TERMS STARTING WITH
TERMS ANYWHERE
abhinaksantah ::: they who travel towards (the goal). [Ved.]
admissible heuristic ::: In computer science, specifically in algorithms related to pathfinding, a heuristic function is said to be admissible if it never overestimates the cost of reaching the goal, i.e. the cost it estimates to reach the goal is not higher than the lowest possible cost from the current point in the path.[12]
Aesthetics. Any system or program of fine art emphasizing the ideal (s.) is Aesthetic Idealism. The view that the goal of fine art is an embodiment or reflection of the perfections of archetypal Ideas or timeless essences (Platonism). The view of art which emphasizes feeling, sentiment, and idealization (as opposed to "literal reproduction" of fact). The view of art which emphasizes cognitive content (as opposed to abstract feeling, primitive intuition, formal line or structure, mere color or tone). Psychology. The doctrine that ideas or judgments are causes of thought and behavior, and not mere effects or epiphenomena, is Psychological Idealism.
Also backward reasoning. ::: An inference method described colloquially as working backward from the goal. It is used in automated theorem provers, inference engines, proof assistants, and other artificial intelligence applications.[44]
Although advancing steadily in spirituality and upwards towards a lower nirvana, and therefore evolving on a path which is not only not harmful to humanity and others, but in a sense is even passively beneficial, the Pratyeka Buddha, precisely because his thoughts are involved in spiritual freedom and benefits for himself, is really enwrapped in a spiritual selfishness; and hence in the intuitive, albeit popular, consideration of Northern Buddhism is called by such names as the Solitary or the Rhinoceros — applied in contrast to the Buddhas of Compassion, whose entire effort is to merge the individual into the universal, to expand their sympathies to include all that is, to follow the path of immortality (amrita), which is self-identification without loss of individuality with all that is. When the sacrifice of the lower personal and inferior self, with all its hoard of selfish thought and impulses, for the sake of bringing into full and unfettered activity the ineffable glorious faculties and powers and functions of the higher nature — not for the purpose of selfish personal advancement, but in order to become a helper of all that is — the consequence is that as time passes, the disciple so living and dedicating himself finds himself becoming the very incarnation of his inner divinity. He becomes, as it were, a man-god on earth. This, however, is not the objective, for holding such an objective as the goal to be attained would be in itself a proof that selfishness still abides in the nature.
AmitAbha. (T. 'Od dpag med/Snang ba mtha' yas; C. Amituo fo/Wuliangguang fo; J. Amida butsu/Muryoko butsu; K. Amit'a pul/Muryanggwang pul 阿彌陀佛/無量光佛). In Sanskrit, "Limitless Light," the buddha of the western PURE LAND of SUKHAVATĪ, one of the most widely worshipped buddhas in the MAHAYANA traditions. As recounted in the longer SUKHAVATĪVYuHASuTRA, numerous eons ago, a monk named DHARMAKARA vowed before the buddha LOKEsVARARAJA to follow the BODHISATTVA path to buddhahood, asking him to set forth the qualities of buddha-fields (BUDDHAKsETRA). DharmAkara then spent five KALPAS in meditation, concentrating all of the qualities of all buddha-fields into a single buddha field that he would create upon his enlightenment. He then reappeared before LokesvararAja and made forty-eight specific vows (PRAnIDHANA). Among the most famous were his vow that those who, for as few as ten times over the course of their life, resolved to be reborn in his buddha-field would be reborn there; and his vow that he would appear at the deathbed of anyone who heard his name and remembered it with trust. DharmakAra then completed the bodhisattva path, thus fulfilling all the vows he had made, and became the buddha AmitAbha in the buddha-field called sukhAvatī. Based on the larger and shorter versions of the SukhAvatīvyuhasutra as well as the apocryphal GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING (*AmitAyurdhyAnasutra), rebirth in AmitAbha's buddha-field became the goal of widespread Buddhist practice in India, East Asia, and Tibet, with the phrase "Homage to AmitAbha Buddha" (C. namo Amituo fo; J. NAMU AMIDABUTSU; K. namu Amit'a pul) being a central element of East Asian Buddhist practice. AmitAbha's Indian origins are obscure, and it has been suggested that his antecedents lie in Persian Zoroastrianism, where symbolism of light and darkness abounds. His worship dates back at least as far as the early centuries of the Common Era, as attested by the fact that the initial Chinese translation of the SukhAvatīvyuhasutra is made in the mid-second century CE, and he is listed in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") as the ninth son of the buddha MahAbhijNA JNAnAbhibhu. The Chinese pilgrims FAXIAN and XUANZANG make no mention of him by name in their accounts of their travels to India in the fifth and seventh centuries CE, respectively, though they do include descriptions of deities who seem certain to have been AmitAbha. Scriptures relating to AmitAbha reached Japan in the seventh century, but he did not become a popular religious figure until some three hundred years later, when his worship played a major role in finally transforming what had been previously seen as an elite and foreign tradition into a populist religion. In East Asia, the cult of AmitAbha eventually became so widespread that it transcended sectarian distinction, and AmitAbha became the most popular buddha in the region. In Tibet, AmitAbha worship dates to the early propagation of Buddhism in that country in the eighth century, although it never became as prevalent as in East Asia. In the sixteenth century, the fifth DALAI LAMA gave the title PAn CHEN LAMA to his teacher, BLO BZANG CHOS KYI RGYAL MTSHAN, and declared him to be an incarnation of AmitAbha (the Dalai Lama himself having been declared the incarnation of Avalokitesvara, AmitAbha's emanation). ¶ The names "AmitAbha" and "AmitAyus" are often interchangeable, both deriving from the Sanskrit word "amita," meaning "limitless," "boundless," or "infinite"; there are some intimations that Amita may actually have been the original name of this buddha, as evidenced, for example, by the fact that the Chinese transcription Amituo [alt. Emituo] transcribes the root word amita, not the two longer forms of the name. The distinction between the two names is preserved in the Chinese translations "Wuliangguang" ("Infinite Light") for AmitAbha and Wuliangshou ("Infinite Life") for AmitAyus, neither of which is used as often as the transcription Amituo. Both AmitAbha and AmitAyus serve as epithets of the same buddha in the longer SukhAvatīvyuhasutra and the Guan Wuliangshou jing, two of the earliest and most important of the sutras relating to his cult. In Tibet, his two alternate names were simply translated: 'Od dpag med ("Infinite Light") and Tshe dpag med ("Infinite Life"). Despite the fact that the two names originally refer to the same deity, they have developed distinctions in ritual function and iconography, and AmitAyus is now considered a separate form of AmitAbha rather than just a synonym for him. ¶ AmitAbha is almost universally shown in DHYANASANA, his hands at his lap in DHYANAMUDRA, though there are many variations, such as standing or displaying the VITARKAMUDRA or VARADAMUDRA. As one of the PANCATATHAGATA, AmitAbha is the buddha of the padma family and is situated in the west. In tantric depictions he is usually red in color and is shown in union with his consort PAndarA, and in East Asia he is commonly accompanied by his attendants AVALOKITEsVARA (Ch. GUANYIN) and MAHASTHAMAPRAPTA. See also JINGTU SANSHENG; WANGSHENG.
MEANING AND GOAL OF
EXISTENCE The meaning of existence (a problem unsolvable to theologians, philosophers, and scientists) is the consciousness development of the primordial atoms, to awaken to consciousness primordial atoms which are unconscious in primordial matter, and thereupon to teach them in ever higher kingdoms to acquire consciousness of, understanding of life in all its relationships.
The goal of existence is the omniscience and omnipotence of all in the whole cosmos.
The process implies development: in respect of knowledge from ignorance to omniscience, in respect of will from impotence to omnipotence, in respect of freedom from bondage to that power which the application of the laws afford, in respect of life from isolation to unity with all life. K 1.30.1ff
An :::investment ::: is an asset or item acquired with the goal of generating income or appreciation. In an economic sense, an investment is the purchase of goods that are not consumed today but are used in the future to create wealth. In finance, an investment is a monetary asset purchased with the idea that the asset will provide income in the future or will later be sold at a higher price for a profit.
Antaratman (Sanskrit) Antarātman [from antar interior, within + ātman self] Interior self; the inner self or primeval heart of an individual. The goal of the yogi is ultimate union with the antaratman.
Arab League ::: Organization of Arab states founded in 1945 with the goal of uniting all Arab nations (pan-Arabism) and destroying Israel.
Arab Revolt ::: A series of Arab riots coupled with a long general labor strike provoked by increasing Jewish immigration to British Mandatory Palestine. Led by Haj Amin al-Hussieni and the Arab Higher Committee, the goals of the uprising were: to end Jewish immigration, establish a system of self-rule, and bring a cessation of land sales to Jews. The British responded to the riots by establishing the Peel Commission to investigate the cause of the revolt and recommend a solution.
ArAda KAlAma. (P. AlAra KAlAma; T. Sgyu rtsal shes kyi bu ring du 'phur; C. Aluoluojialan; J. Ararakaran; K. Araragaran 阿羅邏迦蘭). The Sanskrit name of one of the Buddha's two teachers of meditation (the other being UDRAKA RAMAPUTRA) prior to his enlightenment. He was known as a meditation master who once sat in deep concentration without noticing that five hundred carts had passed by. He explained to GAUTAMA that the goal of his system was the attainment of the "state of nothing whatsoever" (AKINCANYAYATANA), which the BODHISATTVA quickly attained. ArAda KAlAma then regarded the bodhisattva as his equal. However, Gautama eventually recognized that this state was not NIRVAnA and left to begin the practice of austerities. Upon his eventual achievement of buddhahood, Gautama surveyed the world to identify the most worthy recipient of his first sermon. He thought first of ArAda KAlAma but determined that he had unfortunately died just seven days earlier.
ARM7 ::: (processor) A RISC microprocessor architecture from Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. (ARM). Building upon the ARM6 family, the goal of the ARM7 design power consumption. The ARM7 architecture is now (Dec 1994) the most powerful low voltage RISC processor available on the market.The ARM7 offers several architectural extensions which address specific market needs, encompassing fast multiply and innovative embedded ICE support. Software development tools are available.The ARM7 architecture is made up of a core CPU plus a range of system peripherals which can be added to a CPU core to give a complete system on a interface, ICEbreaker embedded ICE support and JTAG boundary scan. The ARM710 microprocessor is built around the ARM7 core. . (1995-01-05)
ARM7 "processor" A {RISC} {microprocessor} architecture from {Advanced RISC Machines} Ltd. (ARM). Building upon the {ARM6} family, the goal of the ARM7 design was to offer higher levels of raw compute performance at even lower levels of power consumption. The ARM7 architecture is now (Dec 1994) the most powerful low voltage {RISC} processor available on the market. The ARM7 offers several architectural extensions which address specific market needs, encompassing fast multiply and innovative embedded {ICE} support. Software development tools are available. The ARM7 architecture is made up of a core CPU plus a range of system peripherals which can be added to a CPU core to give a complete system on a chip, e.g. 4K or 8K {cache}, {Memory Management Unit}, {Write Buffer}, {coprocessor} interface, {ICEbreaker} embedded {ICE} support and {JTAG} {boundary scan}. The {ARM710} {microprocessor} is built around the ARM7 core. {(http://systemv.com/armltd/arm7.html)}. (1995-01-05)
Artificial_intelligence ::: (AI:) is a term for simulated intelligence in machines. These machines are programmed to "think" like a human and mimic the way a person acts. The ideal characteristic of artificial intelligence is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal, although the term can be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind, such as learning and solving problems. :::BREAKING DOWN 'Artificial Intelligence - AI' Artificial intelligence is based around the idea that human intelligence can be defined in such exact terms that a machine can mimic it. The goals of artificial intelligence include learning, reasoning and perception, and machines are wired using a cross-disciplinary approach based in mathematics, computer science, linguistics, psychology and more. As technology advances, previous benchmarks that defined artificial intelligence become outdated. For example, machines that calculate basic functions or recognize text through methods such as optimal character recognition are no longer said to have artificial intelligence, since this function is now taken for granted as an inherent computer function. Some examples of machines with artificial intelligence include computers that play chess, which have been around for years, and self-driving cars, which are a relatively new development. Each of these machines must weigh the consequences of any action they take, as each action will impact the end result. In chess, this end result is winning the game. For self-driving cars, the computer system must take into account all external data and compute it to act in a way that prevents collision
asaMkhyeyakalpa. (P. asankheyyakappa; T. bskal pa grangs med pa; C. asengqi jie; J. asogiko; K. asŭnggi kop 阿僧祇劫). In Sanskrit, "incalculable eon" or "infinite eon." The longest of all KALPAs is named "incalculable" (ASAMKHYA); despite its name, it has been calculated by dedicated Buddhist scholiasts as being the length of a mahAkalpa (itself, eight intermediate kalpas in duration) to the sixtieth power. The BODHISATTVA path leading to buddhahood is presumed to take not one but three "incalculable eons" to complete, because the store of merit (PUnYA), knowledge (JNANA), and wholesome actions (KUsALA-KARMAPATHA) that must be accumulated by a bodhisattva in the course of his training is infinitely massive. Especially in the East Asian traditions, this extraordinary period of time has been taken to mean that practice is essentially interminable, thus shifting attention from the goal to the process of practice. For example, the AVATAMSAKASuTRA's statement that "at the time of the initial arousal of the aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPADA), complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI) is already achieved" has been interpreted in the East Asian HUAYAN ZONG to imply that enlightenment is in fact achieved at the very inception of religious training-a realization that renders possible a bodhisattva's commitment to continue practicing for three infinite eons. In YOGACARA and MADHYAMAKA presentations of the path associated with the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, the three incalcuable eons are not considered infinite, with the bodhisattva's course divided accordingly into three parts. The first incalcuable eon is devoted to the paths of accumulation (SAMBHARAMARGA) and preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA); the second incalculable eon devoted to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA) and the first seven bodhisattva stages (BHuMI); and the third incalculable eon devoted to the eighth, ninth, and tenth stages.
ASCENT AND RETURN. ::: Once the being or its different parts begin to ascend to the planes above, any part of the being may do it, frontal or other. The samskāra that one cannot come back must be got rid of. One can have the experience of Nirvana at the summit of the mind or anywhere in those planes that are now superconscient to the mind; the mind spiritualised by the ascent into Self has the sense of laya, dissolution of itself, its thoughts, movements, samskāras into a superconscient Silence and Infinity which it is unable to grasp, - the Unknowable. But this would bring or lead to some form of Nirvana only if one makes Nirvana the goal, if one is tied to the mind and accepts its dissolution into the Infinite as one’s own dissolution or if one has not the capacity to reorganise experience on a higher than the mental plane. But otherwise what was superconscient becomes conscient, one begins to possess or else to be the instrument of the dynamis of the higher planes and there is a movement, not of liberation into Nirvana but of liberation and transformation. However high one goes one can always return, unless one has the will not to do so.
Atma-lakshya: Having the Self as the goal; Self as the object of meditation of Vedantins.
Bahya, ben Joseph Ibn Padudah: (c. 1050) Philosopher and ethicist. The title of his work, The Duties of the Heart (Heb. Hobot ha-Leba-bot), indicates its purpose, i.e., to teach ethical conduct. First part demonstrates pure conception of God, unity and attributes. His basic principle of ethics is thankfulness to God, for His creating the wonderful world; the goal of religious ethical conduct is love of God. A second work ascribed to him is the Torot ha-Nefesh, i.e., Doctrines of the Soul, which deals primarily with the soul, but also with other subjects and evinces a strong neo-Platonic strain. See Jewish Philosophy -- M.W.
Behavioural accounting - 1. approach to accounting that stresses psychological considerations in decision making; also called human resource accounting. For example, a budget should be participative so departmental managers who are involved with it will internalize the goals. Also profit centres engage a manager's ego because the financial results of the entity are a direct reflection of the manager's performance. In human resource accounting, a valuation is placed on people and reflected as an asset in the balance sheet. Or 2. theory that the management accounting function is essentially behavioural. The theory states that the nature and scope of accounting systems is materially influenced by the view of human behaviour that is held by the accountants who design and operate these systems. Participative budgeting is a simple application of behavioural accounting.
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.
bodhicitta. (T. byang chub kyi sems; C. putixin; J. bodaishin; K. porisim 菩提心). In Sanskrit, "thought of enlightenment" or "aspiration to enlightenment"; the intention to reach the complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI) of the buddhas, in order to liberate all sentient beings in the universe from suffering. As the generative cause that leads to the eventual achievement of buddhahood and all that it represents, bodhicitta is one of the most crucial terms in MAHAYANA Buddhism. The achievement of bodhicitta marks the beginning of the BODHISATTVA path: bodhicitta refers to the aspiration that inspires the bodhisattva, the being who seeks buddhahood. In some schools of MahAyAna Buddhism, bodhicitta is conceived as being latent in all sentient beings as the "innately pure mind" (prakṛtiparisuddhacitta), as, for example, in the MAHAVAIROCANABHISAMBODHISuTRA: "Knowing one's own mind according to reality is BODHI, and bodhicitta is the innately pure mind that is originally existent." In this sense, bodhicitta was conceived as a universal principle, related to such terms as DHARMAKAYA, TATHAGATA, or TATHATA. However, not all schools of the MahAyAna (e.g., some strands of YOGACARA) hold that all beings are destined for buddhahood and, thus, not all beings are endowed with bodhicitta. Regardless of whether or not bodhicitta is regarded as somehow innate, however, bodhicitta is also a quality of mind that must be developed, hence the important term BODHICITTOTPADA, "generation of the aspiration to enlightenment." Both the BODHISATTVABHuMI and the MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA provide a detailed explanation of bodhicitta. In late Indian MahAyAna treatises by such important authors as sANTIDEVA, KAMALAsĪLA, and ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNANA, techniques are set forth for cultivating bodhicitta. The development of bodhicitta also figures heavily in MahAyAna liturgies, especially in those where one receives the bodhisattva precepts (BODHISATTVASAMVARA). In this literature, two types of bodhicitta are enumerated. First, the "conventional bodhicitta" (SAMVṚTIBODHICITTA) refers to a bodhisattva's mental aspiration to achieve enlightenment, as described above. Second, the "ultimate bodhicitta" (PARAMARTHABODHICITTA) refers to the mind that directly realizes either emptiness (suNYATA) or the enlightenment inherent in the mind. This "conventional bodhicitta" is further subdivided between PRAnIDHICITTOTPADA, literally, "aspirational creation of the attitude" (where "attitude," CITTA, refers to bodhicitta), where one makes public one's vow (PRAnIDHANA) to attain buddhahood; and PRASTHANACITTOTPADA, literally "creation of the attitude of setting out," where one actually sets out to practice the path to buddhahood. In discussing this latter pair, sAntideva in his BODHICARYAVATARA compares the first type to the decision to undertake a journey and the second type to actually setting out on the journey; in the case of the bodhisattva path, then, the first therefore refers to the process of developing the aspiration to buddhahood for the sake of others, while the second refers to undertaking the various practices of the bodhisattva path, such as the six perfections (PARAMITA). The AVATAMSAKASuTRA describes three types of bodhicitta, those like a herder, a ferryman, and a king. In the first case the bodhisattva first delivers all others into enlightenment before entering enlightenment himself, just as a herder takes his flock into the pen before entering the pen himself; in the second case, they all enter enlightenment together, just as a ferryman and his passengers arrive together at the further shore; and in the third, the bodhisattva first reaches enlightenment and then helps others to reach the goal, just as a king first ascends to the throne and then benefits his subjects. A standard definition of bodhicitta is found at the beginning of the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, where it is defined as an intention or wish that has two aims: buddhahood, and the welfare of those beings whom that buddhahood will benefit; the text also gives a list of twenty-two types of bodhicitta, with examples for each. Later writers like Arya VIMUKTISENA and HARIBHADRA locate the AbhisamayAlaMkAra's twenty-two types of bodhicitta at different stages of the bodhisattva path and at enlightenment. At the beginning of his MADHYAMAKAVATARA, CANDRAKĪRTI compares compassion (KARUnA) to a seed, water, and crops and says it is important at the start (where compassion begins the bodhisattva's path), in the middle (where it sustains the bodhisattva and prevents a fall into the limited NIRVAnA of the ARHAT), and at the end when buddhahood is attained (where it explains the unending, spontaneous actions for the sake of others that derive from enlightenment). KarunA is taken to be a cause of bodhicitta because bodhicitta initially arises and ultimately will persist, only if MAHAKARUnA ("great empathy for others' suffering") is strong. In part because of its connotation as a generative force, in ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, bodhicitta comes also to refer to semen, especially in the practice of sexual yoga, where the physical seed (BĪJA) of awakening (representing UPAYA) is placed in the lotus of wisdom (PRAJNA).
Bsam yas debate. An important event in the early dissemination (SNGA DAR) of Buddhism in Tibet. During the reign of the king KHRI SRONG LDE BRTSAN 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 (the Chinese transcription of "MahAyAna") and an Indian faction associated with the recently deceased sANTARAKsITA who, with the king and PADMASAMBHAVA, had founded the first Tibetan monastery at BSAM YAS. According to traditional accounts, sAntaraksita foretold of dangers and left instructions in his will that his student KAMALAsĪLA be called 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 combining ethical practice (sĪLA), meditation (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA). The Chinese spoke against this view, holding that enlightenment was the intrinsic nature of the mind itself rather than the goal of a protracted path of practice. Therefore, to recognize the presence of this innate nature of enlightenment, one need only enter 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. According to Tibetan records (contradicted by Chinese accounts), Kamalasīla was declared the winner and Moheyan and his party were banished from Tibet, with the king proclaiming that the MADHYAMAKA school of Indian Buddhist philosophy (to which sAntaraksita and Kamalasīla belonged) would thereafter be followed in Tibet. Kamalasīla died shortly after the debate, supposedly assassinated by members of the Chinese faction. Scholars have suggested that although a controversy between the Indian and Chinese Buddhists (and their Tibetan partisans) occurred, it is unlikely that a face-to-face debate took place or that the outcome of the controversy was so unequivocal. The "debate" may instead have been an exchange of statements; indeed, KAmalasīla's third BHAVANAKRAMA seems to derive from this exchange. It is also important to note that, regardless of the merits of the Indian and Chinese philosophical positions, China was Tibet's chief military rival at the time, whereas India posed no such threat. The debate's principal significance derives from the fact that from this point on, Tibet largely sought its Buddhism from India; no school of Chinese Buddhism subsequently exerted any major influence in Tibet. It is said that when he departed, Moheyan left behind one shoe, indicating that traces of his view would remain in Tibet; some scholars have suggested possible connections between Chan positions and the RDZOGS CHEN teachings that developed in the ninth century. In Tibetan polemics of later centuries, it was considered particularly harsh to link one's opponent's views to the antinomian views of Moheyan. Moheyan himself was transformed into something of a trickster figure, popular in Tibetan art and drama. This event is variously referred to in English as the Council of Samye, the Council of Lha sa, and the Samye Debate. See also DUNWU.
buddhakula. (T. sangs rgyas rigs; C. rulai jia; J. nyoraike; K. yorae ka 如來家). In Sanskrit, "buddha family"; synonymous with GOTRA ("lineage"); buddhakula and gotra, like BUDDHADHATU and TATHAGATAGARBHA refer to the potential inherent in all sentient beings to achieve buddhahood. The RATNAGOTRAVIBHAGA describes a confluence of three necessary factors: the altruistic effort that buddhas make out of their great compassion (MAHAKARUnA) to disseminate their doctrines; the ultimate nature of beings that is purified of any essential defilement; and, last, buddhakula or gotra, i.e., belonging to a lineage that does not lead to endless rebirth or to a final end in the limited NIRVAnA of HĪNAYANA adepts, but rather to the royal state of a buddha. The defining mark of the buddhakula is the seed of great compassion (mahAkarunA). Because of the confluence of these three factors, all beings are said to have the TATHAGATAGARBHA, which in this interpretation of the compound means the womb or embryo of a tathAgata. In tantric Buddhism, there are typically five (but sometimes more and sometimes less, depending on the tantra) buddha families (see PANCAJINA, PANCATATHAGATA), the families of VAIROCANA, AKsOBHYA, RATNASAMBHAVA, AMITABHA, and AMOGHASIDDHI. These buddhas (regarded as the final purification and transformation of the five SKANDHAs) are the forms in which adepts with differing personality types, those in whom the five KLEsAs of delusion (MOHA), hatred (DVEsA), pride (MANA), desire (RAGA), and jealousy (ĪRsYA), respectively, predominate, reach the goal. The five buddha families are also connected with the five YOGACARA knowledges or wisdoms (JNANA) (see BUDDHABHuMISuTRA; PANCAJNANA).
carita. (T. spyod pa; C. xing; J. gyo; K. haeng 行). In Sanskrit and PAli, "conduct," "behavior," or "temperament"; an alternative form is Sanskrit caryA (P. cariyA). As "behavior," carita is typically bifurcated into either good (sucarita) or bad (S. duscarita; P. duccarita) conduct. As "temperament," carita is used to indicate six general character types, which are predominantly biased toward the negative temperaments of greedy (RAGA), hateful (S. DVEsA; P. dosa), and deluded (MOHA), or the more positive temperaments of faithful (S. sRADDHA; P. saddhA), intelligent (BUDDHI), and discursive (S. VITARKA; P. vitakka), a taxonomy found in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. The first three types of temperaments are negative and thus need to be corrected. (1) A greedy temperament is constantly searching out new sensory experiences and clings to things that are not beneficial. (2) A hateful temperament is disaffected, always finding imaginary faults in others; along with the intelligent temperament, he is less prone to clinging than the other character types. (3) A deluded temperament is agitated and restless, because he is unable to make up his mind about anything and follows along with others' decisions. The latter three types of temperaments are positive and thus need to be enhanced. (4) A faithful temperament is like a greedy type who instead cultivates wholesome actions and clings to what is beneficial. (5) An intelligent temperament is like a hateful type who performs salutary actions and points out real faults; along with the hateful temperament, he is less prone to clinging than the other character types. (6) A discursive temperament is characterized by a restlessness of mind that constantly flits from topic to topic and vacillates due to his constant conjecturing; if these discursive energies can be harnessed, however, that knowledge may lead to wisdom. The Visuddhimagga also provides detailed guidelines for determining a person's temperament by observing their posture, their preferences in food, and the sort of mental concomitants with which they are typically associated. This knowledge of temperaments is important as a tool of practice (BHAVANA), because in the Visuddhimagga's account of visualization (P. KASInA) exercises, the practitioner is taught to use an appropriate kasina device or meditation topic (P. KAMMAttHANA) either to mitigate the influence of the negative temperaments or enhance the influence of the positive ones. Thus, a practitioner with a greedy temperament is advised to emphasize the cemetery contemplations on foulness (S. AsUBHABHAVANA; P. asubhabhAvanA) and mindfulness of the body (S. KAYANUPAsYANA; P. kAyAnupassanA; see also SMṚTYUPASTHANA); the hateful temperament, the four divine abidings (BRAHMAVIHARA) and the four color kasinas (of blue, yellow, red, white); the deluded temperament, mindfulness of breathing (S. ANAPANASMṚTI; P. AnApAnasati); the discursive temperament, also mindfulness of breathing; the faithful temperament, the first six recollections (S. ANUSMṚTI; P. anussati), viz., of the Buddha, the DHARMA, the SAMGHA, morality, generosity, and the divinities; and the intelligent temperament, the recollections of death and peace, the analysis of the four elements, and the loathsomeness of food. Suitable to all six temperaments are the other six kasinas (viz., of earth, water, fire, air, light, and empty space) and the immaterial absorptions (S. ARuPYAVACARADHYANA; P. arupAvacarajhAna). ¶ In the MAHAYANA, caryA, carita, and related terms (e.g., Sanskrit compounds such as duscara) refer specifically to the difficult course of action that a BODHISATTVA pursues in order to reach the goal of enlightenment. These actions include the unending search or pilgrimage for a teacher, the sacrifices required to meet with an authentic teacher who can teach MahAyAna doctrines (see SADAPRARUDITA, SUDHANA), and the difficult practices of charity, such as giving away all possessions, including family members and even one's body (see DEHADANA; SHESHEN). The JATAKAMALA of sura, the BODHICARYAVATARA of sANTIDEVA, and to a certain extent the BUDDHACARITA of AsVAGHOsA set forth a model of the authentic bodhisattva's behavior for aspirants to emulate. In Buddhist TANTRA, caryA refers to a code of ritual purity, and to an esoteric practice called "yoga with signs" (SANIMITTAYOGA) followed by CARYATANTRA practitioners.
caturkarman. (T. las bzhi). In Sanskrit, "four activities"; the four types of activities set forth in the Buddhist tantras. It is a general rubric for the classification of rituals, based on the means or the goal of the ritual. The four types are activities of pacification (sANTICARA), activities of increase (PAUstIKA), activities of control (VAsĪKARAnA), and wrathful activities (ABHICARA).
Characteristically Plotinian is the teaching that man must first turn his mind away from the inferior things of sense toward the inner reality of his own soul. He must learn to regard his soul as part of the World-Soul. He must transcend the multiple things of the realm of Mind and endeavor to achieve that communion with the One, which is his ultimate good. There is no question of personal immortality and so the goal of human life is a merging with universal Spirit. In his politics, Plotinus favored a sort of community life incorporating many of the idealistic suggestions to be found in Plato's Republic.
Chih shan: Highest excellence; perfection; the ultimate good, the goal of Confucian ethics and education. -- W.T.C Ch'i hsueh: The intellectual movement in the state of Ch'i. See Chi Hsia. Chiliasm: Teaching and belief of some Jews and Christians that the Messiah will appear at the end of time to found a glorious kingdom on earth which is to last one thousand years; also called Millenarianism. -- J.J.R.
cognitive computing ::: In general, the term cognitive computing has been used to refer to new hardware and/or software that mimics the functioning of the human brain[82][83][84][85][86][87] and helps to improve human decision-making.[88][89] In this sense, CC is a new type of computing with the goal of more accurate models of how the human brain/mind senses, reasons, and responds to stimulus.
consistent heuristic ::: In the study of path-finding problems in artificial intelligence, a heuristic function is said to be consistent, or monotone, if its estimate is always less than or equal to the estimated distance from any neighboring vertex to the goal, plus the cost of reaching that neighbor.
deductive tableau ::: (tool) A theorem proof system consisting of a table whose rows contain assertions or goals. Variables in assertions are implicitly universally declarative meaning of a tableau is that if every instance of every assertion is true then some instance of at least one of the goals is true. (1994-12-07)
deductive tableau "tool" A theorem proof system consisting of a table whose rows contain assertions or goals. Variables in assertions are implicitly universally quantified and variables in goals are implicitly existentially quantified. The declarative meaning of a tableau is that if every instance of every assertion is true then some instance of at least one of the goals is true. (1994-12-07)
devamāna. (T. lha'i nga rgyal). In Sanskrit, lit. "divine pride"; a term that appears in tantric literature in connection with the practice of deity yoga (DEVATĀYOGA). In general, pride (MĀNA) is regarded as a negative mental state, one of the root afflictions (MuLAKLEsA), and therefore an affliction to be abandoned. However, in one of the inversions typical of the tantric context, although one should abandon ordinary pride, one should cultivate pride in oneself as being a deity, that is, in this case, as being a buddha. It is by imagining oneself to have the mind, body, abode, and resources of a buddha now that one is said to proceed quickly to the state of true buddhahood via the tantric path. Therefore, one should imagine oneself as having already achieved the goal that one is in fact seeking.
dharma. ::: "to carry", "to hold"; characteristic; feature; virtuous deeds; harmonious life; inherent qualities; inner principle; the means that elevates a man and helps him to reach the goal of life &
Dhyana: (Skr.) Meditation or the full accord of thinker and thought without interference and without being merged as yet, the last but one stage in the attainment of the goals of Yoga (q.v.). -- K.F.L.
Do not be always thinking of your defects and nxong move- ments. Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, mth (be faith that, since it is the goal before you it must and will come.
EXPANSION is the continuation of evolution in superhuman kingdoms. In these kingdoms the monad, with its self-identity retained, enters into ever more comprehensive collective consciousnesses until the goal of all monads has been reached, the common cosmic total consciousness. (K 2.11.5)
EXTERNALIZATION Since many hundred years, the fifth natural kingdom of our planet is working on the preparation for its reappearance in the external world. It is as a step in this process of externalization that the esoteric knowledge has been allowed for publication. The goal of externalization is that the planetary hierarchy resumes the guidance of the evolution of mankind. (K 7.15.6)
Fahua chanfa. (J. Hokke senbo; K. Pophwa ch'ambop 法華懺法). In Chinese, "penance ritual according to the 'Lotus Sutra.'" Despite its name, this intensive twenty-one-day ritual was based as much on the Guan Puxian pusa xingfa jing ("The Sutra on the Procedures for Visualizing the Bodhisattva SAMANTABHADRA") as it was on the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA. As explained in TIANTAI ZHIYI's Fahua sanmei chanfa ("Penance Ritual according to the Lotus Samādhi"), the goal of the ritual is to ensure visions of celestial buddhas and/or BODHISATTVAs, which were taken to be signs that the one's unwholesome actions (AKUsALA-KARMAN) had been expiated. The penitent was required to refrain from lying down for the full duration of the ritual, by constantly alternating between walking and sitting postures. Demanding intense mental and physical devotion, the ritual involves extensive contemplation of the TIANTAI teachings, making vows and supplications, uttering prescribed words of repentance, chanting the Saddharmapundarīkasutra and performing intermittent circumambulation.
From the zero emanate an infinite number of cosmic Ones or monads. Every absolute is not only the hierarch of its own hierarchy, the One from which all subsequent differentiations emanate, but is also a cosmic jivanmukta, a released monad freed from the pull of the lower planes. Every monad at the threshold of paranirvana reassumes its primeval essence and becomes at one with the absolute of its own hierarchy once more. The absolute is thus the goal of evolution as well as the source, the highest divinity or Silent Watcher of the hierarchy of compassion, which forms the light side of a universe or cosmic hierarchy.
gati ::: goal; the movement to the goal, the way; journey; spiritual or supraterrestrial status gained by man's conduct or efforts upon earth.
G'dud Ha-Avodah ::: (Heb.Work Battalion) Socialist organization founded in 1920 by Joseph Trumpledor with the goals of working, settling, and defending the land of Israel.
Gestalt psychology: approach that views psychological phenomena, such as perception, learning and thinking, as organised, structured wholes. For instance, the Gestalt approach to problem solving seeks the need for structural understanding in comprehending how different parts of the problem fit together to reach the goal.
goal ::: n. --> The mark set to bound a race, and to or around which the constestants run, or from which they start to return to it again; the place at which a race or a journey is to end.
The final purpose or aim; the end to which a design tends, or which a person aims to reach or attain.
A base, station, or bound used in various games; in football, a line between two posts across which the ball must pass in order to score; also, the act of kicking the ball over the line between the goal
heap ::: 1. (programming) An area of memory used for dynamic memory allocation where blocks of memory are allocated and freed in an arbitrary order and the pattern of allocation and size of blocks is not known until run time. Typically, a program has one heap which it may use for several different purposes.Heap is required by languages in which functions can return arbitrary data structures or functions with free variables (see closure). In C functions malloc and free provide access to the heap.Contrast stack. See also dangling pointer.2. (programming) A data structure with its elements partially ordered (sorted) such that finding either the minimum or the maximum (but not both) of smallest/largest element can be done in O(log n) time, where n is the number of elements.Formally, a heap is a binary tree with a key in each node, such that all the leaves of the tree are on two adjacent levels; all leaves on the lowest level the key in the root is at least as large as the keys in its children (if any), and the left and right subtrees (if they exist) are again heaps.Note that the last condition assumes that the goal is finding the minimum quickly.Heaps are often implemented as one-dimensional arrays. Still assuming that the goal is finding the minimum quickly the invariant is heap[i] = heap[2*i] and heap[i] = heap[2*i+1] for all i, be used to implement priority queues or in sort algorithms. (1996-02-26)
heap 1. "programming" An area of memory used for {dynamic memory allocation} where blocks of memory are allocated and freed in an arbitrary order and the pattern of allocation and size of blocks is not known until {run time}. Typically, a program has one heap which it may use for several different purposes. Heap is required by languages in which functions can return arbitrary data structures or functions with {free variables} (see {closure}). In {C} functions {malloc} and {free} provide access to the heap. Contrast {stack}. See also {dangling pointer}. 2. "programming" A data structure with its elements partially ordered (sorted) such that finding either the minimum or the maximum (but not both) of the elements is computationally inexpensive (independent of the number of elements), while both adding a new item and finding each subsequent smallest/largest element can be done in O(log n) time, where n is the number of elements. Formally, a heap is a {binary tree} with a key in each {node}, such that all the {leaves} of the tree are on two adjacent levels; all leaves on the lowest level occur to the left and all levels, except possibly the lowest, are filled; and the key in the {root} is at least as large as the keys in its children (if any), and the left and right subtrees (if they exist) are again heaps. Note that the last condition assumes that the goal is finding the minimum quickly. Heaps are often implemented as one-dimensional {arrays}. Still assuming that the goal is finding the minimum quickly the {invariant} is heap[i] "= heap[2*i] and heap[i] "= heap[2*i+1] for all i, where heap[i] denotes the i-th element, heap[1] being the first. Heaps can be used to implement {priority queues} or in {sort} algorithms. (1996-02-26)
Hedge_funds ::: are alternative investments using pooled funds that employ numerous different strategies to earn active return, or alpha, for their investors. Hedge funds may be aggressively managed or make use of derivatives and leverage in both domestic and international markets with the goal of generating high returns (either in an absolute sense or over a specified market benchmark). It is important to note that hedge funds are generally only accessible to accredited investors as they require less SEC regulations than other funds. One aspect that has set the hedge fund industry apart is the fact that hedge funds face less regulation than mutual funds and other investment vehicles.
Hedonism [from Greek hedone, pleasure] In ethics, the doctrine that the gratification of natural inclinations is the chief good, and that the moral law is thereby fulfilled. The value of this doctrine depends entirely on what we are to understand by pleasure or inclination. In the best sense, which was that of Epicurus and his followers, these words may be considered as one way of trying to express the summum bonum, the goal of human endeavor; and this school pointedly taught that neither happiness nor peace are ever attainable by the subjection of human thought, mind, and conscience to the instincts or inclinations of the body. Some aspects of modern utilitarianism may be considered as a form of hedonism. But the doctrine as stated is easily degraded, and in its worst form becomes the pursuit of sensual gratification. In fact, hedonism as a word, and as understood now and by many even in ancient times, is the exact opposite of what these early philosophers believed and taught. See also EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY
Holy City Many spiritual traditions symbolize the goal of human attainment or the abode of the gods as a holy city. With the Hindus, Brahmapura is the capital of Brahma on Mt. Kailasa in the Himalayas or on Mt. Meru, as well as being the inmost chamber of the heart. According to the Chhandogya Upanishad (8:1:1), within the Brahmapura “is an abode, a small lotus-flower; within it is a small space (antarakasa). What is within that, should be searched out; that, assuredly, is what one should desire to understand.” Hiranyapura (golden city) stands for the sun and for the invisible, etheric regions of space; while the Siddhapura or White Island is both the indestructible home of adepts on earth and the poles of the earth or Mt. Meru.
ideal self: in Rogers's humanistic theory, an evolving construct which represents the goals and aspirations of an individual.
IDEAS, WORLD OF = PLATONIC WORLD OF IDEAS is the causal world (47:1-3), the goal of man in the human kingdom. (K 1.11.5)
::: "If there is an evolution in material Nature and if it is an evolution of being with consciousness and life as its two key-terms and powers, this fullness of being, fullness of consciousness, fullness of life must be the goal of development towards which we are tending and which will manifest at an early or later stage of our destiny. The Self, the Spirit, the Reality that is disclosing itself out of the first inconscience of life and matter, would evolve its complete truth of being and consciousness in that life and matter. It would return to itself, — or, if its end as an individual is to return into its Absolute, it could make that return also, — not through a frustration of life but through a spiritual completeness of itself in life. Our evolution in the Ignorance with its chequered joy and pain of self-discovery and world-discovery, its half-fulfilments, its constant finding and missing, is only our first state. It must lead inevitably towards an evolution in the Knowledge, a self-finding and self-unfolding of the Spirit, a self-revelation of the Divinity in things in that true power of itself in Nature which is to us still a Supernature.” The Life Divine
“If there is an evolution in material Nature and if it is an evolution of being with consciousness and life as its two key-terms and powers, this fullness of being, fullness of consciousness, fullness of life must be the goal of development towards which we are tending and which will manifest at an early or later stage of our destiny. The Self, the Spirit, the Reality that is disclosing itself out of the first inconscience of life and matter, would evolve its complete truth of being and consciousness in that life and matter. It would return to itself,—or, if its end as an individual is to return into its Absolute, it could make that return also,—not through a frustration of life but through a spiritual completeness of itself in life. Our evolution in the Ignorance with its chequered joy and pain of self-discovery and world-discovery, its half-fulfilments, its constant finding and missing, is only our first state. It must lead inevitably towards an evolution in the Knowledge, a self-finding and self-unfolding of the Spirit, a self-revelation of the Divinity in things in that true power of itself in Nature which is to us still a Supernature.” The Life Divine
In each case, the name of the realm indicates the object of meditation of the beings reborn there. Hence, in the first, for example, the beings perceive only infinite space. Rebirth in these different spheres is based on mastery of the corresponding four immaterial meditative absorptions (ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA; ārupyasamāpatti) in the previous life. While the devas of the sensuous realm and the realm of subtle materiality come to have larger and ever more splendid bodies at the more advanced levels of their heavens, the devas of the immaterial realm do not have even the subtlest foundation in materiality; their existence is so refined that it is not even possible to posit exactly where they dwell spatially. In some schools, such as the Sarvāstivāda, the immaterial realm does not even exist as a discrete place: rather, when a being who has mastered the immaterial absorptions dies, he is reborn at the very same location where he passed away, except now he is "immaterial" or "formless" and thus invisible to coarser beings. According to the Theravāda, even a mind-made body (MANOMAYAKĀYA) is excluded from this realm, for the devas here possess only the mind base (MANĀYATANA), mental objects (P. dhammāyatana), the elements of mental consciousness (P. manoviNNānadhātu), and the element of mental objects (P. dhammadhātu), needing only three nutriments (ĀHĀRA) to survive-contact (P. phassa), mental cognition (P. manosaNcetana), and consciousness (P. viNNāna). The Buddha claims to have lived among the devas of the immaterial realm in certain of his previous lives, but without offering any detailed description of those existences. ¶ In all realms, devas are born apparitionally. In the sensuous realm, devas are born in their mother's lap, appearing as if they are already five to ten years old at birth; by contrast, devas of the subtle-materiality and immaterial realms appear not to need the aid of parents; those in the subtle-materiality realm appear fully grown, while those in the immaterial realm do not appear at all, because they have no form. It is also said that, when devas are reborn, they are aware of their prior existence and of the specific KARMAN that led to their rebirth in the heavenly realms. The different deva realms are also distinguished by differences in nutriment, sexuality, requisites, and life span. The devas of the lower heavens of the sensuous realm consume ordinary food; those in the upper spheres of the sensuous realm and the lower levels of the realm of subtle materiality feed only on sensory contact; the devas of the upper levels of the realm of subtle materiality feed only on contemplation; those in the immaterial realm feed on cognition alone. Sexual differentiation remains only in the sensuous realm: in the heaven of the four heavenly kings and the heaven of the thirty-three, the devas engage in physical copulation, the devas of the yāma heaven engage in sexual union by embracing one another, the devas of the tusita heaven by holding hands, those of the nirmānarati heaven by smiling at one another, and those of the paranirmitavasavartin heaven by exchanging a single glance. Clothes are said to be used in all deva worlds except in the immaterial realm. The life spans of devas in the sensuous realm range from five hundred years for the gods of the heaven of the four heavenly kings to one thousand years for the trāyastriMsa gods, two thousand years for the yāma gods, four thousand years for the tusita gods, eight thousand years for the nirmānarati gods, and sixteen thousand years for the paranirmitavasavartin gods. However, there is a range of opinion of what constitutes a year in these heavens. For example, it is said that in the tusita heaven, four hundred human years equal one day in the life of a god of that heaven. The life spans of devas in the realm of subtle materiality are measured in eons (KALPA). The life spans of devas in the immaterial realm may appear as essentially infinite, but even those divinities, like all devas, are subject to impermanence (ANITYA) and will eventually die and be subject to further rebirths once the salutary meditative deed that caused them to be reborn there has been exhausted. The sutras say that for a deva of the sensuous realm, there are five portents of his impending death: the garlands of flowers he wears begin to fade, his clothes become soiled and his palace dusty, he begins to perspire, his body becomes opaque and loses its luster, and his throne becomes uncomfortable. At that point, the deva experiences a vision of his next place of rebirth. This vision is said to be one of the most horrible sufferings in saMsāra, because of its marked contrast to the magnificence of his current life. There are also said to be four direct reasons why devas die: exhaustion of their life spans, their previous merit, their food, and the arising of anger. ¶ Rebirth as a deva is presumed to be the reward of virtuous karman performed in previous lives and is thus considered a salutary, if provisional, religious goal. In the "graduated discourse" (P. ANUPUBBIKATHĀ; S. ANUPuRVIKATHĀ) taught by the Buddha, for example, the Buddha uses the prospect of heavenly rebirth (svargakathā), and the pleasures accruing thereto, as a means of attracting laypersons to the religious life. Despite the many appealing attributes of these heavenly beings, such as their physical beauty, comfortable lives, and long life span, even heavenly existence is ultimately unsatisfactory because it does not offer a definitive escape from the continued cycle of birth and death (saMsāra). Since devas are merely enjoying the rewards of their previous good deeds rather than performing new wholesome karman, they are considered to be stagnating spiritually. This spiritual passivity explains why they must be reborn in lower levels of existence, and especially as human beings, in order to further their cultivation. For these reasons, Buddhist soteriological literature sometimes condemns religious practice performed solely for the goal of achieving rebirth as a deva. It is only certain higher level of devas, such as the devas belonging to the five pure abodes (suddhāvāsa), that are not subject to further rebirth, because they have already eliminated all the fetters (saMyojana) associated with that realm and are destined to achieve arhatship. Nevertheless, over the history of Buddhism, rebirth in heaven as a deva has been a more common goal for religious practice, especially among the laity, than the achievement of nirvāna. ¶ The sutras include frequent reference to "gods and men" (S. devamanusya; C. tianren) as the objects of the Buddha's teachings. Despite the fact that this is how most Buddhist traditions have chosen to translate the Sanskrit compound, "gods" here is probably meant to refer to the terrestrial divinities of "princes" or "kings," rather than heavenly beings; thus, the compound should be more properly (if, perhaps, pedantically) rendered "princes and peoples." Similarly, as the "divinities" of this world, buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats are also sometimes referred to as devas. See also DEVALOKA; DEVATĀ.
“is that ethereal form which one would assume when leaving his physical he would appear in his astral body — having in addition all the knowledge of an Adept. The Bodhisattva develops it in himself as he proceeds on the Path. Having reached the goal and refused its fruition, he remains on Earth, as an Adept; and when he dies, instead of going into Nirvana, he remains in that glorious body he has woven for himself, invisible to uninitiated mankind, to watch over and protect it. . . . to be enabled to help humanity, an Adept who has won the right to Nirvana, ‘renounces the Dharmakaya body’ in mystic parlance; keeps, of the Sambhogakaya, only the great and complete knowledge, and remains in his Nirmanakaya body. The esoteric school teaches that Gautama Buddha with several of his Arhats is such a Nirmanakaya . . .” (VS 96-7).
It is here, when this foundation has been secured, that the practice of Asana and Pranayama come in and can then bear their perfect fruits. By itself the control of the mind and moral being only puts our normal consciousness into the right preliminary condition; it cannot bring about that evolution or manifestation of the higher psychic being which is necessary for the greater aims of Yoga. In order to bring about this manifestation the present nodus of the vital and physical body with the mental being has to be loosened and the way made clear for the ascent through the greater psychic being to the union with the superconscient Purusha. This can be done by Pranayama. Asana is used by the Rajayoga only in its easiest and most natural position, that naturally taken by the body when seated and gathered together, but with the back and head strictly erect and in a straight line, so that there may be no deflection of the spinal cord. The object of the latter rule is obviously connected with the theory of the six chakras and the circulation of the vital energy between the muladhara and the brahmarandhra. The Rajayogic Pranayama purifies and clears the nervous system; it enables us to circulate the vital energy equally through the body and direct it also where we will according to need, and thus maintain a perfect health and soundness of the body and the vital being; it gives us control of all the five habitual operations of the vital energy in the system and at the same time breaks down the habitual divisions by which only the ordinary mechanical processes of the vitality are possible to the normal life. It opens entirely the six centres of the psycho-physical system and brings into the waking consciousness the power of the awakened Shakti and the light of the unveiled Purusha on each of the ascending planes. Coupled with the use of the mantra it brings the divine energy into the body and prepares for and facilitates that concentration in Samadhi which is the crown of the Rajayogic method. Rajayogic concentration is divided into four stages; it commences with the drawing both of the mind and senses from outward things, proceeds to the holding of the one object of concentration to the exclusion of all other ideas and mental activities, then to the prolonged absorption of the mind in this object, finally, to the complete ingoing of the consciousness by which it is lost to all outward mental activity in the oneness of Samadhi. The real object of this mental discipline is to draw away the mind from the outward and the mental world into union with the divine Being. Th
refore in the first three stages use has to be made of some mental means or support by which the mind, accustomed to run about from object to object, shall fix on one alone, and that one must be something which represents the idea of the Divine. It is usually a name or a form or a mantra by which the thought can be fixed in the sole knowledge or adoration of the Lord. By this concentration on the idea the mind enters from the idea into its reality, into which it sinks silent, absorbed, unified. This is the traditional method. There are, however, others which are equally of a Rajayogic character, since they use the mental and psychical being as key. Some of them are directed rather to the quiescence of the mind than to its immediate absorption, as the discipline by which the mind is simply watched and allowed to exhaust its habit of vagrant thought in a purposeless running from which it feels all sanction, purpose and interest withdrawn, and that, more strenuous and rapidly effective, by which all outward-going thought is excluded and the mind forced to sink into itself where in its absolute quietude it can only
reflect the pure Being or pass away into its superconscient existence. The method differs, the object and the result are the same. Here, it might be supposed, the whole action and aim of Rajayoga must end. For its action is the stilling of the waves of consciousness, its manifold activities, cittavrtti, first, through a habitual replacing of the turbid rajasic activities by the quiet and luminous sattwic, then, by the stilling of all activities; and its object is to enter into silent communion of soul and unity with the Divine. As a matter of fact we find that the system of Rajayoga includes other objects,—such as the practice and use of occult powers,—some of which seem to be unconnected with and even inconsistent with its main purpose. These powers or siddhis are indeed frequently condemned as dangers and distractions which draw away the Yogin from his sole legitimate aim of divine union. On the way, th
refore, it would naturally seem as if they ought to be avoided; and once the goal is reached, it would seem that they are then frivolous and superfluous. But Rajayoga is a psychic science and it includes the attainment of all the higher states of consciousness and their powers by which the mental being rises towards the superconscient as well as its ultimate and supreme possibility of union with the Highest. Moreover, the Yogin, while in the body, is not always mentally inactive and sunk in Samadhi, and an account of the powers and states which are possible to him on the higher planes of his being is necessary to the completeness of the science. These powers and experiences belong, first, to the vital and mental planes above this physical in which we live, and are natural to the soul in the subtle body; as the dependence on the physical body decreases, these abnormal activities become possible and even manifest themselves without being sought for. They can be acquired and fixed by processes which the science gives, and their use then becomes subject to the will; or they can be allowed to develop of themselves and used only when they come, or when the Divine within moves us to use them; or else, even though thus naturally developing and acting, they may be rejected in a single-minded devotion to the one supreme goal of the Yoga. Secondly, there are fuller, greater powers belonging to the supramental planes which are the very powers of the Divine in his spiritual and supramentally ideative being. These cannot be acquired at all securely or integrally by personal effort, but can only come from above, or else can become natural to the man if and when he ascends beyond mind and lives in the spiritual being, power, consciousness and ideation. They then become, not abnormal and laboriously acquired siddhis, but simply the very nature and method of his action, if he still continues to be active in the world-existence.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 539-40-41-42
Jarring Mission ::: Gunnar Jarring, the Swedish ambassador to the Soviet Union was appointed representative to the Middle East of the UN secretary-general on December 27, 1967 with the goal of implementing Resolution 242. The mission failed because of Israel and Jordan and Egypt’s preconditions and the War of Attrition. After the War of Attrition and Nasser’s death in Egypt, Jarring resumed his mission in 1971 and demanded Israeli withdrawal to pre-67 borders and an Egyptian willingness to negotiate peace with Israel. Both sides refused and Jarring’s mission was terminated.
Jerusalem (Hebrew) Yĕrūshālēm, Yĕrūshālayim Represents the earth; in Christian and Qabbalistic symbology, also the city of God or the heavenly Jerusalem, the goal of human spiritual attainment. “In Hebrew it is written Yrshlim or ‘city of peace,’ but the ancient Greeks called it pertinently Hierosalem or ‘Secret Salem,’ since Jerusalem is a rebirth from Salem of which Melchizedek was the King-Hierophant, a declared Astrolator and worshipper of the Sun, ‘the Most High’ . . .” (TG 164). Plutarch relates that Typhon or Set after a long battle with Horus fled on an ass in to Palestine and there founded Hierosolymus and Judaeus — these two names meaning Jerusalem and the Jews (Isis and Osiris, sec 31).
Jhumur: Here you have the beginnings of the mind opening onto other planes of experience. Because mindhas no experience. This is the kingdom of the greater mind where it opens on to another phase of vision or experience or feeling. The heaven-bird is the feeling of poise that hasn’t taken off. It reminds me that in a certain place, the goal of the mental search is where ultimately the mind abdicates in light and one enters into what Shelley calls ‘thought wildernesses’. Before that concrete abdication there must be some sensation, some feeling of something other that is waiting for us, that has come from elsewhere. The mind has not quite yet abdicated but begins to pursue intuition, perception, feeling.”
Jhumur: “The spirit that has taken birth sometimes does not reach the goal. There is a kind of a witness consciousness that puts a cross against it and you go back to the beginning all over again. It’s like the game snakes and ladders that we used to play as children. You have to go back to the first square and start all over again. You almost reach the goal and then you fall back and have to start all over again.”
Kanhwa kyorŭi non. (看話決疑論). In Korean, "Resolving Doubts about Observing the Keyword"; attributed to the Korean SoN master POJO CHINUL. Shortly after Chinul's death in 1210, his disciple CHIN'GAK HYESIM is said to have discovered the Kanhwa kyorŭi non among Chinul's effects and arranged for the text to be published in 1215. The treatise displays the rapid crystallization of Chinul's thought around kanhwa Son (see KANHUA CHAN), but its occasionally polemical tone suggests Hyesim's editorial hand. In the Kanhwa kyorŭi non, Chinul carefully expounds on the practice of observing the hwadu (HUATOU), the "meditative topic" or "keyword" deriving from a Chan public case (kongan; C. GONG'AN). He underscores the efficacy of the hwadu technique in counteracting the defects of conceptual understanding. In a series of questions and answers, Chinul also attempts to clarify the relation between the hwadu technique, the consummate interfusion of the DHARMADHĀTU, and the so-called sudden teachings (DUNJIAO) of Buddhism, as defined in the HUAYAN tenet-classification system (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI; HUAYAN WUJIAO). Chinul demonstrates that the goal of kanhwa Son is not simply to abandon words and thought, as in the "sudden teachings," but to realize the unimpeded interpenetration of all phenomena (SHISHI WU'AI), the consummate description of enlightened experience according to the Huayan school. Unlike the prolix, scholastic explanations of Huayan, however, kanhwa Son relies much less on conceptual descriptions in its soteriology and thus provides a more direct "shortcut" (kyongjol) to enlightenment than is offered in Huayan. Kanhwa Son therefore offers the only truly perfect and sudden (wondon; C. yuandun) approach to enlightenment.
karman. (P. kamma; T. las; C. ye; J. go; K. op 業). In Sanskrit, "action"; in its inflected form "karma," it is now accepted as an English word; a term used to refer to the doctrine of action and its corresponding "ripening" or "fruition" (VIPĀKA), according to which virtuous deeds of body, speech, and mind produce happiness in the future (in this life or subsequent lives), while nonvirtuous deeds lead instead to suffering. In Vedic religion, karman referred especially to ritual actions. The term came to take on wider meanings among the sRAMAnA movements of wandering ascetics, to which Buddhism belonged. The JAINAs, for example, have a theory of karman as a physical substance created through unwholesome actions, which hinder the soul's ability to achieve liberation; in order to free the soul from the bonds created through past actions, the body had to be rigorously cleansed of this karmic substance through moral discipline and asceticism. Although the Buddhists accepted the notion of moral causality, as did the Jainas, they redefined karman instead as mental intention (CETANĀ) or intentional (cetayitvā) acts: the Buddha specifically says, "Action is volition, for after having intended something, one accomplishes action through body, speech, and mind." These actions are of four types: (1) wholesome (KUsALA), which lead to wholesome results (vipāka); (2) unwholesome (AKUsALA), which lead to unwholesome results; (3) mixed, with mixed results that may be partially harmful and partially beneficial; and (4) indeterminate (AVYĀKṚTA), which are actions done after enlightenment, which yield no result in the conditioned realm. The term karman describes both the potential and kinetic energy necessary to sustain a process; and, just as energy is not lost in a physical process, neither is it lost in the process of moral cause and effect. The Buddhists assert that there is a necessary relationship that exists between the action and its fruition, but this need not manifest itself in the present life; rather, when the complex of conditions and the appropriate time for their fruition come together, actions will bear their retributive fruit, even after an interval of hundreds of millions of eons (KALPA). The fruition of action is also received by the mental continuum (CITTASAMTĀNA) of the being who initially performed the action, not by another; thus, in mainstream Buddhism, one can neither receive the fruition of another's karman nor redeem another's actions. The physical universe (BHĀJANALOKA) and all experience within it are also said to be the products of karman, although in a passive, ethically neutral sense (viz., upapattibhava; see BHAVA). The goal of the Buddhist path is to be liberated from the effects of karman and the cycle of rebirth (SAMSĀRA) by destroying attachment to the sense of self (ĀTMAN). The doctrine of karman is meant to counter the errors of antinomianism (that morality is unnecessary to salvation), annihilationism, and materialism. Actions do, in fact, matter, even if there is ultimately no self that is the agent of action. Hence, karman as representing the continuity between action and result must be understood in conjunction with the teaching of discontinuity that is ANĀTMAN: there is indeed a causal chain connecting the initiator of action and the recipient of its result, but it is not the case that the person who performs the action is the same as the person who experiences the result (the wrong view of eternality) or that the agent is different from the experiencer (the wrong view of annihilationism). This connection is likened to milk changing to its different forms of curds, butter, and ghee: the milk and the ghee are neither identical nor different, but they are causally connected. The process that connects karmic cause and effect, as well as the process by which that connection is severed, is detailed in the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). Enlightened beings, such as a buddha or an ARHAT, have destroyed this chain and thus have eradicated all attachment to their past karmic continuums; consequently, after their enlightenment, they can still perform actions, but those will not lead to results that would lead to additional lifetimes in saMsāra. Although the Buddha acknowledges that the connections between karman and its effect may seem so complex as to appear unfathomable (why, for example, does the evil person who harms others live in wealth, while the good Samaritan who helps others lives in poverty?), he is adamant that those connections can be known, and known with perfect precision, through the experience of awakening (BODHI). Indeed, two of the three kinds of knowledge (TRIVIDYĀ; P. tevijja) and one of the superknowledges (ABHIJNĀ) that are by-products of enlightenment involve insight into the validity of the connection between karmic cause and effect for both oneself and for all beings: viz., the ability to remember one's own former lives (PuRVANIVĀSĀNUSMṚTI: P. pubbenivāsānunssati) in all their detail; and the insight into the karmic destinies of all other beings as well (CYUTYUPAPATTIJNĀNA; P. cutupapātānuNāna). Distinguish KARMAN, "ecclesiastical proceeding," s.v.; see also ĀNANTARYAKARMAN; ANINJYAKARMAN; ER BAO; KARMĀVARAnA.
kulaMkula. (T. rigs nas rigs su skye ba; C. jiajia; J. keke; K. kaga 家家). In Sanskrit, "one who goes from family to family"; a specific type of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA); one of the twenty members of the ĀRYASAMGHA (see VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA). According to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, the kulaMakula has eliminated one or two of the nine sets of afflictions (KLEsA) that cause rebirth in the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU); these are the impediments to the first DHYĀNA that the mundane (LAUKIKA) path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA) removes prior to reaching the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA). They will take two or even three rebirths among the humans or divinities of the sensuous realm before they reach the goal of ARHAT. They are called "family to family" because the two rebirths are of a similar class, for example, in the sensuous realm.
lacrosse ::: n. --> A game of ball, originating among the North American Indians, now the popular field sport of Canada, and played also in England and the United States. Each player carries a long-handled racket, called a "crosse". The ball is not handled but caught with the crosse and carried on it, or tossed from it, the object being to carry it or throw it through one of the goals placed at opposite ends of the field.
lampadrome ::: n. --> A race run by young men with lighted torches in their hands. He who reached the goal first, with his torch unextinguished, gained the prize.
lemma: A proven mathematical sentence, it differs from a theorem in the sense that a lemma is itself not the goal for the motivation of its proof. (The motivation is usually another result proven from the lemma.)
LIFE VIEW The life view concerns the consciousness aspect of existence and is the sum total of man's attitude to life, to its meaning and goal, and his view of mankind and man&
logic programming "artificial intelligence, programming, language" A {declarative}, {relational} style of programming based on {first-order logic}. The original logic programming language was {Prolog}. The concept is based on {Horn clauses}. The programmer writes a "database" of "{facts}", e.g. wet(water). ("water is wet") and "{rules}", e.g. mortal(X) :- human(X). ("X is mortal is implied by X is human"). Facts and rules are collectively known as "{clauses}". The user supplies a "{goal}" which the system attempts to prove using "{resolution}" or "{backward chaining}". This involves matching the current goal against each fact or the left hand side of each rule using "{unification}". If the goal matches a fact, the goal succeeds; if it matches a rule then the process recurses, taking each sub-goal on the right hand side of the rule as the current goal. If all sub-goals succeed then the rule succeeds. Each time a possible clause is chosen, a "{choice point}" is created on a {stack}. If subsequent {resolution} fails then control eventually returns to the choice point and subsequent clauses are tried. This is known as "{backtracking}". Clauses may contain {logic variables} which take on any value necessary to make the fact or the left hand side of the rule match a goal. Unification binds these variables to the corresponding subterms of the goal. Such bindings are associated with the {choice point} at which the clause was chosen and are undone when backtracking reaches that choice point. The user is informed of the success or failure of his first goal and if it succeeds and contains variables he is told what values of those variables caused it to succeed. He can then ask for alternative solutions. (1997-07-14)
logic variable ::: (programming) A variable in a logic programming language which is initially undefined (unbound) but may get bound to a value or another logic value to which it is bound may contain other variables which may themselves be bound or unbound.For example, when unifying the clause sad(X) :- computer(X, ibmpc). with the goal sad(billgates). the variable X will become bound to the atom billgates yielding the new subgoal computer(billgates, ibmpc). (1995-03-14)
logic variable "programming" A variable in a {logic programming} language which is initially undefined ("unbound") but may get bound to a value or another logic variable during {unification} of the containing clause with the current {goal}. The value to which it is bound may contain other variables which may themselves be bound or unbound. For example, when unifying the clause sad(X) :- computer(X, ibmpc). with the goal sad(billgates). the variable X will become bound to the atom "billgates" yielding the new subgoal "computer(billgates, ibmpc)". (1995-03-14)
Lorem ipsum ::: (text) A common piece of text used as mock-content when testing a given page layout or font.The following text is often used:Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetaur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.This continues at length and variously. The text is not really Greek, but badly garbled Latin. It started life as extracted phrases from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of Cicero's De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (The Extremes of Good and Evil), which read:Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat.Translation:But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.-- Translation by H. Rackham, from his 1914 edition of De Finibus.However, since textual fidelity was unimportant to the goal of having random text to fill a page, it has degraded over the centuries, into Lorem ipsum....The point of using this text, or some other text of incidental intelligibility, is that it has a more-or-less normal (for English and Latin, at least) distribution of ascenders, descenders, and word-lengths, as opposed to just using abc 123 abc 123, Content here content here, or the like.The text is often used when previewing the layout of a document, as the use of more understandable text would distract the user from the layout being examined. A related technique is greeking. .(2006-09-18)
Lorem ipsum "text" A common piece of text used as mock-{content} when testing a given page layout or {font}. The following text is often used: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetaur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." This continues at length and variously. The text is not really Greek, but badly garbled Latin. It started life as extracted phrases from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of Cicero's "De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" ("The Extremes of Good and Evil"), which read: Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur? At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id est laborum et dolorum fuga. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Nam libero tempore, cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio cumque nihil impedit quo minus id quod maxime placeat facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, omnis dolor repellendus. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet ut et voluptates repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat. Translation: But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains. -- Translation by H. Rackham, from his 1914 edition of De Finibus. However, since textual fidelity was unimportant to the goal of having {random} text to fill a page, it has degraded over the centuries, into "Lorem ipsum...". The point of using this text, or some other text of incidental intelligibility, is that it has a more-or-less normal (for English and Latin, at least) distribution of ascenders, descenders, and word-lengths, as opposed to just using "abc 123 abc 123", "Content here content here", or the like. The text is often used when previewing the layout of a document, as the use of more understandable text would distract the user from the layout being examined. A related technique is {greeking}. {Lorem Ipsum - All the facts (http://lipsum.com/)}. (2006-09-18)
Madhupindikasutta. (C. Miwanyu jing; J. Mitsugan'yukyo; K. Mirhwanyu kyong 蜜丸喩經). In Pāli, "Discourse on the Honey Ball," the eighteenth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the 115th SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA, along with an untitled recension of unidentified affiliation in the EKOTTARĀGAMA). The Buddha addresses a prince named Dandapāni, describing his teachings as avoiding discord with beings in this world, as indifference to perceptions, as abandoning doubts, and as not craving for existence. The disciple Mahākaccāna (S. MAHĀKĀTYĀYANA) then further explicates the sermon's meaning and the Buddha praises his erudition. The AttHASĀLINĪ cites the Madhupindikasutta as an example of a scripture that, although preached by a disciple, still qualifies as the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA) because Mahākaccāna's exegesis is based on a synopsis given first by the Buddha. The Madhupindikasutta is best known for its discussion of how the process of sensory perception culminates in conceptual proliferation (P. papaNca; S. PRAPANCA). Any sentient being will be subject to an impersonal causal process of perception in which consciousness (P. viNNāna; S. VIJNĀNA) occurs conditioned by a sense base and a sense object; the contact between these three brings about sensory impingement (P. phassa; S. SPARsA), which in turn leads to sensation (VEDANĀ). At that point, however, the sense of ego intrudes and this process then becomes an intentional one, whereby what one feels, one perceives (P. saNNā; S. SAMJNĀ); what one perceives, one thinks about (P. vitakka; S. VITARKA); and what one thinks about, one conceptualizes (papaNca). However, by allowing oneself to experience sensory objects not as things-in-themselves but as concepts invariably tied to one's own point of view, the perceiving subject now becomes the hapless object of an inexorable process of conceptual subjugation: viz., what one conceptualizes becomes proliferated conceptually (P. papaNcasaNNāsankhā; a term apparently unattested in Sanskrit) throughout all of one's sensory experience in the past, present, and future. The consciousness thus ties together everything that can be experienced in this world into a labyrinthine network of concepts, all tied to oneself and projected into the external world as craving (TṚsnĀ), conceit (MĀNA), and wrong views (DṚstI), thus creating bondage to SAMSĀRA. The goal of training is a state of mind in which this tendency toward conceptual proliferation is brought to an end (P. nippapaNca; S. NIsPRAPANCA).
Mahāmaudgalyāyana. (P. Mahāmoggallāna; T. Mo'u 'gal gyi bu chen po; C. Mohemujianlian/Mulian; J. Makamokkenren/Mokuren; K. Mahamokkollyon/Mongnyon 摩訶目犍連/目連). An eminent ARHAT and one of the two chief disciples of the Buddha, often depicted together with his friend sĀRIPUTRA flanking the Buddha. Mahāmaudgalyāyana was considered supreme among the Buddha's disciples in supranormal powers (ṚDDHI). According to Pāli accounts, where he is called Moggallāna, he was older than the Buddha and born on the same day as sāriputra (P. Sāriputta). Both he and sāriputra were sons of wealthy families and were friends from childhood. Once, when witnessing a play, the two friends were overcome with a sense of the impermanence and the vanity of all things and decided to renounce the world as mendicants. They first became disciples of the agnostic SaNjaya Belatthiputta (SANJAYA VAIRĀtĪPUTRA), although later they took their leave and wandered the length and breadth of India in search of a teacher. Finding no one who satisfied them, they parted company, promising one another that if one should succeed he would inform the other. Later sāriputra met the Buddha's disciple, Assaji (S. AsVAJIT), who recited for him a précis of the Buddha's teachings, the so-called YE DHARMĀ verse, which immediately prompted sāriputra to attain the path of a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA). He repeated the stanza to Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who likewise immediately became a stream-enterer. The two friends thereupon resolved to take ordination as disciples of the Buddha and, together with five hundred disciples of their former teacher SaNjaya, proceeded to the Veluvana (S. VEnUVANAVIHĀRA) grove where the Buddha was residing. The Buddha ordained the entire group with the formula ehi bhikkhu pabbajjā ("Come forth, monks"; see EHIBHIKsUKĀ), whereupon all five hundred became arhats, except for sāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana. Mahāmaudgalyāyana attained arhatship seven days after his ordination, while sāriputra reached the goal one week later. The Buddha declared sāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana his chief disciples the day they were ordained, noting that they had both strenuously exerted themselves in countless previous lives for this distinction; they appear often as the bodhisattva's companions in the JĀTAKAs. sāriputra was chief among the Buddha's disciples in wisdom, while Mahāmaudgalyāyana was chief in mastery of supranormal powers. He could create doppelgängers of himself and transform himself into any shape he desired. He could perform intercelestial travel as easily as a person bends his arm, and the tradition is replete with the tales of his travels, such as flying to the Himālayas to find a medicinal plant to cure the ailing sāriputra. Mahāmaudgalyāyana said of himself that he could crush Mount SUMERU like a bean and roll up the world like a mat and twirl it like a potter's wheel. He is described as shaking the heavens of sAKRA and BRAHMĀ to dissuade them from their pride, and he often preached to the divinities in their abodes. Mahāmaudgalyāyana could see ghosts (PRETA) and other spirits without having to enter into meditative trance as did other meditation masters, and because of his exceptional powers the Buddha instructed him alone to subdue the dangerous NĀGA, Nandopananda, whose huge hood had darkened the world. Mahāmaudgalyāyana's powers were so immense that during a terrible famine, he offered to turn the earth's crust over to uncover the ambrosia beneath it; the Buddha wisely discouraged him, saying that such an act would confound creatures. Even so, Mahāmaudgalyāyana's supranormal powers, unsurpassed in the world, were insufficient to overcome the law of cause and effect and the power of his own former deeds, as the famous tale of his death demonstrates. A group of naked JAINA ascetics resented the fact that the people of the kingdom of MAGADHA had shifted their allegiance and patronage from them to the Buddha and his followers, and they blamed Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who had reported that, during his celestial and infernal travels, he had observed deceased followers of the Buddha in the heavens and the followers of other teachers in the hells. They hired a group of bandits to assassinate the monk. When he discerned that they were approaching, the eighty-four-year-old monk made his body very tiny and escaped through the keyhole. He eluded them in different ways for six days, hoping to spare them from committing a deed of immediate retribution (ĀNANTARYAKARMAN) by killing an arhat. On the seventh day, Mahāmaudgalyāyana temporarily lost his supranormal powers, the residual karmic effect of having beaten his blind parents to death in a distant previous lifetime, a crime for which he had previously been reborn in hell. The bandits ultimately beat him mercilessly, until his bones had been smashed to the size of grains of rice. Left for dead, Mahāmaudgalyāyana regained his powers and soared into the air and into the presence of the Buddha, where he paid his final respects and passed into NIRVĀnA at the Buddha's feet. ¶ Like many of the great arhats, Mahāmaudgalyāyana appears frequently in the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, sometimes merely listed as a member of the audience, sometimes playing a more significant role. In the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA, he is one of the sRĀVAKA disciples who is reluctant to visit VIMALAKĪRTI. In the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, he is one of four arhats who understands the parable of the burning house and who rejoices in the teaching of the one vehicle (EKAYĀNA); later in the sutra, the Buddha prophesies his eventual attainment of buddhahood. Mahāmaudgalyāyana is additionally famous in East Asian Buddhism for his role in the apocryphal YULANBEN JING. The text describes his efforts to save his mother from the tortures of her rebirth as a ghost (preta). Mahāmaudgalyāyana (C. Mulian) is able to use his supranormal powers to visit his mother in the realm of ghosts, but the food that he offers her immediately bursts into flames. The Buddha explains that it is impossible for the living to make offerings directly to the dead; instead, one should make offerings to the SAMGHA in a bowl, and the power of their meditative practices will be able to save one's ancestors and loved ones from rebirths in the unfortunate realms (DURGATI).
"Man is a transitional being, he is not final. He is too imperfect for that, too imperfect in capacity for knowledge, too imperfect in will and action, too imperfect in his turn towards joy and beauty, too imperfect in his will for freedom and his instinct for order. Even if he could perfect himself in his own type, his type is too low and small to satisfy the need of the universe. Something larger, higher, more capable of a rich all embracing universality is needed, a greater being, a greater consciousness summing up in itself all that the world set out to be. He has, as was pointed out by a half blind seer, to exceed himself; man must evolve out of himself the divine superman: he was born for transcendence. Humanity is not enough, it is only a strong stepping stone; the need of the world is a superhuman perfection of what the world can be, the goal of consciousness is divinity. The inmost need of man is not to perfect his humanity, but to be greater than himself, to be more than man, to be divine, even to be the Divine.” Essays Divine and Human
“Man is a transitional being, he is not final. He is too imperfect for that, too imperfect in capacity for knowledge, too imperfect in will and action, too imperfect in his turn towards joy and beauty, too imperfect in his will for freedom and his instinct for order. Even if he could perfect himself in his own type, his type is too low and small to satisfy the need of the universe. Something larger, higher, more capable of a rich all embracing universality is needed, a greater being, a greater consciousness summing up in itself all that the world set out to be. He has, as was pointed out by a half blind seer, to exceed himself; man must evolve out of himself the divine superman: he was born for transcendence. Humanity is not enough, it is only a strong stepping stone; the need of the world is a superhuman perfection of what the world can be, the goal of consciousness is divinity. The inmost need of man is not to perfect his humanity, but to be greater than himself, to be more than man, to be divine, even to be the Divine.” Essays Divine and Human
mārgajNatā. (T. lam shes; C. daozhi; J. dochi; K. toji 道智). In Sanskrit, "knowledge of the paths"; one of the three knowledges (along with SARVĀKĀRAJNATĀ and SARVAJNATĀ, or VASTUJNĀNA) set forth in the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA. When explained from the perspective of the path that bodhisattvas have to complete in order to reach their goal of full enlightenment, the knowledge of paths is indicated by nine dharmas; these include its special causes (MAHĀKARUnĀ, Mahāyāna GOTRA, and so on), the bodhisattva's paths of accumulation and preparation (called MOKsABHĀGĪYA and NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA), a special path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), and a path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA) understood from the standpoints of UPĀYA (method) and PRAJNĀ (wisdom). "Method" consists of zealous resolution (ADHIMOKsA) regarding the merit (PUnYA) that derives from the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) and its results; rejoicing (ANUMODANA) in that merit; and dedicating it to the goal of full enlightenment (PARInĀMANĀ). Wisdom consists in innate purity, and the purity that derives from the elimination of obscurations (ĀVARAnA). When described from the perspective of the bodhisattva's actual practice, "knowledge of the paths" refers to the Mahāyāna path of bodhisattvas, including all the aspects (ĀKĀRA) of knowledge that are as yet uninformed by the full knowledge of a buddha (the sarvākārajNatā).
naksaddabham taturim ::: victorious in his march, breaking through (to the goal). [RV 6.22.2]
nānādhātujNānabala. (T. khams sna tshogs mkhyen pa'i stobs; C. zhongzhongjie zhili; J. shujukai chiriki; K. chongjonggye chiryok 種種界智力). In Sanskrit, "power of knowing diverse elements," one of the ten special powers (BALA) of a buddha (S. tathāgatabala). One of the keys to the Buddha's extraordinary pedagogical skill was his telepathic ability to understand the level of spiritual development or capacity of each member of his audience, whereby he was able to teach what was most appropriate for a given person at a given time (see TRĪNDRIYA). Thus, it is said that the Buddha taught the goal of rebirth as a divinity in heaven (SVARGA) to those who lacked the capacity to seek liberation from rebirth, and the doctrine of the absence of a perduring self (ANĀTMAN) to those who lacked the capacity to understand the more profound doctrine of emptiness (suNYATĀ). Whereas the NĀNĀDHIMUKTIJNĀNABALA reflects a buddha's ability to discern the predilections or personality of a disciple in a particular lifetime, the nānādhātujNānabala reflects a buddha's ability to discern the level of intelligence of a disciple in a particular lifetime. According to some conceptions of the Buddha, through his skillful methods (UPĀYAKAUsALYA), the Buddha was able to give a single discourse (sometimes said to consist only of the letter "A"), and each member of the audience would hear a different teaching appropriate for him or her.
nianifesiing Divine, is the complete result of the integral Yoga, the goal of its triple Path and the fruit of its triple sacrifice,
nisprapaNca. [alt. niḥprapaNca] (P. nippapaNca; T. spros pa dang bral ba; C. buxilun; J. fukeron; K. purhŭiron 不戲論). In Sanskrit, "conceptual nonproliferation" or "absence of superimposition," the transcendent (LOKOTTARA) state of mind that is characteristic of the enlightened noble person (ĀRYA). NisprapaNca refers to the absence of that which is fanciful, imagined, or superfluous, especially in the sense of the absence of a quality that is mistakenly projected onto an object. This false quality is called PRAPANCA, which has the sense of "diffusion" or "expansion," viz., "conceptual proliferation." Such "proliferation" typically takes the form of a chaotic onslaught of thoughts and associations at the conclusion of the apprehension of an object by one of the five sensory consciousnesses. Those thoughts and associations are then objectified, projecting a false reality onto the sense object. Such projections are thus described as operations of ignorance. Reality is free from such elaborations, and wisdom is the state of mind that perceives this reality. The goal of meditation practice is therefore sometimes described as the achievement of a state free from such conceptual proliferation, i.e., nisprapaNca. By systematic attention (YONIsOMANASKĀRA) to the impersonal, conditioned character of sensory experience and through sensory restraint (INDRIYASAMVARA), the tendency to project the notion of a perduring self (ĀTMAN) into the perceptual process is brought to an end. This state of "nonproliferation" frees perception from its subjugation to conceptualization, allowing it to see the things of this world as impersonal causal products that are inevitably impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANĀTMAN), freeing the mind in turn from the attachment to SAMSĀRA. The precise nature of conceptual nonproliferation is defined differently in the various Indian schools. In the Pāli MILINDAPANHA, NĀGASENA explains to the king that the four fruits of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIN), and ARHAT are in fact nippapaNca. In the YOGĀCĀRA school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, nisprapaNca refers to the absence of the misapprehension of sensory objects as separate from the perceiving consciousness, and in the MADHYAMAKA school it refers to the absence of perceiving objects as endowed with SVABHĀVA.
Objectives of financial statements – The goals of financial statements are supposed to accomplish. The intent of financial statements is to provide information useful in economic decision making. In particular, the data should be useful in making investment and credit decisions. Financial statements should provide a reliable indication of a company's financial position, operating results, and changes in financial position. Also, statement components and categories should aid in decisions.
Object Management Group "body" (OMG) A consortium aimed at setting {standards} in {object-oriented programming}. In 1989, this consortium, which included {IBM Corporation}, {Apple Computer Inc.} and {Sun Microsystems Inc.}, mobilised to create a cross-compatible distributed object standard. The goal was a common binary object with methods and data that work using all types of development environments on all types of platforms. Using a committee of organisations, OMG set out to create the first {Common Object Request Broker Architecture} (CORBA) standard which appeared in 1991. As of February 1998, the latest standard is CORBA 2.2. {(http://omg.org/)}. [David S. Linthicum, DBMS, January 1997] (1999-02-02)
One section of the Mahabharata is devoted to the attainment of svarga (heaven) by Yudhishthira. He set out on this pilgrimage with his dog, four brothers, and their wife Draupadi, who one by one fell by the way. Alone Yudhishthira and the dog ascended to svarga to be met by Dharma, who said the dog was not permitted to enter. Yudhishthira refused to enter without his dog and turned away from the goal, but Dharma explained that it was only a test of his compassion. Yudhishthira also descended into the underworld successfully, aiding his brothers and wife whom he found there, and they all ascended to svarga.
Opus ::: (project, product) A Honeywell operating system promised as a sop to customers after canning Multics in 1985. Opus was to provide everything Multics had and more, plus total compatibility with the Level 6/DPS6 operating system.Opus was a code name, the system was officially named VS3 (short for HVS R3 or Honeywell Virtual System Release Three). It was to run on the DPS6-plus hardware known internally as the MRX and HRX, and be all things to all people.The hardware was a dud (though it did run the native DPS6 software just fine), and the goal was, shall we say, ambitious. The effort was cancelled by Bull in 1987, in favor of another project going on in France.
Opus "project, product" A {Honeywell} {operating system} promised as a sop to customers after canning {Multics} in 1985. Opus was to provide everything Multics had and more, plus total compatibility with the {Level 6}/{DPS6} operating system. "Opus" was a code name, the system was officially named VS3 (short for HVS R3 or Honeywell Virtual System Release Three). It was to run on the {DPS6-plus} hardware known internally as the MRX and HRX, and be all things to all people. The hardware was a dud (though it did run the native DPS6 software just fine), and the goal was, shall we say, ambitious. The effort was cancelled by {Bull} in 1987, in favor of another project going on in France.
Paramatman(Sanskrit) ::: The "primordial self" or the "self beyond," the permanent SELF, the Brahman or universalspirit-soul. A compound term meaning the highest or universal atman. Parama, "primordial," "supreme,"etc.; the root of atman is hardly known -- its origin is uncertain, but the general meaning is that of "self."Paramatman consequently means the "supreme self," or the summit or flower of a hierarchy, theroot-base or source of that kosmic self.Selflessness is the attribute of the paramatman, the universal self, where all personality vanishes.The universal self is the heart of the universe, for these two phrases are but two manners of expressingthe same thing; it is the source of our being; it is also the goal whither we are all marching, we and thehierarchies above us as well as the hierarchies and the entities which compose them inferior to us. Allcome from the same ineffable source, the heart of Being, the universal self, pass at one period of theirevolutionary journey through the stage of humanity, gaining thereby self-consciousness or the ego-self,the "I am I," and they find it, as they advance along this evolutionary path, expanding gradually intouniversal consciousness -- an expansion which never has an end, because the universal consciousness isendless, limitless, boundless.The paramatman is spiritually practically identical with what the theosophist has in mind when he speaksof the Absolute; and consequently paramatman, though possessing a wide range of meanings, is virtuallyidentical with Brahman. Of course when the human mind or consciousness ascends in meditation up therungs of the endless ladder of life and realizes that the paramatman of one hierarchy or kosmos is but oneof a multitude of other paramatmans of other kosmic hierarchies, the realization comes that even thevague term parabrahman may at certain moments of philosophical introspection be found to be thefrontierless paramatman of boundless space; but in this last usage of paramatman the word obviouslybecomes a sheer generalizing expression for boundless life, boundless consciousness, boundlesssubstance. This last use of the word, while correct enough, is hardly to be recommended because apt tointroduce confusion, especially in Occidental minds with our extraordinary tendency to takegeneralizations for concrete realities.
parātmaparivartana. (T. bdag gzhan brje ba). In Sanskrit, "exchange of self and other," a method for developing BODHICITTA, or the aspiration to achieve buddhahood in order to liberate all beings from suffering. As described by sĀNTIDEVA in the eighth chapter of his BODHICARYĀVATĀRA, the BODHISATTVA should take one's natural sense of self-cherishing and transfer that to others, while taking one's natural disregard for others and transfer that to oneself. In this way, one can then seek the welfare of others as one once sought one's own welfare, and abandon one's own welfare as one once abandoned the welfare of others. The goal is for the bodhisattva to develop the aspiration to give all of one's happiness to others and to take all of the sufferings of others upon oneself.
parināmanā. (T. yongs su bsngo ba; C. huixiang; J. eko; K. hoehyang 廻向). In Sanskrit, "dedication," the practice of mentally or ritually directing the merit (PUnYA) produced from a virtuous (KUsALA) deed or deeds (KARMAN) to a particular aim. Merit may be dedicated to the benefit of all sentient beings or to the benefit of a specific person or persons (such as a family member), but the term is used especially to refer to the dedication of the merit accumulated by a BODHISATTVA to the greater goal of achieving buddhahood so that one may be able to liberate all beings from suffering. Merit may also be dedicated toward the goal of a rebirth in a specific realm (such as a PURE LAND or the heavens) in the next lifetime. The dedication of merit is a standard element of Mahāyāna ritual (PuJĀ) and meditative practices and is often praised as a means of protecting virtuous faculties (KUsALAMuLA) from being destroyed by unwholesome states of mind. See also PATTIDĀNA.
Pong ::: (games) A computer game invented in 1972 by Atari's Nolan Bushnell. The game is a minimalist rendering of table tennis. Each of the two players are represented as a white slab, controllable by a knob, which deflects a bouncing ball. The goal of the game is to AVOID MISSING BALL FOR HIGH SCORE. . (1997-11-23)
Pong "games" A computer game invented in 1972 by {Atari}'s Nolan Bushnell. The game is a minimalist rendering of table tennis. Each of the two players are represented as a white slab, controllable by a knob, which deflects a bouncing ball. The goal of the game is to "AVOID MISSING BALL FOR HIGH SCORE". {Yahoo (http://yahoo.com/Recreation/Games/Video_Games/Classic_Arcade_Games/Titles/Pong/)}. (1997-11-23)
prapaNca. (P. papaNca; T. spros pa; C. xilun; J. keron; K. hŭiron 戲論). In Sanskrit, lit. "diffusion," "expansion"; viz. "conceptualization" or "conceptual proliferation"; the tendency of the process of cognition to proliferate the perspective of the self (ĀTMAN) throughout all of one's sensory experience via the medium of concepts. The locus classicus for describing how sensory perception culminates in conceptual proliferation appears in the Pāli MADHUPIndIKASUTTA. As that scripture explains, any living being will be subject to an impersonal causal process of perception in which consciousness (P. viNNāna; S. VIJNĀNA) occurs conditioned by an internal sense base (INDRIYA) and an external sense object (ĀYATANA); the contact among these three brings about sensory impingement or contact (P. phassa; S. SPARsA), which in turn leads to the sensation (VEDANĀ) of that contact as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. At that point, however, the sense of ego intrudes and this process then becomes an intentional one, whereby what one feels, one perceives (P. saNNā; S. SAMJNĀ); what one perceives, one thinks about (P. vitakka; S. VITARKA); and what one thinks about, one conceptualizes (P. papaNca; S. prapaNca). By allowing oneself to experience sensory objects not as things-in-themselves but as concepts invariably tied to one's own perspective, the perceiving subject then becomes the hapless object of an inexorable process of conceptual subjugation: viz., what one conceptualizes becomes proliferated conceptually (P. papaNcasaNNāsankhā; a term apparently unattested in Sanskrit) throughout all of one's sensory experience. Everything that can be experienced in this world in the past, present, and future is now bound together into a labyrinthine network of concepts, all tied to oneself and projected into the external world as craving (TṚsnĀ), conceit (MĀNA), and wrong views (DṚstI), thus creating bondage to SAMSĀRA. By systematic attention (YONIsOMANASKĀRA) to the impersonal character of sensory experience and through sensory restraint (INDRIYASAMVARA), this tendency to project ego throughout the entirety of the perceptual process is brought to an end. In this state of "conceptual nonproliferation" (P. nippapaNca; S. NIḤPRAPANCA), perception is freed from concepts tinged by this proliferating tendency, allowing one to see the things of this world as impersonal causal products that are inevitably impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANĀTMAN). ¶ The preceding interpretation reflects the specific denotation of the term as explicated in Pāli scriptural materials. In a Mahāyāna context, prapaNca may also connote "elaboration" or "superimposition," especially in the sense of a fanciful, imagined, or superfluous quality that is mistakenly projected on to an object, resulting in its being misperceived. Such projections are described as manifestations of ignorance (AVIDYĀ); reality and the mind that perceives reality are described as being free from prapaNca (NIsPRAPANCA), and the purpose of Buddhist practice in one sense can be described as the recognition and elimination of prapaNca in order to see reality clearly and directly. In the MADHYAMAKA school, the most dangerous type of prapaNca is the presumption of intrinsic existence (SVABHĀVA). In YOGĀCĀRA, prapaNca is synonymous with the "seeds" (BĪJA) that provide the basis for perception and the potentiality for future action. In this school, prapaNca is closely associated with false discrimination (VIKALPA), specifically the bifurcation of perceiving subject and perceived object (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA). The goal of practice is said to be a state of mind that is beyond all thought constructions and verbal elaboration. ¶ The precise denotation of prapaNca has been the subject of much perplexity and debate within the Buddhist tradition, which is reflected in the varying translations for the term in Buddhist canonical languages. The standard Chinese rendering xilun means "frivolous debate," which reflects the tendency of prapaNca to complicate meaningful discussion about the true character of sensory cognition. The Tibetan spros ba means something like "extension, elaboration" and reflects the tendency of prapaNca to proliferate a fanciful conception of reality onto the objects of perception.
pratyekabuddha. (P. paccekabuddha; T. rang sangs rgyas; C. yuanjue/dujue; J. engaku/dokukaku; K. yon'gak/tokkak 覺/獨覺). In Sanskrit, "individually enlightened one" or "solitary buddha"; an ARHAT who becomes enlightened through his own efforts without receiving instruction from a buddha in his final lifetime. Unlike the "perfectly enlightened buddhas" (SAMYAKSAMBUDDHA), the pratyekabuddha refrains from teaching others about his experience because he has neglected to develop the same degree of great compassion (MAHĀKARUnĀ) that motivates the samyaksaMbuddhas. Even though he does not teach others, he may still guide by example, or through the use of gestures. Pratyekabuddhas are also distinguished from those who achieve the goal of arhat via the sRĀVAKA ("disciple") path, because srāvakas are unable to achieve enlightenment on their own and must be instructed in the principles of Buddhism in order to succeed in their practice. A pratyekabuddha is also distinguished from the srāvaka by the duration of his path: the pratyekabuddha path is longer because he must accumulate the necessary amount of merit (PUnYA) to allow him to achieve liberation without relying on a teacher in his final lifetime. A pratyekabuddha is said to achieve liberation through contemplation of the principle of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), which accounts for the Chinese translation of yuanjue ("awakening via conditionality"). Two types of pratyekabuddhas are commonly enumerated in the literature: those who wander alone "like a rhinoceros" (KHAdGAVIsĀnAKALPA) and the "congregators" (VARGACĀRIN). According to the MAHĀYĀNA, the path of the pratyekabuddha, together with the path of the srāvaka, constitutes the HĪNAYĀNA, or "lesser vehicle"; these two categories are also often referred to as the "two vehicles" (C. ER SHENG) and their followers as "two-vehicle adherents." These lesser "two vehicles" contrast with the third and highest vehicle, the BODHISATTVAYĀNA.
Promised Land Exoterically, the so-called Holy Land of Palestine, which was promised to the Hebrews as the goal of their wanderings. All peoples of the earth cherish the hope of reaching a Promised Land where peace, happiness, and prosperity will once again be the endowment of the human race. Esoterically it is nirvana or the pristine spiritual laya-state from which issued the eternal monad and to which it shall ultimately return. It also refers to the sublime consummation of human evolutionary destiny which will take place at the end of the seventh round on the last globe of our planetary chain; and to the reaching by the neophyte through self-devised efforts and initiation of the full status of mahatmaship or minor dhyan-chohanship even on this earth.
pure land. (C. jingtu; J. jodo; K. chongt'o 浄土). An English term with no direct equivalent in Sanskrit that is used to translate the Chinese JINGTU (more literally, "purified ground"); the Chinese term may be related to the term PARIsUDDHABUDDHAKsETRA (although this latter term does not appear in the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA, the text most closely aligned with pure land thought). The term "pure land" has several denotations in English, which have led to some confusion in its use. These include (1) a buddha-field (BUDDHAKsETRA) purified of transgressions and suffering by a buddha and thus deemed an auspicious place in which to take rebirth; (2) the specific (and most famous) of these purified fields, that of the buddha AMITĀBHA, named SUKHĀVATĪ; (3) the tradition of texts and practices in MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism dedicated to the description of a number of buddha-fields, including that of Amitābha, and the practices to ensure rebirth there; (4) a tradition of texts and practice in East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, associated specifically with the goal of rebirth in the purified buddha-field of Amitābha; (5) the JoDOSHu and JoDO SHINSHu schools of Japanese Buddhism, deriving from the teachings of HoNEN and SHINRAN, which set forth a "single practice" for rebirth in sukhāvatī. It is important to note that, although the Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra (and other sutras describing other buddha-fields) originated in India, there was no "pure land school" in Indian Buddhism; rebirth in a buddha-field, and especially that of sukhāvatī, was one of the many generalized goals of Mahāyāna practice. Although there was an extensive tradition in China of scriptural exegesis of the major pure land sutras, this was not enough in itself to constitute a self-consciously "pure land school"; indeed, techniques for rebirth in sukhāvatī became popular in many strands of Chinese Buddhism (see NIANFO), especially in light of theories of the disappearance of the dharma (see MOFA). Finally, it is important to note that the goal of rebirth in sukhāvatī was an important practice in Japan prior to the advent of Honen, and remained so in schools other than Jodoshu and Jodo Shinshu.
Pythagoreanism: The doctrines (philosophical, mathematical, moral, and religious) of Pythagoras (c. 572-497) and of his school which flourished until about the end of the 4th century B.C. The Pythagorean philosophy was a dualism which sharply distinguished thought and the senses, the soul and the body, the mathematical forms of things and their perceptible appearances. The Pythagoreans supposed that the substances of all things were numbers and that all phenomena were sensuous expressions of mathematical ratios. For them the whole universe was harmony. They made important contributions to mathematics, astronomv, and physics (acoustics) and were the first to formulate the elementary principles and methods of arithmetic and geometry as taught in the first books of Euclid. But the Pythagorean sect was not only a philosophical and mathematical school (cf. K. von Fritz, Pythagorean Politics in Southern Italy, 1941), but also a religious brotherhood and a fellowship for moral reformation. They believed in the immortality and transmigration (see Metempsychosis) of the soul which they defined as the harmony of the body. To restore harmony which was confused by the senses was the goal of their Ethics and Politics. The religious ideas were closely related to those of the Greek mysteries which sought by various rites and abstinences to purify and redeem the soul. The attempt to combine this mysticism with their mathematical philosophy, led the Pythagoreans to the development of an intricate and somewhat fantastic symbolism which collected correspondences between numbers and things and for example identified the antithesis of odd and even with that of form and matter, the number 1 with reason, 2 with the soul, etc. Through their ideas the Pythagoreans had considerable effect on the development of Plato's thought and on the theories of the later Neo-platonists.
Rajayoga must cod. For its action is the stilling of the waves of consciousness, its manifold activities, cinovfUl, first, through a habitual replacing of the turbid rajaslc activities by the quiet and luminous sattwic, then, by the stilling of all activities, and its object is to enter into silent communion of soul and unity with the Divine. As a matter of fact we find that the system of Raja- yoga includes other objects, — such as the practice and use of occult powers, — some of which seem to be unconnected with and even inconsistent with its main purpose. These powers or siddhis arc indeed frequently condemned as dangers and dis- tractions wWch draw away the Yogin from his sole legitimate aim of divine union. On the way, therefore, it would naturally seem as if they ought to bfe* avoided; and once the goal is reached, it would seem that they are then frivolous and super- fluous. But Rajayoga is a psychic science and it includes the attainment of all the higher slates of consciousness and their powers by which the mental being rises towards the super- conscient as well as its ultimate and supreme possibility of union wnth the Highest. Moreover, the Yo^n, while in the body, is not always mentally inactive and sunk in Samadhi and an account of the powers and states which arc possible to him on the higher planes of his being is necessary to the completeness of the science.
Realistic Idealism recognizes the reality of non-ideal types of being, but relegates them to a subordinate status with respect either to quantity of being or power. This view is either atheistic or theistic. Realistic theism admits the existence of one or more kinds of non-mental being considered as independently co-eternal with God, eternally dependent upon Deity, or as a divine creation. Platonic Idealism, as traditionally interpreted, identifies absolute being with timeless Ideas or disembodied essences. Thtse, organically united in the Good, are the archetypes and the dynamic causes of existent, material things. The Ideas are also archetypes of rational thought, and the goal of fine art and morality. Axiological Idealism, a modern development of Platonism and Kantianism, maintains that the category of Value is logically and metaphysically prior to that of Being.
rebirth. An English term that does not have an exact correlate in Buddhist languages, rendered instead by a range of technical terms, such as the Sanskrit PUNARJANMAN (lit. "birth again") and PUNARBHAVA (lit. "re-becoming"), and, less commonly, the related PUNARMṚTYU (lit. "redeath"). The Sanskrit term JĀTI ("birth") also encompasses the notion of rebirth. The doctrine of rebirth is central to Buddhism. It was not an innovation of the Buddha, being already common to a number of philosophical schools of ancient India by the time of his appearance, especially those connected with the sRAMAnA movement of religious mendicants. Rebirth (sometimes called metempsychosis) is described as a beginningless process in which a mental continuum (see SAMTĀNA) takes different (usually) physical forms lifetime after lifetime within the six realms (GATI) of SAMSĀRA: divinities (DEVA), demigods (ASURA), humans (MANUsYA), animals (TIRYAK), ghosts (PRETA), and hell denizens (NĀRAKA). The cycle of rebirth operates through the process of activity (KARMAN), with virtuous (KUsALA) actions serving as the cause for salutary rebirths among the divinities and human beings, and unvirtuous (AKUsALA) actions serving as the cause of unsalutary rebirths (DURGATI; APĀYA) among demigods, animals, ghosts, and hell denizens. The goal of the Buddhist path has been traditionally described as the cessation of the cycle of rebirth through the eradication of its causes, which are identified as the afflictions (KLEsA) of greed, hatred, and ignorance and the actions motivated by those defilements. Despite this ultimate goal, however, much traditional Buddhist practice has been directed toward securing rebirth as a human or divinity for oneself and one's family members, while avoiding rebirth in the evil realms. The issue of how Buddhism reconciles the doctrine of rebirth with its position that there is no perduring self (ANĀTMAN) has long been discussed within the tradition. Some schools of mainstream Buddhism, such as the VĀTSĪPUTRĪYA or PUDGALAVĀDA, have gone so far as to posit that, while there may be no perduring "self," there is an "inexpressible" (avācya) "person" (PUDGALA) that is neither the same as nor different from the five aggregates (SKANDHA), which transmigrates from lifetime to lifetime. A more widely accepted view among the traditions sees the person as simply a sequence of mental and physical processes, among which is the process called consciousness (VIJNĀNA). Consciousness, although changing every moment, persists as a continuum over time. Death is simply the transfer of this conscious continuum (SAMTĀNA) from one impermanent mental and physical foundation to the next, just as the light from one candle may be transferred to the next in a series of candles. The exact process by which rebirth occurs is variously described in the different Buddhist traditions, with some schools asserting that rebirth occurs in the moments immediately following death, with other schools positing the existence of an "intermediate state" (ANTARĀBHAVA) between death in one lifetime and rebirth in another, with that period lasting as long as forty-nine days (see SISHIJIU [RI] ZHAI). This state, translated as BAR DO in Tibetan, became particularly important in Tibet in both funerary rituals and in tantric practice, especially that of the RNYING MA sect. The reality of rebirth is one of the cardinal doctrines of Buddhism, which the religion claims can be empirically validated through direct spiritual insight (see YOGIPRATYAKsA). Indeed, understanding the validity of this cycle of rebirth is associated with two of the three types of knowledge (TRIVIDYĀ) that are experienced through the enlightenment of an ARHAT or a buddha: the ability to remember one's own former lives (PuRVANIVĀSĀNUSMṚTI) in all their detail and insight into the future rebirth destinies of all other beings based on their own actions (S. CYUTYUPAPĀDĀNUSMṚTI). See also SAMSĀRA.
Research and development (R&D) – Is the carrying out of research into a planned activity or experimentation aimed at discovering new knowledge with the goal being to develop new or improved products & services. Development is when the research is then translated into the design of new or improved products and services.
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.
Ring-pass-not The limit in spiritual, intellectual, or psychological power or consciousness, beyond which an individual is unable to pass until he evokes from within the strength and the vision to carry him forwards and over the circumscribing limits set by that individual’s own karma. In the Stanzas of Dzyan, the lipikas are said to circumscribe the triangle, the first one, the cube, the second one, and the pentacle within the egg, which is the ring called pass not for those who descend and ascend and for those who are progressing toward the great Day Be-With-Us. Also called the dhyanipasa (rope of the dhyanis or angels) that hedges off the phenomenal from the noumenal kosmos. The world circumscribed by this ring is signified mathematically by 31415 = 14 expressing hierarchies of dhyan-chohans. The imbodying monads, and men who are ascending towards purification but have not yet quite reached the goal, can cross the ring only on the Day Be-With-Us, the day when man will have freed himself from the trammels of ignorance and recognized fully the nonseparateness of his personal ego from the universal ego, and returns into conscious at-one-ness with Brahman.
Rune, Runa [from Swedish runa, Icelandic run] Originally a mystery, equivalent to the Greek theo-sophia (divine wisdom), which is the goal of human existence and the aim of evolution; later used for a sign or character which, inscribed on a stick, stone, or even furniture, was believed to have magical properties. A grammarian or one versed in the art of language was called runa-meistari (rune-master), one who knew how to read and write runes correctly.
sādhana ::: leading straight to the goal, guiding well; effective; accomplishment, performance; summoning; adoration, worship; winning over, mastery.
sādhu ::: going straight to the goal, hitting the mark; peaceful, secure; correct, pure; virtuous, honorable, righteous; kind, gentle; saint, sage, seer.
sakṛdāgāmiphalastha. (P. sakadāgāmiphala; T. phyir 'ong 'bras gnas; C. zheng yilai guo; J. shoichiraika; K. chŭng illae kwa 證一來果). In Sanskrit, "one who has reached, or is the recipient of, the fruit of once-returner"; this term is paired with the SAKṚDĀGĀMIPHALAPRATIPANNAKA, one who is a candidate for the fruit of once-returner. Both refer to the "once-returner" (SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), one of the four types of noble persons (ĀRYA); the sakṛdāgāmiphalapratipannaka has, however, only reached the ĀNANTARYAMĀRGA (unimpeded path), while the sakṛdāgāmiphalastha has reached the VIMUKTIMĀRGA (path of freedom). In general, according to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, a noble person reaches the goal of ARHAT by becoming free of all the afflictions (KLEsA) of the three realms, from the sensuous realm to the BHAVĀGRA, the highest level of the immaterial realm. There are nine levels to the three realms: the level of the sensous realm is counted as one, and each of the four meditative absorptions (DHYĀNA) of the realms of both subtle materiality and and immateriality are counted as one each. The path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) has sixteen instants, eight ānantaryamārga and eight vimuktimārga. The first four instants (consisting of two pairs of ānantaryamārga and vimuktimārga) are focused on the truth of suffering as it pertains to the sensuous realm, and then to the remaining eight levels of the two upper realms. The second four instants are focused on the truth of origination as it pertains to the sensuous realm, and then to the remaining eight levels of the two upper realms (see DHARMAKsĀNTI). In this way, during sixteen instants that systematize the path of vision, all the afflictions to be eliminated by the path of vision are removed. The sharpest people (TĪKsnENDRIYA), with the finest store of previous actions, like the Buddha, know all three realms are equally conditioned by suffering (SAMSKĀRADUḤKHATĀ) and feel disgust for all of it equally as SAMSĀRA; they enter into the path of vision, eliminate the fetters, and awaken as arhats. Others have gradations of good fortune, ranging from those who will reach the final goal after death, to those who spend many lives taking rebirth in different heavens in the upper two realms before finally reaching the goal of arhatship. Those whose prior store of actions is such that, prior to reaching the path of vision, they have eliminated all, some, or none of the nine sets of afflictions that specifically cause rebirth in the sensuous realm reach the intermediate fruits of nonreturner, once-returner, and stream-enterer, respectively, when they reach the path of vision. The number of births they will take, and the places they take them, give rise to an āryasaMgha made up of twenty different persons (VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA). In the Mahāyāna didactic reformulations of ABHIDHARMA, sakṛdāgāmin is a name for celestial bodhisattvas who are in their last life before taking birth in the TUsITA heaven prior to becoming complete and perfect buddhas (samyaksaMbuddha).
samadhi. ::: transcendental awareness; the quiet state of blissful awareness; oneness; union with Brahman; the goal of all yogic practice, which is attained when the yogi constantly sees the supreme Self in his Heart; a direct but temporary absorption in the Self in which there is only the feeling "I am" and no thoughts; the state of superconsciousness where Reality is experienced attended with all-knowledge and joy &
saMbhāramārga. (T. tshogs lam; C. ziliang dao; J. shiryodo; K. charyang to 資糧道). In Sanskrit, "path of accumulation" or "path of equipment"; the first of two parts of the preparatory adhimukticaryābhumi, literally, "level of belief performance" (see ADHIMOKsA); the first of the five paths (PANCAMĀRGA), which begins the accumulations of merit and wisdom necessary to achieve NIRVĀnA or BODHI, respectively, on the sRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, or BODHISATTVA paths. The path of accumulation is said to begin with the authentic wish to achieve the goal of one's path, viz., with NIRVEDA (P. nibbidā) (i.e., disgust for SAMSĀRA) in the case of those who wish for nirvāna, and with the development of BODHICITTA (the aspiration to enlightenment) in the case of those suited for the Mahāyāna. In the first paNcamārga model, the path of accumulation, like the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMĀRGA) that follows it, is not a noble path of a noble being (ĀRYA) because the direct perception of reality does not occur there. The saMbhāramārga is subdivided into the three stages of small, middling, and large: at the first stage, the cultivation of the four applications of mindfulness (SMṚTYUPASTHĀNA) is primary, at the second the four resolves (PRAHĀnA), and at the third the four legs of miraculous attainment (ṚDDHIPĀDA). In Mahāyāna ABHIDHARMA, the first level of the path of accumulation is exemplified by earth because it is the ground for all good qualities. The second level is exemplified by gold because from that time on the aspiration to reach enlightenment will not change to anything baser; a bodhisattva is no longer capable of retrogressing from the Mahāyāna and gains an initial capacity to hear the voice of an actual buddha through the achievement of the SROTO'NUGATO NĀMA SAMĀDHIḤ. On the third level of the path of accumulation, the bodhisattva is able to see the NIRMĀnAKĀYA of buddhas directly and receive teachings from them.
saMbhinnapralāpāt prativirati. (P. samphappalāpā pativirata; T. ngag 'khyal ba spong ba; C. bu qiyu; J. fukigo; K. pul kio 不綺語). In Sanskrit, "[the monk] abstains from idle chatter," one of ten wholesome (KUsALA) ways of action (see KARMAPATHA); it refers to the effort or vow to abstain from speech that is either nonsensical or unwholesome. As a moral offense, speaking idly or nonsensically is of greater or lesser severity depending upon how often one engages in it. According to the CulAHATTHIPADOPAMASUTTA in the Pāli MAJJHIMANIKĀYA, one who abstains from idle chatter instead speaks at the right time (kālavādī), speaks only of facts (bhutavādī), speaks of the goal (atthavādī), speaks of the teaching (dhammavādī), and speaks of religious discipline (vinayavādī).
saMklesa. (P. saMkilesa; T. kun nas nyon mongs pa; C. ran; J. zen; K. yom 染). In Sanskrit, "impurity," "defilement," or "pollution," sometimes used interchangeably with the more frequent term "affliction" (KLEsA). There are two basic kinds of impurities (saMklesa): craving (TṚsnĀ) and ignorance (AVIDYĀ). These impurities lead to a whole host of more specific impurities, such as the desire for sensual pleasure, and erroneous views, such as the views of eternalism and annihilationism. The goal of the Buddhist path is to cleanse the mind of these impurities. SaMklesa is frequently seen used in contrast to the term purity (VYAVADĀNA) and indicates a mode of causation that inevitably leads one to suffering. Beings are constantly engaged in the process of either purification (vyavadāna) or defilement (saMklesa), depending upon their actions and thoughts at any given moment. In some MAHĀYĀNA texts, it is understood that the ultimate result of the process of purification is the realization that all phenomena (DHARMA) are ultimately devoid of any distinction between pure and impure.
samudānītagotra. (T. yang dag par bsgrub pa'i rigs; C. xizhongxing; J. shushusho; K. sŭpchongsong 習種性). In Sanskrit, "the [karmic] lineage that is conditioned by habits." In the YOGĀCĀRA school, a distinction is made between the indestructible, inherent "naturally endowed lineage" (PRAKṚTISTHAGOTRA) and this changeable, continuously acquired "lineage conditioned by habits" (samudānītagotra). In contrast to the former, which predetermines a person's orientation toward the two vehicles of either MAHĀYĀNA or HĪNAYĀNA, the latter allows for some leeway for personal adaptations and change through doctrinal study, practice, and exposure (these are what are meant by "habits"). According to this controversial Yogācāra tenet, whereas a person cannot effect change in terms of his highest spiritual potential and vehicular predisposition because of his "naturally endowed lineage," he can nevertheless influence the speed with which he is able to attain enlightenment, and other extrinsic variations within his predetermined "lineage." This flexibility is the lineage that is conditioned, and can be altered, by "habits." Together and in contrast with the "naturally endowed lineage," they are known as "the two lineages: intrinsic and acquired" (xingxi er[zhong]xing). ¶ In another interpretation based on the BODHISATTVABHuMI and MAHĀYĀNASAMGRAHA, the naturally endowed (prakṛtistha) lineage is present since time immemorial (anādikālika) and is called srutavāsanā (the residual impression left by listening). In Yogācāra, where there are no external objects, and the ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA is the storehouse of all seeds (BĪJA), the srutavāsanā is a seed planted in the deepest recesses of the ālaya (see AMALAVIJNĀNA) and helps explains how those who first hear the different branches of the Buddha's doctrine thereby learn and reach the goal of full enlightenment. In this interpretation, the difference between the prakṛtisthagotra and the samudānītagotra is only one of time: when the lineage (understood on the analogy of a seed or capacity) is dormant it is the naturally endowed lineage; when, nutured by the practices leading up to the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), it comes closer to the ĀsRAYAPARĀVṚTTI (fundamental transformation of the basis) on the eighth bodhisattva bhumi, it is samudānītagotra.
saptakṛdbhavaparama. (T. re ltar thogs na srid pa lan bdun pa; C. jiqi fanyou; J. gokushippon'u; K. kŭkch'il panyu 極七返有). In Sanskrit, "one who takes up to seven existences" before NIRVĀnA; a specific type of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), one of the twenty members of the ĀRYASAMGHA (see VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA). According to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, they are those who, on reaching the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), have not yet eliminated even one of the set of nine levels of afflictions (KLEsA) that cause rebirth in the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU), these being the impediments to the first DHYĀNA that the mundane (LAUKIKA) path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA) removes; they will therefore take up to a maximum of seven rebirths in the sensuous realm before they reach the goal of ARHAT.
sāriputra. (P. Sāriputta; T. Shā ri bu; C. Shelifu; J. Sharihotsu; K. Saribul 舍利弗). In Sanskrit, "Son of sārī"; the first of two chief disciples of the Buddha, along with MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA. sāriputra's father was a wealthy brāhmana named Tisya (and sāriputra is sometimes called Upatisya, after his father) and his mother was named sārī or sārikā, because she had eyes like a sārika bird. sārī was the most intelligent woman in MAGADHA; she is also known as sāradvatī, so sāriputra is sometimes referred to as sāradvatīputra. sāriputra was born in Nālaka near RĀJAGṚHA. He had three younger brothers and three sisters, all of whom would eventually join the SAMGHA and become ARHATs. sāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana were friends from childhood. Once, while attending a performance, both became overwhelmed with a sense of the vanity of all impermanent things and resolved to renounce the world together. They first became disciples of the agnostic SANJAYA VAIRĀtĪPUTRA, although they later took their leave of him and wandered through India in search of the truth. Finding no solution, they parted company, promising one another that whichever one should succeed in finding the truth would inform the other. It was then that sāriputra met the Buddha's disciple, AsVAJIT, one of the Buddha's first five disciples (PANCAVARGIKA) and already an arhat. sāriputra was impressed with Asvajit's countenance and demeanor and asked whether he was a master or a disciple. When he replied that he was a disciple, sāriputra asked him what his teacher taught. Asvajit said that he was new to the teachings and could only provide a summary, but then uttered one of the most famous statements in the history of Buddhism, "Of those phenomena produced through causes, the TATHĀGATA has proclaimed their causes (HETU) and also their cessation (NIRODHA). Thus has spoken the great renunciant." (See YE DHARMĀ s.v.). Hearing these words, sāriputra immediately became a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA) and asked where he could find this teacher. In keeping with their earlier compact, he repeated the stanza to his friend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who also immediately became a streamenterer. The two friends resolved to take ordination as disciples of the Buddha and, together with five hundred disciples of their former teacher SaNjaya, proceeded to the VEnUVANAVIHĀRA, where the Buddha was in residence. The Buddha ordained the entire group with the EHIBHIKsUKĀ ("Come, monks") formula, whereupon all except sāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana became arhats. Mahāmaudgalyāyana was to attain arhatship seven days after his ordination, while sāriputra reached the goal after a fortnight upon hearing the Buddha preach the Vedanāpariggahasutta (the Sanskrit recension is entitled the Dīrghanakhaparivrājakaparipṛcchā). The Buddha declared sāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana his chief disciples the day they were ordained, giving as his reason the fact that both had exerted themselves in religious practice for countless previous lives. sāriputra was declared chief among the Buddha's disciples in wisdom, while Mahāmaudgalyāyana was chief in mastery of supranormal powers (ṚDDHI). sāriputra was recognized as second only to the Buddha in his knowledge of the dharma. The Buddha praised sāriputra as an able teacher, calling him his dharmasenāpati, "dharma general" and often assigned topics for him to preach. Two of his most famous discourses were the DASUTTARASUTTA and the SAnGĪTISUTTA, which the Buddha asked him to preach on his behalf. Sāriputra was meticulous in his observance of the VINAYA, and was quick both to admonish monks in need of guidance and to praise them for their accomplishments. He was sought out by others to explicate points of doctrine and it was he who is said to have revealed the ABHIDHARMA to the human world after the Buddha taught it to his mother, who had been reborn in the TRĀYASTRIMsA heaven; when the Buddha returned to earth each day to collect alms, he would repeat to sāriputra what he had taught to the divinities in heaven. sāriputra died several months before the Buddha. Realizing that he had only seven days to live, he resolved to return to his native village and convert his mother; with this accomplished, he passed away. His body was cremated and his relics were eventually enshrined in a STuPA at NĀLANDĀ. sāriputra appears in many JĀTAKA stories as a companion of the Buddha, sometimes in human form, sometimes in animal form, and sometimes with one of them a human and the other an animal. sāriputra also plays a major role in the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, where he is a common interlocutor of the Buddha and of the chief BODHISATTVAs. Sometimes he is portrayed as a dignified arhat, elsewhere he is made the fool, as in the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA when a goddess turns him into a woman, much to his dismay. In either case, the point is that the wisest of the Buddha's arhat disciples, the master of the abhidharma, does not know the sublime teachings of the Mahāyāna and must have them explained to him. The implication is that the teachings of the Mahāyāna sutras are therefore more profound than anything found in the canons of the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS. In the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYA ("Heart Sutra"), it is sāriputra who asks AVALOKITEsVARA how to practice the perfection of wisdom, and even then he must be empowered to ask the question by the Buddha. In the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, it is sāriputra's question that prompts the Buddha to set forth the parable of the burning house. The Buddha predicts that in the future, sāriputra will become the buddha Padmaprabha.
sarvākārajNatā. (T. rnam pa thams cad mkhyen pa; C. yiqiezhong zhi; J. issaishuchi; K. ilch'ejong chi 一切種智). In Sanskrit, "knowledge of all aspects," the preferred term in the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA and its commentaries for the omniscience of a buddha, which simultaneously perceives all phenomena in the universe and their final nature. When explained from the perspective of the goal that bodhisattvas will reach, the knowledge of all aspects is indicated by ten dharmas, among which are cittotpāda (cf. BODHICITTOTPĀDA), defining all the stages of all the Buddhist paths; AVAVĀDA, defining all the instructions relevant to those stages, the stages leading to the elimination of the subject-object conceptualization (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA) along the entire range of accomplishments up to and including the state of enlightenment itself (see also NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA); the substratum (GOTRA), objective supports (ĀLAMBANA) and aims (uddesa) of the practice; and the practices (PRATIPATTI) incorporating the full range of skillful means (UPĀYAKAUsALYA) necessary to turn the wheel of the dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA) in all its variety. When described from the perspective of the bodhisattva's practice that leads to it, sarvākārajNatā has 173 aspects: twenty-seven aspects of a sRĀVAKA's knowledge of the four noble truths (SARVAJNATĀ), thirty-six aspects of a BODHISATTVA's knowledge of paths (MĀRGAJNATĀ) and one hundred ten aspects that are unique to a buddha. These are again set forth as the thirty-seven aspects of all-knowledge, thirty-four aspects of the knowledge of the paths, and the thirty-nine aspects of the knowledge of all aspects itself. See also ĀKĀRA.
Self-giving or surrender is demanded because without such a progressive surrender of the being it is quite impossible to get anywhere near the goal. To keep open means to call m the Force to work in you, and if you do not surrender to it, it amounts to not allowing the Force to work in you at all or else only on condition that it will work in the way you want and not in its own way which is the way of the Divine Truth.
siddhanta. ::: the doctrine; the final statement; the tradition; the goal; the conclusion
similarity learning ::: An area of supervised machine learning in artificial intelligence. It is closely related to regression and classification, but the goal is to learn from a similarity function that measures how similar or related two objects are. It has applications in ranking, in recommendation systems, visual identity tracking, face verification, and speaker verification.
SLD resolution ::: (logic, programming) (Selected, Linear, Definite) Linear resolution with a selection function for definite sentences.A definite sentence has exactly one positive literal in each clause and this literal is selected to be resolved upon, i.e. replaced in the goal clause by the conjunction of negative literals which form the body of the clause.[Why is SLD resolution important?](2003-12-04)
Software in the Public Interest, Inc. ::: (company) (SPI) A non-profit corporation which helps organisations develop and distribute open hardware and open software. SPI's goals are:* to create, form and establish an organization to formulate and provide software systems for use by the general public without charge;* to teach and train individuals regarding the use and application of such systems;* to hold classes, seminars and workshops concerning the proper use and application of computers and computer systems;* to endeavor to monitor and improve the quality of currently existing publicly available software;* to support, encourage and promote the creation and development of software available to the general public;* to provide information and education regarding the proper use of the Internet;* to organize, hold and conduct meetings, discussions and forums on contemporary issues concerning the use of computers and computer software;* to foster, promote and increase access to software systems available to the general public;* to solicit, collect and otherwise raise money and to expend such funds in furtherance of the goals and activities of the corporation;* to aid, assist, cooperate, co-sponsor and otherwise engage in concerted action with private, educational and governmental organisations and associations on all issues and matters concerning the use of computers and computer software and;* generally to endeavor to promote, foster and advance interest in computers and computer software by all available means and methods.SPI currently supports Berlin, Debian, GNOME, LSB, Open Source. .(2002-04-14)
Software in the Public Interest, Inc. "company" (SPI) A non-profit corporation which helps organisations develop and distribute {open hardware} and {open software}. SPI's goals are: * to create, form and establish an organization to formulate and provide software systems for use by the general public without charge; * to teach and train individuals regarding the use and application of such systems; * to hold classes, seminars and workshops concerning the proper use and application of computers and computer systems; * to endeavor to monitor and improve the quality of currently existing publicly available software; * to support, encourage and promote the creation and development of software available to the general public; * to provide information and education regarding the proper use of the Internet; * to organize, hold and conduct meetings, discussions and forums on contemporary issues concerning the use of computers and computer software; * to foster, promote and increase access to software systems available to the general public; * to solicit, collect and otherwise raise money and to expend such funds in furtherance of the goals and activities of the corporation; * to aid, assist, cooperate, co-sponsor and otherwise engage in concerted action with private, educational and governmental organisations and associations on all issues and matters concerning the use of computers and computer software and; * generally to endeavor to promote, foster and advance interest in computers and computer software by all available means and methods. SPI currently supports {Berlin}, {Debian}, {GNOME}, {LSB}, {Open Source}. {SPI Home (http://spi-inc.org/)}. (2002-04-14)
sramana. (P. samana; T. dge sbyong; C. shamen; J. shamon; K. samun 沙門). In Sanskrit "renunciant," "mendicant," or "recluse," a term used in ancient India to refer to male religious of a number of different itinerant sects, including Buddhism, often associated with the warrior (KsATRIYA) caste, which challenged the hegemony of the brāhmana priests and mainstream Brahmanical religion deriving from the Vedas. Whereas the Brahmanical tradition traces itself back to a body of literature centered on the Vedas, the sramana movements instead derive from historical persons who all flourished around the sixth century BCE. Six different sramana groups are mentioned in the SĀMANNAPHALASUTTANTA of the DĪGHANIKĀYA, each representing different trends in Indian thought, including antinomianism (PuRAnA-KĀsYAPA); fatalism (MASKARIN-GOsĀLĪPUTRA of the ĀJĪVAKA school); materialism (AJITA-KEsAKAMBALA of the LOKĀYATA school); atomism (KAKUDA-KĀTYĀYANA); and agnosticism (SANJAYA-VAIRĀtĪPUTRA); the sixth group is the JAINA tradition of NIRGRANTHA JNĀTĪPUTRA, also known as MAHĀVĪRA, with which Buddhism shares many affinities. These six are typically referred to in Buddhist materials as the six "heterodox teachers" (TĪRTHIKA) and are consistently criticized by the Buddha for fostering wrong views (MITHYĀDṚstI). Some scholars suggest that these groups were loosely associated with a third phase in the development of pan-Indian religion called the āranyaka (forest dwellers) movement, where the highly specialized fire rituals (HOMA) set forth in the Brāhmanas for the propitiation of Vedic gods gave way to a more internalized form of spiritual praxis. These itinerant asetics or wanders were also called PARIVRĀJAKA (P. paribbājaka; "those who go forth into homelessness"), in direct contrast to the householders (GṚHASTHA) whose behavior was governed by the laws set down in dharmasāstras. Because so many of the beliefs and practices emblematic of the sramana movement have no direct Vedic antecedents, however, other scholars have proposed that the sramana groups may instead exemplify the resurfacing in Indian religion of aboriginal elements that had long been eclipsed by the imported rituals and beliefs that the Āryans brought with them to India. These doctrines, all of which have their parallels in Buddhism, include rebirth and transmigration (e.g., PUNARJANMAN); notions that actions have effect (e.g., KARMAN); asceticism (TAPAS, DHUTAnGA) and the search for ways of behavior that would not bind one to the round of SAMSĀRA; and liberation (MOKsA, VIMOKsA) as the goal of religious practice. In Buddhism, sramana is also used generically to refer to all monks, including the Buddha, whose epithets include sramana Gautama and Mahāsramana, "Great Renunciant." The term often occurs in the compound sramanabrāhmana (P. samanabrāhmana), "recluses and brāhmanas." This compound has a range of meanings. In some cases, it refers simply to those who practice and benefit from the Buddha's teachings. In other cases, it refers to non-Buddhist religious practitioners. In the edicts of AsOKA, the term is used to refer to those who are worthy of respect and offerings, with sramana taken to mean Buddhist monks (and possibly other ascetics) and brāhmana taken to mean brāhmana priests. The term sramana should be carefully distinguished from sRĀMAnERA (s.v.), a novice monk.
SRC Modula-3 Version 2.11 compiler(-"C), run-time, library, documentation The goal of Modula-3 is to be as simple and safe as it can be while meeting the needs of modern systems programmers. Instead of exploring new features, we studied the features of the Modula family of languages that have proven themselves in practice and tried to simplify them into a harmonious language. We found that most of the successful features were aimed at one of two main goals: greater robustness, and a simpler, more systematic type system. Modula-3 retains one of Modula-2's most successful features, the provision for explicit interfaces between modules. It adds objects and classes, exception handling, garbage collection, lightweight processes (or threads), and the isolation of unsafe features. conformance: implements the language defined in SPwM3. ports: i386/AIX 68020/DomainOS Acorn/RISCiX MIPS/Ultrix 68020/HP-UX RS/6000/AIX IBMRT/4.3 68000/NEXTSTEP i860/SVR4 SPARC/SunOS 68020/SunOS sun386/SunOS Multimax/4.3 VAX/Ultrix Mailing list: comp.lang.modula3 E-mail: Bill Kalsow "kalsow@src.dec.com" From DEC/SRC, Palo Alto, CA. "Modula-3 Report (revised)" Luca Cardelli et al. {(ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/DEC/Modula-3/)}. (1992-02-09)
SRC Modula-3 ::: Version 2.11compiler(->C), run-time, library, documentationThe goal of Modula-3 is to be as simple and safe as it can be while meeting the needs of modern systems conformance: implements the language defined in SPwM3.ports: i386/AIX 68020/DomainOS Acorn/RISCiX MIPS/Ultrix 68020/HP-UX RS/6000/AIX IBMRT/4.3 68000/NEXTSTEP i860/SVR4 SPARC/SunOS 68020/SunOS sun386/SunOS Multimax/4.3 VAX/UltrixMailing list: comp.lang.modula3E-mail: Bill Kalsow From DEC/SRC, Palo Alto, CA. Modula-3 Report (revised) Luca Cardelli et al. . (1992-02-09)
Stakeholder objectives - The goals of people with interests in the business. What stakeholders want to achieve.
sugata. (T. bde bar gshegs pa; C. shanshi; J. zenzei; K. sonso 善逝). In Sanskrit and Pāli, lit., "well gone," one in a standard list of epithets of the Buddha. Su (cognate with Greek eu) is a prefix meaning good and gata is the past passive particle of "to go." Among other meanings, BUDDHAGHOSA says the Buddha is sugata because both the way he took (gata) is good (su) and where he has gone (gata) is good (su). The MAHĀYĀNA author HARIBHADRA also says the Buddha is sugata because he is one from whom all faults are totally (susthu) gone (gata), or into whom all good qualities have gone (gata) with none remaining (suparipurna). It is customary to relate three denotations of sugata with three stages through which a buddha must pass in order to reach the goal of enlightenment: he has gone well beyond rebirth in SAMSĀRA, he has gone well into NIRVĀnA, and he has gone well into the state of perfect buddhahood (SAMYAKSAMBUDDHA).
Superman: A higher type of humanity, the goal of human evolution. (The word is the translation of the German Übermensch, introduced by Nietzsche.)
Superman: The nnme given by Nietzsche to what he deems a higher type of humanity, viewed as the goal of evolution. -- H.H.
svarga. (P. sagga; T. mtho ris; C. tianshang; J. tenjo; K. ch'onsang 天上). In Sanskrit, "heaven," the realm of the divinities within the cycle of rebirth (SAMSĀRA). The terms encompasses the six heavens of the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU) as well as the heavens of the subtle-materiality realm (RuPADHĀTU) and the immaterial realm (ĀRuPYADHĀTU). Although sublime states, none of these are permanent abodes; the beings reborn there eventually die and are reborn elsewhere when the causes that led to their celestial births are exhausted. However, the Buddha repeatedly teaches the virtues that result in rebirth in heaven, and such rebirth has been one of the primary goals of Buddhist practice, especially among the laity, throughout the history of Buddhism. Rebirth as a divinity (DEVA) is presumed to be the reward of wholesome acts (KUsALA-KARMAN) performed in previous lives and is thus considered a salutary, if provisional, religious goal. For example, in his typical "graduated discourse" (P. ANUPUBBIKATHĀ) the Buddha uses the prospect of heavenly rebirth, and its attendant pleasures, as one means of attracting laypersons to the religious life. Despite the many appealing attributes of these heavenly beings, such as their physical beauty, comfortable lives, and long life spans, even heavenly existence is ultimately unsatisfactory because it does not offer permanent release from the continued cycle of birth and death (SAMSĀRA). Since devas are merely enjoying the rewards of their previous good deeds rather than performing new wholesome actions, they are considered to be spiritually stagnant, such that when the karmic effect of the deed that led to rebirth in heaven is exhausted, they are inevitably reborn in a lower realm of existence (GATI), perhaps even in one of the baleful destinies (DURGATI). For these reasons, Buddhist soteriological literature sometimes condemns religious practice performed solely for the goal of achieving rebirth in the heavens. It is only in certain higher level of the heavens, such as the those belonging to the five pure abodes (sUDDHĀVĀSA), that beings are not subject to further rebirth, because they have already eliminated all the fetters (SAMYOJANA) associated with that realm and are destined to achieve ARHATship. ¶ In traditional Indian cosmology, the heavens of the sensuous realm are thought to rest on and extend far above the peak of Mt. SUMERU, the axis mundi of the universe. They are ranked according to their elevation, so the higher the heaven, the greater the enjoyments of their inhabitants. The lowest of these heavens is the heaven of the four heavenly kings (CĀTURMAHĀRĀJAKĀYIKA), who are protectors of the dharma (DHARMAPĀLA). The highest is the heaven of the divinities who have power over the creations of others, or the divinities who partake of the pleasures created in other heavens (PARANIRMITAVAsAVARTIN), which is said to be the heaven where MĀRA resides. TUsITA, the heaven into which sĀKYAMUNI was born as the divinity sVETAKETU in his penultimate life, is the fourth of the kāmadhātu heavens, in ascending order. ¶ The heavens of the subtle-materiality realm are grouped into four categories that correspond to the four stratified levels of DHYĀNA-states of profound meditative concentration. Thus, rebirth into any one of these heavens is dependent on the attainment of the dhyāna to which it corresponds in the immediately preceding lifetime. Each of the four dhyāna has various heavens. The lowest of these heavens is the heaven of brahmā's retainers (BRAHMAKĀYIKA), which corresponds to the first subtle-materiality absorption (RuPĀVACARADHYĀNA), and the highest is the highest heaven (AKANIstHA), which is also classified as one of the "pure abodes," or sUDDHĀVĀSA. ¶ The heavens of the immaterial realm similarly correspond to the four immaterial dhyānas (ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA), beginning with the sphere of infinite space (ĀKĀsĀNANTYĀYATANA) and so on up to the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception (NAIVASAMJNĀNĀSAMJNĀYATANA). As noted, despite their many enjoyments, none of these realms is eternal and all are thus understood to fall within the realm of saMsāra. For a full account of all the heavens, see DEVA.
svārtha. (T. rang don; C. zili; J. jiri; K. chari 自利). In Sanskrit, "self-benefit," "benefitting oneself." The term is used in several contexts. First, it may refer to the goal of worldly actions that selfishly seek happiness but, because they are motivated by the afflictions (KLEsA), in fact result in suffering. Second, the term may be used to describe the goal of the sRĀVAKA and PRATYEKABUDDHA, who seek their own welfare by becoming an ARHAT, in contrast to the BODHISATTVA who seeks the welfare of others (PARĀRTHA), willingly relinquishing motivations and deeds that would lead to his own personal benefit. In the case of the bodhisattva, it is said that by following the bodhisattva path to buddhahood, the bodhisattva fulfills both his own welfare (because he achieves the omniscience of a buddha) as well as the welfare of others (because he teaches the dharma so that others may also become buddhas).
Systematic Desensitization ::: A treatment technique where the client is exposed to gradually increasing anxiety provoking stimuli while relaxing; the goal is for the client to eventually confront a phobia or fear without the previously associated anxiety.
Tao: In Chinese philosophy, the Absolute—both the path and the goal. It denotes also the cosmic order, nature, and the Way in the cosmic sense, signifying that which is above the realm of corporeality.
Target – Refers to the goal that the entity or individual intendeds to achieve and which they believed is attainable, e.g. sales target, profit target or completion date.
The Jews and Christians speak of the City of God or heavenly Jerusalem, the secret or sacred Salem, which is the goal of human spiritual attainment. This is contrasted with the earthly Jerusalem, the earth or human world. In the Qabbalah, the Holy City symbolizes both the holy of holies and the maqom which is “(the Secret Place or the Shrine) on Earth: in other words, the human womb, the microcosmic copy and reflection of the Heavenly Matrix, the female space or primeval Chaos, in which the male Spirit fecundates the germ of the Son, or the visible Universe” (SD 2:84).
The union has a threefold character. There is a union in spiritual essence, by identity; there is a union by the indwelling of our soul in this highest Being and Consciousness; there is a dynamic union of likeness or oneness of nature between That and our instrumental being here. The first is the liberation from the Ignorance and identification with the Real and Eternal, moksa, sayujya, which is the characteristic aim of the Yoga of Knowledge. The second, the dwelling of the soul with or in the Divine, samıpya, salokya, is the intense hope of all Yoga of love and beatitude. The third, identity in nature, likeness to the Divine, to be perfect as That is perfect, is the high intention of all Yoga of power and perfection or of divine works and service. The combined completeness of the three together, founded here on a multiple Unity of the self-manifesting Divine, is the complete result of the integral Yoga, the goal of its triple Path and the fruit of its triple sacrifice.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 131
Transmutation of metals: The goal of the alchemists; especially the transmutation of mercury or other baser elements into gold.
Universal Self ::: The universal self is the heart of the universe, for these two phrases are but two manners of expressingthe same thing. It is the source of our being; it is also the goal whither we are all marching, we and thehierarchies above us as well as the hierarchies and the entities which compose them inferior to us. Allcome from the same ineffable source, the heart of being, the universal self. All pass at one period of theirevolutionary journey through the stage of humanity, gaining thereby self-consciousness or the ego-self,the "I am I," and they find this ego-self or consciousness, as they advance along this evolutionary path,expanding gradually into universal consciousness -- an expansion, however, which never has an end,because the universal consciousness is endless, limitless, boundless, and without any frontierswhatsoever. (See also Paramatman; Self)
vipākahetu. (T. rnam smin gyi rgyu; C. yishu yin; J. ijukuin; K. isuk in 異熟因). In Sanskrit and Pāli, lit. "ripening cause"; the "retributive cause" that leads to either wholesome or unwholesome karmic retribution (VIPĀKAPHALA); one of the six types of causes (HETU) described in the VAIBHĀsIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA and by VASUBANDHU in the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA. The vipākahetu refers to the karmic seeds of either wholesome (KUsALA) deeds (KARMAN) that are tainted by ignorance (AVIDYĀ), or of unwholesome (AKUsALA) deeds; neutral actions cannot serve as retributive causes. These deeds have the potency to ripen, even at some point in the distant future, as vipākaphala, specifically as the aggregates (SKANDHA) of a future lifetime, producing the physical body (RuPA), the six types of consciousness (VIJNĀNA), and sensations (VEDANĀ). According to some schools, the retributive cause is essentially identical to volition (CETANĀ), since it is the force that initiates action. The goal of the eightfold path (ĀRYĀstĀnGAMĀRGA) is to end the generation of such causes and thereby exhaust the karmic forces that bind one to SAMSĀRA.
visuddhi. [alt. visuddha] (P. visuddhi; T. rnam par dag pa; C. qingjing; J. shojo; K. ch'ongjong 清淨). In Sanskrit, "purity"; of which two types are enumerated: innate purity (prakṛti or svabhāvavisuddhi) and purity free of temporary or adventitious stains (āgantukamalavisuddhi). The former is the natural state of the mind (see PRABHĀSVARA) as in the Pāli AnGUTTARANIKĀYA: "The mind, O monks, is luminous (P. pabhassara), but is defiled by adventitious defilements" (pabhassaraM idaM bhikkhave cittaM, taN ca kho āgantukehi upakkilesehi upakkilitthaM). The latter is the mind when the path (MĀRGA) has cleansed it of hindrances (see NĪVARAnA; ĀVARAnA). In Pāli, there are seven purities (visuddhi) that must be developed along the path leading to liberation. The list of seven purities is first enumerated in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA and forms the outline for both BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA and Upatissa's earlier *VIMUTTIMAGGA. The seven purities are likened to seven carriages that one takes in sequence to reach seven progressive goals. Thus, (1) the purity of morality (P. sīlavisuddhi; see S. sĪLAVIsUDDHI) leads to its goal of (2) the purity of mind (CITTAVISUDDHI), and the purity of mind leads to its goal of (3) purity of understanding or views (DIttHIVISUDDHI). The purity of understanding leads to its goal of (4) purity of overcoming doubt (KAnKHĀVITARAnAVISUDDHI), and the purity of overcoming doubt leads to its goal of (5) the purity of knowledge and vision of what is and is not the path (MAGGĀMAGGANĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI). The purity of knowledge and vision of what is and is not the path leads to its goal of (6) knowledge and vision of progress along the path (PAtIPADĀNĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), and knowledge and vision of progress along the path leads to its goal of (7) the purity of knowledge and vision (NĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI). The goal of this last purity is liberation through the attainment of any of the four supramundane paths (P. ariyamagga; S. ĀRYAMĀRGA).
With Pythagoras, one is not a number but the root of all numbers flowing out of it, but in modern views it is the first number. It may be called mystically dual, for as a power of 2 it must be even, while as 1 less than 2 it must be odd. Unity may be viewed as simple or as all-inclusive; it appears as the goal of both analysis and synthesis.
Yoga has always its difficulties, whatever yoga it be. More- over, it acts in a different way on different seekers. Some have to overcome the difficulties of their nature first before they get any experiences to speak of, others get a splendid beginning and all the difficulties afterwards, others go on for a long time having alternate risings to the top of the wave and then a descent into the gulfs and so on till the difficulty is worked out, others have a smooth path which does not mean that they have no diffi- culties — they have plenty, but they do not care a straw for them, because they feel that the Divine will help them to the goal or that he is with them even when they do not feel him
yogipratyaksa. (T. rnal 'byor mngon sum; C. dingguan zhi; J. jokanchi; K. chonggwan chi 定觀知). In Sanskrit, "yogic direct perception"; a specific variety of direct perception (PRATYAKsA) that is typically presumed to derive from meditative practice (BHĀVANĀ; YOGA). A direct intuition of the real obtained through meditative practice, this type of understanding was accepted as a valid means of knowledge by most of the traditional Indian religious schools. In Buddhism, the psychological analysis of the notion of yogipratyaksa and the related yogijNāna (yogic knowledge or cognition) was undertaken by DHARMAKĪRTI (c. 600-670) in his PRAMĀnAVĀRTTIKA and NYĀYABINDU, as well as by his commentators. Dharmakīrti's predecessor DIGNĀGA (c. 480-540) had posited that there were only two reliable sources of knowledge (PRAMĀnA): direct perception (PRATYAKsA) and logical inference (ANUMĀNA). Dharmakīrti, however, subdivided direct perception (pratyaksa) into four subtypes, viz., sensory cognition (indriyajNāna), mental discrimination (MANOVIJNĀNA), self-awareness (SVASAMVEDANA), and yogic cognition (yogijNāna). In Dharmakīrti's analysis, yogic cognition (yogijNāna) is a form of yogic perception (yogipratyaksa), because it fulfills the two conditions of perception (pratyaksa): (1) it is devoid of conceptual construction (KALPANĀ); and (2) it is a cognition that is "nonerroneous" (abhrānta), viz., real. The treatment of yogipratyaksa in the literature thus focuses on how yogipratyaksa fulfills these two conditions of perception. Yogic knowledge is devoid of conceptual construction (kalpanā), Dharmakīrti maintains, because it is nonconceptual (akalpa; NIRVIKALPA) and thus "vivid" or "distinct" (spasta). This type of perception is therefore able to perceive reality directly, without the intercession of mental images or concepts. Since yogic cognition is said to be devoid of conceptual construction, this raises the issue of its second condition, its lack of error. Why is meditatively induced perception true and reliable? How does a meditator's yogic perception differ from the hallucinations of the deranged, since both of them presume they have a vivid cognition of an object? The reason, Dharmakīrti maintains, is that the objects of yogic knowledge are "true" or "real" (bhuta; sadbhuta), whereas hallucinations are "false" or "unreal" objects (abhuta; asadbhuta). The only true objects of yogic knowledge offered by Dharmakīrti are the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: that is, the perception of these truths is true and reliable because they enable one to reach the goal of enlightenment, not because they involve a perception of an ultimate substance. In this sense, Dharmakīrti's understanding of yogijNāna is more focused on the direct realization of the soteriological import of the four noble truths than on extraordinary sensory ability. Therefore, yogic direct perception is qualitatively different from the various forms of clairvoyance that are the byproducts of deep states of concentration that may be achieved by both Buddhist and non-Buddhist practitioners. Yogipratyaksa is a form of insight (VIPAsYANĀ) posssessed only by noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA); and among the five paths it occurs only on the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and above. See also DARsANA.
zhi byed. (shije). In Tibetan, lit. "pacification"; a Tibetan Buddhist tradition of meditation practice traced back to the eleventh-century Indian adept PHA DAM PA SANGS RGYAS, who for many years taught at the small temple of GLANG SKOR, near Ding ri in western Tibet. The name derives from the goal of the practice, which is the "pacification" of all suffering, transforming negative states into positive states through the practice of the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ), especially the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ). The practice is also said to extend one's life. Together with the related tradition of GCOD, or "severance," promulgated by Pha dam pa sangs rgyas's female disciple MA GCIG LAB SGRON, pacification is frequently counted as one of eight major streams of Buddhist practice found in Tibet, the so-called eight great conveyances that are lineages of achievement (SGRUB BRGYUD SHING RTA CHEN PO BRGYAD). Unlike the tradition of severance, however, the practice of pacification as a unique system had largely died out by the nineteenth century, when great Tibetan scholars of the nonsectarian (RIS MED) movement attempted to preserve its transmission.
Zion, Zionism ::: (Mount) Zion is an ancient Hebrew designation for Jerusalem, but already in biblical times it began to symbolize the national homeland (see e.g., Psalm 137.1-6). In this latter sense it served as a focus for Jewish national-religious hopes of renewal over the centuries. Ancient hopes and attachments to Zion gave rise to Zionist longings and movements since antiquity, culminating in the modern national liberation movement of that name. The Zionist cause helped the Jews return to Palestine in this century and found the state of Israel in 1948. The goal of Zionism is the political and spiritual renewal of the Jewish people in its ancestral homeland. See also Herzl.
KEYS (10k)
29 Sri Aurobindo
15 The Mother
6 Sri Ramana Maharshi
6 Sri Ramakrishna
4 The Mother
3 SWAMI VIRAJANANDA
3 Sri Sarada Devi
3 Mother Mirra
3 Swami Vivekananda
2 Swami Turiyananda
2 Saint Gregory of Nyssa
2 Book of Golden Precepts
2 Confucius
1 The Mother?
1 Swami Virajananda
1 SWAMI TRIGUNATITANANDA
1 Swami Ramakrishnananda
1 SWAMI RAMA
1 SWAMI PARAMANANDA
1 SWAMI BRAHMANANDA
1 Swami Akhandananda
1 Swami Adbhutananda
1 Sri Ramana Maharshi
1 SRI NISARGATTA MAHARAJ
1 Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
1 Sri Aurobindo?
1 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
1 Ramakrishna
1 Rabindranath Tagore
1 MOTHER MIRA
1 Manapurush Swami Shivananda
1 Gyothai
1 Evagrius of Pontus
1 Dhammapada
1 Boye De Mente
1 Amma
1 Jetsun Milarepa
1 Aleister Crowley
1 Abraham Maslow
NEW FULL DB (2.4M)
26 Anonymous
25 Swami Vivekananda
17 Sri Aurobindo
16 Simon Sinek
14 Seth Godin
13 Martin Luther King Jr
12 The Mother
12 Ed Catmull
9 Joseph Campbell
8 Sri Ramana Maharshi
8 Eliyahu M Goldratt
7 Sri Ramakrishna
7 Francis Chan
7 Dalai Lama XIV
6 Noam Chomsky
6 John Piper
6 John C Maxwell
6 Friedrich Nietzsche
6 Eric Ries
6 Deepak Chopra
1:The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God. ~ Saint Gregory of Nyssa, #KEYS
2:The goal of life is not the drama being played, but the lesson that it offers. ~ SWAMI RAMA, #KEYS
3:The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God. ~ Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On the Beatitudes, #KEYS
4:To see God is the one goal. Power is not the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #KEYS
5:Thought-free consciousness is the goal. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 580, #KEYS
6:Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. ~ Rabindranath Tagore, #KEYS
7:Freedom of the soul is the goal of all Yogas. ~ Swami Vivekananda, (C.W. I. 55), #KEYS
8:Never forget the goal. Never stop aspiring. Never halt in your progress, and you are sure to succeed. ~ Mother Mirra, #KEYS
9:How can you achieve the goal without practicing Japa and meditation? One must practice these disciplines. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
10:Each reaction which arises from us causes a delay in attaining the goal. Whereas acceptance will cause Grace to flow. ~ Amma, #KEYS
11:If you live one sixth of what is taught you, you will surely attain the goal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
12:Go on struggling ceaselessly. Fight like a hero. Never look back, but ever go forward. Onward to the Goal! ~ SWAMI VIRAJANANDA, #KEYS
13:I am with you and I will take you to the goal. Have an unshakable faith and all will go well. Blessings.
~ The Mother?, [T2],#KEYS
14:The goal of evolution is also its cause. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Three Steps of Nature, #KEYS
15:If you live one sixth of what is taught you, you will surely attain the goal. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
16:If there is a goal to be reached it cannot be permanent. The goal must already be there. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
17:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, #KEYS
18:One must continue spiritual practices without interruption and with single-minded devotion as long as the Goal is not achieved. ~ SWAMI VIRAJANANDA, #KEYS
19:Keep courage in spite of all difficulties. You are sure to reach the goal, and the more you keep confidence, the quicker it will come. ~ Mother Mirra, #KEYS
20:The goal always exists. It is not something new to be discovered. The Absolute is our nature. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
21:Once the way to God is known, the next step is to work one's way to the goal - realization is the goal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
22:The conception that there is a goal and a path to it is wrong. We are the goal or peace always. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
23:When the aspiration is awake each day brings us nearer to the goal. With my blessings,
~ The Mother, Mantras Of The Mother, [T4],#KEYS
24:We are the goal or peace always. To get rid of the notion that we are not peace is all that is required. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
25:Be master of thy soul, O seeker of the eternal truths, if thou wouldst attain the goal. ~ Book of Golden Precepts, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
26:You should pray to God that your worldly duties may be reduced. And you will achieve the goal if you renounce mentally. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
27:God to the soul that sees is the path and God is the goal of his journey. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #KEYS
28:Love illuminated fulfils the harmony which is the goal of the divine movement. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, Agni, the Illumined Will, #KEYS
29:You are sure to reach the goal but you must be very perseverant. To be constantly in contact with the Truth is not easy and needs time and a great sincerity. ~ Mother Mirra, #KEYS
30:I am is the goal, the final reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. Spontaneous and natural, it is realization. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
31:When the mind and soul have chosen the goal, the rest is bound to follow. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Imperfections and Periods of Arrest, #KEYS
32:The Mother is the goal, everything is in her : if she is attained, all is attained. If you dwell in her consciousness, everything else unfolds of itself.
~ Sri Aurobindo?, [T1],#KEYS
33:Be fearless! Courage! Courage! Do not allow even the thought of defeat to enter your mind. Realization of the Goal, or let the body fall ! - let this be your Mantra. ~ SWAMI VIRAJANANDA, #KEYS
34:Let a Bhakti pray to God and it will be given to him to realize the impersonal God in samadhi and thus reach the goal of Jnana Yoga also. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
35:You are living within your shell. Expand! See yourself 'in all beings and all beings in your Self.' Expand until you reach the goal, which is to see the Self in all. ~ Swami Turiyananda, #KEYS
36:And yet, O the happiness of being man and of being able to recognise the way of the Truth and by following it to attain the goal. ~ Gyothai, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
37:Certainly Kundalini will awake. Repetition of His name will lead to the goal. Even when your mind does not become concentrated you can repeat the holy Name thousands of times. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
38:Death is a passage, not the goal of our walk: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, 02.06, #KEYS
39:All is a single plan; each wayside act
Deepens the soul's response, brings nearer the goal. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Debate of Love and Death,#KEYS
40:renunciation of life cannot be the goal of life nor rejection of the world the object for which the world was created. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Renunciation, #KEYS
41:Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, with the faith that, since it is the goal before you, it must and will come.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV, [T1],#KEYS
42:313. Stride swiftly for the goal is far; rest not unduly, for thy Master is waiting for thee at the end of thy journey.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine And Human, Karma, 53, [T5],#KEYS
43:Behold, there is the goal of beatitude and there the long road of suffering. Thou canst choose the one or the other across the cycles to come. ~ Dhammapada, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
44:The only important thing is the goal to be attained. The way matters little, and often it is better not to know it in advance.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, True Aim of Life,#KEYS
45:The Grace is something that pushes you towards the goal to be attained....The Grace is that which makes you march swiftly towards the realisation.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
46:Proclaim the glory of the Atman with the roar of a lion, and impart fearlessness unto all beings by saying: "Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached". ~ Swami Vivekananda, #KEYS
47:You must practice tapasya. Only then can you attain the goal. It will avail you nothing even if you learn the texts of the scriptures by heart. You must swallow some. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
48:Life is not meant for the pleasure of the body. Realization of God alone is the goal of life. Now that you have attained this rare human birth, do not allow your life to be spent in vain. ~ Manapurush Swami Shivananda, #KEYS
49:Control lust. Don't permit it to increase. Always pay attention so that lust does not crop up. It is an enemy that places obstacles on the path of one's sadhana. He who has conquered lust has reached the goal. ~ Swami Adbhutananda, #KEYS
50:What keeps us from seeing God? Selfishness, egotism, ambition, vanity, pride. The more we can minimize these, the sooner will we come to the goal. If we can get rid of them altogether, then freedom is ours. ~ Swami Ramakrishnananda, #KEYS
51:Be content with wherever and in whatever situation He places you. The goal is to call upon Him and to attain to Him. If you call upon Him, He will lead you by the hand. You will have no fear if you can depend on Him. ~ Sri Sarada Devi, #KEYS
52:The Mother - The power of the Divine Consciousness is the goal, everything is in her; if she is attained, all is attained. If you dwell in her consciousness, everything else unfolds itself.
~ Sri Aurobindo,#KEYS
53:We have come from a place of unity to a place of variety. And if we go on expanding ourselves, we finally reach to unity again. Unity which is the goal of expansion is not to be given up, but kept up for eternity. ~ SWAMI TRIGUNATITANANDA, #KEYS
54:In the world, as it is, the goal of life is not to secure personal happiness, but to awaken the individual progressively towards the truth-consciousness.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The True Aim of Life,#KEYS
55:The Grace is something that pushes you towards the goal to be attained. Do not try to judge it by your mind, you will not get anywhere, because it is something formidable which is not explained through human words or feelings. ~ MOTHER MIRA, #KEYS
56:Unity utter and absolute is the goal, but this absoluteness has to be brought to its highest term by including in it the whole infinite multiplicity of things. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, Conclusion and Summary, #KEYS
57:Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #KEYS
58:It is by the Grace of the Divine and the aid of a Force greater than your own, not by personal capacity and worth that you can attain the goal of the sadhana. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Call and the Capacity, #KEYS
59: (Mother to Mona Sarkar:) "It is invincible and does not follow the slow natural route but jumps, takes a leap, towards the goal. Whatever may be the outer consequences, the Grace carries you directly to me." ~ The Mother, Sweet Mother - Luminous Notes, p.116 #KEYS
60:Go on with your meditations. Keep turning your attention within. One day the wheel of thought will slow down and an intuition will mysteriously arise. Follow that intuition, let your thinking stop, and it will eventually lead you to the goal. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
61:Have no private selfish end, but have sincere love for truth and piety, and Mother shall speak from within you. Never let go your ideal, but hold on to it with a firm grip, and you will be led rightly to the goal, which is the one and same for all. ~ Swami Turiyananda, #KEYS
62:You must give up the idea that you are something. That you do or do not do, both must be given up. Give up taking the credit for anything; root out this idea, then you will become unselfish. Root out all selfish desires and you will reach the goal. ~ SWAMI PARAMANANDA, #KEYS
63:Have faith that we have to regain our lost Self and 'Stop not till the goal is reached.' Remember these words of Swamiji, 'Do not forget the ideal - do not cut it down.' Let this body perish, still do not lower the ideal. Pray for strength. Pray always. ~ Swami Akhandananda, #KEYS
64:The goal of praktike is to purify the intellect and to render it free of passions; that of gnostike is to reveal the truth hidden in all beings; but to distance the intellect from matter and to turn it towards the First Cause - this is a gift of theology. ~ Evagrius of Pontus, #KEYS
65:The inner teacher is in you & with you. Look within, and you will find him. Your own self is your ultimate teacher. The outer teacher (Guru) is merely a milestone. It is only your inner teacher, that will walk with you to the goal, for he is the goal. ~ SRI NISARGATTA MAHARAJ, #KEYS
66:What is the goal of spiritual practices? It is to realize God, to attain Divine grace. The practices are meant to clear the heart of all the impurities brought there by lust & greed. Unless this is done, you can never reach your goal, however much you may try. ~ SWAMI BRAHMANANDA, #KEYS
67:Think not that to seat thyself in gloomy forests, in a proud seclusion, aloof from men, think not that to live on roots and plants and quench thy thirst with the snow shall lead thee to the goal of the final deliverance. ~ Book of Golden Precepts, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
68:Devote yourself to spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
69:Earth that was wakened by pain to life and by hunger to thinking
Left to her joys rests inert and content with her gains and her station.
But for the unbearable whips of the gods back soon to her matter
She would go glad and the goal would be missed ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,#KEYS
70:The ideal attitude is to belong only to the Divine, to work only for the Divine and above all to expect only from the Divine strength, peace and satisfaction. The Divine is all-merciful and gives us all that we need to lead us as quickly as possible to the goal.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Divine Is with You, [15],#KEYS
71:The goal of yoga is always hard to reach, but this one is more difficult than any other, and it is only for those who have the call, the capacity, the willingness to face everything and every risk, even the risk of failure, and the will to progress towards an entire selflessness, desirelessness and surrender. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, #KEYS
72:tapasya :::
Tapasya: a discipline aiming at the realisation of the Divine.
Mental tapasya: the process leading to the goal.
Vital tapasya: the vital undergoes a rigorous discipline in order to transform itself.
Integral tapasya: the whole being lives only to know and serve the Divine.
Perfect tapasya: that which will reach its goal. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
73:The Guru cannot make you realize the Truth unless you try hard for it yourself. The Guru can show you the way; can remove your doubts and difficulties, and correct your mistakes; can warn you if you go astray; can put you back on the right track; and can even take you some distance along it, holding you by the hand. But the walking you have to do yourself - he cannot carry you to the goal on his shoulders. ~ Swami Virajananda #KEYS
74:Errors have become stepping-stones, the blind gropings conquests. Thy glory transforms defeats into victories of eternity, and all the shadows have fled before Thy radiant light.
It is Thou who wert the motive and the goal; Thou art the worker and the work.
The personal existence is a canticle, perpetually renewed, which the universe offers up to Thy inconceivable Splendour.
~ The Mother, Prayers And Meditations,#KEYS
75:in order to really possess knowledge, whatever it may be, you must put it into practice, that is, master your nature so as to be able to express this knowledge in action. ... You are still very young, but you must learn right away that to reach the goal you must know how to pay the price, and that to understand the supreme truths you must put them into practice in your daily life. That's all.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1957-1958,#KEYS
76:But if we desire to make the most of the opportunity that this life gives us, if we wish to respond adequately to the call we have received and to attain to the goal we have glimpsed, not merely advance a little towards it, it is essential that there should be an entire self-giving. The secret of success in Yoga is to regard it not as one of the aims to be pursued in life, but as the one and only aim, not as an important part of life, but as the whole of life.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,#KEYS
77:In Japanese language, kata (though written as 方) is a frequently-used suffix meaning way of doing, with emphasis on the form and order of the process. Other meanings are training method and formal exercise. The goal of a painter's practicing, for example, is to merge his consciousness with his brush; the potter's with his clay; the garden designer's with the materials of the garden. Once such mastery is achieved, the theory goes, the doing of a thing perfectly is as easy as thinking it
~ Boye De Mente, Japan's Secret Weapon - The Kata Factor,#KEYS
78:She follows to the goal of those that are passing on beyond, she is the first in the eternal succession of the dawns that are coming, - Usha widens bringing out that which lives, awakening someone who was dead. . . . What is her scope when she harmonises with the dawns that shone out before and those that now must shine? She desires the ancient mornings and fulfils their light; projecting forwards her illumination she enters into communion with the rest that are to come.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, [Kutsu Angirasa - Rig Veda I. 113. 8, 10,#KEYS
79:(Mother to Mona Sarkar:) "You know, the Grace is something that pushes you towards the goal to be reached. Do not try to judge it with your mind – you will get nowhere. For it is something tremendous which is not expressed in words or in feelings.
You know, when the Grace acts, the result could be a death or misfortune or happiness; it could even be a catastrophe but it is always the best for the individual. It is a blow sent by the Divine for a bounding progress. The Grace is that which makes you advance rapidly towards the realisation." ~ The Mother, Sweet Mother - Luminous Notes, p.116#KEYS
80:In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal. ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, #KEYS
81:They climb Indra like a ladder. As one mounts peak after peak, there becomes clear the much that has still to be done. Indra brings consciousness of That as the goal.
Like a hawk, a kite He settles on the Vessel and upbears it; in His stream of movement He discovers the Rays, for He goes bearing his weapons: He cleaves to the ocean surge of the waters; a great King, He declares the fourth status. Like a mortal purifying his body, like a war-horse galloping to the conquest of riches He pours calling through all the sheath and enters these vessels. Rig Veda.2 ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, 1.26,#KEYS
82:What is surrender?
It means that one gives oneself entirely to the Divine.
Yes, and then what happens? If you give yourself entirely to the Divine, it is He who does the Yoga, it is no longer you; hence this is not very difficult; while if you do tapasya, it is you yourself who do the yoga and you carry its whole responsibility—it is there the danger lies. But there are people who prefer to have the whole responsibility, with its dangers, because they have a very independent spirit. They are not perhaps in a great hurry—if they need several lives to succeed, it does not matter to them. But there are others who want to go quicker and be more sure of reaching the goal; well, these give over the whole responsibility to the Divine. ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1950-1951,#KEYS
83:the threefold character of the union :::
The first is the liberation from the Ignorance and identification with the Real and Eternal, moksa, sayujya, which is the characteristic aim of the Yoga of Knowledge. The second, the dwelling of the soul with or in the Divine, samipya, salokya, is the intense hope of all Yoga of love and beatitude, The third, identity in nature, likeness to the Divine, to be perfect as That is perfect, is the highest intention of all Yoga of power and perfection or of divine works and service. The combined completeness of the three together, founded here on a multiple Unity of the self-manifesting Divine, is the complete result of the integral Yoga, the goal of its triple Path and the fruit of its triple sacrifice.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,#KEYS
84:Your Best Friend :::
...Indeed, you should choose as friends only those who are wiser than yourself, those whose company ennobles you and helps you to master yourself, to progress, to act in a better way and see more clearly. And finally, the best friend one can have - isn't he the Divine, to whom one can say everything, reveal everything? For there indeed is the source of all compassion, of all power to efface every error when it is not repeated, to open the road to true realisation; it is he who can understand all, heal all, and always help on the path, help you not to fail, not to falter, not to fall, but to walk straight to the goal. He is the true friend, the friend of good and bad days, the one who can understand, can heal, and who is always there when you need him. When you call him sincerely, he is always there to guide and uphold you - and to love you in the true way. ~ The Mother,#KEYS
85:The Vedic poets regarded their poetry as mantras, they were the vehicles of their own realisations and could become vehicles of realisation for others. Naturally, these mostly would be illuminations, not the settled and permanent realisation that is the goal of Yoga - but they could be steps on the way or at least lights on the way. Many have such illuminations, even initial realisations while meditating on verses of the Upanishads or the Gita. Anything that carries the Word, the Light in it, spoken or written, can light this fire within, open a sky, as it were, bring the effective vision of which the Word is the body. In all ages spiritual seekers have expressed their aspirations or their experiences in poetry or inspired language and it has helped themselves and others. Therefore there is nothing absurd in my assigning to such poetry a spiritual or psychic value and effectiveness to poetry of a psychic or spiritual character.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
86:It is necessary to observe and know the wrong movements in you; for they are the source of your trouble and have to be persistently rejected if you are to be free.
But do not be always thinking of your defects and wrong movements. Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, with the faith that, since it is the goal before you, it must and will come.
To be always observing faults and wrong movements brings depression and discourages the faith. Turn your eyes more to the coming Light and less to any immediate darkness. Faith, cheerfulness, confidence in the ultimate victory are the things that help, - they make the progress easier and swifter. Make more of the good experiences that come to you; one experience of the kind is more important than the lapses and failures. When it ceases, do not repine or allow yourself to be discouraged, but be quiet within and aspire for its renewal in a stronger form leading to still deeper and fuller experience. Aspire always, but with more quietude, opening yourself to the Divine simply and wholly. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
87:To know, possess and be the divine being in an animal and egoistic consciousness, to convert our twilit or obscure physical men- tality into the plenary supramental illumination, to build peace and a self-existent bliss where there is only a stress of transitory satisfactions besieged by physical pain and emotional suffering, to establish an infinite freedom in a world which presents itself as a group of mechanical necessities, to discover and realise the immortal life in a body subjected to death and constant mutation, - this is offered to us as the manifestation of God in Matter and the goal of Nature in her terrestrial evolution. To the ordinary material intellect which takes its present organisation of consciousness for the limit of its possibilities, the direct contradiction of the unrealised ideals with the realised fact is a final argument against their validity. But if we take a more deliberate view of the world's workings, that direct opposition appears rather as part of Nature's profoundest method and the seal of her completest sanction. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, 1.01, #KEYS
88:It has been argued that this is no relation peculiar to the constitution of humanity and its outlook upon an objective world, but the very nature of existence itself; all phenomenal existence consists of an observing consciousness and an active objectivity, and the Action cannot proceed without the Witness because the universe exists only in or for the consciousness that observes and has no independent reality. It has been argued in reply that the material universe enjoys an eternal self-existence: it was here before life and mind made their appearance; it will survive after they have disappeared and no longer trouble with their transient strivings and limited thoughts the eternal and inconscient rhythm of the suns. The difference, so metaphysical in appearance, is yet of the utmost practical import, for it determines the whole outlook of man upon life, the goal that he shall assign for his efforts and the field in which he shall circumscribe his energies. For it raises the question of the reality of cosmic existence and, more important still, the question of the value of human life.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, 23,#KEYS
89:Truly speaking, I have no opinion. According to a vision of truth, everything is still terribly mixed, a more or less favourable combination of light and darkness, truth and falsehood, knowledge and ignorance, and so long as decisions are made and action is undertaken according to opinions, it will always be like that.
We want to give the example of an action that is undertaken in accordance with a vision of truth, but unfortunately we are still very far from realising this ideal, and even if the vision of truth expresses itself, it is immediately distorted in its implementation.
So, in the present state of affairs, it is impossible to say, "This is true and that is false, this leads us away from the goal and that brings us nearer the goal."
Everything can be used for the progress to be made; everything can be useful if we know how to use it.
The important thing is never to lose sight of the ideal we want to realise and to make use of all circumstances in view of this goal.
And finally, it is always better not to make an arbitrary decision for or against things, and to watch the unfolding of events with the impartiality of a witness, relying on the Divine Wisdom which will decide for the best and do what is necessary. 29 July 1961 ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother I, [T8],#KEYS
90:I have written a short sentence which will appear in the Bulletin, the next Bulletin. It goes something like this (I dont remember the words exactly now): If you say to the Divine with conviction, I want only You, the Divine will arrange all the circumstances in such a way as to compel you to be sincere.1 Something in the being I want only You. the aspiration and then one wants a hundred odd things all the time, isnt that so? At times something comes, just usually to disturb everythingit stands in the way and prevents you from realising your aspiration. Well, the Divine will come without showing Himself, without your seeing Him, without your having any inkling of it, and He will arrange all the circumstances in such a way that everything that prevents you from belonging solely to the Divine will be removed from your path, inevitably. Then when all is removed, you begin to howl and complain; but later, if you are sincere and look at yourself straight in the eye you have said to the Lord, you have said, I want only You. He will remain close to you, all the rest will go away. This is indeed a higher Grace. Only, you must say this with conviction. I dont even mean that you must say it integrally, because if one says it integrally, the work is done. What is necessary is that one part of the being, indeed the central will, says it with conviction: I want only You. Even once, and it suffices: all that takes more or less long, sometimes it stretches over years, but one reaches the goal. ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1954, 1954-06-16, #KEYS
91:The Song Of View, Practice, And Action :::
Oh, my Guru! The Exemplar of the View, Practice, and Action,
Pray vouchsafe me your grace, and enable me
To be absorbed in the realm of Self-nature!
For the View, Practice, Action, and Accomplishment
There are three Key-points you should know:
All the manifestation, the Universe itself, is contained in the mind;
The nature of Mind is the realm of illumination
Which can neither be conceived nor touched.
These are the Key-points of the View.
Errant thoughts are liberated in the Dharmakaya;
The awareness, the illumination, is always blissful;
Meditate in a manner of non-doing and non-effort.
These are the Key-points of Practice.
In the action of naturalness
The Ten Virtues spontaneously grow;
All the Ten Vices are thus purified.
By corrections or remedies
The Illuminating Void is ne'er disturbed.
These are the Key-points of Action.
There is no Nivana to attain beyond;
There is no Samsara here to renounce;
Truly to know the Self-mind
It is to be the Buddha Himself.
These are the Key-points of Accomplishment.
Reduce inwardly the Three Key-points to One.
This One is the Void Nature of Being,
Which only a wondrous Guru
Can clearly illustrate.
Much activity is of no avail;
If one sees the Simultaneously Born Wisdom,
He reaches the goal.
For all practioners of Dharma
The preaching is a precious gem;
It is my direct experience from yogic meditation.
Think carefully and bear it in your minds,
Oh, my children and disciples. ~ Jetsun Milarepa,#KEYS
92:You say that you feel you have returned to your old life and that you have fallen from that state of spiritual consciousness in which you remained for some time. And you ask whether it comes from the fact that Sri Aurobindo and myself have withdrawn our protection and our help because you had been unable to fulfil your promise.
It is a mistake to think that anything at all has been withdrawn by us. Our help and our protection are with you as always, but it would be more correct to say that both your inability to feel our help and your inability to keep your promise are the simultaneous effects of the same cause.
Remember what I wrote to you when you went to Calcutta to fetch your family: do not let any influence come in between you and the Divine. You did not pay sufficient attention to this warning: you have allowed an influence to interfere strongly between you and your spiritual life; your devotion and your faith have been seriously shaken by this. As a consequence, you became afraid and you did not find the same joy in your offering to the Divine Cause; and also, quite naturally, you fell back into your ordinary consciousness and your old life.
You are quite right, nevertheless, not to let yourself be discouraged. Whatever the fall, it is always possible not only to get up again but also to rise higher and to reach the goal. Only a strong aspiration and a constant will are needed.
You have to take a firm resolution to let nothing interfere with your ascent towards the Divine Realisation. And then the success is certain.
Be assured of our unfailing help and protection. 3 February 1931 ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother - I,#KEYS
93:the aim of our yoga :::
The aim set before our Yoga is nothing less than to hasten this supreme object of our existence here. Its process leaves behind the ordinary tardy method of slow and confused growth through the evolution of Nature. For the natural evolution is at its best an uncertain growth under cover, partly by the pressure of the environment, partly by a groping education and an ill-lighted purposeful effort, an only partially illumined and half-automatic use of opportunities with many blunders and lapses and relapses; a great portion of it is made up of apparent accidents and circumstances and vicissitudes, - though veiling a secret divine intervention and guidance. In Yoga we replace this confused crooked crab-motion by a rapid, conscious and self-directed evolution which is planned to carry us, as far as can be, in a straight line towards the goal set before us. In a certain sense it may be an error to speak of a goal anywhere in a progression which may well be infinite. Still we can conceive of an immediate goal, an ulterior objective beyond our present achievement towards which the soul in man can aspire. There lies before him the possibility of a new birth; there can be an ascent into a higher and wider plane of being and its descent to transform his members. An enlarged and illumined consciousness is possible that shall make of him a liberated spirit and a perfected force - and, if spread beyond the individual, it might even constitute a divine humanity or else a new, a supramental and therefore a superhuman race. It is this new birth that we make our aim: a growth into a divine consciousness is the whole meaning of our Yoga, an integral conversion to divinity not only of the soul but of all the parts of our nature.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Self-Surrender in Works - The Way of the Gita, 89-90,#KEYS
94:the characteristics of Life, Mind and Spirit :::
The characteristic energy of bodily Life is not so much in progress as in persistence, not so much in individual self-enlargement as in self-repetition. There is, indeed, in physical Nature a progression from type to type, from the vegetable to the animal, from the animal to man; for even in inanimate Matter Mind is at work. But once a type is marked off physically, the chief immediate preoccupation of the terrestrial Mother seems to be to keep it in being by a constant reproduction. For Life always seeks immortality; but since individual form is impermanent and only the idea of a form is permanent in the consciousness that creates the universe, -for there it does not perish,- such constant reproduction is the only possible material immortality. Self-preservation, self-repetition, self-multiplication are necessarily, then, the predominant instincts of all material existence.
The characteristic energy of pure Mind is change and the more it acquires elevation and organisation, the more this law of Mind assumes the aspect of a continual enlargement, improvement and better arrangement of its gains and so of a continual passage from a smaller and simpler to a larger and more complex perfection. For Mind, unlike bodily life, is infinite in its field, elastic in its expansion, easily variable in its formations. Change, then, self-enlargement and self-improvement are its proper instincts. Its faith is perfectibility, its watchword is progress.
The characteristic law of Spirit is self-existent perfection and immutable infinity. It possesses always and in its own right the immortality which is the aim of Life and the perfection which is the goal of Mind. The attainment of the eternal and the realisation of that which is the same in all things and beyond all things, equally blissful in universe and outside it, untouched by the imperfections and limitations of the forms and activities in which it dwells, are the glory of the spiritual life.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Introduction - The Conditions Of the Synthesis, The Threefold Life,#KEYS
95:But this is not always the manner of the commencement. The sadhaka is often led gradually and there is a long space between the first turning of the mind and the full assent of the nature to the thing towards which it turns. There may at first be only a vivid intellectual interest, a forcible attraction towards the idea and some imperfect form of practice. Or perhaps there is an effort not favoured by the whole nature, a decision or a turn imposed by an intellectual influence or dictated by personal affection and admiration for someone who is himself consecrated and devoted to the Highest. In such cases, a long period of preparation may be necessary before there comes the irrevocable consecration; and in some instances it may not come. There may be some advance, there may be a strong effort, even much purification and many experiences other than those that are central or supreme; but the life will either be spent in preparation or, a certain stage having been reached, the mind pushed by an insufficient driving-force may rest content at the limit of the effort possible to it. Or there may even be a recoil to the lower life, - what is called in the ordinary parlance of Yoga a fall from the path. This lapse happens because there is a defect at the very centre. The intellect has been interested, the heart attracted, the will has strung itself to the effort, but the whole nature has not been taken captive by the Divine. It has only acquiesced in the interest, the attraction or the endeavour. There has been an experiment, perhaps even an eager experiment, but not a total self-giving to an imperative need of the soul or to an unforsakable ideal. Even such imperfect Yoga has not been wasted; for no upward effort is made in vain. Even if it fails in the present or arrives only at some preparatory stage or preliminary realisation, it has yet determined the soul's future.
But if we desire to make the most of the opportunity that this life gives us, if we wish to respond adequately to the call we have received and to attain to the goal we have glimpsed, not merely advance a little towards it, it is essential that there should be an entire self-giving. The secret of success in Yoga is to regard it not as one of the aims to be pursued in life, but as the one and only aim, not as an important part of life, but as the whole of life. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Self-Consecration,#KEYS
96:Has creation a definite aim? Is there something like a final end to which it is moving?
The Mother: No, the universe is a movement that is eternally unrolling itself. There is nothing which you can fix upon as the end and one aim. But for the sake of action we have to section the movement, which is itself unending, and to say that this or that is the goal, for in action we need something upon which we can fix our aim. In a picture you need a definite scheme of composition and colour; you have to set a limit, to put the whole thing within a fixed framework; but the limit is illusory, the frame is a mere convention. There is a constant continuation of the picture that stretches beyond any particular frame, and each continuation can be drawn in the same conditions in an unending series of frames. Our aim is this or that, we say, but we know that it is only the beginning of another aim beyond it, and that in its turn leads to yet another; the series develop always and never stop.
What is the proper function of the intellect? Is it a help or a hindrance to Sadhana?
Whether the intellect is a help or a hindrance depends upon the person and upon the way in which it is used. There is a true movement of the intellect and there is a wrong movement; one helps, the other hinders. The intellect that believes too much in its own importance and wants satisfaction for its own sake, is an obstacle to the higher realisation.
But this is true not in any special sense or for the intellect alone, but generally and of other faculties as well. For example, people do not regard an all-engrossing satisfaction of the vital desires or the animal appetites as a virtue; the moral sense is accepted as a mentor to tell one the bounds that one may not transgress. It is only in his intellectual activities that man thinks he can do without any such mentor or censor!
Any part of the being that keeps to its proper place and plays its appointed role is helpful; but directly it steps beyond its sphere, it becomes twisted and perverted and therefore false. A power has the right movement when it is set into activity for the divine's purpose; it has the wrong movement when it is set into activity for its own satisfaction.
The intellect, in its true nature, is an instrument of expression and action. It is something like an intermediary between the true knowledge, whose seat is in the higher regions above the mind, and realisation here below. The intellect or, generally speaking, the mind gives the form; the vital puts in the dynamism and life-power; the material comes in last and embodies. ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931, 28th April 1931 and 5th May 1929,#KEYS
97:the process of unification, the perfecting our one's instrumental being, the help one needs to reach the goal :::
If we truly want to progress and acquire the capacity of knowing the truth of our being, that is to say, what we are truly created for, what we can call our mission upon earth, then we must, in a very regular and constant manner, reject from us or eliminate in us whatever contradicts the truth of our existence, whatever is opposed to it. In this way, little by little, all the parts, all the elements of our being can be organised into a homogeneous whole around our psychic centre. This work of unification requires much time to be brought to some degree of perfection. Therefore, in order to accomplish it, we must arm ourselves with patience and endurance, with a determination to prolong our life as long as necessary for the success of our endeavor.
As you pursue this labor of purification and unification, you must at the same time take great care to perfect the external and instrumental part of your being. When the higher truth manifests, it must find in you a mind that is supple and rich enough to be able to give the idea that seeks to express itself a form of thought which preserves its force and clarity. This thought, again, when it seeks to clothe itself in words, must find in you a sufficient power of expression so that the words reveal the thought and do not deform it. And the formula in which you embody the truth should be manifested in all your feelings, all your acts of will, all your actions, in all movements of your being. Finally, these movements themselves should, by constant effort, attain their highest perfection. ... It is therefore of capital importance to become conscious of its presence in us [the psychic being], to concentrate on this presence until it becomes a living fact for us and we can identify ourselves with it.
In various times and places many methods have been prescribed for attaining this perfection and ultimately achieving this identification. Some methods are psychological, some religious, some even mechanical. In reality, everyone has to find the one which suits him best, and if one has an ardent and steadfast aspiration, a persistent and dynamic will, one is sure to meet, in one way or another - outwardly through reading and study, inwardly through concentration, meditation, revelation and experience - the help one needs to reach the goal. Only one thing is absolutely indispensable: the will to discover and to realize. This discovery and realization should be the primary preoccupation of our being, the pearl of great price which we must acquire at any cost. Whatever you do, whatever your occupations and activities, the will to find the truth of your being and to unite with it must be always living and present behind all that you do, all that you feel, all that you think.
~ The Mother, On Education, [T1],#KEYS
98:[desire and its divine form:]
Into all our endeavour upward the lower element of desire will at first naturally enter. For what the enlightened will sees as the thing to be done and pursues as the crown to be conquered, what the heart embraces as the one thing delightful, that in us which feels itself limited and opposed and, because it is limited, craves and struggles, will seek with the troubled passion of an egoistic desire. This craving life-force or desire-soul in us has to be accepted at first, but only in order that it may be transformed. Even from the very beginning it has to be taught to renounce all other desires and concentrate itself on the passion for the Divine. This capital point gained, it has to be aught to desire, not for its own separate sake, but for God in the world and for the Divine in ourselves; it has to fix itself upon no personal spiritual gain, though of all possible spiritual gains we are sure, but on the great work to be done in us and others, on the high coming manifestation which is to be the glorious fulfilment of the Divine in the world, on the Truth that has to be sought and lived and enthroned for eveR But last, most difficult for it, more difficult than to seek with the right object, it has to be taught to seek in the right manner; for it must learn to desire, not in its own egoistic way, but in the way of the Divine. It must insist no longer, as the strong separative will always insists, on its own manner of fulfilment, its own dream of possession, its own idea of the right and the desirable; it must yearn to fulfil a larger and greater Will and consent to wait upon a less interested and ignorant guidance. Thus trained, Desire, that great unquiet harasser and troubler of man and cause of every kind of stumbling, will become fit to be transformed into its divine counterpart. For desire and passion too have their divine forms; there is a pure ecstasy of the soul's seeking beyond all craving and grief, there is a Will of Ananda that sits glorified in the possession of the supreme beatitudes.
When once the object of concentration has possessed and is possessed by the three master instruments, the thought, the heart and the will,-a consummation fully possible only when the desire-soul in us has submitted to the Divine Law,-the perfection of mind and life and body can be effectively fulfilled in our transmuted nature. This will be done, not for the personal satisfaction of the ego, but that the whole may constitute a fit temple for the Divine Presence, a faultless instrument for the divine work. For that work can be truly performed only when the instrument, consecrated and perfected, has grown fit for a selfless action,-and that will be when personal desire and egoism are abolished, but not the liberated individual. Even when the little ego has been abolished, the true spiritual Person can still remain and God's will and work and delight in him and the spiritual use of his perfection and fulfilment. Our works will then be divine and done divinely; our mind and life and will, devoted to the Divine, will be used to help fulfil in others and in the world that which has been first realised in ourselves,- all that we can manifest of the embodied Unity, Love, Freedom, Strength, Power, Splendour, immortal Joy which is the goal of the Spirit's terrestrial adventure.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Self-Consecration [83] [T1],#KEYS
99:THE WAND
THE Magical Will is in its essence twofold, for it presupposes a beginning and an end; to will to be a thing is to admit that you are not that thing.
Hence to will anything but the supreme thing, is to wander still further from it - any will but that to give up the self to the Beloved is Black Magick - yet this surrender is so simple an act that to our complex minds it is the most difficult of all acts; and hence training is necessary. Further, the Self surrendered must not be less than the All-Self; one must not come before the altar of the Most High with an impure or an imperfect offering. As it is written in Liber LXV, "To await Thee is the end, not the beginning."
This training may lead through all sorts of complications, varying according to the nature of the student, and hence it may be necessary for him at any moment to will all sorts of things which to others might seem unconnected with the goal. Thus it is not "a priori" obvious why a billiard player should need a file.
Since, then, we may want "anything," let us see to it that our will is strong enough to obtain anything we want without loss of time.
It is therefore necessary to develop the will to its highest point, even though the last task but one is the total surrender of this will. Partial surrender of an imperfect will is of no account in Magick.
The will being a lever, a fulcrum is necessary; this fulcrum is the main aspiration of the student to attain. All wills which are not dependent upon this principal will are so many leakages; they are like fat to the athlete.
The majority of the people in this world are ataxic; they cannot coordinate their mental muscles to make a purposed movement. They have no real will, only a set of wishes, many of which contradict others. The victim wobbles from one to the other (and it is no less wobbling because the movements may occasionally be very violent) and at the end of life the movements cancel each other out. Nothing has been achieved; except the one thing of which the victim is not conscious: the destruction of his own character, the confirming of indecision. Such an one is torn limb from limb by Choronzon.
How then is the will to be trained? All these wishes, whims, caprices, inclinations, tendencies, appetites, must be detected, examined, judged by the standard of whether they help or hinder the main purpose, and treated accordingly.
Vigilance and courage are obviously required. I was about to add self-denial, in deference to conventional speech; but how could I call that self-denial which is merely denial of those things which hamper the self? It is not suicide to kill the germs of malaria in one's blood.
Now there are very great difficulties to be overcome in the training of the mind. Perhaps the greatest is forgetfulness, which is probably the worst form of what the Buddhists call ignorance. Special practices for training the memory may be of some use as a preliminary for persons whose memory is naturally poor. In any case the Magical Record prescribed for Probationers of the A.'.A.'. is useful and necessary.
Above all the practices of Liber III must be done again and again, for these practices develop not only vigilance but those inhibiting centres in the brain which are, according to some psychologists, the mainspring of the mechanism by which civilized man has raised himself above the savage.
So far it has been spoken, as it were, in the negative. Aaron's rod has become a serpent, and swallowed the serpents of the other Magicians; it is now necessary to turn it once more into a rod.
~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA, Book 4, The Wand,#KEYS
100:In the process of this change there must be by the very necessity of the effort two stages of its working. First, there will be the personal endeavour of the human being, as soon as he becomes aware by his soul, mind, heart of this divine possibility and turns towards it as the true object of life, to prepare himself for it and to get rid of all in him that belongs to a lower working, of all that stands in the way of his opening to the spiritual truth and its power, so as to possess by this liberation his spiritual being and turn all his natural movements into free means of its self-expression. It is by this turn that the self-conscious Yoga aware of its aim begins: there is a new awakening and an upward change of the life motive. So long as there is only an intellectual, ethical and other self-training for the now normal purposes of life which does not travel beyond the ordinary circle of working of mind, life and body, we are still only in the obscure and yet unillumined preparatory Yoga of Nature; we are still in pursuit of only an ordinary human perfection. A spiritual desire of the Divine and of the divine perfection, of a unity with him in all our being and a spiritual perfection in all our nature, is the effective sign of this change, the precursory power of a great integral conversion of our being and living. By personal effort a precursory change, a preliminary conversion can be effected; it amounts to a greater or less spiritualising of our mental motives, our character and temperament, and a mastery, stilling or changed action of the vital and physical life. This converted subjectivity can be made the base of some communion or unity of the soul in mind with the Divine and some partial reflection of the divine nature in the mentality of the human being. That is as far as man can go by his unaided or indirectly aided effort, because that is an effort of mind and mind cannot climb beyond itself permanently: at most it arises to a spiritualised and idealised mentality. If it shoots up beyond that border, it loses hold of itself, loses hold of life, and arrives either at a trance of absorption or a passivity. A greater perfection can only be arrived at by a higher power entering in and taking up the whole action of the being. The second stage of this Yoga will therefore be a persistent giving up of all the action of the nature into the hands of this greater Power, a substitution of its influence, possession and working for the personal effort, until the Divine to whom we aspire becomes the direct master of the Yoga and effects the entire spiritual and ideal conversion of the being. Two rules there are that will diminish the difficulty and obviate the danger. One must reject all that comes from the ego, from vital desire, from the mere mind and its presumptuous reasoning incompetence, all that ministers to these agents of the Ignorance. One must learn to hear and follow the voice of the inmost soul, the direction of the Guru, the command of the Master, the working of the Divine Mother. Whoever clings to the desires and weaknesses of the flesh, the cravings and passions of the vital in its turbulent ignorance, the dictates of his personal mind unsilenced and unillumined by a greater knowledge, cannot find the true inner law and is heaping obstacles in the way of the divine fulfilment. Whoever is able to detect and renounce those obscuring agencies and to discern and follow the true Guide within and without will discover the spiritual law and reach the goal of the Yoga. A radical and total change of consciousness is not only the whole meaning but, in an increasing force and by progressive stages, the whole method of the integral Yoga.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Self-Perfection, The Integral Perfection [618],#KEYS
101:I have never been able to share your constantly recurring doubts about your capacity or the despair that arises in you so violently when there are these attacks, nor is their persistent recurrence a valid ground for believing that they can never be overcome. Such a persistent recurrence has been a feature in the sadhana of many who have finally emerged and reached the goal; even the sadhana of very great Yogis has not been exempt from such violent and constant recurrences; they have sometimes been special objects of such persistent assaults, as I have indeed indicated in Savitri in more places than one - and that was indeed founded on my own experience. In the nature of these recurrences there is usually a constant return of the same adverse experiences, the same adverse resistance, thoughts destructive of all belief and faith and confidence in the future of the sadhana, frustrating doubts of what one has known as the truth, voices of despondency and despair, urgings to abandonment of the Yoga or to suicide or else other disastrous counsels of déchéance. The course taken by the attacks is not indeed the same for all, but still they have strong family resemblance. One can eventually overcome if one begins to realise the nature and source of these assaults and acquires the faculty of observing them, bearing, without being involved or absorbed into their gulf, finally becoming the witness of their phenomena and understanding them and refusing the mind's sanction even when the vital is still tossed in the whirl or the most outward physical mind still reflects the adverse suggestions. In the end these attacks lose their power and fall away from the nature; the recurrence becomes feeble or has no power to last: even, if the detachment is strong enough, they can be cut out very soon or at once. The strongest attitude to take is to regard these things as what they really are, incursions of dark forces from outside taking advantage of certain openings in the physical mind or the vital part, but not a real part of oneself or spontaneous creation in one's own nature. To create a confusion and darkness in the physical mind and throw into it or awake in it mistaken ideas, dark thoughts, false impressions is a favourite method of these assailants, and if they can get the support of this mind from over-confidence in its own correctness or the natural rightness of its impressions and inferences, then they can have a field day until the true mind reasserts itself and blows the clouds away. Another device of theirs is to awake some hurt or rankling sense of grievance in the lower vital parts and keep them hurt or rankling as long as possible. In that case one has to discover these openings in one's nature and learn to close them permanently to such attacks or else to throw out intruders at once or as soon as possible. The recurrence is no proof of a fundamental incapacity; if one takes the right inner attitude, it can and will be overcome. The idea of suicide ought never to be accepted; there is no real ground for it and in any case it cannot be a remedy or a real escape: at most it can only be postponement of difficulties and the necessity for their solution under no better circumstances in another life. One must have faith in the Master of our life and works, even if for a long time he conceals himself, and then in his own right time he will reveal his Presence.
I have tried to dispel all the misconceptions, explain things as they are and meet all the points at issue. It is not that you really cannot make progress or have not made any progress; on the contrary, you yourself have admitted that you have made a good advance in many directions and there is no reason why, if you persevere, the rest should not come. You have always believed in the Guruvada: I would ask you then to put your faith in the Guru and the guidance and rely on the Ishwara for the fulfilment, to have faith in my abiding love and affection, in the affection and divine goodwill and loving kindness of the Mother, stand firm against all attacks and go forward perseveringly towards the spiritual goal and the all-fulfilling and all-satisfying touch of the All-Blissful, the Ishwara.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
102: 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,#KEYS
103:[the sevenfold ignorance and the integral knowledge:]
We are ignorant of the Absolute which is the source of all being and becoming; we take partial facts of being, temporal relations of the becoming for the whole truth of existence,-that is the first, the original ignorance. We are ignorant of the spaceless, timeless, immobile and immutable Self; we take the constant mobility and mutation of the cosmic becoming in Time and Space for the whole truth of existence, -that is the second, the cosmic ignorance. We are ignorant of our universal self, the cosmic existence, the cosmic consciousness, our infinite unity with all being and becoming; we take our limited egoistic mentality, vitality, corporeality for our true self and regard everything other than that as not-self,-that is the third, the egoistic ignorance. We are ignorant of our eternal becoming in Time; we take this little life in a small span of Time, in a petty field of Space, for our beginning, our middle and our end,-that is the fourth, the temporal ignorance. Even within this brief temporal becoming we are ignorant of our large and complex being, of that in us which is superconscient, subconscient, intraconscient, circumconscient to our surface becoming; we take that surface becoming with its small selection of overtly mentalised experiences for our whole existence,-that is the fifth, the psychological ignorance. We are ignorant of the true constitution of our becoming; we take the mind or life or body or any two of these or all three for our true principle or the whole account of what we are, losing sight of that which constitutes them and determines by its occult presence and is meant to determine sovereignly by its emergence their operations,-that is the sixth, the constitutional ignorance. As a result of all these ignorances, we miss the true knowledge, government and enjoyment of our life in the world; we are ignorant in our thought, will, sensations, actions, return wrong or imperfect responses at every point to the questionings of the world, wander in a maze of errors and desires, strivings and failures, pain and pleasure, sin and stumbling, follow a crooked road, grope blindly for a changing goal,-that is the seventh, the practical ignorance.
Our conception of the Ignorance will necessarily determine our conception of the Knowledge and determine, therefore, since our life is the Ignorance at once denying and seeking after the Knowledge, the goal of human effort and the aim of the cosmic endeavour. Integral knowledge will then mean the cancelling of the sevenfold Ignorance by the discovery of what it misses and ignores, a sevenfold self-revelation within our consciousness:- it will mean [1] the knowledge of the Absolute as the origin of all things; [2] the knowledge of the Self, the Spirit, the Being and of the cosmos as the Self's becoming, the becoming of the Being, a manifestation of the Spirit; [3] the knowledge of the world as one with us in the consciousness of our true self, thus cancelling our division from it by the separative idea and life of ego; [4] the knowledge of our psychic entity and its immortal persistence in Time beyond death and earth-existence; [5] the knowledge of our greater and inner existence behind the surface; [6] the knowledge of our mind, life and body in its true relation to the self within and the superconscient spiritual and supramental being above them; [7] the knowledge, finally, of the true harmony and true use of our thought, will and action and a change of all our nature into a conscious expression of the truth of the Spirit, the Self, the Divinity, the integral spiritual Reality.
But this is not an intellectual knowledge which can be learned and completed in our present mould of consciousness; it must be an experience, a becoming, a change of consciousness, a change of being. This brings in the evolutionary character of the Becoming and the fact that our mental ignorance is only a stage in our evolution. The integral knowledge, then, can only come by an evolution of our being and our nature, and that would seem to signify a slow process in Time such as has accompanied the other evolutionary transformations. But as against that inference there is the fact that the evolution has now become conscious and its method and steps need not be altogether of the same character as when it was subconscious in its process. The integral knowledge, since it must result from a change of consciousness, can be gained by a process in which our will and endeavour have a part, in which they can discover and apply their own steps and method: its growth in us can proceed by a conscious self-transformation. It is necessary then to see what is likely to be the principle of this new process of evolution and what are the movements of the integral knowledge that must necessarily emerge in it,-or, in other words, what is the nature of the consciousness that must be the base of the life divine and how that life may be expected to be formed or to form itself, to materialise or, as one might say, to realise.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, pg 680-683 [T1],#KEYS
104:Mother, how to change one's consciousness?
Naturally, there are many ways, but each person must do it by the means accessible to him; and the indication of the way usually comes spontaneously, through something like an unexpected experience. And for each one, it appears a little differently.
For instance, one may have the perception of the ordinary consciousness which is extended on the surface, horizontally, and works on a plane which is simultaneously the surface of things and has a contact with the superficial outer side of things, people, circumstances; and then, suddenly, for some reason or other - as I say for each one it is different - there is a shifting upwards, and instead of seeing things horizontally, of being at the same level as they are, you suddenly dominate them and see them from above, in their totality, instead of seeing a small number of things immediately next to yourself; it is as though something were drawing you above and making you see as from a mountain-top or an aeroplane. And instead of seeing each detail and seeing it on its own level, you see the whole as one unity, and from far above.
There are many ways of having this experience, but it usually comes to you as if by chance, one fine day.
Or else, one may have an experience which is almost its very opposite but which comes to the same thing. Suddenly one plunges into a depth, one moves away from the thing one perceived, it seems distant, superficial, unimportant; one enters an inner silence or an inner calm or an inward vision of things, a profound feeling, a more intimate perception of circumstances and things, in which all values change. And one becomes aware of a sort of unity, a deep identity which is one in spite of the diverse appearances.
Or else, suddenly also, the sense of limitation disappears and one enters the perception of a kind of indefinite duration beginningless and endless, of something which has always been and always will be.
These experiences come to you suddenly in a flash, for a second, a moment in your life, you don't know why or how.... There are other ways, other experiences - they are innumerable, they vary according to people; but with this, with one minute, one second of such an existence, one catches the tail of the thing. So one must remember that, try to relive it, go to the depths of the experience, recall it, aspire, concentrate. This is the startingpoint, the end of the guiding thread, the clue. For all those who are destined to find their inner being, the truth of their being, there is always at least one moment in life when they were no longer the same, perhaps just like a lightning-flash - but that is enough. It indicates the road one should take, it is the door that opens on this path. And so you must pass through the door, and with perseverance and an unfailing steadfastness seek to renew the state which will lead you to something more real and more total.
Many ways have always been given, but a way you have been taught, a way you have read about in books or heard from a teacher, does not have the effective value of a spontaneous experience which has come without any apparent reason, and which is simply the blossoming of the soul's awakening, one second of contact with your psychic being which shows you the best way for you, the one most within your reach, which you will then have to follow with perseverance to reach the goal - one second which shows you how to start, the beginning.... Some have this in dreams at night; some have it at any odd time: something one sees which awakens in one this new consciousness, something one hears, a beautiful landscape, beautiful music, or else simply a few words one reads, or else the intensity of concentration in some effort - anything at all, there are a thousand reasons and thousands of ways of having it. But, I repeat, all those who are destined to realise have had this at least once in their life. It may be very fleeting, it may have come when they were very young, but always at least once in one's life one has the experience of what true consciousness is. Well, that is the best indication of the path to be followed.
One may seek within oneself, one may remember, may observe; one must notice what is going on, one must pay attention, that's all. Sometimes, when one sees a generous act, hears of something exceptional, when one witnesses heroism or generosity or greatness of soul, meets someone who shows a special talent or acts in an exceptional and beautiful way, there is a kind of enthusiasm or admiration or gratitude which suddenly awakens in the being and opens the door to a state, a new state of consciousness, a light, a warmth, a joy one did not know before. That too is a way of catching the guiding thread. There are a thousand ways, one has only to be awake and to watch.
First of all, you must feel the necessity for this change of consciousness, accept the idea that it is this, the path which must lead to the goal; and once you admit the principle, you must be watchful. And you will find, you do find it. And once you have found it, you must start walking without any hesitation.
Indeed, the starting-point is to observe oneself, not to live in a perpetual nonchalance, a perpetual apathy; one must be attentive.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1956, [T6],#KEYS
105:The Science of Living
To know oneself and to control oneself
AN AIMLESS life is always a miserable life.
Every one of you should have an aim. But do not forget that on the quality of your aim will depend the quality of your life.
Your aim should be high and wide, generous and disinterested; this will make your life precious to yourself and to others.
But whatever your ideal, it cannot be perfectly realised unless you have realised perfection in yourself.
To work for your perfection, the first step is to become conscious of yourself, of the different parts of your being and their respective activities. You must learn to distinguish these different parts one from another, so that you may become clearly aware of the origin of the movements that occur in you, the many impulses, reactions and conflicting wills that drive you to action. It is an assiduous study which demands much perseverance and sincerity. For man's nature, especially his mental nature, has a spontaneous tendency to give a favourable explanation for everything he thinks, feels, says and does. It is only by observing these movements with great care, by bringing them, as it were, before the tribunal of our highest ideal, with a sincere will to submit to its judgment, that we can hope to form in ourselves a discernment that never errs. For if we truly want to progress and acquire the capacity of knowing the truth of our being, that is to say, what we are truly created for, what we can call our mission upon earth, then we must, in a very regular and constant manner, reject from us or eliminate in us whatever contradicts the truth of our existence, whatever is opposed to it. In this way, little by little, all the parts, all the elements of our being can be organised into a homogeneous whole around our psychic centre. This work of unification requires much time to be brought to some degree of perfection. Therefore, in order to accomplish it, we must arm ourselves with patience and endurance, with a determination to prolong our life as long as necessary for the success of our endeavour.
As you pursue this labour of purification and unification, you must at the same time take great care to perfect the external and instrumental part of your being. When the higher truth manifests, it must find in you a mind that is supple and rich enough to be able to give the idea that seeks to express itself a form of thought which preserves its force and clarity. This thought, again, when it seeks to clothe itself in words, must find in you a sufficient power of expression so that the words reveal the thought and do not deform it. And the formula in which you embody the truth should be manifested in all your feelings, all your acts of will, all your actions, in all the movements of your being. Finally, these movements themselves should, by constant effort, attain their highest perfection.
All this can be realised by means of a fourfold discipline, the general outline of which is given here. The four aspects of the discipline do not exclude each other, and can be followed at the same time; indeed, this is preferable. The starting-point is what can be called the psychic discipline. We give the name "psychic" to the psychological centre of our being, the seat within us of the highest truth of our existence, that which can know this truth and set it in movement. It is therefore of capital importance to become conscious of its presence in us, to concentrate on this presence until it becomes a living fact for us and we can identify ourselves with it.
In various times and places many methods have been prescribed for attaining this perception and ultimately achieving this identification. Some methods are psychological, some religious, some even mechanical. In reality, everyone has to find the one which suits him best, and if one has an ardent and steadfast aspiration, a persistent and dynamic will, one is sure to meet, in one way or another - outwardly through reading and study, inwardly through concentration, meditation, revelation and experience - the help one needs to reach the goal. Only one thing is absolutely indispensable: the will to discover and to realise. This discovery and realisation should be the primary preoccupation of our being, the pearl of great price which we must acquire at any cost. Whatever you do, whatever your occupations and activities, the will to find the truth of your being and to unite with it must be always living and present behind all that you do, all that you feel, all that you think.
To complement this movement of inner discovery, it would be good not to neglect the development of the mind. For the mental instrument can equally be a great help or a great hindrance. In its natural state the human mind is always limited in its vision, narrow in its understanding, rigid in its conceptions, and a constant effort is therefore needed to widen it, to make it more supple and profound. So it is very necessary to consider everything from as many points of view as possible. Towards this end, there is an exercise which gives great suppleness and elevation to the thought. It is as follows: a clearly formulated thesis is set; against it is opposed its antithesis, formulated with the same precision. Then by careful reflection the problem must be widened or transcended until a synthesis is found which unites the two contraries in a larger, higher and more comprehensive idea.
Many other exercises of the same kind can be undertaken; some have a beneficial effect on the character and so possess a double advantage: that of educating the mind and that of establishing control over the feelings and their consequences. For example, you must never allow your mind to judge things and people, for the mind is not an instrument of knowledge; it is incapable of finding knowledge, but it must be moved by knowledge. Knowledge belongs to a much higher domain than that of the human mind, far above the region of pure ideas. The mind has to be silent and attentive to receive knowledge from above and manifest it. For it is an instrument of formation, of organisation and action, and it is in these functions that it attains its full value and real usefulness.
There is another practice which can be very helpful to the progress of the consciousness. Whenever there is a disagreement on any matter, such as a decision to be taken, or an action to be carried out, one must never remain closed up in one's own conception or point of view. On the contrary, one must make an effort to understand the other's point of view, to put oneself in his place and, instead of quarrelling or even fighting, find the solution which can reasonably satisfy both parties; there always is one for men of goodwill.
Here we must mention the discipline of the vital. The vital being in us is the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and desperate depressions, of passions and revolts. It can set everything in motion, build and realise; but it can also destroy and mar everything. Thus it may be the most difficult part to discipline in the human being. It is a long and exacting labour requiring great patience and perfect sincerity, for without sincerity you will deceive yourself from the very outset, and all endeavour for progress will be in vain. With the collaboration of the vital no realisation seems impossible, no transformation impracticable. But the difficulty lies in securing this constant collaboration. The vital is a good worker, but most often it seeks its own satisfaction. If that is refused, totally or even partially, the vital gets vexed, sulks and goes on strike. Its energy disappears more or less completely and in its place leaves disgust for people and things, discouragement or revolt, depression and dissatisfaction. At such moments it is good to remain quiet and refuse to act; for these are the times when one does stupid things and in a few moments one can destroy or spoil the progress that has been made during months of regular effort. These crises are shorter and less dangerous for those who have established a contact with their psychic being which is sufficient to keep alive in them the flame of aspiration and the consciousness of the ideal to be realised. They can, with the help of this consciousness, deal with their vital as one deals with a rebellious child, with patience and perseverance, showing it the truth and light, endeavouring to convince it and awaken in it the goodwill which has been veiled for a time. By means of such patient intervention each crisis can be turned into a new progress, into one more step towards the goal. Progress may be slow, relapses may be frequent, but if a courageous will is maintained, one is sure to triumph one day and see all difficulties melt and vanish before the radiance of the truth-consciousness.
Lastly, by means of a rational and discerning physical education, we must make our body strong and supple enough to become a fit instrument in the material world for the truth-force which wants to manifest through us.
In fact, the body must not rule, it must obey. By its very nature it is a docile and faithful servant. Unfortunately, it rarely has the capacity of discernment it ought to have with regard to its masters, the mind and the vital. It obeys them blindly, at the cost of its own well-being. The mind with its dogmas, its rigid and arbitrary principles, the vital with its passions, its excesses and dissipations soon destroy the natural balance of the body and create in it fatigue, exhaustion and disease. It must be freed from this tyranny and this can be done only through a constant union with the psychic centre of the being. The body has a wonderful capacity of adaptation and endurance. It is able to do so many more things than one usually imagines. If, instead of the ignorant and despotic masters that now govern it, it is ruled by the central truth of the being, you will be amazed at what it is capable of doing. Calm and quiet, strong and poised, at every minute it will be able to put forth the effort that is demanded of it, for it will have learnt to find rest in action and to recuperate, through contact with the universal forces, the energies it expends consciously and usefully. In this sound and balanced life a new harmony will manifest in the body, reflecting the harmony of the higher regions, which will give it perfect proportions and ideal beauty of form. And this harmony will be progressive, for the truth of the being is never static; it is a perpetual unfolding of a growing perfection that is more and more total and comprehensive. As soon as the body has learnt to follow this movement of progressive harmony, it will be possible for it to escape, through a continuous process of transformation, from the necessity of disintegration and destruction. Thus the irrevocable law of death will no longer have any reason to exist.
When we reach this degree of perfection which is our goal, we shall perceive that the truth we seek is made up of four major aspects: Love, Knowledge, Power and Beauty. These four attributes of the Truth will express themselves spontaneously in our being. The psychic will be the vehicle of true and pure love, the mind will be the vehicle of infallible knowledge, the vital will manifest an invincible power and strength and the body will be the expression of a perfect beauty and harmony.
Bulletin, November 1950
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
106: M.: Yes. When you see God in all, do you think of God or do you not?
You should certainly keep God in your mind for seeing God all round you. Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana. Dhyana is the stage before realisation. Realisation is in the Self only. Dhyana must precede it. Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. The goal is the same. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,#KEYS
*** WISDOM TROVE ***
1:The goal of all life is death ~ sigmund-freud, @wisdomtrove 2:Love is the goal, life is the journey. ~ rajneesh, @wisdomtrove 3:The goal is to know how not-to-know. ~ d-h-lawrence, @wisdomtrove 4:The goal of fasting is inner unity. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 5:The goal of prayer is the ear of God. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 6:The goal of evolution is self - conquest ~ elbert-hubbard, @wisdomtrove 7:To make living itself an art, that is the goal. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 8:A good system shortens the road to the goal. ~ orison-swett-marden, @wisdomtrove 9:Never mind a little dirt, if the goal is splendid! ~ fyodor-dostoevsky, @wisdomtrove 10:To see God is the one goal. Power is not the goal. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 11:When men are arrived at the goal, they should not turn back. ~ plutarch, @wisdomtrove 12:Arise! Awake! and stop not until the goal is reached. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 13:The goal of life is not to possess power but to radiate it. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 14:The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner's mind. ~ jack-kornfield, @wisdomtrove 15:The goal of yesterday will be our starting-point to-morrow. ~ thomas-carlyle, @wisdomtrove 16:The goal of life is rapture. Art is the way we experience it. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 17:Difficulties increase the nearer we approach the goal. ~ johann-wolfgang-von-goethe, @wisdomtrove 18:Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 19:The goal is to be on the hook, not to let someone else do the scary parts. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 20:The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove 21:If we grow weary and give up, the goal remains for someone else to achieve. ~ zig-ziglar, @wisdomtrove 22:The Goal can disappear From the mind's sight But not From the heart's vision. ~ sri-chinmoy, @wisdomtrove 23:Happiness, though an indefinite concept, is the goal of all rational beings. ~ immanuel-kant, @wisdomtrove 24:The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God.p.114 ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove 25:The goal of storytelling should be to make stories as ubiquitous as music. ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 26:Are you a serial idea-starting person? The goal is to be an idea-shipping person. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 27:It's not about the goal, it's about how you want to feel when you get there. ~ danielle-laporte, @wisdomtrove 28:I can only insist that understanding, not blind belief, should be the goal. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 29:If you can get absolutely still for just one moment, you have reached the goal. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 30:The goal has never been to always succeed. The goal is to be allowed to keep initiating. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 31:The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove 32:Perfect can't possibly be the goal, we're left with generous, important and human instead. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 33:We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. ~ chuck-palahniuk, @wisdomtrove 34:It is not possible to run a course aright when the goal itself has not been rightly placed. ~ francis-bacon, @wisdomtrove 35:Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. ~ rabindranath-tagore, @wisdomtrove 36:Change is not a threat, it's an opportunity. Survival is not the goal, transformative success is. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 37:Change is not a threat, it’s an opportunity. Survival is not the goal, transformative success is. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 38:Surely the goal of spirituality is to be conscious of both separateness and oneness at the same time? ~ tim-freke, @wisdomtrove 39:Happiness, wealth, and success are by-products of goal setting, they cannot be the goal themselves. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove 40:The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances. ~ bodhidharma, @wisdomtrove 41:The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child's own natural desire to learn. ~ maria-montessori, @wisdomtrove 42:The goal of effective communication should be for listeners to say, & 43:To be more free is the goal of all our efforts, for only in perfect freedom can there be perfection. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 44:The goal of an effective leader is to recondition your team to be solution focused rather than problem focused. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 45:The goal of our life should not be to find joy in marriage, but to bring more love and truth into the world. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 46:Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach. ~ earl-nightingale, @wisdomtrove 47:Whoever uses the spirit that is in him creatively is an artist. To make living itself an art, that is the goal. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove 48:It may be true that he travels farthest who travels alone, but the goal thus reached is not worth reaching. ~ theodore-roosevelt, @wisdomtrove 49:God wants us to become himself or herself or itself. We are growing towards Godhood. God is the goal of evolution. ~ m-scott-peck, @wisdomtrove 50:The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove 51:You can accomplish virtually any goal you set for yourself, as long as the goal is clear and you persist long enough. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 52:Marriage or non-marriage, good or evil, learning or ignorance, any of these is justified, if it leads to the goal. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 53:The goal of Buddhism is to create Buddhas, not Buddhists, as the goal of Christianity is to create Christs, not Christians. ~ adyashanti, @wisdomtrove 54:Enlightenment is the key to everything, and it is the key to intimacy, because it is the goal of true authenticity. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 55:When love overflows and is expressed through every word and deed, we call it compassion. That is the goal of religion. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 56:If the Negro is to achieve the goal of integration, he must organize himself into a militant and nonviolent mass movement. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 57:The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery, and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 58:The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That's why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system. ~ arthur-c-carke, @wisdomtrove 59:Prayer is the beginning and the end, the source and the fruit, the core and the content, the basis and the goal of all peacemaking. ~ henri-nouwen, @wisdomtrove 60:By persistent and sustained practice, anyone and everyone can make the yoga journey and reach the goal of illumination and freedom. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 61:Between you and every goal that you wish to achieve, there is a series of obstacles, and the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 62:Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite, never brought a man to the goal of any of his best wishes. ~ miguel-de-cervantes, @wisdomtrove 63:First I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove 64:Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then, without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 65:The value of getting to your goals lives not in reaching the goal but what the talents/strengths/capabilities the journey reveals to you. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 66:Life is like skiing. Just like skiing, the goal is not to get to the bottom of the hill. It's to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 67:Life is like skiing. Just like skiing, the goal is not to get to the bottom of the hill. It’s to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 68:Mere philosophy will not satisfy us. We cannot reach the goal by mere words alone. Without practice, nothing can be achieved. ~ swami-satchidananda-saraswati, @wisdomtrove 69:If you don't like your definition of & 70:Be not in despair, the way is very difficult, like walking on the edge of a razor; yet despair not, arise, awake, and find the ideal, the goal. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 71:The goal is not to simply eliminate the bad, which does nothing more than leave you with a vacuum, but to pursue and experience the best in the world. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove 72:To love blindly is to love selfishly, because the goal of such love is not the real advantage of the beloved but only the exercise of love in our own souls. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 73:The goal of the human experience is to transform ourselves from being who long to attain power in the physical world to beings who are empowered from within. ~ caroline-myss, @wisdomtrove 74:The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 75:His own happiness is man’s only moral purpose, but only his own virtue can achieve it…Life is the reward of virtue- and happiness is the goal and the reward of life. ~ ayn-rand, @wisdomtrove 76:If you are pleased with what you are, you have stopped already. If you say, "It is enough," you are lost. Keep on walking, moving forward, trying for the goal. ~ saint-augustine, @wisdomtrove 77:I say to you that our goal is freedom, and I believe we are going to get there because however much she strays away from it, the goal of America is freedom. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 78:But man is a fickle and disreputable creature and perhaps, like a chess-player, is interested in the process of attaining his goal rather than the goal itself. ~ fyodor-dostoevsky, @wisdomtrove 79:The goal of the human experience is to transform ourselves from being who long to attain power in the physical world to beings who are empowered from within. ~ norman-vincent-peale, @wisdomtrove 80:If you do not find peace within, you will not find it anywhere else. The Goal of Life is the attainment of Peace and not the achievement of power, name, fame and wealth. ~ sivananda, @wisdomtrove 81:Even if our motives are presently misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 82:For people on my side of the cubicle, the goal is always creativity. Spending your time overcoming corporate resistance to creativity - I just don't want to do that. ~ jerry-seinfeld, @wisdomtrove 83:Joy is the goal of existence, and joy is not to be stumbled upon, but to be achieved, and the act of treason is to let its vision drown in the swamp of the moment's torture. ~ ayn-rand, @wisdomtrove 84:Once you become dedicated to a cause, personal security is not the goal. What will happen to you personally does not matter. My cause, my race, is worth dying for. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 85:To solve a problem or to reach a goal, you don't need to know all the answers in advance. But you must have a clear idea of the problem or the goal you want to reach. ~ w-clement-stone, @wisdomtrove 86:Freedom is not the goal of the human soul, but its very nature. By nature the soul is free. Lack of freedom is, therefore, a violation of the very nature of the soul. ~ neale-donald-walsch, @wisdomtrove 87:Proclaim the glory of the Atman with the roar of a lion, and impart fearlessness unto all beings by saying, & 88:On the whole, I would bid you stand up to your work, whatever it may be, and not be afraid of it; not in sorrows or contradictions to yield, but to push on towards the goal. ~ thomas-carlyle, @wisdomtrove 89:The symbol of all art is the Prism. The goal is unrealism. The method is destructive. To break up the white light of objective realism, into the secret glories which it contains. ~ e-e-cummings, @wisdomtrove 90:Once we see that the goal of awakening is to be conscious of both our separate identity as a person and our essential identity as awareness, it becomes much easier to wake up to oneness. ~ tim-freke, @wisdomtrove 91:The supreme adventure in a man's life is his journey back to his Creator. To reach the goal he needs well developed and co-ordinated functioning of his body, senses, mind, reason and Self. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 92:The whole visible world is perhaps nothing other than a motivation of man's wish to rest for a moment an attempt to falsify the fact of knowledge, to try to turn the knowledge into the goal. ~ franz-kafka, @wisdomtrove 93:Impatience asks for the impossible, wants to reach the goal without the means of getting there. The length of the journey has to be borne with, for every moment is necessary. ~ georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel, @wisdomtrove 94:Try to treat with equal love all the people with whom you have relations. Thus the abyss between & 95:This is something called walking meditation. The goal is to learn to be aware of each and every movement and feeling. I know it seems ridiculous, but it does change the way you experience walking. ~ jon-kabat-zinn, @wisdomtrove 96:We want a crowd to make us feel important and liked. But why is getting a crowd our focus? Jesus never suggested that crowds were the goal. He never addresses getting your church to grow. Never. ~ charles-r-swindoll, @wisdomtrove 97:The goal of a life free of dysphoria is a snare and a delusion. A better goal is of good commerce with the world. Authentic happiness, astonishingly, can occur even in the presence of authentic sadness. ~ martin-seligman, @wisdomtrove 98:I say that when you have perceived or attained the goal, compromises, renunciations, do not exist. If you have seen the goal, compromise ceases to exist. It is then a question of a different attitude. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 99:The right art is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede. ~ d-t-suzuki, @wisdomtrove 100:The goal towards which the pleasure principle impels us - of becoming happy - is not attainable: yet we may not - nay, cannot - give up the efforts to come nearer to realization of it by some means or other. ~ sigmund-freud, @wisdomtrove 101:The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 102:Being superficially different is the goal of so many of the products we see... rather than trying to innovate and genuinely taking the time, investing the resources and caring enough to try and make something better. ~ jony-ive, @wisdomtrove 103:Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 104:If you think that you are bound, you remain bound; you make your own bondage. If you know that you are free, you are free this moment. This is knowledge, knowledge of freedom. Freedom is the goal of all nature. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 105:Evil company is always to be shunned; because it leads to lust and anger, illusion, forgetfulness of the goal, destruction of the will (lack of perseverance), and destruction of everything. (Narada Bhakti Sutra) ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 106:The goal of a marketing interaction isn't to close the sale, any more than the goal of a first date is to get married. No, the opportunity is to move forward, to earn attention and trust and curiosity and conversation. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 107:There is a clear goal and it isn't to make money. The goal is to desperately try to make the best products we can. We are not naive - if you trust it, people like it, they buy it and we make money. This is a consequence. ~ jony-ive, @wisdomtrove 108:If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho' we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 109:We cannot move casually into a better future. We cannot casually pursue the goal we have set for ourselves. A goal that is casually pursued is not a goal; at best it is a wish, and wishes are little more than self-delusion. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 110:We must work passionately and unrelentingly for the goal of freedom, but we must be sure that our hands are clean in the struggle. We must never struggle with falsehood, hate, or malice. We must never become bitter. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 111:The riders in a race do not stop when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill. There is time to hear the kind voices of friends and say to oneself, The work is done. ~ oliver-wendell-holmes-jr, @wisdomtrove 112:The one thing that matters is the effort. It continues, whereas the end to be attained is but an illusion of the climber, as he fares on and on from crest to crest; and once the goal is reached it has no meaning. ~ antoine-de-saint-exupery, @wisdomtrove 113:To go to the very center of the mind of God, to be that, to become aware of our infiniteness, is the goal of Buddhism and along the way, to be as kind to others as possible without thinking that we are particularly wonderful. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 114:We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 115:The goal, then, isn't to draw some positioning charts and announce that you have differentiated your product. No, the opportunity is to actually create something that people choose to talk about, regardless of what the competition is doing. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 116:I always drank, from when it was legal for me to drink. And there was never a time for me when the goal wasn't to get as hammered as I could possibly afford to. I never understood social drinking, that's always seemed to me like kissing your sister. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove 117:To succeed, you must have tremendous perserverance... tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean", says the perservering soul; at my will mountains will crumble. Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 118:Say - i am the Atman in which my lower ego has become merged for ever. Be perfect in this idea; and then as long as the body endures, speak unto others this message of fearlessness: "Thou art That", "Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!" ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 119:Decide, before you start, that you're going to change three things about what you do all day at work. Then, as you're reading, find the three things and do it. The goal of the reading, then, isn't to persuade you to change, it's to help you choose what to change. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 120:The goal of life is not to win. It is to play the game with love. The rules of the game are: have a strong desire to win, believe that you are worthy of winning, have faith that you will win, and, as long as you are alive, never believe that the game is over. ~ lyania-vanzant, @wisdomtrove 121:If you have the desire, if you establish the goal - which is harmony, which is happiness through liberation- then these stages of revolt, of war, of struggle, can be avoided - should be avoided. You are not going to wallow in the gutter if you can jump over it. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 122:You must be as joyful when you fail again and again as you are joyful when you succeed. It is often when you fail that you move toward the goal without being aware of it. You must feel joy even when you have not fully succeeded but only moved toward achievement of your goal. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove 123:For the employee, the goal is to have full access to necessary information and as much independent decision-making ability as possible. For the entrepreneur, the goal is to grant as much information and independent decision-making ability to employees or contractors as possible. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove 124:We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we've established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile. ~ earl-nightingale, @wisdomtrove 125:M: Your sincerity will guide you. Devotion to the goal of freedom and perfection will make you abandon all theories and systems and live by wisdom, intelligence and active love. Theories may be good as starting points, but must be abandoned, the sooner - the better. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 126:Something you want badly enough can always be gained. No matter how fierce the enemy, how remote the beautiful lady, or how carefully guarded the treasure, there is always a means to the goal for the earnest seeker. The unseen help of the guardian gods of heaven and earth assure fulfillment. ~ dogen, @wisdomtrove 127:The object isn't to be perfect. The goal isn't to hold back until you've created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 128:Self sufficiency appears to be a worthy goal, but it's now impossible if you want to actually get anything done. All our productivity, leverage and insight comes from being part of a community, not apart from it. The goal, I think, is to figure out how to become more dependent, not less. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 129:All that is required to become an optimist is to have the goal and to practice it. The more you rehearse optimistic thoughts, the more & 130:One may come armoured, Invinsible. His will immobile meets the mobile hour. The world blows cannot bend this Victor Head. Calm and sure are his steps in the growing night. The goal recedes, he hurries not his pace. He asks from no help from the inferior Gods. His eyes are fixed on the immutable aim. ~ sri-aurobindo, @wisdomtrove 131:Although we will hate and fight the machines, we will be supplanted anyway, and rightly so, for the intelligent machines to which we will give birth may, better than we, carry on the striving toward the goal of understanding and using the Universe, climbing to heights we ourselves could never aspire to. ~ isaac-asimov, @wisdomtrove 132:Thoughts are universally and not individually rooted; a truth cannot be created, but only perceived. The erroneous thoughts of man result from imperfections in his discernment. The goal of Yoga Science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may mirror the Divine vision in the Universe. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 133:It is good to remember that the goal of Buddhism is to create Buddhas, not Buddhists, as the goal of Christianity is to create Christs, not Christians. In the same vein, my teachings are not meant to acquire followers or imitators, but to awaken beings to eternal truth and thus to awakened life and living. ~ adyashanti, @wisdomtrove 134:I used to see the goal of the adventure of awakening as a state of enlightenment, in which I dissolved into the oneness of things. But for me, being deep awake is a state of both transcendental enlightenment and passionate enlivenment. When I live lucidly, I am both conscious of oneness and in love with separateness. ~ tim-freke, @wisdomtrove 135:Poverty is not a mortgage on the labor of others-misfortu ne is not a mortgage on achievement-fai lure is not a mortgage on success-sufferi ng is not a claim check, and its relief is not the goal of existence-man is not a sacrificial animal on anyone & 136:Slowly blossomed, slowly ripened in Siddhartha the realisation, the knowledge, what wisdom actually was, what the goal of his long search was. It was nothing but a readiness of the soul, an ability, a secret art, to think every moment, while living his life, the thought of oneness, to be able to feel and inhale the oneness. ~ hermann-hesse, @wisdomtrove 137:I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project... will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important... and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove 138:I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project... will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important... and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish... ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove 139:He (the devil) always sends errors into the world in pairs& 140:There are two classes of Christians: the proud who imagine they are humble and the humble who are afraid they are proud. There should be another class: the self-forgetful who leave the whole thing in the hands of Christ and refuse to waste any time trying to make themselves good. They will reach the goal far ahead of the rest. ~ aiden-wilson-tozer, @wisdomtrove 141:Everyone has failed, everyone has misspoken, everyone has meant well but done the wrong thing. Your favorite restaurants, cafes and books have all gotten a one-star review along the way. No brand is perfect, no individual can pretend to be either. Perfect can't possibly be the goal, we're left with generous, important and human instead. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 142:My secret for writing is going back to clarity. I'm very clear about what I want to accomplish-the goal-and then the next two are focus and concentration. And I've probably spent my whole life both practicing those two and teaching them. Focus. Focus on a single point and concentration. And concentrating on a single thing till it's done. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 143:If the goal is to realize the Supreme Being, you should become egoless. That requires self-effort. The sadhak should work hard. He should pray sincerely for the removal of the negative tendencies. This prayer is not to achieve anything or to fulfill any desires. It is to go beyond all achievements. It is to transcend all desires. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 144:There is nothing more difficult than tactical maneuvering. The difficult consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain. Thus, to take a long and circuitous route after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting after him to contrive to reach the goal before him, shows knowledge of the artifice of deviation. ~ sun-tzu, @wisdomtrove 145:Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvellous work. It is fear that is the great cause of misery in the world. It is fear that is the greatest of all superstitions. It is fear that is the cause of all our woes, and it is fearlessness that brings heaven even in a moment. Therefore, "arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 146:As soon as error is corrected, it is important that the error be forgotten and only the successful attempts be remembered. Errors, mistakes, and humiliations are all necessary steps in the learning process. Once they have served their purpose, they should be forgotten. If we constantly dwell upon the errors, then the error or failure becomes the goal. ~ vince-lombardi, @wisdomtrove 147:The goal in blogging/ business/ inspiring non-fiction is to share a truth, or at least a truth as the writer sees it. To not just share it, but to spread it and to cause change to happen. You can do that in at least three ways: with research (your own or reporting on others), by building and describing conceptual structures, or with stories that resonate. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove 148:This is the only way to reach the goal, to tell ourselves, and to tell everybody else, that we are divine. And as we go on repeating this, strength comes. He who falters at first will get stronger and stronger, and the voice will increase in volume until the truth takes possession of our hearts, and courses through our veins, and permeates our bodies. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 149:In practice, the goal of skepticism is not the discovery of truth, but the exposure of other people's errors. It plays a useful role in science, religion, scholarship, and common sense. But we need to remember that it is a weapon serving belief or self-interest; we need to be skeptical of skeptics. The more militant the skeptic, the stronger the belief. ~ rupert-sheldrake, @wisdomtrove 150:Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy - by one, or more, or all of these - and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 151:The goal in life is the same as in basketball: make the effort to do the best you are capable of doing& 152:The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion: Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run: we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest. ~ saint-augustine, @wisdomtrove 153:There are few persons who have not, at some period of their lives, amused themselves in retracing the steps by which particular conclusions of their own minds have been attained. The occupation is often full of interest and he who attempts it for the first time is astonished by the apparently illimitable distance and incoherence between the starting-point and the goal. ~ edgar-allan-poe, @wisdomtrove 154:We must remember that the GOAL of prayer is the ear of God. Unless that is gained, the prayer has utterly failed. The uttering of it may have kindled devotional feeling in our minds, the hearing of it may have comforted and strengthened the hearts of those with whom we have prayed, but if the prayer has not gained the heart of God, it has failed in its essential purpose. ~ charles-spurgeon, @wisdomtrove 155:The goal of mankind is knowledge ... Now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man & 156:Politically, the goal of today's dominant trend is statism. Philosophically , the goal is the obliteration of reason; psychologically , it is the erosion of ambition. The political goal presupposes the two others. The human characteristic required by statism is docility, which is the product of hopelessness and intellectual stagnation. Thinking men cannot be ruled; ambitious men do not stagnate. ~ ayn-rand, @wisdomtrove 157:Advance like a hero. Do not be thwarted by anything. How many days will this body last, with its happiness and misery? When you have the human body, then rouse the Atman within and say-I have reached the state of fearlessness!... and then as long as the body endures, speak unto others this message of fearlessness: & 158:The goal of mysticism is communion with God. In this experience, the mystic no longer exists as a separate individual, but becomes one with the Oneness. This vision can only arise when the mystic realises that the ego-self is only an illusionary veil that masks the true divine Self: and that this Self is God, the being of all beings. God is not something & 159:The goal of our life should not be to find joy in marriage, but to bring more love and truth into the world. We marry to assist each other in this task. The most selfish and hateful life of all is that of two beings who unite in order to enjoy life. The highest calling is that of the man who has dedicated his life to serving God and doing good, and who unites with a woman in order to further that purpose. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 160:Pleasure is not the goal of man, but knowledge. Pleasure and happiness comes to an end. It is a mistake to suppose that pleasure is the goal. The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for. After a time man finds that it is not happiness, but knowledge, towards which he is going, and that both pleasure and pain are great teachers. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 161:According to one influential wing of modern secular society there are few more disreputable fates than to end up being & 162:Is enjoyment the goal of life? Were it so, it would be a tremendous mistake to become a man at all. What man can enjoy a meal with more gusto than the dog or the cat ? Go to a menagerie and see the [wild animals] tearing the flesh from the bone. Go back and become a bird! . . . What a mistake then to become a man! Vain have been my years - hundreds of years - of struggle only to become the man of sense-enjoyments. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 163:Whatever discipline you exercise should be based on the goal your child is eventually to reach, namely, freedom and happiness. I would show him towards what he is growing, his ultimate fulfilment, and help him to adapt himself to that. In everything that you do, you should keep the goal in view, and hence your discipline must aim at helping the child to realize that at a certain stage he will be above all discipline. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 164:Where there is life, there is hope. Where there are hopes, there are dreams. Where there are vivid dreams repeated, they become goals. Goals become the action plans and game plans that winners dwell on in intricate detail, knowing that achievement is almost automatic when the goal becomes an inner commitment. The response to the challenges of life - purpose - is the healing balm that enables each of us to face up to adversity and strife. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove 165:Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone. Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! ~ john-keats, @wisdomtrove 166:In time of daffodils(who know the goal of living is to grow) forgetting why,remember how in time of lilacs who proclaim the aim of waking is to dream, remember so(forgetting seem) in time of roses(who amaze our now and here with paradise) forgetting if,remember yes in time of all sweet things beyond whatever mind may comprehend, remember seek(forgetting find) and in a mystery to be (when time from time shall set us free) forgetting me,remember me ~ e-e-cummings, @wisdomtrove 167:Consider whether fulfillment of the goal you have chosen will constitute success. What is success? If you possess health and wealth, but have trouble with everybody (including yourself), yours is not a successful life. Existence becomes futile if you cannot find happiness. When wealth is lost, you have lost a little; when health is lost, you have lost something of more consequence; but when peace of mind is lost, you have lost the highest treasure. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 168:One might compare the relation of the ego to the id with that between a rider and his horse. The horse provides the locomotor energy, and the rider has the prerogative of determining the goal and of guiding the movements of his powerful mount towards it. But all too often in the relations between the ego and the id we find a picture of the less ideal situation in which the rider is obliged to guide his horse in the direction in which it itself wants to go. ~ sigmund-freud, @wisdomtrove 169:Religious beliefs and practices are certainly not the only factors determining the behaviour of a given society. But, no less certainly, they are among the determining factors. At least to some extent, the collective conduct of a nation is a test of the religion prevailing within it, a criterion by which we may legitimately judge the doctrinal validity of that religion and its practical efficiency in helping individuals to advance towards the goal of human existence. ~ aldous-huxley, @wisdomtrove 170:How will you get God's grace? When you discipline yourself. How will you know how to discipline? By observing others that had walked the path successfully to the goal of perfection. Who are these men who had walked to the goal? It is these that are known as Gurus. So you need their help, their personal example, their encouragement and their grace. Thus, we have come round to the answer that a Guru is necessary as well as his grace. Everything is necessary& 171:You can lead a truly spiritual life while remaining a householder. You will be able to enjoy the bliss of the Self, but your mind has to be on God all the time. Then you can easily attain bliss. A mother bird will be thinking of the young ones in the nest, even when she is out looking for food. Similarly, you have to keep your mind on God, while engaged in all worldly actions. The important thing is to be completely dedicated to God or the Guru. Once you have that dedication, the goal will not be far away. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove 172:Finally you come to a point where you almost know it all. You are very wise. You are very pure... except for the fact that you may well have gotten caught in the last trap... the desire to know it all and still be you, "the knower." This is an impossibility. For all of the finite knowledge does not add up to the infinite. In order to take the final step, the knower must go. That is, you can only BE it all, but you can't know it all. The goal is non-dualistic - as long as there is a "knower" and "known" you are in dualism. ~ ram-das, @wisdomtrove 173:If peace were the goal of today's intellectuals, a failure of that magnitude - and the evidence of unspeakable suffering on so large a scale - would make them pause and check their statist premises. Instead, blind to everything but their hatred for capitalism, they are now asserting that & 174:The goal of the & 175:If you then become excessively focused on the goal, perhaps because you are seeking happiness, fulfilment, or a more complete sense of self in it, the Now is no longer honoured. It becomes reduced to a mere stepping stone to the future, with no intrinsic value. Your life’s journey is no longer an adventure, just an obsessive need to arrive, to attain, to ‘make it.’ You no longer see or smell the flowers by the wayside either, nor are you aware of the beauty and the miracle of life that unfolds all around you when you are present in the Now. ~ eckhart-tolle, @wisdomtrove 176:I used to think that the topic of positive psychology was happiness, that the gold standard for measuring happiness was life satisfaction, and that the goal of positive psychology was to increase life satisfaction. I now think that the topic of positive psychology is well-being, that the gold standard for measuring well-being is flourishing, and that the goal of positive psychology is to increase flourishing. This theory, which I call well-being theory, is very different from authentic happiness theory, and the difference requires explanation. ~ martin-seligman, @wisdomtrove 177:We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character& 178:Goodwill has something in common with each of these categories of love, because goodwill is by definition a love for usefulness of all kinds. Goodwill wants to do what is good for our neighbor, and goodness is the same as usefulness. Each of the categories of love just mentioned have usefulness as their goal: love for heaven has the goal of being useful in spiritual ways; love for the world has the goal of being useful in earthly ways, which could also be called forms of civil service; and love for ourselves has the goal of being useful in physical ways, which could also be labeled benefits at home for ourselves and our loved ones.” ~ emanuel-swedenborg, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:The going is the goal. ~ Horace Kallen, #NFDB
2:The path is the goal. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
3:The process is the goal. ~ Geneen Roth, #NFDB
4:The plan is not the goal. ~ John Scalzi, #NFDB
5:The path is the goal. ~ Robert T Kiyosaki, #NFDB
6:The goal is insight. ~ Henepola Gunaratana, #NFDB
7:Don’t lose sight of the goal ~ Brenda Hiatt, #NFDB
8:Courage is the goal of cowards. ~ Alan Watts, #NFDB
9:Love is the goal, life is the journey. ~ Osho, #NFDB
10:The goal of all life is death ~ Sigmund Freud, #NFDB
11:ease isn’t the goal; excellence is. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
12:Making something great is the goal. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
13:power is the goal of all ambition, ~ Ian Fleming, #NFDB
14:The goal of life is god realisation. ~ Sivananda, #NFDB
15:Love is the goal, life is the journey. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
16:The Goal is the keep the GOAL the GOAL ~ Dan John, #NFDB
17:The goal is to know how not-to-know. ~ D H Lawrence, #NFDB
18:The goal of fasting is inner unity. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
19:But ease isn’t the goal; excellence is. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
20:The goal of Socialism is Communism. ~ Vladimir Lenin, #NFDB
21:The goal of socialism is communism. ~ Vladimir Lenin, #NFDB
22:The goal actually, is to wake up now. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
23:The goal is progress, not perfection! ~ Kathy Freston, #NFDB
24:Who works for glory misses oft the goal; ~ Kenyon Cox, #NFDB
25:easy isn’t the goal. Quality is the goal. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
26:The goal of all life is to have a ball. ~ Albert Ellis, #NFDB
27:Kicked wide of the goal with such precision ~ Des Lynam, #NFDB
28:Power is the goal of religion in general. ~ Norman Lear, #NFDB
29:Life is a race; desire the goal. ~ Andrew Michael Ramsay, #NFDB
30:The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, ~ Brad Stone, #NFDB
31:The goal of prayer is the ear of God. ~ Charles Spurgeon, #NFDB
32:The goal of evolution is self - conquest ~ Elbert Hubbard, #NFDB
33:Make the goal huge and you cannot miss! ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
34:The goal of war is peace, of business, leisure ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
35:The peace of God is the goal of the Course ~ Gary R Renard, #NFDB
36:Thich Naht Hahn: "The path is the goal. ~ Robert T Kiyosaki, #NFDB
37:the goal is to get old without getting feeble. ~ Lou Schuler, #NFDB
38:The goal of management is to remove obstacles. ~ Paul Orfalea, #NFDB
39:To make living itself an art, that is the goal. ~ Henry Miller, #NFDB
40:big” is not the goal. Christ revealed is the goal. ~ Beth Moore, #NFDB
41:Life is a game in which happiness is the goal. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
42:The goal will be to hit IT and contain it. Bernard ~ Hugh Howey, #NFDB
43:arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached. ~ Anita Nair, #NFDB
44:The goal of every yoga is to lead a guided life. ~ Irina Tweedie, #NFDB
45:Do not turn back when you are just at the goal. ~ Publilius Syrus, #NFDB
46:Freedom of the soul is the goal of all Yogas. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
47:He just got his body between himself and the goal. ~ Ray Clemence, #NFDB
48:I got a piggy bank and the goal was to fill it up. ~ John Paulson, #NFDB
49:money is the consequence of working, not the goal. ~ Daniel Lapin, #NFDB
50:The goal of art-making in general is communication. ~ Will Cotton, #NFDB
51:What’s the point of playing if winning isn’t the goal? ~ J D Robb, #NFDB
52:A good system shortens the road to the goal. ~ Orison Swett Marden, #NFDB
53:Whatever be the goal attained, it is only a beginning ~ The Mother, #NFDB
54:What you eat is not the goal. What you are is the goal. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
55:The goal isn't to be perfect, but to be authentic! ~ Iyanla Vanzant, #NFDB
56:The goal of the Redemption is the redemption of truth. ~ Vilna Gaon, #NFDB
57:Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
58:Nature is actually the goal at the end of history. ~ Terence McKenna, #NFDB
59:The goal of art was the vital expression of self. ~ Alfred Stieglitz, #NFDB
60:The goal of a good pastor is to raise up good pastors. ~ Francis Chan, #NFDB
61:The goal of life is living in agreement with Nature. ~ Zeno of Citium, #NFDB
62:You must act as if the goal were infinitely far off. ~ Eugen Herrigel, #NFDB
63:Are we agreed that the goal here is survival, not a win? ~ John Scalzi, #NFDB
64:Don't be like me. Be better than me. That's the goal. ~ Michael Jordan, #NFDB
65:Never mind a little dirt, if the goal is splendid! ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, #NFDB
66:The goal of meditation is awareness, not relaxation. ~ Eknath Easwaran, #NFDB
67:To see God is the one goal. Power is not the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
68:Arise, Awake and Stop not till the Goal is Reached. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
69:Never mind a little dirt, if the goal is splendid! ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
70:Often the search proves more profitable than the goal. ~ E L Konigsburg, #NFDB
71:Paolo di Canio is capable of scoring the goal he scored. ~ Bryan Robson, #NFDB
72:The goal for the photographer is be visually articulate. ~ Dennis Stock, #NFDB
73:The goal seems to me at times just to be business first. ~ Laura Linney, #NFDB
74:To see God is the one goal. Power is not the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
75:When men are arrived at the goal, they should not turn back. ~ Plutarch, #NFDB
76:Writing songs for other people was never the goal for me. ~ Skylar Grey, #NFDB
77:Arise,awake and donot stop until the goal is reached ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
78:Don't talk too much, be focused on the goal and achieve it. ~ Niki Lauda, #NFDB
79:In Christian engagement, the goal is to win the person ~ Ravi Zacharias, #NFDB
80:Keep your eye on the goal, keep moving toward your target. ~ T Harv Eker, #NFDB
81:One does not study for a goal. The goal is a mere accident. ~ Alma Gluck, #NFDB
82:Arise! Awake! and stop not until the goal is reached. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
83:I don't see success as the goal. Obedience is the goal. ~ Jerry B Jenkins, #NFDB
84:If you can clearly articulate the dream or the goal, start. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
85:money is not the goal so much as what you can buy with it. ~ Vadim Zeland, #NFDB
86:Obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off the goal. ~ Unknown, #NFDB
87:The truth is that the goal of existence is to kill you. ~ Ian C Esslemont, #NFDB
88:Thriving is the goal for every form and expression of life. ~ Mike Dooley, #NFDB
89:The goal of life is not to possess power but to radiate it. ~ Henry Miller, #NFDB
90:Thought-free consciousness is the goal. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks, 580, #NFDB
91:if we stick with a task too long, we lose sight of the goal ~ Daniel H Pink, #NFDB
92:Money is just a means to an end. It shouldn’t be the goal. ~ David Baldacci, #NFDB
93:the goal is to connect with your own self, your own soul. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
94:...the goal wasn’t to be good. It was to be just good enough. ~ Kami Garcia, #NFDB
95:The goal is to meet the challenge of racial interbreeding. ~ Nicolas Sarkozy, #NFDB
96:The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner's mind. ~ Jack Kornfield, #NFDB
97:The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner’s mind. ~ Jack Kornfield, #NFDB
98:The goal of winning is not losing two times in a row. ~ Rosabeth Moss Kanter, #NFDB
99:The goal of yesterday will be our starting-point to-morrow. ~ Thomas Carlyle, #NFDB
100:The goal of a life is not to provide material for good stories. ~ Tim Kreider, #NFDB
101:The goal of good health is to enable a person to acquire wisdom. ~ Maimonides, #NFDB
102:The goal of physiological research is functional nature. ~ Walter Rudolf Hess, #NFDB
103:The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play ~ Arthur C Clarke, #NFDB
104:The pursuit of pleasure must be the goal of every rational person. ~ Voltaire, #NFDB
105:The goal is always just trying to stretch yourself as an actor. ~ Andrew Scott, #NFDB
106:The goal of online dating is to get offline as quickly as possible. ~ Amy Webb, #NFDB
107:Progress, not perfection, is the goal. I’m a gold-star junkie, ~ Gretchen Rubin, #NFDB
108:Purposeful action is thus the goal of all that is truly educative. ~ John Dewey, #NFDB
109:The goal in Afghanistan is to find the terrorists and take them out. ~ Bob Barr, #NFDB
110:The goal is to balance a life that works with a life that counts. ~ Peter Block, #NFDB
111:The goal of confrontation should be to help, not to humiliate. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
112:The Goal of Education is to Help People Use Their Minds Better ~ Howard Gardner, #NFDB
113:The goal of life is rapture. Art is the way we experience it. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
114:The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people. ~ Andrew Johnson, #NFDB
115:When correcting a child, the goal is to apply light, not heat. ~ Woodrow Wilson, #NFDB
116:I never wanted to end up in entertainment; that wasn't the goal. ~ Lauren Conrad, #NFDB
117:Where the goal is the what, the purpose is the all-important why. ~ Sean Patrick, #NFDB
118:Difficulties increase the nearer we get to the goal. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
119:May the Heart of Jesus be the goal of all your aspirations. ~ Pio of Pietrelcina, #NFDB
120:Prevention of disease must become the goal of every physician. ~ Henry E Sigerist, #NFDB
121:The goal of female education must invariably be the future mother. ~ Adolf Hitler, #NFDB
122:The goal, ultimately, was successful camouflage as a human woman. ~ Gail Honeyman, #NFDB
123:We often think of prayer as a means to an end. Prayer is the goal. ~ Francis Chan, #NFDB
124:When the aspiration is awake, each day brings us nearer to the goal. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
125:Happiness is the ultimate goal. It is the goal of all other goals. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
126:The goal of all leaders should be to work themselves out of a job. ~ Jocko Willink, #NFDB
127:The goal of all learning is to repair the ruin of our first parents. ~ John Milton, #NFDB
128:The goal of an ideal partner isn’t to complete you. It’s to augment you. ~ Unknown, #NFDB
129:The goal of design is to raise the expectation of what design can be ~ Paula Scher, #NFDB
130:Training is needed, but training is not the goal. Training is just a means. ~ Osho, #NFDB
131:The goal of spiritual life is not altered states, but altered traits ~ Huston Smith, #NFDB
132:The goal is not writing. The goal is being a human being writing. ~ Barry B Longyear, #NFDB
133:The goal of truly rich people is to have massive wealth and abundance. ~ T Harv Eker, #NFDB
134:The only thing Norwich didn't get was the goal that they finally got ~ Jimmy Greaves, #NFDB
135:You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal. ~ James A Baldwin, #NFDB
136:The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self. ~ Dalai Lama, #NFDB
137:Life is the reward of virtue. And happiness is the goal and reward of life. ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
138:That should be the goal for all art, to be as simple as a flashcard. ~ John Baldessari, #NFDB
139:The goal of being alive is to figure out what it means to be alive. ~ Chuck Klosterman, #NFDB
140:When I'm shouting at the defence, subtitles come up in front of the goal. ~ Shay Given, #NFDB
141:And the goal really is to make the audience laugh, to bring them some joy. ~ Todd Barry, #NFDB
142:Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
143:The basic mistake people make is to think that happiness is the goal! ~ Fran ois Lelord, #NFDB
144:The goal had been important only for the sake of finding the path to it. ~ Sten Nadolny, #NFDB
145:The goal is not to be perfect by the end. The goal is to be better today. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
146:The goal is to be on the hook, not to let someone else do the scary parts. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
147:The goal is to live...
Because even one day,
The stars will die. ~ Jos N Harris,#NFDB
148:Reach high for the stars that hidden in your soul. Dream precedes the goal ~ Saeed Jones, #NFDB
149:The goal is to fold each piece of clothing into a simple, smooth rectangle. ~ Marie Kond, #NFDB
150:The goal is to provide inspiring information that moves people to action. ~ Guy Kawasaki, #NFDB
151:The goal is to rise spiritually, not simply to avoid sin. ~ Elder Paisios of Mount Athos, #NFDB
152:The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight. ~ Carly Fiorina, #NFDB
153:The goal of social media is to turn customers into a volunteer marketing army ~ Jay Baer, #NFDB
154:We're not on a journey to a goal, the goal is with us changing with us. ~ Antony Gormley, #NFDB
155:The goal for me is to pull in the reader and to have them ask questions. ~ Lynsey Addario, #NFDB
156:The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
157:The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. ~ John Piper, #NFDB
158:The goal of the human soul is conquest, perfection, security, superiority. ~ Alfred Adler, #NFDB
159:Passionate stories told passionately: that’s the goal of my image making. ~ David duChemin, #NFDB
160:The goal in the end is not to win elections. The goal is to change society. ~ Paul Krugman, #NFDB
161:You focused on the goal, not on the obstacle. This is how we face our lives. ~ Dan Millman, #NFDB
162:Happiness, though an indefinite concept, is the goal of all rational beings ~ Immanuel Kant, #NFDB
163:The Goal can disappear From the mind's sight But not From the heart's vision. ~ Sri Chinmoy, #NFDB
164:In the ardor of pursuit men soon forget the goal from which they start. ~ Friedrich Schiller, #NFDB
165:It is the goal of the American university to be the brains of the republic. ~ Johan Huizinga, #NFDB
166:Marx’s idea of the goal of world history was, of course, different from Hegel’s. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
167:The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
168:The goal is to connect with something old so it becomes new. Look and imagine. ~ Twyla Tharp, #NFDB
169:The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God.p.114 ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
170:The goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately defeat him. ~ Russell Baker, #NFDB
171:The Goal of Science is understanding lawful relations among natural phenomena. ~ Ian Barbour, #NFDB
172:The goal of storytelling should be to make stories as ubiquitous as music. ~ Malcolm Gladwell, #NFDB
173:Living holy lives is the goal of the Christian life and our essential purpose. ~ Matthew Kelly, #NFDB
174:Each little satisfaction you get through greed is one step backward from the goal. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
175:For victory in life, we've got to keep focused on the goal, and the goal is Heaven. ~ Lou Holtz, #NFDB
176:If you live one sixth of what is taught you, you will surely attain the goal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
177:I keep telling you that often the search proves more profitable than the goal. ~ E L Konigsburg, #NFDB
178:The domain experts had learned more and had clarified the goal of the application. ~ Eric Evans, #NFDB
179:The goal is to try and make the perfect song. Which of course will never happen. ~ Chris Martin, #NFDB
180:The goal of the artist is not to resolve life's mysteries, but to deepen them. ~ Jerry Uelsmann, #NFDB
181:The goal of this meditation is beautiful silence, stillness, and clarity of mind. ~ Ajahn Brahm, #NFDB
182:we believe in the obstacle more than in the goal, which will inevitably triumph? ~ Ryan Holiday, #NFDB
183:I can only insist that understanding, not blind belief, should be the goal. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
184:If you live one sixth of what is taught you, you will surely attain the goal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
185:In our progress towards the goal, we ever see more and more enchanting scenery. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
186:Poor leaders push us towards the goal. Great leaders guide us through the journey. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
187:The goal of prayer is not just the sharing of our ideas, but also of ourselves. ~ Timothy Keller, #NFDB
188:Free-will doesn't include shit-happens,
unless that's the goal of one's intention. ~ Toba Beta,#NFDB
189:Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. ~ Henry Ford, #NFDB
190:The goal is not to get into a relationship; the goal is to be in a relationship. ~ Ashton Kutcher, #NFDB
191:The goal of a successful trader is to make the best trades. Money is secondary. ~ Alexander Elder, #NFDB
192:The goal of our struggle is the end of Israel, and there can be no compromises... ~ Yasser Arafat, #NFDB
193:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
194:Not living for food, but living for the sake of an ideal, that is the goal of education ~ Sai Baba, #NFDB
195:That I may know Him," was the goal of his heart, and to this he sacrificed everything. ~ A W Tozer, #NFDB
196:The goal is to help the weak grow strong, not to let the weak become weaker. ~ Neale Donald Walsch, #NFDB
197:If you can get absolutely still for just one moment, you have reached the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
198:The goal with teenagers is simply getting through it alive, with no permanent damage. ~ Mary Kubica, #NFDB
199:the object of her most trivial thoughts, and the goal of her most important actions ~ Marcel Proust, #NFDB
200:When it comes to meditation, though, the goal and the journey are the same thing. ~ Andy Puddicombe, #NFDB
201:Whoever does great things with small means has successfully reached the goal. ~ Carl von Clausewitz, #NFDB
202:Growth is the goal, and that goal is never complete—art must be in constant change. ~ Tom Wesselmann, #NFDB
203:Set the goal to harvest what's in you rather than having a car, house or a relationship. ~ T D Jakes, #NFDB
204:Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations. ~ Paul Rand, #NFDB
205:The all-glorious Christ is both the means and the goal of our salvation from blindness. ~ John Piper, #NFDB
206:The goal is not to make something factually impeccable, but seamlessly persuasive. ~ John Szarkowski, #NFDB
207:The goal is to keep having fun. Not let that pressure get to me and still be Missy. ~ Missy Franklin, #NFDB
208:Beauty should be the goal of your communication. Learn to speak with godly wisdom. ~ Elizabeth George, #NFDB
209:Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
210:Everyone knows that (1) happiness is the goal of life, and (2) happiness is a chimera. ~ Mason Cooley, #NFDB
211:explaining the images, which for him are the observable phenomena, is the goal of theory. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
212:favorable reception of the first four volumes in the series. The goal was to continue ~ Russell Blake, #NFDB
213:Not only is holiness the goal of your redemption, it is necessary for your redemption ~ Kevin DeYoung, #NFDB
214:The best thing for them to do (Ireland) is to stay at 0-0 until they score the goal. ~ Martin O Neill, #NFDB
215:The essence of Hinduism is that the path may be different, but the goal is the same. ~ Manmohan Singh, #NFDB
216:The goal has never been to always succeed. The goal is to be allowed to keep initiating. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
217:The goal of the pastor is not to get people to show up but to get people to grow up. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
218:The goal was to get sane, to get whole, to be complete enough to support someone else. ~ Emma Forrest, #NFDB
219:the very “purpose of life”—the goal of avoiding suffering and discovering happiness. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
220:The goal for most people should not be to feel better, but to get better at feeling. ~ Shannon L Alder, #NFDB
221:The goal in life is to discover that you’ve always been where you were supposed to be. ~ Aldous Huxley, #NFDB
222:The goal is to be the observer of your thoughts and not let your thoughts control you. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
223:The goal of an artist is to create the definitive work that cannot be surpassed. ~ George Bernard Shaw, #NFDB
224:The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth. ~ John F Kennedy, #NFDB
225:the goal of history is to enable the forward march of humanity towards Progressiveness. ~ S L Bhyrappa, #NFDB
226:The goal of revival is conformity to the image of Christ, not imitation of animals. ~ Richard Lovelace, #NFDB
227:Decide...whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying. ~ Amelia Earhart, #NFDB
228:Hustling is putting every minute and all your effort into achieving the goal at hand. ~ Gary Vaynerchuk, #NFDB
229:Perfect can't possibly be the goal, we're left with generous, important and human instead. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
230:The goal is to normalize trade relations based on sound science and consumer protection. ~ Mike Johanns, #NFDB
231:The goal [of mine] was always to work in as many different genres as I possibly could. ~ Dwayne Johnson, #NFDB
232:You don't have to do all that shakin' and bakin' to get to the goal and make a shot. ~ Seimone Augustus, #NFDB
233:I want the material I make to be mine; that's always the goal of the record and of the show. ~ Girl Talk, #NFDB
234:That which is in locomotion must arrive at the half-way stage before it arrives at the goal. ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
235:The goal is not to be better than anyone else but rather be better than you were yesterday. ~ Jon Gordon, #NFDB
236:The goal is not to speculate on what might happen, but to imagine what you can make happen. ~ Gary Hamel, #NFDB
237:The goal of my life isn't just... to be happy. 'Wouldn't it be easier if it was, though? ~ Veronica Roth, #NFDB
238:We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
239:Not that that's the goal, but sometimes these funny insights can also be deeply profound. ~ Ted Alexandro, #NFDB
240:Remember, the goal is not to raise great kids; it's to raise kids who become great adults. ~ Andy Andrews, #NFDB
241:After some point, working harder makes achieving the goal harder or even impossible. ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana, #NFDB
242:I love doing stuff that I haven't done before. That's the goal: To keep reinventing myself. ~ Shia LaBeouf, #NFDB
243:It's about doing it in a way that it can't be done any better. That is the goal every day. ~ Geno Auriemma, #NFDB
244:The Divine is the savour of all life and the reason of all activity,the goal of our thoughts. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
245:The goal has to be more valuable than the risk—or you have determined the wrong target. So ~ Grant Cardone, #NFDB
246:The goal is to produce a great product, one that is successful, and that customers love. ~ Donald A Norman, #NFDB
247:The goal of our sanctification is that we place Christ on display in the way we love others. ~ Larry Crabb, #NFDB
248:The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) ~ Rutger Bregman, #NFDB
249:The goal was scored a little bit by the hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona. ~ Diego Maradona, #NFDB
250:The path is the goal." In other words, finding your path in life is your goal in life. ~ Robert T Kiyosaki, #NFDB
251:...the very "purpose of life" - the goal of avoiding suffering and discovering happiness. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
252:An artist is he for whom the goal and center of life is to form his mind. ~ Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, #NFDB
253:Set the goal and work all days for it, until you achieve, I want to be a champion, the best! ~ Kevin Durant, #NFDB
254:So the goal of spiritual leadership is to muster people to join God in living for God’s glory. ~ John Piper, #NFDB
255:The goal of effective communication should be for listeners to say, 'Me, too!' versus 'So what?' ~ Jim Rohn, #NFDB
256:The goal of evolution is also its cause. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Three Steps of Nature, #NFDB
257:I really just tried to make a record full of great songs, which is the goal I always have. ~ Martina McBride, #NFDB
258:It's not about the goal. It's about becoming the type of person that can accomplish the goal. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
259:Its not about the goal. Its about growing to become the person that can accomplish that goal. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
260:Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen. Few in pursuit of the goal. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
261:Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
262:The goal is to teach in such a way as to produce the most learning from the least teaching. ~ Seymour Papert, #NFDB
263:Women have very powerful second chakras, and the goal is to move that energy up and use it. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
264:All pain we experience is intended to move us closer to the goal of being holy as He is holy. ~ Jerry Bridges, #NFDB
265:God, Beauty and Truth are synonymous. Take any one of the three paths and you will reach the goal. ~ Amit Ray, #NFDB
266:Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. ~ Rabindranath Tagore, #NFDB
267:The Divine is the savour of all life & the reason of all activity, the goal of our thoughts. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
268:The goal is to become aware of and understand the mood–food connection instead of cutting it off. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
269:The goal should be to organize the contents so that you can see where every item is at a glance, ~ Marie Kond, #NFDB
270:When creativity is the goal, schools must have their own platforms to network and innovate. ~ Andy Hargreaves, #NFDB
271:Change is not a threat, it's an opportunity. Survival is not the goal, transformative success is. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
272:Heavenly Father, keep our eyes on the goal, forgetting the successes and failures of this past year. ~ Various, #NFDB
273:If there is a goal to be reached it cannot be permanent. The goal must already be there. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
274:Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. ~ Rabindranath Tagore, #NFDB
275:The goal changes from the general to the individual from need to wish, from ethics to aesthetics. ~ Asger Jorn, #NFDB
276:The Goal is not to have a warm, dry house, but to have a warm, dry house with a spirit to it. ~ Samuel Mockbee, #NFDB
277:The goal of Apple is not to make money but to make really nice products, really great products. ~ Jonathan Ive, #NFDB
278:But like I always say when talking about making a movie, easy isn't the goal. Quality is the goal. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
279:How we pursue the goal of happiness matters at least as much, perhaps more, than the goal itself. ~ Eric Weiner, #NFDB
280:Its not about the goal. Its about growing to become the person that can accomplish that goal. ~ Anthony Robbins, #NFDB
281:Reading should serve the goal of attaining peace; if it doesn’t make you peaceful, what good is it? ~ Epictetus, #NFDB
282:That is the goal: to live in this world but believe in a peaceful loving world beyond it. ~ Gabrielle Bernstein, #NFDB
283:The goal is to have a special date once a week, and make that a priority in your relationship. ~ John M Gottman, #NFDB
284:And the goal of the game will be to figure out what the new and desperate world wants from you. ~ Richard Powers, #NFDB
285:Obviously, the goal is to maximize my own potential, whatever that may be. That's all I focus on. ~ Torrey Smith, #NFDB
286:The goal of individuation is wholeness, as much as we can accomplish, not the triumph of the ego. ~ James Hollis, #NFDB
287:The old monk said, ‘The basic mistake people make is to think that happiness is the goal!’ And ~ Fran ois Lelord, #NFDB
288:Be master of thy soul, O seeker of the eternal truths, if thou wouldst attain the goal. ~ Book of Golden Precepts, #NFDB
289:Does not one find some kind of peace while in meditation? That peace will lead to the goal. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
290:Money is not the goal. Money has no value. The value comes from the dreams money helps achieve. ~ Robert Kiyosaki, #NFDB
291:The goal when emulating the real Jesus is to become both sweet and salty, both gracious and firm. ~ Paul Coughlin, #NFDB
292:5But the goal of our einstruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
293:His goal attracts him, because he doesn't let anything enter his soul which might oppose the goal. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
294:In order to obtain the goal of returning to Palestine, all of us sometimes have to grit our teeth. ~ Yasser Arafat, #NFDB
295:It is a kind of law of nature. The goal one aims for can rarely be reached by a direct road. ~ Konosuke Matsushita, #NFDB
296:It’s not only the audacity of the goal but also the level of commitment to the goal that counts. ~ James C Collins, #NFDB
297:Making money or being successful should be a natural result of this ideal and not the goal itself. ~ Robert Greene, #NFDB
298:The goal in life is not to attain some imaginary ideal; it is to find and fully use our own gifts. ~ Gay Hendricks, #NFDB
299:The goal is not for us to get through the Scriptures. The goal is to get the Scriptures through us. ~ John Ortberg, #NFDB
300:The goal is not to be good at social media, the goal is to be good at business because of social media. ~ Jay Baer, #NFDB
301:The goal of the work is always for it to come across as original material, as transformative material. ~ Girl Talk, #NFDB
302:What is the beginning? Love. What is the course. Love still. What the goal. The goal is love. ~ Christina Rossetti, #NFDB
303:After a certain point, money is meaningless. It ceases to be the goal. The game is what counts. ~ Aristotle Onassis, #NFDB
304:Much we learn only to forget it again, to stand by the goal, we must traverse all the way to it ~ Friedrich Ruckert, #NFDB
305:The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances. ~ Bodhidharma, #NFDB
306:The goal always exists. It is not something new to be discovered. The Absolute is our nature. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
307:The goal of the lawyer is no longer to see justice prevail, or to make the punishment fit the crime. ~ Randall Wood, #NFDB
308:The real achievers are those who, in the dreary pit of sacrifice, still smile up at the goal. ~ Richelle E Goodrich, #NFDB
309:Chemotherapy is brutal. The goal is pretty much to kill everything in your body without killing you. ~ Rashida Jones, #NFDB
310:The goal, as Compaq has stated all along in its history, is to support an open industry standard. ~ Eckhard Pfeiffer, #NFDB
311:The goal of a great democracy should be fulfillment, not ease. It should be adequacy, not serenity. ~ Abram L Sachar, #NFDB
312:The goal of the Christian is not to become like Jesus; because as He is, so are we in this world. ~ Chris Oyakhilome, #NFDB
313:Is faith so cheap, my child? Faith is the last word. If one has faith, the goal is practically reached. ~ Sarada Devi, #NFDB
314:...one cannot actively help a woman to give birth. The goal is to avoid disturbing her unnecsessarily. ~ Michel Odent, #NFDB
315:The basic postulate from which I start is that the goal of the social sciences is the liberation of man. ~ Jon Elster, #NFDB
316:The conception that there is a goal and a path to it is wrong. We are the goal or peace always. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
317:The goal of real healthcare reform must be high-quality, universal coverage in a cost-effective way. ~ Bernie Sanders, #NFDB
318:The goal of the gospel is to produce a type of people consumed with passion for God and love for others. ~ J D Greear, #NFDB
319:The Scriptures are not so much the goal as they are an arrow that points us to the life-changing Christ ~ Jim Cymbala, #NFDB
320:Death is a passage, not the goal of our walk: ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Life, #NFDB
321:if the goal of humanity be still lacking, is there not also still lacking—humanity itself?— Thus ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
322:I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. ~ Paul the Apostle, #NFDB
323:It's really ironic that I won, because that's not the goal that I had in mind when I went out to skate. ~ Sarah Hughes, #NFDB
324:It was never the goal to be a solo performer. It was just something that made the most sense at the time. ~ Dan Deacon, #NFDB
325:Straight through the heart of them righteous uprights, drop kick me Jesus through the goal posts of life. ~ Bobby Bare, #NFDB
326:The goal with hostages is to gradually lower expectations; in nonhostage crises, it's to lower emotions. ~ Dave Cullen, #NFDB
327:An obstacle is something you see when you take your eyes off the goal Few great men could pass personnel ~ Paul Goodman, #NFDB
328:Honestly, Elise, sometimes it's like you don't even go to this school.' 'Well, that is the goal,' I said. ~ Leila Sales, #NFDB
329:If you drop out you put yourself further away from the goal of life than if you were to keep working. ~ George Harrison, #NFDB
330:the goal is to keep yourself moving, remember? don't linger. don't hover. you are not going to stay. ~ Terra Elan McVoy, #NFDB
331:The goal is to move through challenges gracefully and to enjoy life’s amazing moments to their fullest. ~ Jed Jurchenko, #NFDB
332:The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child's own natural desire to learn. ~ Maria Montessori, #NFDB
333:The goal of every startup experiment is to discover how to build a sustainable business around that vision. ~ Eric Ries, #NFDB
334:The goal of formal education has always been to produce people who could continue to learn on their own. ~ Ronald Gross, #NFDB
335:You’ve played the games. You’re a competitive soul.” “What’s the point of playing if winning isn’t the goal? ~ J D Robb, #NFDB
336:People don’t exist to use your products; you build products with the goal that they can be useful to people. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
337:The goal is to become the unique, awesome, never to be repeated human being that we were called to be. ~ Patricia Deegan, #NFDB
338:To be more free is the goal of all our efforts, for only in perfect freedom can there be perfection. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
339:Turnaround or growth, it's getting your people focused on the goal that is still the job of leadership. ~ Anne M Mulcahy, #NFDB
340:While the goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God. ~ David Platt, #NFDB
341:You're looking for a goal for yourself? If you can't find it, keep walking, the goal will find you! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
342:An easier-to-manage home will mean less wasted food in the future. Get that? Less wasted food is the goal. ~ Dana K White, #NFDB
343:He gathered enthusiasm when he thought of the goal, and not the means by which he had accomplished it. ~ Harry Turtledove, #NFDB
344:The goal in life is just the same as in basketball: make the effort to do the best you are capable of doing ~ John Wooden, #NFDB
345:The goal is justice, the method? is transparency. It's important not to confuse the goal and the method. ~ Julian Assange, #NFDB
346:The goal of a life purpose is not what you will create, but what it will make you into for creating it. ~ Shannon L Alder, #NFDB
347:The goal of the spiritual activist is to find inner peace even in externally chaotic circumstances. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
348:The best solution for falling just short of the goal is to focus on the fundamentals but perform them better. ~ Tony Dungy, #NFDB
349:The goal is partly the enjoyment; it doesn't come later, but within the very process of the struggle. ~ David Steindl Rast, #NFDB
350:The goal of an effective leader is to recondition your team to be solution focused rather than problem focused. ~ Jim Rohn, #NFDB
351:The goal of our life should not be to find joy in marriage, but to bring more love and truth into the world. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
352:The goal we have set for ourselves, which is to diversify our cooperation with China, is making progress. ~ Vladimir Putin, #NFDB
353:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, #NFDB
354:Friends, it’s not about the goal or the dream you have. It’s about who you become on your way to that goal. ~ Rachel Hollis, #NFDB
355:know that the goal is not to get entangled in the world, but to use the world to reach Divinity. ~ Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, #NFDB
356:The goal for our branding should be that every potential customer knows exactly where we want to take them: ~ Donald Miller, #NFDB
357:The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief ~ Jacques Ellul, #NFDB
358:This was the goal of Project Mayhem, Tyler said, the complete and right-away destruction of civilization. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
359:And if quality were truly the goal, then how come a company like Rolls Royce very nearly went bankrupt? ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
360:Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
361:If the goal is doing good stuff and working with your friends ... if you’re doing that then you’re succeeding. ~ Amy Poehler, #NFDB
362:Many are obstinate with regard to the pathway once they have set upon it, few with regard to the goal. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
363:The goal every year is to win the Super Bowl, not just to get to the playoffs, not just to win a few games. ~ Calvin Johnson, #NFDB
364:The goal is not simply to 'work hard, play hard.' The goal is to make our work and our play indistinguishable. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
365:The goal is to have fun with my friends.And that means sometimes talking about things that you care about. ~ Stephen Colbert, #NFDB
366:The goal of pursuit of justice must not simply be that justice happens but that reconciliation also happens. ~ Miroslav Volf, #NFDB
367:I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that's not pulling the trigger. ~ Mia Hamm, #NFDB
368:The goal is not simply to 'work hard, play hard.' The goal is to make our work and our play indistinguishab le. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
369:The goal isn't innovation. The goal is effectiveness. We strive for innovation because we want to be effective. ~ Tim Stevens, #NFDB
370:The goal which my freedom aims at is conquering existence across the always inadequate density of being. ~ Simone de Beauvoir, #NFDB
371:The transformation from separation to unity, from conflict to peace, is the goal of all spiritual traditions. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
372:We must offer the world leadership designed to advance the goal of universal progress and enduring peace. ~ Douglas MacArthur, #NFDB
373:about what you want. The goal of prayer is to change your own heart, to want what He wants, to the glory of God. ~ Chris Fabry, #NFDB
374:I'd like to have permanent time off, really. The goal is financial security and permanent time off, basically. ~ Paul Giamatti, #NFDB
375:One can revise the rules, shift the goal posts, but to do so is just to conjure a chimera and mask it as a novum. ~ Hal Duncan, #NFDB
376:Sedentary culture is the goal of civilization. It means the end of its lifespan and brings about its corruption. ~ Ibn Khaldun, #NFDB
377:The goal of Bethlehem College and Seminary cannot be expressed with man as the end point. Christ is the endpoint. ~ John Piper, #NFDB
378:The goal of Computer Science is to build something that will last at least until we've finished building it. ~ William C Brown, #NFDB
379:The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
380:To me the goal of comedy is to just laugh, which is a really high hearted thing, visceral connection and reaction. ~ Louis C K, #NFDB
381:We are the goal or peace always. To get rid of the notion that we are not peace is all that is required. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
382:Whoever uses the spirit that is in him creatively is an artist. To make living itself an art, that is the goal. ~ Henry Miller, #NFDB
383:Although using wildcards and unnamed columns satisfies the goal of less typing, this habit creates several hazards. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
384:Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
385:I am with you and I will take you to the goal. Have an unshakable faith and all will go well. Blessings.
~ The Mother?, [T2],#NFDB
386:The goal is not to simulate reality right now by going crazy. The goal is to prepare for reality by going slowly ~ Rener Gracie, #NFDB
387:The goal of work is not to gain wealth and possessions, but to serve the common good and bring glory to God. ~ Richard J Foster, #NFDB
388:The goal with a big piece of social legislation is to have a bipartisan result, so the country will accept it ~ Lamar Alexander, #NFDB
389:This is the question: Are you using God to get something from Him? Or is God Himself the goal of your striving? ~ Matt Chandler, #NFDB
390:Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach.” ~ Earl Nightingale, #NFDB
391:... and thus moulding our lives in accordance with those of the great-souled ones who have reached the Goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
392:God wants us to become himself or herself or itself. We are growing toward Godhood. God is the goal of evolution. ~ M Scott Peck, #NFDB
393:I don't know what makes someone hip. The goal is artist achievement and the best work we can do with no limitation. ~ Rick Rubin, #NFDB
394:In philosophy, it is not the attainment of the goal that matters, it is the things that are met with by the way ~ Havelock Ellis, #NFDB
395:It may be true that he travels farthest who travels alone, but the goal thus reached is not worth reaching. ~ Theodore Roosevelt, #NFDB
396:That is kind of you, my lord. But I will never dance with you.' Which, of course, made it the goal of Leo's life. ~ Lisa Kleypas, #NFDB
397:“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
398:The imagination is the goal of history. I see culture as an effort to literally realize our collective dreams. ~ Terence McKenna, #NFDB
399:When you can have anything you want by uttering a few words, the goal matters not, only the journey to it. ~ Christopher Paolini, #NFDB
400:Goals justify the effort they demand at the outset, but later it is the effort that justifies the goal. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
401:good character is the indispensable condition and chief determinant of happiness, itself the goal of all human doing. ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
402:Grace says, "We all die." She says, "The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
403:In appropriate circumstances we are justified in using humans to achieve goals (or the goal of assisting animals). ~ Peter Singer, #NFDB
404:Reese Witherspoon is my everywoman. She's managed to have a family and this amazing career. That's the goal. ~ Emmanuelle Chriqui, #NFDB
405:“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
406:There is small chance of truth at the goal, where there is not childlike humility at the starting-post. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge, #NFDB
407:We couldn’t make forever, but forever isn’t love’s sole ambition. The goal is to be impacted, to be changed forever. ~ Janet Mock, #NFDB
408:We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years. ~ Paul Ryan, #NFDB
409:As Arthur C. Clarke is purported to have put it, “The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. ~ Erik Brynjolfsson, #NFDB
410:If the goal you've set for yourself has a 100 percent chance of success, then frankly you aren't aiming high enough. ~ Benny Lewis, #NFDB
411:If you’re unhappy with your progress, you have three different dials you can adjust. The goal The timeline The actions ~ Jon Acuff, #NFDB
412:No, it is not the goal but the way there that matters, and the harder the way the more worth while the journey. ~ Wilfred Thesiger, #NFDB
413:Stride swiftly for the goal is far; rest not unduly, for thy Master is waiting for thee at the end of thy journey. ~ Sri Aurobindo, #NFDB
414:The goal is not simply for you to cross the finish line, but to see how many people you can inspire to run with you. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
415:The goal now is a socialist, redistributionist society, which is nature's proper steward and society's only hope. ~ David R Brower, #NFDB
416:Have you ever considered the fact that maybe the goal of life isn’t to get through it as painlessly as possible?” she ~ Siera Maley, #NFDB
417:Never wear pride as the jersey of your dreams. You will miss the goal and lose your dreams if you put on pride! ~ Israelmore Ayivor, #NFDB
418:The goal is soccer's orgasm. And like orgasms, goals have become an ever less frequent occurrence in modern life. ~ Eduardo Galeano, #NFDB
419:The goal of higher education should be to champion the airing of all honest viewpoints. Nothing less is acceptable. ~ Bill O Reilly, #NFDB
420:There is unanimity that (IS) poses a significant threat to NATO members," he said. "The goal has to be to dismantle it. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
421:When the aspiration is awake each day brings us nearer to the goal. With my blessings,
~ The Mother, Mantras Of The Mother, [T4],#NFDB
422:You have to reach the point that what people think is not your primary motivator. Reaching the goal is the motivator. ~ Dave Ramsey, #NFDB
423:You needed to show your people that you meant it when you said that while efficiency was a goal, quality was the goal. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
424:cleverness for the sake of cleverness should be avoided at all costs. The goal should always be clarity and readability. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
425:Our goal should not be to reshape masculinity but to eliminate it. The goal is liberation from the masculinity trap. ~ Robert Jensen, #NFDB
426:Retirement is not the goal of a surrendered life, because it competes with God for the primary attention of our lives. ~ Rick Warren, #NFDB
427:The gateway to the Tao is open - anyone can come in. If you know how to change directions, the goal is near at hand. ~ Thomas Cleary, #NFDB
428:The goal is to make practice more difficult, physically/mentally, than anything your players will face during a game. ~ Bobby Knight, #NFDB
429:The true artist does not create art as an end in itself; he creates art for human beings. Humanity is the goal. ~ Bronislaw Huberman, #NFDB
430:When you’re young, the goal is to have a hit. You get a little older and the goal becomes to get to make another record. ~ Janis Ian, #NFDB
431:He felt his inadequacy to the goal he had so recklessly chosen and felt the attraction of the world he had abandoned. ~ John Williams, #NFDB
432:Let the goal of the whole be your goal. Don't seek any private goal. Just be a part, and an infinite beauty and grace happens. ~ Osho, #NFDB
433:Only one thing is ever guaranteed, that is that you will definitely not achieve the goal if you don't take the shot. ~ Wayne Gretzky, #NFDB
434:The goal [is] not only to earn high returns at the top of the cycle but also to avoid giving them back at the bottom. ~ Duff McDonald, #NFDB
435:The goal of almost every comic is to find a comedy voice - a specific point of view that an audience can latch onto. ~ Chris Hardwick, #NFDB
436:The goal toward which I surpass myself must appear to me as a point of departure toward a new act of surpassing. ~ Simone de Beauvoir, #NFDB
437:We are chosen for joy. However hard the Christian way, it is both in the traveling and in the goal, the way of joy. ~ William Barclay, #NFDB
438:God’s discipline is the process of being stretched, with the goal of molding me to look more and more like Him. ~ Candace Cameron Bure, #NFDB
439:Inviting argument is easy. The goal is write something bold enough to invite contrary feedback and provoke real discussion. ~ Jen Knox, #NFDB
440:It is the feeling of inferiority, inadequacy and insecurity that determines the goal of an individual’s existence. ~ Tom Butler Bowdon, #NFDB
441:Marriage or non-marriage, good or evil, learning or ignorance, any of these is justified, if it leads to the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
442:Sometimes I simply remind patients that sooner or later they will have to relinquish the goal of having a better past. ~ Irvin D Yalom, #NFDB
443:The goal of all goals is happiness, and our emotions are like road signs on that journey toward the goal of happiness. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
444:Ultimately, the goal of personal Bible study is a transformed life and a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. ~ Kay Arthur, #NFDB
445:Approach any room with the goal of making it the most attractive and comfortable, the room you want to live in the most. ~ David Easton, #NFDB
446:In salvation we are not only saved from sin and damnation; we are saved unto holiness. The goal of redemption is holiness. ~ R C Sproul, #NFDB
447:Learning to sing one's own songs, to trust the particular cadences of own's voices, is also the goal of any writer. ~ Henry Louis Gates, #NFDB
448:Self-esteem is not the goal. God-esteem is. It’s not about what you think about you, but what God thinks about you. ~ Jentezen Franklin, #NFDB
449:That is kind of you, my lord. But I will never dance with you.'
Which, of course, made it the goal of Leo's life. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
450:That's the goal. Just to go out and not try to prove anybody wrong but just let your talents speak for themselves. ~ Robert Griffin III, #NFDB
451:The goal of preparation then is not knowing exactly where you'll go but being confident nonetheless that you'll get there. ~ Rolf Potts, #NFDB
452:Whoever uses the spirit that is
in him creatively is an artist. To
make living itself an art, that is
the goal. ~ Henry Miller,#NFDB
453:As people decide among themselves to turn the fact of potential into the fact of results, the goal almost sets itself. ~ James C Collins, #NFDB
454:forever to get to the culmination of our efforts—to achieving the goal. And once we do, it goes so fast and then it’s over. ~ K Bromberg, #NFDB
455:If we give up on the goal of having all members exercise their spiritual gifts, we are destined for perpetual immaturity. ~ Francis Chan, #NFDB
456:The goal I seek is to have people refine their style through my clothing without having them become victims of fashion. ~ Giorgio Armani, #NFDB
457:The goal of Buddhism is to create Buddhas, not Buddhists, as the goal of Christianity is to create Christs, not Christians. ~ Adyashanti, #NFDB
458:There's always more to life than money, Will. Money is just a means to an end. It shouldn't be the goal. Annnie Lambert ~ David Baldacci, #NFDB
459:But the goal of the arts, culinary or otherwise, is not to increase our comfort. That is the goal of an easy chair. ~ Jeffrey Steingarten, #NFDB
460:Enlightenment is the key to everything, and it is the key to intimacy, because it is the goal of true authenticity. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
461:Feminism, Socialism, and Communism are one in the same, and Socialist/Communist government is the goal of feminism. ~ Catharine MacKinnon, #NFDB
462:My buddies, we've always just tried to make each other laugh. I mean, just like all friends hanging out - that's the goal. ~ Adam Sandler, #NFDB
463:Searching represents the achievement of the goal of searching.
Finding represents the achievement of the goal of finding. ~ Alan Cohen,#NFDB
464:The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages, only then will Israel be calm for the next 40 years. ~ Michael Ben Ari, #NFDB
465:Full freedom will come only when it makes no difference whether to live or not to live. That’s the goal for everyone. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
466:I don't think the goal is, 'How big a star did you ever become?' I think the goal is, 'Were you able to express yourself?' ~ Albert Brooks, #NFDB
467:Learning to sing one's own songs, to trust the particular cadences of own's voices, is also the goal of any writer. ~ Henry Louis Gates Jr, #NFDB
468:My intent is simply to know my material so well that I'm very comfortable with it. Confidence, not perfection, is the goal. ~ Scott Berkun, #NFDB
469:self-mastery is the goal of life, and controlling, bullying, or needing to fix others is a distraction from our true purpose. ~ Alan Cohen, #NFDB
470:The goal is to avoid mediocrity by being prepared to try something and either failing miserably or triumphing grandly. ~ Georges St Pierre, #NFDB
471:The goal of a church is not to have a bigger building or budget but to see the word of God increase and disciples multiply ~ Kevin DeYoung, #NFDB
472:The goal of parenting shouldn't be to prepare children to withstand the world, but to grow children who will change the world. ~ L R Knost, #NFDB
473:The goal of software architecture is to minimize the human resources required to build and maintain the required system. ~ Robert C Martin, #NFDB
474:When you write you have a certain vision of how it could be and it's great to be able to see it all the way to the goal line. ~ Etan Cohen, #NFDB
475:And yet, O the happiness of being man and of being able to recognise the way of the Truth and by following it to attain the goal. ~ Gyothai, #NFDB
476:SECTION I: THE GOAL Think through best/worst-case scenarios but only write down a specific goal that represents the best case. ~ Chris Voss, #NFDB
477:The journey is the destination. The process you're in is the goal. Success is never defined by the outcome but by the process. ~ Paul Young, #NFDB
478:The only important thing is the goal to be attained. The way matters little, and often it is better not to know it in advance. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
479:The tortoise moves very slowly, it moves towards whatever the goal is, to keep a democratic capitalistic society functioning. ~ Lewis Black, #NFDB
480:Unfortunately, once an economy is geared to expansion, the means rapidly turn into an end and "the going becomes the goal." ~ Lewis Mumford, #NFDB
481:As marriage goes, I think most people sort of set being - you know getting married as the goal as opposed to being married. ~ Ashton Kutcher, #NFDB
482:Getting answers to my questions is not the goal of the spiritual life. Living in the presence of God is the greater call. ~ Henri J M Nouwen, #NFDB
483:I am is the goal, the final reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. Spontaneous and natural, it is realization. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
484:If Mystery is the goal and content of all religious experience, then Silence is a necessary means of letting Mystery speak. ~ Paul F Knitter, #NFDB
485:Mindfulness helps us to focus on one goal at a time. It helps us to be more relaxed, patience and compassionate towards the goal. ~ Amit Ray, #NFDB
486:The goal of intellectual life should be to see and understand what is true, not merely to adhere to a prevailing orthodoxy. ~ Jeffrey Tucker, #NFDB
487:The goal of the e-mail is not so much to attract viable users as to repel the non-viable ones, who greatly outnumber them. ~ Steven D Levitt, #NFDB
488:God to the soul that sees is the path and God is the goal of his journey. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, Works, Devotion and Knowledge, #NFDB
489:If the goal is authenticity and they don't like me, I'm okay. If the goal is being liked and they don't like me, I'm in trouble. ~ Bren Brown, #NFDB
490:If the goal is authenticity and they don’t like me, I’m okay. If the goal is being liked and they don’t like me, I’m in trouble. ~ Bren Brown, #NFDB
491:If you're approaching Him not as the goal but as a road, not as the end but as a means, you're not really approaching Him at all. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
492:I'm realistic. Getting to everybody is not the goal here. The people you can affect in any way - that's who you want to get to. ~ Jakob Dylan, #NFDB
493:Risk must be evaluated not by the fear it generates in you or the probability of your success, but by the value of the goal. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
494:The goal of a startup is to figure out the right thing to build—the thing customers want and will pay for—as quickly as possible. ~ Eric Ries, #NFDB
495:The goal of every married couple, indeed, every Christian home, should be to make Christ the Head, the Counselor and the Guide. ~ Paul Sadler, #NFDB
496:The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That's why we have to destroy the present politico-economy system. ~ Tim Kreider, #NFDB
497:When love overflows and is expressed through every word and deed, we call it compassion. That is the goal of religion. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
498:After all, the goal is not making art. It is living a life. Those who live their lives will leave the stuff that is really art. ~ Robert Henri, #NFDB
499:Debating is not an honest intellectual exercise. It's like a trial in which the goal is not to get to the truth but to win. ~ Victor J Stenger, #NFDB
500:Later, you should learn to hire fast and scale up the company, but in the early days the goal should be not to hire. Not to hire. ~ Sam Altman, #NFDB
501:The goal in life is to be solid, whereas the way that life works is totally fluid, so you can never actually achieve that goal. ~ Damien Hirst, #NFDB
502:The goal in life is to live young, have fun, and arrive at your final destination as late as possible, with a smile on your face. ~ Jon Gordon, #NFDB
503:The goal is not to impress customers with knowledge. The goal is to leave customers feeling special and to enrich their lives. ~ Carmine Gallo, #NFDB
504:The goal - is the dignity of the black man in America. He wants respect as the human being. He wants recognition as a human being. ~ Malcolm X, #NFDB
505:The goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may mirror the divine vision in the universe. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
506:You can't overestimate what happens when you encourage regulators to believe that the goal of regulation is not to regulate. ~ Joseph Stiglitz, #NFDB
507:contact, the goal for which we are striving, is as vague and obscure as communion with the saints or the coming of the Messiah. ~ Stanis aw Lem, #NFDB
508:Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
509:The goal is not necessarily to succeed but to keep trying, to be the kind of person who has ideas and see them through. We’ll ~ Esm Raji Codell, #NFDB
510:The goal of becoming more consistent with your core authentic self is a much stronger motivator than "I need to lose 30 pounds." ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
511:The goal of Latin American unity is highly ephemeral. Each country has its own set of goals and very different sets of leaders. ~ Riordan Roett, #NFDB
512:...Attempts at imitation would put the emphasis where it didn't belong. The goal was to improve the lives of others, not oneself. ~ Tracy Kidder, #NFDB
513:Beauty is not the goal of competitive sports, but high-level sports are a prime venue for the expression of human beauty. ~ David Foster Wallace, #NFDB
514:But they fight in the name of the creator."
"I don't care if they fight in the name of broccoli. The goal remains the same. ~ Maria V Snyder,#NFDB
515:I ask you to consider that the goal of your life is not just to find love; it is to be love. Love is the real work of your life. ~ Robert Holden, #NFDB
516:I think there's a difference between "I Can" and "I Am." And "I Am" is really the goal that I'm looking for, rather than "I Can". ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
517:Negotiation is not an act of battle; it’s a process of discovery. The goal is to uncover as much information as possible. ■ ~ Chris Voss, #NFDB
518:The goal of forecasting is not to predict the future but to tell you what you need to know to take meaningful action in the present ~ Paul Saffo, #NFDB
519:The goal of providing basic literacy and education to all the world's people is still the most basic development challenge. ~ Talal Abu Ghazaleh, #NFDB
520:The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery, and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
521:The power is in U. The answer is in U. & U R D answer to all UR searches:U R the goal. You R the answer. It’s never outside. ~ Eckhart Tolle, #NFDB
522:To practice the process of conflict resolution, we must completely abandon the goal of getting people to do what we want. ~ Marshall B Rosenberg, #NFDB
523:Whatever the challenge was, however unattainable the goal may have seemed, I never let anyone talk me out of believing in myself. ~ Muhammad Ali, #NFDB
524:When you first start to do jiu-jitsu everyone has the goal of being a black belt. You want to be great at everything you do. ~ Junior dos Santos, #NFDB
525:You cannot be both good and neutral, because to refuse desire is to refuse life. The goal is not to remove desire but to purify it. ~ Rod Dreher, #NFDB
526:Love illuminated fulfils the harmony which is the goal of the divine movement. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, Agni, the Illumined Will, #NFDB
527:Not only during the ascent, but also during the descent my willpower is dulled. The longer I climb the less important the goal ~ Reinhold Messner, #NFDB
528:So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win. I'm not just shadow-boxing or playing around. (I Cor. 9:26) ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
529:The road to success may be, and generally is, obstructed by many influences which must be removed before the goal can be reached. ~ Napoleon Hill, #NFDB
530:I believe only a free society can ever be truly secure. The goal should be to make terrorists feel threatened, not the American people. ~ Ron Paul, #NFDB
531:If the Negro is to achieve the goal of integration, he must organize himself into a militant and nonviolent mass movement. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
532:If you make the goal of your life just to stay alive, you'll fail. If you make the goal of your life the kingdom, you cannot lose. ~ Kevin DeYoung, #NFDB
533:One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualising myself competing in the race before the race started. ~ Michael Johnson, #NFDB
534:Prayer is the beginning and the end, the source and the fruit, the core and the content, the basis and the goal of all peacemaking. ~ Henri Nouwen, #NFDB
535:The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That's why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system. ~ Arthur C Clarke, #NFDB
536:The goal was to find products that would keep on making money forever, long after the talent had been paid off and sent packing. ~ Neal Stephenson, #NFDB
537:The value of the goal lies in the goal itself; and therefore the goal cannot be attained unless it is pursued for its own sake. ~ Arnold J Toynbee, #NFDB
538:At Patagonia, making a profit is not the goal because the Zen master would say profits happen 'when you do everything else right'. ~ Yvon Chouinard, #NFDB
539:By persistent and sustained practice, anyone and everyone can make the yoga journey and reach the goal of illumination and freedom. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
540:Comedians do movies and TV so that when they tour, they sell out. That's the goal: To get popular enough so the place is packed. ~ Gabriel Iglesias, #NFDB
541:Love was always the goal, and my point every step of the way was that nothing is wrong with love, no matter what flavor it comes in. ~ Ani DiFranco, #NFDB
542:Wealth may come. Fame too. But those are not the goal. Our job is to see work as a means of making us better, not just richer, people. ~ Jeff Goins, #NFDB
543:I never cared who scored the goal, or which side won the silver cup. I never learned to bat or bowl; but I heard the curtain going up. ~ Noel Coward, #NFDB
544:Let this truth go as deep in you as possible: that life is already here, arrived. You are standing on the goal. Don't ask about the path. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
545:The goal of life is not to have our lives mean something to ourselves. The goal of life is to have our lives mean something to others. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
546:The goal of recovery is not to become normal. The goal is to embrace the human vocation of becoming more deeply, more fully human. ~ Patricia Deegan, #NFDB
547:The goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may hear the infallible counsel of the Inner Voice. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
548:The goal shouldn't be to be the next Silicon Valley (there'll always only be one of those) - it's to be your own startup community. ~ Alexis Ohanian, #NFDB
549:As the level of control is divested, it becomes more and more important that the team be aligned with the goal of the organization. ~ L David Marquet, #NFDB
550:Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite, never brought a man to the goal of any of his best wishes. ~ Miguel de Cervantes, #NFDB
551:I was so obsessed with football that you could say I was taking the goal home with me at night. And then one day the system fell apart. ~ Oliver Kahn, #NFDB
552:Nothing is easier to achieve than full employment, once it is divorced from the goal of full production and taken as an end in itself ~ Henry Hazlitt, #NFDB
553:Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive. ~ Jamais Cascio, #NFDB
554:When the mind and soul have chosen the goal, the rest is bound to follow. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Imperfections and Periods of Arrest, #NFDB
555:Wholeness is the goal [of life], but wholeness does not mean perfection. It means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life. ~ Parker J Palmer, #NFDB
556:All is a single plan; each wayside act
Deepens the soul’s response, brings nearer the goal. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Debate of Love and Death,#NFDB
557:First I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon. ~ John F Kennedy, #NFDB
558:In the case of good books, the goal is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you. ~ Mortimer J Adler, #NFDB
559:The goal is to learn to recognize when we are experiencing shame quickly enough to prevent ourselves from lashing out at those around us. ~ Bren Brown, #NFDB
560:The goal of the tribute system was to foster deference, not to extract economic benefit or to dominate foreign societies militarily. ~ Henry Kissinger, #NFDB
561:The journey is more important than the goal, for while the goal might be worthwhile, the journey is, in fact, the thread of your life. ~ R A Salvatore, #NFDB
562:Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then, without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
563:You're afraid if you catch this guy, you'll lose the excitement in your life and the goal-oriented sense of purpose that drives you. ~ Janet Evanovich, #NFDB
564:all made mistakes. We’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t. The goal is to learn, and to move on and try to live a life of no regrets. ~ Lauren Blakely, #NFDB
565:If you can mix Hilary Duff and Gary Oldman into the same actor, that's my goal. I know it's strange to think about, but that's the goal. ~ Shia LaBeouf, #NFDB
566:Mere philosophy will not satisfy us. We cannot reach the goal by mere words alone. Without practice, nothing can be achieved. (3) ~ Swami Satchidananda, #NFDB
567:The flow of work goes in one direction only: forward. Create a system of work in it that does that. Remember, the goal is single-piece flow. ~ Gene Kim, #NFDB
568:The real artist has no pride. Unfortunately he sees that his art has no limits. He feels obscurely how far he is from the goal. ~ Ludwig van Beethoven, #NFDB
569:Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it to the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money. ~ Jonathan Clements, #NFDB
570:Still, it is the journey of life that matters, and not the goal,” said Lord Parise. “And this journey will prove exhilarating, I expect. ~ R A Salvatore, #NFDB
571:The goal is to hire those who are passionate for your WHY, your purpose, cause or belief, and who have the attitude that fits your culture ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
572:The goal is to live with godlike composure on the full rush of energy, like Dionysus riding the leopard, without being torn to pieces. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
573:The goal was to teach each man in the project that he had the power to control history. We, each of us, can take control of the world. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
574:The value of getting to your goals lives not in reaching the goal but what the talents/strengths/capabilities the journey reveals to you. ~ Robin Sharma, #NFDB
575:With production alone as the goal, industry in North America was dominated by the assembly line, standardization for mass consumption. ~ Arthur Erickson, #NFDB
576:If you don't like your definition of 'good enough', then feel free to change that, but the goal before shipping is merely that. Not perfect. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
577:If you want to accomplish something in the world, idealism is not enough - you need to choose a method that works to achieve the goal. ~ Richard Stallman, #NFDB
578:Patience was what was important, not just the destination, but the journey. The goal is not just being full grown, but learning to grow. ~ Phyllis Curott, #NFDB
579:Progress is the goal, the ideal is the type.
What is this ideal? It is God.
Ideal, absolute, perfection, infinity: identical words. ~ Victor Hugo,#NFDB
580:The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
581:The goal is to live with God like composure on the full rush of energy, like Dionysus riding the leopard, without being torn to pieces. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
582:The goal should be to build a sustainable lifestyle business that does good for employees and customers - and that steadily builds wealth. ~ Vivek Wadhwa, #NFDB
583:you prepare for a pitch, meeting, speech, or negotiation, the goal is to know your material so well that you are free to be in the moment. ~ Michael Port, #NFDB
584:Being yourself is not remaining what you were, or being satisfied with what you are. It is the point of departure and far from the goal. ~ Sydney J Harris, #NFDB
585:Eventually, I would love to be on my deathbed and looked at as an icon. Right now I'm still at the baby stages of my career. But that is the goal. ~ Kesha, #NFDB
586:I think we do better as a country when we go step by step toward a goal, and the goal in this case should be reducing health care costs. ~ Lamar Alexander, #NFDB
587:The goal of discernment is not to simply avoid the evil in this life; it is to learn what is good so that we might embrace and enjoy it. ~ Hannah Anderson, #NFDB
588:Behold, there is the goal of beatitude and there the long road of suffering. Thou canst choose the one or the other across the cycles to come. ~ Dhammapada, #NFDB
589:For me, the goal wasn't to turn the stand-up special on its head, but to do what I do specifically, and hopefully that reads as something new. ~ Nick Kroll, #NFDB
590:Men can labor to make sense out of single steps toward the goal without ever pausing to reflect that the goal itself is ludicrous. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith, #NFDB
591:Success embraces those with one eye intensely focused on the goal, and the other carefully monitoring the challenges in achieving that goal. ~ Shubha Vilas, #NFDB
592:the goal at this stage is not U/I perfection. It is to test a problem. It could be done with a sock-puppet if the test were set up correctly. ~ Steve Blank, #NFDB
593:The goal of #BDS is the full restoration of Palestinian rights, not an agreement to create an artificial mini-state in order to save Zionism ~ Ali Abunimah, #NFDB
594:And what we were trying to offer every day was one-on-one attention. The goal was to have a one-to-one ratio with every one of these students. ~ Dave Eggers, #NFDB
595:People (or students) do not have shortcomings, only uniquenesses. The goal of a good teacher is to turn these uniquenesses into advantages. ~ Israel Gelfand, #NFDB
596:The discipline which I have imparted to you will lead you when I am gone. Practice mindfulness diligently, to attain the goal of awakening. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
597:The goal of scientists is you hope that the thing you're working on is bigger than the thing you're pipetting into that tube at the moment. ~ Bonnie Bassler, #NFDB
598:The goal was never to beat the competition, or to make a lot of money. It was to do the greatest thing possible, or even a little greater. ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
599:Believe me, there is no goal, nor a way to reach it. You are the way and the goal, there is nothing else to reach except yourself. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #NFDB
600:In Cross Communication, the goal of communication is to strike a balance between the “breadth” and the “depth” that tie into purchasing behaviors ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
601:Life is like skiing. Just like skiing, the goal is not to get to the bottom of the hill. It's to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
602:Magister Damask, if I may be so bold as to inquire: what is our eventual goal?” “The goal is to extend my life indefinitely. To conquer death. ~ James Luceno, #NFDB
603:Never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last. ~ Mike Markkula, #NFDB
604:One path may appear in different forms, but the Kingdom of God is the goal we all share. It is the men of small minds who create confusion. ~ Radhanath Swami, #NFDB
605:We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t. The goal is to learn, and to move on and try to live a life of no regrets. ~ Lauren Blakely, #NFDB
606:I can remember walking as a child. It was not customary to say you were fatigued. It was customary to complete the goal of the expedition. ~ Katharine Hepburn, #NFDB
607:The goal of Bible translation is: be transparent to the original text - to see as clearly as possible what the biblical authors actually wrote. ~ Leland Ryken, #NFDB
608:Warrior, when you pledge yourself to the service of a High Priestess, the goal is not to frighten her to death but to protect your lady from death. ~ P C Cast, #NFDB
609:You must never name the goal. You must never tell us the target you're hitting for. You must automatically go toward it without ever naming it. ~ Ray Bradbury, #NFDB
610:I began to understand that the goal of psychic development is the self. There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the self. ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
611:It is also a natural thing for a serious young man that he should form for himself as precise an idea as possible of the goal of his desires. ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
612:The goal of what Japan's central bank is doing is to create growth. If it actually creates growth, in the long run, it will lead to appreciation. ~ Jamie Dimon, #NFDB
613:The process is the goal,” Kaden responded innocently, trying not to feel smug. It was about time one of those Shin maxims worked in his favor. ~ Brian Staveley, #NFDB
614:Are you saying...you can make people normal again?" I breathe out, the idea too tantalizing for my own good.
Allie nods. "That's the goal. ~ Natalie Whipple,#NFDB
615:It was, however, in keeping with the way my uncle conducted his life that he should reach his destination without knowing the name of the goal. ~ Anthony Powell, #NFDB
616:sinful activities are whatever we do with the goal of bringing us into proximity with that which we believe will fill the void in our existence. ~ Peter Rollins, #NFDB
617:So the goal isn’t to get good ideas; the goal is to get bad ideas. Because once you get enough bad ideas, then some good ones have to show up. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
618:The goal of particle physics is to discover matter’s most basic constituents and the most fundamental physical laws obeyed by those constituents. ~ Lisa Randall, #NFDB
619:The goal of privacy is not to protect some stable self from erosion but to create boundaries where this self can emerge, mutate, and stabilize. ~ Evgeny Morozov, #NFDB
620:The grid is like the lines on a football field. You can play a great game in the grid or a lousy game. But the goal is to play a really fine game. ~ Wim Crouwel, #NFDB
621:The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation form their purposes. ~ Carl von Clausewitz, #NFDB
622:When the goal of political action is no longer the defense of liberty, no word other than demagoguery can describe the despicable nature of politics. ~ Ron Paul, #NFDB
623:Barcelona players are passing the ball at least 25 times to reach the goal, while Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso is doing this all in a single pass. ~ Roberto Mancini, #NFDB
624:If you want the benefit of having an ox, you're going to have to endure the poo that comes with it. The goal is to have a positive poo to ox ratio. ~ Mark Gungor, #NFDB
625:I support Planned Parenthood privately with my personal contribution, and that should be the goal of any such agency, to find private donations. ~ Chris Christie, #NFDB
626:Remember, the goal is to take emotion out of investing because emotion is what so often destroys investing success, whether it’s greed or fear. ~ Anthony Robbins, #NFDB
627:So the logic follows, the goal is not to hire people who simply have a skill set you need, the goal is to hire people who believe what you believe. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
628:The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”16 ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
629:The goal of minimalism, let’s remember, is not just to own less stuff. The goal of minimalism is to unburden our lives so we can accomplish more. ~ Joshua Becker, #NFDB
630:The goal of the artist is not to solve a question irrefutably, but to force people to love life in all its countless, inexhaustible manifestations. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
631:The goal, then, is to uncouple fear and failure—to create an environment in which making mistakes doesn’t strike terror into your employees’ hearts. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
632:The power is in you. The answer is in you. And you are the answer to all your searches: you are the goal. You are the answer. It's never outside. ~ Eckhart Tolle, #NFDB
633:The religion of Big Data sets itself the goal of fulfilling man's unattainable desires, but for that very reason ignores her attainable needs. ~ Ludwig Feuerbach, #NFDB
634:There'll be a little metal fleck in the football, so you can tell for sure whether the guy with the ball got over the goal line or was pushed back. ~ Tex Schramm, #NFDB
635:The Symbol of all Art is the Prism. The goal is destructive. To break up the white light of objective realism into the secret glories it contains. ~ E E Cummings, #NFDB
636:Wilke subscribed to the principles laid out in a seminal book about constraints in manufacturing, Eliyahu M. Goldratt’s The Goal, published in 1984. ~ Brad Stone, #NFDB
637:Churches are having a limited impact on society because they fail to understand that the goal of the church is not the church itself but the kingdom. ~ Tony Evans, #NFDB
638:Everyone hopes it will be easier for kids. Maybe the goal in America is to have an easy life, and so we find it too disgraceful to tell the truth. ~ Matthew Quick, #NFDB
639:Fearless, free of craving, and without blemish,
Having reached the goal
And destroyed the arrows of becoming
One is in one's final body. ~ Gautama Buddha,#NFDB
640:If the student could give up her work on my advice, she had better give it up without it. One does not study for a goal. The goal is a mere accident. ~ Alma Gluck, #NFDB
641:Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal. ~ Elbert Hubbard, #NFDB
642:Not every end is the goal. The end of a melody is not its goal, and yet if a melody has not reached its end, it has not reached its goal. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
643:Remember, the goal of customer discovery is to refine a business model enough to test it on a larger scale in the next step, customer validation. So ~ Steve Blank, #NFDB
644:The goal of all this is to delegitimize Obama’s presidency. If Obama is not truly American, then America has still never had a black president. ~ Ta Nehisi Coates, #NFDB
645:The goal of venture capitalists is to call the extreme cases correctly, even at the cost of overestimating the prospects of many other ventures. ~ Daniel Kahneman, #NFDB
646:Truth in love. Sometimes you get a big whoop-whoop and sometimes you get tears. But in the end, there’s always growth. And that’s the goal. ~ Candace Cameron Bure, #NFDB
647:Be not in despair, the way is very difficult, like walking on the edge of a razor; yet despair not, arise, awake, and find the ideal, the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
648:Creation exists to be a place for the covenant that God wants to make with man. The goal of creation is the covenant, the love story of God and man. ~ Benedict XVI, #NFDB
649:Father; as we run the race You set before us this year, let us run with endurance, not allowing anything to distract us from the goal of Christ-likeness. ~ Various, #NFDB
650:I think a good entrepreneur has a very clear grasp of what the goal is, an unwavering sense of the goal, an utterly agile approach of getting there. ~ John Katzman, #NFDB
651:The goal is to quit the tasks you’re doing because you’re hiding on behalf of the lizard brain and to push through the very tasks the lizard fears. Is ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
652:Violet once told me, "Change is the goal. Insight is the booby prize." She was right, of course.
I don't want insight. I want my sister back. ~ Maria Semple,#NFDB
653:In fact, as of mid-2015, a Boston firm called Cohealo is taking that step, with the goal of becoming the Airbnb of expensive hospital equipment. ~ Geoffrey G Parker, #NFDB
654:It follows that the goal of forecasting is not to see what’s coming. It is to advance the interests of the forecaster and the forecaster’s tribe. ~ Philip E Tetlock, #NFDB
655:Live performances make music important. Recording is cool and fun, and it's nice to document the thing you made, but the goal in my mind is to perform. ~ Dan Deacon, #NFDB
656:Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ~ Thomas A Edison, #NFDB
657:People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working. ~ Elon Musk, #NFDB
658:The goal, as a state senator from North Carolina put it, was to write a “good square, honest law that will always give a good Democratic majority. ~ Steven Levitsky, #NFDB
659:The goal is not to simply eliminate the bad, which does nothing more than leave you with a vacuum, but to pursue and experience the best in the world. ~ Tim Ferriss, #NFDB
660:The goal of Christian mission is not success, but faithful witness; not power, but proclamation; not technique, but truth; not method, but message. ~ Michael Horton, #NFDB
661:The goal of the artist is not to solve a question irrefutably, but to force people to love life in all its countless, inexhaustible manifestations. If ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
662:We have not yet reached the goal but.. we shall soon, with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty shall be banished from this nation. ~ Herbert Hoover, #NFDB
663:Women have talent and intelligence but due to social constraints and prejudices, it is still a long distance away from the goal of gender equality. ~ Pratibha Patil, #NFDB
664:You've got to take care of yourself on the path, not just when you cross the goal line, because don't forget, wherever you are, that's the goal line. ~ Jeff Bridges, #NFDB
665:You’ve got to take care of yourself on the path, not just when you cross the goal line, because don’t forget, wherever you are, that’s the goal line. ~ Jeff Bridges, #NFDB
666:But finding out the truth wasn’t the goal—the truth was just another weapon, a knife to put in the right person’s hand, a grenade waiting to explode. ~ Cat Sebastian, #NFDB
667:Labor was marching toward the goal of industrial democracy and contributing constructively toward a more rational arrangement of our domestic economy. ~ John L Lewis, #NFDB
668:The goal is always the same. I want to change people's lives and bring them closer to the Lord in a new way. I want to confront them with an issue. ~ Frank E Peretti, #NFDB
669:Any intellectual recognition of legitimately perceivable groups, absent the goal of mutual improvement is ignorance and an exercise of useless reason. ~ Bryant McGill, #NFDB
670:No, I'm putting it away, trying to buy a house for my family. The goal is to use the money to move into a big house, so my daughter can have a garden. ~ Ewan McGregor, #NFDB
671:The goal of the Christian life is not external conformity or mindless action, but a passionate love for God informed by the mind and embraced by the will. ~ John Owen, #NFDB
672:The purpose of polite behavior is never virtuous. Deceit, surrender, and concealment these are not virtues. The goal of the mannerly is comfort, per se. ~ June Jordan, #NFDB
673:Advertising always corrupts the goal of the search engine, which is to try to give you the most important stuff, not the stuff someone paid there to be there. ~ Tim Wu, #NFDB
674:I'm training at everything. Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, striking. Everything. I think to be in the UFC, you have to be well rounded at everything. That's the goal. ~ CM Punk, #NFDB
675:It must be easy to be a liberal. When your policies don't work, you just change the goal posts and say we haven't done enough - and then demand more. ~ David Limbaugh, #NFDB
676:The goal is to get so comfortable and relaxed with your instrument, or process, that you can just get Zen with it and let the music flow without thinking, ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
677:The goal of pacifism is possible only though a supranational organization. To stand unconditionally for this cause is the criterion of true pacifism. ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
678:But the goal is not to replace what cannot be replaced, or duplicate what cannot be duplicated, but simply to create opportunities for new memories. One ~ Mark Goulston, #NFDB
679:I'm not working on anything. I was trying to write something new . . . I guess the goal for me now, at least at this point, is to try to direct again. ~ Charlie Kaufman, #NFDB
680:The goal is not to simply eliminate the bad, which does nothing more than leave you with a vacuum, but to pursue and experience the best in the world. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
681:The goal of inner work is to help clients unblock their bottlenecks and learn how to live in partnership with the unconscious rather than at its mercy. ~ Robert Johnson, #NFDB
682:The goal of the computer is to provide people with the means to extend people's minds and bodies. It is an exoskeleton that expands our human reach. ~ Jean Louis Gassee, #NFDB
683:World unity is the wish of the hopeful, the goal of the idealist and the dream of the romantic. Yet it is folly to the realist and a lie to the innocent. ~ Don Williams, #NFDB
684:We reach the goal not by the stairs, but by the lift..... God pledges his promised righteousness to those who will stop trying to save themselves. ~ Norman Vincent Peale, #NFDB
685:You should only have the goal of being a millionaire, not for the money you will make, but for the person you will have to become in order to make it. ~ Bill Hargenrader, #NFDB
686:Contemporary philosopher Max More describes the goal of humanity as a transcendence to be “achieved through science and technology steered by human values. ~ Ray Kurzweil, #NFDB
687:Don’t think of what’s being said, but of what’s talking. Malice? Ignorance? Pride? Love? The goal of the hero’s journey is yourself, finding yourself. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
688:It seems backward, but keeping your mind focused on the present will get you
further toward your goals than keeping your mind focused on the goal itself. ~ Chad Fowler,#NFDB
689:One of the most important goals to have may well be the goal to create the life you want without preventing other people from creating the life they want. ~ Timothy Carey, #NFDB
690:The goal here is to recognize that slow-moving when problems have all the gravity of fast-moving what calamities—and deserve the same collective response. ~ Daniel H Pink, #NFDB
691:We are not moving towards some kind of goal. We are at the goal, and it is changing with us. If art has any purpose, it is to open our eyes to that fact. ~ Antony Gormley, #NFDB
692:The goal of astrology is the alchemy of personality. It is to transform chaos into cosmos, collective human nature into individual and creative personality. ~ Dane Rudhyar, #NFDB
693:The goal of the Buddha’s teaching is Nibbāna (Sanskrit: Nirvāṇa). Literally translated, that means “not burning,” or in other words, the loss of all passions. ~ Ayya Khema, #NFDB
694:Helder said the goal of therapy was to make a container to hold all the disparate selves. I was going to need a big container. One that could hold hordes. ~ Heather Sellers, #NFDB
695:Leadership means bringing people together in pursuit of a common cause, developing a plan to achieve it, and staying with it until the goal is achieved. ~ William J Clinton, #NFDB
696:renunciation of life cannot be the goal of life nor rejection of the world the object for which the world was created. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Renunciation, #NFDB
697:The dear good people don't know how long it takes to learn to read. I've been at it eighty years, and can't say yet that I've reached the goal. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
698:To love blindly is to love selfishly, because the goal of such love is not the real advantage of the beloved but only the exercise of love in our own souls. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
699:When once we are freed from the goal [of solving problems], the question of whether it is a positive approach or a negative approach does not even arise. ~ U G Krishnamurti, #NFDB
700:I'd recently co-founded an institute in the Bay Area called the Innovative Genomics Institute (ICI) with the goal of advancing gene-editing technologies. ~ Jennifer A Doudna, #NFDB
701:If you hate to think, you are not different from some who is peeing on his academic certificates. The goal of education is to help you to think and lead. ~ Israelmore Ayivor, #NFDB
702:The goal of business should not be to do business with anyone who simply wants what you have. It should be to focus on the people who believe what you believe. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
703:The goal of prayer is not to change God’s mind about what you want. The goal of prayer is to change your own heart, to want what He wants, to the glory of God. ~ Chris Fabry, #NFDB
704:The goal of Scientology is making the individual capable of living a better life in his own estimation and with his fellows and the playing of a better game. ~ L Ron Hubbard, #NFDB
705:The goal of the human experience is to transform ourselves from being who long to attain power in the physical world to beings who are empowered from within. ~ Caroline Myss, #NFDB
706:We all have things, Bast. We carry them, they weigh us down and sometimes they suck us under. The goal is to know when to drop and when to reach for a hand. ~ HelenKay Dimon, #NFDB
707:If you make problem solving secondary to the goal of living close to Me, you can find Joy even in your most difficult days. HABAKKUK 3:17–19; 1 CHRONICLES 16:27 ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
708:I'm always in awe of and respect humans for their ability to plan, but sometimes, good intentions are lost along the way. And often the way becomes the goal. ~ Pipilotti Rist, #NFDB
709:In fact, the reality of life is such that you never do get to the top. The climb is the goal. The top of the mountain is only the direction, not the destination ~ David Aaron, #NFDB
710:Or, as David Platt says, the goal is not to disinfect Christians and separate them from the world but to disciple them and send them back into the world: Whereas ~ J D Greear, #NFDB
711:The goal of coaching is not in fixing what is broken, but in discovering new talents and new ways to use old talents that lead to far greater effectiveness. ~ Gifford Pinchot, #NFDB
712:The goal of the Web is to serve humanity. We build it now so that those who come to it later will be able to create things that we cannot ourselves imagine. ~ Tim Berners Lee, #NFDB
713:when Steve Jobs said that the goal of every entrepreneur should be to “put a dent in the universe”—he wasn’t talking about inventing the next Angry Birds. ~ Peter H Diamandis, #NFDB
714:Bicyclist's Philosophy of Life..."It's a matter of faith. You can keep upright only by moving forward. You have to have your eyes on the goal, not the ground. ~ Susan Vreeland, #NFDB
715:Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows
nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement - and we will
make the goal. ~ Robert Collier,#NFDB
716:Politically, the goal of today’s dominant trend is statism. Philosophically, the goal is the obliteration of reason; psychologically, it is the erosion of ambition. ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
717:The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and think critically. Intelligence plus character; that is the goal of a true education. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
718:The magic reel, which, rolling on before has led the chronicler thus far, now slackens its pace, and stops. It lies before the goal; the pursuit is at anend. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
719:the more one advances, the more one sees the goal is still far off. And now I am simply resigned to see myself always imperfect and in this I find my joy. ~ Saint Therese of Lisieux, #NFDB
720:This is the goal: To make available for life every place where life is possible. To make inhabitable all worlds as yet uninhabitable, and all life purposeful. ~ Hermann Oberth, #NFDB
721:Donna VanLiere's "A Christmas Blessing"
“Don’t ever take your EYES off the FINISH line. If you take your eyes off the GOAL, you’ll never make it to the END. ~ Donna VanLiere,#NFDB
722:It is a terrible and awesome thing when a man sets out to create all other men in his own image. Such became the goal and all-consuming ambition of Karl Marx. ~ W Cleon Skousen, #NFDB
723:Only because The Runaways were my baby and there's no reason to get it back together except to totally have fun. If that's not the goal, then I don't want to do it. ~ Joan Jett, #NFDB
724:So this is the goal: To make money by increasing net profit, while simultaneously increasing return on investment, and simultaneously increasing cash flow. ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
725:The goal of life is to gain an idea of what life is. In the absolute sense, of course, that changes nothing, according to the priests - but it helps our journey. ~ Ernst J nger, #NFDB
726:The goal should not be to make money or acquire things, but to achieve the consciousness through which the substance will flow forth when and as you need it. ~ Eric Butterworth, #NFDB
727:The goal was to get employees to distill a pitch into its purest essence, to start from something the customer might see—the public announcement—and work backward. ~ Brad Stone, #NFDB
728:The honey doesn't taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn't mean so much once it is reached; the reward is not so rewarding once it has been given. ~ Benjamin Hoff, #NFDB
729:Aeronautical engineering texts do not define the goal of their field as making “machines that fly so exactly like pigeons that they can fool even other pigeons. ~ Stuart Russell, #NFDB
730:If you are pleased with what you are, you have stopped already. If you say, "It is enough," you are lost. Keep on walking, moving forward, trying for the goal. ~ Saint Augustine, #NFDB
731:I think, in the long term it's in the goal of everyone to see a unified Korea that actually provides for the people of North Korea the kind of life that they need. ~ Marco Rubio, #NFDB
732:That should be the goal, is that every kid in every neighborhood, despite whatever challenges they may face, are getting a great education in our public schools. ~ Michelle Rhee, #NFDB
733:The Bible compels us to join God in what He is doing in and around us. Studying the Bible is important, but the goal is never knowledge for the sake of knowledge. ~ Francis Chan, #NFDB
734:The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
735:The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
736:I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. ~ John F Kennedy, #NFDB
737:Integration is the method toward obtaining that goal. And what he Negro leader has done is gotten himself wrapped up in the method and has forgotten what the goal is. ~ Malcolm X, #NFDB
738:Money is not a goal. The goal is to make companies grow, develop, be competitive, be in different areas, be efficient to have a great human team inside the company. ~ Carlos Slim, #NFDB
739:The goal of the World Federalists is peace through unity of government. We must support their vision of oneness in diversity, for it is the salvation of mankind. ~ Jean Stapleton, #NFDB
740:The goal: to convince young people that while they aren’t overtly racist, they hold secret racist beliefs that can only be cleansed by embracing the leftist agenda. ~ Ben Shapiro, #NFDB
741:The goal was 'every child a wanted child'; it should also have been 'every abortion a wanted abortion', but the two sides of the phony debate were never to meet. ~ Germaine Greer, #NFDB
742:But man is a fickle and disreputable creature and perhaps, like a chess-player, is interested in the process of attaining his goal rather than the goal itself. ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, #NFDB
743:Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, with the faith that, since it is the goal before you, it must and will come.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV, [T1],#NFDB
744:Just understand that physical balance and mental balance are similar. The goal is to maintain both at all times and always be prepared to adjust to your surroundings. ~ A C Cobble, #NFDB
745:The goal of equality seems to disproportionately burden women, since it's assumed that they have to assume more responsibility, while men can remain the status quo. ~ Amy Richards, #NFDB
746:the goal of “productivity” isn’t to just do things and do more work—it’s to get the things you have to do done so you can spend more time on the things you want to do. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
747:The Mother is the goal, everything is in her : if she is attained, all is attained. If you dwell in her consciousness, everything else unfolds of itself.
~ Sri Aurobindo?, [T1],#NFDB
748:When people hit on feeling a certain melancholy or elation, it's a really exciting moment. I think making that connection is the goal, and what makes something great. ~ Craig Finn, #NFDB
749:313. Stride swiftly for the goal is far; rest not unduly, for thy Master is waiting for thee at the end of thy journey.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine And Human, Karma, 53, [T5],#NFDB
750:But man is a fickle and disreputable creature and perhaps, like a chess-player, is interested in the process of attaining his goal rather than the goal itself. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
751:...I realized that rewards are not the goal- if one seeks the ultimate it will elude you. The reward is life itself, in its richness, in its sadness, and joy. ~ Valerie Ann Worwood, #NFDB
752:I say to you that our goal is freedom, and I believe we are going to get there because however much she strays away from it, the goal of America is freedom. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
753:Learn how to set goals. That's the key to everything. That includes designing your own success. You define what the goal is, it's not somebody else's goal, it's yours. ~ Drew Carey, #NFDB
754:Making the process better, easier, and cheaper is an important aspiration, something we continually work on—but it is not the goal. Making something great is the goal. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
755:Sometimes our journeys in life seem to take forever to get to the culmination of our efforts—to achieving the goal. And once we do, it goes so fast and then it’s over. ~ K Bromberg, #NFDB
756:The goal, I submit, is obvious: subjugating the world (which is barbarian, dangerous, envious and ungrateful) to US power for the sake of America's interests. ~ Breyten Breytenbach, #NFDB
757:If you do not find peace within, you will not find it anywhere else. The Goal of Life is the attainment of Peace and not the achievement of power, name, fame and wealth. ~ Sivananda, #NFDB
758:Please don't get me wrong here. I'm not making fun of old people. In fact I think that's the goal of everybody here tonite. We all want to be an old person someday. ~ Jeff Foxworthy, #NFDB
759:That’s an instinct reminding you of the goal. That’s your inner wisdom, and it’s important to pay attention to it, no matter how small or silly that instinct may seem. ~ Mel Robbins, #NFDB
760:The goal of a designer is to listen, observe, understand, sympathize, empathize, synthesize and glean insights that enable him or her to “make the invisible visible ~ Hillman Curtis, #NFDB
761:the more one advances, the more one sees the goal is still far off. And now I am simply resigned to see myself always imperfect and in this I find my joy. ~ Saint Therese of Lisieux, #NFDB
762:The problem with specifying the method along with the goal is one of diminished control. Provide your people with the objective and let them figure out the method. ~ L David Marquet, #NFDB
763:12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
764:For people on my side of the cubicle, the goal is always creativity. Spending your time overcoming corporate resistance to creativity - I just don't want to do that. ~ Jerry Seinfeld, #NFDB
765:If I could apologise and go back and change history I would do. But the goal is still a goal, Argentina became world champions and I was the best player in the world ~ Diego Maradona, #NFDB
766:Making the process better, easier, and cheaper is an important aspiration, something we continually work on—but it is not the goal. Making something great is the goal. I ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
767:One does not ‘manage’ people. The task is to lead people. And the goal is to make productive the specific strengths and knowledge of each individual" - Peter Drucker ~ Steve Chandler, #NFDB
768:Proclaim the glory of the Atman with the roar of a lion, and impart fearlessness unto all beings by saying, 'Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached'! ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
769:The goal of terror is not traditional territorial enlargement; rather the war target of the terrorist is the dismemberment of the will of the community it terrorizes. ~ John Ashcroft, #NFDB
770:the major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than the goal you achieve. ~ Chris Widener, #NFDB
771:One does not ‘manage’ people. The task is to lead people. And the goal is to make productive the specific strengths andd knowledge of each individual" - Peter Drucker ~ Steve Chandler, #NFDB
772:Remember, we want power to, not power over. We want to look confident and relaxed, not as though we’re trying our best to dominate. The goal is intimacy, not intimidation. ~ Amy Cuddy, #NFDB
773:The goal is not to improve one measurement in isolation. The goal is to reduce operational expenses AND reduce inventories and increase throughput simultaneously. ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
774:Bohr proposed once that the goal of science is not universal truth. Rather, he argued, the modest but relentless goal of science is “the gradual removal of prejudices. ~ Richard Rhodes, #NFDB
775:Joy is the goal of existence, and joy is not to be stumbled upon, but to be achieved, and the act of treason is to let its vision drown in the swamp of the moment's torture. ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
776:The goal, Karel said, was not to tell explicit lies but to destroy the distinction between the true and the false, so that lying becomes neither necessary nor possible. ~ Roger Scruton, #NFDB
777:The goal of higher income is not just bigger piles of money. The goal of longer lives is not just extra time. The ultimate goal is to have the freedom to do what we want ~ Hans Rosling, #NFDB
778:The only important thing is the goal to be attained. The way matters little, and often it is better not to know it in advance.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, True Aim of Life,#NFDB
779:The painter thinks in terms of form and color. The goal is not to be concerned with the reconstitution of an anecdotal fact, but with constitution of a pictorial fact. ~ Georges Braque, #NFDB
780:As a child, I actually wanted to be a lawyer. That was the goal. I didn't plan to be an author, and then even less, did I plan to produce movies. It all just happened. ~ Stephenie Meyer, #NFDB
781:Even if our motives are presently misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
782:Not every end is the goal. The end of a melody is not its goal; and yet: as long as the melody has not reached its end, it also hasn't reached its goal. A parable. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, #NFDB
783:Spontaneity at all levels is guided by the goal of getting it right; being clearly “forced” to come to some conclusion is not its negation, but its highest fulfillment. ~ Charles Taylor, #NFDB
784:The goal of higher income is not just bigger piles of money. The goal of longer lives is not just extra time. The ultimate goal is to have the freedom to do what we want. ~ Hans Rosling, #NFDB
785:Until you find where the goal post is, you shall only exert all your precious energy and ability shooting in the direction of goal kick without scoring any goal ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
786:Additional problems are the offspring of poor decisions. When inquiry and advocacy are combined, the goal is no longer 'to win the argument', but to find the best argument. ~ Peter Senge, #NFDB
787:Now the goal of Dr. Martin Luther King is to give Negroes a chance to sit in a segregated restaurant beside the same white man who has brutalized them for four hundred years. ~ Malcolm X, #NFDB
788:Sometimes our journeys in life seem to take forever to get to the culmination of our efforts—to achieving the goal. And once we get there, it goes so fast and then its over. ~ K Bromberg, #NFDB
789:The envisioned future should be so exciting in its own right that it would continue to keep the organization motivated even if the leaders who set the goal disappeared. ~ James C Collins, #NFDB
790:The goal here is to realize you’re doing it so you can immediately choose not to fall down the rabbit hole of feeling like the biggest failure that ever graced this planet. ~ Andrea Owen, #NFDB
791:The goal of our mission is that people from all the nations worship the true God. But worship means cherishing the preciousness of God above all else, including life itself. ~ John Piper, #NFDB
792:The goal of the Order was the abolition of all monarchical governments and state religions in Europe and its colonies and a return to humanistic rational thinking and reason. ~ Jim Marrs, #NFDB
793:The Grace is something that pushes you towards the goal to be attained....The Grace is that which makes you march swiftly towards the realisation.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#NFDB
794:What needs to be reinforced is the idea that good writing - solid, honest, entertaining, beautiful good writing - is simultaneously the reward, the challenge, and the goal. ~ Tom Bissell, #NFDB
795:You go often into the silence, but have you developed anubhava?” He was reminding me to love God more than meditation. “Do not mistake the technique for the Goal. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
796:Knowledge is and will be produced in order to be sold, it is and will be consumed in order to be valorised in a new production: in both cases, the goal is exchange ~ Jean Francois Lyotard, #NFDB
797:Magic has always been about seizing power or subverting it, the goal in either case being freedom from the conditions of reality in which the magician finds him or herself. ~ Gordon White, #NFDB
798:My back to the goal, physically fighting off defenders, trying to bang my goals in, every week I have to do the business for this club. That's the life of a striker. ~ Ruud van Nistelrooy, #NFDB
799:Once you become dedicated to a cause, personal security is not the goal. What will happen to you personally does not matter. My cause, my race, is worth dying for. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
800:The end goal of education isn’t to get students to answer the right number of questions,” he said. “The goal is to have curious and creative students who can function in life. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
801:Tonight I see no spheres, but project myself
and gaze back, an important trick
because the goal is to be on both sides of the poem,
shuttling between the you and I. ~ Ben Lerner,#NFDB
802:During a term in office there are highs and lows, but what counts is that the goal is set as well as the means to achieve it, and the force we put into getting results. ~ Francois Hollande, #NFDB
803:He emphasized that you should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last. ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
804:In fact, caucus, a word derived from the Algonquin languages, better reflected the layers of talking circles and the goal of consensus that were at the heart of governance. ~ Gloria Steinem, #NFDB
805:The goal is ecstasy, but I don't want to make some sort of saccharine pop music. I want to make something that's completely uncompromising: the best possible music ever made. ~ Michael Gira, #NFDB
806:The majority of the time with two strikes I'll choke up on the bat a little bit to try to stay as short as possible. It doesn't always work out like that, but that's the goal. ~ Chase Utley, #NFDB
807:The strongest arguments prove nothing so long as the conclusions are not verified by experience. Experimental science is the queen of sciences and the goal of all speculation. ~ Roger Bacon, #NFDB
808:What Jesus invites us to imitate is his own desire, the spirit that directs him toward the goal on which his intention is fixed: to resemble God the Father as much as possible. ~ Ren Girard, #NFDB
809:On the whole, I would bid you stand up to your work, whatever it may be, and not be afraid of it; not in sorrows or contradictions to yield, but to push on towards the goal. ~ Thomas Carlyle, #NFDB
810:Freedom and democracy are nothing but instruments, just like stability. The goal is called progress and growth. Anyone who puts freedom ahead of stability is hurting growth. ~ Bashar al Assad, #NFDB
811:I believe that research, that you can claim that you're doing research only if half of the people, and I'm talking about half of the experts, believe that the goal is impossible. ~ Burt Rutan, #NFDB
812:Mystery is not merely a way of saying that reason has not yet completed its victory. It is the goal where reason arrives when it attains its perfection by becoming love. ~ Elizabeth A Johnson, #NFDB
813:The goal is always to make a nice tableau painting with the voice. The more color I can find, the more shadow I can find - the goal is always to make more nuance and colors. ~ Cecilia Bartoli, #NFDB
814:The goal of climbing big, dangerous mountains should be to attain some sort of spiritual and personal growth, but this won't happen if you compromise away the entire process. ~ Yvon Chouinard, #NFDB
815:The goal wasn't to be a millionaire or to be a Hollywood star. That was not the goal. The goal was something about - the goal was to find the goal, but I knew where it was. ~ James Earl Jones, #NFDB
816:The priority of the Trump administration is to secure the border and deport criminal aliens; people who are not just here illegally but who are violent criminals. That's the goal. ~ Paul Ryan, #NFDB
817:I never understood the idea that you're supposed to mellow as you get older. Slowing down isn't something I relate to at all. The goal is to continue in good and bad, all of it. ~ Diane Keaton, #NFDB
818:Karl Popper once said that attempts to create heaven on earth invariably produce hell. Libertarianism holds out the goal not of a perfect society but of a better and freer one. It ~ David Boaz, #NFDB
819:The chaotic theory of education is that you go to college, earn a degree and then that degree may be used in something completely different. It's about achieving the goal first. ~ Randall Cobb, #NFDB
820:The goal of a leader is to give no orders,” Captain Marquet explains. “Leaders are to provide direction and intent and allow others to figure out what to do and how to get there. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
821:As they say at Netscape cofounder Marc Andrerssen’s new company, Loudcloud, the goal is to keep making new mistakes, rather than to make the same mistakes over and over again. ~ Robert I Sutton, #NFDB
822:For Zen, man is the goal; man is the end unto himself. God is not something above humanity, God is something hidden within humanity. Man is carrying God in himself as a potentiality. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
823:The symbol of all art is the Prism. The goal is unrealism. The method is destructive. To break up the white light of objective realism, into the secret glories which it contains. ~ e e cummings, #NFDB
824:Your own self is your ultimate teacher. The outer teacher is merely a milestone. It is only your inner teacher that will walk with you to the goal, for he is the goal ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #NFDB
825:believe finally, that education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing. —JOHN DEWEY ~ Tara Westover, #NFDB
826:For imagination sets the goal picture which our automatic mechanism works on. We act, or fail to act, not because of will, as is so commonly believed, but because of imagination. ~ Maxwell Maltz, #NFDB
827:The more a human being in his worldview approaches the goal, the hegemony of love in a moral universe, the more has he become slipshod in the light of intellectual honesty. ~ Peter Wessel Zapffe, #NFDB
828:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ ~ The MotherThe more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. The Mother, #NFDB
829:Fighting it is a waste of time and energy. Instead, embrace it. Admit that it might indeed be awesome. And then make exploring it a condition of finishing the goal you are working on. ~ Jon Acuff, #NFDB
830:Thankyou,"Catherine said, the smile still hovering on her lips. "That is kind of you my lord. But i will never dance with you."
Which, ofcourse, made it the goal of leo's life. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
831:I believe finally, that education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing. —JOHN DEWEY ~ Tara Westover, #NFDB
832:Many Yogis are blindly attentive to their particular system of meditation, ignoring their own background of Consciousness or Beingness... that they forget about the goal, the Self. ~ SantataGamana, #NFDB
833:My time, the rank I attain, my outward appearance—all of these are secondary. For a runner like me, what’s really important is reaching the goal I set myself, under my own power. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
834:The goal of our life’s effort is to reach the other shore, Nirvana. Prajna paramita, the true wisdom of life, is that in each step of the way, the other shore is actually reached. ~ Shunryu Suzuki, #NFDB
835:The Rising Strong Process The goal of the process is to rise from our falls, overcome our mistakes, and face hurt in a way that brings more wisdom and wholeheartedness into our lives. ~ Bren Brown, #NFDB
836:Virtue is not an end in itself. Virtue is not its own reward or sacrificial fodder for the reward of evil. Life is the reward of virtue-and happiness is the goal and the reward of life. ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
837:God allows us to give rise to the practice of two beautiful virtues: perseverance, which leads us to attain the goal, and constancy, which helps us to overcome difficulties. ~ Saint Vincent de Paul, #NFDB
838:If you give people unlimited time and money, they'll do things the same old way. But if they have to achieve the goal in a brief time, they'll either give up or try something new. ~ Peter Diamandis, #NFDB
839:In general in comedy, there are fewer people making a ton of money and a lot more people making a living. For me, the goal is just being able to make exactly the show I wanted to make. ~ Nick Kroll, #NFDB
840:Many today seem to think that the goal of the Christian life is for Jesus to make us healthy, wealthy, and happy. But if that's true, somebody forgot to tell the apostle Paul. ~ John F MacArthur Jr, #NFDB
841:War is always a struggle in which each contender tries to annihilate the other. Besides using force, they will have recourse to all possible tricks and stratagems to achieve the goal. ~ Che Guevara, #NFDB
842:I don't have any particular goals in making a recording. In a way the recording is itself the goal. The music comes into my mind, and from there the main job is to give form to it. ~ John McLaughlin, #NFDB
843:It seems that Peter is saying the goal of apologetics is not just to present better arguments but to exhibit a better character, especially when suffering hostility and opposition. ~ Nancy R Pearcey, #NFDB
844:the goal in life is to live young, have fun, and arrive at your final destination—as late as possible—with a smile on your face, because this would mean that you truly enjoyed the ride. ~ Jon Gordon, #NFDB
845:Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul, May keep the path, but will not reach the goal; While he who walks in love may wander far, Yet God will bring him where the blessed are. ~ Henry Van Dyke, #NFDB
846:Some give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before. ~ Herodotus, #NFDB
847:Sometimes, as in an athletic event where everything clicks, inexplicable things do happen. Learning and practicing an art or a skill has always been part of the success of the goal. ~ Pattiann Rogers, #NFDB
848:The goal I proposed myself in making cubism? To paint and nothing more... with a method linked only to my thought... Neither the good nor the true; neither the useful nor the useless. ~ Pablo Picasso, #NFDB
849:Try to treat with equal love all the people with whom you have relations. Thus the abyss between 'myself' and 'yourself' will be filled in, which is the goal of all religious worship. ~ Anandamayi Ma, #NFDB
850:You didn't just pay lip service to the goal of overcoming the division of Europe and Germany... Rather, you put yourself at the forefront of those who encouraged us on the way to unity. ~ Helmut Kohl, #NFDB
851:I've had a lot of different responses to my films. I got a lot of support from 'The Piano,' the obvious one, but it feels like an ocean, with a lot going on - the goal is to keep alive. ~ Jane Campion, #NFDB
852:Keep your eye on the goal, not the steps you must take to reach it. The goal is everything. The steps are nothing. No matter how difficult the journey is, the goal is always worth it. ~ Jessica Khoury, #NFDB
853:Most parents of adolescent girls have the goal of keeping their daughters safe while they grow up and explore the world. The parents' job is to protect, the daughter's job is to explore. ~ Mary Pipher, #NFDB
854:THE GOAL OF God’s work in us is to bring our lives into harmony and agreement with His own righteousness, and so to manifest to ourselves and others our identity as His adopted children. ~ John Calvin, #NFDB
855:the goal of schools shouldn’t be to manufacture “productive citizens” to fill some corporate cubicle; it should be to inspire each child to find a “calling” that will change the world. ~ Clark Aldrich, #NFDB
856:the goal of the accrual method is to record the revenues or expenses in the period during which the real economic transaction occurs (as opposed to the period in which cash is exchanged). ~ Mike Piper, #NFDB
857:Catholic dioceses typically spent hundreds of thousands of dollars recklessly, then filed for bankruptcy. The goal was to avoid the money going to the hands of victims of predator priests. ~ Dan Rather, #NFDB
858:Imbuing fiction with a life that extends beyond the last word is in some ways the goal: the ending that goes beyond the ending in the reader's mind, so invested are they in the story. ~ Jeff VanderMeer, #NFDB
859:In my productive activity, every time a type grows beyond the stage of its genesis, and I have about reached the goal, the intensity gets lost very quickly, and I have to look for new ways. ~ Paul Klee, #NFDB
860:Self-inquiry is the process and the goal also. 'I am' is the goal and the final reality. To hold to it with effort is self-inquiry. When spontaneous and natural it is realization. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
861:Humble people are broken over their own sin, more concerned with honoring God than arguing about what they deserve, and try—by the grace of God—to stay focused on the gospel and the goal. ~ Francis Chan, #NFDB
862:In short, the goal of the gospel is not to get you out of hell and into heaven, but to get God out of heaven and into you so that He may be displayed visibly and glorified in His creation. ~ Frank Viola, #NFDB
863:Played percussively, the piano is a bore. If I go to a concert and someone plays like that I have two choices: go home or go to sleep. The goal is to make the piano sing, sing, sing. ~ Vladimir Horowitz, #NFDB
864:Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal, while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before ~ Herodotus, #NFDB
865:Such people never focus on their own goal, they always elect to pursue the goal which promises the most rapid success, and yet fail to recognise that this success will never be their own. ~ Timur Vermes, #NFDB
866:The unknowable is the beauty, the meaning, the aspiration, the goal. Because of the unknowable, life means something. When everything is known, then everything is flat. You will be fed up, bored. ~ Osho, #NFDB
867:To reduce sensation to a science, to make psychological analysis into a microscopically precise method - that's the goal that occupies, like a steady thirst, the hub of my life's will. ~ Fernando Pessoa, #NFDB
868:Thank you," Catherine said, the smile still hovering on her lips. "That is very kind of you, my lord. But I will never dance with you."
Which, of course, made it the goal of Leo's life. ~ Lisa Kleypas,#NFDB
869:The timid and fearful first failures dismay, but the stout heart stays trying by night and by day. He values his failures as lessons that teach the one way to get the goal he would reach. ~ Edgar A Guest, #NFDB
870:We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games. ~ Robert A Kotick, #NFDB
871:In fact, my entire childhood consisted of looking at photographs in which the viewer sees the ball behind the line, looking through the goal net, and the poor goalkeeper in front of the net. ~ Orhan Pamuk, #NFDB
872:One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). ~ Kay Arthur, #NFDB
873:The full-grown modern human being ... is conscious of touching the highest pinnacle of fulfillment... when he is consumed in the service of an idea, in the conquest of the goal pursued. ~ Robert Briffault, #NFDB
874:the goal of an apprenticeship is not money, a good position, a title, or a diploma, but rather the transformation of your mind and character—the first transformation on the way to mastery. ~ Robert Greene, #NFDB
875:The goal of business then should not be to simply sell to anyone who wants what you have—the majority—but rather to find people who believe what you believe, the left side of the bell curve. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
876:The goal of revelation is not information only, but affection, worship, and obedience. Christ in us will be realized only as we drink deeply of the Bible, which is God's word outside of us ~ Kevin DeYoung, #NFDB
877:The goal of the disciple of Jesus, then, is not to answer the question, “What is God’s will for my life?” The goal, instead, is to walk in God’s will on a moment-by-moment, day-by-day basis. ~ David Platt, #NFDB
878:The supreme adventure in a man’s life is his journey back to his Creator. To reach the goal he needs well developed and co-ordinated functioning of his body, senses, mind, reason and Self. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
879:The timid and fearful first failures dismay, but the stout heart stays trying by night and by day. He values his failures as lessons that teach The one way to get to the goal he would reach. ~ Edgar Guest, #NFDB
880:The whole visible world is perhaps nothing other than a motivation of man's wish to rest for a moment an attempt to falsify the fact of knowledge, to try to turn the knowledge into the goal. ~ Franz Kafka, #NFDB
881:Certainly Kundalini will awake. Repetition of His name will lead to the goal. Even when your mind does not become concentrated you can repeat the holy Name thousands of times. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
882:I struggled so hard for a goal, without realizing that the goal is the struggle. It’s what makes me stronger, smarter, and better. Growth doesn’t come from a comfort zone, but from leaving it. ~ Max Brooks, #NFDB
883:What am I doing as a filmmaker? What is the goal? To look for the unknown atmosphere that hasn't been described before. This is my only goal. Unknown images. Because if not, it's boring, no? ~ Albert Serra, #NFDB
884:At least one anointed bar raiser would participate in every interview process and would have the power to veto a candidate who did not meet the goal of raising the company’s overall hiring bar. ~ Brad Stone, #NFDB
885:Creepy is being attached to an outcome. If you approach someone with the goal of sex, and hten find thins not going in that direction, you may try to steer things back to sex. This is creepy. ~ Allison Moon, #NFDB
886:Impatience asks for the impossible, wants to reach the goal without the means of getting there. The length of the journey has to be borne with, for every moment is necessary. ~ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, #NFDB
887:People always ask me, how do you teach core values? The answer is, you don't. The goal is not to get people to share your core values. It's to get people who already share your core values. ~ Robert Spector, #NFDB
888:People always ask me, how do you teach core values? The answer is, you don’t. The goal is not to get people to share your core values. It’s to get people who already share your core values. ~ Robert Spector, #NFDB
889:Some think that emulating those we admire makes us more effective and guarantees the result they exhibit. The goal is not to duplicate someone else’s greatness or purpose, destiny or creativity. ~ T D Jakes, #NFDB
890:The goal ever recedes from us. The greater the progress the greater the recognition of our unworthiness. Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
891:"The goal of treatment by catharsis is full confession -- no merely intellectual acknowledgement of the facts, but their confirmation by the heart and the actual release of suppressed emotions." ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
892:The Symbol of all Art is the Prism. The goal is unrealism. The method is destructive. To break up the white light of objective realism into the secret glories which it contains. e.e. cummings ~ E E Cummings, #NFDB
893:This is the road that leads to liberty, the only road that delivers us from slavery: finally to be able to say, with meaning: Lead me, Zeus, lead me, Destiny, to the goal I was long ago assigned ~ Epictetus, #NFDB
894:As the Dalai Lama has described it, if we see a person who is being crushed by a rock, the goal is not to get under the rock and feel what they are feeling; it is to help to remove the rock. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
895:Because the goal in writing is always to get to the truth of a character, dig inside and find out what drives them and how they feel, I think there is a part of me in every character I write. ~ Shannon Baker, #NFDB
896:I have decided that I want animation to be taken seriously; that is the goal of my life. I believe that animation is a very important medium to tell stories, not just for kids but for adults. ~ Signe Baumane, #NFDB
897:It is in the American interest to put an end to Nationhood. That is the goal in global government. America must get out of the United Nations or our sovereign Republic will not survive. ~ Walt Whitman Rostow, #NFDB
898:There ain't enough happens in soccer. It's like watching twenty-two hair models kick a ball around for what seems like six months and then one of them falls over and the ball goes in the goal. ~ Warren Ellis, #NFDB
899:Bruno was certain that there were eternal, inviolable laws, which governed all of nature. He felt that learning the secret of that supreme unity was the goal of all science and philosophy. ~ Kenneth C Johnson, #NFDB
900:I didn't fully realize it at the time, but the goal of my life was profoundly molded by this experience - to help produce, in the next generation, more Mother Teresas and less Hitlers. ~ Elisabeth Kubler Ross, #NFDB
901:Now you know the goal of this game: to use our intellect and understanding to analyze all phenomena until we can know the pattern of the sun’s movement. The survival of civilization depends on it. ~ Liu Cixin, #NFDB
902:The goal for me in business is to work on things I want to work on, and be as successful as I can, without achieving any sort of attention or fame. That would be the best. That would be ideal. ~ Kieran Culkin, #NFDB
903:the goal of an apprenticeship is not money, a good position, a title, or a diploma, but rather the transformation of your mind and character—the first transformation on the way to mastery. You ~ Robert Greene, #NFDB
904:The Mother - The power of the Divine Consciousness is the goal, everything is in her; if she is attained, all is attained. If you dwell in her consciousness, everything else unfolds itself.
~ Sri Aurobindo,#NFDB
905:A successful dinner is one that lasts a while and one where everyone leaves happy. It's a meal where we didn't just wolf food down, rather something else happened at the table. That is the goal. ~ Laurie David, #NFDB
906:...but we also know that to be educated, the goal of it must be human liberation-liberation enabling each of us to fulfill our capacity so as to be free to create within and around ourselves. ~ Hillary Clinton, #NFDB
907:Hey, O Holy One, if the only people you want to read your book are the ones who already agree with everything in it, what was your point in the first place? Isn't the goal to reach non-believers? ~ Antony John, #NFDB
908:The goal and target of our life is He, the Christ who awaits us -- each one singly and altogether -- to lead us across the boundaries of time to the eternal embrace of the God who loves us. ~ Pope John Paul II, #NFDB
909:The goal of maximizing the welfare of all may be better achieved by an ethic that accepts our inclinations and harnesses them so that, taken as a whole, the system works to everyone's advantage. ~ Peter Singer, #NFDB
910:What is the goal of living? What is life’s meaning for man? But is this really a meaningful question? Is there a reason for wanting to live, and would we rather not live if we had no such reason? ~ Erich Fromm, #NFDB
911:But don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean that we can’t BE firemen, bankers, or doctors— but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual conform to the goal. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
912:But if the longing for the achievement of the goal is powerfully alive within us, then shall we not lack the strength to find the means for reaching the goal and for translating it into deeds. ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
913:Luther said that every Christian is “simul justus et peccator, comprehensor et viator”—“simultaneously righteous and sinful, a man who has reached the goal and one who reaches out toward it. ~ Richard Wurmbrand, #NFDB
914:Minion is perhaps the most vanilla of serif typefaces. This isn’t necessarily a negative — often the goal of a text face is to make as little aesthetic impact as possible. Minion does just that. ~ Stephen Coles, #NFDB
915:In contrast, Murphy’s goal was to make his company more valuable. As he said to me, “The goal is not to have the longest train, but to arrive at the station first using the least fuel.”2 ~ William N Thorndike Jr, #NFDB
916:The goal is for each individual to work for a company in which they fit the culture, share the values, believe in the vision and work on a team in which they feel like they are valued and valuable. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
917:The true purpose of a goal isn’t to hit the goal. The true purpose is to develop yourself into the type of person who can achieve your goals, regardless of whether you hit that particular one or not. ~ Hal Elrod, #NFDB
918:It isn't the rich people's fault that poor people are poor. Poor people who get an education and work hard in this country will stop being poor. That should be the goal for all poor people everywhere. ~ Ben Stein, #NFDB
919:It seems as though the goal of my work has always been to dissolve myself completely into the sensations of the surroundings in order to then integrate this into a coherent painterly form. ~ Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, #NFDB
920:Ethical inquiry has always been motivated by the aim of improving human conduct. It doesn't follow from that that the goal is to produce a complete rule book that would be applicable to all cases. ~ Philip Kitcher, #NFDB
921:I fully support the goal of species protection and conservation and believe that recovery and ultimately delisting of species should be the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's top priority under ESA. ~ Dennis Cardoza, #NFDB
922:The Bolivian government has promised to guarantee autonomy in the framework of unity, legality, and with the goal of equalizing the different regions of Bolivia. It's right there in the constitution. ~ Evo Morales, #NFDB
923:The goal of scientific physicians in their own science ... is to reduce the indeterminate. Statistics therefore apply only to cases in which the cause of the facts observed is still indeterminate. ~ Claude Bernard, #NFDB
924:To win in sports, members of the team must always keep the big picture in front of them. They must remember that the goal is more important than their role—or any individual glory they may desire. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
925:What the people now respond - and the goal of those ads is to merely get the name of the medication into the minds of the consumers so that they will ask their doctor about it. That's the whole goal. ~ Frank Luntz, #NFDB
926:What the podcast novelists do isnt all that different from what self-publishers do. We put the books out in different formats, but the goal is the same: build an audience and attract a publisher. ~ Jeremy Robinson, #NFDB
927:The goal is to be both disciplined and loose, so that the writing does not turn into a task or a chore. To leave myself behind, along with the mechanics, and disappear into the lives of my characters. ~ Pete Hamill, #NFDB
928:War is always a struggle in which each contender tries to annihilate the other. Besides using force, they will have recourse to all possible tricks and stratagems in order to achieve the goal. ~ Ernesto Che Guevara, #NFDB
929:God has reserved to Himself the right to determine the end of life, because He alone knows the goal to which it is His will to lead it. It is for Him alone to justify a life or to cast it away. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, #NFDB
930:How we pursue the goal of happiness matters at least as much, perhaps more, than the goal itself. They are, in fact, one and the same, means and ends. A virtuous life necessarily leads to a happy life. ~ Eric Weiner, #NFDB
931:In the world, as it is, the goal of life is not to secure personal happiness, but to awaken the individual progressively towards the truth-consciousness.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The True Aim of Life,#NFDB
932:That is the beauty of the person who continues onward with enthusiasm and respect for the mystery of life as his only guide; his road is beautiful and his burden light. The goal can be large or small, ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
933:[...] The goal of Communism and the New World Order always has been the destruction of family. This forces people to get their sense of belonging from the elite-run media, political causes or products. ~ Henry Makow, #NFDB
934:This is something called "walking meditation." The goal is to learn to be aware of each and every movement and feeling. I know it seems ridiculous, but it does change the way you experience walking. ~ Jon Kabat Zinn, #NFDB
935:If the goal of the No Child Left Behind Act is to ensure that all children meet state standards, then allowing large numbers of the most disadvantaged children to fall between the cracks is unacceptable. ~ Roy Barnes, #NFDB
936:Unity utter and absolute is the goal, but this absoluteness has to be brought to its highest term by including in it the whole infinite multiplicity of things. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, Conclusion and Summary, #NFDB
937:We poor mortals, we fellow sufferers, are such victims of biology that we fill our lives with guilt about natural acts…and that we all have the goal of extricating ourselves from the thralldom of sex. ~ Irvin D Yalom, #NFDB
938:The goal you set must be challenging. At the same time, it should be realistic and attainable, not impossible to reach. It should be challenging enough to make you stretch, but not so far that you break. ~ Rick Hansen, #NFDB
939:Again there is another great and powerful cause why the sciences have made but little progress; which is this. It is not possible to run a course aright when the goal itself has not been rightly placed. ~ Francis Bacon, #NFDB
940: Consensus is one of the most important and fundamental problems in distributed computing. On the surface, it seems simple: informally, the goal is simply to get several nodes to agree on something. ~ Martin Kleppmann, #NFDB
941:the goal of GAAP is to ensure that companies’ financial statements are prepared using a consistent set of rules and assumptions so that they can be compared to those of another company in a meaningful way. ~ Mike Piper, #NFDB
942:a petition campaign called Work to Live. The goal of this movement was to pass a law that would increase American vacation time to three weeks after one year on the job, and to four weeks after three years. ~ Rolf Potts, #NFDB
943:As an actor, you're never really in control of the product. I think the goal is to create what you want. And if you can get as close as you can get to the creation of something, it starts with development. ~ Scott Cohen, #NFDB
944:Middle-class prosperity is lapidary; the flow of cash rounds and smooths a person like water does riverbed stones. The goal of all such persons seems to be to make themselves cuddly and nonthreatening. ~ Neal Stephenson, #NFDB
945:The goal is nothing other than the coherence and completeness of the system not only in respect of all details, but also in respect of all physicists of all places, all times, all peoples, and all cultures. ~ Max Planck, #NFDB
946:The president has been a true friend of the ag industry, because he continues to invest large amounts of money at a time when savings is really the goal of the federal government to deal with the deficit. ~ Mike Johanns, #NFDB
947:The SEC has actually progressively loosened up the rules and recognized the value of social media, but the goal is always going to be to get information out as broadly as possible as quickly as possible. ~ Mary Schapiro, #NFDB
948:Development is not about factories, dams and roads. Development is about people. The goal is material, cultural and spiritual fulfilment for the people. The human factor is of supreme value in development. ~ Rajiv Gandhi, #NFDB
949:The goal of the machine,” David explained, “is to create a setting where the users can get into a state of deep human flourishing—creating work that’s at the absolute extent of their personal abilities.” It ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
950:There's no glory in climbing a mountain if all you want to do is to get to the top. It's experiencing the climb itself - in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue - that has to be the goal. ~ Karyn Kusama, #NFDB
951:If we don't do it, somebody else will. The Chinese, the Europeans and the Japanese all have the goal of going to the moon. Certainly we don't want to wake up and see that they have a base there before we do. ~ Bart Gordon, #NFDB
952:I say that when you have perceived or attained the goal, compromises, renunciations, do not exist. If you have seen the goal, compromise ceases to exist. It is then a question of a different attitude. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
953:Prideful people are defensive, angry, blame-shifting, and focused on self. They consistently see that the problem lies not with them, but with everyone else. The gospel is not the focus; it is not the goal. ~ Francis Chan, #NFDB
954:The goal is not just to create joy for ourselves but, as the Archbishop poetically phrased it, “to be a reservoir of joy, an oasis of peace, a pool of serenity that can ripple out to all those around you. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
955:The goal is to align with your core group of collaborators, who understand your vision and aesthetics. I usually show them visual material of what I have in mind, as well as a color spectrum of mood boards. ~ Marc Forster, #NFDB
956:...assume that art begins in unhappiness. True, the goal of art is to convey a vision of coherence and peace, but the effort to develop that vision starts in the more common experience of confusion and pain. ~ Robert Adams, #NFDB
957:My book centers in on the New Testament, the goal being to help a person who wants to understand the Bible to see how what God did as revealed in the New Testament will reveal to them their own personal story. ~ Max Lucado, #NFDB
958:My goal in politics from the very beginning has been, and will be, the goal of giving Ukraine a chance to finally secure a firm footing in the world as a competitive, independent and real European state. ~ Yulia Tymoshenko, #NFDB
959:The right art is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede. ~ D T Suzuki, #NFDB
960:Well-being is not the goal; it is the starting point. this is yet another realization that could change everything dramatically. it might be a concept you'd like to remind yourself of every now and then. ~ Frederick Dodson, #NFDB
961:We won't be perfect on this side of heaven. But Jesus is perfect. Always. We are becoming more holy and true. Jesus already is. His name isn't “Becoming.” It is “I Am.” Perfection isn't the goal. Jesus is. ~ Stasi Eldredge, #NFDB
962:We won’t be perfect on this side of heaven. But Jesus is perfect. Always. We are becoming more holy and true. Jesus already is. His name isn’t “Becoming.” It is “I Am.” Perfection isn’t the goal. Jesus is. ~ Stasi Eldredge, #NFDB
963:I never thought I would make a living as a pencil-sharpener. The first goal was: I don't want to lose money. And then the goal was: I want to see if 100 people buy my pencils. I just kept upping the benchmarks. ~ David Rees, #NFDB
964:Let nothing upset you; Let nothing frighten you. Everything is changing; God alone is changeless. Patience attains the goal. Who has God lacks nothing; God alone fills every need. – Teresa of Avila Radiant ~ Eknath Easwaran, #NFDB
965:The goal has its importance. But the doing is what is truly fulfilling. Every enthusiastic person has a goal that may be important, but the doing is intensely fulfilling, and it is the essence of enthusiasm. ~ Eckhart Tolle, #NFDB
966:The goal of meditation is precisely to make your mind smooth and manageable so that it can be concentrated or relaxed at will; and especially to free it from the tyranny of mental afflictions and confusion ~ Matthieu Ricard, #NFDB
967:The goal of the right is not to stop abortion but to demonize it, punish it and make it as difficult and traumatic as possible. All this it has accomplished fairly well, even without overturning Roe v. Wade . ~ Ellen Willis, #NFDB
968:The goal towards which the pleasure principle impels us - of becoming happy - is not attainable: yet we may not - nay, cannot - give up the efforts to come nearer to realization of it by some means or other. ~ Sigmund Freud, #NFDB
969:Unless you do your best, the day will come when, tired and hungry, you will halt just short of the goal you were ordered to reach, and by halting you will make useless the efforts and deaths of thousands. ~ George S Patton, #NFDB
970:It is by the Grace of the Divine and the aid of a Force greater than your own, not by personal capacity and worth that you can attain the goal of the sadhana. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II, The Call and the Capacity, #NFDB
971:When you organize extraordinary missions, you attract people of extraordinary talent who might not have been inspired by or attracted to the goal of saving the world from cancer or hunger or pestilence. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson, #NFDB
972:You've learned to hate. Now you must learn to forgive, or you'll have enemies at your back forever. He looked my straight in the eyes. That will be hard. The harder the goal, the more important it is, I said. ~ Tamora Pierce, #NFDB
973:It is easy to criticize, particularly in a political season. But to lead is something altogether different. The leader must live in the real world of the price that might be paid for the goal that has been set. ~ Norm Coleman, #NFDB
974:The goal of the Transcendental Meditation technique is the state of enlightenment. This means we experience that inner calmness, that quiet state of least excitation, even when we are dynamically busy. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, #NFDB
975:Do we believe that the goal of government is to promote equal opportunity for all Americans to make the most of their lives? Or, do we now believe that government's role is to equalize the results of peoples lives? ~ Paul Ryan, #NFDB
976:Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings. It is based on the experience of one's identity as a being of worth and dignity. ~ Rollo May, #NFDB
977:Pragmatic conservatism is less idealistic than central conservatism. The goal is to get ahead, to serve your self-interest. The idealistic parts of conservatism are seen as effective means to achieve that goal. ~ George Lakoff, #NFDB
978:The goal of parenting is to create self-sufficient virtues in children. Applying external pressure and punishments tends to teach them fear-based compliance rather than the internalization of moral standards. ~ Stefan Molyneux, #NFDB
979:The worker,” said August Bebel (a revered prewar party leader), “has little interest in a state in which political liberty is merely the goal. . . . What good is mere political liberty to him if he is hungry? ~ Leonard Peikoff, #NFDB
980:Declutter Your Mind The goal of this book is simple: We will teach you the habits, actions, and mindsets you can use to clean up the mental clutter that might be holding you back from being more focused and mindful. ~ S J Scott, #NFDB
981:Raising your kids vegetarian is a great way to encourage them to do the opposite of what you want! But the goal is not to have them have the same values that I have. It's to have them act on their values. ~ Jonathan Safran Foer, #NFDB
982:The goal of science is to amass such an enormous mountain of evidence that not even scientists can ignore it: and ... this is the distinguishing feature of a scientist; a non-scientist will ignore it anyway. ~ Eliezer Yudkowsky, #NFDB
983:Why do you want to read anyway – for the sake of amusement or mere erudition? Those are poor, fatuous pretexts.
Reading should serve the goal of attaining peace; if it doesn’t make you peaceful, what good is it? ~ Epictetus,#NFDB
984:Every Christian is called into full-time ministry. Once we step over the line and begin to follow Jesus, everything we do is supposed to be done in his name, representing him, with the goal of advancing his kingdom. ~ J D Greear, #NFDB
985:good character is the indispensable condition and chief determinant of happiness, itself the goal of all human doing. The end of all action, individual or collective, is the greatest happiness of the greatest number. ~ Aristotle, #NFDB
986:I run straight toward the goal. + I run-but not without a clear goal ahead of me.... I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
987:People need to know if they're making progress toward the goal or simply marking time. Their motivation to perform a task increases only when they have a challenging goal and receive feedback on their progress.8 ~ James M Kouzes, #NFDB
988:So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step” (verse 26 NLT). That is exactly what every human being should do—run with certainty and purpose to win. We are not competing against others, only ourselves. ~ John Bevere, #NFDB
989:The goal isn't to walk around the hole. Or get out quicker. The goal is to fill the hole so no one else falls in it. What do you fill it with? God. Which is to say, love: love of self, love of others, love of God. ~ Regina Brett, #NFDB
990:The most important rule is to formulate, clearly and precisely, the goal to be reached, and then to retain it unswervingly in mind throughout all the stages of the execution, which are often long and complex. ~ Roberto Assagioli, #NFDB
991:The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
992:you must realise from the outset that the goal towards which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
993:Your body must become familiar with its death - in all its possible forms and degrees - as a self-evident, imminent, and emotionally neutral step on the way towards the goal you have found worthy of your life. ~ Dag Hammarskjold, #NFDB
994:Birth control is the first important step woman must take toward the goal of her freedom. It is the first step she must take to be man's equal. It is the first step they must both take toward human emancipation. ~ Margaret Sanger, #NFDB
995:Isn't that the goal, as you grow older? That you start reclaiming those parts of yourself you didn't recognize or didn't think were there all along? That's what happened when I made The River and the Thread record. ~ Rosanne Cash, #NFDB
996:Long ago the word alone was treated as two words, all one. To be all one meant to be wholly one, to be in oneness, either essentially or temporarily. That is precisely the goal of solitude, to be all one. ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes, #NFDB
997:The goal was to have goals, the aim to have aims. This edict came entangled often in hysteria, the embattled hysteria of those whom experience had taught how little antagonism it takes to wreck a life beyond repair. ~ Philip Roth, #NFDB
998:We can each define ambition and progress for ourselves. The goal is to work toward a world where expectations are not set by the stereotypes that hold us back, but by our personal passion, talents and interests. ~ Sheryl Sandberg, #NFDB
999:Advertising mourishes the consuming power of men. It sets up before a man the goal of a better home, better clothing, better food for himself and his family. It spurs individual exertion and greater production. ~ Winston Churchill, #NFDB
1000:Being able to see the end of anything gave him a tremendous sense of relief. As a child he had assumed the goal of medicine was to keep bodies alive forever; he had never considered the pain of not being able to die. ~ Y ko Tawada, #NFDB
1001:I do think it imperative that you recover from fear of rejection. Forgive me, but that is the sin of pride, and you must avoid that particular manifestation of the sin if you are to reach the goal . . . you hope for. ~ John Farrar, #NFDB
1002:If you think that you are bound, you remain bound; you make your own bondage. If you know that you are free, you are free this moment. This is knowledge, knowledge of freedom. Freedom is the goal of all nature. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1003:...President [Bush] believes that [high-energy consumption] is an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policymakers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one. ~ Ari Fleischer, #NFDB
1004:the goal of good learning design is for learners to emerge from the learning experience with new or improved capabilities that they can take back to the real world, that help them do the things they need or want to do. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1005:Vertical Church teaches its people to judge every circumstance and opportunity in terms of its potential to reveal “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”21 That is the goal for every person in our church ~ James MacDonald, #NFDB
1006:When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go.” — Nanny McPhee (via Lyssa Adkins) I am an Agile coach and the goal of my job is to put myself out of a… ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1007:Being superficially different is the goal of so many of the products we see... rather than trying to innovate and genuinely taking the time, investing the resources and caring enough to try and make something better. ~ Jonathan Ive, #NFDB
1008:Everyone's goals are the same with very small differences. I mean, the goal of a socialist and the goal of a libertarian are exactly the same. The goals are happiness and security and freedom, and you balance those. ~ Penn Jillette, #NFDB
1009:Evil company is always to be shunned; because it leads to lust and anger, illusion, forgetfulness of the goal, destruction of the will (lack of perseverance), and destruction of everything. (Narada Bhakti Sutra) ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1010:The goal of a marketing interaction isn't to close the sale, any more than the goal of a first date is to get married. No, the opportunity is to move forward, to earn attention and trust and curiosity and conversation. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
1011:Dr. Roboy, in Litvak's measured view, had a vice common to believers: He was all strategy and no tactics. He was prone to move for the sake of moving, too focused on the goal to bother with the intervening sequence. ~ Michael Chabon, #NFDB
1012:Happily ever after simply means that both partners are known, valued, accepted for who they are and who they are becoming. The goal is to be able to love your partner more deeply each and every year you’re together. ~ John M Gottman, #NFDB
1013:Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
1014:I am convinced that international terrorism gave itself the goal of not allowing the re-election of Bush. The statement by bin Laden in the final stages of the pre-election campaign is the best confirmation of this. ~ Vladimir Putin, #NFDB
1015:Just because an employee does things differently doesn't mean he or she won't do the job right or as well. If you establish expectations of the goal and the standards to follow, then methodology shouldn't be an issue. ~ Harvey Mackay, #NFDB
1016:We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son. ~ Louis de Montfort, #NFDB
1017:Whatever your medium, the goal of any arts practice is to develop a greater set of skills for dealing with challenges. Experience will help you close that gap between your own vision and the piece's final execution. ~ Jeff VanderMeer, #NFDB
1018:Errors, mistakes are the necessary steps in the learning process; once they have served their purpose, they should be forgotten. If we consistently dwell upon the errors, then the error or failure becomes the goal. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr, #NFDB
1019:I enjoy both TV writing and novel writing, and they are very similar. The goal is to entertain and amuse the audience, and I subscribe to this P.G. Wodehouse piece of advice: "Try to give pleasure with every sentence." ~ Jonathan Ames, #NFDB
1020:The goal is to make you question logic and reason and to sow mistrust toward exactly the people we need to rely on: our leaders, the press, experts who seek to guide public policy based on evidence, ourselves. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton, #NFDB
1021:The Upanishads point out that the goal of man is neither misery nor happiness, but we have to be master of that out of which these are manufactured. We must be masters of the situation at its very root, as it were. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1022:We cannot move casually into a better future. We cannot casually pursue the goal we have set for ourselves. A goal that is casually pursued is not a goal; at best it is a wish, and wishes are little more than self-delusion. ~ Jim Rohn, #NFDB
1023:All I mean is that, hypothetically, why would we need to see anyone else? And as long as we're going out and happy, wouldn't marriage be the goal, even if it's a decade away? ’Cause if it's not, all this is pointless. ~ Daria Snadowsky, #NFDB
1024:If we really want to make progress and achieve greater fairness as a society, it is time for elemental change. And we should start by looking at the Constitution, with the goal of holding a new Constitutional Convention. ~ Larry Sabato, #NFDB
1025:My personal opinion is that the neutral position on the mood spectrum—what I called emotional sea level—is not happiness but rather contentment and the calm acceptance that is the goal of many kinds of spiritual practice. ~ Andrew Weil, #NFDB
1026:Buddhist practice is aimed primarily at cultivating the antidotes to these afflictive thoughts and emotions, with the goal of eradicating the root of our unenlightened existence to bring about liberation from suffering. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
1027:He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone's heart. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1028:Just as scientific experimentation is informed by theory, startup experimentation is guided by the startup’s vision. The goal of every startup experiment is to discover how to build a sustainable business around that vision. ~ Eric Ries, #NFDB
1029:The goal is to be free and hopeful in the music. Because that's really the only intention you need. From there, every natural and powerful intention and feeling will, on its own, slide right out of you - out of your spirit. ~ Alex Ebert, #NFDB
1030:All goals take time to be accomplished. Think a hundred times before setting up your goals. However, once you decide, don’t change the goal in a hurry. Don’t abandon goals after you have travelled a long distance on them. ~ Awdhesh Singh, #NFDB
1031:Focused, hard work is the real key to success. Keep your eyes on the goal, and just keep taking the next step towards completing it. If you aren't sure which way to do something, do it both ways and see which works better. ~ John Carmack, #NFDB
1032:I always tried, in the books I wrote, to make it clear: Thin is not the goal. But I was thin. So no matter what I said, the subliminal message was, "You have to look a certain way." And I'm not happy about playing into that. ~ Jane Fonda, #NFDB
1033:If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho' we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
1034:Let Nothing Upset You Let nothing upset you; Let nothing frighten you. Everything is changing; God alone is changeless. Patience attains the goal. Who has God lacks nothing; God alone fills every need. – Teresa of Avila ~ Eknath Easwaran, #NFDB
1035:perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean,” says the persevering soul, “at my will mountains will crumble up.” Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal. (I. 178) ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1036:That's tangent, but I like the strategizing and thinking about how things are going to fall and thinking of different ways to engage with fans. Ultimately, the goal is for the music to be heard by as many people as possible. ~ Dan Deacon, #NFDB
1037:The challenge and the goal was to get inside Owen's [Suskind] world, because I really wanted to see it through his point of view. To achieve that naturalism, I used a screen in front of a camera as I interviewed him ~ Roger Ross Williams, #NFDB
1038:The Gallio-like "Je m'en fiche"-ism (I do not care) — would not carry me one step; it would certainly not be divine. It is quite another thing that enables me to walk unweeping and unlamenting towards the goal. ~ Sri AurobindoApril, 1934, #NFDB
1039:The goal of every culture is to decay through over-civilization; the factors of decadence, -- luxury, skepticism, weariness and superstition, -- are constant. The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next. ~ Cyril Connolly, #NFDB
1040:You must figure out how to control the release of work into IT Operations and, more importantly, ensure that your most constrained resources are doing only the work that serves the goal of the entire system, not just one silo. ~ Gene Kim, #NFDB
1041:My personal opinion is that the neutral position on the mood spectrum—what I called emotional sea level—is not
happiness but rather contentment and the calm acceptance that is the goal of many kinds of spiritual practice. ~ Andrew Weil,#NFDB
1042:The goal shouldn’t be to make your child eat an entire set of encyclopedias by the age of six. The goal should be to encourage your child to be curious—to want to learn about the world, and explore the things that are in it. ~ John Scalzi, #NFDB
1043:The riders in a race do not stop when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill. There is time to hear the kind voices of friends and say to oneself, The work is done. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, #NFDB
1044:This is a whole new era where we're moving beyond little edits on single genes to being able to write whatever we want throughout the genome. The goal is to be able to change it as radically as our understanding permits. ~ George M Church, #NFDB
1045:All life will die, all mind will cease, and it will all be as if it had never happened. That, to be honest, is the goal to which evolution is traveling, that is the "benevolent" end of the furious living and furious dying. ~ David Eagleman, #NFDB
1046:As far as I'm concerned, the spiritual life is just like any other endeavor-you can succeed or fail. And when the goal is actual evolution beyond ego in an intersubjective context, success or failure is plain for all to see. ~ Andrew Cohen, #NFDB
1047:His values were much aligned with mine. He emphasized that you should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last.” Markkula ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
1048:One must avoid ambition in order to write. Otherwise something else is the goal: some kind of power beyond the power of language. And the power of language, it seems to me, is the only kind of power a writer is entitled to. ~ Cynthia Ozick, #NFDB
1049:Our perceptions determine, to an incredibly large degree, what we are and are not capable of. In many ways, they determine reality itself. When we believe in the obstacle more than in the goal, which will inevitably triumph? ~ Ryan Holiday, #NFDB
1050:Politics is the realm of reason—not of a merely technological, calculating reason, but of moral reason, since the goal of the state, and hence the ultimate goal of all politics, has a moral nature, namely, peace and justice. ~ Benedict XVI, #NFDB
1051:The goal of the Christian life is the pursuit of an intimate knowledge of God that leads to a greater estimation of His worth, a greater satisfaction and joy in His person, and a greater giving of oneself for His glory. ~ Paul David Washer, #NFDB
1052:Their relationship isn't perfect in a lot of ways, bit it's something real. And real should probably be the goal, not perfection. Every relationship is flawed; you just have to figure out how to make it work. Keep trying. ~ Lindsey Leavitt, #NFDB
1053:The one thing that matters is the effort. It continues, whereas the end to be attained is but an illusion of the climber, as he fares on and on from crest to crest; and once the goal is reached it has no meaning. ~ Antoine de Saint Exupery, #NFDB
1054:We must work passionately and unrelentingly for the goal of freedom, but we must be sure that our hands are clean in the struggle. We must never struggle with falsehood, hate, or malice. We must never become bitter. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
1055:It always takes two. There's the speaker and the listener, you and the audience. You've worked long hours and it comes down to that moment, that performance. The goal isn't just to improve yourself, but to transport people. ~ Gillian Murphy, #NFDB
1056:Patanjali specifically says that there are three paths to the goal of yoga. And they are, control of the breath, control of posture, and light-filled herbs. It says it right there. Stanza 6 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. ~ Terence McKenna, #NFDB
1057:That person already disagrees with you, and they’re not going to be convinced by your words of wisdom and your sparkling rhetorical flourishes. The goal will be to destroy the leftist in as public a way as is humanly possible. ~ Ben Shapiro, #NFDB
1058:To achieve any worthy goal, you must take risks. Amelia Earhart believed that, and her advice when it came to risk was simple and direct: "Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying. ~ John C Maxwell, #NFDB
1059:Advertising is corporate form of art and the goal is to make an effect. Every artist- any painter, any poet or musician sets out to create an effect, he sets a trap to catch somebody`s attention. That is the nature of art. ~ Marshall McLuhan, #NFDB
1060:first, use a minimum viable product to establish real data on where the company is right now. Without a clear-eyed picture of your current status—no matter how far from the goal you may be—you cannot begin to track your progress. ~ Eric Ries, #NFDB
1061:I think this is all my life. Because if I was split gymnastics and something else like far, fun or to go with friends. No, this, you're supposed to one go, one straight road and to do every day. And touch the wall, of the goal. ~ Olga Korbut, #NFDB
1062:...it's the same with business. If you focus on the goal and not the process, you inevitably compromise. Businessmen who focus on profits wind up in the hole. For me, profit is what happens when you do everything else right. ~ Yvon Chouinard, #NFDB
1063:I used to be so convinced that happiness was the goal, yet all those years I was chasing after it I was unhappy in the pursuit. Maybe the goal really should be a life that values honor, duty, good work, friends and family. ~ Robert Downey Jr, #NFDB
1064:The conference began on March 12. Among the experts were Lawrence, Cox and Gertrude Bell; for ten days they passed in review every aspect of the future of the Middle East. Economy was the goal, political stability the means. ~ Martin Gilbert, #NFDB
1065:The Divine is the savour of all life and the reason of all activity,the goal of our thoughts. ~ ~ The MotherThe divine law of love speaks so clearly…saying, eternally saying: All are forgiven—moreover dears, no one has ever been guilty—Kabir, #NFDB
1066:The goal of all leaders should be to work themselves out of a job. This means leaders must be heavily engaged in training and mentoring their junior leaders to prepare them to step up and assume greater responsibilities. When ~ Jocko Willink, #NFDB
1067:When you are interviewing someone, you have a chance to follow up, to press, to dig in. In a debate there's 30 seconds for the other guy, too. And the goal is to get them to engage with each other, not to engage you necessarily. ~ Gwen Ifill, #NFDB
1068:Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj, #NFDB
1069:The goal of the Christian life is the pursuit of an intimate knowledge of God that leads to a greater estimation of His worth, a greater satisfaction and joy in His person, and a greater giving of oneself for His glory. As ~ Paul David Washer, #NFDB
1070:The reckoning is how we walk into our story; the rumble is where we own it. The goal of the rumble is to get honest about the stories we're making up about our struggles, to revisit, challenge, and reality-check these narratives. ~ Bren Brown, #NFDB
1071:To go to the very center of the mind of God, to be that, to become aware of our infiniteness, is the goal of Buddhism and along the way, to be as kind to others as possible without thinking that we are particularly wonderful. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
1072:Animosity towards the merchant class has been around for centuries. Why? The goal of making a profit is quite obviously a self-serving motive. Other occupations, while equally self-serving, are better able to hide their motives. ~ James Cook, #NFDB
1073:Learning how to love is the goal and the purpose of spiritual life - not learning how to develop psychic powers, not learning how to bow, chant, do yoga, or even meditate, but learning to love. Love is the truth. Love is the light. ~ Surya Das, #NFDB
1074:Maybe the goal in America is to have an easy life, and so we find it too disgraceful to tell the truth. I meet a lot of people in my line of work, and I can say with utmost certainty--life is pretty hard for almost all of them. ~ Matthew Quick, #NFDB
1075:The best answer to the question, 'What is the most effective method of teaching?' is that it depends on the goal, the student, the content, and the teacher. But the next best answer is, 'Students teaching other students.' ~ Wilbert J McKeachie, #NFDB
1076:And the goal is big: radical self-acceptance for women everywhere, political change so total it shakes the ground, justice and joy for those who have been used and tossed aside. And the goal is small: utter and unbridled selfhood. ~ Lena Dunham, #NFDB
1077:I want to make hand-held music, undiminished by the need to make everybody in the world listen at once. The goal is to ride into the sunset, stereo blasting, and all of what's got you worried will disappear in the rear view mirror! ~ Dave Sitek, #NFDB
1078:To remain indifferent to the challenges we face is indefensible. If the goal is noble, whether or not it is realized within our lifetime is largely irrelevant. What we must do therefore is to strive and persevere and never give up. ~ Dalai Lama, #NFDB
1079:Toyota discovered that small batches made their factories more efficient. In contrast, in the Lean Startup the goal is not to produce more stuff efficiently. It is to-as quickly as possible-learn how to build a sustainable business. ~ Eric Ries, #NFDB
1080:As you get older, there will be a new challenge arising. What you thought you'd accomplished once, maybe the goal post has shifted and it's not what you're pursuing anymore, because you're not interested in that anymore, you know? ~ Annie Lennox, #NFDB
1081:Discipleship for resident aliens, or exiles, is different from discipleship in a culture in which the Christian faith is assumed and the goal is to draw people back into something the culture already tells them they should do. ~ Timothy J Keller, #NFDB
1082:For all these infectious diseases, the goal is to eventually get rid of them. And to do that we need to invent new tools, but nobody was doing that because there was no money to buy on behalf of the poorest, even the existing tools. ~ Bill Gates, #NFDB
1083:Ideally, advertising aims at the goal of a programmed harmony among all human impulses and aspirations and endeavors. Using handicraft methods, it stretches out toward the ultimate electronic goal of a collective consciousness. ~ Marshall McLuhan, #NFDB
1084:Learning how to love is the goal and the purpose of spiritual life—not learning how to develop psychic powers, not learning how to bow, chant, do yoga, or even meditate, but learning to love. Love is the truth. Love is the light. ~ Lama Surya Das, #NFDB
1085:Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, #NFDB
1086:Think not that to seat thyself in gloomy forests, in a proud seclusion, aloof from men, think not that to live on roots and plants and quench thy thirst with the snow shall lead thee to the goal of the final deliverance. ~ Book of Golden Precepts, #NFDB
1087:We have spoken on many occasions of the need to achieve high economic growth as an absolute priority for our country. The annual address for 2003 set for the first time the goal of doubling gross domestic product within a decade. ~ Vladimir Putin, #NFDB
1088:Good readers may struggle with a difficult text, but struggle is not the goal of reading. The goal is fluency. Meaning flows to the good reader. In the same way, writing should flow from the good writer, at least as an ideal. The ~ Roy Peter Clark, #NFDB
1089:The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness. It is the goal of every other goal. Ben Henretig has embarked on an ambitious project to document a country and culture that has embraced Happiness as a part of its national policy ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
1090:Thoughts are simultaneously the biggest obstacle to meditation, and also an unavoidable part of it—like the opposing team in basketball, or the hurdles in track. The goal is not to erase the obstacles, but to play as well as possible. ~ Dan Harris, #NFDB
1091:Art is a social object, books and films and records and television shows, they’re social objects that bring people together in conversation. I love the notion that I could write something that two people could share. That’s the goal. ~ Graham Moore, #NFDB
1092:A two-hour movie tends to be a plot-delivery device; you tend to have to introduce all the characters, say what the goal is, and then get there with a setback, but that's not really how life is or what a story necessarily wants to be. ~ Noah Hawley, #NFDB
1093:Don't choose. If you choose, you will be in the quagmire. Don't choose! A choiceless awareness is the goal. Just remain aloof; don't choose. The moment you choose, you have fallen into the trap of the world, or into the trap of the mind. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1094:I was originally supposed to become an engineer but the thought of having to expend my creative energy on things that make practical everyday life even more refined, with a loathsome capital gain as the goal, was unbearable to me. ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
1095:Suppose the god, the goal of progress, is changing. Then progress becomes impossible. How could we progress toward a goal that keeps receding? How could a runner make progress toward a finish line if someone kept moving it as he ran? ~ Peter Kreeft, #NFDB
1096:The goal is to keep the bewildered herd bewildered. It's unnecessary for them to trouble themselves with what's happening in the world. In fact, it's undesirable - if they see too much of reality they may set themselves to change it. ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
1097:This fascination with the human face has never left me... Every face I see seems to hide and sometimes, fleetingly, to reveal the mystery of another human being... Capturing this revelation became the goal and passion of my life. ~ Philippe Halsman, #NFDB
1098:To remain indifferent to the challenges we face is indefensible. If the goal is noble, whether or not it is realized within our lifetime is largely irrelevant. What we must do therefore is to strive and persevere and never give up. ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
1099:You must walk to the beat of a different drummer. The same beat that the wealthy hear. If the beat sounds normal, evacuate the dance floor immediately! The goal is to not be normal, because as my radio listeners know, normal is broke. ~ Dave Ramsey, #NFDB
1100:At that moment, a suite of marketing messages must begin to be applied. The goal is to teach, cajole, and encourage this stranger to become a friend. And once she becomes a friend, to apply enough focused marketing to create a customer. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
1101:Not to the swift, the race: Not to the strong, the fight: Not to the righteous, perfect grace: Not to the wise, the light. But often faltering feet Come surest to the goal; And they who walk in darkness meet The sunrise of the soul. ~ Henry Van Dyke, #NFDB
1102:The goal is to live a full, productive life even with all that ambiguity. No matter what happens, whether the cancer never flares up again or whether you die, the important thing is that the days that you have had you will have lived. ~ Gilda Radner, #NFDB
1103:We always knew that we wanted to keep Atlantis off for a while and when it did show up, to make it a big story. The goal for Aquaman was to position him as an A-list character; position him as an important member of the Justice League. ~ Geoff Johns, #NFDB
1104:Brown, they would later write, had taught them that the goal of reading and criticizing was "to know and understand, not to like or dislike, and the aim of writing was to get down what you wanted to say, not to gesticulate or impress. ~ Ruth Franklin, #NFDB
1105:I remember thinking I just want more. This isn't it. Fame is not the goal. Money is not the goal. To be able to know how to get peace of mind, how to be happy, is something you don't just stumble across. You've got to search for it. ~ George Harrison, #NFDB
1106:The first stage of this tranquility consists in silencing the lips when the heart is excited. The second, in silencing the mind when the soul is still excited. The goal is a perfect peacefulness even in the middle of the raging storm. ~ John Climacus, #NFDB
1107:The goal of recruiting evangelists is to build a community around your product. Companies that have such communities include those in the following list. Take a look at what they do, and adapt their programs to your needs. Adobe groups ~ Guy Kawasaki, #NFDB
1108:This regionalization is in keeping with the Tri-Lateral Plan which calls for a gradual convergence of East and West, ultimately leading toward the goal of one world government. National sovereignty is no longer a viable concept. ~ Zbigniew Brzezi ski, #NFDB
1109:The fact is, there can be no true evangelization without the Eucharist. It’s not simply that the Eucharist is the context in which evangelization unfolds or even the goal of evangelization. It’s the content of evangelization. It’s what we ~ Scott Hahn, #NFDB
1110:God within is leading us always aright even when we are in the bonds of the ignorance; but then, though the goal is sure, it is attained by circlings and deviations.
Sri Aurobindo
MCW, vol 10, On Thoughts and Aphorisms, p.258 ~ Sri Aurobindo,#NFDB
1111:I became alienated from this religious upbringing, and started making music. I wanted to be a big star. All those things I saw in the films and on the media took hold of me, and perhaps I thought this was my god: the goal of making money. ~ Cat Stevens, #NFDB
1112:The Knowledge of Brahman is the goal. Devotion is meant to maintain the external aspect of life. The elephant has outer tusks and inner grinders as well. The tusks are mere ornaments; but the elephant chews its food with the grinders. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
1113:We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
1114:Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt wrote his seminal book, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, in 1984. It’s a Socratic novel about Alex Rogo, a plant manager who must fix his cost and due date issues in ninety days, or his plant will be shut down. ~ Gene Kim, #NFDB
1115:There is no fix for this. She has to endure it, and somewhere along the line she has to learn to live again. Surviving isn't the goal. Living is. This is a battle between me and her grief, and I'm going to be the last man standing. ~ Anne Calhoun, #NFDB
1116:My life is parallel to a horse race. They have blinders on to keep them from being distracted in the race and keep them focused on winning the race. That's kind of like my life. Focus on the goal, not the things coming at me from the side. ~ Reggie Bush, #NFDB
1117:student and an ambitious Washington, D.C., career climber. By the time she started college, she already had the goal of big career achievement in mind. From the top of her class at the University of Virginia School of Law, she went on ~ Chris Guillebeau, #NFDB
1118:The goal of this education is to aid the reader in striking a balance between two extremes: cultural anorexia (rejecting all moviegoing because of any negative aspects) and cultural gluttony (consuming too many movies without discretion). ~ Brian Godawa, #NFDB
1119:The goal, then, isn't to draw some positioning charts and announce that you have differentiated your product. No, the opportunity is to actually create something that people choose to talk about, regardless of what the competition is doing. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
1120:What the mediocrity principle tells us is that our state is not the product of intent, that the universe lacks both malice and benevolence, but that everything does follow rules—and that grasping those rules should be the goal of science. ~ John Brockman, #NFDB
1121:I'm not a perfectionist, but I like discipline. I'm obedient, but I'm not a perfectionist. I think it's important to work your hardest and be as kind as possible to everyone you work with. The goal, every day, is keeping focused on that. ~ Natalie Portman, #NFDB
1122:Sometimes it was a small change and sometimes it was life-changing, but in every circumstance, I grew for having walked through it. Friends, it’s not about the goal or the dream you have. It’s about who you become on your way to that goal. ~ Rachel Hollis, #NFDB
1123:The goal isn't to be restrictive or tight about what passes through the altar (your mouth) and into the temple (your body). It's to create sustainable and consistent energy for every deserving cell in your body. That, my friends, is true love. ~ Kris Carr, #NFDB
1124:Difficult but possible is the key. That’s because more difficult goals cause you to, often unconsciously, increase your effort, focus, and commitment to the goal; persist longer; and make better use of the most effective strategies. ~ Heidi Grant Halvorson, #NFDB
1125:The goal of mankind is knowledge. That is the one ideal placed before us by Eastern philosophy. Pleasure is not the goal of man, but knowledge. Pleasure and happiness come to an end. It is a mistake to suppose that pleasure is the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1126:They have the same point of view. The two parties are two factions of the business party. Most of the population doesn't even bother voting because it looks meaningless. They're marginalized and properly distracted. At least that's the goal. ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
1127:Wrap your heart around that the next time you go through a struggle,” Clara said. “The goal of prayer is not to change God’s mind about what you want. The goal of prayer is to change your own heart, to want what He wants, to the glory of God. ~ Chris Fabry, #NFDB
1128:Allowing yourself to be put in such a position that God is exalted is the goal of living the crucified life. When you allow God to be exalted in your difficulties, you will be in the perfect position to smell the sweet fragrance of His presence. ~ A W Tozer, #NFDB
1129:I always enjoy the job and the work that I do, because that's the condition that I attach in accepting any job. This way, I can really work and dedicate myself to the institution for achieving the goal which I believe is a noble one. ~ Sri Mulyani Indrawati, #NFDB
1130:In Islam, rules are important, like the Prophet said innal halaala bayyinun, wa innal haraama bayyinun ["what is halal is clear, what is haram is clear"]. The goal is not to diminish the importance of rules, but to have the right priorities. ~ Tariq Ramadan, #NFDB
1131:I want to sharpen my pride on what strengthens me, my witness on what haunts me. Whatever we name ourselves, however we end up shattering our self-hatred, shame, silence, and isolation, the goal is the same: to end our daily material oppression. ~ Eli Clare, #NFDB
1132:While the goal of all movies is to entertain, the kind of film in which I believe goes one step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and sets the mental juices flowing. ~ Sidney Lumet, #NFDB
1133:I am for socialism, disarmament, and, ultimately, for abolishing the state itself... I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal. ~ Roger Nash Baldwin, #NFDB
1134:In order to realize the goal of creating a new starting line that anyone can instinctively understand we have come up with a design that differs greatly from any of today's controllers. We have also made bold innovations in play style as well. ~ Satoru Iwata, #NFDB
1135:I wish I knew how we achieve the goal of world peace. My bumper sticker reads 'Just Another Version of You.' The sooner we agree that we're just other versions of each other - we human beings - the sooner we will find some sense of world peace. ~ Norman Lear, #NFDB
1136:Literature, which is art married to thought and the immaculate realization of reality, seems to me the goal towards which all human effort should be directed, as long as that effort is truly human and not just a vestige of the animal in us. ~ Fernando Pessoa, #NFDB
1137:When you are reading something, Mr. Mundy, ask yourself why you are reading it. Are you reading something for information? That is one reason. Or are you reading it for knowledge? Information is only the path, Mr. Mundy. The goal is knowledge. ~ John le Carr, #NFDB
1138:Politics disappears; it vanishes. What remains constant is human life. So I try to develop a perspective in my writing where politics is just one of the pieces of furniture in this furnished world. It is not the purpose. It is not the goal. ~ Tatyana Tolstaya, #NFDB
1139:Strive to become a better person, and, instead of comparing yourself to others, differentiate. The goal is to be slightly better than who you were the day before. The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday. ~ Peter Voogd, #NFDB
1140:Alex, the goal is not to reduce operational expense by itself. The goal is not to improve one measurement in isolation. The goal is to reduce operational expense and reduce inventory while simultaneously increasing throughput,” says Jonah. ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
1141:Human beings can attain a worthy and harmonious life only if they are able to rid themselves, within the limits of human nature, of the striving for the wish fulfillment of material kinds. The goal is to raise the spiritual values of society. ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
1142:If the problem with PTSD is dissociation, the goal of treatment would be association: integrating the cut-off elements of the trauma into the ongoing narrative of life, so that the brain can recognize that “that was then, and this is now. ~ Bessel van der Kolk, #NFDB
1143:In the Crusades, getting the Holy Land back was the goal, and any means could be used to achieve it. World War II was a crusade. The firebombing of Tokyo by Doolittle and the carpet bombing in Germany, especially by the British, showed that. ~ Stanley Hauerwas, #NFDB
1144:It's one thing to have a goal, but it's quite another thing to actually accept the challenge, develop a strategy to press for the goal, make the sacrifices, pay the price to move forward, and blessing of blessing, to realize some part of it. ~ Elizabeth George, #NFDB
1145:Playing somebody who's real, you can bring all kind of nuances and things to him that you get from source material and things like that, but the more popular or known the person is, the more impossible it is. To get it right, that is the goal. ~ Anthony Mackie, #NFDB
1146:They say time heals—and I think this can be true—but only if that’s truly the goal here: healing. Time grows the seeds that are planted, watered, and fertilized. Plant beauty, grow beauty. Plant thorns, grow thorns. Time will allow for either. ~ Lysa TerKeurst, #NFDB
1147:We're all vulnerable in our various ways, and what we are physically, our bodies, is what has developed with the goal of keeping that life safe and intact, at least until we have procreated. That's what our bodies are, the protection of life. ~ Pattiann Rogers, #NFDB
1148:America was always a huge goal, if not the goal. I always wanted to move to America. I always wanted to come here and see what opportunities were around. I really only got a couple of auditions a year when I was in Australia, for acting work. ~ Keiynan Lonsdale, #NFDB
1149:A song like "Walkabout", it's totally imitative. The goal of that song was to make people happy, and I've never really made a song to make people happy before. I really genuinely wanted people to listen to that song and have their spirits lifted. ~ Bradford Cox, #NFDB
1150:But when he know that he is not only worse than all those in the world, but is also guilty before all people, on behalf of all and for all, for all human sins, the world's and each person's, only then will the goal of our unity be achieved. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
1151:Don’t confuse the process with the goal. Working on our processes to make them better, easier, and more efficient is an indispensable activity and something we should continually work on—but it is not the goal. Making the product great is the goal. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
1152:I find that working with friends is always the goal, even if its just one person. Because the comedy community is kind of insular, its easy to run into people youve worked with, even if you worked with someone on something for a day, or whatever. ~ Lizzy Caplan, #NFDB
1153:I think the goal is to make a well written scene seem like it's improvised and/or to come up with things that you find in the room that you couldn't have known until you get into the real situation, just try to improve things as you go along. ~ Robert Downey Jr, #NFDB
1154:Sometimes you have to kind of keep proving that you're improvising. That's the game, or the goal, of long-form TV improv, is that you have to kind of keep reminding and showing people that you're improvising, because they won't believe you really. ~ Amy Poehler, #NFDB
1155:The point of asking questions is to find true answers; the point of measuring is to measure accurately; the point of making maps is to find your way to your destination... In short, the goal of truth goes without saying, in every human culture. ~ Daniel Dennett, #NFDB
1156:God who is eternally complete, who directs the stars, who is the master of fates, who elevates man from his lowliness to Himself, who speaks from the cosmos to every single human soul, is the most brilliant manifestation of the goal of perfection. ~ Alfred Adler, #NFDB
1157:It's absurd to think of 'Pride and Prejudice,' this classic, beloved book, beset with a zombie uprising. The goal is to make you suspend your disbelief enough to allow you to get lost in the story and believe what you're reading for a while. ~ Seth Grahame Smith, #NFDB
1158:One difference with the political writings, whether about feminism or class, is that the intent is to change how people think of a certain political reality; whereas with cultural criticism, the goal is to illuminate something that is already there. ~ Bell Hooks, #NFDB
1159:The goal is to have to do the shot again because the camera guy shook a little bit as he was laughing. Without that happening, I'm not happy because there's nothing better for me than a world that everybody's just trying to make each other laugh. ~ Matthew Perry, #NFDB
1160:You know, bicycling isn't just a matter of balance," I said. "it's a matter of faith. You can keep upright only by moving forward. You have to have your eyes on the goal, not the ground. I'm going to call that the Bicyclist's Philosophy of Life. ~ Susan Vreeland, #NFDB
1161:But when he knows that he is not only worse than all those in the world, but is also guilty before all people, on behalf of all and for all,2 for all human sins, the world’s and each person’s, only then will the goal of our unity be achieved. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
1162:I never thought being the producer was being the dictator. It means being the director and being the coach. It's a way of keeping everybody focused on the goal, and also having final say. Everybody can be in the same car, but somebody has to drive. ~ Paul Stanley, #NFDB
1163:One thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14 AMP ~ Various, #NFDB
1164:One thing you must never lose is courage. If you believe in the goal you are striving for, you will be courageous. There are many difficult times ahead, but you must keep your sense of humor, work through the tough situations, and enjoy yourself! ~ Shigesato Itoi, #NFDB
1165:Solaristics, wrote Muntius, is a substitute for religion in the space age. It is faith wrapped in the cloak of science; contact, the goal for which we are striving, is as vague and obscure as communion with the saints or the coming of the Messiah. ~ Stanis aw Lem, #NFDB
1166:Solaristics, wrote Muntius, is a substitute for religion in the space age. It is faith wrapped in the cloak of science; contact, the goal for which we are striving, is as vague and obscure as communion with the saints or the coming of the Messiah. ~ Stanislaw Lem, #NFDB
1167:The goal is just to try to get better and better, and the only way that makes sense to do that is to work with the best people. Surround yourself with the best artists and learn from them, and try to sink your teeth into the best material possible. ~ Jon Bernthal, #NFDB
1168:The great secret is to embody something essential in our lives. Then, undefeated by age, we can proceed with dignity and meaning, and, as the end approaches, be ready ‘to die with life’. For the goal of old age is not senility, but wisdom. ~ Anthony Stevens, Jung, #NFDB
1169:We dream of having a clean house - but who dreams of actually doing the cleaning? We don't have to dream about doing the work, because doing the work is always within our grasp; the dream, in this sense, is to attain the goal without the work. ~ Marcus Buckingham, #NFDB
1170:Whether I'm writing scripts or prose, the goal is identical. To give pleasure. Now whether I succeed or not is up for debate, and, mostly, I fail. But I try. I like to make things. It's a way to stay busy during one's ephemeral and confusing life. ~ Jonathan Ames, #NFDB
1171:I always drank, from when it was legal for me to drink. And there was never a time for me when the goal wasn't to get as hammered as I could possibly afford to. I never understood social drinking, that's always seemed to me like kissing your sister. ~ Stephen King, #NFDB
1172:There are times I am happy. There are times I am sad. But I always try to separate emotion from the need to reach for something stronger, deeper. And then no matter the emotion, I can reach for a stability that helps me accomplish what is the goal. ~ Troy Polamalu, #NFDB
1173:Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 PETER 1 : 8 – 9 ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
1174:Throughout my athletic career, the overall goal was always to be a better athlete than I was at the moment – whether next week, next month or next year. The improvement was the goal. The medal was simply the ultimate reward for achieving that goal. ~ Sebastian Coe, #NFDB
1175:To succeed, you must have tremendous perserverance... tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean", says the perservering soul; at my will mountains will crumble. Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1176:While Einstein was still a patent clerk he had studied the work of the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach, for whom the goal of science was not to discern the nature of reality, but to describe experimental data, the 'facts', as economically as possible. ~ Manjit Kumar, #NFDB
1177:Awakening will come, when the pent-up vigor of ten million souls shall sweep irresistibly toward the Goal, out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, where all that makes life worth living—Liberty, Justice, and Right—is marked "For White People Only. ~ W E B Du Bois, #NFDB
1178:Even if one has progressed far in divine things, one is never nearer the truth than when one understands that those things still remain to be discovered. He who believes he has attained the goal, far from finding what he seeks, falls by the wayside. ~ Peter Rollins, #NFDB
1179:If the goal is to get the best artists, actors, and filmmakers in the world to create the best movies, Hollywood does a decent job. And I think no one would disagree with me that it also makes a ton of bad movies and employs a bunch of hacks. ~ Joseph Gordon Levitt, #NFDB
1180:Preparing you for these two questions is the goal of this book. The first question will determine where you spend eternity. The second question will determine what you do in eternity. By the end of this book you will be ready to answer both questions. ~ Rick Warren, #NFDB
1181:The goal is to win. It's not about making money. I have many much less risky ways of making money than this (buying Chelsea football club). I don't want to throw my money away, but it's really about having fun and that means success and trophies. ~ Roman Abramovich, #NFDB
1182:To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean,” says the persevering soul, “at my will mountains will crumble up.” Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1183:You are the person who has to decide. Whether you'll do it or toss it aside; You are the person who makes up your mind. Whether you'll lead or will linger behind. Whether you'll try for the goal that's afar. Or just be contented to stay where you are. ~ Edgar Guest, #NFDB
1184:For a seeker, Guru Purnima is a day of significance, is a day of New Year. It is the day to review one’s progress on the spiritual path and renew one’s determination and focus on the goal, and to resolve what one wants to do in the coming year ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, #NFDB
1185:Many of us place top priority not on becoming Christ like in the middle of our problems but on finding happiness.... I must firmly and consciously by an act of my will reject the goal of becoming happy and adopt the goal of becoming more like the Lord. ~ Larry Crabb, #NFDB
1186:Please don’t get lost in your pursuits and becoming a human-doing. Many people spend their entire lives moving forward but never stop to see the scenery. The goal is to be present while simultaneously moving in a desired direction. Take it all in. ~ Benjamin P Hardy, #NFDB
1187:Pursue joy, not happiness. This is probably the hardest lesson of all to learn. It probably seems to you that the goal in life is to be happy. Oh, you maybe have to sacrifice and study and work hard, but, by and large, happiness should be predictable. ~ Guy Kawasaki, #NFDB
1188:This is every reader's catch-22: the more you read, the more you realize you haven't read; the more you yearn to read more, the more you understand that you have, in fact, read nothing. There is no way to finish, and perhaps that shouldn't be the goal. ~ Pamela Paul, #NFDB
1189:When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and the goal of missions.8 ~ John Piper, #NFDB
1190:A sign is always less than the thing it points to, and a symbol is always more than we can understand at first sight. Therefore we stop at the sign but go on to the goal it indicates; but we remain with the symbol because it promises more than it reveals. ~ Carl Jung, #NFDB
1191:But the more dangerous problem with postmodernist thinking is its a priori nature. Not truth, but a political goal must be served in this case, the goal of openness, or tolerance without judgment. Your truth is your truth, and who am I to judge? ~ Shawn Lawrence Otto, #NFDB
1192:The goal of politics is to make us children. The more heinous the system the more this is true. The Soviet system worked best when its adults—its men, in particular—were welcomed to stay at the emotional level of not-particularly-advanced teenagers. ~ Gary Shteyngart, #NFDB
1193:The goal is a society in which the basic social unit is you and your television set. If the kid next door is hungry, it’s not your problem. If the retired couple next door invested their assets badly and are now starving, that’s not your problem either. ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
1194:I am not asking anyone to take the fun out of childhood. As we all know, treats are one of the best parts of being a kid. Instead, the goal here is to empower parents instead of undermining them as they try to make healthier choices for their families. ~ Michelle Obama, #NFDB
1195:The goal of human life," says Ramakrishna, "is to meet God face to face." But the magic is this: if we look deeply into the face of all created things, we will find God. Therefore, savor the world, the body. Open it, explore it, look into it. Worship it. ~ Stephen Cope, #NFDB
1196:There are expectations in how you play your character as a black woman, to be sassy and the same kind of feel, as if there are no quirky black women. I struggle with those things constantly, trying to add dimension to my work, and that's the goal, too. ~ Nicole Beharie, #NFDB
1197:To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean,” says the persevering soul, “at my will mountains will crumble up.” Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal. (I. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1198:Devote yourself to spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
1199:In meditating, meditate on your own divinity. The goal of life is to be a vehicle for something higher. Keep your eyes up there between the world of opposites watching your 'play' in the world.Let the world be as it is and learn to rock with the waves. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
1200:The principle is simple and must be engraved deeply in your mind: the goal of an apprenticeship is not money, a good position, a title, or a diploma, but rather the transformation of your mind and character—the first transformation on the way to mastery. ~ Robert Greene, #NFDB
1201:The purpose of evolutions and revolutions was not improvement. The goal was not enlightenment and nirvana, but entertaining chaos. The humans were united now, but only to make the coming conflict, and its potential for loss, all the more heightened. ~ Robert Chazz Chute, #NFDB
1202:Because startups often accidentally build something nobody wants, it doesn’t matter much if they do it on time and on budget. The goal of a startup is to figure out the right thing to build - the thing customers want and will pay for - as quickly as possible. ~ Eric Ries, #NFDB
1203:I like weird. Conformity bores but is inescapable for the most part. We all follow something, even if it is following the goal of wanting to stand apart. We are a sea of ordinary people; it is always the quirk, the flaw or the ingenuity that stands out. ~ Donna Lynn Hope, #NFDB
1204:No matter what you watch, it has an impact. So, why not use this medium to bring great stories to millions of people around the world with the goal of not only entertaining them but inspiring them. That's what motivates me. That's why I get up every day. ~ DeVon Franklin, #NFDB
1205:The fundamental goal of education, writes Dewey, ”is the development of a spirit of social co-operation and community life....“ The goal is to foster the child’s ”social capacity“—by, among other things, ”saturating him with the spirit of service....“21 ~ Leonard Peikoff, #NFDB
1206:The goal of architectural design is to create an architecture with a set of architectural properties that form a superset of the system requirements. The relative importance of the various architectural properties depends on the nature of the intended system. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1207:The goal of business should not be to do business with anyone who simply wants what you have. It should be to focus on the people who believe what you believe. When we are selective about doing business only with those who believe in our WHY, trust emerges. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
1208:The goal of feminist spirituality has never been the simple substitution of Yahweh-with-a-skirt. Rather, it seeks, in all its diversity, to revitalize relational, body-honoring, cosmologically grounded spiritual possibilities for women and all others. ~ Charlene Spretnak, #NFDB
1209:I am a perfectionist. This job is a total ego thing in a way. To be a designer and say, 'This is the way they should dress; this is the way their homes should look; this is the way the world should be.' But then, that's the goal: world domination through style. ~ Tom Ford, #NFDB
1210:But dogmatism—or the inclination "to identify the goal of our thinking with the point at which we have become tired of thinking"—is so natural to man that it is not likely to be a preserve of the past. [Citing Lessing's January 9, 1771 letter to Mendelssohn.] ~ Leo Strauss, #NFDB
1211:Say - i am the Atman in which my lower ego has become merged for ever. Be perfect in this idea; and then as long as the body endures, speak unto others this message of fearlessness: "Thou art That", "Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!" ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1212:Devote yourself to spiritual practice & go forward. Through practice you will advance more & more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
1213:Once you’ve identified these goals, list for each the two or three most important activities that help you satisfy the goal. These activities should be specific enough to allow you to clearly picture doing them. On the other hand, they should be general enough ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1214:They’re measurements which express the goal of making money perfectly well, but which also permit you to develop operational rules for running your plant,” he says. “There are three of them. Their names are throughput, inventory and operational expense. ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
1215:Well, I don’t. Not absolutely. But adopting "making money’’ as the goal of a manufacturing organization looks like a pretty good assumption. Because, for one thing, there isn’t one item on that list that’s worth a damn if the company isn’t making money. ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
1216:Andrew’s kissing Amanda again, her back pinned against the door frame, his hands working through a geometry problem where the goal is to find the point of intersection where two legs bisect. People would like math so much more if it involved real life like that. ~ Julia Kent, #NFDB
1217:The goal in Japan is not to isolate the criminal from society, but precisely the opposite. A convict is sent back to his neighborhood, family, and job so that the social pressure to fit in and the pain of being shamed before the group will lead him to go straight. ~ T R Reid, #NFDB
1218:The privilege of a lifetime is beingwho you are.The goal of the hero tripdown to the jewel pointis to find those levels in the psychethat open, open, openand finally open to the mystery of your Selfbeing Buddha consciousnessor the Christ.That's the journey. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
1219:Amazing how far we had come. A few days ago, I had been surprised to see Rei and Valene accepted as dancers in the nest; now anyone who wanted a part in this project was welcome. We had achieved half the goal of Wyvern’s Court simply by dreaming of it. ~ Amelia Atwater Rhodes, #NFDB
1220:Decide, before you start, that you're going to change three things about what you do all day at work. Then, as you're reading, find the three things and do it. The goal of the reading, then, isn't to persuade you to change, it's to help you choose what to change. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
1221:Devote yourself to spiritual practice & go forward. Through practice you will advance more & more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, & that the goal of life is the attainment of God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #NFDB
1222:Lead me, Zeus, lead me, Destiny, To the goal I was long ago assigned And I will follow without hesitation. Even should I resist, In a spirit of perversity, I will have to follow nonetheless. [2] Whoever yields to necessity graciously We account wise in God’s ways. ~ Epictetus, #NFDB
1223:She hadn't realized how much she'd needed a dream, but it had transformed her, changed her from poor motherless and abandoned Tully to a girl poised to take on the world. The goal made her life story unimportant, gave her something to reach for, to hang on to ~ Kristin Hannah, #NFDB
1224:teaching is not for a teacher simply to persuade students of his or her own perspective. Rather, the goal is to broaden students’ minds by helping them empathetically understand a variety of perspectives while training them to think critically for themselves. ~ Gregory A Boyd, #NFDB
1225:The goal of life is not to win. It is to play the game with love. The rules of the game are: have a strong desire to win, believe that you are worthy of winning, have faith that you will win, and, as long as you are alive, never believe that the game is over. ~ Iyanla Vanzant, #NFDB
1226:utilizing” a resource means making use of the resource in a way that moves the system toward the goal. “Activating” a resource is like pressing the ON switch of a machine; it runs whether or not there is any benefit to be derived from the work it’s doing. ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
1227:Disciplined runners consistently clear their heads and focus fully on the journey ahead.. .because their passion and zeal for the goal supersedes the strain. The goal beckons them onward. Passion doesn't negate weariness; it just resolves to press beyond it. ~ Priscilla Shirer, #NFDB
1228:Of course a woman who decides to work full time as a mother in the home can be happy and deserves full respect from us. Motherhood is one of the most challenging and creative jobs anyone can do. The goal is to remake the world so that our choices are not so stark. ~ Naomi Wolf, #NFDB
1229:The goal of an end to poverty is so noble that governments have successfully used the end to justify the means. The means have been high taxation of the productive members of society and arrays of bureaucracies that increasingly regulate the lives of us all. 1 ~ Charles Murray, #NFDB
1230:I know a lot of people think therapy is about sitting around staring at your own navel - but it's staring at your own navel with a goal. And the goal is to one day to see the world in a better way and treat your loved ones with more kindness and have more to give. ~ Hugh Laurie, #NFDB
1231:Only One Thing One thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14 AMP ~ Various, #NFDB
1232:"The coniunctio—the conjunction of opposites—is an image of the goal of #individuation—the psychological process that makes a human being an 'individual,' a unique, indivisible unit, a oneness." ~ Arlene Landau, Ph.D., Jungian analyst, on next week's episode of Speaking of Jung, #NFDB
1233:The content of worship comes from the Bible, the goal of worship is to give praise to God, and the basis for worship is the saving work of Jesus Christ. Put more simply, true Christian worship is Word-communicat ing, God-glorifying, and Christ-confessi ng. ~ Philip Graham Ryken, #NFDB
1234:Once we affirm the goal of trying to make sure that you don't have jihadis infiltrating terrorist flows, we need to make sure we're doing it in a thoughtful way that's thinking about the 10 and 15 and 20 years long battle we're going to have against jihadists. ~ Benjamin E Sasse, #NFDB
1235:Service is the highest spiritual discipline. Prayer and meditation, or knowledge of scripture and Vedanta (holy scriptures of India), cannot help you reach the goal as quickly as service can. Service has a double effect, it extinguishes the ego and gives bliss. ~ Sathya Sai Baba, #NFDB
1236:Since the goal of my programs is to show audiences how humor can both help them heal as well as deal with not-so-funny stuff, I decided to discuss the events of the previous week, the pain all of us were feeling, and how humor and some laughter might be beneficial. ~ Allen Klein, #NFDB
1237:To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean,” says the persevering soul, “at my will mountains will crumble up.” Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal. (CW 1. 178) Be ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1238:If you define the goal of a society as GNP, that society will do its best to produce GNP. It will not produce welfare, equity, justice, or efficiency unless you define a goal and regularly measure and report the state of welfare, equity, justice, or efficiency. ~ Donella H Meadows, #NFDB
1239:The study of infinity is much more than a dry academic game. The intellectual pursuit of the absolute infinity is, as Georg Cantor realized, a form of the soul's quest for God. Whether or not the goal is ever reached, an awareness of the process brings enlightenment. ~ Rudy Rucker, #NFDB
1240:Certainly the goal with any sort of storytelling is to have an impact, to touch on some reader's life. And in some cases, there may be stories that actually have a particular goal like that in mind. So yeah, that sort of thing does happen in comics, fairly regularly. ~ Tom Brevoort, #NFDB
1241:If you have the desire, if you establish the goal - which is harmony, which is happiness through liberation- then these stages of revolt, of war, of struggle, can be avoided - should be avoided. You are not going to wallow in the gutter if you can jump over it. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
1242:I think the market is always going to be around. The goal is not to say, let's get rid of the market, because the market does render a huge number of services, and I don't want to have a fight about the price of something every time I buy a book or a bottle of water. ~ Susan George, #NFDB
1243:To me, I would much rather be part of a healthy industry than being the only player in a dead industry. There are so many great artists out there. And the goal is to make great movies, you know? So to be successful, quality is the best business plan as I always say. ~ John Lasseter, #NFDB
1244:And I didn't grow up wanting to be a director. I grew up wanting to be a writer, so for me, that was always the goal - to be a novelist, not a screenwriter. And I think, again, if I didn't have the novels, maybe I'd be much more frustrated by not having directed yet. ~ David Benioff, #NFDB
1245:It is idle to point out to the perverted man the horror of his perversion: while the fierce fit is on, that horror is the very spice of his craving. It is ugliness itself that becomes, in the end, the goal of his lechery; beauty has long since grown too weak a stimulant. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
1246:There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern. ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel, #NFDB
1247:If you hit somebody hard enough, they will give up. You can feel their body go limp and they'll just surrender. So every time I hit somebody, the goal is to knock myself out. I know that if I hit somebody hard enough that I can feel it, it's hurting them 10 times worse. ~ Bob Sanders, #NFDB
1248:In the literal sense, there has been no relevant evolution since the trek from Africa. But there has been substantial progress towards higher standards of rights, justice and freedom - along with all too many illustrations of how remote is the goal of a decent society. ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
1249:No one stands at the beginning of a race and then finds himself at the end having never taken a step forward. And if that were to happen—the sweat and struggle avoided—what stories would he have to tell? The goal includes the journey; it's all part of the dream. ~ Richelle E Goodrich, #NFDB
1250:That is one of the benefits. It's called "jobs for our country" which we desperately need. As we expand our Navy toward the goal of 350 ships, we will also procure additional modern destroyers that are designed to handle the missile defense mission in the coming years. ~ Donald Trump, #NFDB
1251:The goal of European unification can only be achieved if everyone participates, perhaps with exceptions in some areas. Not all countries are part of monetary union, and not all are in the Schengen area. But the fundamental goal should be to keep everyone on board. ~ Wolfgang Schauble, #NFDB
1252:...this was what she had been taught: To choose marriage and babies over a glamorous career would be an unthinkable failure. Love was supposed to be the by-product of a life well lived not the goal. And this is what she realized: Everything she had been taught was wrong. ~ Jade Chang, #NFDB
1253:day André set out northward with the goal of reaching HMS Vulture, a fourteen-gun sloop docked near Teller’s Point, by evening. Because it was a British ship, he arrived not as “John Anderson, Patriot merchant” but as himself, bearing letters from General Clinton that ~ Brian Kilmeade, #NFDB
1254:Freedom of speech is not an academic value. Accuracy of speech is an academic value; completeness of speech is an academic value; relevance of speech is an academic value. Each of these is directly related to the goal of academic inquiry: getting a matter of fact right. ~ Stanley Fish, #NFDB
1255:The objective of US colonialist authorities was to terminate their existence as peoples—not as random individuals. This is the very definition of modern genocide as contrasted with premodern instances of extreme violence that did not have the goal of extinction. ~ Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, #NFDB
1256:The goal of the working class is liberation from exploitation. This goal is not reached and cannot be reached by a new directing and governing class substituting itself for the bourgeoisie. It is only realized by the workers themselves being master over production. These ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
1257:Within Siddhartha there slowly grew and ripened the knowledge of what wisdom really was and the goal of his long seeking. It was nothing but a preparation of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of unity at every moment of life. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
1258:is a given that profit is the goal of any business, but to suggest it is the primary responsibility of a business is misguided. It is the leaders of companies that see profit as fuel for their cultures that will outlast their dopamine-addicted, cortisol-soaked competitors. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
1259:You've got to trust the ground you're standing on and the work you've done in telling your story. The goal should be to bring those thousands of people - viewers - together and make them one. When you feel that happening, it's usually in silence, not applause or laughter. ~ Kevin Spacey, #NFDB
1260:Radical Reconstruction led to violence, as whites attempted to reestablish social control of blacks through intimidation. The violence targeted not only freedmen but also white Republicans. The goal was to make the cost of Reconstruction unbearable for the federal government. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1261:To this, more orthodox Stoics might object that ‘tranquillity’ (ataraxia) is traditionally seen as a positive side-effect of virtue rather than the goal of life itself. To put it crudely, if tranquillity is really your supreme goal in life then you can just take tranquilizers. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1262:Always underdress. The goal is not to look as if you made an effort for the particular event. If you can dress for a different party (i.e., wear black tie to a cocktail party, or tennis clothes for lunch), so much the better. You give the impression of being much in demand. ~ Lisa Birnbach, #NFDB
1263:It's not like you do 'SNL' and then get handed movie roles. You work, you audition for stuff and try to get it. I think, a lot of people, it's the goal to be in movies or just to be working in general. But yeah, some of us get lucky and get some movie roles, and it's nice. ~ Bobby Moynihan, #NFDB
1264:To efficiently produce quality products sounds like a good goal. But can that goal keep the plant working? I’m bothered by some of the examples that come to mind. If the goal is to produce a quality product efficiently, then how come Volkswagen isn’t still making Bugs? ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
1265:There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern. Nothing ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel, #NFDB
1266:You must be as joyful when you fail again and again as you are joyful when you succeed. It is often when you fail that you move toward the goal without being aware of it. You must feel joy even when you have not fully succeeded but only moved toward achievement of your goal. ~ B K S Iyengar, #NFDB
1267:The media are a corporate monopoly. They have the same point of view. The two parties are two factions of the business party. Most of the population doesn't even bother voting because it looks meaningless. They're marginalized and properly distracted. At least that's the goal. ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
1268:Want to watch a movie? Netflix is a better librarian, with a better library, than any library in the country. The Netflix librarian knows about every movie, knows what you’ve seen and what you’re likely to want to see. If the goal is to connect viewers with movies, Netflix wins. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
1269:Busyness is not the goal of a conscientious believer; fruitfulness is. Not every request that comes my way is God's will for me to accept. Good opportunities are not necessarily godly ones. Expectations pushed on us by others are not the directions Jesus invites us to follow. ~ Wayne Jacobsen, #NFDB
1270:For the employee, the goal is to have full access to necessary information and as much independent decision-making ability as possible. For the entrepreneur, the goal is to grant as much information and independent decision-making ability to employees or contractors as possible. ~ Tim Ferriss, #NFDB
1271:Both religion and natural science require a belief in God for their activities, to the former He is the starting point, and to the latter the goal of every thought process. To the former He is the foundation, to the latter, the crown of the edifice of every generalized world view. ~ Max Planck, #NFDB
1272:Creativity cannot be really regulated, but it can be encouraged. The redevelopment or revitalization of a city is an art. It depends on the individual strengths of a place and the will of the leadership to bring about change. The goal is to establish a cultural infrastructure. ~ Charles Landry, #NFDB
1273:[T]he present is self-sufficient, but it is not a static present. It is a dancing present—the unfolding of a pattern which has no specific destination in the future but is simply its own point. It leaves and arrives simultaneously, and the seed is as much the goal as the flower. ~ Alan W Watts, #NFDB
1274:You can do yoga and be thinking about going shopping. The goal is kind of like meditation, is to be totally present in your body in the moment. That's when the most profound effects of yoga can happen. That's what I urge people to try to do. It's very important to be in your body. ~ Jane Fonda, #NFDB
1275:Human rights are fundamental rights, they are the minimum, the very least we demand. Too often, they become the goal itself. What should be the minimum becomes the maximum - all we are supposed to expect - but human rights aren't enough. The goal is, and must always be, justice. ~ Arundhati Roy, #NFDB
1276:In a way, the goal of all writing projects should be to “get the hell out.” You don’t simply want to finish; you want to finish as quickly and easily as possible (without undue stress or pressure, of course) so that you can move on to the next project—or, the rest of your life. ~ Hillary Rettig, #NFDB
1277:The great machine called the Plutonic Engine is the instrument. We are its tuners. And this is the goal: Geoarcanity. Geoarcanity seeks to establish an energetic cycle of infinite efficiency. If we are successful, the world will never know want or strife again … or so we are told. ~ N K Jemisin, #NFDB
1278:The word salad here means any vegetable eaten raw or uncooked, e.g., a bowl of cold pasta in olive oil with a token vegetable is not a salad. I encourage my patients to eat two huge salads a day, with the goal of consuming an entire head of romaine or other green lettuce daily. I ~ Joel Fuhrman, #NFDB
1279:Americans are quite skeptical about the goal of promoting democracy. People feel it's a desirable goal, but, from a commonsense point of view, both Republicans and Democrats have come to the conclusion that democracy is something that countries can only come to on their own. ~ Daniel Yankelovich, #NFDB
1280:And a true God is not One with the most servants, but One who serves the most, thereby making Gods of all others. For this is both the goal and the glory of God: that His subjects shall be no more, and that all shall know God not as the unattainable, but as the unavoidable. ~ Neale Donald Walsch, #NFDB
1281:The goal of Christian dating is not to have a boyfriend or girlfriend but to find a spouse. Have that in mind as you get to know one an- other, and if you’re not ready to commit to a relationship with the end goal of marriage, it’s better not to date but simply to remain friends. ~ Mark Driscoll, #NFDB
1282:Endurance: It is the spirit which can bear things, not simply with resignation, but with blazing hope. It is the quality which keeps a man on his feet with his face to the wind. It is the virtue which can transmute the hardest trial into glory because beyond the pain it sees the goal. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1283:For the employee, the goal is to have full access to necessary information and as much independent decision-making ability as possible. For the entrepreneur, the goal is to grant as much information and independent decision-making ability to employees or contractors as possible. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
1284:It should never be the goal of U.S. foreign policy towards any country to have a - quote, unquote - "good relation." Then what? What do we get out of that? We get - Trump is helping the approval ratings amongst Russians. How does that advance American national security interests? ~ Michael McFaul, #NFDB
1285:remember to recognize the small successes that you will have. Don't let the brightness of that big goal blind you to what happens on the way toward the goal. Meet one wave at a time and enjoy what progress you make. I want you please not to be taken up in the undertow of pessimism. ~ Lucille Ball, #NFDB
1286:The goal of this generation's pioneers should be to restrict procreation and limit consumption. They should also take every opportunity to make themselves happy, realizing that the key to self-generated happiness (the only reliable kind) is the refusal to take oneself too seriously. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
1287:The goal of World Science U is to not just inspire, not just whet the appetite, but give the person the full meal, but with the same attention to accessible, the same attention to making things visual, the same attention to having the stories of science drive the learning process. ~ Rivka Galchen, #NFDB
1288:The goal of human freedom is not in freedom itself, nor it is in man, but in God. By giving man freedom, God has yielded to man a piece of His Divine authority, but with the intention that man himself would voluntarily bring it as a sacrifice to God, a most perfect offering. ~ Theophan the Recluse, #NFDB
1289:There's nothing wrong with eating the same things routinely. The goal is to feed yourself and the people around you with real food. Cook on the weekends and use leftovers during the week. If you'll eat leftovers, cook twice as much as you'll eat and put the rest aside for lunches. ~ Kathleen Flinn, #NFDB
1290:The universe was exploding, each particle away from the next, hurtling us into dark and lonely space, eternally tearing us away from each other—child out of the womb, friend away from friend, moving from each other, each through his own pathway toward the goal-box of solitary death. ~ Daniel Keyes, #NFDB
1291:Earth that was wakened by pain to life and by hunger to thinking
Left to her joys rests inert and content with her gains and her station.
But for the unbearable whips of the gods back soon to her matter
She would go glad and the goal would be missed ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,#NFDB
1292:I find that working with friends is always the goal, even if it's just one person. Because the comedy community is kind of insular, it's easy to run into people you've worked with, even if you worked with someone on something for a day, or whatever. It just makes it more comfortable. ~ Lizzy Caplan, #NFDB
1293:Sharp as the blade of a razor, long and difficult and hard to cross, is the way to freedom. The sages have declared this again and again. Yet do not let these weaknesses and failures bind you. The Upanishads have declared, "Arise ! Awake ! and stop not until the goal is reached. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1294:We construct elaborate palaces to hide our vulnerabilities, often growing into caricatures of what we fear. The goal is to move through the world without anyone knowing quite where to dig a thumb. It’s a survival instinct. When people know how to hurt you, they know how to control you. ~ Lindy West, #NFDB
1295:Everything becomes a bit clearer when you understand the level of the goal Pete is asking about. He’s not asking about what you want to get done today, specifically, or even this year. He’s asking what you’re trying to get out of life. In grit terms, he’s asking about your passion ~ Angela Duckworth, #NFDB
1296:One reason that might motivate a worker to accept a riskier job at higher pay, for example, would be that doing so would enable him to bid more effectively for a house in a better school district. But if other workers did likewise, none would achieve the goal they were striving for. ~ Robert H Frank, #NFDB
1297:Something you want badly enough can always be gained. No matter how fierce the enemy, how remote the beautiful lady, or how carefully guarded the treasure, there is always a means to the goal for the earnest seeker. The unseen help of the guardian gods of heaven and earth assure fulfillment. ~ Dogen, #NFDB
1298:The object isn't to be perfect. The goal isn't to hold back until you've created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
1299:Self sufficiency appears to be a worthy goal, but it's now impossible if you want to actually get anything done. All our productivity, leverage and insight comes from being part of a community, not apart from it. The goal, I think, is to figure out how to become more dependent, not less. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
1300:There is a general sense of guarded optimism. There have been too many false dawns over the last 60 years. There have been more tears than smiles, but I sense there is a commitment from Abbas and Sharon, a new determination to make a reality of the goal of two states living side by side. ~ Jack Straw, #NFDB
1301:There is nothing more important in life than learning to love and be loved. Jesus elevated love as the goal of spiritual transformation. Psychoanalysts consider it the capstone of psychological growth. Giving and receiving love is at the heart of being human. It is our raison d’être. ~ David G Benner, #NFDB
1302:The universe was exploding, each particle away from the next, hurtling us into dark and lonely space, eternally tearing us away from each other - child out of the womb, friend away from friend, moving from each other, each through his own pathway towards the goal-box of solitary death. ~ Daniel Keyes, #NFDB
1303:This is a great moment, when you see, however distant, the goal of your wandering. The thing which has been living in your imagination suddenly become part of the tangible world. It matters not how many ranges, rivers or parching dusty ways may lie between you; it is yours now for ever. ~ Freya Stark, #NFDB
1304:The goal of preparation, then, is not knowing exactly where you’ll go but being confident nonetheless that you’ll get there. This means that your attitude will be more important than your itinerary, and that the simple willingness to improvise is more vital, in the long run, than research. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1305:There is a succession of experiences which together constitute the educational and developmental ripening of the learner, according to the Sufis. People who think that each gain is the goal itself will freeze at any such stage, and cannot learn through successive and superseding lessons. ~ Idries Shah, #NFDB
1306:All that is required to become an optimist is to have the goal and to practice it. The more you rehearse optimistic thoughts, the more 'natural' and 'ingrained' they will become. With time they will be part of you, and you will have made yourself into an altogether different person. ~ Sonja Lyubomirsky, #NFDB
1307:Science has too long focused on intelligence & talent as determiners of success. And it’s not. The key to success is to set a specific long-term goal and to do whatever it takes until the goal has been achieved. That’s called GRIT (defined as courage and resolve; strength of character). ~ Bob Mayer, #NFDB
1308:The goal of the martial arts is not for the destruction of an opponent, but rather for self-growth and self-perfection. The practice of a martial art should be a practice of love - for the preservation of life, for the preservation of body, and for the preservation of family and friends. ~ Dan Inosanto, #NFDB
1309:Always the rationalization is the same-"Once this situation is remedied, then I will be happy." But it never works that way in reality: The goal is achieved, but the person who reaches it is not the same person who dreamed it. The goal was static, but the person's identity was dynamic. ~ Phillip Moffitt, #NFDB
1310:Nothing guarantees happiness. I’m not certain happiness should be the goal. Satisfaction, maybe. A sense of purpose. Contribution. Authenticity. Happiness? It’s a lightweight goal. And meanwhile, I suspect that turning away from yourself will guarantee the opposite of happiness. ~ Danielle Younge Ullman, #NFDB
1311:The goal of our interview process is to predict how candidates will perform once they join the team. We achieve that goal by doing what the science says: combining behavioral and situational structured interviews with assessments of cognitive ability, conscientiousness, and leadership.xxvi ~ Laszlo Bock, #NFDB
1312:Awards and recognition are not the purpose of life and not the goal of an activist. The heart of an activist usually redonates the money, or uses the accolades as a foot in the door for more activism and awareness. A plack on the wall won’t change the world; it only shows your devotion. ~ Shannon L Alder, #NFDB
1313:What can defeat a strong man who believes in himself and cannot be ridiculed down, talked down, or written down? Poverty cannot dishearten him, misfortune deter him, or hardship turn him a hair's breadth from his course. Whatever comes, he keeps his eye on the goal and pushes ahead. ~ Orison Swett Marden, #NFDB
1314:Powerful new drug-free treatments have been developed for depression and for every conceivable type of anxiety, such as chronic worrying, shyness, public speaking anxiety, test anxiety, phobias, and panic attacks. The goal of the treatment is not just partial improvement but full recovery. ~ David D Burns, #NFDB
1315:There was a light fog in the air, softening the goal and leaving a damp trace upon the skin. The moon was still rising in the sky, shimmering behind mist, and I could just make out the weak glow of the lantern in the middle of the Park. Out in the Borough, a clock struck ten, very faint. ~ Antonia Hodgson, #NFDB
1316:Christianity has spiritualised the egoism of Judaism into subjectivity (though … this subjectivity is again expressed as pure egoism), has changed the desire for earthly happiness, the goal of the Israelite religion, into the longing for heavenly bliss, which is the goal of Christianity. ~ Ludwig Feuerbach, #NFDB
1317:One path may appear in different forms, but the Kingdom of God is the goal we all share. It is the men of small minds who create confusion.” He released my hand and affectionately patted my head. “Do not be troubled my son. You are sincere. God will guide you.” His words touched my heart. ~ Radhanath Swami, #NFDB
1318:The goal is to minimize the amount of a program you have to think about at any one time. You might think of this as mental juggling—the more mental balls the program requires you to keep in the air at once, the more likely you'll drop one of the balls, leading to a design or coding error. ~ Steve McConnell, #NFDB
1319:The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God. Prayer becomes real when we grasp the reality and goodness of God's constant presence with 'the real me.' Jesus lived his everyday life in conscious awareness of his Father. ~ John Ortberg, #NFDB
1320:A person is not religious solely when he worships a divinity, but when he puts all the resources of his mind, the complete submission of his will, and the whole-souled ardour of fanaticism at the service of a cause or an individual who becomes the goal and guide of his thoughts and actions. ~ Gustave Le Bon, #NFDB
1321:as signs of inadequacy and weakness, they look on wealth as a source of stability and strength. Our proud hearts shrink from weakness, real or fancied, in all its forms, as we have already noted, and they embrace whatever looks like strength, including the goal and the reality of affluence. The ~ J I Packer, #NFDB
1322:He who sincerely seeks his real purpose in life is himself sought by that purpose. As he concentrates on that search a light begins to clear his confusion, call it revelation, call it inspiration, call it what you will. It is mistrust that misleads. Sincerity leads straight to the goal. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, #NFDB
1323:Neutrality in a situation of oppression always supports the status quo. Reduction of conflict by means of a phony “peace” is not a Christian goal. Justice is the goal, and that may require an acceleration of conflict as a necessary stage in forcing those in power to bring about genuine change. ~ Walter Wink, #NFDB
1324:That’s why at the start of every season I always encouraged players to focus on the journey rather than the goal. What matters most is playing the game the right way and having the courage to grow, as human beings as well as basketball players. When you do that, the ring takes care of itself. ~ Phil Jackson, #NFDB
1325:The first thing you have to do is take everything with a grain of salt. You know, you've gotta just look at the goal, focus on what you gotta do and take one step at a time as a whole, as every performance being that's it, that's one objective, and let's just move forward and work on that. ~ Stefano Langone, #NFDB
1326:The goal of faith isn't to take away your fears but to leverage those fears to create bolder belief. Faith leads you past your fears and reassures you of God's presence. And after a while, you begin to trust that God is going to lift you above the waves this time just like he did last time. ~ Steven Furtick, #NFDB
1327:The goal was organized resistance to racial subjugation, and its harassing effect was probably more potent precisely because they risked so much without either economic or political power and with no certainty that they could change a system that they had known and hated all of their lives. ~ Derrick A Bell, #NFDB
1328:The most important rules that I ever adopted to help me in achieving my goals were those I learned from a very successful man who taught me to first write down the goal, and then to never leave the site of setting a goal without first taking some form of positive action toward its attainment. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
1329:The real direction of your vision is as important as your vision. Notwithstanding how large the goal post might be, the power behind your shots least matter as its direction, for it is more of the direction that will determine the goals you shall score and the final score in the end ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
1330:I never want to play a show where it feels overly programmed, processed, and all that. For anybody that comes to one of our shows, the goal for me is to make sure that's their show. That nobody else is going to see that show ever again. You know what I mean? I try to make it different every day. ~ David Cook, #NFDB
1331:Life is like the baseball season, where even the best team loses at least a third of its games, and even the worst team has its days of brilliance. The goal is not to win every game but to win more than you lose, and if you do that often enough, in the end you may find you have won it all. ~ Harold S Kushner, #NFDB
1332:I believe we can prevent or delay most disease until the 9th or 10th decade. The goal is to prevent anything that can affect your quality of life prior to those years! By the time many of us get to the 9th or 10th decade, who knows where the new medical and science will take us? I am an optimist! ~ David Agus, #NFDB
1333:Isn’t reading a kind of preparation for life?’
But life is composed of things other than books. It is as if an athlete, on entering the stadium, were to complain that he’s not outside exercising.This was the goal of your exercise, of your weights, your practice ring and your training partners. ~ Epictetus,#NFDB
1334:Wilke subscribed to the principles laid out in a seminal book about constraints in manufacturing, Eliyahu M. Goldratt’s The Goal, published in 1984. The book, cloaked in the guise of an entertaining novel, instructs manufacturers to focus on maximizing the efficiency of their biggest bottlenecks. ~ Brad Stone, #NFDB
1335:You think you’re heading toward a specific point, but the whole justification for the goal’s existence lies in your love for it. Rest a little, but as soon as you can, get up and carry on. Because ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1336:I think we're our biggest competition. I think the racetrack's the biggest competition. If we go and race the racetrack and try to go around the racetrack faster than our competition, then that's the goal. I look at it as a competition between us and the racetrack because it's all about lap time. ~ Jeff Burton, #NFDB
1337:. . . I would learn to discern and distinguish the difference between presumption and confession, between those who see what the goal is but not how to get there and those who see the way which leads to the home of bliss, not merely as an end to be perceived but as a realm to live in. ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo, #NFDB
1338:The goal of life is not the absence of pain. It's the presence of glory. God's glory. And sometimes that comes most vividly with pain. Not only have I learned that pain doesn't kill; I have learned that I will never lose or be betrayed by the one thing with absolute power to destroy me—God Himself. ~ Beth Moore, #NFDB
1339:Is it not true that the clever rogue is like the runner who runs well for the first half of the course, but flags before reaching the goal: he is quick off the mark, but ends in disgrace and slinks away crestfallen and uncrowned. The crown is the prize of the really good runner who perseveres to the end. ~ Plato, #NFDB
1340:The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God.
Prayer becomes real when we grasp the reality and goodness of God's constant presence with 'the real me.' Jesus lived his everyday life in conscious awareness of his Father. ~ John Ortberg Jr,#NFDB
1341:The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede. What stands in your way is that you have a much too willful will. You think that what you do not do yourself does not happen. ~ Eugen Herrigel, #NFDB
1342:I feel like people want to be surprised when they get out of the movies. They want something thrown at them they didn't expect. They want stuff that reminds them of the feelings that you get when you're watching art house movies but with the fun of like a big summer movie. That's the goal, I guess. ~ Rian Johnson, #NFDB
1343:I was originally supposed to become an engineer,” he later wrote a friend, “but the thought of having to expend my creative energy on things that make practical everyday life even more refined, with a bleak capital gain as the goal, was unbearable to me. Thinking for its own sake, like music!”72 ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
1344:The thing I always try to remember is that feet are attached to the leg, and that you must prolong the silhouette. The shoe elongates the leg and does it discreetly. The goal is to get people to look at a woman's legs. It's all about the leg. No, it's not about the leg. It's about the woman. ~ Christian Louboutin, #NFDB
1345:But an action which wants to serve man ought to be careful not to forget him on the way, if it chooses to fulfill itself blindly, it will lose its meaning or will take on an unforeseen meaning; for the goal is not fixed once & for all; it is defined all along the road which leads up to it. ~ Simone de Beauvoir, #NFDB
1346:No matter how much we're on our phones, going to the show is the goal - you look at things online and watch videos and read blogs and comment, all so that you can go in person and see it yourself, and meet these people in real life, and then so you can go home and talk about it again on your screen. ~ Darren Criss, #NFDB
1347:Is anything truly impossible? Or is it that the path to our goals appears too unclear to follow? It seems to me that if you seek hard enough, pray hard enough, you usually stumble across a scattering of breadcrumbs that marks the trail leading to the goal you once considered beyond your reach. ~ Richelle E Goodrich, #NFDB
1348:I will not allow myself to entertain that though. Yeah, right. I'm not only entertaining that though, I'm taking it out to dinner and a movie. The goal is to focus on the now and to figure out how to reclaim your past. Or the parallel. Or my sanity.
Too much thinking never solved anything. ~ Laurie Viera Rigler,#NFDB
1349:One may come armoured, Invinsible. His will immobile meets the mobile hour. The world blows cannot bend this Victor Head. Calm and sure are his steps in the growing night. The goal recedes, he hurries not his pace. He asks from no help from the inferior Gods. His eyes are fixed on the immutable aim. ~ Sri Aurobindo, #NFDB
1350:The goal of yoga is always hard to reach, but this one is more difficult than any other, and it is only for those who have the call, the capacity, the willingness to face everything and every risk, even the risk of failure, and the will to progress....
Sri Aurobindo
Letters on Yoga, p.545 ~ Sri Aurobindo,#NFDB
1351:Remember that you are not called to produce successful, upwardly mobile, highly educated, athletically talented machines...Givi ng your children great opportunities is good; it is not, however, the goal of parenting. Christlikeness is. Above all, seek to raise children who look and act a lot like Jesus. ~ Chip Ingram, #NFDB
1352:To capture the drama of the unconscious, one had to start with the key, and the key was the dream. But the novelist’s task was to pursue this dream, to unravel its meaning; the goal was to reach the relation of dream to life; the suspense was in finding this which led to a deeper significance of our acts. ~ Ana s Nin, #NFDB
1353:You should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last. Excerpt From: Walter, Isaacson. “Steve Jobs.” Simon & Schuster, 2011-10-23T21:00:00+00:00. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright. ~ Walter Isaacson, #NFDB
1354:Although we will hate and fight the machines, we will be supplanted anyway, and rightly so, for the intelligent machines to which we will give birth may, better than we, carry on the striving toward the goal of understanding and using the Universe, climbing to heights we ourselves could never aspire to. ~ Isaac Asimov, #NFDB
1355:I suggest that just as self-consciousness is the goal for all the subhuman forms of life, and as group consciousness, or the consciousness of the Heavenly Man, is the goal for the human being, so for him, also, there may be a goal, and for him the achievement may be the development of God consciousness. ~ Alice Bailey, #NFDB
1356:Letting go of the conventional wisdoms that torment us. Letting go of the artificial limits that hold us back—and of the fear of admitting what we don’t know. Letting go of the habits of mind that tell us to kick into the corner of the goal even though we stand a better chance by going up the middle. ~ Steven D Levitt, #NFDB
1357:The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanations of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simplicity is the goal of our quest. The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, 'Seek simplicity and distrust it. ~ Alfred North Whitehead, #NFDB
1358:The goal with my music is to maintain a certain honesty and quality. That sounds pretty pretentious as if I'm trying to imply no one else is doing this - I don't believe that. I merely mean to say that what everyone else is doing easily, that is to say, creating without impediment - is sort of difficult for me. ~ Milo, #NFDB
1359:Thoughts are universally and not individually rooted; a truth cannot be created, but only perceived. The erroneous thoughts of man result from imperfections in his discernment. The goal of Yoga Science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it may mirror the Divine vision in the Universe. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
1360:Unleasing creativity requires that we loosen the controls, accept risk, trust our collegues, work to clear the path for them and pay attention to anything that creates fear. Doing all these things won't necessarily make the job of managing a creative culture easier. But ease isn't the goal. Excellence is. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
1361:We need a plan,” I said.
“We are having far too many of those lately for my tastes,” Jack said. “I vote Molotov cocktails. That one was fun.”
“Much as I like lighting things on fire”—which I kind of had, more than I thought I would—“the goal here is to get everyone out safe. Not to blow them up. ~ Kiersten White,#NFDB
1362:I hope somebody makes a movie about Obama's life soon because I could play him. That's the goal. I watch all the addresses. Any time I see him on TV, I don't change the channel. I definitely pay attention and listen to the inflections of his voice. If you ask anyone who knows me, I'm pretty good at impressions. ~ Drake, #NFDB
1363:It is good to remember that the goal of Buddhism is to create Buddhas, not Buddhists, as the goal of Christianity is to create Christs, not Christians. In the same vein, my teachings are not meant to acquire followers or imitators, but to awaken beings to eternal truth and thus to awakened life and living. ~ Adyashanti, #NFDB
1364:Siddhartha does nothing, he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he passes through the things of the world like a rock through water, without doing anything, without stirring; he is drawn, he lets himself fall. His goal attracts him, because he doesn’t let anything enter his soul which might oppose the goal. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
1365:The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanation of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simplicity is the goal of our quest. The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be ``Seek simplicity and distrust it.'' ~ Alfred North Whitehead, #NFDB
1366:An aspiring comedian must be determined to get to his or her true feelings on a subject and convey that to the audience. Figure out what you're feeling or interested in because the goal is to get the audience interested in what you're interested in. Good stand up comedy is drawing people into your head. ~ Franklyn Ajaye, #NFDB
1367:The goal for me is, I build the record that I put out as one individual song. Even though it's broken up into tracks, to me it's like one hour-long piece of music. In assembling the whole thing, I'm really thinking, okay, it's gonna end here, it's gonna start here, and I kind of have the idea of the journey. ~ Girl Talk, #NFDB
1368:The goal of the nonprofessional should not be to pick winners—neither he nor his “helpers” can do that—but should rather be to own a cross section of businesses that in aggregate are bound to do well. A low-cost S&P 500 index fund will achieve this goal. —WARREN BUFFETT, 2013 letter to shareholders ~ Anthony Robbins, #NFDB
1369:The goal is to reverse the first law of entrepreneurial gravity and develop a viable business model in which the faster you grow, the more cash you generate — through larger deposits, faster collections, shorter sales and delivery cycles, etc. Then you’ve built a company that can self-fund its own growth. ~ Verne Harnish, #NFDB
1370:The goal of Martin Luther King is to get the Negroes to forgive the people the people who have brutalized them for four hundred years, by lulling them to sleep and making them forget what those whites have done to them, but the masses of black people today don't go for what Martin Luther King is putting down. ~ Malcolm X, #NFDB
1371:Unleashing creativity requires that we loosen the controls, accept risk, trust our colleagues, work to clear the path for them, and pay attention to anything that creates fear. Doing all these things won't necessarily make the job of managing a creative culture easier. But ease isn't the goal; excellence is. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
1372:Unleashing creativity requires that we loosen the controls, accept risk, trust our colleagues, work to clear the path for them, and pay attention to anything that creates fear. Doing all these things won’t necessarily make the job of managing a creative culture easier. But ease isn’t the goal; excellence is. ~ Ed Catmull, #NFDB
1373:Good traders tend to be hardworking and shrewd people, open to new ideas. The goal of a good trader, paradoxically, is not to make money. His goal is to trade well. If he trades right, money follows almost as an afterthought. Successful traders keep honing their skills as they try to reach their personal best. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1374:I detest all books which run chronologically, which commence at the cradle and end with the grave. Even life doesn't run that way, much as people think it does. Life only commences at the hour of spiritual birth - which may be at eighteen or at forty-seven. And death is never the goal - but life! more life! ~ Henry Miller, #NFDB
1375:Poverty is not a mortgage on the labor of others-misfortu ne is not a mortgage on achievement-fai lure is not a mortgage on success-sufferi ng is not a claim check, and its relief is not the goal of existence-man is not a sacrificial animal on anyone’s altar nor for anyone’s cause-life is not one huge hospital. ~ Ayn Rand, #NFDB
1376:In brief, the goal of sexual suppression is that of producing an individual who is adjusted to the authoritarian order and who will submit to it in spite of all misery and degradation. . . The formation of the authoritarian structure takes place through the anchoring of sexual inhibition and sexual anxiety. ~ Wilhelm Reich, #NFDB
1377:I think comedians should focus on what makes them happy, what art form fulfills them the most. Don't be calculated about it and say, 'Okay, I'm gonna tweet, and I'm gonna podcast, and I'm gonna do standup, and one of those things is going to lead me to my own TV show.' I don't think that should be the goal. ~ Scott Aukerman, #NFDB
1378:Morality must be the heart of our existence, if it is to be what it wants to be for us. The highest form of philosophy is ethics. Thus all philosophy begins with "I am." The highest statement of cognition must be an expression of that fact which is the means and ground for all cognition, namely, the goal of the I. ~ Novalis, #NFDB
1379:But I think the goal of all these attacks is the same, which is to seize maximum media attention. Maybe some of these attacks were meant to be small. Some of them might have been failed larger attacks. And some of them are just part of a new strategy of doing lots of tiny attacks, as opposed to one large one. ~ Karan Mahajan, #NFDB
1380:I'm not making fun of it because I want to make fun of it. I'm making fun of it so I feel better. I don't want people to think any time there's a tragedy that I'm going to make a joke about it. It's only funny to me because it's personal to me. And that was always the goal. It wasn't to be this insult person. ~ Pete Davidson, #NFDB
1381:Logic would dictate that if we really wanted to change our lives, we would just do it. Instead, we usually put off goals until next Monday. When Monday comes around, we reschedule the goal until some other time. We never feel quite prepared to start, always feeling a little short on money, time, or expertise. ~ Doreen Virtue, #NFDB
1382:Remember, they are born this way. Just as you didn’t choose to be born as an empath, they didn’t choose to be born with their personality. So the goal here isn’t to judge them as evil or try to fix them. It is simply to avoid them, or at the very least, set up very healthy boundaries, and save yourself. ~ Christiane Northrup, #NFDB
1383:It is the courage to be authentic that keeps us strong enough to withstand the heartbreak through which enlightenment can occur. And it is by honoring how life comes through us that we get the most out of living, not by keeping ourselves out of the way. The goal is to mix our hands in the earth, not to stay clean. ~ Mark Nepo, #NFDB
1384:The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilitie s on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son. ~ Oswald Chambers, #NFDB
1385:Capitalism today asks for faith in a god called “the hidden hand” and seems to have forgotten the goal of the original story. Adam Smith, capitalism's original storyteller, “wrote that the ultimate goal of business is not to make a profit. Profit is just the means. The goal is general welfare” (Wink 1992, 68). ~ Bryant L Myers, #NFDB
1386:It is this courage to be authentic that keeps us strong enough to withstand the heartbreak through which enlightenment can occur. And it is by honoring how life comes through us that we get the most out of living, not by keeping ourselves out of the way. The goal is to mix our hands in the earth, not to stay clean. ~ Mark Nepo, #NFDB
1387:Using your imagination to create mental images stimulates your mind, helps organize your life and keeps your focus in a particular direction. It allows your unconscious mind to work toward the image you have created, the goal. It's about understand the life you want to live, and seeing it unfold before you. ~ Georges St Pierre, #NFDB
1388:But in reality, it was not just that every year here felt like an erosion of the person I had been prior to having children—though there was certainly that. It was that I was not sure what all of those years represented. Was this it? Was this the goal, the reason, the sum total of two decades of adult decisions? ~ Camille Pag n, #NFDB
1389:She created two sets of rules for her game: an anti-monopolist set in which all were rewarded when wealth was created, and a monopolist set in which the goal was to create monopolies and crush opponents. Her dualistic approach was a teaching tool meant to demonstrate that the first set of rules was morally superior. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1390:The problem is that the managers of the mutual funds make more money when they gather huge piles of assets and charge high fees. The high fees are in direct conflict with the goal of producing high returns. And so what happens over and over again is the profits win and the investor seeking returns loses. There ~ Anthony Robbins, #NFDB
1391:You should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last.
Excerpt From: Walter, Isaacson. “Steve Jobs.” Simon & Schuster, 2011-10-23T21:00:00+00:00. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright. ~ Walter Isaacson,#NFDB
1392:A human being always acts and feels and performs in accordance with what he imagines to be true about himself and his environment...For imagination sets the goal ‘picture’ which our automatic mechanism works on. We act, or fail to act, not because of ‘will,’ as is so commonly believed, but because of imagination. ~ Maxwell Maltz, #NFDB
1393:If tenants resisted excessive rent hikes or unwarranted evictions, it was because they invested in their homes and neighborhoods. They felt they belonged there. In the trailer park, that sentiment was almost dead. For most residents, Scott among them, the goal was to leave, not to plant roots and change things. ~ Matthew Desmond, #NFDB
1394:If you think that leadership is deciding what you want and telling people to do it, I feel sorry for you. Reality is going kick your ass so far that not even Google will find you. The goal of this chapter is to help you become such a great leader that you’ll appear on the first page of a Google search for “leader. ~ Guy Kawasaki, #NFDB
1395:To calculate these, they should determine the underlying earnings attributable to the shares they hold in their portfolio and total these. The goal of each investor should be to create a portfolio (in effect, a “company”) that will deliver him or her the highest possible look-through earnings a decade or so from now. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1396:Contrary to popular belief, all gestures of altruism originate in the mind, not the heart. The heart will do anything possible to achieve its innermost goal, but if the goal serves someone else instead it will lose all interest and leave the mind free to exhaust itself battling to find the solution to its one task. ~ Vadim Zeland, #NFDB
1397:However, however, if the goal is to abandon America's free enterprise economy, if the goal is to convert America into a submissive member of the international community, if the goal is not to fix America, but to change America, then they want leaders that are going to come up here and fight it every step of the way. ~ Marco Rubio, #NFDB
1398:Searching out directors you respect and that you can learn from that's always the dream. That's the goal. That's hopefully where this whole thing is leading, and what better way to learn about directing and learn about what works and what I like and what resonates me than by working with a bunch of great directors. ~ Armie Hammer, #NFDB
1399:If there is any substance in what I have said, will not the great missionary bodies of India, to whom she owes a deep debt of gratitude for what they have done and are doing, do still better and serve the spirit of Christianity better by dropping the goal of proselytising while continuing their philanthropic work? ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1400:Live each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance toward the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point. So climb slowly, enjoying each passing moment; and then the view from the summit will serve a more rewarding climax for your journey. ~ Fulton J Sheen, #NFDB
1401:The ideal attitude is to belong only to the Divine, to work only for the Divine and above all to expect only from the Divine strength, peace and satisfaction. The Divine is all-merciful and gives us all that we need to lead us as quickly as possible to the goal.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Divine Is with You, [15],#NFDB
1402:the rhythmic philosophy. This philosophy argues that the easiest way to consistently start deep work sessions is to transform them into a simple regular habit. The goal, in other words, is to generate a rhythm for this work that removes the need for you to invest energy in deciding if and when you’re going to go deep. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1403:In addition to a job description designed around your current employment, develop what you would consider to be the ultimate job description. This is for your eyes only. The goal of this exercise is to help you identify the niche in which you would feel most productive and consequently most successful. Dream a little. ~ Andy Stanley, #NFDB
1404:I think the hallmark of a really good entrepreneur is that you're not really going to build one specific company. The goal - at least the way I think about entrepreneurship - is you realize one day that you can't really work for anyone else. You have to start your own thing. It almost doesn't matter what that thing is. ~ Max Levchin, #NFDB
1405:Love appears and says: “You think you’re heading toward a specific point, but the whole justification for the goal’s existence lies in your love for it. Rest a little, but as soon as you can, get up and carry on. Because ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1406:Love appears and says: "You think you're heading towards a specific point, but the whole justification for the goal's existence lies in your love for it. Rest a little,but as soon as you can, get up and carry on. Because ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1407:The quicker we all realize that we've been taught how to live life by people that were operating on the momentum of an ignorant past the quicker we can move to a global ethic of community that doesn't value invented borders or the monopolization of natural resources, but rather the goal of a happier more loving humanity. ~ Joe Rogan, #NFDB
1408:Give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they’ll find a way to screw it up. Give a mediocre idea to a good team, and they’ll find a way to make it better. The goal needs to be to get the team right, get them moving in the right direction, and get them to see where they are making mistakes and where they are succeeding. ~ Daniel Coyle, #NFDB
1409:man like Labienus, who probably would have had the man scourged or crucified, no matter how sound his judgment. Fortunately, shortly after this, word arrived that Antonius had at last decided that the winds and conditions were favorable and was embarking the rest of the army, with the goal of landing somewhere on the coast ~ R W Peake, #NFDB
1410:We may know ourselves, and yet even with all the efforts we make, we do not know ourselves. We know our fellowman, and yet we do not know him, because we are not a thing, and our fellowman is not a thing. The further we reach into the depths of our being, on someone else's being, the more the goal of knowledge eludes us. ~ Erich Fromm, #NFDB
1411:After years of repetitive work, you will often need to dig hard to find your passions, redefine your dreams, and revive hobbies that you let atrophy to near extinction. The goal is not to simply eliminate the bad, which does nothing more than leave you with a vacuum, but to pursue and experience the best in the world. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
1412:I write short stories. They may appear big in size, but when you consider it, they're four or five novels in one... In return for picking up one of my books, I'm trying to give them value for their money... the goal of writing any book is to create the illusion that what you are reading is reality and you're part of it. ~ James Clavell, #NFDB
1413:Kevin’s always saying things like “You’ve got a real deep bench, now, kid.” Or “You gotta keep your eye on the ball, and you’re going to push it over the goal line.” And I have no idea what he is talking about, but I nod enthusiastically and say, “Sure, of course, sports,” and hope he doesn’t ask any follow-up questions. ~ Mindy Kaling, #NFDB
1414:Sometimes our journeys in life seem to take forever to get to the culmination of our efforts—to achieving the goal. And once we do, it goes so fast and then it’s over.” He shrugs, surprising me with his introspection. “We forget that the journey is the best part. The reason for taking the ride. What we learn the most from. ~ K Bromberg, #NFDB
1415:The goal of all persons who had houses in those days was to possess the smallest number of pieces of furniture needed to sustain life, but to make them as large and heavy and dark as possible. Accordingly, Daniel and Drake ate their potatoes and herring on a table that had the size and weight of a medieval drawbridge. ~ Neal Stephenson, #NFDB
1416:It is the night sea journey that allows us to free the energy trapped in these cast-off parts—trapped in what Marion would call “the shadow.” The goal of this journey is to reunite us with ourselves. Such a homecoming can be surprisingly painful, even brutal. In order to undertake it, we must first agree to exile nothing. ~ Stephen Cope, #NFDB
1417:My drummer right now, who was also the first drummer in Weeping Tile, Jon McCann, told me that [Hip drummer] Johnny Fay took drum lessons from [McCann's] dad, who taught a lot of the drummers in Kingston. He said that when he was in Grade 9, the Hip were the model; the goal was to get an agent and gig as much as possible. ~ Sarah Harmer, #NFDB
1418:There is only one consciousness that you and I express in our unique ways. Our source lies inside each of us, and the goal of every life, no matter how different it looks on the surface from every other, is to reach the source. At that point there are no more divisions, inner or outer. The state of unity has been reached. ~ Deepak Chopra, #NFDB
1419:I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project...will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important...and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. ~ John F Kennedy, #NFDB
1420:Slowly blossomed, slowly ripened in Siddhartha the realisation, the knowledge, what wisdom actually was, what the goal of his long search was. It was nothing but a readiness of the soul, an ability, a secret art, to think every moment, while living his life, the thought of oneness, to be able to feel and inhale the oneness. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
1421:Slowly blossomed, slowly ripened in Siddhartha the realization, the knowledge, what wisdom actually was, what the goal of his long search was. It was nothing but a readiness of the soul, an ability, a secret art, to think every moment, while living his life, the thought of oneness, to be able to feel and inhale the oneness. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
1422:The goal...is not to change your desires and wishes but to persuade you to stop demanding that you absolutely must have what you wish-from yourself, from others, and from the world. You can by all means keep your wishes, preferences, and desires, but unless you prefer to remain needlessly anxious, not your grandiose demands. ~ Albert Ellis, #NFDB
1423:Aristotle's Politics is more humane than Plato's Republic, just as a quasi-bourgeois consciousness is more humane than a restorative one that, in order to impose itself upon a world already enlightened, prototypically becomes totalitarian. The goal of real praxis would be its own abolition.
(Critical Models, p.267) ~ Theodor W Adorno,#NFDB
1424:Because we are denied knowledge of our history, we are deprived of standing upon each other's shoulders and building upon each other's hard earned accomplishments. Instead we are condemned to repeat what others have done before us and thus we continually reinvent the wheel. The goal of The Dinner Party is to break this cycle. ~ Judy Chicago, #NFDB
1425:Not to give up under any circumstances should be the motto of our life: we shall try again and again, and we are bound to succeed. There will be obstacles, but we have to defy them. So do not give up, do not give up! Continue, continue! The goal is ahead of you. If you do not give up, you are bound to reach your destined goal. ~ Sri Chinmoy, #NFDB
1426:The goal of the middle world path is to develop a healthy personality or ego. Tasks involved in this process involve the exploration of core emotional wounds, self-love, and the cultivation of authenticity. A healthy adult ego will be able to love freely, be vulnerable, express creativity, and display empathy towards others. ~ Aletheia Luna, #NFDB
1427:The goal of this office will not be to favor one religious group over another - or even religious groups over secular groups. It will simply be to work on behalf of those organizations that want to work on behalf of our communities, and to do so without blurring the line that our founders wisely drew between church and state. ~ Barack Obama, #NFDB
1428:He (the devil) always sends errors into the world in pairs--pairs of opposites...He relies on your extra dislike of one to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between both errors. We have no other concern than that with either of them. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
1429:I accept that life is uncertain--that the goal is not to become more certain about anything but to relax more into the mystery of not knowing what will come next. And then, miracle of miracles, out there in the deep and uncertain water, I come into a peaceful knowing--a faithful wisdom that surpasses control and certainty. ~ Elizabeth Lesser, #NFDB
1430:Morrigan didn’t like the sound of the Goal-Setting and Achieving Club for Highly Ambitious Youth, which met on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, and all day Sunday. But she thought she could probably get on board with Introverts Utterly Anonymous, which promised no meetings or gatherings of any sort, ever. ~ Jessica Townsend, #NFDB
1431:The discipline, nonetheless, is exacting: everything that can be observed should be observed, even if it is only recalled as the bland background from which the intriguing bits pop out like Venus in the evening sky. The goal is always finding something new, hopefully unimagined and, better still, hitherto unimaginable. ~ Karl Barry Sharpless, #NFDB
1432:The goal of business then should not be to simply sell to anyone who wants what you have—the majority—but rather to find people who believe what you believe, the left side of the bell curve. They perceive greater value in what you do and will happily pay a premium or suffer some sort of inconvenience to be a part of your cause. ~ Simon Sinek, #NFDB
1433:Every animal on the planet attracts mates with the goal of reproduction. Frogs swell their bodies. Male gorillas beat their chests. Have you ever watched a male lobster rise up on the tips of his legs and snap his claws, demanding female attention? Attraction is the first element of all animal reproduction, humans included ~ Becca Fitzpatrick, #NFDB
1434:Slowly blossomed, slowly ripened in Siddhartha's soul the realization, the knowledge, what wisdom actually was, what the goal of his long search was. It was nothing but a readiness of the soul, an ability, a secret art, to think every moment, while living his life, the thought of oneness, to be able to feel and inhale oneness. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
1435:Every animal on the planet attracts mates with the goal of reproduction. Frogs swell their bodies. Male gorillas beat their chests. Have you ever watched a male lobster rise up on the tips of his legs and snap his claws, demanding female attention? Attraction is the first element of all animal reproduction, humans included. ~ Becca Fitzpatrick, #NFDB
1436:I believe everyone has spirit guides—but not everyone bothers to start a conversation with them. Spirit guides have lived as humans. They have a soul level that’s very evolved and have learned a lot of life lessons. (That’s the goal, you know—keep graduating to the next level, until you have a soul that is as pure as it can be.) ~ Jodi Picoult, #NFDB
1437:Strive through your adversities like a great football striker. Concentrate on the goal post and your ability to score a great goal. Let your attention be on your strength and your distinctive dexterity that can beat the strength and oppositions of your defenders and not the height, strength or boldness of the defenders. ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
1438:Proof is what lies at the heart of maths, and is what marks it out from other sciences. Other sciences have hypotheses that are tested against experimental evidence until they fail, and are overtaken by new hypotheses. In maths, absolute proof is the goal, and once something is proved, it is proved forever, with no room for change. ~ Simon Singh, #NFDB
1439:There's a gap between what I want to do, what I do on camera, and what gets edited. Right? So the goal is to try and close the gaps. What's the biggest compliment is if I read a review and it's exactly what I wrote down in my diary before ever filming it. That's really cool. That's the biggest signifier of closing the gaps. ~ Matthew McConaughey, #NFDB
1440:These magazines could tell me which clothes and shoes to wear, how to have my hair styled in order to fit in. They could show me the right kind of makeup to buy and how to apply it. This way, I would disappear into everywoman acceptability. I would not be stared at. The goal, ultimately, was successful camouflage as a human woman. ~ Gail Honeyman, #NFDB
1441:The goal of yoga is always hard to reach, but this one is more difficult than any other, and it is only for those who have the call, the capacity, the willingness to face everything and every risk, even the risk of failure, and the will to progress towards an entire selflessness, desirelessness and surrender. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, #NFDB
1442:Everyone has failed, everyone has misspoken, everyone has meant well but done the wrong thing. Your favorite restaurants, cafes and books have all gotten a one-star review along the way. No brand is perfect, no individual can pretend to be either. Perfect can't possibly be the goal, we're left with generous, important and human instead. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
1443:You are the way and you are the goal, and there is no distance between you and the goal. You are the seeker and you are the sought; there is no distance between the seeker and the sought. You are the worshipper and you are the worshipped. You are the disciple and you are the master. You are the means and you are the end: this is the great way. ~ Osho, #NFDB
1444:Most yoga practice starts with the goal of doing the extraordinary and supernatural— to place the feet behind the head, balance on one hand, or cheat the aging process. But the true practice of yoga aims at doing the natural and the ordinary—to stand on your feet, to find joy in filling the lungs,
and to release with each exhalation. ~ Darren Main,#NFDB
1445:... plans are all well and good in the Summer, but in the Winter it's wise to simply have an objective.'
'I thought we were meant to make a plan and stick to it?'
'Events move fast,' he said, 'and you need on-the-hoof flexibility to ensure the plan doesn't get in the way of the goal.'
It actually seemed like quite good advice. ~ Jasper Fforde,#NFDB
1446:We end up with institutions that address any number of societal goals—from freeing up hospital beds to taking burdens off families’ hands to coping with poverty among the elderly—but never the goal that matters to the people who reside in them: how to make life worth living when we’re weak and frail and can’t fend for ourselves anymore. ~ Atul Gawande, #NFDB
1447:Currently, the physical standards of beauty held up in the media as the goal are actually out of reach for 98 percent of the population. 'This is what is beautiful,' we are told. 'Look like this! Try to be this! You will never be able to, but please keep trying because we are making a lot of money out of your continued failed attempts. ~ Stasi Eldredge, #NFDB
1448:If the goal is to realize the Supreme Being, you should become egoless. That requires self-effort. The sadhak should work hard. He should pray sincerely for the removal of the negative tendencies. This prayer is not to achieve anything or to fulfill any desires. It is to go beyond all achievements. It is to transcend all desires. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi, #NFDB
1449:I never have bruises like that. I suppose it's being fat that makes them spread so. Won't you look lovely when you go yellow-green?" "That's one thing about me," said Fatty, "I'm a wonderful bruiser. Once, when I ran into the goal-post at football, I got a bruise just here that was exactly the shape of a church-bell. It was most peculiar. ~ Enid Blyton, #NFDB
1450:It is I who was, if there were any. What I had thought to be myself was not myself, but was my experience. I am all that there is, and it is myself who will be, whoever there will be. It is I who am the source, the traveler, and the goal of this existence. 'Verily truth is all the religion there is; and it is truth which will save. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, #NFDB
1451:The goal is to reveal things and their deeply interfused, radiating relations: fields in physics, food webs and energy flows in ecology, money exchanges in economics, ocean oxygen fluxes in earth system science, crop responses to sunlight in agronomy, and on to a near-infinity of human concerns. ~ Tyler Volk, Metapatterns - Across Space, Time, and Mind, #NFDB
1452:The goal of a startup is to figure out the right thing to build-the thing customers want and will pay for-as quickly as possible. In other words, the Lean Startup is a new way of looking at the development of innovative new products that emphasizes fast iteration and customer insight, a huge vision, and great ambition, all at the same time. ~ Eric Ries, #NFDB
1453:The goal of a startup is to figure out the right thing to build—the thing customers want and will pay for—as quickly as possible. In other words, the Lean Startup is a new way of looking at the development of innovative new products that emphasizes fast iteration and customer insight, a huge vision, and great ambition, all at the same time. ~ Eric Ries, #NFDB
1454:To love is to be selfless. To be selfless is to be fearless. To be fearless is to strip enemies of their greatest weapon. Even if they break our bodies and drain our blood, we are unvanquished. Our goal was never to live; our goal is to love. It is the goal of all noble men and women. Give all that can be given. Give even your live itself. ~ N D Wilson, #NFDB
1455:Countless studies show that these nightmarish hellholes called “open offices” destroy productivity and make people miserable. Yet companies keep inflicting them on us, coyly pretending that the goal is to “foster collaboration,” when really it is to squeeze pennies out of overhead by packing more people into fewer square feet of floor space. ~ Dan Lyons, #NFDB
1456:I think the goal with any writing, but especially narrative nonfiction, is to put the blockade of putting your thoughts in this unnatural medium of print and then trying to reach through that and actually convey what's going on, what you think, and make people laugh and recognize themselves while doing it. Definitely the laughing thing. ~ Sloane Crosley, #NFDB
1457:Okay, so why was the plant built in the first place? It was built to produce products. Why can’t that be the goal? Jonah said it wasn’t. But I don’t see why it isn’t the goal. We’re a manufacturing company. That means we have to manufacture something, doesn’t it? Isn’t that the whole point, to produce products? Why else are we here? ~ Eliyahu M Goldratt, #NFDB
1458:Provided we can escape from the museums we carry around inside us, provided we can stop selling ourselves tickets to the galleries in our own skulls, we can begin to contemplate an art which re-creates the goal of the sorcerer: changing the structure of reality by the manipulation of living symbols ... Art tells gorgeous lies that come true. ~ Hakim Bey, #NFDB
1459:Psychiatrists are usually very well imbued with the clinical role, where helping the sick person is the goal. And that's quite incompatible with the truthseeking role. That's probably true of the other fields, too, but maybe more so of the personalities that gravitate toward psychiatry. They tend to care about people and wish to be helpful. ~ Park Dietz, #NFDB
1460:Challenge yourself by doing things that hurt, on purpose. Have a willpower practice, such as very hard exercise, meditation, endurance, or cold showers. Choose something that makes your brain scream with how hard it is, and try to tolerate it. The goal isn’t just to get used to it. It’s to understand that pain is something you can survive. ~ Julien Smith, #NFDB
1461:The goal for managing horizontally and vertically is the
same: to get things off your mind and get things done. Appropriate action management lets you feel comfortable and in control as you move through your broad spectrum of work and life, while appropriate project focusing gets you clear about and on track
with the specifics needed. ~ David Allen,#NFDB
1462:The goal with me, and the way I challenge myself as an actor, is to go from genre to genre. I like that. A lot of actors always challenge themselves. But for me the challenge lies not only in getting better, but going from drama to comedy to action or whatever the case may be, and having a wide array of movies in terms of my filmography. ~ Dwayne Johnson, #NFDB
1463:The goal of a definition is to introduce a mathematical object. The goal of a theorem is to state some of its properties, or interrelations between various objects. The goal of a proof is to make such a statement convincing by presenting a reasoning subdivided into small steps each of which is justified as an "elementary" convincing argument. ~ IU I Manin, #NFDB
1464:The goal, Sister Clare had taught them in school, was shorthand so neat and so legible that anyone can pick up your steno book and type your letters for you. So neat and so legible, she had said, smiling at them from within her wimple, that if you elope on your lunch hour, another secretary can finish your letters for you that afternoon. ~ Alice McDermott, #NFDB
1465:The presumption that the law can tell us what natural institution is supposed to be is a formula for totalitarianism. There's not equality in a family; there never is. And yet for that reason, the family is condemned as patriarchal. The goal of this sort of legislation is about the destruction of the traditional family, not just marriage. ~ Francis George, #NFDB
1466:Every team begins the year with the goal of going to the NCAA tournament. Until somebody takes that dream away, you pursue it. The reality is, we're a long way off from being in the NCAA tournament. For us to do that is a pipe dream. But if we were to win our last four, we're 8-8 in the best conference in the country. We'd have an opportunity. ~ Dan Monson, #NFDB
1467:I mean, Lady Gaga is trying to be a freak or whatever but that quality of being very meaningly and heartfelt, but also having a sense of humor about it, bands don't do that anymore. Lady Gaga's songs are cheesy. The Beatles weren't cheesy. That's the hardest thing with music: to not be cheesy, but also be meaningful. That's the goal, I think. ~ Mac DeMarco, #NFDB
1468:There is nothing more difficult than tactical maneuvering. The difficult consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain. Thus, to take a long and circuitous route after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting after him to contrive to reach the goal before him, shows knowledge of the artifice of deviation. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
1469:Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvellous work. It is fear that is the great cause of misery in the world. It is fear that is the greatest of all superstitions. It is fear that is the cause of all our woes, and it is fearlessness that brings heaven even in a moment. Therefore, "arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1470:But before you go hiding behind the walls of scientific dogma, let’s remember that science was once convinced that the world was flat and disbelievers were burned at the stake as heretics. Science is continually evolving, and the goal of paranormal investigators should be to augment scientific discovery to better understand the world around us. ~ Zak Bagans, #NFDB
1471:If you try to figure out how you will get what you want you will limit yourself to what your ego or conditioned mind can do. The key to creating what you want is to turn your desire or your goal over to your subconscious which is connected to the Universal Mind or Universal Subconscious and let it bring the goal to you and you to your goal. ~ Robert Anthony, #NFDB
1472:Learning” virtue—becoming virtuous—is more like practicing scales on the piano than learning music theory: the goal is, in a sense, for your fingers to learn the scales so they can then play “naturally,” as it were. Learning here isn’t just information acquisition; it’s more like inscribing something into the very fiber of your being. Thus ~ James K A Smith, #NFDB
1473:Sorry to burst your bubble, but you were actually pointing at the old guy a few seats over. He totally freaked out and started shouting to everyone that you scored that goal for him, and then I heard him ask his wife if maybe you knew that he was just diagnosed with diabetes, so I didn’t have the heart to tell him who the goal was really for. ~ Elle Kennedy, #NFDB
1474:Concentration and relaxation are considered necessary concomitants to awareness. They are required precursors, handy tools, and beneficial byproducts. But they are not the goal. The goal is insight. Vipassana meditation is a profound religious practice aimed at nothing less than the purification and transformation of your everyday life. ~ Henepola Gunaratana, #NFDB
1475:The Passions of men,” Hobbes writes, “are commonly more potent than their Reason.” Reason cannot bring happiness, nor can it be used as the goal of a philosophical life. There is no happiness. There is only striving and security and passion. Reason cannot save us from the war of all against all; only the Leviathan, the power of the state, can.21 ~ Ben Shapiro, #NFDB
1476:The question of truth is really a question of memory, deep memory, for it deals with something prior to ourselves and can succeed in uniting us in a way that transcends our petty and limited individual consciousness. It is a question about the origin of all that is, in whose light we can glimpse the goal and thus the meaning of our common path. ~ Pope Francis, #NFDB
1477:/Farsi I tell Thee this -- When, starting from the Goal, Over the shoulders of the flaming Foal Of Heav'n Parwin and Mushtari they flung, In my predestin'd Plot of Dust and Soul. [bk1sm.gif] -- from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, by Omar Khayyam / Translated by Edward FitzGerald
~ Omar Khayyam, 54 - I tell Thee this -- When, starting from the Goal
,#NFDB
1478:In music, sometimes a man will feel that he comes to the edge of breaking out from prison bars of existence, breaking out from the universe altogether. There is a sense that the goal is at hand; that the boundary wall of the universe is crumbling and will be breached at the next moment, when the soul will pass out free into the infinite. ~ Walter Terence Stace, #NFDB
1479:Quite simply, the goal of terrorism is to create terror and fear. Fear undermines faith in the establishment. It weakens the enemy from within . . . causing unrest in the masses. Write this down. Terrorism is not an expression of rage. Terrorism is a political weapon. Remove a government’s façade of infallibility, and you remove its people’s faith. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1480:I picture the vast realm of the sciences as an immense landscape scattered with patches of dark and light. The goal towards which we must work is either to extend the boundaries of the patches of light, or to increase their number. One of these tasks falls to the creative genius; the other requires a sort of sagacity combined with perfectionism. ~ Denis Diderot, #NFDB
1481:Some hopeless people who anticipate only death cite Scripture that says “I desire to depart and be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). But Christ is not what hopeless people really want. The God-talk is misleading. The goal of hopelessness is to end the suffering, and if God happens to be there when it happens, fine. But God’s presence is not essential. ~ Edward T Welch, #NFDB
1482:The goal is not to remove every person from my life who does not serve me. The goal is to bring greater intentionality into each of my relationships. I want to find people who will lead me, mentor me, and love me, but I also want to keep in my life people whom I serve and love and pour my life into. Because both are required for a balanced life. ~ Joshua Becker, #NFDB
1483:Become aware, awake. Then you will see that everything comes and goes, all things come and pass. Life is a flux. Your consciousness is the only thing that is immovable, that is eternal. To attain it is freedom. To attain it is the goal of life. If you miss it you have missed your life and you have missed a tremendously great gift, a great opportunity. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1484:imaging has its own formula: 1) the goal, 2) the purpose, 3) prayer activity, 4) thoughtful planning, 5) innovative thinking, 6) enthusiasm, 7) organized hard work, and 8) always holding the image of success firmly in mind. If this formula is faithfully carried out, the desired results will be achieved despite all difficulties or setbacks. ~ Norman Vincent Peale, #NFDB
1485:It's very important to approach pedophiles and pedosexuals and offer them therapy. It's been my experience that you can reach your objective with what I would call kind-hearted, informed and enlightened patients - in the sense that they don't lose their desire, but that they no longer have physical contact with children. That would be the goal. ~ Volkmar Sigusch, #NFDB
1486:Music is a tool. Lighting is a tool. Power point is a tool. Getting those things right is not the goal. God is the goal. Those are just tools. And we can real easily turn into worshippers of all the tools, rather than remembering that this is simply a tool to get the job done which is to help connect people with God and to help inspire people. ~ Lincoln Brewster, #NFDB
1487:Question-storming can be more realistic and achievable than brainstorming. Instead of hoping that you’ll emerge from a meeting with “the answer” (which almost never happens and thus leaves people feeling frustrated), the goal is to come out of it with a few promising and powerful questions—which is likely to provide a sense of direction and momentum. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1488:The striving for significance, this sense of yearning, always points out to us that all psychological phenomena contain a movement that starts from a feeling of inferiority and reach upward. The theory of Individual Psychology of psychological compensation states that the stronger the feeling of inferiority, the higher the goal for personal power. ~ Alfred Adler, #NFDB
1489:Church must not be the goal of the gospel anymore. Church should not be the focus of our efforts or the banner we hold up to explain what we're about. Church should be what ends up happening as a natural response to people wanting to follow us, be with us, and be like us as we are following the way of Christ. (The Tangible Kingdom by Halt and Smay) ~ Jen Hatmaker, #NFDB
1490:I came from advertising. For me it's about protecting the director's vision. That's always the goal. There's keeping things on budget and on time and dealing with selling the movie so that to me is a focus. But also it's about serving the script. We are genre filmmakers, those are the films we love to make, so my perspective is a little different. ~ Charles Roven, #NFDB
1491:Perhaps the most legitimately dispiriting thing about reciprocal altruism is that it is a misnomer. Whereas with kin selection the "goal" of our genes is to actually help another organism, with reciprocal altruism the goal is that the organism be left under the impression that we've helped; the impression alone is enough to bring the reciprocation. ~ Robert Wright, #NFDB
1492:The essential unity of ecclesiastical and secular institutions was lost during the 19th century, to the point of senseless hostility. Yet there was never any doubt as to the striving for culture. No one doubted the sacredness of the goal. It was the approach that was disputed. ~ Albert Einstein, "Moral Decay" (1937); Later published in Out of My Later Years (1950), #NFDB
1493:The natural scientists of the previous age knew less than we do and believed they were very close to the goal: we have taken very great steps in its direction and now discover we are still very far away from it. With the most rational philosophers an increase in their knowledge is always attended by an increased conviction of their ignorance. ~ Georg C Lichtenberg, #NFDB
1494:The recurring theme of all religions is a sympathy, empathy, connection, capacity between the human and the divine - that we were made for union with one another. They might express this through different rituals, doctrines, dogmas, or beliefs, but at the higher levels they're talking about the same goal. And the goal is always union with the divine. ~ Richard Rohr, #NFDB
1495:The reluctant leader doesn’t merely give accolades to others. It is her true joy to see others awaken to their potential and exceed their greatest dreams. It is the hope of every good teacher to have students who take their work further than the teacher was able to do. To be surpassed is the ideal. To be replaced is the goal, not a sign of failure. ~ Dan B Allender, #NFDB
1496:If you continue to pursue the goal of salvation through a relationship, you will be disillusioned again and again. But if you accept that the relationship is here to make you conscious instead of happy, then the relationship will offer you salvation, and you will be aligning yourself with the higher consciousness that wants to be born into this world. ~ Eckhart Tolle, #NFDB
1497:The Lightest Touch You will not know my name. The strand of time is in my hands, and our fates will brush, but I will not have a face. Likewise, I do not know who you are you might be nothing more than the reason I turned left at the end of the street instead of right. However, The goal is clear. The universe knows where we both should end up. ~ Jen Minkman, #NFDB
1498:As soon as error is corrected, it is important that the error be forgotten and only the successful attempts be remembered. Errors, mistakes, and humiliations are all necessary steps in the learning process. Once they have served their purpose, they should be forgotten. If we constantly dwell upon the errors, then the error or failure becomes the goal. ~ Vince Lombardi, #NFDB
1499:His goal as a doctor was always “trying to identify what happened in the past” of an addict that made them find everyday life unbearable, and to help them overcome it by offering compassion and helping them to build a good life as an alternative. Now they were asking: If this is the goal of all good doctors, why can’t it be the goal of government policy? ~ Johann Hari, #NFDB
1500:The goal in blogging/ business/ inspiring non-fiction is to share a truth, or at least a truth as the writer sees it. To not just share it, but to spread it and to cause change to happen. You can do that in at least three ways: with research (your own or reporting on others), by building and describing conceptual structures, or with stories that resonate. ~ Seth Godin, #NFDB
287 Integral Yoga
49 Yoga
36 Occultism
35 Poetry
31 Psychology
20 Philosophy
16 Christianity
8 Hinduism
7 Education
6 Theosophy
6 Fiction
4 Buddhism
3 Integral Theory
3 Baha i Faith
2 Mythology
1 Sufism
1 Science
1 Philsophy
1 Mysticism
1 Kabbalah
1 Alchemy
147 Sri Aurobindo
136 The Mother
87 Nolini Kanta Gupta
54 Satprem
27 Carl Jung
23 Sri Ramakrishna
14 Swami Vivekananda
11 Swami Krishnananda
11 Plotinus
10 A B Purani
9 Aleister Crowley
6 Sri Ramana Maharshi
6 Rudolf Steiner
6 Robert Browning
6 H P Lovecraft
6 Aldous Huxley
5 Patanjali
4 Jordan Peterson
4 Alice Bailey
3 James George Frazer
3 Baha u llah
2 William Wordsworth
2 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
2 Saint John of Climacus
2 Saint Augustine of Hippo
2 Plato
2 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
2 Paul Richard
2 Mahendranath Gupta
2 John Keats
2 George Van Vrekhem
2 Genpo Roshi
2 Friedrich Schiller
2 Friedrich Nietzsche
2 Bokar Rinpoche
36 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
29 The Synthesis Of Yoga
22 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
17 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
15 Letters On Yoga IV
15 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
12 The Life Divine
12 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
11 The Study and Practice of Yoga
11 Talks
11 Prayers And Meditations
11 On Thoughts And Aphorisms
11 Letters On Yoga II
10 The Practice of Psycho therapy
10 Questions And Answers 1956
10 Mysterium Coniunctionis
10 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
10 Essays Divine And Human
9 The Secret Of The Veda
9 Isha Upanishad
8 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
8 Savitri
8 Raja-Yoga
8 On Education
8 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
8 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
7 Liber ABA
7 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
6 Words Of The Mother II
6 Words Of Long Ago
6 The Perennial Philosophy
6 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
6 Questions And Answers 1953
6 Lovecraft - Poems
6 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08
6 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
6 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
6 Browning - Poems
5 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
5 Essays On The Gita
5 Agenda Vol 06
5 Agenda Vol 04
5 Agenda Vol 03
4 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
4 The Human Cycle
4 Some Answers From The Mother
4 Questions And Answers 1955
4 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
4 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 04
4 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 03
4 On the Way to Supermanhood
4 Maps of Meaning
4 Knowledge of the Higher Worlds
4 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
4 Collected Poems
4 A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
4 Agenda Vol 10
4 Agenda Vol 02
3 Vedic and Philological Studies
3 The Secret Doctrine
3 The Golden Bough
3 Questions And Answers 1954
3 Agenda Vol 12
3 Agenda Vol 09
3 Agenda Vol 08
3 Agenda Vol 01
3 A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah
2 Wordsworth - Poems
2 Words Of The Mother III
2 Words Of The Mother I
2 The Red Book Liber Novus
2 Theosophy
2 The Ladder of Divine Ascent
2 The Book of Certitude
2 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
2 Tara - The Feminine Divine
2 Schiller - Poems
2 Preparing for the Miraculous
2 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 01
2 Magick Without Tears
2 Letters On Yoga III
2 Kena and Other Upanishads
2 Keats - Poems
2 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 06
2 City of God
2 Agenda Vol 13
2 Agenda Vol 07
2 Agenda Vol 05
2 5.1.01 - Ilion
0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
According to the Tantra, the Ultimate Reality is Chit, or Consciousness, which is identical with Sat, or Being, and with Ananda, or Bliss. This Ultimate Reality, Satchidananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, is identical with the Reality preached in the Vedas. And man is identical with this Reality; but under the influence of maya, or illusion, he has forgotten his true nature. He takes to be real a merely apparent world of subject and object, and this error is the cause of his bondage and suffering. the Goal of spiritual discipline is the rediscovery of his true identity with the divine Reality.
For the achievement of this goal the Vedanta prescribes an austere negative method of discrimination and renunciation, which can be followed by only a few individuals endowed with sharp intelligence and unshakable will-power. But Tantra takes into consideration the natural weakness of human beings, their lower appetites, and their love for the concrete. It combines philosophy with rituals, meditation with ceremonies, renunciation with enjoyment. The underlying purpose is gradually to train the aspirant to meditate on his identity with the Ultimate.
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Totapuri, coming to know of the Master's marriage, had once remarked: "What does it matter? He alone is firmly established in the Knowledge of Brahman who can adhere to his spirit of discrimination and renunciation even while living with his wife. He alone has attained the supreme illumination who can look on man and woman alike as Brahman. A man with the idea of sex may be a good aspirant, but he is still far from the Goal." Sri Ramakrishna and his wife lived together at Dakshineswar, but their minds always soared above the worldly plane. A few months after Sarada Devi's arrival Sri Ramakrishna arranged, on an auspicious day, a special worship of Kali, the Divine Mother. Instead of an image of the Deity, he placed on the seat the living image, Sarada Devi herself. The worshipper and the worshipped went into deep samadhi and in the transcendental plane their souls were united. After several hours Sri Ramakrishna came down again to the relative plane, sang a hymn to the Great Goddess, and surrendered, at the feet of the living image, himself, his rosary, and the fruit of his life-long sadhana. This is known in Tantra as the Shorasi Puja, the "Adoration of Woman". Sri Ramakrishna realized the significance of the great statement of the Upanishad: "O Lord, Thou art the woman. Thou art the man; Thou art the boy. Thou art the girl; Thou art the old, tottering on their crutches. Thou pervadest the universe in its multiple forms."
By his marriage Sri Ramakrishna admitted the great value of marriage in man's spiritual evolution, and by adhering to his monastic vows he demonstrated the imperative necessity of self-control, purity, and continence, in the realization of God. By this unique spiritual relationship with his wife he proved that husband and wife can live together as spiritual companions. Thus his life is a synthesis of the ways of life of the householder and the monk.
0.01 - I - Sri Aurobindos personality, his outer retirement - outside contacts after 1910 - spiritual personalities- Vibhutis and Avatars - transformtion of human personality, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
The Gita in its chapters on the Vibhuti and the Avatar takes in general the same position. It shows that the present formula of our nature, and therefore the mental personality of man, is not final. A Vibhuti embodies in a human manifestation a certain divine quality and thus demonstrates the possibility of overcoming the limits of ordinary human personality. The Vibhuti the embodiment of a divine quality or power, and the Avatar the divine incarnation, are not to be looked upon as supraphysical miracles thrown at humanity without regard to the process of evolution; they are, in fact, indications of human possibility, a sign that points to the Goal of evolution.
In his Essays on the Gita, Sri Aurobindo says about the Avatar: "He may, on the other hand, descend as an incarnation of divine life, the divine personality and power in its characteristic action, for a mission ostensibly social, ethical and political, as is represented in the story of Rama or Krishna; but always then this descent becomes in the soul of the race a permanent power for the inner living and the spiritual rebirth."[5]
0.02 - II - The Home of the Guru, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
Guru-griha-vsa staying in the home of the Guru is a very old Indian ideal maintained by seekers through the ages. The Aranyakas the ancient teachings in the forest-groves are perhaps the oldest records of the institution. It was not for education in the modern sense of the term that men went to live with the Guru; for the Guru is not a 'teacher'. The Guru is one who is 'enlightened', who is a seer, a Rishi, one who has the vision of and has lived the Truth. He has, thus, the knowledge of the Goal of human life and has learnt true values in life by living the Truth. He can impart both these to the willing seeker. In ancient times seekers went to the Guru with many questions, difficulties and doubts but also with earnestness. Their questions were preliminary to the quest.
The Master, the Guru, set at rest the puzzled human mind by his illuminating answers, perhaps even more by his silent consciousness, so that it might be able to pursue unhampered the path of realisation of the Truth. Those ancient discourses answer the mind of man today even across the ages. They have rightly acquired as everything of the past does a certain sanctity. But sometimes that very reverence prevents men from properly evaluating, and living in, the present. This happens when the mind instead of seeking the Spirit looks at the form. For instance, it is not necessary for such discourses that they take place in forest-groves in order to be highly spiritual. Wherever the Master is, there is Light. And guru-griha the house of the Master can be his private dwelling place. So much was this feeling a part of Sri Aurobindo's nature and so particular was he to maintain the personal character of his work that during the first few years after 1923 he did not like his house to be called an 'Ashram', as the word had acquired the sense of a public institution to the modern mind. But there was no doubt that the flower of Divinity had blossomed in him; and disciples, like bees seeking honey, came to him. It is no exaggeration to say that these Evening Talks were to the small company of disciples what the Aranyakas were to the ancient seekers. Seeking the Light, they came to the dwelling place of their Guru, the greatest seer of the age, and found it their spiritual home the home of their parents, for the Mother, his companion in the great mission, had come. And these spiritual parents bestowed upon the disciples freely of their Light, their Consciousness, their Power and their Grace. The modern reader may find that the form of these discourses differs from those of the past but it was bound to be so for the simple reason that the times have changed and the problems that puzzle the modern mind are so different. Even though the disciples may be very imperfect representations of what he aimed at in them, still they are his creations. It is in order to repay, in however infinitesimal a degree, the debt which we owe to him that the effort is made to partake of the joy of his company the Evening Talks with a larger public.
0.02 - The Three Steps of Nature, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
we are the terrestrial summit may be considered, in a sense, as an inverse manifestation, by which these supreme Powers in their unity and their diversity use, develop and perfect the imperfect substance and activities of Matter, of Life and of Mind so that they, the inferior modes, may express in mutable relativity an increasing harmony of the divine and eternal states from which they are born. If this be the truth of the universe, then the Goal of evolution is also its cause, it is that which is immanent in its elements and out of them is liberated. But the liberation is surely imperfect if it is only an escape and there is no return upon the containing substance and activities to exalt and transform them.
The immanence itself would have no credible reason for being if it did not end in such a transfiguration. But if human mind can become capable of the glories of the divine Light, human emotion and sensibility can be transformed into the mould and assume the measure and movement of the supreme Bliss, human action not only represent but feel itself to be the motion of a divine and non-egoistic Force and the physical substance of our being sufficiently partake of the purity of the supernal essence, sufficiently unify plasticity and durable constancy to support and prolong these highest experiences and agencies, then all the long labour of Nature will end in a crowning justification and her evolutions reveal their profound significance.
--
We perceive, then, these three steps in Nature, a bodily life which is the basis of our existence here in the material world, a mental life into which we emerge and by which we raise the bodily to higher uses and enlarge it into a greater completeness, and a divine existence which is at once the Goal of the other two and returns upon them to liberate them into their highest possibilities. Regarding none of them as either beyond our reach or below our nature and the destruction of none of them as essential to the ultimate attainment, we accept this liberation and fulfilment as part at least and a large and important part of the aim of Yoga.
0.03 - The Threefold Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The characteristic law of Spirit is self-existent perfection and immutable infinity. It possesses always and in its own right the immortality which is the aim of Life and the perfection which is the Goal of Mind. The attainment of the eternal and the realisation of that which is the same in all things and beyond all things, equally blissful in universe and outside it, untouched by the imperfections and limitations of the forms and activities in which it dwells, are the glory of the spiritual life.
In each of these forms Nature acts both individually and collectively; for the Eternal affirms Himself equally in the single form and in the group-existence, whether family, clan and nation or groupings dependent on less physical principles or the supreme group of all, our collective humanity. Man also may seek his own individual good from any or all of these spheres of activity, or identify himself in them with the collectivity and live for it, or, rising to a truer perception of this complex universe, harmonise the individual realisation with the collective aim. For as it is the right relation of the soul with the Supreme, while it is in the universe, neither to assert egoistically its separate being nor to blot itself out in the Indefinable, but to realise its unity with the Divine and the world and unite them in the individual, so the right relation of the individual with the collectivity is neither to pursue egoistically his own material or mental progress or spiritual salvation without regard to his fellows, nor for the sake of the community to suppress or maim his proper development, but to sum up in himself all its best and completest possibilities and pour them out by thought, action and all other means on his surroundings so that the whole race may approach nearer to the attainment of its supreme personalities.
--
That highest thing, the spiritual existence, is concerned with what is eternal but not therefore entirely aloof from the transient. For the spiritual man the mind's dream of perfect beauty is realised in an eternal love, beauty and delight that has no dependence and is equal behind all objective appearances; its dream of perfect Truth in the supreme, self-existent, self-apparent and eternal Verity which never varies, but explains and is the secret of all variations and the Goal of all progress; its dream of perfect action in the omnipotent and self-guiding Law that is inherent for ever in all things and translates itself here in the rhythm of the worlds. What is fugitive vision or constant effort of creation in the brilliant Self is an eternally existing Reality in the Self that knows2 and is the Lord.
But if it is often difficult for the mental life to accommodate itself to the dully resistant material activity, how much more difficult must it seem for the spiritual existence to live on in a world that appears full not of the Truth but of every lie and illusion, not of Love and Beauty but of an encompassing discord and ugliness, not of the Law of Truth but of victorious selfishness and sin? Therefore the spiritual life tends easily in the saint and Sannyasin to withdraw from the material existence and reject it either wholly and physically or in the spirit. It sees this world as the kingdom of evil or of ignorance and the eternal and divine either in a far-off heaven or beyond where there is no world and no life. It separates itself inwardly, if not also physically, from the world's impurities; it asserts the spiritual reality in a spotless isolation. This withdrawal renders an invaluable service to the material life itself by forcing it to regard and even to bow down to something that is the direct negation of its own petty ideals, sordid cares and egoistic self-content.
0.05 - Letters to a Child, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
courage in spite of all difficulties. You are sure to reach the Goal,
and the more you keep confidence, the quicker it will come.
0.07 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
you aspire, the way is Love and the Goal too is Love" - is it not
the best answer to your letter?...
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My love and blessings will lead you to the Goal.
13 August 1939
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My love wants to lead you to the Goal and it is bound to
succeed.
01.02 - Natures Own Yoga, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The soul or the true being in man uplifted in the supramental consciousness and at the same time coming forward to possess a divinised mind and life and body as an instrument and channel of its self-expression and an embodiment of the Divine Will and Purposesuch is the Goal that Nature is seeking to realise at present through her evolutionary lan. It is to this labour that man has been called so that in and through him the destined transcendence and transformation can take place.
It is not easy, however, nor is it necessary for the moment to envisage in detail what this divinised man would be like, externallyhis mode of outward being and living, kimsita vrajeta kim, as Arjuna queriedor how the collective life of the new humanity would function or what would be the composition of its social fabric. For what is happening is a living process, an organic growth; it is being elaborated through the actions and reactions of multitudinous forces and conditions, known and unknown; the precise configuration of the final outcome cannot be predicted with exactitude. But the Power that is at work is omniscient; it is selecting, rejecting, correcting, fashioning, creating, co-ordinating elements in accordance with and by the drive of the inviolable law of Truth and Harmony that reigns in Light's own homeswe dame the Supermind.
01.03 - Sri Aurobindo and his School, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo does not preach flight from life and a retreat into the silent and passive Infinite; the Goal of life is not, in his view, the extinction of life. Neither is he satisfied on that account to hold that life is best lived in the ordinary round of its unregenerate dharma. If the first is a blind alley, the second is a vicious circle,both lead nowhere.
Sri Aurobindo's sadhana starts from the perception of a Power that is beyond the ordinary nature yet is its inevitable master, a fulcrum, as we have said, outside the earth. For what is required first is the discovery and manifestation of a new soul-consciousness in man which will bring about by the very pressure and working out of its self-rule an absolute reversal of man's nature. It is the Asuras who are now holding sway over humanity, for man has allowed himself so long to be built in the image of the Asura; to dislodge the Asuras, the Gods in their sovereign might have to be forged in the human being and brought into play. It is a stupendous task, some would say impossible; but it is very far removed from quietism or passivism. Sri Aurobindo is in retirement, but it is a retirement only from the outward field of present physical activities and their apparent actualities, not from the true forces and action of life. It is the retreat necessary to one who has to go back into himself to conquer a new plane of creative power,an entrance right into the world of basic forces, of fundamental realities, into the flaming heart of things where all actualities are born and take their first shape. It is the discovery of a power-house of tremendous energism and of the means of putting it at the service of earthly life.
01.04 - The Secret Knowledge, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
And knows the Goal of the unconscious world
And the heart of the mystery of the journeying years.
01.08 - Walter Hilton: The Scale of Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
If you are told you are still full of sins and you are not worthy to follow the path, that you must go and work out your sins first, here is your answer: "Go shrive thee better: trow not this saying, for it is false, for thou art shriven. Trust securely that thou art on the way, and thee needeth no ransacking of shrift for that that is passed, hold forth thy way and think on Jerusalem." That is to say, do not be too busy with the difficulties of the moment, but look ahead, as far as possible, fix your attention upon the Goal, the intermediate steps will become easy. Jerusalem is another name of the Love of Jesus or the Bliss in Heaven. Grow in this love, your sins will fade away of themselves. "Though thou be thrust in an house with thy body, nevertheless in thine heart, where the stead of love is, thou shouldst be able to have part of that love... " What exquisite utterance, what a deep truth!
Indeed, there are one or two points, notes for the guidance of the aspirant, which I would like to mention here for their striking appositeness and simple "soothfastness." First of all with regard to the restless enthusiasm and eagerness of a novice, here is the advice given: "The fervour is so mickle in outward showing, is not only for mickleness of love that they have; but it is for littleness and weakness of their souls, that they may not bear a little touching of God.. afterward when love hath boiled out all the uncleanliness, then is the love clear and standeth still, and then is both the body and the soul mickle more in peace, and yet hath the self soul mickle more love than it had before, though it shew less outward." And again: "without any fervour outward shewed, and the less it thinketh that it loveth or seeth God, the nearer it nigheth" ('it' naturally refers to the soul). The statement is beautifully self-luminous, no explanation is required. Another hurdle that an aspirant has to face often in the passage through the Dark Night is that you are left all alone, that you are deserted by your God, that the Grace no longer favours you. Here is however the truth of the matter; "when I fall down to my frailty, then Grace withdraweth: for my falling is cause there-of, and not his fleeing." In fact, the Grace never withdraws, it is we who withdraw and think otherwise. One more difficulty that troubles the beginner especially is with regard to the false light. The being of darkness comes in the form of the angel of light, imitates the tone of the still small voice; how to recognise, how to distinguish the two? The false light, the "feigned sun" is always found "atwixt two black rainy clouds" : they are "highing" of oneself and "lowing" of others. When you feel flattered and elated, beware it is the siren voice tempting you. The true light brings you soothing peace and meekness: the other light brings always a trail of darknessf you are soothfast and sincere you will discover it if not near you, somewhere at a distance lurking.
01.09 - William Blake: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Touching the very core of the malady of our age he says that our modern enlightenment seeks to cancel altogether the higher values and install instead the lower alone as true. Thus, for example, Marx and Freud, its twin arch priests, are brothers. Both declare that it is the lower, the under layer alone that matters: to one "the masses", to the other "the instincts". Their wild imperative roars: "Sweep away this pseudo-higher; let the instincts rule, let the pro-letariat dictate!" But more characteristic, Monsieur Thibon has made another discovery which gives the whole value and speciality to his outlook. He says the moderns stress the lower, no doubt; but the old world stressed only the higher and neglected the lower. Therefore the revolt and wrath of the lower, the rage of Revanche in the heart of the dispossessed in the modern world. Enlightenment meant till now the cultivation and embellishment of the Mind, the conscious Mind, the rational and nobler faculties, the height and the depth: and mankind meant the princes and the great ones. In the individual, in the scheme of his culture and education, the senses were neglected, left to go their own way as they pleased; and in the collective field, the toiling masses in the same way lived and moved as best as they could under the economics of laissez-faire. So Monsieur Thibon concludes: "Salvation has never come from below. To look for it from above only is equally vain. No doubt salvation must come from the higher, but on condition that the higher completely adopts and protects the lower." Here is a vision luminous and revealing, full of great import, if we follow the right track, prophetic of man's true destiny. It is through this infiltration of the higher into the lower and the integration of the lower into the higher that mankind will reach the Goal of its evolution, both individually and collectively.
But the process, Monsieur Thibon rightly asserts, must begin with the individual and within the individual. Man must "turn within, feel alive within himself", re-establish his living contact with God, the source and origin from which he has cut himself off. Man must learn to subordinate having to being. Each individual must be himself, a free and spontaneous expression. Upon such individual , upon individuals grouped naturally in smaller collectivities and not upon unformed or ill-formed wholesale masses can a perfect human society be raised and will be raised. Monsieur Thibon insistsand very rightlyupon the variety and diversity of individual and local growths in a unified humanity and not a dead uniformity of regimented oneness. He declares, as the reviewer of the London Times succinctly puts it: "Let us abolish our insensate worship of number. Let us repeal the law of majorities. Let us work for the unity that draws together instead of idolizing the multiplicity that disintegrates. Let us understand that it is not enough for each to have a place; what matters is that each should be in his right place. For the atomized society let us substitute an organic society, one in which every man will be free to do what he alone is qualified and able to do."
0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
reach the Goal. Few are ready for a total consecration. Many
children who have studied here need to come to grips with life
--
Everything is possible. All paths lead to the Goal provided they
are followed with persistence and sincerity.
--
and of the Goal to be achieved, which is the only thing that
matters.
0.11 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(1) Never forget the Goal that one wants to attain.
(2) Never allow any part of the being or any of its movements to contradict one's aspiration.
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The Divine is the Goal, the path and the one who treads
the path. But isn't a person who is not advancing towards
0 1956-04-20, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Agreedwith all my heart I accept the gift you give me of your freedom to choose wrongly And it is with all my heart, too, that I shall always help you make the choice that leads straight to the Goal that is, towards your real self.
With all my affection and my blessings.
0 1958-10-17, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
7) But even in the event you have not made the irrevocable decision at the outset, should you have the good fortune to live during one of these unimaginable hours of universal history when the Grace is present, embodied upon earth, It will offer you, at certain exceptional moments, the renewed possibility of making a final choice that will lead you straight to the Goal.
That was the message of hope.
0 1959-01-27, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
All is well I am enthusiastic and you can count on my conscious help to overcome all the obstacles and all the bad will that may try to stop or delay your progress. It is a matter of being more obstinate, much more obstinate than the enemy, and whatever the cost, to reach the Goal in time.
Since my last letter, I have thought about it and I see that I will be able to go down in the morning three times a week for one hour, from 10 to 11, to work with you, but you will have to do only the strict minimum in order to have as much free time as you need for the other things.1
0 1961-02-04, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
So, mon petit, dont worry. You are SURE, sure not only to advance but to reach the Goal. And as for this troubled mind, keep it occupied with the book on Sri Aurobindo.
Good-bye now, petit. Dont worry.
0 1961-03-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I have brought you a whole discourse! (Mother gives Satprem some flowers) First, the Goal of the Vedas: Immortality.1 That was their goal: the Truth that led to Immortality. Immortality was their ambition. I dont think it was physical immortality but I am not sure, because they do speak of the forefa thers and this refers to the initiatory tradition prior to the Vedas as well as the Kabbala, and immortality on earth is spoken of there: the earth transformedSri Aurobindos idea. So although they didnt explicitly state it, perhaps they knew.
(Mother gives more flowers) This one is more on the personal side: Friendship with the Divine2, the friendly relationship you can have with the Divineyou understand each other, you dont fear each other, youre good friends! And this one is a wonder! (Mother gives Divine Love Governing the World3) What strength! Its generous, expansive, without narrowness, pettiness, or limitationswhen that comes.
0 1961-04-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Pavitra.) But Mother, A. has also been bitten by the propaganda bug; in the by-laws he sent, he put: the Goal of the Centre dEtudes de Sri Aurobindo [Sri Aurobindo Study Center, in Paris] is to steer people towards Pondicherry and the Mother.
Ooh! OH! How dreadful. How dreadful. He too!
--
Our habitual state of consciousness is to do something FOR something. The Rishis, for example, composed their hymns with an end in view: life had a purpose for them, the end was to find Immortality or Truth. But at any level whatsoever, there is always a goal. Even we speak of the supramental realization as the Goal.
Just recently, though, I dont know what happened, but something seemed to take hold of me (how to say it?) this perception of the Supreme who is everything, everywhere, who does everythingwhat has been, what is, what will be, what is being doneeverything. And suddenly there was a kind of not a thought or a feeling, it wasnt that; it was rather like a state: the unreality of the Goalnot unreality, uselessness. Not even uselessness: the nonexistence of the Goal. And even what I was saying just nowthis will to make the experiment lingering in the body even this has gone!
Its something I dont know.11
0 1961-12-23, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Far from the Goal, but at least the way ahead is clear.
And if to this material capacity of identification, of exercising the will, is added that Something which was there during my experience and is truly the expression. I dont know if its the supreme expression, but for the time being its certainly the highest I know of. (Its far superior to pure Knowledge through identity, to knowing the thing because one IS itits infinitely more powerful than that.) its something formidable! It has the power to change everything and how!
0 1962-02-06, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Practically, you go from one to the other, or one is in front and the other behind, one active and the other passive. With the feeling of perfect joy comes an almost static state (certainly the joy of movement is also there, but all anticipation of the Goal stays in the background). Then, when the aspiration of the Becoming is there, the joy of divine perfection at each moment withdraws into a static state.
And this very going back and forth is the problem.
0 1962-05-24, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
What we should actually do is make a selection and only talk about aphorisms that give us an opportunity to explain a few things. But these two. People arent ready to understand. And besides, they dont fit the style of the Bulletin. What we need is a combat magazine, a journal that combats all the ordinary ideas; then all these aphorisms (the ones on doctors, for instance) would be like yes, like commanders in the battle. A journal with the Goal of demolishing the old idols. Something along those lines. It would be very interesting to do such a magazinea combat magazine.
But it cant be an Ashram organ. It should look like a literary review (it cant be politicalyoud be thrown in jail the day after it came out!). It shouldnt be presented as something practical, but merely as literary or philosophical speculation; that wouldnt matter at all, but it would give the journal a certain security which, as a combat magazine, it would need.
0 1962-06-12, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You see, the trouble is hes a man whose principles and education prevent him from believing in progress and transformation. He believes that if you fulfill the conditions you get the siddhi,3 and thats the end of it the Goal is reached. He had already attained his goal before meeting us, and then he could have kept his distance, but he became intimately connected with something full of all kinds of difficulties (which we neither ignore nor call for), but its essentially a Power for progressan awesome force for progress. Well, when I saw that, I wondered, How can he possibly bear it? I thought he would keep his distance and not enter the atmosphere, but he did try to enterhe linked up with certain people, and particularly when he started meditating with me (he asked for it, not me), suddenly something responded. And that triggered the conflict in him. One part of his being has gone along with the Movement, while the other is left strandeddoesnt budge. That created a gap.
Of course, one has to be in a terribly superficial consciousness to react the way he did. He had a rather deep contact with you, and there were moments when he understood very well who you arehe knows, he told me so. Consequently, had he truly been in a yogic state, then even if you had done something tactless or wrong, he would have just smiled! He would have said, Oh, hes just impetuous, but I dont mind.
0 1962-08-08, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Well, wellwhy has that returned? I wondered. And then I saw that this body has been built in such a way that it instinctively ATTRACTS ordeals, painful experiences. And in the face of such formations, it is always passive, consenting, accepting, and totally confident in the ultimate outcome, with such an ingrained certitude that even at the moment of greatest difficulty, it will be helped and saved, and that the purpose behind all those ordeals is to speed up, to gain time, and to exhaust all the I cant say the evil possibilities, but all the hindrancesthings that hamper, block the way and seem to negate the Goalso that they are pushed back into the past and no longer hinder progress.
Once I saw that, the formation went away. It had come just to show me that. And once again the body gave its eternal assent: no matter what its burdened with, it will always be ready to receive and to bear it.
0 1962-08-31, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
So you see, theres excitement in the universe too, if youre not careful! But my impression is that it simply complicates thingsit clouds the issue, you know, it complicates things. Then you have to wait for the bubbles to subside before you can calmly set off again on your way towards the Goal.
Voil, petit.
0 1963-03-27, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Once I told you about an experience I had, I told you that every time a divine manifestation occurs (what is called an Avatar), theres always a particular angle of quest, in the sense of an intense NEED urging men along the road of evolution towards the Goal, the Transformation, and each avatar saw from a particular angle, believing it to be the Goal.1 When I had that experience, I saw it was the need for Immortality that drove the Vedic Rishis. It came back to me yesterday, and I noted it down:
(Mother reads a handwritten note)
--
Then I thought: now, Sri Aurobindo, its quite clear; for him, the Goal was Perfection. Perfection not in the sense of a summit but of an all-inclusive totality in which everything is represented, has a place. And I saw that this Perfection would comemust comein stages. He announced something the realization of which will stretch over thousands of years. So it must come in stages. And I saw that what I find essential, indispensable (everything is there, everything finds a place, yet there is a kind of anguishnot a personal anguish but a terrestrial anguish), is Security. A need for Securitywhatever you attempt, whatever you seek, even Love, even Perfection, it needs Security. Nothing can be achieved with the feeling that all opposing forces can come and sweep everything away. We must find the point where nothing can be touched or destroyed or halted. Therefore, its Security, the very essence of Security. So I wrote:
Sri Aurobindo promised Perfection
0 1963-05-03, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Thats exactly what made a sharp division in the whole spiritual thought or spiritual will of mankind. The point doesnt seem to have been understood. Some, like Buddha and that whole line, have declared that the world is incorrigible, that the only thing to do is to get out of it, and that it can never be otherwiseit changes, but really remains the same. The result is a certain attitude of perfect acceptance. So, for them, the Goal is to get out that is, you escape: you leave the world as it is and escape. Then there are the others, who sense a perfection towards which men strive indefinitely and which is realized progressively. And I see more and more that the two movements complement each other, and not only complement each other but are almost indispensable to each other.
In other words, the change that arises from a refusal to accept the world as it is has no force, no power: what is needed is an acceptance not only total but comprehensive, joyousto find supreme joy in things in order to have (its not a question of right or power) in order to make it possible for things to change.
0 1963-05-15, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There is a particular aspect of the creation (a very modern aspect, maybe): a need to get out of disorder and confusionof disharmony and confusion. A confusion, a disorder which assumes all forms, turns into struggles, pointless efforts and wasted energy. It depends on which level you stand on, but materially, in action, it means unnecessary complications, wasted energy and materials, waste of time, incomprehension, misunderstanding, confusion, disorderwhat in ancient days they called deforma in sharp and unnecessary zigzags). Its one of the things farthest from the harmony of a purely divine actionwhich is somethition, crookedness in the Vedas (I dont know the French word for it, its something crooked which, instead of shooting straight to the Goal, weaves its wayng so simple. It looks like childs play and directdirect, without those absurd and completely useless twists and turns. Well, it is clearly the same phenomenon: that disorder is a way to stimulate the need for pure and divine simplicity.
The body feels strongly, very strongly that everything could be so simple, so simple!
0 1963-10-19, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
We must come VERY CLOSE to the Goal for that to be possible.
The big difficulty is that tamasic stupidity. Yesterday, in this connection, I had the experience of a young couple who came to see me. (It has become a custom nowadays that young people who are going to marry and whose families I know, or who live here, come to receive my blessings before marrying! Thats the new fashion.) So they came. The girl was educated here and the boy stayed here for quite a long time, working here; anyway, they want to marry. The boy went searching for a job; he had trust [in Mother] and found one. He is I cant say conscious because it isnt like consciousness, I would call it rather superstition (!) but its a superstition on the right target! The movement is ignorant, but well directed, so it works; not that he has an enlightened faith, but he has faith. All right. Things are fine and he does very well. So they came yesterday to receive my blessings. Then they went. And they left behind in the room a vital formation, very bubbly, absolutely ignorant, very bubbly with a joie de vivre, a joie de vivre so blissfully ignorant of all possible difficulties, all possible miseries, and not only for oneself but for everyone! You know, that joie de vivre that says, Oh, it doesnt matter to me if we are born and dielife is short, well, let it be good, thats enough. No mental curiosity, no urge to know the why of the worldall that is nonsense, we neednt bother about it! Lets be happy, have some fun, and do as well as we can. Thats all. That formation was so strong, you know, in the room that I saw it and had to find a place for it. It put me in contact with a whole domain of the earth, of mankind, and I had to put it in its proper place, put it in order and organize it. It took me a little time (long enough, maybe three quarters of an hour or an hour), I had to order and organize everything. Then I saw how widespread it is on earth. (Note that these young people belong to the top of society, they are regarded as very intelligent, they are very well educated, in a word, its about the best you can find in mankind! Not the dregs, far from it.) And I wondered if it isnt even more widespread in Western countries than here I think it is. At that moment I came into contact with everywhere, and, well, the everywhere was really quite extensive.
0 1963-12-14, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Naturally, in human beings, the two are extremely mixed up. Among all the human beings you cannot find two who are one really male and the other really female that doesnt exist. Its very, very mixed. But the Goal is a totality; a totality in which each thing is in its place and plays its part, not in opposition but in perfect unionin identity. And the key to this is beginning to come.
But the difficulties are still there, and theyre very subconscious.
0 1964-03-07, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But we must be patient. And we mustnt think that weve reached the Goalwere still far from it! There is always the joy of the first step, the first step on the path: Ah, what a lovely path! (Mother laughs) We have to go right to the other end!
(silence)
0 1964-08-05, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The mistake everyone makes is to considerto believe the Goal to be immortality. Whereas immortality is just ONE of the consequences. In that Zen story, the Goal is immortality, so THE WAY has to be foundhence all those methods. But immortality isnt a goal: its just a natural consequenceif you live the true life.
You see, I am sure that D. (she doesnt say so, but I am sure of it) imagines that my goal is immortality! At any rate, its the Goal of many people here (!) Actually, its something secondary. Its ONE of the consequences, its the sign (it can be regarded as a sign) that you are living the Truth, thats all. Though thats not even certain!
Immortality in this bag of bones, thats no fun!
0 1965-03-20, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Which means that the further you go, the nearer you draw to the Goal, the more inexplicable it appears to be.
So for me (I mean for this body), the only recourse is a blissful surrender (gesture of immobile offering Upward), and not a heavy, not an inert surrender: intense, intense! And in a joy, oh, extraordinary. Thats the only thing.
--
So, to our logic (which is obviously stupid, but anyway), it means that the Goal is still very far away, that the world isnt ready.
You see, all of a sudden, through the intensity of the aspiration, of that sort of thirst for the Thing, contact is madecontact is made; it isnt even a contact between two different things, it is That which is all. But it is in Time that the Thing is expressed, and then it doesnt last, so much so that even the resulting effect doesnt seem to be able to last. Although there is something there that contradicts: the effect is lasting, but imperceptible as long as it isnt general; so immediately its a translation into the world of Time, Space, and so on.
0 1965-07-10, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Only, the Flame must be there the Flame within, the flame of aspiration and the flame of faith; and then the something that truly wants it to stop. You understand, whether things are this way or that, there is no need for me to present them to my thought and for my thought to accept them; because thats a very dangerous game: when you seek equanimity, you say to yourself, Well, if this and that happens, what will my reaction be? And you go on with the little game, till you say, Its all the same to me. It is a very dangerous game. Its still a way of circling around the Goal instead of heading straight for it.
There is only one thing: a sort of flamea sort of flame that burns all this falsehood.
0 1965-08-18, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
He asked for a visa as preacher (!) and it seems that in that case you are allowed to stay indefinitely; he no longer has to leave thats very good, I am very glad he is there! Because when people are caught, it was their destiny and they needed to be caught. And you can even reach the Goal through a devil as well as through an angelbetter, sometimes! (Mother laughs)
But it was visible when he was here: a fantastic pride and ambition that were to end up like this. He has a nasty face, very nasty.
0 1965-09-11, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But while I was having the experience, there was absolutely no awareness of the Goal, the motive, the purpose, nothing: it was like this (same massive gesture taking hold of everything), a sort of absolute, without explanation.
Ive had this two or three times in my life, in the most serious terrestrial circumstances.
0 1965-11-27, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There is clearly, even now, a transitional period, which may last a rather long time and is rather painful. But the sometimes painful effort (often painful) is made up for by a clear vision of the Goal to be reached, of the Goal that WILL be reachedan assurance, you know, a certitude. But it1 would be something that had the power to eliminate all the errors, all the distortions and ugliness of mental life, and then a very happy humanity, quite satisfied with being human, feeling no need whatsoever to be anything but human, but with a human beauty, a human harmony.
It was very charming, it was as though I were living in it. Contradictions had disappeared. As though I lived in that perfection. And it was almost like the ideal conceived by the supramental consciousness of a humanity that had become as perfect as it can be. It was very good.
0 1966-04-27, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Thats why that realization [the Void] isnt the Goal, thats exactly why. A conviction that it isnt the Goal. Its an absolute necessity, but not the Goal. the Goal is something the capacity to keep That here.
When will that come? I dont know.
0 1966-09-28, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
We may say in an absolute way that the remedy always goes together with the trouble. We could say that the cure for every suffering coexists with the suffering. Then, instead of seeing an unnecessary and stupid trouble, as people generally think, you see that the progress, the evolution which made the suffering necessarywhich is the cause and the Goal of the sufferingachieves the desired result, and at the same time the suffering is cured, for those who can open up and receive. The three things the suffering as a means of progress, the progress, and the cure of the sufferingare coexistent, simultaneous, meaning that they dont follow one another, they take place at the same time.
If, when the transformative action creates a suffering, there is in what suffers the necessary aspiration and opening, the remedy is absorbed at the same time, and the effect is total, complete: the transformation, along with the action necessary to obtain it, and at the same time the cure of the false sensation caused by the resistance. And the suffering is replaced by something unknown on this earth, but which has to do with joy, ease, trust, and security. Its a supersensation, in perfect peace, and clearly the only thing that can be eternal.
0 1967-03-22, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
One could say thanks to all this (not even because ofTHANKS TO all this), I have had these last days, these last three days, the vision the concrete vision, showing how at every second, the supreme Consciousness (which I personally find convenient to call the supreme Lord), how at EVERY SECOND, it makes you do or say or see or know ex-act-ly what is needed for everything to move like this (round gesture expressing the innumerably ramified movement of universal forces), to move forward. Its not yet the direct, all-powerful, crushing Movement of direct Forces (gesture from above downward, like a sword of light): its a movement like this (same round gesture), but marvellousmarvellously subtle, ingenious, respectful of everything, but everything; you know, a movement that makes use of everything to lead towards the Goal, even errorswhich are not errors because when the Consciousness is there, the error isnt an error committed by ignorance: a thing is said or done because thats what needs to be said or needs to be doneit may in appearance be even a blunder, yet its ex-act-ly what is needed for everything to move forward (same innumerable round gesture), move forward luminously towards the desired goal. Its absolutely marvellous! And seen in tiny little details and in the whole. Its this marvel of a Consciousness that makes each one do what must be done, puts each thing in its place, arranges everything, and its our idiocy, an absolutely ignorant and stupid vision, that would have us believe in faults, in errors, in Each one is a problem to be resolved, so all those problems interpenetrate, and it is the WHOLE that must be led, precisely towards this famous Truth (the true one). But Ive spent, you know, hours in admirationa blissful admirationbefore this marvel of order, with all the little things around you, all the little people around you, all the little circumstances. Its wonderful! Wonderful!
And then, this presumptuous mind which understands nothing and asserts itself in its all-powerful knowledge, oh its so comical!
0 1967-04-05, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Till the birth of Sri Aurobindo, religions and spiritualities were always centered on past figures, and they were showing as the Goal the negation of life upon earth. So, you had a choice between two alternatives: either a life in this world with its round of petty pleasures and pains, joys and sufferings, threatened by hell if you were not behaving properly; or an escape into another world, heaven, nirvana, moksha [liberation].
Between the two there is nothing much to choose from, they are equally bad.
0 1967-07-26, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
the Goal we aim at is immortality. Of all habits, death is certainly the most inveterate!
We could call our world the world of bad habits.
0 1968-05-18, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This consciousness is extremely, extremely conscious, not only of the thing, not only of the Goal, not only of the means, but even of the conditions: all of it together. In this unfolding immensity, when That looks, It knows exactly that, at this moment, this is how things must be and how they must be done.
Its free in an absolute wayspontaneously free. Spontaneously. All action is spontaneous. Its like a vision. A vision expressing itself.
0 1968-08-22, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
How far, far away we are from the Goal.
I will try to remember.
0 1968-09-28, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh yes, that has a meaning! We could tell them: If thats what you mean, its precisely the Goal of physical education. And teaching is an attempt to replace the Consciousness with (laughing) an inner library! If I joke too much, they wont understand anymore!
We can tell them this: The way to really awaken the physical consciousness is physical education. Its physical education that teaches the cells to be conscious. But to develop the brain, its study, observation, intelligent educationespecially observation and reasoning. And naturally, for the whole education of the consciousness from the standpoint of character, its yoga.
0 1969-04-26, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Message given for the April 24 darshan: "The best possible way is to allow the Divine Grace to work in you, never to oppose it, never to be ungrateful and turn against it but to follow it always to the Goal of Light and Peace and unity and Ananda."
A former minister of the Central government, S. K. Patil.
0 1969-06-28, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It tells us that we were born so many million years agoa molecule, a gene, a quivering bit of plasma and we have produced a dinosaur, a crab, an ape. Had our eyes stopped halfway along the road, we could have said with good reason (!) that the Baboon was the summit of the creation and nothing better could be done, except perhaps to improve our simian capacities and create a United Kingdom of Apes. And we may be committing the same error today in our jungle of concrete. We have invented enormous means at the service of microscopic consciousnesses, splendid devices at the service of mediocrity, and still more devices to be cured of the Device. But is man truly the Goal of all these millions of years of striving?The secondary school for all and the washing machine?
The Great Sense, the True Sense, tells us that man is not the end. It is not the triumph of man that we want, not an improved version of the intelligent dwarfit is another man on the earth, another race in our midst.
0 1969-07-30, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Among the questions, there was also this one: "What should be the Goal of our life?" Mother's answer: "Materially speaking, to be shrewd. Spiritually speaking, to be sincere." (!)
Four years later, at the end of 1973, when Mother left her body, the French publisher Robert Laffont will take this book for publication.
0 1969-09-27, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its because for everyone, what happens is the BEST thing to lead his individuality towards the Goal the Goal of consciousness and if he has faith, the action takes place in an even more precise way, and, we might say, even more rapidly. So in this case, it would mean that his paralysis helps him go faster towards his goal.
(A.R.:) Thank you.
0 1970-01-07, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
If that is not the Goal of your life and you are ready to live the life of the great majority of people, you can certainly go back to your family.
Thats good, too. There are so many who ask, Why stay here? I thought it could be useful.
0 1971-04-17, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The new substances that is spreading and acting in the world contains a warmth, a power, a joy so intense that all intellectual activity seems cold and dry beside it. And that is why the less one talks about these things, the better it is. A single instant, a single impulse of deep and true love, a single minute of deep communion with the divine Grace brings you much closer to the Goal than all possible explanations.
(Questions and Answers, 5.14.1958)
0 1971-05-12, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I disapprove totally of violence. Each act of violence is a step back on the path leading to the Goal to which we aspire.
The Divine is everywhere and always supremely conscious. Nothing must ever be done that cannot be done before the Divine.
0 1971-12-25, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And its effect on us, the sensation it produces in us depends exclusively on the position of our consciousness. There is the consciousness of being in oneself or being in the whole (being in the whole is already a bit better than being egoistically oneself, and it has its advantages and disadvantages, but its not the truth), the Truth is the Divine as totalitytotality in time and totality in space. And that consciousness, the body CAN have, because this body had it (momentarily, for a few moments), and while it has it, everything is so you see, its not joy, its not pleasure, its not happiness, nothing of all that a sort of blissful peace and luminous and creative. Magnificent. Only, it comes and goes, comes and goes. And when you go out of it, you have the impression of falling into a horrible pitour ordinary consciousness (I mean the ordinary human consciousness) is a horrible pit. But we also know why it had to be momentarily that way, for it was necessary in order to go from this to that: everything that happens is necessary for the full development of the Goal of creation. You could say (we could word-paint): the Goal of creation is for the creature to become conscious as the Creator. There you are.
Its word-painting, but its in that direction.
--
That gives both the reason and the Goal of creationboth at once and almost the method of development.
(silence)
0 1972-01-12, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You said that the Goal of creation is to join within the individual the total Consciousness (the consciousness of the whole) and the individual consciousness the two together.7
Yes, something like that, but here it was clearer, more precise. Its not that I think, mind you.
0 1972-04-26, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
As for me, the purpose of this body is now simply: the Command and the Will of the Lord, so I can do as much groundwork as possible. But it isnt the Goal at all. You see, we dont know, we dont have the slightest knowledge of what the supramental life is. Therefore we dont know if this (Mother pinches the skin of her hand) can change enough to adapt or notand to tell the truth, I am not worried about it, its not a problem that preoccupies me too much; the problem I am preoccupied with is building that supramental consciousness So IT becomes the being. Its that consciousness which must become the being. Thats whats important. As for the rest, well see (its the same as worrying over a change of clothing). But it must truly be IT, you see. And in order to do that, all the consciousness contained in these cells must aggregate, form and organize itself into an independent conscious entity the consciousness in the cells must aggregate and form into a conscious entity capable of being conscious of Matter as well as conscious of the Supramental. Thats the thing. Thats what is being done. How far will we be able to go? I dont know.
You understand?
02.01 - A Vedic Story, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Fire then is the energy of consciousness secreted in the heart of things. It is that which moves the creation upward, produces the unfolding evolution that is history, both individual and collective. It is kindled, it increases in volume and strength and purity and effectiveness, as and when a lower element is offered and submitted to a higher reality and this higher reality impinges upon the lower one (which is what the rubbing of the arai or the pressing of the soma symbolises); the limitation is broken, the small enters into and becomes the vast, the crooked is straightened and leng thened out, what was hidden becomes manifest. This is described as the progression of the sacrifice (adhvaraadvanceon the path). That is also the victorious battle waged against the dark forces of Ignorance. the Goal, the purpose is the descent and manifestation of the gods here upon earth in human vehicles.
But this Fire is not normally available. It is lost, imbedded in the thick petrified folds of unconsciousness and inconscience. Man's soul is not an apparent reality. It has to be found out, called forth, brought to the front. Even so, in the normal consciousness, the soul, the divine fire is a flickering, twinkling, hesitating spark; it is not sure of itself, not certain of its destiny. Yet when the time is ripe and the call comes, the gods, the luminous forces from above descend with all their insistence and meet the hidden godhead: Agni is reminded of his work and destiny which nothing can frustrate or cancel. He has to consent and undertake his sacrificial labour.
02.02 - Lines of the Descent of Consciousness, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Creation, the universe in its activity, is thus not simply a meaningless play, a pointless fancy. It has a purpose, an end, a goal, a fulfilment, and it follows naturally a definite pattern of process. the Goal is the concretisation, the materialisation (which includes, of course, vitalisation and mentalisation) of the Spirit and the spiritual values. It means the establishment of divine names and forms in terrestrial individuals leading a divine life, individually and collectively here below.
II
--
We have spoken of four lines of Descent in the evolution and organisation of consciousness. There yet remains a fifth line. It is more occult. It is really the secret of secrets, the Supreme Secret. It is the descent of the Divine himself. The Divine, the supreme Person himself descends, not indirectly through emanations, projections, partial or lesser formulations, but directly in his own plenary self. He descends not as a disembodied force acting as a general movement, possessing, at the most, other objects and persons as its medium or instrument, but in an embodied form and in the fullness of his consciousness. The Indian word for Divine Incarnation, avatra, literally means he who has descended. The Divine comes down himself as a terrestrial being, on this material plane of ours, in order to raise the terrestrial and material Nature to a new status in her evolutionary courseeven so He incarnated as the Great Boar who, with his mighty tusk, lifted a solid mass of earth from out of the waters of the Deluge. It is his purpose to effect ascension of consciousness, a transmutation of being, to establish a truly New Order, a New Dharma, as it is termed dharmasamsthpanrthya. On the human level, he appears as a human person for two purposes. First of all, he shows, by example, how the ascension, the transmutation is to be effected, how a normal human being can rise from a lower status of consciousness to a higher one. The Divine is therefore known as the Lord of Yoga for Yoga is the means and method by which one consciously uplifts oneself, unites oneself with the Higher Reality. The embodied Divine is the ideal and pattern: he shows the path, himself walks the path and man can follow, if he chooses. The Biblical conception of the Son of GodGod made fleshas the intermediary between the human and the Divine, declaring, I am the Way and the Goal, expresses a very similar truth. The Divine takes a body for anotheroccultreason also. It is this: Matter or terrestrial life cannot be changedchanged radically, that is to say, transformed by the pure spiritual consciousness alone, lying above or within; also it is not sufficient to bring about only that much of change in terrestrial life which can be effected by the mere spiritual force acting in a general way. It looks as if the physical transformation which is what is meant by an ascension or emergence in the evolutionary gradient were possible only by a physical impact embodying and canalising the spiritual force: it is with his physical body that the Divine Incarnation seems to push and lift up physical Nature to a new and higher status.
The occult seers declare that we are today on the earth at such a crisis of evolution. Earth and Man and man's earthly life need to be radically transfigured. The trouble and turbulence, the chaos and confusion that are now overwhelming this earth, indicate the acute tension before the release, the dtente of a NEW MANIFESTATION.
02.05 - Robert Graves, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Of course, in Sri Aurobindo we reach the inner and higher world through a luminous path, through worlds of light, ranging one upon another. It is a journey through pure air and clear light. Conversely the poet of the toadstool leads one by the passage of an acid drunkenness and a half-conscious drowse. If the Goal here is a delight and a freedom they are arrived at after traversing a purgatory or undergoing a troubled purification. But this too leads verily to a world of the gods.
This "little slender lad, whose flesh is bitter, lightning engendered, born from dungs of mares" is perhaps a symbol of our human receptacle. We have to carry this mortal frame with its clay feet and make the effort towards self-transcendence: the alchemy's other name is self-purification and self-perfection. This tender shoot is a mysterious chemical storehouse, its fermentation and purification and use awaken in us the sleeping divine will, give a clear vision, guide us through the secret worlds and ultimately to the home of Immortality. The Vedic Rishis sang to the Soma creeper or god Soma,Tatra mm. amtam kdhi, O Somadeva, carry us where thou flowest down and there make us immortal. For there abound all delight, all ecstasy, all enjoyment, all lure and the supreme Desire ofdesirenanda, moda, mud, pramud, kma4are these not the five fruits of heaven the poet of the West mentions?
02.05 - The Godheads of the Little Life, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The unknown Self above who is the Goal.
47.8
02.06 - The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Life, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Death is a passage, not the Goal of our walk:
Some ancient deep impulsion labours on:
02.12 - The Ideals of Human Unity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The unification of humanity is also a thing decreed. For it is the Goal towards which Nature is proceeding slowly but inevitably, bringing into play factors and forces that work out that consummation.
Man is a gregarious animal, a social being. He forms groups and collectivities and lives as a member among others with whom he is related and connected in various ways. These groupings are the units round which man's life crystallises and develops, the nuclei of a growing, an increasingly complex and unified organism.
--
The third is the religious principle. Religion, that is to say, institutional religion has also sought to unify mankind on a larger basis, as large indeed as the world itself. The aim of Christendom, of Islam was frankly a conquest of the whole human race for the one jealous Lord. Buddhism and Hinduism did not overtly or with a set purpose attempt any such worldwide proselytism, but their influence and actual working had almost a similar effect:at least in the case of the former, it was like a flood throwing down many local boundaries, overflooding distant countries, and peoples, giving them all one unified religious life and culture. But here too we meet the same objectionable feature as there is in the attempt at unity through the racial principle. For religious imperialism cannot succeed in unifying humanity, as amply demonstrated by the Roman Catholic Church; and like political imperialism it was more or less an experiment in the line, effecting nothing beyond a moral atmosphere. Even a federation of religions, contemplated by some idealists, seems hardly a practicable proposition; for it is only a mental conception and has no compelling vital force in it. At best it is only a sign-post, a pointer to the Goal Nature and humanity have been endeavouring to evolve and realise.
A new type of imperialism for imperialism it is in essence has been developing in recent times; and it seems it shall have its day and contri bute its share of experimentation towards the Goal we are speaking of. I am of course referring to what has been frankly and aptly termed as the Dictatorship of the Proletariate. It is an attempt to cut across all other boundaries and unities of human groupingsracial, national, religious, even familial. It seeks to unify and consolidate one whole stratum of humanity in a single stream-lined steel-frame organisation. At least that was the ideal till yesterday; there seems to be growing here too a movement towards decentralisation. Naturally, even as an organisation that is top-heavy is bound to topple down in the end, likewise an organisation that is bottom-heavy, that is to say, restricts to that portion only of its body all sap and dynamism, is also bound to deteriorate and disintegrate. A tree does not live by its branches and leaves and flowers alone, no doubt, nor does it live by its roots alone.
A different type of wider grouping is also being experimented upon nowadays, a federal grouping of national units. The nation is taken in this system as the stable indivisible fundamental unit, and what is attempted is a free association of independent nations that choose to be linked together because of identity of interests or mutual sympathy in respect of ideal and culture. The British Empire is a remarkable experiment on this line: it is extremely interesting to see how an old-world Empire is really being liquidated (in spite of a Churchill) and transformed into a commonwealth of free and equal nations. America too has been attempting a Pan-American federation. And in continental Europe, a Western and an Eastern Block of nations seem to be developing, not on ideal lines perhaps at present because of their being based upon the old faulty principle of balance of power hiding behind it a dangerously egoistic and exclusive national consciousness; but that may change when it is seen and experienced that the procedure does not pay, and a more natural and healthier approach may be adopted.
03.04 - The Vision and the Boon, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
I am the Goal of the travail of the suns;
My fire and sweetness are the cause of life.
03.07 - The Sunlit Path, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo speaks of the sunlit path in Yoga. It is the path of happy progress where dangers and difficulties, violent ups and downs are reduced to a minimum, if not altogether obviated. In ideal conditions it is as it were a smooth and fair-weather sailing, as much of course as it is humanly possible. What are then these conditions? It is when the sadhaka keeps touch with his inmost being, his psychic consciousness, when this inner Guide and Helmsman is given the charge; for then he will be able to pass sovereignly by all shoals and rocks and storm-racks, through all vicissitudes, gliding onslow or swift as needed Inevitably towards the Goal. A doubting mind, an impetuous vital urge, an inert physical consciousness, though they may be there in any strength, cannot disturb or upset the even tenor of the forward march. Even outward circumstances bow down to the pressure of the psychic temperament and bring to it their happy collaboration.
This may not always mean that all is easy and difficulty is simply not, once the psychic is there. It becomes so when the psychic is there fully in front; even otherwise when the inner being is in the background, still sensed and, on the whole, obeyed, although there are battles, hard battles to be fought and won, then even a little of this Consciousness saves from a great fear. For, then, in all circumstances, you will have found a secret joy and cheer and strength that buoy you up and carry you through.
03.09 - Sectarianism or Loyalty, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
A spiritual interest is nothing if it is not in this way a question that touches life to its core. That means a definite goal and appropriate means to reach that goal, and that again necessarily involves a choice, a process of acceptance and rejection. the Goal is also called the ista, the godhead that one seeks, the Divine that is fulfilled in oneself. Being a personality, an individual, one has to choose, one can best follow the line of evolution and growth and fulfilment of that personality and individuality that is the call of the Psyche, the direction of the Jiva. In other words, one has to be loyal and faithful to one's nature and being. That is why it is said: Better to perish while fulfilling one's own law of life than to flourish by fulfilling another's law. By being curious about another's Dharmait is this kind of curiosity that led to the original fall of man, according to the Bible that is to say, if one is vitally curious, allows oneself to be influenced and so affected and diverted by what is an outside and foreign force, because not in the line of one's own truth and development, one asks for a mixture and intervention which bring confusion, thwart the growth and fulfilment, as that falsifies the nature.
It is not only bad influences that affect you badly, even good influences do solike medicines that depend upon the particular constitution for their action. In ancient times this was called varasankara or dharmasakara, as for example, when a Kshatriya sought to follow the rule of life of a Brahmin or vice versa. This kind of admixture or msalliance was not favoured, as it was likely to bring about an obscurity in the consciousness and in the end frustration in the spiritual life. That was the original psychological reason why heresy was considered such a dangerous thing in all religions.
03.10 - Sincerity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
This central sincerity, however, has to be worked out in actual life. For, one may be true in the spirit, but falseweak, that is to sayin the flesh. The light of the central being usually finds its way first into the mind. One becomes then mentally sincere: in other words, one has the idea, the thought that the Divine is the Goal and nothing else can or shall satisfy. With the light in the mind, one sees also in oneself more and more the dark spots, the weaknesses, the obstaclesone becomes conscious of one's feelings, discovers elements that have to be corrected or purged. But this mental sincerity, this recognition in the understanding is not enough: it remains mostly ineffective and barren with regard to life and character. One appears at this stage to lead a double life: one knows and understands, to some extent at least, but one is unable to act up even to that much knowledge and understanding. It is only when the power of sincerity descends still further and assumes a concreter form, when the vital becomes sincere and' is converted, then the urge is there not only to see and understand, but to do and achieve. Without the vital's sincerity, its will to be transformed, one remains at best a witness, one has an inner perception of consciousness of the Divine, but in actual living one lets the old ordinary nature to go its own way. It is the sincerity in the vital,-its win to possess the Divine and the Divine alone, its ardour to collaborate with the Divine the conscious that brings about the crucial, the most dynamic change. Sadhana instead of being a mere mental occupation, an intellectual pursuit, acquires the urgency of living and doing and achieving. Finally, the vital sincerity, when it reaches its climax, calls for the ultimate sinceritysincerity in the body. When the body consciousness becomes sincere then we cannot but be and act as decided and guided by the divine consciousness; we live and move and have our being wholly in the divine manner. Then what the inmost being, the psychic, envisages in the divine light, the body inevitably and automatically executes. There is no gap between the two. The spirit and the fleshsoul and bodyare soldered, fused together in one single compact entity. One starts with the central sincerity in the psychic being and progress of sadhana means the extension of this sincerity gradually to all the outlying parts and levels of the being till, when the body is reached, the whole consciousness becomes, as it were, a massive pyramid of loyalty.
***
03.13 - Dynamic Fatalism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
If it is so, then what is the necessity at all of work and labour and travailthis difficult process of sadhana? The question is rather naive, but it is very often asked. The answer also could be very simple. The change decreed is precisely worked out through the travail: one is the end, the other is the means; the Goal and the process, both are decreed and inevitable. If it is argued, supposing none made the effort, even then would the change come about, in spite of man's inaction? Well, first of all, this is an impossible supposition. Man cannot remain idle even for a moment: not only the inferior Nature, but the higher Nature too is always active in himremember the words of the Gita though behind the veil, in the inner consciousness. Secondly, if it is really so, if man is not labouring and working and making the attempt, then it must be understood that the time has not yet come for him to undergo the change; he has still to wait: one of the signs of the imminence of the change is this very intensity and extensiveness of the labour among mankind. If, however, a particular person chooses to do nothing, prefers to wait and seehopes in the end to jump at the fruit all at once and possess it or hopes the fruit to drop quietly into his mouthwell, this does not seem to be a likely happening. If one wishes to enjoy the fruit, one must share in the effort to sow and grow. Indeed, the process itself of reaching the higher consciousness involves a gradual heightening of the consciousness. The means is really part of the end. The joy of victory is the consummation of the joy of battle.
Man can help or retard the process of Nature, in a sense. If his force of consciousness acts in line with Nature's secret movement, then that movement is accelerated: through the soul or self that is man, it is the Divine, Nature's lord and master who drives and helps Nature forward. If, on the contrary, man follows his lesser self, his lower ego, rajasic and tamasic, then he throws up obstacles and barriers which hamper and slow down Nature's march.
03.17 - The Souls Odyssey, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Man, in his terrestrial body, although fallen, because shrouded and diverted from his central being of light and fire, is yet not, as I have said, wholly forsaken and cut adrift. He always carries within him that radiant core through all the peregrinations of earthly sojourn. And though the frontal consciousness, the physical memory has no contact with it, there is a stream of inner consciousness that continues to maintain the link. That is the silver lining to the dark cloud that envelops and engulfs our normal life. And that is why at timesnot unoften there occurs a crack, a fissure in the crust of our earthly nature of ignorance and a tongue of flame leaps outone or other perhaps of the seven sisters of which the Upanishad speaks. And then a mere man becomes a saint, a seer, a poet, a prophet, a hero. This is the flaming godhead whom we cherish within, Agni, the leader of our progressive life, the great Sacrifice, the child whom we nourish, birth after birth, by all that we experience and do and achieve. To live normally and naturally in that fiery elementlike the legendary Salamanderto mould one's consciousness and being, one's substance and constitution, even the entire cellular organisation into the radiant truth is the Goal of man's highest aspiration, the ultimate end of Nature's evolutionary urge and the cycle of rebirth.
Wordsworth: Ode on the Intimations of Immortality
04.04 - The Quest, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Who saw the Goal and chose each fateful curve;
It used the body for its pedestal;
04.07 - To the Heights VII (Mahakali), #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Straight is her path and swift she speeds to the Goal:
Here and now shall be her victory.
04.09 - Values Higher and Lower, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
That is why, while we give our support to this new effort of Europe, we agree and even insist that the hoary spiritual tradition of India has still something to teach us moderns, some light to give us in our present predicament. For, although, the ideal is generally admitted in many places, the way to it is not clear. Since Nietzsche spoke of the surpassing of man, many are taken up with the ideal, but the means to effect it remains yet to be discovered: it is still under discussion, at least. As a matter of fact, the Goal itself is none too clear and definite: sometimes we think of a saintly transformation of human nature, sometimes the growing power of Intuition, very vaguely and variously defined, replacing or supplementing intellect and thus adding a new asset to man's life and consciousness.
The crucial problem however lies, in a sense, in the way that the Goal is to be reached, in the modus operandi. How is the higher status, whatever it is, to be brought down, made effective, be established here on earth and in life. Ideals there have been always and many; evidently we do not know how to go about the business and actualise what is thought and dreamed. About the new ideal too, suggestions have been made with regard to the path to be followed to reach it and are being tried and tested. Some say a life of inner or ethical discipline, conscious effort on the part of each Individual for his own sake is needed: the higher reality must be reached first by a few individuals, it cannot be attained by 'mass action. Others declare that personal effort will not lead very far; if there is to be a great or fundamental change in human nature, it is the Divine Grace alone that can bring it about. The surpassing of man is a miracle and only the supreme magician as an Avatara can do it. Others, again, are not prone to believe in a physical Incarnationsomewhat difficult usually for a European mind but would accept subtler forces or even superior beings, other than the human category, as aids and agents in the working out of the great future.
It is India's great achievement and speciality that she has found the way the way to all truly high fulfilment. It is Yoga and the Yogic consciousness. Yoga is the science and art of discovering the higher truths, indeed, the highest reality and of living there, not a midway moral elevation only. In its integral view it combines all the three processes mentioned above. The Yogic consciousness seeks to lift the consciousness as high as possible, in fact, to the very highestit literally means union or identity (with the highest Reality, Spirit or God). Thus it has the true perception or vision of the forces that act in and upon the world and the powers that decide and is in union with them. The Yogic consciousness and power is also embodied in the Divine Incarnation for he is Yogeshwara: and in India it is accepted as a commonplace that God descends in a human shape, whenever there is a great crisis and man needs salvaging and salvation. God comes then with all his angels, with the divine host to battle for him and with him to establish the Dharma.
Sri Aurobindo's stand in this field is very definite and clear. the Goal or end is clear, and with it the way too. What he envisages is the transformation of Matter and material life, that is to say, neither rejecting it as an impossible thing nor trying to gloss it over with a coat of mental luminosity, but delving into it and cleaning and purifying it, removing its mire and dross wholly and absolutely so that its true divine nature comes out and remains as Nature's highest and fullest expression on earth. That is the Goal: the waytoo is not less characteristic. The total spiritual transformation, the divinisation of Matter is possible, not only possible but inevitable, because it is : Matter that wants it, because Matter in its essence, in its true reality is spiritual energy, is the Spirit itself. That is the great secret Sri Aurobindo has brought to light. The ideals in the past for the reclamation of human nature and reformation of human society were tackled with mental and moral powers which were not adequate to the task. Even when the spiritual power was invoked, it was of the static category which is above, aloof, witness and can have at best a kindly look and influence. That the spirit dynamic is involved in Matter and as Matter is a truth that has to be discovered.
The supreme creative power of the SpiritTruth-Consciousness Sri Aurobindo calls the Supermind. This power is not only up there above, but it is here below and within Matter. It is a power of Matter itself, its most secret power. Truth-Consciousness or Supermind congealed, solidified or crystallised under certain conditions becomes Matter: now to re-become its own true self and nature is the very drive of Matter, that is the true sense of evolution. The very nature of Matter makes its transformation absolutely inevitable. It obeys no alien force or rule, its achievement means self-fulfilment and therefore it is something destined and, when done, permanent and perfect.
04.15 - To the Heights-XV (God the Supreme Mystery), #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
He is the Goal towards which the creation wheels in its ceaseless cycles,
He is the firm foundation upon which the universe is reared.
05.01 - Man and the Gods, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalMan and the Gods
Man and the Gods
05.02 - Gods Labour, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalGods Labour
Gods Labour
05.02 - Of the Divine and its Help, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Thou art the Goal, Thou the way.
Thou art Thyself what we have to be; by Thy example Thou showest us how to be.
05.03 - Bypaths of Souls Journey, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalBypaths of Souls Journey
Bypaths of Souls Journey
05.04 - The Immortal Person, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Immortal Person
The Immortal Person
05.05 - In Quest of Reality, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the Goal In Quest of Reality
In Quest of Reality
05.06 - Physics or philosophy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalPhysics or philosophy
Physics or philosophy
05.07 - Man and Superman, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Even so mankind, at the crucial parting of the ways, would very naturally look askance at the diminished value of many of its qualities and attri butes in the new status to come. First of all, as it has been pointed out, the intellect and reasoning power will have to surrender and abdicate. The very power by which man has attained his present high status and maintains it in the world has to be sacrificed for something else called intuition or revelation whose value and efficacy are unknown and have to be rigorously tested. Anyhow, is not the known devil by far and large preferable to the unknown entity? And then the zest of life, peculiar to man, that works through contradictionsdelight and suffering, victory and defeat, war and peace, doubt and knowledge, all the play of light and shade, the spirit of adventure, of combat and struggle and heroic effort, will have to go and give place to something, peaceful and harmonious perhaps but monotonous, insipid, unprogressive. The very character of human life is its passion to battle through, even if it is not always through. For it is often said that the end or goal does not matter, the Goal is always something uncertain; it is the way, the means, the immediate action that is of supreme consequence: for it is that that tests man's manhood, gives him the value he may have. And above all man is asked to give up the very thing which he has laboured to build up through millenniums of his terrestrial life, his individuality, his personality, for the demand is that he must lose his ego in order to attain the superhuman status.
So, the probability is that a large part of humanity will remain wedded to the normal human life. But this does not lessen in any way the value, the tremendous importance of what happens to the other part, may be, not insignificant or inconsiderable. Along with those that doubt and deny, there will be those who believe and affirm, who will stand for divinisation, whatever dehumanisation it may imply.
05.07 - The Observer and the Observed, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
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The Observer and the Observed
05.08 - An Age of Revolution, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalAn Age of Revolution
An Age of Revolution
05.09 - The Changed Scientific Outlook, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Changed Scientific Outlook
The Changed Scientific Outlook
05.10 - Knowledge by Identity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalKnowledge by Identity
Knowledge by Identity
05.11 - The Place of Reason, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Place of Reason
The Place of Reason
05.12 - The Revealer and the Revelation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Revealer and the Revelation
The Revealer and the Revelation
05.13 - Darshana and Philosophy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalDarshana and Philosophy
Darshana and Philosophy
05.14 - The Sanctity of the Individual, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Sanctity of the Individual
The Sanctity of the Individual
05.15 - Sartrian Freedom, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalSartrian Freedom
Sartrian Freedom
05.16 - A Modernist Mentality, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalA Modernist Mentality
A Modernist Mentality
05.17 - Evolution or Special Creation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalEvolution or Special Creation
Evolution or Special Creation
05.18 - Man to be Surpassed, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalMan to be Surpassed
Man to be Surpassed
05.19 - Lone to the Lone, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalLone to the Lone
Lone to the Lone
05.20 - The Urge for Progression, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Urge for Progression
The Urge for Progression
05.21 - Being or Becoming and Having, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalBeing or Becoming and Having
Being or Becoming and Having
05.22 - Success and its Conditions, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalSuccess and its Conditions
Success and its Conditions
05.23 - The Base of Sincerity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Base of Sincerity
The Base of Sincerity
05.24 - Process of Purification, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalProcess of Purification
Process of Purification
05.25 - Sweet Adversity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalSweet Adversity
Sweet Adversity
05.26 - The Soul in Anguish, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Soul in Anguish
The Soul in Anguish
05.27 - The Nature of Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalThe Nature of Perfection
The Nature of Perfection
05.28 - God Protects, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalGod Protects
God Protects
05.29 - Vengeance is Mine, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalVengeance is Mine
Vengeance is Mine
05.30 - Theres a Divinity, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalTheres a Divinity
Theres a Divinity
05.31 - Divine Intervention, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalDivine Intervention
Divine Intervention
05.32 - Yoga as Pragmatic Power, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalYoga as Pragmatic Power
Yoga as Pragmatic Power
05.33 - Caesar versus the Divine, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalCaesar versus the Divine
Caesar versus the Divine
05.34 - Light, more Light, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta The Quest and the GoalLight, more Light
Light, more Light
06.09 - How to Wait, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
If you know how to wait, you gain time. Usually, when you are about to do a thing, the impulse is to rush towards it and rush it through; between the idea and the execution you do not want to leave any gap. You are in a haste to see the thing done. You do not care to pause and look about you, view and weigh the conditions and circumstances, think out the best way of working towards the Goal. The result of the hustle is failure, very often dead failure. You have to begin over again. You may even have to begin over and over again if you do not learn the lesson given. Evidently, you lose time, lose energy and lose your success. On the contrary, what you have to do before you actually take up your work is not to jump at it, but understand what it means and involves, have before your mind's eye a clear figure or pattern of the thing to be undertaken, not to go upon a vague and indefinite notion about it, something that will take shape that will take care of itselfas you proceed. You must have a clear conception of your work and also you must find out the exact ways and means, have at your elbow the best possible implements. It is only when you are fully armed with the necessary equipment that you can be sure of success without any waste of time or energy.
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.
06.30 - Sweet Holy Tears, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The Cross symbolises all the suffering and difficulty, the renunciation and self-denudation that the ascent to the Goal involves. The Calvary of the Christian legend means Ascension and Resurrection is Transformation in our sadhana. The Cross is also symbolic of the Transformed consciousness. It has three branches and represents the triple Divine, the Divine in his three modes of existence. The top branch, the vertical portion above the transverse line, stands for the supreme or transcendent Divine, one who is above manifestation; the middle the transverse or horizontal branch stands for the expanse of the universal consciousness, the Cosmic Divine; and the bottom portion, the vertical line below the transverse stands for the individual Divine immanent or imbedded in the manifestation. You will note that the flower we call transformation has a form similar to the Cross.
The Mother: Prayers and Meditations, 3 September 1919
07.01 - Realisation, Past and Future, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You think the work would have been easier? Such beings, on the contrary, would have been less manageable and malleable. For what is most difficult is to convince someone who has had already a realisation. He believes he has reached the Goal and no further progress is necessary for him. It generally happens especially to men who have made effort and realised the object of the effort that, they stop with that, because they feel they have reached their final goal. They get settled and fixed there. It was their personal goal and they have got it. Their brain gets crystallised and their consciousness fossilised. They will live there all their life and will never know how to move. So I say, those who have had an experience or a realisation in themselves are not: necessarily the most advanced. Such a person lacks an element of simplicity, modesty, plasticity that spontaneously come to one who feels that he has not grown fully and has to develop further.
A realised person, if I may say so graphically and somewhat strongly, is a finished product to be kept in a glass-case for show in a museum. He is a sample showing what has been done and what could be done. But you do not have there the stuff to do more. I would prefer for my work to have someone who may have little knowledge, but who has much goodwill, a great aspiration, who feels within him this flame, this need to go on. I say, he may know little, he may have realised even less, but here is good material with which one can go far, very far. Besides, there is another point to note. As in mountain-climbing a guide is very useful, even indispensable, who can show you the proper way and make it easy for you to climb higher and higher altitudes, so in spiritual ascension, a guide, if you have the good fortune to meet one, will help you to rise much higher than you could do yourself with your own personal strength and your own personal view of a fixed goalyou are not proud of your discovery and you do not waste time or energy in useless searches and enquiries.
07.04 - The Triple Soul-Forces, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
I know the Goal, I know the secret route;
I have studied the map of the invisible worlds;
07.05 - The Finding of the Soul, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
There was felt a blissful nearness to the Goal;
Heaven leaned low to kiss the sacred hill,
07.29 - How to Feel that we Belong to the Divine, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The world progresses. And being in the world you too must progress. It is a progress, however, which the Divine effects in you without your knowledge or collaboration. The progress is therefore very slow; Nature does not calculate the time she takes for her work, she has eternity before her and she is not in a hurry. Centuries and millenniums are mere instants in her march forward. One day she will arrive at the Goal she has fixed for her, even at the complete transformation of the body and the advent of the superman. But the work will be hastened if there is conscious collaboration from man. Most people, by far the largest majority indeed, are not conscious of the action of the Divine in them. To be conscious means to be attentive of what is being done, to be receptive and to be passive to its influence. The more you give yourself and the more sincere you are, the swifter and the more assured is your realisation. You can do in a few moments what would otherwise take years. That is the aim of Yoga.
***
07.36 - The Body and the Psychic, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
That depends. There is a kind of progress sometimes. There are, for example, writers, musicians, artists, people who lived on a high mental level, who feel that they have yet something to do upon earth, they did not finish their work, fulfil their mission, reach the Goal they set before themselves. So they wish to remain in the earth's atmosphere as much as possible, retain as much cohesion of their being as needed and seek to manifest themselves and progress through other living human forms. I have seen many such cases: I shall tell you the very interesting case of a musician, a pianist, a pianist of a very high order; he had hands that had become something marvellous, full of skill, accuracy, precision, force, swiftness; it was truly remarkable. The man died comparatively young and with the feeling that had he lived he would have gone on advancing in his musical self-expression. Such was the intensity of his aspiration that his subtle hands retained their form without getting dissolved and wherever there was someone passive and receptive and at the same time a good musician the hands of the dead man would enter into the living hands that played. In the case that I saw the man used to play well enough normally but quite in the ordinary way; he became, however, as he continued to play all on a sudden not only a virtuoso, but a marvellous artist; it was the hands of the other person who made use of him. The same thing may happen with regard to a painter; in his case too, the hands are the instrument. For certain writers also a like thing may happen; but here it is the brain of the dead man that retains its formation and it is this that enters the brain of the living writer which must be receptive enough to allow the formation in all its precision. I have seen a writer who was nothing extraordinary in his normal capacity, but used to write things much more beautiful in those moments than he was capable of doing or was doing usually. I know the case of a musical composer, not executor like the one I referred to before, which was particularly remarkable. In the case of the composer, like the writer, it is the brain that serves him; for the executor the hands are the chief instrument. Beethoven, Bach, Cesar Franck were great composers, although the last one was an executor also. The composition of music is a cerebral activity. Now the brain of a great musician used to enter in contact with that of the composer and made him compose marvellous pieces. The man was writing a musical opera. You must remember what a complicated thing an opera music is. It is a complex whole in which roles are distributed to a very large number of performers each playing differently on different instruments and they must all of them together and severally express the idea and the theme the composer has in his mind. Now, this man I am speaking of, when he sat down with the blank paper in front, used to receive the musical formation in his brain and wrote down continuously as if he was recording something ready-made placed before him. I saw him filling up a whole page from top to bottom with all the details of orchestration. He had no need to hear any instrument, he did it all on paper; and the distribution was perfect. He himself was not very unconscious, he used to feel that something entered into him and helped him to bring out the music.
You must note here that when I speak of a formation entering into a living person, the formation does not mean the man himself who is dead, that is to say, his soul or psychic being. I say that it is only a special faculty which continues to remain in the earth atmosphere, even after the death of the man to whom the faculty belonged: it was so well developed, well formed that it continues to retain its independent identity. The soul, the true being of the man is no longer there; I have told you often that after death it goes away as soon as possible to the psychic world, its own world, for rest, assimilation and preparation. Not that it cannot happen otherwise. A soul incarnating as a great musician may incarnate again in or as a great musician, although I said in another connection that a soul usually prefers to vary, even to contrast and contradict its incarnations with each other. Take for example, the great violinist, Isai; he was a Belgian and the most marvellous violinist of his century. I knew him and I am sure he was an incarnation, at least, an emanation, of the soul that was the great Beethoven. It may not have been the whole psychic being that so reincarnated, but the soul in its musical capacity. He had the same appearance, the same head. When I saw him first appearing on the stage I was greatly surprised, I said to myself, he looks so like Beethoven, the very portrait of that great genius. And then he stood, the bow poised, one stroke and there were in it three or four notes only, but three or four supreme notes, full of power, greatness and grandeur; the entire hall was charged with an atmosphere marvellous and unique. I could recognise very well the musical genius of Beethoven behind. It may be possible here too the soul of Beethoven in its entirety the whole psychic beingwas not present; the central psychic might have been elsewhere gathering more modest, commonplace experiences, as a shoemaker, for example. But what was left and what manifested itself was something very characteristic of the great musician. He had disciplined his mental and vital being and even his physical being in view of his musical capacity and this formation remained firm and sought to reincarnate. The musical being was originally organised and fashioned around the psychic consciousness and therefore it acquired its peculiar power and its force of persistence, almost an immortality. Such formations, though not themselves the psychic being, have a psychic quality, are independent beings, possess their own life and seek their fulfilment by manifesting and incarnating themselves whenever the occasion presents itself.
07.40 - Service Human and Divine, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
You will make a remarkable discovery as you proceed to know what you are and who you are. That is how you should begin. I want to serve humanity. How can I serve? Who is this 'I' that wants to serve? You say, I am such a person, this form and this name. But the form you have now was not there when you were a baby: it has been changing constantly All the elements of your body are being renewed totally. Neither are your sensations and feelings those you had a few years ago. Your thoughts and ideas have undergone revolutions. The I covers a sum of ever-changing factors. There is nothing particularly to be called I : it is only a ring of changes. An empty name seems to be the only constant thing. One element at a time comes forwardan idea, a feeling, an Impulse and that is your I for the moment. At another moment another element comes up and becomes your I. You are not one I but a crowd of many Is. So what is the value of the declaration of one of the 1's that it has found the Goal, the truth, the duty you have to follow? Thus if you proceed further, questioning and analysing yourself thoroughly and sincerely, you will stumble upon the reality. You will find that I does not exist at all. What exists is something else: it is the one indivisible reality, the Divine alone.
It is this self-discovery that will give you the basic knowledge, the foundation of your life, the discovery that your self as yourself does not exist, you are indeed nothing. This sense of nothingness must pervade your being, fill all the elements of your being before the truth can dawn upon you and the Divine Presence can be felt. And what you have been doing all along is the very contrary thing, asserting your egoism, your vanitypretending that you were somebody, you could do something, that the world needed your help and you could give that help. Nothing of the kind. When you discover this truth and accept it, when you are humbled and in true humility you approach life and reality, you will find your real career and vocation.
08.01 - Choosing To Do Yoga, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
For, on this level, on the spiritual level, too many people,in fact, the majority of those who take up the spiritual lifedo Yoga for personal reasons, all kinds of personal reasons : some because they are disgusted with life, others because they are unhappy, some others because they wish to have more knowledge, others again because they want to be spiritually great, yet others because they want to learn things so that they may teach them to others, and so On, there are a thousand personal reasons for doing the Yoga. But there are not many for doing the simple act of giving oneself to the Divinethis act in all its purity and consistencyso that the Divine may take one up and do with One what He wants. With that you go straight to your goal and never run the risk of making a mistake. But all the other motives are mixed up, tainted with ego and they can lead, you hither and thither and far away from the Goal.
This feeling that there is for you only one reason for existence, one single motive, the total complete perfect consecration to the Divine, to such a degree that you are unable to distinguish between yourself and the Divine, you become the Divine wholly, absolutely, without any personal reaction whatsoever intervening: this is the ideal attitude. And that is the only one with which you can progress safely in life, protected from everything, protected even from yourself for of all dangers the greatest is that which comes from one's own self, one's egoistic self.
08.08 - The Mind s Bazaar, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
I propose to give you a task. You have ideas on things. You must surely have ideas on the world, life, the why of existence and the whence and the whither, wherefore we are here, our present occupation, our future realisation, etc., etc. Now try to put all these ideas in front of you and then arrange them. Will you find it easy? Surely it will amuse you and you will discover amazing things. First of all, the very work itself of exposition, that is to say, simply placing the ideas side by side in front of you, all the ideas that you have on a given subject, as if you were writing out a composition given in your class, will bring to you funny revelations. If you did not already have the habit of holding to a central idea, a central immutable truth, if that were possible, around which you arranged all the collateral ideas, organised them in a logical order, if, I say, you did not do anything like that before, you would find yourself, if not in a sad, at least in a comic situation. You can't imagine how many contradictory thoughts you are thinking in the course of an hour without the least surprise! For example, take this subject: "what is the Goal towards which life is moving?" or "why do men take birth only to die?"take a subject a little general and even somewhat abstract like this and not the problem of why football today and not basket-ballthings can be easily explained away there and then try to line up all your ideas on the matter; you will see how queer the affair is.
How to distinguish between an idea that is one's own and an idea coming from elsewhere (a book or a person)?
08.17 - Psychological Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Endurance in its physical expression is perseverance. That is to say, you must be prepared to do a thousand times, if necessary, the same thing over and over again. You take a step forward, you think you are firmly placed; but there will always crop up something or other which brings back the old difficulty. You think you have solved the problem, you will have to solve it again: it will come in a slightly different form, but it is the same problem. You must be ready to face the problem, go through the same difficulties a million times. That is how you are sure to arrive at the Goal.
We have left out one very important factorSurrender. Now Sri Aurobindo says that surrender is the first and absolute condition for doing Yoga. Without it there is no Yoga. So we can say that it is not one of the qualities required, but that it is the primary indispensable attitude for one to be able to begin Yoga. If you have not decided to surrender you cannot start on the path. But to make this surrender total and complete all the Five that we have enumerated are needed. This is then what I propose. We put Surrender on the top, at the head; for to do the integral Yoga, one must first of all take the resolution to surrender entirely to the Divine, there is no other way that is the one way. Afterwards, one must have the five psychological perfections.
08.31 - Personal Effort and Surrender, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
There is no difference in the end between the two if the Goal to be attained is the Impersonal Divine, that is to say, if you want to unite and identify yourself with the Impersonal Divine, merge into it. But if your aspiration is to reach what is beyond, what Sri Aurobindo calls the supramental Reality, then there comes in a difference, a difference in the Goal as well as in the way. For the way to the supramental realisation is essentially the way of surrender. It is a question of temperament perhaps. And if One has the temperament, the disposition, the path of surrender is infinitely more easy: three-fourths of your trouble and difficulty are got rid of automatically. But it may prove hard going for some.
Now as regards the result, in one case, I may say, it is linear, it ends at a point, as it were; in the other case, the path is spherical and ends in a totality. Each one individually can reach his origin and the optimum of his being; the origin and the optimum of one's being is the same as the Eternal, the Infinite, the Supreme. If you reach your origin, you reach the Supreme, but you reach along a single linedo not take the image literally, it is only a description to make the thing easy to understand. So it is, I say, a linear realisation terminating at a point and this point is one with the Supreme, your maximum possibility. By the other way, you arrive at, what I call, a spherical realisation; for it gives you the idea of something that contains all, it is not a point but a totality that excludes nothing.
10.03 - The Debate of Love and Death, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Deepens the soul's response, brings nearer the Goal."
Death the contemptuous Nihil answered her:
1.007 - Initial Steps in Yoga Practice, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
To reiterate, this discipline is not a kind of imposition on the mind or the body, but it is a necessity. If the doctor tells us that we must take a capsule or a tablet at a particular time in a day, in such a quantity, he is not intending to impose upon us any kind of torture definitely not. It is a kind of method that he is introducing into our life for the purpose of regaining health. An introduction of a method cannot be regarded as a torture. It is not a compulsion and, therefore, discipline in this sense is not only necessary but indispensable, considering the nature of the Goal that is before us. Why then this insistence on system, method, organisation, punctuality, tenacity, persistence, etc., in the practice? The reason is that it is the nature of the Goal itself. the Goal of life is the ultimate point of system.
Nothing can be more systematic than consciousness itself. The highest method that can be conceived is deducible from the structure of consciousness, the nature of existence, the pattern of life everything is methodical. The whole of nature works in such a systematic manner that it is impossible to conceive chaos as a part of natural activity. Chaos means an indeterminate causative factor operating behind the effects visible in life. Any cause can bring about any effect this possibility would be regarded as a chaos. But that is not the way in which nature works. It is not that any cause will bring about any effect. Particular causes, arranged in a particular manner, will bring about particular results at a particular time and in a particular intensity. All this is decided and laid down due to the structure of things, the nature of life itself. The pattern of life is finally an organised whole and, therefore, organisation, which is another name for method, becomes a necessity in the practice of yoga. Just as we have social or political organisations, we have here an organisation of activity, conduct, procedure, and way of life.
1.00a - DIVISION A - THE INTERNAL FIRES OF THE SHEATHS., #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
1. Bodily warmth, the channel along which the heat radiates and which finds the Goal of its attention to be the heating of the corporeal frame. This vitalisation of the dense matter of the body finds its correspondence in the systemic akasha, and in planetary productive substance.
2. Nervous response. This is the vitalising tenuous fluid which applies itself to the stimulation of the nervous centres, and which creates electrical response to contact between the nerves and the brain. It should now be more closely studied. It corresponds to systemic electricity, and to planetary electricity.
1.00a - Foreword, #Initiation Into Hermetics, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
There is no doubt that every one who has been searching for the true and au thentic cognition, in vain looked for years, if not even for a lifetime, to find a reliable method of training. The ardent desire for this noble aim made people again and again collect a mass of books, from near and far, supposed to be the best ones, but which were lacking a great deal for real practice. Not one, however, of all the seekers could make any sense from all the stuff collected in the course of time, and the Goal aimed at so fervently vanished more and more in nebulous distances. Provided the one or the other did start to work on the progress after instructions so highly praised, his good will and diligence never saw any practical results. Apart from that, nobody could reliably answer to his pressing questions, whether or not just this way he had selected, was the correct one for his individual case.
Just at this time Divine Providence decided to help all those seekers who have been searching with tough endurance to find means and ways for their spiritual development. Through this book universal methods are given into the hands of mankind by a highest initiate who was chosen by Divine Providence for this special task.
1.00c - DIVISION C - THE ETHERIC BODY AND PRANA, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
Lastly, all work with fire. Fire internal, inherent and latent; fire radiatory and emanative; fire generated, assimilated and radiated; fire vivifying stimulating, and destroying; fire transmitted, reflected, and absorbed; fire, the basis of all life; fire, the essence of all existence; fire, the means of development, and the impulse behind all evolutionary process; fire, the builder, the preserver and the constructor; fire, the originator, the process and the Goal; fire the purifier and the consumer. The God of Fire and the fire of God interacting upon each other, till all fires blend and blaze and till all that exists, is passed through the firefrom a solar system to an antand emerges as a triple perfection. Fire then passes out from the ring-pass-not as perfected essence, whether essence emerging from the human ring-pass-not, the planetary ring-pass-not or the solar. The wheel of fire turns and all within that wheel is subjected to the threefold flame, and eventually stands perfected.
III. THE FUNCTION OF THE ETHERIC BODY
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If a man persists from life to life in this line of action, if he neglects his spiritual development and concentrates on intellectual effort turned to the manipulation of matter for selfish ends, if he continues this in spite of the promptings of his inner self, and in spite of the warnings that may reach him from Those who watch, and if this is carried on for a long period he may bring upon himself a destruction that is final for this manvantara or cycle. He may, by the uniting of the two fires of matter and the dual expression of mental fire, succeed in the complete destruction of the physical permanent atom, and thereby sever his connection with the higher self for aeons of time. H. P. B. has somewhat touched on this when speaking of "lost souls"; [lx]58 [lxi]59 we must here emphasise the reality of this dire disaster and sound a warning note to those who approach this subject of the fires of matter with all its latent dangers. The blending of these fires must be the result of spiritualised knowledge, and must be directed solely by the Light of the Spirit, who works through love and is love, and who seeks this unification and this utter merging not from the point of view of sense or of material gratification, but because liberation and purification is desired in order that the higher union with the Logos may be effected; this union must be desired, not for selfish ends, but because group perfection is the Goal and scope for greater service to the race must be achieved.
[128]
1.00c - INTRODUCTION, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
reaching, the Goal. This statement, though, apparently, very
nice, is also absurd, because there is no such thing as motion
--
progression is untenable, for destruction is the Goal of
everything earthly. All our struggles and hopes and fears and
1.00e - DIVISION E - MOTION ON THE PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL PLANES, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
a. the Goal of the second Logos is consciousness, to be achieved in co-operation with the third Logos.
b. His function is the building of forms to be His instruments of experience.
--
4. The Circle divided into four. This is the true circle of matter, the equal armed cross of the Holy Spirit, Who is the personification of active intelligent matter. This shows the fourth dimensional quality of matter and the penetration of the fire in four directions, its threefold radiation being symbolised by the triangles formed by the fourfold cross. This portrays the fourfold revolution of any atom. By this is not meant the ability of any atom to make four revolutions, but the fourth dimensional quality of the revolution which is the Goal aimed at, and which is even now becoming known in matter during this [161] fourth round, and in this fourth chain. As the fifth spirilla or fifth stream of force in an atom becomes developed, and man can conceive of a fourth-dimensional rotary movement, the accuracy of this symbol will be recognised. It will then be seen that all sheaths in their progress from inertia to rhythm, via mobility, pass through all stages, whether they are logoic sheaths, the rays in which the Heavenly Men veil Themselves, the planes which form the bodies of certain solar entities, the causal body (or the sheath of the Ego on the mental plane), the human physical body in its etheric constitution, or a cell in that body etheric. All these material forms (existent in etheric matter which is the true matter of all forms) are primarily undifferentiated ovoids; they then become actively rotating or manifest latent heat; next they manifest duality or latent and radiatory fire; the expression of these two results in fourth dimensional action or the wheel or rotary form turning upon itself.
5. The swastika, or the fire extending not only from the periphery to the centre in four directions, but gradually circulating and radiating from and around the entire periphery. This signifies completed activity in every department of matter until finally we have a blazing, fiery wheel, turning every way, with radiant channels of fire from the centre to the ring-pass-not,fire within, without and around until the wheel is consumed and there is naught remaining but perfected fire.
--
Second. A development of psychic faculty that again may lead to temporary distress, but which eventually causes a recognition of the one Self in all selves, which is the Goal of endeavor.
Third. A burning away, through a gradual arousing of kundalini, and its correct geometrical progression through the etheric web. This produces a resultant continuity of consciousness which enables the initiate consciously to utilise time as a factor in the plans of evolution.
1.00 - INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
The divine spark does not as yet manifest (as do the other two fires) as a duality, though what lies hidden in a later cycle, evolution alone will disclose. This third fire, along with the other two, make the necessary five of logoic evolutionary development and by its perfected merging with the other two fires as the evolutionary process proceeds is seen the Goal of logoic attainment for this greater cycle or period of this solar system.
[45]
1.00 - Main, #The Book of Certitude, #Baha u llah, #Baha i
Let none, in this Day, hold fast to aught save that which hath been manifested in this Revelation. Such is the decree of God, aforetime and hereafter-a decree wherewith the Scriptures of the Messengers of old have been adorned. Such is the admonition of the Lord, aforetime and hereafter-an admonition wherewith the preamble to the Book of Life hath been embellished, did ye but perceive it. Such is the commandment of the Lord, aforetime and hereafter; beware lest ye choose instead the part of ignominy and abasement. Naught shall avail you in this Day but God, nor is there any refuge to flee to save Him, the Omniscient, the All-Wise. Whoso hath known Me hath known the Goal of all desire, and whoso hath turned unto Me hath turned unto the Object of all adoration. Thus hath it been set forth in the Book, and thus hath it been decreed by God, the Lord of all worlds. To read but one of the verses of My Revelation is better than to peruse the Scriptures of both the former and latter generations. This is the Utterance of the All-Merciful, would that ye had ears to hear! Say: This is the essence of knowledge, did ye but understand.
139
1.00 - The way of what is to come, #The Red Book Liber Novus, #unset, #Zen
36. Jung later described his personal transformation at this time as an example of the beginning of the second half of life, which frequently marked a return to the soul, after the Goals and ambitions of the first half of life had been achieved (Symbols of Traniformation [1952], CW 5, p. xxvi); see also The turning point of life (1930, CW 8).
37. Jung is referring here to his earlier work. For example, he had written in 1905, Through the associations experiment we are at least given the means to pave the way for the experimental research of the mysteries of the sick soul (The psychopathological meaning of the associations experiment, CW 2, 897)
1.010 - Self-Control - The Alpha and Omega of Yoga, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
So while self-control is extremely difficult, to miss the practice of self-control is extremely dangerous. Hence, the guidance of a Guru is called for, and earnestness of practice is also requisite. Conducive atmosphere, suitable company, activity commensurate with the nature of the Goal, and the presence of a competent master or a Guru all these are indispensable requisites in the practice of yoga.
10.16 - The Relative Best, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Whatever happens is for the bestunder the circumstances, it must be added, for the best is the resultant of many forces pulling in all directions for and against and sideways. The best means whatever leads to the Goal, to the ultimate good, the final reality, the Supreme, the Divine. The universe is so arranged, the divine dispensation acts in such a way that every event, every circumstance, whatever its appearance, always leads to the Supreme Goal. So it is said the way, whatever it is, straight or crooked, always guides you to your final realisation.
Only, in the progressive march, the best can always be bettered and must be bettered. In the earlier stages, when one is in ignorance and darkness lies about, the path is sure to be tortuous with ups and downs, aberrations and retrogressions, but as one advances and the consciousness grows the obscurity dissipates, gradually the path too straightens itself, becomes smooth and kindly. That is how the best at one moment, which may appear to the superficial consciousness, very bad or even the worst, is betteredbetterment means precisely this that one rises into a clearer consciousness, one moves along a straighter path, one takes a shorter and happier course to the Goal. This is true as much of the individual as of the world as a whole, for the world too, like the individual, moves inevitably towards its high destiny the same as or parallel to that of the individual.
It is the best that happens always for nothing else can happen but it is a relative best, relative to the situation that the consciousness according to its status creates around. As the consciousness advances the nature of the best is also transformed.
There is an absolute best but that can happen only when the consciousness has arrived at, attained union with the Supreme Consciousness. In fact there is then no longer any path to traverse, the path has lapsed or merged into the Goal, the path and the Goal have become one. This does not mean that dangers and difficulties and pitfalls have to be accepted and welcomed but that they have to be faced in the right spirit as aids and helps necessary and inevitable at certain points of the journey. One must grow into the consciousness that will be able to see them as such, find their use and turn them into the good that lies behind or ahead.
***
1.01 - Adam Kadmon and the Evolution, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
and that the Goal of the initiate is an actual assumption of
the attri butes of God, in short: divinization. The way of
Hermes is the way of immortality, and the Goal is reached
when the purified soul has realized God, so that the reborn
1.01 - Foreward, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
may build the way of our ascent to the Goal. The elements of
the outer sacrifice in the Veda are used as symbols of the inner
1.01 - Hatha Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
3. Hatha Yoga itself is not the Goal. Meditation helps you to attain Samadhi or Superconscious State.
4. The practice of Hatha Yoga awakens the Kundalini Sakti that lies dormant in the Muladhara Chakra.
1.01 - How is Knowledge Of The Higher Worlds Attained?, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
This higher man now becomes the inner ruler who directs the circumstances of the outer man with sure guidance. As long as the outer man has the upper hand and control, this inner man is his slave and therefore cannot unfold his powers. If it depends on something other than myself whether I should get angry or not, I am not master of myself, or, to put it better, I have not yet found the ruler within myself. I must develop the faculty of letting the impressions of the outer world approach me only in the way in which I myself determine; then only do I become in the real sense a student. And only in as far as the student earnestly seeks this power can he reach the Goal. It is of no importance how far anyone can go in a given time; the point is that he should earnestly seek. Many have striven for years without noticing
p. 28
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With firm step the student passes through life. No matter what it may bring him, he goes forward erect. In the past he knew not why he labored and suffered, but now he knows. It is obvious that such meditation leads more surely to the Goal if conducted under the direction of experienced persons who know of themselves how everything may best be done; and their advice and guidance should be sought. Truly, no one loses his freedom thereby. What would otherwise be mere uncertain groping in the dark becomes under this direction purposeful work. All who
p. 33
1.01 - MAPS OF EXPERIENCE - OBJECT AND MEANING, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
Active apprehension of the Goal of behavior, conceptualized in relationship to the interpreted present,
serves to constrain or provide determinate framework for the evaluation of ongoing events, which emerge
as a consequence of current behavior. the Goal is an imaginary state, consisting of a place of desirable
motivation or affect is a state that only exists in fantasy, as something (potentially) preferable to the
present. (Construction of the Goal therefore means establishment of a theory about the ideal relative status
of motivational states about the good.) This imagined future constitutes a vision of perfection, so to
1.01 - MASTER AND DISCIPLE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Food, clothes, and a dwelling-place - nothing more. You cannot realize God with its help. Therefore money can never be the Goal of life. That is the process of discrimination. Do you understand?"
M: "Yes, sir. I recently read a Sanskrit play called Prabodha Chandrodaya. It deals with discrimination."
1.01 - Meeting the Master - Authors first meeting, December 1918, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
The Congress broke up at Surat in 1907. Sri Aurobindo had played a prominent part in that historic session. From Surat he came to Baroda, and at Vankaner Theatre and at Prof. Manik Rao's old gymnasium in Dandia Bazar he delivered several speeches which not only took the audience by storm but changed entirely the course of many lives. I also heard him without understanding everything that was spoken. But ever since I had seen him I had got the constant feeling that he was one known to me, and so my mind could not fix the exact time-moment when I knew him. It is certain that the connection seemed to begin with the great tidal wave of the national movement in the political life of India; but I think it was only the apparent beginning. The years between 1903 and 1910 were those of unprecedented awakening and revolution. The generations that followed also witnessed two or three powerful floods of the national movement. But the very first onrush of the newly awakened national consciousness of India was unique. That tidal wave in its initial onrush defined the Goal of India's political ideal an independent republic. Alternating movements of ebb and flow in the national movement followed till in 1947 the Goal was reached. The lives of leaders and workers, who rode, willingly and with delight on the dangerous crest of the tidal wave, underwent great transformations. Our small group in Gujarat got its goal fixed the winning of undiluted freedom for India.
All the energies of the leaders were taken up by the freedom movement. Only a few among them attempted to see beyond the horizon of political freedom some ideal of human perfection; for, after all, freedom is not the ultimate goal but a condition for the expression of the cultural Spirit of India. In Swami Shraddhananda, Pandit Madanmohan Malavia, Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi to name some leaders we see the double aspect of the inspiration. Among all the visions of perfection of the human spirit on earth, I found the synthetic and integral vision of Sri Aurobindo the most rational and the most satisfying. It meets the need of the individual and collective life of man today. It is the international form of the fundamental elements of Indian culture. It is, Dr. S. K. Maitra says, the message which holds out hope in a world of despair.
1.01 - SAMADHI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
concentration, which is the Goal of the Yogi.
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in this state get merged in nature without attaining the Goal are
called Prakrtilayas, but those who do not even stop at any
enjoyments, reach the Goal, which is freedom.
'N
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debarred from attaining the Goal, remain as rulers of parts of
the universe.
1.01 - Soul and God, #The Red Book Liber Novus, #unset, #Zen
[2] Like a tired wanderer who had sought nothing in the world apart from her, shall I come closer to my soul. I shall learn that my soul finally lies behind everything, and if I cross the world, I am ultimately doing this to find my soul. Even the dearest are themselves not the Goal and end of the love that goes on seeking, they are symbols of their own souls.
My friends, do you guess to what solitude we ascend?
1.01 - The First Steps, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
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
8:Another kind of Shastra is not Scripture, but a statement of the science and methods, the effective principles and way of working of the path of Yoga which the Sadhaka elects to follow. Each path has its Shastra, either written or traditional, passing from mouth to mouth through a long line of Teachers. In India a great authority, a high reverence even is ordinarily attached to the written or traditional teaching. All the lines of the Yoga are supposed to be fixed and the Teacher who has received the Shastra by tradition and realised it in practice guides the disciple along the immemorial tracks. One often even hears the objection urged against a new practice, a new Yogic teaching, the adoption of a new formula, "It is not according to the Shastra." But neither in fact nor in the actual practice of the Yogins is there really any such entire rigidity of an iron door shut against new truth, fresh revelation, widened experience. The written or traditional teaching expresses the knowledge and experiences of many centuries systematised, organised, made attainable to the beginner. Its importance and utility are therefore immense. But a great freedom of variation and development is always practicable. Even so highly scientific a system as Rajayoga can be practised on other lines than the organised method of Patanjali. Each of the three paths, trimarga 51, breaks into many bypaths which meet again at the Goal. The general knowledge on which the Yoga depends is fixed, but the order, the succession, the devices, the forms must be allowed to vary, for the needs and particular impulsions of the individual nature have to be satisfied even while the general truths remain firm and constant.
9:An integral and synthetic Yoga needs especially not to be bound by any written or traditional Shastra; for while it embraces the knowledge received from the past, it seeks to organise it anew for the present and the future. An absolute liberty of experience and of the restatement of knowledge in new terms and new combinations is the condition of its self-formation. Seeking to embrace all life in itself, it is in the position not of a pilgrim following the highroad to his destination, but, to that extent at least, of a path-finder hewing his way through a virgin forest. For Yoga has long diverged from life and the ancient systems which sought to embrace it, such as those of our Vedic forefa thers, are far away from us, expressed in terms which are no longer accessible, thrown into forms which are no longer applicable. Since then mankind has moved forward on the current of eternal Time and the same problem has to be approached from a new starting-point.
1.01 - The Human Aspiration, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
0:She follows to the Goal of those that are passing on beyond, she is the first in the eternal succession of the dawns that are coming, - Usha widens bringing out that which lives, awakening someone who was dead. . . . What is her scope when she harmonises with the dawns that shone out before and those that now must shine? She desires the ancient mornings and fulfils their light; projecting forwards her illumination she enters into communion with the rest that are to come. Kutsa Angirasa - Rig Veda.1
0:Threefold are those supreme births of this divine force that is in the world, they are true, they are desirable; he moves there wide-overt within the Infinite and shines pure, luminous and fulfilling. . . . That which is immortal in mortals and possessed of the truth, is a god and established inwardly as an energy working out in our divine powers. . . . Become high-uplifted, O Strength, pierce all veils, manifest in us the things of the Godhead. Vamadeva - Rig Veda.2
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2:These persistent ideals of the race are at once the contradiction of its normal experience and the affirmation of higher and deeper experiences which are abnormal to humanity and only to be attained, in their organised entirety, by a revolutionary individual effort or an evolutionary general progression. To know, possess and be the divine being in an animal and egoistic consciousness, to convert our twilit or obscure physical mentality into the plenary supramental illumination, to build peace and a self-existent bliss where there is only a stress of transitory satisfactions besieged by physical pain and emotional suffering, to establish an infinite freedom in a world which presents itself as a group of mechanical necessities, to discover and realise the immortal life in a body subjected to death and constant mutation, - this is offered to us as the manifestation of God in Matter and the Goal of Nature in her terrestrial evolution. To the ordinary material intellect which takes its present organisation of consciousness for the limit of its possibilities, the direct contradiction of the unrealised ideals with the realised fact is a final argument against their validity. But if we take a more deliberate view of the world's workings, that direct opposition appears rather as part of Nature's profoundest method and the seal of her completest sanction.
3:For all problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony. They arise from the perception of an unsolved discord and the instinct of an undiscovered agreement or unity. To rest content with an unsolved discord is possible for the practical and more animal part of man, but impossible for his fully awakened mind, and usually even his practical parts only escape from the general necessity either by shutting out the problem or by accepting a rough, utilitarian and unillumined compromise. For essentially, all Nature seeks a harmony, life and matter in their own sphere as much as mind in the arrangement of its perceptions. The greater the apparent disorder of the materials offered or the apparent disparateness, even to irreconcilable opposition, of the elements that have to be utilised, the stronger is the spur, and it drives towards a more subtle and puissant order than can normally be the result of a less difficult endeavour. The accordance of active Life with a material of form in which the condition of activity itself seems to be inertia, is one problem of opposites that Nature has solved and seeks always to solve better with greater complexities; for its perfect solution would be the material immortality of a fully organised mind-supporting animal body. The accordance of conscious mind and conscious will with a form and a life in themselves not overtly self-conscious and capable at best of a mechanical or subconscious will is another problem of opposites in which she has produced astonishing results and aims always at higher marvels; for there her ultimate miracle would be an animal consciousness no longer seeking but possessed of Truth and Light, with the practical omnipotence which would result from the possession of a direct and perfected knowledge. Not only, then, is the upward impulse of man towards the accordance of yet higher opposites rational in itself, but it is the only logical completion of a rule and an effort that seem to be a fundamental method of Nature and the very sense of her universal strivings.
1.01 - The Path of Later On, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Hollow voices cry out to the traveller, "Flee this place; go back to the cross-roads; there is still time." The young man hesitates, then replies, "Tomorrow." He covers his face with his hands so as not to see the bodies rolling into the ravine, and runs along the road, drawn on by an irresistible urge to go forward. He no longer wonders whether he will find a way out. With furrowed brow and clothes in disorder, he runs on in desperation. At last, thinking himself far away from the accursed place, he opens his eyes: there are no more fir-trees; all around are barren stones and grey dust. The sun has disappeared beyond the horizon; night is coming on. The road has lost itself in an endless desert. The desperate traveller, worn out by his long run, wants to stop; but he must walk on. All around him is ruin; he hears stifled cries; his feet stumble on skeletons. In the distance, the thick mist takes on terrifying shapes; black forms loom up; something huge and misshapen suggests itself. The traveller flies rather than walks towards the Goal he senses and which seems to flee from him; wild cries direct his steps; he brushes against phantoms. At last he sees before him a huge edifice, dark, desolate, gloomy, a castle to make one say with a shudder: "A haunted castle." But the young man pays no attention to the bleakness of the place; these great black walls make no impression on him; as he stands on the dusty ground, he hardly trembles at the sight of these formidable towers; he thinks only that the Goal is reached, he forgets his weariness and discouragement. As he approaches the castle, he brushes against a wall, and the wall crumbles; instantly everything collapses around him; towers, battlements, walls have vanished, sinking into dust which is added to the dust already covering the ground.
Owls, crows and bats fly out in all directions, screeching and circling around the head of the poor traveller who, dazed, downcast, overwhelmed, stands rooted to the spot, unable to move; suddenly, horror of horrors, he sees rising up before him terrible phantoms who bear the names of Desolation, Despair, Disgust with life, and amidst the ruins he even glimpses Suicide, pallid and dismal above a bottomless gulf. All these malignant spirits surround him, clutch him, propel him towards the yawning chasm. The poor youth tries to resist this irresistible force, he wants to draw back, to flee, to tear himself away from all these invisible arms entwining and clasping him. But it is too late; he moves on towards the fatal abyss. He feels drawn, hypnotized by it. He calls out; no voice answers to his cries. He grasps at the phantoms, everything gives way beneath him. With haggard eyes he scans the void, he calls out, he implores; the macabre laughter of Evil rings out at last.
1.01 - The Science of Living, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
concentration, meditation, revelation and experience - the help one needs to reach the Goal. Only one thing is
absolutely indispensable: the will to discover and to realise. This discovery and realisation should be the primary
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each crisis can be turned into a new progress, into one more step towards the Goal. Progress may be slow, relapses
may be frequent, but if a courageous will is maintained, one is sure to triumph one day and see all difficulties
1.01 - The True Aim of Life, #Words Of The Mother II, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The only important thing is the Goal to be attained. The way
matters little, and often it is better not to know it in advance.
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In the world, as it is, the Goal of life is not to secure personal
happiness, but to awaken the individual progressively towards
1.02.2.1 - Brahman - Oneness of God and the World, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
or other than its immediate idea of itself. Brahman is the Goal;
for it is both the beginning and the end, the cause and the result
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to us as the Goal to be aimed at and the felicity to be enjoyed
when we have transcended the state of death. (Verses 11, 14,
1.02.3.2 - Knowledge and Ignorance, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
into him. But this also is not the Goal of man; for though it
brings transcendence of the ordinary human limits, it does not
1.02.3.3 - Birth and Non-Birth, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
Non-Birth pursued as the Goal of Birth and a higher, fuller and
truer existence may lead to withdrawal into the silent Brahman
1.02.4.1 - The Worlds - Surya, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
Transcendence is the Goal of the development, but it does not
exclude the possession of that which is transcended. The soul
1.02.4.2 - Action and the Divine Will, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
together and direct consciously the activities towards the Goal
of the individual.
10.24 - Savitri, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But there is no escape. The divine traveller has to pass through this region. For it lies athwart his path to the Goal. Not only so, it is necessary to go through this Night. For Ashwapati
Knew death for a cellar of the house of life,
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Ashwapati veers round. A new perception, a new consciousness begins to open within him. A new urge moves him. He has to start on a new journey, a new quest and achievement. The world exists neither as a Truth nor as an illusion in itself. It exists in and through the Mother of the worlds. There is a motive in its existence and it is her will that is being worked out in that existence. The world moves for the fulfilment of a purpose that is being evolved through earth-life and humanlife. The ignorant incomplete human life upon earth is not the be-all and end-all of the life here. That life has to evolve into a life of light and love and joy perfect here below. Nature as it is now will be transmuted into a new pure and radiant substance. Ashwapati is filled with this new urge and inspiredby this new vision. He sees and understands now the truth of his life, the Goal that has to be achieved, the great dream that has to be realised here upon earth in and through matter. He sees how nature has been labouring ceaselessly and tirelessly through aeons through eternity onward. He is now almost impatient to see the consummation here and now. The divine Voice however shows him the wisdom of working patiently, hastening slowly. The Voice admonishes him:
I ask thee not to merge thy heart of flame
1.025 - Sadhana - Intensifying a Lighted Flame, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Inasmuch as it is a super-logical mystery, there would be no necessity on our part to investigate the causes thereof and the methods thereof, logically or scientifically, beyond a certain limit, though logical and scientific thinking is a help to corroborate the presence of this aspiration. The aspiration is already present within us. It is not created by logical thinking and, therefore, such logical thinking is only a bulwark that we create to reinforce the aspiration that is already there. We already have a faith in God. We already believe that God-realisation is the Goal of life. This belief has taken possession of us already, and now all that we do is only an ancillary process which is contri butory to streng thening this aspiration and enabling it to become more and more potent and influential in our daily life. We cannot create a concept of God by any amount of effort.
Sadhana is nothing but the intensifying of this flame that has already been lit up in us by God Himself, ultimately. You have been led to this study due to God's grace. It is not because you have money to purchase a book. It is not money that has brought you these discourses, it is not your effort that has brought you to these discourses it is nothing of the kind. It is a divine mystery that has operated in a very inscrutable and marvellous manner for a purpose which is cosmic in significance, and not merely individual, as we may imagine. You have been led to this study for a cosmic purpose, and a divine purpose, which is a coincidence and a collocation of factors which can be understood only by the Cosmic Thinker, God Himself. I have always been holding that, ultimately, it appears to be God who is doing sadhana for God-realisation, and nobody else can do it; and meditation is nothing but God thinking God.
1.028 - Bringing About Whole-Souled Dedication, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Inasmuch as the Goal that is before us is the very purpose of life, it would be futile on our part to think that we can devote only half an hour of the day for this practice, and during all the rest of the twenty-three and one half hours of the day we can do other things which will throw dust on this little practice which has been done for half an hour. The major part of the day is spent in activities which are not only not contri butory to success in the practice, but are contradictory, as well, and which completely disturb and upset the little result that we seem to be achieving through this little practice. So what is essential is that, in the beginning, taking for granted that we can be engaged in other activities for the major part of the day for obvious reasons, we should see that though the activities are a different type, they need not be contradictory, because distinction is not necessarily opposition. We can have a distinct type of engagement because we cannot practise meditation throughout the day; but this distinct type of attitude, profession or function that we engage in should be such that it will at least not directly disturb the mood that we have generated in the practice called meditation, to which we have devoted ourselves for half an hour, one hour or two hours.
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.
1.02.9 - Conclusion and Summary, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
life itself the field of the immortal existence which is the Goal
and aspiration of all life. In this conclusion it agrees with the
1.02 - In the Beginning, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
Before anything can exist, there was the Indiscernable, and the first entities that we can discriminate as the cause of all that is, can be summed up at the farthest limit of our concepts in these two supreme principles. Their equilibrium is the Goal towards which tends a world born of their eternal union.
They have been differently interpreted from varying points of view. But it is not with impunity that the true notion of the great Duality has been corrupted by so many religions and philosophies. Some of these, the better to exalt one of its two Puissances, have robbed the other of all character of divinity, and transforming complementary into contradictory principles have personified them sometimes as the two eternally active and eternally antagonistic powers of Good and Evil, or, again, have deified the Pure Spirit in opposition to the vileness of Matter, which is yet capable of being a field for the Spirits creative activity.
1.02 - IN THE COMPANY OF DEVOTEES, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
was taking him. He had only been told: "If you want to see a grog-shop, then come with me. You will see a huge jar of wine there." M. related this to Sri Ramakrishna, who laughed about it. The Master said: "The bliss of worship and communion with God is the true wine, the wine of ecstatic love. the Goal of human life is to love God, Bhakti is the one essential thing. To know God through jnna and reasoning is extremely difficult."
Then the Master sang:
1.02 - Karmayoga, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Vedanta presuppose a preparation in life, for it is only through life that one can reach to immortality. The opposite opinion is due to certain tendencies which have bulked large in the history and temperament of our race. The ultimate goal of our religion is emancipation from the bondage of material Nature and freedom from individual rebirth, and certain souls, among the highest we have known, have been drawn by the attraction of the final hush and purity to dissociate themselves from life and bodily action in order more swiftly and easily to reach the Goal. Standing like
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1.02 - MAPS OF MEANING - THREE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
the same motivational significance as the Goal, although at lesser intensity (as it is only one small part of a
large and more important whole). The exemplary meeting will be conceptualized in the ideal like all
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ongoing events is clearly determined by the nature of the Goal towards which behavior is devoted. That
goal is conceptualized in episodic imagery in fantasy. We constantly compare the world at present to the
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significance of ongoing events in light of their perceived relationship to the Goal. We modify our behavioral
outputs our means when necessary, to make the attainment of our goal ever more likely. We modify our
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of those things to the Goal we currently have in mind. Meaning shifts when goals change. Such change
necessarily transforms the contingent expectations and desires that accompany those goals. We experience
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real behavior and to benefit emotionally, in the process. the Goals of play are fictional; the incentive
rewards, however, that accompany movement to a fictitious goal these are real (although bounded, like
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another, as the currently-operative consummatory reward as the Goal towards which behavior is to be
devoted, as the desired future against which the unbearable present, in the form of emergent
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the universe. For the Eastern man, life in Tao is the highest good, the way and meaning; the Goal
towards which all other goals must remain subordinate.
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matter). Jean Piaget solved the problem of the Goal-like behavior in creatures not yet capable of abstract
conceptualization by presuming that goals are initially embedded in sensorimotor reflex operations,
1.02 - SADHANA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
chariot, reaches the Goal. What is meant, therefore, by
mortification? Holding the reins firmly while guiding this
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of natures control over us. That is the Goal of all religions.
Each Soul is potentially divine. the Goal is to manifest this
Divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal.
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courage, we must persevere until the Goal is reached. The
second grade will be that all pains will be gone. It will be
1.02 - Self-Consecration, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
3:If the change comes suddenly and decisively by an overpowering influence, there is no further essential or lasting difficulty. The choice follows upon the thought, or is simultaneous with it, and the self-consecration follows upon the choice. The feet are already set upon the path, even if they seem at first to wander uncertainly and even though the path itself may be only obscurely seen and the knowledge of the Goal may be imperfect. The secret Teacher, the inner Guide is already at work, though he may not yet manifest himself or may not yet appear in the person of his human representative. Whatever difficulties and hesitations may ensue, they cannot eventually prevail against the power of the experience that has turned the current of the life. The call, once decisive, stands; the thing that has been born cannot eventually be stifled. Even if the force of circumstances prevents a regular pursuit or a full practical self-consecration from the first, still the mind has taken its bent and persists and returns with an ever-increasing effect upon its leading preoccupation. There is an ineluctable persistence of the inner being, and against it circumstances are in the end powerless, and no weakness in the nature can for long be an obstacle.
4:But this is not always the manner of the commencement. The Sadhaka is often led gradually and there is a long space between the first turning of the mind and the full assent of the nature to the thing towards which it turns. There may at first be only a vivid intellectual interest, a forcible attraction towards the idea and some imperfect form of practice. Or perhaps there is an effort not favoured by the whole nature, a decision or a turn imposed by an intellectual influence or dictated by personal affection and admiration for someone who is himself consecrated and devoted to the Highest. In such cases, a long period of preparation may be necessary before there comes the irrevocable consecration; and in some instances it may not come. There may be some advance, there may be a strong effort, even much purification and many experiences other than those that are central or supreme; but the life will either be spent in preparation or, a certain stage having been reached, the mind pushed by an insufficient driving-force may rest content at the limit of the effort possible to it. Or there may even be a recoil to the lower life, -- what is called in the ordinary parlance of Yoga a fall from the path. This lapse happens because there is a defect at the very centre. The intellect has been interested, the heart attracted, the will has strung itself to the effort, but the whole nature has not been taken captive by the Divine. It has only acquiesced in the interest, the attraction or the endeavour. There has been an experiment, perhaps even an eager experiment, but not a total self-giving to an imperative need of the soul or to an unforsakable ideal. Even such imperfect Yoga has not been wasted; for no upward effort is made in vain. Even if it fails in the present or arrives only at some preparatory stage or preliminary realisation, it has yet determined the soul's future.
5:But if we desire to make the most of the opportunity that this life gives us, if we wish to respond adequately to the call we have received and to attain to the Goal we have glimpsed, not merely advance a little towards it, it is essential that there should be an entire self-giving. The secret of success in Yoga is to regard it not as one of the aims to be pursued in life, but as the whole of life.
6:And since Yoga is in its essence a turning away from the ordinary material and animal life led by most men or from the more mental but still limited way of living followed by the few to a greater spiritual life, to the way divine, every part of our energies that is given to the lower existence in the spirit of that existence is a contradiction of our aim and our self-dedication. On the other hand, every energy or activity that we can convert from its allegiance to the lower and dedicate to the service of the higher is so much gained on our road, so much taken from the powers that oppose our progress. It is the difficulty of this wholesale conversion that is the source of all the stumblings in the path of Yoga. For our entire nature and its environment, all our personal and all our universal self, are full of habits and of influences that are opposed to our spiritual rebirth and work against the whole-heartedness of our endeavour. In a certain sense we are nothing but a complex mass of mental, nervous and physical habits held together by a few ruling ideas, desires and associations, -- all amalgam of many small self-repeating forces with a few major vibrations. What we propose in our Yoga is nothing less than to break up the whole formation of our past and present which makes up the ordinary material and mental man and to create a new centre of vision and a new universe of activities in ourselves which shall constitute a divine humanity or a superhuman nature.
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22:When once the object of concentration has possessed and is possessed by the three master instruments, the thought, the heart and the will, -- a consummation fully possible only when the desire-soul in us has submitted to the Divine Law, -- the perfection of mind and life and body can be effectively fulfilled in our transmuted nature. This will be done, not for the personal satisfaction of the ego, but that the whole may constitute a fit temple for the Divine Presence, a faultless instrument for the divine work. For the work can be truly performed only when the instrument, consecrated and perfected, has grown fit for a selfless action, -- and that will be when personal desire and egoism are abolished, but not the liberated individual. Even when the little ego has been abolished, the true Spiritual Person can still remain and God's will and work and delight in him and the spiritual use of his perfection and fulfilment. Our works will then be divine and done divinely; our mind arid life and will, devoted to the Divine, will be used to help fulfil in others and in the world that which has been first realised in ourselves, -all that we can manifest of the embodied Unity, Love, Freedom, Strength, Power, Splendour, immortal Joy which is the Goal of the spirit's terrestrial adventure.
23:The Yoga must start with an effort or at least a settled turn towards this total concentration. A constant and unfailing will of consecration of all ourselves to the Supreme is demanded of us, an offering of our whole being and our many-chambered nature to the Eternal who is the All. The effective fullness of our concentration on the one thing needful to the exclusion of all else will be the measure of our self-consecration to the One who is alone desirable. But this exclusiveness will in the end exclude nothing except the falsehood of our way of seeing the world and our will's ignorance. For our concentration on the Eternal will be consummated by the mind when we see constantly the Divine in itself and the Divine in ourselves, but also the Divine in all things and beings and happenings. It will be consummated by the heart when all emotion is summed up in the love of the Divine, -- of the Divine in itself and for itself, but love too of the Divine in all its beings and powers and personalities and forms in the Universe' It will be consummated by the will when we feel and receive always the divine impulsion and accept that alone as our sole motive force; but this will mean that, having slain to the last rebellious straggler the wandering impulses of the egoistic nature, we have universalised ourselves and can accept with a constant happy acceptance the one divine working in all things. This is the first fundamental siddhi of the integral Yoga.
1.02 - The Development of Sri Aurobindos Thought, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
and hazards it entails a real adventure of which the Goal
is certain victory, but the road to which is unknown and
1.02 - The Divine Teacher, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Avatar, his protagonist in an immense work and struggle the secret purpose of which is unknown to the actors in it, known only to the incarnate Godhead who guides it all from behind the veil of his unfathomable mind of knowledge; the occasion is the violent crisis of that work and struggle at the moment when the anguish and moral difficulty and blind violence of its apparent movements forces itself with the shock of a visible revelation on the mind of its representative man and raises the whole question of the meaning of God in the world and the Goal and drift and sense of human life and conduct.
India has from ancient times held strongly a belief in the reality of the Avatara, the descent into form, the revelation of the Godhead in humanity. In the West this belief has never really stamped itself upon the mind because it has been presented through exoteric Christianity as a theological dogma without any roots in the reason and general consciousness and attitude towards life. But in India it has grown up and persisted as a logical outcome of the Vedantic view of life and taken firm root in the consciousness of the race. All existence is a manifestation of God because He is the only existence and nothing can be except as either a real figuring or else a figment of that one reality. Therefore every conscious being is in part or in some way a descent of the Infinite into the apparent finiteness of
1.02 - The Doctrine of the Mystics, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
THE IMAGE of this sacrifice is sometimes that of a journey or voyage; for it travels, it ascends; it has a goal - the vastness, the true existence, the light, the felicity - and it is called upon to discover and keep to the good, the straight and the happy path to the Goal, the arduous yet joyful road of the Truth. It has to climb, led by the flaming strength of the divine will, from plateau to plateau as of a mountain, it has to cross as in a ship the waters of existence, traverse its rivers, overcome their deep pits and rapid currents; its aim is to arrive at the far-off ocean of light and infinity.
And this is no easy or peaceful march; it is for long seasons a fierce and relentless battle. Constantly the Aryan man has to labour and to fight and conquer; he must be a tireless toiler and traveller and a stern warrior, he must force open and storm and sack city after city, win kingdom after kingdom, overthrow and tread down ruthlessly enemy after enemy. His whole progress is a warring of Gods and Titans, Gods and Giants, Indra and the Python, Aryan and Dasyu. Aryan adversaries even he has to face in the open field; for old friends and helpers turn into enemies; the kings of Aryan states whom he would conquer and overpass join themselves to the Dasyus and are leagued against him in supreme battle to prevent his free and utter passing on.
1.02 - The Eternal Law, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
illusionism, trance, the closed eyes of the yogi were also often mistaken for God. It is therefore essential to define clearly the Goal that religious India has in view, then we will better understand what she can or cannot do for we who seek an integral truth.
To begin with, we must admit that we are faced with a surprising contradiction. India is a country that brought forth a great revelation:
1.02 - The Great Process, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
The secret of a circle is in the very next circle, as the secret of the arrow is in the Goal it pursues, and if we could retrace our steps to the Master Archer, we would have the secret of secrets, the central point that determines this circle and all circles, the Goal of all goals. But the pursuit is said to be a long one, and we must go back one step at a time, from the tool to the Hand that guides the tool, since we ourselves started out by being that tool: a little vital antenna groping around a self of life before discovering itself as a moth or a millipede, a little mental antenna quivering inexplicably around a nimble self before discovering itself as a man among men, and that other, still undefined antenna which seems to dispense with senses and thought to take us toward another, still greater self. Until the day we arrive at the great Self and shall be fulfilled. We will have found the Master of all tools and the full meaning of the journey.
But how could we possibly know the secret of that which now seems an undefined and disturbing nonself, possibly even destructive of what we so concretely know as self, we who are at the end of this mental circle, in this age of the servants of the ego and ambiguous enjoyments of a little thinking self?... Actually, the path is made by walking it, as in a forest. There is no path, it does not exist: it has to be made. And once we have walked a few feet, apparently in the dark, we will realize that our groping steps led to a first clearing, and that we were all the while guided, even in our darkest stumblings, by an infallible Hand that has already directed our millipede meanderings. For, in fact, the Goal we pursue is already within; it is an eternal Goal. It is a Future that is millions of years old and as young as a newborn child. It is opening its eyes to everything, constantly staring in wonderment. To find It is to enter constant wonder, a new birth of the world at each instant.
But at least we have signposts to help us take these first steps, and if we pose questions about man's future (not pose questions in the sense of a theoretician spinning his vain web and adding one idea to another only to inflate the same old story, but in the sense of a sailor plotting his course, because there is a channel to go through even as the sea crashes against the reefs), we will perhaps discover a few clues by studying the old animal circle, when we were still only the future of the ape.
--
One has to admit to a major flaw in the method, and first, to a flaw in the Goal pursued. What do we know of the Goal, really, sunk in matter as we are, blinded by the onrush of the world? Our first immediate reaction is to cry, It can't be here! It's not here! Not in this mud, this evil, this whirlwind, not in this dark and burdened world! We must get out at all costs, free ourselves from this weight of flesh and struggle and from that surreptitious erosion in which we seem to be eaten up by thousands of voracious trivialities. So we have proclaimed the Goal to be up above, in a heaven of liberated thoughts, a heaven of art and poetry and music any heaven at all is better than this darkness! We came here merely to earn the leisure for our own private heaven, bookish, religious, pictorial or aesthetic the long vacation of the Spirit free at last. So we have climbed and climbed, poeticized, intellectualized, evangelized; we have rid ourselves of all that might weigh us down, erected a protective wall around our eremite contemplations, our cloistered yoga, our private meditations, traced the white circle of the Spirit, like new spiritual witch doctors. Then we stepped into it, and here we are.
But, in so doing, we are perhaps making as great a mistake as that of the apprentice human in his first lake dwelling who would have claimed that the Goal, the mental heaven he was gropingly discovering, was not in the commonplaceness of daily life, in those tools to carve, those mouths to feed, those entangling nets, those countless snares, but in some ice cave or Australasian desert and who would have discarded his tools. Einstein's equations would never have seen the light of day. By losing his tools, man loses his goal; by discarding all the grossness and evil and darkness and burden of life, we may go dozing off into the blissful (?) reaches of the Spirit, but we are completely outside the Goal, because the Goal might very well be right here, in this grossness and darkness and evil and burden which are gross and dark and burdensome only because we look at them erroneously, as the apprentice human looked erroneously at his tools, unable to see how his tying that stone to that club was already tying the invisible train of our thought to the movement of Jupiter and Venus, and how the mental heaven actually teems everywhere here, in all our gestures and superfluous acts, just as our next heaven teems under our eyes, concealed only by our false spiritual look, imprisoned in the white circle of a so-called Spirit which is but our human approximation for the next stage of evolution. Life... Life alone is the field of our Yoga, exclaimed Sri Aurobindo.4
Yet the process, the Great Process, is here, just as it began as long ago as the Pleistocene era that idle little second, that introspection of the second kind but the movement revealed to the monkey and the movement revealed to the spiritualist of ages past (and surpassed) are in no way an indication of the next direction it is to take. There is no continuity that is a delusion! There is no refinement of the same movement, no improving upon the ape or man, no perfecting of the stone tool or the mental tool, no climbing higher peaks, no thinking loftier thoughts, no deeper meditations or discoveries that would be a glorification of the existing state, a sublimation of the old flesh, a sublime halo around the old beast there is SOMETHING ELSE, something radically different, a new threshold to cross, as different from ours as the threshold of plant life was from the animal, another discovery of the already-here, which will change our world as drastically as the human look changed the world of the caterpillar yet it is the same world, but seen with two different looks another Spirit, we might say, as different from the religious or intellectual spirit or the great naked Spirit on the heights of the Absolute, as man's thought is different from the first quivering of a wild rose under a ray of sunlight yet it is the same eternal Spirit but in a greater concretization of itself, for, in fact, the Spirit's true direction is not from the bottom up, but from the top down, and it becomes ever more in matter, because it is the world's very Matter, wrested bit by bit from our false caterpillar look and false human look and false spiritual look or, let us say, recognized little by little by our growing true look. This new threshold of vision depends first on a pause in our regular mental and visual routine and that is the Great Process, the movement of introspection of the second kind but the path is entirely new: this is a new life on earth, another discovery to make; and the less weighed down we are by past wisdom, past ascents, past illuminations, all the disciplines and virtues and old gilded frills of the Spirit, the freer we are and more open to the new, the more the path shall spring up under our feet, as if by magic, as if it sprang from that total desecration.
1.02 - The Stages of Initiation, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
be guided only by the results of his higher perception and reading of the occult script, in order to produce the changes in question in these higher regions of existence. Should he, in the course of his activity, introduce any of his own opinions and desires, or should he diverge for one moment from the laws which he has recognized to be right, in order to follow his own willful inclination, then the result produced would differ entirely from what was intended. He would lose sight of the Goal to which his action tended, and confusion would result. Hence ample opportunity is given him in the course of this trial to develop self-control. This is the object in view. Here again, this trial can be more easily passed by those whose life, before initiation, has led them to acquire self-control. Anyone having acquired the faculty of following high principles and ideals, while putting into the background all personal predilection; anyone capable of always performing his duty, even though inclinations and sympathies would like to seduce him from this duty-such a person is unconsciously an initiate in the midst of ordinary life. He will need but little to succeed in this particular trial. Indeed, a certain
p. 89
1.02 - What is Psycho therapy?, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
realized that mere abreaction cannot possibly lead to the Goal, since the
majority of neuroses are not traumatic at all. The theory of repression took
1.031 - Intense Aspiration, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Unselfish love is unknown, because love is used as an instrument for the achievement of something else. How then can we call it unselfish? But here, love is a law unto itself in the sense that it has no object outside it it is itself the object. We may ask how it is possible. Here the divine aspiration, or the love of the Supreme Reality, is not an emotion. It is not merely a psychological function. It is not the mind thinking of something, or feeling in respect of an external object. It is a rising up of the soul towards a higher condition of itself. This is a great differentiating factor between ordinary objects which are sought in the world, and the spiritual object which is the Goal of yoga or spiritual life.
While in the acquiring of objects of a temporal nature in this world, the movement may look horizontal - a movement of one individual towards another individual, or a group of other individuals, in a spatial direction. Here, in this case, it is a kind of rise from the bottom to the top. It is like waking up from dream, where we are not moved from one place to another place. When we wake up from dream, there is no movement; and yet, there is a movement. As there is a transformation, we can call it a movement. But it is not an ordinary kind of movement, like moving from Rishikesh to Delhi; it is not that kind of movement. It is a reshuffling of the constitution of one's own mental conditioning and the whole set-up of consciousness a reorganisation of one's own individuality. It is a complete reordering of one's true being for the purpose of a reawakening into a wider order of reality, about which I have been mentioning again and again. And here, in this awakening into a higher order of reality, the object that was originally thought to be outside in space is now visualised as something nearer to oneself than it appeared to be earlier.
1.032 - Our Concept of God, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
As the realisation of God is the Goal of life, and it is towards this purpose that we are putting forth all our efforts in every way, the absorption of the mind in the concept of God may be regarded as the highest of duties. The greatest duty is the occupation of the mind with that object for which purpose it exists and functions, and all other duties may be contri butory to the fulfilment of this central duty. It is difficult to conceive God and, therefore, it is difficult to express our love for Him in an unconditional manner. As we have been observing, our religious traditions and performances have mostly been conditional. They have been some sort of an activity, like any other activity in a factory or a shop, though it is not true that religion is such a kind of temporal engagement. The religious spirit is what is important, and it is this that should animate the religious formalism and ritua.
vara praidhnt v (I.23), is a sutra of Sage Patanjali. One of the methods of controlling the mind is surrender to God. According to many, it is perhaps the principal method of controlling the mind. This is a most positive approach, of the many that can be thought of. When our mind is absorbed in love for something 'absorbed' is the word, completely occupied with the thought of a particular thing there is no chance for the mind to think of anything else. The modifications of the mind, the vrittis in respect of objects, should cease spontaneously when they are all focused in the direction of love of God. There is no need for any struggle in the form of breathing exercises or any type of hardship in the control of the mind or its vrittis, if it is absorbed in a love which is all-consuming.
1.035 - The Recitation of Mantra, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
The mantra, when it is chanted, generates a force which is the object of the realisation of the sadhaka. A mantra has a chandas, or the combining feature, which is the determining factor of the particular shape that the effect takes, and so the mantra determines the deity, and vice versa. So we have a deity, or the aim or the Goal of the mantra, and the chandas of the mantra, as well as another thing altogether, namely, the discoverer of the mantra has some say in this matter. The discoverer of the mantra is called the rishi of the mantra. A rishi is a seer of the mantra not merely a composer like a writer, or an author, or a poet but a seer into the truth of a mantra, to whom the mantra, in its truth, has been revealed in his meditations; and so the will of the seer also is present there. So, according to our tradition, when we chant a mantra we remember the rishi of the mantra, the chandas of the mantra, and the deity of the mantra. Rishis, chandas, devata these three are always remembered before the mantra is chanted, so that we have the grace of these divine precedents of the sacred mantra that we are going to chant, because these are the causes behind the action that the mantra takes.
The mantra that Patanjali particularly refers to in his sutra is pranava or omkara. This is something very difficult to understand and cannot easily be explained however much we may try, because these are very great secrets which are invisible to the eyes and, therefore, ordinarily incapable of explanation. It is believed that the chanting of pranava or Om, in the prescribed manner, sets up a novel type of vibration in the system, which is free from every kind of distraction or particularisation in respect of any external object. Every name in this world particularises itself in respect of an external object, such as tree, mountain, sun, moon, star, etc. they are external objects. But here, the object of pranava or Om is not any given object in particular. It is a general being, and anything that is general is also harmonious. Hence the chanting of pranava or Om in the prescribed manner, with the required intonation, produces a generalised harmonious vibration in the entire physical and psychological system, and this is what is conducive to the concentration of the mind in meditation, because meditation is nothing but the harmonious condition of the mind.
1.03 - Invocation of Tara, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
lineage, not with the Goal of personal satisfaction as
would perhaps be the case with a physical child, but
1.03 - On exile or pilgrimage, #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
Exile means that we leave forever everything in our own country that prevents us from reaching the Goal of the religious life. Exile means modest manners, wisdom which remains unknown, prudence not recognized as such by most, a hidden life, an invisible intention, unseen meditation, desire for humiliation, longing for hardship, constant determination to love God, abundance of charity, renunciation of vainglory, depth of silence.
Those who have come to love the Lord are at first unceasingly and greatly disturbed by this thought, as if burning with divine fire. I speak of separation from their own, undertaken by the lovers of perfection so that they may live a life of hardship and simplicity. But great and praiseworthy as this is, yet it requires great discretion; for not every kind of exile, carried to extremes, is good.
1.03 - Self-Surrender in Works - The Way of The Gita, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The aim set before our Yoga is nothing less than to hasten this supreme object of our existence here. Its process leaves behind the ordinary tardy method of slow and confused growth through the evolution of Nature. For the natural evolution is at its best an uncertain growth under cover, partly by the pressure of the environment, partly by a groping education and an ill-lighted purposeful effort, an only partially illumined and half-automatic use of opportunities with many blunders and lapses and relapses; a great portion of it is made up of apparent accidents and circumstances and vicissitudes, - though veiling a secret divine intervention and guidance. In Yoga we replace this confused crooked crab-motion by a rapid, conscious and self-directed evolution which is planned to carry us, as far as can be, in a straight line towards the Goal set before us. In a certain sense it may be an error to speak of a goal anywhere in a progression which may well be infinite. Still we can conceive of an immediate goal, an ulterior objective beyond our present achievement towards which the soul in man can aspire. There lies before him the possibility of a new birth; there can be an ascent into a higher and wider plane of being and its descent to transform his members. An enlarged and illumined consciousness is possible that shall make of him a liberated spirit and a perfected force - and, if spread beyond the individual, it might even constitute a divine humanity or else a new, a supramental and therefore a superhuman race. It is this new birth that we make our aim: a growth into a divine consciousness is the whole meaning of our Yoga, an integral conversion to divinity not only of the soul but of all the parts of our nature.
* *
1.03 - Some Practical Aspects, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
to get the better of the commonest every-day difficulties without this training. Apart from this, only such things are here imparted as are attended by no danger whatsoever to the health of soul and body. There are other ways which lead more quickly to the Goal, but what is here explained has nothing to do with them, because they have certain effects which no experienced spiritual scientist considers desirable. Since fragmentary information concerning these ways is continually finding its way into publicity, express warning must be given against entering upon them. For reasons which only the initiated can understand, these ways can never be made public in their true form. The fragments appearing here and there can never lead to profitable results, but may easily undermine health, happiness, and peace of mind. It would be far better for people to avoid having anything to do with such things than to risk entrusting themselves to wholly dark forces, of whose nature and origin they can know nothing.
Something may here be said concerning the environment in which this training should be undertaken, for this is not without some importance. And yet the case differs for almost every person.
1.03 - The Coming of the Subjective Age, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Meanwhile, the nascent subjectivism preparative of the new age has shown itself not so much in the relations of individuals or in the dominant ideas and tendencies of social development, which are still largely rationalistic and materialistic and only vaguely touched by the deeper subjective tendency, but in the new collective self-consciousness of man in that organic mass of his life which he has most firmly developed in the past, the nation. It is here that it has already begun to produce powerful results whether as a vitalistic or as a psychical subjectivism, and it is here that we shall see most clearly what is its actual drift, its deficiencies, its dangers as well as the true purpose and conditions of a subjective age of humanity and the Goal towards which the social cycle, entering this phase, is intended to arrive in its wide revolution.
***
1.03 - The Human Disciple, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Arjuna is the fighter in the chariot with the divine Krishna as his charioteer. In the Veda also we have this image of the human soul and the divine riding in one chariot through a great battle to the Goal of a high-aspiring effort. But there it is a pure figure and symbol. The Divine is there Indra, the Master of the
World of Light and Immortality, the power of divine knowledge which descends to the aid of the human seeker battling with the sons of falsehood, darkness, limitation, mortality; the battle is with spiritual enemies who bar the way to the higher world of our being; and the Goal is that plane of vast being resplendent with the light of the supreme Truth and uplifted to the conscious immortality of the perfected soul, of which Indra is the master.
The human soul is Kutsa, he who constantly seeks the seerknowledge, as his name implies, and he is the son of Arjuna or
1.03 - The Sephiros, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
The Zohar itself speaks of a divine spiritual influence called NbTB Mezla, which descends from Keser to Malleus, by way of the Paths, vivifying and sustaining all things. By endeavouring to implant the roots of this living tree in our own consciousness, tending it daily with devo- tion, tenderness, and perseverance, almost imperceptibly we shall find new spiritual knowledge springing up spon- taneously within us. The universe will then begin to appear as a synthetic homogeneous Whole, and the student will discover that the sum total of his knowledge will become unified, and find himself able to transmute even on the intellectual plane the Many into the One. This is, in the long run, discarding all the inessentials, the Goal of every mystic, no matter by which of the names he denomi- nates his Path, and which of the various by-roads he follows.
One other preliminary matter must be touched upon before actually attempting an exegesis of the Sephiros.
1.03 - The Two Negations 2 - The Refusal of the Ascetic, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
8:But the worlds are only frames for our experience, the senses only instruments of experience and conveniences. Consciousness is the great underlying fact, the universal witness for whom the world is a field, the senses instruments. To that witness the worlds and their objects appeal for their reality and for the one world or the many, for the physical equally with the supraphysical we have no other evidence that they exist. It has been argued that this is no relation peculiar to the constitution of humanity and its outlook upon an objective world, but the very nature of existence itself; all phenomenal existence consists of an observing consciousness and an active objectivity, and the Action cannot proceed without the Witness because the universe exists only in or for the consciousness that observes and has no independent reality. It has been argued in reply that the material universe enjoys an eternal self-existence: it was here before life and mind made their appearance; it will survive after they have disappeared and no longer trouble with their transient strivings and limited thoughts the eternal and inconscient rhythm of the suns. The difference, so metaphysical in appearance, is yet of the utmost practical import, for it determines the whole outlook of man upon life, the Goal that he shall assign for his efforts and the field in which he shall circumscribe his energies. For it raises the question of the reality of cosmic existence and, more important still, the question of the value of human life.
9:If we push the materialist conclusion far enough, we arrive at an insignificance and unreality in the life of the individual and the race which leaves us, logically, the option between either a feverish effort of the individual to snatch what he may from a transient existence, to "live his life", as it is said, or a dispassionate and objectless service of the race and the individual, knowing well that the latter is a transient fiction of the nervous mentality and the former only a little more long-lived collective form of the same regular nervous spasm of Matter. We work or enjoy under the impulsion of a material energy which deceives us with the brief delusion of life or with the nobler delusion of an ethical aim and a mental consummation. Materialism like spiritual Monism arrives at a Maya that is and yet is not, - is, for it is present and compelling, is not, for it is phenomenal and transitory in its works. At the other end, if we stress too much the unreality of the objective world, we arrive by a different road at similar but still more trenchant conclusions, - the fictitious character of the individual ego, the unreality and purposelessness of human existence, the return into the Non-Being or the relationless Absolute as the sole rational escape from the meaningless tangle of phenomenal life.
1.03 - YIBHOOTI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
understood, but the Goal is beyond even the mind.
sthanyupanimantrane sanggasmayakarannan
--
and go straight to the Goal, becomes free.
53. II ^ II
1.04 - ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
MASTER: "It is permissible to do so to maintain a religious family. You may try to increase your income, but in an honest way. the Goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God. Money is not harmful if it is devoted to the service of God."
M: "How long should a man feel obliged to do his duty toward his wife and children?"
1.04 - A Leader, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Put no more weapons in the hands of your adversaries, be irreproachable before them, set them an example of courageous patience, of uprightness and justice; then your triumph will be near at hand, for right will be on your side, integral right, in the means as in the Goal.
He had been listening to me carefully, occasionally nodding in agreement. After a silence full of thoughts, in which we could feel brooding around him all the painful hopes, all the burning aspirations of his companions in strife:
1.04 - Body, Soul and Spirit, #Theosophy, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
larger and larger. For the difference between the spiritual and the physical being of man is that the latter has a limited size while the former can grow to an unlimited extent. Whatever of spiritual nourishment is absorbed has an eternal worth. The human aura is accordingly composed of two interpenetrating parts. Color and form are given to the one by the physical existence of man, and to the other by his spiritual existence. The ego forms the separation between them in this way that, while the physical after its own manner gives itself to building up a body which allows a soul to live and expand in it, and the ego gives itself to allowing to live and develop in it the spirit which now for its part permeates the soul and gives it the Goal in the spirit world. Through the body the soul is enclosed in the physical; through the spirit-man there grow wings for its moving in the spiritual world.
In order to comprehend the whole man, one must think of him as formed of the components above mentioned. The body builds itself up out of the world of physical matter in such a way that the construction is adapted
1.04 - KAI VALYA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
attain to the Goal. For instance, a man wants to practice
Yoga, or wants to become spiritual. Before he has advanced
1.04 - Magic and Religion, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
to the Goal, while in reality he had only been treading in a narrow
circle. Not that the effects which he had striven so hard to produce
1.04 - On blessed and ever-memorable obedience, #The Ladder of Divine Ascent, #Saint John of Climacus, #unset
From obedience comes humility, and from humility comes dispassion; for the Lord remembered us in our humility and redeemed us from our enemies.2 Therefore nothing prevents us from saying that from obedience comes dispassion, through which the Goal of humility is attained. For humility is the beginning of dispassion, as Moses is the beginning of the Law; and the daughter perfects the mother, as Mary perfects the Synagogue.
Those sick souls who try out a physician and receive help from him, and then abandon him out of preference for another before they are completely healed, deserve every punishment from God. Do not run from the hand of him who has brought you to the Lord, for you will never in your life esteem anyone like him.
1.04 - THE APPEARANCE OF ANOMALY - CHALLENGE TO THE SHARED MAP, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
and contains the concrete expression of the Goal of a people it is the objective and subjective realization
207
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upon the Goal towards which a given society moves. the Goal is posited as valuable, initially, as a
consequence of the operation of unconscious presumptions, hypothetically preceding action. The value
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behavior is a consequence of the operation of the Goal-oriented schema, which finds partial expression in
establishment of a dominance hierarchy. A dominance hierarchy is a social arrangement which determines
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a storehouse of intrapsychic energy, whose activation leads to ecstasy and enlightenment. the Goal of
Kundalini Yoga is to awaken this serpent, and to thereby reach enlightenment.
1.04 - The Discovery of the Nation-Soul, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
This was one side of the predestination of Germany; the other is to be found in her scholars, educationists, scientists, organisers. It was the industry, the conscientious diligence, the fidelity to ideas, the honest and painstaking spirit of work for which the nation has been long famous. A people may be highly gifted in the subjective capacities, and yet if it neglects to cultivate this lower side of our complex nature, it will fail to build that bridge between the idea and imagination and the world of facts, between the vision and the force, which makes realisation possible; its higher powers may become a joy and inspiration to the world, but it will never take possession of its own world until it has learned the humbler lesson. In Germany the bridge was there, though it ran mostly through a dark tunnel with a gulf underneath; for there was no pure transmission from the subjective mind of the thinkers and singers to the objective mind of the scholars and organisers. The misapplication by Treitschke of the teaching of Nietzsche to national and international uses which would have profoundly disgusted the philosopher himself, is an example of this obscure transmission. But still a transmission there was. For more than a half-century Germany turned a deep eye of subjective introspection on herself and things and ideas in search of the truth of her own being and of the world, and for another half-century a patient eye of scientific research on the objective means for organising what she had or thought she had gained. And something was done, something indeed powerful and enormous, but also in certain directions, not in all, misshapen and disconcerting. Unfortunately, those directions were precisely the very central lines on which to go wrong is to miss the Goal.
It may be said, indeed, that the last result of the something done the war, the collapse, the fierce reaction towards the rigid, armoured, aggressive, formidable Nazi State,is not only discouraging enough, but a clear warning to abandon that path and go back to older and safer ways. But the misuse of great powers is no argument against their right use. To go back is impossible; the attempt is always, indeed, an illusion; we have all to do the same thing which Germany has attempted, but to take care not to do it likewise. Therefore we must look beyond the red mist of blood of the War and the dark fuliginous confusion and chaos which now oppress the world to see why and where was the failure. For her failure which became evident by the turn her action took and was converted for the time being into total collapse, was clear even then to the dispassionate thinker who seeks only the truth. That befell her which sometimes befalls the seeker on the path of Yoga, the art of conscious self-finding,a path exposed to far profounder perils than beset ordinarily the average man,when he follows a false light to his spiritual ruin. She had mistaken her vital ego for herself; she had sought for her soul and found only her force. For she had said, like the Asura, I am my body, my life, my mind, my temperament, and become attached with a Titanic force to these; especially she had said, I am my life and body, and than that there can be no greater mistake for man or nation. The soul of man or nation is something more and diviner than that; it is greater than its instruments and cannot be shut up in a physical, a vital, a mental or a temperamental formula. So to confine it, even though the false formation be embodied in the armour-plated social body of a huge collective human dinosaurus, can only stifle the growth of the inner Reality and end in decay or the extinction that overtakes all that is unplastic and unadaptable.
1.04 - The Gods of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
We do not find that the Rishi Mahachamasya succeeded in getting his fourth vyahriti accepted by the great body of Vedantic thinkers. With a little reflection we can see the reason why. The vijnana or mahat is superior to reasoning. It sees and knows, hears and knows, remembers & knows by the ideal principles of drishti, sruti and smriti; it does not reason and know.Or withdrawing into the Mahan Atma, it is what it exercises itself upon and therefore knowsas it were, by conscious identity; for that is the nature of the Mahan Atma to be everything separately and collectively & know it as an object of his Knowledge and yet as himself. Always vijnana knows things in the whole & therefore in the part, in the mass & therefore in the particular. But when ideal knowledge, vijnana, looks out on the phenomenal world in its separate details, it then acquires an ambiguous nature. So long as it is not assailed by mind, it is still the pure buddhi and free from liability to errors. The pure buddhi may assign its reasons, but it knows first & reasons afterwards,to explain, not to justify. Assailed by mind, the ideal buddhi ceases to be pure, ceases to be ideal, becomes sensational, emotional, is obliged to found itself on data, ends not in knowledge but in opinion and is obliged to hold doubt with one hand even while it tries to grasp certainty by the other. For it is the nature of mind to be shackled & frightened by its data. It looks at things as entirely outside itself, separate from itself and it approaches them one by one, groups them & thus arrives at knowledge by synthesis; or if [it] looks at things in the mass, it has to appreciate them vaguely and then take its parts and qualities one by one, arriving at knowledge by a process of analysis. But it cannot be sure that the knowledge it acquires, is pure truth; it can never be safe against mixture of truth & error, against one-sided knowledge which leads to serious misconception, against its own sensations, passions, prejudices and false associations. Such truth as it gets can only be correct even so far as it goes, if all the essential data have been collected and scrupulously weighed without any false weights or any unconscious or semi-conscious interference with the balance. A difficult undertaking! So we can form reliable conclusions, and then too always with some reserve of doubt,about the past & the present.Of the future the mind can know nothing except in eternally fixed movements, for it has no data. We try to read the future from the past & present and make the most colossal blunders. The practical man of action who follows there his will, his intuition & his instinct, is far more likely to be correct than the scientific reasoner. Moreover, the mind has to rely for its data on the outer senses or on its own inner sensations & perceptions & it can never be sure that these are informing it correctly or are, even, in their nature anything but lying instruments. Therefore we say we know the objective world on the strength of a perpetual hypothesis. The subjective world we know only as in a dream, sure only of our own inner movements & the little we can learn from them about others, but there too sure only of this objective world & end always in conflict of transitory opinions, a doubt, a perhaps. Yet sure knowledge, indubitable Truth, the Vedic thinkers have held, is not only possible to mankind, but is the Goal of our journey. Satyam eva jayate nanritam satyena pantha vitato devayanah yenakramantyrishayo hyaptakama yatra tat satyasya paramam nidhanam. Truth conquers and not falsehood, by truth the path has been extended which the gods follow, by which sages attaining all their desire arrive where is that Supreme Abode of Truth. The very eagerness of man for Truth, his untameable yearning towards an infinite reality, an infinite extension of knowledge, the fact that he has the conception of a fixed & firm truth, nay the very fact that error is possible & persistent, mare indications that pure Truth exists.We follow no chimaera as a supreme good, nor do the Powers of Darkness fight against a mere shadow. The ideal Truth is constantly coming down to us, constantly seeking to deliver us from our slavery to our senses and the magic circle of our limited data. It speaks to our hearts & creates the phenomenon of Faith, but the heart has its lawless & self-regarding emotions & disfigures the message. It speaks to the Imagination, our great intellectual instrument which liberates us from the immediate fact and opens the mind to infinite possibility; but the imagination has her pleasant fictions & her headlong creative impulse and exaggerates the truth & distorts & misplaces circumstances. It speaks to the intellect itself, bids it criticise its instruments by vichara and creates the critical reason, bids it approach the truth directly by a wide passionless & luminous use of the pure judgment, and creates shuddha buddhi or Kants pure reason; bids it divine truth & learn to hold the true divination & reject the counterfeit, and creates the intuitive reason & its guardian, intuitive discrimination or viveka. But the intellect is impatient of error, eager for immediate results and hurries to apply what it receives before it has waited & seen & understood. Therefore error maintains & even extends her reign. At last come the logician & modern rationalist thinker; disgusted with the exaggeration of these movements, seeing their errors, unable to see their indispensable utility, he sets about sweeping them away as intellectual rubbish, gets rid of faith, gets rid of flexibility of mind, gets rid of sympathy, pure reason & intuition, puts critical reason into an ill lightened dungeon & thinks now, delivered from these false issues, to compass truth by laborious observation & a rigid logic. To live on these dry & insufficient husks is the last fate of impure vijnanam or buddhi confined in the data of the mind & sensesuntil man wronged in his nature, cabined in his possibilities revolts & either prefers a luminous error or resumes his broadening & upward march.
It was this aspect of impure mahas, vijnanam working not in its own home, swe dame but in the house of a stranger, as a servant of an inferior faculty, reason as we call it, which led the Rishi Mahachamasya to include mahas among the vyahritis. But vijnana itself is an integral part of the supreme movement, it is divine thought in divine being,therefore not a vyahriti. The Veda uses to express this pure Truth &ideal knowledge another word, equivalent in meaning to mahat,the word brihat and couples with it two other significant expressions, satyam & ritam. This trinity of satyam ritam brihatSacchidananda objectivisedis the Mahan Atma. Satyam is Truth, the principle of infinite & divine Being, Sat objectivised to Knowledge as the Truth of things self-manifested; Ritam is Law, the motion of things thought out, the principle of divine self-aware energy, Chit-shakti objectivised to knowledge as the Truth of things selfarranged; Brihat is full content & fullness, satisfaction, Nature, the principle of divine Bliss objectivised to knowledge as the Truth of things contented with its own manifestation in law of being & law of action. For, as the Vedanta tells us, there is no lasting satisfaction in the little, in the unillumined or half-illumined things of mind & sense, satisfaction there is only in the large, the self-true & self-existent. Nalpe sukham asti bhumaiva sukham. Bhuma, brihat, mahat, that is God. It is Ananda therefore that insists on largeness & constitutes the mahat or brihat. Ananda is the soul of Nature, its essentiality, creative power & peace. The harmony of creative power & peace, pravritti & nivritti, jana & shama, is the divine state which we feelas Wordsworth felt itwhen we go back to the brihat, the wide & infinite which, containing & contented with its works, says of it Sukritam, What I have made, is good. Whoever enters this kingdom of Mahat, this Maho Arnas or great sea of ideal knowledge, comes into possession of his true being, true knowledge, true bliss. He attains the ideal powers of drishti, sruti, smritisees truth face to face, hears her unerring voice or knows her by immediate recognising memoryjust as we say of a friend This is he and need no reasoning of observation, comparison, induction or deduction to tell us who he is or to explain our knowledge to ourselvesthough we may, already knowing the truth, use a self-evident reasoning masterfully in order to convince others. The characteristic of ideal knowledge is first that it is direct in its approach, secondly, that it is self-evident in its revelation, swayamprakasha, thirdly, that it is unerring fact of being, sat, satyam in its substance. Moreover, it is always perfectly satisfied & divinely pleasurable; it is atmarati & atmastha, confines itself to itself & does not reach out beyond itself to grasp at error or grope within itself to stumble over ignorance. It is, too, perfectly effective whether for knowledge, speech or action, satyakarma, satyapratijna, satyavadi. The man who rising beyond the state of the manu, manishi or thinker which men are now, becomes the kavi or direct seer, containing what he sees,he who draws the manomaya purusha up into the vijnanamaya,is in all things true. Truth is his characteristic, his law of being, the stamp that God has put upon him. But even for the manishi ideal Truth has its bounties. For from thence come the intuitions of the poet, the thinker, the artist, scientist, man of action, merchant, craftsman, labourer each in his sphere, the seed of the great thoughts, discoveries, faiths that help the world and save our human works & destinies from decay & dissolution. But in utilising these messages from our higher selves for the world, in giving them a form or a practical tendency, we use our intellects, feelings or imaginations and alter to their moulds or colour with their pigments the Truth. That alloy seems to be needed to make this gold from the mines above run current among men. This then is Maho Arnas.The psychological conceptions of our remote forefa thers concerning it have so long been alien to our thought & experience that they may be a little difficult to follow & more difficult to accept mentally. But we must understand & grasp them in their fullness if we have any desire to know the meaning of the Veda. For they are the very centre & keystone of Vedic psychology. Maho Arnas, the Great Ocean, is the stream of our being which at once divides & connects the human in us from the divine, & to cross over from the human to the divine, from this small & divided finite to that one, great & infinite, from this death to that immortality, leaving Diti for Aditi, alpam for bhuma, martyam for amritam is the great preoccupation & final aim of Veda & Vedanta.
1.04 - The Sacrifice the Triune Path and the Lord of the Sacrifice, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
There is another basic realisation, the most extreme of all, that yet comes sometimes as the first decisive opening or an early turn of the Yoga. It is the awakening to an ineffable high transcendent Unknowable above myself and above this world in which I seem to move, a timeless and spaceless condition or entity which is at once, in some way compelling and convincing to an essential consciousness in me, the one thing that is to it overwhelmingly real. This experience is usually accompanied by an equally compelling sense either of the dreamlike or shadowy illusoriness of all things here or else of their temporary, derivative and only half-real character. For a time at least all around me may seem to be a moving of cinematographic shadow forms or surface figures and my own action may appear as a fluid formulation from some Source ungrasped as yet and perhaps unseizable above or outside me. To remain in this consciousness, to carry out this initiation or follow out this first suggestion of the character of things would be to proceed towards the Goal of dissolution of self and world in the Unknowable,Moksha, Nirvana. But this is not the only line of issue; it is possible, on the contrary, for me to wait till through the silence of this timeless unfilled liberation I begin to enter into relations with that yet ungrasped Source of myself and my actions; then the void begins to fill, there emerges out of it or there rushes into it all the manifold Truth of the Divine, all the aspects and manifestations and many levels of a dynamic Infinite. At first this experience imposes on the mind and then on all our being an absolute, a fathomless, almost an abysmal peace and silence. Overpowered and subjugated, stilled, liberated from itself, the mind accepts the Silence itself as the Supreme. But afterwards the seeker discovers that all is there for him contained or new-made in that silence or through it descends upon him from a greater concealed transcendent Existence. For this Transcendent, this Absolute is not a mere peace of signless emptiness; it has its own infinite contents and riches of which ours are debased and diminished values. If there were not that Source of all things, there could be no universe; all powers, all works and activities would be an illusion, all creation and manifestation would be impossible.
These are the three fundamental realisations, so fundamental that to the Yogin of the way of Knowledge they seem ultimate, sufficient in themselves, destined to overtop and replace all others. And yet for the integral seeker, whether accorded to him at an early stage suddenly and easily by a miraculous grace or achieved with difficulty after a long progress and endeavour, they are neither the sole truth nor the full and only clues to the integral truth of the Eternal, but rather the unfilled beginning, the vast foundation of a greater divine Knowledge. Other realisations there are that are imperatively needed and must be explored to the full limit of their possibilities; and if some of them appear to a first sight to cover only Divine Aspects that are instrumental to the activity of existence but not inherent in its essence, yet, when followed to their end through that activity to its everlasting Source, it is found that they lead to a disclosure of the Divine without which our knowledge of the Truth behind things would be left bare and incomplete. These seeming Instrumentals are the key to a secret without which the Fundamentals themselves would not unveil all their mystery. All the revelatory aspects of the Divine must be caught in the wide net of the integral Yoga.
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This revelation of a highest Truth or a highest Being, Consciousness, Power, Bliss and Love, impersonal and personal at once and so taking up both sides of our own being,since in us also is the ambiguous meeting of a Person and a mass of impersonal principles and forces,is at once the first aim and the condition of the ultimate achievement of the sacrifice. The achievement itself takes the shape of a union of our own existence with That which is thus made manifest to our vision and experience, and the union has a threefold character. There is a union in spiritual essence, by identity; there is a union by the indwelling of our soul in this highest Being and Consciousness; there is a dynamic union of likeness or oneness of nature between That and our instrumental being here. The first is the liberation from the Ignorance and identification with the Real and Eternal, moka, syujya, which is the characteristic aim of the Yoga of Knowledge. The second, the dwelling of the soul with or in the Divine, smpya, slokya, is the intense hope of all Yoga of love and beatitude. The third, identity in nature, likeness to the Divine, to be perfect as That is perfect, is the high intention of all Yoga of power and perfection or of divine works and service. The combined completeness of the three together, founded here on a multiple Unity of the self-manifesting Divine, is the complete result of the integral Yoga, the Goal of its triple Path and the fruit of its triple sacrifice.
A union by identity may be ours, a liberation and change of our substance of being into that supreme Spirit-substance, of our consciousness into that divine Consciousness, of our soul-state into that ecstasy of spiritual beatitude or that calm eternal bliss of existence. A luminous indwelling in the Divine can be attained by us secure against any fall or exile into this lower consciousness of the darkness and the Ignorance, the soul ranging freely and firmly in its own natural world of light and joy and freedom and oneness. And since this is not merely to be attained in some other existence beyond but pursued and discovered here also, it can only be by a descent, by a bringing down of the Divine Truth, by the establishment here of the souls native world of light, joy, freedom, oneness. A union of our instrumental being no less than of our soul and spirit must change our imperfect nature into the very likeness and image of Divine Nature; it must put off the blind, marred, mutilated, discordant movements of the Ignorance and put on the inherence of that light, peace, bliss, harmony, universality, mastery, purity, perfection; it must convert itself into a receptacle of divine knowledge, an instrument of divine Will-Power and Force of Being, a channel of divine Love, Joy and Beauty. This is the transformation to be effected, an integral transformation of all that we now are or seem to be, by the joiningYogaof the finite being in Time with the Eternal and Infinite.
1.04 - Wake-Up Sermon, #The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, #Bodhidharma, #Buddhism
ThE essence of the Way is detachment. And the Goal of
those who practice is freedom from appearances. The sutras say,
1.052 - Yoga Practice - A Series of Positive Steps, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
It is mentioned in the Yoga Shastras that the essence of yoga is self-restraint, no doubt, but this is precisely the difficulty in understanding what yoga is, because we cannot know what self-restraint is unless we know what the self is which we are going to restrain. Which is the self that we are going to restrain? Whose self? Our self? On the one side, we say the Goal of life is Self-realisation the realisation, the experience, the attunement of ones self with the Self. On the other side, we say we must restrain it, control it, subjugate it, overcome it, etc. There are degrees of self, and the significance behind the mandate on self-control is with reference to the degrees that are perceivable or experienceable in selfhood. The whole universe is nothing but Self there is nothing else in it. Even the so-called objects are a part of the Self in some form or the other. They may be a false self or a real self that is a different matter, but they are a self nevertheless.
In the Vedanta Shastras and yoga scriptures we are told that there are at least three types of self: the external, the personal and the Absolute. We are not concerned here with the Absolute Self. This is not the Self that we are going to restrain. It is, on the other hand, the Self that we are going to realise. That is the Goal the Absolute Self which is unrelated to any other factor or condition, which stands on its own right and which is called the Infinite, the Eternal, and so on. But the self that is to be restrained is that peculiar feature in consciousness which will not fulfil the conditions of absoluteness at any time. It is always relative. It is the relative self that is to be subjected to restraint for the sake of the realisation of the Absolute Self. The aim of life is the Absolute, and not the relative. The experience of the relative, the attachment of the mind in respect of the relative, and the exclusive emphasis on the importance of relativity in things is the obstructing factor in ones enterprise towards the realisation of the Absolute Self.
The external self is that atmosphere that we create around us which we regard as part of our life and to which we get attached in some manner or the other. This is also a self. A family is a self, for example, to mention a small instance. The head of the family regards the family as his own self, though it is not true that the family is his self. He has got an attachment to the members of the family. The attachment is a movement of his own consciousness in respect of those objects around him known as the members of the family. This permeating of his consciousness around that atmosphere known as the family creates a false, externalised self in his experience. This social self, we may call it, is the external self, inasmuch as this externalised, social self is not the real Self. Because it is conditioned by certain factors which are subject to change, it has to be restrained. That is one of the necessities of self-restraint.
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The third step of self is the Absolute, as I mentioned, which is the Goal of the practice of yoga and the Goal of life itself. Self-restraint is, therefore, the limitation of the false self to the minimum of self-affirmation. Here, again, one has to exercise caution. We should not mortify this self too much. We cannot whip it beyond the prescribed limit; otherwise, it will revolt. Though it is true that false relationships have to be overcome by wisdom, philosophical analysis, etc., this achievement cannot be successful at one stroke, because even a false relationship appears to be a real relationship when it has got identified with consciousness. That is why there is so much intensity and so much attachment so much significance is seen in that relationship. There is nothing unreal in this world as long as it has become part of our experience. It becomes unreal only when we are in a different state of experience and we compare the earlier state with it and then make a judgement about it.
Inasmuch as our external relationships which constitute the outward form of the relative self have become part and parcel of our experience, they are inseparable from our consciousness. It requires a careful peeling out of these layers of self by very intelligent means. The lowest attachment, or the least of attachments, should be tackled first. The intense attachments should not be tackled in the beginning. We have many types of attachment there may be fifty, sixty, a hundred but all of them are not of the same intensity. There are certain vital spots in us which cannot be touched. They are very vehement, and it is better not to touch them in the beginning. But there are some milder aspects which can be tackled first, and the gradation of these attachments should be understood properly. How many attachments are there, and how many affections? What are the loves that are harassing the mind and causing agony? Make a list of them privately in your own diary, if you like. They say Swami Rama Tirtha used to do that. He would make a list of all the desires and find out how many of them had been fulfilled: What is the condition? Where am I standing? and so on. This is a kind of spiritual diary that you can create for yourself: How many loves are there which are troubling me? How many things do I like in this world?
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Again, it may be pointed out that every stage in self-restraint or practice of yoga is a positive step, so that there should not be pain felt in the practice. When we feel undue pain, suffocation or agony well, that would be an indication that we have made a slight mistake in the judgement of values. We should not feel restless or troubled in our practice. That would be the consequence of a little excess to which we might have gone, not knowing what actually has been done. So when we feel that one side of the matter is causing us some trouble, we should pay a little special attention to it and see that it is ameliorated to the extent necessary. We have to bear in mind that the Goal of yoga is the consummation of a series of practices that we undertake, every step therein being a positive step without any negativity in it. Really speaking, every step in yoga should be a step of happiness, joy and delight.
1.05 - Adam Kadmon, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
The first Sephirah, Keser - the Crown, is not included generally in this particular method ; or when it is, is simply called God, or the Goal of life to which a man aspires for union.
Y ' is given to Chokmah, and is called the Father. In the Indian systems, this would correspond to Atma, the
1.05 - Buddhism and Women, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
effort to walk the path would attain the Goal
In the spiritual domain, the true question is that of
1.05 - Christ, A Symbol of the Self, #Aion, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
truer picture of the Goal of ethical endeavour. At any rate the
transcendental idea of the self that serves psychology as a work-
1.05 - Morality and War, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I disapprove totally of violence. Each act of violence is a step back on the path leading to the Goal to which we aspire.
The Divine is everywhere and always supremely conscious.
1.05 - Pratyahara and Dharana, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
Every attempt at control which is not voluntary, not with the controller's own mind, is not only disastrous, but it defeats the end. the Goal of each soul is freedom, mastery freedom from the slavery of matter and thought, mastery of external and internal nature. Instead of leading towards that, every will-current from another, in whatever form it comes, either as direct control of organs, or as forcing to control them while under a morbid condition, only rivets one link more to the already existing heavy chain of bondage of past thoughts, past superstitions. Therefore, beware how you allow yourselves to be acted upon by others. Beware how you unknowingly bring another to ruin. True, some succeed in doing good to many for a time, by giving a new trend to their propensities, but at the same time, they bring ruin to millions by the unconscious suggestions they throw around, rousing in men and women that morbid, passive, hypnotic condition which makes them almost soulless at last. Whosoever, therefore, asks any one to believe blindly, or drags people behind him by the controlling power of his superior will, does an injury to humanity, though he may not intend it.
Therefore use your own minds, control body and mind yourselves, remember that until you are a diseased person, no extraneous will can work upon you; avoid everyone, however great and good he may be, who asks you to believe blindly. All over the world there have been dancing and jumping and howling sects, who spread like infection when they begin to sing and dance and preach; they also are a sort of hypnotists. They exercise a singular control for the time being over sensitive persons, alas! often, in the long run, to degenerate whole races. Ay, it is healthier for the individual or the race to remain wicked than be made apparently good by such morbid extraneous control. One's heart sinks to think of the amount of injury done to humanity by such irresponsible yet well-meaning religious fanatics. They little know that the minds which attain to sudden spiritual upheaval under their suggestions, with music and prayers, are simply making themselves passive, morbid, and powerless, and opening themselves to any other suggestion, be it ever so evil. Little do these ignorant, deluded persons dream that whilst they are congratulating themselves upon their miraculous power to transform human hearts, which power they think was poured upon them by some Being above the clouds, they are sowing the seeds of future decay, of crime, of lunacy, and of death. Therefore, beware of everything that takes away your freedom. Know that it is dangerous, and avoid it by all the means in your power.
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Those who really want to be Yogis must give up, once for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Others are mere talking machines. If we really want to be blessed, and make others blessed, we must go deeper. The first step is not to disturb the mind, not to associate with persons whose ideas are disturbing. All of you know that certain persons, certain places, certain foods, repel you. Avoid them; and those who want to go to the highest, must avoid all company, good or bad. Practise hard; whether you live or die does not matter. You have to plunge in and work, without thinking of the result. If you are brave enough, in six months you will be a perfect Yogi. But those who take up just a bit of it and a little of everything else make no progress. It is of no use simply to take a course of lessons. To those who are full of Tamas, ignorant and dull those whose minds never get fixed on any idea, who only crave for something to amuse them religion and philosophy are simply objects of entertainment. These are the unpersevering. They hear a talk, think it very nice, and then go home and forget all about it. To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean," says the persevering soul, "at my will mountains will crumble up." Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the Goal.
previous chapter: 1.04 - The Control of Psychic Prana
1.05 - Problems of Modern Psycho therapy, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
assured that none of them leads with absolute certainty to the Goal, least of
all those advocated with fanaticism. The very number of present-day
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humanity again, freed at last from the burden of moral exile. the Goal of
the cathartic method is full confessionnot merely the intellectual
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by and tilt at the windmills of their own fancy, thus putting the Goal they
most desire quite out of reach.
1.05 - Ritam, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
So far the image has been a double image of a journey & a battle, the Goal of the ritam, the journey of the sin-afflicted human being towards the Truth of the divine nature; the thorns, the pitfall, the enemy ambushed in the path; the great divine helpers whose divine knowledge, for they are prachetasah, becomes active in the human mind and conducts us unerringly & unfalteringly on that sublime journey. In the next rik the image of the path is preserved, but another image is associated with it, the universal Vedic image of the sacrifice. We get here our first clear & compelling indication of the truth which is the very foundation of our hypothesis that the Vedic sacrifice is only a material symbol of a great psychological or spiritual process. The divine children of Infinity lead1 the sacrifice on the straight path to the Goal of the ritam; under their guidance it progresses to their goal & reaches the gods in their home, pravah sa dhtaye nashat.What is sacrifice which is itself a traveller, which has a motion in a straight path, a goal in the highest seat of Truth, parasmin dhmann ritasya? If it is not the activities of the human being in us offered as a sacrifice to the higher & divine being so that human activities may be led up to the divine nature & be established in the divine consciousness, then there is either no meaning in human language or no sense or coherence in the Veda. The Vedic sacrificer is devayu,devakmah,one who desires the god or the godhead, the divine nature; or devayan, one who is in the process of divinising his human life & being; the sacrifice itself is essentially devavtih & devattih, manifestation of the divine & the extension of the divine in man. We see also the force of dhtaye. The havya or offering of human faculty, human having, human action, reaches its goal when it is taken up in the divine thought, the divine consciousness & there enjoyed by the gods.
In return for his offering the gods give to the sacrificer the results of the divine nature. The mortal favoured by them moves forward unstumbling & unoverthrown, accha gacchati astrita,towards or to what? Ratnam vasu visvam tokam uta tman. This is his goal; but we have seen too that the Goal is the ritam. Therefore the expressions ratnam vasu, visvam tokam tman must describe either the nature of the ritam or the results of successful reaching & habitation in the ritam. Toka means son, says the ritualist. I fail to see how the birth of a son can be the supreme result of a mans perfecting his nature & reaching the divine Truth; I fail to see also what is meant by a man marching unoverthrown beyond sin & falsehood towards pleasant wealth & a son. In a great number of passages in the Veda, the sense of son for toka or of either son or grandson for tanaya is wholly inadmissible except by doing gross violence to sense, context & coherence & convicting the Vedic Rishis of an advanced stage of incoherent dementia. Toka, from the root tuch, to cut, form, create (cf tach & twach, in takta, tashta, twashta, Gr. tikto, etekon, tokos, a child) may mean anything produced or created. We shall see, hereafter, that praj, apatyam, even putra are used in the Veda as symbolic expressions for action & its results as children of the soul. This is undoubtedly the sense here. There are two results of life in the ritam, in the vijnana, in the principle of divine consciousness & its basis of divine truth; first ratnam vasu, a state of being the nature of which is delight, for vijnana or ritam is the basis of divine ananda; secondly, visvam tokam uta tman,this state of Ananda is not the actionless Brahmananda of the Sannyasin, but the free creative joy of the Divine Nature, universal creative action by the force of the self. The action of the liberated humanity is not to be like that of the mortal bound, struggling & stumbling through ignorance & sin towards purity & light, originating & bound by his action, but the activity spontaneously starting out of self-existence & creating its results without evil reactions or bondage.
To complete our idea of the hymn & its significance, I shall give my rendering of its last three slokas,the justification of that rendering or comment on it would lead me far from the confines of my present subject. How, O friends, cries Kanwa to his fellow-worshippers, may we perfect (or enrich) the establishment in ourselves (by the mantra of praise) of Mitra & Aryaman or how the wide form of Varuna? May I not resist with speech him of you who smites & rebukes me while he yet leads me to the godhead; through the things of peace alone may I establish you in all my being. Let a man fear the god even when he is giving him all the four states of being (Mahas, Swar, Bhuvah, Bhuh), until the perfect settling in the Truth: let him not yearn towards evil expression. In other words, perfect adoration & submission to the gods who are leading us in the path, those who are yajnanh, leaders of the sacrifice, is the condition of the full wideness of Varunas being in us & the full indwelling ofMitra & Aryaman in the principles of the Ananda & the Ritam.
1.05 - Some Results of Initiation, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
The third requirement is the cultivation of endurance (perseverance). The student is impervious to all influences which would divert him from the Goal he has set himself, as long as he can regard it as the right goal. For him, obstacles contain a challenge that impels him to surmount them, but never a reason for giving up.
p. 150
1.05 - The Ascent of the Sacrifice - The Psychic Being, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
For the same reason the ethical solution is insufficient; for an ethical rule merely puts a bit in the mouth of the wild horses of Nature and exercises over them a difficult and partial control, but it has no power to transform Nature so that she may move in a secure freedom fulfilling the intuitions that proceed from a divine self-knowledge. At best its method is to lay down limits, to coerce the devil, to put the wall of a relative and very doubtful safety around us. This or some similar device of self-protection may be necessary for a time whether in ordinary life or in Yoga; but in Yoga it can only be the mark of a transition. A fundamental transformation and a pure wideness of spiritual life are the aim before us and, if we are to reach it, we must find a deeper solution, a surer supra-ethical dynamic principle. To be spiritual within, ethical in the outside life, this is the ordinary religious solution, but it is a compromise; the spiritualisation of both the inward being and the outward life and not a compromise between life and the spirit is the Goal of which we are the seekers. Nor can the human confusion of values which obliterates the distinction between spiritual and moral and even claims that the moral is the only true spiritual element in our nature be of any use to us; for ethics is a mental control and the limited erring mind is not and cannot be the free and everluminous Spirit. It is equally impossible to accept the gospel that makes life the one aim, takes its elements fundamentally as they are and only calls in a half-spiritual or pseudo-spiritual light to flush and embellish it. Inadequate too is the very frequent attempt at a misalliance between the vital and the spiritual, a mystic experience within with an aestheticised intellectual and sensuous Paganism or exalted hedonism outside leaning upon it and satisfying itself in the glow of a spiritual sanction; for this too is a precarious and never successful compromise and it is as far from the divine Truth and its integrality as the puritanic opposite. These are all stumbling solutions of the fallible human mind groping for a transaction between the high spiritual summits and the lower pitch of the ordinary mind-motives and life-motives. Whatever partial truth may be hidden behind them, that truth can only be accepted when it has been raised to the spiritual level, tested in the supreme Truth-Consciousness and extricated from the soil and error of the Ignorance.
In sum, it may be safely affirmed that no solution offered can be anything but provisional until a supramental Truth-Consciousness is reached by which the appearances of things are put in their place and their essence revealed and that in them which derives straight from the spiritual essence. In the meanwhile our only safety is to find a guiding law of spiritual experience -- or else to liberate a light within that can lead us on the way until that greater direct Truth-Consciousness is reached above us or born within us. For all else in us that is only outward, all that is not a spiritual sense or seeing, the constructions, representations or conclusions of the intellect, the suggestions or instigations of the Life-force, the positive necessities of physical things are sometimes half-lights, sometimes false lights that can at best only serve for a while or serve a little and for the rest either detain or confuse us. The guiding law of spiritual experience can only come by an opening of human consciousness to the Divine Consciousness; there must be the power to receive in us the working and comm and and dynamic presence of the Divine shakti and surrender ourselves to her control; it is that surrender and that control which bring the guidance. But the surrender is not sure, there is no absolute certitude of the guidance so long as we are besieged by mind formations and life impulses and instigations of ego which may easily betray us into the hands of a false experience. This danger can only be countered by the opening of a now nine-tenths concealed inmost soul or psychic being that is already there but not commonly active within us. That is the inner light we must liberate; for the light of this inmost soul is our one sure illumination so long as we walk still amidst the siege of the Ignorance and the Truth-Consciousness has not taken up the entire control of our Godward endeavour. The working of the Divine Force in us under the conditions of the transition and the light of the psychic being turning us always towards a conscious and seeing obedience to that higher impulsion and away from the demands and instigations of the Forces of the Ignorance, these between them create an ever progressive inner law of our action which continues till the spiritual and supramental can be established in our nature. In the transition there may well be a period in which we take up all life and action and offer them to the Divine for purification, change and deliverance of the truth within them, another period in which we draw back and build a spiritual wall around us admitting through its gates only such activities as consent to undergo the law of the spiritual transformation, a third in which a free and all-embracing action, but with new forms fit for the utter truth of the Spirit, can again be made possible. These things, however, will be decided by no mental rule but in the light of the soul within us and by the ordaining force and progressive guidance of the Divine Power that secretly or overtly first impels, then begins clearly to control and order and finally takes up the whole burden of the Yoga.
1.05 - THE HOSTILE BROTHERS - ARCHETYPES OF RESPONSE TO THE UNKNOWN, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
substance or the other. the Goal of the Chinese sage physician, spiritual leader or social administrator
is to establish or re-establish the harmony between the fundamental feminine and masculine principles,
--
reconstruction of that more inclusive order. Re-evaluation of the Goal, of the ideal undertaken,
voluntarily, as a consequence of exposure to anomalous information may bring suppressed material,
--
nature of the Goal towards which action and ideation is devoted, in the ideal, determines what behaviors and
products of imagination and abstract thought come to be regarded as acceptable, and are therefore
--
If the Goal towards which behavior is devoted remains pathologically restricted if the highest ideal
remains, for example, sensual pleasure, social acceptance, power, or material security then aspects of
--
pursuit of meaning. If the nature of the Goal is shifted from desire for predictability to development of
personality capable of facing chaos voluntarily, then the unknown which can never be permanently
--
self and other. It is the constant attempt to accurately represent such character that constitutes the Goal of
the myth of man.
--
the nature of the Goal of paradise itself. Christs life and words as archetypal exemplars of the heroic
manner of being place explicit stress on the process of life, rather than upon its products. The point of a
--
The significance of the Christian passion is the transformation of the process by which the Goal is to be
attained, into the Goal itself: the making of the imitation of Christ the duty of every Christian citizen, so
to speak into the embodiment of courageous, truthful individually unique existence:
--
inviolable. This made the gold state the Goal of the Mercurial spirit of the unknown, embedded in
matter. Eliade states:
--
things that is the Goal of the peregrination.628
The mask each person wears in society is based upon the pretence that the individual is identical with
--
This final value, the Goal of the pursuit of the alchemists, is discovery and embodiment of the meaning of
life itself: integrated subjective being actively expressing its nature through manipulation of the
--
the two determines the valence of the Goal. The more polarity (that is, the more tension) between the two
points, the more worthwhile the enterprise. Good cannot be defined cannot exist in the absence of
--
initial condition, disrupted by the events of the fall, also serves as the Goal towards which history proceeds.
Stories of the fall describe the introduction of uncontrollable anxiety into human experience, as the
--
object is therefore determined in large part by the Goal we have in mind while interacting with that flux. This
complex situation is further complicated by the fact that the valence of objects, once given as objects, may still
--
goals, far beyond any hope of achievement. Strictly speaking the writer does not set the Goals: these are set by the
shaping spirit of literature itself, the source of a writers ability to write. But in general the same principal should
--
man can be that one, God helping him therein but only one attains the Goal. And again this means that every man
should be chary about having to do with the others, and essentially should talk only with God and with himself-for
only one attains the Goal. And again this means that man, or to be a man, is akin to deity. In a worldly and temporal
sense, it will be said by the man of bustle, sociability, and amicableness, How unreasonable that only one attains
the Goal; for it is far more likely that many, by the strength of united effort, should attain the Goal; and when we are
many success is more certain and it is easier for each man severally. True enough, it is far more likely; and it is true
--
of men and knows each single individual by name He, the Great Examiner, says that only one attains the Goal.
[cited in Kaufmann, W. (1975). pp. 94-95].
1.05 - Work and Teaching, #Words Of The Mother I, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo incarnated in a human body the supramental consciousness and has not only revealed to us the nature of the path to follow and the method of following it so as to arrive at the Goal, but has also by his own personal realisation given us the example; he has provided us with the proof that the thing can be done and the time is now to do it.
***
1.05 - Yoga and Hypnotism, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Yoga is therefore no dream, no illusion of mystics. It is known that we can alter the associations of mind and body temporarily and that the mind can alter the conditions of the body partially. Yoga asserts that these things can be done permanently and completely. For the body conquest of disease, pain and material obstructions, for the mind liberation from bondage to past experience and the heavier limitations of space and time, for the heart victory over sin and grief and fear, for the spirit unclouded bliss, strength and illumination, this is the gospel of Yoga, is the Goal to which Hinduism points humanity.
***
1.06 - Agni and the Truth, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Here r.tam br.hat and svam damam seem to express the Goal of the sacrifice and this is perfectly in consonance with the imagery of the Veda which frequently describes the sacrifice as travelling towards the gods and man himself as a traveller moving towards the truth, the light or the felicity. It is evident, therefore, that the Truth, the Vast and Agni's own home are identical. Agni and other gods are frequently spoken of as being born in the truth, dwelling in the wide or vast. The sense, then, will be in our passage that Agni the divine will and power in man increases in the truth-consciousness, its proper sphere, where false limitations are broken down, urav anibadhe, in the wide and the limitless.
Thus in these four verses of the opening hymn of the Veda we get the first indications of the principal ideas of the Vedic
1.06 - Dhyana and Samadhi, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
We have taken a cursory view of the different steps in Rja-Yoga, except the finer ones, the training in concentration, which is the Goal to which Raja-Yoga will lead us. We see, as human beings, that all our knowledge which is called rational is referred to consciousness. My consciousness of this table, and of your presence, makes me know that the table and you are here. At the same time, there is a very great part of my existence of which I am not conscious. All the different organs inside the body, the different parts of the brain nobody is conscious of these.
When I eat food, I do it consciously; when I assimilate it, I do it unconsciously. When the food is manufactured into blood, it is done unconsciously. When out of the blood all the different parts of my body are streng thened, it is done unconsciously. And yet it is I who am doing all this; there cannot be twenty people in this one body. How do I know that I do it, and nobody else? It may be urged that my business is only in eating and assimilating the food, and that streng thening the body by the food is done for me by somebody else. That cannot be, because it can be demonstrated that almost every action of which we are now unconscious can be brought up to the plane of consciousness. The heart is beating apparently without our control. None of us here can control the heart; it goes on its own way. But by practice men can bring even the heart under control, until it will just beat at will, slowly, or quickly, or almost stop. Nearly every part of the body can be brought under control. What does this show? That the functions which are beneath consciousness are also performed by us, only we are doing it unconsciously. We have, then, two planes in which the human mind works. First is the conscious plane, in which all work is always accompanied with the feeling of egoism. Next comes the unconscious plane, where all work is unaccompanied by the feeling of egoism. That part of mind-work which is unaccompanied with the feeling of egoism is unconscious work, and that part which is accompanied with the feeling of egoism is conscious work. In the lower animals this unconscious work is called instinct. In higher animals, and in the highest of all animals, man, what is called conscious work prevails.
--
When, by the previous preparations, it becomes strong and controlled, and has the power of finer perception, the mind should be employed in meditation. This meditation must begin with gross objects and slowly rise to finer and finer, until it becomes objectless. The mind should first be employed in perceiving the external causes of sensations, then the internal motions, and then its own reaction. When it has succeeded in perceiving the external causes of sensations by themselves, the mind will acquire the power of perceiving all fine material existences, all fine bodies and forms. When it can succeed in perceiving the motions inside by themselves, it will gain the control of all mental waves, in itself or in others, even before they have translated themselves into physical energy; and when he will be able to perceive the mental reaction by itself, the Yogi will acquire the knowledge of everything, as every sensible object, and every thought is the result of this reaction. Then will he have seen the very foundations of his mind, and it will be under his perfect control. Different powers will come to the Yogi, and if he yields to the temptations of any one of these, the road to his further progress will be barred. Such is the evil of running after enjoyments. But if he is strong enough to reject even these miraculous powers, he will attain to the Goal of Yoga, the complete suppression of the waves in the ocean of the mind. Then the glory of the soul, undisturbed by the distractions of the mind, or motions of the body, will shine in its full effulgence; and the Yogi will find himself as he is and as he always was, the essence of knowledge, the immortal, the all-pervading.
Samadhi is the property of every human being nay, every animal. From the lowest animal to the highest angel, some time or other, each one will have to come to that state, and then, and then alone, will real religion begin for him. Until then we only struggle towards that stage. There is no difference now between us and those who have no religion, because we have no experience. What is concentration good for, save to bring us to this experience? Each one of the steps to attain Samadhi has been reasoned out, properly adjusted, scientifically organised, and, when faithfully practiced, will surely lead us to the desired end. Then will all sorrows cease, all miseries vanish; the seeds for actions will be burnt, and the soul will be free for ever.
1.06 - MORTIFICATION, NON-ATTACHMENT, RIGHT LIVELIHOOD, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
We see, then, that a great man can be goodgood enough even to aspire to unitive knowledge of the divine Groundprovided that, while exercising power, he fulfills two conditions. First, he must deny himself all the personal advantages of power and must practise the patience and recollectedness without which there cannot be love either of man or God. And, second, he must realize that the accident of possessing temporal power does not give him spiritual authority, which belongs only to those seers, living or dead, who have achieved a direct insight into the Nature of Things. A society, in which the boss is mad enough to believe himself a prophet, is a society doomed to destruction. A viable society is one in which those who have qualified themselves to see indicate the Goals to be aimed at, while those whose business it is to rule respect the authority and listen to the advice of the seers. In theory, at least, all this was well understood in India and, until the Reformation, in Europe, where no position was so high but that it was subject to a spiritual superior in what concerned the conscience and the soul. Unfortunately the churches tried to make the best of both worldsto combine spiritual authority with temporal power, wielded either directly or at one remove, from behind the throne. But spiritual authority can be exercised only by those who are perfectly disinterested and whose motives are therefore above suspicion. An ecclesiastical organization may call itself the Mystical Body of Christ; but if its prelates are slave-holders and the rulers of states, as they were in the past, or if the corporation is a large-scale capitalist, as is the case today, no titles, however honorific, can conceal the fact that, when it passes judgment, it does so as an interested party with some political or economic axe to grind. True, in matters which do not directly concern the temporal powers of the corporation, individual churchmen can be, and have actually proved themselves, perfectly disinterestedconsequently can possess, and have possessed, genuine spiritual authority. St. Philip Neris is a case in point. Possessing absolutely no temporal power, he yet exercised a prodigious influence over sixteenth-century Europe. But for that influence, it may be doubted whether the efforts of the Council of Trent to reform the Roman church from within would have met with much success.
In actual practice how many great men have ever fulfilled, or are ever likely to fulfil, the conditions which alone render power innocuous to the ruler as well as to the ruled? Obviously, very few. Except by saints, the problem of power is finally insoluble. But since genuine self-government is possible only in very small groups, societies on a national or super-national scale will always be ruled by oligarchical minorities, whose members come to power because they have a lust for power. This means that the problem of power will always arise and, since it cannot be solved except by people like Franois de Sales, will always make trouble. And this, in its turn, means that we cannot expect the large-scale societies of the future to be much better than were the societies of the past during the brief periods when they were at their best.
1.06 - Psychic Education, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
"Whatever you do, never forget the Goal which you have set before you. There is nothing great or small once you have set out on this great discovery; all things are equally important and can either hasten or delay its success. Thus before you eat, concentrate a few seconds in the aspiration that the food you are about to eat may bring your body the substance it needs to serve as a solid basis for your effort towards the great discovery, and give it the energy for persistence and perseverance in the effort.
"Before you go to sleep, concentrate a few seconds in the aspiration that the sleep may restore your fatigued nerves, bring calm and quietness to your brain so that on waking you may, with renewed vigor, begin again your journey on the path of the great discovery.
1.06 - The Ascent of the Sacrifice 2 The Works of Love - The Works of Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Ignorance. One must learn to hear and follow the voice of the inmost soul, the direction of the Guru, the comm and of the Master, the working of the Divine Mother Whoever clings to the desires and weaknesses of the flesh, the cravings and passions of the vital in its turbulent ignorance, the dictates of his personal mind unsilenced and unillumined by a greater knowledge, cannot find the true inner law and is heaping obstacles in the way of the divine fulfilment. Whoever is able to detect and renounce those obscuring agencies and to discern and follow the true Guide within and without will discover the spiritual law and reach the Goal of the Yoga.
A radical and total change of consciousness is not only the whole meaning but, in an increasing force and by progressive stages, the whole method of the integral Yoga.
1.070 - The Seven Stages of Perfection, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
When we change within ourselves, the world also changes for us. It is not that we change only inside our house, and outside everything remains chaotic. This is not so. There is a corresponding change in the outer atmosphere when there is an internal transformation, because the internal is commensurate with the external. The one is not really outside the other. There is a transformation of existence itself when there is a transformation of consciousness. The attainment of the perfection of consciousness becomes also, at the same time, the attainment of the perfection of all existence, which is the Goal of practising the eight limbs of yoga.
1.07 - The Fire of the New World, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
This new materialism has a most powerful microscope: a ray of truth that does not stop at any appearance but travels far, far, everywhere, capturing the same frequency of truth in all things, all beings, under all the masks or scrambling interferences. It has an infallible telescope: a look of truth that meets itself everywhere and knows, because it is what it touches. But that truth has first to be unscrambled in ourselves before it can be unscrambled everywhere; if the medium is clear, everything is clear. As we have said, man has a self of fire in the center of his being, a little flame, a pure cry of being under the ruins of the machine. This fire is the one that clarifies. This fire is the one that sees. For it is a fire of truth in the center of the being, and there is one and the same Fire everywhere, in all beings and all things and all movements of the world and the stars, in this pebble beside the path and that winged seed wafted by the wind. Five thousand years ago the Vedic Rishis were already singing its praises: O Fire, that splendour of thine, which is in heaven and which is in the earth and in growths and its waters... is a brilliant ocean of light in which is divine vision...9 He is the child of the waters, the child of the forests, the child of things stable and the child of things that move. Even in the stone he is there for man, he is there in the middle of his house...10 O Fire... thou art the navel-knot of the earths and their inhabitants.11 That fire the Rishis had discovered five thousand years before the scientists they had found it even in water. They called it the third fire, the one that is neither in the flame nor in lightning: saura agni, the solar fire,12 the sun in darkness.13 And they found it solely by the power of direct vision of Truth, without instruments, solely by the knowledge of their own inner Fire from the like to the like. While through their microscopes the scientists have only discovered the material support the atom of that fundamental Fire which is at the heart of things and the beginning of the worlds. They have found the effect, not the cause. And because they have found only the effect, the scientists do not have the true mastery, or the key to transforming matter our matter and making it yield the real miracle that is the Goal of all evolution, the point of otherness that will open the door to a new world.
It is this Fire that is the power of the worlds, the original igniter of evolution, the force in the rock, the force in the seed, the force in the middle of the house. This is the lever, the seer, the one that can break the circle and all the circles of our successive thralldoms material, animal, vital and mental. No species, even pushed to its extreme of efficiency and intelligence and light, has the power to transcend its own limits not the chameleon, not the ape, not man by the fiat of its improved chromosomes alone. It is only this Fire that can. This is the point of otherness, the supreme moment of imagination that sets fire to the old limits, as one day a similar supreme moment of imagination lit one and the same fire in the heart of the worlds and cast that solar seed upon the waters of time, and all those waves, those circles around it, to help it grow better, until each rootlet, each branch and twig of the great efflorescence is able to attain its own infinite, delivered by its very greatness.
1.07 - The Ideal Law of Social Development, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
This is done primarily through the individual man; for this end man has become an individual soul, that the One may find and manifest Himself in each human being. That end is not indeed achieved by the individual human being in his unaided mental force. He needs the help of the secret Divine above his mentality in his superconscient self; he needs the help also of the secret Divine around him in Nature and in his fellow-men. Everything in Nature is an occasion for him to develop his divine potentiality, an occasion which he has a certain relative freedom to use or to misuse, although in the end both his use and misuse of his materials are overruled in their results by the universal Will so as to assist eventually the development of his law of being and his destiny. All life around him is a help towards the divine purpose in him; every human being is his fellow worker and assists him whether by association and union or by strife and opposition. Nor does he achieve his destiny as the individual Man for the sake of the individual soul alone,a lonely salvation is not his complete ideal,but for the world also or rather for God in the world, for God in all as well as above all and not for God solely and separately in one. And he achieves it by the stress, not really of his separate individual Will, but of the universal Will in its movement towards the Goal of its cycles.
The object of all society should be, therefore, and must become, as man grows conscious of his real being, nature and destiny and not as now only of a part of it, first to provide the conditions of life and growth by which individual Man,not isolated men or a class or a privileged race, but all individual men according to their capacity, and the race through the growth of its individuals may travel towards this divine perfection. It must be, secondly, as mankind generally more and more grows near to some figure of the Divine in life and more and more men arrive at it,for the cycles are many and each cycle has its own figure of the Divine in man,to express in the general life of mankind, the light, the power, the beauty, the harmony, the joy of the Self that has been attained and that pours itself out in a freer and nobler humanity. Freedom and harmony express the two necessary principles of variation and oneness,freedom of the individual, the group, the race, coordinated harmony of the individuals forces and of the efforts of all individuals in the group, of all groups in the race, of all races in the kind, and these are the two conditions of healthy progression and successful arrival. To realise them and to combine them has been the obscure or half-enlightened effort of mankind throughout its history,a task difficult indeed and too imperfectly seen and too clumsily and mechanically pursued by the reason and desires to be satisfactorily achieved until man grows by self-knowledge and self-mastery to the possession of a spiritual and psychical unity with his fellow-men. As we realise more and more the right conditions, we shall travel more luminously and spontaneously towards our goal and, as we draw nearer to a clear sight of our goal, we shall realise better and better the right conditions. The Self in man enlarging light and knowledge and harmonising will with light and knowledge so as to fulfil in life what he has seen in his increasing vision and idea of the Self, this is mans source and law of progress and the secret of his impulse towards perfection.
1.07 - The Mantra - OM - Word and Wisdom, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
But we are now considering not these Mah-purushas, the great Incarnations, but only the SiddhaGurus (teachers who have attained the Goal); they, as a rule, have to convey the germs of spiritual wisdom to the disciple by means of words (Mantras) to be meditated upon. What are these Mantras?
The whole of this universe has, according to Indian philosophy, both name and form (Nma-Rupa) as its conditions of manifestation. In the human microcosm, there cannot be a single wave in the mindstuff (Chittavritti) unconditioned by name and form. If it be true that nature is built throughout on the same plan, this kind of conditioning by name and form must also be the plan of the building of the whole of the cosmos.
1.07 - The Psychic Center, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
Consciousness is the means, consciousness is the key, and consciousness is the Goal.
1.083 - Choosing an Object for Concentration, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
Again we come to that original analysis of the nature of the mind why it is moving like that, from object to object. It has got many aims in intention, and these aims are nothing but the satisfaction of the different types of vrittis of which it is constituted. So it will not be amenable to any kind of pinpointing, because this pinpointing implies the satisfaction of a single vritti only, leaving the other vrittis unsatisfied. This is a difficulty which it feels, and a suspicion that it has got: You are trying to compel me to concentrate on one thing, so that I may get only that, but what about my other children who also ask for many things? If only one child is satisfied, the father is not happy. Other children are there, and they also have to be satisfied. So, what about the other children the other vrittis whom we have completely ignored, as it were, in our attempt at driving any one particular vritti only in the direction of the object that we have chosen now? The mind cannot appreciate that this object of concentration is not going to be the fulfilment only of a single vritti that it is going to be the fulfilment of every vritti. It is something which can satisfy all our children and is not merely the Goal of only one child. This is what the mind has to understand. But it will not understand.
The objects in this world are, unfortunately, constituted in such a way that they can attract only a particular vritti at a particular time; they cannot attract all the vrittis. Hence, we are not accustomed to the conception of any object which can attract all the vrittis. Such a thing has not been seen in this world, and now we are saying that such a thing is possible. Is there anything which can draw the attention of the entire force of our mind at one stroke? We have not seen such a thing, and so we do not believe it when we are told that in yoga such a thing is possible. One thing that is important here is to make the mind awaken itself to this enlightenment that the object of meditation is not the satisfaction of one vritti merely, like the objects of the senses. It is the total aspiration of the whole structure of the mind getting fulfilled. The whole family will be happy, we must tell the mind, not merely one vritti.
1.08a - The Ladder, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
The magical side of the task in this grade is to forge a mighty magical sword of steel (representative of the analy- tical critical faculty of his Ruach) wherewith the student must be prepared to hew down without a moment's notice those blind forces which stand before him barring his pro- gress to the Goal which he now envisages.
As a Practicus (situate in Hod, the Sphere of , its god being Mercury) he is expected to complete his intellectual training. Philosophy and Metaphysics are the means to accomplish this task, and in particular, the Holy Qabalah, which he is expected to master before being able to go for- ward. He must discover for himself the properties of a number never previously examined by him, and in answer to intellectual questions he must display no less mastery of his subject than if he were entered in the final examina- tion for a Doctor of Science or Philosophy.
1.08 - Introduction to Patanjalis Yoga Aphorisms, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
Before going into the Yoga aphorisms I shall try to discuss one great question, upon which rests the whole theory of religion for the Yogis. It seems the consensus of opinion of the great minds of the world, and it has been nearly demonstrated by researches into physical nature, that we are the outcome and manifestation of an absolute condition, back of our present relative condition, and are going forward, to return to that absolute. This being granted, the question is: Which is better, the absolute or this state? There are not wanting people who think that this manifested state is the highest state of man. Thinkers of great calibre are of the opinion that we are manifestations of undifferentiated being and the differentiated state is higher than the absolute. They imagine that in the absolute there cannot be any quality; that it must be insensate, dull, and lifeless; that only this life can be enjoyed, and, therefore, we must cling to it. First of all we want to inquire into other solutions of life. There was an old solution that man after death remained the same; that all his good sides, minus his evil sides, remained for ever. Logically stated, this means that man's goal is the world; this world carried a stage higher, and eliminated of its evils, is the state they call heaven. This theory, on the face of it, is absurd and puerile, because it cannot be. There cannot be good without evil, nor evil without good. To live in a world where it is all good and no evil is what Sanskrit logicians call a "dream in the air". Another theory in modern times has been presented by several schools, that man's destiny is to go on always improving, always struggling towards, but never reaching the Goal. This statement, though apparently very nice, is also absurd, because there is no such thing as motion in a straight line. Every motion is in a circle. If you can take up a stone, and project it into space, and then live long enough, that stone, if it meets with no obstruction, will come back exactly to your hand. A straight line, infinitely projected must end in a circle. Therefore, this idea that the destiny of man is progressing ever forward and forward, and never stopping, is absurd. Although extraneous to the subject, I may remark that this idea explains the ethical theory that you must not hate, and must love. Because, just as in the case of electricity the modern theory is that the power leaves the dynamo and completes the circle back to the dynamo, so with hate and love; they must come back to the source. Therefore do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you, must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle. It is as certain as can be, that every bit of hatred that goes out of the heart of a man comes back to him in full force, nothing can stop it; similarly every impulse of love comes back to him.
On other and practical grounds we see that the theory of eternal progression is untenable, for destruction is the Goal of everything earthly. All our struggles and hopes and fears and joys, what will they lead to? We shall all end in death. Nothing is so certain as this. Where, then, is this motion in a straight line this infinite progression? It is only going out to a distance, and coming back to the centre from which it started. See how, from nebulae, the sun, moon, and stars are produced; then they dissolve and go back to nebulae. The same is being done everywhere. The plant takes material from the earth, dissolves, and gives it back. Every form in this world is taken out of surrounding atoms and goes back to these atoms. It cannot be that the same law acts differently in different places. Law is uniform. Nothing is more certain than that. If this is the law of nature, it also applies to thought. Thought will dissolve and go back to its origin. Whether we will it or not, we shall have to return to our origin which is called God or Absolute. We all came from God, and we are all bound to go back to God. Call that by any name you like, God, Absolute, or Nature, the fact remains the same. "From whom all this universe comes out, in whom all that is born lives, and to whom all returns." This is one fact that is certain. Nature works on the same plan; what is being worked out in one sphere is repeated in millions of spheres. What you see with the planets, the same will it be with this earth, with men, and with all. The huge wave is a mighty compound of small waves, it may be of millions; the life of the whole world is a compound of millions of little lives, and the death of the whole world is the compound of the deaths of these millions of little beings.
Now the question arises: Is going back to God the higher state, or not? The philosophers of the Yoga school emphatically answer that it is. They say that man's present state is a degeneration. There is not one religion on the face of the earth which says that man is an improvement. The idea is that his beginning is perfect and pure, that he degenerates until he cannot degenerate further, and that there must come a time when he shoots upward again to complete the circle. The circle must be described. However low he may go, he must ultimately take the upward bend and go back to the original source, which is God. Man comes from God in the beginning, in the middle he becomes man, and in the end he goes back to God. This is the method of putting it in the dualistic form. The monistic form is that man is God, and goes back to Him again. If our present state is the higher one, then why is there so much horror and misery, and why is there an end to it? If this is the higher state, why does it end? That which corrupts and degenerates cannot be the highest state. Why should it be so diabolical, so unsatisfying? It is only excusable, inasmuch as through it we are taking a higher groove; we have to pass through it in order to become regenerate again. Put a seed into the ground and it disintegrates, dissolves after a time, and out of that dissolution comes the splendid tree. Every soul must disintegrate to become God. So it follows that the sooner we get out of this state we call "man" the better for us. Is it by committing suicide that we get out of this state? Not at all. That will be making it worse. Torturing ourselves, or condemning the world, is not the way to get out. We have to pass through the Slough of Despond, and the sooner we are through, the better. It must always be remembered that man-state is not the highest state.
1.08 - Psycho therapy Today, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
All beginnings are small. Therefore we must not mind doing tedious but conscientious work on obscure individuals, even though the Goal
towards which we strive seems unattainably far off. But one goal we can
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of purpose the Goal of individual development. So doing, our efforts will
follow natures own striving to bring life to the fullest possible fruition in
1.08 - The Depths of the Divine, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
As we will see, this pure formless Spirit is said to be the Goal and Summit and Source of all manifestation. And that is the causal.
Going within and beyond even this pure Source and pure Spirit-which is totally formless, boundless, unmanifest-the Self/Spirit awakens to an identity with, and as, all Form, all manifestation (gross, subtle, and causal), whether high or low, ascending or descending, sacred or profane, manifest or unmanifest, finite or infinite, temporal or eternal. This is not a particular stage among other stages-not their Goal, not their Source, not their Summit-but rather the Ground or Suchness or Isness of all stages, at all times, in all dimensions: the Being of all beings, the Condition of all conditions, the Nature of all natures. And that is the Nondual.
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For Ramana and Eckhart (and not them alone), the causal is a type of ultimate omega point (but it is not, as we will see, the end of the story). As the Source of all manifestation, it the Goal of all development. Ramana: "This is SelfRealization; and thereby is cut asunder the Knot of the Heart [the separate-self sense]; this is the limitless bliss of liberation, beyond doubt and duality. To realize this state of freedom from duality is the summum bonum of life: and he alone that has won it is a jivanmukta (the liberated one while yet alive), and not he who has merely a theoretical understanding of the Self or the desired end and aim of all human behavior. The disciple is then enjoined to remain in the beatitude of Aham-Brahman-'I-I' is the Absolute."57
THE NONDUAL
1.08 - The Four Austerities and the Four Liberations, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In truth, a cultivated and illumined vital can be as noble and heroic and disinterested as it is now spontaneously vulgar, egoistic and perverted when it is left to itself without education. It is enough for each one to know how to transform in himself the search for pleasure into an aspiration for the supramental plenitude. If the education of the vital is carried far enough, with perseverance and sincerity, there comes a time when, convinced of the greatness and beauty of the Goal, the vital gives up petty and illusory sensorial satisfactions in order to win the divine delight.
Bulletin, February 1953
1.09 - ADVICE TO THE BRAHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Thou art the Way, and Thou the Goal; Thou the Adorable One, O Lord!
Thou art the Mother tender-hearted; Thou the chastising Father;
1.09 - Concentration - Its Spiritual Uses, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
It is the highest manifestation of the power of Vairagya when it takes away even our attraction towards the qualities. We have first to understand what the Purusha, the Self, is and what the qualities are. According to Yoga philosophy, the whole of nature consists of three qualities or forces; one is called Tamas, another Rajas, and the third Sattva. These three qualities manifest themselves in the physical world as darkness or inactivity, attraction or repulsion, and equilibrium of the two. Everything that is in nature, all manifestations, are combinations and recombinations of these three forces. Nature has been divided into various categories by the Snkhyas; the Self of man is beyond all these, beyond nature. It is effulgent, pure, and perfect. Whatever of intelligence we see in nature is but the reflection of this Self upon nature. Nature itself is insentient. You must remember that the word nature also includes the mind; mind is in nature; thought is in nature; from thought, down to the grossest form of matter, everything is in nature, the manifestation of nature. This nature has covered the Self of man, and when nature takes away the covering, the self appears in Its own glory. The non-attachment, as described in aphorism 15 (as being control of objects or nature) is the greatest help towards manifesting the Self. The next aphorism defines Samadhi, perfect concentration which is the Goal of the Yogi.
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Again, in the very same meditation, when one struggles to take the elements out of time and space, and think of them as they are, it is called Nirvitarka, without question. When the meditation goes a step higher, and takes the Tanmatras as its object, and thinks of them as in time and space, it is called Savichra, with discrimination; and when in the same meditation one eliminates time and space, and thinks of the fine elements as they are, it is called Nirvichra, without discrimination. The next step is when the elements are given up, both gross and fine, and the object of meditation is the interior organ, the thinking organ. When the thinking organ is thought of as bereft of the qualities of activity and dullness, it is then called Snanda, the blissful Samadhi. When the mind itself is the object of meditation, when meditation becomes very ripe and concentrated, when all ideas of the gross and fine materials are given up, when the Sattva state only of the Ego remains, but differentiated from all other objects, it is called Ssmita Samadhi. The man who has attained to this has attained to what is called in the Vedas "bereft of body". He can think of himself as without his gross body; but he will have to think of himself as with a fine body. Those that in this state get merged in nature without attaining the Goal are called Prakritilayas, but those who do not stop even there reach the Goal, which is freedom.
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What is the result of constant practice of this higher concentration? All old tendencies of restlessness and dullness will be destroyed, as well as the tendencies of goodness too. The case is similar to that of the chemicals used to take the dirt and alloy off gold. When the ore is smelted down, the dross is burnt along with the chemicals. So this constant controlling power will stop the previous bad tendencies, and eventually, the good ones also. Those good and evil tendencies will suppress each other, leaving alone the Soul, in its own splendour untrammelled by either good or bad, the omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Then the man will know that he had neither birth nor death, nor need for heaven or earth. He will know that he neither came nor went, it was nature which was moving, and that movement was reflected upon the soul. The form of the light reflected by the glass upon the wall moves, and the wall foolishly thinks it is moving. So with all of us; it is the Chitta constantly moving making itself into various forms, and we think that we are these various forms. All these delusions will vanish. When that free Soul will comm and not pray or beg, but comm and then whatever It desires will be immediately fulfilled; whatever It wants It will be able to do. According to the Sankhya philosophy, there is no God. It says that there can be no God of this universe, because if there were one, He must be a soul, and a soul must be either bound or free. How can the soul that is bound by nature, or controlled by nature, create? It is itself a slave. On the other hand, why should the Soul that is free create and manipulate all these things? It has no desires, so it cannot have any need to create. Secondly, it says the theory of God is an unnecessary one; nature explains all. What is the use of any God? But Kapila teaches that there are many souls, who, though nearly attaining perfection, fall short because they cannot perfectly renounce all powers. Their minds for a time merge in nature, to re-emerge as its masters. Such gods there are. We shall all become such gods, and, according to the Sankhyas, the God spoken of in the Vedas really means one of these free souls. Beyond them there is not an eternally free and blessed Creator of the universe. On the other hand, the Yogis say, "Not so, there is a God; there is one Soul separate from all other souls, and He is the eternal Master of all creation, the ever free, the Teacher of all teachers." The Yogis admit that those whom the Sankhyas call "the merged in nature" also exist. They are Yogis who have fallen short of perfection, and though, for a time, debarred from attaining the Goal, remain as rulers of parts of the universe.
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1.09 - Saraswati and Her Consorts, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
bring to birth for man the Bliss, Mayas. I have already insisted on the constant relation, as conceived by the Vedic seers, between the Truth and the Bliss or Ananda. It is by the dawning of the true or infinite consciousness in man that he arrives out of this evil dream of pain and suffering, this divided creation into the Bliss, the happy state variously described in Veda by the words bhadram, mayas (love and bliss), svasti (the good state of existence, right being) and by others less technically used such as varyam, rayih., rayah.. For the Vedic Rishi Truth is the passage and the antechamber, the Bliss of the divine existence is the Goal, or else Truth is the foundation, Bliss the supreme result.
Such, then, is the character of Saraswati as a psychological principle, her peculiar function and her relation to her most immediate connections among the gods. How far do these shed any light on her relations as the Vedic river to her six sister streams?
1.09 - The Greater Self, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
But the seeker of the new world has not pursued his quest in a straight line; he has not closed his doors, rejected matter, muffled his soul. He has taken his quest along wherever he went, on the boulevards and on the stairways, in the crowd and in the empty obscurity of millions of senseless gestures. He has pervaded all the wastelands with being, kindled his fire in all the vanities, and fed his need on the very inanity that stifled him. He was not a little one-pointed concentration that rose straight up to the heights and then fell asleep in the white peace of the spirit; he was this chaos and turmoil, this wandering back and forth, in nothing. He pulled all into his net the ups and downs, the blacks and less blacks and so-called whites, the falls and setbacks he held everything within his little circumference, with a fire at the center, a need for truth amid this chaos, a cry for help in this nothingness. He was a tangled course, an endless meandering of which he knew nothing, except that he carried his fire there his fire for nothing, for everything. He no longer even expected anything from anything; he was only like a mellowness of burning, as if that fire were the Goal in itself, the being amid all this emptiness, the only presence in this enormous absence. It even ended up becoming a sort of quiet love, for nothing, for everything, here and there. And little by little, this nothingness was lit up; this emptiness was set afire by his look; this futility stirred with the same little warmth. And everything began to answer. The world came to life everywhere, but infinitesimal, microscopic: a powdering of little truths dancing here and there, in facts and gestures, in things and meetings it even seems as if they came to meet him. It was a strange multiplication, a kind of golden contagion.
Gradually, he entered an all, but, oh, quite an odd all, which had nothing to do with a cosmic or transcendent or dazzling consciousness yet which was like a million little bursts of gold, fleeting, elusive, almost mocking. Perhaps we should say a microscopic consciousness? and warm: a sudden sweetness of recognition, an eruption of gratefulness, an incomprehensible flush of tenderness, as if it were living, vibrating, responding in every corner and every direction. Strangely, when a question arose, or a doubt, or an uncertainty about something or someone, a problem about a course of action, an anxiety about what to do or not to do, it seemed as if the answer came to him as living facts not as an illumination or inspiration, a revelation or thought, nothing of that sort: a material answer in external circumstances, as though the earth itself, like itself, supplied the answer. As if the very circumstances came and took his hand and said, Here, you see? And not great circumstances, not sensational flashes: very little facts, while going from one end of the street to the other. All of a sudden the thing came to him, the person or the encounter, the money, the book, or the unexpected development the living answer. Or, on the contrary, when he was so much hoping for certain news (if he had not yet been cured of the disease of hope), when he was looking forward to some arrangement, a peaceful retreat, a clear-cut solution, he was suddenly engulfed in a still greater chaos, as if everything turned against him people, things, circumstances or he fell ill, met with an accident, opened the door to an old weakness and seemed to be treading the old road of suffering again. Then, two hours or two days or two months after, he realized that that adversity was exactly what was needed, which led, by a circuitous route, to a goal larger than he had foreseen; that that illness had purified his substance, cut him off from a wrong course, and brought him back, lighter, onto the sunlit path; that that fall had exposed old hiding places in himself and clarified his heart; that that unfortunate encounter was a perfection of exactness to bring forth a whole new network of possibilities or impossibilities to overcome; and that everything concurred meticulously to prepare his strength, his breadth, his extreme swiftness, through a thousand and one detours the all prepared him for the all. He then begins to experience a succession of unbelievable little miracles, of strange happenings, bewildering coincidences... as if, really, everything knew, each thing knew what it had to do and went straight to its microscopic goal amidst millions of passersby and trifling events. At first, the seeker does not believe it; he shrugs his shoulders and dismisses it, then he opens one eye, then the other, and doubts his own amazement. It is of such microscopic exactness, such fabulously unbelievable precision in the midst of this gigantic crisscrossing of lives and things and circumstances, that it is simply impossible it is like an explosion of total knowledge embracing in one fell swoop this ant walking down Main Street and the thousands of passersby and all their possible itineraries, all their particular circumstances past, present and future to create this unique conjunction, this incredible perfect little second in which everything accords and agrees, is inevitably, and provides the unique answer to a unique question.
1.09 - To the Students, Young and Old, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo, incarnating the supramental consciousness in a human body, has not only revealed to us the nature of the path to follow and the way to follow it in order to reach the Goal, but has also by his own personal realisation given us the example; he has provided us, so to say, with the proof that the thing can be done and that the time has come to do it.
Consequently, we are not here to repeat what others have done, but to prepare ourselves for the blossoming of a new consciousness and a new life. That is why I address myself to you, the students, that is, to all who wish to learn, to learn always more and always better, so that one day you may be capable of opening yourselves to the new force and of giving it the possibility of manifesting on the physical plane. For that is our programme and we must not forget it. To understand the true reason why you are here, you must remember that we want to become instruments that are as perfect as possible, instruments that express the divine will in the world. And if the instruments are to be perfect, they must be cultivated, educated, trained. They must not be left like fallow land or a formless piece of stone. A diamond reveals all its beauty only when it is artistically cut. It is the same for you. If you want your physical being to be a perfect instrument for the manifestation of the supramental consciousness, you must cultivate it, sharpen it, refine it, give it what it lacks, perfect what it already possesses. That is why you go to school, my children, whether you are big or small, for one can learn at any ageand so you must go to your classes.
1.1.04 - Philosophy, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
It is a good instrument like logic, but like logic it breaks down before it reaches the Goal. Neither ought to be allowed to do more than take us some way and then leave us. Others think that a fine judgment can arrive at the true balance. It does, for a time; but the next generation upsets that fine balancing, consenting to a coarser test or demanding a finer. The religious prefer inspiration, but inspiration is like the lightning, brilliantly illuminating only a given reach of country and leaving the rest in darkness intensified by the sharpness of that light. Vast is our error if we mistake that bit of country for the whole universe.
Is there then no instrument of knowledge that can give us the heart of truth and provide us with the key word of existence?
1.107 - The Bestowal of a Divine Gift, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
The bringing of the effect into the cause means the diverting of the mind from the gross to the subtler phases of this situation that has arisen in the form of the vrittis coming up to the consciousness. It is ultimately a lack of grasp of the idea of the Goal of yoga that brings about this unfortunate circumstance. One cannot keep this grasp always, because who can be in a meditative mood all twenty-four hours? No human being can. That which will save us at the times when we are not meditating is the impression created in the mind by the power of the meditation which we have been practising at other times. If the meditation has been strong, protracted, practised for a long period, the atmosphere that this practice creates in the mind will ward off, to a large extent, the invasion of these vrittis in terms of their satisfaction. Otherwise, who will help us when we are not in a state of meditation? Nobody can guard us all twenty-four hours. How can we keep the police with us wherever we go? Such a thing is impossible. And it is at that time when we are unguarded, which is of course common in anyones life, that these samskaras will come up.
They come up because they have not been given their needs. We have simply told them no for anything that they said. In the beginning, it worked very well because our will was so strong and we were bent upon seeing that they were put down. We did it and we succeeded by the power that we exerted upon them, as a boss would do in respect of a subordinate. But how long will this be tolerated? We have not sublimated them. They cannot be melted. They are sitting there, not dead. They may look like corpses, but they are not corpses; they have life. They are defeated, frustrated and unhappy vrittis which have been struck down by the will of the meditative consciousness.
1.10 - BOOK THE TENTH, #Metamorphoses, #Ovid, #Poetry
Shoot boldly onward, and the Goal is thine.
'Tis doubtful whether shouts, like these, convey'd
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Parch'd was his mouth, nor yet the Goal in view,
And the first apple on the plain he threw.
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The youth the Goal, and so the virgin won.
Might I, Adonis, now not hope to see
1.10 - Concentration - Its Practice, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
Those Samdhis with which we ended our last chapter are very difficult to attain; so we must take them up slowly. The first step, the preliminary step, is called Kriya-yoga. Literally this means work, working towards Yoga. The organs are the horses, the mind is the rein, the intellect is the charioteer, the soul is the rider, and the body is the chariot. The master of the household, the King, the Self of man, is sitting in this chariot. If the horses are very strong and do not obey the rein, if the charioteer, the intellect, does not know how to control the horses, then the chariot will come to grief. But if the organs, the horses, are well controlled, and if the rein, the mind, is well held in the hands of the charioteer, the intellect, the chariot reaches the Goal. What is meant, therefore, by this mortification? Holding the rein firmly while guiding the body and the organs; not letting them do anything they like, but keeping them both under proper control. Study. What is meant by study in this case? No study of novels or story books, but study of those works which teach the liberation of the Soul. Then again this study does not mean controversial studies at all. The Yogi is supposed to have finished his period of controversy. He has had enough of that, and has become satisfied. He only studies to intensify his convictions. Vda and Siddhnta these are the two sorts of scriptural knowledge Vada (the argumentative) and Siddhanta (the decisive). When a man is entirely ignorant he takes up the first of these, the argumentative fighting, and reasoning pro and con; and when he has finished that he takes up the Siddhanta, the decisive, arriving at a conclusion. Simply arriving at this conclusion will not do. It must be intensified. Books are infinite in number, and time is short; therefore the secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it. There is an old Indian legend that if you place a cup of milk and water before a Rja-Hamsa (swan), he will take all the milk and leave the water. In that way we should take what is of value in knowledge, and leave the dross. Intellectual gymnastics are necessary at first. We must not go blindly into anything. The Yogi has passed the argumentative state, and has come to a conclusion, which is, like the rocks, immovable. The only thing he now seeks to do is to intensify that conclusion. Do not argue, he says; if one forces arguments upon you, be silent. Do not answer any argument, but go away calmly, because arguments only disturb the mind. The only thing necessary is to train the intellect, what is the use of disturbing it for nothing? The intellect is but a weak instrument, and can give us only knowledge limited by the senses. The Yogi wants to go beyond the senses, therefore intellect is of no use to him. He is certain of this and, therefore, is silent, and does not argue. Every argument throws his mind out of balance, creates a disturbance in the Chitta, and a disturbance is a drawback. Argumentations and searchings of the reason are only by the way. There are much higher things beyond them. The whole of life is not for schoolboy fights and debating societies. "Surrendering the fruits of work to God" is to take to ourselves neither credit nor blame, but to give up both to the Lord and be at peace.
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According to Yoga philosophy, it is through ignorance that the soul has been joined with nature. The aim is to get rid of nature's control over us. That is the Goal of all religions. Each soul is potentially divine. the Goal is to manifest this Divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy by one or more or all of these and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. The Yogi tries to reach this goal through psychic control. Until we can free ourselves from nature, we are slaves; as she dictates so we must go. The Yogi claims that he who controls mind controls matter also. The internal nature is much higher than the external and much more difficult to grapple with, much more difficult to control. Therefore he who has conquered the internal nature controls the whole universe; it becomes his servant. Raja-Yoga propounds the methods of gaining this control. Forces higher than we know in physical nature will have to be subdued. This body is just the external crust of the mind. They are not two different things; they are just as the oyster and its shell. They are but two aspects of one thing; the internal substance of the oyster takes up matter from outside, and manufactures the shell. In the same way the internal fine forces which are called mind take up gross matter from outside, and from that manufacture this external shell, the body. If, then, we have control of the internal, it is very easy to have control of the external. Then again, these forces are not different. It is not that some forces are physical, and some mental; the physical forces are but the gross manifestations of the fine forces, just as the physical world is but the gross manifestation of the fine world.
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When this knowledge comes; it will come, as it were, in seven grades, one after the other; and when one of these begins, we know that we are getting knowledge. The first to appear will be that we have known what is to be known. The mind will cease to be dissatisfied. While we are aware of thirsting after knowledge, we begin to seek here and there, wherever we think we can get some truth, and failing to find it we become dissatisfied and seek in a fresh direction. All search is vain, until we begin to perceive that knowledge is within ourselves, that no one can help us, that we must help ourselves. When we begin to practise the power of discrimination, the first sign that we are getting near truth will be that that dissatisfied state will vanish. We shall feel quite sure that we have found the truth, and that it cannot be anything else but the truth. Then we may know that the sun is rising, that the morning is breaking for us, and taking courage, we must persevere until the Goal is reached. The second grade will be the absence of all pains. It will be impossible for anything in the universe, external or internal, to give us pain. The third will be the attainment of full knowledge. Omniscience will be ours. The fourth will be the attainment of the end of all duty through discrimination. Next will come what is called freedom of the Chitta. We shall realise that all difficulties and struggles, all vacillations of the mind, have fallen down, just as a stone rolls from the mountain top into the valley and never comes up again. The next will be that the Chitta itself will realise that it melts away into its causes whenever we so desire. Lastly we shall find that we are established in our Self, that we have been alone throughout the universe, neither body nor mind was ever related, much less joined, to us. They were working their own way, and we, through ignorance, joined ourselves to them. But we have been alone, omnipotent, omnipresent, ever blessed; our own Self was so pure and perfect that we required none else. We required none else to make us happy, for we are happiness itself. We shall find that this knowledge does not depend on anything else; throughout the universe there can be nothing that will not become effulgent before our knowledge. This will be the last state, and the Yogi will become peaceful and calm, never to feel any more pain, never to be again deluded, never to be touched by misery. He will know he is ever blessed, ever perfect, almighty.
1.10 - GRACE AND FREE WILL, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
Chinese verbs are tenseless. This statement as to a hypothetical event in history refers at the same time to the present and the future. It means simply this: that with the rise of self-consciousness, animal grace is no longer sufficient for the conduct of life, and must be supplemented by conscious and deliberate choices between right and wrongchoices which have to be made in the light of a clearly formulated ethical code. But, as the Taoist sages are never tired of repeating, codes of ethics and deliberate choices made by the surface will are only a second best. The individualized will and the superficial intelligence are to be used for the purpose of recapturing the old animal relation to Tao, but on a higher, spiritual level. the Goal is perpetual inspiration from sources beyond the personal self; and the means are human kindness and morality, leading to the charity, which is unitive knowledge of Tao, as at once the Ground and Logos.
Lord, Thou has given me my being of such a nature that it can continually make itself more able to receive thy grace and goodness. And this power, which I have of Thee, wherein I have a living image of thine almighty power, is free will. By this I can either enlarge or restrict my capacity for Thy grace.
1.10 - Laughter Of The Gods, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
The old ide fixe that Sri Aurobindo was an anchorite who did not know how to smile or laugh is by now dead. A new fixed notion may swing to the other extreme that he smiled or laughed too much for a yogi. But a sensible estimate, after a reading of his letters, talks and creative works, will confirm the view that his Yoga instead of drying up the fountain of laughter made it flow like the Ganges. For his consciousness grew as vast as the universe; it sounded the uttermost depths and heights of existence. He read the "wonder-book of Common things" as well as the supernal mysteries of God and found the very rasa which is at the root of things. His love and compassion flowed towards all men and creatures like a life-giving ocean. He said in one of his letters: "It is only divine Love which can bear the burden I have to bear, that all have to bear who have sacrificed everything else to the one aim of uplifting earth out of its darkness towards the Divine. The Gallio-like 'Je m'en fiche'-ism (I do not care) would not carry me one step; it would certainly not be divine. It is quite another thing that enables me to walk unweeping and unlamenting towards the Goal." In his own Ashram which is composed, on the one hand, of unlettered villagers and, on the other, of the intellectual lite, with what patience and forbearance, love and sympathy he, like a grand patriarch, guided and led us all towards the Goal! Humour that springs from a heart of sympathy made him smile at our follies and foibles and the numerous eccentricities of our human nature. The readers of Talks with Sri Aurobindo must have observed how Sri Aurobindo threw aside his mantle of gravity and enjoyed with us pure fun and frolic, as if we had been his close playmates. In the preceding chapter we have already touched upon one instance. In the period after the accident to his right leg, when he failed to carry out Dr. Manilal's instructions about hanging the leg, he would exclaim as if out of fear, "Oh, Manilal is coming, I must hang my leg." And one of us, piqued by his fear, would remark, "Sir, you seem to be afraid of Dr. Manilal." When Manilal arrived and enquired about the leg, he replied, "The leg is still hanging."
Yogis and great men there were, who used to joke with their disciples and friends; but it seems to me that there was always a barrier of awe and reverence between them. And though Sri Aurobindo allowed us to forget that and we cut jokes with him on equal terms, the sense of his being our Guru was there.
1.10 - The Image of the Oceans and the Rivers, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The sea of the superconscient is the Goal of the rivers of clarity, of the honeyed wave, as the sea of the subconscient in the heart within is their place of rising. This upper sea is spoken of as the Sindhu, a word which may mean either river or ocean; but in this hymn it clearly means ocean. Let us observe the remarkable language in which Vamadeva speaks of these rivers of the clarity. He says first that the gods sought and found the clarity, the ghr.tam, triply placed and hidden by the Panis in the cow, gavi. It is beyond doubt that go is used in the Veda in the double sense of Cow and Light; the Cow is the outer symbol, the inner meaning is the Light. The figure of the cows stolen and hidden by the Panis is constant in the Veda. Here it is evident that as the sea is a psychological symbol - the heart-ocean, samudre hr.di, - and the Soma is a psychological symbol and the clarified butter is a psychological symbol, the cow in which the gods find the clarified butter hidden by the Panis must also symbolise an inner illumination and not physical light. The cow is really
Aditi, the infinite consciousness hidden in the subconscient, and the triple ghr.tam is the triple clarity of the liberated sensation finding its secret of delight, of the thought-mind attaining to light and intuition and of the truth itself, the ultimate supra-mental vision. This is clear from the second half of the verse in which it is said, "One Indra produced, one Surya, one the gods fashioned by natural development out of Vena"; for Indra is the Master of the thought-mind, Surya of the supra-mental light, Vena is Soma, the master of mental delight of existence, creator of the sense-mind.
1.10 - The Revolutionary Yogi, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
Bande Mataram ("I bow to Mother India"), the first newspaper to publicly advocate the Goal of total independence, which would become a powerful instrument of India's awakening. He founded an Extremist Party and drew up a national action program boycott of British goods, boycott of British courts, boycott of British schools and universities. He became the principal of the first "National College" in Calcutta and created so much commotion that less than a year later a warrant was issued for his arrest. Unfortunately for the British, Sri Aurobindo's articles and speeches were legally unassailable; he neither preached racial hatred, nor even attacked the government of Her Majesty; he simply proclaimed the right of all nations to 111
112
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From another perspective, we might also ask ourselves if the Goal of evolution is really to get out of it, as is believed by the followers of Nirvana and of all the religions that see the beyond as the Goal of our efforts. If we put aside our emotional reasons for our belief or disbelief, and look only at the evolutionary process, we must acknowledge that Nature could easily have arranged that "exit" when we were still at an early mental stage, still living as instinctively intuitive beings, open, malleable. The Vedic age, the Mysteries of ancient Greece, or even the Middle Ages, would have been more appropriate for that "exit" than as we are now. If such was the Goal of evolutionary Nature, and assuming evolution does not proceed haphazardly but according to a Plan, that is the type of man Nature 119
120
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The intellect is an utterly useless outgrowth if the Goal of evolution is merely to get out of it. It appears, however, that Nature worked against that primitive intuition and deliberately covered it with ever thicker mental layers, increasingly complex and universal, and increasingly useless in terms of getting out; we all know how the wonderfully intuitive efflorescence of Upanishadic India at the beginning of this story, or of NeoPlatonic Greece at the beginning of this era, was leveled to be replaced by a human intellect that was inferior and denser, to be sure, but more general. We can only raise the question without trying to answer it. We wonder if the meaning of evolution is to indulge in the luxury of the mind, only to destroy it later and regress to a submental or nonmental religious stage or, on the contrary, to develop the mind to the utmost, 122 as we are being driven to do, until this exhausts its own narrowness and superficial turmoil and rises to its higher, superconscious regions, at a spiritual and supramental level where the Matter-Spirit contradiction will vanish like a mirage, and where we will no longer need to "get out" because we will be everywhere Within.
Nevertheless, It would be wrong to believe that the experience of Nirvana is a false experience, a kind of illusion of the illusion; first,
11.11 - The Ideal Centre, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Once when the Mother was asked by a group of disciples to give permission and blessings for opening a centre, She said in answer: "To open a centre is not sufficient in itself. It must be the pure hearth of perfect sincerity, in a total consecration to the Divine." This is the first motto or mantra that should be inscribed on the tablet of the inner constitution of every group organisation. It states the basic spirit, the true inspiration that should initiate the work and guide it through. The second mantra is embodied in these words of Sri Aurobindo: "Love the Mother: Always behave as if She was looking at you, for indeed She is always present." These are words that should be kept always bright and blazing in the heart of each and every one. It gives the source and origin of the inspiration, the single fount of all movements collective and individual. And a third mantra not less living or less urgent has been given by the Mother: "Let us work as we pray, for indeed work is the body's best prayer to the Divine." Here we learn of the way, the process that is to be followed, the skill as it were, for realising the Goal.
And for a final comprehension and direction we are to remember these words of Sri Aurobindo: "All problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony."
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That is the Goal towards which a dedicated centre, that is to say, a spiritually aspiring group should move and labour. And that also is the primary work, the first and foremost for which the centre stands as the field. And this work can be done and has to be achieved through the discipline enunciated in just the previous, our third mantra the fundamental attitude with which the work has to be done. It is said there that the work, consecrated work or service is the prayer of the body. Mind's prayer is expressed in words, body's prayer in-works. Work is the prayer in its dynamic and concrete form, it is the utterance of the physical, the language it knows in order to ask for and seek the union with the Divine. It is the holy ritual expressing and embodying in the physical, material life, one's adoration, one's adhesion to the ideal, to the deity one worships.
Work or service expressing harmonisation needs to be based, as I have said, upon a higher and higher consciousness. Work done as prayer is the best means of effecting an ascent in consciousness. This is the lesson that each individual of a centre must learn from the very outset and ever afterwards., He must always try to rise in consciousness, reach an ever higher status of being and from there let the work flow, as it were, from a spontaneous spring. As one rises in consciousness and being) naturally and inevitably this consciousness widens and one feels naturally and spontaneously kinship and union with all others. Work or service is then only a dynamic means of achieving and realising the sense of perfect unity of oneself with all other selves.
11.15 - Sri Aurobindo, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
We say, then, supramentalisation of consciousness is the Goal Nature is aiming at and man striving for: it is the next step that earth and man are taking in their evolutionary urge. Man, however, represents a very crucial stagehe is the dividing line between two hemispherestwo modes of consciousness, two types of creation. As I have said, up to man it is a natural spontaneous unreflecting unconscious evolution: with man it is conscious, deliberate, wilful evolution. What was being done behind the veil in ignorance will now be done openly in full knowledge. The very first result will be the shortening of the time factor. The conscious process increases the tempo, telescopes into decades or years a process or development that would take centuries or more otherwise; in man a growth is achieved in one life that would normally need several lives. The other characteristic result is that when the Supermind establishes itself, there is no more ignorance, it is all light and knowledge. Till the mental range, even at its highest heights it is a mixture of light and darkness, of knowledge and ignorance: there is always an element of doubt, uncertainty or partial perception: there is a groping, a trial and one moves at best from greater darkness to lesser shade. With the Supermind all that changes: the Superman lives always in the full daylight, in the zenith consciousness, in the plenitude of knowledge. He moves from light to light, knowledge to knowledge, no longer bound to the division and duality inherent in the present human consciousness. It may be that man may not at a bound reach the peak of the Supermind: for there are lower ranges, voluntary limitations of the Light, less absolute formulations of the perfect being through which man will have to pass for a greater enrichment of his nature and for the establishment of other orders of luminous existence upon earth. Sri Aurobindo has, in this connection, spoken of the Overmind and the Mind of Light. But these too lie beyond the border of mental twilight and are domains of Light, own delegates of Supermind.
It may not be out of place here just to mention a few characters proper to this supramental over-border consciousness. First of all, it is the seat and organon of complete knowledge: knowledge here is not the result of the deductive and inductive process of reason, it does not balance pros and cons and out of uncertain possibilities strike out an average probability: it is direct, straight, immediate, certain and absolute. Knowledge here comes by identity the knower and the known are one and what is known is therefore self-knowledge, Secondly, the will too is not an effort or striving and struggling, but the spontaneous expression of the self-power of the consciousness; willing means achieving, one wills the inevitable truth for, knowledge and will too are one. Thirdly, it is the status of perfect delight, for one has passed beyond the vale of tears and entered the peace that passeth understanding, one has found that Joy is the source of creation and the truth of existence is held in Ecstasy.
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But the supreme secret lies in Vishnu's fourth stride, from humanity to divinity. That is the Goal of the evolution and that furnishes also the key to the solution of the problem. Whether in the matter of the family or the nationality or humanity in general there has been a stalemate, a stagnation, even a frustration; an effort towards progress seemed to lead more towards conflict, disharmony, away from what is beautiful and good and happy. That is bound to be. Man must reach his very highest and deepest, his absolute itself before he can arrive at perfection in the lower and the relative. Man must exceed himself if he is to fulfil himself. A new connotation has to be found for family and nationality and even humanity. That connotation, Sri Aurobindo says, is divinity.
We must understand however that there is divinity and divinity. There is a divinity that suffers, supports and transcends all that is existent. For it is the all-reality, all-consciousness, the ever-present and omnipresent Immutable behind the mutabilities of creation. That does not take part in the cosmic struggle, the universal urge of progress forward. Apart from the divinity that suffers, there is a divinity that shapesand is shaped at the same time, shapes from behind and is shaped itself in front. This dynamic Divine Sri Aurobindo calls the supramental Divine or the incarnate Divine Mother.
1.11 - Oneness, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
Feeling itself one with That, it wants to be as vast as That, as universal as That, and to rediscover its innate Totality. To be and to be fully is Nature's aim in us . . . and to be fully is to be all that is. 150 We need totality because we are the Totality. The ideal that beckons us, the Goal that guides our steps, is not really in front; it does not draw us,
but pushes us; it is behind as well as in front and inside. Evolution is the eternal blossoming of a flower that was always a flower. Without this seed in the depths nothing would move, because nothing would need anything. This is the world's Need this is our eternal being.
1.11 - Powers, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
He attains aloneness, independence, and becomes free. When one gives up even the ideas of omnipotence and omniscience, there comes entire rejection of enjoyment, of the temptations from celestial beings. When the Yogi has seen all these wonderful powers, and rejected them, he reaches the Goal. What are all these powers? Simply manifestations. They are no better than dreams. Even omnipotence is a dream. It depends on the mind. So long as there is a mind it can be understood, but the Goal is beyond even the mind.
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There are other dangers too; gods and other beings come to tempt the Yogi. They do not want anyone to be perfectly free. They are jealous, just as we are, and worse than us sometimes. They are very much afraid of losing their places. Those Yogis who do not reach perfection die and become gods; leaving the direct road they go into one of the side streets, and get these powers. Then, again, they have to be born. But he who is strong enough to withstand these temptations and go straight to the Goal, becomes free.
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1.11 - The Second Genesis, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
That which leads most philosophies to recoil from the recognition of the egoism of desire as the one sufficient reason for the existence of the worlds, is the progress which the being has made from the point of its origin. The evolution of consciousness has long ago brought into sight the Goal of the first impulsion. The being by the progressive elevation of his desire has, so to speak, put far from him his own origin. As it grows and bears fairer flowers and better fruits, the tree of Life has plunged its roots also more deeply towards the Unknown Divine. And because Love has to-day become a possible conscious reason for mans actions and seems as if it were the final cause of the worlds, it is in Love that the religions think to find its first efficient cause. Thus they have provided themselves with reasons which otherwise they would not have had for their adoration of the creative act.
But it is not in the beginning of things, it is before the beginning and outside of it, in the secret being of the Eternal that we can place what appears here only in the end. The birth to Love was for the being and is even to-day not its first but its second birth; its principle was foreign to the first act of creation, foreign at least for our distinctive categories; for in the Absolute all is one and it is by reason of that unity that in the relative the manifestation of any principle conditions that of all the rest and makes them enter into the becoming. Desire by affirming itself egoistically obliges Love to participate in its creations. And in this obligation upon Love to manifest we find the pre-creative justification of the beings coming into existence.
1.11 - The Seven Rivers, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Indra with the Vasus is intoxicated with ecstasy, may we who seek the Godhead taste today. Strained through the hundred purifiers, ecstatic by their self-nature, they are divine and move to the Goal of the movement of the Gods (the supreme ocean); they limit not the workings of Indra: offer to the rivers a food of oblation full of the clarity (ghr.tavat). May the rivers which the sun has formed by his rays, from whom Indra clove out a moving wave, establish for us the supreme good. And do ye, O gods, protect us ever by states of felicity."
Here we have Vamadeva's madhuman urmih., the sweet intoxicating wave, and it is plainly said that this honey, this sweetness is the Soma, the drink of Indra. That is farther made clear by the epithet satapavitrah. which can only refer in the
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What can these rivers be whose wave is full of Soma wine, full of the ghr.ta, full of urj, the energy? What are these waters that flow to the Goal of the gods' movement, that establish for man the supreme good? Not the rivers of the Punjab; no wildest assumption of barbarous confusion or insane incoherence in the mentality of the Vedic Rishis can induce us to put such a
The Seven Rivers
1.1.2 - Commentary, #Kena and Other Upanishads, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
which it wishes to travel to the Goal of its desire. Therefore it is
described in this Upanishad as yoked and moving forward and
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described the path up to the Goal in its experience and achieved
under the same conditions the Work and the Sacrifice.
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But is then a complete oblivion of the external the Goal?
Must the mind and senses recede inward and fall into an unending trance and the life be for ever stilled? This is possible, if the
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existence which the Upanishads declare to be the Goal of man
and by which we pass out of the mortal state into the heaven of
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conclusion of other Vedantic systems, which considered the Goal
to be the eternal joy of the soul in a Brahmaloka or world of the
1.12 - Independence, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
The Yogis claim that these powers can be gained by chemical means. All of you know that chemistry originally began as alchemy; men went in search of the philosopher's stone and elixirs of life, and so forth. In India there was a sect called the Rsyanas. Their idea was that ideality, knowledge, spirituality, and religion were all very right, but that the body was the only instrument by which to attain to all these. If the body came to an end every now and again, it would take so much more time to attain to the Goal. For instance, a man wants to practice Yoga, or wants to become spiritual. Before he has advanced very far he dies. Then he takes another body and begins again, then dies, and so on. In this way much time will be lost in dying and being born again. If the body could be made strong and perfect, so that it would get rid of birth and death, we should have so much more time to become spiritual. So these Rasayanas say, first make the body very strong. They claim that this body can be made immortal. Their idea is that if the mind manufactures the body, and if it be true that each mind is only one outlet to the infinite energy, there should be no limit to each outlet getting any amount of power from outside. Why is it impossible to keep our bodies all the time? We have to manufacture all the bodies that we ever have. As soon as this body dies, we shall have to manufacture another. If we can do that, why cannot we do it just here and now, without getting out of the present body? The theory is perfectly correct. If it is possible that we live after death, and make other bodies, why is it impossible that we should have the power of making bodies here, without entirely dissolving this body, simply changing it continually? They also thought that in mercury and in sulphur was hidden the most wonderful power, and that by certain preparations of these a man could keep the body as long as he liked. Others believed that certain drugs could bring powers, such as flying through the air. Many of the most wonderful medicines of the present day we owe to the Rasayanas, notably the use of metals in medicine. Certain sects of Yogis claim that many of their principal teachers are still living in their old bodies. Patanjali, the great authority on Yoga, does not deny this.
The power of words. There are certain sacred words called Mantras, which have power, when repeated under proper conditions, produce these extraordinary powers. We are living in the midst of such a mass of miracles, day and night, that we do not think anything of them. There is no limit to man's power, the power of words and the power of mind.
1.12 - Sleep and Dreams, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In the third the train is, as always, an image of the way and the journey towards the Goal. The sets of people are the various groups (secret societies etc.) that have been formed for this purpose. The one you were supposed to join was the society to which you became attached composed of the boys who were with you at your first school; the image is clear, but an association which you did not feel to be definitive.
Both of these dreams (are they only dreams?) are of a quality far superior to the former ones.
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What appears to me most clear is how pointedly this dream shows the lack of any true ground for the apprehension you felt while swimming (the fear of not being able to reach the Goal).
For the protection showered from the shore to be reached brings you there even when in appearance conditions or circumstances seem to be driving you away from it.
1.12 - The Significance of Sacrifice, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
This elaborate explanation of the Yajna sets out with a vast and comprehensive definition in which it is declared that the act and energy and materials of the sacrifice, the giver and receiver of the sacrifice, the Goal and object of the sacrifice are all the one Brahman. "Brahman is the giving, Brahman is the food-offering, by Brahman it is offered into the Brahman-fire,
Brahman is that which is to be attained by samadhi in Brahmanaction." This then is the knowledge in which the liberated man has to do works of sacrifice. It is the knowledge declared of old in the great Vedantic utterances, "I am He", "All this verily is the Brahman, Brahman is this Self." It is the knowledge of the entire unity; it is the One manifest as the doer and the deed and the object of works, knower and knowledge and the object of knowledge. The universal energy into which the action is poured is the Divine; the consecrated energy of the giving is the Divine; whatever is offered is only some form of the Divine; the giver of the offering is the Divine himself in man; the action, the work, the sacrifice is itself the Divine in movement, in activity; the Goal to be reached by sacrifice is the Divine. For the man who has this knowledge and lives and acts in it, there can be no binding works, no personal and egoistically appropriated action; there is only the divine Purusha acting by the divine Prakriti in His own being, offering everything into the fire of His self-conscious cosmic energy, while the knowledge and the possession of His divine existence and consciousness by the soul unified with Him is the Goal of all this God-directed movement and activity. To know that and to live and act in this unifying consciousness is to be free.
The Significance of Sacrifice
1.12 - The Superconscient, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
Therefore, instead of swooning on top (or what he feels as the top), and assuming his ecstasy to be a sign of progress, the seeker must understand that it is a sign of unconsciousness and strive to uncover the actual life hidden beneath his bedazzlement: Strive to develop your inner individuality, said the Mother, and you will become able to enter those same regions fully conscious, to have the joy of communion with the highest regions without losing consciousness and returning with a zero instead of an experience. 180 And Sri Aurobindo insisted: It is in the waking state that this realization must come and endure in order to be a reality of life. . . . Experience and trance have their utility for opening the being and preparing it, but it is only when the realization is constant in the waking state that it is truly possessed.181 the Goal we are seeking is a state of integral mastery, not that of spiritual escapism, and that mastery is possible only in a continuity of consciousness. When we fall into ecstasy, we lose the "someone" who could be the bridge between the powers above and the powerlessness below.
After breaking through the carapace at the top of the head in Alipore jail, Sri Aurobindo began methodically to explore the planes of consciousness above the ordinary mind, just as in Baroda he had explored the planes of consciousness below. He resumed where he had left off the ascent of the great ladder of consciousness, which extends without gap or ecstatic interlude from Matter to that unknown point where he would truly discover something new. For the highest truth, the integral self-knowledge is not to be gained by this selfblinded leap into the Absolute but by a patient transit beyond the mind.182
1.13 - Under the Auspices of the Gods, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
Whether one takes the mystic path or the slower path of the poet, the artist, or all the great creators, ultimately the consciousness seems to vanish at a white frontier, and everything is canceled out. The "someone" who could serve as a bridge disappears, all pulsations die out, all vibrations cease in a frost of light. Sooner or later, the human dissolves into a Nonhuman, as if the Goal of this whole evolutionary ascent were only to leave the human smallness and return to the Source, which logically we never should have left in the first place. Even assuming there were some unknown gradation of consciousness beyond the overmind, would it not be a more rarefied,
more evanescent gradation? One climbs higher and higher, more and more divinely, but farther and farther away from the earth. The individual may be transfigured, but the world remains as it is. What,
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If we look at the evolutionary future from an individual standpoint instead of a collective one, the overmind does not bring us, either, the living fulfillment to which we aspire. If the Goal of evolution is merely to produce more Beethovens and Shelleys, and perhaps even a few super Platos, one cannot help thinking that this is really a paltry culmination for so many millions of years and so many billions of individuals expended along the way. Beethoven or Shelley, or even St.
John, cannot be evolutionary goals, or else life has no true meaning
1.14 - INSTRUCTION TO VAISHNAVS AND BRHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"At the beginning of spiritual life the devotee should observe such rites as pilgrimage, putting a string of beads around his neck, and so forth. But outward ceremonies gradually drop off as he attains the Goal, the vision of God. Then his only activity is the repetition of God's name, and contemplation and meditation on Him.
"The pennies equivalent to sixteen rupees make a great heap. But sixteen silver coins do not look like such a big amount. Again, the quantity becomes much smaller when you change the sixteen rupees into one gold mohur. And if you change the gold into a tiny piece of diamond, people hardly notice it."
Orthodox Vaishnavas insist on the outer insignia of religion. They criticize any devotee who does not wear these marks. Was that why the Master said that, after the vision of God, a devotee becomes indifferent to outer marks, giving up formal worship when the Goal of spiritual life is attained?
MASTER (to Balarm's father): "The Kartabhajas group the devotees into four classes: the pravartaka, the sadhaka, the siddha, and the siddha of the siddha. The pravartaka, the beginner, puts the mark of his religion on his forehead, wears a string of beads around his neck, and observes other outer conventions. The sadhaka, the struggling devotee, does not care so much for elaborate rites. An example of this class is the Baul. The siddha, the perfect, firmly believes that God exists. The siddha of the siddha, the supremely perfect, like Chaitanya, not only has realized God but also has become intimate with Him and talks with Him all the time. This is the last limit of realization.
1.14 - The Principle of Divine Works, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Purushottama, seen here as the incarnate Narayana, Krishna, is therefore the key. Without it the withdrawal from the lower nature to the Brahmic condition leads necessarily to inaction of the liberated man, his indifference to the works of the world; with it the same withdrawal becomes a step by which the works of the world are taken up in the spirit, with the nature and in the freedom of the Divine. See the silent Brahman as the Goal and the world with all its activities has to be forsaken; see God, the Divine, the Purushottama as the Goal, superior to action yet its inner spiritual cause and object and original will, and the world with all its activities is conquered and possessed in a divine transcendence of the world. It can become instead of a prison-house an opulent kingdom, rajyam samr.ddham, which we have conquered for the spiritual life by slaying the limitation of the tyrant ego and overcoming the bondage of our gaoler desires and breaking the prison of our individualistic possession and enjoyment. The liberated universalised soul becomes svarat. samrat., self-ruler and emperor.
The works of sacrifice are thus vindicated as a means of liberation and absolute spiritual perfection, samsiddhi. So
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Divine, am the rule and the standard; it is I who make the path in which men tread; I am the way and the Goal. But I do all this largely, universally, visibly in part, but far more invisibly; and men do not really know the way of my workings. Thou, when thou knowest and seest, when thou hast become the divinised man, must be the individual power of God, the human yet divine example, even as I am in my avatars. Most men dwell in the ignorance, the God-seer dwells in the knowledge; but let him not confuse the minds of men by a dangerous example, rejecting in his superiority the works of the world; let him not cut short the thread of action before it is spun out, let him not perplex and falsify the stages and gradations of the ways I have hewn. The whole range of human action has been decreed by me with a view to the progress of man from the lower to the higher nature, from the apparent undivine to the conscious Divine. The whole range of human works must be that in which the God-knower shall move. All individual, all social action, all the works of the intellect, the heart and the body are still his, not any longer for his own separate sake, but for the sake of God in the world, of
God in all beings and that all those beings may move forward, as he has moved, by the path of works towards the discovery of the Divine in themselves. Outwardly his actions may not seem to differ essentially from theirs; battle and rule as well as teaching and thought, all the various commerce of man with man may fall in his range; but the spirit in which he does them must be very different, and it is that spirit which by its influence shall be the great attraction drawing men upwards to his own level, the great lever lifting the mass of men higher in their ascent."
1.14 - The Secret, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
True, one can reach spiritual heavens without even knowing these squalid places, except by accident. But there are different kinds of heavens, just as there are different kinds of hells (each level of our being has its own "heaven" and "hell"). Generally, the religious man leaves behind the individual self, thereby leaving behind the subconscient. He merely has to pass through one gate, with "guardians" unpleasant enough to account for all the "nights" and "temptations" mentioned in the lives of saints. But there is only one gate to pass through. Similarly, the heaven he aspires to means leaving the outer existence and plunging into ecstasy. As we have said, though, the Goal of this yoga is not to lose consciousness, any more below than above, and in particular not to close our eyes to the conditions below. The integral seeker is meant neither for total darkness nor for blinding light. Everywhere he goes, he must see. This is the foremost condition of mastery. Indeed, we do not seek to move on to a better existence but to transform this one.
Just as there are several gradations in the superconscient, there are also several layers or worlds in the subconscient, several "dark caves," as the Rig Veda calls them. In fact, there is a subconscient behind each level of our being a mental subconscient, a vital subconscient, and a physical subconscient, opening onto the material Inconscient. 222
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Not only is there a law of ascent and descent, but there is also, it seems, a kind of central contradiction. We all have a goal in this life and through all our lives, something unique to express, since every human being is unique; this is our central truth, our own special evolutionary struggle. This goal appears only gradually, after numerous experiences and successive awakenings, as we begin to be a person with an inner development; we then realize that a kind of thread runs through our life, as well as through all our lives (if we have become conscious of them), indicating a particular orientation, as if everything always propelled us in the same direction a direction that becomes increasingly poignant and precise as we advance. Yet as we become conscious of this goal, we also uncover a particular difficulty that seems to represent the very opposite or contradiction of our goal. It is a strange situation, as if we carried within us the exact shadow of our light a shadow or difficulty or problem that confronts us again and again with a baffling insistence, always the same beneath different masks and in the most diverse circumstances, returning with increasing strength after every battle won and in exact proportion to our new intensity of consciousness as if we had to fight the same battle over and over again on each newly conquered plane of consciousness. The clearer the Goal becomes, the stronger the shadow.
Now we have met the Foe:
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Sri Aurobindo also calls it the Evil Persona. Sometimes, we can even negatively guess what our goal must be, before understanding it positively, through the sheer repetition of the same difficult circumstances or the same failures that seem to point to a single direction, as if we were forever revolving in an oppressive circle, drawing nearer and nearer to a central point that is both the Goal and the opposite of the Goal. A person greatly endowed for the work, Sri Aurobindo wrote, has always or almost always, perhaps one ought not to make a too rigid universal rule about these things a being attached to him, sometimes appearing like a part of him, which is just the contradiction of the thing he centrally represents in the work to be done. Or if it is not there at first, not bound to his personality, a force of this kind enters into his environment as soon as he begins his movement to realize. Its business seems to be to oppose, to create stumblings and wrong conditions, in a word, to set before him the whole problem of the work he has started to do. It would seem that the problem could not, in the occult economy of things, be solved otherwise than by the predestined instrument making the difficulty his own. That would explain many things that seem very disconcerting on the surface.232 In her talks to the disciples, Mother stressed the same phenomenon: If you represent a possibility of victory, you always have in you the opposite of this victory, which is your constant torment. When you see a very black shadow somewhere in you, something truly painful, you can be sure that you also have the corresponding possibility of light. And she added: You have a special goal, a special mission, your own particular realization, and you carry within yourself all the obstacles needed to make this realization perfect. Always you will find that shadow and light go together in you: you have a capacity, you have also the negation of that capacity. And if you discover a very dense and deep-rooted shadow in you, you can be certain there is also a great light somewhere. It is up to you to use the one in order to realize the other.
Life's secret may have eluded us simply because of our imperfect grasp of this dual law of light and darkness and of the enigma of our double nature animal and divine. Trained in a Manichaean conception of existence, we have seen in it, as our ethics and religions have taught us, a relentless struggle between Good and Evil, Truth and Falsehood, in which is was important to be on the good side, on the right hand of the Lord. We have cut everything in two: God's kingdom and the Devil's, the lower life in this world and the true life in heaven.
We had tried to do away with the opposite of the Goal, but have at the same time done away with the Goal itself. For the Goal is not to be amputated, either from the bottom or from the top. As long as we reject one for the other, we will fail miserably and miss the Goal of existence. Everything is one: if we remove anything, everything falls apart. How could we possibly remove "evil" without blowing up the whole world? If a single man were to free himself from "evil," then the world would utterly disintegrate, because all is one. There is one single substance in the world, not two, not a good one and an evil one.
One can neither remove nor add anything. This is why, also, no miracle can save the world. The miracle is already in the world, all possible lights are already in the world, all imaginable heavens are already here; any foreign element would upset the whole. All is right here. We are right in the middle of the miracle, only we are missing the key to it. Perhaps there is nothing for us to remove or to add, not even "something else" to discover, but the same thing, only perceived differently.
If we want to find the Goal, we must set aside our Manichaeism and come to a realistic appreciation of what Sri Aurobindo called "the dark half of truth."233 Human knowledge, he wrote, throws a shadow that conceals half the globe of truth from its own sunlight. . . . The rejection of falsehood by the mind seeking utter truth is one of the chief causes why mind cannot attain to the settled, rounded and perfect truth.234 If we eliminate everything that is wrong and God knows this world is full of mistakes and impurities we may well arrive at some truth, but it will be an empty truth. The practical approach to the Secret is, first of all, to realize, and then to see that each thing in this world, even the most grotesque or far-wandering error,235 contains a spark of truth beneath its mask, because everything here is God advancing toward Himself; there is nothing outside Him.
For error is really a half truth that stumbles because of its limitations; often it is Truth that wears a disguise in order to arrive unobserved near to its goal.236 If a single thing in this world were totally wrong, the whole world would be totally wrong. Thus, if the seeker sets out with this premise a positive premise and ascends step by step, each time accepting to take the corresponding step downward in order to free the same light237 hidden under every mask, in every element, even in the darkest mud, the most grotesque mistake or sordid evil, he will gradually see everything becoming clearer before his eyes, not only in theory but tangibly, and he will discover not only summits but abysses of Truth.238 He will realize that his Foe was a most diligent helper, most concerned with ensuring the perfect effectiveness of his realization, first, because each battle has increased his strength, and then because each fall has compelled him to free the truth below instead of escaping alone to empty summits. Ultimately, he will understand that his particular burden was the very burden of our Mother the Earth, also striving toward her share of light. The Princes of Darkness are already saved! They are at work, the scrupulous exactors of an all-inclusive Truth, rather than a truth that excludes everything:
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Then, one day in 1910, at Chandernagore, a strange thing happened. . . . But before describing the experience that would change the course of our evolution, let us stop to take stock and briefly review the present human condition. It is really quite simple: we are stuck in Matter, imprisoned in the Black Egg that constrains us on all sides every second of the day. There are not a hundred ways of getting out of it, but only two: one is to fall asleep (to dream, to fly into ecstasy, or to meditate, but all are more or less lofty, conscious or divine gradations of sleep), and the other is to die. Sri Aurobindo's experience, however, provides a third possibility, allowing us to get out without flying into ecstasy or dying that is, to get out without actually getting out thereby reversing the course of man's spiritual evolution, since the Goal is no longer only above or outside, but inside; and, in addition, opening the door of waking life to all the dreams, all the ecstasies, and especially to all the powers that can help us incarnate our dreams and transform the Black Egg into an open, clear and livable place. That day of 1910, in Chandernagore, Sri Aurobindo had reached the very depths, had broken through all the squalid layers upon which Life has grown like an inexplicable flower. There was only that Light above shining more and more intensely as he went down, bringing out all the impurities one after another under its keen ray, as if all that night were drawing in an ever greater amount of Light, as if the subconscious boundaries were receding farther and farther downward in an ever greater concentration the mirror image of the concentration above and leaving just that one wall of Shadow beneath that one Light. Then, suddenly, without warning, in the depths of this "unconscious" Matter and in the very cells of this body, Sri Aurobindo was thrust into the supreme Light, without trance, without loss of individuality, without cosmic dissolution, and with his eyes wide open:
He broke into another Space and Time.245
1.15 - The Transformed Being, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
One day he will emerge, the Master of the long journey of fire, the Goal of all those sufferings, the epitome of the ages. And the whole earth will be changed by it, seized by its irresistible ray of joy and beauty, won over to the smile by a smile. And all the shadows will be dispelled, as though they had never existed.
One man's perfection still can save the world.53
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We have forgotten that little note, the simple note that fills hearts and fills everything, as if the world were suddenly bemisted in orange tenderness, vast and profound as a fathomless love, so old, so old it seems to embrace the ages, to well up from the depths of time, from the depths of sorrow, all the sorrows of the earth and all its nights, its wanderings, its millions of painful paths life after life, its millions of departed faces, its extinct and annihilated loves, which suddenly come back to seize us again amid that orange explosion as if we had been all those pains and faces and beings on the millions of paths of the earth, and all their songs of hope and despair, all their lost and departed loves, all their never-extinguished music in that one little golden note which bursts out for a second on the wild foam and fills everything with an indescribable orange communion, a total comprehension, a music of triumphant sweetness behind the pain and chaos, an overflowing instantaneousness, as if we were in the Goal forever.
We have reached the shore.
1.16 - The Suprarational Ultimate of Life, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Up to a certain point this recoil has its uses and may easily even, by tapasy, by the law of energy increasing through compression, develop for a time a new vigour in the life of the society, as happened in India in the early Buddhist centuries. But beyond a certain point it tends, not really to kill, for that is impossible, but to discourage along with the vital instincts the indispensable life-energy of which they are the play and renders them in the end inert, feeble, narrow, unelastic, incapable of energetic reaction to force and circumstance. That was the final result in India of the agelong pressure of Buddhism and its supplanter and successor, Illusionism. No society wholly or too persistently and pervadingly dominated by this denial of the life dynamism can flourish and put forth its possibilities of growth and perfection. For from dynamic it becomes static and from the static position it proceeds to stagnation and degeneration. Even the higher being of man, which finds its account in a vigorous life dynamism, both as a fund of force to be transmuted into its own loftier energies and as a potent channel of connection with the outer life, suffers in the end by this failure and contraction. The ancient Indian ideal recognised this truth and divided life into four essential and indispensable divisions, artha, kma, dharma, moka, vital interests, satisfaction of desires of all kinds, ethics and religion, and liberation or spirituality, and it insisted on the practice and development of all. Still it tended not only to put the last forward as the Goal of all the rest, which it is, but to put it at the end of life and its habitat in another world of our being, rather than here in life as a supreme status and formative power on the physical plane. But this rules out the idea of the kingdom of God on earth, the perfectibility of society and of man in society, the evolution of a new and diviner race, and without one or other of these no universal ideal can be complete. It provides a temporary and occasional, but not an inherent justification for life; it holds out no illumining fulfilment either for its individual or its collective impulse.
Let us then look at this vital instinct and life dynamism in its own being and not merely as an occasion for ethical or religious development and see whether it is really rebellious in its very nature to the Divine. We can see at once that what we have described is the first stage of the vital being, the infrarational, the instinctive; this is the crude character of its first native development and persists even when it is trained by the growing application to it of the enlightening reason. Evidently it is in this natural form a thing of the earth, gross, earthy, full even of hideous uglinesses and brute blunders and jarring discords; but so also is the infrarational stage in ethics, in aesthetics, in religion. It is true too that it presents a much more enormous difficulty than these others, more fundamentally and obstinately resists elevation, because it is the very province of the infrarational, a first formulation of consciousness out of the Inconscient, nearest to it in the scale of being. But still it has too, properly looked at, its rich elements of power, beauty, nobility, good, sacrifice, worship, divinity; here too are highreaching gods, masked but still resplendent. Until recently, and even now, reason, in the garb no longer of philosophy, but of science, has increasingly proposed to take up all this physical and vital life and perfect it by the sole power of rationalism, by a knowledge of the laws of Nature, of sociology and physiology and biology and health, by collectivism, by State education, by a new psychological education and a number of other kindred means. All this is well in its own way and in its limits, but it is not enough and can never come to a truly satisfying success. The ancient attempt of reason in the form of a high idealistic, rational, aesthetic, ethical and religious culture achieved only an imperfect discipline of the vital man and his instincts, sometimes only a polishing, a gloss, a clothing and mannerising of the original uncouth savage. The modern attempt of reason in the form of a broad and thorough rational, utilitarian and efficient instruction and organisation of man and his life is not succeeding any better for all its insistent but always illusory promise of more perfect results in the future. These endeavours cannot indeed be truly successful if our theory of life is right and if this great mass of vital energism contains in itself the imprisoned suprarational, if it has, as it then must have, the instinctive reaching out for something divine, absolute and infinite which is concealed in its blind strivings. Here too reason must be overpassed or surpass itself and become a passage to the Divine.
1.17 - Astral Journey Example, How to do it, How to Verify your Experience, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
The unusual word "unassuaged" is very interesting. People generally suppose that "will" is the slave of purpose, that you cannot will a thing properly unless you are aiming at a definite goal. But this is not the case. Thinking of the Goal actually serves to distract the mind. In these few words is included the whole method without all the bombastic piety of the servile doctrine of mysticism about the surrender of the Will. Nor is this idea of surrender actually correct; the will must be identified with the Divine Will, so-called. One wants to become like a mighty flowing river, which is not consciously aiming at the sea, and is certainly not yielding to any external influence. It is acting in conformity with the law of its own nature, with the Tao. One can describe it, if necessary, as "passive love"; but it is love (in effect) raised to its highest potential. We come back to the same thing: when passion is purged of any "lust of result" it is irresistible; it has become "Law." I can never understand why it is that mystics fail to see that their smarmy doctrine of surrender actually insists upon the duality which they have set out to abolish!
I certainly have no intention of "holding you down" to "a narrow path of work" or any path. All I can do is to help you to understand clearly the laws of your own nature, so that you may go ahead without extraneous influence. It does not follow that a plan that I have found successful in my own case will be any use to you. That is another cardinal mistake of most teachers. One must have become a Master of the Temple to annihilate one's ego. Most teachers, consciously or unconsciously, try to get others to follow in their steps. I might as well dress you up in my castoff clothing! (In the steps of the Master. At the feet of the Master. Steward!)
1.17 - M. AT DAKSHINEWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
MASTER: "Yes, that is true. Your ideal is to reach the Goal. You may reach it by going either through a thorny forest or along a good road.
"Diverse opinions certainly exist. Nangta used to say that the monks could not be feasted because of the diversity of their views. Once a feast was arranged for the sannyasis. Monks belonging to many sects were invited. Everyone claimed that his sect should be fed first, but no conclusion could be arrived at. At last they all went away and the food had to be given to the prostitutes."
1.17 - SUFFERING, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
THE Godhead is impassible; for where there is perfection and unity, there can be no suffering. The capacity to suffer arises where there is imperfection, disunity and separation from an embracing totality; and the capacity is actualized to the extent that imperfection, disunity and separateness are accompanied by an urge towards the intensification of these creaturely conditions. For the individual who achieves unity within his own organism and union with the divine Ground, there is an end of suffering. the Goal of creation is the return of all sentient beings out of separateness and that infatuating urge-to-separateness which results in suffering, through unitive knowledge, into the wholeness of eternal Reality.
The elements which make up man produce a capacity for pain.
1.17 - The Seven-Headed Thought, Swar and the Dashagwas, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Path and the Goal. We must see how this complication affects our theory of the Vedic creed and the Vedic symbolism.
The Angiras Rishis are ordinarily described as seven in number: they are sapta viprah., the seven sages who have come down to us in the Puranic tradition1 and are enthroned by
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Dawn, the dark physical and the illumined mental consciousness that they new-born (punarbhuva) about heaven and earth move into each other with their own proper movements, svebhir evaih. . . . carato anyanya (cf. Gritsamada's ayatanta carato anyad anyad, ayatanta bearing the same sense as svebhir evaih., i.e. spontaneously), in the eternal friendship that is worked out by the high achievement of their son who thus upholds them, sanemi sakhyam svapasyamanah., sunur dadhara savasa sudamsah.. In Gritsamada's hymn as in Nodha's the Angirases attain to Swar, - the Truth from which they originally came, the "own home" of all divine Purushas, - by the attainment of the truth and by the detection of the falsehood. "They who travel towards the Goal and attain that treasure of the Panis, the supreme treasure hidden in the secret cave, they, having the knowledge and perceiving the falsehoods, rise up again thither whence they came and enter into that world. Possessed of the truth, beholding the falsehoods they, seers, rise up again into the great path," mahas pathah., the path of the Truth, or the great and wide realm, Mahas of the Upanishads.
We begin now to unravel the knot of this Vedic imagery.
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The legend of the Angirases takes up and combines all these three essential features of the Vedic imagery. The Angirases are pilgrims of the light. The phrase naks.antah. or abhinaks.antah. is constantly used to describe their characteristic action. They are those who travel towards the Goal and attain to the highest, abhinaks.anto abhi ye tam anasur nidhim paramam, "they who travel to and attain that supreme treasure" (II.24.6). Their action is invoked for carrying forward the life of man farther towards its goal, sahasrasave pra tiranta ayuh. (III.53.7). But this journey, if principally of the nature of a quest, the quest of the hidden light, becomes also by the opposition of the powers of darkness an expedition and a battle. The Angirases are heroes and fighters of that battle, gos.u yodhah., "fighters for the cows or rays".
Indra marches with them saran.yubhih., as travellers on the path, sakhibhih., comrades, r.kvabhih. and kavibhih., seers and singers of the sacred chant, but also satvabhih., fighters in the battle.
They are frequently spoken of by the appellation nr. or vra, as when Indra is said to win the luminous herds asmakebhih. nr.bhih., "by our men". Streng thened by them he conquers in the journey and reaches the Goal, naks.ad-dabham taturim. This journey or march proceeds along the path discovered by Sarama, the hound of heaven, the path of the Truth, r.tasya panthah., the great path, mahas pathah., which leads to the realms of the Truth.
It is also the sacrificial journey; for its stages correspond to the
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It is when enriched in light and force of thought by the Angirases that Indra completes his victorious journey and reaches the Goal on the mountain; "In him our primal fathers, the seven seers, the Navagwas, increase their plenty, him victorious on his march and breaking through (to the Goal), standing on the mountain, inviolate in speech, most luminous-forceful by his thinkings," naks.ad-dabham taturim parvates.t.ham, adroghavacam matibhih. savis.t.ham (VI.22.2). It is by singing the Rik, the hymn of illumination, that they find the solar illuminations in the cave of our being, arcanto7 ga avindan (I.62.2). It is by the stubh, the all-supporting rhythm of the hymn of the seven seers, by the vibrating voice of the Navagwas that Indra becomes full of the power of Swar, svaren.a svaryah. and by the cry of the Dashagwas that he rends Vala in pieces (I.62.4). For this cry is the voice of the higher heaven, the thunder that cries in the lightning-flash of Indra, and the advance of the Angirases on their path is the forward movement of this cry of the heavens, pra brahman.o angiraso naks.anta, pra krandanur nabhanyasya vetu (VII.42.1); for we are told that the voice of Brihaspati the Angirasa discovering the Sun and the Dawn and the Cow and the light of the Word is the thunder of Heaven, br.haspatir us.asam suryam gam, arkam viveda stanayann iva dyauh. (X.67.5). It is by the satya mantra, the true thought expressed in the rhythm of the truth, that the hidden light is found and the Dawn brought to birth, gud.ham jyotih. pitaro anvavindan, satyamantra ajanayann us.asam (VII.76.4). For these are the Angirases who speak aright, ittha vadadbhih. angirobhih. (VI.18.5), masters of the Rik who place perfectly their thought, svadhbhir r.kvabhih. (VI.32.2); they are the sons of heaven, heroes of the Mighty Lord who speak the truth and think the straightness and therefore they are able to hold the seat of illumined knowledge, to mentalise the supreme abode of the sacrifice, r.tam samsanta r.ju ddhyana, divas putraso asurasya vrah.; vipram padam angiraso dadhana, yajnasya dhama prathamam mananta (X.67.2).
Arcati (r.c) in the Veda means to shine and to sing the Rik; arka means sun, light and the Vedic hymn.
1.17 - The Transformation, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
Future Prospects What will this new race be like? To understand the Goal is already a 340
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without patiently waiting for the rest of creation, that is, if you achieve alone something very close to the Truth as compared to the present state of the world what will happen? The whole is thrown off balance; not only the harmony but the equilibrium of the whole will be upset, because a certain part of the creation will not be able to follow. And instead of a full realization of the Divine, you will have a small, local, infinitesimal realization, and nothing of the Goal will be achieved. Moreover, emphasized the Mother, if you want to do the work in a solitary way, you absolutely cannot do it in a total way,
because every physical being, however complete he may be, even if he is of an altogether superior nature, even if he was made for an altogether special Work, is only partial and limited. He embodies only one truth, one law in the world it may be a very complex law, but it is still only one law and the full transformation cannot be realized through him alone, through one body. . . . Alone, you can attain your own perfection, become infinite and perfect in your consciousness.
1.18 - The Human Fathers, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
have conquered immortality by the work, have attained the Goal and are invoked to assist a later mortal race in the same divine achievement. Quite apart from the later Yama hymns of the tenth
Mandala in which the Angirases are spoken of as Barhishad
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And the third verse runs, "May the Angirases who hasten through to the Goal move in their travelling to the bliss of the divine Savitri; and that (bliss) may our great Father, he of the sacrifice, and all the gods becoming of one mind accept in heart." Turan.yavo naks.anta ratnam devasya savitur iyanah.. It is quite clear therefore that the Angirases are travellers to the light and truth of the solar deity from which are born the luminous cows they wrest from the Panis and to the bliss which, as we always see, is founded on that light and truth. It is clear also that this journey is a growing into the godhead, into the infinite being (aditayah. syama), said in this hymn (verse 2) to come by the growth of the peace and bliss through the action in us of
Mitra, Varuna and the Vasus who protect us in the godhead and the mortality.
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and a great light of truth; prisoned by this evil is an infinite content of good; in this limiting death is the seed of a boundless immortality. Vala, for example, is Vala of the radiances, valam gomantam, his body is made of the light, govapus.am valam, his hole or cave is a city full of treasures; that body has to be broken up, that city rent open, those treasures seized. This is the work set for humanity and the Ancestors have done it for the race that the way may be known and the Goal reached by the same means and through the same companionship with the gods of
Light. "Let there be that ancient friendship between you gods and us as when with the Angirases who spoke aright the word, thou didst make to fall that which was fixed and slewest Vala as he rushed against thee, O achiever of works, and thou didst make to swing open all the doors of his city" (VI.18.5). At the beginning of all human traditions there is this ancient memory.
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Light and its lightnings; the words or the thoughts are constantly imaged as cows or women, Indra as the Bull or husband, and the words desire him and are even spoken of as casting themselves upwards to seek him, e.g. I.9.4, girah. prati tvam ud ahasata vr.s.abham patim. The luminous Mind of Swar is the Goal sought by the Vedic thought and the Vedic speech which express the herd of the illuminations pressing upward from the soul, from
192
1.19 - GOD IS NOT MOCKED, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
Religious beliefs and practices are certainly not the only factors determining the behaviour of a given society. But, no less certainly, they are among the determining factors. At least to some extent, the collective conduct of a nation is a test of the religion prevailing within it, a criterion by which we may legitimately judge the doctrinal validity of that religion and its practical efficiency in helping individuals to advance towards the Goal of human existence.
In the past the nations of Christendom persecuted in the name of their faith, fought religious wars and undertook crusades against infidels and heretics; today they have ceased to be Christian in anything but name, and the only religion they profess is some brand of local idolatry, such as nationalism, state-worship, boss-worship and revolutionism. From these fruits of (among other things) historic Christianity, what inferences can we draw as to the nature of the tree? The answer has already been given in the section on Time and Eternity. If Christians used to be persecutors and are now no longer Christians, the reason is that the Perennial Philosophy incorporated in their religion was overlaid by wrong beliefs that led inevitably, since God is never mocked, to wrong actions. These wrong beliefs had one element in commonnamely, an overvaluation of happenings in time and an undervaluation of the everlasting, timeless fact of eternity. Thus, belief in the supreme importance for salvation of remote historical events resulted in bloody disputes over the interpretation of the not very adequate and often conflicting records. And belief in the sacredness, nay, the actual divinity, of the ecclesiastico-politico-financial organizations, which developed after the fall of the Roman Empire, not only added bitterness to the all too human struggles for their control, but served to rationalize and justify the worst excesses of those who fought for place, wealth and power within and through the Church. But this is not the whole story. The same overvaluation of events in time, which once caused Christians to persecute and fight religious wars, led at last to a wide-spread indifference to a religion that, in spite of everything, was still in part preoccupied with eternity. But nature abhors a vacuum, and into the yawning void of this indifference there flowed the tide of political idolatry. The practical consequences of such idolatry, as we now see, are total war, revolution and tyranny.
1.201 - Socrates, #Symposium, #Plato, #Philosophy
Now, whenever someone starts to ascend from the things of this world through loving boys in the right way, and begins to discern that beauty, he is almost in reach of the Goal. And the correct way for him to go, or be led by another, to the things of love,199 is to begin from the beautiful things in this world, and using these as steps, to climb ever upwards for the sake of that other beauty, going from one to two and from two to all beautiful bodies, and from beautiful bodies to beautiful practices, and from beautiful practices to beautiful kinds of knowledge,200 and from beautiful kinds of knowledge finally to that particular
monoeides; literally, in single form. erotica. See glossary. mathemata (plural) is used here rather than episteme. See glossary.
1.2.01 - The Call and the Capacity, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
For those who have within them a sincere call for the Divine, however the mind or vital may present difficulties or attacks come or the progress be slow and painful, - even if they fall back or fall away from the path for a time, the psychic always prevails in the end and the Divine Help proves effective. Trust in that and persevere - then the Goal is sure.
There is only one logic in spiritual things: when a demand is there for the Divine, a sincere call, it is bound one day to have its fulfilment. It is only if there is a strong insincerity somewhere, a hankering after something else - power, ambition, etc. - which counterbalances the inner call that the logic is no longer applicable. Supramental realisation is another matter: I am speaking now of the realisation of the Divine, of the contact with the
--
You must realise that these moods are attacks which should be rejected at once - for they repose on nothing but suggestions of self-distrust and incapacity which have no meaning, since it is by the Grace of the Divine and the aid of a Force greater than your own, not by personal capacity and worth that you can attain the Goal of the sadhana. You have to remember that and dissociate yourself from these suggestions when they come, never accept or yield to them. No sadhak even if he had the capacity of the ancient Rishis and Tapaswis or the strength of a Vivekananda can hope to keep during the early years of his sadhana a continuous good condition or union with the Divine or an unbroken call or height of aspiration. It takes a long time to spiritualise the whole nature and until that is done, variations must come. A constant trust and patience must be cultivated
- must be acquired - not least when things go against - for when they are favourable, trust and patience are easy.
--
You speak of your possible unfitness, but it is not a question of fitness or unfitness. There is nobody who can go on in his own strength or by right of his fitness to the Goal of the sadhana. It is only by the Divine Grace and reliance on the Divine Grace that it can be done. It is in a strength greater than your own that you must put your first and last reliance. If your faith falters you have to call on that to sustain you; if your force is insufficient against the ill-will and opposition that surround
34
--
Western and Eastern human nature. Only the teaching in India is of old standing that all must be turned towards the Divine and everything else either sacrificed or changed into a subordinate and ancillary movement or made by sublimation a first step only towards the seeking for the Divine. This no doubt helps the Indian sadhak if not to become single-hearted at once, yet to orientate himself more completely towards the Goal. It is not always for him the Divine alone, though that is considered the highest state, but the Divine chief and first is easily grasped by him as the ideal.
The Indian sadhak has his own difficulties in his approach to the Yoga - at least to this Yoga - which a Westerner has in less measure. Those of the occidental nature are born of the dominant trend of the European mind in the immediate past.
1.20 - The Hound of Heaven, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
seven seers set them moving forward (or upwards towards the supreme), they found the entire path (goal or field of travel) of the Truth; knowing those (supreme seats of the Truth) Indra by the obeisance entered into them," vl.au satr abhi dhra atr.ndan, praca ahinvan manasa sapta viprah.; visvam avindan pathyam r.tasya, prajanann it ta namasa vivesa. This is, as usual, the great birth, the great light, the great divine movement of the Truthknowledge with the finding of the Goal and the entry of the gods and the seers into the supreme planes above. Next we have the part of Sarama in this work. "When Sarama found the broken place of the hill, he (or perhaps she, Sarama) made continuous the great and supreme goal. She, the fair-footed, led him to the front of the imperishable ones (the unslayable cows of the
Dawn); first she went, knowing, towards their cry." It is again the Intuition that leads; knowing, she speeds at once and in front of all towards the voice of the concealed illuminations, towards the place where the hill so firmly formed and impervious in appearance (vl.u, dr.d.ha) is broken and can admit the seekers.
--
We are still in the order of the old Vedic ideas, the Light and the Bliss and the Immortality, and these Sarameya dogs have the essential characteristics of Sarama, the vision, the wide-ranging movement, the power to travel on the path by which the Goal is reached. Sarama leads to the wideness of the cows; these dogs protect the soul on its journey to the inviolable pasture, the field
(ks.etra) of the luminous and imperishable herds. Sarama brings us to the truth, to the sun-vision which is the way to the bliss; these dogs bring the weal to man in this world of suffering so that he shall have the vision of the Sun. Whether Sarama figures as the fair-footed goddess speeding on the path or the heavenly hound, mother of these wide-ranging guardians of the path, the idea is the same, a power of the Truth that seeks and discovers, that finds by a divine faculty of insight the hidden Light and the denied Immortality. But it is to this seeking and finding that her function is limited.
1.2.11 - Patience and Perseverance, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Whether by tapasya or surrender does not matter, the one thing is to be firm in setting one's face to the Goal. Once one has set one's feet on the way, how can one draw back from it to something inferior? If one keeps firm, falls do not matter, one rises up again and goes forward. If one is firm towards the Goal, there can be on the way to the Divine no eventual failure. And if there is something within you that drives, as surely there is, falterings or falls or failures of faith make no eventual difference.
One has to go on till the struggle is over and there is the straight and open and thornless way before us.
1.21 - IDOLATRY, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
As a piece of psychological analysis this is admirable. Its only defect is one of omission; for it neglects to take into account those influxes from the eternal order into the temporal, which are called grace or inspiration. Grace and inspiration are given when, and to the extent to which, a human being gives up self-will and abandons himself, moment by moment, through constant recollectedness and non-attachment, to the will of God. As well as the animal and spiritual graces, whose source is the divine Nature of Things, there are human pseudo-gracessuch as, for example, the accessions of strength and virtue that follow self-devotion to some form of political or moral idolatry. To distinguish the true grace from the false is often difficult; but as time and circumstances reveal the full extent of their consequences on the soul, discrimination becomes possible even to observers having no special gifts of insight. Where the grace is genuinely supernatural, an amelioration in one aspect of the total personality is not paid for by atrophy or deterioration elsewhere. The virtue which is accompanied and perfected by the love and knowledge of God is something quite different from the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees which, for Christ, was among the worst of moral evils. Hardness, fanaticism, uncharitableness and spiritual pridethese are the ordinary by-products of a course of stoical self-improvement by means of personal effort, either unassisted or, if assisted, seconded only by the pseudo-graces which are given when the individual devotes himself to the achievement of an end which is not his true end, when the Goal is not God, but merely a magnified projection of his own favourite ideas or moral excellences. The idolatrous worship of ethical values in and for themselves defeats its own objectand defeats it not only because, as Arnold insists, there is a lack of all-round development, but also and above all because even the highest forms of moral idolatry are God-eclipsing and therefore guarantee the idolater against the enlightening and liberating knowledge of Reality.
next chapter: 1.22 - EMOTIONALISM
1.21 - The Ascent of Life, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
11:For, if the data with which we have started are correct, the end of the road, the Goal itself can only be reached by Mind passing beyond itself into that which is beyond Mind, since of That the Mind is only an inferior term and an instrument first for descent into form and individuality and secondly for reascension into that reality which the form embodies and the individuality represents. Therefore the perfect solution of the problem of Life is not likely to be realised by association, interchange and accommodations of love alone or through the law of the mind and the heart alone. It must come by a fourth status of life in which the eternal unity of the many is realised through the spirit and the conscious foundation of all the operations of life is laid no longer in the divisions of body, nor in the passions and hungers of the vitality, nor in the groupings and the imperfect harmonies of the mind, nor in a combination of all these, but in the unity and freedom of the Spirit.
1.22 - ADVICE TO AN ACTOR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
MASTER: "You must practise tapasya. Only then can you attain the Goal. It will avail you nothing even if you learn the texts of the scriptures by heart. You cannot become intoxicated by merely saying 'siddhi' over and over. You must swallow some.
"One cannot explain the vision of God to others. One cannot explain conjugal happiness to a child five years old."
1.23 - FESTIVAL AT SURENDRAS HOUSE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
"Therefore I say again that work is only the first step. It can never be the Goal of life.
Devote yourself to spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the Goal of life is the attainment of God.
The story of the wood-cutter
--
"Therefore I say that, whatever you may do, you will find better and better things if only you go forward. You may feel a little ecstasy as the result of japa, but don't conclude from this that you have achieved everything in spiritual life. Work is by no means the Goal of life. Go forward, and then you will be able to perform unselfish work. But again I say that it is most difficult to perform unselfish work. Therefore with love and longing in your heart pray to God: 'O God, grant me devotion at Thy Lotus Feet and reduce my worldly duties. Please grant me the boon that the few duties I must do may be done in a detached spirit.' If you go still farther you will realize God.
You will see Him. In time you will converse with Him."
1.240 - 1.300 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
You should certainly keep God in your mind for seeing God all round you. Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana. Dhyana is the stage before realisation. Realisation is in the Self only. Dhyana must precede it. Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. the Goal is the same.
But you cannot escape the Self. You want to see God in all, but not in yourself? If all are God, are you not included in that all? Yourself being God, is it a wonder that all are God? There must be a seer and thinker for even the practice. Who is he?
--
D.: People labour for gaining the summum bonum of life. I think that they are not on the right track. Sri Bhagavan has made considerable tapas and achieved the Goal. Sri Bhagavan is also desirous that all should reach the Goal and willing to help them to that end. His vicarious tapas must enable others to reach the Goal rather easily. They need not undergo all the hardships which Sri Bhagavan has already undergone. Their way has been made easy for them by Sri Bhagavan. Am I not right?
Maharshi smiled and said: If that were so everyone would easily reach the Goal, but each one must work for himself.
Talk 258.
--
Reality lies beyond these. Memory or oblivion must be dependent on something. That something must be foreign too; otherwise there cannot be oblivion. It is called 'I' by everyone. When one looks for it, it is not found because it is not real. Hence 'I' is synonymous with illusion or ignorance (maya, avidya or ajnana). To know that there never was ignorance is the Goal of all the spiritual teachings. Ignorance must be of one who is aware. Awareness is jnana. Jnana is eternal and natural.
Ajnana is unnatural and unreal.
1.240 - Talks 2, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
You should certainly keep God in your mind for seeing God all round you. Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana. Dhyana is the stage before realisation. Realisation is in the Self only. Dhyana must precede it. Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. the Goal is the same.
But you cannot escape the Self. You want to see God in all, but not in yourself? If all are God, are you not included in that all? Yourself being God, is it a wonder that all are God? There must be a seer and thinker for even the practice. Who is he?
--
D.: People labour for gaining the summum bonum of life. I think that they are not on the right track. Sri Bhagavan has made considerable tapas and achieved the Goal. Sri Bhagavan is also desirous that all should reach the Goal and willing to help them to that end. His vicarious tapas must enable others to reach the Goal rather easily. They need not undergo all the hardships which Sri Bhagavan has already undergone. Their way has been made easy for them by Sri Bhagavan. Am I not right?
Maharshi smiled and said: If that were so everyone would easily reach the Goal, but each one must work for himself.
Talk 258.
--
Reality lies beyond these. Memory or oblivion must be dependent on something. That something must be foreign too; otherwise there cannot be oblivion. It is called I by everyone. When one looks for it, it is not found because it is not real. Hence I is synonymous with illusion or ignorance (maya, avidya or ajnana). To know that there never was ignorance is the Goal of all the spiritual teachings. Ignorance must be of one who is aware. Awareness is jnana. Jnana is eternal and natural.
Ajnana is unnatural and unreal.
--
I be realised the substratum is found and that leads to the Goal.
Again, sleep is said to be ajnana (ignorance). That is only in relation to the wrong jnana (knowledge) prevalent in the wakeful state. The waking state is really ajnana (ignorance) and the sleep state is prajnana (full knowledge). Prajnana is Brahman, says the sruti. Brahman is eternal.
--
One must fight ones way through before regaining ones original primal state. If one succeeds in the fight and reaches the Goal, the enemy, namely the thoughts, will all subside in the Self and disappear entirely. The thoughts are the enemy. They amount to the creation of the Universe. In their absence there is neither the world nor God the
Creator. The Bliss of the Self is the single Being only.
--
M.: Breath-control may do as an aid but can never lead to the Goal itself.
While doing it mechanically, take care to be alert in mind and remember the I-thought and seek its source. Then you will find that where breath sinks, there the I-thought arises. They sink and rise together. The
I-thought also will sink along with breath. Simultaneously another luminous and infinite I-I will manifest and it will be continuous and unbroken. That is the Goal. It goes by different names - God, Self,
Kundalini-Sakti, consciousness etc., etc.
When the attempt is made it will of itself take you to the Goal.
Talk 346.
--
M.: Vichara is the process and the Goal also. I AM is the Goal and the final Reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. When spontaneous and natural it is Realisation.
Talk 391.
--
M.: The yoga marga speaks of the six centres each of which must be reached by practice and transcended until one reaches sahasrara where nectar is found and thus immortality. The yogis say that one enters into the paranadi which starts from the sacral plexus whereas the jnanis say that the same nadi starts from the heart. Reconciliation between the seeming]y contradictory statements is effected in the secret doctrine which distinctly states the yogic paranadi is from muladhara and the jnana paranadi is from the Heart. The truth is that the paranadi should be entered. By yogic practice one goes down, then rises up, wanders all through until the Goal is reached; by jnana abhyas one settles down directly in the centre.
D.: Is not para followed by pasyanti, etc.?
--
M.: Quite so. Tapas depends on the competency of the person. One requires a form to contemplate. But it is not enough. For can anyone keep looking at an image always? So the image must be implemented by japa. Japa helps fixing the mind on the image, in addition to the eyesight. The result of these efforts is concentration of mind, which ends in the Goal. He becomes what he thinks. Some are satisfied with the name of the image. Every form must have a name. That name denotes all the qualities of God. Constant japa puts off all other thoughts and fixes the mind. That is tapas. One-pointedness is the tapas wanted.
The question what tapas is was asked in order to know what purpose to serve. It will take the form required for the purpose.
--
M.: It is done lest we forget the Goal. The practice helps one not to divert the attention to other pursuits.
The object is seen or the light is recognised because there is the subject to do so. How does it affect the subject whether the objects are seen or not? If the light, i.e., the cogniser or the consciousness is seen, there will be no object to be seen. Pure light, i.e.,
--
Disillusionment is the Goal and nothing more.
D.: The mind is said to be a bundle of thoughts.
--
He also asked Sri Bhagavan which of the methods was the best for the attainment of the Goal. Is not Patanjalis the best?
M.: Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah - (Yoga is to check the mind from changing) - which is acceptable to all. That is also the Goal of all.
The method is chosen according to ones own fitness. the Goal for all is the same. Yet different names are given to the Goal only to suit the process preliminary to reaching the Goal. Bhakti, Yoga, Jnana are all the same. Svasvarupanusandhanam bhaktirity abhidheeyate
(Self contemplation is called bhakti).
1.24 - Necromancy and Spiritism, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
Contrast with this elaborate care, rightness of every detail, earnestness and intentness upon the Goal contrast, I say, the modern Spiritist in the dingy squalor of her foul back street in her suburban slum, the room musty, smelling of stale food, the hideous prints, the cheap and rickety furniture, calling up any one required from Jesus Christ to Queen Victoria, all at a bob-a-nob!
Faugh! Let us return to clean air, and analyse Lvi's experiment; I believe that by the application of the principles set forth in my other letters on Death and Reincarnation, it will be simple to explain his partial failure to evoke Apollonius. You had better read them over again, to have the matter clear and fresh in your mind.
1.25 - ADVICE TO PUNDIT SHASHADHAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
He who has achieved these has realized the Goal, that is to say, has attained God."
PUNDIT: "In expounding religion one has to use a great many words."
1.25 - SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
The chief impediments in the way of taking up the practice of some form of mental prayer are ignorance of the Nature of Things (which has never, of course, been more abysmal than in this age of free compulsory education) and the absorption in self-interest, in positive and negative emotions connected with the passions and with what is technically known as a good time. And when the practice has been taken up, the chief impediments in the way of advance towards the Goal of mental prayer are distractions.
Probably all persons, even the most saintly, suffer to some extent from distractions. But it is obvious that the distractions of one who, in the intervals of mental prayer, leads a dispersed, unrecollected, self-centred life will have more and worse distractions to contend with than a person who lives one-pointedly, never forgetting who he is and how related to the universe and its divine Ground. Some of the most profitable spiritual exercises actually make use of distractions, in such a way that these impediments to self-abandonment, mental silence and passivity in relation to God are transformed into means of progress.
1.26 - FESTIVAL AT ADHARS HOUSE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Paramahamsas like him care for their own good alone; they feel satisfied if they themselves attain the Goal.
Paramahamsas as teachers of men
--
MASTER: "That is also true. But perhaps you wanted the worldly life. Krishna had been enshrined in Radha's heart; but Radha wanted to sport with Him in human form. Hence all the episodes of Vrindvan. Now you should pray to God that your worldly duties may be reduced. And you will achieve the Goal if you renounce mentally."
M: "But mental renunciation is prescribed for those who cannot give up the world outwardly. For superior devotees total renunciation is enjoined-both outer and inner."
1.26 - The Ascending Series of Substance, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
0:They climb Indra like a ladder. As one mounts peak after peak, there becomes clear the much that has still to be done. Indra brings consciousness of That as the Goal.
Like a hawk, a kite He settles on the Vessel and upbears it; in His stream of movement He discovers the Rays, for He goes bearing his weapons: He cleaves to the ocean surge of the waters; a great King, He declares the fourth status. Like a mortal purifying his body, like a war-horse galloping to the conquest of riches He pours calling through all the sheath and enters these vessels. Rig Veda.2
1.300 - 1.400 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
'I' be realised the substratum is found and that leads to the Goal.
Again, sleep is said to be ajnana (ignorance). That is only in relation to the wrong jnana (knowledge) prevalent in the wakeful state. The waking state is really ajnana (ignorance) and the sleep state is prajnana (full knowledge). Prajnana is Brahman, says the sruti. Brahman is eternal.
--
One must fight one's way through before regaining one's original primal state. If one succeeds in the fight and reaches the Goal, the enemy, namely the thoughts, will all subside in the Self and disappear entirely. The thoughts are the enemy. They amount to the creation of the Universe. In their absence there is neither the world nor God the
Creator. The Bliss of the Self is the single Being only.
--
M.: Breath-control may do as an aid but can never lead to the Goal itself.
While doing it mechanically, take care to be alert in mind and remember the 'I-thought' and seek its source. Then you will find that where breath sinks, there the 'I-thought' arises. They sink and rise together. The
'I-thought' also will sink along with breath. Simultaneously another luminous and infinite "I-I" will manifest and it will be continuous and unbroken. That is the Goal. It goes by different names - God, Self,
Kundalini-Sakti, consciousness etc., etc.
When the attempt is made it will of itself take you to the Goal.
Talk 346.
--
M.: Vichara is the process and the Goal also. 'I AM' is the Goal and the final Reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. When spontaneous and natural it is Realisation.
Talk 391.
--
M.: The yoga marga speaks of the six centres each of which must be reached by practice and transcended until one reaches sahasrara where nectar is found and thus immortality. The yogis say that one enters into the paranadi which starts from the sacral plexus whereas the jnanis say that the same nadi starts from the heart. Reconciliation between the seeming]y contradictory statements is effected in the secret doctrine which distinctly states the yogic paranadi is from muladhara and the jnana paranadi is from the Heart. The truth is that the paranadi should be entered. By yogic practice one goes down, then rises up, wanders all through until the Goal is reached; by jnana abhyas one settles down directly in the centre.
D.: Is not para followed by pasyanti, etc.?
1.3.4.01 - The Beginning and the End, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Neither for soul nor universe is extinction the Goal, but for one it is infinite self-possessing and for the other the endless pursuit of its own immutably mutable rhythms.
* *
1.3.4.04 - The Divine Superman, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
But the Goal is this and the purpose is this and not in power of the way and the joy by the way but in the joy of the Goal is the greatness and the delight of thy being. The joy of the way is because that which is drawing thee is also with thee on thy path and the power to climb was given thee that thou mightest mount to thy own summits.
If thou hast a duty, this is thy duty; if thou ask what shall be thy aim, let this be thy aim; if thou demand pleasure, there is no greater joy, for all other joy is broken or limited, the joy of a dream or the joy of a sleep or the joy of self-forgetting. But this is the joy of thy whole being. For if thou say what is my being, this is thy being, the Divine, and all else is only its broken or its perverse appearance. If thou seek the Truth, this is the Truth.
1.3.5.04 - The Evolution of Consciousness, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
In this evolution mental man is not the Goal and end, the completing value, the highest last significance; he is too small and imperfect to be the crown of all this travail of Nature. Man is not final, but a middle term only, a transitional being, an instrumental intermediate creature.
This character of evolution and this mediary position of man are not at first apparent; for to the outward eye it would seem as if evolution, the physical evolution at least were finished long ago leaving man behind as its poor best result and no new beings or superior creations were to be expected any longer.
1.400 - 1.450 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
M.: Quite so. Tapas depends on the competency of the person. One requires a form to contemplate. But it is not enough. For can anyone keep looking at an image always? So the image must be implemented by japa. Japa helps fixing the mind on the image, in addition to the eyesight. The result of these efforts is concentration of mind, which ends in the Goal. He becomes what he thinks. Some are satisfied with the name of the image. Every form must have a name. That name denotes all the qualities of God. Constant japa puts off all other thoughts and fixes the mind. That is tapas. One-pointedness is the tapas wanted.
The question what tapas is was asked in order to know what purpose to serve. It will take the form required for the purpose.
--
M.: It is done lest we forget the Goal. The practice helps one not to divert the attention to other pursuits.
The object is seen or the light is recognised because there is the subject to do so. How does it affect the subject whether the objects are seen or not? If the light, i.e., the cogniser or the consciousness is seen, there will be no object to be seen. Pure light, i.e.,
--
Disillusionment is the Goal and nothing more.
D.: The mind is said to be a bundle of thoughts.
--
He also asked Sri Bhagavan which of the methods was the best for the attainment of the Goal. Is not Patanjali's the best?
M.: Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah - (Yoga is to check the mind from changing) - which is acceptable to all. That is also the Goal of all.
The method is chosen according to one's own fitness. the Goal for all is the same. Yet different names are given to the Goal only to suit the process preliminary to reaching the Goal. Bhakti, Yoga, Jnana are all the same. Svasvarupanusandhanam bhaktirity abhidheeyate
(Self contemplation is called bhakti).
1.4.01 - The Divine Grace and Guidance, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The best possible way [to "repay" the Divine Grace] is to allow the Divine Grace to work in you, never to oppose it, never to be ungrateful and turn against it - but to follow it always to the Goal of Light and Peace and unity and Ananda.
Withdrawal of Grace
14.04 - More of Yajnavalkya, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
In this connection I am reminded of what Sri Aurobindo said when he was taking leave of his students at Calcutta in his farewell address before starting his public political activity: he said, "When I come back I wish to see some of you becoming rich, rich not for yourselves but that you may enrich the Mother with your riches. I wish to see some of you becoming great, great not for your own sakes, not that you may satisfy your own vanity, but great for her, to make India great. . ."1: that is the ideal ideal, not individual satisfaction, exclusively personal accomplishment or achievement; one must work in view of the welfare of all, a global well-being. the Goal is not one's own little self, but the Great Self in all. This is of course, in the secular way in the secular field. But here also the appeal, it must be observed, is not to the social life as a mere machine of which individuals are dead helpless parts and units meant to serve as obedient instruments in the production of useful goods. The appeal on the contrary is to the soul, the free inner individual, choosing its destiny but with a view to collaborating and uniting with others in the realisation of a global truth.
In the spiritual sphere also Sri Aurobindo gives us the same ideal and outlook. In the early days spiritual realisation was sought for personal salvation, a complete renunciation of the world, absolute freedom from this transient unhappy world anityam asukham lokam imam. The individual person leaves his individual existence upon earth and retires and merges into the Infinite Brahman. But here in Sri Aurobindo's Revelation we are taught that the individual realisation and spiritual attainment is not to dissolve oneself into the nameless formless Beyond but to maintain it, preserve it in a pure divine form, for the sake of the sorrowful ignorant world. The knowledge, the power, the delight that the individual gains-not as something merely individual but as the result of one's identity with the universal are at the service of earth and humanity so that these may be transformed and share in the same realisation. One becomes spiritually free and complete and enters into all so that all may be transformed into a new divine reality.
14.06 - Liberty, Self-Control and Friendship, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
"In reality, you should take as friends only those persons who are wiser than you, whose company ennobles you, helps you to transcend yourself, to progress, to act better and see clearer. And finally, the best friend that one can have, is it not the Divine? the Divine to whom one can say everything, disclose everything, because here is the source of all kindness, of the power that effaces every error when it is no longer repeated, which can open the path to the true realisation; the Divine who can understand everything, cure everything, who helps you on the way not to waver, not to falter, not to fall down and who leads you straight the Goal. He is the true friend, the friend in good and bad days, who never ails you. When you call him sincerely, he is always there to guide you, to sustain you and love you in the true way."Op. cit.
The Gita: XI, 41-2.
1.439, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
Even these are not the Goals. Samadhi must be gained; it must be continuously practised until sahaja samadhi results. Then there remains nothing more to do.
Talk 466.
--
D.: What is your quest? What is the Goal? How far have you progressed?
M.: the Goal is the same for all. But tell me why you should be in search of a goal? Why are you not content with the present condition?
D.: Is there then no goal?
--
D.: Well, I consider the Goal to be the realisation by the lower mind of the higher mind so that the Kingdom of Heaven might endure here on earth. The lower mind is incomplete and it must be made perfect by realisation of the higher mind.
M.: So then you admit a lower mind which is incomplete and which seeks realisation of the higher so that it may become perfect. Is that lower mind apart from the higher mind? Is it independent of the other?
--
D.: Have you reached the Goal?
M.: the Goal cannot be anything apart from the Self nor can it be something to be gained afresh. If that were so, such goal cannot be abiding and permanent. What appears anew will also disappear.
the Goal must be eternal and within. Find it within yourself.
--
Realisation; that is the finality; that is the Goal.
It is thus plain that the purpose of the intellect is to realise its own dependence upon the Higher Power and its inability to reach the same. So it must annihilate itself before the Goal is gained.
D.: A sloka is quoted which means: I do not desire kingdoms, etc.
--
M.: Such desire no doubt begins with self-interest. Yet practical work for the Goal gradually widens the outlook so that the individual becomes merged in the country. Such merging of the individuality is desirable and the related karma is nishkama (unselfish) .
D.: If swaraj is gained after a long struggle and terrible sacrifices, is not the person justified in being pleased with the result and elated by it?
--
M.: What is meditation? It is commonly understood to be concentration on a single thought. Other thoughts are kept out at that time. The single thought also must vanish at the right time. Thought-free consciousness is the Goal.
D.: How is the ego to be got rid of?
--
to reach the Goal. How can I be pointed out?
M.: It must be found within. It is not an object so that it may be shown
1.450 - 1.500 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
Even these are not the Goals. Samadhi must be gained; it must be continuously practised until sahaja samadhi results. Then there remains nothing more to do.
455
--
D.: What is your quest? What is the Goal? How far have you progressed?
M.: the Goal is the same for all. But tell me why you should be in search of a goal? Why are you not content with the present condition?
D.: Is there then no goal?
--
D.: Well, I consider the Goal to be the realisation by the lower mind of the higher mind so that the Kingdom of Heaven might endure here on earth. The lower mind is incomplete and it must be made perfect by realisation of the higher mind.
M.: So then you admit a lower mind which is incomplete and which seeks realisation of the higher so that it may become perfect. Is that lower mind apart from the higher mind? Is it independent of the other?
--
D.: Have you reached the Goal?
M.: the Goal cannot be anything apart from the Self nor can it be something to be gained afresh. If that were so, such goal cannot be abiding and permanent. What appears anew will also disappear.
the Goal must be eternal and within. Find it within yourself.
1.550 - 1.600 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
M.: What is meditation? It is commonly understood to be concentration on a single thought. Other thoughts are kept out at that time. The single thought also must vanish at the right time. Thought-free consciousness is the Goal.
D.: How is the ego to be got rid of?
1.57 - Public Scapegoats, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
led somewhere, if only to death. That death was the Goal to which of
old the Tibetan scapegoat passed after his brief period of licence
1.62 - The Fire-Festivals of Europe, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
reached the Goal first had the right of setting fire to the Easter
Man. Great was the jubilation while he was burning. When he had been
18.05 - Ashram Poets, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
firm in heart, towards the Goal.
Ever shall we hold in front our ideal.
--
the Goal fixed for ever, for ever he goes on,
The path offers no bar, no call reaches from behind:
1912 11 02p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Although my whole being is in theory consecrated to Thee, O Sublime Master, who art the life, the light and the love in all things, I still find it hard to carry out this consecration in detail. It has taken me several weeks to learn that the reason for this written meditation, its justification, lies in the very fact of addressing it daily to Thee. In this way I shall put into material shape each day a little of the conversation I have so often with Thee; I shall make my confession to Thee as well as it may be; not because I think I can tell Thee anything for Thou art Thyself everything, but our artificial and exterior way of seeing and understanding is, if it may be so said, foreign to Thee, opposed to Thy nature. Still by turning towards Thee, by immersing myself in Thy light at the moment when I consider these things, little by little I shall see them more like what they really are,until the day when, having made myself one in identity with Thee, I shall no more have anything to say to Thee, for then I shall be Thou. This is the Goal that I would reach; towards this victory all my efforts will tend more and more. I aspire for the day when I can no longer say I, for I shall be Thou.
How many times a day, still, I act without my action being consecrated to Thee; I at once become aware of it by an indefinable uneasiness which is translated in the sensibility of my body by a pang in my heart. I then make my action objective to myself and it seems to me ridiculous, childish or blameworthy; I deplore it, for a moment I am sad, until I dive into Thee and, there losing myself with a childs confidence, await from Thee the inspiration and strength needed to set right the error in me and around me,two things that are one; for I have now a constant and precise perception of the universal unity determining an absolute interdependence of all actions.
1912 11 28p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The outer life, the activity of each day and each instant, is it not the indispensable complement of our hours of meditation and contemplation? And is not the proportion of time given to each the exact image of the proportion which exists between the amount of effort to be made for the preparation and realisation? For meditation, contemplation, Union is the result obtained the flower that blooms; the daily activity is the anvil on which all the elements must pass and repass in order to be purified, refined, made supple and ripe for the illumination which contemplation gives to them. All these elements must be thus passed one after the other through the crucible before outer activity becomes needless for the integral development. Then is this activity turned into the means to manifest Thee so as to awaken the other centres of consciousness to the same dual work of the forge and the illumination. Therefore are pride and satisfaction with oneself the worst of all obstacles. Very modestly we must take advantage of all the minute opportunities offered to knead and purify some of the innumerable elements, to make them supple, to make them impersonal, to teach them forgetfulness of self and abnegation and devotion and kindness and gentleness; and when all these modes of being have become habitual to them, then are they ready to participate in the Contemplation, and to identify themselves with Thee in the supreme Concentration. That is why it seems to me that the work must be long and slow even for the best and that striking conversions cannot be integral. They change the orientation of the being, they put it definitively on the straight path; but truly to attain the Goal none can escape the need of innumerable experiences of every kind and every instant.
O Supreme Master who shinest in my being and each thing, let Thy Light be manifest and the reign of Thy Peace come for all.
1914 01 02p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Thou art the savour of all life and the reason for all activity, the Goal of our thoughts.
***
1914 04 20p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
After having hoped so much, after having believed that my outer being was at last to become an instrument adapted to Thy purpose, after feeling hopeful that I would at last be delivered from this obscure and cumbersome self, I feel I am as far from the Goal as before, as ignorant, as egoistic as I was before this great expectation. And the path stretches out once again, interminable across the fields of inconscience. The sublime door has closed again and I find myself still on the threshold of the sanctuary without being able to enter within. But I have learnt to look at everything with a smile and a tranquil heart. I ask only this of Thee, O my divine Master, not to let me make any mistakes; even if the instrument is still condemned for a time to unconsciousness, grant that it may let itself be guided faithfully and docilely by Thy divine law.
I bow to Thee, O Lord, with a deep and pure devotion. Oh! Be the sovereign Master of all hearts.
1914 06 26p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Do not let us lose sight of the Goal; grant that we may always be united with Thy force, the force which the earth does not yet know and which Thou hast given us the mission to reveal to it.
In a deep meditation, all the states of manifestation consecrate themselves to Thy manifestation.
1914 08 16p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For three days I waited in an ardent prayer, hoping to see the new things and all the obstacles surged up to veil, retard, deform Thy manifestation. And now we do not seem any nearer the Goal than before.
O my sweet Master, why hast Thou told me to leave the blessed place in Thy heart and return to earth to attempt a realisation which everything seems to prove impossible? What dost Thou expect of me that Thou hast torn me away from my divine and wonderful contemplation and plunged me again into this dark, struggling universe? When Thy force descends towards the earth in order to manifest, each one of the great Asuric beings who have resolved to be Thy servitors but preserved their natures characteristic of domination and self-will, wants to pull it down for itself alone and distribute it to others afterwards; it always thinks it should be the sole or at least the supreme intermediary, and that the contact of all others with Thy Power cannot and should not be made except through its mediation. This unfortunate meanness is more or less conscious, but it is always there, delaying things indefinitely. If even for the greatest it is impossible in the integral manifestation to escape these lamentable limitations, why, O Lord, impose upon me the calvary of this constraint? If Thou willest that it be thus, Thou shouldst rend the last veil and Thy splendour come in all its purity and transfigure the world!
1914 08 20p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
To see the Goal from a new angle which may usefully light up the others, we should constantly renew the experience of the inner discovery and return to the extreme limit of consciousness without at any time postulating beforeh and what the end of our journey will be.
But instinctively the mind remembers the impression that it received from one or from some of the former contacts of our consciousness with the ultimate centre, and tells itself: That is what one finds at the end of the road. It does not realise that the That which is in its thought is only one of countless ways of translating the Goal or even of travestying it, nor does it perceive that the intellectual conception should follow the experience and not precede it.
To retrace the path in all innocence as though one had never before travelled it, is the true purity, the perfect sincerity the sincerity that brings an uninterrupted progress, growth, an integral perfectioning.
1914 11 15p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The one important thing is the Goal to be reached; the road matters little, and often it is preferable not to know it beforehand. But what we need to know is whether the time for the divine action upon earth has really come, and whether the work conceived in the depths can be realised.
Of this, O Lord, Thou hast given us the assurance, an assurance which has been accompanied by the most powerful promise that Nature, the universal Consciousness can possibly make. Thus we have the certitude that what must be done will be done and that our present individual beings are in reality called upon to collaborate in this glorious victory, this new manifestation. What more do we need to know? Nothing. So it is with the greatest confidence that we can witness the formidable fight, the onslaught of the adverse forces, which, unknowingly, finally serve in the realisation of Thy plan. We would be wrong to feel anxious because it is not given to us to know how it serves Thy plan and by what means Thou wilt triumph over all resistances; for Thy triumph is so perfect that every obstacle, every ill-will, every hatred raised up against Thee is a promise of a still vaster and more complete victory.
1915 07 31p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The heavens are definitively conquered, and nothing and nobody could have the power of wresting them from me. But the conquest of the earth is still to be made; it is being carried on in the very heart of the turmoil; and even when achieved, it will still be only a relative one; the victories in this world are but stages leading progressively to still more glorious victories; and what Thy Will makes my mind conceive of as the Goal to be attained, the conquest to be realised, is only one element of Thy eternal plan; but in perfect union I am this plan and this Will, and I taste the supreme bliss of the infinite, even while playing ardently, with precision and energy, in the world of division, the special part Thou hast entrusted to me.
Thy power in me is like a living spring, strong and abundant, rumbling behind the rocks, gathering its energies to break down the obstacles and gush out freely in the open, pouring its waters over the plain to fertilise it. When will the hour of this emergence come? When the moment arrives, it will burst forth, and time is nothing in Eternity. But what words can describe the immensity of joy brought by this inner accumulation, this deep concentration, of all the forces that are submissive to the manifestation of Thy Will of tomorrow, preparing to break over the world, drowning in their sovereign flood all that still persists in wanting to be the expression of Thy will of yesterday, so as to take possession of the earth in Thy Name and offer it to Thee as a completer image of Thyself.
1915 11 02p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It is Thou who wert the motive and the Goal; Thou art the worker and the work.
The personal existence is a canticle, perpetually renewed, which the universe offers up to Thy inconceivable Splendour.
19.16 - Of the Pleasant, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
One who abandons the Goal for the sake of the pleasant,
will envy those who are yoked to their soul.
1917 10 15p, #Prayers And Meditations, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Because Thou ledst me to the threshold of Thy splendour and gavest me the joy of Thy harmony, I thought I had reached the Goal: but, in truth, Thou hast regarded Thy instrument in the perfect clarity of Thy light and plunged it back into the crucible of the world that it may be melted anew and purified.
In these hours of an extreme and anguished aspiration I see, I feel myself drawn by Thee with a dizzy rapidity along the road of transformation and my whole being vibrates to a conscious contact with the Infinite.
19.25 - The Bhikkhu, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The Bhikkhu who has his mouth controlled, who speaks after taking thought, who is not pretentious, who moves to the Goal and is on the path, possesses a sweet utterance.
[5]
Wikipedia - Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached
Wikipedia - Boosterism -- Promoting a town or organization, with the goal of improving public perception of it
Wikipedia - Dunk tank -- Attraction with the goal of dropping a target into a tank of water
Wikipedia - Environmentalist -- Someone who supports the goals of the environmental movement
Wikipedia - Goaltender -- Person who blocks the goal in ice hockey
Wikipedia - Human Interference Task Force -- Task Force with the goal of reducing the likelihood of future humans unintentionally intruding on radioactive waste isolation systems.
Wikipedia - MEarth Project -- Robotic observatory to monitor the brightness of thousands of red dwarf stars with the goal of finding transiting planets.
Wikipedia - Moving the goalposts -- A metaphor originating from goal sports
Wikipedia - Over the Goal -- 1937 film by Noel M. Smith
Wikipedia - Parliament of the World's Religions -- Series of meetings with the goal of trying to create a global dialogue of faiths
Wikipedia - Phreaking -- Studying, experimenting with, and exploring telecommunication systems, often with the goal of making free calls
Wikipedia - Risk (game) -- Grand-strategy board-game with the goal of conquering the world.
Wikipedia - The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty -- 1972 film
Wikipedia - The Goalkeeper -- 2018 film
Wikipedia - Theodore the Goalkeeper -- 1950 film
Wikipedia - The Photo Ark -- Project with the goal of photographing all species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113934.The_Goal
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113934.The_Goal\
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13258049-the-boxer-and-the-goal-keeper
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1444718.The_Goalie_s_Anxiety_at_the_Penalty_Kick
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/172800.Beyond_the_Goal
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24928488-rushing-the-goal
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28262024-the-goal
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37640684-the-goal-setting-playbook
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/568166.The_Path_Is_the_Goal
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8125726-the-goal
Integral World - The Goals of an Integrative and Integral Spirituality, Lawrence Wollersheim
Psychology Wiki - Hinduism#The_goals_of_life
Psychology Wiki - Integral_yoga#The_goal_of_Integral_Yoga
Psychology Wiki - Positive_psychology#The_goal
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https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Konohamaru_Army_Corps!_Reach_the_Goal!
https://scratchpad.fandom.com/wiki/1._The_Goal_of_this_learning_community
Dagashi Kashi -- -- feel. -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Shounen Slice of Life -- Dagashi Kashi Dagashi Kashi -- Out in the countryside stands a sweet shop run by the Shikada family for nine generations: Shikada Dagashi, a small business selling traditional Japanese candy. However, despite his father's pleas, Kokonotsu Shikada, an aspiring manga artist, adamantly refuses to inherit the family business. -- -- However, this may start to change with the arrival of the eccentric Hotaru Shidare. Hotaru is in search of Kokonotsu's father, with the goal of bringing him back to work for her family's company, Shidare Corporation, a world famous sweets manufacturer. Although the senior Shikada initially refuses, he states that he will change his mind on one condition: if Hotaru can convince Kokonotsu to take over the family shop. And so begins Hotaru's mission to enlighten the boy on the true joy of delicious and nostalgic dagashi! -- -- 351,768 6.62
Dagashi Kashi -- -- feel. -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Shounen Slice of Life -- Dagashi Kashi Dagashi Kashi -- Out in the countryside stands a sweet shop run by the Shikada family for nine generations: Shikada Dagashi, a small business selling traditional Japanese candy. However, despite his father's pleas, Kokonotsu Shikada, an aspiring manga artist, adamantly refuses to inherit the family business. -- -- However, this may start to change with the arrival of the eccentric Hotaru Shidare. Hotaru is in search of Kokonotsu's father, with the goal of bringing him back to work for her family's company, Shidare Corporation, a world famous sweets manufacturer. Although the senior Shikada initially refuses, he states that he will change his mind on one condition: if Hotaru can convince Kokonotsu to take over the family shop. And so begins Hotaru's mission to enlighten the boy on the true joy of delicious and nostalgic dagashi! -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 351,768 6.62
Date A Live -- -- AIC PLUS+ -- 12 eps -- Light novel -- Sci-Fi Harem Comedy Romance Mecha School -- Date A Live Date A Live -- Thirty years ago, the Eurasian continent was devastated by a supermassive "spatial quake"—a phenomenon involving space vibrations of unknown origin—resulting in the deaths of over 150 million people. Since then, these quakes have been plaguing the world intermittently, albeit on a lighter scale. -- -- Shidou Itsuka is a seemingly average high school student who lives with his younger sister, Kotori. When an imminent spatial quake threatens the safety of Tengu City, he rushes to save her, only to be caught in the resulting eruption. He discovers a mysterious girl at its source, who is revealed to be a "Spirit," an otherworldly entity whose appearance triggers a spatial quake. Soon after, he becomes embroiled in a skirmish between the girl and the Anti-Spirit Team, a ruthless strike force with the goal of annihilating Spirits. -- -- However, there is a third party that believes in saving the spirits: "Ratatoskr," which surprisingly is commanded by Shidou's little sister! Kotori forcibly recruits Shidou after the clash, presenting to him an alternative method of dealing with the danger posed by the Spirits—make them fall in love with him. Now, the fate of the world rests on his dating prowess, as he seeks out Spirits in order to charm them. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 762,164 7.20
Dear Boys -- -- A.C.G.T. -- 26 eps -- Manga -- Drama Shounen Sports -- Dear Boys Dear Boys -- Aikawa Kazuhiko was the captain of Tendoji high school prestigious basketball team. He moves into a new town to attend Mizuho high school and joins its basketball team. However, Mizuho high's basketball team is far from being prestigious, in fact, it's now defunct. Nevertheless to say, Kazuhiko's persistence, passion and basketball skills inspired other team members of the dysfunctional basketball team to gear up and start practicing again. -- -- The goal is to play in the national tournaments where all young basketball players meet their opponents to compete with them. The tale of youth of the five protagonists: Fujiwara Takumi, Ishii Tsutomu, Dobashi Kenji, Miura Ranmaru and Aikawa Kazuhiko have just began along with the live of Mizuho high school basketball team. -- -- (Source: AnimeNfo) -- TV - Apr 7, 2003 -- 19,171 6.84
Dog Days -- -- Seven Arcs -- 13 eps -- Original -- Action Adventure Fantasy Magic -- Dog Days Dog Days -- Dog Days takes place in the world of Flonyard, an alternate Earth inhabited by beings who resemble humans, but also have the ears and tails of specific animals. The Republic of Biscotti, a union of dog-like citizens, has come under attack by the feline forces of the Galette Leo Knights. In an effort to save Biscotti, Princess Millhiore summons a champion from another world in order to defend her people. That champion is Cinque Izumi, a normal junior high student from Earth. -- -- Agreeing to assist Biscotti, Cinque retrieves a sacred weapon called the Palladion and prepares for war. In Flonyard, wars are fought with no casualties and are more akin to sports competitions with the goal of raising money for the participating kingdoms. Cinque is successful in his role as Biscotti’s champion, but learns that a summoned champion cannot be returned to their home world. The scientists of Biscotti will endeavor to find a way for Cinque to return home, but until they figure something out, he must serve Princess Millhiore by continuing to fight as Biscotti’s hero. -- TV - Apr 2, 2011 -- 166,546 6.94
Dragon Ball Z Movie 15: Fukkatsu no "F" -- -- Toei Animation -- 1 ep -- Manga -- Action Adventure Comedy Super Power Martial Arts Fantasy Shounen -- Dragon Ball Z Movie 15: Fukkatsu no "F" Dragon Ball Z Movie 15: Fukkatsu no "F" -- Earth is finally peaceful again, but this calm is short-lived. The remnants of Frieza's army, led by Sorbet and his right hand Tagoma, arrive on Earth in order to summon Shen Long with the goal of resurrecting their old master. To do so, they threaten Emperor Pilaf, Shuu, and Mai for the Dragon Balls in their possession. -- -- Once successfully revived, Frieza—who had been stoking his hatred for Gokuu Son and Future Trunks in Hell—proclaims that he will not be content until they are dead by his hand. Sorbet informs him that Future Trunks has not been heard of in years, and Gokuu's power has far surpassed even that of the mighty Majin Buu. Unfazed, Frieza responds that he only requires a few months of training before being capable of defeating Gokuu. -- -- Will Frieza be able to exact revenge upon his nemesis, or will Gokuu, Vegeta, and their friends prevail against adversity, saving Earth once more? -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- Movie - Apr 18, 2015 -- 126,747 7.09
Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou -- -- David Production -- 24 eps -- Manga -- Action Supernatural Shounen -- Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou -- After his confrontation in the Nether with his younger brother Shou, Shinra Kusakabe's resolve to become a hero that saves lives from the flame terror strengthens. Finding a way to turn the Infernals back into people, unraveling the mystery of the Evangelist and Adolla Burst, and saving his mother and Shou—these are the goals Shinra has in mind. However, he has come to realize that attaining these goals will not be easy, especially with the imminent danger the Evangelist poses. -- -- The Evangelist's plan is clear: to gather the eight pillars—the individuals who possess Adolla Burst—and sacrifice them to recreate the Great Cataclysm from 250 years ago. Having been revealed by the First Pillar that the birth of a new pillar is approaching, Shinra is determined to protect his fellow pillars from the Evangelist. Thus, the fiery battle between the Special Fire Force and the Evangelist ignites. Together with the Special Fire Force, Shinra's fight continues as he uncovers the truth about the Great Cataclysm and the nature of Adolla Bursts, as well as the mysteries behind human combustion. -- -- 402,357 7.75
Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou -- -- David Production -- 24 eps -- Manga -- Action Supernatural Shounen -- Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou -- After his confrontation in the Nether with his younger brother Shou, Shinra Kusakabe's resolve to become a hero that saves lives from the flame terror strengthens. Finding a way to turn the Infernals back into people, unraveling the mystery of the Evangelist and Adolla Burst, and saving his mother and Shou—these are the goals Shinra has in mind. However, he has come to realize that attaining these goals will not be easy, especially with the imminent danger the Evangelist poses. -- -- The Evangelist's plan is clear: to gather the eight pillars—the individuals who possess Adolla Burst—and sacrifice them to recreate the Great Cataclysm from 250 years ago. Having been revealed by the First Pillar that the birth of a new pillar is approaching, Shinra is determined to protect his fellow pillars from the Evangelist. Thus, the fiery battle between the Special Fire Force and the Evangelist ignites. Together with the Special Fire Force, Shinra's fight continues as he uncovers the truth about the Great Cataclysm and the nature of Adolla Bursts, as well as the mysteries behind human combustion. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 402,357 7.75
Grisaia: Phantom Trigger The Animation -- -- Bibury Animation Studios -- 2 eps -- Visual novel -- Action School -- Grisaia: Phantom Trigger The Animation Grisaia: Phantom Trigger The Animation -- Following the Heath Oslo incident, the existence of the US-Japanese anti-terror organization CIRS has become a matter of public knowledge. CIRS has been rebuilt from the ground up, and its most covert functions spun off to a new agency: SORD (Social Ops, Research & Development). -- -- The goal of SORD is to train a new generation of operatives to defend the country against future threats. To that end, the organization has established a series of schools up and down the country. Mihama Academy, more-or-less left to rot after its abrupt closure, has been given new purpose as one such 'specialist training school'. -- -- This new incarnation of Mihama Academy is home to a diverse group of students, who every day work to polish their unusual skills – sometimes on the job. Mihama now entrusts the misfit girls who attend it with guns and live ammunition. -- -- Paying their own safety no heed, these students are again and again plunged into dangerous extrajudicial missions - all for the good of the realm. -- -- "We've been provided with a place in the world. That alone isn't enough - there wouldn't be any meaning in living, if that was all we had... It's not enough just to be made use of by others. I live by my own strength, and I fight to survive. That's the only way those of us who actually make it through can find forgiveness..." -- -- No matter how much life grinds them down, what future awaits these girls, who've themselves chosen the path of the gun? -- -- (Source: Kickstarter) -- Movie - Mar 15, 2019 -- 60,507 6.97
Keijo!!!!!!!! -- -- Xebec -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Action Sports Ecchi Shounen -- Keijo!!!!!!!! Keijo!!!!!!!! -- Japan's latest competitive sport, keijo, is dictated by a simple set of rules: female-only participants must stand on circular platforms floating in a pool—referred to as "lands"—with the goal being to knocking off opponents using only their breasts and butts. Despite this outlandish premise, the sport attracts millions of viewers across the country and boasts a lavish prize pool. Many aspiring athletes take up the challenge in hopes of becoming the next national champion. -- -- After graduating from high school, the lively 17-year-old Nozomi Kaminashi enters the world of keijo, hoping to bring home a fortune to her poor family. As a gifted gymnast, Nozomi quickly proves herself a tough competitor after stealing the spotlight in her debut tournament. Meeting new friends and rivals as she climbs the ranks, Nozomi discovers that the path to stardom as a keijo player is filled with intense competition that will challenge not only her body, but also her soul. -- -- 312,337 7.00
Keijo!!!!!!!! -- -- Xebec -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Action Sports Ecchi Shounen -- Keijo!!!!!!!! Keijo!!!!!!!! -- Japan's latest competitive sport, keijo, is dictated by a simple set of rules: female-only participants must stand on circular platforms floating in a pool—referred to as "lands"—with the goal being to knocking off opponents using only their breasts and butts. Despite this outlandish premise, the sport attracts millions of viewers across the country and boasts a lavish prize pool. Many aspiring athletes take up the challenge in hopes of becoming the next national champion. -- -- After graduating from high school, the lively 17-year-old Nozomi Kaminashi enters the world of keijo, hoping to bring home a fortune to her poor family. As a gifted gymnast, Nozomi quickly proves herself a tough competitor after stealing the spotlight in her debut tournament. Meeting new friends and rivals as she climbs the ranks, Nozomi discovers that the path to stardom as a keijo player is filled with intense competition that will challenge not only her body, but also her soul. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 312,337 7.00
Knight's & Magic -- -- 8bit -- 13 eps -- Light novel -- Action Fantasy Mecha School -- Knight's & Magic Knight's & Magic -- Having died in a car accident, Tsubasa Kurata—an otaku from modern Japan—is reborn in the Fremmevilla Kingdom, a medieval world where powerful mechs called Silhouette Knights are used to fight horrific demonic beasts. -- -- Born into a noble family under the name of Ernesti Echevarria and bestowed with prodigious magical abilities, he enrolls into Royal Laihaila Academy. This school of magic trains young men and women on how to pilot the Silhouette Knights, prepping them to protect the kingdom from threats, both demonic and human. Ernesti teams up with the twins named Adeltrud and Archid Olter with the goal to create his own Silhouette Knight one day, a feat unheard of for several centuries. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 186,919 7.12
Kyoukai no Kanata Movie 2: I'll Be Here - Mirai-hen -- -- Kyoto Animation -- 1 ep -- Light novel -- Fantasy Slice of Life Supernatural -- Kyoukai no Kanata Movie 2: I'll Be Here - Mirai-hen Kyoukai no Kanata Movie 2: I'll Be Here - Mirai-hen -- After Akihito Kanbara reunites with Mirai Kuriyama—whom he believed had vanished after defeating Beyond the Boundary—he discovers a heartbreaking fact: Mirai has lost all memory of him, their friends, and her past as a Spirit Warrior. Akihito is utterly devastated, but realizes that she has a unique opportunity. Mirai can finally live the life of a normal girl—where she'll be completely devoid of the supernatural society that both shunned and used her. While it's all for the sake of Mirai's happiness, the price is costly—Akihito and his friends must keep her true origins a secret from her, and as a result avoid befriending her. -- -- However, the troubling memories of Mirai's old life gradually begin to resurface, and a mysterious new evil leads a group of shadow-like creatures into the city with the goal of seeking her out. As the situations become dire, Akihito must fight to protect himself, his closest friends, and Mirai—the bespectacled beauty he holds most dear. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- Movie - Apr 25, 2015 -- 197,970 8.19
Kyoukai no Kanata Movie 2: I'll Be Here - Mirai-hen -- -- Kyoto Animation -- 1 ep -- Light novel -- Fantasy Slice of Life Supernatural -- Kyoukai no Kanata Movie 2: I'll Be Here - Mirai-hen Kyoukai no Kanata Movie 2: I'll Be Here - Mirai-hen -- After Akihito Kanbara reunites with Mirai Kuriyama—whom he believed had vanished after defeating Beyond the Boundary—he discovers a heartbreaking fact: Mirai has lost all memory of him, their friends, and her past as a Spirit Warrior. Akihito is utterly devastated, but realizes that she has a unique opportunity. Mirai can finally live the life of a normal girl—where she'll be completely devoid of the supernatural society that both shunned and used her. While it's all for the sake of Mirai's happiness, the price is costly—Akihito and his friends must keep her true origins a secret from her, and as a result avoid befriending her. -- -- However, the troubling memories of Mirai's old life gradually begin to resurface, and a mysterious new evil leads a group of shadow-like creatures into the city with the goal of seeking her out. As the situations become dire, Akihito must fight to protect himself, his closest friends, and Mirai—the bespectacled beauty he holds most dear. -- -- Movie - Apr 25, 2015 -- 197,970 8.19
Magia Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Gaiden (TV) 2nd Season -- -- - -- ? eps -- Game -- Psychological Drama Magic Thriller -- Magia Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Gaiden (TV) 2nd Season Magia Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Gaiden (TV) 2nd Season -- 2nd Season of Magia Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Gaiden (TV). -- TV - ??? ??, ???? -- 19,214 N/A -- -- Dear Boys -- -- A.C.G.T. -- 26 eps -- Manga -- Drama Shounen Sports -- Dear Boys Dear Boys -- Aikawa Kazuhiko was the captain of Tendoji high school prestigious basketball team. He moves into a new town to attend Mizuho high school and joins its basketball team. However, Mizuho high's basketball team is far from being prestigious, in fact, it's now defunct. Nevertheless to say, Kazuhiko's persistence, passion and basketball skills inspired other team members of the dysfunctional basketball team to gear up and start practicing again. -- -- The goal is to play in the national tournaments where all young basketball players meet their opponents to compete with them. The tale of youth of the five protagonists: Fujiwara Takumi, Ishii Tsutomu, Dobashi Kenji, Miura Ranmaru and Aikawa Kazuhiko have just began along with the live of Mizuho high school basketball team. -- -- (Source: AnimeNfo) -- -- Licensor: -- Bandai Entertainment -- TV - Apr 7, 2003 -- 19,171 6.84
Schwarzesmarken -- -- ixtl, LIDENFILMS -- 12 eps -- Light novel -- Action Military Sci-Fi Historical Drama Mecha -- Schwarzesmarken Schwarzesmarken -- The year is 1983. The Cold War is in full effect, and humanity is under attack. Strange aliens, given the name "BETA," have descended to Earth with the goal of destroying all life. Soldiers have been tasked with piloting large combat suits called Tactical Surface Fighters (TSF) to repel the alien invaders, but the front line is slowly being pushed back towards the surviving cities. -- -- Schwarzesmarken follows the story of Second Lieutenant Theodor Eberbach and the other members of the 666th TSF squadron, a ruthless unit that values a mission's completion over human life. Stationed in East Germany and led by war hero Captain Irisdina Bernhard, the unit specializes in counterassault attacks on laser-class BETA. But the 666th squadron finds itself with more enemies than just the alien forces when optimistic rookie Katia Waldheim joins the squadron, drawing the attention of East Germany's secret police, the Stasi. -- -- 95,096 6.78
Tai-Ari deshita.: Ojou-sama wa Kakutou Game nante Shinai -- -- - -- ? eps -- Manga -- Game Comedy School Seinen Shoujo Ai -- Tai-Ari deshita.: Ojou-sama wa Kakutou Game nante Shinai Tai-Ari deshita.: Ojou-sama wa Kakutou Game nante Shinai -- A hot fighting game played at the girls' school!! -- -- Aya transferred into Kuromi Girls Academy a month ago with the goal of changing herself into a proper lady. After meeting the breathtaking Shirayuri, Aya is blown away by her elegance and posterity. Imagine her surprise when she finds Shirayuri after school playing... a fighting game?! And if that wasn't perplexing enough, she is challenged to a duel by the unladylike Shirayuri! -- -- (Source: MU) -- - - ??? ??, ???? -- 1,330 N/AShin Tennis no Ouji-sama: Hyoutei vs. Rikkai - Game of Future -- -- M.S.C, Studio Kai -- 2 eps -- Manga -- Game Sports School Shounen -- Shin Tennis no Ouji-sama: Hyoutei vs. Rikkai - Game of Future Shin Tennis no Ouji-sama: Hyoutei vs. Rikkai - Game of Future -- The new anime will tell an original story, featuring a match between the Hyoutei Academy Secondary Department led by Keigo Atobe and Rikkai University-Affiliated Middle School led by Seiichi Yukimura. The story was previously not depicted in the manga. -- -- (Source: MAL News) -- ONA - Feb 13, 2021 -- 1,326 N/A -- -- Hortensia Saga -- -- - -- 7 eps -- Game -- Game Fantasy -- Hortensia Saga Hortensia Saga -- Animated commercials for Sega's Hortensia Saga: Aoi no Kishidan mobile game. -- ONA - Mar 26, 2015 -- 1,289 N/A -- -- Fei Ren Xueyuan -- -- - -- 1 ep -- Game -- Action Game -- Fei Ren Xueyuan Fei Ren Xueyuan -- The 3-minute animated promotional short for the Chinese MOBA of the same name. -- ONA - Jun 25, 2018 -- 1,278 6.21
Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 3 -- -- - -- ? eps -- Light novel -- Action Adventure Drama Fantasy -- Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 3 Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 3 -- Third season of Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari. -- TV - ??? ??, ???? -- 127,135 N/ADragon Ball Z Movie 15: Fukkatsu no "F" -- -- Toei Animation -- 1 ep -- Manga -- Action Adventure Comedy Super Power Martial Arts Fantasy Shounen -- Dragon Ball Z Movie 15: Fukkatsu no "F" Dragon Ball Z Movie 15: Fukkatsu no "F" -- Earth is finally peaceful again, but this calm is short-lived. The remnants of Frieza's army, led by Sorbet and his right hand Tagoma, arrive on Earth in order to summon Shen Long with the goal of resurrecting their old master. To do so, they threaten Emperor Pilaf, Shuu, and Mai for the Dragon Balls in their possession. -- -- Once successfully revived, Frieza—who had been stoking his hatred for Gokuu Son and Future Trunks in Hell—proclaims that he will not be content until they are dead by his hand. Sorbet informs him that Future Trunks has not been heard of in years, and Gokuu's power has far surpassed even that of the mighty Majin Buu. Unfazed, Frieza responds that he only requires a few months of training before being capable of defeating Gokuu. -- -- Will Frieza be able to exact revenge upon his nemesis, or will Gokuu, Vegeta, and their friends prevail against adversity, saving Earth once more? -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- Movie - Apr 18, 2015 -- 126,747 7.09
Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached
Inspector Tahar scors the goal
Moving the goalposts
The Goaldiggers Song
The Goalkeeper
The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty
The Goal (novel)
The Goal Rush
Theodore the Goalkeeper
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