classes ::: Karma Yoga, path, God, Place, movement, noun,
children :::
branches ::: The Path

bookmarks: Instances - Definitions - Quotes - Chapters - Wordnet - Webgen


object:The Path
prior:before the Path, then Preparation?

--- NOTES
  what is on and what is off? ::: is being off the path a main offense
  the path of soberity

--- QUOTES
The perfect path ::: for each one the path which leads fastest to the Divine.
Spiritual ascension ::: fearless, regular, uninterrupted.
life is a choice ::: Life is a perpetual choice between truth and falsehood, light and darkness, progress and regression, the ascent towards the heights or a fall into the abyss. It is for each one to choose freely.

sunlit path of the gods ::: All was gold and gold and gold, a torrent of golden light pouring down in an uninterrupted flow and bringing with it the consciousness that the path of the gods is a sunlit path in which difficulties lose all reality. Such is the path open before us if we choose to take it.

- You take up the spiritual path only when you feel you cannot do otherwise.
- When the path is known it is easy to tread upon it.
- To follow the path to the end, one must be armed with a very patient endurance.
- On the spiritual path each step forward is a conquest and the result of a fight.

You can follow the meanderings of innumerable reincarnations or choose the steep and rapid path of intensive "sadhana".

For those whose destiny it is to scale the summits, the least false step risks being a mortal danger.

The path is long, but self-surrender makes it short; the way is difficult, but perfect trust makes it easy.
~ The Mother Words Of The Mother - II, Surrender to the Divine Will, Surrender

two paths ::: There are two paths of Yoga, one of tapasya (discipline), and the other of surrender. The path of tapasya is arduous. Here you rely solely upon yourself, you proceed by your own strength. You ascend and achieve according to the measure of your force. There is always the danger of falling down. And once you fall, you lie broken in the abyss and there is hardly a remedy. The other path, the path of surrender, is safe and sure. It is here, however, that the Western people find their difficulty. They have been taught to fear and avoid all that threatens their personal independence. They have imbibed with their mothers' milk the sense of individuality. And surrender means giving up all that. In other words, you may follow, as Ramakrishna says, either the path of the baby monkey or that of the baby cat. The baby monkey holds to its mother in order to be carried about and it must hold firm, otherwise if it loses its grip, it falls. On the other hand, the baby cat does not hold to its mother, but is held by the mother and has no fear nor responsibility; it has nothing to do but to let the mother hold it and cry ma ma.

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

--- PLACES AND WORLDS ALONG THE PATH

--- FALLING FROM THE PATH
When you fall from the contact, the first and only thing you have to do is to reestablish it - to remain quiet and open yourself. Everything else you must detach yourself from and reject. It is because you listen to ideas and suggestions of all kinds and still attach value to the old kind of "experiences", that you cannot reestablish the contact. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T4]


--- FOOTER

see also ::: PATHS --, the Sunlit Path, the Dark Path, the Path of Knowledge, the Path of Works, the Path of Devotion, the Integral Path, the Golden Bridge, the World-Stair, The Path of Later On, the Path of self-destruction, lesser paths,
see also ::: the Guide, Places, places where, the Steps, sincerity, insincerity, wander, the Circle, the Yoga, aimless

class:Karma Yoga
class:path
class:God
class:Place
class:movement
word class:noun










see also ::: aimless, insincerity, lesser_paths, PATHS_--, Places, places_where, sincerity, the_Circle, the_Dark_Path, the_Golden_Bridge, the_Guide, the_Integral_Path, the_Path_of_Devotion, the_Path_of_Knowledge, The_Path_of_Later_On, the_Path_of_self-destruction, the_Path_of_Works, the_Steps, the_Sunlit_Path, the_World-Stair, the_Yoga, wander

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



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


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

TOPICS
SEE ALSO

aimless
insincerity
lesser_paths
PATHS_--
Places
places_where
sincerity
the_Circle
the_Dark_Path
the_Golden_Bridge
the_Guide
the_Integral_Path
the_Path_of_Devotion
the_Path_of_Knowledge
The_Path_of_Later_On
the_Path_of_self-destruction
the_Path_of_Works
the_Steps
the_Sunlit_Path
the_World-Stair
the_Yoga
wander

AUTH

BOOKS
A_Garden_of_Pomegranates_-_An_Outline_of_the_Qabalah
A_Treatise_on_Cosmic_Fire
Awaken_the_Giant_Within
Confusion_Arises_as_Wisdom__Gampopa's_Heart_Advice_on_the_Path_of_Mahamudra
Essays_Divine_And_Human
Evolution_II
Full_Circle
Guided_Buddhist_Meditations__Essential_Practices_on_the_Stages_of_the_Path
Guru_Bhakti_Yoga
Heart_of_Matter
Journey_to_the_Lord_of_Power_-_A_Sufi_Manual_on_Retreat
Letters_On_Yoga
Letters_On_Yoga_II
Letters_On_Yoga_IV
Liber_157_-_The_Tao_Teh_King
Life_without_Death
Magick_Without_Tears
Modern_Man_in_Search_of_a_Soul
Mother_or_The_Divine_Materialism
My_Burning_Heart
Peace_Is_Every_Step__The_Path_of_Mindfulness_in_Everyday_Life
Process_and_Reality
Questions_And_Answers_1929-1931
Questions_And_Answers_1950-1951
Questions_And_Answers_1954
Questions_And_Answers_1955
Savitri
The_Act_of_Creation
The_Book_of_Secrets__Keys_to_Love_and_Meditation
The_Divine_Companion
The_Divine_Milieu
The_Essential_Songs_of_Milarepa
The_Heart_of_the_Path__Seeing_the_Guru_as_Buddha
The_Imitation_of_Christ
The_Mother_With_Letters_On_The_Mother
The_Path_Is_Everywhere__Uncovering_the_Jewels_Hidden_Within_You
The_Path_Of_Serenity_And_Insight__An_Explanation_Of_Buddhist_Jhanas
The_Path_to_Enlightenment
The_Perennial_Philosophy
The_Republic
The_Seals_of_Wisdom
The_Tarot_of_Paul_Christian
The_Way_of_Perfection
The_Yoga_Sutras
Three_Books_on_Occult_Philosophy
Words_Of_Long_Ago
Words_Of_The_Mother_II

IN CHAPTERS TITLE
1.01_-_The_Path_of_Later_On
1.04_-_The_Paths
1.3.5.05_-_The_Path
1.74_-_Obstacles_on_the_Path
19.20_-_The_Path
1951-02-12_-_Divine_force_-_Signs_indicating_readiness_-_Weakness_in_mind,_vital_-_concentration_-_Divine_perception,_human_notion_of_good,_bad_-_Conversion,_consecration_-_progress_-_Signs_of_entering_the_path_-_kinds_of_meditation_-_aspiration
1954-12-22_-_Possession_by_hostile_forces_-_Purity_and_morality_-_Faith_in_the_final_success_-Drawing_back_from_the_path
1955-07-20_-_The_Impersonal_Divine_-_Surrender_to_the_Divine_brings_perfect_freedom_-_The_Divine_gives_Himself_-_The_principle_of_the_inner_dimensions_-_The_paths_of_aspiration_and_surrender_-_Linear_and_spherical_paths_and_realisations
1.asak_-_Piousness_and_the_path_of_love
1.hs_-_The_path_consists_of_neither_words_nor_deeds
2.01_-_The_Path
4.0_-_The_Path_of_Knowledge

IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

IN CHAPTERS TEXT
0_0.01_-_Introduction
00.01_-_The_Approach_to_Mysticism
00.01_-_The_Mother_on_Savitri
00.03_-_Upanishadic_Symbolism
00.05_-_A_Vedic_Conception_of_the_Poet
0.00a_-_Introduction
0.00_-_INTRODUCTION
0.00_-_The_Book_of_Lies_Text
0.01_-_Life_and_Yoga
0.02_-_II_-_The_Home_of_the_Guru
0.04_-_The_Systems_of_Yoga
0.05_-_Letters_to_a_Child
0.05_-_The_Synthesis_of_the_Systems
0.06_-_Letters_to_a_Young_Sadhak
0.08_-_Letters_to_a_Young_Captain
0.09_-_Letters_to_a_Young_Teacher
01.01_-_A_Yoga_of_the_Art_of_Life
01.01_-_Sri_Aurobindo_-_The_Age_of_Sri_Aurobindo
01.01_-_The_One_Thing_Needful
01.01_-_The_Symbol_Dawn
01.02_-_The_Creative_Soul
01.02_-_The_Issue
01.03_-_Sri_Aurobindo_and_his_School
01.03_-_The_Yoga_of_the_King_-_The_Yoga_of_the_Souls_Release
01.04_-_The_Poetry_in_the_Making
01.05_-_The_Nietzschean_Antichrist
01.06_-_Vivekananda
01.08_-_Walter_Hilton:_The_Scale_of_Perfection
0.10_-_Letters_to_a_Young_Captain
01.12_-_Three_Degrees_of_Social_Organisation
0.11_-_Letters_to_a_Sadhak
0_1954-08-25_-_what_is_this_personality?_and_when_will_she_come?
0_1956-12-12
0_1957-10-08
0_1957-10-18
0_1957-11-12
0_1958-05-10
0_1958-07-02
0_1959-05-19_-_Ascending_and_Descending_paths
0_1960-01-28
0_1960-11-26
0_1961-01-22
0_1961-01-24
0_1961-02-07
0_1961-04-18
0_1961-07-12
0_1961-07-15
0_1961-07-28
0_1961-08-02
0_1961-09-30
0_1962-02-27
0_1962-05-15
0_1962-05-24
0_1962-05-31
0_1962-07-21
0_1962-09-08
0_1962-10-30
0_1963-07-03
0_1963-08-07
0_1963-10-26
0_1963-12-14
0_1963-12-31
0_1964-03-07
0_1964-08-26
0_1964-09-26
0_1964-09-30
0_1964-10-24a
0_1964-10-30
0_1965-04-17
0_1965-09-25
0_1966-03-26
0_1966-11-09
0_1967-07-26
0_1967-08-30
0_1967-09-03
0_1968-05-22
0_1968-06-12
0_1968-09-07
0_1968-10-26
0_1968-10-30
0_1968-11-13
0_1969-03-01
0_1969-05-31
0_1969-09-06
0_1969-10-18
0_1970-08-01
0_1971-04-17
0_1971-05-08
0_1971-05-12
0_1971-05-26
0_1971-12-11
0_1971-12-29a
0_1973-03-03
02.01_-_A_Vedic_Story
02.01_-_The_World_War
02.02_-_Lines_of_the_Descent_of_Consciousness
02.11_-_Hymn_to_Darkness
02.12_-_The_Heavens_of_the_Ideal
03.01_-_The_New_Year_Initiation
03.02_-_Yogic_Initiation_and_Aptitude
03.03_-_Arjuna_or_the_Ideal_Disciple
03.04_-_The_Vision_and_the_Boon
03.05_-_Some_Conceptions_and_Misconceptions
03.05_-_The_Spiritual_Genius_of_India
03.07_-_The_Sunlit_Path
03.09_-_Buddhism_and_Hinduism
03.10_-_The_Mission_of_Buddhism
04.02_-_The_Growth_of_the_Flame
04.03_-_Consciousness_as_Energy
04.04_-_Evolution_of_the_Spiritual_Consciousness
04.06_-_Evolution_of_the_Spiritual_Consciousness
04.09_-_Values_Higher_and_Lower
04.41_-_To_the_Heights-XLI
05.02_-_Gods_Labour
05.03_-_Satyavan_and_Savitri
05.06_-_Physics_or_philosophy
05.24_-_Process_of_Purification
06.01_-_The_Word_of_Fate
06.02_-_The_Way_of_Fate_and_the_Problem_of_Pain
06.29_-_Towards_Redemption
07.03_-_The_Entry_into_the_Inner_Countries
07.04_-_The_Triple_Soul-Forces
07.13_-_Divine_Justice
08.01_-_Choosing_To_Do_Yoga
08.17_-_Psychological_Perfection
08.31_-_Personal_Effort_and_Surrender
09.01_-_Towards_the_Black_Void
10.01_-_A_Dream
1.001_-_The_Opening
10.03_-_The_Debate_of_Love_and_Death
10.04_-_The_Dream_Twilight_of_the_Earthly_Real
1.004_-_Women
1.006_-_Livestock
1.007_-_Initial_Steps_in_Yoga_Practice
1.007_-_The_Elevations
1.008_-_The_Spoils
1.009_-_Repentance
1.00a_-_DIVISION_A_-_THE_INTERNAL_FIRES_OF_THE_SHEATHS.
1.00a_-_Introduction
1.00b_-_DIVISION_B_-_THE_PERSONALITY_RAY_AND_FIRE_BY_FRICTION
1.00c_-_DIVISION_C_-_THE_ETHERIC_BODY_AND_PRANA
1.00d_-_DIVISION_D_-_KUNDALINI_AND_THE_SPINE
1.00e_-_DIVISION_E_-_MOTION_ON_THE_PHYSICAL_AND_ASTRAL_PLANES
1.00_-_Main
1.00_-_Preface
1.00_-_The_way_of_what_is_to_come
1.010_-_Jonah
1.011_-_Hud
1.013_-_Thunder
1.014_-_Abraham
1.016_-_The_Bee
10.16_-_The_Relative_Best
1.01_-_Archetypes_of_the_Collective_Unconscious
1.01f_-_Introduction
1.01_-_Foreward
1.01_-_Fundamental_Considerations
1.01_-_How_is_Knowledge_Of_The_Higher_Worlds_Attained?
1.01_-_Introduction
1.01_-_MAPS_OF_EXPERIENCE_-_OBJECT_AND_MEANING
1.01_-_Newtonian_and_Bergsonian_Time
1.01_-_On_knowledge_of_the_soul,_and_how_knowledge_of_the_soul_is_the_key_to_the_knowledge_of_God.
1.01_-_Soul_and_God
1.01_-_Tara_the_Divine
1.01_-_The_Castle
1.01_-_The_Four_Aids
1.01_-_The_Highest_Meaning_of_the_Holy_Truths
1.01_-_The_Human_Aspiration
1.01_-_The_Path_of_Later_On
1.01_-_The_Unexpected
1.01_-_Who_is_Tara
1.022_-_The_Pilgrimage
1.02.3.2_-_Knowledge_and_Ignorance
1.023_-_The_Believers
1.027_-_The_Ant
1.029_-_The_Spider
1.02_-_MAPS_OF_MEANING_-_THREE_LEVELS_OF_ANALYSIS
1.02_-_Meditating_on_Tara
1.02_-_On_the_Knowledge_of_God.
1.02_-_Outline_of_Practice
1.02_-_Self-Consecration
1.02_-_Skillful_Means
1.02_-_Taras_Tantra
1.02_-_The_Concept_of_the_Collective_Unconscious
1.02_-_The_Development_of_Sri_Aurobindos_Thought
1.02_-_The_Great_Process
1.02_-_THE_NATURE_OF_THE_GROUND
1.02_-_The_Stages_of_Initiation
1.02_-_The_Three_European_Worlds
1.02_-_The_Ultimate_Path_is_Without_Difficulty
1.031_-_Luqman
1.032_-_Our_Concept_of_God
1.033_-_The_Confederates
1.034_-_Sheba
10.36_-_Cling_to_Truth
1.036_-_The_Rise_of_Obstacles_in_Yoga_Practice
1.036_-_Ya-Seen
1.037_-_Preventing_the_Fall_in_Yoga
1.03_-_A_Parable
1.03_-_APPRENTICESHIP_AND_ENCULTURATION_-_ADOPTION_OF_A_SHARED_MAP
1.03_-_Bloodstream_Sermon
1.03_-_Hymns_of_Gritsamada
1.03_-_Invocation_of_Tara
1.03_-_On_Children
1.03_-_On_Knowledge_of_the_World.
1.03_-_Preparing_for_the_Miraculous
1.03_-_Self-Surrender_in_Works_-_The_Way_of_The_Gita
1.03_-_Some_Practical_Aspects
1.03_-_Sympathetic_Magic
1.03_-_Tara,_Liberator_from_the_Eight_Dangers
1.03_-_THE_GRAND_OPTION
1.03_-_THE_ORPHAN,_THE_WIDOW,_AND_THE_MOON
1.03_-_The_Sephiros
1.03_-_The_Sunlit_Path
1.03_-_To_Layman_Ishii
1.03_-_VISIT_TO_VIDYASAGAR
1.040_-_Forgiver
1.042_-_Consultation
1.043_-_Decorations
1.047_-_Muhammad
1.04_-_ADVICE_TO_HOUSEHOLDERS
1.04_-_GOD_IN_THE_WORLD
1.04_-_On_Knowledge_of_the_Future_World.
1.04_-_Sounds
1.04_-_THE_APPEARANCE_OF_ANOMALY_-_CHALLENGE_TO_THE_SHARED_MAP
1.04_-_The_Conditions_of_Esoteric_Training
1.04_-_The_Core_of_the_Teaching
1.04_-_The_Crossing_of_the_First_Threshold
1.04_-_The_Discovery_of_the_Nation-Soul
1.04_-_The_Divine_Mother_-_This_Is_She
1.04_-_The_Fork_in_the_Road
1.04_-_The_Gods_of_the_Veda
1.04_-_The_Paths
1.04_-_The_Praise
1.04_-_The_Qabalah__The_Best_Training_for_Memory
1.04_-_The_Sacrifice_the_Triune_Path_and_the_Lord_of_the_Sacrifice
1.04_-_The_Silent_Mind
1.04_-_THE_STUDY_(The_Compact)
1.04_-_What_Arjuna_Saw_-_the_Dark_Side_of_the_Force
1.05_-_BOOK_THE_FIFTH
1.05_-_Buddhism_and_Women
1.05_-_Consciousness
1.05_-_Hsueh_Feng's_Grain_of_Rice
1.05_-_Hymns_of_Bharadwaja
1.05_-_Morality_and_War
1.05_-_Ritam
1.05_-_Some_Results_of_Initiation
1.05_-_The_Ascent_of_the_Sacrifice_-_The_Psychic_Being
1.05_-_The_Destiny_of_the_Individual
1.05_-_THE_HOSTILE_BROTHERS_-_ARCHETYPES_OF_RESPONSE_TO_THE_UNKNOWN
1.05_-_The_Magical_Control_of_the_Weather
1.05_-_THE_MASTER_AND_KESHAB
1.05_-_The_New_Consciousness
1.05_-_To_Know_How_To_Suffer
1.05_-_Work_and_Teaching
1.060_-_Tracing_the_Ultimate_Cause_of_Any_Experience
1.06_-_Agni_and_the_Truth
1.06_-_Being_Human_and_the_Copernican_Principle
1.06_-_Hymns_of_Parashara
1.06_-_Man_in_the_Universe
1.06_-_Origin_of_the_four_castes
1.06_-_Psychic_Education
1.06_-_Quieting_the_Vital
1.06_-_The_Ascent_of_the_Sacrifice_2_The_Works_of_Love_-_The_Works_of_Life
1.06_-_The_Breaking_of_the_Limits
1.06_-_The_Literal_Qabalah
1.06_-_THE_MASTER_WITH_THE_BRAHMO_DEVOTEES
1.06_-_Yun_Men's_Every_Day_is_a_Good_Day
1.072_-_The_Jinn
1.07_-_A_Song_of_Longing_for_Tara,_the_Infallible
1.07_-_Bridge_across_the_Afterlife
1.07_-_Cybernetics_and_Psychopathology
1.07_-_Hymn_of_Paruchchhepa
1.07_-_Medicine_and_Psycho_therapy
1.07_-_Production_of_the_mind-born_sons_of_Brahma
1.07_-_The_Ego_and_the_Dualities
1.07_-_The_Fire_of_the_New_World
1.07_-_The_Literal_Qabalah_(continued)
1.07_-_THE_MASTER_AND_VIJAY_GOSWAMI
1.07_-_The_Process_of_Evolution
1.07_-_The_Psychic_Center
1.07_-_TRUTH
1.08_-_Adhyatma_Yoga
1.08a_-_The_Ladder
1.08_-_Attendants
1.08_-_BOOK_THE_EIGHTH
1.08_-_Departmental_Kings_of_Nature
1.08_-_Independence_from_the_Physical
1.08_-_RELIGION_AND_TEMPERAMENT
1.08_-_The_Change_of_Vision
1.08_-_The_Depths_of_the_Divine
1.08_-_The_Four_Austerities_and_the_Four_Liberations
1.08_-_The_Gods_of_the_Veda_-_The_Secret_of_the_Veda
1.08_-_THE_MASTERS_BIRTHDAY_CELEBRATION_AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.08_-_The_Supreme_Discovery
1.08_-_The_Supreme_Will
1.09_-_ADVICE_TO_THE_BRAHMOS
1.09_-_Fundamental_Questions_of_Psycho_therapy
1.09_-_Kundalini_Yoga
1.09_-_Taras_Ultimate_Nature
1.09_-_The_Guardian_of_the_Threshold
1.09_-_The_Secret_Chiefs
1.09_-_To_the_Students,_Young_and_Old
1.1.01_-_Seeking_the_Divine
11.01_-_The_Opening_Scene_of_Savitri
1.1.02_-_The_Aim_of_the_Integral_Yoga
11.02_-_The_Golden_Life-line
1.1.05_-_The_Siddhis
1.107_-_The_Bestowal_of_a_Divine_Gift
1.10_-_BOOK_THE_TENTH
1.10_-_Life_and_Death._The_Greater_Guardian_of_the_Threshold
1.10_-_The_Revolutionary_Yogi
1.10_-_The_Roughly_Material_Plane_or_the_Material_World
1.10_-_The_Yoga_of_the_Intelligent_Will
11.14_-_Our_Finest_Hour
1.11_-_The_Change_of_Power
1.11_-_The_Kalki_Avatar
1.11_-_The_Master_of_the_Work
1.11_-_The_Seven_Rivers
1.11_-_The_Soul_or_the_Astral_Body
1.11_-_WITH_THE_DEVOTEES_AT_DAKSHINEWAR
1.11_-_Works_and_Sacrifice
1.12_-_Brute_Neighbors
1.1.2_-_Commentary
1.12_-_Delight_of_Existence_-_The_Solution
1.12_-_God_Departs
1.12_-_The_Divine_Work
1.12_-_THE_FESTIVAL_AT_PNIHTI
1.12_-_The_Herds_of_the_Dawn
1.12_-_The_Significance_of_Sacrifice
1.13_-_And_Then?
1.13_-_Conclusion_-_He_is_here
1.13_-_Dawn_and_the_Truth
1.13_-_Gnostic_Symbols_of_the_Self
1.13_-_SALVATION,_DELIVERANCE,_ENLIGHTENMENT
1.13_-_System_of_the_O.T.O.
1.13_-_THE_MASTER_AND_M.
1.13_-_The_Supermind_and_the_Yoga_of_Works
1.14_-_INSTRUCTION_TO_VAISHNAVS_AND_BRHMOS
1.14_-_The_Principle_of_Divine_Works
1.14_-_The_Secret
1.14_-_The_Suprarational_Beauty
1.14_-_The_Victory_Over_Death
1.14_-_TURMOIL_OR_GENESIS?
1.15_-_ON_THE_THOUSAND_AND_ONE_GOALS
1.15_-_Sex_Morality
1.15_-_The_world_overrun_with_trees;_they_are_destroyed_by_the_Pracetasas
1.1.5_-_Thought_and_Knowledge
1.16_-_Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Evocational_Magic
1.16_-_On_Self-Knowledge
1.16_-_PRAYER
1.16_-_The_Season_of_Truth
1.16_-_WITH_THE_DEVOTEES_AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.17_-_Astral_Journey__Example,_How_to_do_it,_How_to_Verify_your_Experience
1.17_-_God
1.17_-_M._AT_DAKSHINEWAR
1.17_-_SUFFERING
1.17_-_The_Divine_Birth_and_Divine_Works
1.17_-_The_Seven-Headed_Thought,_Swar_and_the_Dashagwas
1.17_-_The_Transformation
1.18_-_Further_rules_for_the_Tragic_Poet.
1.18_-_M._AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.18_-_The_Human_Fathers
1.19_-_Tabooed_Acts
1.19_-_THE_MASTER_AND_HIS_INJURED_ARM
1.19_-_The_Victory_of_the_Fathers
1.200-1.224_Talks
1.2.01_-_The_Call_and_the_Capacity
1.2.02_-_Qualities_Needed_for_Sadhana
12.03_-_The_Sorrows_of_God
1.2.08_-_Faith
12.09_-_The_Story_of_Dr._Faustus_Retold
1.20_-_Equality_and_Knowledge
1.20_-_RULES_FOR_HOUSEHOLDERS_AND_MONKS
1.20_-_The_Hound_of_Heaven
12.10_-_The_Sunlit_Path
1.2.11_-_Patience_and_Perseverance
1.21_-_Tabooed_Things
1.21_-_The_Ascent_of_Life
1.22_-_ADVICE_TO_AN_ACTOR
1.22_-_The_Necessity_of_the_Spiritual_Transformation
1.23_-_Escape_from_the_Malabranche._The_Sixth_Bolgia__Hypocrites._Catalano_and_Loderingo._Caiaphas.
1.23_-_FESTIVAL_AT_SURENDRAS_HOUSE
1.23_-_Improvising_a_Temple
1.23_-_On_mad_price,_and,_in_the_same_Step,_on_unclean_and_blasphemous_thoughts.
1.23_-_Our_Debt_to_the_Savage
1.240_-_1.300_Talks
1.240_-_Talks_2
1.24_-_PUNDIT_SHASHADHAR
1.2.4_-_Speech_and_Yoga
1.25_-_ADVICE_TO_PUNDIT_SHASHADHAR
1.25_-_SPIRITUAL_EXERCISES
1.26_-_FESTIVAL_AT_ADHARS_HOUSE
1.27_-_AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.28_-_The_Killing_of_the_Tree-Spirit
1.2_-_Katha_Upanishads
1.300_-_1.400_Talks
1.3.03_-_Quiet_and_Calm
1.30_-_Do_you_Believe_in_God?
1.3.1.02_-_The_Object_of_Our_Yoga
1.34_-_The_Tao_1
1.3.5.05_-_The_Path
1.35_-_The_Tao_2
1.3_-_Mundaka_Upanishads
1.400_-_1.450_Talks
14.05_-_The_Golden_Rule
14.06_-_Liberty,_Self-Control_and_Friendship
1.439
1.44_-_Serious_Style_of_A.C.,_or_the_Apparent_Frivolity_of_Some_of_my_Remarks
1.45_-_Unserious_Conduct_of_a_Pupil
1.49_-_Thelemic_Morality
15.03_-_A_Canadian_Question
15.06_-_Words,_Words,_Words...
1.52_-_Family_-_Public_Enemy_No._1
1.53_-_Mother-Love
1.53_-_The_Propitation_of_Wild_Animals_By_Hunters
1.550_-_1.600_Talks
1.55_-_The_Transference_of_Evil
1.63_-_Fear,_a_Bad_Astral_Vision
1.65_-_Man
1.69_-_Original_Sin
17.01_-_Hymn_to_Dawn
17.03_-_Agni_and_the_Gods
1.70_-_Morality_1
17.11_-_A_Prayer
1.71_-_Morality_2
1.72_-_Education
1.74_-_Obstacles_on_the_Path
18.04_-_Modern_Poems
18.05_-_Ashram_Poets
1913_02_12p
1913_08_17p
1913_12_13p
1913_12_16p
19.13_-_Of_the_World
1914_01_08p
1914_03_30p
1914_04_03p
1914_04_19p
1914_04_20p
1914_06_20p
1914_08_20p
1914_08_24p
1914_08_25p
1914_09_04p
1914_11_20p
19.14_-_The_Awakened
19.15_-_On_Happiness
19.19_-_Of_the_Just
19.20_-_The_Path
19.21_-_Miscellany
19.23_-_Of_the_Elephant
19.25_-_The_Bhikkhu
19.26_-_The_Brahmin
1929-04-07_-_Yoga,_for_the_sake_of_the_Divine_-_Concentration_-_Preparations_for_Yoga,_to_be_conscious_-_Yoga_and_humanity_-_We_have_all_met_in_previous_lives
1929-04-14_-_Dangers_of_Yoga_-_Two_paths,_tapasya_and_surrender_-_Impulses,_desires_and_Yoga_-_Difficulties_-_Unification_around_the_psychic_being_-_Ambition,_undoing_of_many_Yogis_-_Powers,_misuse_and_right_use_of_-_How_to_recognise_the_Divine_Will_-_Accept_things_that_come_from_Divine_-_Vital_devotion_-_Need_of_strong_body_and_nerves_-_Inner_being,_invariable
1929-05-19_-_Mind_and_its_workings,_thought-forms_-_Adverse_conditions_and_Yoga_-_Mental_constructions_-_Illness_and_Yoga
1929-06-09_-_Nature_of_religion_-_Religion_and_the_spiritual_life_-_Descent_of_Divine_Truth_and_Force_-_To_be_sure_of_your_religion,_country,_family-choose_your_own_-_Religion_and_numbers
1929-06-16_-_Illness_and_Yoga_-_Subtle_body_(nervous_envelope)_-_Fear_and_illness
1938_08_17p
1951-02-03_-_What_is_Yoga?_for_what?_-_Aspiration,_seeking_the_Divine._-_Process_of_yoga,_renouncing_the_ego.
1951-02-05_-_Surrender_and_tapasya_-_Dealing_with_difficulties,_sincerity,_spiritual_discipline_-_Narrating_experiences_-_Vital_impulse_and_will_for_progress
1951-02-08_-_Unifying_the_being_-_ideas_of_good_and_bad_-_Miracles_-_determinism_-_Supreme_Will_-_Distinguishing_the_voice_of_the_Divine
1951-02-12_-_Divine_force_-_Signs_indicating_readiness_-_Weakness_in_mind,_vital_-_concentration_-_Divine_perception,_human_notion_of_good,_bad_-_Conversion,_consecration_-_progress_-_Signs_of_entering_the_path_-_kinds_of_meditation_-_aspiration
1951-02-17_-_False_visions_-_Offering_ones_will_-_Equilibrium_-_progress_-_maturity_-_Ardent_self-giving-_perfecting_the_instrument_-_Difficulties,_a_help_in_total_realisation_-_paradoxes_-_Sincerity_-_spontaneous_meditation
1951-03-01_-_Universe_and_the_Divine_-_Freedom_and_determinism_-_Grace_-_Time_and_Creation-_in_the_Supermind_-_Work_and_its_results_-_The_psychic_being_-_beauty_and_love_-_Flowers-_beauty_and_significance_-_Choice_of_reincarnating_psychic_being
1951-03-24_-_Descent_of_Divine_Love,_of_Consciousness_-_Earth-_a_symbolic_formation_-_the_Divine_Presence_-_The_psychic_being_and_other_worlds_-_Divine_Love_and_Grace_-_Becoming_consaious_of_Divine_Love_-_Finding_ones_psychic_being_-_Responsibility
1951-03-26_-_Losing_all_to_gain_all_-_psychic_being_-_Transforming_the_vital_-_physical_habits_-_the_subconscient_-_Overcoming_difficulties_-_weakness,_an_insincerity_-_to_change_the_world_-_Psychic_source,_flash_of_experience_-_preparation_for_yoga
1951-03-29_-_The_Great_Vehicle_and_The_Little_Vehicle_-_Choosing_ones_family,_country_-_The_vital_being_distorted_-_atavism_-_Sincerity_-_changing_ones_character
1951-04-05_-_Illusion_and_interest_in_action_-_The_action_of_the_divine_Grace_and_the_ego_-_Concentration,_aspiration,_will,_inner_silence_-_Value_of_a_story_or_a_language_-_Truth_-_diversity_in_the_world
1953-04-01
1953-04-08
1953-04-15
1953-05-27
1953-06-03
1953-07-15
1953-07-22
1953-07-29
1953-09-09
1953-11-11
1953-12-09
1954-02-17_-_Experience_expressed_in_different_ways_-_Origin_of_the_psychic_being_-_Progress_in_sports_-Everything_is_not_for_the_best
1954-05-05_-_Faith,_trust,_confidence_-_Insincerity_and_unconsciousness
1954-05-12_-_The_Purusha_-_Surrender_-_Distinguishing_between_influences_-_Perfect_sincerity
1954-07-21_-_Mistakes_-_Success_-_Asuras_-_Mental_arrogance_-_Difficulty_turned_into_opportunity_-_Mothers_use_of_flowers_-_Conversion_of_men_governed_by_adverse_forces
1954-08-25_-_Ananda_aspect_of_the_Mother_-_Changing_conditions_in_the_Ashram_-_Ascetic_discipline_-_Mothers_body
1954-09-15_-_Parts_of_the_being_-_Thoughts_and_impulses_-_The_subconscient_-_Precise_vocabulary_-_The_Grace_and_difficulties
1954-10-06_-_What_happens_is_for_the_best_-_Blaming_oneself_-Experiences_-_The_vital_desire-soul_-Creating_a_spiritual_atmosphere_-Thought_and_Truth
1954-12-22_-_Possession_by_hostile_forces_-_Purity_and_morality_-_Faith_in_the_final_success_-Drawing_back_from_the_path
1955-02-16_-_Losing_something_given_by_Mother_-_Using_things_well_-_Sadhak_collecting_soap-pieces_-_What_things_are_truly_indispensable_-_Natures_harmonious_arrangement_-_Riches_a_curse,_philanthropy_-_Misuse_of_things_creates_misery
1955-03-09_-_Psychic_directly_contacted_through_the_physical_-_Transforming_egoistic_movements_-_Work_of_the_psychic_being_-_Contacting_the_psychic_and_the_Divine_-_Experiences_of_different_kinds_-_Attacks_of_adverse_forces
1955-03-30_-_Yoga-shakti_-_Energies_of_the_earth,_higher_and_lower_-_Illness,_curing_by_yogic_means_-_The_true_self_and_the_psychic_-_Solving_difficulties_by_different_methods
1955-04-27_-_Symbolic_dreams_and_visions_-_Curing_pain_by_various_methods_-_Different_states_of_consciousness_-_Seeing_oneself_dead_in_a_dream_-_Exteriorisation
1955-05-25_-_Religion_and_reason_-_true_role_and_field_-_an_obstacle_to_or_minister_of_the_Spirit_-_developing_and_meaning_-_Learning_how_to_live,_the_elite_-_Reason_controls_and_organises_life_-_Nature_is_infrarational
1955-06-08_-_Working_for_the_Divine_-_ideal_attitude_-_Divine_manifesting_-_reversal_of_consciousness,_knowing_oneself_-_Integral_progress,_outer,_inner,_facing_difficulties_-_People_in_Ashram_-_doing_Yoga_-_Children_given_freedom,_choosing_yoga
1955-07-06_-_The_psychic_and_the_central_being_or_jivatman_-_Unity_and_multiplicity_in_the_Divine_-_Having_experiences_and_the_ego_-_Mental,_vital_and_physical_exteriorisation_-_Imagination_has_a_formative_power_-_The_function_of_the_imagination
1955-07-13_-_Cosmic_spirit_and_cosmic_consciousness_-_The_wall_of_ignorance,_unity_and_separation_-_Aspiration_to_understand,_to_know,_to_be_-_The_Divine_is_in_the_essence_of_ones_being_-_Realising_desires_through_the_imaginaton
1955-07-20_-_The_Impersonal_Divine_-_Surrender_to_the_Divine_brings_perfect_freedom_-_The_Divine_gives_Himself_-_The_principle_of_the_inner_dimensions_-_The_paths_of_aspiration_and_surrender_-_Linear_and_spherical_paths_and_realisations
1955-09-21_-_Literature_and_the_taste_for_forms_-_The_characters_of_The_Great_Secret_-_How_literature_helps_us_to_progress_-_Reading_to_learn_-_The_commercial_mentality_-_How_to_choose_ones_books_-_Learning_to_enrich_ones_possibilities_...
1955-10-05_-_Science_and_Ignorance_-_Knowledge,_science_and_the_Buddha_-_Knowing_by_identification_-_Discipline_in_science_and_in_Buddhism_-_Progress_in_the_mental_field_and_beyond_it
1955-10-26_-_The_Divine_and_the_universal_Teacher_-_The_power_of_the_Word_-_The_Creative_Word,_the_mantra_-_Sound,_music_in_other_worlds_-_The_domains_of_pure_form,_colour_and_ideas
1955-11-02_-_The_first_movement_in_Yoga_-_Interiorisation,_finding_ones_soul_-_The_Vedic_Age_-_An_incident_about_Vivekananda_-_The_imaged_language_of_the_Vedas_-_The_Vedic_Rishis,_involutionary_beings_-_Involution_and_evolution
1955-11-16_-_The_significance_of_numbers_-_Numbers,_astrology,_true_knowledge_-_Divines_Love_flowers_for_Kali_puja_-_Desire,_aspiration_and_progress_-_Determining_ones_approach_to_the_Divine_-_Liberation_is_obtained_through_austerities_-_...
1955-11-23_-_One_reality,_multiple_manifestations_-_Integral_Yoga,_approach_by_all_paths_-_The_supreme_man_and_the_divine_man_-_Miracles_and_the_logic_of_events
1956-01-04_-_Integral_idea_of_the_Divine_-_All_things_attracted_by_the_Divine_-_Bad_things_not_in_place_-_Integral_yoga_-_Moving_idea-force,_ideas_-_Consequences_of_manifestation_-_Work_of_Spirit_via_Nature_-_Change_consciousness,_change_world
1956-02-01_-_Path_of_knowledge_-_Finding_the_Divine_in_life_-_Capacity_for_contact_with_the_Divine_-_Partial_and_total_identification_with_the_Divine_-_Manifestation_and_hierarchy
1956-02-15_-_Nature_and_the_Master_of_Nature_-_Conscious_intelligence_-_Theory_of_the_Gita,_not_the_whole_truth_-_Surrender_to_the_Lord_-_Change_of_nature
1956-02-22_-_Strong_immobility_of_an_immortal_spirit_-_Equality_of_soul_-_Is_all_an_expression_of_the_divine_Will?_-_Loosening_the_knot_of_action_-_Using_experience_as_a_cloak_to_cover_excesses_-_Sincerity,_a_rare_virtue
1956-04-25_-_God,_human_conception_and_the_true_Divine_-_Earthly_existence,_to_realise_the_Divine_-_Ananda,_divine_pleasure_-_Relations_with_the_divine_Presence_-_Asking_the_Divine_for_what_one_needs_-_Allowing_the_Divine_to_lead_one
1956-05-16_-_Needs_of_the_body,_not_true_in_themselves_-_Spiritual_and_supramental_law_-_Aestheticised_Paganism_-_Morality,_checks_true_spiritual_effort_-_Effect_of_supramental_descent_-_Half-lights_and_false_lights
1956-06-06_-_Sign_or_indication_from_books_of_revelation_-_Spiritualised_mind_-_Stages_of_sadhana_-_Reversal_of_consciousness_-_Organisation_around_central_Presence_-_Boredom,_most_common_human_malady
1956-06-13_-_Effects_of_the_Supramental_action_-_Education_and_the_Supermind_-_Right_to_remain_ignorant_-_Concentration_of_mind_-_Reason,_not_supreme_capacity_-_Physical_education_and_studies_-_inner_discipline_-_True_usefulness_of_teachers
1956-06-27_-_Birth,_entry_of_soul_into_body_-_Formation_of_the_supramental_world_-_Aspiration_for_progress_-_Bad_thoughts_-_Cerebral_filter_-_Progress_and_resistance
1956-07-18_-_Unlived_dreams_-_Radha-consciousness_-_Separation_and_identification_-_Ananda_of_identity_and_Ananda_of_union_-_Sincerity,_meditation_and_prayer_-_Enemies_of_the_Divine_-_The_universe_is_progressive
1956-08-01_-_Value_of_worship_-_Spiritual_realisation_and_the_integral_yoga_-_Symbols,_translation_of_experience_into_form_-_Sincerity,_fundamental_virtue_-_Intensity_of_aspiration,_with_anguish_or_joy_-_The_divine_Grace
1956-08-15_-_Protection,_purification,_fear_-_Atmosphere_at_the_Ashram_on_Darshan_days_-_Darshan_messages_-_Significance_of_15-08_-_State_of_surrender_-_Divine_Grace_always_all-powerful_-_Assumption_of_Virgin_Mary_-_SA_message_of_1947-08-15
1956-08-22_-_The_heaven_of_the_liberated_mind_-_Trance_or_samadhi_-_Occult_discipline_for_leaving_consecutive_bodies_-_To_be_greater_than_ones_experience_-_Total_self-giving_to_the_Grace_-_The_truth_of_the_being_-_Unique_relation_with_the_Supreme
1956-08-29_-_To_live_spontaneously_-_Mental_formations_Absolute_sincerity_-_Balance_is_indispensable,_the_middle_path_-_When_in_difficulty,_widen_the_consciousness_-_Easiest_way_of_forgetting_oneself
1956-10-10_-_The_supramental_race__in_a_few_centuries_-_Condition_for_new_realisation_-_Everyone_must_follow_his_own_path_-_Progress,_no_two_paths_alike
1956-10-17_-_Delight,_the_highest_state_-_Delight_and_detachment_-_To_be_calm_-_Quietude,_mental_and_vital_-_Calm_and_strength_-_Experience_and_expression_of_experience
1956-10-24_-_Taking_a_new_body_-_Different_cases_of_incarnation_-_Departure_of_soul_from_body
1956-10-31_-_Manifestation_of_divine_love_-_Deformation_of_Love_by_human_consciousness_-_Experience_and_expression_of_experience
1956-11-14_-_Conquering_the_desire_to_appear_good_-_Self-control_and_control_of_the_life_around_-_Power_of_mastery_-_Be_a_great_yogi_to_be_a_good_teacher_-_Organisation_of_the_Ashram_school_-_Elementary_discipline_of_regularity
1956-11-21_-_Knowings_and_Knowledge_-_Reason,_summit_of_mans_mental_activities_-_Willings_and_the_true_will_-_Personal_effort_-_First_step_to_have_knowledge_-_Relativity_of_medical_knowledge_-_Mental_gymnastics_make_the_mind_supple
1956-12-19_-_Preconceived_mental_ideas_-_Process_of_creation_-_Destructive_power_of_bad_thoughts_-_To_be_perfectly_sincere
1956-12-26_-_Defeated_victories_-_Change_of_consciousness_-_Experiences_that_indicate_the_road_to_take_-_Choice_and_preference_-_Diversity_of_the_manifestation
1957-01-09_-_God_is_essentially_Delight_-_God_and_Nature_play_at_hide-and-seek_-__Why,_and_when,_are_you_grave?
1957-01-16_-_Seeking_something_without_knowing_it_-_Why_are_we_here?
1957-01-23_-_How_should_we_understand_pure_delight?_-_The_drop_of_honey_-_Action_of_the_Divine_Will_in_the_world
1957-01-30_-_Artistry_is_just_contrast_-_How_to_perceive_the_Divine_Guidance?
1957-02-06_-_Death,_need_of_progress_-_Changing_Natures_methods
1957-03-13_-_Our_best_friend
1957-04-10_-_Sports_and_yoga_-_Organising_ones_life
1957-05-01_-_Sports_competitions,_their_value
1957-06-05_-_Questions_and_silence_-_Methods_of_meditation
1957-06-12_-_Fasting_and_spiritual_progress
1957-10-02_-_The_Mind_of_Light_-_Statues_of_the_Buddha_-_Burden_of_the_past
1958-02-05_-_The_great_voyage_of_the_Supreme_-_Freedom_and_determinism
1958-06-04_-_New_birth
1958-06-18_-_Philosophy,_religion,_occultism,_spirituality
1958-07-09_-_Faith_and_personal_effort
1958-09-10_-_Magic,_occultism,_physical_science
1958-09-24_-_Living_the_truth_-_Words_and_experience
1958_10_03
1958_10_10
1958-11-05_-_Knowing_how_to_be_silent
1958-11-12_-_The_aim_of_the_Supreme_-_Trust_in_the_Grace
1958_11_14
1958-11-26_-_The_role_of_the_Spirit_-_New_birth
1960_05_25
1960_11_13?_-_50
1961_01_28
1962_02_27
1962_05_24
1969_09_26
1970_03_05
1.ac_-_The_Ladder
1.anon_-_If_this_were_a_world
1.asak_-_On_Unitys_Way
1.asak_-_Piousness_and_the_path_of_love
1.bd_-_A_deluded_Mind
1.bd_-_You_may_enter
1.bs_-_The_preacher_and_the_torch_bearer
1.bts_-_Invocation
1f.lovecraft_-_From_Beyond
1f.lovecraft_-_Medusas_Coil
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Call_of_Cthulhu
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Colour_out_of_Space
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Crawling_Chaos
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Diary_of_Alonzo_Typer
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Dream-Quest_of_Unknown_Kadath
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Festival
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Haunter_of_the_Dark
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Horror_at_Martins_Beach
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Mound
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Night_Ocean
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Other_Gods
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Shadow_out_of_Time
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Terrible_Old_Man
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Very_Old_Folk
1f.lovecraft_-_The_Whisperer_in_Darkness
1.fs_-_Cassandra
1.fs_-_Fridolin_(The_Walk_To_The_Iron_Factory)
1.fs_-_Hero_And_Leander
1.fs_-_Ode_To_Joy_-_With_Translation
1.fs_-_The_Alpine_Hunter
1.fs_-_The_Artists
1.fs_-_The_Dance
1.fs_-_The_Ideals
1.fs_-_The_Lay_Of_The_Mountain
1.fs_-_The_Triumph_Of_Love
1.fs_-_The_Two_Guides_Of_Life_-_The_Sublime_And_The_Beautiful
1.fs_-_The_Two_Paths_Of_Virtue
1.fs_-_The_Walk
1.fua_-_The_Valley_of_the_Quest
1.grh_-_Gorakh_Bani
1.hcyc_-_3_-_When_we_realize_actuality_(from_The_Shodoka)
1.hcyc_-_42_-_I_raise_the_Dharma-banner_and_set_forth_our_teaching_(from_The_Shodoka)
1.hs_-_Cypress_And_Tulip
1.hs_-_Melt_yourself_down_in_this_search
1.hs_-_Streaming
1.hs_-_The_path_consists_of_neither_words_nor_deeds
1.hs_-_The_Rose_Is_Not_Fair
1.ia_-_Modification_Of_The_R_Poem
1.jk_-_Endymion_-_Book_II
1.jk_-_Isabella;_Or,_The_Pot_Of_Basil_-_A_Story_From_Boccaccio
1.jk_-_I_Stood_Tip-Toe_Upon_A_Little_Hill
1.jk_-_Meg_Merrilies
1.jk_-_Sleep_And_Poetry
1.jk_-_The_Cap_And_Bells;_Or,_The_Jealousies_-_A_Faery_Tale_.._Unfinished
1.jm_-_The_Song_of_Food_and_Dwelling
1.jm_-_The_Song_of_Perfect_Assurance_(to_the_Demons)
1.jm_-_The_Song_of_the_Twelve_Deceptions
1.jwvg_-_At_Midnight
1.jwvg_-_Longing
1.jwvg_-_The_Wanderer
1.kbr_-_Dohas_II_(with_translation)
1.kbr_-_The_Light_of_the_Sun
1.kbr_-_The_light_of_the_sun,_the_moon,_and_the_stars_shines_bright
1.kbr_-_Where_do_you_search_me
1.khc_-_this_autumn_scenes_worth_words_paint
1.lb_-_Down_From_The_Mountain
1.lb_-_His_Dream_Of_Skyland
1.lb_-_On_Climbing_In_Nan-King_To_The_Terrace_Of_Phoenixes
1.lb_-_Reaching_the_Hermitage
1.lla_-_Meditate_within_eternity
1.lovecraft_-_Nathicana
1.lovecraft_-_The_Ancient_Track
1.lovecraft_-_The_Bride_Of_The_Sea
1.mb_-_Why_Mira_Cant_Come_Back_to_Her_Old_House
1.nrpa_-_The_Summary_of_Mahamudra
1.pbs_-_Alastor_-_or,_the_Spirit_of_Solitude
1.pbs_-_A_Vision_Of_The_Sea
1.pbs_-_Charles_The_First
1.pbs_-_Fragment_-_Omens
1.pbs_-_From_Vergils_Fourth_Georgic
1.pbs_-_Ghasta_Or,_The_Avenging_Demon!!!
1.pbs_-_I_Would_Not_Be_A_King
1.pbs_-_Letter_To_Maria_Gisborne
1.pbs_-_Lines_-_The_cold_earth_slept_below
1.pbs_-_Mont_Blanc_-_Lines_Written_In_The_Vale_of_Chamouni
1.pbs_-_Mutability
1.pbs_-_Oedipus_Tyrannus_or_Swellfoot_The_Tyrant
1.pbs_-_Prince_Athanase
1.pbs_-_Prometheus_Unbound
1.pbs_-_Queen_Mab_-_Part_IX.
1.pbs_-_Rosalind_and_Helen_-_a_Modern_Eclogue
1.pbs_-_Scenes_From_The_Faust_Of_Goethe
1.pbs_-_The_Cenci_-_A_Tragedy_In_Five_Acts
1.pbs_-_The_Daemon_Of_The_World
1.pbs_-_The_Revolt_Of_Islam_-_Canto_I-XII
1.pbs_-_The_Sunset
1.pbs_-_The_Triumph_Of_Life
1.poe_-_Eureka_-_A_Prose_Poem
1.poe_-_Ulalume
1.rb_-_A_Serenade_At_The_Villa
1.rb_-_By_The_Fire-Side
1.rb_-_Childe_Roland_To_The_Dark_Tower_Came
1.rb_-_Mesmerism
1.rb_-_Paracelsus_-_Part_III_-_Paracelsus
1.rb_-_Paracelsus_-_Part_I_-_Paracelsus_Aspires
1.rb_-_Pippa_Passes_-_Part_III_-_Evening
1.rb_-_Sordello_-_Book_the_Third
1.rb_-_The_Englishman_In_Italy
1.rmr_-_You_Who_Never_Arrived
1.rt_-_Closed_Path
1.rt_-_Gitanjali
1.rt_-_Lamp_Of_Love
1.rt_-_Leave_This
1.rt_-_Listen,_can_you_hear_it?_(from_The_Lover_of_God)
1.rt_-_On_The_Seashore
1.rt_-_The_Journey
1.rwe_-_Dmonic_Love
1.sca_-_What_you_hold,_may_you_always_hold
1.shvb_-_O_ignee_Spiritus_-_Hymn_to_the_Holy_Spirit
1.srmd_-_Companion
1.sv_-_Kali_the_Mother
1.tr_-_Have_You_Forgotten_Me
1.wby_-_Ephemera
1.wby_-_He_Mourns_For_The_Change_That_Has_Come_Upon_Him_And_His_Beloved,_And_Longs_For_The_End_Of_The_World
1.wby_-_Shepherd_And_Goatherd
1.wby_-_The_Shadowy_Waters_-_Introduction
1.wby_-_The_Wanderings_Of_Oisin_-_Book_II
1.wby_-_The_Wanderings_Of_Oisin_-_Book_III
1.whitman_-_A_Sight_in_Camp_in_the_Daybreak_Gray_and_Dim
1.whitman_-_Brother_Of_All,_With_Generous_Hand
1.whitman_-_Not_The_Pilot
1.whitman_-_One_Song,_America,_Before_I_Go
1.whitman_-_Song_of_Myself
1.whitman_-_Song_Of_Myself-_XXXIII
1.whitman_-_Song_Of_The_Broad-Axe
1.whitman_-_The_Centerarians_Story
1.whitman_-_When_Lilacs_Last_in_the_Dooryard_Bloomd
1.ww_-_1-_The_White_Doe_Of_Rylstone,_Or,_The_Fate_Of_The_Nortons
1.ww_-_A_Parsonage_In_Oxfordshire
1.ww_-_Avaunt_All_Specious_Pliancy_Of_Mind
1.ww_-_Book_Eleventh-_France_[concluded]
1.ww_-_Book_Fifth-Books
1.ww_-_Book_Fourth_[Summer_Vacation]
1.ww_-_Character_Of_The_Happy_Warrior
1.ww_-_Extempore_Effusion_upon_the_Death_of_James_Hogg
1.ww_-_From_The_Cuckoo_And_The_Nightingale
1.ww_-_Laodamia
1.ww_-_Lines_Written_As_A_School_Exercise_At_Hawkshead,_Anno_Aetatis_14
1.ww_-_Ode_To_Lycoris._May_1817
1.ww_-_Scorn_Not_The_Sonnet
1.ww_-_The_Brothers
1.ww_-_The_Excursion-_II-_Book_First-_The_Wanderer
1.ww_-_The_Excursion-_IV-_Book_Third-_Despondency
1.ww_-_The_Excursion-_IX-_Book_Eighth-_The_Parsonage
1.ww_-_The_Excursion-_V-_Book_Fouth-_Despondency_Corrected
1.ww_-_The_Excursion-_VII-_Book_Sixth-_The_Churchyard_Among_the_Mountains
1.ww_-_The_Morning_Of_The_Day_Appointed_For_A_General_Thanksgiving._January_18,_1816
1.ww_-_The_Sonnet_Ii
1.ww_-_To_Sir_George_Howland_Beaumont,_Bart_From_the_South-West_Coast_Or_Cumberland_1811
1.ww_-_Yarrow_Visited
20.01_-_Charyapada_-_Old_Bengali_Mystic_Poems
2.01_-_AT_THE_STAR_THEATRE
2.01_-_Mandala_One
2.01_-_The_Object_of_Knowledge
2.01_-_The_Path
2.01_-_The_Sefirot
2.01_-_The_Yoga_and_Its_Objects
2.02_-_Brahman,_Purusha,_Ishwara_-_Maya,_Prakriti,_Shakti
2.02_-_On_Letters
2.02_-_THE_DURGA_PUJA_FESTIVAL
2.02_-_The_Ishavasyopanishad_with_a_commentary_in_English
2.02_-_The_Status_of_Knowledge
2.02_-_Yoga
2.03_-_Karmayogin__A_Commentary_on_the_Isha_Upanishad
2.03_-_On_Medicine
2.03_-_THE_MASTER_IN_VARIOUS_MOODS
2.03_-_The_Naturalness_of_Bhakti-Yoga_and_its_Central_Secret
2.03_-_The_Purified_Understanding
2.03_-_The_Supreme_Divine
2.04_-_ADVICE_TO_ISHAN
2.04_-_Concentration
2.04_-_The_Secret_of_Secrets
2.05_-_Apotheosis
2.05_-_Infinite_Worlds
2.05_-_Renunciation
2.05_-_VISIT_TO_THE_SINTHI_BRAMO_SAMAJ
2.06_-_On_Beauty
2.06_-_Reality_and_the_Cosmic_Illusion
2.06_-_The_Synthesis_of_the_Disciplines_of_Knowledge
2.06_-_The_Wand
2.06_-_Two_Tales_of_Seeking_and_Losing
2.06_-_Union_with_the_Divine_Consciousness_and_Will
2.06_-_WITH_VARIOUS_DEVOTEES
2.06_-_Works_Devotion_and_Knowledge
2.07_-_BANKIM_CHANDRA
2.07_-_I_Also_Try_to_Tell_My_Tale
2.07_-_ON_THE_TARANTULAS
2.07_-_The_Cup
2.07_-_The_Mother__Relations_with_Others
2.07_-_The_Release_from_Subjection_to_the_Body
2.08_-_AT_THE_STAR_THEATRE_(II)
2.08_-_The_Release_from_the_Heart_and_the_Mind
2.09_-_On_Sadhana
2.09_-_THE_MASTERS_BIRTHDAY
2.09_-_The_Release_from_the_Ego
2.0_-_Reincarnation_and_Karma
2.0_-_THE_ANTICHRIST
2.1.01_-_The_Central_Process_of_the_Sadhana
2.1.02_-_Classification_of_the_Parts_of_the_Being
2.1.02_-_Combining_Work,_Meditation_and_Bhakti
2.10_-_The_Lamp
2.10_-_THE_MASTER_AND_NARENDRA
2.10_-_The_Realisation_of_the_Cosmic_Self
2.10_-_The_Vision_of_the_World-Spirit_-_Time_the_Destroyer
2.1.1.04_-_Reading,_Yogic_Force_and_the_Development_of_Style
2.11_-_The_Modes_of_the_Self
2.11_-_THE_TOMB_SONG
2.11_-_WITH_THE_DEVOTEES_IN_CALCUTTA
2.1.2_-_The_Vital_and_Other_Levels_of_Being
2.1.3.2_-_Study
2.13_-_On_Psychology
2.13_-_The_Difficulties_of_the_Mental_Being
2.13_-_THE_MASTER_AT_THE_HOUSES_OF_BALARM_AND_GIRISH
2.14_-_On_Movements
2.1.4_-_The_Lower_Vital_Being
2.14_-_The_Passive_and_the_Active_Brahman
2.1.5.4_-_Arts
2.15_-_CAR_FESTIVAL_AT_BALARMS_HOUSE
2.15_-_On_the_Gods_and_Asuras
2.15_-_The_Cosmic_Consciousness
2.16_-_Oneness
2.16_-_The_15th_of_August
2.16_-_The_Integral_Knowledge_and_the_Aim_of_Life;_Four_Theories_of_Existence
2.16_-_VISIT_TO_NANDA_BOSES_HOUSE
2.17_-_December_1938
2.17_-_The_Progress_to_Knowledge_-_God,_Man_and_Nature
2.18_-_January_1939
2.18_-_SRI_RAMAKRISHNA_AT_SYAMPUKUR
2.19_-_THE_MASTER_AND_DR._SARKAR
2.2.01_-_The_Outer_Being_and_the_Inner_Being
2.2.01_-_Work_and_Yoga
2.20_-_The_Infancy_and_Maturity_of_ZO,_Father_and_Mother,_Israel_The_Ancient_and_Understanding
2.20_-_THE_MASTERS_TRAINING_OF_HIS_DISCIPLES
2.21_-_1940
2.21_-_IN_THE_COMPANY_OF_DEVOTEES_AT_SYAMPUKUR
2.21_-_The_Three_Heads,_The_Beard_and_The_Mazela
2.21_-_Towards_the_Supreme_Secret
2.22_-_Rebirth_and_Other_Worlds;_Karma,_the_Soul_and_Immortality
2.2.3_-_Depression_and_Despondency
2.23_-_The_Core_of_the_Gita.s_Meaning
2.23_-_THE_MASTER_AND_BUDDHA
2.24_-_THE_MASTERS_LOVE_FOR_HIS_DEVOTEES
2.24_-_The_Message_of_the_Gita
2.25_-_AFTER_THE_PASSING_AWAY
2.25_-_The_Higher_and_the_Lower_Knowledge
2.25_-_The_Triple_Transformation
2.2.7.01_-_Some_General_Remarks
2.27_-_Hathayoga
2.27_-_The_Gnostic_Being
2.29_-_The_Worlds_of_Creation,_Formation_and_Action
2.3.01_-_Aspiration_and_Surrender_to_the_Mother
2.3.01_-_Concentration_and_Meditation
2.3.03_-_The_Mother's_Presence
2.3.04_-_The_Mother's_Force
2.3.06_-_The_Mother's_Lights
2.3.07_-_The_Mother_in_Visions,_Dreams_and_Experiences
2.3.08_-_The_Mother's_Help_in_Difficulties
2.3.1_-_Ego_and_Its_Forms
2.3.2_-_Desire
24.04_-_Notes_on_Savitri_III
24.05_-_Vision_of_Dante
2.4.1_-_Human_Relations_and_the_Spiritual_Life
2.4.2_-_Interactions_with_Others_and_the_Practice_of_Yoga
25.02_-_HYMN_TO_DAWN
25.06_-_FORWARD
25.07_-_TEARS_OF_GRIEF
27.03_-_The_Great_Holocaust_-_Chhinnamasta
28.01_-_Observations
29.03_-_In_Her_Company
2_-_Other_Hymns_to_Agni
3.00.2_-_Introduction
30.04_-_Intuition_and_Inspiration_in_Art
30.05_-_Rhythm_in_Poetry
30.07_-_The_Poet_and_the_Yogi
30.09_-_Lines_of_Tantra_(Charyapada)
3.00_-_The_Magical_Theory_of_the_Universe
30.17_-_Rabindranath,_Traveller_of_the_Infinite
3.01_-_INTRODUCTION
3.01_-_Love_and_the_Triple_Path
3.01_-_Sincerity
3.01_-_Towards_the_Future
3.02_-_The_Motives_of_Devotion
3.02_-_The_Practice_Use_of_Dream-Analysis
3.03_-_The_Ascent_to_Truth
3.04_-_The_Flowers
3.04_-_The_Spirit_in_Spirit-Land_after_Death
3.04_-_The_Way_of_Devotion
3.06_-_Charity
3.06_-_Thought-Forms_and_the_Human_Aura
3.07_-_The_Divinity_Within
3.08_-_The_Thousands
3.1.01_-_Distinctive_Features_of_the_Integral_Yoga
3.1.02_-_Asceticism_and_the_Integral_Yoga
31.02_-_The_Mother-_Worship_of_the_Bengalis
3.1.04_-_Transformation_in_the_Integral_Yoga
31.05_-_Vivekananda
3.10_-_Of_the_Gestures
3.10_-_The_New_Birth
3.11_-_Spells
3.1.3_-_Difficulties_of_the_Physical_Being
3.18_-_Of_Clairvoyance_and_the_Body_of_Light
31_Hymns_to_the_Star_Goddess
32.03_-_In_This_Crisis
32.04_-_The_Human_Body
3.2.06_-_The_Adwaita_of_Shankaracharya
3.2.08_-_Bhakti_Yoga_and_Vaishnavism
32.11_-_Life_and_Self-Control_(A_Letter)
32.12_-_The_Evolutionary_Imperative
3.21_-_Of_Black_Magic
3.2.4_-_Sex
3.3.02_-_All-Will_and_Free-Will
33.06_-_Alipore_Court
33.10_-_Pondicherry_I
33.16_-_Soviet_Gymnasts
33.17_-_Two_Great_Wars
33.18_-_I_Bow_to_the_Mother
3.3.1_-_Agni,_the_Divine_Will-Force
3.3.2_-_Doctors_and_Medicines
3.4.02_-_The_Inconscient
34.04_-_Hymn_of_Aspiration
34.06_-_Hymn_to_Sindhu
34.07_-_The_Bride_of_Brahman
3.4.2_-_Guru_Yoga
3.6.01_-_Heraclitus
36.08_-_A_Commentary_on_the_First_Six_Suktas_of_Rigveda
37.01_-_Yama_-_Nachiketa_(Katha_Upanishad)
37.02_-_The_Story_of_Jabala-Satyakama
37.04_-_The_Story_Of_Rishi_Yajnavalkya
37.05_-_Narada_-_Sanatkumara_(Chhandogya_Upanishad)
3.7.1.08_-_Karma
3.7.1.09_-_Karma_and_Freedom
3.7.2.03_-_Mind_Nature_and_Law_of_Karma
38.01_-_Asceticism_and_Renunciation
38.02_-_Hymns_and_Prayers
38.07_-_A_Poem
39.11_-_A_Prayer
3_-_Commentaries_and_Annotated_Translations
40.01_-_November_24,_1926
4.01_-_Prayers_and_Meditations
4.02_-_Difficulties
4.03_-_CONVERSATION_WITH_THE_KINGS
4.03_-_The_Senses_And_Mental_Pictures
4.04_-_Conclusion
4.04_-_Some_Vital_Functions
4.04_-_THE_LEECH
4.04_-_Weaknesses
4.05_-_THE_MAGICIAN
4.07_-_THE_UGLIEST_MAN
4.09_-_THE_SHADOW
4.0_-_The_Path_of_Knowledge
4.1.01_-_The_Intellect_and_Yoga
4.1.1.02_-_Four_Bases_of_Realisation
4.1.1_-_The_Difficulties_of_Yoga
4.1.2_-_The_Difficulties_of_Human_Nature
4.1.3_-_Imperfections_and_Periods_of_Arrest
4.1.4_-_Resistances,_Sufferings_and_Falls
4.15_-_Soul-Force_and_the_Fourfold_Personality
4.18_-_Faith_and_shakti
4.2.01_-_The_Mother_of_Dreams
4.2.1_-_The_Right_Attitude_towards_Difficulties
4.2.2_-_Steps_towards_Overcoming_Difficulties
4.2_-_Karma
4.3.2_-_Attacks_by_the_Hostile_Forces
4.3.3_-_Dealing_with_Hostile_Attacks
4.3.4_-_Accidents,_Possession,_Madness
5.01_-_Message
5.1.01.1_-_The_Book_of_the_Herald
5.1.01.2_-_The_Book_of_the_Statesman
5.1.01.3_-_The_Book_of_the_Assembly
5.1.01.4_-_The_Book_of_Partings
5.1.01.5_-_The_Book_of_Achilles
5.1.01.7_-_The_Book_of_the_Woman
5.1.01.8_-_The_Book_of_the_Gods
5_-_The_Phenomenology_of_the_Spirit_in_Fairytales
6.01_-_Proem
6.0_-_Conscious,_Unconscious,_and_Individuation
7.02_-_Courage
7.07_-_Prudence
7.14_-_Modesty
7.15_-_The_Family
7.6.02_-_The_World_Game
7_-_Yoga_of_Sri_Aurobindo
9.99_-_Glossary
Aeneid
Appendix_4_-_Priest_Spells
APPENDIX_I_-_Curriculum_of_A._A.
Big_Mind_(ten_perfections)
Blazing_P1_-_Preconventional_consciousness
Blazing_P3_-_Explore_the_Stages_of_Postconventional_Consciousness
BOOK_II._--_PART_I._ANTHROPOGENESIS.
BOOK_II._--_PART_III._ADDENDA._SCIENCE_AND_THE_SECRET_DOCTRINE_CONTRASTED
BOOK_II._--_PART_II._THE_ARCHAIC_SYMBOLISM_OF_THE_WORLD-RELIGIONS
BOOK_I._--_PART_I._COSMIC_EVOLUTION
BOOK_I._--_PART_III._SCIENCE_AND_THE_SECRET_DOCTRINE_CONTRASTED
BOOK_I._--_PART_II._THE_EVOLUTION_OF_SYMBOLISM_IN_ITS_APPROXIMATE_ORDER
BOOK_IX._-_Of_those_who_allege_a_distinction_among_demons,_some_being_good_and_others_evil
Book_of_Genesis
Book_of_Imaginary_Beings_(text)
Book_of_Proverbs
Book_of_Psalms
BOOK_XII._-_Of_the_creation_of_angels_and_men,_and_of_the_origin_of_evil
BOOK_X._-_Porphyrys_doctrine_of_redemption
Conversations_with_Sri_Aurobindo
Diamond_Sutra_1
DM_2_-_How_to_Meditate
DS2
DS3
DS4
ENNEAD_01.06_-_Of_Beauty.
ENNEAD_03.02_-_Of_Providence.
ENNEAD_06.05_-_The_One_and_Identical_Being_is_Everywhere_Present_In_Its_Entirety.345
ENNEAD_06.09_-_Of_the_Good_and_the_One.
Epistle_to_the_Romans
Gods_Script
Guru_Granth_Sahib_first_part
Liber_111_-_The_Book_of_Wisdom_-_LIBER_ALEPH_VEL_CXI
Liber_46_-_The_Key_of_the_Mysteries
Liber_71_-_The_Voice_of_the_Silence_-_The_Two_Paths_-_The_Seven_Portals
Medea_-_A_Vergillian_Cento
Prayers_and_Meditations_by_Baha_u_llah_text
r1912_07_01
r1914_12_30
Sayings_of_Sri_Ramakrishna_(text)
Sophist
Symposium_translated_by_B_Jowett
Tablets_of_Baha_u_llah_text
Talks_001-025
Talks_026-050
Talks_151-175
Talks_500-550
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_1
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_2
The_Act_of_Creation_text
Theaetetus
The_Anapanasati_Sutta__A_Practical_Guide_to_Mindfullness_of_Breathing_and_Tranquil_Wisdom_Meditation
The_Book_of_Certitude_-_P1
The_Book_of_Certitude_-_P2
The_Book_of_Job
The_Book_of_the_Prophet_Isaiah
The_Book_of_Wisdom
The_Coming_Race_Contents
The_Divine_Names_Text_(Dionysis)
The_Dwellings_of_the_Philosophers
the_Eternal_Wisdom
The_Garden_of_Forking_Paths_1
The_Garden_of_Forking_Paths_2
The_Golden_Verses_of_Pythagoras
The_Gospel_According_to_Matthew
The_Hidden_Words_text
The_Logomachy_of_Zos
The_Pilgrims_Progress
The_Riddle_of_this_World
The_Shadow_Out_Of_Time
Thus_Spoke_Zarathustra_text
Timaeus
Verses_of_Vemana

PRIMARY CLASS

God
Karma_Yoga
movement
path
Place
SIMILAR TITLES
Confusion Arises as Wisdom Gampopa's Heart Advice on the Path of Mahamudra
Guided Buddhist Meditations Essential Practices on the Stages of the Path
Liber 13 - A Syllabus of the Steps Upon the Path
Peace Is Every Step The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
The Heart of the Path Seeing the Guru as Buddha
The Path
the Path
The Path Is Everywhere Uncovering the Jewels Hidden Within You
the Path of Devotion
the Path of Self-Perfection
The Path Of Serenity And Insight An Explanation Of Buddhist Jhanas
The Path to Enlightenment

DEFINITIONS


TERMS STARTING WITH


TERMS ANYWHERE

1. LAM RIM CHEN MO ("Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path")

2. LAM RIM CHUNG BA ("Short Treatise on the Stages of the Path")

3. LAM RIM BSDUS DON ("Concise Meaning of the Stages of the Path"); all by TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA

4.LAM RIM GSER ZHUN MA ("Stages of the Path [like] Refined Gold") by the third DALAI LAMA BSOD NAMS RGYA MTSHO

5.BDE LAM LAM RIM ("The Easy Path Stages of the Path") by the first PAn CHEN BLA MA BLO BZANG CHOS KYI RGYAL MTSHAN

6.LAM RIM 'JAM DPAL ZHAL LUNG ("Stages of the Path [which are] the Instructions of MaNjusrī") by the fifth Dalai Lama NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO

7.MYUR LAM LAM RIM ("The Quick Path Stages of the Path") by the second Pan chen Lama Blo bzang ye shes dpal bzang po (Losang Yeshe Palsangpo, 1663-1737)

8.LAM RIM SNYING GU ("Essential Stages of the Path") by Dwags po Ngag dbang grags pa (Dakpo Ngawang Drakpa, born c. 1450).

abhidhammika. [alt. Abhidhammika]. In PAli, "specialist in the ABHIDHAMMA"; scholarly monks who specialized in study of the abhidhamma (S. ABHIDHARMA) section of the Buddhist canon. In the PAli tradition, particular importance has long been attached to the study of abhidharma. The AttHASALINĪ says that the first ABHIDHAMMIKA was the Buddha himself, and the abhidhammikas were presumed to be the most competent exponents of the teachings of the religion. Among the Buddha's immediate disciples, the premier abhidhammika was SAriputta (S. sARIPUTRA), who was renowned for his systematic grasp of the dharma. Monastic "families" of abhidhamma specialists were known as abhidhammikagana, and they passed down through the generations their own scholastic interpretations of Buddhist doctrine, interpretations that sometimes differed from those offered by specialists in the scriptures (P. sutta; S. SuTRA) or disciplinary rules (VINAYA) . In medieval Sri Lanka, the highest awards within the Buddhist order were granted to monks who specialized in this branch of study, rather than to experts in the scriptures or disciplinary rules. Special festivals were held in honor of the abhidhamma, which involved the recital of important texts and the granting of awards to participants. In contemporary Myanmar (Burma), where the study of abhidhamma continues to be highly esteemed, the seventh book of the PAli ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, the PAttHANA ("Conditions"), is regularly recited in festivals that the Burmese call pathan pwe. Pathan pwe are marathon recitations that go on for days, conducted by invited abhidhammikas who are particularly well versed in the PatthAna, the text that is the focus of the festival. The pathan pwe serves a function similar to that of PARITTA recitations, in that it is believed to ward off baleful influences, but its main designated purpose is to forestall the decline and disappearance of the Buddha's dispensation (P. sAsana; S. sASANA). The TheravAda tradition considers the PatthAna to be the Buddha's most profound exposition of ultimate truth (P. paramatthasacca; S. PARAMARTHASATYA), and according to the PAli commentaries, the PatthAna is the first constituent of the Buddha's dispensation that will disappear from the world as the religion faces its inevitable decline. The abhidhammikas' marathon recitations of the PatthAna, therefore, help to ward off the eventual demise of the Buddhist religion. This practice speaks of a THERAVADA orientation in favor of scholarship that goes back well over a thousand years. Since at least the time of BUDDHAGHOSA (c. fifth century CE), the life of scholarship (P. PARIYATTI), rather than that of meditation or contemplation (P. PAtIPATTI), has been the preferred vocational path within PAli Buddhist monasticism. Monks who devoted themselves exclusively to meditation were often portrayed as persons who lacked the capacity to master the intricacies of PAli scholarship. Even so, meditation was always recommended as the principal means by which one could bring scriptural knowledge to maturity, either through awakening or the realization (P. pativedha; S. PRATIVEDHA) of Buddhist truths. See also ABHIDHARMIKA.

*Abhidharmahṛdaya. (C. Apitan xin lun; J. Abidon shinron; K. Abidam sim non 阿毘曇心論). In Sanskrit, "Heart of ABHIDHARMA"; one of the first attempts at a systematic presentation of abhidharma according to the SARVASTIVADA school; the treatise is attributed to Dharmasresthin (Fasheng, c. 130 BCE), who hailed from the GANDHARA region of Central Asia. The text is no longer extant in Sanskrit but survives only in a Chinese translation made sometime during the fourth century (alt. 376, 391) by SaMghadeva and LUSHAN HUIYUAN. The treatise functions essentially as a handbook for meditative development, focusing on ways of overcoming the negative proclivities of mind (ANUsAYA) and developing correct knowledge (JNANA). The meditative training outlined in the treatise focuses on the four absorptions (DHYANA) and on two practical techniques for developing concentration: mindfulness of breathing (ANAPANASMṚTI) and the contemplation of impurity (AsUBHABHAVANA). The text is also one of the first to distinguish the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), which involves the initial insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, and the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), which eliminates all the remaining proclivities so that the adept may experience the stage of the worthy one (ARHAT).

AbhidharmakosabhAsya. (T. Chos mngon pa'i mdzod kyi bshad pa; C. Apidamo jushe lun; J. Abidatsuma kusharon; K. Abidalma kusa non 阿毘達磨倶舎論). In Sanskrit, "A Treasury of ABHIDHARMA, with Commentary"; an influential scholastic treatise attributed to VASUBANDHU (c. fourth or fifth century CE). The AbhidharmakosabhAsya consists of two texts: the root text of the Abhidharmakosa, composed in verse (kArikA), and its prose autocommentary (bhAsya); this dual verse-prose structure comes to be emblematic of later SARVASTIVADA abhidharma literature. As the title suggests, the work is mainly concerned with abhidharma theory as it was explicated in the ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA, the principal scholastic treatise of the VAIBHAsIKAABHIDHARMIKAs in the SarvAstivAda school. In comparison to the MahAvibhAsA, however, the AbhidharmakosabhAsya presents a more systematic overview of SarvAstivAda positions. At various points in his expositions, Vasubandhu criticizes the SarvAstivAda doctrine from the standpoint of the more progressive SAUTRANTIKA offshoot of the SarvAstivAda school, which elicited a spirited response from later SarvAstivAda-VaibhAsika scholars, such as SAMGHABHADRA in his *NYAYANUSARA. The AbhidharmakosabhAsya has thus served as an invaluable tool in the study of the history of the later MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS. The Sanskrit texts of both the kArikA and the bhAsya were lost for centuries before being rediscovered in Tibet in 1934 and 1936, respectively. Two Chinese translations, by XUANZANG and PARAMARTHA, and one Tibetan translation of the work are extant. The Kosa is primarily concerned with a detailed elucidation of the polysemous term DHARMA, the causes (HETU) and conditions (PRATYAYA) that lead to continued rebirth in SAMSARA, and the soteriological stages of the path (MARGA) leading to enlightenment. The treatise is divided into eight major chapters, called kosasthAnas. (1) DhAtunirdesa, "Exposition on the Elements," divides dharmas into various categories, such as tainted (SASRAVA) and untainted (ANASRAVA), or compounded (SAMSKṚTA) and uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA), and discusses the standard Buddhist classifications of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), twelve sense fields (AYATANA), and eighteen elements (DHATU). This chapter also includes extensive discussion of the theory of the four great elements (MAHABHuTA) that constitute materiality (RuPA) and the Buddhist theory of atoms or particles (PARAMAnU). (2) Indriyanirdesa, "Exposition on the Faculties," discusses a fivefold classification of dharmas into materiality (rupa), thought (CITTA), mental concomitants (CAITTA), forces dissociated from thought (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA), and the uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA). This chapter also has extensive discussions of the six causes (HETU), the four conditions (PRATYAYA), and the five effects or fruitions (PHALA). (3) Lokanirdesa, "Exposition on the Cosmos," describes the formation and structure of a world system (LOKA), the different types of sentient beings, the various levels of existence, and the principle of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA) that governs the process of rebirth, which is discussed here in connection with the three time periods (TRIKALA) of past, present, and future. (4) Karmanirdesa, "Exposition on Action," discusses the different types of action (KARMAN), including the peculiar type of action associated with unmanifest materiality (AVIJNAPTIRuPA). The ten wholesome and unwholesome "paths of action" (KUsALA-KARMAPATHA and AKUsALA-KARMAPATHA) also receive a lengthy description. (5) Anusayanirdesa, "Exposition on the Proclivities," treats the ninety-eight types of ANUsAYA in relation to their sources and qualities and the relationship between the anusayas and other categories of unwholesome qualities, such as afflictions (KLEsA), contaminants (ASRAVA), floods (OGHA), and yokes (yoga). (6) MArgapudgalanirdesa, "Exposition on the Path and the [Noble] Persons," outlines how either insight into the four noble truths and carefully following a series of soteriological steps can remove defilements and transform the ordinary person into one of the noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA). (7) JNAnanirdesa, "Exposition on Knowledge," offers a detailed account of the ten types of knowledge and the distinctive attributes of noble persons and buddhas. (8) SamApattinirdesa, "Exposition on Attainment," discusses different categories of concentration (SAMADHI) and the attainments (SAMAPATTI) that result from their perfection. (9) Appended to this main body is a ninth section, an independent treatise titled the Pudgalanirdesa, "Exposition of the Notion of a Person." Here, Vasubandhu offers a detailed critique of the theory of the self, scrutinizing both the Buddhist PUDGALAVADA/VATSĪPUTRĪYA "heresy" of the inexpressible (avAcya) "person" (PUDGALA) being conventionally real and Brahmanical theories of a perduring soul (ATMAN). Numerous commentaries to the Kosa, such as those composed by VASUMITRA, YAsOMITRA, STHIRAMATI, and Purnavardhana, attest to its continuing influence in Indian Buddhist thought. The Kosa was also the object of vigorous study in the scholastic traditions of East Asia and Tibet, which produced many indigenous commentaries on the text and its doctrinal positions.

abhidharma. (P. abhidhamma; T. chos mngon pa; C. apidamo/duifa; J. abidatsuma/taiho; K. abidalma/taebop 阿毘達磨/對法). In Sanskrit, abhidharma is a prepositional compound composed of abhi- + dharma. The compound is typically glossed with abhi being interpreted as equivalent to uttama and meaning "highest" or "advanced" DHARMA (viz., doctrines or teachings), or abhi meaning "pertaining to" the dharma. The SARVASTIVADA Sanskrit tradition typically follows the latter etymology, while the THERAVADA PAli tradition prefers the former, as in BUDDHAGHOSA's gloss of the term meaning either "special dharma" or "supplementary dharma." These definitions suggest that abhidharma was conceived as a precise (P. nippariyAya), definitive (PARAMARTHA) assessment of the dharma that was presented in its discursive (P. sappariyAya), conventional (SAMVṚTI) form in the SuTRAS. Where the sutras offered more subjective presentations of the dharma, drawing on worldly parlance, simile, metaphor, and personal anecdote in order to appeal to their specific audiences, the abhidharma provided an objective, impersonal, and highly technical description of the specific characteristics of reality and the causal processes governing production and cessation. There are two divergent theories for the emergence of the abhidharma as a separate genre of Buddhist literature. In one theory, accepted by most Western scholars, the abhidharma is thought to have evolved out of the "matrices" (S. MATṚKA; P. mAtikA), or numerical lists of dharmas, that were used as mnemonic devices for organizing the teachings of the Buddha systematically. Such treatments of dharma are found even in the sutra literature and are probably an inevitable by-product of the oral quality of early Buddhist textual transmission. A second theory, favored by Japanese scholars, is that abhidharma evolved from catechistic discussions (abhidharmakathA) in which a dialogic format was used to clarify problematic issues in doctrine. The dialogic style also appears prominently in the sutras where, for example, the Buddha might give a brief statement of doctrine (uddesa; P. uddesa) whose meaning had to be drawn out through exegesis (NIRDEsA; P. niddesa); indeed, MAHAKATYAYANA, one of the ten major disciples of the Buddha, was noted for his skill in such explications. This same style was prominent enough in the sutras even to be listed as one of the nine or twelve genres of Buddhist literature (specifically, VYAKARAnA; P. veyyAkarana). According to tradition, the Buddha first taught the abhidharma to his mother MAHAMAYA, who had died shortly after his birth and been reborn as a god in TUsITA heaven. He met her in the heaven of the thirty-three (TRAYASTRIMsA), where he expounded the abhidharma to her and the other divinities there, repeating those teachings to sARIPUTRA when he descended each day to go on his alms-round. sAriputra was renowned as a master of the abhidharma. Abhidharma primarily sets forth the training in higher wisdom (ADHIPRAJNAsIKsA) and involves both analytical and synthetic modes of doctrinal exegesis. The body of scholastic literature that developed from this exegetical style was compiled into the ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, one of the three principal sections of the Buddhist canon, or TRIPItAKA, along with sutra and VINAYA, and is concerned primarily with scholastic discussions on epistemology, cosmology, psychology, KARMAN, rebirth, and the constituents of the process of enlightenment and the path (MARGA) to salvation. (In the MAHAYANA tradition, this abhidharmapitaka is sometimes redefined as a broader "treatise basket," or *sASTRAPItAKA.)

abhimukhī. (T. mngon du 'gyur ba/mngon du phyogs pa; C. xianqian [di]; J. genzen[chi]; K. hyonjon [chi] 現前[地]). In Sanskrit, "manifest" or "evident"; used with reference to a twofold classification of phenomena as manifest (abhimukhī)-viz., those things that are evident to sense perception-and hidden (S. PAROKsA, T. lkog gyur)-viz., those things whose existence must be inferred through reasoning. ¶ Abhimukhī, as "immediacy" or "face-to-face," is the sixth of the ten stages (BHuMI) of the BODHISATTVA path described in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA. The MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA interprets this bhumi as "directly facing," or "face-to-face," implying that the bodhisattva at this stage of the path stands at the intersection between SAMSARA and NIRVAnA. The bodhisattva here realizes the equality of all phenomena (dharmasamatA), e.g., that all dharmas are signless and free of characteristics, unproduced and unoriginated, and free from the duality of existence and nonexistence. Turning away from the compounded dharmas of saMsAra, the bodhisattva turns to face the profound wisdom of the buddhas and is thus "face-to-face" with both the compounded (SAMSKṚTA) and uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA) realms. This bhumi is typically correlated with mastery of the sixth perfection (PARAMITA), the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA).

AbhisamayAlaMkAra. (T. Mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan). In Sanskrit, "Ornament of Realization"; a major scholastic treatise of the MAHAYANA, attributed to MAITREYANATHA (c. 350CE). Its full title is AbhisamayAlaMkAranAmaprajNApAramitopadesasAstra (T. Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan) or "Treatise Setting Forth the Perfection of Wisdom called 'Ornament for Realization.'" In the Tibetan tradition, the AbhisamayAlaMkAra is counted among the five treatises of Maitreya (BYAMS CHOS SDE LNGA). The 273 verses of the AbhisamayAlaMkAra provide a schematic outline of the perfection of wisdom, or PRAJNAPARAMITA, approach to enlightenment, specifically as delineated in the PANCAVIMsATISAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA ("Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines"). This detailed delineation of the path is regarded as the "hidden teaching" of the prajNApAramitA sutras. Although hardly known in East Asian Buddhism (until the modern Chinese translation by FAZUN), the work was widely studied in Tibet, where it continues to hold a central place in the monastic curricula of all the major sects. It is especially important for the DGE LUGS sect, which takes it as the definitive description of the stages of realization achieved through the Buddhist path. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra treats the principal topics of the prajNApAramitA sutras by presenting them in terms of the stages of realizations achieved via the five paths (PANCAMARGA). The eight chapters of the text divide these realizations into eight types. The first three are types of knowledge that are essential to any type of practice and are generic to both the mainstream and MahAyAna schools. (1) The wisdom of knowing all modes (SARVAKARAJNATA), for the bodhisattva-adepts who are the putative target audience of the commentary, explains all the characteristics of the myriad dharmas, so that they will have comprehensive knowledge of what the attainment of enlightenment will bring. (2) The wisdom of knowing the paths (MARGAJNATA), viz., the paths perfected by the sRAVAKAs, is a prerequisite to achieving the wisdom of knowing all modes. (3) The wisdom of knowing all phenomena (SARVAJNATA) is, in turn, a prerequisite to achieving the wisdom of knowing the paths. With (4) the topic of the manifestly perfect realization of all aspects (sarvAkArAbhisambodha) starts the text's coverage of the path itself, here focused on gaining insight into all aspects, viz., characteristics of dharmas, paths, and types of beings. By reaching (5) the summit of realization (murdhAbhisamaya; see MuRDHAN), one arrives at the entrance to ultimate realization. All the realizations achieved up to this point are secured and commingled through (6) gradual realization (anupurvAbhisamaya). The perfection of this gradual realization and the consolidation of all previous realizations catalyze the (7) instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya). The fruition of this instantaneous realization brings (8) realization of the dharma body, or DHARMAKAYA (dharmakAyAbhisambodha). The first three chapters thus describe the three wisdoms incumbent on the buddhas; the middle four chapters cover the four paths that take these wisdoms as their object; and the last chapter describes the resultant dharma body of the buddhas and their special attainments. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra provides a synopsis of the massive prajNApAramitA scriptures and a systematic outline of the comprehensive path of MahAyAna. The AbhisamayAlaMkAra spurred a long tradition of Indian commentaries and other exegetical works, twenty-one of which are preserved in the Tibetan canon. Notable among this literature are Arya VIMUKTISEnA's Vṛtti and the ABHISAMAYALAMKARALOKA and Vivṛti (called Don gsal in Tibetan) by HARIBHADRA. Later Tibetan commentaries include BU STON RIN CHEN GRUB's Lung gi snye ma and TSONG KHA PA's LEGS BSHAD GSER PHRENG.

abhisamaya. (T. mngon rtogs; C. xianguan; J. genkan; K. hyon'gwan 現觀). In Sanskrit and PAli, "comprehension," "realization," or "penetration"; a foundational term in Buddhist soteriological theory, broadly referring to training that results in the realization of truth (satyAbhisamaya; P. saccAbhisamaya). This realization most typically involves the direct insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvary AryasatyAni) but may also be used with reference to realization of the twelvefold chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA), the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA), the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA), etc., thus making all these doctrines specific objects of meditation. The PAli PAtISAMBHIDAMAGGA discusses forty-four specific kinds of abhisamaya, all related to basic doctrinal lists. In the SARVASTIVADA abhidharma, abhisamaya occurs on the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), through a "sequential realization" (anupurvAbhisamaya) of sixteen moments of insight into the four noble truths. This gradual unfolding of realization was rejected by the THERAVADA school and was strongly criticized in HARIVARMAN's *TATTVASIDDHI, both of which advocated the theory of instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya). In the YOGACARA school of MAHAYANA, abhisamaya is not limited to the path of vision, as in the SarvAstivAda school, but also occurs on the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA) that precedes the path of vision through the abhisamayas of thought, faith, and discipline, as well as on the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA) through two abhisamayas associated with wisdom and an abhisamaya associated with the ultimate path (NIstHAMARGA). The term comes to be associated particularly with the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, attributed to MAITREYANATHA, which sets forth the various realizations achieved on the "HĪNAYANA" and MAHAYANA paths. In the eight chapters of this text are delineated eight types of abhisamaya, which subsume the course of training followed by both sRAVAKAs and BODHISATTVAs: (1) the wisdom of knowing all modes (SARVAKARAJNATA), (2) the wisdom of knowing the paths (MARGAJNATA), (3) the wisdom of knowing all phenomena (SARVAJNATA), (4) manifestly perfect realization of all (the three previous) aspects (sarvAkArAbhisambodha), (5) the summit of realization (murdhAbhisamaya; see MuRDHAN), (6) gradual realization (anupurvAbhisamaya), (7) instantaneous realization (ekaksanAbhisamaya), and (8) realization of the dharma body, or DHARMAKAYA (dharmakAyAbhisambodha).

absolute path ::: (file system) A path relative to the root directory. Its first character must be the pathname separator. (1996-11-21)

Abstractly, of course, pratyeka-yana can be used for sorcerers and the path of the Brothers of the Shadow, but such is not usual. Obviously the path of sorcery is a pratyeka path in the strictly logical sense. The path of the sorcerers is called the left-hand path, the path of darkness or of the shadows, the downward path, and is sometimes described by the term pratyeka-yana.

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

Across the path of the divine Event

Actually, the path of the shadows and the path towards the light stretch in opposite directions; yet the ultimate goal of both is a nirvana. The path upwards, whether of the amrita or of the pratyeka, leads to the nirvana of spirit — the amrita ultimately being far higher than that of the pratyeka; whereas the downward path of the Brothers of the Shadow leads also to a nirvana, but to enchainment in the avichi-nirvana of absolute matter for that hierarchy.

adhimoksa. (P. adhimokkha; T. mos pa; C. shengjie; J. shoge; K. sŭnghae 勝解). In Sanskrit, "determination," "resolution," or "zeal"; a general term denoting an inclination toward a virtuous object, sometimes used to indicate a preliminary stage prior to the conviction that results from direct experience; also seen written as adhimukti. The adhimukticaryAbhumi incorporates the stages of the path of accumulation (SAMBHARAMARGA) and the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA) prior to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). In a more technical sense, adhimoksa is a mental factor (CAITTA) that keeps consciousness intent on its object without straying to another object. It is listed among the ten major omnipresent mental concomitants (S. MAHABHuMIKA) that are present in all in the dharma taxonomy of the SARVASTIVADA school, among the five determinative mental concomitants (S. VINIYATA) in the YOGACARA dharma system, and one of the six secondary (P. pakinnaka) factors in the PAli ABHIDHAMMA. Adhimoksa is also used to describe the interests or dispositions of sentient beings, the knowledge of which contributes to a buddha's pedagogical skills.

Adikarmika. (P. Adikammika; T. las dang po pa; C. shiye; J. shigo; K. siop 始業). In Sanskrit, "beginner" or "neophyte"; a term used to refer to someone who is a novice on the path (MARGA). More technically, it refers to a practitioner on the path of accumulation (SAMBHARAMARGA), where the initial tools necessary for spiritual development are first beginning to be gathered.

AdīnavAnupassanANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the contemplation of danger (ADĪNAVA)"; this is the fourth of nine knowledges (NAna) cultivated as part of the "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI) according to the outline in the VISUDDHIMAGGA. This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Knowledge arising from the contemplation of danger is developed by noting the frightfulness of conditioned formations (saMkhAra; S. SAMSKARA), that is to say, the mental and physical phenomena (NAMARuPA) comprising the individual and the universe. Having seen that all phenomena are fearful because they are impermanent (anicca; S. ANITYA) and destined for annihilation, the practitioner finds no refuge in any kind of existence in any of the realms of rebirth. He sees no conditioned formation or station on which he can rely or that is worth holding onto. The Visuddhimagga states that the practitioner sees the three realms of existence as burning charcoal pits, the elements of the physical world as venomous snakes, and the five aggregates (khandha; S. SKANDHA) comprising the person as murderers with drawn swords. Seeing danger in continued existence and in every kind of becoming (BHAVA), the practitioner realizes that the only safety and happiness are found in nibbAna (S. NIRVAnA).

A few centuries after the composition of the JNānaprasthāna, or c. first half of the second-century CE, Sarvāstivāda exegetes compiled a massive commentary to the text, entitled the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀsĀ, which followed the root text's chapters and section divisions but exponentially expanded the coverage of the school's teachings. Because of their adherence to the exegetical approaches outlined in that commentary, later masters of the Sarvāstivāda school in KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA termed themselves "VAIBHĀsIKA." ¶ The JNānaprasthāna is probably the last of the canonical Sarvāstivāda abhidharma texts to have been composed and contains a systematic overview of the emblematic doctrines of the mature school. Distinctive Sarvāstivāda doctrines treated in the text include the full roster of the four conditions (PRATYAYA) and six causes (HETU); the Sarvāstivāda's eponymous teaching that factors (dharma) exist in all three time periods (TRIKĀLA) of the past, present, and future; the definitive classification schema for the mental concomitants (CAITTA); and the listing of the four conditioned characteristics (SAMSKṚTALAKsAnA) of dharmas, viz., origination (JĀTI), continuance (STHITI), senescence (JARĀ), and desinence (anityatā, ANITYA; viz., death). The JNānaprasthāna's outline of Sarvāstivāda abhidharma is based on a soteriological schema, ultimately deriving from the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. The opening chapter on miscellaneous factors begins with a discussion of the highest worldly factors (laukikāgradharma), perhaps the major conceptual innovation of the text, that is, dharmas at the moment of the transition from ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) to noble one (ĀRYA), when they catalyze access to the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA). The JNānaprasthāna thus uses its treatment of the highest worldly dharmas as an interpretative tool to integrate its discussion of the major stages in the path, from the mundane path of practice (LAUKIKA-BHĀVANĀMĀRGA), to the path of vision, the supramundane path of cultivation (LOKOTTARA-BHĀVANĀMĀRGA), and the path of the realized adept (AsAIKsAMĀRGA; see also PANCAMĀRGA). This focus also highlights the major difference between Sarvāstivāda and Pāli abhidharma materials: whereas Pāli texts include substantial coverage of such preliminary practices as morality and choosing a meditation subject, the JNānaprasthāna is principally concerned with the more advanced stages of the path. The second critical contribution of the JNānaprasthāna is its systematization of the six causes (HETU). These six are not found in the ĀGAMAs, and only four are listed in earlier Sarvāstivāda abhidharma texts, such as the VIJNĀNAKĀYA[PĀDAsĀSTRA]. Kātyāyanīputra's systematization of this list seems to have been intended to demonstrate the causal connections that pertained between the stages of the path. Overall, the JNānaprasthāna is best known not for its doctrinal innovations but instead for its grand systematization of Sarvāstivāda abhidharma.

A gati is the path or sphere of existence entered upon by entities impelled because of past karma. If a person lives a noble and upright life, his gati will be the path or sphere of humanity in its higher aspects. If he deliberately lives an evil, degenerate existence, his course or next sphere of existence will be a rebirth in some degenerate human form or sphere of activity. Similarly with the divinities and all other entities: they find their succeeding spheres of life and action strictly according to karma. For karma is universal; and what one makes himself to be, that in very truth he shall become. The becoming in every instance and sphere of the manifested universe is according to the persisting karmic conditions impelling, and occasionally compelling, an entity into this, that, or some other of the gatis.

Ahimsa: (Skr.) Non-injury, an ethical principle applicable to all living beings and subscribed to by most Hindus. In practice it would mean, e.g., abstaining from animal food, relinquishing war, rejecting all thought of taking life, regarding all living beings akin. It has led to such varied phenomena as the Buddhist's sweeping the path before him or straining the water, the almost reverential attitude toward the cow, and Gandhi's non-violent resistence campaign. -- K.F.L.

Ahl al Tariqa, Ahle Tariqa :::   People of the path; Sufis

AjAtasatru. (P. AjAtasattu; T. Ma skyes dgra; C. Asheshi wang; J. Ajase o; K. Asase wang 阿闍世王). In Sanskrit, "Enemy While Still Unborn," the son of King BIMBISARA of Magadha and his successor as king. According to the PAli account, when BimbisAra's queen VAIDEHĪ (P. Videhī) was pregnant, she developed an overwhelming urge to drink blood from the king's right knee, a craving that the king's astrologers interpreted to mean that the son would eventually commit patricide and seize the throne. Despite several attempts to abort the fetus, the child was born and was given the name AjAtasatru. While a prince, AjAtasatru became devoted to the monk DEVADATTA, the Buddha's cousin and rival, because of Devadatta's mastery of yogic powers (ṚDDHI). Devadatta plotted to take revenge on the Buddha through manipulating AjAtasatru, whom he convinced to murder his father BimbisAra, a close lay disciple and patron of the Buddha, and seize the throne. AjAtasatru subsequently assisted Devadatta in several attempts on the Buddha's life. AjAtasatru is said to have later grown remorseful over his evil deeds and, on the advice of the physician JĪVAKA, sought the Buddha's forgiveness. The Buddha preached to him on the benefits of renunciation from the SAMANNAPHALASUTTA, and AjAtasatru became a lay disciple. Because he had committed patricide, one of the five most heinous of evil deeds that are said to bring immediate retribution (ANANTARYAKARMAN), AjAtasatru was precluded from attaining any degree of enlightenment during this lifetime and was destined for rebirth in the lohakumbhiya hell. Nevertheless, Sakka (S. sAKRA), the king of the gods, described AjAtasatru as the chief in piety among the Buddha's unenlightened disciples. When the Buddha passed away, AjAtasatru was overcome with grief and, along with other kings, was given a portion of the Buddha's relics (sARĪRA) for veneration. According to the PAli commentaries, AjAtasatru provided the material support for convening the first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST) following the Buddha's death. The same sources state that, despite his piety, he will remain in hell for sixty thousand years but later will attain liberation as a solitary buddha (P. paccekabuddha; S. PRATYEKABUDDHA) named Viditavisesa. ¶ MahAyAna scriptures, such as the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA and the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING ("Contemplation Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life"), give a slightly different account of AjAtasatru's story. BimbisAra was concerned that his queen, Vaidehī, had yet to bear him an heir. He consulted a soothsayer, who told him that an aging forest ascetic would eventually be reborn as BimbisAra's son. The king then decided to speed the process along and had the ascetic killed so he would take rebirth in Vaidehī's womb. After the queen had already conceived, however, the soothsayer prophesized that the child she would bear would become the king's enemy. After his birth, the king dropped him from a tall tower, but the child survived the fall, suffering only a broken finger. (In other versions of the story, Vaidehī is so mortified to learn that her unborn son will murder her husband the king that she tried to abort the fetus, but to no avail.) Devadatta later told AjAtasatru the story of his conception and the son then imprisoned his father, intending to starve him to death. But Vaidehī kept the king alive by smuggling food to him, smearing her body with flour-paste and hiding grape juice inside her jewelry. When AjAtasatru learned of her treachery, he drew his sword to murder her, but his vassals dissuaded him. The prince's subsequent guilt about his intended matricide caused his skin break out in oozing abscesses that emitted such a foul odor that no one except his mother was able to approach him and care for him. Despite her loving care, AjAtasatru did not improve and Vaidehī sought the Buddha's counsel. The Buddha was able to cure the prince by teaching him the "NirvAna Sutra," and the prince ultimately became one of the preeminent Buddhist monarchs of India. This version of the story of AjAtasatru was used by Kosawa Heisaku (1897-1968), one of the founding figures of Japanese psychoanalysis, and his successors to posit an "Ajase (AjAtasatru) Complex" that distinguished Eastern cultures from the "Oedipal Complex" described by Sigmund Freud in Western psychoanalysis. As Kosawa interpreted this story, Vaidehī's ambivalence or active antagonism toward her son and AjAtasatru's rancor toward his mother were examples of the pathological relationship that pertains between mother and son in Eastern cultures, in distinction to the competition between father and son that Freud posited in his Oedipal Complex. This pathological relationship can be healed only through the mother's love and forgiveness, which redeem the child and thus reunite them.

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

Alaya ::: Also called "Storehouse Consciousness". In Buddhist philosophy this is a primordial state of awareness and potentiality from which all other seeds of causality and karma flow. It has been described as "the last barrier to complete enlightenment" and hence, if we are speaking Kabbalistically, is associated with the path between Kether and the Veils of Negative Existence.

AlayavijNAna. (T. kun gzhi rnam par shes pa; C. alaiyeshi/zangshi; J. arayashiki/zoshiki; K. aroeyasik/changsik 阿賴耶識/藏識). In Sanskrit, "storehouse consciousness" or "foundational consciousness"; the eighth of the eight types of consciousness (VIJNANA) posited in the YOGACARA school. All forms of Buddhist thought must be able to uphold (1) the principle of the cause and effect of actions (KARMAN), the structure of SAMSARA, and the process of liberation (VIMOKsA) from it, while also upholding (2) the fundamental doctrines of impermanence (ANITYA) and the lack of a perduring self (ANATMAN). The most famous and comprehensive solution to the range of problems created by these apparently contradictory elements is the AlayavijNAna, often translated as the "storehouse consciousness." This doctrinal concept derives in India from the YOGACARA school, especially from ASAnGA and VASUBANDHU and their commentators. Whereas other schools of Buddhist thought posit six consciousnesses (vijNAna), in the YogAcAra system there are eight, adding the afflicted mind (KLIstAMANAS) and the AlayavijNAna. It appears that once the SarvAstivAda's school's eponymous doctrine of the existence of dharmas in the past, present, and future was rejected by most other schools of Buddhism, some doctrinal solution was required to provide continuity between past and future, including past and future lifetimes. The alAyavijNAna provides that solution as a foundational form of consciousness, itself ethically neutral, where all the seeds (BIJA) of all deeds done in the past reside, and from which they fructify in the form of experience. Thus, the AlayavijNAna is said to pervade the entire body during life, to withdraw from the body at the time of death (with the extremities becoming cold as it slowly exits), and to carry the complete karmic record to the next rebirth destiny. Among the many doctrinal problems that the presence of the AlayavijNAna is meant to solve, it appears that one of its earliest references is in the context not of rebirth but in that of the NIRODHASAMAPATTI, or "trance of cessation," where all conscious activity, that is, all CITTA and CAITTA, cease. Although the meditator may appear as if dead during that trance, consciousness is able to be reactivated because the AlayavijNAna remains present throughout, with the seeds of future experience lying dormant in it, available to bear fruit when the person arises from meditation. The AlayavijNAna thus provides continuity from moment to moment within a given lifetime and from lifetime to lifetime, all providing the link between an action performed in the past and its effect experienced in the present, despite protracted periods of latency between seed and fruition. In YogAcAra, where the existence of an external world is denied, when a seed bears fruit, it bifurcates into an observing subject and an observed object, with that object falsely imagined to exist separately from the consciousness that perceives it. The response by the subject to that object produces more seeds, either positive, negative, or neutral, which are deposited in the AlayavijNAna, remaining there until they in turn bear their fruit. Although said to be neutral and a kind of silent observer of experience, the AlayavijNAna is thus also the recipient of karmic seeds as they are produced, receiving impressions (VASANA) from them. In the context of Buddhist soteriological discussions, the AlayavijNAna explains why contaminants (ASRAVA) remain even when unwholesome states of mind are not actively present, and it provides the basis for the mistaken belief in self (Atman). Indeed, it is said that the klistamanas perceives the AlayavijNAna as a perduring self. The AlayavijNAna also explains how progress on the path can continue over several lifetimes and why some follow the path of the sRAVAKA and others the path of the BODHISATTVA; it is said that one's lineage (GOTRA) is in fact a seed that resides permanently in the AlayavijNAna. In India, the doctrine of the AlayavijNAna was controversial, with some members of the YogAcAra school rejecting its existence, arguing that the functions it is meant to serve can be accommodated within the standard six-consciousness system. The MADHYAMAKA, notably figures such as BHAVAVIVEKA and CANDRAKĪRTI, attacked the YogAcAra proponents of the AlayavijNAna, describing it as a form of self, which all Buddhists must reject. ¶ In East Asia, the AlayavijNAna was conceived as one possible solution to persistent questions in Buddhism about karmic continuity and about the origin of ignorance (MOHA). For the latter, some explanation was required as to how sentient beings, whom many strands of MAHAYANA claimed were inherently enlightened, began to presume themselves to be ignorant. Debates raged within different strands of the Chinese YogAcAra traditions as to whether the AlayavijNAna is intrinsically impure because of the presence of these seeds of past experience (the position of the Northern branch of the Chinese DI LUN ZONG and the Chinese FAXIANG tradition of XUANZANG and KUIJI), or whether the AlayavijNAna included both pure and impure elements because it involved also the functioning of thusness, or TATHATA (the Southern Di lun school's position). Since the sentient being has had a veritable interminable period of time in which to collect an infinity of seeds-which would essentially make it impossible to hope to counteract them one by one-the mainstream strands of YogAcAra viewed the mind as nevertheless tending inveterately toward impurity (dausthulya). This impurity could only be overcome through a "transformation of the basis" (AsRAYAPARAVṚTTI), which would completely eradicate the karmic seeds stored in the storehouse consciousness, liberating the bodhisattva from the effects of all past actions and freeing him to project compassion liberally throughout the world. In some later interpretations, this transformation would then convert the AlayavijNAna into a ninth "immaculate consciousness" (AMALAVIJNANA). See also DASHENG QIXIN LUN.

ALIEN BEINGS. ::: No trust can be put on the beauty of the eyes or the face. There are many Beings of the inferior planes who have a captivating beauty and can enthrall with it and they can give too an Ananda which is not of the highest and may on the contrary by its lure take away from the path altogether.

alobha. (T. ma chags pa; C. wutan; J. muton; K. mut'am 無貪). In Sanskrit and PAli, "absence of craving" or "absence of greed"; one of the most ubiquitous of moral virtues (KUsALA), which serves as an antidote to the KLEsA of desire and as the foundation for progress on the path. Alobha is one of the forty-six mental factors (CAITTA) according to the SARVASTIVADA school and the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA, one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school, and one of the fifty-one of the PAli abhidhamma. "Absence of craving" is the opposite of "craving" or "greed" (LOBHA). The SarvAstivAda ABHIDHARMA system posited that this mental quality accompanied all wholesome activities, and therefore lists it as the seventh of the ten major omnipresent wholesome factors (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA). Absence of craving is listed as one of the so-called three roots of virtue (KUsALAMuLA), one of the states of mind comprising right intention (SAMYAKSAMKALPA) in the noble eightfold path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA), and is traditionally taken to be the precondition for the cultivation of equanimity (UPEKsA).

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.

A misunderstanding of certain teachings has also given rise in some minds to the idea that animals, when they die, become merged in a group-soul, which is entirely erroneous when connected with the implication that they lose their individuality and do not reappear as the same partially egoic individuals. Every animal, as also every organism down to an atom, has its monad or permanent individuality, which is on the path of evolution just as human monads are, though at a lower stage. This individuality cannot be lost. Yet the manifested quality of individuality is so little developed in the animals, as compared with human beings, that their monads to our minds, although not in themselves, are much more alike than are human monads, so that they seem to us to fall together more readily into a group. But the word group here is a collective noun and denotes an entity, but of an extremely abstract — to us — type.

amnesia ::: The pathological inability to remember or establish memories; retrograde amnesia is the inability to recall existing memories, whereas anterograde amnesia is the inability to lay down new memories.

Amrita-yana (Sanskrit) Amṛta-yāna [from a not + mṛta dead from the verbal root mṛ to die + yāna path, vehicle] The path of immortality; in The Voice of the Silence the path followed by the Buddhas of Compassion or of Perfection. It is the “secret path,” the arya (noble) path of the heart doctrine of esoteric wisdom. The Buddhas of Compassion instead of donning the dharmakaya vesture and then entering nirvana, as the Pratyeka Buddhas do, give up nirvana and assume the nirmanakaya robe, thus enabling them to work directly for all beings less evolved than they; and because of this great individual sacrifice, the nirmanakaya condition is in one sense the holiest of the trikaya (three vestures). The amrita-yana is thus a lofty spiritual pathway, and leads to the ineffable glories of self-conscious immortality in the cosmic manvantaric “eternity.”

Anagamin (Sanskrit) Anāgāmin [from a not + āgāmin from ā-gam to come, proceed toward] One who does not come; in Southern or Theravada Buddhism, a “never returner,” one who will not be reborn on earth again — “unless he so desires in order to help mankind” (VS 88). The third stage of the fourfold path that leads to nirvana, the path of arhatship. See also ARHAT

anAgAmin. (T. phyir mi 'ong ba; C. buhuan/bulai/anahan; J. fugen/furai/anagon; K. purhwan/pullae/anaham 不還/來/阿那含). In Sanskrit and PAli, "nonreturner"; the third of the four types of Buddhist saint or "noble person" (ARYAPUDGALA) in the mainstream traditions, along with the SROTAAPANNA or "stream-enterer" (the first and lowest grade), the SAKṚDAGAMIN or "once-returner" (the second grade), and the ARHAT or "worthy-one" (the fourth and highest grade). The anAgAmin is one who has completely put aside the first five of ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth: (1) belief in the existence of a perduring self (SATKAYADṚstI), (2) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (sĪLAVRATAPARAMARsA), (3) skeptical doubt about the efficacy of the path (VICIKITSA), (4) sensual craving (KAMARAGA), and (5) malice (VYAPADA). The anAgAmin has also weakened considerably the last five of the ten fetters (including such affective fetters as pride, restlessness, and ignorance), thus enervating the power of SAMSARA. Having completely eradicated the first five fetters, which are associated with the sensuous realm (KAMADHATU), and weakened the latter five, the anAgAmin is a "nonreturner" in the sense that he will never be reborn in the kAmadhAtu again; instead, he will either complete the path and become an arhat in the present lifetime or he will be reborn in the "pure abodes," or sUDDHAVASA (corresponding to the five highest heavens in the subtle-materiality realm, or RuPADHATU); and specifically, in the AKANIstHA heaven, the fifth and highest of the pure abodes, which often serves as a way station for anAgAmins before they achieve arhatship. As one of the twenty members of the ARYASAMGHA (see VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA), the anAgAmin is the name for a candidate (pratipannaka) for anAgAmin (the third fruit of the noble path). In addition, the ANAGAMIPHALASTHA is the basis for several subdivisions of the twenty members. The anAgamin may be either a follower through faith (sRADDHANUSARIN) or a follower through doctrine (DHARMANUSARIN) with either dull (MṚDVINDRIYA) or keen faculties (TĪKsnENDRIYA). The anAgAmins have eliminated all of the nine levels of afflictions that cause rebirth in the sensuous realm (kAmadhAtu) that the ordinary (LAUKIKA) path of meditation (BHAVANAMARGA) removes. Depending on their earlier career, they may be VĪTARAGAPuRVIN (those who have already eliminated sensuous-realm faults prior to reaching the path of vision) and an Anupurvin (those who reach the four fruits of the noble path in a series). Those with dull faculties are Anupurvin who have earlier been SAKṚDAGAMIPHALASTHA. Those with keen faculties reach the third fruit when they attain the VIMUKTIMARGA (path of liberation from the afflictions, or KLEsA) on the DARsANAMARGA (path of vision). See also ANABHISAMSKARAPARINIRVAYIN; SABHISAMSKARAPARINIRVAYIN; UPAPADYAPARINIRVAYIN.

AnantaryamArga. (T. bar chad med lam; C. wujian dao; J. mukendo; K. mugan to 無間道). In Sanskrit, the "immediate path" or "uninterrupted path"; a term that refers to the two-stage process of abandoning the afflictions (KLEsA). In the VAIBHAsIKA path (MARGA) schema, as one proceeds from the third level of the path, the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), to the fifth level, the adept path (AsAIKsAMARGA), the klesa are abandoned in sequence through repeated occasions of yogic direct perception (YOGIPRATYAKsA), which consists of two moments: the first is called the AnantaryamArga (uninterrupted path) in which the specific klesa or set of klesas is actively abandoned, followed immediately by a second moment, the path of liberation (VIMUKTIMARGA), which is the state of having been liberated from the klesa. A similar description is found in YOGACARA and MADHYAMAKA presentations of the path.

AnantaryasamAdhi. (T. bar chad med pa'i ting nge 'dzin; C. wujian ding; J. mukenjo; K. mugan chong 無間定). In Sanskrit, "unimpeded concentration"; the culmination of the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA), the second segment of the five-path schema outlined in the VAIBHAsIKA school system of SARVASTIVADAABHIDHARMA and treated similarly in YOGACARA soteriology. After mastering all four of the "aids to penetration" (NIRVEDHABHAGĪYA) that catalyze knowledge of the reality of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, the meditator acquires fully the highest worldly dharmas (LAUKIKAGRADHARMA), the last of these aids, an experience that is marked by the AnantaryasamAdhi. This distinctive type of SAMADHI receives its name from the fact that the adept then continues on without interruption to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), the third stage of the path, which provides access to sanctity (ARYA) as a stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA).

**Angel of the Way *Sri Aurobindo: "Love fulfilled does not exclude knowledge, but itself brings knowledge; and the completer the knowledge, the richer the possibility of love. ‘By Bhakti" says the Lord in the Gita ‘shall a man know Me in all my extent and greatness and as I am in the principles of my being, and when he has known Me in the principles of my being, then he enters into Me." Love without knowledge is a passionate and intense, but blind, crude, often dangerous thing, a great power, but also a stumbling-block; love, limited in knowledge, condemns itself in its fervour and often by its very fervour to narrowness; but love leading to perfect knowledge brings the infinite and absolute union. Such love is not inconsistent with, but rather throws itself with joy into divine works; for it loves God and is one with him in all his being, and therefore in all beings, and to work for the world is then to feel and fulfil multitudinously one"s love for God. This is the trinity of our powers, [work, knowledge, love] the union of all three in God to which we arrive when we start on our journey by the path of devotion with Love for the Angel of the Way to find in the ecstasy of the divine delight of the All-Lover"s being the fulfilment of ours, its secure home and blissful abiding-place and the centre of its universal radiation.” The Synthesis of Yoga*

AngulimAlīyasutra. (T. Sor mo'i phreng ba la phan pa'i mdo; C. Yangjuemoluo jing; J. okutsumarakyo; K. Anggulmara kyong 央掘摩羅經). In Sanskrit, "The Discourse on AnGULIMALA"; a TATHAGATAGARBHA sutra that tells the story of AngulimAla. AngulimAla's story (see previous entry) also serves here as a frame for several sermons concerning the EKAYANA and tathAgatagarbha doctrine. When asked by the Buddha about the meaning of "one learning," for example, AngulimAla replies that the path to awakening consists of a single vehicle (ekayAna), a single act of taking refuge, and a single truth. In reply to the BODHISATTVA MANJUsRĪ's questions about the meaning of tathAgatagarbha, the Buddha teaches that every sentient being possesses the tathAgatagarbha, which remains concealed (S. saMdhi/abhisaMdhi, C. yinfu) and covered by afflictions (KLEsA); this is one of the two major interpretations of the concept. The Buddha proclaims the tathAgatagarbha to be the only true foundation of the bodhisattva path.

aniyatagotra. (T. rigs ma nges pa; C. buding zhongxing; J. fujoshusho; K. pujong chongsong 不定種姓). In Sanskrit, "indeterminate lineage"; referring to those beings who are not predestined to a particular path and who, depending on circumstances, may follow one path and then change to another. According to some YOGACARA schools, at birth some beings are endowed with an inherent lineage (PRAKṚTISTHAGOTRA) directing them toward one of three vehicles: the sRAVAKAYANA, PRATYEKABUDDHAYANA, or BODHISATTVAYANA. The difficulty or ease with which they proceed on the path results from a developed lineage (SAMUDANĪTAGOTRA) obtained from cultivating earlier wholesome roots (KUsALAMuLA). For such persons, the lineages of the srAvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva remain definite even when facing great hindrances. There are also persons of indeterminate or indefinite lineage. For such persons, whether they follow the srAvaka, pratyekabuddha, or bodhisattva path depends on circumstances, such as which teacher they encounter. Persons of this lineage can therefore change their path. For example, beginner (ADIKARMIKA) bodhisattvas may revert to a srAvaka path and seek personal NIRVAnA when faced with either the prospect of the difficult deeds (duskaracaryA) that bodhisattvas must perform for the sake of others or the seemingly interminable length of time (see ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) required to achieve full enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI). In addition, a srAvaka may be inspired to seek buddhahood for the sake of all beings and thus switch to the bodhisattva path.

Antahkarana (Sanskrit) Antaḥkaraṇa [from antar interior, within + karaṇa sense organ] Interior organ or instrument; defined variously as the seat of thought and feeling, the thinking faculty, the heart, mind, soul, and conscience. In Vedanta philosophy, it is looked upon as a fourfold inner instrument or intermediary between spirit and body, with mind being the go-between or bridge. One could say that there are several antahkaranas in the human septenary constitution: one for every path or bridge between any two monadic centers. Man is a unity in diversity, and the antahkaranas are the links of vibrating consciousness-substance uniting these various centers (cf OG 5). Blavatsky describes it as “the path that lies between thy Spirit and thy self, the highway of sensations, the rude arousers of Ahankara” (the sense of egoity); and that when the two have merged into the One and the personal sacrificed to self impersonal, then the antahkarana vanishes because no longer useful as a functioning bridge between the two. Further, the antahkarana is “the lower Manas, the Path of communication or communion between the personality and the higher Manas or human Soul. At death it is destroyed as a Path or medium of communication, and its remains survive in a form as the Kamarupa — the ‘shell’ ” (VS 56, 88-9).

Anthropopathism: (Gr. anthropos, man; pathein, suffer) Sometimes referred to as the pathetic fallacy, i.e., attributing human feelings illegitimately to situations or things lacking such capacities. -- V.F.

anulomaNAna. In PAli, "conformity knowledge"; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, this is the ninth and last of nine knowledges (P. NAna, S. JNANA) cultivated as part of the purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path (P. patipadANAnadassanavisuddhi). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth of the seven purities (VIsUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. "Conformity knowledge" refers to the last three so-called impulsion moments (javana) of consciousness that arise in the mind of the practitioner preceding his perception of the nibbAna element (NIRVAnADHATU). This knowledge is so named because it conforms itself to the preceding eight stages of knowledge, as well as to the immediately following supramundane path (P. AriyamAgga, S. ARYAMARGA) and the thirty-seven constituents of enlightenment (P. bodhipakkhiyadhamma, S. BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA). When the three moments are treated separately, they receive different names. The first impulsion moment is called "preparation" (P. parikamma), when adaptation knowledge takes as its object the compounded formations (SAMSKARA) as being something impermanent (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANATMAN). Immediately thereafter, the second impulsion moment arises, which takes the same formations as its object and is called "access" (upacAra). Immediately following that the third impulsion moment arises taking the same object, which is called "conformity" (anuloma). At this point, the practitioner is at the threshold of liberation (P. vimokkha, S. VIMOKsA), and, therefore, conformity knowledge is described as the final stage in what is called "insight leading to emergence" (P. vutthAnagAminivipassanA). This category includes the sixth, seventh, and eighth knowledges (NAna) in the ninefold schema: namely, "knowledge arising from the desire for deliverance" (P. MUCCITUKAMYATANAnA), "knowledge arising from the contemplation on reflection" (P. PAtISAnKHANUPASSANANAnA), and "knowledge arising from equanimity regarding all formations of existence" (P. SAnKHARUPEKKHANAnA).

anutpattikadharmaksAnti. (T. mi skye ba'i chos la bzod pa; C. wushengfaren; J. mushobonin; K. musaeng pobin 無生法忍). In Sanskrit, the "acquiescence" or "receptivity" "to the nonproduction of dharmas." In the MAHAYANA, a BODHISATTVA is said to have attained the stage of "nonretrogression" (AVAIVARTIKA) when he develops an unswerving conviction that all dharmas are "unproduced" (ANUTPADA) and "empty" (suNYATA) in the sense that they lack any intrinsic nature (NIḤSVABHAVA). This stage of understanding has been variously described as occurring on either the first or eighth BHuMIs of the bodhisattva path. This conviction concerning emptiness is characterized as a kind of "acquiescence," "receptivity," or "forbearance" (KsANTI), because it sustains the bodhisattva on the long and arduous path of benefiting others, instilling an indefatigable equipoise, and preventing him from falling back into the selfish preoccupation with personal liberation. The bodhisattva "bears" or "acquiesces to" the difficulty of actively entering the world to save others by residing in the realization that ultimately there is no one saving others and no others being saved. In other words, all dharmas-including sentient beings and the rounds of rebirth-are originally and eternally "unproduced" or "tranquil." This realization of nonduality-of the self and others, and of SAMSARA and NIRVAnA-inoculates the bodhisattva from being tempted into a premature attainment of "cessation," wherein one would escape from personal suffering through the extinction of continual existence, but at the cost of being deprived of the chance to attain the even greater goal of buddhahood through sustained practice along the bodhisattva path. AnutpattikadharmaksAnti is sometimes used in a nonpolemical context, where it refers both to the MahAyAna realization of the truth of "emptiness" and to the non-MahAyAna realization of no-self (ANATMAN) and the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. In a non-MahAyAna context, the term corresponds to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA).

apavAda. (T. skur 'debs; C. sunjian; J. songen; K. son'gam 損減). In Sanskrit, "denigration" or "slander"; denying the presence of positive qualities and falsely ascribing negative qualities. Philosophically, the term is used to describe the underestimation or denigration of the status of phenomena, by claiming, for example, that phenomena do not exist conventionally. Wrong views (MITHYADṚstI) themselves are considered to be the "denigration" of that which really exists, such as the truth of suffering (DUḤKHA); other specific sorts of wrong views may also be the "erroneous affirmation" or "superimposition" (SAMAROPA) of things that actually do not exist in reality. Four types of apavAda are mentioned in the ABHIDHARMAMAHAVIBHAsA: denigration of (1) cause, which is countered by understanding the noble truth of origination; (2) effect, which is countered by the noble truth of suffering; (3) the path, which is countered by the noble truth of the path; and (4) cessation, which is countered by the noble truth of cessation.

apramAda. (P. appamAda; T. bag yod pa; C. bufangyi; J. fuhoitsu; K. pulbangil 不放逸). In Sanskrit, "heedfulness" or "vigilance"; one of the forty-six mental concomitants (CAITTA) according to the SARVASTIVADA-VAIBHAsIKA school of ABHIDHARMA and one of the fifty-one according to the YOGACARA school. Heedfulness is the opposite of "heedlessness" (PRAMADA) and is the vigilant attitude that strives toward virtuous activities and remains ever watchful of moral missteps. Heedfulness fosters steadfastness regarding spiritual and ethical matters; it was presumed to be so foundational to any kind of ethical or wholesome behavior that the SarvAstivAda abhidharma system included it among the predominant wholesome factors of wide extent (KUsALAMAHABHuMIKA). Heedfulness is also an integral part of the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), where certain types of proclivities (ANUsAYA)-such as passion for sensual pleasure (RAGA)-can only be removed by consistent and vigilant training, rather than simply through correct insight, as on the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). Heedfulness was so crucial to spiritual progress that the Buddha recommended it in his last words delivered on his deathbed, as related in the PAli MAHAPARINIBBANASUTTANTA: "Indeed, monks, I declare to you: decay is inherent in all compounded things; strive on with vigilance." (Handa 'dAni bhikkhave AmantayAmi vo: vayadhammA sankhArA; appamAdena sampAdetha.)

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

Aryabodhisattva. (T. byang chub sems dpa' 'phags pa). In Sanskrit, superior bodhisattva, a bodhisattva who has achieved either the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA) or the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA).

Aryaman ::: [Ved.]: the Aspirer; the aspiring power and action of the Truth; the Force of sacrifice, aspiration, battle, journey towards perfection and light and celestial bliss by which the path is created, travelled, pursued beyond all resistance and obscuration to its luminous and happy goal. [Later]: the chief of the Fathers [pitrs]. ::: Aryama [nominative]

AryamArga. (P. ariyamagga; T. 'phags lam; C. shengdao; J. shodo; K. songdo 聖道). In Sanskrit, "noble path"; the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), and of the adept who has nothing more to learn (AsAIKsAMARGA), in either the mainstream or MAHAYANA traditions. On these three paths, the practitioner becomes a noble person (ARYA) as a result of a direct perception of the truth. The paths of the stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA), once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIN), and nonreturner (ANAGAMIN) would all be classified as noble paths. See also ARYAstAnGAMARGA.

AryamArgaphala. (P. ariyamaggaphala; T. 'phags lam gyi 'bras bu; C. shengdaoguo; J. shodoka; K. songdo kwa 聖道果). In Sanskrit, "noble path and fruit"; the four supramundane (LOKOTTARA) paths (MARGA) and the four supramundane fruitions (PHALA) that mark the attainment of sanctity (ARYA). Attainment of the path refers to the first moment of entering into or becoming a candidate (pratipannaka) for any of the four stages of sanctity; viz., stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA), once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIN), nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), and worthy one (ARHAT). During this initial moment of path attainment, the mind takes the nirvAna element (NIRVAnADHATU) as its object. Path attainment is brought about by insight (VIPAsYANA) into the three universal marks (TRILAKsAnA) of existence that characterize all phenomena: impermanence (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself (ANATMAN). Attainment of the fruit refers to the moments of consciousness that immediately follow attainment of the path. Attainment of any of the four paths occurs only once, while attainment of the fruit can be repeated indefinitely during a lifetime, depending on the circumstances. It is said that, by virtue of attaining the path, one "becomes" free in stages of the ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth, and, by virtue of attaining the fruit, one "is" free from the fetters. The ten fetters that are put aside in stages are (1) belief in the existence of a self (ATMAN) in relation to the body (SATKAYADṚstI; P. sakkAyaditthi); (2) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (sĪLAVRATAPARAMARsA; P. sīlabbataparAmAsa) as a means of salvation; (3) doubt about the efficacy of the path (VICIKITSA; P. vicikicchA); (4) sensual craving (KAMACCHANDA); (5) malice (VYAPADA); (6) craving for existence as a divinity in the realm of subtle materiality (RuPARAGA); (7) craving for existence as a divinity in the immaterial realm (ARuPYARAGA; P. aruparAga); (8) pride (MANA); (9) restlessness (AUDDHATYA; P. uddhacca); and (10) ignorance (AVIDYA; P. avijjA). See also sRAMAnYAPHALA.

Arya. (P. ariya; T. 'phags pa; C. sheng; J. sho; K. song 聖). In Sanskrit, "noble" or "superior." A term appropriated by the Buddhists from earlier Indian culture to refer to its saints and used technically to denote a person who has directly perceived reality and has become a "noble one." In the fourfold path structure of the mainstream schools, an Arya is a person who has achieved at least the first level of sanctity, that of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA), or above. In the fivefold path system, an Arya is one who has achieved at least the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), or above. The SARVASTIVADA (e.g., ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA) and THERAVADA (e.g., VISUDDHIMAGGA) schools of mainstream Buddhism both recognize seven types of noble ones (Arya, P. ariya). In e.g., the VISUDDHIMAGGA, these are listed in order of their intellectual superiority as (1) follower of faith (P. saddhAnusAri; S. sRADDHANUSARIN); (2) follower of the dharma (P. dhammAnusAri; S. DHARMANUSARIN); (3) one who is freed by faith (P. saddhAvimutta; S. sRADDHAVIMUKTA); (4) one who has formed right view (P. ditthippatta; S. DṚstIPRAPTA), by developing both faith and knowledge; (5) one who has bodily testimony (P. kAyasakkhi; S. KAYASAKsIN), viz., through the temporary suspension of mentality in the equipoise of cessation (NIRODHASAMAPATTI); (6) one who is freed by wisdom (P. paNNAvimutta; S. PRAJNAVIMUKTA), by freeing oneself through analysis; and (7) one who is freed both ways (P. ubhatobhAgavimutta; S. UBHAYATOBHAGAVIMUKTA), by freeing oneself through both meditative absorption (P. jhAna; S. DHYANA) and wisdom (P. paNNA; S. PRAJNA). In the AbhidharmakosabhAsya, the seven types of Arya beings are presented in a slightly different manner, together with the list of eight noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA) based on candidates for (pratipannika) and those who have reached the result of (phalastha) stream-enterer (srotaApanna), once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIN), nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), and ARHAT; these are again further expanded into a list of twenty members of the Arya VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA and in MahAyAna explanations into forty-eight or more ARYABODHISATTVAs. The Chinese character sheng, used to render this term in East Asia, has a long indigenous history and several local meanings; see, for example, the Japanese vernacular equivalent HIJIRI. It is also the name of one of two Indian esoteric GUHYASAMAJATANTRA traditions, receiving its name from Arya NAgArjuna, the author of the PANCAKRAMA.

Aryapudgala. (P. ariyapuggala; T. 'phags pa'i gang zag; C. xiansheng; J. kenjo; K. hyonsong 賢聖). In Sanskrit, "noble person"; an epithet given to enlightened beings, i.e., those who have reached at least the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). There is a well-known list of four types of noble persons, from stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA) to once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIN), nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), and worthy one (ARHAT). This list is then subdivided into eight types or grades of noble persons according to their respective attainment of the paths and fruits of the noble path (ARYAMARGAPHALA). These are (1) the person who has entered the path of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNAPHALAPRATIPANNAKA); (2) the person who abides in the fruit of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNAPHALASTHA); (3) the person who has entered the path of once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIPHALAPRATIPANNAKA); (4) the person who abides in the fruit of once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIPHALASTHA); (5) the person who has entered the path of nonreturner (ANAGAMIPHALAPRATIPANNAKA); (6) the person who abides in the fruit of nonreturner (ANAGAMIPHALASTHA); (7) the person who has entered the path of a worthy one (ARHATPRATIPANNAKA); and (8) the person who has attained that fruition and become a worthy one (arhat). In some treatments, this list is presented together with a list of seven types of noble ones (ARYA) in order of intellectual superiority. By attaining the path and fruit of stream-entry, that is, by becoming a srotaApanna, a person becomes free of the first three of the ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth: namely, (1) belief in the existence of a perduring self in relation to the body (SATKAYADṚstI, P. sakkAyaditthi); (2) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (sĪLAVRATAPARAMARsA, P. sīlabbataparAmAsa) as a means of salvation; and (3) skeptical doubt (VICIKITSA, P. vicikicchA) about the efficacy of the path. By attaining the path and fruit of once-returning, i.e., becoming a sakṛdAgAmin, a person in addition severely weakens the effects of the fourth and fifth fetters, namely, (4) sensual craving (KAMACCHANDA) and (5) malice (VYAPADA). By attaining the path and fruit of nonreturning, i.e., becoming an anAgAmin, a person is completely freed of the first five fetters. Finally, by attaining the path and fruit of a worthy one and becoming an arhat, a person is additionally freed of the last five of the ten fetters: (6) craving for existence as a divinity (DEVA) in the realm of subtle materiality (RuPARAGA); (7) craving for existence as a divinity in the immaterial realm (ARuPYARAGA; P. aruparAga); (8) pride (MANA); (9) restlessness (AUDDHATYA, P. uddhacca); and (10) ignorance (AVIDYA, P. avijjA).

AryasaMgha. (P. ariyasangha; T. 'phags pa'i dge 'dun; C. shengseng; J. shoso; K. songsŭng 聖僧). "Noble community" or "community of noble ones"; the community of followers of the Buddha who are noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA). There are eight types or grades of noble persons according to their respective attainment of the paths and fruits of the noble path (ARYAMARGAPHALA). These are (1) the person who has entered the path of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNAPHALAPRATIPANNAKA); (2) the person who abides in the fruit of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNAPHALASTHA); (3) the person who has entered the path of once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIPHALAPRATIPANNAKA); (4) the person who abides in the fruit of once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIPHALASTHA); (5) the person who has entered the path of nonreturner (ANAGAMIPHALAPRATIPANNAKA); (6) the person who abides in the fruit of nonreturner (ANAGAMIPHALASTHA); (7) the person who has entered the path of a worthy one (ARHATPRATIPANNAKA); and (8) the person who has attained the fruit of a worthy one (ARHAT) (see also VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA). These eight persons are said to constitute the "SAMGHA jewel" among the three jewels (RATNATRAYA) to which Buddhists go for refuge (sARAnA).

AryAstAngamArga. (P. ariyAtthangikamagga; T. 'phags lam yan lag brgyad; C. bazhengdao; J. hasshodo; K. p'alchongdo 八正道). In Sanskrit, "noble eightfold path"; the path (MARGA) that brings an end to the causes of suffering (DUḤKHA); the fourth of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvAry AryasatyAni). This formulation of the Buddhist path to enlightenment appears in what is regarded as the Buddha's first sermon after his enlightenment, the "Setting Forth the Wheel of Dharma" (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA), in which he sets forth a middle way (MADHYAMAPRATIPAD) between the extremes of asceticism and sensual indulgence. That middle way, he says, is the eightfold path, which, like the four truths, he calls "noble" (ARYA); the term is therefore commonly rendered as "noble eightfold path." However, as in the case of the four noble truths, what is noble is not the path but those who follow it, so the compound might be more accurately translated as "eightfold path of the [spiritually] noble." Later in the same sermon, the Buddha sets forth the four noble truths and identifies the fourth truth, the truth of the path, with the eightfold path. The noble eightfold path is comprised of (1) right views (SAMYAGDṚstI; P. sammAditthi), which involve an accurate understanding of the true nature of things, specifically the four noble truths; (2) right intention (SAMYAKSAMKALPA; P. sammAsankappa), which means avoiding thoughts of attachment, hatred, and harmful intent and promoting loving-kindness and nonviolence; (3) right speech (SAMYAGVAC; P. sammAvAcA), which means refraining from verbal misdeeds, such as lying, backbiting and slander, harsh speech and abusive language, and frivolous speech and gossip; (4) right action or right conduct (SAMYAKKARMANTA; P. sammAkammanta), which is refraining from physical misdeeds, such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; (5) right livelihood (SAMYAGAJĪVA; P. sammAjīva), which entails avoiding trades that directly or indirectly harm others, such as selling slaves, selling weapons, selling animals for slaughter, dealing in intoxicants or poisons, or engaging in fortune-telling and divination; (6) right effort (SAMYAGVYAYAMA; P. sammAvAyAma), which is defined as abandoning unwholesome states of mind that have already arisen, preventing unwholesome states that have yet to arise, sustaining wholesome states that have already arisen, and developing wholesome states that have yet to arise; (7) right mindfulness (SAMYAKSMṚTI; P. sammAsati), which means to maintain awareness of the four foundations of mindfulness (SMṚTYUPASTHANA), viz., body, physical sensations, the mind, and phenomena; and (8) right concentration (SAMYAKSAMADHI; P. sammAsamAdhi), which is one pointedness of mind. ¶ The noble eightfold path receives less discussion in Buddhist literature than do the four noble truths (of which they are, after all, a constituent). Indeed, in later formulations, the eight factors are presented not so much as a prescription for behavior but as eight qualities that are present in the mind of a person who has understood NIRVAnA. The eightfold path may be reduced to a simpler, and more widely used, threefold schema of the path that comprises the "three trainings" (TRIsIKsA) or "higher trainings" (adhisiksA) in morality (sĪLA; P. sīla; see ADHIsĪLAsIKsA), concentration (SAMADHI, see ADHISAMADHIsIKsA), and wisdom (PRAJNA; P. paNNA; see ADHIPRAJNAsIKsA). In this schema, (1) right views and (2) right intention are subsumed under the training in higher wisdom (adhiprajNAsiksA); (3) right speech, (4) right conduct, and (5) right livelihood are subsumed under higher morality (adhisīlasiksA); and (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness, and (8) right concentration are subsumed under higher concentration (adhisamAdhisiksA). According to the MADHYANTAVIBHAGA, a MAHAYANA work attributed to MAITREYANATHA, the eightfold noble path comprises the last set of eight of the thirty-seven constituents of enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA), where enlightenment (BODHI) is the complete, nonconceptual awakening achieved during the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). After that vision, following the same pattern as the Buddha, right view is the perfect understanding of the vision, and right intention is the articulation of the vision that motivates the teaching of it. Right mindfulness, right effort, and right concentration correspond respectively to the four types of mindfulness (SMṚTYUPASTHANA), four efforts (PRAHAnA), and four ṚDDHIPADA ("legs of miraculous attainments," i.e., samAdhi) when they are perfect or right (samyak), after the vision of the four noble truths.

asaiksamArga. (T. mi slob lam; C. wuxuedao; J. mugakudo; K. muhakto 無學道). In Sanskrit, "the path of the adept" (lit. "the path where there is nothing more to learn" or "the path where no further training is necessary"); the fifth of the five-path schema (PANCAMARGA) used in both SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA and the YOGACARA and MADHYAMAKA schools of MAHAYANA. It is the equivalent of the path of completion (NIstHAMARGA) and is synonymous with asaiksapatha. With the consummation of the "path of cultivation" (BHAVANAMARGA), the adept (whether following the sRAVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, or BODHISATTVA path) achieves the "adamantine-like concentration" (VAJROPAMASAMADHI), which leads to the permanent destruction of even the subtlest and most persistent of the ten fetters (SAMYOJANA), resulting in the "knowledge of cessation" (KsAYAJNANA) and in some presentations an accompanying "knowledge of nonproduction" (ANUTPADAJNANA), viz., the knowledge that the fetters are destroyed and can never again recur. Because the adept now has full knowledge of the eightfold path (ARYAstAnGAMARGA) and has achieved full liberation (VIMOKsA) as either an ARHAT or a buddha, he no longer needs any further instruction-thus he has completed the "path where there is nothing more to learn."

asaiksa. (P. asekha; T. mi slob pa; C. wuxue; J. mugaku; K. muhak 無學). In Sanskrit, lit. "one for whom no further training is necessary," an "adept"; a term for one who has completed the path (see AsAIKsAMARGA), used especially as an epithet of the ARHAT. The asaiksa has completed the three "higher trainings" (adhisiksA; P. adhisikkhA) in morality (ADHIsĪLAsIKsA), concentration (ADHISAMADHIsIKsA), and wisdom (ADHIPRAJNAsIKsA).

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.

asamsakti. ::: non-attachment; unaffected by anything and performing one's necessary duties without a sense of involvement; the fifth stage in the path of Self-knowledge

Asanga. (T. Thogs med; C. Wuzhao; J. Mujaku; K. Much'ak 無著) (c. 320-c. 390 CE). a.k.a. Arya Asanga, Indian scholar who is considered to be a founder of the YOGACARA school of MAHAYANA Buddhism. In the Tibetan tradition, he is counted as one of the "six ornaments of JAMBUDVĪPA" ('dzam gling rgyan drug), together with VASUBANDHU, NAGARJUNA and ARYADEVA, and DIGNAGA and DHARMAKĪRTI. Born into a brAhmana family in Purusapura (modern-day Peshawar, Pakistan), Asanga originally studied under SARVASTIVADA (possibly MAHĪsASAKA) teachers but converted to the MahAyAna later in life. His younger brother was the important exegete Vasubandhu; it is said that he was converted to the MahAyAna by Asanga. According to traditional accounts, Asanga spent twelve years in meditation retreat, after which he received a vision of the future buddha MAITREYA. He visited Maitreya's abode in TUsITA heaven, where the bodhisattva instructed him in MahAyAna and especially YogAcAra doctrine. Some of these teachings were collected under the name MaitreyanAtha, and the Buddhist tradition generally regards them as revealed by Asanga through the power of the future buddha. Some modern scholars, however, have posited the existence of a historical figure named MAITREYANATHA or simply Maitreya. Asanga is therefore associated with what are known as the "five treatises of MaitreyanAtha" (the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, the DHARMADHARMATAVIBHAGA, the MADHYANTAVIBHAGA, the MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA, and the RATNAGOTRAVIBHAGA). Asanga was a prolific author, composing commentaries on the SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA and the VAJRACCHEDIKAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA. Among his independent treatises, three are particularly important. The ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA sets forth the categories of the ABHIDHARMA from a YogAcAra perspective. The MAHAYANASAMGRAHA is a detailed exposition of YogAcAra doctrine, setting forth such topics as the ALAYAVIJNANA and the TRISVABHAVA as well as the constituents of the path. His largest work is the compendium entitled YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA. Two of its sections, the sRAVAKABHuMI and the BODHISATTVABHuMI, circulated as independent works, with the former important for its exposition of the practice of DHYANA and the latter for its exposition of the bodhisattva's practice of the six PARAMITA; the chapter on sĪLA is particularly influential. These texts have had a lasting and profound impact on the development of Buddhism, especially in India, Tibet, and East Asia. Among the great figures in the history of Indian Buddhism, Asanga is rare for the breadth of his interests and influence, making significant contributions to philosophy (as the founder of YogAcAra), playing a key role in TATHAGATAGARBHA thought (through the RatnagotravibhAga), and providing significant expositions of Buddhist practice (in the YogAcArabhumi).

A* search ::: (algorithm) A graph search algorithm. A* is guaranteed to find a minimal solution path before any other solution paths, if a solution exists, in other cost of completing the path, i.e. the cost of a path from the end of the current path to a solution. (1995-03-31)

A* search "algorithm" A {graph} search {algorithm}. A* is guaranteed to find a minimal solution path before any other solution paths, if a solution exists, in other words, it is an "{admissible}" search algorithm. Each path is assigned a value based on the cost of the path (e.g. its length) and an (under)estimate of the cost of completing the path, i.e. the cost of a path from the end of the current path to a solution. (1995-03-31)

AsrayaparAvṛtti. [alt. Asrayaparivṛtti] (T. gnas yongs su 'gyur pa; C. zhuanyi; J. ten'e; K. chonŭi 轉依). In Sanskrit, "transformation of the basis" or "fundamental transmutation"; the transmutation of the defiled state in which one has not abandoned the afflictions (KLEsA) into a purified state in which the klesas have been abandoned. This transmutation thus transforms an ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) into a noble one (ARYA). In the YOGACARA school's interpretation, by understanding (1) the emptiness (suNYATA) of the imagined reality (PARIKALPITA) that ordinary people mistakenly ascribe to the sensory images they experience (viz., "unreal imaginings," or ABHuTAPARIKALPA) and (2) the conditioned origination of things through the interdependent aspect of cognition (PARATANTRA), the basis will be transformed into the perfected (PARNIsPANNA) nature, and enlightenment realized. STHIRAMATI posits three aspects to this transformation: transformation of the basis of the mind (cittAsrayaparAvṛtti), transformation of the basis of the path (mArgAsrayaparAvṛtti), and transformation of the basis of the proclivities (dausthulyAsrayaparAvṛtti). "Transformation of the basis of mind" transmutes the imaginary into the perfected through the awareness of emptiness. Insight into the perfected in turn empties the path of any sense of sequential progression, thus transmuting the mundane path (LAUKIKAMARGA) with its multiple steps into a supramundane path (lokottaramArga, cf. LOKUTTARAMAGGA) that has no fixed locus; this is the "transformation of the basis of the path." Finally, "transformation of the basis of the proclivities" eradicates the seeds (BĪJA) of action (KARMAN) that are stored in the storehouse consciousness (ALAYAVIJNANA), liberating the bodhisattva from the effects of any past unwholesome actions and freeing him to project compassion liberally throughout the world.

Asraya. (T. gnas; C. suoyi; J. sho'e; K. soŭi 所依). In Sanskrit, lit. "basis." In the SAUTRANTIKA school, the term is used idiosyncratically to refer to the "substratum" of existence. This substratum is the psychophysical entity that was presumed to exist independently from the momentary flow of the conscious continuum (SAMTANA) and thus to provide the physical support for thought (CITTA) and the mental concomitants (CAITTA). This SautrAntika teaching was critiqued by other Buddhist schools as skirting dangerously close to the proscribed notion of a perduring self (ATMAN). The term is also adopted subsequently in the YOGACARA school to refer to the "transformation of the basis" (AsRAYAPARAVṚTTI) of the mind, the path, and the proclivities, which transforms an ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) into a noble one (ARYA).

astaksana. (T. dal ba brgyad). In Sanskrit, lit. "eight moments," i.e., eight qualities of an opportune [human] rebirth (these are defined in Tibetan as "eight freedoms"). The eight are freedom from (1) birth as one of the hell denizens (NARAKA); (2) birth as an animal (TIRYAK), (3) birth as a ghost (PRETA), or (4) birth as a long-lived divinity (DEVA); (5) birth in a border land or barbarian region; (6) birth in a place with perverted or heretical views; (7) birth as a stupid person who is unable to understand the teachings; and (8) birth at a time when or a place where no buddhas have arisen. In Tibetan LAM RIM literature, one is instructed to contemplate the rarity of such an opportune birth in order to take full advantage of it by practicing the path. See KsAnA.

Atharvan (Atharva) ::: the rsi of the journeying on the Path; [the seer of the Atharva-veda]. [Ved.]

Atisa DīpaMkarasrījNAna. (T. A ti sha Mar me mdzad dpal ye shes) (982-1054). Indian Buddhist monk and scholar revered by Tibetan Buddhists as a leading teacher in the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism in Tibet. His name, also written as Atisha, is an ApabhraMsa form of the Sanskrit term atisaya, meaning "surpassing kindness." Born into a royal family in what is today Bangladesh, Atisa studied MAHAYANA Buddhist philosophy and TANTRA as a married layman prior to being ordained at the age of twenty-nine, receiving the ordination name of DīpaMkarasrījNAna. After studying at the great monasteries of northern India, including NALANDA, ODANTAPURĪ, VIKRAMAsĪLA, and SOMAPURA, he is said to have journeyed to the island of Sumatra, where he studied under the CITTAMATRA teacher Dharmakīrtisrī (also known as guru Sauvarnadvīpa) for twelve years; he would later praise Dharmakīrtisrī as a great teacher of BODHICITTA. Returning to India, he taught at the Indian monastic university of VIKRAMAsĪLA. Atisa was invited to Tibet by the king of western Tibet YE SHES 'OD and his grandnephew BYANG CHUB 'OD, who were seeking to remove perceived corruption in the practice of Buddhism in Tibet. Atisa reached Tibet in 1042, where he initially worked together with the renowned translator RIN CHEN BZANG PO at THO LING monastery in the translation of PRAJNAPARAMITA texts. There, he composed his famous work, the BODHIPATHAPRADĪPA, or "Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment," an overview of the MahAyAna Buddhist path that served as a basis for the genre of literature known as LAM RIM ("stages of the path"). He spent the remaining twelve years of his life in the central regions of Tibet, where he formed his principal seat in Snye thang (Nyetang) outside of LHA SA where he translated a number of MADHYAMAKA works into Tibetan. He died there and his relics were interred in the SGROL MA LHA KHANG. Atisa and his chief disciples 'BROM STON RGYAL BA'I 'BYUNG GNAS and RNGOG LEGS PA'I SHES RAB are considered the forefathers of the BKA' GDAMS PA sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibet, he is commonly known by the honorific title Jo bo rje (Jowoje), "the Superior Lord."

At present manas is not fully developed in mankind, and kama or desire is still ascendant. In the fifth round, however, manas “will be fully active and developed in the entire race. Hence the people of the earth have not yet come to the point of making a conscious choice as to the path they will take; but when in the cycle referred to, Manas is active, all will then be compelled to consciously make the choice to right or left, the one leading to complete and conscious union with Atma, the other to the annihilation of those beings who prefer that path” (Ocean 59). Those human beings who cannot rise to the higher manasic and buddhic aspects of themselves in the fifth round will fall into their nirvanic rest for the remainder of this embodiment of the earth-chain, to re-emerge at the beginning of the next embodiment of the earth to pick up their evolutionary journey.

Automated Retroactive Minimal Moderation ::: (messaging) (ARMM) A Usenet robot created by Dick Depew of Munroe Falls, Ohio. ARMM was intended to automatically cancel posts from anonymous-posting loose on the night of 1993-03-31 and proceeded to spam news.admin.policy with a recursive explosion of over 200 messages.Reactions varied from amusement to outrage. The pathological messages crashed at least one mail system, and upset people paying line charges for their Usenet cautionary example of the havoc the combination of good intentions and incompetence can wreak on a network.Compare Great Worm; sorcerer's apprentice mode. See also software laser, network meltdown. (1996-01-08)

Automated Retroactive Minimal Moderation "messaging" (ARMM) A {Usenet} robot created by Dick Depew of Munroe Falls, Ohio. ARMM was intended to automatically cancel posts from anonymous-posting sites. Unfortunately, the robot's recogniser for anonymous postings triggered on its own automatically-generated control messages! Transformed by this stroke of programming ineptitude into a monster of Frankensteinian proportions, it broke loose on the night of 1993-03-31 and proceeded to {spam} {news:news.admin.policy} with a recursive explosion of over 200 messages. Reactions varied from amusement to outrage. The pathological messages crashed at least one mail system, and upset people paying line charges for their {Usenet} feeds. One poster described the ARMM debacle as "instant {Usenet} history" (also establishing the term {despew}), and it has since been widely cited as a cautionary example of the havoc the combination of good intentions and incompetence can wreak on a network. Compare {Great Worm}; {sorcerer's apprentice mode}. See also {software laser}, {network meltdown}. (1996-01-08)

avaivartika. (T. phyir mi ldog; C. butuizhuan; J. futaiten; K. pult'oejon 不退轉). In Sanskrit, "nonretrogression" or "irreversible"; a term used to describe a stage on the path (MARGA) at which further progress is assured, with no further possibility of retrogressing to a previous stage. For the BODHISATTVA, different texts posit this crucial transition as occurring at various points along the path, such as on the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA), where there is then no danger of the bodhisattva turning back to seek instead to become an ARHAT; the first BHuMI; or the eighth bhumi, when the bodhisattva is then certain to continue forward to complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI). There are many variant forms in Sanskrit (e.g., avaivarya, avinivartya, avinivartanīya, and anivartiya), of which avaivartika is among the most common. The state of nonretrogression is also termed the avaivartyabhumi. Nonretrogression is also listed in the MAHAVASTU as the highest of four stages of practice (CARYA). In the PURE LAND schools, taking rebirth (WANGSHENG) in AMITABHA's PURE LAND of SUKHAVATĪ is said to constitute the stage of nonretrogression.

BAhiya-DArucīriya. (C. Poxijia; J. Bakika; K. Pasaga 婆迦). A lay ARHAT (P. arahant), who is declared by the Buddha to be foremost among those of swift intuition (khippAbhiNNAnaM). According to PAli accounts, BAhiya was a merchant from the town of BAhiya (whence his toponym), who was engaged in maritime trade. He sailed seven times across the seas in search of profit and seven times returned home safely. On an eighth journey, however, he was shipwrecked and floated on a plank until he came ashore near the seaport town of SuppAraka. Having lost his clothes, he dressed himself in tree bark and went regularly to the town to beg for alms with a bowl. Impressed with his demeanor, the people of SuppAraka were exceedingly generous, offering him luxurious gifts and fine clothes, which he consistently refused. Over time, he came to be regarded by the populace as an arhat, and, infatuated with his growing fame, BAhiya also came to believe that he had attained that state of holiness. A BRAHMA god, who had been BAhiya's friend in a previous existence, convinced him out of kindness that he was mistaken and recommended that he seek out the Buddha in sRAVASTĪ (P. SAvatthi). The BrahmA god transported BAhiya to the city of RAJAGṚHA (P. RAjagaha) where the Buddha was then staying and told him to meet the Buddha during his morning alms round. BAhiya approached the Buddha and requested to be taught what was necessary for liberation, but the Buddha refused, saying that alms round was not the time for teaching. BAhiya persisted three times in his request, whereupon the Buddha consented. The Buddha gave him a short lesson in sensory restraint (INDRIYASAMVARA): i.e., "in the seen, there is only the seen; in the heard, only the heard; in what is thought, only the thought," etc. As he listened to the Buddha's terse instruction, BAhiya attained arhatship. As was typical for laypersons who had attained arhatship, BAhiya then requested to be ordained as a monk, but the Buddha refused until BAhiya could be supplied with a bowl and robe. BAhiya immediately went in search of these requisites but along the path encountered an ox, which gored him to death. Disciples who witnessed the event informed the Buddha, who from the beginning had been aware of BAhiya's impending demise. He instructed his disciples to cremate the body and build a reliquary mound (P. thupa, S. STuPA) over the remains; he then explained that BAhiya's destiny was such that he could not be ordained in his final life.

bala. (T. stobs; C. li; J. riki; K. yok 力). In Sanskrit and PAli, "power" or "strength"; used in a variety of lists, including the five powers (the eighteenth to twenty-second of the BODHIPAKsIKADHARMAs, or "thirty-seven factors pertaining to awakening"), the ten powers of a TATHAGATA, the ten powers of a BODHISATTVA, and the ninth of the ten perfections (PARAMITA). The five powers are the same as the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA)-faith (sRADDHA), perseverance (VĪRYA), mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMADHI), and wisdom (PRAJNA)-but now fully developed at the LAUKIKAGRADHARMA stage of the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMARGA), just prior to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). A tathAgata's ten powers are given in both PAli and Sanskrit sources as the power of the knowledge (jNAnabala) of: (1) what can be and cannot be (sthAnAsthAna), (2) karmic results (karmavipAka), (3) the various dispositions of different beings (nAnAdhimukti), (4) how the world has many and different elements (nAnAdhAtu), (5) the higher (or different) faculties people possess (indriyaparApara), (6) the ways that lead to all destinations (sarvatragAminīpratipad), (7) the defilement and purification of all meditative absorptions (DHYANA), liberations (VIMOKsA), samAdhis, and trances (SAMAPATTI) (sarvadhyAnavimoksasamAdhisamApatti-saMklesavyavadAnavyavasthAna), (8) recollecting previous births (PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI), (9) decease and birth (cyutyupapatti), and (10) the extinction of the contaminants (ASRAVAKsAYA). Another list gives the Buddha's ten powers as the power of aspiration (Asaya), resolution (ADHYAsAYA), habit (abhyAsa), practice (PRATIPATTI), wisdom (prajNA), vow (PRAnIDHANA), vehicle (YANA), way of life (caryA), thaumaturgy (vikurvana), the power derived from his bodhisattva career, and the power to turn the wheel of dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA). When the MahAyAna six perfections (PARAMITA) are expanded and linked to the ten bodhisattva stages (DAsABHuMI), four perfections are added: the perfections of skillful means (UPAYA), vow, power, and knowledge (JNANA). Thus the perfection of power (BALAPARAMITA) is linked with the ninth bodhisattva stage (BHuMI). When the ten powers are listed as a bodhisattva's perfection of power, they are sometimes explained to be the powers of a tathAgata before they have reached full strength.

bang path 1. "communications" An old-style {UUCP} {electronic-mail address} naming a sequence of hosts through which a message must pass to get from some assumed-reachable location to the addressee (a "{source route}"). So called because each {hop} is signified by a {bang} sign (exclamation mark). Thus, for example, the path ...!bigsite!foovax!barbox!me directs people to route their mail to computer bigsite (presumably a well-known location accessible to everybody) and from there through the computer foovax to the account of user me on barbox. Before {autorouting mailers} became commonplace, people often published compound bang addresses using the { } convention (see {glob}) to give paths from *several* big computers, in the hope that one's correspondent might be able to get mail to one of them reliably. e.g. ...!{seismo, ut-sally, ihnp4}!rice!beta!gamma!me Bang paths of 8 to 10 hops were not uncommon in 1981. Late-night dial-up UUCP links would cause week-long transmission times. Bang paths were often selected by both transmission time and reliability, as messages would often get lost. 2. "operating system" A {shebang}. (1998-05-06)

bang path ::: 1. (communications) An old-style UUCP electronic-mail address naming a sequence of hosts through which a message must pass to get from some because each hop is signified by a bang sign (exclamation mark). Thus, for example, the path ...!bigsite!foovax!barbox!me from there through the computer foovax to the account of user me on barbox.Before autorouting mailers became commonplace, people often published compound bang addresses using the convention (see glob) to give paths from *several* big computers, in the hope that one's correspondent might be able to get mail to one of them reliably. e.g. ...!{seismo, ut-sally, ihnp4}!rice!beta!gamma!me time and reliability, as messages would often get lost.2. (operating system) A shebang. (1998-05-06)

Barlaam and Josaphat. A Christian saint's tale that contains substantial elements drawn from the life of the Buddha. The story tells the tale of the Christian monk Barlaam's conversion of an Indian prince, Josaphat. (Josaphat is a corrupted transcription of the Sanskrit term BODHISATTVA, referring to GAUTAMA Buddha prior to his enlightenment.) The prince then undertakes the second Christian conversion of India, which, following the initial mission of the apostle Thomas, had reverted to paganism. For their efforts, both Barlaam and Josaphat were eventually listed by the Roman Catholic Church among the roster of saints (their festival day is November 27). There are obvious borrowings from Buddhist materials in the story of Josaphat's life. After the infant Josaphat's birth, for example, astrologers predict he either will become a powerful king or will embrace the Christian religion. To keep his son on the path to royalty, his pagan father has him ensconced in a fabulous palace so that he will not be exposed to Christianity. Josaphat grows dissatisfied with his virtual imprisonment, however, and the king eventually accedes to his son's request to leave the palace, where he comes across a sick man, a blind man, and an old man. He eventually meets the monk Barlaam, who instructs him using parables. Doctrines that exhibit possible parallels between Buddhism and Christianity, such as the emphasis on impermanence and the need to avoid worldly temptations, are a particular focus of Barlaam's teachings, and the account of the way of life followed by Barlaam and his colleagues has certain affinities with that of wandering Indian mendicants (sRAMAnA). By the late nineteenth century, the story of Barlaam and Josaphat was recognized to be a Christianized version of the life of the Buddha. The Greek version of the tale is attributed to "John the Monk," whom the Christian scholastic tradition assumed to be St. John of Damascus (c. 676-749). The tale was, however, first rendered into Greek from Georgian in the eleventh century, perhaps by Euthymius (d. 1028). The Georgian version, called the Balavariani, appears to be based on an Arabic version, KitAb Bilawhar wa BudhAsaf. The source of the Arabic version has not been identified, nor has the precise Buddhist text from which the Buddhist elements were drawn. After the Greek text was translated into Latin, the story was translated into many of the vernaculars of Europe, becoming one of the most popular saint's tales of the Middle Ages.

Bde lam lam rim. (Delam Lamrim). In Tibetan, "The Stages of the Easy Path," an important "stages of the path" (LAM RIM) treatise composed by the first PAn CHEN LAMA BLO BZANG CHOS KYI RGYAL MTSHAN. The work's complete title is Byang chub lam gyi rim pa'i khrid yig thams cad mkhyen par bgrod pa'i bde lam.

bhakta. ::: a devotee; a follower of the path of bhakti; one who wants to please the Guru

bhaktimarga ::: [the path of bhakti].

Bhakti (Sanskrit) Bhakti [from the verbal root bhaj to divide, share, serve, love] As a noun, devotion or affectionate attachment; also one of the paths (margas) followed by the disciple or student, which might be translated as liberation by faith or love.

bhakti yogi. ::: the one who strives to attain union with God through the path of devotion

bhangAnupassanANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution"; according to BUDDHAGHOSA's VISUDDHIMAGGA, the second of nine types of knowledge (P. NAnA) cultivated as part of the "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VIsUDDHI) that is to be developed along the path to liberation. "Knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution" is developed by observing the dissolution of material and mental phenomena (NAMARuPA). Having keenly observed the arising, subsistence, and decay of phenomena, the meditator turns his attention solely to their dissolution or destruction (bhanga). He then observes, for example, that consciousness arises because of causes and conditions: namely, it takes as its objects the five aggregates (P. khandha, S. SKANDHA) of matter (RuPA), sensation (VEDANA), perception (P. saNNA, S. SAMJNA) conditioned formations (P. sankhAra, S. SAMSKARA) and consciousness (P. viNNAna, S. VIJNANA), after which it is inevitably dissolved. Seeing this, the meditator understands that all consciousness is characterized by the three marks of existence (tilakkhana; S. TRILAKsAnA); namely, impermanence (anicca; S. ANITYA), suffering (dukkha; S. DUḤKHA) and nonself (anattA; S. ANATMAN). By understanding these three marks, he feels aversion for consciousness and overcomes his attachment to it. Eight benefits accrue to one who develops knowledge arising from the contemplation of dissolution; (1) he overcomes the view of eternal existence, (2) he abandons attachment to life, (3) he develops right effort, (4) he engages in a pure livelihood, (5 & 6) he enjoys an absence of anxiety and of fear, (7) he becomes patient and gentle, and (8) he overcomes boredom and sensual delight.

bhavacakra. (P. bhavacakka; T. srid pa'i khor lo; C. youlun; J. urin; K. yuryun 有輪). In Sanskrit, "wheel of existence"; a visual depiction of SAMSARA in the form of a wheel, best known in its Tibetan forms but widely used in other Buddhist traditions as well. The BHAVACAKRA is a seminal example of Buddhist didactic art. The chart is comprised of a series of concentric circles, each containing pictorial representations of some of the major features of Buddhist cosmology and didactics. Standard versions consist of an outer ring of images depicting the twelve-linked chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA). Within this ring is another circle broken into six equal sectors-one for each of the six realms of existence in saMsAra. The salutary realms of divinities (DEVA), demigods (ASURA), and humans (MANUsYA) are found in the top half of the circle, while the unfortunate realms (DURGATI; APAYA) of animals (TIRYAK), hungry ghosts (PRETA), and hell denizens (NARAKA) are found in the bottom half. Inside this circle is a ring that is divided evenly into dark and light halves. The most popular interpretation of these two halves is that the light half depicts the path of bliss, or the path that leads to better rebirth and to liberation, while the dark half represents the path of darkness, which leads to misfortune and rebirth in the hells. Finally, in the center of the picture is a small circle in which can be seen a bird, a snake, and a pig. These three animals represent the "three poisons" (TRIVIsA)-the principal afflictions (KLEsA) of greed or sensuality (LOBHA or RAGA), hatred or aversion (DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA)-that bind beings to the round of rebirth. The entire wheel is held in the jaws and claws of a demon whose identity varies from version to version. Often this demon is presumed to be MARA, the great tempter who was defeated in his attempt to sway GAUTAMA from enlightenment. Another common figure who grips the wheel is YAMA, the king of death, based on the idea that Yama was the original being, the first to die, and hence the ruler over all caught in the cycle of birth and death. Often outside the circle appear one or more buddhas, who may be pointing to a SuTRA, or to some other religious object. The buddhas' location outside the circle indicates their escape from the cycle of birth and death. The same figure of a buddha may be also found among the denizens of hell, indicating that a buddha's compassion extends to beings in even the most inauspicious destinies. According to several Indian texts, the Buddha instructed that the bhavacakra should be painted at the entrance of a monastery for the instruction of the laity; remnants of a bhavacakra painting were discovered at AJAntA.

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

bhAvanAmayīprajNA. (P. bhAvanAmayapaA; T. bsgoms pa las byung ba'i shes rab; C. xiuhui; J. shue; K. suhye 修慧). In Sanskrit, lit. "wisdom generated by cultivation"; often translated as "wisdom derived from meditation"; the third of the three types of wisdom, together with sRUTAMAYĪPRAJNA (wisdom derived from what is heard, viz., learning) and CINTAMAYĪPRAJNA (wisdom derived from reflection or analysis). Although the general understanding is that this third and final manifestation of wisdom comes after, and is largely dependent on, the previous two types, bhAvanAmayīprajNA is considered to be the highest of these three because it is the culmination of one's efforts to cultivate the path (MARGA) and the product of direct spiritual experience. This third type of wisdom is a form of VIPAsYANA, an understanding of reality at the level of sAMATHA-profound concentration coupled with tranquility.

bhAvanA. (T. sgom pa; C. xiuxi; J. shuju; K. susŭp 修習). In Sanskrit and PAli, "cultivation" (lit. "bringing into being"); a Sanskrit term commonly translated into English as "meditation." It is derived from the root √bhu, "to be" or "to become," and has a wide range of meanings including cultivating, producing, manifesting, imagining, suffusing, and reflecting. It is in the first sense, that of cultivation, that the term is used to mean the sustained development of particular states of mind. However, bhAvanA in Buddhism can include studying doctrine, memorizing sutras, and chanting verses to ward off evil spirits. The term thus refers broadly to the full range of Buddhist spiritual culture, embracing the "bringing into being" (viz., cultivating) of such generic aspects of training as the path (MARGA), specific spiritual exercises (e.g., loving-kindness, or MAITRĪ), or even a general mental attitude, such as virtuous (KUsALA) states of mind. The term is also used in the specific sense of a "path of cultivation" (BHAVANAMARGA), which "brings into being" the insights of the preceding path of vision (DARsANAMARGA). Hence, bhAvanA entails all the various sorts of cultivation that an adept must undertake in order to enhance meditation, improve its efficacy, and "bring it into being." More specifically as "meditation," two general types of meditation are sometimes distinguished in the commentarial literature: stabilizing meditation (sAMATHA) in which the mind focuses with one-pointedness on an object in an effort to expand the powers of concentration; and analytical meditation (VIPAsYANA), in which the meditator conceptually investigates a topic in order to develop insight into it.

bhayatupatthAnANAna. In PAli, "knowledge arising from the awareness of terror"; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the third of nine knowledges (NAna; JNANA) cultivated as part of "purity of knowledge and vision of progress along the path" (PAtIPADANAnADASSANAVISUDDHI). This latter category, in turn, constitutes the sixth and penultimate purity (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Knowledge arising from the contemplation of terror is developed by noting how all conditioned formations (sankhAra; SAMSKARA) or mental and physical phenomena (NAMARuPA) of the past, present and future have either gone, are going, or are destined to go to destruction. A simile given in the Visuddhimagga is that of a woman whose three sons have offended the king. The woman, who has already witnessed the beheading of her eldest son, witnesses the beheading of her middle son. And having witnessed the beheadings of her two older sons, the woman is filled with terror at the knowledge that her youngest son will likewise be executed. In the same way, the practitioner observes how phenomena of the past have ceased, how phenomena of the present are ceasing, and how those of the future are likewise destined to cease. Seeing conditioned formations as destined to destruction in this way, that is, as impermanent (anicca; ANITYA), the practitioner is filled with terror. Similarly, the practitioner sees conditioned formations as suffering (dukkha; DUḤKHA), and as impersonal and nonself (anattA; ANATMAN) and is filled with terror. In this way, the practitioner comes to realize that all mental and physical phenomena, being characterized by the three universal marks of existence (tilakkhana; TRILAKsAnA), are frightful.

bhoga marg&

bhraṁsa ::: a fall (from the path of yoga). bhramsa

bhras.t.a (bhrashta) ::: fallen (from the path of yoga). bhrasta

bhumi. (T. sa; C. di; J. ji; K. chi 地). In Sanskrit, lit. "ground"; deriving from an ABHIDHARMA denotation of bhumi as a way or path (MARGA), the term is used metaphorically to denote a "stage" of training, especially in the career of the BODHISATTVA or, in some contexts, a sRAVAKA. A list of ten stages (DAsABHuMI) is most commonly enumerated, deriving from the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA ("Discourse on the Ten Bhumis"), a sutra that is later subsumed into the massive scriptural compilation, the AVATAMSAKASuTRA. The bodhisattva does not enter the ten bhumis immediately after generating the aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPADA); rather, the first bhumi coincides with the attainment of the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA) and the remaining nine to the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). The ultimate experience of buddhahood is sometimes referred to (as in the LAnKAVATARASuTRA) as an eleventh TATHAGATABHuMI, which the MAHAVYUTPATTI designates as the samantaprabhAbuddhabhumi. The stage of the path prior to entering the path of vision is sometimes referred to as the adhimukticaryAbhumi ("stage of the practice of resolute faith"), a term from the BODHISATTVABHuMI. An alternative list of "ten shared stages" of spiritual progress common to all three vehicles of sRAVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and bodhisattva is described in the *MAHAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA and the DAZHIDU LUN (*MahAprajNApAramitAsAstra). An alternative list of seven bhumis of the bodhisattva path, as found in MAITREYANATHA and ASAnGA's Bodhisattvabhumi, is also widely known in MahAyAna literature. For full treatment of each the bhumi system, see BODHISATTVABHuMI, DAsABHuMI; sRAVAKABHuMI; see also individual entries for each BHuMI.

Blo sbyong don bdun ma. (Lojong Dondünma). In Tibetan, "Seven Points of Mind Training"; an influential Tibetan work in the BLO SBYONG ("mind training") genre. The work was composed by the BKA' GDAMS scholar 'CHAD KA BA YE SHES RDO RJE, often known as Dge bshes Mchad kha ba, based on the tradition of generating BODHICITTA known as "mind training" transmitted by the Bengali master ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNANA. It also follows the system laid out previously by Glang ri thang pa (Langri Tangpa) in his BLO SBYONG TSHIG BRGYAD MA ("Eight Verses on Mind Training"). Comprised of a series of pithy instructions and meditative techniques, the Blo sbyong don bdun ma became influential in Tibet, with scholars from numerous traditions writing commentaries to it. According to the commentary of the nineteenth-century Tibetan polymath 'JAM MGON KONG SPRUL, the seven points covered in the treatise are: (1) the preliminaries to mind training, which include the contemplations on the preciousness of human rebirth, the reality of death and impermanence, the shortcomings of SAMSARA, and the effects of KARMAN; (2) the actual practice of training in bodhicitta; (3) transforming adverse conditions into the path of awakening; (4) utilizing the practice in one's entire life; (5) the evaluation of mind training; (6) the commitments of mind training; and (7) guidelines for mind training.

Bodhicitta ::: Refers to the "awakened mind", a stage of awareness that has blossomed through contact with enlightenment. This stage is characterized by a drive to awaken and assist all other beings on the path toward self-realization.

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).

bodhicittotpAda. (T. byang chub kyi sems bskyed pa; C. fa puti xin; J. hotsubodaishin; K. pal pori sim 發菩提心). In Sanskrit, "generating the aspiration for enlightenment," "creating (utpAda) the thought (CITTA) of enlightenment (BODHI)"; a term used to describe both the process of developing BODHICITTA, the aspiration to achieve buddhahood, as well as the state achieved through such development. The MAHAYANA tradition treats this aspiration as having great significance in one's spiritual career, since it marks the entry into the MahAyAna and the beginning of the BODHISATTVA path. The process by which this "thought of enlightenment" (bodhicitta) is developed and sustained is bodhicittotpAda. Various types of techniques or conditional environments conducive to bodhicittotpAda are described in numerous MahAyAna texts and treatises. The BODHISATTVABHuMI says that there are four predominant conditions (ADHIPATIPRATYAYA) for generating bodhicitta: (1) witnessing an inconceivable miracle (ṛddhiprAtihArya) performed by a buddha or a bodhisattva, (2) listening to a teaching regarding enlightenment (BODHI) or to the doctrine directed at bodhisattvas (BODHISATTVAPItAKA), (3) recognizing the dharma's potential to be extinguished and seeking therefore to protect the true dharma (SADDHARMA), (4) seeing that sentient beings are troubled by afflictions (KLEsA) and empathizing with them. The Fa putixinjing lun introduces another set of four conditions for generating bodhicitta: (1) reflecting on the buddhas; (2) contemplating the dangers (ADĪNAVA) inherent in the body; (3) developing compassion (KARUnA) toward sentient beings; (4) seeking the supreme result (PHALA). The Chinese apocryphal treatise DASHENG QIXIN LUN ("Awakening of Faith According to the MahAyAna") refers to three types of bodhicittotpAda: that which derives from the accomplishment of faith, from understanding and practice, and from realization. JINGYING HUIYUAN (523-592) in his DASHENG YIZHANG ("Compendium on the Purport of MahAyAna") classifies bodhicittotpAda into three groups: (1) the generation of the mind based on characteristics, in which the bodhisattva, perceiving the characteristics of SAMSARA and NIRVAnA, abhors saMsAra and aspires to seek nirvAna; (2) the generation of the mind separate from characteristics, in which the bodhisattva, recognizing that the nature of saMsAra is not different from nirvAna, leaves behind any perception of their distinctive characteristics and generates an awareness of their equivalency; (3) the generation of the mind based on truth, in which the bodhisattva, recognizing that the original nature of bodhi is identical to his own mind, returns to his own original state of mind. The Korean scholiast WoNHYO (617-686), in his Muryangsugyong chongyo ("Doctrinal Essentials of the 'Sutra of Immeasurable Life'"), considers the four great vows of the bodhisattva (see C. SI HONGSHIYUAN) to be bodhicitta and divides its generation into two categories: viz., the aspiration that accords with phenomena (susa palsim) and the aspiration that conforms with principle (suri palsim). The topic of bodhicittotpAda is the subject of extensive discussion and exegesis in Tibetan Buddhism. For example, in his LAM RIM CHEN MO, TSONG KHA PA sets forth two techniques for developing this aspiration. The first, called the "seven cause and effect precepts" (rgyu 'bras man ngag bdun) is said to derive from ATIsA DIPAMKARAsRĪJNANA. The seven are (1) recognition of all sentient beings as having been one's mother in a past life, (2) recognition of their kindness, (3) the wish to repay their kindness, (4) love, (5) compassion, (6) the wish to liberate them from suffering, and (7) bodhicitta. The second, called the equalizing and exchange of self and other (bdag gzhan mnyam brje) is derived from the eighth chapter of sANTIDEVA's BODHICARYAVATARA. It begins with the recognition that oneself and others equally want happiness and do not want suffering. It goes on to recognize that by cherishing others more than oneself, one ensures the welfare of both oneself (by becoming a buddha) and others (by teaching them the dharma). MahAyAna sutra literature typically assumes that, after generating the bodhicitta, the bodhisattva will require not one, but three "incalculable eons" (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) of time in order to complete all the stages (BHuMI) of the bodhisattva path (MARGA) and achieve buddhahood. The Chinese HUAYAN ZONG noted, however, that the bodhisattva had no compunction about practicing for such an infinity of time, because he realized at the very inception of the path that he was already a fully enlightened buddha. They cite in support of this claim the statement in the "BrahmacaryA" chapter of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA that "at the time of the initial generation of the aspiration for enlightenment (bodhicittotpAda), complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI) is already achieved."

Bodhipathapradīpa. (T. Byang chub lam gyi sgron ma). In Sanskrit, "Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment"; a work composed by the Indian scholar ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNANA at THO LING GTSUG LAG KHANG shortly after he arrived in Tibet in 1042. Tibetan histories often note that Atisa wrote this text in order to clarify problematic points of Buddhist practice, especially TANTRA, which were thought to have degenerated and become distorted, and to show that tantra did not render basic Buddhist practice irrelevant. The Bodhipathapradīpa emphasizes a gradual training in the practices of the MAHAYANA and VAJRAYANA and became a prototype and textual basis first for the bstan rim, or "stages of the teaching" genre, and then for the genre of Tibetan religious literature known as LAM RIM, or "stages of the path." It is also an early source for the instructions and practice of BLO SBYONG, or "mind training." Atisa wrote his own commentary (paNjikA) (Commentary on the Difficult Points of the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment) to the text. The text says bodhisattvas must first follow one of the sets of PRATIMOKsA disciplinary rules; based on those precepts, they practice the six perfections (PARAMITA); with those perfections as a solid foundation, they finally practice Buddhist tantra.

bodhisaMbhAra. (T. byang chub kyi tshogs; C. puti ju/puti ziliang; J. bodaigu/bodaishiryo; K. pori ku/pori charyang 菩提具/菩提資糧). In Sanskrit, "collection" of, or "equipment" (SAMBHARA) for, "enlightenment" (BODHI); the term refers to specific sets of spiritual requisites (also called "accumulations") necessary for the attainment of awakening. The BODHISATTVA becomes equipped with these factors during his progress along the path (MARGA) leading to the attainment of buddhahood. In a buddha, the amount of this "enlightenment-collection" is understood to be infinite. These factors are often divided into two major groups: the collection of merit (PUnYASAMBHARA) and the collection of knowledge (JNANASAMBHARA). The collection of merit (PUnYA) entails the strengthening of four perfections (PARAMITA): generosity (DANA), morality (sĪLA), patience (KsANTI), and energy (VĪRYA). The collection of knowledge entails the cultivation of meditative states leading to the realization that emptiness (suNYATA) is the ultimate nature of all things. The bodhisaMbhAra were expounded in the *BodhisaMbhAraka, attributed to the MADHYAMAKA exegete NAGARJUNA, which is now extant only in Dharmagupta's 609 CE Chinese translation, titled the Puti ziliang lun. In this treatise, NAgArjuna explains that the acquisition, development, and fruition of these factors is an essentially interminable process: enlightenment will be achieved when these factors have been developed for as many eons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River (see GAnGANADĪVALUKA). The text also emphasizes the importance of compassion (KARUnA), calling it the mother of perfect wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA). The perfection of wisdom sutras stress that PARInAMANA (turning over [merit]) and ANUMODANA (rejoicing [in the good deeds of others]) are necessary to amass the collection necessary to reach the final goal.

bodhisattvabhumi. (T. byang chub sems dpa'i sa; C. pusa di; J. bosatsuji; K. posal chi 菩薩地). In Sanskrit, lit. "ground" or "stage" (BHuMI) of a BODHISATTVA, referring to the systematic stages along the path (MARGA) of a bodhisattva's maturation into a buddha. A normative list of ten bhumis, which becomes standard in many MAHAYANA accounts of the bodhisattva path, appears in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA, a sutra that was later incorporated into the AVATAMSAKASuTRA compilation. These ten stages (DAsABHuMI) of the Dasabhumikasutra correspond to the forty-first to fiftieth stages among the fifty-two bodhisattva stages, the comprehensive outline of the entire bodhisattva path taught in such scriptures as the AvataMsakasutra, the PUSA YINGLUO BENYE JING, and the RENWANG JING. The first bhumi begins on the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), and the other nine bhumis occur on the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). (For detailed explication of each stage, see DAsABHuMI s.v.) The PRAJNAPARAMITA SuTRAs, and the MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA and ABHISAMAYALAMKARA in their exegesis of these stages, explain that bodhisattvas reach each higher level along the path after completing the preparations (parikarman) for it; they set forth the same ten levels as the Dasabhumikasutra with the same names. Arya VIMUKTISENA, in his exegesis of the AbhisamayAlaMkAra, says bodhisattvas on the tenth bhumi are like TATHAGATAs who have passed beyond all stages, and lists eight other stages corresponding roughly to the stages of the eight noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA), with the first through ninth bodhisattva bhumis described as a transcendent ninth level. In contrast to the normative ten bhumis described in the Dasabhumikasutra, MAITREYANATHA/ASAnGA in the BODHISATTVABHuMI instead outlines a system of seven stages (bhumi), which are then correlated with the thirteen abodes (VIHARA). (See the following entry on the treatise for further explication.) The seven-bhumi schema of the Bodhisattvabhumi and the ten-bhumi schema of the Dasabhumikasutra are independent systematizations.

bodhisattvayAna. (T. byang chub sems dpa'i theg pa; C. pusa sheng; J. bosatsujo; K. posal sŭng 菩薩乘). In Sanskrit, lit. "BODHISATTVA vehicle," the path (MARGA) that begins with the initial activation of the aspiration for enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPADA) and culminates in the achievement of buddhahood; one of the early terms used for what eventually comes to be called the "Great Vehicle" (MAHAYANA). The bodhisattvayAna focuses on the development of the six perfections (PARAMITA) over a period as long as three incalculable eons of time (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA). At the culmination of this essentially interminable process, the bodhisattva becomes a buddha, with the full range of unique qualities (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA) that are developed only as a result of mastering the perfections. The bodhisattvayAna is distinguished from the sRAVAKAYANA, in which teachings were learned from a buddha or an enlightened disciple (sRAVAKA) of the Buddha and which culminates in becoming a "worthy one" (ARHAT); and the PRATYEKABUDDHAYANA, the vehicle of those who reach their goal in solitude. The bodhisattvayAna, by contrast, is modeled on the accounts of the current buddha sAKYAMUNI's extensive series of past lives, during which he was motivated by the altruistic aspiration to save all beings from suffering by becoming a buddha himself, not simply settling for arhatship. The srAvakayAna, pratyekabuddhayAna, and bodhisattvayAna together constitute the TRIYANA, or "three vehicles," mentioned in many MahAyAna sutras, most famously in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA.

bodhi. (T. byang chub; C. puti/jue; J. bodai/kaku; K. pori/kak 菩提/覺). In Sanskrit and PAli, "awakening," "enlightenment"; the consummate knowledge that catalyzes the experience of liberation (VIMOKsA) from the cycle rebirth. Bodhi is of three discrete kinds: that of perfect buddhas (SAMYAKSAMBODHI); that of PRATYEKABUDDHAs or "solitary enlightened ones" (pratyekabodhi); and that of sRAVAKAs or disciples (srAvakabodhi). The content of the enlightenment experience is in essence the understanding of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvAry AryasatyAni): namely, the truth of suffering (DUḤKHA), the truth of the cause of suffering (SAMUDAYA), the truth of the cessation of suffering (NIRODHA), and the truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering (MARGA). Bodhi is also elaborated in terms of its thirty-seven constituent factors (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA) that are mastered in the course of perfecting one's understanding, or the seven limbs of awakening (BODHYAnGA) that lead to the attainment of the "threefold knowledge" (TRIVIDYA; P. tevijjA): "recollection of former lives" (S. PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI; P. pubbenivAsAnussati), the "divine eye" (DIVYACAKsUS; P. dibbacakkhu), which perceives that the death and rebirth of beings occurs according to their actions (KARMAN), and the "knowledge of the extinction of the contaminants" (ASRAVAKsAYA; P. AsavakkayaNAna). Perfect buddhas and solitary buddhas (pratyekabuddha) become enlightened through their own independent efforts, for they discover the four noble truths on their own, without the aid of a teacher in their final lifetime (although pratyekabuddhas may rely on the teachings of a buddha in previous lifetimes). Of these two types of buddhas, perfect buddhas are then capable of teaching these truths to others, while solitary buddhas are not. srAvakas, by contrast, do not become enlightened on their own but are exposed to the teachings of perfect buddhas and through the guidance of those teachings gain the understanding they need to attain awakening. Bodhi also occupies a central place in MAHAYANA religious conceptions. The MahAyAna ideal of the BODHISATTVA means literally a "being" (SATTVA) intent on awakening (bodhi) who has aroused the aspiration to achieve buddhahood or the "thought of enlightenment" (BODHICITTA; BODHICITTOTPADA). The MahAyAna, especially in its East Asian manifestations, also explores in great detail the prospect that enlightenment is something that is innate to the mind (see BENJUE; HONGAKU) rather than inculcated, and therefore need not be developed gradually but can instead be realized suddenly (see DUNWU). The MahAyAna also differentiates between the enlightenment (bodhi) of srAvakas and pratyekabuddhas and the full enlightenment (samyaksaMbodhi) of a buddha. According to Indian and Tibetan commentaries on the PRAJNAPARAMITA sutras, buddhas achieve full enlightenment not beneath the BODHI TREE in BODHGAYA, but in the AKANIstHA heaven in the form of a SAMBHOGAKAYA, or enjoyment body remaining for eternity to work for the welfare of sentient beings. The bodhisattva who strives for enlightenment and achieves buddhahood beneath the Bodhi tree is a NIRMAnAKAYA, a conjured body meant to inspire the world. See also WU; JIANWU.

bodhyanga. (P. bojjhanga; T. byang chub kyi yan lag; C. juezhi/qijuezhi; J. kakushi/shichikakushi; K. kakchi/ch'ilgakchi 覺支/七覺支). In Sanskrit, "branches of enlightenment," or "limbs of awakening"; seven qualities attained at the point of realizing the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA): mindfulness (SMṚTI; P. sati), investigation of factors (dharmapravicaya; P. dhammavicaya), energy (VĪRYA; P. viriya), rapture (PRĪTI; pīti), tranquility (PRAsRABDHI; passaddhi), concentration (SAMADHI), and equanimity (UPEKsA; upekkhA). In their roles as "branches of enlightenment," mindfulness, first, refers to the "four foundations of mindfulness" (SMṚTYUPASTHANA; P. SATIPAttHANA), where the practitioner dwells contemplating four types of objects: namely, the body (KAYA), sensations (VEDANA), the mind (CITTA), and mental objects (DHARMA). Investigation of factors refers to investigating, examining, and reflecting on the teachings and numerical lists of factors taught by the Buddha. Energy refers to firm and unshaken energy that arises in the mind of the practitioner while investigating factors, etc. Rapture refers to the supersensuous bliss that arises as a consequence of contemplating with energy. Tranquility refers to the tranquility that arises as a consequence of the mind experiencing rapture. Concentration refers to the mental absorption that arises as a consequence of tranquility. Finally, equanimity refers to the sense of complete composure that arises as a consequence of the mind being well concentrated on an object. These are called factors of "enlightenment," because they lead to awakening (BODHI) or more specifically to the attainment of the "threefold knowledge" (TRIVIDYA; P. tevijjA): "recollection of former lives" (S. PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI; P. pubbenivAsAnussati), the "divine eye" (DIVYACAKsUS; P. dibbacakkhu), which sees the death and rebirth of beings occurring according to their actions, and the "knowledge of the extinction of the contaminants" (ASRAVAKsAYA JNANA; P. AsavakhayaNAna).

boomeritis ::: A dysfunction whose name originates from its first and most famous victim: the Boomer generation (those born roughly between 1940-1960). The pathological combination of Green and Red altitude in any of the self-related lines of development. Also known as the “Mean Green Meme” (MGM) when used in reference to the Spiral Dynamics model of value memes.

Brother(s) of the Shadow ::: A term given in occultism and especially in modern esotericism to individuals, whether men or women,who follow the path of the shadows, the left-hand path. The term "shadow" is a technical expression andsignifies more than appears on the surface: i.e., the expression is not to be understood of individuals wholive in actual physical obscurity or actual physical shadows, which literalism would be simply absurd;but applies to those who follow the path of matter, which from time immemorial in the esoteric schoolsin both Orient and Occident has frequently been called shadow or shadows. The term originally arose,without doubt, in the philosophical conception of the word maya, for in early Oriental esotericism maya,and more especially maha-maya, was a term applied in one of its many philosophical meanings to thatwhich was contrary to and, indeed, in one sense a reflection of, light. Just as spirit may be considered tobe pure energy, and matter, although essentially crystallized spirit, may be looked upon as the shadowworld or vehicular world in which the energy or spirit or pure light works, just so is maya, as the garmentor expression or sakti of the divine energy, the vehicle or shadow of the divine side of nature, in otherwords its negative or nether pole, as light is the upper or positive pole.The Brothers of the Shadow are therefore those who, being essentially of the nature of matter,instinctively choose and follow the path along which they are most strongly drawn, that is, the path ofmatter or of the shadows. When it is recollected that matter is but a generalizing term, and that what thisterm comprises actually includes an almost infinite number of degrees of increasing ethereality from thegrossest physical substance, or absolute matter, up to the most ethereal or spiritualized substance, weimmediately see the subtle logic of this technical term -- shadows or, more fully, the Path of theShadows, hence the Brothers of the Shadow.They are the so-called black magicians of the Occident, and stand in sharp and notable contrast with thewhite magicians or the Sons of Light who follow the pathway of self-renunciation, self-sacrifice,self-conquest, perfect self-control, and an expansion of the heart and mind and consciousness in love andservice for all that lives. (See also Right-hand Path)The existence and aims of the Brothers of the Shadow are essentially selfish. It is commonly, buterroneously, supposed that the Brothers of the Shadow are men and women always of unpleasant ordispleasing personal appearance, and no greater error than this could possibly be made. Multitudes ofhuman beings are unconsciously treading the path of the shadows and, in comparison with thesemultitudes, it is relatively only a few who self-consciously lead and guide with subtle and nefastintelligence this army of unsuspecting victims of maya. The Brothers of the Shadow are often highlyintellectual men and women, frequently individuals with apparent great personal charm, and to theordinary observer, judging from their conversation and daily works, are fully as well able to "quotescripture" as are the Angels of Light!

bstan rim. (tenrim). In Tibetan, "stages of the doctrine"; a genre of Tibetan Buddhist literature similar to the "stages of the path" (LAM RIM), of which it is a precursor. Bstan rim texts present a systematic and comprehensive outline of Tibetan Buddhist thought, although they generally differ from "stages of the path" works by referring strictly to MAHAYANA doctrine and avoiding the typology of three spiritual levels of individuals (skyes bu gsum): these are, following the explanation of TSONG KHA PA in his LAM RIM CHEN MO, the individual whose practice leads to a good rebirth, a middling type of individual whose practice leads to NIRVAnA, and the great person whose MahAyAna practice as a BODHISATTVA leads to buddhahood for the sake of all beings. However, the differences between bstan rim and lam rim texts are often blurred; the THAR PA RIN PO CHE'I RGYAN ("Jewel Ornament of Liberation") by SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN, for example, is often designated as a "stages of the path" work, although it might more precisely be classified as "stages of the doctrine." Early examples of bstan rim treatises were written at GSANG PHU NE'U THOG monastery by RNGOG BLO LDAN SHES RAB and his followers.

Torque - Product of force and the lever arm.


   Trajectory - The path followed by projectile.


  


buddha. (T. sangs rgyas; C. fo; J. butsu/hotoke; K. pul 佛). In Sanskrit and PAli, "awakened one" or "enlightened one"; an epithet derived from the Sanskrit root √budh, meaning "to awaken" or "to open up" (as does a flower) and thus traditionally etymologized as one who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge. The term was used in ancient India by a number of different religious groups, but came to be most strongly associated with followers of the teacher GAUTAMA, the "Sage of the sAKYA Clan" (sAKYAMUNI), who claimed to be only the most recent of a succession of buddhas who had appeared in the world over many eons of time (KALPA). In addition to sAkyamuni, there are many other buddhas named in Buddhist literature, from various lists of buddhas of the past, present, and future, to "buddhas of the ten directions" (dasadigbuddha), viz., everywhere. Although the precise nature of buddhahood is debated by the various schools, a buddha is a person who, in the far distant past, made a previous vow (PuRVAPRAnIDHANA) to become a buddha in order to reestablish the dispensation or teaching (sASANA) at a time when it was lost to the world. The path to buddhahood is much longer than that of the ARHAT-as many as three incalculable eons of time (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) in some computations-because of the long process of training over the BODHISATTVA path (MARGA), involving mastery of the six or ten "perfections" (PARAMITA). Buddhas can remember both their past lives and the past lives of all sentient beings, and relate events from those past lives in the JATAKA and AVADANA literature. Although there is great interest in the West in the "biography" of Gautama or sAkyamuni Buddha, the early tradition seemed intent on demonstrating his similarity to the buddhas of the past rather than his uniqueness. Such a concern was motivated in part by the need to demonstrate that what the Buddha taught was not the innovation of an individual, but rather the rediscovery of a timeless truth (what the Buddha himself called "an ancient path" [S. purAnamArga, P. purAnamagga]) that had been discovered in precisely the same way, since time immemorial, by a person who undertook the same type of extended preparation. In this sense, the doctrine of the existence of past buddhas allowed the early Buddhist community to claim an authority similar to that of the Vedas of their Hindu rivals and of the JAINA tradition of previous tīrthankaras. Thus, in their biographies, all of the buddhas of the past and future are portrayed as doing many of the same things. They all sit cross-legged in their mother's womb; they are all born in the "middle country" (madhyadesa) of the continent of JAMBUDVĪPA; immediately after their birth they all take seven steps to the north; they all renounce the world after seeing the four sights (CATURNIMITTA; an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a mendicant) and after the birth of a son; they all achieve enlightenment seated on a bed of grass; they stride first with their right foot when they walk; they never stoop to pass through a door; they all establish a SAMGHA; they all can live for an eon if requested to do so; they never die before their teaching is complete; they all die after eating meat. Four sites on the earth are identical for all buddhas: the place of enlightenment, the place of the first sermon that "turns the wheel of the dharma" (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA), the place of descending from TRAYASTRIMsA (heaven of the thirty-three), and the place of their bed in JETAVANA monastery. Buddhas can differ from each other in only eight ways: life span, height, caste (either brAhmana or KsATRIYA), the conveyance by which they go forth from the world, the period of time spent in the practice of asceticism prior to their enlightenment, the kind of tree they sit under on the night of their enlightenment, the size of their seat there, and the extent of their aura. In addition, there are twelve deeds that all buddhas (dvAdasabuddhakArya) perform. (1) They descend from TUsITA heaven for their final birth; (2) they enter their mother's womb; (3) they take birth in LUMBINĪ Garden; (4) they are proficient in the worldly arts; (5) they enjoy the company of consorts; (6) they renounce the world; (7) they practice asceticism on the banks of the NAIRANJANA River; (8) they go to the BODHIMAndA; (9) they subjugate MARA; (10) they attain enlightenment; (11) they turn the wheel of the dharma; and (12) they pass into PARINIRVAnA. They all have a body adorned with the thirty-two major marks (LAKsAnA; MAHAPURUsALAKsAnA) and the eighty secondary marks (ANUVYANJANA) of a great man (MAHAPURUsA). They all have two bodies: a physical body (RuPAKAYA) and a body of qualities (DHARMAKAYA; see BUDDHAKAYA). These qualities of a buddha are accepted by the major schools of Buddhism. It is not the case, as is sometimes suggested, that the buddha of the mainstream traditions is somehow more "human" and the buddha in the MAHAYANA somehow more "superhuman"; all Buddhist traditions relate stories of buddhas performing miraculous feats, such as the sRAVASTĪ MIRACLES described in mainstream materials. Among the many extraordinary powers of the buddhas are a list of "unshared factors" (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA) that are unique to them, including their perfect mindfulness and their inability ever to make a mistake. The buddhas have ten powers specific to them that derive from their unique range of knowledge (for the list, see BALA). The buddhas also are claimed to have an uncanny ability to apply "skill in means" (UPAYAKAUsALYA), that is, to adapt their teachings to the specific needs of their audience. This teaching role is what distinguishes a "complete and perfect buddha" (SAMYAKSAMBUDDHA) from a "solitary buddha" (PRATYEKABUDDHA) who does not teach: a solitary buddha may be enlightened but he neglects to develop the great compassion (MAHAKARUnA) that ultimately prompts a samyaksaMbuddha to seek to lead others to liberation. The MahAyAna develops an innovative perspective on the person of a buddha, which it conceived as having three bodies (TRIKAYA): the DHARMAKAYA, a transcendent principle that is sometimes translated as "truth body"; an enjoyment body (SAMBHOGAKAYA) that is visible only to advanced bodhisattvas in exalted realms; and an emanation body (NIRMAnAKAYA) that displays the deeds of a buddha to the world. Also in the MahAyAna is the notion of a universe filled with innumerable buddha-fields (BUDDHAKsETRA), the most famous of these being SUKHAVATĪ of AmitAbha. Whereas the mainstream traditions claim that the profundity of a buddha is so great that a single universe can only sustain one buddha at any one time, MahAyAna SuTRAs often include scenes of multiple buddhas appearing together. See also names of specific buddhas, including AKsOBHYA, AMITABHA, AMOGHASIDDHI, RATNASAMBHAVA, VAIROCANA. For indigenous language terms for buddha, see FO (C); HOTOKE (J); PHRA PHUTTHA JAO (Thai); PUCH'o(NIM) (K); SANGS RGYAS (T).

buddhayAna. (T. sangs rgyas kyi theg pa; C. fo sheng; J. butsujo; K. pul sŭng 佛乘). In Sanskrit, "buddha vehicle," the conveyance leading to the state of buddhahood. In general, the buddhayAna is synonymous with both the BODHISATTVAYANA and the MAHAYANA, although in some contexts it is considered superior to them, being equivalent to a supreme EKAYANA. When this path is perfected, the adept achieves the full range of special qualities unique to the buddhas (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA), which result from mastery of the perfections (PARAMITA). This understanding of the term buddhayAna and its significance is explained in chapter two of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"). There, the Buddha compares three means of salvation to three carts promised to children in an effort to convince them to come out from a burning house. The three carts are said to correspond to the three vehicles (TRIYANA). The first is the sRAVAKAYANA, the vehicle for sRAVAKAs ("disciples"), in which teachings were learned from a buddha and which culminates in becoming a "worthy one" (ARHAT). Next is the PRATYEKABUDDHAYANA, the vehicle of the PRATYEKABUDDHA or "solitary buddha," those who strive for enlightenment but do not rely on a buddha in their last life. The third is the bodhisattvayAna, the path followed by the BODHISATTVA to buddhahood. In the parable in the "Lotus Sutra," the Buddha uses the prospect of these three vehicles to entice the children to leave the burning house; once they are safely outside, they find not three carts waiting for them but instead a single magnificent cart. The Buddha then declares the three vehicles to be a form of skillful means (UPAYAKAUsALYA), for there is in fact only one vehicle (ekayAna), also referred to as the buddha vehicle (buddhayAna). Later exegetes, especially in East Asia, engaged in extensive scholastic investigation of the relationships between the terms bodhisattvayAna, buddhayAna, and ekayAna.

"But in the path of knowledge as it is practised in India concentration is used in a special and more limited sense. It means that removal of the thought from all distracting activities of the mind and that concentration of it on the idea of the One by which the soul rises out of the phenomenal into the one reality.” The Synthesis of Yoga*

“But in the path of knowledge as it is practised in India concentration is used in a special and more limited sense. It means that removal of the thought from all distracting activities of the mind and that concentration of it on the idea of the One by which the soul rises out of the phenomenal into the one reality.” The Synthesis of Yoga

But this exclusive consummation t$ not the sole or inevitable result of the Path of Knowledge. For, followed more largely and with a less individual aim, the method of Knowledge may lead to an active conquest of the cosmic existence for the Divine no less than to a transcendence. The point of this departure is the realisation of the supreme Self not only in one’s own being but in all beings, and, finally, the realisation of even the pheno- menal aspects of the world as a play of the divine consciousness and not something entirely alien to its true nature. And on the basis of this realisation a yet further enlargement is possible, the conversion of all forms of knowledge, however mundane, into activities of the divine consciousness utilisable for the perception of the one and unique Object of knowledge both in itself and through the pTay of its fonns and symbols. Such a method might well lead to the elevation of the whole range of human intellect and perception to the dirine level, to its spiritualisation

call ::: “All Yoga is in its nature a new birth; it is a birth out of the ordinary, the mentalised material life of man into a higher spiritual consciousness and a greater and diviner being. No Yoga can be successfully undertaken and followed unless there is a strong awakening to the necessity of that larger spiritual existence. The soul that is called to this deep and vast inward change, may arrive in different ways to the initial departure. It may come to it by its own natural development which has been leading it unconsciously towards the awakening; it may reach it through the influence of a religion or the attraction of a philosophy; it may approach it by a slow illumination or leap to it by a sudden touch or shock; it may be pushed or led to it by the pressure of outward circumstances or by an inward necessity, by a single word that breaks the seals of the mind or by long reflection, by the distant example of one who has trod the path or by contact and daily influence. According to the nature and the circumstances the call will come.” The Synthesis of Yoga

call ::: Sri Aurobindo: "All Yoga is in its nature a new birth; it is a birth out of the ordinary, the mentalised material life of man into a higher spiritual consciousness and a greater and diviner being. No Yoga can be successfully undertaken and followed unless there is a strong awakening to the necessity of that larger spiritual existence. The soul that is called to this deep and vast inward change, may arrive in different ways to the initial departure. It may come to it by its own natural development which has been leading it unconsciously towards the awakening; it may reach it through the influence of a religion or the attraction of a philosophy; it may approach it by a slow illumination or leap to it by a sudden touch or shock; it may be pushed or led to it by the pressure of outward circumstances or by an inward necessity, by a single word that breaks the seals of the mind or by long reflection, by the distant example of one who has trod the path or by contact and daily influence. According to the nature and the circumstances the call will come.” *The Synthesis of Yoga

CALL. ::: The soul may arrive in different ways to the initial departure. It may come to it by its own natural development which has been leading it unconsciously towards the awaken- ing ; it may reach it through (he influence of a religion or the attraction of a philosophy ; it may approach it by a slow illumi- nation or leap to it by the pressure of outward circumstances or by an inward necessity, by a single word that breaks the seals of the mind or by long reflection, by the distant example of one who has trod the path or by contact and daily influence.

catuḥsatyadharmacakra. (T. bden bzhi'i chos 'khor; C. sidi falun; J. shitai horin; K. saje pomnyun 四諦法輪). In Sanskrit, lit. "the dharma wheel of the four truths"; the wheel of the dharma (DHARMACAKRA) delivered in ṚsIPATANA. In this first turning of the wheel of dharma, the Buddha set in motion a wheel with twelve aspects, by setting forth the four noble truths three separate times. He addressed the original group of five disciples (PANCAVARGIKA), telling them that they should not fall into extremes of asceticism or indulgence, and laid out for them the eightfold noble path (AstAnGIKAMARGA). He set forth the four truths the first time by saying that the five aggregates (SKANDHA) qualified by birth, aging, sickness, and death are the noble truth of suffering, craving is the noble truth of their origination, the elimination of that craving is the noble truth of their cessation, and that the eightfold noble path is the noble truth of the path leading to their cessation. He set forth the four truths a second time when, in the same extended discourse, he said, "I knew well that the truth of suffering was what I had to comprehend; I knew well that the truth of the origin was what I had to eliminate; I knew well that the truth of cessation was what I had to realize; and I knew well that the truth of the path was what I had to cultivate." He then set forth the four truths a third and final time when he said, "I comprehended the truth of suffering, I eliminated the true origin of suffering, I realized the true cessation of suffering, and I cultivated the true path." There are twelve aspects to this triple wheel because for each of the three stages there is (1) a vision that sees reality directly with the wisdom eye that is free from contaminants, (2) a knowledge that is free from doubt, (3) an understanding of the way things are, and (4) an intellectual comprehension of an idea never heard of before. ¶ The SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA calls the triple turning of the catuḥsatyadharmacakra with its twelve aspects the "first turning of the wheel." According to its commentaries, it is a demonstration that all dharmas, the skandhas, sense-fields (AYATANA), elements (DHATU), and so forth, exist. This teaching is provisional (NEYARTHA) because it must be interpreted in order to understand what the Buddha really means. A second "middle" dispensation, called "the dharma wheel of signlessness" (ALAKsAnADHARMACAKRA), is the teaching of the MahAyAna doctrine, as set forth in the PRAJNAPARAMITA SuTRAs, that all dharmas, even buddhahood and NIRVAnA, are without any intrinsic nature (NIḤSVABHAVA). The first turning of the wheel is directed toward the sRAVAKAs and PRATYEKABUDDHAs, who tremble at this doctrine of emptiness (suNYATA). The second turning is also not a final, definitive (NĪTARTHA) teaching. The ultimate teaching is the final turning of the wheel of dharma, called "the dharma wheel that makes a fine delineation" (*SUVIBHAKTADHARMACAKRA), i.e., the SaMdhinirmocanasutra itself. Here the Buddha, through his amanuensis ParamArthasamudgata, sets forth in clear and plain language what he means: that dharmas are endowed with three natures (TRISVABHAVA) and each of those is, in a distinctive way, free from intrinsic nature (niḥsvabhAva). The doctrine of the first, middle, and final wheels of dharma is not intended to be a historical presentation of the development of Buddhist doctrine, but the first turning does loosely equate to the early teachings of the Buddha, the second to early MahAyAna, and the third to the emergence of the later YOGACARA school of MahAyAna philosophy. In Tibet, there is no argument over this first turning of the wheel of dharma: it is always understood to refer to the basic teachings of the Buddha for those of a HĪNAYANA persuasion. There is, however, substantial argument over the status of the second and third turnings of the wheel.

Central faith ::: A faith in the soul or the central being behind, a faith which is there even when the mind doubts and (he vital despairs and the physical wants to collapse, and after the attack is over, reappears and pushes on the path again.

Chandrayana (Sanskrit) Cāndrāyaṇa [from candra moon + ayana advancing, course] The path or course of the moon.

Chatur-yoni (Sanskrit) Catur-yoni Four wombs; the four modes of birth; the four ways of entering on the path of birth as decided by karma. These four ways as described in ancient books are: 1) birth from the womb, as men and mammalia; 2) birth from an egg, as birds and reptiles; 3) birth from moisture and air-germs, as insects; and 4) by sudden self-transformation, as bodhisattvas and gods (anupapadaka — “parentless”). The anupapadaka birth is brought about by the intrinsic energy and karmic merit of the individual, thus transforming himself into a nobler being.

Chela(Cela) ::: An old Indian term. In archaic times more frequently spelled and pronounced cheta or cheda. Themeaning is "servant," a personal disciple attached to the service of a teacher from whom he receivesinstruction. The idea is closely similar to the Anglo-Saxon term leorning-cneht, meaning "learningservant," a name given in Anglo-Saxon translations of the Christian New Testament to the disciples ofJesus, his "chelas." It is, therefore, a word used in old mystical scriptures for a disciple, a pupil, a learneror hearer. The relationship of teacher and disciple is infinitely more sacred even than that of parent andchild; because, while the parents give the body to the incoming soul, the teacher brings forth that soulitself and teaches it to be and therefore to see, teaches it to know and to become what it is in its inmostbeing -- that is, a divine thing.The chela life or chela path is a beautiful one, full of joy to its very end, but also it calls forth and needseverything noble and high in the learner or disciple; for the powers or faculties of the higher self must bebrought into activity in order to attain and to hold those summits of intellectual and spiritual grandeurwhere the Masters themselves live. For that, masterhood, is the end of discipleship -- not, however, thatthis ideal should be set before us merely as an end to attain to as something of benefit for one's own self,because that very thought is a selfish one and therefore a stumbling in the path. It is for the individual'sbenefit, of course; yet the true idea is that everything and every faculty that is in the soul shall be broughtout in the service of all humanity, for this is the royal road, the great royal thoroughfare, of self-conquest.The more mystical meanings attached to this term chela can be given only to those who have irrevocablypledged themselves to the esoteric life.

Chhanda-riddhi-pada (Sanskrit) Chanda-ṛddhi-pāda [from chanda desire + ṛddhi supernormal power + pāda step, ray, beam] Pleasure-power-training; one of the steps enumerated in raja yoga: “the final renunciation of all desire as a sine qua non condition of phenomenal powers, and entrance on the direct path of Nirvana” (TG 324). The compound itself points out that by abandoning the lower desires and pleasures, one enters upon the path of obtaining the celestial joys and vast expansion of faculty and its spiritual use, although even this last is finally abandoned for a still higher stage.

Chinva or Chinvat (Avestan), Chinvar (Pahlavi) [from Pahlavi chitan, Avest chinaeta to arrange or lay as in bricklaying, pick and choose + the verbal root vid knowledge, recognition] Alludes to the gradual attainment of knowledge of truth, hence the act of laying the path of knowledge brick by brick.

cintAmani. (T. yid bzhin nor bu; C. ruyi baozhu; J. nyoihoju; K. yoŭi poju 如意寶珠). In Sanskrit, "wish-fulfilling gem"; in Indian mythology a magical jewel possessed by DEVAs and NAGAs that has the power to grant wishes. The term is often as a metaphor for various stages of the path, including the initial aspiration to achieve buddhahood (BODHICITTOTPADA), the rarity of rebirth as a human being with access to the dharma, and the merit arising from the teachings of the Buddha. According to the Ruyi baozhu zhuanlun mimi xianshen chengfo jinlunzhouwang jing (also known simply as the Jinlunzhouwang jing), which describes in great detail the inexhaustible merit of this gem, the cintAmani is rough in shape and is comprised of eleven precious materials, including gold and silver, and has thirty-two pieces of the Buddha's relics (sARĪRA) at its core, which give it its special power. In the DAZHIDU LUN, the gem is said to derive from the brain of the dragon king (nAgarAja), the undersea protector of Buddhism, or, alternatively, to be the main jewel ornamenting the top of his head. The text claims that it has the power to protect its carrier from poison and fire; other texts say that the cintAmani has the capacity to drive away evil, clarify muddy water, etc. This gem is also variously said to come from the head of a great makara fish (as in the RATNAKutASuTRAs) or the heart of a GARUdA bird (as in the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING). Other texts suggest that while the king of the gods, INDRA, was fighting with the demigods (ASURA), part of his weapon dropped to the world and became this gem. The bodhisattvas AVALOKITEsVARA and KsITIGARBHA are also depicted holding a cintAmani so that they may grant the wishes of all sentient beings.

Circulations of the Cosmos The pathways or channels connecting the invisible worlds of the solar system by vital and nervous cosmic streams. Just as in the human body, the solar system, which is an organic entity, has its own network of nerves, arteries, and veins, as well as its pathways along which run to and fro the streams of forces imbodying various degrees of cosmic intelligence and life. See also INNER ROUNDS; OUTER ROUNDS

CIRCUMSTANCES. ::: When someone is destined for the Path, all circumstances, through all deviations of mind and life, help in one way or another to lead him to it. It is his own psychic being within him and Divine Power above that use to that end the vicissitudes both of mind and outward circumstance.

cittavisuddhi. (S. cittavisuddhi). In PAli, "purity of mind"; according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the second of seven "purities" (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Purity of mind refers to the eight meditative absorptions (P. JHANA; S. DHYANA) or attainments (SAMAPATTI) belonging to the subtle-materiality realm (rupAvacara) and the immaterial realm (ArupyAvacara). Meditative absorption belonging to the subtle-materiality realm (P. rupAvacarajhAna; S. RuPAVACARADHYANA) is subdivided into four stages, each of which is characterized by an increasing attenuation of consciousness as the meditator progresses from one stage to the next. Meditative absorption belonging to the immaterial realm (P. arupAvacarajhAna; S. ARuPYAVACARADHYANA) is likewise subdivided into four stages, but in this case it is the object of meditation that becomes attenuated from one stage to the next. In the first immaterial absorption, the meditator sets aside the perception of materiality and abides in the sphere of infinite space (P. AkAsAnaNcAyatana; S. AKAsANANTYAYATANA). In the second immaterial absorption, the meditator sets aside the perception of infinite space and abides in the sphere of infinite consciousness (P. viNNanaNcAyatana; S. VIJNANANANTYAYATANA). In the third immaterial absorption, the meditator sets aside the perception of infinite consciousness and abides in the sphere of nothingness (P. AkiNcaNNAyatana; S. AKINCANYAYATANA). In the fourth immaterial absorption, the meditator sets aside the perception of nothingness and abides in the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception (P. nevasaNNAnAsaNNAyatana; S. NAIVASAMJNANASAMJNAYATANA). To this list of eight absorptions is added "access" or "neighborhood" "concentration" (P. UPACARASAMADHI), which is the degree of concentration present in the mind of the meditator just prior to entering any of the four jhAnas.

course ::: 1. A direction or route taken or to be taken. 2. The path, route, or channel along which anything moves. 3. Advance or progression in a particular direction; forward or onward movement. 4. The continuous passage or progress through time or a succession of stages. chariot-course.

Culadukkhakkhandhasutta. (C. Kuyin jing; J. Kuongyo; K. Koŭm kyong 苦陰經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse on the Mass of Suffering"; the fourteenth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the one hundredth sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to the Sakiyan prince MahAnAma at Kapilavatthu (S. KAPILAVASTU). The Buddha explains the full implications of sensual pleasures, the advantages of renouncing them, and the path needed to escape from their influence. In a discussion with JAINA ascetics, he describes how greed, ill-will, and ignorance cause moral defilement and misery.

CulAssapurasutta. (C. Mayi jing; J. Meyukyo; K. Maŭp kyong 馬邑經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse at Assapura"; the fortieth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 183rd sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA); preached by the Buddha to a group of monks dwelling in the market town of Assapura in the country of the Angans. The people of Assapura were greatly devoted to the Buddha, the DHARMA, and the SAMGHA and were especially generous in their support of the community of monks. In recognition of their generosity, the Buddha advised his monks that the true path of the recluse is not concerned with mere outward purification through austerities but rather with inward purification through freedom from passion and mental defilements. The dedicated monk should therefore devote himself to the path laid down by the Buddha until he has abandoned twelve unwholesome states of mind: (1) covetousness, (2) ill will, (3) anger, (4) resentment, (5) contempt, (6) insolence, (7) envy, (8) greed, (9) fraud, (10) deceit, (11) evil wishes, and (12) wrong view. Having abandoned these twelve, the monk should then strive to cultivate the divine abidings (BRAHMAVIHARA) of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity; through those virtues, the monk attains inner peace and thereby practices the true path of the recluse.

Culavedallasutta. (C. Fale biqiuni jing; J. Horaku bikunikyo; K. Pomnak piguni kyong 法樂比丘尼經). In PAli, "Shorter Discourse on Points of Doctrine"; the forty-fourth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKAYA (a separate SARVASTIVADA recension appears as the 210th sutra in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMAGAMA; the entire discourse is also subsumed in the Tibetan translation of samathadeva's commentary to the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA), expounded by the nun DhammadinnA (S. DHARMADINNA) to her former husband, the householder VisAkha, at the Veluvana (S. VEnUVANAVIHARA) bamboo grove in RAjagaha (S. RAJAGṚHA). VisAkha approached DhammadinnA and questioned her concerning a number of points of doctrine preached by the Buddha. These questions included: what is the nature of this existing body (P. sakkAya; S. satkAya); what is its origin (SAMUDAYA), its cessation (NIRODHA), and the path (P. magga; S. MARGA) leading to its cessation; how does wrong view concerning this body (P. sakkAyaditthi; S. SATKAYADṚstI) arise and how is it removed; what is the noble eightfold path; what is concentration (SAMADHI); what are bodily, verbal, and mental formations; what is the attainment of cessation (nirodha); what is sensation (VEDANA); what are the underlying tendencies with regard to pleasant, painful, and neutral sensations and how should these be overcome; and what are the counterparts of pleasant, painful, and neutral sensations. DhammadinnA answered all of the questions put to her to the satisfaction of the householder VisAkha-proving why the Buddha considered her foremost among his nun disciples in the gift of preaching.

dakshinamurti. :::name for Lord Shiva as the silent teacher; the Vedas declare that in every cycle of creation Reality manifests as Dakshinamurti and becomes the Guru of the first human beings, those who were most spiritually evolved in the previous creation, teaching them the path to liberation

Daoxin. (J. Doshin; K. Tosin 道信) (580-651). Chan monk and reputed fourth patriarch of the CHAN tradition. Although Daoxin's birthplace is not certain, some sources say he was a native of Qizhou in present-day Hubei province, while others mention Henei in Henan province. Little is known of his early training, but early Chan sources such as the LENGQIE SHIZI JI and CHUAN FABAO JI claim that Daoxin studied under SENGCAN, the putative third patriarch of Chan and supposed successor to BODHIDHARMA and HUIKE, his connection to this dubious figure is tenuous at best, however, and is probably a retrospective creation. The earliest biography of Daoxin, recorded in the XU GAOSENG ZHUAN ("Supplementary Biographies of Eminent Monks"), not only does not posit any connection of Daoxin to the preceding three patriarchs but does not even mention their names. The Chuan fabao ji states that Daoxin was fully ordained in 607, after his purported period of study under Sengcan. Daoxin is subsequently known to have resided at the monastery of Dalinsi on LUSHAN in Jiangxi province for ten years. At the invitation of the inhabitants of his native Qizhou, Daoxin moved again to Mt. Shuangfeng in Huangmei (perhaps in 624), where he remained in seclusion for about thirty years. He is therefore sometimes known as Shuangfeng Daoxin. During his residence at Mt. Shuangfeng, Daoxin is claimed to have attracted more than five hundred students, among whom HONGREN, the fifth patriarch of Chan, is most famous. The lineage and teachings attributed to Daoxin and Hongren are typically called the East Mountain Teachings (DONGSHAN FAMEN) after the easterly peak of Mt. Shuangfeng, where Hongren dwelled. Daoxin was given the posthumous title Chan Master Dayi (Great Physician) by Emperor Daizong (r. 762-779) of the Tang dynasty. According to the Lengqie shizi ji, Daoxin composed the Pusajie zuofa ("Method of Conferring the BODHISATTVA Precepts"), which is no longer extant, and the Rudao anxin yaofangbian famen ("Essentials of the Teachings of the Expedient Means of Entering the Path and Pacifying the Mind"), which is embedded in the Lengqie shizi ji. This latter text employs the analogy of a mirror from the Banzhou sanmei jing (S. PRATYUTPANNABUDDHASAMMUKHAVASTHITASAMADHISuTRA) to illustrate the insubstantiality of all phenomena, viz., one's sensory experiences are no more substantial than the reflections in a mirror. The text then presents the "single-practice SAMADHI" (YIXING SANMEI) as a practical means of accessing the path leading to NIRVAnA, based on the Wenshushuo bore jing ("Perfection of Wisdom Sutra Spoken by Manjusrī"). Single-practice samAdhi here refers to sitting in meditation, the supreme practice that subsumes all other practices. In single-practice samAdhi, the meditator contemplates every single aspect of one's mental and physical existence until one realizes they are all empty, and "guards that one without deviation" (shouyi buyi).

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

darsana. (P. dassana; T. mthong ba; C. jian; J. ken; K. kyon 見). In Sanskrit, lit. "seeing," viz., "vision," "insight," or "understanding." In a purely physical sense, darsana refers most basically to visual perception that occurs through the ocular sense organ. However, Buddhism also accepts a full range of sensory and extrasensory perceptions, such as those associated with meditative development (see YOGIPRATYAKsA), that also involve "vision," in the sense of directly perceiving a reality hidden from ordinary sight. Darsana may thus refer to the seeing that occurs through any of the five types of "eyes" (CAKsUS) mentioned in Buddhist literature, viz., (1) the physical eye (MAMSACAKsUS), the sense base (AYATANA) associated with visual consciousness; (2) the divine eye (DIVYACAKsUS), the vision associated with the spiritual power (ABHIJNA) of clairvoyance; (3) the wisdom eye (PRAJNACAKsUS), which is the insight that derives from cultivating mainstream Buddhist practices; (4) the dharma eye (DHARMACAKsUS), which is exclusive to the BODHISATTVAs; and (5) the buddha eye (BUDDHACAKsUS), which subsumes all the other four. When used in its denotation of "insight," darsana often appears in the compound "knowledge and vision" (JNANADARsANA), viz., the direct insight that accords with reality (YATHABHuTA) of the three marks of existence (TRILAKsAnA)-impermanence (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself/insubstantiality (ANATMAN)-and one of the qualities perfected on the path leading to the state of "worthy one" (ARHAT). Darsana is usually considered to involve awakening (BODHI) to the truth, liberation (VIMUKTI) from bondage, and purification (VIsUDDHI) of all afflictions (KLEsA). The perfection of knowledge and vision (jNAnadarsanapAramitA) is also said to be an alternate name for the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA), one of the six perfections (PARAMITA) of the bodhisattva path. In the fivefold structure of the Buddhist path, the DARsANAMARGA constitutes the third path. The related term "view" (DṚstI), which derives from the same Sanskrit root √dṛs ("to see"), is sometimes employed similarly to darsana, although it also commonly conveys the more pejorative meanings of dogma, heresy, or extreme or wrong views regarding the self and the world, often as propounded by non-Buddhist philosophical schools. Darsana is also sometimes used within the Indian tradition to indicate a philosophical or religious system, a usage still current today.

dasabhumi. (T. sa bcu; C. shidi; J. juji; K. sipchi 十地). In Sanskrit, lit., "ten grounds," "ten stages"; the ten highest reaches of the bodhisattva path (MARGA) leading to buddhahood. The most systematic and methodical presentation of the ten BHuMIs appears in the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA ("Ten Bhumis Sutra"), where each of the ten stages is correlated with seminal doctrines of mainstream Buddhism-such as the four means of conversion (SAMGRAHAVASTU) on the first four bhumis, the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (CATVARY ARYASATYANI) on the fifth bhumi, and the chain of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPADA) on the sixth bhumi, etc.-as well as with mastery of one of a list of ten perfections (PARAMITA) completed in the course of training as a bodhisattva. The list of the ten bhumis of the Dasabhumikasutra, which becomes standard in most MahAyAna traditions, is as follows: (1) PRAMUDITA (joyful) corresponds to the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA) and the bodhisattva's first direct realization of emptiness (suNYATA). The bodhisattva masters on this bhumi the perfection of giving (DANAPARAMITA), learning to give away those things most precious to him, including his wealth, his wife and family, and even his body (see DEHADANA); (2) VIMALA (immaculate, stainless) marks the inception of the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA), where the bodhisattva develops all the superlative traits of character incumbent on a buddha through mastering the perfection of morality (sĪLAPARAMITA); (3) PRABHAKARĪ (luminous, splendrous), where the bodhisattva masters all the various types of meditative experiences, such as DHYANA, SAMAPATTI, and the BRAHMAVIHARA; despite the emphasis on meditation in this bhumi, it comes to be identified instead with the perfection of patience (KsANTIPARAMITA), ostensibly because the bodhisattva is willing to endure any and all suffering in order to master his practices; (4) ARCIsMATĪ (radiance, effulgence), where the flaming radiance of the thirty-seven factors pertaining to enlightenment (BODHIPAKsIKADHARMA) becomes so intense that it incinerates obstructions (AVARAnA) and afflictions (KLEsA), giving the bodhisattva inexhaustible energy in his quest for enlightenment and thus mastering the perfection of vigor or energy (VĪRYAPARAMITA); (5) SUDURJAYA (invincibility, hard-to-conquer), where the bodhisattva comprehends the various permutations of truth (SATYA), including the four noble truths, the two truths (SATYADVAYA) of provisional (NEYARTHA) and absolute (NĪTARTHA), and masters the perfection of meditative absorption (DHYANAPARAMITA); (6) ABHIMUKHĪ (immediacy, face-to-face), where, as the name implies, the bodhisattva stands at the intersection between SAMSARA and NIRVAnA, turning away from the compounded dharmas of saMsAra and turning to face the profound wisdom of the buddhas, thus placing him "face-to-face" with both the compounded (SAMSKṚTA) and uncompounded (ASAMSKṚTA) realms; this bhumi is correlated with mastery of the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA); (7) DuRAnGAMA (far-reaching, transcendent), which marks the bodhisattva's freedom from the four perverted views (VIPARYASA) and his mastery of the perfection of expedients (UPAYAPARAMITA), which he uses to help infinite numbers of sentient beings; (8) ACALA (immovable, steadfast), which is marked by the bodhisattva's acquiescence or receptivity to the nonproduction of dharmas (ANUTPATTIKADHARMAKsANTI); because he is now able to project transformation bodies (NIRMAnAKAYA) anywhere in the universe to help sentient beings, this bhumi is correlated with mastery of the perfection of aspiration or resolve (PRAnIDHANAPARAMITA); (9) SADHUMATĪ (eminence, auspicious intellect), where the bodhisattva acquires the four analytical knowledges (PRATISAMVID), removing any remaining delusions regarding the use of the supernatural knowledges or powers (ABHIJNA), and giving the bodhisattva complete autonomy in manipulating all dharmas through the perfection of power (BALAPARAMITA); and (10) DHARMAMEGHA (cloud of dharma), the final bhumi, where the bodhisattva becomes autonomous in interacting with all material and mental factors, and gains all-pervasive knowledge that is like a cloud producing a rain of dharma that nurtures the entire world; this stage is also described as being pervaded by meditative absorption (DHYANA) and mastery of the use of codes (DHARAnĪ), just as the sky is filled by clouds; here the bodhisattva achieves the perfection of knowledge (JNANAPARAMITA). As the bodhisattva ascends through the ten bhumis, he acquires extraordinary powers, which CANDRAKĪRTI describes in the eleventh chapter of his MADHYAMAKAVATARA. On the first bhumi, the bodhisattva can, in a single instant (1) see one hundred buddhas, (2) be blessed by one hundred buddhas and understand their blessings, (3) live for one hundred eons, (4) see the past and future in those one hundred eons, (5) enter into and rise from one hundred SAMADHIs, (6) vibrate one hundred worlds, (7) illuminate one hundred worlds, (8) bring one hundred beings to spiritual maturity using emanations, (9) go to one hundred BUDDHAKsETRA, (10), open one hundred doors of the doctrine (DHARMAPARYAYA), (11) display one hundred versions of his body, and (12) surround each of those bodies with one hundred bodhisattvas. The number one hundred increases exponentially as the bodhisattva proceeds; on the second bhumi it becomes one thousand, on the third one hundred thousand, and so on; on the tenth, it is a number equal to the particles of an inexpressible number of buddhaksetra. As the bodhisattva moves from stage to stage, he is reborn as the king of greater and greater realms, ascending through the Buddhist cosmos. Thus, on the first bhumi he is born as king of JAMBUDVĪPA, on the second of the four continents, on the third as the king of TRAYATRIMsA, and so on, such that on the tenth he is born as the lord of AKANIstHA. ¶ According to the rather more elaborate account in chapter eleven of the CHENG WEISHI LUN (*VijNaptimAtratAsiddhi), each of the ten bhumis is correlated with the attainment of one of the ten types of suchness (TATHATA); these are accomplished by discarding one of the ten kinds of obstructions (Avarana) by mastering one of the ten perfections (pAramitA). The suchnesses achieved on each of the ten bhumis are, respectively: (1) universal suchness (sarvatragatathatA; C. bianxing zhenru), (2) supreme suchness (paramatathatA; C. zuisheng zhenru), (3) ubiquitous, or "supreme outflow" suchness (paramanisyandatathatA; C. shengliu zhenru), (4) unappropriated suchness (aparigrahatathatA; C. wusheshou zhenru), (5) undifferentiated suchness (abhinnajAtīyatathatA; C. wubie zhenru), (6) the suchness that is devoid of maculations and contaminants (asaMklistAvyavadAtatathatA; C. wuranjing zhenru), (7) the suchness of the undifferentiated dharma (abhinnatathatA; C. fawubie zhenru), (8) the suchness that neither increases nor decreases (anupacayApacayatathatA; C. buzengjian), (9) the suchness that serves as the support of the mastery of wisdom (jNAnavasitAsaMnisrayatathatA; C. zhizizai suoyi zhenru), and (10) the suchness that serves as the support for mastery over actions (kriyAdivasitAsaMnisrayatathatA; C. yezizai dengsuoyi). These ten suchnessses are obtained by discarding, respectively: (1) the obstruction of the common illusions of the unenlightened (pṛthagjanatvAvarana; C. yishengxing zhang), (2) the obstruction of the deluded (mithyApratipattyAvarana; C. xiexing zhang), (3) the obstruction of dullness (dhandhatvAvarana; C. andun zhang), (4) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle afflictions (suksmaklesasamudAcArAvarana; C. xihuo xianxing zhang), (5) the obstruction of the lesser HĪNAYANA ideal of parinirvAna (hīnayAnaparinirvAnAvarana; C. xiasheng niepan zhang), (6) the obstruction of the manifestation of coarse characteristics (sthulanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. cuxiang xianxing zhang), (7) the obstruction of the manifestation of subtle characteristics (suksmanimittasamudAcArAvarana; C. xixiang xianxing zhang), (8) the obstruction of the continuance of activity even in the immaterial realm that is free from characteristics (nirnimittAbhisaMskArAvarana; C. wuxiang jiaxing zhang), (9) the obstruction of not desiring to act on behalf of others' salvation (parahitacaryAkAmanAvarana; C. buyuxing zhang), and (10) the obstruction of not yet acquiring mastery over all things (fa weizizai zhang). These ten obstructions are overcome by practicing, respectively: (1) the perfection of giving (dAnapAramitA), (2) the perfection of morality (sīlapAramitA), (3) the perfection of forbearance (ksAntipAramitA), (4) the perfection of energetic effort (vīryapAramitA), (5) the perfection of meditation (dhyAnapAramitA), (6) the perfection of wisdom (prajNApAramitA), (7) the perfection of expedient means (upAyapAramitA), (8) the perfection of the vow (to attain enlightenment) (pranidhAnapAramitA), (9) the perfection of power (balapAramitA), and (10) the perfection of knowledge (jNAnapAramitA). ¶ The eighth, ninth, and tenth bhumis are sometimes called "pure bhumis," because, according to some commentators, upon reaching the eighth bhumi, the bodhisattva has abandoned all of the afflictive obstructions (KLEsAVARAnA) and is thus liberated from any further rebirth. It appears that there were originally only seven bhumis, as is found in the BODHISATTVABHuMI, where the seven bhumis overlap with an elaborate system of thirteen abidings or stations (vihAra), some of the names of which (such as pramuditA) appear also in the standard bhumi schema of the Dasabhumikasutra. Similarly, though a listing of ten bhumis appears in the MAHAVASTU, a text associated with the LOKOTTARAVADA subsect of the MAHASAMGHIKA school, only seven are actually discussed there, and the names given to the stages are completely different from those found in the later Dasabhumikasutra; the stages there are also a retrospective account of how past buddhas have achieved enlightenment, rather than a prescription for future practice. ¶ The dasabhumi schema is sometimes correlated with other systems of classifying the bodhisattva path. In the five levels of the YogAcAra school's outline of the bodhisattva path (PANCAMARGA; C. wuwei), the first bhumi (pramuditA) is presumed to be equivalent to the level of proficiency (*prativedhAvasthA; C. tongdawei), the third of the five levels; while the second bhumi onward corresponds to the level of cultivation (C. xiuxiwei), the fourth of the five levels. The first bhumi is also correlated with the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), while the second and higher bhumis correlate with the path of cultivation (BHAVANAMARGA). In terms of the doctrine of the five acquiescences (C. ren; S. ksAnti) listed in the RENWANG JING, the first through the third bhumis are equivalent to the second acquiescence, the acquiescence of belief (C. xinren; J. shinnin; K. sinin); the fourth through the sixth stages to the third, the acquiescence of obedience (C. shunren; J. junnin; K. sunin); the seventh through the ninth stages to the fourth, the acquiescence to the nonproduction of dharmas (anutpattikadharmaksAnti; C. wushengren; J. mushonin; K. musaengin); the tenth stage to the fifth and final acquiescence, to extinction (jimieren; J. jakumetsunin; K. chongmyorin). FAZANG's HUAYANJING TANXUAN JI ("Notes Plumbing the Profundities of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA") classifies the ten bhumis in terms of practice by correlating the first bhumi to the practice of faith (sRADDHA), the second bhumi to the practice of morality (sĪLA), the third bhumi to the practice of concentration (SAMADHI), and the fourth bhumi and higher to the practice of wisdom (PRAJNA). In the same text, Fazang also classifies the bhumis in terms of vehicle (YANA) by correlating the first through third bhumis with the vehicle of humans and gods (rentiansheng), the fourth through the seventh stage to the three vehicles (TRIYANA), and the eighth through tenth bhumis to the one vehicle (EKAYANA). ¶ Besides the list of the dasabhumi outlined in the Dasabhumikasutra, the MAHAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA and the DAZHIDU LUN (*MahAprajNApAramitAsAstra) list a set of ten bhumis, called the "bhumis in common" (gongdi), which are shared between all the three vehicles of sRAVAKAs, PRATYEKABUDDHAs, and bodhisattvas. These are the bhumis of: (1) dry wisdom (suklavidarsanAbhumi; C. ganhuidi), which corresponds to the level of three worthies (sanxianwei, viz., ten abidings, ten practices, ten transferences) in the srAvaka vehicle and the initial arousal of the thought of enlightenment (prathamacittotpAda) in the bodhisattva vehicle; (2) lineage (gotrabhumi; C. xingdi, zhongxingdi), which corresponds to the stage of the "aids to penetration" (NIRVEDHABHAGĪYA) in the srAvaka vehicle, and the final stage of the ten transferences in the fifty-two bodhisattva stages; (3) eight acquiescences (astamakabhumi; C. barendi), the causal incipiency of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA) in the case of the srAvaka vehicle and the acquiescence to the nonproduction of dharmas (anutpattikadharmaksAnti) in the bodhisattva path (usually corresponding to the first or the seventh through ninth bhumis of the bodhisattva path); (4) vision (darsanabhumi; C. jiandi), corresponding to the fruition or fulfillment (PHALA) level of the stream-enterer in the srAvaka vehicle and the stage of nonretrogression (AVAIVARTIKA), in the bodhisattva path (usually corresponding to the completion of the first or the eighth bhumi); (5) diminishment (tanubhumi; C. baodi), corresponding to the fulfillment level (phala) of stream-enterer or the causal incipiency of the once-returner (sakṛdAgAmin) in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage following nonretrogression before the attainment of buddhahood in the bodhisattva path; (6) freedom from desire (vītarAgabhumi; C. liyudi), equivalent to the fulfillment level of the nonreturner in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage where a bodhisattva attains the five supernatural powers (ABHIJNA); (7) complete discrimination (kṛtAvibhumi), equivalent to the fulfillment level of the ARHAT in the srAvaka vehicle, or to the stage of buddhahood (buddhabhumi) in the bodhisattva path (buddhabhumi) here refers not to the fruition of buddhahood but merely to the state in which a bodhisattva has the ability to exhibit the eighteen qualities distinctive to the buddhas (AVEnIKA[BUDDHA]DHARMA); (8) pratyekabuddha (pratyekabuddhabhumi); (9) bodhisattva (bodhisattvabhumi), the whole bodhisattva career prior to the fruition of buddhahood; (10) buddhahood (buddhabhumi), the stage of the fruition of buddhahood, when the buddha is completely equipped with all the buddhadharmas, such as omniscience (SARVAKARAJNATĀ). As is obvious in this schema, despite being called the bhumis "common" to all three vehicles, the shared stages continue only up to the seventh stage; the eighth through tenth stages are exclusive to the bodhisattva vehicle. This anomaly suggests that the last three bhumis of the bodhisattvayāna were added to an earlier srāvakayāna seven-bhumi scheme. ¶ The presentation of the bhumis in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ commentarial tradition following the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA uses the names found in the Dasabhumikasutra for the bhumis and understands them all as bodhisattva levels; it introduces the names of the ten bhumis found in the Dazhidu lun as levels that bodhisattvas have to pass beyond (S. atikrama) on the tenth bodhisattva level, which it calls the buddhabhumi. This tenth bodhisattva level is not the level of an actual buddha, but the level on which a bodhisattva has to transcend attachment (abhinivesa) to not only the levels reached by the four sets of noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA) but to the bodhisattvabhumis as well. See also BHuMI.

DAY AND NIGHT. ::: The up and down movement is com- mon to all ways of yoga. It is there in the path of Bhakti, but there are equally alternations of states of light and states of darkness, sometimes sheer and prolonged darkness, when one follows the path of Knowledge. Those who have occult experi- ences come to periods when all experiences cease and even seem finished for ever.

destiny ::: “Destiny in the rigid sense applies only to the outer being so long as it lives in the Ignorance. What we call destiny is only in fact the result of the present condition of the being and the nature and energies it has accumulated in the past acting on each other and determining the present attempts and their future results. But as soon as one enters the path of spiritual life, this old predetermined destiny begins to recede. There comes in a new factor, the Divine Grace, the help of a higher Divine Force other than the force of Karma, which can lift the sadhak beyond the present possibilities of his nature. One’s spiritual destiny is then the divine election which ensures the future.” Letters on Yoga

DESTINY. ::: Destiny in the ripd sense applies only to the outer being so long as it lives in the Ignorance. What we call destiny is only in fact the result of the present condition of the being and the nature and energies it has accumulated in the past acting on each other and detenmning the present attempts and their future results. But as soon as one enters the path of spiri- tual life, this old predetermined destiny begins to recede. There comes in a new factor, the Divine Grace, the help of a higher

DevānaMpiyatissa. (r. 247-207 BCE). Sinhalese king who, according to the Sri Lankan tradition, was the ruler under whom the island kingdom of Sri Lanka first accepted Buddhism. According to these accounts, DevānaMpiyatissa was a contemporary of the Indian emperor Asoka (S. AsOKA), who is said to have encouraged DevānaMpiyatissa to convert to Buddhism. Asoka dispatched his son, the Buddhist monk MAHINDA (S. Mahendra), as head of a delegation to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in the third century BCE to minister to DevānaMpiyatissa and the Sinhalese court. Mahinda preached for the king the CulAHATTHIPADOPAMASUTTA ("Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprint"), the twenty-seventh sutta of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA, where the Buddha uses the simile of a woodsman tracking an elephant's footprints to explain to his audience how to reach complete certainty regarding the truth of the path, which he calls the footprints of the Tathāgata. After hearing the discourse, DevānaMpiyatissa converted and was accepted as a Buddhist layman (UPĀSAKA). The king offered Mahinda the Mahāmeghavana, a royal pleasure garden on the outskirts of the Sinhalese capital of ANURĀDHAPURA, where he built the MAHĀVIHĀRA, which thenceforth served as the headquarters of the major Theravāda fraternity on the island. It was also at DevānaMpiyatissa's behest that Asoka sent his daughter, the Buddhist nun SAnGHAMITTĀ (S. SaMghamitrā), to Sri Lanka to establish the order of nuns (P. bhikkhunī; S. BHIKsUnĪ) there. Sanghamittā also brought with her a branch of the BODHI TREE, which DevānaMpiyatissa planted at Mahāmeghavana, initiating an important site of cultic worship that continued for centuries afterward. The evidence of the Asokan edicts and Sanskrit AVADĀNA literature suggest that the Pāli MAHĀVAMSA account of the spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka through the work of DevānaMpiyatissa, whom Asoka's son Mahinda converted to Buddhism, is probably not meant to be a historical account, but was instead intended to lend prestige to the THERAVĀDA tradition.

devātideva. (T. lha'i yang lha; C. tian zhong tian; J. tenchuten; K. ch'on chung ch'on 天中天). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "god of gods"; an epithet of the Buddha, as someone whose divinity surpasses that of all other divinities and whose superiority is acknowledged by them, as, for example, when the infant prince SIDDHĀRTHA was taken to the temple by his father, King sUDDHODANA, and the statues of the deities bowed down to the child; and later when, after his enlightenment, the god BRAHMĀ implored the Buddha to teach the dharma. Thus, although the Buddha was reborn as a human, he is superior to the gods because he discovered and taught the path to NIRVĀnA, something that gods, despite their great powers, are unable to do.

deviation ::: n. --> The act of deviating; a wandering from the way; variation from the common way, from an established rule, etc.; departure, as from the right course or the path of duty.
The state or result of having deviated; a transgression; an act of sin; an error; an offense.
The voluntary and unnecessary departure of a ship from, or delay in, the regular and usual course of the specific voyage insured, thus releasing the underwriters from their responsibility.


Devotion ::: Worship is only the first step on the path of devotion. Where external worship changes into the inner adoration, real Bhakti begins; that deepens into the intensity of divine love; that love leads to the joy of closeness in our relations with the Divine; the joy of closeness passes into the bliss of union.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 549


DEVOTION. ::: Worship is only the first step on the path of devotion. Where external worship changes into the inner adora- tion, real bhakti begins ; that deepens into the intensity of divine love ; that love leads to the joy of closeness in our relations with the Divine ; the joy of closeness passes into the bliss of union.

dge bshes. (geshe). A Tibetan abbreviation for dge ba'i bshes gnyen, or "spiritual friend" (S. KALYĀnAMITRA). In early Tibetan Buddhism, the term was used in this sense, especially in the BKA' GDAMS tradition, where saintly figures like GLANG RI THANG PA are often called "geshe"; sometimes, however, it can have a slightly pejorative meaning, as in the biography of MI LA RAS PA, where it suggests a learned monk without real spiritual attainment. In the SA SKYA sect, the term came to take on a more formal meaning to refer to a monk who had completed a specific academic curriculum. The term is most famous in this regard among the DGE LUGS, where it refers to a degree and title received after successfully completing a long course of Buddhist study in the tradition of the three great Dge lugs monasteries in LHA SA: 'BRAS SPUNGS, DGA' LDAN, and SE RA. According to the traditional curriculum, after completing studies in elementary logic and epistemology (BSDUS GRWA), a monk would begin the study of "five texts" (GZHUNG LNGA), five Indian sĀSTRAs, in the following order: the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA of MAITREYANĀTHA, the MADHYAMAKĀVATĀRA of CANDRAKĪRTI, the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA of VASUBANDHU, and the VINAYASuTRA of GUnAPRABHA. Each year, there would also be a period set aside for the study of the PRAMĀnAVĀRTTIKA of DHARMAKĪRTI. The curriculum involved the memorization of these and other texts, the study of them based on monastic textbooks (yig cha), and formal debate on their content. Each year, monks in the scholastic curriculum (a small minority of the monastic population) were required to pass two examinations, one in memorization and the other in debate. Based upon the applicant's final examination, one of four grades of the dge bshes degree was awarded, which, in descending rank, are: (1) lha rams pa, (2) tshogs rams pa, (3) rdo rams pa; (4) gling bsre [alt. gling bseb], a degree awarded by a combination of monasteries; sometimes, the more scholarly or the religiously inclined would choose that degree to remove themselves from consideration for ecclesiastical posts so they could devote themselves to their studies and to meditation practice. The number of years needed to complete the entire curriculum depended on the degree, the status of the person, and the number of candidates for the exam. The coveted lha rams pa degree, the path to important offices within the Dge lugs religious hierarchy, was restricted to sixteen candidates each year. The important incarnations (SPRUL SKU) were first in line, and their studies would be completed within about twelve years; ordinary monks could take up to twenty years to complete their studies and take the examination. Those who went on to complete the course of study at the tantric colleges of RGYUD STOD and RYUD SMAD would be granted the degree of dge bshes sngags ram pa.

dharmadāna. (P. dhammadāna; T. chos kyi sbyin pa; C. fashi; J. hose; K. popsi 法施). In Sanskrit, "gift of dharma"; one of the two (or sometimes three) forms of giving (DĀNA) praised in the sutras, along with the "gift of material goods" (ĀMIsADĀNA). Occasionally, a third form of giving, the "gift of fearlessness" (ABHAYADĀNA), viz., helping others to become courageous, is added to the list. "The gift of dharma" means to share the Buddhist teachings with others through such means as delivering sermons, copying sutras, encouraging others to cultivate the path (MĀRGA), and writing dictionaries.

Dharmadharmatāvibhāga. (T. Chos dang chos nyid rnam par 'byed pa). In Sanskrit, "Distinguishing Dharma and Dharmatā"; a short YOGĀCĀRA work attributed to MAITREYA or MAITREYANĀTHA; it survives only in Tibetan translation (in the SDE DGE BSTAN 'GYUR, there are two translations); it is one of the five works of Maitreya (BYAMS CHOS SDE LNGA). The text explains SAMSĀRA (= DHARMA) and the NIRVĀnA (= DHARMATĀ) attained by the sRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and BODHISATTVA; like the MADHYĀNTAVIBHĀGA, it uses the three-nature (TRISVABHĀVA) terminology to explain that, because there is no object or subject, the transcendent is beyond conceptualization. It presents the paths leading to transformation of the basis (ĀsRAYAPARĀVṚTTI), and enumerates ten types of TATHATĀ (suchness). There is a commentary by VASUBANDHU, the Dharmadharmatāvibhāgavṛtti.

Dharmaguptaka. (T. Chos sbas pa; C. Fazangbu/Tanwudebu; J. Hozobu/Donmutokubu; K. Popchangbu/Tammudokpu 法蔵部/曇無德部). In Sanskrit, "Adherents of Dharmagupta"; one of the eighteen traditional "mainstream" (that is, non-MAHĀYĀNA) schools of early Indian Buddhism. There are various theories on the origin of the school in Buddhist literature. The SARVĀSTIVĀDA treatise SAMAYABHEDOPARACANACAKRA states that the Dharmaguptaka separated from the MAHĪsĀSAKA school, one of the collateral branches of the Sarvāstivāda school (probably sometime around the late second or early first centuries BCE), while inscriptional evidence and Tibetan sources instead suggest it was one strand of the VIBHAJYAVĀDA (P. Vibhajjavāda) school, a collateral line of the STHAVIRANIKĀYA that was most active in KASHMIR-GANDHĀRA, and Sri Lanka. There is inscriptional evidence from the northwest of the Indian subcontinent for the continued existence of the school into the seventh century. The school is named after the eponymous teacher Dharmagupta (c. third century BCE), even though the school itself traces its lineage back to MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA (P. Mahāmoggallāna), one of the two main disciples of the Buddha. Unlike the typical tripartite division of the canon (TRIPItAKA), viz., SuTRAPItAKA, VINAYAPItAKA, and ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, the Dharmaguptaka canon is said to have consisted of five divisions, adding to the usual three a collection on BODHISATTVA doctrines and practices (BODHISATTVAPItAKA) and a DHĀRAnĪ collection (dhāranīpitaka). Some of the distinctive tenets of the school are (1) the Buddha is not included among the members of the SAMGHA and thus a gift given to him is superior to offerings made to the community as a whole; (2) there are four characteristics (CATURLAKsAnA) of compounded things-origination, maturation, decay, and extinction-of which the first three were conditioned (SAMSKṚTA) and the last unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA); (3) the path of the buddhas and bodhisattvas is distinct from that of the sRĀVAKAs; (4) non-buddhists (TĪRTHIKA) cannot attain the five kinds of superknowledge (ABHIJNĀ); (5) the body of an ARHAT is free from the contaminants (ANĀSRAVA). Because of their views about the Buddha's superiority to the broader saMgha, the school also emphasized the extraordinary merit accruing from offerings made to a STuPA, which was considered to be the contemporary representation of the Buddha because of the relics (sARĪRA) it enshrined. Due to the convergence of some of the school's doctrines with those of the MAHĀSĀMGHIKA, it has been suggested that the school may have had its origins within the Sthaviranikāya but was subsequently influenced by MahāsāMghika ideas. One of the enduring influences of the Dharmaguptaka school in Buddhist history comes from its vinaya, which came to be adopted widely throughout East Asia; this so-called "Four-Part Vinaya" (SIFEN LÜ, *Dharmaguptaka vinaya) was translated into Chinese in 405 by BUDDHAYAsAS (c. fifth century CE) and is still used today in the East Asian Buddhist traditions. The recension of the DĪRGHĀGAMA (C. Chang Ahan jing) that was translated into Chinese in 413 CE by Buddhayasas and ZHU FONIAN is also attributed to the Dharmaguptaka school.

dharmaksānti. (T. chos bzod; C. faren; J. honin; K. pobin 法忍). In Sanskrit, "acquiescence," "receptivity," or "forbearance" (KsĀNTI) to the "truth" or the "doctrine" (DHARMA); a term that occurs in SARVĀSTIVĀDA descriptions of the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA). In this path schema, the path of vision consists of fifteen thought moments, with a subsequent sixteenth moment marking the beginning of the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). There are four moments of "acquiescence" to, or realization of, the "dharmas" of each of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). The first moment is that of acquiescence to the truth of suffering with regard to the sensuous realm (KĀMADHĀTU); in this moment, the afflictions (KLEsA) of the sensuous realm associated with the truth of suffering are abandoned. This is followed by a moment of doctrinal knowledge (dharmajNāna) of the truth of suffering with regard to the sensuous realm, which is the understanding that the klesas of that realm associated with the truth of suffering have been abandoned. This is then followed by a moment of subsequent acquiescence (anvayaksānti) to the truth of suffering in which the klesas of the upper realms of existence (the RuPADHĀTU and ĀRuPYADHĀTU) associated with the truth of suffering are abandoned. This is followed finally by a fourth moment, called subsequent knowledge (anvayajNāna) of the truth of suffering, which is the understanding that the klesas of the two upper realms associated with the truth of suffering have been abandoned. This same fourfold sequence is repeated for the truth of origin, the truth of cessation, and the truth of the path. The sixteenth moment, that is, the moment of subsequent knowledge (anvayajNāna) of the truth of the path (MĀRGASATYA) is, in effect, the knowledge that all of the klesas of both the subtle-materiality realm and the upper immaterial realm that are associated with the four truths have been abandoned. This moment marks the beginning of the path of cultivation (bhāvanāmārga). The term is also sometimes an abbreviation for the receptivity to the nonproduction of dharmas (ANUTPATTIKADHARMAKsĀNTI). For an explanation of dharmaksānti and the other instants from a Mahāyāna perspective, based on the ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA, see DARsANAMĀRGA.

dharmānusārin. (P. dhammānusāri; T. chos kyi rjes su 'brang ba; C. suifaxing; J. zuihogyo; K. subophaeng 隨法行). In Sanskrit, "follower of the dharma," one who arrives at a realization of the dharma or truth through his or her own analysis of the teachings; contrasted with "follower of faith" (sRADDHĀNUSĀRIN) whose religious experience is grounded in the faith or confidence in what others tell him about the dharma. The SARVĀSTIVĀDA (e.g., as described in the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA) and THERAVĀDA (e.g., VISUDDHIMAGGA) schools of mainstream Buddhism both recognize seven types of noble ones (ĀRYA, P. ariya), listed in order of their intellectual superiority: (1) follower of faith (S. sraddhānusārin; P. saddhānusāri); (2) follower of the dharma (S. dharmānusārin; P. dhammānusāri); (3) one who is freed by faith (S. sRADDHĀVIMUKTA; P. saddhāvimutta); (4) one who has formed right view (S. DṚstIPRĀPTA; P. ditthippatta), by developing both faith and wisdom; (5) one who has bodily testimony (S. KĀYASĀKsIN; P. kāyasakkhi), viz., through the temporary suspension of mentality in the absorption of cessation (NIRODHASAMĀPATTI); (6) one who is freed by wisdom (S. PRAJNĀVIMUKTA; P. paNNāvimutta), by freeing oneself through analysis; and (7) one who is freed both ways (S. UBHAYATOBHĀGAVIMUKTA; P. ubhatobhāgavimutta), by freeing oneself through both meditative absorption and wisdom. According to the Sarvāstivāda VAIBHĀsIKA school of ABHIDHARMA, an ARHAT whose liberation is grounded in faith may be subject to backsliding from that state, whereas those who are dharmānusārin are unshakable (AKOPYA), because they have experienced the knowledge of nonproduction (ANUTPĀDAJNĀNA), viz., that the afflictions (klesa) can never occur again, the complement of the knowledge of extinction (KsAYAJNĀNA). ¶ The Theravāda school, which does not accept this dynamic interpretation of an arhat's spiritual experience, develops a rather different interpretation of these types of individuals. BUDDHAGHOSA explains in his VISUDDHIMAGGA that one who develops faith by contemplating the impermanent nature of things is a follower of faith at the moment of becoming a stream-enterer (sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA) and is one who is freed by faith at the subsequent moments of the fruition of the path; one who is tranquil and develops concentration by contemplating the impermanent nature of things is one who has bodily testimony at all moments; one who develops the immaterial meditative absorptions (arupajhāna; S. ARuPĀVACARADHYĀNA) is one freed both ways; one who develops wisdom is one who follows the dharma (dhammānusāri) at the moment of entry into the rank of stream-enterer and is one who has formed right view at the subsequent moments of path entry. When one achieves highest spiritual attainment, one is called freed by wisdom. In another classification of six individuals found in the Pāli CulAGOPĀLAKASUTTA, dhammānusāri is given as the fifth type, the other five being the worthy one (arahant; S. ARHAT), nonreturner (anāgāmi; S. ANĀGĀMIN), once-returner (sakadāgāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), stream-enterer (sotāpanna; S. srotaāpanna), and follower of faith (saddhānusāri). The IndriyasaMyutta in the SAMYUTTANIKĀYA also mentions these same six individuals and explains their differences in terms of their development of the five spiritual faculties (INDRIYA): faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. An arahant has matured the five faculties; a nonreturner has all five faculties, but they are slightly less developed than in the arahant; a once-returner is slightly less developed than a nonreturner; a stream-enterer slightly less than a once-returner; a dhammānusāri slightly less than a stream-enterer; and a saddhānusāri slightly less than a dhammānusāri. The saddhāvimutta and dhammānusāri are also distinguished depending on when they reach higher spiritual attainment: one who is following faith at the moment of accessing the path (maggakkhana) is called saddhāvimutta, one liberated through faith; the other, who is following wisdom, is called dhammānusāri, one who is liberated by wisdom at the moment of attainment (phalakkhana). ¶ The dharmānusārin is also found in the list of the members of the saMgha when it is subdivided into twenty (VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA). Among the dharmānusārin there are candidates for the fruit of stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNAPRATIPANNAKA), once-returner (SAKṚDĀGĀMIPRATIPANNAKA), and nonreturner (ANĀGĀMIPRATIPANNAKA). The Mahāyāna carries over the division of dharmānusārin and sraddhānusārin into its discussion of the path to enlightenment. The PANCAVIMsATISĀHASRIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ takes the seven types of noble ones (ārya) listed in order of intellectual superiority, and the eight noble beings (stream-enterer and so on) as examples for bodhisattvas at different stages of the path; the dharmānusārin more quickly reaches the AVAIVARTIKA (irreversible) stage, the sraddhānusārin more slowly, based on the development of wisdom (PRAJNĀ) that has forbearance for the absence of any ultimately existing goal to be reached, and skillful means (UPĀYA) that places pride of place on the welfare of others (PARĀRTHA).

dharma. (P. dhamma; T. chos; C. fa; J. ho; K. pop 法). In Sanskrit, "factor," or "element"; a polysemous term of wide import in Buddhism and therefore notoriously difficult to translate, a problem acknowledged in traditional sources; as many as ten meanings of the term are found in the literature. The term dharma derives from the Sanskrit root √dhṛ, which means "to hold" or "to maintain." In Vedic literature, dharma is often used to refer to the sacrifice that maintains the order of the cosmos. Indian kings used the term to refer to the policies of their realms. In Hinduism, there is an important genre of literature called the dharmasāstra, treatises on dharma, which set forth the social order and the respective duties of its members, in relation to caste, gender, and stage of life. Based on this denotation of the term, many early European translators rendered dharma into English as "law," the same sense conveyed in the Chinese translation of dharma as fa (also "law"). ¶ In Buddhism, dharma has a number of distinct denotations. One of its most significant and common usages is to refer to "teachings" or "doctrines," whether they be Buddhist or non-Buddhist. Hence, in recounting his search for truth prior to his enlightenment, the Buddha speaks of the dharma he received from his teachers. After his enlightenment, the Buddha's first sermon was called "turning the wheel of the dharma" (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA). When the Buddha described what he himself taught to his disciples, he called it the DHARMAVINAYA, with the vinaya referring to the rules of monastic discipline and the dharma referring presumably to everything else. This sense of dharma as teaching, and its centrality to the tradition, is evident from the inclusion of the dharma as the second of the three jewels (RATNATRAYA, along with the Buddha and the SAMGHA, or community) in which all Buddhists seek refuge. Commentators specified that dharma in the refuge formula refers to the third and fourth of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: the truth of the cessation (NIRODHASATYA) of the causes that lead to suffering and the truth of the path (MĀRGA) to that cessation. Here, the verbal root of dharma as "holding" is evoked etymologically to gloss dharma as meaning something that "holds one back" from falling into states of suffering. A distinction was also drawn between the dharma or teachings as something that is heard or studied, called the scriptural dharma (ĀGAMA-dharma), and the dharma or teachings as something that is made manifest in the consciousness of the practitioner, called the realized dharma (ADHIGAMA-dharma). ¶ A second (and very different) principal denotation of dharma is a physical or mental "factor" or fundamental "constituent element," or simply "phenomenon." In this sense, the individual building blocks of our compounded (SAMSKṚTA) existence are dharmas, dharma here glossed as something that "holds" its own nature. Thus, when Buddhist texts refer to the constituent elements of existence, they will often speak of "all dharmas," as in "all dharmas are without self." The term ABHIDHARMA, which is interpreted to mean either "higher dharma" or "pertaining to dharma," refers to the analysis of these physical and mental factors, especially in the areas of causation and epistemology. The texts that contain such analyses are considered to be one of the three general categories of the Buddhist canon (along with SuTRA and vinaya), known as the TRIPItAKA or "three baskets." ¶ A third denotation of the term dharma is that of "quality" or "characteristic." Thus, reference is often made to dharmas of the Buddha, referring in this sense not to his teachings but to his various auspicious qualities, whether they be physical, verbal, or mental. This is the primary meaning of dharma in the term DHARMAKĀYA. Although this term is sometimes rendered into English as "truth body," dharmakāya seems to have originally been meant to refer to the entire corpus (KĀYA) of the Buddha's transcendent qualities (dharma). ¶ The term dharma also occurs in a large number of important compound words. SADDHARMA, or "true dharma," appears early in the tradition as a means of differentiating the teachings of the Buddha from those of other, non-Buddhist, teachers. In the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, saddharma was used to refer, perhaps defensively, to the Mahāyāna teachings; one of the most famous Mahāyāna sutras is the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, known in English as the "Lotus Sutra," but whose full title is "White Lotus of the True Dharma Sutra." In Buddhist theories of history, the period after the death of the Buddha (often said to last five hundred years) is called the time of the true dharma. This period of saddharma is followed, according to some theories, by a period of a "semblance" of the true dharma (SADDHARMAPRATIRuPAKA) and a period of "decline" (SADDHARMAVIPRALOPA). The term DHARMADHĀTU refers to the ultimate nature of reality, as does DHARMATĀ, "dharma-ness." It should also be noted that dharma commonly appears in the designations of persons. Hence, a DHARMABHĀnAKA is a preacher of the dharma, a DHARMAPĀLA is a deity who protects the dharma; in both terms, dharma refers to the Buddhist doctrine. A DHARMARĀJAN is a righteous king (see CAKRAVARTIN), especially one who upholds the teachings of the Buddha. For various rosters of dharmas, see the List of Lists appendix.

Dharmaskandha[pādasāstra]. (T. Chos kyi phung po; C. Fayun zu lun; J. Hounsokuron; K. Pobon chok non 法蘊足論). In Sanskrit, "Aggregation of Factors," or "Collection of Factors"; one of the two oldest works in the SARVĀSTIVĀDA ABHIDHARMA, along with the SAMGĪTIPARYĀYA, and traditionally placed as the third of the six "feet" (pāda) of the JNĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central treatise in the Sarvāstivāda ABHIDHARMAPItAKA. The text is attributed to sĀRIPUTRA or MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA. It is considered an early work, with some scholars dating it as early as c. 300 BCE. It draws principally from the ĀGAMA scriptures to provide an account of Buddhist soteriological practices, as well as the afflictions that hinder spiritual progress. In coverage, the closest analogues to the Dharmaskandha are the VIBHAnGA of the Pāli abhidhammapitaka and the first half of the sāriputrābhidharmasāstra (probably associated with the DHARMAGUPTAKA school), but it appears to be the most primitive of the three in the way it organizes DHARMA classifications, listing them as sense-fields or bases (ĀYATANA), aggregates (SKANDHA), and elements (DHĀTU), rather than the standard Sarvāstivāda listing of aggregates, bases, and elements (as is also found in the Pāli abhidhamma). The exposition of dharmas in the first half of the text follows the primitive arrangement of the thirty-seven factors pertaining to enlightenment (BODHIPĀKsIKADHARMA), probably the earliest of the MĀTṚKĀ (matrices) listings that were the origin of the abhidharma style of dharma analysis. The Dharmaskandha provides one of the earliest attempts in Sarvāstivāda literature to organize the constituents of the path (MĀRGA) and introduce the crucial innovation of distinguishing between a path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and a path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). This distinction would be of crucial importance in the mature systematizations of the path made by the VAIBHĀsIKAs and would profoundly influence later MAHĀYĀNA presentations of the path. The second half of the text covers various other classification schema, including the āyatanas and dhātus. The sixteenth chapter synthesizes these two divisions, and focuses especially on the afflictions (KLEsA) and their removal. Despite being one of the earliest of the Sarvāstivāda abhidharma texts, the mature tradition considers the Dharmaskandha to be one of the "feet" (pāda) of the JNĀNAPRASTHĀNA, the central treatise in the Sarvāstivāda abhidharmapitaka. The Dharmaskandha does not survive in an Indic language and is only extant in a Chinese translation made by XUANZANG's translation team in 659 CE.

Dhyana-marga (Sanskrit) Dhyāna-mārga [from dhyāna meditation + mārga path] The path of meditation or profound spiritual-intellectual contemplation.

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

Dhyan(i)-Chohan(s) ::: A compound word meaning "lords of meditation" -- kosmic spirits or planetary spirits. There are threeclasses of dhyan-chohans, each of which is divided into seven subclasses. The dhyan-chohanscollectively are one division of that wondrous host of spiritual beings who are the full-blown flowers offormer world periods or manvantaras. This wondrous host are the men made perfect of those formerworld periods; and they guide the evolution of this planet in its present manvantara. They are our ownspiritual lords, leaders, and saviors. They supervise us now in our evolution here, and in our own presentcyclic pilgrimage we follow the path of the general evolution outlined by them.Man in his higher nature is an embryo dhyan-chohan, an embryo lord of meditation. It is his destiny, if herun the race successfully, to blossom forth at the end of the seventh round as a lord of meditation -- aplanetary spirit -- when this planetary manvantaric kalpa is ended, this Day of Brahma, which is theseven rounds, each round in seven stages.In one most important sense the dhyan-chohans are actually our own selves. We were born from them.We are the monads, we are the atoms, the souls, projected, sent forth, emanated, by the dhyanis.

Dialectic: (Gr. dia + legein, discourse) The beginning of dialectic Aristotle is said to have attributed to Zeno of Elea. But as the art of debate by question and answer, its beginning is usually associated with the Socrates of the Platonic dialogues. As conceived by Plato himself, dialectic is the science of first principles which differs from other sciences by dispensing with hypotheses and is, consequently, "the copingstone of the sciences" -- the highest, because the clearest and hence the ultimate, sort of knowledge. Aristotle distinguishes between dialectical reasoning, which proceeds syllogistically from opinions generally accepted, and demonstrative reasoning, which begins with primary and true premises; but he holds that dialectical reasoning, in contrast with eristic, is "a process of criticism wherein lies the path to the principles of all inquiries." In modern philosophy, dialectic has two special meanings. Kant uses it as the name of that part of his Kritik der reinen Vernunft which deals critically with the special difficulties (antinomies, paralogisms and Ideas) arising out of the futile attempt (transcendental illusion) to apply the categories of the Understanding beyond the only realm to which they can apply, namely, the realm of objects in space and time (Phenomena). For Hegel, dialectic is primarily the distinguishing characteristic of speculative thought -- thought, that is, which exhibits the structure of its subject-matter (the universal, system) through the construction of synthetic categories (synthesis) which resolve (sublate) the opposition between other conflicting categories (theses and antitheses) of the same subject-matter. -- G.W.C.

DIFFICULTIES. ::: All who enter the spiritual path harc to face the difficulties and ordeals of the path, those which rise from their own nature and those which come in from outside.

disciples ::: “In considering the action of the Infinite we have to avoid the error of the disciple who thought of himself as the Brahman, refused to obey the warning of the elephant-driver to budge from the narrow path and was taken up by the elephant’s trunk and removed out of the way; ‘You are no doubt the Brahman,’ said the master to his bewildered disciple, ‘but why did you not obey the driver Brahman and get out of the path of the elephant Brahman?’” The Life Divine

ditthivisuddhi. In Pāli, "purity of understanding"; the third of seven purities (P. visuddhi; S. VIsUDDHI) that are to be developed along the path to liberation according to THERAVĀDA Buddhist soteriological theory. In the VISUDDHIMAGGA, purity of understanding refers to correct knowledge according to reality (YATHĀBHuTA) of the nature of mentality and materiality (NĀMARuPA) through reliance on discriminative wisdom, having overcome all mistaken belief in the existence of a perduring soul (attan; S. ĀTMAN). The ordinary person (puggala; S. PUDGALA) and, indeed, all of the phenomenal universe or realm of rebirth (SAMSĀRA) are comprised merely of mentality and materiality. Mind and matter, whether taken singly or together, do not constitute a self; but there is also no self existing apart from mind and matter that possesses them as their controller. Rather, the self is to be correctly regarded as merely a conventional expression (vohāradesanā) that does not designate a real, existing thing. The purity of understanding thus reveals that everything that exists is selfless (anattā; S. ANĀTMAN). Such an understanding of the selflessness of mind and matter penetrates the veil of conventional truth (sammutisacca; S. SAMVṚTISATYA) and apprehends ultimate truth (paramatthasacca; S. PARAMĀRTHASATYA).

Dongshan famen. (J. Tozan homon; K. Tongsan pommun 東山法門). In Chinese, lit. "East Mountain Dharma Gate" or "East Mountain Teachings"; one of the principal early CHAN schools, which is associated with the putative fourth and fifth patriarchs of the tradition, DAOXIN (580-651) and HONGREN (602-675). The name of the school is a toponym for the location of Hongren's monastery, at Huangmei in Qizhou (present-day Hubei province). "East Mountain" refers to the easterly of the "twin peaks" of Mount Shuangfeng, where Hongren taught after the death of his master Daoxin, who had taught on the westerly peak; the term "East Mountain Teachings," however, is typically used to refer to the tradition associated with both masters. The designations Dongshan famen and Dongshan jingmen (East Mountain Pure Gate) first appear in the LENGQIE SHIZI JI ("Records of the Masters and Disciples of the Lankā[vatāra]") and were used in the Northern school of Chan (BEI ZONG) by SHENXIU (606?-706) and his successors to refer to the lineage and teachings that they had inherited from Daoxin and Hongren. ¶ Although later Chan lineage texts list Daoxin and Hongren as respectively the fourth and the fifth Chan patriarchs, succeeding BODHIDHARMA, HUIKE, and SENGCAN, the connection of the East Mountain lineage to these predecessors is tenuous at best and probably nonexistent. The earliest biography of Daoxin, recorded in the XU GAOSENG ZHUAN ("Supplementary Biographies of Eminent Monks"), not only does not posit any connection between Daoxin and the preceding three patriarchs, but does not even mention their names. This connection is first made explicit in the c. 713 CHUAN FABAO JI ("Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma-Jewel"), one of the earliest Chan "transmission of the lamplight" (CHUANDENG LU) lineage texts. Unlike many of the Chan "schools" that were associated with a single charismatic teacher, the "East Mountain Teachings" was unusual in that it had a single, enduring center in Huangmei, which attracted increasing numbers of students. Some five or six names of students who studied with Daoxin survive in the literature, with another twenty-five associated with Hongren. Although Hongren's biography in the Chuan fabao ji certainly exaggerates when it says that eight to nine out of every ten Buddhist practitioners in China studied under Hongren, there is no question that the number of students of the East Mountain Teachings grew significantly over two generations. ¶ The fundamental doctrines and practices of the East Mountain Teachings can be reconstructed on the basis of the two texts: the RUDAO ANXIN YAO FANGBIAN FAMEN ("Essentials of the Teachings of the Expedient Means of Entering the Path and Pacifying the Mind") and the XIUXIN YAO LUN ("Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind"), ascribed respectively to Daoxin and Hongren. The Rudao anxin yao fangbian famen, which is included in the Lengqie shizi ji, employs the analogy of a mirror from the Banzhou sanmei jing (S. PRATYUTPANNABUDDHASAMMUKHĀVASTHITASAMĀDHISuTRA) to illustrate the insubstantiality of all phenomena, viz., one's sensory experiences are no more substantial than the reflections in a mirror. The text then presents the "single-practice SAMĀDHI" (YIXING SANMEI) as a practical means of accessing the path leading to NIRVĀnA, based on the Wenshushuo bore jing ("Perfection of Wisdom Sutra Spoken by MANJUsRĪ"). Single-practice samādhi here refers to sitting in meditation, the supreme practice that subsumes all other practices; it is not one samādhi among others, as it is portrayed in the MOHE ZHIGUAN ("Great Calming and Contemplation"). Single-practice samādhi means to contemplate every single aspect of one's mental and physical existence until one realizes they are all empty, just like the reflections in the mirror, and "to guard that one without deviation" (shouyi buyi). The Xiuxin yao lun, which is attributed to Hongren, stresses the importance of "guarding the mind" (SHOUXIN). Here, the relationship between the pure mind and the afflictions (KLEsA) is likened to that between the sun and clouds: the pure mind is obscured by afflictions, just as the sun is covered by layers of clouds, but if one can guard the mind so that it is kept free from false thoughts and delusions, the sun of NIRVĀnA will then appear. The text suggests two specific meditation techniques for realizing this goal: one is continuously to visualize the original, pure mind (viz., the sun) so that it shines without obscuration; the other is to concentrate on one's own deluded thoughts (the clouds) until they disappear. These two techniques purport to "guard the mind" so that delusion can never recur. The East Mountain Teachings laid a firm foundation for the doctrines and practices of later Chan traditions like the Northern school.

drawknife ::: n. --> A joiner&

DRY PERIOD. ::: There is a long stage of preparation neces- sary in order to arrive at the moer psychologic^ condition in which the doors of experience can open and one can walk from vista to vista — though even then new gates may present them- selves and refuse to open until all is ready. This period can be dry and desert-like unless one has the ardour of self-introspec- tion and self-conquest and finds every step of the effort and struggle interesting or unless one has or gets the secret of trust and self-giving which secs the hand of the Divine in every step of the path and even in the difficulty the grace or the guidance.

Such interval periods come to all and cannot be avoided.

The main thing is to meet them with quietude and not become restless, depressed or despondent. A constant fire can be there only when a certain stage has been reached, that is when one is always inside consciously living in the psychic being, but for that all this preparation of the mind, vital, physical is necessary.

For this fire belongs to the psychic and one cannot command it always merely by the mind's effort. The psychic has to be fully liberated and that is what the Force is working to make fully possible.

The difficulty comes when either the vital with its desires or the physical with its past habitual movements comes in — as they do with almost everyone. It is then that the dryness and difficulty of spontaneous aspiration come. This dryness is a well- known obstacle in all sadhana. But one has to persist and not be discouraged. If one keep? the will fixed even in these barren periods, they pass and after their passage a greater force of aspiration and experience becomes possible.

Dryness comes usually when the vital dislikes a movement or' condition or the refusal of its desires and starts non-co-operation.

But sometimes it is a condition that has to be crossed through, e.g. the neutral or dry quietude which sometimes comes when the ordinary movements have been thrown out but nothing positive has yet come to take their place, i.e, peace, joy, a higher know- ledge or force or action.


dunwu jianxiu. (J. tongo zenshu; K. tono chomsu 頓悟漸修). In Chinese, "sudden awakening [followed by] gradual cultivation"; a path (MĀRGA) schema emblematic of such CHAN masters as GUIFENG ZONGMI (780-841) in the Chinese Heze school of Chan, and POJO CHINUL (1158-1210) of the Korean CHOGYE school of Son. In this outline of the Chan mārga, true spiritual practice begins with an initial insight into one's true nature (viz., "seeing the nature"; JIANXING), through which the Chan adept comes to know that he is not a deluded sentient being but is in fact a buddha. This experience is called the "understanding-awakening" (JIEWU) and is functionally equivalent to the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) in ABHIDHARMA path systems. Simply knowing that one is a buddha through this sudden awakening of understanding, however, is not sufficient in itself to generate the complete, perfect enlightenment of buddhahood (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI) and thus to ensure that one will always be able to act on that potential. Only after continued gradual cultivation (jianxiu) following this initial understanding-awakening will one remove the habituations(VĀSANĀ) that have been engrained in the mind for an essentially infinite amount of time, so that one will not only be a buddha, but will be able to act as one as well. That point where knowledge and action fully correspond marks the final "realization-awakening" (ZHENGWU) and is the point at which buddhahood is truly achieved. This soteriological process is compared by Zongmi and Chinul to that of an infant who is born with all the faculties of a human being (the sudden understanding-awakening) but who still needs to go a long process of maturation (gradual cultivation) before he will be able to live up to his full potential as an adult human being (realization-awakening). See also WU.

dunwu. (J. tongo; K. tono 頓悟). In Chinese, "sudden awakening," or "sudden enlightenment"; the experience described in the CHAN school that "seeing the nature" (JIANXING) itself is sufficient to enable the adept to realize one's innate buddhahood (JIANXING CHENGFO). The idea of a subitist approach (DUNJIAO) to awakening was also used polemically by HOZE SHENHUI in the so-called "Southern school" (NAN ZONG) of Chan to disparage his rival "Northern school" (BEIZONG) as a gradualist, and therefore inferior, presentation of Chan soteriological teachings. Although debates over gradual vs. sudden enlightenment are most commonly associated with the East Asian Chan schools, there are also precedents in Indian Buddhism. The so-called BSAM YAS DEBATE, or "Council of LHA SA," that took place in Tibet at the end of the eighth century is said to have pitted the Indian monk KAMALAsĪLA against the Northern Chan monk HESHANGMOHEYAN in a debate over gradual enlightenment vs. sudden enlightenment. ¶ In two-tiered path (MĀRGA) schemata, such as "sudden awakening [followed by] gradual cultivation" (DUNWU JIANXIU), this initial experience of sudden awakening constitutes an "understanding-awakening" (JIEWU), in which the adept comes to know that he is not a deluded sentient being but is in fact a buddha. (In this context, the understanding-awakening is functionally equivalent to the path of vision [DARsANAMĀRGA] in ABHIDHARMA path systems.) But this sudden awakening is not sufficient in itself to generate the complete, perfect enlightenment of buddhahood (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI), where one is able to manifest all the potential inherent in that exalted state. That realization comes only through continued gradual cultivation (jianxiu) following this initial sudden awakening, so that one will learn not only to be a buddha but to act as one as well. That point where knowledge and action fully correspond marks the final "realization-awakening" (ZHENGWU) and is the point at which buddhahood is truly achieved. See also WU; JIANWU.

durga ::: the path beset by manifold dangers and sufferings and difficulties. [Ved.]

ekayāna. (T. theg pa gcig pa; C. yisheng; J. ichijo; K. ilsŭng 一乘). In Sanskrit, lit. "one vehicle" or "single vehicle." "Vehicle" literally means "conveyance" or "transportation," viz., the conveyance that carries sentient beings from SAMSĀRA to NIRVĀnA; the term may also refer to the actual person who reaches the destination of the path. The doctrine of a single vehicle is set forth in certain MAHĀYĀNA SuTRAs, most famously, the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra"), which declares that the three vehicles of the sRĀVAKA (disciple), PRATYEKABUDDHA (solitary buddha), and BODHISATTVA are actually just three expedient devices (UPĀYAKAUsALYA) for attracting beings to the one buddha vehicle, via which they all become buddhas. It is important to note that, although it is often claimed that a central tenet of the MAHĀYĀNA is that all sentient beings will eventually achieve buddhahood, this view is not universally set forth in the Mahāyāna sutras and philosophical schools. A number of important sutras, notably the SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA, maintained that there are three final vehicles and that those who successfully followed the path of the srāvaka and pratyekabuddha would eventually become ARHATs and would not then go on to achieve buddhahood (cf. GOTRA; BUDDHADHĀTU). This position was also held by such major YOGĀCĀRA figures as ASAnGA. In the Saddharmapundarīkasutra, however, the Buddha reveals that his earlier teachings of the three vehicles were in fact three expedient forms suited to specific beings' capacities; the sutra's exposition of the one buddha vehicle is said to be the unifying, complete, and final exposition of his teachings. Since this one-vehicle teaching is the teaching that leads to buddhahood, it is synonymous with the "buddha vehicle" (BUDDHAYĀNA), the "great vehicle" (MAHĀYĀNA), and sometimes the "bodhisattva vehicle" (BODHISATTVAYĀNA). In East Asia, there was substantial consideration given to the precise relations among these terms. Thus, the FAXIANG school of Chinese YOGĀCĀRA interprets the "one vehicle" of the three-vehicle system as being equivalent to the bodhisattva vehicle, while the HUAYAN and TIANTAI schools distinguish between the one buddha vehicle and the bodhisattva vehicle that is included within the three vehicles. The Faxiang school also distinguishes between two levels of the ekayāna, the "inclusive" Mahāyāna (sheru dasheng) and the "derivative" Mahāyāna (chusheng dasheng). According to the explanation of KUIJI (632-682), the first is an expedient like that used in the Saddharmapundarīkasutra to attract people of indeterminate nature to the one buddha vehicle. Because this type of sentient being is incapable of immediately attaining buddhahood, this teaching does not fully correspond to the meaning of the ekayāna. However, because all members of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra's audience have the potential to become buddhas through hearing this teaching, it is still considered to be true and effective. The second type means that all teachings of the Buddha are "born from" or "derive from" a single Mahāyāna teaching; Kuiji says that this type corresponds to the teaching of the sRĪMĀLĀDEVĪSIMHANĀDASuTRA and the MAHĀPARINIRVĀnASuTRA.

electrode ::: n. --> The path by which electricity is conveyed into or from a solution or other conducting medium; esp., the ends of the wires or conductors, leading from source of electricity, and terminating in the medium traversed by the current.

Enlightenment ::: The process that Consciousness undergoes to unravel the causal nature of Suffering, which has its roots in the capacity to experience; the "need" to experience. A fundamental concept in spirituality; the paths that lead there frequently converge and result in the liberation/surrender that is nibbana/nirodha.

Enoichion (Greek-Hebrew) [from Hebrew ḥanakh to make narrow, be narrow; pressure; hence to initiate, train into the paths of consecration or dedication; probably from ḥanōkh (Enoch) initiated, initiator] The root-meaning of narrowness, that which is straightened or close, is reminiscent of the New Testament saying: “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way” (Matthew 7:14) — a direct reference to initiation. Thus enoichion can be rendered as a seer. “Esoterically and spiritually Enoichion means the ‘Seer of the Open Eye,’ the inner spiritual eye” (SD 2:530).

environment variable "programming, operating system" A {variable} that is bound in the current environment. When evaluating an expression in some environment, the evaluation of a variable consists of looking up its name in the environment and substituting its value. Most programming languages have some concept of an environment but in {Unix} {shell scripts} it has a specific meaning slightly different from other contexts. In shell scripts, environment variables are one kind of {shell variable}. They differ from {local variables} and {command line arguments} in that they are inheritted by a {child process}. Examples are the PATH variable that tells the shell the {file system} {paths} to search to find command {executables} and the TZ variable which contains the local time zone. The variable called "SHELL" specifies the type of shell being used. These variables are used by commands or {shell scripts} to discover things about the environment they are operating in. Environment variables can be changed or created by the {user} or a program. To see a list of environment variables type "setenv" at the {csh} or {tcsh} {prompt} or "set" at the {sh}, {bash}, {jsh} or {ksh} prompt. In other programming languages, e.g. {functional programming} languages, the environment is extended with new bindings when a {function}'s {parameters} are bound to its {actual arguments} or when new variables are declared. In a {block-structured} {procedural} language, the environment usually consists of a {linked list} of {activation records}. (1999-01-26)

equiangular spiral: A spiral where the tangent always maintain the same angle from the line between the point and a reference point. More commonly known as a logarithmic spiral. It is the path of a moth flying, what seems to be, towards a light source.

equinox ::: Equinox The word 'equinox' is derived from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). An equinox occurs when the celestial equator and the path the sun appears to take through the constellations of the Zodiac (the ecliptic) meet. This occurs just twice a year, in spring and autumn, when night and day are of equal length (the vernal and autumnal equinoxes). These names are normally used when one wishes to relate the equinox to a season. However, the seasons of the northern and southern hemispheres are opposites (the spring equinox of one hemisphere is the autumn equinox of the other). Every 26,000 years, our planet earth completes what is known as a 'precession cycle'. During each precession cycle, the earth's 'axis', for want of a more definitive word, 'wobbles' in relation to the celestial equator, changing the constellation that appears on the ecliptic on the vernal equinox. This is referred to as the Equinox of the Gods.

er liu. (J. niru; K. i nyu 二流). In Chinese, "two currents": going against the current (ni liu) and following the current (shun liu). The former means to turn against the powerful currents that drive the cycle of rebirth (see SAMSĀRA), by practicing the path (MĀRGA) and stopping the contaminants (see ĀSRAVA). The latter means to be unrestrained in one's worldly pursuits, not undertake religious training, and thus following the currents of saMsāra.

Every orthodox Brahmin is supposed to repeat this archaic hymn, at least mentally, at both his morning and evening religious devotions. An explanatory paraphrase, giving the inner meaning of the Gayatri is: O thou golden sun of most excellent splendor, illumine our hearts and fill our minds, so that we, recognizing our oneness with the divinity which is the heart of the universe, may see the pathway before our feet, and tread it to those distant goals of perfection stimulated by thine own radiant light.

FAILURE. ::: All who cleave lo the path steadfastly can be sure of their spiritual destiny. If one fails to reach it, it can only be for one of the two reasons, either* because they leave the path or because for some lure of ambition, vanity, desire etc. they go astray from the sincere dependence on the Divine.

fazhi. (J. hoshu/hosshu; K. popchip 法執). In Chinese, "attachment to factors"; in contrast to ĀTMAGRĀHA, the attachment to a self, attachment to factors (DHARMA) refers to either a clinging to the constituent aggregates that make up a person as ultimately real, or an attachment to the Buddhist teachings themselves. In the former scenario, the SARVĀSTIVĀDA, for example, rejects the reality of a self among the constituent factors (DHARMA) that constitute the person, but maintained that constituent parts themselves do have a perduring, ultimate reality. Rival Buddhist schools, most notably the MADHYAMAKA tradition, criticize such a view as being emblematic of an attachment to the dharmas. In the latter scenario, dharma-attachment is the clinging to Buddhist teachings and other heuristic devices as being ultimately real (cf. PARAMĀRTHASATYA). Various Buddhist scriptures tout the Buddhist teachings as skillful strategems (UPĀYA) that serve a provisional purpose. Buddhist teachings are likened to a raft that could be used to cross a river, but once having reached the other shore, the traveler should leave the raft behind lest it become a burden. Doctrinaire interpretations of, or an undue fascination with, the Buddhist teachings, especially when they are ill-suited for the present situation, is said to be a kind of dharma-attachment. Traditionally, two kinds of dharma-attachment are delineated: "dharma-attachment that arises from discriminatory cognition" (fenbie fazhi) and "inborn dharma-attachment" (jusheng fazhi). The former is primarily an epistemic error resulting from improper thinking and exposure to fallacious doctrines-it is eradicated at the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA). The latter is primarily an affective, habitual, and instinctive clinging (conditioned by similar tendencies accrued from previous lives) that may be present whether or not one subscribes to fenbie fazhi-the view of independent, irreducibly real dharmas. "Inborn dharma-attachment" is only gradually attenuated through the successive stages of the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀLĀRGA). In Mahāyāna polemics, the so-called HĪNAYĀNA can only lead to the eradication of the attachment to self but never to the attachment to dharmas. Cf. DHARMANAIRĀTMYA.

file system "operating system" (FS, or "filesystem") 1. A system for organizing {directories} and {files}, generally in terms of how it is implemented in the {disk operating system}. E.g., "The {Macintosh file system} is just dandy as long as you don't have to interface it with any other file systems". 2. The collection of files and directories stored on a given drive (floppy drive, hard drive, disk {partition}, {logical} drive, {RAM drive}, etc.). E.g., "mount attaches a named file system to the file system hierarchy at the pathname location directory [...]" -- {Unix manual page} for "mount(8)". As an extension of this sense, "file system" is sometimes used to refer to the representatation of the file system's organisation (e.g. its {file allocation table}) as opposed the actual content of the files in the file system. {Unix manual page}: fs(5), mount(8). (1997-04-10)

file system ::: (operating system) (FS, or filesystem) 1. A system for organizing directories and files, generally in terms of how it is implemented in the disk operating system. E.g., The Macintosh file system is just dandy as long as you don't have to interface it with any other file systems.2. The collection of files and directories stored on a given drive (floppy drive, hard drive, disk partition, logical drive, RAM drive, etc.). E.g., mount attaches a named file system to the file system hierarchy at the pathname location directory [...] -- Unix manual page for mount(8).As an extension of this sense, file system is sometimes used to refer to the representatation of the file system's organisation (e.g. its file allocation table) as opposed the actual content of the files in the file system.Unix manual page: fs(5), mount(8). (1997-04-10)

four noble truths. (S. catvāry āryasatyāni; P. cattāri ariyasaccāni; T. 'phags pa'i bden pa bzhi; C. si shengdi; J. shishodai; K. sa songje 四聖諦). Although the term "four noble truths" is well established in English-language works on Buddhism, it is a misleading translation of the original Sanskrit and Pāli terms. The term translated as "noble" (ĀRYA) refers not to the truths themselves, but to those who understand them; thus, the compound may more accurately, if less euphoniously, be rendered as "four truths [known by the spiritually] noble"; they are four facts known to be true by those "noble ones" with insight into the nature of reality, but not known by ordinary beings (PṚTHAGJANA). The four truths are: suffering (DUḤKHA), origination (SAMUDAYA), cessation (NIRODHA), and path (MĀRGA). The four noble truths are the subject of extensive exegesis in the tradition, but the four terms and the relationships among them may be summarized as follows. Existence in the realms that are subject to rebirth, called SAMSĀRA, is qualified by suffering (duḥkha), the first truth (the Sanskrit term may also be rendered as "sorrow," "pain," or more generally "unsatisfactoriness"). The types of sufferings that beings undergo in the various destinations of rebirth are enumerated at great length in Buddhist texts. In his first sermon delivered after his enlightenment (see DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANASuTRA), the Buddha identifies the following as forms of suffering: birth, aging, sickness, death, encountering what is unpleasant, separation from what is pleasant, not gaining what one desires, and the five SKANDHAs. The second truth is the origination (samudaya), or cause, of suffering. In his first sermon, the Buddha identifies the cause of suffering as craving (TṚsnĀ) or attachment; in his second sermon, the ANATTALAKKHAnASUTTA, said to have been delivered five days later, he suggests that the belief is self (ĀTMAN) is the cause of suffering. In other works, he lists two causes of suffering: unwholesome or unsalutary (AKUsALA) actions (KARMAN) such as killing, stealing, and lying, and the unwholesome mental states (see CAITTA) that motivate unwholesome actions. These unwholesome mental states include greed (LOBHA), hatred (DVEsA), and ignorance (MOHA), with ignorance referring here to an active misperception of the nature of the person and the world or, more technically, to an unsystematic attention (AYONIsOMANASKĀRA) to the true nature of things, leading to the following "inverted views" (VIPARYĀSA): seeing pleasure where there is actually pain, purity where there is impurity, permanence where there is impermanence, and self where there is no self. The third truth is the cessation (nirodha) of suffering, which refers to NIRLĀnA, the "deathless" (AMṚTA) state that transcends all suffering. The fourth and final truth is that of the path (mārga) to the cessation of suffering. The path is delineated in exhaustive detail in Buddhist texts; in his first sermon, the Buddha describes an eightfold path (ĀRLĀstĀnGAMĀRGA). The four truths therefore posit the unsatisfactory nature of existence, identify its causes, hold out the prospect of a state in which suffering and its causes are absent, and set forth a path to that state. Suffering is to be identified, its origin destroyed, its cessation realized, and the path to its cessation followed. The four truths demonstrate the importance of causality (see HETUPRATYAYA) in Buddhist thought and practice. Suffering is the effect of the cause, or origin, viz., "craving." Cessation is the absence of suffering, which results from the destruction of suffering's origin, craving. The path is the means by which one attains that cessation. The Buddha states in his first sermon that when he gained absolute and intuitive knowledge of the four truths, he achieved complete enlightenment and freedom from future rebirth. The four truths are also often described in terms of their sixteen aspects (sodasākāra), which counteract four inverted views (viparyāsa) for each truth. For the truth of suffering, the four aspects are knowledge that the aggregates (SKANDHA) are impermanent, suffering, empty, and selfless; these counteract seeing permanence, pleasure, mine (MAMAKĀRA), and I (AHAMKĀRA), respectively. For the truth of origination, the four aspects are knowledge that KLEsA(affliction) and action (karman) are cause (HETU), origination (samudaya), producer (saMbhava), and condition (PRATYAYA); they counteract the view that there is no cause, that there is a single cause, that the cause is transformation of a fundamental nature, and that the cause is a prior act of divine will, respectively. For the truth of cessation, the four aspects are knowledge that nirvāna is cessation (NIRODHA), peace (sānta), sublime (pranīta), and a definite escape (niryāna); these counteract the view that there is no liberation, that liberation is suffering, that the pleasure of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA) is unmitigated, and that NIRLĀnA is not firmly irreversible. And for the truth of the path, the four aspects are knowledge that the eightfold noble path is a path (mārga), correct method (UPĀYA), practice (PRATIPATTI), and brings a definite escape (nairyānika); these counteract the view that there is no path, that this eightfold noble path is vile, that something else is also a path, and that this path is reversible. Some Mahāyāna sutras say that those who are attached to (ABHINIVEsA) the four noble truths as being essentially true do not understand the purport of the Buddha's doctrine; only the teaching of the third noble truth, NIRLĀnA, is definitive (NĪTĀRTHA), the statements about the other truths require interpretation (NEYĀRTHA). See also DARsANAMĀRGA.

Four Noble Truths: The Aryani Satyani, the four basic principles of the teachings of Gautama Buddha: the Truth of Suffering, the Truth of the Cause of Suffering, the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, the Truth of the Path to the Ending of Suffering.

gate gate pāragate pārasaMgate bodhi svāhā. (T. ga te ga te pā ra ga te pā ra saM ga te bo dhi svā hā; C. jiedi jiedi boluojiedi boluosengjiedi puti sapohe; J. gyatei gyatei haragyatei harasogyatei boji sowaka; K. aje aje paraaje parasŭngaje moji sabaha 帝帝波羅帝波羅僧帝菩提薩婆訶). A Sanskrit MANTRA contained in the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀHṚDAYASuTRA ("Heart Sutra"). At the conclusion of the SuTRA, the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA says to sĀRIPUTRA, "Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom is the mantra of great wisdom, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequalled mantra, the mantra that completely pacifies all suffering. Because it is not false, it should be known to be true. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is stated thus: gate gate pāragate pārasaMgate bodhi svāhā." Although most mantras are not translatable, this one can be roughly rendered into English as "gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, enlightenment, svāhā" (svāhā is an interjection, meaning "hail," commonly placed at the end of a mantra). "Gate" in the mantra is most probably a vocative of gatā addressed to the goddess PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ (the iconographic representation of perfect wisdom); hence, the mantra may be addressed to PrajNāpāramitā and mean, "You who have gone, gone, gone beyond," etc. Given the ubiquity of the PrajNāpāramitāhṛdayasutra in MAHĀYĀNA Buddhism and its frequent ritual chanting by monks in both East Asia and Tibet, the mantra has been the subject of extensive commentary. Thus, some commentators correlate the first five words with the five paths (PANCAMĀRGA) to buddhahood: the first "gate" indicates the path of accumulation (SAMBHĀRAMĀRGA); the second "gate," the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMĀRGA); "pāragate," the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA); "pārasaMgate," the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA); and BODHI, the adept path (AsAIKsAMĀRGA). Such an interpretation is in keeping with the Indian scholastic view of the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutras, where it is said that the sutras have two teachings, one explicit and one implicit. The explicit teaching is emptiness (suNYATĀ) and the implicit teaching is the various realizations (ABHISAMAYA) of the bodhisattva along the path to buddhahood. From this perspective, everything in the sutra up to the mantra provides the explicit teaching and the mantra provides the implicit teaching. Other commentators state that the first part of the sutra (up to the mantra) is intended for bodhisattvas of dull faculties and that the mantra is intended for bodhisattvas of sharp faculties (TĪKsnENDRIYA). Some of the commentators include "it is thus" (tadyathā) in the mantra and add oM at the beginning. Although the presence of DHĀRAnĪ is relatively common in Mahāyāna sutras, something that is explicitly called a mantra is not, leading some commentators to consider whether the PrajNāpāramitāhṛdayasutra should be classified as a sutra or a TANTRA.

Gautama Buddha: (Skr. Gautama, a patronymic, meaning of the tribe of Gotama; Buddha, the enlightened one) The founder of Buddhism. born about 563 B.C. into a royal house at Kapilavastu. As Prince Siddhartha (Siddhattha) he had all worldly goods and pleasures at his disposal, married, had a son, but was so stirred by sights of disease, old age, and death glimpsed on stolen drives through the city that he renounced all when but 29 years of age, became a mendicant, sought instruction in reaching an existence free from these evils and tortures, fruitlessly however, till at the end of seven years of search while sitting under the Bodhi-tree, he became the Buddha, the Awakened One, and attained the true insight. Much that is legendary and reminds one of the Christian mythos surrounds Buddha's life as retold in an extensive literature which also knows of his former and future existences. Mara, the Evil One, tempted Buddha to enter nirvana (s.v.) directly, withholding thus knowledge of the path of salvation from the world; but the Buddha was firm and taught the rightful path without venturing too far into metaphysics, setting all the while an example of a pure and holy life devoted to the alleviation of suffering. At the age of 80, having been offered and thus compelled to partake of pork, he fell ill and in dying attained nirvana. -- K.F.L.

GavāMpati. (P. Gavampati; T. Ba glang bdag; C. Jiaofanboti/Niuzhu; J. Kyobonhadai/Goshu; K. Kyobombaje/Uju 憍梵波提/牛主). In Sanskrit and Pāli sources, the name of an ARHAT disciple of the Buddha. His name literally means "Lord of Cattle," after a previous lifetime in which he owned many head of cattle. (The Chinese both transcribe, and translate, his name.) GavāMpati was a companion of the Buddha's sixth disciple, YAsAS; he followed his friend into the order and like him also became an arhat. GavāMpati was known for his special ability in supernatural powers (ṚDDHI), which he used in one instance to stem advancing floodwaters that were endangering the lives of the monks. GavāMpati is said to have been summoned to attend the first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST) of arhats following the Buddha's PARINIRVĀnA, but decided to pass into NIRVĀnA rather than attend; as a result of his death, a rule was made that none of the arhats invited to the council were allowed to die until the conclusion of the council. In the eponymous Gavampatisutta (in the Pāli SAMYUTTANIKĀYA), the elder explains that the understanding of suffering (P. dukkha; S. DUḤKHA) subsumes all four of its aspects: its implications, its production, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation. The Sanskrit text Mahākarmavibhanga also speaks of an Ārya GavāMpati who converted the inhabitants of Suvarnabhumi (P. SUVAnnABHuMI) for a distance of one hundred YOJANAs. ¶ In Burma, Mon legend has it that the novice GavāMpati invited the Buddha to preach the dhamma (S. DHARMA) to the people of Suvannabhumi in Lower Burma. The Buddha complied with his request, converting many inhabitants of that border region. The Buddha promised Sirimāsoka, the king of Suvannabhumi, that after his parinibbāna (S. parinirvāna), GavāMpati would carry thirty-two tooth relics to the kingdom so that the king might enshrine them in pagodas for the faithful to worship. The Mons identify their homeland in Lower Burma with Suvannabhumi, and date the initial foundation of Buddhism in their region to the Buddha's visit and the arrival of the tooth relics. This GavāMpati legend finds no parallel in Pāli sources and most likely derives from Sanskrit sources.

Gayatri or Savitri(Sanskrit) ::: A verse of the Rig-Veda (iii.62.10) which from immemorial time in India has been surroundedwith the attributes of quasi-divinity. The Sanskrit words of this verse are: Tat savitur varenyam bhargodevasya dhimahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayat. Every orthodox Brahmana is supposed to repeat this archaichymn, at least mentally, at both his morning and evening religious exercises or devotions. A translationin explanatory paraphrase, giving the essential esoteric meaning of the Gayatri or Savitri, is thefollowing: "Oh thou golden sun of most excellent splendor, illumine our hearts and fill our minds, so thatwe, recognizing our oneness with the Divinity which is the heart of the universe, may see the pathwaybefore our feet, and tread it to those distant goals of perfection, stimulated by thine own radiant light."

Goddard, Dwight. (1861-1939). American popularizer of Buddhism and author of the widely read A Buddhist Bible. He was born in Massachusetts and educated in both theology and mechanical engineering. Following the death of his first wife, he enrolled at Hartford Theological Seminary and was ordained as a minister in the Congregational Church. He went to China as a missionary and it was there that he visited his first Buddhist monastery. After holding pastoral positions in Massachusetts and Chicago, he left the ministry to become a mechanical engineer. An invention that he sold to the government made him independently wealthy and allowed him to retire in 1913. He traveled to China several times in the 1920s, where he met a Lutheran minister who was seeking to promote understanding between Buddhists and Christians. Goddard first learned of Zen Buddhism from a Japanese friend in New York in 1928 and later traveled to Japan where he met DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI and practiced ZAZEN for eight months in Kyoto. Upon his return to America, Goddard attempted in 1934 to form an American Buddhist community, called the Followers of the Buddha. With property in Vermont and California, the organization was to include a celibate monkhood, called the Homeless Brothers, supported by lay members. Goddard also published a Buddhist magazine, Zen, A Magazine of Self-Realization, before bringing out, with his own funds, what would become his most famous work, A Buddhist Bible, in 1932. The purpose of the anthology was to "show the unreality of all conceptions of the personal ego" and inspire readers to follow the path to buddhahood. It was Goddard's conviction that Buddhism was the religion most capable of meeting the problems of European civilization. Commercially published in 1938, the contents of A Buddhist Bible were organized by the language of a text's origins and contained works that had not been translated into English before. The works came mostly from Chinese, translated by the Chinese monk Wai-tao, in collaboration with Goddard. Tibetan selections were drawn from W. Y. EVANS-WENTZ. A Buddhist Bible is not without its eccentricities. For example, Goddard rearranged the VAJRACCHEDIKĀPRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀSuTRA ("Diamond Sutra") into a more "sensible" order, and he included in his anthology a classic of Chinese philosophy, the Daode jing (Tao te ching). Goddard also composed his own treatise to provide practical guidance in meditation, which he felt was difficult for Europeans and Americans. As one of the first anthologies of Buddhist texts widely available in the West, and especially because it was one of the few that included MAHĀYĀNA works, A Buddhist Bible remained widely read for decades after its publication.

gotrabhu. In Pāli, "entering the lineage (of the noble ones)," or "maturity moment," the momentary, transitional state of consciousness that takes the NIRVĀnA element (P. nibbānadhātu) as its object for the first time. At that moment, the adept is no longer an ordinary unenlightened "worldling" (P. puthujjana; S. PṚTHAGJANA) and will transition in the following moment onto the path of the enlightened "noble ones" (P. ariya; ĀRYA) as a "stream-enterer" (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA). Gotrabhu belongs to the class of mental processes called javana, or "impulsion moments."

gotrabhuNāna. In Pāli, "change-of-lineage knowledge," a specific type of knowledge (P. Nāna; S. JNĀNA) included in the category "purity of knowledge and vision" (NĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), which is the seventh and final purity (P. VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. Change-of-lineage knowledge takes as its object the unconditioned NIRVĀnA element (P. nibbānadhātu), by virtue of which the practitioner leaves the lineage of ordinary worldlings (P. puthujjanagotta; cf. S. PṚTHAGJANA; GOTRA) and enters the lineage of the noble ones (P. ariyagotta; S. āryagotra). Change-of-lineage knowledge itself is reckoned as a transitional moment of consciousness in that it has not yet entered onto any one of the four supramundane or noble paths (P. ariyamagga; S. ĀRYAMĀRGA),viz., that of the stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (P. sakadāgāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (ANĀGĀMI) or worthy one (P. arahant; S. ARHAT). Immediately following the occurrence of change-of-lineage knowledge there arises a moment of consciousness called MAGGACITTA, or "path consciousness," that signals the practitioner's actual entry into the noble path. It is this path consciousness that, technically speaking, constitutes the aforementioned "purity of knowledge and vision." At this point, if the practitioner has entered the path of the stream-enterer, he has permanently uprooted the first three of ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) that bind beings to the cycle of existence, viz., (1) belief in the existence of a self in relation to the body (P. sakkāyaditthi; S. SATKĀYADṚstI), (2) doubt about the efficacy of the path (P. vicikicchā; S. VICIKITSĀ), and (3) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (P. sīlabbataparāmāsa; S. sĪLAVRATAPARĀMARsA). Having become a stream-enterer, the practitioner is destined never again to be reborn in any of the three unfortunate realms (DURGATI) of the hells, hungry ghosts, or animals, and is guaranteed to attain nirvāna in at most seven more lifetimes.

grāhyagrāhakavikalpa. (T. gzung ba dang 'dzin pa'i rnam par rtog pa; C. suoqu nengqu fenbie; J. shoshunoshu funbetsu; K. soch'wi nŭngch'wi punbyol 所取能取分別). In Sanskrit, "discrimination between the grasped and the grasper," or "false conception of apprehended and apprehender," a specific kind of discrimination (VIKALPA) used in the YOGĀCĀRA school to refer to the misconception that there is an inherent bifurcation between a perceiving subject (grāhaka) and its perceived objects (grāhya). This bifurcation occurs because of false imagining (ABHuTAPARIKALPA), the tendency of the relative (PARATANTRA) nature (SVABHĀVA) to project both a false sense of a perceiving self and of perceived objects that are external to it. By relying on these false imaginings to construct our sense of what is real, we inevitably subject ourselves to continued suffering (DUḤKHA) within the cycle of rebirth SAMSĀRA. Overcoming this bifurcation leads to the nondiscriminative wisdom (NIRVIKALPAJNĀNA), which marks the inception of the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA).

great circle: The largest possible circle on a sphere. For 2 points on a sphere not anti-podal to each other, the paths (along the surface) shortest and longest (without changing directions) form a great circle.

Great White Brotherhood: In general occult terminology, a synonym for Great White Lodge (q.v.). In the terminology of the Rosicrucians, the Great White Brotherhood is “the school or Fraternity of the Great White Lodge and into this invisible Brotherhood of visible members every true student of the Path prepares for admission.” (Rosicrucian Manual)

gunapāramitā. (T. yon tan pha rol tu phyin pa; C. gongde boluomi; J. kudokuharamitsu; K. kongdok paramil 功德波羅蜜). In Sanskrit, "the perfection of qualities," referring to the four salutary qualities of the TATHĀGATAGARBHA: permanence, purity, bliss, and self, as described in the sRĪMĀLĀDEVĪSIMHANĀDASuTRA. These qualities are in distinction to the four perverted views (VIPARYĀSA), where ignorant sentient beings regard the conditioned realm of SAMSĀRA as being permanent, pure, blissful, and self when in fact it is impermanent (ANITYA), impure (asubha), suffering (DUḤKHA), and not-self (ANĀTMAN). More specifically, according to the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākyā, sentient beings assume that all the conditioned phenomena they experience are permanent and real: they consider their own bodies to be pure, regard their five aggregates (SKANDHA) as having a perduring self (ĀTMAN), falsely imagine permanence in the transitory, and mistakenly regard saMsāra as a source of real happiness. In order to counter these attachments, the Buddha therefore taught that saMsāra is impermanent, impure, suffering, and not-self. However, the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākyā says it would be wrong to assume that these four qualities also apply to the tathāgatagarbha or the DHARMAKĀYA; the Buddha teaches that it is endowed with the four gunapāramitā, or perfect qualities, of permanence, purity, bliss, and self. The FOXING LUN ("Buddha-Nature Treatise") additionally presents the gunapāramitā as resulting from the perfection of four soteriological practices, e.g., bliss refers to the condition of being free from suffering, which is experienced through cultivating a SAMĀDHI that overcomes wrong conceptions of emptiness (suNYATĀ); permanence indicates the endless variety of acts that bodhisattvas cultivate on the path of great compassion (MAHĀKARUnĀ), etc. This positive valorization of the qualities of the tathāgatagarbha serves to counteract any mistaken tendency toward nihilism that might be prompted by the apophatic language used within the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ literature or the MADHYAMAKA school.

Halacha or Halachah or Halakha ::: (Heb. The Path). Jewish law governing everyday life recorded and expounded in the Talmud.

  “Hence, when any one of the cells forming part of such early human bodies freed itself from the psychical and physical control that then existed, it was enabled to follow, and instinctively did follow, the path of self-expression. But in our days when the psychical and physical dominance of the human incarnated entity over the human cells composing the human body is so strong, and because the cells have largely lost their power to individual self-expression through the biologic habit of subjecting to that overlordship of the human entity, such an individualized career of a cell in self-development is a virtual impossibility. . . .

hīnayāna. (T. theg pa dman pa; C. xiaosheng; J. shojo; K. sosŭng 小乘). In Sanskrit, "lesser vehicle," a pejorative term coined by the MAHĀYĀNA ("Great Vehicle") tradition of Buddhism to refer to the (in their minds' discredited) doctrines and practices of its rival sRĀVAKAYĀNA schools of the mainstream Buddhist tradition. Hīna has the negative connotations of "lesser," "defective," and "vile," and thus the term hīnayāna is inevitably deprecatory. It should be understood that the term hīnayāna is never used self-referentially by the srāvakayāna schools of mainstream Buddhism and thus should never be taken as synonymous with the THERAVĀDA school of contemporary Sri Lankan and Southeast Asian Buddhism. Hīnayāna does, however, have a number of usages in Buddhist literature. (1) Hīnayāna is used by proponents of the Mahāyāna to refer specifically to those who do not accept the Mahāyāna sutras as being the authentic word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA). (2) Hīnayāna is used in Mahāyāna literature to refer collectively to the paths of the sRĀVAKAs and the PRATYEKABUDDHAs (see also ER SHENG), i.e., those who, out of a desire to attain enlightenment for themselves alone, lack sufficient compassion to undertake the BODHISATTVA path leading ultimately to buddhahood. (3) Hīnayāna has been used both by traditional Buddhist exegetes and by modern scholars of Buddhism to refer to the non-Mahāyāna schools of Indian Buddhism, traditionally numbered as eighteen, which themselves each set forth the three paths of the srāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva. See MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS.

hippopathology ::: n. --> The science of veterinary medicine; the pathology of the horse.

hiranyavartani ::: having a golden or shining path, moving in the path of light. [Ved.]

:::   "Humility before the Divine is also a sine qua non of the spiritual life, and spiritual pride, arrogance, or vanity and self-assurance press always downward. But confidence in the Divine and a faith in one"s spiritual destiny (i.e. since my heart and soul seek for the Divine, I cannot fail one day to reach Him) are much needed in view of the difficulties of the Path.” Letters on Yoga

“Humility before the Divine is also a sine qua non of the spiritual life, and spiritual pride, arrogance, or vanity and self-assurance press always downward. But confidence in the Divine and a faith in one’s spiritual destiny (i.e. since my heart and soul seek for the Divine, I cannot fail one day to reach Him) are much needed in view of the difficulties of the Path.” Letters on Yoga

Humphreys, Christmas. (1901-1983). Early British popularizer of Buddhism and founder of the Buddhist Society, the oldest lay Buddhist organization in Europe. Born in London in 1901, Humphreys was the son of Sir Travers Humphreys (1867-1956), a barrister perhaps best known as the junior counsel in the prosecution of the Irish writer Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). Following in his father's footsteps, Humphreys studied law at Cambridge University and eventually became a senior prosecutor at the Old Bailey, London, the central criminal court, and later a circuit judge; he was also involved in the Tokyo war crimes trials as a prosecutor, a post he accepted so he could also further in Japan his studies of Buddhism. (Humphreys's later attempts to inject some Buddhist compassion into his courtroom led to him being called the "gentle judge," who gained a reputation for being lenient with felons. After handing down a six-month suspended sentence to an eighteen-year-old who had raped two women at knifepoint, the public outcry that ensued eventually led to his resignation from the bench in 1976.) Humphreys was interested in Buddhism from his youth and declared himself a Buddhist at age seventeen. In 1924, at the age of twenty-three, he founded the Buddhist Society, London, and served as its president until his death; he was also the first publisher of its journal, The Middle Way. Humphreys strongly advocated a nonsectarian approach to Buddhism, which embraced the individual schools of Buddhism as specific manifestations of the religion's central tenets. His interest in an overarching vision of the whole of the Buddhist tradition led him in 1945 to publish his famous Twelve Principles of Buddhism, which has been translated into fourteen languages. These principles focus on the need to recognize the conditioned nature of reality, the truth of impermanence and suffering, and the path that Buddhism provides to save oneself through "the intuition of the individual." A close associate of DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI and a contemporary of EDWARD CONZE, Humphreys himself wrote over thirty semischolarly and popular books and tracts on Buddhism, including Buddhism: An Introduction and Guide, published in 1951.

Hwaom ilsŭng popkye to. (C. Huayan yisheng fajie tu; J. Kegon ichijo hokkaizu 華嚴一乘法界圖). In Korean, "Diagram of the DHARMADHĀTU according to the One Vehicle of Hwaom (C. HUAYAN)," composed by ŬISANG in 670 and presented to his Chinese teacher, ZHIYAN. Ŭisang first provides a wavelike diagram of the dharmadhātu (also sometimes referred to as the Haein to, or "Oceanic-Reflection Diagram"), which contains a verse in two hundred and ten Chinese characters summarizing the gist of the Huayan school's interpretation of the AVATAMSAKASuTRA. The diagram and its subsumed verse are then followed by Ŭisang's own (auto)commentary, itself divided into two major sections: the fundamental purport of the diagram and the detailed interpretation of the verse. In the diagram itself, the path meanders along a single line in order to show that all phenomena are interconnected through the single principle of the dharma nature. The diagram begins and ends at the same place in the center of the maze, to suggest that the inception of practice in the generation of the thought of enlightenment (BODHICITTOTPĀDA) and its consummation through enlightenment are identical. The diagram is broadly divided into four equal sections to demonstrate that the dharma nature is perfected through the four means of conversion (SAMGRAHAVASTU: viz., giving, kind words, helpfulness, and cooperation). The single path that meanders through the diagram includes fifty-four curves to indicate the teachers that the pilgrim SUDHANA in the GAndAVYuHA section of the AvataMsakasutra consulted in the course of his training-and thus by extension the stages of the BODHISATTVA path. The "Hwaom ilsŭng popkye to" served as the foundation of Hwaom thought in Korea. There is some controversy over whether the verse itself may have in fact been composed by Zhiyan, with Ŭisang's contribution being to create the diagram for the verse and write the commentary, but there is not currently a scholarly consensus concerning this issue.

hyperagency ::: Agency gone to the pathological extremes of alienation and repression.

hypercommunion ::: Communion gone to the pathological extremes of fusion and indissociation.

indriya. (T. dbang po; C. gen; J. kon; K. kŭn 根). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "faculty," "dominant," or "predominant factor"; a polysemous term of wide import in Buddhist soteriological and epistemological literature. In the SuTRA literature, indriya typically refers to the five or six sense bases: e.g., the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile faculties associated with the physical sense organs and the mental base associated with the mind; in the case of the physical senses, the indriya are forms of subtle matter located within the organs of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body that enable the functioning of the senses. The mind (MANAS) is typically listed as a sixth, internal sensory faculty. The six sense faculties (sadindriya) are subsumed as well within the list of the twelve ĀYATANA (sense-fields) and eighteen DHĀTU (elements). ¶ Indriya is also used soteriologically to describe the five "dominants" or "spiritual faculties" that are crucial to development along the path: faith (sRADDHĀ), effort (VĪRYA), mindfulness (SMṚTI), concentration (SAMĀDHI), and wisdom (PRAJNĀ). These two denotations for indriya are subsumed by the VAIBHĀsIKA school of SARVĀSTIVĀDA abhidharma into a more extensive list of twenty-two faculties: (1-5) the five physical sense faculties, which are the predominant factors in the rise of the sensory consciousnesses, etc.; (6-7) the "female" (strīndriya) and "male" (purusendriya) faculties, which are the predominant factors in distinguishing sex organs and marking physical gender; (8) the "life force" (jīvitendriya; see JĪVITA), the predominant factor in birth and prolonging the physical continuum up through the "intermediate state" (ANTARĀBHAVA); (9) the mental faculty (MANENDRIYA), the predominant factor that governs both rebirth and the associations between an individual and the world at large; (10-14) the five faculties of sensation or feeling-viz., pleasure (SUKHA), suffering (DUḤKHA), satisfaction (saumanasya), dissatisfaction (daurmanasya), and indifference (UPEKsĀ)-the predominant factors with regard to contamination (SAMKLEsA), for passions such as attachment, hatred, conceit, delusion, etc., attach themselves to these five sensations, creating bondage to worldly objects; (15-22) the eight faculties-viz., the five moral faculties of faith (sraddhā), energy (vīrya), mindfulness (smṛti), concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (prajNā), and the three immaculate faculties of (1) anājNātam ājNāsyāmī 'ndriyam ("the faculty of resolving to understand that which is yet to be understood"), (2) ājNātendriya ("the faculty of having understood"), and (3) ājNātāvīndriya ("the faculty of perfecting one's understanding")-which are the predominant factors regarding purification (VIsUDDHI); this is because the five moral faculties are the predominant factors that purify beings of their bondage to worldly objects and offer access to NIRVĀnA, and the three immaculate faculties are the predominant factors in the origin, duration, and enjoyment of nirvāna. ¶ Indriya is also used to refer to "three capacities" (see TRĪNDRIYA) of the disciples of the Buddha or of a particular teaching, based on their level of aptitude or capacity for understanding: viz., those of dull faculties (MṚDVINDRIYA), those of intermediate faculties (MADHYENDRIYA), and those of sharp faculties (TĪKsnENDRIYA).

In humans what is called the personal self is a compound, in which the true selfhood or atmic ray shines dimly through many screens. This causes our various mental states to be regarded as pertaining to our own individuality, though they are actually influences which flow into and out of the mind, and to which we attribute a false sense of ownership, as when we say, “I am angry,” instead of “I am experiencing anger.” The path of liberation frees us progressively from these false selves; we abandon the heresy of separateness, and at last see the true self within us as being identical with that self in all beings.

Inner God ::: Mystics of all the ages have united in teaching this fact of the existence and ever-present power of anindividual inner god in each human being, as the first principle or primordial energy governing theprogress of man out of material life into the spiritual. Indeed, the doctrine is so perfectly universal, and isso consistent with everything that man knows when he reflects over the matter of his own spiritual andintellectual nature, that it is small wonder that this doctrine should have acquired foremost place inhuman religious and philosophical consciousness. Indeed, it may be called the very foundation-stone onwhich were builded the great systems of religious and philosophical thinking of the past; and rightly so,because this doctrine is founded on nature herself.The inner god in man, man's own inner, essential divinity, is the root of him, whence flow forth ininspiring streams into the psychological apparatus of his constitution all the inspirations of genius, all theurgings to betterment. All powers, all faculties, all characteristics of individuality, which blossomthrough evolution into individual manifestation, are the fruitage of the working in man's constitution ofthose life-giving and inspiring streams of spiritual energy.The radiant light which streams forth from that immortal center or core of our inmost being, which is ourinner god, lightens the pathway of each one of us; and it is from this light that we obtain idealconceptions. It is by this radiant light in our hearts that we can guide our feet towards an ever largerfulfilling in daily life of the beautiful conceptions which we as mere human beings dimly or clearlyperceive, as the case may be.The divine fire which moves through universal Nature is the source of the individualized divine firecoming from man's inner god.The modern Christians of a mystical bent of mind call the inner god the Christ Immanent, the immanentChristos; in Buddhism it is called the living Buddha within; in Brahmanism it is spoken of as the Brahmain his Brahmapura or Brahma-city, which is the inner constitution.Hence, call it by what name you please, the reflective and mystical mind intuitively realizes that thereworks through him a divine flame, a divine life, a divine light, and that this by whatever name we maycall it, is himself, his essential SELF. (See also God)

INTEGRAL YOGA ::: This yoga accepts the value of cosmic existence and holds it to be a reality; its object is to enter into a higher Truth-Consciousness or Divine Supramental Consciousness in which action and creation are the expression not of ignorance and imperfection, but of the Truth, the Light, the Divine Ānanda. But for that, the surrender of the mortal mind, life and body to the Higher Consciousnessis indispensable, since it is too difficult for the mortal human being to pass by its own effort beyond mind to a Supramental Consciousness in which the dynamism is no longer mental but of quite another power. Only those who can accept the call to such a change should enter into this yoga.

Aim of the Integral Yoga ::: It is not merely to rise out of the ordinary ignorant world-consciousness into the divine consciousness, but to bring the supramental power of that divine consciousness down into the ignorance of mind, life and body, to transform them, to manifest the Divine here and create a divine life in Matter.

Conditions of the Integral Yoga ::: This yoga can only be done to the end by those who are in total earnest about it and ready to abolish their little human ego and its demands in order to find themselves in the Divine. It cannot be done in a spirit of levity or laxity; the work is too high and difficult, the adverse powers in the lower Nature too ready to take advantage of the least sanction or the smallest opening, the aspiration and tapasyā needed too constant and intense.

Method in the Integral Yoga ::: To concentrate, preferably in the heart and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force transform the consciousness. One can concentrate also in the head or between the eye-brows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is the beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be. For the rest one must not depend on one’s own efforts only, but succeed in establishing a contact with the Divine and a receptivity to the Mother’s Power and Presence.

Integral method ::: The method we have to pursue is to put our whole conscious being into relation and contact with the Divine and to call Him in to transform Our entire being into His, so that in a sense God Himself, the real Person in us, becomes the sādhaka of the sādhana* as well as the Master of the Yoga by whom the lower personality is used as the centre of a divine transfiguration and the instrument of its own perfection. In effect, the pressure of the Tapas, the force of consciousness in us dwelling in the Idea of the divine Nature upon that which we are in our entirety, produces its own realisation. The divine and all-knowing and all-effecting descends upon the limited and obscure, progressively illumines and energises the whole lower nature and substitutes its own action for all the terms of the inferior human light and mortal activity.

In psychological fact this method translates itself into the progressive surrender of the ego with its whole field and all its apparatus to the Beyond-ego with its vast and incalculable but always inevitable workings. Certainly, this is no short cut or easy sādhana. It requires a colossal faith, an absolute courage and above all an unflinching patience. For it implies three stages of which only the last can be wholly blissful or rapid, - the attempt of the ego to enter into contact with the Divine, the wide, full and therefore laborious preparation of the whole lower Nature by the divine working to receive and become the higher Nature, and the eventual transformation. In fact, however, the divine strength, often unobserved and behind the veil, substitutes itself for the weakness and supports us through all our failings of faith, courage and patience. It” makes the blind to see and the lame to stride over the hills.” The intellect becomes aware of a Law that beneficently insists and a Succour that upholds; the heart speaks of a Master of all things and Friend of man or a universal Mother who upholds through all stumblings. Therefore this path is at once the most difficult imaginable and yet in comparison with the magnitude of its effort and object, the most easy and sure of all.

There are three outstanding features of this action of the higher when it works integrally on the lower nature. In the first place, it does not act according to a fixed system and succession as in the specialised methods of Yoga, but with a sort of free, scattered and yet gradually intensive and purposeful working determined by the temperament of the individual in whom it operates, the helpful materials which his nature offers and the obstacles which it presents to purification and perfection. In a sense, therefore, each man in this path has his own method of Yoga. Yet are there certain broad lines of working common to all which enable us to construct not indeed a routine system, but yet some kind of Shastra or scientific method of the synthetic Yoga.

Secondly, the process, being integral, accepts our nature such as it stands organised by our past evolution and without rejecting anything essential compels all to undergo a divine change. Everything in us is seized by the hands of a mighty Artificer and transformed into a clear image of that which it now seeks confusedly to present. In that ever-progressive experience we begin to perceive how this lower manifestation is constituted and that everything in it, however seemingly deformed or petty or vile, is the more or less distorted or imperfect figure of some elements or action in the harmony of the divine Nature. We begin to understand what the Vedic Rishis meant when they spoke of the human forefathers fashioning the gods as a smith forges the crude material in his smithy.

Thirdly, the divine Power in us uses all life as the means of this integral Yoga. Every experience and outer contact with our world-environment, however trifling or however disastrous, is used for the work, and every inner experience, even to the most repellent suffering or the most humiliating fall, becomes a step on the path to perfection. And we recognise in ourselves with opened eyes the method of God in the world, His purpose of light in the obscure, of might in the weak and fallen, of delight in what is grievous and miserable. We see the divine method to be the same in the lower and in the higher working; only in the one it is pursued tardily and obscurely through the subconscious in Nature, in the other it becomes swift and selfconscious and the instrument confesses the hand of the Master. All life is a Yoga of Nature seeking to manifest God within itself. Yoga marks the stage at which this effort becomes capable of self-awareness and therefore of right completion in the individual. It is a gathering up and concentration of the movements dispersed and loosely combined in the lower evolution.

Key-methods ::: The way to devotion and surrender. It is the psychic movement that brings the constant and pure devotion and the removal of the ego that makes it possible to surrender.

The way to knowledge. Meditation in the head by which there comes the opening above, the quietude or silence of the mind and the descent of peace etc. of the higher consciousness generally till it envelops the being and fills the body and begins to take up all the movements.
Yoga by works ::: Separation of the Purusha from the Prakriti, the inner silent being from the outer active one, so that one has two consciousnesses or a double consciousness, one behind watching and observing and finally controlling and changing the other which is active in front. The other way of beginning the yoga of works is by doing them for the Divine, for the Mother, and not for oneself, consecrating and dedicating them till one concretely feels the Divine Force taking up the activities and doing them for one.

Object of the Integral Yoga is to enter into and be possessed by the Divine Presence and Consciousness, to love the Divine for the Divine’s sake alone, to be tuned in our nature into the nature of the Divine, and in our will and works and life to be the instrument of the Divine.

Principle of the Integral Yoga ::: The whole principle of Integral Yoga is to give oneself entirely to the Divine alone and to nobody else, and to bring down into ourselves by union with the Divine Mother all the transcendent light, power, wideness, peace, purity, truth-consciousness and Ānanda of the Supramental Divine.

Central purpose of the Integral Yoga ::: Transformation of our superficial, narrow and fragmentary human way of thinking, seeing, feeling and being into a deep and wide spiritual consciousness and an integrated inner and outer existence and of our ordinary human living into the divine way of life.

Fundamental realisations of the Integral Yoga ::: The psychic change so that a complete devotion can be the main motive of the heart and the ruler of thought, life and action in constant union with the Mother and in her Presence. The descent of the Peace, Power, Light etc. of the Higher Consciousness through the head and heart into the whole being, occupying the very cells of the body. The perception of the One and Divine infinitely everywhere, the Mother everywhere and living in that infinite consciousness.

Results ::: First, an integral realisation of Divine Being; not only a realisation of the One in its indistinguishable unity, but also in its multitude of aspects which are also necessary to the complete knowledge of it by the relative consciousness; not only realisation of unity in the Self, but of unity in the infinite diversity of activities, worlds and creatures.

Therefore, also, an integral liberation. Not only the freedom born of unbroken contact of the individual being in all its parts with the Divine, sāyujya mukti, by which it becomes free even in its separation, even in the duality; not only the sālokya mukti by which the whole conscious existence dwells in the same status of being as the Divine, in the state of Sachchidananda ; but also the acquisition of the divine nature by the transformation of this lower being into the human image of the divine, sādharmya mukti, and the complete and final release of all, the liberation of the consciousness from the transitory mould of the ego and its unification with the One Being, universal both in the world and the individual and transcendentally one both in the world and beyond all universe.

By this integral realisation and liberation, the perfect harmony of the results of Knowledge, Love and Works. For there is attained the complete release from ego and identification in being with the One in all and beyond all. But since the attaining consciousness is not limited by its attainment, we win also the unity in Beatitude and the harmonised diversity in Love, so that all relations of the play remain possible to us even while we retain on the heights of our being the eternal oneness with the Beloved. And by a similar wideness, being capable of a freedom in spirit that embraces life and does not depend upon withdrawal from life, we are able to become without egoism, bondage or reaction the channel in our mind and body for a divine action poured out freely upon the world.

The divine existence is of the nature not only of freedom, but of purity, beatitude and perfection. In integral purity which shall enable on the one hand the perfect reflection of the divine Being in ourselves and on the other the perfect outpouring of its Truth and Law in us in the terms of life and through the right functioning of the complex instrument we are in our outer parts, is the condition of an integral liberty. Its result is an integral beatitude, in which there becomes possible at once the Ānanda of all that is in the world seen as symbols of the Divine and the Ānanda of that which is not-world. And it prepares the integral perfection of our humanity as a type of the Divine in the conditions of the human manifestation, a perfection founded on a certain free universality of being, of love and joy, of play of knowledge and of play of will in power and will in unegoistic action. This integrality also can be attained by the integral Yoga.

Sādhanā of the Integral Yoga does not proceed through any set mental teaching or prescribed forms of meditation, mantras or others, but by aspiration, by a self-concentration inwards or upwards, by a self-opening to an Influence, to the Divine Power above us and its workings, to the Divine Presence in the heart and by the rejection of all that is foreign to these things. It is only by faith, aspiration and surrender that this self-opening can come.

The yoga does not proceed by upadeśa but by inner influence.

Integral Yoga and Gita ::: The Gita’s Yoga consists in the offering of one’s work as a sacrifice to the Divine, the conquest of desire, egoless and desireless action, bhakti for the Divine, an entering into the cosmic consciousness, the sense of unity with all creatures, oneness with the Divine. This yoga adds the bringing down of the supramental Light and Force (its ultimate aim) and the transformation of the nature.

Our yoga is not identical with the yoga of the Gita although it contains all that is essential in the Gita’s yoga. In our yoga we begin with the idea, the will, the aspiration of the complete surrender; but at the same time we have to reject the lower nature, deliver our consciousness from it, deliver the self involved in the lower nature by the self rising to freedom in the higher nature. If we do not do this double movement, we are in danger of making a tamasic and therefore unreal surrender, making no effort, no tapas and therefore no progress ; or else we make a rajasic surrender not to the Divine but to some self-made false idea or image of the Divine which masks our rajasic ego or something still worse.

Integral Yoga, Gita and Tantra ::: The Gita follows the Vedantic tradition which leans entirely on the Ishvara aspect of the Divine and speaks little of the Divine Mother because its object is to draw back from world-nature and arrive at the supreme realisation beyond it.

The Tantric tradition leans on the Shakti or Ishvari aspect and makes all depend on the Divine Mother because its object is to possess and dominate the world-nature and arrive at the supreme realisation through it.

This yoga insists on both the aspects; the surrender to the Divine Mother is essential, for without it there is no fulfilment of the object of the yoga.

Integral Yoga and Hatha-Raja Yogas ::: For an integral yoga the special methods of Rajayoga and Hathayoga may be useful at times in certain stages of the progress, but are not indispensable. Their principal aims must be included in the integrality of the yoga; but they can be brought about by other means. For the methods of the integral yoga must be mainly spiritual, and dependence on physical methods or fixed psychic or psychophysical processes on a large scale would be the substitution of a lower for a higher action. Integral Yoga and Kundalini Yoga: There is a feeling of waves surging up, mounting to the head, which brings an outer unconsciousness and an inner waking. It is the ascending of the lower consciousness in the ādhāra to meet the greater consciousness above. It is a movement analogous to that on which so much stress is laid in the Tantric process, the awakening of the Kundalini, the Energy coiled up and latent in the body and its mounting through the spinal cord and the centres (cakras) and the Brahmarandhra to meet the Divine above. In our yoga it is not a specialised process, but a spontaneous upnish of the whole lower consciousness sometimes in currents or waves, sometimes in a less concrete motion, and on the other side a descent of the Divine Consciousness and its Force into the body.

Integral Yoga and other Yogas ::: The old yogas reach Sachchidananda through the spiritualised mind and depart into the eternally static oneness of Sachchidananda or rather pure Sat (Existence), absolute and eternal or else a pure Non-exist- ence, absolute and eternal. Ours having realised Sachchidananda in the spiritualised mind plane proceeds to realise it in the Supramcntal plane.

The suprcfhe supra-cosmic Sachchidananda is above all. Supermind may be described as its power of self-awareness and W’orld- awareness, the world being known as within itself and not out- side. So to live consciously in the supreme Sachchidananda one must pass through the Supermind.

Distinction ::: The realisation of Self and of the Cosmic being (without which the realisation of the Self is incomplete) are essential steps in our yoga ; it is the end of other yogas, but it is, as it were, the beginning of outs, that is to say, the point where its own characteristic realisation can commence.

It is new as compared with the old yogas (1) Because it aims not at a departure out of world and life into Heaven and Nir- vana, but at a change of life and existence, not as something subordinate or incidental, but as a distinct and central object.

If there is a descent in other yogas, yet it is only an incident on the way or resulting from the ascent — the ascent is the real thing. Here the ascent is the first step, but it is a means for the descent. It is the descent of the new coosdousness attain- ed by the ascent that is the stamp and seal of the sadhana. Even the Tantra and Vaishnavism end in the release from life ; here the object is the divine fulfilment of life.

(2) Because the object sought after is not an individual achievement of divine realisation for the sake of the individual, but something to be gained for the earth-consciousness here, a cosmic, not solely a supra-cosmic acbievement. The thing to be gained also is the bringing of a Power of consciousness (the Supramental) not yet organised or active directly in earth-nature, even in the spiritual life, but yet to be organised and made directly active.

(3) Because a method has been preconized for achieving this purpose which is as total and integral as the aim set before it, viz., the total and integral change of the consciousness and nature, taking up old methods, but only as a part action and present aid to others that are distinctive.

Integral Yoga and Patanjali Yoga ::: Cilia is the stuff of mixed mental-vital-physical consciousness out of which arise the movements of thought, emotion, sensation, impulse etc.

It is these that in the Patanjali system have to be stilled altogether so that the consciousness may be immobile and go into Samadhi.

Our yoga has a different function. The movements of the ordinary consciousness have to be quieted and into the quietude there has to be brought down a higher consciousness and its powers which will transform the nature.


interneuron ::: Technically, a neuron in the pathway between primary sensory and primary effector neurons; more generally, a neuron that branches locally to innervate other neurons.

In the Buddhist sutras, sakkayaditthi is the first chain to be broken upon entering the path; when the path is really entered this chain is in fact recognized to be nonexistent.

In theosophical writings, advanced students of occultism who have acquired some knowledge and use of spiritual powers but misuse them for selfish purposes are called black magicians, Brothers of the Shadow, followers of the left-hand path, or sometimes dugpas. In their highest class they are adepts in spiritual evil. Whenever the forces of nature are used for selfish purposes, such misuse by anyone marks such person as a black magician, whether conscious or unconscious. Those who follow the pathway of self-renunciation, self-sacrifice, self-conquest, and an expansion of the heart, mind, and consciousness in love and service for all that lives are called white magicians or Sons of Light.

  “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).

iterative deepening "algorithm" A {graph} search {algorithm} that will find the shortest path with some given property, even when the graph contains {cycles}. When searching for a path through a graph, starting at a given initial {node}, where the path (or its end node) has some desired property, a {depth-first search} may never find a solution if it enters a cycle in the graph. Rather than avoiding cycles (i.e. never extend a path with a node it already contains), iterative deepening explores all paths up to length (or "depth") N, starting from N=0 and increasing N until a solution is found. (2004-01-26)

::: **"It is therefore necessary from the beginning to understand and accept the arduous difficulty of the path and to feel the need of a faith which to the intellect may seem blind, but yet is wiser than our reasoning intelligence. For this faith is a support from above; it is the brilliant shadow thrown by a secret light that exceeds the intellect and its data; it is the heart of a hidden knowledge that is not at the mercy of immediate appearances.” The Synthesis of Yoga

“It is therefore necessary from the beginning to understand and accept the arduous difficulty of the path and to feel the need of a faith which to the intellect may seem blind, but yet is wiser than our reasoning intelligence. For this faith is a support from above; it is the brilliant shadow thrown by a secret light that exceeds the intellect and its data; it is the heart of a hidden knowledge that is not at the mercy of immediate appearances.” The Synthesis of Yoga

It observes and distinguishes the different elements of our appa- rent or phenomenal being and rejecting identification with each of them arrives at their exclusion and separation in one common term as constituents of Prakrit!, of phenomenal Nature, crea- tions of Maya, the phenomenal consciousness. So it is able to arrive at its right ideotiflcadon with the pure and unique Self which is not mutable or perishable, not determinable by any phenomenon or combination of phenomena. From this point the path, as ordinarily followed, leads to the rejection of the phenomenal worlds from the consciousness as an illusion and the final immergence without return of the individual soul in the supreme.

It will be seen that the scope we give to the idea of renunciation is different from the meaning currently attached to it. Currently its meaning is self-denial, inhibition of pleasure, rejection of the objects of pleasure. Self-denial is a necessary discipline for the soul of man, because his heart is ignorantly attached; inhibition of pleasure is necessary because his sense is caught and clogged in the mud-honey of sensuous satisfactions; rejection of the objects of pleasure is imposed because the mind fixes on the object and will not leave it to go beyond it and within itself. If the mind of man were not thus ignorant, attached, bound even in its restless inconstancy, deluded by the forms of things, renunciation would not have been needed; the soul could have travelled on the path of delight, from the lesser to the greater, from joy to diviner joy. At present that is not practicable. It must give up from within everything to which it is attached in order that it may gain that which they are in their reality. The external renunciation is not the essential, but even that is necessary for a time, indispensable in many things and sometimes useful in all; we may even say that a complete external renunciation is a stage through which the soul must pass at some period of its progress,—though always it should be without those self-willed violences and fierce self-torturings which are an offence to the Divine seated within us. But in the end this renunciation or self-denial is always an instrument and the period for its use passes. The rejection of the object ceases to be necessary when the object can no longer ensnare us because what the soul enjoys is no longer the object as an object but the Divine which it expresses; the inhibition of pleasure is no longer needed when the soul no longer seeks pleasure but possesses the delight of the Divine in all things equally without the need of a personal or physical possession of the thing itself; self-denial loses its field when the soul no longer claims anything, but obeys consciously the will of the one Self in all beings.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 333


japa. (T. bzlas brjod; C. niansong; J. nenju; K. yomsong 念誦). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "recitation"; usually oral recitations of invocations or MANTRAs, often counted by fingering a rosary (JAPAMĀLĀ). The various merits forthcoming from specific numbers of such recitations are related in different scriptures. The number of such recitations to be performed in a single sitting is often related to specific numerical lists, such as varying rosters of stages on the BODHISATTVA path. The recitation would then constitute a reenactment of the path, or a process of purification. Perhaps the most common number across traditions is 108, but these numbers range from as few as seven, to fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-seven, thirty-six, forty-two, or fifty-four, up to as many as 1,080. The common figure of 108 is typically said to correspond to a list of 108 proclivities or afflictions (see KLEsA), although other texts say it refers instead to lists of 108 enlightened ones or 108 SAMĀDHIs; 1,080 would then constitute these 108 across all the ten directions (DAsADIs). (See also other explanations in JAPAMĀLĀ, s.v.)

jianhuo. (J. kenwaku; K. kyonhok 見惑). In Chinese, "misapprehensions associated with views"; false impressions acquired and developed as a result of wrong views (MITHYĀDṚstI). These are the kinds of attachments, confused ways of thinking, and unwholesome mental states that are induced and facilitated by fallacious views and conceptions, and a failure to grasp properly the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). These misapprehensions are therefore also called misapprehensions that "arise from discriminative cognition" (fengbie qi). And because it is said that at the moment when one attains the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), one is no longer under the sway of wrong views (mithyādṛsti)-e.g., personality view (SATKĀYADṚstI), the extreme views of eternalism or annihilationism, belief in the spiritual efficacy of rituals and superstitions (sĪLAVRATAPARĀMARsA)-these misapprehensions are also called "the misapprehensions [eradicated at the stage of the path] of vision" (darsanaheya, one of the Sanskrit terms that jianhuo translates). Compared with "the misapprehensions [eradicated at the stage of the path] of cultivation" (see SIHUO), the jianhuo are crude and can be cut off at the relatively early stage of stream-entry (SROTAĀPANNA).

jianxing. (J. kensho; K. kyonsong 見性). In Chinese, "see one's nature"; an expression used in the CHAN school to refer to the recognition of one's innate buddha-nature (FOXING), often through sudden awakening (DUNWU). This recognition of the fact that one is inherently a buddha constitutes enlightenment (BODHI) in some Chan systems. In two-tiered models of the MĀRGA followed in some Chan schools (see DUNWU JIANXIU), this initial insight into one's true nature is called the "understanding-awakening" (JIEWU) and is functionally equivalent to the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) in ABHIDHARMA path systems; it is not, however, sufficient in itself to generate the complete, perfect enlightenment of buddhahood (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI). See also KANHUA CHAN.

jiewu. (J. gego; K. haeo 解悟). In Chinese, "understanding-awakening"; the most elementary of the two types of awakening (C. WU; S. BODHI) discussed in some CHAN schools, equivalent to "seeing the nature" (JIANXING). This type of awakening is achieved through a sudden awakening (DUNWU) that marks the inception of the path (MĀRGA), variously described as being the equivalent of the beginning of either the ten faiths (sRADDHĀ) or the ten abidings (VIHĀRA) (see BHuMI), and is functionally equivalent to the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) in ABHIDHARMA path systems. Through this initial comprehension one's true nature, the Chan adept comes to know that he is not a deluded sentient being but is in fact a buddha. Simply knowing that one is a buddha through this sudden awakening of understanding, however, is not sufficient in itself to generate the complete, perfect enlightenment of buddhahood (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI) that ensures that one will always be able to act as a buddha. Only after continued gradual cultivation (JIANXIU) following this initial understanding-awakening will one remove the habituations (VĀSANĀ) that have been engrained in the mind for an essentially infinite amount of time, so that one will not only be a buddha, but will be able to act as one as well. That point where knowledge and action fully correspond marks the final "realization-awakening" (ZHENGWU). This two-tiered approach to awakening is the hallmark of the sudden awakening/gradual cultivation (DUNWU JIANXIU) path schema of certain Chan masters, such as GUIFENG ZONGMI (780-841) in the Chinese Heze school of Chan and POJO CHINUL (1158-1210) of the Korean CHOGYE CHONG.

Jīvakasutta. In Pāli, "Discourse to Jīvaka," fifty-fifth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (there is no equivalent recension in the Chinese translations of the ĀGAMAs). The Buddha addressed this discourse to his physician, JĪVAKA Komārabhacca, while he dwelled in the physician's mango grove in Rājagaha (S. RĀJAGṚHA). Jīvaka inquires whether it is true that the Buddha eats meat prepared for him from animals killed for his sake, or whether this is a misrepresentation of his practice. The Buddha explains that there are three instances when a monk should not eat meat that has been offered to him: when it is heard, seen, or suspected that a living creature has been intentionally slaughtered to feed him. Apart from these three exceptions, a monk is permitted to accept and eat meat. He further explains that a monk should not show preference for one kind of food over another, nor be greedy in eating. Rather he should eat what he receives dispassionately, noting that food is eaten only to sustain the health of the body in order vigorously to pursue the path to liberation. Pleased by the discourse, Jīvaka Komārabhacca dedicates himself as a lay disciple of the buddha.

jNānadarsana. (P. Nānadassana; T. ye shes mthong ba; C. zhijian; J. chiken; K. chigyon 知見). In Sanskrit, "knowledge and vision"; the direct insight into the reality of the three marks of existence (TRILAKsAnA)-impermanence (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself/insubstantiality (ANĀTMAN)-and one of the qualities perfected on the path leading to the stage of a worthy one (ARHAT). The term often appears in a stock description of the transition from the meditative absorption that is experienced during the four levels of DHYĀNA to the insight generated through wisdom (PRAJNĀ): after suffusing one's mind with concentration, purity, malleability, and imperturbability, the meditator directs his or her attention to "knowledge and vision." In this vision of truth, the meditator then recognizes that the self (ĀTMAN) is but the conjunction of a physical body constructed from the four great elements (MAHĀBHuTA) and a mentality (VIJNĀNA, CITTA) that is bound to and dependent upon that physical body (see NĀMARuPA). Letting go of attachment to body and mind, the meditator finally gains the knowledge that he is no longer subject to rebirth and becomes an arhat. The Pāli abhidhamma includes "knowledge and vision" within the last three types of purifications of practice (P. visuddhi; S. VIsUDDHI): the fifth "purification of the knowledge and vision of what constitutes the path" (P. MAGGĀMAGGANĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), the sixth "purification of the knowledge and vision of the method of salvation" (P. PAtIPADĀNĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), and finally the seventh "purification of knowledge and vision" itself (P. NĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), which constitutes the pure wisdom that derives from the experience of enlightenment. In the MAHĀYĀNA, the perfection of knowledge and vision (jNānadarsanapāramitā) is also said to be an alternate name for the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ), one of the six or ten perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) of the BODHISATTVA path.

jnana marg&

Jnana Yoga ::: The Path of Knowledge aims at the realisation of the unique and supreme Self. It proceeds by the method of intellectual
   reflection, vicara, to right discrimination, viveka. It observes and distinguishes the different elements of our apparent or phenomenal being and rejecting identification with each of them arrives at their exclusion and separation in one common term as constituents of Prakriti, of phenomenal Nature, creations of Maya, the phenomenal consciousness. So it is able to arrive at its right identification with the pure and unique Self which is not mutable or perishable, not determinable by any phenomenon or combination of phenomena. From this point the path, as ordinarily followed, leads to the rejection of the phenomenal worlds from the consciousness as an illusion and the final immergence without return of the individual soul in the Supreme. But this exclusive consummation is not the sole or inevitable result of the Path of Knowledge. For, followed more largely and with a less individual aim, the method of Knowledge may lead to an active conquest of the cosmic existence for the Divine no less than to a transcendence. The point of this departure is the realisation of the supreme Self not only in one’s own being but in all beings and, finally, the realisation of even the phenomenal aspects of the world as a play of the divine consciousness and not something entirely alien to its true nature. And on the basis of this realisation a yet further enlargement is possible, the conversion of all forms of knowledge, however mundane, into activities of the divine consciousness utilisable for the perception of the one and unique Object of knowledge both in itself and through the play of its forms and symbols. Such a method might well lead to the elevation of the whole range of human intellect and perception to the divine level, to its spiritualisation and to the justification of the cosmic travail of knowledge in humanity.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 38-39


JNANA YOGA. ::: The Path of Knowledge aims at the reali- sation of the unique and supreme Self. It proceeds by the method of intellectual reflection, vicSra, to right discrimination, viveka.

jnana yogi. ::: the one who uses his mind to enquire into its own nature through the path of knowledge

Kaimokusho. (開目鈔). In Japanese, "Opening the Eyes"; one of the major writings of NICHIREN. Nichiren composed this treatise in 1273 while he was living in exile in a graveyard on Sado Island. Nichiren's motivation for writing this treatise is said to have come from the doubts that he came to harbor about the efficacy of the teachings of the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA due to the government's repeated persecution of him and his followers. The Kaimokusho details the reasons behind the persecutions: bad KARMAN from the past, the abandonment of the country by the gods (KAMI), life in the impure realm of SAHĀLOKA, and the trials and tribulations of the BODHISATTVA path. In the Kaimokusho, Nichiren professes to have overcome his doubts and welcomes the bodhisattva path of martyrdom. The treatise explains the path that leads to "opening the eyes" as a journey from the teachings of the heretics to those of the HĪNAYĀNA, the MAHĀYĀNA, and finally culminating in the teachings of the Saddharmapundarīkasutra (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI). According to Nichiren tradition, because Nichiren claims at the conclusion of the text to be the "sovereign, teacher, and mother and father to all the people of Japan," he has thus revealed himself to be the Buddha of the degenerate age of the dharma (MAPPo).

kaleidophone ::: --> An instrument invented by Professor Wheatstone, consisting of a reflecting knob at the end of a vibrating rod or thin plate, for making visible, in the motion of a point of light reflected from the knob, the paths or curves corresponding with the musical notes produced by the vibrations.

kankhāvitaranavisuddhi. In Pāli, "the purity of overcoming doubt"; the fourth of seven "purities" (VISUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation, according to the VISUDDHIMAGGA. The purity of overcoming doubt refers to the understanding of the conditions that give rise to name and form (NĀMARuPA), viz., mentality and materiality, with reference to the three time periods (S. TRIKĀLA) of past, present, and future. The practitioner notes that no instance of name and form arisen in the present came into being through the will of a creator, nor did it arise spontaneously by itself without a cause. Rather, the practitioner understands that everything that has arisen has occurred because of a specific cause or condition. Thus, the practitioner understands, for example, that, due to the contact of the eye sense base with a visible object, a moment of visual consciousness arises. In the same way, the practitioner understands that what has arisen in the present because of causes and conditions (HETUPRATYAYA) becomes the cause and condition for something arising in the future. This knowledge encompasses knowledge of the relationship between volitional action (KARMAN) and its result (VIPĀKA) and that future existence within the cycle of rebirth occurs as a result of volitional action. In addition, the practitioner clearly understands the distinction between volitional action and its result, that is, that there is neither volitional action in the result nor result in the volitional action. In this way, the practitioner overcomes doubt regarding causality underlying the appearance of name and form in relation to the three times.

karmamarga ::: [the path of works, karmayoga].

karma marg&

Karma Yoga ::: Aims at the dedication of every human activity to the supreme Will. It begins by the renunciation of all egoistic aim for our works, all pursuit of action for an interested aim or for the sake of a worldly result. By this renunciation it so purifies the mind and the will that we become easily conscious of the great universal Energy as the true doer of all our actions and the Lord of that Energy as their ruler and director with the individual as only a mask, an excuse, an instrument or, more positively, a conscious centre of action and phenomenal relation. The choice and direction of the act is more and more consciously left to this supreme Will and this universal Energy. To That our works as well as the results of our works are finally abandoned. The object is the release of the soul from its bondage to appearances and to the reaction of phenomenal activities. Karmayoga is used, like the other paths, to lead to liberation from phenomenal existence and a departure into the Supreme. But here too the exclusive result is not inevitable. The end of the path may be, equally, a perception of the Divine in all energies, in all happenings, in all activities, and a free and unegoistic participation of the soul in the cosmic action. So followed it will lead to the elevation of all human will and activity to the divine level, its spiritualisation and the justification of the cosmic labour towards freedom, power and perfection in the human being.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 39-40


KARMA YOGA. ::: It alms at the dedication of every human activity to the supreme Wilt. It begins by the renunciation of all egoistic aim for our works, all pursuit of action for an inter- ested aim or for the sake of a worldly result. By this renuncia- tion it so purifies the mind and the will that we become easily conscious of the great universal Energy as the true doer of all our actions and the Lord of that Energy as their ruler and director with the individual as only a mask, an excuse, an instrument or, more positively, a conscious centre^ of action and phenomenal relation. The choice and direction of the act is more and more consciously left to this supreme Will and this universal Energy. To that our works as well as the results of our works are finally abandoned. The object is the release of the soul from its bondage to appearances and to the reaction of phenomenal activities. Karmayoga is used, like the other paths, to lead to liberation from phenomenal existence and a departure into the Supreme. But here too the exclusive result is not inevitable. The end of the path may be, equally, a perception of the divine in all energies, in all happenings, in all activities, and a free and unegoislic participation of the soul in the cosmic action. So followed it will lead to the elevation of all human will and activity to the divine level, its spiritualisation and the

karunā. (T. snying rje; C. bei; J. hi; K. pi 悲). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "compassion," or "empathy"; the wish that others be free from suffering, as distinguished from loving-kindness (MAITRĪ; P. mettā), the wish that others be happy. Compassion is listed as the second of the four divine abidings (BRAHMAVIHĀRA) along with loving-kindness, empathetic joy (MUDITĀ), and equanimity (UPEKsĀ). As one of the forty topics of meditation (P. KAMMAttHĀNA), compassion is used only for the cultivation of tranquillity (sAMATHA), not insight (VIPAsYANĀ). Compassion is to be developed in the following manner: filling one's mind with compassion, one pervades the world with it, first in one direction, then in a second direction, then a third, a fourth, then above, below, and all around. Of the four divine abidings, compassion, along with loving-kindness and empathetic joy, is capable of producing the first three of the four stages of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). This mainstream Buddhist notion of compassion is to be distinguished from the "great compassion" (MAHĀKARUnĀ) of the BODHISATTVA, whose compassion inspires them to develop BODHICITTA, the aspiration to achieve buddhahood in order to liberate all beings from suffering. This great compassion is distinguished both by its scope (all sentient beings) and its agency (one personally seeks to remove the suffering of others). Great compassion thus becomes the primary motivating force that enables the BODHISATTVA to endure the three infinite eons (ASAMKHYEYAKALPA) necessary to consummate the path to buddhahood. In Mahāyāna literature, numerous techniques are set forth to develop compassion, including acknowledging the kindness one has received from other beings in past lifetimes.

ksānti. (P. khanti; T. bzod pa; C. renru; J. ninniku; K. inyok 忍辱). In Sanskrit, "patience," "steadfastness," or "endurance"; alt. "forbearance," "acceptance," or "receptivity." Ksānti is the third of the six (or ten) perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) mastered on the BODHISATTVA path; it also constitutes the third of the "aids to penetration" (NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA), which are developed during the "path of preparation" (PRAYOGAMĀRGA) and mark the transition from the mundane sphere of cultivation (LAUKIKA-BHĀVANĀMĀRGA) to the supramundane vision (DARsANA) of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). The term has several discrete denotations in Buddhist literature. The term often refers to various aspects of the patience and endurance displayed by the bodhisattva in the course of his career: for example, his ability to bear all manner of abuse from sentient beings; to bear all manner of hardship over the course of the path to buddhahood without ever losing his commitment to liberate all beings from SAMSĀRA; and not to be overwhelmed by the profound nature of reality but instead to be receptive or acquiescent to it. This last denotation of ksānti is also found, for example, in the "receptivity to the fact of suffering" (duḥkhe dharmajNānaksānti; see DHARMAKsĀNTI), the first of the sixteen moments of realization of the four noble truths, in which the adept realizes the reality of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and nonself and thus overcomes all doubts about the truth of suffering; this acceptance marks the inception of the DARsANAMĀRGA and the entrance into sanctity (ĀRYA). Ksānti as the third of the aids to penetration (nirvedhabhagīya) is distinguished from the fourth, highest worldly dharmas (LAUKIKĀGRADHARMA), only by the degree to which the validity of the four noble truths is understood: this understanding is still somewhat cursory at the stage of ksānti but is fully formed with laukikāgradharma.

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.

kusalamula. (P. kusalamula; T. dge ba'i rtsa ba; C. shangen; J. zengon; K. son'gŭn 善根). In Sanskrit, the term "wholesome faculties," or "roots of virtue," refers to the cumulative meritorious deeds performed by an individual throughout his or her past lives. Different schools offer various lists of these wholesome faculties. The most common list is threefold: nongreed (ALOBHA), nonhatred (ADVEsA), and nondelusion (AMOHA)-all factors that encourage such wholesome actions (KARMAN) as giving (DĀNA), keeping precepts, and learning the dharma. These three factors thus will fructify as happiness in the future and will provide the foundation for liberation (VIMUKTI). These three wholesome roots are the converse of the three unwholesome faculties, or "roots of nonvirtue" (AKUsALAMuLA), viz., greed (LOBHA), hatred (DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA), which lead instead to unhappiness or even perdition. In place of this simple threefold list, the VAIBHĀsIKA school of ABHIDHARMA offers three separate typologies of kusalamulas. The first class is the "wholesome roots associated with merit" (punyabhāgīya-kusalamula), which lead to rebirth in the salutary realms of humans or heavenly divinities (DEVA). These include such qualities as faith, energy, and decency and modesty, the foundations of moral progress. Second are the "wholesome roots associated with liberation" (MOKsABHĀGĪYA-KUsALAMuLA), which eventually lead to PARINIRVĀnA. These are factors associated with the truth of the path (MĀRGASATYA) or various factors conducive to liberation. Third are the "wholesome roots associated with spiritual penetration" (NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA-kusalamula), which are the four aspects of the direct path of preparation (PRAYOGAMĀRGA): heat (usMAN), summit (MuRDHAN), receptivity (KsĀNTI), and highest worldly dharmas (LAUKIKĀGRADHARMA). These nirvedhabhāgīyas open access to the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), where the first stage of sanctity, stream-entry (SROTAĀPANNA), is won. The nirvedhabhāgīya differ so markedly from the two previous categories of wholesome roots that they are often listed independently as the four wholesome faculties (catvāri kusalamulāni). The wholesome roots may be dedicated toward a specific aim, such as rebirth in a heavenly realm; toward the benefit of a specific person, such as a parent or relative; or toward the achievement of buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings.

lam 'bras. (lamdre). In Tibetan, lit. "path and result." The central tantric system of the SA SKYA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, derived from the HEVAJRATANTRA and transmitted to Tibet by 'BROG MI SHĀKYA YE SHES. The system was first set down in written form by the first of the five Sa skya hierarchs, SA CHEN KUN DGA' SNYING PO of the aristocratic 'Khon family. There are two exegetical traditions, first, the slob bshad (lopshe), or "explanation for disciples," was originally reserved for members of the 'Khon family, and the second, the tshogs bshad (tsokshe), or "explanation in the assembly," was for a wider audience. The preliminary practices of the lam 'bras are taught under the rubric of the snang ba gsum (nangwa sum) "three appearances" (impure, yogic, and pure) that systematize the topics found in the fundamental Sa skya teaching called "parting from the four attachments" (zhen pa bzhi bral) (see SA CHEN KUN DGA' SNYING PO). These topics are covered in other Tibetan sects under different such names as BSTAN RIM, LAM RIM ("stages of the path"), and so on. The second, the tantric part of the system, requires consecration and includes the practice of esoteric yogas. The practices convey to the practitioner the insight that the nature of the basis (gzhi), path (lam), and result ('bras bu) is the same, and that liberation through the practice of coemergent knowledge (lhan cig skyes pa'i ye shes)-i.e., the enlightened body, speech, and mind-is indivisible from the basis.

Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. See BODHIPATHAPRADĪPA.

Lam rim bsdus don. (Lamrim Düdon). In Tibetan, "Concise Meaning of the Stages of the Path"; also called Lam rim chung ngu or "Brief Stages of the Path." The shortest of three major treatises on the stages of the path to awakening (LAM RIM) composed by the renowned Tibetan scholar TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA. The text is written in verse form, based upon the author's own meditative experiences. For that reason, it is often called the Lam rim nyams mgur ma or "Song of Experience of the Stages of the Path."

Lam rim chen mo. In Tibetan, "Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path"; the abbreviated title for one of the best-known works on Buddhist thought and practice in Tibet, composed by the Tibetan luminary TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA in 1402 at the central Tibetan monastery of RWA SGRENG. A lengthy treatise belonging to the LAM RIM, or stages of the path, genre of Tibetan Buddhist literature, the LAM RIN CHEN MO takes its inspiration from numerous earlier writings, most notably the BODHIPATHAPRADĪPA ("Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment") by the eleventh-century Bengali master ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNĀNA. It is the most extensive treatment of three principal stages that Tsong kha pa composed. The others include (1) the LAM RIM CHUNG BA ("Short Treatise on the Stages of the Path"), also called the Lam rim 'bring ba ("Intermediate Treatise on the States of the Path") and (2) the LAM RIM BSDUS DON ("Concise Meaning of the Stages of the Path"), occasionally also referred to as the Lam rim chung ngu ("Brief Stages of the Path"). The latter text, which records Tsong kha pa's own realization of the path in verse form, is also referred to as the Lam rim nyams mgur ma ("Song of Experience of the Stages of the Path"). The LAM RIM CHEN MO is a highly detailed and often technical treatise presenting a comprehensive and synthetic overview of the path to buddhahood. It draws, often at length, upon a wide range of scriptural sources including the SuTRA and sĀSTRA literature of both the HĪNAYĀNA and MAHĀYĀNA; Tsong kha pa treats tantric practice in a separate work. The text is organized under the rubric of the three levels of spiritual predilection, personified as "the three individuals" (skyes bu gsum): the beings of small capacity, who engage in religious practice in order to gain a favorable rebirth in their next lifetime; the beings of intermediate capacity, who seek liberation from rebirth for themselves as an ARHAT; and the beings of great capacity, who seek to liberate all beings in the universe from suffering and thus follow the bodhisattva path to buddhahood. Tsong kha pa's text does not lay out all the practices of these three types of persons but rather those practices essential to the bodhisattva path that are held in common by persons of small and intermediate capacity, such as the practice of refuge (sARAnA) and contemplation of the uncertainty of the time of death. The text includes extended discussions of topics such as relying on a spiritual master, the development of BODHICITTA, and the six perfections (PĀRAMITĀ). The last section of the text, sometimes regarded as a separate work, deals at length with the nature of serenity (sAMATHA) and insight (VIPAsYANĀ); Tsong kha pa's discussion of insight here represents one of his most important expositions of emptiness (suNYATĀ). Primarily devoted to exoteric Mahāyāna doctrine, the text concludes with a brief reference to VAJRAYĀNA and the practice of tantra, a subject discussed at length by Tsong kha pa in a separate work, the SNGAGS RIM CHEN MO ("Stages of the Path of Mantra"). The Lam rim chen mo's full title is Skyes bu gsum gyi rnyams su blang ba'i rim pa thams cad tshang bar ston pa'i byang chub lam gyi rim pa.

Lam rim chung ba. (Lamrim Chungwa). In Tibetan, "Short Treatise on the Stages of the Path"; also called Lam rim 'bring ba ("Intermediate Treatise on the Stages of the Path"); the middle-length of three major treatises on LAM RIM, or stages of the path, composed by the renowned Tibetan luminary TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA. It is about half the size of the author's classic LAM RIM CHEN MO ("Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path"), and also less formal. He wrote this work in 1415, some thirteen years after Lam rim chen mo. Although the first sections of the text are largely a summary of what appears in Lam rim chen mo, the section on insight (VIPAsYANĀ) is substantially different from what appears in Tsong kha pa's earlier and longer work, changing the order of the presentation and adding dozens of quotations from Indian works that he did not use in Lam rim chen mo. Perhaps the most important contribution of this later work is its discussion of the two truths (SATYADVAYA) found in the vipasyanā section.

Lam rim gser zhun ma. (Lamrim Sershunma). In Tibetan, "Stages of the Path [like] Refined Gold"; a famous LAM RIM, or stages of the path, text composed by the third DALAI LAMA BSOD NAMS RGYA MTSHO constituting a "word commentary" (tshig 'grel) on TSONG KHA PA BLO BZANG GRAGS PA's LAM RIM BSDUS DON ("Concise Meaning of the Stages of the Path").

lam rim. In Tibetan, "stages of the path"; a common abbreviation for byang chub lam gyi rim pa (jangchup lamkyi rimpa), or "stages of the path to enlightenment," a broad methodological framework for the study and practice of the complete Buddhist path to awakening, as well as the name for a major genre of Tibetan literature describing that path. It is closely allied to the genre known as BSTAN RIM, or "stages of the doctrine." The initial inspiration for the instructions of this system is usually attributed to the Bengali master ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNĀNA, whose BODHIPATHAPRADĪPA ("Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment") became a model for numerous later stages of the path texts. The system presents a graduated and comprehensive approach to studying the central tenets of MAHĀYĀNA Buddhist thought and is often organized around a presentation of the three levels of spiritual predilection, personified as "three individuals" (skyes bu gsum): lesser, intermediate, and superior. The stages gradually lead the student from the lowest level of seeking merely to obtain a better rebirth, through the intermediate level of wishing for one's own individual liberation, and finally to adopting the MAHĀYĀNA outlook of the "superior individual," viz., aspiring to attain buddhahood in order to benefit all living beings. The approach is most often grounded in the teachings of the sutra and usually concludes with a brief overview of TANTRA. Although usually associated with the DGE LUGS sect, stages of the path literature is found within all the major sects of Tibetan Buddhism. One common Dge lugs tradition identifies eight major stages of the path treatises:

Lam rim 'jam dpal zhal lung. (Lamrim Jampal Shelung). In Tibetan, "Stages of the Path [which are] the Instructions of MaNjusrī"; an important LAM RIM, or stages of the path, treatise composed by the fifth DALAI LAMA NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO.

Lam rim snying gu. (Lamrim Nyingu). In Tibetan, "Essential Stages of the Path"; an important LAM RIM, or stages of the path, treatise composed by Dwags po Ngag dbang grags pa (Dakpo Ngawang Drakpa, born c. 1450).

Lam rim thar pa'i lag skyang. (Lamrim Tharpe Lakyang). In Tibetan, "Stages of the Path [which are like] Liberation in the Palm of One's Hand"; a well-known LAM RIM, or stages of the path, treatise written by the twentieth-century DGE LUGS scholar Pha bong ka Byams pa bstan 'dzin 'phrin las rgya mtsho (Pabongka Jampa Tendzin Trinle Gyatso, 1878-1941).

Lamrin (Tibetan) lam rim. Stages of the path; the name for a genre of Tibetan Buddhist literature. The most famous such work is Tsong-kha-pa’s Lam rim chen mo, which claims to be based on the earliest such work, the Bodhipathapradipa by Atisha (Dipamkara-shrijnana).

laukikāgradharma. (T. 'jig rten pa'i chos kyi mchog; C. shidiyifa; J. sedaiippo; K. sejeilbop 世第一法). In Sanskrit, "highest worldly factors," the fourth of the "aids to penetration" (NIRVEDHABHĀGĪYA), which are developed during the "path of preparation" (PRAYOGAMĀRGA) and mark the transition from the mundane sphere of cultivation (LAUKIKAMĀRGA) to the supramundane vision (DARsANA) of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS (catvāry āryasatyāni). This aid to penetration receives its name because these factors (DHARMA) constitute the highest mundane stage prior to the attainment of the first noble (ĀRYA) path, the "path of vision" (DARsANAMĀRGA). There were rival definitions within MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS and among VAIBHĀsIKA teachers themselves about which factors constituted the laukikāgradharma; the orthodox view of the dominant Kashmiri branch was that the laukikāgradharma were those factors involving mind (CITTA) and mental concomitants (CAITTA) that immediately catalyze the abandonment of mundane stages of existence and induce "access to the certainty that one will eventually win liberation" (SAMYAKTVANIYĀMĀVAKRĀNTI). Emerging from the stage of laukikāgradharmas, there is a single moment of "acquiescence to the fact of suffering" (duḥkhe dharmajNānaksānti) at the first (of the sixteen) moments of realization of the four noble truths, which then leads inexorably in the next instant to the path of vision (darsanamārga), which constitutes stream-entry (SROTAĀPANNA), the first of the four stages of sanctity. Thus, the laukikāgradharmas represent the final thought-moment of the ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) before one attains the "supreme" fruit of recluseship (sRĀMAnYAPHALA). ¶ In the Mahāyāna reformulation of ABHIDHARMA in the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ) tradition based on the ABHISAMAYĀLAMKĀRA, the laukikāgradharma is divided into three parts, a smaller, middling, and final part, within a larger presentation of a path of vision (darsanamārga) that knows "the lack of self of phenomena" (DHARMANAIRĀTMYA), i.e., that even the knowledge of the four noble truths is itself without any essential ultimate truth. According to this Mahāyāna abhidharma presentation, the path counteracts not just the mistaken apprehension of the four noble truths of suffering, origination, cessation, and path but also a series of thirty-eight object and subject conceptualizations (GRĀHYAGRĀHAKAVIKALPA). The three parts of the bodhisattva's laukikāgradharma, each divided again into three, counteract the last set of nine "pure" subject conceptualizations of an essentialized liberated person who experiences a liberating vision.

laukikamārga. (T. 'jig rten pa'i lam; C. shijiandao; J. sekendo; K. segando 世間道). In Sanskrit, lit. "mundane path," those practices that precede the moment of insight (DARsANAMĀRGA) and thus result in a salutary rebirth in SAMSĀRA rather than liberation (VIMUKTI); also called laukika-BHĀVANĀMĀRGA (the mundane path of cultivation). In the five-stage soteriology of the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school, the mundane path corresponds to the first two stages, the path of accumulation (SAMBHĀRAMĀRGA) and the path of preparation (PRAYOGAMĀRGA), because they do not involve the direct perception of reality that transforms an ordinary person (PṚTHAGJANA) into a noble one (ĀRYA). The mundane path is developed when a practitioner has begun to cultivate the three trainings (TRIsIKsĀ) of morality (sĪLA), concentration (SAMĀDHI), and wisdom (PRAJNĀ) but has yet to eradicate any of the ten fetters (SAMYOJANA) or to achieve insight (DARsANA). The eightfold path (ĀRYĀstĀnGAMĀRGA) is also formulated in terms of the spiritual ascension from mundane (LAUKIKA) to supramundane (LOKOTTARA). For example, mundane right view (SAMYAGDṚstI), the first stage of the eightfold path, refers to the belief in the efficacy of KARMAN and its effects and the reality of a next life after death, thus leading to better rebirths; wrong view (MITHYĀDṚstI), by contrast, denies such beliefs and leads to unsalutary rebirths. After continuing on to cultivate the moral trainings of right speech, action, and livelihood based on this right view, the practitioner next devotes himself to right concentration (SAMYAKSAMĀDHI). Concentration then leads in turn to supramundane right view, which results in direct insight into the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS and the removal of the initial fetters. ¶ In the MADHYĀNTAVIBHĀGA, a Mahāyāna work associated with the name of MAITREYA, the eightfold path is reformulated as a "worldly" path that a bodhisattva treads after the path of vision (darsanamārga), on the model of the Buddha's work for the world after his awakening beneath the BODHI TREE in BODHGAYĀ. The bodhisattva's supramundane vision, described by the seven factors of enlightenment (BODHYAnGA), is an equipoise (SAMĀHITA) in which knowledge is beyond all proliferation (PRAPANCA) and conceptualization (VIKALPA); the states subsequent (pṛsthalabdha) to that equipoise are characterized as the practice of skillful means (UPĀYA) to lead others to liberation, on the model of the Buddha's compassionate activities for the sake of others. The practice serves to accumulate the bodhisattva's merit collection (PUnYASAMBHĀRA); there is no further vision to be gained, only a return to the vision in the supramundane stages characterized as the fundamental (maula) stages of the ten bodhisattva stages (BODHISATTVABHuMI) or a supramundane cultivation (lokottarabhāvanā). All other acts are laukika ("worldly") skillful means.

laukika. (P. lokiya; T. 'jig rten pa; C. shijian; J. seken; K. segan 世間). In Sanskrit, "mundane" or "worldly"; anything pertaining to the ordinary world or to the practices of unenlightened sentient beings (PṚTHAGJANA) in distinction from the noble ones (ĀRYA), who have directly perceived reality. The "worldly" embraces all the contaminated (SĀSRAVA) or conditioned (SAMSKṚTA) phenomena of the three realms of existence (LOKADHĀTU), since these are subject to impermanence (anityatā). In the context of the status of practitioners, laukika refers to ordinary sentient beings (pṛthagjana); more specifically, in the fifty-two-stage BODHISATTVA path, laukika usually indicates practitioners who are at the stage of the ten faiths (C. shixin), ten understandings (C. shijie), or ten practices (C. shixing), while "supramundane" (LOKOTTARA) refers to more enlightened practitioners, such as bodhisattvas who are on the ten stages (DAsABHuMI). But even seemingly transcendent dharmas can be considered mundane if they are changeable by nature, e.g., in the MADHYAMAKA (C. SAN LUN ZONG) exegete JIZANG's (549-623) Shengman baoku ("Treasure Store of the sRĪMĀLĀDEVĪSIMHANĀDASuTRA"); mind-made bodies (MANOMAYAKĀYA) produced by bodhisattvas on the eighth through the tenth bodhisattva stages (see BODHISATTVABHuMI; DAsABHuMI) may still be designated "mundane" because they are subject to change. FAZANG's HUAYAN WUJIAO ZHANG ("Essay on the Five Teachings According to Huayan") parses these stages even more precisely: of the ten stages (dasabhumi) of the path leading to buddhahood, stages one through three belong to the mundane (laukika); the fourth to the seventh stages are supramundane (lokottara) from the standpoint of the three vehicles (TRIYĀNA) of sRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and BODHISATTVA; and the eighth to the tenth stages transcend even the supramundane and belong to the one vehicle (EKAYĀNA). In Indian YOGĀCĀRA and MADHYAMAKA works, and commonly in the Tibetan commentarial tradition, laukika and lokottara are used to differentiate paths in the mindstreams of noble (ĀRYA) beings in any vehicle (YĀNA), who have directly witnessed the true reality (TATTVA) of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. The last instants before the lokottara stage are given the name LAUKIKĀGRADHARMA (highest worldly factors); this is the last stage of the PRAYOGAMĀRGA in the five path (PANCAMĀRGA) system. The ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA says that the first lokottaradharma, the first instant of the sixteen-instant path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA), happens in a single meditative sitting. Even after the supramundane awakening, all subsequent attainments (PṚstHALABDHA) are mundane, with the exception of the knowledge in equipoise (SAMĀHITAJNĀNA) when the initial vision is revisited in a process of habituation, leading to a union of subsequent states and equipoise in the final lokottara experience of full enlightenment.

Left-hand Path or path of shadows, those taking it called in theosophy brothers of the shadow. One of the two fundamental paths or courses in nature, the left-hand path or path of matter in contrast to the right-hand path or path of spirit. Shadow signifies matter, for spirit may be considered to be pure energy, and matter, although essentially crystallized spirit, may be looked upon as the shadow world or vehicular world in which the energy, spirit, or pure light works. Matter is but a generalizing term, comprised of an almost infinite number of degrees of increasing ethereality from the grossest physical substance, or absolute matter, up to the most ethereal or spiritualized substance, providing the logic of calling this the path of shadows. Those on this path are often called black magicians in contrast to white magicians or sons of light who follow the path of self-renunciation, self-conquest, and an expansion of the heart, mind, and consciousness in love and service for all that lives.

linga. (T. mtshan/rtags; C. xiang/shengzhi; J. so/shoshi; K. sang/saengji 相/生支). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "sign" or "mark," a polysemous term with three major denotations in Buddhist materials: (1) the distinguishing characteristic of a given phenomena, (2) the reason in a syllogism (PRAYOGA), and (3) a denominator of gender and specifically the male sexual organ. In the MAHĀYĀNA, in particular, the signs that a BODHISATTVA will not turn back (avaivartikalinga) on the path to full enlightenment are described in great detail; best known are the tears and horripilation that occur spontaneously in a true bodhisattva who hears a particular Mahāyāna SuTRA for the first time, or when listening to an explanation of BODHICITTA and suNYATĀ. In a syllogism, according to DIGNĀGA, a true mark (linga) meets three prerequisites (trairupya): it must be a property of the logical subject (PAKsADHARMA), and there must be positive (anvaya) and negative concomitance (VYATIREKA). For example, in a standard syllogistic formulation, "sound (the logical subject) is impermanent because it is a product (the mark)," being a product is a property of the logical subject: there is positive concomitance between a product and impermanence (ANITYA), i.e., perishing in the next moment, and there is negative concomitance between being permanent and not being a product. As a denominator of gender, linga also refers to the gender of letters and words (male, female, and neuter). In TANTRA, linga refers to the gender of deities in MAndALAs and defines their hand implements and the specific practices associated with the deities; in some cases, particularly in the RNYING MA VAJRAKĪLAYA tantras, as in saivism, linga refers specifically to the male sexual organ.

Lipika (Sanskrit) Lipika [from the verbal root lip to write] A scribe; divine beings connected with karma, recorders who impress on the astral light a record of every act and thought, great or small, in the phenomenal universe. The lipika are active cosmic karmic intelligences, the highest class of architects, which lay down from manvantara to manvantara the tracks of karmic evolution to be followed by all evolving entities within the manvantara about to begin; and these tracks are rigidly begun, and their direction controlled, by the endpoint of the paths of karmic achievement in the preceding manvantara. They “project into objectivity from the passive Universal Mind the ideal plan of the universe, upon which the ‘Builders’ reconstruct the Kosmos after every Pralaya, . . . it is they who are the direct amanuenses of the Eternal Ideation — or, as called by Plato, the ‘Divine Thought’ ” (SD 1:104). The lipika thus are in every sense the agents of karmic destiny, for they are both the vehicles of divine ideation in their work, and yet the expressions of karmic law arising in the past and projected on the background of the future. Their intelligence and vitality permeate their particular universe and all the beings in it, so that the lipikas are stamped with whatever takes place.

Lokesvararāja. (T. 'Jig rten dbang phyug rgyal po; C. Guanzizai wang rulai/Shizizai wang fo; J. Kanjizaio nyorai/Sejizaio butsu; K. Kwanjajae wang yorae/Sejajae wang pul 觀自在王如來/世自在王佛). Sanskrit proper name of one of the fifty-three buddhas of the past listed in the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA (Wuliangshou jing); Lokesvararāja is the one who displayed millions of buddha fields (BUDDHAKsETRA) to DHARMĀKARA and who gave the monk the prediction of his future buddhahood (VYĀKARAnA). Dharmakāra then selected the best qualities of each of these buddha lands and combined them into his conception of a single buddha field, which he described to Lokesvararāja in terms of forty-eight vows. Dharmakāra subsequently completed the path of the bodhisattva to become the buddha AMITĀBHA, and his buddha field, or PURE LAND, became SUKHĀVATĪ.

lokottara. (P. lokuttara; T. 'jig rten las 'das pa; C. chushijian; J. shusseken; K. ch'ulsegan 出世間). In Sanskrit, lit. "beyond the world"; "supramundane," "transcendent"; viz., something that is related to attaining liberation (VIMOKsA) from SAMSĀRA or that leads to such liberation. The term also can indicate a certain level of spiritual maturity, such as when the practitioner is no longer subject to the contaminants (ĀSRAVA). In the context of the status of practitioners, mundane (LAUKIKA) refers to ordinary beings; more specifically, in the fifty-two stage bodhisattva path, laukika usually indicates practitioners who are at the stage of the ten faiths (C. shixin), ten understandings (C. shijie), or ten practices (C. shixing), while "supramundane" (lokottara) refers to more enlightened practitioners, such as BODHISATTVAs who are on the ten stages (DAsABHuMI). FAZANG's HUAYAN WUJIAO ZHANG ("Essay on the Five Teachings according to Huayan") parses these stages even more precisely: of the ten stages (dasabhumi) of the path leading to buddhahood, stages one through three belong to the mundane (laukika); the fourth to the seventh stages are supramundane from the standpoint of the three vehicles (TRIYĀNA) of sRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and BODHISATTVA; and the eighth to the tenth stages transcend even the supramundane and belong to the one vehicle (EKAYĀNA). The LOKOTTARAVĀDA (Teaching of Transcendence), a subschool of the MAHĀSĀMGHIKA school of mainstream Buddhism, took its name from its advocacy of the supramundane qualities of the Buddha and the univocality of the BUDDHAVACANA. The school's emblematic text, the MAHĀVASTU, claims that all the seemingly mundane acts of the Buddha are in fact supramundane; hence, although the Buddha may appear to eat and sleep, walk and talk like ordinary people, he in fact remains constantly in a state of meditation because he is free from all needs.

lokuttaramagga. (S. lokottaramārga; T. 'jig rten las 'das pa'i lam; C. chushi dao; J. shussedo; K. ch'ulse to 出世道). In Pāli, "supramundane path"; four stages of "attainment" along the noble path (S. ĀRYAMĀRGA) of enlightened persons (S. ĀRYAPUDGALA); viz., the path of stream-enterer (S. srotaāpattimārga), the path of once-returner (S. sakṛdāgāmimārga), the path of nonreturner (S. anāgāmimārga), and the path of the worthy (S. arhanmārga). The four supramundane paths are combined with four supramundane fruitions (LOKUTTARAPHALA) to make eight stages of holiness altogether.

lokuttarasamādhi. (S. lokottarasamādhi; T. 'jig rten las 'das pa'i ting nge 'dzin; C. chushi sanmei; J. shusse sanmai; K. ch'ulse sammae 出世三昧). In Pāli, "supramundane concentration"; concentration associated with the attainment of any of the four paths (magga, S. MĀRGA) and/or four fruitions (PHALA) of enlightenment, which constitute collectively eight moments along the path to complete liberation from SAMSĀRA. The eight moments in order of their occurrence are the (1) path and (2) fruition of a stream-enterer (S. SROTAĀPANNA), the (3) path and (4) fruition of a once-returner (S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), the (5) path and (6) fruition of a nonreturner (S. ANĀGĀMIN), and the (7) path and (8) fruition of a worthy one (S. ARHAT). All other forms of concentration not associated with the paths and fruits of enlightenment are deemed of this world or "mundane concentrations" (LOKIYASAMĀDHI). Supramundane concentration is also characterized by its singular object, NIRVĀnA.

lost in the underflow "jargon" Too small to be worth considering; more specifically, small beyond the limits of accuracy or measurement. This is a reference to "{floating point underflow}". The {Hacker's Jargon File} claimed that it is also a pun on "undertow" (a kind of fast, cold current that sometimes runs just offshore and can be dangerous to swimmers). "Well, sure, photon pressure from the stadium lights alters the path of a thrown baseball, but that effect gets lost in the underflow". Compare {epsilon}, {epsilon squared}; see also {overflow bit}. (1997-09-05)

lost in the underflow ::: (jargon) Too small to be worth considering; more specifically, small beyond the limits of accuracy or measurement. This is a reference to floating point underflow.The Hacker's Jargon File claimed that it is also a pun on undertow (a kind of fast, cold current that sometimes runs just offshore and can be dangerous to swimmers).Well, sure, photon pressure from the stadium lights alters the path of a thrown baseball, but that effect gets lost in the underflow.Compare epsilon, epsilon squared; see also overflow bit. (1997-09-05)

lta ba nyon mongs can. (S. dṛstisaMklesa). In Tibetan, "defiled view" (see DṚstI), a term for the fifth of the six ANUsAYA ("proclivities") set forth as the basic afflictions or defilements (KLEsA) in the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA. It differentiates dṛsti in the negative sense of "speculative opinions" from dṛsti in the positive sense of "right view" (see SAMYAGDṚstI). These defiled views are subdivided into five types of wrong views (paNcadṛsti): SATKĀYADṚstI (view that there is a perduring self), ANTAGRĀHADṚstI (extreme views of permanence or annihilation), MITHYĀDṚstI (fallacious views denying the efficacy of KARMAN, rebirth, and causality), DṚstIPARĀMARsA (clinging to one's own wrong views as being superior), and sĪLAVRATAPARĀMARsA (belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals). All are eliminated by the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA).

Luzzatto, M. H. Mesillat Yesharim (The Path of the

Madhav: “Aswapathy in the epic is the representative of the aspiring humanity who prepares and lays the path to the Divine Glory.” The Book of the Divine Mother

Madhav: “Aswapathy in the epic is the—representative of the aspiring humanity who prepares and—lays the path to the Divine Glory.”—The Book of the Divine Mother

Madhyamaka. (T. Dbu ma pa; C. San lun zong/Zhongguan; J. Sanronshu/Chugan; K. Sam non chong/Chunggwan 三論/中). In Sanskrit, "Middle Way (school)"; a proponent or follower of the middle way" (MADHYAMAPRATIPAD); Buddhism is renowned as the middle way between extremes, a term that appears in the Buddha's first sermon (see P. DHAMMACAKKAPPAVATTANASUTTA) in which he prescribed a middle path between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. Thus, all proponents of Buddhism are in a sense proponents of the middle way, for each school of Buddhist philosophy identifies different versions of the two extremes and charts a middle way between them. The term Madhyamaka has however come to refer more specifically to the school of Buddhist philosophy that sets forth a middle way between the extreme of eternalism (sĀsVATADṚstI) and the extreme of annihilationism (UCCHEDADṚstI). The Madhyamaka school derives from the works of NĀGĀRJUNA, the c. second century CE philosopher who is traditionally regarded as its founder. His major philosophical works, especially his MuLAMADHYAMAKAKĀRIKĀ (a.k.a. MADHYAMAKAsĀSTRA), as well as the writings of his disciple ĀRYADEVA, provide the locus classicus for the school (which only seems to have been designated the Madhyamaka school after Āryadeva's time). Commentaries on their works (by such figures as BUDDHAPĀLITA, BHĀVAVIVEKA, and CANDRAKĪRTI) provide the primary medium for philosophical expression in the school. Madhyamaka was highly influential in Tibet, where it was traditionally considered the highest of the four schools of Indian Buddhist philosophy (Madhyamaka, YOGĀCĀRA, SAUTRĀNTIKA, and VAIBHĀsIKA). Tibetan exegetes discerned two branches in the Madhyamaka, the PRĀSAnGIKA (associated with Buddhapālita and Candrakīrti) and the SVĀTANTRIKA (associated with Bhāvaviveka and sĀNTARAKsITA). The works of Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva were also widely studied in East Asia, forming the basis of the "Three Treatises" school (C. SAN LUN ZONG; K. Sam non chong; J. Sanronshu), where the three treatises are the ZHONG LUN (the "Middle Treatise," or Madhyamakasāstra), the SHI'ERMEN LUN ("Twelve Gate Treatise," or *Dvādasamukhasāstra), and the BAI LUN ("Hundred Verses Treatise," *sATAsĀSTRA), the latter two attributed to Āryadeva. The Madhyamaka school is most renowned for its exposition of the nature of reality, especially its deployment of the doctrines of emptiness (suNYATĀ) and the two truths (SATYADVAYA). Because of its central claim that all phenomena are devoid or empty (sunya) of intrinsic existence (SVABHĀVA), its proponents are also referred to as suNYAVĀDA and Niḥsvabhāvavāda. The doctrine of emptiness has also led to the charge, going back to the time of Nāgārjuna and continuing into the contemporary era, that the Madhyamaka is a form of nihilism, a charge that Nāgārjuna himself deftly refuted. Central to Madhyamaka philosophy is the relation between emptiness and dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA). Dependent origination in its Madhyamaka interpretation refers not only to the twelvefold chain but more broadly to the fact that all phenomena arise in dependence on other factors. Hence, everything is dependent, and thus is empty of independent and intrinsic existence (NIḤSVABHĀVA). As Nāgārjuna states, "Because there are no phenomena that are not dependently arisen, there are no phenomena that are not empty." This analysis becomes key to the Madhyamaka articulation of the middle way: because everything is dependently arisen, the extreme of annihilation (UCCHEDĀNTA) is avoided; because everything is empty, the extreme of permanence (sĀSVATĀNTA) is avoided. Although most of the major schools of Buddhist philosophy speaks of the two truths-the ultimate truth (PARAMĀRTHASATYA) and the conventional truth (SAMVṚTISATYA)-this category is especially important for Madhyamaka, which must simultaneously proclaim the emptiness of all phenomena (the ultimate truth) while describing the operations of the world of cause and effect and the processes governing the path to enlightenment (all of which are deemed conventional truths). Although the true character of conventional truth is misperceived as a result of ignorance (AVIDYĀ), conventional truths themselves are not rejected; as Nāgārjuna states, "Without relying on the conventional, the ultimate cannot be taught; without understanding the ultimate, NIRVĀnA is not attained." The precise nature of the two truths and their relation is explored in detail in the Madhyamaka treatises, most famously in the sixth chapter of Candrakīrti's MADHYAMAKĀVATĀRA. Although most renowned for its doctrine of emptiness, Madhyamaka is a MAHĀYĀNA school and, as such, also offers detailed expositions of the path (MĀRGA) to the enlightenment. These works that focus on soteriological issues include the SUHṚLLEKHA and RATNĀVALĪ of Nāgārjuna, the CATUḤsATAKA of Āryadeva, the MADHYAMAKĀVATĀRA of Candrakīrti, the BODHICARYĀVATĀRA of sĀNTIDEVA, the BHĀVANĀKRAMA of KAMALAsĪLA, and the BODHIPATHAPRADĪPA of ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNĀNA.

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

maggacitta. In Pāli, "path consciousness"; a term synonymous with "path knowledge" (maggaNāna); the moment of consciousness that occurs upon accessing any one of the four supramundane or noble paths (P. ariyamagga; S. ĀRYAMĀRGA), viz., that of the stream-enterer (P. sotāpanna; S. SROTAĀPANNA), once-returner (P. sakadāgāmi; S. SAKṚDĀGĀMIN), nonreturner (P. anāgāmi; ANĀGĀMIN), and worthy one (P. arahant; S. ARHAT). It marks the attainment of what is called "purity of knowledge and vision" (NĀnADASSANAVISUDDHI), which is the seventh and final purity (visuddhi; cf. S. VIsUDDHI) that is developed along the path to liberation. Path consciousness is immediately preceded by GOTRABHuNĀnA or "change-of-lineage knowledge," that point at which consciousness first takes the NIRVĀnA element (P. nibbānadhātu) as its object, thereby freeing the practitioner from belonging to the lineage of ordinary worldlings (P. puthujjana; cf. S. PṚTHAGJANA). Path consciousness is immediately followed by two or three moments of "fruition consciousness" (PHALACITTA), after which the mind subsides into the subconscious continuum (BHAVAnGASOTA). The difference between path consciousness and fruition consciousness may be described in the following way with reference to the stream-enterer: through the path of stream-entry, one "becomes" free of the first three fetters (SAMYOJANA), whereas through fruition of stream-entry one "is" free of the first three fetters. Because path consciousness represents the first moment of entering of the path, it occurs only once to any given practitioner on each of the four paths. Fruition consciousness, on the other hand, is not so limited and thus may repeat itself innumerable times during a lifetime.

maggāmaggaNānadassanavisuddhi. (S. *margāmargajNānadarsanavisuddhi; C. dao feidao zhijian qingjing; J. dohidochikenshojo; K. to pido chigyon ch'ongjong 道非道智見清淨). In Pāli, "purity of knowledge and vision of what is and is not the path." According to the VISUDDHIMAGGA, the fifth of seven "purities" (visuddhi; cf. S. VIsUDDHI) to be developed along the path to liberation. This purity consists of the understanding that distinguishes between what is the right path and what is the wrong path. It requires as a prerequisite the cultivation of methodological insight (nayavipassanā) through contemplating the nature of the five aggregates (P. khandha; S. SKANDHA). Through an understanding of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS and dependent origination (P. paticcasamuppāda; S. PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), the practitioner realizes that the aggregates come into being and pass away from moment to moment, and that as a consequence they are insubstantial, unreliable, and empty, like a mirage. During this stage of purification, ten experiences arise, which, if the practitioner becomes attached to them, function as defilements of insight (vipassanupakkilesa). These include: (1) radiant light (obhāsa), (2) knowledge (Nāna), (3) rapture (pīti), (4) tranquility (passaddhi), (5) pleasure (sukha), (6) determination (adhimokkha), (7) energy (paggaha), (8) awareness (upatthāna), (9) equanimity (upekkhā), and (10) delight (nikanti). These ten defilements may cause the practitioner to believe that he has attained liberation, when in fact he has not. They are overcome with continued practice, whereby the mind comes to regard them with indifference as mere concomitants of insight.

Magic, Magician [from Persian magus a wise man, great; cf magi] The great art; a knowledge of the mysteries of nature and the power to apply them. In its true sense it is gupta-vidya (divine knowledge), the aim of those who tread the path of wisdom; but in ages of decline its chief secrets are withdrawn from public access, and what remains passes through transformations and gradually degenerates.

mahābodhisattva. (T. byang chub sems dpa' chen po; C. da pusa; J. daibosatsu; K. tae posal 大菩薩). In Sanskrit, "great bodhisattva"; a term that sometimes has the specific sense of a bodhisattva who has achieved the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA). Such a bodhisattva is also called an āryabodhisattva.

Mahādeva. (T. Lha chen; C. Mohetipo; J. Makadaiba; K. Mahajeba 摩訶提婆). An Indian monk of questionable historicity, credited with the infamous "five theses" (paNcavastuni). Mahādeva appears in numerous accounts of the early centuries of the Buddhist order, but the various reports of dates, his affiliation, and his character are contradictory. Although extolled in some accounts, the ABHIDHARMAMAHĀVIBHĀsĀ recounts that he had sexual relations with his mother; that he murdered his father, his mother, and several ARHATs; and that his cremation fire was fueled by dog excrement. Some accounts make him a participant at the second Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, SECOND), said to have occurred a century after the Buddha's death, which resulted in the schism of the SAMGHA into the conservative STHAVIRANIKĀYA and the more liberal MAHĀSĀMGHIKA. However, the chief point of controversy there seems to have been ten relatively minor rules of discipline, the most serious of which was the prohibition against monks and nuns handling gold or silver. If Mahādeva was a historical figure, it is more likely that he was involved in a later schism that occurred within the MahāsāMghika, as a result of which the followers of Mahādeva formed the CAITYA subsect. The theses attributed to Mahādeva challenge the authority of the arhat. Although there is a lack of consistency in the various renditions of the five theses, according to one widely repeated version, the five are (1) arhats are subject to erotic dreams and nocturnal emissions; (2) arhats retain a subtle form of ignorance, called the "unafflicted ignorance" (AKLIstĀJNĀNA), which prevents them from knowing the names of people, trees, grasses, and which road to take without being told; (3) arhats are therefore subject to doubt; (4) arhats thus must rely on others for corroboration, including on the question of whether they have achieved enlightenment; (5) entry into the path can be achieved simply by attaining the first DHYĀNA, becoming a stream-enterer (SROTAĀPANNA), and exclaiming "Oh suffering" (rather than by the more protracted method of the noble eightfold path). These theses, which are widely reported, reflect the MahāsāMghika attack on the arhat ideal, and presumably the Sthaviranikāya conception thereof. When these charges were leveled, and by whom, is unclear. In some accounts, Mahādeva was himself subject to each of these faults (reflecting on his transgression, he cried out "Oh suffering" in the night and later sought to deceive those who heard him by explaining that he had been contemplating the first of the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS) and stated the five theses to protect his own claim to being an arhat.

Mahādukkhakkhandhasutta. (C. Kuyin jing; J. Kuongyo; K. Koŭm kyong 苦陰經). In Pāli, the "Greater Discourse on the Mass of Suffering"; the thirteenth sutta in the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA (a separate SARVĀSTIVĀDA recension appears as the ninety-ninth SuTRA in the Chinese translation of the MADHYAMĀGAMA); preached by the Buddha to his disciples at Sāvatthi (S. sRĀVASTĪ) to refute the claims of naked JAINA ascetics that their teachings were identical to the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha explains the full implications of sensual pleasures, the advantages of renouncing them, and the path needed to escape from their influence. Finally he asserts that outside his teachings these truths are unknown, and that only a buddha and his disciples can teach of them.

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).

mahāpurusalaksana. (P. mahāpurisalakkhana; T. skyes bu chen po'i mtshan; C. darenxiang; J. daininso; K. taeinsang 大人相). In Sanskrit, "the marks of a great man," sometimes referred to in English as the "major marks"; a list of thirty-two marks (dvātriMsadvaralaksana) possessed by both buddhas and "wheel-turning emperors" (CAKRAVARTIN); such beings possess in addition eighty minor marks (ANUVYANJANA). These marks are understood to be the karmic result of countless eons of effort on the path to either worldly or spiritual perfection (viz., ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI). These are said to be fully present on the body of a buddha, especially in the SAMBHOGAKĀYA, with similitudes of the marks found on the body of cakravartin. Each of the marks is said to result from the practice of a specific virtue in past lives, and elaborate commentary is provided on some of the marks, especially the UsnĪsA and the uRnĀ. Although the lists vary considerably, they typically include (1) supratisthitapāda-his feet stand firmly on the ground; (2) adhastāt pādatalayos cakre jāte-he has thousand-spoked wheels on the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet; (3) āyatapādapārsni-the heels of his feet are broad; (4) dīrghānguli-he has long fingers; (5) mṛdutarunahastapāda-his hands and feet are smooth; (6) jālahastapāda-his hands and feet are webbed; (7) ucchankhapāda-his legs are long; (8) aineyajangha-he has thighs like an antelope; (9) sthitānavanata-pralambabāhu-his arms extend below the knees; (10) kosopagata-vastiguhya-his penis is retracted; (11) suvarnavarna-his complexion is golden; (12) suksmachavi-his skin is smooth (so that no dust clings to his body); (13) ekaikaroma-he has one hair in each pore of his body; (14) urdhvāgraroma-the hairs of his body point upward; (15) bṛhadṛju-gātra-his body is tall and straight; (16) saptotsada-the seven parts of his body are well-proportioned; (17) siMhapurvārdhakāya-the upper part of his body is like a lion's; (18) citāntarāMsa-he has broad shoulders; (19) nyagrodhaparimandala-his body and limbs are perfectly proportionate and thus shaped like a fig tree; (20) susaMvṛttaskandha-he has full, round shoulders; (21) rasarasāgra-he has an excellent sense of taste; (22) siMhahanu-he has a jaw like a lion's; (23) catvāriMsaddanta-he has forty teeth; (24) samadanta-his teeth are even; (25) aviraladanta-his teeth are evenly spaced; (26) susukladaMstra-his teeth are white; (27) prabhutajihva-his tongue is long and broad; (28) brahmasvara-his voice is like that of BRAHMĀ; (29) abhinīlanetra-his eyes are deep blue; (30) gopaksma-his eyelashes are like those of a bull; (31) urnā or uRnĀKEsA-he has a white tuft of hair between his eyebrows; and (32) usnīsasīrsa-he has a protrusion on the crown of the head. See also RĀstRAPĀLAPARIPṚCCHĀ.

Maharshi: In Hindu mythology and occultism, Vishnu as the source of the paths to Realization. The term is applied also to great sages who disclose new paths to Realization.

Mahatma(Mahatman, Sanskrit) ::: "Great soul" or "great self" is the meaning of this compound word (maha, "great";atman, "self"). The mahatmas are perfected men, relatively speaking, known in theosophical literature asteachers, elder brothers, masters, sages, seers, and by other names. They are indeed the "elder brothers"of mankind. They are men, not spirits -- men who have evolved through self-devised efforts in individualevolution, always advancing forwards and upwards until they have now attained the lofty spiritual andintellectual human supremacy that now they hold. They were not so created by any extra-cosmic Deity,but they are men who have become what they are by means of inward spiritual striving, by spiritual andintellectual yearning, by aspiration to be greater and better, nobler and higher, just as every good man inhis own way so aspires. They are farther advanced along the path of evolution than the majority of menare. They possess knowledge of nature's secret processes, and of hid mysteries, which to the average manmay seem to be little short of the marvelous -- yet, after all, this mere fact is of relatively smallimportance in comparison with the far greater and more profoundly moving aspects of their nature andlifework.Especially are they called teachers because they are occupied in the noble duty of instructing mankind, ininspiring elevating thoughts, and in instilling impulses of forgetfulness of self into the hearts of men.Also are they sometimes called the guardians, because they are, in very truth, the guardians of the raceand of the records -- natural, racial, national -- of past ages, portions of which they give out from time totime as fragments of a now long-forgotten wisdom, when the world is ready to listen to them; and theydo this in order to advance the cause of truth and of genuine civilization founded on wisdom andbrotherhood.Never -- such is the teaching -- since the human race first attained self-consciousness has this order orassociation or society or brotherhood of exalted men been without its representatives on our earth.It was the mahatmas who founded the modern Theosophical Society through their envoy or messenger,H. P. Blavatsky, in New York in 1875.

Manasaputra(s)(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound word: manas, "mind," putra, "son" -- "sons of mind." The teaching is thatthere exists a Hierarchy of Compassion, which H. P. Blavatsky sometimes called the Hierarchy of Mercyor of Pity. This is the light side of nature as contrasted with its matter side or shadow side, its night side.It is from this Hierarchy of Compassion that came those semi-divine entities at about the middle periodof the third root-race of this round, who incarnated in the semi-conscious, quasi-senseless men of thatperiod. These advanced entities are otherwise known as the solar lhas as the Tibetans call them, the solarspirits, who were the men of a former kalpa, and who during the third root-race thus sacrificedthemselves in order to give us intellectual light -- incarnating in those senseless psychophysical shells inorder to awaken the divine flame of egoity and self-consciousness in the sleeping egos which we thenwere. They are ourselves because belonging to the same spiritray that we do; yet we, more strictlyspeaking, were those halfunconscious, half-awakened egos whom they touched with the divine fire oftheir own being. This, our "awakening," was called by H. P. Blavatsky, the incarnation of themanasaputras, or the sons of mind or light. Had that incarnation not taken place, we indeed should havecontinued our evolution by merely "natural" causes, but it would have been slow almost beyondcomprehension, almost interminable; but that act of self-sacrifice, through their immense pity, theirimmense love, though, indeed, acting under karmic impulse, awakened the divine fire in our own selves,gave us light and comprehension and understanding. From that time we ourselves became "sons of thegods," the faculty of self-consciousness in us was awakened, our eyes were opened, responsibilitybecame ours; and our feet were set then definitely upon the path, that inner path, quiet, wonderful,leading us inwards back to our spiritual home.The manasaputras are our higher natures and, paradoxical as it is, are more largely evolved beings thanwe are. They were the spiritual entities who "quickened" our personal egos, which were thus evolved intoself-consciousness, relatively small though that yet be. One, and yet many! As you can light an infinitenumber of candles from one lighted candle, so from a spark of consciousness can you quicken andenliven innumerable other consciousnesses, lying, so to speak, in sleep or latent in the life-atoms.These manasaputras, children of mahat, are said to have quickened and enlightened in us themanas-manas of our manas septenary, because they themselves are typically manasic in their essentialcharacteristic or svabhava. Their own essential or manasic vibrations, so to say, could cause that essenceof manas in ourselves to vibrate in sympathy, much as the sounding of a musical note will causesympathetic response in something like it, a similar note in other things. (See also Agnishvattas)

marga (shakti marga) ::: the path of yoga whose foundation is sakti.

metre "unit" (US "meter") The fundamental {SI} unit of length. From 1889 to 1960, the metre was defined to be the distance between two scratches in a platinum-iridium bar kept in the vault beside the Standard Kilogram at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris. This replaced an earlier definition as 10^-7 times the distance between the North Pole and the Equator along a meridian through Paris; unfortunately, this had been based on an inexact value of the circumference of the Earth. From 1960 to 1984 it was defined to be 1650763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red line of krypton-86 propagating in a vacuum. It is now defined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum in the time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second. (1998-02-07)

metre ::: (unit) (US meter) The fundamental SI unit of length.From 1889 to 1960, the metre was defined to be the distance between two scratches in a platinum-iridium bar kept in the vault beside the Standard Kilogram at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris.This replaced an earlier definition as 10^-7 times the distance between the North Pole and the Equator along a meridian through Paris; unfortunately, this had been based on an inexact value of the circumference of the Earth.From 1960 to 1984 it was defined to be 1650763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red line of krypton-86 propagating in a vacuum.It is now defined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum in the time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second. (1998-02-07)

moksha dhaam. :::final abode; the place of complete freedom; the pathless path

Moment of Choice The turning point in evolution, when the temporary balance between spirit and matter, or between upward and downward movements, has been reached. The evolving entity can then no longer remain neutral and undecided, but must choose definitely whether to continue upward or to enter upon a downward path. When the movement towards pralaya prevails, all the classes of evolving beings gravitate to their appropriate sphere: spirit to spirit, matter to matter, manas to mahat. But this dividing of the ways occurs for self-conscious entities at every step of the path, so that in this sense the moment of choice is continuous. Although this moment of choice is continuous for the individual, yet a point occurs in human evolution when the decision must definitely be made to follow the upward path or to follow the matter side of evolution. There is also the choice that must be made when the individual has reached the peak of human evolution on this globe, when the decision is finally to be made whether he will follow the path of the Buddhas of Compassion, or pursue the way of self and become a Pratyeka Buddha.

mount "file system" To make a {file system} available for access. {Unix} does this by associating the file system with a {directory} (the "mount point") within a currently mounted file system. The "root" file system is mounted on the {root directory}, "/" early in the {boot} sequence. "mount" is also the {Unix} command to do this, "unmount" breaks the association. E.g., "mount attaches a named file system to the file system hierarchy at the pathname location directory [...]" -- {Unix manual page} mount(8). File systems are usually mounted either at {boot time} under control of {/etc/rc} (or one of its subfiles) or on demand by an {automounter} {daemon}. Other {operating systems} such as {VMS} and {DOS} mount file systems as separate directory hierarchies without any common ancestor or root directory. Apparently derived from the physical sense of "mount" meaning "attach", as in "head-mounted display", or "set up", as in "always mount a {scratch monkey}, etc." {Unix manual page}: mount(8). (1997-04-14)

mount ::: (file system) To make a file system available for access.Unix does this by associating the file system with a directory (the mount point) within a currently mounted file system. The root file system is mounted on the root directory, / early in the boot sequence. mount is also the Unix command to do this, unmount breaks the association.E.g., mount attaches a named file system to the file system hierarchy at the pathname location directory [...] -- Unix manual page mount(8).File systems are usually mounted either at boot time under control of /etc/rc (or one of its subfiles) or on demand by an automounter daemon.Other operating systems such as VMS and DOS mount file systems as separate directory hierarchies without any common ancestor or root directory.Apparently derived from the physical sense of mount meaning attach, as in head-mounted display, or set up, as in always mount a scratch monkey, etc.Unix manual page: mount(8). (1997-04-14)

  “Multitudes of human beings are unconsciously treading the Path of the Shadows, and in comparison with these multitudes it is relatively only a few who self-consciously lead and guide with subtle and wicked intelligence this army of unsuspecting victims of Maya. The Brothers of the Shadow are often highly intellectual men and women, frequently individuals with apparent great personal charm, and to the ordinary observer, judging from their conversation and daily works, are fully as well able to ‘quote scripture’ as are the Angels of Light!” (OG 22).

Nephandus, Nephandi: “Dark reflection” mages who pursue the Path of Descent; infamous for corruption, temptation, misdirection, and deception.

neshamah ::: Neshamah The Zohar tells us that the Neshamah is the highest of the three grades of the soul, and even when it is not consciously realised it dominates the path that a mans life takes. Kabbalists say that a man cannot know the Neshamah until he dies, and yet they also tell us that the perfect devotee may come to know her.

Nirvana-dharma (Sanskrit) Nirvāṇa-dharma [from nirvāṇa blown out, superspiritual state + dharma law, duty, justice, conduct] The path of nirvana, or the law of nirvana.

Nirvana(Sanskrit) ::: This is a compound: nir, "out," and vana, the past participle passive of the root va, "to blow,"literallly meaning "blown out." So badly has the significance of the ancient Indian thought (and even its language, the Sanskrit) been understood, that for many years erudite European scholars were discussingwhether being "blown out" meant actual entitative annihilation or not. But the being blown out refersonly to the lower principles in man.Nirvana is a very different thing from the "heavens." Nirvana is a state of utter bliss and complete,untrammeled consciousness, a state of absorption in pure kosmic Being, and is the wondrous destiny ofthose who have reached superhuman knowledge and purity and spiritual illumination. It really ispersonal-individual absorption into or rather identification with the Self -- the highest SELF. It is also thestate of the monadic entities in the period that intervenes between minor manvantaras or rounds of aplanetary chain; and more fully so between each seven-round period or Day of Brahma, and thesucceeding day or new kalpa of a planetary chain. At these last times, starting forth from the seventhsphere in the seventh round, the monadic entities will have progressed far beyond even the highest stateof devachan. Too pure and too far advanced even for such a condition as the devachanic felicity, they goto their appropriate sphere and condition, which latter is the nirvana following the end of the seventhround.Devachan and nirvana are not localities. They are states, states of the beings in those respective spiritualconditions. Devachan is the intermediate state; nirvana is the superspiritual state; and avichi, popularlycalled the lowest of the hells, is the nether pole of the spiritual condition. These three are states of beingshaving habitat in the lokas or talas, in the worlds of the kosmic egg.So far as the individual human being is concerned, the nirvanic state or condition may be attained to bygreat spiritual seers and sages, such as Gautama the Buddha, and even by men less progressed than he;because in these cases of the attaining of the nirvana even during a man's life on earth, the meaning isthat one so attaining has through evolution progressed so far along the path that all the lower personalpart of him is become thoroughly impersonalized, the personal has put on the garment of impersonality,and such a man thereafter lives in the nirvanic condition of the spiritual monad.As a concluding thought, it must be pointed out that nirvana, while the ultima thule of the perfection tobe attained by any human being, nevertheless stands less high in the estimate of mystics than thecondition of the bodhisattva. For the bodhisattva, although standing on the threshold of nirvana andseeing and understanding its ineffable glory and peace and rest, nevertheless retains his consciousness inthe worlds of men, in order to consecrate his vast faculties and powers to the service of all that is. Thebuddhas in their higher parts enter the nirvana, in other words, assume the dharmakaya state or vesture,whereas the bodhisattva assumes the nirmanakaya vesture, thereafter to become an ever-active andcompassionate and beneficent influence in the world. The buddha indeed may be said to act indirectlyand by long distance control, thus indeed helping the world diffusively or by diffusion; but thebodhisattva acts directly and positively and with a directing will in works of compassion, both for theworld and for individuals.

Nirvanin, Nirvani (Sanskrit) Nirvāṇin One who enters, or has entered, nirvana; a jivanmukta. One who is liberated for the remainder of the entire solar manvantara from the cycle of spiritual transmigrations through the various spheres of being, visible and invisible. The nirvanin, therefore, rests in crystallized bliss and purity, relatively at one with the cosmic spirit or Logos for the remainder of the cosmic manvantara and throughout the long pralaya which succeeds it. Only when the next manvantara opens will the nirvanin, through karmic necessity, be obliged to enter the pathways of experience in the new system of worlds. Also nirvanee.

Nivritti-marga (Sanskrit) Nivṛtti-mārga [from nivṛitti infolding + mārga path, way] The path that leads through unfolding back to the spiritual worlds; often called the path of light or luminous arc. See also PRAVRITTI-MARGA

nivritti marg&

nivritti. ::: negation; the path of turning away from activity; withdrawal; renunciation

nivrtti marga ::: [the path of nivrtti (cessation from action)].

  “nowhere shows Yama ‘as having anything to do with the punishment of the wicked.’ As king and judge of the dead, a Pluto in short, Yama is a far later creation. One has to study the true character of Yama-Yami throughout more than one hymn and epic poem, and collect the various accounts scattered in dozens of ancient works, and then he will obtain a consensus of allegorical statements which will be found to corroborate and justify the Esoteric teaching, that Yama-Yami is the symbol of the dual Manas, in one of its mystical meanings. For instance, Yama-Yami is always represented of a green colour and clothed with red, and as dwelling in a palace of copper and iron. Students of Occultism know to which of the human ‘principles’ the green and the red colours, and by correspondence the iron and copper, are to be applied. The ‘twofold-ruler’ — the epithet of Yama-Yami — is regarded in the exoteric teachings of the Chino-Buddhists as both judge and criminal, the restrainer of his own evil doings and the evil-doer himself. In the Hindu epic poems Yama-Yami is the twin-child of the Sun (the deity) by Sanjna (spiritual consciousness); but while Yama is the Aryan ‘lord of the day,’ appearing as the symbol of spirit in the East, Yami is the queen of the night (darkness, ignorance) ‘who opens to mortals the path to the West’ — the emblem of evil and matter. In the Puranas Yama has many wives (many Yamis) who force him to dwell in the lower world (Patala, Myalba, etc., etc.); and an allegory represents him with his foot lifted, to kick Chhaya, the handmaiden of his father (the astral body of his mother, Sanjna, a metaphysical aspect of Buddhi or Alaya). As stated in the Hindu Scriptures, a soul when it quits its mortal frame, repairs to its abode in the lower regions (Kamaloka or Hades). Once there, the Recorder, the Karmic messenger called Chitragupta (hidden or concealed brightness), reads out his account from the Great Register, wherein during the life of the human being, every deed and thought are indelibly impressed — and, according to the sentence pronounced, the ‘soul’ either ascends to the abode of the Pitris (Devachan), descends to a ‘hell’ (Kamaloka), or is reborn on earth in another human form” (TG 376).

Occult Arts Blavatsky in “Occultism versus the Occult Arts” (Studies in Occultism), distinguishes between occultism (gupta-vidya, the path of wisdom) and occult arts (evil occultism, sorcery, black magic, spells, incantations, etc.). While true occultism completely renounces self, the occult arts are practiced with selfish motives or from love of evil. Even where there is no sinister motive in one who ventures upon the occult arts, yet he enters a field where danger and destruction threaten unless he is protected by a training in true occultism. He will arouse in himself forces with which he cannot cope, open doors which later he seeks in vain to close, and put himself at the mercy of evil wills probably stronger than his own.

of Job, 28:7, as: “the path of the Tree of Life which

Orange Book "security, standard" A standard from the US Government {National Computer Security Council} (an arm of the U.S. National Security Agency), "Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria, DOD standard 5200.28-STD, December 1985" which defines criteria for trusted computer products. There are four levels, A, B, C, and D. Each level adds more features and requirements. D is a non-secure system. C1 requires user log-on, but allows {group ID}. C2 requires individual log-on with password and an audit mechanism. (Most {Unix} implementations are roughly C1, and can be upgraded to about C2 without excessive pain). Levels B and A provide mandatory control. Access is based on standard Department of Defense clearances. B1 requires DOD clearance levels. B2 guarantees the path between the user and the security system and provides assurances that the system can be tested and clearances cannot be downgraded. B3 requires that the system is characterised by a mathematical model that must be viable. A1 requires a system characterized by a mathematical model that can be proven. See also {crayola books}, {book titles}. [{Jargon File}] (1997-01-09)

Orange Book ::: (security, standard) A standard from the US Government National Computer Security Council (an arm of the U.S. National Security Agency), Trusted which defines criteria for trusted computer products. There are four levels, A, B, C, and D. Each level adds more features and requirements.D is a non-secure system.C1 requires user log-on, but allows group ID.C2 requires individual log-on with password and an audit mechanism. (Most Unix implementations are roughly C1, and can be upgraded to about C2 without excessive pain).Levels B and A provide mandatory control. Access is based on standard Department of Defense clearances.B1 requires DOD clearance levels.B2 guarantees the path between the user and the security system and provides assurances that the system can be tested and clearances cannot be downgraded.B3 requires that the system is characterised by a mathematical model that must be viable.A1 requires a system characterized by a mathematical model that can be proven.See also crayola books, book titles.[Jargon File] (1997-01-09)

orbit ::: n. --> The path described by a heavenly body in its periodical revolution around another body; as, the orbit of Jupiter, of the earth, of the moon.
An orb or ball.
The cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated.
The skin which surrounds the eye of a bird.


Ordinary life and yoga ::: In the ordinary life a personal, social or traditional constructed rule, standard or ideal is the guide ; once the spiritual journey has begun, this must be replac- ed by an inner and outer rule or way of living necessary for our self-discipline, liberation and perfection, a way of living proper to the path we follow or enjoined by the spiritual guide and master, the Guru or else dictated by a Guide within us.

Originally it was described as the abode of the night-sun, through which the sun god Ra passed during the night, only to arise renewed in the morning. “What is the Tiaou The frequent allusion to it in the ‘Book of the Dead’ contains a mystery. Tiaou is the path of the Night Sun, the inferior hemisphere, or the infernal region of the Egyptians, placed by them on the concealed side of the moon. The human being, in their exotericism, came out from the moon (a triple mystery — astronomical, physiological, and psychical at once); he crossed the whole cycle of existence and then returned to his birth-place before issuing from it again. Thus the defunct is shown arriving in the West, receiving his judgment before Osiris, resurrecting as the god Horus, and circling round the sidereal heavens, which is an allegorical assimilation to Ra, the Sun; then having crossed the Noot (the celestial abyss), returning once more to Tiaou: an assimilation to Osiris, who, as the God of life and reproduction, inhabits the moon” (SD 1:227-8).

padarthabhavana. ::: knowledge of the Truth; seeing Brahman everywhere; perceiving the inner essence and not the outer physical form of things, as the separation between subject and a distinct object has dissolved; when external things do not appear to exist and tasks get performed without any sense of doership; the sixth stage in the path of Self-knowledge

Paramartha-satya (Sanskrit) Paramārtha-satya [from paramārtha sublime comprehension + satya truth, reality] Absolute or sublime truth or reality; from another standpoint, the path of pure wisdom-knowledge, bringing individual freedom to the adept, in contrast with samvriti-satya (relative truth). When the adept has reached the first stages of paramartha-satya he becomes a jivanmukta (freed monad), delivered thenceforward from the unceasing round of peregrinating reimbodiments until the end of the kalpa. The Tibetan equivalent is dondampai-denpa.

Paramita (Sanskrit) Pāramitā [from pāram beyond + ita gone from the verbal root i to go] Gone or crossed to the other shore; derivatively, virtue or perfection. The paramitas vary in number according to the Buddhist school: some quoting six, others seven or ten; but they are the glorious or transcendental virtues — the keys to the portals of jnana (wisdom). Blavatsky gives these seven keys as (VS 47-8): 1) dana “the key of charity and love immortal”; 2) sila (good character), “the key of Harmony in word and act, the key that counterbalances the cause and the effect, and leaves no further room for Karmic action”; 3) kshanti, “patience sweet, that nought can ruffle”; 4) viraga, “indifference to pleasure and to pain, illusion conquered, truth alone perceived”; 5) virya (strength, power), “the dauntless energy that fights its way to the supernal TRUTH, out of the mire of lies terrestrial”; 6) dhyana (profound spiritual-intellectual contemplation, with utter detachment from all objects of sense and of a lower mental character), human consciousness in the higher reaches of this state becomes purely buddhic, with the summit of the manas acting as vehicle for the retention of what the percipient consciousness experiences; once the golden gate of dhyana is opened, the pathway stretching thence leads towards the realm of “Sat eternal”; and 7) prajna (understanding, wisdom), that part of the mind that functions when active as the vehicle of the higher self; “the key to which makes of man a god, creating him a Bodhisattva, son of the Dhyanis.”

pathname ::: (file system) (Or path) The specification of a node (file or directory) in a hierarchical file system. The path is usually specified by listing the nodes top-down, separating the directories by the pathname separator (/ in Unix, \ in MS-DOS).A pathname may be an absolute pathname or a relative pathname. The part of the pathname of a file after the last separator is called the basename. (1997-03-10)

pathname "file system" (Or "path") The specification of a node (file or directory) in a {hierarchical file system}. The path is usually specified by listing the nodes top-down, separating the directories by the {pathname separator} ("/" in {Unix}, "\" in {MS-DOS}). A pathname may be an {absolute pathname} (starting from the {root directory}, "/") or a {relative pathname} (starting from the {current working directory}). The part of the pathname of a file after the last separator is called the {basename}. (1997-03-10)

pathname separator ::: (file system) The character used to separate elements of a path or pathname. Under Unix and POSIX.1 compliant systems the pathname separator is the (forward) slash, in MS-DOS backslash serves the same purpose. For obvious reasons the no directory or file name can contain this character. (1996-11-21)

pathname separator "file system" The character used to separate elements of a {path} or {pathname}. Under {Unix} and {POSIX.1} compliant systems the pathname separator is the (forward) {slash}, in {MS-DOS} {backslash} serves the same purpose. For obvious reasons the no directory or file name can contain this character. (1996-11-21)

path ::: n. --> A trodden way; a footway.
A way, course, or track, in which anything moves or has moved; route; passage; an established way; as, the path of a meteor, of a caravan, of a storm, of a pestilence. Also used figuratively, of a course of life or action. ::: v. t.


pathogeny ::: n. --> The generation, and method of development, of disease; as, the pathogeny of yellow fever is unsettled.
That branch of pathology which treats of the generation and development of disease.


pathologist ::: n. --> One skilled in pathology; an investigator in pathology; as, the pathologist of a hospital, whose duty it is to determine the causes of the diseases.

pathos ::: n. --> That quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions and passions, esp., that which awakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and the like; contagious warmth of feeling, action, or expression; pathetic quality; as, the pathos of a picture, of a poem, or of a cry.

Path, The ::: Universal nature, our great parent, exists inseparably in each one of us, in each entity everywhere, and noseparation of the part from the whole, of the individual from the kosmos, is possible in any other than apurely illusory sense. This points out to us with unerring definiteness and also directs us to the sublimepath to utter reality. It is the path inwards, ever onwards within, which is endless and which leads intovast inner realms of wisdom and knowledge; for, as all the great world philosophies tell us so truly, ifyou know yourself you then know the universe, because each one of you is an inseparable part of it and itis all in you, its child.It is obvious from this last reflection that the sole essential difference between any two grades of theevolving entities which infill and compose the kosmos is a difference of consciousness, of understanding;and this consciousness and understanding come to the evolving entity in only one way -- by unwrappingor unfolding the intrinsic faculties or powers of that entity's own inner being. This is the path, as themystics of all ages have put it.The pathway is within yourself. There is no other pathway for you individually than the pathway leadingever inwards towards your own inner god. The pathway of another is the same pathway for that other;but it is not your pathway, because your pathway is your Self, as it is for that other one his Self -- andyet, wonder of wonders, mystery of mysteries, the Self is the same in all. All tread the same pathway, buteach man must tread it himself, and no one can tread it for another; and this pathway leads to unutterablesplendor, to unutterable expansion of consciousness, to unthinkable bliss, to perfect peace.

pathworking ::: Pathworking Pathworking is a magical technique closely associated with the Kabbalah. It is traditionally a type of visionary experience associated with one of the paths of the Tree of Life, although its meaning has been extended to cover any type of semi-guided visualisation on a specific magical idea. Pathworking usually follows a structure and may vary from a guided visualisation (where a scene is set and the events described by one person while they are visualised by the remainder of the group) to the visualisation of a specific symbol, or the intonation of a mantra with further visions being allowed to enter the mind of their own accord. Pathworking is one of the methods used to further the understanding of particular magical ideas.


   current-limiting resistor - Resistor in the path of current flow to control the amount of current drawn by a device.




   magnetic leakage - The passage of magnetic flux outside the path along which it can do useful work.



phase alternating line "television" (PAL) The {video} signal format used in the UK [where else?]. PAL uses {Amplitude Modulation} for the video information, and {Frequency Modulation} for the {audio} information. The phase of the {colour subcarrier} is reversed on alternate lines which (together with the use of a delay line) allows the receiver to cancel any phase errors introduced in the path between the studio and the end-user's receiver. Such phase errors are quite common and would cause the displayed colours to shift in {hue}. The US equivalent, {NTSC}, does not have this feature and thus requires a user control to correct for transmission phase errors, hence the mis-expansion "Never Twice the Same Colour". (2001-06-08)

Phobos ::: The pathological version of Eros. Not transcendence of the lower, but repression of the lower.

Pratyeka-yana (Sanskrit) Pratyeka-yāna [from prati towards, for + eka one + yāna vehicle, path] The path of each one for himself, or the personal vehicle or ego, equivalent to the Pali pachcheka. Fully self-conscious being cannot ever be achieved by following the path for oneself, but solely by following the amrita-yana (immortal vehicle) or the path of self-consciousness in immortality, the spiritual path to a nirvana of high degree, the secret path as taught by the heart doctrine. The pratyeka-yana is the pathway of the personality, the vegetative or material path to a nirvana of a low degree, the open path, as taught by the eye doctrine. These two terms describe two kinds of advancement towards more spiritual things, and the two ultimate goals thereof: the amrita-yana of the Buddhas of Compassion, and the pratyeka-yana of the Pratyeka Buddhas.

Pravritti-marga (Sanskrit) Pravṛtti-mārga [from pra forth, forwards + the verbal root vṛt to roll, turn, unfold + mārga path] The path of evolution into matter, the way which leads to imbodied existence in the material worlds; the shadowy arc. In Hindu literature it is frequently employed to signify the path of activity in worldly or religious affairs, enabling a person to show what he can do. Such usage is a transference of the original mystical thought to mundane affairs. See also NIVRITTI-MARGA

pravritti marg&

pravrtti ::: [the path of pravrtti].

Purani: “The Red-Wolf is the symbol of the powers that tear the ‘being’, that suddenly fall upon it to destroy it. They are persistent, destructive, cruel, unscrupulous powers of the lower Darkness. Sri Aurobindo in his expression has made the symbol more effective, improving spontaneously upon the original in the alchemy of his poetical process by the image of ‘fordless steam’. In the original hymn there is only ‘path’. The ‘fordless stream’ brings in the needed element of danger and difficulty of the path of the aspirant when he has to cross this dangerous region.”“Savitri”—An Approach and a Study

Random walk - The path of a variable whose changes are impossible to predict.

ray tracing ::: (graphics) A technique used in computer graphics to create realistic images by calculating the paths taken by rays of light entering the observer's colour and brightness of the ray. The position, colour, and brightness of light sources, including ambient lighting, is also taken into account.Ray tracing is an ideal application for parallel processing since there are many pixels, each of whose values is independent and can thus be calculated in parallel.Compare: radiosity.Usenet newsgroup: comp.graphics.raytracing. .(2003-09-11)

ray tracing "graphics" A technique used in {computer graphics} to create realistic {images} by calculating the paths taken by rays of light entering the observer's eye at different angles. The paths are traced backward from the viewpoint, through a point (a {pixel}) in the image plane until they hit some object in the scene or go off to infinity. Objects are modelled as collections of abutting surfaces which may be rectangles, triangles, or more complicated shapes such as 3D {splines}. The optical properties of different surfaces (colour, reflectance, transmitance, refraction, texture) also affect how it will contribute to the colour and brightness of the ray. The position, colour, and brightness of light sources, including ambient lighting, is also taken into account. Ray tracing is an ideal application for {parallel processing} since there are many pixels, each of whose values is independent and can thus be calculated in parallel. Compare: {radiosity}. {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.graphics.raytracing}. {(http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Graphics/3D/Ray_Tracing/)}. (2003-09-11)

relative pathname ::: (file system) A path relative to the working directory. Its first character can be anything but the pathname separator. (1996-11-21)

Relativity ::: The modern scientific doctrine of relativity, despite its restrictions and mathematical limitations, isextremely suggestive because it introduces metaphysics into physics, does away with purely speculativeideas that certain things are absolute in a purely relative universe, and brings us back to an examinationof nature as nature is and not as mathematical theorists have hitherto tacitly taken it to be. The doctrine ofrelativity in its essential idea of relations rather than absolutes is true; but this does not mean that wenecessarily accept Einstein's or his followers' deductions. These latter may or may not be true, and timewill show. In any case, relativity is not what it is often misunderstood to be -- the naked doctrine that"everything is relative," which would mean that there is nothing fundamental or basic or real anywhere,whence other things flow forth; in other words, that there is no positively real or fundamental divine andspiritual background of being. The relativity theory is an adumbration, a reaching out for, a groping after,a very, very old theosophical doctrine -- the doctrine of maya.The manner in which theosophy teaches the conception of relativity is that while the universe is a relativeuniverse and all its parts are therefore relative -- each to each, and each to all, and all to each -- yet thereis a deathless reality behind, which forms the substratum or the truth of things, out of which thephenomenal in all its myriad relative manifestations flows. And there is a way, a road, a path, by whichmen may reach this reality behind, because it is in man as his inmost essence and therefore primal origin.In each one is fundamentally this reality of which we are all in search. Each one is the path that leads toit, for it is the heart of the universe.In a sense still more metaphysical, even the heart of a universe may be said to exist relatively inconnection with other universes with their hearts. It would be quite erroneous to suppose that there is oneAbsolute Reality in the old-fashioned European sense, and that all relative manifestations flow forth fromit, and that these relative manifestations although derived from this Absolute Reality are without links ofunion or origin with an Absolute even still more essential and fundamental and vaster. Once theconception of boundless infinitude is grasped, the percipient intelligence immediately realizes that it issimply hopeless, indeed impossible, to postulate ends, absolute Absolutes, as the divine ultima thule. Nomatter how vast and kosmic an Absolute may be, there are in sheer frontierless infinitude alwaysinnumerable other Absolutes equal to or greater than it.

retinotectal system ::: The pathway between ganglion cells in the retina and the optic tectum of vertebrates.

Right-hand Path From time immemorial, in all countries and among all races, there have been recognized two antagonistic schools of occult training, known as the path of light and the path of darkness. They represent two fundamental courses in nature, and are more commonly called the right-hand path and the left-hand path, as in Greek, Latin, English, and many other languages the word for right-hand also means propitious or skilled, or right as opposed to wrong. Hence in symbology it implies goodness, rightness, light: solar as opposed to lunar, spiritual as opposed to material, etc.

Right-hand Path ::: From time immemorial, in all countries of the earth, among all races of men, there have been existenttwo opposing and antagonistic schools of occult or esoteric training, the one often technically called thePath of Light, and the other the Path of Darkness or of the Shadows. These two paths likewise are muchmore commonly called the right-hand path and the left-hand path, and although these are technical namesin the rather shaky occultism of the Occident, the very same expressions have prevailed all over theworld, and are especially known in the mystical and esoteric literature of Hindustan. The right-hand pathis known in Sanskrit writings by the name dakshina-marga, and those who practice the rules of conductand follow the manner of life enjoined upon those who follow the right-hand path are technically knownas dakshinacharins, and their course of life is known as dakshinachara. Conversely, those who followthe left-hand path, often called Brothers of the Shadow, or by some similar epithet, are calledvamacharins, and their school or course of life is known as vamachara. An alternative expression forvamachara is savyachara. The white magicians or Brothers of Light are therefore dakshinacharins, andthe black magicians or Brothers of the Shadow, or workers of spiritual and intellectual and psychical evil,are therefore vamacharins.To speak in the mystical language of ancient Greece, the dakshinacharins or Brothers of Light pursue thewinding ascent to Olympus, whereas the vamacharins or Brothers of the Left-hand follow the easy butfearfully perilous path leading downwards into ever more confusing, horrifying stages of matter andspiritual obscuration. The latter is the faciles descensus averno (Aeneid, 6.126) of the Latin poet Virgil.Woe be to him who, refusing to raise his soul to the sublime and cleansing rays of the spiritual sun withinhim, places his feet upon the path which leads downwards. The warnings given to students of occultismabout this matter have always been solemn and urgent, and no esotericist should at any moment considerhimself safe or beyond the possibilities of taking the downward way until he has become at one with thedivine monitor within his own breast, his own inner god.

root bridge ::: (communications, hardware, networking) A bridge which continuously transmits network topology information to other bridges, using the spanning tree protocol, in order to notify all other bridges on the network when topology changes are required.This means that a network is able to reconfigure itself whenever a network link (e.g. another bridge) fails, so an alternative path can be found. The presence of a root bridge also prevents loops from forming in the network.The root bridge is where the paths that frames take through the network they are assigned. It should be located centrally on the network to provide the shortest path to other links on the network. Unlike other bridges, the root bridge always forwards frames out over all of its ports.Every network should only have one root bridge. It should have the lowest bridge ID number.(2000-11-26)

root bridge "communications, hardware, networking" A {bridge} which continuously transmits {network} {topology} information to other bridges, using the {spanning tree protocol}, in order to notify all other bridges on the network when topology changes are required. This means that a network is able to reconfigure itself whenever a network link (e.g. another bridge) fails, so an alternative path can be found. The presence of a root bridge also prevents {loops (network loop)} from forming in the network. The root bridge is where the paths that {frames} take through the network they are assigned. It should be located centrally on the network to provide the shortest path to other links on the network. Unlike other bridges, the root bridge always forwards frames out over all of its {ports}. Every network should only have one root bridge. It should have the lowest bridge ID number. (2000-11-26)

rtasya panthah ::: the path of the Truth. [Ved.] ::: rtasya pathah [instrumental]

rudra hiranyavartani ::: violent and moving in the paths of light. [RV 5.75.3]

Sakridagamin (Sanskrit) Sakṛdāgāmin [from sakṛt once + āgāmin one coming from ā-gam to come] In mystical Buddhist philosophy, he who will receive birth (only) once more; also the second stage of the fourfold path that leads to nirvana, the path of arhatship. See also ARHAT

Salvation [from Latin salvatio from salvare to save] In Christianity, the saving of individual souls from supposed damnation, usually by faith in the Atonement. In theosophy, as concerns the individual, salvation is achieved by victory of his divine self over the illusions created by the contact of the intermediate nature with the lower planes. In this sense the serpent of Eden, Satan even, is man’s savior, as are Prometheus, Lucifer, etc. Mankind as a whole is saved by those manasaputras who descended into intellectually senseless mankind of the third root-race and who, by thus enlightening the minds of early humanity, became the elect custodians of the mysteries revealed to mankind by its divine teachers. Again, the Silent Watchers in their various grades, who refuse to pass on into a greater light and maintain their post for the protection and guidance of humanity, are saviors also. Yet no one can be saved by the vicarious merit of another; his salvation is achieved by means of that very free will and enlightened intelligence of his own through which he at first risks falling. But the great ones maintain the ideal which the multitude elect to follow, and thus light the path mankind will ultimately tread.

Samadhana (Sanskrit) Samādhāna [from sam-ā-dhā to put together, restore] The collection of all the principles of a person’s constitution into a single unity, thus restoring the person as an entitative being to the wholeness of the atmic reality. “That state in which a Yogi can no longer diverge from the path of spiritual progress; when everything terrestrial, except the visible body, has ceased to exist for him” (TG 286). It is true religious meditation, and profound intellectual absorption into and contemplation of pure spirit.

Sankaracharya did this in three ways: first by writing commentaries on the great Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita which revealed the original message of these old writings; secondly, by himself composing a series of original works, such as Ata-bodha, Ananda-lahari, Jnana-bodhini, and Mani-ratna-mala, as well as catechisms and manuals for students wishing to follow the path of wisdom; thirdly, by a system of reform and discipline within the Brahmin order itself, which if accepted and faithfully followed would so purify and clarify the mind and body, that his disciples finally became fit to receive his precepts.

Sannyasa (Sanskrit) Saṃnyāsa [from sam together with + ni-as to reject, resign worldly life] Putting or throwing down, laying aside, abandonment; particularly renunciation of the world and material affairs and the assumption of the path leading to mystic knowledge. The practitioner is called a sannyasin.

saranyubhih ::: with them as travellers on the path. [Ved.]

sattvapatti. ::: purity of Heart; attaining Reality; the passage of the mind in Truth; a state of mind wherein the mind is full of purity and light; when the aspirant begins to feel the being of the real Self within him; the fourth stage in the path of Self-knowledge

Sayr al-Anfusi ::: The recognition of the individual realities or the path of the inward journey.

seduce ::: v. t. --> To draw aside from the path of rectitude and duty in any manner; to entice to evil; to lead astray; to tempt and lead to iniquity; to corrupt.
Specifically, to induce to surrender chastity; to debauch by means of solicitation.


Self-Deification ::: The process of becoming more "god"-like in awareness, attachments, and/or abilities. Many paradigms that are LHP-oriented focus on deifying the self and differ from RHP paradigms that seek to shed or shatter the illusion of a self (see Anatta) entirely. Self-deification — or at least the attributes we ascribe to self-deification — can arise in either path and is frequently a result of becoming more aware of the nature of reality and What is doing the observing, regardless of whether one is seeking deification of the self or not. But that attachment to deification and its status as a goal along the path is what primarily distinguishes LHP from RHP philosophies.

Shannagarikah (Sanskrit) Ṣaṇṇagarikāḥ Belonging to six towns or cities; “a famous philosophical school where chelas are prepared before entering on the Path” (TG 81).

shebang ::: (operating system) (Or shebang line, bang path) /sh*-bang'/ (From sharp and bang) The magic cookie

&

Sotapanna (Pali) Sotāpanna One who has entered the path of Sotapatti, the stream to nirvana, the first of the four paths that lead to liberation. See also SROTAPATTI

Spiral The path of a point (generally plane) which moves round an axis while continually approaching it or receding from it; also often used for a helix, which is generated by compounding a circular motion with one in a straight line. The spiral form is an apt illustration of the course of evolution, which brings motion round towards the same point, yet without repetition.

Sri Aurobindo: A symbol, as I understand it, is the form on one plane that represents a truth of another. For instance, a flag is the symbol of a nation…. But generally all forms are symbols. This body of ours is a symbol of our real being and everything is a symbol of some higher reality. There are, however, different kinds of symbols: 1. Conventional symbols, such as the Vedic Rishis formed with objects taken from their surroundings. The cow stood for light because the same word `go ‘ meant both ray and cow, and because the cow was their most precious possession which maintained their life and was constantly in danger of being robbed and concealed. But once created, such a symbol becomes alive. The Rishis vitalised it and it became a part of their realisation. It appeared in their visions as an image of spiritual light. The horse also was one of their favourite symbols, and a more easily adaptable one, since its force and energy were quite evident. 2. What we might call Life-symbols, such as are not artificially chosen or mentally interpreted in a conscious deliberate way, but derive naturally from our day-to-day life and grow out of the surroundings which condition our normal path of living. To the ancients the mountain was a symbol of the path of yoga, level above level, peak upon peak. A journey, involving the crossing of rivers and the facing of lurking enemies, both animal and human, conveyed a similar idea. Nowadays I dare say we would liken yoga to a motor-ride or a railway-trip. 3. Symbols that have an inherent appositeness and power of their own. Akasha or etheric space is a symbol of the infinite all-pervading eternal Brahman. In any nationality it would convey the same meaning. Also, the Sun stands universally for the supramental Light, the divine Gnosis. 4.* Mental symbols, instances of which are numbers or alphabets. Once they are accepted, they too become active and may be useful. Thus geometrical figures have been variously interpreted. In my experience the square symbolises the supermind. I cannot say how it came to do so. Somebody or some force may have built it before it came to my mind. Of the triangle, too, there are different explanations. In one position it can symbolise the three lower planes, in another the symbol is of the three higher ones: so both can be combined together in a single sign. The ancients liked to indulge in similar speculations concerning numbers, but their systems were mostly mental. It is no doubt true that supramental realities exist which we translate into mental formulas such as Karma, Psychic evolution, etc. But they are, so to speak, infinite realities which cannot be limited by these symbolic forms, though they may be somewhat expressed by them; they might be expressed as well by other symbols, and the same symbol may also express many different ideas. Letters on Yoga

Sri Aurobindo: "Destiny in the rigid sense applies only to the outer being so long as it lives in the Ignorance. What we call destiny is only in fact the result of the present condition of the being and the nature and energies it has accumulated in the past acting on each other and determining the present attempts and their future results. But as soon as one enters the path of spiritual life, this old predetermined destiny begins to recede. There comes in a new factor, the Divine Grace, the help of a higher Divine Force other than the force of Karma, which can lift the sadhak beyond the present possibilities of his nature. One"s spiritual destiny is then the divine election which ensures the future.” *Letters on Yoga

Sri Aurobindo: "In considering the action of the Infinite we have to avoid the error of the disciple who thought of himself as the Brahman, refused to obey the warning of the elephant-driver to budge ::: from the narrow path and was taken up by the elephant"s trunk and removed out of the way; ‘You are no doubt the Brahman," said the master to his bewildered disciple, ‘but why did you not obey the driver Brahman and get out of the path of the elephant Brahman?"” *The Life Divine

Sri Aurobindo: “Love fulfilled does not exclude knowledge, but itself brings knowledge; and the completer the knowledge, the richer the possibility of love. ‘By Bhakti’ says the Lord in the Gita ‘shall a man know Me in all my extent and greatness and as I am in the principles of my being, and when he has known Me in the principles of my being, then he enters into Me.’ Love without knowledge is a passionate and intense, but blind, crude, often dangerous thing, a great power, but also a stumbling-block; love, limited in knowledge, condemns itself in its fervour and often by its very fervour to narrowness; but love leading to perfect knowledge brings the infinite and absolute union. Such love is not inconsistent with, but rather throws itself with joy into divine works; for it loves God and is one with him in all his being, and therefore in all beings, and to work for the world is then to feel and fulfil multitudinously one’s love for God. This is the trinity of our powers, [work, knowledge, love] the union of all three in God to which we arrive when we start on our journey by the path of devotion with Love for the Angel of the Way to find in the ecstasy of the divine delight of the All-Lover’s being the fulfilment of ours, its secure home and blissful abiding-place and the centre of its universal radiation.” The Synthesis of Yoga

Srotapatti (Sanskrit) Srotāpatti [from srota stream, river + āpatti entering into a state or condition from a-pad to enter] One who has attained the first path of comprehension of the real and the unreal, the first of the four paths that lead to nirvana: the path of arhatship. “Once thou hast passed the gate Srotapatti, ‘he who the stream hath entered’; once thy foot hath pressed the bed of the Nirvanic stream in this or any future life, thou hast but seven other births before thee, O thou of adamantine Will” (VS 46). See also ARHAT

Strategic planning – Is the planning process defining what you want to accomplish in your business and then identifying the path that will allow you to reach your goal in the most efficient and sensible manner.

stray ::: a. --> To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.
To wander from company, or from the proper limits; to rove at large; to roam; to go astray.
Figuratively, to wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err. ::: v. t.


subheccha. ::: good desire for enlightenment; longing for the Truth; noble wish or desire which arises in the heart of one who aspires to cross samsara; when the individual having come to the consciousness of the evils of the earthly living aspires to transcend it; the first stage in the path of Self-knowledge

suntracks ::: A word coined by Sri Aurobindo. Lines of travel, passage, or motion; the actual courses or routes followed (which need not be any beaten or visible path, or leave any traces, as the paths of ships, birds in the air, comets, etc.).

suntracks ::: a word coined by Sri Aurobindo. Lines of travel, passage, or motion; the actual courses or routes followed (which need not be any beaten or visible path, or leave any traces, as the paths of ships, birds in the air, comets, etc.).

sunyapanthinah (Shunyapanthis) ::: [those who follow the path of sunya; Nihilists].

symbol ::: A symbol, as I understand it, is the form on one plane that represents a truth of another. For instance, a flag is the symbol of a nation…. But generally all forms are symbols. This body of ours is a symbol of our real being and everything is a symbol of some higher reality. There are, however, different kinds of symbols: 1. Conventional symbols, such as the Vedic Rishis formed with objects taken from their surroundings. The cow stood for light because the same word `go ‘ meant both ray and cow, and because the cow was their most precious possession which maintained their life and was constantly in danger of being robbed and concealed. But once created, such a symbol becomes alive. The Rishis vitalised it and it became a part of their realisation. It appeared in their visions as an image of spiritual light. The horse also was one of their favourite symbols, and a more easily adaptable one, since its force and energy were quite evident. 2. What we might call Life-symbols, such as are not artificially chosen or mentally interpreted in a conscious deliberate way, but derive naturally from our day-to-day life and grow out of the surroundings which condition our normal path of living. To the ancients the mountain was a symbol of the path of yoga, level above level, peak upon peak. A journey, involving the crossing of rivers and the facing of lurking enemies, both animal and human, conveyed a similar idea. Nowadays I dare say we would liken yoga to a motor-ride or a railway-trip. 3. Symbols that have an inherent appositeness and power of their own. Akasha or etheric space is a symbol of the infinite all-pervading eternal Brahman. In any nationality it would convey the same meaning. Also, the Sun stands universally for the supramental Light, the divine Gnosis. 4. Mental symbols, instances of which are numbers or alphabets. Once they are accepted, they too become active and may be useful. Thus geometrical figures have been variously interpreted. In my experience the square symbolises the supermind. I cannot say how it came to do so. Somebody or some force may have built it before it came to my mind. Of the triangle, too, there are different explanations. In one position it can symbolise the three lower planes, in another the symbol is of the three higher ones: so both can be combined together in a single sign. The ancients liked to indulge in similar speculations concerning numbers, but their systems were mostly mental. It is no doubt true that supramental realities exist which we translate into mental formulas such as Karma, Psychic evolution, etc. But they are, so to speak, infinite realities which cannot be limited by these symbolic forms, though they may be somewhat expressed by them; they might be expressed as well by other symbols, and the same symbol may also express many different ideas. Letters on Yoga

symbolic link "file system" (Or "symlink", "soft link" (by contrast with "{hard link}"), "{shortcut}", "{alias}") A special type of {Unix} file which refers to another file by its {pathname}. A symbolic link is created with the "ln" (link) command: ln -s OLDNAME NEWNAME Where OLDNAME is the target of the link (usually a pathname) and NEWNAME is the pathname of the link itself. Most operations ({open}, {read}, {write}) on the symbolic link automatically {dereference} it and operate on its target (OLDNAME). Some operations (e.g. removing) work on the link itself (NEWNAME). In contrast with {hard links}, there are no restrictions on where a symbolic link can point, it can refer to a file on another file system, to itself or to a file which does not even exist (e.g. when the target of the symlink is removed). Such problems will only be detected when the link is accessed. (1997-10-22)

symbolic link ::: (file system) (Or symlink, soft link (by contrast with hard link), shortcut, alias) A special type of Unix file which refers to another file by its pathname. A symbolic link is created with the ln (link) command: ln -s OLDNAME NEWNAME Where OLDNAME is the target of the link (usually a pathname) and NEWNAME is the pathname of the link itself.Most operations (open, read, write) on the symbolic link automatically dereference it and operate on its target (OLDNAME). Some operations (e.g. removing) work on the link itself (NEWNAME).In contrast with hard links, there are no restrictions on where a symbolic link can point, it can refer to a file on another file system, to itself or to a file which does not even exist (e.g. when the target of the symlink is removed). Such problems will only be detected when the link is accessed. (1997-10-22)

Tantric: Adjective to Tantra (q.v.) Tao: The Way, principle, cosmic order, nature. "The Tao that can be expressed in words is not the eternal Tao." It is "vague and eluding," "deep and obscure," but "there is in it the form" and "the essence." "In it is reality." It "produced the One, the One produced the two, the two produced the three, and the three produced all things." Its "standard is the Natural." (Lao Tzu).   "Tao has reality and evidence but no action nor form. It may be transmitted, but cannot be received. It may be attained, but cannot be seen. It is its own essence, and its own root." "Tao operates, and results follow." "Tao has no limit." "It is in the ant," "a tare," "a potsherd," "ordure." (Chuang Tzu, between 399 and 295 B.C.). The Confucian "Way;" the teachings of the sage; the moral order, the moral life, truth, the moral law; the moral principle. This means "the fulfillment of the law of our human nature." It is the path of man's moral life. "True manhood (jen) is that by which a man is to be a man. Generally speaking, it is the moral law" (Mencius, 371-289 B.C.). "To proceed according to benevolence and righteousness is called the Way." (Han Yu, 767-824). The Way, which means following the Reason of things, and also the Reason which is in everything and which everything obeys. (Neo-Confucianism). The Way or Moral Law in the cosmic sense, signifying "what is above the realm of corporeality," and the "successive movement of the active (yang) and the passive principles (yin)." In the latter sense as understood both in ancient Confucianism and in Neo-Confucianism, it is interchangeable with the Great Ultimate (T'ai Chi). Shao K'ang-chieh (1011-1077) said that "The Moral Law is the Great Ultimate." Chang Heng-ch'u (1022-1077) identified it with the Grand Harmony (Ta Ho) and said that "from the operation of the vital force (ch'i) there is the Way." This means that the Way is the principle of being as well as the sum total of the substance and functions of things. To Ch'eng I-ch'uan (1033-1107) "There is no Way independent of the active (yang) principle and the passive (yin) principle. Yet it is precisely the Way that determines the active and passive principles. These principles are the constituents of the vital force (ch'i), which is corporeal. On the other hand, the Way transcends corporeality." To Chu Hsi (1130-1200), the Way is "the Reason why things are as they are." Tai Tung-yuan (1723-1777) understood it to mean "the incessant transformation of the universe," and "the operation of things in the world, involving the constant flow of the vital force (ch'i) and change, and unceasing production and reproduction."

tanumanasa. :::thread-like or "weakened" state of mind which arises from disinterestedness in the pleasure of the senses; a thinning out of mental activities; when on account of the knowledge of its ultimate unreality revealed by philosophical thinking and analysis, the mind becomes less and less assertive, eventually abandoning the many and remaining fixed on the One; the third stage in the path of Self-knowledge

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.

Tariqat: The Moslem term for the path to mystic union with God.

Teachers In theosophical writings, often used to designate masters of wisdom, adepts, mahatmas, or messengers qualified to instruct and guide pupils on the path of wisdom. Teachers are of various grades, belonging to different degrees of different benevolent hierarchies; at the summit are those buddhas and manus who serve as inspirers and light-bringers to the races of mankind. Below these highest come lesser teachers, pertaining to the lesser cycles of time. The mythology of ancient peoples contains reference to divine instructors of various ranks.

Thanatos ::: The pathological version of Agape. Not the higher’s embrace of the lower, but the higher’s regression to the lower.

  The chela life or chela path is a beautiful one, full of joy to its very end, but also it calls forth and needs everything noble and high in the learner or disciple; for the powers or faculties of the higher self must be brought into activity in order to attain and to hold those summits of intellectual and spiritual grandeur where the Masters themselves live. For that, masterhood, is the end of discipleship — not, however, that this ideal should be set before us merely as an end to attain to as something of benefit for one’s own self, because that very thought is a selfish one and therefore a stumbling in the path. It is for the individual’s benefit, of course; yet the true idea is that everything and every faculty that is in the soul shall be brought out in the service of all humanity, for this is the royal road, the great royal thoroughfare, of self-conquest” (OG 27-8).

The destiny which lies in the germ is the destiny which belongs to the spiritual entity in its various attributes behind that germ, and these attributes as a whole — in other words the svabhava of the entity — are born of that entity’s portion of free will leading it off into strange bypaths during the ages-long course of its evolutionary growth. The incarnate person, having the power of choice, can wander temporarily far astray from the path of his divine destiny, lured by the attractions of the lower planes of manifestation. This stirring up of karmic results which actually becomes Karma-Nemesis, that which cannot be avoided and must be worked out, is the beneficent but inexorable adjuster and restorer of harmony.

"The end of the path may be, equally, a perception of the Divine in all energies, in all happenings, in all activities, and a free and unegoistic participation of the soul in the cosmic action. So followed it will lead to the elevation of all human will and activity to the divine level, its spiritualisation and the justification of the cosmic labour towards freedom, power and perfection in the human being.” The Synthesis of Yoga

“The end of the path may be, equally, a perception of the Divine in all energies, in all happenings, in all activities, and a free and unegoistic participation of the soul in the cosmic action. So followed it will lead to the elevation of all human will and activity to the divine level, its spiritualisation and the justification of the cosmic labour towards freedom, power and perfection in the human being.” The Synthesis of Yoga

  “The grandest cosmical functions are ascribed to Varuna. Possessed of illimitable knowledge . . . he upholds heaven and earth, he dwells in all worlds as sovereign ruler. . . . He made the golden . . . sun to shine in the firmament. The wind which resounds through the atmosphere is his breath. . . . Through the operation of his laws the moon walks in brightness, and the stars . . . mysteriously vanish in daylight. He knows the flight of birds in the sky, the paths of ships on the ocean, the course of the far-travelling wind, and beholds all the things that have been or shall be done. . . . He witnesses men’s truth and falsehood” (TG 360).

The original from which the Hebrew Genesis was later compiled is lost. Yet even as the latter has reached us — first veiled, then probably remodeled by Ezra with shiftings that confuse the chronology — despite important words and clauses mistranslated by European scholars, its resemblance to the esoteric account is unmistakable. For Jehovah, who gave the human body and (physical) breath of life, is the hyparxis of Saturn and an earthly, not a celestial, hierarchy. The human mind and spirit are essentially emanations from the immortal spiritual monad coeval with the universe, and subsequent human evolutionary development was both from and aided by the elohim, a spiritual host. Adam and Eve, once mind appeared in them, enter the path of self-directed evolution, a reference to the second and third Eves mentioned above. The eating of the fruit of the tree is the awakening or lighting of mind in man. It shows Eve as consorting with spiritual, not demoniacal, forces and incidentally reconciles the two creation stories. Like the serpent, the tree is an ancient and universal symbol of sacred and esoteric knowledge. To eat of its fruit is to acquire the knowledge that only the gods possess, and the possession confers immortality under the law.

Theosophy enjoins students to let psychic powers alone, until they develop normally and naturally in the progress of the student along the path of wisdom and self-mastery. The craze for psychic powers and attempts in their cultivation arise almost invariably out of ignorance of the existence in ourselves of far higher and more powerful forces which can always be employed with safety, and even profit, to the individual. These greater powers are those classed as spiritual and intellectual-aspirational — powers which ennoble and dignify man, containing in themselves capacities for amazing effects. Their use is always safe once they are understood and studied. By their side the psychic powers, attributes, and faculties are like the puny efforts of children to copy adults.

The phrase does not mean that each person should follow the bent of his own personal inclinations, but that he should follow the path of duty, which is the path of evolution, as revealed to him by intuition and purity of aspiration. He should become the master of his destiny, spiritually willing his future through self-devised training and efforts upwards.

There are two major points of reference for tracing1 the path that Soviet philosophy has taken -- the successive controversies around the issues of mechanism and of idealism. The first began in the early twenties as a discussion centering on the philosophy of science, and eventually spread to all phases of philosophy. The central issue was whether materialism could be identified with mechanism. Those who answered in the affirmative, among them Timiriazev, Timinski, Axelrod and Stepanov, were called mechanistic materialists. Their position tended to an extreme empiricism which was suspicious of generalization and theory, saw little if any value in Hegel's philosophy, or in dialectical as distinguished from formal logic, and even went so far, in some cases, as to deny the necessity of philosophy in general, resting content with the findings of the specific sciences. It was considered that they tended to deny the reality of quality, attempting to reduce it mechanically to quantity, and to interpret evolution as a mere quantitative increase or decrease of limited factors, neglecting the significance of leaps, breaks and the precipitation of new qualities. In opposition to their views, a group of thinkers, led by Deborin, asserted the necessity of philosophic generalizition and the value of the dialectical method in Hegel as a necessary element in Marxian materialism. In 1929, at a conference of scientific institutions attended by 229 delegates from all parts of the country, the issues were discussed by both sides. A general lack of satisfaction with the mechanist position was expressed in the form of a resolution at the close of the conference. However, the Deborin group was also criticized, not only by the mechanists, but by many who were opposed to the mechanists as well. It was felt by Mitin, Yudin and a group of predominantly younger thinkers that neither camp was really meeting the obligations of philosophy. While they felt there was much that was valuable in Deborin's criticism of mechanism, it seemed to them that he had carried it too far and had fallen over backward into the camp of the idealists. They called his group menshevizing idealists, that is to say, people who talked like the Mensheviks, a pre-revolutionary faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party. By this was meant that they were unduly abstract, vague and tended to divorce theory from practice. In particular, they seemed to accept Hegelian dialectics as such, overlooking the deeper implications of the materialist reconstruction of it which Marx insisted upon. Moreover, they had neglected the field of social problems, and consequently made no significant philosophic contribution to momentous social issues of the times such as collectivization of the land, abandonment of NEP, the possibility of a Five Year Plan. At a three day conference in 1930, the situation was discussed at length by all interested parties. Deborin, Karev and Sten leading the discussion on one side, Mitin and Yudin on the other. The sense of the meetings was that the criticisms made of the Deborin group were valid.

There is an automatic phase of free will in the purposeful instinct which marks the various activities of even minute and lowly forms of life. The unself-conscious beasts are protected, and therefore guided, by the wills of celestial beings who make the so-called laws of nature, yet even the beasts instinctively choose to run true to their own inner types or svabhava. They unconsciously will to be themselves and to copy no other. They have free will exactly in proportion to their consciousness, just as any person has it in the higher degrees of his intelligence and more active intuition. Thus human beings have the power to work out their evolution, for the kingdom of heaven is taken by strength. The gods have gone ahead on the pathway towards omniscience — so far as our universe is concerned — by their own individual efforts consciously to act with an ever-enlarging measure of harmony with the one divine will. Thus the volume or power of free will is in strict proportion with the degree in which the entity has brought forth the central spark of divine willing fire which animates all that is. Nevertheless no single being or entity has completely unfettered and perfectly irresponsible free will, because of its relative imperfection and because of its inescapable subordination to greater wills, each such entity ever evolving from its stage of imperfection as it ascends along the scales of being: those on the higher rungs of the hierarchical ladder consciously willing in ever-enlarging degree to follow the greater divine will which holds all in its keeping.

“These advanced entities are otherwise known as the Solar Lhas, as the Tibetans call them, the solar spirits, who were the men of a former kalpa, and who during the third Root-race thus sacrifice themselves in order to give us intellectual light — incarnating in those senseless psycho-physical shells in order to awaken the divine flame of egoity and self-consciousness in the sleeping egos which we then were. They are ourselves because belonging to the same spirit-ray that we do; yet we, more strictly speaking, were those half-unconscious, half-awakened egos whom they touched with the divine fire of their own being. This, our ‘awakening,’ was called by H. P. Blavatsky, the incarnation of the Manasaputras, or the Sons of Mind or Light. Had that incarnation not taken place, we indeed should have continued our evolution by merely ‘natural’ causes, but it would have been slow almost beyond comprehension, almost interminable; but that act of self-sacrifice, through their immense pity, their immense love, though, indeed, acting under Karmic impulse, awakened the divine fire in our own selves, gave us light and comprehension and understanding; and from that time we ourselves became ‘Sons of the Gods,’ the faculty of self-consciousness in us was awakened, our eyes were opened, responsibility became ours; and our feet were set then definitely upon the path, that inner path, quiet, wonderful, leading us inwards back to our spiritual home. . . .

The titans with their false gifts symbolize the pursuing energies of the personal, material life, which enchain and delude the soul. They are earth powers which lead the soul from the path by the lure of things of sense. The dismembered body is first boiled in water — symbol of the astral world; then roasted, “as gold is tried by fire,” symbol of suffering and purification and the reascent of the victorious soul to bliss.

The various forms of yoga from the standpoint of theosophy when properly understood are not distinct, separable means of attaining union with the god within; and it is a divergence of the attention into one or several of these forms to the exclusion of others that has brought about so much mental confusion and lack of success even in those who are more or less skilled. Every one of these forms of yoga, with the probable exception of the lower forms of hatha yoga, should be practiced concurrently by the one who has set his heart and mind upon spiritual success. Thus one should carefully watch and control his acts, acting and working unselfishly; he should live so that his daily customs distract attention as little as possible away from the spiritual purpose; his heart coincidentally should be filled with devotion and love for all things; and he should cultivate, all at the same time, his will, his capacity for self-sacrifice and self-devotion to a noble cause, and his ability to stand firm and undaunted in the face of difficulties whatever they may be; and, finally, in addition and perhaps most importantly, he should do everything in his power to cultivate his intuition and intellectual faculties, exercising not merely his ratiocinative mind, but the higher intuitive and nobly intellectual parts. Combining all these he is following the chela path and is using all the forms of yoga in the proper way. Yet the chela will never obtain his objective if his practice of yoga is followed for his own individual advancement. He will never reach higher than the superior planes of the astral world even in consciousness; but when his whole being follows this yoga as thus outlined with a desire to lay his life and all he is on the altar of service to the world, he is then indeed on the path.

  “This fourth principle is like the sign Libra in the path of the Sun through the Zodiac; when the Sun (who is the real man) reaches that sign he trembles in the balance. Should he go back the worlds would be destroyed; he goes onward, and the whole human race is lifted up to perfection” (Ocean 45-7).

This teaching is in all the religions of the world, expressing the law of our higher nature, which is love and harmony, as contrasted with the law of our lower nature, which makes for personal separateness and sets the individual at variance with his neighbor. Its realization in thought and conduct is an indispensable requisite to attainment on the path of wisdom and liberation. The following are selected from many similar teachings:

thunder ::: 1. The crashing or booming sound produced by rapidly expanding air along the path of the electrical discharge of lightning. 2. A sound that resembles or suggests thunder. thunder"s, thunder-chase, thunder drums, thunder-flash, thunder-hooved.

track ::: n. 1. A mark or succession of marks left by something that has passed. 2. A path made or beaten by or as if by the feet of people or animals; trail. 3. A path along which something moves or has moved, such as a wheel-rut; the wake of a ship; a series of footprints; etc. tracks. v. 4. To follow the tracks of; trail. 5. To observe, plot, or mark the path of something. tracked.

Trikaya (Sanskrit) Trikāya [from tri three + kāya vesture, body] The three glorious vestures or states in which the consciousness of an adept clothes itself: 1) the nirmanakaya (Tibetan pru-lpai-ku) in which the bodhisattva after entering the path to nirvana by the six paramitas appears to mankind in order to teach and which thus is associated with the Buddhas of Compassion; 2) the sambhogakaya (Tibetan dzog-pai-ku) the body of bliss impervious to all material sensations assumed by one who has fulfilled the three conditions of spiritual, intellectual, and moral perfection; and 3) the dharmakaya (Tibetan chos-ku) the nirvanic body or robe in which all nirvanis and full Pratyeka Buddhas exist.

Uniform Resource Locator "web" (URL, previously "Universal") A {standard} way of specifying the location of an object, typically a {web page}, on the {Internet}. Other types of object are described below. URLs are the form of address used on the {World-Wide Web}. They are used in {HTML} documents to specify the target of a {hypertext link} which is often another HTML document (possibly stored on another computer). Here are some example URLs: http://w3.org/default.html http://acme.co.uk:8080/images/map.gif http://foldoc.org/?Uniform+Resource+Locator http://w3.org/default.html

Uniform Resource Locator ::: (World-Wide Web) (URL, previously Universal) A standard way of specifying the location of an object, typically a web page, on the Internet. hyperlink which is often another HTML document (possibly stored on another computer).Here are some example URLs: http://www.w3.org/default.htmlhttp://www.acme.co.uk:8080/images/map.gif host. Other less commonly used schemes include news, telnet or mailto (e-mail).The part after the colon is interpreted according to the access scheme. In general, two slashes after the colon introduce a hostname (host:port is also valid, or for FTP user: or ). The port number is usually omitted and defaults to the standard port for the scheme, e.g. port 80 for HTTP.For an HTTP or FTP URL the next part is a pathname which is usually related to the pathname of a file on the server. The file can contain any type of data but recognised directly by the browser may be passed to an external viewer application, e.g. a sound player.The last (optional) part of the URL may be a query string preceded by ? or a fragment identifier preceded by

Uttarayana (Sanskrit) Uttarāyaṇa [from uttara northern + ayana road, path] The northern way, the progress of the sun to the north of the equator or the summer solstice. In mystic philosophy, it represents in one sense the path of light leading inwards spiritually, or the nivrittimarga, the path of the involution of matter and the evolution of spirit. See also DAKSHINAYANA

vibration ::: n. --> The act of vibrating, or the state of being vibrated, or in vibratory motion; quick motion to and fro; oscillation, as of a pendulum or musical string.
A limited reciprocating motion of a particle of an elastic body or medium in alternately opposite directions from its position of equilibrium, when that equilibrium has been disturbed, as when a stretched cord or other body produces musical notes, or particles of air transmit sounds to the ear. The path of the particle


vichara marg&

vijnana marg&

wake ::: 1. The path or course of anything that has passed or preceded. 2. The visible track of turbulence left by something moving through water. Also fig.

While the historical legend of the Buddha obtaining omniscience under the bodhi tree may be correct historically, it is also a usage of the mystical language of the Mysteries — Gautama attaining supreme wisdom and knowledge under the “wisdom tree” is but another way of saying that through initiation into the highest grades of the Mysteries, he reached the stage of buddhahood because he was already a buddha through inner evolution. Again, in India adepts of both the right- and left-hand were often referred to as trees, the path indicated by whether the tree named was beneficent or maleficent. See also ASVATTHA

Will The ensouling creative essence of abstract, eternal motion throughout the kosmos. As an eternal principle it is neither spirit nor substance but everlasting ideation. In its abstract sense, it is a hierarchy of intelligent forces emanating from the aggregate of the hosts of beings, visible and invisible, which are nature itself. The so-called laws of nature are the action and interaction of the combined consciousnesses and wills which pervade the kosmos. The will pours forth in floods of light and life from the primal Logos. These floods, following the pathways of universal circulation, come to us from the central heart of the solar system — insofar as our solar universe is concerned. They thus descend, plane by plane and cycle by cycle, into the depths of matter, from which finally they arise again towards their primal source. In this progressive descent and ascent, will is made to manifest in keeping with each plane or state of consciousness which it enters. There is, therefore, the one fundamental kosmic will-ideation, breaking into innumerable streams of willing entities during periods of manifestation, and thus it operates in myriad ways, in every round of the endless ladder of life.

work path "graphics" In {Adobe Photoshop}, a temporary {path} that appears in the Paths palette and defines the outline of a shape. (2009-03-02)

Yana (Sanskrit) Yāna [from the verbal root yā to go] Path, road, vehicle; there are two recognized paths of action in nature, the pratyeka-yana (the path of each one for himself) and the amrita-yana (the immortal vehicle or path of immortality). There are also two schools of philosophy in India using this term: the Hinayana (the lesser, inferior, or defective vehicle) and the Mahayana (the greater or superior vehicle).

yoga marg&

yoga ::: union; "the union of that which has become separated in the play of the universe with its own true self, origin and universality"; any of various methods of seeking for such a union; especially the path of pūrn.a yoga, culminating in a "Yoga of self-perfection" by which the "liberated individual being, united with the Divine in self and spirit, becomes in his natural being a self-perfecting instrument for the perfect outflowering of the Divine in humanity". In Sri Aurobindo"s diary, "the Yoga" usually refers to his practice of this Yoga of self-. perfection, whose elements are enumerated in the sapta catus.t.aya; but the effective half of the karma catus.t.aya is for some purposes treated as part of "life" or the lila, as distinct from the yoga. yoga catustaya

You have only to remain quiet and firm in your following of the path and your will to go to the end. If you do that circum- stances will in the end be obliged to shape themselves to your will, because it will be the Dirine Will in you.



QUOTES [223 / 223 - 1500 / 4279]


KEYS (10k)

   55 Sri Aurobindo
   32 The Mother
   14 Sri Ramakrishna
   8 Chamtrul Rinpoche
   7 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   2 Sri Sarada Devi
   2 Saint Padre Pio
   2 Ramakrishna
   2 Osho
   2 Longchenpa
   2 Jalaluddin Rumi
   2 Aleister Crowley
   1 Yahya Suhaward
   1 William James
   1 Wilhelm Reich
   1 Wikipedia
   1 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
   1 Taigu Ryokan
   1 Swami Turiyananda
   1 Swami Shivananda
   1 Swami Satyananda Saraswati
   1 Swami Saradananda
   1 SWAMI RAMA TIRTHA
   1 Swami Rama
   1 SWAMI RAMA
   1 SWAMI PARAMANANDA
   1 SWAMI BRAHMANANDA
   1 Swami Akhandananda
   1 Swami Adbhutananda
   1 Sutra in 42 Articles
   1 Sura
   1 Sun Bear
   1 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   1 Sri Ramakrishna
   1 Soren Kierkegaard
   1 Sigmund Freud
   1 Shaykh Abd Al Qadir Al Jilani
   1 Shankara
   1 Saint John of Ávila
   1 Saint Albert the Great
   1 Ram Dass
   1 Ramana
   1 Ralph Waldo Emerson
   1 Proverbs XII
   1 Proverbs
   1 Patrul Rinpoche
   1 Miyamoto Musashi
   1 Meher Baba
   1 Master Li
   1 Mark Twain
   1 Manly P Hall
   1 Lilly Wachowski
   1 Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
   1 Jordan Peterson
   1 John Bailey
   1 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
   1 Jigme Lingpa
   1 Jetsun Milarepa
   1 Japanese Proverb
   1 Jalaluddin Rumi
   1 Israel Regardie
   1 ibid
   1 Hitopadesha
   1 Hermes
   1 Hermann Hesse
   1 Hazrat Inayat Khan
   1 Gyaltsen Sangpo
   1 Goenka
   1 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
   1 Friedrich Schiller
   1 Fo -shu-hing-tsan-king
   1 Fo-sho-hing-san king
   1 Eusebius
   1 Emerald Tablet
   1 Eliphas Levi
   1 Dzogchen Rinpoche III
   1 Dion Fortune
   1 Dhammapada
   1 David R Hawkins
   1 Daniel C Matt
   1 Clement I
   1 Chogyam Trungpa
   1 Buson
   1 Buddhist Texts
   1 Buddhist Maxims
   1 Buddha
   1 Book of Golden Precepts
   1 Bonaventure
   1 Bill Bradley
   1 Bernhard Guenther
   1 Baha-ullah: "Kitab-el-ikon."
   1 Baha-ullah
   1 Auguttara Nikaya
   1 Attar of Nishapur
   1 Anthony Robbins
   1 Annamalai Swami
   1 Anatole France
   1 Alice Bailey
   1 Swami Vivekananda
   1 Lao Tzu
   1 Jorge Luis Borges
   1 Jetsun Milarepa
   1 Heraclitus
   1 Bodhidharma
   1 Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

   41 Frederick Lenz
   34 Mehmet Murat ildan
   27 Paulo Coelho
   23 Anonymous
   16 The Mother
   11 Hermann Hesse
   11 Gautama Buddha
   10 Sri Ramakrishna
   10 Rumi
   10 Ralph Waldo Emerson
   10 Mahatma Gandhi
   9 Pema Ch dr n
   9 Amit Ray
   8 Ryan Holiday
   8 Deepak Chopra
   7 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   7 Neil Gaiman
   7 Carl Sagan
   6 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
   6 Sri Aurobindo

1:Falling leaves hide the path so quietly. ~ John Bailey,
2:Every step is on the path. ~ Lao Tzu,
3:The path to success is to take massive, determined action.
   ~ Anthony Robbins,
4:Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty. ~ Mark Twain,
5:The path up and down is one and the same. ~ Heraclitus,
6:What is the path? There is no path. On into the unknown. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
7:Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in." ~ Bill Bradley,
8:The path that leads to truth is littered with the bodies of the ignorant. ~ Miyamoto Musashi,
9:The path of Truth is narrower than the needle's eye and as sharp as a razor's edge. ~ SWAMI RAMA,
10:He who treads the path of love walks a thousand miles as if it were only one.
   ~ Japanese Proverb,
11:No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
   ~ Buddha,
12:The path is one and the realization is only one. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
13:Unswervingly follow the path shown by the Master. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
14:Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
15:There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
   ~ Lilly Wachowski, The Matrix, Morpheus,
16:The meditator must develop both awareness and equanimity together in order to advance along the path.
   ~ Goenka,
17:It is not the path which is the difficulty; rather, it is the difficulty which is the path.
   ~ Soren Kierkegaard,
18:If the meditator is able to use whatever occurs in his life as the path, his body becomes a retreat hut. ~ Jigme Lingpa,
19:Maya is like magic and we have to see the magician. But then the path beyond Maya is through Maya. ~ Swami Akhandananda,
20:Never tell a lie: absolute condition for safety on the path
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,
21:The path to cheerfulness is to sit cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.
   ~ William James,
22:the path ends
in fragrant blossoms
wild roses
~ Buson, @BashoSociety
23:It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. ~ Saint Albert the Great, (c. 1200 - 1280),
24:Time is immaterial for the Path of Knowledge. But some of these rules and disciplines are good for beginners. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
25:The pathless path is the path always under our feet. And since that path is always beneath us, if we miss it, how stupid! ~ Longchenpa,
26:Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being
   ~ Jalaluddin Rumi,
27:We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps. ~ Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha,
28:Be watchful, divest yourself of all neglectfulness; follow the path. ~ Buddhist Maxims, the Eternal Wisdom
29:Thus, then now as ever, I enter the Path of Darkness, if haply so I may attain the Light.
   ~ Aleister Crowley,
30:yoga: union with the Divine - by extension: the path which leads to this union
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,
31:When the path is known it is easy to tread upon it.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,
32:Do not focus so much on the path; keep your eyes fixed on the one who guides you and on the heavenly home to which He is guiding you. ~ Saint Padre Pio,
33:To follow the path to the end, one must be armed with a very patient endurance.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path,
34:Truth is followed as the path to the divine beatitude. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, To Bhaga Savitri, the Enjoyer,
35:You might meet with many obstacles in your life. But if you are a true practitioner, you will use them as training grounds of the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
36:All you need to do is to trust God. Following the path of devotion, one should leave everything to God. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
37:One will pass through as many stages as it is necessary to take, but one will arrive.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path,
38:He who follows the steep path that climbs the heights can easily slip down into the abyss.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path,
39:If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads." ~ Anatole France, (1844 - 1924) French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers, Wikipedia.,
40:As you turn the direction of the wicked mind, that mind itself will be able to grasp the Chosen Deity. It is the pure mind which shows man the path. ~ Sri Sarada Devi,
41:The perfect path: for each one the path which leads fastest to the Divine.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,
42: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,
43:Visit not miracle-mongers. They are wanderers from the path of Truth with minds entangled in the meshes of psychic powers. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
44:Boys and young men of pure minds should be led early into the path of religion, before worldliness enters deeply into them. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
45:I don't want to hear of any philosophy unless it grows corn." ~ Sun Bear, (1929-1992), Ojibwe descent, author of "At Home in the Wilderness", (1973), "The Path of Power", (1983),
46:Have You Forgotten Me:::

have you forgotten me
or lost the path here?
i wait for you
all day, every day
but you do not appear.
~ Taigu Ryokan,
47:It is not by the water in which they plunge that men become pure but he becomes pure who follows the path of the Truth. ~ ibid, the Eternal Wisdom
48:On the spiritual path each step forward is a conquest and the result of a fight.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path, [T5],
49:There is always a reason to live. The Gods will set you on the proper path. There is a deeper purpose to the path you have been set upon, one that has yet to reveal itself.
   ~ Sura,
50:When nothing upsets you, you are at the beginning of the path. When you desire nothing, you are halfway on the path; when nothing becomes everything, you are perfected. ~ Meher Baba,
51:The Guru shows the disciple the path to life eternal, and protects him from all troubles. Putting great faith in the words of the Guru let the disciple live them. ~ SWAMI BRAHMANANDA,
52:The road to the Divine: always long, often dry in appearance, but always abundant in its results.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,
53:In their seeking, wisdom and madness are one and the same. On the path of love, friend and stranger are one and the same. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, @Sufi_Path
54:The path is long, but self-surrender makes it short; the way is difficult, but perfect trust makes it easy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Early Cultural Writings, The Real Difficulty,
55:At a certain stage in the path of devotion the religious man finds satisfaction in the Divinity with a form, at another stage in the formless Impersonal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
56:The speed and distance that you travel on the path is determined by the level of your courage to go in the opposite direction from what you have been doing since beginningless time. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
57:To be ignorant of the path one has to take and set out on the way without a guide, is to will to lose oneself and run the risk of perishing. ~ Hermes, the Eternal Wisdom
58:You take up the spiritual path only when you feel you cannot do otherwise. 27 October 1952
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Ways of Working of the Lord, The Path [29],
59:The circumstances that provoke our first entry into the path are not the real index of the thing that is at work in us. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Faith and Shakti,
60:Whenever obstacles come on the path, think of them as 'not me'. Cultivate the attitude that the real you is beyond the reach of all troubles and obstacles. There are no obstacles for the Self. ~ Annamalai Swami,
61:The path is long, but self-surrender makes it short; the way is difficult, but perfect trust makes it easy.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, Surrender to the Divine Will, Surrender,
62:If we are treading the path of light, and if by chance, by mistake, by ignorance, or even by bad habit, we commit mistakes, we will return to the path again, because of the guidance from the unknown. ~ Swami Rama,
63:The whole effort of Jesus or a Buddha or a Bodhidharma is nothing but how to undo that which society has done to you." ~ Osho, (1931 - 1990), Indian godman, Wikipedia. Quote from "ZEN the Path of Paradox,", (2001).,
64:At a certain stage in the path of devotion the religious man finds satisfaction in the Divinity with a form, at another stage in the formless Impersonal. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom
65:What is bhaktiyoga? It is to keep the mind on God by chanting His name and glories. For the Kaliyuga the path of devotion is easiest. This is indeed the path for this age. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
66:No man ever succeeded in this sadhana by his own merit. To become open and plastic to the Mother is the one thing needed. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII,
67:No matter what you experience on the path, never give up. Because all of the buddhas became enlightened for you. They know your potential, and they will not stop helping until you are enlightened too. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
68:Externally keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall, you may enter into the Path. ~ Bodhidharma,
69:The whole world is in a process of progressive transformation; if you take up the discipline of Yoga, you speed up in yourself the process.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, Yoga,
70:Choose that relation to your Ideal which gives the greatest sense of nearness. Trying to serve Him in an aspect contrary to your natural tendency makes the path of devotion tedious and often leads to failure. ~ SWAMI PARAMANANDA,
71:Zen is all inclusive. It never denies, it never says no to anything. It accepts everything and transforms it into a higher reality." ~ Osho, (1931 - 1990), Indian godman, Wikipedia. Quote from "Zen the Path of Paradox,", (2001).,
72:The impulse of the Path was felt
Moving from the Silence that supports the stars
To touch the confines of the visible world. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Towards the Black Void,
73: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,
74:The end of the path of knowledge (jnana) or Vedanta is to know the truth that the 'I' is not different from the Lord (Isvara) and to be free from the feeling of being the doer. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
75:Christ tells us that if we are to join him, we shall travel the way he took. It is surely not right that the Son of God should go his way on the path of shame while the sons of men walk the way of worldly honor. ~ Saint John of Ávila,
76:It is quite natural that man forgets God. Therefore whenever the need arises, God Himself incarnates on earth and shows the path by Himself practicing Sadhana. This time He has also shown the example of renunciation. ~ Sri Sarada Devi,
77:We must be prepared to leave behind on the path not only that which we stigmatise as evil, but that which seems to us to be good, yet is not the one good. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Renunciation,
78:Let not the favourable moment pass thee by, for those who have suffered it to escape them, shall lament when they find themselves on the path which leads to the abyss. ~ Buddhist Texts, the Eternal Wisdom
79:Not to tame the senses is to take the road of misery, to conquer them is to enter into the path of well-being. Let each choose of these two roads the one that pleases him. ~ Hitopadesha, the Eternal Wisdom
80:When you are away from your spiritual friends, and you feel lonely on the path, and you feel a lack of encouragement to go on, just remember that all of the enlightened beings are always with you. You are never alone. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
81:I guide man to the path of the Divine
And guard him from the red Wolf and the Snake. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, 07.04 - The Triple Soul-Forces,
82:Attachment with worldly objects and pleasures is the greatest obstacle in the path of Realization, while worldly detachment with full concentration on the one Truth, the Divinity within, gives immediate Self-realization. ~ SWAMI RAMA TIRTHA,
83:And the sword of firm conviction buckled on, With the knapsack of sincerity And the shield of earnestness, I advance on the path of love." ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, (1882 - 1927) founder of the Sufi Order in the West in 1914, (London), Wikipedia.,
84:Follow the voice of your heart, even if it leads you off the path of timid souls. Do not become hard and embittered, even if life tortures you at times. There is only one thing that counts: to live one's life well and happily… ~ Wilhelm Reich,
85:By readiness I did not mean capacity but willingness. If there is the will within to face all difficulties and go through, no matter how long it takes, then the path can be taken. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,
86:Do not keep putting off practice, thinking that another location or another time would be more suitable.
Nothing is better than the present moment. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, bring your life to the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
87:That is not right. Throwing away the life does not improve the chances for the next time. It is in this life and body that one must get things done. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII,
88:Be sure that the Mother will be always with you to carry you upon the path. Difficulties come and difficulties go, but, she being with you, the victory is sure.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, [T1],
89:Unless there is self-effort, nothing can be accomplished. The illumined souls show us the path. Isn't that a great help? But we have to walk it. If you open your hearts to us we can show you the path, because we have walked the path. ~ Swami Turiyananda,
90:Death is not a way to succeed in sadhana. If you die in that way, you will only have the same difficulties again with probably less favourable circumstances. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII,
91:When we speak of the Path we mean much more than a course of study. The Path is a way of life and on it the whole being must co-operate if the heights are to be won.
   ~ Dion Fortune, Esoteric Orders and Their Work and The Training and Work of the Initiate,
92:Crazed by the disease of realizing emptiness as the ground, crazed by the demon of destroying confusion on the path, and crazed by the force of discarding any thought of achieving a result, lord, Madman of the Empty Valley, I bow at your feet. ~ Gyaltsen Sangpo,
93:Follow wise and intelligent men possessed of experience, patient and full of spirituality and elevation...Follow just and perfect men faithfully as the moon follows the path of the constellations. ~ Dhammapada, the Eternal Wisdom
94:It is important to give up expectations and to consider all experiences even the negative ones - to be just another step on the path. Then go forward." ~ Ram Dass, (b. Richard Alpert; 1931 - 2019), American spiritual teacher, psychologist, and author, Wikipedia.,
95:You are the traveler; you are the path; you are the destination. Be careful never to lose the way to yourself." ~ Yahya Suhaward, (1154-1191) Persian philosopher and founder of the Iranian school of Illuminationism, an important school in Islamic philosophy, Wikipedia.,
96:Divine grace is essential for realization. It leads on to God-realization. But such grace is vouchsafed only to him who is a true devotee or a yogin, who has striven hard and ceaselessly on the path towards freedom. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
97:Prophets and incarnations who have come and gone have shown us one thing, that we too can become heirs of knowledge and power like themselves - if we only have the will. If we struggle, walking the path taken by them, we too will reach that goal one day. ~ Swami Saradananda,
98:Be resigned to the Mother. Pray to Her earnestly, crying like a child, and you will discover the Light. Whenever we asked the Master, he told us also: ''Pray sincerely to the Mother, and She will straighten the path". He gave us this advice again and again. ~ Swami Shivananda,
99:The best path for this age is bhaktiyoga, the path of bhakti prescribed by Nārada: to sing the name and glories of God and pray to Him with a longing heart, 'O God, give me knowledge, give me devotion, and reveal Thyself to me!' ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
100:For the Kaliyuga the path of devotion described by Nārada is best. Where can people find time now to perform their duties according to the scriptural injunctions? I say that it will be enough for them to repeat the Gayatri alone. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
101:Whatever you think it is, it looks like that. If you call it time, it is time. If you call it existence, it is existence, and so on. After calling it time, you divide it into days & nights, months, years, hours, minutes, etc. Time is immaterial for the Path of Knowledge. ~ Ramana,
102:For all beings a human birth is difficult to obtain, rarer is attachment to the path of Vedic religion; higher than this is erudition in the scriptures; next is discrimination between the Self and not-Self, Realisation and continuing in a state of identity with Brahman. ~ Shankara,
103:The creatures of the sense world signify the invisible attributes of God, partly because God is the origin, exemplar, and end of every creature, and every effect is the sign of its cause, the exemplification of its exemplar, and the path to the end, to which leads… ~ Bonaventure,
104:Carelessness is not proper even for the worldling who derives vanity from his family and his riches; how much less for a disciple who has proposed to himself for his goal to discover the path of liberation ! ~ Fo -shu-hing-tsan-king, the Eternal Wisdom
105:It was the hour before the Gods awake.
   Across the path of the divine Event
   The huge foreboding mind of Night, alone
   In her unlit temple of eternity,
   Lay stretched immobile upon Silence marge.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, 01.01,
106:Life is a perpetual choice between truth and falsehood, light and darkness, progress and regression, the ascent towards the heights or a fall into the abyss. It is for each one to choose freely.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,
107:I t is necessary to have a guide for the spiritual journey. Choose a master, for without one this journey is full of trials, fears, and dangers. With no escort, you would be lost on a road you have already taken. Do not travel alone on the Path. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi,
108:Beware, O traveller on the path to truth, that the blind do not lead the blind. Your sight should be so keen that you are able to distinguish the smallest particle of good from the smallest particle of evil. ~ Shaykh Abd Al Qadir Al Jilani, @Sufi_Path
109:Clarity of knowledge and inner self-vision, subjugation of the ego, love, scrupulousness in selfless and dedicated works, are the four wheels of the chariot of Yoga. One who has them will progress safely on the path.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Himself And The Ashram,
110:The development of the experience in its rapidity, its amplitude, the intensity and power of its results, depends primarily, in the beginning of the path and long after, on the aspiration and personal effort of the sadhaka.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, [58],
111:In each one's life a moment comes when he has to choose between the Path and the muddle. You cannot put one foot here and one foot there. If you try to, you will be torn to pieces. A heart that does not choose is a heart that will die.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,
112: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,
113:Like a feather that is blown wherever the wind takes it, a weak and undisciplined mind is easily influenced by its environment and can be blown off the path.

Until your mind becomes like a mountain that no wind can move, take care of who you mix with, and how you spend your time. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
114:The attitude you express in your letter is quite the right one - whatever sufferings come on the path, are not too high a price for the victory that has to be won and, if they are taken in the right spirit, they become even a means towards the victory. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,
115:In the Grand Grimoire we are told "to buy an egg without haggling"; and attainment, and the next step in the path of attainment, is that pearl of great price, which when a man hath found he straightway selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that pearl. ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA, The Wand,
116:The path of karma is extremely difficult. Therefore one should pray: 'O God, make my duties fewer and fewer; and may I, through Thy grace, do the few duties that Thou givest me without any attachment to their results! May I have no desire to be involved in many activities! ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
117:Always remember that how we react to every moment of our life will reinforce either our negative habits or positive habits. No matter how challenging life may be, each moment can be seen as either a problem or an opportunity. If we can understand this, we can start to bring our entire life to the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
118:The real rest is in the inner life founded in peace and silence and absence of desire. There is no other rest—for without that the machine goes on whether one is interested in it or not. The inner mukti is the only remedy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII,
119:The more thou shalt advance, the more thy feet shall encounter bog and morass. The path which thou walkest, is lighted by one only fire, even the light of the audacity which burns in thy heart. The more thou shalt dare, the more thou shalt obtain ~ Book of Golden Precepts, the Eternal Wisdom
120:If we walk in the path of true wisdom avoiding the two errors (asceticism and mortifications and the sensual life) we shall attain to the highest perfection. If religion consisted solely in mortifications and asceticism, it could never lead n.; to Peace. ~ Fo-sho-hing-san king, the Eternal Wisdom
121:Who can point out the way of the gods and the path of their travel,
Who shall impose on them bounds and an orbit? The winds have their treading,-
They can be followed and seized, not the gods when they move towards their purpose. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, Ilion,
122:The intellectual attitude comes first and practice follows little by little. What is very important is to maintain very alert the will to live and to be what one knows to be the truth. Then it is impossible to stop and even more to fall back.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,
123:Visit not the doers of miracles. They have wandered from the path of the truth; they have allowed their minds to be caught in the snare of psychical powers which are so many temptations on the path of the pilgrims to the Brahman. Beware of such powers and do not desire them. ~ Ramakrishna, the Eternal Wisdom
124:There is always (it is probably inevitable) the path of struggle and then there is the sunlit path. And after much study and investigation, I have had a sort of spiritual ambition, if it may be called that, to bring to the world a sunlit path in order to eliminate the need for suffering and struggle...
   ~ The Mother,
125:As a student who has no idea of dharma and no mind training, you decide to commit to the path and to train yourself. As you train your mind, you begin to see all kinds of things. What you see is not so much the inspiration of a glimpse of enlightenment, or buddha nature. Instead, the first thing you see is what is wrong with samsara. ~ Chogyam Trungpa,
126:Suicide is an absurd solution; he is quite mistaken in thinking that it will give him peace. He will only carry his difficulties with him into a more miserable condition of existence beyond and bring them back to another life on earth. The only remedy is ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII,
127:Men have such a good opinion of themselves, of their mental superiority and intellectual depth; they believe themselves so skilled in discerning the true from the false, the path of safety from those of error, that they should be forbidden as much as possible the perusal of philosophic writings. ~ Abu Hamid al-Ghazali,
128:Sadhana has to be done in the body, it cannot be done by the soul without the body. When the body drops, the soul goes wandering in other worlds—and finally it comes back to another life and another body. Then all the difficulties it had not solved meet i ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII,
129:That is the inconvenience of going away from a difficulty,—it runs after one,—or rather one carries it with oneself, for the difficulty is truly inside, not outside. Outside circumstances only give it the occasion to manifest itself and so long as the inn ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII,
130:All who are not consciously fortified in the path of right are possible victims of these monsters of iniquity; all who are not consciously on the white path, and firmly established in the way of sincerity and truth, are in eternal danger of these Harpies who float like soulless specters on the tide of evolution. ~ Manly P Hall, Magic: A Treatise on Esoteric Ethics,
131:All was gold and gold and gold, a torrent of golden light pouring down in an uninterrupted flow and bringing with it the consciousness that the path of the gods is a sunlit path in which difficulties lose all reality.
   Such is the path open before us if we choose to take it.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path, [T5],
132:Jing naturally transforms into Qi,
Qi naturally transforms into Spirit,
and Spirit naturally transforms into pure openness,
uniting with cosmic space.
This is called returning to the root,
returning to origin.
The path of everlasting life
and eternal vision is complete. ~ Master Li, The Book of Balance and Harmony, (13th century, trans. By Thomas Cleary),
133:If thou remain in isolation, thou shalt never be able to travel the path of the spirit; a guide is needed. Go not alone by thyself, enter not as a blind man into that ocean...Since thou art utterly ignorant what thou shouldst do to issue out of the pit of this world, how shalt thou dispense with a sure guide? ~ Attar of Nishapur, the Eternal Wisdom
134:The main difficulty in the sadhana consists in the movements of the lower nature, ideas of the mind, desires and attractions of the vital, habits of the body consciousness that stand in the way of the growth of the higher consciousness - there are other difficulties, but these make the bulk of the opposition.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path,
135:This cannot be done without an uncompromising abolition of the ego-sense at its very basis and source. In the path of Knowledge one attempts this abolition, negatively by a denial of the reality of the ego, positively by a constant fixing of the thought upon the idea of the One and the Infinite in itself or the One and Infinite everywhere.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,
136:Scrutinise the heavens, sound the earth and they will reveal to thee always their impermanence, consider the world all around thee and it will reveal to thee always its impermanence: but when thou shalt have acquired spiritual illumination, thou shalt find wisdom and the intelligence that thou shalt have so attained will guide thee at once on the path. ~ Sutra in 42 Articles, the Eternal Wisdom
137:The Mother guides, helps each according to his nature and need, and, where necessary, herself intervenes with her Power enabling the sadhak to withstand the rigours and demands of the Path. She has placed herself - with all the Love, Peace, Knowledge and Consciousness that she is - at the disposal of every aspiring soul that looks for help.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, [T2],
138:When we look beyond our first exclusively concentrated vision, we see behind Vishnu all the personality of Shiva and behind Shiva all the personality of Vishnu. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga: The Divine Personality
Shiva-Vishnu
For most the siddhi of the path, whatever it is, must be the end of a long, difficult and persevering endeavour. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, The Difficulties of Yoga,
139: To make it more simple for general comprehension: after initiation, the mystic is merged in the occultist, for he has become a student of occult law; he has to work with matter, with its manipulation and uses, and he has to master and control all lower forms of manifestation, and learn the rules... yet he will still have to find the God within his own being, before he can safely venture on the path of occult law. ~ Alice Bailey, in Letters on Occult Meditation, p. 147, (1922)
140:What is the path that leads to the Eternal? When a disciple pours over the whole world the light of a heart overflowing with love, in all directions, on high, below, to the four quarters, with a thought of love, large, profound, boundless, void of wrath and hate, and when thereafter he pours over the whole world the light of a thought of profound serenity, then the disciple is on the path that leads to the Eternal. ~ Auguttara Nikaya, the Eternal Wisdom
141:You Will Find Me

The Mother: Take the trouble to find me. Follow the path that I have traced before you. Nothing is as important as this work. Nothing can be compared to this. Only the Divine. To find the Divine. This is life, this the aim, this the joy! To love the Divine so that He is always with you. Let it be Him who does all. He works with you. He strives with you. He guides you at every instant.
Au revoir, my child. ~ The Mother, The Supreme, Mona Sarkar,
142:The 'Intelligence of Will' denotes that this is the path where each individual 'created being' is 'prepared' for the spiritual quest by being made aware of the higher and divine 'will' of the creatoR By spiritual preparation (prayer, meditation, visualization, and aspiration), the student becomes aware of the higher will and ultimately attains oneness with the Divine Self-fully immersed in the knowledge of 'the existence of the Primordial Wisdom.'
   ~ Israel Regardie, A Garden Of Pomegranates: Skrying On The Tree Of Life,
143:The Dzogchen of the basis is to determine the nature of the mind.
The Dzogchen of the path is to strike the target of freedom from the extremes.
The Dzogchen of the result is to send hopes and doubts into extinction.
The Dzogchen of the object is to let appearances go free by not grasping at them.
The Dzogchen of the mind is to let thoughts arise as friends.
The Dzogchen of the meaning is to let flickering thoughts dissolve naturally.
Whoever realizes these points is a great king of yogis. ~ Longchenpa,
144:Help yourself during this troubled period by reading holy books. This reading provides excellent food for the soul and conduces to great progress along the path of perfection. By no means is it inferior to what we obtain through prayer and holy meditation. In prayer and meditation it is ourselves who speak to the Lord, while in holy reading it is God who speaks to us. Before beginning to read, raise your mind to the Lord and implore Him to guide your mind Himself, to speak to your heart and move your will. ~ Saint Padre Pio,
145:Natural consciousness will prove itself to be only knowledge in principle or not real knowledge. Since, however, it immediately takes itself to be the real and genuine knowledge, this pathway has a negative significance for it; what is a realization of the notion of knowledge means for it rather the ruin and overthrow of itself; for on this road it loses its own truth. Because of that, the road can be looked on as the path of doubt, or more properly a highway of despair. ~ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit,
146:The Master came back to the drawing-room and said: "The worldly minded practise devotions, japa, and austerity only by fits and starts. But those who know nothing else but God repeat His name with every breath. Some always repeat mentally, 'Om Rāma'.

Even the followers of the path of knowledge repeat, 'Soham', 'I am He'. There are others whose tongues are always moving, repeating the name of God. One should remember and think of God constantly." ~ Sri Ramakrishna, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishana,
147:Never underestimate the long-term consequences of your actions. For as long as the mind has the obscurration of grasping at an inherently existing "me", then there will be karma. No matter how far on the path one is, no matter how realised one is, no matter how many miraculous powers one has attained, for as long as there is even a subtle trace of this obscurration, karma is there.
   That is why Padmasambhava, an enlightened being not even affected by it, had skilfully told ordinary beings, "My realization is higher than the sky, but my observance of karma is finer than grains of flour." ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
148:We have to know ourselves as the self, the spirit, the eternal; we have to exist consciously in our true being. Therefore this must be our primary, if not our first one and all-absorbing idea and effort in the path of knowledge. But when we have realised the eternal self that we are, when we have become that inalienably, we have still a secondary aim, to establish the true relation between this eternal self that we are and the mutable existence and mutable world which till now we had falsely taken for our real being and our sole possible status.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,
149:So, first of all, it is most important to turn inwards and change your motivation.
If you can correct your attitude, skilful means will permeate your positive actions, and you will have set out on the path of great beings.
If you cannot, you might think that you are studying and practising the Dharma but it will be no more than a semblance of the real thing.
Therefore, whenever you listen to the teachings and whenever you practise, be it meditating on a deity, doing prostrations and circumambulations, or reciting a mantra-even a single mani it is always essential to give rise to bodhicitta. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,
150:At this point it may be objected: well, then, if even the crabbed sceptics admit that the statements of religion cannot be confuted by reason, why should not I believe in them, since they have so much on their side:­ tradition, the concurrence of mankind, and all the consolation they yield? Yes, why not? Just as no one can be forced into belief, so no one can be forced into unbelief. But do not deceive yourself into thinking that with such arguments you are following the path of correct reasoning. If ever there was a case of facile argument, this is one. Ignorance is ignorance; no right to believe anything is derived from it. ~ Sigmund Freud,
151:There are only three fundamental obstacles that can stand in the way: (1) Absence of faith or insufficient faith. (2) Egoism - the mind clinging to its own ideas, the vital preferring its own desires to a true surrender, the physical adhering to its own habits. (3) Some inertia or fundamental resistance in the consciousness, not willing to change because it is too much of an effort or because it does not want to believe in its own capacity or the power of the Divine - or for some other more subconscient reason. You have to see for yourself which of these it is.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path,
152:What we call destiny is only in fact the result of the present condition of the being and the nature and energies it has accumulated in the past acting on each other and determining the present attempts and their future results. But as soon as one enters the path of spiritual life, this old predetermined destiny begins to recede. There comes in a new factor, the Divine Grace, the help of a higher Divine Force other than the force of Karma, which can lift the sadhak beyond the present possibilities of his nature. One's spiritual destiny is then the divine election which ensures the future.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - I, [T1],
153:A man will cherish the illusion that he is the doer as long as he has not seen God, as long as he has not touched the Philosopher's Stone. So long will he know the distinction between his good and bad actions. This awareness of distinction is due to God's maya; and it is necessary for the purpose of running His illusory world. But a man can realize God if he takes shelter under His vidyamaya and follows the path of righteousness. He who knows God and realizes Him is able to go beyond maya. He who firmly believes that God alone is the Doer and he himself a mere instrument is a jivanmukta, a free soul though living in a body. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
154:abolishing the ego :::
   In the path of Knowledge one attempts this abolition, negatively by a denial of the reality of the ego, positively by a constant fixing of the thought upon the idea of the One and the Infinite in itself or the One and Infinite everywhere. This, if persistently done, changes in the end the mental outlook on oneself and the whole world and there is a kind of mental realisation; but afterwards by degrees or perhaps rapidly and imperatively and almost at the beginning the mental realisation deepens into spiritual experience - a realisation in the very substance of our being.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Release from the Ego, 363,
155:
   Sweet Mother, You have written: So long as you have to renounce anything, you are not on this path. But doesn't all renunciation begin when one is on the path?


What I call being on the path is being in a state of consciousness in which only union with the Divine has any value - this union is the only thing worth living, the sole object of aspiration. Everything else has lost all value and is not worth seeking, so there is no longer any question of renouncing it because it is no longer an object of desire. As long as union with the Divine is not the thing for which one lives, one is not yet on the path. 21 April 1965
   ~ The Mother, Some Answers From The Mother,
156:The full recognition of this inner Guide, Master of the Yoga, lord, light, enjoyer and goal of all sacrifice and effort, is of the utmost importance in the path of integral perfection. It is immaterial whether he is first seen as an impersonal Wisdom, Love and Power behind all things, as an Absolute manifesting in the relative and attracting it, as one's highest Self and the highest Self of all, as a Divine Person within us and in the world, in one of his-or her-numerous forms and names or as the ideal which the mind conceives. In the end we perceive that he is all and more than all these things together. The mind's door of entry to the conception of him must necessarily vary according to the past evolution and the present nature.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Four Aids, 62,
157:It is only when after long and persistent concentration or by other means the veil of the mind is rent or swept aside, only when a flood of light breaks over the awakened mentality, jyotirmaya brahman, and conception gives place to a knowledge-vision in which the Self is as present, real, concrete as a physical object to the physical eye, that we possess in knowledge; for we have seen. After that revelation, whatever fadings of the light, whatever periods of darkness may afflict the soul, it can never irretrievably lose what it has once held. The experience is inevitably renewed and must become more frequent till it is constant; when and how soon depends on the devotion and persistence with which we insist on the path and besiege by our will or our love the hidden Deity.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, [305],
158:Therefore there is only one solution: to unite ourselves by aspiration, concentration, interiorisation and identification with the supreme Will. And that is both omnipotence and perfect freedom at the same time. And that is the only omnipotence and the only freedom; everything else is an approximation. You may be on the way, but it is not the entire thing. So if you experience this, you realise that with this supreme freedom and supreme power there is also a total peace and a serenity that never fails.
   Therefore, if you feel something which is not that, a revolt, a disgust, something which you cannot accept, it means that in you there is a part which has not been touched by the transformation, something which has kept the old consciousness, something which is still on the path - that is all.
   ~ The Mother, On Thoughts And Aphorisms,
159:The up and down movement which you speak of is common to all ways of Yoga. It is there in the path of bhakti, but there are equally alternations of states of light and states of darkness, sometimes sheer and prolonged darkness, when one follows the path of knowledge. Those who have occult experiences come to periods when all experiences cease and even seem finished for ever. Even when there have been many and permanent realisations, these seem to go behind the veil and leave nothing in front except a dull blank, filled, if at all, only with recurrent attacks and difficulties. These alternations are the result of the nature of human consciousness and are not a proof of unfitness or of predestined failure. One has to be prepared for them and pass through. They are the day and night of the Vedic mystics.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,
160:The power to do nothing, which is quite different from indolence, incapacity or aversion to action and attachment to inaction, is a great power and a great mastery; the power to rest absolutely from action is as necessary for the Jnanayogin as the power to cease absolutely from thought, as the power to remain indefinitely in sheer solitude and silence and as the power of immovable calm. Whoever is not willing to embrace these states is not yet fit for the path that leads towards the highest knowledge; whoever is unable to draw towards them, is as yet unfit for its acquisition.
...
Still, periods of absolute calm, solitude and cessation from works are highly desirable and should be secured as often as possible for that recession of the soul into itself which is indispensable to knowledge.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Freedom from Subjection to the Being,
161: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,
162:Thou must teach us the path to be followed and Thou must give us the power to follow it to the very end. . . .
   O Thou source of all love and all light, Thou whom we cannot know in Thyself but can manifest ever more completely and perfectly, Thou whom we cannot conceive but can approach in profound silence, to complete Thy incommensurable boons Thou must come to our help until we have gained Thy victory. . . .
   Let that true love be born which soothes all suffering; establish that immutable peace wherein resides true power; give us the sovereign knowledge which dispels all darkness. . . .
   From the infinite depths to this most external body, in its smallest elements, Thou dost move and live and vibrate and set all in motion, and the whole being is now only a single block, infinitely multiple yet absolutely coherent, animated by one tremendous vibration: Thou.
   ~ The Mother, Prayers And Meditations,
163:
   Sweet Mother,
   Why has the Divine made His path so difficult? He can make it easier if He wants, can't He?

First of all, one should know that the intellect, the mind, can understand nothing of the Divine, neither what He does nor how He does it and still less why He does it. To know something of the Divine, one has to rise above thought and enter into the psychic consciousness, the consciousness of the soul, or into the spiritual consciousness.
   Those who have had the experience have always said that the difficulties and sufferings of the path are not real, but a creation of human ignorance, and that as soon as one gets out of this ignorance one also gets out of the difficulties, to say nothing of the inalienable state of bliss in which one dwells as soon as one is in conscious contact with the Divine. So according to them, the question has no real basis and cannot be posed. ~ The Mother, Some Answers From The Mother, 21 September 1959,
164:A MARWARI DEVOTEE: "Sir, what is the way?"

Two ways of God-realization

MASTER: "There are two ways. One is the path of discrimination, the other is that of love. Discrimination means to know the distinction between the Real and the unreal.

God alone is the real and permanent Substance; all else is illusory and impermanent.

The magician alone is real; his magic is illusory. This is discrimination.

"Discrimination and renunciation. Discrimination means to know the distinction between the Real and the unreal. Renunciation means to have dispassion for the things of the world. One cannot acquire them all of a sudden. They must be practised every day.

One should renounce 'woman and gold' mentally at first. Then, by the will of God, one can renounce it both mentally and outwardly. It is impossible to ask the people of Calcutta to renounce all for the sake of God. One has to tell them to renounce mentally. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
165:burden and advantage to an Integral Yoga; :::
   ...The hope of an integral transformation forbids us to take a short cut or to make ourselves light for the race by throwing away our impedimenta. For we have set out to conquer all ourselves and the world for God; ... Our compensation is that even if the path is that even if the path is more rugged, the effort more complex and baffling arduous, yet after a certain point we gain an immense advantage. For once our minds are reasonably fixed in the central vision and our wills are on the whole converted to the single pursuit, Life becomes our helper. Intent, vigilant, integrally conscious, we can take every detail of its forms and every incident of its movements as food for the sacrificial Fire within us. Victorious in the struggle, we can compel Earth herself to be an aid towards our perfection and can enrich our realisation with the booty torn from the Powers that oppose us.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, 74,
166:
   To learn to be quiet and silent... When you have a problem to solve, instead of turning over in your head all the possibilities, all the consequences, all the possible things one should or should not do, if you remain quiet with an aspiration for goodwill, if possible a need for goodwill, the solution comes very quickly. And as you are silent you are able to hear it.

   When you are caught in a difficulty, try this method: instead of becoming agitated, turning over all the ideas and actively seeking solutions, of worrying, fretting, running here and there inside your head - I don't mean externally, for externally you probably have enough common sense not to do that! but inside, in your head - remain quiet. And according to your nature, with ardour or peace, with intensity or widening or with all these together, implore the Light and wait for it to come.

   In this way the path would be considerably shortened. 5 November 1958
   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1957-1958, 422,
167:Worldly affairs are all deceptive;
So I seek the truth Divine.
Excitements and distractions are illusions;
So I meditate on the non-dual Truth.
Companions and servants are deceptive;
So I remain in solitude.
Money and possessions are also deceptive;
So if I have them, I give them away.
Things in the outer world are all illusion;
The Inner Mind is that which I observe.
Wandering thoughts are all deceptive;
So I only tread the path of wisdom.
Deceptive are the teachings of expedient truth;
The final truth is that on which I meditate.
Books written in black ink are all misleading;
I only meditate on the pith-instructions of the whispered lineage.
Words and sayings, too, are but illusion;
At ease, I rest my mind in the effortless state.
Birth and death are both illusions;
I observe but the truth of no-arising.
The common mind is in every way misleading;
And so I practice how to animate awareness.
The Mind-holding Practice
is misleading and deceptive;
And so I rest in the realm of reality. ~ Jetsun Milarepa,
168:The path of seeking truth within and without is not an easy one. It goes literally against everything we've been told and taught by society and governments. The indoctrination of lies, the conditioning and programming is deep and far reaching. It has been going on for millennia. It takes tremendous effort to wake up from the hypnotic slumber, where most people dream to be awake. At this time of transition, as more and more knowledge is coming to the surface, there is the potential to create a new earth. However, this is also the age of deception for there are forces at work that do not want this to happen. They do their best to vector us away from truth and the most effective way to swallow a lie is to sandwich it between some truth with some emotional hooks. As mentioned many times before, lies are mixed with truth, hence discernment is essential. We need to engage our higher emotional center connecting us to divine intuition and also activate our higher intellect, engaging in sincere, open minded critical thinking, fusing the heart and the mind, mysticism and science. ~ Bernhard Guenther,
169:It is a fact always known to all yogis and occultists since the beginning of time, in Europe and Africa as in India, that wherever yoga or Yajna is done, there the hostile Forces gather together to stop it by any means. It is known that there is a lower nature and a higher spiritual nature - it is known that they pull different ways and the lower is strongest at first and the higher afterwards. It is known that the hostile Forces take advantage of the movements of the lower nature and try to spoil through them, smash or retard the siddhi. It has been said as long ago as the Upanishads (hard is the path to tread, sharp like a razor's edge); it was said later by Christ 'hard is the way and narrow the gate by which one enters into the kingdom of heaven' and also 'many are called, few chosen' - because of these difficulties. But it has also always been known that those who are sincere and faithful in heart and remain so and those who rely on the Divine will arrive in spite of all difficulties, stumbles or falls.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - III, Opposition of the Hostile Forces - I,
170:ALL YOGA is in its nature a new birth; it is a birth out of the ordinary, the mentalised material life of man into a higher spiritual consciousness and a greater and diviner being. No Yoga can be successfully undertaken and followed unless there is a strong awakening to the necessity of that larger spiritual existence. The soul that is called to this deep and vast inward change, may arrive in different ways to the initial departure. It may come to it by its own natural development which has been leading it unconsciously towards the awakening; it may reach it through the influence of a religion or the attraction of a philosophy; it may approach it by a slow illumination or leap to it by a sudden touch or shock; it may be pushed or led to it by the pressure of outward circumstances or by an inward necessity, by a single word that breaks the seals of the mind or by long reflection, by the distant example of one who has trod the path or by contact and daily influence. According to the nature and the circumstances the call will come.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Self-Consecration,
171:You are living today in countries where the Dharma has only just begun to take root, like a fragile new shoot in the ground. Only your sustained diligence will bring it to fruition. Depending on the effort you put into study, reflection and meditation, and to integrating what you have understood into your spiritual practice, accomplishment may be days, months, or years away. It is essential to remember that all your endeavors on the path are for the sake of others. Remain humble, and aware that your efforts are like child's play compared to the ocean-like activity of the great bodhisattvas. Be like a parent providing for much-loved children, never thinking that you have done too much for others - or even that you have done enough. If you finally managed, through your own efforts alone, to establish all beings in buddhahood, you would simply think that all your wishes had been fulfilled. Never have even a trace of hope for something in return. ~ Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, The Heart of Compassion, Instructions on Ngulchu Thogme's Thirty-Sevenfold Practice of a Bodhisattva – p 147, Padmakara Translation Group - Shechen Publications
172:One perceives the true nature of existence. One discovers the why and the raison d'être of existence, not by the mind and the scientific pursuit, but by the knowledge of the self and the discovery of one's soul which is all-powerful.

This is the true method for knowing, for understanding and for realising the secrets of Nature, of the universe and the path which leads to the Divine. One can do everything with this realisation, one can know everything and finally become the master of one's existence. Nothing will be impossible … nothing will be left out. One has only to see with another sense which is within us, develop another faculty by a rigourous sadhana, to discover the secrets of all existence. Voilà.

The means are in you, the path opens up more and more, gets clearer and clearer, and with the help which is at your disposal, you have only to make an effort and you shall be crowned with a Knowledge, a Light and an Ananda which surpass all existence. Whether it be to see the functioning of the atom, or to know the process of thought or the flights of imagination or even the unknown … to know oneself is to know all. It is this that one must find. ~ The Mother,
173:The key one and threefold, even as universal science. The division of the work is sevenfold, and through these sections are distributed the seven degrees of initiation into is transcendental philosophy.

The text is a mystical commentary on the oracles of Solomon, ^ and the work ends with a series of synoptic schedules which are the synthesis of Magic and the occult Kabalah so far as concerns that which can be made public in writing. The rest, being the esoteric and inexpressible part of the science, is formulated in magnificent pantacles carefully designed and engraved. These are nine in number, as follows

(1) The dogma of Hermes;
(2) Magical realisation;
(3) The path of wisdom and the initial procedure in the work
(4) The Gate of the Sanctuary enlightened by seven mystic rays;
(5) A Rose of Light, in the centre of which a human figure is extending its arms in the form of a cross;
(6) The magical laboratory of Khunrath, demonstrating the necessary union of prayer and work
(7) The absolute synthesis of science;
(8) Universal equilibrium ;
(9) A summary of Khunrath's personal embodying an energetic protest against all his detractors. ~ Eliphas Levi, The History Of Magic,
174:Two Paths Of Yoga :::
   There are two paths of Yoga, one of tapasya (discipline), and the other of surrender. The path of tapasya is arduous. Here you rely solely upon yourself, you proceed by your own strength. You ascend and achieve according to the measure of your force. There is always the danger of falling down. And once you fall, you lie broken in the abyss and there is hardly a remedy. The other path, the path of surrender. is a safe and sure. It is here, however, that the Western people find their difficulty. They have been taught to fear and avoid all that threatens their personal independence. They have imbibed with their mothers milk the sense of individuality. And surrender means giving up all that. In other words, you may follow, as Ramakrishna says, either the path of the baby monkey or that of the baby cat. The baby monkey holds to its mother in order to be carried about and it must hold firm, otherwise if it loses its grip, it falls. On the other hand, the baby cat does not hold to its mother, but is held by the mother and has no fear nor responsibility; it to nor has nothing do but to let the mother hold it and cry ma ma.
   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931,
175:I accept, will not give up, and will practice each of the Three Jewels,
   And will not let go of my guru or my yidam deity.
   As the samaya of the Buddha, first among the Three Jewels,
   I will apply myself to the true, essential reality.
   As the samaya of sacred Dharma, second among the Three Jewels,
   I will distill the very essence of all the vehicles' teachings.
   As the samaya of the Sangha, the third and final Jewel,
   I will look upon reality; I will behold pure awareness.
   And as the samaya of the guru and the yidam deity,
   I will take my very own mind, my pure mind, as a witness.
  
   Generally speaking, the Three Jewels should be regarded as the ultimate place to take refuge. As was taught in the section on taking refuge, your mind should be focused one-pointedly, with all your hopes and trust placed in their care. The gurus are a lamp that dispels the darkness of ignorance.
   As the guides who lead you along the path to liberation, they are your sole source of refuge and protection, from now until you attain enlightenment.
   For these reasons, you should act with unwavering faith, pure view and devotion, and engage in the approach and accomplishment of the divine yidam deity. ~ Dzogchen Rinpoche III, Great Perfection Outer and Inner Preliminaries,
176:all is the method of God's workings; all life is Yoga :::
   Thirdly, the divine Power in us uses all life as the means of this integral Yoga. Every experience and outer contact with our world-environment, however trifling or however disastrous, is used for the work, and every inner experience, even to the most repellent suffering or the most humiliating fall, becomes a step on the path to perfection. And we recognize in ourselves with opened eyes the method of God in the world, His purpose of light in the obscure, of the might in the weak and fallen, of delight in what is grievous and miserable. We see the divine method to be the same in the lower and in the higher working; only in the one it is pursued tardily and obscurely through the subconscious in Nature, in the other it becomes swift and self-conscious and the instrument confesses the hand of the Master. All life is a Yoga of Nature seeking to manifest God within itself. Yoga marks the stage at which this effort becomes capable of self-awareness and there for right completion in the individual. It is a gathering up and concentration of the movements dispersed and loosely combined in the lower evolution.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Conditions of the Synthesis [47] [T1],
177:
   Sweet Mother, Just as there is a methodical progression of exercises for mental and physical education, isn't there a similar method to progress towards Sri Aurobindo's yoga?
It should vary with each individual.
Could you make a step-by-step programme for me to follow daily?

The mechanical regularity of a fixed programme is indispensable for physical, mental and vital development; but this mechanical rigidity has little or no effect on spiritual development where the spontaneity of an absolute sincerity is indispensable. Sri Aurobindo has written very clearly on this subject. And what he has written on it has appeared in The Synthesis Of Yoga.
   However, as an initial help to set you on the path, I can tell you: (1) that on getting up, before starting the day, it is good to make an offering of this day to the Divine, an offering of all that one thinks, all that one is, all that one will do; (2) and at night, before going to sleep, it is good to review the day, taking note of all the times one has forgotten or neglected to make an offering of one's self or one's action, and to aspire or pray that these lapses do not recur. This is a minimum, a very small beginning - and it should increase with the sincerity of your consecration. 31 March 1965
   ~ The Mother, Some Answers From The Mother, [T1],
178:From above to below, the sefirot depict the drama of emanation, the transition from Ein Sof to creation. In the words of Azriel of Gerona, "They constitute the process by which all things come into being and pass away." From below to above, the sefirot constitute a ladder of ascent back to the One. The union of Tif'eret and Shekhinah gives birth to the human soul, and the mystical journey begins with the awareness of this spiritual fact of life. Shekhinah is the opening to the divine: "One who enters must enter through this gate." Once inside, the sefirot are no longer an abstract theological system; they become a map of consciousness. The mystic climbs and probes, discovering dimensions of being. Spiritual and psychological wholeness is achieved by meditating on the qualities of each sefirah, by imitating and integrating the attributes of God. "When you cleave to the sefirot, the divine holy spirit enters into you, into every sensation and every movement." But the path is not easy. Divine will can be harsh: Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac in order to balance love with rigor. From the Other Side, demonic forces threaten and seduce. [The demonic is rooted in the divine]. Contemplatively and psychologically, evil must be encountered, not evaded. By knowing and withstanding the dark underside of wisdom, the spiritual seeker is refined.~ Daniel C Matt, The Essential Kabbalah, 10,
179:uniting life and Yoga :::
   No synthesis of Yoga can be satisfying which does not, in its aim, reunite God and Nature in a liberated and perfected human life or, in its method, not only permit but favour the harmony of our inner and outer activities and experiences in the divine consummation of both. For man is precisely that term and symbol of a higher Existence descended into the material world in which it is possible for the lower to transfigure itself and put on the nature of the higher and the higher to reveal itself in the forms of the lower. To avoid the life which is given him for the realisation of that possibility, can never be either the indispensable condition or the whole and ultimate object of his supreme endeavour or of his most powerful means of self-fulfilment. It can only be a temporary necessity under certain conditions or a specialised extreme effort imposed on the individual so as to prepare a greater general possibility for the race. The true and full object and utility of Yoga can only be accomplished when the conscious Yoga in man becomes. like the subconscious Yoga in Nature, outwardly conterminous withlife itself and we can once more, looking out both on the path and the achievement, say in a more perfect and luminous sense: All life is Yoga.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Introduction - The Conditions of the Synthesis, Life and Yoga,
180:Bhakti Yoga, the Path of Devotion; :::
   The path of Devotion aims at the enjoyment of the supreme Love and Bliss and utilses normally the conception of the supreme Lord in His personality as the divine Lover and enjoyer of the universe. The world is then realised as a a play of the Lord, with our human life as its final stages, pursued through the different phases of self-concealment and self-revealation. The principle of Bhakti Yoga is to utilise all the normal relations of human life into which emotion enters and apply them no longer to transient worldly relations, but to the joy of the All-Loving, the All-Beautiful and the All-Blissful. Worship and meditation are used only for the preparation and increase the intensity of the divine relationship. And this Yoga is catholic in its use of all emotional relations, so that even enmity and opposition to God, considered as an intense, impatient and perverse form of Love, is conceived as a possible means of realisation and salvation. ... We can see how this larger application of the Yoga of Devotion may be used as to lead to the elevation of the whole range of human emotion, sensation and aesthetic perception to the divine level, its spiritualisation and the justification of the cosmic labour towards love and joy in humanity.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Introduction - The Conditions of the Synthesis, The Systems of Yoga,
181:When, then, by the withdrawal of the centre of consciousness from identification with the mind, life and body, one has discovered ones true self, discovered the oneness of that self with the pure, silent, immutable Brahman, discovered in the immutable, in the Akshara Brahman, that by which the individual being escapes from his own personality into the impersonal, the first movement of the Path of Knowledge has been completed. It is the sole that is absolutely necessary for the traditional aim of the Yoga of Knowledge, for immergence, for escape from cosmic existence, for release into the absolute and ineffable Parabrahman who is beyond all cosmic being. The seeker of this ultimate release may take other realisations on his way, may realise the Lord of the universe, the Purusha who manifests Himself in all creatures, may arrive at the cosmic consciousness, may know and feel his unity with all beings; but these are only stages or circumstances of his journey, results of the unfolding of his soul as it approaches nearer the ineffable goal. To pass beyond them all is his supreme object. When on the other hand, having attained to the freedom and the silence and the peace, we resume possession by the cosmic consciousness of the active as well as the silent Brahman and can securely live in the divine freedom as well as rest in it, we have completed the second movement of the Path by which the integrality of self-knowledge becomes the station of the liberated soul.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga,
182:In a letter the question raised was: "Is not all action incompatible with Sri Aurobindo's yoga"?
   Sri Aurobindo: His idea that all action is incompatible with this yoga is not correct. Generally, it is found that all Rajasic activity does not go well with this yoga: for instance, political work.
   The reasons for abstaining from political activity are:
   1. Being Rajasic in its nature, it does not allow that quiet and knowledge on the basis of which the work should really proceed. All action requires a certain inner formation, an inner detached being. The formation of this inner being requires one to dive into the depth of the being, get the true Being and then prepare the true Being to come to the surface. It is then that one acquires a poise - an inner poise - and can act from there. Political work by Rajasic activity which draws the being outwards prevents this inner formation.
   2. The political field, together with certain other fields, is the stronghold of the Asuric forces. They have their eye on this yoga, and they would try to hamper the Sadhana by every means. By taking to the political field you get into a plane where these forces hold the field. The possibility of attack in that field is much greater than in others. These Asuric forces try to lead away the Sadhaka from the path by increasing Kama and Krodha - desire and anger, and such other Rajasic impulses. They may throw him permanently into the sea of Rajasic activity. ~ Sri Aurobindo, EVENING TALKS WITH SRI AUROBINDO
183:[the value of sublimation:]
   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, - an 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.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Self-Consecration, [71] [T1],
184:Karma Yoga, the Path of Works; :::
   The Path of Works aims at the dedication of every human activity to the supreme Will. It begins by the renunciation of all egoistic aim for our works, all pursuit of action for an interested aim or for the sake of a worldly result. By this renunciation it so purifies the mind and the will that we become easily conscious of the great universal Energy as the true doer of all our actions and the Lord of that Energy as their ruler and director with the individual as only a mask, an excuse, an instrument or, more positively, a conscious centre of action and phenomenal relation. The choice and direction of the act is more and more consciously left to this supreme Will and this universal Energy. To That our works as well as the results of our works are finally abandoned. The object is the release of the soul from its bondage to appearances and to the reaction of phenomenal activities. Karmayoga is used, like the other paths, to lead to liberation from phenomenal existence and a departure into the Supreme. But here too the exclusive result is not inevitable. The end of the path may be, equally, a perception of the divine in all energies, in all happenings, in all activities, and a free and unegoistic participation of the soul in the cosmic action. So followed it will lead to the elevation of all human will and activity to the divine level, its spiritualisation and the justification of the cosmic labour towards freedom, power and perfection in the human being.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Conditions of the Synthesis, The Systems of Yoga, 39,
185:Some young men who had come with an introduction from the Ramakrishna Mission at Madras asked Bhagavan, "Which is the proper path for us to follow?"

Bhagavan: When you speak of a path, where are you now? and where do you want to go? If these are known, then we can talk of the path. Know first where you are and what you are. There is nothing to be reached. You are always as you really are. But you don't realise it. That is all.

A little while after, one of the visitors asked Bhagavan, "I am now following the path of japa. Is that all right?"

Bhagavan: Yes. It is quite good. You can continue in that. The gentleman who asked about creation said, "I never thought I was going to have the good fortune of visiting Bhagavan. But circumstances have brought me here and I find in his presence, without any effort on my part, I am having santi. Apparently, getting peace does not depend on our effort.

It seems to come only as the result of grace!" Bhagavan was silent. Meanwhile, another visitor remarked, "No. Our effort is also necessary, though no one can do without grace." After some time, Bhagavan remarked, "Mantra japa, after a time, leads to a stage when you become Mantra maya i.e., you become that whose name you have been repeating or chanting.

First you repeat the mantra by mouth; later you do it mentally.

First, you do this dhyana with breaks. Later, you do it without any break. At that stage you realise you do dhyana without any effort on your part, that dhyana is your real nature. Till then, effort is necessary." ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Day By Day,
186:
   How can one "learn of pure delight"?

First of all, to begin with, one must through an attentive observation grow aware that desires and the satisfaction of desires give only a vague, uncertain pleasure, mixed, fugitive and altogether unsatisfactory. That is usually the starting-point.

   Then, if one is a reasonable being, one must learn to discern what is desire and refrain from doing anything that may satisfy one's desires. One must reject them without trying to satisfy them. And so the first result is exactly one of the first observations stated by the Buddha in his teaching: there is an infinitely greater delight in conquering and eliminating a desire than in satisfying it. Every sincere and steadfast seeker will realise after some time, sooner or later, at times very soon, that this is an absolute truth, and that the delight felt in overcoming a desire is incomparably higher than the small pleasure, so fleeting and mixed, which may be found in the satisfaction of his desires. That is the second step.

   Naturally, with this continuous discipline, in a very short time the desires will keep their distance and will no longer bother you. So you will be free to enter a little more deeply into your being and open yourself in an aspiration to... the Giver of Delight, the divine Element, the divine Grace. And if this is done with a sincere self-giving - something that gives itself, offers itself and expects nothing in exchange for its offering - one will feel that kind of sweet warmth, comfortable, intimate, radiant, which fills the heart and is the herald of Delight.    After this, the path is easy.
   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1957-1958,
187:The Lord has veiled himself and his absolute wisdom and eternal consciousness in ignorant Nature-Force and suffers her to drive the individual being, with its complicity, as the ego; this lower action of Nature continues to prevail, often even in spite of man's half-lit imperfect efforts at a nobler motive and a purer self-knowledge. Our human effort at perfection fails, or progresses very incompletely, owing to the force of Nature's past actions in us, her past formations, her long-rooted associations; it turns towards a true and high-climbing success only when a greater Knowledge and Power than our own breaks through the lid of our ignorance and guides or takes up our personal will. For our human will is a misled and wandering ray that has parted from the supreme Puissance. The period of slow emergence out of this lower working into a higher light and purer force is the valley of the shadow of death for the striver after perfection; it is a dreadful passage full of trials, sufferings, sorrows, obscurations, stumblings, errors, pitfalls. To abridge and alleviate this ordeal or to penetrate it with the divine delight faith is necessary, an increasing surrender of the mind to the knowledge that imposes itself from within and, above all, a true aspiration and a right and unfaltering and sincere practice. "Practise unfalteringly," says the Gita, "with a heart free from despondency," the Yoga; for even though in the earlier stage of the path we drink deep of the bitter poison of internal discord and suffering, the last taste of this cup is the sweetness of the nectar of immortality and the honey-wine of an eternal Ananda. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Supreme Will, 219,
188:the second aid, the need for effort and aspiration, utsaha :::
   The development of the experience in its rapidity, its amplitude, the intensity and power of its results, depends primarily, in the beginning of the path and long after, on the aspiration and personal effort of the sadhaka. The process of Yoga is a turning of the human soul from the egoistic state of consciousness absorbed in the outward appearances and attractions of things to a higher state in which the Transcendent and Universal can pour itself into the individiual mould and transform it. The first determining element in the siddhi is, therefore, the intensity of the turning, the force which directs the soul inward. The power of aspiration of the heart, the force of the will, the concentration of the mind, the perseverance and determination of the applied energy are the measure of that intensity. The ideal sadhaka should be able to say in the Biblical phrase, 'My zeal for the Lord has eaten me up.' It is this zeal for the Lord, -utsaha, the zeal of the whole nature for its divine results, vyakulata, the heart's eagerness for the attainment of the Divine, - that devours the ego and breaks up the petty limitations ...
   So long as the contact with the Divine is not in some considerable degree established, so long as there is not some measure of sustained identity, sayujya, the element of personal effort must normally predominate. But in proportion as this contact establishes itself, the sadhaka must become conscious that a force other than his own, a force transcending his egoistic endeavour and capacity, is at work in him and to this Power he learns progressively to submit himself and delivers up to it the charge of his Yoga.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Four Aids,
189:The first cause of impurity in the understanding is the intermiscence of desire in the thinking functions, and desire itself is an impurity of the Will involved in the vital and emotional parts of our being. When the vital and emotional desires interfere with the pure Will-to-know, the thought-function becomes subservient to them, pursues ends other than those proper to itself and its perceptions are clogged and deranged. The understanding must lift itself beyond the siege of desire and emotion and, in order that it may have perfect immunity, it must get the vital parts and the emotions themselves purified. The will to enjoy is proper to the vital being but not the choice or the reaching after the enjoyment which must be determined and acquired by higher functions; therefore the vital being must be trained to accept whatever gain or enjoyment comes to it in the right functioning of the life in obedience to the working of the divine Will and to rid itself of craving and attachment. Similarly the heart must be freed from subjection to the cravings of the life-principle and the senses and thus rid itself of the false emotions of fear, wrath, hatred, lust, etc, which constitute the chief impurity of the heart. The will to love is proper to the heart, but here also the choice and reaching after love have to be foregone or tranquillised and the heart taught to love with depth and intensity indeed, but with a calm depth and a settled and equal, not a troubled and disordered intensity. The tranquillisation and mastery of these members is a first condition for the immunity of the understanding from error, ignorance and perversion. This purification spells an entire equality of the nervous being and the heart; equality, therefore, even as it was the first word of the path of works, so also is the first word of the path of knowledge.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Purified Understanding,
190:See how, like lightest waves at play, the airy dancers fleet;
   And scarcely feels the floor the wings of those harmonious feet.
   Ob, are they flying shadows from their native forms set free?
   Or phantoms in the fairy ring that summer moonbeams see?
   As, by the gentle zephyr blown, some light mist flees in air,
   As skiffs that skim adown the tide, when silver waves are fair,
   So sports the docile footstep to the heave of that sweet measure,
   As music wafts the form aloft at its melodious pleasure,
   Now breaking through the woven chain of the entangled dance,
   From where the ranks the thickest press, a bolder pair advance,
   The path they leave behind them lost--wide open the path beyond,
   The way unfolds or closes up as by a magic wand.
   See now, they vanish from the gaze in wild confusion blended;
   All, in sweet chaos whirled again, that gentle world is ended!
   No!--disentangled glides the knot, the gay disorder ranges--
   The only system ruling here, a grace that ever changes.
   For ay destroyed--for ay renewed, whirls on that fair creation;
   And yet one peaceful law can still pervade in each mutation.
   And what can to the reeling maze breathe harmony and vigor,
   And give an order and repose to every gliding figure?
   That each a ruler to himself doth but himself obey,
   Yet through the hurrying course still keeps his own appointed way.
   What, would'st thou know? It is in truth the mighty power of tune,
   A power that every step obeys, as tides obey the moon;
   That threadeth with a golden clue the intricate employment,
   Curbs bounding strength to tranquil grace, and tames the wild enjoyment.
   And comes the world's wide harmony in vain upon thine ears?
   The stream of music borne aloft from yonder choral spheres?
   And feel'st thou not the measure which eternal Nature keeps?
   The whirling dance forever held in yonder azure deeps?
   The suns that wheel in varying maze?--That music thou discernest?
   No! Thou canst honor that in sport which thou forgettest in earnest.
   ~ Friedrich Schiller,
191:This inner Guide is often veiled at first by the very intensity of our personal effort and by the ego's preoccupation with itself and its aims. As we gain in clarity and the turmoil of egoistic effort gives place to a calmer self-knowledge, we recognise the source of the growing light within us. We recognise it retrospectively as we realise how all our obscure and conflicting movements have been determined towards an end that we only now begin to perceive, how even before our entrance into the path of the Yoga the evolution of our life has been designedly led towards its turning point. For now we begin to understand the sense of our struggles and efforts, successes and failures. At last we are able to seize the meaning of our ordeals and sufferings and can appreciate the help that was given us by all that hurt and resisted and the utility of our very falls and stumblings. We recognise this divine leading afterwards, not retrospectively but immediately, in the moulding of our thoughts by a transcendent Seer, of our will and actions by an all-embracing Power, of our emotional life by an all-attracting and all-assimilating Bliss and Love. We recognise it too in a more personal relation that from the first touched us or at the last seizes us; we feel the eternal presence of a supreme Master, Friend, Lover, Teacher. We recognise it in the essence of our being as that develops into likeness and oneness with a greater and wider existence; for we perceive that this miraculous development is not the result of our own efforts; an eternal Perfection is moulding us into its own image. One who is the Lord or Ishwara of the Yogic philosophies, the Guide in the conscious being ( caitya guru or antaryamin ), the Absolute of the thinker, the Unknowable of the Agnostic, the universal Force of the materialist, the supreme Soul and the supreme Shakti, the One who is differently named and imaged by the religions, is the Master of our Yoga.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Four Aids, 62 [T1],
192:Jnana Yoga, the Path of Knowledge; :::
   The Path of Knowledge aims at the realisation of the unique and supreme Self. It proceeds by the method of intellectual reflection, vicara ¯, to right discrimination, viveka. It observes and distinguishes the different elements of our apparent or phenomenal being and rejecting identification with each of them arrives at their exclusion and separation in one common term as constituents of Prakriti, of phenomenal Nature, creations of Maya, the phenomenal consciousness. So it is able to arrive at its right identification with the pure and unique Self which is not mutable or perishable, not determinable by any phenomenon or combination of phenomena. From this point the path, as ordinarily followed, leads to the rejection of the phenomenal worlds from the consciousness as an illusion and the final immergence without return of the individual soul in the Supreme. But this exclusive consummation is not the sole or inevitable result of the Path of Knowledge. For, followed more largely and with a less individual aim, the method of Knowledge may lead to an active conquest of the cosmic existence for the Divine no less than to a transcendence. The point of this departure is the realisation of the supreme Self not only in one's own being but in all beings and, finally, the realisation of even the phenomenal aspects of the world as a play of the divine consciousness and not something entirely alien to its true nature. And on the basis of this realisation a yet further enlargement is possible, the conversion of all forms of knowledge, however mundane, into activities of the divine consciousness utilisable for the perception of the one and unique Object of knowledge both in itself and through the play of its forms and symbols. Such a method might well lead to the elevation of the whole range of human intellect and perception to the divine level, to its spiritualisation and to the justification of the cosmic travail of knowledge in humanity.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Conditions of the Synthesis, The Systems Of Yoga, 38,
193:How often there is a kind of emptiness in the course of life, an unoccupied moment, a few minutes, sometimes more. And what do you do? Immediately you try to distract yourself, and you invent some foolishness or other to pass your time. That is a common fact. All men, from the youngest to the oldest, spend most of their time in trying not to be bored. Their pet aversion is boredom and the way to escape from boredom is to act foolishly.
   Well, there is a better way than that - to remember.
   When you have a little time, whether it is one hour or a few minutes, tell yourself, "At last, I have some time to concentrate, to collect myself, to relive the purpose of my life, to offer myself to the True and the Eternal." If you took care to do this each time you are not harassed by outer circumstances, you would find out that you were advancing very quickly on the path. Instead of wasting your time in chattering, in doing useless things, reading things that lower the consciousness - to choose only the best cases, I am not speaking of other imbecilities which are much more serious - instead of trying to make yourself giddy, to make time, that is already so short, still shorter only to realise at the end of your life that you have lost three-quarters of your chance - then you want to put in double time, but that does not work - it is better to be moderate, balanced, patient, quiet, but never to lose an opportunity that is given to you, that is to say, to utilise for the true purpose the unoccupied moment before you.
   When you have nothing to do, you become restless, you run about, you meet friends, you take a walk, to speak only of the best; I am not referring to things that are obviously not to be done. Instead of that, sit down quietly before the sky, before the sea or under trees, whatever is possible (here you have all of them) and try to realise one of these things - to understand why you live, to learn how you must live, to ponder over what you want to do and what should be done, what is the best way of escaping from the ignorance and falsehood and pain in which you live. 16 May 1958
   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931,
194:In the Indian spiritual tradition, a heart's devotion to God, called Bhakti, is regarded as the easiest path to the Divine. What is Bhakti? Is it some extravagant religious sentimentalism? Is it inferior to the path of Knowledge? What is the nature of pure and complete spiritual devotion to God and how to realise it?

What Is Devotion?

...bhakti in its fullness is nothing but an entire self-giving. But then all meditation, all tapasya, all means of prayer or mantra must have that as its end... [SABCL, 23:799]

Devotion Is a State of the Heart and Soul

Bhakti is not an experience, it is a state of the heart and soul. It is a state which comes when the psychic being is awake and prominent. [SABCL, 23:776]

...Worship is only the first step on the path of devotion. Where external worship changes into the inner adoration, real Bhakti begins; that deepens into the intensity of divine love; that love leads to the joy of closeness in our relations with the Divine; the joy of closeness passes into the bliss of union. [SABCL, 21:525]

Devotion without Gratitude Is Incomplete

...there is another movement which should constantly accompany devotion. ... That kind of sense of gratitude that the Divine exists; that feeling of a marvelling thankfulness which truly fills you with a sublime joy at the fact that the Divine exists, that there is something in the universe which is the Divine, that it is not just the monstrosity we see, that there is the Divine, the Divine exists. And each time that the least thing puts you either directly or indirectly in contactwith this sublime Reality of divine existence, the heart is filled with so intense, so marvellous a joy, such a gratitude as of all things has the most delightful taste.

There is nothing which gives you a joy equal to that of gratitude. One hears a bird sing, sees a lovely flower, looks at a little child, observes an act of generosity, reads a beautiful sentence, looks at the setting sun, no matter what, suddenly this comes upon you, this kind of emotion-indeed so deep, so intense-that the world manifests the Divine, that there is something behind the world which is the Divine.

So I find that devotion without gratitude is quite incomplete, gratitude must come with devotion. ~ The Mother,
195: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,
196:Fundamentally, whatever be the path one follows - whe- ther the path of surrender, consecration, knowledge-if one wants it to be perfect, it is always equally difficult, and there is but one way, one only, I know of only one: that is perfect sincerity, but perfect sincerity!

Do you know what perfect sincerity is?...

Never to try to deceive oneself, never let any part of the being try to find out a way of convincing the others, never to explain favourably what one does in order to have an excuse for what one wants to do, never to close one's eyes when something is unpleasant, never to let anything pass, telling oneself, "That is not important, next time it will be better."

Oh! It is very difficult. Just try for one hour and you will see how very difficult it is. Only one hour, to be totally, absolutely sincere. To let nothing pass. That is, all one does, all one feels, all one thinks, all one wants, is exclusively the Divine.

"I want nothing but the Divine, I think of nothing but the Divine, I do nothing but what will lead me to the Divine, I love nothing but the Divine."

Try - try, just to see, try for half an hour, you will see how difficult it is! And during that time take great care that there isn't a part of the vital or a part of the mind or a part of the physical being nicely hidden there, at the back, so that you don't see it (Mother hides her hands behind her back) and don't notice that it is not collaborating - sitting quietly there so that you don't unearth it... it says nothing, but it does not change, it hides itself. How many such parts! How many parts hide themselves! You put them in your pocket because you don't want to see them or else they get behind your back and sit there well-hidden, right in the middle of your back, so as not to be seen. When you go there with your torch - your torch of sincerity - you ferret out all the corners, everywhere, all the small corners which do not consent, the things which say "No" or those which do not move: "I am not going to budge. I am glued to this place of mine and nothing will make me move."... You have a torch there with you, and you flash it upon the thing, upon everything. You will see there are many of them there, behind your back, well stuck.

Try, just for an hour, try!
No more questions?
Nobody has anything to say? Then, au revoir, my children! ~ The Mother, Question and Answers, Volume-6, page no.132-133),
197:The Song Of Food And Dwelling :::
I bow down at the feet of the wish-fulfilling Guru.
Pray vouchsafe me your grace in bestowing beneficial food,
Pray make me realize my own body as the house of Buddha,
Pray grant me this knowledge.

I built the house through fear,
The house of Sunyata, the void nature of being;
Now I have no fear of its collapsing.
I, the Yogi with the wish-fulfilling gem,
Feel happiness and joy where'er I stay.

Because of the fear of cold, I sought for clothes;
The clothing I found is the Ah Shea Vital Heat.
Now I have no fear of coldness.

Because of the fear of poverty, I sought for riches;
The riches I found are the inexhaustible Seven Holy Jewels.
Now I have no fear of poverty.

Because of the fear of hunger, I sought for food;
The food I found is the Samadhi of Suchness.
Now I have no fear of hunger.

Because of the fear of thirst, I sought for drink;
The heavenly drink I found is the wine of mindfulness.
Now I have no fear of thirst.

Because of the fear of loneliness, I searched for a friend;
The friend I found is the bliss of perpetual Sunyata.
Now I have no fear of loneliness.

Because of the fear of going astray,
I sought for the right path to follow.
The wide path I found is the Path of Two-in-One.
Now I do not fear to lose my way.

I am a yogi with all desirable possessions,
A man always happy where'er he stays.

Here at Yolmo Tagpu Senge Tson,
The tigress howling with a pathetic, trembling cry,
Reminds me that her helpless cubs are innocently playing.
I cannot help but feel a great compassion for them,
I cannot help but practice more diligently,
I cannot help but augment thus my Bodhi-Mind.

The touching cry of the monkey,
So impressive and so moving,
Cannot help but raise in me deep pity.
The little monkey's chattering is amusing and pathetic;
As I hear it, I cannot but think of it with compassion.

The voice of the cuckoo is so moving,
And so tuneful is the lark's sweet singing,
That when I hear them I cannot help but listen
When I listen to them,
I cannot help but shed tears.

The varied cries and cawings of the crow,
Are a good and helpful friend unto the yogi.
Even without a single friend,
To remain here is a pleasure.
With joy flowing from my heart, I sing this happy song;
May the dark shadow of all men's sorrows
Be dispelled by my joyful singing. ~ Jetsun Milarepa,
198:Thus the eternal paradox and eternal truth of a divine life in an animal body, an immortal aspiration or reality inhabiting a mortal tenement, a single and universal consciousness representing itself in limited minds and divided egos, a transcendent, indefinable, timeless and spaceless Being who alone renders time and space and cosmos possible, and in all these the higher truth realisable by the lower term, justify themselves to the deliberate reason as well as to the persistent instinct or intuition of mankind. Attempts are sometimes made to have done finally with questionings which have so often been declared insoluble by logical thought and to persuade men to limit their mental activities to the practical and immediate problems of their material existence in the universe; but such evasions are never permanent in their effect. Mankind returns from them with a more vehement impulse of inquiry or a more violent hunger for an immediate solution. By that hunger mysticism profits and new religions arise to replace the old that have been destroyed or stripped of significance by a scepticism which itself could not satisfy because, although its business was inquiry, it was unwilling sufficiently to inquire. The attempt to deny or stifle a truth because it is yet obscure in its outward workings and too often represented by obscurantist superstition or a crude faith, is itself a kind of obscurantism. The will to escape from a cosmic necessity because it is arduous, difficult to justify by immediate tangible results, slow in regulating its operations, must turn out eventually to have been no acceptance of the truth of Nature but a revolt against the secret, mightier will of the great Mother. It is better and more rational to accept what she will not allow us as a race to reject and lift it from the sphere of blind instinct, obscure intuition and random aspiration into the light of reason and an instructed and consciously self-guiding will. And if there is any higher light of illumined intuition or self-revealing truth which is now in man either obstructed and inoperative or works with intermittent glancings as if from behind a veil or with occasional displays as of the northern lights in our material skies, then there also we need not fear to aspire. For it is likely that such is the next higher state of consciousness of which Mind is only a form and veil, and through the splendours of that light may lie the path of our progressive self-enlargement into whatever highest state is humanity's ultimate resting-place. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, The Human Aspiration,
199:He continuously reflected on her image and attributes, day and night. His bhakti was such that he could not stop thinking of her. Eventually, he saw her everywhere and in everything. This was his path to illumination.

   He was often asked by people: what is the way to the supreme? His answer was sharp and definite: bhakti yoga. He said time and time again that bhakti yoga is the best sadhana for the Kali Yuga (Dark Age) of the present.

   His bhakti is illustrated by the following statement he made to a disciple:

   To my divine mother I prayed only for pure love.
At her lotus feet I offered a few flowers and I prayed:

   Mother! here is virtue and here is vice;
   Take them both from me.
   Grant me only love, pure love for Thee.
   Mother! here is knowledge and here is ignorance;
   Take them both from me.
   Grant me only love, pure love for Thee.
   Mother! here is purity and impurity;
   Take them both from me.
   Grant me only love, pure love for Thee.

Ramakrishna, like Kabir, was a practical man.
He said: "So long as passions are directed towards the world and its objects, they are enemies. But when they are directed towards a deity, then they become the best of friends to man, for they take him to illumination. The desire for worldly things must be changed into longing for the supreme; the anger which you feel for fellow man must be directed towards the supreme for not manifesting himself to you . . . and so on, with all other emotions. The passions cannot be eradicated, but they can be turned into new directions."

   A disciple once asked him: "How can one conquer the weaknesses within us?" He answered: "When the fruit grows out of the flower, the petals drop off themselves. So when divinity in you increases, the weaknesses of human nature will vanish of their own accord." He emphasized that the aspirant should not give up his practices. "If a single dive into the sea does not bring you a pearl, do not conclude that there are no pearls in the sea. There are countless pearls hidden in the sea.

   So if you fail to merge with the supreme during devotional practices, do not lose heart. Go on patiently with the practices, and in time you will invoke divine grace." It does not matter what form you care to worship. He said: "Many are the names of the supreme and infinite are the forms through which he may be approached. In whatever name and form you choose to worship him, through that he will be realized by you." He indicated the importance of surrender on the path of bhakti when he said:

   ~ Swami Satyananda Saraswati, A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya,
200:Disciple: What are the conditions of success in this yoga?

Sri Aurobindo: I have often told of them. Those go through who have the central sincerity. It does not mean that the sincerity is there in all the parts of the being. In that sense no one is entirely ready. But if the central sincerity is there it is possible to establish it in all the parts of the being.
The second thing necessary is a certain receptivity in the being, what we call, the "opening" up of all the planes to the Higher Power.
The third thing required is the power of holding the higher Force, a certain ghanatwa - mass - that can hold the Power when it comes down.
And about the thing that pushes there are two things that generally push: One is the Central Being. The other is destiny. If the Central Being wants to do something it pushes the man. Even when the man goes off the line he is pushed back again to the path. Of course, the Central Being may push through the mind or any other part of the being. Also, if the man is destined he is pushed to the path either to go through or to get broken,

Disciple: There are some people who think they are destined or chosen and we see that they are not "chosen".

Sri Aurobindo: Of course, plenty of people think that they are specially "chosen" and that they are the first and the "elect" and so on. All that is nothing.

Disciple: Then, can you. say who is fit out of all those that have come?

Sri Aurobindo: It is very difficult to say. But this can be said that everyone of those who have come in has some chance to go through if he can hold on to it.

Disciple: There is also a chance of failure.

Sri Aurobindo: Of course, and besides, the whole universe is a play of forces and one can't always wait till all the conditions of success have been fulfilled. One has to take risks and take his chance.

Disciple: What is meant by "chance"? Does it mean that it is only one possibility out of many others, or does it mean that one would be able to succeed in yoga?

Sri Aurobindo: It means only that he can succeed if he takes his chance properly. For instance, X had his chance.

Disciple: Those who fall on the path or slip, do they go down in their evolution?

Sri Aurobindo: That depends. Ultimately, the Yoga may be lost to him.

Disciple: The Gita says: Na hi kalyānkṛt - nothing that is beneficial - comes to a bad end.

Sri Aurobindo: That is from another standpoint. You must note the word is kalyān kṛt - it is an important addition.
~ Sri Aurobindo, EVENING TALKS WITH SRI AUROBINDO, RECORDED BY A B PURANI (20-09-1926),
201:PROTECTION
   Going to sleep is a little like dying, a journey taken alone into the unknown. Ordinarily we are not troubled about sleep because we are familiar with it, but think about what it entails. We completely lose ourselves in a void for some period of time, until we arise again in a dream. When we do so, we may have a different identity and a different body. We may be in a strange place, with people we do not know, involved in baffling activities that may seem quite risky.
   Just trying to sleep in an unfamiliar place may occasion anxiety. The place may be perfectly secure and comfortable, but we do not sleep as well as we do at home in familiar surroundings. Maybe the energy of the place feels wrong. Or maybe it is only our own insecurity that disturbs us,and even in familiar places we may feel anxious while waiting for sleep to come, or be frightenedby what we dream. When we fall asleep with anxiety, our dreams are mingled with fear and tension, sleep is less restful, and the practice harder to do. So it is a good idea to create a sense of protection before we sleep and to turn our sleeping area into a sacred space.
   This is done by imagining protective dakinis all around the sleeping area. Visualize the dakinis as beautiful goddesses, enlightened female beings who are loving, green in color, and powerfully protective. They remain near as you fall asleep and throughout the night, like mothers watching over their child, or guardians surrounding a king or queen. Imagine them everywhere, guarding the doors and the windows, sitting next to you on the bed, walking in the garden or the yard, and so on, until you feel completely protected.
   Again, this practice is more than just trying to visualize something: see the dakinis with your mind but also use your imagination to feel their presence. Creating a protective, sacred environment in this way is calming and relaxing and promotes restful sleep. This is how the mystic lives: seeing the magic, changing the environment with the mind, and allowing actions, even actions of the imagination, to have significance.
   You can enhance the sense of peace in your sleeping environment by keeping objects of a sacred nature in the bedroom: peaceful, loving images, sacred and religious symbols, and other objects that direct your mind toward the path.
   The Mother Tantra tells us that as we prepare for sleep we should maintain awareness of the causes of dream, the object to focus upon, the protectors, and of ourselves. Hold these together inawareness, not as many things, but as a single environment, and this will have a great effect in dream and sleep.
   ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep,
202:Ekajaṭī or Ekajaṭā, (Sanskrit: "One Plait Woman"; Wylie: ral gcig ma: one who has one knot of hair),[1] also known as Māhacīnatārā,[2] is one of the 21 Taras. Ekajati is, along with Palden Lhamo deity, one of the most powerful and fierce goddesses of Vajrayana Buddhist mythology.[1][3] According to Tibetan legends, her right eye was pierced by the tantric master Padmasambhava so that she could much more effectively help him subjugate Tibetan demons.

Ekajati is also known as "Blue Tara", Vajra Tara or "Ugra Tara".[1][3] She is generally considered one of the three principal protectors of the Nyingma school along with Rāhula and Vajrasādhu (Wylie: rdo rje legs pa).

Often Ekajati appears as liberator in the mandala of the Green Tara. Along with that, her ascribed powers are removing the fear of enemies, spreading joy, and removing personal hindrances on the path to enlightenment.

Ekajati is the protector of secret mantras and "as the mother of the mothers of all the Buddhas" represents the ultimate unity. As such, her own mantra is also secret. She is the most important protector of the Vajrayana teachings, especially the Inner Tantras and termas. As the protector of mantra, she supports the practitioner in deciphering symbolic dakini codes and properly determines appropriate times and circumstances for revealing tantric teachings. Because she completely realizes the texts and mantras under her care, she reminds the practitioner of their preciousness and secrecy.[4] Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama meditated upon her in early childhood.

According to Namkhai Norbu, Ekajati is the principal guardian of the Dzogchen teachings and is "a personification of the essentially non-dual nature of primordial energy."[5]

Dzogchen is the most closely guarded teaching in Tibetan Buddhism, of which Ekajati is a main guardian as mentioned above. It is said that Sri Singha (Sanskrit: Śrī Siṃha) himself entrusted the "Heart Essence" (Wylie: snying thig) teachings to her care. To the great master Longchenpa, who initiated the dissemination of certain Dzogchen teachings, Ekajati offered uncharacteristically personal guidance. In his thirty-second year, Ekajati appeared to Longchenpa, supervising every ritual detail of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis empowerment, insisting on the use of a peacock feather and removing unnecessary basin. When Longchenpa performed the ritual, she nodded her head in approval but corrected his pronunciation. When he recited the mantra, Ekajati admonished him, saying, "Imitate me," and sang it in a strange, harmonious melody in the dakini's language. Later she appeared at the gathering and joyously danced, proclaiming the approval of Padmasambhava and the dakinis.[6] ~ Wikipedia,
203:Mother of Dreams :::

Goddess supreme, Mother of Dream, by thy ivory doors when thou standest,
Who are they then that come down unto men in thy visions that troop, group upon group, down the path of the shadows slanting?
Dream after dream, they flash and they gleam with the flame of the stars still around them;
Shadows at thy side in a darkness ride where the wild fires dance, stars glow and glance and the random meteor glistens;
There are voices that cry to their kin who reply; voices sweet, at the heart they beat and ravish the soul as it listens.

What then are these lands and these golden sands and these seas more radiant than earth can imagine?
Who are those that pace by the purple waves that race to the cliff-bound floor of thy jasper shore under skies in which mystery muses,
Lapped in moonlight not of our night or plunged in sunshine that is not diurnal?
Who are they coming thy Oceans roaming with sails whose strands are not made by hands, an unearthly wind advances?
Why do they join in a mystic line with those on the sands linking hands in strange and stately dances?

Thou in the air, with a flame in thy hair, the whirl of thy wonders watching,
Holdest the night in thy ancient right, Mother divine, hyacinthine, with a girdle of beauty defended.
Sworded with fire, attracting desire, thy tenebrous kingdom thou keepest,
Starry-sweet, with the moon at thy feet, now hidden now seen the clouds between in the gloom and the drift of thy tresses.
Only to those whom thy fancy chose, O thou heart-free, is it given to see thy witchcraft and feel thy caresses.

Open the gate where thy children wait in their world of a beauty undarkened.
High-throned on a cloud, victorious, proud I have espied Maghavan ride when the armies of wind are behind him;
Food has been given for my tasting from heaven and fruit of immortal sweetness;
I have drunk wine of the kingdoms divine and have healed the change of music strange from a lyre which our hands cannot master,
Doors have swung wide in the chambers of pride where the Gods reside and the Apsaras dance in their circles faster and faster.

For thou art she whom we first can see when we pass the bounds of the mortal;
There at the gates of the heavenly states thou hast planted thy wand enchanted over the head of the Yogin waving.
From thee are the dream and the shadows that seem and the fugitive lights that delude us;
Thine is the shade in which visions are made; sped by thy hands from celestial lands come the souls that rejoice for ever.
Into thy dream-worlds we pass or look in thy magic glass, then beyond thee we climb out of Space and Time to the peak of divine endeavour. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems,
204:It is then by a transformation of life in its very principle, not by an external manipulation of its phenomena, that the integral Yoga proposes to change it from a troubled and ignorant into a luminous and harmonious movement of Nature. There are three conditions which are indispensable for the achievement of this central inner revolution and new formation; none of them is altogether sufficient in itself, but by their united threefold power the uplifting can be done, the conversion made and completely made. For, first, life as it is is a movement of desire and it has built in us as its centre a desire-soul which refers to itself all the motions of life and puts in them its own troubled hue and pain of an ignorant, half-lit, baffled endeavour: for a divine living, desire must be abolished and replaced by a purer and firmer motive-power, the tormented soul of desire dissolved and in its stead there must emerge the calm, strength, happiness of a true vital being now concealed within us. Next, life as it is is driven or led partly by the impulse of the life-force, partly by a mind which is mostly a servant and abettor of the ignorant life-impulse, but in part also its uneasy and not too luminous or competent guide and mentor; for a divine life the mind and the life-impulse must cease to be anything but instruments and the inmost psychic being must take their place as the leader on the path and the indicator of a divine guidance. Last, life as it is is turned towards the satisfaction of the separative ego; ego must disappear and be replaced by the true spiritual person, the central being, and life itself must be turned towards the fulfilment of the Divine in terrestrial existence; it must feel a Divine Force awaking within it and become an obedient instrumentation of its purpose.
   There is nothing that is not ancient and familiar in the first of these three transforming inner movements; for it has always been one of the principal objects of spiritual discipline. It has been best formulated in the already expressed doctrine of the Gita by which a complete renouncement of desire for the fruits as the motive of action, a complete annulment of desire itself, the complete achievement of a perfect equality are put forward as the normal status of a spiritual being. A perfect spiritual equality is the one true and infallible sign of the cessation of desire, - to be equal-souled to all things, unmoved by joy and sorrow, the pleasant and the unpleasant, success or failure, to look with an equal eye on high and low, friend and enemy, the virtuous and the sinner, to see in all beings the manifold manifestation of the One and in all things the multitudinous play or the slow masked evolution of the embodied Spirit. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Ascent of the Sacrifice - 2, 176,
205:To Know How To Suffer
   IF AT any time a deep sorrow, a searing doubt or an intense pain overwhelms you and drives you to despair, there is an infallible way to regain calm and peace.
   In the depths of our being there shines a light whose brilliance is equalled only by its purity; a light, a living and conscious portion of a universal godhead who animates and nourishes and illumines Matter, a powerful and unfailing guide for those who are willing to heed his law, a helper full of solace and loving forbearance towards all who aspire to see and hear and obey him. No sincere and lasting aspiration towards him can be in vain; no strong and respectful trust can be disappointed, no expectation ever deceived.
   My heart has suffered and lamented, almost breaking beneath a sorrow too heavy, almost sinking beneath a pain too strong.... But I have called to thee, O divine comforter, I have prayed ardently to thee, and the splendour of thy dazzling light has appeared to me and revived me.
   As the rays of thy glory penetrated and illumined all my being, I clearly perceived the path to follow, the use that can be made of suffering; I understood that the sorrow that held me in its grip was but a pale reflection of the sorrow of the earth, of this abysm of suffering and anguish.
   Only those who have suffered can understand the suffering of others; understand it, commune with it and relieve it. And I understood, O divine comforter, sublime Holocaust, that in order to sustain us in all our troubles, to soothe all our pangs, thou must have known and felt all the sufferings of earth and man, all without exception.
   How is it that among those who claim to be thy worshippers, some regard thee as a cruel torturer, as an inexorable judge witnessing the torments that are tolerated by thee or even created by thy own will?
   No, I now perceive that these sufferings come from the very imperfection of Matter which, in its disorder and crudeness, is unfit to manifest thee; and thou art the very first to suffer from it, to bewail it, thou art the first to toil and strive in thy ardent desire to change disorder into order, suffering into happiness, discord into harmony.
   Suffering is not something inevitable or even desirable, but when it comes to us, how helpful it can be!
   Each time we feel that our heart is breaking, a deeper door opens within us, revealing new horizons, ever richer in hidden treasures, whose golden influx brings once more a new and intenser life to the organism on the brink of destruction.
   And when, by these successive descents, we reach the veil that reveals thee as it is lifted, O Lord, who can describe the intensity of Life that penetrates the whole being, the radiance of the Light that floods it, the sublimity of the Love that transforms it for ever! ~ The Mother, Words Of Long Ago, To Know How To Suffer, 1910,
206:The Absolute is in itself indefinable by reason, ineffable to the speech; it has to be approached through experience. It can be approached through an absolute negation of existence, as if it were itself a supreme Non-Existence, a mysterious infinite Nihil. It can be approached through an absolute affirmation of all the fundamentals of our own existence, through an absolute of Light and Knowledge, through an absolute of Love or Beauty, through an absolute of Force, through an absolute of peace or silence. It can be approached through an inexpressible absolute of being or of consciousness, or of power of being, or of delight of being, or through a supreme experience in which these things become inexpressibly one; for we can enter into such an ineffable state and, plunged into it as if into a luminous abyss of existence, we can reach a superconscience which may be described as the gate of the Absolute. It is supposed that it is only through a negation of individual and cosmos that we can enter into the Absolute. But in fact the individual need only deny his own small separate ego-existence; he can approach the Absolute through a sublimation of his spiritual individuality taking up the cosmos into himself and transcending it; or he may negate himself altogether, but even so it is still the individual who by self-exceeding enters into the Absolute. He may enter also by a sublimation of his being into a supreme existence or super-existence, by a sublimation of his consciousness into a supreme consciousness or superconscience, by a sublimation of his and all delight of being into a super-delight or supreme ecstasy. He can make the approach through an ascension in which he enters into cosmic consciousness, assumes it into himself and raises himself and it into a state of being in which oneness and multiplicity are in perfect harmony and unison in a supreme status of manifestation where all are in each and each in all and all in the one without any determining individuation - for the dynamic identity and mutuality have become complete; on the path of affirmation it is this status of the manifestation that is nearest to the Absolute. This paradox of an Absolute which can be realised through an absolute negation and through an absolute affirmation, in many ways, can only be accounted for to the reason if it is a supreme Existence which is so far above our notion and experience of existence that it can correspond to our negation of it, to our notion and experience of nonexistence; but also, since all that exists is That, whatever its degree of manifestation, it is itself the supreme of all things and can be approached through supreme affirmations as through supreme negations. The Absolute is the ineffable x overtopping and underlying and immanent and essential in all that we can call existence or non-existence. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, 2.06 - Reality and the Cosmic Illusion,
207:on purifying ego and desire :::
   The elimination of all egoistic activity and of its foundation, the egoistic consciousness, is clearly the key to the consummation we desire. And since in the path of works action is the knot we have first to loosen, we must endeavour to loosen it where it is centrally tied, in desire and in ego; for otherwise we shall cut only stray strands and not the heart of our bondage.These are the two knots of our subjection to this ignorant and divided Nature, desire and ego-sense. And of these two desire has its native home in the emotions and sensations and instincts and from there affects thought and volition; ego-sense lives indeed in these movements, but it casts its deep roots also in the thinking mind and its will and it is there that it becomes fully self conscious. These are the twin obscure powers of the obsessing world-wide Ignorance that we have to enlighten and eliminate.
   In the field of action desire takes many forms, but the most powerful of all is the vital selfs craving or seeking after the fruit of our works. The fruit we covet may be a reward of internal pleasure; it may be the accomplishment of some preferred idea or some cherished will or the satisfaction of the egoistic emotions, or else the pride of success of our highest hopes and ambitions. Or it may be an external reward, a recompense entirely material, -wealth, position, honour, victory, good fortune or any other fulfilment of vital or physical desire. But all alike are lures by which egoism holds us. Always these satisfactions delude us with the sense of mastery and the idea of freedom, while really we are harnessed and guided or ridden and whipped by some gross or subtle, some noble or ignoble, figure of the blind Desire that drives the world. Therefore the first rule of action laid down by the Gita is to do the work that should be done without any desire for the fruit, niskama karma. ...
   The test it lays down is an absolute equality of the mind and the heart to all results, to all reactions, to all happenings. If good fortune and ill fortune, if respect and insult, if reputation and obloquy, if victory and defeat, if pleasant event and sorrowful event leave us not only unshaken but untouched, free in the emotions, free in the nervous reactions, free in the mental view, not responding with the least disturbance or vibration in any spot of the nature, then we have the absolute liberation to which the Gita points us, but not otherwise. The tiniest reaction is a proof that the discipline is imperfect and that some part of us accepts ignorance and bondage as its law and clings still to the old nature. Our self-conquest is only partially accomplished; it is still imperfect or unreal in some stretch or part or smallest spot of the ground of our nature. And that little pebble of imperfection may throw down the whole achievement of the Yoga
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Divine Works, Self-Surrender in Works - The Way of the Gita, [102],
208:An integral Yoga includes as a vital and indispensable element in its total and ultimate aim the conversion of the whole being into a higher spiritual consciousness and a larger divine existence. Our parts of will and action, our parts of knowledge, our thinking being, our emotional being, our being of life, all our self and nature must seek the Divine, enter into the Infinite, unite with the Eternal. But mans present nature is limited, divided, unequal, -- it is easiest for him to concentrate in the strongest part of his being and follow a definite line of progress proper to his nature: only rare individuals have the strength to take a large immediate plunge straight into the sea of the Divine Infinity. Some therefore must choose as a starting-point a concentration in thought or contemplation or the minds one-pointedness to find the eternal reality of the Self in them; others can more easily withdraw into the heart to meet there the Divine, the Eternal: yet others are predominantly dynamic and active; for these it is best to centre themselves in the will and enlarge their being through works. United with the Self and source of all by their surrender of their will into its infinity, guided in their works by the secret Divinity within or surrendered to the Lord of the cosmic action as the master and mover of all their energies of thought, feeling, act, becoming by this enlargement of being selfless and universal, they can reach by works some first fullness of a spiritual status. But the path, whatever its point of starting, must debouch into a vaster dominion; it must proceed in the end through a totality of integrated knowledge, emotion, will of dynamic action, perfection of the being and the entire nature. In the supramental consciousness, on the level of the supramental existence this integration becomes consummate; there knowledge, will, emotion, the perfection of the self and the dynamic nature rise each to its absolute of itself and all to their perfect harmony and fusion with each other, to a divine integrality, a divine perfection. For the supermind is a Truth-Consciousness in which the Divine Reality, fully manifested, no longer works with the instrumentation of the Ignorance; a truth of status of being which is absolute becomes dynamic in a truth of energy and activity of the being which is self-existent and perfect. Every movement there is a movement of the self-aware truth of Divine Being and every part is in entire harmony with the whole. Even the most limited and finite action is in the Truth-Consciousness a movement of the Eternal and Infinite and partakes of the inherent absoluteness and perfection of the Eternal and Infinite. An ascent into the supramental Truth not only raises our spiritual and essential consciousness to that height but brings about a descent of this Light and Truth into all our being and all our parts of nature. All then becomes part of the Divine Truth, an element and means of the supreme union and oneness; this ascent and descent must be therefore an ultimate aim of this Yoga.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Divine Works, The Supermind and the Yoga of Works [279-280],
209:What do you mean by these words: 'When you are in difficulty, widen yourself'?

I am speaking, of course, of difficulties on the path of yoga, incomprehension, limitations, things like obstacles, which prevent you from advancing. And when I say "widen yourself", I mean widen your consciousness.

Difficulties always arise from the ego, that is, from your more or less egoistic personal reaction to circumstances, events and people around you, to the conditions of your life. They also come from that feeling of being closed up in a sort of shell, which prevents your consciousness from uniting with higher and vaster realities.

One may very well think that one wants to be vast, wants to be universal, that all is the expression of the Divine, that one must have no egoism - one may think all sorts of things - but that is not necessarily a cure, for very often one knows what one ought to do, and yet one doesn't do it, for one reason or another.

But if, when you have to face anguish, suffering, revolt, pain or a feeling of helplessness - whatever it may be, all the things that come to you on the path and which precisely are your difficulties-if physically, that is to say, in your body- consciousness, you can have the feeling of widening yourself, one could say of unfolding yourself - you feel as it were all folded up, one fold on another like a piece of cloth which is folded and refolded and folded again - so if you have this feeling that what is holding and strangling you and making you suffer or paralysing your movement, is like a too closely, too tightly folded piece of cloth or like a parcel that is too well-tied, too well-packed, and that slowly, gradually, you undo all the folds and stretch yourself out exactly as one unfolds a piece of cloth or a sheet of paper and spreads it out flat, and you lie flat and make yourself very wide, as wide as possible, spreading yourself out as far as you can, opening yourself and stretching out in an attitude of complete passivity with what I could call "the face to the light": not curling back upon your difficulty, doubling up on it, shutting it in, so to say, into yourself, but, on the contrary, unfurling yourself as much as you can, as perfectly as you can, putting the difficulty before the Light - the Light which comes from above - if you do that in all the domains, and even if mentally you don't succeed in doing it - for it is sometimes difficult - if you can imagine yourself doing this physically, almost materially, well, when you have finished unfolding yourself and stretching yourself out, you will find that more than three-quarters of the difficulty is gone. And then just a little work of receptivity to the Light and the last quarter will disappear.

This is much easier than struggling against a difficulty with one's thought, for if you begin to discuss with yourself, you will find that there are arguments for and against which are so convincing that it is quite impossible to get out of it without a higher light. Here, you do not struggle against the difficulty, you do not try to convince yourself; ah! you simply stretch out in the Light as though you lay stretched on the sands in the sun. And you let the Light do its work. That's all. ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers, Volume-8, page no.286-288),
210:We have now completed our view of the path of Knowledge and seen to what it leads. First, the end of Yoga of Knowledge is God-possession, it is to possess God and be possessed by him through consciousness, through identification, through reflection of the divine Reality. But not merely in some abstraction away from our present existence, but here also; therefore to possess the Divine in himself, the Divine in the world, the Divine within, the Divine in all things and all beings. It is to possess oneness with God and through that to possess also oneness with the universal, with the cosmos and all existences; therefore to possess the infinite diversity also in the oneness, but on the basis of oneness and not on the basis of division. It is to possess God in his personality and his impersonality; in his purity free from qualities and in his infinite qualities; in time and beyond time; in his action and in his silence; in the finite and in the infinite. It is to possess him not only in pure self, but in all self; not only in self, but in Nature; not only in spirit, but in supermind, mind, life and body; to possess him with the spirit, with the mind, with the vital and the physical consciousness; and it is again for all these to be possessed by him, so that our whole being is one with him, full of him, governed and driven by him. It is, since God is oneness, for our physical consciousness to be one with the soul and the nature of the material universe; for our life, to be one with all life; for our mind, to be one with the universal mind; for our spirit, to be identified with the universal spirit. It is to merge in him in the absolute and find him in all relations. Secondly, it is to put on the divine being and the divine nature. And since God is Sachchidananda, it is to raise our being into the divine being, our consciousness into the divine consciousness, our energy into the divine energy, our delight of existence into the divine delight of being. And it is not only to lift ourselves into this higher consciousness, but to widen into it in all our being, because it is to be found on all the planes of our existence and in all our members, so that our mental, vital, physical existence shall become full of the divine nature. Our intelligent mentality is to become a play of the divine knowledge-will, our mental soul-life a play of the divine love and delight, our vitality a play of the divine life, our physical being a mould of the divine substance. This God-action in us is to be realised by an opening of ourselves to the divine gnosis and divine Ananda and, in its fullness, by an ascent into and a permanent dwelling in the gnosis and the Ananda. For though we live physically on the material plane and in normal outwardgoing life the mind and soul are preoccupied with material existence, this externality of our being is not a binding limitation. We can raise our internal consciousness from plane to plane of the relations of Purusha with prakriti, and even become, instead of the mental being dominated by the physical soul and nature, the gnostic being or the bliss-self and assume the gnostic or the bliss nature. And by this raising of the inner life we can transform our whole outward-going existence; instead of a life dominated by matter we shall then have a life dominated by spirit with all its circumstances moulded and determined by the purity of being, the consciousness infinite even in the finite, the divine energy, the divine joy and bliss of the spirit.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Integral Knowledge, The Higher and the Lower Knowledge [511] [T1],
211:GURU YOGA
   Guru yoga is an essential practice in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. This is true in sutra, tantra, and Dzogchen. It develops the heart connection with the masteR By continually strengthening our devotion, we come to the place of pure devotion in ourselves, which is the unshakeable, powerful base of the practice. The essence of guru yoga is to merge the practitioner's mind with the mind of the master.
   What is the true master? It is the formless, fundamental nature of mind, the primordial awareness of the base of everything, but because we exist in dualism, it is helpful for us to visualize this in a form. Doing so makes skillful use of the dualisms of the conceptual mind, to further strengthen devotion and help us stay directed toward practice and the generation of positive qualities.
   In the Bon tradition, we often visualize either Tapihritsa* as the master, or the Buddha ShenlaOdker*, who represents the union of all the masters. If you are already a practitioner, you may have another deity to visualize, like Guru Rinpoche or a yidam or dakini. While it is important to work with a lineage with which you have a connection, you should understand that the master you visualize is the embodiment of all the masters with whom you are connected, all the teachers with whom you have studied, all the deities to whom you have commitments. The master in guru yoga is not just one individual, but the essence of enlightenment, the primordial awareness that is your true nature.
   The master is also the teacher from whom you receive the teachings. In the Tibetan tradition, we say the master is more important than the Buddha. Why? Because the master is the immediate messenger of the teachings, the one who brings the Buddha's wisdom to the student. Without the master we could not find our way to the Buddha. So we should feel as much devotion to the master as we would to the Buddha if the Buddha suddenly appeared in front of us.
   Guru yoga is not just about generating some feeling toward a visualized image. It is done to find the fundamental mind in yourself that is the same as the fundamental mind of all your teachers, and of all the Buddhas and realized beings that have ever lived. When you merge with the guru, you merge with your pristine true nature, which is the real guide and masteR But this should not be an abstract practice. When you do guru yoga, try to feel such intense devotion that the hair stands upon your neck, tears start down your face, and your heart opens and fills with great love. Let yourself merge in union with the guru's mind, which is your enlightened Buddha-nature. This is the way to practice guru yoga.
  
The Practice
   After the nine breaths, still seated in meditation posture, visualize the master above and in front of you. This should not be a flat, two dimensional picture-let a real being exist there, in three dimensions, made of light, pure, and with a strong presence that affects the feeling in your body,your energy, and your mind. Generate strong devotion and reflect on the great gift of the teachings and the tremendous good fortune you enjoy in having made a connection to them. Offer a sincere prayer, asking that your negativities and obscurations be removed, that your positive qualities develop, and that you accomplish dream yoga.
   Then imagine receiving blessings from the master in the form of three colored lights that stream from his or her three wisdom doors- of body, speech, and mind-into yours. The lights should be transmitted in the following sequence: White light streams from the master's brow chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your entire body and physical dimension. Then red light streams from the master's throat chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your energetic dimension. Finally, blue light streams from the master's heart chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your mind.
   When the lights enter your body, feel them. Let your body, energy, and mind relax, suffused inwisdom light. Use your imagination to make the blessing real in your full experience, in your body and energy as well as in the images in your mind.
   After receiving the blessing, imagine the master dissolving into light that enters your heart and resides there as your innermost essence. Imagine that you dissolve into that light, and remain inpure awareness, rigpa.
   There are more elaborate instructions for guru yoga that can involve prostrations, offerings, gestures, mantras, and more complicated visualizations, but the essence of the practice is mingling your mind with the mind of the master, which is pure, non-dual awareness. Guru yoga can be done any time during the day; the more often the better. Many masters say that of all the practices it is guru yoga that is the most important. It confers the blessings of the lineage and can open and soften the heart and quiet the unruly mind. To completely accomplish guru yoga is to accomplish the path.
   ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep, [T3],
212:
   In the lower planes can't one say what will happen at a particular moment?

That depends. On certain planes there are consciousnesses that form, that make formations and try to send them down to earth and manifest them. These are planes where the great forces are at play, forces struggling with each other to organise things in one way or another. On these planes all the possibilities are there, all the possibilities that present themselves but have not yet come to a decision as to which will come down.... Suppose a plane full of the imaginations of people who want certain things to be realised upon earth - they invent a novel, narrate stories, produce all kinds of phenomena; it amuses them very much. It is a plane of form-makers and they are there imagining all kinds of circumstances and events; they play with the forces; they are like the authors of a drama and they prepare everything there and see what is going to happen. All these formations are facing each other; and it is those which are the strongest, the most successful or the most persistent or those that have the advantage of a favourable set of circumstances which dominate. They meet and out of the conflict yet another thing results: you lose one thing and take up another, you make a new combination; and then all of a sudden, you find, pluff! it is coming down. Now, if it comes down with a sufficient force, it sets moving the earth atmosphere and things combine; as for instance, when with your fist you thump the saw-dust, you know surely what happens, don't you? You lift your hand, give a formidable blow: all the dust gets organised around your fist. Well, it is like that. These formations come down into matter with that force, and everything organises itself automatically, mechanically as around the striking fist. And there's your wished object about to be realised, sometimes with small deformations because of the resistance, but it will be realised finally, even as the person narrating the story up above wanted it more or less to be realised. If then you are for some reason or other in the secret of the person who has constructed the story and if you follow the way in which he creates his path to reach down to the earth and if you see how a blow with the fist acts on earthly matter, then you are able to tell what is going to happen, because you have seen it in the world above, and as it takes some time to make the whole journey, you see in advance. And the higher you rise, the more you foresee in advance what is going to happen. And if you pass far beyond, go still farther, then everything is possible.
   It is an unfolding that follows a wide road which is for you unknowable; for all will be unfolded in the universe, but in what order and in what way? There are decisions that are taken up there which escape our ordinary consciousness, and so it is very difficult to foresee. But there also, if you enter consciously and if you can be present up there... How shall I explain that to you? All is there, absolute, static, eternal: but all that will be unfolded in the material world, naturally more or less one thing after another; for in the static existence all can be there, but in the becoming all becomes in time, that is, one thing after another. Well, what path will the unfolding follow? Up there is the domain of absolute freedom.... Who says that a sufficiently sincere aspiration, a sufficiently intense prayer is not capable of changing the path of the unfolding?
   This means that all is possible.
   Now, one must have a sufficient aspiration and a prayer that's sufficiently intense. But that has been given to human nature. It is one of the marvellous gifts of grace given to human nature; only, one does not know how to make use of it. This comes to saying that in spite of the most absolute determinisms in the horizontal line, if one knows how to cross all these horizontal lines and reach the highest Point of consciousness, one is able to make things change, things apparently absolutely determined. So you may call it by any name you like, but it is a kind of combination of an absolute determinism with an absolute freedom. You may pull yourself out of it in any way you like, but it is like that.
   I forgot to say in that book (perhaps I did not forget but just felt that it was useless to say it) that all these theories are only theories, that is, mental conceptions which are merely more or less imaged representations of the reality; but it is not the reality at all. When you say "determinism" and when you say "freedom", you say only words and all that is only a very incomplete, very approximate and very weak description of what is in reality within you, around you and everywhere; and to be able to begin to understand what the universe is, you must come out of your mental formulas, otherwise you will never understand anything.
   To tell the truth, if you live only a moment, just a tiny moment, of this absolutely sincere aspiration or this sufficiently intense prayer, you will know more things than by meditating for hours.

~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1953,
213: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],
214:What are these operations? They are not mere psychological self-analysis and self-observation. Such analysis, such observation are, like the process of right thought, of immense value and practically indispensable. They may even, if rightly pursued, lead to a right thought of considerable power and effectivity. Like intellectual discrimination by the process of meditative thought they will have an effect of purification; they will lead to self-knowledge of a certain kind and to the setting right of the disorders of the soul and the heart and even of the disorders of the understanding. Self-knowledge of all kinds is on the straight path to the knowledge of the real Self. The Upanishad tells us that the Self-existent has so set the doors of the soul that they turn outwards and most men look outward into the appearances of things; only the rare soul that is ripe for a calm thought and steady wisdom turns its eye inward, sees the Self and attains to immortality. To this turning of the eye inward psychological self-observation and analysis is a great and effective introduction.We can look into the inward of ourselves more easily than we can look into the inward of things external to us because there, in things outside us, we are in the first place embarrassed by the form and secondly we have no natural previous experience of that in them which is other than their physical substance. A purified or tranquillised mind may reflect or a powerful concentration may discover God in the world, the Self in Nature even before it is realised in ourselves, but this is rare and difficult. (2) And it is only in ourselves that we can observe and know the process of the Self in its becoming and follow the process by which it draws back into self-being. Therefore the ancient counsel, know thyself, will always stand as the first word that directs us towards the knowledge. Still, psychological self-knowledge is only the experience of the modes of the Self, it is not the realisation of the Self in its pure being.
   The status of knowledge, then, which Yoga envisages is not merely an intellectual conception or clear discrimination of the truth, nor is it an enlightened psychological experience of the modes of our being. It is a "realisation", in the full sense of the word; it is the making real to ourselves and in ourselves of the Self, the transcendent and universal Divine, and it is the subsequent impossibility of viewing the modes of being except in the light of that Self and in their true aspect as its flux of becoming under the psychical and physical conditions of our world-existence. This realisation consists of three successive movements, internal vision, complete internal experience and identity.
   This internal vision, dr.s.t.i, the power so highly valued by the ancient sages, the power which made a man a Rishi or Kavi and no longer a mere thinker, is a sort of light in the soul by which things unseen become as evident and real to it-to the soul and not merely to the intellect-as do things seen to the physical eye. In the physical world there are always two forms of knowledge, the direct and the indirect, pratyaks.a, of that which is present to the eyes, and paroks.a, of that which is remote from and beyond our vision. When the object is beyond our vision, we are necessarily obliged to arrive at an idea of it by inference, imagination, analogy, by hearing the descriptions of others who have seen it or by studying pictorial or other representations of it if these are available. By putting together all these aids we can indeed arrive at a more or less adequate idea or suggestive image of the object, but we do not realise the thing itself; it is not yet to us the grasped reality, but only our conceptual representation of a reality. But once we have seen it with the eyes,-for no other sense is adequate,-we possess, we realise; it is there secure in our satisfied being, part of ourselves in knowledge. Precisely the same rule holds good of psychical things and of he Self. We may hear clear and luminous teachings about the Self from philosophers or teachers or from ancient writings; we may by thought, inference, imagination, analogy or by any other available means attempt to form a mental figure or conception of it; we may hold firmly that conception in our mind and fix it by an entire and exclusive concentration;3 but we have not yet realised it, we have not seen God. It is only when after long and persistent concentration or by other means the veil of the mind is rent or swept aside, only when a flood of light breaks over the awakened mentality, jyotirmaya brahman, and conception gives place to a knowledge-vision in which the Self is as present, real, concrete as a physical object to the physical eye, that we possess in knowledge; for we have seen. After that revelation, whatever fadings of the light, whatever periods of darkness may afflict the soul, it can never irretrievably lose what it has once held. The experience is inevitably renewed and must become more frequent till it is constant; when and how soon depends on the devotion and persistence with which we insist on the path and besiege by our will or our love the hidden Deity.
   (2) And it is only in ourselves that we can observe and know the 2 In one respect, however, it is easier, because in external things we are not so much hampered by the sense of the limited ego as in ourselves; one obstacle to the realisation of God is therefore removed.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Status of Knowledge,
215:The Two Paths Of Yoga :::
   14 April 1929 - What are the dangers of Yoga? Is it especially dangerous to the people of the West? Someone has said that Yoga may be suitable for the East, but it has the effect of unbalancing the Western mind.

   Yoga is not more dangerous to the people of the West than to those of the East. Everything depends upon the spirit with which you approach it. Yoga does become dangerous if you want it for your own sake, to serve a personal end. It is not dangerous, on the contrary, it is safety and security itself, if you go to it with a sense of its sacredness, always remembering that the aim is to find the Divine.
   Dangers and difficulties come in when people take up Yoga not for the sake of the Divine, but because they want to acquire power and under the guise of Yoga seek to satisfy some ambition. if you cannot get rid of ambition, do not touch the thing. It is fire that burns.
   There are two paths of Yoga, one of tapasya (discipline), and the other of surrender. The path of tapasya is arduous. Here you rely solely upon yourself, you proceed by your own strength. You ascend and achieve according to the measure of your force. There is always the danger of falling down. And once you fall, you lie broken in the abyss and there is hardly a remedy. The other path, the path of surrender, is safe and sure. It is here, however, that the Western people find their difficulty. They have been taught to fear and avoid all that threatens their personal independence. They have imbibed with their mothers' milk the sense of individuality. And surrender means giving up all that. In other words, you may follow, as Ramakrishna says, either the path of the baby monkey or that of the baby cat. The baby monkey holds to its mother in order to be carried about and it must hold firm, otherwise if it loses its grip, it falls. On the other hand, the baby cat does not hold to its mother, but is held by the mother and has no fear nor responsibility; it has nothing to do but to let the mother hold it and cry ma ma.
   If you take up this path of surrender fully and sincerely, there is no more danger or serious difficulty. The question is to be sincere. If you are not sincere, do not begin Yoga. If you were dealing in human affairs, then you could resort to deception; but in dealing with the Divine there is no possibility of deception anywhere. You can go on the Path safely when you are candid and open to the core and when your only end is to realise and attain the Divine and to be moved by the Divine. There is another danger; it is in connection with the sex impulses. Yoga in its process of purification will lay bare and throw up all hidden impulses and desires in you. And you must learn not to hide things nor leave them aside, you have to face them and conquer and remould them. The first effect of Yoga, however, is to take away the mental control, and the hungers that lie dormant are suddenly set free, they rush up and invade the being. So long as this mental control has not been replaced by the Divine control, there is a period of transition when your sincerity and surrender will be put to the test. The strength of such impulses as those of sex lies usually in the fact that people take too much notice of them; they protest too vehemently and endeavour to control them by coercion, hold them within and sit upon them. But the more you think of a thing and say, "I don't want it, I don't want it", the more you are bound to it. What you should do is to keep the thing away from you, to dissociate from it, take as little notice of it as possible and, even if you happen to think of it, remain indifferent and unconcerned. The impulses and desires that come up by the pressure of Yoga should be faced in a spirit of detachment and serenity, as something foreign to yourself or belonging to the outside world. They should be offered to the Divine, so that the Divine may take them up and transmute them. If you have once opened yourself to the Divine, if the power of the Divine has once come down into you and yet you try to keep to the old forces, you prepare troubles and difficulties and dangers for yourself. You must be vigilant and see that you do not use the Divine as a cloak for the satisfaction of your desires. There are many self-appointed Masters, who do nothing but that. And then when you are off the straight path and when you have a little knowledge and not much power, it happens that you are seized by beings or entities of a certain type, you become blind instruments in their hands and are devoured by them in the end. Wherever there is pretence, there is danger; you cannot deceive God. Do you come to God saying, "I want union with you" and in your heart meaning "I want powers and enjoyments"? Beware! You are heading straight towards the brink of the precipice. And yet it is so easy to avoid all catastrophe. Become like a child, give yourself up to the Mother, let her carry you, and there is no more danger for you.
   This does not mean that you have not to face other kinds of difficulties or that you have not to fight and conquer any obstacles at all. Surrender does not ensure a smooth and unruffled and continuous progression. The reason is that your being is not yet one, nor your surrender absolute and complete. Only a part of you surrenders; and today it is one part and the next day it is another. The whole purpose of the Yoga is to gather all the divergent parts together and forge them into an undivided unity. Till then you cannot hope to be without difficulties - difficulties, for example, like doubt or depression or hesitation. The whole world is full of the poison. You take it in with every breath. If you exchange a few words with an undesirable man or even if such a man merely passes by you, you may catch the contagion from him. It is sufficient for you to come near a place where there is plague in order to be infected with its poison; you need not know at all that it is there. You can lose in a few minutes what it has taken you months to gain. So long as you belong to humanity and so long as you lead the ordinary life, it does not matter much if you mix with the people of the world; but if you want the divine life, you will have to be exceedingly careful about your company and your environment.
   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931,
216:Depression, unless one has a strong will, suggests, "This is not worth while, one may have to wait a lifetime." As for enthusiasm, it expects to see the vital transformed overnight: "I am not going to have any difficulty henceforth, I am going to advance rapidly on the path of yoga, I am going to gain the divine consciousness without any difficulty." There are some other difficulties.... One needs a little time, much perseverance. So the vital, after a few hours - perhaps a few days, perhaps a few months - says to itself: "We haven't gone very far with our enthusiasm, has anything been really done? Doesn't this movement leave us just where we were, perhaps worse than we were, a little troubled, a little disturbed? Things are no longer what they were, they are not yet what they ought to be. It is very tiresome, what I am doing." And then, if one pushes a little more, here's this gentleman saying, "Ah, no! I have had enough of it, leave me alone. I don't want to move, I shall stay in my corner, I won't trouble you, but don't bother me!" And so one has not gone very much farther than before.
   This is one of the big obstacles which must be carefully avoided. As soon as there is the least sign of discontentment, of annoyance, the vital must be spoken to in this way, "My friend, you are going to keep calm, you are going to do what you are asked to do, otherwise you will have to deal with me." And to the other, the enthusiast who says, "Everything must be done now, immediately", your reply is, "Calm yourself a little, your energy is excellent, but it must not be spent in five minutes. We shall need it for a long time, keep it carefully and, as it is wanted, I shall call upon your goodwill. You will show that you are full of goodwill, you will obey, you won't grumble, you will not protest, you will not revolt, you will say 'yes, yes', you will make a little sacrifice when asked, you will say 'yes' wholeheartedly."
   So we get started on the path. But the road is very long. Many things happen on the way. Suddenly one thinks one has overcome an obstacle; I say "thinks", because though one has overcome it, it is not totally overcome. I am going to take a very obvious instance, of a very simple observation. Someone has found that his vital is uncontrollable and uncontrolled, that it gets furious for nothing and about nothing. He starts working to teach it not to get carried away, not to flare up, to remain calm and bear the shocks of life without reacting violently. If one does this cheerfully, it goes quite quickly. (Note this well, it is very important: when you have to deal with your vital take care to remain cheerful, otherwise you will get into trouble.) One remains cheerful, that is, when one sees the fury rise, one begins to laugh. Instead of being depressed and saying, "Ah! In spite of all my effort it is beginning all over again", one begins to laugh and says, "Well, well! One hasn't yet seen the end of it. Look now, aren't you ridiculous, you know quite well that you are being ridiculous! Is it worthwhile getting angry?" One gives it this lesson cheerfully. And really, after a while it doesn't get angry again, it is quiet - and one relaxes one's attention. One thinks the difficulty has been overcome, one thinks a result has at last been reached: "My vital does not trouble me any longer, it does not get angry now, everything is going fine." And the next day, one loses one's temper. It is then one must be careful, it is then one must not say, "Here we are, it's no use, I shall never achieve anything, all my efforts are futile; all this is an illusion, it is impossible." On the contrary, one must say, "I wasn't vigilant enough." One must wait long, very long, before one can say, "Ah! It is done and finished." Sometimes one must wait for years, many years....
   I am not saying this to discourage you, but to give you patience and perseverance - for there is a moment when you do arrive. And note that the vital is a small part of your being - a very important part, we have said that it is the dynamism, the realising energy, it is very important; but it is only a small part. And the mind!... which goes wandering, which must be pulled back by all the strings to be kept quiet! You think this can be done overnight? And your body?... You have a weakness, a difficulty, sometimes a small chronic illness, nothing much, but still it is a nuisance, isn't it? You want to get rid of it. You make efforts, you concentrate; you work upon it, establish harmony, and you think it is finished, and then.... Take, for instance, people who have the habit of coughing; they can't control themselves or almost can't. It is not serious but it is bothersome, and there seems to be no reason why it should ever stop. Well, one tells oneself, "I am going to control this." One makes an effort - a yogic effort, not a material one - one brings down consciousness, force, and stops the cough. And one thinks, "The body has forgotten how to cough." And it is a great thing when the body has forgotten, truly one can say, "I am cured." But unfortunately it is not always true, for this goes down into the subconscient and, one day, when the balance of forces is not so well established, when the strength is not the same, it begins again. And one laments, "I believed that it was over! I had succeeded and told myself, 'It is true that spiritual power has an action upon the body, it is true that something can be done', and there! it is not true. And yet it was a small thing, and I who want to conquer immortality! How will I succeed?... For years I have been free from this small thing and here it is beginning anew!" It is then that you must be careful. You must arm yourself with an endless patience and endurance. You do a thing once, ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times if necessary, but you do it till it gets done. And not done only here and there, but everywhere and everywhere at the same time. This is the great problem one sets oneself. That is why, to those who come to tell me very light-heartedly, "I want to do yoga", I reply, "Think it over, one may do the yoga for a number of years without noticing the least result. But if you want to do it, you must persist and persist with such a will that you should be ready to do it for ten lifetimes, a hundred lifetimes if necessary, in order to succeed." I do not say it will be like that, but the attitude must be like that. Nothing must discourage you; for there are all the difficulties of ignorance of the different states of being, to which are added the endless malice and the unbounded cunning of the hostile forces in the world.... They are there, do you know why? They have been.... ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1950-1951,
217:
   Mother, when one imagines something, does it not exist?

When you imagine something, it means that you make a mental formation which may be close to the truth or far from the truth - it also depends upon the quality of your formation. You make a mental formation and there are people who have such a power of formation that they succeed in making what they imagine real. There are not many of these but there are some. They imagine something and their formation is so well made and so powerful that it succeeds in being realised. These are creators; there are not many of them but there are some.

   If one thinks of someone who doesn't exist or who is dead?

Ah! What do you mean? What have you just said? Someone who doesn't exist or someone who is dead? These are two absolutely different things.

   I mean someone who is dead.

Someone who is dead!

   If this person has remained in the mental domain, you can find him immediately. Naturally if he is no longer in the mental domain, if he is in the psychic domain, to think of him is not enough. You must know how to go into the psychic domain to find him. But if he has remained in the mental domain and you think of him, you can find him immediately, and not only that, but you can have a mental contact with him and a kind of mental vision of his existence.

   The mind has a capacity of vision of its own and it is not the same vision as with these eyes, but it is a vision, it is a perception in forms. But this is not imagination. It has nothing to do with imagination.

   Imagination, for instance, is when you begin to picture to yourself an ideal being to whom you apply all your conceptions, and when you tell yourself, "Why, it should be like this, like that, its form should be like this, its thought like that, its character like that," when you see all the details and build up the being. Now, writers do this all the time because when they write a novel, they imagine. There are those who take things from life but there are those who are imaginative, creators; they create a character, a personage and then put him in their book later. This is to imagine. To imagine, for example, a whole concurrence of circumstances, a set of events, this is what I call telling a story to oneself. But it can be put down on paper, and then one becomes a novelist. There are very different kinds of writers. Some imagine everything, some gather all sorts of observations from life and construct their book with them. There are a hundred ways of writing a book. But indeed some writers imagine everything from beginning to end. It all comes out of their head and they construct even their whole story without any support in things physically observed. This truly is imagination. But as I say, if they are very powerful and have a considerable capacity for creation, it is possible that one day or other there will be a physical human being who realises their creation. This too is true.

   What do you suppose imagination is, eh? Have you never imagined anything, you?

   And what happens?

   All that one imagines.


You mean that you imagine something and it happens like that, eh? Or it is in a dream...

   What is the function, the use of the imagination?

If one knows how to use it, as I said, one can create for oneself his own inner and outer life; one can build his own existence with his imagination, if one knows how to use it and has a power. In fact it is an elementary way of creating, of forming things in the world. I have always felt that if one didn't have the capacity of imagination he would not make any progress. Your imagination always goes ahead of your life. When you think of yourself, usually you imagine what you want to be, don't you, and this goes ahead, then you follow, then it continues to go ahead and you follow. Imagination opens for you the path of realisation. People who are not imaginative - it is very difficult to make them move; they see just what is there before their nose, they feel just what they are moment by moment and they cannot go forward because they are clamped by the immediate thing. It depends a good deal on what one calls imagination. However...

   Men of science must be having imagination!


A lot. Otherwise they would never discover anything. In fact, what is called imagination is a capacity to project oneself outside realised things and towards things realisable, and then to draw them by the projection. One can obviously have progressive and regressive imaginations. There are people who always imagine all the catastrophes possible, and unfortunately they also have the power of making them come. It's like the antennae going into a world that's not yet realised, catching something there and drawing it here. Then naturally it is an addition to the earth atmosphere and these things tend towards manifestation. It is an instrument which can be disciplined, can be used at will; one can discipline it, direct it, orientate it. It is one of the faculties one can develop in himself and render serviceable, that is, use it for definite purposes.

   Sweet Mother, can one imagine the Divine and have the contact?

Certainly if you succeed in imagining the Divine you have the contact, and you can have the contact with what you imagine, in any case. In fact it is absolutely impossible to imagine something which doesn't exist somewhere. You cannot imagine anything at all which doesn't exist somewhere. It is possible that it doesn't exist on the earth, it is possible that it's elsewhere, but it is impossible for you to imagine something which is not already contained in principle in the universe; otherwise it could not occur.

   Then, Sweet Mother, this means that in the created universe nothing new is added?

In the created universe? Yes. The universe is progressive; we said that constantly things manifest, more and more. But for your imagination to be able to go and seek beyond the manifestation something which will be manifested, well, it may happen, in fact it does - I was going to tell you that it is in this way that some beings can cause considerable progress to be made in the world, because they have the capacity of imagining something that's not yet manifested. But there are not many. One must first be capable of going beyond the manifested universe to be able to imagine something which is not there. There are already many things which can be imagined.

   What is our terrestrial world in the universe? A very small thing. Simply to have the capacity of imagining something which does not exist in the terrestrial manifestation is already very difficult, very difficult. For how many billions of years hasn't it existed, this little earth? And there have been no two identical things. That's much. It is very difficult to go out from the earth atmosphere with one's mind; one can, but it is very difficult. And then if one wants to go out, not only from the earth atmosphere but from the universal life!

   To be able simply to enter into contact with the life of the earth in its totality from the formation of the earth until now, what can this mean? And then to go beyond this and enter into contact with universal life from its beginnings up to now... and then again to be able to bring something new into the universe, one must go still farther beyond.

   Not easy!
   That's all?
   (To the child) Convinced?
   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1955, [T1],
218:This, in short, is the demand made on us, that we should turn our whole life into a conscious sacrifice. Every moment and every movement of our being is to be resolved into a continuous and a devoted self-giving to the Eternal. All our actions, not less the smallest and most ordinary and trifling than the greatest and most uncommon and noble, must be performed as consecrated acts. Our individualised nature must live in the single consciousness of an inner and outer movement dedicated to Something that is beyond us and greater than our ego. No matter what the gift or to whom it is presented by us, there must be a consciousness in the act that we are presenting it to the one divine Being in all beings. Our commonest or most grossly material actions must assume this sublimated character; when we eat, we should be conscious that we are giving our food to that Presence in us; it must be a sacred offering in a temple and the sense of a mere physical need or self-gratification must pass away from us. In any great labour, in any high discipline, in any difficult or noble enterprise, whether undertaken for ourselves, for others or for the race, it will no longer be possible to stop short at the idea of the race, of ourselves or of others. The thing we are doing must be consciously offered as a sacrifice of works, not to these, but either through them or directly to the One Godhead; the Divine Inhabitant who was hidden by these figures must be no longer hidden but ever present to our soul, our mind, our sense. The workings and results of our acts must be put in the hands of that One in the feeling that that Presence is the Infinite and Most High by whom alone our labour and our aspiration are possible. For in his being all takes place; for him all labour and aspiration are taken from us by Nature and offered on his altar. Even in those things in which Nature is herself very plainly the worker and we only the witnesses of her working and its containers and supporters, there should be the same constant memory and insistent consciousness of a work and of its divine Master. Our very inspiration and respiration, our very heart-beats can and must be made conscious in us as the living rhythm of the universal sacrifice.
   It is clear that a conception of this kind and its effective practice must carry in them three results that are of a central importance for our spiritual ideal. It is evident, to begin with, that, even if such a discipline is begun without devotion, it leads straight and inevitably towards the highest devotion possible; for it must deepen naturally into the completest adoration imaginable, the most profound God-love. There is bound up with it a growing sense of the Divine in all things, a deepening communion with the Divine in all our thought, will and action and at every moment of our lives, a more and more moved consecration to the Divine of the totality of our being. Now these implications of the Yoga of works are also of the very essence of an integral and absolute Bhakti. The seeker who puts them into living practice makes in himself continually a constant, active and effective representation of the very spirit of self-devotion, and it is inevitable that out of it there should emerge the most engrossing worship of the Highest to whom is given this service. An absorbing love for the Divine Presence to whom he feels an always more intimate closeness, grows upon the consecrated worker. And with it is born or in it is contained a universal love too for all these beings, living forms and creatures that are habitations of the Divine - not the brief restless grasping emotions of division, but the settled selfless love that is the deeper vibration of oneness. In all the seeker begins to meet the one Object of his adoration and service. The way of works turns by this road of sacrifice to meet the path of Devotion; it can be itself a devotion as complete, as absorbing, as integral as any the desire of the heart can ask for or the passion of the mind can imagine.
   Next, the practice of this Yoga demands a constant inward remembrance of the one central liberating knowledge, and a constant active externalising of it in works comes in too to intensify the remembrance. In all is the one Self, the one Divine is all; all are in the Divine, all are the Divine and there is nothing else in the universe, - this thought or this faith is the whole background until it becomes the whole substance of the consciousness of the worker. A memory, a self-dynamising meditation of this kind, must and does in its end turn into a profound and uninterrupted vision and a vivid and all-embracing consciousness of that which we so powerfully remember or on which we so constantly meditate. For it compels a constant reference at each moment to the Origin of all being and will and action and there is at once an embracing and exceeding of all particular forms and appearances in That which is their cause and upholder. This way cannot go to its end without a seeing vivid and vital, as concrete in its way as physical sight, of the works of the universal Spirit everywhere. On its summits it rises into a constant living and thinking and willing and acting in the presence of the Supramental, the Transcendent. Whatever we see and hear, whatever we touch and sense, all of which we are conscious, has to be known and felt by us as That which we worship and serve; all has to be turned into an image of the Divinity, perceived as a dwelling-place of his Godhead, enveloped with the eternal Omnipresence. In its close, if not long before it, this way of works turns by communion with the Divine Presence, Will and Force into a way of Knowledge more complete and integral than any the mere creature intelligence can construct or the search of the intellect can discover.
   Lastly, the practice of this Yoga of sacrifice compels us to renounce all the inner supports of egoism, casting them out of our mind and will and actions, and to eliminate its seed, its presence, its influence out of our nature. All must be done for the Divine; all must be directed towards the Divine. Nothing must be attempted for ourselves as a separate existence; nothing done for others, whether neighbours, friends, family, country or mankind or other creatures merely because they are connected with our personal life and thought and sentiment or because the ego takes a preferential interest in their welfare. In this way of doing and seeing all works and all life become only a daily dynamic worship and service of the Divine in the unbounded temple of his own vast cosmic existence. Life becomes more and more the sacrifice of the eternal in the individual constantly self-offered to the eternal Transcendence. It is offered in the wide sacrificial ground of the field of the eternal cosmic Spirit; and the Force too that offers it is the eternal Force, the omnipresent Mother. Therefore is this way a way of union and communion by acts and by the spirit and knowledge in the act as complete and integral as any our Godward will can hope for or our soul's strength execute.
   It has all the power of a way of works integral and absolute, but because of its law of sacrifice and self-giving to the Divine Self and Master, it is accompanied on its one side by the whole power of the path of Love and on the other by the whole power of the path of Knowledge. At its end all these three divine Powers work together, fused, united, completed, perfected by each other.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Divine Works, The Sacrifice, the Triune Path and the Lord of the Sacrifice [111-114],
219:How to Meditate
Deep meditation is a mental procedure that utilizes the nature of the mind to systematically bring the mind to rest. If the mind is given the opportunity, it will go to rest with no effort. That is how the mind works.
Indeed, effort is opposed to the natural process of deep meditation. The mind always seeks the path of least resistance to express itself. Most of the time this is by making more and more thoughts. But it is also possible to create a situation in the mind that turns the path of least resistance into one leading to fewer and fewer thoughts. And, very soon, no thoughts at all. This is done by using a particular thought in a particular way. The thought is called a mantra.
For our practice of deep meditation, we will use the thought - I AM. This will be our mantra.
It is for the sound that we will use I AM, not for the meaning of it.
The meaning has an obvious significance in English, and I AM has a religious meaning in the English Bible as well. But we will not use I AM for the meaning - only for the sound. We can also spell it AYAM. No meaning there, is there? Only the sound. That is what we want. If your first language is not English, you may spell the sound phonetically in your own language if you wish. No matter how we spell it, it will be the same sound. The power of the sound ...I AM... is great when thought inside. But only if we use a particular procedure. Knowing this procedure is the key to successful meditation. It is very simple. So simple that we will devote many pages here to discussing how to keep it simple, because we all have a tendency to make things more complicated. Maintaining simplicity is the key to right meditation.
Here is the procedure of deep meditation: While sitting comfortably with eyes closed, we'll just relax. We will notice thoughts, streams of thoughts. That is fine. We just let them go by without minding them. After about a minute, we gently introduce the mantra, ...I AM...
We think the mantra in a repetition very easily inside. The speed of repetition may vary, and we do not mind it. We do not intone the mantra out loud. We do not deliberately locate the mantra in any particular part of the body. Whenever we realize we are not thinking the mantra inside anymore, we come back to it easily. This may happen many times in a sitting, or only once or twice. It doesn't matter. We follow this procedure of easily coming back to the mantra when we realize we are off it for the predetermined time of our meditation session. That's it.
Very simple.
Typically, the way we will find ourselves off the mantra will be in a stream of other thoughts. This is normal. The mind is a thought machine, remember? Making thoughts is what it does. But, if we are meditating, as soon as we realize we are off into a stream of thoughts, no matter how mundane or profound, we just easily go back to the mantra.
Like that. We don't make a struggle of it. The idea is not that we have to be on the mantra all the time. That is not the objective. The objective is to easily go back to it when we realize we are off it. We just favor the mantra with our attention when we notice we are not thinking it. If we are back into a stream of other thoughts five seconds later, we don't try and force the thoughts out. Thoughts are a normal part of the deep meditation process. We just ease back to the mantra again. We favor it.
Deep meditation is a going toward, not a pushing away from. We do that every single time with the mantra when we realize we are off it - just easily favoring it. It is a gentle persuasion. No struggle. No fuss. No iron willpower or mental heroics are necessary for this practice. All such efforts are away from the simplicity of deep meditation and will reduce its effectiveness.
As we do this simple process of deep meditation, we will at some point notice a change in the character of our inner experience. The mantra may become very refined and fuzzy. This is normal. It is perfectly all right to think the mantra in a very refined and fuzzy way if this is the easiest. It should always be easy - never a struggle. Other times, we may lose track of where we are for a while, having no mantra, or stream of thoughts either. This is fine too. When we realize we have been off somewhere, we just ease back to the mantra again. If we have been very settled with the mantra being barely recognizable, we can go back to that fuzzy level of it, if it is the easiest. As the mantra refines, we are riding it inward with our attention to progressively deeper levels of inner silence in the mind. So it is normal for the mantra to become very faint and fuzzy. We cannot force this to happen. It will happen naturally as our nervous system goes through its many cycles ofinner purification stimulated by deep meditation. When the mantra refines, we just go with it. And when the mantra does not refine, we just be with it at whatever level is easy. No struggle. There is no objective to attain, except to continue the simple procedure we are describing here.

When and Where to Meditate
How long and how often do we meditate? For most people, twenty minutes is the best duration for a meditation session. It is done twice per day, once before the morning meal and day's activity, and then again before the evening meal and evening's activity.
Try to avoid meditating right after eating or right before bed.
Before meal and activity is the ideal time. It will be most effective and refreshing then. Deep meditation is a preparation for activity, and our results over time will be best if we are active between our meditation sessions. Also, meditation is not a substitute for sleep. The ideal situation is a good balance between meditation, daily activity and normal sleep at night. If we do this, our inner experience will grow naturally over time, and our outer life will become enriched by our growing inner silence.
A word on how to sit in meditation: The first priority is comfort. It is not desirable to sit in a way that distracts us from the easy procedure of meditation. So sitting in a comfortable chair with back support is a good way to meditate. Later on, or if we are already familiar, there can be an advantage to sitting with legs crossed, also with back support. But always with comfort and least distraction being the priority. If, for whatever reason, crossed legs are not feasible for us, we will do just fine meditating in our comfortable chair. There will be no loss of the benefits.
Due to commitments we may have, the ideal routine of meditation sessions will not always be possible. That is okay. Do the best you can and do not stress over it. Due to circumstances beyond our control, sometimes the only time we will have to meditate will be right after a meal, or even later in the evening near bedtime. If meditating at these times causes a little disruption in our system, we will know it soon enough and make the necessary adjustments. The main thing is that we do our best to do two meditations every day, even if it is only a short session between our commitments. Later on, we will look at the options we have to make adjustments to address varying outer circumstances, as well as inner experiences that can come up.
Before we go on, you should try a meditation. Find a comfortable place to sit where you are not likely to be interrupted and do a short meditation, say ten minutes, and see how it goes. It is a toe in the water.
Make sure to take a couple of minutes at the end sitting easily without doing the procedure of meditation. Then open your eyes slowly. Then read on here.
As you will see, the simple procedure of deep meditation and it's resulting experiences will raise some questions. We will cover many of them here.
So, now we will move into the practical aspects of deep meditation - your own experiences and initial symptoms of the growth of your own inner silence. ~ Yogani, Deep Meditation,
220:
   The whole question.


The whole question? And now, do you understand?... Not quite? I told you that you did not understand because it was muddled up; in one question three different ideas were included. So naturally it created a confusion. But taken separately they are what I explained to you just now, most probably; that is to say, one has this altogether ignorant and obliterated consciousness and is convinced that he is the cause and effect, the origin and result of himself, separate from all others, separate with a limited power to act upon others and a little greater capacity to be set in movement by others or to react to others' influence. That is how people think usually, something like that, isn't that so? How do you feel, you? What effect do you have upon yourself? And you? And you?... You have never thought about it? You have never looked into yourself to see what effect you exercise upon yourself? Never thought over it? No? How do you feel? Nobody will tell me? Come, you tell me that. Never tried to understand how you feel? Yes? No? How strange! Never sought to understand how, for example, decisions take place in you? From where do they come? What makes you decide one thing rather than another? And what is the relation between a decision of yours and your action? And to what extent do you have the freedom of choice between one thing and another? And how far do you feel you are able to, you are free to do this or that or that other or nothing at all?... You have pondered over that? Yes? Is there any one among the students who has thought over it? No? Nobody put the question to himself? You? You?...

Even if one thinks over it, perhaps one is not able to answer!

One cannot explain?

No.

It is difficult to explain? Even this simple little thing, to see where in your consciousness the wills that come from outside meet your will (which you call yours, which comes from within), at what place the two join together and to what extent the one from outside acts upon that from within and the one from within acts upon that from outside? You have never tried to find this out? It has never seemed to you unbearable that a will from outside should have an action upon your will? No?

I do not know.

Oh! I am putting very difficult problems! But, my children, I was preoccupied with that when I was a child of five!... So I thought you must have been preoccupied with it since a long time. In oneself, there are contradictory wills. Yes, many. That is one of the very first discoveries. There is one part which wants things this way; and then at another moment, another way, and a third time, one wants still another thing! Besides, there is even this: something that wants and another which says no. So? But it is exactly that which has to be found if you wish in the least to organise yourself. Why not project yourself upon a screen, as in the cinema, and then look at yourself moving on it? How interesting it is!

This is the first step.

You project yourself on the screen and then observe and see all that is moving there and how it moves and what happens. You make a little diagram, it becomes so interesting then. And then, after a while, when you are quite accustomed to seeing, you can go one step further and take a decision. Or even a still greater step: you organise - arrange, take up all that, put each thing in its place, organise in such a way that you begin to have a straight movement with an inner meaning. And then you become conscious of your direction and are able to say: "Very well, it will be thus; my life will develop in that way, because that is the logic of my being. Now, I have arranged all that within me, each thing has been put in its place, and so naturally a central orientation is forming. I am following this orientation. One step more and I know what will happen to me for I myself am deciding it...." I do not know, I am telling you this; to me it seemed terribly interesting, the most interesting thing in the world. There was nothing, no other thing that interested me more than that.

This happened to me.... I was five or six or seven years old (at seven the thing became quite serious) and I had a father who loved the circus, and he came and told me: "Come with me, I am going to the circus on Sunday." I said: "No, I am doing something much more interesting than going to the circus!" Or again, young friends invited me to attend a meeting where we were to play together, enjoy together: "No, I enjoy here much more...." And it was quite sincere. It was not a pose: for me, it was like this, it was true. There was nothing in the world more enjoyable than that.

And I am so convinced that anybody who does it in that way, with the same freshness and sincerity, will obtain most interesting results.... To put all that on a screen in front of yourself and look at what is happening. And the first step is to know all that is happening and then you must not try to shut your eyes when something does not appear pleasant to you! You must keep them wide open and put each thing in that way before the screen. Then you make quite an interesting discovery. And then the next step is to start telling yourself: "Since all that is happening within me, why should I not put this thing in this way and then that thing in that way and then this other in this way and thus wouldn't I be doing something logical that has a meaning? Why should I not remove that thing which stands obstructing the way, these conflicting wills? Why? And what does that represent in the being? Why is it there? If it were put there, would it not help instead of harming me?" And so on.

And little by little, little by little, you see clearer and then you see why you are made like that, what is the thing you have got to do - that for which you are born. And then, quite naturally, since all is organised for this thing to happen, the path becomes straight and you can say beforehand: "It is in this way that it will happen." And when things come from outside to try and upset all that, you are able to say: "No, I accept this, for it helps; I reject that, for that harms." And then, after a few years, you curb yourself as you curb a horse: you do whatever you like, in the way you like and you go wherever you like.

It seems to me this is worth the trouble. I believe it is the most interesting thing.

...

You must have a great deal of sincerity, a little courage and perseverance and then a sort of mental curiosity, you understand, curious, seeking to know, interested, wanting to learn. To love to learn: that, one must have in one's nature. To find it impossible to stand before something grey, all hazy, in which nothing is seen clearly and which gives you quite an unpleasant feeling, for you do not know where you begin and where you end, what is yours and what is not yours and what is settled and what is not settled - what is this pulp-like thing you call yourself in which things get intermingled and act upon one another without even your being aware of it? You ask yourself: "But why have I done this?" You know nothing about it. "And why have I felt that?" You don't know that, either. And then, you are thrown into a world outside that is only fog and you are thrown into a world inside that is also for you another kind of fog, still more impenetrable, in which you live, like a cork thrown upon the waters and the waves carry it away or cast it into the air, and it drops and rolls on. That is quite an unpleasant state. I do not know, but to me it appears unpleasant.

To see clearly, to see one's way, where one is going, why one is going there, how one is to go there and what one is going to do and what is the kind of relation with others... But that is a problem so wonderfully interesting - it is interesting - and you can always discover things every minute! One's work is never finished.

There is a time, there is a certain state of consciousness when you have the feeling that you are in that condition with all the weight of the world lying heavy upon you and besides you are going in blinkers and do not know where you are going, but there is something which is pushing you. And that is truly a very unpleasant condition. And there is another moment when one draws oneself up and is able to see what is there above, and one becomes it; then one looks at the world as though from the top of a very very high mountain and one sees all that is happening below; then one can choose one's way and follow it. That is a more pleasant condition. This then is truly the truth, you are upon earth for that, surely. All individual beings and all the little concentrations of consciousness were created to do this work. It is the very reason for existence: to be able to become fully conscious of a certain sum of vibrations representing an individual being and put order there and find one's way and follow it.

And so, as men do not know it and do not do it, life comes and gives them a blow here: "Oh! that hurts", then a blow there: "Ah! that's hurting me." And the thing goes on like that and all the time it is like that. And all the time they are getting pain somewhere. They suffer, they cry, they groan. But it is simply due to that reason, there is no other: it is that they have not done that little work. If, when they were quite young, there had been someone to teach them to do the work and they had done it without losing time, they could have gone through life gloriously and instead of suffering they would have been all-powerful masters of their destiny.

This is not to say that necessarily all things would become pleasant. It is not at all that. But your reaction towards things becomes the true reaction and instead of suffering, you learn; instead of being miserable, you go forward and progress. After all, I believe it is for this that you are here - so that there is someone who can tell you: "There, well, try that. It is worth trying." ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1953, 199,
221:The Supreme Discovery
   IF WE want to progress integrally, we must build within our conscious being a strong and pure mental synthesis which can serve us as a protection against temptations from outside, as a landmark to prevent us from going astray, as a beacon to light our way across the moving ocean of life.
   Each individual should build up this mental synthesis according to his own tendencies and affinities and aspirations. But if we want it to be truly living and luminous, it must be centred on the idea that is the intellectual representation symbolising That which is at the centre of our being, That which is our life and our light.
   This idea, expressed in sublime words, has been taught in various forms by all the great Instructors in all lands and all ages.
   The Self of each one and the great universal Self are one. Since all that is exists from all eternity in its essence and principle, why make a distinction between the being and its origin, between ourselves and what we place at the beginning?
   The ancient traditions rightly said:
   "Our origin and ourselves, our God and ourselves are one."
   And this oneness should not be understood merely as a more or less close and intimate relationship of union, but as a true identity.
   Thus, when a man who seeks the Divine attempts to reascend by degrees towards the inaccessible, he forgets that all his knowledge and all his intuition cannot take him one step forward in this infinite; neither does he know that what he wants to attain, what he believes to be so far from him, is within him.
   For how could he know anything of the origin until he becomes conscious of this origin in himself?
   It is by understanding himself, by learning to know himself, that he can make the supreme discovery and cry out in wonder like the patriarch in the Bible, "The house of God is here and I knew it not."
   That is why we must express that sublime thought, creatrix of the material worlds, and make known to all the word that fills the heavens and the earth, "I am in all things and all beings."When all shall know this, the promised day of great transfigurations will be at hand. When in each atom of Matter men shall recognise the indwelling thought of God, when in each living creature they shall perceive some hint of a gesture of God, when each man can see God in his brother, then dawn will break, dispelling the darkness, the falsehood, the ignorance, the error and suffering that weigh upon all Nature. For, "all Nature suffers and laments as she awaits the revelation of the Sons of God."
   This indeed is the central thought epitomising all others, the thought which should be ever present to our remembrance as the sun that illumines all life.
   That is why I remind you of it today. For if we follow our path bearing this thought in our hearts like the rarest jewel, the most precious treasure, if we allow it to do its work of illumination and transfiguration within us, we shall know that it lives in the centre of all beings and all things, and in it we shall feel the marvellous oneness of the universe.
   Then we shall understand the vanity and childishness of our meagre satisfactions, our foolish quarrels, our petty passions, our blind indignations. We shall see the dissolution of our little faults, the crumbling of the last entrenchments of our limited personality and our obtuse egoism. We shall feel ourselves being swept along by this sublime current of true spirituality which will deliver us from our narrow limits and bounds.
   The individual Self and the universal Self are one; in every world, in every being, in every thing, in every atom is the Divine Presence, and man's mission is to manifest it.
   In order to do that, he must become conscious of this Divine Presence within him. Some individuals must undergo a real apprenticeship in order to achieve this: their egoistic being is too all-absorbing, too rigid, too conservative, and their struggles against it are long and painful. Others, on the contrary, who are more impersonal, more plastic, more spiritualised, come easily into contact with the inexhaustible divine source of their being.But let us not forget that they too should devote themselves daily, constantly, to a methodical effort of adaptation and transformation, so that nothing within them may ever again obscure the radiance of that pure light.
   But how greatly the standpoint changes once we attain this deeper consciousness! How understanding widens, how compassion grows!
   On this a sage has said:
   "I would like each one of us to come to the point where he perceives the inner God who dwells even in the vilest of human beings; instead of condemning him we would say, 'Arise, O resplendent Being, thou who art ever pure, who knowest neither birth nor death; arise, Almighty One, and manifest thy nature.'"
   Let us live by this beautiful utterance and we shall see everything around us transformed as if by miracle.
   This is the attitude of true, conscious and discerning love, the love which knows how to see behind appearances, understand in spite of words, and which, amid all obstacles, is in constant communion with the depths.
   What value have our impulses and our desires, our anguish and our violence, our sufferings and our struggles, all these inner vicissitudes unduly dramatised by our unruly imagination - what value do they have before this great, this sublime and divine love bending over us from the innermost depths of our being, bearing with our weaknesses, rectifying our errors, healing our wounds, bathing our whole being with its regenerating streams?
   For the inner Godhead never imposes herself, she neither demands nor threatens; she offers and gives herself, conceals and forgets herself in the heart of all beings and things; she never accuses, she neither judges nor curses nor condemns, but works unceasingly to perfect without constraint, to mend without reproach, to encourage without impatience, to enrich each one with all the wealth he can receive; she is the mother whose love bears fruit and nourishes, guards and protects, counsels and consoles; because she understands everything, she can endure everything, excuse and pardon everything, hope and prepare for everything; bearing everything within herself, she owns nothing that does not belong to all, and because she reigns over all, she is the servant of all; that is why all, great and small, who want to be kings with her and gods in her, become, like her, not despots but servitors among their brethren.
   How beautiful is this humble role of servant, the role of all who have been revealers and heralds of the God who is within all, of the Divine Love that animates all things....
   And until we can follow their example and become true servants even as they, let us allow ourselves to be penetrated and transformed by this Divine Love; let us offer Him, without reserve, this marvellous instrument, our physical organism. He shall make it yield its utmost on every plane of activity.
   To achieve this total self-consecration, all means are good, all methods have their value. The one thing needful is to persevere in our will to attain this goal. For then everything we study, every action we perform, every human being we meet, all come to bring us an indication, a help, a light to guide us on the path.
   Before I close, I shall add a few pages for those who have already made apparently fruitless efforts, for those who have encountered the pitfalls on the way and seen the measure of their weakness, for those who are in danger of losing their self-confidence and courage. These pages, intended to rekindle hope in the hearts of those who suffer, were written by a spiritual worker at a time when ordeals of every kind were sweeping down on him like purifying flames.
   You who are weary, downcast and bruised, you who fall, who think perhaps that you are defeated, hear the voice of a friend. He knows your sorrows, he has shared them, he has suffered like you from the ills of the earth; like you he has crossed many deserts under the burden of the day, he has known thirst and hunger, solitude and abandonment, and the cruellest of all wants, the destitution of the heart. Alas! he has known too the hours of doubt, the errors, the faults, the failings, every weakness.
   But he tells you: Courage! Hearken to the lesson that the rising sun brings to the earth with its first rays each morning. It is a lesson of hope, a message of solace.
   You who weep, who suffer and tremble, who dare not expect an end to your ills, an issue to your pangs, behold: there is no night without dawn and the day is about to break when darkness is thickest; there is no mist that the sun does not dispel, no cloud that it does not gild, no tear that it will not dry one day, no storm that is not followed by its shining triumphant bow; there is no snow that it does not melt, nor winter that it does not change into radiant spring.
   And for you too, there is no affliction which does not bring its measure of glory, no distress which cannot be transformed into joy, nor defeat into victory, nor downfall into higher ascension, nor solitude into radiating centre of life, nor discord into harmony - sometimes it is a misunderstanding between two minds that compels two hearts to open to mutual communion; lastly, there is no infinite weakness that cannot be changed into strength. And it is even in supreme weakness that almightiness chooses to reveal itself!
   Listen, my little child, you who today feel so broken, so fallen perhaps, who have nothing left, nothing to cover your misery and foster your pride: never before have you been so great! How close to the summits is he who awakens in the depths, for the deeper the abyss, the more the heights reveal themselves!
   Do you not know this, that the most sublime forces of the vasts seek to array themselves in the most opaque veils of Matter? Oh, the sublime nuptials of sovereign love with the obscurest plasticities, of the shadow's yearning with the most royal light!
   If ordeal or fault has cast you down, if you have sunk into the nether depths of suffering, do not grieve - for there indeed the divine love and the supreme blessing can reach you! Because you have passed through the crucible of purifying sorrows, the glorious ascents are yours.
   You are in the wilderness: then listen to the voices of the silence. The clamour of flattering words and outer applause has gladdened your ears, but the voices of the silence will gladden your soul and awaken within you the echo of the depths, the chant of divine harmonies!
   You are walking in the depths of night: then gather the priceless treasures of the night. In bright sunshine, the ways of intelligence are lit, but in the white luminosities of the night lie the hidden paths of perfection, the secret of spiritual riches.
   You are being stripped of everything: that is the way towards plenitude. When you have nothing left, everything will be given to you. Because for those who are sincere and true, from the worst always comes the best.
   Every grain that is sown in the earth produces a thousand. Every wing-beat of sorrow can be a soaring towards glory.
   And when the adversary pursues man relentlessly, everything he does to destroy him only makes him greater.
   Hear the story of the worlds, look: the great enemy seems to triumph. He casts the beings of light into the night, and the night is filled with stars. He rages against the cosmic working, he assails the integrity of the empire of the sphere, shatters its harmony, divides and subdivides it, scatters its dust to the four winds of infinity, and lo! the dust is changed into a golden seed, fertilising the infinite and peopling it with worlds which now gravitate around their eternal centre in the larger orbit of space - so that even division creates a richer and deeper unity, and by multiplying the surfaces of the material universe, enlarges the empire that it set out to destroy.
   Beautiful indeed was the song of the primordial sphere cradled in the bosom of immensity, but how much more beautiful and triumphant is the symphony of the constellations, the music of the spheres, the immense choir that fills the heavens with an eternal hymn of victory!
   Hear again: no state was ever more precarious than that of man when he was separated on earth from his divine origin. Above him stretched the hostile borders of the usurper, and at his horizon's gates watched jailers armed with flaming swords. Then, since he could climb no more to the source of life, the source arose within him; since he could no more receive the light from above, the light shone forth at the very centre of his being; since he could commune no more with the transcendent love, that love offered itself in a holocaust and chose each terrestrial being, each human self as its dwelling-place and sanctuary.
   That is how, in this despised and desolate but fruitful and blessed Matter, each atom contains a divine thought, each being carries within him the Divine Inhabitant. And if no being in all the universe is as frail as man, neither is any as divine as he!
   In truth, in truth, in humiliation lies the cradle of glory! 28 April 1912 ~ The Mother, Words Of Long Ago, The Supreme Discovery,
222:It does not matter if you do not understand it - Savitri, read it always. You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step.

But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.

Savitri alone is sufficient to make you climb to the highest peaks. If truly one knows how to meditate on Savitri, one will receive all the help one needs. For him who wishes to follow this path, it is a concrete help as though the Lord himself were taking you by the hand and leading you to the destined goal. And then, every question, however personal it may be, has its answer here, every difficulty finds its solution herein; indeed there is everything that is necessary for doing the Yoga.

*He has crammed the whole universe in a single book.* It is a marvellous work, magnificent and of an incomparable perfection.

You know, before writing Savitri Sri Aurobindo said to me, *I am impelled to launch on a new adventure; I was hesitant in the beginning, but now I am decided. Still, I do not know how far I shall succeed. I pray for help.* And you know what it was? It was - before beginning, I warn you in advance - it was His way of speaking, so full of divine humility and modesty. He never... *asserted Himself*. And the day He actually began it, He told me: *I have launched myself in a rudderless boat upon the vastness of the Infinite.* And once having started, He wrote page after page without intermission, as though it were a thing already complete up there and He had only to transcribe it in ink down here on these pages.

In truth, the entire form of Savitri has descended "en masse" from the highest region and Sri Aurobindo with His genius only arranged the lines - in a superb and magnificent style. Sometimes entire lines were revealed and He has left them intact; He worked hard, untiringly, so that the inspiration could come from the highest possible summit. And what a work He has created! Yes, it is a true creation in itself. It is an unequalled work. Everything is there, and it is put in such a simple, such a clear form; verses perfectly harmonious, limpid and eternally true. My child, I have read so many things, but I have never come across anything which could be compared with Savitri. I have studied the best works in Greek, Latin, English and of course French literature, also in German and all the great creations of the West and the East, including the great epics; but I repeat it, I have not found anywhere anything comparable with Savitri. All these literary works seems to me empty, flat, hollow, without any deep reality - apart from a few rare exceptions, and these too represent only a small fraction of what Savitri is. What grandeur, what amplitude, what reality: it is something immortal and eternal He has created. I tell you once again there is nothing like in it the whole world. Even if one puts aside the vision of the reality, that is, the essential substance which is the heart of the inspiration, and considers only the lines in themselves, one will find them unique, of the highest classical kind. What He has created is something man cannot imagine. For, everything is there, everything.

It may then be said that Savitri is a revelation, it is a meditation, it is a quest of the Infinite, the Eternal. If it is read with this aspiration for Immortality, the reading itself will serve as a guide to Immortality. To read Savitri is indeed to practice Yoga, spiritual concentration; one can find there all that is needed to realise the Divine. Each step of Yoga is noted here, including the secret of all other Yogas. Surely, if one sincerely follows what is revealed here in each line one will reach finally the transformation of the Supramental Yoga. It is truly the infallible guide who never abandons you; its support is always there for him who wants to follow the path. Each verse of Savitri is like a revealed Mantra which surpasses all that man possessed by way of knowledge, and I repeat this, the words are expressed and arranged in such a way that the sonority of the rhythm leads you to the origin of sound, which is OM.

My child, yes, everything is there: mysticism, occultism, philosophy, the history of evolution, the history of man, of the gods, of creation, of Nature. How the universe was created, why, for what purpose, what destiny - all is there. You can find all the answers to all your questions there. Everything is explained, even the future of man and of the evolution, all that nobody yet knows. He has described it all in beautiful and clear words so that spiritual adventurers who wish to solve the mysteries of the world may understand it more easily. But this mystery is well hidden behind the words and lines and one must rise to the required level of true consciousness to discover it. All prophesies, all that is going to come is presented with the precise and wonderful clarity. Sri Aurobindo gives you here the key to find the Truth, to discover the Consciousness, to solve the problem of what the universe is. He has also indicated how to open the door of the Inconscience so that the light may penetrate there and transform it. He has shown the path, the way to liberate oneself from the ignorance and climb up to the superconscience; each stage, each plane of consciousness, how they can be scaled, how one can cross even the barrier of death and attain immortality. You will find the whole journey in detail, and as you go forward you can discover things altogether unknown to man. That is Savitri and much more yet. It is a real experience - reading Savitri. All the secrets that man possessed, He has revealed, - as well as all that awaits him in the future; all this is found in the depth of Savitri. But one must have the knowledge to discover it all, the experience of the planes of consciousness, the experience of the Supermind, even the experience of the conquest of Death. He has noted all the stages, marked each step in order to advance integrally in the integral Yoga.

All this is His own experience, and what is most surprising is that it is my own experience also. It is my sadhana which He has worked out. Each object, each event, each realisation, all the descriptions, even the colours are exactly what I saw and the words, phrases are also exactly what I heard. And all this before having read the book. I read Savitri many times afterwards, but earlier, when He was writing He used to read it to me. Every morning I used to hear Him read Savitri. During the night He would write and in the morning read it to me. And I observed something curious, that day after day the experiences He read out to me in the morning were those I had had the previous night, word by word. Yes, all the descriptions, the colours, the pictures I had seen, the words I had heard, all, all, I heard it all, put by Him into poetry, into miraculous poetry. Yes, they were exactly my experiences of the previous night which He read out to me the following morning. And it was not just one day by chance, but for days and days together. And every time I used to compare what He said with my previous experiences and they were always the same. I repeat, it was not that I had told Him my experiences and that He had noted them down afterwards, no, He knew already what I had seen. It is my experiences He has presented at length and they were His experiences also. It is, moreover, the picture of Our joint adventure into the unknown or rather into the Supermind.

These are experiences lived by Him, realities, supracosmic truths. He experienced all these as one experiences joy or sorrow, physically. He walked in the darkness of inconscience, even in the neighborhood of death, endured the sufferings of perdition, and emerged from the mud, the world-misery to breathe the sovereign plenitude and enter the supreme Ananda. He crossed all these realms, went through the consequences, suffered and endured physically what one cannot imagine. Nobody till today has suffered like Him. He accepted suffering to transform suffering into the joy of union with the Supreme. It is something unique and incomparable in the history of the world. It is something that has never happened before, He is the first to have traced the path in the Unknown, so that we may be able to walk with certitude towards the Supermind. He has made the work easy for us. Savitri is His whole Yoga of transformation, and this Yoga appears now for the first time in the earth-consciousness.

And I think that man is not yet ready to receive it. It is too high and too vast for him. He cannot understand it, grasp it, for it is not by the mind that one can understand Savitri. One needs spiritual experiences in order to understand and assimilate it. The farther one advances on the path of Yoga, the more does one assimilate and the better. No, it is something which will be appreciated only in the future, it is the poetry of tomorrow of which He has spoken in The Future Poetry. It is too subtle, too refined, - it is not in the mind or through the mind, it is in meditation that Savitri is revealed.

And men have the audacity to compare it with the work of Virgil or Homer and to find it inferior. They do not understand, they cannot understand. What do they know? Nothing at all. And it is useless to try to make them understand. Men will know what it is, but in a distant future. It is only the new race with a new consciousness which will be able to understand. I assure you there is nothing under the blue sky to compare with Savitri. It is the mystery of mysteries. It is a *super-epic,* it is super-literature, super-poetry, super-vision, it is a super-work even if one considers the number of lines He has written. No, these human words are not adequate to describe Savitri. Yes, one needs superlatives, hyperboles to describe it. It is a hyper-epic. No, words express nothing of what Savitri is, at least I do not find them. It is of immense value - spiritual value and all other values; it is eternal in its subject, and infinite in its appeal, miraculous in its mode and power of execution; it is a unique thing, the more you come into contact with it, the higher will you be uplifted. Ah, truly it is something! It is the most beautiful thing He has left for man, the highest possible. What is it? When will man know it? When is he going to lead a life of truth? When is he going to accept this in his life? This yet remains to be seen.

My child, every day you are going to read Savitri; read properly, with the right attitude, concentrating a little before opening the pages and trying to keep the mind as empty as possible, absolutely without a thought. The direct road is through the heart. I tell you, if you try to really concentrate with this aspiration you can light the flame, the psychic flame, the flame of purification in a very short time, perhaps in a few days. What you cannot do normally, you can do with the help of Savitri. Try and you will see how very different it is, how new, if you read with this attitude, with this something at the back of your consciousness; as though it were an offering to Sri Aurobindo. You know it is charged, fully charged with consciousness; as if Savitri were a being, a real guide. I tell you, whoever, wanting to practice Yoga, tries sincerely and feels the necessity for it, will be able to climb with the help of Savitri to the highest rung of the ladder of Yoga, will be able to find the secret that Savitri represents. And this without the help of a Guru. And he will be able to practice it anywhere. For him Savitri alone will be the guide, for all that he needs he will find Savitri. If he remains very quiet when before a difficulty, or when he does not know where to turn to go forward and how to overcome obstacles, for all these hesitations and incertitudes which overwhelm us at every moment, he will have the necessary indications, and the necessary concrete help. If he remains very calm, open, if he aspires sincerely, always he will be as if lead by the hand. If he has faith, the will to give himself and essential sincerity he will reach the final goal.

Indeed, Savitri is something concrete, living, it is all replete, packed with consciousness, it is the supreme knowledge above all human philosophies and religions. It is the spiritual path, it is Yoga, Tapasya, Sadhana, in its single body. Savitri has an extraordinary power, it gives out vibrations for him who can receive them, the true vibrations of each stage of consciousness. It is incomparable, it is truth in its plenitude, the Truth Sri Aurobindo brought down on the earth. My child, one must try to find the secret that Savitri represents, the prophetic message Sri Aurobindo reveals there for us. This is the work before you, it is hard but it is worth the trouble. - 5 November 1967

~ The Mother, Sweet Mother, The Mother to Mona Sarkar, [T0],
223:One little picture in this book, the Magic Locket, was drawn by 'Miss Alice Havers.' I did not state this on the title-page, since it seemed only due, to the artist of all these (to my mind) wonderful pictures, that his name should stand there alone.
The descriptions, of Sunday as spent by children of the last generation, are quoted verbatim from a speech made to me by a child-friend and a letter written to me by a lady-friend.
The Chapters, headed 'Fairy Sylvie' and 'Bruno's Revenge,' are a reprint, with a few alterations, of a little fairy-tale which I wrote in the year 1867, at the request of the late Mrs. Gatty, for 'Aunt Judy's Magazine,' which she was then editing.
It was in 1874, I believe, that the idea first occurred to me of making it the nucleus of a longer story.
As the years went on, I jotted down, at odd moments, all sorts of odd ideas, and fragments of dialogue, that occurred to me--who knows how?--with a transitory suddenness that left me no choice but either to record them then and there, or to abandon them to oblivion. Sometimes one could trace to their source these random flashes of thought--as being suggested by the book one was reading, or struck out from the 'flint' of one's own mind by the 'steel' of a friend's chance remark but they had also a way of their own, of occurring, a propos of nothing --specimens of that hopelessly illogical phenomenon, 'an effect without a cause.' Such, for example, was the last line of 'The Hunting of the Snark,' which came into my head (as I have already related in 'The Theatre' for April, 1887) quite suddenly, during a solitary walk: and such, again, have been passages which occurred in dreams, and which I cannot trace to any antecedent cause whatever. There are at least two instances of such dream-suggestions in this book--one, my Lady's remark, 'it often runs in families, just as a love for pastry does', the other, Eric Lindon's badinage about having been in domestic service.

And thus it came to pass that I found myself at last in possession of a huge unwieldy mass of litterature--if the reader will kindly excuse the spelling --which only needed stringing together, upon the thread of a consecutive story, to constitute the book I hoped to write. Only! The task, at first, seemed absolutely hopeless, and gave me a far clearer idea, than I ever had before, of the meaning of the word 'chaos': and I think it must have been ten years, or more, before I had succeeded in classifying these odds-and-ends sufficiently to see what sort of a story they indicated: for the story had to grow out of the incidents, not the incidents out of the story I am telling all this, in no spirit of egoism, but because I really believe that some of my readers will be interested in these details of the 'genesis' of a book, which looks so simple and straight-forward a matter, when completed, that they might suppose it to have been written straight off, page by page, as one would write a letter, beginning at the beginning; and ending at the end.

It is, no doubt, possible to write a story in that way: and, if it be not vanity to say so, I believe that I could, myself,--if I were in the unfortunate position (for I do hold it to be a real misfortune) of being obliged to produce a given amount of fiction in a given time,--that I could 'fulfil my task,' and produce my 'tale of bricks,' as other slaves have done. One thing, at any rate, I could guarantee as to the story so produced--that it should be utterly commonplace, should contain no new ideas whatever, and should be very very weary reading!
This species of literature has received the very appropriate name of 'padding' which might fitly be defined as 'that which all can write and none can read.' That the present volume contains no such writing I dare not avow: sometimes, in order to bring a picture into its proper place, it has been necessary to eke out a page with two or three extra lines : but I can honestly say I have put in no more than I was absolutely compelled to do.
My readers may perhaps like to amuse themselves by trying to detect, in a given passage, the one piece of 'padding' it contains. While arranging the 'slips' into pages, I found that the passage was 3 lines too short. I supplied the deficiency, not by interpolating a word here and a word there, but by writing in 3 consecutive lines. Now can my readers guess which they are?

A harder puzzle if a harder be desired would be to determine, as to the Gardener's Song, in which cases (if any) the stanza was adapted to the surrounding text, and in which (if any) the text was adapted to the stanza.
Perhaps the hardest thing in all literature--at least I have found it so: by no voluntary effort can I accomplish it: I have to take it as it come's is to write anything original. And perhaps the easiest is, when once an original line has been struck out, to follow it up, and to write any amount more to the same tune. I do not know if 'Alice in Wonderland' was an original story--I was, at least, no conscious imitator in writing it--but I do know that, since it came out, something like a dozen storybooks have appeared, on identically the same pattern. The path I timidly explored believing myself to be 'the first that ever burst into that silent sea'--is now a beaten high-road: all the way-side flowers have long ago been trampled into the dust: and it would be courting disaster for me to attempt that style again.

Hence it is that, in 'Sylvie and Bruno,' I have striven with I know not what success to strike out yet another new path: be it bad or good, it is the best I can do. It is written, not for money, and not for fame, but in the hope of supplying, for the children whom I love, some thoughts that may suit those hours of innocent merriment which are the very life of Childhood; and also in the hope of suggesting, to them and to others, some thoughts that may prove, I would fain hope, not wholly out of harmony with the graver cadences of Life.
If I have not already exhausted the patience of my readers, I would like to seize this opportunity perhaps the last I shall have of addressing so many friends at once of putting on record some ideas that have occurred to me, as to books desirable to be written--which I should much like to attempt, but may not ever have the time or power to carry through--in the hope that, if I should fail (and the years are gliding away very fast) to finish the task I have set myself, other hands may take it up.
First, a Child's Bible. The only real essentials of this would be, carefully selected passages, suitable for a child's reading, and pictures. One principle of selection, which I would adopt, would be that Religion should be put before a child as a revelation of love--no need to pain and puzzle the young mind with the history of crime and punishment. (On such a principle I should, for example, omit the history of the Flood.) The supplying of the pictures would involve no great difficulty: no new ones would be needed : hundreds of excellent pictures already exist, the copyright of which has long ago expired, and which simply need photo-zincography, or some similar process, for their successful reproduction. The book should be handy in size with a pretty attractive looking cover--in a clear legible type--and, above all, with abundance of pictures, pictures, pictures!
Secondly, a book of pieces selected from the Bible--not single texts, but passages of from 10 to 20 verses each--to be committed to memory. Such passages would be found useful, to repeat to one's self and to ponder over, on many occasions when reading is difficult, if not impossible: for instance, when lying awake at night--on a railway-journey --when taking a solitary walk-in old age, when eyesight is failing or wholly lost--and, best of all, when illness, while incapacitating us for reading or any other occupation, condemns us to lie awake through many weary silent hours: at such a time how keenly one may realise the truth of David's rapturous cry "O how sweet are thy words unto my throat: yea, sweeter than honey unto my mouth!"
I have said 'passages,' rather than single texts, because we have no means of recalling single texts: memory needs links, and here are none: one may have a hundred texts stored in the memory, and not be able to recall, at will, more than half-a-dozen--and those by mere chance: whereas, once get hold of any portion of a chapter that has been committed to memory, and the whole can be recovered: all hangs together.
Thirdly, a collection of passages, both prose and verse, from books other than the Bible. There is not perhaps much, in what is called 'un-inspired' literature (a misnomer, I hold: if Shakespeare was not inspired, one may well doubt if any man ever was), that will bear the process of being pondered over, a hundred times: still there are such passages--enough, I think, to make a goodly store for the memory.
These two books of sacred, and secular, passages for memory--will serve other good purposes besides merely occupying vacant hours: they will help to keep at bay many anxious thoughts, worrying thoughts, uncharitable thoughts, unholy thoughts. Let me say this, in better words than my own, by copying a passage from that most interesting book, Robertson's Lectures on the Epistles to the Corinthians, Lecture XLIX. "If a man finds himself haunted by evil desires and unholy images, which will generally be at periodical hours, let him commit to memory passages of Scripture, or passages from the best writers in verse or prose. Let him store his mind with these, as safeguards to repeat when he lies awake in some restless night, or when despairing imaginations, or gloomy, suicidal thoughts, beset him. Let these be to him the sword, turning everywhere to keep the way of the Garden of Life from the intrusion of profaner footsteps."
Fourthly, a "Shakespeare" for girls: that is, an edition in which everything, not suitable for the perusal of girls of (say) from 10 to 17, should be omitted. Few children under 10 would be likely to understand or enjoy the greatest of poets: and those, who have passed out of girlhood, may safely be left to read Shakespeare, in any edition, 'expurgated' or not, that they may prefer: but it seems a pity that so many children, in the intermediate stage, should be debarred from a great pleasure for want of an edition suitable to them. Neither Bowdler's, Chambers's, Brandram's, nor Cundell's 'Boudoir' Shakespeare, seems to me to meet the want: they are not sufficiently 'expurgated.' Bowdler's is the most extraordinary of all: looking through it, I am filled with a deep sense of wonder, considering what he has left in, that he should have cut anything out! Besides relentlessly erasing all that is unsuitable on the score of reverence or decency, I should be inclined to omit also all that seems too difficult, or not likely to interest young readers. The resulting book might be slightly fragmentary: but it would be a real treasure to all British maidens who have any taste for poetry.
If it be needful to apologize to any one for the new departure I have taken in this story--by introducing, along with what will, I hope, prove to be acceptable nonsense for children, some of the graver thoughts of human life--it must be to one who has learned the Art of keeping such thoughts wholly at a distance in hours of mirth and careless ease. To him such a mixture will seem, no doubt, ill-judged and repulsive. And that such an Art exists I do not dispute: with youth, good health, and sufficient money, it seems quite possible to lead, for years together, a life of unmixed gaiety--with the exception of one solemn fact, with which we are liable to be confronted at any moment, even in the midst of the most brilliant company or the most sparkling entertainment. A man may fix his own times for admitting serious thought, for attending public worship, for prayer, for reading the Bible: all such matters he can defer to that 'convenient season', which is so apt never to occur at all: but he cannot defer, for one single moment, the necessity of attending to a message, which may come before he has finished reading this page,' this night shalt thy soul be required of thee.'
The ever-present sense of this grim possibility has been, in all ages, 1 an incubus that men have striven to shake off. Few more interesting subjects of enquiry could be found, by a student of history, than the various weapons that have been used against this shadowy foe. Saddest of all must have been the thoughts of those who saw indeed an existence beyond the grave, but an existence far more terrible than annihilation--an existence as filmy, impalpable, all but invisible spectres, drifting about, through endless ages, in a world of shadows, with nothing to do, nothing to hope for, nothing to love! In the midst of the gay verses of that genial 'bon vivant' Horace, there stands one dreary word whose utter sadness goes to one's heart. It is the word 'exilium' in the well-known passage

Omnes eodem cogimur, omnium
Versatur urna serius ocius
Sors exitura et nos in aeternum
Exilium impositura cymbae.

Yes, to him this present life--spite of all its weariness and all its sorrow--was the only life worth having: all else was 'exile'! Does it not seem almost incredible that one, holding such a creed, should ever have smiled?
And many in this day, I fear, even though believing in an existence beyond the grave far more real than Horace ever dreamed of, yet regard it as a sort of 'exile' from all the joys of life, and so adopt Horace's theory, and say 'let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.'
We go to entertainments, such as the theatre--I say 'we', for I also go to the play, whenever I get a chance of seeing a really good one and keep at arm's length, if possible, the thought that we may not return alive. Yet how do you know--dear friend, whose patience has carried you through this garrulous preface that it may not be your lot, when mirth is fastest and most furious, to feel the sharp pang, or the deadly faintness, which heralds the final crisis--to see, with vague wonder, anxious friends bending over you to hear their troubled whispers perhaps yourself to shape the question, with trembling lips, "Is it serious?", and to be told "Yes: the end is near" (and oh, how different all Life will look when those words are said!)--how do you know, I say, that all this may not happen to you, this night?
And dare you, knowing this, say to yourself "Well, perhaps it is an immoral play: perhaps the situations are a little too 'risky', the dialogue a little too strong, the 'business' a little too suggestive.
I don't say that conscience is quite easy: but the piece is so clever, I must see it this once! I'll begin a stricter life to-morrow." To-morrow, and to-morrow, and tomorrow!

"Who sins in hope, who, sinning, says,
'Sorrow for sin God's judgement stays!'
Against God's Spirit he lies; quite stops Mercy with insult; dares, and drops,
Like a scorch'd fly, that spins in vain
Upon the axis of its pain,
Then takes its doom, to limp and crawl,
Blind and forgot, from fall to fall."

Let me pause for a moment to say that I believe this thought, of the possibility of death--if calmly realised, and steadily faced would be one of the best possible tests as to our going to any scene of amusement being right or wrong. If the thought of sudden death acquires, for you, a special horror when imagined as happening in a theatre, then be very sure the theatre is harmful for you, however harmless it may be for others; and that you are incurring a deadly peril in going. Be sure the safest rule is that we should not dare to live in any scene in which we dare not die.
But, once realise what the true object is in life--that it is not pleasure, not knowledge, not even fame itself, 'that last infirmity of noble minds'--but that it is the development of character, the rising to a higher, nobler, purer standard, the building-up of the perfect Man--and then, so long as we feel that this is going on, and will (we trust) go on for evermore, death has for us no terror; it is not a shadow, but a light; not an end, but a beginning!
One other matter may perhaps seem to call for apology--that I should have treated with such entire want of sympathy the British passion for 'Sport', which no doubt has been in by-gone days, and is still, in some forms of it, an excellent school for hardihood and for coolness in moments of danger.
But I am not entirely without sympathy for genuine 'Sport': I can heartily admire the courage of the man who, with severe bodily toil, and at the risk of his life, hunts down some 'man-eating' tiger: and I can heartily sympathize with him when he exults in the glorious excitement of the chase and the hand-to-hand struggle with the monster brought to bay. But I can but look with deep wonder and sorrow on the hunter who, at his ease and in safety, can find pleasure in what involves, for some defenceless creature, wild terror and a death of agony: deeper, if the hunter be one who has pledged himself to preach to men the Religion of universal Love: deepest of all, if it be one of those 'tender and delicate' beings, whose very name serves as a symbol of Love--'thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women'--whose mission here is surely to help and comfort all that are in pain or sorrow!

'Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.' ~ Lewis Carroll, Sylvie and Bruno,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

1:I know I'm on the path. ~ esther-hicks, @wisdomtrove
2:Caution is the path to mediocrity. ~ frank-herbert, @wisdomtrove
3:The path to youth takes a lifetime. ~ pablo-picasso, @wisdomtrove
4:Let the path be open to talent. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove
5:The path up and down is one and the same. ~ heraclitus, @wisdomtrove
6:The path to my joy is through my action. ~ esther-hicks, @wisdomtrove
7:The path marked Pride will lead you over a cliff. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove
8:There is no path to peace; peace is the path. ~ mahatma-gandhi, @wisdomtrove
9:There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.   ~ buddha, @wisdomtrove
10:The best way to progress is the path of freedom. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove
11:The path of civilization is paved with tin cans. ~ elbert-hubbard, @wisdomtrove
12:There are many goals but one path - the path of compassion. ~ amit-ray, @wisdomtrove
13:The path to success is to take massive, determined action. ~ tony-robbins, @wisdomtrove
14:You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself.   ~ buddha, @wisdomtrove
15:Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty. ~ mark-twain, @wisdomtrove
16:It is certain that an atom of goodness on the path of faith is never lost. ~ rumi, @wisdomtrove
17:The path marked Humility will take you to the manger of the Messiah. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove
18:The path of dying to self and being reborn leads to life abundant. ~ jesus-christ, @wisdomtrove
19:I think our learning lies along the path of whatever it is we love. ~ richard-bach, @wisdomtrove
20:Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the Path. ~ bodhidharma, @wisdomtrove
21:He chooses the path along which he is walking and so has no complaints. ~ paulo-coelho, @wisdomtrove
22:An affirmation opens the door. It's a beginning point on the path to change. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove
23:He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom. ~ j-r-r-tolkien, @wisdomtrove
24:Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove
25:With boys, you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane. ~ erma-bombeck, @wisdomtrove
26:The tendency to follow the path of least resistance guarantees failure in life. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove
27:Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being. ~ rumi, @wisdomtrove
28:The path of awakening begins with a step the Buddha called right understanding. ~ jack-kornfield, @wisdomtrove
29:We can easily become loyal to our suffering⦠but it's not the end of the path. ~ jack-kornfield, @wisdomtrove
30:Getting lost along your path is a part of finding the path you are meant to be on. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove
31:He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress. ~ hellen-keller, @wisdomtrove
32:Many roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice. ~ bodhidharma, @wisdomtrove
33:The path of love is its own reward. Your love itself, that is what completes you. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
34:The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove
35:No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.   ~ buddha, @wisdomtrove
36:Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove
37:Shri Krishna says: "Better die in your own path than attempt the path of another." ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
38:If there is one path above all others to war, it is the path of weakness and disunity. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove
39:If you choose to follow the path of your dreams, commit yourself to it. Accept your path. ~ paulo-coelho, @wisdomtrove
40:The real test on the path of love is are you willing to give up everything for your love? ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
41:Go now. Our journey is done. And may we meet again, in the clearing, at the end of the path. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove
42:Suffering only shows where you are attached. That is why, to those on the path, suffering is grace. ~ ram-das, @wisdomtrove
43:In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. ~ richard-bach, @wisdomtrove
44:Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.   ~ ralph-waldo-emerson, @wisdomtrove
45:It is not the path which is the difficulty; rather, it is the difficulty which is the path. ~ soren-kierkegaard, @wisdomtrove
46:If you ask the Universe to be your partner and guide you on the path to wholeness, it will oblige. ~ debbie-ford, @wisdomtrove
47:In every attempt there are many obstacles to cope with, but gradually the path becomes smooth. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
48:For the person who wants to get to the mystical experience directly, Tantric Buddhism is the path. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
49:Being selective-doing less-is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest. ~ tim-ferris, @wisdomtrove
50:Zen is the path that focuses the most upon meditation. It is almost exclusively a path of meditation. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
51:The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not. ~ albert-schweitzer, @wisdomtrove
52:Know that you have a centre. Know that you belong there. Know that the path to the centre takes no effort.   ~ deepak-chopra, @wisdomtrove
53:We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps. ~ hermann-hesse, @wisdomtrove
54:If we choose to journey on the path of truth, it then becomes a sacred duty to walk hand in hand with beauty. ~ john-odonohue, @wisdomtrove
55:In every crisis, doubt or confusion, take the higher path - the path of compassion, courage, understanding and love. ~ amit-ray, @wisdomtrove
56:If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path. ~ brene-brown, @wisdomtrove
57:Caution is the path to mediocrity. Gliding, passionless mediocrity is all that most people think they can achieve. ~ frank-herbert, @wisdomtrove
58:I realize today that nothing in the world is more distasteful to a man than to take the path that leads to himself. ~ hermann-hesse, @wisdomtrove
59:I could never have gone far in any science because on the path of every science the lion Mathematics lies in wait for you. ~ c-s-lewis, @wisdomtrove
60:So you see, Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being. ~ paulo-coelho, @wisdomtrove
61:To follow the path look to the master follow the master walk with the master see through the master become the master. ~ jianzhi-sengcan, @wisdomtrove
62:The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out. There are brambles in the path? Then go around. That's all you need to know. ~ marcus-aurelius, @wisdomtrove
63:The reason you might choose to embrace the artist within you now is that this is the path to (cue the ironic music) security. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove
64:Do not fret because the world looks with suspicion at every new attempt, even though it be in the path of spirituality. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
65:Let each man take the path according to his capacity, understanding and temperament. His true guru will meet him along that path. ~ sivananda, @wisdomtrove
66:It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed. ~ ram-das, @wisdomtrove
67:Mindfulness is not the path of chasing. It is the path of beautification. When flowers blossom, the fragrance spreads, and the bees come. ~ amit-ray, @wisdomtrove
68:Fate isn’t one straight road‚ ¶there are forks in it, many different routes to different ends. We have the free will to choose the path. ~ dean-koontz, @wisdomtrove
69:The Path of the Law. Address to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Harvard Law Review, Volume 10, March 25, 1897. ~ oliver-wendell-holmes-jr, @wisdomtrove
70:To follow the path that others have laid before you is a reasonable course of action; therefore all progress is made by unreasonable men. ~ steve-jobs, @wisdomtrove
71:Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood. ~ kahlil-gibran, @wisdomtrove
72:At a certain stage in the path of devotion, the devotee finds satisfaction in God with form, and at another stage, in God without it. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove
73:The spiritual journey has to do with learning to think more deeply and take as long a time as we need. That's the path to wisdom. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove
74:To reject practice by saying, &
75:Anyone who is speaking of a greater compassion, a greater humanitarian concern, is a leader paving the path we all need to follow. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove
76:Failure is merely feedback that there is something blocking the path of the emergence and expansion of the greatest version of yourself. ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove
77:I am persuaded, you will permit me to observe, that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction. ~ george-washington, @wisdomtrove
78:There are two paths before us - the path of effort and the path of ease. Both lead to the same goal - liberation. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove
79:Aren't you ashamed, you who walk backward along the whole path of existence, and blame me for walking backward along the path of the promenade? ~ diogenes, @wisdomtrove
80:The world is so much larger than I thought. I thought we went along paths&
81:Who then can calculate the path of the molecule? how do we know that the creations of worlds are not determined by the fall of grains of sand? ~ victor-hugo, @wisdomtrove
82:The past does not have to be your prison. You have a voice in your destiny. You have a say in your life. You have a choice in the path you take. ~ max-lucado, @wisdomtrove
83:There is no path to Happiness. Happiness is the path. There is no path to Love. Love is the path. There is no path to Peace. Peace is the path. ~ dan-millman, @wisdomtrove
84:Books are only made so that they may point the way to a higher life; but no good results unless the path is trodden with unflinching steps! ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
85:The Buddha said that if we know how to look deeply into our suffering and recognize what feeds it, we are already on the path of emancipation. ~ thich-nhat-hanh, @wisdomtrove
86:My favorite definition of the mindful path is the one the reveals itself as you walk down it. You cannot find the path until you step on to it. ~ kelly-mcgonigal, @wisdomtrove
87:On the path of awakening, keep going! Lots of little moments of practice will gradually and truly increase your contentment, kindness, and insight. ~ rick-hanson, @wisdomtrove
88:Thousands and thousands of incarnations and nothing to show for it. You must choose whether to follow the path of love or the path of attachment. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
89:If you want to follow the path of love, it's a good idea to meditate on the heart chakra everyday. The heart chakra is in the center of the chest. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
90:Constantly to seek the purpose of life is one of the odd escapes of man. If he finds what he seeks it will not be worth that pebble on the path. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove
91:The natural tendency of all human behavior is toward the path of least resistance. When you resist this tendency, you become stronger and more powerful. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove
92:You can increase your capacity to absorb the mystical kundalini. I have 3 or 4 students who are on the path of mysticism, they can absorb more of it. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
93:Follow the path of serenity. Why lose your temper if by losing it you offend God, trouble your neighbor and in the end have to set things aright anyway? ~ mother-teresa, @wisdomtrove
94:The first method is that of a schemer and leads only to mediocre results; the other method is the path of genius and changes the face of the world. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove
95:I think the first thing to do is to be aware that you can choose what you're thinking about and that your life is going down the path that you're thinking. ~ joel-osteen, @wisdomtrove
96:It's like many other things in life, Ellie. You keep on the path and all's well. You get off it and the next thing you know you're lost if you're not lucky. ~ stephen-king, @wisdomtrove
97:The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove
98:There is a way beyond this life and beyond death, the path of liberation. In order to be liberated, you have to enter into the world of advanced meditation. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
99:The Path is not far from man. When men try to pursue a course, which is far from the common indications of consciousness, this course cannot be considered The Path. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove
100:Of course! The path to heaven doesn't lie down in flat miles. It's in the imagination with which you perceive this world, and the gestures with which you honor it. ~ mary-oliver, @wisdomtrove
101:Zen is a very quick path. Zen is the path of meditation. The word Zen means emptiness or fullness, meditation. Meditation is the quickest path to enlightenment. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
102:Frederick Douglas taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom, but reading is still the path. ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove
103:Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of THE RELIGION, which is Oneness, so that each may choose the path that suits him best. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
104:When nothing upsets you, you are at the beginning of the path. When you desire nothing, you are halfway on the path; when nothing becomes everything, you are perfected. ~ meher-baba, @wisdomtrove
105:The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment. ~ earl-nightingale, @wisdomtrove
106:I find myself thinking about my ongoing existence as a human being and the path that lies ahead of me. Though of course these thoughts lead to but one place - death. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove
107:Never question that you're on the right path: trust that you are. Because the more you trust you're on the right path, the more the path will unfold in meaningful ways. ~ esther-hicks, @wisdomtrove
108:The path of Zen is not easy. It's wonderful. It's beautiful beyond compare. You will experience more ecstasy and beauty than most people will in a thousand lifetimes. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
109:Happiness is the offspring of concentrated action. Excellence is achieved through the progressive realization of incremental goals along the path of your life's mission. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove
110:There are no rules. Nothing you can do will take you to liberation; therefore, nothing you avoid will help you along the path to liberation.. Everything is liberation. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
111:What did I do? I read. I followed the path from one book to another, from one thinker to another. I followed my bliss, though I didn’t know that was what I was doing. ~ joseph-campbell, @wisdomtrove
112:When you travel towards your objective, be sure to pay attention to the path. The path teaches us the best way to arrive and enriches us while we are traveling along it. ~ paulo-coelho, @wisdomtrove
113:Condemn me if you choose - I do that myself, - but condemn me, and not the path which I am following, and which I point out to those who ask me where, in my opinion, the path is. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove
114:Don't be deceived into thinking that by changing the external, the internal will be changed. It works the other way around; the path that needs changing is the one in your mind. ~ susan-jeffers, @wisdomtrove
115:Externally keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall, you may enter into the Path. ~ bodhidharma, @wisdomtrove
116:The buddha called suffering a holy truth, because our suffering has the capacity of showing us the path to liberation. Embrace your suffering and let it reveal to you the way to peace. ~ thich-nhat-hanh, @wisdomtrove
117:In the Upanishads they talk about the path of the sun and the path of the moon. The path of the moon is rebirth. The path of the sun leads to self-knowledge, from which there is no return. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
118:The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove
119:Hard work is not the path to Well- Being. Feeling good is the path to Well-Being. You don't create through action; you create through vibration. And then, your vibration calls action from you. ~ esther-hicks, @wisdomtrove
120:Begin with bodhicitta, do the main practice without concepts, Conclude by dedicating the merit. These, together and complete, Are the three vital supports for progressing on the path to liberation. ~ longchenpa, @wisdomtrove
121:There is the path of karma, selfless action, the path of love and devotion, the path of training the mind and the path of Yoga, mantra and tantra this is what the various saints advocated. ~ mata-amritanandamayi, @wisdomtrove
122:In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.  ~ mahatma-gandhi, @wisdomtrove
123:It would be very interesting to preserve photographically not the stages, but the metamorphoses of a picture. Possibly one might then discover the path followed by the brain in materializing a dream. ~ pablo-picasso, @wisdomtrove
124:When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove
125:Rehearsing failure is simply a bad habit, not a productive use of your time. When you choose to visualize the path that works, you're more likely to shore it up and create an environment where it can take place. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove
126:When you set down the path to create art, whatever sort of art it is, understand that the path is neither short not easy. That means you must determine if the route is worth the effort. If it's not, dream bigger. ~ seth-godin, @wisdomtrove
127:Jnana, bhakti, yoga and karma - these are the four paths which lead to spiritual freedom. One must follow the path for which one is best suited. But in this age, special stress should be laid on karma yoga. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
128:The trouble with us is that we expect too much from the great happenings, the unusual things, and we overlook the common flowers on the path of life, from which we might abstract sweets, comforts, delights. ~ orison-swett-marden, @wisdomtrove
129:When you suffer and lose, that does not mean you are being disobedient to God. In fact, it might mean you're right in the center of His will. The path of obedience is often marked by times of suffering and loss. ~ charles-r-swindoll, @wisdomtrove
130:But when you first embark on the Path, your awareness won't be focused. You're likely to see all sorts of strange, dreamlike scenes. But you shouldn't doubt that all such scenes come from your own mind and nowhere else. ~ bodhidharma, @wisdomtrove
131:The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no in the endeavor of science. We do not know in advance who will discover fundamental insights. ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove
132:The important thing to remember is to follow the path of light. As the fictional character Yoda, from Star Wars, correctly pointed out, once you start down the dark path to power, it's very difficult to leave that path. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
133:The perfect view of existence comes from an unclouded, uncluttered life and mind whereby the radiance of perfect attention of the mind of the universe floods us at every moment. This is Buddhism. This is being on the path. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
134:On the path to love, impossibilities are resolved by turning non-love into love. With spiritual growth comes new creative potential, leading to the realization that you are pure potential, able to fill any creative impulse.   ~ deepak-chopra, @wisdomtrove
135:I consider those persons to be my students who come and meditate with me on a regular basis, who, in spite of the hardships and difficulties on the path of knowledge, still continue to try, and who respect me as I respect them. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
136:The direction of a big act will warp history, but probably all acts do the same in their degree, down to a stone stepped over in the path or the breath caught at sight of a pretty girl or a fingernail nicked in the garden soil. ~ john-steinbeck, @wisdomtrove
137:When people laughed at him because he walked backward beneath the portico, he said to them: "Aren't you ashamed, you who walk backward along the whole path of existence, and blame me for walking backward along the path of the promenade? ~ diogenes, @wisdomtrove
138:One of the most effective means of seduction that Evil has is the challenge to struggle. It is like the struggle with women, whichends in bed. A married man's true deviations from the path of virtue are, rightly understood, never gay. ~ franz-kafka, @wisdomtrove
139:I have no complaints about my path and the places it has taken me; enough complaints to fill a circus tent about other things, maybe, but the path I've chosen has always been the right one, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. ~ nicholas-sparks, @wisdomtrove
140:Vulnerability is not weakness. And that myth is profoundly dangerous... . Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn't feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive. ~ brene-brown, @wisdomtrove
141:The advanced education in Tantra obviously has to do with the entrance into samadhi, the negation of the self. That is what the path of negation means, not the negation of life, but the negation of anything that is not enlightenment. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
142:There is a theory that if you yearn sincerely enough for a Guru, you will find one. The universe will shift, destiny's molecules will get themselves organized and your path will soon intersect with the path of the master you need. ~ elizabeth-gilbert, @wisdomtrove
143:Start to see yourself for who you really are: a traveller, an explorer or on the path of life, confidently advancing along the path of enlightenment towards your destiny. Don't lose sight of the things that are truly vital in your life. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove
144:The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission. ~ john-f-kennedy, @wisdomtrove
145:With boys you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane. It's all there. The fruit flies hovering over their waste can, the hamster trying to escape to cleaner air, the bedrooms decorated in Early Bus Station Restroom. ~ erma-bombeck, @wisdomtrove
146:What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature; an accordance with this nature is called The Path of duty; the regulation of this path is called Instruction. The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path. ~ confucius, @wisdomtrove
147:The day is ending, our life is one day shorter. Let us look carefully at what we have done. Let us practice diligently, putting our whole heart into the path. Let us live deeply each moment in freedom, so time does not slip away meaninglessly. ~ thich-nhat-hanh, @wisdomtrove
148:There is no glimpse of the light without walking the path. You can't get it from anyone else, nor can you give it to anyone. Just take whatever steps seem easiest for you, and as you take a few steps it will be easier for you to take a few more. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove
149:Few cross the river of time and are able to reach non-being. Most of them run up and down only on this side of the river. But those who when they know the law follow the path of the law, they shall reach the other shore and go beyond the realm of death. ~ horace, @wisdomtrove
150:He alone knows to whom He will reveal Himself under which form. By what path and in what manner He attracts any particular man to Himself with great force is incomprehensible to the human intellect. The Path differs indeed for different pilgrims. ~ anandamayi-ma, @wisdomtrove
151:As a person progresses along the path of power, they attract certain forces and beings from other dimensions, who feel the power that you are storing. Sometimes they want some of it; sometimes they want to ruin you. We call these beings entities. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
152:God has bestowed upon you intelligence and knowledge. Do not extinguish the lamp of Divine Grace and do not let the candle of wisdom die out in the darkness of lust and error. For a wise man approaches with his torch to light up the path of mankind. ~ kahlil-gibran, @wisdomtrove
153:One of the essential tasks for living a wise life is letting go. Letting go is the path to freedom. It is only by letting go of the hopes, the fears, the pain, the past, the stories that have a hold on us that we can quiet our mind and open our heart. ~ jack-kornfield, @wisdomtrove
154:You have wakened not out of sleep, but into a prior dream, and that dream lies within another, and so on, to infinity, which is the number of grains of sand. The path that you are to take is endless, and you will die before you have truly awakened. ~ jorge-luis-borges, @wisdomtrove
155:The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge. ~ albert-einstein, @wisdomtrove
156:There's a path in enlightenment called the path of negation where we intentionally throw ourselves into experiences that are extremely transient. In other words, we do all the stuff you're supposed to normally avoid to become enlightened, intentionally. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove
157:Let go of the idea that the path will lead you to your goal. The truth is that with each step we take, we arrive.  Repeat that to yourself every morning: &
158:In this universe the night was falling; the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered; and along the path he once had followed, Man would one day go again. ~ arthur-c-carke, @wisdomtrove
159:The only roads of enquiry there are to think of: one, that it is and that it is not possible for it not to be, this is the path of persuasion (for truth is its companion); the other, that it is not and that it must not be - this I say to you is a path wholly unknowable. ~ parmenides, @wisdomtrove
160:Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life. Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it's often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis. ~ brene-brown, @wisdomtrove
161:Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path. ~ brene-brown, @wisdomtrove
162:I want people who have received a diagnosis of Hepatitis C to know that they didn't just receive a death sentence. They do have options, even if the person who gave them their diagnosis isn't aware of all of them. The path they choose doesn't have to be one of desperation. ~ melody-beattie, @wisdomtrove
163:The romantics would call this a love story, the cynics would call it a tragedy. In my mind it's a little bit of both, and no matter how you choose to view it in the end, it does not change the fact that it involves a great deal of my life and the path I've chosen to follow. ~ nicholas-sparks, @wisdomtrove
164:To have a body is to suffer. Does anyone with a body know peace? Those who understand this detach themselves from all that exists and stop imagining or seeking anything. The sutras say, "To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss." When you seek nothing, you're on the Path. ~ bodhidharma, @wisdomtrove
165:All knowledge pursued merely for the enrichment of personal learning and the accumulation of personal treasure leads you away from the path; but all knowledge pursued for growth to ripeness within the process of human ennoblement and cosmic development brings you a step forward. ~ rudolf-steiner, @wisdomtrove
166:From the very first step on the path right now, all the way until you have reached the final end, it is of vital importance to rely on someone who is better than yourself. This is in order to direct your mind towards the spiritual practice of past masters and to raise your own level. ~ longchenpa, @wisdomtrove
167:Acknowledging that sometimes, often at very crucial times, you really have no idea where you are going or even where the path lies. A the same time, you can very well know something about where you are now (even if it is knowing that you are lost, confused, enraged or without hope). ~ jon-kabat-zinn, @wisdomtrove
168:I knew I wanted to be in show business so I took the path of least resistance. I loved comedy. But you never know you are funny until people laugh. It's just what I was interested in. I could make people laugh, I guess, but doing it at school and doing it onstage are very different things. ~ steve-martin, @wisdomtrove
169:Machine thinking is the opposite of mindfulness. If we're really engaged in mindfulness when walking along the path to the village, then we will consider the act of each step we take as an infinite wonder, and a joy will open our hearts like a flower, enabling us to enter the world of reality. ~ thich-nhat-hanh, @wisdomtrove
170:Learning to speak, therefore, and the power it brings of intelligent converse with others, is a most impressive further step along the path of independence ... Learning to walk is especially significant, not only because it is supremely complex, but because it is done in the first year of life. ~ maria-montessori, @wisdomtrove
171:The solution to depression, among other things, is to go within and see if you can tune into more of what might want to come forth out of you. Then take action to follow the path of what attracts you. Reach out, read a book, call a friend, join an organization. Go toward that which attracts you. ~ barbara-marx-hubbard, @wisdomtrove
172:The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain common work as it comes certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life. ~ robert-louis-stevenson, @wisdomtrove
173:If we are going to find our way out of shame and back to each other, vulnerability is the path and courage is the light. To set down those lists of *what we're supposed to be* is brave. To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly. ~ brene-brown, @wisdomtrove
174:Writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery. The adventure is a metaphysical one: it is a way of approaching life indirectly, of acquiring a total rather than a partial view of the universe. The writer lives between the upper and lower worlds: he takes the path in order eventually to become the path himself. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove
175:T he path of knowledge leads to Truth, as does the path that combines knowledge and love [bhakti]. The path of love too leads to this goal. The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove
176:Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth." Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."  For the soul walks upon all paths.  The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.  The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.  ~ kahlil-gibran, @wisdomtrove
177:So how can we test the idea that the transition from nonlife to life is simple enough to happen repeatedly? The most obvious and straightforward way is to search for a second form of life on Earth. No planet is more Earth-like than Earth itself, so if the path to life is easy, then life should have started up many times over right here. ~ paul-davies, @wisdomtrove
178:Arise, awake! This path is arduous. So we learn from the wise, and we have to follow in the footsteps of the wise. The path of spirituality is not a bed of roses. But neither is it a chimerical mist. The Golden Shores of the Beyond are not a mere promise. The crown of human aspiration is bound to be fulfilled on the Golden Shores of the Beyond. ~ sri-chinmoy, @wisdomtrove
179:It is impressive to see a person who has been battered by life in many ways, who is torn by a variety of unsolved problems, who may be alienated from many aspects of the self-but who is still fighting, still struggling, still striving to find the path to a fulfilling existence, moved by the wisdom of knowing, "I am more than my problems." ~ nathaniel-branden, @wisdomtrove
180:Life is an ever-flowing process and somewhere on the path some unpleasant things will pop up - it might leave a scar, but then life is flowing, and like running water, when it stops it grows stale. Go bravely on, my friend, because each experience teaches us a lesson.  Keep blasting because life is such that sometimes it is nice and sometimes it is not. ~ bruce-lee, @wisdomtrove
181:For historians ought to be precise, truthful, and quite unprejudiced, and neither interest nor fear, hatred nor affection, should cause them to swerve from the path of truth, whose mother is history, the rival of time, the depository of great actions, the witness of what is past, the example and instruction of the present, the monitor of the future. ~ miguel-de-cervantes, @wisdomtrove
182:Struggle hard and then if you do not succeed, you are not to blame. Let the world praise or blame you. Let all the wealth of the earth come to your feet, or let you be made the poorest on earth. Let death come this moment or hundreds of years hence. Swerve not from the path you have taken. All good thoughts are immortal and go to make Buddhas and Christs. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
183:We all travel different roads to our ultimate destinations. For some of us the path is rockier than for others. But no one reaches the end without feeling some form of adversity. So rather than fight it, why not accept it as the way of life? Why not detach yourself from the outcomes and simply experience every circumstance that enters your life to the fullest? ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove
184:Who but the artist has the power to open man up, to set free the imagination? The others - priest, teacher, saint, statesman, warrior - hold us to the path of history. They keep us chained to the rock, that the vultures may eat out our hearts. It is the artist who has the courage to go against the crowd; he is the unrecognized "hero of our time" - and of all time. ~ henry-miller, @wisdomtrove
185:The material and the spiritual are but two parts of one universe and one truth. By overstressing one part or the other, man fails to achieve the balance necessary for harmonious development... Practice the art of living in this world without losing your inner peace of mind. Follow the path of balance to reach the inner wondrous garden of Self-Realization. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove
186:One can attain the Knowledge of Brahman too by following the path of bhakti. God is all-powerful. He may give His devotee Brahmajnana [the knowledge of Brahman] also if He so wills. But the devotee generally doesn't seek the Knowledge of the Absolute. He would rather have the consciousness that God is the Master and he the servant, or that God is the Divine Mother and he the child. ~ sri-ramakrishna, @wisdomtrove
187:When one plan that you have, to get this or to get that, to advance in the world, or whatever it might be, when that seems in danger of veering off the path you have set for it, you have your emergency plan ready. And in simple language what that emergency plan is, what you put into operation, is called worry. If you can worry you are occupied, and what an incredible human situation it is! ~ vernon-howard, @wisdomtrove
188:Richard and I both believe that something transcendental is involved with the mind, consciousness, and the path of awakening—call it God, Spirit, Buddha-nature, the Ground, or by no name at all. Whatever it is, by definition it’s beyond the physical universe. Since it cannot be proven one way or another, it is important—and consistent with the spirit of science—to respect it as a possibility. ~ rick-hanson, @wisdomtrove
189:Meditation is simply about being yourself and knowing something about who that is. It is about coming to realize that you are on a path whether you like it or not, namely, the path that is your life. Meditation may help us see that this path we call our life has direction; that it is always unfolding, moment by moment; and that what happens now, in this moment, influences what happens next. ~ jon-kabat-zinn, @wisdomtrove
190:As I look back on what I’ve learned about shame, gender, and worthiness, the greatest lesson is this: If we’re going to find our way out of shame and back to each other, vulnerability is the path and courage is the light. To set down those lists of what we’re supposed to be is brave. To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly. ~ brene-brown, @wisdomtrove
191:I thought that my voyage had come to its end at the last limit of my power, that the path before me was closed, that provisions were exhausted, and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity, but I find that thy will knows no end in me, and when old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart, and where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders. ~ rabindranath-tagore, @wisdomtrove
192:So, the path of the co-creator is to be awakened spiritually within, which then turns into your own deeper life purpose, which then makes you want to reach out and touch others in a way that expresses self and really evolves our communities and our world. Certainly, we can't do that unless we activate ourselves first. That's why, for me, emergence is the shift from ego to essence. That is so important. ~ barbara-marx-hubbard, @wisdomtrove
193:He looked around, as if he was seeing the world for the first time. Beautiful was the world, colorful was the world, strange and mysterious was the world! Here was blue, here was yellow, here was green, the sky and the river flowed, the forest and the mountains were rigid, all of it was beautiful, all of it was mysterious and magical, and in its midst was he, Siddhartha, the awakening one, on the path to himself. ~ hermann-hesse, @wisdomtrove
194:How great is the path proper to the Sage! Like overflowing water, it sends forth and nourishes all things, and rises up to the height of heaven. All-complete is its  greatness! It embraces the three hundred rules of ceremony, and the three thousand rules of demeanor. It waits for the proper man, and then it is trodden. Hence it is  said, &
195:The Noble Eight-Fold Path is the path of living in awareness. Mindfulness is the foundation. By practicing mindfulness, you can develop concentration, which enables you to attain understanding. Thanks to right concentration, you realize right awareness, thoughts, speech, action, livelihood and effort. The understanding which develops can liberate you from every shackle of suffering and give birth to true peace and joy. ~ thich-nhat-hanh, @wisdomtrove
196:We have not faith, we have not patience to see this. We trust the man in the street; but there is one being in the universe we never trust and that is God. We trust Him when He works just our way. But the time will come when, getting blow after blow, the self - sufficient mind will die. In everything we do, the serpent ego is rising up. We are glad that there are so many thorns on the path. They strike the hood of the cobra. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
197:The errors of a wise man are literally more instructive than the truths of a fool. The wise man travels in lofty, far-seeing regions; the fool in low-lying, high-fenced lanes; retracing the footsteps of the former, to discover where he diviated, whole provinces of the universe are laid open to us; in the path of the latter, granting even that he has not deviated at all, little is laid open to us but two wheel-ruts and two hedges. ~ thomas-carlyle, @wisdomtrove
198:Do you know this Sanskrit Shloka: "Let those who are versed in the ethical codes praise or blame, let Lakshmi, the goddess of Fortune, come or go wherever she wisheth, let death overtake him today or after a century, the wise man never swerves from the path of rectitude." Let people praise you or blame you, let fortune smile or frown upon you, let your body fall today or after a Yuga, see that you do not deviate from the path of Truth. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
199:Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself and yourself alone one question. This question is one that only a very old man asks. My benefactor told me about it once when I was Young. And my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it. I will tell you what it is: does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use. ~ jack-kornfield, @wisdomtrove
200:The path of the seeker is full of pitfalls and temptations, and the seeker must walk it alone with God. I would recommend that you keep your feet on the ground and your thoughts at lofty heights, so that you may attract only good. Concentrate on giving so that you may open yourself to receiving; concentrate on living according to the light you have so that you may open yourself to more light; get as much light as possible through the inner way. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove
201:Lovers, the followers of the path of love, make love their undercurrent. They eat, but they eat with love. They walk, but they walk with love - because the earth is holy ground. They sit under a tree; they sit with love - because the tree is divine. They look at somebody; they look with love - because there also is divinity. Everywhere they see their beloved, in each movement they remember their beloved. It becomes their constant remembrance. ~ rajneesh, @wisdomtrove
202:When you're lost in those woods, it sometimes takes you a while to realize that you are lost. For the longest time, you can convince yourself that you've just wandered off the path, that you'll find your way back to the trailhead any moment now. Then night falls again and again, and you still have no idea where you are, and it's time to admit that you have bewildered yourself so far off the path that you don't even know from which direction the sun rises anymore. ~ elizabeth-gilbert, @wisdomtrove
203:I also made two very important discoveries as time went on. In the first place, I discovered that making money was easy. I had been led to believe that money and possessions would insure me a life of happiness and peace of mind. So that was the path I pursued. In the second place, I discovered that making money and spending it foolishly was completely meaningless. I knew that this was not what I was here for, but at that time I didn't know exactly what I was here for. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove
204:The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge, and there's no place for it in the endeavor of science. We do not know beforehand where fundamental insights will arise from about our mysterious and lovely solar system. The history of our study of our solar system shows us clearly that accepted and conventional ideas are often wrong, and that fundamental insights can arise from the most unexpected sources. ~ carl-sagan, @wisdomtrove
205:Allowing the pain of personal growth to be a crucible of your spirit-the alchemical grail through which the metal of your former self turns into gold-is one of the highest callings of life. Pain can burn you up and destroy you, or burn you up and redeem you. It can deliver you to an entrenched despair, or deliver you to your higher self. At midlife we decide, consciously or unconsciously, the path of the victim or the path of the phoenix when it is rising up at last. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove
206:Don’t die without embracing the daring adventure your life is meant to be. You may go broke. You may experience failure and rejection repeatedly. You may endure multiple dysfunctional relationships. But these are all milestones along the path of a life lived courageously. They are your private victories, carving a deeper space within you to be filled with an abundance of joy, happiness, and fulfillment. So go ahead and feel the fear. Then summon the courage to follow your dreams anyway. ~ steve-pavlina, @wisdomtrove
207: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&
208:I do not know if Alice in Wonderland was an original story-I was, at least, no conscious imitator in writing it-but I do know that, since it came out, something like a dozen story-books have appeared, on identically the same pattern. The path I timidly explored believing myself to be &
209:Wisdom is applied common sense, which you acquire in two steps. First, you come to understand what hurts and what helps—in other words, the causes of suffering and the path to its end. Then, based on this understanding, you let go of those things that hurt and strengthen those that help. As a result, over time you’ll feel more connected with everything, more serene about how all things change and end, and more able to meet pleasure and pain without grasping after the one and struggling with the other. ~ rick-hanson, @wisdomtrove
210:And they can appreciate, through personal experience, that the really decisive battleground of American freedom is in the hearts and minds of our own people... The path we travel is narrow and long, beset with many dangers. Each day we must ask that Almighty God will set and keep His protecting hand over us so that we may pass on to those who come after us the heritage of a free people, secure in their God-given rights and in full control of a Government dedicated to the preservation of those rights... ~ dwight-eisenhower, @wisdomtrove
211:In the spiritual life it is not necessary to have a complete map of the path in order to begin traveling. On the contrary, having such complete knowledge may actually hinder rather than help the onward march. The deeper secrets of spiritual life are unraveled to those who take risks and who make bold experiments with it. They are not meant for the idler who seeks guarantees at every step. Those who speculate from the shore about the ocean shall know only its surface, but those who would know the depths of the ocean must be willing to plunge into it. ~ meher-baba, @wisdomtrove
212:There is a relentless search for the factual and this quest often lacks warmth or reverence. At a certain stage in our life we may wake up to the urgency of life, how short it is. Then the quest for truth becomes the ultimate project. We can often forage for years in the empty fields of self-analysis and self-improvement and sacrifice much of our real substance for specks of cold, lonesome factual truth. The wisdom of the tradition reminds us that if we choose to journey on the path of truth, it then becomes a sacred duty to walk hand in hand with beauty. ~ john-odonohue, @wisdomtrove
213:For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours!' I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered. I liked white better,' I said. White!' he sneered. &
214:One of the best ways to properly evaluate and adapt to the many environmental stresses of life is to simply view them as normal. The adversity and failures in our lives, if adapted to and viewed as normal corrective feedback to use to get back on target, serve to develop in us an immunity against anxiety, depression, and the adverse responses to stress. Instead of tackling the most important priorities that would make us successful and effective in life, we prefer the path of least resistance and do things simply that will relieve our tension, such as shuffling papers and majoring in minors. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove
215:God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to your honor and glory. ~ saint-augustine, @wisdomtrove

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:Every step is on the path. ~ Laozi,
2:Every step is on the path. ~ Lao Tzu,
3:How the path was forged ~ Paulo Coelho,
4:The path is the goal. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
5:The obstacle is the path. ~ Sara Shepard,
6:"The obstacle is the path." ~ Zen proverb,
7:The path is the goal. ~ Robert T Kiyosaki,
8:We make the path by walking. ~ Robert Bly,
9:Change is the path life takes ~ Ken Scholes,
10:The way is easy stay on the path. ~ Lao Tzu,
11:Practice is the path of mastery. ~ George Leonard,
12:Caution is the path to mediocrity. ~ Frank Herbert,
13:pity was the path to indifference. ~ Jessie Burton,
14:The path to hell is an easy one. ~ Cassandra Clare,
15:You have chosen the path of darkness. ~ Mary Grand,
16:Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, ~ Thupten Jinpa,
17:The path to youth takes a lifetime. ~ Pablo Picasso,
18:Let the path be open to talent. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte,
19:School is the path, not the point. ~ Will Richardson,
20:The path to paradise begins in hell. ~ Dante Alighieri,
21:The path up and down is one and the same. ~ Heraclitus,
22:I'm all for the path of least resistance. ~ Cody Lundin,
23:I will show you the path to the spirit world. ~ Cao Cao,
24:Pave the path for a more righteous life. ~ Truth Devour,
25:The path up and down is one and the same. ~ Heraclitus,
26:Watchfulness is the path of immortality: ~ Juan Mascaro,
27:our oaths.’ He advanced down the path ~ Bernard Cornwell,
28:Put yourself in the path of lightning. ~ Valerie Jarrett,
29:the path of change is unpredictable. ~ Barbara Marciniak,
30:The path to joy leads through despair. ~ Alexander Lowen,
31:I'm drawn to the path of least resistance. ~ Jeff Bridges,
32:Shadow work is the path of the heart warrior. ~ Carl Jung,
33:The path is revealed in the treading. ~ Stephen R Lawhead,
34:The path to success is not a straight line. ~ Harley King,
35:When the path reveals itself, follow it. ~ Cheryl Strayed,
36:Pain is necessary on the path to greatness. ~ Meg Xuemei X,
37:The path is always right beneath your feet. ~ Issan Dorsey,
38:The path to love is our spiritual destiny. ~ Deepak Chopra,
39:I hope you find the path that I missed. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zaf n,
40:Thich Naht Hahn: "The path is the goal. ~ Robert T Kiyosaki,
41:We build the path as we can, rock by rock. ~ Hosea Williams,
42:Your decision to walk creates the path ahead ~ Paulo Coelho,
43:Do not follow where the path may lead. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
44:Faith is the path of least resistance. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche,
45:Put hot triggers in the path of motivated people. ~ B J Fogg,
46:The path to success requires you to commit. ~ DeVon Franklin,
47:Trade is the path of coexistence, cooperation. ~ Phil Knight,
48:Choose the path before one is chosen for you. ~ Nathan Lowell,
49:Magic takes the path of least resistance. ~ Storm Constantine,
50:stranger on the path. He pointed out several ~ Danielle Steel,
51:Willingness to take risks is the path to success. ~ Anonymous,
52:Willingness to take risks is the path to success. ~ Biz Stone,
53:Life is the path you beat while you walk it. ~ Antonio Machado,
54:Never be curious. It is the path to perdition. ~ Peter Ackroyd,
55:The path marked Pride will lead you over a cliff. ~ Max Lucado,
56:The path to greatness is along with others. ~ Baltasar Gracian,
57:There is no path to peace; peace is the path. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
58:Traveler, there is no path, the path must be ~ Antonio Machado,
59:Art is the path of the creator to his work. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
60:I want my destiny to leave the path that is taking. ~ Mya Robarts,
61:Straight and narrow is the path; waste no time. ~ David R Hawkins,
62:The best way to progress is the path of freedom. ~ John F Kennedy,
63:The path of civilization is paved with tin cans. ~ Elbert Hubbard,
64:The path of least resistance is the path of the loser ~ H G Wells,
65:The path to peace is difficult" -H.W. Marsworth ~ Sheila O Connor,
66:The path you are on is one you chose for yourself ~ Deborah Ellis,
67:We revel in the laxness of the path we take. ~ Charles Baudelaire,
68:Whose presence reveals how subtle is the path of Love. ~ Ram Dass,
69:Managing by trying to be liked is the path to ruin. ~ Dick Costolo,
70:On the path to mastery, everything will go wrong. ~ James Altucher,
71:The path of least resistance is the path of the loser. ~ H G Wells,
72:Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment. ~ Pema Chodron,
73:Whatever you encounter, may that be part of the path. ~ Tara Brach,
74:When you choose the path, you choose the destination. ~ Glenn Beck,
75:Fighting has opened the path to redemption for me. ~ Dustin Poirier,
76:The path is smooth that leadeth on to danger. ~ William Shakespeare,
77:The purpose of the path of devotion is just dissolution. ~ Sadhguru,
78:Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker? ~ Garth Nix,
79:I respect the path Cuba chooses to take. ~ Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva,
80:It was the straying that found the path direct. ~ Austin Osman Spare,
81:The path to wisdom is to be yourself. Stop "seeking". ~ Paulo Coelho,
82:How far down the path had we come to have no obligations? ~ C D Reiss,
83:Mastery is the art of setting your foot on the path. ~ George Leonard,
84:Strong ideas, loosely held. That's the path to success. ~ John Gruber,
85:The extraordinary lies in the path of ordinary people. ~ Paulo Coelho,
86:The path to knowledge follows many strange turnings. ~ Elizabeth Bear,
87:The path to tranquility gets through the storms! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
88:A sophiological Christianity focuses on the path. ~ Cynthia Bourgeault,
89:He is also wary of people who think they know the path. ~ Paulo Coelho,
90:One finds one's destiny on the path one takes to avoid it. ~ Carl Jung,
91:One path alone leads to a life of peace. The path of virtue. ~ Juvenal,
92:The path is one and the realization is only one. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
93:The path of least resistance will never make you proud. ~ Tony Robbins,
94:There are many goals but one path - the path of compassion. ~ Amit Ray,
95:There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path. ~ Gautama Buddha,
96:We can never truly know the path we have not walked. ~ Guy Gavriel Kay,
97:Love is indiscriminate in the path it takes to find you. ~ Truth Devour,
98:The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides ~ Quentin Tarantino,
99:The path to wisdom is not being afraid to make mistakes. ~ Paulo Coelho,
100:there is no path to peace, but peace itself is the path. ~ Richard Rohr,
101:Unswervingly follow the path shown by the Master. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
102:What you're missing is that the path itself changes you. ~ Julian Smith,
103:What you're missing is that the path itself changes you. ~ Julien Smith,
104:As for him, he took the path which shortens,—the Gospel's. ~ Victor Hugo,
105:Taoism is the gentle way. The path of least resistence. ~ Frederick Lenz,
106:The path to holiness lies through questioning everything. ~ M Scott Peck,
107:Conclusions are ignorance arrested on the path to less ignorance. ~ Laozi,
108:If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads. ~ Anatole France,
109:The path to love can be clouded with mystery and intrigue. ~ Truth Devour,
110:The path to success is to take massive, determined action. ~ Tony Robbins,
111:"There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path. ~ Buddhist proverb,
112:Courage in the path is what makes the path manifest itself. ~ Paulo Coelho,
113:One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night. ~ Germaine Greer,
114:Sometimes the path is created for us, and we can only follow. ~ Vi Keeland,
115:The Path is not to be found anywhere except in human service ~ Idries Shah,
116:The path we're on has taken the USA to the brink of bankruptcy. ~ Ted Cruz,
117:February dawn -- frost on the path Where I paced all winter. ~ Jack Kerouac,
118:Only as a warrior can one survive the path of knowledge. ~ Carlos Castaneda,
119:The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. ~ M Scott Peck,
120:We can only point out the path. We can’t make them follow it. ~ Erin Hunter,
121:You never get tired of traveling on the path you love! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
122:At the end of every diet, the path curves back to the trough. ~ Mason Cooley,
123:Be as a lion in the path. Be dangerous even in defeat. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey,
124:"The path of enlightenment is what is underneath our feet." ~ Douglas Penick,
125:The path to success is to take massive, determined action. ~ Anthony Robbins,
126:There is only one death, so let it be in the path of Allah ~ Sheikh Abdullah,
127:Listen to your Own Heart Concerning the Path you Wish to Travel. ~ Wayne Dyer,
128:See much, study much, suffer much, that is the path to wisdom. ~ Ryan Holiday,
129:Traveler, there is no path, the path must be forged as you walk. ~ Bren Brown,
130:A little further on, the path sloped steeply downwards. That ~ Dinah Jefferies,
131:Even a queen stubs her toe, but a wise woman watches the path. ~ Robert Jordan,
132:I will teach you the Truth and the Path leading to the Truth. ~ Gautama Buddha,
133:Look around you! This is where the path of hatred has brought us. ~ Pocahontas,
134:Then so be it. I’ll go where you go no matter how dark the path. ~ Cora Reilly,
135:The path to happiness is a path full of shitheaps and shame. You ~ Mark Manson,
136:They put me in the drama class, and that's the path I've taken. ~ Joe Mantegna,
137:Whatever happens, the path of virtue should not be given up. ~ Sathya Sai Baba,
138:Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty. ~ Mark Twain,
139:If you're walking the path of the dreamer, everything is possible. ~ Jared Leto,
140:it is only courage on the path itself that makes the path appear ~ Paulo Coelho,
141:It were a journey like the path to heaven, To help you find them. ~ John Milton,
142:The only way to a woman's heart is along the path of torment. ~ Marquis de Sade,
143:The path to success is to take massive, determined action.
   ~ Anthony Robbins,
144:The pleasure is in the path, the search for something good. ~ Hunter S Thompson,
145:To learn something new, take the path that you took yesterday. ~ John Burroughs,
146:All of us have a path to follow and the path begins on earth. ~ Richard Matheson,
147:Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty. ~ Mark Twain,
148:Following the path of love is always your soul's true desire. ~ James Van Praagh,
149:He who does not take insults seriously, is on the path to wisdom. ~ Paulo Coelho,
150:Maybe what matters is not so much the path as who walks beside you. ~ Stacey Lee,
151:Some tiny creature, mad with wrath, is coming nearer on the path. ~ Edward Gorey,
152:The path of greatest desires often lies ...through the undesirable. ~ Ren Daumal,
153:There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. ~ Tony Hsieh,
154:Being Grateful. That is the first step on the path to Joy. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach,
155:Fear not the path of Truth for the lack of People walking on it. ~ Robert Kennedy,
156:It is certain that an atom of goodness on the path of faith is never lost. ~ Rumi,
157:The path is not a straight line but every step takes you closer, ~ Graeme Simsion,
158:The path marked Humility will take you to the manger of the Messiah. ~ Max Lucado,
159:The path of increase is slow, but the road to ruin is rapid. ~ Seneca the Younger,
160:The path to survival was to never give up on the small things. ~ Richard Flanagan,
161:You cannot travel the path until you have become the path yourself, ~ Phil Knight,
162:February dawn -- frost
on the path
Where I paced all winter. ~ Jack Kerouac,
163:I think our learning lies along the path of whatever it is we love. ~ Richard Bach,
164:The path to a higher power than ego is saying yes to the predicament ~ David Richo,
165:When in the morning light I wake, teach me the path of love to take. ~ Rick Yancey,
166:You can not travel the path until you have become the path itself ~ Gautama Buddha,
167:A Warrior of the Light shares with others what he knows of the path. ~ Paulo Coelho,
168:Fear not the path of Truth for the lack of People walking on it. ~ Robert F Kennedy,
169:If you do the right thing, the right thing will come down the path. ~ Anthony Green,
170:If you go, go in Peace it makes the flowers sweeter along the path. ~ Michael Dolan,
171:One cannot walk straight when the path is crooked. A BALDONI SAYING ~ Joanna Bourne,
172:Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge . . .. ~ Carlos Castaneda,
173:People tend to take the path of least resistance. - Benjamin Hope ~ Scott G Mariani,
174:The price we pay is the path not taken, that which we give up. ~ Jean Shinoda Bolen,
175:there is indeed reward for those who follow the path of conscience, ~ R A Salvatore,
176:Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the Path. ~ Bodhidharma,
177:And may we meet again on the path before we all meet in the clearing. ~ Stephen King,
178:I intend to follow the path of virtue. It will not be overcrowded. ~ Lloyd Alexander,
179:I was also interested in formulating the path of chemical reactions. ~ Kenichi Fukui,
180:Let go of the fear in your heart and follow the path you know is right. ~ M R Forbes,
181:Morning, guys!! Today, I wandered a bit from the path of life... ~ Masashi Kishimoto,
182:No one who ever led a nation got there by following the path of another. ~ Jay Samit,
183:The advance of liberty is the path to both a safer and better world. ~ George W Bush,
184:The only way to see the path in the wind is to become the wind itself. ~ Leza Lowitz,
185:the path to joy is not paved in gold, particularly in gold unearned. ~ R A Salvatore,
186:But the path to her death, heartbeat by heartbeat, would be inevitable. ~ Neil Gaiman,
187:Courage isn't about knowing the path, it's about taking the first step. ~ Katie Davis,
188:If the path before you is clear, you're probably on someone else's. ~ Joseph Campbell,
189:My thoughts were full of other things When I wandered off the path. ~ Dante Alighieri,
190:The path never reached it, though it always seemed to be about to. ~ Ursula K Le Guin,
191:We've chosen the path to equality, don't let them turn us around. ~ Geraldine Ferraro,
192:What is the path? There is no path. On into the unknown. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
193:Behaviour that's admired is the path to power among people everywhere. ~ Seamus Heaney,
194:Be watchful, divest yourself of all neglectfulness; follow the path. ~ Buddhist Maxims,
195:Then I circle the pivot point. The point right before the path separates. ~ Kasie West,
196:The path of precept is long, that of example short and effectual. ~ Seneca the Younger,
197:The path to your success is not as fixed and inflexible as you think. ~ Misty Copeland,
198:We should not let grass grow on the path of friendship. ~ Marie Therese Rodet Geoffrin,
199:Yearning for the seemingly impossible is the path to human progress. ~ Bryant H McGill,
200:You wanderer on the path! There is no path, only wandering”. ~ Saint Francis of Assisi,
201:As you go down the path of life, ask whats true. Not who else believes it. ~ Bill Maher,
202:By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind sees the path ~ Antonio Machado,
203:I became a jazz fan quite early and never went off the path thereafter. ~ Ahmet Ertegun,
204:Perception of personal danger very often set people on the path of virtue. ~ Donna Leon,
205:The goal had been important only for the sake of finding the path to it. ~ Sten Nadolny,
206:The Lord Himself reveals the Path, He Himself is the Doer of deeds. ~ Guru Gobind Singh,
207:Victory will never be found by taking the path of least resistance. ~ Winston Churchill,
208:As you go down the path of life, ask what's true, not who else believes it! ~ Bill Maher,
209:Create gaps between stimulus and reaction and the gap will show you the path. ~ Amit Ray,
210:I've become a lantern bearer, lighting the path this country will take. ~ Nahoko Uehashi,
211:Life has a way of changing the path you are on when you least expect it. ~ Deborah Blake,
212:Obedience is a foundational stepping-stone on the path of God’s will. ~ Elizabeth George,
213:Solitude is the path to visit yourself, it is the path to yourself! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
214:A good parent prepares the child for the path, not the path for the child. ~ Jen Hatmaker,
215:Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. ~ Bill Bradley,
216:An affirmation opens the door. It's a beginning point on the path to change. ~ Louise Hay,
217:At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path. ~ George Leonard,
218:Behaviour that's admired
is the path to power among people everywhere. ~ Seamus Heaney,
219:Bright blessings on both of you, and safe travels wherever the path takes you. ~ J D Robb,
220:Fight if you must on the path of righteousness and God will be with you. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
221:Finding lack in others is not the path to liking what you see in yourself. ~ Esther Hicks,
222:Go on and increase in valor, O boy! this is the path to immortality. ~ Seneca the Younger,
223:If you are willing to walk the path of a dreamer, then anything is possibly. ~ Jared Leto,
224:Isn't it a blessing when the Lord shows us the path to who we really are? ~ Jamison Green,
225:I think of myself as Special Forces, clearing the path for the infantry. ~ Geraldo Rivera,
226:Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach,
227:The path of the pursuer and the prey often run obscurely parallel. ~ Samuel Hopkins Adams,
228:We meet ourselves time and again in a thousand disguises on the path of life. ~ Carl Jung,
229:And a bright sun could guide you and keep you no matter how dark the path. ~ Heather Burch,
230:As we walk the path of Refuge Recovery, we gradually uncover a loving heart. ~ Noah Levine,
231:Awareness of motivation plays a central role in the path of liberation. ~ Joseph Goldstein,
232:He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom. ~ J R R Tolkien,
233:Once you know what direction to take, finding the path to it becomes easy. ~ Preeti Shenoy,
234:The path of the gods is a sunlit path in which difficulties lose all reality. ~ The Mother,
235:We can use our personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
236:are those who fear the LORD?     He will show them the path they should choose. ~ Anonymous,
237:My mother always used to say, 'There is no path to peace. Peace is the path. ~ Donald Freed,
238:Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life. ~ Mother Teresa,
239:Recognize suffering, Eliminate its source, End it By practicing the path. ~ Matthieu Ricard,
240:Seek not to know where the path may lead, only to keep your feet upon it. ~ Melissa McPhail,
241:Since the result is the same either way, I choose the path of least disruption ~ Sylvia Day,
242:The past stands in the path of the future, knowing it will be crushed. ~ Alaya Dawn Johnson,
243:The path of compassion is cultivated one step and one moment at a time. ~ Christina Feldman,
244:The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men. ~ Henry David Thoreau,
245:The path of social advancement is, and must be, strewn with broken friendships. ~ H G Wells,
246:The path to happiness can't be to do all the wrong things in different ways. ~ Iimani David,
247:"We meet ourselves time and again in a thousand disguises on the path of life." ~ Carl Jung,
248:But the path you end up on means that you have to close a lot of doors, too. ~ John Slattery,
249:Choosing stillness in the midst of chaos is the path toward living in peace. ~ Deepak Chopra,
250:I think that by going on the path that I am, my destiny will just come to me. ~ Jason Derulo,
251:The path that leads to truth is littered with the bodies of the ignorant. ~ Miyamoto Musashi,
252:This was the quiet before the storm and I was in the path of destruction. ~ Jeannette Medina,
253:To follow the path to the end, one must be armed with a very patient endurance. ~ The Mother,
254:With boys, you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane. ~ Erma Bombeck,
255:Ambition shows you the path to success, but drive is what gets you through it. ~ Sean Patrick,
256:Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. —PSALM 119:35 ~ Sarah Young,
257:I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. ~ J K Rowling,
258:The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men. ~ Barbara Taylor Sissel,
259:The path of Truth is as narrow as it is straight. Even so is that of ahimsa. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
260:The path that leads to truth is littered with the bodies of the ignorant. ~ Miyamoto Musashi,
261:What do you think the path of your predecessors was, but the path of adventure? ~ Osamu Dazai,
262:You have to find the path yourself before you can take someone else down it. ~ Kevin Kneupper,
263:I would like to be someone like Steve Martin. That's the path I'd like to follow. ~ Carrot Top,
264:On the path that leads to Nowhere I have sometimes found my soul! ~ Corinne Roosevelt Robinson,
265:Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being. ~ Rumi,
266:The path to transcendence is unrecognized by many because it appears ordinary. ~ Bryant McGill,
267:There are trials and mistakes and even wars along the path of marriage. ~ Patti Callahan Henry,
268:We need not come to the end of the path to experience the benefits of walking it. ~ Sam Harris,
269:When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven. ~ Laozi,
270:Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
271:For the likes of you, the path to happiness is one mean son of a bitch of a path. ~ Dean Koontz,
272:I envision a world filled with women traveling alone and meeting each other on the path. ~ Sark,
273:If you don't feel fabulous, you have deviated from the path of who-you-really-are. ~ Wayne Dyer,
274:jumped and spun. Ten paces back along the path stood a luminous woman dressed in ~ Eileen Wilks,
275:No” is not failure. Used strategically it’s an answer that opens the path forward. ~ Chris Voss,
276:The Church is simply the path of history, and not the actual kingdom of God. ~ Nikolai Berdyaev,
277:The path of my life is strewn with cow pats from the devil's own satanic herd! ~ Rowan Atkinson,
278:...the path of the gods is a sunlit path in which difficulties lose all reality. ~ ~ The Mother,
279:The path of things is silent. Will they suffer a speaker to go with them? ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
280:The Path Out Of The Valley Appears When You Choose To See Things Differently. ~ Spencer Johnson,
281:The path to misery is paved by the tears of those trying to make others happy. ~ Steve Maraboli,
282:We must face our destiny. Our destiny is the path we must follow."
-Cinderpelt ~ Erin Hunter,
283:Every path but your own is the path of fate. Keep on your own track, then. ~ Henry David Thoreau,
284:He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress. ~ Helen Keller,
285:Men as well as rivers grow crooked by following the path of least resistance. ~ Thomas Jefferson,
286:Never deviate from the path unless you are going to make love in the bushes ..... ~ Truth Devour,
287:No good can ever come from deviating from the path that you were meant to follow ~ Robert Greene,
288:Often it takes outer authority to send us on the path to our own inner authority. ~ Richard Rohr,
289:On the path to love, impossibilities are resolved by turning non-love into love. ~ Deepak Chopra,
290:Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life
-Kakashi Sensei ~ Masashi Kishimoto,
291:The path of awakening begins with a step the Buddha called right understanding. ~ Jack Kornfield,
292:The path of memory is neither straight or safe, and we travel down it at our risk. ~ Neil Gaiman,
293:The path to big, systemic change is collective action. That takes Sister Courage. ~ Gloria Feldt,
294:the path to contentment was to abide by one's own nature and follow it's path. ~ Charles Frazier,
295:We can easily become loyal to our suffering … but it's not the end of the path. ~ Jack Kornfield,
296:"We meet ourselves time and time again in a thousand disguises on the path of life." ~ Carl Jung,
297:Whoever is capable of not minding what others say, is a man on the path to wisdom ~ Paulo Coelho,
298:Follow the path of serenity. Why lose your temper if by losing it you offend God, ~ Mother Teresa,
299:Getting lost along your path is a part of finding the path you are meant to be on. ~ Robin Sharma,
300:if you don’t feel fabulous, you have deviated from the path of who-you-really-are. ~ Wayne W Dyer,
301:I guess destiny isn't the path chosen for us, but the path we chose for ourselves. ~ Will Ferrell,
302:Let the path become where I choose to walk, and not

otherwise established. ~ Mary Oliver,
303:Let us take our bloated nothingness out of the path of the divine circuits. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
304:Make friends with the path you are travelling on; then, you feel less lonely ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
305:Many roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice. ~ Bodhidharma,
306:The path of knowledge is said to be difficult in that it is the path of Samadhi. ~ Frederick Lenz,
307:The path to peace is rarely easy, but peace is always possible" -H.W. Marsworth ~ Sheila O Connor,
308:Down to earth advice about the path that leads away from the kingdom of the hollow men. ~ Sam Keen,
309:He lives day-to-day now, just as we do, fumbling forward down the path to the future. ~ Robin Hobb,
310:I envision a world filled with women traveling alone and meeting each other on the path. ~ S A R K,
311:The path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom,” he said, and turned for the door. ~ Jim Butcher,
312:The path of love is its own reward. Your love itself, that is what completes you. ~ Frederick Lenz,
313:There are thorns everywhere, but along the path of vice, roses bloom above them. ~ Marquis de Sade,
314:We’ll take the path to the right and ask the first person, plant, or animal we see. ~ Chris Colfer,
315:Anybody who says that love is a hindrance on the path of self-realization is not a sage. ~ Rajneesh,
316:Getting lost along your path is a part of finding the path you are meant to be on. ~ Robin S Sharma,
317:He who treads the path of love walks a thousand miles as if it were only one.
   ~ Japanese Proverb,
318:How strange to actually have to see the path of your journey in order to make it. ~ Neal Shusterman,
319:It's easy to get on the path of mastery. The real challenge lies in staying on it. ~ George Leonard,
320:I wanted to follow the path of music and feel that power, and I couldn't turn back. ~ Cameron Crowe,
321:Never tell a lie: absolute condition for safety on the path
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,
322:No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. ~ Buddha,
323:once you go down the stupid path when you’re older you tend to stick to the path. ~ Michael Anderle,
324:Sometimes following the path that looked the safest was what led to the most hurt, ~ Sarah Pekkanen,
325:The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path. ~ Confucius,
326:We all have light and dark inside us, what matters is the path we decide to take. ~ Stephenie Meyer,
327:What I do . . . the path I tread . . . it brings some choices that test me hard. ~ Juliet Marillier,
328:What I do . . . the path I tread . . . it brings some choices that test me hard. ~ Juliet Marillier,
329:You yourself must earnestly practice, the enlightened ones only proclaim the path. ~ Gautama Buddha,
330:An endless path is frightening but the path that ends is even more frightening! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
331:Numbers have a way of taking a man by the hand and leading him down the path of reason. ~ Pythagoras,
332:The path of love. Good luck. May your love guide you through the bardo to eternity. ~ Frederick Lenz,
333:The path of sorrow, and that path alone, leads to the land where sorrow is unknown. ~ William Cowper,
334:The path of the righteous is not determined by the fall, but by the rising after the fall. ~ Various,
335:The path to good was always closed to the likes of me, even when I went lookin’ for it. ~ D M Pulley,
336:The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. ~ Anonymous,
337:We all seek peace,” the abbot said. “The trick is finding the path that leads to it. ~ Deborah Blake,
338:We have traveled.
Now you will be the path
I will walk I will walk
Over you. ~ Peter Heller,
339:Who knew that the path to a womans heart was through the soul of an honest man? ~ Melissa de la Cruz,
340:Allah makes the way to Jannah easy for him who treads the path in search of knowledge. ~ Abu Hurairah,
341:I cannot cause light; the most I can do is try to put myself in the path of its beam. ~ Annie Dillard,
342:I'm here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away. ~ Pema Chodron,
343:It's not the solution, Mr. Canton. It's the path to the solution that's fascinating. ~ Gary D Schmidt,
344:Shadow wondered whether the path of comforting lies would have been a better one to walk. ~ Anonymous,
345:Sometimes following the path that looked the safest was what led to the most hurt... ~ Sarah Pekkanen,
346:The essence of Hinduism is that the path may be different, but the goal is the same. ~ Manmohan Singh,
347:The Holy Scriptures lead us to God and open the path to the knowledge of God. ~ Saint John Chrysostom,
348:Truth is cold and hard but it is also the first step on the path to hope and salvation. ~ Lynn Tilton,
349:What is mastery? At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path. ~ Anonymous,
350:Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Julien Smith,
351:Everything you want to be, you already are. You're simply on the path to discovering it. ~ Alicia Keys,
352:Have faith in the universe and its capability to lead you to the path of abundance. ~ Stephen Richards,
353:I traced the path I walk today and my goals are many. I think that I'm achieving my goals. ~ Elie Saab,
354:No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
   ~ Buddha,
355:Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more. ~ Thomas Merton,
356:Shri Krishna says: "Better die in your own path than attempt the path of another." ~ Swami Vivekananda,
357:There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom. But reading is still the path. ~ Carl Sagan,
358:There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. —MORPHEUS, THE MATRIX ~ Tony Hsieh,
359:Truth - although difficult at times - is eventually the path to contentment and peace. ~ Maeve Greyson,
360:Whatever shakes you should without delay, right away, be incorporated into the path. ~ Chogyam Trungpa,
361:And step by step, along the path of life, There's nothing true but Heaven. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
362:Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path. ~ Ralph Emerson ~ ~ Emma Gingerich,
363:If there is one path above all others to war, it is the path of weakness and disunity. ~ John F Kennedy,
364:"I'm here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away." ~ Pema Chödrön,
365:It is for women to come forward and choose the path of sacrifice for serving the nation. ~ Rahul Gandhi,
366:Not once or twice in our fair island-story,
The path of duty was the way to glory. ~ Alfred Tennyson,
367:Shadow wondered whether the path of comforting lies would have been a better one to walk. ~ Neil Gaiman,
368:She's shown me the path to my own salvation and I am finally strong enough to walk it. ~ Sawyer Bennett,
369:The path is here," he said quietly. "But you are free to walk it or choose another way. ~ Andrea Cremer,
370:The path to enlightenment, to find out who you truly are, has to be taken alone. ~ Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla,
371:The path to heaven lies through heaven, and all the way to heaven is heaven. ~ Saint Catherine of Siena,
372:The path to your dream is more about following a direction than arriving at a destination. ~ Jeff Goins,
373:We are all meant to follow the path we choose, it's why we're given the choice. ~ Shawn Kirsten Maravel,
374:back.” But the path he started on led him to graduate school, where he eventually ~ Suzanne Woods Fisher,
375:Good or bad is irrelevant. We walk the path laid out for us. Going back is never an option. ~ K B Wagers,
376:He is short-sighted who looks only on the path he treads and the wall on which he leans. ~ Khalil Gibran,
377:I chose the path less traveled but only because I was lost. Carry a map. - Phoebe Traeger ~ Jill Shalvis,
378:In the path of compassion even if we can save an insect that has a huge impact on the cosmos. ~ Amit Ray,
379:Saadi’s dictum, in the Bostan: ‘The Path is not in the rosary, the prayer-mat and the robe ~ Idries Shah,
380:The best way to find out whether you're on the right path? Stop looking at the path. ~ Marcus Buckingham,
381:The cheap coffin and its bearers turn like a giant crawling insect and leave the path. ~ Sharon J Bolton,
382:The moment that he begins to walk along it, the warrior of the light recognizes the path. ~ Paulo Coelho,
383:The path of the Christian life often leads in the opposite direction of the world around us. ~ Anonymous,
384:The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails whereon my soul is grooved to run ~ Herman Melville,
385:The path to such success seemed clear: strategize, focus, and don’t take no for an answer. ~ Meg Donohue,
386:When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of enlightenment. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
387:For within you is the light of the world — the only light that can be shed upon the Path. ~ Mabel Collins,
388:If we can use technology to shorten the path between intention and action, that excites me. ~ Gerry Lopez,
389:I have received and I want to give. This is the path to happiness and contentment. ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
390:Sometimes, it's only in walking the path that we discover why we are walking at all. ~ Richard Paul Evans,
391:Sometimes the trail you leave behind you is more important than the path ahead of you. ~ Barbara O Connor,
392:The man who goes quickly by the direct road passes the man who strays from the path. ~ Chr tien de Troyes,
393:The path of love is not for the faint of heart. It is tested and pushed over and over again. ~ Lisa Bloom,
394:The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, wheron my soul is grooved to run. ~ Herman Melville,
395:The place where you are now is vital. The path toward victory opens from where you stand. ~ Daisaku Ikeda,
396:There has always been a part of me that saw wilderness and risk-taking as the path to freedom. ~ Sam Keen,
397:The thing about the path less travelled is that it is often less travelled for a good reason. ~ Anonymous,
398:Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
399:To all those who walk the path of human cooperation war must appear loathsome and inhuman. ~ Alfred Adler,
400:We must walk the path of sadness in order to appreciate truly the path of happiness. ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
401:When we choose the path of love, we grow spiritually, help others, and balance our karma. ~ Doreen Virtue,
402:Clear the path for the people above you and you will eventually create a path for yourself. ~ Ryan Holiday,
403:His high endeavours are an inward light That makes the path before him always bright. ~ William Wordsworth,
404:I’m on the path, he thought, I don’t have to know where it leads. I just have to follow. ~ Terry Pratchett,
405:It’s come full circle: the girl who set me on the path of destruction can be my redemption. ~ Nina G Jones,
406:I would not suffer anyone to endure the path I walk. My road must always be traveled alone. ~ Julie Kagawa,
407:Keep on the path and you will not see the ruined people, so do not stray from the path. ~ Colson Whitehead,
408:Not once or twice in our rough island story, The path of duty was the way to glory. ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson,
409:The path is the goal." In other words, finding your path in life is your goal in life. ~ Robert T Kiyosaki,
410:The path of temptation is gradual and intelligent, not as sudden and random as it seems. ~ Russell D Moore,
411:The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. ~ Herman Melville,
412:The real test on the path of love is are you willing to give up everything for your love? ~ Frederick Lenz,
413:We are all redeemed and free to follow the path that has no beginning and will have no end. ~ Paulo Coelho,
414:Whereupon, at the tender age of thirteen, I set upon the path of playing nothing but hookers. ~ Ida Lupino,
415:Embrace the unpredictable and unexpected. It is the path to the infinitely creative in you. ~ Deepak Chopra,
416:...[F]inding the end of the path [is] not quite as important as the journey to getting there. ~ Carrie Ryan,
417:Go now. Our journey is done. And may we meet again, in the clearing, at the end of the path. ~ Stephen King,
418:If we continue on the path we're on, there simply won't be enough fresh water for everyone. ~ Penelope Cruz,
419:Liberation is our continual and fresh acceptance of truth as the path of life set before us. ~ Benedict XVI,
420:No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. ~ Gautama Buddha,
421:Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being
   ~ Jalaluddin Rumi,
422:Sometimes we forge our own path. Sometimes the path is created for us, and we can only follow. ~ Vi Keeland,
423:The path before you might be tough. All you have to do is to be tougher than the path! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
424:You must find your treasure in order to make sense of everything you discovered on the path. ~ Paulo Coelho,
425:Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established. Proverbs 4:26 ~ Beth Moore,
426:Dostoevski was on to something. You are the path you choose. You are what your vocation is ~ Giovanni Ribisi,
427:He doesn't need to know the path to adventure. He simply needs to recognize that it awaits. ~ Lorraine Heath,
428:illuminates the path to greatness via a unique, accessible, and practical decoding of genius. ~ Sean Patrick,
429:Life's supposed to be about making the path a little gentler for those traveling behind you. ~ Reba McEntire,
430:Manifest destiny was on the march, and it was unfortunate that Mexico stood in the path. ~ Winston Churchill,
431:Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen. Few in pursuit of the goal. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche,
432:Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche,
433:more like someone had just firebombed the path forward. Now I would have to work around it. ~ Paul Kalanithi,
434:The author should die once he has finished writing. So as not to trouble the path of the text. ~ Umberto Eco,
435:The path into the light seems dark, the path forward seems to go back, the direct path seems long. ~ Lao Tzu,
436:The path to the mountain ahead of you? is not the path you took to the mountain you stand on. ~ Dave McClure,
437:The word bodhisattva refers to those who have committed themselves to the path of compassion. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
438:Water is the most perfect traveller because when it travels it becomes the path itself! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
439:Well, now that you set him on fire, I'm sure we're well on the path to reconciliation. ~ Alexandra Adornetto,
440:You can return blow for blow if you are not brave enough to follow the path of nonviolence. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
441:Clear the path for the people above you and you will eventually create a path for yourself. ~ Timothy Ferriss,
442:Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
443:"If we can accept our imperfections as they are, then we can use them as part of the path." ~ Chögyam Trungpa,
444:If you knew how the journey was going to end, you could afford to be patient along the path. ~ Joseph J Ellis,
445:I nod, thinking the whole concept of the path not taken is partly what has always troubled me. ~ Emily Giffin,
446:Show me the path I must walk and do not let me stumble in the dark places that lie ahead. ~ George R R Martin,
447:So the ethic I was taught in school resulted in the path I chose in my life following school. ~ Kevin Mitnick,
448:The path of Martial Arts begins and ends with courtesy. So be genuinely polite on every occasion. ~ Mas Oyama,
449:Visit the path you fell in love, because the path you fell in love will never visit you! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
450:What pain do you want to sustain?” The path to happiness is a path full of shitheaps and shame. ~ Mark Manson,
451:When a church ceases to have a heart and ministry for its community, it is on the path toward ~ Thom S Rainer,
452:Concentration, as a foundation for mindfulness, is a key step on the path to greater sanity. ~ Ronald D Siegel,
453:Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
454:Don't feel obligated to spend time with people who pull you off the path of your life purpose. ~ Doreen Virtue,
455:Even if I'm following the path my parents set, I need to take my own dreams and beliefs with me. ~ Natsumi And,
456:Forget how long the path to finishing your story. Address only what you have to write today. ~ Martha Alderson,
457:History dies without the present. There is no future without the path made to it by the past. ~ Aidan Chambers,
458:In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. ~ Richard Bach,
459:Sometimes the choices we make are part of the path that takes us to where we need to be. ~ Denise Grover Swank,
460:Stay on the path of Life with Me, enjoying My Presence. Choose to trust Me in all circumstances. ~ Sarah Young,
461:Suffering only shows where you are attached. That is why, to those on the path, suffering is grace. ~ Ram Dass,
462:the old Celtic saying tells us, “See much, study much, suffer much, that is the path to wisdom. ~ Ryan Holiday,
463:The path of truth is profound—and so are the obstacles and possibilities for self-deception. ~ Ch gyam Trungpa,
464:There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
   ~ Lilly Wachowski, The Matrix, Morpheus,
465:Drama is about conflict and it's about putting obstacles in the path of people you who care about. ~ Jim Beaver,
466:Hope reminds us of the power of love and clears the path toward the highest good for all. ~ Gabrielle Bernstein,
467:It is not the path which is the difficulty; rather, it is the difficulty which is the path. ~ Soren Kierkegaard,
468:"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." ~ Buddhist proverb,
469:The path of the Warrior is lifelong, and mastery is often simply staying on the path. ~ Richard Strozzi Heckler,
470:Thus, then now as ever, I enter the Path of Darkness, if haply so I may attain the Light.
   ~ Aleister Crowley,
471:We carry around the light of our loved ones who have passed. It is they who light the path for us. ~ Stacey Lee,
472:When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches ground, but not for long. ~ Sanai,
473:You certainly don't need to have everything figured out in the path from here to world domination. ~ Sam Altman,
474:Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and make a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
475:Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and make a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
476:If you ask the Universe to be your partner and guide you on the path to wholeness, it will oblige. ~ Debbie Ford,
477:.....never allow
fear to divert you from the path of becoming a master of dreams. ~ Sergio Magana Ocelocoyotl,
478:Nothing in the world is more distasteful to a man than to follow the path that leads to himself. ~ Hermann Hesse,
479:Reverend King knew that the path to success could not be zero-sum—our side wins and your side loses. ~ Ben Sasse,
480:Say not, I have found the path of the soul Say rather, I have met the soul walking upon my path. ~ Khalil Gibran,
481:Everything I wanted my life to be, it won’t be now. The path that brought me here is flooded over. ~ Lisa Wingate,
482:Hard to watch where we’re going when our eyes are on each other and not on the path we’re taking. ~ Jay Crownover,
483:I know from my own experience that the path to change is best traveled when we travel together. ~ Sheryl Sandberg,
484:I know the path by heart, by heart- a funny expression, so true. My heart knows right where to go. ~ Cynthia Hand,
485:Life is the external text, the burning bush by the edge of the path from which God speaks. ~ Jose Ortega y Gasset,
486:On the Path, it’s impossible to know how you are doing because it’s the judger who is disappearing. ~ Krishna Das,
487:Stay on the path that the Democratic Party has us on, we're going to be in a mountain range of debt. ~ Mike Pence,
488:The body is the vehicle, consciousness the driver. Yoga is the path, and the chakras are the map. ~ Anodea Judith,
489:The meditator must develop both awareness and equanimity together in order to advance along the path.
   ~ Goenka,
490:The path is difficult to ensure worthiness. The lazy look elsewhere, The persevering find riches. ~ Ming Dao Deng,
491:The path split in two different directions, and there was a large silver fork stuck in the ground. ~ Chris Colfer,
492:"The path through trouble is always made a step at a time, a breath at a time, a day at a time." ~ Jack Kornfield,
493:The root of the path of Mahayana is love and, most particularly, bodhicitta based on compassion. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
494:When faced with the choice to Love or Decieve, therein lies the path to the Heroes and Thieves. ~ Vanessa Carlton,
495:Have the courage to go against the tide of current values that do not conform to the path of Jesus. ~ Pope Francis,
496:In every attempt there are many obstacles to cope with, but gradually the path becomes smooth. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
497:In life, as in business, there are different paths. Only you can choose the path you want to walk. ~ Rashmi Bansal,
498:It is not the path which is the difficulty; rather, it is the difficulty which is the path.
   ~ Soren Kierkegaard,
499:No one could work forward without falling if they continually looked at the path behind them. ~ Catherine Anderson,
500:nothing in the world is more repugnant to a man than following the path that leads him to himself! ~ Hermann Hesse,
501:Obeying God is listening to God, having an open heart to follow the path that God points out to us. ~ Pope Francis,
502:Our hopes, often though they deceive us, lead us pleasantly along the path of life. ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld,
503:The path to the inwardly enriched life is not hidden from the man or woman who longs to walk upon it. ~ Guy Finley,
504:(The way of the slothful man is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the righteous is made plain. – ~ John Bunyan,
505:When things start to happen, and the path does reveal itself to us, we become afraid of carrying on ~ Paulo Coelho,
506:When you enter a known path, path shapes you! When you create a new path, you shape the path! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
507:Don’t always ask what the path will give you, but ask yourself what you will give to the path! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
508:For the person who wants to get to the mystical experience directly, Tantric Buddhism is the path. ~ Frederick Lenz,
509:I drive a lot of joy from being able to help others and helping put them on the path that they want. ~ John Assaraf,
510:If error is corrected whenever it is recognized as such, the path of error is the path of truth. ~ Hans Reichenbach,
511:Imam Hussain's sacrifice is for all groups and communities, an example of the path of rightousness. ~ Edward Gibbon,
512:It is only if you have the courage to follow your heart that you will succeed on the path of love. ~ Frederick Lenz,
513:On the path of actions, great heart is the chief recommendation; on that works, a great head. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer,
514:PATIENCE is the antidote to anger, a way to learn to love and care for whatever we meet on the path. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
515:Thanks to the Communist Party of China, we now know the path to poverty alleviation is Capitalism. ~ Fareed Zakaria,
516:The heart is the path to wisdom because it dares to be vulnerable in the presence of power ~ Terry Tempest Williams,
517:Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. ~ George Lucas,
518:I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life. I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen One. ~ Rumi,
519:Idleness and fear keeps us in the path of duty, but our virtue often gets the praise. ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld,
520:If the path you are walking today won't lead you to your desired destination, then you are STROLLING ~ Fela Durotoye,
521:Jesus resolved the false opposition between obedience and freedom and opened the path to freedom ~ Pope Benedict XVI,
522:Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. ~ Gautama Buddha,
523:My breath hovers over the river of God - / Softly I set my foot / On the path to my long home. ~ Else Lasker Schuler,
524:The path of meditation and the path of our lives altogether ha to do with curiosity, inquisitiveness. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
525:There's an old Celtic proverb that I follow: See much, study much, suffer much is the path to wisdom. ~ Greg Jackson,
526:Those who understand the way it is, rather than the way they wish it were, are on the path to freedom. ~ Noah Levine,
527:Time is only an idea. There is only the Reality. Time is immaterial for the Path of Knowledge. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
528:When a church ceases to have a heart and ministry for its community, it is on the path toward death. ~ Thom S Rainer,
529:Because you forgot that the path to knowledge is a path that's open to everyone, to the common people. ~ Paulo Coelho,
530:Don't do it for the money. Follow the path to do what makes your heartbeat faster. Follow your passion. ~ Lynn Tilton,
531:Fate thought she was pulling us apart, when all along, she was setting the path for spectacular crash. ~ Nina G Jones,
532:I walk the path of light. I will not divert. You walk the path of darkness. You will not understand. ~ Lilo Abernathy,
533:I yearn to be a woman of more depth, but I'm not so fond of the path I'd need to follow to get there. ~ Jen Lancaster,
534:No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever. ~ Francois Mauriac,
535:No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever. ~ Fran ois Mauriac,
536:The path is long,but self-surrender makes it short;the way is difficult,but perfect trust makes it easy. ~ The Mother,
537:Traveler! If you keep wandering in the path of wisdom you too eventually become a man of wisdom! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
538:What is a personal calling? It is God’s blessing, it is the path that God chose for you here on Earth. ~ Paulo Coelho,
539:When one follows the path with heart, one often bleeds. (But what is the alternative—a cauterized core?) ~ Erica Jong,
540:Which reminds me of a fortune cookie: you often find your destiny on the path you take to avoid it. ~ Hector Elizondo,
541:Aspiring to a depth of awareness of the sacred whole has always been the path to wisdom and grace. ~ Charlene Spretnak,
542:live always with your eyes cast forward, to seek what will be, for the path behind can never be retaken. ~ Esi Edugyan,
543:"No one saves us but ourselves, no one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." ~ Teachings of the Buddha,
544:She’s everything. My past. My present. My future. My twin flame— the one who shares the path of my soul. ~ Carian Cole,
545:The path of a good woman is indeed strewn with flowers; but they rise behind her steps, not before them. ~ John Ruskin,
546:The path of love is not a tedious path. It's a path of joy. It's a path of singing and dancing. ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
547:The path to God is rarely a steady climb upward. We climb, we fall back, and we climb higher again. ~ Harold S Kushner,
548:Thy way, not mine, O Lord, however dark it be; lead me by thine own hand; choose out the path for me. ~ Horatius Bonar,
549:yoga: union with the Divine - by extension: the path which leads to this union
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,
550:Zen is the path that focuses the most upon meditation. It is almost exclusively a path of meditation. ~ Frederick Lenz,
551:Being selective-doing less-is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest. ~ Tim Ferriss,
552:Chase your dreams, but make sure you don’t find short cuts. The path might be difficult, but don’t give up. ~ Anonymous,
553:Do not be content to live a mediocre Christian life: walk with determination along the path of holiness. ~ Pope Francis,
554:In contrast to the path of selfishness, there is no room for road rage on the straight and narrow way. ~ Neal A Maxwell,
555:In these words lies all his power: He chose the path along which he is walking and so has no complaints. ~ Paulo Coelho,
556:Poetry is a plan for a slit in the face of a bronze fountain goat and the path of fresh drinking water. ~ Carl Sandburg,
557:The man of Love follows the path of God-and shows affection to both the believer and the nonbe-liever. ~ Muhammad Iqbal,
558:The path to obesity is paved with bacon and white bread; the way to skinny is built on apples and Ezekiel. ~ Bob Harper,
559:When the path is known it is easy to tread upon it.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,
560:You want to think about what is the path for my first 10 or 15 employees going to be as the company grows. ~ Sam Altman,
561:good leadership can help creative people stay on the path to excellence no matter what business they’re in. ~ Ed Catmull,
562:HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO HAVE A PLACE; WISE ARE THEY WHO FOLLOW THE PATH; BLESSED ARE THEY WHO OBEY THE WORD. ~ Lauren Oliver,
563:I am convinced that the path to a new, better and possible world is not capitalism, the path is socialism. ~ Hugo Chavez,
564:If the meditator is able to use whatever occurs in his life as the path, his body becomes a retreat hut. ~ Jigme Lingpa,
565:Know that you have a center.Know that you belong there.Know that the path to the center takes no effort. ~ Deepak Chopra,
566:Most importantly, the meaning of spirituality lays the seeds for our destiny and the path we must follow. ~ Dennis Banks,
567:The path is long, but self-surrender makes it short; the way is difficult, but perfect trust makes it easy. ~ The Mother,
568:The psychedelic sets you at the beginning of the path, and then people do all kinds of things with it. ~ Terence McKenna,
569:When we feel farthest from our purpose, we are actually already on the path, headed in the right direction. ~ Jeff Goins,
570:You aren't afraid of throwing yourself in the path of danger, but you're terrified of letting anyone in. ~ Richelle Mead,
571:Direction is only necessary when your destination is certain but the path to get there isn't clear to you ~ Fela Durotoye,
572:Every journey conceals another journey within its lines: the path not taken and the forgotten angle. ~ Jeanette Winterson,
573:If you try to shut down your angel guidance, that's the path to feeling unhappy and results in addiction. ~ Doreen Virtue,
574:The culture cannot evolve faster than the language. The language is the flashlight that shows the path. ~ Terence McKenna,
575:The path towards a free society has not been simple. There are tragic and glorious pages in our history. ~ Vladimir Putin,
576:The world we suggest is a new wild west. A sensuous evil world. Strange and haunting, the path of the sun. ~ Jim Morrison,
577:The world we suggest is a new wild west. A sensuous evil world. Strange and haunting, the path of the sun… ~ Jim Morrison,
578:We carry around the light of our loved ones who have passed. It is they who light the path for us.” “Passed? ~ Stacey Lee,
579:I am only here to share my knowledge with others and to help them make rapid progress on the path of yoga. ~ Dharma Mittra,
580:I think everything is happening all the time, but if you don't put yourself in the path of it, you miss it. ~ Gayle Forman,
581:I thought I’d solved a problem when really I was creating new ones by taking the path of least resistance. ~ David Goggins,
582:The deeper meaning and gift of yoga is the path it offers us into the timeless, spaceless world of spirit. ~ Deepak Chopra,
583:The ones who close the path for peacefull revolution, at the same time open the path for violent revolution. ~ Hugo Chavez,
584:the path of rectitude is a straight one, and that he who steps into devious byways is going astray. ~ Anna Katharine Green,
585:The President must stop gambling with taxpayers' money and get the country back on the path of fiscal sanity. ~ Tom Harkin,
586:Thereafter Zarathustra went on again for two hours, trusting to the path and the light of the stars: ~ Friedrich Nietzsche,
587:There are two paths that you must never leave in your life: The path of peace and the path of reason! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
588:Whatever the outcome may be, the important thing is to step forward on the path that you believe is right. ~ Daisaku Ikeda,
589:Where else," I will say, "does an old turtle crossing the path Make all the difference in the world? ~ Patricia MacLachlan,
590:Yes, LORD, we wait for You in the path of Your judgments. Our desire is for Your name and renown. Isaiah 26:8 ~ Beth Moore,
591:You may lose your path, but you must never lose your hope, because hope is the path to all the paths! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
592:You seek the path. I warn you away from my own. It can also be the wrong way for you. May each go his own way. ~ Carl Jung,
593:Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. (Walk, there is no path, the path is made by walking.) ~ Antonio Machado,
594:Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being. ~ Paulo Coelho,
595:If we take the Lord's hand and let ourselves be guided by him, the path we take will be right and good. ~ Pope Benedict XVI,
596:My goal is to make something special and pure, and that keeps me going, keeps me busy on the path of sobriety. ~ Ariel Pink,
597:The more you want to go the other way, the path that you were destined for is the one you will have to follow. ~ Kavita Kan,
598:The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not. ~ Albert Schweitzer,
599:The path of those who preach love, and not hatred, is not easy. They often have to wear a crown of thorns. ~ Nelson Mandela,
600:When people like the path you walk and the style you walk in that path, they will start following you! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
601:Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. —Ralph Waldo Emerson ~ Jules Barnard,
602:The path of bhakti, karma and love as expounded in the Gita leaves no room for the despising of man by man. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
603:The path to cheerfulness is to sit cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.
   ~ William James,
604:Use what seems like poison as medicine. Use your personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings. ~ Pema Chodron,
605:Use what seems like poison as medicine. Use your personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings. ~ Pema Chödrön,
606:We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps. ~ Hermann Hesse,
607:18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,    which shines brighter and brighter until full day. ~ Anonymous,
608:A free culture has been our past, but it will only be our future if we change the path we are on right now. ~ Lawrence Lessig,
609:Africa must remain on the path of democracy. But democracy MUST also remain about the PEOPLE, not about power ~ Fela Durotoye,
610:All you need to do is to trust God. Following the path of devotion, one should leave everything to God. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
611:A stone in the path may have the best intentions, but it must be kicked out of the path, for all that. ~ Ethel Lilian Voynich,
612:Growing up I was involved in children's theater, so I was definitely on the path to be an actor and a singer. ~ Victor Garber,
613:He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van - there was no other conclusion I could come to. ~ Stephenie Meyer,
614:Humility before the flower at the timber line is the gate which gives access to the path up the open fell. ~ Dag Hammarskj ld,
615:Humility before the flower at the timber line is the gate which gives access to the path up the open fell. ~ Dag Hammarskjold,
616:In order to pile weakness upon weakness he was trying to drag others along the path that he himself had walked. ~ Sh saku End,
617:I reach out my hand and trace my finger along the path I took to get to him until my hand meets his on the map. ~ Ally Condie,
618:It is hard to travel in this fallen world if you lose the power of speech every time evil meets you on the path. ~ Lewis Hyde,
619:Perfectionism is not the path that leads us to our gifts and to our sense of purpose; it's the hazardous detour. ~ Bren Brown,
620:Perfectionism is not the path that leads us to our gifts and to our sense of purpose; it’s the hazardous detour. ~ Bren Brown,
621:Together on the path of love, we can try to make a small difference in someone's life. What else is there to do? ~ Chan Khong,
622:6  The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favours,a 6a. Those upon whom favours are bestowed are according ~ Anonymous,
623:All you need to do is to trust God. Following the path of devotion, one should leave everything to God. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
624:but had forgotten all their names. A light burnt over the door. He went up the path, sea-pebbles crunching ~ Rosamunde Pilcher,
625:Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. —RALPH WALDO EMERSON ~ Craig Groeschel,
626:If you're on the path you're meant to be on, everything falls into place; the Universe is telling you that. ~ James Van Praagh,
627:It could have happened lots of ways. But this is the way it happened. This is the path we took. This is our story. ~ Jenny Han,
628:It is not by the water in which they plunge that men become pure but he becomes pure who follows the path of the Truth. ~ ibid,
629:It is precisely when we have suffered defeat that we can determine to win and open the path to future victory. ~ Daisaku Ikeda,
630:The lady followed the path to the river’s edge; her dress floated with her as she walked, shimmering like pearl. ~ Jeannie Lin,
631:The path that does not run away from but embraces our suffering is the path that will lead us to liberation. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
632:The Path to the Truth is a labor of the heart, not of the head. Make your heart your primary guide! Not your mind. ~ Anonymous,
633:This is the path I have set before you. As you follow it wholeheartedly, you experience abundant Life and Peace. ~ Sarah Young,
634:Truth is followed as the path to the divine beatitude. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, To Bhaga Savitri, the Enjoyer,
635:When you are down, surrender to your Divine Cosmic Self.  Self will give you the the strength and show you the path ~ Amit Ray,
636:You might be a redneck if your classes at school were cancelled because the path to the restroom was flooded. ~ Jeff Foxworthy,
637:Along the blade of a knife lies the path of paradox—the single most worthy path of the fearless mind . . . . ~ Yevgeny Zamyatin,
638:Beware of those who step in the path of your dreams. They only dream to have the ability to take half your steps. ~ Suzy Kassem,
639:God's Word had the power to light our way and to clear the debris that had covered the path so we can walk in it. ~ Lisa Bevere,
640:God's Word has the power to light our way and to clear the debris that has covered the path so we can walk in it. ~ Lisa Bevere,
641:Gradually the horizon becomes distinct, the path grows clear, and we move towards a greater and greater certitude. ~ The Mother,
642:In every crisis, doubt or confusion, take the higher path - the path of compassion, courage, understanding and love. ~ Amit Ray,
643:Liberating Iraq from a legacy of violence and putting it on the path to peace and prosperity will take time. ~ George Voinovich,
644:My ma used to say that crying is good for you. Tears are the path that free your mind of sorrowful thoughts. ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon,
645:No matter if the path is tough, and your nights are long,So long as your cause is noble and your mind is strong. ~ Tony Robbins,
646:Perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it’s often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life-paralysis. ~ Bren Brown,
647:The idiotic industry of an ant building his hill in the path of a glacier, and imagining that he is free. ~ John Clellon Holmes,
648:The path will find you,” he assured me, and smiled. “In darkness it cannot hide itself.”
p. 467 Prilkop to Fitz ~ Robin Hobb,
649:There it was, the choice I’d confronted so often in life: the path of least resistance, or the walk over hot coals. ~ Greg Iles,
650:They were the kind of tears that come easily because earlier tears have already smoothed the path for them. ~ Maggie Stiefvater,
651:When I begin a story at my desk, the window to my back, the path is not there. As I start to walk, I make the path. ~ Paula Fox,
652:At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future tradition has placed 10 000 men to guard the past ~ Maurice Maeterlinck,
653:Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Traveler, there is no path, the path must be forged as you walk. ~ Bren Brown,
654:Everything in your life - every moment, every struggle - is the path. Everything is an opportunity for awakening. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
655:If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path. ~ Bren Brown,
656:In their seeking, wisdom and madness are one and the same. On the path of love, friend and stranger are one and the same. ~ Rumi,
657:SENTENCES OF THE KHAJAGAN
RUDBARI : Heart to heart is an essential means of passing on the secrets of the Path. ~ Idries Shah,
658:The path of anxiety is necessary because therein lies the hope of the person to more nearly become an individual. ~ James Hollis,
659:the path of obedience is the place where Christ meets us as our servant to carry our burdens and give us his power. ~ John Piper,
660:To follow the path look to the master follow the master walk with the master see through the master become the master. ~ Sengcan,
661:Where he had failed, I would triumph. Where he had lost his way, I would find the path out of the labyrinth. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zafon,
662:Entrepreneurship is essentially identifying the path that everyone takes; and choosing a different, better way. ~ Sheldon Adelson,
663:Find the light and it will show you the path. The path that is shown by your own light is the only path that is right. ~ Rajneesh,
664:Following the path of devotion, one realizes everything through His grace--- both Knowledge and Supreme Wisdom. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
665:God’s ways are always better than ours, and obedience to His Word clears the path for our prayers to be heard. ~ Stormie Omartian,
666:I feel like any other Brazilian citizen, I have a lot of happiness in me. I thank God for showing me the path to follow. ~ Neymar,
667:If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path. ~ Brene Brown,
668:I've already told you: the only way to a woman's heart is along the path of torment. I know none other as sure. ~ Marquis de Sade,
669:Life is not something we can manage or control. It's something we negotiate every time the path takes a turn. ~ Lisa Tawn Bergren,
670:No man can survive the path of knowledge if he is not prepared to embrace death. Death is a warrior’s best advisor. ~ Th un Mares,
671:No matter how happy anyone is with their choices, I believe it's human nature to wonder about the path not taken. ~ Jen Lancaster,
672:Remembrance of things past is just for the rich. For the poor it only marks the faint traces on the path to death. ~ Albert Camus,
673:Sometimes we can change the direction of our lives, but sometimes we’re destined to follow the path we were given. ~ Linda Wisdom,
674:The path that we are headed on economically in America is one that leads to total ruination of the American system. ~ Robin Leach,
675:To follow the path to the end, one must be armed with a very patient endurance.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path,
676:As we enter the path of transformation, the most valuable thing we have working in our favor is our yearning. ~ Cynthia Bourgeault,
677:At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past. ~ Maurice Maeterlinck,
678:Caution is the path to mediocrity. Gliding, passionless mediocrity is all that most people think they can achieve. ~ Frank Herbert,
679:The easy, gentle, and sloping path . . . is not the path of true virtue. It demands a rough and thorny road. ~ Michel de Montaigne,
680:We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement. ~ Vladimir Putin,
681:When I stand and contemplate my fate and see the path along which you have led me, what's the rest of it? ~ Gabriel Garc a M rquez,
682:You often don’t choose the attractive or the deceptive paths, but they choose you, they pull you to the path! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
683:As patience leads to peace, and study to science, so are humiliations the path that leads to humility. ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux,
684:Become meaningful in your interactions and the path to success in any endeavor is simpler and far more sustainable. ~ Dale Carnegie,
685:If you cannot live without justification, you cannot live; period. And the path towards it is the path of language. ~ Martin Walser,
686:I realize today that nothing in the world is more distasteful to a man than to take the path that leads to himself. ~ Hermann Hesse,
687:Joys come from simple and natural things: mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water. ~ Sigurd F Olson,
688:Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived. Follow the path that is no path, follow your bliss. ~ Joseph Campbell,
689:Not that the path was smooth and pothole free. But still, it was my path, and like me, it was bound to be unique." -Zoey ~ P C Cast,
690:The path of Tao is not that of sudden enlightenment. It is not like Zen. Zen is sudden enlightenment, Tao is gradual growth. ~ Osho,
691:The path to true love is never an easy one. Dedicated to all those who keep on keeping on while searching for the one. ~ J S Cooper,
692:The word is important in Native American tradition. You speak the path on which you walk. Your words make the trail. ~ Diane Glancy,
693:Where he had failed, I would triumph.
Where he had lost his way, I would find the path out of the labyrinth. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zaf n,
694:You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one ~ Mikhail Tal,
695:You walked the path the gods ordained for you, Xena, Athena mind-whispered. You are not here to change it. No, ~ Martin H Greenberg,
696:You will finally have dignity when you realize that you are not on the path, but have become the path for others. ~ Shannon L Alder,
697:A leadership disposition guides you to take the path of most resistance and turn it into the path of least resistance. ~ Dov Seidman,
698:if one follows one’s self-interest one wants to be safe, whereas the path of justice and honour involves one in danger. ~ Thucydides,
699:I'm thinking about three things this morning. The obstacle is the path. Today is a good day. And what comes is a gift. ~ Satya Robyn,
700:In your career, even more than for a brand, being safe is risky. The path to lifetime job security is to be remarkable. ~ Seth Godin,
701:Someone who seeks to travel the path of Allah should begin with a sound repentance from all his sins. ~ Abdullah ibn Alawi al Haddad,
702:The path of love has many opponents - fear, self-pity, anxiety, hate, lust, greed, avarice - all the usual freinds. ~ Frederick Lenz,
703:The path which we believe in is the path of love; it has all the goodness of God in it-calmness and kindness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
704:You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one. ~ Mikhail Tal,
705:Champions realise that defeat - and learning from it even more than from winning - is part of the path to mastery. ~ Rasheed Ogunlaru,
706:Come walk the path that leads to eternal happiness, joy, and everlasting life in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father. ~ Robert D Hales,
707:Dance in the rain, follow the path of lovely lanes, you are what you always wanted to be, so chill out, dear friend! ~ Santosh Kalwar,
708:Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path. ~ Emma Gingerich Ralph Emerson ~ Emma Gingerich ~ Emma Gingerich,
709:Foster and polish the warrior spirit while serving in the world; illuminate the path according to your inner light. ~ Morihei Ueshiba,
710:if the work of creating consistently leaves us depressed or drained, it is likely that we have somehow missed the path. ~ Andy Crouch,
711:In the Lord's service the path is not always easy... But in serving Him, we discover that His hand is truly over us. ~ Robert D Hales,
712:I see now that the path I choose through that maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being— ~ Daniel Keyes,
713:On the path of Love we are neither masters nor the owners of our lives. We are only a brush in the hand of the Master Painter. ~ Rumi,
714:[Our] first and foremost duty [is] to seek the Lord until we open the path of communication from God to our own soul. ~ Brigham Young,
715:Religion is the path of divisions, boundaries and narrowness. Spirituality is the path of love, light, beauty and oneness. ~ Amit Ray,
716:Stay away from people who gossip and spread rumors. They are choosing the path of emotional bullying and negativity. ~ Steve Maraboli,
717:Their desire was silent yet magnificent, like a thousand daisies attuning their faces toward the path of the sun. ~ Jeffrey Eugenides,
718:There is no such thing as being done with an artistic life. Frustrations and rewards exist at all levels on the path. ~ Julia Cameron,
719:When you learn the difference between busywork and your life’s work, that’s the first step on the path of purpose. ~ Brendon Burchard,
720:Be direct and sure of the path you tread, but not so sure that you pass the paths better suited to your feet, brother. ~ Erica Cameron,
721:Dealing with the temporary frustration of not making progress is an integral part of the path towards excellence. In ~ Timothy Ferriss,
722:I could never have gone far in any science because on the path of every science the lion Mathematics lies in wait for you. ~ C S Lewis,
723:If only gravity were working, the path would be symmetrical, it is the wind resistance that produces the tragic curve. ~ Norman Mailer,
724:Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other. ~ Mary Caroline Richards,
725:Our progress can be impeded or disrupted, but the mind can always be changed—it retains the power to redirect the path. ~ Ryan Holiday,
726:The distance between where you are now and the path you think you should be on is probably smaller than you think it is ~ Chase Jarvis,
727:The expansion of your own consciousness, love capacity, humility and compassion - this is the path; this is the way. ~ Bryant H McGill,
728:The path of violence has not yielded anything. Shed guns and adopt the path of peace, unity, goodwill and brotherhood. ~ Narendra Modi,
729:The path to equanimity lies in observing the present and allowing it to float undisturbed down the river of our awareness. ~ Anonymous,
730:Because all the things you did not do cannot exist for you. Only the path that you chose exists as reality for you. ~ Stephen R Lawhead,
731:Despite its prominence now, you don’t stumble onto the path of shamanism. That odd trail blazes itself to you. ~ S Kelley Harrell M Div,
732:Don't be discouraged. At times the path to truth is circuitous. The point is not to succeed, only to smile eternally. ~ Frederick Lenz,
733:Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being.” Beautiful, ~ Paulo Coelho,
734:If I want true freedom, I need to accept that the path leading there is going to be one of discomfort and vulnerability. ~ Neil Strauss,
735:I’ve learned that the path forward isn’t easy, but it can become understandable as we learn from the lives of others. ~ Seth Adam Smith,
736:Oh, I know it today: nothing in the world is more repugnant to a man than following the path that leads him to himself! ~ Hermann Hesse,
737:One will pass through as many stages as it is necessary to take, but one will arrive.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path,
738:So you see, Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being. ~ Paulo Coelho,
739:The pathless path is the path always under our feet. And since that path is always beneath us, if we miss it, how stupid! ~ Longchenpa,
740:The path that is followed by most persons in the beginning of their spitirual search is the path of love, bhakti yoga. ~ Frederick Lenz,
741:The wise man bridges the gap by laying out the path by means of which he can get from where he is to where he wants to go. ~ J P Morgan,
742:Use a screwdriver instead of a hammer. Try to untighten the nut with your hand. Utilize the path of least resistance first. ~ Tim Allen,
743:We must all serve God on the path we are given, milord. Even though that path may not be what we ourselves would choose. ~ Betina Krahn,
744:What's over for one person isn't over for another. Simple as that. Beyond, the path goes in two different directions. ~ Haruki Murakami,
745:When the world is filled with evil, all mishaps, all difficulties, should be transformed into the path of enlightenment. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
746:Beauty is the promise of happiness. And the only happiness is action.
...
Fate is the path of least action. ~ Kim Stanley Robinson,
747:FDA clearance is an important step on the path towards getting genetic information integrated with routine medical care. ~ Anne Wojcicki,
748:How little we understand
of the gifts we have been given
or the shape of the path
we took to reach our salvation. ~ Harley King,
749:I cannot believe the path to victory lies in staining our souls so black we become indistinguishable from those we fight. ~ Anthony Ryan,
750:I do beseech you to direct your efforts more to preparing youth for the path and less to preparing the path for the youth. ~ Ben Lindsey,
751:If the path you walk is the right one, then the big question comes: How many people have you directed to that path? ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
752:It is a very high stage in the path of love when man really learns to love another with a love that asks no return. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan,
753:Not watching the path where his legs took him, he walked on because he knew he had to walk ahead, leaving his past behind. ~ Faraaz Kazi,
754:On the path of the budo one does not strive for victory over an opponent. One strive to avoid defeat by one's own self. ~ Akira Toriyama,
755:The end is not the reward; the path you take, the emotions that course through you as you grasp life - that is the reward. ~ Jamie Magee,
756:The path of Knowledge which leads to Self-Realization through realization that the Supreme is One and Indivisible. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
757:Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement. ~ Winston Churchill,
758:But, I think the path to total world dominatiin by women will be much easier, if we're all extremely well educated. ~ Ellen Emerson White,
759:Desire means the way to go out; desire is the path that leads you out. If your mind is still desiring, you cannot move within. ~ Rajneesh,
760:I believe in fate, I believe in hard work, and I feel like if I just keep marching, the path will kind of appear before me. ~ Tatyana Ali,
761:If you're a writer, you just keep following the path - keep going deeper and deeper into the things that interest you. ~ Caitlin Flanagan,
762:I guide man to the path of the Divine
And guard him from the red Wolf and the Snake. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Triple Soul-Forces,
763:It was too easy to follow the path you were on, rather than looking for cross-trails that might take you somewhere scary. ~ Brian Freeman,
764:Liberation is the path of transcendence. Manifestation is the path of immanence. Both lead to the same place: the divine. ~ Anodea Judith,
765:Life is the path you beat while you walk it It's the walking that beats the path It is not the path that makes the walk ~ Antonio Machado,
766:PYTHONPATH and .pth files offer more permanent ways to modify the path — the first per user, and the second per installation. ~ Mark Lutz,
767:She had her aim now, her heart had direction, and though it hurt to know the path led away from him, she could endure it. ~ Leigh Bardugo,
768:Simply put, meditation is the path to clarity, compassion, and a path of wisdom leading to the eradication of suffering. ~ Jon Kabat Zinn,
769:The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out. There are brambles in the path? Then go around. That's all you need to know. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
770:The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition. ~ Ryan Holiday,
771:There are lots of variations on the path to self-publishing; this is the one Kamal and I have both used. WRITE THE BOOK. ~ James Altucher,
772:To read your own mind is to look at your self and read your soul. Hatred becomes love and that is the path I am working on ~ Richard Gere,
773:We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps. ~ Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha,
774:Western Tibetan Buddhists are always looking out there at the distant snow peaks and they lose the flowers along the path. ~ Tenzin Palmo,
775:Writing a story is like going down a path in the woods. You follow the path. You don't worry about getting lost. You just go. ~ Jan Brett,
776:Action is the catalyst that creates accomplishments. It is the path that takes us from uncrafted hopes to realized dreams. ~ Thomas Huxley,
777:Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace. ~ Epictetus,
778:Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace. ~ Epictetus,
779:Here's the path to sobriety: Play the Ron Paul drinking game. Watch CNN and take a drink every time someone says his name. ~ Doug Stanhope,
780:My belief is that good leadership can help creative people stay on the path to excellence no matter what business they’re in. ~ Ed Catmull,
781:Placing Raffaela in the path of an oncoming car becomes one of the major priorities of the next ten seconds of my life. ~ Melina Marchetta,
782:Sometimes the path we must walk is long and must be traveled alone. Even when others are by our side, there is no one with us. ~ L J Baker,
783:"The path is a wild mountain road. As far as the occupation of our mind is concerned, the chaos of the path is the fun." ~ Chögyam Trungpa,
784:the path of goodness had a name it is called Love in it we find the key to every hope and has it's root in God Himself ~ Pope John Paul II,
785:The reason you might choose to embrace the artist within you now is that this is the path to (cue the ironic music) security. ~ Seth Godin,
786:Those who really seek the path to Enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed with strong determination. ~ Gautama Buddha,
787:Time punishes those who stray from the path of dharma. Console yourself with the belief that this is the will of God. ~ M T Vasudevan Nair,
788:Very often we are our own worst enemy as we foolishly build stumbling blocks on the path that leads to success and happiness. ~ Og Mandino,
789:Walking the path of faith means trusting God enough to let our uh-oh moments expose how we create God to fit in our thinking. ~ Peter Enns,
790:A wise man sees the path all must walk and embraces the free will of humankind, even if to watch it unfold causes him pain. ~ Colleen Houck,
791:Do not fret because the world looks with suspicion at every new attempt, even though it be in the path of spirituality. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
792:Even if people change on the path from childhood to adulthood, there is still a core of personality that remains intact. ~ Camilla L ckberg,
793:In their seeking, wisdom and madness are one and the same. On the path of love, friend and stranger are one and the same. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi,
794:The path of compassion is to bring more happiness and smiles into the world and to eliminate the pains and cries from the world. ~ Amit Ray,
795:The path to inspiration starts upon the trails we've known; each stumbling block is not a rock, but just a stepping stone. ~ Charles Ghigna,
796:[...] and we beg that our lower animal nature shall not lead us from the path of righteousness. ~ Manly P Hall, How to Understand Your Bible,
797:He who follows the steep path that climbs the heights can easily slip down into the abyss.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path,
798:I wish it weren’t just the few forced onto the path that learned the reward of giving your heart to a child not born to them. ~ Sejal Badani,
799:Somewhere, years ago, she had stepped off the path of life and could no longer find her way back to the family of people. ~ Colson Whitehead,
800:That was the remarkable thing about humans—their ability to shape the path of other species, to change their fundamental nature. ~ Matt Haig,
801:The path to love wasn't a smooth road. Love would show up while you were busy with another love, leaving you to decide. ~ Eric Jerome Dickey,
802:The sunlight sparkled through the wind-bent boughs of trees, dancing in an ever-shifting pattern of shadows along the path. They ~ S D Smith,
803:To convince someone of the truth, it is not enough to state it, but rather one must find the path from error to truth. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein,
804:Brief is this existence, as a visit in a strange house. The path to be pursued is poorly lit by a flickering consciousness. ~ Albert Einstein,
805: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,
806:Let each man take the path according to his capacity, understanding and temperament. His true guru will meet him along that path. ~ Sivananda,
807:...men are not put into this world to go the path of ease, they are put into this world to go the path of pain and struggle. ~ Woodrow Wilson,
808:Reasoning draws a conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain, unless the mind discovers it by the path of experience. ~ Roger Bacon,
809:"The heart of the path is quite easy. There's no need to explain anything at length. Let go of love and hate and let things be." ~ Ajahn Chah,
810:The mountain is the mountain, And the path unchanged since the old days. Verily what has changed is my own heart. —KUMAGAI[8] ~ Sally Kempton,
811:The path to success used to be up and through an organization. Now the path to success is increasingly through self-promotion. ~ Robert Reich,
812:The truth is, that MOST of the time MOST of us take the road MOST traveled, the path of least resistance and MOST comfortable. ~ Jayce O Neal,
813:We need to see the connection between global warring and global warming, and it's oil. Sustainability is the path to peace. ~ Dennis Kucinich,
814:With every challenge you face, there is an opportunity hidden that will lead you towards the path of wealth and abundance. ~ Stephen Richards,
815:America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life. ~ George W Bush,
816:God incarnates Himself as man and teaches people the path of devotion. He exhorts people to cultivate self-surrender to God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
817:I don't pretend to see the path, but I know it's there all the same. One day, we'll look back and wonder how we ever missed it ~ Peter V Brett,
818:If everyone sincerely practices the path of compassion and wisdom, all their problems will be solved. I guarantee this. ~ Geshe Kelsang Gyatso,
819:If you knew who walked beside you at all times, on the path that you have chosen, you could never experience fear or doubt again. ~ Wayne Dyer,
820:Isserley walked along the path the generations of sheep-flocks had made, up the tiers of the hill. In her mind, she was already ~ Michel Faber,
821:The perfect path: for each one the path which leads fastest to the Divine.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,
822:Trust your feelings. If the path you’re on isn’t providing you joy, satisfaction, creativity, love, and caring, that’s not it. ~ Susan Jeffers,
823:Walking down the path of dreams, inner-self and listening to your heart are all different names given to your hidden scripts. ~ Santosh Kalwar,
824:Whenever someone follow the path to faith – sincerely follows it – he or she is able to unite with God and to perform miracles. ~ Paulo Coelho,
825:Each day that you persist in a situation where you are miserable is a day wasted on the path that would lead you to happiness. ~ Twinkle Khanna,
826:I don't pretend to see the path, but I know it's there all the same. One day, we'll look back and wonder how we ever missed it. ~ Peter V Brett,
827:In Bonaventure’s view only one who is on a journey to God can really know God; faith seeks understanding through the path of love. ~ Ilia Delio,
828:I would say to the new leadership the American people are ready to meet you if you move forward toward the path of democracy. ~ Hillary Clinton,
829:Nobody can tell you if what you’re doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is. ~ Hugh MacLeod,
830:On the path of truth, all religions are but one, race and color are irrelevant, and there is no difference between men and women. ~ Ostad Elahi,
831:PSA16.11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. ~ Anonymous,
832:Reasoning draws a conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain, unless the mind discovers it by the path of experience. ~ Francis Bacon,
833:If there's no one in your life to love right now, love yourself. A large part of the path of love is learning to love yourself. ~ Frederick Lenz,
834:If you knew who walked beside you at all times, on the path that you have chosen, you could never experience fear or doubt again. ~ Wayne W Dyer,
835:The path of America's development is never a straight line. Sometimes we move in ways that are forwards; sometime that seem back. ~ Barack Obama,
836:The path of least resistance has a lot going for it. The comfort zone isn't where you lose yourself. It's where you find yourself. ~ Meghan Daum,
837:There is no dry land, he said; there is only fearlessness, which is to be found in the heart. This is the path to freedom. At ~ Elizabeth Lesser,
838:Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” and one traveler chose the path to mastery while the other was called toward passion’s glow. ~ Cal Newport,
839:18    But  d the path of the righteous is like  e the light of dawn,         which shines  f brighter and brighter until  g full day. ~ Anonymous,
840:Books are a better investment in our future than bullets. Books, not bullets, will pave the path towards peace and prosperity. ~ Malala Yousafzai,
841:It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed. ~ Ram Dass,
842:Mere faith is the path of the lazy. It is the overused excuse of the deluded. Get off your ass and make something happen yourself. ~ Dave Matthes,
843:Never be afraid of failure or disappointment, because those are just temporary experiences on the path to your dreams coming true ~ Doreen Virtue,
844:Oh you, straying heart, just come! Oh you, aching liver, just come! If the path to the gate is closed, Take the way by the wall, but come! ~ Rumi,
845:The path is focus. The power of focus is absolutely essential. To stop all thoughts, you have to have tremendous power of focus. ~ Frederick Lenz,
846:There is nothing in the path of life that we don't already know before we start. Nothing is learned; it is simply remembered. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zaf n,
847:To reject practice by saying, 'it is conceptual!' is the path of fools. A tendency of the inexperienced and something to be avoided. ~ Longchenpa,
848:When you lose something, don’t think of it as a loss. Accept it as a gift that gets you on the path you were meant to travel on”, ~ Chetan Bhagat,
849:Here is the beginning of the path. As yet, I do not know where it will lead, but I ask you to trust me and to trust in the future. ~ Sara Douglass,
850:It is much easier not to struggle, to give up and take the path of the living dead. But if we want to live, we must struggle. ~ Oscar Lopez Rivera,
851:It wasn't quite raining, but it wasn't exactly not raining either. She heard the driver squelching along the path behind her. ~ Audrey Niffenegger,
852:Many a man who might walk over burning ploughshares into heaven stumbles from the path because there is gravel in his shoes. ~ Edwin Hubbel Chapin,
853:One must look at the next step on the path ahead, rather than the mountain in the distance, or one would never reach one's goal. ~ Cassandra Clare,
854:Our imagination it is our greatest ally . . . Imagination is a very, very powerful thing. It literally invents the path before you. ~ Glen Hansard,
855:So in the path of love - rather than pulling our willpower together, using our discrimination, or working - we just cry inwardly. ~ Frederick Lenz,
856:There's always more to life to live and sometimes you just have to live it. you dont have to wake up and regretting the path you took ~ J S Cooper,
857:A system of pitfalls thoughtfully prepared for the feet for the self-made man, along the path by which he advances to distinction. ~ Ambrose Bierce,
858:Each day that you persist in a situation where you are miserable is a day wasted on the path that would lead you to happiness.’ He ~ Twinkle Khanna,
859:Mount the stallion of love and do not fear the path, love’s stallion knows the way exactly. With one leap, Love’s horse will carry you home. ~ Rumi,
860:The approach is that the best way to use unwanted circumstances on the path of enlightenment is not to resist but to lean into them. ~ Pema Chodron,
861:We're straying from the path of salvation because we remember that we once belonged to the world and were content in that belonging. ~ Daniel Quinn,
862:Do not be thoughtless, always be mindful, watch your thoughts! Draw yourself out of the path of evil, like an elephant sunk in mud. ~ Gautama Buddha,
863:Fate isn’t one straight road…there are forks in it, many different routes to different ends. We have the free will to choose the path. ~ Dean Koontz,
864:I can't see the end of the road, but here is the great part: Courage is not about knowing the path. It is about taking the first step. ~ Katie Davis,
865: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,
866:Mindfulness is not the path of chasing. It is the path of beautification. When flowers blossom, the fragrance spreads, and the bees come. ~ Amit Ray,
867:Move fluidly by earth of water and stop to listen to the wind as it whispers your whereabouts. . . Savour the path and enjoy the sun. ~ Nick Bantock,
868:Rama for you should mean the Path He trod, the ideal He held aloft, and the Ordinance He laid down. They are eternal and timeless. ~ Sathya Sai Baba,
869:Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the most wonderful things that will ever happen to us ~ Nicole Reed,
870:Then he lets go and walks down the path, without another word. He doesn't look back. But I watch him go. I watch him all the way home. ~ Ally Condie,
871:The path of awakening the kundalini is to turn inwards and pay attention to our world of emotions, thoughts and talents hidden inside us. ~ Om Swami,
872:There was, as she put it, nothing to stop me. So I followed the path of educated misfits through the ages and got a job in a bookshop. ~ Hari Kunzru,
873:When I had journeyed half of our life's way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray. ~ Dante Alighieri,
874:A people who extend civil liberties only to preferred groups start down the path either to dictatorship of the right or the left. ~ William O Douglas,
875:Frost-crusted puddles reflected the moonlight and lit up the path. The outline of hills was soft and dark, like waves on a midnight sea, ~ Gill Lewis,
876:He'd been my end game, and when things ended, the path of my life had been erased, left smudged and blurry. I hadn't found my way since. ~ Staci Hart,
877:Oh, I know it today: nothing in the world is more repugnant to a man than following the path that leads him to himself! Nevertheless, ~ Hermann Hesse,
878:Practice meditation. Become a seeker. Walk the path of the seeker. You will get the best of everything the world has to offer. ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
879:Q: How can I help myself?
A: By remembering the proverb: ‘The Path is not to be found anywhere except in human service’, from Saadi. ~ Idries Shah,
880:The future cannot be legislated. All that can be done is to anticipate its most important movements and to clear the path for them. ~ Peter Kropotkin,
881:The path to decision may be hard because it leads into the territory of both finiteness and groundlessness—domains soaked in anxiety. ~ Irvin D Yalom,
882:The surest guide to the correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle. Revolution is the festival of the oppressed. ~ Germaine Greer,
883:The Vajrayana is the path of the rug being pulled out from under your feet, so you need someone who knows how to do that. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse,
884:The world is so much larger than I thought. I thought we went along paths--but it seems there are no paths. The going itself is the path. ~ C S Lewis,
885:To be ignorant of the path one has to take and set out on the way without a guide, is to will to lose oneself and run the risk of perishing. ~ Hermes,
886:Whenever you come to a fork in the road, always choose the harder path, otherwise the path of least resistance will be chosen for you. ~ Olga Grushin,
887:While there's plenty to be said for drive and talent, it was my parents' support that started me on the path that led me here today. ~ Tichina Arnold,
888:but not only by believing in God. Prayers and faith will not be enough, I’m afraid. The path of righteousness is often dangerous. Get ~ Kristin Hannah,
889:Every journey taken always includes the path not taken, the detour through hell, the crossroads of indecision and the long way home. ~ Shannon L Alder,
890:Happiness, Success, Excellence: They are not something you get for knowing the path; they are something you experience by walking it. ~ Steve Maraboli,
891:I just wanted to make music, and grime wasn't exactly the path that I took naturally. It was something that was put on me as a label. ~ Lady Sovereign,
892:One should strive to understand what underlies sufferings and diseases - and aim for health and well-being while gaining in the Path. ~ Gautama Buddha,
893:So far as he is able, a prince should stick to the path of good but, if the necessity arises, he should know how to follow evil. ~ Niccolo Machiavelli,
894:The Path of Peace appears to be a fight, but it isn’t. It’s the art of filling up what is missing and emptying out what is superfluous. ~ Paulo Coelho,
895:To follow the path that others have laid before you is a reasonable course of action; therefore all progress is made by unreasonable men. ~ Steve Jobs,
896:Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood. ~ Khalil Gibran,
897:And maybe I can let go of the sting and resentment of the path not taken, because the path not taken isn’t just the inverse of who I am. ~ Blake Crouch,
898:At a certain stage in the path of devotion, the devotee finds satisfaction in God with form, and at another stage, in God without it. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
899:Happiness means feeling you are on the right path every moment. You don't need to arrive at the end of the path in order to be happy. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
900:Let each man take the path according to his capacity, understanding and temperament. His true guru will meet him along that path. ~ Sivananda Saraswati,
901:Libraries are the torch of the world, illuminating the path when it feels too dark to see. We mustn't allow that torch to be extinguished. ~ Libba Bray,
902:Sometimes the worst things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us. –Unknown ~ Caisey Quinn,
903:The path of awakening the kundalini is to turn inwards and pay attention to our world of emotions, thoughts and talents hidden inside us. It ~ Om Swami,
904:The path up is the path down. The way forward is the way back. The universe inside is outside but the universe outside is inside. ~ Robert Anton Wilson,
905:These four noble truths are the truth of suffering, the truth of its origin, the truth of cessation and the path leading to cessation. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
906:The spiritual journey has to do with learning to think more deeply and take as long a time as we need. That's the path to wisdom. ~ Marianne Williamson,
907:The world is constantly telling you that the path to a better life is more, more, more—buy more, own more, make more, fuck more, be more. ~ Mark Manson,
908:We do not choose suffering simply because we are told to, but because the one who tells us to describes it as the path to everlasting joy. ~ John Piper,
909:Anyone who is speaking of a greater compassion, a greater humanitarian concern, is a leader paving the path we all need to follow. ~ Marianne Williamson,
910:Being too risk-averse causes many companies to stop innovating and to reject new ideas, which is the first step on the path to irrelevance. ~ Ed Catmull,
911:Failure is merely feedback that there is something blocking the path of the emergence and expansion of the greatest version of yourself. ~ Mother Teresa,
912:Having good friends treading the path of recovery is also a gift from God. Talking to them, eating with them, praying with them saves lives. ~ Anonymous,
913:I am persuaded, you will permit me to observe, that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction. ~ George Washington,
914:If the path is beautiful, all you have to do when walking in that path is to be beautiful so as to not ruin the beauty of the path! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
915:I see myself at crossroads in my life, mapless, lacking bits of knowledge - then, the Moon breaks through, lights up the path before me. ~ John J Geddes,
916:Knowledge paves the way to Love, and Love in its turn fosters understanding, and leads one along the path of great common achievements. ~ Haile Selassie,
917:Literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. But there are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom. But reading is still the path. ~ Carl Sagan,
918:Satguru knows that there is no death to the disciple. Atma never dies. Even after death he continues to get direction on the path ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
919:The path of mastering something is the combination of not only doing the best you can do at it, but also doing it the best it can be done. ~ Gary Keller,
920:The path to success is through a continuum of mundane, unsexy, unexciting, and sometimes difficult daily disciplines compounded over time ~ Darren Hardy,
921:There is no obstacle in the path of young people who are poor or members of minority groups that hard work and preparation cannot cure. ~ Barbara Jordan,
922:The road to Hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lamp posts that light the path. ~ Saint John Chrysostom,
923:And so I laughed. The laughter bubbled up, irrepressible. I saw the path to happiness and to liberation at a glance. It was inside myself. ~ Alice Walker,
924:Basically, for me the psychedelic experience was the path to revelation. It actually worked on somebody who thought nothing would work. ~ Terence McKenna,
925:But I'll say this: I've never been more honored to sing about Jesus and for Jesus. And I've never been more sure of the path I've chosen. ~ Natalie Grant,
926:Do not blindly believe what others say. See for yourself what brings contentment, clarity and peace. That is the path for you to follow. ~ Gautama Buddha,
927:History would always repeat this pattern: Queer foot soldiers blazing the path and being dismissed once the heavy lifting was complete. ~ Chuck Palahniuk,
928:Not for ourselves alone, but for all humanity... Let us hasten to find the path that leads to liberty, safety, and peace for everyone. ~ Thomas Jefferson,
929:Now the end has come, and I am filled with sorrow that our ways must part: the path I would rather take is the one that leads to life. ~ Murasaki Shikibu,
930:The path of true love never ran smooth. More likely you ran out of gas, blew a tire, and hit the wall before you crossed the finish line. ~ Erin McCarthy,
931:Aren't you ashamed, you who walk backward along the whole path of existence, and blame me for walking backward along the path of the promenade? ~ Diogenes,
932:Desire is the root of all sorrows, the cause of repeated births and deaths, and the main obstacle on the path of liberation. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi,
933:He was so fucked, careening madly down the path to getting his heart splattered all over hell. And grinning like a buffoon the entire time. ~ Cherrie Lynn,
934:He who leaves his home in search of knowledge walks in the path of God … and the ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr”; ~ Will Durant,
935:Man’s primary purpose is not to be happy but to continue to live, to continue to travel - happily or unhappily - on the path of life! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
936:nothing is impossible. Take one step, and then another, and see where the path leads. Don’t think of the obstacles, only the way around them. ~ Eowyn Ivey,
937:On the spiritual path each step forward is a conquest and the result of a fight.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path, [T5],
938:The Buddha said that if we know how to look deeply into our suffering and recognize what feeds it, we are already on the path of emancipation. ~ Nhat Hanh,
939:The path of mastering something is the combination of not only doing the best you can do at it, but also doing it the best it can be done. ~ Gary W Keller,
940:Don’t apologize. My ma used to say that crying is good for you. Tears are the path that free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.” – Sundown ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon,
941:During the season of Lent which begins today, we renew our commitment to the path of conversion, making more room for God in our lives. ~ Pope Benedict XVI,
942:For I must tell you that we artists cannot tread the path of Beauty without Eros keeping company with us and appointing himself as our guide. ~ Thomas Mann,
943:...I see myself at crossroads in my life, mapless, lacking bits of knowledge - then, the Moon breaks through, lights up the path before me... ~ John Geddes,
944:I will whisper secrets in your ears,
just nod yes and be silent.
A soul moon appeared in the path of my heart.
How precious is this journey ~ Rumi,
945:Never apologize for struggling with an enemy who attacks you,” she said, almost as if she was quoting a proverb. “That is the path to slavery. ~ B V Larson,
946:stopped right in the middle of the path, cast a furtive glance left and right and then pressed his mouth in full lockdown mode upon hers. Ew. ~ Susan Wiggs,
947:The path of nonviolence is the path of respect. It is respect towards every being. It is the path of awakening the consciousness of every being. ~ Amit Ray,
948:There is nothing in the path of life that we don't already know before we start. Nothing important is learned; it is simply remembered. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zaf n,
949:The shy little Mayflower weaves her nest, But the south wind sighs o'er the fragrant loam, And betrays the path to her woodland home. ~ Sarah Helen Whitman,
950:We women, when we're searching for a meaning to our lives or for the path of knowledge, always identify with one of four classic archetypes. ~ Paulo Coelho,
951:Deliberately, as if committing himself to something, he stepped forward and walked down the path to the porch and knocked on the front door. ~ John Williams,
952:for the path of comets/ is the path of poets: they burn without warming,/ pick without cultivating. They are: an explosion, a breaking in ~ Marina Tsvetaeva,
953:It's the circle of life, and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, 'till we find our place, on the path unwinding. ~ Elton John,
954:That ominous sound heralded a new storm along the path that should have been near its end - a storm greater than any we had yet encountered. ~ Reki Kawahara,
955:The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it. ~ Barack Obama,
956:There is so much division in this world. So what is really the path of healing? It can begin in this moment, by embracing the life that`s here. ~ Tara Brach,
957:We are on the path toward becoming the Sparta of the 21st century, armed to the teeth and without the capacity to care for our own people. ~ Dennis Kucinich,
958:When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. ~ Confucius,
959:Who then can calculate the path of the molecule? how do we know that the creations of worlds are not determined by the fall of grains of sand? ~ Victor Hugo,
960:You might meet with many obstacles in your life. But if you are a true practitioner, you will use them as training grounds of the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
961:Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” —Yoda, Episode I: The Phantom Menace ~ Joshua P Warren,
962:For I must tell you that we artists cannot tread the path of Beauty without Eros keeping company with us and appointing himself as our guide. ~ Thomas E Mann,
963:If those who hold influence over others fail to lead toward the spiritual uplands, then surely the path to the lowlands will be well worn. ~ J Oswald Sanders,
964:Like one kissed by a goddess in a dream, he walked on air; and, while one is walking on air, it is easy to overlook the boulders in the path. ~ P G Wodehouse,
965:Oh you, straying heart, just come!
Oh you, aching liver, just come!
If the path to the gate is closed,
Take the way by the wall, but come! ~ Rumi,
966:The past does not have to be your prison. You have a voice in your destiny. You have a say in your life. You have a choice in the path you take. ~ Max Lucado,
967:There is no path to Happiness. Happiness is the path. There is no path to Love. Love is the path. There is no path to Peace. Peace is the path. ~ Dan Millman,
968:This is the book I never read ~ These are the words I never said ~ This is the path I'll never tread ~ These are the dreams I'll dream instead ~ Annie Lennox,
969:Animals we are, and animals we remain, and the path to our regeneration and happiness, if there be such a path, lies through our animal nature. ~ Dora Russell,
970:Do you want to eat Peyotl and human flesh on the path to spiritual enlightenment? Or just for the hell of it? Join the ancient cult of Anasazi. ~ Warren Ellis,
971:I don't think that nature envisaged an insurmountable mechanism that would hinder any country from taking the path of democratic development. ~ Garry Kasparov,
972:If the advice is simply to respect yourself and follow the path that you want to follow, that would be the best advice I could ever pass on. ~ Stephen Chbosky,
973:It's necessary when you follow the path of love to love those around you first. Desire tells us that we should have someone else in our life. ~ Frederick Lenz,
974:I want there to be an open and positive debate about the path the country will now take. Whatever the verdict of that debate I will respect it. ~ Michael Gove,
975:The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out.
There are brambles in the path? Then go around.
That’s all you need to know. — MARCUS AURELIUS ~ Ryan Holiday,
976:The first steps in the path of discovery, and the first approximate measures, are those which add most to the existing knowledge of mankind. ~ Charles Babbage,
977:What if stepping off the path isn't a sign you've gone wrong? What if it's a sign you were never meant to take that road in the first place? ~ Rachel Spangler,
978:Books are only made so that they may point the way to a higher life; but no good results unless the path is trodden with unflinching steps! ~ Swami Vivekananda,
979:Don't try to hold people to you, don't try to push them away. Let life do everything for you. This is the proper attitude on the path of love. ~ Frederick Lenz,
980:I was not alone in my experience—not alone anymore. The mere fact that another had walked where I was walking made the path easier for my feet. ~ D E Stevenson,
981:Let the powers that be warm the path you will tread; No journey’s harder than the one in your head. Amphibian, “Cloud Path,” Rainmaker ~ Patricia Perry Donovan,
982:Life has certain things planned. I find, for some people, it takes you places you don't want to go but the path leads to where you need to be. ~ Kristen Ashley,
983:My mind is evidently so constituted that I am subconsciously forced into the path of duty without recourse to tiresome mental processes. ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs,
984:Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
985:remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory. ~ J K Rowling,
986:The absolute truth cannot be realized within the domain of the ordinary mind, and the path beyond the ordinary mind is the path of the heart. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,
987:The path of peace is not a passive journey. It takes incredible strength not to open a can of 'whoop-ass', justifiably, when ones button is pushed. ~ T F Hodge,
988:To choose the path is to choose the destination, but sometimes it seems that the path is under our feet even before we know we're walking. ~ Richard Paul Evans,
989:But envy is negative and outer-directed, not driven from within, and so I knew that it wouldn’t carry us very far down the path to true renewal. ~ Satya Nadella,
990:Clarify your purpose. What is the why behind everything you do? When we know this in life or design it is very empowering and the path is clear. ~ Jack Canfield,
991:Come now, my child, if we were planning to harm you, do you think we'd be lurking here beside the path in the very darkest part of the forest? ~ Kenneth Patchen,
992:If I ever gave you the idea that 1958’s all Andy-n-Opie, remember the path, okay? The one lined with poison ivy. And the board over the stream. 2 ~ Stephen King,
993:I had considered myself some kind of genius and had considerably underestimated the toils and difficulties encountered along the path to an art. ~ Hermann Hesse,
994:My passion for maternal and child health led me to continue my studies and pursue the path of midwifery. And here I am now... still catching babies. ~ Robin Lim,
995:No society has gone the way of gulags or concentration camps by following the path of Spinoza and Einstein and Jefferson and Thomas Paine ~ Christopher Hitchens,
996:Or maybe it's not a miracle. Maybe this is just life. When you open yourself up to it. When you put yourself in the path of it. When you say yes. ~ Gayle Forman,
997:Seek the Wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being. ~ Jalaluddin Rumi #TuesdayMotivation #Wellness #TuesdayThoughts #Believe,
998:Some people are drawn to trouble. Some people, no matter how easy the path they are given on the walk of life, will find a way to mess it all up. ~ Harlan Coben,
999:the path that he followed being fixed for ever in his memory by the general excitement due to being in a strange place, to doing unusual things, ~ Marcel Proust,
1000:The Savior warns that if we start along the path and go far enough and then fail and deny Him, it would have been better if we had never begun. ~ Henry B Eyring,
1001:And when a damp Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand The thing became a trumpet; whence he blew Soul-animating strains,-alas! too few. ~ William Wordsworth,
1002:Brief is this existence, as a fleeting visit in a strange house,” he said. “The path to be pursued is poorly lit by a flickering consciousness. ~ Walter Isaacson,
1003:Do me a favor,” she said to the old man as they neared the path. “When you speak madness, do it in the other language. It’s less confusing that way. ~ K F Breene,
1004:Every obstacle must at first be put in the path of the aspiring artist. For it is only those whom you cannot discourage who are worth encouraging. ~ Harold Speed,
1005:Here is the last truth of Saints: We will always choose the path which brings us the most power.

I spread my arms, and let the wind tip me. ~ Cat Hellisen,
1006:High-risk, high-reward situations where the path to success isn’t laid out but has to be cut by machetes through a jungle filled with poison toads. ~ John Scalzi,
1007:Linc took the path along the river, looking for Kenzie. He’d sent the hikers on their way, map and all. Sometimes being nice didn’t seem worth it. ~ Janet Dailey,
1008:My favorite definition of the mindful path is the one the reveals itself as you walk down it. You cannot find the path until you step on to it. ~ Kelly McGonigal,
1009:No individual is alone responsible for a single stepping stone along the path of progress, and where the path is smooth progress is most rapid. ~ Ernest Lawrence,
1010:recognizing our shortcomings is a crucial first step on the path to making better decisions, creating better societies, and fixing our institutions. ~ Dan Ariely,
1011:The movement of the soul along the path of duty, under the influence of holy love to God, constitutes what we call good works. ~ Thomas Erskine 1st Baron Erskine,
1012:The soul that is the abode of chastity acquires an energy which enables her to surmount with ease the obstacles that lie along the path of duty. ~ Joseph Joubert,
1013:Ultimately one must abandon the path to enlightenment. If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, you are not a buddha yet. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche,
1014:Under the world view possessed by medieval scholars, the path of learning was a path of self-deprecation. ~ Richard Weaver (1948) Ideas have Consequences. p. 72.,
1015:A tingling in her spine warned her the path that lay ahead was dangerous, but her curiosity placated her, driving her onward against her instincts. ~ Kayla Krantz,
1016:Happiness means feeling you are on the right path every moment. You don't need to arrive at the end of the path in order to be happy.^ ~ Thich Nhat Hanh|happiness,
1017:In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path
in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive
resolves itself into crystal clearness. ~ Hal Elrod,
1018:Oh, there at last, life's trials past, / We'll meet our loved ones more, / Whose feet have trod the path to God, -- / Not lost, but gone before. ~ Caroline Norton,
1019:Some people, no matter how easy the path they are given on the walk of life, will find a way to mess it all up. Ray Levine was one of those people. ~ Harlan Coben,
1020:Thousands and thousands of incarnations and nothing to show for it. You must choose whether to follow the path of love or the path of attachment. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1021:And truth is malleable, something to be bent or stretched or made to disappear, but direct lies always find the path back to the one who tells them. ~ Karen Abbott,
1022:Consider this your permission to indulge that inner anarchist. Stop following the path you ought to take; follow instead the one you long to take. ~ David duChemin,
1023:Even if her eyes had been blinded and her legs shackled, she would not have lost her sense of direction. The path to freedom was carved in her heart. ~ Murray Pura,
1024:If you're on the path of right, and someone crosses it with wrong, you don't need to turn. Build a bridge over their path and continue on your way. ~ Richelle Mead,
1025:If you’re on the path of right, and someone crosses it with wrong, you don’t need to turn. Build a bridge over their path and continue on your way. ~ Richelle Mead,
1026:If you want to follow the path of love, it's a good idea to meditate on the heart chakra everyday. The heart chakra is in the center of the chest. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1027:The first path a human being ever travels is the path that leads out of the maternal womb. Every human being's first labyrinth is that of a woman. ~ Jacques Attali,
1028:The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alteration of old beliefs. ~ John Dewey,
1029:The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alternation of old beliefs. ~ John Dewey,
1030:The Path of Love is not a tedious Path. It's a Path of joy. It's a Path of singing and dancing. It's not a desert. It is a valley of flowers ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
1031:This is exactly why I can’t understand the path of vengeance. No matter how much someone has hurt me, I still find no pleasure in seeing them hurt. ~ Bella Forrest,
1032:Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective—doing less—is the path of the productive. ~ Timothy Ferriss,
1033:Follow the path of your aroused thought, and you will soon meet this infernal inscription: There is nothing so beautiful as that which does not exist. ~ Paul Val ry,
1034:He's the path lined with wildflowers, And I'm Red Riding Hood. I've been warned, but I just can't resist the blossom and perfume that calls me over. ~ Liz Reinhardt,
1035:I’d made some poor decisions last summer, but I was just thankful I’d ended up on the right path, the path that had brought me right here, with him. ~ Adriane Leigh,
1036:Ofttimes we cannot change the entire direction of a route already set in motion. But we can do our small part to shift the path one degree at a time. ~ Jody Hedlund,
1037:The human mind, in taking us down the path of technocracy, has become the adversary of life itself and collaterally the adversary of the human soul. ~ Konrad Lorenz,
1038:The path of the mighty beast was guided telepathically by the two people who sat in a huge saddle that was cinched to the thoat's broad back. ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs,
1039: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,
1040: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,
1041:Being different is awesome! All of those who are different are more interesting than those who are clamoring for acceptance because they follow the path. ~ Tony Hawk,
1042:Grammar, n. A system of pitfalls thoughtfully prepared for the feet of the self-made man, along the path by which he advances to distinction. ~ Ambrose Bierce,
1043:Constantly to seek the purpose of life is one of the odd escapes of man. If he finds what he seeks it will not be worth that pebble on the path. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti,
1044:If you don’t follow the path others want you to follow they might become irritated.  Don’t worry about it.  Let them be.  It’s their problem, not yours.  ~ Anonymous,
1045:In the long run, the war against mastery, the path of patient, dedicated effort without attachment to immediate results, is a war that can’t be won. ~ George Leonard,
1046:Like someone excitedly relating a story, only to find the words petering out, the path gets narrower the further I go, the undergrowth taking over. ~ Haruki Murakami,
1047:The Buddha said that if we know how to look deeply into our suffering and recognize its source of food, we are already on the path of emancipation. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
1048:The road to the Divine: always long, often dry in appearance, but always abundant in its results.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, The Path,
1049:The Work is something living in our hearts and minds. Follow the path, see what changes take place within you, and what light begins to dawn in you. ~ Maurice Nicoll,
1050:Brief is this existence, as a fleeting visit in a strange house,” he said. “The path to be pursued is poorly lit by a flickering consciousness.”2 He ~ Walter Isaacson,
1051:How will you find good? It is not a thing of choice; it is a river that flows from the foot of the Invisible Throne and flows by the path of obedience. ~ George Eliot,
1052:It's an odd feeling, knowing someone is trying to kill you. On the front line, you learn quickly that if you're in the path of a bullet, you will get hit. ~ Ross Kemp,
1053:Look down the road I’m traveling and you will see my goal; it’s there on the path. Probably closer than it appears. Life tends to roll that way. ~ Richelle E Goodrich,
1054:My faith teaches me that the path to join souls in love must of necessity involve a crucifixion, and I think there’s a metaphor in there for marriage. ~ Donald Miller,
1055:The path becomes dangerous not when the path becomes dangerous but when you lose your faith in your abilities to overcome any danger on your way! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1056:The path of specialization leads away from the ordinary and concrete acts of understanding in terms of which man actually lives his day-to-day life. ~ William Barrett,
1057:The subtle whispers, cues and nudges are there as guideposts, to gently carry the humble listener along the path back to the source and the true self. ~ Bryant McGill,
1058:You can increase your capacity to absorb the mystical kundalini. I have 3 or 4 students who are on the path of mysticism, they can absorb more of it. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1059:Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. (Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking.)1 —Antonio Machado (1875–1939) This ~ Julie Lythcott Haims,
1060:Knowing the path to follow doesn't make it a breeze to step along. If every desire were only a skip, hop, and a jump away, we'd all have arrived. ~ Richelle E Goodrich,
1061:Sometimes what’s meant to be isn’t written in the stars, instead it’s a journey on the path less travelled without a map of guidance, without certainty. ~ Kate Stewart,
1062:The journey is the destination. Finding the answers for yourself, achieving understanding, is part of your journey. There are no shortcuts along the path. ~ A G Riddle,
1063:The more we walk the path first while becoming last and least in our organizations, the more we become like the Alpha and Omega whom we long to serve. ~ Dan B Allender,
1064:The path to wisdom does, in fact, begin with a single step. Where people go wrong is in ignoring all the thousands of other steps that come after it. ~ Terry Pratchett,
1065:There are many ways to achieve developer happiness, but making your core business products a playground for developers seeking novelty is the path to hell. ~ Anonymous,
1066:Try to find the path of least resistance and use it without harming others. Live with integrity and morality, not only with people but with all beings. ~ Steven Seagal,
1067:What you need to know about me is that I always just wanted to be a country singer. I didn't choose the path of television or being on magazine covers. ~ Blake Shelton,
1068:When you follow the path of love you should feel that each one is perfect in their own right. While you can love others, never, ever, ever judge them. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1069:always place truth and service before pleasure. Sometimes even committed and one-pointed people avoid the path in pursuit of momentary pleasures. ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
1070:And just as a path that goes to a mountain does not cause the mountain, the path of practice leads us to this highest freedom, but does not cause it. ~ Joseph Goldstein,
1071:As I read the woods, I realize that if nothing interferes with the path of an object or a living thing, the possibilities of where it can go are many. ~ Tara Lynn Masih,
1072:Find canvases for other people to paint on. Be an anteambulo. Clear the path for the people above you and you will eventually create a path for yourself. ~ Ryan Holiday,
1073:Only a warrior can survive the path of knowledge because the art of the warrior is to balance the pain of being a man with the wonder of being a man. ~ Carlos Castaneda,
1074:The first method is that of a schemer and leads only to mediocre results; the other method is the path of genius and changes the face of the world. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte,
1075:The path is not difficult. It is very simple. If you are simple, it’s very simple. If you are all wound up, the path is very, very winding. That’s all it is. ~ Sadhguru,
1076:The path of duty lies in what is near, and men seek for it in what is remote; the work of duty lies in what is easy, and men seek for it in what is difficult. ~ Mencius,
1077:To be on a journey of the spirit and follow the path of any god requires either a rigidly inflexible adherence to dogma or a tremendous sense of humor; ~ Robert J Crane,
1078:Without a word to Pru, he stood and followed Josephine down the path out of the park, knowing that if she truly wanted him to, he’d follow her anywhere. ~ Toni Anderson,
1079:Amber leaned into Gavin. Could it be that simple? Could love be the glue that keeps us on the path of righteousness?

“Love is always the answer. ~ Catherine Bybee,
1080:A relapse doesn't mean you'll never walk down the path you prefer. But I think relapses are almost an inevitable part of any course of self-development. ~ Philippa Perry,
1081:As I enter on the path of happiness, I scatter the dregs and shreds and clippings of the past behind me. I divest myself of all the crapulous years. ~ William John Locke,
1082:Civilization is human rights, it is the path of setting man free from men, phobia, to survive it, we must cultivate the science of human relationships". ~ Audrey Hepburn,
1083:The way to Elfin is found on the path
That weaves through the Misty Forest
That lives between the Mountain of Vision
And the River of Reality ~ The Silver Elves,
1084:When you are doing things for the right reasons, you do not need to play by the rules, because there are no rules for a creator walking the path of love. ~ Bryant McGill,
1085:As far as the path of [Bill] Goldberg and all his ultimate success, I don't think any of that was planned. It was all organic. All of it was so different. ~ Bill Goldberg,
1086:I believe we are shown the path that is right as soon as we ask for it. Then we must live in the world and in some way express what we have learned. ~ Marianne Williamson,
1087:Part of comprehensive immigration reform is not just the path to citizenship for undocumented workers, but also the ability for families to be together. ~ Pramila Jayapal,
1088:Sometimes we lose our way for a reason. The path back to who we are can be fraught with danger, but it can make us stronger than any easy path ever would. ~ Shannon Mayer,
1089:The cost of freedom is always high, but people have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission. ~ John F Kennedy,
1090:The path is long, but self-surrender makes it short; the way is difficult, but perfect trust makes it easy. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Early Cultural Writings, The Real Difficulty,
1091:The Path is much like the experience of climbing a mountain. The climb is tough. But each time you stop to look around, the view becomes more spectacular. ~ Susan Jeffers,
1092:We shall perish
along the path of Love.
Fate will trample us. Yeah, tempting
young woman, get up and give me your lips
before I return to dust. ~ Omar Khayy m,
1093:You don’t ask any questions. You don’t get any answers. You don’t stray from the path. You don’t even think about what’s happening to you right now. Got it? ~ Neil Gaiman,
1094:Anything which is a hindrance to the fight of the soul is a delusion and a snare, even like the body which often does hinder you in the path of salvation. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
1095:At a certain stage in the path of devotion the religious man finds satisfaction in the Divinity with a form, at another stage in the formless Impersonal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
1096:For all that time walking the path I had wanted to break and run, but that way lies madness: you don't run from terror, not if you ever want to stop again. ~ Mark Lawrence,
1097:I believe that fate pushes in the direction we're supposed to go, but we have to chose how to go there. We get to choose the path that leads us to our fate. ~ Krista Lakes,
1098:It's like many other things in life, Ellie. You keep on the path and all's well. You get off it and the next thing you know you're lost if you're not lucky. ~ Stephen King,
1099:It tasted like salt and failure. The bright red shame of being unloved soaked the grass in front of our house, the bricks of the path, the steps to the porch. ~ E Lockhart,
1100:One of the most despicable religious fallacies is that suffering is ennobling, that it is a step on the path to some kind of enlightenment or salvation. ~ Aleksandar Hemon,
1101:The best way to get started on the path to sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning in front of others. ~ Austin Kleon,
1102:The Laws of Reasoning consist of the ground, the path, and the result. ...Suffering is in the mind. How we perceive happiness determines our suffering or not. ~ Dalai Lama,
1103:The path to solid, supportive, healthy relationships, self-respect, and a quality life starts with the usually painful decision to do the Right Thing. ~ Laura Schlessinger,
1104:When we finally allow ourselves to be with what we’d rather avoid—which is simply not feeling good—then our very drama becomes the path to freedom. ~ Ezra Bayda, Being Zen,
1105:Your yesterdays were the path that led you to this chapel, and your journey to a future of togetherness becomes a little clearer with each new day.” Travis ~ Jamie McGuire,
1106:At a certain stage in the path of devotion the religious man finds satisfaction in the Divinity with a form, at another stage in the formless Impersonal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
1107:At the end of all spiritual paths, there lies only a cold graveyard; the path of science is the only path that may give you something better than this! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1108:I don't know whether you can look at your past and find, woven like the hidden symbols on a treasure map, the path that will point to your final destination. ~ Jodi Picoult,
1109:I’m not sure why I began this,” she admitted. “But I know why I have to finish. I know why fate brought me here, why it placed me in the path of this prize. ~ Leigh Bardugo,
1110:In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. —MAHATMA GANDHI ~ Hal Elrod,
1111:Knowing your ignorance is far better than knowing what you know! Understanding the path and will of God is far better than mastering your own path. ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah,
1112:Once we determine in our souls that God’s glory is our goal, we then stop taking the path of least resistance and start taking the path of most glory to God ~ Mark Driscoll,
1113:The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no place in the endeavor of science. ~ Carl Sagan,
1114:Being on the path means we again meditate with joy. We deal with the suffering of life and the pain of existence without perfect enlightenment with a smile. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1115:He who has followed the path of love's initiation in the proper order will on arriving at the end suddenly perceive a marvelous beauty, the source of all our efforts ~ Plato,
1116:I have not permitted myself to be ignorant of any martial art that exists. Why? Such ignorance is a disgrace to someone who follows the path of the martial arts. ~ Mas Oyama,
1117:I run my own world, because I very firmly believe that my destiny, my future, is in my hands, and I don't want to blame anybody else for the path that I take. ~ Vijay Mallya,
1118:I think the path for a young writer might be one that says, "I have to accept myself, this is what I am. I can't eradicate my defects. I can work on them." ~ George Saunders,
1119:I will march on in the path of nature till my legs sink under me, and then I shall be at rest, and expire into that air which has given me my daily breath. ~ Marcus Aurelius,
1120:Many seek the path of judgment rather than the path of understanding. But how do you judge what you do not understand. And understanding, how can one then judge? ~ Anonymous,
1121:My house is basically a trailer. I live a circus lifestyle. I'm always moving. It's not always easy for people that live with me, but that's the path I chose. ~ Nicolas Cage,
1122:Outstanding examples of genius - a Mozart, a Shakespeare, or a Carl Friedrich Gauss - are markers on the path along which our species appears destined to tread. ~ Fred Hoyle,
1123:Parting is not an ending. Life is just the path ahead, so sometimes you leave things behind you.’ ‘No sentiment,’ said Ezra. ‘It was a journey and we walked it. ~ Dan Abnett,
1124:So much between us went unsaid; that is the danger, and beauty, of life without the cure. There is always wilderness and tangle, and the path is never clear. ~ Lauren Oliver,
1125:So much of the presidency is a matter of standing in the path of a Newsham Engine for Quenching Fires, opening one's mouth, and attempting to get a drink. ~ Thomas Jefferson,
1126:The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission. ~ John F Kennedy,
1127:There is a way beyond this life and beyond death, the path of liberation. In order to be liberated, you have to enter into the world of advanced meditation. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1128:The substantial uncertainty about the path of asset price movements going forward necessarily reduces the case for altering policy in advance of the move. ~ Timothy Geithner,
1129:Joy, it seemed, was a strange alchemy of mind over matter. The path to joy, like with sadness, did not lead away from suffering and adversity but through it. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
1130:No longer do we look outside of ourselves for solutions. We have seen where the path lies. All we require are the skillful means that will help us walk it. ~ Joseph Goldstein,
1131:So much of our time is preparation, so much is routine, and so much retrospect, that the path of each man's genius contracts itself to a very few hours. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson,
1132:The best way to get started on the path of sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning it in front of others. ~ Austin Kleon,
1133:The best way to get started on the path to sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning it in front of others. ~ Austin Kleon,
1134:The path of descent is the path of transformation. Darkness, failure, relapse, death, and woundedness are our primary teachers, rather than ideas or doctrines. ~ Richard Rohr,
1135:The path of nature is, indeed, a narrow one, and it is only the immortals that seek it, and, when they find it, do not find themselves cramped therein. ~ James Russell Lowell,
1136:Though people will say I was brave to do so, I will say it was the path I took back to life, for nothing eases one’s own pain more than to ease that of others. ~ Jodi Daynard,
1137:While trauma keeps us dumbfounded, the path out of it is paved with words, carefully assembled, piece by piece, until the whole story can be revealed. ~ Bessel A van der Kolk,
1138:Education is the way to move mountains, to build bridges, to change the world. Education is the path to the future. I believe that education is indeed freedom. ~ Oprah Winfrey,
1139:Funny how your life could be interrupted: You left a house expecting to come back, but then the path you were on took you left instead of around again to the right. ~ J R Ward,
1140:If companies give in to the tempting route of either bumping up the strategic price or cutting back on utility, they are not on the path to lucrative blue waters. ~ W Chan Kim,
1141:If we have access to nuclear energy, that adds to our maneuverability in ensuring energy security as India marches on, on the path to accelerated development. ~ Manmohan Singh,
1142:If you lose interest in the dharma, then you might be reborn in a place where you are unlikely to meet with the dharma. And then you're completely off the path. ~ Tenzin Palmo,
1143:I have always stuck to my guns about what I want from the work and what interests me. I've never been seduced down the evil path. The path of taking the money. ~ Joel Edgerton,
1144:I think of him now, ragged and lost, staggering across a desert, the path behind him littered with all the shiny little pieces that life has ripped from him. ~ Khaled Hosseini,
1145:To be mindful entails examining the path we are traveling & making choices that alleviate suffering & bring happiness to ourselves & those around us. ~ Allan Lokos,
1146:We're here to get to know and study ourselves. The path, the way to do that, our main vehicle, is going to be meditation, and some sense of general wakefulness. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
1147:Fear of the enemy, so this argument went, had been good for Rome; without any significant external threat, ‘the path of virtue was abandoned for that of corruption ~ Mary Beard,
1148:In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. —Mahatma Gandhi ~ Deepak Chopra,
1149:On the path of love we feel that if we love today, it's only because God is loving through us, because there is a special grace present with which we can love. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1150:The path I am trying so hard to follow is in fact the one that God my Father and His Son Jesus Christ want me to pursue. It has brought me deep happiness. ~ Clayton Christensen,
1151:The Path is not far from man. When men try to pursue a course, which is far from the common indications of consciousness, this course cannot be considered The Path. ~ Confucius,
1152:There is power in the keeping of a secret, and power in the revelation of a secret. Sometimes it takes very wise man to discern which is the path to greater power. ~ Robin Hobb,
1153:Vhalla was discovering that the path to being the person she wanted to be had no end point. There would always be room for her to adapt, to change, and to improve. ~ Elise Kova,
1154:"We're here to get to know and study ourselves. The path, the way to do that, our main vehicle,is going to be meditation, and some sense of general wakefulness." ~ Pema Chödrön,
1155:I give you a life for judgment,” he meowed. “ShadowClan stands at a place where the path ahead divides. Choose to follow the right path, for the good of your Clan. ~ Erin Hunter,
1156:Many spiritual teachers - in Buddhism, in Islam - have talked about first-hand experience of the world as an important part of the path to wisdom, to enlightenment. ~ Bell Hooks,
1157:Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.’” He joins in on the next line. “‘When in the morning light I wake, teach me the path of love to take. ~ Rick Yancey,
1158:Of course! The path to heaven doesn't lie down in flat miles. It's in the imagination with which you perceive this world, and the gestures with which you honor it. ~ Mary Oliver,
1159:The circumstances that provoke our first entry into the path are not the real index of the thing that is at work in us. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Faith and Shakti,
1160:Zen is a very quick path. Zen is the path of meditation. The word Zen means emptiness or fullness, meditation. Meditation is the quickest path to enlightenment. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1161:Frederick Douglas taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom, but reading is still the path. ~ Carl Sagan,
1162:Literature is a cake with many toys baked inside--and even if you find them all, if you don't enjoy the path that leads you to them, it will be a hollow accomplishment. ~ Cam ron,
1163:No one behind, no one ahead. The path the ancients cleared has closed. And the other path, everyone's path, easy and wide, goes nowhere. I am alone and find my way. ~ Octavio Paz,
1164:The path to contentment, then, is to stop comparing ourselves to these ideals. Stop judging ourselves. Let go of the ideals. And gradually learn to trust ourselves. ~ Leo Babauta,
1165:The path to rich(es) is a path of living below your means and investing in income-producing assets. Rich is more a function of discipline than how much you make. ~ Scott Galloway,
1166:There is a wide world out there, full of pain, but filled with joy as well. The former keeps you on the path of growth and the latter makes the journey tolerable. ~ R A Salvatore,
1167:The suppression of uncomfortable ideas
may be common in religion and politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no place
in the endeavor of science. ~ Carl Sagan,
1168:The world is a severe schoolmaster, for its frowns are less dangerous than its smiles and flatteries, and it is a difficult task to keep in the path of wisdom. ~ Phillis Wheatley,
1169:What is the use of going right over the old track again? There is an adder in the path which your own feet have worn. You must make tracks into the Unknown. ~ Henry David Thoreau,
1170:would have been better for them not to have accurately known the path of righteousness than after knowing it to turn away from the holy commandment they had received. ~ Anonymous,
1171:You take up the spiritual path only when you feel you cannot do otherwise. 27 October 1952
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Ways of Working of the Lord, The Path [29],
1172:As they passed into the woods, he took one last look behind, then checked the two pistols in his belt, and hurried down the path to freedom and ultimate redemption. ~ Tim Robinson,
1173:A stump loomed in front of them, splitting the path. They drifted apart, their clasped hands rising as it came between them.

"Hold on, " Laura said. "Hold on. ~ Brock Cole,
1174:Frederick Douglass taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom. But reading is still the path. ~ Carl Sagan,
1175:Funny how your life could be interrupted: You left a house expecting to come back, but then the path you were on took you left instead of around again to the right. How ~ J R Ward,
1176:I am a firm believer that God has already ordered the things that have taken place in my life...and I'm just learning to follow the path he's laid before me. ~ Monica Denise Brown,
1177:Have You Forgotten Me:::

have you forgotten me
or lost the path here?
i wait for you
all day, every day
but you do not appear.
~ Taigu Ryokan,
1178:Isn’t that what moments were all about? Small opportunities to direct the path chosen? To influence decisions and outcomes? To make a stand in how to move forward? ~ Steena Holmes,
1179:Knowing the path through the forest doesn't make the trip any less daunting. Knowing the steps to your dreams doesn't make the climb any less of a challenge. ~ Richelle E Goodrich,
1180:Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. ~ Gautama Buddha,
1181:Never be afraid to tread the path alone. Know which is your path and follow it wherever it may lead you; do not feel you have to follow in someone else's footsteps. ~ Eileen Caddy,
1182:Of course! the path to heaven doesn't lie down in flat miles. It's in the imagination with which you perceive this world, and the gestures with which you honor it. ~ Roger Housden,
1183:There are many ways to draw beautifully. It's important to let the drawing be an investigation and sometimes, in order to investigate, you need to go off the path. ~ Jacob Collins,
1184:When travelling, concentrate on the path! Don’t sleep! Don’t read! Just live the journey in full by observing the path instead of wandering in your own world! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1185:You can’t always visualize the path to victory from the sidelines, but once you’re in the game, it becomes clearer and clearer with every twist and turn. And, ~ Kirsten Gillibrand,
1186:For a long time, I’ve known that the key to getting started down the path of being remarkable in anything is to simply act with the intention of being remarkable. ~ Timothy Ferriss,
1187:So much between us went unsaid; that is the danger, and beauty, of life without the cure. There is always wilderness and tangle, and the path is never clear. Julian ~ Lauren Oliver,
1188:The easy, casual lies—those are a very dangerous thing. They open up the path to the bigger lies, in more important places, where the consequences aren’t so harmless. ~ James Comey,
1189:The heart of the path is quite easy. There's no need to explain anything at length. Let go of love and hate and let things be. That's all that I do in my own practice. ~ Ajahn Chah,
1190:The impulse of the Path was felt
Moving from the Silence that supports the stars
To touch the confines of the visible world. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Towards the Black Void,
1191:The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself, "It's a slip and not a fall. ~ Abraham Lincoln,
1192:When we speak of the Path we mean much more than a course of study. The Path is a way of life and on it the whole being must co-operate if the heights are to be won. ~ Dion Fortune,
1193:Whether we're on the path toward victory or defeat is determined by the very next choice we make. Not the choices from yesterday. Not the choices five minutes ago. ~ Lysa TerKeurst,
1194:A true work of art is the revelation of a new conception of life arising in the artist's soul, which, when expressed, lights up the path along with humanity progresses ~ Leo Tolstoy,
1195:I'll continue on the path I've been taking, feet on the ground, describing people's lives, describing people's emotions, writing from the standpoint of the ordinary people. ~ Mo Yan,
1196:Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of THE RELIGION, which is Oneness, so that each may choose the path that suits him best. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
1197:She wore moccasins, leggings a cloth skirt and a blanket around her shoulders, and she painted the part in the middle of her hair red to symbolize the path of the sun. ~ David Grann,
1198:The path to freedom is illuminated by the bridges you have burned, adorned by the ties you have cut, and cleared by the drama you have left behind. Let go. Be free. ~ Steve Maraboli,
1199:The way is dark, the path is not straight. Easy to get lost, if you don't know the way, easy to go in circles, easy to find yourself at the place from which you began. ~ Rick Yancey,
1200:...we confidently say that it's not worth trying to reach any conclusions merely because we decide to stop halfway along the path that would lead us straight to them. ~ Jos Saramago,
1201:When nothing upsets you, you are at the beginning of the path. When you desire nothing, you are halfway on the path; when nothing becomes everything, you are perfected. ~ Meher Baba,
1202:You know, Rose said, You're not the first man in history who thinks his cock is the path to wisdom. You're not the first man to make his hard-on into the Holy Grail. ~ Tom Spanbauer,
1203:Encountering sufferings will definitely contribute to the elevation of your spiritual practice, provided you are able to transform calamity and misfortune into the path. ~ Dalai Lama,
1204:From Santi's earthly tomb with demon's hole, 'Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold. The path of light is laid, the sacred test, Let angels guide you on your lofty quest. ~ Dan Brown,
1205:In the Buddha's life story we see the three stages of practice: Morality comes first, then concentrated meditation, and then wisdom. And we see that the path takes time. ~ Dalai Lama,
1206:Surely it's prudent to plan for different possibilities for the future. Shouldn't one have some sort of goal to work toward, even if the path they take is unknown? ~ Kerri Maniscalco,
1207:The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment. ~ Earl Nightingale,
1208:The path to the CEO's office should not be through the CFO's office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design. ~ Elon Musk,
1209:There is always a reason to live. The Gods will set you on the proper path. There is a deeper purpose to the path you have been set upon, one that has yet to reveal itself.
   ~ Sura,
1210:Though there is no playbook on how to navigate the path of life, if I do it with the grace and heart of the women before me, then I will have lived my life with honor. ~ Sejal Badani,
1211:We always have hoped that American diplomacy deploys itself in dialogue and persuasion rather than by ultimatums. That is the path we want in international relations. ~ Mahmoud Abbas,
1212:What is the meaning of Initiation? It is the Path to the realisation of your Self as the sole, the supreme, the absolute of all Truth, Beauty, Purity, Perfection! ~ Aleister Crowley,
1213:Without a moral framework, there is nothing left but immediate self-indulgence by some and the path of least resistance by others. Neither can sustain a free society. ~ Thomas Sowell,
1214:Brasley still drank too much and liked his women, but at least he paced himself now, walking the path to self-destruction instead of sprinting down it at full speed. ~ Victor Gischler,
1215:I find myself thinking about my ongoing existence as a human being and the path that lies ahead of me. Though of course these thoughts lead to but one place - death. ~ Haruki Murakami,
1216:I want to follow my heart. And if the path under my feet doesn’t take me in the same direction, I’ll cut a new path. I’ll shave my obstacles down into stepping stones. ~ Bella Forrest,
1217:On the path of love we don't feel we necessarily have control. In the yoga of love we feel it's only God who does everything. We can't breathe one breath without God. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1218:Renounce to the desire of possessing worldly things: this is the first step in the path of perfection; by mean of this absolute untie is how the passions can be fought. ~ Eliphas Levi,
1219:She would not go meekly to that fate. If the rest of her life was meant to be miserable and forlorn, at least she could choose the path that would take her there. ~ Victoria Alexander,
1220:The path of Zen is not easy. It's wonderful. It's beautiful beyond compare. You will experience more ecstasy and beauty than most people will in a thousand lifetimes. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1221:This became my own goal: not to be Warren Buffett, but to become a more authentic version of myself. As he had taught me, the path to true success is through authenticity. ~ Guy Spier,
1222:Yes," I say. "Three of these flying birds." I touch my collarbone, marking the path of their flight - toward my heart. One for each member of the family I left behind. ~ Veronica Roth,
1223:You are whole. You are valued. You are loved. I see your wholeness. I know your value. I love you, just the way you are. Welcome to the path of the Warrior Goddess. ~ HeatherAsh Amara,
1224:Happiness is the offspring of concentrated action. Excellence is achieved through the progressive realization of incremental goals along the path of your life's mission. ~ Robin Sharma,
1225:It could be my downfall, but I don't think it is - Hollywood is run on perception, and if you stray off the path of what you want to do with your career, it's suicide. ~ Charlie Hunnam,
1226:Let not the favourable moment pass thee by, for those who have suffered it to escape them, shall lament when they find themselves on the path which leads to the abyss. ~ Buddhist Texts,
1227:Literature is a cake with many toys baked inside--and even if you find them all, if you don't enjoy the path that leads you to them, it will be a hollow accomplishment. ~ Camron Wright,
1228:Not every one of our desires can be immediately gratified. We’ve got to learn to wait patiently for our dreams to come true, especially on the path we’ve chosen. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach,
1229:Paths you don’t use, houses you don’t use and even towns and cities you don’t use will be the path of nature, the house of nature, the town and the city of nature! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1230:Prayers and faith will not be enough, I’m afraid. The path of righteousness is often dangerous. Get ready, Vianne. This is only your first test. Learn from it.” Mother ~ Kristin Hannah,
1231:Stop looking for the path of least resistance and start running down the path of greatest glory to God and good to others, because that's what Jesus, the Real Man, did. ~ Mark Driscoll,
1232:The moment I began to understand what was going on with the treatment of animals, it led me more and more in the way of the path I am [on] now, which is a complete vegan. ~ Bryan Adams,
1233:The path of least resistance is a terrible teacher. We can’t afford to shy away from the things that intimidate us. We don’t need to take our weaknesses for granted. Are ~ Ryan Holiday,
1234:There are no rules. Nothing you can do will take you to liberation; therefore, nothing you avoid will help you along the path to liberation.. Everything is liberation. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1235:The United States has never been afraid of a challenge. In times of crisis, it is American innovation and ingenuity that has forged the path to progress and prosperity. ~ Diana DeGette,
1236:But the path of magic—like the path of life—is and always will be the path of Mystery. Learning something means coming into contact with a world of which we know nothing. ~ Paulo Coelho,
1237:children. Perhaps she would die in childbirth, perhaps she would die as an old woman, or in battle. But the path to her death, heartbeat by heartbeat, would be inevitable. ~ Neil Gaiman,
1238:I think books with weak or translucent plots can survive if the character being drawn along the path is rich, interesting and multi-faceted. The opposite is not true. ~ Michael Connelly,
1239:Not to tame the senses is to take the road of misery, to conquer them is to enter into the path of well-being. Let each choose of these two roads the one that pleases him. ~ Hitopadesha,
1240:[Statistics are] the only tools by which an opening can be cut through the formidable thicket of difficulties that bars the path of those who pursue the Science of Man. ~ Francis Galton,
1241:the essence of religion lies in the faculty of men of foreseeing and pointing out the path of life along which humanity must move in the discovery of a new theory of life, ~ Leo Tolstoy,
1242:The path to success consists of knowing your outcome, taking action, knowing what results you’re getting, and having the flexibility to change until you’re successful. ~ Anthony Robbins,
1243:The path to wholeness starts by loving yourself. It always starts there. If you love yourself, you will do whatever it takes to restore your health and happiness. ~ Dashama Konah Gordon,
1244:The preacher and the torch bearer are one and the same Both illuminate the path for others Yet remain in the dark forever

~ Bulleh Shah, The preacher and the torch bearer
,
1245:Those men and women who follow the path of the Perfect Matrimony finally gain the bliss of entering Nirvana, which is to be in oblivion of the world and men forever... ~ Samael Aun Weor,
1246:Those who feel the impulse to pursue the path of enlightenment should immediately take the step, and not defer it while they attend to all the other things on their mind. ~ Yoshida Kenk,
1247:To reprise language from the previous chapter, the solution isn’t algorithmic (following a set path) but heuristic (breaking from the path to discover a novel strategy). ~ Daniel H Pink,
1248:When I make my drawings... the path traced by my pencil on the sheet of paper is, to some extent, analogous to the gesture of a man groping his way in the darkness. ~ Alberto Giacometti,
1249:Yes, one must find one's dream, then the path becomes easy. But no dream lasts forever, each one is replaced by a new one, and you shouldn't try to hold onto any of them ~ Hermann Hesse,
1250:Bending, she kissed Glawen’s cheek. “Thank you for a lovely day.” “Wait!” cried Glawen. “Come back!” “I think not,” said Wayness, and ran off up the path to Riverview House. ~ Jack Vance,
1251:Give away your love, freely and without expectation. Give it away, and soon your life will be filled with love, and you will have set others on the path of love and peace. ~ John Robbins,
1252:It's tough to say, exactly, what things will look like in three to five years, but there's a lot of work to do in just moving along the path that we've already set out. ~ Mark Zuckerberg,
1253:Nonviolence is often the path of wisdom, but not always. Love and passive resistance are wonderfully effective weapons against some kinds of tyranny, but not against all. ~ Freeman Dyson,
1254:The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece. The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one. ~ M Scott Peck,
1255:The path between intention to watch a movie and the purchase of a ticket - I want to make it as short as possible. The holy grail is Amazon One Click. One tap and I own it. ~ Gerry Lopez,
1256:When I stand and contemplate my fate and see the path along which you have led me, I reach my end, for artless I surrendered to one who is my undoing and my end. ~ Gabriel Garc a M rquez,
1257:When I stand and contemplate my fate and see the path along which you have led me, I reach my end, for artless I surrendered to one who is my undoing and my end. ~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
1258:I felt like a rich vagabond who had passed through the world paving my way with gold fairy dust, then realizing too late that the path disintegrated as soon as I passed over it. ~ Amy Tan,
1259:I know now, from experience, that the path to joy winds through this dark valley. I think every well-adjusted human being has dealt squarely with his or her own depravity. ~ Donald Miller,
1260:In the scriptures you will find the way to realize God. But after getting all the information about the path, you must begin to work, Only then can you attain your goal. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
1261:I've always imagined that one day the path of your life would unroll at your feet and carry you away from us. As it should, as it must. But I am glad that day is not today. ~ Laini Taylor,
1262:So, even in the midst of craziness and exhaustion and a life-changing chaos,I was filled with peace and the sweet knowledge that I was walking the path my Goddess wanted me on. ~ P C Cast,
1263:The path of the bodhisattva-warrior WHEREVER we are, we can train as a warrior. The practices of meditation, loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity are our tools. ~ Pema Ch dr n,
1264:We embark unhesitatingly on the path, in a direction that is absolutely right and urgent, supported by everyone, in the knowledge that this path is but a learning process ~ Yehudi Menuhin,
1265:always remember that on the path to happiness, sometimes there are unexpected twists and turns... but that doesn't mean they aren't the perfect twists and turns for you. ~ Meg Cabot,
1266:A word grows to a thought – a thought to an idea – an idea to an act. The change is slow, and the Present is a sluggish traveler loafing in the path Tomorrow wants to take. ~ Beryl Markham,
1267:...if the path of least resistance does not lead to the nearest tangle tree, it leads to some equivalent disaster." ~ Piers AnthonyGood Magician Humphrey~ Piers Anthony ~ Piers Anthony,
1268:In order to arrive you must follow the signs. God inscribed on the world the path that each man must follow. It is just a matter of reading the inscription He wrote for you. ~ Paulo Coelho,
1269:Is he a psychopath? I don’t know. I don’t know what the definition is. Don’t know how far down the path of eating people you have to go before you officially become a psycho. ~ Sally Green,
1270:The path is long, but self-surrender makes it short; the way is difficult, but perfect trust makes it easy.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, Surrender to the Divine Will, Surrender,
1271:We need to stop and ask, “Can I realize my deepest aspiration if I pursue this path?” “What is really preventing me from taking the path I most deeply desire?” DEVELOPING ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,
1272:A person isn't born with the intelligence to be with someone especial, you learn it, and you fail in the path of life, but you don't have to give up the chance to love. ~ Gael Garcia Bernal,
1273:Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?’” Sabriel quoted, the words, redolent with echoes of Charter Magic, twining around her tongue like some lingering spice. ~ Garth Nix,
1274:I do not plan my fiction any more than I normally plan woodland walks; I follow the path that seems most promising at any given point, not some itinerary decided before entry. ~ John Fowles,
1275:If individuals start to walk on the path of spirit and feel a sense of the sacred connectedness, then social, economic and political problems will also begin to get resolved. ~ Satish Kumar,
1276:If the disciples had their eyes set on great prominence and high rewards in eternity, they had to know the path to that end is marked by great suffering and endurance. ~ John F MacArthur Jr,
1277:I think that you take the path of least resistance. And for a lot of people comedy is that path. I mean, even against mainstream, it's easier to sell a comedy than a drama. ~ Kevin Grevioux,
1278:The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it. Wishing you a great journey. ~ Kalpana Chawla,
1279: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. ~ Ed Catmull,
1280:What is bhaktiyoga? It is to keep the mind on God by chanting His name and glories. For the Kaliyuga the path of devotion is easiest. This is indeed the path for this age. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
1281:Whichever path you choose, always know how to quit this path, always know where the exit is because once realised that the path is wrong, it has to be left immediately! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1282:25     s Let your eyes look directly forward,         and your gaze be straight before you. 26     t Ponder [3] the path of your feet;          u then all your ways will be sure. ~ Anonymous,
1283:A man has to choose. This is where lies his strength: in the power of his decisions. If you choose to follow the path of your dreams, commit yourself to it. Accept your path. ~ Paulo Coelho,
1284:In the beginning of spiritual life one goes by a roundabout way. One has to suffer a great deal. But the path becomes very easy when ecstatic love is awakened in the heart. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
1285:It's funny about paths and rivers," he mused. "You see them go by, and suddenly you feel upset and want to be somewhere else--wherever the path or the river is going, perhaps. ~ Tove Jansson,
1286:Mystery is a genius teacher: It forces its students to think thoroughly and to ask many questions! The path of mystery gives you much more things than the path of known! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1287:No one behind, no one ahead.
The path the ancients cleared has closed.
And the other path, everyone's path,
easy and wide, goes nowhere.
I am alone and find my way. ~ Octavio Paz,
1288:People should find what approach really speaks to them, and then do it. Obviously, better with a good teacher, who can help you on the path. But in any case, basic principles. ~ Tenzin Palmo,
1289:The diffusion of a universalist culture and of a pedagogy of peace appears more than ever to be the path that we must follow for the salvation of all nations on earth. ~ Carlo Azeglio Ciampi,
1290:There is a wide world out there, my friend, full of pain, but filled with joy as well. The former keeps you on the path of growth, and the latter makes the journey tolerable. ~ R A Salvatore,
1291:Colossians 2:6 says, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” The path to salvation by faith travels down the way of repentance and we never leave that road. ~ James MacDonald,
1292:engaging with our grief is a form of self-nurturance and liberation from neediness. Paradoxically, to enter our wounded feelings fully places us on the path to healthy intimacy. ~ David Richo,
1293:On a cold winter day, the window of a warm house knows both the paradise inside and the hell outside! Any path knowing both the angel and the devil is the path of wisdom! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1294:Perhaps we'll never know how far the path can go, how much a human being can truly achieve, until we realize that the ultimate reward is not a gold medal but the path itself. ~ George Leonard,
1295:...putting your faith into action is not a passive exercise. You have to actively and willfully take the necessary steps to locate and move along the path God designed for you. ~ Nick Vujicic,
1296:Religion must be loved as a kind of country and nursing-mother. It was religion that nourished our virtues, that showed us heaven, that taught us to walk in the path of duty. ~ Joseph Joubert,
1297:the path isn’t always the one a girl has chosen, but the path they’re given. And when that path cracks and bleeds beneath her feet, it’s not the fall, it’s how she survives it. ~ Nashoda Rose,
1298:Trust your own instincts, go inside, follow your heart. Right from the start. go ahead and stand up for what you believe in. As I've learned, that's the path to happiness. ~ Lesley Ann Warren,
1299:When we have undermined the patriotic lie, we shall have cleared the path for the great structure where all shall be united into a universal brotherhood — a truly free society. ~ Emma Goldman,
1300:Action for Happiness encourages each of us to live more compassionately and put the happiness of others at the centre of our lives. This is the path to lasting peace and happiness ~ Dalai Lama,
1301:Choose the path that's right by you. Always. It may end in misery -a small price to pay. No amount of hardship compares to the emptiness of regret. Of never having lived at all. ~ Jenna Moreci,
1302:Condemn me if you choose - I do that myself, - but condemn me, and not the path which I am following, and which I point out to those who ask me where, in my opinion, the path is. ~ Leo Tolstoy,
1303:Fuck yeah!" She took a deep breath. "I mean—this is the path we must walk, for to reach light and wisdom one must first pass through darkness and despair. But also: Fuck yeah! ~ Daniel Arenson,
1304:If someone you love and care for is determined to traverse the path of despair, natural law obliges that they ‘will’ regardless of any and all efforts to redirect their lowly path. ~ T F Hodge,
1305:Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[*] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. ~ Anonymous,
1306:Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation. ~ Vladimir Putin,
1307:The path to artistic insight in one direction often involves deep study of another—the intuition makes uncanny connections that lead to a crystallization of fragmented notions. ~ Josh Waitzkin,
1308:There is always a countermove, always an escape or way through. No one said it would be easy and of course the stakes are high, but the path is there for those ready to take it. ~ Ryan Holiday,
1309:the true cost of anything is what we give up in order to have it. It is the path not taken. To take the responsibility of making the choice is crucial and not always easy. ~ Jean Shinoda Bolen,
1310:A good parent prepares the child for the path, not the path for the child. We can still demonstrate gentle and attached parenting without raising children who melt on a warm day. ~ Jen Hatmaker,
1311:Another step, my sisters,
My brothers,
My love.
The way is long, but we have each other.
Another mile,
Another tomorrow,
The path is cruel, but we are strong. ~ Mary E Pearson,
1312:Because the path of the righteous man was never supposed to be easy,' I whispered. 'Those who are chosen by the Lord are given a hard journey. The rewards will come later. ~ Alexandra Adornetto,
1313:Don't be deceived into thinking that by changing the external, the internal will be changed. It works the other way around; the path that needs changing is the one in your mind. ~ Susan Jeffers,
1314:For hundreds of years we have been told that the path to freedom from racial oppression lies in our virtue, that our humanity must be earned. We simply don’t deserve equality yet. ~ Ijeoma Oluo,
1315:How did yo do that?"
Ahmose titled his head. "Im am a pathfinder," he said simply.
"But that's not a path. It's a door."
"Yes. I found the path of weakness in the door. ~ Colleen Houck,
1316:In the following chapters, I will share empirically validated data demonstrating that the path to long-term success and well-being is often the opposite of what we’ve been taught. ~ Emma Sepp l,
1317:No man ever succeeded in this sadhana by his own merit. To become open and plastic to the Mother is the one thing needed. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - III, Difficulties of the Path - VII,
1318:Our vision is not always a function of our capability to see, it is our willingness to open up our inner eye to the limitless universe that lights up the path of our existence. ~ Subroto Bagchi,
1319:The past wasn't always the past. Sometimes, it was nothing more than a distorted spotlight illuminating your every step, no matter how beautiful the path in the present might be. ~ Aly Martinez,
1320:You are treading the path to your greatness: no one shall follow you here! Your passage has effaced the path behind you, and above that path stands written: Impossibility. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche,
1321:You know that you will reach your home in My perfect timing: not one moment too soon or too late. Let the hope of heaven encourage you, as you walk along the path of Life with Me. ~ Sarah Young,
1322:Eventually I saw that the path of the heart requires a full gesture, a degree of abandon that can be terrifying. Only then is it possible to achieve a sparkling metamorphosis. ~ Carlos Castaneda,
1323:How did yo do that?"
Ahmose titled his head. "Im am a pathfinder," he said simply.
"But that's not a path. It's a door."
"Yes. I found the path of weakness in the door. ~ Colleen Houck,
1324:I don't always know where this life is going. i can't see the end of the road, but here is the great part: courage is not about knowing the path. It is about taking the first step. ~ Katie Davis,
1325:If I could forgive, it meant I was a strong, good person who could take responsibility for the path I had chosen for myself, and all the consequences that accompanied that choice. ~ Piper Kerman,
1326:Religion holds a man back from the path, prevents his stepping forward, for various very plain reasons. First, it makes the vital mistake of distinguishing between good and evil. ~ Mabel Collins,
1327:Search me, O God, and know my heart;        test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you,        and lead me along the path of everlasting life. ~ Anonymous,
1328:See things for what they are. Do what we can. Endure and bear what we must. What blocked the path now is a path. What once impeded action advances action. The Obstacle is the Way. ~ Ryan Holiday,
1329:And it’s the only way I see forward for myself. I can carry around my bitterness forever, or I can open my heart once more to love and kindness. That’s the path I choose. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton,
1330:Is it always about the end and not about the beginning? Is it always about the conclusion and not about the path to it?" ...
"I'm tired of paths ... Sometimes they lead nowhere. ~ Carrie Ryan,
1331:People do not necessarily think and consider in a prescribed way before choosing the path they'll walk. For the most part they simply wander, at some point, into a different meadow. ~ Osamu Dazai,
1332:Sometimes the only option is to raise the stakes, to throw yourself the other way, to force your opponent further down the path they've chosen, further than they might want to go. ~ Mark Lawrence,
1333:Though I’ve been known to call business war without bullets, it’s actually a wonderful bulwark against war. Trade is the path of coexistence, cooperation. Peace feeds on prosperity. ~ Phil Knight,
1334:We can meet the obligations of Social security and Medicare. If we stay on the path that your party has us on, we'll be in a mountain range of debt and we're gonna face hard choices. ~ Mike Pence,
1335:Acting requires a lot of discipline to go with the obsession. It's a path of knowledge, and of self-knowledge. Sometimes you get lost on the path. And then you find yourself again. ~ Toni Servillo,
1336:God Lord, give me strength. Please keep the local firefighters away from me. Keep me out of the path of hardened abs and tall men in uniform, for they are bastards, one and all. Amen ~ Rosanna Leo,
1337:Moses gave us a law, but we received the true faith through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God or will ever see God, only his son, who is in the Father, has shown us the path of life. ~ Leo Tolstoy,
1338:The buddha called suffering a holy truth, because our suffering has the capacity of showing us the path to liberation. Embrace your suffering and let it reveal to you the way to peace. ~ Nhat Hanh,
1339:We are not spared death, but the power of death has been defeated. The grip of sin has been loosed. We are invited to share the victory, to follow the path of God back to life. ~ Rachel Held Evans,
1340:we try to describe the path from then to now, and in doing so select for our accounts the elements in a once indeterminate situation that appear to have led to the future outcome. ~ Bernard Bailyn,
1341:Although we have been made to believe that if we let go we will end up with nothing, life itself reveals again and again the opposite: that letting go is the path to real freedom. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,
1342:Externally keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall, you may enter into the Path. ~ Bodhidharma,
1343:How could sufferings be relieved through purification? To know the Path is to get lost at the ford. Indeed, sickness comes from worldly love And poverty begins with the pursuit of greed. ~ Wang Wei,
1344:I dont see lines of force as being destructive, except to the extent that they are exclusively traceable through observance of the path of distorted material left in their wake. ~ Brian Ferneyhough,
1345:I’ve searched for the path to God all my life— I know you have— —and now I’ve found it and I can’t believe it. It feels like I’m sitting here, writing this to myself. You are. ~ Neale Donald Walsch,
1346:My master's visualizations were so powerful their condensation into matter was mere signature. Donald Walters, formerly Kriyananda, author of The Path about his guru Yogananda. ~ Goswami Kriyananda,
1347:The path of progress is seldom smooth. New things are often found hard to do. Our fathers found them so. We find them so. But are we not made better for the effort and scarifice? ~ William McKinley,
1348:The Path of Thorns bears that name for a reason; it’s a prickly journey from apprentice to archmage, and few sorcerers survive the trip. The rick, however, makes the game worthwhile. ~ Phil Brucato,
1349:To follow the path to the end, one must be armed with a very patient endurance. ~ ~ The MotherTo follow the path to the end, one must be armed with a very patient endurance.The Mother.#SriAurobindo,
1350:Yet the evil still increased, and, like the parasite of barnacles on a ship, if it did not destroy the structure, it obstructed its fair, comfortable progress in the path of life. ~ William Banting,
1351:Externally keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall, you may enter into the Path. ~ Bodhidharma,
1352:Foreign Soil is dedicated to Australian fiction writers of colour: those who paved the path before me, and those for whom these clumsy feet will hopefully help smooth the way. ~ Maxine Beneba Clarke,
1353:I've attempted to flood the path with light where I could, and where I could not I've wanted at least to hold up a candle so that others coming this way might not stumble too painfully. ~ Jim Beaver,
1354:Pain is what makes you grow, it’s what makes you mature, it’s what helps lead you to the path you are meant to be on. If everything is good all the time, there would never be change. ~ Katie McGarry,
1355:The most difficult of decisions are often not the ones in which we cannot determine the correct course; rather the ones in which we are certain of the path but fear the journey. ~ Richard Paul Evans,
1356:The path of a cosmonaut is not an easy, triumphant march to glory. You have to get to know the meaning not just of joy but also of grief, before being allowed in the spacecraft cabin. ~ Yuri Gagarin,
1357:THE PATH OF PEACE is exceedingly vast, reflecting the grand design of the hidden and manifest worlds. A warrior is a living shrine of the divine, one who serves that grand purpose. ~ Morihei Ueshiba,
1358:They say that this century is going to be an Asian Century. I am very clear that without embracing the path and ideals shown by Gautam Buddha this century cannot be an Asian century! ~ Narendra Modi,
1359:This immediately involves us in a bigger picture question, too—one that’s deeply penetrating and personal: why do we desire to heighten our genius and pursue the path of greatness? We ~ Sean Patrick,
1360: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,
1361:I think the media plays into the hands of false induction, genuine seduction taking place, wrong deductions, and the inevitable reductions. That's the way and the path of the visual. ~ Ravi Zacharias,
1362:It is for this reason that Jesus left us the parable of the unfaithful servant, inviting us into a sincere fraternity in order that through it we could find the path of rehabilitation. ~ Chico Xavier,
1363:I walked past the stable and carriage house. The path took me cross the whole map of the world I knew. I hadn't yet seen the spinning globe in the house that showed the rest of it. p7 ~ Sue Monk Kidd,
1364:Reject the phony Patients' Bill of Rights....We don't have to continue down the path of socialized medical care, especially in America where free markets have provided so much for so many. ~ Ron Paul,
1365:You belong to the day and the light not to the night and the dark. + But the path of righteous people is like the light of dawn that becomes brighter and brighter until it reaches midday. ~ Anonymous,
1366:You have elected to follow this path you do not know. You have elected to follow the path because eternity has elected you. You will follow it is as long as eternity holds you to it. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1367:After a short silence the doctor raised himself a little in his chair and asked if Tarrou had an idea of the path to follow for attaining peace. "Yes, he replied. "The path of sympathy. ~ Albert Camus,
1368:It is not the road behind us that defines us. No, the path of our past only leads us to where we are today. The lanes before us are the journey of our own making, of our own choices. ~ Chelsea Camaron,
1369:Men may yearn for peace, cry for peace, and work for peace, but there will be no peace until they follow the path pointed out by the Living Christ. He is the true light of men's lives. ~ David O McKay,
1370:Most successful people chose the path and did the things in their own way, against all the rules and guidelines, but we are everyday told to follow the rules to be a successful person. ~ M F Moonzajer,
1371:One can easily forget his destination when walking in a marvellous path towards his destination! The attraction of the path can be much stronger than the attraction of the target! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1372:Overcome your uncertainties and free yourself from dwelling on sorrow. When you delight in existence, you will awaken, and become a guide to those in need, revealing the path to many. ~ Gautama Buddha,
1373:The Baron could see the path ahead of him. One day, a Harkonnen would be Emperor. Not himself, and no spawn of his loins. But a Harkonnen. Not this Rabban he’d summoned, of course. But ~ Frank Herbert,
1374:The same pattern appears again and again throughout the evolution of life. Indeed, one way to think about the path of evolution is as a continual exploration of the adjacent possible. ~ Steven Johnson,
1375:After the path of bones, the next sign was the odor. They made a game of trying to describe what it smelled like, and settled on “somebody cooking rotten eggs and broccoli in a microwave. ~ Scott Meyer,
1376:I walked back past the stable and carriage house. The path took me cross the whole map of the world I knew. I hadn’t yet seen the spinning globe in the house that showed the rest of it. ~ Sue Monk Kidd,
1377:Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use. ~ Carlos Castaneda,
1378:Sometimes people are lost because they’re too afraid to look at the path. Sometimes people avoid the road for fear of what might be on it. It’s easier to stand in the shadows and watch. ~ Rebekah Crane,
1379:That's at the core of equity: understanding who your kids are and how to meet their needs. You are still focused on outcomes, but the path to get there may not be the same for each one. ~ Pedro Noguera,
1380:Tour
Near a shrine in Japan he'd swept the path
and then placed camellia blossoms there.
Or -- we had no way of knowing -- he'd swept the path
between fallen camellias.
~ Carol Snow,
1381:What determines your success isn’t, “What do you want to enjoy?” The relevant question is, “What pain do you want to sustain?” The path to happiness is a path full of shitheaps and shame. ~ Mark Manson,
1382:When you stick to the path of Truth and Righteousness, pain and poverty haunt you. But they are only clouds passing through the sky, hiding for a little time, the splendor of the Sun. ~ Sathya Sai Baba,
1383:Comedies in Hollywood is usually the path of least resistance when it comes to being black in Hollywood and putting movies together. They would rather make us laugh than cry, in some respect. ~ Ice Cube,
1384:Depend upon it, after all, Thomas, Literature is the most noble of professions. In fact, it is about the only one fit for a man. For my own part, there is no seducing me from the path. ~ Edgar Allan Poe,
1385:Don't follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail. When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength and conviction, the only thing that can stop you is you! ~ Ruby Bridges,
1386:genius is a path that we can all take and derive much benefit, happiness, fulfillment, and success from...not a genetic windfall or divine gift. Ultimately, this is the path to greatness. ~ Sean Patrick,
1387:Keep your eyes open. Look at the world without prejudice, pay attention to your sources, and decide for yourself where the truth lies. That is the greatness of the path I'm offering you. ~ Javier Sierra,
1388:Look at the path, and do something. Follow the path, act. Only action will lead you, not thinking, because thinking goes on in the head, it can never become total. Only when you act, it is total. ~ Osho,
1389:Millions of Americans are standing up and saying, 'We want our country back!' Republicans, Democrats, Independents, will not go down the path of Greece, we will not go quietly into the night. ~ Ted Cruz,
1390:So Elena goes out. Can you see her? Over there, on the path by the fence made of wire and disoriented wooden rails. Now in the shadows of the juniper, now coming into the light. There. ~ Gregory Maguire,
1391:Tell him, on the contrary, that he needs, in the interest of his own happiness, to walk in the path of humility and self-control, and he will be indifferent, or even actively resentful. ~ Irving Babbitt,
1392:The speed and distance that you travel on the path is determined by the level of your courage to go in the opposite direction from what you have been doing since beginningless time. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
1393:Trust in that veiled hand, which leads
  None by the path that he would go;
  And always be for change prepared,
  For the world's law is ebb and flow.'
FROM THE ARABIC. ~ Elizabeth Gaskell,
1394:Lesotho is known as ‘The Kingdom Without Fences,’ but perhaps a more accurate description would be ‘The Kingdom Where Cattle are Allowed to Wander Freely into the Path of Oncoming Vehicles. ~ Peter Moore,
1395:Surrender is the path to freedom through our unique authenticity, where we experience the flow of life not through the narrow lens of the mind, but through the vast refuge of the heart. ~ Bryant H McGill,
1396:The law of honor: Go along only on the paths of honor. Fight, and never be a coward. Leave the path of infamy to others. Better to fall in an honorable fight than win by infamy. ~ Corneliu Zelea Codreanu,
1397:The mentor can be identified by four things: by restraining you from wrongdoing, guiding you towards good actions, telling you what you ought to know, and showing you the path to heaven. ~ Gautama Buddha,
1398:The whole world is in a process of progressive transformation; if you take up the discipline of Yoga, you speed up in yourself the process.
   ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, The Path of Yoga, Yoga,
1399:Choose a master, for without him this journey is full of tribulations, fears, and dangers. With no escort, you would be lost on a road you would have already taken. Do not travel alone on the Path. ~ Rumi,
1400:Education is unfolding the wings of head and heart together. The job of a teacher is to push the students out of the nest to strengthen their wings. ~ Amit Ray, Walking the Path of Compassion (2015) p. 62,
1401:How open, how free, how still it is here!" thought Kovrin, walking along the path. "And it feels as though all the world were watching me, hiding and waiting for me to understand it. . . . ~ Anton Chekhov,
1402:Medicine people are truly citizens of two worlds, and those who continue to walk the path of medicine power learn to keep their balance in both the ordinary and the non-ordinary worlds. ~ Paula Gunn Allen,
1403:But free will is what it means to be human, and no one can determine the path you take through this universe. Choice is our greatest right, our greatest gift-and our greatest responsibility. ~ Amie Kaufman,
1404:I cannot be defeated, because you are not my opponent. I cannot lose, because I am not fighting. And in the end, all I have to do to win is honor the path I have chosen and honor yours, too. ~ James A Owen,
1405:In the Upanishads they talk about the path of the sun and the path of the moon. The path of the moon is rebirth. The path of the sun leads to self-knowledge, from which there is no return. ~ Frederick Lenz,
1406:I started going to castings a few years ago when people didn't know who I was. People forget about [that time] because they've seen my career - the path that it's had in the last couple years. ~ Gigi Hadid,
1407:My car rounds the corner, riding the path to the body shop. When I spot Alex leaning on his motorcycle waiting for me in the parking lot, my pulse skips a beat.
Oh, boy. I’m in trouble. ~ Simone Elkeles,
1408:Today, I, too, wish to reaffirm that I intend to continue on the path toward improved relations and friendship with the Jewish people, following the decisive lead given by John Paul II. ~ Pope Benedict XVI,
1409:We should have but one desire today - the desire to die so that India may live - the desire to face a martyr's death, so that the path to freedom may be paved with the martyr's blood. ~ Subhas Chandra Bose,
1410:What determines your success isn’t, “What do you want to enjoy?” The relevant question is, “What pain do you want to sustain?” The path to happiness is a path full of shitheaps and shame. You ~ Mark Manson,
1411:For women there are, undoubtedly, great difficulties in the path, but so much the more to overcome. First, no woman should say, "I am but a woman!" But a woman! What more can you ask to be? ~ Maria Mitchell,
1412:The American people and American businesses are looking to the federal government to lead our nation on the path to economic recovery. It is time to stop splitting hairs. It is time to act. ~ Joseph Crowley,
1413:There are many days when all the awful things that happen make you sick at heart, when the path before you is so steep you can’t bear to look. Not even love can rescue a person from that. ~ Banana Yoshimoto,
1414:The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
1415:Transition is the natural process of disorientation and reorientation that marks the turning points in the path of growth...transitions are key times in the natural process of self-renewal ~ William Bridges,
1416:Whether we like it or not, we are all on a journey, a Quest if you will, every day of our lives, and the path we must take is full of perils, and our destiny can never be predicted in advance. ~ Alan Hirsch,
1417:After a short silence the doctor raised himself a little in his chair and asked if Tarrou had an idea of the path to follow for attaining peace.

"Yes, he replied. "The path of sympathy. ~ Albert Camus,
1418:Aikido is love. It is the path that brings our heart into oneness with the spirit of the universe to complete our mission in life by instilling in us a love and reverence for all of nature. ~ Morihei Ueshiba,
1419:Crisis is the path to happiness. Decay and disintegration do not spell doom, but ascent and beginning. The powerful forces of a new creation operate in the hush beyond the noise of the day. ~ Joseph Goebbels,
1420:Hard work is not the path to Well- Being. Feeling good is the path to Well-Being. You don't create through action; you create through vibration. And then, your vibration calls action from you. ~ Esther Hicks,
1421:If we're willing to give up hope that insecurity and pain can be eliminated, then we can have the courage to relax with the groundlessness of our situation. This is the first step on the path. ~ Pema Chodron,
1422:In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice…, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man. ~ Franklin D Roosevelt,
1423:...religious moderates are themselves the bearers of a terrible dogma: they imagine that the path to peace will be paved once each of us has learned to respect the unjustified beliefs of others. ~ Sam Harris,
1424:The path humans took through time was less the mythical arrow of progress, and more of a squiggle that doubled back on itself, curling and looping. A roller coaster designed by a drunkard. ~ Amy Rose Capetta,
1425:We all face a fundamental choice in our lives. Do we take the path prescribed by our “now you’re supposed to” society, or do we take our own path toward the life we feel we ought to be living? ~ Sean Patrick,
1426:We must pray for Nirvasana - freedom from desire. Desire is at the root of all sorrows, the cause of repeated births and deaths, and the main obstacle on the path of Liberation. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi,
1427:Your path is yours alone. And if it’s the path less traveled, that’s absolutely fine. The world doesn’t need more conformists. The world needs more people who create and question and search. ~ Laird Hamilton,
1428:Begin with bodhicitta, do the main practice without concepts,Conclude by dedicating the merit. These, together and complete,Are the three vital supports for progressing on the path to liberation. ~ Longchenpa,
1429:Fearlessness is also an essential prerequisite for attaining enlightenment. Great are those who are always fearless. To be completely free from all fears is one step on the path of enlightenment. ~ Swami Rama,
1430:Nellie looked into the forest and decided she was totally a city girl. It looked grim and foreboding. Her red hoodie seemed like an omen. "But Granny told me to never, ever stray off the path. ~ Sarwat Chadda,
1431:seemed to be the path of least destruction. “Yes, ma'am. Got it.” “That’s better.” The old woman wobbled over to a large roll-top desk. The top protested as it slid into the frame. She fumbled ~ Barbra Annino,
1432:THE RANGER’S VOW LOYAL, BRAVE, KIND AND TRUE— KEEPER OF THE OLD AND NEW— I GUARD THE WILD, DEFEND THE WEAK, MARK THE PATH, AND VIRTUE SEEK. FOREST SPIRITS HEAR ME NOW AS I SPEAK MY RANGER’S VOW. ~ John August,
1433:We must be prepared to leave behind on the path not only that which we stigmatise as evil, but that which seems to us to be good, yet is not the one good. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Renunciation,
1434:Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him the path to Paradise."

(reported by Ibn Majah and others, fulfilling the conditions of Imam al Bukhari and Imam Muslim) ~ Anonymous,
1435:Fate never promises to tell you everything up front. You aren't always shown the path in life you're supposed to take. But sometimes when you're really lucky, you meet someone with a map. ~ Sarah Addison Allen,
1436:Follow wise and intelligent men possessed of experience, patient and full of spirituality and elevation...Follow just and perfect men faithfully as the moon follows the path of the constellations. ~ Dhammapada,
1437:I aim to help the Germans and the Europeans successfully travel all the way down the path toward European integration, and I can do this more effectively if I don't commit myself to a party. ~ Hans Werner Sinn,
1438:It's interesting, winning an Academy Award as a young man... life-changing, but I'm just me within that. It's been very helpful for my career, but I'm trying to stay on the path I was on before. ~ Adrien Brody,
1439:We must find our way back to true nature. We must set ourselves to the task of revitalizing the earth. Regreening the earth, sowing seeds in the desert--that is the path society must follow. ~ Masanobu Fukuoka,
1440:You can enter yoga, or the path of yoga, only when you are totally frustrated with your own mind as it is. If you are still hoping that you can gain something through your mind, yoga is not for you. ~ Rajneesh,
1441:You must stay strong.” “By believing in God.” “Yes, of course, but not only by believing in God. Prayers and faith will not be enough, I’m afraid. The path of righteousness is often dangerous. ~ Kristin Hannah,
1442:Your natural inclination is to preach and to warn other travellers of snags in the path, but isn't it better to signal to them some of the joys by the way which they might otherwise miss? ~ Robert Baden Powell,
1443:Easy is the descent to hell; all night long, all day, the doors of dark Hades stand open; but to retrace the path; to come out again to the sweet air of Heaven - there is the task, there is the burden. ~ Virgil,
1444:For the Taoists, meaning is to be found on the border between the ever-entwined pair. To walk that border is to stay on the path of life, the divine Way. And that’s much better than happiness. ~ Jordan Peterson,
1445:The scriptures offer us so many doctrinal diamonds. And when the light of the Spirit plays upon their several facets, they sparkle with celestial sense and illuminate the path we are to follow. ~ Neal A Maxwell,
1446:Wanderer, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more; wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking. By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind one sees the path. . . ~ Antonio Machado,
1447:We all face a fundamental choice in our lives. Do we take the path prescribed by our “now you’re supposed to” society, or do we take our own path to toward the life we feel we ought to be living? ~ Sean Patrick,
1448:Aw, jeez…we adults are hopeless.

Because we have a little more experience we tend to look into the future.
And we try to push you toward the path that offers the least chance of failure. ~ Ayumi Komura,
1449:Freedom to me is a luxury of being able to follow the path of the heart, to keep the magic in your life. Freedom is necessary for me in order to create, and if I cannot create I don’t feel alive. ~ Joni Mitchell,
1450:In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth. ~ Mahatma Gandhi,
1451:It wasn't the tattoo that had changed her, had given her repossession of her body. It was her actions, her choices. It was finding the path when it looked like there weren't any paths to be found. ~ Melissa Marr,
1452:Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn't then it is of no use to us. ~ Carlos Castaneda,
1453:There is the path of karma, selfless action, the path of love and devotion, the path of training the mind and the path of Yoga, mantra and tantra this is what the various saints advocated. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi,
1454:The trance of unworthiness keeps the sweetness of belonging out of reach. The path to "the sweetness of belonging," is acceptance - acceptance of ourselves and acceptance of others without judgment. ~ Tara Brach,
1455:The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even ~ Liu Cixin,
1456:What could never be endured, it turned out, was the last swathe of time before sleep came, the path from larger day to huger night, a little death when the mind was still alive and fluttering. Thus ~ Martin Amis,
1457:When you find your way you cannot be scared. You need to be brave enough to take wrong steps. The deceptions, failures, lack of enthusiasm, are tools that God places in our way to reveal the path. ~ Paulo Coelho,
1458:For the Taoists, meaning is to be found on the border between the ever-entwined pair. To walk that border is to stay on the path of life, the divine Way. And that’s much better than happiness. ~ Jordan B Peterson,
1459:I am not forsaken! I'm no longer alone in the darkness! Before my eyes I see a thousand little devils lighting black candles along the path which leads toward the edge...the blindingly beautiful edge. ~ Susan Kay,
1460:The lame (as they say) in the path outstrip the swift who wander from it, and it is clear that the very skill and swiftness of him who runs not in the right direction must increase his aberration. ~ Francis Bacon,
1461:The path to enlightenment is really very simple - all we need to do is stop cherishing ourself and learn to cherish others. All other spiritual realisations will naturally follow from this. ~ Geshe Kelsang Gyatso,
1462:I sat down beside her, and she kicked her stocking feet into my lap. Sitting here like this was forbidden on the Compound. Because the path to hell was paved with friends touching each other’s feet. ~ Sarina Bowen,
1463:The world has written us off. Lots of our own Christian brothers and sisters have given up on us. But I have not given up. Not even close. And not only have I not given up, I can see the path back. ~ Matthew Kelly,
1464:a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you’re attempting can’t be done. A person ignorant of the possibility of failure can be a halfbrick in the path of the bicycle of history. As ~ Terry Pratchett,
1465:Do not bother to know how your mind is reacting to things around. And do not waste time in calculating and worrying over whether or not you are progressing in the path of spirituality. ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi,
1466:Even in the wood, there was a right road and a wrong one. All the most terrifying fairy tales inevitably began with some foolish innocent (or two) straying from the path. Then anything might happen. ~ Robert Dunbar,
1467:Finding oneself and one's path is like waking up on a foggy day. Be patient, and presently the fog will clear and that which has always been there can be seen. The path is already there to follow ~ Rasheed Ogunlaru,
1468:In my new book, 'Birth,' my goal is to share the path I have traveled in the spiritual sphere and in the business and philanthropic sphere in order to reveal the essential connection between the two. ~ Shari Arison,
1469:I slipped my arm beneath Betsie’s shoulders and half-carried her the final quarter-mile. At last the path ended and we lined up facing the single track, over a thousand women standing toe to heel. ~ Corrie ten Boom,
1470:It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are, without any self-deception or illusion, that a light will develop out of events, by which the path to success may be recognized. ~ Debbie Ford,
1471:It was a strange thing: one never appeared to take a step forward int he heart or mind of this man. Those who wished, so to speak, to force their way into intimacy with him found the path blocked. ~ Alexandre Dumas,
1472:Meditation is simply about being yourself and knowing about who that is. It is about coming to realize that you are on a path whether you like it or not, namely the path that is your life. - Jon Kabat ~ Howard Zinn,
1473:Of course! the path to heaven
doesn't lie down in flat miles.
It's in the imagination
with which you perceive
this world,
and the gestures
with which you honor it.
-from The Swan ~ Mary Oliver,
1474:All issues, therefore, must be resolved through dialogue and there can be no place for violence. Negativity and rejection cannot be the path for a vibrant country that is moving to seek its destiny. ~ Pratibha Patil,
1475:It would be very interesting to preserve photographically not the stages, but the metamorphoses of a picture. Possibly one might then discover the path followed by the brain in materializing a dream. ~ Pablo Picasso,
1476:One must climb the mountain so that freedom can be found at the top. But the self is already an illusion, and that truth can be glimpsed directly, at the mountain’s base or anywhere else along the path. ~ Sam Harris,
1477:Sometimes what we need from the Bible is not the fulfillment of our dream, but the swallowing up of our failed dream in the all-satisfying glory of Christ. We do not always know the path of deepest joy. ~ John Piper,
1478:The Course offers us the idea of forgiveness as our way to break the hold of the ego and to let the memory come to the surface. By forgiving the world we perceive, we will begin the path back to God. ~ Edwin Navarro,
1479:We all know we have a finite period of time. I just feel if I'm going to be alive, I want to be challenged - to be as immortal as possible. The path to that isn't an easy way, but it's a rewarding way. ~ Frank Ocean,
1480:You are in a prison of your own devising. Only when you allow yourself freedom of thought can you obtain freedom of mind. The path is before you, you just have to push through your fears to traverse it. ~ K F Breene,
1481:Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective - doing less - is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and ignore the rest. ~ Timothy Ferriss,
1482:I had to make a decision. The kind of choice that you only get to make once and you can't take back, and it makes your life totally different. And even if the path is clear, it's still deeply unsettling. ~ Hank Green,
1483:It’s still warm; there are clouds of midges under the trees and the sunshine is streaming through the leaves, bathing the path in an oddly subterranean light. Above our heads, magpies chatter angrily. ~ Paula Hawkins,
1484:I want to do more drama. Comedy is the path of least resistance for my company. People know we can do them. People know they get a good response. People want to make them. Who am I to push up against that? ~ Ice Cube,
1485:Our response to cruelty, suffering, and sorrow is to remind the world of the face of beauty, which can best restore a man's tranquility, cleanse his hear of evil, and lead him to the path of truth ~ Anita Amirrezvani,
1486:The best present for a child is to show him the path of having a courage! And what is this path? It is to show clearly that fear is nothing but a strong brake which either slows you or stops you! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan,
1487:The future of each of us is inter-connected and all of us should work together by following the path laid down by former leaders of the party for the development of the country and its brighter future. ~ Sonia Gandhi,
1488:To be on a journey of the spirit and follow the path of any god requires either a rigidly inflexible adherence to dogma or a tremendous sense of humor; rarely are both to be found in the same person. ~ Robert J Crane,
1489:We will also go wrong in our doctrine when we exalt ourselves and ignore our traditions. A little humility and awareness of our heritage will go a long way toward keeping us on the path of sound doctrine. ~ Anonymous,
1490:Who would have thought some doors only slammed shut temporarily; that when you turned to trudge away they could be flung open again, and love come pelting down the path, shouting for you to come back? ~ Alex Beecroft,
1491:You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth./The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. ~ Khalil Gibran,
1492:A successful life is an authentic life. Happiness and creativity rest on a foundation of transparency to yourself and others. Knowing your own heart and speaking clearly to others keep you on the path. ~ Gay Hendricks,
1493:Hardly that! The path to joy is paved in a sense of confidence and self-worth, a feeling that we have made the world a little bit better, perhaps, or that we fought on for our beliefs despite adversity ~ R A Salvatore,
1494:I must continue to follow the path I take now. If I do nothing, if I study nothing, if I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it - keep going, keep going come what may. ~ Vincent Van Gogh,
1495:In order to walk the path of the edge of the penknife the patience of the Saint Job is needed. In order to walk the path of the edge of the penknife the tenacity of the well tempered steel is needed. ~ Samael Aun Weor,
1496:It’s impossible to accurately predict the finish. Part of the reason it’s so difficult is that the path often radically changes by the time we get to the end. That’s certainly been the case in my own life. ~ Jon Acuff,
1497:My whole life, Ive wanted things before I was ready. I was always pushing for the next job, the next success. I was so focused on achieving and the path that I was missing some great point about life. ~ David Duchovny,
1498:There are no shortcuts in growing up. The path to maturity is long and arduous. Hurry is no virtue. There is no secret formula squirreled away that will make it easier or quicker. But stories help. ~ Eugene H Peterson,
1499:We can’t reimpose old myths on ourselves or believe in new ones made up out of a desire for comfort; therefore, the path of self-examination is the only one a person of conscience can reasonably follow. ~ Alan W Watts,
1500:And from Michael—as well as Damon, Will, and Kai—I learned to breathe fire. I learned to walk as if the path were carved for me and me alone, and to treat the world as if it should know I was coming. ~ Penelope Douglas,

IN CHAPTERS [300/995]



  397 Integral Yoga
  166 Poetry
   57 Occultism
   55 Yoga
   37 Philosophy
   36 Fiction
   24 Islam
   17 Psychology
   16 Christianity
   15 Mysticism
   11 Buddhism
   8 Sufism
   7 Theosophy
   6 Baha i Faith
   5 Mythology
   5 Education
   4 Kabbalah
   3 Zen
   3 Hinduism
   2 Science
   2 Cybernetics
   1 Thelema
   1 Philsophy
   1 Integral Theory
   1 Alchemy


  231 Sri Aurobindo
  198 The Mother
  103 Nolini Kanta Gupta
   80 Satprem
   46 Sri Ramakrishna
   31 Aleister Crowley
   24 Muhammad
   22 William Wordsworth
   20 H P Lovecraft
   19 Percy Bysshe Shelley
   12 Friedrich Schiller
   12 A B Purani
   11 Carl Jung
   10 Rudolf Steiner
   10 Friedrich Nietzsche
   8 Walt Whitman
   8 Robert Browning
   8 Aldous Huxley
   7 Rabindranath Tagore
   7 James George Frazer
   6 William Butler Yeats
   6 Swami Krishnananda
   6 John Keats
   6 Baha u llah
   5 Thubten Chodron
   5 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   5 Nirodbaran
   5 Bokar Rinpoche
   5 Anonymous
   4 Rabbi Moses Luzzatto
   4 Plato
   4 Kabir
   4 Jordan Peterson
   4 George Van Vrekhem
   4 Franz Bardon
   4 Alice Bailey
   4 Al-Ghazali
   3 Vyasa
   3 Saint Augustine of Hippo
   3 Plotinus
   3 Ovid
   3 Lucretius
   3 Li Bai
   3 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
   3 Jetsun Milarepa
   3 Hakim Sanai
   2 Swami Vivekananda
   2 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
   2 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
   2 Norbert Wiener
   2 Mahendranath Gupta
   2 Joseph Campbell
   2 Jorge Luis Borges
   2 Jean Gebser
   2 Hsuan Chueh of Yung Chia
   2 Henry David Thoreau
   2 Edgar Allan Poe
   2 Bodhidharma
   2 Abu-Said Abil-Kheir


   64 The Synthesis Of Yoga
   45 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
   24 Quran
   22 Wordsworth - Poems
   22 Questions And Answers 1956
   22 Magick Without Tears
   21 Letters On Yoga IV
   20 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
   20 Lovecraft - Poems
   19 Shelley - Poems
   19 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
   17 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
   16 Prayers And Meditations
   16 Letters On Yoga II
   15 Questions And Answers 1955
   14 Savitri
   14 Essays On The Gita
   13 The Life Divine
   13 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08
   12 Schiller - Poems
   12 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
   12 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
   12 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
   11 Questions And Answers 1953
   11 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
   10 Words Of Long Ago
   10 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
   10 On the Way to Supermanhood
   10 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
   10 Agenda Vol 01
   9 Thus Spoke Zarathustra
   9 The Secret Of The Veda
   9 Talks
   9 On Thoughts And Aphorisms
   9 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
   9 Collected Poems
   9 Agenda Vol 02
   8 Whitman - Poems
   8 The Perennial Philosophy
   8 The Bible
   8 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
   8 Questions And Answers 1954
   8 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
   8 Browning - Poems
   7 The Golden Bough
   7 On Education
   7 Liber ABA
   7 Knowledge of the Higher Worlds
   7 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
   7 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 06
   7 Agenda Vol 03
   7 A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah
   7 5.1.01 - Ilion
   6 Yeats - Poems
   6 The Study and Practice of Yoga
   6 The Secret Doctrine
   6 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
   6 Tagore - Poems
   6 Some Answers From The Mother
   6 Keats - Poems
   6 Agenda Vol 12
   6 Agenda Vol 09
   6 Agenda Vol 05
   5 Words Of The Mother II
   5 Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo
   5 The Practice of Psycho therapy
   5 Tara - The Feminine Divine
   5 How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator
   5 Agenda Vol 04
   4 Vedic and Philological Studies
   4 The Blue Cliff Records
   4 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
   4 The Alchemy of Happiness
   4 Preparing for the Miraculous
   4 Maps of Meaning
   4 General Principles of Kabbalah
   4 Essays Divine And Human
   4 A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
   4 Agenda Vol 10
   3 Vishnu Purana
   3 Theosophy
   3 The Lotus Sutra
   3 The Human Cycle
   3 The Book of Certitude
   3 Songs of Kabir
   3 Of The Nature Of Things
   3 Milarepa - Poems
   3 Metamorphoses
   3 Li Bai - Poems
   3 Letters On Yoga I
   3 Kena and Other Upanishads
   3 Isha Upanishad
   3 Initiation Into Hermetics
   3 City of God
   3 Agenda Vol 08
   2 Words Of The Mother I
   2 Walden
   2 The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma
   2 The Red Book Liber Novus
   2 The Hero with a Thousand Faces
   2 The Future of Man
   2 The Ever-Present Origin
   2 Selected Fictions
   2 Record of Yoga
   2 Poe - Poems
   2 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 04
   2 Mysterium Coniunctionis
   2 Letters On Poetry And Art
   2 Labyrinths
   2 Goethe - Poems
   2 Cybernetics
   2 Bodhidharma - Poems
   2 Amrita Gita
   2 Agenda Vol 07
   2 Agenda Vol 06
   2 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2E


0 0.01 - Introduction, #Agenda Vol 1, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  There is nothing more pious than the old species. There is nothing more legal. Mother was searching for The Path of the new species as much against all the virtues of the old as against all its vices or laws. For, in truth, 'Something Else' ... is something else.
  We landed there, one day in February 1954, having emerged from our Guianese forest and a certain number of dead-end peripluses; we had knocked upon all the doors of the old world before reaching that point of absolute impossibility where it was truly necessary to embark into something else or once and for all put a bullet through the brain of this slightly superior ape. The first thing that struck us was this exotic Notre Dame with its burning incense sticks, its effigies and its prostrations in immaculate white: a Church. We nearly jumped into the first train out that very evening, bound straight for the Himalayas, or the devil. But we remained near Mother for nineteen years. What was it, then, that could have held us there? We had not left Guiana to become a little saint in white or to enter some new religion. 'I did not come upon earth to found an ashram; that would have been a poor aim indeed,' She wrote in 1934. What did all this mean, then, this 'Ashram' that was already registered as the owner of a great spiritual business, and this fragile, little silhouette at the center of all these zealous worshippers? In truth, there is no better way to smother someone than to worship him: he chokes beneath the weight of worship, which moreover gives the worshipper claim to ownership. 'Why do you want to worship?' She exclaimed. 'You have but to become! It is the laziness to become that makes one worship.' She wanted so much to make them
  --
  'spiritual life': it was all so comfortable, for we had a supreme 'symbol' of it right there. She let us do as we pleased, She even opened up all kinds of little heavens in us, along with a few hells, since they go together. She even opened the door in us to a certain 'liberation,' which in the end was as soporific as eternity - but there was nowhere to get out: it WAS eternity. We were trapped on all sides. There was nothing left but these 4m2 of skin, the last refuge, that which we wanted to flee by way of above or below, by way of Guiana or the Himalayas. She was waiting for us just there, at the end of our spiritual or not so spiritual pirouettes. Matter was her concern. It took us seven years to understand that She was beginning there, 'where the other yogas leave off,' as Sri Aurobindo had already said twenty-five years earlier. It was necessary to have covered all The Paths of the Spirit and all those of Matter, or in any case a large number geographically, before discovering, or even simply understanding, that 'something else' was really Something Else. It was not an improved
  Spirit nor even an improved Matter, but ... it could be called 'nothing,' so contrary was it to all we know. For the caterpillar, a butterfly is nothing, it is not even visible and has nothing in common with caterpillar heavens nor even caterpillar matter. So there we were, trapped in an impossible adventure. One does not return from there: one must cross the bridge to the other side. Then one day in that seventh year, while we still believed in liberations and the collected Upanishads, highlighted with a few glorious visions to relieve the commonplace (which remained appallingly commonplace), while we were still considering 'the Mother of the Ashram' rather like some spiritual super-director (endowed, albeit, with a disarming yet ever so provocative smile, as though
  --
  This fabulous discovery is the whole story of the AGENDA. What is the passage? How is The Path to the new species hewed open? ... Then suddenly, there, on the other side of this old millennial habit - a habit, nothing more than a habit! - of being like a man endowed with time and space and disease: an entire geometry, perfectly implacable and 'scientific' and medical; on the other side ... none of that at all! An illusion, a fantastic medical and scientific and genetic illusion:
   death does not exist, time does not exist, disease does not exist, nor do 'scar' and 'far' - another way of being IN A BODY. For so many millions of years we have lived in a habit and put our own thoughts of the world and of Matter into equations. No more laws! Matter is FREE. It can create a little lizard, a chipmunk or a parrot - but it has created enough parrots. Now it is SOMETHING
  --
  It is the hour of the REAL Earth. It is the hour of the REAL man. We are all going there - if only we could know The Path a little ...
  This AGENDA is not even a path: it is a light little vibration that seizes you at any turning - and then, there it is, you are IN IT. 'Another world in the world,' She said. One has to catch the light little vibration, one has to flow with it, in a nothing that is like the only something in the midst of this great debacle. At the beginning of things, when still nothing was FIXED, when there was not yet this habit of the pelican or the kangaroo or the chimpanzee or the XXth century biologist, there was a little pulsation that beat and beat - a delightful dizziness, a joy in the world's great adventure; a little never-imprisoned spark that has kept on beating from species to species, but as if it were always eluding us, as if it were always over there, over there - as if it were something to become,

00.01 - The Approach to Mysticism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Furthermore, being so, the mystic domain is of infinitely greater potency than the domain of intra-atomic forces. If one comes, all on a sudden, into contact with a force here without the necessary preparation to hold and handle it, he may get seriously bruised, morally and physically. The adventure into the mystic domain has its own toll of casualtiesone can lose the mind, one can lose one's body even and it is a very common experience among those who have tried The Path. It is not in vain and merely as a poetic metaphor that the ancient seers have said
   Kurasya dhr niit duratyay1
  --
   Ignorance, certainly, is not man's ideal conditionit leads to death and dissolution. But knowledge also can be equally disastrous if it is not of the right kind. The knowledge that is born of spiritual disobedience, inspired by the Dark ones, leads to the soul's fall and its calvary through pain and suffering on earth. The seeker of true enlightenment has got to make a distinction, learn to separate the true and the right from the false and the wrong, unmask the luring Mra say clearly and unfalteringly to the dark light of Luciferapage Satana, if he is to come out into the true light and comm and the right forces. The search for knowledge alone, knowledge for the sake of knowledge, The Path of pure scientific inquiry and inquisitiveness, in relation to the mystic world, is a dangerous thing. For such a spirit serves only to encourage and enhance man's arrogance and in the end not only limits but warps and falsifies the knowledge itself. A knowledge based on and secured exclusively through the reason and mental light can go only so far as that faculty can be reasonably stretched and not infinitelyto stretch it to infinity means to snap it. This is the warning that Yajnavalkya gave to Gargi when the latter started renewing her question ad infinitum Yajnavalkya said, "If you do not stop, your head will fall off."
   The mystic truth has to be approached through the heart. "In the heart is established the Truth," says the Upanishad: it is there that is seated eternally the soul, the real being, who appears no bigger than the thumb. Even if the mind is utilised as an instrument of knowledge, the heart must be there behind as the guide and inspiration. It is precisely because, as I have just mentioned, Gargi sought to shoot uplike "vaulting ambition that o'erleaps itself" of which Shakespeare speaksthrough the mind alone to the highest truth that Yajnavalkya had to pull her up and give the warning that she risked losing her head if she persisted in her questioning endlessly.

00.01 - The Mother on Savitri, #Sweet Mother - Harmonies of Light, #unset, #Zen
  It may then be said that Savitri is a revelation, it is a meditation, it is a quest of the Infinite, the Eternal. If it is read with this aspiration for Immortality, the reading itself will serve as a guide to Immortality. To read Savitri is indeed to practice Yoga, spiritual concentration; one can find there all that is needed to realise the Divine. Each step of Yoga is noted here, including the secret of all other Yogas. Surely, if one sincerely follows what is revealed here in each line one will reach finally the transformation of the Supramental Yoga. It is truly the infallible guide who never abandons you; its support is always there for him who wants to follow The Path. Each verse of Savitri is like a revealed Mantra which surpasses all that man possessed by way of knowledge, and I repeat this, the words are expressed and arranged in such a way that the sonority of the rhythm leads you to the origin of sound, which is OM.
  My child, yes, everything is there: mysticism, occultism, philosophy, the history of evolution, the history of man, of the gods, of creation, of Nature. How the universe was created, why, for what purpose, what destiny - all is there. You can find all the answers to all your questions there. Everything is explained, even the future of man and of the evolution, all that nobody yet knows. He has described it all in beautiful and clear words so that spiritual adventurers who wish to solve the mysteries of the world may understand it more easily. But this mystery is well hidden behind the words and lines and one must rise to the required level of true consciousness to discover it. All prophesies, all that is going to come is presented with the precise and wonderful clarity. Sri Aurobindo gives you here the key to find the Truth, to discover the Consciousness, to solve the problem of what the universe is. He has also indicated how to open the door of the Inconscience so that the light may penetrate there and transform it. He has shown The Path, the way to liberate oneself from the ignorance and climb up to the superconscience; each stage, each plane of consciousness, how they can be scaled, how one can cross even the barrier of death and attain immortality. You will find the whole journey in detail, and as you go forward you can discover things altogether unknown to man. That is Savitri and much more yet. It is a real experience - reading Savitri. All the secrets that man possessed, He has revealed, - as well as all that awaits him in the future; all this is found in the depth of Savitri. But one must have the knowledge to discover it all, the experience of the planes of consciousness, the experience of the Supermind, even the experience of the conquest of Death. He has noted all the stages, marked each step in order to advance integrally in the integral Yoga.
  All this is His own experience, and what is most surprising is that it is my own experience also. It is my sadhana which He has worked out. Each object, each event, each realisation, all the descriptions, even the colours are exactly what I saw and the words, phrases are also exactly what I heard. And all this before having read the book. I read Savitri many times afterwards, but earlier, when He was writing He used to read it to me. Every morning I used to hear Him read Savitri. During the night He would write and in the morning read it to me. And I observed something curious, that day after day the experiences He read out to me in the morning were those I had had the previous night, word by word. Yes, all the descriptions, the colours, the pictures I had seen, the words I had heard, all, all, I heard it all, put by Him into poetry, into miraculous poetry. Yes, they were exactly my experiences of the previous night which He read out to me the following morning. And it was not just one day by chance, but for days and days together. And every time I used to compare what He said with my previous experiences and they were always the same. I repeat, it was not that I had told Him my experiences and that He had noted them down afterwards, no, He knew already what I had seen. It is my experiences He has presented at length and they were His experiences also. It is, moreover, the picture of Our joint adventure into the unknown or rather into the Supermind.
  These are experiences lived by Him, realities, supracosmic truths. He experienced all these as one experiences joy or sorrow, physically. He walked in the darkness of inconscience, even in the neighborhood of death, endured the sufferings of perdition, and emerged from the mud, the world-misery to brea the the sovereign plenitude and enter the supreme Ananda. He crossed all these realms, went through the consequences, suffered and endured physically what one cannot imagine. Nobody till today has suffered like Him. He accepted suffering to transform suffering into the joy of union with the Supreme. It is something unique and incomparable in the history of the world. It is something that has never happened before, He is the first to have traced The Path in the Unknown, so that we may be able to walk with certitude towards the Supermind. He has made the work easy for us. Savitri is His whole Yoga of transformation, and this Yoga appears now for the first time in the earth-consciousness.
  And I think that man is not yet ready to receive it. It is too high and too vast for him. He cannot understand it, grasp it, for it is not by the mind that one can understand Savitri. One needs spiritual experiences in order to understand and assimilate it. The farther one advances on The Path of Yoga, the more does one assimilate and the better. No, it is something which will be appreciated only in the future, it is the poetry of tomorrow of which He has spoken in The Future Poetry. It is too subtle, too refined, - it is not in the mind or through the mind, it is in meditation that Savitri is revealed.
  And men have the audacity to compare it with the work of Virgil or Homer and to find it inferior. They do not understand, they cannot understand. What do they know? Nothing at all. And it is useless to try to make them understand. Men will know what it is, but in a distant future. It is only the new race with a new consciousness which will be able to understand. I assure you there is nothing under the blue sky to compare with Savitri. It is the mystery of mysteries. It is a *super-epic,* it is super-literature, super-poetry, super-vision, it is a super-work even if one considers the number of lines He has written. No, these human words are not adequate to describe Savitri. Yes, one needs superlatives, hyperboles to describe it. It is a hyper-epic. No, words express nothing of what Savitri is, at least I do not find them. It is of immense value - spiritual value and all other values; it is eternal in its subject, and infinite in its appeal, miraculous in its mode and power of execution; it is a unique thing, the more you come into contact with it, the higher will you be uplifted. Ah, truly it is something! It is the most beautiful thing He has left for man, the highest possible. What is it? When will man know it? When is he going to lead a life of truth? When is he going to accept this in his life? This yet remains to be seen.

00.03 - Upanishadic Symbolism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Now, as regards the interpretation of the story cited, should not a suspicion arise naturally at the very outset that the dog of the story is not a dog but represents something else? First, a significant epithet is given to itwhite; secondly, although it asks for food, it says that Om is its food and Om is its drink. In the Vedas we have some references to dogs. Yama has twin dogs that "guard The Path and have powerful vision." They are his messengers, "they move widely and delight in power and possess the vast strength." The Vedic Rishis pray to them for Power and Bliss and for the vision of the Sun1. There is also the Hound of Heaven, Sarama, who comes down and discovers the luminous cows stolen and hidden by the Panis in their dark caves; she is The Path-finder for Indra, the deliverer.
   My suggestion is that the dog is a symbol of the keen sight of Intuition, the unfailing perception of direct knowledge. With this clue the Upanishadic story becomes quite sensible and clear and not mere abracadabra. To the aspirant for Knowledge came first a purified power of direct understanding, an Intuition of fundamental value, and this brought others of the same species in its train. They were all linked together organically that is the significance of the circle, and formed a rhythmic utterance and expression of the supreme truth (Om). It is also to be noted that they came and met at dawn to chant, the Truth. Dawn is the opening and awakening of the consciousness to truths that come from above and beyond.
  --
   III. The Path of the Fathers and The Path of the Gods
   One is an ideal in and of the world, the other is an ideal transcending the world. The Path of the Fathers (Pityna) enjoins the right accomplishing of the dharma of Lifeit is The Path of works, of Karma; it is the line of progressive evolution that, man follows through the experience of life after life on earth. The Path of the Gods (Devayna) runs above life's evolutionary course; it lifts man out of the terrestrial cycle and places him in a superior consciousness it is The Path of knowledge, of Vidya.4 The Path of the Fathers is the soul's southern or inferior orbit (dakiyana, aparrdha); The Path of the Gods is the northern or superior orbit (uttaryaa, parrdha)The former is also called the Lunar Path and the latter the Solar Path.5 For the moon represents the mind,6 and is therefore, an emblem that befits man so long as he is a mental being and pursues a dharma that is limited by the mind; the sun, on the other hand, is the knowledge and consciousness that is beyond the mindit is the eye of the Gods.7
   Man has two aspects or natures; he dwells in two worlds. The first is the manifest world the world of the body, the life and the mind. The body has flowered into the mind through the life. The body gives the basis or the material, the life gives power and energy and the mind the directing knowledge. This triune world forms the humanity of man. But there is another aspect hidden behind this apparent nature, there is another world where man dwells in his submerged, larger and higher consciousness. To that his soul the Purusha in his heart only has access. It is the world where man's nature is transmuted into another triune realitySat, Chit and Ananda.
   The one, however, is not completely divorced from the other. The apparent, the inferior nature is only a preparation for the real, the superior nature. The Path of the Fathers concerns itself with man as a mental being and seeks so to ordain and accomplish its duties and ideals as to lead him on to The Path of the Gods; the mind, the life, and the body consciousness should be so disciplined, educated, purified, they should develop along such a line and gradually rise to such a stage as to make them fit to receive the light which belongs to the higher level, so allowing the human soul imbedded in them to extricate itself and pass on to the Immortal Life.
   And they who are thus lifted up into the Higher Orbit are freed from the bondage to the cycle of rebirth. They enjoy the supreme Liberation that is of the Spirit; and even when they descend into the Inferior Path, it is to work out as free agents, as vehicles of the Divine, a special purpose, to bring down something of the substance and nature of the Solar reality into the lower world, enlighten and elevate the lower, as far as it is allowed, into the higher.
  --
   The three fires are named elsewhere Garhapatya, Dakshina, and Ahavaniya.9 They are the three tongues of the one central Agni, that dwells secreted in the hearth of the soul. They manifest as aspirations that flame up from the three fundamental levels of our being, the body, the life and the mind. For although the spiritual consciousness is the natural element of the soul and is gained in and through the soul, yet, in order that man may take possession of it and dwell in it consciously, in order that the soul's empire may be established, the external being too must respond to the soul's impact and yearn for its truth in the Spirit. The mind, the life and the body which are usually obstructions in The Path, must discover the secret flame that is in them tooeach has his own portion of the Soul's Fireand mount on its ardent tongue towards the heights of the Spirit.
   Garhapatya is the Fire in the body-consciousness, the fire of Earth, as it is sometimes called; Dakshina is the Fire of the moon or mind, and Ahavaniya that of life.10 The earthly fire is also the fire of the sun; the sun is the source of all earth's heat and symbolises at the same time the spiritual light manifested in the physical consciousness. The lunar fire is also the fire of the stars, the stars, mythologically, being the consorts or powers of the moon and they symbolise, in Yogic experience, the intuitive thoughts. The fire of the life-force has its symbol in lightning, electric energy being its vehicle.

00.05 - A Vedic Conception of the Poet, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The poet is a trinity in himself. A triune consciousness forms his personality. First of all, he is the Knower-the Seer of the Truth, kavaya satyadrara. He has the direct vision, the luminous intelligence, the immediate perception.12 A subtle and profound and penetrating consciousness is his,nigam, pracetas; his is the eye of the Sun,srya caku.13 He secures an increased being through his effulgent understanding.14 In the second place, the Poet is not only Seer but Doer; he is knower as well as creator. He has a dynamic knowledge and his vision itself is power, ncak;15 he is the Seer-Will,kavikratu.16 He has the blazing radiance of the Sun and is supremely potent in his self-Iuminousness.17 The Sun is the light and the energy of the Truth. Even like the Sun the Poet gives birth to the Truth, srya satyasava, satyya satyaprasavya. But the Poet as Power is not only the revealer or creator,savit, he is also the builder or fashioner,ta, and he is the organiser,vedh is personality. First of all, he is the Knower-the Seer of the Truth, kavaya satyadrara, of the Truth.18 As Savita he manifests the Truth, as Tashta he gives a perfected body and form to the Truth, and as Vedha he maintains the Truth in its dynamic working. The effective marshalling and organisation of the Truth is what is called Ritam, the Right; it is also called Dharma,19 the Law or the Rhythm, the ordered movement and invincible execution of the Truth. The Poet pursues The Path of the Right;20 it is he who lays out The Path for the march of the Truth, the progress of the Sacrifice.21 He is like a fast steed well-yoked, pressing forward;22 he is the charger that moves straight and unswerving and carries us beyond 23into the world of felicity.
   Indeed delight is the third and the supremely intimate element of the poetic personality. Dear and delightful is the poet, dear and delightful his works, priya, priyi His hand is dripping with sweetness,kavir hi madhuhastya.24 The Poet-God shines in his pristine beauty and is showering delight.25 He is filled with utter ecstasy so that he may rise to the very source of the luminous Energy.26? Pure is the Divine Joy and it enters and purifies all forms as it moves to the seat of the Immortals.27Indeed this sparkling Delight is the Poet-Seer and it is that that brings forth the creative word, the utterance of Indra.28

0.00a - Introduction, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  For example, Keser is called "The Admirable or the Hidden Intelligence; it is the Primal Glory, for no created being can attain to its essence." This seems perfectly all right; the meaning at first sight seems to fit the significance of Keser as the first emanation from Ain Soph. But there are half a dozen other similar attri butions that would have served equally well. For instance, it could have been called the "Occult Intelligence" usually attri buted to the seventh Path or Sephirah, for surely Keser is secret in a way to be said of no other Sephirah. And what about the "Absolute or Perfect Intelligence." That would have been even more explicit and appropriate, being applicable to Keser far more than to any other of The Paths. Similarly, there is one attri buted to the 16th Path and called "The Eternal or Triumphant Intelligence," so-called because it is the pleasure of the Glory, beyond which is no Glory like to it, and it is called also the Paradise prepared for the Righteous." Any of these several would have done equally well. Much is true of so many of the other attri butions in this particular area-that is the so-called Intelligences of the Sepher Yetzirah. I do not think that their use or current arbitrary usage stands up to serious examination or criticism.
  A good many attri butions in other symbolic areas, I feel are subject to the same criticism. The Egyptian Gods have been used with a good deal of carelessness, and without sufficient explanation of motives in assigning them as I did. In a recent edition of Crowley's masterpiece Liber 777 (which au fond is less a reflection of Crowley's mind as a recent critic claimed than a tabulation of some of the material given piecemeal in the Golden Dawn knowledge lectures), he gives for the first time brief explanations of the motives for his attri butions. I too should have been far more explicit in the explanations I used in the case of some of the Gods whose names were used many times, most inadequately, where several paths were concerned. While it is true that the religious coloring of the Egyptian Gods differed from time to time during Egypt's turbulent history, nonetheless a word or two about just that one single point could have served a useful purpose.
  --
  The last chapter of A Garden deals with the Way of Return. It used almost entirely Crowley's concept of The Path as described in his superb essay "One Star in Sight." In addition to this, I borrowed extensively from Lawrence's Apropos. Somehow, they all fitted together very nicely. In time, all these variegated notes were incorporated into the text without acknowledgment, an oversight which I now feel sure would be forgiven, since I was only twenty-four at the time.
  Some modern Nature-worshippers and members of the newly-washed and redeemed witch-cult have complimented me on this closing chapter which I entitled 'The Ladder." I am pleased about this. For a very long time I was not at all familiar with the topic of witchcraft. I had avoided it entirely, not being attracted to its literature in any way. In fact, I only became slightly conversant with its theme and literature just a few years ago, after reading "The Anatomy of Eve" written by Dr. Leopold Stein, a Jungian analyst. In the middle of his study of four cases, he included a most informative chapter on the subject. This served to stimulate me to wider reading in that area.

0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
   corners of the temple compound are two nahabats, or music towers, from which music flows at different times of day, especially at sunup, noon, and sundown, when the worship is performed in the temples. Three sides of the paved courtyard — all except the west — are lined with rooms set apart for kitchens, store-rooms, dining-rooms, and quarters for the temple staff and guests. The chamber in the northwest angle, just beyond the last of the Siva temples, is of special interest to us; for here Sri Ramakrishna was to spend a considerable part of his life. To the west of this chamber is a semicircular porch overlooking the river. In front of the porch runs a foot-path, north and south, and beyond The Path is a large garden and, below the garden, the Ganges. The orchard to the north of the buildings contains the Panchavati, the banyan, and the bel-tree, associated with Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual practices. Outside and to the north of the temple compound proper is the kuthi, or bungalow, used by members of Rani Rasmani's family visiting the garden. And north of the temple garden, separated from it by a high wall, is a powder-magazine belonging to the British Government.
   --- SIVA
  --
   The Path of the Vedantic discipline is The Path of negation, "neti", in which, by stern determination, all that is unreal is both negated and renounced. It is The Path of jnana, knowledge, the direct method of realizing the Absolute. After the negation of everything relative, including the discriminating ego itself, the aspirant merges in the One without a Second, in the bliss of nirvikalpa samadhi, where subject and object are alike dissolved. The soul goes beyond the realm of thought. The domain of duality is transcended. Maya is left behind with all its changes and modifications. The Real Man towers above the delusions of creation, preservation, and destruction. An avalanche of indescribable Bliss sweeps away all relative ideas of pain and pleasure, good and evil. There shines in the heart the glory of the Eternal Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Knower, knowledge, and known are dissolved in the Ocean of one eternal Consciousness; love, lover, and beloved merge in the unbounded Sea of supreme Felicity; birth, growth, and death vanish in infinite Existence. All doubts and misgivings are quelled for ever; the oscillations of the mind are stopped; the momentum of past actions is exhausted. Breaking down the ridge-pole of the tabernacle in which the soul has made its abode for untold ages, stilling the body, calming the mind, drowning the ego, the sweet joy of Brahman wells up in that superconscious state. Space disappears into nothingness, time is swallowed in eternity, and causation becomes a dream of the past. Only Existence is. Ah! Who can describe what the soul then feels in its communion with the Self?
   Even when man descends from this dizzy height, he is devoid of ideas of "I" and "mine"; he looks on the body as a mere shadow, an outer sheath encasing the soul. He does not dwell on the past, takes no thought for the future, and looks with indifference on the present. He surveys everything in the world with an eye of equality; he is no longer touched by the infinite variety of phenomena; he no longer reacts to pleasure and pain. He remains unmoved whether he — that is to say, his body — is worshipped by the good or tormented by the wicked; for he realizes that it is the one Brahman that manifests Itself through everything. The impact of such an experience devastates the body and mind. Consciousness becomes blasted, as it were, with an excess of Light. In the Vedanta books it is said that after the experience of nirvikalpa samadhi the body drops off like a dry leaf. Only those who are born with a special mission for the world can return
  --
   Without being formally initiated into their doctrines, Sri Ramakrishna thus realized the ideals of religions other than Hinduism. He did not need to follow any doctrine. All barriers were removed by his overwhelming love of God. So he became a Master who could speak with authority regarding the ideas and ideals of the various religions of the world. "I have practised", said he, "all religions — Hinduism, Islam, Christianity — and I have also followed The Paths of the different Hindu sects. I have found that it is the same God toward whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths. You must try all beliefs and traverse all the different ways once. Wherever I look, I see men quarrelling in the name of religion — Hindus, Mohammedans, Brahmos, Vaishnavas, and the rest. But they never reflect that He who is called Krishna is also called Siva, and bears the name of the Primal Energy, Jesus, and Allah as well — the same Rama with a thousand names. A lake has several ghats. At one the Hindus take water in pitchers and call it 'jal'; at another the Mussalmans take water in leather bags and call it pani'. At a third the Christians call it 'water'. Can we imagine that it is not 'jal', but only 'pani' or 'water'? How ridiculous! The substance is One under different names, and everyone is seeking the same substance; only climate, temperament, and name create differences. Let each man follow his own path. If he sincerely and ardently wishes to know God, peace be unto him! He will surely realize Him."
   In 1867 Sri Ramakrishna returned to Kamarpukur to recuperate from the effect of his austerities. The peaceful countryside, the simple and artless companions of his boyhood, and the pure air did him much good. The villagers were happy to get back their playful, frank, witty, kind-hearted, and truthful Gadadhar, though they did not fail to notice the great change that had come over him during his years in Calcutta. His wife, Sarada Devi, now fourteen years old, soon arrived at Kamarpukur. Her spiritual development was much beyond her age and she was able to understand immediately her husband's state of mind. She became eager to learn from him about God and to live with him as his attendant. The Master accepted her cheerfully both as his disciple and as his spiritual companion. Referring to the experiences of these few days, she once said: "I used to feel always as if a pitcher full of bliss were placed in my heart. The joy was indescribable."
  --
   ^The word is generally used in the text to denote one devoted to God, a worshipper of the Personal God, or a follower of The Path of love. A devotee of Sri Ramakrishna is one who is devoted to Sri Ramakrishna and follows his teachings. The word "disciple", when used in connexion with Sri Ramakrishna, refers to one who had been initiated into spiritual life by Sri Ramakrishna and who regarded him as his guru.
   --- THE MASTER'S METHOD OF TEACHING
  --
   Through all this fun and frolic, this merriment and frivolity, he always kept before them the shining ideal of God-Consciousness and The Path of renunciation. He prescribed ascents steep or graded according to the powers of the climber. He permitted no compromise with the basic principles of purity. An aspirant had to keep his body, mind, senses, and soul unspotted; had to have a sincere love for God and an ever mounting spirit of yearning. The rest would be done by the Mother.
   His disciples were of two kinds: the householders, and the young men, some of whom were later to become monks. There was also a small group of women devotees.
  --
   But to the young men destined to be monks he pointed out the steep path of renunciation, both external and internal. They must take the vow of absolute continence and eschew all thought of greed and lust. By the practice of continence, aspirants develop a subtle nerve through which they understand the deeper mysteries of God. For them self-control is final, imperative, and absolute. The sannyasis are teachers of men, and their lives should be totally free from blemish. They must not even look at a picture which may awaken their animal passions. The Master selected his future monks from young men untouched by "woman and gold" and plastic enough to be cast in his spiritual mould. When teaching them The Path of renunciation and discrimination, he would not allow the householders to be anywhere near them.
   --- RAM AND MANOMOHAN
  --
   Mahimacharan and Pratap Hazra were two devotees outstanding for their pretentiousness and idiosyncrasies. But the Master showed them his unfailing love and kindness, though he was aware of their shortcomings. Mahimacharan Chakravarty had met the Master long before the arrival of the other disciples. He had had the intention of leading a spiritual life, but a strong desire to acquire name and fame was his weakness. He claimed to have been initiated by Totapuri and used to say that he had been following The Path of knowledge according to his guru's instructions. He possessed a large library of English and Sanskrit books. But though he pretended to have read them, most of the leaves were uncut. The Master knew all his limitations, yet enjoyed listening to him recite from the Vedas and other scriptures. He would always exhort Mahima to meditate on the meaning of the scriptural texts and to practise spiritual discipline.
   Pratap Hazra, a middle-aged man, hailed from a village near Kamarpukur. He was not altogether unresponsive to religious feelings. On a moment's impulse he had left his home, aged mother, wife, and children, and had found shelter in the temple garden at Dakshineswar, where he intended to lead a spiritual life. He loved to argue, and the Master often pointed him out as an example of barren argumentation. He was hypercritical of others and cherished an exaggerated notion of his own spiritual advancement. He was mischievous and often tried to upset the minds of the Master's young disciples, criticizing them for their happy and joyous life and asking them to devote their time to meditation. The Master teasingly compared Hazra to Jatila and Kutila, the two women who always created obstructions in Krishna's sport with the gopis, and said that Hazra lived at Dakshineswar to "thicken the plot" by adding complications.
  --
   Sarat's soul longed for the all-embracing realization of the Godhead. When the Master inquired whether there was any particular form of God he wished to see, the boy replied that he would like to see God in all the living beings of the world. "But", the Master demurred, "that is the last word in realization. One cannot have it at the very outset." Sarat stated calmly: "I won't be satisfied with anything short of that. I shall trudge on along The Path till I attain that blessed state." Sri Ramakrishna was very much pleased.
   --- HARINATH

0.00 - The Book of Lies Text, #The Book of Lies, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
    O thou that settest out upon The Path, false is the
     Phantom that thou seekest. When thou hast it
  --
    O thou that stridest upon the middle of The Path, no
     phantoms mock thee. For the stride's sake thou
  --
    O thou that drawest toward the End of The Path,
     effort is no more. Faster and faster dos thou fall;
  --
    Gimel is The Path leading from Tiphareth to Kether, uniting
    Microprosopus and Macroprosopus, i.e. performing the Great
  --
    work, any digression from The Path.
                  [121]
  --
     The "moon-pool of silver" is The Path of Gimel,
    leading from Tiphareth to Kether; the "flames of violet"
  --
  since gimel is The Path that leads from the Microcosm in tiphareth to the
  Macrocosm in Kether.
  --
  to be a bundle of impressions. For this is the point on The Path of Gimel when
  he is actually crossing the Abyss; the student must consult the account of this
  --
   (36) Death is said by the Arabs to ride a Camel. The Path of Gimel (which
  means a Camel) leads from Tiphareth to Kether, and its Tarot trump
  --
    your whole energies to progress on The Path.
                  [175]

0.01 - Life and Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  God. Therefore we see in India that a sharp incompatibility has been created between life in the world and spiritual growth and perfection, and although the tradition and ideal of a victorious harmony between the inner attraction and the outer demand remains, it is little or else very imperfectly exemplified. In fact, when a man turns his vision and energy inward and enters on The Path of Yoga, he is popularly supposed to be lost inevitably to the great stream of our collective existence and the secular effort of humanity. So strongly has the idea prevailed, so much has it been emphasised by prevalent philosophies and religions that to escape from life is now commonly considered as not only the necessary condition, but the general object of Yoga. No synthesis of Yoga can be satisfying which does not, in its aim, reunite God and Nature in a liberated and perfected human life or, in its method, not only permit but favour the harmony of our inner and outer activities and experiences in the divine consummation of both. For man is precisely that term and symbol of a higher Existence descended into the material world in which it is possible for the lower to transfigure itself and put on the nature of the higher and the higher to reveal itself in the forms of the lower. To avoid the life which is given him for the realisation of that possibility, can never be either the indispensable condition or the whole and ultimate object of his supreme endeavour or of his most powerful means of self-fulfilment. It can only be a temporary necessity under certain conditions or a specialised extreme effort imposed on the individual so as to prepare a greater general possibility for the race. The true and full object and utility of Yoga can only be accomplished when the conscious
  Yoga in man becomes, like the subconscious Yoga in Nature, outwardly conterminous with life itself and we can once more, looking out both on The Path and the achievement, say in a more perfect and luminous sense: "All life is Yoga."
  

0.02 - II - The Home of the Guru, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   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.
   ***

0.04 - The Systems of Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Maya, the phenomenal consciousness. So it is able to arrive at its right identification with the pure and unique Self which is not mutable or perishable, not determinable by any phenomenon or combination of phenomena. From this point The Path, as ordinarily followed, leads to the rejection of the phenomenal worlds from the consciousness as an illusion and the final immergence without return of the individual soul in the Supreme.
  But this exclusive consummation is not the sole or inevitable result of The Path of Knowledge. For, followed more largely and with a less individual aim, the method of Knowledge may lead to an active conquest of the cosmic existence for the Divine no less than to a transcendence. The point of this departure is the realisation of the supreme Self not only in one's own being but in all beings and, finally, the realisation of even the phenomenal aspects of the world as a play of the divine consciousness and not something entirely alien to its true nature. And on the basis of this realisation a yet further enlargement is possible, the conversion of all forms of knowledge, however mundane, into activities of the divine consciousness utilisable for the perception of the one and unique Object of knowledge both in itself and through the play of its forms and symbols. Such a method might well lead to the elevation of the whole range of human intellect
  The Systems of Yoga
  --
  But here too the exclusive result is not inevitable. The end of The Path may be, equally, a perception of the Divine in all energies, in all happenings, in all activities, and a free and unegoistic participation of the soul in the cosmic action. So followed it will lead to the elevation of all human will and activity to the divine level, its spiritualisation and the justification of the cosmic labour towards freedom, power and perfection in the human being.
  We can see also that in the integral view of things these three paths are one. Divine Love should normally lead to the perfect knowledge of the Beloved by perfect intimacy, thus becoming a path of Knowledge, and to divine service, thus becoming a path of Works. So also should perfect Knowledge lead to perfect

0.05 - Letters to a Child, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  not be apparent. Certainly The Path of yoga is a very difficult
  one, and you should not expect to reap its fruits after only three

0.05 - The Synthesis of the Systems, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Thirdly, the divine Power in us uses all life as the means of this integral Yoga. Every experience and outer contact with our world-environment, however trifling or however disastrous, is used for the work, and every inner experience, even to the most repellent suffering or the most humiliating fall, becomes a step on The Path to perfection. And we recognise in ourselves with opened eyes the method of God in the world, His purpose of light in the obscure, of might in the weak and fallen, of delight in what is grievous and miserable. We see the divine method to be the same in the lower and in the higher working; only in the one it is pursued tardily and obscurely through the subconscious in
  Nature, in the other it becomes swift and self-conscious and the instrument confesses the hand of the Master. All life is a Yoga of Nature seeking to manifest God within itself. Yoga marks the stage at which this effort becomes capable of self-awareness and therefore of right completion in the individual. It is a gathering up and concentration of the movements dispersed and loosely combined in the lower evolution.

0.06 - Letters to a Young Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  shed light on The Path and guide the uncertain footsteps?
  My darling Mamma, I want to lead a pure life and I shall

0.08 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  the difficulties and sufferings of The Path are not real, but a
  creation of human ignorance, and that as soon as one gets out
  --
  The yoga of knowledge is The Path that leads to the Divine
  through the exclusive pursuit of the pure and absolute Truth.
  The yoga of devotion is The Path that leads to union with
  the Divine through perfect, total and eternal love.

0.09 - Letters to a Young Teacher, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  of thy soul's answer"6 before following The Path of Yoga,
  or else the end will be a disaster. But how can we know if
  --
  and sets out on The Path; it does not allow itself to be deceived by
  any ambition, pride or desire, and so long as it does not receive
  the Divine command to take up The Path, it waits patiently,
  The Hour of God and Other Writings, SABCL, Vol. 17, p. 39.

01.01 - A Yoga of the Art of Life, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   It is not my purpose here to enter into details as to the exact meaning of the descent, how it happens and what are its lines of activity and the results brought about. For it is indeed an actual descent that happens: the Divine Light leans down first into the mind and begins its purificatory work therealthough it is always the inner heart which first recognises the Divine Presence and gives its assent to the Divine action for the mind, the higher mind that is to say, is the summit of the ordinary human consciousness and receives more easily and readily the Radiances that descend. From the Mind the Light filters into the denser regions of the emotions and desires, of life activity and vital dynamism; finally, it gets into brute Matter itself, the hard and obscure rock of the physical body, for that too has to be illumined and made the very form and figure of the Light supernal. The Divine in his descending Grace is the Master-Architect who is building slowly and surely the many-chambered and many-storeyed edifice that is human nature and human life into the mould of the Divine Truth in its perfect play and supreme expression. But this is a matter which can be closely considered when one is already well within the mystery of The Path and has acquired the elementary essentials of an initiate.
   Another question that troubles and perplexes the ordinary human mind is as to the time when the thing will be done. Is it now or a millennium hence or at some astronomical distance in future, like the cooling of the sun, as someone has suggested for an analogy. In view of the magnitude of the work one might with reason say that the whole eternity is there before us, and a century or even a millennium should not be grudged to such a labour for it is nothing less than an undoing of untold millenniums in the past and the building of a far-flung futurity. However, as we have said, since it is the Divine's own work and since Yoga means a concentrated and involved process of action, effectuating in a minute what would perhaps take years to accomplish in the natural course, one can expect the work to be done sooner rather than later. Indeed, the ideal is one of here and nowhere upon this earth of material existence and now in this life, in this very bodynot hereafter or elsewhere. How long exactly that will mean, depends on many factors, but a few decades on this side or the other do not matter very much.

01.01 - Sri Aurobindo - The Age of Sri Aurobindo, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Apart from the well-recognised fact that only in distress does the normal man think of God and non-worldly things, the real matter, however, is that the inner life is a thing apart and follows its own line of movement, does not depend upon, is not subservient to, the kind of outer life that one may happen to live under. The Bible says indeed, "Blessed are the poor, blessed are they that mourn"... But the Upanishad declares, on the other hand, that even as one lies happily on a royal couch, bathes and anoints himself with all the perfumes of the world, has attendants all around and always to serve him, even so, one can be full of the divine consciousness from the crown of the head to the tip of his toe-nail. In fact, a poor or a prosperous life is in no direct or even indirect ratio to a spiritual life. All the miseries and immediate needs of a physical life do not and cannot detain or delay one from following The Path of the ideal; nor can all your riches be a burden to your soul and overwhelm it, if it chooses to walk onit can not only walk, but soar and fly with all that knapsack on its back.
   If one were to be busy about reforming the world and when that was done then alone to turn to other-worldly things, in that case, one would never take the turn, for the world will never be reformed totally or even considerably in that way. It is not that reformers have for the first time appeared on the earth in the present age. Men have attempted social, political, economic and moral reforms from times immemorial. But that has not barred the spiritual attempt or minimised its importance. To say that because an ideal is apparently too high or too great for the present age, it must be kept in cold storage is to set a premium on the present nature of humanity arid eternise it: that would bind the world to its old moorings and never give it the opportunity to be free and go out into the high seas of larger and greater realisations.

01.01 - The One Thing Needful, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
    This is a slow and difficult process; the road is long and it is hard to establish even the necessary basis. The old existing nature resists and obstructs and difficulties rise one after another and repeatedly till they are overcome. It is therefore necessary to be sure that this is The Path to which one is called before one finally decides to tread it.

01.01 - The Symbol Dawn, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Across The Path of the divine Event
  The huge foreboding mind of Night, alone

01.02 - The Creative Soul, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   So the problem that concerns man, the riddle that humanity has to solve is how to find out and follow The Path of creativity. If we are not to be dead matter nor mere shadowy illusions we must be creative. A misconception that has vitiated our outlook in general and has been the most potent cause of a sterilising atavism in the moral evolution of humanity is that creativity is an aristocratic virtue, that it belongs only to the chosen few. A great poet or a mighty man of action creates indeed, but such a creator does not appear very frequently. A Shakespeare or a Napoleon is a rare phenomenon; they are, in reality, an exception to the general run of mankind. It is enough if we others can understand and follow themMahajano yena gatahlet the great souls initiate and create, the common souls have only to repeat and imitate.
   But this is not as it should be, nor is it the truth of the matter. Every individual soul, however placed it may be, is by nature creative; every individual being lives to discover and to create.

01.02 - The Issue, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Assigner of the ordeal and The Path
  Who chooses in this holocaust of the soul

01.03 - Sri Aurobindo and his School, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   This is the present nature of man, with its threefold nexus of mind and life and body, that stands there to be fought and conquered. This is the inferior nature, of which the ancients spoke, that holds man down inexorably to a lower dharma, imperfect mode of life the life that is and has been the human order till today. No amount of ceaseless action, however selflessly done, can move this wheel of Nature even by a hair's breadth away from The Path that it has carved out from of old. Human nature and human society have been built up and are run by the forces of this inferior nature, and whatever shuffling and reshuffling we may make in its apparent factors and elements, the general scheme and fundamental form of life will never change. To displace earth (and to conquer nature means nothing less than that) and give it another orbit, one must find a fulcrum outside earth.
   Sri Aurobindo does not preach flight from life and a retreat into the silent and passive Infinite; the goal of life is not, in his view, the 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.

01.03 - The Yoga of the King - The Yoga of the Souls Release, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  At last the traveller in The Paths of Time
  Arrives on the frontiers of eternity.
  --
  White sun-steppes in The Pathless Infinite.
  Along a naked curve in bourneless Self

01.04 - The Poetry in the Making, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   I have spoken of the source of inspiration as essentially and originally being a super-consciousness or over-consciousness. But to be more precise and accurate I should add another source, an inner consciousness. As the super-consciousness is imaged as lying above the normal consciousness, so the inner consciousness may be described as lying behind or within it. The movement of the inner consciousness has found expression more often and more largely than that of over-consciousness in the artistic creation of the past : and that was in keeping with the nature of the old-world inspiration, for the inspiration that comes from the inner consciousness, which can be considered as the lyrical inspiration, tends to be naturally more "spontaneous", less conscious, since it does not at all go by The Path of the head, it evades that as much as possible and goes by The Path of the heart.
   But the evolutionary urge, as I have said, has always been to bring down or instil more and more light and self-consciousness into the depths of the heart too: and the first result has been an intellectualisation, a rationalisation of the consciousness, a movement of scientific observation and criticism which very naturally leads to a desiccation of the poetic enthusiasm and fervour. But a period of transcendence is in gestation. All efforts of modern poets and craftsmen, even those that seem apparently queer, bizarre and futile, are at bottom a travail for this transcendence, including those that seem contradictory to it.
   Whether the original and true source of the poet's inspiration lies deep within or high above, all depends upon the mediating instrument the mind (in its most general sense) and speech for a successful transcription. Man's ever-growing consciousness demanded also a conscious development and remoulding of these two factors. A growth, a heightening and deepening of the consciousness meant inevitably a movement towards the spiritual element in things. And that means, we have said, a twofold change in the future poet's make-up. First as regards the substance. The revolutionary shift that we notice in modern poets towards a completely new domain of subject-matter is a signpost that more is meant than what is expressed. The superficialities and futilities that are dealt with do not in their outward form give the real trend of things. In and through all these major and constant preoccupation of our poets is "the pain of the present and the passion for the future": they are, as already stated, more prophets than poets, but prophets for the moment crying in the wildernessalthough some have chosen The Path of denial and revolt. They are all looking ahead or beyond or deep down, always yearning for another truth and reality which will explain, justify and transmute the present calvary of human living. Such an acute tension of consciousness has necessitated an overhauling of the vehicle of expression too, the creation of a mode of expressing the inexpressible. For that is indeed what human consciousness and craft are aiming at in the present stage of man's evolution. For everything, almost everything that can be normally expressed has been expressed and in a variety of ways as much as is possible: that is the history of man's aesthetic creativity. Now the eye probes into the unexpressed world; for the artist too the Upanishadic problem has cropped up:
   By whom impelled does the mind fall to its target, what is the agent that is behind the eye and sees through the eyes, what is the hearing and what the speech that their respective sense organs do not and cannot convey and record adequately or at all?
  --
   Ifso long the poet was more or less a passive, a half-conscious or unconscious intermediary between the higher and the lower lights and delights, his role in the future will be better fulfilled when he becomes fully aware of it and consciously moulds and directs his creative energies. The poet is and has to be the harbinger and minstrel of unheard-of melodies: he is the fashioner of the creative word that brings down and embodies the deepest aspirations and experiences of the human consciousness. The poet is a missionary: he is missioned by Divine Beauty to radiate upon earth something of her charm and wizardry. The fullness of his role he can only play up when he is fully conscious for it is under that condition that all obstructing and obscuring elements lying across The Path of inspiration can be completely and wholly eradicated: the instrument purified and tempered and transmuted can hold and express golden truths and beauties and puissances that otherwise escape the too human mould.
   "The Last Voyage" by Charles Williams-A Little Book of Modern Verse, (Faber and Faber).

01.05 - The Nietzschean Antichrist, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Nietzsche as the apostle of force is a name now familiar to all the world. The hero, the warrior who never tamely accepts suffering and submission and defeat under any condition but fights always and fights to conquersuch is the ideal man, according to Nietzsche,the champion of strength, of greatness, of mightiness. The dominating personality infused with the supreme "will to power"he is Ubermensch, the Superman. Sentiment does not move the mountains, emotion diffuses itself only in vague aspiration. The motive power, the creative fiat does not dwell in the heart but somewhere higher. The way of the Cross, The Path of love and charity and pity does not lead to the kingdom of Heaven. The world has tried it for the last twenty centuries of its Christian civilisation and the result is that we are still living in a luxuriant abundance of misery and sordidness and littleness. This is how Nietzsche thinks and feels. He finds no virtue in the old rgimes and he revolts from them. He wants a speedy and radical remedy and teaches that by violence only the Kingdom of Heaven can be seized. For, to Nietzsche the world is only a clash of forces and the Superman therefore is one who is the embodiment of the greatest force. Nietzsche does not care for the good, it is the great that moves him. The good, the moral is of man, conventional and has only a fictitious value. The great, the non-moral is, on the other hand, divine. That only has a value of its own. The good is nothing but a sort of makeshift arrangement which man makes for himself in order to live commodiously and which changes according to his temperament. But the great is one with the Supreme Wisdom and is absolute and imperative. The good cannot create the great; it is the great that makes for the good. This is what he really means when he says, "They say that a good cause sanctifies war but I tell thee it is a good war that sanctifies all cause." For the goodness of your cause you judge by your personal predilections, by your false conventionalities, by a standard that you set up in your ignoranceBut a good war, the output of strength in any cause is in itself a cause of salvation. For thereby you are the champion of that ultimate verity which conduces to the ultimate good. Do not shrink, he would say, to be even like the cyclone and the avalanche, destructive, indeed, but grand and puissant and therefore truer emblems of the BeyondJenseitsthan the weak, the little, the pitiful that do not dare to destroy and by that very fact cannot hope to create.
   This is the Nietzsche we all know. But there is another aspect of his which the world has yet been slow to recognise. For, at bottom, Nietzsche is not all storm and fury. If his Superman is a Destroying Angel, he is none the less an angel. If he is endowed with a supreme sense of strength and power, there is also secreted in the core of his heart a sense of the beautiful that illumines his somewhat sombre aspect. For although Nietzsche is by birth a Slavo-Teuton, by culture and education he is pre-eminently Hellenic. His earliest works are on the subject of Greek tragedy and form what he describes as an "Apollonian dream." And to this dream, to this Greek aesthetic sense more than to any thing else he sacrifices justice and pity and charity. To him the weak and the miserable, the sick and the maimed are a sort of blot, a kind of ulcer on the beautiful face of humanity. The herd that wallow in suffering and relish suffering disfigure the aspect of the world and should therefore be relentlessly mowed out of existence. By being pitiful to them we give our tacit assent to their persistence. And it is precisely because of this that Nietzsche has a horror of Christianity. For compassion gives indulgence to all the ugliness of the world and thus renders that ugliness a necessary and indispensable element of existence. To protect the weak, to sympathise with the lowly brings about more of weakness and more of lowliness. Nietzsche has an aristocratic taste par excellencewhat he aims at is health and vigour and beauty. But above all it is an aristocracy of the spirit, an aristocracy endowed with all the richness and beauty of the soul that Nietzsche wants to establish. The beggar of the street is the symbol of ugliness, of the poverty of the spirit. And the so-called aristocrat, die millionaire of today is as poor and ugly as any helpless leper. The soul of either of them is made of the same dirty, sickly stuff. The tattered rags, the crouching heart, the effeminate nerve, the unenlightened soul are the standing ugliness of the world and they have no place in the ideal, the perfect humanity. Humanity, according to Nietzsche, is made in order to be beautiful, to conceive the beautiful, to create the beautiful. Nietzsche's Superman has its perfect image in a Grecian statue of Zeus cut out in white marble-Olympian grandeur shedding in every lineament Apollonian beauty and Dionysian vigour.

01.06 - Vivekananda, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The Path to this higher harmonious divine life is that of
   hard labour, of scrupulously untiring, conscientious work:

01.08 - Walter Hilton: The Scale of Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The characteristic then of The Path is a one-pointed concentration. Great stress is laid upon "oneliness", "onedness":that is to say, a perfect and complete withdrawal from the outside and the world; an unmixed solitude is required for the true experience and realisation to come. "A full forsaking in will of the soul for the love of Him, and a living of the heart to Him. This asks He, for this gave He." The rigorous exclusion, the uncompromising asceticism, the voluntary self-torture, the cruel dark night and the arid desert are necessary conditions that lead to the "onlyness of soul", what another prophet (Isaiah, XXIV, 16) describes as "My privity to me". In that secreted solitude, the "onlistead"the graphic language of the author calls itis found "that dignity and that ghostly fairness which a soul had by kind and shall have by grace." The utter beauty of the soul and its absolute love for her deity within her (which has the fair name of Jhesu), the exclusive concentration of the whole of the being upon one point, the divine core, the manifest Grace of God, justifies the annihilation of the world and life's manifold existence. Indeed, the image of the Beloved is always within, from the beginning to the end. It is that that keeps one up in the terrible struggle with one's nature and the world. The image depends upon the consciousness which we have at the moment, that is to say, upon the stage or the degree we have ascended to. At the outset, when we can only look through the senses, when the flesh is our master, we give the image a crude form and character; but even that helps. Gradually, as we rise, with the clearing of our nature, the image too slowly regains its original and true shape. Finally, in the inmost soul we find Jesus as he truly is: "an unchangeable being, a sovereign might, a sovereign soothfastness, sovereign goodness, a blessed life and endless bliss." Does not the Gita too say: "As one approaches Me, so do I appear to him."Ye yath mm prapadyante.
   Indeed, it would be interesting to compare and contrast the Eastern and Western approach to Divine Love, the Christian and the Vaishnava, for example. Indian spirituality, whatever its outer form or credal formulation, has always a background of utter unity. This unity, again, is threefold or triune and is expressed in those great Upanishadic phrases,mahvkyas,(1) the transcendental unity: the One alone exists, there is nothing else than theOneekamevdvityam; (2) the cosmic unity: all existence is one, whatever exists is that One, thereare no separate existences:sarvam khalvidam brahma neha nnsti kincaa; (3) That One is I, you too are that One:so' ham, tattvamasi; this may be called the individual unity. As I have said, all spiritual experiences in India, of whatever school or line, take for granted or are fundamentally based upon this sense of absolute unity or identity. Schools of dualism or pluralism, who do not apparently admit in their tenets this extreme monism, are still permeated in many ways with that sense and in some form or other take cognizance of the truth of it. The Christian doctrine too says indeed, 'I and my Father in Heaven are one', but this is not identity, but union; besides, the human soul is not admitted into this identity, nor the world soul. The world, we have seen, according to the Christian discipline has to be altogether abandoned, negatived, as we go inward and upward towards our spiritual status reflecting the divine image in the divine company. It is a complete rejection, a cutting off and casting away of world and life. One extreme Vedantic path seems to follow a similar line, but there it is not really rejection, but a resolution, not the rejection of what is totally foreign and extraneous, but a resolution of the external into its inner and inmost substance, of the effect into its original cause. Brahman is in the world, Brahman is the world: the world has unrolled itself out of the Brahmansi, pravttiit has to be rolled back into its, cause and substance if it is to regain its pure nature (that is the process of nivitti). Likewise, the individual being in the world, "I", is the transcendent being itself and when it withdraws, it withdraws itself and the whole world with it and merges into the Absolute. Even the Maya of the Mayavadin, although it is viewed as something not inherent in Brahman but superimposed upon Brahman, still, has been accepted as a peculiar power of Brahman itself. The Christian doctrine keeps the individual being separate practically, as an associate or at the most as an image of God. The love for one's neighbour, charity, which the Christian discipline enjoins is one's love for one's kind, because of affinity of nature and quality: it does not dissolve the two into an integral unity and absolute identity, where we love because we are one, because we are the One. The highest culmination of love, the very basis of love, according to the Indian conception, is a transcendence of love, love trans-muted into Bliss. The Upanishad says, where one has become the utter unity, who loves whom? To explain further our point, we take two examples referred to in the book we are considering. The true Christian, it is said, loves the sinner too, he is permitted to dislike sin, for he has to reject it, but he must separate from sin the sinner and love him. Why? Because the sinner too can change and become his brother in spirit, one loves the sinner because there is the possibility of his changing and becoming a true Christian. It is why the orthodox Christian, even such an enlightened and holy person as this mediaeval Canon, considers the non-Christian, the non-baptised as impure and potentially and fundamentally sinners. That is also why the Church, the physical organisation, is worshipped as Christ's very body and outside the Church lies the pagan world which has neither religion nor true spirituality nor salvation. Of course, all this may be symbolic and it is symbolic in a sense. If Christianity is taken to mean true spirituality, and the Church is equated with the collective embodiment of that spirituality, all that is claimed on their behalf stands justified. But that is an ideal, a hypothetical standpoint and can hardly be borne out by facts. However, to come back to our subject, let us ow take the second example. Of Christ himself, it is said, he not only did not dislike or had any aversion for Judas, but that he positively loved the traitor with a true and sincere love. He knew that the man would betray him and even when he was betraying and had betrayed, the Son of Man continued to love him. It was no make-believe or sham or pretence. It was genuine, as genuine as anything can be. Now, why did he love his enemy? Because, it is said, the enemy is suffered by God to do the misdeed: he has been allowed to test the faith of the faithful, he too has his utility, he too is God's servant. And who knows even a Judas would not change in the end? Many who come to scoff do remain to pray. But it can be asked, 'Does God love Satan too in the same way?' The Indian conception which is basically Vedantic is different. There is only one reality, one truth which is viewed differently. Whether a thing is considered good or evil or neutral, essentially and truly, it is that One and nothing else. God's own self is everywhere and the sage makes no difference between the Brahmin and the cow and the elephant. It is his own self he finds in every person and every objectsarvabhtsthitam yo mm bhajati ekatvamsthitah"he has taken his stand upon oneness and loves Me in all beings."2
  --
   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.

0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  advancing on The Path continually, without stoppage.
  The advance is rarely in a straight and continuous line because a
  --
  He can therefore take advantage of this receptivity by making good resolutions and fresh progress on The Path of his
  integral development.
  --
  first steps on The Path.
  13 January 1965
  --
  onto the right path, The Path leading to the Divine.
  Generally, the starting-point must be an experience, however
  --
  However, as an initial help to set you on The Path, I can tell
  you: (1) that on getting up, before starting the day, it is good
  --
  renunciation begin when one is on The Path?
  What I call "being on The Path" is being in a state of consciousness in which only union with the Divine has any value - this
  union is the only thing worth living, the sole object of aspiration.
  --
  one lives, one is not yet on The Path.
  21 April 1965

01.12 - Three Degrees of Social Organisation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Still, the conception of duty cannot finally and definitively solve the problem. It cannot arrive at a perfect harmonisation of the conflicting claims of individual units; for, duty, as I have already said, is a child of mental idealism, and although the mind can exercise some kind of control over life-forces, it cannot altogether eliminate the seeds of conflict that lie imbedded in the very nature of life. It is for this reason that there is an element of constraint in duty; it is, as the poet says, the "stern daughter of the Voice of God". One has to compel oneself, one has to use force on oneself to carry out one's dutythere is a feeling somehow of its being a bitter pill. The cult of duty means rajas controlled and coerced by Sattwa, not the transcendence of rajas. This leads us to the high and supreme conception of Dharma, which is a transcendence of the gunas. Dharma is not an ideal, a standard or a rule that one has to obey: it is the law of self-nature that one inevitably follows, it is easy, spontaneous, delightful. The Path of duty is heroic, The Path of Dharma is of the gods, godly (cf. Virabhava and Divyabhava of the Tantras).
   The principle of Dharma then inculcates that each individual must, in order to act, find out his truth of being, his true soul and inmost consciousness: one must entirely and integrally merge oneself into that, be identified with it in such a manner that all acts and feelings and thoughts, in fact all movements, inner and outerspontaneously and irrepressibly well out of that fount and origin. The individual souls, being made of one truth-nature in its multiple modalities, when they live, move and have their being in its essential law and dynamism, there cannot but be absolute harmony and perfect synthesis between all the units, even as the sun and moon and stars, as the Veda says, each following its specific orbit according to its specific nature, never collide or haltna me thate na tas thatuh but weave out a faultless pattern of symphony.

0.11 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  once it is done, the unification is achieved and The Path becomes
  easy and swift.
  --
  That is the best state for advancing swiftly on The Path.
  26 October 1967
  --
  I am sure that if someone is advanced enough on The Path to
  receive the knowledge that money is an impersonal power and
  --
  It is true that The Path is very long, but for one who follows it
  with sincerity, it is really very interesting, and at every step one
  --
  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 1954-08-25 - what is this personality? and when will she come?, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   So some of you people have been here since the time you were toddlerseverything has been explained to you, the whole thing has been served to you on a silver platter (not only with words, but through psychic aid and in every possible way), you have been put on The Path of this inner discovery and then you just go on drifting along: When it comes, it will come.If you even spare it that much thought!
   So thats how it is.

0 1956-12-12, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   I dont see a thing, nothing. Oh Mother, I turn towards you in this void that is stifling me. Hear my prayer. Tell me what I must do. Give me a sign. Mother, you are my sole recourse, for who else would show me The Path to be taken, who else but you would love me? Or is my fate to go off into the night?
   Forgive me, Mother, for loving you so poorly, for giving myself so badly. Mother, you are my only hope, all the rest in me is utter despair.

0 1957-10-08, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   There is no question of my abandoning The Path and I remain convinced that the only goal in life is spiritual. But I need things to help me along the way: I am not yet ripe enough to depend upon inner strength alone. And when I speak of the forest or a boat, it is not only for the sake of adventure or the feeling of space, but also because they mean a discipline. Outer constraints and difficulties help me, they force me to remain concentrated around that which is best in me. In a sense, life here is too easy. Yet it is also too hard, for one must depend on ones own discipline I do not yet have that strength, I need to be helped by outer circumstances. The very difficulty of life in the outside world helps me to be disciplined, for it forces me to concentrate all my vital strength in effort. Here, this vital part is unemployed, so it acts foolishly, it strains at the leash.
   I doubt that a new experience outside can really resolve things, but I believe it might help me make it to the next stage and consolidate my inner life. And if you wish, I would return in a year or two.

0 1957-10-18, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   This evening, you spoke of the possibility of shortening The Path of realization to a few months, days or hours. And yesterday, when you talked to me about the freedom of the body, you spoke of the experience of the Kundalini, of this breaking of the lid that makes you emerge once and for all, above difficulties, into the light.
   I need a practical method corresponding to my present possibilities and to results of which I am presently capable. I feel that my efforts are dispersed by concentrating sometimes here, sometimes therea feeling of not knowing exactly what to do to break through and get out of all this. Would you point out some particular concentration to which I could adhere, a particular method that I would stick to?

0 1957-11-12, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   The most commonplace circumstances, people, the everyday events of life, the most seemingly insignificant things, all belong to one or another of these three categories of examiners. In this considerably complex organization of tests, those events generally considered the most important in life are really the easiest of all examinations to pass, for they find you prepared and on your guard. One stumbles more easily over the little pebbles on The Path, for they attract no attention.
   The qualities more particularly required for the tests of physical Nature are endurance and plasticity, cheerfulness and fearlessness.

0 1958-05-10, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   The difficulty is greater for Westerners than for Indians. Its as though their substance were steeped in falsehood. It also happens with Indians, of course, but generally the falsehood is much more in the vital than in the physicalbecause after all, the physical has been utilized by bodies belonging to enlightened beings. The European substance seems steeped in rebellion; in the Indian substance this rebelliousness is subdued by an influence of surrender. The other day, someone was telling me about some Europeans with whom he corresponds, and I said, But tell them to read, to learn, to follow The Synthesis of Yoga!it leads you straight to The Path. Whereupon he replied, Oh, but they say its full of talk on surrender, surrender, always surrender and they want none of it.
   They want none of it! Even if the mind accepts, the body and the vital refuse. And when the body refuses, it refuses with the stubbornness of a stone.

0 1958-07-02, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Ramdas: a yogi from Northwest India who followed The Path of love (bhakti). His whole yoga consisted in repeating the name Ram. He founded the Anand-ashram in Kanhargad, Kerala. He was born in 1884 and died in 1963.
   Bishnupriya, a Bengali film.

0 1959-05-19 - Ascending and Descending paths, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   The Path is difficult. And yet this body is full of good will; it is filled with the psychic in every one of its cells. Its like a child. The other day, it cried out quite spontaneously, O my Sweet Lord, give me the time to realize You! It did not ask to hasten the process, it did not ask to lighten its work; it only asked for enough TIME to do the work. Give me the time!
   I could have begun this work on the body thirty years ago, but I was constantly caught up in this harassing ashram life. It took this illness2 to enable me truly to begin doing the sadhana of the body. It does not mean that thirty years were wasted, for it is likely that had I been able to start this work thirty years ago, it would have been premature. The consciousness of the others also had to develop the two are linked, the individual progress and the collective progress, and one cannot advance if the other does not advance.

0 1960-01-28, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Sri Aurobindo had made it clear to me when I was still in France that this yoga in matter is the most difficult of all. For the other yogas, The Paths have been well laid, you know where to tread, how to proceed, what to do in such-and-such a case. But for the yoga of matter, nothing has ever been done, never, so at each moment everything has to be invented.
   Of course, things are now going better, especially since Sri Aurobindo became established in the subtle physical, an almost material subtle physical.2 But there are still plenty of question marks The body understands once, and then it forgets. The Enemys opposition is nothing, for I can see clearly that it comes from outside and that its hostile, so I do whats necessary. But where the difficulty lies is in all the small things of daily material lifesuddenly the body no longer understands, it forgets.

0 1960-11-26, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   How many more such experiences will be necessary? I dont know, you see, Im only building The Path.
   (silence)

0 1961-01-22, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   And I saw my own domain through them and through it all; I saw my domain: I can see it!, I said. But no sooner would I start on my way than The Path would be lost, I no longer saw it, I couldnt see anymore where I was going. It became almost impossible to get my bearings there: hundreds and thousands of people, thingsutter confusion. An incoherent immensity and violent, what violence!
   I felt something last night.

0 1961-01-24, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   In the Vedas, the panis and dasyus represent beings or forces hidden in subterranean caves who have stolen the 'Riches' or the 'Lights', symbolized by herds of cows. With the help of the gods, the Aryan warrior must recover these lost riches, the 'sun in the darkness,' by igniting the flame of sacrifice. It is The Path of subterranean descent.
   Indra represents the king of the gods, the master of mental power freed from the limitations and obscurities of the physical consciousness.

0 1961-02-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   When we used to discuss all these things and the difficulties of The Path, Sri Aurobindo told me (he was comparing his body to mine): I dont have the stuff of such endurance. I was not cut out like thatyour body is solid! (gesture)
   What trials it has gone through! And its so docile, so docile, it doesnt complain.

0 1961-04-18, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   When I used to speak at the Playground, I tried to explain this one day I was facing the same problem: what really is? And clearly, it is utterly impossible to understand with the mind. But I had a vision of a kind of infinite Eternity through which the Supreme Consciousness voyages7; and The Path this Consciousness travels is what we call the manifestation. And this vision explained absolute freedom, it explained how both thingsabsolute freedom and absolute determinismcould coexist in an absolute way. The image in my vision was of an eternal Infinity in which that Consciousness voyagesone cant even say freely, because freely would imply that it could be otherwise.
   All who experience this say that the first movement of the manifestation, or the creation (creation, manifestation, objectification: all these words are imperfect) is CHIT, Consciousness that becomes Power. Consequently, Consciousness goes voyaging along in SAT, in Beingstatic, eternal, infinite and necessarily outside time and space and this movement of Consciousness is what produces time and space within this Infinity and Eternity.8 This leads to the understanding that things can simultaneously be absolutely free and absolutely determined.
  --
   An illustration of this is the well-known story about the man who refused to move out of The Path of an elephant on the pretext that he was Brahman and that Brahman had told him to stay put. And the mahout replied, 'But Brahman has told me that you should get out of the way and let the elephant Brahman pass.' Although childishly simplified, it's the same thing. It's because we look 'in this way' yet not , in that way' at the same time, and above all, because we don't look at EVERYTHING at the same time. From the minute we could be integral in our perception, all relationships would remain the same, but instead of being in a state of ignorance, we would experience them in a state of knowledge.
   Would remain the same? You mean they would physically be the same as they are now, but would be seen in a different way?

0 1961-07-12, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   The number of approaches is practically infinite. Each one senses The Path which accords with his temperament.
   This japa, you know, didnt at all come from here (Mother points to her head). Its something I received fully formed, and to such an extent that I couldnt even change the place of a single thinga will seemed to oppose any change. Its a long series unfolding according to a law that probably corresponds to what is needed to develop this consciousness and the work it has to do (I suppose I dont really know and I havent tried to know). But a sort of law makes it impossible to change the position of even a single word, because these are not wordsthey are fully formed states of consciousness. And the whole series culminates with:

0 1961-07-15, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   For the past two days there has been the feeling of not knowing anythingNOTHING at all. I have had this feeling for a very long time, but now it has become extremely acute, as it always does at times of crisis, at times when things are on the verge of changingor of getting clarified, or of exploding, or. From the purely material standpointchemically, biologically, medically, therapeutically speaking I dont believe many people do know (there may be some). But it doesnt seem very clear to mein any case, I dont know. Yogically (I dont mean spiritually: that was the first stage of my sadhana), its very easy to be a saint! Oh, even to be a sage is very easy. I feel I was born with itits spontaneous and natural for me, and so simple! You know all that has to be done, and doing it is as easy as knowing it. Its nothing. But this transformation of Matter! What has to be done? How is it to be done? What is The Path?
   Is there a path? Is there a procedure? Probably not.

0 1961-07-28, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   A sudden turn in The Path and I come to a grotto which seems fashioned of crystal, scintillating in prismatic radiance.
   Standing there between two iridescent pillars is a very tall figure; his face, framed in short blond curls, is that of a very young man; his eyes are sea-green; he is clad in a pale blue tunic, and like wings upon his shoulders are great, snow-white fins. Beholding me, he steps aside against a pillar to let me pass. Scarcely have I crossed the threshold when an exquisite melody strikes my ears. The waters are all iridescent here, the ground aglow with glossy pearls; the portico and the vault, hung gracefully with stalactites, are opaline; delectable perfumes hover everywhere; galleries, niches and alcoves open out on all sides; but directly ahead of me I perceive a great light and towards it I turn my steps. There are great rays of gold, silver, sapphire, emerald and ruby, radiating outward in all directions, born from a center too distant for me to discern; to this center I feel drawn by a powerful attraction.

0 1961-08-02, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But Theon had no idea of The Path of bhakti,5 none whatsoever. The idea of surrender to the Divine was absolutely alien to him. Yet he did have the idea of the Divine Presence here (Mother indicates the heart center), of the immanent Divine and of union with That. And he said that by uniting with That and letting That transform the being one could arrive at the divine creation and the transformation of the earth.
   Theon was the first one to give me the idea that the earth is symbolic, representativesymbolic of concentrated universal action allowing divine forces to incarnate and work concretely. I learned all this from him.

0 1961-09-30, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I had a clear vision of the two kinds of opposites in nature (not only in nature but in life) which almost everyone carries within himself: one is the possibility of realization, the other is The Path chosen to attain it. There is always (its probably inevitable) the stormy path of struggle, and then there is the sunlit path. After much study and observation, I have had a sort of spiritual ambition (if it can be called that) to bring to the world a sunlit path, to eliminate the necessity for struggle and suffering: something that aspires to replace this present phase of universal evolution with a less painful phase.
   It greatly interested me when I read your letter. I was looking at why you have so many difficulties; twice in your note you wrote that it [writing] is a suffering. You have very often written this word, very often spoken it, and it seems dominant in one aspect of your beingwhile in the other is the glory of a supreme joy, the very stuff of the future realization.

0 1962-02-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Ive had many such experiences. Once I was walking along a mountain path wide enough only for one: on one side, a precipice, on the other, sheer rock. Three children were behind me and a fourth person brought up the rear. I was in the lead. The Path skirted the rock so you couldnt see what lay ahead. It was quite dangerous, besides: one slip and you fell off the cliff. I was walking in front when suddenly, with other eyes than these (yet I was carefully watching my steps), I saw a snake lying on the rocks around the bend. Waiting. I took one soft step and a snake was actually there! This spared me the shock of surprise (because I had seen it and was advancing cautiously), and as there was no shock of surprise, I could say to the children without scaring them, Stop, be quiet, dont move. A shock might have caused a mishap the snake had heard us and was already on the defensive, coiled before his hole, head swayinga viper. It was in France. Nothing happened, but with confusion and commotion, who knows?
   This type of thing has happened to me very, very oftenfour times with snakes. There was one incident here near the fishing village of Ariankuppam, a place where a river empties into the sea. Night had fallen swiftly, it was pitch dark, and I was walking along a road when right in the middle of a step (I had already lifted my foot and was about to lower it), I distinctly heard a voice in my ear: Watch out! Yet no one had spoken. So I looked, and just as my foot was about to touch the ground, I saw an enormous black cobra right where I was casually going to put my foot. Those fellows dont like that sort of thing! It slithered away and swam across the waterwhat a beauty, mon petit! Hood wide open, head held high, he swam across like a king. I would certainly have been punished for my impertinence!

0 1962-05-15, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   There was, in fact, a whole group of Ashram people (they might be called the Ashram "intelligentsia") who, influenced by Subhas Bose, were strongly in favor of the Nazis and the Japanese against the British. (It should be recalled that the British were the invaders of India, and thus many people considered Britain's enemies to be automatically India's friends.) It reached the point where Sri Aurobindo had to intervene forcefully and write: "I affirm again to you most strongly that this is the Mother's war.... The victory of one side (the Allies) would keep The Path open for the evolutionary forces: the victory of the other side would drag back humanity, degrade it horribly and might lead even, at the worst, to its eventual failure as a race, as others in the past evolution failed and perished.... The Allies at least have stood for human values, though they may often act against their own best ideals (human beings always do that); Hitler stands for diabolical values or for human values exaggerated in the wrong way until they become diabolical.... That does not make the English or Americans nations of spotless angels nor the Germans a wicked and sinful race, but...." (July 29, 1942 and Sept. 3, 1943, Cent. Ed., Vol. XXVI.394 ff.) And on her side also, Mother had to publicly declare: "It has become necessary to state emphatically and clearly that all who by their thoughts and wishes are supporting and calling for the victory of the Nazis are by that very fact collaborating with the Asura against the Divine and helping to bring about the victory of the Asura.... Those, therefore, who wish for the victory of the Nazis and their associates should now understand that it is a wish for the destruction of our work and an act of treachery against Sri Aurobindo." (May 6, 1941, original English.)
   See note at the end of this conversation

0 1962-05-24, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   That. Ultimately, its always the same thing. Its always the same: realize your own being, enter into conscious contact with the supreme Truth of your own being, in WHATEVER form, by WHATEVER path (thats totally irrelevant); its the only way. We each carry a truth within ourselves, and we must unite with that truth; we must live that truth. And The Path we have to follow to realize and unite with this truth is the very path that will lead us as near as we can possibly come to Knowledge. I mean the two are absolutely one: the personal realization and Knowledge.
   Who knows? Perhaps the very multiplicity of approaches will yield the Secret the Secret that will open the door.
  --
   The individual can give the initial impulse, point out The Path, WALK The Path himself (I mean show The Path by realizing it) but he cant bring the work to fulfillment. The fulfillment of the work depends on certain collective laws that are the expression of a particular aspect of the Eternal and Infinitenaturally, its all one and the same Being! There arent different individuals and personalities, its all one and the same Being. But the same Being expressing itself in a particular way that for us translates as a group or a collectivity.
   Well, thenany other questions on this?

0 1962-05-31, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   And its the same thing: whats needed is The Path of vastness, widening, relaxation, ease, of BLOSSOMING in the vitalnot so much a censorial vital as as gentleness, a certain sweetness. The vital blossoming into beauty: sweetness and beauty. I dont want to speak of sentiments because oh, that lands us right in a quagmire! No, but a sweetness and charm and beauty but not there (in the head): here. And then restnot a stiff and stony and stagnant rest, a rest within the undulation. You let yourself float.3
   (silence)

0 1962-07-21, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   First, about your yoga. You wish to give me the charge of your yoga and I am willing to take it, but that means to give its charge to Him who is moving by His divine Shakti [Energy], whether secretly or openly, both you and me. But you must know that the necessary result of this will be that you will have to walk in the special path which He has given to me, The Path which I call The Path of the Integral Yoga. What I began with, what Lele1 gave me, was a seeking for The Path, a circling in many directionsa first touch, a taking up, a handling and scrutiny of this or that in all the old partial yogas, some sort of complete experience of one and then the pursuit of another.
   Afterwards, when I came to Pondicherry, this unsteady condition came to an end. The Guru of the world who is within us then gave me complete directions for my pathits complete theory, the ten limbs of the body of this Yoga. These past ten years He has been making me develop it in experience, and this is not yet finished. It may take another two years, and as long as it is not finished I doubt if I shall be able to return to Bengal. Pondicherry is the appointed place for my yoga siddhi [realization], except indeed one part of it, and that is action. The centre of my work is Bengal, although I hope that its circumference will be all India and the whole earth.
  --
   Now let me discuss some particular points of your letter. I do not want to say much in this letter about what you have written as regards your yoga. We shall have better occasion when we meet. To look upon the body as a corpse is a sign of Sannyasa, of The Path of Nirvana. You cannot be of the world with this idea. You must have delight in all thingsin the Spirit as well as in the body. The body has consciousness, it is Gods form. When you see God in everything that is in the world, when you have this vision that all this is Brahman, Sarvamidam Brahma, that Vasudeva is all thisVasudevah sarvamiti then you have the universal delight. The flow of that delight precipitates and courses even through the body. When you are in such a state, full of the spiritual consciousness, you can lead a married life, a life in the world. In all your works you find the expression of Gods delight. So far I have been transforming all the objects and perceptions of the mind and the senses into delight on the mental level. Now they are taking the form of the supramental delight. In this condition is the perfect vision and perception of Sachchidananda.
   You write about the Deva Samgha and say, I am not a god, I am only a piece of much hammered and tempered iron. No one is a God but in each man there is a God and to make Him manifest is the aim of divine life. That we can all do. I recognize that there are great and small adharas [vessels]. I do not accept, however, your description of yourself as accurate. Still whatever the nature of the vessel, once the touch of God is upon it, once the spirit is awake, great and small and all that does not make much difference. There may be more difficulties, more time may be taken, there may be a difference in the manifestation, but even about that there is no certainty. The God within takes no account of these hindrances and deficiencies. He breaks his way out. Was the amount of my failings a small one? Were there less obstacles in my mind and heart and vital being and body? Did it not take time? Has God hammered me less? Day after day, minute after minute, I have been fashioned into I know not whether a god or what. But I have become or am becoming something. That is sufficient, since God wanted to build it. It is the same as regards everyone. Not our strength but the Shakti of God is the sadhaka [worker] of this yoga.

0 1962-09-08, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Hes afraid that when you stop making the gestures, you forget The Path!
   Yes, he feels I am dropping everything.
   Thats it, he feels that if youre not doing the things he said the way he said to do them, youve fallen from The Path. He cant understand. Its no use discussing it.
   Hes not happy with me!

0 1962-10-30, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   It should go relatively quickly, but I dont know. How long will it take? Its new. New, I mean you cant even tell if youre progressing! You dont know where youre going, you have no idea what path youre on. You just dont know! All kinds of things are happening, but are they part of The Path or arent they? I really dont know. Only at the end will we know.
   All right.

0 1963-07-03, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Some people (or if you like, some beings, or forces, or consciousnesses) in order to progress need to give themselves, to merge, and in total self-annihilation, they attain Realization; for others The Path is diametrically opposite: its a growth, a domination, an expansion which assumes fantastic proportions until the separation disappearsit can no longer exist.
   Some prefer this path, others prefer that one but when we reach the end, it will all meet.

0 1963-08-07, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   For a very long timea very long time I preferred one path to the other, and all the while when I lived with Sri Aurobindo physically, I quite certainly preferred The Path of harmonious growth to that of the general throwing back into the melting pot!
   (silence)

0 1963-10-26, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   First it came from one direction, then a dead calmits always that way. You know how cyclones work? Its something that rotates, and at the center theres a dead calm; all around is a whirlwind, and it rotates as it advances. So the first part (what might be called the front of the cyclone) arrives from one direction, then it goes on rotating, and the second part comes from the opposite direction. We have an American rear admiral here who knows those things very wellall seafaring people know themhe had seen the cyclone from a distance on the sea and warned us. But its always that way, I had noticed it. The first wave arrived from the north, but as we were forewarned, everything had been closed. Then the wind died down completely, but the southern windows had been left open. And the second wave came from the other direction (it came around evening, a little before 7, I dont remember; anyway, I was sitting at the table here). And I saw I saw that whirlwind coming, and inside it there were formations: like heaped masses, some gray-black, others reddish-brown. And I watched it all; I saw them from a distance, there were lots of them: big formations, about as big as houses. They came in heaped masses, with kinds of formations WITHIN the whirlwind. So I was here, just beginning to have my dinner, when a reddish-brown formation went over, like this, right from here towards your house (Mother sweeps across the room from south to north), and it struck me. Mon petit, howling pains! And then a horrible discomfort. So naturally, my usual remedy: I stayed still and offered it all to the Lord. The formation went past, didnt stop (it went past, struck and went away), and left behind it (afterwards the pains were dull, they could be controlled) a kind of very peculiar sense of discomfort a sort of wickedness, like big sharp claws raking ones stomach. So I was expecting something for youothers too fell sick who were in The Path of the formation. But there must have been quite a number of cases, because I saw many formations that one did strike, you see. I saw it arrive as swiftly as the cyclone, strike, and then go on. So when I was told that you had a fever, instantly I thought, Thats it.
   Was it painful?
  --
   The strange thing is that L., who was in The Path of this formation (gesture from south to north), was sick, like you, he had a fever: the same thing, the same painsvery particular pains. And U. too was nearly caught; but the day before, I had explained to him how to defend himself, and he told me he had used my method and it worked quite well. I had explained to him how to pass the thing on to the Lord (that is, to learn to offer it). He tried it and told me, It worked quite well, the thing didnt take root: a moment of discomfort, and it was over.
   One should learn to do that. If one does it with ones head, its useless; whats effective is when you are able to summon that sort of eternal immobility then, the effect is immediate. But generally, people know how to do it for others but not for themselves, because for themselves, they go on vibratingwhen it hurts a lot, its difficult to stop that vibrating. But it CAN be done; even when the pain is absolutely acute, almost unbearable (normally one would start screaming), one CAN, one can do it and summon that silent immobility to the painful spotimmobility of eternity. Very, very quickly, within a few seconds, the intensity disappears; there remains only a memory, which one should take care not to reawaken by thinking about it, but which lingers as a memory in the body, as when youve given yourself a good knock, a sound blow, and the acute pain has gone, but the mark stays. It stays a more or less long time. If one made the effort to stay very, very quiet, immobile, without doing anything, thinking anything, wanting anything, for a long enough time, I think there would be very little effect.

0 1963-12-14, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   When I noticed Ws difficulties, I put a lot of force on him, a lot, a great concentration to get him out of that tight corner, because I felt a kind of wavering in him, I felt he wasnt so steady on The Path any more. Thats what worried me. So I put a very great concentration of force on him to set him on the right road again. And, as I said, the Force circulates; it circulates: it isnt something which goes out like that, like a little beam which you send out, which reaches its goal and stays there thats not it. Its a thing (round gesture) that spreads out with waves of concentration. And Ive noticed this for everybody (I did my first study on myself), but the ego must be completely (gesture of palms upward, immobile) must become nonexistent, must stop interfering, at any rate, in order to feel that great, universal Pulsation.
   It is simply the art of putting yourself in the right place in order to be in The Path of the Force.
   Or else, when you are able to see things from above, you can direct concentrations and channel the Force, as it were [on people and events]. And Ive noticed (since it became a natural fact for me), Ive noticed those two categories of people (with all kinds of nuances and differences): those who are happy to receive, and who are therefore much more conscious of the moment when the Force comes IN, and those (they are generous by nature, but also dominating) who are happier when they have a feeling of giving; so they are far more conscious of the Movement when it goes out of their individuality.

0 1963-12-31, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But that [Falsehood] is the great obstacle, the extreme difficulty. Its something gluey which entered the creation and sticks to everything, and which has become a material habit too, because its not only Mind that has Falsehood in it: theres Falsehood in Life, in Life itself. In the completely inanimate, I dont know. Maybe it came with Life? (According to Savitri, the origin of Falsehood lies in Life.) But its as though Unconsciousness, in order to go towards Consciousness, to return to Consciousness, had taken The Path of Falsehood and Death instead of The Path of Truth.
   And Falsehood is this: the sorrow of the Lord.

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 1964-08-26, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Theres no path, The Path has to be blazed out!
   Reader's Digest, August 1964: "Inner Space of Living Cells," by Rutherford Platt.

0 1964-09-26, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I know, and with certainty, that if you can be in that clear consciousness, you see that the state of illness was certainly a necessity, often a WILLED necessity (not only accepted and undergone, but willed) by the soul in order to go faster on The Pathto save time, to gain lives. And if you can, if you have the power to bring that soul into contact with the force that governs its existence and leads it towards progress, towards the Realization, you do a work of quite a superior quality.
   You know this: the SAME words, the SAME sentences, spoken by someone who sees and knows and spoken by the ordinary ignorant person, change entirely in nature and power and in action. There is a way of saying things which is the true way, whatever words you speak. And that is the solution: its inside himself, in the depths of his being, that he must find that light the light that knows what should be said and how it should be said. And then that feeling of responsibility and of complicity with falsehood is finished, it disappears completely. And necessarily, inevitably, absolutely, he will say the thing that should be said and as it should be said, in the way it should be said.

0 1964-09-30, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   It had rather seemed to me that they should be kept at a distance. With Thon, the adverse forces and hostile beings were often mentioned, they occupied a big place in self-development and in action. As for Sri Aurobindo, he used to say that that notion was useful mostly from the psychological and personal standpoint, because struggling with difficulties is easier when you see them as coming from outside, as an attack from outside, than if you think they are part of your own nature. Not that he denied their existence, far from it, but The Path depends a lot on the attitude you take and on the mental construction you have, naturally.
   Sri Aurobindo insisted rather on Oneness: he used to say that even what we consider to be the worst adversaries are still a form of the Supreme, which, deliberately or not, consciously or not, helps in the general transformation. This seems to me vaster, deeper, more comprehensive.

0 1964-10-24a, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   You understand, the word favor is deliberate. Its quite deliberate, it really means a favorto be helped in making the necessary progress is all very well, but what they want is the result WITHOUT HAVING TO WALK The Path, and thats what is impossible, thats what must not be.
   Basically, thats always what men ask of religions; the God of religion is a god who must do them favors: I believe in You, therefore You must do this for me (it isnt formulated so bluntly, but it is like that), It isnt the aspiration to be guided on The Path in order to do exactly what should be done for the Transformation to take place. And thats what I was clearly told: It MUST NOT be miraculous powers. The power of the Help is there, fully, of course, but the miraculous power that does things without their being the result of a progress achieved, that must not be.
   (Mother goes on copying her note)

0 1964-10-30, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Its very narrow. Do you know mountain roads? All of a sudden, you come to a corner, a sharp turn, and you cant see the other sidebelow is a precipice, behind is the rock and The Path it would seem to have grown narrower in order to turn the corner, its become quite narrow. Ive encountered that in the mountainsoften. And now, I feel we are turning the corner; but we are beginning to turn it, in the sense that we are beginning to see the other side, and the consciousness (always the body consciousness) is on the verge of a bedazzlement, like the first glimpses of something marvelousnot positively unexpected because that is what we wanted, but truly marvelous. And at the same time, there is that old habit of meeting difficulties at every step, of receiving blows at every step, the habit of a painful labor, which takes away the spontaneousness of an unalloyed joy; it gives a sort of not a doubt that things will be that way, but you wonder, Has it already come? Have we reached the end? and you dont dare think you have reached the end. That attitude, naturally, isnt favorable, it still belongs to the domain of the old reason; but it receives support from the usual recommendations: You shouldnt give free rein to wild imaginings and hopes, you should be very level-headed, very patient, very slow to get carried away. So there is an alternation of a sort of crouching, timorously moving forward step by step in order not to slide down into the hole, and a glorious sense of wonder: Oh, are things really that way?!
   This has been the bodys feeling for three or four days.

0 1965-04-17, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But its not blocked anymore. The Path is open, one can seeone can see.
   It will come.

0 1965-09-25, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   And I cant say I am asking the question because thats not true, I am not asking it, but the two possibilities are there (gesture in suspense). Well, there is no answer either to one or to the other. At times I have the vision that its going to be the end (a very practical vision of what I want to do), that comes, but against a backdrop of complete uncertainty; and the next minute, there is the possibility of going right to the end of the transformation, with the clear vision of what must be done, but a backdrop there isnt a backdrop of the Assurance that it will BE that waynei ther in one case nor in the other. And I know this is deliberate, because its necessary for the work of the cells. If, for instance, I received from the Supreme the Order (sometimes I receive it clearly, as clearly as), if I received from Him the certitude that whatever the difficulties, whatever the appearances of The Path, this body will go right to the end of the transformation, well, there would be a slackening somewhere, which would be very bad. I know that myself, I know it perfectly well. So, thats how it is: I walk on, without knowing what will happen tomorrow. Yesterday, I could have said, Yes, maybe this is the end (as it seems X3 kindly said to people who had gone to see him: he said I had six months to live, that in six months I would go[laughing] thats typical of his usual predictions), well, with yesterdays experience, I said, Its quite possible. And with that same total indifference, you know: Its quite possible. With a quotation from Sri Aurobindo saying, Nothing can alter the splendor of the Consciousness of Eternity. Thats it. And then when this state has gone and the other one comes, you say, Whatever does dying mean! What does it mean? How can you say that? And its not that the two states alternate with (how can I explain?) oppositionsits not that at all, its almost simultaneous (Mother intertwines the fingers of her two hands), but now you see this, now you see that. And its one and the same totality of something which is the Truth, but which is still a bit cloudyit isnt fully grasped like this (gesture).
   This is the normal state, but its obviously being worked out, being built, taking shape.

0 1966-03-26, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   This morning, there was a very amusing story. I was rinsing my eyes and mouth; I do it before daybreak, that is, with electric light. And in my bathroom there is an emergency light. Its one of the latest inventions: its connected to the power and as long as there is power, the light remains off and a battery inside gets charged; as soon as the power fails, the light turns on and the battery is discharged to keep the light on. Its very well made, they invented it for hospitals and other places where any power failure must be avoided: as soon as the power goes, the light turns on instantaneously, and when the power returns, it goes off and gets recharged for the next time. They installed it for me in the bathroom. And this morning while I was washing my teeth, poff! the light went off. I continued, naturally, since I had that emergency light. But then, I did a study. The lights in C.s room (and everywhere) were on, it was only here, in this group of rooms. That was an odd phenomenon to begin with. Then I looked, and while I looked I noticed something I hadnt taken note of all these last few days: a will to disorganize all my personal life. And causing power failures is one of the known occult methods (I dont know how its done, in fact, but that man who wrote books and came here a very long time ago, Brunton, said it was one of the tricks known to those who practice occultism: a sudden failure of the lights). There are lots of other such tricks designed to disorganize peoples lives with the idea of frightening them or announcing catastrophes to them (I have always found this very childish). But then, I saw that there was (I think I know where, here, it comes from) a will for disorganization, and I saw The Path it followed (winding gesture as if Mother were going back to the source). It had begun last night, in the middle of the night: when I got up around midnight, I saw a will wanting to preoccupy me with thoughts of money! And it was insisting: the thought that everything was going wrong, and so on. I saw that in the middle of the night. I was busy with other things, but I saw that will: formations; and naturally I dealt with them as they deserved. But I saw that it went on, trying to disturb people, to make them uncomprehending, and then to turn the power off, all sorts of silly things. Its not the first time it has happenedits not always the same people because generally, when they have tried and got a good knock in return, they dont try a second time, theyve had enough! But there are others who think they are very clever and want to prove to me (laughing) that they are right and I am wrongbecause ultimately it always comes to that! So I spent half an hour this morning, before they restored the power and I resumed my usual activities, half an hour having huge fun following the thread (same winding gesture going back to the source) wherever there was mischief, and then I very kindly answered.
   In reality, people who live in the ordinary consciousness know very, very little of what goes on physicallyvery little. They think they know, but all they know is a very superficial appearance, just like like a sheet of paper wrapping a package; there is the whole package underneath with all that it contains, but all they see is an appearance (gesture of something as thin as cigarette paper). And they are so used to it that they always give an explanation. I asked, How is it that just this power connection here gave way? (Lights were on everywhere, only the connection here, which supplies my room, was off.) I asked to see. They told me, Oh, we dont know, maybe the wire was old and it broke! (Mother laughs) I said, Very well.

0 1966-11-09, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   This image [of the Sannyasin with his back to the bronze door] was so strong, you know! Every time you mention it, I see my vision again.1 It was so strong! There was the templeonly the door and the wall could be seen and the top of a mountain with the abrupt slope downward. Then there was a narrow path between the temple and the precipice, and a roaring crowd surging up, coming up The Path, and then
   And I always, always see the same thing.
  --
   According to him, there are two paths: the outward path and the return path. The outward path is people going away from the Lord, living the life of the world, being husband, wife, etc. Then the return path is the true path, The Path of the return to the Lord, in which all those things are a hindrance. So, to me, thats a falsehood.
   Naturally!

0 1967-07-26, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   The teacher of literature He was an old fellow full of all the most conventional ideas imaginable. What a bore he was, oh! So all the students sat there, their noses to the grindstone. He would give subjects for essaysdo you know The Path of Later On and the Road of Tomorrow? I wrote it when I was twelve, it was my homework on his question! He had given a proverb (now I forget the words) and expected to be told all the sensible things! I told my story, that little story, it was written at the age of twelve. Afterwards he would eye me with misgivings! (Laughing) He expected me to make a scene. Oh, but I was a good girl!
   But it was always like that: with that something looking on and seeing the sheer ridiculousness of this life which takes itself so seriously!

0 1967-08-30, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   So the result has been to see the immensity of the problem to be solved, of The Path to be followed, and of the transformation to be worked out. When you look at it from the purely psychological standpoint, its relatively easy and swift, but when you come down to this (Mother touches her body), to the outer form and so-called matter, oh, its a whole world! Each lesson its as if you were given lessons, and its so interesting! Lessons with all the consequences and explanations. You spend one day or two days like that over a tiny little discovery. And you see that after that, after that day or those hours of work, there is a change in the body consciousness: the light is there, its changedchanged, the reactions are not the same. But (Mother gestures to express a world of toil).
   And the Presence the Presence becomes more and more intimate, more and more concrete, and at such times at times (Mother makes a gesture like a swelling) its so concrete as to be as if absolute. Then (gesture of being covered again) another state of consciousness comes and everything has to begin all over again.

0 1967-09-03, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I wrote her a letter in which I said this: You have to see for yourself, feel for yourself. If you are satisfied with the religious experience that Christianity represents, I do not see why I should disabuse you. Each one follows The Path he feels is good for him. If you came and told me, I am seeking something else, it would be a different matter and I might be able to do something to help you. But until then, I really cannot do anything for you, and words are wasted. It is for you to feel and see.
   Thats very good, excellent, really. Thats what she had to hear. Theyre all the same, they want to profit from others, you know. And thats really falsehood.

0 1968-05-22, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   With this latest adventure [the attack on Mother], this body has learned trust. It was very much steeped in pessimism because of its material antecedents. Certain antecedents, that is, father and mother, had been chosen for their great practicality and a very concrete material honesty, but no mysticism, nothing of the sortdeliberately. But then, it gave a kind of not exactly pessimism, but a very sharp vision of how things go wrong. The body had that, and its faith had to struggle against a habit of expecting difficulty, obstacles, resistance; although it had complete faith in the final Victory, it couldnt overcome the habit of expecting difficulties on The Path. This latest adventure has given it a good push forward: its trust is much more smiling. And the general vision is as I told you. And constantly, all the time, even at the time of the worst difficulties, all the time there is it wells up from the cells, like a golden hymn: an incantation, you know, a call, an incantation to the supreme Power. And with such faith! A marvelous faith.
   (silence)

0 1968-06-12, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Yes, I want to show its part of The Path, that the whole inner field, the field of inner experiences, all that opening of consciousness up above, is after all only a starting point.
   Thats right.

0 1968-09-07, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I have told you many times, and couldnt repeat it too often, that we are not made of a piece. Within ourselves we have lots of states of being, and each state of being has its own life. All that is gathered together in a single body, as long as you have one, and acts through a single body; thats what gives you the sense of a single person, a single being. But there are many of them, and there are in particular concentrations on different planes: just as you have a physical being, you have a vital being, a mental being, a psychic being, and many others with all possible intermediaries. So when you leave your body, all those beings will scatter. Its only if you are a very advanced yogi and have been capable of unifying your being around the divine center that those beings remain linked together. If you havent been able to unify yourself, then at the time of death, all that will scatter: every being will go back to its own region. With the vital being, for example, your various desires will separate and each of them will go and chase its realization quite independently, because there will no longer be a physical being to hold them together. While if you have united your consciousness to the psychic consciousness, when you die you will remain conscious of your psychic being, and the psychic being will return to the psychic world which is a world of bliss, joy, peace, tranquillity, and growing knowledge. But if you have lived in your vital and all its impulses, each impulse will try to realize itself here and there. For instance, for the miser who was concentrated on his money, when he dies the part of his vital that was concerned with his money will hook on there and will keep watching over the money so no one takes it. People wont see him, but he is there nonetheless, and very unhappy if something happens to his dear money. Now, if you live exclusively in your physical consciousness (which is difficult, because, after all, you have thoughts and feelings), if you live exclusively in your physical, when the physical being disappears, you disappear along with it, its over. There is a spirit of the form: your form has a spirit that lives on for seven days after your death. The doctors have declared you dead, but the spirit of your form is alive, and not only alive but conscious in most cases. It lasts for seven to eight days, and after that, it too dissolves I am not talking about yogis, I am talking about ordinary people. Yogis have no laws, its quite different; for them the world is different. I am talking about ordinary people living an ordinary life; for them its like that. So the conclusion is that if you want to preserve your consciousness, it would be better to center it on a part of your being which is immortal; otherwise it will evaporate like a flame into thin air. And happily so, because if it were otherwise, there might be gods or kinds of superior men who would create hells and heavens as they do in their material imagination, inside which they would shut you up. (Question:) It is said that there is a god of death. Is it true? Yes. As for me, I call him a genius of death. I know him very well. And its an extraordinary organization. You cant imagine how organized it is! I think there are many of those genii of death, hundreds of them. I met at least two of them. One I met in France, the other in Japan, and they were very different. Which leads me to believe that depending on the mental culture, the education, the countries and beliefs, there must be different genii. But there are genii for all manifestations of Nature: there are genii of fire, genii of air, water, rain, wind; and there are genii of death. Any one genius of death is entitled to a certain number of dead every day. Its truly a fantastic organization. Its a sort of alliance between the vital forces and the forces of Nature. If, for example, he decided, Here is the number of people I am entitled to, say four or five, or six, or one or two (it varies from day to day), if he decided so many people would die, hell go straight and set himself up near the person whos going to die. But if you (not the person) happen to be conscious, if you see the genius going to the person but do not want him or her to die, then, if you have a certain occult power, you can tell him, No, I forbid you to take this person. Thats something which happened, not once but several times, in Japan and here. It wasnt the same genius. Which makes me say there must be many of them. If you can tell him, I forbid you to take this person and have the power to send him away, theres nothing he can do but go away; but he wont give up his due and will go elsewhere there will be a death elsewhere. (Question:) Some people, when they are about to die, are aware of it. Why dont they tell the genius to go away? Two things are needed. First, nothing in your being, no part of your being, should wish to die. That doesnt often happen. You always have, somewhere in you, a defeatist: something tired or disgusted, which has had enough, something lazy or which doesnt want to fight and says, Ah, well, let it be over, so much the better. Thats enoughyoure dead. But its a fact: if nothing, absolutely nothing in you consents to die, you will not die. For someone to die, there is always a second, if a hundredth part of a second, when he consents. If there isnt that second of consent, he will not die. But who is certain he doesnt have within himself, somewhere, a tiny bit of a defeatist which just yields and says, Oh well? Hence the need to unify oneself. Whatever The Path we may follow, the subject we may study, we always reach the same result. The most important thing for an individual is to unify himself around his divine center; that way he becomes a real individual, master of himself and of his destiny. Otherwise, he is a plaything of the forces, which toss him about like a cork in a stream. He goes where he doesnt want to, is made to do what he doesnt want to, and finally he gets lost in a hole without any way to stop himself doing so. But if you are consciously organized, unified around the divine center, governed and led by it, you are the master of your destiny. Its worth trying. At any rate, I find its better to be the master rather than the slave. The feeling of being pulled by strings and being made to do things you may or may not want to do is a rather unpleasant sensation. Its quite irksome. Well, I dont know, I, for one, found it quite irksome even when I was a small child. When I was five, I began finding it wholly intolerable, and I sought a way for it to be otherwisewithout anyone being able to tell me anything. Because I knew no one capable of helping me, and I didnt have the luck you havesomeone who can tell you, Here is what you must do. There was no one to tell me. I had to find it all by myself. I found it. I began at the age of five. And you, its a long time since you were five?
   Well cut out the end.

0 1968-10-26, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But I mean that if, now, through some miracle, ONE became luminously true, it would strike the rest of mankind so much that it would be turned back onto The Path of TruthONE example.
   Yes, of course. But that

0 1968-10-30, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Here are the Light and the Divine Love which are always with you on The Path, every outcome of which is only the starting point for a new stage.
   Its precisely the experience Ive had these last few days (yesterday, I think), just before writing the card. We always set an end to things but there isnt any. There isnt any. The truth is, one rises like this (Mother draws a curve that reaches a point in space), but its in order to go like this (gesture of a new curve rising higher from that point on), and again like this for ever and ever.
  --
   Which are always with you on The Path
   And there I asked, Well, where do we stand? (for you). And he answered
  --
   It goes on indefinitely (Mother draws an immense road), so Where do I stand? (same immense gesture)theres as much of The Path behind as there is ahead! (Mother laughs)
   But are things moving?

0 1968-11-13, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   And it doesnt have (how should I put it?) a clear vision of The Path or the process, so It only understands one thing: never forget, never at any time, not even for a second, what it calls the Divine and wants to reach. Thats all.
   And then, from time to time, there are flashes, like flashes from the Grace, absolutely wonderful. But they last for one second.

0 1969-03-01, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I would have to spend hours every day to narrate what has taken place if we really wanted to keep a historical record of The Path.
   (silence)

0 1969-05-31, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But the process to change this back into That is what I dont know The process is abdication (what word should we use?), self-giving (thats not it). But the body felt everything, everything to be so horrible. There was a very, very difficult day.2 And curiously, I knew at that time that it was the exact repetition of the experience Buddha Siddhartha had, and that it was IN this experience that he said, There is only one way out: Nirvana. And at the SAME TIME, I had the true state of consciousness: his solution and the true one. That was really interesting. How the Buddhistic solution is only ONE step taken on The Pathone step. And BEYOND that (not on another path, but BEYOND that) is where the true solution lies. It was a decisive experience.
   (long silence)
  --
   According to what others say or write or experience, I have seen that what the vast majority of humanity fears the most is this perception of the Falsehood of it all, and all that leads to it. I know people (theyve written to me) who just these last few days have had terrible frights, because all of a sudden they were forcibly seized, something was beginning to touch them: the perception of the unreality of life. So that shows the immensity of The Path still ahead. Which means that any hope of a solution near at hand seems childishness. Unless things take place differently.
   If things must follow the movement theyve followed till now How many centuries and centuries and centuries there have been. So the superman would only be one more stage, and after him there would be many other more things.

0 1969-09-06, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But it was really interesting: there was an overall vision of things to be learned, and we were on a beautiful road, quite a smooth road, and Sri Aurobindo said, No, see, you have to climb thatit was a steep path going up, a path of black, gluey soil (one wondered if ones foot wasnt going to slip at every step), as difficult as could be, and he said, See, thats what you have to climb; when you reach the top, you will truly see. I was there, saying to myself (he was speaking to someone, I didnt notice who it was, but now I think it must have been your brother), I said to myself, Its strange (because I didnt think Sri Aurobindo felt that way), Its strange; so then, one should never be afraid of difficulty It went on for a long time, but it struck me a lot. I still see him, I remember, I saw Sri Aurobindo next to someone who was taller (your brother is tall, isnt he?), and he spoke to him, explained, then showed him The Path; I saw The Path: a path of quite a disgusting black soil, going up almost sheer, it was difficult. And he said, Thats it, that is what you must climb, and at the top, you seeat the top, you have the vision.
   In the morning, I wondered who was the person Sri Aurobindo spoke to, and now I clearly see it must have been your brother. Sri Aurobindo spoke in French, so your brother said, Oh, you speak French, and I said, Oh, but Sri Aurobindo knows French very well! (Mother laughs) Its amusing.

0 1969-10-18, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Its hard to say because I am convinced that everyone has his own path, but for this body, The Path is to have that active aspiration.
   To have active aspiration? Yes, but then its not that stillness anymore.

0 1970-08-01, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Whatever sufferings come on The Path, are not too high a price for the victory that has to be won and if they are taken in the right spirit, they become even a means towards the victory.
   Letters on Yoga, 24.1636

0 1971-04-17, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   His yoga is integral because, instead of confining the quest to the spiritual heights, he has told us repeatedly that our body too must participate and we must bring the Spiritual Truth down into our body and our life. The Path of ascent and all the other paths, the other planes of consciousness, are part of an integral development for those who have the time and the special capacities that are required. But it is no longer the time for those excursions, since everything can be found heresince, in fact, Sri Aurobindo and Mother opened the way HERE. Please recall Mothers statement: Sri Aurobindo came to tell us: one need not leave the earth to find the Truth, one need not leave life to find ones soul, one need not abandon the world or have limited beliefs to enter into relation with the Divine. The Divine is everywhere, in everything, and if he is hidden, it is because we do not take the trouble to find him. (Questions and Answers, 8.13.1958) And again this: For many, spiritual life is meditation. As long as that nonsense is not uprooted from human consciousness, the supramental force will always find it very difficult not to be swallowed up in the obscurity of an uncomprehending human mind. (Questions and Answers, 4.17.1957) And if you know how to read Sri Aurobindo and Mother, you will see that they have completely described this road of here and the sunlit pathOn the Way to Supermanhood only puts an intentionally exclusive accent on the here, because there is no time to lose, because everyone does not have the special capacities for making large-scale explorations, and finally because we are at the Hour of Godwe are right there! It has come. Because there really is something different in the world since 1969.
   It is not a change in Sri Aurobindos yoga, it is the flowering of Sri Aurobindos yoga, I dare say. I do not think that the flower of the flame tree contradicts in any way the flame tree.
   Now, you have completely confused the psychic and the spiritual. The psychic, the soul, the Fire within, Agni, does not belong to the mental bubble or to any bubble: it is the Divine in matter. It is that little Fire which opens the door to the great solar Fire of the New Consciousness. It is the instrument of the yoga of the superman (when I speak of turning on the psychic switch, I am there taking the word in the vulgar and ridiculous sense of people seeking visionary and occult experiencesnot in the true sense). Others in every age have had the experience of the psychic, of the inner Fire, but aside from the Rishis, no one used it to transform matter; the religions have made a purely devotional and mystical thing out of it. As for the spiritual, that includes all the planes of consciousness above the ordinary mind. It is The Path of ascent. And that is where I repeatedly and emphatically, and from experience, say that those great Experiences, which have to be turned into spiritual summits, are part of the mental bubble (including the overmind): they are the rarefied summits on which the being thins out into a marvelous whiteness, immense, royal, without a ripple of trouble, in an eternal peacewhich can last for millenniums without its changing the world one iota, by definition. But the spiritual is not the supramental, and when one touches the supramental, it seems to be almost a whole other Spirit, it is so compact, warm, powerful, present, embodied and radiantly solid in broad daylight. That is the Radiance which Sri Aurobindo and Mother came to bring down on earththey said over and over that their yoga was new, new, newand it is through the simple little fire inside us that we can enter into direct contact with That, without sitting in the lotus position or leaving life. When one touches That, the spiritual heights seem pale. That is all I have to say. So we do not at all need to be superyogis to have this contact, and those who have found Nirvana, or what have you, have not advanced one inch toward That, because the clue to That is not up there at all or outside, but in your own small capacity of flame.
   So if instead of splitting hairs, you set out boldly on the road, afire, you would perhaps discover that we are indeed at the Hour of God and that a single spark of sincere effort, at ones own level, opens doors which have been closed for millenniums.

0 1971-05-08, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   They have chosen, they have chosen The Path of the turtle. So thats how it will be.
   There are momentswhat Sri Aurobindo called The Hour of Godthere are moments when the true, the true miracle is possible; if that moment is missed, then the world will go at its turtle pace.

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 1971-05-26, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   (M.:) Well, I mention this because, reading the book, I felt, If someone starts following this path without a guru, he may find himself in trouble. But its a book that inspires you to follow The Path.
   (silence)

0 1971-12-11, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   For the problem is fundamental. It is not a question of bringing a new philosophy to the world or new ideas or illuminations, as they are called. The question is not of making the Prison of our lives more habitable, or of endowing man with ever more fantastic powers. Armed with his microscopes and telescopes, the human gnome remains a gnome, pain-ridden and helpless. We send rockets to the moon, but we know nothing of our own hearts. It is a question, says Sri Aurobindo, of creating a new physical nature which is to be the habitation of the Supramental being in a new evolution.3 For, in actuality, he says, the imperfection of Man is not the last word of Nature, but his perfection too is not the last peak of the Spirit.4 Beyond the mental man we are, there exists the possibility of another being who will be the spearhead of evolution as man was once the spearhead of evolution among the great apes. If, says Sri Aurobindo, the animal is a living laboratory in which Nature has, it is said, worked out man, man himself may well be a thinking and living laboratory in whom and with whose conscious co-operation she wills to work out the superman, the god.5 Sri Aurobindo has come to tell us how to create this other being, this supramental being, and not only to tell us but actually to create this other being and open The Path of the future, to hasten upon earth the rhythm of evolution, the new vibration that will replace the mental vibrationexactly as a thought one day disturbed the slow routine of the beastsand will give us the power to shatter the walls of our human prison.
   Indeed, the prison is already starting to collapse. The end of a stage of evolution, announced by Sri Aurobindo, is usually marked by a powerful recrudescence of all that has to go out of the evolution.6 Everywhere about us we see this paroxysmal shattering of all the old forms: our borders, our churches, our laws, our morals are collapsing on all sides. They are not collapsing because we are bad, immoral, irreligious, or because we are not sufficiently rational, scientific or human, but because we have come to the end of the human! To the end of the old mechanism for we are on our way to SOMETHING ELSE. The world is not going through a moral crisis but through an evolutionary crisis. We are not going towards a better worldnor, for that matter, towards a worse onewe are in the midst of a MUTATION to a radically different world, as different as the human world was from the ape world of the Tertiary Era. We are entering a new era, a supramental Quinary. We leave our countries, wander aimlessly, we go looking for drugs, for adventure, we go on strike here, enact reforms there, foment revolutions and counterrevolutions. But all this is only an appearance; in fact, unwittingly, we are looking for the new being. We are in the midst of human evolution.

0 1971-12-29a, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   We are at a decisive hour in the history of the earth. The earth is preparing for the advent of the supramental being, and because of this the old way of living loses its value. One must launch oneself consciously on The Path of the future in spite of the new exigencies. The pettinesses tolerable at one time are no more so; one must widen oneself to receive that which shall be born.
   ***

0 1973-03-03, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Your path, The Path to the new consciousness.
   (Mother indicates that she does not want to talk)

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.
  --
   Make easy-going The Path that leads to the gods, with a happy mind carry the offering.
   Agni

02.01 - The World War, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   As we see it we believe that the whole future of mankind, the entire value of earthly life depends upon the issue of the present deadly combat. The Path that man has followed so long tended steadily towards progress and evolutionhow-ever slow his steps, however burdened with doubt and faintness his mind and heart in the ascent. But now the crucial parting of the ways looms before him. The question is, will The Path of progress be closed to him for ever, will he be compelled to revert to a former unregenerate state or even something worse I than that? Or will he remain free to follow that path, rise gradually and infallibly towards perfection, towards a purer, I fuller, higher and vaster luminous life? Will man come down' to live the life of a blind helpless slave under the clutches of I the Asura or even altogether lose his soul and become the legendary demon who carries no head but only a decapitated trunk?
   We believe that the war of today is a war between the Asura and men, human instruments of the gods. Man certainly is a weaker vessel in comparison with the Asuraon this material plane of ours; but in man dwells the Divine and against the divine force and might, no asuric power can ultimately prevail. The human being who has stood against the Asura has by that very act sided with the gods and received the support and benediction of the Divine. The more we become conscious about the nature of this war and consciously take the side of the progressive force, of the divine force supporting it, the more will the Asura be driven to retire, his power diminished, his hold relaxed. But if through ignorance and blind passion, through narrow vision and obscurant prejudice we fail to distinguish the right from the wrong side, the dexter from the sinister, surely we shall invite upon mankind utter misery and desolation. It will be nothing less than a betrayal of the Divine Cause.
  --
   A great opportunity is offered to India's soul, a mighty auspicious moment is come, if she can choose. If she chooses rightly, then can she arrive at the perfect fulfilment of her agelong endeavour, her life mission. India has preserved and fostered through the immemorial spiritual living of her saints and seers and sages the invaluable treasure, the vitalising, the immortalising power of spirituality, so that it can be placed at the service of terrestrial life for the deliverance of mankind, for the transfiguration of the human type. It is this for which India lives; by losing this India loses all her reason of existenceraison d'tre the earth and humanity too lose all significance. Today we are in the midst of an incomparable ordeal. If we know how to take the final and crucial step, we come out of it triumphant, a new soul and a new body, and we make The Path straight for the Lord. We have to recognise clearly and unequivocally that victory on' one side will mean that The Path of the Divineof progress and evolution and fulfilmentwill remain open, become wider and smoother and safer; but if the victory is on the other side, The Path will be closed perhaps for ever, at least for many ages and even then the travail will have to be undergone again under the most difficult conditions and circumstances. Not with a political shortsightedness, not out of -the considerations of convenience or diplomacy, of narrow parochial interests, but with the steady vision of the soul that encompasses the supreme welfare of humanity, we have to make our choice, we have to go over to the right side and oppose the wrong one with all the integrity of our life and being. The Allies, as they have been justly called, are really our allies, our friends and comrades, in spite of their thousand faults and defects; they have stood on the side of the Truth whose manifestation and triumph is our goal. Even though they did not know perhaps in, the beginning what they stood for, even though perhaps as yet they do not comprehend the full sense and solemnity of the issues, still they have chosen a side which is ours, and we have to stand by them whole-heartedly in an all-round comradeship if we want to be saved from a great perdition.
   This war is a great menace; it is also a great opportunity. It can land humanity into a catastrophe; it can also raise it to levels which would not have been within its reach but for the occasion. The Forces of Darkness have precipitated themselves with all their might upon the world, but by their very downrush have called upon the higher Forces of Light also to descend. The true' use of the opportunity offered to man would be to bring about a change, better still, a reversal, in his consciousness, that is to say, it will be of highest utility if it forces upon him by the pressure of inexorable circumstancessince normally he is so unwilling and incapable to do it through a spontaneous inner awakening the inescapable decision that he must change and shall change; and the change is to be for or towards the birth of a spiritual consciousness in earthly life. Indeed the war might be viewed" as the birth-pangs of such a spiritual consciousness. Whether the labour would be sublimely fruitful here and how or end in barrenness is the question the Fates and the gods are asking of man the mortal beingtoday.

02.02 - Lines of the Descent of Consciousness, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   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.

02.11 - Hymn to Darkness, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   It is said, the occultists say, that between the light of the day, that is to say, the light of the ordinary consciousness and the higher spiritual light, there is an interim world, an intermediate zone of consciousness. When one leaves the earthly day, the normal consciousness and goes within and to the heights, towards the other Light, one enters at first into a dark region (the selva oscura of Dante). Physically also, the scientists say today that when you leave the earth's atmosphere, from a certain height you no longer see the earthly light but you dive into a darkness where the sun does not shine in its glory as on earth. You see and feel the sunlight again when you approach the sun and are about to be consumed in its fires. In the same way, we are told that on the spiritual path too, The Path of inner consciousness, when you leave the ordinary consciousness, when you lose that normal light and yet have not arrived at the other higher light you grope in an intermediary region of darkness. You have lost the lower knowledge and have not yet gained the higher knowledge, then you are in that uncertain world of greyness or darkness. Or it happens also that while in the comparatively faint light of the ordinary consciousness, you are suddenly confronted with the Superior Lightthrough some grace perhapsyou cannot stand the light and get blinded and see sheer darkness. Again, the infinite sky in its fathomless depth appears to the naked eye blue, deep blue, blue-black. Light concentrated, solidified, materialised becomes a speck of darkness to the human eye. Do we not say today that a particle of matter (consolidated darkness) is only a quantum of concentrated light-energy?
   Something of these supraphysical experiences must have entered into the consciousness of the modern poets who have also fallen in love with darkness and blackness -have become adorers, although they do not know, of Shyma and Shyma.

02.12 - The Heavens of the Ideal, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Transcendent of The Paths of Fate and Time,
  They point above themselves with index peaks

03.01 - The New Year Initiation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   One starts on The Path of sadhana with an almost entire unconsciousness it is so in all evolutionary process. A goal is there, vague and indistinct, far off. Within him also the sadhaka feels an equally indefinite and indefinable urge, he seems to move without any fixed aim or purpose, with an urge simply to move and move on. This is what he feels as a yearning, as an aspirationcaraivete, as the Upanishad says. Then step by step as he progresses, his consciousness grows luminous, the aim also begins to take a clear and definite shape. The mind is able slowly to understand and grasp what it wants, the heart's yearning and attraction also begin to be transparent, quiet but deep. Still this cannot be called a change of nature, let alone transformation. Then only will our nature consent really to change when we become, when even our sense-organs become subject to our inner consciousness, when our actions and activities are inspired, guided and formed by the power and influence of this inner light.
   In the beginning, the sadhaka finds himself a divided personalityin his heart there is the awakening of aspiration, the divine touch, but with all its outward impulses, the physical consciousness remains subject to the control of old fixed habits under the sway of the lower nature. Ordinarily, man is an unconscious sinner, that is to say, he has no sense of the sins he commits. But he becomes a conscious sinner when he: reaches the level of which we are speaking. The conflicts, fears, agonies, compunctions in this stage have perhaps been nowhere more evident than in the life of the Christian seeker. In this state we know what to do but cannot do it the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We want to do the right thing, we try to do it again and again, yet we fail every time. It is not that we fail only in respect of the movements of our heart and mind, in practice also we commit the same stupidities time and again. These stupiditiesand their name is legionare lust, anger, greed, ignorance, vanity, envy, distrust, disobedience, revolt; repentance, constant repentance and earnest supplication for the divine grace that is the remedy, says the devout Christian.
  --
   We who have taken the side that is for Light and Evolution and the great Future, must be thoroughly alive to the heavy responsibility that lies on us. The choice of The Path is not by itself sufficient. Next to that, we have to see, at every step, and make sure that we are really walking straight along the true path, that we do not fall and slip down, that we do not stray unawares into a wrong track or a blind alley.
   So far as the World War is concerned all nations and peoples and groups on our side who have felt and proclaimed that they stand for equality, fraternity and freedom, the priests and prophets of a new future, of a happier humanity, all such warriors are also facing a solemn ordeal. For them also the time has come to be on their guard and be watchful. They must see that they give exact expression in their actions to what they have thought, felt and proclaimed. They have to prove by every means, by thought, word and deed, that their entire being is really one, whole and indivisible, in ideal and in intention.
   Today at the beginning of the New Year we have to bear in mind what aim, what purpose inspired us to enter into this tremendous terrible work, what force, what strength has been leading us to victory. They who consider themselves as collaborators in the progressive evolution of Nature must constantly realise the truth that if victory has come within the range of possibility, it has done so in just proportion to their sincerity, by the magic grace of the Mahashakti, the grace which the aspiration of their inner consciousness has called down. And what is now but possible will grow into the actual if we keep moving along The Path we have so far followed. Otherwise, if we falter, fail and break faith, if we relapse into the old accustomed track, if under pressure of past habits, under the temptation of immediate selfish gain, under the sway of narrow parochial egoism, we suppress or maim the wider consciousness of our inner being or deny it in one way or another, then surely we shall wheel back and fall into the clutches of those very hostile powers which it has been our determined effort to overthrow. Even if we gain an outward victory it will be a disastrous, moral and spiritual defeat. That will mean a tragic reversalto be compelled to begin again from the very beginning. Nature will not be baulked of her aim. Another travail she will have to undergo and that will be far more agonising and terrible.
   But we do not expect such a catastrophe. We have hope and confidence that the secret urge of Nature, the force of the Mahashakti will save man, individually and collectively, from ignorance and foolishness, vouchsafe to him genuine good sense and the true inspiration.

03.02 - Yogic Initiation and Aptitude, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The question, however, can be raised the moderns do raise it and naturally in the present age of science and universal educationwhy should not all men equally have the right to spiritual sadhana? If spirituality is the highest truth for man, his greatest good, his supreme ideal, then to deny it to anyone on the ground, for example, of his not being of the right caste, class, creed, or sex, to keep anyone at a distance on such or similar grounds is unreasonable, unjust, reprehensible. These notions, however, are born of a sentimental or idealistic or charitable disposition, but unfortunately they do not stand the impact of the realities of life. If you simply claim a thing or even if you possess a lawful right to a worthy object, you do not acquire thereby the capacity to enjoy it. Were it so, there would be no such thing as mal-assimilation. In the domain of spiritual sadhana there are any number of cases of defective metabolism. Those that have fallen, strayed from The Path, become deranged or even have had to leave the body, make up a casualty list that is not small. They were misfits, they came by their fate, because they encroached upon a thing they were not actually entitled to, they were dragged into a secret, a mystery to which their being was insensible.
   In a general way we may perhaps say, without gross error, that every man has the right to become a poet, a scientist or a politician. But when the question rises in respect of a particular person, then it has to be seen whether that person has a natural ability, an inherent tendency or aptitude for the special training so necessary for the end in view. One cannot, at will, develop into a poet by sheer effort or culture. He alone can be a poet who is to the manner born. The same is true also of the spiritual life. But in this case, there is something more to take into account. If you enter the spiritual path, often, whether you will or not, you come in touch with hidden powers, supra-sensible forces, beings of other worlds and you do not know how to deal with them. You raise ghosts and spirits, demons and godsFrankenstein monsters that are easily called up but not so easily laid. You break down under their impact, unless your adhr has already been prepared, purified and streng thened. Now, in secular matters, when, for example, you have the ambition to be a poet, you can try and fail, fail with impunity. But if you undertake the spiritual life and fail, then you lose both here and hereafter. That is why the Vedic Rishis used to say that the ear then vessel meant to hold the Soma must be properly baked and made perfectly sound. It was for this reason again that among the ancients, in all climes and in all disciplines, definite rules and regulations were laid down to test the aptitude or fitness of an aspirant. These tests were of different kinds, varying according to the age, the country and The Path followedfrom the capacity for gross physical labour to that for subtle perception. A familiar instance of such a test is found in the story of the aspirant who was asked again and again, for years together, by his Teacher to go and graze cows. A modern mind stares at the irrelevancy of the procedure; for what on earth, he would question, has spiritual sadhana to do with cow-grazing? In defence we need not go into any esoteric significance, but simply suggest that this was perhaps a test for obedience and endurance. These two are fundamental and indispensable conditions in sadhana; without them there is no spiritual practice, one cannot advance a step. It is absolutely necessary that one should carry out the directions of the Guru without question or complaint, with full happiness and alacrity: even if there comes no immediate gain one must continue with the same zeal, not giving way to impatience or depression. In ancient Egypt among certain religious orders there was another kind of test. The aspirant was kept confined in a solitary room, sitting in front of a design or diagram, a mystic symbol (cakra) drawn on the wall. He had to concentrate and meditate on that figure hour after hour, day after day till he could discover its meaning. If he failed he was declared unfit.
   Needless to say that these tests and ordeals are mere externals; at any rate, they have no place in our sadhana. Such or similar virtues many people possess or may possess, but that is no indication that they have an opening to the true spiritual life, to the life divine that we seek. Just as accomplishments on the mental plane,keen intellect, wide studies, profound scholarship even in the scriptures do not entitle a man to the possession of the spirit, even so capacities on the vital plane,mere self-control, patience and forbearance or endurance and perseverance do not create a claim to spiritual realisation, let alone physical austerities. In conformity with the Upanishadic standard, one may not be an unworthy son or an unworthy disciple, one may be strong, courageous, patient, calm, self-possessed, one may even be a consummate master of the senses and be endowed with other great virtues. Yet all this is no assurance of one's success in spiritual sadhana. Even one may be, after Shankara, a mumuksu, that is to say, have an ardent yearning for liberation. Still it is doubtful if that alone can give him liberation into the divine life.

03.03 - Arjuna or the Ideal Disciple, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   What makes a true disciple? For it is not everyone that can claim or be worthy of or meet the demands of the title. Disciplehood, like all great qualities, that is to say, qualities taken at their source and origin, is a function of the soul. Indeed, it is the soul itself coming up and asking for it'! native divine status; it is the call of the immortal in the mortal, the voice of the inmost being rising above the clamours and lures of the world, above the hungers and ties of one's own nature. When that rings out clear and unmistakable, the Divine reveals Himself as the Guru, The Path is shown and the initiation given. Even such a cry was Arjuna's when he said: iyaste ham sdhi mm twam prapannamit is a most poignant utterance in which the whole being bursts forth as it were, and delivers itself of all that it needs and of all that it gives. It needs the Illumination: it can no longer bear the darkness and confusion of Ignorance in which it is entangled; and it gives itself whole and entire, absolutely and without reserve, throws itself simply at the mercy of the Divine. Arjuna fulfils, as very few can so completely, the fundamental conditions the sine qua nonof discipleship.
   A certain modern critic, however, demurs. He asks why Arjuna was chosen in preference to Yudhisthira and doubts the wisdom and justice of the choice (made by Sri Krishna or the author of the Gita). Is not the eldest of the Pandavas also the best? He possesses in every way a superior dhra. He has knowledge and wisdom; he is free from passions, calm and self-controlled; he always acts according to the dictates of what is right and true. He is not swayed by the impulses of the moment or by considerations relating to his personal self; serene and unruffled he seeks to fashion his conduct by the highest possible standard available to him. That is why he is called dharmarja. If such a one is not to be considered as an ideal disciple, who else can be?

03.04 - The Vision and the Boon, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Out of The Paths of the morning star they came
  Into the little room of mortal life.

03.05 - Some Conceptions and Misconceptions, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The unrolling or Involution is The Path traced by consciousness in its changing modes of concentration. The principle of concentration is inherent in consciousness. Sri Aurobindo speaks of four modes or degrees of this concentration: (I) the essential, (2) the integral, (3) the total or global and (4) the separative. The first is a sole in-dwelling or an entire absorption in the essence of its own being it is the superconscient Silence, at one end, and the Inconscience, at the other. The second is the total Sachchidananda, the supramental concentration; the third, multiple or totalising overmental awareness; the fourth is the concentration of Ignorance. All the four, however, form the integral play of one indivisible consciousness.
   Here we come to the very heart of the mystery. As we have put it thus far, the process of Involution would appear as a series of stages in a descending order, a movement along a vertical line, as it were, one stage following another, more or less separate from each other, the lower being ever more ignorant, more separative, more exclusive. But this is not the whole picture. At each lower stage the higher is not merely high above, but also comes down and stands behind or becomes immanent in the lower. Along with the vertical movement there is also a horizontal movement. In other words, even when we are sunk in the lowest stratum of Ignorancein the domain of Matterwe have also there all the other strands behind, even the very highest, not merely as passive or neutral entities, but as dynamic agents exerting their living pressure to the full. Indeed the Ignorance is not mere Ignorance, but Knowledge itself, the very highest Knowledge, but in a particular mode of activity. What appears ignorant is full of a secret Knowledgeit is just the outer surface, the facet that appears as its opposite because of a particular manner of concentration, a total self-abandonment in the object of Knowledge. That Knowledge stands revealed if the mask is put away, that is to say, if we get behind, If we release the exclusiveness of the concentration. This release or getting behind does not mean necessarily the dissolution of the status itself for it is the pressure from behind, the concentration of the hidden consciousness that creates the status and its truth-forms; with the exclusiveness goes away only the twist, the aberration produced by it. When the consciousness withdraws from its mode and field of exclusive concentration, it need not concentrate again on the withdrawal only, it can be an inclusive concentration also embracing both the status the frontal and the behind. Both can be held together in one single movement of consciousness possessing the double function of projection and comprehensionprajna and vijna.

03.05 - The Spiritual Genius of India, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The psychological atmosphere in India is of a luminous tenuity. Here, it appears, the veil between this world and the other has so thinned away that the two meet and interpenetrate easily and freely; immersed in one, you can at the same time ba the in the other. Owing to the cumulative effect of the sadhana of her saints and sages who appeared in countless number down countless ages, or, perhaps, owing to the grace of a descent into her consciousness, or some immanence there, of the breath and light of a Superior World, India has developed and possesses, already prepared, a magnetic field, a luminous zone of spiritual consciousness; and to enter into it the Indian has only to turn aside, to go round a corner, to take one step forward. However thick and hard the crust of the Ignorance may lie upon the Indian soul, once that soul awakes and is upon The Path, it finds itself on a familiar ground; it is in a domain which it has the impression of having frequented often and anon and for long.
   But in Europe the division between this world and the other, in the inner consciousness of the people, is more rigorous, a thick wall divides the two and to pass from the one to the other demands a violent break, a total revolution; and even when the Rubicon is crossed, one feels oneself in unfamiliar surroundings, moving in a shadowy world, and with the uncertain and faltering steps of a child.

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.
   Like the individual, nations too have their sunlit path and The Path of the doldrum as well. So long as a nation keeps to the truth of its inner being, follows its natural line of development, remains faithful to its secret godhead, it will have chosen that good part which will bring it divine blessings and fulfilment. But sometimes a nation has the stupidity to deny its self, to run after an ignis fatuus, a mymrga, then grief and sorrow and frustration lie ahead. We are afraid India did take such a wrong step when she refused to see the great purpose behind the present war and tried to avoid contri buting her mite to the evolutionary Force at work. On the other hand Britain in a moment of supreme crisis, that meant literally life or death, not only to herself or to other nations, but to humanity itself, had the good fortune to be led by the right Inspiration, the whole nation rose as one man and swore allegiance to the cause of humanity and the gods. That was how she was saved and that was how she acquired a new merit and a fresh lease of life. Unlike Britain, France bowed down and accepted what should not have been accepted and cut herself adrift from her inner life and truth, the result was five years of hell. Fortunately, the hell in the end proved to be a purgatory, but what a purgatory! For there were souls who were willing to pay the price and did pay it to the full cash and nett. So France has been given the chance again to turn round and take up the thread of her life where it snapped.
   Once more another crisis seems to be looming before the nations, once more the choice has to be made and acted upon. In our weakness it is natural and easy to invoke God, to feel the presence of a higher Guidance, to trust in a heavenly light; but it is in our strength that we must know whose strength it is, and in whose strength it is that we conquer.
   If the present war has any meaning, as we all declare it has, then we must never lose sight of that meaning. And our true victory will come only in the process of the realisation of that meaning. That is the sunlit path we refer to here which the nations have to follow in their mutual dealings. It is The Path of the evolutionary call to which we say we have responded and to which we must remain loyal and faithful in thought, in speech and in deed. If we see dark and ominous clouds gathering round us, dangers and difficulties suddenly raising their heads, then we must look about and try honestly to find out whether we have not strayed away from the sunlit path.
   ***

03.09 - Buddhism and Hinduism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Buddhism saw and accepted a world of misery; therefore it knew how to touch the human heart, open up the doors in human consciousness to sympathy and compassion and love. Life it envisaged as an unreal persistence and therefore awakened and installed there the fiery urge towards withdrawal, ascension and transcendence. It was Buddhism that canonised the way of asceticism, laid out The Path of the Everlasting Nayalthough called (somewhat euphemistically perhaps) the Middle Path being tempered by an attitude of sweet reasonableness in the inner heart.
   The original and primeval Indianism was built upon the Vedic realisation of the Everlasting Yes. That luminous body of an integral realisation, which means the Veda, came to be covered over by a more strenuous demand of immediate necessity, by an over-emphasis on one side or aspect or line of growth of the human consciousness; a negative approach was needed for man to rise out of its too earthly a tenement to glimpse his divine possibility beyond, before he could hope to build it here below. The long reign of Siva was a necessary preparation for the advent of Vishnu.

03.10 - The Mission of Buddhism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   As it took man as a rational animal, at least as a starting-point, even so it gave a sober human value to things human. A rationalist's eye made him see and recognise the normal misery of mankind; and the great compassion goaded him to find the way out of the misery. It was not a dispassionate quest into the ultimate truth and reality nor an all-consuming zeal to meet the Divine that set Buddha on The Path; it was the everyday problem of the ordinary man which troubled his mind, and for which he sought a solution, a permanent radical solution. The Vedanist saw only delight and ecstasy and beatitude; forhim the dark shadow did not exist at all or did not matter; it was the product of illusion or wrong view of things; one was asked to ignore or turn away from this and look towards That. Such was not the Buddha's procedure.
   These are the two primarytruthsrya saryawhichBuddha's illumination meant and for which he has become one of the great divine leaders of humanity. First, he has discovered man's rationality, and second, he has discovered man's humanity. Since his advent two thousand and five hundred years ago till the present day, in this what may pertinently be called the Buddhist age of humanity, the entire growth, development and preoccupation of mankind was centred upon the twofold truth. Science and religion today are the highest expressions of that achievement.

04.02 - The Growth of the Flame, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Or followed stumbling in The Paths she made.
  Or longing with their self of life and flesh

04.03 - Consciousness as Energy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   It is the aim of all Yoga, spiritual discipline, finally to arrive at this consciousness, this supreme reality which is behind all existence, which is the source and the substance of all. It is in this Consciousness that the whole creation is rolled up and it is from this that it is rolled out. Only there are some paths of spiritual discipline that prefer and follow the movement of in-rolling and others that seek the one of out-rolling: the former is The Path of nivtti, the latter that of pravtti.
   Thus consciousness is not merely a status of being, but also a force of becoming. All that is to take form and be active, whether in the grossest, the material mode or in the most subtle, the ideative mode is originally a seed, a stress, a point of concentration of this consciousness. The Yogi becomes potentially all-powerful, because he is one with the All-Power, the Mother Consciousness. The perfect spiritual man not merely dwells with or is close to the Divine (slokya), he is not merely made in the image of the Divine (srpya), and again he is not merely unified and one with the Divine (syujya) but what is most marvellous, he has the same nature, that is to say, he has the same powers and capacities as the Divine (sdharmya).
   The dynamic becoming, becoming a power and personality of the omnipotent Divine, is a secret well known to the Yogis and mystics. Only it has not been worked out in all its implications, not given the full value and importance rightfully due to it. The reason is that although the principle was discovered and admitted, the proper key had not been found that could release and manipulate the Energy at its highest potential and largest amplitude. Because the major tendency in the spiritual man till now has been rather to follow The Path of nivtti than The Path of pravtti, this latter path being more or less identified with The Path of Ignorance. But there is a higher line of pravtti which means the manifestation of the Divine, not merely the expression of the inferior Nature.
   II

04.04 - Evolution of the Spiritual Consciousness, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Indeed, the tradition in the domain of spiritual discipline seems to have been always to realise once again what has already been realised by others, to rediscover what has already been discovered, to re-establish ancient truths. Others have gone before on The Path, we have only to follow. The teaching, the realisation is handed down uninterruptedly through millenniums from Master to disciple. In other words, the idea is that the fundamental spiritual realisation remains the same always and everywhere: the name and the form only vary according to the age and the surroundings. The one reality is called variously, says the Veda. Who can say when was the first dawn! The present dawn has followed the track of the infinite series that has gone by and is the first of the I infinite series that is to come. So sings Rishi Kanwa. For the core of spiritual realisation is to possess the consciousness, attain the status of the Spirit. This Spirit may be called God by the theist or Nihil by the Negativist or Brahman (the One) by the Positivist (spiritual). But the essential experience of a cosmic and transcendental reality does not differ very much. So it is declared that there is only one goal and aim, and there are, at the most, certain broad principles, clear pathways which one has to follow if one is to move in the right direction, advance smoothly and attain infallibly: but these have been well marked out, surveyed and charted and do not admit of serious alterations and deviations. The spiritual aspiration is a very definite and unitary movement and its fulfilment is also a definite and invariable status of the consciousness. The spiritual is a typal domain, one may say, there is no room here for sudden unforeseen variation or growth or evolution.
   Is it so in fact? For, if one admits and accepts the evolutionary character of human nature and consciousness, the outlook becomes somewhat different. According to this view, human civilisation is seen as moving through progressive stages: man at the outset was centrally lodged in and occupied with his body consciousness, he was an annamaya purua; then he raised himself and centred in the vital consciousness and so became fundamentally a prnamaya purua; next he climbed into the mental consciousness and became a maomaya purua; from that level again he has been attempting to go further beyond. On each plane the normal life is planned according to the central character, the lawdharmaof that plane. One can have the religious or spiritual experience on each of these planes, representing various degrees of growth and evolution according to the plane to which it is attached. It is therefore that the Tantra refers to three gradations of spiritual seekers and accordingly three types or lines of spiritual discipline: the animal (pau bhva), the heroic (vra bhva) and the godly or divine (deva bhva). The classification is not merely typal but also hierarchical and evolutionary in character.

04.06 - Evolution of the Spiritual Consciousness, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Indeed, the tradition in the domain of spiritual discipline seems to have been always to realise once again what has already been realised by others, to rediscover what has already been discovered, to re-establish ancient truths. Others have gone before on The Path, we have only to follow. The teaching, the realisation is handed down uninterruptedly through millenniums from Master to disciple. In other words, the idea is that the fundamental spiritual realisation remains the same always and everywhere: the name and the form only vary according to the age and the surroundings. The one Reality is called variously, says the Veda. Who can say when was the first dawn! The present dawn has followed the track of the infinite series that has gone by and is the first of the infinite series that is to come. So sings Rishi Kanwa. For the core of spiritual realisation is to possess the consciousness, attain the status of the Spirit. This Spirit may be called God by the theist or Nihil by the Negativist or Brahman (the One) by the Positivist (spiritual). But the essential experience, of a cosmic and transcendental reality, does not differ very much. So it is declared that there is only one goal and aim, and there are, at the most, certain broad principles, clear pathways which one has to follow if one is to move in the right direction, advance smoothly and attain infallibly: but these have been well marked out, surveyed and charted and do not admit of serious alterations and deviations. The spiritual aspiration is a very definite and unitary movement and its fulfilment is also a definite and invariable status of the consciousness. The spiritual is a type domain, one may say, there is no room here for sudden unforeseen variation or growth or evolution.
   Is it so in fact? For if one admits and accepts the evolutionary character of human nature and consciousness, the outlook becomes somewhat different. According to this view, human civilisation is seen as moving through progressive stages: man at the outset was centrally lodged in and occupied with his body consciousness, he was an annamaya purua; then he raised himself and was centred in the vital consciousness and so became fundamentally a pramaya purua ; next the climbed into the mental consciousness and became the manomaya purua; from that level again he has been attempting to go further beyond. On each plane the normal life is planned' according to the central character, the lawdharmaof that plane. One can have the religious or spiritual experience on each of these planes, representing various degrees of grow and evolution according to the plane to which it is attached. It is therefore that the Tantra refers to three gradations of spiritual seekers and accordingly three types or lines of spiritual discipline: the animal (pau bhva) the heroic (Vra bhva) and the godly or divine (deva bhva). The classification is not merely typal but also hierarchical and evolutionary in character.

04.09 - Values Higher and Lower, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   We, of course, are not of the opinion that all possible revelations in the spiritual sphere have been made and done with even in India or that there cannot be fresh valuations of the old revelations or their applications in a new way. We believe in the words of the ancient Rishis who declared that dawns come endlessly in succession, today's dawn follows The Path trod by the ancient ones and is the first of the eternal series to come in the future. Each dawn brings in a new and fresh revelation, a hope and vision looking into the future although linked in with the experiences of the infinite past.
   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.

04.41 - To the Heights-XLI, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Serene would be The Path and perfect and even prompt the achievement;
   But our greed and vanity and self-love

05.02 - Gods Labour, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   A great mystery of existence, its central rub is the presence of Evil. All spiritual, generally all human endeavour has to face and answer this Sphinx. As he answers, so will be his fate. He cannot rise up even if he wishes, earth cannot progress even when there is the occasion, because of this besetting obstacle. It has many names and many forms. It is Sin or Satan in Christianity; Buddhism calls it Mara. In India it is generally known as Maya. Grief and sorrow, weakness and want, disease and death are its external and ubiquitous forms. It is a force of gravitation, as graphically named by a modern Christian mystic, that pulls man down, fixes him upon earth with its iron law of mortality, never allowing him to mount high and soar in the spiritual heavens. It has also been called the Wheel of Karma or the cycle of Ignorance. And the aim of all spiritual seekers has been to rise out of itsome-how, by force of tapasy, energy of concentrated will or divine Gracego through or by-pass and escape into the Beyond. This is The Path of ascent I referred to at the outset. In this view it is taken for granted that this creation is transient and empty of happinessanityam asukham (Gita)it is anatta, empty of self or consciousness (Buddha) and it will be always so. The only way to deal with it, the way of the wise, is to discard it and pass over.
   Sri Aurobindo's view is different. He says Evil can be and has to be conquered here itself, here upon this earth and in this body-the ancients also said, ihaiva tairjitah, they have conquered even here, prkariravimokat, before leaving the body. You have to face Evil full-square and conquer it, conquer it not in the sense that you simply rise above it so that it no longer touches you, but that you remain where you are in the very field of Evil and drive it out from there completely, erase and annihilate it where it was reigning supreme. Hence God has to come down from his heaven and dwell here upon earth and among men and in the conditions of mortality, show thus by his living and labour that this earthly earth can be transformed into a heavenly earth and this human body into a "body divine".

05.03 - Satyavan and Savitri, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Why is thy dwelling in The Pathless wood
  Far from the deeds thy glorious youth demands,
  --
  At The Path's end through a green cleft in the trees
  She saw a clustering line of hermit-roofs

05.06 - Physics or philosophy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The second element brought in in the indeterminacy picture is the restoration of the "subject" to its honoured or even more than the honoured place it had in the Mediaeval Ages, and from which it was pulled down by young arrogant Science. A fundamental question is now raised in the very methodology of the scientific apparatus. For Science, needless to say, is first and foremost observation. Now it is observed that the very fact of observation affects and changes the observed fact. The Path of an electron, for example, has to be observed; one has then to throw a ray of lighthurl a photonupon it: the impact is sufficient to deflect the electron from the original path. If it is suggested that by correction and computation, by a backward calculation we can deduce the previous position, that too is not possible. For we cannot fix any position or point that is not vitiated by the observer's interference. How to feel or note the consistency of a thing, if the touch itself, the temperature of the finger, were sufficient to change the consistency? The trouble is, as the popular Indian saying goes, the very amulet that is to exorcise the ghost is possessed by the ghost itself.
   So the scientists of today are waking up to this disconcerting fact. And some have put the question very boldly and frankly: do not all laws of Nature contain this original sin of the observer's interference, indeed may not the laws be nothing else but that? Thus Science has landed into the very heart the bog and quagmire, if you likeof abstruse metaphysics. Eddington says, there is no other go for Science today but to admit and delcare that its scheme and pattern of things, as described by what is called laws of Nature, is only a mental construct of the Scientist. The "wonderful" discoveries are nothing but jugglery and legerdemain of the mindwhat it puts out of itself unconsciously into the outside world, it recovers again and is astonished at the miracle. A scientific law is a pure deduction from the mind's own disposition. Eddington goes so far as to say that if a scientist is sufficiently introspective he can trace out from within his brain each and every law of Nature which he took so much pains to fish out from Nature by observation and experiment. Eddington gives an analogy to explain the nature of scientific law and scientific discovery. Suppose you have a fishing net of a particular size and with interstices of a particular dimension; you throw it into the sea and pull out with fishes in it. Now you count and assort the fishes, and according to the data thus obtained, you declare that the entire sea consists of so many varieties of fish and of such sizes. The only error is that you could not take into account the smaller fishes that escaped through the interstices and the bigger ones that did not at all fall into the net. Scientific statistics is something of this kind. Our mind is the net, and the pattern of Nature is determined by the mind's own pattern.

05.24 - Process of Purification, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   There are three well-marked stages in the process of the purification of nature and surrender to the Divine. When one has made up one's mind finally to take to The Path of spiritual life and to turn one's back on the life of ignorant nature, one enters at the outset into a phase of divided consciousness and life. It is the stage when one cries, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." One feels an inner aspiration and devotion and even freedom and purity and wider consciousness, but actually in the practical world, he follows the old nature, acts under the pressure of Ignorance and the Ripus. You are a mundane man with profane habitsand yet within, when aloof, you are in contact with the deeper and larger breath of the Spirit. The next stage is one of external control and of modification of behaviour. You have the inner consciousness of the spirit grown strong in you and you are no longer a helpless prey to the physical outbursts of inferior nature: a kind of brake has been put upon the outgoing passions. Still at this stage the surges of passion are there within, inside the wall of control, as it were. The pressure and demand of the Spirit has brought about a deadlock in the ignorant movements of the outer nature, although the physico-vital and vital support behind has not been wholly purified and continues in its old way, expressing itself in veiled and sublimated acts and in dreams and imaginations. The vital support even when it does not express itself in grosser physical movements, even when it is self-contained, yet maintains its old taste for them. Finally, when this taste even goes away (that is the suggestion in the beautiful and luminous phrase of the Gita, rasavaljam), then only one rises into the integral and unadulterated life of the Spirit. Till that final consummation happens, the period of interregnum is a great occasion for training and experience. It is of considerable interest also from the standpoint of occult knowledge.
   There are two typeswhich mean two stagesof control. You can control your nature by the force of your will, as one does a wicked horse by means of the toothed bit. But this control is precarious and the clearing or purification effected is only skin-deep. At the slightest weakening of the will or a momentary lack of vigilance, you may find yourself in the very midst of a volcanic eruption of passions. Even otherwise, even if there happens no external outburst, the burden or pressure of the ignorant nature is always there and the struggle or tension, although thrown into the background, obstructs the nature, does not give it the free and spontaneous higher poise of the spirit. The other control comes from the inmost being, from the spiritual self itself: it is automatic and it is occult in its action and therefore naturally effective. When the Spirit, the Inner Control (Antarymi)works, it happens that even if the desires are there, the occasions for their satisfaction are withdrawn from you. As the Mother says, some people who are destined for the spiritual life lose all earthly props whenever they wish to lean upon them, they lose their endeared objects whenever they are eager to cherish them. At a certain stage of the growth of the inner consciousness, the demand of the soul makes it impossible for the vital (or physico-vital), so far as it is unpurified and unprepared, to secure its objects: even if the lips yearn, the cup is taken away. The circumstances themselves yield to the pressure of the inner being and conspire, as it were, to withhold and remove all dangerous contacts. The being has not to say, "Lead me not into temptation", for the temptations by themselves slip away. That is the earlier poise of the interregnum we are describing; the next poise comes when the wish-impulses, the subjective vibrations also melt and disappear. Then there appear no such things as temptations. Objects, events, circumstances that might have acted in that role come and go, but the being remains indifferent and unruffled, because suffused with the delight of another contact. The detachment from the worldly is secure and absolute because the being has found its attachment to the Divine. That is the beginning of the integral spiritualisation of the nature.

06.01 - The Word of Fate, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Chill, slippery, precipitous are The Paths.
  Too hard the gods are with man's fragile race;

06.02 - The Way of Fate and the Problem of Pain, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  It yearned to The Pathos of grief, the drama of pain,
  Perdition's peril, the wounded bare escape,

06.29 - Towards Redemption, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The original individual was a hard concentrated point of ego, concerned wholly and absolutely with itself. So a situation of give and take was brought about so that even to exist meant to exist through others. Human society began in this way. The solitary human animal for its own sake had to come out of its solitariness, take to a mate and thus gradually bring up a family. The wall of egoism was broken to that extent, its scope extended. The enlargement of the ego continuedstill continuesincreasing the content of the unity. From the family the human ego enlarged into the tribe, and the tribal ego has now enlarged into the nation. Larger and larger aggregates are being formed in place of the original individual unities. The nations too are now approaching and interpenetrating each other and in many ways the whole of humanity has been moving as an aggregate. The individual has thus learnt to find himself in the life of humanity as a whole. He has to look upor will soon have to look upto the whole creation as one existence in and through which he has to exist. Thus the universe is recovering its original indivisible unity, but having gained something in the process; for it is now no longer the featureless unity at the source but an enriched and multiple unity in expression. Furthermore the individual can proceed yet beyond. He has to and now is able to, not only in his individual but in his collective consciousness turn back and move straight to its original unity: he can establish direct contact, commune and unite with the Divine Himself from whom it I came and drifted away. The ranges of ascent are within him I and are in line with those outside which the universe is traversing in The Path of evolution. Such is the process the Divine I Grace has undertaken to fulfil the Divine's purpose in creation.
   The earliest sense of ego or I is limited and confined to one's own self as against others and other things. It is then I that one has the feeling of want and asks for things he has not. I He has shut out from his wing-spread men and things, of his I own accord, to enjoy his individual free will: he is now compelled to ask of them materials to enjoy, to grow and increase, I even to exist. On the other hand, if you enlarge yourself, I if you identify yourself with all, then you find all things I within yourself, you have no need to go out and seek for them, you have no feeling of want. Whatever is needed to be brought and utilised for a definite purpose or in a particular circumstance, at a certain time or place, is automatically presented then and there. You do not, however, lose your real I. Your I finds its I in all other Is and all other Is in the I you call yourself. You have lost your old ego, the small narrow person, and transcended and transmuted it into the cosmic and transcendental ego. The Divine is that ego and that individual person. In reality it is the Divine alone who is that, in the supreme and truest sense.

07.03 - The Entry into the Inner Countries, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Can still The Path be found, opened the gate?"
  So she fared on across her silent self.

07.04 - The Triple Soul-Forces, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  I guide man to The Path of the Divine
  And guard him from the red Wolf and the Snake.
  --
  I have seen the ways of life, The Paths of mind;
  I have studied the methods of the ant and ape

07.13 - Divine Justice, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   To judge by appearances, by apparent success is an act of complete ignorance. Even in the case of a person hardened to the core, who has apparently the utmost success, there is a counterpart: exactly this hardening, this evil that is put up thicker and thicker between the outer consciousness and the inner truth becomes also more and more unbearable. The outer success has to be paid for very dearly. One must be very great, very pure, one must have a very high, very unselfish spiritual consciousness to be able to succeed and yet not be affected. There is nothing so difficult to bear than success. That is the true test in life. When you are not successful, you turn very naturally to yourself, go within you, seek there comfort for the outer failure. And they who have the Flame within them and the Divine helping them truly, that is to say, if they are mature enough to get the help, if they are ready to follow The Path, must expect blows coming upon them one after another, because that helps. Indeed that is the most powerful, most direct and most effective help. But if you have 'Success, take care! Ask yourself, at what price you have had it? What is the thing you have paid for the success? Of course, there are people of a different kind. They who have gone beyond, who are conscious of their soul, who are entirely surrender they can succeed and success does not touch them. But one has to rise very high to be able to shoulder the burden of success. It is perhaps the last and final test that the Divine puts to anyone. He says: Now that you are noble and high and unselfish, you belong to Me alone. I shall make you triumph. We shall see if you can bear the blow!
   To the Asuras too the Divine gives what they ask for. Generally it is in that way that their end comes all the sooner. An Asura is a conscious being. He knows that he has an end. He knows that the attitude he has taken in this universe will necessarily destroy him after a time. Of course the Asura's time is much longer than human time. Even then he knows that there will come an end for him, for he has cut himself from Eternity. What he seeks is to carry out his desires to the utmost extent possible till the day of his doom, when the final defeat comes. And very possibly if he is allowed his way the defeat will be hastened. That is why exactly when great things are about to happen, at that moment the adverse forces become the most active, most violently active and apparently the most successful. They are given a free field as it were to rush to their doom.

08.01 - Choosing To Do Yoga, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The decision must come from within. All who come consciously for Yoga, knowing what Yoga is, have to accept conditions of life very different from those that others enjoyexternally perhaps there may not be any difference, but internally there is a wide gulf. There is a kind of absoluteness in the Consciousness that does not allow any deviation from The Path: errors committed become immediately visible with such consequences that one cannot deceive oneself any longer and things take a very serious aspect.
   You all, my children, I may tell you,I have already told you many times and I still repeat, you live in an uncommon freedom. Externally there are a few small restrictions, for, as we are many, and have not the whole earth at our disposal, we have to submit ourselves to some discipline to a certain extent, so that there may not be too much disorder; but internally you live in wonderful liberty, no social restraint, no moral restraint, no intellectual restraint, no fixed principle, nothing is there, save and except a light. If you wish to profit by it, you get the profit; if you do not want, you are free not to profit by it.

08.17 - Psychological Perfection, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   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.
   The relation of the whole and its part does not hold good here; for there is no longer any division. The very quality of the approach is different. Can you say that a perfect identification with one drop of water would give you the knowledge of what the sea is? And here the perfect identification in question is not merely with the ocean but with all possible oceans. And yet the perfect identification with one drop of water does give you the knowledge of the ocean in its essence; but in the other way you know the ocean not merely in its essence but in its totality. It is however very difficult to express the reality of the truth. What can be said to put it as clearly as possible is this: in the line of personal effort, when one depends solely upon one's personal strength, all that has been individualised maintains the virtues of individuality and hence also, in a certain sense, all the limitations necessary for this individuality. In the other case, when you have surrendered your individuality, you not only enjoy the virtues of individuality but also you are not subject to its limitations. It is almost high philosophy, I am afraid. It is not clear therefore. But that is all I can say.

09.01 - Towards the Black Void, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  But now the impulse of The Path was felt
  Moving from the Silence that supports the stars
  --
  And bear thee through The Pathless infinite.
  Only in human limits man lives safe.

10.01 - A Dream, #Writings In Bengali and Sanskrit, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Harimohon was about to ask something when, all of a sudden, he saw that there was neither Sri Krishna nor the ascetic, neither the tiger nor any hill. He found himself living in a well-to-do quarter of a town; he possessed much wealth, a family and children. Every day he was giving alms in charity to the Brahmins and to the beggars; he was regularly repeating the Divine Name three times a day; observing all the rites and rituals prescribed in the Shastras, he was following The Path shown by Raghunandan, and was leading the life of an ideal father, an ideal husb and and an ideal son.
  But the next moment he saw to his dismay that the residents of the locality he was living in had neither mutual good-will nor any happiness; they considered the mechanical observance of social conventions the highest virtue. Instead of the ecstatic feeling that had been his in the beginning, he now had a feeling of suffering. It seemed to him as if he had been very thirsty but, lacking water, had been eating dust,only dust, infinite dust. He ran away from that place and went to another locality. There, in front of a grand mansion, a huge crowd had gathered; words of blessing were on every ones lips. Advancing he saw Tinkari Sheel seated on a verandah, distributing large amounts of money to the crowd; no one was going away empty-handed. Harimohon chuckled and thought, What is this dream? Tinkari Sheel is giving alms! Then he looked into Tinkaris mind. He saw that thousands of dissatisfactions and evil impulses such as greed, jealousy, passion, selfishness were all astir there. For the sake of virtuous appearance and fame, out of vanity, Tinkari had kept them suppressed, kept them starving, instead of driving them away from within.

1.001 - The Opening, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  7. The Path of those You have blessed, not of those against whom there is anger, nor of those who are misguided.

10.03 - The Debate of Love and Death, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  A darkness wallows in The Paths of Time
  Or lifts its giant head to blot the stars;

10.04 - The Dream Twilight of the Earthly Real, #Savitri, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  And leave The Path of my incarnate Force.
  Relieve the radiant God from thy black mask:

1.004 - Women, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  115. Whoever makes a breach with the Messenger, after the guidance has become clear to him, and follows other than The Path of the believers, We will direct him in the direction he has chosen, and commit him to Hell—what a terrible destination!
  116. God will not forgive that partners be associated with Him; but will forgive anything less than that, to whomever He wills. Anyone who ascribes partners to God has strayed into far error.
  --
  169. Except to The Path of Hell, where they will dwell forever. And that is easy for God.
  170. O people! The Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord, so believe—that is best for you. But if you disbelieve, to God belongs everything in the heavens and the earth. God is Omniscient and Wise.

1.006 - Livestock, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  55. Thus We explain the revelations, and expose The Path of the unrighteous.
  56. Say, “I am forbidden from worshiping those you pray to besides God.” Say, “I will not follow your desires; else I would be lost and not be of those guided.”

1.007 - Initial Steps in Yoga Practice, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  Even after we succeed in sitting for awhile in a particular posture, the mind will refuse, after a time, to continue the practice. We will not find anyone in this world as clever as the mind very clever in everything. It will look quite all right for some time and The Path will appear rosy, but after awhile there will be resentment of the mind even to sit, and it will produce excuses. There will be rationality behind our inability to practise, and we know very well that rationality is the highest thing that can justify anything. When there is reason brought forth in a very judicious manner, justifying our inability to sit for some time and the worthlessness of the practice itself, then there is no argument against it. The greatest danger is rationality, when it is used as a weapon against what is good for us. It is a double-edged sword it can cut us this way and can cut us that way also such is reason. Reason can justify what is good for us, and it can also justify what is dangerous or what is not good for us. Many sadhakas justify themselves in a wrong way altogether, by bringing about reasons which try to point out that the way of life they are living is quite inevitable and unavoidable. "If it is unavoidable, what can I do?" This is what the sadhaka will say. But it would not be unavoidable if proper precautions had been taken. We make initial mistakes without proper thought, and then these small mistakes look very big and, like a mountain, they stand before us. Later on I shall have occasion to refer to the mistakes we generally commit initially, without proper understanding.
  We have a wrong notion about everything, including our own self. And with this wrong notion we go headlong into such a serious practice as is meditation because, just as a small sand particle getting stuck in the eye causes us annoyance, so too a little mistake in the beginning will loom large and become a serious obstacle in the end a factor which can be studied from the history of institutions and the lives of saints, sages and sadhakas. These small mistakes look like normal things, and not serious obstacles, because they do not stand against us. They appear to be unconcerned externals; but there is no such thing as an unconcerned external. Every external is connected with us, and the very fact of our perception of it will be enough reason why it can take action, for or against us, one day or the other.

1.007 - The Elevations, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  45. “Those who hinder from The Path of God, and seek to distort it, and who deny the Hereafter.”
  46. And between them is a partition, and on the Elevations are men who recognize everyone by their features. They will call to the inhabitants of the Garden, “Peace be upon you.” They have not entered it, but they are hoping.
  --
  86. “And do not lurk on every path, making threats and turning away from The Path of God those who believe in Him, seeking to distort it. And remember how you were few, and how He made you numerous. So note the consequences for the corrupters.”
  87. “Since some of you believed in what I was sent with, and some did not believe, be patient until God judges between us; for He is the Best of Judges.”
  --
  146. I will turn away from My revelations those who behave proudly on earth without justification. Even if they see every sign, they will not believe in it; and if they see The Path of rectitude, they will not adopt it for a path; and if they see The Path of error, they will adopt it for a path. That is because they denied Our revelations, and paid no attention to them.
  147. Those who deny Our revelations and the meeting of the Hereafter—their deeds will come to nothing. Will they be repaid except according to what they used to do?

1.008 - The Spoils, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  47. And do not be like those who left their homes boastfully, showing off before the people, and barring others from The Path of God. God comprehends what they do.
  48. Satan made their deeds appear good to them, and said, “You cannot be defeated by any people today, and I am at your side.” But when the two armies came in sight of one another, he turned on his heels, and said, “I am innocent of you; I see what you do not see; I fear God; God is severe in punishment.”

1.009 - Repentance, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  60. Charities are for the poor, and the destitute, and those who administer them, and for reconciling hearts, and for freeing slaves, and for those in debt, and in The Path of God, and for the traveler in need—an obligation from God. God is All-Knowing, Most Wise.
  61. And among them are those who insult the Prophet, and say, “He is all ears.” Say, “He listens for your own good. He believes in God, and trusts the believers, and is mercy for those of you who believe.” Those who insult the Messenger of God will have a painful penalty.

1.00a - DIVISION A - THE INTERNAL FIRES OF THE SHEATHS., #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
  The fiery essences of this plane are more difficult for us to comprehend, having not, as yet, the seeing eye upon that plane. They are in themselves the warmth and heat of the emotional body, and of the body of feeling. They are of a low order when upon The Path of desire, and of a high order when upon The Path of aspiration, for the elemental is then transmuted into the deva.
  Their grades and ranks are many, but their names matter not save in one instance. It may be of interest to know the appellation applied to the devas of fire whose part it is to tend the fires that will later destroy the causal body. We need to remember that it is the upspringing of the latent fire of matter and its merging with two other fires that causes destruction. These elementals and devas are called the Agnisuryans, and in [68] their totality are the fiery essences of buddhi, hence their lowest manifestation is on the sixth plane, the astral.

1.00a - Introduction, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  "Osiris in Amennti" see the Book of the Dead. I meant you might try to trace a parallelism between his journeyings and The Path of Initiation.
  Astral travel development of the Astral Body is essential to research; and, above all, to the attainment of "the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel."

1.00b - DIVISION B - THE PERSONALITY RAY AND FIRE BY FRICTION, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
  The effect which they have is threefold, but is not simultaneous; they work ever, as do all things in Nature, in ordered cycles. The stimulation, for instance, that is the result of the action of the monadic Ray upon the mental unit is only felt when the aspirant treads The Path, or after he has taken the first Initiation. The action of the egoic Ray upon the astral permanent atom is felt as soon as the Ego can make good connection with the physical brain; when this is so the egoic ray is beginning to affect the atom powerfully and continuously; this occurs when a man is highly evolved and is nearing The Path. This threefold force is felt in the following way:
  First. It plays upon the wall of the atom as an external force and affects its rotary and vibratory action.

1.00c - DIVISION C - THE ETHERIC BODY AND PRANA, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
  e. By the withdrawal of the life, the form should gradually dissipate. The reflex action here is interesting to note, for the greater Builders and Devas who are the [133] active agents during manifestation, and who hold the form in coherent shape, transmuting, applying and circulating the pranic emanations, likewise lose their attraction to the matter of the form, and turn their attention elsewhere. On The Path of out-breathing (whether human, planetary or logoic) these building devas (on the same Ray as the unit desiring manifestation, or on a complementary Ray) are attracted by his will and desire, and perform their office of construction. On The Path of in-breathing (whether human, planetary or logoic) they are no longer attracted, and the form begins to dissipate. They withdraw their interest and the forces (likewise entities) who are the agents of destruction, carry on their necessary work of breaking up the form; they scatter itas it is occultly expressedto "The four winds of Heaven," or to the regions of the four breaths,a fourfold separation and distribution. A hint is here given for careful consideration.
  Though no pictures have been drawn of death bed scenes nor of the dramatic escape of the palpitating etheric body from the centre in the head, as might have been anticipated, yet some of the rules and purposes governing this withdrawal have been mentioned. We have seen how the aim of each life (whether human, planetary or solar) should be the effecting and the carrying out of a definite purpose. This purpose is the development of a more adequate form for the use of the spirit; and when this purpose is achieved then the Indweller turns his attention away, and the form disintegrates, having served his need. This is not always the case in every human life nor even in each planetary cycle. The mystery of the moon is the mystery of failure. This leads, when comprehended, to a life of dignity and offers an aim worthy of our best endeavour. When this angle of truth is universally recognised, as it will be when the intelligence of the race suffices, then evolution will proceed with certainty, and the failures be less numerous.

1.00e - DIVISION E - MOTION ON THE PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL PLANES, #A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, #Alice Bailey, #Occultism
  All lesser spheres ranging downward from these major spheres, include all grades of manifestation down to the elemental essence on the arc of involution. [lxvi]64 We need to remember that on The Path of Involution, the action of Brahma is primarily felt, seeking the line of least resistance. On The Path of Evolution the work of the second Logos is felt, beginning at a point in time and space which hides the mystery of the second chain, but finding its point of accelerated vibration or the unification of the two modes of manifestationrotary-spiral-cyclicin the middle part of what we call the third chain. This is after all the blending of the activity of Brahma with the onward progress of Vishnu. We have the correspondence to this in the sumtotal of the effects brought about in the second and third root races.
  The activity of the second Logos is carried on under the cosmic Law of Attraction. The Law of Economy has for one of its branches a subsidiary Law of marked development called the Law of Repulsion. The cosmic Laws of Attraction and Economy are therefore the raison d'tre (viewed from one angle) of the eternal repulsion that goes on as Spirit seeks ever to liberate itself from form. The matter aspect always follows the line of least resistance, and repulses all tendency to group formation, while Spirit, governed by the Law of Attraction, seeks ever to separate itself from matter by the method of attracting an ever more adequate type of matter in the process of distinguishing the real from the unreal, and passing from one illusion to another until the resources of matter are fully utilised.
  --
  5. The swastika. At this stage the centre becomes fourth-dimensional; the inner rotating cross begins to turn upon its axis, and to drive the flaming periphery to all sides so that the centre is better described as a sphere of fire than as a wheel. It marks the stage of The Path in its two divisions, for the process of producing the effect described covers the whole period of The Path. At the close, the centres are seen as globes of radiant fire with the spokes of the wheel (or the evolution of the cross from the point in the centre) merging and blending into a "fire that burneth up the whole."
  A brief sentence has its place here owing to its relation to this subject. Another sentence is also added here, which, if meditated upon, will prove of real value and will have a definite effect upon one of the centres, which centre it is for the student himself to find out.
  --
  What are the senses? How many are there? And what is their connection with the indwelling Man, the Thinker, the Divine Manasaputra? These are questions of vital moment, and in their due comprehension comes the ability wisely to follow The Path of knowledge.
  The senses might be defined as those organs whereby man becomes aware of his surroundings. We should perhaps express them not so much as organs (for after all, an organ is a material form, existent for a purpose) but as media whereby the Thinker comes in contact with his environment. They are the means whereby he makes investigation on the plane of the gross physical, for instance; the means whereby he buys his experience, whereby he discovers that which he requires to know, whereby he becomes aware, and whereby he expands his consciousness. We are dealing here with the five senses as used by the human being. In the animal these five senses exist but, as the thinking correlating faculty is lacking, as the "relation between" the self and the not-self is but little developed, we will not concern ourselves with them at this juncture. The senses in the animal kingdom are group faculty and demonstrate as racial instinct. The senses in man are his individual asset, and demonstrate:
  --
  Evolution on The Path. Again the separation of spirit from matter, its identification with the One, and the ultimate rejection of form. The senses then are synthesised into acquired faculty, and the Self has no [200] further use for the not-self. It blends with the All-Self. This is under the Law of Synthesis.
  If this is borne in mind it leads to a realisation that the separation of the Spirit from the material vehicle involves two aspects of the One great All; herein is seen the work of the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer.

1.00 - Main, #The Book of Certitude, #Baha u llah, #Baha i
  If ye should hunt with beasts or birds of prey, invoke ye the Name of God when ye send them to pursue their quarry; for then whatever they catch shall be lawful unto you, even should ye find it to have died. He, verily, is the Omniscient, the All-Informed. Take heed, however, that ye hunt not to excess. Tread ye The Path of justice and equity in all things. Thus biddeth you He Who is the Dawning-place of Revelation, would that ye might comprehend.
  God hath bidden you to show forth kindliness towards My kindred, but He hath granted them no right to the property of others. He, verily, is self-sufficient, above any need of His creatures.

1.00 - Preface, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  I should here call attention to a tract, the author of which is unknown, entitled The Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom, of which splendid translations have been made by W. Wynn Westcott, Arthur E. Waite, and Knut Stenring. In the course of time this appears to have become incorporated into, and affiliated with, the text of the Sepher Yetsirah, although several critics place it at a later date than the genuine Mishnahs of the Sepher Yetsirah. However, in giving the titles of The Paths from this tract, I have named throughout the source as the Sepher Yetsirah to avoid unnecessary confusion. It is to be hoped that no adverse criticism will arise on this point.
  Since the question of Magick has been slightly dealt with in the last chapter of this book, it is perhaps advisable here to state that the interpretations given to certain doctrines and to some of the Hebrew letters border very closely on magical formulae. I have purposely refrained, however, from entering into a deeper consideration of the Practical Qabalah, although several hints of value may be discovered in the explanation of the Tetragrammaton, for example, which may prove of no inconsiderable service. As I have previously remarked, this book is primarily intended as an elementary textbook of the Qabalah, interpreted as a new system for philosophical classification. This must consti- tute my sole excuse for what may appear to be a refusal to deal more adequately with methods of Attainment.

1.00 - The way of what is to come, #The Red Book Liber Novus, #unset, #Zen
    But the supreme meaning is The Path) the way and the bridge to what is to come. That is the God yet to come. It is not the coming God himself but his image which appears in the supreme meaning 7. God is an image) and those who worship him must worship him in the images of the supreme meaning.
    The supreme meaning is not a meaning and not an absurdity, it is image and force in one, magnificence and force together.
  --
    The spirit of our time spoke to me and said: What dire urgency could be forcing you to speak all this? This was an awful temptation. I wanted to ponder what inner or outer bind could force me into this, and because I found nothing that I could grasp, I was near to making one up. But with this the spirit of our time had almost brought it about that instead of speaking, I was thinking again about reasons and explanations. But the spirit of the depths spoke to me and said: "To understand a thing is a bridge and possibility of returning to The Path. But to explain a matter is arbitrary and sometimes even murder. Have you counted the murderers among the scholars?".
    But the spirit of this time stepped up to me and laid before me huge volumes which contained all my knowledge. Their pages were made of ore, and a steel stylus had engraved inexorable words in them, and he pointed to these inexorable words and spoke to me, and said: "What you speak, that is madness."
  --
    You seek The Path? I warn you away from my own. It can also be the wrong way for you.
    May each go his own way.

1.010 - Jonah, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  89. He said, “Your prayer has been answered, so go straight, and do not follow The Path of those who do not know.”
  90. And We delivered the Children of Israel across the sea. Pharaoh and his troops pursued them, defiantly and aggressively. Until, when he was about to drown, he said, “I believe that there is no god except the One the Children of Israel believe in, and I am of those who submit.”

1.011 - Hud, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  19. Those who hinder others from The Path of God, and seek to make it crooked; and regarding the Hereafter, they are in denial.
  20. These will not escape on earth, and they have no protectors besides God. The punishment will be doubled for them. They have failed to hear, and they have failed to see.
  --
  99. They were followed by a curse in this, and on the Day of Resurrection. Miserable is The Path they followed.
  100. These are of the reports of the towns—We relate them to you. Some are still standing, and some have withered away.

1.013 - Thunder, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  33. Is He who is watchful over the deeds of every soul? Yet they ascribe associates to God. Say, “Name them! Or are you informing Him of something on earth He does not know, or is it a show of words?” In fact, the scheming of those who disbelieve is made to appear good to them, and they are averted from The Path. Whomever God misguides has no guide.
  34. There is for them torment in the worldly life, but the torment of the Hereafter is harsher. And they have no defender against God.

1.014 - Abraham, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  1. Alif, Lam, Ra. A Scripture that We revealed to you, that you may bring humanity from darkness to light—with the permission of their Lord—to The Path of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy.
  2. God—to whom belongs what is in the heavens and the earth. And woe to the disbelievers from a severe torment.
  3. Those who prefer the present life to the Hereafter, and repel from The Path of God, and seek to make it crooked—these are far astray.
  4. We never sent any messenger except in the language of his people, to make things clear for them. God leads astray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills. He is the Mighty, the Wise.

1.016 - The Bee, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  9. It is for God to point out The Paths, but some of them are flawed. Had He willed, He could have guided you all.
  10. It is He Who sends down for you from the sky water. From it is drink, and with it grows vegetation for grazing.
  --
  69. Then eat of all the fruits, and go along The Pathways of your Lord, with precision. From their bellies emerges a fluid of diverse colors, containing healing for the people. Surely in this is a sign for people who reflect.
  70. God created you; then He takes you away. Some of you will be brought back to the worst age, so that he will no longer know anything, after having acquired knowledge. God is Omniscient and Omnipotent.

10.16 - The Relative Best, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   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 - Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  cause of neurotic difficulties, but is, like these, one of The Patho-
  33 I have expounded my views at some length in "Psychology of the Transference."

1.01f - Introduction, #The Lotus Sutra, #Anonymous, #Various
  All the sentient beings in those worlds living in the six transmigratory states became visible from this world. The buddhas in those worlds were also seen, and the Dharma they were teaching could be heard. The monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen and those who had practiced and achieved The Path were also to be seen, while the bodhisattva mahsattvas, of various background causes and conditions, endowed in various degrees with the willingness to understand and having various appearances, were also seen practicing the bodhisattva path. All of the buddhas who had achieved parinirva were seen, as well as their relic stupas made of the seven precious treasures.
  At that moment it occurred to Bodhisattva Maitreya: The Bhagavat has now manifested the sign of great transcendent power. What could be the reason for this marvel? The Buddha, the Bhagavat, has now entered samdhi.
  --
  Seeking The Path of the buddhas
  According to their various situations.
  --
  To The Path of the buddhas,
  Wishing to obtain this vehicle
  --
  After paying homage to innumerable hundreds of thousands of myriads of kois of buddhas, all these princes attained The Path of the buddhas.
  The last of these to become enlightened was named Dpakara.
  --
  And seeking The Path of the buddhas
  In each of the buddha worlds.
  --
  Innumerable sentient beings to The Path.
  And that night the Buddha entered nirvana,
  --
  Had brought innumerable sentient beings to The Path.
  This expounder of the Dharma, Varaprabha,
  --
  Innumerable sentient beings to The Path.
  After the parinirva of that
  --
  The Buddha will satisfy those seeking The Path.
  If there is anyone seeking the three vehicles

1.01 - Foreward, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Great Heaven. We have to find The Path to this Great Heaven,
   The Path of Truth, r.tasya panthah.,12 or as it is sometimes called

1.01 - Fundamental Considerations, #The Ever-Present Origin, #Jean Gebser, #Integral
  We shall therefore beginwith the evidence and not with idealistic constructions; in the face of present-day weapons of annihilation, such constructions have less chance of survival than ever before. But as we shall see, weapons and nuclear fission are not the only realities to be dealt with; spiritual reality in its intensified form is also becoming effectual and real. This new spiritual reality is without question our only security that the threat of material destruction can be averted. Its realization alone seems able to guarantee mans continuing existence in the face of the powers of technology, rationality, and chaotic emotion. If our consciousness, that is, the individual persons awareness, vigilance, and clarity of vision, cannot master the new reality and make possible its realization, then the prophets of doom will have been correct. Other alternatives are an illusion; consequently, great demands are placed on us, and each one of us have been given a grave responsibility, not merely to survey but to actually traverse The Path opening before us.
  There are surely enough historical instances of the catastrophic downfall of entire peoples and cultures. Such declines were triggered by the collision of deficient and exhausted attitudes that were insufficient for continuance with those more recent, more intense and, in some respects, superior. One such occurrence vividly exemplifies the decisive nature of such crises: the collision of the magical, mythical, and unperspectival culture of the Central American Aztecs with the rational-technological, perspectival attitude of the sixteenthcentury Spanish conquistadors. A description of this event can be found in the Aztec chronicle of Frey Bernardino de Sahagun, written eight years after Cortez conquest of Mexico on the basis of Aztec accounts. The following excerpt forms the beginning of the thirteenth chapter of the chronicle which describes the conquest of Mexico City:

1.01 - How is Knowledge Of The Higher Worlds Attained?, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
  He must begin with a certain fundamental attitude of soul. In spiritual science this fundamental attitude is called The Path of veneration, of devotion to truth and knowledge. Without this attitude no one can become a student. The disposition
   p. 6
   shown in their childhood by subsequent students of higher knowledge is well known to the experienced in these matters. There are children who look up with religious awe to those whom they venerate. For such people they have a respect which forbids them, even in the deepest recess of their heart, to harbor any thought of criticism or opposition. Such children grow up into young men and women who feel happy when they are able to look up to anything that fills them with veneration. From the ranks of such children are recruited many students of higher knowledge. Have you ever paused outside the door of some venerated person, and have you, on this your first visit, felt a religious awe as you pressed on the handle to enter the room which for you is a holy place? If so, a feeling has been manifested within you which may be the germ of your future adherence to The Path of knowledge. It is a blessing for every human being in process of development to have such feelings upon which to build. Only it must not be thought that this disposition leads to submissiveness and slavery. What was once a childlike veneration for persons becomes, later, a veneration for truth and knowledge.
   p. 7
  --
   feeling of true devotion harbored in the soul develops a power which may, sooner or later, lead further on The Path of knowledge.
  The student who is gifted with this feeling, or who is fortunate enough to have had it inculcated in a suitable education, brings a great deal along with him when, later in life, he seeks admittance to higher knowledge. Failing such preparation, he will encounter difficulties at the very first step, unless he undertakes, by rigorous self-education, to create within himself this inner life of devotion. In our time it is especially important that full attention be paid to this point. Our civilization tends more toward critical judgment and condemnation than toward devotion and selfless veneration. Our children already criticize far more than they worship. But every criticism, every adverse judgment passed, disperses the powers of the soul for the attainment of higher knowledge in the same measure that all veneration and reverence develops them. In this we do not wish to say anything against our civilization. There is no question here of leveling criticism against it. To this critical faculty, this self-conscious human judgment, this "test all things and
  --
   different aspect. Of course, this rule of life alone will not yet enable him to see, for instance, what is described as the human aura, because for this still higher training is necessary. But he can rise to this higher training if he has previously undergone a rigorous training in devotion. (In the last chapter of his book Theosophy, the author describes fully The Path of Knowledge; here it is intended to give some practical details.)
  Noiseless and unnoticed by the outer world is the treading of The Path of Knowledge. No change need be noticed in the student. He performs his duties as hitherto; he attends to his business as before. The transformation goes on only in the inner part of the soul hidden from outward sight. At first his entire inner life is flooded by this basic feeling of devotion for everything which is truly venerable. His entire soul-life finds in this fundamental feeling its pivot. Just as the sun's rays vivify everything living, so does reverence in the student vivify all feelings of the soul.
  It is not easy, at first, to believe that feelings like reverence and respect have anything to do
  --
  In all spiritual science there is a fundamental principle which cannot be transgressed without sacrificing success, and it should be impressed on the student in every form of esoteric training. It runs as follows: All knowledge pursued merely for the enrichment of personal learning and the accumulation of personal treasure leads you away from The Path; but all knowledge pursued for growth to ripeness within the process of human ennoblement and cosmic development brings you a step forward. This law must be strictly observed, and no student is genuine until he has adopted it as a guide for his whole life. This truth can be expressed in the following short sentence: Every idea which does not become your ideal slays a force in your soul; every idea which becomes your ideal creates within you life-forces.
  Inner Tranquility
  At the very beginning of his course, the student is directed to The Path of veneration and the
   p. 18
  --
   observation of such rules as are here given. For all who earnestly will, The Path stands open to tread.
  Simple, in truth, is the above rule concerning moments of inner tranquility; equally simple is its observation. But it only achieves its purpose when it is observed in as earnest and strict a manner as it is, in itself, simple. How this rule is to be observed will, therefore, be explained without digression.
  --
   The Path to higher knowledge, he is able-before the word has found its way to his inner self-to take from it the sting which gives it the power to wound or vex. Take another example. We easily become impatient when we are kept waiting, but-if we tread The Path to higher knowledge-we so steep ourselves in our moments of calm with the feeling of the uselessness of impatience that henceforth, on every occasion of impatience, this feeling is immediately present within us. The impatience that was about to make itself felt vanishes, and an interval which would otherwise have been wasted in expressions of impatience will be filled by useful observations, which can be made while waiting.
  Now, the scope and significance of these facts must be realized. We must bear in mind that the higher man within us is in constant development. But only the state of calm and serenity here described renders an orderly development possible. The waves of outward life constrain the inner man from all sides if, instead of mastering this outward life, it masters him. Such a man is like a plant which tries to expand in a cleft in the rock and is stunted in growth until new
  --
  When, by means of meditation, a man rises to union with the spirit, he brings to life the eternal in him, which is limited by neither birth nor death. The existence of this eternal being can only be doubted by those who have not themselves experienced it. Thus meditation is the way which also leads man to the knowledge, to the contemplation of his eternal, indestructible, essential being; and it is only through meditation that man can attain to such knowledge. Gnosis and Spiritual Science tell of the eternal nature of this being and of its reincarnation. The question is often asked: Why does a man know nothing of his experiences beyond the borders of life and death? Not thus should we ask, but rather: How can we attain such knowledge? In right meditation The Path is opened. This alone can
   p. 34

1.01 - Introduction, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  This world of phenomena which we call the universe, is only the apparent figure, the image in us of the real world; it is the myth which covers a truth too profound for us. All philosophy consists in the discovery of its hidden sense, and it is the more and more veridical interpretation of it that we call knowledge. May its illumination render the human mind master of the shadow and the mystery and open to us The Paths of the unknown!
  But how shall we discover The Paths that lead to an unknown? And how shall we discover that unknown itself if we do not first know The Paths? Therefore these two, the way and its goal, must manifest themselves together and each must reveal the other.
  On the knowledge that we attain of the supreme realities, depend all the steps that we shall take towards them, and on our courageous self-orientation towards the highest point of truth of which we have caught a glimpse, whatever it may cost to our thought, depends our progressive conquest of the Light.
  --
  For the boldest, the highest Wisdom! For the pioneers of action and thought, the heroic march through The Paths of the unknown!
  ***

1.01 - MAPS OF EXPERIENCE - OBJECT AND MEANING, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
  The way is The Path of life, and its purpose.23 More accurately, the content of the way is the specific path
  of life. The form of the way, its most fundamental aspect, is the apparently intrinsic or heritable possibility

1.01 - Newtonian and Bergsonian Time, #Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, #Norbert Wiener, #Cybernetics
  a similar divine intervention. This is The Path followed by the
  Occasionalists, Geulincx and Malebranche: In Spinoza, who is

1.01 - On knowledge of the soul, and how knowledge of the soul is the key to the knowledge of God., #The Alchemy of Happiness, #Al-Ghazali, #Sufism
  However, that knowledge of the soul which leads to the knowledge of God, is not of this kind. The knowledge which you need to possess is, to know what you are; how you are created; whence you are; for what you are here; whither you are going; in what your happiness consists, and what you must do to secure it; in what your misery consists, and what you must do to avoid it. And further, your internal qualities are distributed into animal, ferocious, demoniacal and angelic qualities. You need to know, therefore, what qualities predominate in your character, and in the predominance of which your true happiness consists. If your qualities are chiefly animal, the essence of which is to eat and drink, you will day and night seek after these things. If your qualities are of the ferocious kind, the essence of which is to tear and rend, to injure and destroy, you will act accordingly. If you are endowed chiefly with the qualities of devils, which consist in evil machinations, deceit and delusion, then you should know and be aware of it, that you may turn towards The Path of perfection. And if you possess angelic qualities, whose nature it is to worship God in sincerity and continually to await the vision of His beauty, then like them you should unceasingly, resting neither day or night, be zealous and strive that you may become worthy of the vision of the Lord. For know, O student of the mysteries! that man was created to stand at the door of service in frailty and weakness, [15] and wait for the opening of the door of spiritual union, and for the vision of beauty, as God declares in his holy word: "I have not created the genii and men except that they should worship me."1
  These qualities, whether animal, or ferocious or demoniacal have been bestowed upon man, that by their means the body might be adapted to be a vehicle for the spirit, and that the spirit, by means of the body which is its vehicle, while herein this temporary home of earth, might seek after the knowledge and love of God, as the huntsman would seek to make the phœnix and the griffin his prey. Then, when it leaves this strange land for the region of spiritual friendship, it shall be worthy to partake of the mystery contained in the invitation, "enter in peace, O believers!"2 and which is in the homage, "Peace is the word they shall hear from the merciful Lord."3 People in general suppose that this refers to Paradise. Woe to him who has no portion in this knowledge! There is great danger in his path. The way of faith is veiled from his eyes.
  --
  When the heart is free from worldly lusts, from the animosities of society and from the distraction occasioned by the senses, the vision of God is possible. And this course is adopted by the Mystics.1 It is also The Path followed by the prophets. But it is permitted also to acquire the practice of it by learning, and this is the way adopted by the theologians. This is also an exalted way, though in comparison with the former, its results are insignificant and contracted. Many distinguished men have attained these revelations by experience and the demonstration of reasoning. Still let every one who fails of obtaining this knowledge either by means of purity of desire or of demonstration of reasoning, take care and not deny its existence to those who are possessed of it, so that they may not be repelled from the low degree they have attained, and their conduct become a snare to them in the way of truth. These things which we have mentioned constitute the wonders of the heart and show its grandeur.
  Think not that these discoveries of truth are limited to the prophets alone. On the contrary every man in his essential nature is endowed with attributes rendering him capable of participating in the same discoveries. What God says, "Am I not your Lord?"2 refers to this quality. And the holy saying of the prophet of God: "Every man is born with the nature of Islamism; but his ancestors practised Judaism, Nazarenism or Magianism," is an indication of the same thing.
  --
  You should be aware, however, that this alchemy of happiness, that is, the knowledge of God, which is the occasion of the revelation of truth, cannot be acquired without spiritual self-denial and effort. Unless a man has reached perfection and the rank of Superior, nothing will be revealed to him, except in cases of special divine grace and merciful providence, and this occurs very rarely. Nor, except by divine condescension, is revelation obtained even by all who by effort reach the rank of Superior. And whosoever would attain holiness can only reach it by The Path of difficulty.
  You have now learned, student of the divine mysteries, the dignity of the heart through knowledge, and what kind of knowledge it possesses. Now listen and learn its dignity through divine power and on account of the greatness of which it is capable, that you may see how precious you are in yourself, and yet how vile and contemptible you make yourself by your own choice. Know then, that the heart is endowed with properties like those of angels and such as are not found in animals; and just as the material world is subjected by divine permission to the angels, and when God wills it, the angels send forth the winds, cause rain to [28] fall, bring forth the embryo in animals, shape their forms, cause seeds to sprout in the earth and plants to grow, many legions of angels being appointed to this service, so also the heart of man being created with angelic properties must have influence and power over the material world. In man's own body, which is peculiarly his own world, its control and influence are very evident. The hand, for example, does not in writing move of itself, but depends for motion on volition proceeding from the heart. And in eating, it is the heart which by an exertion of its will, causes moisture to rise in the mouth from under the tongue, to mix with the food that it may be swallowed and digested. These facts clearly substantiate the dominion and control of the heart, and the subordination of the body.
  --
  There is still one farther observation that deserves to be made. If a person by the payment of a thousand pieces of gold, could become master of alchemy, yet the condition of the man who is absolutely master of ten thousand pieces of gold would be better and preferable. And this illustrates the position of the soofees. If a person follow their method and attain to the knowledge of some things, he still does not equal in excellence, the doctors of the law. Just as we see, that books on alchemy, and students of alchemy are very numerous, while those who are successful are the least of few, so The Path of mysticism is sought for by all men, and longed for by all classes of society, yet those who [34] attain to the end are exceedingly rare. Perhaps, as in the case of alchemy, it only exists now in name and form. The greater part of the notions and fancies of most of the mystics, which they esteem as revelations and mysteries, are nothing but vain triflings and pure self complacency; just as that while visions are a reality, still mere confused dreams are very abundant. The mystic, however, who by spiritual revelation has learned all that a doctor of the law has been able to learn after many years of study, and who has no remaining doubts in matters of internal or external knowledge, is certainly more excellent than the doctor of the law who is learned only in external knowledge, and this should not be denied. And it follows that the way of the mystics must be acknowledged to be a true one, and that you must not destroy the belief of those weak minded and vain persons who follow them; for, the reason why they cast reproaches upon knowledge and calumniate the doctors of law is that they have no acquirements or knowledge themselves.
  O, inquirer after divine mysteries! do you ask how it is known that the happiness of man consists in the knowledge of God, and that his enjoyment consists in the love of God ? We observe in reply, that every man's happiness is found in the place where he obtains enjoyment and tranquility. Thus sensual enjoyment is found in eating and drinking and the like. The enjoyment of anger is derived from taking revenge and from violence. The enjoyment of the eye consists in the view of correct images and agreeable objects. The enjoyment of the ear is secured in listening to harmonious voices. In the same way the enjoyment of the heart depends upon its being employed in that for which it was created, in learning to know every thing in its reality and truth. Hence, every man glories in what he knows, even if the thing is but of little importance. He [35] who knows how to play chess, boasts over him who does not know: and if he is looking on while a game of chess is played, it is of no use to tell him not to speak, for as soon as he sees an improper move, he has not patience to restrain himself from showing his skill, and glorying in his knowledge, by pointing it out....

1.01 - Soul and God, #The Red Book Liber Novus, #unset, #Zen
  You took away where I thought to take hold, and you gave me where I did not expect anything and time and again you brought about fate from new and unexpected quarters. Where I sowed, you robbed me of the harvest, and where I did not sow, you give me fruit a hundredfold. And time and again I lost The Path and found it again where I would never have foreseen it. You upheld my belief when I was alone and near despair. At every decisive moment you let me believe in myself"
  [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.
  --
  56. In 1931, Jung commented on The Pathogenic consequences of the unlived life of parents upon their children: What usually has the strongest psychic effect on the child is the life which the parents... have not lived. This statement would be rather too perfunctory and superficial if we did not add by way of qualification: that part of their lives which might have been lived had not certain somewhat threadbare excuses prevented the parents from doing so (Introduction to
  Frances Wickes, Analyse der Kinderseele: CW 17, 87).

1.01 - Tara the Divine, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  From the point of view of The Path leading to
  awakening, these deities appear as external to our
  --
  millions of beings on The Path of awakening each day.
  Dwelling for some time in a particular state of
  --
  for us to evade them. We went off The Path to set up
  our encampment but it was not sufficiently hidden to
  --
  We took The Path to Nepal. About sixty people,
  monks and laypeople, accompanied me with horses,

1.01 - The Castle, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  I climbed some stairs; I found myself in a high, spacious hall. Many people-also transient guests surely, who had preceded me along The Path through the woods-were seated at supper at a table lighted by candelabra.
  As I looked around, I felt a curious sensation, or, rather, two distinct sensations, which mingled in my mind, still upset and somewhat unstable in my weariness. I seemed to be at a sumptuous court, which no one would have expected to find in such a rustic and out-of-the-way castle; and its wealth was evident not only in the costly furnishings and the graven vessels, but also in the calm and ease which reigned among those at the table, all handsome of person and clothed with elaborate elegance. But, at the same time, I remarked a feeling of random, of disorder, if not actually of license, as if this were not a lordly dwelling but an inn of passage, where people unknown to one another live together for one night and where, in that enforced promiscuity, all feel a relaxation of the rules by which they live in their own surroundings, and-as one resigns oneself to less comfortable ways of life-so one also indulges in freer, unfamiliar behavior. In fact, the two contradictory impressions could nevertheless refer to a single object: whether the castle, for years visited only as a stopping place, had gradually degenerated into an inn, and the lord and his lady had found themselves reduced to the roles of host and hostess, though still going through the motions of their aristocratic hospitality; or whether a tavern, such as one often sees in the vicinity of castles, to give drink to soldiers and horsemen, had invaded-the castle being long abandoned-the ancient, noble halls to install its benches and hogsheads there, and the pomp of those rooms-as well as the coming and going of illustrious customers-had conferred on the inn an unforeseen dignity, sufficient to put ideas in the heads of the host and hostess, who finally came to believe themselves the rulers of a brilliant court.

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.
  --
  13:The development of the experience in its rapidity, its amplitude, the intensity and power of its results, depends primarily, in the beginning of The Path and long after, on the aspiration and personal effort of the Sadhaka. The process of Yoga is a turning of the human soul from the egoistic state of consciousness absorbed in the outward appearances and attractions of things to a higher state in which the Transcendent and Universal can pour itself into the individual mould and transform it. The first determining element of the siddhi is, therefore, the intensity of the turning, the force which directs the soul inward. The power of aspiration of the heart, the force of the will, the concentration of the mind, the perseverance and determination of the applied energy are the measure of that intensity. The ideal Sadhaka should be able to say in the Biblical phrase, "My zeal for the Lord has eaten me up." It is this zeal for the Lord, utsaha, the zeal of the whole nature for its divine results, vyakulata, the heart's eagerness for the attainment of the Divine, -- that devours the ego and breaks up the limitations of its petty and narrow mould for the full and wide reception of that which it seeks, that which, being universal, exceeds and, being transcendent, surpasses even the largest and highest individual self and nature.
  14:But this is only one side of the force that works for perfection. The process of the integral Yoga has three stages, not indeed sharply distinguished or separate, but in a certain measure successive. There must be, first, the effort towards at least an initial and enabling self-transcendence and contact with the Divine; next, the reception of that which transcends, that with which we have gained communion, into ourselves for the transformation of our whole conscious being; last, the utilisation of our transformed humanity as a divine centre in the world. So long as the contact with the Divine is not in some considerable degree established, so long as there is not some measure of sustained identity, sayujga, the element of personal effort must normally predominate. But in proportion as this contact establishes itself, the Sadhaka must become conscious that a force other than his own, a force transcending his egoistic endeavour and capacity, is at work in him and to this Power he learns progressively to submit himself and delivers up to it the charge of his Yoga. In the end his own will and force become one with the higher Power; he merges them in the divine Will and its transcendent and universal Force. He finds it thenceforward presiding over the necessary transformation of his mental, vital and physical being with an impartial wisdom and provident effectivity of which the eager and interested ego is not capable. It is when this identification and this self-merging are complete that the divine centre in the world is ready. Purified, liberated, plastic, illumined, it can begin to serve as a means for the direct action of a supreme Power in the larger Yoga of humanity or superhumanity, of the earth's spiritual progression or its transformation.
  --
  20:The full recognition of this inner Guide, Master of the Yoga, lord, light, enjoyer and goal of all sacrifice and effort, is of the utmost importance in The Path of integral perfection. It is immaterial whether he is first seen as an impersonal Wisdom, Love and Power behind all things, as an Absolute manifesting in. the relative and attracting it, as one's highest Self and the highest Self of all, as a Divine Person within us and in the world, in one of his -- or her -- numerous forms and names or as the ideal which the mind conceives. In the end we perceive that he is all and more than all these things together- The mind's door of entry to the conception of him must necessarily vary according to the past evolution and the present nature.
  21:This inner Guide is often veiled at first by the very intensity of our personal effort and by the ego's preoccupation with itself and its aims. As we gain in clarity and the turmoil of egoistic effort gives place to a calmer self-knowledge, we recognise the source of the growing light within us. We recognise it retrospectively as we realise how all our obscure and conflicting movements have been determined towards an end that we only now begin to perceive, how even before our entrance into The Path of the Yoga the evolution of our life has been designedly led towards its turning point. For now we begin to understand the sense of our struggles and efforts, successes and failures. At last we are able to seize the meaning of our ordeals and sufferings and can appreciate the help that was given us by all that hurt and resisted and the utility of our very falls and stumblings. We recognise this divine leading afterwards, not retrospectively but immediately, in the moulding of our thoughts by a transcendent Seer, of our will and actions by an all-embracing Power, of our emotional life by an all-attracting and all-assimilating Bliss and Love. We recognise it too in a more personal relation that from the first touched us or at the last seizes us; we feel the eternal presence of a supreme Master, Friend, Lover, Teacher. We recognise it in the essence of our being as that develops into likeness and oneness with a greater and wider existence; for we perceive that this miraculous development is not the result of our own efforts; an eternal Perfection is moulding us into its own image. One who is the Lord or Ishwara of the Yogic philosophies, the Guide in the conscious being (caitya guru or antaryamin), the Absolute of the thinker, the Unknowable of the Agnostic, the universal Force of the materialist, the supreme Soul and the supreme shakti, the One who is differently named and imaged by the religions, is the Master of our Yoga.
  22:To see, know, become and fulfil this One in our inner selves and in all our outer nature, was always the secret goal and becomes now the conscious purpose of our embodied existence.

1.01 - The Highest Meaning of the Holy Truths, #The Blue Cliff Records, #Yuanwu Keqin, #Zen
  gold. He studied The Path and humbly served the Buddha, issu
  ing orders through out his realm to build temples and ordain

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

1.01 - The Path of Later On, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  object:1.01 - The Path of Later On
  class:chapter
  --
  --- The Path of Later On
  " The Path of later-on and the road of tomorrow lead only to the castle of nothing-at-all."
  --
  Without thinking, the traveller takes The Path that is nearest to him, which seems, after all, quite practicable; it occurs to him for a moment that he could have chosen another way; but there will always be time to retrace his steps if The Path he has taken leads nowhere. A voice seems to tell him, "Turn back, turn back, you are not on the right road." But everything around him is charming and delightful. What should he do? He does not know. He goes on without taking any decision; he enjoys the pleasures of the moment. "In a little while," he replies to the voice, "in a little while I shall think; I have plenty of time."
  The wild grasses around him whisper in his ear, "Later." Later, yes, later. Ah, how pleasant it is to brea the the scented breeze, while the sun warms the air with its fiery rays. Later, later. And the traveller walks on; The Path widens. Voices are heard from afar, "Where are you going? Poor fool, don't you see that you are heading for your ruin? You are young; come, come to us, to the beautiful, the good, the true; do not be misled by indolence and weakness; do not fall asleep in the present; come to the future." "Later, later," the traveller answers these unwelcome voices. The flowers smile at him and echo, "Later." The Path becomes wider and wider. The sun has reached its zenith; it is a glorious day. The Path becomes a road.
  The road is white and dusty, bordered with slender birchtrees; the soft purling of a little stream is heard; but in vain he looks in every direction, he can see no end to this interminable road.
  --
  The traveller is at the edge of the gulf. All his efforts have been in vain. After a supreme struggle he falls... from his bed. A young student had a long essay to prepare for the following morning. A little tired by his day's work, he had said to himself as he arrived home, "I shall work later." Soon afterwards he thought that if he went to bed early, he could get up early the next morning and quickly finish his task. "Let's go to bed," he said to himself, "I shall work better tomorrow; I shall sleep on it." He did not know how truly he spoke. His sleep was troubled by the terrible nightmare we have described, and his fall awoke him with a start. Thinking over what he had dreamt, he exclaimed, "But it's quite clear: The Path is called The Path of 'later on', the road is the road of 'tomorrow' and the great building the castle of 'nothing at all'." Elated at his cleverness, he set to work, vowing to himself that he would never put off until tomorrow what he could do today.
  1893

1.01 - The Unexpected, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
    Across The Path of the divine Event
    The huge foreboding mind of Night, alone

1.01 - Who is Tara, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  can you! thus encouraging us along The Path.
  In another legend, Tara is said to have been born from Avalokiteshvaras
  --
  enhance their capabilities in order to benet us. But they need a way to communicate with us to lead us on The Path out of suffering to full enlightenment. Since we are embodied beings who relate to color, shape, and other
  objects of the senses, the compassionate Buddhas appear in various forms in
  --
  we can easily entrust ourselves to The Path she teaches. In this way her female
  form functions to increase our condence in the Three Jewels and to feel
  --
  that by following The Path we can attain these realizations ourselves. This
  gesture is also called the gesture of generosity, symbolizing her willingness
  --
  compassionate activity the method aspect of The Path to enlightenment.
  Her left hand and foot, which are closer to her, indicate her imperturbable
  inner peace, gained through practicing the wisdom aspect of The Path.
  In each hand, Tara holds the stems of utpala, or blue lotus, owers. On her
  --
  and compassionate guide on The Path. By keeping her mentor on her crown,
  Tara is ever mindful of the teachings she has received from him. This reminds
  --
  form illustrates The Path to Buddhahood and its resultant qualities.
  Tara as the Resultant Buddha
  --
  our mind in The Path leading to this result. Lets examine how the practice of
  Tara does this.

1.022 - The Pilgrimage, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  9. Turning aside in contempt, to lead away from The Path of God. He will have humiliation in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection We will make him taste the agony of burning.
  10. That is for what your hands have advanced, and because God is not unjust to the servants.
  --
  24. They were guided to purity of speech. They were guided to The Path of the Most Praised.
  25. As for those who disbelieve and repel from God’s path and from the Sacred Mosque—which We have designated for all mankind equally, whether residing therein or passing through—and whoever seeks to commit sacrilege therein—We will make him taste of a painful punishment.

1.02.3.2 - Knowledge and Ignorance, #Isha Upanishad, #unset, #Zen
  Pursued with a less entire attachment The Paths of Vidya and
  Avidya have each their legitimate gains for the human soul, but
  --
  in The Path of self-enlargement by an ample acceptance of the
  multiplicity in all its possibilities and a constant enrichment of
  --
  If Avidya is the cause of mortality, it is also The Path out of
  mortality. The limitation has been created precisely in order that

1.023 - The Believers, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  74. But those who do not believe in the Hereafter are swerving from The Path.
  75. Even if We had mercy on them, and relieved their problems, they would still blindly persist in their defiance.

1.027 - The Ant, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  24. I found her and her people worshiping the sun, instead of God. Satan made their conduct appear good to them, and diverted them from The Path, so they are not guided.
  25. If only they would worship God, who brings to light the mysteries of the heavens and the earth, and knows what you conceal and what you reveal.

1.029 - The Spider, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  38. And Aad and Thamood. It has become clear to you from their dwellings. Satan embellished for them their deeds, barring them from The Path, even though they could see.
  39. And Quaroon, and Pharaoh, and Hamaan—Moses went to them with clear arguments, but they acted arrogantly in the land. And they could not get ahead.

1.02 - MAPS OF MEANING - THREE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
  that our emotions are likely to stay regulated, on The Path we have chosen. Trivial threats or punishments
  indicate flaws in our means of attaining desired ends. We modify our behavior accordingly, and eliminate
  --
  you needed this blow, to put you back on The Path. You start imagining a new future one where you are
  not so secure, maybe, but where you are doing what you actually want to do. The possibility of
  --
  Pharaoh. The certainty of magical success in following The Path of the sun, which is communicated to
  each man after death by the priests, has overlaid the primordial fear represented by Am-mit. But

1.02 - Meditating on Tara, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  even the Buddhist path, let alone The Paths of other religions to be able to
  know with certainty whether these various paths lead to the same or different results.
  --
  liberate. In one interpretation, these liberate us from the obstacles to generating The Paths of the three levels of practitionerinitial, intermediate,
  and advanced. An initial practitioner wants to avoid unfortunate rebirths and
  --
  and wisdomas The Path to liberation. An advanced practitioner wishes all
  sentient beings to be free from cyclic existence and aims for full enlightenment in order to guide them to nirvana, and thus generates bodhichitta
  --
  In another interpretation, tare, tuttare, and ture banish the obstructions to generating the three principal aspects of The Path the determination to be free, the altruistic intention of bodhichitta, and the wisdom
  realizing emptiness. The determination to be free is also called renunciation.
  --
  planting the root of The Path to full enlightenment in our hearts.
  A praise to Taras mantra illustrates the qualities of each syllable group:
  --
  Briey, this is the way that the Tara sadhana guides our mind on The Path
  to full enlightenment. As practitioners progress and generate an altruistic

1.02 - On the Knowledge of God., #The Alchemy of Happiness, #Al-Ghazali, #Sufism
  Finally, seeker after divine mysteries, know that The Paths to the knowledge of God, are as numerous as the souls of creatures, and their number is known to God alone. But we have spoken so much as is found above, for the sake of both warning and stimulating the seeker after the knowledge and love of God.
  The happiness of man consists in the knowledge, obedience and worship of God. Only a little previously we have [56] shown, how it is that man's happiness consists in the knowledge of God. We now proceed to observe, that it is an argument to prove that the happiness of man consists in obedience and devotion, the fact that when a man dies, his destination is to return to where God is. Every thing which concerns man is with God, and his works will all be presented before Him. Whenever all the affairs of a person are in the hands of another, and his employments and his home are with him - when he is near to him and continually has need of him, there will be perfect harmony between the two, and abiding friendship and love. Whoever be the person whom we love, we shall find our happiness with him. There is nothing more delightful than to meet with and look upon an object that we love. But we ought to know that the love of God will never reign in the heart of a man until first the knowledge of God reigns there, and until the remembrance of God becomes unceasing. If one individual love another, he is continually thinking of him, and by this continual remembrance, his love is increased.
  --
  Those careless and indifferent persons, O seeker after the divine mysteries, who from ignorance, stupidity and sin have turned away from God and his prophet, and have wandered from The Path of religion, may be arranged in seven classes.
  To the first class belong those who do not believe in God. They had desired to find him out in his essence and attributes, by speculations and fancies, by comparisons and illustrations. And because they have not succeeded in understanding him, they have referred his acts and his government to the stars and to nature. They have fancied that the soul of man and of other animals, and this wonderful world with its marvellous arrangements came of themselves, and that they are eternal; or that they are effects from natural causes, and that there is no creator beyond the sphere of the world. This class of people resembles the man who seeing a writing, fancies that it was written of itself, and infers that it was not written by a penman or by a super-natural power : or else that it is eternal and that no one knows whence it comes. It is impossible to recover from [58] The Path of delusion, persons whose ignorance, error and stupidity have reached such a degree as this.
  The second class of errorists are those who deny a day of resurrection and assembly. They allege that man and other animals are like vegetables, and do not enter into another body when they die. They say, that a resurrection, in which spirits and bodies shall be reassembled in one place, is impossible, and that there will be neither discipline or punishment, recompense or reward. The errors of this sect arise from their inability to understand of themselves their own souls. They imagine that the spirit is an animal spirit only, and that the heart, which is in reality the spirit of man, is the place for the knowledge of God, and that no evil can happen to it_ except that it will be separated from the body. They call this separation, death. This sect is unconcerned about this spirit, and in proof of this we shall discourse, if it please God, in the fourth chapter.
  --
  Now the faithful, truthful and experienced in religion, who are mindful that the soul is treacherous, deceptive, perfidious, malicious and false, always watch carefully over their own souls, lest they should do something that transcends the commands of the law, or that is contrary to reason. The soul is always disposed to say to itself, "I am obedient to the truth : I am submissive to the holy law : [64] and I am well instructed in knowledge." But thou, without being puffed up by this deceitful language of the soul, must constantly look to all its thoughts and states. If it is walking in The Path of the law and of the prophets and saints, it is well! and happy is he that is faithful to his word ! But if the soul begin to have an inclination for self-indulgence, to explain away or exceed the limits of the law and to contradict clear and plain knowledge, you must regard it as a machination of the devil and a temptation to the soul. In short, man, until he descends to the grave, must always watch over his soul with attention, to discover in what degree it is obedient to the holy law and in harmony with knowledge. Whoever does not thus watch over and guard himself, is most surely in a delusion and in the way of a just destruction. It is the first step in Islamism, that a man should keep his soul subject to the law.
  The Alchemy of Happiness, by Mohammed Al-Ghazzali, the Mohammedan Philosopher, trans. Henry A. Homes (Albany, N.Y.: Munsell, 1873). Transactions of the Albany Institute, vol. VIII.

1.02 - Outline of Practice, #The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, #Bodhidharma, #Buddhism
  MANY roads lead to The Path,1 but basically there are only
  two: reason and practice. To enter by reason means to realize the
  --
  First, suffering injustice. When those who search for The Path
  encounter adversity, they should think to themselves, "In countless
  --
  suffering injustice you enter The Path.
  Second, adapting to conditions. As mortals, we're ruled by
  --
  wind of joy silently follow The Path.
  Third, seeking nothing. People of this world are deluded.

1.02 - Self-Consecration, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  1:All Yoga is in its nature a new birth; it is a birth out of the ordinary, the mentalised material life of man into a higher spiritual consciousness and a greater and diviner being. No Yoga can be successfully undertaken and followed unless there is a strong awakening to the necessity of that larger spiritual existence. The soul that is called to this deep and vast change, may arrive in different ways to the initial departure. It may come to it by its own natural development which has been leading it unconsciously towards the awakening; it may reach it through the influence of a religion or the attraction of a philosophy; it may approach it by a slow illumination or leap to it by a sudden touch or shock; it may be pushed or led to it by the pressure of outward circumstances or by an inward necessity, by a single word that breaks the seals of the mind or by long reflection, by the distant example of one who has trod The Path or by contact and daily influence. According to the nature and the circumstances the call will come.
  2:But in whatever way it comes, there must be a decision of the mind and the will and, as its result, a complete and effective self-consecration. The acceptance of a new spiritual idea-force and upward orientation in the being, an illumination, a turning or conversion seized on by the will and the heart's aspiration, -- this is the momentous act which contains as in a seed all the results that the Yoga has to give. The mere idea or intellectual seeking of something higher beyond, however strongly grasped by the mind's interest, is ineffective unless it is seized on by the heart as the one thing desirable and by the will as the one thing to be done. For truth of the Spirit has not to be merely thought but to be lived, and to live it demands a unified single-mindedness of the being; so great a change as is contemplated by the Yoga is not to be effected by a divided will or by a small portion of the energy or by a hesitating mind. He who seeks the Divine must consecrate himself to God and -- to God only.
  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.
  7:The first necessity is to dissolve that central faith and vision in the mind which concentrate it on its development and satisfaction and interests in the old externalised order of things. It is imperative to exchange this surface orientation for the deeper faith and vision which see only the Divine and seek only after the Divine. The next need is to compel all our lower being to pay homage to this new faith and greater vision. All our nature must make an integral surrender; it must offer itself in every part and every movement to that which seems to the unregenerated sensemind so much less real than the material world and its objects. Our whole being-soul, mind, sense, heart, will, life, body must consecrate all its energies so entirely and in such a way that it shall become a fit vehicle for the Divine. This is no easy task; for everything in the world follows the fixed habit which is to it a law and resists a radical change. And no change can be more radical than the revolution attempted in the integral Yoga. Everything in us has constantly to be called back to the central faith and will and vision. Every thought and impulse has to be reminded in the language of the Upanishad that "That is the divine Brahman and not this which men here adore." Every vital fibre has to be persuaded to accept an entire renunciation of all that hitherto represented to it its own existence. Mind has to cease to be mind and become brilliant with something beyond it. Life has to change into a thing vast and calm and intense and powerful that can no longer recognise its old blind eager narrow self or petty impulse and desire. Even the body has to submit to a mutation and be no longer the clamorous animal or the impeding clod it now is, but become instead a conscious servant and radiant instrument and living form of the spirit.
  --
  9:The very aim and conception of an integral Yoga debars us from adopting this simple and strenuous high-pitched process. The hope of an integral transformation forbids us to take a short cut or to make ourselves light for the race by throwing away our impediments. For we have set out to conquer all ourselves and the world for God; we are determined to give him our becoming as well as our being and not merely to bring the pure and naked spirit as a bare offering to a remote and secret Divinity in a distant heaven or abolish all we are in a holocaust to an immobile Absolute. The Divine that we adore is not only a remote extracosmic Reality, but a half-veiled Manifestation present and near to us here in the universe. Life is the field of a divine manifestation not yet complete: here, in life, on earth, in the body, -- ihaiva, as the Upanishads insist, -- we have to unveil the Godhead; here we must make its transcendent greatness, light and sweetness real to our consciousness, here possess and, as far as may be, express it. Life then we must accept in our Yoga in order utterly to transmute it; we are forbidden to shrink from the difficulties that this acceptance may add to our struggle. Our compensation is that even if The Path is more rugged, the effort more complex and bafflingly arduous, yet after a point we gain an immense advantage. For once our minds are reasonably fixed in the central vision and our wills are on the whole converted to the single pursuit. Life becomes our helper. Intent, vigilant, integrally conscious, we can take every detail of its forms and every incident of its movements as food for the sacrificial Fire within us. Victorious in the struggle, we can compel Earth herself to be an aid towards our perfection and can enrich our realisation with the booty torn from the powers that oppose us.
  10:There is another direction in which the ordinary practice of Yoga arrives at a helpful but narrowing simplification which is denied to the Sadhaka of the integral aim. The practice of Yoga brings us face to face with the extraordinary complexity of our own being, the stimulating but also embarrassing multiplicity of our personality, the rich endless confusion of Nature. To the ordinary man who lives upon his own waking surface, ignorant of the self's depths and vastnesses behind the veil, his psychological existence is fairly simple. A small but clamorous company of desires, some imperative intellectual and aesthetic cravings, some tastes, a few ruling or prominent ideas amid a great current of unconnected or ill-connected and mostly trivial thoughts, a number of more or less imperative vital needs, alternations of physical health and disease, a scattered and inconsequent succession of joys and griefs, frequent minor disturbances and vicissitudes and rarer strong searchings and upheavals of mind or body, and through it all Nature, partly with the aid of his thought and will, partly without or in spite of it, arranging these things in some rough practical fashion, some tolerable disorderly order, -- this is the material of his existence. The average human being even now is in his inward existence as crude and undeveloped as was the bygone primitive man in his outward life. But as soon as we go deep within ourselves, -- and Yoga means a plunge into all the multiple profundities of' the soul, -- we find ourselves subjectively, as man in his growth has found himself objectively, surrounded by a whole complex world which we have to know and to conquer.

1.02 - Skillful Means, #The Lotus Sutra, #Anonymous, #Various
  And praised The Path you have practiced, saying,
  The wisdom the buddhas have attained
  --
  Asking how to accomplish The Path.
  Then the Buddha addressed riputra, saying: Enough, enough! Speak no more! If I explained this matter, the devas and humans in all the worlds would be astounded.
  --
  The Buddha Bhagavat appear in this world to cause sentient beings to aspire toward purity and the wisdom and insight of the buddhas. They appear in this world to manifest the wisdom and insight of the buddhas to sentient beings. They appear in this world to cause sentient beings to attain the wisdom and insight of a buddhas enlightenment. They appear in this world in order to cause sentient beings to enter The Path of the wisdom and insight of a buddha.
  O riputra! For this one great reason alone the buddhas have appeared in this world.
  --
  O riputra! These buddhas lead and inspire only bodhisattvas, because they want to teach sentient beings with the wisdom and insight of the Buddha, to enlighten sentient beings with the wisdom and insight of the Buddha, and to cause sentient beings to enter The Path of the wisdom and insight of the
  Buddha.
  --
  Will attain The Path of the buddhas
  In their future lives,
  --
  And cause them to enter The Path of the buddhas.
  If I met sentient beings
  And taught them till the end The Path of the buddhas,
  Those with little understanding
  --
  Teach The Path of the single vehicle.
  This great assembly
  --
  And enabled them to enter The Path of the buddhas.
  Understanding the deepest desires of the entire world
  --
  Have certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  And after the parinirva of the buddhas,
  --
  Have certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  After the buddhas attained parinirva,
  --
  Have certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  All those who made buddha images
  --
  Have certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  All those who made or had others make buddha images
  --
  Have certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  This even includes children in play
  --
  Have certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  Leading and inspiring the bodhisattvas,
  --
  Have certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  Those who, even with distracted minds
  --
  Have certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  Anyone who heard this teaching,
  --
  Has certainly attained The Path of the buddhas.
  The future Bhagavats, Tathgatas,
  --
  Now I too reveal The Path of the buddhas
  Through various paths to the Dharma
  --
  Only with The Path of the single vehicle;
  I am here without disciples.
  --
  And ultimately do not seek The Path of the buddhas.
  In the future the impure will hear
  --
  And seek The Path of the buddhas,
  I will praise extensively

1.02 - Taras Tantra, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  - at the level of The Path: the two accumulations (merit
  and wisdom)
  --
  - at the level of The Path: the creation and completion
  phases
  --
  yogis of India, such was The Path followed by the
  revelation of the Tara Tantra.

1.02 - The Concept of the Collective Unconscious, #The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  . . . The Path of the visible gods will appear through the disc of the
  sun, who is God my father. Likewise the so-called tube, the origin

1.02 - The Development of Sri Aurobindos Thought, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  who would follow The Path he had hewn in the virgin for-
  est, going where none had gone. Gradually he prepared

1.02 - The Great Process, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  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.
  --
  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.
  This superman, whom we have said is the next goal of evolution, will therefore in no way be a paroxysm of man, a gilded hypertrophy of the mental capacity, nor will he be a spiritual paroxysm, a sort of demigod appearing in a halo of light and outfitted with an oversized consciousness (cosmic, of course) streaked with bolts of lightning, marvelous phenomena and Experiences that would make the poor laggards of evolution pale with envy. It is true that both things are possible, both exist. There are marvelous Experiences; there are superhuman capacities that would make the man in the street turn pale. It is not a myth; it is a fact. But Truth, as always, is simple. The difficulty does not lie in discovering the new path; it lies in clearing away what blocks the view. The Path is new, completely new; it has never been seen before by human eyes, never been trodden before by the athletes of the Spirit, yet it is walked every day by millions of ordinary men unaware of the treasure at hand.
  We will not theorize about what this superman is. We do not wish to think him; we wish to become him, if possible, keeping away from the old walls and old lights, remaining as completely open as possible, as alert to the great process of Nature as possible just walking, for that is the only way to do it, solvitur ambulando. Even if we don't get very far, who knows, we may still emerge in a first clearing that will fill our hearts, souls and bodies with sunlight, for everything is one and everything is saved together or nothing is.

1.02 - THE NATURE OF THE GROUND, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  Finally there is an incarnation of God in a human being, who possesses the same qualities of character as the personal God, but who exhibits them under the limitations necessarily imposed by confinement within a material body born into the world at a given moment of time. For Christians there has been and, ex hypodiesi, can be but one such divine incarnation; for Indians there can be and have been many. In Christendom as well as in the East, contemplatives who follow The Path of devotion conceive of, and indeed directly perceive the incarnation as a constantly renewed fact of experience. Christ is for ever being begotten within the soul by the Father, and the play of Krishna is the pseudo-historical symbol of an everlasting truth of psychology and metaphysics the fact that, in relation to God, the personal soul is always feminine and passive.
  Mahayana Buddhism teaches these same metaphysical doctrines in terms of the Three Bodies of Buddha the absolute Dharmakaya, known also as the Primordial Buddha, or Mind, or the Clear Light of the Void; the Sambhogakaya, corresponding to Isvara or the personal God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and finally the Nirmanakaya, the material body, in which the Logos is incarnated upon earth as a living, historical Buddha.
  --
  O nobly born, the time has now come for thee to seek The Path. Thy breathing is about to cease. In the past thy teacher hath set thee face to face with the Clear Light; and now thou art about to experience it in its Reality in the Bardo state (the intermediate state immediately following death, in which the soul is judgedor rather judges itself by choosing, in accord with the character formed during its life on earth, what sort of an after-life it shall have). In this Bardo state all things are like the cloudless sky, and the naked, immaculate Intellect is like unto a translucent void without circumference or centre. At this moment know thou thyself and abide in that state. I too, at this time, am setting thee face to face.
  The Tibetan Book of the Dead

1.02 - The Stages of Initiation, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
   The Path to higher knowledge unless we guard our thoughts and feelings in just the same way we guard out steps in the physical world. If we see a wall before us, we do not attempt to dash right through it, but turn aside. In other words, we guide ourselves by the laws of the physical world. There are such laws, too, for the soul and thought world, only they cannot impose themselves on us from without. They must flow out of the life of the soul itself. This can be attained if we forbid ourselves to harbor wrong thoughts and feelings. All arbitrary flitting to and fro in thought, all accidental ebbing and flowing of emotion must be forbidden in the same way. In so doing we do not become deficient in feeling. On the contrary, if we regulate our inner life in this way, we shall soon find ourselves becoming rich in feelings and creative with genuine imagination. In the place of petty emotionalism and capricious flights of thought, there appear significant emotions and thoughts that are fruitful. Feelings and thoughts of this kind lead the student to orientation in the spiritual world. He gains a right position in relation to the things of the spiritual world; a distinct and definite result comes into effect in his favor.
   p. 44
  --
  But in any circumstances, one precaution is necessary, failing which it were better to leave untrodden all steps on The Path to higher knowledge. It is necessary that the student should lose none of his qualities as a good and noble man, or his receptivity for all physical reality. Indeed, throughout his training he must continually increase his moral strength, his inner purity, and his power of observation. To give an example:
   p. 55
  --
  In our time The Path to spiritual science is sought by many. It is sought in many ways, and many dangerous and even despicable practices are attempted. It is for this reason that they who claim to know something of the truth in these matters place before others the possibility of learning something of esoteric training. Only so much is here imparted as accords with this possibility. It is necessary that something of the truth
   p. 56
  --
  When the student seeks The Path leading to higher knowledge in the way described in the preceding chapter, he should not omit to fortify himself; throughout his work, with one ever present
   p. 57
   thought. He must never cease repeating to himself that he may have made quite considerable progress after a certain interval of time, though it may not be apparent to him in the way he perhaps expected; otherwise he can easily lose heart and abandon all attempts after a short time. The powers and faculties to be developed are of a most subtle kind, and differ entirely in their nature from the conceptions previously formed by the student. He had been accustomed to occupy himself exclusively with the physical world; the world of spirit and soul had been concealed from his vision and concepts. It is therefore not surprising if he does not immediately notice the powers of soul and spirit now developing in him. In this respect there is a possibility of discouragement for those setting out on The Path to higher knowledge, if they ignore the experience gathered by responsible investigators. The teacher is aware of the progress made by his pupil long before the latter is conscious of it He knows how the delicate spiritual eyes begin to form themselves long before the pupil is aware of this, and a great part of what he has to say is couched in such terms as to prevent the pupil from losing patience
   p. 58
   and perseverance before he can himself gain knowledge of his own progress. The teacher, as we know, can confer upon the pupil no powers which are not already latent within him, and his sole function is to assist in the awakening of slumbering faculties. But what he imparts out of his own experience is a pillar of strength for the one wishing to penetrate through darkness to light. Many abandon The Path to higher knowledge soon after having set foot upon it, because their progress is not immediately apparent to them. And even when the first experiences begin to dawn upon the pupil, he is apt to regard them as illusions, because he had formed quite different conceptions of what he was going to experience. He loses courage, either because he regards these first experiences as being of no value, or because they appear to him to be so insignificant that he cannot believe they will lead him to any appreciable results within a measurable time. Courage and self-confidence are two beacons which must never be extinguished on The Path to higher knowledge. No one will ever travel far who cannot bring himself to repeat, over and over
   p. 59
  --
  It is not surprising that all this appears to many as illusion. "What is the use of such visions," they ask, "and such hallucinations?" And many will thus fall away and abandon The Path. But this is precisely the important point: not to confuse spiritual reality with imagination at this difficult stage of human evolution, and furthermore, to have the courage to press onward and not become timorous and faint-hearted. On the other hand, however, the necessity must be emphasized of maintaining unimpaired and of perpetually cultivating that healthy sound sense which distinguishes truth from illusion. Fully conscious self-control must never be lost during all these exercises, and they must be accompanied by the same sane, sound thinking which is applied to the details of every-day life. To lapse into reveries would be fatal. The intellectual clarity, not to say the sobriety of thought, must never for a moment be dulled. The greatest mistake would be made if the student's mental balance
   p. 64
   were disturbed through such exercises, if he were hampered in judging the matters of his daily life as sanely and as soundly as before. He should examine himself again and again to find out if he has remained unaltered in relation to the circumstances among which he lives, or whether he may perhaps have become unbalanced. Above all, strict care must be taken not to drift at random into vague reveries, or to experiment with all kinds of exercises. The trains of thought here indicated have been tested and practiced in esoteric training since the earliest times, and only such are given in these pages. Anyone attempting to use others devised by himself, or of which he may have heard or read at one place or another, will inevitably go astray and find himself on The Path of boundless chimera.
  As a further exercise to succeed the one just described, the following may be taken: Let the student place before him a plant which has attained the stage of full development. Now let him fill his mind with the thought that the time will come when this plant will wither and die. "Nothing will be left of what I now see before me. But this plant will have developed seeds which, in their turn,
  --
  The secrets of existence are only accessible to an extent corresponding to man's own degree of maturity. For this reason alone The Path to the
   p. 79
  --
  But if, after completing the fire-trial, he should wish to continue The Path, a certain writing-system generally adopted in esoteric training must now be revealed to him. The actual teachings manifest themselves in this writing, because the hidden (occult) qualities of things cannot be directly expressed in the words of ordinary writing. The pupils of the initiates translate the teachings into ordinary language as best they can. The occult script reveals itself to the soul when the latter has attained spiritual perception, for it is traced in the spiritual world and remains there for all time. It cannot be learned as an artificial writing is learned and read. The candidate grows into clairvoyant knowledge in an appropriate way, and during this growth a new strength is developed in his soul, as a new faculty, through which he feels himself impelled to decipher the occurrences and the beings of the spiritual world
   p. 83
  --
  People whose mode of thought tends to fancifulness and superstition can never make progress on The Path to higher knowledge. It is indeed a precious treasure that the student is to acquire. All doubt regarding the higher worlds is removed from him. With all their laws they reveal themselves to his gaze. But he cannot acquire this treasure so long as he is the prey of fancies and illusions. It would indeed be fatal if his imagination and his prejudices ran away with his intellect. Dreamers and fantastical people are as unfit for The Path to higher knowledge as superstitious people. This cannot be over-emphasized. For
   p. 91

1.02 - The Three European Worlds, #The Ever-Present Origin, #Jean Gebser, #Integral
  Once again he turns away and yields to something indicative of his poetic sensibility. Helpless in the face of the expanse before him and groping for some kind of moral support, he opens a copy of Augustine's Confessions where he chances upon a phrase. It stems from that realm of the soul to which he had turned his gaze after his initial encounter with landscape. "God and my companion are witnesses," he writes, "that my glance fell upon the passage: `And men went forth to behold the high mountains and the mighty surge of the sea, and the broad stretches of the rivers and the inexhaustible ocean, and The Paths of the stars, and so doing, lose themselves in wonderment [et relinquunt se ipsos].' "
  Once more, he is terrified, only this time less by his encounter with space than by the encounter with his soul of which he is reminded by the chance discovery of Augustine's words. "I admit I was overcome with wonderment," he continues; "I begged my Brother who also desired to read the Passage not to disturb me, and closed the book. I was irritated for having turned my thoughts to mundane matters at such a moment, for even the Pagan philosophers should have long since taught me that there is nothing more wondrous than the soul [nihilpraeteranimumessemirabile], and that compared to its greatness nothing is great."

1.02 - The Ultimate Path is Without Difficulty, #The Blue Cliff Records, #Yuanwu Keqin, #Zen
  days who practice meditation and ask about The Path, if they do
  not remain within picking and choosing, then they settle down
  --
  point, everything is The Path and all things are completely real.
  Isn't this where mind and objects are both forgotten, fused into
  --
  ancient questions about The Path, which Hsueh Tau has drawn
  Second Case
  --
  ings." The monk asked, "What is a man of The Path?" Hsiang
  Yen said, "Eyeballs in a skull." Later the monk asked Shih
  --
  obstructing The Path of meditation.
  As examples of chi-ching, Japanese commentaries conven

1.031 - Luqman, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  15. But if they strive to have you associate with Me something of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them. But keep them company in this life, in kindness, and follow The Path of him who turns to Me. Then to Me is your return; and I will inform you of what you used to do.
  16. “O my son, even if it were the weight of a mustard-seed, in a rock, or in the heavens, or on earth, God will bring it to light. God is Kind and Expert.

1.032 - Our Concept of God, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  But wholly dedicating ourself for the sake of God these feelings for God, in a whole-souled fashion, though in a rarefied form of the ordinary loves in the world, are called the bhavas in bhakti yoga. A bhava is a feeling. Our feeling for God is called a bhava. Here, the basic difference that seems to be there between man and God is taken for granted, and it is not solved, because it cannot be solved so easily. If we go on trying to solve this question, our whole life will be spent in only answering this question. Therefore, the teachers of The Path of devotion emphasised the necessity to love God, somehow or other, even if it be a magnified form of human love; and the answer to the difficulty as to whether human love is really divine love was that when human love gets magnified into infinity, it becomes divine love. There is a great point in this answer, because when the finite is lifted up into an unconditioned expanse to the extent possible for the mind, it loses the sting of finitude. The doctrine here is that when this human affection is expanded into the vastness of creation, though it may be true that in quality it has not changed, because of the fact that it has transformed itself into an utterly inconceivable magnitude of quantity, it will be free from the stigma of finitude of affection, and will be able to achieve certain miraculous results which finite love cannot.
  These bhavas or feelings of love for God are, therefore, human affections diverted to God in an all-absorbing manner, so that the conditioning factors of human affection are removed as far as possible, and God is taken for granted as a permanent Being - not like an ordinary object in the world which can die one day or the other, but as a perpetually existent Being and the necessity for loving that permanent Being is emphasised. Here, the feeling for God is similar to the feeling we have towards human relationships. These bhavas of bhakti are the central features of one path of yoga, called bhakti yoga, where God can be loved as a father, for instance. This is called shanta bhava, where emotions are least present.

1.033 - The Confederates, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  4. God did not place two hearts inside any man's body. Nor did He make your wives whom you equate with your mothers, your actual mothers. Nor did He make your adopted sons, your actual sons. These are your words coming out of your mouths. God speaks the truth, and guides to The Path.
  5. Call them after their fathers; that is more equitable with God. But if you do not know their fathers, then your brethren in faith and your friends. There is no blame on you if you err therein, barring what your hearts premeditates. God is Forgiving and Merciful.

1.034 - Sheba, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  6. Those who received knowledge know that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth; and it guides to The Path of the Majestic, the Praiseworthy.
  7. Those who disbelieved said, “Shall we point out to you a man, who will tell you that, once torn into shreds, you will be in a new creation?

10.36 - Cling to Truth, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Beware, this is the voice of the adversary trying to tempt you by confusing your mind. The Path is straight and narrow, it is not wide and comfortable and strewn with roses. To find the Truth, to live the Truth we must begin by finding it in its purity and living it. As is the start, so is the end. Our steadfastness, our faithfulness must be unalloyed, our sincerity of utmost purity. It is Truth alone that leads to Truth, a compromise or semblance leads only to the untruth. Your diplomacy or duplicity may bring you the coveted result or it may not; but surely it will put a layer of soot upon your soul, push you back one step more into your inconscience. And if you continue you may become the biggest success in the eyes of the world, but your soul will be nowhere, leaving behind perhaps only a hopeless sob in a wilderness. Has not the Mother said, "Even if there is a particle of falsehood in your expression In your word or in your acthow can you hope to express the Supreme Truth?" Remember also the words of Sri Aurobindo: "Do not imagine that truth and falsehood, light and darkness, surrender and selfishness can be allowed to dwell together in a house consecrated to the Divine. The transformation must be integral, and integral therefore the rejection of all that withstands it."1
   You cannot elude falsehood or cajole or conjure it. You must stand face to face, gaze with unwinking eyes, the flame of Truth within you constantly ablaze.

1.036 - The Rise of Obstacles in Yoga Practice, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  This experience is uncommon, and humanly it is not possible, and we cannot call it human understanding, human awareness, or human relationship it is super-human, super-physical, super-psychical, super-intellectual, super- logical and super-relational. Such knowledge will rise as an emanation of being rather than as a faculty of understanding. This knowledge is a light that is shed by our essential being, and it is not merely a function of the psychological organ. This subject is explained in more detail in another sutra of Patanjali, which we shall study when we come to it later on. When this knowledge arises, there is a cessation of obstacles. Enmity ceases when the causes of enmity cease. The obstacles on The Path to the realisation of Truth appear only as long as there is a hidden tendency of the individual to maintain itself in contradistinction with other individuals.
  The tendency of individuality can be conscious, deliberately felt and affirmed, or it can be an unconscious presence which is potential though not manifest. As long as there is even a potentiality of this tendency to individuality, the obstacles will persist. Though consciously we may be doing nothing wrong, and everything may look all right, many of us may start feeling, "What wrong have I committed from my birth onwards? I have been living a very good life, but why these obstacles?" These obstacles do not necessarily follow as a result of our present life or our conscious experience. They are the consequences of the hidden potentialities in the deeper layers of our personality all of which have to come to the surface before there is a complete riddance of individuality altogether. The experiences that we pass through are not necessarily the results of what we have done yesterday. Mostly, they are the results of what we have done many, many years back sometimes some births back.

1.036 - Ya-Seen, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  66. If We will, We can blind their eyes as they rush towards The Path—but how will they see?
  67. And if We will, We can cripple them in their place; so they can neither move forward, nor go back.

1.037 - Preventing the Fall in Yoga, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  Even masters, great Mahatmas and Mandaleshwars are not exempt from this error of thought, because it is a very subtle form of difficulty which is easy to justify by specious logic, and it may look very wonderful and beautiful to the public eye, though it may be a gross mistake. This pramada is death itself. Nothing can be worse than this idiocy in the practice of yoga. A student of yoga is free from this blunder. This pramada is the worst thing that we can expect on The Path. So, one should not be heedless or careless in the evaluation of one's spiritual way of living. Let there be persistent practice with caution, intelligence and understanding that we are moving in the same direction that we have chosen earlier, and we have not taken a different line of approach.
  After that, something else can come, says Patanjali. This working for the world and merging oneself in social liberating activity cannot go on for a long time, because the world will give us a kick. All great saviours of mankind were thrown to the pits because they could not save mankind. A day comes when society will dislike and even hate us, though we are utmost sincere in trying to help it. We have only to read history that is sufficient. All masters in the political field and most sincere workers in the social field were finally doomed by society. They were either killed by the very same people for whom they were working, or they were condemned to a condition worse than death. This is what happened to great leaders of mankind right from Pedicles, Plato and Aristotle, and nobody has been exempted from this, right up to modern times which is the tragedy of human effort. Then we will realise what is in front of us. People generally leave this world with a sob and a cry, not with joy on their faces, because they realised this fact too late. There was very little time for them to live in this world, and all the time had been spent in wrong activity under the impression that it is right activity.
  --
  The lethargic condition can be of two types one of them being a disgust for everything in life on account of a failure from all sides, and the other type is a peculiar sleepy condition of the mind, which it has resorted to merely with one intention, which is to stop further activity on The Path of yoga. This sleepy condition of the powers of the mind is only a pre-condition to an outburst of negative activity of the senses as well as the ego, which may follow after some time. Intense desires may arise in the mind, which may not arise in the minds of even ordinary householders. The egoism of a spiritual seeker may be worse than the egoism of an ordinary man in the world, and the desires of a spiritual seeker in this condition may be more inscrutable than even the strongest cravings of a worldly man, because here unnatural desires can arise in the mind, while it may be said that the desires of the ordinary man are mostly natural and are taken for granted. But here, attachments of a very peculiar nature may arise - attachments to silly things in the world, not necessarily valuables and any interference with the expression of these desires or wishes may stir up anger of the most violent type.
  Avirati is a sudden flare-up of buried desires in a very vehement manner, pouncing on anything and everything that is in front. It may be even an inanimate object it may be a fountain pen, a wristwatch, a transistor, or it may be a donkey. It does not matter what it is, because the desire that has been kept suppressed for years together wants only an immediate satisfaction, even through the silliest object possible. This condition of avirati (avirati means the absence of virati, which is the same as rati) attachment, affection, craving, and longing for the smallest satisfaction available will completely divert the attention of the mind from the original ideal. Even a little stream can draw the entire mass of water of a large river with a force that can burst all boundaries and devastate everything that is around. This is what we call 'the fall' in yoga. When a person reaches this state, he has fallen. We talk of a fall and hear of these things happening in the Epics and Puranas, where the mind has come back to the original condition from where it wanted to rise; only it is in a worse state.

1.03 - A Parable, #The Lotus Sutra, #Anonymous, #Various
  Until he obtained The Path
  And turned the wheel of the Dharma,
  --
  O riputra! In the past I inspired you to seek the buddha path. Yet just now you had completely forgotten this and considered yourself to have attained nirvana. Now, because I want you to remember The Path that you practiced according to your original vow in the past, I will teach the rvakas the Mahayana sutra called the Lotus Sutra, the instruction for the bodhisattvas and treasured lore of the buddhas.
  O riputra! In the future after immeasurable, limitless, and inconceivable kalpas, you will have paid homage to thousands of myriads of kois of buddhas, preserved the True Dharma, and mastered The Path practiced by the bodhisattvas. You will become a buddha called Padmaprabha, a Tathgata, Arhat, Completely Enlightened, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct,
  Well-Departed, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed, Tamer of Humans,
  --
  And attain The Path of the Buddha.
  This Buddha Padmaprabha will live in the world
  --
  I teach the truth about The Path to its cessation
  Using skillful means.
  --
  One practices The Path leading to its cessation (i.e., the Fourth Noble
  Truth]

1.03 - Bloodstream Sermon, #The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, #Bodhidharma, #Buddhism
  ances are devils. They fall from The Path. Why worship illusions
  born of the mind? Those who worship don't know, and those who
  --
  And the buddha is The Path. And The Path is zen.36 But the word
  zen is one that remains a puzzle to both mortals and sages. Seeing
  --
  But when you first embark on The Path, your awareness won't
  be focused. You're likely to see all sorts of strange, dreamlike

1.03 - Hymns of Gritsamada, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
    13. O Fire, the sons of the indivisible Mother made thee their mouth, the pure Gods made thee their tongue; O Seer, they who are ever close to our giving are constant to thee in the rites of The Path; the Gods eat in thee the offering cast before them.
    14. O Fire, all the Gods, the Immortals unhurtful to man, eat in thee and by thy mouth the offering cast before them; by thee mortal men taste of the libation. Pure art thou born, a child of the growths of the earth.

1.03 - Invocation of Tara, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  will end by making us enter The Path of true
  spirituality.

1.03 - On Children, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
  The archer sees the mark upon The Path of the infinite, and He bends you with
  His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

1.03 - On Knowledge of the World., #The Alchemy of Happiness, #Al-Ghazali, #Sufism
  Do not suppose, beloved, that every thing in the world is to be despised; for there are some things that are estimable and valuable, which belong to the world: viz : knowledge, worship, war in defence of the faith, and abstinence : and also a sufficiency of food, drink and clothing, marriage, domestic shelter and other things; seeing that they are helps on the journey to the future world and in The Path of [74] knowledge, they are all of them exceedingly important and necessary. Delight in knowledge, delight in worship, delight in prayer and delight in communion with God are things of this world, but still they are for the sake of the future world. It follows, therefore, that the pleasures of the world are not all of them blamable, but only those which entail punishment in the future world, or which are not in The Path to paradise, and so the apostle declares, "The world is a curse and all that is in it is a curse, except the remembrance of God and that which is the object of his love."

1.03 - Self-Surrender in Works - The Way of The Gita, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The greatest gospel of spiritual works ever yet given to the race, the most perfect system of Karmayoga known to man in the past, is to be found in the Bhagavad Gita. In that famous episode of the Mahabharata the great basic lines of Karmayoga are laid down for all time with an incomparable mastery and the infallible eye of an assured experience. It is true that The Path alone, as the ancients saw it, is worked out fully: the perfect fulfilment, the highest secret1 is hinted rather than developed; it is kept back as an unexpressed part of a supreme mystery. There are obvious reasons for this reticence; for the fulfilment is in any case a matter for experience and no teaching can express it. It cannot be described in a way that can really be understood by a mind that has not the effulgent transmuting experience. And for the soul that has passed the shining portals and stands in the blaze of the inner light, all mental and verbal description is as poor as it is superfluous, inadequate and an impertinence. All divine consummations have perforce to be figured by us in the inapt and deceptive terms of a language which was made to fit the normal experience of mental man; so expressed, they can be rightly understood only by those who already know, and, knowing, are able to give these poor external terms a changed, inner and transfigured sense. As the Vedic Rishis insisted in the beginning, the words of the supreme wisdom are expressive only to those who are already of the wise. The Gita at its cryptic close may seem by its silence to stop short of that solution for which we are seeking; it pauses at the borders of the highest spiritual mind and does not cross them into the splendours of the supramental Light. And yet its secret of dynamic, and not only static, identity with the inner Presence, its highest mystery of absolute surrender to the Divine Guide, Lord and Inhabitant of our nature, is the central secret. This surrender is the indispensable means of the supramental change and, again, it is through the supramental change that the dynamic identity becomes possible.
  1 rahasyam uttamam.
  --
  But by what practical steps of self-discipline can we arrive at this consummation? The elimination of all egoistic activity and of its foundation, the egoistic consciousness, is clearly the key to the consummation we desire. And since in The Path of works action is the knot we have first to loosen, we must endeavour to loosen it where it is centrally tied, in desire and in ego; for otherwise we shall cut only stray strands and not the heart of our bondage.
  These are the two knots of our subjection to this ignorant and divided Nature, desire and ego-sense. And of these two desire has its native home in the emotions and sensations and instincts and from there affects thought and volition; ego-sense lives indeed in these movements, but it casts its deep roots also in the thinking mind and its will and it is there that it becomes fully selfconscious. These are the twin obscure powers of the obsessing world-wide Ignorance that we have to enlighten and eliminate.

1.03 - Some Practical Aspects, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
   his own self. With a feeling of inner truth he must look his own faults, weaknesses, and unfitness full in the face. The moment he tries to excuse to himself any of his weaknesses, he has placed a stone in his way on The Path which is to lead him upward. Such obstacles can only be removed by self-enlightenment. There is only one way to get rid of faults and failings, and that is by a clear recognition of them. Everything slumbers in the human soul and can be awakened. A person can even improve his intellect and reason, if he quietly and calmly makes it clear to himself why he is weak in this respect. Such self- knowledge is, of course, difficult, for the temptation to self-deception is immeasurably great. Anyone making a habit of being truthful with himself opens the portal leading to a deeper insight.
  All curiosity must fall away from the student. He must rid himself as much as possible of the habit of asking questions merely for the sake of gratifying a selfish thirst for knowledge. He must only ask when knowledge can serve to perfect his own being in the service of evolution. Nevertheless, his delight in knowledge and his devotion to it should in no way be hampered. He should listen
  --
   of sights and hearing in your soul and spirit. Do not expect immediately to see and hear in the world of soul and spirit, for all that you are doing does but contri bute to the development of your higher senses, and you will only be able to hear with soul and spirit when you possess these higher senses. Having persevered for a time in silent inner seclusion, go about your customary daily affairs, imprinting deeply upon your mind this thought: "Some day, when I have grown sufficiently, I shall attain that which I am destined to attain," and make no attempt to attract forcefully any of these higher powers to yourself. Every student receives these instructions at the outset. By observing them he perfects himself. If he neglects them, all his labor is in vain. But they are only difficult of achievement for the impatient and the unpersevering. No other obstacles exist save those which we ourselves place in our own path, and which can be avoided by all who really will. This point must be continually emphasized, because many people form an altogether wrong conception of the difficulties that beset The Path to higher knowledge. It is easier, in a certain sense, to accomplish the first steps along this path than
   p. 110
  --
   the silent activity of woodl and creatures and insects. Yet no city-dweller should fail to give to the organs of his soul and spirit, as they develop, the nurture that comes from the inspired teachings of spiritual research. If our eyes cannot follow the woods in their mantel of green every spring, day by day, we should instead open our soul to the glorious teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, or of St. John's Gospel, or of St. Thomas Kempis, and to the descriptions resulting from spiritual science. There are many ways to the summit of insight, but much depends on the right choice. The spiritually experienced could say much concerning these paths, much that might seem strange to the uninitiated. Someone, for instance, might be very far advanced on The Path; he might be standing, so to speak, at the very entrance of sight and hearing with soul and spirit; he is then fortunate enough to make a journey over the calm or maybe tempestuous ocean, and a veil falls away from the eyes of his soul; suddenly he becomes a seer. Another is also so far advanced that this veil only needs to be loosened; this occurs through some stroke of destiny. On another this stroke might well have had the effect
   p. 113

1.03 - Sympathetic Magic, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
  creatures of the same kind into The Path of the hunter. In the
  island of Nias, when a wild pig has fallen into the pit prepared for
  --
  enemy in The Path. Should a wife prove unfaithful while her husband
  is away, he will lose his life in the enemy's country. Some years
  --
  commanding authority. The pitfalls which beset The Path of the
  professional sorcerer are many, and as a rule only the man of

1.03 - Tara, Liberator from the Eight Dangers, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  hindrance on The Path because it prevents us from thinking clearly. Wise
  fear, on the other hand, is an awareness of danger that is helpful to have. It
  --
  wisdom of bliss and emptiness. She is all the realizations of The Path. These
  realizations are what save us from danger and liberate us. Thus, when we say,
  --
  point out mental and emotional obstacles in The Path so that we will investigate and understand how they operate in our mind. Then we can apply the
  1. Based on translations by Martin Willson and Glenn Mullin.
  --
  What are those? we may ask. But that is the point: these topics, while essential for actualizing The Path, are difcult to understand. Recognizing how
  limited our current understanding is decreases our pride and makes us more
  --
  mind? When our mind is focused on something conducive to The Path, vigilance lets it be. If we are distracted to sense pleasures, preoccupied with worries, or burning with anger, vigilance calls forth the appropriate antidote to
  calm whatever ignorant emotion plagues us at that moment.
  --
  great positive potential to progress along The Path, rejoicing at others goodness and happiness is denitely worthwhile. It spurs us along The Path to
  enlightenment and also makes us happy right now.
  --
  cross over. We ask Tara to protect us from danger by teaching us The Path
  to enlightenment. In this way she liberates us from cyclic existence and
  --
  causes so that we will seek their cessation and The Path to that state of peace.
  We are born, age, become ill, and die without choice. We try hard to procure
  --
  practice The Path leading to true happiness.
  The Carnivorous Demon of Doubt
  --
  of a teaching. It aids us on The Path. However, when our doubt dwells in
  confusion and leans toward distorted views, our mind spirals in circles of
  --
  A mind spinning in doubt cannot go straight on The Path to liberation. It
  is like trying to sew with a two-pointed needle; we cant go forward. If we
  --
  reach any resolution, we cannot go forward on The Path, and our mind
  remains tormented. Our ultimate aims, liberation and enlightenment, are
  --
  Second, we dedicate our positive potential (merit) so that we and all others will meet conditions conducive for actualizing The Path to enlightenment.
  Long life is important so that we are able to study and practice the Buddhas

1.03 - THE GRAND OPTION, #The Future of Man, #Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, #Christianity
  ing all The Paths of detachment and contemplation, not from
  disdain but from excessive esteem for the state of Being, let us break

1.03 - THE ORPHAN, THE WIDOW, AND THE MOON, #Mysterium Coniunctionis, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  For, when the son sleeps with the mother, she kills him with the stroke of a viper (viperino conatu). This viciousness recalls the murderous role of Isis,81 who laid the noble worm in The Path of the heavenly Father, Ra.82 Isis, however, is also the healer, for she not only cured Ra of the poisoning but put together the dismembered Osiris. As such she personifies that arcane substance, be it dew83 or the aqua permanens84 which unites the hostile elements into one. This synthesis is described in the myth of Isis, who collected the scattered limbs of his body and bathed them with her tears and laid them in a secret grave beneath the bank of the Nile.85 The cognomen of Isis was
  , the Black One.86 Apuleius stresses the blackness of her robe (palla nigerrima, robe of deepest black),87 and since ancient times she was reputed to possess the elixir of life88 as well as being adept in sundry magical arts.89 She was also called the Old One,90 and she was rated a pupil of Hermes,91 or even his daughter.92 She appears as a teacher of alchemy in the treatise Isis the Prophetess to her Son Horus.93 She is mentioned in the role of a whore in Epiphanius, where she is said to have prostituted herself in Tyre.94 She signifies earth, according to Firmicus Maternus,95 and was equated with Sophia.96 She is

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.
  --
  Qabalah in its various aspects. First we shall deal more fully with the ten Sephirothal ideas, giving the student in a later chapter examples of the mode of treatment which he himself will then be able to follow in studying the attribu- tions of all The Paths.
  O. Ain

1.03 - The Sunlit Path, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  There are two paths, Sri Aurobindo used to say, The Path of effort and the sunlit path. The Path of effort is well known. It is the one that has presided over our entire mental life, because we try to reach for something we do not have or think we do not have. We are full of wants, of painful holes, of voids to be filled. But the void never gets filled. No sooner is it filled that another one opens up, drawing us into yet another pursuit. We are like an absence of something that can never find its presence, except in rare flashes, which vanish immediately and seem to leave an even greater void. We may say that we lack this or that, but we really lack one thing, and that is self: There is an absence of self. For what is really self is full, since it is. Everything else comes and goes, but is not. How could what is ever be in need of anything else? An animal is perfectly in its animal self, and once its immediate needs are satisfied, it is in equilibrium, in harmony with the universe. Mental man is not in his self, though he believes he is he even believes in the greatness of his self, because it must have size, like everything else, and there must be bigger and lesser selves, more or less voracious or talented or saintly or successful selves; but by doing so, man avows his own weakness, because how could what is self be more or less self? It is, or it is not. Mental man is not in his self: he is in his inventory, like a mole or a squirrel.
  But then, where is that elusive self?... To ask the question is to knock at the door of the next circle, to engage in the movement of introspection of the second kind. And here, too, it is pointless to theorize on the nature of the self; it must be sought and discovered experientially. Now, we did say that the method had to take place in life and matter, because we can very well shut ourselves up in a room, keep out the sounds of the world, keep out its desires, tensions and countless tentacles; we can hold all these things at arm's length and, maybe, from within our little inner circle catch a glimpse of self, some ineffable transcendence, but the minute we open the door of our room and let go of our grip, everything will fall back on us again, like a mantle of seaweed over a diver, and we will find ourselves exactly as before, only less capable of putting up with the noise and swarm of little cravings awaiting their hour. It is not by the grip of our virtues or exceptional meditations that we shall clear away that mantle, but by something else altogether. We will therefore start with what we are and as we are, at the physical level of everyday life.

1.03 - To Layman Ishii, #Beating the Cloth Drum Letters of Zen Master Hakuin, #unset, #Zen
  Way is immeasurably vast. Some priests do nothing but seek fame and success until their dying day, never showing the slightest interest in The Path of Zen or the Buddha's Dharma. Others become enthralled in literary pursuits or become addicted to sake or women, oblivious of the hell fires
   flaming up under their very noses. Some, relying on insignificant bits of knowledge they pick up, shamelessly try to deny the law of cause and effect, though woefully lacking any grasp of its working.

1.03 - VISIT TO VIDYASAGAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "But in the Kaliyuga, man, being totally dependent on food for life, cannot altogether shake off the idea that he is the body. In this state of mind it is not proper for him to say, 'I am He.' When a man does all sorts of worldly things, he should not say, 'I am Brahman.' Those who cannot give up attachment to worldly things, and who find no means to shake off the feeling of 'I', should rather cherish the idea 'I am God's servant; I am His devotee.' One can also realize God by following The Path of devotion.
  Jnani and Vijnni
  --
  " The Path of knowledge leads to Truth, as does The Path that combines knowledge and love. The Path of love, too, leads to this goal. The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow The Path of love.
  "The vijnni sees that Brahman is immovable and actionless, like Mount Sumeru. This universe consists of the three gunas - sattva, rajas, and tamas. They are in Brahman.

1.040 - Forgiver, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  29. O my people! Yours is the dominion today, supreme in the land; but who will help us against God’s might, should it fall upon us?” Pharaoh said, “I do not show you except what I see, and I do not guide you except to The Path of prudence.”
  30. The one who had believed said, “O my people, I fear for you the like of the day of the confederates.
  --
  36. And Pharaoh said, “O Hamaan, build me a tower, that I may reach The Pathways.
  37. The Pathways of the heavens, so that I may glance at the God of Moses; though I think he is lying.” Thus Pharaoh’s evil deeds were made to appear good to him, and he was averted from The Path. Pharaoh's guile was only in defeat.
  38. The one who had believed said, “O my people, follow me, and I will guide you to The Path of rectitude.”
  39. “O my people, the life of this world is nothing but fleeting enjoyment, but the Hereafter is the Home of Permanence.

1.042 - Consultation, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  53. The Path of God, to whom belongs everything in the heavens and everything on earth. Indeed, to God all matters revert.

1.043 - Decorations, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  37. They hinder them from The Path, though they think they are guided.
  38. Until, when he comes to Us, he will say, “If only there were between me and you the distance of the two Easts.” What an evil companion!

1.047 - Muhammad, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  1. Those who disbelieve and repel from The Path of God—He nullifies their works.
  2. While those who believe, and work righteousness, and believe in what was sent down to Muhammad—and it is the truth from their Lord—He remits their sins, and relieves their concerns.
  --
  32. Those who disbelieve, and hinder from The Path of God, and oppose the Messenger after guidance has become clear to them—they will not hurt God in the least, but He will nullify their deeds.
  33. O you who believe! Obey God, and obey the Messenger, and do not let your deeds go to waste.

1.04 - ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  THE MASTER WAS CONVERSING with Kedr and some other devotees in his room in the temple garden. Kedr was a government official and had spent several years at Dcc, in East Bengal, where he had become a friend of Vijay Goswami. The two would spend a great part of their time together, talking about Sri Ramakrishna and his spiritual experiences. Kedr had once been a member of the Brahmo Samaj. He followed The Path of bhakti. Spiritual talk always brought tears to his eyes.
  It was five o'clock in the afternoon. Kedr was very happy that day, having arranged a religious festival for Sri Ramakrishna. A singer had been hired by Ram, and the whole day passed in joy.
  --
  "Woman and gold" is the obstruction to yoga "Some are born with the characteristics of the yogi; but they too should be careful. It is 'woman and gold' alone that is the obstacle; it makes them deviate from The Path of yoga and drags them into worldliness. Perhaps they have some desire for enjoyment.
  After fulfilling their desire, they again direct their minds to God and thus recover their former state of mind, fit for the practise of yoga.
  --
  MASTER: "According to the Vaishnavas the aspirants and the seers of God may be divided into different groups. These are the pravartaka, the sadhaka, the siddha, and the siddha of the siddha. He who has just set foot on The Path may be called a pravartaka. He may be called a sadhaka who has for some time been practising spiritual disciplines, such as worship, japa, meditation, and the chanting of God's name and glories. He may be called a siddha who has known from his inner experience that God exists. An analogy is given in the Vedanta to explain this. The master of the house is asleep in a dark room. Someone is groping in the darkness to find him. He touches the couch and says, 'No, it is not he.' He touches the window and says, 'No, it is not he.' He touches the door and says, 'No, it is not he.' This is known in the Vedanta as the process of 'Neti, neti', 'Not this, not this'. At last his hand touches the master's body and he exclaims, 'Here he is!' In other words, he is now conscious of the 'existence' of the master. He has found him, but he doesn't yet know him intimately.
  "There is another type, known as the siddha of the siddha, the 'supremely perfect'. It is quite a different thing when one talks to the master intimately, when one knows God very intimately through love and devotion. A siddha has undoubtedly attained God, but the 'supremely perfect' has known God very intimately.
  --
  "I had to practise each religion for a time - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity. Furthermore, I followed The Paths of the Saktas, Vaishnavas, and Vedantists. I realized that there is only one God toward whom all are travelling; but The Paths are different.
  "While visiting the holy places, I would sometimes suffer great agony. Once I went with Mathur to Raja Babu's drawing-room in Benares. I found that they talked there only of worldly matters - money, real estate, and the like. At this I burst into tears. I said to the Divine Mother, weeping: 'Mother! Where hast Thou brought me? I was much better off at Dakshineswar.' In Allahabad I noticed the same things that I saw elsewhere - the same ponds, the same grass, the same trees, the same tamarind-leaves.

1.04 - GOD IN THE WORLD, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  That Nirvana and Samsara are one is a fact about the nature of the universe; but it is a fact which cannot be fully realized or directly experienced, except by souls far advanced in spirituality. For ordinary, nice, unregenerate people to accept this truth by hearsay, and to act upon it in practice, is merely to court disaster. All the dismal story of antinomianism is there to warn us of what happens when men and women make practical applications of a merely intellectual and unrealized theory that all is God and God is all. And hardly less depressing than the spectacle of antinomianism is that of the earnestly respectable well-rounded life of good citizens who do their best to live sacramentally, but dont in fact have any direct acquaintance with that for which the sacramental activity really stands. Dr. Oman, in his The Natural and the Supernatural, writes at length on the theme that reconciliation to the evanescent is revelation of the eternal; and in a recent volume, Science, Religion and the Future, Canon Raven applauds Dr. Oman for having stated the principles of a theology, in which there could be no ultimate antithesis between nature and grace, science and religion, in which, indeed, the worlds of the scientist and the theologian are seen to be one and the same. All this is in full accord with Taoism and Zen Buddhism and with such Christian teachings as St. Augustines Ama et fac quod vis and Father Lallemants advice to theocentric contemplatives to go out and act in the world, since their actions are the only ones capable of doing any real good to the world. But what neither Dr. Oman nor Canon Raven makes sufficiently clear is that nature and grace, Samsara and Nirvana, perpetual perishing and eternity, are really and experientially one only to persons who have fulfilled certain conditions. Fac quod vis in the temporal world but only when you have learnt the infinitely difficult art of loving God with all your mind and heart and your neighbor as yourself. If you havent learnt this lesson, you will either be an antinomian eccentric or criminal or else a respectable well-rounded-lifer, who has left himself no time to understand either nature or grace. The Gospels are perfectly clear about the process by which, and by which alone, a man may gain the right to live in the world as though he were at home in it: he must make a total denial of selfhood, submit to a complete and absolute mortification. At one period of his career, Jesus himself seems to have undertaken austerities, not merely of the mind, but of the body. There is the record of his forty days fast and his statement, evidently drawn from personal experience, that some demons cannot be cast out except by those who have fasted much as well as prayed. (The Cur dArs, whose knowledge of miracles and corporal penance was based on personal experience, insists on the close correlation between severe bodily austerities and the power to get petitionary prayer answered in ways that are sometimes supernormal.) The Pharisees reproached Jesus because he came eating and drinking, and associated with publicans and sinners; they ignored, or were unaware of, the fact that this apparently worldly prophet had at one time rivalled the physical austerities of John the Baptist and was practising the spiritual mortifications which he consistently preached. The pattern of Jesus life is essentially similar to that of the ideal sage, whose career is traced in the Oxherding Pictures, so popular among Zen Buddhists. The wild ox, symbolizing the unregenerate self, is caught, made to change its direction, then tamed and gradually transformed from black to white. Regeneration goes so far that for a time the ox is completely lost, so that nothing remains to be pictured but the full-orbed moon, symbolizing Mind, Suchness, the Ground. But this is not the final stage. In the end, the herdsman comes back to the world of men, riding on the back of his ox. Because he now loves, loves to the extent of being identified with the divine object of his love, he can do what he likes; for what he likes is what the Nature of Things likes. He is found in company with wine-bibbers and butchers; he and they are all converted into Buddhas. For him, there is complete reconciliation to the evanescent and, through that reconciliation, revelation of the eternal. But for nice ordinary unregenerate people the only reconciliation to the evanescent is that of indulged passions, of distractions submitted to and enjoyed. To tell such persons that evanescence and eternity are the same, and not immediately to qualify the statement, is positively fatalfor, in practice, they are not the same except to the saint; and there is no record that anybody ever came to sanctity, who did not, at the outset of his or her career, behave as if evanescence and eternity, nature and grace, were profoundly different and in many respects incompatible. As always, The Path of spirituality is a knife-edge between abysses. On one side is the danger of mere rejection and escape, on the other the danger of mere acceptance and the enjoyment of things which should only be used as instruments or symbols. The versified caption which accompanies the last of the Oxherding Pictures runs as follows.
  Even beyond the ultimate limits there extends a passageway,

1.04 - On Knowledge of the Future World., #The Alchemy of Happiness, #Al-Ghazali, #Sufism
  The heavenly pilgrim must forsake his own city, and not fix himself for permanence in the place where he happens to be. And by the word city, worldly cares and employments are designated. He must quit them, and find his home in The Path of obedience, and forsake the land of tribulation: for the prophet has said, "Love of country is an article of religion."
  This road has four stages: the things of sense belong to the first stage; the things of fancy belong to the second stage; the things of speculation to the third, and those of reason to the fourth stage....
  --
  Every man ought to take as the subject of his thoughts, the things which concern the future state,- the pains of its torments, the joys of its felicity, the delight and ecstasy of the vision of the beauty of the Lord, and finally the fact that these states are eternal. Now, is it not strange folly and sottishness to be proud of the transitory pleasures of the world in a life which lasts but for one or two days, and to turn our backs upon future eternal joys ? If you are wise you will acknowledge the frailly and errors of your soul, and with an understanding of the purpose for which it was created, you will meditate upon your soul, and upon [104] the almighty power and greatness of God as far as the human mind can comprehend them. Recognizing that God's design in creating you was, that you should know him and love him, you should never cease for one moment to walk with humility and prayer in The Path of obedience. Regard this world as the place to sow seed for eternity, and after taking such a portion from this world as may give you strength to take the journey to the other world, turn away from whatever is more than this. Realize that the future world is the place for enjoyment and happiness which is eternal, and the land to behold the excellence and beauty of the Lord; and make it your purpose, divine and omniscient grace assisting you, never to cease from the pursuit of them, but to secure as your prey, the phoenix of felicity and happiness.

1.04 - Sounds, #Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, #Henry David Thoreau, #Philosophy
  My house was on the side of a hill, immediately on the edge of the larger wood, in the midst of a young forest of pitch pines and hickories, and half a dozen rods from the pond, to which a narrow footpath led down the hill. In my front yard grew the strawberry, blackberry, and life-everlasting, johnswort and goldenrod, shrub-oaks and sand-cherry, blueberry and groundnut. Near the end of May, the sand-cherry (_Cerasus pumila_,) adorned the sides of The Path with its delicate flowers arranged in umbels cylindrically about its short stems, which last, in the fall, weighed down with good sized and handsome cherries, fell over in wreaths like rays on every side. I tasted them out of compliment to Nature, though they were scarcely palatable. The sumach (_Rhus glabra_,) grew luxuriantly about the house, pushing up through the embankment which I had made, and growing five or six feet the first season. Its broad pinnate tropical leaf was pleasant though strange to look on. The large buds, suddenly pushing out late in the spring from dry sticks which had seemed to be dead, developed themselves as by magic into graceful green and tender boughs, an inch in diameter; and sometimes, as I sat at my window, so heedlessly did they grow and tax their weak joints, I heard a fresh and tender bough suddenly fall like a fan to the ground, when there was not a breath of air stirring, broken off by its own weight. In August, the large masses of berries, which, when in flower, had attracted many wild bees, gradually assumed their bright velvety crimson hue, and by their weight again bent down and broke the tender limbs.
  As I sit at my window this summer afternoon, hawks are circling about my clearing; the tantivy of wild pigeons, flying by twos and threes athwart my view, or perching restless on the white-pine boughs behind my house, gives a voice to the air; a fishhawk dimples the glassy surface of the pond and brings up a fish; a mink steals out of the marsh before my door and seizes a frog by the shore; the sedge is bending under the weight of the reed-birds flitting hither and thither; and for the last half hour I have heard the rattle of railroad cars, now dying away and then reviving like the beat of a partridge, conveying travellers from Boston to the country. For I did not live so out of the world as that boy who, as I hear, was put out to a farmer in the east part of the town, but ere long ran away and came home again, quite down at the heel and homesick. He had never seen such a dull and out-of-the-way place; the folks were all gone off; why, you couldnt even hear the whistle! I doubt if there is such a place in
  --
  Far through unfrequented woods on the confines of towns, where once only the hunter penetrated by day, in the darkest night dart these bright saloons without the knowledge of their inhabitants; this moment stopping at some brilliant station-house in town or city, where a social crowd is gathered, the next in the Dismal Swamp, scaring the owl and fox. The startings and arrivals of the cars are now the epochs in the village day. They go and come with such regularity and precision, and their whistle can be heard so far, that the farmers set their clocks by them, and thus one well conducted institution regulates a whole country. Have not men improved somewhat in punctuality since the railroad was invented? Do they not talk and think faster in the depot than they did in the stage-office? There is something electrifying in the atmosphere of the former place. I have been astonished at the miracles it has wrought; that some of my neighbors, who, I should have prophesied, once for all, would never get to Boston by so prompt a conveyance, are on hand when the bell rings. To do things railroad fashion is now the by-word; and it is worth the while to be warned so often and so sincerely by any power to get off its track. There is no stopping to read the riot act, no firing over the heads of the mob, in this case. We have constructed a fate, an _Atropos_, that never turns aside. (Let that be the name of your engine.) Men are advertised that at a certain hour and minute these bolts will be shot toward particular points of the compass; yet it interferes with no mans business, and the children go to school on the other track. We live the steadier for it. We are all educated thus to be sons of Tell. The air is full of invisible bolts. Every path but your own is The Path of fate. Keep on your own track, then.
  What recommends commerce to me is its enterprise and bravery. It does not clasp its hands and pray to Jupiter. I see these men every day go about their business with more or less courage and content, doing more even than they suspect, and perchance better employed than they could have consciously devised. I am less affected by their heroism who stood up for half an hour in the front line at Buena Vista, than by the steady and cheerful valor of the men who inhabit the snow-plough for their winter quarters; who have not merely the three-o-clock in the morning courage, which Bonaparte thought was the rarest, but whose courage does not go to rest so early, who go to sleep only when the storm sleeps or the sinews of their iron steed are frozen. On this morning of the Great Snow, perchance, which is still raging and chilling mens blood, I hear the muffled tone of their engine bell from out the fog bank of their chilled breath, which announces that the cars

1.04 - THE APPEARANCE OF ANOMALY - CHALLENGE TO THE SHARED MAP, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
  previous historically-determined systems, and ensures that The Path defined by the revolutionary hero
  remains the one constant road to redemption. The revolutionary hero is embodiment and narrative
  --
  to choose The Path of evil to choose spiritual death or to perish bodily altogether.
  Myth equates the origin of the universe of experience with the partition of light from darkness because

1.04 - The Conditions of Esoteric Training, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
  Let us now consider in turn the conditions imposed on the student. It should be emphasized that the complete fulfillment of any one of these conditions is not insisted upon, but only the corresponding effort. No one can wholly fulfill them, but everyone can start on The Path toward them. It is the effort of will that matters, and the ready disposition to enter upon this path.
  1. The first condition is that the student should pay heed to the advancement of bodily and spiritual health. Of course, health does not depend, in the first instance, upon the individual; but the effort to improve in this respect lies within the scope of all. Sound knowledge can alone proceed from sound human beings. The unhealthy are not rejected, but it is demanded of the student that he should have the will to lead a healthy life. In this respect he must attain the greatest possible independence.
  --
   cannot develop themselves under their conditions of life. Now, many may find it desirable for other reasons to change their conditions of life, but no one need do so for the purpose of esoteric training. For the latter, a person need only do as much as possible, whatever his position, to further the health of body and soul. Every kind of work can serve the whole of humanity; and it is a surer sign of greatness of soul to perceive clearly how necessary for this whole is a petty, perhaps even an offensive employment than to think: "This work is not good enough for me; I am destined for something better." Of special importance for the student is the striving for complete health of mind. An unhealthy life of thought and feeling will not fail to obstruct The Path to higher knowledge. Clear, calm thinking, with stability of feeling and emotion, form here the basis of all work. Nothing should be further removed from the student than an inclination toward a fantastical, excitable life, toward nervousness, exaggeration, and fanaticism. He should acquire a healthy outlook on all circumstances of life; he should meet the demands of lie with steady assurance, quietly letting all things make their impression on him
   p. 119
  --
  3. This brings us to the third condition. The student must work his way upward to the realization that his thoughts and feelings are as important for the world as his actions. It must be realized that it is equally injurious to hate a fellow-being as to strike him. The realization will then follow that by perfecting ourselves we accomplish something not only for ourselves, but for the whole world. The world derives equal benefit from our untainted feelings and thoughts as from our good demeanor, and as long as we cannot believe in this cosmic importance of our inner life, we are unfit for The Path that is here described. We are only filled with the right faith in the significance of our inner self, of our soul, when we work at it s though it were at least as real as all external things. We must admit that
   p. 122
  --
   himself with performing them. He will learn to sacrifice his actions, even his whole being, to the world, however the world may receive his sacrifice. Readiness for a sacrifice, for an offering such as this, must be shown by all who would pursue The Path of esoteric training.
  6. A sixth condition is the development of a feeling of thankfulness for everything with which man is favored. We must realize that our existence is a gift from the entire universe. How much is needed to enable each one of us to receive and maintain his existence! How much to we not owe to nature and to our fellow human beings! Thoughts such as these must come naturally to all who seek esoteric training, for if the latter do not feel inclined to entertain them, they will be incapable of developing within themselves that all-embracing love which is necessary for the attainment of higher knowledge. Nothing can reveal itself to us which we do not love. And every revelation must fill us with thankfulness, for we ourselves are the richer for it.

1.04 - The Core of the Teaching, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  But at the present day, since in fact the modern mind began to recognise and deal at all with the Gita, the tendency is to subordinate its elements of knowledge and devotion, to take advantage of its continual insistence on action and to find in it a scripture of the Karmayoga, a Light leading us on The Path of action, a Gospel of Works. Undoubtedly, the Gita is a Gospel of Works, but of works which culminate in knowledge, that is, in spiritual realisation and quietude, and of works motived by devotion, that is, a conscious surrender of one's whole self first into the hands and then into the being of the Supreme, and not at all of works as they are understood by the modern mind, not at all an action dictated by egoistic and altruistic, by personal,
  The Core of the Teaching
  --
  Undoubtedly, the Gita does, like the Upanishads, teach the equality which rises above sin and virtue, beyond good and evil, but only as a part of the Brahmic consciousness and for the man who is on The Path and advanced enough to fulfil the supreme rule. It does not preach indifference to good and evil for the ordinary life of man, where such a doctrine would have the most pernicious consequences. On the contrary it affirms that the doers of evil shall not attain to God. Therefore if Arjuna simply seeks to fulfil in the best way the ordinary law of man's life, disinterested performance of what he feels to be a sin, a thing of Hell, will not help him, even though that sin be his duty as a soldier. He must refrain from what his conscience abhors though a thousand duties were shattered to pieces.
  We must remember that duty is an idea which in practice rests upon social conceptions. We may extend the term beyond its proper connotation and talk of our duty to ourselves or we may, if we like, say in a transcendent sense that it was Buddha's duty to abandon all, or even that it is the ascetic's duty to sit motionless in a cave! But this is obviously to play with words.
  --
  Jnanayoga, the self-realisation and knowledge of the true nature of the self and the world; and here the insistence is on knowledge; but the sacrifice of works continues and The Path of
  Works becomes one with but does not disappear into The Path of
  Knowledge. The last step is Bhaktiyoga, adoration and seeking of the supreme Self as the Divine Being, and here the insistence is on devotion; but the knowledge is not subordinated, only raised, vitalised and fulfilled, and still the sacrifice of works continues; the double path becomes the triune way of knowledge, works and devotion. And the fruit of the sacrifice, the one fruit still placed before the seeker, is attained, union with the divine Being and oneness with the supreme divine nature.

1.04 - The Crossing of the First Threshold, #The Hero with a Thousand Faces, #Joseph Campbell, #Mythology
  pollen symbol of The Path, and eagle feathers plucked from a liv
  ing sun bird, they passed between.

1.04 - The Discovery of the Nation-Soul, #The Human Cycle, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  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.
  It is evident that there is a false as well as a true subjectivism and the errors to which the subjective trend may be liable are as great as its possibilities and may well lead to capital disasters. This distinction must be clearly grasped if the road of this stage of social evolution is to be made safe for the human race.

1.04 - The Divine Mother - This Is She, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  Here is another small instance, gathered from the private diary of a young sadhika, to show how the Mother in the midst of her crammed activities found time to push individuals or groups on The Path of their soul's aspiration. She used to see ten or twelve young girls in the evening at about 8 p.m. before she came down for meditation. But many a day they had to wait for hours, even up to 10 p.m. They would feel hungry or sleepy and had to go without their dinner, for the meditation followed immediately after their meeting. One day one of them lost patience and went away, leaving her flowers in a dish for the Mother. Just then, the Mother came. The girls were very much struck by this coincidence. What a test, they thought! As soon as one girl approached the Mother, the Mother asked, "Who has left this dish of flowers here? Oh, is it X? You really surprise me! You can't wait even a little while for me, you get so impatient? Do you know how the gods and goddesses yearn to have my darshan, and the saints and sages consider themselves most blessed when they see me in their meditation even for a minute?"
  "But, Mother," replied the girl, "we look upon you as our friend. When we stand under the shelter of a tree, do we think of it giving us a cool shade?" That sweet answer disarmed the Mother completely and she immediately took her into her arms.

1.04 - The Fork in the Road, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  But perhaps the summit is not located up above. Perhaps it is everywhere here, at ground level, simply covered up by the Machine and all our successive evolutionary layers, like the diamond in its matrix. If The Path of ascent is the only way out, then we all had better get out once and for all. And if the saint really is the triumph of the ape, one may doubt that evolution will ever reach its satisfying, and blessed, goal, and that the entire earth will become hallowed. What then of the others, those who balk at saintliness? We do not believe that evolution's ultimate design is a moralistic sorting out of the elect and the damned. Evolution is not moralistic; it just is, and it grows its entire tree so all its flowers can produce blossoms. Evolution is not ascetic; it embraces everything sumptuously and opulently. Evolution has not deserted the earth, or it would never have started on earth. Nature is not incoherent; she is wiser than our mental coherence, wiser even than our saintliness.
  But she is slow. That is her shortcoming.

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.
  --
  There are here a number of words whose exact meaning is exceedingly important for any fruitful enquiry into the religious significance of the Vedas. The most important, the decisive & capital word in the passage is Ritam. Whatever it may be held to mean, it will decide for us the essential character of Varuna & his constant comradeMitra. I have already suggested in my first chapter the sense in which I understand Ritam. It is its ordinary sense in Sanscrit. Ritam is Truth, Law, that which is straight, upright, direct, rectum; it is that which gives everything its place & its motion (ritu), that which constitutes reason (ratio) in mind and rectitude in morals,it is the rightness or righteousness which makes the stars move in their orbits, the seasons occur in their order, thought & speech move towards truth, trees grow according to their seed, animals act according to their species & nature, & man walk in The Paths which God has prescribed for him. It is that in the Akasha the Akasha where Varuna is lordwhich develops arrangement & order, it is the element of law in Nature. But not only in material Nature, not only in the moral akasha even,the akasha of the heart of which the Rishis spoke, but on higher levels also. I have pointed out that Ritam is the law of the Truth, of vijnana. It is this ideal Truth, the Truth of being, by which everything animate or inanimate knows in its fibres of being & serves in action & feeling the truth of itself, in which Law is born. This Law which belongs to Satyam, to the Mahas, is Ritam. Neither of the English words,Law & Truth, gives the idea; they have to be combined in order to be equivalent to ritam. Well, then Varuna is represented to us as increasing in his nature by this Truth & Law, attaining to it or possessing it; Law & Truth are the source of his strength, the means by which he has arrived at his present force & mightiness.
  But he is more than that; he is tuvijata, urukshaya. Uru, we shall find in other hymns, the Vast, is a word used as equivalent to Brihat to describe the ideal level of consciousness, the kingdom of ideal knowledge, in its aspect of joyous comprehensive wideness and capacity. It is clearly told us that men by overcoming & passing beyond the two firmaments of Mind-invitality, Bhuvar, & mind in intellectuality, Swar, arrive in the Vast, Uru, and make it their dwelling place. Therefore Uru must be taken as equivalent to Brihat; it must mean Mahas. Our Vedic Varuna, then, is a dweller in Mahas, in the vastness of ideal knowledge. But he is not born there; he is born or appears first in tuvi, that is, in strength or force. Since Uru definitely means the Vast, means Mahas, means a particular plane of consciousness, is, in short, a fixed term of Vedic psychology, it is inevitable that tuvi thus coupled with it and yet differentiated, must be another fixed term of Vedic psychology & must mean another plane of consciousness. We have found the meaning of Mahas by consulting Purana & Vedanta as well as the Veda itself. Have we any similar light on the significance of Tuvi? Yes. The Puranas describe to us three worlds above Maharloka,called, respectively, in the Puranic system, Jana, Tapas and Satya. By a comparison with Vedantic psychology we know that Jana must be the world of Ananda of which the Mahajana Atma is the sustaining Brahman as the Mahan Atma is the sustaining Brahman of the vijnana, and we get this light on the subject that, just as Bhur, Bhuvah, Swar are the lower or human half of existence, the aparardha of the Brahmanda, (the Brahma-circle or universe of manifest consciousness), and answer objectively to the subjective field covered by Annam, Prana & Manas, just as Mahas is the intermediate world, link between the divine & human hemispheres, and corresponds to the subjective region of Vijnana, so Jana, Tapas & Satya are the divine half of existence, & answer to the Ananda with its two companion principles Sat andChit, the three constituting the Trinity of those psychological states which are, to & in our consciousness, Sacchidananda,God sustaining from above His worlds. But why is the world of Chit called Tapoloka? According to our conceptions this universe has been created by & in divine Awareness by Force, Shakti, or Power which [is] inherent in Awareness, Force of Awareness or Chit Shakti that moves, forms & realises whatever it wills in Being. This force, this Chit-shakti in its application to its work, is termed in the ancient phraseology Tapas. Therefore, it is told us that when Brahma the Creator lay uncreative on the great Ocean, he listened & heard a voice crying over the waters OM Tapas! OM Tapas! and he became full of the energy of the mantra & arose & began creation. Tapas & Tu or Tuvi are equivalent terms. We can see at once the meaning. Varuna, existing no doubt in Sat, appears or is born to us in Tapas, in the sea of force put out in itself by the divine Awareness, & descending through divine delight which world is in Jana, in production or birth by Tapas, through Ananda, that is to say, into the manifest world, dwells in ideal knowledge & Truth and makes there Ritam or the Law of the Truth of Being his peculiar province. It is the very process of all creation, according to our Vedic&Vedantic Rishis. Descending into the actual universe we find Varuna master of the Akash or ether, matrix and continent of created things, in the Akash watching over the development of the created world & its peoples according to the line already fixed by ideal knowledge as suitable to their nature and purposeya thatathyato vihitam shashwatibhyah samabhyah and guiding the motion of things & souls in the line of theritam. It is in his act of guidance and bringing to perfection of the imperfect that he increases by the law and the truth, desires it and naturally attains to it, has the spriha & the sparsha of the ritam. It is from his fidelity to ideal Truth that he acquires the mighty power by which he maintains the heavens and orders its worlds in their appointed motion.

1.04 - The Paths, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  object:1.04 - The Paths
  class:chapter
  --
  Order of the Silver Star. Since The Path of Gimel or the
  Moon links the Supernal Triad with Tipharas, serving as the means of entry to the Inner College, it will be observed that the Tarot symbols are consistent. Yet some students have allocated this card to Bes.
  --
  Chesed (the sphere of 2f) to Netsach, which latter is the sphere of 2 Venus, The Path of Caph partakes both of the magnanimous and generous expansive character of 2J. and the love nature of $ . It repeats on a considerably lower plane the attri butions of Jupiter, Zeus, Brahma, and Indra, already commented upon. Pluto is also attri buted, since he is the blind giver of wealth, symbolical of the infinite and abundant prodigality of Nature. In the Northern Sagas we
   The PathS 81
  --
  This letter Lamed means an Ox-goad or a Whip, and would suggest such a translation by its shape alone. Its astrological sign Libra, the Scales, is its most important attri bution and sums up the characteristics of The Path.
  The Tarot attri bution is XI. - Justice, depicting a woman, very sombre, seated between two pillars, holding a
  --
  This letter means a " Prop ". The Path is attri buted to the zodiacal sign of Sagittarius t the Arrow, and is called
  " The Tentative Intelligence ". Sagittarius is essentially a hunting sign and Diana, as the celestial Archer and the

1.04 - The Praise, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  - to fortunate disciples, she sh~ws The Path to peace,
  that is, liberation.
  --
  to The Path to nirvana, whereas the "peace" of this
  second line refers to obtaining nirvana.
  --
  - The Path: absence of belief in the reality of
  phenomena

1.04 - The Qabalah The Best Training for Memory, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  Now you are armed! Ask yourself: why is the influence of Tiphareth transmitted to Yesod by The Path of Samekh, a fence, 60, Sagittarius, the Archer, Art, blue and so on; but to Hod by The Path of Ayin, an eye, 70, Capricornus, the Goat, the Devil, Indigo, K.T.L.
  Thirteen is the number of Achad {Hebrew option}, Unity, and Ahebah {Hebrew option}, Love; then what word should arise when you expand it by the Creative Dyad, and get 26; what when you multiply it by 4, and get 52? Then, suppose the Pentagram gets busy, 13 x 5 = 65, what then?

1.04 - The Sacrifice the Triune Path and the Lord of the Sacrifice, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  It is clear that a conception of this kind and its effective practice must carry in them three results that are of a central importance for our spiritual ideal. It is evident, to begin with, that, even if such a discipline is begun without devotion, it leads straight and inevitably towards the highest devotion possible; for it must deepen naturally into the completest adoration imaginable, the most profound God-love. There is bound up with it a growing sense of the Divine in all things, a deepening communion with the Divine in all our thought, will and action and at every moment of our lives, a more and more moved consecration to the Divine of the totality of our being. Now these implications of the Yoga of works are also of the very essence of an integral and absolute Bhakti. The seeker who puts them into living practice makes in himself continually a constant, active and effective representation of the very spirit of self-devotion, and it is inevitable that out of it there should emerge the most engrossing worship of the Highest to whom is given this service. An absorbing love for the Divine Presence to whom he feels an always more intimate closeness, grows upon the consecrated worker. And with it is born or in it is contained a universal love too for all these beings, living forms and creatures that are habitations of the Divinenot the brief restless grasping emotions of division, but the settled selfless love that is the deeper vibration of oneness. In all the seeker begins to meet the one Object of his adoration and service. The way of works turns by this road of sacrifice to meet The Path of Devotion; it can be itself a devotion as complete, as absorbing, as integral as any the desire of the heart can ask for or the passion of the mind can imagine.
  Next, the practice of this Yoga demands a constant inward remembrance of the one central liberating knowledge, and a constant active externalising of it in works comes in too to intensify the remembrance. In all is the one Self, the one Divine is all; all are in the Divine, all are the Divine and there is nothing else in the universe,this thought or this faith is the whole background until it becomes the whole substance of the consciousness of the worker. A memory, a self-dynamising meditation of this kind, must and does in its end turn into a profound and uninterrupted vision and a vivid and all-embracing consciousness of that which we so powerfully remember or on which we so constantly meditate. For it compels a constant reference at each moment to the Origin of all being and will and action and there is at once an embracing and exceeding of all particular forms and appearances in That which is their cause and upholder. This way cannot go to its end without a seeing vivid and vital, as concrete in its way as physical sight, of the works of the universal Spirit everywhere. On its summits it rises into a constant living and thinking and willing and acting in the presence of the Supramental, the Transcendent. Whatever we see and hear, whatever we touch and sense, all of which we are conscious, has to be known and felt by us as That which we worship and serve; all has to be turned into an image of the Divinity, perceived as a dwelling-place of his Godhead, enveloped with the eternal Omnipresence. In its close, if not long before it, this way of works turns by communion with the Divine Presence, Will and Force into a way of Knowledge more complete and integral than any the mere creature intelligence can construct or the search of the intellect can discover.
  --
  It has all the power of a way of works integral and absolute, but because of its law of sacrifice and self-giving to the Divine Self and Master, it is accompanied on its one side by the whole power of The Path of Love and on the other by the whole power of The Path of Knowledge. At its end all these three divine Powers work together, fused, united, completed, perfected by each other.
  ***

1.04 - The Silent Mind, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  Active Meditation When we sit with our eyes closed to silence the mind, we are at first submerged by a torrent of thoughts; they crop up from every side, like frightened or even aggressive rats. There is only one way to stop this racket: to try and try again, patiently and persistently; above all, we must shift our concentration elsewhere, and not make the mistake of struggling mentally with the mind. All of us have, above the mind or deep inside ourselves, an aspiration, the very thing that has put us on The Path in the first place, a yearning of our being, a password that has a special meaning for us; if we cling to that, the work becomes easier,
  positively rather than negatively oriented, and the more we repeat our password, the more powerful it becomes. We can also use an image,
  --
  by a rapid intervention or manifestation of Silence with an effect out of all proportion to the means used at the beginning. One commences with a method, but the work it taken up by a Grace from above, from That to which one aspires or an irruption of the infinitudes of the Spirit. It was in this last way that I myself came by the mind's absolute silence, unimaginable to me before I had its actual experience. 31 This is a most important point indeed. For we might think that these yogic experiences are all very nice and interesting, but that they are far beyond our ordinary human grasp; how could we, such as we are, ever get there? Our mistake is in judging with our present self possibilities that belong to another self. By the simple fact of setting out on The Path, the yoga automatically awakens a whole range of latent faculties and invisible forces that far exceed the possibilities of our outer being and can do for us things that we are normally incapable of doing: One had to have the passage clear between the outer mind and something in the inner being . . . for they (the Yogic consciousness and its powers) are already there within you,32 and the best way of "clearing"
  the passage is to silence the mind. We do not know who we are, and still less what we are capable of.

1.04 - THE STUDY (The Compact), #Faust, #Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #Poetry
  'Twill plod along The Path of thought,
  Instead of shooting here and there,

1.04 - What Arjuna Saw - the Dark Side of the Force, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  only obtainable in an advanced state of yoga. The Path to-
  wards such understanding is The Path of faith and surren-
  der, warranted by the Vedantic affirmation that all is the
  --
  who sincerely steps upon The Path of yoga. This yoga is a
  spiritual battle, wrote Sri Aurobindo to a disciple, its very
  --
  and feeling well. Such, however, is not The Path of the Inte-
  gral Yoga, although some of its professed practitioners seek
  to level The Path in imitation of more familiar traditional
  ways. Referring to the quotations from Sri Aurobindo, such
  --
  had come to do, to keep The Path open for the evolution-
  ary forces. It is at the vital, decisive evolutionary moments

1.05 - BOOK THE FIFTH, #Metamorphoses, #Ovid, #Poetry
  You wish'd for wings to cross The Pathless main;
  That Earth and Sea might witness to your care:

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 - Consciousness, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  The central channel and the two interlacing side channels correspond to the medullary canal and, probably, to the sympathetic nervous system. They are The Paths through which the ascending Force (Kundalini) travels, after awakening in the lower center, and rises from center to center "like a serpent" to blossom at the top of the head in the Superconscient. (This seems to be also the significance of the uraeus, the Egyptian naja that adorned the Pharaoh's headdress; the Mexican quetzalcoatl, or plumed serpent; and perhaps the naga snakes
  overhanging Buddha's head.) The detailed features of these centers are of interest only to professional clairvoyants; we will discuss later some details of general interest. A complete study on the question can be found in the remarkable work of Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), The Serpent Power (Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1913).

1.05 - Hsueh Feng's Grain of Rice, #The Blue Cliff Records, #Yuanwu Keqin, #Zen
  today on Tortoise Mountain I have finally attained The Path."
  People these days only say that the Ancient (Hsueh Feng)

1.05 - Hymns of Bharadwaja, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
    10. O Fire, thou comest a priest of the call into the house of men that do the Rite of The Path. Make us complete in the treasure, O Master of men! O Angiras flame-seer, rejoice in our oblation.
    11. O Fire, O friendly Light, O Godhead, turn to the Godheads, mayst thou speak for us the true thought of Earth and Heaven; move to the peace and the happy abode and the men of Heaven. Let us pass beyond the foe and the sin and the stumbling; let us pass beyond these things, pass in thy keeping through them safe.
  --
    3. A splendour in the forest, most brilliant-forceful is the speed of his journeying; he is like a whip on The Path and ever he grows and blazes. He is like a smelter who does hurt to none; he is the Immortal who wakes of himself to knowledge: he cannot be turned from his way mid the growths of the earth.
    4. Fire, the knower of all things born, is hymned by our paeans in the house as if in one that walks on the way. He feeds on the Tree and conquers by our will like a war-horse; this shining Bull is adored by us with sacrifice like a father.
  --
  4. Crown must thou the guest shining with light, the Male of the Sun-world, the priest of man's invocation who makes perfect the Rite of The Path. Crown with your acts of purification the Seer whose speech has its home in the Light,12 the Carrier of offerings, the Traveller, the Godhead of Fire.
   11 Or, be our deliverer from the enemy beyond and within us.
  --
  ever and marches in front in the Rite of The Path. We desire
  with his felicities the Illumined, the priest of the call, the
  --
  15. Thee the Bull of The Paths set full alight, most mighty to slay
  the Destroyers, a conqueror of riches in battle upon battle.
  --
  of The Path; let him with uplifted23 hands and with obeisance
  of surrender make shine the summoning Priest of Earth and

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 - Ritam, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The second verse neither confirms as yet nor contradicts this initial suggestion. These three great gods, it says, are to the mortal as a multitude of arms which bring to him his desires & fill him with an abundant fullness and protect him from any who may will to do him hurt, rishah; fed with that fullness he grows until he is sarvah, complete in every part of his being(that is to say, if we admit the sense of a spiritual protection and a spiritual activity, in knowledge, in power, in joy, in mental, vital & bodily fullness)and by the efficacy of that protection he enjoys all this fullness & completeness unhurt. No part of it is maimed by the enemies of man, whose activities do him hurt, the Vritras, Atris, Vrikas, the Coverer on the heights, the devourer in the night, the tearer on The Path.We may note in passing how important [it] is to render every Vedic word by its exact value; rish & dwish both mean enemy; but if we render them by one word, we lose the fine shade of meaning to which the poet himself calls our attention by the collocation pnti rishaharishta edhate. We see also the same care of style in the collocation sarva edhate, where, as it seems to me, it is clearly suggested that the completeness is the result of the prosperous growth, we have again the fine care & balance with which the causes pipratipnti are answered by the effects arishtahedhate. There is even a good literary reason of great subtlety & yet perfect force for the order of the words & the exact place of each word in the order. In this simple, easy & yet faultless balance & symmetry a great number of the Vedic hymns represent exactly in poetry the same spirit & style as the Greek temple or the Greek design in architecture & painting. Nor can anyone who neglects to notice it & give full value to it, catch rightly, fully & with precision the sense of the Vedic writings.
  In the third verse we come across the first confirmation of the spiritual purport of the hymn. The protected of Varuna, Mitra & Aryama the plural is now used to generalise the idea more decisivelyare travellers to a moral & spiritual goal, nayanti durit tirah. It follows that the durgni, the obstacles in The Path are moral & spiritual obstacles, not material impediments. It follows equally that the dwishah, the haters, are spiritual enemies, not human; for there would be no sense or appropriateness in the scattering of human enemies by Varuna as a condition of the seeker after Truth & Rights reaching a state of sinlessness. It is the spiritual, moral & mental obstacles, the spiritual beings & forces who are opposed to the souls perfection, Brahmadwishah, whom Varuna, Mitra & Aryama remove from The Path of their worshippers. They smite them & scatter them utterly, vi durg vi dwishah,the particle twice repeated in order to emphasise the entire clearance of The Path; they scatter them in front,not allowing even the least struggle to be engaged before their intervention, but going in front of the worshippers & maintaining a clear way, suga anrikshara, in which they can pass not only without hurt, but without battle. The image of the sins, the durit is that of an army besetting the way which is scattered to all sides by the divine vanguard & is compelled beyond striking distance. The armed pilgrims of the Right pass on & through & not an arrow falls across their road. The three great Kings of heaven & their hosts, rjnah, have passed before & secured the great passage for the favoured mortal.
  The sense is completed & the spiritual character of the journey explicitly & unmistakably brought out in the next, the fourth rik of the Sukta. The traveller is one who is journeying towards the Truth, the ritam. We have already hazarded the conception of the Ritam as the principle of Mahas, the spontaneous, self-existent, self-efficient nature of the infinite & divine consciousness, satyam ritam brihat, to which right action, right emotion, right knowledge, right enjoyment belong inalienably & result naturally & without effort or stumble. In its moral aspect, that conception is now entirely justified. The Path of Truth, ritasya panth sdhuy, is suga anrikshara; there are no pitfalls or precipices in that road; for it is the road of the Adityas, the children of Light & Infinity, sons of Aditi, the Infinite Nature, brothers of Surya to whom belongs the revealed knowledge & the divine illumination. It is as we shall see in the next line the straight road rijun path. Sugah panth anrikshara ditysa ritam yate. Ntrvakhdo asti vah.
  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.
  In this simple, noble & striking hymn we arrive at a number of certainties about the ideas of the Vedic Rishis & usual images of their poetry which are of the last importance to our inquiry. First we see that the ascension or the journey of the human soul to a state of divine Truth is among the chief objects of the prayers & sacrifices of the Veda. Secondly, we see that this Truth is not merely the simple primitive conception of truth-speaking, but a condition of consciousness consisting in delight & resulting in a perfect spontaneous & free activity in which there is no falsehood or error; it is a state of divine nature, the Vedantic amritam. Thirdly, we see that this activity of self-perfection, the sadhana of modern Yoga, is represented in the Veda under the image of a journey or of a battle or both in one image. It is a struggle to advance beset by pitfalls & difficult passages, assailed & beset by hostile spiritual forces, the enemies, hurters or destroyers. Whenever therefore we have the image of a battle or a journey, we have henceforth the right to enquire whether it is not in every case the symbol of this great spiritual & psychological process. Fourthly we see that the Vedic sacrifice is in some hymns & may be in all a symbol of the same purport. It is an activity offered to the gods, led by them in this path, directed towards the attainment of the divine Truth-Consciousness & Truth-Life &, presumably, assailed by the same spiritual enemies. Fifthly, we find that words like vasu & tokam, representing the result of the sacrifice, & usually understood as material wealth & children, are used here, must presumably be used in passages & may, possibly, be used in all in a symbolic sense to express by a concrete figure psychological conceptions like Christs treasure laid up in heaven or the common image of the children of ones brain or of ones works. We have in fact, provided always our conclusions are confirmed by the evidence of other hymns, the decisive clue to the Secret of the Veda.

1.05 - Some Results of Initiation, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
   further news which does not tally with the previous information. I am thereby obliged to reverse my previous judgment. The result is an unfavorable influence upon my sixteen-petalled lotus. Quite the contrary would have been the case had I, in the first place, suspended judgment, and remained silent both inwardly in thought and outwardly in word concerning the whole affair, until I had acquired reliable grounds for forming my judgment. Caution in the formation and pronouncement of judgments becomes, by degrees, the special characteristic of the student. On the other hand his receptivity for impressions and experiences increases; he lets them pass over him silently, so as to collect and have the largest possible number of facts at his disposal when the time comes to form his opinions. Bluish-red and reddish-pink shades color the lotus flower as the result of such circumspection, whereas in the opposite case dark red and orange shades appear. (Students will recognize in the conditions attached to the development of the sixteen-petalled lotus the instructions given by the Buddha to his disciples for The Path. Yet there is no question here of teaching Buddhism,
   p. 146

1.05 - The Ascent of the Sacrifice - The Psychic Being, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
     But if this is to be the character of the rapid evolution from a mental to a spiritual being contemplated by the integral Yoga, a question arises full of many perplexities but of great dynamic importance. How are we to deal with life and works as they now are, with the activities proper to our still unchanged human nature? An ascension towards a greater consciousness, an occupation of our mind, life and body by its powers has been accepted as the outstanding object of the Yoga: but still life here, not some other life elsewhere, is proposed as the immediate field of the action of the Spirit, -- a transformation, not an annihilation of our instrumental being and nature. What then becomes of the present activities of our being, activities of the mind turned towards knowledge and the expression of knowledge, activities of our emotional and sensational parts, activities of outward conduct, creation, production, the will turned towards mastery over men, things, life, the world, the forces of Nature? Are they to be abandoned and to be replaced by some other way of living in which a spiritualised consciousness can find its true expression and figure. Are they to be maintained as they are in their outward appearance, but transformed by an inner spirit in the act or enlarged in scope arid liberated into new forms by a reversal of consciousness such as was seen on earth when man took up the vital activities of the animal to mentalise and extend and transfigure them by the infusion of reason, thinking will, refined emotions, an organised intelligence? Or is there to be an abandonment in part, a preservation only of such of them as can bear a spiritual change and, for the rest, the creation of a new life expressive, in its form no less than in its inspiration and motive-force, of the unity, wideness, peace, joy and harmony of the liberated spirit? It is this problem most of all that has exercised most the minds of those who have tried to trace The Paths that lead from the human to the Divine in the long journey of the Yoga.
     Every kind of solution has been offered from the entire abandonment of works and life, so far as that is physically possible, to the acceptance of life as it is but with a new spirit animating and uplifting its movements, in appearance the same as they were but changed in the spirit behind them and therefore in their inner significance. The extreme solution insisted on by the world-shunning ascetic or the inward-turned ecstatical and self-oblivious mystic is evidently foreign to the purpose of an integral Yoga; for if we are to realise the Divine in the world, it cannot be done by leaving aside the world-action and action itself altogether. At a less high pitch it was laid down by the religious mind in ancient times that one should keep only such actions as are in their nature part of the seeking, service or cult of the Divine and such others as are attached to these or, in addition, those that are indispensable to the ordinary setting of life but done in a religious spirit and according to the injunctions of traditional religion and Scripture. But this is too formalist a rule for the fulfilment of the free spirit in works, and it is besides professedly no more than a provisional solution for tiding over the transition from life in the world to a life in the Beyond which still remains the sole ultimate purpose. An integral Yoga must lean rather to the catholic injunction of the Gita that even the liberated soul, living in the Truth, should still do all the works of life so that the plan of the universal evolution under a secret divine leading may not languish or suffer. But if all works are to be done with the same forms and on the same lines as they are now done in the Ignorance, our gain is only inward and our life in danger of becoming the dubious and ambiguous formula of an inner Light doing the works of an outer Twilight, the perfect Spirit expressing itself in a mould of imperfection foreign to its own divine nature. If no better can be done for a time, -and during a long period of transition something like this does inevitably happen, -- then so it must remain till things are ready and the spirit within is powerful enough to impose its own forms on the life of the body and the world outside; but this can be accepted only as a transitional stage and not as our soul's ideal or the ultimate goal of the passage.

1.05 - The Destiny of the Individual, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  18:But we can attain to the highest without blotting ourselves out from the cosmic extension. Brahman preserves always Its two terms of liberty within and of formation without, of expression and of freedom from the expression. We also, being That, can attain to the same divine self-possession. The harmony of the two tendencies is the condition of all life that aims at being really divine. Liberty pursued by exclusion of the thing exceeded leads along The Path of negation to the refusal of that which God has accepted. Activity pursued by absorption in the act and the energy leads to an inferior affirmation and the denial of the Highest. But what God combines and synthetises, wherefore should man insist on divorcing? To be perfect as He is perfect is the condition of His integral attainment.
  19:Through Avidya, the Multiplicity, lies our path out of the transitional egoistic self-expression in which death and suffering predominate; through Vidya consenting with Avidya by the perfect sense of oneness even in that multiplicity, we enjoy integrally the immortality and the beatitude. By attaining to the Unborn beyond all becoming we are liberated from this lower birth and death; by accepting the Becoming freely as the Divine, we invade mortality with the immortal beatitude and become luminous centres of its conscious self-expression in humanity.

1.05 - THE HOSTILE BROTHERS - ARCHETYPES OF RESPONSE TO THE UNKNOWN, #Maps of Meaning, #Jordan Peterson, #Psychology
  Existence characterized by such essence takes place, from the Oriental viewpoint, on The Path of
  meaning, in Tao, balanced on the razors edge between mythic masculine and mythic feminine balanced
  --
  experiences might be considered guideposts marking The Path to a new mode of being. Any form of art that produces
  an aesthetic seizure, or intimation of meaning, might therefore serve as such a guidepost at least in principle [see

1.05 - The Magical Control of the Weather, #The Golden Bough, #James George Frazer, #Occultism
  resting a little by the way, we can look back over The Path we have
  already traversed and forward to the longer and steeper road we have
  --
  difficulties which beset The Path of knowledge rather than to the
  natural incapacity or wilful fraud of the men themselves.
  --
  Africa it is said that "no whirl-wind ever sweeps across The Path
  without being pursued by a dozen savages with drawn creeses, who

1.05 - THE MASTER AND KESHAB, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "He who is called Brahman by the jnanis is known as tman by the yogis and as Bhagavan by the bhaktas. The same brahmin is called priest, when worshipping in the temple, and cook, when preparing a meal in the kitchen. The jnani sticking to The Path of knowledge, always reasons about the Reality, saying, 'Not this, not this'. Brahman is neither 'this' nor 'that'; It is neither the universe nor its living beings. Reasoning in this way, the mind becomes steady. Then it disappears and the aspirant goes into samdhi.
  This is the knowledge of Brahman. It is the unwavering conviction of the jnani that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory. All these names and forms are illusory, like a dream. What Brahman is cannot be described. One cannot even say that Brahman is a Person. This is the opinion of the jnanis, the followers of Vedanta philosophy.
  --
  "But the Reality is one and the same. The difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is verily tman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He is Brahman to the followers of The Path of knowledge, Paramatman to the yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God."
  The steamer had been going toward Calcutta; but the passengers, with their eyes fixed on the Master and their ears given to his nectar-like words, were oblivious of its motion.
  --
  "Even if one lives in the world, one must go into solitude now and then. It will be of great help to a man if he goes away from his family, lives alone, and weeps for God even for three days. Even if he thinks of God for one day in solitude, when he has the leisure, that too will do him good. People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. But who cries for the Lord? Now and then one must go into solitude and practise spiritual discipline to realize God. Living in the world and entangled in many of its duties, the aspirant, during the first stage of spiritual life, finds many obstacles in The Path of concentration. While the trees on the footpath are young, they must he fenced around; otherwise they will be destroyed by cattle. The fence is necessary when the tree is young, but it can be taken away when the trunk is thick and strong. Then the tree won't be hurt even if an elephant is tied to it.
  Malady of worldly people and its cure
  --
  There I must fly, for Krishna waits on The Path.
  Tell me, friends, will you come along or no?
  --
  "Karmayoga is very hard indeed. In the Kaliyuga it is extremely difficult to perform the rites enjoined in the scriptures. Nowadays man's life is centred on food alone. He cannot perform many scriptural rites. Suppose a man is laid up with fever. If you attempt a slow cure with the old-fashioned indigenous remedies, before long his life may be snuffed out. He can't stand much delay. Nowadays the drastic 'D Gupta' mixture is appropriate. In the Kaliyuga the best way is bhaktiyoga, The Path of devotion-singing the praises of the Lord, and prayer. The Path of devotion alone is the religion for this age. (To the Brahmo devotees) Yours also is The Path of devotion. Blessed you are indeed that you chant the name of Hari and sing the Divine Mother's glories. I like your attitude. You don't call the world a dream like the non-dualists. You are not Brahmajnanis like them; you are bhaktas, lovers of God. That you speak of Him as a Person is also good. You are devotees. You will certainly realize Him if you call on Him with sincerity and earnestness."
  The boat cast anchor at Kayalaghat and the passengers prepared to disembark. On coming outside they noticed that the full moon was up. The trees, the buildings, and the boats on the Ganges were bathed in its mellow light. A carriage was hailed for the Master, and M. and a few devotees got in with him. The Master asked for Keshab.

1.05 - The New Consciousness, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  And we begin to be struck by a first peculiarity. These indications coming to us, these perceptions or sudden pressures, have nothing in common whatsoever with those coming from above when pursuing The Path of ascent: they are not revelations, not inspirations or visions or illuminations, not the flashes and thunder of the higher planes of the mind. They seem, rather, to be a very humble and material functioning, one concerned with the tiniest detail, the slightest passing breath, this street corner, that automatic gesture, these thousand little comings and goings. It looks almost like a functioning at ground level.
  But at the beginning this functioning is still unsure. We are constantly snatched back by the old machinery, the habit of mulling over thoughts, judging, deducing, calculating, and immediately it is as if a veil fell, a screen came between the quiet clarity behind and the arduous whirlwind here: communications are jammed. Again we have to take a step back and find the comfortable expanse and it is irritating, uncommunicative and apparently indifferent to our fate, opposing a neutral silence, an unrelieved blankness to the question we send it and which would yet call for an immediate answer. So we yield once more; we start up the machine again only to realize that everything was blank behind so we would not move in front, and that the time for an answer had not yet come. We keep stumbling along and persisting, trustful but awkward outwardly (or in front), when circumstances would call for swiftness and efficiency, and those who work with the old reason may scoff, as perhaps the old veteran anthropoid scoffed at the clumsiness of the apprentice man: we miss the branch. We fall and pick ourselves up. We go on. But gradually, as our demechanization gains ground, grows sure-footed and more perfect, the communications become clearer, the perceptions more accurate and precise. We begin to unravel a whole jumbled network that had previously seemed like logic itself. From within the tranquil clarity, we notice a multitude of movements rising from below, from outside, from others; it is a mixture of vibrations, a cacophony of minuscule impulses, a battlefield, an arena filled with obscure contenders, blind drives, dark flashes, microscopic and stubborn wills. And all of a sudden, in all that muddle falls a tiny little drop from our quiet river without our wanting it or trying or even asking for it and everything loosens up, smoothes out, disappears, dissolves. That face there in front of us, this grating little circumstance, that knot of difficulty, this stubborn resistance vanishes, melts away, smoothes out, opens up as if by magic. We begin to enter mastery.

1.05 - To Know How To Suffer, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
     As the rays of thy glory penetrated and illumined all my being, I clearly perceived The Path to follow, the use that can be made of suffering; I understood that the sorrow that held me in its grip was but a pale reflection of the sorrow of the earth, of this abysm of suffering and anguish.
     Only those who have suffered can understand the suffering of others; understand it, commune with it and relieve it. And I understood, O divine comforter, sublime Holocaust, that in order to sustain us in all our troubles, to soo the all our pangs, thou must have known and felt all the sufferings of earth and man, all without exception.

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.
  ***

1.060 - Tracing the Ultimate Cause of Any Experience, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  This is the etiology, the diagnosis, or we may call it The Pathological investigation of a psychological condition that has arisen. No event takes place by a single cause. Many causes come together to produce an effect, just as it is in anything that we see in life. Even a headache does not come due to a single reason. There is a susceptibility of the system the season or the climate that is pervading outside, the mental condition, the social status, the function or the work that one performs, and so on. These become various factors that are contri butory to a single phenomenon which is experienced.
  To bring an effect back to its cause is a difficult thing because the cause cannot be easily discovered. If there is a single cause for a single effect, and they work in a mathematical fashion absolutely, we may be able to revert the effect into the cause at once, by turning on a switch. But, the cause and effect relationship is not as arithmetical as it may appear. They do not follow any logic in the way we understand it. Suddenly, a phenomenon can arise. Though it is a very logical consequence of certain causes, it will remain outside the purview of our understanding because the logical deductions that we make are linear in their fashion and not organic in their structure. But, the world is organic. Everything is organic in life, which means to say there is an interrelatedness of causes mutually determining one another, so that anything can be called a cause if it is pinpointed exclusively.

1.06 - Agni and the Truth, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  In the early Vedantic teaching of the Upanishads we come across a conception of the Truth which is often expressed by formulas taken from the hymns of the Veda, such as the expression already quoted, satyam r.tam br.hat, - the truth, the right, the vast. This Truth is spoken of in the Veda as a path leading to felicity, leading to immortality. In the Upanishads also it is by The Path of the Truth that the sage or seer, Rishi or Kavi, passes beyond. He passes out of the falsehood, out of the mortal
  Agni and the Truth

1.06 - Being Human and the Copernican Principle, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  In The Path of the Integral Yoga each person has his
  or her own way, for the simple reason that in each person

1.06 - Hymns of Parashara, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  9. He who travels The Paths suddenly like the mind, the Sun,
  ever sole is the master of the treasure: Mitra and Varuna,
  --
  may live. The knower within of The Paths of the journey of
  the gods, thou hast become a sleepless messenger and the

1.06 - Man in the Universe, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  16:For out of these false relations and by their aid the true have to be found. By the Ignorance we have to cross over death. So too the Veda speaks cryptically of energies that are like women evil in impulse, wandering from The Path, doing hurt to their Lord, which yet, though themselves false and unhappy, build up in the end "this vast Truth", the Truth that is the Bliss. It would be, then, not when he has excised the evil in Nature out of himself by an act of moral surgery or parted with life by an abhorrent recoil, but when he has turned Death into a more perfect life, lifted the small things of the human limitation into the great things of the divine vastness, transformed suffering into beatitude, converted evil into its proper good, translated error and falsehood into their secret truth that the sacrifice will be accomplished, the journey done and Heaven and Earth equalised join hands in the bliss of the Supreme.
  17:Yet how can such contraries pass into each other? By what alchemy shall this lead of mortality be turned into that gold of divine Being? But if they are not in their essence contraries? If they are manifestations of one Reality, identical in substance? Then indeed a divine transmutation becomes conceivable.

1.06 - Origin of the four castes, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  Formerly, oh best of Brahmans, when the truth-meditating Brahmā was desirous of creating the world, there sprang from his mouth beings especially endowed with the quality of goodness; others from his breast, pervaded by the quality of foulness; others from his thighs, in whom foulness and darkness prevailed; and others from his feet, in whom the quality of darkness predominated. These were, in succession, beings of the several castes, Brahmans, Kṣetriyas, Vaisyas, and Śūdras, produced from the mouth, the breast, the thighs, and the feet of Brahmā[2]. These he created for the performance of sacrifices, the four castes being the fit instruments of their celebration. By sacrifices, oh thou who knowest the truth, the gods are nourished; and by the rain which they bestow, mankind are supported[3]: and thus sacrifices, the source of happiness, are performed by pious men, attached to their duties, attentive to prescribed obligations, and walking in The Paths of virtue. Men acquire (by them) heavenly fruition, or final felicity: they go, after death, to whatever sphere they aspire to, as the consequence of their human nature. The beings who were created by Brahmā, of these four castes, were at first endowed with righteousness and perfect faith; they abode wherever they pleased, unchecked by any impediment; their hearts were free from guile; they were pure, made free from soil, by observance of sacred institutes. In their sanctified minds Hari dwelt; and they were filled with perfect wisdom, by which they contemplated the glory of Viṣṇu[4]. After a while (after the Tretā age had continued for some period), that portion of Hari which has been described as one with Kāla (time) infused into created beings sin, as yet feeble though formidable, or passion and the like: the impediment of soul's liberation, the seed of iniquity, sprung from darkness and desire. The innate perfectness of human nature was then no more evolved: the eight kinds of perfection, Rasollāsā and the rest, were impaired[5]; and these being enfeebled, and sin gaining strength, mortals were afflicted with pain, arising from susceptibility to contrasts, as heat and cold, and the like. They therefore constructed places of refuge, protected by trees, by mountains, or by water; surrounded them by a ditch or a wall, and formed villages and cities; and in them erected appropriate dwellings, as defences against the sun and the cold[6]. Having thus provided security against the weather, men next began to employ themselves in manual labour, as a means of livelihood, (and cultivated) the seventeen kinds of useful grain-rice, barley, wheat, millet, sesamum, panic, and various sorts of lentils, beans, and pease[7]. These are the kinds cultivated for domestic use: but there are fourteen kinds which may be offered in sacrifice; they are, rice, barley, Māṣa, wheat, millet, and sesamum; Priya
  gu is the seventh, and kulattha, pulse, the eighth: the others are, Syāmāka, a sort of panic; Nīvāra, uñcultivated rice; Jarttila, wild sesamum; Gavedukā (coix); Markata, wild panic; and (a plant called) the seed or barley of the Bambu (Venu-yava). These, cultivated or wild, are the fourteen grains that were produced for purposes of offering in sacrifice; and sacrifice (the cause of rain) is their origin also: they again, with sacrifice, are the great cause of the perpetuation of the human race, as those understand who can discriminate cause and effect. Thence sacrifices were offered daily; the performance of which, oh best of Munis, is of essential service to mankind, and expiates the offences of those by whom they are observed. Those, however, in whose hearts the dross of sin derived from Time (Kāla) was still more developed, assented not to sacrifices, but reviled both them and all that resulted from them, the gods, and the followers of the Vedas. Those abusers of the Vedas, of evil disposition and conduct, and seceders from The Path of enjoined duties, were plunged in wickedness[8]. The means of subsistence having been provided for the beings he had created, Brahmā prescribed laws suited to their station and faculties, the duties of the several castes and orders[9], and the regions of those of the different castes who were observant of their duties. The heaven of the Pitris is the region of devout Brahmans. The sphere of Indra, of Kṣetriyas who fly not from the field. The region of the winds is assigned to the Vaisyas who are diligent in their occupations and submissive. Śūdras are elevated to the sphere of the Gandharvas. Those Brahmans who lead religious lives go to the world of the eighty-eight thousand saints: and that of the seven Ṛṣis is the seat of pious anchorets and hermits. The world of ancestors is that of respectable householders: and the region of Brahmā is the asylum of religious mendicants[10]. The imperishable region of the Yogis is the highest seat of Viṣṇu, where they perpetually meditate upon the supreme being, with minds intent on him alone: the sphere where they reside, the gods themselves cannot behold. The sun, the moon, the planets, shall repeatedly be, and cease to be; but those who internally repeat the mystic adoration of the divinity, shall never know decay. For those who neglect their duties, who revile the Vedas, and obstruct religious rites, the places assigned after death are the terrific regions of darkness, of deep gloom, of fear, and of great terror; the fearful hell of sharp swords, the hell of scourges and of a waveless sea[11].
  Footnotes and references:

1.06 - Psychic Education, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  "The first and perhaps the most important point is that the mind is incapable of judging spiritual things. All those who have written on this subject have said so; but very few are those who have put it into practice. And yet, in order to proceed on The Path, it is absolutely indispensable to abstain from all mental opinion and reaction.
  "Give up all personal seeking for comfort, satisfaction, enjoyment or happiness. Be only a burning fire for progress, take whatever comes to you as an aid to your progress and immediately make whatever progress is required.
  --
  "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.
  "Before you act, concentrate in the will that your action may help or at least in no way hinder your march forward towards the great discovery.
  "When you speak, before the words come out of your mouth, concentrate just long enough to check your words and allow only those that are absolutely necessary to pass, only those that are not in any way harmful to your progress on The Path of the great discovery.
  "To sum up, never forget the purpose and goal of your life. The will for the great discovery should be always there above you, above what you do and what you are, like a huge bird of light dominating all the movements of your being."1.

1.06 - Quieting the Vital, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  left devoid of meaning, disintegrated. These are what Sri Aurobindo and Mother call the adverse forces. They are highly conscious forces whose sole aim, apparently, is to discourage the seeker and divert him from The Path he has chosen. The first sign of their presence is easily perceptible: joy is clouded, consciousness is clouded, everything becomes shrouded in an atmosphere of melodrama and gloom.
  Personal distress is a sure sign of the enemy's presence. Melodrama is a favorite haunt of these forces; that is how they are able to create the greatest havoc, because they play with a very old teammate within us,
  --
  The seeker will no longer be fooled by the dubious game going on in his surface vital, but for a long time he will keep the habit of responding to the thousands of small biological and emotional vibrations circling around him. The transition takes time, much as the transition from the world-mongering mind to mental silence did, and it is often accompanied by spells of intense fatigue, because our organism loses the habit of renewing its energy at the common superficial source (which soon appears crude and heavy once we have tasted the other type of energy), yet it still lacks the capacity to remain constantly connected to the true source, hence some "gaps." But here again the seeker is helped by the descending Force, which powerfully contri butes to establish a new rhythm in him. He even notices, with ever-renewed astonishment, that if he takes but one small step forward, the Help from above will take ten toward him as if he were expected. It would be quite wrong to believe that the work is only negative, however; naturally the vital likes to think that it is making huge efforts to struggle against itself, which is its skillful way of protecting itself on all fronts, but in practice the seeker does not follow an austere or negative rule; he follows a positive need within his being, because he is truly growing out of yesterday's norms and yesterday's pleasures, which now feel to him like a baby's diet. He is no longer content with all that; he has better things to do, better things to live. This is why it is so difficult to explain The Path to one who has never tried it, for he will see only his own current perspective or,
  rather, the loss of his perspective. Yet if we only knew how each loss of perspective is a step forward, how greatly life changes when we pass from the stage of closed truths to that of open truths a truth like life itself, too great to be confined within limited perspectives, because it embraces them all and sees the usefulness of each thing at each stage of an infinite development; a truth great enough to deny itself and move endlessly to a higher truth.

1.06 - The Ascent of the Sacrifice 2 The Works of Love - The Works of Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  As with individual, so with universal Love; all that widening of the self through sympathy, goodwill, universal benevolence and beneficence, love of mankind, love of creatures, the attraction of all the myriad forms and presences that surround us, by which mentally and emotionally man escapes from the first limits of his ego, has to be taken up into a unifying divine love for the universal Divine. Adoration fulfilled in love, love in Ananda, - the surpassing love, the self-wrapped ecstasy of transcendent delight in the Transcendent which awaits us at the end of The Path of Devotion, - has for its wider result a universal love for all beings, the Ananda of all that is; we perceive behind every veil the Divine, spiritually embrace in all forms the All-Beautiful. A universal delight in his endless manifestation flows through us, taking in its surge every form and movement, but not bound or stationary in any and always reaching out to a greater and more perfect expression. This universal love is liberative and dynamic for transformation; for the discord of forms and appearances ceases to affect the heart that has felt the one Truth behind them all and understood their perfect significance. The impartial equality of soul of the selfless worker and knower is transformed by the magic touch of divine Love into an all-embracing ecstasy and million-bodied beatitude. All things become bodies and all movements the playings of the divine Beloved in his infinite house of pleasure. Even pain is changed and in their reaction and even in their essence things painful alter; the forms of pain fall away, there are created in their place the forms of Ananda.
  1- param bhavam.
  --
  It is possible, as in a certain high exaggeration of The Path of knowledge, to cut here also the knot of the problem, escape the difficulty of uniting the spirit of love with the crudities of the world-action by avoiding it; it is open to us, withdrawing from outward life and action altogether, to live alone with our adoration of the Divine in the heart's silence. It is possible too to admit only those acts that are either in themselves an expression of love for the Divine, prayer, praise, symbolic acts of worship or subordinate activities that may be attached to these things and partake of their spirit, and to leave aside all else; the soul turns away to satisfy its inner longing in the absorbed or the God-centred life of the saint and devotee. It is possible, again, to open the doors of life more largely and to spend one's love of the Divine in acts of service to those around us and to the race; one can do the works of philanthropy, benevolence and beneficence, charity and succour to man and beast and every creature, transfigure them by a kind of spiritual passion, at least bring into their merely ethical appearance the greater power of a spiritual motive. This is indeed the solution most commonly favoured by the religious mind of today and we see it confidently advanced on all sides as the proper field of action of the Godseeker or of the man whose life is founded on divine love and knowledge. But the integral Yoga pushed towards a complete union of the Divine with the earth-life cannot stop short in this narrow province or limit this union within the lesser dimensions of an ethical rule of philanthropy and beneficence. All action must be made in it part of the God-life, our acts of knowledge, our acts of power and production and creation, our acts of joy and beauty and the soul's pleasure, our acts of will and endeavour and struggle and not our acts only of love and beneficent service. Its way to do these things will be not outward and mental, but inward and spiritual, and to that end it will bring into all activities, whatever they are, the spirit of divine love, the spirit of adoration and worship, the spirit of happiness in the Divine and in the beauty of the Divine so as to make all life a sacrifice of the works of the soul's love to the Divine, its cult of the Master of its existence.
  It is possible so to turn life into an act of adoration to the Supreme by the spirit in one's works; for, says the Gita, "He who gives to me with a heart of adoration a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a cup of water, I take and enjoy that offering of his devotion"; and it is not only any dedicated external gift that can be so offered with love and devotion, but all our thoughts, all our feelings and sensations, all our outward activities and their forms and objects can be such gifts to the Eternal. It is true that the special act or form of action has its importance, even a great importance, but it is the spirit in the act that is the essential factor; the spirit of which it is the symbol or materialised expression gives it its whole value and justifying significance. Or it may be said that a complete act of divine love and worship has in it three parts that are the expressions of a single whole, - a practical worship of the Divine in the act, a symbol of worship in the form of the act expressing some vision and seeking or some relation with the Divine, an inner adoration and longing for oneness or feeling of oneness in the heart and soul and spirit. It is so that life can be changed into worship, - by putting behind it the spirit of a transcendent and universal love, the seeking of oneness, the sense of oneness; by making each act a symbol, an expression of Godward emotion or a relation with the Divine; by turning all we do into an act of worship, an act of the soul's communion, the mind's understanding, the life's obedience, the heart's surrender.
  --
   built in us as its centre a desire-soul which refers to itself all the motions of life and puts in them its own troubled hue and pain of an ignorant, half-lit, baffled endeavour: for a divine living, desire must be abolished and replaced by a purer and firmer motivepower, the tormented soul of desire dissolved and in its stead there must emerge the calm, strength, happiness of a true vital being now concealed within us. Next, life as it is is driven or led partly by the impulse of the life-force, partly by a mind which is mostly a servant and abettor of the ignorant life-impulse, but in part also its uneasy and not too luminous or competent guide and mentor; for a divine life the mind and the life-impulse must cease to be anything but instruments and the inmost psychic being must take their place as the leader on The Path and the indicator of a divine guidance. Last, life as it is is turned towards the satisfaction of the separative ego; ego must disappear and be replaced by the true spiritual person, the central being, and life itself must be turned towards the fulfilment of the Divine in terrestrial existence; it must feel a Divine Force awaking within it and become an obedient instrumentation of its purpose.
  There is nothing that is not ancient and familiar in the first of these three transforming inner movements; for it has always been one of the principal objects of spiritual discipline. It has been best formulated in the already expressed doctrine of the

1.06 - The Breaking of the Limits, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  To tell the truth, they do not reveal themselves easily because they are too simple. It takes tireless experimenting, looking, observing, and above all above all looking at the microscopic. We imagine that the great primates of the past that were uncertainly progressing toward manhood must have discovered the secret of the other state gradually, in thousands of little split seconds, when they noticed that the mysterious little vibration that came between them and their mechanical act had the power to make their gesture and the result of their gesture different: a nonmaterial principle was surreptitiously starting to change matter and the laws of tree climbing. And, we further image, they were perhaps eventually struck by the insignificance of the movement that triggered such formidable consequences (which is why it escaped them for so long; it was too simple): It never concerned itself with big things, the great affairs of apes, but with minuscule gestures, the chance pebble one picks up on the edge of The Path and holds a moment in one's palm, the ray of sun playing on one young sapling among millions of other identical but vain saplings in the forest. But that sapling and that pebble are looked at differently. And everything is in that difference.
  Therefore, nothing is too small for the seeker of the new world; the slightest fluctuation of the inner vibratory state is carefully noted, along with the gesture that accompanies it, the circumstance that springs up or the face that passes. But we did say vibration: thoughts have very little to do with this; they belong to the old mental acrobatics and are about as consequential for the new consciousness as tree climbing was for the first thought. It is more like a change of inner coloration, a play of fleeting shadows and sudden sunshine, of lightness and heaviness, a minute alteration of the rhythm sharp jolts or leisurely flowings, abrupt pressures that compel our attention, sudden breaks in the clouds, moments of malaise, inexplicable sinkings. Nothing is useless; there are no vain saplings in the forest, no nuisances, nothing to discard, no unhappy circumstances, no adverse locations, no untimely encounters, no unfortunate accidents everything is good for the seeker of the new world, everything is his field of study.... It almost seems as though everything were given to him so he could learn the trade. Thus, the seeker begins to put his finger on the first rule of the passage: Everything is part of it. Everything points in that direction! There is no nuisance, no foes, no obstacles, no accidents, no negative things everything is supremely positive, gives us signs, invites us to the discovery. There are no insignificant things, only moments of unconsciousness. There are no contrary circumstances, only wrong attitudes.

1.06 - The Literal Qabalah, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  When dealing with The Path of Shin, it was there stated
  108 A GARDEN OF POMEGRANATES
  --
  Conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel, will be enabled to utilize in a correct manner - that is in a way wherein arbitrary notions do not intrude - the three processes demonstrated here. For the Adept will have the inner spiritual vision with which to see beyond the mere letter and external form of the Law. In basking in the sunshine of Shechinah, and the revelation vouchsafed to him by reason of these- what otherwise might justifiably be termed - " juggleries ", he will have obtained much new knowledge to assist him on The Path. And this Path it is which goes for ever onward. Its way proceeds undeviat- ingly forward and forward, upward and upward, unto that
  Goal which has neither beginning nor ending, start nor finish, but journeys eternally in every direction and dimension into Infinity.

1.06 - THE MASTER WITH THE BRAHMO DEVOTEES, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "It is easier to attain God by following The Path of devotion."
  BRAHMO DEVOTEE: "Sir, is it possible for one to see God? If so, why can't we see Him?"
  --
  "Yours is The Path of bhakti. That is very good; it is an easy path. Who can fully know the infinite God? and what need is there of knowing the Infinite? Having attained this rare human birth, my supreme need is to develop love for the Lotus Feet of God.
  "If a jug of water is enough to remove my thirst, why should I measure the quantity of water in a lake? I become drunk on even half a bottle of wine-what is the use of my calculating the quantity of liquor in the tavern? What need is there of knowing the Infinite?
  "The various states of mind of the Brahmajnani are described in the Vedas. The Path of knowledge is extremely difficult. One cannot obtain jnna if one has the least trace of worldliness and the slightest attachment to 'woman and gold'. This is not The Path for the Kaliyuga.
  Seven planes of the mind
  --
  "In the top of the head is the seventh plane. When the mind rises there, one goes into samdhi. Then the Brahmajnani directly perceives Brahman. But in that state his body does not last many days. He remains unconscious of the outer world. If milk is poured into his mouth, it runs out. Dwelling on this plane of consciousness, he gives up his body in twenty-one days. That is the condition of the Brahmajnani. But yours is The Path of devotion. That is a very good and easy path.
  "Once a man said to me, 'Sir, can you teach me quickly the thing you call samdhi?' (All laugh.)
  --
  God can be realized by means of all paths. It is enough to have sincere yearning for God. Infinite are The Paths and infinite the opinions.
  The pure in heart see God
  --
  The Marwari devotees generally brought offerings of fruit, candy, and other sweets for the Master. But Sri Ramakrishna could hardly eat them. He would say: "They earn their money by falsehood. I can't eat their offerings." He said to the Marwaris: "You see, one can't strictly adhere to truth in business. There are ups and downs in business. Nanak once said, 'I was about to eat the food of unholy people, when I found it stained with blood.' A man should offer only pure things to holy men. He shouldn't give them food earned by dishonest means. God is realized by following The Path of truth. One should always chant His name. Even while one is performing one's duties, the mind should be left with God. Suppose I have a carbuncle on my back. I perform my duties, but the mind is drawn to the carbuncle. It is good to repeat the name of Rama. 'The same Rama who was the son of King Dasaratha has created this world. Again, as Spirit, He pervades all beings. He is very near us; He is both within and without.' "
  --------------------

1.06 - Yun Men's Every Day is a Good Day, #The Blue Cliff Records, #Yuanwu Keqin, #Zen
  This is why after old man Shakyamuni had attained The Path
  in the land of Magadha, he spent three weeks contemplating

1.072 - The Jinn, #Quran, #unset, #Zen
  16. Had they kept true to The Path, We would have given them plenty water to drink.
  17. To test them with it. Whoever turns away from the remembrance of his Lord, He will direct him to torment ever mounting.

1.07 - A Song of Longing for Tara, the Infallible, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  compassion aspect of The Path. Method may also be represented by the
  male. The left side correlates with the wisdom aspect of The Path, which in
  other instances is also represented by the female. When we see the tantric
  --
  Yeshe Dawa, she was in cyclic existence, practiced The Path, and became a
  Buddha. Similarly, Padmasambhava and Milarepa were ordinary beings like
  us, practiced The Path, and became enlightened. Each of them has a conventional self but is empty of an inherently existent self. The conventional I
  is labeled in dependence on the mindstream, which is also empty of inherent
  --
  said that the Buddhas worked very hard to cultivate The Path and attain special spiritual qualities that others dont possess, so they should be able to do
  things that ordinary beings cant. If we visualized President Roosevelt and
  --
  us on The Path to enlightenment by teaching the Dharma. Without the
  teachings, we wouldnt know what to practice and what to abandon on the
  --
  can understand why they do this, but it makes me uncomfortable. First, people dont create positive potential and fail to develop the quality of generosity, both of which are essential to progress on The Path. When we make a
  donation, we create positive potential. When we pay a fee, we dont. Second,
  --
  Dharma teachers, and especially monastics, should live simply. Were supposed to be practicing the three principal aspects of The Path, the rst of
  which is renunciation. Why should we drive new cars, live in luxurious
  --
  or the stages of The Path. If we attend a teaching yet still hold strongly to our
  preconceptions about The Path, we will evaluate teachers by whether or not
  they agree with our ideas. Is that a valid criterion for selecting a teacher? Such
  --
  advanced on The Path than we are. So if somebody more advanced than us can
  humbly admit, I dont fully understand the great texts, shouldnt we also
  --
  hearts into The Path to enlightenment.
  The meditation on death and impermanence isnt done to make us
  --
  Buddhas. I want to follow The Path and do the meditations necessary to
  develop those qualities.
  --
  can do to lead us on The Path. Our merit hooks the Buddhas; it causes teachers to appear. But when we are unreceptive, there is no causal energy to
  receive spiritual guidance.
  --
  put in any effort to actualize The Path.
  Other protectors, lacking insight but proud of their power, may be
  --
  who are not bodhisattvas or Buddhas. They have not entered The Path or realized emptiness. When Dharma rst went to Tibet, local spirits caused so
  many obstacles. When they were building Samye, the rst monastery, whatever the Tibetans built during the day, the naughty spirits tore down at night.
  --
  Some spirits have clairvoyant powers that are accurate. Some have powers that are not accurate. Because they havent entered The Path, they lack
  bodhichitta and the realization of emptiness. Therefore, they are not reliable
  --
  be used to progress along The Path to enlightenment and to unveil our
  tremendous Buddha-potential instead is used in the service of the eight
  --
  Seen in one way, generosity is the completion of The Path. In other words,
   The Path is for the sake of developing our qualities and opening ourselves so
  --
  sentient beings. Seen in another way, generosity is the rst step on The Path.
  It is a quality valued in all religions and among the non-religious as well.
  --
  brownies or new skis. Our desire is to gain the realizations of The Path so that
  we can make our life meaningful and benet ourselves and others. Our real
  --
  example, we desire to practice The Path to enlightenment; we desire the happiness of all beings. We can have virtuous desires; there is no problem with
  that. Not all desires are attachment. Desires for worldly things that are
  involved with attachment are to be abandoned on The Path, but desires for
  spiritual goals and beneting others are to be cultivated.
  --
  a great deal to do to progress on The Path and benet others. Bodhisattvas
  have lots of positive desires and aspirations. In fact, arya bodhisattvas are
  --
  of The Path. The next verse expresses our wish to cut the self-grasping ignorance and to actualize the wisdom realizing emptiness, the wisdom side of
   The Path. We often talk in the Mahayana tradition about two great obstacles:
  --
  and non-conceptual. We need to know the stages of The Path and to check our
  meditation experiences with our teacher to make sure were going in the
  --
  many good values and has prepared us for The Path.
  After my rst meditation course, I went to a donut shop in Los Angeles.
  --
  point of practice is highly regulated. A practitioner is capable of doing different practices at different levels of The Path. If one does them without adequate preparation or respect for the vows involved, it may adversely affect
  their Dharma practice. For this reason, its essential to understand tantra
  --
  Vows are ways to train and subdue our mind. They help us on The Path.
  The various sets of vows are not external rules imposed upon us by someone
  --
  vows are the foundation of The Path and are to be cherished. Monastics wear
  the same clothes: our monastic robes. This cuts through some of our feeling
  --
  to practice the three principal aspects of The Path the determination to be
  free, bodhichitta, and correct view. On the basis of establishing a rm foundation in the Dharma, those who are properly prepared can request and
  --
  with integrity and to lead them on The Path. Spiritual mentors trust their disciples to be sincere in their aspirations and to continue practicing.
  The world functions based on sentient beings trusting and beneting
  --
  through gaining all the realizations of The Path up to Buddhahood. The wisdom, compassion, and skillful means we develop through practice will enable
  us to benet sentient beings most effectively. The kindness others have

1.07 - Cybernetics and Psychopathology, #Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, #Norbert Wiener, #Cybernetics
  involved, and The Pathological process which occurred at first at
  the level of the circulating memories may repeat itself in a more

1.07 - Hymn of Paruchchhepa, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  follow with pleasure The Path of this joyful and joy-giving
  Fire, as on a path leading to happiness.

1.07 - Medicine and Psycho therapy, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  psycho therapeutic point of view. The Pathological material I am here
  presupposing is pure psychoneurosis.
  --
  regards The Pathogenesis. The patients whole environment may be drawn
  into this system of explanation in a positive or negative sense, as though it

1.07 - Production of the mind-born sons of Brahma, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  The wife of Adharma[14] (vice) was Hinsā (violence), on whom he begot a son Anrita (falsehood), and a daughter Nikriti (immorality): they intermarried, and had two sons, Bhaya (fear) and Naraka (hell); and twins to them, two daughters, Māyā (deceit) and Vedanā (torture), who became their wives. The son of Bhaya and Māyā was the destroyer of living creatures, or Mrityu (death); and Dukha (pain) was the offspring of Naraka and Vedanā. The children of Mrityu were Vyādhi (disease), Jarā (decay), Soka (sorrow), Tṛṣṇa (greediness), and Krodha (wrath). These are all called the inflictors of misery, and are characterised as the progeny of Vice (Adharma). They are all without wives, without posterity, without the faculty to procreate; they are the terrific forms of Viṣṇu, and perpetually operate as causes of the destruction of this world. On the contrary, Dakṣa and the other Ṛṣis, the elders of mankind, tend perpetually to influence its renovation: whilst the Manus and their sons, the heroes endowed with mighty power, and treading in The Path of truth, as constantly contribute to its preservation.
  Maitreya said:-

1.07 - The Ego and the Dualities, #The Life Divine, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  5:Such a disorder and incapacity may be accepted personally and are accepted by many great souls as a temporary passage or as the price to be paid for the entry into a wider existence. But the right goal of human progress must be always an effective and synthetic reinterpretation by which the law of that wider existence may be represented in a new order of truths and in a more just and puissant working of the faculties on the lifematerial of the universe. For the senses the sun goes round the earth; that was for them the centre of existence and the motions of life are arranged on the basis of a misconception. The truth is the very opposite, but its discovery would have been of little use if there were not a science that makes the new conception the centre of a reasoned and ordered knowledge putting their right values on the perceptions of the senses. So also for the mental consciousness God moves round the personal ego and all His works and ways are brought to the judgment of our egoistic sensations, emotions and conceptions and are there given values and interpretations which, though a perversion and inversion of the truth of things, are yet useful and practically sufficient in a certain development of human life and progress. They are a rough practical systematisation of our experience of things valid so long as we dwell in a certain order of ideas and activities. But they do not represent the last and highest state of human life and knowledge. "Truth is The Path and not the falsehood." The truth is not that God moves round the ego as the centre of existence and can be judged by the ego and its view of the dualities, but that the Divine is itself the centre and that the experience of the individual only finds its own true truth when it is known in the terms of the universal and the transcendent. Nevertheless, to substitute this conception for the egoistic without an adequate base of knowledge may lead to the substitution of new but still false and arbitrary ideas for the old and bring about a violent instead of a settled disorder of right values. Such a disorder often marks the inception of new philosophies and religions and initiates useful revolutions. But the true goal is only reached when we can group round the right central conception a reasoned and effective knowledge in which the egoistic life shall rediscover all its values transformed and corrected. Then we shall possess that new order of truths which will make it possible for us to substitute a more divine life for the existence which we now lead and to effectualise a more divine and puissant use of our faculties on the life-material of the universe.
  6:That new life and power of the human integer must necessarily repose on a realisation of the great verities which translate into our mode of conceiving things the nature of the divine existence. It must proceed through a renunciation by the ego of its false standpoint and false certainties, through its entry into a right relation and harmony with the totalities of which it forms a part and with the transcendences from which it is a descent, and through its perfect self-opening to a truth and a law that exceed its own conventions, - a truth that shall be its fulfilment and a law that shall be its deliverance. Its goal must be the abolition of those values which are the creations of the egoistic view of things; its crown must be the transcendence of limitation, ignorance, death, suffering and evil.

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 Literal Qabalah (continued), #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  This last task will be rendered much more simple if the relation obtaining between The Paths and the Sephiros, and the shape of the Tree itself, is borne in mind. All the attri- butions should be carefully traced and correlated by the reader to that harmonious and symmetrical shape which is formed by the ten Sephiros and the twenty-two Paths.
  He should remember, too, the triune nature of each unit ; it receives from above, retains and expresses its own nature, and transmits the influence to that which is below.
  --
  Yesod. 60 is The Path of Samech D leading from Yesod to Tipharas. 3 is the thirteenth Path, Gimel, which joins Tipharas directly to the Crown. The whole idea of the wand of Aaron the High Priest, implies the shaft con- necting the Sephiros on the Middle Pillar- a straight road from the Kingdom to the Crown.
  The question may arise in the mind of the student of
  --
  Twenty-eight is The Path of Tsaddi which joins Netsach to Yesod. The meaning oij this Path of Tsaddi is best dis- covered by an analysis of the Sephiros which it joins on the
  Sephirothal Tree. The chart will show this path joining

1.07 - THE MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  VIJAY: "If without destroying the 'I' a man cannot get rid of attachment to the world and consequently cannot experience samdhi, then it would be wise for him to follow The Path of Brahmajnna to attain samdhi. If the 'I' persists in The Path of devotion, then one should rather choose The Path of knowledge."
  The "servant I"
  --
  " The Path of knowledge is very difficult. One cannot obtain Knowledge unless one gets rid of the feeling that one is the body. In the Kaliyuga the life of man is centred on food. He cannot get rid of the feeling that he is the body and the ego. Therefore The Path of devotion is prescribed for this cycle.
  This is an easy path. You will attain God if you sing His name and glories and pray to Him with a longing heart. There is not the least doubt about it.
  --
  "One can attain the Knowledge of Brahman, too, by following The Path of bhakti. God is all-powerful. He may give His devotee Brahmajnna also, if He so wills. But the devotee generally doesn't seek the Knowledge of the Absolute. He would rather have the consciousness that God is the Master and he the servant, or that God is the Divine Mother and he the child."
  VIJAY: "But those who discriminate according to the Vedanta philosophy also realize Him in the end, don't they?"
  --
  MASTER: "Yes, one may reach Him by following The Path of discrimination too: that is called Jnanayoga. But it is an extremely difficult path. I have told you already of the seven planes of consciousness. On reaching the seventh plane the mind goes into samdhi. If a man acquires the firm knowledge that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory, then his mind merges in samdhi. But in the Kaliyuga the life of a man depends entirely on food. How can he have the consciousness that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory? In the Kaliyuga it is difficult to have the feeling, 'I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the twenty-four cosmic principles; I am beyond pleasure and pain, I am above disease and grief, old age and death.' However you may reason and argue, the feeling that the body is identical with the soul will somehow crop up from an unexpected quarter. You may cut a peepal-tree to the ground and think it is dead to its very root, but the next morning you will find a new sprout shooting up from the dead stump. One cannot get rid of this identification with the body; therefore The Path of bhakti is best for the people of the Kaliyuga. It is an easy path.
  "And, 'I don't want to become sugar; I want to eat it.' I never feel like saying, 'I am Brahman.' I say, 'Thou art my Lord and I am Thy servant.' It is better to make the mind go up and down between the fifth and sixth planes, like a boat racing between two points. I don't want to go beyond the sixth plane and keep my mind a long time in the seventh. My desire is to sing the name and glories of God. It is very good to look on God as the Master and oneself as His servant. Further, you see, people speak of the waves as belonging to the Ganges; but no one says that the Ganges belongs to the waves. The feeling, 'I am He', is not wholesome. A man who entertains such an idea, while looking on his body as the Self, causes himself great harm. He cannot go forward in spiritual life; he drags himself down. He deceives himself as well as others. He cannot understand his own state of mind.
  --
  At eight o'clock in the morning Sri Ramakrishna was seated on a mat spread on the floor of his room at Dakshineswar. Since it was a cold day, he had wrapped his body in his moleskin shawl. Prankrishna and M. were seated in front of him. Rakhal, too, was in the room. Prankrishna was a high government official and lived in Calcutta. Since he had had no offspring by his first wife, with her permission he had married a second time. By the second wife he had a son. Because he was rather stout, the Master addressed him now and then as "the fat brahmin". He had great respect for Sri Ramakrishna. Though a householder, Prankrishna studied the Vedanta and had been heard to say: "Brahman alone is real and the world illusory. I am He." The Master used to say to him: "In the Kaliyuga the life of a man depends on food. The Path of devotion prescribed by Narada is best for this age."
  A devotee had brought a basket of jilipi for the Master, which the latter kept by his side.
  --
  "Haladhri used to say that God is beyond both Being and Non-being. I told the Mother about it and asked Her, 'Then is the divine form an illusion?' The Divine Mother appeared to me in the form of Rati's mother and said, 'Do thou remain in Bhva' I repeated this to Haladhri. Now and then I forget Her comm and and suffer. Once I broke my teeth because I didn't remain in bhava. So I shall remain in bhava unless I receive a revelation from heaven or have a direct experience to the contrary. I shall follow The Path of love. What do you say?"
  PRANKRISHNA: "Yes, sir."
  --
  MASTER: "There are two ways. One is The Path of discrimination, the other is that of love. Discrimination means to know the distinction between the Real and the unreal.
  God alone is the real and permanent Substance; all else is illusory and impermanent.
  --
  "But, according to The Path of devotion, God has attri butes. To a devotee Krishna is Spirit, His Abode is Spirit, and everything about Him is Spirit."
  The Marwari devotees saluted the Master and took their leave.

1.07 - The Process of Evolution, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Sayama is unseasonable and would be fruitless when a force, quality or tendency is in its infancy or vigour, before it has had the enjoyment and full activity which is its due. When once a thing is born it must have its youth, growth, enjoyment, life and final decay and death; when once an impetus has been given by Prakriti to her creation, she insists that the velocity shall spend itself by natural exhaustion before it shall cease. To arrest the growth or speed unseasonably by force is nigraha, which can be effective for a time but not in perpetuity. It is said in the Gita that all things are ruled by their nature, to their nature they return and nigraha or repression is fruitless. What happens then is that the thing untimely slain by violence is not really dead, but withdraws for a time into the Prakriti which sent it forth, gathers an immense force and returns with extraordinary violence ravening for the rightful enjoyment which it was denied. We see this in the attempts we make to get rid of our evil saskras or associations when we first tread The Path of Yoga. If anger is a powerful element in our nature, we may put it down for a time by sheer force and call it self-control, but eventually unsatisfied Nature will get the better of us and the passion return upon us with astonishing force at an unexpected moment. There are only two ways by which we can effectively get the better of the passion which seeks to enslave us. One is by substitution, replacing it whenever it rises by the opposite quality, anger by thoughts of forgiveness, love or forbearance, lust by meditation on purity, pride by thoughts of humility and our own defects or nothingness; this is the method of Rajayoga, but it is a difficult, slow and uncertain method; for both the ancient traditions and the modern experience of Yoga show that men who had attained for long years the highest self-mastery have been suddenly surprised by a violent return of the thing they thought dead or for ever subject. Still this substitution, slow though it be, is one of the commonest methods of Nature and it is largely by this means, often unconsciously or half-consciously used, that the character of a man changes and develops from life to life or even in the bounds of a single lifetime. It does not destroy things in their seed and the seed which is not reduced to ashes by Yoga is always capable of sprouting again and growing into the complete and mighty tree. The second method is to give bhoga or enjoyment to the passion so as to get rid of it quickly. When it is satiated and surfeited by excessive enjoyment, it becomes weak and spent and a reaction ensues which establishes for a time the opposite force, tendency or quality. If that moment is seized by the Yogin for nigraha, the nigraha so repeated at every suitable opportunity becomes so far effective as to reduce the strength and vitality of the vtti sufficiently for the application of the final sayama. This method of enjoyment and reaction is also a favourite and universal method of Nature, but it is never complete in itself and, if applied to permanent forces or qualities, tends to establish a see-saw of opposite tendencies, extremely useful to the operations of Prakriti but from the point of view of self-mastery useless and inconclusive. It is only when this method is followed up by the use of sayama that it becomes effective. The Yogin regards the vtti merely as a play of Nature with which he is not concerned and of which he is merely the spectator; the anger, lust or pride is not his, it is the universal Mothers and she works it and stills it for her own purposes. When, however, the vtti is strong, mastering and unspent, this attitude cannot be maintained in sincerity and to try to hold it intellectually without sincerely feeling it is mithycra, false discipline or hypocrisy. It is only when it is somewhat exhausted by repeated enjoyment and coercion that Prakriti or Nature at the comm and of the soul or Purusha can really deal with her own creation. She deals with it first by vairgya in its crudest form of disgust, but this is too violent a feeling to be permanent; yet it leaves its mark behind in a deep-seated wish to be rid of its cause, which survives the return and temporary reign of the passion. Afterwards its return is viewed with impatience but without any acute feeling of intolerance. Finally supreme indifference or udsnat is gained and the final going out of the tendency by the ordinary process of Nature is watched in the true spirit of the sayam who has the knowledge that he is the witnessing soul and has only to dissociate himself from a phenomenon for it to cease. The highest stage leads either to mukti in the form of laya or disappearance, the vtti vanishing altogether and for good, or else to another kind of freedom when the soul knows that it is Gods ll and leaves it to Him whether He shall throw out the tendency or use it for His own purposes. This is the attitude of the Karmayogin who puts himself in Gods hands and does work for His sake only, knowing that it is Gods force that works in him. The result of that attitude of self-surrender is that the Lord of all takes charge and according to the promise of the Gita delivers His servant and lover from all sin and evil, the vttis working in the bodily machine without affecting the soul and working only when He raises them up for His purposes. This is nirliptat, the state of absolute freedom within the ll.
  The law is the same for the mass as for the individual. The process of human evolution has been seen by the eye of inspired observation to be that of working out the tiger and the ape. The forces of cruelty, lust, mischievous destruction, pain-giving, folly, brutality, ignorance were once rampant in humanity, they had full enjoyment; then by the growth of religion and philosophy they began in periods of satiety such as the beginning of the Christian era in Europe to be partly replaced, partly put under control. As is the law of such things, they have always reverted again with greater or less virulence and sought with more or less success to re-establish themselves. Finally in the nineteenth century it seemed for a time as if some of these forces had, for a time at least, exhausted themselves and the hour for sayama and gradual dismissal from the evolution had really arrived. Such hopes always recur and in the end they are likely to bring about their own fulfilment, but before that happens another recoil is inevitable. We see plenty of signs of it in the reeling back into the beast which is in progress in Europe and America behind the fair outside of Science, progress, civilisation and humanitarianism, and we are likely to see more signs of it in the era that is coming upon us. A similar law holds in politics and society. The political evolution of the human race follows certain lines of which the most recent formula has been given in the watchwords of the French Revolution, freedom, equality and brotherhood. But the forces of the old world, the forces of despotism, the forces of traditional privilege and selfish exploitation, the forces of unfraternal strife and passionate self-regarding competition are always struggling to reseat themselves on the thrones of the earth. A determined movement of reaction is evident in many parts of the world and nowhere perhaps more than in England which was once one of the self-styled champions of progress and liberty. The attempt to go back to the old spirit is one of those necessary returns without which it cannot be so utterly exhausted as to be blotted out from the evolution. It rises only to be defeated and crushed again. On the other hand the force of the democratic tendency is not a force which is spent but one which has not yet arrived, not a force which has had the greater part of its enjoyment but one which is still vigorous, unsatisfied and eager for fulfilment. Every attempt to coerce it in the past reacted eventually on the coercing force and brought back the democratic spirit fierce, hungry and unsatisfied, joining to its fair motto of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity the terrible addition or Death. It is not likely that the immediate future of the democratic tendency will satisfy the utmost dreams of the lover of liberty who seeks an anarchist freedom, or of the lover of equality who tries to establish a socialistic dead level, or of the lover of fraternity who dreams of a world-embracing communism. But some harmonisation of this great ideal is undoubtedly the immediate future of the human race. On the old forces of despotism, inequality and unbridled competition, after they have been once more overthrown, a process of gradual sayama will be performed by which what has remained of them will be regarded as the disappearing vestiges of a dead reality and without any further violent coercion be transformed slowly and steadily out of existence.

1.07 - The Psychic Center, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  moments of pure transparency or of a sudden blossoming, and twenty or forty years later that picture is still alive, along with the exact hue of the sky, the stone along The Path, or the insignificant gesture enacted on that day, as if all that had now become eternal. It is not even "as if"; it is eternal. These are the only moments we have lived,
  the only moments when a real "I" has broken through to the surface in thousands of hours of nonexistence. In tragic circumstances, also, the psychic can emerge, when the whole being is gathered up in such a poignant intensity that something in us is suddenly rent asunder; then we sense something like a presence behind, which makes us do things we would normally be incapable of doing. For this is the other face of the psychic: not only is it joy and sweetness, but also quiet strength, as if it were forever above every possible tragedy an invulnerable master. In this case, too, the details of a scene can be indelibly engraved. But what passes on to the next life is not so much the details as the essence of the scene: we will be struck by certain repetitive patterns of events or deadlocked situations that have an air of dj vu and seem surrounded by an aura of fatality for what has not been overcome in the past returns again and again, each time with a slightly different appearance, but basically always identical, until we confront the old knot and untie it. Such is the law of inner progress.

1.07 - TRUTH, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  With the lamp of word and discrimination one must go beyond word and discrimination and enter upon The Path of realization.
  Lankavatara Sutra

1.08 - Adhyatma Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  42. Hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, are demoniacal qualities. They are enemies of wisdom and devotion. They are obstacles in The Path of Yoga. Slay them ruthlessly.
  43. Sattvic food helps Yoga Sadhana. Take green gram, spinach, milk, fruits, barley, bread, Lauki, bitter-gourd, plantain stem and flower, and cows ghee. These augment vitality, energy, vigour, health, joy and cheerfulness. They are delicious, bland, substantial and agreeable.
  --
  49. A glutton is unfit for Yoga. One who starves cannot practise Yoga. Similarly, one who is filled with inertia and so sleeps much, or one who sleeps very little and is ever engaged in Rajasic activity is also unfit for Yoga. Adopt the golden mean. This is The Path of the Wise.
  50. He who is alike to foe and friend, who is balanced in pleasure and pain, heat and cold, honour and dishonour, censure and praise, who is without attachment and egoism, who is ever content and harmonious, who is compassionate, who does not hate any creature, is a devotee of God-realisation. He has crossed the three qualities.

1.08a - The Ladder, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  Let us now look at this system and see wherein our description of The Paths of Magick and Meditation connects with the Tree of Life, keeping in the back of our minds all the time the attri butions and the meaning given to each
  Sephirah.
  --
   heart and soul to its worship until it blossoms within his own heart. He must look upon this ideal in various ways, as his Master, his Friend, his Parent, his Beloved, or himself as the Priest of his God. This is Bhakta Yoga, union by The Path of Devotion.
  In the first instance, he gives up all consideration of per- sonal comfort and reward for His sake ; and in the second case, looks upon his chosen God as his dearest friend, feel- ing no constraint in His presence. There is no trace of awe in his love, for he looks upon himself as the child of his
  --
  Death), he must decide upon the second and major critical operation of his career - the crossing of the Abyss, and the destruction of his separate ego. The necessity for this arises from a realization that he cannot remain an Adept for ever, being hurled on by the irresistible momentum of his own inner nature. The essential attainment consists in the absolute annihilation of the bonds of the Buach limiting and repressing Yechidah. This is the paradox of The Path.
  After incredible difficulties and struggles to perfect himself

1.08 - Attendants, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  To make The Path easy to Heaven, or at least to get Heaven's blessings more easily, is also possible by his intervention. If the Mother is at times reluctant for some reason to give a birthday card to someone or write a person's name or "love and blessings" on it, if she refuses to see another on his birthday, Champaklal appeals to her divine compassion and makes her rescind her decision. The Mother sometimes asks him, "What shall I write?" "Why, love and blessings, Mother!" is his reply. He says that he suffered a lot in his childhood because people could not understand his nature. He now wants to distribute the Divine's largesse whenever and wherever he can. Many people are grateful to him for procuring the Mother's blessings for them, especially her physical touch. Only one must be frank and straightforward. Sometimes he has gone out of his way to help even an unknown and unpresuming person to get the Mother's touch if he thought that he had been overlooked. To sum up, his soul's mission is to serve the Mother, to look after her and to make her love and compassion available to all, rich or poor, worthy or unworthy, young or old, without any distinction. I shall now conclude my "rosy picture" of Champaklal by quoting Sri Aurobindo's estimate of him: "All have their defects, but Champaklal has great qualities to atone for them."
  Mulshankar, youngest of the group, was the brother of Esculape, alias Dayashankar, at one time in charge of the Ashram Dispensary. He also worked as an assistant in the Dispensary after Esculape's retirement and came to serve Sri Aurobindo as a medical aid. An excellent worker, he had the privilege of massaging Sri Aurobindo's body for a certain period. He was no masseur and in fact knew nothing about it, but he picked it up from some casual lessons and was gifted with the natural lightness and suppleness of finger movements. During the short interval that Sri Aurobindo had to wait for the Mother to come, before he started walking, Mulshankar would sit behind and apply a good massage to his back. It was really as if an expert masseur was at work; his hands moved so lightly and fast, up and down the back and spine; sometimes using delicate finger strokes or the edge of the palms and swinging and bending the body as the various movements demanded and then finishing off with very gentle touches of the fingertips. One was tempted to take a photograph of his agile figure and beaming face visibly moved beyond measure by the unique privilege of touching the Lord's body, while Sri Aurobindo kept on sitting like a statue looking downwards as the massage proceeded, or in front, sometimes smiling by himself, perhaps oblivious of all the hundred kinds of fleeting, fluttering, striking movements being made on his back. Both the figures supplied us food for a good deal of merriment, the Guru sitting on the edge of the bed, the shishya briskly massaging his back. But the poor fellow had to miss his service because of an intractable headache that crippled him often. And every time that happened we would report to Sri Aurobindo; his comment would be: "Again?", or an exclamatory expression; we could feel at the same time that the inner help was being given.

1.08 - BOOK THE EIGHTH, #Metamorphoses, #Ovid, #Poetry
  Rules for the flight, and mark The Pathless way.
  Then teaching, with a fond concern, his son,

1.08 - Independence from the Physical, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  whose conquest is as important for physical mastery as the conquest of the thinking mind and the vital mind are for mental and vital mastery. It would indeed seem that the mind is the scapegoat in integral yoga, since it is being hunted down everywhere. Let us note that it has also been a very substantial aid in the course of our evolution, and it remains, for many, an indispensable agent, but any aid, however high or divine, eventually becomes an obstacle, because it is meant for one step only, and we have many steps to take and more than one truth to conquer. If we accepted this simple proposition throughout our entire value system, including the particular ideal we are currently cherishing, we would progress quite rapidly on The Path of evolution. This physical mind is the stupidest of all, the vestige in us of the first appearance of Mind in Matter. It is a microscopic,
  stubborn, fearful, narrow, and conservative (this was its evolutionary purpose) mind, which sends us ten times to check if the door is locked when we know perfectly well we have locked it, which panics at the slightest scratch and anticipates the worst illnesses the minute something goes wrong, which is unwaveringly skeptical of anything
  --
  external "accident," it is always the result of unconsciousness, a wrong attitude, or a psychological disorder. These observations are all the more fascinating because the moment we set foot on The Path of yoga,
  something in us becomes alerted, constantly pointing out our mistakes, indicating the real cause of everything that happens to us,

1.08 - RELIGION AND TEMPERAMENT, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  But The Path of contemplation is not easy.
  The task of those whose minds are set on the Unmanifest is the more difficult; for, to those who are in the body, the realization of the Unmanifest is hard. But those who consecrate all their actions to Me (as the personal God, or as the divine Incarnation), who regard Me as the supreme Goal, who worship Me and meditate upon Me with single-minded concentration for those whose minds are thus absorbed in Me, I become ere long the Saviour from the worlds ocean of mortality.
  --
  In the light of these descriptions we can understand more clearly the Bhagavad Gitas classification of paths to salvation. The Path of devotion is The Path naturally followed by the person in whom the viscerotonic component is high. His inborn tendency to externalize the emotions he spontaneously feels in regard to persons can be disciplined and canalized, so that a merely animal gregariousness and a merely human kindliness become transformed into charitydevotion to the personal God and universal good will and compassion towards all sentient beings.
   The Path of works is for those whose extraversion is of the somatotonic kind, those who in all circumstances feel the need to do something. In the unregenerate somatotonic this craving for action is always associated with aggressiveness, self-assertion and the lust for power. For the born Kshatriya, or warrior-ruler, the task, as Krishna explains to Arjuna, is to get rid of those fatal accompaniments to the love of action and to work without regard to the fruits of work, in a state of complete non-attachment to self. Which is, of course, like everything else, a good deal easier said than done.
  --
  The practical consequences of this doctrine are clear enough. The lower forms of religion, whether emotional, active or intellectual, are never to be accepted as final. True, each of them comes naturally to persons of a certain kind of constitution and temperament; but the dharma or duty of any given individual is not to remain complacently fixed in the imperfect religion that happens to suit him; it is rather to transcend it, not by impossibly denying the modes of thought, behaviour and feeling that are natural to him, but by making use of them, so that by means of nature he may pass beyond nature. Thus the introvert uses discrimination (in the Indian phrase), and so learns to distinguish the mental activities of the ego from the principial consciousness of the Self, which is akin to, or identical with, the divine Ground. The emotional extravert learns to hate his father and mother (in other words to give up his selfish attachment to the pleasures of indiscriminately loving and being loved), concentrates his devotion on the personal or incarnate aspect of God, and comes at last to love the Absolute Godhead by an act, no longer of feeling, but of will illuminated by knowledge. And finally there is that other kind of extravert, whose concern is not with the pleasures of giving or receiving affection, but with the satisfaction of his lust for power over things, events and persons. Using his own nature to transcend his own nature, he must follow The Path laid down in the Bhagavad Gita for the bewildered Arjuna The Path of work without attachment to the fruits of work, The Path of what St. Franois de Sales calls holy indifference, The Path that leads through the forgetting of self to the discovery of the Self.
  In the course of history it has often happened that one or other of the imperfect religions has been taken too seriously and regarded as good and true in itself, instead of as a means to the ultimate end of all religion. The effects of such mistakes are often disastrous. For example, many Protestant sects have insisted on the necessity, or at least the extreme desirability, of a violent conversion. But violent conversion, as Sheldon has pointed out, is a phenomenon confined almost exclusively to persons with a high degree of somatotonia. These persons are so intensely extraverted as to be quite unaware of what is happening in the lower levels of their minds. If for any reason their attention comes to be turned inwards, the resulting self-knowledge, because of its novelty and strangeness, presents itself with the force and quality of a revelation and their metanoia, or change of mind, is sudden and thrilling. This change may be to religion, or it may be to something else for example, to psycho-analysis. To insist upon the necessity of violent conversion as the only means to salvation is about as sensible as it would be to insist upon the necessity of having a large face, heavy bones and powerful muscles. To those naturally subject to this kind of emotional upheaval, the doctrine that makes salvation dependent on conversion gives a complacency that is quite fatal to spiritual growth, while those who are incapable of it are filled with a no less fatal despair. Other examples of inadequate theologies based upon psychological ignorance could easily be cited. One remembers, for instance, the sad case of Calvin, the cerebrotonic who took his own intellectual constructions so seriously that he lost all sense of reality, both human and spiritual. And then there is our liberal Protestantism, that predominantly viscerotonic heresy, which seems to have forgotten the very existence of the Father, Spirit and Logos and equates Christianity with an emotional attachment to Christs humanity or, (to use the currently popular phrase) the personality of Jesus, worshipped idolatrously as though there were no other God. Even within all-comprehensive Catholicism we constantly hear complaints of the ignorant and self-centred directors, who impose upon the souls under their charge a religious dharma wholly unsuited to their naturewith results which writers such as St. John of the Cross describe as wholly pernicious. We see, then, that it is natural for us to think of God as possessed of the qualities which our temperament tends to make us perceive in Him; but unless nature finds a way of transcending itself by means of itself, we are lost. In the last analysis Philo is quite right in saying that those who do not conceive God purely and simply as the One injure, not God of course, but themselves and, along with themselves, their fellows.

1.08 - The Change of Vision, #On the Way to Supermanhood, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  But once more we are struck by the same peculiarity. What we discover are not eternal and sublime truths, not triumphs of the geometrical mind that confines the world in an equation, not seeds of dogma or revelations atop the Sinais of the world, but minuscule little truths, vivid and light, smiles of truth along The Path and in everyday commonplaceness a minuscule, contagious truth which seems to spread from place to place and light up even the rocks: a truth of the earth, a truth of matter. And when we can trap a single one of these little whimsical smiles, we are richer than if the illuminations of all the sages put together were bestowed on us, because we have touched the truth with our eyes wide open and with our body maybe because the Supreme Truth is also there, in an infinitesimal wisp of straw as much as in the totality of all the ages.
  But, beyond all meanings being released from their hiding place, the seeker touches upon an even greater mystery, something so elusive and so strong, which makes his heart flutter every time he thinks he has caught a glimpse of it oh, something that is well hidden, that will not let itself be caught and put into thoughts or mental ciphers: a supreme Cipher that deciphers all and is like the true key to the new world. Behind all his gropings and stumblings and dozens of wrong turns every day, his cries in the dark, he senses a sort of Help something is answering.... One must have walked long in the dark to appreciate the marvel of that particular answer. Something answers, moves, hears, knows where we are going! As if the new world were all here, already done, innumerably mapped under our steps and under each step of each being at each instant and we gradually enter its geography. This is really the sign of the new world: it is here; there is no distance to travel, no waiting in prayer, no cry to echo across empty spaces in order to seduce the godhead veiled in the clouds, no intensity of concentration, no long-drawn-out years or protracted efforts or arduous repetitions to try to move a deaf Force it is here, the instantaneous answer, the boon in the flesh, the vital sign, the living demonstration. It takes but a simple call. It takes but a little cry of pure truth. Actually, we do not seek; we are sought. We do not call; we are called. We grope about only as long as we want to do everything by ourselves. There is nothing to do! There is everything to undo, and let the new world flow freely, let its unexpected rivers and paths run under our steps. One brief second of abandon, and it comes in; it is there, smiling. Everything is already there! When the ape felt he was exerting himself so much to capture a subtle little vibration, when he caught hold of a thought by chance, without knowing how or why, at the moment when his simian machinery was not working as usual, he, too, perhaps was walking in a new mental geography that was waiting for his lapses of apehood and a brief second of abandon to the mystery of the new world. We think that everything comes out of our wonderful brains, but we are the tools of a greater self, the translators of an approaching marvel, the transmitters of a growing music. But the music must be allowed to flow freely; the instrument must be clear.

1.08 - The Depths of the Divine, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
  End that is never reached in the world of form. Forms continue endlessly, ceaselessly, holarchically forever (unless the universe collapses in on itself, retreating back along The Path it came-to start anew, one presumes).
  Forms continue endlessly, holarchically-holons all the way up, all the way down-the universe as a selfreflexively infinite hall of mirrors. This is why the subtle level, which does indeed act as a manifest omega pull to its lesser and junior dimensions, is said nonetheless to contain literally an infinite number of subtle levels within subtle levels within subtle levels-in billions and billions of other universes!
  --
  Abide as Emptiness, embrace all Form: the liberation is in the Emptiness, never finally in the Form (though never apart from it). And thus even if I realize the summum bonum, even if I cut abruptly off The Path of endless form and find myself in the Formless, still, still, and still the world of form goes on-into the psychic, into the subtle, into the billions and billions of universes of form available and available and available, endlessly, ceaselessly, dramatically.
  Evolution seeks only this Formless summum bonum-it wants only this ultimate Omega-it rushes forward always and solely in search of this-and it will never find it, because evolution unfolds in the world of form. The

1.08 - The Four Austerities and the Four Liberations, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  However, one should not think that the value of spoken words depends on the nature of the subject of conversation. One can talk idly on spiritual matters just as much as on any other, and this kind of idle talk may well be one of the most dangerous. For example, the neophyte is always very eager to share with others the little he has learnt. But as he advances on The Path, he becomes more and more aware that he does not know very much and that before trying to instruct others, he must be very sure of the value of what he knows, until he finally becomes wise and realises that many hours of silent concentration are needed to be able to speak usefully for a few minutes. Moreover, where inner life and spiritual effort are concerned, the use of speech should be subjected to a still more stringent rule and nothing should be said unless it is absolutely indispensable.
  It is a well-known fact that one must never speak of ones spiritual experiences if one does not want to see vanishing in a flash the energy accumulated in the experience, which was meant to hasten ones progress. The only exception which can be made to the rule is with regard to ones guru, when one wants to receive some explanation or teaching from him concerning the content and meaning of ones experience. Indeed, one can speak about these things without danger only to ones guru, for only the guru is able by his knowledge to use the elements of the experience for your own good, as steps towards new ascents.
  --
  This, you will say, is the culmination, the crown of the effort, the final victory; but what must be done in order to achieve it? What is The Path to be followed and what are the first steps on the way?
  Since we have decided to reserve love in all its splendour for our personal relationship with the Divine, we shall replace it in our relations with others by a total, unvarying, constant and egoless kindness and goodwill that will not expect any reward or gratitude or even any recognition. However others may treat you, you will never allow yourself to be carried away by any resentment; and in your unmixed love for the Divine, you will leave him sole judge as to how he is to protect you and defend you against the misunderstanding and bad will of others.
  You will await your joys and pleasures from the Divine alone. In him alone will you seek and find help and support. He will comfort you in all your sorrows, guide you on The Path, lift you up if you stumble, and if there are moments of failure and exhaustion, he will take you up in his strong arms of love and enfold you in his soothing sweetness.
  To avoid any misunderstanding, I must point out here that because of the exigencies of the language in which I am expressing myself, I am obliged to use the masculine gender whenever I mention the Divine. But in fact the reality of love I speak of is above and beyond all gender, masculine or feminine; and when it incarnates in a human body, it does so indifferently in the body of a man or a woman according to the needs of the work to be done.
  --
  Finally, crowning all the others, comes the physical liberation or liberation from the law of material cause and effect. By a total self-mastery, one is no longer a slave of Natures laws which make men act according to subconscious or semi-conscious impulses and maintain them in the rut of ordinary life. With this liberation one can decide in full knowledge The Path to be taken, choose the action to be accomplished and free oneself from all blind determinism, so that nothing is allowed to intervene in the course of ones life but the highest will, the truest knowledge, the supramental consciousness.
  Bulletin, August 1953

1.08 - The Gods of the Veda - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  For the rest, Sayana in this particular passage lends some support [to] this suggestion of Saraswatis etymological good luck; for he tells us that Saraswati has two aspects, the embodied goddess of Speech and the figure of a river. He distributes, indeed, these two capacities with a strange inconsistency and in his interpretation, as in so many of these harsh & twisted scholastic renderings, European & Indian, of the old melodious subtleties of thought & language, the sages of the Veda come before us only to be convicted of a baffling incoherence of sense and a pointless inaptness of language. But possibly, after all, it is the knowledge of the scholar that is at fault, not the intellect of the Vedic singers that was confused, stupid and clumsy! Nevertheless we must consider the possibility that Sayanas distribution of the sense may be ill-guided, & yet his suggestion about the double role of the goddess may in itself be well-founded. There are few passages of the ancient Sanhita, into which these ingenuities of the ritualistic & naturalistic interpretations do not pursue us. Our inquiry would protract itself into an intolerable length, if we had at every step to clear away from The Path either the heavy ancient lumber or the brilliant modern rubbish. It is necessary to determine, once for all, whether the Vedic scholars, prve ntan uta, are guides worthy of trustwhe ther they are as sure in taste & insight as they are painstaking and diligent in their labour,whether, in a word, these ingenuities are the outcome of an imaginative licence of speculation or a sound & keen intuition of the true substance of Veda. Here is a crucial passage. Let us settle at least one side of the account the ledger of the great Indian scholiast.
  Madhuchchhanda turns to Saraswati at the close of his hymn after successively calling to the Aswins, Indra & the Visvadevas. To each of these deities he has addressed three riks of praise & invocation; the last three of the twelve reiterate in each verse the name, epithets & functions of Saraswati. The Sukta falls therefore into four equal parts of which the last alone immediately concerns us.

1.08 - THE MASTERS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "For the Kli Yuga The Path of bhakti is especially good. One can realize God through bhakti too. As long as one is conscious of the body, one is also conscious of objects.
  Form, taste, smell, sound, and touch-these are the objects. It is extremely difficult to get rid of the consciousness of objects. And one cannot realize 'I am He' as long as one is aware of objects.
  --
  "The rishis followed The Path of jnna. Therefore they sought to realize Brahman, the Indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. But those who follow The Path of devotion seek an Incarnation of God, to enjoy the sweetness of bhakti. The darkness of the mind disappears when God is realized. In the Purana it is said that it was as if a hundred suns were shining when Rama entered the court. Why, then, weren't the courtiers burnt up? It was because the brilliance of Rama was not like that of a material object. As the lotus blooms when the sun rises, so the lotus of the heart of the people assembled in the court burst into blossom."
  As the Master uttered these words, standing before the devotees, he suddenly fell into an ecstatic mood. His mind was withdrawn from external objects. No sooner did he say, "the lotus of the heart burst into blossom", than he went into deep samdhi. He stood motionless, his countenance beaming and his lips parted in a smile.

1.08 - The Supreme Discovery, #Words Of Long Ago, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  To achieve this total self-consecration, all means are good, all methods have their value. The one thing needful is to persevere in our will to attain this goal. For then everything we study, every action we perform, every human being we meet, all come to bring us an indication, a help, a light to guide us on The Path.
  Before I close, I shall add a few pages for those who have already made apparently fruitless efforts, for those who have encountered the pitfalls on the way and seen the measure of their weakness, for those who are in danger of losing their self-confidence and courage. These pages, intended to rekindle hope in the hearts of those who suffer, were written by a spiritual worker at a time when ordeals of every kind were sweeping down on him like purifying flames.

1.08 - The Supreme Will, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  3:Whoever sincerely enters The Path of works, must leave behind him the stage in which need and desire are the first law of our acts. For whatever desires still trouble his being, he must, if he accepts the high aim of Yoga, put them away from him into the hands of the Lord within us. The supreme Power will deal with them for the good of the sadhaka and for the good of all. In effect, we find that once this surrender is done, - always provided the rejection is sincere, - egoistic indulgence of desire may for some time recur under the continued impulse of past nature but only in order to exhaust its acquired momentum and to teach the embodied being in his most unteachable part, his nervous, vital, emotional nature, by the reactions of desire, by its grief and unrest bitterly contrasted with calm periods of the higher peace or marvellous movements of divine Ananda, that egoistic desire is not a law for the soul that seeks liberation or aspires to its own original god-nature. Afterwards the element of desire in those impulsions will be thrown away or persistently eliminated by a constant denying and transforming pressure. Only the pure force of action in them (pravr.tti) justified by an equal delight in all work and result that is inspired or imposed from above will be preserved in the happy harmony of a final perfection. To act, to enjoy is the normal law and right of the nervous being; but to choose by personal desire its action and enjoyment is only its ignorant will, not its right. Alone the supreme and universal Will must choose; action must change into a dynamic movement of that Will; enjoyment must be replaced by the play of a pure spiritual Ananda. All personal will is either a temporary delegation from on high or a usurpation by the ignorant Asura.
  4:The social law, that second term of our progress, is a means to which the ego is subjected in order that it may learn discipline by subordination to a wider collective ego. This law may be quite empty of any moral content and may express only the needs or the practical good of the society as each society conceives it. Or it may express those needs and that good, but modified and coloured and supplemented by a higher moral or ideal law. It is binding on the developing but not yet perfectly developed individual in the shape of social duty, family obligation, communal or national demand, so long as it is not in conflict with his growing sense of the higher Right. But the sadhaka of the Karmayoga will abandon this also to the Lord of works. After he has made this surrender, his social impulses and judgments will, like his desires, only be used for their exhaustion or, it may be, so far as they are still necessary for a time to enable him to identify his lower mental nature with mankind in general or with any grouping of mankind in its works and hopes and aspirations. But after that brief time is over, they will be withdrawn and a divine government will alone abide. He will be identified with the Divine and with others only through the divine consciousness and not through the mental nature.
  --
  8:But there is a yet higher attainment, there is an infinity (anantya) in which even this last limitation is exceeded, because the nature is utterly fulfilled and its boundaries vanish. There the soul lives without any boundaries; for it uses all forms and moulds according to the divine Will in it, but it is not restrained, it is not tied down, it is not imprisoned in any power or form that it uses. This is the summit of The Path of works and this the utter liberty of the soul in its actions. In reality, it has there no actions; for all its activities are a rhythm of the Supreme and sovereignly proceed from That alone like a spontaneous music out of the Infinite.
  9:The total surrender, then, of all our actions to a supreme and universal Will, an unconditioned and standardless surrender of all works to the government of something eternal within us which will replace the ordinary working of the ego-nature, is the way and end of Karmayoga. But what is this divine supreme Will and how can it be recognised by our deluded instruments and our blind prisoned intelligence?
  --
  18:The Lord has veiled himself and his absolute wisdom and eternal consciousness in ignorant Nature-Force and suffers her to drive the individual being, with its complicity, as the ego; this lower action of Nature continues to prevail, often even in spite of man's half-lit imperfect efforts at a nobler motive and a purer self-knowledge. Our human effort at perfection fails, or progresses very incompletely, owing to the force of Nature's past actions in us, her past formations, her long-rooted associations; it turns towards a true and high-climbing success only when a greater Knowledge and Power than our own breaks through the lid of our ignorance and guides or takes up our personal will. For our human will is a misled and wandering ray that has parted from the supreme Puissance. The period of slow emergence out of this lower working into a higher light and purer force is the valley of the shadow of death for the striver after perfection; it is a dreadful passage full of trials, sufferings, sorrows, obscurations, stumblings, errors, pitfalls. To abridge and alleviate this ordeal or to penetrate it with the divine delight faith is necessary, an increasing surrender of the mind to the knowledge that imposes itself from within and, above all, a true aspiration and a right and unfaltering and sincere practice. "Practise unfalteringly," says the Gita, "with a heart free from despondency," the Yoga; for even though in the earlier stage of The Path we drink deep of the bitter poison of internal discord and suffering, the last taste of this cup is the sweetness of the nectar of immortality and the honey-wine of an eternal Ananda.

1.09 - ADVICE TO THE BRAHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  MANILAL: "Yes, sir. We had a long talk. Among other things we discussed the problem of good and evil. He said to me: 'Don't follow The Path of evil. Give up sinful thoughts.
  That is how God wants us to act. Perform only those duties that are virtuous.' "
  --
  MASTER: "That is also a path. It is called The Path of vichara, reasoning. But the inner organs3 are brought under control naturally through The Path of devotion as well. It is rather easily accomplished that way. Sense pleasures appear more and more tasteless as love for God grows. Can carnal pleasure attract a grief-stricken man and woman the day their child has died?"
  Efficacy of japa and prayer
  --
  Whoever treads The Path, repeating "Durga! Durga!", iva Himself protects with His almighty trident.
  Thou art the day, O Mother! Thou art the dusk and the night.

1.09 - Fundamental Questions of Psycho therapy, #The Practice of Psycho therapy, #Carl Jung, #Psychology
  further along The Path taken by Freud, though I certainly try to avoid
  having any preconceived metaphysical opinions. I try rather to keep to

1.09 - Kundalini Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  13. A Guru is one who has full illumination, who is endowed with all divine virtues, who is able to remove the doubts of his disciples and guide them in The Path of Yoga.
  14. The Guru transmits his powers to the disciple through Sankalpa (willing), Drishti (sight), Sakti-Sanchar (touch).

1.09 - Taras Ultimate Nature, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  ara is the embodiment of the three principal aspects of The Path: the
  determination to be free, the altruistic intention of bodhichitta, and
  --
  freedom, and The Path to reach it.
  Cyclic existence is not something outside of us. It is our body and mind
  --
  be light and joyful. The more we see the I as empty, the more we understand that we can become Buddhas and the more we progress on The Path to
  Buddhahood.

1.09 - The Guardian of the Threshold, #Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, #Rudolf Steiner, #Theosophy
   of the life now confronting him. For everything inculcated by education completely melts away when the threads binding will, thought, and feeling are severed. He looks back on the result of all his previous education as he might on a house crumbling away brick by brick, which he must now rebuild in a new form. And again, it is more than a mere symbolical expression to say that when the Guardian has enunciated his first statement, there arises from the spot where he stands a whirlwind which extinguishes all those spiritual lights that have hitherto illumined The Pathway of his life. Utter darkness, relieved only by the rays issuing from the Guardian himself, unfolds before the student. And out of this darkness resounds the Guardian's further admonition: "Step not across my Threshold until thou dost clearly realize that thou wilt thyself illumine the darkness ahead of thee; take not a single step forward until thou art positive that thou hast sufficient oil in thine own lamp. The lamps of the guides whom thou hast hitherto followed will now no longer be available to thee." At these words, the student must turn and glance backward. The Guardian of the Threshold now draws aside a veil which till now had concealed deep life-mysteries. The family, national,
   p. 244

1.09 - The Secret Chiefs, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  The question is beset with thickets of tough thorn; what is worse, The Path is so slippery that nothing is easier than to tumble head first into the spikiest bush of them all.
  You justly remind me that one of my earliest slogans was "Mystery is the enemy of Truth;" how then is it what I acquiesce in the policy of concealment in a matter so cardinal?
  --
  In the R.R. et A.C., this is indicated to the Adept Minor by the title conferred upon him on his initiation to that grade: Hodos Camelionis: The Path of the Chameleon. (This emphasizes the omnivalence of the force.) In the higher degrees of O.T.O. the AA is not fond of terms like this, which verge on the picturesque it is usually called "the Ophidian Vibrations," thus laying special stress upon its serpentine strength, subtlety, its control of life and death, and its power to insinuate itself into any desired set of circumstances.
  It is of this universally powerful weapon that the Secret Chiefs must be supposed to possess complete control.

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.

1.1.01 - Seeking the Divine, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  First, it is a great exaggeration to deduce from your difficulties any idea of unfitness or of going away or being sent away or giving up the Yoga. I am certainly not going to pronounce you unfit because you want the Ananda; on such grounds I would have to pronounce myself unfit, because I have myself wanted it and many other things besides. And if I were to send you away because you are not entirely disinterested in the approach to the Divine, I should have, to be consistent, to send practically the whole Asram packing. I do not know why you are allowing yourself to indulge in such black and despondent thoughts - there is no ground for them at all, and I do not think I gave any grounds for them in my letter. Whatever your difficulties, the Mother and I have every intention of seeing you through them, and I think that you too, whatever suggestions your vital depression may make to you at the moment, have every intention of going through to the end of The Path. I imagine you have gone too far on it to go back and, if you wanted to, your psychic being which has persistently pushed you towards it, would not allow such a retreat.
  Next, it was not my intention to say that it was wrong to aspire for the Ananda. What I wanted to point out was the condition for the permanent possession of the Ananda (intimations, visits, downrushes of it one can have before); the essential condition for it is a change of consciousness, the coming of peace, light, etc., all that brings about the transition from the normal to the spiritualised nature. And that being so, it is better to make this change of consciousness the first object of the sadhana. On

11.01 - The Opening Scene of Savitri, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   "It was the hour before the Gods awake". Only when the Gods awake, does the light begin to appear on earth. Otherwise it is all night here, black, impenetrable and unfathomable. Indeed the very creation begins with the awakening of the Gods. When the Gods are asleep, it is the non-existencetamast tamas ghamagre'in the beginning darkness was engulfed in darkness'. This is the asat, non-being, this is the acit, the inconscience, this is the blackest night. The Bible also speaks of a similar darknessJob's terrible vision: "A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order and where the light is as darkness."1 The lamp of consciousness is not yet lit. The dark vacancy stretches across The Path of creation yet to be, the light that is to come. This shadow is the negation of the light behind, it is the original of the creation. It is presented as the mere material universe apparently dead and dry, the utter inconscience with no sign of consciousness anywhere. And earth seems to be there part of it, a shadow within the shadow, a dark spot wheeling in a dark mass.
   It is the pre-creation, one might say, the creation before the creation the shadow creation. We know coming events cast their shadow before, as a kind of forewarning, foreboding: that is the dark messenger, the bright messenger will follow. For after all, it is His shadow"And into the midnight his shadow is thrown."

1.1.02 - The Aim of the Integral Yoga, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  You have apparently a call and may be fit for Yoga; but there are different paths and each has a different aim and end before it. It is common to all The Paths to conquer the desires, to put aside the ordinary relations of life, and to try to pass from uncertainty to everlasting certitude. One may also try to conquer dream and sleep, thirst and hunger etc. But it is no part of my Yoga to have nothing to do with the world or with life or to kill the senses or entirely inhibit their action. It is the object of this
  Yoga to transform life by bringing down into it the Light, Power and Bliss of the divine Truth and its dynamic certitudes. This

WORDNET














IN WEBGEN [10000/331]

Wikipedia - Anonymous (Stray from the Path album) -- Stray from the Path album
Wikipedia - Bodhisattva -- Any person who is on the path towards Buddhahood but has not yet attained it
Wikipedia - Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path -- 2014 album
Wikipedia - Kefitzat Haderech -- Kabbalistic term that literally means "contracting the path
Wikipedia - Noble Eightfold Path -- An early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara
Wikipedia - On the Pathos of Truth
Wikipedia - On the Path -- 2010 film
Wikipedia - Relation between Schrodinger's equation and the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics -- Relationship between branches of physics
Wikipedia - Sabarimala -- Temple dedicated to Ayyappan in the Pathanamthitta District of Kerala, India
Wikipedia - The Path Between the Seas -- 1977 book by David McCullough
Wikipedia - The Pathfinder (1952 film) -- 1952 film by Sidney Salkow
Wikipedia - The Pathless -- 2020 action-adventure video game developed by Giant Squid
Wikipedia - The Path of Death -- 1917 film
Wikipedia - The Path of Glory -- 1934 film
Wikipedia - The Path of Modern Yoga
Wikipedia - The Path of the King -- 1921 novel by John Buchan
Wikipedia - The Path She Chose -- 1920 silent film directed by Phil Rosen
Wikipedia - The Path to God -- 1924 film
Wikipedia - The Path to Nirvana -- One of the main aims in Buddhism
Wikipedia - The Path (TV series) -- American drama streaming television series
Wikipedia - The Pathway of the Sun -- Book by E.V. Timms
Wikipedia - The Path Which Led Me To Leninism -- Essay by Ho Chi Minh
Wikipedia - Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary -- 2017 documentary film directed by John Campopiano and Justin White
Wikipedia - Vares: The Path of the Righteous Men -- 2012 film
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10115528-yoga-and-the-path-of-the-urban-mystic
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10346679-the-masters-and-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1036537.Into_the_Path_of_Gods
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1061686.The_Great_Treatise_on_the_Stages_of_the_Path_to_Enlightenment
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1109095.The_Path_of_the_DreamHealer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11115090-into-the-path-of-gods
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11147264-the-path-of-synchronicity
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1121234.The_Path_Of_Perfect_Love
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11641421-the-path-of-druidry
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1245981.The_Path_of_Shadows
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12631939-following-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12871690-all-the-paths-of-shadow
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13278104-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1329027.The_Path_to_Wholeness
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13327329-the-path-to-hope
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13489647-sufficient-provision-for-the-seekers-of-the-path-of-truth-al-ghunya-li-
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13631455-treatise-on-discipline-in-the-path-of-the-seeker
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1380052.As_a_Man_Thinketh_The_Path_of_Prosperity
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140974.The_Path_of_Daggers
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14544504-the-path-of-faith
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14572.Peace_Is_Every_Step_The_Path_of_Mindfulness_in_Everyday_Life
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1460626.The_Path_of_the_Hero_King
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15077907-the-path-of-centering-prayer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797799-on-the-path-to-enlightenment
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16043248-the-path-of-the-wicked
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16048313-the-path-of-the-fallen
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16064871-the-path-to-power
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16102491-to-light-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1622679.Taking_the_Result_as_the_Path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16360217-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17045508-the-great-treatise-on-the-stages-of-the-path-to-enlightenment
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1761269.Guided_Meditations_on_the_Stages_of_the_Path_with_15_hour_MP3_meditation_CD_
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17860199.The_World_of_Divergent_The_Path_to_Allegiant__Divergent___2_5_
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1787367.Landmines_in_the_Path_of_the_Believer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18206819-on-the-path-to-freedom
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18223708-the-path-to-the-guru
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1841308.The_Path_of_Power
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18745225-the-path-of-the-masters
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18877566-the-path-of-centering-prayer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18983583-illuminating-the-path-to-enlightenment
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/190199.The_Path_of_Transformation
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19220125-the-path-of-the-pole
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21104837-illuminating-the-path-to-enlightenment
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21251256-walking-the-path-of-the-ancient-ways
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21857199-the-path-of-the-storm
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2236538.The_Path_Of_Serenity_And_Insight
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22376072-the-path-of-the-child
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22822928.The_Wood_s_Edge__The_Pathfinders___1_
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23485336-clear-the-path-to-happiness
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23591518-travelling-the-path-of-love
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2372.The_Path_Between_the_Seas
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2412600.The_Pathseeker
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24310199-the-path-to-oneness
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25065639-the-pathless-sky
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25846365-walking-the-path-of-compassion
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/265565.Rumi_The_Path_of_Love_Card_Set
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26753036-the-pathology-of-nephritis-as-illustrated-by-thirty-two-consecutive-case
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26784241-off-the-path-vol-2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26923733-the-pathology-of-dental-infections-and-its-relation-to-general-diseases
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27192884-the-end-of-accounting-and-the-path-forward-for-investors-and-managers
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27859655-the-path-of-the-hawk-book-one
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27859658-the-path-of-the-hawk-book-two
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2789178-ramana-maharshi-and-the-path-of-self-knowledge
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/279161.The_Path_of_the_Human_Being
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28111007-the-african-predicament-a-study-in-the-pathology-of-modernisation
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28223096-clear-the-path-to-happiness
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28665621-zen-the-path-of-mindful-parenting
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28956049-the-path-of-heaven
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29066280-the-path-of-destiny
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29282315-the-path-to-war
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29615764-the-path-to-engagement
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29936142-the-path-of-flames
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29936142.The_Path_of_Flames__Chronicles_of_the_Black_Gate___1_
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30524583-becoming-an-angel-the-path-to-enlightenment-autobiography
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30962229-the-path-of-centering-prayer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31358086.The_Path_of_the_Child
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31358086-the-path-of-the-child
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31425658-the-path-of-the-hawk
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32284037-the-path-of-paganism
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32284325-the-path-of-christianity
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32912515-jun-fan-gung-fu-seeking-the-path-of-jeet-kune-do-2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33299493-the-paths-we-choose
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/336804.The_Path_To_Love
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33804747-just-off-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34501070-the-pathways-to-the-heart
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/345928.The_Path_to_Power
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/347245.The_Pathfinder
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34955989-the-paths-we-choose
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3505298-the-path-of-butterflies
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36295085-a-station-on-the-path-to-somewhere-better
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36422632-the-path-unclear
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36638638-the-path-between-us
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/369843.Atisha_s_Lamp_for_the_Path_to_Enlightenment
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37931383-the-path-to-selflessness
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39095432-just-off-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40607235-the-path-made-clear
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40911245-the-path-of-the-spiritual-sun
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41462794-making-fair-choices-on-the-path-to-universal-health-coverage-final-repo
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41945066-walking-on-the-path-of-indie-publishing
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42110350-the-path-to-peace
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4225671-the-paths-of-the-sea
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42293265-pilgrim-you-find-the-path-by-walking
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/423331.The_Path_of_Prayer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42389310-the-path-of-shadows
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42418168-the-pathfinders-1-2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/424817.The_Path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4411507-the-path-that-gets-brighter
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44349262-the-paths-between-worlds
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44381654-an-initiate-s-guide-to-the-path-of-the-dragon
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44595761-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44653668-the-path-of-light
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/462295.Footprints_on_the_Path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/462310.The_Path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4700291-the-role-of-chemical-mediators-in-the-pathophysiology-of-acute-illness-a
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/491843.The_Path_of_Celtic_Prayer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5008484-the-path-to-freedom
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/502968.The_Path_of_Alchemy
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5387827-the-path-into-healing
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/564771.The_Path_of_the_Pole
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/568166.The_Path_Is_the_Goal
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5923.The_Path_to_Rome
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602864.The_Pathway_of_Roses
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6052034-the-principle-of-the-path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6064034-in-the-path-of-falling-objects
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/613323.The_Path
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/616118.The_Path_of_Prosperity
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/617327.Travelling_the_Path_of_Love
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6241577-the-path-of-razors
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/701316.The_Path_to_Genocide
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/707329.The_Path_of_Minor_Planets
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/711366.Sun_Bear_the_Path_of_Power
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7168532-the-path-of-the-blue-raven
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/717117.The_Pathwalker_s_Guide_to_the_Nine_Worlds
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7202028-the-path-of-destiny
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/722270.In_the_Path_of_the_Storm
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/732833.Mindfulness_The_Path_To_The_Deathless
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7334961-the-pathologies-of-individual-freedom
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7860797.The_Path_of_Innocence
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7935799-the-pathology-of-the-u-s-economy-revisited
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7950544-the-path-to-tyranny
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/797568.The_Great_Treatise_on_the_Stages_of_the_Path_to_Enlightenment
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/797569.The_Great_Treatise_on_the_Stages_of_the_Path_to_Enlightenment
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8023321-the-path-and-its-power
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/828882.In_the_Path_of_Our_Fathers
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86524.The_Path_to_Power
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/874603.The_Path_to_Home
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path#The_threefold_division_of_the_path
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Outline_of_Buddhism#4._The_Noble_Truth_of_the_Path_leading_to_the_Cessation_of_Suffering
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Outline_of_"In_the_Buddha's_Words"#The_Path_to_Liberation
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Outline_of_"In_the_Buddha's_Words"#Why_Does_One_Enter_the_Path.3F
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Sadhana#The_paths
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:THE_NOBLE_TRUTH_OF_THE_PATH_THAT_LEADS_TO_THE_EXTINCTION_OF_SUFFERING
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/THE_NOBLE_TRUTH_OF_THE_PATH_THAT_LEADS_TO_THE_EXTINCTION_OF_SUFFERING
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/THE_NOBLE_TRUTH_OF_THE_PATH_THAT_LEADS_TO_THE_EXTINCTION_OF_SUFFERING#THE_EIGHTFOLD_PATH
Integral World - Why Forgiving Ourselves and Each Other is the Path to Global Justice, John M. Bunzl
Integral World - The Life of Mahavira, Jainism and the Path of Ahimsa, Andrea Diem-Lane
Integral World - The Path of Integral Spirituality, Zakariyya Ishaq
Integral World - The Human Odyssey, Our Journey of Life from Infancy to Eternity, #6: The Pathfinders of Growth, Hugh & Kaye Martin
The Path Ahead: Politics, Globalism, and You
Politics, Addiction, and Mental Health: The Path to Recovery
https://circumsolatious.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-path-of-integral-knowledge-twelve.html
wiki.auroville - Adverse_Forces_on_the_path_of_Yoga_(Radio_program)
Dharmapedia - The_Path_of_Modern_Yoga
Psychology Wiki - Integral_yoga#Dangers_on_the_Path
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Masters_and_the_Path
High Score Girl (2018 - 2018) - The year is 1991, and arcade video games are the latest craze. Becoming a professional gamer is a far-fetched dream in an industry that has yet to spread its influence. Yet, that is the path sixth-grader Haruo Yaguchi wants to pursue. His aptitude for video games has earned him respect in local arca...
A Nightmare on Elm Street(1984) - Writer/Director Wes Craven took quite an innovative turn from the path his first two movies ("Last House on the Left" & "The Hills Have Eyes") set for horror. Established with an extensive backstory that only took 5 sequels and a short-lived TV series to fully explain, we are introduced to Nancy Th...
Kingdom of the Spiders(1977) - Investigating the mysterious deaths of a number of farm animals, vet Rack Hansen discovers that his town lies in the path of hoards of migrating tarantulas. Before he can take action, the streets are overrun by killer spiders, trapping a small group of towns folk in a remote hotel.
Snow Day(2000) - Natalie Brandston and her friends are in for an exciting day! It's a snow day and all they want to do is have fun in the snow! Their plans may get thwarted though by a snowplow driver who wants to plow out the roads and free up the path to school. Meanwhile, Natalie's older brother Hal is trying to...
Zack and Miri Make a Porno(2008) - Roommates Zack and Miri decide to make a pornographic movie in order to pay their bills. However, during the filming of the movie Zack and Miri seem to deal with their Unresolved Sexual Tension, although the path of love does not run smooth.
The Razor's Edge(1984) - He had everything and wanted nothing. He learned that he had nothing and wanted everything. He saved the world and then it shattered. The path to enlightenment is as sharp and narrow as a razor's edge.
American Crude(2008) - The paths of several eccentric and troubled strangers cross one night.
Cold in July (2014) ::: 6.8/10 -- R | 1h 49min | Crime, Thriller | 31 December 2014 (France) -- When a protective father meets a murderous ex-con, both need to deviate from the path they are on as they soon find themselves entangled in a downwards spiral of lies and violence while having to confront their own inner psyche. Director: Jim Mickle Writers:
The Path ::: TV-MA | 1h | Drama | TV Series (20162018) -- A man who converts to a controversial following suffers from a crisis of faith. Creator: Jessica Goldberg
The Razor's Edge (1984) ::: 6.6/10 -- PG-13 | 2h 8min | Drama, Romance, War | 19 October 1984 (USA) -- He had everything and wanted nothing. He learned that he had nothing and wanted everything. He saved the world and then it shattered. The path to enlightenment is as sharp and narrow as a razor's edge. Director: John Byrum Writers:
These Final Hours (2013) ::: 6.7/10 -- R | 1h 27min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller | 31 July 2014 (Australia) -- A self-obsessed young man makes his way to the party-to-end-all-parties on the last day on Earth, but ends up saving the life of a little girl searching for her father. Their relationship ultimately leads him on the path to redemption. Director: Zak Hilditch Writer:
The Sword in the Stone (1963) ::: 7.2/10 -- G | 1h 19min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy | 21 June 1964 (USA) -- A poor boy named Arthur learns the power of love, kindness, knowledge and bravery with the help of a wizard called Merlin in the path to become one of the most beloved kings in English history. Directors: Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi (uncredited) | 1 more credit Writers:
Travelers ::: TV-MA | 45min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi | TV Series (2016-2018) Episode Guide 34 episodes Travelers Poster -- Hundreds of years from now, surviving humans discover how to send consciousness back through time, into people of the 21st century, while attempting to change the path of humanity. Creator:
Travelers ::: TV-MA | 45min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi | TV Series (20162018) -- Hundreds of years from now, surviving humans discover how to send consciousness back through time, into people of the 21st century, while attempting to change the path of humanity. Creator:
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Quest:The_Path_to_Novograd
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Quest:The_Path_to_the_Bottom
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_Wisdom
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Cutting_the_Path
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Spot_the_Path
https://dni.fandom.com/wiki/Uru:_The_Path_of_the_Shell
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_Dawn
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_Knowledge
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_the_Incarnate
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_the_Righteous
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_Transcendence
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_to_Moonmont
https://eq2.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_Fear
https://eq2.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_to_Understanding
https://fables.fandom.com/wiki/Gary,_the_Pathetic_Fallacy
https://ffxiclopedia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_Untraveled
https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_is_Yours
https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_Is_Yours_(Warriors)
https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_Through_the_Ocean
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Find_the_path
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_to_2409
https://scratchpad.fandom.com/wiki/Henry_Tyndale_Railway_the_Path_to_Powers
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Custodian_of_the_Paths
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_Times_1:_The_Path_to_Nowhere,_Part_1
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_Times_2:_The_Path_to_Nowhere,_Part_2
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Elders_of_the_Path
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_Ahead
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/The_Paths_to_Power
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Walking_the_Path_That's_Given
https://storiesgames.fandom.com/wiki/Stories:_The_Path_of_Destinies
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_Skulls_(comic_story)
https://the-path.fandom.com/wiki/
https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Easily_change_the_path_option
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Infernalism:_The_Path_of_Screams
https://wot.fandom.com/wiki/The_Path_of_Daggers
Air Gear -- -- Toei Animation -- 25 eps -- Manga -- Action Comedy Ecchi Shounen Sports -- Air Gear Air Gear -- Air Trecks, also known as AT, are motorized and futuristic inline skates that are the new craze taking the nation by storm. Although each AT comes with a speed limiter, a community of daredevils known as the "Storm Riders" are brave enough to tamper with the device. Utilizing AT's in underground battles, individual teams wager valuable AT parts or team emblems—their symbol of pride—to dominate the streets. -- -- Living in this era is Itsuki Minami, a middle school student notorious for engaging in street fights. Always wanting to reach heights no one else is able to, the reckless punk will break through any obstacle that stands in his way, alongside his best friends Kazuma Mikura and Onigiri. However, it is when he discovers a pair of Air Trecks in his house that the path to his true desire finally opens: to rule the skies. -- -- 303,417 7.52
Air Gear -- -- Toei Animation -- 25 eps -- Manga -- Action Comedy Ecchi Shounen Sports -- Air Gear Air Gear -- Air Trecks, also known as AT, are motorized and futuristic inline skates that are the new craze taking the nation by storm. Although each AT comes with a speed limiter, a community of daredevils known as the "Storm Riders" are brave enough to tamper with the device. Utilizing AT's in underground battles, individual teams wager valuable AT parts or team emblems—their symbol of pride—to dominate the streets. -- -- Living in this era is Itsuki Minami, a middle school student notorious for engaging in street fights. Always wanting to reach heights no one else is able to, the reckless punk will break through any obstacle that stands in his way, alongside his best friends Kazuma Mikura and Onigiri. However, it is when he discovers a pair of Air Trecks in his house that the path to his true desire finally opens: to rule the skies. -- -- -- Licensor: -- ADV Films, Funimation -- 303,417 7.52
Ashita no Joe 2 -- -- Tokyo Movie Shinsha -- 47 eps -- Manga -- Action Drama Shounen Slice of Life Sports -- Ashita no Joe 2 Ashita no Joe 2 -- Yabuki Joe is left downhearted and hopeless after a certain tragic event. In attempt to put the past behind him, Joe leaves the gym behind and begins wandering. On his travels he comes across the likes of Wolf Kanagushi and Goromaki Gondo, men who unintentionally fan the dying embers inside him, leading him to putting his wanderings to an end. His return home puts Joe back on the path to boxing, but unknown to himself and his trainer, he now suffers deep-set issues holding him back from fighting. In attempt to quell those issues, Carlos Rivera, a world renowned boxer is invited from Venezuela to help Joe recover. -- TV - Oct 13, 1980 -- 32,084 8.66
Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na wo Yobu -- -- Studio Pierrot -- 1 ep -- Manga -- Action Adventure Comedy Super Power Supernatural Shounen -- Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na wo Yobu Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na wo Yobu -- After a mysterious pair attack Rukia Kuchiki and erase her memories while she is in Seireitei, Ichigo Kurosaki, a substitute Soul Reaper, briefly forgets Rukia, until he is reminded of her by Kon, an Underpod Mod-Soul. Confused, he seeks his town's candy-shop owner, Kisuke Urahara, who opens the pathway to Seireitei for them. Ichigo is then shocked to find that his allies in Seireitei, the Shinigami of the Soul Society, have forgotten him. -- -- Filled with action, Kimi no Na wo Yobu follows Ichigo and Kon as they fight against their former comrades while searching for the missing Rukia and discovering her assailants before they strike again. -- -- -- Licensor: -- VIZ Media -- Movie - Dec 13, 2008 -- 189,102 7.51
Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na wo Yobu -- -- Studio Pierrot -- 1 ep -- Manga -- Action Adventure Comedy Super Power Supernatural Shounen -- Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na wo Yobu Bleach Movie 3: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na wo Yobu -- After a mysterious pair attack Rukia Kuchiki and erase her memories while she is in Seireitei, Ichigo Kurosaki, a substitute Soul Reaper, briefly forgets Rukia, until he is reminded of her by Kon, an Underpod Mod-Soul. Confused, he seeks his town's candy-shop owner, Kisuke Urahara, who opens the pathway to Seireitei for them. Ichigo is then shocked to find that his allies in Seireitei, the Shinigami of the Soul Society, have forgotten him. -- -- Filled with action, Kimi no Na wo Yobu follows Ichigo and Kon as they fight against their former comrades while searching for the missing Rukia and discovering her assailants before they strike again. -- -- Movie - Dec 13, 2008 -- 189,102 7.51
Blood-C: The Last Dark -- -- Production I.G -- 1 ep -- Original -- Action Horror Supernatural Vampire -- Blood-C: The Last Dark Blood-C: The Last Dark -- Having escaped the many horrors of her village, Saya Kisaragi vows to hunt down the monster responsible and make him pay with his life. As she tears through flesh and bone for her vendetta, she encounters SIRRUT, a group of ingenious hackers, who enlist Saya to help them defeat a common enemy—someone she knows all too well. -- -- Unfortunately, the path she follows is paved with tragedy, as once again, Saya faces betrayal at the hands of those she has come to trust. With her back against the wall, the fearsome monster slayer must fight with all her strength and skill if she is to overcome this final mission and exact vengeance. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- Movie - Jun 2, 2012 -- 76,262 7.19
Blood-C: The Last Dark -- -- Production I.G -- 1 ep -- Original -- Action Horror Supernatural Vampire -- Blood-C: The Last Dark Blood-C: The Last Dark -- Having escaped the many horrors of her village, Saya Kisaragi vows to hunt down the monster responsible and make him pay with his life. As she tears through flesh and bone for her vendetta, she encounters SIRRUT, a group of ingenious hackers, who enlist Saya to help them defeat a common enemy—someone she knows all too well. -- -- Unfortunately, the path she follows is paved with tragedy, as once again, Saya faces betrayal at the hands of those she has come to trust. With her back against the wall, the fearsome monster slayer must fight with all her strength and skill if she is to overcome this final mission and exact vengeance. -- -- Movie - Jun 2, 2012 -- 76,262 7.19
Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season -- -- Bones -- 25 eps -- Manga -- Action Comedy Super Power School Shounen -- Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season -- At UA Academy, not even a violent attack can disrupt their most prestigious event: the school sports festival. Renowned across Japan, this festival is an opportunity for aspiring heroes to showcase their abilities, both to the public and potential recruiters. -- -- However, the path to glory is never easy, especially for Izuku Midoriya—whose quirk possesses great raw power but is also cripplingly inefficient. Pitted against his talented classmates, such as the fire and ice wielding Shouto Todoroki, Izuku must utilize his sharp wits and master his surroundings to achieve victory and prove to the world his worth. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 1,742,881 8.29
Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season -- -- Bones -- 25 eps -- Manga -- Action Comedy Super Power School Shounen -- Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season -- At UA Academy, not even a violent attack can disrupt their most prestigious event: the school sports festival. Renowned across Japan, this festival is an opportunity for aspiring heroes to showcase their abilities, both to the public and potential recruiters. -- -- However, the path to glory is never easy, especially for Izuku Midoriya—whose quirk possesses great raw power but is also cripplingly inefficient. Pitted against his talented classmates, such as the fire and ice wielding Shouto Todoroki, Izuku must utilize his sharp wits and master his surroundings to achieve victory and prove to the world his worth. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 1,757,811 8.28
Bonjour♪Koiaji Pâtisserie -- -- Connect, SILVER LINK. -- 24 eps -- Game -- Comedy Harem Romance Shoujo Slice of Life -- Bonjour♪Koiaji Pâtisserie Bonjour♪Koiaji Pâtisserie -- With dreams of becoming a pâtissiere, Sayuri Haruno has worked hard for her scholarship to Fleurir Confectionery Academy, an elite school designed to train world class pastry chefs. The staff consists of unrivalled pâtissiers, who work with absolute precision—the prince-like Mitsuki Aoi, famous for his work with chocolate; the friendly and extroverted Gilbert Hanafusa, an expert in confectionery hailing from France; and the stoic Yoshinosuke Suzumi, who has perfected the art of Japanese sweets. -- -- Upon admission to the school, Sayuri is thrust into a world of advanced baking, surrounded by both supportive and charming staff and fascinating classmates. Sayuri's attention is captured by the dedicated Ryou Kouzuki, who seems to share the same determination to achieve his dream. -- -- Sayuri is set on the path for greatness, and her newly cultivated culinary skill will help her handle any challenge the school throws her way. -- -- ONA - Oct 10, 2014 -- 48,909 6.13
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou -- -- Production I.G -- 12 eps -- Novel -- Action Drama Military Sci-Fi Space -- Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou -- For over a century and a half, two interstellar states have wrested for control of the Milky Way. The Galactic Empire, an absolute monarchy ruled by Kaiser Friedrich IV and an entrenched nobility, seeks to suppress the rebels daring to oppose the inviolable crown. The Free Planets Alliance, a representative democracy led by a corrupt High Council, degenerates as its elected leaders⁠ use war and conflict as a way to win popular support. -- -- But this long-standing stalemate between the Empire and the Alliance ends with the rise of two opposing military geniuses. Reinhard von Lohengramm, a minor noble and High Admiral of the Empire through his strategic brilliance and his sister's position as the favored concubine of the Kaiser, dreams of conquering the galaxy and uniting mankind under his iron fist. Meanwhile, Yang Wen-li of the Alliance, an avid historian and reluctant commodore hailed as the Hero of El Facil, uses his tactical prowess to navigate around his leaders' incompetence—and to carve the path to lasting peace. As the war rages on, Reinhard and Yang each strive for their ideals and to secure their place among the stars as the leaders of a new era of galactic heroes. -- -- 65,278 7.71
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou -- -- Production I.G -- 12 eps -- Novel -- Action Drama Military Sci-Fi Space -- Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou -- For over a century and a half, two interstellar states have wrested for control of the Milky Way. The Galactic Empire, an absolute monarchy ruled by Kaiser Friedrich IV and an entrenched nobility, seeks to suppress the rebels daring to oppose the inviolable crown. The Free Planets Alliance, a representative democracy led by a corrupt High Council, degenerates as its elected leaders⁠ use war and conflict as a way to win popular support. -- -- But this long-standing stalemate between the Empire and the Alliance ends with the rise of two opposing military geniuses. Reinhard von Lohengramm, a minor noble and High Admiral of the Empire through his strategic brilliance and his sister's position as the favored concubine of the Kaiser, dreams of conquering the galaxy and uniting mankind under his iron fist. Meanwhile, Yang Wen-li of the Alliance, an avid historian and reluctant commodore hailed as the Hero of El Facil, uses his tactical prowess to navigate around his leaders' incompetence—and to carve the path to lasting peace. As the war rages on, Reinhard and Yang each strive for their ideals and to secure their place among the stars as the leaders of a new era of galactic heroes. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 65,278 7.71
Golden Time -- -- J.C.Staff -- 24 eps -- Light novel -- Comedy Drama Romance -- Golden Time Golden Time -- Due to a tragic accident, Banri Tada is struck with amnesia, dissolving the memories of his hometown and past. However, after befriending Mitsuo Yanagisawa, he decides to move on and begin a new life at law school in Tokyo. But just as he is beginning to adjust to his college life, the beautiful Kouko Kaga dramatically barges into Banri's life, and their chance meeting marks the beginning of an unforgettable year. -- -- After having a glimpse of college life, Banri learns that he is in a new place and a new world—a place where he can be reborn, have new friends, fall in love, make mistakes, and grow. And as he begins to discover who he was, the path he has chosen leads him towards a blindingly bright life that he will never want to forget. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 734,590 7.77
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
Hachimitsu to Clover II -- -- J.C.Staff -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Drama Josei Romance Slice of Life -- Hachimitsu to Clover II Hachimitsu to Clover II -- Back from his journey across Japan, Yuuta Takemoto reminisces about his college life so far. He has matured significantly since his second year and is motivated to move forward. -- -- Feeling more confident than ever before, he finally confesses to Hagumi Hanamoto, the girl he has been in love with since their first encounter. However, Hagumi has been confused by her attempts to understand the mysterious Shinobu Morita. Hiding behind a playful demeanor, Morita may be the most burdened by his own potential. Meanwhile, Takumi Mayama has become a full-fledged working adult and has landed Ayumi Yamada several pottery orders through his company in an act of friendship. -- -- The five youths continue to face individual hardships in academics, work, love, and friendship as they push each other toward the paths that they are destined to walk. -- -- 91,967 8.25
Hachimitsu to Clover II -- -- J.C.Staff -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Drama Josei Romance Slice of Life -- Hachimitsu to Clover II Hachimitsu to Clover II -- Back from his journey across Japan, Yuuta Takemoto reminisces about his college life so far. He has matured significantly since his second year and is motivated to move forward. -- -- Feeling more confident than ever before, he finally confesses to Hagumi Hanamoto, the girl he has been in love with since their first encounter. However, Hagumi has been confused by her attempts to understand the mysterious Shinobu Morita. Hiding behind a playful demeanor, Morita may be the most burdened by his own potential. Meanwhile, Takumi Mayama has become a full-fledged working adult and has landed Ayumi Yamada several pottery orders through his company in an act of friendship. -- -- The five youths continue to face individual hardships in academics, work, love, and friendship as they push each other toward the paths that they are destined to walk. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Discotek Media, VIZ Media -- 91,967 8.25
High Score Girl -- -- J.C.Staff -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Game Comedy Romance School Seinen -- High Score Girl High Score Girl -- The year is 1991, and arcade video games are the latest craze. Becoming a professional gamer is a far-fetched dream in an industry that has yet to spread its influence. Yet, that is the path sixth-grader Haruo Yaguchi wants to pursue. His aptitude for video games has earned him respect in local arcades and bestowed him with confidence and pride, both of which are shattered when fellow classmate Akira Oono easily defeats him in Street Fighter 2. -- -- Akira is rich, pretty, and smart—as close as can be to a perfect girl. But Haruo had never cared about these things as, despite his multiple shortcomings as a person, his supremacy in video games was, in his mind, undisputed. So, now that someone has appeared who can rival him, part of Haruo cannot help but loathe her. Another part, however, itches for somebody who can compete with him on equal terms, and Akira is more than capable. -- -- 180,364 7.85
High Score Girl -- -- J.C.Staff -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Game Comedy Romance School Seinen -- High Score Girl High Score Girl -- The year is 1991, and arcade video games are the latest craze. Becoming a professional gamer is a far-fetched dream in an industry that has yet to spread its influence. Yet, that is the path sixth-grader Haruo Yaguchi wants to pursue. His aptitude for video games has earned him respect in local arcades and bestowed him with confidence and pride, both of which are shattered when fellow classmate Akira Oono easily defeats him in Street Fighter 2. -- -- Akira is rich, pretty, and smart—as close as can be to a perfect girl. But Haruo had never cared about these things as, despite his multiple shortcomings as a person, his supremacy in video games was, in his mind, undisputed. So, now that someone has appeared who can rival him, part of Haruo cannot help but loathe her. Another part, however, itches for somebody who can compete with him on equal terms, and Akira is more than capable. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Netflix -- 180,364 7.85
Hiiro no Kakera -- -- Studio Deen -- 13 eps -- Visual novel -- Fantasy Romance Shoujo Supernatural -- Hiiro no Kakera Hiiro no Kakera -- Gods and ghosts only exist in fairy tales, right? That's the impression that high school girl Tamki Kasuga has before she goes to live with her grandmother in the remote village of Kifumura. After being attacked by strange creatures upon her arrival, she is soon informed that females in her family contain the blood of the Tamayori Princess, who has the responsibility and power of keeping gods and ghosts sealed away so that they can't harm the general public. At first Tamaki has trouble believing this, but having five beautiful young men following her everywhere she goes acting as her guardians goes a long way towards convincing her. -- -- There's more to this job than Tamaki first realizes, however, and the path that lies ahead of her is fraught with peril and danger. Will she be able to successfully take on the heavy role that has been put on her shoulders? -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- TV - Apr 1, 2012 -- 96,326 6.73
Hiiro no Kakera -- -- Studio Deen -- 13 eps -- Visual novel -- Fantasy Romance Shoujo Supernatural -- Hiiro no Kakera Hiiro no Kakera -- Gods and ghosts only exist in fairy tales, right? That's the impression that high school girl Tamki Kasuga has before she goes to live with her grandmother in the remote village of Kifumura. After being attacked by strange creatures upon her arrival, she is soon informed that females in her family contain the blood of the Tamayori Princess, who has the responsibility and power of keeping gods and ghosts sealed away so that they can't harm the general public. At first Tamaki has trouble believing this, but having five beautiful young men following her everywhere she goes acting as her guardians goes a long way towards convincing her. -- -- There's more to this job than Tamaki first realizes, however, and the path that lies ahead of her is fraught with peril and danger. Will she be able to successfully take on the heavy role that has been put on her shoulders? -- TV - Apr 1, 2012 -- 96,326 6.73
Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 2nd Season -- -- Ajia-Do -- 12 eps -- Light novel -- Slice of Life Fantasy -- Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 2nd Season Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 2nd Season -- When Myne learns that the Holy Church is in need of mana for their relics, she sees it as her chance to be cured of her life-threatening mana disorder. After seeing their bountiful library, she throws herself headfirst into the Church's grasp and begs to join their order. In exchange for her service and her unusually bountiful supply of mana, Myne is given the blue robes of a noble-born apprentice priestess, despite being a commoner. To Myne, all this talk of mana and nobility is trivial, as she now has access to an unlimited supply of books! -- -- As Myne transitions into the next phase of her life in this new world, she soon learns that achieving her dream has come at a heavy cost. Noble society is severe, unforgiving, and fueled by politics and neglect. She must now deal with the class conflict between the noble-born blue robes and the common-born grey robes, the High Priest's attempts to oust her, and constant behavioral issues from her new retainers. With the help of her family, friends, and the enigmatic Head Priest whose loyalties and motives remain unknown, Myne seeks to overcome these obstacles and continue on the path to becoming her ideal self—the ultimate librarian! -- -- -- Licensor: -- Crunchyroll -- 108,351 8.15
Hunter x Hunter (2011) -- -- Madhouse -- 148 eps -- Manga -- Action Adventure Fantasy Shounen Super Power -- Hunter x Hunter (2011) Hunter x Hunter (2011) -- Hunter x Hunter is set in a world where Hunters exist to perform all manner of dangerous tasks like capturing criminals and bravely searching for lost treasures in uncharted territories. Twelve-year-old Gon Freecss is determined to become the best Hunter possible in hopes of finding his father, who was a Hunter himself and had long ago abandoned his young son. However, Gon soon realizes the path to achieving his goals is far more challenging than he could have ever imagined. -- -- Along the way to becoming an official Hunter, Gon befriends the lively doctor-in-training Leorio, vengeful Kurapika, and rebellious ex-assassin Killua. To attain their own goals and desires, together the four of them take the Hunter Exam, notorious for its low success rate and high probability of death. Throughout their journey, Gon and his friends embark on an adventure that puts them through many hardships and struggles. They will meet a plethora of monsters, creatures, and characters—all while learning what being a Hunter truly means. -- -- -- Licensor: -- VIZ Media -- 1,828,803 9.08
Jujutsu Kaisen (TV) -- -- MAPPA -- 24 eps -- Manga -- Action Demons Supernatural School Shounen -- Jujutsu Kaisen (TV) Jujutsu Kaisen (TV) -- Idly indulging in baseless paranormal activities with the Occult Club, high schooler Yuuji Itadori spends his days at either the clubroom or the hospital, where he visits his bedridden grandfather. However, this leisurely lifestyle soon takes a turn for the strange when he unknowingly encounters a cursed item. Triggering a chain of supernatural occurrences, Yuuji finds himself suddenly thrust into the world of Curses—dreadful beings formed from human malice and negativity—after swallowing the said item, revealed to be a finger belonging to the demon Sukuna Ryoumen, the "King of Curses." -- -- Yuuji experiences first-hand the threat these Curses pose to society as he discovers his own newfound powers. Introduced to the Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School, he begins to walk down a path from which he cannot return—the path of a Jujutsu sorcerer. -- -- 1,008,447 8.79
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen OVA -- -- A-1 Pictures -- 3 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Psychological Romance School Seinen -- Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen OVA Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen OVA -- (No synopsis yet.) -- OVA - May 19, 2021 -- 70,875 N/A -- -- Koufuku Graffiti -- -- Shaft -- 12 eps -- 4-koma manga -- Slice of Life Comedy Seinen -- Koufuku Graffiti Koufuku Graffiti -- The path to becoming a fine wife begins with being an accomplished cook—at least, that is what Ryou Machiko's late grandmother had led her to believe. For a middle schooler, Ryou's cooking skills are incomparable; but recently, though Ryou's food looks appetizing and smells inviting, the taste has not been delicious. Just when the dejected art student comes to terms with the possibility that she might continue living alone for the rest of her life, her aunt tells her that Kirin Morino—Ryou's second cousin—will begin staying with her every weekend since the younger girl has joined a cram school in Tokyo and aims to attend the same school as Ryou. -- -- Surprisingly, with her cousin's arrival, Ryou finds that her cooking has vastly improved—apparently, it is not her prowess in the kitchen, but the sharing of the experience with those closest to her that seems to make the flavors shine. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 70,861 6.80
Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi -- -- TNK -- 12 eps -- Light novel -- Adventure Harem Drama Magic Ecchi Fantasy -- Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi -- When Keyaru acquired his powers as a Hero who specialized in healing all injuries regardless of severity, it seemed that he would walk the path to a great future. But what awaited him instead was great agony; he was subjected to years of seemingly endless hellish torture and abuse. Keyaru's healing skills allowed him to secretly collect the memories and abilities of those he treated, gradually making him stronger than anyone else. But by the time he reached his full potential, it was far too late—he had already lost everything. -- -- Determined to put his life back on track, Keyaru decided to unleash a powerful healing spell that rewound the entire world back to the time before he began to suffer his horrible fate. Equipped with the anguish of his past, he vows to redo everything in order to fulfill a new purpose—to exact revenge upon those who have wronged him. -- -- 307,219 6.31
Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi -- -- TNK -- 12 eps -- Light novel -- Adventure Harem Drama Magic Ecchi Fantasy -- Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi -- When Keyaru acquired his powers as a Hero who specialized in healing all injuries regardless of severity, it seemed that he would walk the path to a great future. But what awaited him instead was great agony; he was subjected to years of seemingly endless hellish torture and abuse. Keyaru's healing skills allowed him to secretly collect the memories and abilities of those he treated, gradually making him stronger than anyone else. But by the time he reached his full potential, it was far too late—he had already lost everything. -- -- Determined to put his life back on track, Keyaru decided to unleash a powerful healing spell that rewound the entire world back to the time before he began to suffer his horrible fate. Equipped with the anguish of his past, he vows to redo everything in order to fulfill a new purpose—to exact revenge upon those who have wronged him. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 307,219 6.31
Kamisama Hajimemashita -- -- TMS Entertainment -- 13 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Demons Supernatural Romance Fantasy Shoujo -- Kamisama Hajimemashita Kamisama Hajimemashita -- High schooler Nanami Momozono has quite a few problems of late, beginning with her absentee father being in such extreme debt that they lose everything. Downtrodden and homeless, she runs into a man being harassed by a dog. After helping him, she explains her situation, and to her surprise, he offers her his home in gratitude. But when she discovers that said home is a rundown shrine, she tries to leave; however, she is caught by two shrine spirits and a fox familiar named Tomoe. They mistake her for the man Nanami rescued—the land god of the shrine, Mikage. Realizing that Mikage must have sent her there as a replacement god, Tomoe leaves abruptly, refusing to serve a human. -- -- Rather than going back to being homeless, Nanami immerses herself in her divine duties. But if she must keep things running smoothly, she will need the help of a certain hot-headed fox. In her fumbling attempt to seek out Tomoe, she lands in trouble and ends up sealing a contract with him. Now the two must traverse the path of godhood together as god and familiar; but it will not be easy, for new threats arise in the form of a youkai who wants to devour the girl, a snake that wants to marry her, and Nanami's own unexpected feelings for her new familiar. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 460,758 8.04
Kamisama Hajimemashita: Kamisama, Shiawase ni Naru -- -- TMS Entertainment -- 1 ep -- Manga -- Comedy Demons Supernatural Romance Fantasy Shoujo -- Kamisama Hajimemashita: Kamisama, Shiawase ni Naru Kamisama Hajimemashita: Kamisama, Shiawase ni Naru -- Nanami Momozono, current land god of Mikage Shrine, and her fox familiar Tomoe have faced many obstacles during their time together, but none so challenging as the one posed by the wealth god Ookununishi—if Tomoe’s wish to be human is granted, he must learn to live as one, and Nanami will have to return to being a human. -- -- As the couple look to the future and reflect on their former adventures, Nanami tries to figure out their new living situation as her high school graduation approaches. But no matter the path they choose to walk, Tomoe and Nanami’s love will endure. -- -- OVA - Dec 20, 2016 -- 43,428 8.10
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
Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun -- -- Studio Hibari -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Seinen Sports -- Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun -- He is charming, cool, athletic, a good cook, but more importantly, he's a clean freak. Aoyama is idolized and respected by everyone, but they can only admire him from afar due to his mysophobia. Despite that, he plays soccer—a rather dirty sport! -- -- As the playmaker for Fujimi High School's soccer club, Aoyama avoids physical contact at all cost and cleanly dribbles toward victory. However, the path to Nationals will not be easy for Fujimi's underdog team. But alongside striker Kaoru Zaizen, Aoyama will show everyone that even as a clean freak, there are things he's willing to get dirty for. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Ponycan USA -- 130,773 6.98
Koufuku Graffiti -- -- Shaft -- 12 eps -- 4-koma manga -- Slice of Life Comedy Seinen -- Koufuku Graffiti Koufuku Graffiti -- The path to becoming a fine wife begins with being an accomplished cook—at least, that is what Ryou Machiko's late grandmother had led her to believe. For a middle schooler, Ryou's cooking skills are incomparable; but recently, though Ryou's food looks appetizing and smells inviting, the taste has not been delicious. Just when the dejected art student comes to terms with the possibility that she might continue living alone for the rest of her life, her aunt tells her that Kirin Morino—Ryou's second cousin—will begin staying with her every weekend since the younger girl has joined a cram school in Tokyo and aims to attend the same school as Ryou. -- -- Surprisingly, with her cousin's arrival, Ryou finds that her cooking has vastly improved—apparently, it is not her prowess in the kitchen, but the sharing of the experience with those closest to her that seems to make the flavors shine. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 70,861 6.80
Love Live! The School Idol Movie -- -- Sunrise -- 1 ep -- Original -- Music School Slice of Life -- Love Live! The School Idol Movie Love Live! The School Idol Movie -- Hot on the heels of the third year students' graduation, μ's is invited to New York in hopes of spreading the joy of school idols to other parts of the world. Due to the events of the recent Love Live!, μ's has reached eminent stardom which results in crowds swarming them whenever they appear in public. With the increased attention, however, comes a difficult choice. -- -- Having yet to publicly announce the decision they came to regarding their future, the young members of μ's are pushed to continue performing by rival group A-RISE, Otonokizaka High School, and even Love Live! itself. As leader, Honoka Kousaka is left wondering if the path they have chosen is truly for the best, as μ's must re-evaluate their choices and come to a final decision on what they want for the future. -- -- Love Live! The School Idol Movie depicts the final chapter in μ's story as the girls explore just what being an idol means to them as well as the bond that connects the nine of them together. -- -- -- Licensor: -- NIS America, Inc. -- Movie - Jun 13, 2015 -- 105,457 7.94
Madlax -- -- Bee Train -- 26 eps -- Original -- Military Mystery Psychological Supernatural Drama Magic Shounen -- Madlax Madlax -- In the country of Gazth-Sonika, civil war rages. There, a mercenary called Madlax plies her trade, with almost supernatural skill. In the seemingly peaceful country of Nafrece, Margaret Burton lives a tranquil life. As separate as their lives may seem, the two are connected by ties of mystery, and by a holy book that is also sought by the shadowy organisation, Enfant. As Margaret and Madlax follow the path of their destiny, they come ever closer to uncovering the truth - with no guarantee that it is a truth they can bear to learn. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- 35,768 7.06
Madlax -- -- Bee Train -- 26 eps -- Original -- Military Mystery Psychological Supernatural Drama Magic Shounen -- Madlax Madlax -- In the country of Gazth-Sonika, civil war rages. There, a mercenary called Madlax plies her trade, with almost supernatural skill. In the seemingly peaceful country of Nafrece, Margaret Burton lives a tranquil life. As separate as their lives may seem, the two are connected by ties of mystery, and by a holy book that is also sought by the shadowy organisation, Enfant. As Margaret and Madlax follow the path of their destiny, they come ever closer to uncovering the truth - with no guarantee that it is a truth they can bear to learn. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- -- Licensor: -- ADV Films -- 35,768 7.06
Magical Suite Prism Nana -- -- Shaft -- 7 eps -- Original -- Magic -- Magical Suite Prism Nana Magical Suite Prism Nana -- In a future not too distant from ours, Nanagoo City is a beautiful city in Japan surrounded by mountains and ocean-sides. The sensitive, adolescent girls who live there are each opening up doors to their own, unique possibilities. No one wants to forget the path they take to adulthood. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- OVA - Nov 29, 2015 -- 8,671 6.14
Makai Tenshou -- -- Phoenix Entertainment -- 2 eps -- Novel -- Action Supernatural Samurai Historical -- Makai Tenshou Makai Tenshou -- Get ready for a nightmarish journey through faith and betrayal as the infamous Jubei Yagyu wields his deadly blades against the forces of good and evil alike. In an orgy of unbelievable savagery, the armies of the Shogun give no quarter as they ruthlessly slaughter their enemies. Trapped on the rocky isthmus of Amakusa, the faithful await divine aid as the demon stirs in their midst. Desperate for vengeance, a Child of Heaven becomes the emissary of Hell. -- -- Tortured by visions of Amakusa's final hour, legendary swordsman Jubei Yagyu returns to his ancestral home seeking respite from the bloody duties of a feudal retainer. Life in the village of Yagyu possesses a serenity ill-befitting days of armed rebellion and unholy alliance. For Jubei the tranquility is far too transparent, and soon, chilling rumors reach him. Four dead heroes renew their claim to life, feeding on the fear and violence of the age. Forced to take up the sword once more, Jubei returns to the path of vengeance and damnation in Ninja Resurrection! -- -- (Source: DVD cover) -- OVA - Feb 27, 1998 -- 6,041 5.23
Mo Dao Zu Shi 2nd Season -- -- B.CMAY PICTURES -- 8 eps -- Novel -- Action Mystery Historical Supernatural -- Mo Dao Zu Shi 2nd Season Mo Dao Zu Shi 2nd Season -- Continuing his masquerade as the deranged lunatic from the Lanling Jin Clan, Wei Wuxian resides in the Cloud Recesses while his former cultivation classmate, Lan Wangji, searches for answers about the demonic severed arm they have in custody. With an overwhelming dark energy emanating from the arm, the two are forced to work together in order to keep it contained. However, the demonic arm is not the only dark force lurking in the region, and as spiritual tensions rise in the mountains of the Gusu Lan Clan, it is up to the two of them to try and restore the natural order. -- -- The story of Wei Wuxian's fall from grace continues as more light is shed on his descent into the path of demonic cultivation. The demonic arm only further strains his mischievous spirit. This is the time for him to prove that he has truly broken free from the forbidden path and is not the maniacal sorcerer that everyone remembers him to be. -- -- ONA - Aug 3, 2019 -- 58,081 8.43
Mo Dao Zu Shi -- -- B.CMAY PICTURES -- 15 eps -- Novel -- Action Adventure Mystery Historical Supernatural -- Mo Dao Zu Shi Mo Dao Zu Shi -- Xian: the state of immortality that all cultivators strive to achieve. However, there is a dark energy that lies underneath—the forbidden Mo Dao, or demonic path. Through an unfortunate series of tragedies, this is the path that cultivator Wei Wuxian experiments with during his teachings. His rise in power is accompanied by chaos and destruction, but his reign of terror comes to an abrupt end when the cultivation clans overpower him and he is killed by his closest ally. -- -- Thirteen years later, Wei Wuxian is reincarnated in the body of a lunatic and reunited with Lan Wangji, a former classmate of his. This marks the beginning of a supernatural mystery that plagues the clans and threatens to disrupt their everyday life. -- -- Mo Dao Zu Shi follows these two men on their mission to unravel the mysteries of the spiritual world. Fighting demons, ghosts, and even other cultivators, the two end up forming a bond that neither of them had ever expected. -- -- ONA - Jul 9, 2018 -- 140,492 8.49
Monogatari Series: Second Season -- -- Shaft -- 26 eps -- Light novel -- Mystery Comedy Supernatural Romance Vampire -- Monogatari Series: Second Season Monogatari Series: Second Season -- Apparitions, oddities, and gods continue to manifest around Koyomi Araragi and his close-knit group of friends: Tsubasa Hanekawa, the group's modest genius; Shinobu Oshino, the resident doughnut-loving vampire; athletic deviant Suruga Kanbaru; bite-happy spirit Mayoi Hachikuji; Koyomi's cutesy stalker Nadeko Sengoku; and Hitagi Senjogahara, the poignant tsundere. -- -- Monogatari Series: Second Season revolves around these individuals and their struggle to overcome the darkness that is rapidly approaching. A new semester has begun and with graduation looming over Araragi, he must quickly decide the paths he will walk, as well as the relationships and friends that he'll save. But as strange events begin to unfold, Araragi is nowhere to be found, and a vicious tiger apparition has appeared in his absence. Hanekawa has become its target, and she must fend for herself—or bow to the creature's perspective on the feebleness of humanity. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Aniplex of America -- 528,921 8.78
Mononoke Hime -- -- Studio Ghibli -- 1 ep -- Original -- Action Adventure Fantasy -- Mononoke Hime Mononoke Hime -- When an Emishi village is attacked by a fierce demon boar, the young prince Ashitaka puts his life at stake to defend his tribe. With its dying breath, the beast curses the prince's arm, granting him demonic powers while gradually siphoning his life away. Instructed by the village elders to travel westward for a cure, Ashitaka arrives at Tatara, the Iron Town, where he finds himself embroiled in a fierce conflict: Lady Eboshi of Tatara, promoting constant deforestation, stands against Princess San and the sacred spirits of the forest, who are furious at the destruction brought by the humans. As the opposing forces of nature and mankind begin to clash in a desperate struggle for survival, Ashitaka attempts to seek harmony between the two, all the while battling the latent demon inside of him. Princess Mononoke is a tale depicting the connection of technology and nature, while showing the path to harmony that could be achieved by mutual acceptance. -- -- -- Licensor: -- GKIDS -- Movie - Jul 12, 1997 -- 916,477 8.71
Moonlight Mile 1st Season: Lift Off -- -- Studio Hibari -- 12 eps -- Manga -- Adventure Drama Sci-Fi Space -- Moonlight Mile 1st Season: Lift Off Moonlight Mile 1st Season: Lift Off -- After scaling Mt. Everest, mountain climbing partners Saruwatari Gorou and "Lostman" Jack F. Woodbridge see the ISA Space Station, and each vows to make the trek into outerspace. When Helium 3, a new energy source, is discovered on the moon, NASA forms a new project named "Nexus" to harness that energy for use on earth. This is the story of the two and the paths they take to see their dream become a reality in the quest to harness the next-generation energy source. -- -- (Source: ANN) -- -- Licensor: -- ADV Films, Funimation -- TV - Mar 4, 2007 -- 9,407 7.17
Natsu-iro Kiseki -- -- Sunrise -- 12 eps -- Original -- School Slice of Life Supernatural -- Natsu-iro Kiseki Natsu-iro Kiseki -- Yuka, Rinko, Saki, and Natsumi are childhood friends and classmates nearing the end of their second year of middle school and eagerly awaiting their summer break. Unfortunately, it's a bittersweet time for this close-knit group, as Saki is transferring to another school. -- -- The girls are determined to keep the spirit of their friendship alive, even if only for this summer. They reminisce about a large stone the four of them used to visit, tucked away in an old Shinto shrine, and the belief that if four friends gathered around it and made a single wish, it would come true. Now, much to their surprise, they discover that old folktale is true. -- -- Natsu-iro Kiseki follows the magical events the girls go through during this last summer they’ll all spend together. As friendships get tested, and fantasies are fulfilled, the four classmates will end up learning a great deal about themselves and each other on the path to forging a summer that they’ll never forget. -- 38,381 7.01
Nouryou Anime: Denkyuu Ika Matsuri -- -- - -- 1 ep -- Original -- Psychological Dementia Horror -- Nouryou Anime: Denkyuu Ika Matsuri Nouryou Anime: Denkyuu Ika Matsuri -- Death is the gateway to birth. The deceased crosses the line to join the kingdom of the dead. He sees there the dance of the sperm and the egg. He is drawn towards the sky. This is the path to the afterlife. -- -- (Source: starandshadow.org.uk) -- Movie - ??? ??, 1993 -- 615 4.58
Quanzhi Fashi II -- -- - -- 12 eps -- Novel -- Action Magic Fantasy School -- Quanzhi Fashi II Quanzhi Fashi II -- After defeating Yu Ang at the cost of revealing his lightning element, Mo Fan has been granted seven days to train in the Underground Holy Spring, where it is said that one can greatly increase their power level. -- -- However, Mo Fan's training is abruptly cut short when fierce monsters mysteriously appear all around Bo City, something which should be impossible given the city’s border defenses. An emergency is declared, and Mo Fan is tasked with delivering the Underground Holy Spring—now condensed into a small bottle—to a special refuge zone that is protected from the havoc in the city. -- -- The path there is long, dangerous, and riddled with bloodthirsty beasts. To worsen matters, the malicious Black Order threatens to halt his advance. How will Mo Fan stop the sacred spring from falling into the wrong hands? -- -- ONA - Sep 15, 2017 -- 47,397 6.73
Quanzhi Gaoshou -- -- B.CMAY PICTURES -- 12 eps -- Novel -- Action Game -- Quanzhi Gaoshou Quanzhi Gaoshou -- Widely regarded as a trailblazer and top-tier professional player in the online multiplayer game Glory, Ye Xiu is dubbed the "Battle God" for his skills and contributions to the game over the years. However, when forced to retire from the team and to leave his gaming career behind, he finds work at a nearby internet café. There, when Glory launches its tenth server, he throws himself into the game once more using a new character named "Lord Grim." -- -- Ye Xiu's early achievements on the new server immediately catch the attention of many players, as well as the big guilds, leaving them to wonder about the identity of this exceptional player. However, while he possesses ten years of experience and in-depth knowledge, starting afresh with neither sponsors nor a team in a game that has changed over the years presents numerous challenges. Along with talented new comrades, Ye Xiu once again dedicates himself to traversing the path to Glory's summit! -- -- ONA - Apr 7, 2017 -- 289,745 7.96
Ragnarök The Animation -- -- G&G Entertainment -- 26 eps -- Game -- Action Magic Fantasy -- Ragnarök The Animation Ragnarök The Animation -- A great evil is sweeping over the realm; an evil that the young swordsman Roan and his life-long companion, the acolyte Yufa, must face head on! For these two travel toward their destiny, from the highest towers to the depths of the underworld, through forest and desert alike. With an ever-growing cast of fellow heroes, fate will grasp these travelers by their very souls and propel the band of skilled adventurers towards a noble end. Or ignoble, if they don't watch their step! -- -- Monsters are afoot and the way rife with danger and magic, the path forward may be unclear... But where will is strong, there is a way! Lessons wait in the depths of darkness, and good must prevail. The journey starts now! -- -- (Source: FUNimation Entertainment) -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- 43,504 6.47
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso -- -- A-1 Pictures -- 22 eps -- Manga -- Drama Music Romance School Shounen -- Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso -- Music accompanies the path of the human metronome, the prodigious pianist Kousei Arima. But after the passing of his mother, Saki Arima, Kousei falls into a downward spiral, rendering him unable to hear the sound of his own piano. -- -- Two years later, Kousei still avoids the piano, leaving behind his admirers and rivals, and lives a colorless life alongside his friends Tsubaki Sawabe and Ryouta Watari. However, everything changes when he meets a beautiful violinist, Kaori Miyazono, who stirs up his world and sets him on a journey to face music again. -- -- Based on the manga series of the same name, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso approaches the story of Kousei's recovery as he discovers that music is more than playing each note perfectly, and a single melody can bring in the fresh spring air of April. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Aniplex of America -- 1,553,386 8.72
Shirobako -- -- P.A. Works -- 24 eps -- Original -- Comedy Drama -- Shirobako Shirobako -- It all started in Kaminoyama High School, when five best friends—Aoi Miyamori, Ema Yasuhara, Midori Imai, Shizuka Sakaki, and Misa Toudou—discovered their collective love for all things anime and formed the animation club. After making their first amateur anime together and showcasing it at the culture festival, the group vow to pursue careers in the industry, aiming to one day work together and create their own mainstream show. -- -- Two and a half years later, Aoi and Ema have managed to land jobs at the illustrious Musashino Animation production company. The others, however, are finding it difficult to get their dream jobs. Shizuka is feeling the weight of not being recognized as a capable voice actor, Misa has a secure yet unsatisfying career designing 3D models for a car company, and Midori is a university student intent on pursuing her dream as a story writer. These five girls will learn that the path to success is one with many diversions, but dreams can still be achieved through perseverance and a touch of eccentric creativity. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- 359,940 8.34
Steins;Gate Movie: Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà vu -- -- White Fox -- 1 ep -- Visual novel -- Sci-Fi Drama -- Steins;Gate Movie: Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà vu Steins;Gate Movie: Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà vu -- After a year in America, Kurisu Makise returns to Akihabara and reunites with Rintarou Okabe. However, their reunion is cut short when Okabe begins to experience recurring flashes of other timelines as the consequences of his time traveling start to manifest. These side effects eventually culminate in Okabe suddenly vanishing from the world, and only the startled Kurisu has any memory of his existence. -- -- In the midst of despair, Kurisu is faced with a truly arduous choice that will test both her duty as a scientist and her loyalty as a friend: follow Okabe's advice and stay away from traveling through time to avoid the potential consequences it may have on the world lines, or ignore it to rescue the person that she cherishes most. Regardless of her decision, the path she chooses is one that will affect the past, the present, and the future. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- Movie - Apr 20, 2013 -- 463,060 8.49
Tiger Mask W -- -- Toei Animation -- 38 eps -- Manga -- Action Sports Drama Shounen -- Tiger Mask W Tiger Mask W -- Two young wrestlers face each other in a recently revived underground wrestling organization, the Tiger's Lair, which destroyed the wrestling dojo they grew up in. One took over the training facilities of Naoto Date at the foot of Mount Fuji, as well as the mask he left behind. The other dared to enter the Tiger's Lair and won a fierce competition, receiving a jet-black tiger mask. One tiger walks the path of light, while the other walks the path of shadows. Neither one knows the other's face. On the ring, they are natural enemies, but they have the same purpose—destroy the Tiger's Lair! -- -- (Source: MAL News) -- 18,815 6.97
Trinity Blood -- -- Gonzo -- 24 eps -- Light novel -- Action Supernatural Vampire -- Trinity Blood Trinity Blood -- Following Armageddon, an apocalyptic war, mankind faces yet another menace: vampires. The continuous confrontations between the races have split the world into separate factions. The race of vampires, Methuselah, are affiliated with the New Human Empire; whereas the humans, deemed Terrans by the vampires, make up the Vatican Papal State. Furthermore, extremist groups like the Rosenkreuz Order strive to rekindle a war, despite the factions' attempts to avoid direct conflict. -- -- To combat terrorist organizations, the Vatican has implemented the AX unit. Led by Cardinal Caterina Sforza, the AX agents investigate vampire-related disturbances with hopes that the Terrans and the Methuselah will one day achieve a peaceful coexistence. Amongst the AX unit is priest Abel Nightroad—a seemingly disoriented but gentle-hearted fellow, and a fierce vampire slayer on the battlefield. Joining the unit as his partner is a new agent, Sister Esther Blanchett, a brave and gentle young nun troubled with a tragic past. As the two grow closer, they begin to uncover signs of malicious schemes and dark forces working in the shadows. But the path they walk is riddled with misfortune that might just force them to confront the memories that plague their hearts. -- -- -- Licensor: -- Funimation -- TV - Apr 29, 2005 -- 160,718 7.32
Trinity Blood -- -- Gonzo -- 24 eps -- Light novel -- Action Supernatural Vampire -- Trinity Blood Trinity Blood -- Following Armageddon, an apocalyptic war, mankind faces yet another menace: vampires. The continuous confrontations between the races have split the world into separate factions. The race of vampires, Methuselah, are affiliated with the New Human Empire; whereas the humans, deemed Terrans by the vampires, make up the Vatican Papal State. Furthermore, extremist groups like the Rosenkreuz Order strive to rekindle a war, despite the factions' attempts to avoid direct conflict. -- -- To combat terrorist organizations, the Vatican has implemented the AX unit. Led by Cardinal Caterina Sforza, the AX agents investigate vampire-related disturbances with hopes that the Terrans and the Methuselah will one day achieve a peaceful coexistence. Amongst the AX unit is priest Abel Nightroad—a seemingly disoriented but gentle-hearted fellow, and a fierce vampire slayer on the battlefield. Joining the unit as his partner is a new agent, Sister Esther Blanchett, a brave and gentle young nun troubled with a tragic past. As the two grow closer, they begin to uncover signs of malicious schemes and dark forces working in the shadows. But the path they walk is riddled with misfortune that might just force them to confront the memories that plague their hearts. -- -- TV - Apr 29, 2005 -- 160,718 7.32
Warau Salesman Tokubetsu Bangumi -- -- Shin-Ei Animation -- 14 eps -- Manga -- Psychological Supernatural Seinen -- Warau Salesman Tokubetsu Bangumi Warau Salesman Tokubetsu Bangumi -- A special program of Warau Salesman, these episodes were released in a blast format on 3 days in a nearly 2 hour long timeslot each. The individual episodes have their own OPs. The first blast release differed from the main series by having live-action footage of real locations in Japan before delving into the story for each episode. The 2nd had Moguro with the Master interacting with the viewer as if behind the scenes for a studio before delving into each episode. And the 3rd had Moguro and the Master playing outside in the snow as if reporting on an on-location event to the viewer before delving into each episode. -- Special - Dec 26, 1992 -- 653 N/A -- -- Nouryou Anime: Denkyuu Ika Matsuri -- -- - -- 1 ep -- Original -- Psychological Dementia Horror -- Nouryou Anime: Denkyuu Ika Matsuri Nouryou Anime: Denkyuu Ika Matsuri -- Death is the gateway to birth. The deceased crosses the line to join the kingdom of the dead. He sees there the dance of the sperm and the egg. He is drawn towards the sky. This is the path to the afterlife. -- -- (Source: starandshadow.org.uk) -- Movie - ??? ??, 1993 -- 615 4.58
Yume Utsutsu -- -- - -- 1 ep -- Original -- Dementia -- Yume Utsutsu Yume Utsutsu -- Is the path I am walking on now part of a dream or reality? This is the first animation film that is largely motionless. -- -- (Source: Official website) -- Movie - ??? ??, 2002 -- 246 N/A -- -- Adobe Student and Teacher Edition -- -- Saigo no Shudan -- 1 ep -- Original -- Dementia -- Adobe Student and Teacher Edition Adobe Student and Teacher Edition -- Saigo no Shudan's earliest work, it is a commercial for Adobe's Student and Teacher Edition software. Though it is unknown if Saigo no Shudan created it as an example for their portfolio or if Adobe actually paid for their animation services. -- Special - Dec ??, 2009 -- 245 5.20
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:And_If_Along_The_Path_-_Copy.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Astronomy;_diagram_of_the_path_of_comets._Engraving._Wellcome_V0024746.jpg
Across the Pathways of Space
Crulic: The Path to Beyond
Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon
Dragon Ball: The Path to Power
Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path
Jihad in the Path of God Brigade (Syrian Rebel Group)
On the Path
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Relation between Schrdinger's equation and the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics
Stray from the Path
The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path
The Path
The Path Between the Seas
The Pathfinder (1952 film)
The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea
The Path of Daggers
The Path of Death
The Path of Fate
The Path of Modern Yoga
The Path of Our Dream
The Path of Thunder (ballet)
The Path of Torment
The Path of Totality
The Path of True Love
The Paths of King Nikola
The Path to 9/11
The Path to Crime
The Path to God
The Path to Power
The Path to Power (Margaret Thatcher)
The Path to Prosperity
The Path to the Nest of Spiders
The Path (TV series)
The Path (video game)
Vares: The Path of the Righteous Men
Villains (Stray from the Path album)



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


change css options:
change font "color":
change "background-color":
change "font-family":
change "padding":
change "table font size":
last updated: 2022-05-06 20:12:49
116058 site hits