan monastery at BSAM YAS (Samye). According to traditional accounts, sAntaraksita foretold of dangers and left instructions in his will that his student Kamalasīla should be summoned from India. A conflict seems to have developed between the Indian and Chinese partisans (and their allies in the Tibetan court) over the question of the nature of enlightenment, with the Indians holding that enlightenment takes place as the culmination of a gradual process of purification, the result of perfecting morality (sĪLA), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA). The Chinese spoke against this view, holding that enlightenment was the intrinsic nature of the mind rather than the goal of a protracted path, such that one need simply to recognize the presence of this innate nature of enlightenment by entering a state of awareness beyond distinctions; all other practices were superfluous. According to both Chinese and Tibetan records, a debate was held between Kamalasīla and Moheyan at Bsam yas, circa 797, with the king himself serving as judge (see BSAM YAS DEBATE). According to Tibetan reports (contradicted by the Chinese accounts), Kamalasīla was declared the winner and Moheyan and his party banished from Tibet, with the king proclaiming that thereafter the MADHYAMAKA school of Indian Buddhist philosophy (to which sAntaraksita and Kamalasīla belonged) would have pride of place in Tibet. ¶ According to Tibetan accounts, after the conclusion of the debate, the king requested that Kamalasīla compose works that presented his view, and in response, Kamalasīla composed the three BhAvanAkrama. There is considerable overlap among the three works. All three are germane to the issues raised in the debate, although whether all three were composed in Tibet is not established with certainty; only the third, and briefest of the three, directly considers, and refutes, the view of "no mental activity" (amanasikAra, cf. WUNIAN), which is associated with Moheyan. The three texts set forth the process for the potential BODHISATTVA to cultivate BODHICITTA and then develop sAMATHA and VIPAsYANA and progress through the bodhisattva stages (BHuMI) to buddhahood. The cultivation of vipasyanA requires the use of both scripture (AGAMA) and reasoning (YUKTI) to understand emptiness (suNYATA); in the first BhAvanAkrama, Kamalasīla sets forth the three forms of wisdom (prajNA): the wisdom derived from learning (sRUTAMAYĪPRAJNA), the wisdom derived from reflection (CINTAMAYĪPRAJNA), and the wisdom derived from cultivation (BHAVANAMAYĪPRAJNA), explaining that the last of these gradually destroys the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and the obstructions to omniscience (JNEYAVARAnA). The second BhAvanAkrama considers many of these same topics, stressing that the achievement of the fruition of buddhahood requires the necessary causes, in the form of the collection of merit (PUnYASAMBHARA) and the collection of wisdom (JNANASAMBHARA). Both the first and second works espouse the doctrine of mind-only (CITTAMATRA); it is on the basis of these and other statements that Tibetan doxographers classified Kamalasīla as a YOGACARA-SVATANTRIKA-MADHYAMAKA. The third and briefest of the BhAvanAkrama is devoted especially to the topics of samatha and vipasyanA, how each is cultivated, and how they are ultimately unified. Kamalasīla argues that analysis (VICARA) into the lack of self (ATMAN) in both persons (PUDGALA) and phenomena (DHARMA) is required to arrive at a nonconceptual state of awareness. The three texts are widely cited in later Tibetan Buddhist literature, especially on the process for developing samatha and vipasyanA.

bhAvanAmArga. (T. sgom lam; C. xiudao; J. shudo; K. sudo 修道). In Sanskrit, "the path of cultivation" or "path of meditation"; the fourth of the five stages of the path (MARGA) in the SARVASTIVADA soteriological system (also adopted in the MAHAYANA), which follows the path of vision or insight (DARsANAMARGA) and precedes the adept path where no further training is necessary (AsAIKsAMARGA). In the SarvAstivAda path schema, the path of vision consists of fifteen thought-moments, with a subsequent sixteenth moment marking the beginning of the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). This sixteenth moment, that of subsequent knowledge (ANVAYAJNANA) of the truth of the path (mArga), is, in effect, the knowledge that all of the afflictions (KLEsA) of both the subtle-materiality realm (RuPADHATU) and the immaterial realm (ARuPYADHATU) that are associated with the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS have been abandoned. As a result, the meditator destroys all causes for future rebirth as an animal, ghost, or hell denizen, but is not liberated from rebirth altogether and may still be reborn as a human or divinity. The more deeply rooted afflictions are destroyed over the course of the path of cultivation. For each of the nine levels of the three realms of rebirth-the sensuous realm (with one level), the realm of subtle materiality (with four levels), and the immaterial realm (with four levels)-there are nine levels of afflictions (KLEsA), from the most coarse to the most insidious, making eighty-one levels of affliction to be destroyed. As was the case with the path of vision, these defilements must be destroyed in a two-step process: the actual destruction of the particular affliction and the knowledge that it has been destroyed. There are therefore 162 "moments" of the abandoning of afflictions. This process, which takes place over the course of the path of cultivation, may occur over several lifetimes. However, when the 162nd stage is reached, and the subtlest of the subtle afflictions associated with the ninth level-that is, the fourth absorption of the immaterial realm-has been abandoned, the adept is then liberated from rebirth. The bhAvanAmArga is one of the "paths of the nobles" (ARYAMARGA) and one on this stage is immune to any possibility of retrogression and is assured of eventually achieving NIRVAnA. Reference is also sometimes made to the mundane path of cultivation (LAUKIKA-bhAvanAmArga), which refers to the three trainings (TRIsIKsA) in morality (sĪLA), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA) as they are developed before the first of the three fetters (SAMYOJANA) is eradicated and insight achieved. In the MahAyAna path system, with variations between YOGACARA and MADHYAMAKA, the bhAvanAmArga is the period in which the BODHISATTVA proceeds through the ten BHuMIs and destroys the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and the obstructions to omniscience (JNEYAVARAnA).

bhuta. (T. 'byung po; C. zhen/gui; J. shin/ki; K. chin/kwi 眞/鬼). The past passive particle of the Sanskrit root √bhu (cognate with English "be"); in compound words in Buddhist texts, it means "element," "true," or "real"; the word alone also means a class of harm-inflicting and formless obstructing spirits (i.e., "elemental spirits"). The MAHABHuTA (literally "great elements") are the well-known elements of earth, water, fire, and wind; the BHuTAKOtI ("ultimate state") is a technical term used in the MAHAYANA to distinguish between different levels of spiritual achievement; BHuTATATHATA ("true suchness") is the eternal nature of reality that is "truly thus" and free of all conceptual elaborations. The bhuta ("elemental") spirits, who are sometimes equivalent to PRETA ("hungry ghost"), are said to inhabit the northeast quarter of the universe, or in some descriptions, all of the ten directions (DAsADIs). Because they obstruct rainfall, the bhuta are propitiated by rituals to cause precipitation, as are the NAGA ("serpent spirits, spirits of the watery subsoil") who inhabit rivers and lakes. Tibetan medical texts also identify eighteen elemental spirits ('byung po'i gdon) that invade the psyche and cause mental problems.

blench ::: v. i. --> To shrink; to start back; to draw back, from lack of courage or resolution; to flinch; to quail.
To fly off; to turn aside. ::: v. t. --> To baffle; to disconcert; to turn away; -- also, to obstruct; to hinder.


blinker ::: n. --> One who, or that which, blinks.
A blinder for horses; a flap of leather on a horse&


blockade ::: 1. The isolating, closing off, or surrounding of a place. 2. Any obstruction of passage or progress.

blockade ::: v. t. --> The shutting up of a place by troops or ships, with the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the reception of supplies; as, the blockade of the ports of an enemy.
An obstruction to passage. ::: v. t. --> To shut up, as a town or fortress, by investing it


blocking ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Block ::: n. --> The act of obstructing, supporting, shaping, or stamping with a block or blocks.
Blocks used to support (a building, etc.) temporarily.


block ::: n. 1. A solid piece of a hard substance, such as wood, stone, etc. having one or more flat sides. Also fig. 2. Something that obstructs; an obstacle. blocks. *v. 3. To impede, retard, prevent or obstruct the progress or achievement of (someone or something). Also fig.*

obstructed ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Obstruct

obstructer ::: n. --> One who obstructs or hinders.

obstructing ::: 1. Impeding, retarding, or interfering with; hindering. 2. Getting in the way of so as to hide from sight.

obstructing ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Obstruct

obstruction ::: anything that makes progress difficult.

obstructionism ::: n. --> The act or the policy of obstructing progress.

obstructionist ::: n. --> One who hinders progress; one who obstructs business, as in a legislative body. ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to obstructionists.

obstruction ::: n. --> The act of obstructing, or state of being obstructed.
That which obstructs or impedes; an obstacle; an impediment; a hindrance.
The condition of having the natural powers obstructed in their usual course; the arrest of the vital functions; death.


obstructive ::: a. --> Tending to obstruct; presenting obstacles; hindering; causing impediment. ::: n. --> An obstructive person or thing.

obstruct ::: v. t. --> To block up; to stop up or close, as a way or passage; to place an obstacle in, or fill with obstacles or impediments that prevent or hinder passing; as, to obstruct a street; to obstruct the channels of the body.
To be, or come, in the way of; to hinder from passing; to stop; to impede; to retard; as, the bar in the harbor obstructs the passage of ships; clouds obstruct the light of the sun; unwise rules obstruct legislation.


botwar "chat" The epic struggle of {bots} vying for dominance. Botwars are generally (and quite inappropriately) carried out on {talk} systems, typically {IRC}, where botwar crossfire (such as {pingflood}ing) absorbs scarce server resources and obstructs human conversation. The wisdom of experience indicates that {Core Wars}, not {talk} systems, are the appropriate venue for aggressive bots and their {botmasters}. Compare {penis war}. (1997-04-08)

botwar ::: (chat) The epic struggle of bots vying for dominance.Botwars are generally (and quite inappropriately) carried out on talk systems, typically IRC, where botwar crossfire (such as pingflooding) absorbs scarce server resources and obstructs human conversation.The wisdom of experience indicates that Core Wars, not talk systems, are the appropriate venue for aggressive bots and their botmasters.Compare penis war. (1997-04-08)

Boycott Apple "legal" Some time before 1989, {Apple Computer, Inc.} started a lawsuit against {Hewlett-Packard} and {Microsoft}, claiming they had breeched Apple's {copyright} on the {look and feel} of the {Macintosh user interface}. In December 1989, {Xerox} failed to sue {Apple Computer}, claiming that the software for Apple's {Lisa} computer and {Macintosh} {Finder}, both copyrighted in 1987, were derived from two {Xerox} programs: {Smalltalk}, developed in the mid-1970s and {Star}, copyrighted in 1981. Apple wanted to stop people from writing any program that worked even vaguely like a {Macintosh}. If such {look and feel} lawsuits succeed they could put an end to {free software} that could substitute for commercial software. In the weeks after the suit was filed, {Usenet} reverberated with condemnation for Apple. {GNU} supporters {Richard Stallman}, {John Gilmore} and Paul Rubin decided to take action against Apple. Apple's reputation as a force for progress came from having made better computers; but The {League for Programming Freedom} believed that Apple wanted to make all non-Apple computers worse. They therefore campaigned to discourage people from using Apple products or working for Apple or any other company threatening similar obstructionist tactics (e.g. {Lotus} and {Xerox}). Because of this boycott the {Free Software Foundation} for a long time didn't support {Macintosh} {Unix} in their software. In 1995, the LPF and the FSF decided to end the boycott. [Dates? Other events? Why did Xerox's case against Apple fail?] (1995-04-18)

Boycott Apple ::: Some time before 1989, Apple Computer, Inc. started a lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, claiming they had breeched Apple's copyright on Xerox programs: Smalltalk, developed in the mid-1970s and Star, copyrighted in 1981.Apple wanted to stop people from writing any program that worked even vaguely like a Macintosh. If such look and feel lawsuits succeed they could put an end to free software that could substitute for commercial software.In the weeks after the suit was filed, Usenet reverberated with condemnation for Apple. GNU supporters Richard Stallman, John Gilmore, and Paul Rubin decided to or any other company threatening similar obstructionist tactics (e.g. Lotus and Xerox).Because of this boycott the Free Software Foundation for a long time didn't support Macintosh Unix in their software. In 1995, the LPF and the FSF decided to end the boycott.[Dates? Other events? Why did Xerox's case against Apple fail?] (1995-04-18)

breaks through ::: makes a sudden, quick advance, as through an obstruction.

By way of connoting different types of society, many contemporary Marxists, especially in the U.S.S.R., building upon Marx's analysis of the two phases of "communist society" ("Gotha Program") designate the first or lower phase by the term socialism, the second or higher by the term communism (q.v.). The general features of socialist society (identified by Soviet thinkers with the present phase of development of the U.S.S.R.) are conceived as follows: Economic collective ownership of the means of production, such as factories, industrial equipment, the land, and of the basic apparatus of distribution and exchange, including the banking system; the consequent abolition of classes, private profit, exploitation, surplus value, (q.v.) private hiring and firing and involuntary unemployment; an integrated economy based on long time planning in terms of needs and use. It is held that only under these economic conditions is it possible to apply the formula, "from each according to ability, to each according to work performed", the first part of which implies continuous employment, and the second part, the absence of private profit. Political: a state based upon the dictatorship of the proletariat (q.v.) Cultural the extension of all educational and cultural facilities through state planning; the emancipation of women through unrestricted economic opportunities, the abolition of race discrimination through state enforcement, a struggle against all cultural and social institutions which oppose the socialist society and attempt to obstruct its realization. Marx and Engels held that socialism becomes the inevitable outgrowth of capitalism because the evolution of the latter type of society generates problems which can only be solved by a transition to socialism. These problems are traced primarily to the fact that the economic relations under capitalism, such as individual ownership of productive technics, private hiring and firing in the light of profits and production for a money market, all of which originally released powerful new productive potentialities, come to operate, in the course of time, to prevent full utilization of productive technics, and to cause periodic crises, unemployment, economic insecurity and consequent suffering for masses of people. Marx and Engels regarded their doctrine of the transformation of capitalist into socialist society as based upon a scientific examination of the laws of development of capitalism and a realistic appreciation of the role of the proletariat. (q.v.) Unlike the Utopian socialism (q.v.) of St. Simon, Fourier, Owen (q.v.) and others, their socialism asserted the necessity of mass political organization of the working classes for the purpose of gaining political power in order to effect the transition from capitalism, and also foresaw the probability of a contest of force in which, they held, the working class majority would ultimately be victorious. The view taken is that Marx was the first to explain scientifically the nature of capitalist exploitation as based upon surplus value and to predict its necessary consequences. "These two great discoveries, the materialist conception of history and the revelation of the secret of capitalist production by means of surplus value we owe to Marx. With these discoveries socialism became a science . . ." (Engels: Anti-Dühring, pp. 33-34.) See Historical materialism. -- J.M.S.

Cetokhilasutta. (C. Xinhui jing; J. Shinnekyo; K. Simye kyong 心穢經). In PAli, "Discourse on Mental Obstructions"; the sixteenth sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SarvAstivAda recension appears as the 206th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; a recension of unidentified affiliation also occurs in the Chinese translation of the EKOTTARAGAMA), preached by the Buddha to a gathering of monks in the JETAVANA grove in the town of SAvatthi (sRAVASTĪ). The Buddha describes five mental obstructions and five fetters that constitute impediments to overcoming suffering. The five obstructions include (1) doubt about the teacher, the Buddha; (2) doubt about the dhamma (DHARMA); (3) doubt about the SAMGHA; (4) doubt about the value of morality (sīla; S. sĪLA), meditative concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (paNNA; S. PRAJNA); 5) ill will and animosity toward one's fellow monks. The five fetters include (1) attachment to sensual desires, (2) attachment to a sense of self, (3) attachment to material possessions, (4) excessive sleeping and eating, and (5) adopting the life of renunciation merely for the limited goal of a blissful existence in the heavens.

Chengguan. (J. Chokan; K. Chinggwan 澄觀) (738-839). Putative fourth patriarch of the Chinese HUAYAN tradition; also known as Daxiu, Huayan pusa, Huayan shuzhu, and Qingliang GUOSHI. Chengguan is said to have entered the monastery in 746 under the guidance of a monk named Tizhen (d.u.). Although little is known of Chengguan's early training, he is supposed to have studied a broad range of scriptures and commentaries including the PRAJNAPARAMITA SuTRAs, MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA, DASHENG QIXIN LUN, YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA, and others. In 757, he received the full monastic precepts from a certain Tanyi (d.u.) of the NANSHAN LÜ ZONG and studied for several years under Tanyi's prominent disciple JINGXI ZHANRAN. Chengguan is also said to have studied CHAN during this period under various masters. After his training under Fashen (718-778), second-generation disciple of the Huayan master FAZANG, Chengguan left for WUTAISHAN, the earthly abode of the BODHISATTVA MANJUsRĪ, in 776. Chengguan was a prolific exegete, whose writings amount to over four hundred rolls in total. Chengguan is best known for his massive commentary on sIKsANANDA's new translation of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA, entitled the [Dafangguang fo] HUAYAN JING SHU, in sixty rolls. This work rivaled and may even have surpassed in influence the most popular commentary on the AvataMsakasutra of his day, viz., Fazang's HUAYAN JING TANXUAN JI. Chengguan also wrote a comprehensive autocommentary to his commentary, entitled the HUAYAN JING SUISHU YANYI CHAO, in a total of ninety rolls. In these works, Chengguan expands upon the Huayan master DUSHUN's work on the notion of the realm of reality (DHARMADHATU), the HUAYAN FAJIE GUANMEN. Chengguan approached the dharmadhAtu from four interrelated perspectives, viz., the dharmadhAtu of phenomena (SHI FAJIE), dharmadhAtu of principle (LI FAJIE), the dharmadhAtu of the mutual nonobstruction between principle and phenomena (LISHI WU'AI FAJIE), and the dharmadhAtu of the mutual nonobstruction between phenomenon and phenomena (SHISHI WU'AI FAJIE). As the premier Huayan exegete of his generation, Chengguan also was summoned to the Tang capital of Chang'an in 796 to collaborate with the northwest Indian monk PRAJNA in preparing a new translation of the GAndAVYuHA, the forty-roll final chapter of the AvataMsakasutra. Among Chengguan's many disciples, the CHAN and Huayan exegete GUIFENG ZONGMI is most famous.

choked ::: interfered with the respiration of by compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea by strangling, smothering; stifling.

choke ::: v. t. --> To render unable to breathe by filling, pressing upon, or squeezing the windpipe; to stifle; to suffocate; to strangle.
To obstruct by filling up or clogging any passage; to block up.
To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to stifle.
To affect with a sense of strangulation by passion or strong feeling.


clear ::: 1. Not obscured or darkened; bright. 2. Free from darkness, obscurity, or cloudiness; transparent. 3. Serene; calm; untroubled. 4. Free from doubt or confusion; certain. 5. Easily perceptible to the eye or ear; distinct. 6. Easily understood; without ambiguity. 7. Free from impediment, obstruction, or hindrance; open. clearer, sun-clear, surface-clear.

colic ::: n. --> A severe paroxysmal pain in the abdomen, due to spasm, obstruction, or distention of some one of the hollow viscera. ::: a. --> Of or pertaining to colic; affecting the bowels.
Of or pertaining to the colon; as, the colic arteries.


Conditions of Transformafirm ::: If you desire this transforma- tion, put yourself in the hands of the Mother and her Powers without cavil or resistance and let her do unhindered her work within you. Three things you roust have, consciousness, plasti- city, unreserved surrender. For you must be conscious in your mind and soul and heart and life and the very cells of your body, aware of the Mother and her Powers and their working ; for although she can and does work in yt)u even in your obscurity and your unconscious parts and moments, it is not the same thing as when you are in an awakened and living communion with her. All your nature must be plasUc to her touch, — • not questioning as the self-sufficient ignorant mind questions and doubts and disputes and is the enemy of its enlightenment and change ; not insisting on its own movements as the vital In man insists and persistently opposes its rcfractoiy desires and ill-wilt to every divine influence ; not obstructing and entrenched m

consonant ::: a speech sound produced by a partial or complete obstruction of the air stream by any of various constrictions of the speech organs, such as (p), (f), (r), (w), and (h).

contravene ::: v. t. --> To meet in the way of opposition; to come into conflict with; to oppose; to contradict; to obstruct the operation of; to defeat.
To violate; to nullify; to be inconsistent with; as, to contravene a law.


contravention ::: n. --> The act of contravening; opposition; obstruction; transgression; violation.

cough ::: v. i. --> To expel air, or obstructing or irritating matter, from the lungs or air passages, in a noisy and violent manner.
A sudden, noisy, and violent expulsion of air from the chest, caused by irritation in the air passages, or by the reflex action of nervous or gastric disorder, etc.
The more or less frequent repetition of coughing, constituting a symptom of disease.


cowcatxjer ::: n. --> A strong inclined frame, usually of wrought-iron bars, in front of a locomotive engine, for catching or throwing off obstructions on a railway, as cattle; the pilot.

cumber ::: v. t. --> To rest upon as a troublesome or useless weight or load; to be burdensome or oppressive to; to hinder or embarrass in attaining an object, to obstruct or occupy uselessly; to embarrass; to trouble. ::: v. --> Trouble; embarrassment; distress.

cumbrous ::: a. --> Rendering action or motion difficult or toilsome; serving to obstruct or hinder; burdensome; clogging.
Giving trouble; vexatious.


dams ::: 1. Barriers to obstruct the flow of water, esp. one of earth, masonry, etc., built across a stream or river. 2. Any barriers resembling dams.

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.

darsanamArga. (T. mthong lam; C. jiandao; J. kendo; K. kyondo 見道). In Sanskrit, "path of vision"; the third of the five paths (PANCAMARGA) to liberation and enlightenment, whether as an ARHAT or as a buddha. It follows the second path, the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA) and precedes the fourth path, the path of meditation or cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). This path marks the adept's first direct perception of reality, without the intercession of concepts, and brings an end to the first three of the ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth: (1) belief in the existence of a self in relation to the body (SATKAYADṚstI), (2) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (sĪLAVRATAPARAMARsA) as a means of salvation, and (3) doubt about the efficacy of the path (VICIKITSA). Because this vision renders one a noble person (ARYA), the path of vision marks the inception of the "noble path" (AryamArga). According to the SarvAstivAda soteriological system, the darsanamArga occurs over the course of fifteen moments of realization of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, with the sixteenth moment marking the beginning of the BHAVANAMARGA. There are four moments of realization for each of the four truths. The first moment is that of doctrinal acquiescence (DHARMAKsANTI) with regard to the sensuous realm (KAMADHATU). In that moment, the afflictions (KLEsA) of the sensuous realm associated with the truth of suffering are abandoned. This is followed by a moment of doctrinal knowledge (DHARMAJNANA) of the truth of suffering with regard to the sensuous realm, which is the state of understanding that the afflictions of that level have been abandoned. Next comes a moment of realization called subsequent acquiescence (anvayaksAnti), in which the afflictions associated with the truth of suffering in the two upper realms, the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU) and the immaterial realm (ARuPYADHATU) are abandoned; there is finally a moment of subsequent knowledge (anvayajNAna) of the truth of suffering with regard to the two upper realms. This sequence of four moments-doctrinal acquiescence and doctrinal knowledge (which are concerned with the sensuous realm) and subsequent acquiescence and subsequent knowledge (which are concerned with the two upper realms)-is repeated for the remaining truths of origin, cessation, and path. In each case, the moments of realization called acquiescence are the time when the afflictions are actually abandoned; they are called uninterrupted paths (ANANTARYAMARGA) because they cannot be interrupted or impeded in severing the hold of the afflictions. The eight moments of knowledge are the state of having realized that the afflictions of the particular level have been abandoned. They are called paths of liberation (VIMUKTIMARGA). An uninterrupted path, followed by a path of liberation, are likened to throwing out a thief and locking the door behind him. The sixteenth moment in the sequence-the subsequent knowledge of the truth of the path with regard to the upper realms-constitutes the first moment of the next path, the bhAvanAmArga. For a BODHISATTVA, the attainment of the path of vision coincides with the inception of the first BODHISATTVABHuMI (see also DAsABHuMI). The ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA explains that the bodhisattva's path of vision is also a direct perception of reality and is focused on the four noble truths; unlike the mainstream account, however, all three realms are considered simultaneously, and the sixteenth moment is not the first instant of the path of cultivation (bhAvanAmArga). The YOGACARA system is based on their doctrine of the falsehood of the subject/object bifurcation. The first eight instants describe the elimination of fetters based on false conceptualization (VIKALPA) of objects, and the last eight the elimination of fetters based on the false conceptualization of a subject; thus the actual path of vision is a direct realization of the emptiness (suNYATA) of all dharmas (sarvadharmasunyatA). This view of the darsanamArga as the first direct perception (PRATYAKsA) of emptiness is also found in the MADHYAMAKA school, according to which the bodhisattva begins to abandon the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) upon attaining the darsanamArga. See also DHARMAKsANTI; JIEWU; DUNWU JIANXIU.

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.

Dasheng wusheng fangbian men. (J. Daijo musho hobenmon; K. Taesŭng musaeng pangp'yon mun 大乗無生方便門). In Chinese, "Expedient Means of [Attaining] Nonproduction according to the MAHĀYĀNA"; a summary of the teachings of the Northern School (BEI ZONG) of CHAN. Several different recensions of this treatise were discovered at DUNHUANG; the text is also known as the Dasheng wufangbian Beizong ("Five Expedient Means of the Mahāyāna: the Northern School"). These different editions speak of five expedient means (UPĀYA): (1) a comprehensive explanation of the essence of buddhahood (corresponding to the DASHENG QIXIN LUN), (2) opening the gates of wisdom and sagacity (viz., the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA), (3) manifesting the inconceivable dharma (the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA), (4) elucidating the true nature of dharmas (Sutra of [the god] Siyi), and (5) the naturally unobstructed path to liberation (the AVATAMSAKASuTRA). Although this arrangement of scriptures bears a superficial resemblance to a taxonomy of texts (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI), a common feature of Chinese Buddhist polemics and exegesis, this listing was not intended to be hierarchical. The explanation of the five expedient means occurs largely in dialogic format. Unlike the Dasheng wufangbian Beizong, the Dasheng wusheng fangbian men also provides a description of the method of conferring the BODHISATTVA precepts (PUSA JIE). In its discussions of both the five expedient means and the bodhisattva precepts, great emphasis is placed on the need for purity of mind.

deadlock ::: n. --> A lock which is not self-latching, but requires a key to throw the bolt forward.
A counteraction of things, which produces an entire stoppage; a complete obstruction of action.


deobstruct ::: v. t. --> To remove obstructions or impediments in; to clear from anything that hinders the passage of fluids; as, to deobstruct the pores or lacteals.

deobstruent ::: a. --> Removing obstructions; having power to clear or open the natural ducts of the fluids and secretions of the body; aperient. ::: n. --> A medicine which removes obstructions; an aperient.

deoppilate ::: v. t. --> To free from obstructions; to clear a passage through.

devanidah ::: obstructors of the godhead. [Ved.]

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).

dhyāna. (P. jhāna; T. bsam gtan; C. chan/chanding; J. zen/zenjo; K. son/sonjong 禪/禪定). In Sanskrit, "meditative absorption," specific meditative practices during which the mind temporarily withdraws from external sensory awareness and remains completely absorbed in an ideational object of meditation. The term can refer both to the practice that leads to full absorption and to the state of full absorption itself. Dhyāna involves the power to control the mind and does not, in itself, entail any enduring insight into the nature of reality; however, a certain level of absorption is generally said to be necessary in order to prepare the mind for direct realization of truth, the destruction of the afflictions (KLEsA), and the attainment of liberation (VIMUKTI). Dhyāna is classified into two broad types: (1) meditative absorption associated with the realm of subtle materiality (RuPĀVACARADHYĀNA) and (2) meditative absorption of the immaterial realm (ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). Each of these two types is subdivided into four stages or degrees of absorption, giving a total of eight stages of dhyāna. The four absorptions of the realm of subtle materiality are characterized by an increasing attenuation of consciousness as one progresses from one stage to the next. The deepening of concentration leads the meditator temporarily to allay the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA) and to put in place the five constituents of absorption (DHYĀNĀnGA). The five hindrances are: (1) sensuous desire (KĀMACCHANDA), which hinders the constituent of one-pointedness of mind (EKĀGRATĀ); (2) malice (VYĀPĀDA), hindering physical rapture (PRĪTI); (3) sloth and torpor (STYĀNA-MIDDHA), hindering applied thought (VITARKA); (4) restlessness and worry (AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA), hindering mental ease (SUKHA); and (5) skeptical doubt (VICIKITSĀ), hindering sustained thought (VICĀRA). These hindrances thus specifically obstruct one of the specific factors of absorption and, once they are allayed, the first level of the subtle-materiality dhyānas will be achieved. In the first dhyāna, all five constituents of dhyāna are present; as concentration deepens, these gradually fall away, so that in the second dhyāna, both types of thought vanish and only prīti, sukha, and ekāgratā remain; in the third dhyāna, only sukha and ekāgratā remain; and in the fourth dhyāna, concentration is now so rarified that only ekāgratā is left. Detailed correlations appear in meditation manuals describing specifically which of the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA) and seven constituents of enlightenment (BODHYAnGA) serves as the antidote to which hindrance. Mastery of the fourth absorption of the realm of subtle materiality is required for the cultivation of the supranormal powers (ABHIJNĀ) and for the cultivation of the four ārupyāvacaradhyānas, or meditative absorptions of the immaterial realm. The immaterial absorptions themselves represent refinements of the fourth rupāvacaradhyāna, in which the "object" of meditation is gradually attenuated. The four immaterial absorptions instead are named after their respective objects: (1) the sphere of infinite space (ĀKĀsĀNANTYĀYATANA), (2) the sphere of infinite consciousness (VIJNĀNĀNANTYĀYATANA), (3) the sphere of nothingness (ĀKINCANYĀYATANA), and (4) the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception (NAIVASAMJNĀNĀSAMJYYATANA). Mastery of the subtle-materiality realm absorptions can also result in rebirth as a divinity (DEVA) in the subtle-materiality realm, and mastery of the immaterial absorptions can lead to rebirth as a divinity in the immaterial realm (see ANINJYAKARMAN). Dhyāna occurs in numerous lists of the constituents of the path, appearing, for example, as the fifth of the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ). The term CHAN (J. zen), the name adopted by an important school of indigenous East Asian Buddhism, is the Chinese phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit term dhyāna. See also JHĀNA; SAMĀDHI; SAMĀPATTI.

discouraged ::: 1. Deprived of courage, hope, or confidence; disheartened; dispirited. 2. Obstructed by opposition or difficulty; hindered. discouraging.

disencumber ::: v. t. --> To free from encumbrance, or from anything which clogs, impedes, or obstructs; to disburden.

Divine and surrender more and more one’s ordinary persona! ideas, desires, attachments, urges to action or habits of actions so that the Divine may lake up cveiything. Surrender means that, to give up our little mind and its mental ideas and prefe- rences into a divine Light and a greater knowledge, our petty persona] troubled blind stumbling will into a great calm, tran- quil, luminous Will and Force, our little, restless, tormented feel- ings into a wide intense divine Love and Ananda, our small suffering personality into the one Person of which it is an obs- cure outcome. If one insists on one's own ideas and reasonfogs, the greater Light and Knowledge cannot come or else is marked and obstructed in the coming at every step by a lower inter- ference ,* if one insists on one’s desires and fancies, that great luminous Will and Force cannot act in its own true power— for you ask it to be the servant of your desires ; if one refuses to give up one’s petty ways of feeling, eternal Love and supreme

Divine Force working in him or of its results at least and does not obstruct its descent or its action by his own mental activi- ties, vital restlessness or physical obscurity and inertia.

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).

echo ::: n. **1. A repetition of sound produced by the reflexion of sound waves from a wall, mountain, or other obstructing surface. 2. A sound heard again near its source after being reflected. 3. A lingering trace or effect. echoes. v. 4. To resound with or as if with an echo; reverberate. echoes, echoing, re-echoed.**

ecphractic ::: a. --> Serving to dissolve or attenuate viscid matter, and so to remove obstructions; deobstruent. ::: n. --> An ecphractic medicine.

Elements ::: The elementary state of material Force is, in the view of the old Indian physicists, a condition of pure material extension in Space of which the peculiar property is vibration typified to us by the phenomenon of sound. But vibration in this state of ether is not sufficient to create forms. There must first be some obstruction in the flow of the Force ocean, some contraction and expansion, some interplay of vibrations, some impinging of force upon force so as to create a beginning of fixed relations and mutual effects. Material Force modifying its first ethereal status assumes a second, called in the old language the aerial, of which the special property is contact between force and force, contact that is the basis of all material relations. Still we have not as yet real forms but only varying forces. A sustaining principle is needed. This is provided by a third self-modification of the primitive Force of which the principle of light, electricity, fire and heat is for us the characteristic manifestation. Even then, we can have forms of force preserving their own character and peculiar action, but not stable forms of Matter. A fourth state characterised by diffusion and a first medium of permanent attractions and repulsions, termed picturesquely water or the liquid state, and a fifth of cohesion, termed earth or the solid state, complete the necessary elements.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 21-22, Page: 87-88


embarrass ::: v. t. --> To hinder from freedom of thought, speech, or action by something which impedes or confuses mental action; to perplex; to discompose; to disconcert; as, laughter may embarrass an orator.
To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct; as, business is embarrassed; public affairs are embarrassed.
To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to incumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands; -- said of a person or his affairs; as, a man or his business is embarrassed


Empiricists: (Early English) By the beginning of the 17th century, the wave of search for new foundations of knowledge reached England. The country was fast growing in power and territory. Old beliefs seemed inadequate, and vast new information brought from elsewhere by merchants and scholars had to be assimilated. The feeling was in the air that a new, more practicable and more tangible approach to reality was needed. This new approach was attempted by many thinkers, among whom two, Bacon and Hobbes, were the most outstanding. Francis Bacon (1561-1626), despite his busy political career, found enough enthusiasm and time to outline requirements for the study of natural phenomena. Like Descartes, his younger contemporary in France, he felt the importance of making a clean sweep of countless unverified assumptions obstructing then the progress of knowledge. As the first pre-requisite for the investigation of nature, he advocated, therefore, an overthrow of the idols of the mind, that is, of all the preconceptions and prejudices prevalent in theories, ideas and even language. Only when one's mind is thus prepared for the study of phenomena, can one commence gathering and tabulating facts. Bacon's works, particularly Novum Organum, is full of sagacious thoughts and observations, but he seldom goes beyond general advice. As we realize it today, it was a gross exaggeration to call him "the founder of inductive logic". Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an empiricist of an entirely different kind. He did not attempt to work out an inductive method of investigation, but decided to apply deductive logic to new facts. Like Bacon, he keenly understood the inadequacy of medieval doctrines, particularly of those of "form" and "final cause". He felt the need for taking the study of nature anew, particularly of its three most important aspects, Matter, Man and the State. According to Hobbes, all nature is corporeal and all events have but one cause, motion. Man, in his natural state, is dominated by passion which leads him to a "war of all against all". But, contrary to animals, he is capable of using reason which, in the course of time, made him, for self-protection, to choose a social form of existence. The resulting State is, therefore, built on an implicit social contract. -- R.B.W.

encumber ::: v. t. --> To impede the motion or action of, as with a burden; to retard with something superfluous; to weigh down; to obstruct or embarrass; as, his movements were encumbered by his mantle; his mind is encumbered with useless learning.
To load with debts, or other legal claims; as, to encumber an estate with mortgages.


engorgement ::: n. --> The act of swallowing greedily; a devouring with voracity; a glutting.
An overfullness or obstruction of the vessels in some part of the system; congestion.
The clogging of a blast furnace.


esophagotomy ::: n. --> The operation of making an incision into the esophagus, for the purpose of removing any foreign substance that obstructs the passage.

estoppel ::: n. --> A stop; an obstruction or bar to one&

fair ::: superl. --> Free from spots, specks, dirt, or imperfection; unblemished; clean; pure.
Pleasing to the eye; handsome; beautiful.
Without a dark hue; light; clear; as, a fair skin.
Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; favorable; -- said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.; as, a fair sky; a fair day.
Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed;


fairway ::: n. --> The navigable part of a river, bay, etc., through which vessels enter or depart; the part of a harbor or channel ehich is kept open and unobstructed for the passage of vessels.

fang yankou. (S. pretamukhāgnivālāyasarakāra; J. hoenko; K. pang yomgu 放焰口). In Chinese, "releasing the burning mouths," Chinese esoteric Buddhist ritual for those dead who have been reborn as hungry ghosts (PRETA). The "burning mouths" refers specifically to hungry ghosts, whose tiny mouths and narrow gullets leave them congenitally incapable of filling their distended bellies; even worse, as they try to feed themselves such tiny morsels, the tidbits turn into fire, ash, and burning iron in their mouths. The ritual is performed by monks during the ULLAMBANA festival for the dead or at the request of laypeople on behalf of their ancestors. The ritual typically takes five hours to complete and is always held in the evening when hungry ghosts can more easily travel from their realm of existence to attend. During the performance, the monks wear red or golden hats in the shape of a five-pointed crown, which symbolizes the five buddhas (S. PANCATATHĀGATA). At first, the five buddhas and other divinities are invited and offered "sweet dew" (C. ganlu; S. AMṚTA), viz., water consecrated through the recitation of a MANTRA. After summoning all the inhabitants of the six realms of existence (sAdGATI), the hungry ghosts are then released and feted; purged of their afflictions (KLEsA), they then pay homage to the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) and make a vow to become BODHISATTVAs. Finally, after being taught the Buddhist teachings, they are sent on their way to the PURE LAND. The ritual is accompanied by such features as ringing hand bells, chanting mantras, and performing MUDRĀ in order symbolically to open both the gates of the hells and the throats of the hungry ghosts and to remove their karmic obstructions (KARMĀVARAnA). The ritual is supposed to have been created in response to a nightmare of the Buddha's attendant ĀNANDA: after dreaming one night about the horrible plight of the hungry ghosts, Ānanda asked the Buddha to help beings avoid such a baleful rebirth and to rescue all the current residents of that bourne. The Buddha then recited DHĀRAnĪ on all their behalves. The Jiuba yankou egui tuoluoni jing (S. Pretamukhāgnivālāyasarakāradhāranī; T. Yi dwags kha la me 'bar ma la skyabs mdzad pa'i gzungs, "Dhāranī-Sutra for Liberating the Burning Mouth Hungry Ghosts"), translated by AMOGHAVAJRA during the eighth century, includes the earliest version of the ritual. The fangyan kou is still performed today within the Chinese Buddhist community, especially in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Force can work In you without anything refusing or obstructing her action. If the min d is shut up in its own ideas and refuses to allow her to bring in the Eight and the Truth, if the vital clings to its desires and does not admit the true initiative and impulsions* that the Mother's power brings, if the physical is shut up In its desire habits and inertia and does not allow the Light and Force to enter in it and work, then one is not open. It is not possible to be entirely open all at once in all the mo^’emeots, but there must be a central opening in each part.

foreslow ::: v. t. --> To make slow; to hinder; to obstruct. [Obs.] See Forslow, v. t. ::: v. i. --> To loiter. [Obs.] See Forslow, v. i.

forestall ::: v. t. --> To take beforehand, or in advance; to anticipate.
To take possession of, in advance of some one or something else, to the exclusion or detriment of the latter; to get ahead of; to preoccupy; also, to exclude, hinder, or prevent, by prior occupation, or by measures taken in advance.
To deprive; -- with of.
To obstruct or stop up, as a way; to stop the passage of on highway; to intercept on the road, as goods on the way to market.


foul ::: n. --> A bird.
An entanglement; a collision, as in a boat race.
See Foul ball, under Foul, a. ::: superl. --> Covered with, or containing, extraneous matter which is injurious, noxious, offensive, or obstructive; filthy; dirty; not


glide ::: n. --> The glede or kite.
The act or manner of moving smoothly, swiftly, and without labor or obstruction.
A transitional sound in speech which is produced by the changing of the mouth organs from one definite position to another, and with gradual change in the most frequent cases; as in passing from the begining to the end of a regular diphthong, or from vowel to consonant or consonant to vowel in a syllable, or from one component to the other


GNU Free Documentation License "legal" (GFDL) The {Free Software Foundation}'s license designed to ensure the same freedoms for {documentation} that the {GPL} gives to {software}. This dictionary is distributed under the GFDL, see the copyright notice in the {Free On-line Dictionary of Computing} section (at the start of the source file). The full text follows. Version 1.1, March 2000 Copyright 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed. 0. PREAMBLE The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other written document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being considered responsible for modifications made by others. This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software. We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software, because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is not limited to software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference. 1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS This License applies to any manual or other work that contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the terms of this License. The "Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or translated into another language. A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter section of the Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the publishers or authors of the Document to the Document's overall subject (or to related matters) and contains nothing that could fall directly within that overall subject. (For example, if the Document is in part a textbook of mathematics, a Secondary Section may not explain any mathematics.) The relationship could be a matter of historical connection with the subject or with related matters, or of legal, commercial, philosophical, ethical or political position regarding them. The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose titles are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in the notice that says that the Document is released under this License. The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are listed, as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says that the Document is released under this License. A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy, represented in a format whose specification is available to the general public, whose contents can be viewed and edited directly and straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images composed of pixels) generic paint programs or (for drawings) some widely available drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to text formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of formats suitable for input to text formatters. A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format whose markup has been designed to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by readers is not Transparent. A copy that is not "Transparent" is called "Opaque". Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain ASCII without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format, SGML or XML using a publicly available DTD, and standard-conforming simple HTML designed for human modification. Opaque formats include PostScript, PDF, proprietary formats that can be read and edited only by proprietary word processors, SGML or XML for which the DTD and/or processing tools are not generally available, and the machine-generated HTML produced by some word processors for output purposes only. The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the material this License requires to appear in the title page. For works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text. 2. VERBATIM COPYING You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow the conditions in section 3. You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and you may publicly display copies. 3. COPYING IN QUANTITY If you publish printed copies of the Document numbering more than 100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front cover must present the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and visible. You may add other material on the covers in addition. Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in other respects. If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages. If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a publicly-accessible computer-network location containing a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material, which the general network-using public has access to download anonymously at no charge using public-standard network protocols. If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated location until at least one year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public. It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give them a chance to provide you with an updated version of the Document. 4. MODIFICATIONS You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these things in the Modified Version: A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section of the Document). You may use the same title as a previous version if the original publisher of that version gives permission. B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified Version, together with at least five of the principal authors of the Document (all of its principal authors, if it has less than five). C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the Modified Version, as the publisher. D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document. E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications adjacent to the other copyright notices. F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice giving the public permission to use the Modified Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below. G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice. H. Include an unaltered copy of this License. I. Preserve the section entitled "History", and its title, and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page. If there is no section entitled "History" in the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous sentence. J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise the network locations given in the Document for previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in the "History" section. You may omit a network location for a work that was published at least four years before the Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers to gives permission. K. In any section entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications", preserve the section's title, and preserve in the section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein. L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document, unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles. M. Delete any section entitled "Endorsements". Such a section may not be included in the Modified Version. N. Do not retitle any existing section as "Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant Section. If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material copied from the Document, you may at your option designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other section titles. You may add a section entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties--for example, statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization as the authoritative definition of a standard. You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added the old one. The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version. 5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions, provided that you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your combined work in its license notice. The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work. In the combination, you must combine any sections entitled "History" in the various original documents, forming one section entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections entitled "Dedications". You must delete all sections entitled "Endorsements." 6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the documents in all other respects. You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of that document. 7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, does not as a whole count as a Modified Version of the Document, provided no compilation copyright is claimed for the compilation. Such a compilation is called an "aggregate", and this License does not apply to the other self-contained works thus compiled with the Document, on account of their being thus compiled, if they are not themselves derivative works of the Document. If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one quarter of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that surround only the Document within the aggregate. Otherwise they must appear on covers around the whole aggregate. 8. TRANSLATION Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a translation of this License provided that you also include the original English version of this License. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original English version of this License, the original English version will prevail. 9. TERMINATION You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided for under this License. Any other attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance. 10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See {here (http://gnu.org/copyleft/)}. Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. End of full text of GFDL. (2002-03-09)

hetu. (T. rgyu; C. yin; J. in; K. in 因). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "cause." In one of the first accounts of the Buddha's teachings, he was said to have "set forth the causes of things that have causes and also set forth their cessation." The process of causality is provisionally divided between hetu and PRATYAYA, "causes and conditions": hetu designates the main or primary cause of production, which operates in conjunction with pratyaya, the concomitant conditions or secondary, supporting causes; these two together produce a specific "fruition" or result (PHALA): thus, the fruition of a tree is the result of a primary cause (hetu), its seed; supported by such subsidiary conditions as soil, sunlight, and water; and only when all the relevant causes and conditions in their totality are functioning cooperatively will the prospective fruition or effect occur. ¶ The JNĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central text of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, designates six specific types of hetu: (1) the "cause as a reason for being" (KĀRAnAHETU), the efficient cause or generic cause, referring to causation in its broadest possible sense, in which every conditioned dharma serves as the generic, indirect cause for the creation of all things except itself; (2) the coexistent cause (SAHABHuHETU), where dharmas simultaneously condition one another, as with a material element (MAHĀBHuTA) and its derivatives, or a dharma and its four conditioned characteristics (SAMSKṚTALAKsAnA); (3) associative cause (SAMPRAYUKTAHETU), wherein mental events cannot exist in isolation but instead mutually condition one another; (4) homogenous cause (SABHĀGAHETU), wherein cause is always antecedent to its incumbent effect, ensuring that apple seeds always produce apples, wholesome causes lead to wholesome effects, etc.; (5) all-pervasive, or universally active, cause (SARVATRAGAHETU), wherein afflictions (KLEsA) produce not only identical types of subsequent afflictions but also serve as the root cause of all other afflictions, obstructing a person's capacity to intuit empirical reality; (6) retributive cause (VIPĀKAHETU), i.e., the unwholesome dharmas and wholesome dharmas associated with the contaminants (ĀSRAVA) that produce subsequent "retribution," viz., pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral effects, or ultimately rebirth. ¶ In Indian Buddhist logic, the hetu also refers to the second step, or "reason," in a syllogism (SĀDHANA): e.g., "The mountain is on fire,/because there is smoke,/like a stove (and unlike a lake)"; see also LInGA.

hinder ::: a. --> Of or belonging to that part or end which is in the rear, or which follows; as, the hinder part of a wagon; the hinder parts of a horse.
To keep back or behind; to prevent from starting or moving forward; to check; to retard; to obstruct; to bring to a full stop; -- often followed by from; as, an accident hindered the coach; drought hinders the growth of plants; to hinder me from going.
To prevent or embarrass; to debar; to shut out.


hinder ::: to obstruct or delay the progress of.

hitch ::: v. t. --> To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling.
To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; -- said of something obstructed or impeded.
To hit the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere.
To hook; to catch or fasten as by a hook or a knot; to make fast, unite, or yoke; as, to hitch a horse, or a halter.


Huayan fajie guanmen. (J. Kegon hokkai kanmon; K. Hwaom popkye kwanmun 華嚴法界觀門). In Chinese, "Gate to the Discernments of the DHARMADHĀTU in the AVATAMSAKASuTRA," a seminal text of the HUAYAN ZONG, attributed to DUSHUN, the putative first patriarch of the school. The Fajie guanmen no longer exists as an independent text but is extant only in citations found in other works, such as FAZANG's Fa putixin zhang ("Treatise on Generating the Thought of Enlightenment"), the commentaries of CHENGGUAN and ZONGMI, and YONGMING YANSHOU's ZONGJING LU. The Fajie guanmen largely consists of three "discernments" (guan), of true emptiness, the mutual nonobstruction between principle and phenomena, and total pervasion and accommodation. The text outlines some of the fundamental principles that will govern future doctrinal development within the Huayan school, including the causal relationship that pertains between principle (LI) and phenomena (SHI). The text is characterized by its validation of the reality of the phenomenal world, which is commonly considered to be one of the fundamental characteristics of indigenous Chinese Buddhism.

hub ::: n. --> The central part, usually cylindrical, of a wheel; the nave. See Illust. of Axle box.
The hilt of a weapon.
A rough protuberance or projecting obstruction; as, a hub in the road. [U.S.] See Hubby.
A goal or mark at which quoits, etc., are cast.
A hardened, engraved steel punch for impressing a device upon a die, used in coining, etc.


hydronephrosis ::: n. --> An accumulation of urine in the pelvis of the kidney, occasioned by obstruction in the urinary passages.

ileus ::: n. --> A morbid condition due to intestinal obstruction. It is characterized by complete constipation, with griping pains in the abdomen, which is greatly distended, and in the later stages by vomiting of fecal matter. Called also ileac, / iliac, passion.

impeachment ::: n. --> The act of impeaching, or the state of being impeached
Hindrance; impediment; obstruction.
A calling to account; arraignment; especially, of a public officer for maladministration.
A calling in question as to purity of motives, rectitude of conduct, credibility, etc.; accusation; reproach; as, an impeachment of motives.


impede ::: v. t. --> To hinder; to stop in progress; to obstruct; as, to impede the advance of troops.

impedimental ::: a. --> Of the nature of an impediment; hindering; obstructing; impeditive.

impediments ::: things that impede, hinder, or obstruct; obstacles.

impedite ::: a. --> Hindered; obstructed. ::: v. t. --> To impede.

infarction ::: n. --> The act of stuffing or filling; an overloading and obstruction of any organ or vessel of the body; constipation.

inflammation ::: n. --> The act of inflaming, kindling, or setting on fire; also, the state of being inflamed.
A morbid condition of any part of the body, consisting in congestion of the blood vessels, with obstruction of the blood current, and growth of morbid tissue. It is manifested outwardly by redness and swelling, attended with heat and pain.
Violent excitement; heat; passion; animosity; turbulence; as, an inflammation of the mind, of the body politic, or of


inoffensive ::: a. --> Giving no offense, or provocation; causing no uneasiness, annoyance, or disturbance; as, an inoffensive man, answer, appearance.
Harmless; doing no injury or mischief.
Not obstructing; presenting no interruption bindrance.


intercept ::: v. t. --> To take or seize by the way, or before arrival at the destined place; to cause to stop on the passage; as, to intercept a letter; a telegram will intercept him at Paris.
To obstruct or interrupt the progress of; to stop; to hinder or oppose; as, to intercept the current of a river.
To interrupt communication with, or progress toward; to cut off, as the destination; to blockade.
To include between; as, that part of the line which


interclusion ::: n. --> Interception; a stopping / obstruction.

interruption ::: n. --> The act of interrupting, or breaking in upon.
The state of being interrupted; a breach or break, caused by the abrupt intervention of something foreign; intervention; interposition.
Obstruction caused by breaking in upon course, current, progress, or motion; stop; hindrance; as, the author has met with many interruptions in the execution of his work; the speaker or the argument proceeds without interruption.


intervent ::: v. t. --> To thwart; to obstruct.

in the way. Forming a hindrance, impediment, or obstruction.

jaundice ::: n. --> A morbid condition, characterized by yellowness of the eyes, skin, and urine, whiteness of the faeces, constipation, uneasiness in the region of the stomach, loss of appetite, and general languor and lassitude. It is caused usually by obstruction of the biliary passages and consequent damming up, in the liver, of the bile, which is then absorbed into the blood. ::: v. t.

jhāna. In Pāli, "meditative absorption," corresponding to the Sanskrit DHYĀNA (s.v.). Jhāna refers to the attainment of single-pointed concentration, whereby the mind is withdrawn from external sensory input and completely absorbed in an ideational object of meditation (see KAMMAttHĀNA). Jhāna involves the power to control the mind and does not, in itself, entail any enduring insight into the nature of reality; however, a certain level of concentration is generally said to be necessary in order to prepare the mind for direct realization of truth, the destruction of the afflictions, and the attainment of liberation. Jhāna is classified into two broad types: (1) meditative absorption of the subtle-materiality realm (P. rupāvacarajhāna; S. RuPĀVACARADHYĀNA) and (2) meditative absorption of the immaterial realm (P. arupāvacarajhāna; S. ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). Each of these two types is subdivided into four stages or degrees of absorption, giving a total of eight stages of jhāna. These stages are sometimes called the eight "attainments" (SAMĀPATTI). The four absorptions of the subtle-materiality realm are characterized by an increasing attenuation of consciousness as one progresses from one stage to the next. By entering into any one of the jhānas, the meditator temporarily overcomes the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA) through the force of concentration. This is called "overcoming by repression" (P. vikkhambhanappahāna). The five hindrances are (1) "sensuous desire" (KĀMACCHANDA), which hinders one-pointedness of mind (P. cittekaggatā; S. CITTAIKĀGRATĀ); (2) "malice" (P. byāpāda; S. VYĀPĀDA), hindering rapture (P. pīti; S. PRĪTI); (3) "sloth and torpor" (P. thīnamiddha; S. STHYĀNA-MIDDHA), hindering applied thought (P. vitakka; S. VITARKA); (4) "restlessness and worry" (P. uddhaccakukkucca; S. AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA), hindering joy (SUKHA); and (5) "skeptical doubt" (P. vicikicchā; S. VICIKITSĀ), which hinders sustained thought (VICĀRA). These hindrances thus specifically obstruct one of the factors of absorption (P. jhānanga; S. DHYĀNĀnGA), and once they are allayed the first level of the subtle-materiality jhānas will be achieved. In the first jhāna, all five constituents of jhāna are present; as concentration deepens, these gradually fall away, so that in the second jhāna, both types of thought vanish and only pīti, sukha, and ekaggatā remain; in the third jhāna, only sukha and ekaggatā remain; and in the fourth jhāna, concentration is now so rarified that only ekaggatā is left. Detailed correlations appear in meditation manuals describing specifically which of the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA) and seven constituents of enlightenment (P. bojjhanga; S. BODHYAnGA) serve as the antidote to which hindrance. Mastery of the fourth absorption of the subtle-materiality realm is required for the cultivation of supranormal powers (P. abhiNNā; S. ABHIJNĀ) and for the cultivation of the four arupāvacarajhānas, or meditative absorptions of the immaterial realm. The immaterial absorptions themselves represent refinements of the fourth rupāvacarajhāna, in which the "object" of meditation is gradually attenuated. The four immaterial absorptions instead take as their objects: (1) the sphere of infinite space (P. ākāsānaNcāyatana; S. ĀKĀsĀNANTYĀYATANA), (2) the sphere of infinite consciousness (P. viNNānaNcāyatana; S. VIJNĀNĀNANTYĀYATANA), (3) the sphere of nothingness (P. ākiNcaNNāyatana; S. ĀKINCANYĀYATANA), and (4) the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception (P. nevasaNNānāsaNNāyatana; S. NAIVASAMJNĀNĀSAMJNĀYATANA). Mastery of the absorptions of either the subtle-materiality or immaterial realms results in rebirth in the corresponding heaven of each respective absorption.

jNeyāvarana. (T. shes bya'i sgrib pa; C. suozhizhang; J. shochisho; K. sojijang 所知障). In Sanskrit, "cognitive obstructions," or "noetic obscurations"; the second of the two categories of obstructions (ĀVARAnA), together with the afflictive obstructions (KLEsĀVARAnA), that must be overcome in order to perfect the BODHISATTVA path and achieve buddhahood. In the YOGĀCĀRA and MADHYAMAKA systems, the cognitive obstructions are treated as subtler hindrances that serve as the origin of the afflictive obstructions, and result from fundamental misapprehensions about the nature of reality. According to Yogācāra, because of the attachment deriving ultimately from the reification of what are actually imaginary external phenomena, conceptualization and discrimination arise in the mind, which lead in turn to pride, ignorance, and wrong views. Based on these mistakes in cognition, then, the individual engages in defiled actions, such as anger, envy, etc., which constitute the afflictive obstructions. The afflictive obstructions may be removed by followers of the sRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and beginning BODHISATTVA paths, by applying various antidotes or counteragents (PRATIPAKsA) to the afflictions (KLEsA); overcoming these types of obstructions will lead to freedom from further rebirth. The cognitive obstructions, however, are more deeply ingrained and can only be overcome by advanced bodhisattvas who seek instead to achieve buddhahood, by perfecting their understanding of emptiness (suNYATĀ). 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; this is one of the sources for their unparalleled skills as teachers of sentient beings. The jNeyāvarana are therefore sometimes translated as "obstructions to omniscience."

Jo khang. In Tibetan, "House of the Lord"; the earliest Tibetan temple and monastery, located in the capital of LHA SA. The central image is a statue of sĀKYAMUNI Buddha as a youth, said to have been sculpted in India during the Buddha's lifetime. This statue, the most sacred in Tibet, is known simply as the JO BO ("Lord") SHĀKYAMUNI or Jo bo Rin po che ("Precious Lord"). The temple takes its name from this image housed within it. Indeed, the name Lha sa ("Place of the Gods") may have referred originally to the Jo khang, only later becoming by extension to be the name of the city that surrounds it. The Jo khang stands at the heart of the old city, and is the central point for three circumambulation routes. The most famous of these is the BAR BSKOR, or middle circuit, which passes around the outer walls and surrounding structures of the Jo khang. The Jo khang and bar bskor together have long been Lha sa's primary religious space, with pilgrims circling it in a clockwise direction each day. The central market of Lha sa is also located along the bar bskor. Despite its well-known name, Tibetans tend to refer to the Jo khang simply as the Gtsug lag khang (Tsuklakang), the Tibetan term for VIHĀRA, meaning "monastery"; the original structure was likely laid out by Newari artisans following the plan of an Indian Buddhist vihāra. Western sources have rather misleadingly dubbed the Jo khang the "Cathedral of Lhasa." According to traditional Tibetan sources (most importantly, the MAnI BKA' 'BUM) the original structure was established by the Tibetan king SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO and his two queens (one Chinese and one Nepalese), around 640 CE. The statue of sākyamuni, said to have been crafted during the Buddha's lifetime, eventually made its way to China. It is said to have been brought to Tibet from China by the king's Chinese bride, Princess WENCHENG. The many difficulties she encountered en route from China convinced her that the landscape of Tibet was in fact a supine demoness (SRIN MO), who was inimical to the introduction of Buddhism. On her advice, the king (who had recently converted to Buddhism), the Chinese princess, and the king's other wife, the Nepalese princess BHṚKUTĪ, built the Jo khang directly over the heart of the demoness; according to Tibetan legends, the king himself built much of the first-floor structure. Other temples were subsequently built across Tibet, corresponding to other parts of the demoness's vast body, in order essentially to nail her to the earth and prevent her further obstruction of the dharma (see MTHA' 'DUL GTSUG LAG KHANG). When the Jo khang was completed, a different statue than the more famous Jo bo Shākyamuni or Jo bo rin bo che, was the central image; it was a statue of the buddha called JO BO MI BSKYOD RDO RJE brought to Tibet by Bhṛkutī. The statue brought by Wencheng (known as Jo bo rin bo che) was housed in the nearby RA MO CHE temple, founded by Wencheng. After the king's death, the two statues were switched, moving the Jo bo Shākyamuni statue to the Jo khang and the Jo bo mi bskyod rdo rje statue to Ra mo che, where they would remain over the subsequent centuries. Modern scholarship has raised questions about many details of this tale, including the degree of Srong btsan sgam po's devotion to Buddhism and the existence of his Nepalese queen. However, the story of the Jo khang's founding, depicted on murals inside the temple itself, is widely known, and the Jo khang remains central to the sacred geography of the Tibetan Buddhist world. The Jo khang has been the site of many important moments of Tibetan history, including the establishment of the SMON LAM CHEN MO festival in 1409, when TSONG KHA PA offered a crown to the Jo bo statue, giving it the aspect of a SAMBHOGAKĀYA. Over the course of its long history, the Jo khang has been enlarged and renovated many times (although elements of the original structure, such as juniper beams, are still visible) to become a complex of chapels, courtyards, residential quarters (including those for the DALAI LAMA and PAn CHEN LAMA), monastic dormitories, government offices, and storerooms. The temple suffered during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when parts of the complex and much of its original statuary and murals were damaged or destroyed, including the central image. During this period, the complex was occupied by Red Guards and People's Liberation Army troops, and the temple was used as a pigsty. The temple has since been restored, beginning in 1972 and again during the early 1990s. In 2000, it was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

jounce ::: v. t. & i. --> To jolt; to shake, especially by rough riding or by driving over obstructions. ::: n. --> A jolt; a shake; a hard trot.

kāranahetu. (T. byed pa'i rgyu; C. nengzuo yin; J. nosain; K. nŭngjak in 能作因). In Sanskrit, the "efficient," "generic," or "enabling" "cause," the first of the six causes (HETU) recognized in the SARVĀSTIVĀDA-VAIBHĀsIKA ABHIDHARMA system. This category of cause subsumes all five other causes within it, and it corresponds with the predominant effect (ADHIPATAPHALA) as its specific effect. Each conditioned DHARMA serves as the enabling cause for all other dharmas besides itself by the mere fact that it does not obstruct the others' arising. The kāranahetu provides the broad context necessary for the operation of causality, so that the process of production and cessation will continue unabated.

karmāvarana. (P. kammāvarana; T. las kyi sgrib pa; C. yezhang; J. gosho/gossho; K. opchang 業障). In Sanskrit, "karmic obstruction," or "hindered by KARMAN." The term is used in the VISUDDHIMAGGA with reference to meditators who are incapable of making any progress in concentration (SAMĀDHI) exercises, specifically involving the KASInA visualization devices. The text notes that a practitioner who has engaged in any of the five types of unwholesome "acts that are of immediate effect" (P. ānantariyakamma; S. ĀNANTARYAKARMAN), such as patricide or causing schism in the community of monks (SAMGHBHEDA), is "obstructed by his acts" and will therefore never be able to develop a viable meditation practice. ¶ The relation of karmāvarana to meditation practice continues in Korean Buddhism, where the term opchang is colloquially used to refer to any kind of persistent physical, mental, or emotional obstacle to meditation practice, whether that be, for example, constant pain in one's legs that makes it difficult to sit in meditation for long periods, an inability to concentrate, or emotional distress caused by being apart from one's family. Anything that continually inhibits one's ability to practice effectively may be termed an opchang (karmāvarana). In the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, obstacles to meditation practice are referred to as vimoksāvarana, obstruction to the production of the eight VIMOKsAs, that is, physical and mental inflexibility (akarmanyatā). The ARHAT who is free in both ways (ubhayatobhāgavimukta) is free from this as well as from the KLEsĀVARAnA.

klesāvarana. (T. nyon mongs kyi sgrib pa; C. fannao zhang; J. bonnosho; K. ponnoe chang 煩腦障). In Sanskrit, "afflictive obstructions," or, more literally, the obstructions that are the afflictions. This is the first of the two categories of obstructions (ĀVARAnA), together with the cognitive or noetic obstructions (JNEYĀVARAnA), that the MAHĀYĀNA holds must be overcome in order to complete the BODHISATTVA path and achieve buddhahood. In the YOGĀCĀRA system, based on the mistakes in understanding generated by the cognitive obstructions, the individual engages in defiled actions, such as anger, envy, etc., which constitute the afflictive obstructions. The afflictive obstructions may be removed by followers of the sRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and beginning BODHISATTVA paths, by applying various antidotes or counteragents to the afflictions (KLEsA); overcoming these types of obstructions will lead to freedom from further rebirth (and specifically the PARICCHEDAJARĀMARAnA, or "determinative birth-and-death"). The cognitive obstructions, however, can be overcome only by advanced bodhisattvas who aspire instead to achieve buddhahood.

lame ::: superl. --> Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect, or temporary obstruction of a function; as, a lame leg, arm, or muscle.
To some degree disabled by reason of the imperfect action of a limb; crippled; as, a lame man.
Hence, hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect. ::: v. t.


lane ::: a. --> Alone. ::: n. --> A passageway between fences or hedges which is not traveled as a highroad; an alley between buildings; a narrow way among trees, rocks, and other natural obstructions; hence, in a general sense, a narrow passageway; as, a lane between lines of men, or through a field

laryngotomy ::: n. --> The operation of cutting into the larynx, from the outside of the neck, for assisting respiration when obstructed, or for removing foreign bodies.

laryngotracheotomy ::: n. --> The operation of cutting into the larynx and the upper part of the trachea, -- a frequent operation for obstruction to breathing.

Madhyāntavibhāga. (T. Dbus mtha' rnam 'byed; C. Bianzhongbian lun; J. Benchubenron; K. Pyonjungbyon non 辯中邊論). In Sanskrit, "Differentiation of the Middle Way and the Extremes"; one of the five works (together with the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, the MAHĀYĀNASuTRĀLAMKĀRA, the RATNAGOTRAVIBHĀGA, and the DHARMADHARMATĀVIBHĀGA) said to have been presented to ASAnGA by the bodhisattva MAITREYA in the TUsITA heaven. (More precisely, the title Madhyāntavibhāga refers to the Madhyāntavibhāgakārikā attributed to Maitreya; VASUBANDHU. wrote a commentary to the text, entitled Madhyāntavibhāgabhāsya, and STHIRAMATI wrote a commentary entitled Madhyāntavibhāgatīkā). Written in verse, it is one of the most important YOGĀCĀRA delineations of the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA), especially as they figure in the path to enlightenment, where the obstacles created by the imaginary (PARIKALPITA) are overcome ultimately by the antidote of the consummate (PARINIsPANNA). The "middle way" exposed here is that of the Yogācāra, and is different from that of NĀGĀRJUNA, although the names of the two extremes to be avoided-the extreme of permanence (sĀsVATĀNTA) and the extreme of annihilation (UCCHEDĀNTA)-are the same. Here the extreme of permanence is the existence of external objects, the imaginary nature (PARIKALPITASVABHĀVA). The extreme of annihilation would seem to include Nāgārjuna's emptiness of intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA). The middle way entails upholding the existence of consciousness (VIJNĀNA) as the dependent nature (PARATANTRASVABHĀVA) and the existence of the consummate nature (PARINIsPANNASVABHĀVA). The work is divided into five chapters, which consider the three natures, the various forms of obstruction to be abandoned on the path, the ultimate truth according to YOGĀCĀRA, the means of cultivating the antidotes to the defilements, and the activity of the MAHĀYĀNA path. See also MAITREYANĀTHA.

Manzan Dohaku. (卍山道白) (1636-1715). In Japanese, "Myriad Mountains, Purity of the Path"; ZEN master and scholar of the SoToSHu. Manzan is said to have become a monk at the age of nine and to have experienced a deep awakening at sixteen. After his awakening, he left the following verse: "The night is deep and the clouds have cleared from the sky as if it had been washed; throughout the world, nowhere is the radiance of my eyes defiled or obstructed." In 1678, he met the Soto Zen master Gesshu Soko (1618-1696) and inherited his dharma (shiho). Two years later Manzan took over the abbacy of the temple Daijoji from Gesshu and remained there for ten years. In 1700, Manzan went to the city of Edo (Tokyo) in hopes of reforming the custom of IN'IN EKISHI, or "changing teachers according to temple." Instead, he called for a direct, face-to-face transmission (menju shiho) from one master to his disciple (isshi insho). After several failed attempts he finally succeeded in persuading the bakufu government to ban the in'in ekishi and GARANBo ("temple dharma lineage") practice in 1703. Manzan was also a consummate scholar who is renowned for his efforts to edit Zen master DoGEN KIGEN's magnum opus, SHoBoGENZo. He based his arguments for the abandonment of garanbo and in'in ekishi on his readings of the Shobogenzo. Manzan left many works. His Zenkaiketsu and Taikaku kanna offered a Zen perspective on the meaning of precepts. He also wrote the Tomon enyoshu, which explains various matters related to Zen, including face-to-face transmission (menju shiho). His teachings can also be found in the Manzan osho goroku. His most eminent disciple was the Tokugawa reformer MENZAN ZUIHo (1683-1769).

milldam ::: n. --> A dam or mound to obstruct a water course, and raise the water to a height sufficient to turn a mill wheel.

modest ::: a. --> Restraining within due limits of propriety; not forward, bold, boastful, or presumptious; rather retiring than pushing one&

nid ::: obstructor, Restrainer, Censurer. [Ved.] ::: nidah [plural]

nīvarana. [alt. nivarana] (T. sgrib pa; C. gai; J. gai; K. kae 蓋). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "hindrance" or "obstruction," referring specifically to five hindrances to the attainment of the first meditative absorption of the subtle-materiality realm (RuPĀVACARADHYĀNA). Each of these five hindrances specifically obstructs one of the five constituents of absorption (DHYĀNĀnGA) and must therefore be at least temporarily allayed in order for absorption (DHYĀNA) to occur. The five are: (1) "sensual desire" (KĀMACCHANDA), which hinders one-pointedness of mind (EKĀGRATĀ); (2) "malice" or "ill will" (VYĀPĀDA), hindering physical rapture (PRĪTI); (3) "sloth and torpor" (STYĀNA-MIDDHA), hindering the initial application of thought (VITARKA); (4) "restlessness and worry" (AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA), hindering mental ease (SUKHA); and (5) "skeptical doubt" (VICIKITSĀ), hindering sustained consideration (VICĀRA). Buddhist sutras and meditation manuals, such as the VISUDDHIMAGGA, provide extensive discussion of various antidotes or counteragents (PRATIPAKsA, see also KAMMAttHĀNA) to these hindrances, such as the contemplation on the decomposition of a corpse (AsUBHABHĀVANĀ) to counter sensual desire; the meditation on loving-kindness (MAITRĪ) to counter malice; the recollection of death to counter sloth and torpor; quietude of mind to counter restlessness and worry; and studying the scriptures to counter skeptical doubt. In addition, the five faculties or dominants (INDRIYA) are also specifically designed to allay the five hindrances: faith (sRADDHĀ) counters malice; effort (VĪRYA) counters sloth and torpor; mindfulness (SMṚTI) counters sensual desire; concentration (SAMĀDHI) counters restlessness and worry; and wisdom (PRAJNĀ) counters skeptical doubt. A similar correlation is made between the seven factors of enlightenment (BODHYAnGA) and the hindrances. These five hindrances are permanently eliminated at various stages of the noble path (ĀRYAMĀRGA): worry (kaukṛtya) and skeptical doubt are permanently overcome at the point of becoming a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA); sensual desire and malice on becoming a nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN); and sloth and torpor and restlessness (auddhatya) on becoming a worthy one (ARHAT).

notwithstanding ::: prep. --> Without prevention, or obstruction from or by; in spite of. ::: adv. / conj. --> Nevertheless; however; although; as, I shall go, notwithstanding it rains.

obstacle ::: v. --> That which stands in the way, or opposes; anything that hinders progress; a hindrance; an obstruction, physical or moral.

obstancy ::: n. --> Opposition; impediment; obstruction.

obstinate ::: a. --> Pertinaciously adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course; persistent; not yielding to reason, arguments, or other means; stubborn; pertinacious; -- usually implying unreasonableness.
Not yielding; not easily subdued or removed; as, obstinate fever; obstinate obstructions.


OBSTRUCTION. ::: The obstruction of the lower Nature or the pressure of the adverse forces can often act successfully for a time, even for a long time, against the necessary change. One has then to persist, to put always the will on the side of the

obstruent ::: a. --> Causing obstruction; blocking up; hindering; as, an obstruent medicine. ::: n. --> Anything that obstructs or closes a passage; esp., that which obstructs natural passages in the body; as, a medicine which acts as an obstruent.

offend ::: v. t. --> To strike against; to attack; to assail.
To displease; to make angry; to affront.
To be offensive to; to harm; to pain; to annoy; as, strong light offends the eye; to offend the conscience.
To transgress; to violate; to sin against.
To oppose or obstruct in duty; to cause to stumble; to cause to sin or to fall.


open ::: a. --> Free of access; not shut up; not closed; affording unobstructed ingress or egress; not impeding or preventing passage; not locked up or covered over; -- applied to passageways; as, an open door, window, road, etc.; also, to inclosed structures or objects; as, open houses, boxes, baskets, bottles, etc.; also, to means of communication or approach by water or land; as, an open harbor or roadstead.
Free to be used, enjoyed, visited, or the like; not private; public; unrestricted in use; as, an open library, museum, court, or


oppilate ::: v. t. --> To crowd together; to fill with obstructions; to block up.

oppilation ::: n. --> The act of filling or crowding together; a stopping by redundant matter; obstruction, particularly in the lower intestines.

oppilative ::: a. --> Obstructive.

opposed ::: 1. Being in opposition or having an opponent. 2. Resisted or obstructed.

oppression ::: n. --> The act of oppressing, or state of being oppressed.
That which oppresses; a hardship or injustice; cruelty; severity; tyranny.
A sense of heaviness or obstruction in the body or mind; depression; dullness; lassitude; as, an oppression of spirits; an oppression of the lungs.
Ravishment; rape.


paNcabala. (T. stobs lnga; C. wuli; J. goriki; K. oryok 五力). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "five powers," (1) faith (sRADDHĀ), (2) effort (VĪRYA), (3) mindfulness (SMṚTI), (4) concentration (SAMĀDHI), and (5) wisdom (PRAJNĀ). These five are essential to progress on the path, serving as antidotes to unwholesome states of mind, and specifically to the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA) that obstruct the five factors of meditative absorption (DHYĀNĀnGA): faith serves as an antidote to ill will (VYĀPĀDA); effort serves as an antidote to sloth and torpor (STYĀNĀ-MIDDHA); mindfulness serves as an antidote to either heedlessness (APRAMĀDA) or sensual desire (KĀMACCHANDA); samādhi serves as an antidote to distraction or restlessness and worry (AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA); and wisdom serves as an antidote to skeptical doubt (VICIKITSĀ). In the SAMYUTTANIKĀYA, the Buddha explains that faith is faith in the Buddha's enlightenment; effort is effort at the four exertions (to prevent the arising of unwholesome states that have not yet arisen, to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, to create wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and to maintain wholesome states that have already arisen); mindfulness is the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness (P. SATIPAttHĀNA, Skt. SMṚTYUPASTĀNA); concentration is achievement of the four dhyānas; and wisdom is discerning the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). The five powers constitute five of the thirty-seven aspects of enlightenment (BODHIPĀKsIKADHARMA). In the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ literature, they are described as five states achieved on the forbearance (KsĀNTI) and highest worldly dharmas (LAUKIKĀGRADHARMA) levels of the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMĀRGA; see NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA). They are preceded on the heat (usMAN) and peak (MuRDHAN) levels by the five same factors at a lesser stage of development; there they are called the "five faculties," or "dominants" (PANCENDRIYA).

pāpadesanā. [alt. pāpasodhana] (P. pāpadesanā; T. sdig pa bshags pa; C. chanhui; J. sange; K. ch'amhoe 懺悔). In Sanskrit, "confession of transgressions," "atonement"; the confession of unvirtuous deeds, either privately in the presence of a real or visualized representation of a buddha, or communally as part of a confession ceremony, such as the fortnightly monastic confession (S. UPOsADHA; P. uposatha). Such confession also figures as a standard component in many MAHĀYĀNA and tantric liturgies. The Mahāyāna also deployed a confessional ritual designed for people burdened with heavy karmic obstructions who wished swiftly to attain complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI); this ritual involved chanting the names of thirty-five buddhas of the ten directions (dasadigbuddha, see DAsADIs) and making offerings before images of them. Regardless of the setting, the tenor of confession practice is to make public something that has been hidden; there is no tradition in Buddhism of a priest offering absolution of sins. According to standard theory of KARMAN, the seeds of an unsalutary deed can be removed only through suffering the effects of that deed or through destroying the seed through wisdom (PRAJNĀ). However, there is a general view in the Buddhist ethical systems that the strength of an unwholesome deed, especially one of a less heinous nature, can be diminished through its declaration and revelation.

paricchedajarāmarana. (C. fenduan shengsi; J. bundan shoji; K. pundan saengsa 分段生死). In Sanskrit, "determinative birth-and-death," one of the two categories of SAMSĀRA as delineated in the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimātratāsiddhi), along with transfigurational birth-and-death (PARInĀMIKAJARĀMARAnA); this is saMsāra as experienced by ordinary sentient beings taking rebirth within the three realms of existence (TRAIDHĀTUKA). (In this compound, jarāmarana does not mean only "old age and death," but is used as an abbreviation for the whole panoply of human experience, viz. "birth, old age, sickness, and death.") While the mind-made bodies (MANOMAYAKĀYA) of ARHATs or great BODHISATTVAs may undergo transfigurational birth-and-death (parināmikajarāmarana) and are thus able to change their appearance and life span at will, the physical bodies of ordinary sentient beings are restricted in their longevity, appearance, and size and are thus subject to determinative birth-and-death. The main causes and conditions that lead to determinative birth-and-death are contaminated action (SĀSRAVA-KARMAN) and the afflictive obstructions (KLEsĀVARAnA); transfigurational birth-and-death is instead conceived to result from uncontaminated action (ANĀSRAVA-KARMAN) and the cognitive obstructions (JNEYĀVARAnA) that still remain even after overcoming the afflictive obstructions.

parikalpitaklesāvarana. (T. nyon sgrib kun btags; C. fenbie huo; J. funbetsuwaku; K. punbyol hok 分別惑). In Sanskrit, "imaginary" or "artificial" "afflictive obstructions," those obstructions (ĀVARAnA) to liberation that derive from mistaken conceptions of self (ĀTMAN) generated through the study of flawed philosophical systems in the present lifetime. This type is in distinction to SAHAJAKLEsĀVARAnA, "innate afflictive obstructions," which derive from the mistaken conceptions of self generated and reinforced over the course of many lifetimes. In progressing along the path to liberation, the parikalpitaklesāvarana are said to be easier to abandon than the sahajaklesāvarana.

parināmikajarāmarana. [alt. parināmikijarāmarana] (C. bianyi shengsi; J. henyaku shoji; K. pyonyok saengsa 變易生死). In Sanskrit, "transfigurational birth-and-death," one of the two categories of SAMSĀRA as delineated in the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimātratāsiddhi), along with determinative birth-and-death (PARICCHEDAJARĀMARAnA); this is saMsāra as experienced by an ARHAT or great BODHISATTVA (vasitāprāptabodhisattva). (In this compound, jarāmarana does not mean only "old age and death," but is used as an abbreviation for the whole panoply of human existence, viz. "birth, old age, sickness, and death.") Since these noble (ĀRYA) beings have already achieved some measure of enlightenment, when they undergo rebirth and death in the three realms of existence (TRAIDHĀTUKA), these occur as a "transfigurational birth-and-death" of the "mind-made body" (MANOMAYAKĀYA), not a "determinative birth-and-death" of the physical body. Although these beings have overcome the afflictive obstructions (KLEsĀVARAnA) that tie one to the cycle of saMsāra (and specifically to paricchedajarāmarana), they may still be subject to the cognitive obstructions (JNEYĀVARAnA) that block full understanding (JNĀNA); thus, while they may still engage in actions, these are non-karma-producing actions (viz., "uncontaminated actions," or ANĀSRAVAKARMAN) that do not lead to a determinative rebirth. While such beings may then appear to be reborn, these rebirths are actually transfigurations of their mind-made bodies (manomayakāya), which may be manipulated at will to change their appearances or to extend their life spans indefinitely.

periscope ::: n. --> A general or comprehensive view.
an optical instrument of tubular shape containing an arrangement of lenses and mirrors (or prisms), allowing a person to observe a field of view otherwise obstructed, as beyond an obstructing object or (as in submarines) above the surface of the water.


pharyngotomy ::: n. --> The operation of making an incision into the pharynx, to remove a tumor or anything that obstructs the passage.
Scarification or incision of the tonsils.


phur pa. [alt. phur bu] (S. kīla). A Tibetan ritual dagger. Although the word is used colloquially for any form of stake driven into the ground, such as a tent peg, in the context of Tibetan Buddhism it refers to a ritual implement used in the performance of tantric ceremonies. In its most common design, the phur pa is shaped like a stake with a three-sided blade tapering to a point, while the shaft of its handle is frequently capped with three wrathful or semiwrathful faces and a half-VAJRA. They are fashioned from a variety of materials and may be carved in clay, wood, or bone and are regularly cast from metal alloys. In some instances, phur ba daggers revealed as treasure (GTER MA) are said to be formed from meteorites (rnam lcags). The phur pa is regularly used in rituals for the subjugation of harmful or obstructive forces, such as the "black hat dance" in which participants repeatedly strike an effigy believed to embody those forces. It is also associated with the tantric literature of Rdo rje phur ba (S. VAJRAKĪLAYA) attributed to PADMASAMBHAVA, in which the lower portion of the central deity takes the form of a ritual dagger.

Pratibandhakabhava: Power that removes the obstruction hindering realisation of the Self; absence of obstacles.

Pratibandhaka: That which obstructs Self-realisation or acts as an obstacle to the dawn of Self-knowledge; generally any obstacle on the path of Sadhana.

pratisedha. (T. dgag pa; C. zhe; J. sha; K. ch'a 遮). In Sanskrit, "negative" or "negation," the refutation of an opponent's position. The term is also used to mean "negative phenomenon," that is, a phenomenon that is understood through the elimination of another factor. Examples would include ĀKĀsA ("space," when defined as the lack of obstruction) and ANĀTMAN (nonself), the absence of a self. In Buddhist logic, there are two types of negation, the "affirming negation" (PARYUDĀSAPRATIsEDHA), which negates something while implying the existence of something else, and the "nonaffirming negation" (PRASAJYAPRATIsEDHA), which negates without such implication.

prejudicial ::: a. --> Biased, possessed, or blinded by prejudices; as, to look with a prejudicial eye.
Tending to obstruct or impair; hurtful; injurious; disadvantageous; detrimental.


presstriction ::: n. --> Obstruction, dimness, or defect of sight.

preventer ::: n. --> One who goes before; one who forestalls or anticipates another.
One who prevents or obstructs; a hinderer; that which hinders; as, a preventer of evils or of disease.
An auxiliary rope to strengthen a mast.


prevention ::: n. --> The act of going, or state of being, before.
Anticipation; esp., anticipation of needs or wishes; hence, precaution; forethought.
The act of preventing or hindering; obstruction of action, access, or approach; thwarting.
Prejudice; prepossession.


preventive ::: a. --> Going before; preceding.
Tending to defeat or hinder; obviating; preventing the access of; as, a medicine preventive of disease. ::: n. --> That which prevents, hinders, or obstructs; that which intercepts access; in medicine, something to prevent disease; a


Principles of practice of yaga ::: AU Yoga proceeds in its method by three principles of practice; first, purification, that is to say, the removal of all abeirations, disorders, obstructions brought about by the mixed and irregular action of the energy of being in our physical, moral and mental system ; secondly, concentfStiof?, tlyit is to say, the bringing to its full intensity and the mastered and self-directed empleyment of that energy of

prīti. (P. pīti; T. dga' ba; C. xi; J. ki; K. hŭi 喜). In Sanskrit, "rapture," "joy," "zest"; the third of the five factors of meditative absorption (DHYĀNĀnGA) and the fourth of the seven factors of enlightenment (BODHYAnGA); rapture helps to control the mental hindrances (NĪVARAnA) of both malice (VYĀPĀDA) and sloth and torpor (STYĀNA-MIDDHA). A sustained sense of prīti is obstructed by malice (vyāpāda), the second of the five hindrances to DHYĀNA. Prīti refreshes both body and mind and manifests itself as physical and mental tranquillity (PRAsRABDHI). The most elemental types of prīti involve such physical reactions as horripilation (viz., hair standing on end). As the experience becomes ever more intense, it becomes "transporting rapture," which is so uplifting that it makes the body seem so light as almost to levitate. Ultimately, rapture becomes "all-pervading happiness" that suffuses the body and mind, cleansing it of ill will and tiredness. As both a physical and mental experience, prīti is present during both the first and second of the meditative absorptions associated with the subtle-materiality realm (RuPĀVACARADHYĀNA), but fades into equanimity (UPEKsĀ). In the even subtler third dhyāna, only mental ease (SUKHA) and one-pointedness (EKĀGRATĀ) remain. Divinities in the sUDDHĀVĀSA realm (viz., the five "pure abodes," the upper five of the eight heavens associated with the fourth dhyāna) and the ĀBHĀSVARĀLOKA (heaven of universal radiance) divinities are said literally to "feed on joy" (S. prītibhaksa; P. pītibhakkha), i.e., to survive solely on the sustenance of physical and mental rapture.

probang ::: n. --> A slender elastic rod, as of whalebone, with a sponge on the end, for removing obstructions from the esophagus, etc.

promt ::: superl. --> Ready and quick to act as occasion demands; meeting requirements readily; not slow, dilatory, or hesitating in decision or action; responding on the instant; immediate; as, prompt in obedience or compliance; -- said of persons.
Done or rendered quickly, readily, or immediately; given without delay or hesitation; -- said of conduct; as, prompt assistance.
Easy; unobstructed.


PrUijayQma is a very powerful thing but if done haphazardly it may lead to the raising of obstructions and even in extreme cases illness in the body.

purling ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Purl ::: n. --> The motion of a small stream running among obstructions; also, the murmur it makes in so doing.

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).

ranula ::: n. --> A cyst formed under the tongue by obstruction of the duct of the submaxillary gland.

resist ::: v. t. --> To stand against; to withstand; to obstruct.
To strive against; to endeavor to counteract, defeat, or frustrate; to act in opposition to; to oppose.
To counteract, as a force, by inertia or reaction.
To be distasteful to. ::: v. i.


retardation ::: n. --> The act of retarding; hindrance; the act of delaying; as, the retardation of the motion of a ship; -- opposed to acceleration.
That which retards; an obstacle; an obstruction.
The keeping back of an approaching consonant chord by prolonging one or more tones of a previous chord into the intermediate chord which follows; -- differing from suspension by resolving upwards instead of downwards.


rhonchus ::: n. --> An adventitious whistling or snoring sound heard on auscultation of the chest when the air channels are partially obstructed. By some writers the term rhonchus is used as equivalent to rale in its widest sense. See Rale.

rig pa. The standard Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit term VIDYĀ, or "knowledge." The Tibetan term, however, has a special meaning in the ATIYOGA and RDZOGS CHEN traditions of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, where it refers to the most profound form of consciousness. Some modern translators of Tibetan texts into European languages consider the term too profound to be rendered into a foreign language, while others translate it as "awareness," "pure awareness," or "mind." Unlike the "mind of clear light" (PRABHĀSVARACITTA; 'od gsal gyi sems) as described in other tantric systems, rig pa is not said to be accessible only in extraordinary states, such as death and sexual union; instead, it is fully present, although generally unrecognized, in each moment of sensory experience. Rig pa is described as the primordial basis, characterized with qualities such as presence, spontaneity, luminosity, original purity, unobstructed freedom, expanse, clarity, self-liberation, openness, effortlessness, and intrinsic awareness. It is not accessible through conceptual elaboration or logical analysis. Rather, rig pa is an eternally pure state free from the dualism of subject and object (cf. GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA), infinite and complete from the beginning. It is regarded as the ground or the basis of both SAMSĀRA and NIRVĀnA, with the phenomena of the world being its reflection; all thoughts and all objects of knowledge are said to arise from rig pa and dissolve into rig pa. The ordinary mind believes that its own creations are real, forgetting its true nature of original purity. For the mind willfully to seek to liberate itself is both inappropriate and futile because rig pa is already self-liberated. Rig pa therefore is also the path, and its exponents teach practices that instruct the student how to distinguish rig pa from ordinary mental states. These practices include a variety of techniques designed to eliminate karmic obstacles (KARMĀVARAnA), at which point the presence of rig pa in ordinary experience is introduced, allowing the mind to eliminate all thoughts and experiences itself, thereby recognizing its true nature. Rig pa is thus also the goal of the path, the fundamental state that is free from obscuration. Cf. LINGZHI.

Rnying ma. (Nyingma). In Tibetan, "Ancient," the name of one of the four major sects of Tibetan Buddhism. The name derives from the sect's origins during the "early dissemination" (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism in Tibet and its reliance on translations of TANTRAs made during that period; this is in distinction to the new (GSAR MA) sects of BKA' BRGYUD, SA SKYA, and DGE LUGS, all of which arose during the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) and make use of newer translations. The Rnying ma is thus "ancient" in relation to the new sects and only began to be designated as such after their appearance. The sect traces its origins back to the teachings of the mysterious figure of PADMASAMBHAVA, who visited Tibet during the eighth century and is said to have hidden many texts, called "treasures" (GTER MA), to be discovered in the future. In addition to the Buddhist canon accepted by all sects of Tibetan Buddhism, the Rnying ma adds another collection of tantras (the RNYING MA'I RGYUD 'BUM) as well as the discovered "treasure" (GTER MA) texts to their canonical corpus, works that in many cases the other sects regard as APOCRYPHA, i.e., not of Indian origin. Rnying ma identifies nine vehicles among the corpus of Buddhist teachings, the highest of which is known as ATIYOGA or, more commonly, the "great perfection" (RDZOGS CHEN). These teachings describe the mind as the primordial basis, characterized by qualities such as presence, spontaneity, luminosity, original purity, unobstructed freedom, expanse, clarity, self-liberation, openness, effortlessness, and intrinsic awareness. It is not accessible through conceptual elaboration or logical analysis. Rather, the primordial basis is an eternally pure state free from the dualism of subject and object, infinite and perfect from the beginning, and ever complete. The technique for the discovery of the ubiquitous original purity and self-liberation is to engage in a variety of practices designed to eliminate karmic obstructions, at which point the mind eliminates all thoughts and experiences itself, thereby recognizing its true nature. The rdzogs chen doctrine does not seem to derive directly from any of the Indian philosophical schools; its precise connections to the Indian Buddhist tradition have yet to be established. Some scholars have claimed an historical link and doctrinal affinity between rdzogs chen and the CHAN tradition of Chinese Buddhism, but the precise relationship between the two remains to be fully investigated. It is noteworthy that certain of the earliest extant rdzogs chen texts specifically contrast their own tradition with that of Chan. In comparison to the Dge lugs, Bka' brgyud, and Sa skya, the Rnying ma (with some important exceptions, notably at the time of the fifth DALAI LAMA) remained largely uninvolved in state politics, both within Tibet and in foreign relations. Although they developed great monasteries, such as SMIN GROL GLING, RDZOGS CHEN, and RDO RJE BRAG, the Rnying ma also maintained a strong local presence as lay tantric practitioners (sngags pa) who performed a range of ritual functions for the community. The Rnying ma produced many famous scholars and visionaries, such as KLONG CHEN RAB 'BYAMS, 'JIGS MED GLING PA, and MI PHAM. In the nineteenth century, Rnying ma scholars played a key role in the so-called nonsectarian movement (RIS MED) in eastern Tibet, which produced many important new texts.

room ::: n. --> Unobstructed spase; space which may be occupied by or devoted to any object; compass; extent of place, great or small; as, there is not room for a house; the table takes up too much room.
A particular portion of space appropriated for occupancy; a place to sit, stand, or lie; a seat.
Especially, space in a building or ship inclosed or set apart by a partition; an apartment or chamber.
Place or position in society; office; rank; post; station;


rupāvacaradhyāna. (P. rupāvacarajhāna; T. gzugs na spyod pa'i bsam gtan; C. sejie ding; J. shikikaijo; K. saekkye chong 色界定). In Sanskrit, "meditative absorption associated with the subtle-materiality realm"; in some Buddhist schools, one of the two main classifications of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA), along with ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA, meditative absorption associated with the immaterial realm. In both cases, dhyāna refers to the attainment of single-pointed concentration of the mind on an object of meditation. The four absorptions of the subtle-materiality realm are characterized by an increasing attentuation of consciousness as one progresses from one stage to the next. By entering into any one of the dhyānas, the meditator temporarily allays the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA) through the force of concentration, which puts in place the five constituents of absorption (DHYĀNĀnGA). The five hindrances are (1) sensuous desire (KĀMACCHANDA), which hinders the constituent of one-pointedness of mind (CITTAIKĀGRATĀ); (2) malice (VYĀPĀDA), hindering physical rapture (PRĪTI); (3) sloth and torpor (STYĀNA-MIDDHA), hindering applied thought (VITARKA); (4) restlessness and worry (AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA), hindering mental ease and bliss (SUKHA); and (5) skeptical doubt (VICIKITSĀ), which hinders sustained thought (VICĀRA). These hindrances thus specifically obstruct one of the factors of absorption (dhyānānga), and once they are allayed the first subtle-materiality dhyāna will be achieved. In the first subtle-materiality dhyāna, all five constituents of dhyāna are present; as concentration deepens, these gradually fall away, so that in the second dhyāna, both types of thought vanish and only prīti, sukha, and ekāgratā remain; in the third dhyāna, only sukha and ekāgratā remain; and in the fourth dhyāna, concentration is now so rarified that only ekāgratā is left. Mastery of the fourth rupāvacaradhyāna is required for the cultivation of the supranormal powers (ABHIJNĀ) and also provides the foundation for the cultivation of the four dhyānas of the immaterial realm (ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). Mastery of any of the subtle-materiality absorptions can result in rebirth as a BRAHMĀ god within the corresponding plane of the subtle-materiality realm (RuPADHĀTU).

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.

sahajaklesāvarana. (T. nyon sgrib lhan skyes; C. jusheng fannao zhang/jusheng huo; J. kusho no bonnosho/kusho no waku; K. kusaeng ponnoe chang/kusaeng hok 生煩惱障/生惑). In Sanskrit, "innate afflictive obstructions," those obstructions (ĀVARAnA) to liberation that derive from mistaken conceptions of self (ĀTMAN) that are generated and reinforced over many lifetimes. This type is in distinction to PARIKALPITAKLEsĀVARAnA (T. nyon sgrib kun btags) or "artificial afflictive obstructions," which are mistaken conceptions of self that are generated through the study of flawed philosophical systems or ideologies in the present lifetime. The latter are understood to be more easily abandoned than the sahajaklesāvarana.

samyaksaMbodhi. (P. sammāsaMbodhi; T. yang dag par rdzogs pa'i byang chub; C. zhengdengjue; J. shotogaku; K. chongdŭnggak 正等覺). In Sanskrit, "complete, perfect enlightenment." The term, along with its synonym, ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI, is commonly used to refer to the enlightenment of a buddha, achieved under the BODHI TREE. Different schools of Buddhist thought distinguish this samyaksaMbodhi from the simple enlightenment (BODHI) of an ARHAT in a variety of ways, with the MAHĀYĀNA schools asserting, for example, that a buddha has destroyed both the afflictive obstructions (KLEsĀVARAnA) and the obstacles to omniscience (JNEYĀVARAnA), while an arhat has only destroyed the former.

sarvatragahetu. (T. kun 'gro'i rgyu; C. bianxing yin; J. hengyoin; K. p'yonhaeng in 遍行因). In Sanskrit, "allpervasive," or "universally active," "cause," the fifth of the six types of causes (HETU) outlined in the JNĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central text of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA. This type of cause refers to the fact that the unwholesome proclivities (ANUsAYA) of mind produce not only identical types of subsequent proclivities, but also serve as the root cause of all other types of afflictions, thus obstructing a person's capacity to understand the true nature of reality. The unwholesome cause and effect must occur in the same realm (such as the RuPADHĀTU), but the cause and effect can be different types of unwholesome states, e.g., ignorance can produce attachment.

scaffold ::: n. --> A temporary structure of timber, boards, etc., for various purposes, as for supporting workmen and materials in building, for exhibiting a spectacle upon, for holding the spectators at a show, etc.
Specifically, a stage or elevated platform for the execution of a criminal; as, to die on the scaffold.
An accumulation of adherent, partly fused material forming a shelf, or dome-shaped obstruction, above the tuyeres in a


shutter ::: n. --> One who shuts or closes.
A movable cover or screen for a window, designed to shut out the light, to obstruct the view, or to be of some strength as a defense; a blind.
A removable cover, or a gate, for closing an aperture of any kind, as for closing the passageway for molten iron from a ladle.


sight ::: v. t. --> The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view; as, to gain sight of land.
The power of seeing; the faculty of vision, or of perceiving objects by the instrumentality of the eyes.
The state of admitting unobstructed vision; visibility; open view; region which the eye at one time surveys; space through which the power of vision extends; as, an object within sight.
A spectacle; a view; a show; something worth seeing.


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).

silt ::: n. --> Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water. ::: v. t. --> To choke, fill, or obstruct with silt or mud. ::: v. i.

sleep apnea: a temporary suspension of breathing occurring repeatedly during sleep that often affects overweight people or those having an obstruction in the breathing tract, an abnormally small throat opening, or a neurological disorder.

slug ::: n. --> A drone; a slow, lazy fellow; a sluggard.
A hindrance; an obstruction.
Any one of numerous species of terrestrial pulmonate mollusks belonging to Limax and several related genera, in which the shell is either small and concealed in the mantle, or altogether wanting. They are closely allied to the land snails.
Any smooth, soft larva of a sawfly or moth which creeps like a mollusk; as, the pear slug; rose slug.


smooth ::: superl. --> Having an even surface, or a surface so even that no roughness or points can be perceived by the touch; not rough; as, smooth glass; smooth porcelain.
Evenly spread or arranged; sleek; as, smooth hair.
Gently flowing; moving equably; not ruffled or obstructed; as, a smooth stream.
Flowing or uttered without check, obstruction, or hesitation; not harsh; voluble; even; fluent.


snuffle ::: v. i. --> To speak through the nose; to breathe through the nose when it is obstructed, so as to make a broken sound. ::: n. --> The act of snuffing; a sound made by the air passing through the nose when obstructed.
An affected nasal twang; hence, cant; hypocrisy.


speak ::: v. i. --> To utter words or articulate sounds, as human beings; to express thoughts by words; as, the organs may be so obstructed that a man may not be able to speak.
To express opinions; to say; to talk; to converse.
To utter a speech, discourse, or harangue; to adress a public assembly formally.
To discourse; to make mention; to tell.
To give sound; to sound.


stopper ::: n. --> One who stops, closes, shuts, or hinders; that which stops or obstructs; that which closes or fills a vent or hole in a vessel.
A short piece of rope having a knot at one or both ends, with a lanyard under the knot, -- used to secure something.
A name to several trees of the genus Eugenia, found in Florida and the West Indies; as, the red stopper. See Eugenia. ::: v. t.


stop ::: v. t. --> To close, as an aperture, by filling or by obstructing; as, to stop the ears; hence, to stanch, as a wound.
To obstruct; to render impassable; as, to stop a way, road, or passage.
To arrest the progress of; to hinder; to impede; to shut in; as, to stop a traveler; to stop the course of a stream, or a flow of blood.
To hinder from acting or moving; to prevent the effect or


strangulated ::: a. --> Having the circulation stopped by compression; attended with arrest or obstruction of circulation, caused by constriction or compression; as, a strangulated hernia.
Contracted at irregular intervals, if tied with a ligature; constricted.


suddhi (shuddhi; suddhi) ::: purity; purification, "the removal of all suddhi aberrations, disorders, obstructions brought about by the mixed and irregular action of the energy of being in our physical, moral and mental system" (adhara); in pūrn.a yoga, "not a negative, prohibitory, passive or quietistic, but a positive, affirmative, active purity" depending on the removal of "two forms of impurity which are at the root of the whole confusion", namely, "a radically wrong and ignorant form given to the proper action of each part of our instrumental being" and "an immixture of functions by which the impure working of the lower instrument gets into the characteristic action of the higher function"; the first member of the siddhi catus.t.aya, "a total purification of all the complex instrumentality in all the parts of each instrument", so that the whole being is made "a clear mirror in which the divine reality can be reflected, a clear vessel and an unobstructing channel into which the divine presence and through which the divine influence can be poured, a subtilised stuff which the divine nature can take possession of, new-shape and use to divine issues" suddhir, muktir, bhuktih., siddhir, iti yogacatus.t.ayam (shuddhir, muksuddhir,

sukha. (T. bde ba; C. le; J. raku; K. nak 樂). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "bliss," "ease," or "joy"; the fourth of the five constituents of meditative absorption (DHYĀNĀnGA). A sustained sense of sukha is obstructed by restlessness and worry (AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA), the fourth of the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA) to DHYĀNA. Sukha is the maturation of the physical and mental tranquillity (PRAsRABDHI) that is associated with the coarser experience of physical "rapture" (PRĪTI). Sukha always appears in conjunction with prīti, but not necessarily the converse; whereas sukha is part of the perception aggregate (SAMJNĀ), prīti is instead grouped with the conditioning factors aggregate (SAMSKĀRA). Sukha leaves one "feeling well" and catalyzes the development of expansive mental states. Sukha is present in the first, second, and third of the meditative absorptions (dhyāna) associated with the realm of subtle materiality (RuPĀVACARADHYĀNA), but fades into equanimity (UPEKsĀ) in the even subtler fourth dhyāna, wherein the meditator experiences neither pleasure nor pain and is left only with one-pointedness of mind (CITTAIKĀGRATĀ). The term sukha is also important in Buddhist TANTRA, especially ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, where the movement of winds (PRĀnA) and drops (BINDU) up and down the central channel generate various forms of bliss; the bliss created by the upward movement of the winds and drops are particularly powerful. In order to achieve buddhahood, the bliss consciousness is used to understand emptiness (suNYATĀ).

Tamas: One of the three constituents (gunas) of the Cosmic Substance (prakriti), viz. the restraining aspect of Nature that obstructs and envelops the other two constituents by counteracting the tendency of rajas to do work and sattva to reveal; in Yoga, the quality of delusion or ignorance.

tappen ::: n. --> An obstruction, or indigestible mass, found in the intestine of bears and other animals during hibernation.

tathāgatabhumi. (T. de bzhin gshegs pa'i sa; C. rulai di; J. nyoraiji; K. yorae chi 如來地). The "stage of a thus gone one," the name given in the LAnKĀVATĀRASuTRA to an eleventh ground or stage (BHuMI) of the BODHISATTVA path that constitutes the fruition of buddhahood (buddhaphala). The tenth BODHISATTVABHuMI, DHARMAMEGHĀ, the culminating stage of the "path of cultivation" (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA), still contains both subtle remnants of the cognitive obstructions (JNEYĀVARAnA) as well as seeds of the afflictive obstructions (KLEsĀVARAnA). These obstructions will be completely eradicated through the diamond-like samādhi (VAJROPAMASAMĀDHI), which marks the transition to the "ultimate path" (NIstHĀMĀRGA), or the "path where no further training is necessary" (AsAIKsAMĀRGA). This stage is the tathāgatabhumi, which is also sometimes known as the "universally luminous" (samantaprabhā).

tathatā. (T. de bzhin nyid/de kho na nyid; C. zhenru; J. shinnyo; K. chinyo 眞如). In Sanskrit, "suchness" or "thusness"; a term for ultimate reality, especially in the MAHĀYĀNA schools. Along with terms such as DHARMATĀ, DHARMADHĀTU, and BHuTAKOtI, it has a more "positive" connotation than emptiness (suNYATĀ), referring to the eternal nature of reality that is "ever thus" or "just so" and free of all conceptual elaborations. In YOGĀCĀRA/VIJNĀNAVĀDA, the term refers to the ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA). Buddhahood is sometimes described as tathatāvisuddhi, or "purity of suchness," that is, ultimate reality purified of all obstructions. In the MADHYAMAKA school, any attempt to substantiate the nature of reality is rejected, and tathatā is instead identified with emptiness and the cessation of all dichotomizing tendencies of thought. The Chinese equivalent, ZHENRU, is a seminal term in in East Asian Buddhist philosophy, figuring prominently, for example, in the DASHENG QIXIN LUN. See also TATTVA.

taxis ::: n. --> Manipulation applied to a hernial tumor, or to an intestinal obstruction, for the purpose of reducing it.

Tevijjasutta. (C. Sanming jing; J. Sanmyokyo; K. Sammyong kyong 三明經). In Pāli, "Discourse on the Three-fold Knowledge"; the thirteenth sutta of the DĪGHANIKĀYA (a DHARMAGUPTAKA recension appears as the twenty-sixth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the DĪRGHĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to the two brāhmana youths, Vāsettha and Bhāradvāja, in a mango grove outside the village of Manasākata in Kosala. Vāsettha and Bhāradvāja request the Buddha to resolve their debate as to which path proposed by various brāhmana teachers learned in the three Vedas truly leads to union with the god BRAHMĀ. The Buddha responds that since none of the brāhmana teachers learned in the three Vedas themselves have attained union with Brahmā, none of the paths they teach can lead there. They are unable to attain this goal, he continues, because their minds are obstructed by the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA) of sensuous desire (KĀMACCHANDA), malice (VYĀPĀDA), sloth and torpor (P. thīnamiddha, S. STYĀNA-MIDDHA), restlessness and worry (P. uddhaccakukkucca, S. AUDDHATYA-KAUKṚTYA), and doubt (P. vicikicchā, S. VICIKITSĀ) about the efficacy of the path. The Buddha then describes the true path by means of which a disciple may attain union with Brahmā as follows: the disciple awakens to the teaching, abandons the household life, and enters the Buddhist order, trains in the restraint of action and speech, and observes even minor points of morality, guards the senses, practices mindfulness, is content with little, becomes freed from the five hindrances and attains joy and peace of mind. Then the disciple pervades the four quarters with loving-kindness (P. mettā; S. MAITRĪ), then compassion (KARUnĀ), sympathetic joy (MUDITĀ), and finally equanimity (P. upekkhā; S. UPEKsĀ). In this way one attains union with Brahmā. Vāsettha and Bhāradvāja are pleased with the discourse and become disciples of the Buddha. In adapting the term tevijja (S. TRIVIDYĀ), the Buddha is intentionally redefining the meaning of the three Vedas, contrasting his three knowledges with that of brāhmana priests who have merely memorized the three Vedas.

"The elementary state of material Force is, in the view of the old Indian physicists, a condition of pure material extension in Space of which the peculiar property is vibration typified to us by the phenomenon of sound. But vibration in this state of ether is not sufficient to create forms. There must first be some obstruction in the flow of the Force ocean, some contraction and expansion, some interplay of vibrations, some impinging of force upon force so as to create a beginning of fixed relations and mutual effects. Material Force modifying its first ethereal status assumes a second, called in the old language the aerial, of which the special property is contact between force and force, contact that is the basis of all material relations. Still we have not as yet real forms but only varying forces. A sustaining principle is needed. This is provided by a third self-modification of the primitive Force of which the principle of light, electricity, fire and heat is for us the characteristic manifestation. Even then, we can have forms of force preserving their own character and peculiar action, but not stable forms of Matter. A fourth state characterised by diffusion and a first medium of permanent attractions and repulsions, termed picturesquely water or the liquid state, and a fifth of cohesion, termed earth or the solid state, complete the necessary elements.” The Life Divine*

“The elementary state of material Force is, in the view of the old Indian physicists, a condition of pure material extension in Space of which the peculiar property is vibration typified to us by the phenomenon of sound. But vibration in this state of ether is not sufficient to create forms. There must first be some obstruction in the flow of the Force ocean, some contraction and expansion, some interplay of vibrations, some impinging of force upon force so as to create a beginning of fixed relations and mutual effects. Material Force modifying its first ethereal status assumes a second, called in the old language the aerial, of which the special property is contact between force and force, contact that is the basis of all material relations. Still we have not as yet real forms but only varying forces. A sustaining principle is needed. This is provided by a third self-modification of the primitive Force of which the principle of light, electricity, fire and heat is for us the characteristic manifestation. Even then, we can have forms of force preserving their own character and peculiar action, but not stable forms of Matter. A fourth state characterised by diffusion and a first medium of permanent attractions and repulsions, termed picturesquely water or the liquid state, and a fifth of cohesion, termed earth or the solid state, complete the necessary elements.” The Life Divine

the gapes ::: --> A fit of yawning.
A disease of young poultry and other birds, attended with much gaping. It is caused by a parasitic nematode worm (Syngamus trachealis), in the windpipe, which obstructs the breathing. See Gapeworm.


Therefore, while our effort is personal. Time appears as a resist- ance, for It presents to us all the obstruction of the forces that conflict with our own. When the divine working and the per- sonal are combined in our consciousness, It appears as a medium and condition. When the two become one, it appears as a servant and instrument.

thoroughfare ::: n. --> A passage through; a passage from one street or opening to another; an unobstructed way open to the public; a public road; hence, a frequented street.
A passing or going through; passage.


thrombosis ::: n. --> The obstruction of a blood vessel by a clot formed at the site of obstruction; -- distinguished from embolism, which is produced by a clot or foreign body brought from a distance.

thwartingly ::: adv. --> In a thwarting or obstructing manner; so as to thwart.

"Time is a field of circumstances and forces meeting and working out a resultant progression whose course it measures. To the ego it is a tyrant or a resistance, to the Divine an instrument. Therefore, while our effort is personal, Time appears as a resistance, for it presents to us all the obstruction of the forces that conflict with our own. When the divine working and the personal are combined in our consciousness, it appears as a medium and a condition. When the two become one, it appears as a servant and instrument.” The Synthesis of Yoga

“Time is a field of circumstances and forces meeting and working out a resultant progression whose course it measures. To the ego it is a tyrant or a resistance, to the Divine an instrument. Therefore, while our effort is personal, Time appears as a resistance, for it presents to us all the obstruction of the forces that conflict with our own. When the divine working and the personal are combined in our consciousness, it appears as a medium and a condition. When the two become one, it appears as a servant and instrument.” The Synthesis of Yoga

Time ::: Time presents itself to human effort as an enemy or a friend, as a resistance, a medium or an instrument. But always it is really the instrument of the soul. Time is a field of circumstances and forces meeting and working out a resultant progression whose course it measures. To the ego it is a tyrant or a resistance, to the Divine an instrument. Th
   refore, while our effort is personal, Time appears as a resistance, for it presents to us all the obstruction of the forces that conflict with our own. When the divine working and the personal are combined in our consciousness, it appears as a medium and a condition. When the two become one, it appears as a servant and instrument. The ideal attitude of the sadhaka towards Time is to have an endless patience as if he had all eternity for his fulfilment and yet to develop the energy that shall realise now and with an ever-increasing mastery and pressure of rapidity till it reaches the miraculous instantaneousness of the supreme divine Transformation.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 68


TMRC /tmerk'/ The Tech Model Railroad Club at {MIT}, one of the wellsprings of {hacker} culture. The 1959 "Dictionary of the TMRC Language" compiled by Peter Samson included several terms that became basics of the hackish vocabulary (see especially {foo}, {mung}, and {frob}). By 1962, TMRC's legendary layout was already a marvel of complexity (and has grown in the thirty years since; all the features described here are still present). The control system alone featured about 1200 relays. There were {scram switch}es located at numerous places around the room that could be thwacked if something undesirable was about to occur, such as a train going full-bore at an obstruction. Another feature of the system was a digital clock on the dispatch board, which was itself something of a wonder in those bygone days before cheap LEDS and seven-segment displays. When someone hit a scram switch the clock stopped and the display was replaced with the word "FOO"; at TMRC the scram switches are therefore called "foo switches". Steven Levy, in his book "Hackers", gives a stimulating account of those early years. TMRC's Power and Signals group included most of the early {PDP-1} hackers and the people who later bacame the core of the {MIT} {AI Lab} staff. This dictionary accordingly includes a number of entries from the TMRC dictionary (via the Hacker Jargon File). [{Jargon File}] (2008-06-30)

tonic ::: a. --> Of or relating to tones or sounds; specifically (Phon.), applied to, or distingshing, a speech sound made with tone unmixed and undimmed by obstruction, such sounds, namely, the vowels and diphthongs, being so called by Dr. James Rush (1833) " from their forming the purest and most plastic material of intonation."
Of or pertaining to tension; increasing tension; hence, increasing strength; as, tonic power.
Increasing strength, or the tone of the animal system;


traveling; traveler, devotee; open not obstructed. From the Arabic root s-l-k meaning to travel, to follow (a path), to enter upon a course or road; to behave; to proceed, to set foot (on); to clarify, disentangle. In esoteric terms, there are two general types of Sufis, the Rind and the Salik; the Rind follow a path of disregarding worldly matters, while the Salik are engaged in worldly matters.

traverse ::: a. --> Lying across; being in a direction across something else; as, paths cut with traverse trenches.
Anything that traverses, or crosses.
Something that thwarts, crosses, or obstructs; a cross accident; as, he would have succeeded, had it not been for unlucky traverses not under his control.
A barrier, sliding door, movable screen, curtain, or the like.


tricuspid ::: a. --> Having three cusps, or points; tricuspidate; as, a tricuspid molar.
Of or pertaining to the tricuspid valves; as, tricuspid obstruction.


tumbler ::: n. --> One who tumbles; one who plays tricks by various motions of the body; an acrobat.
A movable obstruction in a lock, consisting of a lever, latch, wheel, slide, or the like, which must be adjusted to a particular position by a key or other means before the bolt can be thrown in locking or unlocking.
A piece attached to, or forming part of, the hammer of a gunlock, upon which the mainspring acts and in which are the notches


two obstructions. (S. āvarana; T. sgribs pa; C. zhang 障)

unbarricadoed ::: a. --> Not obstructed by barricades; open; as, unbarricadoed streets.

unclog ::: v. t. --> To disencumber of a clog, or of difficulties and obstructions; to free from encumbrances; to set at liberty.

undam ::: v. t. --> To free from a dam, mound, or other obstruction.

unstop ::: v. t. --> To take the stopple or stopper from; as, to unstop a bottle or a cask.
To free from any obstruction; to open.


urau anibadhe ::: in the wide and the limitless or unobstructed. [RV 3.1.11]

vikshepa. ::: distractions; dispersion; scattering; illusory projection; the tossing of the mind which obstructs concentration; consequent bewilderment or perplexity bringing agitation; the mental activity which brings upon the screen of the Self enveloping illusions producing the apparently real appearance of an external world

Vikshepa: The tossing of the mind which obstructs concentration.

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.

volvulus ::: n. --> The spasmodic contraction of the intestines which causes colic.
Any twisting or displacement of the intestines causing obstruction; ileus. See Ileus.


vowel ::: n. --> A vocal, or sometimes a whispered, sound modified by resonance in the oral passage, the peculiar resonance in each case giving to each several vowel its distinctive character or quality as a sound of speech; -- distinguished from a consonant in that the latter, whether made with or without vocality, derives its character in every case from some kind of obstructive action by the mouth organs. Also, a letter or character which represents such a sound. See Guide to Pronunciation, // 5, 146-149.

Vr.tra (Vritra) ::: a Vedic demon, the "coverer" who blocks the flow of the waters of being; a hostile power obstructing the yoga.

Vrtra (Vritra) ::: the Coverer; the Serpent; the demon who covers and holds back the Light and obstructs the free movement of the illumined rivers of the truth, he is the personification of the Inconscient.

vyāpāda. (T. gnod sems; C. chen; J. shin; K. chin 瞋). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "malice" or "ill will"; the ninth of ten unwholesome courses of action (AKUsALA-KARMAPATHA), referring to the hateful wish that harm will befall another. The ten courses of action are divided into three groups according to whether they are performed by the body, speech, or mind. Malice is classified as an unwholesome mental action (AKUsALA-KARMAN), and forms a triad along with covetousness (ABHIDHYĀ) and wrong views (MITHYĀDṚstI). Only extreme forms of defiled thinking are deemed an unwholesome course of mental action, such as the covetous wish to misappropriate someone else's property, the harmful intent to hurt someone, or the adherence to pernicious doctrines. Lesser forms of defiled thinking are still unwholesome (akusala), but do not constitute a course of action. ¶ "Malice" is also listed as one of the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA) to DHYĀNA, obstructing the dhyāna factor of rapture (PRĪTI). Malice is fostered by unwise attention (AYONIsOMANASKĀRA) to objects causing aversion and is removed through frequent wise attention to loving-kindness (MAITRĪ), developing the meditation on loving-kindness, and recognizing the fact that every person's actions are his or her own and acknowledging the futility of anger. Malice is countered by faith (sRADDHĀ), the first of the five spiritual faculties (INDIYA), and by the enlightenment factors (BODHYAnGA) of physical rapture (prīti) and equanimity (UPEKsĀ). "Malice" is also included among the ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) and is completely overcome only upon becoming an ARHAT.

walled ::: 1. Having an immaterial or intangible barrier, obstruction, etc., suggesting a wall. 2. Enclosed, shut off, divided, protected, etc. with or as if with a wall, often followed by in.

wu'ai xing. (J. mugegyo; K. muae haeng 無礙行). In Chinese, "unhindered action" or "unconstrained conduct"; one of the types of practice of a BODHISATTVA-MAHĀSATTVA, as expounded especially in the AVATAMSAKASuTRA, referring to a conduct that is not constrained by the restrictions of customary morality or mundane societal expectations. Other related terms that are described as unhindered include "unhindered physicality" (wu'ai shen), "unhindered SAMĀDHI" (wu'ai sanmei), "unhindered wisdom" (wu'ai zhi), "unhindered dharma" (wu'ai fa), "unhindered path" (wu'ai dao), etc. The actions of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva conform to those of the buddhas themselves and any merit forthcoming from them are freely transferred (huixiang) to other sentient beings to help them with their salvation; for this reason, their actions are free from any kinds of hindrances. The MAHĀYĀNASAMGRAHA (She Dasheng lun) also explains "unhindered action" as the merit of a buddha, which is obtained through the purest of wisdom. Unhindered action sometimes refers to a particular stage or practice of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: the BODHISATTVABHuMI (Pusa shanjie jing) presents it as the tenth of the twelve conducts of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva, along with such advanced practices as the signless practice, untainted practice, practice-less practice, and contented practice. In this context, unhindered action refers to the stage where a bodhisattva cultivates the realm of reality (DHARMADHĀTU) that transcends all discrimination and teaches the true dharma (SADDHARMA) for the sake of innumerable sentient beings. This status is said to correspond specifically to the ninth of the ten bodhisattva stages (DAsABHuMI), and the bodhisattva on this stage is described as being endowed with four types of analytical knowledges (PRATISAMVID), which in Chinese were known as the four "unhindered knowledges" (C. si wu'ai jie): i.e., unhindered knowledge of (1) phenomena (DHARMA), viz., one makes no mistakes in one's teachings; (2) meaning (ARTHA), viz., to be unhindered with regard to the content and meaning of one's teachings; (3) etymology or language (NIRUKTI), viz., the ability to comprehend all languages; and (4) eloquence (PRATIBHĀNA), viz., ease in offering explanations. CHENGGUAN (738-839) states in his massive HUAYAN JING SHU ("Commentary to the AVATAMSAKASuTRA") that the bodhisattva is able to abide in unhindered action (lit. "unhindered abiding") because he no longer has any cognitive obstructions (JNEYĀVARAnA). The practice of unconstrained conduct has been a prominent, if controversial, feature of Korean Buddhism throughout its history. Several eminent Korean monks were known as practitioners of unconstrained conduct, including WoNHYO (617-686), Chinmuk (1562-1633), and KYoNGHo SoNGU (1849-1912), and they followed ways of life that disregarded the standards of conduct typically incumbent upon ordained monks.

Xiuxi zhiguan zuochan fayao. (J. Shuju shikan zazenhoyo; K. Susŭp chigwan chwason pobyo 修習止觀坐禪法要). In Chinese, "Essentials for Sitting in Meditation and Cultivating Calmness and Contemplation"; also known as the Tongmeng zhiguan ("Calming and Contemplation for Neophytes") and the (Tiantai) Xiao zhiguan ("Shorter Calming and Contemplation of [Tiantai]"). The monk TIANTAI ZHIYI, the systematizer of the TIANTAI ZONG, is known to have composed this treatise as a guide for training his brother Zhen Zhen. The treatise was composed sometime after his Shi chan boluomi cidi chanmen (571) and MOHE ZHIGUAN (594). Despite its popular designation as the Xiao zhiguan, the relatively short Xiuxi zhiguan zuochan fayao borrows heavily from the Shi chan boluomi cidi chanmen and seems to have no direct relation to Zhiyi's massive Mohe zhiguan. A preface to the Xiuxi zhiguan zuochan fayao was prepared by the monk Yuanzhao (1048-1116) and was published together with the treatise in 1095. The treatise is divided into ten chapters: (1) necessary conditions, (2) rebuking desires, (3) discarding obstructions, (4) regulation, (5) expedient methods (UPĀYA), (6) proper cultivation, (7) manifestation of the (roots of) virtue (KUsALAMuLA), (8) recognizing MĀRA, (9) healing ailments, and (10) attainment of fruits. The practice of meditation outlined in the treatise is based on the twenty-five preparatory expedient methods of the DAZHIDU LUN and the Shi chan boluomi cidi chanmen. As the title makes clear, the general purpose of the treatise is to provide the essentials for the concurrent practice of calming (sAMATHA) and insight (VIPAsYANĀ). The treatise is still widely used in various Buddhist traditions as a practical manual for beginning meditators.

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.

yuzunenbutsu. (融通念佛). In Japanese, lit. "consummate-interfusion recitation of the Buddha's name"; a method of chanting Amida (S. AMITĀBHA) Buddha's name (J. nenbutsu; C. NIANFO), devised by the founder of the YuZuNENBUTSU school, RYoNIN (1072-1132). The principle of yuzunenbutsu is derived from Kegonshu (C. HUAYAN ZONG) and TENDAISHu (C. TIANTAI ZONG) philosophy, especially the Kegon teachings of "comsummate interfusion" ( J. yuzu, C. YUANRONG) and the unobstructed interpenetration of all phenomena ( J. jiji muge; see C. SHISHI WU'AI FAJIE) and the Tendai teaching of the mutual inclusion of the ten dharma-realms ( J. jikkai goku; C. shijie huju). The principle of yuzunenbutsu builds upon this sense that each and every phenomenon is perfectly interfused with all other phenomena to propose that the merit coming from one person's chanting of Amitābha's name is transferred to all other persons and vice versa. When more people chant the Buddha's name, more merit is thus transferred to all people, and the merit derived from these cooperative efforts reaches not only the dharma-realm (DHARMADHĀTU) in which it is created but also all other dharma-realms as well. Therefore, all things in all realms of existence receive benefit from any one individual's practice of chanting the Buddha's name. The practice of yuzunenbutsu thus has two major characteristics: (1) the individual's burden to practice is relieved because salvation is due not just to one's own merit but to everyone's merit; (2) the notion of "other power" (TARIKI) in this form of pure land means both the power of one's fellow beings and the power deriving from Amitābha Buddha's vow of compassion.



QUOTES [3 / 3 - 123 / 123]


KEYS (10k)

   1 Joseph Campbell
   1 The Mother
   1 Swami Vivekananda

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

   3 Swami Vivekananda
   3 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   3 Samuel Johnson
   3 Joseph Campbell
   3 Francis Bacon
   3 Donald Trump
   3 Bruce Lee
   3 Anonymous
   2 Jean Sasson
   2 Iyanla Vanzant
   2 Frederick Lenz
   2 Ernest Holmes
   2 Dalai Lama

1:So long as you have faith in your guru, nothing will be able to obstruct your way. ~ Swami Vivekananda, (C.W. V. 106),
2:The research for physical immortality proceeds from a misunderstanding of the traditional teaching. On the contrary, the basic problem is: to enlarge the pupil of the eye, so that the body with its attendant personality will no longer obstruct the view. Immortality is then experienced as a present fact: "It is here! It is here!" [165]
[165] A Tantric aphorism. ~ Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Ultimate Boon,
3: Sri Aurobindo writes here: "...Few and brief in their visits are the Bright Ones who are willing or permitted to succour." Why?
(1 "The Way", Cent. Vol. 17, p. 40.)
One must go and ask them! But there is a conclusion, the last sentences give a very clear explanation. It is said: "Nay, then, is immortality a plaything to be given lightly to a child, or the divine life a prize without effort or the crown for a weakling?" This comes back to the question why the adverse forces have the right to interfere, to harass you. But this is precisely the test necessary for your sincerity. If the way were very easy, everybody would start on the way, and if one could reach the goal without any obstacle and without any effort, everybody would reach the goal, and when one has come to the end, the situation would be the same as when one started, there would be no change. That is, the new world would be exactly what the old has been. It is truly not worth the trouble! Evidently a process of elimination is necessary so that only what is capable of manifesting the new life remains. This is the reason and there is no other, this is the best of reasons. And, you see, it is a tempering, it is the ordeal of fire, only that which can stand it remains absolutely pure; when everything has burnt down, there remains only the little ingot of pure gold. And it is like that. What puts things out very much in all this is the religious idea of fault, sin, redemption. But there is no arbitrary decision! On the contrary, for each one it is the best and most favourable conditions which are given. We were saying the other day that it is only his friends whom God treats with severity; you thought it was a joke, but it is true. It is only to those who are full of hope, who will pass through this purifying flame, that the conditions for attaining the maximum result are given. And the human mind is made in such a way that you may test this; when something extremely unpleasant happens to you, you may tell yourself, "Well, this proves I am worth the trouble of being given this difficulty, this proves there is something in me which can resist the difficulty", and you will notice that instead of tormenting yourself, you rejoice - you will be so happy and so strong that even the most unpleasant things will seem to you quite charming! This is a very easy experiment to make. Whatever the circumstance, if your mind is accustomed to look at it as something favourable, it will no longer be unpleasant for you. This is quite well known; as long as the mind refuses to accept a thing, struggles against it, tries to obstruct it, there are torments, difficulties, storms, inner struggles and all suffering. But the minute the mind says, "Good, this is what has to come, it is thus that it must happen", whatever happens, you are content. There are people who have acquired such control of their mind over their body that they feel nothing; I told you this the other day about certain mystics: if they think the suffering inflicted upon them is going to help them cross the stages in a moment and give them a sort of stepping stone to attain the Realisation, the goal they have put before them, union with the Divine, they no longer feel the suffering at all. Their body is as it were galvanised by the mental conception. This has happened very often, it is a very common experience among those who truly have enthusiasm. And after all, if one must for some reason or other leave one's body and take a new one, is it not better to make of one's death something magnificent, joyful, enthusiastic, than to make it a disgusting defeat? Those who cling on, who try by every possible means to delay the end even by a minute or two, who give you an example of frightful anguish, show that they are not conscious of their soul.... After all, it is perhaps a means, isn't it? One can change this accident into a means; if one is conscious one can make a beautiful thing of it, a very beautiful thing, as of everything. And note, those who do not fear it, who are not anxious, who can die without any sordidness are those who never think about it, who are not haunted all the time by this "horror" facing them which they must escape and which they try to push as far away from them as they can. These, when the occasion comes, can lift their head, smile and say, "Here I am."
It is they who have the will to make the best possible use of their life, it is they who say, "I shall remain here as long as it is necessary, to the last second, and I shall not lose one moment to realise my goal"; these, when the necessity comes, put up the best show. Why? - It is very simple, because they live in their ideal, the truth of their ideal; because that is the real thing for them, the very reason of their being, and in all things they can see this ideal, this reason of existence, and never do they come down into the sordidness of material life.
So, the conclusion:
One must never wish for death.
One must never will to die.
One must never be afraid to die.
And in all circumstances one must will to exceed oneself. ~ The Mother, Question and Answers, Volume-4, page no.353-355,
1:Obstacles come to instruct, not obstruct. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove
2:Surrender doesn't obstruct power; it enhances it. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove
3:Remind yourself that problems come not to obstruct, but to instruct. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove
4:So long as you have faith in your Guru, nothing will be able to obstruct your way. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
5:Difficulties come not to obstruct, but to instruct. Within every setback or obstacle lie seeds of an equal or greater benefit or opportunity. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove
6:Whatever you believe, that you will be. If you believe yourselves to be sages, sages you will be tomorrow. There is nothing to obstruct you. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
7:..enlarge the pupil of the eye, so that the body with its attendant personality will no longer obstruct the view. Immortality is then experienced as a present fact... ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove
8:Our Soul is a spark of the Divine. It is pure and perfect. Evil deeds merely obstruct our vision of the true nature of our Soul. Through good deeds we can become conscious of this perfection again. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
9:The public must retain control of the great waterways. It is essential that any permit to obstruct them for reasons and on conditions that seem good at the moment should be subject to revision when changed conditions demand. ~ theodore-roosevelt, @wisdomtrove

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:Mind and body obstruct one another's pleasures. ~ Mason Cooley,
2:Surrender doesn't obstruct power; it enhances it. ~ Marianne Williamson,
3:Invention is almost the only literary labour which blindness cannot obstruct. ~ Samuel Johnson,
4:Sometimes the air is so thick with your judgment that its clouds obstruct your vision. ~ Sally Hanan,
5:So long as you have faith in your Guru, nothing will be able to obstruct your way. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
6:So long as you have faith in your guru, nothing will be able to obstruct your way. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
7:Do not wish evil for others. Do not speak ill of others. Do not obstruct anyones activities. ~ Guru Nanak,
8:I think China will do nothing to obstruct it, and they probably will go along with it. ~ Henry A Kissinger,
9:The more you nourish the old memories of pain, the more you obstruct the new lights and new truths. ~ Amit Ray,
10:Exhortations to obstruct the operations of Government in detail, should; Exhortations to resist all. ~ James Mill,
11:Flow is letting nothing obstruct the breath. Practice flow through a complete exhale in every way in your being. ~ Judith Orloff,
12:Why are you measuring? This is how you block, delay, hinder, obstruct and deny his place in the life as a father. ~ Iyanla Vanzant,
13:And those who complain and try to obstruct and thwart things—they help as much as anyone. The world needs them as well. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
14:If you build your faith with the limitations as the foundation, you tend to obstruct the realization of your goals easily. ~ Stephen Richards,
15:Welcome to the power of perception. Applicable in each and every situation, impossible to obstruct. It can only be relinquished. ~ Ryan Holiday,
16:No one has a right to obstruct another exercising his faculties innocently for the relief of sensibilities made a part of his nature. ~ Thomas Jefferson,
17:We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. ~ Darius Foroux,
18:Whatever you believe, that you will be. If you believe yourselves to be sages, sages you will be tomorrow. There is nothing to obstruct you. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
19:Put no obstacle in her path and this will surely die a natural death; obstruct her, and it will give the situation an importance to worth fighting for. ~ Alexandra Adornetto,
20:Enlarge the pupil of the eye, so that the body with its attendant personality will no longer obstruct the view. Immortality is then experienced as a present fact. ~ Joseph Campbell,
21:There is a certain wisdom of humanity which is common to the greatest men with the lowest, and which our ordinary education oftenlabors to silence and obstruct. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
22:..enlarge the pupil of the eye, so that the body with its attendant personality will no longer obstruct the view. Immortality is then experienced as a present fact... ~ Joseph Campbell,
23:I'm not threatening you. I'm just informing you of police procedure. If you continue to obstruct me, I remove the obstruction, in this case you, and proceed to the next command. ~ Eoin Colfer,
24:If hindrances obstruct the way, Thy magnanimity display. And let thy strength be seen: But O, if Fortune fill thy sail With more than a propitious gale, Take half thy canvas in. ~ William Cowper,
25:Power affects our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and even physiology in fundamental ways that directly facilitate or obstruct our presence, our performance, and the very course of our lives. ~ Amy Cuddy,
26:Avarice and injustice are always shortsighted, and they did not foresee how much this regulation must obstruct improvement, and thereby hurt in the long-run the real interest of the landlord. ~ Adam Smith,
27:Some of the greatest discoveries...consist mainly in the clearing away of psychological roadblocks which obstruct the approach to reality; which is why,post factum they appear so obvious. ~ Arthur Koestler,
28:Some of the greatest discoveries...consist mainly in the clearing away of psychological roadblocks which obstruct the approach to reality; which is why,post factum they appear so obvious. ~ Arthur Koestler,
29:Take a good look at the times. It is inevitable that greedy men, who close their eyes and obstruct the tide of the times with their selfishness, will be burned up together with the fallen leaves. ~ Eiji Yoshikawa,
30:Our Soul is a spark of the Divine. It is pure and perfect. Evil deeds merely obstruct our vision of the true nature of our Soul. Through good deeds we can become conscious of this perfection again. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
31:...Wherever we go we carry this burden of our personal consciousness and wherever we step we open it out over our heads like a great baleful cotton umbrella to obstruct the prospect and obscure the light of heaven. ~ Henry James,
32:There’s no better sign that a civilization has reached its height than the awareness, in its members, of the futility of all effort, given that we’re ruled by implacable laws, which nothing can repeal or obstruct. ~ Fernando Pessoa,
33:Price writes that money is a function of My Own Natural Energy Yield. In essence, whatever we hold in our minds and hearts will either enhance or obstruct our ability to receive—not just money but all that we desire. ~ Iyanla Vanzant,
34:Democrats are nothing more than obstructionists. That's all they can do. That's all they seem to be good at. So they're obstructionists, so what they will do, even though it's for the good of the country, they will obstruct. ~ Donald Trump,
35:The public must retain control of the great waterways. It is essential that any permit to obstruct them for reasons and on conditions that seem good at the moment should be subject to revision when changed conditions demand. ~ Theodore Roosevelt,
36:Diffidence may check resolution and obstruct performance, but compensates its embarrassments by more important advantages; it conciliates the proud, and softens the severe; averts envy from excellence, and censure from miscarriage. ~ Samuel Johnson,
37:Take your focus off how others see you. Cease being obsessed with the need to impress your friends and your foes. Keep your concern on the vision you see in the mirror. Don’t allow the approval of others to obstruct your view of you. ~ Tavis Smiley,
38:You need to be prepared for firm decisions and action, without losing gentleness towards those who obstruct or abuse you. It's as great a weakness to be angry with them as it is to abandon your plan of action and give up through fear. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
39:The meditator’s intention is to purge her own mind of anger, prejudice, and ill will, and she is actively engaged in the process of getting rid of greed, tension, and insensitivity. Those are the very items that obstruct her compassion for others. ~ Henepola Gunaratana,
40:If you just fight against everything willy-nilly, then the message is you're just gonna obstruct on anything. I would rather fight very, very hard on matters of fundamental principle and then have the critique be that Trump is violating the very foundations of America. ~ Tim Kaine,
41:Evoke at painful junctures, when discouragement threatens to raise its head, the image of a vast cretinous mouth, red blubber and slobbering, in solitary confinement, extruding indefatigably, with a noise of wet kisses and washing in a tub, the words that obstruct it. ~ Samuel Beckett,
42:The Laws of Nature are the Laws of God, Whose authority can be superseded by no power on earth. A legislature must not obstruct our obedience to Him from whose punishment they cannot protect us. All human constitutions which contradict His laws, we are in conscience bound to disobey. ~ George Mason,
43:Any nation allowing its people the right of freedom of speech is powerless to defend itself against enemies masquerading as patriotic; and seeking to obstruct, impede, break down, and destroy the proper functioning of its republican form of government under the guide of honest criticism ~ Kurt Vonnegut,
44:I used to suppose that certain evils could never befall a being in possession of a sound mind; that true virtue supplies us with energy which vice can never resist; that it was always in our power to obstruct, by his own death, the designs of an enemy who aimed at less than our lives. ~ Charles Brockden Brown,
45:Look, the Democrats are obstructionists; that's all they can do is obstruct. They have no leadership. And we have to agree, and I think both - both sides agree, we have to keep government going, we don't want to shut government. So - so we're - we'll have more of these to discuss in the future. ~ Donald Trump,
46:To preserve the integrity of the tradition, we have to distinguish between what is central to that integrity and what is peripheral. We have to discern between what elements are vital for the survival of dharma practice and what are alien cultural artefacts that might obstruct that survival. ~ Stephen Batchelor,
47:Negative thoughts and emotions are what obstruct our most basic aspiration—to be happy and to avoid suffering. When we act under their influence, we become oblivious to the impact our actions have on others: they are thus the cause of our destructive behavior both toward others and to ourselves. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
48:What the father planted will be harvested, and nothing will get in the way. Not heresies, schisms, ecclesiastical blunders, defections, moral failures; not if the budget isn't balanced; not if I can't find a way to end this book; not persecutions or nuclear holocausts—nothing will obstruct the coming of the Kingdom. ~ Brennan Manning,
49:Characters tend to be either for or against the quest. If they assist it, they are idealized as simply gallant or pure; if they obstruct it, they are characterized as simply villainous or cowardly. Hence every typical character...tends to have his moral opposite confronting him, like black and white pieces in a chess game. ~ Northrop Frye,
50:Perfectionism, no less than isolationism or imperialism or power politics, may obstruct the paths to international peace. Let us not forget that the retreat to isolationism a quarter of a century ago was started not by a direct attack against international cooperation but against the alleged imperfections of the peace. ~ Franklin D Roosevelt,
51:I believe that the basic nature of human beings is gentle and compassionate. It is therefore in our own interest to encourage that nature, to make it live within us, to leave room for it to develop. If on the contrary we use violence, it is as if we voluntarily obstruct the positive side of human nature and prevent its evolution. ~ Dalai Lama,
52:And concepts are crucial to cognition: cognitive scientists point out that they help us to categorize, learn, remember, infer, explain, problem-solve, generalize, analogize. Correspondingly, the lack of appropriate concepts can hinder learning, interfere with memory, block inferences, obstruct explanation, and perpetuate problems. ~ Charles W Mills,
53:But I also knew in my heart that I wouldn’t cover for my son if he committed a terrible crime. Any crime. I wouldn’t lie for him. I wouldn’t obstruct justice for him. I would stand by him, but I would also want him to confess and truly repent and bear responsibility for his actions. I would want him to earn and deserve his forgiveness. ~ Emily Giffin,
54:On Obama’s watch, the Justice Department has enforced the laws in a politicized and racially discriminatory manner. It has, furthermore, filed and threatened vexatious lawsuits against sovereign states to obstruct their lawful execution of public policy—particularly, the enforcement of laws against illegal immigration and election fraud. ~ Andrew McCarthy,
55:It is a misfortune, inseparable from human affairs, that public measures are rarely investigated with that spirit of moderation which is essential to a just estimate of their real tendency to advance or obstruct the public good; and that this spirit is more apt to be diminished than prompted, by those occasions which require an unusual exercise of it. ~ James Madison,
56:When the church is in mission, it is the true church. The church itself is not only a product of that mission but is obligated and destined to extend it by whatever means possible. The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus. To obstruct this is to block God's purposes in and through his people. ~ Alan Hirsch,
57:When problems arise, you will usually find two types of people: whiners and winners. Whiners obstruct progress; they spend hours complaining about this point or that, without offering positive solutions. Winners acknowledge the existence of the problem, but they try to offer practical ideas that can help resolve the matter in a manner that is satisfactory to both parties. ~ George Foreman,
58:They whose activity of imagination is often shifting the scenes of expectation, are frequently subject to such sallies of caprice as make all their actions fortuitous, destroy the value of their friendship, obstruct the efficacy of their virtues, and set them below the meanest of those who persist in their resolutions, execute what they design, and perform what they have promised. ~ Samuel Johnson,
59:And every faggot couple I know is deep into friendship and deep into fucking with everyone else but each other and any minute any bump appears in their commitment to infinitesimally obstruct their view, out they zip like petulant kids to suck someone else’s lollipop instead of trying to work things out, instead of trying not to hide, and…unh…why do faggots have to fuck so fucking much?! ~ Larry Kramer,
60:Obstruction, basically, is whether you corruptly influence, obstruct or impede the administration of justice. You tell a chief law enforcement officer get, you know, back off my friend - or I hope you back off my friend and then when he doesn't, you fire him, clearly, that isn't - that is - fits the behavior of obstruction. The question of whether or not you can prosecute the president is open. ~ Keith Ellison,
61:In other words, if public opinion is not unduly aroused one may safely set aside the Constitution and illegally arrest one’s enemies. Had this letter been published at the time, an excellent case might have been made for the impeachment and removal of a president who had broken that oath he had taken to defend and to protect the Constitution by conspiring to obstruct and pervert the course of justice. ~ Gore Vidal,
62:The research for physical immortality proceeds from a misunderstanding of the traditional teaching. On the contrary, the basic problem is: to enlarge the pupil of the eye, so that the body with its attendant personality will no longer obstruct the view. Immortality is then experienced as a present fact: "It is here! It is here!" [165]
[165] A Tantric aphorism. ~ Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Ultimate Boon,
63:Eckhart tells us that God ‘must’ give birth to himself in us fully and at all times. He has no choice in the matter; this is simply his nature. If we do not receive the spiritual benefits of this birth, then that is because we are not content to allow God to act in us. Rather, we obstruct him with our false notions of self and the determination to cling to the nothingness which is the true reality of our own creaturely being. ~ Meister Eckhart,
64:If, as we are meditating or praying, “an abundance of good thoughts comes to us, we ought to disregard the other petitions, make room for such thoughts, listen in silence, and under no circumstances obstruct them. The Holy Spirit himself preaches here, and one word of his sermon is better than a thousand of our prayers. Many times I have learned more from one prayer than I might have learned from much reading and speculation. ~ Timothy J Keller,
65:If an author be supposed to involve his thoughts in voluntary obscurity, and to obstruct, by unnecessary difficulties, a mind eager in the pursuit of truth; if he writes not to make others learned, but to boast the learning which he possesses himself, and wishes to be admired rather than understood, he counteracts the first end of writing, and justly suffers the utmost severity of censure, or the more afflicting severity of neglect. ~ Samuel Johnson,
66:But no-one has the right to undermine or obstruct the hopes and aspirations of the young on the basis of one's own experience. It is quite wrong to be a doom-monger. No, one should keep one's peace and just nod one's head in agreement. To launch young people on their way, one should provide them with all the space and opportunities that one can and then leave the rest up to them and up to luck. That is what I did for my children. ~ Mahmoud Dowlatabadi,
67:Rather than standing on the sidelines, Snow got passionately involved. His work wasn’t about abstract scientific discovery alone. It was about people and community. That’s what science is supposed to be about—not an academic exercise for the ivory tower, or racking up publications, grants, and offers of tenure. It’s about using the tools and technology available to make lives better, no matter what articles of faith obstruct the path. ~ Mona Hanna Attisha,
68:May 11, Trump admitted to Lester Holt of NBC News that he was determined to fire Comey “regardless” of the recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in order to stop the investigation of the “Russia thing.” Trump isn’t the first president to attempt to obstruct justice. But he is the first to admit what he was doing on national TV, and his admissions led to the appointment of former FBI director Robert S. Mueller as a special counsel. ~ Max Boot,
69:The State has always one purpose: to limit, control, subordinate the individual and subject him to the general purpose Through its censorship, its supervision, and its police the State tries to obstruct all free activity and sees this repression as its duty, because the instinct of self-preservation demands it. The State does not permit me to use my thoughts to their full value and communicate them to other men unless they are its own Otherwise it shuts me up. ~ Max Stirner,
70:What love and spirit give cannot be extorted. The state has always been made a hell by man's wanting to make it his heaven. The state is nothing but the coarse husk around the seed of life, the wall around the human fruits and flowers. Yet what good is a wall when the soil of our garden is parched? ... O inspiration, you will bring us the springtime of peoples again. The state cannot command your presence, but if it does not obstruct you, you will come. ~ Friedrich H lderlin,
71:It is the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping GOD in the manner most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession or sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or obstruct others in their religious worship. ~ John Adams,
72:Just because your mind tells you that something is awful or evil or unplanned or otherwise negative doesn’t mean you have to agree. Just because other people say that something is hopeless or crazy or broken to pieces doesn’t mean it is. We decide what story to tell ourselves. Or whether we will tell one at all. Welcome to the power of perception. Applicable in each and every situation, impossible to obstruct. It can only be relinquished. And that is your decision. ~ Ryan Holiday,
73:According to the Buddhist tradition, the spiritual path is the process of cutting through our confusion, of uncovering the awakened state of mind. When the awakened state of mind is crowded in by ego and its attendant paranoia, it takes on the character of an underlying instinct. So it is not a matter of building up the awakened state of mind, but rather of burning out the confusions which obstruct it. In the process of burning out these confusions, we discover enlightenment. ~ Ch gyam Trungpa,
74:In a sense, people are our proper occupation. Our job is to do them good and put up with them.
But when they obstruct our proper tasks, they become irrelevant to us—like sun, wind, animals. Our actions may be impeded by them, but there can be no impeding our intentions
or our dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the
obstacle to our acting.
The impediment to action advances action.
What stands in the way becomes the way. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
75:The sun and the air are God’s free gifts to all, we say; but are they so? In yonder city’s dingy alleys the sun shines not, and the air is foul. Oh, man, how dost thou forget and obstruct thy brother man, and say, “Give us this day our daily bread,” when he has none! Oh, would that men would leave the city, its splendour and its tumult and its gold, and return to wood and field and simple, honest living! Then would their children grow stately as noble trees, and their thoughts sweet and pure as wayside flowers. ~ Helen Keller,
76:He felt that he had just quaffed an enchanted potion whose venom fanned flickering flames in his veins that burned away all sense of caution and for ever freed him of that restraint which his inner voice so often told him he must obey. Now he was once again that primeval being who knows only how to follow his instincts, the predator who seeks his mate and for whom no obstacle, law or convention will be allowed to obstruct the natural course of his desire, that animal in whom passion rages unchecked and who, if need be, will kill to achieve his object. ~ Mikl s B nffy,
77:What need of prompt or hint when it is open to yourself to discern what needs to be done - and, if you can see your way, to follow it with kind but undeviating intent. If you cannot see the way, hold back and consult your best advisors. if some other factors obstruct this advice, proceed on your present resources, but with cautious deliberations, keeping always to what seems just. Justice is the best aim, as any failure is in fact a failure of justice.
A man following reason in all things combines relaxation with initiative, spark with composure. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
78:Concentration is not thinking of one thing. On the contrary, it is excluding all thoughts, since all thoughts obstruct the sense of one's true being. All efforts are to be directed simply to removing the veil of ignorance. Concentrating the mind solely on the Self will lead to happiness or bliss. Drawing in the thoughts, restraining them and preventing them from straying outwards is called detachment (vairagya). Fixing them in the Self is spiritual practice (sadhana). Concentrating on the heart is the same as concentrating on the Self. Heart is another name for Self. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
79:If Republicans care about the Constitution, they have to find the courage to say no or lose their constituencies and ultimately their cause. They have to say no to the anticonstitutional views of Supreme Court nominees such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor and to un-Constitutional executive orders by presidents like Barack Obama, and that means they have to be prepared to obstruct them by any constitutional means necessary. Nor should they be cowed by a corrupt anti-Republican press. No candidate was ever vilified more by the media than Donald Trump, and he won. ~ David Horowitz,
80:There was a time in our lives when we were so close that nothing seemed to obstruct our friendship and brotherhood, and only a small footbridge separated us. Just as you were about to step on it, I asked you "Do you want to cross the footbridge to me?" - Immediately you did not want to anymore; and when I asked you again you remained silent. Since then mountains and torrential rivers and whatever separates and alienates have been cast between us, and even if we wanted to get together, we couldn't. But when you now think of that little footbridge, words fail you and you sob and marvel. ~ Irvin D Yalom,
81:It is he who makes the dams and shuts the flood-gates of corrupted nature so that it cannot break forth in a deluge of abominations to overwhelm the creation with confusion and disorder. That all the earth is not filled with violence is merely from the mighty hand of God working effectually to obstruct sin. Otherwise the highways and fields would be filled with violence, blood, robbery, uncleanness, and every sin that the heart of man can conceive. Oh, the infinite beauty of divine wisdom and providence in the government of the world!

Indwelling Sin in Believers by John owen(pg 117) ~ John Owen,
82:For whoever does not truly have God within themselves, but must constantly receive him in one external thing after another, seeking God in diverse ways, whether by particular works, people or places, such a person does not possess God. The least thing can impede them, for they do not have God and do not seek, love and intend him alone. It is not only bad company but also good company that can obstruct them, not only the street but also the church, not only evil words and deeds but also good words and deeds, for the obstruction lies within themselves, since in them God has not become all things. ~ Meister Eckhart,
83:The Department of Justice had become known as the Department of Easy Virtue. In 1924, after a congressional committee revealed that the oil baron Harry Sinclair had bribed the secretary of the interior Albert Fall to drill in the Teapot Dome federal petroleum reserve—the name that would forever be associated with the scandal—the ensuing investigation lay bare just how rotten the system of justice was in the United States. When Congress began looking into the Justice Department, Burns and the attorney general used all their power, all the tools of law enforcement, to thwart the inquiry and obstruct justice. ~ David Grann,
84:A country has seldom produced so many different kinds of people as has the Catholic church. With admirable power, it has understood how to maintain unity in diversity, to gain the love and respect of the masses, and to foster a strong sense of community. . . . But it is exactly because of this greatness that we have serious reservations. Has this world [of the Catholic church] really remained the church of Christ? Has it not perhaps become an obstruction blocking the path to God instead of a road sign on the path to God? Has it not blocked the only path to salvation? Yet no one can ever obstruct the way to God. ~ Eric Metaxas,
85:1. Why should poor conservatives vote against their financial interests? Because they are voting their moral identities, not their pocketbooks. They are voting for people who believe in what they believe, and they want to see a world in which their moral principles are upheld 2. Why do Tea Party members of Congress obstruct even the workings of an overwhelmingly conservative Congress? Because they believe that compromising with progressive positions is immoral on the grounds that it weakens and undermines the authority of conservatism. It would be like a strict father giving in and compromising his authority in the family. · ~ George Lakoff,
86:If you want to do his soul good, why do you continually obstruct him? It hardly makes him a better man. Do you never think that, if you had bowed to the king’s wishes years ago, if you had entered a convent and allowed him to remarry, he would never have broken with Rome? There would have been no need. Sufficient doubt was cast upon your marriage for you to retire with a good grace. You would have been honoured by all. But now the titles you cling to are empty. Henry was a good son of Rome. You drove him to this extremity. You, not he, split Christendom. And I expect that you know that, and that you think about it in the silence of the night. ~ Hilary Mantel,
87:The opposition which had driven him from Northampton followed him to Stockbridge. For several years a persistent effort was made to obstruct his work, particularly his work among the Indians, and even to secure his removal. But he successfully met this opposition, won the confidence of the Indians, and greatly endeared himself to the “English.” Here, too, in the wilderness he found time and opportunity for the writing of those great treatises on the Freedom of the Will, on the End for which God created the World, on the Nature of True Virtue, and on the Christian Doctrine of Original Sin, which are the principal foundation of his theological reputation. Meanwhile ~ Jonathan Edwards,
88:The ultimate good of the gospel is seeing and savoring the beauty and value of God. God’s wrath and our sin obstruct that vision and that pleasure. You can’t see and savor God as supremely satisfying while you are full of rebellion against Him and He is full of wrath against you. The removal of this wrath and this rebellion is what the gospel is for. The ultimate aim of the gospel is the display of God’s glory and the removal of every obstacle to our seeing it and savoring it as our highest treasure. “Behold Your God!” is the most gracious command and the best gift of the gospel. If we do not see Him and savor Him as our greatest fortune, we have not obeyed or believed the gospel. ~ John Piper,
89:All of us are working on the same project. Some consciously, with understanding; some without knowing it. (I think this is what Heraclitus meant when he said that “those who sleep are also hard at work”—that they too collaborate in what happens.) Some of us work in one way, and some in others. And those who complain and try to obstruct and thwart things—they help as much as anyone. The world needs them as well. So make up your mind who you’ll choose to work with. The force that directs all things will make good use of you regardless—will put you on its payroll and set you to work. But make sure it’s not the job Chrysippus speaks of: the bad line in the play, put there for laughs. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
90:Blessing must arise from within your own mind. It is not something that comes from outside. When the positive qualities of your mind increase and the negativities decrease, that is what blessing means. The Tibetan word for blessing … means transforming into magnificent potential. Therefore, blessing refers to the development of virtuous qualities you did not previously have and the improvement of those good qualities you have already developed. It also means decreasing the defilements of the mind that obstruct the generation of wholesome qualities. So actual blessing is received when the minds virtuous attributes gain strength and its defective characteristics weaken or deteriorate. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
91:I resent you—” Robespierre said. His words were lost. “The People,” he shouted, “are everywhere good, and if they obstruct the Revolution—even, for example, at Toulon—we must blame their leaders.”
“What are you going on about this for?” Danton asked him.
Fabre launched himself from the wall. “He is trying to enunciate a doctrine,” he shrieked. “He thinks the time has come for a bloody sermon."
“If only,” Robespierre yelled, “there were more vertu.”
“More what?”
“Vertu. Love of one’s country. Self-sacrifice. Civic spirit.”
“One appreciates your sense of humor, of course.” Danton jerked his thumb in the direction of the noise. “The only vertu those bastards understand is the kind I demonstrate every night to my wife. ~ Hilary Mantel,
92:Not only does the messenger who is also a slave subordinate his own will to that of his Lord; there is nothing in his mind or in his memory that could obstruct the free passage of the revelation. Muhammad is 'abd and rasul; he is also nabi al-ummi, the unlettered Prophet; a blank page set before the divine pen. On this page there is no mark made by any other pen, no trace of profane or indirect knowledge. A prophet does not borrow knowledge from the human store, nor is he a man who learns in the slow human way and then transmits his learning. His knowledge derives from a direct intervention of the Divine in the human order, a tajalli, or pouring out of the truth upon a being providentially disposed to receive it and strong enough to transmit it. ~ Charles Le Gai Eaton,
93:When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they can't tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own - not of the same blood and birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are unnatural. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
94:When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own—not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are obstructions. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
95:There is a verity that is higher than the pronouncements of the intelligence. There is a thing which pierces and governs us and which cannot be grasped by the intelligence. A tree has no language. We are a tree. There are truths which are evident, though not to be put into words. I do not die in order to obstruct the path of the invasion, for there is no shelter upon which I can fall back with those I love. I do not die to preserve my honor, since I deny that my honor is at stake, and I challenge the jurisdiction of my judge. Nor do I die out of desperation.
And yet Dutertre, looking at his map, having pin-pointed the position of Arras somewhere round the one hundred and seventy-fifth degree of the compass, is about to say to me—I can feel it:
“175°, Captain.”
And I shall accept. ~ Antoine de Saint Exup ry,
96:Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the culprit himself, who is my brother (not in the physical sense, but as a fellow creature similarly endowed with reason and a share of the divine); therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading. Neither can I be angry with my brother or fall foul of him; for he and I were born to work together, like a man’s two hands, feet or eyelids, or the upper and lower rows of his teeth. To obstruct each other is against Nature’s law – and what is irritation or aversion but a form of obstruction. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
97:for the core of the body is involved. This built-in support does not depend on muscular effort because it is derived from the relationships between the noncontractile tissues of cartilage, ligament, and bone. Consequently, when this support asserts itself, it is always because some extraneous muscular effort has ceased to obstruct it. It takes a lot of energy to fuel our constant, unconscious muscular exertions against gravity, and that is why the release of that effort is associated with a feeling of liberated energy. Thus, it is tempting to refer to intrinsic equilibrium as a source of energy because its discovery is always accompanied by a profound sensation of increased vitality in the body. In short, yoga can help you to release the stored potential energy of the axial skeleton by identifying and releasing the less efficient extraneous muscular effort that can obstruct the expression of those deeper forces. Elements of Linkage Between ~ Anonymous,
98:There was a time in our lives when we were so close that nothing seemed to obstruct our friendship and brotherhood, and only a small footbridge separated us. Just as you were about to step on it, I asked you: "Do you want to cross the footbridge to me?"--Immediately you did not want to anymore; and when I asked you again you remained silent.

Since then mountains and torrential rivers and whatever separates and alienates have been cast between us, and even if we wanted to get together, we couldn't But when you now think of that little footbridge, words fail you and you sob and marvel.

It's a curious little story. Let's reason it out. One person is about the cross the footbridge--that is, get closer to the other--when the second person invites him to do the very thing he planned. Then the first person cannot take the step because now it would seem as though he were submitting to the other--power apparently getting in the way of closeness. ~ Irvin D Yalom,
99:Oh, we can also be good and beautiful, but only when we are feeling good and beautiful ourselves. We are, on the contrary, even possessed—precisely possessed—by the noblest ideals, but only on condition that they be attained by themselves, that they fall on our plate from the sky, and, above all, gratuitously, gratuitously, so that we need pay nothing for them. We like very much to get things, but terribly dislike having to pay for them, and so it is with everything. Oh, give us, give us all possible good things in life (precisely all, we won’t settle for less) and, more particularly, do not obstruct our character in any way, and then we, too, will prove that we can be good and beautiful. We are not greedy, no, but give us money, more and more money, as much money as possible, and then you will see how generously, with what scorn for filthy lucre, we can throw it away in one night of unrestrained carousing. And if we are not given any money, we will show how we manage to get it anyway when we want it badly enough. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
100:16 Over the footbridge.— In our relations with people who are bashful about their feelings, we must be capable of dissimulation; they feel a sudden hatred against anyone who catches them in a tender, enthusiastic, or elevated feeling, as if he had seen their secrets. If you want to make them feel good at such moments, you have to make them laugh or voice some cold but witty sarcasm; then their feeling freezes and they regain power over themselves. But I am giving you the moral before telling the story. There was a time in our lives when we were so close that nothing seemed to obstruct our friendship and brotherhood, and only a small footbridge separated us. Just as you were about to step on it, I asked you: “Do you want to cross the footbridge to me?” —Immediately, you did not want to any more; and when I asked you again, you remained silent. Since then mountains and torrential rivers and whatever separates and alienates have been cast between us, and even if we wanted to get together, we couldn’t. But when you now think of that little footbridge, words fail you and you sob and marvel. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche,
101:For after all, why do we go on fighting? If we die for democracy then we must be one of the democracies. Let the rest fight with us, if that is the case. But the most powerful of them, the only one that could save us, chooses to bide its time. Very good. That is its right. But by so doing, that democracy signifies that we are fighting for ourselves alone. And we go on fighting despite the assurance that we have lost the war. Why, then, do we go on dying? Out of despair? But there is no despair. You know nothing about defeat if you think there is room in it for despair.

There is a verity that is higher than the pronouncements of the intelligence. There is a thing which pierces and governs us and which cannot be grasped by the intelligence. A tree has no language. We are a tree. There are truths which are evident, though not to be put into words. I do not die in order to obstruct the path of the invasion, for there is no shelter upon which I can fall back with those I love. I do not die to preserve my honor, since I deny that my honor is at stake, and I challenge the jurisdiction of my judge. Nor do I die out of desperation. ~ Antoine de Saint Exup ry,
102:1 May the Name send its hidden radiance to open the gates of deliverance to His servants -- and shine in their hearts, which now are shut in silent darkness. May the great King be moved to act in perfection and righteousness -- to open the gates of wisdom for us and waken the love of old, the love of ancient days. 2 By the power of the hidden name I-Am-That-I-Am, and by the dew of Desire and Blessing, the dead will live again.... 3 I-am is the power of your Name in concealment, and one who knows its mystery dwells in eternity's instant. Over the world, it pours forth abundance and favor, and on it all worlds hang, like grapes in a cluster. Send the dew of blessing, the dew of grace; renew my dispensation, and grant me length of days. Bring light to my eyes with your teaching, and let not the husks that surround your hosts obstruct me. May Heaven and Adam's children judge me with mercy. Sustain me with their strength and fortune -- but do not leave me in need of the gifts of men. [2610.jpg] -- from The Poetry of Kabbalah: Mystical Verse from the Jewish Tradition, Edited by Peter Cole

~ Nachmanides, Prayers for the Protection and Opening of the Heart
,
103:Pastoral Hymn
“Gentle pilgrim, tell me why
Dost thou fold thine arms and sigh,
And wistful cast thine eyes around?—
Whither, pilgrim, art thou bound?”
“The road to Zion's gates I seek;
If thou canst inform me, speak.”
“Keep yon right-hand path with care,
Though crags obstruct, and brambles tear;
You just discern a narrow track,—
Enter there, and turn not back.”
“Say where that pleasant path-way leads,
Winding down yon flowery meads?
Song and dance the way beguiles,
Every face is drest in smiles.”
“Shun with care that flowery way;
'T will lead thee, pilgrim, far astray.”
“Guide or counsel do I need?”
“Pilgrim, he who runs may read.”
“Is the way that I must keep
Crossed by waters wide and deep?”
“Did it lead through flood and fire
Thou must not stop—thou must not tire.”
“Till I have my journey past
Tell me will the daylight last?
Will the sky be bright and clear
Till the evening shades appear?”
“Though the sun now rides so high,
Clouds may veil the evening sky;
Fast sinks the sun, fast wears the day,
Thou must not stop—thou must not stay:
God speed thee, pilgrim, on thy way!”
~ Anna Laetitia Barbauld,
104:deceptive and can easily be an illusion. Indeed, the second type is experienced in all the faculties of our soul and cannot deceive those who truly love God; indeed they no more doubt it than they doubt God himself, for love drives out all fear. ‘Love knows no fear’ as St John12 (1 John 4:18) says, and it is also written: ‘Love covers a multitude of sins’ (1 Peter 4:8). For where there is sin, there can be neither complete trust nor love, since love completely covers over sins and knows nothing of them. Not in such a way as if we had not sinned, but rather it wipes them away and drives them out, as if they had never existed. For all God’s works are so utterly perfect and overflowing that whoever he forgives, he forgives totally and absolutely, preferring to forgive big sins rather than little ones, all of which creates perfect trust. I hold this kind of knowledge to be incomparably better, more rewarding and more authentic than the other, since neither sin nor anything else can obstruct it. For when God finds people in the same degree of love, then he judges them in the same way, regardless of whether they have sinned greatly or not at all. But those to whom more is forgiven, should have a greater love, as our Lord Jesus Christ said: ‘They to whom more is forgiven must love more’ (Luke 7:47). ~ Meister Eckhart,
105:Hong Kong became a British colony after the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, the result of the Opium War. This was a particularly shameful episode, even by the standards of 19th-century imperialism. The growing British taste for tea had created a huge trade deficit with China. In a desperate attempt to plug the gap, Britain started exporting opium produced in India to China. The mere detail that selling opium was illegal in China could not possibly be allowed to obstruct the noble cause of balancing the books. When a Chinese official seized an illicit cargo of opium in 1841, the British government used it as an excuse to fix the problem once and for all by declaring war. China was heavily defeated in the war and forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking, which made China 'lease' Hong Kong to Britain and give up its right to set its own tariffs.

So there it was-the self-proclaimed leader of the 'liberal' world declaring war on another country because the latter was getting in the way of its illegal trade in narcotics. The truth is that the free movement of goods, people, and money that developed under British hegemony between 1870 and 1913-the first episode of globalization-was made possible, in large part, by military might, rather than market forces. Apart from Britain itself, the practitioners of free trade during this period were mostly weaker countries that had been forced into, rather than had voluntarily adopted, it as a result of colonial rule or 'unequal treaties' (like the Nanking Treaty), which, among other things, deprived them of the right to set tariffs and imposed externally determined low, flat-rate tariffs (3-5%) on them. ~ Ha Joon Chang,
106:A country has seldom produced so many different kinds of people as has the Catholic church. With admirable power, it has understood how to maintain unity in diversity, to gain the love and respect of the masses, and to foster a strong sense of community. . . . But it is exactly because of this greatness that we have serious reservations. Has this world [of the Catholic church] really remained the church of Christ? Has it not perhaps become an obstruction blocking the path to God instead of a road sign on the path to God? Has it not blocked the only path to salvation? Yet no one can ever obstruct the way to God. The church still has the Bible, and as long as she has it we can still believe in the holy Christian church. God’s word will never be denied (Isa. 55:11), whether it be preached by us or by our sister church. We adhere to the same confession of faith, we pray the same Lord’s Prayer, and we share some of the same ancient rites. This binds us together, and as far as we are concerned we would like to live in peace with our disparate sister. We do not, however, want to deny anything that we have recognized as God’s word. The designation Catholic or Protestant is unimportant. The important thing is God’s word. Conversely, we will never violate anyone else’s faith. God does not desire reluctant service, and God has given everyone a conscience. We can and should desire that our sister church search its soul and concentrate on nothing but the word [1 Cor. 2:12– 13]. Until that time, we must have patience. We will have to endure it when, in false darkness, the “only holy church” pronounces upon our church the “anathema” (condemnation). She doesn’t know any better, and she doesn’t hate the heretic, only the heresy. As long as we let the word be our only armor we can look confidently into the future. ~ Eric Metaxas,
107:Even if we have a reliable criterion for detecting design, and even if that criterion tells us that biological systems are designed, it seems that determining a biological system to be designed is akin to shrugging our shoulders and saying God did it. The fear is that admitting design as an explanation will stifle scientific inquiry, that scientists will stop investigating difficult problems because they have a sufficient explanation already.

But design is not a science stopper. Indeed, design can foster inquiry where traditional evolutionary approaches obstruct it. Consider the term "junk DNA." Implicit in this term is the view that because the genome of an organism has been cobbled together through a long, undirected evolutionary process, the genome is a patchwork of which only limited portions are essential to the organism. Thus on an evolutionary view we expect a lot of useless DNA. If, on the other hand, organisms are designed, we expect DNA, as much as possible, to exhibit function. And indeed, the most recent findings suggest that designating DNA as "junk" merely cloaks our current lack of knowledge about function. For instance, in a recent issue of the Journal of Theoretical Biology, John Bodnar describes how "non-coding DNA in eukaryotic genomes encodes a language which programs organismal growth and development." Design encourages scientists to look for function where evolution discourages it.

Or consider vestigial organs that later are found to have a function after all. Evolutionary biology texts often cite the human coccyx as a "vestigial structure" that hearkens back to vertebrate ancestors with tails. Yet if one looks at a recent edition of Gray’s Anatomy, one finds that the coccyx is a crucial point of contact with muscles that attach to the pelvic floor. The phrase "vestigial structure" often merely cloaks our current lack of knowledge about function. The human appendix, formerly thought to be vestigial, is now known to be a functioning component of the immune system. ~ William A Dembski,
108:It is hard to overestimate the importance of the Catholic church’s value for European culture and for the whole world. It Christianized and civilized barbaric peoples and for a long time was the only guardian of science and art. Here the church’s cloisters were preeminent. The Catholic church developed a spiritual power unequaled anywhere, and today we still admire the way it combined the principle of catholicism with the principle of one sanctifying church, as well as tolerance with intolerance. It is a world in itself. Infinite diversity flows together, and this colorful picture gives it its irresistible charm (Complexio oppositorum). A country has seldom produced so many different kinds of people as has the Catholic church. With admirable power, it has understood how to maintain unity in diversity, to gain the love and respect of the masses, and to foster a strong sense of community. . . . But it is exactly because of this greatness that we have serious reservations. Has this world [of the Catholic church] really remained the church of Christ? Has it not perhaps become an obstruction blocking the path to God instead of a road sign on the path to God? Has it not blocked the only path to salvation? Yet no one can ever obstruct the way to God. The church still has the Bible, and as long as she has it we can still believe in the holy Christian church. God’s word will never be denied (Isa. 55:11), whether it be preached by us or by our sister church. We adhere to the same confession of faith, we pray the same Lord’s Prayer, and we share some of the same ancient rites. This binds us together, and as far as we are concerned we would like to live in peace with our disparate sister. We do not, however, want to deny anything that we have recognized as God’s word. The designation Catholic or Protestant is unimportant. The important thing is God’s word. Conversely, we will never violate anyone else’s faith. God does not desire reluctant service, and God has given everyone a conscience. We can and should desire that our sister church search its soul and concentrate on nothing but the word [1 Cor. 2:12– 13]. Until that time, we must have patience. We will have to endure it when, in false darkness, the “only holy church” pronounces upon our church the “anathema” (condemnation). She doesn’t know any better, and she doesn’t hate the heretic, only the heresy. As long as we let the word be our only armor we can look confidently into the future. ~ Eric Metaxas,
109:The only word these corporations know is more,” wrote Chris Hedges, former correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. They are disemboweling every last social service program funded by the taxpayers, from education to Social Security, because they want that money themselves. Let the sick die. Let the poor go hungry. Let families be tossed in the street. Let the unemployed rot. Let children in the inner city or rural wastelands learn nothing and live in misery and fear. Let the students finish school with no jobs and no prospects of jobs. Let the prison system, the largest in the industrial world, expand to swallow up all potential dissenters. Let torture continue. Let teachers, police, firefighters, postal employees and social workers join the ranks of the unemployed. Let the roads, bridges, dams, levees, power grids, rail lines, subways, bus services, schools and libraries crumble or close. Let the rising temperatures of the planet, the freak weather patterns, the hurricanes, the droughts, the flooding, the tornadoes, the melting polar ice caps, the poisoned water systems, the polluted air increase until the species dies. There are no excuses left. Either you join the revolt taking place on Wall Street and in the financial districts of other cities across the country or you stand on the wrong side of history. Either you obstruct, in the only form left to us, which is civil disobedience, the plundering by the criminal class on Wall Street and accelerated destruction of the ecosystem that sustains the human species, or become the passive enabler of a monstrous evil. Either you taste, feel and smell the intoxication of freedom and revolt or sink into the miasma of despair and apathy. Either you are a rebel or a slave. To be declared innocent in a country where the rule of law means nothing, where we have undergone a corporate coup, where the poor and working men and women are reduced to joblessness and hunger, where war, financial speculation and internal surveillance are the only real business of the state, where even habeas corpus no longer exists, where you, as a citizen, are nothing more than a commodity to corporate systems of power, one to be used and discarded, is to be complicit in this radical evil. To stand on the sidelines and say “I am innocent” is to bear the mark of Cain; it is to do nothing to reach out and help the weak, the oppressed and the suffering, to save the planet. To be innocent in times like these is to be a criminal. ~ Jim Marrs,
110:Layla!" Don bounded into her sight. The door behind her was still bolted. Where had he come from?
The starshot tumbled from her hands and clattered to the floor. She snatched it up and slipped it back inside her dress. Bill was gone.But Don was-Daniel was right where she wanted him to be.
"What are you doing here?" Her voice broke with the force of having to act surprised to see him.
He didn't seem to hear it.He rushed toward her and wrapped her in his arms. "Saving your life."
"How did you get in?"
"Don't worry about that.No mortal man, no slab of stone can obstruct a love as true as ours. I will always find you."
In his bare, bronzed arms, it was Luce's instinct to feel comforted. But she couldn't right then.Her heart felt ragged and cold.This easy happiness, these feelings of complete trust, every one of the lovely emotions Daniel had shown her how to feel in every life-they were torture to her now.
"Fear not," he whispered. "Let me tell you, my love, what happens after this life.You come back,you rise again. Your rebirth is beautiful and real.You come back to me,again and again-"
The light from the lamp flickered and made his violet eyes sparkle.His body was so warm against hers.
"But I die again and again."
"What?" He tilted his head.Even when his physique looked exotic to her, she knew his expressions so well-that bemused adoration when she expressed something he hadn't expected her to understand. "How do you-Never mind. It doesn't matter.What matters is that we will again be together.We will always find each other,always love each other, no matter what.I will never leave you."
Luce fell to her knees on the stone steps. She hid her face in her hands. "I don't know how you can stand it.Over and over again,the same sadness-"
He lifted her up. "The same ecstasy-"
"The same fire that kills everything-"
"The same passion that ignites it all again.You don't know.You can't remember how wonderful-"
"I've seen it.I do know."
How she had his attention. He didn't seem sure whether or not to believe her, but at least he was listening.
"What if there's no hope of anything ever changing?" she asked.
"There is only hope. One day, you will live through it.That absolute truth is the only thing that keeps me going. I will never give up on you. Even if it takes forever." He wiped away her tears with his thumb. "I'll love you with all my heart,in every life, through every death. I will not be bound by anything but my love for you."
"But it's so hard.Isn't it hard for you? Haven't you ever thought,what if..."
"One day,our love will conquer this dark cycle.That's worth everything to me. ~ Lauren Kate,
111:On the two kinds of certainty of eternal life. In this life there are two kinds of certainty concerning the life which is eternal: the one consists in those occasions when God tells us of it either himself or through an angel or special revelation, although this happens rarely and only to a few. The other kind of knowledge is better and more beneficial and falls frequently to those whose love is perfect. This happens to those whose love for and intimacy with their God is so great that they trust him completely and are so sure of him that they can no longer have any doubts, their certainty being founded on their love for him in all creatures without distinction. And if all creatures were to reject and abjure him, even if God himself were to do so, then they would not cease to trust, for love is not capable of mistrust but can only trust all that is good. And there is no need for anything to be said to either the lover or the beloved, for as soon as God senses that this person is his friend, he immediately knows all that is good for them and that belongs to their well-being. For however devoted you are to him, you may be sure that he is immeasurably more devoted to you and has incomparably more faith in you. For he is faithfulness itself – of this we can be certain as those who love him are certain. This type of certainty is far greater, more perfect and true than the other and it cannot deceive us, while the first kind can be deceptive and can easily be an illusion. Indeed, the second type is experienced in all the faculties of our soul and cannot deceive those who truly love God; indeed they no more doubt it than they doubt God himself, for love drives out all fear. ‘Love knows no fear’ as St John12 (1 John 4:18) says, and it is also written: ‘Love covers a multitude of sins’ (1 Peter 4:8). For where there is sin, there can be neither complete trust nor love, since love completely covers over sins and knows nothing of them. Not in such a way as if we had not sinned, but rather it wipes them away and drives them out, as if they had never existed. For all God’s works are so utterly perfect and overflowing that whoever he forgives, he forgives totally and absolutely, preferring to forgive big sins rather than little ones, all of which creates perfect trust. I hold this kind of knowledge to be incomparably better, more rewarding and more authentic than the other, since neither sin nor anything else can obstruct it. For when God finds people in the same degree of love, then he judges them in the same way, regardless of whether they have sinned greatly or not at all. But those to whom more is forgiven, should have a greater love, as our Lord Jesus Christ said: ‘They to whom more is forgiven must love more’ (Luke 7:47). ~ Meister Eckhart,
112:Upon The Saying That My Verses Were Made By
Another
Next Heaven my Vows to thee (O Sacred Muse!)
I offer'd up, nor didst thou them refuse.
O Queen of Verse, said I, if thou'lt inspire,
And warm my Soul with thy Poetique Fire,
No Love of Gold shall share with thee my Heart,
Or yet Ambition in my Brest have Part,
More Rich, more Noble I will ever hold
The Muses Laurel, than a Crown of Gold.
An Undivided Sacrifice I'le lay
Upon thine Altar, Soul and Body pay;
Thou shalt my Pleasure, my Employment be,
My All I'le make a Holocaust to thee.
The Deity that ever does attend
Prayers so sincere, to mine did condescend.
I writ, and the Judicious prais'd my Pen:
Could any doubt Insuing Glory then?
What pleasing Raptures fill'd my Ravisht Sense?
How strong, how Sweet, Fame, was thy Influence?
And thine, False Hope, that to my flatter'd sight
Didst Glories represent so Near, and Bright?
By thee deceiv'd, methought, each Verdant Tree,
Apollos transform'd Daphne seem'd to be;
And ev'ry fresher Branch, and ev'ry Bow
Appear'd as Garlands to empale my Brow.
The Learn'd in Love say, Thus the Winged Boy
Does first approach, drest up in welcome Joy;
At first he to the Cheated Lovers sight
Nought represents, but Rapture and Delight,
Alluring Hopes, Soft Fears, which stronger bind
Their Hearts, than when they more assurance find.
Embolden'd thus, to Fame I did commit,
(By some few hands) my most Unlucky Wit.
But, ah, the sad effects that from it came!
67
What ought t'have brought me Honour, brought me shame!
Like Esops Painted Jay I seem'd to all,
Adorn'd in Plumes, I not my own could call:
Rifl'd like her, each one my Feathers tore,
And, as they thought, unto the Owner bore.
My Laurels thus an Others Brow adorn'd,
My Numbers they Admir'd, but Me they scorn'd:
An others Brow, that had so rich a store
Of Sacred Wreaths, that circled it before;
Where mine quite lost, (like a small stream that ran
Into a Vast and Boundless Ocean)
Was swallow'd up, with what it joyn'd and drown'd,
And that Abiss yet no Accession found.
Orinda, (Albions and her Sexes Grace)
Ow'd not her Glory to a Beauteous Face,
It was her Radiant Soul that shon With-in,
Which struck a Lustre through her Outward Skin;
That did her Lips and Cheeks with Roses dy,
Advanc't her Height, and Sparkled in her Eye.
Nor did her Sex at all obstruct her Fame,
But higher 'mong the Stars it fixt her Name;
What she did write, not only all allow'd,
But ev'ry Laurel, to her Laurel, bow'd!
Th' Envious Age, only to Me alone,
Will not allow, what I do write, my Own,
But let 'em Rage, and 'gainst a Maide Conspire,
So Deathless Numbers from my Tuneful Lyre
Do ever flow; so Phebus I by thee
Divinely Inspired and possest may be;
I willingly accept Cassandras Fate,
To speak the Truth, although believ'd too late.
~ Anne Killigrew,
113:The masses of dense foliage all round became prison walls, impassable circular green ice-walls, surging towards her; just before they closed in, I caught the terrified glint of her eyes.

On a winter day she was in the studio, posing for him in the nude, her arms raised in a graceful position. To hold it for any length of time must have been a strain, I wondered how she managed to keep so still; until I saw the cords attached to her wrists and ankles.

Instead of the darkness, she faced a stupendous sky-conflagration, an incredible glacial dream-scene. Cold coruscations of rainbow fire pulsed overhead, shot through by shafts of pure incandescence thrown out by mountains of solid ice towering all round. Closer, the trees round the house, sheathed in ice, dripped and sparkled with weird prismatic jewels, reflecting the vivid changing cascades above. Instead of the familiar night sky, the aurora borealis formed a blazing, vibrating roof of intense cold and colour, beneath which the earth was trapped with all its inhabitants, walled in by those impassable glittering ice-cliffs. The world had become an arctic prison from which no escape was possible, all its creatures trapped as securely as were the trees, already lifeless inside their deadly resplendent armour.

Frozen by the deathly cold emanating from the ice, dazzled by the blaze of crystalline ice-light, she felt herself becoming part of the polar vision, her structure becoming one with the structure of ice and snow. As her fate, she accepted the world of ice, shining, shimmering, dead; she resigned herself to the triumph of glaciers and the death of her world.

Fear was the climate she lived in; if she had ever known kindness it would have been different. The trees seemed to obstruct her with deliberate malice. All her life she had thought of herself as a foredoomed victim, and now the forest had become the malign force that would destroy her. In desperation she tried to run, but a hidden root tripped her, she almost fell. Branches caught in her hair, tugged her back, lashed out viciously when they were disentangled. The silver hairs torn from her head glittered among black needles; they were the clues her pursuers would follow, leading them to their victim. She escaped from the forest at length only to see the fjord waiting for her. An evil effluence rose from the water, something primitive, savage, demanding victims, hungry for a human victim.

It had been night overhead all along, but below it was still daylight. There were no clouds. I saw islands scattered over the sea, a normal aerial view. Then something extraordinary, out of this world: a wall of rainbow ice jutting up from the sea, cutting right across, pushing a ridge of water ahead of it as it moved, as if the flat pale surface of sea was a carpet being rolled up. It was a sinister, fascinating sight, which did not seem intended for human eyes. I stared down at it, seeing other things at the same time. The ice world spreading over our world. Mountainous walls of ice surrounding the girl. Her moonwhite skin, her hair sparkling with diamond prisms under the moon. The moon’s dead eye watching the death of our world. ~ Anna Kavan,
114:The Fool Errant
The Fool Errant sat by the highway of life
And his gaze wandered up and his gaze wandered down,
A vigorous youth, but with no wish to walk,
Yet his longing was great for the distant town.
He whistled a little frivolous tune
Which he felt to be pulsing with ecstasy,
For he thought that success always followed desire,
Such a very superlative fool was he.
A maiden came by on an ambling mule,
Her gown was rose-red and her kerchief blue,
On her lap she carried a basket of eggs.
Thought the fool, "There is certainly room for two."
So he jauntily swaggered towards the maid
And put out his hand to the bridle-rein.
"My pretty girl," quoth the fool, "take me up,
For to ride with you to the town I am fain."
But the maiden struck at his upraised arm
And pelted him hotly with eggs, a score.
The mule, lashed into a fury, ran;
The fool went back to his stone and swore.
Then out of the cloud of settling dust
The burly form of an abbot appeared,
Reading his office he rode to the town.
And the fool got up, for his heart was cheered.
He stood in the midst of the long, white road
And swept off his cap till it touched the ground.
"Ah, Reverent Sir, well met," said the fool,
"A worthier transport never was found.
"I pray you allow me to mount with you,
Your palfrey seems both sturdy and young."
The abbot looked up from the holy book
310
And cried out in anger, "Hold your tongue!
"How dare you obstruct the King's highroad,
You saucy varlet, get out of my way."
Then he gave the fool a cut with his whip
And leaving him smarting, he rode away.
The fool was angry, the fool was sore,
And he cursed the folly of monks and maids.
"If I could but meet with a man," sighed the fool,
"For a woman fears, and a friar upbraids."
Then he saw a flashing of distant steel
And the clanking of harness greeted his ears,
And up the road journeyed knights-at-arms,
With waving plumes and glittering spears.
The fool took notice and slowly arose,
Not quite so sure was his foolish heart.
If priests and women would none of him
Was it likely a knight would take his part?
They sang as they rode, these lusty boys,
When one chanced to turn toward the highway's side,
"There's a sorry figure of fun," jested he,
"Well, Sirrah! move back, there is scarce room to ride."
"Good Sirs, Kind Sirs," begged the crestfallen fool,
"I pray of your courtesy speech with you,
I'm for yonder town, and have no horse to ride,
Have you never a charger will carry two?"
Then the company halted and laughed out loud.
"Was such a request ever made to a knight?"
"And where are your legs," asked one, "if you start,
You may be inside the town gates to-night."
"'T is a lazy fellow, let him alone,
They've no room in the town for such idlers as he."
But one bent from his saddle and said, "My man,
Art thou not ashamed to beg charity!
311
"Thou art well set up, and thy legs are strong,
But it much misgives me lest thou'rt a fool;
For beggars get only a beggar's crust,
Wise men are reared in a different school."
Then they clattered away in the dust and the wind,
And the fool slunk back to his lonely stone;
He began to see that the man who asks
Must likewise give and not ask alone.
Purple tree-shadows crept over the road,
The level sun flung an orange light,
And the fool laid his head on the hard, gray stone
And wept as he realized advancing night.
A great, round moon rose over a hill
And the steady wind blew yet more cool;
And crouched on a stone a wayfarer sobbed,
For at last he knew he was only a fool.
~ Amy Lowell,
115:The Parisian Orgy
O cowards! There she is!
Pile out into the stations!
The sun with its fiery lungs blew clear
the boulevards that, one evening,
the Barbarians filled.
Here is the holy City, seated in the West! Come!
We'll stave off the return of the fires;
here are the quays, here are the boulevards,
here are the houses against the pale,
radiant blue-starred, one evening,
by the red flashes of bombs!
Hide the dead places with forests of planks!
Affrighted, the dying daylight freshens your looks.
Look at the red-headed troop of the wrigglers of hips:
be mad, you'll be comical, being haggard!
Pack of bitches on heat, eating poultices:
the cry from the houses of gold calls you!
Plunder! Eat! See the night of joy and deep twitchings
coming down on the street.
O desolate drinkers, Drink! When the light comes,
intense and crazed, to ransack round you the rustling luxuries,
you're not going to dribbe into your glasses
without motion or sound, with your eyes lost in white distances?
Knock it back: to the Queen whose buttocks cascade in folds!
Listen to the working of stupid tearing hiccups!
Listen to them leaping n the fiery night:
the panting idiots, the aged, the nonentities, the lackeys!
O hearts of filth, appalling mouths;
work harder, mouths of foul stenches!
Wine for these ignoble torpors, at these tables…
Your bellies are melting with shame, O Conquerors!
Open your nostrils to these superb nauseas!
188
Steep the tendons of your necks in strong poisons!
Laying his crossed hands on the napes of your childish necks,
the Poet says to you: 'O cowards! Be mad!
Because you are ransacking the guts of Woman,
you fear another convulsion from her, crying out,
and stifling your infamous perching on her breast with a horrible pressure.
Syphilitics, madmen, kings, puppets, ventriloquists!
What can you matter to Paris the whore?
Your souls or your bodies, your poisons or your rags?
She'll shake you off, you pox-rotten snarlers!
And when you are down, whimpering on your bellies,
your sides wrung, clamouring for your money back, distracted,
the red harlot with her breasts swelling
with battles will clench her hard fists,
far removed from your stupor!'
When your feet, Paris, danced so hard in anger!
When you had so many knife wounds; when you lay helpless,
still retaining in your clear eyes a little of the goodness
of the tawny spring; O city in pain;
O city almost dead, with your face and your two breasts
pointing towards the Future
which opens to your pallor its thousand million gates;
city whom the dark Past could bless:
Body galvanized back to life to suffer tremendous pains,
you are drinking in dreadful life once more!
You feel he ghastly pale worms flooding back in your veins,
the icy fingers prowling on your unclouded love!
And it does you no harm.
The worms, the pale worms, will obstruct your breath of Progress no more
than the Stryx could extinguish the eyes of the Caryatides,
from whose blue sills fell tears of sidereal gold.
Although it is frightful to see you again
covered in this fashion; although no city was ever made
into a more foul-smelling ulcer
on the face of green Nature, the Poet says to you:
'Your beauty is Marvelous!' The tempest sealed you in supreme poetry;
the huge stirring of strength comes to your aid;
your work comes to the boil, death groans, O chosen City!
Hoard in your heart the stridors of the ominous trumpet.
The Poet will take the sobs of the Infamous
the hate of the Galley-slaves, the clamour of the Damned;
189
and the beams of his love will scourge Womankind.
His verses will leap out: There's for you! There! Villains! -Society,
and everything, is restored: - the orgies are weeping
with dry sobs in the old brothels:
and on the reddened walls the gaslights in frenzy flare
balefully upwards to the wan blue skies!
~ Arthur Rimbaud,
116:Sri Aurobindo writes here: "...Few and brief in their visits are the Bright Ones who are willing or permitted to succour." Why?
(1 "The Way", Cent. Vol. 17, p. 40.)
One must go and ask them! But there is a conclusion, the last sentences give a very clear explanation. It is said: "Nay, then, is immortality a plaything to be given lightly to a child, or the divine life a prize without effort or the crown for a weakling?" This comes back to the question why the adverse forces have the right to interfere, to harass you. But this is precisely the test necessary for your sincerity. If the way were very easy, everybody would start on the way, and if one could reach the goal without any obstacle and without any effort, everybody would reach the goal, and when one has come to the end, the situation would be the same as when one started, there would be no change. That is, the new world would be exactly what the old has been. It is truly not worth the trouble! Evidently a process of elimination is necessary so that only what is capable of manifesting the new life remains. This is the reason and there is no other, this is the best of reasons. And, you see, it is a tempering, it is the ordeal of fire, only that which can stand it remains absolutely pure; when everything has burnt down, there remains only the little ingot of pure gold. And it is like that. What puts things out very much in all this is the religious idea of fault, sin, redemption. But there is no arbitrary decision! On the contrary, for each one it is the best and most favourable conditions which are given. We were saying the other day that it is only his friends whom God treats with severity; you thought it was a joke, but it is true. It is only to those who are full of hope, who will pass through this purifying flame, that the conditions for attaining the maximum result are given. And the human mind is made in such a way that you may test this; when something extremely unpleasant happens to you, you may tell yourself, "Well, this proves I am worth the trouble of being given this difficulty, this proves there is something in me which can resist the difficulty", and you will notice that instead of tormenting yourself, you rejoice - you will be so happy and so strong that even the most unpleasant things will seem to you quite charming! This is a very easy experiment to make. Whatever the circumstance, if your mind is accustomed to look at it as something favourable, it will no longer be unpleasant for you. This is quite well known; as long as the mind refuses to accept a thing, struggles against it, tries to obstruct it, there are torments, difficulties, storms, inner struggles and all suffering. But the minute the mind says, "Good, this is what has to come, it is thus that it must happen", whatever happens, you are content. There are people who have acquired such control of their mind over their body that they feel nothing; I told you this the other day about certain mystics: if they think the suffering inflicted upon them is going to help them cross the stages in a moment and give them a sort of stepping stone to attain the Realisation, the goal they have put before them, union with the Divine, they no longer feel the suffering at all. Their body is as it were galvanised by the mental conception. This has happened very often, it is a very common experience among those who truly have enthusiasm. And after all, if one must for some reason or other leave one's body and take a new one, is it not better to make of one's death something magnificent, joyful, enthusiastic, than to make it a disgusting defeat? Those who cling on, who try by every possible means to delay the end even by a minute or two, who give you an example of frightful anguish, show that they are not conscious of their soul.... After all, it is perhaps a means, isn't it? One can change this accident into a means; if one is conscious one can make a beautiful thing of it, a very beautiful thing, as of everything. And note, those who do not fear it, who are not anxious, who can die without any sordidness are those who never think about it, who are not haunted all the time by this "horror" facing them which they must escape and which they try to push as far away from them as they can. These, when the occasion comes, can lift their head, smile and say, "Here I am."
It is they who have the will to make the best possible use of their life, it is they who say, "I shall remain here as long as it is necessary, to the last second, and I shall not lose one moment to realise my goal"; these, when the necessity comes, put up the best show. Why? - It is very simple, because they live in their ideal, the truth of their ideal; because that is the real thing for them, the very reason of their being, and in all things they can see this ideal, this reason of existence, and never do they come down into the sordidness of material life.
So, the conclusion:
One must never wish for death.
One must never will to die.
One must never be afraid to die.
And in all circumstances one must will to exceed oneself. ~ The Mother, Question and Answers, Volume-4, page no.353-355,
117:The Discontent
I.
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Here take no Care, take here no Care, my Muse,
Nor ought of Art or Labour use:
But let thy Lines rude and unpolisht go,
Nor Equal be their Feet, nor Num'rous let them flow.
The ruggeder my Measures run when read,
They'l livelier paint th'unequal Paths fond Mortals tread.
Who when th'are tempted by the smooth Ascents,
Which flatt'ring Hope presents,
Briskly they clime, and Great Things undertake;
But Fatal Voyages, alas, they make:
For 'tis not long before their Feet,
Inextricable Mazes meet,
Perplexing Doubts obstruct their Way,
Mountains with-stand them of Dismay;
Or to the Brink of black Dispaire them lead,
Where's nought their Ruine to impede,
In vain for Aide they then to Reason call,
Their Senses dazle, and their Heads turn round,
The sight does all their Pow'rs confound,
And headlong down the horrid Precipice they fall:
Where storms of Sighs for ever blow,
Whre raped streams of Tears do flow,
Which drown them in a Briny Floud.
My Muse pronounce aloud, there's nothing Good,
Nought that the World can show,
Nought that it can bestow.
II.
27
Not boundless Heaps of its admired Clay,
28
Ah, too successful to betray,
29
When spread in our fraile Vertues way:
30
For few do run with so Resolv'd a Pace,
31 That for the Golden Apple will not loose the Race.
43
32
And yet not all the Gold the Vain would spend,
33
Or greedy Avarice would wish to save;
34
Which on the Earth refulgent Beams doth send,
35
Or in the Sea has found a Grave,
36
Joyn'd in one Mass, can Bribe sufficient be,
37
The Body from a stern Disease to free,
38
Or purchase for the Minds relief
39 One Moments sweet Repose, when restless made by grief,
40 But what may Laughter, more than Pity, move:
41
When some the Price of what they Dear'st Love
42
Are Masters of, and hold it in their Hand,
43
To part with it their Hearts they can't command:
44
But chose to miss, what miss't does them torment,
45
And that to hug, affords them no Content.
46
Wise Fools, to do them Right, we these must hold,
47
Who Love depose, and Homage pay to Gold.
III.
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
Nor yet, if rightly understood,
Does Grandeur carry more of Good;
To be o'th' Number of the Great enroll'd,
A Scepter o're a Mighty Realm to hold.
For what is this?
If I not judge amiss.
But all th'Afflicted of a Land to take,
And f one single Family to make?
The Wrong'd, the Poor, th'Opprest, the Sad,
The Ruin'd, Malecontent, and Mad?
Which a great Part of ev'ry Empire frame,
And Interest in the common Father claime.
Again what is't, but always to abide
A Gazing Crowd? upon a Stage to spend
A Life that's vain, or Evil without End?
And which is yet not safely held, nor laid aside?
And then, if lesser Titles carry less of Care,
Yet none but Fools ambitious are to share
Such a Mock-Good, of which 'tis said, 'tis Best,
When of the least of it Men are possest.
44
IV.
68
But, O, the Laurel'd Fool! that doats on Fame,
69
Whose Hope's Applause, whose Fear's to want a Name;
70
Who can accept for Pay
71
Of what he does, what others say;
72
Exposes now to hostile Arms his Breast,
73 To toylsome Study then betrays his Rest;
74
Now to his Soul denies a just Content,
75
Then forces on it what it does resent;
76
And all for Praise of Fools: for such are those,
77
Which most of the Admiring Crowd compose.
78
O famisht Soul, which such Thin Food can feed!
79
O Wretched Labour crown'd with such a Meed!
80
Too loud, O Fame! thy Trumpet is, too shrill,
81
To lull a Mind to Rest,
82
Or calme a stormy Breast,
83
Which asks a Musick soft and still.
84
'Twas not Almaleck's vanquisht Cry,
85
Nor Israels shout of Victory,
86
That could in Saul the rising Passion lay,
87 'Twas the soft strains of David's Lyre the Evil Spirit chace't away.
V.
88
But Friendship fain would yet it self defend,
89
And Mighty Things it does pretend,
90
To be of this Sad Journey, Life, the Baite,
91 The Sweet Refection of our toylsome State.
92
But though True Friendship a Rich Cordial be,
93
Alas, by most 'tis so alay'd,
94
Its Good so mixt with Ill we see,
95
That Dross for Gold is often paid.
96
And for one Grain of Friendship that is found,
97
Falshood and Interest do the Mass compound,
98 Or coldness, worse than Steel, the Loyal heart doth wound.
99
Love in no Two was ever yet the same,
100
No Happy Two ere felt an Equal Flame.
45
VI.
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
Is there that Earth by Humane Foot ne're prest?
That Aire which never yet by Humane Breast
Respir'd, did Life supply?
Oh, thither let me fly!
Where from the World at such a distance set,
All that's past, present, and to come I may forget:
The Lovers Sighs, and the Afflicted Tears,
What e're may wound my Eyes or Ears.
The grating Noise of Private Jars,
The horrid sound of Publick Wars,
Of babling Fame the Idle Stories,
The short-liv'd Triumphs Noysy-Glories,
The Curious Nets the subtile weave,
The Word, the Look that may deceive.
No Mundan Care shall more affect my Breast,
My profound Peace shake or molest:
But Stupor, like to Death, my Senses bind,
That so I may anticipate that Rest,
Which only in my Grave I hope to find.
~ Anne Killigrew,
118:I.
How well I know what I mean to do
When the long dark autumn-evenings come:
And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue?
With the music of all thy voices, dumb
In life's November too!

II.

I shall be found by the fire, suppose,
O'er a great wise book as beseemeth age,
While the shutters flap as the cross-wind blows
And I turn the page, and I turn the page,
Not verse now, only prose!

III.

Till the young ones whisper, finger on lip,
``There he is at it, deep in Greek:
``Now then, or never, out we slip
``To cut from the hazels by the creek
``A mainmast for our ship!''

IV.

I shall be at it indeed, my friends:
Greek puts already on either side
Such a branch-work forth as soon extends
To a vista opening far and wide,
And I pass out where it ends.

V.

The outside-frame, like your hazel-trees:
But the inside-archway widens fast,
And a rarer sort succeeds to these,
And we slope to Italy at last
And youth, by green degrees.

VI.

I follow wherever I am led,
Knowing so well the leader's hand:
Oh woman-country, wooed not wed,
Loved all the more by earth's male-lands,
Laid to their hearts instead!

VII.

Look at the ruined chapel again
Half-way up in the Alpine gorge!
Is that a tower, I point you plain,
Or is it a mill, or an iron-forge
Breaks solitude in vain?

VIII.

A turn, and we stand in the heart of things:
The woods are round us, heaped and dim;
From slab to slab how it slips and springs,
The thread of water single and slim,
Through the ravage some torrent brings!

IX.

Does it feed the little lake below?
That speck of white just on its marge
Is Pella; see, in the evening-glow,
How sharp the silver spear-heads charge
When Alp meets heaven in snow!

X.

On our other side is the straight-up rock;
And a path is kept 'twixt the gorge and it
By boulder-stones where lichens mock
The marks on a moth, and small ferns fit
Their teeth to the polished block.

XI.

Oh the sense of the yellow mountain-flowers ,
And thorny balls, each three in one,
The chestnuts throw on our path in showers!
For the drop of the woodland fruit's begun,
These early November hours,

XII.

That crimson the creeper's leaf across
Like a splash of blood, intense, abrupt,
O'er a shield else gold from rim to boss,
And lay it for show on the fairy-cupped
Elf-needled mat of moss,

XIII.

By the rose-flesh mushrooms, undivulged
Last evening-nay, in to-day's first dew
Yon sudden coral nipple bulged,
Where a freaked fawn-coloured flaky crew
Of toadstools peep indulged.

XIV.

And yonder, at foot of the fronting ridge
That takes the turn to a range beyond,
Is the chapel reached by the one-arched bridge
Where the water is stopped in a stagnant pond
Danced over by the midge.

XV.

The chapel and bridge are of stone alike,
Blackish-grey and mostly wet;
Cut hemp-stalks steep in the narrow dyke.
See here again, how the lichens fret
And the roots of the ivy strike!

XVI.

Poor little place, where its one priest comes
On a festa-day, if he comes at all,
To the dozen folk from their scattered homes,
Gathered within that precinct small
By the dozen ways one roams-

XVII.

To drop from the charcoal-burners ' huts,
Or climb from the hemp-dressers' low shed,
Leave the grange where the woodman stores his nuts,
Or the wattled cote where the fowlers spread
Their gear on the rock's bare juts.

XVIII.

It has some pretension too, this front,
With its bit of fresco half-moon-wise
Set over the porch, Art's early wont:
'Tis John in the Desert, I surmise,
But has borne the weather's brunt-

XIX.

Not from the fault of the builder, though,
For a pent-house properly projects
Where three carved beams make a certain show,
Dating-good thought of our architect's-
'Five, six, nine, he lets you know.

XX.

And all day long a bird sings there,
And a stray sheep drinks at the pond at times;
The place is silent and aware;
It has had its scenes, its joys and crimes,
But that is its own affair.

XXI.

My perfect wife, my Leonor,
Oh heart, my own, oh eyes, mine too,
Whom else could I dare look backward for,
With whom beside should I dare pursue
The path grey heads abhor?

XXII.

For it leads to a crag's sheer edge with them;
Youth, flowery all the way, there stops-
Not they; age threatens and they contemn,
Till they reach the gulf wherein youth drops,
One inch from life's safe hem!

XXIII.

With me, youth led I will speak now,
No longer watch you as you sit
Reading by fire-light, that great brow
And the spirit-small hand propping it,
Mutely, my heart knows how-

XXIV.

When, if I think but deep enough,
You are wont to answer, prompt as rhyme;
And you, too, find without rebuff
Response your soul seeks many a time
Piercing its fine flesh-stuff.

XXV.

My own, confirm me! If I tread
This path back, is it not in pride
To think how little I dreamed it led
To an age so blest that, by its side,
Youth seems the waste instead?

XXVI.

My own, see where the years conduct!
At first, 'twas something our two souls
Should mix as mists do; each is sucked
In each now: on, the new stream rolls,
Whatever rocks obstruct.

XXVII.

Think, when our one soul understands
The great Word which makes all things new,
When earth breaks up and heaven expands,
How will the change strike me and you
ln the house not made with hands?

XXVIII.

Oh I must feel your brain prompt mine,
Your heart anticipate my heart,
You must be just before, in fine,
See and make me see, for your part,
New depths of the divine!

XXIX.

But who could have expected this
When we two drew together first
Just for the obvious human bliss,
To satisfy life's daily thirst
With a thing men seldom miss?

XXX.

Come back with me to the first of all,
Let us lean and love it over again,
Let us now forget and now recall,
Break the rosary in a pearly rain,
And gather what we let fall!

XXXI.

What did I say?-that a small bird sings
All day long, save when a brown pair
Of hawks from the wood float with wide wings
Strained to a bell: 'gainst noon-day glare
You count the streaks and rings.

XXXII.

But at afternoon or almost eve
'Tis better; then the silence grows
To that degree, you half believe
It must get rid of what it knows,
Its bosom does so heave.

XXXIII.

Hither we walked then, side by side,
Arm in arm and cheek to cheek,
And still I questioned or replied,
While my heart, convulsed to really speak,
Lay choking in its pride.

XXXIV.

Silent the crumbling bridge we cross,
And pity and praise the chapel sweet,
And care about the fresco's loss,
And wish for our souls a like retreat,
And wonder at the moss.

XXXV.

Stoop and kneel on the settle under,
Look through the window's grated square:
Nothing to see! For fear of plunder,
The cross is down and the altar bare,
As if thieves don't fear thunder.

XXXVI.

We stoop and look in through the grate,
See the little porch and rustic door,
Read duly the dead builder's date;
Then cross the bridge that we crossed before,
Take the path again-but wait!

XXXVII.

Oh moment, one and infinite!
The water slips o'er stock and stone;
The West is tender, hardly bright:
How grey at once is the evening grown-
One star, its chrysolite!

XXXVIII.

We two stood there with never a third,
But each by each, as each knew well:
The sights we saw and the sounds we heard,
The lights and the shades made up a spell
Till the trouble grew and stirred.

XXXIX.

Oh, the little more, and how much it is!
And the little less, and what worlds away!
How a sound shall quicken content to bliss,
Or a breath suspend the blood's best play,
And life be a proof of this!

XL.

Had she willed it, still had stood the screen
So slight, so sure, 'twixt my love and her:
I could fix her face with a guard between,
And find her soul as when friends confer,
Friends-lovers that might have been.

XLI.

For my heart had a touch of the woodland-time,
Wanting to sleep now over its best.
Shake the whole tree in the summer-prime,
But bring to the Iast leaf no such test!
``Hold the last fast!'' runs the rhyme.

XLII.

For a chance to make your little much,
To gain a lover and lose a friend,
Venture the tree and a myriad such,
When nothing you mar but the year can mend:
But a last leaf-fear to touch!

XLIII.

Yet should it unfasten itself and fall
Eddying down till it find your face
At some slight wind-best chance of all!
Be your heart henceforth its dwelling-place
You trembled to forestall!

XLIV.

Worth how well, those dark grey eyes,
That hair so dark and dear, how worth
That a man should strive and agonize,
And taste a veriest hell on earth
For the hope of such a prize!

XIIV.

You might have turned and tried a man,
Set him a space to weary and wear,
And prove which suited more your plan,
His best of hope or his worst despair,
Yet end as he began.

XLVI.

But you spared me this, like the heart you are,
And filled my empty heart at a word.
If two lives join, there is oft a scar,
They are one and one, with a shadowy third;
One near one is too far.

XLVII.

A moment after, and hands unseen
Were hanging the night around us fast
But we knew that a bar was broken between
Life and life: we were mixed at last
In spite of the mortal screen.

XLVIII.

The forests had done it; there they stood;
We caught for a moment the powers at play:
They had mingled us so, for once and good,
Their work was done-we might go or stay,
They relapsed to their ancient mood.

XLIX.

How the world is made for each of us!
How all we perceive and know in it
Tends to some moment's product thus,
When a soul declares itself-to wit,
By its fruit, the thing it does

L.

Be hate that fruit or love that fruit,
It forwards the general deed of man,
And each of the Many helps to recruit
The life of the race by a general plan;
Each living his own, to boot.

LI.

I am named and known by that moment's feat;
There took my station and degree;
So grew my own small life complete,
As nature obtained her best of me-
One born to love you, sweet!

LII.

And to watch you sink by the fire-side now
Back again, as you mutely sit
Musing by fire-light, that great brow
And the spirit-small hand propping it,
Yonder, my heart knows how!

LIII.

So, earth has gained by one man the more,
And the gain of earth must be heaven's gain too;
And the whole is well worth thinking o'er
When autumn comes: which I mean to do
One day, as I said before.


~ Robert Browning, By The Fire-Side
,
119:Contemplations
Sometime now past in the Autumnal Tide,
When Ph{oe}bus wanted but one hour to bed,
The trees all richly clad, yet void of pride,
Were gilded o're by his rich golden head.
Their leaves and fruits seem'd painted but was true
Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hew,
Rapt were my senses at this delectable view.
10
11
12
13
14
I wist not what to wish, yet sure thought I,
If so much excellence abide below,
How excellent is he that dwells on high?
Whose power and beauty by his works we know.
Sure he is goodness, wisdom, glory, light,
That hath this under world so richly dight.
More Heaven than Earth was here, no winter and no night.
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Then on a stately Oak I cast mine Eye,
Whose ruffling top the Clouds seem'd to aspire.
How long since thou wast in thine Infancy?
Thy strength and stature, more thy years admire,
Hath hundred winters past since thou wast born?
Or thousand since thou brakest thy shell of horn?
If so, all these as nought, Eternity doth scorn.
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Then higher on the glistering Sun I gaz'd,
Whose beams was shaded by the leafy Tree.
The more I look'd, the more I grew amaz'd
And softly said, what glory's like to thee?
Soul of this world, this Universe's Eye,
No wonder some made thee a Deity.
Had I not better known (alas) the same had I.
33
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Thou as a Bridegroom from thy Chamber rushes
And as a strong man joys to run a race.
The morn doth usher thee with smiles and blushes.
The Earth reflects her glances in thy face.
Birds, insects, Animals with Vegative,
Thy heat from death and dullness doth revive
And in the darksome womb of fruitful nature dive.
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
Thy swift Annual and diurnal Course,
Thy daily straight and yearly oblique path,
Thy pleasing fervour, and thy scorching force,
All mortals here the feeling knowledge hath.
Thy presence makes it day, thy absence night,
Quaternal seasons caused by thy might.
Hail Creature, full of sweetness, beauty, and delight!
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
Art thou so full of glory that no Eye
Hath strength thy shining Rays once to behold?
And is thy splendid Throne erect so high
As, to approach it, can no earthly mould?
How full of glory then must thy Creator be!
Who gave this bright light luster unto thee.
Admir'd, ador'd for ever be that Majesty!
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
Silent alone where none or saw or heard,
In pathless paths I lead my wand'ring feet.
My humble Eyes to lofty Skies I rear'd
To sing some Song my mazed Muse thought meet.
My great Creator I would magnify
That nature had thus decked liberally,
But Ah and Ah again, my imbecility!
57
I heard the merry grasshopper then sing,
34
58
59
60
61
62
63
The black clad Cricket bear a second part.
They kept one tune and played on the same string,
Seeming to glory in their little Art.
Shall creatures abject thus their voices raise
And in their kind resound their maker's praise
Whilst I, as mute, can warble forth no higher lays?
10
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
When present times look back to Ages past
And men in being fancy those are dead,
It makes things gone perpetually to last
And calls back months and years that long since fled.
It makes a man more aged in conceit
Than was Methuselah or's grand-sire great,
While of their persons and their acts his mind doth treat.
11
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
Sometimes in Eden fair he seems to be,
See glorious Adam there made Lord of all,
Fancies the Apple dangle on the Tree
That turn'd his Sovereign to a naked thrall,
Who like a miscreant's driven from that place
To get his bread with pain and sweat of face.
A penalty impos'd on his backsliding Race.
12
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
Here sits our Grand-dame in retired place
And in her lap her bloody Cain new born.
The weeping Imp oft looks her in the face,
Bewails his unknown hap and fate forlorn.
His Mother sighs to think of Paradise
And how she lost her bliss to be more wise,
Believing him that was and is Father of lies.
13
85
86
87
Here Cain and Abel come to sacrifice,
Fruits of the Earth and Fatlings each do bring.
On Abel's gift the fire descends from Skies,
35
88
89
90
91
But no such sign on false Cain's offering.
With sullen hateful looks he goes his ways,
Hath thousand thoughts to end his brother's days,
Upon whose blood his future good he hopes to raise.
14
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
There Abel keeps his sheep, no ill he thinks,
His brother comes, then acts his fratricide.
The Virgin Earth of blood her first draught drinks,
But since that time she often hath been cloy'd.
The wretch with ghastly face and dreadful mind
Thinks each he sees will serve him in his kind,
Though none on Earth but kindred near then could he find.
15
99 Who fancies not his looks now at the Bar,
100 His face like death, his heart with horror fraught.
101 Nor Male-factor ever felt like war,
102 When deep despair with wish of life hath fought,
103 Branded with guilt, and crusht with treble woes,
104 A Vagabond to Land of Nod he goes,
105 A City builds that walls might him secure from foes.
16
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
Who thinks not oft upon the Father's ages?
Their long descent, how nephews' sons they saw,
The starry observations of those Sages,
And how their precepts to their sons were law,
How Adam sigh'd to see his Progeny
Cloth'd all in his black, sinful Livery,
Who neither guilt not yet the punishment could fly.
17
113
114
115
116
117
Our life compare we with their length of days.
Who to the tenth of theirs doth now arrive?
And though thus short, we shorten many ways,
Living so little while we are alive.
In eating, drinking, sleeping, vain delight
36
118
119
So unawares comes on perpetual night
And puts all pleasures vain unto eternal flight.
18
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
When I behold the heavens as in their prime
And then the earth (though old) still clad in green,
The stones and trees, insensible of time,
Nor age nor wrinkle on their front are seen.
If winter come and greenness then do fade,
A Spring returns, and they more youthful made,
But Man grows old, lies down, remains where once he's laid.
19
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
By birth more noble than those creatures all,
Yet seems by nature and by custom curs'd,
No sooner born but grief and care makes fall
That state obliterate he had at first:
Nor youth, nor strength, nor wisdom spring again,
Nor habitations long their names retain
But in oblivion to the final day remain.
20
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
Shall I then praise the heavens, the trees, the earth,
Because their beauty and their strength last longer?
Shall I wish there, or never to had birth,
Because they're bigger and their bodies stronger?
Nay, they shall darken, perish, fade and die,
And when unmade, so ever shall they lie.
But man was made for endless immortality.
21
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
Under the cooling shadow of a stately Elm
Close sate I by a goodly River's side,
Where gliding streams the Rocks did overwhelm.
A lonely place, with pleasures dignifi'd.
I once that lov'd the shady woods so well,
Now thought the rivers did the trees excel,
And if the sun would ever shine, there would I dwell.
37
22
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
While on the stealing stream I fixt mine eye,
Which to the long'd-for Ocean held its course,
I markt nor crooks, nor rubs that there did lie
Could hinder ought but still augment its force.
O happy Flood, quoth I, that holds thy race
Till thou arrive at thy beloved place,
Nor is it rocks or shoals that can obstruct thy pace.
23
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
Nor is't enough that thou alone may'st slide,
But hundred brooks in thy clear waves do meet,
So hand in hand along with thee they glide
To Thetis' house, where all imbrace and greet.
Thou Emblem true of what I count the best,
O could I lead my Rivolets to rest,
So may we press to that vast mansion, ever blest.
24
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
Ye Fish which in this liquid Region 'bide
That for each season have your habitation,
Now salt, now fresh where you think best to glide
To unknown coasts to give a visitation,
In Lakes and ponds, you leave your numerous fry.
So Nature taught, and yet you know not why,
You watry folk that know not your felicity.
25
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
Look how the wantons frisk to task the air,
Then to the colder bottom straight they dive;
Eftsoon to Neptune's glassy Hall repair
To see what trade they, great ones, there do drive,
Who forrage o're the spacious sea-green field
And take the trembling prey before it yield,
Whose armour is their scales, their spreading fins their shield.
26
38
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
While musing thus with contemplation fed,
And thousand fancies buzzing in my brain,
The sweet-tongu'd Philomel percht o're my head
And chanted forth a most melodious strain
Which rapt me so with wonder and delight
I judg's my hearing better than my sight
And wisht me wings with her a while to take my flight.
27
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
O merry Bird (said I) that fears no snares,
That neither toils nor hoards up in thy barn,
Feels no sad thoughts nor cruciating cares
To gain more good or shun what might thee harm-Thy clothes ne'er wear, thy meat is everywhere,
Thy bed a bough, thy drink the water clear-Reminds not what is past, nor what's to come dost fear.
28
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
The dawning morn with songs thou dost prevent,
Sets hundred notes unto thy feathered crew,
So each one tunes his pretty instrument
And warbling out the old, begin anew,
And thus they pass their youth in summer season,
Then follow thee into a better Region,
Where winter's never felt by that sweet airy legion.
29
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
Man at the best a creature frail and vain,
In knowledge ignorant, in strength but weak,
Subject to sorrows, losses, sickness, pain,
Each storm his state, his mind, his body break-From some of these he never finds cessation
But day or night, within, without, vexation,
Troubles from foes, from friends, from dearest, near'st Relation.
30
204
And yet this sinful creature, frail and vain,
39
205
206
207
208
209
210
This lump of wretchedness, of sin and sorrow,
This weather-beaten vessel wrackt with pain,
Joys not in hope of an eternal morrow.
Nor all his losses, crosses, and vexation,
In weight, in frequency and long duration
Can make him deeply groan for that divine Translation.
31
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
The Mariner that on smooth waves doth glide
Sings merrily and steers his Barque with ease
As if he had command of wind and tide
And now becomes great Master of the seas,
But suddenly a storm spoils all the sport
And makes him long for a more quiet port,
Which 'gainst all adverse winds may serve for fort.
32
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
So he that faileth in this world of pleasure,
Feeding on sweets that never bit of th' sour,
That's full of friends, of honour, and of treasure,
Fond fool, he takes this earth ev'n for heav'ns bower,
But sad affliction comes and makes him see
Here's neither honour, wealth, or safety.
Only above is found all with security.
33
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
O Time the fatal wrack of mortal things
That draws oblivion's curtains over kings,
Their sumptuous monuments, men know them not;
Their names with a Record are forgot,
Their parts, their ports, their pomp's all laid in th' dust.
Nor wit, nor gold, nor buildings scape time's rust,
But he whose name is grav'd in the white stone
Shall last and shine when all of these are gone.
~ Anne Bradstreet,
120:Orpheus
ORPHEUS.
LAUGHTER and dance, and sounds of harp and lyre,
Piping of flutes, singing of festal songs,
Ribbons of flame from flaunting torches, dulled
By the broad summer sunshine, these had filled
Since the high noon the pillared vestibules,
The peristyles and porches, in the house
Of the bride's father. Maidens, garlanded
With rose and myrtle dedicate to Love,
Adorned with chaplets fresh the bride, and veiled
The shining head and wistful, girlish face,
Ineffable sweetness of divided lips,
Large light of clear, gray eyes, low, lucid brows,
White as a cloud, beneath pale, clustering gold.
When sunless skies uncertain twilight cast,
That makes a friend's face as an alien's strange,
Investing with a foreign mystery
The dear green fields about our very home.
Then waiting stood the gilded chariot
Before the porch, and from the vine-wreathed door,
Issued the white-veiled bride, while jocund youths
And mænads followed her with dance and song.
She came with double glory; for her lord,
Son of Apollo and Calliope,
Towered beside her, beautiful in limb
And feature, as though formed to magic strains,
Like the Bœotian city, that arose
In airy structures to Amphion's lute.
The light serene shone from his brow and eyes,
Of one whose lofty thoughts keep consonance
With the celestial music of the spheres.
His smile was fluent, and his speech outsang
The cadences of soft-stringed instruments.
He to the chariot led Eurydice,
And these twain, mounting with their paranymph,
Drove onward through the dusky twilit fields,
Preceded by the nymphs and singing youths,
And boys diffusing light and odors warm,
With flaming brands of aromatic woods,
138
And matrons bearing symbols of the life
Of careful wives, the distaff and the sieve;
And followed by the echoes of their songs,
The fragrance crushed from moist and trodden grass,
The blessing of the ever-present gods,
Whom they invoked with earnest hymns and prayer.
From Orpheus' portico, festooned with vines,
Issued a flood of rare, ambrosial light,
As though Olympian portals stood ajar,
And Hymen, radiant by his torch's flame,
Mystic with saffron vest and purple, stood
With hands munificent to greet and bless.
Ripe fruits were poured upon the married pair
Alighting, and the chariot wheels were burnt,
A token that the bride returned no more
Unto her father's house. With step resolved,
She crossed the threshold soft with flowers, secure
That his heroic soul who guided her,
Was potent and alert to grace her life,
With noble outlines and ideal hues,
Uplifting it to equal height with his.
EPITHALAMIUM. TO ZEUS.
Because thou art enthroned beyond our reach,
Behind the brightest and the farthest star,
And silence is as eloquent as speech,
To thee who knowest us for what we are,
We bring thee naught save brief and simple prayer,
Strong in its naked, frank sincerity.
Send sacred joys of marriage to this pair,
With fertile increase and prosperity.
Three nymphs had met beneath an oak that cast
Cool, dappled shadow on the glowing grass,
And liquid gleam of the translucent brook.
The air was musical with frolic sounds
Of feminine voices, and of laughter blithe.
Patines of sunshine fell like mottled gold
On the rose-white of bright bare limbs and neck,
On flowing, snowy mantles, and again
With sudden splendor on the gloriole
Of warm, rich hair. The fairest nymph reclined
Beneath the tree, and leaned her yellow head,
With its crisp, clustering rings, against the trunk,
139
And dipped her pure feet in the colorless brook,
Stirring the ripples into circles wide,
With cool, delicious plashings in the stream.
Her young companions lay upon the grass,
With indolent eyes half closed, and parted lips
Half-smiling, in the languor of the noon.
But suddenly these twain, arising, cried,
Startled and sharply, 'Lo, Eurydice,
Behold!' and she, uplifting frightened eyes,
Saw a strange shepherd watching with bold glance.
Veiling their faces with their mantles light,
Her sisters fled swift-footed, with shrill cries,
Adown the meadow, but her wet feet clung
To the dry grasses and the earthy soil.
'Eurydice, I love thee! fear me not,
For I am Aristæus, with gray groves
Of hoary olives, and innumerous flocks,
And precious swarms of yellow-vested bees.'
But she with sudden strength eluding him,
Sprang o'er the flowery turf, with back-blown hair,
And wing-like garments, shortened breath, and face
Kindled with shame and terror. In her flight
She ran through fatal flowers and tangled weeds,
And thick rank grass beside a stagnant pool,
When, with a keen and breathless cry of pain,
Abrupt she fell amidst the tall, green reeds.
Then Aristæus reached her, as a snake
Crept back in sinuous lines amidst the slime.
Desire was changed to pity, when he saw
The wounded dryad in her agony
Strive vainly to escape, repelling him
With feeble arms. 'Forgive me, nymph,' he cried;
' I will not touch, save with most reverent hands,
Thy sacred form. But let me bear thee hence,
And soothe thy bruise with healing herbs. 'Too late,
Leave me,' she sighed, 'and lead thou Orpheus here,
That I may see him ere the daylight fails.'
He left her pale with suffering, —earth seemed strange
Unto her eyes, who knew she looked her last
On level-stretching meadows, hazy hills,
And all the light and color of the sky.
Brief as a dream she saw her happy life,
140
Her father's face, her mother's blessed eyes,
The hero who, unheralded, appeared,
And all was changed,— all things put forth a voice,
As in the season of the singing birds.
She looked around revived, and saw again
The lapsing river and abiding sky.
Across the sunny fields came Aristæus,
With Orpheus following,— and after these,
Sad nymphs and heroes grave with sympathy.
Quite calm she lay, and almost wished to die
Before they reached her, if the throbbing pain
Of limb and heart could only thus be stilled.
But Orpheus hastened to her side, and mourned,
'Eurydice, Eurydice! Remain, —
For there is no delight of speech nor song
Among the dead. Will the gods jest with me,
And call this life, which must forevermore
Be but a void, a hunger, a desire,
A stretching out of empty hands to grasp
What earth nor sea nor heaven will restore?
Is this the life that I conceived and sang,
Rich with all noble opportunities
And beautiful realities?' But she:
'Brave Orpheus, search thou not the eternal gods,
Surely they love us dearer than we know.
Do thou refrain, for yet I hold my faith.
When I am gone, thou still wilt have thy lyre;
Love it and cherish,— it is Fate's best gift,
And with death's clearer vision, I can see
That in all ages men will be upraised
Nearer to gods through this than through aught else.
My death may but inspire a larger note,
A passionate cadence to thy strain, which else
Were not quite human, and thus incomplete.
And with this thought I am content to die.
Cease not to sing to me when I am gone;
Thy voice will reach me in the farthest spheres,
Or wake me out of silence. Now begin,
That I may float on those celestial waves
Into the darkness, as I oft have longed.'
ORPHEUS.
Once in a wild, bright vision, came to me
141
Beautiful music, luminous as morn,
An effluence of light and rapture born,
With eyes as full of splendor as the sea;
Dazzling as youth, with pinions frail as air,
Yet potent to uplift and soar as prayer.
Again I see her, cypress in her wreath,
Sad with all grave and tender mysteries;
Tears in her unimaginable eyes,
That look their first with wondering awe on Death.
Never again, in all the after years,
Will her lips laugh with utter mirthfulness;
Nor the strange longing in her eyes grow less,
Nor any time dispel their mist of tears.
Yea, with new numbers she completes her strain,
A song unsung before by gods or men;
But she hath lost, ah! lost for evermore,
The ringing note of joy ineffable,
The high assurance proud, that all is well,
The glad refrain that pealed from shore to shore.
O lyre, thou hast done with joyous things,
Triumphant ecstasies, exultant song;
Of subtle pain, keen anguish, hopeless wrong,
I fashion now another of thy strings,
And strike thee with a strong hand passionate,
Into a fuller music, adequate
Unto a soul that seeks insatiably,
With fond, illusive hope and faith divine;
For through all ages will my soul seek thine,
Eurydice, my lost Eurydice!
What solace to lament with empty hands
And smitten heart, above a mound of earth,
Vivid with mockery of perpetual flowers,
O'er one small urn that holds beneath its lid,
With overmeasure, all the flameless dust
And soulless ashes of our love? Yet this
Was Orpheus' life, to mourn beside the grave,
From his stringed lyre compelling wild response
And thrilling intonation of his grief,
That made the hearts of gnarled and knotty oaks
Ache as with human sympathy, and rived
The adamantine centre of the rock,
And lured the forest beasts, and hushed the birds,
142
Mavis and lark, while with wide, awful wings,
The eagle shadowed his exalted brow.
'Surely,' he cried, 'the senseless dust hears not,
More than the burnt brand hears old natural sounds
Innumerable rustle of young leaves.
It cannot be that only these remain,
The ashes of her glittering limbs, warm flesh,
And blessed hair,— my love had more than these
Where is the vital soul, that was to me
An inspiration and an influence?
The gods are not unstable like rash man,
Aimlessly to create and discreate,
With cruel and capricious fantasy,
For thus the immaculate skies would be a lie;
Eurydice is but withdrawn from me,
And disembodied, while mine eyesight blinds,
My senses are a hindrance, and obstruct
The accurate perception of my soul.
When mine own spirit, nightly disenthralled,
Soars to the land of dreams, whose boundaries,
By day, loom infinitely far and vague,
And yet, at night, become our very home,—
There still I see thee with the same bright form,
The same auroral eyes that made for me
Perpetual morning; and I stretch mine arms
Hungering after thee, and, calling, wake
Unto the vapid glare of languid dawn.
Yet all these things address my very soul,
Telling it that thou art not dead; for death
Is but the incarnation of man's fears;
Gods do not recognize it. If thou art
(As I have faith) in the known universe,
Yea, though it be in the extremest land,
Beyond the sunset, with its shining isles,
I will go forth and seek thee, nor will cease
To mourn thee and desire, till I have found.'
Thus Orpheus fared across the full-fed streams
Of Hebrus and of Strymon, and beyond
The purple outlines and aerial crags,
Snow-glittering of Scardus, Rhodope,
And grand Orbelus; through fair, fertile fields
Of Thessaly with increase of ripe corn,
143
Through Attica, Bœotia and Eubœa,
And southward to the royal-citied state,
Beautiful Corinth, throned upon the base
Of green Acrocorinthus, whose soft slope
Was dedicate with temples to the gods,
And towering over all the sacred shrine
Of Aphrodite. Upward from the town
The mountain rose defensive, where the walls
Of Corinth ended, and beyond the gates,
The radiant plain of the Corinthian Gulf
Stretched infinitely. Orpheus rested here,
Till he bethought him to ascend the mount,
With offerings at Aphrodite's shrine—
Not sanguine victims, but fresh myrtle wreath
And faultless rose—to sue the oracle
For help and guidance.
All the town was still,
The bright red band of sunrise lit the sky
Above the dark blue gulf, and Orpheus heard
A hundred birds saluting, from the brake,
Aurora, and cool rush of waterfalls.
Made murmurous music, while Athené breathed
The vigor of the morning in his soul.
Up the steep mountain side he passed, beyond
The silver growth of olives, and the belt
Of pines, to where the foam-white temple stood,
Smitten at once by all the beams of morn.
He saw the double peak, rose-white with snow
And early sunshine, of Parnassus cleave
The northern sky, and sacred Helicon
Erect its head, crowned with the Muses' grove,
The Bay of Crissa and Corinthian Gulf,
Below flashed restless, and a path of gold
Divided with clear, tremulous light the waves.
From the large beauty of the morn, he went
Into the holy limits of the shrine,
With warm air heavy with the odorous rose.
ORPHEUS.
I put into my prayer to thee, O mother,
The tumult and the passion of the ocean,
The unflecked purity of winnowed foam-wreaths;
To thee who sprang from these, the incarnation
144
Of all the huge sea holds of grace or splendor,
With its own light between thine amorous eyelids.
For I, in thy most sacred cause a pilgrim,
Have wandered tireless, from Thrace to Corinth,
'Midst foreign scenes and alien men and women.
And at my right hand Grief incessant follows,
And at my left walks Memory with the semblance
Of lost Eurydice's ethereal beauty.
Infatuate I gaze, until the vision
Thrills me to madness, and I start and tremble,
Remembering also Grief is my companion.
Onward through spacious fields, by copious waters,
Through purple growth of amaranth and crocus,
And past the marble beauty of great cities,
We three have journeyed,— strangers saw me reckless,
And knew at once that I had walked with sorrow,
And that the gods had chosen me their victim.
Are all my carols useless, worse than useless?
Shall my long pilgrimage, thus unrewarded,
End at the blank, insuperable ocean?
Hast thou no wise compassion, goddess, mother?
In all the measureless years' unfathomed chances,
Is the dear past to be repeated never?
O supreme mother! crowned with blessed poppy
As well as myrtle,— bring her here, or compass
My soul with death, that elsewhere I may seek her.
He ceased, and through the temple spread a mist
Ambrosial, and above the shrine a star
Serenely brightened, and a heavenly voice
Made sweet response: ' Love guides himself thy course
To the last sea-girt rock. No worthy soul
May ever truly seek, and fail to find.'
Still southward Orpheus journeyed, till he reached
Cape Tænarus, the last bleak point of Greece,
Desolate o'er an infinite waste of waves,
While sunset lit the western sea and sky
With yellow floods of warm, diffusive light,
Kindling his serious face and earnest eyes,
And glittering on his lyre. Long time he stood,
And gazed upon the trouble of the waves,
Expectant of a word, a sign— and still
No answer made the wild, indifferent sea.
145
Impetuous, he smote his quivering lyre
To reckless and sonorous melody,
Vibrating o'er the watery turbulence.
Then far below its western bath, the sun
Dipped and was gone, and all the sea was gray.
Still through the air rang those imploring notes,
Unutterably plaintive— till there came
From out the ocean cave of Tænarus
The shining forms of Oceanides,
With myriad faces raised supremely fair,
And myriad arms that beckoned as he sang.
Behold! a stir amidst the frothing brine,
As though upheaved by powers submarine,
In implicate confusion, wave on wave,
Then rose with windy manes and fiery eyes,
Proudly careering, the immortal steeds,
Bearing, within the shell-shaped car, the god
Of august aspect and imperial port,
With such profusion of ambrosial locks
As curl around the very front of Zeus.
He with benign regard the minstrel viewed,
Then whirling thrice his massy trident, struck
The scarpéd promontory with its fork.
And Orpheus felt the solid basis yield,
And heard the hollow rumbling, as when earth
Rocks to her centre, and high hills spit flame.
And lo! he stood before a sulphurous throne,
Set in an open space, wherefrom there streamed
Four rivers stagnant, black. Here Ades reigned,
His very presence unto mortal sense
Oppressive as low thunder in the air.
The triple-headed guardian of his realm
Crouched at his feet, and in the dismal murk,
The hideous Harpies hovered o'er his head.
The serpent-haired Eumenides stood near,
Brow-bound with sanguine fillets, and the Fates
Wielded the distaff, spindle, and sharp shears.
The air was dense with noisome influence,
And shadowy apparitions seemed to float
Athwart the dusk. But on the infernal throne
Conspicuous in beauty, by her lord,
Persephone was seated. Wonderment
146
Looked from her eyes, in seeing him, no god,
Who came before his time among the dead,
Unarmed with spear or shield, a glistening lyre
Nigh slipping from the loose grasp of his hands.
'Who comes unsummoned to my realm?' began
The baleful godhead in discordant tones,
Widely reverberant; and the low, clear voice
Of Orpheus answered: 'One who would remain,
If but the impotent body could be free
To follow the desires of the soul,—
Orpheus, an unskilled singer.' 'Birth and death
Are preordained for thee, presumptuous man.
What narrow space of time the Fates accord,
'Twould best become thee to bear worthily,
With dignity, and leave the rest to them,
The end as the beginning.' 'Plead for me,
O beautiful Persephone, — behold!
Eurydice was snatched with violent hand
From out mine eager arms, and I have sought
Her image o'er the peopled earth in vain.'
Then she: 'I may not summon her, nor hope
To swerve the haughty purpose of my lord.
With influence of thy familiar voice,
If thou canst touch her spirit, she is thine.'
But Ades: 'Who recalls the dead by prayer?
They whose calm souls are once possessed by death,
Find such a solid joy in grasping firm,
After life's phantasms, this reality,
That wisdom, grief, nor love persuadeth them
Their liberated spirits to confine
With fleshly limitations. Nathless sing,—
And prove life's glittering evanescence vain,
Outweighed by death's sublime security.'
ORPHEUS.
I render thanks, eternal gods, that ye
Empower myself to call Eurydice.
Man only can fulfill his own desire;
And if I fail, the sorrow rests with me.
Ye give what we deserve; I pray alone
Ne'er to be cursed with what I have not won.
And to whom else would I intrust my lyre,
This supreme invocation to intone?
147
But in myself I feel the love, the power,
The lyric inspiration, while the flower
Of all my life brings forth its proper fruit,
In this my loftiest, most godlike hour.
If I could make ye feel the agony
Of the strong man, O gods, condemned to see
The light fail from dear eyes, the white lips mute,
The elusive soul take flight eternally
To where we cannot follow it nor find,
With the most subtle searchings of the mind,
With the most passionate longings of the soul,
Deaf, unresponsive as the empty wind;
Then would your pity as your power be,
'Twould crown us all with immortality,
And grace us with completeness, make us whole,
Worthy to be the peers of deity.
For we are mighty now to slay and bless,
Yea, gifted with strange strength of steadfastness,
To conquer bodiless and viewless foes
Within ourselves, yet in our helplessness,
As children, in the presence of this Death,
Whom nor revolt nor patience conquereth,
Implacable, with grim mouth fastened close,
That with no hope our anguish answereth.
Resound with wildest utterance, O my lyre;
Let each note be a living flame of fire,
To reach her, to burn through her, to compel,
Strong with the infinite strength of my desire.
I am no god, yet Fate, Eurydice,
A goddess for my slave hath given me,—
Immortal Music, pure, ineffable;
And I send her, my handmaid, after thee.
If all wherein I put my faith as sure,
Be not delusions vain which death will cure;
If the sublime reliance of the soul
On her own powers be no empty lure,
Whereat the high gods laugh in bitter scorn;
If what I have achieved and what forborne,
Will lead me nearer to a worthy goal,
If all life's promises be not forsworn,—
Eurydice, appear! Before mine eyes,
O gods, I see a formless essence rise,
148
That moulds itself unto the music's beat,
Appareled in the glory of the skies.
Now, while I ring a more celestial tone,
The spirit more divinely bright hath grown,
To larger modulations, strains complete,
The white limbs from the shapeless mist are won,
As from the bosom of a summer cloud,
Wherewith a goddess would her semblance shroud.
Is this mine own creation? Is it truth,
That with warm life I have blank air endowed?
The soft cloud parts asunder,— yea, 'tis she!
Once more the face that was my star I see,
Crowned with the beauty of immortal youth,
Eurydice, my lost Eurydice!
Silent beside his silent, fallen lyre,
The singer stood, and clasped her in his arms,
Gazing upon this pale, fair face as one
Whose heart's supreme desire is satisfied.
'Is not this hour the hour I have foreseen,
Through all obstructions and infirmities
Of my mortality, and is it not
More glorious in fruition than I dreamed!
Yea, I have dreamed it all, eternal gods,
Even as now have pressed her to my heart
With the same clinging effort to retain,
And seen this breathing form, these lucent eyes
Vivid as now, instinct with life and love.
Yet have I waked to chill discouragement,
To vacant disappointment, and the sense
Of aching, unassuaged desire. O speak,
For in my dreams I never hear thy voice,
Save veiled and indistinct, a mockery
Of the old limpid music. Speak to me:
Thy flesh is warm, thy heart beats close to mine,
Thine upturned face is wet with human tears;
O speak to me,— lest I should wake again
To barren fields and empty skies of Thrace.'
Then in low, natural tones, Eurydice:
'Thy voice hath reached me in the farthest spheres,
And waked me out of silence.' 'Follow me,—
It is thyself,— if I must wake from this,
'Twill be to death or madness. Follow me,
149
From darkness palpable, to earth, to light
Of ample skies, and freshness of blown grass
And rolling waters.' 'Hold!' the jarring voice
Of Ades interposed: ''Tis excellent
The attribute we gave thee, to convert
To such a weapon as may overcome
The old hereditary foes of man,
Sleep, death, corruption, and necessity.
But to reveal thyself the peer of gods,
Not only through inspired ecstasy,
But through a continent persistency,
This never was accomplished by thy race,
And thou must yet be tried. This soul is thine,
For thou hast won her from the jaws of Hell;
Yea, she may follow thee as free as light,—
Lead thou the way and charm the hostile fiends.
Look forward ever; if thine eyes revert
But once to gaze on her, to reassure
Unworthy fears, or sate a mean desire,
Thou art not mate for us. She will dissolve
To empty air —never to be recalled.
ORPHEUS.
Back to the vital earth, O follow me,
Regained Eurydice.
To rippling well-heads and to sunlit plains,
Greened by soft wash of rains.
See orchards rosy with prolific bloom,
And vineyards' purple gloom.
Lulled by the languid flow of lilied streams,
There will I sing my dreams.
Behold! I chant a hymn of adoration,
Triumphant exultation,
For I can see, in all the universe,
No error and no curse.
The gods have naught withheld, in power and sway,
From him who will obey
Their own divine and everlasting laws.
Above the world's applause,
As vigorous as morning, he can rise,
Wrest the desired prize
From the clenched hands of Nemesis and Fate.
With victory elate,
150
I chant unmitigated prayer and praise
To gods who part our ways,
Seeing 'midst clamorous change incredible,
That all is ordered well.
In more harmonious strains, O lyre, express
My twice-born happiness;
Yea, utter and translate with larger sense
My rich experience,
That makes complete life's solemn threnody
Joy unalloyed and free,
Grief unexampled, victory at last,
When strife is overpast.
Through pathways hedged with horrors still they fared
Invulnerable. Darkness stayed them not,
Nor yet more dreadful light, revealing oft
The hideous fiends who rose on every side,
Huge shapes of ill, to gaze upon the twain.
A Greek, who, fleeing, smote a vibrant lyre,
That chimed to carols more divinely quired
Than those that fill with ravishment a grove,
Misty with moonlight, where the plain brown bird
Makes midnight vocal. Closely following him,
A woman with grave aspect, parted lips,
Upraising, in enthralléd ecstasy,
Large eyes serene, fulfilled with holier light
For having pierced beyond the boundaries
Of time and of mortality. The day
Shone through the murk at last, and filled their path
With dusky sunbeams; and far-stretching fields
Of soft, delicious green, and crystal skies,
Encouraged them; all perils past save one.
But a black, stagnant river crawled along,
Spanned by no bridge, and ferried by no sail,
With muddy tide between the day and them.
And Orpheus with enamored eyes passed on,
And saw not how the loathsome waters crept,
Nor how his magic song enchanted them
To solid substance; but he missed at once
The footsteps light that had inspired his lay.
Impetuous he turned to reassure
His fearful soul, and sate his hungry eyes;
But as he turned, the inspiration fled,
151
His lips refused to frame the fruitless words,
His eyes beheld,—O gods! Eurydice
Removed already far away from him,
By all the wide-expanded space, between
Our loftiest dream and our unworthy deed.
She gazed with no reproachful glance nor tears,
And Orpheus felt himself beneath her, fall,
Momently down from empyreal heights,
And lo! he stood within the fields of Thrace,
On earth familiar, 'neath familiar skies,
And heard a voice float through the shining air,
From unimaginable distances,
Faint as a dream, — 'Farewell, farewell, farewell.'
'Woe! woe! what lamentations may express
The fullness of my new calamity!
I, overbearing, who presumed to reach
The lordly and severe stability
Of the immortals, — whom may I invoke?
To whom may man appeal when he hath failed
Unto himself? What god will interpose
To thwart invincible necessity?
Lost, lost forever! I stood elevate,
For one brief moment dreaming I had won
The skill and power of true divinity.
Gods! with what lofty and superb disdain
Ye must look down on mine unworthy haste,—
Ye, who with grandeur of sublime repose,
And majesty of patience, still abide
Invariable through eternity!
Alas! my mighty visions were to me
Auspicious omens, and they fed my heart
With vigor and encouragement; but now,
This was no dream; for Hope, full-flushed and fair,
Born, like the freshness of auroral dew,
From unseen air, and traceless vanishing,
Consorts not with this mighty goddess, Truth,
With solemn and unfathomable eyes,
For Truth is one with Death and Destiny.
With what a depth of meaning didst thou turn,
For the last time, to me, Eurydice,
A glory 'midst the darkness, with that glance
Of infinite compassion, hands outstretched,
152
As if to save the from mine own defect.
With what humiliation and despair
I saw thee rising unattainably!—
The vault, the stream accursed had disappeared;
I was in Thrace uplooking to the sky.
O, to what harmonies I might have wed
The blessed tidings which all men await!
Now I can only make my song express
A distant echo, a suggestion vague,
Of the serene contentment of thy voice.
Sing this, my lyre, that all who hark to thee
With an attentive and a gentle ear,
May hear the promise, faint and yet assured,
Recall the grace and the deliciousness
Of immortality, and strive anew
Towards the ideal unattained by me,
Yet still accessible to stronger souls.'
Thus Orpheus, when the first wild burst of woe
Had passed; no need to seek her now;
No need to wander o'er the peopled earth.
Was he in truth a victim of the gods,
Or rather with a fairer fortune blest
Than happier men, selected for a fate
Divinely tragical, that he might know
The fullness of a life's experience,
And find expression adequate for all,
Simple as wisdom, and as dignified
As silence? From his kind he lived apart,
As one who cherishes a grief, nor seeks
Forgetfulness nor comfort; elevate
To glittering eminence by destiny,
And lonely through the privacy of woe
Beyond the reaches of man's sympathy.
Where lucid Hebrus bathes its golden sands,
He sat discoursing gracious harmonies,
Amidst the morning fields, when on his ears
Sounded with horrid dissonance the clang
Of smitten cymbals and the throb of drums.
But still the revelers remained unseen,
Till, rounding suddenly a neighboring hill,
The whole mad troop came dancing into sight.
First marched a jovial bacchanal, who bore
153
A crystal vessel, decked with branching vine,
Then youth and nymphs with ivy chapleted,
In purfled raiment of hues delicate,
With mitres, thyrsi, cymbals, drums and flutes,
Some balancing upon their graceful heads,
Regal with crisp-curled gold, their burdens light
Of baskets heaped with figs and dusky grapes.
And 'midst them all the sacrificial goat,
Adorned with berries. Thus the festal throng,
With wanton gestures, and with antic bounds,
And wild embracings, mad with wine, approached,
With peals of laughter, echoing faintly back
From jocund hill to hill, and lusty shouts
Of 'Bacché, Bacché!'
SONG.
With wassail all the night,
Celestial Bacchus, we have worshipped thee!
With riotous revel and with festal wine.
Still on the hills in early morning light,
With frolic dances and brisk jollity,
Our hymns of praise are thine.
For we have seen thee, god!
The fawn-skin slipping from thy shoulder bare,
Thy gestures lithe and loose, thine eyes that shine,
Thy rosy hands that waved a clustered rod
Of uncrushed grapes, and thine ambrosial hair,
Dripping with myrrh and wine.
Thou art not strict, severe,
Like loftier gods and ruthless goddesses,
Implacable like Pallas, Zeus, or Truth;
But to humanity akin and near,
Eager for folly, and the luxuries
Of lustful health and youth.
This crystal-vialed balm,
Divinely brewed, soothing as Lethe's streams,
Is the most generous gift of Deity,
Informing us with soft oblivion calm
Of Death and Fate, with joys beyond the dreams
Of grave sobriety.
Come, let us drink again.
Resound, O timbrels, and thou bird-voiced flute;
Thyrsus and pipes make shrill and dear acclaim,
154
To Bacchus, who impurples hill and plain
With vineyards bursting with increase of fruit,
Subtle as liquid flame.
Œoë! quaff and sing!
Who drinks no more, offends the deity
Of Bacchus! lo on Hebrus' grassy brink,
A minstrel sits, with gold lute glistening,
Marring our rites with stern solemnity,
Who doth not chant nor drink.
Ho! Orpheus, laugh again,
From mirthful heart, and join our happy throng;
Cease to lament with unappeased desire.
We bring a cordial for all grief and pain.
Add to the choral strain thy siren song,
And thine enchanted lyre.
For Fate hath answered thee
With cold derision; Death respondeth not.
Here is a god who soothes tire soul and sense
With sweet nepenthe,—thy Eurydice
Thou wilt not lure to earthly grove nor grot
With suasive eloquence.
Here, nymphs no whit less fair
Are waiting thee, with warm, caressing arms
And loving eyes, lips fit for gods to kiss,
And rosy shoulders, dimpling white and bare,—
Pliant and graceful, with innumerous Charms,
To sate thy heart with bliss.
ORPHEUS.
Hence, thou ignoble throng!
Dare ye profane the splendid purity,
The high nobility of morn, with rites
Lewd and disgusting, and delirious song,
Completing in dear sunshine, shamelessly,
Rude orgies of wild nights?
BACCHANTES.
Ha! he insults the god,
With his presumptuous and impious scorn.
Avenge, O bacchanals, the cause divine;
Compel him with the sacred cup and rod,
To quaff his salutation to the morn,
In frothing, Massic wine!
ORPHEUS.
155
Mad bacchanals, begone!
I honor all the gods and Nemesis.
They favor not such frantic revelry,
But blameless lives, and deeds most like their own,
The service of a patient heart submiss,
And staunch integrity.
Behold the morning hills,
Sky-kissed Libethra, delicate as air;
The fragile grasses gray with wreaths of dew.
Hark to the tumbling of the mountain rills
To Eos and Athene your first prayer
And sacrifice are due.
BACCHANTES.
With shameless blasphemy,
He dares proscribe, O god, thy rank and fame.
Enough! enough! he hath despised us long,
Bewailing his beloved Eurydice.
O nymphs, avenge yourselves in Liber's name,
Slay him 'midst dance and song.
Your deadly javelins fling
With flinty missiles at the singer proud,
Who deems himself an equal of the gods,
Because he hath the skill to pipe and sing,
With facile fluency of speech endowed.
Smite him with spears and rods.
ORPHEUS.
Ring forth, my lyre, again,—
With magic harmonies my doom avert,
In tones as plaintive and as rich as life.
BACCHANTES.
Our stones and javelins we have hurled in vain;
His lyre enchants them, he remains unhurt,
'Midst all the wrath and strife.
Toss the loud tambourine,
Its tight-drawn skin with noisy fingers smite;
Clash ye the cymbals, sing with fatal art;
Cast ye his sundered limbs the stream within,—
They irritate us, soft and bare and white;
Rend them, O nymphs, apart.
ORPHEUS.
Sweet Death, deliver me
Out of the reach of envy, lust, and hate;
156
Enfold me in thy large-embracing arms.
BACCHANTES.
Ah! will he now invoke Eurydice,
Madly resisting his allotted fate
With vile, unhallowed charms?
So with a clamorous swell
Of drums and timbrels, we o'erpower the breath
Of dulcet and persuasive melody.
ORPHEUS.
The maniacs conquer! O my lyre, farewell!
Approach, thou beautiful and welcome Death,
With lost Eurydice.
~ Emma Lazarus,
121:Is it the same Sordello in the dusk
As at the dawn?merely a perished husk
Now, that arose a power fit to build
Up Rome again? The proud conception chilled
So soon? Ay, watch that latest dream of thine
A Rome indebted to no Palatine
Drop arch by arch, Sordello! Art possessed
Of thy wish now, rewarded for thy quest
To-day among Ferrara's squalid sons?
Are this and this and this the shining ones
Meet for the Shining City? Sooth to say,
Your favoured tenantry pursue their way
After a fashion! This companion slips
On the smooth causey, t' other blinkard trips
At his mooned sandal. "Leave to lead the brawls
"Here i' the atria?" No, friend! He that sprawls
On aught but a stibadium . . . what his dues
Who puts the lustral vase to such an use?
Oh, huddle up the day's disasters! March,
Ye runagates, and drop thou, arch by arch,
Rome!
   Yet before they quite disbanda whim
Study mere shelter, now, for him, and him,
Nay, even the worst,just house them! Any cave
Suffices: throw out earth! A loophole? Brave!
They ask to feel the sun shine, see the grass
Grow, hear the larks sing? Dead art thou, alas,
And I am dead! But here's our son excels
At hurdle-weaving any Scythian, fells
Oak and devises rafters, dreams and shapes
His dream into a door-post, just escapes
The mystery of hinges. Lie we both
Perdue another age. The goodly growth
Of brick and stone! Our building-pelt was rough,
But that descendant's garb suits well enough
A portico-contriver. Speed the years
What 's time to us? At last, a city rears
Itself! nay, enterwhat's the grave to us?
Lo, our forlorn acquaintance carry thus
The head! Successively sewer, forum, cirque
Last age, an aqueduct was counted work,
But now they tire the artificer upon
Blank alabaster, black obsidion,
Careful, Jove's face be duly fulgurant,
And mother Venus' kiss-creased nipples pant
Back into pristine pulpiness, ere fixed
Above the baths. What difference betwixt
This Rome and oursresemblance what, between
That scurvy dumb-show and this pageant sheen
These Romans and our rabble? Use thy wit!
The work marched: step by step,a workman fit
Took each, nor too fit,to one task, one time,
No leaping o'er the petty to the prime,
When just the substituting osier lithe
For brittle bulrush, sound wood for soft withe,
To further loam-and-roughcast-work a stage,
Exacts an architect, exacts an age:
No tables of the Mauritanian tree
For men whose maple log 's their luxury!
That way was Rome built. "Better" (say you) "merge
"At once all workmen in the demiurge,
"All epochs in a lifetime, every task
"In one!" So should the sudden city bask
I' the daywhile those we 'd feast there, want the knack
Of keeping fresh-chalked gowns from speck and brack,
Distinguish not rare peacock from vile swan,
Nor Mareotic juice from Ccuban.
"Enough of Rome! 'T was happy to conceive
"Rome on a sudden, nor shall fate bereave
"Me of that credit: for the rest, her spite
"Is an old storyserves my folly right
"By adding yet another to the dull
"List of abortionsthings proved beautiful
"Could they be done, Sordello cannot do."
He sat upon the terrace, plucked and threw
The powdery aloe-cusps away, saw shift
Rome's walls, and drop arch after arch, and drift
Mist-like afar those pillars of all stripe,
Mounds of all majesty. "Thou archetype,
"Last of my dreams and loveliest, depart!"
And then a low voice wound into his heart:
"Sordello!" (low as some old Pythoness
Conceding to a Lydian King's distress
The cause of his long errorone mistake
Of her past oracle) "Sordello, wake!
"God has conceded two sights to a man
"One, of men's whole work, time's completed plan,
"The other, of the minute's work, man's first
"Step to the plan's completeness: what's dispersed
"Save hope of that supreme step which, descried
"Earliest, was meant still to remain untried
"Only to give you heart to take your own
"Step, and there stay, leaving the rest alone?
"Where is the vanity? Why count as one
"The first step, with the last step? What is gone
"Except Rome's ary magnificence,
"That last step you 'd take first?an evidence
"You were God: be man now! Let those glances fall!
"The basis, the beginning step of all,
"Which proves you just a manis that gone too?
"Pity to disconcert one versed as you
"In fate's ill-nature! but its full extent
"Eludes Sordello, even: the veil rent,
"Read the black writingthat collective man
"Outstrips the individual. Who began
"The acknowledged greatnesses? Ay, your own art
"Shall serve us: put the poet's mimes apart
"Close with the poet's self, and lo, a dim
"Yet too plain form divides itself from him!
"Alcamo's song enmeshes the lulled Isle,
"Woven into the echoes left erewhile
"By Nina, one soft web of song: no more
"Turning his name, then, flower-like o'er and o'er!
"An elder poet in the younger's place;
"Nina's the strength, but Alcamo's the grace:
"Each neutralizes each then! Search your fill;
"You get no whole and perfect Poetstill
"New Ninas, Alcamos, till time's mid-night
"Shrouds allor better say, the shutting light
"Of a forgotten yesterday. Dissect
"Every ideal workman(to reject
"In favour of your fearful ignorance
"The thousand phantasms eager to advance,
"And point you but to those within your reach)
"Were you the first who brought(in modern speech)
"The Multitude to be materialized?
"That loose eternal unrestwho devised
"An apparition i' the midst? The rout
"Was checked, a breathless ring was formed about
"That sudden flower: get round at any risk
"The gold-rough pointel, silver-blazing disk
"O' the lily! Swords across it! Reign thy reign
"And serve thy frolic service, Charlemagne!
"The very child of over-joyousness,
"Unfeeling thence, strong therefore: Strength by stress
"Of Strength comes of that forehead confident,
"Those widened eyes expecting heart's content,
"A calm as out of just-quelled noise; nor swerves
"For doubt, the ample cheek in gracious curves
"Abutting on the upthrust nether lip:
"He wills, how should he doubt then? Ages slip:
"Was it Sordello pried into the work
"So far accomplished, and discovered lurk
"A company amid the other clans,
"Only distinct in priests for castellans
"And popes for suzerains (their rule confessed
"Its rule, their interest its interest,
"Living for sake of livingthere an end,
"Wrapt in itself, no energy to spend
"In making adversaries or allies)
"Dived you into its capabilities
"And dared create, out of that sect, a soul
"Should turn a multitude, already whole,
"Into its body? Speak plainer! Is 't so sure
"God's church lives by a King's investiture?
"Look to last step! A staggeringa shock
"What 's mere sand is demolished, while the rock
"Endures: a column of black fiery dust
"Blots heaventhat help was prematurely thrust
"Aside, perchance!but air clears, nought 's erased
"Of the true outline. Thus much being firm based,
"The other was a scaffold. See him stand
"Buttressed upon his mattock, Hildebrand
"Of the huge brain-mask welded ply o'er ply
"As in a forge; it buries either eye
"White and extinct, that stupid brow; teeth clenched,
"The neck tight-corded, too, the chin deep-trenched,
"As if a cloud enveloped him while fought
"Under its shade, grim prizers, thought with thought
"At dead-lock, agonizing he, until
"The victor thought leap radiant up, and Will,
"The slave with folded arms and drooping lids
"They fought for, lean forth flame-like as it bids.
"Call him no flowera mandrake of the earth,
"Thwarted and dwarfed and blasted in its birth,
"Rather,a fruit of suffering's excess,
"Thence feeling, therefore stronger: still by stress
"Of Strength, work Knowledge! Full three hundred years
"Have men to wear away in smiles and tears
"Between the two that nearly seemed to touch,
"Observe you! quit one workman and you clutch
"Another, letting both their trains go by
"The actors-out of either's policy,
"Heinrich, on this hand, Otho, Barbaross,
"Carry the three Imperial crowns across,
"Aix' Iron, Milan's Silver, and Rome's Gold
"While Alexander, Innocent uphold
"On that, each Papal keybut, link on link,
"Why is it neither chain betrays a chink?
"How coalesce the small and great? Alack,
"For one thrust forward, fifty such fall back!
"Do the popes coupled there help Gregory
"Alone? Harkfrom the hermit Peter's cry
"At Claremont, down to the first serf that says
"Friedrich 's no liege of his while he delays
"Getting the Pope's curse off him! The Crusade
"Or trick of breeding Strength by other aid
"Than Strength, is safe. Harkfrom the wild harangue
"Of Vimmercato, to the carroch's clang
"Yonder! The Leagueor trick of turning Strength
"Against Pernicious Strength, is safe at length.
"Yet harkfrom Mantuan Albert making cease
"The fierce ones, to Saint Francis preaching peace
"Yonder! God's Truceor trick to supersede
"The very Use of Strength, is safe. Indeed
"We trench upon the future. Who is found
"To take next step, next agetrail o'er the ground
"Shall I say, gourd-like?not the flower's display
"Nor the root's prowess, but the plenteous way
"O' the plantproduced by joy and sorrow, whence
"Unfeeling and yet feeling, strongest thence?
"Knowledge by stress of merely Knowledge? No
"E'en were Sordello ready to forego
"His life for this, 't were overleaping work
"Some one has first to do, howe'er it irk,
"Nor stray a foot's breadth from the beaten road.
"Who means to help must still support the load
"Hildebrand lifted'why hast Thou,' he groaned,
"`Imposed on me a burthen, Paul had moaned,
"'And Moses dropped beneath?' Much doneand yet
"Doubtless that grandest task God ever set
"On man, left much to do: at his arm's wrench,
"Charlemagne's scaffold fell; but pillars blench
"Merely, start back againperchance have been
"Taken for buttresses: crash every screen,
"Hammer the tenons better, and engage
"A gang about your work, for the next age
"Or two, of Knowledge, part by Strength and part
"By Knowledge! Then, indeed, perchance may start
"Sordello on his racewould time divulge
"Such secrets! If one step's awry, one bulge
"Calls for correction by a step we thought
"Got over long since, why, till that is wrought,
"No progress! And the scaffold in its turn
"Becomes, its service o'er, a thing to spurn.
"Meanwhile, if your half-dozen years of life
"In store dispose you to forego the strife,
"Who takes exception? Only bear in mind
"Ferrara 's reached, Goito 's left behind:
"As you then were, as half yourself, desist!
"The warrior-part of you may, an it list,
"Finding real faulchions difficult to poise,
"Fling them afar and taste the cream of joys
"By wielding such in fancy,what is bard
"Of you may spurn the vehicle that marred
"Elys so much, and in free fancy glut
"His sense, yet write no versesyou have but
"To please yourself for law, and once could please
"What once appeared yourself, by dreaming these
"Rather than doing these, in days gone by.
"But all is changed the moment you descry
"Mankind as half yourself,then, fancy's trade
"Ends once and always: how may half evade
"The other half? men are found half of you.
"Out of a thousand helps, just one or two
"Can be accomplished presently: but flinch
"From these (as from the faulchion, raised an inch,
"Elys, described a couplet) and make proof
"Of fancy,then, while one half lolls aloof
"I' the vines, completing Rome to the tip-top
"See if, for that, your other half will stop
"A tear, begin a smile! The rabble's woes,
"Ludicrous in their patience as they chose
"To sit about their town and quietly
"Be slaughtered,the poor reckless soldiery,
"With their ignoble rhymes on Richard, how
"'Polt-foot,' sang they, 'was in a pitfall now,'
"Cheering each other from the engine-mounts,
"That crippled spawling idiot who recounts
"How, lopped of limbs, he lay, stupid as stone,
"Till the pains crept from out him one by one,
"And wriggles round the archers on his head
"To earn a morsel of their chestnut bread,
"And Cino, always in the self-same place
"Weeping; beside that other wretch's case,
"Eyepits to ear, one gangrene since he plied
"The engine in his coat of raw sheep's hide
"A double watch in the noon sun; and see
"Lucchino, beauty, with the favours free,
"Trim hacqueton, spruce beard and scented hair,
"Campaigning it for the first timecut there
"In two already, boy enough to crawl
"For latter orpine round the southern wall,
"Tom, where Richard 's kept, because that ****
"Marfisa, the fool never saw before,
"Sickened for flowers this wearisomest siege:
"And Tiso's wifemen liked their pretty liege,
"Cared for her least of whims once,Berta, wed
"A twelvemonth gone, and, now poor Tiso's dead,
"Delivering herself of his first child
"On that chance heap of wet filth, reconciled
"To fifty gazers!"(Here a wind below
Made moody music augural of woe
From the pine barrier)"What if, now the scene
"Draws to a close, yourself have really been
"You, plucking purples in Goito's moss
"Like edges of a trabea (not to cross
"Your consul-humour) or dry aloe-shafts
"For fasces, at Ferrarahe, fate wafts,
"This very age, her whole inheritance
`Of opportunities? Yet you advance
"Upon the last! Since talking is your trade,
"There 's Salinguerra left you to persuade:
"Fail! then"
       "Nonowhich latest chance secure!"
Leaped up and cried Sordello: "this made sure,
"The past were yet redeemable; its work
"Washelp the Guelfs, whom I, howe'er it irk,
"Thus help!" He shook the foolish aloe-haulm
Out of his doublet, paused, proceeded calm
To the appointed presence. The large head
Turned on its socket; "And your spokesman," said
The large voice, "is Elcorte's happy sprout?
"Few such"(so finishing a speech no doubt
Addressed to Palma, silent at his side)
"My sober councils have diversified.
"Elcorte's son! good: forward as you may,
"Our lady's minstrel with so much to say!"
The hesitating sunset floated back,
Rosily traversed in the wonted track
The chamber, from the lattice o'er the girth
Of pines, to the huge eagle blacked in earth
Opposite,outlined sudden, spur to crest,
That solid Salinguerra, and caressed
Palma's contour; 't was day looped back night's pall;
Sordello had a chance left spite of all.
And much he made of the convincing speech
Meant to compensate for the past and reach
Through his youth's daybreak of unprofit, quite
To his noon's labour, so proceed till night
Leisurely! The great argument to bind
Taurello with the Guelf Cause, body and mind,
Came the consummate rhetoric to that?
Yet most Sordello's argument dropped flat
Through his accustomed fault of breaking yoke,
Disjoining him who felt from him who spoke.
Was 't not a touching incidentso prompt
A rendering the world its just accompt,
Once proved its debtor? Who 'd suppose, before
This proof, that he, Goito's god of yore,
At duty's instance could demean himself
So memorably, dwindle to a Guelf?
Be sure, in such delicious flattery steeped,
His inmost self at the out-portion peeped,
Thus occupied; then stole a glance at those
Appealed to, curious if her colour rose
Or his lip moved, while he discreetly urged
The need of Lombardy becoming purged
At soonest of her barons; the poor part
Abandoned thus, missing the blood at heart
And spirit in brain, unseasonably off
Elsewhere! But, though his speech was worthy scoff,
Good-humoured Salinguerra, famed for tact
And tongue, who, careless of his phrase, ne'er lacked
The right phrase, and harangued Honorius dumb
At his accession,looked as all fell plumb
To purpose and himself found interest
In every point his new instructor pressed
Left playing with the rescript's white wax seal
To scrutinize Sordello head and heel.
He means to yield assent sure? No, alas!
All he replied was, "What, it comes to pass
"That poesy, sooner than politics,
"Makes fade young hair?" To think such speech could fix
Taurello!
     Then a flash of bitter truth:
So fantasies could break and fritter youth
That he had long ago lost earnestness,
Lost will to work, lost power to even express
The need of working! Earth was turned a grave:
No more occasions now, though he should crave
Just one, in right of superhuman toil,
To do what was undone, repair such spoil,
Alter the pastnothing would give the chance!
Not that he was to die; he saw askance
Protract the ignominious years beyond
To dream intime to hope and time despond,
Remember and forget, be sad, rejoice
As saved a trouble; he might, at his choice,
One way or other, idle life out, drop
No few smooth verses by the wayfor prop,
A thyrsus, these sad people, all the same,
Should pick up, and set store by,far from blame,
Plant o'er his hearse, convinced his better part
Survived him. "Rather tear men out the heart
"O' the truth!"Sordello muttered, and renewed
His propositions for the Multitude.
But Salinguerra, who at this attack
Had thrown great breast and ruffling corslet back
To hear the better, smilingly resumed
His task; beneath, the carroch's warning boomed;
He must decide with Tito; courteously
He turned then, even seeming to agree
With his admonisher"Assist the Pope,
"Extend Guelf domination, fill the scope
"O' the Church, thus based on All, by All, for All
"Change Secular to Evangelical"
Echoing his very sentence: all seemed lost,
When suddenly he looked up, laughingly almost,
To Palma: "This opinion of your friend's
"For instance, would it answer Palma's ends?
"Best, were it not, turn Guelf, submit our Strength"
(Here he drew out his baldric to its length)
"To the Pope's Knowledgelet our captive slip,
"Wide to the walls throw ope our gates, equip
"Azzo with . . . what I hold here! Who 'll subscribe
"To a trite censure of the minstrel tribe
"Henceforward? or pronounce, as Heinrich used,
"'Spear-heads for battle, burr-heads for the joust!'
"When Constance, for his couplets, would promote
"Alcamo, from a parti-coloured coat,
"To holding her lord's stirrup in the wars.
"Not that I see where couplet-making jars
"With common sense: at Mantua I had borne
"This chanted, better than their most forlorn
"Of bull-baits,that 's indisputable!"
                     Brave!
Whom vanity nigh slew, contempt shall save!
All 's at an end: a Troubadour suppose
Mankind will class him with their friends or foes?
A puny uncouth ailing vassal think
The world and him bound in some special link?
Abrupt the visionary tether burst.
What were rewarded here, or what amerced
If a poor drudge, solicitous to dream
Deservingly, got tangled by his theme
So far as to conceit the knack or gift
Or whatsoe'er it be, of verse, might lift
The globe, a lever like the hand and head
Of"Men of Action," as the Jongleurs said,
"The Great Men," in the people's dialect?
And not a moment did this scorn affect
Sordello: scorn the poet? They, for once,
Asking "what was," obtained a full response.
Bid Naddo think at Mantuahe had but
To look into his promptuary, put
Finger on a set thought in a set speech:
But was Sordello fitted thus for each
Conjecture? Nowise; since within his soul,
Perception brooded unexpressed and whole.
A healthy spirit like a healthy frame
Craves aliment in plentyall the same,
Changes, assimilates its aliment.
Perceived Sordello, on a truth intent?
Next day no formularies more you saw
Than figs or olives in a sated maw.
'T is Knowledge, whither such perceptions tend;
They lose themselves in that, means to an end,
The many old producing some one new,
A last unlike the first. If lies are true,
The Caliph's wheel-work man of brass receives
A meal, munched millet grains and lettuce leaves
Together in his stomach rattle loose;
You find them perfect next day to produce:
But ne'er expect the man, on strength of that,
Can roll an iron camel-collar flat
Like Haroun's self! I tell you, what was stored
Bit by bit through Sordello's life, outpoured
That eve, was, for that age, a novel thing:
And round those three the People formed a ring,
Of visionary judges whose award
He recognised in fullfaces that barred
Henceforth return to the old careless life,
In whose great presence, therefore, his first strife
For their sake must not be ignobly fought;
All these, for once, approved of him, he thought,
Suspended their own vengeance, chose await
The issue of this strife to reinstate
Them in the right of taking itin fact
He must be proved king ere they could exact
Vengeance for such king's defalcation. Last,
A reason why the phrases flowed so fast
Was in his quite forgetting for a time
Himself in his amazement that the rhyme
Disguised the royalty so much: he there
And Salinguerra yet all-unaware
Who was the lord, who liegeman!
                 "Thus I lay
"On thine my spirit and compel obey
"His lord,my liegeman,impotent to build
"Another Rome, but hardly so unskilled
"In what such builder should have been, as brook
"One shame beyond the charge that I forsook
"His function! Free me from that shame, I bend
"A brow before, suppose new years to spend,
"Allow each chance, nor fruitlessly, recur
"Measure thee with the Minstrel, then, demur
"At any crowd he claims! That I must cede
"Shamed now, my right to my especial meed
"Confess thee fitter help the world than I
"Ordained its champion from eternity,
"Is much: but to behold thee scorn the post
"I quit in thy behalfto hear thee boast
"What makes my own despair!" And while he rung
The changes on this theme, the roof up-sprung,
The sad walls of the presence-chamber died
Into the distance, or embowering vied
With far-away Goito's vine-frontier;
And crowds of faces(only keeping clear
The rose-light in the midst, his vantage-ground
To fight their battle from)deep clustered round
Sordello, with good wishes no mere breath,
Kind prayers for him no vapour, since, come death
Come life, he was fresh-sinewed every joint,
Each bone new-marrowed as whom gods anoint
Though mortal to their rescue. Now let sprawl
The snaky volumes hither! Is Typhon all
For Hercules to tramplegood report
From Salinguerra only to extort?
"So was I" (closed he his inculcating
A poet must be earth's essential king)
"So was I, royal so, and if I fail,
"'T is not the royalty, ye witness quail,
"But one deposed who, caring not exert
"Its proper essence, trifled malapert
"With accidents insteadgood things assigned
"As heralds of a better thing behind
"And, worthy through display of these, put forth
"Never the inmost all-surpassing worth
"That constitutes him king precisely since
"As yet no other spirit may evince
"Its like: the power he took most pride to test,
"Whereby all forms of life had been professed
"At pleasure, forms already on the earth,
"Was but a means to power beyond, whose birth
"Should, in its novelty, be kingship's proof.
"Now, whether he came near or kept aloof
"The several forms he longed to imitate,
"Not there the kingship lay, he sees too late.
"Those forms, unalterable first as last,
"Proved him her copier, not the protoplast
"Of nature: what would come of being free,
"By action to exhibit tree for tree,
"Bird, beast, for beast and bird, or prove earth bore
"One veritable man or woman more?
"Means to an end, such proofs are: what the end?
"Let essence, whatsoe'er it be, extend
"Never contract. Already you include
"The multitude; then let the multitude
"Include yourself; and the result were new:
"Themselves before, the multitude turn you.
"This were to live and move and have, in them,
"Your being, and secure a diadem
"You should transmit (because no cycle yearns
"Beyond itself, but on itself returns)
"When, the full sphere in wane, the world o'erlaid
"Long since with you, shall have in turn obeyed
"Some orb still prouder, some displayer, still
"More potent than the last, of human will,
"And some new king depose the old. Of such
"Am Iwhom pride of this elates too much?
"Safe, rather say, 'mid troops of peers again;
"I, with my words, hailed brother of the train
"Deeds once sufficed: for, let the world roll back,
"Who fails, through deeds howe'er diverse, retrack
"My purpose still, my task? A teeming crust
"Air, flame, earth, wave at conflict! Then, needs must
"Emerge some Calm embodied, these refer
"The brawl toyellow-bearded Jupiter?
"No! Saturn; some existence like a pact
"And protest against Chaos, some first fact
"I' the faint of time. My deep of life, I know
"Is unavailing e'en to poorly show" . . .
(For here the Chief immeasurably yawned)
. . . "Deeds in their due gradation till Song dawned
"The fullest effluence of the finest mind,
"All in degree, no way diverse in kind
"From minds about it, minds which, more or less,
"Lofty or low, move seeking to impress
"Themselves on somewhat; but one mind has climbed
"Step after step, by just ascent sublimed.
"Thought is the soul of act, and, stage by stage,
"Soul is from body still to disengage
"As tending to a freedom which rejects
"Such help and incorporeally affects
"The world, producing deeds but not by deeds,
"Swaying, in others, frames itself exceeds,
"Assigning them the simpler tasks it used
"To patiently perform till Song produced
"Acts, by thoughts only, for the mind: divest
"Mind of e'en Thought, and, lo, God's unexpressed
"Will draws above us! All then is to win
"Save that. How much for me, then? where begin
"My work? About me, faces! and they flock,
"The earnest faces. What shall I unlock
"By song? behold me prompt, whate'er it be,
"To minister: how much can mortals see
"Of Life? No more than so? I take the task
"And marshal you Life's elemental masque,
"Show Men, on evil or on good lay stress,
"This light, this shade make prominent, suppress
"All ordinary hues that softening blend
"Such natures with the level. Apprehend
"Which sinner is, which saint, if I allot
"Hell, Purgatory, Heaven, a blaze or blot,
"To those you doubt concerning! I enwomb
"Some wretched Friedrich with his red-hot tomb;
"Some dubious spirit, Lombard Agilulph
"With the black chastening river I engulph!
"Some unapproached Matilda I enshrine
"With languors of the planet of decline
"These, fail to recognize, to arbitrate
"Between henceforth, to rightly estimate
"Thus marshalled in the masque! Myself, the while,
"As one of you, am witness, shrink or smile
"At my own showing! Next agewhat 's to do?
"The men and women stationed hitherto
"Will I unstation, good and bad, conduct
"Each nature to its farthest, or obstruct
"At soonest, in the world: light, thwarted, breaks
"A limpid purity to rainbow flakes,
"Or shadow, massed, freezes to gloom: behold
"How such, with fit assistance to unfold,
"Or obstacles to crush them, disengage
"Their forms, love, hate, hope, fear, peace make, war wage,
"In presence of you all! Myself, implied
"Superior now, as, by the platform's side,
"I bade them do and suffer,would last content
"The world . . . nothat 's too far! I circumvent
"A few, my masque contented, and to these
"Offer unveil the last of mysteries
"Man's inmost life shall have yet freer play:
"Once more I cast external things away,
"And natures composite, so decompose
"That" . . . Why, he writes Sordello!
                    "How I rose,
"And how have you advanced! since evermore
"Yourselves effect what I was fain before
"Effect, what I supplied yourselves suggest,
"What I leave bare yourselves can now invest.
"How we attain to talk as brothers talk,
"In half-words, call things by half-names, no balk
"From discontinuing old aids. To-day
"Takes in account the work of Yesterday:
"Has not the world a Past now, its adept
"Consults ere he dispense with or accept
"New aids? a single touch more may enhance,
"A touch less turn to insignificance
"Those structures' symmetry the past has strewed
"The world with, once so bare. Leave the mere rude
"Explicit details! 't is but brother's speech
"We need, speech where an accent's change gives each
"The other's soulno speech to understand
"By former audience: need was then to expand,
"Expatiatehardly were we brothers! true
"Nor I lament my small remove from you,
"Nor reconstruct what stands already. Ends
"Accomplished turn to means: my art intends
"New structure from the ancient: as they changed
"The spoils of every clime at Venice, ranged
"The horned and snouted Libyan god, upright
"As in his desert, by some simple bright
"Clay cinerary pitcherThebes as Rome,
"Athens as Byzant rifled, till their Dome
"From earth's reputed consummations razed
"A seal, the all-transmuting Triad blazed
"Above. Ah, whose that fortune? Ne'ertheless
"E'en he must stoop contented to express
"No tithe of what 's to saythe vehicle
"Never sufficient: but his work is still
"For faces like the faces that select
"The single service I am bound effect,
"That bid me cast aside such fancies, bow
"Taurello to the Guelf cause, disallow
"The Kaiser's comingwhich with heart, soul, strength,
"I labour for, this eve, who feel at length
"My past career's outrageous vanity,
"And would, as its amends, die, even die
"Now I first estimate the boon of life,
"If death might win compliancesure, this strife
"Is right for oncethe People my support."
My poor Sordello! what may we extort
By this, I wonder? Palma's lighted eyes
Turned to Taurello who, long past surprise,
Began, "You love himwhat you 'd say at large
"Let me say briefly. First, your father's charge
"To me, his friend, peruse: I guessed indeed
"You were no stranger to the course decreed.
"He bids me leave his children to the saints:
"As for a certain project, he acquaints
"The Pope with that, and offers him the best
"Of your possessions to permit the rest
"Go peaceablyto Ecelin, a stripe
"Of soil the cursed Vicentines will gripe,
"To Alberic, a patch the Trevisan
"Clutches already; extricate, who can,
"Treville, Villarazzi, Puissolo,
"Loria and Cartiglione!all must go,
"And with them go my hopes. 'T is lost, then! Lost
"This eve, our crisis, and some pains it cost
"Procuring; thirty yearsas good I'd spent
"Like our admonisher! But each his bent
"Pursues: no question, one might live absurd
"Oneself this while, by deed as he by word
"Persisting to obtrude an influence where
"'T is made account of, much as . . . nay, you fare
"With twice the fortune, youngster!I submit,
"Happy to parallel my waste of wit
"With the renowned Sordello's: you decide
"A course for me. Romano may abide
"Romano,Bacchus! After all, what dearth
"Of Ecelins and Alberics on earth?
"Say there 's a prize in prospect, must disgrace
"Betide competitors, unless they style
"Themselves Romano? Were it worth my while
"To try my own luck! But an obscure place
"Suits methere wants a youth to bustle, stalk
"And attitudinizesome fight, more talk,
"Most flaunting badgeshow, I might make clear
"Since Friedrich's very purposes lie here
"Here, pity they are like to lie! For me,
"With station fixed unceremoniously
"Long since, small use contesting; I am but
"The liegemanyou are born the lieges: shut
"That gentle mouth now! or resume your kin
"In your sweet self; were Palma Ecelin
"For me to work with! Could that neck endure
"This bauble for a cumbrous garniture,
"She should . . . or might one bear it for her? Stay
"I have not been so flattered many a day
"As by your pale friendBacchus! The least help
"Would lick the hind's fawn to a lion's whelp:
"His neck is broad enougha ready tongue
"Beside: too writhledbut, the main thing, young
"I could . . . why, look ye!"
               And the badge was thrown
Across Sordello's neck: "This badge alone
"Makes you Romano's Headbecomes superb
"On your bare neck, which would, on mine, disturb
"The pauldron," said Taurello. A mad act,
Nor even dreamed about beforein fact,
Not when his sportive arm rose for the nonce
But he had dallied overmuch, this once,
With power: the thing was done, and he, aware
The thing was done, proceeded to declare
(So like a nature made to serve, excel
In serving, only feel by service well!)
That he would make Sordello that and more.
"As good a scheme as any. What 's to pore
"At in my face?" he asked"ponder instead
"This piece of news; you are Romano's Head!
"One cannot slacken pace so near the goal,
"Suffer my Azzo to escape heart-whole
"This time! For you there 's Palma to espouse
"For me, one crowning trouble ere I house
"Like my compeer."
         On which ensued a strange
And solemn visitation; there came change
O'er every one of them; each looked on each:
Up in the midst a truth grew, without speech.
And when the giddiness sank and the haze
Subsided, they were sitting, no amaze,
Sordello with the baldric on, his sire
Silent, though his proportions seemed aspire
Momently; and, interpreting the thrill,
Night at its ebb,Palma was found there still
Relating somewhat Adelaide confessed
A year ago, while dying on her breast,
Of a contrivance, that Vicenza night
When Ecelin had birth. "Their convoy's flight,
"Cut off a moment, coiled inside the flame
"That wallowed like a dragon at his game
"The toppling city throughSan Biagio rocks!
"And wounded lies in her delicious locks
"Retrude, the frail mother, on her face,
"None of her wasted, just in one embrace
"Covering her child: when, as they lifted her,
"Cleaving the tumult, mighty, mightier
"And mightiest Taurello's cry outbroke,
"Leapt like a tongue of fire that cleaves the smoke,
"Midmost to cheer his Mantuans onwarddrown
"His colleague Ecelin's clamour, up and down
"The disarray: failed Adelaide see then
"Who was the natural chief, the man of men?
"Outstripping time, her infant there burst swathe,
"Stood up with eyes haggard beyond the scathe
"From wandering after his heritage
"Lost once and lost for aye: and why that rage,
"That deprecating glance? A new shape leant
"On a familiar shapegloatingly bent
"O'er his discomfiture; 'mid wreaths it wore,
"Still one outflamed the resther child's before
"'T was Salinguerra's for his child: scorn, hate,
"Rage now might startle her when all too late!
"Then was the moment!rival's foot had spurned
"Never that House to earth else! Sense returned
"The act conceived, adventured and complete,
"They bore away to an obscure retreat
"Mother and childRetrude's self not slain"
(Nor even here Taurello moved) "though pain
"Was fled; and what assured them most 't was fled,
"All pain, was, if they raised the pale hushed head
"'T would turn this way and that, waver awhile,
"And only settle into its old smile
"(Graceful as the disquieted water-flag
"Steadying itself, remarked they, in the quag
"On either side their path)when suffered look
"Down on her child. They marched: no sign once shook
"The company's close litter of crossed spears
"Till, as they reached Goito, a few tears
"Slipped in the sunset from her long black lash,
"And she was gone. So far the action rash;
"No crime. They laid Retrude in the font,
"Taurello's very gift, her child was wont
"To sit beneathconstant as eve he came
"To sit by its attendant girls the same
"As one of them. For Palma, she would blend
"With this magnific spirit to the end,
"That ruled her first; but scarcely had she dared
"To disobey the Adelaide who scared
"Her into vowing never to disclose
"A secret to her husband, which so froze
"His blood at half-recital, she contrived
"To hide from him Taurello's infant lived,
"Lest, by revealing that, himself should mar
"Romano's fortunes. And, a crime so far,
"Palma received that action: she was told
"Of Salinguerra's nature, of his cold
"Calm acquiescence in his lot! But free
"To impart the secret to Romano, she
"Engaged to repossess Sordello of
"His heritage, and hers, and that way doff
"The mask, but after years, long years: while now,
"Was not Romano's sign-mark on that brow?"
Across Taurello's heart his arms were locked:
And when he did speak 't was as if he mocked
The minstrel, "who had not to move," he said,
"Nor stirshould fate defraud him of a shred
"Of his son's infancy? much less his youth!"
(Laughingly all this)"which to aid, in truth,
"Himself, reserved on purpose, had not grown
"Old, not too old't was best they kept alone
"Till now, and never idly met till now;"
Then, in the same breath, told Sordello how
All intimations of this eve's event
Were lies, for Friedrich must advance to Trent,
Thence to Verona, then to Rome, there stop,
Tumble the Church down, institute a-top
The Alps a Prefecture of Lombardy:
"That 's now!no prophesying what may be
"Anon, with a new monarch of the clime,
"Native of Gesi, passing his youth's prime
"At Naples. Tito bids my choice decide
"On whom . . ."
        "Embrace him, madman!" Palma cried,
Who through the laugh saw sweat-drops burst apace,
And his lips blanching: he did not embrace
Sordello, but he laid Sordello's hand
On his own eyes, mouth, forehead.
                 Understand,
This while Sordello was becoming flushed
Out of his whiteness; thoughts rushed, fancies rushed;
He pressed his hand upon his head and signed
Both should forbear him. "Nay, the best 's behind!"
Taurello laughednot quite with the same laugh:
"The truth is, thus we scatter, ay, like chaff
"These Guelfs, a despicable monk recoils
"From: nor expect a fickle Kaiser spoils
"Our triumph!Friedrich? Think you, I intend
"Friedrich shall reap the fruits of blood I spend
"And brain I waste? Think you, the people clap
"Their hands at my out-hewing this wild gap
"For any Friedrich to fill up? 'T is mine
"That 's yours: I tell you, towards some such design
"Have I worked blindly, yes, and idly, yes,
"And for another, yesbut worked no less
"With instinct at my heart; I else had swerved,
"While nowlook round! My cunning has preserved
"Samminiatothat 's a central place
"Secures us Florence, boy,in Pisa's case.
"By land as she by sea; with Pisa ours,
"And Florence, and Pistoia, one devours
"The land at leisure! Gloriously dispersed
"Brescia, observe, Milan, Piacenza first
"That flanked us (ah, you know not!) in the March;
"On these we pile, as keystone of our arch,
"Romagna and Bologna, whose first span
"Covered the Trentine and the Valsugan;
"Sofia's Egna by Bolgiano 's sure!" . . .
So he proceeded: half of all this, pure
Delusion, doubtless, nor the rest too true,
But what was undone he felt sure to do,
As ring by ring he wrung off, flung away
The pauldron-rings to give his sword-arm play
Need of the sword now! That would soon adjust
Aught wrong at present; to the sword intrust
Sordello's whiteness, undersize: 't was plain
He hardly rendered right to his own brain
Like a brave hound, men educate to pride
Himself on speed or scent nor aught beside,
As though he could not, gift by gift, match men!
Palma had listened patiently: but when
'T was time expostulate, attempt withdraw
Taurello from his child, she, without awe
Took off his iron arms from, one by one,
Sordello's shrinking shoulders, and, that done,
Made him avert his visage and relieve
Sordello (you might see his corslet heave
The while) who, loose, rosetried to speak, then sank:
They left him in the chamber. All was blank.
And even reeling down the narrow stair
Taurello kept up, as though unaware
Palma was by to guide him, the old device
Something of Milan"how we muster thrice
"The Torriani's strength there; all along
"Our own Visconti cowed them"thus the song
Continued even while she bade him stoop,
Thrid somehow, by some glimpse of arrow-loop,
The turnings to the gallery below,
Where he stopped short as Palma let him go.
When he had sat in silence long enough
Splintering the stone bench, braving a rebuff
She stopped the truncheon; only to commence
One of Sordello's poems, a pretence
For speaking, some poor rhyme of "Elys' hair
"And head that 's sharp and perfect like a pear,
"So smooth and close are laid the few fine locks
"Stained like pale honey oozed from topmost rocks
"Sun-blanched the livelong summer"from his worst
Performance, the Goito, as his first:
And that at end, conceiving from the brow
And open mouth no silence would serve now,
Went on to say the whole world loved that man
And, for that matter, thought his face, tho' wan,
Eclipsed the Count'she sucking in each phrase
As if an angel spoke. The foolish praise
Ended, he drew her on his mailed knees, made
Her face a framework with his hands, a shade,
A crown, an aureole: there must she remain
(Her little mouth compressed with smiling pain
As in his gloves she felt her tresses twitch)
To get the best look at, in fittest niche
Dispose his saint. That done, he kissed her brow,
"Lauded her father for his treason now,"
He told her, "only, how could one suspect
"The wit in him?whose clansman, recollect,
`Was ever Salinguerrashe, the same,
"Romano and his ladyso, might claim
"To know all, as she should"and thus begun
Schemes with a vengeance, schemes on schemes, "not one
"Fit to be told that foolish boy," he said,
"But only let Sordello Palma wed,
"Then!"
     'T was a dim long narrow place at best:
Midway a sole grate showed the fiery West,
As shows its corpse the world's end some split tomb
A gloom, a rift of fire, another gloom,
Faced Palmabut at length Taurello set
Her free; the grating held one ragged jet
Of fierce gold fire: he lifted her within
The hollow underneathhow else begin
Fate's second marvellous cycle, else renew
The ages than with Palma plain in view?
Then paced the passage, hands clenched, head erect,
Pursuing his discourse; a grand unchecked
Monotony made out from his quick talk
And the recurring noises of his walk;
Somewhat too much like the o'ercharged assent
Of two resolved friends in one danger blent,
Who hearten each the other against heart;
Boasting there 's nought to care for, when, apart
The boaster, all 's to care for. He, beside
Some shape not visible, in power and pride
Approached, out of the dark, ginglingly near,
Nearer, passed close in the broad light, his ear
Crimson, eyeballs suffused, temples full-fraught,
Just a snatch of the rapid speech you caught,
And on he strode into the opposite dark,
Till presently the harsh heel's turn, a spark
I' the stone, and whirl of some loose embossed throng
That crashed against the angle aye so long
After the last, punctual to an amount
Of mailed great paces you could not but count,
Prepared you for the pacing back again.
And by the snatches you might ascertain
That, Friedrich's Prefecture surmounted, left
By this alone in Italy, they cleft
Asunder, crushed together, at command
Of none, were free to break up Hildebrand,
Rebuild, he and Sordello, Charlemagne
But garnished, Strength with Knowledge, "if we deign
"Accept that compromise and stoop to give
"Rome law, the Csar's Representative."
Enough, that the illimitable flood
Of triumphs after triumphs, understood
In its faint reflux (you shall hear) sufficed
Young Ecelin for appanage, enticed
Him on till, these long quiet in their graves,
He found 't was looked for that a whole life's braves
Should somehow be made good; so, weak and worn,
Must stagger up at Milan, one grey morn
Of the to-come, and fight his latest fight.
But, Salinguerra's prophecy at height
He voluble with a raised arm and stiff,
A blaring voice, a blazing eye, as if
He had our very Italy to keep
Or cast away, or gather in a heap
To garrison the betteray, his word
Was, "run the cucumber into a gourd,
"Drive Trent upon Apulia"at their pitch
Who spied the continents and islands which
Grew mulberry leaves and sickles, in the map
(Strange that three such confessions so should hap
To Palma, Dante spoke with in the clear
Amorous silence of the Swooning-sphere,
Cunizza, as he called her! Never ask
Of Palma more! She sat, knowing her task
Was done, the labour of it,for, success
Concerned not Palma, passion's votaress.)
Triumph at neight, and thus Sordello crowned
Above the passage suddenly a sound
Stops speech, stops walk: back shrinks Taurello, bids
With large involuntary asking lids,
Palma interpret. "'T is his own foot-stamp
"Your hand! His summons! Nay, this idle damp
"Befits not!" Out they two reeled dizzily.
"Visconti 's strong at Milan," resumed he,
In the old, somewhat insignificant way
(Was Palma wont, years afterward, to say)
As though the spirit's flight, sustained thus far,
Dropped at that very instant.
               Gone they are
Palma, Taurello; Eglamor anon,
Ecelin,only Naddo 's never gone!
Labours, this moonrise, what the Master meant:
"Is Squarcialupo speckled?purulent,
"I 'd say, but when was Providence put out?
"He carries somehow handily about
"His spite nor fouls himself!" Goito's vines
Stand like a cheat detectedstark rough lines,
The moon breaks through, a grey mean scale against
The vault where, this eve's Maiden, thou remain'st
Like some fresh martyr, eyes fixedwho can tell?
As Heaven, now all 's at end, did not so well,
Spite of the faith and victory, to leave
Its virgin quite to death in the lone eve.
While the persisting hermit-bee . . . ha! wait
No longer: these in compass, forward fate!


~ Robert Browning, Sordello - Book the Fifth
,
122:And the font took them: let our laurels lie!
Braid moonfern now with mystic trifoly
Because once more Goito gets, once more,
Sordello to itself! A dream is o'er,
And the suspended life begins anew;
Quiet those throbbing temples, then, subdue
That cheek's distortion! Nature's strict embrace,
Putting aside the past, shall soon efface
Its print as wellfactitious humours grown
Over the trueloves, hatreds not his own
And turn him pure as some forgotten vest
Woven of painted byssus, silkiest
Tufting the Tyrrhene whelk's pearl-sheeted lip,
Left welter where a trireme let it slip
I' the sea, and vexed a satrap; so the stain
O' the world forsakes Sordello, with its pain,
Its pleasure: how the tinct loosening escapes,
Cloud after cloud! Mantua's familiar shapes
Die, fair and foul die, fading as they flit,
Men, women, and the pathos and the wit,
Wise speech and foolish, deeds to smile or sigh
For, good, bad, seemly or ignoble, die.
The last face glances through the eglantines,
The last voice murmurs, 'twixt the blossomed vines,
Of Men, of that machine supplied by thought
To compass self-perception with, he sought
By forcing half himselfan insane pulse
Of a god's blood, on clay it could convulse,
Never transmuteon human sights and sounds,
To watch the other half with; irksome bounds
It ebbs from to its source, a fountain sealed
Forever. Better sure be unrevealed
Than part revealed: Sordello well or ill
Is finished: then what further use of Will,
Point in the prime idea not realized,
An oversight? inordinately prized,
No less, and pampered with enough of each
Delight to prove the whole above its reach.
"To need become all natures, yet retain
"The law of my own natureto remain
"Myself, yet yearn . . . as if that chestnut, think,
"Should yearn for this first larch-bloom crisp and pink,
"Or those pale fragrant tears where zephyrs stanch
"March wounds along the fretted pine-tree branch!
"Will and the means to show will, great and small,
"Material, spiritual,abjure them all
"Save any so distinct, they may be left
"To amuse, not tempt become! and, thus bereft,
"Just as I first was fashioned would I be!
"Nor, moon, is it Apollo now, but me
"Thou visitest to comfort and befriend!
"Swim thou into my heart, and there an end,
"Since I possess thee!nay, thus shut mine eyes
"And know, quite know, by this heart's fall and rise,
"When thou dost bury thee in clouds, and when
"Out-standest: wherefore practise upon men
"To make that plainer to myself?"
                 Slide here
Over a sweet and solitary year
Wasted; or simply notice change in him
How eyes, once with exploring bright, grew dim
And satiate with receiving. Some distress
Was caused, too, by a sort of consciousness
Under the imbecility,nought kept
That down; he slept, but was aware he slept,
So, frustrated: as who brainsick made pact
Erst with the overhanging cataract
To deafen him, yet still distinguished plain
His own blood's measured clicking at his brain.
To finish. One declining Autumn day
Few birds about the heaven chill and grey,
No wind that cared trouble the tacit woods
He sauntered home complacently, their moods
According, his and nature's. Every spark
Of Mantua life was trodden out; so dark
The embers, that the Troubadour, who sung
Hundreds of songs, forgot, its trick his tongue,
Its craft his brain, how either brought to pass
Singing at all; that faculty might class
With any of Apollo's now. The year
Began to find its early promise sere
As well. Thus beauty vanishes; thus stone
Outlingers flesh: nature's and his youth gone,
They left the world to you, and wished you joy.
When, stopping his benevolent employ,
A presage shuddered through the welkin; harsh
The earth's remonstrance followed. 'T was the marsh
Gone of a sudden. Mincio, in its place,
Laughed, a broad water, in next morning's face,
And, where the mists broke up immense and white
I' the steady wind, burned like a spilth of light
Out of the crashing of a myriad stars.
And here was nature, bound by the same bars
Of fate with him!
         "No! youth once gone is gone:
"Deeds, let escape, are never to be done.
"Leaf-fall and grass-spring for the year; for us
"Oh forfeit I unalterably thus
"My chance? nor two lives wait me, this to spend,
"Learning save that? Nature has time, may mend
"Mistake, she knows occasion will recur;
"Landslip or seabreach, how affects it her
"With her magnificent resources?I
"Must perish once and perish utterly.
"Not any strollings now at even-close
"Down the field-path, Sordello! by thorn-rows
"Alive with lamp-flies, swimming spots of fire
"And dew, outlining the black cypress' spire
"She waits you at, Elys, who heard you first
"Woo her, the snow-month through, but ere she durst
"Answer 't was April. Linden-flower-time-long
"Her eyes were on the ground; 't is July, strong
"Now; and because white dust-clouds overwhelm
"The woodside, here or by the village elm
"That holds the moon, she meets you, somewhat pale,
"But letting you lift up her coarse flax veil
"And whisper (the damp little hand in yours)
"Of love, heart's love, your heart's love that endures
"Till death. Tush! No mad mixing with the rout
"Of haggard ribalds wandering about
"The hot torchlit wine-scented island-house
"Where Friedrich holds his wickedest carouse,
"Parading,to the gay Palermitans,
"Soft Messinese, dusk Saracenic clans
"Nuocera holds,those tall grave dazzling Norse,
"High-cheeked, lank-haired, toothed whiter than the morse,
"Queens of the caves of jet stalactites,
"He sent his barks to fetch through icy seas,
"The blind night seas without a saving star,
"And here in snowy birdskin robes they are,
"Sordello!here, mollitious alcoves gilt
"Superb as Byzant domes that devils built!
"Ah, Byzant, there again! no chance to go
"Ever like august cheery Dandolo,
"Worshipping hearts about him for a wall,
"Conducted, blind eyes, hundred years and all,
"Through vanquished Byzant where friends note for him
"What pillar, marble massive, sardius slim,
"'T were fittest he transport to Venice' Square
"Flattered and promised life to touch them there
"Soon, by those fervid sons of senators!
"No more lifes, deaths, loves, hatreds, peaces, wars!
"Ah, fragments of a whole ordained to be,
"Points in the life I waited! what are ye
"But roundels of a ladder which appeared
"Awhile the very platform it was reared
"To lift me on?that happiness I find
"Proofs of my faith in, even in the blind
"Instinct which bade forego you all unless
"Ye led me past yourselves. Ay, happiness
"Awaited me; the way life should be used
"Was to acquire, and deeds like you conduced
"To teach it by a self-revealment, deemed
"Life's very use, so long! Whatever seemed
"Progress to that, was pleasure; aught that stayed
"My reaching itno pleasure. I have laid
"The ladder down; I climb not; still, aloft
"The platform stretches! Blisses strong and soft,
"I dared not entertain, elude me; yet
"Never of what they promised could I get
"A glimpse till now! The common sort, the crowd,
"Exist, perceive; with Being are endowed,
"However slight, distinct from what they See,
"However bounded; Happiness must be,
"To feed the first by gleanings from the last,
"Attain its qualities, and slow or fast
"Become what they behold; such peace-in-strife,
"By transmutation, is the Use of Life,
"The Alien turning Native to the soul
"Or bodywhich instructs me; I am whole
"There and demand a Palma; had the world
"Been from my soul to a like distance hurled,
"'T were Happiness to make it one with me:
"Whereas I must, ere I begin to Be,
"Include a world, in flesh, I comprehend
"In spirit now; and this done, what 's to blend
"With? Nought is Alien in the worldmy Will
"Owns all already; yet can turn itstill
"LessNative, since my Means to correspond
"With Will are so unworthy, 't was my bond
"To tread the very joys that tantalize
"Most now, into a grave, never to rise.
"I die then! Will the rest agree to die?
"Next Age or no? Shall its Sordello try
"Clue after clue, and catch at last the clue
"I miss?that 's underneath my finger too,
"Twice, thrice a day, perhaps,some yearning traced
"Deeper, some petty consequence embraced
"Closer! Why fled I Mantua, then?complained
"So much my Will was fettered, yet remained
"Content within a tether half the range
"I could assign it?able to exchange
"My ignorance (I felt) for knowledge, and
"Idle because I could thus understand
"Could e'en have penetrated to its core
"Our mortal mystery, yetfoolforbore,
"Preferred elaborating in the dark
"My casual stuff, by any wretched spark
"Born of my predecessors, though one stroke
"Of mine had brought the flame forth! Mantua's yoke,
"My minstrel's-trade, was to behold mankind,
"My own concern was just to bring my mind
"Behold, just extricate, for my acquist,
"Each object suffered stifle in the mist
"Which hazard, custom, blindness interpose
"Betwixt things and myself."
               Whereat he rose.
The level wind carried above the firs
Clouds, the irrevocable travellers,
Onward.
   "Pushed thus into a drowsy copse,
"Arms twine about my neck, each eyelid drops
"Under a humid finger; while there fleets,
"Outside the screen, a pageant time repeats
"Never again! To be deposed, immured
"Clandestinelystill petted, still assured
"To govern were fatiguing workthe Sight
"Fleeting meanwhile! 'T is noontide: wreak ere night
"Somehow my will upon it, rather! Slake
"This thirst somehow, the poorest impress take
"That serves! A blasted bud displays you, torn,
"Faint rudiments of the full flower unborn;
"But who divines what glory coats o'erclasp
"Of the bulb dormant in the mummy's grasp
"Taurello sent?" . . .
           "Taurello? Palma sent
"Your Trouvere," (Naddo interposing leant
Over the lost bard's shoulder)"and, believe,
"You cannot more reluctantly receive
"Than I pronounce her message: we depart
"Together. What avail a poet's heart
"Verona's pomps and gauds? five blades of grass
"Suffice him. News? Why, where your marish was,
"On its mud-banks smoke rises after smoke
"I' the valley, like a spout of hell new-broke.
"Oh, the world's tidings! small your thanks, I guess,
"For them. The father of our Patroness,
"Has played Taurello an astounding trick,
"Parts between Ecelin and Alberic
"His wealth and goes into a convent: both
"Wed Guelfs: the Count and Palma plighted troth
"A week since at Verona: and they want
"You doubtless to contrive the marriage-chant
"Ere Richard storms Ferrara." Then was told
The tale from the beginninghow, made bold
By Salinguerra's absence, Guelfs had burned
And pillaged till he unawares returned
To take revenge: how Azzo and his friend
Were doing their endeavour, how the end
O' the siege was nigh, and how the Count, released
From further care, would with his marriage-feast
Inaugurate a new and better rule,
Absorbing thus Romano.
           "Shall I school
"My master," added Naddo, "and suggest
"How you may clothe in a poetic vest
"These doings, at Verona? Your response
"To Palma! Wherefore jest? 'Depart at once?
"A good resolve! In truth, I hardly hoped
"So prompt an acquiescence. Have you groped
"Out wisdom in the wilds here?thoughts may be
"Over-poetical for poetry.
"Pearl-white, you poets liken Palma's neck;
"And yet what spoils an orient like some speck
"Of genuine white, turning its own white grey?
"You take me? Curse the cicala!"
                 One more day,
One eveappears Verona! Many a group,
(You mind) instructed of the osprey's swoop
On lynx and ounce, was gatheringChristendom
Sure to receive, whate'er the end was, from
The evening's purpose cheer or detriment,
Since Friedrich only waited some event
Like this, of Ghibellins establishing
Themselves within Ferrara, ere, as King
Of Lombardy, he 'd glad descend there, wage
Old warfare with the Pontiff, disengage
His barons from the burghers, and restore
The rule of Charlemagne, broken of yore
By Hildebrand.
       I' the palace, each by each,
Sordello sat and Palma: little speech
At first in that dim closet, face with face
(Despite the tumult in the market-place)
Exchanging quick low laughters: now would rush
Word upon word to meet a sudden flush,
A look left off, a shifting lips' surmise
But for the most part their two histories
Ran best thro' the locked fingers and linked arms.
And so the night flew on with its alarms
Till in burst one of Palma's retinue;
"Now, Lady!" gasped he. Then arose the two
And leaned into Verona's air, dead-still.
A balcony lay black beneath until
Out, 'mid a gush of torchfire, grey-haired men
Came on it and harangued the people: then
Sea-like that people surging to and fro
Shouted, "Hale forth the carrochtrumpets, ho,
"A flourish! Run it in the ancient grooves!
"Back from the bell! Hammerthat whom behoves
"May hear the League is up! Peallearn who list,
"Verona means not first of towns break tryst
"To-morrow with the League!"
               Enough. Now turn
Over the eastern cypresses: discern!
Is any beacon set a-glimmer?
               Rang
The air with shouts that overpowered the clang
Of the incessant carroch, even: "Haste
"The candle 's at the gateway! ere it waste,
"Each soldier stand beside it, armed to march
"With Tiso Sampier through the eastern arch!"
Ferrara's succoured, Palma!
               Once again
They sat together; some strange thing in train
To say, so difficult was Palma's place
In taking, with a coy fastidious grace
Like the bird's flutter ere it fix and feed.
But when she felt she held her friend indeed
Safe, she threw back her curls, began implant
Her lessons; telling of another want
Goito's quiet nourished than his own;
Palmato serve himto be served, alone
Importing; Agnes' milk so neutralized
The blood of Ecelin. Nor be surprised
If, while Sordello fain had captive led
Nature, in dream was Palma subjected
To some out-soul, which dawned not though she pined
Delaying, till its advent, heart and mind
Their life. "How dared I let expand the force
"Within me, till some out-soul, whose resource
"It grew for, should direct it? Every law
"Of life, its every fitness, every flaw,
"Must One determine whose corporeal shape
"Would be no other than the prime escape
"And revelation to me of a Will
"Orb-like o'ershrouded and inscrutable
"Above, save at the point which, I should know,
"Shone that myself, my powers, might overflow
"So far, so much; as now it signified
"Which earthly shape it henceforth chose my guide,
"Whose mortal lip selected to declare
"Its oracles, what fleshly garb would wear
"The first of intimations, whom to love;
"The next, how love him. Seemed that orb, above
"The castle-covert and the mountain-close,
"Slow in appearing?if beneath it rose
"Cravings, aversions,did our green precinct
"Take pride in me, at unawares distinct
"With this or that endowment,how, repressed
"At once, such jetting power shrank to the rest!
"Was I to have a chance touch spoil me, leave
"My spirit thence unfitted to receive
"The consummating spell?that spell so near
"Moreover! 'Waits he not the waking year?
"'His almond-blossoms must be honey-ripe
"'By this; to welcome him, fresh runnels stripe
"'The thawed ravines; because of him, the wind
"'Walks like a herald. I shall surely find
"'Him now!'
     "And chief, that earnest April morn
"Of Richard's Love-court, was it time, so worn
"And white my cheek, so idly my blood beat,
"Sitting that morn beside the Lady's feet
"And saying as she prompted; till outburst
"One face from all the faces. Not then first
"I knew it; where in maple chamber glooms,
"Crowned with what sanguine-heart pomegranate blooms,
"Advanced it ever? Men's acknowledgment
"Sanctioned my own: 't was taken, Palma's bent,
"Sordello,recognized, accepted.
                 "Dumb
"Sat she still scheming. Ecelin would come
"Gaunt, scared, 'Cesano baffles me,' he 'd say:
"'Better I fought it out, my father's way!
"'Strangle Ferrara in its drowning flats,
"'And you and your Taurello yonder!what's
"'Romano's business there?' An hour's concern
"To cure the froward Chief!induce return
"As heartened from those overmeaning eyes,
"Wound up to persevere,his enterprise
"Marked out anew, its exigent of wit
"Apportioned,she at liberty to sit
"And scheme against the next emergence, I
"To covet her Taurello-sprite, made fly
"Or fold the wingto con your horoscope
"For leave command those steely shafts shoot ope,
"Or straight assuage their blinding eagerness
"In blank smooth snow What semblance of success
"To any of my plans for making you
"Mine and Romano's? Break the first wall through,
"Tread o'er the ruins of the Chief, supplant
"His sons beside, still, vainest were the vaunt:
"There, Salinguerra would obstruct me sheer,
"And the insuperable Tuscan, here,
"Stay me! But one wild eve that Lady died
"In her lone chamber: only I beside:
"Taurello far at Naples, and my sire
"At Padua, Ecelin away in ire
"With Alberic. She held me thusa clutch
"To make our spirits as our bodies touch
"And so began flinging the past up heaps
"Of uncouth treasure from their sunless sleeps
"Within her soul; deeds rose along with dreams,
"Fragments of many miserable schemes,
"Secrets, more secrets, thenno, not the last
"'Mongst others, like a casual trick o' the past,
"How . . . ay, she told me, gathering up her face,
"All left of it, into one arch-grimace
"To die with . . .
         "Friend, 't is gone! but not the fear
"Of that fell laughing, heard as now I hear.
"Nor faltered voice, nor seemed her heart grow weak
"When i' the midst abrupt she ceased to speak
"Dead, as to serve a purpose, mark!for in
"Rushed o' the very instant Ecelin
"(How summoned, who divines?)looking as if
"He understood why Adelaide lay stiff
"Already in my arms; for 'Girl, how must
"'I manage Este in the matter thrust
"'Upon me, how unravel your bad coil?
"'Since' (he declared) ''t is on your browa soil
"'Like hers there!' then in the same breath, 'he lacked
"'No counsel after all, had signed no pact
"'With devils, nor was treason here or there,
"'Goito or Vicenza, his affair:
"'He buried it in Adelaide's deep grave,
"'Would begin life afresh, now,would not slave
"'For any Friedrich's nor Taurello's sake!
"'What booted him to meddle or to make
"'In Lombardy?' And afterward I knew
"The meaning of his promise to undo
"All she had donewhy marriages were made,
"New friendships entered on, old followers paid
"With curses for their pains,new friends' amaze
"At height, when, passing out by Gate St. Blaise,
"He stopped short in Vicenza, bent his head
"Over a friar's neck,'had vowed,' he said,
"'Long since, nigh thirty years, because his wife
"'And child were saved there, to bestow his life
"'On God, his gettings on the Church.'
                     "Exiled
"Within Goito, still one dream beguiled
"My days and nights; 't was found, the orb I sought
"To serve, those glimpses came of Fomalhaut,
"No other: but how serve it?authorize
"You and Romano mingle destinies?
"And straight Romano's angel stood beside
"Me who had else been Boniface's bride,
"For Salinguerra 't was, with neck low bent,
"And voice lightened to music, (as he meant
"To learn, not teach me,) who withdrew the pall
"From the dead past and straight revived it all,
"Making me see how first Romano waxed,
"Wherefore he waned now, why, if I relaxed
"My grasp (even I!) would drop a thing effete,
"Frayed by itself, unequal to complete
"Its course, and counting every step astray
"A gain so much. Romano, every way
"Stable, a Lombard House nowwhy start back
"Into the very outset of its track?
"This patching principle which late allied
"Our House with other Houseswhat beside
"Concerned the apparition, the first Knight
"Who followed Conrad hither in such plight
"His utmost wealth was summed in his one steed?
"For Ecelo, that prowler, was decreed
"A task, in the beginning hazardous
"To him as ever task can be to us;
"But did the weather-beaten thief despair
"When first our crystal cincture of warm air
"That binds the Trevisan,as its spice-belt
"(Crusaders say) the tract where Jesus dwelt,
"Furtive he pierced, and Este was to face
"Despaired Saponian strength of Lombard grace?
"Tried he at making surer aught made sure,
"Maturing what already was mature?
"No; his heart prompted Ecelo, 'Confront
"'Este, inspect yourself. What 's nature? Wont.
"'Discard three-parts your nature, and adopt
"'The rest as an advantage!' Old strength propped
"The man who first grew Podest among
"The Vicentines, no less than, while there sprung
"His palace up in Padua like a threat,
"Their noblest spied a grace, unnoticed yet
"In Conrad's crew. Thus far the object gained,
"Romano was establishedhas remained
"'For are you not Italian, truly peers
"'With Este? Azzo better soothes our ears
"'Than Alberic? or is this lion's-crine
"'From over-mounts' (this yellow hair of mine)
"'So weak a graft on Agnes Este's stock?'
"(Thus went he on with something of a mock)
"'Wherefore recoil, then, from the very fate
"'Conceded you, refuse to imitate
"'Your model farther? Este long since left
"'Being mere Este: as a blade its heft,
"'Este required the Pope to further him:
"'And you, the Kaiserwhom your father's whim
"'Foregoes or, better, never shall forego
"'If Palma dare pursue what Ecelo
"'Commenced, but Ecelin desists from: just
"'As Adelaide of Susa could intrust
"'Her donative,her Piedmont given the Pope,
"'Her Alpine-pass for him to shut or ope
"''Twixt France and Italy,to the superb
"'Matilda's perfecting,so, lest aught curb
"'Our Adelaide's great counter-project for
"'Giving her Trentine to the Emperor
"'With passage here from Germany,shall you
"'Take it,my slender plodding talent, too!'
"Urged me Taurello with his half-smile
                     "He
"As Patron of the scattered family
"Conveyed me to his Mantua, kept in bruit
"Azzo's alliances and Richard's suit
"Until, the Kaiser excommunicate,
"'Nothing remains,' Taurello said, 'but wait
"'Some rash procedure: Palma was the link,
"'As Agnes' child, between us, and they shrink
"'From losing Palma: judge if we advance,
"'Your father's method, your inheritance!'
"The day I was betrothed to Boniface
"At Padua by Taurello's self, took place
"The outrage of the Ferrarese: again,
"The day I sought Verona with the train
"Agreed for,by Taurello's policy
"Convicting Richard of the fault, since we
"Were present to annul or to confirm,
"Richard, whose patience had outstayed its term,
"Quitted Verona for the siege.
                "And now
"What glory may engird Sordello's brow
"Through this? A month since at Oliero slunk
"All that was Ecelin into a monk;
"But how could Salinguerra so forget
"His liege of thirty years as grudge even yet
"One effort to recover him? He sent
"Forthwith the tidings of this last event
"To Ecelindeclared that he, despite
"The recent folly, recognized his right
"To order Salinguerra: 'Should he wring
"'Its uttermost advantage out, or fling
"'This chance away? Or were his sons now Head
"'O' the House?' Through me Taurello's missive sped;
"My father's answer will by me return.
"Behold! 'For him,' he writes, 'no more concern
"'With strife than, for his children, with fresh plots
"'Of Friedrich. Old engagements out he blots
"'For aye: Taurello shall no more subserve,
"'Nor Ecelin impose.' Lest this unnerve
"Taurello at this juncture, slack his grip
"Of Richard, suffer the occasion slip,
"I, in his sons' default (who, mating with
"Este, forsake Romano as the frith
"Its mainsea for that firmland, sea makes head
"Against) I stand, Romano,in their stead
"Assume the station they desert, and give
"Still, as the Kaiser's representative,
"Taurello licence he demands. Midnight
"Morningby noon to-morrow, making light
"Of the League's issue, we, in some gay weed
"Like yours, disguised together, may precede
"The arbitrators to Ferrara: reach
"Him, let Taurello's noble accents teach
"The rest! Then say if I have misconceived
"Your destiny, too readily believed
"The Kaiser's cause your own!"
                And Palma's fled.
Though no affirmative disturbs the head,
A dying lamp-flame sinks and rises o'er,
Like the alighted planet Pollux wore,
Until, morn breaking, he resolves to be
Gate-vein of this heart's blood of Lombardy,
Soul of this bodyto wield this aggregate
Of souls and bodies, and so conquer fate
Though he should livea centre of disgust
Evenapart, core of the outward crust
He vivifies, assimilates. For thus
I bring Sordello to the rapturous
Exclaim at the crowd's cry, because one round
Of life was quite accomplished; and he found
Not only that a soul, whate'er its might,
Is insufficient to its own delight,
Both in corporeal organs and in skill
By means of such to body forth its Will
And, after, insufficient to apprise
Men of that Will, oblige them recognize
The Hid by the Revealedbut that,the last
Nor lightest of the struggles overpast,
Will, he bade abdicate, which would not void
The throne, might sit there, suffer he enjoyed
Mankind, a varied and divine array
Incapable of homage, the first way,
Nor fit to render incidentally
Tribute connived at, taken by the by,
In joys. If thus with warrant to rescind
The ignominious exile of mankind
Whose proper service, ascertained intact
As yet, (to be by him themselves made act,
Not watch Sordello acting each of them)
Was to secureif the true diadem
Seemed imminent while our Sordello drank
The wisdom of that golden Palma,thank
Verona's Lady in her citadel
Founded by Gaulish Brennus, legends tell:
And truly when she left him, the sun reared
A head like the first clamberer's who peered
A-top the Capitol, his face on flame
With triumph, triumphing till Manlius came.
Nor slight too much my rhymesthat spring, dispread,
Dispart, disperse, lingering over head
Like an escape of angels! Rather say,
My transcendental platan! mounting gay
(An archimage so courts a novice-queen)
With tremulous silvered trunk, whence branches sheen
Laugh out, thick-foliaged next, a-shiver soon
With coloured buds, then glowing like the moon
One mild flame,last a pause, a burst, and all
Her ivory limbs are smothered by a fall,
Bloom-flinders and fruit-sparkles and leaf-dust,
Ending the weird work prosecuted just
For her amusement; he decrepit, stark,
Dozes; her uncontrolled delight may mark
Apart
   Yet not so, surely never so
Only, as good my soul were suffered go
O'er the lagune: forth fare thee, put aside
Entrance thy synod, as a god may glide
Out of the world he fills, and leave it mute
For myriad ages as we men compute,
Returning into it without a break
O' the consciousness! They sleep, and I awake
O'er the lagune, being at Venice.
                 Note,
In just such songs as Eglamor (say) wrote
With heart and soul and strength, for he believed
Himself achieving all to be achieved
By singerin such songs you find alone
Completeness, judge the song and singer one,
And either purpose answered, his in it
Or its in him: while from true works (to wit
Sordello's dream-performances that will
Never be more than dreamed) escapes there still
Some proof, the singer's proper life was 'neath
The life his song exhibits, this a sheath
To that; a passion and a knowledge far
Transcending these, majestic as they are,
Smouldered; his lay was but an episode
In the bard's life: which evidence you owed
To some slight weariness, some looking-off
Or start-away. The childish skit or scoff
In "Charlemagne," (his poem, dreamed divine
In every point except one silly line
About the restiff daughters)what may lurk
In that? "My life commenced before this work,"
(So I interpret the significance
Of the bard's start aside and look askance)
"My life continues after: on I fare
"With no more stopping, possibly, no care
"To note the undercurrent, the why and how,
"Where, when, o' the deeper life, as thus just now.
"But, silent, shall I cease to live? Alas
"For you! who sigh, 'When shall it come to pass
"'We read that story? How will he compress
"'The future gains, his life's true business,
"'Into the better lay whichthat one flout,
"'Howe'er inopportune it be, lets out
"'Engrosses him already, though professed
"'To meditate with us eternal rest,
"'And partnership in all his life has found?'"
'T is but a sailor's promise, weather-bound:
"Strike sail, slip cable, here the bark be moored
"For once, the awning stretched, the poles assured!
"Noontide above; except the wave's crisp dash,
"Or buzz of colibri, or tortoise' splash,
"The margin 's silent: out with every spoil
"Made in our tracking, coil by mighty coil,
"This serpent of a river to his head
"I' the midst! Admire each treasure, as we spread
"The bank, to help us tell our history
"Aright: give ear, endeavour to descry
"The groves of giant rushes, how they grew
"Like demons' endlong tresses we sailed through,
"What mountains yawned, forests to give us vent
"Opened, each doleful side, yet on we went
"Till . . . may that beetle (shake your cap) attest
"The springing of a land-wind from the West!"
Wherefore? Ah yes, you frolic it to-day!
To-morrow, and, the pageant moved away
Down to the poorest tent-pole, we and you
Part company: no other may pursue
Eastward your voyage, be informed what fate
Intends, if triumph or decline await
The tempter of the everlasting steppe.
I muse this on a ruined palace-step
At Venice: why should I break off, nor sit
Longer upon my step, exhaust the fit
England gave birth to? Who 's adorable
Enough reclaim a - no Sordello's Will
Alack!be queen to me? That Bassanese
Busied among her smoking fruit-boats? These
Perhaps from our delicious Asolo
Who twinkle, pigeons o'er the portico
Not prettier, bind June lilies into sheaves
To deck the bridge-side chapel, dropping leaves
Soiled by their own loose gold-meal? Ah, beneath
The cool arch stoops she, brownest cheek! Her wreath
Endures a montha half-monthif I make
A queen of her, continue for her sake
Sordello's story? Nay, that Paduan girl
Splashes with barer legs where a live whirl
In the dead black Giudecca proves sea-weed
Drifting has sucked down three, four, all indeed
Save one pale-red striped, pale-blue turbaned post
For gondolas.
       You sad dishevelled ghost
That pluck at me and point, are you advised
I breathe? Let stay those girls (e'en her disguised
Jewels i' the locks that love no crownet like
Their native field-buds and the green wheat-spike,
So fair!who left this end of June's turmoil,
Shook off, as might a lily its gold soil,
Pomp, save a foolish gem or two, and free
In dream, came join the peasants o'er the sea.)
Look they too happy, too tricked out? Confess
There is such ****rd stock of happiness
To share, that, do one's uttermost, dear wretch,
One labours ineffectually to stretch
It o'er you so that mother and children, both
May equitably flaunt the sumpter-cloth!
Divide the robe yet farther: be content
With seeing just a score pre-eminent
Through shreds of it, acknowledged happy wights,
Engrossing what should furnish all, by rights!
For, these in evidence, you clearlier claim
A like garb for the rest,grace all, the same
As these my peasants. I ask youth and strength
And health for each of you, not moreat length
Grown wise, who asked at home that the whole race
Might add the spirit's to the body's grace,
And all be dizened out as chiefs and bards.
But in this magic weather one discards
Much old requirement. Venice seems a type
Of Life'twixt blue and blue extends, a stripe,
As Life, the somewhat, hangs 'twixt nought and nought:
'T is Venice, and 't is Lifeas good you sought
To spare me the Piazza's slippery stone
Or keep me to the unchoked canals alone,
As hinder Life the evil with the good
Which make up Living, rightly understood.
Only, do finish something! Peasants, queens,
Take them, made happy by whatever means,
Parade them for the common credit, vouch
That a luckless residue, we send to crouch
In corners out of sight, was just as framed
For happiness, its portion might have claimed
As well, and so, obtaining joy, had stalked
Fastuous as any!such my project, baulked
Already; I hardly venture to adjust
The first rags, when you find me. To mistrust
Me!nor unreasonably. You, no doubt,
Have the true knack of tiring suitors out
With those thin lips on tremble, lashless eyes
Inveterately tear-shot: there, be wise,
Mistress of mine, there, there, as if I meant
You insult!shall your friend (not slave) be shent
For speaking home? Beside, care-bit erased
Broken-up beauties ever took my taste
Supremely; and I love you more, far more
Than her I looked should foot Life's temple-floor.
Years ago, leagues at distance, when and where
A whisper came, "Let others seek!thy care
"Is found, thy life's provision; if thy race
"Should be thy mistress, and into one face
"The many faces crowd?" Ah, had I, judge,
Or no, your secret? Rough apparelgrudge
All ornaments save tag or tassel worn
To hint we are not thoroughly forlorn
Slouch bonnet, unloop mantle, careless go
Alone (that's saddest, but it must be so)
Through Venice, sing now and now glance aside,
Aught desultory or undignified,
Then, ravishingest lady, will you pass
Or not each formidable group, the mass
Before the Basilic (that feast gone by,
God's great day of the Corpus Domini)
And, wistfully foregoing proper men,
Come timid up to me for alms? And then
The luxury to hesitate, feign do
Some unexampled grace!when, whom but you
Dare I bestow your own upon? And hear
Further before you say, it is to sneer
I call you ravishing; for I regret
Little that she, whose early foot was set
Forth as she 'd plant it on a pedestal,
Now, i' the silent city, seems to fall
Toward meno wreath, only a lip's unrest
To quiet, surcharged eyelids to be pressed
Dry of their tears upon my bosom. Strange
Such sad chance should produce in thee such change,
My love! Warped souls and bodies! yet God spoke
Of right-hand, foot and eyeselects our yoke,
Sordello, as your poetship may find!
So, sleep upon my shoulder, child, nor mind
Their foolish talk; we 'll manage reinstate
Your old worth; ask moreover, when they prate
Of evil men past hope, "Don't each contrive,
"Despite the evil you abuse, to live?
"Keeping, each losel, through a maze of lies,
"His own conceit of truth? to which he hies
"By obscure windings, tortuous, if you will,
"But to himself not inaccessible;
"He sees truth, and his lies are for the crowd
"Who cannot see; some fancied right allowed
"His vilest wrong, empowered the losel clutch
"One pleasure from a multitude of such
"Denied him." Then assert, "All men appear
"To think all better than themselves, by here
"Trusting a crowd they wrong; but really," say,
"All men think all men stupider than they,
"Since, save themselves, no other comprehends
"The complicated scheme to make amends
"Evil, the scheme by which, thro' Ignorance,
"Good labours to exist." A slight advance,
Merely to find the sickness you die through,
And nought beside! but if one can't eschew
One's portion in the common lot, at least
One can avoid an ignorance increased
Tenfold by dealing out hint after hint
How nought were like dispensing without stint
The water of lifeso easy to dispense
Beside, when one has probed the centre whence
Commotion 's borncould tell you of it all!
"Meantime, just meditate my madrigal
"O' the mugwort that conceals a dewdrop safe!"
What, dullard? we and you in smothery chafe,
Babes, baldheads, stumbled thus far into Zin
The Horrid, getting neither out nor in,
A hungry sun above us, sands that bung
Our throats,each dromedary lolls a tongue,
Each camel churns a sick and frothy chap,
And you, 'twixt tales of Potiphar's mishap,
And sonnets on the earliest **** that spoke,
Remark, you wonder any one needs choke
With founts about! Potsherd him, Gibeonites!
While awkwardly enough your Moses smites
The rock, though he forego his Promised Land
Thereby, have Satan claim his carcass, and
Figure as Metaphysic Poet . . . ah,
Mark ye the dim first oozings? Meribah!
Then, quaffing at the fount my courage gained,
Recallnot that I prompt yewho explained . . .
"Presumptuous!" interrupts one. You, not I
'T is brother, marvel at and magnify
Such office: "office," quotha? can we get
To the beginning of the office yet?
What do we here? simply experiment
Each on the other's power and its intent
When elsewhere tasked,if this of mine were trucked
For yours to either's good,we watch construct,
In short, an engine: with a finished one,
What it can do, is all,nought, how 't is done.
But this of ours yet in probation, dusk
A kernel of strange wheelwork through its husk
Grows into shape by quarters and by halves;
Remark this tooth's spring, wonder what that valve's
Fall bodes, presume each faculty's device,
Make out each other more or less precise
The scope of the whole engine 's to be proved;
We die: which means to say, the whole 's removed,
Dismounted wheel by wheel, this complex gin,
To be set up anew elsewhere, begin
A task indeed, but with a clearer clime
Than the murk lodgment of our building-time.
And then, I grant you, it behoves forget
How 't is doneall that must amuse us yet
So long: and, while you turn upon your heel,
Pray that I be not busy slitting steel
Or shredding brass, camped on some virgin shore
Under a cluster of fresh stars, before
I name a tithe o' the wheels I trust to do!
So occupied, then, are we: hitherto,
At present, and a weary while to come,
The office of ourselves,nor blind nor dumb,
And seeing somewhat of man's state,has been,
For the worst of us, to say they so have seen;
For the better, what it was they saw; the best
Impart the gift of seeing to the rest:
"So that I glance," says such an one, "around,
"And there 's no face but I can read profound
"Disclosures in; this stands for hope, thatfear,
"And for a speech, a deed in proof, look here!
"'Stoop, else the strings of blossom, where the nuts
"'O'erarch, will blind thee! Said I not? She shuts
"'Both eyes this time, so close the hazels meet!
"'Thus, prisoned in the Piombi, I repeat
"'Events one rove occasioned, o'er and o'er,
"'Putting 'twixt me and madness evermore
"'Thy sweet shape, Zanze! Therefore stoop!'
                       "'That's truth!'
"(Adjudge you) 'the incarcerated youth
"'Would say that!'
         "Youth? Plara the bard? Set down
"That Plara spent his youth in a grim town
"Whose cramped ill-featured streets huddled about
"The minster for protection, never out
"Of its black belfry's shade and its bells' roar.
"The brighter shone the suburb,all the more
"Ugly and absolute that shade's reproof
"Of any chance escape of joy,some roof,
"Taller than they, allowed the rest detect,
"Before the sole permitted laugh (suspect
"Who could, 't was meant for laughter, that ploughed cheek's
"Repulsive gleam!) when the sun stopped both peaks
"Of the cleft belfry like a fiery wedge,
"Then sank, a huge flame on its socket edge,
"With leavings on the grey glass oriel-pane
"Ghastly some minutes more. No fear of rain
"The minster minded that! in heaps the dust
"Lay everywhere. This town, the minster's trust,
"Held Plara; who, its denizen, bade hail
"In twice twelve sonnets, Tempe's dewy vale."
"'Exact the town, the minster and the street!'"
"As all mirth triumphs, sadness means defeat:
"Lust triumphs and is gay, Love 's triumphed o'er
"And sad: but Lucio 's sad. I said before,
"Love's sad, not Lucio; one who loves may be
"As gay his love has leave to hope, as he
"Downcast that lusts' desire escapes the springe:
"'T is of the mood itself I speak, what tinge
"Determines it, else colourless,or mirth,
"Or melancholy, as from heaven or earth."
"'Ay, that 's the variation's gist!'
                   "Indeed?
"Thus far advanced in safety then, proceed!
"And having seen too what I saw, be bold
"And next encounter what I do behold
"(That's sure) but bid you take on trust!"
                       Attack
The use and purpose of such sights! Alack,
Not so unwisely does the crowd dispense
On Salinguerras praise in preference
To the Sordellos: men of action, these!
Who, seeing just as little as you please,
Yet turn that little to account,engage
With, do not gaze at,carry on, a stage,
The work o' the world, not merely make report
The work existed ere their day! In short,
When at some future no-time a brave band
Sees, using what it sees, then shake my hand
In heaven, my brother! Meanwhile where's the hurt
Of keeping the Makers-see on the alert,
At whose defection mortals stare aghast
As though heaven's bounteous windows were slammed fast
Incontinent? Whereas all you, beneath,
Should scowl at, bruise their lips and break their teeth
Who ply the pullies, for neglecting you:
And therefore have I moulded, made anew
A Man, and give him to be turned and tried,
Be angry with or pleased at. On your side,
Have ye times, places, actors of your own?
Try them upon Sordello when full-grown,
And thenah then! If Hercules first parched
His foot in Egypt only to be marched
A sacrifice for Jove with pomp to suit,
What chance have I? The demigod was mute
Till, at the altar, where time out of mind
Such guests became oblations, chaplets twined
His forehead long enough, and he began
Slaying the slayers, nor escaped a man.
Take not affront, my gentle audience! whom
No Hercules shall make his hecatomb,
Believe, nor from his brows your chaplet rend
That's your kind suffrage, yours, my patron-friend,
Whose great verse blares unintermittent on
Like your own trumpeter at Marathon,
You who, Plata and Salamis being scant,
Put up with tna for a stimulant
And did well, I acknowledged, as he loomed
Over the midland sea last month, presumed
Long, lay demolished in the blazing West
At eve, while towards him tilting cloudlets pressed
Like Persian ships at Salamis. Friend, wear
A crest proud as desert while I declare
Had I a flawless ruby fit to wring
Tears of its colour from that painted king
Who lost it, I would, for that smile which went
To my heart, fling it in the sea, content,
Wearing your verse in place, an amulet
Sovereign against all passion, wear and fret!
My English Eyebright, if you are not glad
That, as I stopped my task awhile, the sad
Dishevelled form, wherein I put mankind
To come at times and keep my pact in mind,
Renewed me,hear no crickets in the hedge,
Nor let a glowworm spot the river's edge
At home, and may the summer showers gush
Without a warning from the missel thrush!
So, to our business, nowthe fate of such
As find our common natureovermuch
Despised because restricted and unfit
To bear the burthen they impose on it
Cling when they would discard it; craving strength
To leap from the allotted world, at length
They do leap,flounder on without a term,
Each a god's germ, doomed to remain a germ
In unexpanded infancy, unless . . .
But that 's the storydull enough, confess!
There might be fitter subjects to allure;
Still, neither misconceive my portraiture
Nor undervalue its adornments quaint:
What seems a fiend perchance may prove a saint.
Ponder a story ancient pens transmit,
Then say if you condemn me or acquit.
John the Beloved, banished Antioch
For Patmos, bade collectively his flock
Farewell, but set apart the closing eve
To comfort those his exile most would grieve,
He knew: a touching spectacle, that house
In motion to receive him! Xanthus' spouse
You missed, made panther's meat a month since; but
Xanthus himself (his nephew 't was, they shut
'Twixt boards and sawed asunder) Polycarp,
Soft Charicle, next year no wheel could warp
To swear by Csar's fortune, with the rest
Were ranged; thro' whom the grey disciple pressed,
Busily blessing right and left, just stopped
To pat one infant's curls, the hangman cropped
Soon after, reached the portal. On its hinge
The door turns and he enters: what quick twinge
Ruins the smiling mouth, those wide eyes fix
Whereon, why like some spectral candlestick's
Branch the disciple's arms? Dead swooned he, woke
Anon, heaved sigh, made shift to gasp, heart-broke,
"Get thee behind me, Satan! Have I toiled
"To no more purpose? Is the gospel foiled
"Here too, and o'er my son's, my Xanthus' hearth,
"Portrayed with sooty garb and features swarth
"Ah Xanthus, am I to thy roof beguiled
"To see thethethe Devil domiciled?"
Whereto sobbed Xanthus, "Father, 't is yourself
"Installed, a limning which our utmost pelf
"Went to procure against to-morrow's loss;
"And that's no twy-prong, but a pastoral cross,
"You 're painted with!"
            His puckered brows unfold
And you shall hear Sordello's story told.


~ Robert Browning, Sordello - Book the Third
,
123:Scene. Basil; a chamber in the house of Paracelsus. 1526.
Paracelsus, Festus.
Paracelsus.
Heap logs and let the blaze laugh out!
Festus.
                     True, true!
'T is very fit all, time and chance and change
Have wrought since last we sat thus, face to face
And soul to soulall cares, far-looking fears,
Vague apprehensions, all vain fancies bred
By your long absence, should be cast away,
Forgotten in this glad unhoped renewal
Of our affections.
Paracelsus.
         Oh, omit not aught
Which witnesses your own and Michal's own
Affection: spare not that! Only forget
The honours and the glories and what not,
It pleases you to tell profusely out.
Festus.
Nay, even your honours, in a sense, I waive:
The wondrous Paracelsus, life's dispenser,
Fate's commissary, idol of the schools
And courts, shall be no more than Aureole still,
Still Aureole and my friend as when we parted
Some twenty years ago, and I restrained
As best I could the promptings of my spirit
Which secretly advanced you, from the first,
To the pre-eminent rank which, since, your own
Adventurous ardour, nobly triumphing,
Has won for you.
Paracelsus.
         Yes, yes. And Michal's face
Still wears that quiet and peculiar light
Like the dim circlet floating round a pearl?
Festus.
Just so.
Paracelsus.
    And yet her calm sweet countenance,
Though saintly, was not sad; for she would sing
Alone. Does she still sing alone, bird-like,
Not dreaming you are near? Her carols dropt
In flakes through that old leafy bower built under
The sunny wall at Wrzburg, from her lattice
Among the trees above, while I, unseen,
Sat conning some rare scroll from Tritheim's shelves
Much wondering notes so simple could divert
My mind from study. Those were happy days.
Respect all such as sing when all alone!
Festus.
Scarcely alone: her children, you may guess,
Are wild beside her.
Paracelsus.
           Ah, those children quite
Unsettle the pure picture in my mind:
A girl, she was so perfect, so distinct:
No change, no change! Not but this added grace
May blend and harmonize with its compeers,
And Michal may become her motherhood;
But't is a change, and I detest all change,
And most a change in aught I loved long since.
So, Michalyou have said she thinks of me?
Festus.
O very proud will Michal be of you!
Imagine how we sat, long winter-nights,
Scheming and wondering, shaping your presumed
Adventure, or devising its reward;
Shutting out fear with all the strength of hope.
For it was strange how, even when most secure
In our domestic peace, a certain dim
And flitting shade could sadden all; it seemed
A restlessness of heart, a silent yearning,
A sense of something wanting, incomplete
Not to be put in words, perhaps avoided
By mute consentbut, said or unsaid, felt
To point to one so loved and so long lost.
And then the hopes rose and shut out the fears
How you would laugh should I recount them now
I still predicted your return at last
With gifts beyond the greatest of them all,
All Tritheim's wondrous troop; did one of which
Attain renown by any chance, I smiled,
As well aware of who would prove his peer
Michal was sure some woman, long ere this,
As beautiful as you were sage, had loved . . .
Paracelsus.
Far-seeing, truly, to discern so much
In the fantastic projects and day-dreams
Of a raw restless boy!
Festus.
           Oh, no: the sunrise
Well warranted our faith in this full noon!
Can I forget the anxious voice which said
"Festus, have thoughts like these ere shaped themselves
"In other brains than mine? have their possessors
"Existed in like circumstance? were they weak
"As I, or ever constant from the first,
"Despising youth's allurements and rejecting
"As spider-films the shackles I endure?
"Is there hope for me?"and I answered gravely
As an acknowledged elder, calmer, wiser,
More gifted mortal. O you must remember,
For all your glorious . . .
Paracelsus.
               Glorious? ay, this hair,
These handsnay, touch them, they are mine! Recall
With all the said recallings, times when thus
To lay them by your own ne'er turned you pale
As now. Most glorious, are they not?
Festus.
                   Whywhy
Something must be subtracted from success
So wide, no doubt. He would be scrupulous, truly,
Who should object such drawbacks. Still, still, Aureole,
You are changed, very changed! 'T were losing nothing
To look well to it: you must not be stolen
From the enjoyment of your well-won meed.
Paracelsus.
My friend! you seek my pleasure, past a doubt:
You will best gain your point, by talking, not
Of me, but of yourself.
Festus.
            Have I not said
All touching Michal and my children? Sure
You know, by this, full well how Aennchen looks
Gravely, while one disparts her thick brown hair;
And Aureole's glee when some stray gannet builds
Amid the birch-trees by the lake. Small hope
Have I that he will honour (the wild imp)
His namesake. Sigh not! 't is too much to ask
That all we love should reach the same proud fate.
But you are very kind to humour me
By showing interest in my quiet life;
You, who of old could never tame yourself
To tranquil pleasures, must at heart despise . . .
Paracelsus.
Festus, strange secrets are let out by death
Who blabs so oft the follies of this world:
And I am death's familiar, as you know.
I helped a man to die, some few weeks since,
Warped even from his go-cart to one end
The living on princes' smiles, reflected from
A mighty herd of favourites. No mean trick
He left untried, and truly well-nigh wormed
All traces of God's finger out of him:
Then died, grown old. And just an hour before,
Having lain long with blank and soulless eyes,
He sat up suddenly, and with natural voice
Said that in spite of thick air and closed doors
God told him it was June; and he knew well,
Without such telling, harebells grew in June;
And all that kings could ever give or take
Would not be precious as those blooms to him.
Just so, allowing I am passing sage,
It seems to me much worthier argument
Why pansies,[1] eyes that laugh, bear beauty's prize
From violets, eyes that dream(your Michal's choice)
Than all fools find to wonder at in me
Or in my fortunes. And be very sure
I say this from no prurient restlessness,
No self-complacency, itching to turn,
Vary and view its pleasure from all points,
And, in this instance, willing other men
May be at pains, demonstrate to itself
The realness of the very joy it tastes.
What should delight me like the news of friends
Whose memories were a solace to me oft,
As mountain-baths to wild fowls in their flight?
Ofter than you had wasted thought on me
Had you been wise, and rightly valued bliss.
But there's no taming nor repressing hearts:
God knows I need such!So, you heard me speak?
Festus.
Speak? when?
Paracelsus.
      When but this morning at my class?
There was noise and crowd enough. I saw you not.
Surely you know I am engaged to fill
The chair here?that't is part of my proud fate
To lecture to as many thick-skulled youths
As please, each day, to throng the theatre,
To my great reputation, and no small
Danger of Basil's benches long unused
To crack beneath such honour?
Festus.
               I was there;
I mingled with the throng: shall I avow
Small care was mine to listen?too intent
On gathering from the murmurs of the crowd
A full corroboration of my hopes!
What can I learn about your powers? but they
Know, care for nought beyond your actual state,
Your actual value; yet they worship you,
Those various natures whom you sway as one!
But ere I go, be sure I shall attend . . .
Paracelsus.
Stop, o' God's name: the thing's by no means yet
Past remedy! Shall I read this morning's labour
At least in substance? Nought so worth the gaining
As an apt scholar! Thus then, with all due
Precision and emphasisyou, beside, are clearly
Guiltless of understanding more, a whit,
The subject than your stoolallowed to be
A notable advantage.
Festus.
           Surely, Aureole,
You laugh at me!
Paracelsus.
         I laugh? Ha, ha! thank heaven,
I charge you, if't be so! for I forget
Much, and what laughter should be like. No less,
However, I forego that luxury
Since it alarms the friend who brings it back.
True, laughter like my own must echo strangely
To thinking men; a smile were better far;
So, make me smile! If the exulting look
You wore but now be smiling, 't is so long
Since I have smiled! Alas, such smiles are born
Alone of hearts like yours, or herdsmen's souls
Of ancient time, whose eyes, calm as their flocks,
Saw in the stars mere garnishry of heaven,
And in the earth a stage for altars only.
Never change, Festus: I say, never change!
Festus.
My God, if he be wretched after all
Paracelsus.
When last we parted, Festus, you declared,
Or Michal, yes, her soft lips whispered words
I have preserved. She told me she believed
I should succeed (meaning, that in the search
I then engaged in, I should meet success)
And yet be wretched: now, she augured false.
Festus.
Thank heaven! but you spoke strangely: could I venture
To think bare apprehension lest your friend,
Dazzled by your resplendent course, might find
Henceforth less sweetness in his own, could move
Such earnest mood in you? Fear not, dear friend,
That I shall leave you, inwardly repining
Your lot was not my own!
Paracelsus.
             And this for ever!
For ever! gull who may, they will be gulled!
They will not look nor think;'t is nothing new
In them: but surely he is not of them!
My Festus, do you know, I reckoned, you
Though all beside were sand-blindyou, my friend,
Would look at me, once close, with piercing eye
Untroubled by the false glare that confounds
A weaker vision: would remain serene,
Though singular amid a gaping throng.
I feared you, or I had come, sure, long ere this,
To Einsiedeln. Well, error has no end,
And Rhasis is a sage, and Basil boasts
A tribe of wits, and I am wise and blest
Past all dispute! 'T is vain to fret at it.
I have vowed long ago my worshippers
Shall owe to their own deep sagacity
All further information, good or bad.
Small risk indeed my reputation runs,
Unless perchance the glance now searching me
Be fixed much longer; for it seems to spell
Dimly the characters a simpler man
Might read distinct enough. Old Eastern books
Say, the fallen prince of morning some short space
Remained unchanged in semblance; nay, his brow
Was hued with triumph: every spirit then
Praising, his heart on flame the while:a tale!
Well, Festus, what discover you, I pray?
Festus.
Some foul deed sullies then a life which else
Were raised supreme?
Paracelsus.
           Good: I do well, most well
Why strive to make men hear, feel, fret themselves
With what is past their power to comprehend?
I should not strive now: only, having nursed
The faint surmise that one yet walked the earth,
One, at least, not the utter fool of show,
Not absolutely formed to be the dupe
Of shallow plausibilities alone:
One who, in youth, found wise enough to choose
The happiness his riper years approve,
Was yet so anxious for another's sake,
That, ere his friend could rush upon a mad
And ruinous course, the converse of his own,
His gentle spirit essayed, prejudged for him
The perilous path, foresaw its destiny,
And warned the weak one in such tender words,
Such accentshis whole heart in every tone
That oft their memory comforted that friend
When it by right should have increased despair:
Having believed, I say, that this one man
Could never lose the light thus from the first
His portionhow should I refuse to grieve
At even my gain if it disturb our old
Relation, if it make me out more wise?
Therefore, once more reminding him how well
He prophesied, I note the single flaw
That spoils his prophet's title. In plain words,
You were deceived, and thus were you deceived
I have not been successful, and yet am
Most miserable; 't is said at last; nor you
Give credit, lest you force me to concede
That common sense yet lives upon the world!
Festus.
You surely do not mean to banter me?
Paracelsus.
You know, orif you have been wise enough
To cleanse your memory of such mattersknew,
As far as words of mine could make it clear,
That't was my purpose to find joy or grief
Solely in the fulfilment of my plan
Or plot or whatsoe'er it was; rejoicing
Alone as it proceeded prosperously,
Sorrowing then only when mischance retarded
Its progress. That was in those Wrzburg days!
Not to prolong a theme I thoroughly hate,
I have pursued this plan with all my strength;
And having failed therein most signally,
Cannot object to ruin utter and drear
As all-excelling would have been the prize
Had fortune favoured me. I scarce have right
To vex your frank good spirit late so glad
In my supposed prosperity, I know,
And, were I lucky in a glut of friends,
Would well agree to let your error live,
Nay, strengthen it with fables of success.
But mine is no condition to refuse
The transient solace of so rare a godsend,
My solitary luxury, my one friend:
Accordingly I venture to put off
The wearisome vest of falsehood galling me,
Secure when he is by. I lay me bare
Prone at his mercybut he is my friend!
Not that he needs retain his aspect grave;
That answers not my purpose; for't is like,
Some sunny morningBasil being drained
Of its wise population, every corner
Of the amphitheatre crammed with learned clerks,
Here OEcolampadius, looking worlds of wit,
Here Castellanus, as profound as he,
Munsterus here, Frobenius there, all squeezed
And staring,that the zany of the show,
Even Paracelsus, shall put off before them
His trappings with a grace but seldom judged
Expedient in such cases:the grim smile
That will go round! Is it not therefore best
To venture a rehearsal like the present
In a small way? Where are the signs I seek,
The first-fruits and fair sample of the scorn
Due to all quacks? Why, this will never do!
Festus.
These are foul vapours, Aureole; nought beside!
The effect of watching, study, weariness.
Were there a spark of truth in the confusion
Of these wild words, you would not outrage thus
Your youth's companion. I shall ne'er regard
These wanderings, bred of faintness and much study.
'T is not thus you would trust a trouble to me,
To Michal's friend.
Paracelsus.
          I have said it, dearest Festus!
For the manner, 't is ungracious probably;
You may have it told in broken sobs, one day,
And scalding tears, ere long: but I thought best
To keep that off as long as possible.
Do you wonder still?
Festus.
           No; it must oft fall out
That one whose labour perfects any work,
Shall rise from it with eye so worn that he
Of all men least can measure the extent
Of what he has accomplished. He alone
Who, nothing tasked, is nothing weary too,
May clearly scan the little he effects:
But we, the bystanders, untouched by toil,
Estimate each aright.
Paracelsus.
           This worthy Festus
Is one of them, at last! 'T is so with all!
First, they set down all progress as a dream;
And next, when he whose quick discomfiture
Was counted on, accomplishes some few
And doubtful steps in his career,behold,
They look for every inch of ground to vanish
Beneath his tread, so sure they spy success!
Festus.
Few doubtful steps? when death retires before
Your presencewhen the noblest of mankind,
Broken in body or subdued in soul,
May through your skill renew their vigour, raise
The shattered frame to pristine stateliness?
When men in racking pain may purchase dreams
Of what delights them most, swooning at once
Into a sea of bliss or rapt along
As in a flying sphere of turbulent light?
When we may look to you as one ordained
To free the flesh from fell disease, as frees
Our Luther's burning tongue the fettered soul?
When . . .
Paracelsus.
     When and where, the devil, did you get
This notable news?
Festus.
         Even from the common voice;
From those whose envy, daring not dispute
The wonders it decries, attributes them
To magic and such folly.
Paracelsus.
             Folly? Why not
To magic, pray? You find a comfort doubtless
In holding, God ne'er troubles him about
Us or our doings: once we were judged worth
The devil's tempting . . . I offend: forgive me,
And rest content. Your prophecy on the whole
Was fair enough as prophesyings go;
At fault a little in detail, but quite
Precise enough in the main; and hereupon
I pay due homage: you guessed long ago
(The prophet!) I should failand I have failed.
Festus.
You mean to tell me, then, the hopes which fed
Your youth have not been realized as yet?
Some obstacle has barred them hitherto?
Or that their innate . . .
Paracelsus.
              As I said but now,
You have a very decent prophet's fame,
So you but shun details here. Little matter
Whether those hopes were mad,the aims they sought,
Safe and secure from all ambitious fools;
Or whether my weak wits are overcome
By what a better spirit would scorn: I fail.
And now methinks't were best to change a theme
I am a sad fool to have stumbled on.
I say confusedly what comes uppermost;
But there are times when patience proves at fault,
As now: this morning's strange encounteryou
Beside me once again! you, whom I guessed
Alive, since hitherto (with Luther's leave)
No friend have I among the saints at peace,
To judge by any good their prayers effect.
I knew you would have helped mewhy not he,
My strange competitor in enterprise,
Bound for the same end by another path,
Arrived, or ill or well, before the time,
At our disastrous journey's doubtful close?
How goes it with Aprile? Ah, they miss
Your lone sad sunny idleness of heaven,
Our martyrs for the world's sake; heaven shuts fast:
The poor mad poet is howling by this time!
Since you are my sole friend then, here or there,
I could not quite repress the varied feelings
This meeting wakens; they have had their vent,
And now forget them. Do the rear-mice still
Hang like a fretwork on the gate (or what
In my time was a gate) fronting the road
From Einsiedeln to Lachen?
Festus.
              Trifle not:
Answer me, for my sake alone! You smiled
Just now, when I supposed some deed, unworthy
Yourself, might blot the else so bright result;
Yet if your motives have continued pure,
Your will unfaltering, and in spite of this,
You have experienced a defeat, why then
I say not you would cheerfully withdraw
From contestmortal hearts are not so fashioned
But surely you would ne'ertheless withdraw.
You sought not fame nor gain nor even love,
No end distinct from knowledge,I repeat
Your very words: once satisfied that knowledge
Is a mere dream, you would announce as much,
Yourself the first. But how is the event?
You are defeatedand I find you here!
Paracelsus.
As though "here" did not signify defeat!
I spoke not of my little labours here,
But of the break-down of my general aims:
For you, aware of their extent and scope,
To look on these sage lecturings, approved
By beardless boys, and bearded dotards worse,
As a fit consummation of such aims,
Is worthy notice. A professorship
At Basil! Since you see so much in it,
And think my life was reasonably drained
Of life's delights to render me a match
For duties arduous as such post demands,
Be it far from me to deny my power
To fill the petty circle lotted out
Of infinite space, or justify the host
Of honours thence accruing. So, take notice,
This jewel dangling from my neck preserves
The features of a prince, my skill restored
To plague his people some few years to come:
And all through a pure whim. He had eased the earth
For me, but that the droll despair which seized
The vermin of his household, tickled me.
I came to see. Here, drivelled the physician,
Whose most infallible nostrum was at fault;
There quaked the astrologer, whose horoscope
Had promised him interminable years;
Here a monk fumbled at the sick man's mouth
With some undoubted relica sudary
Of the Virgin; while another piebald knave
Of the same brotherhood (he loved them ever)
Was actively preparing 'neath his nose
Such a suffumigation as, once fired,
Had stunk the patient dead ere he could groan.
I cursed the doctor and upset the brother,
Brushed past the conjurer, vowed that the first gust
Of stench from the ingredients just alight
Would raise a cross-grained devil in my sword,
Not easily laid: and ere an hour the prince
Slept as he never slept since prince he was.
A dayand I was posting for my life,
Placarded through the town as one whose spite
Had near availed to stop the blessed effects
Of the doctor's nostrum which, well seconded
By the sudary, and most by the costly smoke
Not leaving out the strenuous prayers sent up
Hard by in the abbeyraised the prince to life:
To the great reputation of the seer
Who, confident, expected all along
The glad eventthe doctor's recompense
Much largess from his highness to the monks
And the vast solace of his loving people,
Whose general satisfaction to increase,
The prince was pleased no longer to defer
The burning of some dozen heretics
Remanded till God's mercy should be shown
Touching his sickness: last of all were joined
Ample directions to all loyal folk
To swell the complement by seizing me
Whodoubtless some rank sorcererendeavoured
To thwart these pious offices, obstruct
The prince's cure, and frustrate heaven by help
Of certain devils dwelling in his sword.
By luck, the prince in his first fit of thanks
Had forced this bauble on me as an earnest
Of further favours. This one case may serve
To give sufficient taste of many such,
So, let them pass. Those shelves support a pile
Of patents, licences, diplomas, titles
From Germany, France, Spain, and Italy;
They authorize some honour; ne'ertheless,
I set more store by this Erasmus sent;
He trusts me; our Frobenius is his friend,
And him "I raised" (nay, read it) "from the dead."
I weary you, I see. I merely sought
To show, there's no great wonder after all
That, while I fill the class-room and attract
A crowd to Basil, I get leave to stay,
And therefore need not scruple to accept
The utmost they can offer, if I please:
For't is but right the world should be prepared
To treat with favour e'en fantastic wants
Of one like me, used up in serving her.
Just as the mortal, whom the gods in part
Devoured, received in place of his lost limb
Some virtue or othercured disease, I think;
You mind the fables we have read together.
Festus.
You do not think I comprehend a word.
The time was, Aureole, you were apt enough
To clothe the airiest thoughts in specious breath;
But surely you must feel how vague and strange
These speeches sound.
Paracelsus.
           Well, then: you know my hopes;
I am assured, at length, those hopes were vain;
That truth is just as far from me as ever;
That I have thrown my life away; that sorrow
On that account is idle, and further effort
To mend and patch what's marred beyond repairing,
As useless: and all this was taught your friend
By the convincing good old-fashioned method
Of forceby sheer compulsion. Is that plain?
Festus.
Dear Aureole, can it be my fears were just?
God wills not . . .
Paracelsus.
          Now, 't is this I most admire
The constant talk men of your stamp keep up
Of God's will, as they style it; one would swear
Man had but merely to uplift his eye,
And see the will in question charactered
On the heaven's vault. 'T is hardly wise to moot
Such topics: doubts are many and faith is weak.
I know as much of any will of God
As knows some dumb and tortured brute what Man,
His stern lord, wills from the perplexing blows
That plague him every way; but there, of course,
Where least he suffers, longest he remains
My case; and for such reasons I plod on,
Subdued but not convinced. I know as little
Why I deserve to fail, as why I hoped
Better things in my youth. I simply know
I am no master here, but trained and beaten
Into the path I tread; and here I stay,
Until some further intimation reach me,
Like an obedient drudge. Though I prefer
To view the whole thing as a task imposed
Which, whether dull or pleasant, must be done
Yet, I deny not, there is made provision
Of joys which tastes less jaded might affect;
Nay, some which please me too, for all my pride
Pleasures that once were pains: the iron ring
Festering about a slave's neck grows at length
Into the flesh it eats. I hate no longer
A host of petty vile delights, undreamed of
Or spurned before; such now supply the place
Of my dead aims: as in the autumn woods
Where tall trees used to flourish, from their roots
Springs up a fungous brood sickly and pale,
Chill mushrooms coloured like a corpse's cheek.
Festus.
If I interpret well your words, I own
It troubles me but little that your aims,
Vast in their dawning and most likely grown
Extravagantly since, have baffled you.
Perchance I am glad; you merit greater praise;
Because they are too glorious to be gained,
You do not blindly cling to them and die;
You fell, but have not sullenly refused
To rise, because an angel worsted you
In wrestling, though the world holds not your peer;
And though too harsh and sudden is the change
To yield content as yet, still you pursue
The ungracious path as though't were rosv-strewn.
'T is well: and your reward, or soon or late,
Will come from him whom no man serves in vain.
Paracelsus.
Ah, very fine! For my part, I conceive
The very pausing from all further toil,
Which you find heinous, would become a seal
To the sincerity of all my deeds.
To be consistent I should die at once;
I calculated on no after-life;
Yet (how crept in, how fostered, I know not)
Here am I with as passionate regret
For youth and health and love so vainly lavished,
As if their preservation had been first
And foremost in my thoughts; and this strange fact
Humbled me wondrously, and had due force
In rendering me the less averse to follow
A certain counsel, a mysterious warning
You will not understandbut't was a man
With aims not mine and yet pursued like mine,
With the same fervour and no more success,
Perishing in my sight; who summoned me
As I would shun the ghastly fate I saw,
To serve my race at once; to wait no longer
That God should interfere in my behalf,
But to distrust myself, put pride away,
And give my gains, imperfect as they were,
To men. I have not leisure to explain
How, since, a singular series of events
Has raised me to the station you behold,
Wherein I seem to turn to most account
The mere wreck of the past,perhaps receive
Some feeble glimmering token that God views
And may approve my penance: therefore here
You find me, doing most good or least harm.
And if folks wonder much and profit little
'T is not my fault; only, I shall rejoice
When my part in the farce is shuffled through,
And the curtain falls: I must hold out till then.
Festus.
Till when, dear Aureole?
Paracelsus.
             Till I'm fairly thrust
From my proud eminence. Fortune is fickle
And even professors fall: should that arrive,
I see no sin in ceding to my bent.
You little fancy what rude shocks apprise us
We sin; God's intimations rather fail
In clearness than in energy: 't were well
Did they but indicate the course to take
Like that to be forsaken. I would fain
Be spared a further sample. Here I stand,
And here I stay, be sure, till forced to flit.
Festus.
Be you but firm on that head! long ere then
All I expect will come to pass, I trust:
The cloud that wraps you will have disappeared.
Meantime, I see small chance of such event:
They praise you here as one whose lore, already
Divulged, eclipses all the past can show,
But whose achievements, marvellous as they be,
Are faint anticipations of a glory
About to be revealed. When Basil's crowds
Dismiss their teacher, I shall be content
That he depart.
Paracelsus.
        This favour at their hands
I look for earlier than your view of things
Would warrant. Of the crowd you saw to-day,
Remove the full half sheer amazement draws,
Mere novelty, nought else; and next, the tribe
Whose innate blockish dulness just perceives
That unless miracles (as seem my works)
Be wrought in their behalf, their chance is slight
To puzzle the devil; next, the numerous set
Who bitterly hate established schools, and help
The teacher that oppugns them, till he once
Have planted his own doctrine, when the teacher
May reckon on their rancour in his turn;
Take, too, the sprinkling of sagacious knaves
Whose cunning runs not counter to the vogue
But seeks, by flattery and crafty nursing,
To force my system to a premature
Short-lived development. Why swell the list?
Each has his end to serve, and his best way
Of serving it: remove all these, remains
A scantling, a poor dozen at the best,
Worthy to look for sympathy and service,
And likely to draw profit from my pains.
Festus.
'T is no encouraging picture: still these few
Redeem their fellows. Once the germ implanted,
Its growth, if slow, is sure.
Paracelsus.
               God grant it so!
I would make some amends: but if I fail,
The luckless rogues have this excuse to urge,
That much is in my method and my manner,
My uncouth habits, my impatient spirit,
Which hinders of reception and result
My doctrine: much to say, small skill to speak!
These old aims suffered not a looking-off
Though for an instant; therefore, only when
I thus renounced them and resolved to reap
Some present fruitto teach mankind some truth
So dearly purchasedonly then I found
Such teaching was an art requiring cares
And qualities peculiar to itself:
That to possess was one thingto display
Another. With renown first in my thoughts,
Or popular praise, I had soon discovered it:
One grows but little apt to learn these things.
Festus.
If it be so, which nowise I believe,
There needs no waiting fuller dispensation
To leave a labour of so little use.
Why not throw up the irksome charge at once?
Paracelsus.
A task, a task!
        But wherefore hide the whole
Extent of degradation, once engaged
In the confessing vein? Despite of all
My fine talk of obedience and repugnance,
Docility and what not, 't is yet to learn
If when the task shall really be performed,
My inclination free to choose once more,
I shall do aught but slightly modify
The nature of the hated task I quit.
In plain words, I am spoiled; my life still tends
As first it tended; I am broken and trained
To my old habits: they are part of me.
I know, and none so well, my darling ends
Are proved impossible: no less, no less,
Even now what humours me, fond fool, as when
Their faint ghosts sit with me and flatter me
And send me back content to my dull round?
How can I change this soul?this apparatus
Constructed solely for their purposes,
So well adapted to their every want,
To search out and discover, prove and perfect;
This intricate machine whose most minute
And meanest motions have their charm to me
Though to none elsean aptitude I seize,
An object I perceive, a use, a meaning,
A property, a fitness, I explain
And I alone:how can I change my soul?
And this wronged body, worthless save when tasked
Under that soul's dominionused to care
For its bright master's cares and quite subdue
Its proper cravingsnot to ail nor pine
So he but prosperwhither drag this poor
Tried patient body? God! how I essayed
To live like that mad poet, for a while,
To love alone; and how I felt too warped
And twisted and deformed! What should I do,
Even tho'released from drudgery, but return
Faint, as you see, and halting, blind and sore,
To my old life and die as I began?
I cannot feed on beauty for the sake
Of beauty only, nor can drink in balm
From lovely objects for their loveliness;
My nature cannot lose her first imprint;
I still must hoard and heap and class all truths
With one ulterior purpose: I must know!
Would God translate me to his throne, believe
That I should only listen to his word
To further my own aim! For other men,
Beauty is prodigally strewn around,
And I were happy could I quench as they
This mad and thriveless longing, and content me
With beauty for itself alone: alas,
I have addressed a frock of heavy mail
Yet may not join the troop of sacred knights;
And now the forest-creatures fly from me,
The grass-banks cool, the sunbeams warm no more.
Best follow, dreaming that ere night arrive,
I shall o'ertake the company and ride
Glittering as they!
Festus.
          I think I apprehend
What you would say: if you, in truth, design
To enter once more on the life thus left,
Seek not to hide that all this consciousness
Of failure is assumed!
Paracelsus.
           My friend, my friend,
I toil, you listen; I explain, perhaps
You understand: there our communion ends.
Have you learnt nothing from to-day's discourse?
When we would thoroughly know the sick man's state
We feel awhile the fluttering pulse, press soft
The hot brow, look upon the languid eye,
And thence divine the rest. Must I lay bare
My heart, hideous and beating, or tear up
My vitals for your gaze, ere you will deem
Enough made known? You! who are you, forsooth?
That is the crowning operation claimed
By the arch-demonstratorheaven the hall,
And earth the audience. Let Aprile and you
Secure good places: 't will be worth the while.
Festus.
Are you mad, Aureole? What can I have said
To call for this? I judged from your own words.
Paracelsus.
Oh, doubtless! A sick wretch describes the ape
That mocks him from the bed-foot, and all gravely
You thither turn at once: or he recounts
The perilous journey he has late performed,
And you are puzzled much how that could be!
You find me here, half stupid and half mad;
It makes no part of my delight to search
Into these matters, much less undergo
Another's scrutiny; but so it chances
That I am led to trust my state to you:
And the event is, you combine, contrast
And ponder on my foolish words as though
They thoroughly conveyed all hidden here
Here, loathsome with despair and hate and rage!
Is there no fear, no shrinking and no shame?
Will you guess nothing? will you spare me nothing?
Must I go deeper? Ay or no?
Festus.
               Dear friend . . .
               Paracelsus.
True: I am brutal't is a part of it;
The plague's signyou are not a lazar-haunter,
How should you know? Well then, you think it strange
I should profess to have failed utterly,
And yet propose an ultimate return
To courses void of hope: and this, because
You know not what temptation is, nor how
'T is like to ply men in the sickliest part.
You are to understand that we who make
Sport for the gods, are hunted to the end:
There is not one sharp volley shot at us,
Which 'scaped with life, though hurt, we slacken pace
And gather by the wayside herbs and roots
To staunch our wounds, secure from further harm:
We are assailed to life's extremest verge.
It will be well indeed if I return,
A harmless busy fool, to my old ways!
I would forget hints of another fate,
Significant enough, which silent hours
Have lately scared me with.
Festus.
               Another! and what?
               Paracelsus.
After all, Festus, you say well: I am
A man yet: I need never humble me.
I would have beensomething, I know not what;
But though I cannot soar, I do not crawl.
There are worse portions than this one of mine.
You say well!
Festus.
       Ah!
       Paracelsus.
         And deeper degradation!
If the mean stimulants of vulgar praise,
If vanity should become the chosen food
Of a sunk mind, should stifle even the wish
To find its early aspirations true,
Should teach it to breathe falsehood like life-breath
An atmosphere of craft and trick and lies;
Should make it proud to emulate, surpass
Base natures in the practices which woke
Its most indignant loathing once . . . No, no!
Utter damnation is reserved for hell!
I had immortal feelings; such shall never
Be wholly quenched: no, no!
               My friend, you wear
A melancholy face, and certain't is
There's little cheer in all this dismal work.
But was it my desire to set abroach
Such memories and forebodings? I foresaw
Where they would drive. 'T were better we discuss
News from Lucerne or Zurich; ask and tell
Of Egypt's flaring sky or Spain's cork-groves.
Festus.
I have thought: trust me, this mood will pass away!
I know you and the lofty spirit you bear,
And easily ravel out a clue to all.
These are the trials meet for such as you,
Nor must you hope exemption: to be mortal
Is to be plied with trials manifold.
Look round! The obstacles which kept the rest
From your ambition, have been spurned by you;
Their fears, their doubts, the chains that bind themall,
Were flax before your resolute soul, which nought
Avails to awe save these delusions bred
From its own strength, its selfsame strength disguised,
Mocking itself. Be brave, dear Aureole! Since
The rabbit has his shade to frighten him,
The fawn a rustling bough, mortals their cares,
And higher natures yet would slight and laugh
At these entangling fantasies, as you
At trammels of a weaker intellect,
Measure your mind's height by the shade it casts!
I know you.
Paracelsus.
     And I know you, dearest Festus!
And how you love unworthily; and how
All admiration renders blind.
Festus.
               You hold
That admiration blinds?
Paracelsus.
            Ay and alas!
            Festus.
Nought blinds you less than admiration, friend!
Whether it be that all love renders wise
In its degree; from love which blends with love
Heart answering heartto love which spends itself
In silent mad idolatry of some
Pre-eminent mortal, some great soul of souls,
Which ne'er will know how well it is adored.
I say, such love is never blind; but rather
Alive to every the minutest spot
Which mars its object, and which hate (supposed
So vigilant and searching) dreams not of.
Love broods on such: what then? When first perceived
Is there no sweet strife to forget, to change,
To overflush those blemishes with all
The glow of general goodness they disturb?
To make those very defects an endless source
Of new affection grown from hopes and fears?
And, when all fails, is there no gallant stand
Made even for much proved weak? no shrinking-back
Lest, since all love assimilates the soul
To what it loves, it should at length become
Almost a rival of its idol? Trust me,
If there be fiends who seek to work our hurt,
To ruin and drag down earth's mightiest spirits
Even at God's foot, 't will be from such as love,
Their zeal will gather most to serve their cause;
And least from those who hate, who most essay
By contumely and scorn to blot the light
Which forces entrance even to their hearts:
For thence will our defender tear the veil
And show within each heart, as in a shrine,
The giant image of perfection, grown
In hate's despite, whose calumnies were spawned
In the untroubled presence of its eyes.
True admiration blinds not; nor am I
So blind. I call your sin exceptional;
It springs from one whose life has passed the bounds
Prescribed to life. Compound that fault with God!
I speak of men; to common men like me
The weakness you reveal endears you more,
Like the far traces of decay in suns.
I bid you have good cheer!
Paracelsus.
              Proeclare! Optime!
Think of a quiet mountain-cloistered priest
Instructing Paracelsus! yet't is so.
Come, I will show you where my merit lies.
'T is in the advance of individual minds
That the slow crowd should ground their expectation
Eventually to follow; as the sea
Waits ages in its bed till some one wave
Out of the multitudinous mass, extends
The empire of the whole, some feet perhaps,
Over the strip of sand which could confine
Its fellows so long time: thenceforth the rest,
Even to the meanest, hurry in at once,
And so much is clear gained. I shall be glad
If all my labours, failing of aught else,
Suffice to make such inroad and procure
A wider range for thought: nay, they do this;
For, whatsoe'er my notions of true knowledge
And a legitimate success, may be,
I am not blind to my undoubted rank
When classed with others: I precede my age:
And whoso wills is very free to mount
These labours as a platform whence his own
May have a prosperous outset. But, alas!
My followersthey are noisy as you heard;
But, for intelligence, the best of them
So clumsily wield the weapons I supply
And they extol, that I begin to doubt
Whether their own rude clubs and pebble-stones
Would not do better service than my arms
Thus vilely swayedif error will not fall
Sooner before the old awkward batterings
Than my more subtle warfare, not half learned.
Festus.
I would supply that art, then, or withhold
New arms until you teach their mystery.
Paracelsus.
Content you, 't is my wish; I have recourse
To the simplest training. Day by day I seek
To wake the mood, the spirit which alone
Can make those arms of any use to men.
Of course they are for swaggering forth at once
Graced with Ulysses' bow, Achilles' shield
Flash on us, all in armour, thou Achilles!
Make our hearts dance to thy resounding step!
A proper sight to scare the crows away!
Festus.
Pity you choose not then some other method
Of coming at your point. The marvellous art
At length established in the world bids fair
To remedy all hindrances like these:
Trust to Frobenius' press the precious lore
Obscured by uncouth manner, or unfit
For raw beginners; let his types secure
A deathless monument to after-time;
Meanwhile wait confidently and enjoy
The ultimate effect: sooner or later
You shall be all-revealed.
Paracelsus.
              The old dull question
In a new form; no more. Thus: I possess
Two sorts of knowledge; one,vast, shadowy,
Hints of the unbounded aim I once pursued:
The other consists of many secrets, caught
While bent on nobler prize,perhaps a few
Prime principles which may conduct to much:
These last I offer to my followers here.
Now, bid me chronicle the first of these,
My ancient study, and in effect you bid
Revert to the wild courses just abjured:
I must go find them scattered through the world.
Then, for the principles, they are so simple
(Being chiefly of the overturning sort),
That one time is as proper to propound them
As any otherto-morrow at my class,
Or half a century hence embalmed in print.
For if mankind intend to learn at all,
They must begin by giving faith to them
And acting on them: and I do not see
But that my lectures serve indifferent well:
No doubt these dogmas fall not to the earth,
For all their novelty and rugged setting.
I think my class will not forget the day
I let them know the gods of Israel,
Atius, Oribasius, Galen, Rhasis,
Serapion, Avicenna, Averres,
Were blocks!
Festus.
      And that reminds me, I heard something
About your waywardness: you burned their books,
It seems, instead of answering those sages.
Paracelsus.
And who said that?
Festus.
         Some I met yesternight
With OEcolampadius. As you know, the purpose
Of this short stay at Basil was to learn
His pleasure touching certain missives sent
For our Zuinglius and himself. 'T was he
Apprised me that the famous teacher here
Was my old friend.
Paracelsus.
         Ah, I forgot: you went . . .
         Festus.
From Zurich with advices for the ear
Of Luther, now at Wittenberg(you know,
I make no doubt, the differences of late
With Carolostadius)and returning sought
Basil and . . .
Paracelsus.
        I remember. Here's a case, now,
Will teach you why I answer not, but burn
The books you mention. Pray, does Luther dream
His arguments convince by their own force
The crowds that own his doctrine? No, indeed!
His plain denial of established points
Ages had sanctified and men supposed
Could never be oppugned while earth was under
And heaven above thempoints which chance or time
Affected notdid more than the array
Of argument which followed. Boldly deny!
There is much breath-stopping, hair-stiffening
Awhile; then, amazed glances, mute awaiting
The thunderbolt which does not come: and next,
Reproachful wonder and inquiry: those
Who else had never stirred, are able now
To find the rest out for themselves, perhaps
To outstrip him who set the whole at work,
As never will my wise class its instructor.
And you saw Luther?
Festus.
          'T is a wondrous soul!
          Paracelsus.
True: the so-heavy chain which galled mankind
Is shattered, and the noblest of us all
Must bow to the deliverernay, the worker
Of our own projectwe who long before
Had burst our trammels, but forgot the crowd,
We should have taught, still groaned beneath the load:
This he has done and nobly. Speed that may!
Whatever be my chance or my mischance,
What benefits mankind must glad me too;
And men seem made, though not as I believed,
For something better than the times produce.
Witness these gangs of peasants your new lights
From Suabia have possessed, whom Mnzer leads,
And whom the duke, the landgrave and the elector
Will calm in blood! Well, well; 't is not my world!
Festus.
Hark!
Paracelsus.
   'T is the melancholy wind astir
Within the trees; the embers too are grey:
Morn must be near.
Festus.
         Best ope the casement: see,
The night, late strewn with clouds and flying stars,
Is blank and motionless: how peaceful sleep
The tree-tops altogether! Like an asp,
The wind slips whispering from bough to bough.
Paracelsus.
Ay; you would gaze on a wind-shaken tree
By the hour, nor count time lost.
Festus.
                 So you shall gaze:
Those happy times will come again.
Paracelsus.
                  Gone, gone,
Those pleasant times! Does not the moaning wind
Seem to bewail that we have gained such gains
And bartered sleep for them?
Festus.
               It is our trust
That there is yet another world to mend
All error and mischance.
Paracelsus.
             Another world!
And why this world, this common world, to be
A make-shift, a mere foil, how fair soever,
To some fine life to come? Man must be fed
With angels' food, forsooth; and some few traces
Of a diviner nature which look out
Through his corporeal baseness, warrant him
In a supreme contempt of all provision
For his inferior tastessome straggling marks
Which constitute his essence, just as truly
As here and there a gem would constitute
The rock, their barren bed, one diamond.
But were it sowere man all mindhe gains
A station little enviable. From God
Down to the lowest spirit ministrant,
Intelligence exists which casts our mind
Into immeasurable shade. No, no:
Love, hope, fear, faiththese make humanity;
These are its sign and note and character,
And these I have lost!gone, shut from me for ever,
Like a dead friend safe from unkindness more!
See, morn at length. The heavy darkness seems
Diluted, grey and clear without the stars;
The shrubs bestir and rouse themselves as if
Some snake, that weighed them down all night, let go
His hold; and from the East, fuller and fuller
Day, like a mighty river, flowing in;
But clouded, wintry, desolate and cold.
Yet see how that broad prickly star-shaped plant,
Half-down in the crevice, spreads its woolly leaves
All thick and glistering with diamond dew.
And you depart for Einsiedeln this day,
And we have spent all night in talk like this!
If you would have me better for your love,
Revert no more to these sad themes.
Festus.
                   One favour,
And I have done. I leave you, deeply moved;
Unwilling to have fared so well, the while
My friend has changed so sorely. If this mood
Shall pass away, if light once more arise
Where all is darkness now, if you see fit
To hope and trust again, and strive again,
You will remembernot our love alone
But that my faith in God's desire that man
Should trust on his support, (as I must think
You trusted) is obscured and dim through you:
For you are thus, and this is no reward.
Will you not call me to your side, dear Aureole?


~ Robert Browning, Paracelsus - Part III - Paracelsus
,

IN CHAPTERS [50/564]



  400 Integral Yoga
   33 Yoga
   20 Poetry
   10 Hinduism
   7 Occultism
   7 Fiction
   5 Philosophy
   2 Mythology
   2 Buddhism
   1 Philsophy
   1 Mysticism
   1 Islam
   1 Christianity
   1 Baha i Faith


  403 Sri Aurobindo
   35 The Mother
   25 Satprem
   15 Nolini Kanta Gupta
   13 Sri Ramakrishna
   11 Swami Vivekananda
   9 Swami Krishnananda
   8 A B Purani
   7 H P Lovecraft
   6 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   6 Robert Browning
   4 William Wordsworth
   4 Vyasa
   4 Patanjali
   2 Thubten Chodron
   2 Rudolf Steiner
   2 Plato
   2 Ovid
   2 Nirodbaran
   2 Jetsun Milarepa
   2 James George Frazer
   2 Aleister Crowley


  295 Record of Yoga
   24 Letters On Yoga IV
   22 The Synthesis Of Yoga
   14 The Life Divine
   13 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
   10 Talks
   9 The Study and Practice of Yoga
   8 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
   7 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
   7 Lovecraft - Poems
   7 Letters On Yoga II
   7 Agenda Vol 13
   6 Raja-Yoga
   6 Browning - Poems
   5 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
   4 Wordsworth - Poems
   4 Vishnu Purana
   4 Vedic and Philological Studies
   4 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
   4 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
   4 Letters On Poetry And Art
   4 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
   4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
   3 The Secret Of The Veda
   3 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
   3 Questions And Answers 1956
   3 Questions And Answers 1953
   3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
   3 Agenda Vol 09
   3 Agenda Vol 08
   2 Words Of The Mother II
   2 Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo
   2 The Secret Doctrine
   2 The Golden Bough
   2 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
   2 Prayers And Meditations
   2 Milarepa - Poems
   2 Metamorphoses
   2 Knowledge of the Higher Worlds
   2 Isha Upanishad
   2 How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator
   2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
   2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
   2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
   2 Agenda Vol 05
   2 Agenda Vol 01


00.03 - Upanishadic Symbolism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The three fires are named elsewhere Garhapatya, Dakshina, and Ahavaniya.9 They are the three tongues of the one central Agni, that dwells secreted in the hearth of the soul. They manifest as aspirations that flame up from the three fundamental levels of our being, the body, the life and the mind. For although the spiritual consciousness is the natural element of the soul and is gained in and through the soul, yet, in order that man may take possession of it and dwell in it consciously, in order that the soul's empire may be established, the external being too must respond to the soul's impact and yearn for its truth in the Spirit. The mind, the life and the body which are usually obstructions in the path, must discover the secret flame that is in them tooeach has his own portion of the Soul's Fireand mount on its ardent tongue towards the heights of the Spirit.
   Garhapatya is the Fire in the body-consciousness, the fire of Earth, as it is sometimes called; Dakshina is the Fire of the moon or mind, and Ahavaniya that of life.10 The earthly fire is also the fire of the sun; the sun is the source of all earth's heat and symbolises at the same time the spiritual light manifested in the physical consciousness. The lunar fire is also the fire of the stars, the stars, mythologically, being the consorts or powers of the moon and they symbolise, in Yogic experience, the intuitive thoughts. The fire of the life-force has its symbol in lightning, electric energy being its vehicle.

0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
   Pratap Hazra, a middle-aged man, hailed from a village near Kamarpukur. He was not altogether unresponsive to religious feelings. On a moment's impulse he had left his home, aged mother, wife, and children, and had found shelter in the temple garden at Dakshineswar, where he intended to lead a spiritual life. He loved to argue, and the Master often pointed him out as an example of barren argumentation. He was hypercritical of others and cherished an exaggerated notion of his own spiritual advancement. He was mischievous and often tried to upset the minds of the Master's young disciples, criticizing them for their happy and joyous life and asking them to devote their time to meditation. The Master teasingly compared Hazra to Jatila and Kutila, the two women who always created obstructions in Krishna's sport with the gopis, and said that Hazra lived at Dakshineswar to "thicken the plot" by adding complications.
   --- SOME NOTED MEN

01.01 - The One Thing Needful, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
    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.

01.04 - The Poetry in the Making, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   I said that the supreme artist is superconscious: his consciousness withdraws from the normal mental consciousness and becomes awake and alive in another order of consciousness. To that superior consciousness the artist's mentalityhis ideas and dispositions, his judgments and valuations and acquisitions, in other words, his normal psychological make-upserves as a channel, an instrument, a medium for transcription. Now, there are two stages, or rather two lines of activity in the processus, for they may be overlapping and practically simultaneous. First, there is the withdrawal and the in-gathering of consciousness and then its reappearance into expression. The consciousness retires into a secret or subtle worldWords-worth's "recollected in tranquillity"and comes back with the riches gathered or transmuted there. But the purity of the gold thus garnered and stalled in the artistry of words and sounds or lines and colours depends altogether upon the purity of the channel through which it has to pass. The mental vehicle receives and records and it can do so to perfection if it is perfectly in tune with what it has to receive and record; otherwise the transcription becomes mixed and blurred, a faint or confused echo, a poor show. The supreme creators are precisely those in whom the receptacle, the instrumental faculties offer the least resistance and record with absolute fidelity the experiences of the over or inner consciousness. In Shakespeare, in Homer, in Valmiki the inflatus of the secret consciousness, the inspiration, as it is usually termed, bears down, sweeps away all obscurity or contrariety in the recording mentality, suffuses it with its own glow and puissance, indeed resolves it into its own substance, as it were. And the difference between the two, the secret norm and the recording form, determines the scale of the artist's creative value. It happens often that the obstruction of a too critically observant and self-conscious brain-mind successfully blocks up the flow of something supremely beautiful that wanted to come down and waited for an opportunity.
   Artists themselves, almost invariably, speak of their inspiration: they look upon themselves more or less as mere instruments of something or some Power that is beyond them, beyond their normal consciousness attached to the brain-mind, that controls them and which they cannot control. This perception has been given shape in myths and legends. Goddess Saraswati or the Muses are, however, for them not a mere metaphor but concrete realities. To what extent a poet may feel himself to be a mere passive, almost inanimate, instrumentnothing more than a mirror or a sensitive photographic plateis illustrated in the famous case of Coleridge. His Kubla Khan, as is well known, he heard in sleep and it was a long poem very distinctly recited to him, but when he woke up and wanted to write it down he could remember only the opening lines, the rest having gone completely out of his memory; in other words, the poem was ready-composed somewhere else, but the transmitting or recording instrument was faulty and failed him. Indeed, it is a common experience to hear in sleep verses or musical tunes and what seem then to be very beautiful things, but which leave no trace on the brain and are not recalled in memory.
  --
   Ifso long the poet was more or less a passive, a half-conscious or unconscious intermediary between the higher and the lower lights and delights, his role in the future will be better fulfilled when he becomes fully aware of it and consciously moulds and directs his creative energies. The poet is and has to be the harbinger and minstrel of unheard-of melodies: he is the fashioner of the creative word that brings down and embodies the deepest aspirations and experiences of the human consciousness. The poet is a missionary: he is missioned by Divine Beauty to radiate upon earth something of her charm and wizardry. The fullness of his role he can only play up when he is fully conscious for it is under that condition that all obstructing and obscuring elements lying across the path of inspiration can be completely and wholly eradicated: the instrument purified and tempered and transmuted can hold and express golden truths and beauties and puissances that otherwise escape the too human mould.
   "The Last Voyage" by Charles Williams-A Little Book of Modern Verse, (Faber and Faber).

0 1958-04-03, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Mother, I am seeing all the mean pettiness that obstructs your divine work. Destroy my smallness and take me unto you. May I be sincere, integrally sincere.
   With infinite gratitude, I am your child.

0 1960-11-26, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Not last night but the night before, I touched at least one of the causes (at that time it felt like THE cause) of a certain powerlessness to act directly on Matter You see, when the Will and the Power come, they are extremely effective everywhere UP TO A CERTAIN REGION (in other words, whether people are receptive or not, open or not, makes no differencewhen the Will is applied it is all-powerful UP TO a certain region) but once it arrives here, at the most material material, its efficacy depends on many thingsand a power which depends on something is no power! For a long, long time I have been searching for the reasons behind this powerlessness. Ive located a few, one after another, and upon these points there was an immediate effect. But some things resisted (oh, quite a number, in a number of ways), for example it had difficulty acting on illnesses, on the cells, on doubt (not mental doubt, but rather the doubt of the physical consciousness which cant accept certain things that seem impossible to itwhat Sri Aurobindo calls disbelief,1 not a mental doubt, but the disbelief of the physical consciousness which cant accept what is contrary to its own nature and its own working). And as for illnesses, sometimes it has an immediate effect, but sometimes it drags on and has to follow its so-called normal course. On all these three points, I clearly felt that something was hampering it. These are the Enemys strongholds; all that doesnt want the Divine seizes upon it and even the working of the Power coming from above is obstructed, for when it must work here in the body, it is stopped or deformed or altered or diminished.
   All this goes on in the subconscient; these are things that were pushed out of the physical consciousness down into the subconscient, so theyre there and they come back up whenever they please.

0 1961-01-31, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Now I have begun reading those hymns2. Oh, now I understand! All those obstacles were a preparation straight from Sri Aurobindo. Now I understand! (What I mean by understand is that its a help for making progress.) I understand the nature of certain obstructions and certain difficulties, and what allows certain forces to oppose each other I understand it quite clearly.
   I have read only two hymns so far. By the time I reach the end I will probably have found something.

0 1964-08-08, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   So these are poor words. The experience translates itself into words at a given moment: first, there is the intensity of the experience, then spontaneouslyspontaneouslyit takes the form of words, so I note them down. But the words are thin and flat, theyre poor. But its like when you are about to come into contact with your psychic being and you feel the egos obstruction; there comes a point when you push and push to get through, its so acute that you feel as if everything is going to burst. And in fact something does burst.
   Its the same thing for the earth, the same experience.

0 1964-10-24a, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But there was a whole mass of adverse forces (I saw all sorts of things, I dont want to go into details) that were trying to PREVENT me from declaring it. And I had to make an effort (Mother makes a gesture of driving back an obstructing mass) not an effort to fight, but an effort to overcome something, as when you are hemmed in, an effort to break a shell so as to be able to proclaim it. And the minute I did that, the minute I took my paper and started writingpfft! it all went, as if swept away! That, yes, that I understand! Thats the Lords Power. No intermediate power can do thatit was a splendor, you know! As if all of a sudden the physical world had become a solar world, splendid and radiant, and so light, so harmonious! It was a marvel. For hours.
   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.

0 1967-02-04, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   There were constant obstructions there, between the nose and the throat, and I was silly enough to complain about it; I said it really wasnt reasonable and it had better go, and then drastic measures.
   But this morning I was told to rest, that is, to go within. I said I had other things to do; then it came over me forcibly! That is, suddenly something comes to me that I see, and then quite naturally, I concentrate on it, and I realize Ive gone off!

0 1967-03-02, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Some of the things I said in the Talk youve just read to me today, were true at the time, are still true for the majority of people, but are no longer true for me.1 To the present vision, there is nothing that isnt willed and doesnt come purposely (not exactly deliberately, but with a precise aim in view), and it is AT THE SAME TIME a complete, multifaceted and integral whole (which is why its very difficult to grasp). But now the thing is very clearly felt. And that is since two or three days, following a very minute observationprecise and minute The centre of consciousness is fairly high up (gesture far above the head); in the past it was always there (gesture near the top of the head) and it would see things around and inside, but it seems to have ascended and the field of the consciousness is much vaster. Also, the body has become transparent, so to speak, and almost nonexistent; I dont know how to put it it doesnt obstruct the vibrations: all vibrations can go through. For example (Ill give an example to make myself understood, omitting details deliberately), I was asked for a certain amount of money, an increase. (On the material level a certain number of things are controlledby Motherfrom here, and which I have to pay for regularly.) So then, an increase was asked for. Not that the request was unreasonable, thats not it (it was an increase for something special, a daily increase), but I dont know why (because heregesture to the foreheadnothing happens, I am absolutely, not only blank, but transparent, and everything is allowed to go through un obstructed), when I had to take the decision, there was immediately a vision (but a vision, as I said, from above, which sees over a much larger field), of conflict, battle, and to the observation there was something (in Mother) very much displeased, like a protest. I wondered why. If it had been translated into words, there would have been indignation at that request (without there being in the consciousness the least reason for this indignation: it all becomes very, very impersonalvery impersonal). I went on looking with the vision of the consciousness, and then, as if automatically, through this mouth I asked how much this increase would amount to per week (because even the mental state that enables you to calculate isnt there at all: its only a question of consciousness). I asked someone who was there, and he told me. Then, there immediately came the decision: I will give so much once a week. And everything calmed down. Why and how and who? I havent the faintest idea.
   So I am forced to conclude that its a highly superior consciousness which sees things with reasons that completely elude us, sees how things must be done and sets them in motion (global gesture to indicate the play of forces) until they are done as they must be done. And where there was a person, it no longer exists there are no more persons: there are forces in movement that bring about certain material actions, but no more persons.

0 1967-07-12, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   And the condition of all the cells (the vibrations that make up this body) is undeniably what makes the thing (the cure) possible or not; that is, depending on the bodys condition, it serves either as a transmitter, or on the contrary as an obstruction. Because its not a higher force acting in others THROUGH Matter: its a direct action (horizontal gesture, on the same level) from matter to matter.
   What people generally call healing power is a very great mental or vital power that imposes itself through the resistance of Matter but this isnt that at all! Its the contagion of a vibration. And then its irrevocable.

0 1968-02-03, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   It does its best to be translucent and transparent and not to obstruct or distort this Consciousness in its action.
   Thats really the point: not exactly transparent, because transparent a glass, for instance, is transparent, but it remains hard. Its an effort to meltto melt, to identify like that, to melt. To such a point that when I am very quiet, not movingwhen nothing moves inside, nothing moves outside, when I sit quietly and everything inside keeps still, there seems to be a dilationa dilation and like something that would want to melt. A very, very strong impression. And throughout the cells it brings about an extraordinary power of vibration! Something wholly out of proportion to the human body, you knowtremendous! And it goes through [the body] like that.

0 1968-06-29, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   At any rate, the inner (or higher) organization of circumstances, feelings, sensations, reactions in the totality of what thinks it is individuals, is certainly growing more precise towards a definite aim in its orientation, an aim we might define as the progress of the content of consciousness, that is to say, the broadening and enlightening of consciousnesses. But I am putting it the wrong way round (that is, I am putting it the way its understood); the truth is this: its the Consciousness doing a special work (gesture of kneading) on the instruments of its manifestation, so as to make them clearer, more precise, transparent and complete. When the Consciousness expresses itself, it does so in instruments who darken, muddle, mix up and diminish its power of expression to a tremendous degree; well, thats the work: making them more limpidmore transparent and limpidmore direct, less muddled, and broader, ever broader and at the same time more and more transparent: removing the obstructing fogtransparent, limpid, and also very vast.
   Its a movement of acceleration: its the great work of the whole creation to consciously return (return is another silly wordturn to would be better), to become again, to identify again, not by abolishing the whole work of development and ascent, but Its like a multiplication of the facets of Consciousness, and that multiplication is growing increasingly coherent, organized and conscious of itself.

0 1968-08-28, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   No, its the most mentalized region. Its the mind that obstructs.
   Strangely, every time youve had those great moments, or violent blows, if I may say so, every time its the mind and vital that were swept away. The first time too, in 1962.

0 1969-04-19, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   5) The Mother asked N.S. to say to Indira that she should decide to become an obedient, faithful and devoted servant of the Truth and the Truth alone, and then nothing could obstruct her. All outward difficulties and even persons trying to upset her position will not be able to affect her, and if they seem to succeed, if she is firm in her faith and in her devotion to serve the Truth, nothing can prevail against her.
   6) To be a true servitor of the Truth one must forget all ones personal desires and preferences and have only the thought to serve the Truth.

0 1970-06-20, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   A functioning is disorganized. I feel theres an obstruction or something, or well, I dont know whats wrong.
   (after a silence)

0 1972-02-19, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   You see, the Presence is constantly here; when people come, they dim it, as it were, they create obstructions, but when you are here (immutable gesture), there is none of that, its quiet, its. In other words, He is here. Which to me is a sign that youre doing well.
   (Mother plunges in)

0 1972-03-25, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   This "Note" is the last one Satprem ever received from the disciple to whom Mother was sending her answers. A strange wind seemed to be blowing over those who were connected with the work Mother was doing with Satprem; though not acting in collusion, they all seemed bent on obstructing that work, as will become apparent later. Perhaps this was the beginning of the "tidal wave" Satprem had seen in his dream.
   Collected Poems, V.161.

0 1972-03-30, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Yesterday, it was fifty-eight years since I came here for the first time. For fifty-eight years I have been working FOR THAT, for the body to be as transparent and immaterial as possible, so that it doesnt obstruct the descending Force.
   Nownow its the body itself, the body wants this with all its cells. That is its only purpose in life.

0 1972-04-13, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   My help is there for all those who need itits the ego that prevents people from receiving it. Does V. understand the difference between the ego and the psychic being? Ego is the obstruction. Ego was necessary to shape humanity, but we are now preparing the way for a superhumanity, a supra-humanity. The job of the ego is overit did its job well, now it must disappear. And it is the psychic being, the Divines representative in man, that will stay on and pass into the next species. So we must learn to gather all our being around the psychic. Those who wish to pass to the supra-humanity must get rid of the ego and concentrate themselves around the psychic being.
   But does he know the difference between the ego and the psychic? Because the ego is very artfula rogue!

0 1972-10-11, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Whatever conscious will is left is used to remain attentiveattentive, absolutely still and peaceful (gesture of listening to the above). To try not to obstruct or distort what the Lord (Mother corrects herself) what the Divine wants. Thats all. And not a personal Divine: the Divine Consciousness at work in the world.
   We know nothing, we know absolutely nothing, we are totally stupid really, but if we can be like this (gesture, hands open): receptivereceptive in a silence a silence that worships Light, Light a perfect Knowledge and unerring Will.

0 1972-10-25, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Yes. You know, my impression is that the individuality is like an image to focus the attention (humans need something they have always needed something on their scale to focus their attention), so the body tries its best not to obstruct the divine Force from passing through, it tries to suppress all its own interferences, but at the same time it sees itself as an image humans need to focus their attention.
   (At this point, Governor J. enters the room, sits silently before Mother, remains a few minutes in meditation, then does his pranam and leaves the room.)

0 1973-01-10, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But you know, at the same time, I am aware of the divine forces going through like this (gesture through the body). I try to obstruct as little as I can. And it gives some extraordinary results: constantly, there are what people call miracles.
   But to me, its not quiet as it could beas they SHOULD be.

02.05 - The Godheads of the Little Life, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  A huge obstruction its immobile heart,
  The watching opacity multiplied as he moved

04.05 - The Freedom and the Force of the Spirit, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   But the truly effective will, that can produce an all-round change, comes from a still higher or deeper source. Indeed, the will that never fails, that turns even the external circumstances, adverse and obstructive though they appear to be, to serve it, is the will of the soul, the spiritual being in us. And man is man, not a mere animal, because he has been called upon to seek and find his soul, to get at his inner and inmost being and from there comm and his external nature and outside circumstances too. The orthodox name for this endeavour is spiritual discipline or Yoga.
   On lower levels, a conscious will made up of a compound energy of the mental and vital and physical will, when in sufficient proportions, has considerable effective force: great men of action have this distinction. Even then, however, theirs is not that type which is absolute or never-failing, nor that especial category which will bring about a collective change, a fundamental change, intensive as well as extensive, needed at this evolutionary crisis of earth and humanity.

05.04 - The Immortal Person, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Ego means a hardened core that is not easily broken by the impact of forces. It delimits, ,cuts out, endeavours to maintain its formation by a strong violent self-assertion. Ego is a helper, but also it is a bar. It assists the first formation but delays and obstructs the true and final formation. For the ego is a formation, an individual formation, but on the level of universal Nature: it is of a piece with the normal cosmic movement, only bounded by a peripheral line. In the general expanse it puts up enclosures and preserves and fencings; the constituting elements remaining the same in substance and quality. Even the delimitation is illusory in reality, it is something like the membrane in the body separating the different functional organs, rigid yet allowing interaction and interpenetration. That is why, when death removes the outward fencing, the individuality also cannot long maintain itself and merges into the general. We may look upon egoism as a kind of artificial or experimental individuality, a laboratory formation, as it were, tried and developed under given conditions. In fact, however, egoism is a shadow or an echo upon this side of our nature of the true individuality which lies and comes from elsewhere.
   And that is the soul of the man. We have spoken of the body, the life and the mind of the individual, but beside and beyond these elements which are only instruments there is this secret master and overlord. It is the particle of divinity in each, the developing consciousness the spark of Fire, the ray of Light the immortal in the mortal no bigger than one's thumb." The soul is an individual, an individual formation of the divine reality: it is a godhead formulating an aspect or function of God. We may thus say that the whole purpose of earthly evolution is the evolution of this soul-formation, that is to say, its growing individualisation in light and power, in the expression of the godhead. This growth is first in itself and of itself, its inherent being and consciousness; then, the growth is that of its instrumentation, in other words, the development and organisation of the mind, the life and the body.

05.06 - Physics or philosophy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   That seems to be the burden, the underlying preoccupation of modern physical science: it has been forced to grope towards some kind of mystic perception; at least, it has been put into a frame of mind, due to the crumbling of the very fundamentals of the past structure, which is less obstructive to other sources and spheres and ways of knowledge. Certainly, we must admit that we have moved very far from Laplace when we hear today a hard-boiled rationalist like De Broglie declare:
   The idealisations more or less schematic that our mind builds up are capable of representing certain facets of things, but they have inherent limitations and cannot contain within their frames all the richness of the reality. 4

05.24 - Process of Purification, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   There are two typeswhich mean two stagesof control. You can control your nature by the force of your will, as one does a wicked horse by means of the toothed bit. But this control is precarious and the clearing or purification effected is only skin-deep. At the slightest weakening of the will or a momentary lack of vigilance, you may find yourself in the very midst of a volcanic eruption of passions. Even otherwise, even if there happens no external outburst, the burden or pressure of the ignorant nature is always there and the struggle or tension, although thrown into the background, obstructs the nature, does not give it the free and spontaneous higher poise of the spirit. The other control comes from the inmost being, from the spiritual self itself: it is automatic and it is occult in its action and therefore naturally effective. When the Spirit, the Inner Control (Antarymi)works, it happens that even if the desires are there, the occasions for their satisfaction are withdrawn from you. As the Mother says, some people who are destined for the spiritual life lose all earthly props whenever they wish to lean upon them, they lose their endeared objects whenever they are eager to cherish them. At a certain stage of the growth of the inner consciousness, the demand of the soul makes it impossible for the vital (or physico-vital), so far as it is unpurified and unprepared, to secure its objects: even if the lips yearn, the cup is taken away. The circumstances themselves yield to the pressure of the inner being and conspire, as it were, to withhold and remove all dangerous contacts. The being has not to say, "Lead me not into temptation", for the temptations by themselves slip away. That is the earlier poise of the interregnum we are describing; the next poise comes when the wish-impulses, the subjective vibrations also melt and disappear. Then there appear no such things as temptations. Objects, events, circumstances that might have acted in that role come and go, but the being remains indifferent and unruffled, because suffused with the delight of another contact. The detachment from the worldly is secure and absolute because the being has found its attachment to the Divine. That is the beginning of the integral spiritualisation of the nature.
   ***

06.09 - How to Wait, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   And then there is a time, a propitious time for everything. A thing cannot be done at any time, it has its own appointed hour; you cannot succeed even if you attempt a hundred times before that hour strikes. But when the time is ripe, how easily a thing seems to get done! In what does this ripeness of time consist, what are the marks of the propitious hour? It is when you are in complete possession of the right instruments and when the disposition of circumstances is such that they concur to help and execute and not mar and obstruct. But how to find out or recognise when such conditions are available? Not by your mind or external reasoning. You must have the intuition, and instinctive perception of the situation. Always the indication is there in the very poise of your consciousness. That is to say, when it is filled with a great calm, trust and confidence, a luminous concentration.
   ***

10.05 - Mind and the Mental World, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The world of the mind is a vast field, even vaster it seems than the physical world. The physical world extends, science tells us, to millions of light-years. We may say practically, it is an infinite extension and mind is a thing which surrounds, envelops this measureless extension. Mind surpasses the physical on another count, that is to say, in respect of speed. A material body at its best travels at the speed of light, that is to say, in a second it goes about 200,000 miles (a little less). But thought does not meet any obstruction in respect of distance; whatever the distance, it reaches its goal immediately, it does not take account of time.
   Perhaps because of its expansiveness and its speed, a Vedic Rishi sends up a prayer to it not to be so elusive, not to go away too far but to return and dwell in its home. Evidently the Rishi speaks of gathering and collecting together the dispersed uncontrolled thoughts and settling them in an ordered way in his consciousness. We must note, however, that mind and matter are two different categories and have different dimensions. Material space is not the same as mental space and the speed of light and the speed of thought are not commensurable.

1.016 - The Bee, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  88. Those who disbelieve and obstruct from God’s path—We will add punishment to their punishment, on account of the mischief they used to make.
  89. On the Day when We raise in every community a witness against them, from among them, and bring you as a witness against these. We have revealed to you the Book, as an explanation of all things, and guidance, and mercy and good news for those who submit.

1.01 - Economy, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
  We may imagine a time when, in the infancy of the human race, some enterprising mortal crept into a hollow in a rock for shelter. Every child begins the world again, to some extent, and loves to stay out doors, even in wet and cold. It plays house, as well as horse, having an instinct for it. Who does not remember the interest with which when young he looked at shelving rocks, or any approach to a cave? It was the natural yearning of that portion of our most primitive ancestor which still survived in us. From the cave we have advanced to roofs of palm leaves, of bark and boughs, of linen woven and stretched, of grass and straw, of boards and shingles, of stones and tiles. At last, we know not what it is to live in the open air, and our lives are domestic in more senses than we think. From the hearth to the field is a great distance. It would be well perhaps if we were to spend more of our days and nights without any obstruction between us and the celestial bodies, if the poet did not speak so much from under a roof, or the saint dwell there so long. Birds do not sing in caves, nor do doves cherish their innocence in dovecots.
  However, if one designs to construct a dwelling house, it behooves him to exercise a little Yankee shrewdness, lest after all he find himself in a workhouse, a labyrinth without a clue, a museum, an almshouse, a prison, or a splendid mausoleum instead. Consider first how slight a shelter is absolutely necessary. I have seen Penobscot Indians, in this town, living in tents of thin cotton cloth, while the snow was nearly a foot deep around them, and I thought that they would be glad to have it deeper to keep out the wind. Formerly, when how to get my living honestly, with freedom left for my proper pursuits, was a question which vexed me even more than it does now, for unfortunately I am become somewhat callous, I used to see a large box by the railroad, six feet long by three wide, in which the laborers locked up their tools at night, and it suggested to me that every man who was hard pushed might get such a one for a dollar, and, having bored a few auger holes in it, to admit the air at least, get into it when it rained and at night, and hook down the lid, and so have freedom in his love, and in his soul be free. This did not appear the worst, nor by any means a despicable alternative. You could sit up as late as you pleased, and, whenever you got up, go abroad without any landlord or house-lord dogging you for rent. Many a man is harassed to death to pay the rent of a larger and more luxurious box who would not have frozen to death in such a box as this. I am far from jesting. Economy is a subject which admits of being treated with levity, but it cannot so be disposed of. A comfortable house for a rude and hardy race, that lived mostly out of doors, was once made here almost entirely of such materials as Nature furnished ready to their hands. Gookin, who was superintendent of the Indians subject to the Massachusetts Colony, writing in 1674, says, The best of their houses are covered very neatly, tight and warm, with barks of trees, slipped from their bodies at those seasons when the sap is up, and made into great flakes, with pressure of weighty timber, when they are green.... The meaner sort are covered with mats which they make of a kind of bulrush, and are also indifferently tight and warm, but not so good as the former.... Some I have seen, sixty or a hundred feet long and thirty feet broad.... I have often lodged in their wigwams, and found them as warm as the best English houses. He adds, that they were commonly carpeted and lined within with well-wrought embroidered mats, and were furnished with various utensils. The Indians had advanced so far as to regulate the effect of the wind by a mat suspended over the hole in the roof and moved by a string. Such a lodge was in the first instance constructed in a day or two at most, and taken down and put up in a few hours; and every family owned one, or its apartment in one.

1.01 - Foreward, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  rob us of it, who obstruct the flowing of the streams of Truth,
  r.tasya dharah.,13 the streams of Heaven and obstruct in every
  way the soul's ascent. We have to invoke the Gods by the inner

1.01 - SAMADHI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  The resulting impression from this Samadhi obstructs
  all other impressions.

1.01 - The First Steps, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  Practice is absolutely necessary. You may sit down and listen to me by the hour every day, but if you do not practice, you will not get one step further. It all depends on practice. We never understand these things until we experience them. We will have to see and feel them for ourselves. Simply listening to explanations and theories will not do. There are several obstructions to practice. The first obstruction is an unhealthy body: if the body is not in a fit state, the practice will be obstructed. Therefore we have to keep the body in good health; we have to take care of what we eat and drink, and what we do. Always use a mental effort, what is usually called "Christian Science," to keep the body strong. That is all nothing further of the body. We must not forget that health is only a means to an end. If health were the end, we would be like animals; animals rarely become unhealthy.
  The second obstruction is doubt; we always feel doubtful about things we do not see. Man cannot live upon words, however he may try. So, doubt comes to us as to whether there is any truth in these things or not; even the best of us will doubt sometimes: With practice, within a few days, a little glimpse will come, enough to give one encouragement and hope. As a certain commentator on Yoga philosophy says, "When one proof is obtained, however little that may be, it will give us faith in the whole teaching of Yoga." For instance, after the first few months of practice, you will begin to find you can read another's thoughts; they will come to you in picture form. Perhaps you will hear something happening at a long distance, when you concentrate your mind with a wish to hear. These glimpses will come, by little bits at first, but enough to give you faith, and strength, and hope. For instance, if you concentrate your thoughts on the tip of your nose, in a few days you will begin to smell most beautiful fragrance, which will be enough to show you that there are certain mental perceptions that can be made obvious without the contact of physical objects. But we must always remember that these are only the means; the aim, the end, the goal, of all this training is liberation of the soul. Absolute control of nature, and nothing short of it, must be the goal. We must be the masters, and not the slaves of nature; neither body nor mind must be our master, nor must we forget that the body is mine, and not I the body's.
  A god and a demon went to learn about the Self from a great sage. They studied with him for a long time. At last the sage told them, "You yourselves are the Being you are seeking." Both of them thought that their bodies were the Self. They went back to their people quite satisfied and said, "We have learned everything that was to be learned; eat, drink, and be merry; we are the Self; there is nothing beyond us." The nature of the demon was ignorant, clouded; so he never inquired any further, but was perfectly contented with the idea that he was God, that by the Self was meant the body. The god had a purer nature. He at first committed the mistake of thinking: I, this body, am Brahman: so keep it strong and in health, and well dressed, and give it all sorts of enjoyments. But, in a few days, he found out that that could not be the meaning of the sage, their master; there must be something higher. So he came back and said, "Sir, did you teach me that this body was the Self? If so, I see all bodies die; the Self cannot die." The sage said, "Find it out; thou art That." Then the god thought that the vital forces which work the body were what the sage meant. But after a time, he found that if he ate, these vital forces remained strong, but, if he starved, they became weak. The god then went back to the sage and said, "Sir, do you mean that the vital forces are the Self?" The sage said, "Find out for yourself; thou art That." The god returned home once more, thinking that it was the mind, perhaps, that was the Self. But in a short while he saw that thoughts were so various, now good, again bad; the mind was too changeable to be the Self. He went back to the sage and said, "Sir, I do not think that the mind is the Self; did you mean that?" "No," replied the sage, "thou art That; find out for yourself." The god went home, and at last found that he was the Self, beyond all thought, one without birth or death, whom the sword cannot pierce or the fire burn, whom the air cannot dry or the water melt, the beginningless and endless, the immovable, the intangible, the omniscient, the omnipotent Being; that It was neither the body nor the mind, but beyond them all. So he was satisfied; but the poor demon did not get the truth, owing to his fondness for the body.

1.01 - The Four Aids, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  38:Time is a field of circumstances and forces meeting and working out a resultant progression whose course it measures. To the ego it is a tyrant or a resistance, to the Divine an instrument. Therefore, while our effort is personal. Time appears as a resistance, for it presents to us all the obstruction of the forces that conflict with our own. When the divine working and the personal are combined in our consciousness, it appears as a medium and condition. When the two become one, it appears as a servant and instrument.
  39:The ideal attitude of the Sadhaka towards Time is to have an endless patience as if he had all eternity for his fulfilment and yet to develop the energy that shall realise now and with an ever-increasing mastery and pressure of rapidity till it reaches the miraculous instantaneousness of the supreme divine Transformation.

1.01 - The Human Aspiration, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  5:Thus the eternal paradox and eternal truth of a divine life in an animal body, an immortal aspiration or reality inhabiting a mortal tenement, a single and universal consciousness representing itself in limited minds and divided egos, a transcendent, indefinable, timeless and spaceless Being who alone renders time and space and cosmos possible, and in all these the higher truth realisable by the lower term, justify themselves to the deliberate reason as well as to the persistent instinct or intuition of mankind. Attempts are sometimes made to have done finally with questionings which have so often been declared insoluble by logical thought and to persuade men to limit their mental activities to the practical and immediate problems of their material existence in the universe; but such evasions are never permanent in their effect. Mankind returns from them with a more vehement impulse of inquiry or a more violent hunger for an immediate solution. By that hunger mysticism profits and new religions arise to replace the old that have been destroyed or stripped of significance by a scepticism which itself could not satisfy because, although its business was inquiry, it was unwilling sufficiently to inquire. The attempt to deny or stifle a truth because it is yet obscure in its outward workings and too often represented by obscurantist superstition or a crude faith, is itself a kind of obscurantism. The will to escape from a cosmic necessity because it is arduous, difficult to justify by immediate tangible results, slow in regulating its operations, must turn out eventually to have been no acceptance of the truth of Nature but a revolt against the secret, mightier will of the great Mother It is better and more rational to accept what she will not allow us as a race to reject and lift it from the sphere of blind instinct, obscure intuition and random aspiration into the light of reason and an instructed and consciously self-guiding will. And if there is any higher light of illumined intuition or self-revealing truth which is now in man either obstructed and inoperative or works with intermittent glancings as if from behind a veil or with occasional displays as of the northern lights in our material skies, then there also we need not fear to aspire. For it is likely that such is the next higher state of consciousness of which Mind is only a form and veil, and through the splendours of that light may lie the path of our progressive self-enlargement into whatever highest state is humanity's ultimate resting-place.

10.22 - Short Notes - 5- Consciousness and Dimensions of View, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   As we rise we find that the dimensions increase in number. Our consciousness, our being becomes more and more multiple. In the physical and material, our perception is limited to the four dimensions because of two factorsone, things are spaced out that is to say, they are separate and discrete from one another. We know the law of material space that two things cannot occupy the same space. Secondly, things or events are separated in time, that is to say, there is the law of succession. But in the higher regions, higher or subtler regions, this separation due to time and space loses much of its exclusive force. Things tend to coalesce, even to get identified with each other. The obstructions that time and space offer to intercommunication are minimised more and more as our consciousness or being soars up or dives down into deeper and deeper and higher and higher regions. The dimensions increase in number; that means we begin to apprehend things from many angles and sides at the same time, we have more and more a simultaneous view of the total or global reality of an object. So instead of a four-fold view of things we may have a fivefold, sixfold, tenfold, hundredfold view of things depending on our status of consciousness. In the highest status,we call it Sachchidananda, the infinite and eternal consciousness things attain infinite dimensions, all merged in the Ultimate's unitary consciousness.
   ***

1.028 - Bringing About Whole-Souled Dedication, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  The other point is that this practice will not bring results in only a few days. Sa tu drghakla nairantarya satkra sevita dhabhmi (I.14), says Patanjali. In many cases the result will not follow at all, due to obstructing prarabdhas. There were great seekers, sadhakas, who used to perform japa purascharana, the chanting of a mantra, for years and years together, with the hope of having the vision of the deity. But they had no vision of the deity. We hear of the story of the purascharanas performed by Sage Vidyaranya of yore, Yogi Sri Madhusudana Saraswati and others, but they had no vision. The reason mentioned is that they had obstructing prarabdhas.
  We have three kinds of prarabdha the tamasica, the rajasica and the sattvica. The tamasica and rajasica prarabdhas will not allow even the rise of aspiration for God. The tamasica prarabdha will always bring the most intense form of obstacles, including a mood of lethargy, indolence, sleepiness, and even doubt of the possibility of gaining any such realisation at all, as yoga promises. Atheism, materialism and lack of faith are due to the working of tamasica prarabdhas. As long as these types of prarabdha function, as long as the tamasica prarabdhas are active, there is no question of the practice of yoga we can do nothing.

1.02 - BOOK THE SECOND, #Metamorphoses, #Ovid, #Poetry
  As when some dusky orb obstructs his ray,
  And sullies in a dim eclipse the day.

1.02 - Meditating on Tara, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  In another interpretation, tare, tuttare, and ture banish the obstructions to generating the three principal aspects of the path the determination to be free, the altruistic intention of bodhichitta, and the wisdom
  realizing emptiness. The determination to be free is also called renunciation.

1.02 - SADHANA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  minimising the pain-bearing obstructions.
  Most of us make our minds like spoiled children, allowing
  --
  it into subjection. The obstructions to Yoga arise from lack of
  this control, and cause us pain. They can only be removed by
  --
  The pain-bearing obstructions are - ignorance,
  egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life.
  --
  pain-bearing obstructions, and their experience in this
  visible life, or in the unseen life.
  --
  up. They are called pain-bearing obstructions, both happy and
  unhappy thoughts, because according to the Yogis , both, in the
  --
  good or evil, as pain-bearing obstructions; they obstruct the
  way to freedom of the Soul. It is the same with the Samskaras,
  --
  To obstruct thoughts which are inimical to Yoga
  contrary thoughts will be brought.
  --
  The obstructions to Yoga are killing etc., whether
  committed, caused, or approved; either through
  --
  Seat being conquered, the dualities do not obstruct.
  The dualities are good and bad, heat and cold, and all the pairs

1.02 - The Doctrine of the Mystics, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  But the Dasyu is the natural enemy. These dividers, plunderers, harmful powers, these Danavas, sons of the Mother of division, are spoken of by the Rishis under many general appellations. There are Rakshasas; there are Eaters and Devourers, Wolves and Tearers; there are hurters and haters; there are dualisers; there are confiners or censurers. But we are given also many specific names. Vritra, the Serpent, is the grand Adversary; for he obstructs with his coils of darkness all possibility of divine existence and divine action. And even when Vritra is slain by the light, fiercer enemies arise out of him. Shushna afflicts us with his impure and ineffective force, Namuchi fights man by his weaknesses, and others too assail, each with his proper evil. Then there are Vala and the Panis, miser traffickers in the sense-life, stealers and concealers of the higher Light and its illuminations which they can only darken and misuse, - an impious host who are jealous of their store and will not offer sacrifice to the Gods. These and other personalities - they are much more than personifications - of our ignorance, evil, weakness and many limitations make constant war upon man; they encircle him from near or they shoot their arrows at him from afar or even dwell in his gated house in the place of the Gods and with their shapeless stammering mouths and their insufficient breath of force mar his self-expression. They must be expelled, overpowered, slain, thrust down into their nether darkness by the aid of the mighty and helpful deities.
    1 This excerpt is reproduced from the 1946 edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. The complete essay which appeared in the Arya is published in The Secret of the Veda with Selected Hymns, Part Three. - Ed.

1.031 - Intense Aspiration, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  There is nothing in this world which is spatially cut off by a long distance, ultimately speaking. The distance between the seeker and the sought is an apparent one it is not a real one. If the distance is real, it would be difficult for us to achieve anything. If there is a real gap between me and somebody else, that somebody else will be outside me for ever and ever. The object that we seek is not really cut off by a gap of distance spatial or even temporal. Even the time factor is not a bar to the achievement of the objective, because while space and time seem to be the principle obstructions to our achievement of anything, they are ultimately nothing if we come to the truth about them. These so-called terrific factors called 'space' and 'time', which on one side make the object appear far off in space and on the other side make it appear distant in time, are ultimately illusory vestments over the consciousness of what the truth is. The achievement of anything is a simple affair if the correct technique is known, because nothing can be simpler to understand and experience than truth. The easiest thing is truth, because it is truth after all, and what else can be as easy as truth? It will be difficult to catch untruth. But it should not be difficult to catch truth. We have said it is truth. It is real. It is a fact. It is what it is. How can we say that it is so hard to get it? To utter a truth is very easy; to tell a lie is very difficult, as we know very well, because we have to think deeply before we utter a lie. But what is the difficulty in telling the truth? It is a plain fact.
  The whole-souled movement of consciousness towards the objective is not merely, or not necessarily, a spatial movement. The great teacher Acharya Sankara was never tired of removing this misconception in the minds of people the travelling to truth does not mean travelling in a vehicle towards some distant place, as if it is a village or a town. In every commentary on every Upanishad and Brahma Sutra he mentions this point that here, 'travelling' does not mean travelling in a vehicle, nor does it mean movement in space. It is nothing of the kind. It is a different thing altogether that takes place, because the object of our quest is ultimately connected with us I would say, even now. But even if we do not want to accept that, at least ultimately it is connected with us. Therefore, finally, it is a movement towards our own self.

1.037 - Preventing the Fall in Yoga, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  It is not the intention of the practice of yoga to set up reactions, but they automatically happen on account of there being certain obstructing elements within us which get stirred up automatically due to the cleansing process that is going on in the practice of yoga. They are not really enemies working, but are the impurities that are leaving. When the impurities are driven out of the personality within, they look like violent opposing elements putting on various types of faces - sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant, sometimes unintelligible, sometimes very inscrutable because we have within us, potentially, infinite latencies of past karma, impressions of previous deeds, frustrated desires, and so on and so forth, all of which have to come out one day or the other if the field is to be clean. This cleaning is done by yoga.
  Then, we have what are known as the obstacles or the impediments. Though there can be endless types of obstacles in the practice of yoga, Patanjali mentions a few leading obstacles which have to be taken care of by a student, with the guidance of a competent master, because when these obstacles come, they do not come in the form of obstacles. A shrewd enemy always comes like a friend, for if we openly come as an enemy we will not succeed because the other party will know what we are. Ravana always comes as a sannyasin in order that he may succeed. If he comes as Ravana himself, nothing will happen; everybody will understand what is coming. So these peculiar reactions, called impediments, do not come openly as impediments, and we will not know that they are the consequences of our practice. We will attribute these experiences to some other persons or conditions outside us, and will not be able to understand that they are caused by certain internal practices of our own.

1.03 - Bloodstream Sermon, #The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, #Bodhidharma, #Buddhism
  spiritual powers48 that can't be obstructed. And you'll be at peace
  wherever you are. If you doubt this, you'll never see through

1.03 - Tara, Liberator from the Eight Dangers, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  Doubt is of various types, not all of them obstructive. The doubt that is curious and open-minded propels us to learn, examine, and clarify the meaning
  of a teaching. It aids us on the path. However, when our doubt dwells in

1.03 - To Layman Ishii, #Beating the Cloth Drum Letters of Zen Master Hakuin, #unset, #Zen
  'The rest is something I have yet to experience. If you explain it to me, I'm afraid it might obstruct my own entrance into enlightenment.'
  "How invaluable that story is! There was nothing halfhearted about ancients' practice of the Way; it was difficult and demanding in the extreme. One of them said, 'It is like passing through a region infested with venomous insects. You must pass through with all possible haste. Not stop to accept even a single drop of water from someone you meet.'1 The great master Yun-men said, 'While you are engaged in practice, if anyone comes up and tries to teach you Zen, I want you to take a dipper of warm shit and empty it over his head.'f

1.03 - YIBHOOTI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  power of perceiving forms being obstructed, the
  power of manifestation in the eye being separated, the
  --
  on that, and the power to perceive forms is obstructed,
  because the power of perceiving forms comes from the
  --
  the knowledge of the fine, the obstructed, and the
  remote.
  --
  powers, however, are obstructions to the attainment of the
  highest goal, the knowledge of the pure Self, and freedom;

WORDNET



--- Overview of verb obstruct

The verb obstruct has 3 senses (first 2 from tagged texts)
                  
1. (2) obstruct, blockade, block, hinder, stymie, stymy, embarrass ::: (hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of; "His brother blocked him at every turn")
2. (2) obstruct, obturate, impede, occlude, jam, block, close up ::: (block passage through; "obstruct the path")
3. obstruct, block ::: (shut out from view or get in the way so as to hide from sight; "The thick curtain blocked the action on the stage"; "The trees obstruct my view of the mountains")










--- Grep of noun obstruct
obstructer
obstruction
obstruction of justice
obstructionism
obstructionist
obstructive shock
obstructor



IN WEBGEN [10000/92]

Wikipedia - Airway management -- Medical procedure ensuring an unobstructed airway
Wikipedia - Airway obstruction -- Blockage in the respiratory system
Wikipedia - Barostriction -- obstruction of pressure equalization passages
Wikipedia - Blind corner -- A corner around which the view is obstructed
Wikipedia - Choking -- Mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the lungs
Wikipedia - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- Lung disease involving long-term poor airflow
Wikipedia - Contempt of Congress -- Act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees
Wikipedia - Coronary artery bypass surgery -- Surgical procedure to restore normal blood flow to an obstructed coronary artery
Wikipedia - Filibuster in the United States Senate -- method of legislative obstruction in the US senate
Wikipedia - Hydrodynamic scour -- Removal of sediment near an obstruction by swiftly moving water
Wikipedia - Impaction (animals) -- Intestinal obstruction
Wikipedia - Manin obstruction
Wikipedia - Obstructive lung disease -- Category of respiratory disease characterized by airway obstruction
Wikipedia - Obstructive sleep apnea -- Obstruction of the upper airway during sleep
Wikipedia - Passive-aggressive personality disorder -- Personality disorder characterized by procrastination, covert obstructionism, inefficiency and stubbornness
Wikipedia - Pelagic zone -- The unobstructed water in the body of the sea that is neither close to the surface nor to the sea floor
Wikipedia - Shadow -- Area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object
Wikipedia - Shoulder dystocia -- Birthing obstruction complication
Wikipedia - Sightline -- An unobstructed line between an observer and a subject of interest
Wikipedia - Superior vena cava syndrome -- Group of symptoms caused by obstruction of the superior vena cava
Wikipedia - Surf break -- A permanent obstruction on the seabed which causes waves to break
Wikipedia - Volvulus -- Twisting of part of the intestine, causing a bowel obstruction
Wikipedia - Wikipedia:Vandalism -- Policy on deliberate editing to obstruct or defeat Wikipedia's purpose
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31837792-call-for-obstruction
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36801989-obstructed
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85338.Obstruction_of_Justice
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/11_obstructions_to_spiritual_growth_for_a_monk
selforum - resistance obstruction and limitation
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Analysis/ObstructiveBureaucrat
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveObstructingParents
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructionistPacifist
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructiveBureaucracy
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructiveBureaucrat
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructiveCodeOfConduct
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructiveForeground
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructiveVigilantism
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObstructiveZealot
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ProtestByObstruction
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheObstructiveLoveInterest
https://prey.fandom.com/wiki/Gelifoam_Lattice_Organism_Obstructor_Cannon
https://tabularasa.fandom.com/wiki/Obstruction_Destruction
https://tales-of-the-rays.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_Rose_Obstructing_Evil
Daicon Opening Animations -- -- Gainax -- 2 eps -- Other -- Action Sci-Fi Adventure Music Mecha -- Daicon Opening Animations Daicon Opening Animations -- Daicon III Opening Animation -- An unnamed girl watches as the Science Patrol lands their aircraft. A masked individual exits the ship and approaches the girl, entrusting her with a cup of water and a simple task: to water a radish. The girl enthusiastically accepts her mission but is obstructed by a multitude of foes. Faced with waves of unrelenting monsters, mechas, and starfighters, can the young heroine protect the cup of water and make it to the radish unharmed? -- -- Daicon IV Opening Animation -- Clad in a Playboy Bunny suit, an older version of the same girl takes on new and notable adversaries from around the galaxy. From dueling with lightsabers to surfing the magical sword Stormbringer, there is no shortage of action! -- -- Set to Electric Light Orchestra's "Twilight," the Daicon IV Opening Animation is a grand tribute to science fiction culture, showcasing hundreds of familiar characters in one spectacular bout. -- -- Special - Aug 22, 1981 -- 16,169 7.72
Flag -- -- The Answer Studio -- 13 eps -- Original -- Mecha Military -- Flag Flag -- In 20xx, a civil war broke out in a small country in Asia in spite of the dispatch of UN forces. But a picture taken by accident in the battlefield accelerates the peace process: a photograph of a flag, which became the symbol of peace. However, just before the peace agreement is finalized, the flag is stolen by an armed extremist group in order to obstruct the truce. To rescue the flag, the UN sends the Special Development Command (SDC, which is armed with the High Agility Versatile Weapon Carrier (HAVWC)), along with an embedded photojournalist to record their activities. That photojournalist is Saeko Shirasu—the young camerawoman who took the picture of the flag. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- -- Licensor: -- Bandai Entertainment -- ONA - Jun 16, 2006 -- 17,237 7.20
Kanata no Astra -- -- Lerche -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Sci-Fi Adventure Space Shounen -- Kanata no Astra Kanata no Astra -- In the year 2063, space travel is feasible and commercially available. As the cheerful Aries Spring arrives at the spaceport to attend a camp on the distant planet McPa, her purse is suddenly snatched by a reckless thief. Luckily, the athletic Kanata Hoshijima is able to retrieve it for her, and Aries soon discovers that he is among the group of teenagers who will be travelling with her on the excursion as team B-5. -- -- Upon arriving at their campsite, the group's trip takes a turn for the worse when a strange sphere of black light sucks them into the vast reaches of outer space. Stranded with seemingly no hope, they find an abandoned ship nearby that provides them with the means to return home. However, they soon discover that they are not as close to their campsite as they initially thought, but are in fact thousands of light-years away from home. -- -- With this realization, the nine members must cautiously manage their resources, maintain their strength, and unite as one to conquer the darkness of space together. While the reason behind their trip's sudden obstruction remains unknown, they nevertheless embark on the treacherous voyage back home aboard their new ship, the Astra. -- -- 208,590 8.14
Kanata no Astra -- -- Lerche -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Sci-Fi Adventure Space Shounen -- Kanata no Astra Kanata no Astra -- In the year 2063, space travel is feasible and commercially available. As the cheerful Aries Spring arrives at the spaceport to attend a camp on the distant planet McPa, her purse is suddenly snatched by a reckless thief. Luckily, the athletic Kanata Hoshijima is able to retrieve it for her, and Aries soon discovers that he is among the group of teenagers who will be travelling with her on the excursion as team B-5. -- -- Upon arriving at their campsite, the group's trip takes a turn for the worse when a strange sphere of black light sucks them into the vast reaches of outer space. Stranded with seemingly no hope, they find an abandoned ship nearby that provides them with the means to return home. However, they soon discover that they are not as close to their campsite as they initially thought, but are in fact thousands of light-years away from home. -- -- With this realization, the nine members must cautiously manage their resources, maintain their strength, and unite as one to conquer the darkness of space together. While the reason behind their trip's sudden obstruction remains unknown, they nevertheless embark on the treacherous voyage back home aboard their new ship, the Astra. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 208,590 8.14
Keishichou Tokumubu Tokushu Kyouakuhan Taisakushitsu Dainanaka: Tokunana -- -- Anima&Co. -- 12 eps -- Original -- Action Police Vampire Fantasy -- Keishichou Tokumubu Tokushu Kyouakuhan Taisakushitsu Dainanaka: Tokunana Keishichou Tokumubu Tokushu Kyouakuhan Taisakushitsu Dainanaka: Tokunana -- In Tokyo, there exists a peaceful cohabitation between supernatural creatures—elves, dwarves, vampires, and more—and humans. However, contrary to history, powerful dragons once ruled over this world of creatures and humans but have since disappeared. Consequently, a diabolical group under the alias "Nine," who seek the miracles of the once godlike dragons, stirs up trouble in the streets of Tokyo, commiting mass murder and causing destruction. To combat the dangerous group of Nine, the police organize the Special 7—a group of highly skilled professionals whose abilities exceed those of ordinary humans. -- -- Caught up in a bank robbery turned hostage crisis, Seiji Nanatsuki, having recently become a detective, has a chance encounter with Shiori Ichinose, a member of Special 7. Assisting with the resolution of the robbery, Seiji is recognized for his clear sense of justice and refreshing character, suddenly earning him a spot on the elite unit. -- -- As he takes on new missions, Seiji finds that being a detective as part of Special 7 isn't the police work he expected, where working alongside a team of different species with special abilities and vibrant personalities brings unpredictability to his daily life and police work. While the everyday crime in Tokyo continues, Seiji and the Special 7 will fight not only to resolve special cases, but also obstruct the ill-intentioned plans of the merciless group of Nine. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 38,207 6.02
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
Kono Oto Tomare! 2nd Season -- -- Platinum Vision -- 13 eps -- Manga -- Drama Music Romance School Shounen -- Kono Oto Tomare! 2nd Season Kono Oto Tomare! 2nd Season -- The Tokise High School Koto Club has courageously pushed through their fractured and unsynchronized performance at the Kanto Region Traditional Japanese Music Festival. Clubmembers Chika Kudou, Satowa Houzuki, Takezou Kurata, Hiro Kurusu, Kouta Mizuhara, Saneyasu Adachi, and Michitaka Sakai are devastated to learn the negative results of their performance, leaving them crushed. Nonetheless, the group recognizes their potential and enthusiastically agree to collectively sharpen their skills, improve their flaws, and develop higher caliber playing to succeed in the upcoming national qualifiers in winter. -- -- With the help of their now willing club advisor Suzuka Takinami, the group's goal gradually becomes achievable as they begin to grasp the foundations of good music and refine their koto-playing abilities, with the suggestion of performing more often to gain what they lack most—experience. -- -- However, as their journey to nationals is underway, the koto club members face challenges that obstruct their focus and progress. Not only does the threat of other powerhouse schools and musicians remain, but the high school issues of budding romance and soon-to-be-graduating seniors also begin to push the limits of the determined group of teenagers and the future of the koto club. -- -- 90,539 8.42
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Obstructionism
Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Airway obstruction
Bladder outlet obstruction
Bowel obstruction
Brachycephalic airway obstructive syndrome
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Ejaculatory duct obstruction
Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act 2006
Esophageal food bolus obstruction
Exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction
Fallopian tube obstruction
Gastric outlet obstruction
International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Intestinal pseudo-obstruction
Manin obstruction
Nasolacrimal duct obstruction
Neonatal bowel obstruction
Obstructed defecation
Obstructed labour
Obstructing government administration
Obstructing the field
Obstruction
Obstruction Island
Obstructionism
Obstruction of justice
Obstruction theory
Obstructive lung disease
Obstructive sleep apnea
Outlet obstruction
Perfect obstruction theory
Recurrent airway obstruction
Risoba obstructa
Schrankia obstructalis
Single vegetative obstruction model
Spastic intestinal obstruction
Surgery obstruction
The Five Obstructions
Traffic obstruction
Urinary tract obstruction
USS Obstructor
Ventricular outflow tract obstruction



convenience portal:
recent: Section Maps - index table - favorites
Savitri -- Savitri extended toc
Savitri Section Map -- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
authors -- Crowley - Peterson - Borges - Wilber - Teresa - Aurobindo - Ramakrishna - Maharshi - Mother
places -- Garden - Inf. Art Gallery - Inf. Building - Inf. Library - Labyrinth - Library - School - Temple - Tower - Tower of MEM
powers -- Aspiration - Beauty - Concentration - Effort - Faith - Force - Grace - inspiration - Presence - Purity - Sincerity - surrender
difficulties -- cowardice - depres. - distract. - distress - dryness - evil - fear - forget - habits - impulse - incapacity - irritation - lost - mistakes - obscur. - problem - resist - sadness - self-deception - shame - sin - suffering
practices -- Lucid Dreaming - meditation - project - programming - Prayer - read Savitri - study
subjects -- CS - Cybernetics - Game Dev - Integral Theory - Integral Yoga - Kabbalah - Language - Philosophy - Poetry - Zen
6.01 books -- KC - ABA - Null - Savitri - SA O TAOC - SICP - The Gospel of SRK - TIC - The Library of Babel - TLD - TSOY - TTYODAS - TSZ - WOTM II
8 unsorted / add here -- Always - Everyday - Verbs
Top of Page


change css options:
change font "color":
change "background-color":
change "font-family":
change "padding":
change "table font size":
last updated: 2022-05-25 00:29:02
117411 site hits